Hey there! Sorry that chapters are taking so long now. Life has been busy lately, with senior year of high school and whatnot. But I took a day off, and now, I finally finished a chapter! I hope you all like it and tell me what you think, as this one is my favorite yet. A lot more serious and mature ideas in this one. Enjoy!
-Joost
Out There In The Dark
Chapter 9: Under Its Control
The Lor Starcutter traveled through space and time with ease. Deep inside the fabric between dimensions, the airship had no problem rowing its way through the thick, bubbly filament of matter that encompassed the borderlands of reality. Its pilot, a small, bean-shaped fellow named Magolor, stood at the controls, constantly searching for a certain something on the radar.
Suddenly, the space around the Lor began to tremble. Something just entered the in-between, causing claxons on the ship to flare and send everything into alert. Magolor tore his eyes from the screens and grabbed the joystick that helped maneuver the Lor. Strained, he tried to steer it away from the visitor.
A roar came from outside, and Magolor groaned, knowing right away who was there. Before he could take any measures against it, the entire ship was rocked to the side, sustaining heavy damage from a fireball.
"Wah! No, no, no!" Magolor yelled as the Lor darted off course and into the abyss of red space. He fought against the controls to get the ship back to normal, but it was too late.
Magolor reluctantly flipped open the emergency tunneling case and pressed the button underneath. It was only meant to be used to access worlds across the multiverse in extreme circumstances, and the pilot didn't see any better time than now.
A massive portal opened before the Lor Starcutter, and the ship flew on through with haste. The dragon that had tracked the Lor down huffed in anger, its target getting away. It couldn't risk chasing after it, the crown atop its head too powerful to be in the hands of the wrong person. Only it could keep the power within at bay.
The dragon just looked with a grouchy tiredness as the Lor disappeared, escaping into a universe that would prove to be a breath of fresh air for the pilot. A world that seemed more accepting, and unknowing.
A better world.
Kirby scurried down the dirt road, laughing all the way. With his precious strawberry shortcake in tow, just a single slice gifted to him from the full cake made by the Squeaks just last week, he made sure to keep it away from Dedede. The royal king, King Dedede, wanted just a nibble.
"Come on, Kirby! You got that whole cake to yourself, why don't ya share?" Dedede suggested as he playfully chased after Kirby. Such childish antics were normally above the king, but not really.
Behind King Dedede was also a plucky Waddle Dee, but not just any Waddle Dee. This here Waddle Dee was Kirby's long-time friend, now sporting a vibrant blue bandana. The Waddle Dee was the one who had joined Kirby and Ribbon in their quest to collect all the shards from the shattered crystal just over three years prior. Since then, the Waddle Dee wanted to stand out from his peers, so he found a neat bandana to wear and was trained by Meta Knight to wield a spear.
Speaking of the lone swordsman, Meta Knight sat blissfully next to a large boulder, reading a quiet book. After the whole kerfuffle with the bandits last week, he decided to take a short leave of absence. He spent his time just enjoying the outside, getting refamiliarized with the lush nature of Dream Land.
"Hm?" Meta Knight mused as he heard voices come from behind him. Normally, he would've drawn Galaxia at the slightest sound of danger, but with his nerves calmed, he felt no need to grab the hilt of his sword.
Meta Knight paid the others no mind as they ran by, burying himself in his book once more. It was a decent tale put to page, one about a strange green hero and some robed tyrant. However, the swordsman was pulled from his concentration by a bright light appearing in the sky.
Kirby, Dedede, and Waddle Dee saw it too, the light being too stunning to ignore. The stellar beauty of the light even made Dedede stop and bump into Kirby, making him drop his slice of cake! Even then, the puffball didn't mind, never taking his eyes off the sky.
The light bent by itself, forming a massive portal, from which a majestic starship emerged from. It had plumes of smoke emanating from the back, with little, spangled objects being ejected from the stern and larger pieces breaking off and flying away. When the portal closed, the ship had just crashed into the hillside, bringing dirt, grass, and other debris up and into the air.
Kirby, Dedede, Meta Knight, and Waddle Dee quickly headed towards the wrecked ship, unsure if there was anyone inside. As they approached the crash site, the smoke, steam, and mysterious sparkling vapor hissed loudly. The group noted the odd, futuristic look of the ship, until they were startled by a door materializing on the side.
Kirby eyed the entrance to the ship with his usual, plucky curiosity. He was the first of the four to step forward and walk inside, and he gasped in awe when he got a glimpse of the inside. The most unimpressed of the group was Meta Knight, who got an overall bad vibe from the ship, notably because of its lack of occupants.
However, there was one occupant. A round, blue, cloaked fellow, lying on the highly polished floor of the ship. Kirby slowly walked up to the passed-out pilot, only for him to awaken. He jumped at the sight of the new folks and looked around frantically.
Magolor didn't even give the visitors the time of day as he took a look at the controls for the ship. The massive, curved screen that normally displayed the ships' status and dimensional readings was instead showing a red static. The pilot fiddled with a few buttons before power was restored to the screen and he typed into the keyboard, asking for a damage report.
Kirby, Dedede, Meta Knight, and Waddle Dee just glanced at each other with confusion. The screen above them showed a tally of 'energy spheres', all of which had been depleted. The screen then switched to a technical readout of the ship, highlighting the missing parts that had been scattered around the land when it crashed. Magolor just wrapped his hands around his head and slumped over onto the panel, at a loss for words.
The pink puffball, taking careful notes of the problem laid out in front of him, decided to help the bizarre traveler right away. He meandered around before going up to Magolor's behind and tapping him on the shoulder.
"Now, Kirby, wait a moment," Meta Knight said, seeing the complexion on Kirby's face.
"Poyo!" Kirby said to Magolor, pointing to the screen.
"Wait, you'll help me?" Magolor was puzzled at the immediate kindness he was being given. Meta Knight was surprised that he could understand Kirby.
"Hey wait a minute! Just who are you?" Dedede interrupted with his booming voice.
"Ah! There's no time for formal greetings. Look!" Magolor pointed to the screen. A view of where the ship seemed to pinpoint the locations of the missing pieces played. "I must have my ship repaired! It's desperate!"
"Oh no… I got a bad feelin' about this…" Dedede muttered, seeing how all the pieces appeared to be at each of the five-pointed edges of the star-shaped planet that was Pop Star.
"One of them should be fairly close by, though!" Magolor typed away at the controls, bringing up a diagram of the surrounding forest and the piece in question.
"Poy Poyo!" Kirby exclaimed, raising one of his paws into the air excitedly. The rest of the group just sighed and elected to put on their happy faces.
Meta Knight and Dedede were the most suspicious of the far-flung traveler, but a part of them were interested in just helping out a person in need. After a few quick exchanges of names between the four and Magolor, they ventured out of the ship and into the countryside, heading for the forest to find that first piece.
"Thank you again, Kirby and friends! This truly means the world to me!" Magolor called as his new acquaintances disappeared from his view. He went back inside of the Lor and looked around, starting to clean up a bit of the mess.
For the next few hours, Magolor kept tabs of Kirby and his friends as they continued on their crusade through the outskirts of Dream Land. He helped tell them what to look out for, pointed out odd-looking areas that might harbor some of the missing energy spheres, anything he could to assist. He enjoyed being almost a part of the team while he kept things manageable back at the Lor Starcutter.
"Alright, they should be fine through the rest of that area," Magolor said to himself as he powered down the screen. He reached up and felt the glass, reeling back as the heat almost burned his hand.
"I'll need to see to the coolant room for that," he commented, making a mental note for later.
Then, Magolor heard a faint noise coming from the leftmost corridor of the ship, the one that led to the challenge rooms he had set up for Kirby and the others in order to home in their skills. It sounded like something akin to a snake, slithering across sand. Magolor turned away from the control panel and creeped towards the hallway.
"Hello?" Magolor asked to the nothingness. He got no reply. "Is someone there?"
Only the low hum of the technology around Magolor provided any sound to combat the eerie slither. It slowly started to mess with his head, making his unseen ears twitch with an uncomfortable shiver. It sent a chill down his spine.
"Find us… Please…" A voice said, just barely a whisper.
"Wh-Who is that?" Magolor thought he was going mad. He shifted around the hallway, trying to find the source of the voice.
"You know who we are…" The voice responded, still as silent as before. "What we are."
Magolor didn't want to truly admit it, but in a way, he did know. That terrible secret that he lived with. The voice that remained stuck inside the back of his head, urging him to fall into temptation. The dark. It suffocated his thoughts, intruding with the slightest lick of evil.
Then the lights went out, and Magolor gasped tightly. He flipped around repeatedly, swaying forward and grasping the air, trying to feel for a nearby wall or the command console, anything. When his hand touched something, his heart filled with horror. It wasn't sleek, metallic, nothing that was on the ship. It felt squishy.
A beast appeared out of the shadows and swiped at Magolor, slashing his face. A red substance splattered against a wall and streaked upwards in a veiny pattern. The traveler, fear instilled inside of him, fell to the floor and backed away with cowardice.
"In Dream Land… When blood rains from the sky," The living terror said, its voice akin to low droning noises. "…Fear the beasts with just one eye!"
Magolor screamed as loud as he could as the monster before him roared, its eye opening up to bestow rows of teeth. They all chittered as they inched closer to Magolor, threatening to slice his body apart at the slightest bite. They hung onto the wet, sloppy gums of the mouth by the thinnest of cartilage and nerves.
The weary traveler wiped the side of his face off with his cloak, staring at the red stain that it picked up. He scooted away, whimpering quietly as the darkness tried to get him. Thick, orange tentacles appeared from the monster's back and urged near Magolor, the ends narrowing out into sharp, blade-like tips.
"NOOO!" Magolor pleaded. He slammed his eyes shut and prayed. "Let me out, let me out, let me out, let me out, let me out, let me out, let me out-"
When Magolor opened his eyes again, the lights were blinding, and there was no trace of the monster. He gasped and looked around desperately. There was no blood splatter on the wall, nor was there a gash in his face. All in his head.
Magolor remained on the floor for a moment, panting. He was hardly able to get his wits about him. He wrapped his hands around his head and curled up, the faintest of tears audible from his dry mouth. He whispered sweet nothings for a while and didn't return to the command console for some time.
Kirby and his friends finally returned to the Lor with the first of the five pieces. The six oars that helped row the boat through space. The pink puffball walked up to the crash site of the Starcutter, holding the oars.
"Ah, splendid!" Magolor said as he exited the ship. He clapped his hands in applause for the retrieval of the oars. "Just throw them into the air and they'll connect automatically to the Lor!"
Kirby smiled wide and gave the oars to King Dedede. He had the best arm out of the four heroes, and he was confident he'd be able to do the act properly. Giving off a cocky smirk, Dedede heaved the oars up with his mighty flippers, and they began to shimmer. They reoriented themselves and flew down to the ports where they were meant to connect.
The oars quickly shifted and clicked onto the sides of the Lor with ease, and all the glowing ceased. They fit perfectly, as if nothing even happened. Magolor cheered for Kirby and his companions, ever thankful for their help. The helpers in question just beamed from ear to ear.
Inside the Lor, the five gathered around the control deck as Magolor fiddled with them. Seconds later, the screen above showed where the four intrepid heroes would need to go next. The interestingly named "Raisin Ruins".
"Now," Magolor put his palms together. "The following places aren't going to be as easy. I'm sure the other fellow's who have found the parts of the Starcutter won't be very willing to part with them."
"Do not worry, my friend. I trust we'll find them," Meta Knight put his hand on Magolor's shoulder. He almost wished he didn't. The moment his gauntlet touched Magolor, he felt the traveler tense up and jostle slightly.
"Th-Thank you," Magolor said quickly, pulling away from Meta Knight. The lone swordsman stood for a second, baffled at the others' reaction to merely his touch.
Kirby and Bandana Waddle Dee just looked to each other gleefully. They were excited to get back out and explore more of Pop Star. As long as they had lived on the planet, they hadn't actually seen most of it. Just the countryside surrounding Dream Land.
Meta Knight remained silent for the duration of the groups' time at the Lor before heading back out. He kept his eyes off of Magolor and on the floor, but he didn't even focus on the sleek ground beneath him. His eyes shifted continuously, thinking of all the possible reasons why the traveler next to him would be so jumpy. So aware. So afraid.
Magolor was left by his lonesome once more as the others left to find more energy spheres and the next part of the Lor. He stood idly at the console, computing and calculating the best means of success for his new friends.
"If Kirby manages to fully navigate Another Dimension," Magolor mumbled under his breath, thinking out loud. "Then we should be able to restore the Lor to full functionality."
Magolor hovered gently by the keyboard, up until that terrible sound ringed in his ears once again. That low voice, beckoning him to wherever it desired. He froze and his nerves were frayed, the clacking noise of the keys under his hands ceasing. They felt like they turned to stone, unwilling to move.
"You must find us…" The voice said in a childish tone.
"N-No," Magolor replied defiantly, keeping his head down. "I don't need you."
The voice emitted a slow, methodical chuckle, and then seemed to get closer to the traveler. It slurred its word and spoke softly, its powers of seduction far too great for Magolor to resist. He closed his fists and put his hands to his sides.
"But doesn't it feel so… good? The sensation, trickling through your body like dew on a leaf on a lush, spring morning?" The voice dug its way into Magolor's mind, poisoning his thoughts.
"But it… it just causes pain. Everything I touch when you're around… just gets ruined," Magolor said with a regretful, solemn tone. He thought back to his family, and the first time he came across that accursed relic. The trauma of what he did when they tried to free him of the influence.
"Yet you still searched for us… You know where to find us now, so why give up?" The voice kept digging into Magolor's subconscious, picking away at his fears.
Then, Magolor put his hands to his heart and slumped back on his behind. There, he shut his eyes and huffed, fighting not to cry. He pulled his hood over his face and slapped himself upside the head in tearful anger. He inwardly cursed himself, his desire to have the relic, and all the pain he'd inflicted. The fiend just wore an unseen smirk under its hood of mystery.
Magolor was broken, his will to fight the lust all gone. He slowly rose and continued typing away in silence, hoping his new friends would forgive him for the unsavory actions he was destined to commit. He prayed to himself that he could one day escape it.
Much, much later, the Lor Starcutter flew again. Kirby, Dedede, Meta Knight, and Bandana Waddle Dee had uncovered and returned the rest of the missing pieces of the ship and reconnected them. It was able to relieve itself from Dream Land's surface and take to the cosmos.
"So, where exactly are we going?" Dedede asked, looking out the window and into the stars.
"Uh… well its not quite the easiest thing to explain," Magolor chuckled lightly at Dedede's confusion. Meta Knight and Waddle Dee just raised an eyebrow simultaneously.
"You see, it's not actually in the universe you live in." Magolor quickly pressed a few buttons and the side of the jumbo screen in front of him showed a photo of Halcandra.
"What do you mean?" Meta Knight asked.
"I'll put it simple for you," Magolor took a deep breath. "Halcandra, the place we're heading to, resides in another universe. One similar to, but not the same as your own."
Magolor remembered what life was like on Halcandra. The simpler times. His face didn't show it, but he felt a wave of melancholy drown his thoughts out. The times he laughed, shared affection, everything. The Lor swayed a bit of course before he returned to the present.
"So you're saying… there's more universes?" Meta Knight almost didn't believe it. Such a concept was foreign to the swordsman.
"Well, yes! It's quite novel once you understand it. Every time you make a decision, there's a version of yourself in another world that didn't," Magolor explained. "Then those changes cascade into wildly different timelines."
"Poyo?" Kirby asked.
"Yes, Kirby, even if you decided not to eat lunch." Magolor barely stifled the snort he had at Kirby's wonder.
"So then how different is Halcandra and the universe it inhabits?" Meta Knight asked, joining Dedede in peering out the window.
"Well, quite a lot. The biggest thing is…" Magolor paused for a moment. "It doesn't have people like you."
Meta Knight didn't respond, keeping his eyes on the vast darkness of space. He mused about the possibility of parallel universes, contemplating the varied nature of them all. The multiverse and the endless madness it could entail. It intrigued him for the most part.
"Hold on, fellas. We're about to cross over." Magolor's grip on the steering apparatus tightened as a massive portal appeared out in front of the Lor Starcutter. The passengers held onto whatever they could as the entire ship rumbled, Meta Knight being able to see the thin filament of the portal pass by the window.
"WAH! Hold me, Meta Knight!" Dedede cried pitifully and hugged the swordsman. Meta Knight said nothing, his eyes proving just how unimpressed he was with he courage of the royal king.
After a second, the quaking stopped, and everything felt normal. The inexperienced travelers just waited for Magolor to say something, knowing that he was the ineptest of them all when it came to such transportation.
"We're here," Magolor said, his own eyes widening at the sight of Halcandra.
Before the ship even touched the ground, it was struck. The sudden movement flung everyone around the hub, and Magolor lost control of the ship once again. It veered off course and crashed, the pilot getting an annoying feeling of déjà vu.
Magolor was the first to get up, and he didn't waste a second. He hurried to the controls and got a full diagnostic of the damage. It wasn't as serious as the first time, but the culprit was still the same. The ship managed to scan the beast before it went down, and it gave an overview of it.
"Blast! Landia!" Magolor pounded his fist on the control panel. His eyes switched to the floor, and he looked down dejectedly.
Kirby tapped the traveler on the shoulder, and just like earlier, he gave a determined nod of approval. This time, Dedede, Meta Knight, and Waddle Dee agreed properly. Magolor's peppy mood was restored, and he made sure everyone was ready to tackle the land of Halcandra.
With Kirby's newfound powers of the aptly named 'Super Abilities', Magolor was confident that he could conquer the trials posed by Another Dimension and find the rest of the missing energy spheres.
As the warriors left the Lor, the pilot watched with anticipation. His hands were shaky, and his heartbeat went at a blistering pace. The relic that Landia guarded continued to call to him, even as he shut the door to the Starcutter and went back to monitoring Kirby and his friends.
Two hours later, Kirby finally reached Landia's nest, right smack in the center of the Haldera Volcano. Meta Knight, Bandana Waddle Dee, and King Dedede were right behind him, ready to face the four-headed dragon. Each wore a gleaming smile, their courage insurmountable.
The monster, however, was quick and had prior knowledge of Kirby and his fantastical abilities. Landia, guardian of the ancient artifacts of Halcandra, was more than prepared to battle the heroes from Another Dimension. With his powerful wings, he was granted the act of conjuring gale-force winds to blow Kirby and the others away.
Landia employed everything it had to take on his opponents, even splitting apart into four separate beings to even the odds. Each head detached from one another, flying about out of range of the enemy. It seemed to enjoy a fun game of volleyball, as it played with its own fire just to disorient the team that fought against it.
Meta Knight sliced away with Galaxia, Bandana Waddle Dee poked with his spear, and Dedede bashed the beast with his hammer. All the might of the four warriors seemed to match Landia's, as he fell within minutes.
Landia groaned as he collapsed to the ground, thoroughly beaten. The crown placed atop its highest head fell off, clinking against the igneous floor of the volcanic crater. Kirby didn't even acknowledge the item as he and his friends cheered at their victory. To them, justice had been served.
"Bravo, Kirby. You've truly earned your reputation as a hero," Magolor commended, clapping slowly. His voice was slightly deeper, and his movement was a bit jittery. The group on the ground just looked peculiarly up at the traveler.
"Your help defeating Landia was invaluable," Magolor said, nodding in an equally slow manner as he did clap. He gave off a somewhat threatening aura now.
Magolor stared at the fallen crown. His will was consumed by lust and desire, all for the relic that rested on the ground. He snatched it and held it dearly, his hands still shaking considerably. The artifact had a dim glow to it, and a low hum resonated within it.
"At… At last!" Magolor nearly shouted, delighted by just holding it. "At long last, it's mine!"
"What do you mean?!" Meta Knight demanded, carefully grabbing the hilt of his sword. Kirby just tilted his head.
"Th-The source of limitless power… The Master Crown!" Magolor set the crown on his round head and kept his hands high. A sinister, deranged laugh came from his hidden mouth as the glow from the crown transferred to his entire body.
The others stepped back in fright as Magolor began to grow, his appearance masked by the light. Beneath it all, a dark shroud enveloped him and swallowed his mind. The last free thought he had before his form completely changed was sadness. Though his actions didn't show it, he wished to resist the temptation of the darkness. But he just couldn't.
"Obtaining this crown has been my ultimate goal all along!" Magolor claimed, his voice growing ever more distorted. The shining light vanished, and his form was presented to all of reality.
King Dedede's mouth was left agape as Meta Knight unsheathed Galaxia and stood in a defensive position. Kirby just gazed at the traitorous fiend with perplexed wonder.
"What's with all the weird looks?" Magolor said mockingly. He laughed at just how confused the others seemed. "Fine, let me explain everything."
"I went and fought Landia alone… and lost. My ship was damaged, so I fled. Fled right to Pop Star." Magolor gestured to the Lor in the distance. His fist surrounded it and clenched hard. "Then, after we met, the thought occurred to me…"
"You defeat Landia for me!" Magolor said. "A stroke of genius, I know."
"You even helped repair the Starcutter." Just then, by sheer chance, a piece of the real Magolor shined through the darkness. "I- I really did appreciate that, by the way."
Kirby and the others looked on with confusion. Magolor had split his normal thoughts, trying to fight against the encroaching darkness. His voice and tone returned to the way it once was, and his eyes welled up with tears.
"I'm truly sorry, Kirby," Magolor said, his hands weary. "I tried to resist it… but I'm just… not as strong as you."
"But now it is time for every UNIVERSE to bow down to me!" As abruptly as Magolor's normal voice appeared, it disappeared, the chaotic madman taking control once more. The crown.
With a wave of his hands, Magolor opened a star-shaped portal, no different from the ones the Lor could create. He flew through and off into space, heading to Dream Land. As the portal closed behind him, it finally occurred to Kirby the true nature of the Master Crown.
Kirby's face formed into a frown, and he looked down with annoyance. The Master Crown was a part of something far too familiar to him. A Dark Matter was at hand.
