"Himeko, we've returned."
Meta Knight was the first to speak as the group entered the Master Control Zone. Kirby clinged
to his chest, snoring peacefully even as they hurried towards the bridge of the station. In front of them, a woman with red hair and white dress turned around while she was typing on some sort of device.
"Thank goodness you're back. Asta and Magolor need to speak with you. You can place Kirby here, if you'd like," Himeko told him, dragging out one of the chairs beside her. Meta Knight tried to place Kirby on the seat, but he whined slightly and started hugging the knight even tighter. It took the combined strength of March, Dan Heng, Stelle, and Meta Knight to pry him away. Himeko giggled at the sight.
"He's quite fond of you," She comments. Meta Knight looked at her, his expression unreadable. He nodded silently, and walked towards the bridge of the space station.
"What's up with him?" March asked suddenly. Dan Heng gave her a disapproving look.
"Nothing. That's just the way he is," Himeko said, turning around to face the trio. "Anyways, at least you two are back. It seems this little guy really put you through the ringer earlier!" She ruffled Kirby's pink hair, causing him to smile.
"Despite his apparent age, he's a talented warrior. I assume Meta Knight trained him at some point in the past," Dan Heng commented.
"That's not even counting his weird copy ability thing. He almost put us on ice, figuratively and literally," March groaned. "Who are those guys anyway? They just kinda showed up out of nowhere, and the Meta Knight guy didn't really explain anything other than the entire universe was in danger, or something along those lines."
"We'll get to that in a minute. First, we have to address the newcomer," Himeko said, placing a hand on her hip and glancing at Stelle. "Nice to meet you. I'm Himeko, navigator of the Astral Express."
"Uh, hi… My name's Stelle," The ashen haired girl said nervously, giving a brief wave.
"Stelle…" Himeko whispered under her breath. "Isn't that a coincidence?"
"Is… there something wrong?" Stelle asked, and Himeko shook her head.
"Nothing. March hasn't been any trouble for you, has she?" The red haired beauty asked. The girl in question side-eyed Stelle, giving her a half serious glare.
"No, nothing like that. She was really helpful when we were fighting Kirby," Stelle says. March graciously pats her on the back. Himeko hid a giggle under her hand.
"That's good to hear, and it's good to know that you've all gotten close already. Come with me, Asta has been worried about all of you." She said, gesturing for the trio to follow her.
"What about Kirby? Do we leave him here?" Dan Heng asked.
"I can carry him," March suddenly said. Dan Heng looked at her oddly.
"Didn't he try to kill you–?"
"That was all a misunderstanding!" March said, pouting slightly. "Besides, the poor boy is all tuckered out from fighting! He's going to need a friendly face like mine so that he doesn't wake up swinging his arms!"
"...And that makes sense, how?" Stelle asked. March gave her a deadpanned look. After a few seconds, she snapped her fingers and created a diorama made entirely out of ice and snow.
"Oh, you poor, sweet, summer child. Clearly, you do not know the effect that cute girl has on making every single situation a million times better!" She said, haughtily puffing out her chest and creating a pointer stick made out of ice. A comically large sweat drop appeared on the side of Stelle's head.
"He's surprisingly light," Dan Heng said, causing March to suddenly snap her head in his direction. He had grabbed onto Kirby's arm to pull him up, but had accidentally dragged him off the chair. Dan Heng then slung Kirby onto his back, grunting slightly when Kirby held on tightly. Too tightly, in Dan Heng's opinion.
"Oh, come on!" March whined, causing the diorama to shatter.
"First come, first serve. Maybe next time, March," Himeko says, patting the girl on the shoulder. March grumbled, and she and Dan Heng walked towards the bridge, leaving Stelle and Himeko behind.
"Hey, are you doing okay?" Himeko asked. Stelle looked at her, confused.
"Why do you ask?"
"You did almost die back there. If Meta Knight didn't show up when he did, things might not have ended well for you," Himeko reasoned. "That, and you've been awfully quiet this entire time."
"Sorry. Should I have spoken more?" Stelle asked, fidgeting slightly.
"Not if it makes you uncomfortable. I just want to make sure you are okay, and if you'd prefer to stay quiet, that's fine by me," The navigator said with a smile. "If you have any problems, you can talk to me or your new friends."
"Uh… right. I'll keep that in mind, Miss Himeko."
"Just Himeko is fine, Stelle. Now, come on. I have a feeling that things are about to get interesting, so to speak."
"You say that like it's a good thing," Stelle jokes, getting a laugh from Himeko. She led the ashen-haired girl towards a bright and large yellow hologram, where the rest of the group were, alongside a young man in white and blue robes completely covering his face, and a woman with pink hair.
"...st of the Antimatter Legion have either been destroyed, or have fled after the destruction of the Doomsday Beast. Our security forces should be capable of dealing with any stragglers left behind," Asta said, pointing to a holographic screen in front of them.
"And what about those cute monsters? They're pretty small, but there seems to be an end to them!" March complains.
"Same deal with the Legion. Most of the flock had fled once they realized this little glutton was here," Magolor said, pointing at Kirby's pink hair. "But, I can still sense the ripples in space-time from their portals." Suddenly, he turned around and stared directly at Stelle, making her flinch. From the way his eyes glowed, he was probably smiling underneath his hood.
"Well, if it isn't the plot device of the hour! I was wondering when you were going to show! The entire operation would have been significantly more difficult if you were a corpse!" Magolor said jovially. Meta Knight glared at him momentarily, causing the wizard to shrug in response. "What? I'm factually correct!"
"You know, you could've just said 'we're so glad you're here, now our plan can work!' It's too early to make death jokes about someone who nearly died!" Asta huffed, glaring at the wizard as well.
"It's fine, really," Stelle quickly said.
"Wait, hold up! What plan? I thought you said that the Legion and Another Dimension monsters were manageable!" March said, placing a hand on her hip.
"Aww, it's cute that you think that!" Magolor said, condescendingly patting her on the head until she slapped it away. "For now, Another Dimension is manageable, but there is still one problem we have to address: her." Magolor said, pointing to Stelle. "See, those monsters get stronger the more energy they consume, and right now, this girl is the largest source of energy in the station, Kirby notwithstanding. As long as those portals remain open, the monsters will sneak in and find minor power sources that nobody will notice are gone, like aethers, fuel cells, and other nicknacks. We let them steal energy for long enough…"
"They will eventually be strong enough to overpower the station, and consume everything, maybe even the planet below…" Himeko finished.
"That leaves me with more questions than answers," Dan Heng said. "First off, what is Another Dimension, and how come those monsters haven't appeared anywhere before? And secondly, how are Stelle and Kirby the biggest sources of energy on the station?"
Magolor blinked, and looked at Meta Knight briefly. The knight shrugged, and Magolor lolled his head to the side, muttering, "Well, we have gone two chapters without an in-depth explanation of the plot. I suppose we have enough time for an exposition dump." He said, and clapped his hands together.
"A couple of days ago, some big evil chinchilla called Fecto Elfilis kidnapped around 300 people from our planet!" Magolor began.
"...That's gotta be the set up for a joke, right?" March asked slowly.
Meta Knight shook his head. "No. The events that took place that day were real. I was there, and so was Kirby. We also have photographic evidence, if you need it."
"No, it's fine. It just sounds really, really weird…" March said, scratching the back of her head.
"Eh. To be fair, most of Kirby's adventure's sound weird without context," Magolor said to himself. "Anyways! Fecto Elfilis used interdimensional portals in order to kidnap the Waddle Dees, so naturally, Kirby valiantly jumped into one of the rifts and was brought to a new, Forgotten Land, and went on a grand adventure to save the poor Dreamlanders, and stop Fecto Elfilis' dastardly deeds!"
"What does this have to do with Another Dimension?" Dan Heng asked impatiently. Magolor opened up a portal, and caught a newspaper that fell from it. After rolling it up, he thwacked the spearman in the head.
"I'm getting to that!" Magolor chided. "Anyways, Kirby traveled the land, and at the end of his adventure, he fought and defeated Fecto Elfilis! However, in their last moments, the evil mastermind decided to pull one last trick! They opened a massive portal to our planet and used their psychic powers in order to make our world and the Forgotten Land crash into each other! But the thing… Unlike how Kirby and the Waddle Dees were brought there, Planet Popstar didn't go through Another Dimension to reach the Forgotten Land. In fact, it bypassed the gap between dimensions entirely." Magolor clapped his hands twice, and a portal opened up, dropping a balloon in his hands that was already inflated and sealed by a rubber band. Strangely, there was a sapling inside it.
"Imagine, if you will, that the air inside the balloon is Another Dimension. The balloon itself is the barrier between realities, and the air outside is the rest of the multiverse. Now, if you want to go to an alternate dimension, one has to travel through Another Dimension. It's the law," Magolor explained. "Now, opening a portal to Another Dimension always runs the risk of allowing Doomers to invade, however, it's almost always a non issue since you can just close the portal once you're down." Magolor demonstrated this by opening the balloon, allowing the air inside to rush outside. He quickly closed the hole, preventing the air from escaping. "But like I said earlier, Planet Popstar didn't go through Another Dimension to reach the Forgotten Land. Because of that, the portal Fecto Elfilis created tore through who knows how many dimensions, and shattered reality as a result." Magolor tossed the balloon behind him. As it slowly floated the ground, a Deadly Needle appeared underneath it and shot upwards, skewering it before it could fully pop. The balloon scattered remains flew all over the Master Control Zone, and the sapling inside was torn to shreds.
"Because of the many cracks in reality, portals to Another Dimension have been opening all over the multiverse. Our faction, the Star Allies, have been running ourselves ragged trying to close them all. But unfortunately, there's only so much a small group of people can do to try and fix the dimensional barrier between dimensions," Magolor said in a bored, almost uninterested tone as picked up the leaves of the small sapling. "It'd be a shame if those monsters did any major landscaping to a certain tree we all know and love…" He muttered ominously.
"That's… a lot to take in," Stelle says. "What kind of energy do the Doomers need to take? Is it a specific kind of energy, or do they just need to eat like normal animals?"
"Doomers can eat normal food. However, they will consume whatever they can get their hands on. Solar, nuclear, thermal, electrical, it doesn't matter to them. So long it supplies them with the energy that they need, they will find it, and absorb it," Meta Knight explained, turning to look at a wide-eyed Asta and Stelle. "That includes the engine of this ship, and you as well."
"You see, you are a very special type of human, my dear Stelle. You have a Stellaron inside of you. From what I can tell, having such dangerous and powerful objects inside your very soul isn't very healthy in this universe," Magolor said.
"I have a… what in my soul?"
"A Stellaron," Himeko said. "It's also called the 'Cancer of All Worlds' by the Interastral Peace Corporation. They are lifeforms capable of distorting and infecting people, places and reality itself. If left alone, they can infect entire planets."
"I… I have something like that inside of me!?"
"Relax! From what I can sense, the Stellaron is quite stable inside your body. In fact, I think the fight with Kirby might have scared it a little bit! It's emitting less energy than normal... but the output is still enough to attract the attention of Another Dimension." Magolor explained. "Other than that, you will be pleased to know that you won't suffer a painful or sudden death because of your personal nuclear power plant. At least, not yet anyways!" Stelle cringed at how nonchalantly Magolor said everything. It sort of made her skin crawl. She flinched slightly when Dan Heng placed a hand on her shoulder and gave her a reassuring nod.
"Then, what about Kirby?" Dan Heng asked, standing next to Stelle and glaring into Magolor's ovoid yellow eyes.
"You needn't worry about him. We've faced the forces of Another Dimension, and they are no match for him. As to how he was born with such power… that's a story for another time," Meta Knight waved off the question.
"Okay, so we need to stop them before they eat any power sources. But, the Doomers and the other monsters are just looking for food! Why can't we just give them some aethers, force them back in the portal and close it afterwards?" March asked.
"...Have you ever fed a wild animal in your life?" Magolor said rhetorically, speaking as though he was talking to a small child.. "You feed them once, next thing you know, they and the rest of the flock will be swarming you until the end of time! There's also the teeny, tiny little tidbit that–according to multiple historic records and my own investigations–that Sphere Doomers are capable of warping reality once they have gained enough energy."
"Of course they can…" Asta groaned. "And the Sphere Doomers won't stop eating, even after they've consumed everything in this dimension, right? Once they've gotten everything, they'll just go into another dimension, and another, until there's nothing left?"
"Pretty much, so it's imperative that we close the portals as soon as possible. That being said, closing the rifts is a fairly simple task. On paper. Or Ao3 in this case."
Meta Knight slammed his elbow into Magolor's side, making the others raise his eyebrows. "Hey! What the heck is your…" He said before looking up and seeing the UI. "Ah, I see."
"What are you guys talking about… What's an Ao3…?" March asked.
"Nothing, inside joke," Magolor immediately waved off their concerns.
"Back to the topic at hand, we will need to travel inside, and defeat the Sphere Doomer keeping the rift open. Once that's done, the space will collapse in on itself, severing the connection between the station and Another Dimension," Meta Knight explained.
"If only it were that easy. If it were really as simple as you say, you would've already sent the security force inside the portals," Asta said in an accusatory tone. Magolor's eyes glowed in amusement.
"Right again! You really think a flock of monsters will just let you destroy their only way to get food? HA! The moment you start making their way to the Sphere Doomers, every monster in the area will be on you in seconds!" Magolor exclaimed.
"In addition, Another Dimension is an incredibly unstable and highly dangerous plane of existence. The laws of physics are mere suggestions there, and the landscape will constantly shift and alter itself, especially if we are far away from the Sphere Doomers. While I do not doubt the strength of Arlan's men, this is not something that the ordinary security personnel cannot handle on their own," Meta Knight elaborated.
"You're saying we need people with more experience?" Dan Heng asked, to which Meta Knight nodded.
"Yes. Those who deal with the Stellarons and their destructive powers should be strong enough to venture into Another Dimension, and defeat the Sphere Doomers that lay inside." Meta Knight answered.
"Of course we are!" March exclaimed. "But, you said that Another Dimension will be filled to the brim with monsters. How exactly are we going to get them out so that we can get to the Sphere Doomers?"
"Why, that's simple!" Magolor said, and gestured to the Stellaron host. "We're going to use her as bait!"
"I'm sorry, what!?" Stelle shouted.
"Relax! If all goes according to plan, then you'll have no nothing to worry about!" Magolor reassured her. "All you have to do is stand in front of the portal, maybe stick your head inside so that the monster can get a good sniff. Once they do, they'll start chasing, and you'll have to lead them around while everyone else goes inside and defeats the Doomers."
"But, I don't even know the layout of the station! What if I hit a dead end, or make a wrong turn, or one of the monsters takes me by surprise!?" She said frantically.
"Pfft! I'm a lot of things, but it's not like I'm going to send you to your death! At least, not yet anyways!" Magolor jokes, making everyone besides Meta Knight shiver slightly. He reached into his collar and tossed a device with dark blue lens to the Stellaron Host. She almost drops it, but manages to grip it tightly before it clatter to the ground.
"Woah… is that supposed to be some sort of scouter?" March asked.
"Sure, if you want to look at it that way. It has a map of the station, and connects directly to the Lor Starcutter. If you're ever in a pickle, just press the button on the side, and the Lor will automatically portal you to the safest spot on the station, except the MCZ, of course," Magolor told her. "Once all the portals have been closed, we'll make our way to you and finish off the monsters ourselves. Great plan, dontcha think?"
"How long would it take for us to get to the Sphere Doomers? If it takes too long, Stelle might run out of stamina in order to flee from the monsters," Dan Heng pointed.
"It shouldn't take more than two minutes per portal. Defeating the Sphere Doomers will also be a quick affair, so long as they don't overwhelm us," Meta Knight, and then looked towards Stelle. "Are you alright with this plan? We could always change if you don't want to act as bait."
"...If it helps in getting rid of the monsters, I'll do it," Stelle answered firmly.
"Are you sure? We have no idea how many monsters are hiding in those portals right now. It might be too much for you to handle," Asta added.
"In that case, why don't I stay behind and help her, Lady Asta?" Stelle raised her brows, and turned around. Standing behind the group was Arlan with a large sword strapped to his back, and his right arm covered in bandages.
"Arlan? No, you've been injured! I need you here so that you can monitor the situation, and help Stelle in case something happens to the scouter," Asta said, immediately shooting down his suggestion. Magolor's eyes glowed brightly.
"Hey, what's that supposed to mean–!"
"Meta Knight, Magolor, how many monsters are going to be guarding the Sphere Doomers?" Arlan asked.
"...Roughly ten to thirty monster's per portal. It usually depends on how Another Dimension has manifested. If it has many bottomless pits and walls, the Sphere Doomer may not see the need for many guards," Meta Knight said.
"From… personal experience… I can definitely say that the number of monsters can vary from level to level. There does tend to be a higher count if the Sphere Doomers are particularly powerful, or have found a source of energy that they can feast on," Magolor mentioned, adding his two cents. Arlan nodded in thanks, and then walked up Asta.
"I know you're worried about me, Lady Asta, and reasonably so. But you've heard what they have to say. Three portals, with ten to thirty monsters standing guard, perhaps more. That could easily add to over hundreds of monsters rampaging all over the station, and trying the best to catch her specifically," Arlan said. Stelle fidgeted slightly, and strangely, Kirby frowned in his sleep.
"And you think you can take out all of those monsters by yourselves, with just the two of you?" Asta asked, narrowing her eyes.
"Of course not. I don't think anybody can take out that many monsters by themselves." Meta Knight crossed his arm, Magolor coughed, and Kirby let out a particularly loud snore. "But, I do have an idea on how to at least minimize her chances of failure."
"Oh, do you? Now this I gotta hear!" Magolor said excitedly, shoving Asta to the side so that he could pat Arlan's shoulder, glancing briefly at March, Dan Heng, and Stelle.
"Well, what are you all standing there for? We've got a plan to formulate and some monsters to exterminate!" Magolor said ecstatically. He snapped his fingers and created a smokey portal underneath the group, causing everybody to fall down. Each of them let out a gasp of surprise, except for Kirby (who was still sleeping) and Meta Knight (who turned his cape into bat wings, and slowly descended).
"Hey, Kirby…" Slowly, the pink puffball opened his eyes. He yawned, and after rubbing the sleepiness out of his starry eyes, looked up to see Meta Knight's mysterious yellow eyes. Kirby smiled at him and leapt from his seat, ready to start the new adventure.
"Kirby up and running?" Magolor asked. Kirby stepped forward and punched the air with his fist, a determined glint in his eyes. "Great. Now, let's go over the plan one more time."
"First off, Stelle and Arlan, once the girl manages to attract the monsters from Another Dimension, you'll be leading throughout the Space Station, using this path that we drew. The Lor Starcutter will have portals prepared for at the dead ends, and once you've been teleported to a safe place, the security force will shoot down as many monsters as they can. Rinse and repeat until they have been completely eradicated!" Behind him, the gray-haired duo nodded, each tightly gripping their respective weapons.
"Meanwhile, the rest of you will be inside the portals," Asta continued. "Meta Knight, Himeko, and March will travel in one portal in the Supply Zone, while Magolor, Dan Heng, and the… Herta puppet will travel to the one in the Base Zone," She finished with a groan. Looking to the left, he saw a marionette wearing a purple dress, though somebody had replaced the hat with cat ears and drew whiskers on the face. He could hear Magolor humming to himself, bouncing up and down on the balls of his feet.
"Kirby, you will enter the portal inside the Storage Zone, by yourself," Meta Knight explained. The puffball nodded in understanding, and watched carefully as Meta Knight reached behind his cape, and pulled out a sheathed broadsword. Kirby's eyes brightened as the knight tossed the blade into the air, and began inhaling.
The sword shattered into easily digestible bits, and flew into the insatiable vortex that was Kirby's interdimensional stomach. After swallowing, Kirby began shining, and the human's watched with intrigue as Kirby's outfit changed into a set of chainmail armor underneath a green tunic. He now wore white pants with knee-length brown boots with a pair of star-shaped knee guards. On his arms were leather gauntlets with a star motif, and he now had a green, phrygian cap with a yellow ball of wool at the end. Sword Kirby raised his hand, and the air in front of him shimmered, forming into a silvery sword with blue hilt.
"I still don't understand how that works," March says.
"Don't think about it too much, okay? Y'know, there's a saying on Popstar that I just made up. 'If it works, don't think about it too much!'" Magolor said.
"How can it be a saying if you just made it up?" Stelle shot back.
"Because I'm from Popstar!" Magolor exclaimed.
"No, he's not," Meta Knight muttered cooly.
"Wait, what? But I thought you guys were all from the same planet–?" March began, only to be interrupted when Magolor clapped his hands together.
"Unfortunately, that's all the time we have folks! Now, let's quell the monster threat before reality becomes irreversibly broken!" He exclaimed, and then opened portals to their designated locations. For March, the portal opened beside her feet, and a slight shriek had cut off any retort she tried to make
"Ready?" Arlan asked Stelle, just as the portal opened behind them.
"Yeah," Stelle said quietly. She smiled at March and Dan Heng, who gave her a thumbs and no respectively. Afterwards, she glanced at Kirby. The two locked eyes for a brief moment, and Kirby gave her thumbs up and a large smile. She returned the gesture with a hesitant smile, and afterwards leapt into the portal with Arlan in tow.
"Alright, the rest of you, get ready. March, do the thing," Magolor told her. The girl with iridescent eyes pouted at him, and snapped her fingers. In a few seconds, Kirby and the rest of the group were encased in a thin layer of ice. Kirby moved his arm, and found that the ice was rather flexible and breathable. He should have no trouble moving with this, and if he loses Sword, he could always eat the ice to get that Copy Ability.
"Alright, the Supply Zone portal just released the hounds. Meta Knight, your team's up!" Magolor exclaimed. Meta Knight nodded, and Himeko pressed a button on her suitcase, causing a drone with sawblades to pop out.
"Good luck everyone!" March said as the group jumped into the portal. Before it closed, Meta Knight glanced back at Kirby, his eyes shining a mixture of purple and green. Kirby reassured him with a smile and a nod, and he could see that the knight's eyes became deep blue, just like his own (minus the stars), as the portal closed.
"Just a few more seconds, and… Kirby! Storage Zone's open. It's time, you god of destruction, you!" Magolor said, opening a portal to the Zone. Kirby nodded, and just before going through, he promised everybody that he would buy them a big slice of strawberry shortcake if they all survived.
"That sounds like a swell idea, Kirby!" Magolor said, drawing a confused look from Dan Heng.
"Wait, what did he say–?" Kirby managed to hear him say before the portal closed. Kirby landed on his feet and spun on his heel, and he immediately pushed off the ground and jumped into the star shaped vortex. He held onto the Sword Ability as hard as he could, and managed to enter the spatial distortion without losing the ability.
Like all those times, Kirby spun in the air uncontrollably as the lack of and inconsistency of gravity began to affect his descent. Luckily, he grew accustomed to the feeling in record time, and managed to land on the steel floor.
The usual sights were still here, like grid planes and vortexes, the floating geometric shapes, and the random pieces of ruined, modern architecture and technology. In addition to those, however, were walls and floors that looked remarkably similar to the ones found on the Herta Space Station. There were pieces of machinery like the elevators, hard light bridges linking floating islands together, and naturally, most of the surface was in grayscale.
Kirby looked behind him, and as expected, saw the dimensional wall slowly closing in. The pink haired boy spun on as heel and took off with sprint, jumping from platform to platform as the wall began to slowly close in on him.
Further down the pocket dimension, Kirby found a couple of Shotzos placed around a tunnel made out of space station pieces and blocked off by Star Blocks. The Shotzo's activated immediately, and began firing at the pink puffball. Kirby easily weaved his way between the cannonballs and slashed downwards with his sword, destroying the Star Blocks. He reached a cliff and jumped down, landing in a bubble of floating water. He swam to the edge and jumped towards another bubble, which slowly floated to the left. As the bubble slowed down, Kirby swam to the top and quickly climbed up the nearby ladder.
The path was blocked once more, this time by a set of spiky icosahedrons, each one floating into the air and then slamming back into the ground. Kirby frowned and looked behind, watching as the dimensional wall slowly absorbed the hallways and water. Nodding to himself, Kirby waited until the spiked shapes began lifting themselves into the air, and ran all the way to the other side. Soon, the icosahedrons fell back into the ground, and Kirby slid on the ground with a Slide Kick to narrowly avoid being crushed and punctured by them. There was another wall of Star Blocks guarded by Shotzos. Kirby blasted through the wall as easily as last time, which led to another cliff that he nearly fell into. By this point, the grayscale coloring of the surface and platforms started changing into a faded color wash palette.
In front of him, he found the doorway leading to Sphere Doomer's den, framed by those iconic stars and surrounded by cube of water. The only problem was that the floor had been entirely replaced by bottomless pits, and the only way across were floating bubbles blocked by sharp icosahedrons that orbited around them. Kirby took a few steps back, and then ran forwards, jumping towards the nearest bubble while the obstacles were on the other side.
Kirby floated to the top of the bubble (he absentmindedly noticed that his inner tube was joined by two floaties around his arm) and once the sharp shapes moved to the other side of the bubble, he leapt towards the next one. Kirby nearly missed the jump, but his fingers managed to graze the water, allowing him to pull himself inside and swim to the top of the bubble. This bubble had two icosahedrons orbiting around it, and they moved too fast to jump through normally. Kirby moved as close as he could to the edge of the bubble, and waited.
Once he saw the shapes pass by him, Kirby leapt out of the water bubble and let the second crash into his back. The protective ice around him shattered, and he was launched towards the next and last water bubble. From this distance, he could clearly see the doorway to the Sphere Doomer's den. The only problem was that now there were four icosahedrons. Kirby looked behind him, and saw that the dimensional wall had already consumed the water bubble he was just on.
He gritted his teeth (Teeth feel weird and hard) and examined the spinning shapes closely. After a few seconds, he noticed that icosahedrons would slowly float closer to the doorway, almost to the point that they touched, until they slowly floated away, making the gaps between them much larger. Kirby nodded to himself, and tried jumping towards the cube…
Only to realize that the wall had managed to absorb his legs.
Kirby eyes widened as he grabbed his legs, the wall slowly absorbing him. His foot felt tingly, and not in a good way. It was more like a "your body is slowly disintegrating while simultaneously melting and freezing" kind of way. Kirby pulled with all his might, but only managed to dislodge his leg slightly. With how quickly the wall moved, it practically undid any progress he made while also reaching up to his knee. So, instead of pulling, Kirby reared back his hand, and punched the wall as hard as he could.
The impact rippled the across wall's surface, and forced it back a few feet, freeing his trapped foot. Now that he was free, Kirby jumped out of the water bubble and brought his feet to his chest. He kicked them against the dimensional wall, forcing it back even more, and launching himself towards the cube of water. He swam to the edge and waited until the icosahedrons floated away. Once they did, Kirby swam out and unsheathed his sword. When one of the geometric shapes came close, he stabbed his sword into the polygon. Since it was a Stage Hazard, it didn't break or dent, and because of that, Kirby was able to launch himself towards the entrance of the den.
He managed to grab the very bottom of the doorway and pulled himself inside.
After passing through, Kirby found himself in a room that looked eerily similar to the Master Control Zone. Even the large yellow hologram of the planet was there. A few seconds later, Kirby flinched from an unholy screech that echoed all over the room, and watched a bundle of light appear in front of him. The ball split in half, forming into a normal Sphere Doomer and an Ice Doomer EX.
The normal Doomer swooped towards Kirby with its fangs bared, while the Ice Doomer started shooting out frozen energy bullets. Kirby easily sidestepped the swooping attack, and weaved between the frozen balls. When the normal Doomer swooped back for another bite, Kirby jumped over it and thrust his sword downwards, stabbing the Doomer in the back.
The monster screeched, and flew away as Kirby pulled his sword free. When he did, the Ice Doomer teleported above him and covered itself with frosty winds. Kirby dodged to the left as the Doomer crashed into the ground, letting out a small burst of ice. The pink puffball readjusted the grip on his sword and ran towards Ice Doomer, slashing rapidly as it teleported above him again. Kirby jumped out of the way, into the path of another energy bullet from the normal Doomer. It exploded against his tunic, searing it slightly, but luckily the chainmail had tanked most of the damage. The normal Doomer fired another energy bullet, and Kirby batted it away with his sword, causing it to crash into the ice Doomer.
The Doomer's howled in unison, and teleported to the center of the field. There, they sent out waves of spatial distortions, causing a migraine to trigger in Kirby's head. As he recovered from the mental attack, the spherical birds swooped and bit down on Kirby's sword hand and leg. The mist from the Ice Doomer's breath started freezing his leg. Kirby shook the Doomer off him, and then thrust his arm forward, dislodging the normal Doomer and making it crash into the ice variant.
After a shriek, the Doomers both retreated to the edges of the battlefield, and started spinning in place. The normal Doomer fired out multiple energy bullets, while the ice variant created a Mini Black Hole. Kirby's legs wobbled, both from his migraine and the mini black, and eventually fell onto his back. The Sphere Doomers shrieked, and as the Ice Doomer charged another blast of cold energy, the normal Doomer swooped down and tackled Kirby, slamming into his stomach.
The puffball grunted and grabbed the Sphere Doomer by the wings, gripping them tightly. As the demon bird struggled, Kirby jumped up and slammed it into the ground, letting the gravitational force of the black hole drag them forwards to grind the Doomer against the floor. Kirby then lifts his leg and punts the Doomer away, causing the monster to explode in a cloud of black mist. Once the explosion ends, the large purple battery that was inside the monster's body clatters to the ground and cracks.
Kirby looks up, and sees the Ice Doomer above him. It falls to the ground, instantly freezing everything around it. Kirby managed to jump away in the nick of time, and slashes at the monster with his sword. The Doomer screeches and flies away, shooting large icicles at Kirby from its mouth. Kirby dodges the first two and deflects the third, but the force knocks him backwards, inching closer and closer to the black hole behind him.
The Ice Doomer spits out a few energy bullets that begin to orbit around it, and then charges right at Kirby. The former puffball plants his feet on the ground, and just as the monster is about to crash into him, Kirby cartwheels to the side. From his perspective, time seems to slow down. Kirby's sword then begins to glow orange, and as the monster slowly passes by him, Kirby spins rapidly on his heel, swinging his sword in a wide arc around him.
The black hole slowly collapses in on itself as the Ice Doomer's lower jaw falls to the ground, and the head slowly flies off the battlefield. Both pieces explode, letting out a cloud of black mist as the Light Cone it had been storing in its mouth falls to the ground and shatters.
With the doomers gone, color returns to Another Dimension, and the floor, platforms and the giant hologram look exactly as they did on the space station. Kirby nodded to himself, and picked up the broken battery and the shattered light cone. Hopefully, somebody on the station should be able to find a way to repair them.
One of the light cone pieces slipped between his fingers and fell to the ground, breaking even more.
…Nothing a little glue or duct tape can't fix, right?
It would be simple, Magolor said.
All she and Arlan had too was run, Magolor said.
The security department would take care of stragglers, Magolor said.
There would be only a hundred or less monsters, Magolor said.
"This way!" Arlan shouted as they made their sixth lap around the Supply Zone. Despite knowing the path by heart at this point, Stelle nearly missed the hallway they had to duck into. She skid across the floor, placing a hand on the ground to keep herself just as the horde came barreling through the hallway. Darpas, Dippas, Dupas, and even a handful of Deppas chased the duo, fangs bared and constantly firing off energy bullets and they chased after her.
In front of them was a dead end, but luckily, the Lor Starcutter had already conjured a portal which would take them to the Base Zone. Stelle could also hear the gunfire coming from behind; the rest of the security department were shooting down as many monsters as they could, but they could only do so little when the literal wave of monsters was made up of over 500 individuals. Thankfully, they managed to thin the horde to only sixty or so monsters, but that still meant fighting off way too many of them.
Stelle knows she's only been alive for… three, five hours(?) at this point, but somehow she feels as though she's aged a century from the stress alone.
Her thoughts were violently pushed to the back of her head as an energy bullet exploded against her back. She suddenly felt far too cold and far too hot as she collapsed onto the ground and skidded across the floor, dropping her bat in the process.
"Stelle!" She could barely hear Arlan shout, and watched as her weapon was quickly consumed by a Dupa. Arlan grabbed Stelle by shoulder and dragged her to her feet, and pushed her inside the portal. She landed on one of the hard light bridges, and would've fallen down the large drop to bottom floors had she not grabbed onto the ledge. As she struggled onto to pull herself up, Stelle felt something bite into the legs and side.
"What the–!?" Stelle sputtered out as she felt another pair of fangs bite down her neck. Gunshots echoed all over the room, and the pain quickly subsided. Soon after, one man from the security department hauled her up, gripping an assault rifle with its other hand.
"The last wave of monsters didn't follow you through the portal! They stayed behind and started blocking it off with junk!" The man on the left said.
"They what!? Shit!" She tapped the button on the side of her scouter. Immediately, the Lor had sent her directions that would lead her to the south side of the facility. Those same instructions were also transmitted to all the security personnel inside, and they immediately began leading her towards the location of the next portal.
A few seconds later, Arlan burst through the entrance portal, his arm and sword completely covered in Darpas. Despite not having mouths, the winged monsters were somehow biting off small pieces of his weapon. Even when he discharged electricity to fry them, another set of Darpa's and Dupas simply replaced them.
Stelle threw herself to the floor as Arlan threw his sword into the air, allowing the security personnel to shoot the monsters off his blade. The blade tumbled to the ground, with the upper half having multiple bite marks and missing a few small chunks. "Oh great…" Stelle could hear him mutter.
"Brother Arlan! Are you alright?" She heard the security personnel ask.
"I'll be fine. What about Stelle?"
"I'm okay. Just need to catch my breath, is all…" Stelle muttered hoarsely. As she was slowly pulling herself, Stelle heard that horrible screeching sound. She turned around, and saw that remaining monsters had started forcing themselves through the portal. Only 17 monsters remained.
"Fire everything!" Arlan shouted, pointing his sword at the monsters. The security department cheered, and fired off a seemingly endless rain of bullets. The monsters from Another Dimension scattered, spreading themselves thin and firing off their own shots.
"Look out!"
Stelle immediately jumped backwards, watching with widened eyes a large Dupa, probably twice her size, bit off a large chuck of the floor she was standing on. The egg monster hobbled towards her, and launched an energy bullet at her, which she dodged, and then quickly countered with a punch to its forehead.
Her fist sank inside the monster, almost like she was attacking slime. The monster made out a sound like laughter, until it noticed that Stelle didn't seem very fazed. The host smirked as she wrapped her fingers around the hilt of her bat, and pulled it out of the monster's slimy body. The Dupa shrieked, and instantly shrank back to its normal size, allowing Stelle to smack it away, and send it flying into a Dippa, killing them both.
That's all of them, the Lor Starcutter messaged her. Stelle let out an exhausted sigh as a raucous cheer filled the Base Zone, and collapsed onto the floor back first. She immediately flinched as a painful stinging sensation filled her entire back.
"Geez, that's a nasty burn you've got there," Magolor said, his face only inches away from her own. Stelle shrieked and swung her bat at him, only for him to teleport to her side, floating above the ground with his legs crossed.
"Oh my god don't scare me like that!" Stelle shouted at him. Magolor simply giggled at her expense.
"Well, at least you're not dead! That's gotta count for something, doesn't it?" Magolor asked.
"I… guess so. Where's Dan Heng and the puppet?" Stelle asked.
"The boy's getting his wounds treated. He got shot in the gut by a couple of Shotzo's and is currently being treated in the medical ward," Magolor said dismissively. Stelle frowned slightly. "He got the last hit on the Sphere Doomer before he conked out, so he should be fine awake in a few minutes. As for the puppet… hee hee heee!"
"Really? This twerp is the host you've been talking about?" Stelle looked to Magolor's side, and found the modified puppet walking up next to him. The right side of its body seemed to be melting, and its clothes were scorched. Looking up, she saw that the dolls hat had a small fire on the top of its head, and most of the hair had been burned off.
"Since when were you alive?" Stelle asked dumbly. It looked like the puppet wanted to narrow its eyes, but its left eyelid wasn't working properly. All in all, it looked less like a small human girl and more like a crazed scientist that had been in one too many lab accidents.
"This, my poor, dear, ignorant, stupid Stelle, is the 83rd member of the Genius Society, the scientist behind the formula of de-aging, the savior of The Blue planet below, the bearer of cursed knowledge, and fellow scientist searching for such knowledge!" Magolor exclaimed dramatically. "And, in a sense, she can be considered your godmother! Behold! Madam Herta, master of the Herta Space Station!"
"You're so dramatic," Herta drawled.
"But I did a better job of introducing you than Himeko, correct?"
"From what I saw, that never happened in this timeline," Herta said, jabbing Magolor with her melting elbow. "But yes, it was far better than her introduction. At least you mentioned more than one of my incredible accomplishments."
"I'm sorry… What are you two talking about? And what's this about Herta being my… godmother?" Stelle asked slowly. Herta sighed.
"Really. You still haven't figured it out?" The puppet huffed, her voice box glitching slightly. "You were created on my space station. And for some reason, you are being powered by my Stellaron," Herta said rather vaguely.
"And that means…" Stelle said worriedly.
"I'm debating whether or not I should consider you my property."
SWORD KIRBY
Physical / Dreams
ATK - +119
DEF - +30
SPD - +12
BASIC ATK - Multisword Attack [Single Target]: Deals Physical DMG equal to 80% of Kirby's ATK to a single enemy.
Super Sword Strike [Blast]: First deals Physical DMG equal to 70% of Kirby's ATK to a single enemy and 50% of Kirby's ATK to adjacent enemies, and then deals elemental DMG that corresponds to a random Ultra Sword that Kirby's draws (Fire = Qlipoth's Lance, Ice = Jingliu's Sword, Imaginary = Underworld-King's Sword, Lightning = Lightning Herrscher's Domain of Sanction, Physical = Stelle's Bat, Quantum = Silver Wolf's Prometheus, Wind = Dandelion Knight's Primordial Jade Cutter) and is equal to 70% of Kirby's ATK to single enemy and 50% of Kirby's ATK to adjacent enemies.
SKILL - Sword Dive [Blast]: Deals Physical DMG equal to 120% Kirby's ATK to a single enemy, and 80% of Kirby's ATK to adjacent enemies.
Super Energy Charge [Enhance]: Increases Kirby's ATK by 40% until his next attack. Kirby's turn does not end when he uses this Skill, however, he cannot use this Skill more than 3 times in a row, but the next sword he draws during his Basic ATK is guaranteed to reduce as many enemies' Toughness as possible.
ULTIMATE - Bring on the Super Ability! Ultra Sword [Enhance]: Kirby transforms into Ultra Sword Kirby, increasing his ATK by 75%, his DEF and SPD by 35%, also, he gains 3 points of Copy Essence. Ultra Sword Kirby can only lose one point of Copy Essence at the end of his turn from this point on, however, he becomes Base Kirby once he no longer has Copy Essence. As Ultra Sword Kirby, his Basic ATK becomes "Super Sword Strike " and his skill becomes "Super Energy Charge." Kirby's turn does not end when he uses this Ultimate.
SONG OF SUPPLICATION
Light Cone / Nihility
Happy Birthday, Dark Lord - When the wearer applies a debuff to an enemy, that enemy is Corrupted. While an enemy is Corrupted, all DoT that enemy receives is increased by 12% for two turns. This effect can stack.
The artwork depicts the Three Mages Sisters in the Divine Terminus, kneeling before the Jamba Heart. Behind them, an army of Jambelievers can be seen, their hands clasped in prayer. The crystalline heart still has the Heart Spears stabbed into it, and Hyness is nowhere to be seen.
"Hey, Zan?"
"Shh."
"Zan."
"Quite, Flamberge."
"...Fine."
"Is something bothering you?"
"It's nothing, Franny. It can wait."
"..."
"What's with the look?"
"Flamberge, Francisca, quite."
"Of course. Japologa."
"Uh… shutting up now."
[It's about Lord Hyness, isn't it?]
[Zan's still acting like nothing has changed. I'm worried about her.]
FOUR ADVENTURERS: COOKIE COUNTRY
Light Cone / Harmony
The Adventure Begins - When the wearer attacks or is attacked, they gain Adventure Points equal to 0.1% of DMG dealt or taken. The next time the wearer supports an ally, the amount of Adventurer Points is added to the percentage increase of the buff, consuming all Adventure Points.
The artwork depicts the Lor Starcutter after its crash landing. Outside, Magolor can be seen waving a handkerchief at Meta Knight, Bandana Waddle Dee, King Dedede, and Kirby as they run down the forest path, and head towards Cookie Country.
It was a bright day on Pop Star when a mysterious ship crashed and landed right next to our beloved. Wanting to help, Kirby and friends enter the Lor Starcutter, and find an alien named Magolor inside. But what's this? It seems that his ship lost all of its power sources in the crash, and Magolor is now stranded on Pop Star!
This simply won't do! Kirby and his friends offer to help the poor alien recover the Energy Sphere's to get the Lor up and running. In exchange, Magolor will take them to his home planet of Halcandra, located in another dimension. Sounds like a fun adventure! What can go wrong?
Everything, of course!
WELCOME TO THE NEW WORLD!
Light Cone / Abundance
Hearts Full of Love - Increases Outgoing Healing by 15%. Increases Outgoing Healing by 35% when healing an ally with less than 20% of their HP remaining.
The artwork depicts Car Mouth Kirby next to a bridge, located next to a city overrun by nature. A family of ducks is standing beside him, but Kirby is more interested in the rusted radio on the bridge's control panel.
"Stranger horizon. Ready to go."
"Feast your eyes on a new world!"
"A new dreamland. A place where you'll laugh and smile."
"Along the way, stuff your belly and nap a while."
"No one can hold you back. New fields full of mystery."
"The sky's opened up, and there's so much to see!"
"Running wild!"
"Just let your heart take the wheel and show you the way!"
"Fresh spring breeze!"
"Adventure is awaiting you in the fields of a new world!"
Vocals by Neichel
Lyrics by Shinya Kumazaki
Composition by Tadashi Ikegami
Arrangement by Taro Nagata & Yuuta Ogasawara