(This is an old story I wrote back in the summer of 2000 based off of the game Kirby 64: The Crystal Shards. I posted it here so that a friend could read it, but feel free to comment on it if you'd like.)

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Ripple Star, the beautiful, though small, heart-shaped planet of the fairies, a place where nothing could go wrong...

Or so Ribbon had thought.

One bright, sunny day on Ripple Star, all that changed drastically!

Ribbon had been outside, as were most of her freinds, when a sudden shadow overcame them.

"That's odd," a fairy, named Satin, commented, watching the dark cloud that was approaching. "They didn't say anything about rain today..."

"Oh, no!" another fairy, Taffeta, cried. "That isn't just any cloud! That's the Dark Matter!"

All the fairies knew of the Dark Matter. It was an evil force known for wreaking havoc throughout the galaxy, and it appeared that Ripple Star was its next target!

"What should we do?!" Satin cried.

Just then, the three fairies heard the Queen crying from her tower. "Help! Help! Someone come! Please!"

Without further ado, the three fairies raced up to the top of the tower to the Queen. She frantically waved toward the fairies' most prized possession, the Crystal.

"Please," she begged, "if this Crystal falls into the wrong hands, this solar system is doomed! We have to evacuate it from this planet."

"I'll do it!" Ribbon, the youngest of the fairies, volunteered.

"But you're too young," Satin protested.

"Let her do it," the Queen broke in. "I'm sure she can; she's young and strong. Do not let ANY harm befall this crystal!"

Ribbon sat on the crystal, and it took off, to the far corners of the solar system, with the Queen's words ringing in her ears: Do not let ANY harm befall this crystal. ANY harm.

She wouldn't let anything befall it. Ribbon swore to herself that she wouldn't.

It wasn't until then that she noticed that three one-eyed black clouds were following her. Dark Matter followed me!! Ribbon thought in a panic. Well, they're not going to get the crystal!

Ribbon dodged to the left, the right, left again, then the three ganged up and hit the crystal at the same time.

The crystal couldn't take that.

It shattered, its pieces being flung to the far corners of the solar system.

And Ribbon was flung to the nearest planet, Pop Star..............

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It was a beautiful night on Pop Star, made all the more beautiful by the shooting starts falling everywhere!

Kirby was sitting outside, enjoying the night, when something suddenly hit him, hard, from behind. So hard that he went flying for a few feet.

"Ow" Kirby muttered in his own language, "What was that?!"

"Oooh" It sounded like a voice

Kirby jumped around to see a little human-like looking girl. Her hair was pink, she wore a red dress and matching bow, and she had wings

A fairy?!

Just then, something smaller hit Kirby from behind.

It was a small crystal.

Kirby examined it. It looked like it had been broken off a bigger one An asteroid, perhaps?

The fairy began to sniffle then. She was stroking something that looked like the crystal Kirby was holding.

"Do you need this?" Kirby asked in his strange-sounding English.

She looked up. "Yes!"

Kirby tossed it to her, just as she tossed hers to him, the two crystals met in mid-air, and joined together to make a slightly bigger crystal.

The fairy looked happy for a minute, then she just sat staring sadly at her crystal.

"Is something wrong?" Kirby asked.

She nodded. "My name's Ribbon, and I'm from the planet Ripple Star. Our planet was just overtaken by the Dark Matter, and I escaped with this crystal" she started to sob then, and had to stop.

"What happened?" Kirby demanded. "Is that the crystal?"

She nodded, and sniffled. "Y, yes. Part of it. It shattered! I promised the Queen I wouldn't let anything happen to it, and I did! I can't go back home, not without the full crystal! Now all the shards are scattered throughout the solar system; that's them falling in the sky," she added, motioning to the falling stars.'

"I'll help you!" Kirby volunteered. "I've been on a lot of adventures, so I can help you get all the shards back!"

"You will? You really will? Thank you!!" Ribbon really brightened up at that!

"We can start right now," Kirby suggested, sitting up, but Ribbon held him back.

"It's just past midnight, we should start tomorrow when we can see better."

"Uh, well, okay."

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The next morning, Ribbon and Kirby set off to find the Crystal Shards. Kirby didn't mind traveling at all; he loved sucking up baddies and copying their power.

"Have you ever tried mixing power?" Ribbon asked. "Try swallowing a bomb baddy and rock baddy to see what happens."

Kirby did and discovered he could throw dynamite!!

"Wow! This is cool! I wonder what else I can do Hey, think I should mix -- "

Then the dynamite exploded, leaving Kirby and Ribbon soot-covered.

Ribbon coughed. "Just remind me to fly away next time you do that"

On their path, Kirby and Ribbon found a few shards, and near the edge of the woods, a little creature similar to Kirby discovered a shard too

Waddle Dee had come into the meadow just to take a walk, but right in the path, he discovered a little broken piece of a very fine crystal.

Wow, he thought, I'll bet this is worth a lot! It's pretty and shiny and huh?

Waddle Dee was sure he'd seen something to his right. But he looked, nothing.

He went back to thinking about the crystal. It's all smooth and has a reflection of a one-eyed planet in it? Or is that something behind

Waddle Dee turned around, to see a one-eyed black cloud had appeared behind him!!

He panicked, not knowing what to do, as the Dark Matter attacked and overcame him

Kirby was running along, hoping to get out of the heat of the day, and Ribbon was chasing a butterfly, when the two came upon Waddle Dee, lying senseless on the road.

"Hold up!" Kirby told Ribbon. "I know this guy."

"You do? What happened to him?"

Waddle Dee started to move. But something about him was different Especially when Waddle Dee sat up, Kirby realized his face had turned into one BIG eye

Ribbon screamed. "The Dark Matter!! He was taken by the Dark Matter!"

Waddle Dee noticed the crystal Ribbon was holding, and tried to lunge at her. But Kirby got in the way.

"You want a fight, you get a fight!" Kirby pushed him down.

And so it went Until Waddle Dee gave out, and gave up his Crystal Shard. The Dark Matter left him and flew off, and Kirby gave the Crystal to Ribbon.

She smiled. "It's getting bigger"

Waddle Dee watched them, having no clue what was going on. "Who're you?" he asked Ribbon. "What's up with those Crystals?"

Kirby and Ribbon told him what was going on, and Waddle Dee brightened a little. "Can I help out?! I know I could help you, Kirby!"

"Well okay," Kirby agreed. "You can come with us!"

The threesome went into the woods, where another adventure awaited them

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Deep in the woods, a young girl was trying to find the perfect thing to paint.

"This tree looks nice," she thought aloud. "Or, this one Hmm, how about"

The girl was, of course, Adeleine. She finally settled on a tree stump, and began painting the scene in front of her.

She had been painting for only a few seconds when something landed beside her.

Adeleine turned to look, but saw nothing, until she looked down.

A crystal!

She picked it up to study it. Wow, she thought, this crystal is really pretty. Maybe I'll paint it instead! Adeleine turned back to her painting pad to see

A one-eyed black cloud coming out of it!

She screamed, and tried to scramble away, but the Dark Matter was faster, knocked her down, and overcame her

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"Anyone need a drink?" Kirby asked Ribbon and Waddle Dee. "I just love this combo of electric and ice!"

"Do you have any cake?" Ribbon asked. "I could go for cake and milk right now."

"I just want a soda," Waddle Dee added.

"Sure thing." Kirby turned himself into a refrigerator, and Ribbon and Waddle Dee helped themselves.

"Mmm, we could have a picnic if we keep up like this!" Ribbon chuckled between bites.

"Er Maybe" Kirby quickly turned himself into his normal pink body. "We should be moving along now"

After defeating a giant pink ball on a spring, Kirby, Ribbon, and Waddle Dee came to a small clearing in the woods. On a tree stump sat a painting pad on an easel, with paintbrushes and bottles of paint all around it, but it seemed that no one was around

"Uh, oh, this could be trouble," Kirby murmured, "That stuff looks like Adeleine's, but where is she?! It's not like her to just leave her things there"

"And who is this Adeleine' you speak of?" a female's voice asked, as a blue paintbrush blocked Kirby's path.

Kirby gulped, and looked up, into the face of a very angry-looking Adeleine.

"Hand over that crystal!" she demanded. "None of you are leaving until you give me your Crystal Shards!"

"Adeleine?" Waddle Dee asked. "Are you okay?"

"Just GIVE ME THOSE CRYSTALS!"

Kirby scowled at her. "I don't know what's overcome you, Adeleine; you're meaner than usual, but we're not giving them up without a battle!"

"So be it," Adeleine snickered, "but Dark Matter always wins"

"Dark Matter!" Kirby and Ribbon gasped.

"She must have been taken over by Dark Matter too," Ribbon whispered, scared.

"Let's just battle to see who gets the crystals!" Kirby demanded. To himself he added: And let's see if I can knock the Dark Matter out of you, like I did with Waddle Dee

"Of course we can battle," Adeleine hopped onto the tree stump with her easel, "but we all know you won't win!" With that she quickly painted a baddie, who popped out of the painting, just to have Kirby defeat it.

"Is that the best you can do?!" Kirby mocked.

"Grr" Adeleine was shaking with anger, and she painted another baddie, who also popped out. Kirby defeated it, too. She did another, and another, and one more, but Kirby got them all.

"Try this on for size!" she shouted as she painted a bigger one.

It took more than one hit, but Kirby got it too!

"GRR! This one will do you in for sure!" Adeleine painted something that looked like the Dark Matter, and it came to life as well

Kirby tried to hit the Dark Matter' but he couldn't; it was a cloud! Adeleine let out a sinister laugh. "Looks like I win!"

"Wait!" Kirby had an idea. He spit out his electric and ice power at the Dark Matter', and defeated it!!

"WHAT?!??!?!?!?!?!?!?!" Adeleine roared. "How did you.?!?! Grr! You've made me very mad now, little puffball!" Adeleine jumped from the tree stump and attacked Kirby herself!

No problem for Kirby He just flung her away, she hit a tree, which knocked her out, and knocked the Dark Matter out of her too. It flew off, knowing Kirby had won.

Kirby picked up the shard Adeleine had dropped and gave it to Ribbon. She seemed quite pleased. "Getting even bigger now"

"Ooh" Adeleine moaned, "my head" she opened her eyes and realized she was against a tree. Then she saw the others there with her. "Huh? Kirby? Waddle Dee? How did you get here? Why does my head hurt And who's that?" speaking about Ribbon.

Ribbon quickly introduced herself, and told Adeleine about the Crystal Shards,. And about what Adeleine had just did.

"I fought you?" Adeleine asked, bewildered. "The last thing I remember is picking up that crystal, then seeing that one-eyed black cloud come from my painting pad, and knock me over"

"The Dark Matter overtook you, so you don't remember fighting us," Ribbon explained. "It wipes out the memory of the person it possesses."

"Oh well, um, might I help you find these Crystal Shards then?" Adeleine asked. "I want to make up for the trouble I caused!"

"Better ask Kirby," Ribbon suggested.

So Adeleine did, and Kirby accepted her offer, telling her that they had gone through the same thing with Waddle Dee.

"Then let's go!" Adeleine shouted, waving her favorite paintbrush (the blue one) in the air. "No time to lose!"

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Early the next day, Kirby-tachi made it to their next destination: King Dedede's castle.

"Uh" Adeleine inquired, "Do we have to go in here? I mean, no telling what that mean old King Dedede could do"

"Yeah," Waddle Dee agreed, "He's kinda like our boss."

"We HAVE to," Kirby pressed. "Some Crystal Shards landed in there, and we have to get them out."

Waddle Dee and Adeleine gulped. "Well, okay."

In the castle, they found three shards, and once they got up to the top, another!

But before Kirby could grab it and give to Ribbon, someone else grabbed for it.

Kirby gulped, looking into the face of an angry King Dedede.

Ribbon gasped. "He must have been taken over by the Dark Matter too"

"I don't think so," Adeleine whispered. "That's just his normal self!"

"Well, well, what's this?" King Dedede practically sneered. "I don't know why you want this, you little pink scumbag, but you're not getting it, and you and your friends better get out of my sight right now!"

"But we need it!" Ribbon protested. She then told him about Ripple Star and the Dark Matter.

"As long as it doesn't affect me, I don't care," he replied.

"But it does affect you," Waddle Dee told him, explaining about what had happened to him and Adeleine, with some help from the latter.

"Well, there's no way that could happen to –"

As King Dedede spoke, a black one-eyed cloud dropped out of the sky!

"Dark Matter!" Kirby, Ribbon, Waddle Dee, and Adeleine all shouted.

King Dedede actually looked a little frightened

The Dark Matter looked at the five assembled there, and its eyes er, eye, fell on King Dedede.

It attacked him.

The others watched in horror as the Dark Matter picked him up and entered him. Once it had, King Dedede fell to the ground, not moving.

Kirby whacked him a few times, getting the Dark Matter out before it could take full control. Ribbon grabbed Dedede's Crystal Shard and had it join with the rest of the crystal.

Once the Dark Matter had left and King Dedede was conscious again, Kirby asked, "Well, now how do you feel about this, Dedede?"

"That's King Dedede' to you, Puffy," King Dedede muttered, "and you can keep the crystal!"

"You know," Ribbon spoke up, "we could use someone like you on our team"

"What?!" King Dedede roared. "Why?!"

"Because you're so dang strong and big" Adeleine started to say.

"It's glandular," Dedede cut her off, "and there's no way I'm bringing myself down to your level to help you peasants!"

"Peasants?!" Adeleine was shocked. "I am — er, was — the daughter of a late famous French painter, plus, I work for you! That's not a peasant' for sure!!!!"

"Likewise," Ribbon added, "I work – worked - for the Queen of Ripple Star. I was in her service; she wanted me to save the Crystal! That means I'm not a peasant either!"

King Dedede sighed. "Look, I don't want to help, and that's final!"

"Suit yourself" Kirby, Ribbon, and Adeleine left. Waddle Dee started to, but then turned back to the king. "Are you sure?" he asked.

"Very sure!" King Dedede shouted, but didn't sound so sure of himself this time. "Now, go away! I'm not helping."

"Okay, see you later, I guess." Waddle Dee left then.

King Dedede thought about it for a few minutes. He really did want to help; this sounded exciting for sure, but help Kirby, and those traitors Waddle Dee and Adeleine?! Yeah, right!

Still, though, his desire to help was stronger, so he ran as fast as he could, until he caught up to Waddle Dee. "Wait, please!"

"Huh?" Waddle Dee turned around. "What?"

"I'm going to help after all."

Waddle Dee grinned (despite the fact he doesn't have a mouth). "Good! Welcome to the group, King Dedede!"