The small island where the oceanic hatchling had attacked had become smaller on the horizon, and instead the collecting bunch with Meta Knight and Digi at its head found themselves amidst some rocky slate pieces. They didn't quite tower over the surroundings like the ones closer to the ships, but still they formed something of an island with their top surfaces peeking out of the water, some rocks rising up higher than others to create a labyrinthine assortment of slate pillars. The tops of the pillars were always visible and reachable with some climbing, however, thus not creating a space where only those who could fly were able to explore the place in its entirety. A slight layer of salt covered their cool grey surfaces, and the edges of the rocks were slightly damp from the waves with little bits of seafoam sticking around them. There wasn't much color to the solid landscape, for even the occasional bird feather scattered around came in black and white, a stark contrast to the blue water below with its green seaweed, pink and yellow shells, and bright red swimming Blippers. Digi's apparatus shifted back to a UFO, Spinni and Meta Knight wrung their capes out, and Storo shook himself off as they stepped onto them.
"Signs of life detected," Digi mused, looking at a black bird feather. "Based on our distance from the shore and the sturdy nature of stone, this islet is likely a nesting ground for avian creatures, or at least, a place where they congregate." He glanced down at his radar's screen. "And there's likely another meteorite-egg here or in the water adjacent. We're very close."
Meta Knight stole a glance inside Digi's dome at the screen too, then started off again. "Then let's not waste time."
"Yeah!" Spinni concurred. "Let's not let the birds fly away with a golden shell!"
At that moment, though, a set of black eyes peeked down from atop one taller slate piece, belonging to a Squishy who shortly jumped off with its tentacles trying to hug Spinni's face. The shade-wearing one gave a startled cry, lobbing a shuriken that hit it right between the eyes and promptly knocked it out cold. Its squishy body was probably just fine, but Storo nonetheless gave it a mild look of concern. Had his hands not been full with carrying the golden pieces, he probably would've propped it up nicely against a rock next to the water.
"Hugs are nice, but I'm not in the mood for a Squishy hug," Spinni remarked as they ventured on, giving the little cephalopod a glance back.
"I would've given it one," Storo mused simply.
"You've got your hands full, big guy," Spinni replied, glancing up at the golden pieces he was already carrying.
Storo didn't reply, simply giving a glance down at the metallic meteorite shell pieces as if considering whether dropping a shiny object was something he could bear to do (and then deciding no, it wasn't warranted). The sound of birds graced their senses, sounding more like frazzled chattering than anything, and the entourage kept their eyes out just in case any of them decided to swoop in and act unfriendly. If it was indeed nesting time, they probably looked less favorably upon unfamiliar company, but it simply couldn't be helped- the entourage needed to collect the meteorite pieces, and the birds needed to nest.
"Hey, Meta Knight," Spinni piped up, darting alongside the masked one.
"Yes?" Meta Knight replied simply.
"You've got your own ship, don't you?" the shade-wearing Squeak inquired.
"The Halberd, yes," the masked one replied. "And if you intend to infiltrate it, you won't make it past the entrance, nor will you steal anything."
Spinni looked flustered for a second, exclaiming, "Chill out, sheesh! I wasn't thinking of breaking into your ship! I was just thinking that maybe if we find out what planet these meteor showers are coming from, it'd be best to take all three of ours! You know, some extra firepower in case we run into a flock of adult dragons!"
"Our ship is in need of some combat-oriented upgrades," Digi mused. "It's not exactly made to be a fighting vessel, but there's nothing wrong with mounting some big cannons on the sides and giving it a big shield we can activate…"
"Yeeeaaaaaahhh," Spinni concurred. "Right now, we're kinda just stuck to someone, or several of us, staying on the ramp for a little bit after we take off. It's fun to throw shurikens, or watch Digi fire some smaller cannons, or watch the boss bust out the Triple Star cane and throw stars down while the ramp is closing, but it's just not the same as having a ship that can fight back."
"The suction beam was such a huge focus that I put those upgrades off," Digi noted. "They're doable, I just haven't… done them yet."
"I see," Meta Knight acknowledged, giving them both a glance. "Truth be told, I was considering that as well. If it's a space voyage into presumably hostile territory, I know my ship is capable. The Lor is quite a formidable ship too for that sort of purpose, but one can never be too cautious."
"We'll have our own little fleet," Digi mused with a grin. "And maybe I can get some inspiration from yours too! I've been trying to-"
However, something else caught their attention and the smallest Squeak quickly shoved that thought aside. A rounded red figure- a Waddle Doo- was slumped among some rocks, sprawled out like he'd taken a beating and a parasol, probably his belonging, laying haphazardly just out of his reach. If they were in close proximity to a meteor-egg's remnants, it wasn't unreasonable to think that maybe the hatchling that had emerged from it was still around, and if it was, that maybe it had been the cause of the hapless Waddle Doo's lackluster state. The four of them darted over, Meta Knight quickly moving him into a more comfortable position and making sure there weren't any serious wounds to be concerned with.
"Hey! Are you okay?!" Digi cried, zipping around the big-eyed one and giving him a poke atop his head with one mechanical arm.
The big eye facing him fluttered for just a second before opening, a loud cry of "Waaaahhhh!" and a starry beam following that Digi quickly zipped out of the way of. However, their company settled down shortly thereafter, looking around for a second before saying, "Oh, it's Meta Knight and some rodent friends! I was worried for a second!"
"That's 'the Squeaks,' thank you," Spinni remarked, getting a pointed glance from Meta Knight that shut him up.
"What happened, Waddle Doo?" Meta Knight inquired, eyeing the big-eyed one. "It looks like you were attacked."
"I was!" Waddle Doo affirmed. "I was out drifting on my parasol, and I was going to rest on this island and catch the sun's rays, but these birds with swords did not take kindly to my company. Then they saw that I could shoot beams from my eye and…" He shrugged. "Well, they stopped waving their swords, but they tried to carry me off instead, but I guess more of my beams convinced them that I wasn't a worthwhile kidnapping target."
"Maybe they just wanted to show your beams to their friends," Storo mused softly. "It was sparkly and pretty."
"They could've asked nicely and I would've been happy to," Waddle Doo replied with another shrug, grabbing his parasol and opening it up. "But they didn't, and I got upset!" He held the parasol over his head and skipped up a few rocks, onto a taller pillar. "And as nice as a stack of rocks in the middle of the sea is, I think I'd rather head back to the mainland now after that ordeal. Good luck on your adventure, whatever you guys are doing!"
With that, he jumped off, albeit still facing them as he did and giving a wave as he started to drift again. Spinni hopped up on the rock and shouted a loud "Byyyyeeee!" whilst waving too, and though Storo might've liked to wave as well, holding onto the golden shell pieces was more important. Shortly the shade-wearing Squeak was jumping down, and off they were strolling again.
"Well, if his account is to be believed, then the probability of us running into another angry hatchling capable of doing us in is still at its base rate," Digi remarked. "At least it was angry birds that attacked him and not a ravenous reptilian."
"That's what I was concerned about too," Meta Knight mused, albeit still keeping a close eye on their surroundings. "Though it's more likely that if a dragon hatchling got ahold of him, he probably wouldn't be in any condition to tell the tale based on what we've seen."
"Those little guys' hunger puts Kirby and King Dedede to shame," Spinni remarked. "And on one hand, that's impressive, and on the other, kiiiiinda terrifying."
"I'd love to study Kirby and the seeming black hole known as his stomach," Digi mused. "There has to be something to it…"
Spinni, however, shot the one in the UFO a quizzical glance. "Digi, my dude, are you sure you want an answer?" he inquired. "What if it turns out it's a portal to the netherworld or something? Do you really wanna know?"
"Yes!" Digi replied. "It's for science, Spinni!"
The shade-wearing one chuckled. "You're such a nerd!"
However, at that moment, the sound of squawking and cawing caught their attention, and shortly, from behind a bunch of rocks scurried, much like Waddle Doo had said, a bird toting a bladed weapon. Big blue eyes stared back from a mostly black body with a white belly and face, a red bandana was tied around his head, and in one flipper was a cutlass. He blinked, pausing on seeing unfamiliar company, and the meteorite shell search party likewise paused.
"Hey, that's a bird with a sword," Storo said softly.
And just like that, the bird was raising his cutlass and squawking up a ruckus, but before he could even attempt to strike, Meta Knight's sword was moving too and completely disarming their avian company. His flipper still moved, but he seemed to notice the distinct lack of an object held in it and the clattering sound of metal hitting rock and paused, Meta Knight's blade poised right against his chest.
"That was uncalled for," the masked one said flatly.
Their avian company seemed to get the message immediately, for he was squawking in fright instead of frustration and scurrying away moments later. Meta Knight stood down, watching the bird run away with flailing flippers while his cutlass sat uselessly on the ground.
"That one looked like a bird buccaneer," Digi mused. "So let's call that species 'Buccie' for short, shall we? Must be a migratory species that makes their nests on sea stacks."
At that, Spinni perked up again, exclaiming, "And didn't Kirby say they fought a giant bird to get their last piece?! That one wasn't big, but what if the little ones are just minions of the huge one?! If we follow them, we can-!"
Meta Knight poking him with his sword shut the shade-wearing one up, the masked one saying, "Stay focused and leave that poor mother bird alone. She's trying to cultivate a happy environment for her chicks and she doesn't need a bunch of thieves ruining it."
"But what about after the chicks fledge, Meta Knight?!" Digi tried to bargain. "Birds might come back to the same site to nest each year, but they don't sit on their nests forever! She won't mind if she's not using it!"
Meta Knight wasn't fazed, rolling his eyes as he kept on walking. "Then clearly you won't mind me carving your brains out since neither of you are using them."
"Hey!" Spinni protested.
"I am so using my brain!" Digi likewise shot back, zipping around as he floated alongside the knight. "I'm planning ahead into the future and using demonstrated behavioral patterns of migratory birds to do so! These rocks are only a temporary nesting site and the Buccies, along with their boss bird, will gallivant off into the sunset once the chicks are all grown! I'm just-!"
Shortly, however, the bunch caught sight of the end of the rocky island, where around five more Buccies were all gathered in a circle and hunched over, honking and chattering whilst apparently studying something. Their cutlasses were scattered on the ground around them, their flippers reaching into the circle for something that apparently occupied them all. Another one came running in sans his weapon, honking and squawking with his flippers waving wildly- the same one Meta Knight had scared off- and the others paused their maneuver. Almost instantly, there were quite a few eyes belonging to Buccie faces all staring at the visiting bunch, and a cacophony of squawks and honks filling the air as they all started waving their flippers and reaching for their cutlasses.
What caught the others' attention, though, was the object in the middle of their circle- two halves of a broken hollow meteorite around half a meter in diameter, one half slightly draped over the other and its outer shell gleaming gold in the sunlight. The Buccies had most likely been trying to pick it up and move it, likely to take it to their boss bird as a nest decoration, but apparently it was just too heavy for the Buccies gathered around it. It wasn't as big as the one Nem had rode in on, but a large shell of stone and metal certainly wasn't easy to pick up.
Before the angry birds could make a move or fully pick up their cutlasses, Meta Knight was on the move again, rushing forward and spinning to create a small tornado. The Buccies didn't stand a chance, all of them getting caught in it and going flying with squawks and flailing flippers. Several splashes followed as they were all thrown, heads spinning and dazed, into the sea, their cutlasses sinking and beaks hanging open. Whatever the case was, they probably weren't going to be putting up a fuss for quite some time, and Meta Knight landed on the ground again without a single scratch.
"Oh, come on, Meta Knight!" Spinni, on the other hand, fussed. "They might've known where the next one was!"
"I don't see how that matters, seeing as we also know where the next one is," the masked one replied matter-of-factly, strolling towards the golden shells. "We have a radar and its maker with us. We don't need to rely on quick-tempered treasure-hunting birds who likely see us as competition."
The shade-wearing Squeak frowned. "You can't let us have any fun, can you?"
Meta Knight gave an unfazed glance back. "So you were truly intending to force these smaller birds into taking you to the boss bird's nest. Am I right to guess that?"
Spinni balked, giving a slight jolt. "I-! W-well-!"
"Shhh, we can find it later," Digi whispered, his UFO floating closer to Spinni's ear for a second.
That seemed to be fine in the shade-wearing one's book, and Meta Knight turned back to the meteorite halves while carefully turning them both to have the hollow insides facing up. Storo scurried over to lend a hand, taking notice that the pieces he already carried could feasibly fit inside the ones they had just found like a set of nesting dolls. Markings and runes were scratched inside, glowing with a faint aqua color slightly more vibrant than the last shell they'd freshly collected from the oceanic hatchling, less haphazard and more clean as if the hatchling formerly occupying it had been more developed before breaking out. What looked like a small string of words was on one half, and on the other was another odd picture of a circle with an oddly-shaped gap in its center over which were three sets of two smaller dots. Whatever the picture was, it didn't look particularly welcoming or friendly… It wasn't even comprehensible what, precisely, they were supposed to be looking at.
"Call Kirby," Meta Knight said, glancing over to Digi.
"Calling Kirby," Digi replied, a mechanical arm inside his UFO's dome giving the radar device's red button a press.
Spinni, though, darted over and took a look at them too, exclaiming, "Sheesh! They're all weird! First was Nem's weird pictograph with its winged sphere, then the weird stick drawing, and now this!"
"It's odd, but we have to keep in mind that these beasts come from far away places we've yet to determine," Meta Knight noted. "Interpreting them isn't going to come easy. Or quickly."
"And Kirby isn't answering," Digi piped up, zipping over. "I can see their area, but the audio is jumbled and it looks like he's moving fast. They must be busy and can't talk."
He showed them the display- it was darker and tinted a shade of blue, with some object moving quickly past before the screen's picture shook slightly. The audio was muffled, hardly a sound coming through save for the occasional bloop, indicating it was probably a location underwater. Their view shifted around for a second, then cut off entirely- clearly, whatever was going on needed Kirby's attention.
"I hope they're okay…" Storo's voice trailed off. "Maybe they're running from something…"
"Don't worry, big guy," Spinni said, not too bothered. "They've got Kirby, a wizard, and a crazy robot with a huge axe. They'll be fine."
Wordlessly, the big Squeak nodded.
"Let's not waste time," Meta Knight said, stealing a glance inside Digi's dome at the radar screen. "We still have another in this cluster and we don't want it to be nightfall taking them all back to the ships."
That certainly would make things difficult, they supposed- seeing in the water at night certainly wouldn't be easy, and the comforts of the ships would certainly be beckoning them in once the dark started to fall. Storo fit the smaller meteorite pieces into either half of the new one, and though he made a big splash as he jumped into the water, he still floated with his arms around them to keep them close by. The entourage was off again soon, heading for the next blip.
. . . . .
Kirby certainly didn't have time to answer Digi's call as he and the other three with him darted out of the way of what Acro threw at them. The wall behind them had a fresh dent in it from the anchor the whale hurled with one flipper, and finding out what would happen had it hit any of them probably wasn't the best of ideas. Kirby pointed his cannon-bearing arm at Acro and fired, the small cannonball whizzing through the water, but the whale was faster and did another flipping motion before rushing right at him, switching to positioning the golden meteorite pieces on his snout instead of his flipper. Such a maneuver made it easy to catch the shiny objects in a black hole for their resident wizard, surely, but much to their dismay, Acro didn't ram Kirby like it appeared he would. Rather, the whale abruptly changed directions and went for Magolor instead, slapping the robed one with one flipper and completely nullifying his efforts. Bandana Waddle Dee gave a thrust of his spear to try knocking the shell halves off of Acro's snout, but while he did indeed dislodge them from their place, the whale flipped himself and caught them with his other flipper, swimming for his stash of objects with the golden meteorite halves still in his grasp.
Nem, however, appeared to be yelling something for the way she shook one fist and her mouth moved with steam bubbles coming out, but whatever it was, the others couldn't tell. Acro, though, certainly noticed and hurled a boulder at her with his tail, but while the armored lass didn't appear to care at all and charged right at Acro, not even regarding the boulder flying her way, another black hole opened that swallowed the big stone with the other end opening over Acro's head. The whale certainly hadn't seen that coming and took the hit, getting a stunned expression for a moment and dropping the meteorite halves. Nem wasted no time in darting for them while Kirby shot off another cannonball and Bandana Waddle Dee swam for Acro himself, the latter latching onto the whale's head to keep him distracted. Acro certainly couldn't keep a single target, so instead did another flip with his belly facing up before slamming his back down on Nem and Bandana Waddle Dee both, pounding them into the bottom of the cave with a watery rumble. Much more noticeable to Kirby and Magolor were the small rocks that came dislodged, drifting down as if the cavern itself might crumble if they got too rowdy.
Either way, Nem had hold of only one golden piece, and Bandana Waddle Dee was looking frightened as he sprawled on the cavern floor for a moment, but Acro seemed to notice that the armored one had hold of his special shiny object and started to thrash his tail. The metallic clunking sounds as he hit her weren't as loud as they might've been above water, but he was certainly trying to make sure Nem didn't take the piece she had hold of. The big pearl filling her eyeless socket came dislodged and steam bubbles escaped the hole, but her hand wasn't letting go of the half she had in her grasp. Rather, her other hand did let go of her axe and instead went to holding her hat to her head, for it had become lopsided… and she of course couldn't have it coming off.
Bandana Waddle Dee, on the other hand, was able to maneuver out from under the whale while he was thrashing against Nem, giving a few thrusts of his spear at the whale's underside that certainly left some marks on Acro's white belly, and Kirby followed suit by diving after the whale with his sabre slashing. That was enough to get the whale to stop thrashing Nem, but the moment he stopped, he flipped and rushed again, heading right for her. Magolor wasn't wasting time either, opening a black hole right beside Nem that she hurled the piece she gripped into, but Acro swerved right before he would've crashed into Nem and instead took the other half under his flipper… and her axe's staff between his teeth while he was at it. The armored lass noticed before anyone else and opened her mouth, which a swath of bubbles escaped from, and though they were underwater, it was plain as day to anyone else that she was having a yelling fit. The other three didn't quite catch the reason until Acro turned to face them, a certain sharp object glinting out one side of his mouth, at which point some more bubbles and muffled yells followed. A whale with an axe- certainly that didn't bode well.
Kirby fired off another few cannonballs, one of which hit Acro right on the head, but the whale too hurled something- Nem's axe, which, while not quite carrying the force that Nem herself put behind it, still flew fast with a glinting blade. The whale seemed to know that, collectively, they were all after his remaining golden meteorite half, but only one of them truly had the means to steal it right then and there, and that was who he aimed for- Magolor. The magician's eyes shot wide, but a magic barrier went up in front of him, and right in time too- one of the axe's blades was stuck through it right between his eyes, and probably would've hurt a lot had it made contact.
Several more objects were hurled in quick succession- a fanciful marble bust, a boulder, and an old chest- but Kirby fired some more cannonballs almost as quick too, breaking the bust and chest and somewhat slowing down the boulder so he himself could dodge it. A big thump was still easily felt as the boulder crashed into the wall behind the pink puffball, and more rubble broke free from the walls and rocky ceiling above them- surely, the rock wasn't quite as sturdy as it looked. Nonetheless, Acro was charging again, apparently intending to ram Kirby, but Nem and Bandana Waddle Dee were going for the whale too, the former latching onto his head and the latter to his dorsal fin. Maybe Acro would've promptly changed directions again and flipped, but with both of them (mostly the robot) holding onto him, he found himself unable to do that so easily. Kirby shot off another cannonball that hit the whale square on the head, making his eyes narrow and flutter for a second, but Magolor, on the other hand, opened another black hole with Acro's momentum slowed, and the other half of the meteorite was shortly out of the equation.
The whale himself, though, certainly wasn't going to let it fly so easily, and started to thrash around again as best he could with four hands holding onto him. However, shortly the cavern was getting much brighter as energy coalesced between the magician's hands, and Bandana Waddle Dee took that as a cue to get out of the way. Nem, on the other hand, seemed perfectly content to keep hold of Acro, who didn't look thrilled at all and thrashed even harder with the beginnings of a huge magical laser staring him in the face. Before long, though, Magolor fired, and Nem turned loose and gave a hard flap of her wings to get out of the way with one hand clutching her hat just to be safe. Acro, on the other hand, wasn't so lucky- the cavern broke apart with the force, alright, and Acro shortly wasn't in it at all when Magolor's attack blasted him through the top of it and clear out of the water. They couldn't see where the whale was headed, but it was probably to the other side of the ocean based on how he flew off into the air with the hit.
Still, with the walls collapsing, they needed to move quickly to avoid getting buried under the rubble, but between another black hole from Magolor sucking some of it out of the way and dropping it elsewhere in the water, Kirby blasting away with his cannon to split the bigger chunks apart, Bandana Waddle Dee breaking some with his spear, and Nem not caring whatsoever about giant rocks, three of them were making it back to the surface fairly quickly while the robot dove down to retrieve her axe.
"Wah!" Bandana Waddle Dee cried, poking his head up out of the water. "That was crazy!"
"Is everyone okay?!" Kirby exclaimed, likewise poking up. With a poof, he was on a raft again, albeit dangling his feet in the water a bit while waiting for everyone.
Magolor poked up next, floating a safe distance above the water and shaking himself off before trying to squeeze out his robe. "That crazy little…!" he hissed, shaking his head in distaste as he tried to get rid of what water he could.
"Magolor!" Bandana Waddle Dee exclaimed, glancing up. "You were awesome! You made that so much easier!"
"Yeah!" Kirby agreed. "That would've been way harder without you!"
The magician giggled, giving a friendly wink. "Oh, it's nothing.~ But if you really wanna show your thanks, you can stab Nem's other eye out.~"
The other two gave him a funny look.
"Why would we do that?" Kirby asked, smiling but befuddled.
Another giggle followed as Magolor slipped his hood off and squeezed it too. "That was a joke," he fibbed, envisioning himself laughing as he set the armored one's hat on fire.
At that moment, Nem popped up too, her fists in the air (with her axe clutched in one) and steam escaping her empty socket. "That was wicked!" she exclaimed. "Water combat is fun!"
Magolor shot her a pointed glance, albeit saying with a sweet voice, "I'm gonna get you back for that, you know.~"
The armored one winked with her eyeless socket and held up her middle finger on her empty hand as she replied, "I dare you.~"
"Hey," Bandana Waddle Dee cut in, waving his spear in the air. "Calm down, guys."
"Oh, don't you worry," Magolor brushed him off, albeit with a shifty gaze still locked on Nem.
The armored lass mused a simple, "You're awful, you know that?" while still peering at Magolor but adjusting her hat, making it impossible to tell exactly who she was directing the statement at. "All these beautiful people, and then there's you."
"Are you okay too, Nem?" Kirby inquired, glancing to her. "You took a beating too when you grabbed the first half. Acro knocked the pearl out of your socket!"
The armored lass laughed, sticking her axe on her back. "Gyahaha! Better me than you- I can take it!" Her gaze drifted upwards for a moment as she added quizzically, "Oh, you can shove it- who is wearing who here, huh?"
Kirby, on the other hand, took the radar in one hand and studied the screen. "Okay, guys, let's calm down. Especially you, Nem's hat," he said nonchalantly, causing the robot to smirk. "We've still got the big one left, but Digi was giving us a call. Let's see what's up."
The other three flocked over, Kirby scooting aside so Bandana Waddle Dee could squeeze onto the raft while Magolor floated beside him and Nem fluttered her wings behind him. The pink puffball pressed the red button, and shortly they were getting a look at the inside of Digi's dome again, the outside of which appeared to be more open sea.
"Hey, Digi?" Kirby said simply.
. . . . .
The moment Kirby's voice graced their senses, the other entourage was perking up and Digi was angling the device so he could get a good look. Meta Knight too flew over and hovered beside the UFO, while Storo simply listened from his place peacefully floating in the water and Spinni perched on the biggest Squeak's belly.
"Hey, you guys! Are you okay?" Digi inquired. "I called and you didn't answer, but it looked like you were on the go!"
Kirby grinned on the other end. "I was!" he answered. "We got another meteorite, but we had to steal it from a whale that didn't wanna let it go! I couldn't answer because we were really busy dodging anchors and trying to get the pieces!"
"Acro?" Meta Knight inquired without missing a beat.
"Acro!" Kirby affirmed with a nod.
"We got one too!" Spinni cried, Digi turning his UFO slightly to get him in view. "Some smaller birds didn't wanna let it go, but we showed 'em!"
"Did you guys run into the Buccies too?!" Bandana Waddle Dee exclaimed, leaning in closer to the screen with slightly wide eyes. "Those little guys don't like visitors!"
"Yes!" Spinni replied, then giving a jolt, "Wait a second! How did you guys know they were called Buccies?! Digi named them that!"
"What?!" Bandana Waddle Dee replied. "Kirby named them that!"
"We can both name them that," Kirby said nonchalantly, giggling a bit.
"You're not even gonna fight for naming rights?" Nem inquired, giving him an incredulous look.
"We can share," Kirby replied nonchalantly.
"Simultaneous thought processing of the same classifying terminology is possible," Digi likewise wasn't too concerned, floating closer to Storo and Spinni. "But yes, we met the Buccies! They were trying to carry it off of a small slate sea stack and we didn't let them!"
"Then let me see!" Magolor said on the other end, the screen shifting more in his direction as Kirby presumably handed him the device. "Ours are gonna have to wait, but I can decipher yours!"
A mechanical arm emerged inside Digi's dome that quickly transferred the device outside and angled it away from himself as the smallest Squeak said, "Move the pieces so Magolor can see, guys!"
Meta Knight grabbed the smaller pieces from inside the bigger halves that Storo had them stowed in and moved them to the biggest Squeak's belly, where Spinni kept a careful hold of them so as to not let any fall into the water. Digi floated over the half with the runes on it, angling the device downwards for a good view.
"Well, there's more here than there was on the last one you guys showed me," Magolor's voice came from the device. "Let's see… 'For the pride of She who reigns true throughout the heavens.' The 'she' here is written with a little extra emphasis, like it's a really important lady."
"So the one behind this is a lady," Nem's voice came from the device. "Good to know! Now I can insult her bitch-ass a little more personally-!"
"Hey!" Kirby's voice quickly cut in.
Spinni couldn't help but to snicker slightly, but the rest of them elected to ignore the crass words. They couldn't see what was happening with how Digi had the device angled, but they had to imagine that Kirby was giving her a pointed glance and she was shutting up fairly quickly.
"Is that it?" Digi inquired, still angling the device down.
"That's it," Magolor affirmed. "Do you have other pieces for this one I need to look at?"
The one in the UFO zipped over to the other half, angling the device at the bizarre picture. "Well, unless you know what this is, no."
A few exclamations came from the other device the moment he got it in view.
"That one's even weirder!" Bandana Waddle Dee cried on the other end.
Spinni shot a glance at the device. "That's what I thought too!" he exclaimed.
"If that's a person, they look hideous," flatly came Nem's voice.
"That looks like if I tried to draw Void but I got hit with a rock halfway through," Kirby's voice mused. "I don't wanna hurt anyone's feelings… but that is a bad picture."
"And you say me and Nem come up with weird ideas," Magolor's voice remarked. "But no, Digi, that's not something I recognize."
At that, Digi reclaimed the device into his UFO's dome and floated where Spinni and Meta Knight could get into the frame too, the former still keeping hold of the smaller meteorite pieces and the latter flapping just above Storo's belly. The screen's display shifted back to Kirby being in the center, the other three still flocking around him closely.
"Well, we have one more and we're getting closer to it," Digi said simply. "You guys haven't claimed the big one yet, have you?"
"Not yet," Kirby answered. "But that's the one we're going for now! Wish us luck!"
"Be careful," Meta Knight said, getting closer to the device. "If the little one that came out of it is still around, don't let your guard down."
Kirby giggled. "We won't! We've been doing pretty-"
However, at that moment, Storo started to move a bit more erratically and kick his feet faster, exclaiming, "Look out, guys!"
Meta Knight's eyes snapped up before anyone else's, and he quickly noticed the source of Storo's concern- the figure of a certain black and white whale falling straight towards them that only the knight himself really recognized. Spinni and Digi looked up soon thereafter, shouts of dismay coming from them as Spinni in particular leaped into the water and tried to push Storo's bigger form out of the way as best he could.
"Large aquatic mammalian life form in an abnormal aerial environment detected!" Digi shouted. "Dropping at an acceleration of approximately nine meters per second in accordance with gravitational pulls-!"
Meta Knight took to the air in a flash, practically turning into a whirlwind as he rammed Acro's limp body aside so as to not let it drop directly on Storo, but a big splash still resulted that practically swamped them all.
. . . . .
The video to Kirby's bunch quickly became a mess before shutting off, what looked like a large wave washing over Digi and jostling the smallest Squeak around within his UFO, but one thing they had seen clearly was Acro's limp form falling into the water in the other entourage's immediate vicinity. Digi's body must have inadvertently slammed into the device and pressed the button to shut it off, for they certainly got an up-close look at his left eye as his eyepiece came off and slammed into the camera lower down. The four in Kirby's bunch shared a glance.
"Well, I won't wonder about Acro," Kirby mused simply, stowing the device on his side again.
"You must've had fun with that one," Nem mused, shooting Magolor a glance and getting a mischievous wink in return.
"You think they'll be okay?" Bandana Waddle Dee asked softly. "I mean, if Acro wakes up and sees them carrying around several of the same thing we took from him…"
"They have Meta Knight around- they'll be fine," Kirby said nonchalantly. "And we still have the big one to get! You guys are doing okay, right?"
"Don't you worry about me," Nem easily replied.
"Doing fine here!" Magolor affirmed.
"I'm ready!" Bandana Waddle Dee exclaimed.
Kirby nodded, turning to face north and pointing his sabre ahead with a grin. "Then let's keep going," he said happily. "Onwards!"
Author's note: First of all, glory be that the site is back.
I've played Kirby 64 (I got Dream Collection for the Wii, where it is included), and maybe it's not normal to be so pissed off at an acrobatic orca… but good lord, that freaking whale made me growl and cuss more than Miracle Matter or our beloved bleeding eyeball angel did, and it's not even close. No other boss has pissed me off quite like Acro- I was less frustrated getting wrecked in RtDLD's True Arena over and over again trying to get to Magolor Soul. I just… had to have him in here, being a pest.
Also, thank you to skyguys05 and merendinoemiliano, y'all are appreciated :) To the former, if you simply need to know- Marx appears in chapter 12, which has been written, but I'm holding off on posting it until I get a bit further ahead so I have a reasonably fresh set of eyes for proofreading. That is to say, he is ready and you'll get him in the near future ;)