Ribbon and Satin were carrying a platter of the Queen's favorite desserts, made by Adeleine, while Kirby was following them.

"Remember," Ribbon told him, "the Queen loves any kind of cake. So, while she's choosing what to get, you go in there and complete the crystal."

"Okay."

Satin knocked on the door. "Your highness, your servants Satin and Ribbon have something for you!"

The Queen opened the door. She studied them and shook her head. "You really expect me to fall for that?!"

"Yep!" Kirby pushed her down and ran for the crystal.

"Uh, that wasn't planned," Ribbon muttered.

Kirby threw the last shard at it, finally making it complete!

"Hey!" the queen shouted. "You weren't supposed to—"

The crystal began to glow as it raised itself. Suddenly, it seemed to suck its glowing aurora back in — as it shot a beam at the queen!

"Oh!" Ribbon and Satin rushed to their queen's side, just as a HUGE cloud of Dark Matter lifted out of her! The Queen lay on the floor, unconscious.

Ribbon grimaced. "That had to hurt"

Satin was trembling. "The Dark Matter's in here"

"I have an idea!" Kirby grabbed the crystal, and jumped out the window!

"Hey! Look out! There's a pile of rocks under there!" Ribbon flew after him, and caught him before he landed.

"Um, I guess I should have looked first, but Hey! The Dark Matter followed me! Eat this!" Kirby put the crystal down. It raised itself and began glowing again. All the black clouds left, this time exploding in a nice fireball in the middle of the solar system!

"Yeeee-haaaa!" Waddle Dee, Adeleine, and King Dedede were outside now, too. Adeleine was the one who had shouted. "We did it for good!"

"Um, no," Ribbon corrected. "The Dark Matter that came out of the Queen is still here!" She pointed to a black cloud by the window. That cloud suddenly flew off, making its own planet. The planet was so big that it took up the entire sky of Ripple Star, blocking the sun out.

King Dedede sighed with exasperation. "Argh! Will that Dark Matter ever give up?!"

"I have an idea," Kirby told his friends. He used his cellphone to call a star from Pop Star, then waved as it came into sight. "Here! Land here!"

It landed there, all right — on top of Kirby!! Adeleine, King Dedede, Waddle Dee, and Ribbon grabbed hold it, and Kirby did once it got off of him.

"See ya after we finish off the Dark Matter!" Kirby shouted to Satin as they left.

She sighed. "I hope you get rid of it, anyway"

"Why are there baddies in here?" Adeleine asked as she smashed some spider-looking thing. "This is weird"

"Yeah. Where's the heart of the Dark Matter? That's what we have to fight!" Ribbon was swooping all over the place.

King Dedede smashed another spider with his hammer. "This place is very weird."

"This way," Waddle Dee called to them, having just dug a tunnel. "Under here! I think this is closer to the heart!"

"I hope so too," Kirby agreed, as he jumped down the tunnel.

"I saw it!" Ribbon shouted a few minutes later. "The heart of the Dark Matter, it's that white thing flying around up there!"

"I can't fly," Kirby moaned.

"With me you can." Ribbon grabbed Kirby by his back and flew up. "See!"

"And a weapon?"

That was answered by itself; the crystal, which they had taken along for some reason, turned into a gun! Kirby grabbed it and tried firing. "Cool!!!"

Ribbon flew up to where she'd seen the Dark Matter's heart, and Kirby fired at it many times. After a while, it finally began to explode!

"The place is gonna blow," Ribbon gasped as she set Kirby down. "Let's get out of here!"

Kirby called the star again, and this time it took them back to Ripple Star, leaving Dark Star just as it blew up.

"Now we did it!" Adeleine and Waddle Dee high-fived. King Dedede just sat there, looking longingly at Pop Star, and Ribbon and Kirby, leaning against each other, were too tired to do anything but talk.

"I hope the Queen lets us rest before there's any kind of celebration," Ribbon yawned.

Kirby put his arm around her. "You must be more tired than me," he observed, "since you had to hold my weight for that whole battle!"

Ribbon didn't answer, for she was asleep!

That night, in the main throne room of the Ripple Star castle, the Queen held a special ceremony honoring the five who helped get the crystal back together.

"Your bravery is to be greatly admired!" she told them. "Very few would have gone this far to get the crystal back, and even if they did, they would have to be very strong to succeed! But you five did just that. You succeeded. So, as a reward for your accomplishments, we are happy to present you with these!" She held up a beautiful crystal on a thick string, putting the first one around King Dedede's neck. "You showed great courage by joining Kirby and Ribbon in their quest, and helped out a lot with your strength! You also left your castle for a time to help us. Thank you very much!"

King Dedede just bowed. "You're welcome."

She turned to Adeleine next, putting another crystal medal around her neck. "Believe it or not, you were the youngest in the group, Adeleine! You risked your youthful self for our sake, and pitched in many times with your artistic talents. Thank you!"

Adeleine curtsied. "I know I was the youngest," she chuckled, "and proud to be so!"

Now she turned to Waddle Dee. "You're small, and maybe not that smart, but very strong, and you have a good heart." She put another crystal medal around Waddle Dee's round body. "Hmm," she murmured, as Waddle Dee looked up at her, scratching his head, "It's a little big on you"

Next was Kirby. "You helped out the most, being the first to agree to accompany Ribbon, and you defeated the Dark Matter twice! Thank you so much!" She put a medal around Kirby's round self.

Finally, she turned to Ribbon. "And you, Ribbon, you may have failed in one major way, but you certainly succeeded in many others!" She put a medal around Ribbon's neck.

Ribbon did a mid-air curtsy. "I promise to be more careful with the crystal in the future, your highness," she promised.

The Queen motioned for everyone to turn around, and they did, facing the audience. A loud cheering applause rose up.

"Oh, one last thing!" The five turned to the Queen again. "Will you be wanting to leave for Pop Star right away?"

"Yes," Dedede immediately answered, "I have a kingdom to rule!"

Adeleine sighed. "I dunno I did leave all my art supplies in the woods on Pop Star, and I'll bet all the adults at the orphanage where I live are going crazy trying to find me!" she chuckled the last bit.

"Where did you go those few days before we started looking for the last shard?" Kirby asked.

"The woods," Adeleine answered, "trying to find my supplies."

"I just have a house to go to," Waddle Dee told the Queen. "Nothing special!"

"I'm promoting you," King Dedede told him, "And you too, Adeleine! You'll be living in my castle from now on!"

"Could you make me a princess?" Adeleine asked hopefully.

"Uh, technically, yes, but I won't. I sure need someone to help out in decorating the castle, though."

She grinned. "Just my job!"

Kirby had been silent and thoughtful. "I just want to go home," he said.

Ribbon frowned. "Already?"

"Ribbon, it seems like I haven't been home in years"

"Ah, well, I understand; I feel like that too, but don't forget me!" As if an afterthought, Ribbon shyly gave him a peck on the cheek.

Kirby blushed, and began stumbling around. He stumbled right to the edge of the staircase to the platform

"Look out!" King Dedede shouted.

Too late, Kirby began to fall! Waddle Dee, Ribbon and Adeleine lunged after him, but Adeleine tripped, somehow flipped over him, and crashed into Ribbon, leaving them all a tangled mess at the bottom of the stairs. Waddle Dee stared on blankly. Dedede shook his head and covered his face, thoroughly embarrassed.

"I take it you've never been kissed before," Ribbon mumbled to Kirby.

"Nope. Never," Kirby helped her and Adeleine up.

"Are you all right?" the Queen asked. Over in a corner, Ribbon noticed Taffeta and Satin trying very hard not to laugh. She shook her fist at them, and they stopped.

"We're fine," Adeleine told her. "Just get us back to Pop Star please"

A few days later, after they were back on Pop Star, Kirby was back at home, late at night, looking up at the stars, in the same place he had been when he first met Ribbon.

No shooting stars were out tonight A good sign, Kirby thought, looking at Ripple Star. It just looked like a small pink dot from where he was.

"Hey, Kirby!" a female voice whispered to him.

"Eh? Ribbon?" he turned around to see Adeleine. "Oh, hi, Adeleine! Shouldn't you be at home right now?"

"Home? What home?" she scoffed. "I ain't goin' back to that orphanage! I just got my art supplies back," she motioned to everything she was carrying, "and I'm going to camp out outside King Dedede's castle tonight. Just wanted to stop by and say hi."

Kirby nodded. "See you later!"

"Bye!"

Once she left, Kirby saw a small shooting star. It streaked across the sky, going parallel to Ripple Star for a second.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Wherever you are, Ribbon, Kirby thought, I won't forget you! And if you ever need help again, I'm here for you!

Kirby didn't know it, but at that moment, on Ripple Star, Ribbon had seen the same shooting star, as she looked at Pop Star through the Queen's telescope.

"Wow, that was pretty," she gasped. "Your highness, this telescope is great!"

She chuckled. "I know! I use it a lot, princess."

"Uh Pardon me? Princess?"

"Sorry, I'm just so used talking to my daughter that I call everyone princess'."

"Oh, oh-kay" Ribbon turned back to the telescope. "Um, your highness" she trailed off, "I think I see another dark cloud coming"

The Queen raced to the telescope, pushed Ribbon away, and looked for herself. "AAH! You're right! Maybe it's just a stormcloud, maybe it's something evil"

"It's a stormcloud," Ribbon breathed with relief, "but I have this weird feeling we're about to get attacked. I don't know when or how or by whom, but I think this won't be the last time the Dark Matter attacks"

"You're right, Ribbon. You're probably right"