Chapter 20:
"Uhh, Trent...you might wanna wake up, dude..."the Poppy Bro heard his friend's high-pitched voice through his drowsiness. Grumbling to himself, Trent sat up and stretched his arms, then opened his eyes and yawned before realizing it was dark. Now more alert, and confused, he stood up on his feet to see Josh standing nearby and looking up at the starry sky with a frown.
"What the-how long was I out?"Trent asked, rubbing his head and looking at Josh in confusion. His memory told him that he had laid down to take a short nap sometime just before noon. Had he just completely zonked out or what?
"You've been asleep for about half an hour,"Josh said, not taking his eyes away from the skies above."Or close to it, anyway."
"That's impossible!"Trent said in disbelief."It was noon when I dozed off! How is it night time now?"Almost an instant after he asked, to his shock, the Sun suddenly shot up from the horizon and slammed into the Moon, knocking the celestial orb across the sky and lighting up the world with it's glow.
Trent's jaw hit the ground as Josh dryly asked "Does that answer you're question?"
"Holy crap!"Trent cried as the two orbs in the sky slammed together over and over, trying to gain dominance over the skies.
"Yeah, that's just about what I said when the Moon popped up outta nowhere,"Josh said wryly."Not something you see every day, huh? Or night. You know what I mean."
"No...no, it isn't,"Trent said, calming down somewhat as he watched the spectacle above their heads with awe."So, I guess this means it's time for Milky Way Wishes?"
"There's no way it couldn't be,"Josh replied. He glanced around."But I don't see our ride around anywhere." Then there was a flash of light...
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Neither of them batted an eye this time as they looked around, once more finding themselves surrounded by a familiar whiteness, Destinia standing in front of them.
"Hello again,"she said with a calm smile.
The duo glanced at each other in confusion before looking back at the goddess."Uhh, any particular reason we're here before we've even started?"Trent asked.
"Yes, there's a few things you should know before starting this next adventure,"Destinia said."First, before the end of this adventure, you will both gain a different and permanent form."The two blinked in surprise at this.
"You mean I won't be Kirby anymore?"Josh asked, sounding a bit excited at this news.
"You seem pretty eager about it, bro,"Trent noted, Destinia nodding in agreement.
"Well, no offense to the original pink blob, but I'm really getting tired of not having any real limbs or fingers,"Josh said, waving an arm for emphasis."Plus, to be honest, the sound of my own voice is really annoying."
Trent chuckled."Good point. Your voice has been annoying me for as long as I've known ya."
"Thank y-Hey!"Josh gave him an annoyed look while Destinia giggled at their exchange and Trent smirked."Anyway..."Josh looked back at the goddess."Why will we be changing, anyway?"
"Simple,"Destinia said."Now that you're well-trained with the different abilities...well, for the most part..."At this, Josh fixed Trent with an irritated glare, causing him to roll his eyes.
"I accidentally blow you up ONE TIME and you just can't let it go, can you?"Trent asked.
"You blew me off a frickin' cliff,"Josh deadpanned. The Poppy Bro grinned sheepishly.
"As I was saying, now that you've mostly mastered the many different abilities, it's time for you to find the abilities you're best with that match your personalities,"Destinia continued."As you know, you won't be able to use abilities normally, and will have to earn them through finding ability trophies. This should give you ample time to use all the abilities and find out which ones work best for you. Before everything's said and done, you will both have to choose 5 different abilities to permanently keep, and after that, you'll never be able to use any of the other powers again, so you must choose wisely."The duo nodded in understanding, but couldn't resist looking at each other with slight concern. 5 abilities? While this wasn't necessarily a bad thing, they could only think of 3 or 4 at best that they wanted above all others, but 5? This would interesting...
Looking back at their guide, Trent spoke up."Okay, we'll do our best."
"Anything else we should know?"Josh asked curiously. Destinia opened her mouth to respond that there wasn't, but then paused and looked past the two, a thoughtful frown on her face as she seemed to stare at something of interest. Blinking, the duo turned around to see what she was looking at. Finding nothing but more of the white void they were in, they looked back at the goddess, who in turn looked down at the two.
"Actually, yes,"she said."It seems that while you're travelling through space, you'll come across someone who will need your help. I'm sure you'll know who they are once you've found them."She sighed, murmuring to herself."Even though I was hoping to keep that a secret until you're tests were over..."
"Huh?"Josh asked.
"Keep what a secret?"Trent asked.
"Like I said, you'll find out soon,"Destinia said."I'll see you later. And remember to play along."Before either could protest or question her, she snapped her fingers.
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The two glanced at each other, now standing right back in the spot they had been before Destinia had spoken to them.
"What do you think she meant by 'playing along?'"Trent asked.
"I think I have an idea..."Josh muttered, seeing a Waddle Dee and a Bronto Burt standing a few yards away, staring up at the interesting sight overhead. They walked over to stare up at the battle going on above along with them, watching as the moon and sun tackled each other relentlessly and without end.
"Hey, hey, hey,"said a voice behind them, accompanied by the sound of a ball bouncing. The small group turned around to see Marx bouncing from foot to foot on a multicolored ball. Josh and Trent had to bite down the urge to attack, or even glare at the small clown, both well aware of the small creature's intentions. Looking at Josh, he asked "Can you make peace between the sun and moon? You need to ask the giant comet Nova for help!"
'You'd like that, wouldn't you, you little circus freak..."Trent thought angrily, keeping his expression neutral.
"But first, there's something we must do,"Marx continued, glancing up at the sky.
'What's this 'we' garbage?'Josh mentally asked himself, quirking a non-existant eyebrow.
"To ask Nova, we must gather power from all the stars around us,"Marx said. He grinned cheerfully at Josh, saying "It will be difficult, Kirby, but you can do it!" It was then that a Warp Star landed nearby. Taking this as their cue, the duo leapt onto the star, which started shaking as it prepared to take off."We're counting on you! Good luck!"
And then they were off! The Warp Star flew straight up, soaring through the air and rapidly ascending out of the planet's atmosphere. Soon enough, the duo found themselves surrounded by an infinite void dotted with stars and comets alike, Planet Popstar now a large mass below them, the sun and moon fighting far off in the distance.
Left utterly speechless for once, the two could only stare at the amazing sights around them, mouths agape as they travelled through space towards the first planet.
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End of Chapter
And so it begins