Disclaimer: Kirby belongs to Nintendo and HAL Laboratory.
Vesa and Elfilis spent several minutes strolling down the forest path, passing by a few flying Bronto Burts. A downed log blocked the path, but Vesa simply climbed over it. She glanced over her shoulder as Elfilis phased through the log, impressed by the casual display of their spatial magic.
When Vesa continued along the path, she happened to pass by a Grizzo. She remained close to Elfilis as they both kept an eye on the bearlike creature. As soon as they took a few more steps, the Grizzo dashed across the dirt path, zooming past them and scurrying into another part of the forest, which sent a chill down Vesa's spine. Elfilis twitched their feelers as they sensed her heartbeat picking up the pace.
"Are you doing ok?" they asked her.
Vesa took a deep breath before she nodded.
"I-I didn't get hurt, that's for sure," Vesa stammered.
"Glad to hear it," Elfilis smiled in relief.
Vesa continued to follow Elfilis down the forest path. When they stopped at a fork in the road, they spotted a few Twizzies gathering on the ground feeding on the seeds they foraged. When Vesa took another step closer, the yellow birds focused their eyes on her and then flew off. Soon enough, Elfilis spotted a faint sparkle nearby. Vesa noticed as their feelers perked up.
"You found something?" she asked.
Elfilis nodded and wandered over to a metal panel of some kind, which seemed to have come off some kind of machine. Vesa approached them from behind and took a closer look at the panel, which appeared to be a small curved piece of metal. Rust began coating the piece, but there didn't seem to be any real identifying marks on it other than holes where screws might've been at one point. She carefully picked it up and brushed off the dirt.
"Our first find," Vesa said.
"Seems that way."
Elfilis tilted their head as they briefly touched the metal, seemingly almost bio-mechanical as if it was imitating life. Vesa handed the metal piece to the ultimate life-form.
"Let's see if we can find more," Vesa winked.
"Agreed."
After Elfilis stashed the metal scrap into their pocket dimension, they led Vesa down one fork of the forest path. They passed by a pond. She smiled at the site of Blippers swimming along the surface. She glanced down and noticed a pipe sticking out from the ground. She knelt and tugged at it. Elfilis noticed and helped her pull it out of the ground. The pipe seemed more rusty than the other metal piece.
"Good eyes," Elfilis purred.
"Thanks!" Vesa chirped.
Vesa and Elfilis stood up. Smiling, she held up her hand. The ultimate life-form took the hint and gave her a gentle high-five. She brushed the dirt off the pipe before handing it to Elfilis, who stashed it in their pocket dimension. From there, they continued along the forest path. They passed through a tree with a large archway built in it. Elfilis summoned their spear, hoping to ensure the woodland creatures understand they and their human friend were not to be messed with. They passed by a few cappies and a broom hatter when they took a leftward path.
Vesa stopped when she stepped on something hard. She glanced down and noticed a metallic shine underneath her foot.
"Oh."
"Are you ok?" Elfilis made their way closer to her, trying to smell for any blood, "sounds like you stepped on it pretty hard."
Vesa removed her sandal and checked the underside of her foot. Much to her luck, she didn't spot any cuts.
"I'm fine," she assured them.
Vesa crouched down and examined an image of a stylized H on the metal scrap stuck in the ground. Elfilis didn't recognize it as it didn't match any rune work they've seen.
"Huh," Vesa commented, "is this supposed to be a logo or something? I never saw it anywhere on my planet."
"It certainly has the flare I would expect from an advertisement or personal symbol," Elfilis replied dryly.
Vesa and Elfilis didn't hesitate to dig the metal piece out of the ground. The angelic lancer didn't discover much, but it did provide another sample of bio-metal substance. The two continued their venture through the woods after that. Elfilis spotted a large chunk of metal embedded in a tree. They yanked it out and looked over which appeared to be a more intact machine part apart from the others. Vesa didn't need to brush off any dirt this time, but she pulled out a few twigs stuck in the machine part's crevices. The ultimate life-form stashed it in their pocket dimension after that.
"Four down," Vesa quipped, "three to go."
Vesa and Elfilis took a path to the right this time. She immediately spotted a detached drill embedded in a bush. The ultimate life-form pulled it out of the ground, examining it carefully.
"I wonder what that drill was used for," Vesa pondered.
"I'm unsure. It's certainly interesting, however."
Vesa scanned her surroundings and spotted a stray gear on the ground.
"Well, it looks like we're almost done," Elfilis mused, "these last few have been really close."
Vesa smiled as she picked up the gear and handed it to Elfilis.
"Who knows how far Kirby and Elfilin have gotten?" Vesa chirped, "let's get going!"
Vesa and Elfilis continued along the forest path, which soon ran parallel to a river. The ultimate life-form followed close behind, their tail gently swaying side to side. As they meandered along the riverside, they could see Blippers jumping out of the water and splashing back down. Elfilis spotted another piece of metal glinting under the water. Dipping their hand into the water, they pulled up what seemed to be the hand of a clock. The ultimate life-form and Vesa exchanged glances.
"I believe I know where this came from at least," Elfilis commented, "although the idea of a NOVA is concerning. I had only been informed of one of them existing before now. But a second one?"
Vesa tilted her head sideways, giving Elfilis a puzzled look.
"Wait, what is a NOVA, anyway?" she asked.
Elfilis sighed bitterly.
"A celestial body made with magic and machinery," they explained, "meant to serve those it finds with anything they desire. But that's the problem: 'Anything you want' means just that—it cannot reason who is worthy or willing to control themselves in the midst of such power."
Their tail swayed to one side, more fiercely than usual.
"I wonder if someone got their hands on it…" Elfifis thought out loud, their body tense.
"Maybe Kirby knows," Vesa shrugged, "we could ask him about it later."
Vesa spotted Kirby and Elfilin out of the corner of her eye.
"Someone clearly got hold of some blueprints," Elfilis let out an annoyed sigh, "I'll need to track those down."
Kirby paused for a quick moment and shifted his gaze to Vesa and Elfilis.
"Poyo!" Kirby waved his arm.
Elfilis waved their hand in return as they pulled the large clock hand into their pocket dimension.
"Come on, Kirby," Elfilin called, "let's race them!"
Kirby returned his gaze to Elfilin.
"Poyo!"
Vesa gave Elfilis a confused look as Kirby and Elfilin started sprinting down the forest path on the other side of the river.
"I'll bet they've had their fair share of finds here," Vesa mentioned, determination twinkling in her eyes.
"Probably," Elfilis shrugged, "I'm not too focused on the competition, though."
Vesa started picking up the pace of her footsteps.
"Well," Vesa said, "Kirby did say something about racing. Let's go!"
Vesa began sprinting along the forest path. Elfilis lifted slightly above the ground and effortlessly glided above the forest path, keeping up the pace with their friend. A Slippy loitering in the path spotted them fast approaching and hopped into the water. The path led Vesa and Elfilis away from the river to another fork in the road.
"Let's just go this way," Elfilis pointed in a direction, deciding to cut right through the middle.
Vesa nodded and followed close behind. They sprinted for several minutes before they entered the forest clearing, where Whispy Woods stood at the center.
"Ok, we're back!" Vesa called.
Vesa noticed Kirby and Elfilin only arrived seconds before she and Elfilis did. The ultimate life-form, on the other hand, didn't seem to mind.
"Welcome back," Whispy Woods announced, "I sure hope your search was fruitful."
"Poyo!" Kirby nodded.
Elfilin concentrated before opening up a vortex leading to his pocket dimension. Vesa glanced over her shoulder and nodded at Elfilis. The ultimate life-form pulled out the machine scraps they found, including the large hour hand which happened to be the size of two buildings stacked on top of one another. Kirby widened his eyes while Elfilin pulled out the next machine part he and the pink star warrior, astounded by the sheer size.
"Whoa!" Elfilin exclaimed, "where did you get something so big?!"
Elfilin set down the sixth machine part he and Kirby found before digging his paw into his pocket dimension.
"I found it in a river," Elfilis replied as they hefted it over their shoulder.
By the time Kirby, Elfilin, Vesa and Elfilis laid down each of their findings, Whispy Woods carefully examined them.
"My," Whispy Woods commented, "you seem to have put in the effort to find seven machine parts."
"Poyo!" Kirby nodded.
Whispy Woods closed its eyes as the Maxim Tomatoes emerged from its leaves.
"But what matters more is who entered the clearing first," Whispy Woods continued, "and the winner is…Kirby and Elfilin!"
"Yay, we did it!" Elfilin cheered and did a back flip.
"Poyo!" Kirby hopped happily.
Vesa let out a soft sigh.
"Oh, well," Vesa shrugged.
Whispy Woods released the five Maxim Tomatoes, allowing Kirby and Elfilin to catch them midair.
"I'm sure there's some other game we'd probably be great at," Vesa stretched her arms, "but I had plenty of fun today."
Elfilis and Vesa turned their gaze to the machine parts while Kirby and Elfilin stashed their share of Maxim Tomatoes.
"I had a good time myself," Elfilis agreed.
Elfilis shifted their gaze to the sentient tree.
"Now," Elfilis continued, "I need to dispose of these parts and locate any others if they exist. Whispy, I'm sure that if there are other parts, you likely know about them. Would you mind pointing me in the right direction?"
Whispy Woods gave Elfilis a puzzled look as it thought over the question.
"There is more around the forest," Whispy Woods answered, "here."
A piece of bark fell off a nearby tree, a map carved into it from the other side.
"This will show you where to look," the sentient tree continued.
Vesa blinked as she picked up the map and read it. Elfilis took the time to stash the machine parts into their pocket dimension.
"There's no rush to get it done right now, however," Whispy Woods added, "that can wait until tomorrow, or even the next day."
Upon cue, Vesa tilted her head up, noticing the faint signs of a beginning sunset in the sky. Kirby and Elfilin also tilted their gaze upwards.
"Oh," Elfilin said, "it seems we should be getting home soon."
"Poyo," Kirby nodded in agreement.
"I can take us home right now," Elfilis offered, "if you'd like."
Kirby leapt up and turned his gaze to the ultimate life-form.
"Poyo!" Kirby chirped.
"Bye," Elfilin waved his paw at Whispy Woods, "we'll see you tomorrow!"
With a gentle flex, Elfilis opened a portal which transported the four to the front of the tower, standing in the grass. Upon their return, the ultimate life-form pulled out one of the metal plates, examining the material. Kirby spotted the logo on the metal plate and his eyes sparkled with interest.
"Poyo!"
Elfilis glanced down at the pink star warrior curiously.
"What is it, Kirby?" Elfilin gave Kirby a puzzled look.
All eyes focused on Kirby as he went on to explain that one incident where the Haltmann Works Company invaded Popstar and tried to mechanize the planet leading to the point where he destroyed the Star Dream before it could begin its campaign of destruction. Vesa shuddered as soon as Kirby finished. Elfilis made a serious nod, their feelers twitching in fury over the loss of life on the previous planets affected by President Haltmann's business campaign. Still, they were relieved the issue had finally been resolved.
Elfilin perched on Kirby's head.
"So," Elfilin asked, "have you heard from Susie lately?"
Kirby's gaze lowered to the ground.
"Poyo," Kirby answered.
"Well," Elfilis replied, "I'd like to find this Susie eventually. I need to retrieve the blueprints for the NOVA machine so no one else can repeat it."
"And I sure hope she's learned her lesson," Vesa added with a wink.
Elfilin floated over to Elfilis, waving his paw at Kirby.
"See you tomorrow, Kirby!"
"Poyo!" Kirby waved his arm.
Vesa and Elfilis watched as Kirby began his sprint down the path.
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