NOTE TO THE READER: I did it! I finished! Now I have to go back and revise the whole thing. But, the important thing is that this story is now complete! Also, my profile has been updated. If you haven't checked it recently, do so! And finally, FanFiction has completely stopped allowing writers to show breaks in their stories, so I have put little dashes where breaks should be. This break problem will naturally be fixed in the revised version, which will not be uploaded until I am finished with it. See ya!
Chapter 87: Waking Up
"But how could he have, like, not been mentally scarred, or something, from his nightmares?"
"He is the first Star Warrior in history to survive a mission. He must have a stronger will than the others. I get the feeling that he was able to cope, in some way, with the nightmares."
Kirby slowly opened his eyes. Chuchu looked over at him, beaming.
"You did it, Kirby!" she cheered. "You won! Dark Matter is gone! YOU SAVED DREAMLAND!"
Kirby looked up into the night sky, which was an easy thing to do since he was already on his back. Everything was all right.
"Kirby, I'd like you to meet Gooey," announced Chuchu.
Kirby rolled onto his side to look.
"Hello," said Gooey.
"Hi," replied Kirby shakily.
"Looks like you're still exhausted," commented Gooey. "Well, Lololo and Lalala found my computerized warpstar, which informed me that due to your miraculous destruction of Da-"
"Too many words..." moaned Kirby.
"Sorry," apologized Gooey. "In a nutshell, the Fountain of Dreams is back to normal. You should take a long rest. You've deserved it. May your dreams be filled with happiness."
Kirby's eyes closed. He was asleep again in seconds.
"As for you," said Gooey quietly to Chuchu, "the LAP will most likely be hosting a victory celebration. You'll want to attend, I don't doubt. They will of course all be honored if you told them the story of your saving Kirby and thus the galaxy."
Chuchu smiled widely, but then asked, "But, what about you?"
"What about me?" replied Gooey.
"Aren't you going to come to the party? You masterminded this whole mission. You're the one who should really be telling the story. Besides, you give better details than anyone."
"Chuchu, you know how I am. I'm like Kirby. I don't like to draw much attention to myself... unless I'm selling something, which Kirby doesn't do. I wonder how good he'd be at marketing my warpstars once I've perfected them."
"Gooey! That's not a fitting job for the hero of Dreamland!"
"Well, what else would he do? He'll never be able to go back to being just another Dreamlander after what he's seen and done."
"Chuchu..." groaned Kirby. "You woke me up..."
"Oops!" apologized Chuchu. "Sorry!"
"But, now that I'm awake again," continued Kirby, resolutely standing up, "would you repeat what you just said... Gooey? That is you, isn't it?"
"Yes, it's me," acknowledged Gooey.
Gooey thought hard. He didn't want to be the one to tell Kirby that he couldn't be a Dreamlander anymore.
"I don't look quite how you pictured me, do I?" he digressed. "Few people alive today know what I look like. As a matter of fac-"
"Tell me what you said..." interrupted Kirby.
"Darn it," said Gooey under his breath. He then said out loud and slightly shakily, "You can't go back to being a normal Dreamlander, Kirby. You've obviously seen too much. I suppose you could become one of the Protectors. I'd be honored if you would work with me in my company."
Kirby looked down at the sand under his feet.
"Kirby, we could make millions together," encouraged Gooey.
"Millions of what?" asked Kirby.
"We could be rich!"
"Like... rich chocolate?"
Gooey stopped. For the first time in centuries he felt like an idiot. Dreamlanders have no currency. Kirby wouldn't be interested in money.
"Alright, Kirby," resigned Gooey. "I think there's something I should tell you. I need to be honest.
"Kirby, the job of Protector is actually not as glorious as it is made out to be. The truth of the matter is that Dreamland is an incredibly valuable place. Whoever manages to come to the seat of power over it will be made an obscenely prosperous person.
"Now, King Dedede has lorded over Dreamland for as long as anyone can remember. How a mere penguin has always managed to outlive every Dreamlander I'll never know, but it is a known fact that there were other rulers before Dedede came along. The prominent theory as to how he assumed power includes covert conspiracy and regicide.
"The point is... King Dedede, as you are no doubt aware, has always been exceptionally greedy. Since long before Dark Matter's invasion, Dedede has served two primary roles in Dreamland. One is his use of his mind-bogglingly huge army of Waddle Dees, with which he performs some protecting duties. The other is his payment of the Protectors.
"This means that it is the Protectors' job to risk their lives for the safety of Dreamland, while they are paid by a miserly trillionaire. Which is why most of the Protectors come from companies. We don't intend to get rich by being Protectors; we intend in part to advertise our products by being Protectors, so that we'll be able to sell them all across the Starred System. You see, the mo-"
Gooey faltered again. He had to put this in terms Kirby would understand. He had meant to say, "...the money and publicity we get from Dedede helps us finance our companies," but that wouldn't work.
"Uh, the... um... Okay, I've got it," finished Gooey. "By helping King Dedede protect Dreamland, we get to share in the bounty of Dreamland.
"Everybody wants King Dedede's job. He can pull wagons of gold out of Cavios by the day! He's got absolutely everything. Even his castle, which was destroyed, will be rebuilt within a month by his Waddle Dees. Ruling Dreamland is the best job there is. He's got us Protectors trapped. Although, I have reason to believe that, somewhere in Dreamland is a portal into a parallel dimension, known to us only as 'Mirror World'. When this portal is discovered, there will no doubt be a rush to rule that as well."
Gooey stopped, just now realizing how much information that had been.
"Did that... all... make sense?" he asked Kirby tentatively.
Kirby simply stood there, his mouth slightly open, unable to respond.
-
Kirby never went to the party. He always avoided occasions that involved large crowds. Chuchu had begged him to come and had nearly resorted to force, but Gooey threatened to lick her if she touched Kirby.
Unsure as to what to do, Kirby... went home, back to his dome-shaped house in Vegetable Valley.
The place was exactly as he had left it. His nightcap lay on the little table by his bed. Kirby put it on, got under the covers and went to sleep.
-
The party was being held on the roof of one of the largest skyscrapers in Neo City. Gooey had gone in spite of himself, but kept as low a profile as possible. The cheers of those attending filled the air.
And yet, everyone was quite disappointed that Kirby had not come, Ribbon and the Queen of the Ripple Star Fairies especially, as they had been hoping to reward Kirby with his own Fairy crystal, the ultimate honor the Fairies ever gave.
Coo, for some reason, arrived late. He flew over to Gooey.
"Gooey," greeted Coo, "it is an honor to be in your presence. You should know that I have taken the liberty to assess the damage done to the ecosystem of Dreamland. Approximately sixty-seven percent of all wildlife perished between the time Dark Matter arrived and the time it was destroyed."
"Oh, that's not good," replied Gooey. "But why are you telling me this? This is an issue for your department, the LAP I mean."
"During my travels, I discovered another deceased individual that you would most likely desire to view."
"Oh?"
"Come with me."
Gooey made his way through the crowd to his custom warpstar, which he boarded. Coo took off to the south. Gooey followed.
Titan Tower came quickly into view. The great grey pillar rose from the ground to the clouds.
Flying around the colossal structure, Gooey spotted something stuck to its side.
"This is what I have been meaning to show you," announced Coo.
It was Meta Knight... and he was dead. He was impaled through the forehead upon his own sword, Galaxia, which was still in activated form. The sword was stuck in the surface of the tower, transfixing Meta Knight to the spot. His eyes, which usually had a yellow-amber glow to them were now black as night. As Meta Knight was once a Dreamlander, he did not bleed, but his wings drooped below his back like blood on the wall.
Gooey stared, eyes wide.
"It... He..." he stammered. "Well, I suppose... this was the logical outcome... or result... of... I mean, Meta Knight lost everything during Dark Matter's reign: his warship, his army, his whole planet! And then..." Gooey remembered Chuchu telling him how Meta Knight had made a frantic solo attack before Kirby fought Dark Matter the first time. "Then he lost his sanity," finished Gooey. "Which was followed, after Dark Matter's defeat, by his will to live."
Gooey's eyes now focused on Galaxia.
This building is made of a magically indestructible material, thought Gooey, but of course this particular sword can still destroy it easily. At long last I can claim the legendary blade Galaxia!
Gooey wrapped his tongue around the hilt of the sword and pulled. Galaxia didn't budge.
"I have tried removing the sword," mentioned Coo. "Such a task is impossible to carry out."
"Maybe it needs a little warpstar power," replied Gooey, pulling with all his might while attempting to fly backwards at full speed on the warpstar.
To both Gooey and Coo's utter amazement, Galaxia pulled free... sort of.
Gooey stopped himself from shooting backwards like a comet and looked in horror at what he had done. About a quarter of the sword had broken off and was still stuck in the side of Titan Tower. The rest remained attached to the hilt.
With nothing holding it up anymore, Meta Knight's body fell far below.
Coo, still slowly flapping his wings to keep aloft, flew over.
The entire sword, hilt and all, suddenly disintegrated and was blown away.
A great shuddering groan suddenly broke the silence. Titan Tower was tilting in their direction.
Gooey shrieked a swearword as he flew to the side. The tower missed him by inches.
KA-BASHCRASHCRUMBLUMBLumble.
Meta Knight's body was buried by the fallen structure, which had completely fallen apart and now lay in ruin.
Pow!
A floating hand in a white glove shot up from the wreckage. It was followed by another, and then, one at a time, by a head, torso and feet.
"I'm free!" shouted Rayman. "How did this happen?"
Rayman looked around, rotating his head in a full circle. A smirk spread across his face.
"I was the only survivor of the tower's collapse? Well, I can't say that wasn't expected."
A strange cross between a beetle and a frog flew down to Rayman.
"Murphy!" exclaimed Rayman. "Where did you come from? Why is it that the first person I have to talk to is you?"
"Hey there, Rayman old buddy," said Murphy. He had a slightly high and very annoying voice; it sounded like a combination of a hiss, a snicker and a bark. "Great to see ya. Look, we got trouble back in the Luminshot System. Andre has returned! And with you away he's infected every single yellow Lum with his black disease. Our whole planet is in chaos! If you don't stop this before Andre finds his way to the Heart of the World, we'll all be doomed!"
"Then let's go! Time for me, Rayman, to save the day again!"
Rayman sprinted away with Murphy right behind.
Silence.
"How do his body parts float in the air like that?" said Gooey, thinking out loud. "What connects them? How does he eat? It's intriguing. I wish I could perform some tests on him, but he seems to be the hero of some other solar system, which needs him badly at the moment. Oh, well."
"I assume that you are not in need of my presence anymore at this time, Gooey," said Coo. "So, I shall be taking my leave."
"Very well, Coo," replied Gooey.
Coo flew back in the direction of the party.
Gooey flew down to the ruins. Something had just occurred to him. The gold in the top of Titan Tower must be buried under the rubble.
But, no it wasn't. Apparently, the room at the top did not fall with the rest of the structure. The gold had been to him lost forever.
I wonder why this whole thing fell over when I broke Galaxia? thought Gooey. Come to think of it, how was I able to break Galaxia? I did not know it could be broken! Wait! That's it! Galaxia must have been the original prize at the top of Titan Tower! All that gold couldn't have possibly been the reward for the victor. It had to have been something powerful, which maybe Meta Knight took from the room when he won, which he must have done, to claim this sword! Reuniting Galaxia with Titan Tower made the magic in each cancel out, thus destroying both.
A beeping noise was coming from Gooey's warpstar. Gooey looked down at the little screen that had appeared on it, which read "NEW PLANET DETECTED IN STARRED SYSTEM".
"What!" exclaimed Gooey aloud. "How is that possible?"
-
Giant footsteps disturbed Kirby's sleep. He awoke and looked out the window by his bed.
Masher, dripping wet from his stroll through the ocean, was standing right outside.
Kirby threw off his nightcap and sped out the door of his house just in time, for Masher's huge mace crushed it moments later.
It's after me again! thought Kirby. I'll need something very powerful if I'm going to crush it!
Kirby instinctively summoned two abilities, but was astounded when it actually worked! He still had his powers! Kirby summoned Plasma and Fighter abilities to become Hyper-Fighter Kirby! A green headband appeared on his head.
Masher lashed out again with his mace, but Kirby ran out of the way and focused on his headband to charge his ability.
Kirby felt a sudden increase of energy and strength, which signified that he had charged up once.
Kirby ran right towards Masher, who pulled his mace after Kirby, dragging it back across the ground.
Kirby ran faster and felt a second rush of charge energy.
Kirby ran right under Masher where the monster couldn't hit him and charged a third time.
Masher jumped away and raised his mace to strike, but too late. Kirby had already performed the fourth and final charge.
Kirby's speed was accelerated beyond comprehension when he activated his ability. Like a bullet he shot at Masher, landing right on the plus sign and pummeling into it with at least forty punches per second.
Masher could barely feel the barrage, but Kirby's speed kept increasing. Now, Kirby copies were flying from Kirby, each landing somewhere else on Masher and pounding on it as well.
Masher used one of his hands to try brushing the rapidly multiplying swarm off of himself, but to no avail.
Masher started thrashing around, groaning under the onslaught, which had now peaked at sixty Kirby copies strong.
Then, Masher finally creaked to a halt. Huge dents now covered his body. And, with a mighty crash, he fell on his side, never to rise again.
The Kirby copies vanished and Hyper-Fighter Kirby transformed back into regular Kirby. But, he didn't get time to wonder why Masher had suddenly wanted to kill him. Falling out of the sky came five more monsters, each quite a few times Kirby's size. The first was a giant umbrella with an eye, a mouth, a tongue protruding from that mouth, and a single foot. The second was a robotic humanoid that was mostly concealed in a cylindrical capsule. Third was a huge orb with a swirling vortex of an eye that stared at Kirby; the rest of its body had a checkerboard pattern that kept changing colors. Fourth was a round, blue thing, which had a big (but normal-looking) eye on its front, bat-like wings on its sides, and spikes on its back. The fifth and final monster was an immense red octopus.
NOTE TO THE READER: These are some obscure enemies! The first is Jumpershoot from Kirby's Dreamland 2 and Kirby's Dreamland 3. The second in Buu-Robot from Kirby's Block Ball. The third is Orbservor from Kirby Tilt 'n' Tumble. The fourth is Blink Bat, which is also from Kirby Tilt 'n' Tumble. Then the fifth is from Kirby Tilt 'n' Tumble as well, but reappeared on the Kirby TV show with the name Octacon.
Kirby looked around at the quintet. He'd need the most powerful thing in his arsenal to defeat them.
As Kirby summoned two Plasma abilities, he thought it would be a miracle if he could get it charged up while dodging five huge enemies; Kirby became Overheat Kirby!
Gooey had unfortunately never warned Kirby about Overheat, but it was too late now. Kirby felt a terrible hot pounding from within. Suddenly unable to stand, Kirby fell on his face, eyes throbbing. His whole body felt like it was burning up.
The five monsters got ready to strike.
Unable to stand it anymore, Kirby activated his ability... and blacked out.
-
"Kirby!" shouted Gooey. "Kirby, wake up!"
Kirby reawakened for the fourth time that day and was astounded to find himself in the middle of a crater bigger than Masher.
"Kirby!" continued Gooey. "I am so glad you're all right. An attack! How did you survive without your powers!"
"I still have all my powers," replied Kirby.
"What? But, how can that be? The star rod merged with Dark Matter when you threw it into the eye."
Kirby held out his hand and the Great Star Rod of Light materialized in it.
"Apparently, I still have it," he said complacently.
Gooey goggled at the star rod.
"How... Kirby!" he exclaimed. "This is incredible! A miracle! So this is why Nightmare sent those demons!"
"Nightmare?"
"Yes, Nightmare! He fled when you defeated Dark Matter, but has brought his company, NightMare Enterprises, into the Starred System on a new planet, which has been dubbed 'Neo Star', by King Dedede. He must want to avenge his master. He already sent five monsters after you! Where did they go? How did you defeat them all? And where did this crater come from? Did you get Crash ability or something?"
"I summoned two Plasma abilities..." answered Kirby. "...and that's all I remember."
"Oh, that's Overheat ability," said Gooey. "I really should have told you about that one. It functions exactly like Crash, but it also makes you faint. So that was what created this crater. And you annihilated all five monsters with it too. Nice job."
Kirby noticed that this conversation was no different than every one he had ever had with Gooey. Even though Dark Matter had been defeated, almost nothing had changed.
-
"ROB, this is it. These idiots may have stolen that trinket from me, but soon they shall quake beneath us!"
"But, savior, isn't that just because we're on top of an NME ship bent on destroying Pop Star? One that we hitched a ride on when it was sent from Neo Star past Aqualiss?"
"Yes, ROB," agreed Tac. "That is exactly why. On top of a gigantic UFO... This is the place to be. Once all below has crumbled to dust, we will be able to loot whatever we please from the wreckage. And, with your superior skill at finding items of high value, we'll become rich in no time!"
"I am very happy for us!" cheered ROB.
-
The party in Neo City ended abruptly when the UFO appeared over it. The UFO was gigantic. It was perfectly disk-shaped and black, with a hole in the center of its underside. Its diameter was as long as that of Mt. Dedede, which meant that it effectively covered all of Neo City.
The predictable pandemonium ensued, much as it had when Dark Matter first invaded Neo City, but the UFO did not attack. Instead, a message rang from it, amplified for all of Rainbow Resort to hear.
"SURRENDER THE ANOMALY," boomed the unmistakable voice of Nightmare, "OR DREAMLAND WILL BE DESTROYED."
-
"Perfect," said Gooey.
"What!" exclaimed Kirby. "They're going to destroy us all unless I give myself up! You just told me I can't destroy this thing! How is its threat any help!"
"Kirby," explained Gooey, "you are going on another mission."
"What?" repeated Kirby.
"Nightmare wants you, so we'll give you to him. We'll load you on the UFO, falsely secured. Then you'll ride it to Neo Star and go after Nightmare to prevent him from splitting Pop Star in two."
-
The send off was extravagant, but no one could go near Kirby, Gooey and Chuchu, who hovered over the rest on warpstars.
"You sure you'll be all right?" asked Chuchu.
"I'll be fine," replied Kirby. "I was just about to ask you the same question."
"My place is here with the LAP," said Chuchu determinately. "I'm now their greatest asset, replacing the legendary Pon and Con as the LAP's fighting force. Lololo and Lalala gave me back the weapons I stole from the weird monster clone things in their fortress."
Kirby decided not to bother asking what "weird monster clone things" Chuchu was referring to.
"Good luck," finished Chuchu, hugging Kirby. "I'll miss you."
"I probably won't be gone too long," replied Kirby, hugging Chuchu back.
"Okay, Kirby," interrupted Gooey, who was holding a sack with his tongue. "You still have my cell phone right?"
Kirby thought for a moment and the phone appeared in his hand.
"Good," continued Gooey. "I'll contact you through that as usual and I'll send warpstars with maximum tomatoes to assist as well, though they will take a little longer to reach you while you are on a different planet."
"Okay," acknowledged Kirby.
Gooey held out the sack. Kirby took it and got in.
"Summon something sharp when you want to get out," said Gooey as he reached out with his tongue to knot the string at the open end of the sack.
"Goodbye, Kirby," sniffed Chuchu.
"See ya. And don't worry," finished Kirby. "I've beaten Dark Matter. Nightmare will be a pushover."
Gooey pulled the knot closed.
Two mechanical arms reached down from the UFO and pulled Kirby, still in the sack, up through the hole in its underside.
The UFO flew off, disappearing almost instantly into the blue sky.
-
Epilogue
Tac had gotten off the UFO before it departed, disgusted that it had not attacked. His helicopter had picked ROB and him up and taken them to the "green star", where they found the remaining members of the Meta Clan.
All of the Meta Clan had made it to the "green star". They were highly distraught, to say the least, that their leader had committed suicide. Their plan was to take the reserve spaceship they had always kept on the "green star" on a voyage across the Milky Way. Their new mission was to find and murder the person who betrayed their Halberd plans to Gooey. This same person, they were convinced, was the one who gave Gooey the ability to administer special powers on a Dreamlander. But, as this person hailed from the Solaris System, an obscure solar system on the end of one of the Milky Way's most distant spiral arms, it would take a few years (by the Odnetnin calendar) to get to him.
Tac watched the ship depart. He had considered hitching a ride, but had not decided on the matter fast enough, so it was decided for him. The Meta Clan never knew he was there.
With ROB helping him find anything interesting, Tac searched the Meta Clan hideout. Eventually, he located a teleporter. Using the big glove from inside his magic sack, he punched in the code and stepped into the teleporter with Rob. A cylinder closed around him. There was a whirring noise and the cylinder lifted, revealing...
"Gold!" exclaimed ROB. "You are, by far, the luckiest person I have ever met, O savior!"
Tac's eyes had gone wide. He had found Meta Knight's secret stash in the victory room of Titan Tower! And what a stash it was!
"I did it!" squealed Tac with glee. "I'm finally rich!"
"We have succeeded in our first mission!" rejoiced ROB, moving forward to stand on a hill of gold. "Hooray! What do you want to do next?"
Tac smiled. He really liked ROB. The robot was so enthusiastic, even though its mind obviously had no real comprehension as to the enormity of the accomplishment that it had helped Tac achieve. To ROB, this was just a victory, in and of itself. This was simply business as usual.
THE END