Kirby started to wave his staff while Iron Mam wound up for another punch, the armored slugger darting for him with one fist drawn back. He struck out with a whip-like beam, and while Iron Mam took the hit, he too took a massive punch right to the face.

WHAM!

… And sure enough, with one half of a golden dragon egg acting as a boxing glove, she hit even harder than he remembered. "Ahh-!" the pink puffball gasped.

"Kirby!" Bandana Waddle Dee exclaimed, giving a glance back at his friend.

He went flying backwards, but didn't get all that far when Magolor put up a magic barrier to stop him, albeit with the barrier cracking underneath the force. He thudded against the surface, then fell back into the snow, one eye still wincing from the hit. "I'm okay!" he called, rubbing his face slightly.

Daroach slung the Triple Star cane and sent a barrage of starry projectiles at Iron Mam, but with blitzing fists, she fended every single one off in quick succession. It was nonetheless enough time for Digi to shoot her with his cannons, but a simple twitch of her body made his energy beams collide with her golden helm to mostly nullify what damage she would've otherwise taken. Bandana Waddle Dee, however, might not have been able to fire cannons or throw magical projectiles around, but his spear had further reach than Iron Mam's fists did, and he wasn't going to sit back. He darted up, albeit still looking rather frightened, and gave a jab at the slugger's eye while she readjusted herself, his target noticing such and leaning backwards right before it made contact. Both of her eyes certainly went wide at a hard metallic spike less than a centimeter away from one, but without missing a beat, she reached up to grab his spear's shaft and still kept hold of it as she swerved to slug him upside the head too.

"Wah-!" Bandana Waddle Dee cried.

However, she didn't make contact when Daroach lurched in front of him, swinging his cane into Iron Mam's fist to throw her punch off while hitting her dead-on with a set of starry projectiles. She punched the ground instead with her eggshell-shrouded fist, cratering it in the process and the surprise making her turn loose of Bandana Waddle Dee's spear.

"Move, you two!" came a shout from Magolor, the beginnings of another gigantic laser between his hands.

Move, they certainly did, Daroach yanking up Bandana Waddle Dee with one hand and flying out of the way as the other magician fired.

Digi, however, had other ideas. He darted over to Kirby's side and said a quick, "Kirby, my analysis indicates that I currently have more value as a Copy Ability than in my base state. By my calculations, if you inhaled me, I would grant you the UFO ability and you would have more battle capabilities than I currently do independently."

Kirby gave him a surprised, but still friendly, look. "You grant Copy Abilities? And you want me to inhale you?"

"Yes and yes!" the smallest Squeak replied, his UFO zipping around the pink puffball for a moment before pausing centimeters away from his face. "It's also good for my research! You have a black hole for a stomach and it has intrigued me for years!"

There was no denying that being able to fly more freely like a UFO would be helpful for fending off Iron Mam while her heavy armor kept her mostly on the ground, and he would still be able to shoot beams too. It certainly seemed like the better ability to have… and if Digi wanted to study him, Kirby wasn't going to tell him no. Without another word, he opened his mouth and started inhaling.

Digi, however, still couldn't help but to get wide-eyed under his eyepiece, staring in both fright and awe as he was drawn in. "So this is what staring into the unfeeling void is like…!" he breathed.

And indeed, it was an unfeeling void. Never mind the happy little pink guy he'd been conversing with moments before, Digi stared into abject nothingness and almost felt it staring back. If ever there was a feeling of being lost in the cosmos, a grain of sand on a vast galactic beach, a mere piece of plankton in the universe's ocean, this was it. All that met him was the primordial sea of chaos that life had somehow sprung from, a deep blackness with no color but simultaneously every color, an utter overload of the senses but somehow still nothing to be felt…

And with a poof, the smallest Squeak was laid out in the snow, too dazed to function. "In… de… scribable…!" he choked out faintly, the antenna on his eyepiece sparking uncharacteristically before the rest of him went motionless.

Kirby, on the other hand, found himself in a setup much like Digi's, his round body fitting perfectly into a golden flying saucer with flashing lights on the underside and a golden helmet situated atop his head with two antennae on either side. He grinned, zipping around happily. "I hardly ever get to use this one! Thanks, Digi!"

Daroach couldn't help but to look over, taking note of his smallest comrade's unconscious body. "Kirby!" he exclaimed. "Did you inhale Digi?!"

"Yep!" Kirby nonchalantly answered. "He asked me to!"

"Well, be careful! I have to get him back to Doc in one piece before school starts in the fall!"

The pink puffball only giggled, zipping into action.

Magolor, however, was busy firing a magic cannon into Iron Mam, which lasted several seconds… but when he had to let up, he still had an unamused eye peeking back at him from behind a golden eggshell. Not only did one half act as a boxing glove, but apparently it, coupled with her golden helm from the other half, made a good shield too.

"Nice try," Iron Mam taunted, eyes narrowing before she darted at him and took a leap with one fist drawn back.

"Oh, for heaven's sake-!" Magolor fussed, putting up a barrier.

Maybe Iron Mam didn't hit him, but something certainly hit Iron Mam. "Aaaaagh!" came a shout from her, Magolor's barrier nonetheless getting a noticeable crack in it from her fist.

None other than Kirby swooped in, firing a heat beam from his UFO right as Iron Mam's fist collided with Magolor's shield. The armored slugger certainly hadn't been expecting him to zip in so fast and thus didn't defend herself adequately, clattering onto the icy ground with a few metallic thumps. One of her hands still had its golden makeshift glove, but her golden makeshift helmet came ajar as she fell, and though she reached for it, a purple needle springing up from the ground courtesy of Magolor got in the way of her grasp. Kirby certainly wasn't wasting the opportunity, zipping over to it and emitting a tractor beam from the bottom of his UFO.

"Kirby, you-!" Iron Mam hollered in exasperation.

She cut herself off when a spearhead zipped in front of her face, breaking a bit of skin on her unarmored cheek with a bit of red trickling from the wound. A quick glance sideways revealed Bandana Waddle Dee as the source, jabbing for her again as Daroach dropped him, but as she drew her fist back, a rain of starry projectiles from the head Squeak above put her on the defensive. Without the golden eggshell helm, it wasn't quite as easy to shrug the hits off even if she did have a separate set of armor underneath, and her punch narrowly missed its target. Even so, its power was easily felt, Bandana Waddle Dee's eyes going wide as her fist whizzed just past him.

"Wah! You hit hard!" he couldn't help but to exclaim.

"You don't say!" Iron Mam sarcastically shot back.

Maybe Bandana Waddle Dee had more reach with his spear, but that didn't stop Iron Mam from springing at him as he jabbed at her unarmored face again, her other cheek getting sliced by the speartip as she swerved. Maybe another set of starry projectiles would've been just as fitting, but Daroach reached into his cloak to retrieve his wand and pointed that at the slugger instead of waving his cane again. A beam of ice shot out and covered her as she punched again with her eggshell-gloved hand… and though it slowed her down and lessened the force, it still hit.

WHAM!

"WAH-!"

The poor spear-toting one went sprawling backwards with his spear lying in the snow, a noticeable trail left on the ground and an icy mound at his head from skidding through it. Iron Mam hitting hard was to be expected… but maybe it was still hard to anticipate and brace for just how much force she packed. He was still conscious, but his vision was cloudy and his mind utterly dazed.

"Waddle Dee!" came a cry from the other three still in the fray.

Faintly, he raised one arm up, letting out a faint, "I'm okay…!"

Magolor, though, looked to Kirby with one eggshell half caught in his tractor beam and opened a black hole underneath him, calling a quick, "Drop it, Kirby! I'll get it!"

"Thanks, Magolor!" the pink puffball called back, letting his tractor beam go.

Into the black hole fell the eggshell half formerly sitting on Iron Mam's head, and she noticed too for how her eyes shot wide and she stared daggers at the one in the UFO. It didn't take long for her to break Daroach's ice, but by the time she did, she was on the receiving end of starry projectiles, magic spheres, and another heat beam. Whatever move she was going to make didn't go off nearly as well as she would've liked, the slugger stumbling and falling on the snow with a soft crunching sound, but her eyes locked on Kirby nonetheless. She darted at him next and leaped into the air, her golden gloved fist drawn back, but he darted upwards and moved behind her with the beginnings of another heat beam taking form. She noticed such quickly and whirled around as he fired, her punch instead fending off Kirby's attack.

Daroach, however, saw it for the opportunity it was and called, "Magolor! Needle!" as he fired another ice beam.

"Needle!" the robed one cried back, giving a wave of one hand and making one spring up from the ground.

The ice froze one half of Iron Mam's body, catching her fist underneath the golden shell but not quite getting the shell itself. She reached out with her other hand to grab it, clearly knowing what the two magicians intended to do, but Magolor's needle springing up underneath her put a damper on that when it hit her. Her eyes went wide, and a cry of "BLAST IT, YOU BUNCH OF-!" was cut off by another heat beam. The ice melted, but the beam itself knocked her backwards… while her makeshift golden glove that hadn't been frozen in the first place didn't follow. Maybe if it had actually been fitted to her hand, it would've been harder to separate, but a bit of jostling around without a target to hit made it slip off. A cry of frustration escaped her as Kirby caught it in a tractor beam, the snow crunching under her as she hit the ground. Still, she was going for it and sprang at the pink puffball, but when he floated upwards and a barrier from Magolor got in the way of where he used to be regardless, she gave it up.

A heavy sigh came from the armored slugger as she looked up at her 'glove' floating out of her reach, and she said flatly, "Well, I guess you did take it from me."

Another black hole later, and Kirby was dropping downwards to her level, still nonchalantly inquiring nonetheless, "Do you still wanna fight?"

WHAM!

Another punch sent him flying through the snow much like Waddle Dee had, UFO and all.

"No," Iron Mam said flatly, her words not at all befitting her mannerisms or her tone. "That one was just because I know you can take it."

"Kirby!" Bandana Waddle Dee exclaimed, darting over after retrieving his spear. "She got you again!"

"Owww…" Kirby groaned, his UFO nonetheless going back to floating as he shook his head.

"It seems like you still wanna fight," Magolor sad slyly, edging closer to her and giving her a friendly pat on the back. "Maybe we could-!"

WHAM!

She promptly laid him out in the snow too. "Zan Par…" Magolor's voice trailed off, his eyes staring blankly up at the sky. "Goppoko rigga vun… majaja…"

Daroach started to laugh, but when Iron Mam looked at him next, he quickly stifled it.

"That one was to send a message," the armored slugger mused flatly. "He felt a little too called out by me suggesting him and the other little guy in a UFO were thieves or backstabbers."

The head Squeak chuckled. "What wicked people.~ No shame whatsoever.~"

Iron Mam eyed him. "You're not a thief too, are you? You sure were eager to get your hands on-"

"No, no, never!" Daroach quickly interjected, one hand going to chest as if he were reeling from a dagger being sunken into his heart. "Such uncouth people! I could never!"

It was a bold-faced lie if ever there was one, and though she eyed him for a second… Iron Mam dropped it. Shortly, Kirby was in their midst again and Bandana Waddle Dee was making sure Magolor was alright, the slugger eyeing them all in turn. Kirby felt mostly alright, but his two friends that had been on the receiving end of Iron Mam's fists were still rubbing their heads and leaning on each other for support.

"Don't worry, Iron Mam, we'll-" the pink puffball started.

"You don't have to give them back to me," Iron Mam cut him off. "I made the bet and lost. You took them from me fair and square. Having an extra-hard glove and thick gold armor is fun and all, but I've gone without it for a while now and that hasn't stopped me from throwing this planet's strongest punches."

"Oh, we could tell," Bandana Waddle Dee said under his breath.

Kirby giggled. "Well, it wouldn't be a trip to Halfmoon without getting punched by Iron Mam," he said with a grin. "We'll take care of the dragons and this place can go back to normal, don't worry."

Iron Mam shrugged. "As much fun as it is to punch them, they're louder than I'd like." She looked to the cliffs that Kirby and his entourage had been scouting out not long before, declaring, "And I'm gonna make sure our yelling didn't attract more of them!" before darting off towards them.

Kirby and Bandana Waddle Dee both bade her farewell as she darted off, the armored slugger giving a wave over her shoulder without saying another word. Magolor and Daroach, on the other hand, looked more relieved than anything, the latter darting to the still-unconscious Digi sprawled in the snow. Kirby too followed, taking off his golden antennae hat with a poof as it along with the golden UFO vanished.

"Digi?" Daorach inquired, nudging the red UFO his comrade was situated in.

The little Squeak within started to stir. "Indescribable…"

Kirby grinned, piping up whilst looking down at him, "Thanks, Digi! That was a good Copy Ability for facing Iron Mam!"

At the sound of Kirby's voice, the red UFO shot up and started zipping around almost too quickly to follow. "Kirby! Inhaled! Me!" Digi exclaimed, his travel mechanism twitching with each word. Soon enough, it started spinning and doing flips as he darted around. "That was crazy! I don't even know how to describe it! I'm not even sure I can comprehend what that was!" He paused for just one second, his eyepiece clattering against the inside of the dome as he stopped. "Well, my antennae was transmitting data back to my devices, so maybe I collected something useful if my own observations weren't." Right back to zipping around he went. "Science is the beeeest!"

"Well, I'm happy to help," Kirby said simply.

Daroach chuckled haplessly, his own eyes darting around as Digi's UFO did. "Don't get too carried away with your experiments now," he said.

"If I can create a space with the same properties as Kirby's stomach, we can have infinite space to store treasure!" Digi, however, voiced otherwise. "Let me study!"

At that, Daroach perked up and shut up too, Kirby giggling some more.

Bandana Waddle Dee and Magolor, on the other hand, weren't quite zipping around, instead packing some of the ice and snow between their hands.

"I have a feeling Iron Mam and Nem would get along," Bandana Waddle Dee mused, putting a snowball on his head where he'd been punched.

Magolor shot him a somewhat incredulous glance. "I have a feeling they'd have a massive misunderstanding that ended up with them trying to kill each other, and my bet is on the piece of ancient tech," he replied matter-of-factly, likewise comforting his throbbing head with a snowball. "Let's make sure they never meet."

Bandana Waddle Dee thought for a second, then piped up, "… You know, you're probably right." He nonetheless gave the robed one a glance and inquired, "You were trying to get her to do something before she punched you, though- what was it?"

"I was gonna turn up the charm and see if she'd travel with us for a little while," Magolor replied. "It was worth a shot."

"I doubt 'charm' would've worked on her," Bandana Waddle Dee mused haplessly.

"Well, it works on some and not on others," Magolor brushed it off. "It worked on you and your friends, but not the Buccies or Iron Mam."

Shortly, Kirby came skipping over with the other two in tow, the pink puffball without an ability but nonetheless content as could be. "Are you guys ready, or are you still dizzy?"

"I'm ready," Bandana Waddle Dee said with a nod.

"Ready when you are," Magolor replied, throwing the snowball he pressed to his head someplace behind him.

Digi's UFO rearranged itself for a moment so his grabber arm could hold the radar outside where everyone else could see. "We're heading northeast," he said, looking it over. "And this is a big one, so we're probably in for a big fight."

Kirby nodded, giving a glance at the radar then looking ahead where it pointed. There wasn't much in the way of a ground to stand on between them and another set of snow-covered heights, the in-between mostly composed of a few pieces of grassy rock on the blustery surface with scattered trails of stardust and stars to step on further up in the air. A few Bronto Burts flitted about, but the air was mostly empty, and travelling on the grassy pieces below would certainly be more trouble than it was worth.

"Well, we can handle a big fight," the pink puffball brushed it off. "But it might be hard to fight a dragon between here and there if one that looks like stars jumps out at us! Everyone, be careful!"

There weren't any protests. Kirby and Bandana Waddle Dee took to jumping on the bigger floating stars, scattering stardust as they landed on them, while the others flew alongside them. Maybe a few of the floating stars were difficult to land on for how far away they were, but Kirby inhaling air to hover or Bandana Waddle Dee twirling his spear overhead like a helicopter's blades solved it easily. Just a few times Kirby couldn't help but to give a swipe at the stardust trails with one hand to scatter them like a mischief-maker at a pool splashing their friends, but no one really minded- Daroach and Digi were happy to see sparkling things and found them quite pretty, while Magolor joined right in with the playful dust-scattering. Stardust in the eyes, however, wasn't nearly as pleasant as watching the shimmering particles fall, they figured out… but after some hurried blinking, the scratchy sensation was gone rather quickly.

"I'm getting a signal," Digi piped up as they ventured. "Something is coming from the top of that range, close to where the next eggshell should be… and I'm having difficulty deciphering what it is."

"A signal?" Magolor inquired, giving the smallest Squeak a glance. "Out here? Could it possibly be our other friends heading for the same area, and you're just picking up the signals from their radar too?"

"It's possible," Digi acknowledged.

"Maybe some traveller got lost and is sending out a distress signal," Bandana Waddle Dee piped up.

"We should go help them," Kirby quickly chimed in upon hearing the idea.

"Maybe they'd be grateful enough to share their treasures with us if they have any," Daroach added, getting a somewhat puzzled (but still amiable) look from Kirby.

"Or maybe it's a trap…" Magolor's voice trailed off, his eyes narrowed pensively. "I mean, if it's not Meta Knight's group, it could be someone sending out a fake distress signal to take advantage of other people that mean well!"

Bandana Waddle Dee eyed the robed magician. "You mean kinda like you did that one time?" he inquired matter-of-factly.

"That just means I'm more qualified to notice these things," Magolor brushed him off.

"And they probably have spoils we could stea- rightfully confiscate- if that's the case," Daroach mused, looking even more excited.

The other magician gave him an amused look. "Are you really that hung up on things that glitter?" Magolor asked, holding back giggles.

"You're the one hung up on a fancy ship," Daroach shot back, likewise looking amused.

Bandana Waddle Dee couldn't help but to give them both an odd glance, more so at Daroach for thinking more about treasure than a potential traveller in distress. Digi, though likewise entranced at the idea of treasure, didn't say a word or hardly move with the beginnings of an argument undoubtedly taking form… but when Kirby turned to look directly at them all, Magolor and Daroach both shut up and stood perfectly still too.

… However, it appeared the pink puffball was none the wiser at Daroach correcting himself before uttering the word 'steal,' and he wasn't so concerned with anyone getting into a scuffle. "Why don't we call the others?" he suggested. "If they're close by, we'll notice, and we can say if it's them or not!"

That was as agreeable an idea as any, and Digi did so, his UFO's frame shifting around a bit so he could hold the radar device outside as he started up the call. Kirby and Bandana Waddle Dee huddled together on one bigger floating star, and the others floated around them, a grabber arm on the smallest Squeak's UFO holding the device out so that all of them were in view. It didn't take long before Meta Knight appeared on the screen with King Dedede and Storo beside him, the gusts of wind of the surface fairly obvious for how big blades of grass wavered and writhed around them.

"You're as high and mighty as the principal of a home school! I'm gonna-!" came Nem's shouting voice from someplace off-screen.

"Digi's calling and Kirby is with him!" King Dedede hollered to shut her up.

"Gyah-!"

"Ohoho!" came Marx's happy-go-lucky voice.

Shortly the jester and the armored axe-toting one were on the screen too, looking perfectly content as if nothing had ever happened. King Dedede rolled his eyes.

"Hello," Meta Knight greeted simply, shooting the two unruly ones a pointed side-eye.

"Hi, guys!" Kirby piped up, giving a friendly wave.

"Hey, guys!" Digi too piped up. "You guys aren't anywhere near a weird snowy mountain, are you? It's shaped like a big cone but it's got several layers of cliffs melding together with each other!"

The masked one gave a quick glance around. "Not currently," he answered, looking back to the screen. "I can see one-" he turned around slightly to show one far off in the distance, then turned back to his original position, "-but we're not close to it. Do you need help?"

Nem started to grin. "I'll come flying over, pronto!" she declared, giving a glance in the snowy peak's direction. "Just say the word!"

"No, we're fine for now!" Digi hurriedly clarified. "I was just getting some weird signals from where we're headed, and wanted to make sure I wasn't accidentally picking up the radar you guys are carrying! But you don't look like you're within even a single kilometer of our vicinity, so it can't be you! That's all we wanted to know!"

"We'll keep our eyes out from this vantage point," Meta Knight replied. "If we see something strange moving in the sky around a snowy mountain, we'll let you know."

"Be careful," Storo added.

"If the stars start talking, run the other way," Nem too added, her hand that wasn't holding Marx grabbing the brim of her hat.

"Give us a call if you need help," King Dedede chimed in.

"I solemnly swear I will not prank call you while you're in distress- hey, hey!" Marx started, but was cut off.

The video cut to looking at the sky when Meta Knight busted his sword out and turned it on the jester, the entourage on the other side not quite getting a good look at what happened afterwards. Storo was the one to pick up the device and give a friendly wave goodbye, after which the feed cut off.

"That blasted jester," Daroach muttered.

"He's good company once you get to know him," Magolor said nonchalantly.

"I doubt that," the head Squeak replied without missing a beat.

Digi, however, stowed the device away back in the dome of his UFO and piped up, "Well, that eliminates one hypothesis. The most likely remaining hypotheses are a distress signal or a trap set by intergalactic bandits to lure in unsuspecting do-good helpers…" His UFO shook a bit. "… However, I am inclined to think, based on the behavioral patterns we've seen thus far, that unprepared or stranded travellers in any capacity would not last long in a place full of ravenous dragon hatchlings."

Bandana Waddle Dee got wide eyes and piped up, "You mean they're probably dead if it is a distress signal?!"

"And there's spoils lying around unguarded if they're bandits," Daroach added, getting a funny glance from both Bandana Waddle Dee and Kirby.

Nonetheless, Kirby got a determined look, declaring, "We have to help them! It's not good for anyone to be locking themselves up in a ship to keep themselves safe from hungry dragons! They'll get hungry eventually, and coming out to look for food will be too dangerous!" However, he paused for just a second, getting a pensive look. "But if they did have a bunch of shiny stuff… Is it stealing if you take things that aren't yours from someone that stole them in the first place…?"

Bandana Waddle Dee too got a pensive look. "Well, you can't fight fire with fire, or you just get a bigger fire," he said, his eyes furrowing in thought. "So if you steal something that's stolen… it's super stealing."

The pink puffball perked up, eyes getting a bit wide. "That's even worse than regular stealing."

Daroach, however, had other ideas and chimed in, "Any thief worth the value of the items they steal isn't going to let someone else get their hands on them. That's common thief knowledge."

Magolor chuckled. "No honor amongst thieves, huh?" he said slyly.

"Oh, spare us your moralizing," Daroach brushed him off with a roll of his eyes.

"It's not about honor, it's about common sense," Digi concurred.

Kirby himself wasn't too convinced but nonetheless wasn't going to belabor the point. Shortly he was jumping towards the next floating star, the others following along so as to not get left behind.

. . . . .

Elsewhere on Halfmoon, though, Meta Knight's entourage followed along too, albeit not without a stir. The tall grass gave way to a winding path of stardust, some bigger yellow stars floating among the sparkling particles like stepping stones, and though there was no true 'ground' below it, there was a floating 'river' that seemed to flow beneath the path and an island-like chunk of rock further away. Some of the grass was sliced down by Meta Knight for visibility, and in a little clearing next to the stardust path, he and his company had paused.

"Did you have to stab me through both eyes?!" Marx fussed.

"Yes," Meta Knight replied, collecting the radar device from the careful hand of Storo.

The armored robot, on the other hand, had different thoughts. "You didn't whine when I cut you in half on the beach several fucking times, but this one here just stabs you and you start bitching," Nem remarked with a smirk.

The jester wasn't fazed. "I can still be annoyed by Mr. Chivalrous Knight here intentionally giving me a papercut," Marx replied, rolling his eyes.

The one he referenced wasn't fazed at all. "I'm glad to know you perceive me as a chivalrous knight," Meta Knight replied without missing a beat. "Thank you for your kind words."

King Dedede too caught on, getting a sly grin. "Awwwww, that's the nicest thing that's ever come out of your mouth!" he cooed, giving Marx a sarcastic wink.

Marx's eyes bulged out just a little more than usual, a cry of protestation escaping his mouth. "Hey, hey-!"

*If you did what this one holding me won't do and utilized my power, you'd have no worry of papercuts,* Nem's 'friend' chimed in.

Whatever words the jester was going to say was cut off by Nem's hand around him curling even tighter and stifling them while she practically shoved him into her hat's top. "Cut that shit out, you stupid-ass fuckbottle," Nem said simply.

Still, some muffled sounds escaped the jester. "Ffuggoffff!"

"That's right, fuck off," Nem said with a bigger grin and loosening grip.

*You will regret this.*

The other three watching couldn't tell if her words were directed at Marx or her hat, but based on the fact that Marx still grinned when she let up, they assumed the latter. King Dedede still stifled a chuckle at the jester getting shoved around, and Storo simply watched with mild concern while staying out of it.

Nonetheless, Meta Knight stowed his sword away and gave a glance at the radar again, looking in the direction of the next blip on its screen. "Keep an eye on the sky around those mountains. The last time myself, Storo, and Digi were hunting for the eggshells, Digi detected a disturbance and the cause of it was Kracko." He glanced up at the sky himself. "But I'm doubtful he's detecting something so comparatively benign this time, and knowing there's a massive dragon that can hide itself mostly undetected in a sea of stars does little to put me at ease."

Nem too glanced up at the sky, grabbing her axe and giving a playful swing (that, nonetheless, made Storo and King Dedede give her some room). "Well, if it's a giant mothership with kickass cloaking capability that's trying to lure our comrades into some bad shit, I'll still go invade them…" she started, then glancing to Meta Knight, "if that fits in with how things are here."

Meta Knight gave her a nod. "As long as you don't run off alone. I would accompany you and we would cover each other."

The robot started to grin a bit. "… Right."

*What a pathetic way of thinking. There is no logical reason to insist on providing you cover. He knows you're strong but is still choosing to treat you in accordance with his ridiculous concept of 'friendship.'*

Nem stowed her axe on her back again and grabbed the brim of her hat, snarling out an amused, "You're not convincing me of anything, jackass."

The masked one narrowed one eye. "Hat?" he inquired pointedly.

"Gyah-!" Nem cried, giving a jolt. "Yes, hat! Not you!"

"Ohoho, Nem's worthless hat almost got her into a fight with Meta Knight~!" Marx laughed, giving some playful kicks.

Nem only gave him another squeeze, albeit still grinning herself, and Meta Knight didn't bother to dignify the jester with a response. Storo was again staying out of it, but King Dedede looked as if debating whether to smash Marx with his hammer. Nonetheless, Meta Knight motioned them all to follow again, trekking off towards the next blip while slashing down the last bit of overgrown grass in the way.

"Do you really think one of those hungry little guys could be sending Digi signals, Meta Knight?" King Dedede asked as they started along the stardust path. "I know not all of 'em are brainless morons that only know how to yell if the big one Nem and Marx faced is anything to go by, but that still seems a little weird."

"They're matching themselves to their environment," Meta Knight replied. "The ones here look like they belong on Halfmoon, and the ones by the sea looked like sea monsters. It doesn't seem like much of a leap that, depending on where one hatched and what influenced it, one could pick up the ability to transmit signals to his devices somehow. Besides, these are an ancient race of creatures from a land so far away that we can't determine their origin." He glanced back to Nem. "And if we know one thing about anything ancient and far away, it's that their capabilities surpass our understanding."

Nem chuckled, nestling her hat down further on her head. "Well, I guess I can't argue with that."

*You can't. It would do you well to stop ignoring what you are and show them.*

Contrary to what her 'friend' said, she ignored it, and Marx simply giggled mischievously. The sky didn't move as they trekked, as many glances as Meta Knight and the others might have given it just to be sure…

. . . . .

… But that didn't mean, for a second, that no eyes saw them. A large bird didn't have to flap its wings that often to stay aloft while drifting on the winds over the ocean, nor did a gargantuan draconic entity have to do so while drifting over a planet in the vast starry sea. Those voices below had become alarmed when their sky moved the first time, and though the giant one watching certainly didn't care, there was no reason to tip them off. After all, easy as it would've been to swoop in and snuff them out right then and there, the smaller ones that hadn't been injured still needed their nourishment, and nothing was quite as good at providing it as happy voices with strong bodies.

If the remaining little ones on the prowl fell to them… perhaps that was a different story. Maybe the last thing the happy ones would ever see would be the sky falling, and just like everyone else, either fall silent in dread or scream frantically at the imminent end.

*You two have a few loud, happy ones coming your way. Don't underestimate them or you'll miss out on perfect prey,* a voice that no one else could hear reached out. *If I attack them, there will hardly be anything left for you.*

Two loud roars from different points on the planet below answered in return.

Author's note: Digi granting Copy Abilities was something me and TheDragonSaver came up with before I even started writing this story, and I had been looking for a convenient place to show it. (If memory serves me correctly, we were sitting in a corner of a Chik-Fil-A bouncing ideas around and I was sketching the third or fourth iteration of a, shall we say, 'boss' that appears much later in the story.) Of course we've had helpers, allies, friends, call them as you will, in the games which are Copy Ability-granting enemies that fight alongside you… but the idea of one of Kirby's friends being like "Inhale me for science!" was too good to pass up.

Also, skyguys05- I totally will not take that as an incentive to find some obscure enemies in some later chapters, ehehe ;)