Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

The Empress held her child for the first time, her husband coming up to stand beside her. They both smiled, looking down at the little ball of fluff cradled in the Empress’ flippers, and then at the vast snowy empire that extended for miles across Ice Island below the palace balcony. 

“Welcome to the world, my little King…” 

The Empress lowered her head, and gave the cheeping, newborn Emperor Pengi a tender kiss. 

Deluxe Extravaganza

Prologue

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🍳 Waking to a Culinary (and Flowery) Coup! 👑

“Mom… mmmnh… thirty more minuuuuuutes…” A nightcap-clad pink Puffball groaned as unrelenting morning sunlight pounded on his closed eyelids like a persistent visitor. With a reluctant groan, Kirby rolled away from the window so he wouldn’t be blinded immediately and cracked one eye open. He yawned, rubbed the eye, and then opened both, before sitting up with a mighty stretch, shimmering pink wings spreading to their full span behind him as he did so. 

“Mmh, morning already, poyo…?” 

Seriously, it felt like he had just been at the dinner table with Dedede, El and Will, laughing at Chef Steve! 

“Heehee… Chef Steve…” 

Shaking his head to get himself back on track, Kirby took off his nightcap, depositing it into his Hammerspace, and hopped out of bed onto light feet. 

Alright, first thing’s first, I need to figure out why the sun’s so bright! Seriously, is Mr. Bright getting married today or something? 

Kirby, halfheartedly considering yelling at the sun, made his way over to the window to look outside, groaning as the light blinded him. When it eventually died down and Kirby could see, he almost found himself believing he was still dreaming. 

There… There was no ground. There was an endless sea of blue, and a layer of clouds below. “What in NOVA’S name…?” He muttered, eyes squinted in confusion, before he looked down. 

The second shock of the morning. 

There was a giant plant wrapped around the bottom of Castle Dedede! Green vines, green leaves… it was like a giant beanstalk had—! 

Oh. 

Ohhhhhhh, stars! 

Whipping around, Kirby charged toward the door and exited the room. 

The hallway outside was pandemonium. Waddle Dees dropping trays, spilling tea and food all over the extravagant red carpet. The little orange servants were running all over the place, screaming their heads off. 

NOVA, this is crazy!!  

Kirby dodged the little guys as they attempted to dogpile and/or cling to him, all of them begging for answers. Kirby’s eyes, though, were set firmly on the prize at the end of the hallway: El and Will’s doors, both right across from each other. 

Kirby flapped his wings and lifted off the ground slightly to give himself an extra boost, eventually arriving at the two doors. He was fully prepared to pound on them, but they both burst open at the same time, before Kirby had the chance to do anything. 

Both El and Will looked, perhaps out of panic and rushing, like they had gotten dressed in the dark. Will’s shirt was backwards, El’s was slipping off one shoulder slightly, their pants were ruffled and their hair was varying degrees of messy—El’s frizzy and Will’s sticking up in several places. Their general dishevelment, however, hardly held a candle to the looks on their faces. 

El’s face looked on the verge of crumpling at any second, her eyes panicked, and Will looked green. 

“Guys!” Kirby exclaimed, and they finally turned from each other and noticed him. Their eyes both widened and El seemed to relax at least a bit more. “W—W—What’s going on…?” Will asked him shakily, as if he knew. Kirby did his best to sound reassuring with his response, but frankly, he had no reassuring answer. 

“I dunno, but we should get to Dedede! He’ll know what to do! C’mon!” 

All three kids turned and ran down the hall the way Kirby had come, dodging around some Waddle Dees who had legitimately fallen in their panic, others who had laid down in some vain attempt to fuse themselves to the ground, too scared to move, and others still who attempted to grab onto them—whether to beg them to do something or just because they needed someone to hold onto, none knew. Luckily, there was at least one familiar ally who soon emerged from within the orange mess, running up to keep pace beside them, his identifying headwear flashing blue atop his head before he came fully into view, running by Kirby’s side. 

“Bandee!” Kirby exclaimed, relieved to see that one of his best friends was okay. Bandee didn’t look at Kirby, instead keeping his eyes fixed firmly ahead, set in a determined glare. 

“We n—need to get to Great King!” 

Kirby nodded and set his gaze firmly forward as well, charging toward the area that led to the throne room. 

Taranza drifted along through the unguarded portcullis as though he owned the flimsy little castle that apparently housed the sworn enemy of Her Majesty. Smirking confidently, he giggled into one of his six floating hands as he watched hordes of Waddle Dees running out from the mouths of the many halls feeding into the grandiose one Taranza currently floated through—the one leading up to his prize. 

Such… unorganized, panicky little things, they were. A shame the Lower World’s excuse of a monarch had surrounded himself with them, instead of actual, competent guards. Well, a shame for him, anyway. For Taranza, this meant a swifter fulfillment of his Queen’s order. 

As he approached the throne, Taranza managed a better look at his target. An overweight, blue, feathery monarch who, frankly, could stand to be more physically active sat upon a golden throne, glaring at him with what Taranza could only assume was an attempt at defiance; a trembling, unnaturally tall and gangly creature with—admittedly impressive—hair and wearing a chef’s toque stood beside him, clutching a wooden bat with what looked to be nails driven into it as it glared at Taranza with bared teeth. 

Taranza almost—almost—allowed his confident smirk to drop. The unfamiliar creature must have been even more savage than the other Lower-Worlders; something about the look in its eyes was primal, and it held a weapon so… primitive. 

It was disgusting, and Taranza could not wait to be back in Floralia, where people were civilized. 

Wasting no further time, Taranza charged a blast of pink Magic between his hands and flung it forward, instantly knocking all of the Lower King’s feeble, spear-wielding Waddle Dee guards around the room like bowling pins. Looking around him at his defeated guards, the King of the Lower World savages charged at him with an indignant cry, giant wooden mallet raised high, with his apparent Royal Chef following suit with its savage weapon. 

Making a point to let his fangs protrude further as he did so, Taranza allowed his smirk to broaden into a full-on grin as charged up and fired two consecutive pink orbs of Magic at the King and his companion just before they could reach him, flinging them both backward and sending them into magically-induced unconsciousness. 

That was far easier than I expected. Her Majesty will be quite pleased… 

As Taranza approached the two unconscious figures—savage though he was, the lanky creature was clearly a chef, and Her Majesty was in need of a replacement after the previous had not seasoned her dinner to her liking—an angered cry from behind caught his attention. 

“Halt, intruder!” 

All eight eyes briefly widening, Taranza quickly allowed his calm smirk to slot back into place as he turned to face whoever was fool enough to think they could challenge him. The sight he was met with was an angered, spear-wielding Waddle Dee wearing a blue bandana, weapon leveled in his direction, accompanied by an assortment of odd creatures. Two of them seemed to be of the same species as the avian King’s Chef—pale, tall, and lanky things with dark hair and unusual clothing. One had a hairstyle quite similar to Taranza’s own, simply without the silver coloration, while the other had longer, darker hair that fell in waves just past its shoulders. The latter had somewhat softer facial features—which, combined with the longer hair and its chest area, led Taranza to idly suspect that the one whose hairstyle resembled his own was male while its counterpart was female. 

The third and last creature was, admittedly, a bit more aesthetically pleasing than the other creatures this Lower World stronghold had to offer. It had the same general body type as the numerous Waddle Dees around the castle, but was pink, somewhat resembling a Bronto Burt, and it had red feet. Its eyes, however, twinkled like the night sky over the Moonlight Capital, and it bore admittedly pretty, butterfly-like wings—nothing compared to his Queen’s, though, of course—which were spread to their full span in the creature’s seeming agitation as it assumed a battle stance. The wings themselves glowed a bright pink, small motes of light actively drifting off of them, and thin, short pink horns that curved slightly backward at their tips emerged slightly above the being’s eyes, almost resembling antennae. 

Ultimately, it looked like something his Queen would enjoy as a pet, but perhaps he could come back for it later, should Her Majesty express interest. Right now, delivering the Hero and the soon-to-be new Royal Chef to the Capital was the top priority. 

Ignoring the cries of the four creatures, Taranza floated slightly upward and around so that he was behind the two defeated captives and, extending two hands, shot a silk-string-like strand of Magic from his fingertips which, upon contact with the targets, spawned a sparking net of pink Magic wrapped securely around the two. 

“Steve!” The (presumably) male member of the chef creature’s kind shouted in concern as Taranza slowly lifted into the air, carrying his two unconscious prisoners with him. His gaze was directed at the net that held said chef. 

So, the new chef’s name is Steve, then? A rather… conventional name, isn’t it? 

“Hey!” The pink being shouted, drawing Taranza from his internal musings. “You let Dedede go, poyo!” 

Taranza tracked the irksome thing’s gaze to the bird-like King. Process of elimination told him that the King’s name was Dedede. Rather unusual, but now, at least, his prisoners would have names and not the mere occupational titles he had assigned to them beforehand. 

So, King Dedede and Chef Steve, then? What an interesting pair… 

“I am afraid,” Taranza began with a grin, speaking aloud for the first time since he had descended to this castle, “That I cannot do that. Your King and Chef will be coming with me. Without your feeble King, you uncouth Lower-Worlders will fall in line in short order.” 

As the ragtag team of four’s eyes widened, Taranza openly giggled, fangs gleaming in the sunlight. 

“I must be going now~! Long live Queen Sectonia!” 

And with that, he launched himself upward and through the castle’s glass skylight, following the vines of the Resistance’s creation and undoing to Fine Fields. He could not, unfortunately, feasibly fly straight to Royal Road from his current location, and would likely need to rest along the way. But by nightfall, he swore to himself, his Queen would have her prisoners. 

And the Lower World would have its new ruler.  

Jim Hopper was not a patient man. Now, he tried, let none think otherwise, but his rope was only so long. And as he stared at the weirdest damned interpretation of a “ship” he had ever seen sitting smack in the middle of his yard on the morning of one of his days off, he found himself nearing the end of it. Kirby and Magolor both had described the appearance of the “Lor Starcutter”, but it had still taken Hopper a great many seconds of stupefied gaping to connect the impossibility he had been seeing to those descriptions. 

Once he did, however, he felt anger start to bubble up within him. He’d stomped toward the damned thing, hand on his holster (because no, he still did not trust that feline alien), briefly been given pause when a ramp automatically extended from the closed door to the ground, then resumed his determined march, banging on the sleek metal with his fist. 

“HEY!” Hop shouted, pounding on the surprisingly reflective metal. “ HEY! WHAT THE HELL IS THIS?!” 

Just as Hop inhaled, filling his lungs in preparation for more yelling, the automatic door slid open. Hop’s eyes widened as he got a look at the interior of the alien spacecraft. There was clearly a large room within, but Hop could only see the white back wall of it from his current position. However, the quiet hum of machinery was ever-present within the ship. 

“Hopper! My favorite police chief! And coincidentally the only one I know… To what do I owe the pleasure of this visit?” 

Hopper looked down at the source of the chipper voice, spotting the familiar floating egg-shaped creature in green and white. The height difference between them was normally amusing to Hopper, but at the moment, he was all business. He saw right through the little schemer’s cheerful facade, taking note of the way he was rubbing his mittened hands together like some kind of sleazy salesman eager to scam naive customers out of everything they had. As a policeman, Hop noticed these things—and it was (unsurprisingly, considering his history) something of a habit of Magolor’s. 

Hop’s eyes narrowed, his grip tightening on his holstered gun. “I could ask you the same thing,” he said evenly, the boiling anger now gone from his voice, leaving something cold and analytical behind, ready to turn dangerous at a moment’s notice. For the briefest of moments, Magolor’s eyes narrowed in turn. 

And then the moment was over, and the facade was back up. 

“Ah, don’t just stand there, my friend! Come in, come in! How do you like your coffee? You seem like a full-on black kinda guy. Care for a mug?” Magolor rattled on, avoiding Hopper’s question as he floated backward into the ship, eagerly waving Hopper in. Keeping his hand at his hip at all times, Hop cautiously advanced into the craft, looking around with wonder he was attempting to conceal. 

“I’ll pass, thanks…” Hop breathed as he fully entered the room and saw what it had to offer beyond its back wall. A large, sleek and slightly concave screen adorned the opposite wall, above and to the right of the door Hopper had just come through. A variety of foreign symbols flashed across the screen as it displayed Earth in all its blue-marbled glory. More of those same symbols—presumably the alien language of Magolor’s extinct people—framed the screen from above and below, telling a story Hop couldn’t read. 

Sitting below the screen and adorned on both sides with star symbols was a… a console, of some sort. It resembled some sort of advanced keyboard, as it had more of that alien script all over it, but it was flowing with rainbow-colored light. 

To Hop’s right and left were long hallways, electronic panels mounted on the walls at the mouths of the corridors displaying glowing arrows pointing down said halls. The rest of the room was made of the same sleek, white metallic material as the door leading into it, Hop’s reflection staring back at him crystal-clear from every surface. 

It was all so… sci-fi. And even after all he’d seen and been through, he still couldn’t quite believe what his eyes were currently showing him. That all this was real. That aliens were real and he was in one’s ship. 

“Ahaha… I see this is your first time in my not-so-humble abode. It tends to have this effect on everyone, don’t worry. Marvelous, though, isn’t it? Truly the pinnacle of my people’s innovation…” 

Hopper looked back toward Magolor, watching his expressive eyes shift from smug amusement to something distant and perhaps a bit sad. He quickly snapped out of it, though, pasting the bubbly look back on as he turned to Hopper. “Anyway, before you ask, yes, I asked Landia this time, like a good person would do. After I finished setting up portals for you all, I went back to Halcandra, explained everything that had happened since my and Kirby’s battle, and we made up! She’s actually pretty forgiving, turns out. Plus, the Lor herself said she was okay with this little arrangement! So! I am now her Captain, sailing the endless sea of stars, bringing wonder and innovative new ways to have fun to the whole universe!” 

Magolor made a slow, grand sweeping gesture across the room with one of his hands as he said this. Hopper meanwhile, had furrowed his brow, sorting through the rest of Magolor’s rapidly-told story, churning through what he could maybe trust and setting aside what he probably couldn’t for later consideration… before pausing at the part about the Lor accepting Magolor as “her” Captain. 

“…Sorry, the ship gave you permission to be its Captain?” Hop asked, giving Magolor a look similar to the ones he (to his shame) had often given Joyce the week his life had begun spiraling out of control—coincidentally also the week he’d thought Joyce was losing her mind. 

Sensing his skepticism, Magolor gave him a pouting sort of look. 

“She’s sapient, remember? Kirby, I, and the other three have told you this.” 

Oh. …So they had. It was all coming back. 

“Sorry, I forgot. I’m not so used to alien spaceships that can think,” Hop deadpanned. Magolor smiled and clapped, cheerfully ignoring Hopper’s unamusement. “Ah, that’s alright! Perfectly understandable considering the primitive little world you were brought up in!” 

Hop’s eyelid twitched. “Okay, enough with the stalling. Why the hell did you decide to park your spaceship in my yard?” (Translation: “What the hell are you up to?” ) Hopper demanded. 

Magolor’s joyful demeanor didn’t diminish in the slightest. 

“Ah, well, I just felt the need to inform you that your adoptive daughter is currently on an adventure with Kirby, Bandee, and your crush’s son up a magical beanstalk to rescue Steve and King Dedede from a magical spider-thing.” 

“…”

“You might wanna take a few days off and call the others over here. Just a friendly little suggestion.” 

Hopper stared blankly down at Magolor, the worst migraine he’d had in years mixed with the worst panic he’d felt since El had snuck out in ‘84 already starting to form in his head alongside an unspoken barrage of questions and confusion. 

…Powell and Callahan could handle things for a while. Yeah. 

Chapter Text

“Momma! Momma!” The four-year-old bird cried as he ran into his parents’ chambers. Too excited and energetic for his own good, he slipped on the ice-composed floor and slid forward a bit on his belly, but quickly picked himself back up. His mother looked up from her book, amused. “Yes, my little one?” 

The young avian bounced up and down in excitement, waving his flippers frantically. 

“Teach me how to do Magic, Momma! Pleaaaaase?! You just gotta!” 

The Empress chuckled good naturedly, marking her page and closing her book. “Aren’t you a little young?” She asked teasingly. The toddler puffed his chest out with pride and indignance, flippers crossed and beak pointing upward. “C’mon! Ah’m gonna be King someday! Ah gotta know this stuff!” 

The Empress giggled as she stood. “Very well, then.” 

The Empress took her son by the flipper and led him through the expansive, icy halls, past grandiose views of the Empire and the frozen lands it called home, eventually arriving in a room where members of the Guard were usually trained. It was currently vacant. 

“Alright, little one,” She began, releasing her son’s flipper and moving to stand before him. “Do you remember what your father and I have taught you?” The child nodded vigorously, and the Empress smiled proudly. “Very good. To reiterate, as an Emperor Pengi, you have three innate natural Magics at your disposal. Ice…” the Empress extended her flipper, briefly coating it in frost. “…Fire…” She extended the other flipper, forming it into a palm and summoning a small fireball above it. “…And lightning.” Both flippers briefly crackled with sparks of electricity. 

The young heir bounced excitedly once more. 

“Ooooohhh…! How do Ah do it, Momma?! Show me, show me!” 

The Empress chuckled gently. “Easy, my child. Have patience. It is not likely that you’ll be as proficient as I am even if we practiced all day. Your Magic will take years to reach that level of fine control…”

The monarch smiled down at her pouting son. 

“So why not start now?” 

The child’s grin returned. 

Deluxe Extravaganza

Chapter One

🌼 Frolicking in Fine Fields 🌳

Joyce really did need to stop answering Hopper’s “urgent” calls. They usually resulted in headaches. And Joyce had… several reasons to have one, at the moment. To begin with, the first thing she and her oldest had seen upon pulling into the driveway was four bikes, Nancy’s car… and a large, almost cartoonish-looking blue and white boat-like vessel—the latter of which was simply sitting in the middle of Hopper’s yard as if plucked straight from the sea, alight with flowing lines of electronic color.

Hopper had been standing on a metal ramp extending from a door leading into the vessel, chain-smoking and fidgeting in place. Upon spotting them, he’d beckoned them up toward the ship-like structure, somewhat tersely assuring them it was safe in between puffs. He’d then proceeded to explain that the boat-like craft was, in fact, the spaceship that Magolor person from Kirby’s world had stolen from a dragon (what was her life) and that the egg-shaped alien in question had been given permission to use it and sought Hopper out, telling him to call her and the kids over. 

The pit Joyce had already had in her stomach, telling her that this was related to her son somehow, had only deepened further due to Magolor’s seeming involvement. Why she had let him go to that place for the entirety of his Spring Break was suddenly beyond her. Although she still had trouble even believing all the more fantastical things Magolor had done, she both knew they were, regardless, true, and that the… man (?) couldn’t be trusted. Hopper had assured both her and Jonathan, however, that Magolor wasn’t linked to the current situation—but that he was nevertheless inserting himself into it; ostensibly for their sakes. 

Joyce wasn’t sure what to believe regarding that claim, and Jonathan hadn’t been quite as polite when he’d expressed to Hopper his distrust in the scheming alien. Hopper had simply pinched the bridge of his nose and told them to just come inside. 

As impressive, futuristic and truly alien as the interior of the spacecraft (Joyce was still having trouble believing both her eyes and her own thoughts, honestly) was, however, it was within said craft that she nevertheless found her second reason to have a migraine. 

It was filled with screaming teenagers. 

“What do you mean a spider-thing kidnapped Steve?!” Dustin cried indignantly. 

“Is El alright?! What about Will?!” Came Mike’s no-nonsense demand. 

“How do we know you didn’t do something to them?” Lucas’ somewhat calmer voice asked, yet with no less firmness than everyone else. 

“Yeah, how do we know this isn’t another one of your little tricks?!” A suspicious Max snipped irritably. 

“Guys! Let me do the talking!” Nancy unsuccessfully attempted to calm the kids down, all while a sweating Magolor nervously shrunk under all the suspicious and outraged glares being thrown his way. 

Joyce’s third reason came from Hopper’s bellowed “HEY!”, which instantly shut everyone else in the ship up, their eyes snapping to him, with many subsequently casting themselves shamefully downward. 

“Here’s what’s gonna happen!” Hopper dictated, still booming but thankfully no longer screaming at the top of his lungs. “We are all going to calm down, and we’re going to listen to what Magolor has to say! Am I clear?” 

Everyone shakily nodded, all still varying degrees of embarrassed—all save for a scowling Mike. 

“Ahem…” Magolor began awkwardly as the eyes of Joyce and all else present fell heavily and expectantly upon him. “I’ve called you all here to inform you that there’s… something of a development currently going on in my world. Specifically, in Dream Land. Lor, if you would?” 

Magolor gestured at the Lor’s screen as what looked like a live feed of Dream Land flickered into place upon it. Everyone but Joyce, Jonathan and Hopper immediately recognized the specific spot the screen was showing them. Mt. Dedede. However, its namesake castle was missing, and in its place… an utterly massive green plant, of proportions none of them had ever seen. It had grown straight through the solid rock of the mountain—and everyone quickly connected the dots. 

Nancy gasped in what sounded to Joyce like horror. 

“N—No… No way… you’re not saying… The castle…” 

“It was lifted straight into the sky as that massive beanstalk grew beneath it. It likely happened overnight. The Lor detected and alerted me to a massive influx of magical energy on Popstar. I asked for a live feed of the planet, and… well, here we are.” 

The pit in Joyce’s stomach deepened further still. 

“Wait… You mean… De De De’s castle? Like—Like where Will and El are staying…?”

Magolor turned to her and nodded, but hurriedly spoke to soothe her mounting panic and dread as her breathing began to quicken. “Don’t worry! He and the others are safe. But King Dedede, as well as you guys’ friend, Steve, have been abducted by a very magically-adept resident of Floralia.”

“What’s Floralia?” Dustin asked, uncharacteristically serious considering Steve’s supposed current situation. “It’s a chain of floating islands above Popstar’s surface,” Magolor answered. “During my time stranded on Popstar, I obviously did a lot of research on my surroundings, which is how I learned that the islands collectively form the Kingdom of Floralia—currently ruled by Queen Sectonia IV,” Magolor explained. 

Nancy rubbed her temples. 

“Wait, okay, so let me get this straight. Steve has been kidnapped by some… wizard guy from this… sky kingdom?? That Steve was, I guess, carried up to by that… impossibly large plant I’m looking at???” 

Magolor nodded, looking slightly amused at Nancy’s discomfort. “That’s a more concise way of putting it, yeah.” 

Before everyone could get too off-track, Joyce began to open her mouth—but was beat to it by her eldest, eliciting a wave of exhausted gratitude from within her. “Okay, but what about Will? Where is he?” 

Magolor turned to Jonathan. “He, El, Kirby and Bandee are currently on their way into Floralia as we speak, intent on rescuing the King and your friend!” 

Ignoring Mike’s immediate frown of concern, Dustin perked up. “Oh shit! Cool—“

“Excuse me?!” Joyce finally burst, tired of how quickly this impromptu meeting was going nowhere as she at last found her fourth and final reason for currently having a migraine. 

“Joyce—“ 

“NO, HOPPER!” 

Joyce marched up to the slippery little alien, glaring down at him. “YOU ARE GOING TO PULL THEM OUT OF THERE, RIGHT THIS INSTANT!” 

The kids and Nancy all side-eyed each other and slowly backed away from the enraged mother, many feeling pity for Magolor for the first time. 

“Ah, s—see, the thing about that is—“ 

“I DON’T WANNA HEAR IT! OPEN ONE OF YOUR STAR… OPENING-THINGS AND GET THEM OUT OF THERE RIGHT NOW, OR…” Joyce chuckled, faintly registering the frightening sound and finally beginning to better understand why she was often perceived as crazy, “…SO HELP ME…” 

When all the trembling, shifty-eyed alien did was continue to attempt to avoid meeting her gaze, Joyce scoffed in disbelief and whirled on her heel, taking a steadying breath, gaze piercing into Hopper’s soul. “Hop, you have one of his star… gate… things in your house, right?” She asked, fragile calm threatening to break at any second. Hopper looked at her with a mixture of anxiety, exasperation and frustration as he answered, “Yeah, but, Joyce—“ 

Joyce didn’t wait for him to finish his sentence, immediately marching toward the open doorway out of the ship…

…Only for a sleek, white metal door to come slamming down between her and the outside. 

Joyce only blinked for a few moments before her brain caught up to what had just happened—and she immediately began pounding her fists against the smooth metal. “HEY! WHAT THE HELL IS THIS?!” 

“Joyce…” 

 “LET ME OUT, DAMMIT!” 

“Joyce…!” 

“MAGOLOR! OPEN THIS DOOR RIGHT NOW—“ 

“JOYCE!” Hopper bellowed, snapping her out of her enraged, panicked trance as meaty hands took her by the shoulders and turned her to face the man in question, who looked to have been pushed to his absolute limit by the day’s events. “It’s…” he began, now suddenly far calmer, sounding completely exhausted as she stared at him, still panting from her outburst. “Not. Magolor.” 

<I’d greatly appreciate it if every organism with the means to would stop attacking me for once.> 

Everyone but Hopper, who had by now let go of Joyce, froze and looked frantically around for the source of the electronically-filtered young woman’s voice. “Who’s there?” Mike called out cautiously, instinctively positioning himself protectively in front of his Party, an act made redundant by Nancy positioning herself protectively in front of him. 

<I’ve got your attention, then? In that case, greetings, this is the Lor Starcutter. I am pleased to meet friends of Kirby and my Captain. Especially when they aren’t hitting me. >

Once again, everyone but Hopper (who now looked even more tired than before) froze. 

“…Hello…?” Dustin hesitantly called out. 

<Hello, Dustin.> The Lor Starcutter greeted, electronically-filtered voice now considerably warmer than when it—she—had indirectly addressed Joyce. 

Everyone remained silent. 

<I know for a fact that Magolor told every single one of you that I am sapient.> 

Magolor sheepishly looked around at everyone. 

Nancy opened her mouth first. 

“I need a drink.” 

<That would be detrimental to your health.> 

“Talking spaceship…” Dustin muttered to himself, giving the floor a thousand-yard stare while a grin slowly started to creep its way onto his face. Max chuckled somewhat incredulously. “We’re talking to the living ship Kirby told us about right now…” she stated frankly and somewhat deliriously. 

“That’s right!” Magolor butted in, some of his previous cheer restored, though he was clearly still shaken by Joyce’s outburst and giving her a wide berth. “And she has something she needs to say to you all! Go on, Lor,” Magolor encouraged, patting the keyboard at his side. 

<Thank you, Captain. Would you all like to know a fun fact about my capabilities? Not only can I travel anywhere in space and time, I can see all of space and time, as well. I allowed the Captain to steal and use me against Landia to begin with because I knew what the outcome would ultimately be: the Captain’s reformation, Kirby’s arrival in this universe and, as a result, a far happier victory over Zero for you all than you would’ve achieved otherwise, as well as the beginning of a grand alliance that you all will be a valuable part of. All the same, I know exactly how this crisis will end—the journey will be rough, but all your children and friends will return home alive by its end. That said, I think that all of you deserve to be up to date on how your loved ones are doing. That is why Magolor has called you all here today.>

In the center of the room, pieces of the floor slid seamlessly open, several well-decorated furniture items rising from the ground. Armchairs, love seats, a couple beanbags, and even a small table; the works. 

<As you may all have already deduced, since I can view anywhere in space, I can also display what I am viewing live via my main screen—hence why we are all currently viewing the Dreamstalk—the large beanstalk that uprooted Castle Dedede, that is. You will all be able to observe Kirby, Eleven, Will, and Bandana Waddle Dee’s travels in real time, if you so wish. I will display them momentarily. Anyone who wishes to stop observing and await their safe return may leave at any time, but do not take the opportunity to try and interfere with their journey and disrupt the course I’m allowing for the betterment of both our worlds. I’ll know. Refreshments and accommodations will be provided for all staying here to observe the situation on Popstar.> 

The Lor’s stern tone faded with her next sentence, said in a cheerful, airline stewardess-like tone. 

<Any questions?> 

Everyone kept silent to absorb the absolute influx of information and revelations that had just been dumped onto them (a certain young lady formerly employed by the Hawkins Post especially). 

Jonathan was the first to speak up, surprisingly enough. 

“So… everything you’re gonna show us… it’ll be happening live?” 

<Yes,> the Lor answered. 

“And El and Will… they’re gonna be okay by the end of this, you said?” Mike asked next, leg bouncing in agitation, worried sick about the love of his life and his best friend. 

<On my creators, I promise you all that you will reunite with your children, friends, and partners by tomorrow morning.> 

Many tensed shoulders finally relaxed at these words. Having a definitive deadline, and a promise on top of that, from a sapient, omniscient spaceship whose precognition and refusal to interfere with time’s course had worked out in their favor before, at that, had relaxed them all quite a bit. Of course, all of them were still a bit tense, especially with Magolor, of all people, who only Dustin had an ounce of trust in, as their host, but all of them knew they wouldn’t be leaving until things were resolved and they had their friends/children/brothers/girlfriends back the next morning, as promised. 

Slowly, everyone organized and claimed seats for themselves, Joyce calming herself down further with the aid of Jonathan’s steadying hand on her shoulder. He whispered words of reassurance to her, rubbing her back one more time before settling into one of the loveseats with the still-reeling Nancy. Max and Lucas claimed one of the others, Mike and Dustin chose to sprawl out on two of the beanbags, and Joyce cautiously settled into one of the armchairs, watching Hopper take the other one nearby. There was an unoccupied loveseat between them. Joyce pretended not to notice the concealed, longing glance Hopper cast first to her, then the loveseat. She also ignored her own brief pang of longing. She still wasn’t sure if she was ready yet. 

God, her migraine was getting worse every second. 

“Alright, then! Now that that’s all settled!” Magolor clapped, rubbing his hands together as he smiled, a small, simple white chair slowly rising from the floor behind him, situated in front of the Lor’s console, “Take it away, Lor!” Magolor gestured up at her large screen, seating himself, his back to everyone else as he looked up toward it. 

<Right away, Captain,> the living ship replied dutifully, her screen’s view panning rapidly up from the base of the Dreamstalk into the clouds, eventually focusing in on four familiar figures…

Bandee panted as he ran up the vines of the giant beanstalk, closely followed by El and Will, Kirby having, of course, taken the lead. “They’re heading for Floralia, poyo!” Kirby called back at them all. “Kirby!” Will called from at the back of the group, breathing heavily. “Wait a second! What is Floralia?!” 

The group soon reached the end of the series of vine-bridges and solid clouds they had been traveling along, now standing on a ledge protruding from the side of the giant beanstalk that had uprooted them. A short distance away, covered somewhat by the puffy white clouds, sat an entire small island—like a chunk of earth that had been ripped up from Dream Land eons ago, sporting its own flora and fauna. 

Normally, familiarizing El and Will (though especially El) with the fantastical wonders of Popstar was enjoyable for Bandee, but all he could feel at the moment was annoyance at the interruption. They were wasting time! “That!” Bandee pointed at the floating island a ways away, heedless to Will’s jaw dropping as he laid eyes on it. “That’s Fl—Floralia! It’s a sky archipelago we haven’t had formal contact with in ages—now let’s go! W—We’re wasting time!” 

Kirby gave Bandee a resolute nod, and a Warp Star came into existence before them in a burst of sparkles. Kirby immediately hopped on, followed by a hesitant, yet resolute Will (who had since managed to pick his jaw up off the ground)—but as Bandee took a step forward to join them, he realized one among their impromptu party was missing. Looking behind him, he spotted a still-panting, shaking El, who was staring at the fatal drop that awaited her if she slipped off the—thankfully very wide—vine-made path in blatant terror. 

Bandee felt some of his impatience wane, and he walked toward her, tapping her leg. She looked away from the ground that was barely visible far below the beanstalk and met his eyes, her own slightly watery, and Bandee offered her his best attempt at a smile, considering his lack of a mouth. 

“C—C’mon, it’ll be alright, Kirby and I w—won’t let anything happen to you or Will…” 

El closed her eyes, taking multiple deep breaths to calm herself, and the trembling of her body decreased significantly. She opened her eyes, offered a weak, yet grateful smile (his nonexistent stomach fluttered) and started carefully toward the Warp Star, climbing onto it. 

Now smiling even bigger than before (or at least, he would have been), Bandee ran up and jumped onto the star next to her. “L—Let’s go save Great King!” He cheered. “Don’t forget Steve…” Will shakily joked, clearly trying not to look downward. 

“Operation: Rescue Steve and Dedede (™) is a go, then! To Floraliaaaaaaa!!!” Kirby cheered… before sending the Warp Star, and all of them by extension, rocketing toward their first destination: the island of Fine Fields, at nearly the speed of sound, three screams of terror accompanying his passionate, cheerful battle cry. 

Joyce cringed, headache screaming at her like she’d personally offended it, as Kirby fired himself and her son through the sky on a shooting star like a speeding bullet. 

“I really wish he wouldn’t go that fast…” Joyce bemoaned. 

Magolor, from at the head of the room, literally and nonchalantly waved off her concern, back still turned to her and the others in a manner Joyce couldn’t help but find condescendingly dismissive. “Meh, they’ll be alright. The Warp Star literally will not let them fall off.” 

“As much as I don’t want to, I’m just gonna take you at your word on that, because I don’t feel like trying to figure out how that’s possible when I know it isn’t…” Nancy sighed, wishing for once that at least one thing in that world would abide by logic logic instead of cartoon logic. Jonathan rubbed her back in sympathy. 

“YAHOOOOOOOO!!!!!!” 

“AAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHH!!!” 

A chorus of screams both elated and terrified, accompanied by the twinkling of a star moving at nightmarish speeds, served as the prelude to Floralia’s first encounter with foreign visitors in quite some time. Said star barely avoided smashing itself to pieces on Floralian soil as it (metaphorically) screeched to a halt right above the namesake, swaying grass of Fine Fields. 

All was silent except for three sets of heavy breathing and the rustling of grass... 

…Until a violent wretch broke the silence. 

“Eheh… Sorry, Will, poyo…” 

“Ugh…” 

Everyone—some more shakily than others—disembarked the Warp Star, which disappeared right afterward. El was still trying to catch her breath, Bandee noticed, but looked relieved to be back on truly solid ground. 

Kirby, meanwhile, looked around with a bright smile. Sure, Dedede and Steve were being carted off to who-knew-where by some crazy spider guy working for what sounded like an evil queen, but he knew the day would be saved in the end like always. Therefore, he felt comfortable taking the time to be excited. It was a new adventure! 

Kirby gasped. 

Because more importantly… 

“It’s you guys’ first adventure with me!!” Kirby gushed, jumping up and down with a bright smile directed at El and Will, his wings fluttering slightly in excitement. “Oooh, and you know what makes this even cooler, poyo?! I’ve never been here before! This is completely new stuff! Exciting, right?!” 

El smiled somewhat uncertainly at Kirby, before looking around a bit more, closely followed by Bandee and Will. This new place was just as pretty as the rest of what she’d seen of Dream Land so far. This location, though, looked especially magical. The strangest-looking trees she’d ever seen grew up from the ground in twisting patterns, and were full of pink and orange leaves, many different kinds of beautiful flowers she’d never seen before poking out from them. Many more flowers lined the path ahead, fuzz from the countless blooms blowing past her face as a strong, warm spring breeze blew by. 

Farther off, for as far as El could see, there were colorful mountains and hills—squares of pink, blue, purple and yellow checkered all over them and reminding her of something Dad had once shown her, called “patchwork”, the shadows of the clouds moving over them. 

“It’s so pretty…” El breathed, body relaxing as the warm sunlight beamed down all around her. This world was so much… better than her own—she realized that more and more every time she visited. But—she reminded herself—it wasn’t the time to be thinking of that again. All that mattered was catching up to the weird creature wearing the spider web cape that had kidnapped Steve and Dedede. 

“Let’s go,” She urged the others, face settling into a look of determination as she started forward at a brisk pace. After a few moments, Kirby ran up next to her, at her right, with Will and Bandee following at her left. Will looked… uncomfortable. His brows were furrowed oddly, and while he was examining his surroundings anxiously, Bandee was giving every tree a suspicious glare, being the soldier on a rescue mission in unfamiliar territory he was. 

“Will? What’s wrong?” El asked, frowning as she looked over at him. Will seemed to jolt out of his thoughts, looking over at her with wide eyes, before he seemed to settle down. “It’s just… You guys heard what that guy said, right? He’s working for someone. Queen… Sec… Tonia…?” Will furrowed his brow as he worked his mouth around the strange name, before shaking his head to get his thoughts back on track. “Anyway, this sounds like some kind of… political prisoner situation, right, Bandee? I mean… this guy implied he was taking Dedede so that Dream Land would fall apart, then praised this “Queen” of his. Do you think the Queen of this… ‘Floralia’ place is trying to take over Dream Land or something?” 

Bandee’s glare sharpened as he listened to Will’s speculation. El in particular blinked; most present weren’t used to such a genuinely scornful look from the normally gentle young general. “T—That would make sense… this phony monarch is out to get our Kingdom… like everyone always is. Zero and Yin-Yarn always went straight for Great King first, t—too. Tactic as old as time. If you c—compromise the leader, everyone else falls like dominoes…” 

“Yin… Yarn…?” El frowned as she spoke the unfamiliar name. “Long story…” Kirby said, waving his nub around in the air in a lazy circle, indicating disinterest. “He was this dark wizard from another world called Patch Land. If his and Patch Land’s names haven’t gotten it across yet, the whole place is made of yarn! Isn’t that cool, poyo?!” 

Kirby jumped up and down while El furrowed her brow in confusion and Will leveled an unimpressed stare at Kirby. 

“Alright, now you’re just screwing with us.” 

“No, no! It’s real! I know the Prince! He’s my fourth bestest friend under Bandee, Dedede, and Gooey! Anyway, Yin-Yarn stole these evil knitting needles the Royal Family was guarding and they made him wanna take over everything, so he split up Patch Land and then stole one of the Magic Socks that led to Popstar and started trying to turn our planet into yarn, but me, Fluff, Dedede and Meta stopped him! And now I have the other sock here on Popstar so I can go back to Patch Land and visit Prince Fluff anytime I want, poyo!” 

Everyone went dead-silent, even as Kirby remained the only member of the group still smiling, the pink glow of his wings gently pulsating with fondness as he mentioned Prince Fluff. 

Will looked down at Bandee. 

“Okay, since you’re the most level-headed person I know from around here besides Meta Knight, was any of what he just said actually true?” 

Bandee briefly peeled his scrutinizing gaze away from the treeline and looked up at Will, both of them ignoring Kirby’s indignant “Poyo!” 

“O—Oh yeah, that actually happened. It w—wouldn’t be the first time we went through an art-related catastrophe, e—either. About four years ago, a painting of an evil witch called Drawcia c—came to life, turned all of Popstar into paint, and then took Kirby’s limbs away so he couldn’t stop her. The only reason we made it out of that one is b—because the Magical Paintbrush Drawcia was using, the same one that created her, actually had the ghost of the guy who painted her inside it, and he h—helped Kirby get around and eventually defeat her.”

The Puffball in question, over near El, shuddered and wrapped his wings around himself, thousand-yard stare directed straight ahead, disturbing El. 

“I thought we all agreed we’d never speak of that again, p—poyo…” 

“Hehe, s—sorry, just making sure our new friends kn—know the kind of stuff they could be getting into by coming with us this time…” 

Skepticism gone, Will looked skyward, seeing the other floating islands looming precariously above him, and groaned in a mixture of disbelief, anxiety, and resignation. 

“Mom’s gonna kill me...” 

The Lor Starcutter was dead silent. 

Nancy’s eyelid twitched. 

“…Are you… absolutely sure I can’t have a drink…?” She spoke to thin air, addressing the sapient ship. 

<You may not.> 

She put her head in her hands, Jonathan still rubbing a soothing pattern on her back, although the hesitance with which his (trembling) hand moved made clear his own thoughts on everything they’d just witnessed. 

“…What the hell is Popstar??” Max abruptly said from where she was sitting next to Lucas. Her eyes were wide and disturbed, and she looked like she both wanted to laugh hysterically and pass out for a week. “Like, what the hell…?” 

“Painting witch…” Dustin mumbled to himself as he sank deeper into his beanbag. “Yarn wizard…” 

“Don’t…” Mike said, staring at the screen with an unreadable look. He took a breath, before giving the whole room a look. “Can we all formally agree, right here, that we just won’t question what we see or hear from there from now on?” 

Everyone in the room, sans an amused Magolor, gave shaky nods. 

Joyce resisted the urge to start biting her nails just to keep her hands from shaking. 

Hopper worked to resist stepping outside for a smoke. 

“You all really should’ve made that agreement a long time ago,” Magolor frankly pointed out, genuinely a bit uncertain whether Nancy would survive the revelation of Marx’s takeover attempt on Popstar and what it had entailed when Kirby inevitably casually mentioned it someday. 

“Stop making me want to agree with you…” Max grumbled. 

The group had managed to make a good amount of progress through the plains. Kirby had disturbed El and Will (though El moreso, as at least Will had seen it once before) by eating a Blade Knight that had blocked their path and showing off the Sword Ability to them for the first time (not that he really needed that ability anymore, since he’d learned that he could summon his own now that he had wings, something most Puffballs aside from Hyrbids like Meta Knight could do upon Winging). He’d swapped it out quickly enough for the Fire Ability, though, after a Hothead had attacked them. 

The people of Floralia, it turned out, weren’t very welcoming toward foreigners. 

As the Blade Knight popped back into existence and fled screaming back the way the group had come, Will attempted to whisper discreetly down at Bandee, hoping Fire Kirby, who was currently running ahead of them, wouldn’t hear. 

“He bounces between powers like a little kid would toys…” 

Bandee stifled a giggle under one nub. 

“H—He’s like that…” 

“I can hear you, y’know, poyo!” Fire Kirby called back at them from ahead, smiling teasingly and causing El to giggle. “I bet you’re all just jealous!” Will’s expression shifted from embarrassment at being caught to indignance. “Hey, El and I literally have superpowers!” 

“Awwww, but you guys are stuck with what you were born with! I can do ANYTHIIIIIIIING!” 

Fire Kirby said the last word in a voice that was scarily deep and gravelly considering his normal vocal range, flexing his nubs as his Ability Hat’s natural fire blasted upward for a few seconds in his passion. 

El giggled more, while Will and Bandee rolled their eyes. 

“At least we don’t have to eat people to get ours!” Will called back smugly. 

“Joke’s on you, I think it’s cool!” 

“How is eating people—“ 

Will’s retort was cut off by a cry of surprise from Fire Kirby, as the Puffball, who had been walking backwards as he spoke to his friends, tripped over something and tumbled unceremoniously onto his behind. Will laughed at his expense as the flustered Puffball stumbled back to his feet, rubbing his back as he glared down at the object that had tripped him up. 

“What the…?” 

A small, green vine poked a small ways out of the ground, bearing four leaves larger than its stalk. As Fire Kirby’s glare disappeared and he tilted his head in curiosity while looking closer, El walked up and looked down at the small plant, as well. It did look rather unusual—after all, it didn’t make much sense for the leaves to be so large and heavy they would weigh the comparatively small stalk down. 

Kirby and El both jumped when the plant suddenly moved on its own. The stalk shook, seemingly of its own accord, as pulses of faint, rainbow-colored light emitted from the leaves. All of a sudden, the stalk then grew right before everyone’s eyes, bursting out of the ground and twisting as it grew in real time, the top of it curving downward toward El’s head as it reached the zenith of its height, now a healthy, green beanstalk almost appearing like a miniature version of the one that had brought them all to this magical land to begin with. 

Something golden, shiny, and bulbous formed within the leaves, before the gold covering fragmented into glowing slivers, snaking around a ripe, red, glowing fruit dangling from the beanstalk. 

“Woah…” Will mused, wide-eyed, as he and Bandee took a few cautious steps closer to Kirby, El, the mysterious beanstalk, and its glowing yield. Bandee’s eyes sparkled with wonder as he gazed at the glowing fruit. “Y—You know… What little knowledge we do have of Floralia back home always did say the flora here w—was uniquely magical… I—I mean… it’s in the name, after all…” 

Kirby, having dropped his Fire Ability, drooled as he gazed up at the shining red fruit with sparkling eyes. “It looks yummy, poyo…” The Puffball flapped his wings, lifting off the ground and flying closer toward the back of the fruit, a nub already stretching toward it. Meanwhile, on the other side of the beanstalk with Will and Bandee, El cautiously, hesitantly began to reach her hand out toward the front of it. She couldn’t describe it, but she felt like the magical fruit was almost… calling out to her… 

Bandee and Will snapped out of their own respective trances a moment too late, as Kirby’s nub and El’s hand made contact with opposing sides of the fruit at the same moment. 

“K—Kirby!!” 

“Wait, El!” 

Light exploded from the beanstalk, engulfing both of them. 

Kirby gasped as his world exploded with all the colors of the rainbow. In an instant, his body felt like it had absorbed the power of both his own Matter Mode and some other Puffball’s. Power and light and pure energy flooded into his Copy Palette so fast he briefly feared he might be torn apart, but instead, he felt like his woefully finite Copy Palette had just expanded a thousandfold, like he’d just been blasted full of the essence of life itself. 

When the light faded and Kirby could see again, the magical beanstalk that had grown the fruit to begin with was vanishing in a shower of iridescent sparkles, and Kirby’s own body was flowing with the same color. All of him looked like it was in constant motion, even when he was standing perfectly still. His whole body was tingling and buzzing with a foreign new energy that was almost drowning out the familiar feeling of his Matters. Normally, that would scare him. But this new energy—it could only be Magic, considering what Bandee had said—made him feel completely safe and at ease—energized, even. Insanely so. 

And as the beanstalk blocking El from his view dissipated into nothingness, he instantly saw that she must have touched the fruit, too. 

El gasped as her world went white; as a power unlike anything she had ever felt before slammed into her chest like a storm surge. Iridescent light exploded all around her—from her—as the power that always buzzed faintly in her head was overrun and mixed with whatever power she had just absorbed. The new power was foreign—blazing hot and alien like a star—but it soon took more of a backseat role as the power she already had expanded rapidly in response to its presence. 

The new power buzzed in the background, reminding her of the source of the more familiar buzzing sensation in her head—now increased beyond anything she’d ever felt before. The only thing that came close to this was when she had used up everything she had to close the Gate, but even that didn’t quite reach the current level of power she could feel burning away within her brain. 

All at once, she could sense the emotions of everyone around her. Normally, she could only do that when said emotions were particularly powerful, but now—everything. She felt everything they were feeling. Everything they were thinking. She could sense their souls themselves—their very essence. Kirby’s endlessness and purity. Will’s otherworldliness, ready to be unleashed in the form of electricity. The Magic and star-like, chiming Dream Matter that made up Bandee—the special Floralian Magic in the plant life all around her. 

Every sense—her sixth especially—had been heightened to the extreme. 

When the light faded and El could see again, the first thing she noticed was the beanstalk that had grown that magically powerful fruit disappearing into iridescent sparkles. The second thing she noticed was Kirby—wings and body glowing and flowing with colorful light—his wings themselves letting off small, butterfly-shaped motes of light now and then. 

The third thing El noticed was that her shoulder-length hair was flowing in a breeze that didn’t exist, and her body was glowing the same color as Kirby’s. 

Bandee and Will looked on, stunned, at the aftermath of whatever transformation Kirby and El had just undergone. Both of them were wide-eyed and flabbergasted as they stared at their (now glowing, iridescent) friends. 

“What,” Will’s voice cracked. He shakily cleared his throat. “What… Was that…?” 

Kirby, voice now slightly distorted, like when he was using Matter Mode, answered: “No clue, poyo, but it feels AMAZING! WOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!” The colorful Puffball launched himself into the air, flying and doing all sorts of aerial maneuvers, whooping faintly in exhilaration from his place in the sky, his form backdropped by the underside of the closest of the five other Floralian islands overhead. 

El, meanwhile, turned to face Will, hair sparkling as it flowed smoothly in an intangible breeze. Will felt his palms sweat slightly at the almost… all-knowing look in her eyes. He felt like she was looking straight through his soul; through every dark, green-tinted secret it held. 

He cleared his throat again, reaching hesitantly toward her. 

“El…? Are you…” He swallowed, “Okay…?” 

El seemed to focus more as he addressed her, snapping out of whatever higher plane her mind was now being shunted into and back down with the rest of them. She blinked. “Yes…” Bandee took a few, hesitant steps forward. “H—How do you feel…?” He asked, eyes sparkling in both wonder, concern, and… admiration? 

Oh. 

Will knew that look. 

He started to feel slightly sick. 

El frowned as she answered Bandee’s question. “B… Big… I can feel… Hear… So much…” 

Will tried to force down the panic he was feeling… just in case. “Like… Like, thoughts, you mean?” He asked. El turned to him, frowning slightly as her brow furrowed in that way it always seemed to when she was worried. Will could probably deduce why, especially with her answer. “Yes.” 

Just as she was opening her mouth—probably to ask all sorts of questions Will did not want to answer—though, Kirby chose that blessed moment to return to the ground, smiling brightly. “Great Wish-Granter, I feel SO AWESOME RIGHT NOW, POYO!!!” He jumped up and down, grinning broadly at them all, despite his lack of teeth. “How about you, El?!” 

“I feel… strong…” El mused, clearly still struggling to wrap her head around how the sudden influx of new power felt. Kirby jumped up and down in excitement. “I feel so energized! This is like eating two-hundred Invincibility Candies at once— without the tummy ache! What was that fruit, poyo?!” Kirby ranted at no one in particular. 

A sweating, smiling Bandee walked up to Kirby and—hesitantly so—pat the now-glowing space between his wings. It tingled on-contact with his nub. “W—Well, I dunno, but it’ll be a miracle if it’s so powerful it lets you avoid the sugar crash you’d normally have afterward, t—too…” 

Kirby gasped with his usual drama. 

“OOOOOOHHHH!!! That’s what we should call ‘em, poyo! Miracle Fruits! Great job, Bandee!” 

Bandee blinked, then retracted the nub he’d pat Kirby with to rub the back of his head, blushing. “Uh, t—thanks?? I—I didn’t really mean to—“ 

“Now let’s go see what it can do, poyo!” Kirby immediately rushed on ahead of them all, toward a crowd of approaching Waddle Dees and a large tree in the path. 

“W—Wait, Kirby…!” Bandee called as he, Will, and El ran to catch up with him. All of them made it to Kirby just in time for the Puffball to open his maw wide in preparation for his usual, basic Inhale attack. 

What happened next was anything but usual or basic. 

Instead of a miniature one, a proper, massive iridescent whirlwind immediately formed from Kirby’s open mouth, ripping countless screaming Waddle Dees off their feet and sending them spiraling through the mini-tornado—and straight into Kirby’s mouth. 

Everyone—even El’s—jaws were dropped. 

But Kirby didn’t stop there. 

The entire canopy of leaves atop the large tree was ripped off the branches, then, with a tremendous boom that rattled the ground beneath the group’s feet, the tree itself was torn from the ground—uprooted entirely—and flung into Kirby’s endless abyss of a stomach, swallowed as easily as a french fry. 

Bandee felt faint. 

The Lor Starcutter’s main room was in pandemonium. There was screaming coming from damn near every occupant of the ship. Awed, fearful, ferally exhilarated… despairing? 

The latter emotion definitely belonged to Nancy Wheeler.

 In any case… 

“HOLY SHIIIIIIIIIIIT!!!!!!!” 

“WHAT THE FUCK?!” 

“WOAH—“ 

“JESUS CHRIST—“ 

“WHAT IN THE NAME OF GOD—“ 

“BY THE ANCIENTS!!!” 

…Even Magolor was whooping and reeling with an unhinged enthusiasm, eyes wide and glowing and like those of a mad scientist—oh, he wanted one of those fruits, and he wanted one badly. Remembering that he was no longer a power-crazed tyrant barely managed to snap the Halcandran out of his feverish mood, but snap him out of it it did. 

Still, though, all the experiments he needed to conduct… With the fruit, with Kirby… Unfortunately not with El, for multiple reasons, such as him being a good person now, thank you very much, and also (though he wouldn’t admit it) being scared to death of her. Especially with the power she wielded now. Still, though, he bounced up and down slightly in his seat, eager to see what she could now do with that power. If what Kirby had just done was of any indication, that Magic amplified the user’s already inherent abilities to insane degrees. What could El do with it?! 

The possibilities… By the stars, the possibilities! 

Dustin’s grin threatened to genuinely crack his face. 

Joyce and Hopper’s wide eyes and dropped jaws could not have looked any more comical. 

Mike, Lucas, and Max were a combination of awed, terrified, and ferally excited. 

Jonathan wanted to go back to sleep. 

And Nancy… 

<…You may drink to your heart’s content, now. I lied earlier. Truthfully, I just wanted you to have some saved for this moment.> 

The table in front of Nancy slid open, a bottle with a logo written in a script she couldn’t read or recognize rising up from the briefly opened panel. Simply trusting that it was safe to put in her body, she shakily took and unscrewed it, then tipped it back with a violently trembling hand. 

She was definitely going to have an aneurysm, at this rate. 

Bandee trembled where he stood as he watched scores of his kind disappear down Kirby’s bottomless gullet, along with an entire tree. It wasn’t that they were fellow Waddle Dees that scared Bandee—no, upon being swallowed, they’d just reappear somewhere else in the world since they yielded no Copy Ability—it was the raw power Kirby had just used to inhale all of them. 

Kirby’s Inhale was strong enough on its own. Especially as a Super Inhale. But whatever this colorful new power was, it made him strong enough to generate honest-to-NOVA hurricane-force whirlwinds. He’d just swallowed an entire tree, for Ancients’ sakes! 

Bandee really, really hoped that power was temporary. Sure, it would probably allow them to tear their way through this nightmare of an international kidnapping scandal until Great King and Chef Steve were safely back in their custody, but still… Watching Kirby Inhale upwards of thirty screaming people at once, rather than the usual two or three, was something he had no desire to get used to. 

El was more calm about it, of course, but even her eyes and mouth were wide open in shock, awe, and perhaps a bit of terror. Will, on the other nub—er, hand—looked just about ready to faint. And Bandee knew, had he been six years younger and lacked six years of honed military discipline, he’d be joining the guy. 

Ohp. And there Will went. Back off to Dreamland. The metaphorical one, that was, hence the lack of spacing. In any case, Bandee grunted as Will’s probably-just-over-a hundred-pound-body slammed onto the two nubs he’d pointed upward with the goal of catching the Human teen. He slowly walked backward, nubs still supporting Will’s back, thus gradually laying the boy down on the grass. He was out cold. 

Bandee simply sighed as he reflected on his life ever since getting possessed by the Dark Matter Zero had nicknamed Rimuru—from his planet-hopping adventure with his future direct superior, future-best friend, and Adeleine and Ribbon, to anxiously watching Kirby and Ribbon’s climactic battle against Zero Two, to later being made his King’s direct right-hand and finding his own identity, and the myriad of things since. 

Like getting inhaled by Kirby in his attempt to defend his King the evening the two had battled to settle their rivalry once and for all. He shuddered at the memory of catching a glimpse of the Copy Palette and then briefly becoming a Copy Ability. He hadn’t been conscious for the last part, of course—just woke up in an empty room elsewhere in the castle after Kirby’d released him and he turned from an orange Ability Star back into a Waddle Dee. Still, the knowledge that he’d briefly been assimilated by a pure force of nature for a few minutes unsettled him. 

Ah. That brought him back to the present situation. 

El was frowning down at him and Will in concern, he noticed, a bubble-like filter of iridescence swimming over her normally honey-brown eyes as her hair flowed in that invisible breeze—and unlike with Kirby, Bandee probably wouldn’t very much mind if El kept this power and—he subtly shook his head to clear it. Bandee ignored the feeling of his cheeks heating up despite his lack of blood as he said, “D—Don’t worry, El, he’ll be fine. Can’t really blame him, anyway, eheheh…” 

She smiled down at him in response (and NOVA-darn the stuttering of his nonexistent heart!), then turned back to Kirby, who, ever since swallowing that giant tree whole, had been crazily whooping and hollering at all of Floralia that he was the “PINK TERROR WHO’S GONNA BRING QUEEN SECTONIA DOWN!” 

Bandee noticed as El’s smile slowly faded into a concerned frown, instead. He could tell what she was likely thinking—it probably wasn’t such a great idea to just be sitting here with Will passed out and Great King and Steve getting closer and closer to some crazed tyrant (who Kirby was loudly publicly threatening despite currently trespassing in the territory of) with every second of inaction that passed. 

They needed to get a move on. 

“Kirby!” El called. The Puffball in question, a few feet away, finally snapped out of his power trip and turned to them, though his smile was no less bright. “Yeah?!” He called back, still exhilarated. Fortunately, he cut off Bandee before he could state the obvious, realizing it on his own, if the (it was barely noticeable, due to the swirling lights dancing across his form) slight deepening of his natural blushes and sheepish rubbing of the back of his head was of any indication. 

“Ah! S—Sorry, poyo! We should probably get moving again, huh?” 

El and Bandee both nodded, with the former offering the Puffball a small, amused smile as he made his way back over. The latter, on the other hand, turned his attention back to the unconscious Will. If he had a mouth, he’d be frowning in concern; as it was, his eyes did the job well enough. “U—Um… What, exactly, a—are we gonna do about Will? M—Maybe we should hang out a while longer and wait for him to wake up? How long do Humans s—stay, um, ‘out’ for when they faint, El?” 

El frowned in concern of her own, brow furrowing. “I don’t know, but we should keep going. …I think I can carry him. Let me try—“ Just as the girl extended her hand in the unconscious Will’s direction, though, the ground rumbled violently. Bandee and Kirby (whose sheepishness had only further consumed him at the sight of what he’d done to Will) both cried out as they struggled to maintain their balance. 

Will’s face twisted in his sleep as he stirred, but he didn’t wake. El merely remained calm, and as the rumbling died down, turned toward the source of it with a resolute glare—it was coming from behind them. Bandee audibly gulped at the thought of what could’ve caused such a quake; it must have been huge. Kirby turned to face the as-of-yet unseen threat, as well. 

Just in front of the large section of disturbed earth caused by Kirby’s uprooting of the tree, something violently broke the surface. To everyone’s disbelief, what appeared to be a giant, orange-furred mole wearing blue goggles emerged from the burrow it had just created in the ground. 

El gaped at the sight, while Kirby was immediately reminded of Ms Moley and her male, Mirror World-counterpart. The former had attacked him for his accidental intrusion on her territory while on his quest for (what he had believed to be) his stolen strawberry shortcake. Her Mirror World counterpart he, Keeby, Greeny, and Tuffy had battled almost five years prior had been under the employ of Dark Mind, like all the Mirror World’s other residents at the time. Even if Dark Meta Knight hadn’t assigned him to guard a shard of the Dimension Mirror with his life, though, he’d have likely attacked the Kirbies simply for setting foot in his territory at all, much like his Popstarian counterpart. 

In any case, Kirby idly wondered if this new foe had any relation to the other two mole-like enemies he’d fought. He discarded the thought quickly enough; it didn’t matter as much as putting a stop to this guy did if he got in their way. He glared as he got into a battle stance, prepared for anything the orange mole might throw his and his friends’ way… 

…Literally, in fact, as their silent assailant rummaged around in the hole he’d emerged from and produced a large stone block adorned with star symbols, which he then hurled at them despite having had no provocation. Kirby tensed as his honed reaction time instantly kicked in. He was a second away from leaping forth and opening his maw wide to suck in the block just as he had the tree—and then spitting it back out at the pesky mole. 

Had El not stepped in front of him and extended her hand first. 

Kirby’s nonexistent jaw dropped at what happened next. From all he’d seen of her, lifting and holding something larger than a bookshelf with her telekinesis would have ordinarily been straining her. And yet, the giant stone block, easily several times the size of a standard bookshelf and the weight of Dedede, snapped to a halt in its midair journey swiftly, quietly, and utterly at El’s command. Her telekinetic field normally would have been invisible, but instead, the block became coated in a fainter, sparkling version of the iridescent glow that currently flowed across both Kirby and El’s bodies. 

Kirby watched as El’s eyes widened at her own display. Both her, Bandee, and the (now sweating) mole creature stared at it in awe. Only a few seconds later, though, her gaze sharpened and she thrust her hand forward; the aura around the temporarily-suspended block disappeared instantly as it was returned to its point of origin with at least two times the velocity with which it had originally been thrown. 

The mole’s goggles shattered on impact along with the block itself, and he was ripped right out of the burrow he was partially dug in and sent flying end-over-end into the distance. 

Everyone was silent. 

“H—Holy mother of Ancients—“ 

Bandee’s terrified, awed words were cut short as another mole-monster, this one with bright red fur and yellow goggles, burst out of the burrow to take his fallen brother’s place. His erratic, jerky movements and the glare just barely visible behind the dark glass made clear he wasn’t happy about said brother’s fate. He rummaged around in the hole he’d emerged from and produced another giant stone block, bodily hurling it at them at a higher velocity than its predecessor. 

Seeming to do so on instinct, El shoved her hand out once more, catching it yet again just feet short of them all, her Popstarian companions having flinched backward slightly as it almost reached them. The angrier mole wasn’t as easily cowed by the sight as his predecessor, producing a life-size, yet crude wooden lookalike of himself, looking like nothing more than a thick, yet shabby layer of bark that had been stripped off a tree and colored on. The mole hid behind it, as if it could actually protect him from a gigantic chunk of stone traveling at high speeds. He even peeked slightly around it and giggled cockily at them all from behind a paw. 

Before any of them had the time to reflect on how tragically, ridiculously foolish the thing was acting, El flung her hand forward once more, sending the giant block hurtling back toward the red mole. Predictably, his awful, wooden excuse for a shield (or decoy, maybe both?) was shattered instantly along with the block itself and the creature’s goggles, and he was sent flying, seeming truly blindsided, toward the horizon just like his orange brother. 

Everyone stared at the once more empty burrow, which was now surrounded by pebbles and chunks of stone. 

“…I—Is it over—“ 

Bandee was cut off yet again as yet another mole-like monster, this one with purple fur and angular red goggles, burst violently and furiously from the ground, glaring dangerously at them all from behind his eyewear. If Kirby wasn’t still stunned silent and utterly overwhelmed by the series of events that had just unfolded, he surely would have let out an angry, disbelieving exclamation at the nuisance the moles were proving to be. Just how many of them were there?! 

Luckily, he had El here to be angry for him. With a fed-up cry, she immediately telekinetically wrenched the—apparently already prepared—expected stone block from the ground, drew it closer to herself, and then flung it at the mole—all before he even got the chance to make a move against them. He met the same fate as his two predecessors, but unlike them, let out a pained, enraged roar as he was sent flying so far away he ceased to be visible. 

Everyone waited with baited breath. 

Ten seconds passed. 

Fifteen. 

Twenty. 

Nothing else emerged from the burrow, and the tension finally drained from everyone, all of them letting out near-simultaneous sighs of relief and (in El’s case) exhaustion. Abruptly, with soft twinkles and showers of colorful sparkles, the auras coating Kirby and El’s bodies dissipated—along with the boundless power that had been flowing through them. While El stared down at her hands in awe (and perhaps a bit of fear) Kirby looked skyward and groaned in disappointment. 

“Aw, man… I hope we run into one of those things again sometime, poyo…” 

Bandee, recalling what El had just done without breaking a sweat, kept to himself the desire for them not to encounter anymore of those so-called ‘Miracle Fruits’. 

As Kirby abruptly snapped out of his disappointment and began babbling to a still-stunned and breathless El about how “super-duper-face-meltingly awesome!” she had been, Bandee turned around at the sound of Will groaning and shifting on the grass. The chestnut-haired boy held his head in pain, massaging the bridge of his nose as he blearily opened his unfocused eyes, meeting Bandee’s haunted ones. He blinked hard a few times. “Bandee… ugh… how long was I out? What happened…?” 

Bandee looked back toward the over-excited Kirby and stunned El, then turned his chilling gaze back toward the groggy Will. 

“T—Trust me, you’re better off not knowing…” 

“I want a Miracle Fruit.” 

“Dustin, you’re the last person who needs that kind of power.” 

Dustin pouted at Max’s retort. 

Hopper ran his hand through his hair, huffing out a sigh as he stared up at the screen with wide eyes. He wanted a smoke. Badly. But he didn’t want to miss even a second of the dangerous rescue mission his daughter—because of course she had—had involved herself in. 

At least she had a trump card now. One that had no guarantee of reappearing but, hey, it stood to reason that those magical… super-fruit things were abundant in that Floralia place. There couldn’t have only been one, right? 

In any case, Hop wasn’t entirely sure if he wanted El to encounter one of those things again, anyway. Kirby was a god-thing who could handle anything that was thrown at him, so he’d be fine. But El was a human being. The fruit had made her… terrifyingly powerful (and the amount of power she displayed at the Gate, when she had had no external enhancements to induce it, was terrifying enough on its own), but who knew the side effects it could have had? This was another universe, floating islands, and Magic they were talking about, here. Even two natives of that world had had no idea what the fruits were. 

There were multiple layers of mystery surrounding these… “Miracle Fruits”, and Hop didn’t like that. Not when his daughter was involved. 

Joyce—bless that woman’s heart—seemed to take notice of his anxious tells, reaching over and resting her hand on top of his. Hop’s heart skipped a beat, but then, woefully, her hand jolted slightly, as if she was only now realizing just where she had placed it, and slid from his hand onto his knee instead. 

Hop forced down the pang of longing that flared up in his chest and plastered a grateful smile onto his face as he turned to face Joyce. She smiled back, but it was slightly shaky around the edges, uncertainty clear as day in her eyes as the muscles in her face experienced those telltale twitches that told Hop that she was at war with herself. 

Hop forced himself to look away and back up at the screen. He could sort out things between himself and Joyce later—sure, he’d been telling himself that for eight months now, but at the moment, it really would have to wait. 

More was at stake right now than a tired old man’s heart. 

At the other side of the room, Mike smiled from over on his beanbag, staring up at the screen in admiration. His eyes were still widened slightly from shock, but most of it was being drowned out by that familiar, dreamy glaze Dustin recognized all too well as the look of a boy swooning. 

“She’s so badass…” 

God, he was practically sighing. A year ago, Dustin would have been grossed out, but several months into his own love-life, he had neither the right nor the urge. He completely understood. 

Lucas, apparently, did not, if the fact that he was making exaggerated gagging noises was of any indication. Figured, considering his “love-life” was an utter mess, but that wasn’t Dustin’s place to comment on. That would be breaking a sacred code. 

In any case, Max scowled disapprovingly as she elbowed Lucas in the ribs. When she’d gotten his attention, she met his sheepish grin with an icy glare, but that melted quickly enough as she looked back up at the screen, clearly feeling some admiration (and pride, if Dustin was interpreting the smug glimmer in her eyes correctly) of her own. 

“Damn right, she is…” 

Kirby practically skipped through the grass, wings flaring with pink light as he spread them wide to absorb the abundant sunshine. This adventure had been great so far! He’d already discovered two new Copy Abilities, as was tradition for his adventures! While navigating a dark, yet expansive cave (and how were there caves in the sky anyways? Wait, no, that didn’t matter), he and the others had stumbled across a creature him and Bandee had never seen before! It must have been of a race native to Floralia. 

After all, Kirby was pretty sure he’d remember if he’d seen a shadowy, blue-eyed creature with a giant golden bell for a head before. Predictably, Inhaling it had yielded him what he was now calling the Bell Ability. 

So, he may not have been the most creative Puffball around. Who cared, though?! He now had two Copy Abilities that let him weaponize sound itself! Take that, sassy-imaginary-Max-voice! And as for Kirby’s second creatively-named new Copy Ability, he’d found that one while making his way through a spacious, yet very inhabited forest near the end of the island with the others. 

Said inhabitants, like all other Floralian residents at the moment, it seemed, hadn’t been very happy to see them all—and all of them seemed very eager to capture and bring them all to this “Queen Sectonia” that Kirby and everyone else were pretty sure was their new enemy; apparently to claim a handsome reward. 

The Queen, apparently, did not want any “Lower World filth”, as the meanies usually referred to them as, in her realm at the moment. Probably because she was evil and planning a hostile takeover of said “Lower World”. Kirby digressed. In any case, very soon into their little forest-foray, they’d been attacked by a giant beetle, as one often was. Bugzzy (Dream Land’s current No. 1 Wrestling Champ under the title “King of Insects”, former member of the Meta-Knights, and an old rival of Kirby’s) this was not, though. Unlike Bugzzy, this “Hornhead” was quadrupedal to Bugzzy’s bipedal, blue to Bugzzy’s purple, and, true to his name, bore a single, long horn instead of Bugzzy’s two sharp mandibles. 

All in all, he’d seemed like a lame wannabe! And he was certainly one who, between Kirby’s Bell Ability, Will’s electricity, El’s telekinesis and Bandee’s endless supply of spears, had been made quick work of. Of course, being yet another exotic Floralian creature, he’d been promptly Inhaled by Kirby, much to Will’s vocal disgust. Despite the resulting new Copy Ability being a predictable enough outcome (without mandibles, there was no reason Hornhead should have yielded the Suplex Ability, which left his namesake horn as the only other attribute that would likely be Copied), Kirby’d still gotten super excited! New Copy Abilities were always something to celebrate! 

His butterfly wings transforming into beetle ones was awesome, too! They didn’t tucker out as quickly, since they didn’t need to absorb sunlight for energy like they did when they were normal. The only unfortunate drawback was that they made his aerial speed noticeably slower—but still! The giant horn right in between the two he already had (not that those were good for stabbing, anyway; they were more antennae than anything) was the main attraction. He’d (nonlethally) speared his way through countless baddies, and definitely cut their travel time through the forest significantly in doing so. The Beetle Ability was great!

Finding another Miracle Fruit near the end of the woods helped, too! Him and El had managed to adjust to their new powers with the fruit well, now that they’d had more time to practice. Bandee and Will were still struggling to get used to Kirby and El being ten times more awesome than usual, but they’d come around in time for sure. 

In any case, though the journey had been fun and led to some amazing new discoveries so far, in terms of their actual goal, they hadn’t really gotten anywhere. After exiting the forest, they’d entered yet another field—the one they were currently trekking through, that was—but still had had no luck in finding that spider guy who had taken Dedede and Steve. 

They were nearing the end of this island, too; Kirby could see, off in the distance, where the land just ended, the beanstalk’s giant form snaking past the edge of the island and ever upward, yet connected to it by a bridge of sturdy vines that could easily allow them to step off the island, onto the stalk, and just walk up to the next island from there. It seemed almost… intentional, but Kirby shoved his curiosity aside, focusing instead on the currently-less-than-successful mission. 

Bandee spoke up from behind him. He was muttering, but it was plainly audible to everyone present. He sounded exasperated. 

“Where on Popstar did that NOVA-darned spider get off t—to?” 

Will sighed as he wiped some sweat from his brow. Given how much Kirby loved sunlight (especially now that he needed it, so a decent amount of that was probably instinct), he often forgot that Humans like El and Will were pretty sensitive when it came to temperature. Kirby explored freezing tundras and volcanic no-man’s-lands on the regular, so could you really blame him? He just hoped for his two Human friends’ sakes’ that they wouldn’t run into any of those on this adventure. 

“I don’t know, but I doubt he’s beaten us to the next island already. He’s gotta just be hiding around here, somewhere,” Will theorized. El frowned. “Where?” Bandee’s eyes narrowed as he scrutinized the group’s surroundings with an analytical glare yet again. His eyes widened as they landed on a patch of particularly tall grass a ways away. It probably reached up to El and Will’s knees, and it was thick—perfectly capable of hiding a creature of Kirby and Bandee’s size, like the spider mage. 

Bandee gave Will and El’s legs a tap, before catching Kirby’s gaze as well and pointing at the patch of grass. He then looked back at them all and gestured for them to stay silent and follow his lead. Summoning his spear, he then took point—literally—and began walking toward the tall grass. Kirby glared determinedly at it as he made sure to keep his footsteps extra quiet, El and Will doing the same behind him. 

Taranza was annoyed. This should have been an easy, simple mission. Go down, subdue the Lower-King, and deliver him to Royal Road. But, of course, things had to get complicated. 

The Waddle Dee and the other creatures had followed him. 

He’d noticed it quite a while ago; the pests had emerged from a cave he’d just passed through—and they had been dangerously close to spotting him. Luckily, he’d found cover just in time, and had been sure to stay hidden ever since. The damned things were strong. This was clearly no mere band of Lower World peasants who naively thought they stood a chance, no. They would still ultimately fall in the end, but they were… competent. 

He couldn’t help noticing how the female and male tall creatures had the power of telekinesis and electrokinesis, respectively. His Queen had both those powers, as well—Taranza could technically use them, too, being that their species could use any type of Magic as long as they cared to learn it. Taranza had always been moreso one for pure Magic and his web constructs, though—for much of his youth, he’d been too focused on practicing his ventriloquy and serving as the at-the-time Princess’s playmate to do the same kind of dedicated magical studying that Jor—that Sectonia had always been fond of. 

He forced down the familiar pang of nostalgic yearning that these thoughts brought on with practiced ease. Those days were long past. Instead, Taranza’s mind wandered back, curious, to the fact that in the time he’d been secretly watching the little rescue team, any time the two tall creatures—children, it seemed—used their respective abilities, he never detected a Magic output. 

As much as it was distracting him from his vitally important goal, he had to wonder just what else could be powering the abilities. The Lower-King’s “Chef Steve”, who was of the same species as the two children in pursuit of him, certainly didn’t have the same abilities—he would have had no need to come at Taranza with a nail-bat otherwise. Could it be that members of the species were each born with unique abilities, and Steve was an exception? 

And all this wasn’t even to mention the butterfly-winged pink Puffball. That thing was a complete anomaly. It could Inhale and swallow other living beings to assume their physical attributes and abilities. By and large, it was a jack of all trades. 

And, while he would certainly never admit it, the degrees by which that suction ability increased under the influence of a Miracle Fruit (How the Puff had managed such dumb luck as to get the name correct on the first try was beyond him) genuinely terrified him—and the same was true for the girl with telekinesis. Her and the Puffball both became forces of nature in those states, and they were enough of a problem already!

Especially because they had clearly just found his hiding place. He cursed in his mind as their conversation (regarding locating him and his hostages, naturally), came to a halt, and their footsteps—quieted well, but not well enough—slowly approached the patch of tall grass he was hiding in. Well, enough of this. A confrontation was bound to happen sooner or later, and NOVA-damn him if he, the Great Taranza, proud right-hand of Queen Sectonia herself, would sit and cower in the grass until they forced it. 

Readying an orb of Magic in one hand, Taranza tightened his grip on his captives’ net with two of his others and shot up and out of the grass, glaring. 

It was time to see what this little team was really made of. 

Will took deep breaths to both steady himself and prepare for a possible fight, calling on the desire to protect in order to manifest the tiniest little sparks at his fingertips—Ready to turn deadly at a moment’s notice. Bandee abruptly held his free nub out behind him, signaling them all to stop. 

The Waddle Dee then took his spear in both nubs and cautiously leveled it at the grass, pulling it back slightly in preparation for a stab at the spider that could be lurking within. 

Suddenly, a green, silver and pink blur shot up out of the grass, and a pink ball of energy sped toward them all at high speeds. Bandee just barely managed to dodge it, and the blur—sure enough, the spider-guy from that morning—paused long enough to glare down at them all. 

Then he shot away. 

Everyone scrambled into action. 

“H—HEY! STOP! COME BACK HERE WITH GREAT KING THIS INSTANT!” Bandee commanded, lobbing the spear currently in his nub at the spider’s retreating back—which was currently beelining straight for the edge of the island, no doubt intending on heading up to the next one. 

Hell if that was going to happen. 

As Will looked at the unconscious forms of Steve and King Dedede, lying limp and helpless in the spider’s web-like net, he felt the already strong sparking at his fingers grow even stronger, his hands tingling. He raised his hand up, a large arc of electricity shooting from it straight to the spider. 

The arachnid being cried out in pain as his body convulsed in midair, supernatural bioelectricity dancing across his form, before he fell to the ground. Will’s eyes widened. Had his bolt really been that powerful? In any case, he and the others obviously capitalized on the lull in the chase, all of them beating feet toward where the spider had fallen, wanting to subdue him before he could recover. 

Unfortunately for them, luck was not on their side. 

Once they were within a few feet of the spider, he picked himself up off the ground, whirled around at them, growling, and fired another pink orb of energy. This one, though, was larger, pulsating violently, vaguely spider web-shaped, and glowing blue-ish at the center. It moved slowly, but halted them all in their tracks regardless, all of them backpedaling wildly as the orb approached. 

Rather than heading for any of them, however, the ball of energy instead seemed to gravitate, as if it were alive, to a small, red flower sitting between them and Taranza. The flower shook violently as the orb made contact with it, glowing the same color as the energy it had just absorbed, before it shot upward, its stem elongating to impossible levels. Everyone cried out and jumped backward as it then instantly expanded and transformed from a once-small flower to a relatively short, but mighty green-barked tree bearing a multitude of the same colorful leaves in star-shaped canopies as the other trees on this island. 

This tree in particular, though, Will noticed, looked rather familiar. 

A pointy stick protruded from the very front of it, terminating in the same kind of flower the tree had been before it had been transformed by whatever Taranza had done. The subsequent opening of two hollows above the stick for eyes and one below for a mouth confirmed the stick’s status as a nose. All of them were too busy noting the tree’s uncanny resemblance to another living tree they already knew to notice Taranza, hidden behind the tree he was, pick himself and his two captives up, dust himself off, and giggle wickedly behind one of his hands before flying away. 

“WHISPY?!” 

“WHISPY?!” Came four more shocked, incredulous cries, joining Kirby’s and Bandee’s on the screen. Nancy frowned as she set her drink down. She wasn’t quite buzzed yet, but what little she had already consumed had taken some of the edge off of this (in more ways than one) distressing situation. 

After all, if she had seen what had just happened while entirely sober, she definitely would have had a breakdown. Kirby and El were currently bad enough; this spider guy now having the power to turn flowers into giant, moving trees with eyes, mouths, and noses was nothing short of existentially horrifying. She winced as the tree on-screen roared at everyone. She just barely stopped herself from wondering how that was possible. 

Hey, she was getting better! 

…Jesus. 

As what everyone had just said finally seemed to click in her mind, however, Nancy was pulled out of her internal turmoil and back to the situation at hand, raising an eyebrow at Mike, Dustin, Lucas and Max’s exclamation. “Wait, is this that ‘Whispy Woods’ guy Kirby kept mentioning? The tree one? You’ve met him?”

Mike briefly spared a glance at her, then promptly refocused his attention on the screen as the tree-monster began attacking his girlfriend and best friend. “Uh—yeah, Kirby introduced us to him when he took us on that tour of Dream Land a while back…” 

Max furrowed her brow as she looked up at the screen. She pointed to the Whispy lookalike’s colorful canopy and green bark. “Whispy didn’t look like that, though… do you think the spider-wizard-guy’s met him before, or something? I mean… why else would he choose to turn a flower into something that looks like Whispy?” 

“I dunno, but the thing’s about to put up a hell of a fight,” Hop dryly noted as he stared up at said fight on the screen. And as Nancy looked back up at it as well and felt her jaw drop, she immediately realized he could not have possibly been more correct. 

“What the heck?!” Kirby shouted as he dove to the side, the ground shaking hard enough to make him bounce into the air slightly as the phony Whispy slammed back down right where he’d just been standing. “Whispy can’t jump!” 

“H—He can run when he’s motivated, Kirby, y—you’re surprised something like him can j—jump?!” Bandee grunted, yelping as he narrowly slid under a Gordo the flowery tree had sent bouncing in his direction. It had come from the blossoms in said tree’s canopy, which were also sprouting the biggest, most impossibly heavy balls of hardened pollen Kirby had ever seen. 

“Who cares what it can and can’t do, can we please focus on turning it back into a flower, or something?!” Will cried as he destroyed a bouncing ball of pollen with a bolt of electricity before it could crush him. The resulting explosion of pollen directly overhead had him sneezing while simultaneously trying to dodge and weave his way around yet more pollen balls and giant Gordos. 

Kirby was really not envying his nose at the moment. 

The flowery lookalike of Whispy Woods—Kirby was just going to call him Flowery Woods in his head for now, it both fit and sounded cute—stared at them all from behind his barrage of pollen and deadly spike balls, keeping them from getting close. Sure, Kirby could fly up and attack him from the air, but El and Will were already struggling as it was and he didn’t want to leave them under-defended. 

The ground rumbled under his feet. 

Kirby looked down, registering the small patch of disturbed dirt at his feet just in time to—with a yelp—dodge a sharpened root that shot out of the hole and speared the empty air instead of his head. The root promptly retreated back into the hole. Kirby glared at Flowery Woods, then gave each member of his team a look. 

“Everyone, watch your feet! He’s gonna try and use his roots to sneak-attack us!” 

Will immediately looked at the ground, wide-eyed despite the allergy-induced tears messing up his vision, looking around in almost crazed paranoia. El only spared the ground a brief glance before glaring at Flowery Woods, crying out, and telekinetically taking hold of a few of the Gordos bouncing their way, before flinging them back at the tree. Unfortunately, they were quite heavy and she wasn’t as powerful as she was with a Miracle Fruit at the moment, so only two of the four she’d thrown managed to hit their mark and embed themselves in Flowery Woods’ trunk. 

The tree roared in a mixture of pain and anger, his hollow eyes glaring at them all, before he ripped himself out of the ground again and shot back into the air. Kirby and the others looked up, their eyes widening to the size of dinner plates as the tree flew directly overhead. They all began scrambling forward, but only a few seconds later, the ground beneath them boomed and sent them all flying a few feet into the air as the appreciably-sized tree slammed back into the ground behind them. 

El and Will quickly, yet shakily scrambled to their feet, Kirby and Bandee already up and back to attacking. The constant waves of projectiles the thing was sending their way was making it frustratingly difficult to get up close and personal and really whale on him. As such, Kirby had long-since dropped his very close-range Beetle Ability (a very confused and very scared Hornhead had then promptly fled the scene) and settled for launching well-aimed, fiery sword beams when he could, instead. Bandee, meanwhile, was tossing spear after spear in an arc over the volley of projectiles and straight onto the tree. 

All in all, this was shaping up to be a very slow, very arduous battle. A “Battle of Attrition”, Kirby believed Meta would call it. They were damaging this thing, but at the rate they were chipping away at it, they’d be here till sundown! 

Kirby’s nonexistent heart rate spiked as, out of the corner of his eye, he saw a razor-sharp root spear out of the ground right next to Will. Before Kirby could make a move to help, though, the Human boy had already shot a surprised bolt of electricity at the root. 

The tree roared the loudest it ever had since the fight began, as Kirby’s eyes watched the electricity course its way down the root and into the ground, where it then rose from the earth and crackled all over Flowery Woods’ trunk a ways away, the tree convulsing as those NOVA-darned flower buds it was using to hurl small fry at them suddenly and tightly sealed up. 

Kirby got an idea. 

Will’s attack in particular had seemed to harm the tree significantly more than any of Kirby, Bandee, or El’s attacks, and Kirby soon remembered why. Many moons ago, before he’d even come to Dream Land proper and was still a tiny, whiskered Puff living on Cappy Island, Tiff had taught him much of the basic things about the strange, wonderful world he’d landed in. How the rain made his favorite watermelons grow, how the moon made the waves dance, and how the thunder was nothing to be afraid of. How it was just the delayed echoes of lightning that was too far away to harm him. 

Among the many things he’d learned, lightning was attracted to things like trees, especially when there was nothing else around in a wide-open area. Lightning—electricity in general, rather—was a primordial, unpredictable power that needed something to flow through, Tiff had said. Trees, being full of water and sap, were naturally great conductors for said power. Maybe… Maybe they didn’t need to get close to Flowery! If Will zapped any part of the tree, all of it would take damage! 

Plan in mind, Kirby turned to Will, seeing the boy scrambling out of the way of a Gordo that had nearly fallen right on his head. Kirby cupped his mouth with his nubs and shouted, “Hey, Will!” Will, panting, met his eyes. Good, he had his attention. “Zap his roots!” Kirby instructed, one nub gesturing wildly at the base of the mobile tree. 

Will’s eyes lit up with understanding, his expression shifting from one of fear and mild exasperation to determination. 

Now to bait him.

Turning back to Flowery Woods, Kirby shouted, “Hey! Why’s your bark so green, poyo?! Is that… moss?! Gross! Do you wash at all?!” Bandee and El, still in the thick of the fight (Will was too busy charging up to pay any attention), took the time to give him weird looks. He simply shrugged. Hey! This was a high-stress situation, and improv was hard! 

In any case, his goading had worked, for the tree glared, roared, and—with utter explosions of dirt and chunks of earth—raised two gigantic vines with leaves at the ends from his sides, like giant arms. He raised them high into the air, and Kirby’s blue eyes went wide as one of them blocked the sun and briefly cast a shadow over them all.

Maybe he’d overdone it a little. 

Still, seeing they’d be safe as long as they were at the center of the battlefield, rather than at the edges of the plain, which was presumably where the vines were about to slam down, Kirby called out to his companions. “Everyone! Get over here!” 

Bandee and El, who had gone stock-still as they stared up at the giant vines in horrified awe, immediately snapped out of it and quickly ran over to him. Kirby readied his sword and spread his wings, preparing to take to the air and slice the vines apart rather than take the risk of letting himself and his very easily killable Human companions take the impact. 

He only then realized someone was missing. 

“Will, poyo—!” Kirby exclaimed as he whirled around, facing Will, who was still behind him; he froze at what he saw. All the hair on Will’s head was standing on end—if Kirby looked closely, he could see the same was happening with the hair on Will’s arms. Said arms had blue and white electricity—even with occasional hints of purple—crackling along them, rather than merely at his hands like his electricity normally did. Will’s face was flushed red with exertion, and Kirby could see a few genuine drops of sweat gliding down his forehead. 

Then Bandee and El cried out. 

Kirby turned back around and saw the two giant vines at Flowery Woods’ sides starting to descend. They wouldn’t be crushed with the vines’ current trajectory—again, they were heading for the west and east edges of the field—but the group would be boxed in on both sides when those vines landed. From there, it would be very easy for the tree to simply clap the massive vines together and pulverize them. 

Before Kirby had any time to think of possible backup plans, however, a cacophony of crackling sounded from behind him, along with a furious scream from Will. Two massive lightning bolts, accompanied by twin thunderclaps, shot to the group’s left and right—likely from both of Will’s respective arms—striking both vines. Kirby, Bandee, and El watched in morbid fascination as, in real time, the water simply abandoned the vines in sauna-worthy clouds of steam, the vines themselves instantly shriveling up and browning upon being struck by Will’s lightning. 

What was left of the giant vines sagged the rest of the way to the ground—the majority of their mass having been near-instantly vaporized and thus rendering their impacts barely detectable—as Flowery Woods let out an agonized roar. Electricity crackled all across the tree’s body, and his trunk legitimately exploded in places as the sap inside was superheated and instantly expanded. The green bark very quickly turned brown—but it was certainly not the brown of a normal tree. 

It was the brown of a dead one. 

As crumpled, browning leaves and shriveled blossoms fell from the tree’s canopy, some of them crumbling to ash in midair, the tree let a single, pained tear fall from the eye that wasn’t screwed shut in agony. Then, Flowery Woods began to glow pink and blue, and shrunk before their eyes as the spell that created him seemingly reversed itself. In no time at all, there was a single, innocent red flower in the monstrous tree’s place, like nothing had ever happened. 

Everyone but Kirby panted, staring at the spot where Flowery Woods had once stood. The scene was almost comical, with tears, trenches and general battle-borne scarring littering the area around the completely untouched, pretty flower. 

The sound of a body hitting the grass behind them all reminded them of the party member who had just secured their victory. 

“Will!” El cried, being the first to reach the collapsed boy, Kirby and Bandee hot on her heels. Will lay groaning in the grass, on his stomach, chestnut-brown hair spilling over his forearm as his face remained planted in the grass. El knelt down at his left side, while Kirby and Bandee frowned worriedly down at him from his right. 

“Will! Are you—“ El hissed as, when she tried to shake Will’s shoulder, an audible crack sounded and forced her to yank her hand away. Apparently, there was some residual static that had needed to discharge, and El had accidentally made her hand its outlet. Thankfully, it was no worse than touching a doorknob after rubbing one’s socks on a carpet. 

Certainly nothing compared to what Will had just done to Flowery Woods. 

The boy in question mumble-groaned something inaudible into the ground. 

“W—What was that, Will?” Bandee asked. 

The mumble-groan sounded again, a bit louder this time, but it was still inaudible. 

Kirby leaned in a bit closer, as did El, the tension leaving everyone at the fact that Will still seemed coherent, if nothing else. 

“Couldn’t quite catch that, poyo.” 

Will weakly raised his head up, and the look he gave Kirby sent chills down his nonexistent spine. 

“Never. Let me. Do something like that… again…” The boy begged, looking utterly exhausted and like he’d just aged thirty years in seconds. Bandee nervously chuckled, offering his nub to Will’s right hand while El sighed and took his left, Kirby watching as the two helped Will to his feet. “D—Don’t worry; with any luck, we won’t have to… although, knowing our luck, that isn’t s—saying much, heheh…” 

Will simply groaned in response as he managed to get to his feet. He stumbled slightly upon fully righting himself, but managed to keep himself from falling over again. Still, he looked about ready to collapse into bed and sleep for a hundred years. That hardly mattered though, because…

“You! Were so! Aweeeesooooomeeeee, poyo!!!” Kirby cried as flew up to Will, stars in his sparkling blue eyes, and shook the boy by the shoulders. Will’s eyes widened at both the sudden intrusion into his personal space and almost being knocked over again by Kirby’s shaking (he was still quite weak, after all), but El, having draped one of his arms over her shoulders, managed to keep him steady. She shot Kirby a warning glare. The Puffball pouted as he lowered himself back to the ground, nubs crossed, before dropping the facade and grinning up at Will again. 

“That was one of the coolest things I’ve ever seen!” 

Will blinked owlishly down at him, dumbly looking at the hand that wasn’t draped around El’s shoulders to keep him from face-planting, then turned his tired gaze down at Kirby. “Well, I hope you enjoyed it, because that was the first and last time you’ll ever see it.” 

Kirby pouted again. 

Bandee anxiously twirled his spear in one nub as he glanced over at the beanstalk at the edge of the island, only a ways away. “U—Um, not that we should take t—too long, but how about we take a break b—before following that spider guy up to the n—next island? We all definitely need it—W—Will especially.” 

The Human boy in question let out a grumbling sort of noise that sounded vaguely like agreement. 

“Sure!” Kirby piped up, grumpiness long forgotten as he cheerfully plopped down on the grass. 

El simply grunted as she helped Will back down into a sitting position, while transitioning into one herself. 

All was silent save for the humming of cicadas and the cheerful tune Kirby himself was singing under his breath. A familiar orange butterfly flew by alongside the gentle spring breeze as they all sat peacefully. 

“This is gonna be a long day, isn’t it?” Will tiredly asked. 

“Y—Yeah, welcome to your first Popstar Adventure (™) experience, heheh…” Bandee said with a mouthless, apologetic grin, sheepishly rubbing the back of his head. 

Will simply groaned again. 

Chapter Text

 The young Emperor Pengi bounced on his feet at the rail of the balcony, trying desperately to see over it like his father next to him. The Emperor chuckled, a deep, rumbling sound, and scooped his son up, setting him on his shoulders. The younger Pengi huffed and crossed his flippers, but all the indignance at receiving help drained out of him as he beheld the land that would one day become his. 

Crystal towers, shining structures crafted from glimmering, magical ice, and people stretched nearly as far as the eye could see across the icy landscape. Beyond it lay the sea. “Enjoying the view up there, little one?” The Emperor asked, and the little Pengi could hear the smile on his face. Without warning, the Emperor burst into his trademark, full-bellied, booming laugh, a sound that reassured an entire Empire at every official address. The little Prince was still too awed by the sight that lay before him to react. 

“Take it all in, son,” the Emperor said, voice more tender, now. “Someday, it will all be yours.” 

Deluxe Extravaganza 

Chapter Two

🍭 Lollygagging in Lollipop Land 🎨

The Lor was dead-silent, all positively shocked (though the pun was intended by none) at what they’d just seen. Jonathan and Nancy’s jaws were dropped, the latter’s especially so, Hopper’s eyes were wide, mouth parted ever so slightly, and Joyce was all of the above and trembling. 

The matriarch of the Byers household had a storm of feelings warring for dominance inside her, and she didn’t know which one should take prominence. Worry, fear, awe, pride… clearly, her son was far more powerful with these new electricky-powers Kirby had helped him understand than she could have ever guessed. She had a bit more confidence, now, in the Lor’s claim that he would return home in one piece. 

But still, unbelievable lightning powers or not… that was her son, in there. Her son and the girl she’d always liked to think of like the daughter she’d never had—the girl who had saved her son’s life. And with them were two, even younger kids—albeit non-Human ones—and all of them were on a dangerous mission in what sounded like some sort of tyrant’s territory trying to rescue a political prisoner. 

That wasn’t something Joyce’s boy needed to be mixed up in; it wasn’t something any of those kids needed to be mixed up in—hell, she still wasn’t entirely sure how to feel about Dedede letting an eleven-year-old be the General of his Kingdom’s army. Bandee himself had been modest and blushed when Dedede had assured everyone the day they’d all met that he did his job well—and from what Joyce had seen of the boy so far, she didn’t quite believe that to be a lie—but still. 

If only Magolor’s apparently all-knowing ship wasn’t in control of the situation and forcing her to play bystander, she’d have pulled all four of them out of there by now, and she knew damn well that Hopper would do the same in a heartbeat. Kirby didn’t have parents (which Joyce would be more concerned about if he didn’t seem like he was doing relatively fine, but that was still a bit worrying) and neither of them knew Bandee’s parents, but if they had it their way, all four of those kids would be out of this mess and living a normal childhood. 

Joyce’s head hung slightly at that last thought as she once more recalled how her boy and El’s had been cruelly ripped away from them—and in El’s case, how there had never been one to begin with. Hopper seemed to rouse slightly from his stupor upon noticing, reaching over and laying a hand on her knee. 

Joyce looked over and managed a weak smile, one which Hopper did his best to return. She took notice of the note of longing in his eyes and did her best to shove aside the messy tangle of feelings it brought forth in her. She’d known for a while now that Hop had developed feelings for her—she obviously didn’t know when it had started, but she knew damn well that they had been there at least as early as last Summer. And the thing that scared her the most was that, if the way they’d treated each other that whole ridiculous trip to Murray’s and back was anything to go off of, they weren’t exactly unrequited. 

But… after Bob… she didn’t know. Some part of her knew, logically, that ignoring her feelings wasn’t going to make them go away, and something tragic happening to Hop, say, in their attempt to shut down that machine last Summer, would have been just as painful as losing him now, so why not pursue what both of them clearly wanted? 

But every time she thought that, Bob’s smile would appear in her mind, and the guilt she felt at the idea of leaving him behind would swallow her whole. 

Hop’s hand left her knee. “Your kid’s one hell of a wizard, Joyce,” he chuckled, and though there was still some naked sadness in his tone, she heard a note of genuine awe and amusement there as well, and it sure as hell wasn’t undeserved, considering what they’d all just seen. Soon, Joyce found herself chuckling uneasily along as she put her complicated feelings back in the Think About Later Box (™) to fester until the next time a longing or loving look summoned them. 

The invisible spell of silence that had claimed Max and Lucas seemed to lift as well, the stunned redhead being the first to mutter an incredulous, “Holy shit,” that didn’t exactly do everything she was currently feeling justice. Lucas uneasily wet his lips and agreed with a slight, solemn nod. “Holy shit.” 

Dustin was the next one to come to his senses. “H—Hol… Hooooooly mother of God…” the curly-haired boy was trembling slightly, and nobody could really blame him. “Th—That… that was some Zeus-level… h—hey…” he shakily turned toward Max and Lucas. “Y—You guys saw that, right?” 

“Nope. No idea what you’re talkin’ about,” Lucas deadpanned, though he could only put so much sarcasm behind it with how stunned he still was. Dustin paid him little mind and turned back toward the Lor’s screen. Everyone knew his usual excitement would catch up to him soon enough, but even Dustin could only take so much awesomeness before he was left stunned silent. 

Jonathan was currently forcing himself to not think about what he’d just watched his little brother do and focusing more on keeping a determined Nancy from downing the rest of the alien alcohol in one gulp.

Magolor, much like Dustin, found that the giddiness he’d usually feel after seeing something like that simply wasn’t coming. The Miracle Fruits had been one thing, but Will instantly vaporizing two gigantic vines and the magical tree they’d been attached to with two horrifically giant lightning bolts was another entirely. Ohhhhh, if only the kid’s mom weren’t so wary of him, he’d be running so many tests to figure out what made that “Upside Down energy” the electricity-powers were apparently sourced from tick… 

Honestly, the kid had just carried the entire team. Normally, that was Kirby’s thing, but Will had just proved himself powerful enough to lend a serious helping hand, too. Idly, Magolor began thinking about which of them would win in a fight at this point as he watched them ride a Warp Star up to the next island. 

Will wasn’t entirely sure what he was expecting before the Warp Star arrived at the next island, but earth made out of what seemed to be literal cookie, along with a sky full of colorful, donut-shaped clouds definitely wasn’t it. He tore his focus from the fantasy all around him and took stock of the group. 

El’s eyes were wide with wonder, as usual, as she looked all around them, mouth slightly agape. It made him smile. 

Bandee’s eyes were as cautious and analytical as ever, but Will could still see the innocent, curious sparkle hiding under the sharp edge. 

Kirby’s eyes, too, were wide and sparkling, but not out of curiosity. The Puffball was visibly drooling as he took in the environment of the second island of Floralia. 

Will resisted the urge to groan; he had been ever since they’d arrived here just minutes ago. The second he realized that everything around them was made of—or designed to look like it was made of—sweets, he knew they’d be in big trouble. 

Kirby suddenly breaking from their close formation and running off to some stack of colorful blocks of God-knew-what sugary substance a ways away wasn’t something Will had anticipated, though. 

“K—Kirby, wait!!” Bandee called after his pink friend. Kirby, predictably, didn’t listen, diving straight onto the apparently natural formation of candy or cookie or whatever it was and attaching himself to it like a leech, immediately starting to suck on it like he hadn’t had anything to eat in days. 

Very quickly, Kirby’s expression of joy and hunger turned to one of disgust, and he threw himself off the stack of mystery-treat like it had burned him, hacking and spitting at the ground. 

“Bleeeghhh!!! This stuff isn’t sweet at all! What gives, poyo?!” 

Will couldn’t help the snicker that bubbled up in his chest. Sure, the little guy’s antics were slowing them down, but watching him suck on what now seemed to be stone disguised as sweets and then immediately regret it had been funny as hell. Still, it now begged the question as to why whoever lived on this island had built its structures and roads to look like sweets, but Will promptly reminded himself that he was on Planet Popstar and did a mental shrug. 

“Alright, Kirby, you’ve learned your lesson! You’re not gonna be able to eat the island, so c’mon!” Will called over to the Puffball. They’d wasted enough time on the break he’d needed after dealing with the Whispy clone-thing, and they’d only gotten here a few minutes ago. They needed to pick up the pace; there was no telling how far the spider-thing (guy, he mentally corrected) had gotten with Steve and Dedede by now. 

El giggled a little at Kirby’s theatrics as he grumbled and reluctantly stomped back over to the rest of them, while Bandee playfully rolled his eyes—which was nice, Will thought idly. He’d been really tense this whole trip; understandably so considering that his liege and Kingdom were in serious trouble, so it was good seeing him loosen up a little. Unless he’d had a birthday since they’d met, the kid was only eleven years old, and Will, knowing acutely just how much it sucked, didn’t want him to miss out on just being a kid. 

“Y—You actually thought the rocks were made of food?” Bandee giggled as Kirby reached them all. “Well, yeah!” Kirby snapped, throwing his nubs outward in exasperation. “I saw a sign somewhere around here saying this place is called Lollipop Land! And with the way everything looks, can you really blame me, poyo?!” 

Bandee kept giggling as they continued onward. 

“B—But I’ve never seen you tr—trying to eat the stalactites in Cocoa Cave thinking that th—they were chocolate!” 

“That’s different!” 

“Kirby, h—how?!” 

Will and El smiled as the two kids continued to bicker on and on meaninglessly, but all of them soon froze in their tracks as a loud, deep, mechanical whirring sound echoed from somewhere behind them. Will slowly turned, vaguely taking notice of the others doing the same. 

When his eyes met the source of the sound, sitting several feet away, his jaw dropped, and he was sure everyone else’s were doing the same. 

Some sort of massive, blue… tank on treads was there. Most of its bulk consisted of a glass case showing a bunch of…

Will’s brow furrowed. 

Gumballs? 

…Yeah, those were giant, golf cart-sized gumballs, and they’d be shot out of the giant, yellow and red-striped cannon barrel at the front of the machine. At the top of the vehicle sat a single Waddle Dee manning the controls. Everyone watched in complete silence as the Waddle Dee realized he’d gotten their attention and began rummaging around for something by his feet. After a few, awkward moments, he pulled out a megaphone, fiddled with it a little, and put it to the area of his face where a mouth should’ve been. 

Unbearable, screeching feedback rang out across the otherwise empty street. 

Will cringed, El covered her ears, looking a bit scared, Bandee tried to cover his pained wince with a glare as he leveled his spear in the tank’s direction, and Kirby was pressing his nubs to his nonexistent ears, but also screaming as if thinking he could drown out the feedback with it. 

Thankfully, the noise mercifully stopped as the now embarrassed-looking Waddle Dee on top of the tank fiddled with the megaphone a bit more. After a few moments, he squinted at it, nodded in satisfaction, and spoke into it, this time clear of feedback. 

“Attention, Lower World intruders! You are trespassing on Floralian soil! You are hereby ordered to surrender and leave the nation immediately! I have been authorized by Lord Taranza, Chancellor of Her Majesty the Queen, to use lethal force to remove you if necessary! Do you dissent?” 

Will froze up; Bandee, eyes sharpening at the name now provided for Steve and King Dedede’s captor, stepped to the front of the group with a glare, ignoring El’s attempts to keep him back. He pointed his spear directly up at the Waddle Dee piloting the tank. 

“Th—This is General Bandana Waddle Dee speaking! Your ‘Lord Taranza’, has assaulted and abducted His Royal Highness, Great King Dedede of Dream Land, and brought him to these lands against his will! As his d—direct subordinate and chief military officer, it is within my right to pursue him here!” 

Kirby, seeming emboldened by his best friend’s courage, clumsily forced his way to the front of the group as well. Will tried to use his foot to keep the butterfly-winged Puffball back, but to no avail. Kirby joined his friend, summoning his sword and pointing it up at the Waddle Dee. 

“Yeah, and I’m Kirby of the Stars, Hero of Dream Land and certified Best Buddy of the King! Now you listen to me…” 

Kirby stepped closer to the tank, much to Will’s mounting horror. Once Kirby had seemingly deemed himself close enough, he once more thrust his sword up in the Waddle Dee’s general direction. Despite being several feet above them all and out of reach, the megaphone-holding creature still flinched backward. 

“Kirby, hold on—“

“Me and my friends’ll chase this Taranza guy all the way to your NOVA-darned Capital if that’s what it takes to get our King and friend back! So you just step right the heck off, got it, poyo?!” 

Several moments passed in tense silence. If Will was being honest, he wouldn’t have surrendered, per se—Steve was in danger too, after all—but he still would have preferred to go about this with a more submissive approach. The guy up there was a Waddle Dee. Will knew enough about them by now to know that they were generally skittish. He wasn’t sure if that was offensive or something, but either way, it was true. Therefore, the guy could have probably been reasoned with easily enough. 

But now that Kirby had gone and antagonized him… 

“Y—You know…” the Waddle Dee said nervously, coughing. “I—I really didn’t wanna be the one to have to kill four kids this morning, but if you won’t surrender…” 

Will’s face paled as the Waddle Dee put the megaphone away and began to reluctantly mess with the controls; as the tank’s engine started to slowly, but very loudly, rumble to life. 

“Oooooo-kay, good talk then, poyo!” Kirby called out as he and Bandee turned in unison and started to high-tail it the way they’d been heading before the confrontation. 

“C’mon, guys!” 

Will and El looked back at the tank, then at each other, frightened. They very quickly obeyed their pink friend, feet pounding the whatever-the-ground-was-made-of frantically as they pursued the two younger kids.

Everyone in the Lor watched in a combination of horror and bewilderment as their loved ones were chased through a Candyland-esque paradise by a tank that shot cannonballs made of gum, said tank being piloted by a small, adorable orange creature that would have been at calf-height if any of them had been standing next to it. 

For Nancy, who was already rather buzzed at that point, the situation was nothing short of a nightmare. 

On the one hand, she wanted to be scared for El and Will, she really did. And she was! But the sheer absurdity of the dangerous situation she was scared of was just too distracting. She whined as she took another deep swig from the bottle of likely thousand-year-old extraterrestrial alcohol, only to feel it taken gently from her hands as she lowered the bottle from her lips. 

“You’ve had enough, Nance…” Jonathan said gently, yet firmly, head on a swivel as he tried to pay attention to both her and the screen at the same time. Nancy only whined and reached for the bottle with a slightly clumsy hand that Jonathan, focus divided as it was, gently batted away with relative ease. 

Nancy groaned as she gave up and leaned back into the cushions. She really was not looking forward to continuing to view this without some sort of mind-numbing substance on-hand. 

Kirby’s day had gone from pretty alright, despite the dire nature of his newest adventure, to pretty not alright; all pretty fast. Usually, he got his first taste of ‘ holy NOVA I’m gonna die’ a bit later into the adventure and the moments just got more and more frequent from there. Heck, his last adventure, in El’s world, had taken forever to get to that point. But nope! Not this time! Barely two areas in and the first ‘oh Ancients this is it’ was already here! 

Considering what species two of his four teammates were, he wasn’t exactly liking the type of adventure this was shaping up to be. 

Bandee was at his right side, eyes terrified, but still set ahead with a glimmer of determination. To his left was a terrified and screaming Will, and to Bandee’s right, a clearly scared, but furiously glaring El who Kirby was honestly surprised could run that fast. 

Then again, Kirby thought with a note of sadness, she’d done a lot of running these past few years of her life, so that probably had something to do with it. 

Regardless, though the tank’s weird gum cannonballs had a range that was kinda pitiful (they simply fired from the thing in a small arc before exploding on the ground), the death machine itself was considerably fast—fast enough that most of the group could feel the force and heat of the explosions at their heels. Seriously, what kind of mad-Dee was in charge of that thing?! Was he just spamming the ‘kill them’ button?! And why did the case containing the thing’s ammo never look any emptier any time Kirby risked a backwards glance?! 

Honestly, if it had been just him and Bandee here, he could have just grabbed him and flew above the tank, continuing to travel aerially until they’d lost the thing. But they had two additional, much heavier teammates with them right now, so that wasn’t exactly an option. Nor was stopping altogether to confront the thing—it’d barrel right over him before he could so much as pull his sword out! 

As Kirby continued to ponder how exactly they were going to get out of this one, he took further note of where they were heading. Up ahead was a squat, but very large building, its roof dotted with several smoking chimneys. A factory? It wasn’t quite like the ones he’d seen on Shiver Star and Halcandra—those had been all metal and mechanical—instead, this one’s design matched the other buildings around this island, made of the same, cookie-like brick. It looked close enough to what little Kirby had seen of factories, though. 

Between them and it was a large, wide bridge. Unlike the tougher-looking cookie-brick, though, it seemed to be made of rougher, weaker-looking gray stone. It would probably be able to take the weight of the tank, but if Kirby were to attack it…

An idea brewing in his mind and a bright grin on his face, Kirby urged, “Everyone! Run even faster; as fast as you can! I have an idea!” Everyone spared a brief glance at him; Bandee’s eyes held a questioning sparkle, but he seemed to recognize there was no time for Kirby to go into more detail and simply nodded trustingly. El, too, nodded faintly and her speed noticeably increased. Not too much, but enough to put a little distance between her and the tank… Will, terrified as he was, now seemed to have gained a little, as well. 

The idea of a light at the end of the tunnel had given them all a second wind, it seemed. 

Grinning wider, Kirby picked his own pace up to match his three companions’ as their feet hit the stone bridge. The tank was still behind them, and its pilot seemed oblivious to the newfound sense of purpose his targets were moving with. After several long moments of running across the bridge, below which Kirby was pretty sure nothing but open air and eventually the grassy island below them awaited, everyone had finally made it to the other side, the tank a good amount of feet behind them now, and it came time for Kirby to enact his plan. 

“Keep running, poyo!” He called out to the others as he flapped his wings and took flight, breaking away without waiting to see if they’d obeyed. Kirby summoned his sword as he flew over the bridge, and with a furious glare, he began swinging it as rapidly as he could, launching flaming pink sword beam after flaming pink sword beam downward at the stone bridge the tank was still on. He made a point to aim near the base of the thing’s treads. 

The stone cracked, the treads got stuck, and as the Waddle Dee piloting the tank tore his wide and scared eyes off of Kirby and realized his tank was stalling, he leaned over the edge of the cockpit, looked down, and saw the cracks. 

Kirby paid the now-terrified Waddle Dee no mind, instead continuing to launch volleys of sword beams at the cracked stone of the bridge, putting his decade of training under Meta Knight to good use. 

The stone cracked further. 

The Waddle Dee began rapidly mumbling something to himself as his tank started making sputtering noises. 

Kirby continued launching sword beams. The stone cracked further, the chunk of weakened bridge buckling dangerously downward along with the tank it was supporting and prompting a scream from its pilot. 

Kirby kept launching sword beams. Just as the pilot looked up at him and began to rapidly spout pleas Kirby couldn’t hear, the tank’s own weight did the rest. The bridge could take no more punishment, and with a final, mighty crack and the sound of several giant stones breaking apart, it crumbled, taking the tank and its screaming pilot with it. 

Wasting no time, Kirby immediately dive-bombed straight downward through the now-uncovered gap separating the chunk of the island they’d travelled across thus far from the chunk holding the factory. The tank, along with several giant chunks of stone, were hurtling downward through blue skies and clouds, and Kirby grimly hoped that none of the falling debris hit any unfortunate residents of the grassland island they’d trekked across earlier that morning. 

Luckily for Kirby, his little orange target was considerably lighter than the several chunks of stone and the giant tank, and had been torn from his perch atop the latter to flail through the air sometime during the fall. Thankful that the tank and the wreckage surrounding it were already way farther down than the Waddle Dee and that he wouldn’t have to maneuver around giant boulders to reach the little guy, Kirby aimed straight for him, scooping him up in short order before turning around to fly back up to the island, leaving the giant candy tank and the remains of the bridge he’d destroyed to fall to their demise. 

The poor guy was still screaming and flailing in Kirby’s nubs. Feeling guilty for having had to scare him so badly, Kirby did his best to comfort him. 

“Hey, hey! It’s alright, I’ve gotcha!” 

It wasn’t long before the guy seemed to realize he was no longer falling from the sky and stopped squirming, instead trembling in Kirby’s nubs. Soon enough, Kirby had them back through the gap and onto the island again. He landed on the side of the gap opposite of where his friends were, where the guy had been chasing them. Kirby set his passenger down as gently as he could, then folded his wings back up, panting slightly. 

They were still relatively new, and definitely not used to flying that fast. 

The Waddle Dee had pressed himself flush against the stable, solid ground, still breathing rapidly, but beginning to calm as he stared up into Kirby’s concerned, apologetic blue eyes. Despite knowing he was an enemy, he was harmless now, and he was scared, so Kirby did what he did best.

 He picked the Waddle Dee up and hugged him, even going as far as to wrap his wings around the former tank pilot. 

The Waddle Dee’s breathing began to calm a bit quicker. 

They stayed hugging for several long moments, Kirby smiling as he rubbed the Waddle Dee’s back. 

Eventually, the Dee, now fully calmed, began to squirm. Kirby took the hint and let go. Once the Waddle Dee was free, he backed up a few steps, eyeing Kirby warily. Kirby only continued to smile reassuringly, even offering a wave. 

“Y—You… you saved me… you saved my life. Why?” The Waddle Dee asked. He relaxed his stance, now eyeing Kirby not with caution, but with confusion. “W—Wouldn’t it have been quicker and easier to just l—let me fall?” 

Kirby frowned at him. “I’m not evil, poyo,” he said. “I dunno if you were listening back there, but me and my friends just wanna save our other buddies, and that… Taranza guy you were talking about took them. You probably saw them in his creepy spider web net when he gave you your orders, right, poyo?” 

The Waddle Dee scuffed the ground with his foot and sheepishly nodded. 

“Y—Yeah… they weren’t in very good shape… and where they’re heading, it’s only gonna get worse for them…” 

Kirby imagined this ‘Queen Sectonia’ character making some kind of roast out of Dedede and hosting a royal banquet, making Steve be the one to serve him up… 

Kirby very quickly shook the scary image out of his head, resolved once more that that wasn’t going to happen. 

“That’s why I gotta save them, poyo! Dedede’s not just my King, he’s my friend! And so is Steve! Steve’s not even in your Queen’s way, either; I bet she just wants him to be her new cook so she can make him chop up Dedede and serve him for dinner! And that’s really messed up!” Kirby shouted with passion, clenched nub raised toward the heavens. 

The Waddle Dee shot Kirby a bewildered look. 

“Um… I—I don’t think that’s what Her Majesty is going to do with your King… you might be right about your ‘Steve’, though. Rumor has it that the Queen’s last Royal Chef passed recently… he must not have seasoned her dinner properly…” 

Kirby stared for long, long moments. 

…

“THIS WOMAN IS EVIL, POYO!!!!!!!!” 

The Waddle Dee flinched backward, but no more screams came from Kirby; he’d gotten out all the anger he had right now with that one, but he’d have some words for this Queen Sectonia when they eventually met. 

“Sorry, poyo. So… um… since I saved you, could you maybe… not report us to any more authorities?” 

The Waddle Dee nodded, smiling without a mouth. “Of course! Th—Thank you for saving my life; I’m eternally grateful! …Um… th—there’s just one tiny problem, though…” 

Kirby’s Heroic Heart sank. 

“Y—Yeah, poyo…?” 

The Waddle Dee nervously pointed behind Kirby, toward the factory he and his friends would be heading into next. “L—Lord Taranza already put the entire island on high alert, evacuated the toy factory up ahead, and had all its automated systems set to attack any intruders in case you all got past me…” 

Kirby groaned. 

“So, I’m not the only one who found that totally awesome, am I?” Magolor asked in exhilaration as he swiveled around to face everyone. They all stared back with dropped jaws, eyes locked not on him, but on the screen above him. “…Everyone…?” Magolor asked hopelessly, eyes showing his annoyance. Dustin was his spirit Human, for NOVA’S sakes! He’d think at least that boy would have been whooping and hollering by now! 

Max was the first one to break the silence. 

“Ho—oly shit, he just dropped a tank out of the sky…” 

“Did he now?” Magolor deadpanned. 

“At least he saved the Waddle Dee…?” Lucas asked weakly. 

“That… was too close,” Joyce said, sounding a bit out of breath and prompting a concerned glance from Hopper—and seriously, Magolor wondered, when were they going to kiss? 

Mike frowned. “All that shit’s definitely gonna hit someone on that other floating island.” 

Magolor thought about it for a moment, then waved the dark-haired boy off as he swiveled his chair back around to face the screen again. 

“Nah, don’t worry. These types of shenanigans usually work out with no casualties back home.” 

In an otherwise uninhabited plain on the Floralian island of Fine Fields, a very annoyed (and still grossed out because he’d been eaten, for sky’s sakes) Hornhead got the sudden urge to look up. He screamed a muffled scream (for he had no mouth) as a massive boulder fell from the shadow of Lollipop Land up above. 

Said Hornhead would be unable to live down having to walk around with a cartoonishly massive bandage over his cracked carapace for the next week.

El still had that dead-eyed look, and Will was still trembling, Bandee noticed, as they entered the apparent death-trap of a toy factory that was so conveniently big that going around it would be impractical. 

Sure, even Bandee was admittedly still reeling from what had just happened, but he’d seen stranger things from Kirby, so he’d—mostly—gotten over it by now. El and Will were still new to this, though, so it tracked that they took longer to absorb this type of nonsense. 

To their credit, though, they were getting faster at it! 

“Y—You guys know Kirby saved the guy driving the tank, r—right?” Bandee asked hesitantly. El still had the haunted look, but noticeably seemed a bit more present now that Bandee had asked a question, which was good! He didn’t like seeing her worried… 

“Yes…” El said quietly, giving Kirby a somewhat bewildered, searching look. Kirby, who had simply been blushing (harder than usual, anyway) ever since rejoining them and noticing the aura around El and Will, averted his gaze bashfully. “I just want you guys to know that I’m totally gonna do crazier things than that the longer this trip goes on, poyo. I mean, I once blew up something the size of a planet! Just with a living projectile!” 

Will snapped his head at Kirby, while El silently mouthed the ‘projectile’ part to herself. 

Kirby, immediately sensing the problem, held his nubs up placatingly at the brown-haired boy. “He got better!” Will looked at Kirby skeptically. “Y—You launched the guy into a planet hard enough to blow it up and you’re trying to tell me he’s alive?” 

Kirby cringed. 

“Well, uh, poyo… he came back…? As a Soul Boss! …Then I had to kill him again.” 

There was silence for a time, save for the group’s footsteps and the sound of machinery whirring somewhere up ahead. 

Something occurred to Bandee. They’d never told Kirby that Marx had come back from that, much like Magolor had, and that Marx had actually been the one to tell Magolor about Kirby and accidentally (though Bandee personally wasn’t so sure about the ‘accidentally’ part) inspire Magolor’s plan to dupe them all in the first place. 

“A—Actually, guys, Marx is—“ 

He, along with everyone else, it seemed, immediately lost his train of thought as the hallway they were passing through opened out into what was a truly massive facility. They seemed to be on a raised walkway (which had no rails at its edges but was thankfully very wide) and far below them conveyor belts that reminded Bandee of the ones on Halcandra (which was also where Magolor had taught him what such things were called) churned, passing along different toys in various stages of assembly to odd machines that only changed them further. 

To their immediate left, set into the colorful walls, there was a giant fish tank for some reason, containing exactly one small Blipper. Before Bandee had any time to wonder why on Popstar whoever had built this place had decided to set a giant fish tank high on the wall and fill it with exactly one small Blipper, the signature sound of Kirby’s Inhale once more distracted him. 

He looked toward his best friend just in time to see a purple blur entering his mouth. Kirby swallowed, and when the usual transformation was over, he was wearing some fancy purple hat with a yellow feather poking out of it, which also seemed to have two holes in its front for his antenna-like horns to protrude through. 

“Come now, Bandana Dee my chap, you are the soldier here! Why am I the only one to not almost be pierced through by an arrow because I was distracted by the scenery?” 

Bandee stared, then blinked as Kirby pulled out a bow and looked it over curiously. 

“My, such a fine thing if I do say so myself… poyo.” 

Kirby was speaking in some weird, heavy accent. And, Bandee decided, it did not fit him in the slightest. It sounded sort of like Rick’s, Sword’s and Blade’s, but… somehow more refined? Fancy? Bandee wasn’t sure what word to use for it, but it was… something, alright. 

El looked confused, and Will’s eyes were honestly more haunted than Bandee’s Nana’s attic. And that room was seriously haunted. 

“He’s British… why…? Why is he British…?” Will mumbled as he stared at the transformed Puffball. Bandee quirked a nonexistent brow, but just chalked it up to some Earth thing and moved on. “He sounds like someone from a movie I saw…” El murmured, eyes narrowed and brows pinched as she studied the apparently oblivious Kirby. “Did it have a fox wearing a hat like that, running around with a bunch of other animals?” Will asked. El nodded, and Will nodded back in recognition, before turning his attention back on Kirby. 

Bandee didn’t get the chance to ask what a ‘movie’ or a ‘fox’ were before Kirby spoke up again. 

“I think I’ll call this fine new ability… Archer, poyo!” 

Bandee, El, and Will all simultaneously cringed. Kirby’s verbal tic and that… ‘British’ accent really did not mesh well. 

“Tally-ho then, my good chaps! We’ve got ourselves a King and an unfortunate Chef to save!” With that, Archer Kirby dashed on ahead, leaving them all in the dust. They stared for a few more moments before coming to their senses and running after him. 

“Something needs to knock that shit out of him right now,” Max said. 

“Language,” Hopper halfheartedly called out in her direction. She spared him a brief glare, then turned it back on the screen. “The bow and arrow are cool, but Kirby shouldn’t be British,” Max stressed. 

“I only vaguely know what you’re talking about thanks to my minimal research of this planet, but I have to agree it sounds pretty awful,” Magolor added. 

“I want my drink back, Jonathan…” 

“It’s mine, now…” the young man muttered darkly, feeling a headache coming on. 

They’d made decent headway into the nonsensical toy factory, which had yet more fish tanks lined up along the wall, although the later ones were more deserving of their sizes, housing Mamatee rather than just small Blipper. Here and there the sides of the walkway would occasionally be enclosed by small meshes that seemed to be made of colorful puzzle pieces. 

When Bandee tested them with his spear, they seemed sturdy enough to prevent a fall, but that just made him wonder why they didn’t line the entire walkway rather than just small sections of it. The whole thing was constructed impractically, almost like it was designed to challenge anyone trying to traverse the place. At least Kirby had since dropped that awful new Archer Ability of his. 

In any case, Bandee wasn’t quite sure how deep into the facility they were, but he had to think they were at least… halfway through by now? He hadn’t been able to get a Birdon’s-eye view before entering, but what he had been able to see from the ground gave him the idea that they probably still had a ways to go. 

The sight up ahead would probably cut their time in half significantly. 

It was another one of those beanstalks, already grown, just resting in the middle of the hallway, its fruit glowing as its floating golden peel slithered around it. Considering the fact that these things seemed to just spontaneously grow to full maturity within seconds all over Floralia, as well as the fact that the plant’s fruit was untouched, led Bandee to think that this particular beanstalk was probably only a few minutes old. 

He already felt himself shivering a little, along with Will, as Kirby and El walked up to it, leaving them behind. Sure, Kirby’s Super Abilities from eight months ago were arguably scarier than what the Miracle Fruits allowed him to do, but there was just something about watching dozens of creatures disappear screaming into Kirby’s mouth rather than the usual one or two that no amount of giant swords or fire-dragons came close to. 

It’d be nice to see El in that superpowered form again, though… 

At the beanstalk, Kirby and El looked at the fruit for a moment. The two then exchanged nods, Kirby’s face showing a determined smile and El’s a solemnly serious expression, as if the decision to use the fruit was a grave one. The two then simultaneously touched the fruit from opposite sides, and with a flash and yet more internal implosions of energy, the duo had transformed. 

Bandee briefly admired El’s sparkling, flowing, iridescent hair, before looking up at Will. The brown-haired boy (and Kirby was seriously onto something with the coconut jokes) had to visibly get himself together for a moment. His eyes were locked on El in particular, Bandee noticed, as he seemed to finish his mental preparations, something in his expression now… guarded. Scared. 

Before Bandee had any time to ponder it, though, Kirby was already loudly and excitedly beckoning them both to follow as he and El made their way to a ladder made of those same, puzzle piece-like components that had made up the meshes from before; the ladder presumably leading up to another catwalk. 

Bandee gave Will a final, discreet, concerned glance, one which Will either didn’t notice or pretended not to, and the two started after their friends. 

Will tried to ignore the bitterness as they went deeper and deeper into the cartoonish factory. He wasn’t a fan of himself for this, he really wasn’t. He knew it was asshole-ish of him to feel this way. For God’s sake, Mike wasn’t even here and he was still feeling bitter. At this point, it just seemed like something that happened whenever he was around El for longer periods of time. 

Usually, though, it still wasn’t that big a deal, so this particular day was an outlier, and not one that Will had a good feeling about. Maybe it was the stress of knowing he was now wrapped up in some fairy tale equivalent of an international incident? Maybe it was Kirby’s constant hyperactivity? 

Or maybe it was the feeling of being a fish out of water in this place? This whole type of adventure wasn’t really what he was used to. He was used to running and hiding from growls and shadows in the dark. He was used to fighting a battle with a cold and manipulative and unyielding force in his own head making him question what was and wasn’t real, of zipping from place to place, from pumpkin patches to labs to disguised backyard sheds to torture cabins while trapped in an unthinking haze. He was used to fucked up Scooby Doo-esque investigations taking him across town as a mild zombie epidemic overtook it, with a couple weird, random aliens tagging along for the hell of it. 

He was not used to El and Kirby being utter forces of nature tearing their way through a cartoonish toy factory with puzzle pieces for ladders on a floating island on a cartoon planet. Or journeying up a magical beanstalk to get between said floating islands. Or knowing that if they fucked up, Steve and Dedede might not make it out of this alive—the latter almost certainly so. Or watching weird-looking missiles designed to have evil smiles at their tips being assembled and then launched at him within seconds, only for his two superpowered companions to either devour or halt them in midair, then hurl them back at their assembly stations, preventing more from being made. 

So yeah, Will had a lot to be stressed about, and it was definitely affecting his ability to keep his inner assholeishness in check. El didn’t deserve his bitterness—in fact, part of him was happy Mike had ended up with a girl like her rather than someone awful like Stacey—but Kirby had certainly earned Will’s annoyance, he mused as the pink Puffball continued to whoop and shout in exhilaration at his increased power. 

On the bright side, Bandee was helping to keep his internal annoyance from getting too bad. They’d never gotten much chance to converse one-on-one before; the day they’d met, there had just been too many people involved and the conversation had been of a scale too large to allow much intimacy beyond when everyone had first introduced themselves to each other. And ever since, whenever Will had visited Dream Land, he’d never gone to Castle Dedede, where Bandee’s duties as General of the army usually kept him. Will had only set foot in the castle the day prior to this whole shitshow they were currently in. 

They’d had some time with each other then, namely at dinner when they’d both sat relatively close to each other, and later on in a living room of sorts where they’d hung out before bed. As early as then, at least, Will had known that Bandee, much like Greeny, was someone he was going to get along with. Both of them were quiet and thoughtful (although, Will lamented, he himself was a bit more thoughtful about some things than he wanted to be), and both appreciated the peace and quiet the other provided, a silent, mutual respect for the joy of being able to hang out without being obligated to keep up a conversation at all times. 

Will did feel bad about the crush the little guy clearly had on El, though. He could only hope to God it didn’t evolve into anything more than that, because Mike did not deserve two green-eyed friends, and also because Will wouldn’t wish this messy tangle of feelings and heartbreak on anyone, let alone a younger and sweeter kid like Bandee. 

Regardless of how close to it he already was, though, Will had no idea the special brand of torture that would be next to push him closer to the edge. 

After several impressive/mildly horrifying/irritating minutes of awkwardly trailing after Kirby and El and watching them tear through any guards and cartoonish, automated defense systems they came across, the rainbowy superpower finally fizzled out for both of them. As Will and Bandee breathed subtle sighs of relief (El, too, looked slightly relieved, oddly enough), Kirby had expressed the usual disappointment and desire to find another Miracle Fruit soon. 

As much as Will may have thought the sailing would smooth out from there, the group’s encounter with a certain ninja-like opponent near the end of the factory would make him almost wish the other power hadn’t worn off. It seemed that, unfortunately for them, a few folks had ignored Taranza’s orders to evacuate and decided to be heroes. 

As the ninja-looking little guy flew into Kirby’s mouth, Bandee began to noticeably cringe—an impressive feat, considering his lack of a mouth. El noticed before he did, and when that brought Will’s attention to the young General too, Will made to open his mouth, concerned. Before he had the chance, though, Kirby’s flashy transformation was over, signaled by the familiar little jingle. 

Everyone looked back at Kirby, who quickly spun around to face them, his toothless grin somehow radiating cocky recklessness. He was now wearing a purple… something on his head that looked similar to the one worn by the creature who’d given him the ability, tied in place by a dark blue headband with two small holes in its sides for his horns to poke through. Two bands extended from under it, both bearing colorful triangle-patterned designs that were remarkably similar to the ones on Dedede’s outfit. Additionally, Kirby’s version of the headwear had a shiny silver plate marked with a five-pointed star symbol embedded in its center. 

The now ninja-like Kirby pulled out a small, odd-looking blade clearly meant for throwing, with nothing but a golden ring for a handle, spinning it in one nub. 

“Alright, guys! You just follow me, poyo! We’ll be outta this factory in no time, believe it!” 

Will blinked as… Ninja Kirby sped off ahead. Bandee slowly ran a nub down his face and groaned in what sounded to Will like dread. “What’s wrong?” El asked in concern, brow furrowed as she tried to keep one eye on Ninja Kirby (who was currently throwing the small blades at screaming enemies up ahead) and another on Bandee. 

The little General merely shook his head sadly and started forward, beckoning them to follow along. Concerned for everyone’s mental well-being, Will obeyed, falling into step beside El as Bandee led the way, his military patience heavily contrasting the chaos Kirby was causing several feet ahead of them. “Great King, Meta Knight and I h—have agreed that of all Kirby’s C—Copy Abilities, Ninja i—is our least favorite…” 

“Why?” El asked with a frown as she turned her gaze from Bandee to the whooping Ninja Kirby. Picking up his pace a little, Bandee said, “Most of Kirby’s abilities all ch—change him in some ways… you both h—have seen it, right?” Will and El both nodded; remembering Fire Kirby’s pyromaniacal tendencies, Sword Kirby’s solemnity, and (for Will specifically) Spark Kirby’s utter inability to sit still. 

Something dark and haunted entered Bandee’s eyes. “Well… wh—when he has the Ninja Ability… h—he just never quiets down… he uses that awful catchphrase in every single sentence, but since he already h—has one naturally…” 

Nancy’s eyelid twitched. 

“No.” 

As if on cue, Ninja Kirby, who had just finished knocking out a cluster of guards up ahead, turned and shouted to them, “Hey, what’s the holdup?! C’mon already, you guys! Dedede and Steve are waiting for us, believe it, poyo!” 

Max’s eyelid twitched. 

“I swear to God—“

Will and El blinked, both frowning in concentration as the gears slowly turned in their heads. Bandee watched their faces closely, looking resigned as he waited for whatever awful conclusion they were about to come to. 

Then they came to it. 

“Di—Did… is he stacking catchphrases??” Will asked in disbelief, heart sinking. Next to him, El looked similarly bewildered, and already slightly annoyed as she realized what they were all in for. Bandee nodded solemnly. “Y—Yeah, and it just gets worse and worse the longer he’s holding the ability…” 

Before Will had the chance to groan, a very loud springing sound went off from up ahead. 

Everyone jerked their heads forward (or whirled around, in Ninja Kirby’s case) to find that a giant… 

Will blinked. 

A giant, white, cartoonish fucking glove attached to a spring mechanism had just launched across the entire, massive building from one of many square-shaped holes along the far wall, missing Kirby’s back by mere inches. If it had hit, the little dude would have been smacked into oblivion by the mother of all high-fives. 

“AAAAAHHHHH!!! HEY, WHAT’S THE BIG IDEA?! I ALMOST JUST GOT SLAPPED INTO NEXT MAGOLOR DAY, BELIEVE IT, POYO!” 

Not even having the brainpower to register the “Magolor Day” thing at this point, Will mumbled, “Oh God, I can’t do this…” 

In the Lor Starcutter, almost all eyes forced themselves to ignore the ridiculous, Looney Tunes-esque traps the factory had been rigged with, as well as Ninja Kirby’s… Ninja Kirby-ness, and locked onto Magolor. Feeling the fur on his back prickle up from under his clothes, Magolor nervously swiveled around to look at everyone. 

“What the hell is ‘Magolor Day’?” Mike asked in naked disdain, breaking the tense silence. 

Magolor fiddled with his mittens nervously as all the younger kids glared at him and all the adults gave him suspicious looks. “Aha… well, y’see… after I came and took Kirby back home, I made a quick stop over at Castle Dedede to get the Red Fruit seed I’d brought from Interdimensional Space.” 

There was an expectant silence as Magolor carefully considered how to phrase his next words. 

“Uh… I figured out how to cultivate them, and unbeknownst to Dedede, his Kingdom miiiiiiight kinda now have an invasive species of trees that grow magical crystalline apples from another dimension—“ 

“What?” Nancy growled. 

Magolor frantically barreled on before anyone else could interrupt—and many looked like they wanted to. “A—And the only ones around at the moment are in small coastal villages… where I may have set up shops and started selling Halcandran relics and magical items I’ve made accepting only the Gem Apples as payment in an attempt to slowly and discreetly introduce currency into Dream Land—“

“Jesus…” Hopper muttered, running a hand through his hair. 

“Hey! I’ve done my research on this region of your world! You all are all about this ‘Capitalism’ thing—it’s basically your selling point! Haha, get it?! Ah, anyway! All that is to say that Magolor Day, also known as Sunday, is a special sale day at all my Shoppes! It’s a whole thing—I even make treats out of some of my Gem Apples for any hungry kiddos! Mostly Kirby, hence why he’s the only one from outside those towns who knows about Magolor Day, the Gem Apple Trees, or my businesses—per my request—but still! Isn’t that nice?” 

Dustin put his head in his hands. “Magolor, Dream Land doesn’t need Capitalism, or money! Everyone is just fine over there! No one has to work, and food and drink literally just show up! Why are you trying to corporatize it?!” 

Magolor felt wounded, truly. He even drew back with a gasp and everything. 

“Excuse me, I’m trying to advance Dream Land! To push it into the future! To push it to great heights, like the ones my race once achieved!” 

No one in the room, thankfully, was insensitive enough to point out exactly how well that had worked out for them. 

“I’m trying to do what Dedede won’t! To—“

“Whoa, whoa, whoa, sounding a bit revolutionary, there, don’t you think?” Hopper asked dangerously, hand subtly going toward his hip. 

Magolor immediately shut up, making a show of zipping his obscured lips and swiveling back around to face the screen again. 

“Say no more! Dedede’s a wonderful ruler and I wish our friends all the best in their efforts to rescue him!” 

Hopper narrowed his eyes at Magolor’s back, his guard up higher than it had been all day. 

“Ugh…” Max groaned as she rubbed her temples. All this insanity was starting to give her a headache. 

“C’mon, guys, we’re almost out of here! I’m WAIIIITIIIING, let’s-a-go, believe it, poyo!” 

They’d made it past the ridiculous hands, and Will didn’t care how evil it was; he’d desperately wanted Ninja Kirby to be hit by one so the godforsaken ability would get knocked out of him, already. 

“Bandee, PLEASE, make him stop!” Will snapped.

 The small orange General looked about ready to huddle down, hug his figurative knees, and rock himself to sleep, but he nonetheless snapped back, wailing. “I can’t!! N—Nobody can! H—He’s just gonna keep spewing more and more nonsense until he loses the a—ability!!!” 

“I’m gonna be Hoshikage!!” 

El had long since covered her ears, screwing her eyes almost completely shut, the lids cracked open just enough to ensure she wouldn’t walk face-first into a wall or trip over one of her two tiny companions. Will couldn’t blame her. 

“Hey! What are you guys back there whining about?! Hurry up! We’ve got a spider to catch, HYAAAAAT, SKREEEONK, I’m WAIIIIITIIIIING, LET’S-A-GO, I’M GONNA WRECK IT, BELIEVE IT, POYO!” 

With a frantic flick of his finger, Will sent a small bolt of electricity at Kirby. He was still, relatively speaking, pretty new to his powers, but he knew for a fact that the small taze he just sent wouldn’t really hurt. Not for Kirby. It would, however, jolt him—perhaps enough to knock that godforsaken Copy Ability out of him. 

As luck would have it, Ninja Kirby yelped, and then was gone in a flash of white and a small burst of stars, a purple star adorned with the symbol of one of those odd, star-like blades he’d been throwing around at the poor guys who’d tried to apprehend them throughout their little factory detour bouncing away and thankfully bursting out of existence a few moments later. 

Kirby, who had fallen face-first onto his stomach, groaned as he slowly rose to his feet, wings twitching and nubs clutching at his head. 

“Ughhhh… poyooo… what hit me…?” 

Bandee and Will breathed sighs of relief, while El hesitantly opened her eyes a bit further and slowly, carefully uncovered her ears. Bandee walked up to Kirby, patting the space between his wings with a slightly shaky nub. “Y—You got the Ninja Ability again, Kirby…” 

Kirby looked at Bandee, eyes squinted and still a bit unfocused. Was Kirby… the Puffball equivalent of hungover or something, Will wondered? He’d acted more like some kind of malfunctioning robot when he’d had the Ninja Ability than someone who’d been drunk—and he knew well what that looked like—but he was acting like he’d done nothing but party the previous night. 

A very weary part of Will chalked it up to weird alien nonsense, as per the usual, forcing down the curious part of him who wanted to understand why certain Copy Abilities had certain effects on Kirby. He’d probably gotten that from a combination of being Mr. Clarke’s student for three years and frequent tutoring sessions he’d used to do with Nancy years ago, before she’d decided she was too cool for her little brother’s weird friends. 

Amidst the numerous sighs of relief sounding through the Lor Starcutter at Kirby finally losing the Ninja Ability, a certain studious young woman sneezed two times in rapid succession. 

“You okay, Nance?” 

“M’fine, just allergies… it’s that time of year…” 

Magolor took note of how many sneezes that had been, then smirked under his scarf and turned his focus back on the screen, silently speculating on which member of the motley crew had been thinking ill of the girl. 

“Thanks again, Will… if you hadn’t knocked it out of me when you did it definitely would’ve gotten wayyyyyy worse, poyo.” 

Will flinched as Kirby uttered his catchphrase, but nonetheless nodded. “You’re welcome. I don’t know if any of us could’ve dealt with it if it had gotten worse.” It was a shame, Will thought, that Kirby’s catchphrase was now probably going to always strike a little fear into him, but oh well. He already had plenty of trauma. What was a little more? 

The group walked in relative, but blissful silence, a palpable aura of relief emanating from them all. Kirby felt a little bit guilty. He probably should have remembered to stick to his self-imposed rules to only use the Ninja Ability if there were no other, less drastically mind-altering abilities around, if he was traveling alone, or, in the case of times he was traveling with others, if it would speed up progress a bit. 

He’d just gotten a bit too excited! Despite them being a good few hours in now, he could still hardly believe some of his Hawkins friends had actually ended up on an adventure with him. If he had it his way, he’d never participate in their type of adventure (reconnaissance, sneaking, elaborate heist missions, and undercover stuff) ever again. That nonsense was wayyyy too slow for his liking! It’d felt like he’d been stuck in one of those awful mystery novels Tiff enjoyed so much that whole week! But this, he could do all day. 

No sneaking. 

No spying. 

No sitting and waiting for one person to sit down with a blindfold tied around her head and do all the heavy lifting. 

And no. NOVA-forsaken. Backpacks. 

Kirby felt a small chill as he remembered the awful thing. He’d hated riding around in it, just sitting in a dark bag, listening to what his Human allies were doing, and waiting for something to happen that required his intervention. If only the government of that United States place Hawkins was part of wasn’t so ridiculously evil, he could’ve run all across town from A to B without having to ride in the dang backpack. For Stars’ sakes, he hardly even knew what the town looked like aside from a Coo’s-eye view he’d gotten his first night there because he’d almost always been ferried across it in a bag like a kidnapping victim. 

Plus, it would have been pretty funny to watch Humans who weren’t used to seeing creatures like him wandering around react to his presence. He supposed that was the prankster in him coming out; he’d done a fair share of it back in the days that Cappy Town had been his home; Tuff had almost always encouraged him, but Tiff had usually gotten in his way. 

Kirby immaturely stuck his tongue out at nothing as he continued walking. Meddling big sis… 

Several miles below and several more away, under a tree on a small island off the coast of Dream Land proper, a small girl with yellow hair sneezed twice in quick succession, rapidly blinking the tears out of her eyes as she tried to refocus on the thrilling mystery novel that had been captivating her for the past few days. 

She sighed to herself. That little troublemaker must be grumbling to himself about the time I stopped him from replacing Mabel’s crystal ball with a smoke bomb again… I wonder what he’s been up to; he’s a bit overdue for his usual visit… 

They had left the toy factory a while ago, only to enter yet another building. This whole island seemed generally industrial, especially compared to the last one, which consisted of almost nothing except fields, rolling hills, and forests. In fact, Will would even go as far as to say that, barring Meta Knight’s base, this part of Floralia was the most technologically developed part of Popstar he’d seen so far. 

Of course, it all still maintained the overall cartoonish, fantastical charm of the rest of this world, being candy-themed and all, but still. 

Most interesting, though (at least in Will’s opinion), was that the new complex they’d just walked into seemed to be an art gallery. Will had been gawking at the odd, oftentimes ridiculous architecture and design of the place, but it was still unmistakably an art gallery. This was yet another thing he hadn’t expected of Popstar. Will wasn’t sure if this was offensive or something, but the inhabitants of this world just didn’t seem very… passionate in general. 

They all seemed to share the same hobbies: eating, sleeping, and playing. There was barely any basic infrastructure—no restaurants (what was the need when food just magically popped into existence?), no currency, no public facilities… the entire place was essentially free game for its inhabitants to fend for themselves and live however they liked. So obviously, things like museums and art galleries wouldn’t exist either, right? 

 Of course, there was Meta Knight, whose passion was combat and swordfighting, but he was an alien to Popstar, much like Kirby—the only difference being that unlike his younger counterpart, Meta hadn’t fully assimilated into the lifestyle the rest of the planet—or at least Dream Land—seemed to follow. Adeleine was just as passionate about art as Will, but she was a fellow Human, unlike every other Popstarian Will’d seen so far. 

Overall, Will was getting the impression that Floralia was a much more structured, developed Kingdom than Dream Land. Now, Will didn’t know much about Dedede, but the way Kirby talked about him sometimes didn’t give the impression that the penguin was born into his position—Kirby made it sound like he’d just showed up one day, declared himself King, and then proceeded to not actually perform any administration or structure the otherwise undeveloped Dream Land. Of course, its people seemed to think highly enough of him, but—aside from the Waddle Dees—it seemed less like fealty and more like friends who had chosen him as their leader, sort of like how the Party treated Mike. There was respect there, but not reverence or distance. 

Then again, though, this difference between the Kingdom Will had fallen asleep in last night and the one he’d made himself the enemy of this morning didn’t seem like it was necessarily a good one. Based on what all they knew so far, the monarch of Floralia wasn’t simply more serious about strengthening her Kingdom than Dedede, she was outright tyrannical and actively ambitious. She’d sent the spider guy—Taranza—down to get Dream Land’s King, self-proclaimed as he may have likely been—out of the way so she could annex it. 

Will forced himself to stop thinking about it. Every time he almost went down the rabbit hole that was this “Queen Sectonia”, it only made his heart rate skyrocket in worry for Steve and Dedede. Will hadn’t known the latter long, but he was a really nice, welcoming, if a bit boisterous, guy. Not only that, but Dream Land was an amazing place—lack of structure and all—and such a place didn’t deserve to be unnaturally forced into some tyrant’s straightjacket-like idea of “order”. It was the homeland of Kirby, a friend of his and someone who had saved him and his family many times over when he could’ve just focused on trying to get home, and that was reason enough to protect it. 

It didn’t change the fact that Will was still literal worlds away from home in a magical floating kingdom on his way to challenge a tyrant who—if she was anything like most of Popstar’s other residents—could probably kill him with a sneeze, but he’d more or less come to terms with that as much as he was ever going to by this point. That said, Will decided to focus on the art instead. 

There were some genuinely good-looking pictures in here. A lot of it was either abstract (which Will was still dipping his feet into personally) or of various Popstarian creatures—some Will had seen before, in the case of a painting of a Sword and Blade Knight locked in battle in a stormy field that looked suspiciously like one he’d walked through on the previous island—and others that Will hadn’t, in the case of one piece that depicted what seemed to be a living alarm clock with blue feet and a ridiculous-looking mustache scaring a pink, Kirby-like creature in a sleeping cap awake. 

El was looking around with that usual twinkle of childlike wonder in her eye, Kirby was ‘ooh’ing and ‘ahh’ing at the various pieces on display, and Bandee was furrowing his nonexistent brow at every abstract piece they came across, seeming to be unfamiliar with the concept. Will was considering trying to explain it to him when he caught a flash of silver and pink up ahead from the corner of his eye. 

Will’s head snapped up and his eyes widened as he realized that Taranza was far ahead of them—far ahead, but in sight and seeming to not realize that he had company yet. He was still lugging Steve and King Dedede around in that magical spider web-like construct, but this time he wasn’t rushing, oddly enough. In fact, he seemed to be… admiring some of the paintings…? Will supposed he’d been demonizing Taranza in his head a bit too much to consider that the spider-like creature could be interested in something other than being a cartoon villain, but Will nevertheless saw the opportunity before him clear as day. 

He hurriedly walked up to El, taking her by the shoulder. Her confused gaze turned from the high, vaulted ceiling of the gallery to him, her lips parting in question, but Will quickly shushed her and pointed ahead. Brows still pinched together in confusion, El humored him and looked in the direction he’d been pointing, before the confusion on her face was replaced by clarity and a determined glare as she looked back at him and nodded in understanding. 

El kneeled down and got Kirby and Bandee’s attention. As she whispered to them, their eyes widened and settled into glares, as well, as they turned their attention to Taranza. Will nodded to everyone, who nodded back, silently agreeing to slowly continue their approach and attempt to get the drop on the spider. 

Taranza idly wondered if the four little nuisances behind him were aware of his enhanced hearing. Probably not, otherwise they wouldn’t be bothering with stealth. He couldn’t rightly blame them, though. After all, down in that underdeveloped hovel of a kingdom, those like him—exceptional wizards who could see right through any sort of plan or deception—were likely exceedingly rare. 

While he was indeed putting on a bit of a show for them—admiring the paintings, feigning ignorance to the presence of his pursuers—he had admittedly been getting a bit off track before they’d caught up to him, anyway. He’d been admiring the various pieces scattered around the exhibit for a while now. He was quite a fan of abstract art. 

B. W. Fangsworth—the painter the works of which this exhibit was dedicated to—and an elusive member of the Joro Clan—much like Taranza and (formerly) his Queen—was well known for his abstract and oftentimes disturbing pieces. His works ranged from stunning portraits of the diverse landscapes that could be found across Floralia to strange, unsettling creatures of near-unidentifiable shape. Taranza had never much been one for gossip, but rumor had it that Sir Fangsworth had been a disturbed fellow. Taranza had seen enough admittedly off-putting pieces in his shortcut through the gallery by now to find himself starting to agree a bit.

 As a young man, Fangsworth had left behind a life of luxury in the Moonlight Capital as the youngest son of an esteemed Duke to travel the islands. Some believed that he had been something of the black widow of his family (hence his first two initials, and why he had chosen to abbreviate them in his professional life) and that his status had driven his decision to leave behind his wealth in favor of building a life of his own from the ground up. It was said that he’d felt unloved by his own family, so he’d sought to rise to prominence as a great painter and earn the love of all of Floralia instead.

 If that had indeed been his dream, he had certainly succeeded. Mr. Fangsworth was quite prolific and well-loved, indeed. Many of his pieces had even found their way back to the halls and palaces he had left behind, ironically enough. If he wasn’t mistaken, one of his works even hung among many other pieces from countless other great artists in the dining hall of the Queen herself. 

So, it was no wonder that his sudden and mysterious disappearance nearly five years ago now was such a great mystery. Why would a man who had achieved everything he’d dreamed of and more simply just vanish off the face of Popstar? 

There were many theories, of course. Taranza had heard his fair share moving through the Royal Road grapevine. The Nobles spoke of him in hushed whispers, as if afraid that whatever mysterious force had snatched him away would come for them next if they provoked it. Some theories were more grim than others—the ones that emphasized that for all his success, Fangsworth had still been a disturbed man who had had an unhappy childhood and cut ties with his entire family. 

There were a rare few, though, who speculated that maybe—just maybe—one of his own creations had been his undoing. Fangsworth’s final and most obscure painting depicted a pair of sisters being separated at birth—at least according to one of his apparent associates. These few gossipers whispered that Fangsworth’s paintbrush—which had disappeared along with him—had possessed strange magical properties that imbued each of his works with a degree of life. Of sapience.

So the tale went: one day, one of the sisters, bitter at her entrapment and at being destined to forever be denied her other half, somehow absorbed this Magic from surrounding pieces, and leapt from the canvas itself into the real world, striking down her creator and trapping his soul within his own paintbrush just as he had trapped her inside of her painting. 

This urban legend—this campfire tale— sounded ridiculous; borderline disrespectful, even. Whoever had spun the tale of the ‘Canvas Curse’ was surely undeserving of their noble status. And yet… and yet, some small part of Taranza couldn’t help but wonder—was it true? Could such Magic truly be? After all, his species’ Magic could imbue even small flowers with sentience, among many other things. 

Forbidden things.

Taranza suppressed a shiver. 

In any case, the world was a large, mysterious place. Sheltered and spoiled in the towers of nobility he may have been, Taranza knew well that there were things bigger than himself out there. Was it really so preposterous that there really existed such a Magic out there? One that could bring life from inanimate paintings? 

Perhaps… perhaps he could find out? If he was right about this, the very first copy of the two sisters’ painting should be preserved in this very gallery. And if the remaining sister were to be brought out of the painting, wouldn’t she theoretically be just as vengeful and angry at the world as her other half? Perhaps even enraged enough to attack a certain few pests Taranza really needed to shake? 

Well, Taranza thought as the four baby rats slowly crept closer and closer from behind him, What’s life without a little experimentation? Besides, if his shot in the dark turned out to be a mere campfire tale after all, then he’d be able to dispatch of his pursuers with something else easily enough. 

He grinned, fangs poking out as he tightened his grip on his captives’ net. 

Right, then. Time to get to it.

Taranza and his pursuers both reached a large, circular break in the middle of the high walkway that led through the gallery. All five of the (conscious) beings present silently prepared to make their move, although four of them did not know the fifth among them was even aware of their presence. 

It wasn’t long before he decided to change that. 

“Are you lot quite finished? These eyes in the back of my head may look dull and unblinking, but I assure you, they aren’t just for show.” 

The conversationally-toned question had the entire group freezing in their tracks. 

“I must admit, you’re becoming rather irksome, you persistent little interlopers.” 

Everyone tensed, preparing for battle: Kirby’s mouth was ready to suck up and repurpose anything thrown at him, Bandee’s spear was at the ready, El’s hand was itching to fling itself forward, and Will’s was already sparking. 

In fact, it had already shot a small bolt of lightning, aimed right at the string connecting the net holding Steve and King Dedede to Taranza’s hand. 

“Fortunately…” 

The previously vacant-looking golden eyes peeking out of the silver hair covering the back of Taranza’s head suddenly seemed to become imbued with life, zeroing in on the four children as the pupils narrowed to slits. At the same moment, Taranza’s head half-turned to face them, the side of one of his glowing, front-facing eyes shining with dark menace. 

“I’m not one to acquiesce, either!” 

Taranza abruptly spun fully around to face them, smoothly swinging the net out of the bolt’s path while simultaneously letting off a blast of Magic that dispelled the bolt with a sweep of one of his hands. Will’s entire body went cold as Taranza’s two glowing eyes focused solely on him. One would think the lack of pupils in the glowing circles to indicate such focus would prevent Will from realizing, but somehow, he just knew. 

“Ah~ You’re something special, aren’t you, little one…?” 

Taranza’s eyes next shifted to El, who tensed as the weight of his gaze fell heavily upon her in its entirety. Her glare intensified, but it was clear that she was just as unsettled as Will. 

“You too, young lady. There’s something alien about the two of you… you both carry within you power distinctly otherworldly. My Queen would find interest in that power, I’m sure. If only I had taken the chance to grab you along with your comparatively mundane friend here.” 

Taranza carelessly jostled the net holding Steve and Dedede as he said this, his captives being roughly shifted in turn. Steve’s half-lidded gaze fell disoriented, vacant and uncomprehending upon his terrified friends. 

“Ah, well…~ Hindsight, as they say, is 20/20…” Taranza tapped one of the golden eyes on the back of his head; the action produced a clink not dissimilar to glass on glass, and the eye didn’t even blink. 

“Y—You’re sick! Stay away from them!” Bandee said, positioning himself protectively in front of El before charging toward Taranza, spear at the ready. “Bandee, wait!” El and Kirby called out in unison. Will was still too frozen in shock, fear, and disgust at the attention the spider had just paid him and El. Shit, does he know? Will wondered, mind and heart racing in turn. 

“Ah ah ah~” Taranza sang, floating up out of reach of the spears Bandee was summoning from the ether and hurling at the spider with expert precision. “I’m sure you’re all just itching to tear me apart for taking your precious liege, but I’m afraid I have other business to attend to. Don’t worry, though~ I’d be remiss to leave you four without a target for your savage aggression. So here, another playmate for you. Rest assured, this one won’t go down as easily as the last…” 

Taranza raised all six hands, and a painting half as tall as Will descended from somewhere above, floating before them all. On it was depicted some weird, round witch-looking creature; it had what seemed like two paintbrush tips for legs and a body otherwise entirely obscured by its clothing—a wizard-like hat that darkly reminded Will of Will the Wise obscured its face in shadow, two glowing yellow eyes peering out from the darkness. Curly pink hair spilled out from underneath it, framing a blue cloth tightly wrapped around the being’s collar and clasped with a yellow button. The figure also wore a fluffy red and orange coat and a purple vest with two more yellow buttons. 

Fittingly ridiculous and oddly adorable for a Popstarian creature, Will thought.  

No one noticed Kirby’s eyes widen in recognition. 

 Taranza shot another spider web-shaped blast of Magic at the painting, similar to the one he’d hurled at the flower that had become Flowery Woods back on the previous island. The canvas flowed with all the colors of the rainbow, and while the four kids jumped back from the painting in alarm, Taranza flew off with Dedede and Steve in tow, giggling. Will swore as he noticed, but the spider was too far out of range to shoot any electricity at by now. Reluctantly, he turned back to the threat at hand… 

And nearly jumped out of his skin. 

The painting was gone, but the figure was still there. It had leapt from the fucking canvas. Will’s eyes flickered warily to the rest of his companions—they all looked similarly disturbed, but Kirby in particular looked about ready to start hyperventilating for some reason. Will looked back at the figure; even after spending a day with Adeleine, whose entire superpower was this, it was still bizarre seeing a formerly two-dimensional creature joining the rest of them in reality; the figure from the painting looked the same as it had before, but also distinctly different. So many little details were now there that hadn’t been before, the creature’s entire body redefined by the transition to the third dimension. 

The being blinked and looked left and right a few times. 

“I… I’m out…” a feminine voice issued forth from the figure. Everyone flinched, then took a second look at the wizard’s hat, throwing everyone’s (sans Kirby’s) impression of the figure into a new light. 

Witch, got it, Will thought, mentally checked out. 

“I’m… out…? I—I really am! I’m out!! By the stars, I’m free!!! EEEEHEHEHEHEHEHEEEEEE!!!!”  

Everyone watched as the figure, seemingly completely ignoring them, shot into the air, flying around the expansive room, doing loop-de-loops and cackling in a classically witch-like fashion. Rather than inspiring fear, though, this laugh was clearly one of abounding joy and excitement. After a few more moments of overjoyed laughter, the witch flew back down to face the group. 

“Why, hello there, dearies! Might you be the ones who set me free?” 

Will and El, still struggling to absorb the fact that they’d just watched not a snack or a tiny, ice-breathing blue dragon, but a person spring to life from a painting, were only able to open and close their mouths dumbly, unable to find words. Bandee, similarly shaken but more composed due to having more experience with such ridiculousness, took charge. 

“U—Uhm—no, n—no, that wasn’t us. Y’see, th—there’s um, this guy…” 

Bandee’s eyes went wide and he sheepishly rubbed the back of his head. 

“Ah, um, pardon me for my l—lack of manners, m’am—what’s your name?” Not missing a beat, the witch smiled with her eyes and chirped, “Paintra! Pleased to meet you!” 

Bandee’s stomach dropped, while El and Will felt alarm bells of familiarity ringing in the backs of their minds. Neither of them could remember where or when they’d heard a similar name to Paintra’s, though. Oblivious to everyone's discomfort, Paintra went on, “Er… by any chance, might you four have seen my sister? She lived in a painting, too; the… same one I came from, actually… anyhow, she looks just like me! So might you four know where I can find her? Her name is Drawcia!”  

Everyone’s stomachs went cold. 

“Oh, Jesus…” Hopper breathed, eyes wide and heart racing. 

Kirby didn’t have a heart—not biologically. But he nevertheless thought he was going to have a heart attack. He was sure his three friends were having similar reactions, albeit less extreme than his, but if they were, he couldn’t see it. He had the creeping sense that they were all looking at him in dawning horror, but that was all he had to go off of: a vague sense. He couldn’t see them. His vision was getting fuzzy at the edges, tunneling until all he could see was Paintra, her form flickering between her own and a familiar face from Kirby’s past who looked nearly identical. 

It wasn’t fair. 

“I—I…” Kirby began, his breathing starting to pick up. He involuntarily took a step backward, away from a confused-looking Paintra. If he concentrated, he could just barely make out the feeling of Bandee’s nub on his back, calling Kirby’s name in concern. “I… I… Miss Paintra, poyo…” 

Kirby’s mouth was dry as the desert. He did his best to wet it, but nearly choked instead as his breath caught. 

“Dr—Drawcia… she… I—I had to… I didn’t want to, b—but she attacked… she turned my home into paint… sh—she was so angry, I couldn’t—couldn’t get through to her…” 

Paintra went very, very still, the yellow glow of her eyes dimming. 

“I—I had to… had to… d—didn’t want to, I swear, poyo—please believe me, I—“ 

Paintra was shaking. 

“…What…? Wait, no. No, no, no, you—you didn’t—Drawcia… she… she’s not gone—she can’t be gone, n—not my sister. P—Please. She…” 

“I—I’m so sorry, poyo. I—I tried to talk to her—sh—she wouldn’t listen! I didn’t want to!” 

“You… You…” 

Drawcia was crying colorful tears. A keening, desperate, heartbroken, infuriated, animal sound started deep in her throat, then tore its way free and rang out through the air. 

“YOU MURDERED HER!!!!!” 

Paintra charged at Kirby. 

Jim Hopper recognized that scream. He’d heard it eight years ago, in a hospital stairwell. He’d heard it from its conception to its birth—that guttural, animal growl that started in the depths of a tortured being and—like an animal—tore its way out of that person with almost physical force. Diane had never blamed him for Sara—not with words. But that scream hid nothing. The way she had dug her nails into him with an emotion that wasn’t just desperation when she’d clung to him hid nothing. 

The way she looked at him when she thought he was oblivious to her presence hid nothing. 

The look in her eyes, the naked blame and resentment… 

Hopper saw it there on the Lor’s screen, reflected in the ever-so-different, and yet eerily familiar eyes of the creature who was attacking Kirby with singular focus and raw fury. And Hopper saw the look his own eyes had once often stared back at him from the mirror with reflected in the eyes of Kirby. Fatigue. Resignation. The inevitable conclusion that he must have just been cursed. 

Hopper had been eighteen when he’d first started believing that. 

Kirby was—if memory served—only twelve. As young as Will had been when the light in his eyes had been dimmed. Far too young. Hopper’s despair only grew when he saw just how far Kirby’s reflection of his own struggles was being taken. Hopper knew how Kirby fought—he’d been watching the kid do just that all day. 

And now, he was fighting at barely half the capacity he had been before. 

All of his strikes and dodges were halfhearted. He was being beaten back and knocked around by all of Paintra’s attacks, and was barely resisting. In his mind, Hopper cursed. The kid was letting it happen. Hopper had been in that headspace before, where one thought that the other person’s anger and pain was theirs to take on and bear. 

Dammit. Dammit. He was too young for that shit. 

Out of the corner of his eye, he could see a horrified Joyce covering her mouth and tearing up. She tore her gaze from the screen to give him a concerned look, but Hop pretended not to see. 

He had to make sure the kid would be okay. 

Kirby remained in his haze, blindly and weakly dodging, blocking and swinging at Paintra as she came at him with all the fury of a wild animal driven into a corner. He allowed two strikes from her paintbrush tip legs to connect across his face, continuing to stumble back vacantly. 

“YOU TOOK MY SISTER AWAY FROM ME!!!” 

Paintra blasted three rainbowy balls of Magic at Kirby, who barely even tried to sidestep them and took all three, body jerking back from each painful impact but eyes uncaring. 

“YOU WRETCHED PINK MONSTER!!!! I’LL TEAR YOU APART! I—I SWEAR IT!!!!” 

She merged her two paintbrush tips into one appendage and slapped Kirby across the face with it, knocking him to the ground. Paintra floated toward and loomed over him, casting a shadow across his body. As Kirby looked up into her yellow, tear-filled eyes, all he could do was think of how bright they’d been before. 

She slammed her paintbrush into him. 

“I HATE YOU!” 

Again. 

“YOU’VE RUINED EVERYTHING!” 

And again. 

“WE WERE GOING TO LIVE TOGETHER, FINALLY FREE OF THAT ACCURSED MAN!” 

And again. 

“SHE ESCAPED OUR CAGE, BUT I STAYED STUCK IN THERE FOR YEARS! I FINALLY ESCAPE, READY TO REUNITE WITH HER, ONLY TO FIND SHE’S GONE AND SHE’S NEVER COMING BACK, ALL BECAUSE OF YOU!!!!” 

And again. 

“HOW… HOW COULD YOU BE… that cruel…?” 

She slammed her paintbrush into Kirby’s prone form one final time, then the rage that had consumed her just moments prior seemed to vacate her body all at once. She loomed over Kirby, who coughed up pink and yellow Matter, spattering the front of his body. One eye was squeezed shut, the other barely able to see the looming form of his attacker above him through the tears. 

Through the film, her finer details were obscured, and only her general figure remained, so reminiscent of the first raging creature he’d had to end the suffering of. For a moment, that purple figure appeared in the place of Kirby’s attacker, and the tears building up in his eye broke loose and rolled down his face, cutting through the Matter covering his front half. 

Kirby smiled weakly, as Paintra’s form re-solidified above him, herself sobbing uncontrollably as she stared down at him with yellow eyes now devoid of rage, but filled instead with confusion at how cruel life had been to her and her only family. At how cruel Kirby was to be an agent of that misery. 

“I’m sorry,” Kirby weakly chuckled. 

Paintra paused in her sobbing, the look of miserable confusion in her eyes only deepening. 

Looking away but still smiling, Kirby continued, “I guess I’ve never been the best at talking people down, poyo… there’s so many people I haven’t been able to help, and your sister is just the latest one. I know it can never make up for what I had to do to her, but if you want… all that pain you feel, all the anger and sadness… just take it all out on me, okay? Let me hold onto it all for you… I don’t mind, I promise.” 

Paintra stared down at him, her confusion visibly only growing further by the second. Abruptly, she jerked away from him and rapidly floated backward, shaking her head. “…N…No… No. No, no, no, you—“ She looked rapidly between the beaten Kirby and his three shocked, horrified companions, none of whom had been able to move a muscle to help due to both how shocked they’d been and how fast the whole confrontation had ended. 

She looked back at Kirby. “I… have nothing else to ‘give’ you. I don’t care anymore. Just… Just stay away from me.” With that, Paintra gave him one last, lingering look, then turned tail and flew away, fleeing deeper into the art gallery. Kirby stared, shocked, after her, still lying beaten on the ground. Then, he sniffled, sighed wearily, and sat up with a pained grunt, doing his best to wipe off the Matter staining the spot below his mouth. This seemed to snap El, Will, and Bandee out of the stupor they’d been in, and they all rushed toward him at once, the two Human teens kneeling. 

“Oh my God, holy shit, Kirby, are you okay? Are you… fuck… fuck, I’m sorry I didn’t do anything, buddy, I just—it all happened so fast—“ 

“Kirby! Are you okay?! Do we need to find a tomato?!” 

“K—Kirby! Oh, NOVA, I—I’m so sorry!! I—It’s just—like Will said—it was all so fast, a—and scary, a—and I just felt frozen and—“ 

“GUYS!” 

All three kids shut up. Sighing, Kirby pushed himself to his feet, nubs covered in the Matter he’d wiped off his face. There was still a tiny puddle of it on the floor where he’d just been laying. “I’m… fine, poyo. I’ll be fine. It’s okay, guys; I’m not mad you didn’t help.” Kirby frowned and looked away, suddenly unable to meet their gazes. “I… wouldn’t have wanted you to anyway, poyo.” 

Everyone frowned. Will in particular looked stern, channeling his older brother’s firm, but gentle attitude as he gave Kirby a serious look. “Hey. I know you think you deserved that or that it was okay for her to just… whale on you like that, but it wasn’t, okay? It’s not your fault Drawcia died; from what Bandee said, you had no choice. She attacked your home and wasn’t going to stop unless you did something about it. It’s okay that Paintra is upset, but it’s not okay that she took it out on you—that’s never okay, Kirby, do you understand?” 

Kirby couldn’t bring himself to meet Will’s eyes, his vision starting to blur again as his own filled with tears. Will sighed. “Shit, come here, buddy,” he said as he scooped Kirby up in a firm hug. The pink Puffball made no effort to resist, and even hugged back, pawing desperately at Will’s chest as he sobbed. “It’s okay, bud, it’s okay. You’re okay. I’m sorry…” 

Will himself teared up slightly; he’d had a moment just like this himself after the Gate—he’d been blaming himself for what had happened to Bob, but his mom had been there. She’d told him exactly what he’d just told Kirby; none of it was his fault, and there was nothing he could have done differently. Nancy had told him the same as well a year prior after the Upside Down, when he’d brought her a precious object he’d found in the midnight-blue hellscape—Barb’s glasses. 

He’d heard her screaming for Nancy, but he’d been just a little too late—by the time he’d reached the Upside Down version of Steve’s pool, the glasses were all that were left of her. Nancy had reassured him there was nothing Will could’ve done—the rifle that he’d been brought to the Upside Down with had already run out of ammo, so even if Will had gotten to Barbara in time, that would’ve just meant that neither of them would have made it home. 

When Will protested that there was still some ugly, animalistic part of himself that had been glad that Barbara had been the prey instead of him and that Nancy should hate him for that, she had firmly rejected the notion and insisted she didn’t blame Will at all. He’d just been a scared little kid doing the best he could in the mother of all shitty situations. 

Granted, Will’s situations with Bob and Barb had been quite different from Kirby’s situation with Drawcia, but the feelings behind both—guilt, regret, self-hatred—were the same. 

Will would be damned if he let Kirby go through the same things he had alone. He may not have been his mother, but he would do his damndest to emulate her life-saving comforting skills. 

El and Bandee sadly watched as Will held the sobbing Kirby for the next few minutes. Both felt a familiar sense of helplessness, but were able to take a bit of solace in the fact that Will was doing a good job of being there for Kirby. Said good job was evident in the way Kirby’s sobs slowly petered out into soft hiccups, then wet, yet calmed breathing. After a few more moments, Kirby gently pulled away, and Will smiled down at him. “Feeling better?” 

Kirby sniffled and wiped away his tears, then weakly, but genuinely, smiled back up at Will. “P—Poyo… I mean, yeah… yeah, I think I am. Thanks, Will.” Will gave Kirby another smile, then the Puffball let out a surprised gasp as he was picked up. Will got to his feet, holding Kirby in his arms, then placed the surprised Puffball on top of his head. The Puffball yelped a bit and wobbled, but Will’s hands kept him steady until he managed to get a good grip on the older boy’s hair and balance himself. 

“W—Will?! What’re you doing, poyo?!”

Will chuckled as he turned to face an equally surprised El and Bandee. “Well, we’ve been walking for a while, and I figure you deserve a break, so I thought I’d give you a ride for a bit.” Though only El and Bandee could see it, Kirby looked down at Will’s head with wide eyes that seemed to twinkle a bit in wonder (if Will had been able to see this, he might have drawn comparisons to the way he’d often looked at Jonathan when he was little), before he then grinned brightly, any lingering sadness seemingly forgotten for the moment. 

“Hehe, I guess that’s alright, poyo!” 

Will chuckled again, then motioned to a still-surprised El and Bandee to follow him as he turned and headed for the door on the far side of the room; it likely led outside, if the bright sunlight clearly shining from beyond was of any indication. “C’mon, guys, we’ve got a spider to catch, remember?” He called back at them as he began walking away. El and Bandee looked at each other for a few moments, then slowly smiled and giggled (Bandee blushing slightly as he did so) in a mixture of surprise, disbelief and relief. The two then hurried with newfound energy after their two friends. 

The next island awaited them, after all!

Joyce sniffled as she wiped away a few tears, smiling proudly. She was so lucky to have such kind boys. She honestly didn’t know if she knew anyone else with hearts as big and as understanding as theirs. She felt a familiar spark of dislike and spite as she recalled all the times throughout their childhoods that Lonnie had made them feel as if those beautiful hearts they had were a weakness or something to be ashamed of. Yet again, he’d been proven wrong. 

Next to her, Hopper sighed in relief. Both at that painting witch thing deciding to leave the kids alone and at Kirby perking back up. He knew full well that that little talk Will had given him wasn’t just going to make those feelings go away. But he also knew from experience that as long as Kirby had people like Will around to pull him out of that dark place, he’d be okay. He felt a clammy hand wrap around his, looking over to see that Joyce had taken his hand in hers and was smiling tearfully, but happily at him. Hop smiled back. 

Next to (a concerned, then relieved, and now overall very sobered-up) Nancy, Jonathan found himself smiling as well. The whole demeanor his little brother had just used with Kirby was a clear emulation of how Jonathan himself would always talk to and comfort Will when he was upset. With how often he doubted himself, this confirmation that he definitely was doing this whole “being a big brother” thing right was a massive relief. He was, of course, immensely proud of Will, too. As unfair as the speed at which it’d happened was, Will had really grown up these past few years. 

Max and Lucas had joined Mike and Dustin on the floor, all four Party members in the room smiling as they hugged and leaned on each other, all of them proud of their Cleric. 

In his chair, Magolor—as silently and sneakily as possible—wiped away a few tears of his own and did his best to muffle a sniffle under his scarf. That’d brought back memories of when he and Kirby had reunited and Kirby had forgiven him for his betrayal. He smiled under his scarf. He sure hoped this ‘Taranza’ guy and the next island were ready. 

Because they didn’t stand a chance against those kids. 

Chapter Text

“Now, my son, open your eyes…” 

The young Prince did as instructed, and his beak dropped in awe. He was in a small chamber, as icy blue as the rest of the palace. The room was conical like the inside of a tower, rising up so high he couldn’t see the ceiling. And floating right in front of him, at the center of the chamber in a pillar of light, was an icy blue crystal of a shade more beautiful and striking than anything else in the opulent palace, small enough to fit in the palm of his flipper. 

The young one’s eyes remained wide and unblinking, clearly mesmerized by the gem. It caught and refracted the little light that was in the room through its structures, highlighting every beautiful detail and somehow making the light brighter than when it entered the stone. 

The Prince’s father removed his flipper from the boy’s shoulder, chuckling easily. 

“Beautiful, isn’t it? This, my son, is the Ice Diamond . It is our Empire’s most sacred treasure.”

The Prince at last managed to pick his jaw up off the floor as the Emperor placed his flipper back on his son’s shoulder. His grip was tighter, now, his voice more serious when he spoke again, “Now, my boy, you must never touch this sacred relic. It is extremely fragile. And if you were to break it, the consequences for our realm would be dire.” 

The Prince frowned as he tore his gaze from the crystal, turning around to face his father. “Whaddaya mean, Papa? How can a little Magic jewel like that breaking be so bad? I mean, Ah know it’s pretty an’ all, but…” The Emperor sighed, something in his eyes turning dark and solemn as he lowered himself to be eye-level with his son. “Do you remember when I showed you the Obscura Chest?” 

The little Prince’s face screwed up in thought, then he smiled in remembrance. “Ah, yeah! You said that a long, long time ago, this evil star thingy showed up and attacked our Empire, so our best wizards sealed it up in dat chest!” The Emperor nodded solemnly. “Indeed. The Dark One was not the first existential threat our Empire has faced, however. My boy, do you know what a Spectral Dragon is?” 

The Prince frowned and shook his head. 

“Spectral Dragons are unfathomably ancient creatures, already old when our Empire was born millennia ago. Unlike what you might typically imagine of a Dragon, however, they’re only about as big as I am, and instead of fire, they breathe ice.” 

The little Prince’s eyes went starry. “Woah, that’s so cool, Papa!” 

“No.” 

The Prince’s smile died as he flinched backward from his father’s suddenly sharp tone. The Emperor sighed and reached out to his son, gently caressing the younger bird’s cheek. “…I’m sorry, my boy, it’s just that… Spectral Dragons are not to be admired. They are to be respected. Feared. ” 

The Emperor's eyes darkened. 

“Our Empire was not the first to be established in this land, little one. There was another before us, greater even than we are now. However, they were unaware that their realm was host to a Spectral Dragon. Angry at the intrusion on its territory, the Dragon sent forth a blizzard borne of its breath… one even the great Empire could not withstand. It fell, and all its people with it. However, its last remaining great wizards pooled all their Magic together in their dying moments to create this Ice Diamond. As long as it remains intact and its Magic flows, any Spectral Dragon near the Empire will remain in an endless slumber. However, if the Ice Diamond were to break…” 

The Emperor gave his son a serious look. 

“…You’re a smart boy. You can surmise the rest. Now that you know how vital this one, fragile crystal is to our entire civilization, I want to make clear that you are not to enter this room unless you’re being supervised by your mother or I. And under no circumstances are you to touch the Ice Diamond. One day you will take my place as its protector, but that day is a long way off.”

The Emperor rose to his feet, gazing down at his shocked son. 

“Do I make myself clear, my boy?” The Prince stared up at his father for a few moments, then rapidly nodded. As he glanced back at the Crystal, he caught a glimpse of his terrified expression being reflected back at him.

“Okay, Papa. A—Ah understand…”

The Emperor smiled. 

“Good.” 

Deluxe Extravaganza 

Chapter Three

❄️Outing on Old Odyssey⛈️

Back in Dream Land, Will had seen doughnut-shaped rocks that somehow generated waterfalls from out of nowhere. Just on the last floating island of Floralia (Lollipop Land, he believed Kirby had called it), the buildings and roads had been made to look like they were made from cookie and graham cracker. 

But carrot-shaped rocks were just a whole new level of ridiculous. How did that even happen naturally? 

This third island, so far, seemed to consist of rocky lowland—the large stretch of land Will (still carrying Kirby on his head) El, and Bandee were traveling along sat next to a large lake, yet one apparently shallow enough for giant, carrot-shaped rock formations to protrude from the bed. In the distance, at the other side of the lake, there were even larger carrot-like rocks—these ones more mountain-sized, actually—which had visible openings from which old-looking train tracks whose support beams were also emerging from the lake stretched across the water and directly overhead, disappearing into the rocky hills and eventual mountains to the west. 

Overall, the locales of Floralia were only getting weirder, Will concluded. This one especially would be fun as heck to paint, though. It was just fantastical enough to work, while not being as outright ridiculous as Lollipop Land had been. 

“This place is so pretty,” El commented, as if voicing Will’s thoughts. He hummed in agreement, feeling Kirby nod from atop his head as well. “It seems pretty peaceful, too. I could honestly just… sit on one of these rocks and paint that lake and those weird carrot mountains out there all day.” 

“Yep, but no can do! We don’t have time to laze around and enjoy the scenery, we gotta catch up to Dedede, poyo!” Kirby declared. Then he tugged on Will’s ears (and wow that felt weird because he didn’t have anything to actually grip onto Will with ), and said, “Now! Mush!!” 

“Agh…” Will grunted as Kirby tugged at his ears, though he couldn’t help laughing a bit, too. He halfheartedly reached up toward his head and playfully grabbed for Kirby. “Hey, if you have a problem with how slow we’re going, you could always run off ahead and let us catch up later!” Giggling, Kirby expertly avoided Will’s hand and kept his balance atop his head. 

“No way! I don’t leave friends behind on my travels! No matter how distracted they are…” Kirby said, enunciating the last part pointedly down at Will’s head. Will only huffed in amusement. “C’mon, you were all over the last island’s scenery because it looked like junk food, but now that the rocks look like vegetables, you’re not interested?” 

“Hey!” Kirby said, sounding offended. “I’m not like your average kid, poyo! I like vegetables! Why would I need to look at those carrot rocks when I have your coconut head for company, though?!” Will scoffed in shocked offense, involuntarily reaching for his hair. “I—It doesn’t look like a coconut…!” 

Kirby only patted his coconut-like perch comfortingly. “Keep telling yourself that, buddy.” 

Up ahead, El and Bandee giggled at their friends’ antics. 

“His head doesn’t look… look like a coconut…!” Joyce muttered indignantly. “I’m the one who cuts his hair, I—“ she paused, then whipped her head around to face Hopper, who was channeling his decades of experience honing his military poker face to suppress the chuckle trying to escape from him. 

“Does his hair make his head look like a coconut, Hop? C’mon…” 

“No—I… No. Mm-mm, not at all; I dunno what the kid’s talkin’ about…” 

Joyce’s nervous gaze lingered on him for a few more moments, before she hesitantly nodded (thankfully not noticing him starting to sweat from the effort of holding in his laughter), and refocused on the Lor’s screen. Jonathan, Nancy, and the other Party members were also doing their best not to laugh at Kirby’s assessment, some faring better than others (Dustin was hiding his face in his shirt and Lucas’ lips were pressed firmly together, caught off guard). 

Mike had at first seemed confused (having known Will the longest besides his mom and Jonathan, he would be the one who saw the least problem with the hairstyle his friend had had their entire lives), but after peering at Will’s hair a bit longer, seemed to agree. Nancy was covering her mouth for Jonathan’s sake, but he seemed to recognize none of the laughter everyone was trying to suppress was malicious and openly smiled himself. 

In his chair at the front of the room, Magolor was glad to have his back turned to everyone else, because he was quietly losing it, hiding his face in his scarf and trembling in place with the force of his barely contained laughter. It wasn’t even that funny, really—it had just caught him off-guard. He knew that if Marx were here, though, he wouldn’t have nearly as much tact and probably would have openly laughed at Will’s ridiculous haircut a long time ago already. 

Magolor wondered what he was up to right now.

"And then—and you're not gonna believe this, but—he smacked me with the hammer so hard I got rocketed into NOVA and we both went boom! And that was the end of 'lil ol me for the next, like, ten hours or something; I dunno the details 'cus I was deader than this Scarfy I ate alive earlier, eehehehehe! Uh, anyway, kids, the moral of this story is to not be an asshole and to always never attempt world domination! Now if you'll excuse me, I gotta—“ 

Ignoring the horrified looks he was getting from the gaggle of brats he'd decided to tell the tale of his redemption arc to while stopping to check out this nowhere planet for a few days, Marx sneezed twice in quick succession. Violently. Sniffling the nonexistent boogers back into his nonexistent nose with a scowl, Marx froze, then grinned devilishly to himself as the implications dawned on him. Was his dear-sweet little brother (they were probably the same age, as Maggie always reminded him, but fuck him Marx was the big brother here) thinking of him? Oh, how sweet! Marx barely resisted the urge to chuckle evilly. So, Maggie hadn't followed in his suicidal footsteps and gotten himself killed by the pink menace, after all. Good.

Marx knew his brother was smarter than that (he always had been the nerdier one between them, after all). Maybe he'd even managed to befriend the little gumball. If that was the case, then it'd make his upcoming visit all the easier. It wasn't every day you saw the guy you punted into a planet and blew to smithereens then cut in half with a sword show back up fine and dandy, and Maggie was the kinda guy who'd probably make a good mediator. 

A whimper drew Marx out of his thoughts and pulled his attention back to the pack of brats he'd decided to screw with. He snarled at them, baring his fangs and channeling his best "demonic hellspawn" voice.

 "What're ya lookin' at, you brats?!?! Storytime's over, now SCRAM!!!!!" 

The assortment of young Waddle Dees, Chips and Bronto Burts screamed their lungs out and hauled ass over the horizon, leaving Marx to cackle as he plotted on what other pranks he'd pull today. The day was still young, after all...

The train tracks, as it turned out, were not just for show. While preparing to cross a set, Will heard the telltale whistle of a train sound from one of the carrot-shaped mountains out in the lake and stopped dead, along with El. Bandee, confused by the sound but not knowing any better, had tried to keep walking, but at Will’s sharp warning, came back to join them.

Only a few moments later, a giant, fittingly cartoonish train with a Waddle Dee’s face on its front had come roaring out of the carrot-mountain, down the tracks, and across where Bandee had been standing. Will had then had to help the poor Waddle Dee through a mini-panic attack (he and Kirby were wholly unfamiliar with the concept of trains, aside from a form Kirby had apparently been able to manipulate his body into when he’d been turned into yarn and trapped in that yarn world, which had apparently also been Kirby’s only experience with cars prior to arriving on Earth). 

El herself, having not ever seen a moving train before, let alone been that close to one, had been pretty rattled as well, but Will had managed to calm her down, too. After that, it wasn’t long before they all stumbled upon yet another Miracle Fruit. Kirby eagerly hopped off Will’s head and beckoned to El, who (was that reluctance Will saw?) walked up to join her friend at the beanstalk. 

Kirby hesitated for a moment, then glanced over at Will and smiled. “Hey, Will! Wanna try it, poyo? I think you’d be insane with one of these things!” Will’s eyes widened, then, remembering what he’d done to the weird, floral Whispy-like tree earlier without one, he involuntarily took a few steps backward, holding his hands up. “O—Oh, no, thanks. You and El do your thing, okay?” 

Kirby frowned at him. 

“Awwww, c’mon, Will! Don’t you remember what you did to Flowery Woods earlier this morning? That was you without a giant power-up! Imagine what you could do with one of these things!! You could put that meanie Kracko in his place so hard he’ll never wanna pick a fight with us again!” 

Will and El both winced at hearing the cloud monster’s name, remembering when he’d ambushed them all at Cloudy Park several months ago. El in particular wrapped her arms around herself, feeling a sudden chill come over her as she remembered being zapped to nearly within an inch of her life by the living cloud. Will made sure to voice his displeasure. 

“I think I’m strong enough to handle him without an insane boost, especially with you guys there to help. Last time we saw him, I didn’t know about my powers yet and Bandee wasn’t there. With you, El’s powers, Bandee’s spears and my lightning, we can dogpile him without needing Magic drugs or whatever’s in those fruits.” 

Kirby gazed at him for a few moments longer, than shrugged and turned back to the fruit. “Suit yourself, I guess… I just want you to know you’re reaaaallyyyy missing out, though, poyo!” Bandee walked up to lean against Will’s calf, planting the butt of his spear against the ground for extra balance. He gave Kirby an unimpressed look. “W—Will’s right, y’know. Those things aren’t t—toys, Kirby. You should take them a bit more seriously…” 

“Meta Knight, you’re a shapeshifter?!” 

Bandee rolled his eyes, while Kirby started cackling like he’d just made the best joke ever. While Will and Bandee gave him unimpressed looks, El gazed at him with utter confusion, before giving her head the slightest shake and reaching for her half of the Miracle Fruit. Kirby got himself together, wiping a few stray tears away, and reached out to touch his half, as well. 

“Who the hell is Kracko?” 

Four teens cringed hard at the stern question posed by Hopper. No one answered for several long moments, so Hopper put on his Interrogation Face (™) and let it pass over Mike, Dustin, Lucas and Max in turn, his eyes never lingering on more than one person at the same time; each of them were individually up against his wrath. Combined with the Concerned, Disappointed Mother Face (™) Joyce was peeking out at them from around Hopper with, the four kids found themselves up against a deadly duo. 

Mike was the only one who dared to speak, Adam’s apple bobbing as he looked at Hopper and remembered the borderline insane behavior the police chief had confronted him with in his cruiser after he’d been disrespectful to him last Summer. “H—He’s like this, uh, cloud guy. Like how Whispy’s a tree… y’know…” 

“…” 

“…” 

“When Kirby took us on that, um, tour of Dream Land a while back, he… miiiight’ve showed up outta nowhere and attacked us…” 

Mike, Max and Lucas cringed at Dustin’s admission, while Hop’s nostrils flared. He scrubbed a hand down his face, before looking up at the ceiling, visibly suppressing the urge to wring some innocent soul’s neck. “Seven.” 

The kids’ demeanors shifted from petrified to confused and caught off-guard. Hop looked away from the ceiling and back over at them, smirking in a way that practically stunk of anger. “What? Why’re you guys so confused?” Hopper shrugged at them, before stuffing his hand back into his pocket. “Seven,” he said again, in a tone that said whatever he was implying should have been obvious. “That’s how many months it’s been since you guys’ little tour. What, it been so long that you forget?” 

Everyone cringed again, looking nervously from one to another, then hesitantly back at Hopper. The man took a deep breath in through his nostrils, tilting his head up toward the ceiling, and about 2% of the tension in his body drained away. “Jesus, when were you kids gonna tell me? Tell anyone?? ” The kids all looked at the floor, ashamed. Heedless to their feelings, Hopper continued on, ignoring the concerned look Joyce was giving him. 

“So, let me get this straight. Seven. Months ago, this, what? Psychotic cloud monster attacked you all—and, mind you, ‘you all’ includes my daughter and Joyce’s son—and you just…” Hopper threw his hands up, before letting them slap back against his jean-clad thighs. “—Just decided ‘oh, it’s fine. We survived, so fuck the adults who can’t explain what happened to our parents if we die in there! No need to tell them we all almost got killed!’” 

Joyce put a hand on his shoulder, concerned gaze flickering between him and the ashamed kids. She mouthed a silent ‘Hop…’ and the man let out a heavy, burdened sigh that sounded like it had decades of weight attached to it. He cast one last, disappointed glance at Mike and the others, then grunted as he pushed himself to his feet and headed toward the Lor Starcutter’s door, fumbling with his pocket somewhat frantically. Everyone could just barely catch him muttering something about needing a smoke, before the door slid open and Hop stepped out, the door sliding shut behind him. 

Joyce spared Mike, Max, Lucas and Dustin one last look (one which hit all of them especially hard; being given a look of disappointment by Joyce Byers never felt good), before sighing and walking briskly toward the door as well, likely wanting to talk with Hopper. The Lor silently let the woman out and shut her door behind her. The entire ship was steeped in a charged silence, broken only by the sounds of what was happening on-screen. 

Mike chanced a glance back at Nancy and Jonathan; Jonathan looked like he was barely restraining himself from snapping, too, resting one hand on a rapidly bouncing knee and using the other to pinch the bridge of his nose. Nancy, meanwhile, simply glared at Mike, arms crossed, then shook her head as she looked away, lightly sighing. 

Magolor awkwardly fiddled with his mittens as he listened to the little family quarrel, keeping his back adamantly turned and his gaze on the Lor’s screen. He wanted nothing to do with all that drama. Before very recently, conflict with numerous different people at once had been something he was utterly inexperienced with—all he’d had for the longest time was Marx, after all, and they were brothers. They always had and always would make up, whether they’d had a brotherly spat or a genuine fight. Trying to mend things with multiple people he hadn’t known his entire life had easily been the most daunting thing he’d ever been up against. 

He was certainly staying out of this. 

Behind Magolor, Mike looked back up at the screen, trying to focus on his girlfriend and other friends on Popstar and ignoring the guilt clawing at his heart. He could hear Mr. Clarke and Meta Knight’s combined voices mixing and overlapping in his mind as they condemned him for being so reckless and irresponsible. He knew he and the others should have told the adults that their visit to Dream Land hadn’t been all sunshine and rainbows, but… 

He mentally sighed, resisting the urge to run his hands through his hair, start rambling and stuttering his way through apologies, or pace the length of the Lor. He just… as dangerous as Dream Land could be, he didn’t want one more thing that made himself, El, and his best friends happy during a time in their lives in which not many things did, to be taken away from them. And surely, if he or the others had told Hopper, Joyce, or even Nancy and Jonathan about what had happened with Kracko that day in Dream Land, they’d have all been forbidden from returning for future visits. 

Not that that mattered much anyway, now. Now that the four adults did know, their chances of ever setting foot there again— especially El’s and Will’s, once they got back—were as good as dead. Mike could’ve chosen the easy route, but instead, he’d tried to be stubborn and rebellious as usual, hurt everyone in the process, recklessly endangered his Party members’ and best friends’ lives, and been confronted with the same result of being forbidden from visiting Popstar again, anyway. 

Dammit. Dammit. These whole few years, all that training with Meta Knight… what had it all been for? He was still the same irresponsible idiot wastoid he’d always been, wasn’t he? Mr. Clarke and Meta Knight (whose mentorship he could now officially kiss goodbye, as well) would be so disappointed if they knew what had happened and were here now.

And somehow, that part in particular may have hurt the most of all in this fucked-up mess he’d caused. 

Hands shaking, Hopper lit his cig and took a deep drag, blowing it back out and trying to expel all his anxieties along with the smoky toxins. It didn’t help, he thought as he stood on the Lor’s ramp and stared at his cabin. To be fair, it never really did, but it was at least better than having no smokes at all when he was internally freaking out. 

He heard the door slide open and then shut behind him, not bothering to turn around. He already knew who’d come out here for him. 

“Hop?” 

Hopper took another deep drag, then exhaled, the smoke billowing out in a cloud. 

“You ever feel cursed?” 

Joyce was silent. 

“Y’know, to tell you the truth, after Sara I just stopped living, y’know? Drowned myself in drugs and alcohol to forget about the pain… then, over time, even the pain just kinda faded into the back of my mind. It hurt like hell, y’know, but… it was my one anchor back to reality at the time.” 

Hop threw his cig off the ramp and reached down with one foot to grind it out, then pulled out another cigarette. He lit it and stuck it between his lips, still staring at the cabin. Once upon a time, it was just some wooden box his granddad had used as a base of operations while hunting—a place Hop had set foot in all of two times, if he had to guess. Then he’d taken El in and that wooden box had become a home. 

Like any home, they’d filled it with all kinds of memories and nostalgia—memories that flooded Hop’s brain as he stared at the small cabin. Struggling to explain the meanings of complex words to El without using the words themselves, watching westerns, playing board games, spoiling her with Triple Decker Eggo Extravaganzas… 

Then, Hop imagined a world where something threw those happy memories into a whole new light. A world where all the happiness was sucked out and that home returned to being a wooden box—this time, one he couldn’t bear to look at. 

The thought made him feel sick. 

“Tell you the truth, Joyce, if your kid hadn’t gone missing when he did I probably would’ve just not come into work one day. My idiotic partners would’ve just found me cold in my trailer, having popped one pill too many. It was all I had; helped me hide deeper in that… cave I’d gotten stuck in. I was scared to face the pain and feel that hurt again. I only recently started thinking straight and realized that that pain is good. Means I’m still alive. But I’d’ve never come to my senses without you and El pulling me out like you did.” 

Hopper exhaled again, now looking at the ground instead of at his and El’s home. 

“You guys saved me, Joyce. Do you understand? I’m not just… sitting around waiting to OD, anymore. I’m clean, I have another daughter, I’ve got those…” Hop chuckled, shaking his head, “Those… heart attack-inducing little brats in there. And I have you.”

Hop’s smile began to fade as he looked back at the cabin, once more imagining a day when something could go wrong—when everything he’d gained these past years could be ripped away from him, and that amazing home went back to being an old house in the woods. He tossed and stubbed out his cigarette, reaching for yet another. His hands trembled far more severely than before as he lit it, clumsily sticking it between his lips. He took another, deeper drag; let it go. 

“But… if I lose another one, Joyce… I won’t make it. I know I won’t. I’m too tired.” 

Hop dropped and stubbed out his cig, not even bothering to finish it this time as he put his face in his hands, the familiar, cutting agony of losing Sara rearing its ugly head once more as he imagined the same thing happening to El. It’d be all his fault, too. It always was. El thought otherwise, but deep down, Hop knew. 

He was far more of a black hole than the pink kid could ever be. 

Everything—everyone—he allowed to get close to him suffered the same fate. Diane had been smart, jumped off the sinking ship, and rebuilt her life elsewhere. Anyone else who stayed was inevitably torn apart when they crossed his event horizon. He didn’t know when it’d happened, if his dad had hated him even in the womb and wished him a miserable life, but the truth was as inescapable as Hopper’s own deadly gravity. 

He was cursed. 

“I just can’t lose everything I have a second time, Joyce. I can’t.” 

There was a long silence for several moments, then, Joyce’s footsteps crept up from behind him, and he felt arms hesitantly, but then determinedly wrap around his torso and a head rest itself on his back. Hop froze. “You won’t, Hop. The… ship… it said they’d be fine.” Joyce sighed shakily. “I—I have my doubts too… y’know? I mean… this whole thing is—is… crazy…! I mean… crazier than everything else we’ve been through, but…” 

Joyce squeezed him tighter. 

“Our kids… they’re fighters, Hop. Especially yours. El knows how to take care of herself, and… I forget this a lot, but… Will does, too. He made it way longer than anyone else in that godforsaken place, after all. And they’ve got Kirby with them, too. I know he’s young and doesn’t... take things as seriously as our kids would, but he kept them safe before. So… let’s just trust him now, right? Trust our kids, now. They’re strong, Hop.” 

Joyce let go and finally walked up to actually stand beside Hopper, smiling shakily up at him. 

“And if—if, God forbid, something goes wrong and the worst happens… if we both… lose our kids…then...” Joyce looked hesitant to say such things at all, as if afraid that if she did, she’d speak tragedy into existence. She nevertheless took a steadying breath and met Hopper’s eyes strongly. 

“...Then I’ll go down right along with you.” 

Hopper’s eyes widened, tearing up slightly. He and Joyce stared into each other’s eyes for long, long moments. Then, despite himself, Hop huffed out a laugh. Then two. Then, before he knew it, he was scrubbing his hand down his face again, full-on chuckling at the situation. 

“…What?” Joyce asked, dark eyes confused. Getting himself together, Hop, now smiling a genuine smile, looked over at Joyce. “Well, for one thing, you’re right. As always. They’ll always be our kids, but they’re not… kids anymore, if that makes sense. They’ve fought monsters; they’ll kick any cloud’s ass.” Hop laughed again, then put his arm around Joyce’s shoulders. She seemed surprised, but didn’t move to pull away, instead blushing. 

“And for the other… has anyone ever told you you’re crazy?” 

Joyce gasped in mock offense, scoffing as she leaned closer to his side, her hesitance visibly melting by the moment. “I can think of a few people…” Hopper chuckled again, then stuffed his lighter and cigarette box back into his pockets and just gazed at his and his daughter’s home, side by side with Joyce. He really did need to kick that shit. It was gonna get him killed.

And he didn’t want to miss one more moment of the miraculous second chance he’d been gifted with than he had to. 

Mike’s leg bounced as he sat chewing his lip on the beanbag, staring up at the screen (which was currently showing Kirby flying through a mountainous sky with an exasperated Bandee, a screaming Will, and a visibly scared, yet awestruck El). The sound of the Lor’s door sliding back open caught his attention; he immediately looked toward the ship’s entrance on pure instinct, even as his brain screamed at him not to make eye contact with who had just walked in. 

To his confusion (and many others’) Hop no longer looked anxious, angry or disappointed in the slightest. In fact, he was smiling , and had his arm wrapped around Joyce, who was doing the same. She looked at him one last time, before breaking away and heading back to her seat. Hopper, though, didn’t move a muscle, instead looking toward Mike, smile fading just a bit. 

Mike felt his stomach drop, but Hopper didn’t stop smiling. To Mike’s confusion, it… didn’t seem like a particularly angry smile, either. It just seemed a little disappointed, still. 

“Hey, kid, care to chat a bit?” 

“So, I want you to be straight with me, okay? Were you ever gonna tell me? Or anybody, for that matter?” 

Mike resisted the urge to study the trees around the cabin instead of maintain eye contact with the visibly relaxed, but still relatively unreadable police chief standing next to him. Briefly, he considered lying, but even if Hopper wasn’t to immediately see through it, Mike knew his conscience, speaking in a deep, Spanish-accented voice, would practically hang him for it. So, Mike took a deep breath in, then looked Hopper in the eyes and gave his answer. 

“I—I mean… no. Not really. I’d… thought about it, sometimes… but…” 

Hopper nodded, and to Mike’s further surprise and confusion, it didn’t seem to be a passive aggressive one. Just a genuine nod of understanding. “But you would’ve probably never actually gotten around to it,” Hopper finished for him. Cringing slightly, Mike nodded. “Yeah.” 

Hopper sighed, running a hand through his hair. “So… what’d you think was gonna happen, kid? What were you scared of? I’d keep you from seeing El? I’d keep you from going to that place to see Kirby?” Mike hesitated, then nodded. For some reason Mike couldn’t fathom, this caused Hopper to chuckle. “Wha… What’s so funny?” Mike asked in confusion and slight indignation. What, was he wrong? 

Hopper composed himself, but his smile didn’t dim. “Kid, none of us would’ve done anything like that. If anything, we’d’ve just told you to stop going to whatever place the cloud guy showed up at. But none of us were gonna stop you from visiting Dream Land.” Mike found his mouth doing its best impression of a fish. Hopper seemed to find this incredibly amusing. “Wait, wha… really?” Mike asked incredulously. Hopper smirked. “Really really.” 

Mike only continued to gape, prompting another chuckle from Hopper. “Look, kid. I guess this is what you guys think, but I’m not stupid. Or evil. None of us are. We know that place is like an escape for you guys. We know you—apparently—can’t have nightmares there, either. We know it makes you happy; we know seeing Kirby makes you happy. Maybe your parents would, but… those of us who know what you kids’ve been through aren’t gonna take something like that away from you.” 

Hopper playfully punched Mike in the shoulder. “Just be more careful, avoid dangerous places, and, for God’s sakes, tell one of us if something happens to you from now on. You’re gonna give an old man a heart attack.” Hopper reached out and ruffled Mike’s hair. “Now c’mon, we gotta keep an eye on our superhero, right?” Hopper asked as he angled himself toward the door back inside, which slid open as if trying to encourage them. 

Mike stared in continued disbelief for a few more moments, then grinned goofily and started toward the door as well. Hopper smiled tenderly and stepped aside to let him in first, ruffling his hair (much to Mike's halfhearted protests). 

Will was not having a good time. Between Kirby flinging them across mountain ranges on his Warp Star and the mountain peaks they were currently traveling along having a night sky despite the fact that it should be afternoon, he was very much missing his bed back at Castle Dedede at this point. He’d never much been one for adventure; that was what D&D and his Atari were for! Getting the thrill without having to actually leave the comfort of home! 

Because yeah, this place was pretty chilly. They were, after all, flying over some pretty snowy mountains, and Will was dressed for spring, as was El. Kirby had gotten the Fire ability a while back, emitting a field of heat around himself similar to the outdoor heaters he’d seen at various Loch Nora houses’ trick or treat stations on particularly chilly Halloweens. The difference was that Kirby, being Kirby, made that work to an extreme, warming the area around him in a several-foot radius, unlike a conventional heater. 

That was likely the only reason he and El weren’t currently developing frostbite from being in the fucking snowy mountains, in the fucking sky , while wearing spring clothing. El, at least, was wearing a long-sleeved flannel; what made it suitable for Spring was how breathable it was, but still, that was probably warmer than Will’s short-sleeved t-shirt. He shivered, not for the first time resisting the urge to let go of the Warp Star to hug himself (he knew he wouldn’t fall even if he did, but his body was about as willing to let him let go of the only thing holding him several hundred feet above mountainous terrain as it was to let him stub his own toe, so…). 

“H—How do you guys… d— do this shit on the regular?” Will asked Fire Kirby and Bandee, raising his voice so he could be heard over both the howling wind and his own shivers. “Because I’m no ordinary pink puff, I’m the SUPER TOUGH PINK PUFF!” Fire Kirby said with passion. Shaking his head in exasperation, Bandee turned back slightly to look at them, stuttering more than usual due to his own shivers. “T—Trust me, Will, t—there’s n—no ‘you guys’ i—involved with this one. Him, S—Sir M—Meta Knight, and G—Great King are t—the only o—ones unbothered by s—stuff like th—this…”

Well, that made sense, Will figured. Kirby and Meta Knight were... Kirby and Meta Knight, and King Dedede was a penguin—or, some magical, Popstar analogue of one, anyway—so if anything, the King probably felt more at home in environments like this. However, this made him worry for Steve. Taranza had definitely come this way and had brought Steve with him. Will hoped the spider’s net-like trap had magical properties that kept those inside it warm like Fire Kirby’s heat field—otherwise… 

Will shuddered, and not just from the cold. 

Well, Steve wasn’t as important to this whole political scheme as Dedede, but still. Taranza wouldn’t have taken him if he didn’t intend on keeping him alive ‘till they reached the Queen, so Steve would probably be fine. They just needed to catch the stubborn spider wizard before he reached her, but that was nothing new. 

They continued flying in (relative) silence for a few more minutes before Fire Kirby spotted what he described as a tower-like structure below from the head of the Warp Star. Bandee recommended swooping down to check it out; Taranza was strong, but in weather like this, and flying under his own power rather than being able to cruise on a Warp Star, he had to have been getting tired by now, and that tower was the only shelter around the snowy peaks for miles. 

Fire Kirby lowered them down onto a terrace, dissipating the Warp Star. Everyone gazed around in awe; the tower was a relatively small structure—albeit certainly not in terms of height—but it was undoubtedly cool-looking. The white stone was marked with stars and the architecture was some mixture of medieval and magical fantasy. Will found himself itching for a canvas and his brushes. 

“This place r—reminds me a bit of Sky Tower,” Bandee commented, making sure to keep his voice low in case Taranza was hunkered down somewhere nearby as they walked through the tower’s dark interior, their way illuminated only by Fire Kirby’s head. “What is that?” El asked curiously, not having to try hard to keep her voice low considering its natural register. “I—It’s this huge tower in Nutty Noon—a region near Onion Ocean—that r—reaches all the way up into space. Kirby, G—Great King, Sir Meta Knight a—and I explored it on our last adventure, a c—couple days before Kirby ended up in you guys’ world,” Bandee answered a bit too eagerly and with a bit more of a nervous tone than usual. 

Will’s worry about the kid’s crush was only growing by the minute. 

El, of course, was oblivious to what was actually going on, but perceptive as she was, was clearly starting to pick up on Bandee’s change in demeanor nearly every time they spoke to each other. She was smart—it was only a matter of time until she figured it out, Will grimly concluded. And Bandee certainly wasn’t going to confess. 

At least it was just a crush and nothing serious. Well, Will hoped, anyway. 

With only Fire Kirby’s natural light (although the light emitting from his wings was helping, too) the group made their way up a spiral staircase that seemed to lead to the roof of the tower. Bandee had found it unlikely Taranza was hiding at the bottom; they would’ve been unable to see him from the height they’d been flying at, so there was no reason for Taranza not to be hiding at the top, where there was plenty of cloud cover. It would’ve taken him longer to descend from the altitude he’d probably been flying at to enter this huge tower from its base, anyway. If he was here, it was likely only going to be for a moment or two to catch his breath before he kept moving, after all. 

The group emerged from the door leading out of the dark staircase to the roof of the tower. It was a wide-open space and—as Will had seen from above while they’d been descending—shrouded in clouds and a fog that wasn’t too dense, but definitely thick enough to conceal anyone hiding here. 

Everyone froze in place when they heard panting and muttering from somewhere up ahead. The voice was a familiar one. 

“Th—Those… damn kids… so annoyingly persistent… hopefully I’ve lost them…” 

Looks like Bandee was right, Will thought dryly, yet determinedly as he readied his hand to shoot electricity. A glaring El exchanged nods with him, then with Fire Kirby and Bandee. They walked forward a few more feet, and a familiar head of silver hair came into view, kneeling (or, as close to it as a kneeless creature could be, anyway), on the ground and panting, a sparkling pink net of energy containing a certain unconscious young Human man and penguin-like creature lying together. 

Bandee gave the eager-looking Fire Kirby a nod of confirmation; the Puffball took a deep (but silent) breath, then jumped into the air, curled up while engulfing himself in flame, and shot forward at Taranza as a ball of fire with a furious cry of “GRAB THEM!” The Puffball collided with the unaware Taranza, who’d turned around just in time to catch a flaming Puffball to the face. 

As the two slid across the ground, Taranza screaming in agony, Will, El, and Bandana Dee exploded into action. With a grunt, El flung her hand at the discarded net containing Dedede and Steve, lifting it into the air; there was no use wasting time trying to pry it open—the two inside were still unconscious, after all—so El just booked it for the Warp Star Fire Kirby had silently left back by the stairs, Will and Bandee—the latter of whom being the only one who’d be able to pilot the Star due to his Dream Matter—in tow. 

An enraged cry, a pained, angry squeak, and an audible explosion of energy followed by a pink flash Will had been able to see even with his back turned threatened to throw a wrench in their plans. Will turned, still running, to see that Taranza had thrown Kirby off of him—nearby on the ground was a furiously wriggling, glowing pink ball of silk string that reminded Will of the spider egg sac he’d once found in Castle Byers and begged a thirteen year-old Jonathan to remove somehow. 

Taranza’s glowing eyes locked onto Will and he snarled, shooting forward through the fog. “Oh no, you don’t!” He cried. “Shit! El, keep going!” Will screamed as he stopped running and shot a bolt of electricity at Taranza, trying to at least slow him down—the spider-mage swerved around it and continued zooming toward Will, who had no time to dodge, block, or ready another bolt before one of six surprisingly hard fists slammed into his face. 

Will’s mouth tasted a bit like iron as he was knocked onto his back by the force of the flying punch, but before he had the chance to retaliate, Taranza, looming above him, fired blasts of pink energy at both of Will’s hands, slamming them into the ground as thick pink balls of magical, sticky spider silk materialized over them. “Shit!!” Will cursed, glaring up at a now-smirking Taranza as he struggled to free his hands. Defiantly, he tried to use his still-free legs to kick at the wizard hovering above him, but Taranza gracefully dodged Will’s clumsy strikes and dashed toward Bandee and El. 

Will watched in horror as he blasted the former (who’d attempted to stand in front of and protect El) aside with a magical energy ball. El looked at her three fallen comrades in horror, meeting Will’s helpless eyes as he continued to struggle against his bindings, then let out an enraged scream and flung her free hand at Taranza. 

The spider went flying backward with a surprised cry, shooting past Will, slamming into the ground and tumbling end over end before skidding to a stop. Will would’ve celebrated… 

…If not for the fact that Steve and Dedede’s net had gone flying back with him, landing right beside him as its two occupants were jostled in a manner far too rough for Will’s comfort. Shocked, Will looked at one of Taranza’s six hands… 

…And sagged in despair as he saw the pink string of Magic connecting it to the net. Instead of attacking El, he’d covertly attached one of his strings to the net she’d been holding and baited her into launching him off with her powers, allowing him to wrench Steve and Dedede from her grip and take them with him. 

He’s like a fucked-up puppet master… Will thought blankly as he watched Taranza cough and scramble to right himself. He looked banged up as hell from the tumble El had sent him on—his face was scratched up in several spots, his cape torn along with some of his gloves, and the corner of his mouth, along with his various cuts, was leaking a yellowish fluid Will dimly remembered from Mr. Clarke’s class as being called hemolymph. 

Taranza panted, wiping his mouth. “Well… you… are certainly stronger than I expected… young lady…” Taranza floated just a little to the left, barely avoiding a flaming, butterfly-hilted pink sword that had been thrown at him from behind with a frustrated cry. “I will not… underestimate you again.” Taranza began to float upward. “I must be going now, but here, feel free to take out your frustrations on another playmate.” Taranza whirled through the air and flung a pink ball of energy into some nearby, opaque (likely solid, like the ones in Cloudy Park) clouds as he flew away. 

Suddenly, Will’s hands could breathe again. He looked to his side to see that a scratched-up Bandee had rushed to his side and cut open the webbing holding Will’s hands down with his spear. Will stared into the air where Taranza had just been for several seconds, barely paying any heed to a ruffled Kirby rushing back from up ahead to rejoin them. 

He let out a short, frustrated shout, startling Bandee, Kirby, and a visibly frustrated, downtrodden El, who had walked up to join them as well, clearly still shocked by the trick Taranza’d pulled. “Dammit! El, why didn’t you grab him and—and… hold him down or something?!” Will asked as he got to his feet with a minor struggle, feeling at his slightly swollen jaw. 

Slightly misty-eyed, El glared at him. “I tried! I could hold the net, but not him. It felt like he was… fighting, somehow…” Bandee comfortingly patted her leg with his nub. “I—It’s okay, El, he m—must have been able to counter it because he’s t—telekinetic, too. R—Remember when he brought down Paintra’s painting?” 

A memory came to Will, depicting Taranza raising his six hands into the air and beckoning forth a floating canvas, no magical strings attached. Taking a deep breath, a frustrated El reluctantly replied, “Yes…” Will closed his eyes and turned away, putting his hands on his head as he tilted it upward, taking deep breaths through his nose to try and calm himself. It wasn’t El’s fault. That bastard was just… too fast and slippery. 

They’d been so close, though… 

Before Will could mope any further, though, Kirby’s concerned voice cut in. “Um… guys, poyo? I know we’re all sad, but I think we might have a problem…” Will opened his eyes, then nearly jumped back in surprise at the pink-flashing mass of solid cloud slowly growing only a few feet away. An unpleasant memory returned to the forefront of his mind, El and Mike’s screams echoing in his memory, accompanied by thunderclaps and crackling electricity. 

No… No way… 

A familiar eye suddenly opened in the center of the mass, and wicked copper spikes poked out all around it. The eye blinked a few times, unfocused and groggy. Then, an annoying voice Will had hoped to never hear again made an obnoxiously loud yawning noise that echoed across the rooftop. 

“UUGGGHH, WHO THE HELL WOKE ME UP…?” 

The eye flickered around its surroundings for a bit, blinking rapidly and slowly focusing, before it landed on them. This time, it clearly saw them, if the way its pupil contracted was anything to go off of. 

“OOOHHH, LOOK WHO IT IS !” Kracko complained, rolling his single eye dramatically. “THE HELL ARE YOU DOIN' IN MY SKIES THIS TIME, PUFFY?! AND WHAT THE HELL'S GOIN' ON WITH THE BUTTERFLY GEDDUP?! YOU COSPLAYIN' AS A CANCELED CHARACTER OR SOMETHIN’?!” 

Mike was gripping his pantleg hard enough for his entire arm to tremble. Max, Lucas and Dustin all noticed, their heart rates similarly skyrocketing at the familiar sight and voice of Kracko. Dustin put his hand on Mike’s shoulder, doing his best to calm the dark-haired boy down as he glared at the screen, eyes hard and fiery. 

“WHO'S THE ORANGE TWERP WITH THE SHITTY BANDANA, DUDE?! YOU'RE SERIOUSLY GONNA BRING A GLORIFIED GOOMBA WITH A HAT TO A FIGHT WITH ME, YOUR GREATEST RIVAL?! Y’KNOW, EVERY TIME I THINK YOU CAN'T GET MORE DISRESPECTFUL, YOU JUST ALWAYS PROVE ME WRONG, KIRBY!” 

“G—Goomba with a hat?! Wh—What’s that supposed to mean?!” Bandee demanded, pointing his spear up at Kracko. He’d seen Ado and Kirby both draw him before, but this was his first time meeting the cloud spirit personally. He seemed just as annoying and mean as Kirby had always made him out to be. With the way Great King had been back in the day, he supposed it was no wonder they were former associates… 

“BAH! WHY SHOULD I WASTE TIME EXPLAINING ANYTHING TO YOU, YA LITTLE NPC?! I SHOULD TURN YOU INTO POPCORN CHICKEN AND FEEDJA TO MY WADDLE DOOS!” 

Glaring furiously, Kirby (who’d lost his Fire ability during his little scrape with Taranza) summoned his sword and pointed it threateningly up at Kracko. “Hey! Don’t talk to Bandee that way, you one-eyed meanie! And Dedede and Meta are my rivals, not you!” Kracko let out a gasp despite his lack of respiratory ability, then his single eye began to tear up. 

What the hell…? Will thought to himself. He actually cares about Kirby acknowledging him? What’s with this guy? 

Kracko shook his entire body, flinging the tears away, and emitted a sniffling noise. Sounding angry, he glared past Kirby and Bandee at El and Will. El was breathing heavily, eyes looking slightly unfocused. All she could feel was the electricity coursing through her—burning, rendering her unable to move, parts of her still sparking with pain even after it had been over… 

“A—AW, GREAT! YOU BROUGHT ALONG THESE TWO BOZOS, TOO?! WHERE'RE THE OTHER FOUR LITTLE CRAYON-EATERS HIDIN', HUH, BUCKO?! HEY! MISS COMBO MEAL EXTRA-CRISPY!!! DON'T THINK I FORGOT ABOUT YOU; I’M STILL MAD AT YOU!” 

Max glared at the screen. Oh, how she wished she was in there right now. 

She hated that fucking cloud…

"ALRIGHT, MILLIE, YOU FIRST! I’M FEELIN' EXTRA JUICED-UP TODAY ! TONIGHT… WH-WHATEVAH...” With that, Kracko dashed at them all unexpectedly, presumably targeting El; Will yelped and jumped out of the way, along with Kirby and Bandee. El finally seemed to snap out of her fearful stupor and managed to avoid the cloud spirit, as well. He ascended higher into the air, moving to hover above her. “HEY, I'M NOT THE ONLY ONE WHO FINDS THIS WEIRD, BY THE WAY, AM I? LIKE, IT'S DAYTIME IF YOU GO TO A DIFFERENT PART OF THIS PLACE BUT UP ON THESE MOUNTAINS SPECIFICALLY, IT'S NIGHT?! WHAT THE HELL'S UP WITH THAT, SERIOUSLY?!” 

El ran out from under Kracko as his body trembled and he abruptly started raining on the spot she’d just been. However, it had been no ordinary rain—whatever Magic made it work had rendered it heavy enough to crack the stone where El had just been and leave several miniature dents like someone had shot bullets at it. Bandee launched a spear at Kracko with an indignant cry. 

“DO YOU GUYS THINK IT'S, LIKE, SOME KINDA GENJUTSU, OR SOMETHIN’? THE AIR AROUND THESE ISLANDS IS ALL FUCKED UP AND MAGICKEY IN A WAY THE REST OF POPSTAR REALLY AIN'T, SOOOOO WHAT'RE WE THINKIN’? HEY! ARE YOU GUYS JUST GONNA KEEP IGNORING ME, OR—OW! YOU LITTLE FREAKS!!!” 

El had used her powers to hold Kracko in place, allowing Bandee’s spear to embed itself in the cloud monster’s body. Trembling in pain, Kracko’s eye teared up, then shifted into a glare as he forced the spear out, leaking some of his previously solid vapor into the air. "ALRIGHT, Y'KNOW WHAT?! I TRIED TO MAKE CONVERSATION AND BE A COURTEOUS OPPONENT AND ALL THAT, BUT IF YOU GUYS AREN'T GONNA LISTEN, THEN I'M JUST GONNA KILL YOU!!!"

Kirby launched past them all, sword at the ready, as he headed straight for Kracko. He was smirking cockily. “So you’re finally shutting up, huh?! Took you long enough, poyo!” Kracko roared in a mixture of pain and rage as Kirby embedded his sword in his cloudy body, grinning. El gasped as Kracko’s eye turned red and his body started sparking with electricity. 

“Kirby! Let go—“ 

“AAAAAAAAAAGAHJBLZZZZTBPT!!!!!” Kirby seized as Kracko channeled a massive electrical charge through the sword embedded in his body and into the Puffball attached to it. Said Puffball, now smoking, fell to the ground as the sword dissipated in a shower of pink, butterfly-shaped sparkles, foot twitching and eyes mimicking spirals. 

“Kirby!” El, Will, and Bandee cried out in unison. 

“AAAAAAHAHAHAHAHAAAAAA!” Kracko cackled triumphantly. “KRRR-RACK! DANCE TO MY DEADLY MUSIC OR FRY LIKE A MOTH! HAHA!!!” El paid no heed to the way Kracko’s voice and accent completely changed with that sentence and reached out with her powers, nose bleeding as she yanked the dazed Kirby out from under Kracko just in time to save him from being fried by the barrage of rainbow-colored lightning that fired from the cloud spirit’s underside upon the spot where he’d just been laying. 

El laid Kirby at her feet and extended both hands out at Kracko, using her powers to squeeze him roughly. As the cloud monster let out surprised, labored squeaks of pain, Will walked up to him, hips swaying, and smirked at his defiantly glaring, teary eye. “You’re not the only one with electric powers. This is for Kirby.” Then Will grabbed Kracko’s oddly marshmallow-like body with both hands and funneled as much bioelectricity into him as he could. 

“W—WAIT, WHAT THE HELL—AAAAAAAAAAAAAAGAHHBGBFBBBLZPT!!!!!!!!!!!!!” 

Kracko screamed bloody murder as entire, huge sections of previously solid cloud evaporated from around his eye, the foreign electricity superheating it to the point of negating the Magic bonding the water vapor molecules so paradoxically close together. Will’s hands, still sparking slightly with residual electricity, shook as he backed away from Kracko, panting. 

The cloud creature was not only leaking mist, but was somehow smoking, as well. Only a few big chunks of cloud still clung to the spirit’s eye-core. Bandee gazed at the doubled-over Will in wonder, eyes sparkling, then smirked despite his lack of a mouth. He stepped toward Kracko, twirling his spear. “W—Well, you know what they say, Kracko.” He grinned as he threw his spear at the cloud monster’s core, while El simultaneously screamed and telekinetically wrenched the rest of the cloud-cover off of said core instantly. 

“Eye for an eye.” 

Everyone’s jaws were dropped in the Lor. Even Magolor’s under his scarf, but no one needed to know that, thank you very much. Hopper was still reeling from the revelation of just how colorful a character Kracko was to begin with, not to even mention how efficiently the kids had just taken him out. 

“Holy shit…” Nancy eloquently commented (having been getting increasingly annoyed by Kracko’s overwhelmingly obnoxious personality). “They just… they just whooped his ass.” Max was grinning up at the screen from where she sat next to Lucas. “Gotta hand it to Will and Bandee, that was badass,” she said. 

Mike gazed up at the screen with stars in his eyes. His best friend and girlfriend were so cool. He’d gotten a bit of secondhand embarrassment (as had everybody, but Mike especially so considering he was the only other person in the room besides Magolor to have used a sword before) when Kirby had gotten his ass kicked, but he’d sure as hell been avenged. 

Mike was pulled from his thoughts by a squeaky voice screaming his name. His smile faded and he looked away from the screen (showing the single, crying eyeball that was Kracko flying away while screaming obscenities and all sorts of colorful threats at his friends), and turned to his left. “What, Dustin?” He sighed. 

“Meta Knight taught you to swordfight and shit, right?! Do you think Bandee would teach me how to use a spear?!” Mike furrowed his brow. How should he know? He barely knew Bandee; he couldn’t speak for him! Before Mike could voice such thoughts, Hopper’s exhausted voice snapped at Dustin. 

“NO! NO ONE ELSE IS LEARNING HOW TO PLAY WITH POINTY MEDIEVAL WEAPONS!” 

Dustin rolled his eyes. 

Taranza muttered a litany of colorful curses under his breath as he flew through the blizzard, lugging his (magically warmed) captives along with him. He’d never let such language leave his mouth if his Queen were around, but three islands away and in a remote mountain range, Taranza felt he could forgive himself for muttering a swear word or three, especially given his nightmarish circumstances. 

The cloud spirit of legend was strong, surely. But was he strong enough to dissuade those four pests? Hours ago, Taranza would have immediately said yes! But he’d thrown threat after threat, trap after trap, at them, and they found a way through everything! He had even been forced to get his hands dirty, punching like some commoner… This was getting ridiculous. Some small, rebellious part of him was protesting that particular part, and not just because of how much he hated fighting with his fists like some sort of street rat. It hadn’t felt great, punching a child in the face. Of course, nothing he was doing to any of those children felt great—

Taranza stopped in his tracks, all six hands clenching into fists hard enough to tremble. Taranza took his resolve by the metaphorical throat and strangled it back into submission with all six hands. He could not afford to falter now. All he could hope for was that they’d stop following him. But if they didn’t… well, orders were orders, and those who got in the way of him seeing them through…

They would have to be dealt with. 

Resolve back in place (albeit a bit shakier than before), Taranza continued onward, grimacing through the blizzard. 

They must have some sort of weak point. Every group does. I just have to figure out what—or who—it is… he thought to himself. He did his best to shake off the lingering frustration. If they—regrettably—didn’t give up after the cloud monster, he’d be sure to observe them a bit more closely on the next island. Even if it delayed the completion of his mission, he would find these pests’ weak link and break this infuriating chain of inconvenience. 

His Queen was counting on it. 

Chapter Text

The young ball of fluff slipped out of bed, feet touching gently down on the icy floor. Quietly, he crept through the dark, across his expansive bedroom, working by the light of his slightly-opened blackout curtains, letting in all the moonlight being reflected by the snow and ice outside. It wasn’t long before he reached his bedroom door. 

Poking his head slowly out through the crack, a determined look on his face, the young one warily scanned the hall from left to right. No guards. He carefully slid through the door (having to suck in his impressive tummy to do so, which was preferable to opening the door wider and making noise) and into the hall. Thinking for a few moments, he recalled the direction his father had led him and started that way. 

Retracing his and his father’s steps through the icy palace, the young Prince, after many close-calls and heart-pounding moments, finally reached a familiar set of double doors. 

Now for the hardest part. 

The boy cringed and pushed the doors open just wide enough to quickly slip in. They made noise—more than what was preferable—but they hadn’t been too loud. He was pretty sure the sound wouldn’t draw anyone’s attention. The Prince allowed himself a (still hushed) sigh of relief, then advanced deeper into the small chamber. 

Eyes forward, set on the prize, he saw it. Floating there in that gentle pillar of light: that pretty blue gem. Against the remaining apprehension and guilt weighing on his conscience, the Prince gently reached out toward the Ice Diamond. His flipper entered the pillar of light it floated in, and the Prince marveled, even giggling slightly (and internally reprimanding himself for making noise not too long after), at the tingly feeling. The only word he could possibly use to describe it was ancient. The Magic was so arcane, so old and powerful… the Prince almost felt like he was touching the very hopes and dreams of those who’d made the artifact so very long ago. 

He hesitated one more moment, then decisively grabbed the gem and plucked it from the pillar of light. 

The instant the artifact in his grasp left the beam, gravity seemed to finally take effect on it—it now had weight just like any other object, albeit minuscule. The thing was as light as it looked. Carefully taking it in both flippers, the Prince looked down at the sparkling gem, eyes twinkling with wonder. Then he grinned. Papa had told him never to come here without his permission, and never to touch the Ice Diamond under any circumstances. But to heck with that! 

Dedede would be King someday—and oh boy, how he just couldn’t wait for that—and the guardian of this here jewel to boot! It was his right to come visit this thing; to touch and to hold and to look at it. This artifact was his birthright! He loved his Papa, he really did, but the man always forgot who he would be giving his crown to one day. He couldn’t tell him what to do forever! This was HIS Empire, too! Along with everything in it. 

Resolved, the Prince looked back down at the crystal, his own entranced expression reflected back up at him from the sparkling, multifaceted surface. He flipped it around, examining the thing from every side—it was in perfect condition, with not a crack, chip, dent, or rough edge in sight. It would be perfect for his crown someday; if it was still able to do its job from there, that was. 

Carefully, the Prince held it vertically, lifting it into the air, toward his head. He pressed the cool crystal against his forehead, imagining it set into a crown there. He giggled to himself once again. 

Then, the sharp tips of the Ice Diamond’s top and bottom, previously pressing into his flipper, slid out of place. 

His heart all but stopped as the thin, smooth, slippery gem slid from his too-gentle grasp. 

The crystal fell through the air, and the Prince saw his horrified expression reflected back at him for what felt like an eternity. 

Then it was over. 

A mundane, inconsequential shattering sound rang out through the small room. It had sounded no different to the time he’d accidentally dropped a glass of water at dinner. Without consciously realizing or controlling the action, the boy looked down at his feet. Several blue shards, no longer glowing, lay scattered across the floor. 

Dimly, he registered icy halls and windows rushing past, the feeling of his feet pounding against the floor, wetness on his cheeks, but it was all so far away, as if it were happening to a different boy. 

Darkness as he hid under his covers and squeezed his eyes shut. He began coming back to himself, and muffled his face into his pillow just in time to stifle a wail that tore its way from his chest with almost physical force. 

If anyone had been walking past the Prince’s room at the time and listened close enough, they may have just been able to catch the horrified sound. 

Outside the Empire, in the depths of a dark, icy cavern, something ancient opened beady black eyes for the first time in millennia, huffing out a cloud of sub-zero frost as its eyes began to glow pure-white. 

Deluxe Extravaganza

Chapter Four

🌿 Wandering Through Wild World 🐍

Will was irritated. Their victory against Kracko had certainly raised his spirits, but… 

He sniffled again, groaning in misery. 

…He was sick. He looked blearily to his left, seeing that El was in a similar state, her nose slightly reddened and glistening—not with blood, for once. Fire Kirby may have kept them warm, but there had really only been so warm he could keep them back in those snowy mountains. And now that they were on some humid jungle island… 

The back of Will’s neck stung and he stifled a swear, smacking whatever bug had just bitten him as they forged ahead. 

And all the while, that stupid spider was bringing Steve closer and closer to death or enslavement or God knew what. So yeah. Will wasn’t in the cheeriest mood, at the moment. Kirby and Bandee seemed to have picked up on it. “S—Sorry about this, you two,” Bandee said apologetically as he looked back at Will and El. “I know that temperature changes do all s—sorts of nasty stuff to H—Humans. Kirby tried to m—mitigate it as much as he could on the last island, but…” 

“It’s…” El sniffled, which sounded as gross as Will felt. “It’s okay…” She sneezed. Cutter Kirby looked back at them all with a frown, continuing to slice away the tall grass making the group’s trek through the expansive jungle even more arduous. He looked guilty. “Sorry, poyo… I tried.” He turned his attention back forward, but Will and El could still both tell his gaze was now downcast as he walked. “Y’know, I was really excited earlier, but… Now that we’re as far along as we are… I’m starting to think that maybe I… Should’ve just let you guys stay at Castle Dedede, poyo…” 

As sick as they were, Will and El both furrowed their brows. “Why?” El asked. Cutter Kirby only seemed to wilt more at the question. “Humans aren’t very tough—on Earth, maybe—but here… It’s dangerous for you guys! Maybe too dangerous. The reason Bandee and me are even still alive after all the adventures we’ve been on is because we aren’t like you guys. What if something goes wrong, and—“ 

“We won’t die,” El said resolutely. Cutter Kirby hesitated, then looked back at her and Will. Bandee looked back at them, too, seeming just as ashamed to have let them come along. “Y… You don’t know that, poyo. El, just half the things that have happened to me and Bandee would kill you guys.” Will huffed, a mixture of annoyed and darkly amused as he swatted at a few gnats that wouldn’t leave him alone. “I survived the Upside Down for a week. I can survive Candyland for a day.” 

Bandee cringed. 

“Kirby… I’m glad I’m here. I’ve gotten to see so many things I never have. Like this place,” El said with a reassuring smile, looking around at the jungle they were trudging through. Sure, being here wasn’t particularly pleasant, but after so long of only seeing places like this in nature books… After so long of living in cramped boxes… Freedom like this, as uncomfortable as it could be at times, was infinitely better than just sitting back where it was safe and letting Kirby and Bandee rescue her friend for her. 

“T—That shouldn’t come at the risk of you guys’ safety, though, El…” Bandee said, still sounding guilty. Before El could respond, Will beat her to it. “Well, it’s too late for us to go back, now. And we know you guys do a lot of dangerous things all the time, but so do we. You both know what we’ve been through. You don’t have to… Baby us; it’s not just your friend that Taranza took, you know.” 

Kirby and Bandee both only shrank into themselves more at Will’s annoyed tone. El frowned at him, something he either didn’t notice or pretended not to, eyes focused only on what was ahead. She understood that he wasn’t in a good mood—she wasn’t, either—but Kirby and Bandee weren't trying to treat them like glass. They were just trying to be… What was the word? Responsible, yes. They knew that El and Will were a lot more fragile than them, as powerful as they may have been, and were just trying to look out for them. 

“Will…” El began, a mixture of concerned and disappointed. He’d always been such a mystery to her. He was nice—he really was—but there was also always something… Sharp in him. Not to say that he was a mean person, but just in general. Something in him was raw and didn’t like to be touched. Sometimes, when that mysterious thing was aggravated, Will got sad. Other times, like now, he became quiet and stormy. El thought that he was just like her and didn’t like being made to feel like he had to be protected. That he didn’t like to feel weak—helpless. That was how El had felt at Starcourt after Zero had injured her and disabled her powers. But Will was just more… Defensive about it than she was. 

It was probably her fault. She was the reason everyone treated him that way, after all. 

Will sighed, cutting her off, and put his arm around her shoulder, shooting her an apologetic look as he gave her a gentle squeeze and let go. He then directed it at Cutter Kirby and Bandee, as well. “…I’m sorry. I just… Wish you’d have a little more faith in us, I guess. We won’t die just because we’re a little sick. We’ve never gone down that easily before, and we won’t start now.” 

Kirby and Bandee gave him sheepish, hesitant smiles, but El could tell they were mostly fake, and Will probably could, too. He sighed. “Let’s just… Try and keep up the pace, okay? Both our friends need us.” 

From the shadows, four perceptive eyes narrowed on the Byers boy as they kept tabs on the group. 

Magolor leaned back in his chair, hands steepled, and hummed. “I sense draaamaaaa~…” he sing-songed. “Shut up,” Mike sniped from behind him. The dark-haired boy looked up at the screen in concern. Will had certainly been a lot happier lately now that the gang was back into D&D (though he was as upset as the rest of them that Lucas would rather hang out with those dicks on the basketball team), but still… That… bitterness Mike could see in him had only been getting… Worse. 

Since last summer, he’d thought they’d made amends. Mike started making more time for them all—part of that was mandatory, considering he went to school with them and El didn’t, but still—and learned how to better balance his relationship with El with his friendship with Will and the rest of the Party. He’d thought that whatever was bothering Will would go away after that. 

He was wrong. 

Will’s eyes had only gotten darker since that summer. He seemed happier overall, but when he did have those moments, they were far more apparent than they had been months ago. Will didn’t even seem bitter just at Mike and El, anymore—he seemed just… Bitter in general. At the world, maybe. Mike supposed he couldn’t blame him, but… He was worried. Truthfully, they all were. 

Lucas was treating the problem the same way he’d been treating all of them—keeping it at a distance, showing concern, but ultimately shrugging it off anytime it threatened to make him late to one of his stupid games. Whatever Will was going through, he’d get through it, Lucas had said. Sometime after his possession that fateful November, Will had sat them down and, albeit with difficulty, explained that he didn’t like the way they’d been tiptoeing around and treating him like glass ever since his disappearance the previous year. They’d all stopped after that, but Lucas had overcorrected, in Mike’s opinion. There did come a point where Will needed to be helped and cared for whether he liked it or not. 

Max and Dustin had agreed with him. Anytime either of them tried to broach the issue with him, though, Will’s eyes would just darken further and he’d stonewall until they dropped it. It was frustrating… But knowing that Will’s birthday was approaching, they’d all agreed to give it a rest for a while. Once his birthday had passed, though, they were going to change their approach, skipping the pleasantries and politeness entirely and just straight-up confronting their friend. 

Mike, Max and Dustin didn’t like it, but Will wasn’t giving them much choice. Of course, this disaster had then cropped up. And, as they were all seeing, whatever Will was going through was starting to rear its ugly head more the longer this went on. Mike imagined the stress probably had something to do with that. Still, though, Will was in no state to be in the situation he was. He (as he had just clearly demonstrated) would hate it if Mike said that to him outright, but it was simply the truth. Mike knew his best friend (even if he felt like whatever he was going through was slowly changing that person into someone he knew less), and he knew that if things kept up in this fashion, eventually, Will was going to snap on El, Kirby and Bandee, and it wasn’t going to be pretty. 

Ms. Byers clearly knew that just as well as him—when Mike looked over at her, he saw that her hands were clasped tightly together, elbows resting on her knees, and she was chewing on one of her knuckles in deep, anxious thought. Mike hadn’t involved her in his and his friends’ plan to stage some kind of intervention with Will (something he was beginning to regret, but he just… Wanted to prove he was still capable of helping his friends on his own), but he imagined she and maybe Jonathan had probably been planning something to a similar effect on their own. After all, they—especially Ms. Byers, his own mom—probably noticed and knew even better than Mike did that something had been increasingly off with Will lately. 

Mike exchanged worried glances with Max, Dustin and Lucas—he swore he could see regret in the latter’s eyes as he gazed up at Will on the screen (who, along with the others, was currently traversing some kind of weird house of horrors with actual ghost creatures). Good. He should be sorry, the jock-fraternizer.

“Okay,” Magolor said, raising his hands in surrender. “Touchy subject, I get it. In all seriousness, though, that boy is worrying me.” Magolor seemed to hesitate for a few seconds, than slowly began, with little to none of his usual playfulness, “Uh… I don’t know if it’s appropriate at all for me to say stuff like this or speculate, but…” he swiveled his chair around to face them all, eyes unusually serious as he looked at them, Mike in particular, hands clasped together. 

“I think you all had better talk more and tighten up your little friend group. I’ve been on the other side of what I think he’s going through before, and I’m pretty sure I know what it is. …I don’t know why or how, and it’s probably not my place to speculate, but… That’s jealousy. Even a little bit of resentment, I’d say. And if you all don’t talk to him about it soon… That dark look in his eyes—I know you’ve seen it—is only going to get worse.” 

Magolor’s eyes were now downturned, sad, as he—in such a way that Mike didn’t think the Halcandran even consciously realized he was doing it—reached under his hood, seeming to be feeling around at his cranium. Everyone in the room was taken aback—aside from the times he’d described his experience of being possessed and stranded in Interdimensional Space, and when he’d apologized to Kirby, Bandee, Dedede and Meta Knight, this was the most sincere any of them had ever seen Magolor. 

It was… unsettling. 

“…Trust me when I say you don’t wanna let it get worse. That doesn’t end well.” 

Magolor swiveled his chair back around, looking back up at the screen once more. “When this is all over, talk to him, hmm? Even if it makes him uncomfortable, you can’t just… leave him to his own devices.” Mike exchanged worried glances with his disturbed friends, then with a now even more anxious-looking Joyce and Jonathan, before looking back up at the screen. 

“…We won’t.” 

Mike meant that. He’d made the mistake of letting his best friend fester in his own darkness once before. Even if it was unpleasant for the both of them, he wouldn’t allow himself to make it twice. 

If Bandee wasn’t so worried about Will, he might have been able to laugh at how ridiculous this whole horror attraction was. Why there even was one in the middle of this jungle at all, NOVA only knew, but it was there, and much like the Toy Factory in Lollipop Land, it was easier to just cut through it rather than to try and go around it. 

The place was as spooky on the inside as it had been on the outside—and it had been spooky out there, alright! The front of the building had had two eye-like spots that had actually tracked their movement! Kirby had found it cool, because—as Bandee had believed for years now—the guy just didn’t experience fear properly, but Bandee and everyone else, El especially, had been appropriately freaked out. 

As they’d crept through the place, Mumbies stalked them and ghostly creatures kept appearing out of nowhere. All of them had been scared, but El especially so. Considering her history with dark, enclosed spaces, Bandee couldn’t blame her. Or Will, for that matter, who had only started to act more worrying upon being stuck in a dark environment and stalked by weird creatures. 

This was all making Bandee wish he had left the two at Castle Dedede all the more. This stupid horror attraction was bringing back really bad memories for each of them! 

Noticing El huddled close to Will (who was holding her close as well, with an arm over her shoulder, Kirby on-guard at Will’s side with his sword as it and his wings helped light their way) and hunched in on herself, Bandee just jumped up onto her head before he had the chance to lose the courage. She and Will both gasped and jumped, but he quickly assured the two it was just him. 

Carefully keeping his spear strapped to his back (but remaining on-guard and ready to draw at any time) Bandee hesitated for one more moment, then hugged the top of El’s head, ignoring his blush as he did his best to pour comfort and reassurance into the gesture. El’s previously quickened breathing gradually slowed—just a bit—and Bandee felt her hands blindly, but decisively reach up and feel around at his back, before resting there on either side of his spear.

He could hear the human girl taking deep, calming breaths, her hands just resting on him as if she was reminding herself that someone was with her in the dark this time. Bandee hoped the warm feel of his skin was helping to further ground her, as well. Will met Bandee’s eyes—he looked scared, too, but Bandee could just make out a small glimmer of gratitude in them. Bandee nodded and smiled at Will with his eyes, doing his best to exude the same confident reassurance Kirby always instilled in him. 

Along with another. 

Bandee nearly sagged at the reminder of his lost liege—the egotistical, gluttonous, crude, selfless, kind, merciful, boisterous, loving man he’d always seen as a father since coming to know him personally. Bandee’s own dad had been gone since he was very young, leaving his widowed mother to raise him and his little sister Sandee all alone. Bandee’s grandparents helped the best they could, of course, but they were old and could only do so much for his mom. 

It had been a while since he’d visited Mom and Sandee. The former had been so sad for almost as long as Bandee could remember, but she’d been getting better in recent years. Once they got Great King and Mr Harring—and Steve—back, maybe he’d ask for some time off to see his family. Oh, if only his awful anxiety would allow him to let Great King out of his sight for more than three seconds after this was over, that was.

Stars, it just got harder and harder every time the man was kidnapped or brainwashed. 

Shaking himself out of his thoughts, Bandee gave El a gentle, reassuring pat on the head. No use in worrying his bandana off now, he had to be strong for everyone! For Great King, for Steve, for El, Will, and Kirby, for Mom and Sandee! If Kirby could do it, he could too! 

Max frowned and glanced at Lucas. “I’m not the only one noticing how Bandee keeps blushing around El, right?” 

Lucas pursed his lips and stared at the screen. Everyone in the room, Mike especially, seemed uncomfortable. Eventually, Dustin hummed in agreement, sounding regretful. “Mmm, can confirm, that’s definitely a crush.” Dustin leaned over to Mike’s beanbag beside him and, seemingly in an attempt to lighten the mood, teasingly elbowed the dark-haired boy. “Looks like you’ve got competition, huh, Mike?” 

Mike rolled his eyes and smacked Dustin’s arm away, but still looked quite uncomfortable. His own face was just about as red as Bandee’s. “Ugh, shut up, dude. He just has a crush. I mean, I can’t blame him—“ (at this, just about everyone in the room nearly rolled their eyes as Mike once more displayed his habit of subconsciously complimenting his girlfriend at every given opportunity) “—But it’s not like it’s anything serious,” he finished, arms crossed as he looked up at the screen intensely. 

“Not yet it’s not,” Dustin shrugged, keeping his eyes firmly on the screen even as Mike snapped his head at his curly-haired friend and glared daggers into the side of his head. “What’s that supposed to mean?” Dustin looked at him and gave another teasing shrug. “Look, man, I’m just saying… You used to have ‘just a crush’ on her, too, and look how you two ended up.” Mike stared at Dustin in disbelief as the boy looked back up at the screen; when Dustin didn’t look back or display any shame, Mike just rolled his eyes again and shook his head in irritation as he looked back up at the screen, as well. 

From Dustin’s other side, Max reached over and smacked him on the arm. When he gave her a confused and betrayed look, she mouthed an irritated ‘Real mature’. Dustin just grinned toothily (he had to take every opportunity to show off his perfect pearls, after all!) and looked back up at the screen, still unashamed. 

Magolor stifled a snicker under his scarf. There was the Dustin he knew. The one who, like him, liked to sow mischief, rather than criticize his business decisions. He barely resisted the urge to rub his hands together as he imagined the deadly trio he, the Human boy and Marx could make one day. 

That, and when the adventure was over and he saw Bandee again, he was absolutely going to relentlessly tease him over this new little crush he had (as long as El wasn’t looking, of course). 

Near the back of the room, Hopper sighed wearily and stared at Bandee on the screen. He hoped to God Henderson’s jokes didn’t actually come to fruition. The last thing he needed was another Mike and some kinda bullshit love triangle drama between his daughter and the two boys. 

Joyce gave him a sympathetic smile. 

Kirby had gotten mad when those mean ghosts started suddenly possessing big, decorative (and armed) suits of armor and taking pot-shots and him and his crew in the dark. Not only was it totally uncool, it was just scaring El even more! 

Needless to say, finally finding a Miracle Fruit had allowed him to vent that anger. 

This time, El hadn’t hesitated very much, either! He knew it was probably more out of just wanting to feel safer in this creepy place than anything, but still! That was one step closer to her learning to embrace her powers and realize she didn’t need to be scared of them! He wanted her to be happy with all of herself. 

Through the final stretch of the house of horrors, El and Kirby had used their boosted powers to strip all the ghosts from their vessels—Kirby swallowed the ones he caught, and El knocked out the ones she captured by slamming them into the nearest wall. 

Needless to say, there were no more sneak attacks after that. 

In the room just before the exit back into the jungle, they’d had a bit of trouble with this really big one wearing a witch hat (the sight of which had caused Kirby to briefly falter as he was abruptly reminded of earlier that day); it had started possessing every object in sight to attack them—books, plates, portraits—nothing was safe! It had even possessed a piano and caused the lid to turn into some freaky mouth, complete with a lolling tongue and sharp teeth! It had chased them around the room, chomping and producing some unholy combination of off-note key sounds and slobbering noises. The horrific sight vaguely reminded Kirby of something Mario had told him about once. 

Will and Bandee had both, understandably, immediately freaked out, started screaming, and shooting lightning (or frantically lobbing spears, in the latter’s case) at the piano creature from the corner of the room like it was a cockroach that had started flying. The sheer power they’d put into the attacks in their franticness had forced the witch-like ghost out of the piano before Kirby or El ever got the chance to, and Kirby promptly sucked it (her…?) up. The piano was left to sit, looking completely normal, in its original spot as they moved on from the haunted attraction and headed back into the dense jungle. 

El and Will were both clearly still reeling from the fact that ghosts were real (they were generally considered to not be back on Earth, apparently), as the quartet continued through the thick expanse of trees and greenery. “Th—That piano had a mouth…” Will muttered, head still on a swivel and eyes paranoid, as if the thing would come tearing vengefully out of the trees at any moment. 

El was obviously shaken as well, her and Kirby’s boosted power having faded by now. “That was…” she seemed unable to find an adequate word to finish the sentence with, not that anyone could blame her. “Unexpected?” Kirby piped up from beside her. “Terrifying?” Bandee offered from up ahead, where he was, as usual, taking point. 

El just looked between the two of them, still shaking and traumatized, and nodded vaguely as if accepting both adjectives and just wanting to be done with the conversation. Bandee, meanwhile, stopped dead as they came up on a particularly dense pocket of undergrowth. Warily, he turned to address them all. 

“D—Don’t follow me right away. I’m gonna make sure the coast past all th—this stuff is clear and then I’ll signal you guys up.” El and Will nodded, albeit somewhat hesitantly. Kirby was happy to voice what they wouldn’t, walking up to his orange friend with an indignant air about him. “What the heck, Bandee?! All of us can hold our own; you don’t have to scout for us! If something is over there, you’ll be alone and it’ll just take us that much longer to get to you, poyo! Do you not trust us or some—“ 

Kirby’s voice was muffled by Bandee covering his mouth with his nub. He gave Kirby a teasing smile with his eyes as the pink Puffball struggled against the intrusion, flailing and shouting muffled protests and demands to be allowed to speak into Bandee’s nub. Bandee waited patiently until the other boy had given up (simply pouting at Bandee with his eyes), before removing his nub and teasingly patting Kirby on the head. 

“Kirby, who’s the General…?” 

Kirby rolled his eyes and glared daggers into the trees to his left, but he was blushing. 

“…Youuuuuu…” 

Bandee clapped. “Very good! N—Now stay here while I scout ahead—I might not really be as strong as you, but I am still Great King’s General, and I plan to a—act like it!” 

With that Bandee turned back toward the greenery and crept into it carefully, spear at the ready. After he’d disappeared, El and Will shot the still-pouting Kirby bewildered looks. “…Okay, what was that?” Will asked. Kirby looked over at him, the pout slowly melting off his face as his ever-present curiosity took back over. “What was what, poyo?” He asked innocently. “That—alllllll of what just happened. Does Bandee always have to keep you from doing stupid things?” 

With that, Kirby’s look of innocent curiosity was once more overtaken by a scowl of indignance. Kirby looked away with a ‘hmph’, nubs crossed. “If anything, he’s the one acting dumb, poyo! He’s good and can hold his own, but when it comes to raw power, I’m pretty sure all three of us outclass him! If there’s anyone who should be running out into the wilderness without backup, it should be one of us!” 

“You’re worried about him…” El said with a teasing tone and mischievous smile. Kirby bristled. “Of course I am! He’s my best friend, poyo!” Kirby said, looking disbelieving at her tone and expression. Will raised a brow. “Isn’t everyone your best friend?” Kirby looked taken aback for a moment, blinking, before his indignance returned in full force. “Yeah, but Bandee’s one of my bestest ones, poyo!” 

“You looked like you were flirting,” El giggled innocently as she thought back to the soaps and rom-coms that had kept her company in Hopper’s cabin for a year, oblivious to the way Will’s heart just about exploded in his chest. Kirby, meanwhile, was also shocked, but lacked the sheer terror Will was feeling. His whole face was a blushing mess as he protested, “I—I HAVE A GIRLFRIEND ALREADY, POYO!!!” 

El was full-on laughing at this point, neither her nor Kirby noticing the way Will was trembling. 

“But does he?” El asked pointedly, causing Kirby to only get more flustered. 

Before things could escalate any further, though, Bandee’s voice sounded from beyond the thick wall of foliage. It sounded concerned, immediately snapping Kirby and El out of their banter. “Uh, g—guys? The coast is clear, but y—you might wanna come take a look at this…” 

Kirby and El exchanged worried looks as the former’s furious blush died down, then started forward. “We’re coming, poyo!” Kirby called. He disappeared through the wall of vegetation, El almost following right after him until she noticed the lack of a familiar presence at her side. She turned, looking at Will expectantly and with a bit of worry.

“Will? Are you coming?” 

Will, who had had his fists clenched tightly at his sides as he breathed almost panickedly and stared into space, suddenly snapped to attention, eyes locking onto El with almost unsettling focus. Something in them then softened slightly as the boy seemed to come back to himself, his body relaxing a bit more in the process. He still seemed far more tense than usual, though. 

“Uh… Y—Yeah,” Will said as he walked up to join her. El stopped him when he tried to make his way past her and through the dense foliage, putting a hand on his shoulder. He turned to her, a flicker of annoyance (but also something… Frantic) swimming in his eyes. “What, El? C’mon, they’re waiting on us.” He tried to shrug out of her grip and continue onward, but El didn’t let go. 

“Will, are you okay?” She asked. Will made another, rougher attempt to shrug her hand off of his shoulder, this time succeeding. His back was turned as he faced ahead, and he didn’t turn back to look at her as he tersely said, “I’m fine, El, now c’mon.” With that, he trudged ahead and disappeared through the leaves, not giving El another chance to protest or point out that friends didn’t lie. 

El frowned as she reluctantly followed after him. She supposed she could confront him about it later; they did have more important things to worry about, it seemed, if the way Bandee had spoken to them was of any indication. That didn’t mean El was letting this go, though. Something was wrong with Will—Really wrong—and El’s joking somehow seemed to have been the cause; that was when she had sensed his feelings the strongest. 

Why her joke about Bandee flirting with Kirby had caused terror to start radiating off of Will in waves, though, she had no idea. 

Mike sucked in air through his teeth, a flood of unpleasant memories of rain and a destroyed Castle Byers flooding through his head. 

Shit, shit, shit… 

Joyce and Jonathan exchanged concerned looks from across the room. 

The four stared up at the sight before them, awed. What could only have been a temple, but wasn’t shaped like any Will had learned about on Earth, sat before them, tall and imposing in the jungle clearing. Will felt like this day was just getting more and more fantastical. A jungle temple?! Really?! 

The whole damn thing was made of gold, too! Solid gold! How in the hell—what kind of mines did this stupid floating sky jungle have?! The whole exterior of the temple was golden and extravagant, the plating shaped into scale-like images here and there, and it was covered in serpent iconography. Could this get any more Mayan?? Will wished the guys and Mr. Clarke were here so bad. Turned out El Dorado was real—just not in their world. 

Dustin and their old teacher would be—literally—all over this place if they were here. 

“Okay…” Kirby breathed, eyes wide. “I get why you sounded so urgent now, Bandee…” The General twirled his spear in one nub, a telltale anxious tic. “Mmm-hmm… I—I don’t know about you guys, but I think if Taranza’s gonna take a breather anywhere in this jungle, it’ll be in there…” 

Kirby gave a firm, determined nod as he glared up at the imposing temple. “Yeah! That place is clearly a boss battle waiting to happen, poyo! This time, we’re catching that meanie! Let’s go!” Without waiting for any of them, Kirby charged ahead, up the gold steps and through the wide-open archway leading into the temple. 

“Ahh! K—Kirby, wait up! That place is probably one giant booby trap; d—don’t go alone!!” Bandee cried out in panic as he charged after his reckless friend, inadvertently leaving El and Will behind. The girl stared up at the golden temple with wide, awed-eyes; never in her life did she think she’d ever see something so pretty. The last sight to have inspired such awe in her—not counting the numerous insane things Kirby had done in the short eight months she’d known him—had been the Gate in all its terrible scarlet glory. 

El’s attention was finally torn from the shining temple reflecting the late afternoon sun when Will started up the steps without her, muttering that they should probably hurry after the two younger kids. Frowning, she followed him up the steps at a quick pace. 

Why did he always… avoid being alone with her? Why was he scared when he was the member of the Party who had seen the least of all the things she’d done? No, it couldn’t be her powers. Something else was driving this fear. 

But what? 

The interior of the temple was utterly cavernous! No one present could see the walls or the floor below the raised walkways they were traveling along. While this was in part due to the areas outside the (gold-plated) path they traveling along not being illuminated by regularly-placed torches, it also didn’t help that the complex was so utterly massive. 

“Woaaaaaaaaahhhhh…” Kirby breathed as he looked all around, eyes sparkling with wonder. “Who do you guys think built this place, poyo? The Ancients, maybe?” Bandee hummed in thought, making sure to keep his guard up and eyes sharp even as he made conversation with his friends. “No,” he eventually concluded. “Th—The architecture isn’t consistent with the other ruins and complexes scattered across Popstar that w—we believe are theirs. Those are usually b—built with this distinctive shiny gray stone—not gold. And the Black Pyramids… W—Well, it’s in the name. They’re made from obsidian, and the interior of the one in S—Sand Canyon warps reality, while the one on Rock Star is filled to the b—brim with advanced tech consistent with what we saw in Egg Engines…” 

Kirby gave his friend a sheepish smile, a drop of sweat gliding down the side of his head. “Uhhh… I think I get the gist of what you’re saying, but could you maybe put it a bit more simply, poyo…?” Bandee sighed, then rephrased, “This probably isn’t a Halcandran place. There’s no super advanced tech anywhere and this whole pl—place is made of gold. That doesn’t match up with the H—Halcandran building styles we’ve observed so f—far; those are a lot more utilitarian.” 

Kirby grinned and nodded, nubs crossed proudly. “Ah, I gotcha!” Bandee playfully rolled his eyes. “Y—You know, you’d understand my rambling more if you actually paid attention to the big words Meta Knight tr—tries to teach you all the time.” Bandee looked off to the side and muttered, “N—No wonder he has a caffeine addiction…” Kirby gasped, the implication shocking him to his core. 

“B—Bandee, poyo… You’re not saying I’m a… A tough student, are you?!” 

Bandee gave his best friend an unimpressed look. “K—Kirby, we both know you can’t sit still to save your life, a—and you have a hard time paying attention to things y—you aren’t interested in…” Kirby glared indignantly, his permanent blushes brightening. “That’s not true…!” He weakly protested, only for Bandee to giggle and poke one of his friend’s blushes. “Heehee, y—yeah it is, and you know it! Y—You always blush when you lie!” 

Will sniffled—what he wouldn’t give for a tissue, he couldn’t believe he was wandering around a fantasy jungle temple with a cold and no tissues—and cleared his throat to get Bandee and Kirby’s attention. Though he was still feeling pretty miserable physically (and his emotional state wasn’t the best, either, but he was trying to distract himself from that), Bandee’s tales of reality-warping, high-tech obsidian pyramids built by ancient astronauts had intrigued him. 

“Sorry, but uh… What did you say about black pyramids, Bandee?” 

Bandee briefly turned to eye Will and the (concerned-looking, hardly-paying-attention) El, who was staring at Will’s back. Bandee frowned at the sight of her concern—he was worried, too. He hadn’t forgotten how Will had acted earlier, after all. But he knew Will was a fellow nerd and, when Bandee didn’t feel well, indulging his nerdiness always cheered him up and helped him forget about his troubles for a while. 

“W—Well, one of Popstar’s biggest deserts, Sand Canyon, has this giant obsidian pyramid just sitting right in the middle of it. For the longest time, no one’s known where it came from, but just like a lot of other mysterious structures and r—ruins scattered across Popstar, we th—think the Ancients—Magolor’s people from Halcandra—are involved. It’s always b—been thought that space warps within the pyramid the way it does b—because of Magic, but after what Kirby, Meta, Great King and I s—saw on Halcandra, our new theory is that it’s s—some kind of incredibly advanced technology, instead.” 

“Woah…” Will said, and Bandee could tell by his awed tone that the boy was being genuine. He internally cheered at being able to help Will perk back up a little. “Th—There’s another black pyramid on Rock Star—one of our neighboring planets—but we know for a fact that that one i—is some kind of anti-gravity spacecraft, because we all saw it rise up from the desert and start hovering in mid-air. The interior of that one wasn’t all w—weird and distorted like the one here, and we could clearly see all the advanced stuff in there. That one actually had a machine called Pix guarding it.” 

Will and El perked up—both of them remembered hearing about both Rock Star and Pix from Kirby shortly before Bandee, Dedede, Meta Knight and Magolor had arrived to bring Kirby home, but he’d made no mention of the black pyramid-craft. Although, to his credit, Will was pretty sure Nancy might not be here today if Kirby had included that detail in the already incredible story of his journey to reunite the Crystal Shards. 

“O—Our working theory right now is that the one here is broken, since it doesn’t fly, and the tech is all haywire, which is why everything g—gets so screwy in there. But the one on Rock Star clearly still works since it flies, and everything’s still functional, which is wh—why it isn’t all o—out of whack in that one. We have yet to take M—Magolor to any of these sites to confirm for us, b—but we’ve been meaning to. He’s just…” 

Bandee’s tone turned grumpy as he grumbled, “…Very hard to reach…” 

Magolor sweatdropped under his hood. 

“Mind tellin’ us why you’re so hard to get a hold of?” Hopper asked loud and clear, tone threatening. Magolor slowly spun his chair around to face everyone; most in the room were giving him suspicious looks, but Nancy looked too busy wanting her drink back after hearing everything Bandee had said and Dustin looked too busy silently geeking out. 

Everyone else, though? Suspicion. Clear as day. 

“W—Well, Chief,” Magolor said, gesturing to himself with flourish, “I just happen to be a rather busy man! I’ve been traveling the multiverse, gathering tech and funds for my apology theme park, and it’s not exactly like Kirby and his pals have phones…” 

Max crossed her arms and raised her eyebrow at Magolor. “Kirby literally has a weird pink phone that can drag the other three Kirbies to wherever he is.” Magolor cringed, but quickly recovered. “Ah, but that’s only for his counterparts! Not me! Without phones that can connect to mine from across the multiverse—and this is unfortunate, but—Kirby and his friends simply can’t contact me! I make sure to check in frequently, though—“ 

<Captain, you are better than this.> 

Magolor froze. Everyone in the room—even Dustin and Nancy, startled. Magolor chuckled nervously, waving his hand in the air. “Oh, Lor! Whatever are you talking about?” 

< That, Captain. I have offered to build phones for you to distribute to Kirby and his friends on Popstar on numerous occasions. You continually refuse because then you’ll have less control over when you have to be around Meta Knight.> 

Everyone in the room glared at Magolor—sans Dustin, who just looked disappointed (this definitely put a few cracks in the Halcandran’s heart). Still, though, he had to save face. He began speaking in a far more forced version of his usual jovial tone, an undercurrent of pleading clear within it as he stared nervously at the glaring Hopper. “Oh… Ooohohohoho… Don’t be silly, Lor! I would never deliberately do everything in my power to avoid Meta Knight! And even if I were to do something so preposterous, it wouldn’t be because I have anything to hide! He just scares me, is all!” 

Though no one in the room was taking the Halcandran’s words at face value, he truly was just scared to death of the knight. He had almost killed him once in a fit of rage, after all. Although… The honorable man remaining unaware of the questionable business tactics Magolor often employed on unsuspecting customers during his travels was a neat bonus. 

“Besides! You may be super advanced and omniscient and able to travel anywhere in the multiverse in the blink of an eye, but even you can’t just slap together a working multiverse phone that ignores time dilation in seconds! That’d be crazy even for—“ 

There was a short-lived series of loud whirring and drilling sounds from within the desk/keyboard behind Magolor, before a hidden compartment opened in the desk and a mechanical arm emerged holding a sleek cell phone with a blue casing and yellow cog decals reminiscent of Magolor’s old outfit (though the Humans wouldn’t have known that) for all to see. 

<Multiversal Anti-Time Dilation Cell Phone construction completed in 0000.2 microseconds.> The Lor reported, an undercurrent of smugness clearly present beneath her otherwise mechanical tone. Magolor’s glowing yellow eyes went wide as saucers, and he stared off into space for several seconds as the Humans in the room immediately started marveling at the (to them, anyway) futuristic and utterly alien-looking cell phone. 

Magolor gulped, swiveling his chair back around and doing his best to shrink until he was small enough that Hopper wouldn’t be able to find him again once he got over his shock. He began to sweat. 

“Mmm, I w—wonder how our friends are doing, huh?! Yeah…” 

“In any c—case,” Bandee said as they continued through the expansive temple, “We’re f—fairly sure those pyramids are their doing. This place is c—completely uncharted territory, though…” 

“I wonder who built it…” El thought aloud as they continued to walk along. 

“IIIIIIIIII knowwwwwwwww…” came a haunting voice from all around them. The group froze. From the too-high-to-see ceiling, something descended on a faint string, coming to a stop right in front of Bandee, still at the head of the group. Several tense moments passed, before the creature slowly rotated on its string to face the unsettled Bandee, revealing itself to be a fuzzy yellow spider-like creature with a brown stripe across its abdomen, six pink legs, and a mere three eyes. 

Kirby tilted his head, Bandee took one wary step backward, nub tightening around his spear, and El and Will took a few confused steps closer. When they saw the spider, their eyes widened. Bandee audibly swallowed. “G—Gooday, Sir…” The spider stared into Bandee’s soul with its three eyes for several tense moments; if Bandee had had a biological heart, it would have been pounding. El and Will exchanged concerned looks. 

“Welcome… To the Golden Temple… Might I interest you four young travelers… In a tour…?” 

Bandee shook in place as the spider’s eyes remained locked squarely on him—It must be because I’m acting as the leader, he thought. Oh, why did I insist on taking point…? Still, though, Bandee was a General—no, not just a General, the General of the Great King Dedede’s army! He would not allow himself to cower away from one creepy Como with a creepy whispery voice! Who had probably been following them this entire time! And watching them! And eavesdropping on them! 

As his attempt to gather up his courage began to fail, Bandee forced himself to push on. “A—Ah… N—no, th—thank you, s—sir… W—We’re actually in a bit of a hurry—“ 

“Hey, Mr. Como! A guy who looks kinda like you should’ve passed by here a while ago! Would you happen to know which direction he went, poyo?” Bandee cringed at Kirby’s—hyperactive as ever—interruption. Dang it, Kirby! Not all spider-people know each other! You’re gonna make him mad… 

Ignoring Bandee’s silent panic, the Como’s three eyes zeroed in on Kirby, next. The pink Puffball simply continued to smile, either oblivious to or uncaring of the intensity with which the spider was eyeing him. Several tense seconds passed, in which the Como seemed to be in deep thought. Eventually, he spoke again. “Yessssss… One who looks… ‘Like me’ passed by not very long ago… He brings with him two captives, bound for the ephemeral heights of Royal Road… For the betterment of a Queen who will live but a fraction of my Lord’s lifetime…” 

The group stared blankly at the Como. A faint aura of sheepishness seemed to emanate from the otherwise unreadable spider. 

“Ah… That is to say… Continue along this path… And you will reach him…” 

Bandee forced a smile, the spider’s intense attention once more shifting fully back onto him as he spoke, “G—Great! Thanks f—for all t—the help, Mister; w—we really must be g—going now—“ 

“Wait.” 

The entire group froze, the blood of the two Humans turning to ice in their veins as Bandee and even Kirby’s metaphorical hearts stopped at the Como’s suddenly forceful tone. “You two. In the back. Come forth at once. All four of you must stand before me as I deliver my warning…”  

El and Will looked at each other uncertainly, and Bandee and Kirby gave them hesitant looks (Bandee in particular was trembling slightly in place). In the end, the two humans hesitantly stepped forward to stand right next to their alien companions, the four now fully standing before the spider, each ready to fight if things turned hostile. 

The Como’s intense, wide-eyed look transformed into a serious glare. “Your enemy… I believe… Plans to revive my Lord and use Him as a pawn in his conflict against you… My Lord is a powerful and formidable deity who has protected these celestial lands since ancient times…” 

The Como continued to glare at them all, but nonetheless physically deflated a bit, sadness leaking into his otherwise grave tone as he continued, “The builders of this temple… The People of the Sky… together with your enemy's kind... Worshipped my Lord… In a religion now forgotten by most. He was revered… And rightfully so… In fact… This very Temple was built in His honor… As a sacred house in which He could reside in glory…” 

Kirby, El, Bandee and Will recalled the serpent imagery littering the temple’s exterior. The Como’s expression hardened. 

“Until… One fateful day… When from beyond the sky a great evil descended. A dark calamity… In the likeness of a star…” 

Kirby and Bandee gasped, exchanging shocked looks. El and Will looked at the two, then at each other, in confusion and worry. The star part was new… But something rang familiar about that general story beat, one Kirby had relayed many times before. A dark calamity descending from space. 

El and Will’s blood went cold. 

Dark Matter. 

Unknowing or uncaring of the group’s recognition and mounting horror, the Como continued, “The Dark One… It invaded the sacred body of my Lord… Perverting Him… Twisting Him… From a deity to a monstrous, destructive vessel of its will, helpless to resist…” 

The four—Will, El, and Bandee especially—felt only colder. That part… was very familiar. The cold… The evil… Taking root, as the blackness spread beneath their skin, forcing them to watch as their bodies acted out horrific deeds outside their own control. Reducing them to voiceless spectators as their mortal forms were piloted by the will of the Void. 

The three began to tremble. 

“The Dark One… Having suppressed my Lord’s will and stolen control of His form… Went on a destructive rampage across the whole of Floralia… Countless souls were lost… For none could stand against the might of a God… However. A coalition… Formed of the highest among the Lord's worshippers and greatest mages in Floralia… All of whom were members of your enemy’s clan… Managed to draw my possessed Lord back to this very temple… And battled Him furiously. They did their best to force the evil from His body… But in the end… They failed. At the end of their long, arduous battle, the mages were left with no choice but to combine their power… In order to cast a single, mighty spell… My Lord was petrified, His body frozen in stone for the next several millennia. At the last second, the Dark One fled my Lord’s body, as well as Floralia in its entirety… And instead set its sights on the Lower World… never to be seen in these lands again. The mages despaired, for it was by then too late to undo the spell… Its effects could only be reversed once the spell had weakened… Which would take many thousands of years… Since then, even to this day, my Lord has rested, still petrified, in the chamber up ahead. But now… The spell has weakened, and your enemy plans to take advantage of that… To undo his ancestors’ great work…To unleash The Lord of the Sky, and to twist Him into a puppet for evil once more…” 

The Como dropped his glare, now giving them a pleading look. “Please… Young ones… You must promise I, Cornelius, High Priest of the Cult of the Sky Serpent, for if a member of the Joro Clan considers you a foe so great as to unleash HIM upon you, then I know you are capable of keeping it. Defeat my tormented Lord—free Him of the Joro Sorcerer’s puppet strings—and restore him to his rightful place as Guardian of the Heavens once more.” 

The Como slowly retracted back up his silk-string, soon disappearing back into the shadows above once more. One final warning echoed down to the children: 

“And be wary, young ones… Lord Coily Rattler is considered a deity for good reason… May the Stars look down on you with fortune…” 

“Uh… Shit,” Dustin said eloquently. That the weird spider dude shared a name with one of his love’s several brothers barely registered next to everything else that’d just been dumped on him.  

“Okay. So, just so we’re on the same page… Taranza is about to wake up some ancient… God snake? Who almost destroyed Floralia one time? Oh, and Dark Matter was involved somehow, right?” Will asked, somehow managing to sound both mentally checked out and extremely concerned at the same time. 

Kirby nodded grimly as he summoned his sword—fighting gods was nothing new to him, but he understood why Will and El were in such disbelief as to what was about to happen. “Yeah, poyo. Just… Let Bandee and I do most of the work, okay? You guys can still fight, but try and hang back a little and attack from farther away. I dunno how strong this guy’s gonna be…” 

El and Will exchanged uneasy and hesitant looks, but ultimately voiced their agreement in unison. They may have had experience of their own, but… Actually fighting the evil eldritch abomination in its full form in a direct confrontation was, unfortunately, not on their resume. 

“Hey, Kirby… Do you know who the spider was talking about?” El asked. Kirby didn’t turn back to look at his two Human companions, but he did exchange grim looks with Bandee. His expression darkened, supermassive black holes and phantom roars and cold and burning and crackling echoing through his memory. 

“…I have a hunch. Hey El, you remember when I first told you and Max about Dark Matter, and how even after me, Bandee, Dedede, Ribbon, and Ado destroyed all the other ones, I had to take care of one more later? Who I found in one of Dedede’s treasure chests? I think the High Priest guy was talking about that one.” 

Will looked confused. 

“Sorry? He was… Locked in one of Dedede’s treasure chests???” 

Bandee chuckled nervously, rubbing the back of his head. “U—Uh… That whole mess is… A very long and very complicated story… A—And, uh… Truth be told, I don’t know where Great King got the chest or how the most powerful Dark Matter Kirby’s ever beaten besides Zero got sealed in it, b—but Great King did tell me he’d had it for a long time and knew who was in it even before, uh… Everything that happened that week went down.” 

El’s eyes narrowed in suspicion, and Will looked like he was in desperate need of answers. Sensing this without even needing to look back at the two, Kirby chuckled nervously (and with a hint of sheepishness that only made El more suspicious) and rubbed the back of his head, a drop of sweat gliding down it. 

“Eheheheh… Uh, I’ll tell you guys the full story once all this is over, poyo…” His demeanor quickly turned sober, and the Puffball clutched his sword once more, guard back up as he glared ahead. “For now, we’ve got a spider and a snake god to take care of…” 

El let it go. 

Mike’s eyes narrowed slightly as he stared at the screen. Setting aside the whole… ‘Dark Matter creature locked in one of King Dedede’s treasure chests’ thing (???), the way Kirby and Bandee were deflecting was weird. To be fair, it seemed like they had a pretty big fight ahead of them and there probably wasn’t much time to tell the (apparently complicated) story anyway, but the two had actually looked nervous there. Or at least embarrassed. 

This wasn’t the first time weird implications concerning Dedede had cropped up. That weird evil clone Zero had made of him back at Starcourt (Mike shuddered at the memory, a spark of phantom pain flaring up in his ribs) had suggested that the real deal wasn’t particularly fond of Kirby. Rather than outright deny that, if Mike remembered correctly, Kirby had instead argued that that was no longer the case. 

Then there had been the next day at Hopper’s cabin, when the real Dedede, together with Sir Meta, Bandee and Magolor, had arrived to bring Kirby back home. That whole mess at the porch had happened only after they had acted apprehensive around Dedede, who sadly suggested that his “reputation” preceded him; Kirby had then swore to Dedede that he hadn’t told Mike and the others “about that”. 

And then, there was their visit to Whispy Woods a few months back, when Kirby’s weird caterpillar… Friend… Thing, had said something about Dedede having once been an asshole that Whispy had been in cahoots with, leading to Kirby and the forest spirit’s first in what was apparently a long line of reluctant and avoidable conflicts. Seconds later, Kirby had very loudly and very unsubtly cut the conversation short. 

And now there was… This. Mike had already long known from Kirby by now that Dark Matter, for whatever reason, seemed drawn to King Dedede like a moth to flame (and also seemed addicted to violently mutilating him for some godforsaken reason, the poor dude), and now Kirby and Bandee were saying the King had had one locked in a… In a treasure chest? And the way they were phrasing it made it sound like the two kids hadn’t been told the full story by Dedede until the thing had presumably been accidentally released somehow… 

Mike wasn’t dumb. Things weren’t adding up, and at this point all signs pointed to Kirby and Dedede (as well as Bandee, to a lesser extent) hiding something big and probably not very pretty from them all. Only problem was, Mike wasn’t sure if that was because it was personal, or because Dedede had committed some kind of heinous crime that Kirby had stopped and was now trying to keep quiet for the sake of their friendship and the latter’s reputation around his new friends. He did recall Kirby claiming Dedede as a rival of his, along with Sir Meta. The knight in question certainly had done some rather questionable things in his own past, so was that yet more evidence pointing to Dedede having similarly caused some kind of trouble back in the day? 

Either way, it wasn’t much of Mike’s business, he supposed… However Dedede may or may not have been in the past didn’t change how he was now; he seemed like a really trustworthy and reliable guy. He’d helped Kirby save both Popstar and their universe at large on at least three occasions that Mike had heard of, had handled Magolor responsibly, had been empathetic, understanding, and angered on Mike and his loved ones’ behalf upon hearing about everything they’d been put through by both Zero and their own government alike, and clearly adored Kirby and the rest of his friend group. The way he interacted with Bandee even reminded Mike of the father/son-like bond between Sir Meta and Kirby. 

And on the note of Mike’s mentor, he’d—again—once tried to start a war with the help of the very militia Mike was now a part of and a futuristic flying warship just to get Dream Land to be less lazy, and he trusted Sir Meta Knight just fine. Hell, Magolor had duped Kirby into making him a god, tried to conquer his universe, and then banished him to Mike’s world with little hope of ever returning for trying to interfere to begin with, yet here they all were in the little shit’s (he may have technically been older than Mike but still) house, trusting that he wouldn’t kill them (well, trusting might have been a strong word, but semantics). Point being… Maybe Dedede had done some bad shit in the past, but he clearly was no longer that same hateful bully of a man who had broken his ribs and tried to sacrifice El, and if Mike could trust Meta and (to a lesser extent) Magolor, then he could trust Dedede too, right? 

He lightly shook his head and refocused on the screen; his friends were now walking into a huge chamber, and now wasn’t the time to get lost in his own head. He needed to make sure everyone would be okay. 

The chamber was cavernous, albeit smaller than the rest of the main temple, with yet more golden walls and serpent iconography. The floor was made of some sort of sky-blue crystal none could identify, casting a glow of the same color along the golden walls and serving as the comparatively dim, tomb-like chamber’s main source of illumination. Along the wall directly across from the group were five large, ornate golden pillars; each was split into two sections at its center, ethereal cyan fire burning in the openings between the two sections from an invisible fuel source. 

Between the four and the pillars sat something about the height of the monster that had tried to kill all of them (sans Bandee) at Starcourt eight months ago. A mess of coils with an imposing neck rising up and towering above them all. A monstrous face with protruding fangs and wide eyes stared down at them. The entire creature was gray and still, seemingly no more than a harmless effigy of a monstrously-large serpent deity. 

The kids desperately hoped it truly was only that—a harmless monument not indicative of the actual size of its inspiration. But none of them were ever quite that lucky, were they? 

Floating next to the inert monument was an insufferably smug-looking (though also, some of them noticed, rather ruffled-looking) Taranza, the net holding his two captives in hand as usual. “What’s that saying about insanity and doing the same thing over and over to no avail?” The arachnid wizard asked with a smirk, projecting his voice so that it would reach them across the massive chamber. 

Alongside the annoyance that was ever-present every time he was near the stupid spider, Will felt a spark of recognition and confusion light as he thought back to something Mr. Clarke had once said in class. 

“…Is he quoting Einstein??” Will asked El, remembering too late that she’d probably never heard the quote, and probably didn’t know about the man himself, for that matter. A confused shrug confirmed his suspicions. 

Taranza, meanwhile, went from smug to confused in an instant. 

“‘Einstein’? The quote I just referenced is attributed to Orbweavelius II. How would you recognize it? And who is—gah! Nevermind!” 

Kirby and Bandee blatantly ignored Taranza’s dismissal of the topic, turning to Will in curiosity. “Hey, who’s Einstein, poyo?” 

“That doesn’t matter!” Taranza was once more ignored. 

“Y—Yeah, you’ve got me c—curious, too, Will,” Bandee said, keeping one eye on the fuming spider a ways away and his grip on his spear tight in case the wizard tried a surprise attack. 

“ENOUGH!!!” Taranza snapped, and Kirby and Bandee once more gave him their attention, grinning (the latter with his eyes) and chuckling as they high-nubbed. Will barely held back a chuckle of his own as it dawned on him that Kirby and Bandee hadn’t been quite as curious as they’d presented themselves. They sure knew how to instigate and be petty, he’d give them that. 

Magolor wiped a fake tear from his eye as he smiled up at the screen. “They grow up so fast…” he sniffled. When the two returned, he’d have to take them on as apprentice trolls. 

“Now that you children are done giggling amongst yourselves like… Like children, I have a proposition for you.” 

Taranza pointed at the space behind them. No one was stupid enough to actually turn their back on him, but they were quickly able to surmise what the wizard was getting at. 

“Turn back now and give up this pointless crusade. We’re nearing the end of this little chase—only one more island stands between us and the Royal Capital, and trust me, you don’t want to meet my Queen.” 

Though none of them had any intention of turning back, they all felt the warning strongly. 

“If you four persist after this, I’ll have to resort to drastic measures,” Taranza’s four front-facing eyes darted to Will for a split second, “And none of us want that. So why not save us all the trouble and turn back now?” 

While a disturbed Will and a concerned El pondered over the look Taranza had just given the former, Kirby scoffed and took a single step forward, Bandee silently doing the same as he glared, spear at the ready. 

“Hah! Please, poyo! Y’know, the last big villain I fought was a wannabe King! And he was way more of a threat than this evil Queen you always talk about! If she thinks she can kill me or my friends…” 

Kirby stomped one foot and summoned his sword in a flurry of spectral pink butterflies. 

“I’d like to see her try!"  

Taranza’s eyes went wide, then shifted—for a split second, he looked almost disappointed— but he quickly masked it with his usual, almost theatrical frustration. “Very well, then,” Taranza spat, readying yet another spider web-like orb of pink Magic in one hand,  “Let’s match the powers of Coily Rattler, ancient Lord of the Sky, against you four foolish children! Maybe then, you’ll finally realize your folly and turn back.” 

With that, Taranza whirled around, lobbing the orb at the giant serpent statue beside him, and fled. 

Will’s head was abuzz with questions and thoughts—they were already closing in on the Capital? What was with Taranza’s abrupt shift in attitude? The sudden, almost awkward side he’d shown? Since when did he warn his pursuers and give them a chance to flee? Why was Will only just now picking up on exactly how theatrical and exaggerated Taranza had been all day? How powerful could Queen Sectonia really be if even Taranza didn’t want them to meet her? And what was with that vague threat about ‘drastic measures’ and his sudden interest in Will? 

But he could puzzle all that out later. Right now, he thought as he readied his electricity—watching Kirby do the same with his sword, Bandee with his spear, and El with her powers—they had a living legend to face. 

Magolor wiped away yet another tear, touched (though also offended at the whole “wannabe” part of Kirby’s speech), at his little pink friend’s loyalty and confidence in simply knowing Magolor was more powerful than any puffed-up sky Queen! …Of course, Magolor wasn’t exactly the most humble person himself, least of all when he and Kirby had fought, but that was neither here nor there. 

One ear flicking backward in curiosity, Magolor turned to observe Joyce’s reaction to Taranza’s (probably accidental, given how his demeanor had been awkward rather than smug) implied threat toward her son—he almost physically flinched backward as he was met with scorching dark eyes, glaring daggers at the screen above him. The woman’s fists were clenched in her pants, shaking with rage. The almighty Sheriff (Chief, whatever, they were the same thing as far as Magolor was concerned), was eyeing her worriedly, though even his eyes had hardened (and, side note, for the love of NOVA they needed to kiss already. Magolor was just going to keep thinking it until it happened. Manifestation and all that.) 

Somewhat anxiously, Magolor turned toward the other side of the room, where he noticed a (almost completely sobered-up) concerned Nancy mouthing something to a frankly terrifying Jonathan, her hand on his shoulder. If Joyce had looked murderous, Jonathan seemed downright ready to slaughter. 

Gulping, Magolor next turned his attention to the occupants in the middle, directly behind him. 

Mike’s dark eyes seemed almost black with protective fury, one hand twitching at his hip, grasping at the hilt of a sword that wasn’t there. 

Max’s eyes were narrowed and an icier blue than ever. 

At her side, Lucas didn’t look overtly angry, but rather calculating, which Magolor personally found a bit scarier. It looked to him like the teen was busy coming up with all sorts of creative ways to kill Taranza. 

Dustin’s normally bright eyes had gone dark and grim—from what Magolor had seen of the boy throughout the—likely small enough to be counted on two of Dustin’s own hands—hours they’d spent together, he seemed the least put-together of “The Party”. He was among the most clever, but the kid was just twitchy. Clumsy. 

And yet, somehow, Magolor was still intimidated by him on his fellow wizard’s behalf. 

He anxiously swiveled back around to face the screen again, whispering a request for coffee to Lor. He had a feeling he was going to need it. 

The huge statue before the group crackled with pink electricity; the remnants of Taranza’s spell—or rather, if Cornelius was to be believed, his undoing of one already long-oxidated by time—crackling along its length. 

One of the stone eyes blinked. Then the other one. Then both focused on the kids. 

El and Will took a few steps backward. Kirby and Bandee tightened their battle stances, prepared to act as the main offense as El and Will supported them from behind. 

Both eyes abruptly snapped downward, zeroing in on the quartet. All of them tensed. 

Then it roared, and like ink sinking into paper, the stony texture of Coily Rattler’s body faded into color as the serpent deity was revived. El and Will turned tail and ran as fast as they could toward the edge of the room, where they’d be able to attack from a distance. Neither felt good about leaving Kirby and Bandee in the thick of the ensuing battle, but both understood well that they were far more fragile than their alien companions, and far more out of their depth, as well, for that matter. Frame trembling but eyes narrowed, Bandee noted grimly that the revived serpent’s body matched the aesthetic of His temple. 

That was to say, it was solid gold. 

Where they weren’t sheathed in angular blocks of shining gold etched with scale-like images, the segments of Coily Rattler’s body were covered by blue-striped bands of the stuff, instead. Every inch of the snake’s body was totally protected. 

Everywhere except for… 

Bandee’s eyes widened. That was it. The Sky Serpent’s head—deep orange, with menacing yellow eyes, a green bulb on top, majestic red horns that curved from around the back to rest above His eyes—was the only part of His body that was unarmored! That was the weak point! 

“Kirby!” 

“Got it!” 

Bandee blinked—he sometimes forgot that, spacey and occasionally dense as he may be, Kirby had been receiving formal combat training for years longer than Bandee—as his pink friend took to the air on his butterfly wings, slashing at the serpent’s face with his sword. 

Bandee winced as the poor guy roared in pain and rage—though he was obviously no longer possessed by Dark Nebula, it seemed that, like with Flowery Woods, the spell Taranza had used to release Coily Rattler’s fraying petrification enchantments doubled as a hypnosis spell, compelling the Sky God to do the wizard’s bidding. 

Bandee really didn’t want to attack someone who had already been through so much—and just the part that Bandee could relate to was bad enough without getting into being turned to stone for millennia—but it seemed he wasn’t going to have much choice. With any luck, curing this would work just the same as curing Dark Matter possession. 

Good ‘ol fisticuffs. 

Resolve hardened, Bandee turned slightly toward El and Will behind him. “Guys! Aim for H—His head!” Without waiting to see whether or not they’d heard him, Bandee returned his full attention to the battle. Kirby was still slashing away at Coily Rattler’s face (being careful to avoid His eyes), and the roars of the serpent in question were beginning to sound more and more enraged. 

Before Bandee had the chance to lob a spear up at the deity’s head, He ducked under Kirby’s latest swing and deftly reared His head from the Puffball’s other side. Kirby’s eyes went wide, and before Bandee could warn him, Coily Rattler’s powerful jaw snapped around his body with force enough to send phantom pains through Bandee just from witnessing it. 

Kirby only had a split second to squeak in agony, before Coily Rattler launched Himself off the ground with the Puffball still painfully ensnared by His sharp fangs. Kirby screamed as the serpent god coiled around and leapt between each of the four grand pillars at the far end of the room repeatedly. 

Bandee, El, and Will looked on in horror. 

Coily Rattler leapt from the last pillar he’d wrapped himself around, now rocketing back toward the floor of the actual chamber—and right where Bandee was standing! With a yelp, Bandee raised his spear above his head and twirled it rapidly until he lifted off and flew high into the air, avoiding Coily Rattler’s massive form with mere seconds to spare as He slammed back into the ground and violently ejected Kirby from His mouth, the Puffball being propelled into the hard floor with truly wince-worthy force. 

Nancy and Dustin’s jaws both dropped at Bandee’s flat disregard for the laws of aerodynamics. 

No… N—No!!! You can’t start flying just because you imitated a helicopter!! Nancy was horrified. 

Oh, Mr. Clarke… Oh, Jesus, am I glad you’re not here to see this. Dustin knew his former teacher, if he survived the shock, would’ve been abuzz with hundreds of questions for Bandee, all of them concerning just how the Waddle Dee had so casually disregarded the way Lift worked. 

Hopper gaped for a few moments, then just sighed deeply and ran his hand through his hair, tiredly peering at the screen through his fingers. 

Of course he can do that. Of course he can. I forgot that this is Looney Tunes. 

Jonathan sneakily took a swig of the drink he’d confiscated from his girlfriend, wincing at the strong flavor. Ugh. Murray would love this shit. Thank God he’s not here, though. He'd probably be foaming at the mouth from all this. 

Everyone else took only seconds to recover. They were, unfortunately, starting to get used to this. 

“K—Kirby, are you alright?!” Bandee called down toward the fallen pink Puffball. 

Said Puffball, quite literally flattened by his impact, peeled up from the ground, then floated gently back onto it like a sheet of paper before popping back into shape and rolling out of the way of a series of rapid strikes from Coily Rattlers’s, well, rattling tail. The vicious blows left hairline cracks in the previously unblemished crystalline cyan of the floor. 

Shaking his head as if to chase away the lingering disorientation, Kirby leapt to his feet and glared viciously at Coily Rattler. “I’ve had better days, poyo!” He called back up at Bandee, not taking his eyes off the enemy. Sighing in relief—after all, if Kirby was well enough to keep dishing out his classic quips, then he had nothing to worry about—Bandee glared down at Coily Rattler’s head. 

He had a clear shot. 

Bandee stopped spinning his spear, causing him to fall. Quickly, he skillfully spun the weapon, now pointing it downward, and plunged toward the green bulb atop Coily Rattler’s head in a deadly Moon Drop. His feet and spear both made a satisfying impact with the top of the serpent’s head—thankfully, the green bulb didn’t burst in some gory explosion of goo and vital fluids upon contact with the spearhead like Bandee had been half-fearing, but the snake roared in agony, nevertheless. 

Bandee quickly jumped off the deity’s head and landed on the ground, on the side of the creature opposite to Kirby. They had Him boxed in. Coily Rattler looked between them a few times, the gears visibly turning behind His sinister yellow eyes, before they landed back on Bandee with finality, apparently deducing him to be the easier prey. 

Several feet away, Will’s eyes narrowed at the Sky God’s golden armor, before widening in realization. Turning to a (distressed, as she had nothing to telekinetically hurl at their enemy unless she wanted to tear chunks from the walls and pillars and kill them all) El, Will hurriedly shared his plan. The girl’s eyes widened, then settled in a determined glare as she pulled back, the two exchanging nods.

Meanwhile, Bandee was rapidly regretting drawing aggro. He could do this, he knew he could! Just… Don’t let the snake… Catch you…! He thought as he frantically backpedaled away from the rapidly-approaching Sky Serpent. From behind Coily Rattler, Bandee heard Kirby cry out as he attempted to charge their enemy. However, before Kirby could come to his rescue and before Bandee could even lob a spear and rescue himself, a familiar voice sounded from across the chamber as Coily Rattler abruptly froze in place. 

“Hey!” 

Bandee, Kirby, and even the (currently struggling) Coily Rattler turned toward El and Will; the former was smirking, feet planted and both hands facing Coily Rattler as she telekinetically held him in place. The latter was grinning, both his own hands also facing Coily Rattler, sparking violently. 

“Mr. Clarke, Seventh Grade Science: ‘Gold is the third most conductive metal!’” 

Coily Rattler had a split second to look confused—and Bandee and Kirby a split second to realize what Will was getting at—before two blue bolts of lightning, laced with hints of purple, snapped across the chamber with twin thunderclaps, striking Coily Rattler’s gold-plated body and sending the serpent deity into a writhing, roaring, shrieking fit as the blue and purple sparks crackled across His form, from head to tail. 

The electricity eventually died down, and a twitching Coily Rattler physically shook off the agonizing attack. Bandee’s wonder and excitement turned to terror as the deity’s eyes locked onto Will and El with murderous intent, previously rounded pupils narrowing to slits as they flashed yellow. Coily Rattler roared with such force that the entire chamber trembled, before He dashed toward the two Humans, shooting what looked like flaming rocks at them from His mouth. 

Bandee and Kirby, despite both lacking the necessary organ, nearly had twin heart attacks. 

But El didn’t falter. 

With one hand, she slowed Coily Rattler—the beast resisted, extending His neck in her and Will’s direction as far as it would go and snapping His jaws—but he eventually ground to a complete halt just ten feet short of the teens, regardless. The other hand had taken telekinetic hold of the lava rocks Coily Rattler had shot at her and flung them right back into His face. 

Before He had the chance to let out another agonized roar—because honestly, all of them had felt that one—Will shot two more bolts of electricity at the immobilized and stunned serpent icon. This time, Coily Rattler collapsed entirely—once more causing the entire chamber to shudder, this time far more violently so—as the resulting seizure took hold, the supernatural electricity dancing across and—clearly—through His golden armor and into the flesh below. 

The serpent roared one final time, then went still as the sparks dancing along His body finally went out; no longer struggling in El’s hold or thrashing around in pain, the Lord of the Sky lay completely inert except for the occasional twitch. 

His eyes had closed; he was down for the count, it seemed. 

“YES! YES!!!” Dustin screeched—having stood—as he jumped up and down, cheering and clapping in exhilaration. “YES, BABY!!! TAKE THAT, YOU SLITHERY BASTARD! THAT’S SCIENCE, YOU HEAR ME?!” 

“HAHAHAHAHAHAH, YES!!! THAT WAS BRILLIANT!!! GODS ARE NOTHING NEXT TO THE POWER OF SCIENCE!!!! AND MAYBE MAGIC TOO BUT RIGHT NOW I’M EXCITED ABOUT SCIENCE!” 

Dustin and Magolor both stopped in the middle of their celebration, blinking. They were receiving various looks from everyone else in the room, ranging from surprise, to slight amusement, to mild annoyance at their volume. Neither of them were particularly paying attention to any of that, though. 

“Holy shit...” Dustin breathed. 

“We’re…” Magolor turned to him. 

“IN SYNC!” 

“SPIRIT NERDS!” 

The two of them froze and blinked once more. Then their faces heated, and almost simultaneously, they returned their bodies to their seats and their eyes to the screen, faces hot as they stubbornly ignored the other teens staring at them and clearly struggling not to laugh. 

Coily Rattler drifted back into consciousness. His mind was still quite addled and fuzzy from the lingering effects of the spell, but he remembered. Long before His faithful devotees had mustered up the courage, the Lord of the Sky had known what had to be done. 

Coily Rattler wept. 

Internally, that was. He had been unable to truly cry, scream, or beg the denizens of His realm to run, for His body had not been his own. That horrible, frigid, suffocating darkness, nestled between His countless ribs and a hollowed-out corner of His heart, had stolen His autonomy. As it whispered and roared in His mind in the most unholy of voices, the Demon-Who-Came-From-the-Stars had reduced Him to naught more than a voiceless spectator as his body was hijacked and used to wreak havoc on the very realm it was Coily Rattler’s sworn duty to protect. 

And of course, the damnable thing had wriggled its way from the trap at the last moment, rendering His sacrifice moot as He was sealed in stone for what He knew would be the next several millennia. Of course, to those like Coily Rattler, several millennia were but a few moments—from His perspective, His fated battle against His own followers may as well have been but moments ago—but He knew things were different for His precious children. 

What must they have felt when they’d cast the spell, knowing they would never again see Him in their woefully finite lifetimes? 

Coily Rattler decided He’d rather not dwell on such thoughts at the moment. He’d have an eternity to get back to them. 

He stretched His long body, relishing the feeling of being in full control of His own muscles for the first time in millennia. Then slowly, slowly, He raised up his lumbering neck, standing to his full height and blinking curiously down at the creatures he had just been compelled to fight in his angry haze. 

A Void. He had seen a few come and go from this planet in His time. 

A Waddle Dee with a strange, blue article of clothing atop their head. 

And—oh? 

The other two creatures belonged to a species Coily Rattler had not seen in quite a while, even before His possession and subsequent petrification. Coily Rattler remembered the very day the visitors had arrived through star-shaped holes in the sky. Floralia was one of the first places in this world that they had visited as they descended from the heavens on their flying blue chariots. 

He’d met a delegation of them personally; they had been surprised and fascinated by all of Popstar and its people, but Him especially. Though He’d given them His blessing to settle in Floralia—so long as they didn’t disrupt the residents who already lived there—they hadn’t wished to impose too much on the inhabitants of the strange new world they had found themselves in, choosing instead to settle in a place that had gone mostly uninhabited by the natives for eons. 

The underside of Planet Popstar. 

They were travelers. Nomads who sailed along the strands of fabric holding reality together, and those who had come to this world were but a small percentage of the population of their world of origin. Their numbers had splintered off to find new homes among countless worlds and stars, they had said. True to their word, however, once they had settled on the other side of the planet, they had kept completely to themselves and Coily Rattler had never seen another of their kind again. 

Until now. 

Much had clearly changed, for the two now before him each radiated with strange energies that had not been present in the other members of their kind that Coily Rattler had met. Although, the aura of the one with the longer hair felt oddly reminiscent of the very flying chariots that had brought their race to this world to begin with. 

How curious. 

“Greetings, young ones,” Coily Rattler said, making sure to maintain a constant effort to keep his voice at a level their minds and bodies could handle. The Void would be fine, of course, but Coily Rattler knew well the dangers unrestrained divine vocalization posed to those creatures of littler might. “I am Coily Rattler, guardian of these lands. I apologize for attacking you four in my bewitched state.” 

Coily Rattler bowed his head low, inclining His eyes downward, before raising himself back up and curiously regarding the shocked quartet—its tallest members especially. “Pardon my saying, but you two of greater height surprise me. Even before my long imprisonment, I had not seen a single member of your kind in years. Young ones, tell me, if you would… How much has the outside world changed in my long absence?” 

The quartet were clearly still awed by his presence, mouths all slightly agape as he addressed them civilly, a far-cry from the violent, bestial lashing-out he’d been doing only minutes prior. Still, looking disbelieving, the shorter-haired of the two tall creatures was the first to gather themself, voice still trembling with unease and uncertainty. 

“U—Umm… It’s… We’re not really, um… From this world, uh—Sir? S—So, uh…” 

Coily Rattler suppressed the urge to chuckle good-naturedly at the little one’s—male, by the sound of his voice—uncertainty as to how to address Him. “Simply call me Coily Rattler, young ones.” He inclined His head downward again, albeit more briefly this time. “You managed to both best me in battle and clear the fog enshrouding my mind, courtesy of that Joro. For that, you have earned my respect.” 

The pink Void’s shocked expression gave way to a bright smile, and They stepped closer to Coily Rattler. “Wow, Mr. Coily, you’re super nice!” The little one’s expression turned a bit sheepish as He looked away, rubbing the back of His head. “…Sorry we had to beat you up to make you go back to normal, poyo.” 

Coily Rattler actually chuckled this time, the sound resonant like a carillon and smooth as molten gold. “It is a worthy price to pay for my restored physical and mental freedom, little ones.” However, the troubling circumstances behind His revival soon caught up with Him, and He held back a frown. In a more serious tone, He asked, “Now, children, I must ask… the Joro who undid the fraying enchantments binding my form in stone and set me upon you, what is your quarrel with him? The last time I was… ‘Active’, those of the Joro Clan, together with the People of the Sky, were my most loyal followers. I can only imagine what must have changed for one to do something like this. I have my suspicions, but I would like confirmation, if you would.” 

The kids’ expressions darkened. The Waddle Dee was the first to step forward and take charge. 

“Mr. Rattler, Sir, h—he, um… His name is Taranza. W—We believe him to be acting on the orders of the current ruling monarch of these lands… ‘Queen Sectonia', he called her. This morning, he descended to Dream Land and abducted our King, Dedede, a—along with one of His Majesty’s chefs; another friend of ours named Steve Harrington. I—I…” The Waddle Dee’s eyes turned somber and desperate as they cast themselves downward, the direness of his situation seeming to catch up with him all at once. “…I believe… The Queen intends to… D—Dispose of th—them—or at least His Majesty—once they reach her at the Capital, in order to d—destabilize Dream Land for an upcoming invasion. As the King’s General, I set out to rescue him, and Kirby here—“—The Waddle Dee pointed to the pink Void—“—Is the Hero of Dream Land, s—so he tagged along, together with our two new friends—“—He gestured next at the two taller beings— “—Who were with us at the scene of the abduction. We’ve been ch—chasing Taranza all day, and he’s been throwing everything he can at us to slow us down… N—now including you…” 

Coily Rattler’s eyes darkened. His remaining priests had spoken somberly to Him much during His time in stone—He could still hear everything around him in that state, after all—and had continually kept Him up to date on Floralia’s monarchy through the ages. The Sectonian Dynasty had begun a mere few centuries after his imprisonment—only the healthiest Joro became Queens, after all, and a Joro at peak health could live a thousand years—and it had never sounded particularly pleasant compared to the past Dynasties these lands had known. The Queens, while rarely reaching the level of outright cruelty or tyranny, tended to be quite…Firm, and rather unforgiving. The laws under those Queens were stricter than any Coily Rattler had seen before, and they all had seemingly no interest in fraternizing—or indeed at all personally connecting with—their subjects. 

The current Queen Sectonia was the fourth, if memory served, only ascending the throne a few months ago, and in a turn that surprised Coily Rattler, Cornelius and the others, unlike so many generations of their ancestors, had actually had good things to say about the Floralian Queen. In fact, until rather recently, she hadn’t even gone by the name ‘Queen Sectonia IV’, choosing instead to retain her given name. And that decision, it seemed, was a prelude for how her reign would differentiate from that of her predecessors.

The newest Queen, Coily Rattler had been told, was kind, personable, merciful. She was the most lenient and forgiving Queen that Floralia had seen in millennia. Word had it that she would even, on occasion, clear her schedule for teas and luncheons with her subjects—from the most distinguished Joro noble to the lowliest Sky Person peasant. 

And then, only a little over a month ago, it had all come crashing down. 

Coily Rattler had, at first, almost been too baffled to believe each increasingly dire report brought to him by Cornelius and the rest of His followers. The new Queen had been the best in millennia; Floralia had been flourishing like it hadn’t since His petrification! And yet, day by day, the most beloved Queen the sky had seen in millennia had, like a flower, begun to wilt into an ugly thing. Her laws gradually became just like those of her predecessors—cold and unforgiving, as did her personality. Gone were the luncheons with peasants. Gone were the reassuring addresses from the palace balcony. The Queen distanced herself from her subjects day by day—the word was that she had become paranoid and reclusive, hardly ever showing herself in the daylight. 

Then—most disturbingly—she had resorted to something that had been forbidden among her people for eons. A most primal and terrible power—one that, although no longer used, was the very thing that had first cemented the Joro as Floralia’s most supreme clan at the inception of its government. Then, she had officially become Sectonia IV.

Highly-ranked Sectra nobles and Generals began to disappear overnight. 

The Queen’s physical appearance changed more and more by the day, until such time came that she was no longer even distinguishable as a Joro but for the distinctive stinger protruding from her abdomen. 

And then, somehow, one night, the entirety of the Sectra Clan was bent to her will. 

And the very next day, every last Sky Person was locked away for—apparently—premeditating an insurrection (though Coily Rattler privately suspected the Queen had simply become so consumed by madness and paranoia that she had begun jumping at shadows).

 He did not know why this had happened, or how. 

But it was most troubling, and now Coily Rattler knew for certain: the best ruler in Floralia’s recent monarchical history had—in less than two months—become its worst by far. 

And now all of Popstar was being dragged into it. 

“I see,” He said darkly. “I wish I could help you, young ones. I fear the new Queen is indeed as tyrannical as we have both been led to believe.”  The four children at first looked confused at Coily Rattler’s words, but soon—almost in unison—their eyes all widened in horror. 

“W—Wait,” The long-haired one—female, she sounded—began. “Y—You… You were—?” 

“Worry not, child,” Coily Rattler reassured her gently. “Yes, I was aware while sealed in stone—my only knowledge of the world outside this chamber came from my faithful devotees, who have held many one-sided conversations with me over the millennia—but I am ancient, and perceive time differently than the four of you.” He spared a glance at the young, pink Void—Kirby—and amended, “For now.” 

He continued, “But in any case, I do wish I could be of more assistance in your battle against the Queen’s tyranny and in your quest to save your liege and friend, but I am afraid I’m rather—frankly—too large and too powerful to attack her at the Capital city without causing significant destruction and casualties. But you four… You are strong. You managed to best me—confused I was; if you were to try now, I think you’d have a rougher time—but that is still no small feat. You have also conquered every other obstacle this ‘Taranza’ has set before you; that too, is no small feat. There is a reason the Joro are honored above all other inhabitants of the heavens. If anyone can defeat the Queen without causing unwanted collateral damage, it is the four of you. That said…” 

Coily Rattler leaned His head down to be more level with those he was addressing. 

“You four have earned my respect—and my eternal gratitude. Might there be anything else I can do to assist you?” 

Kirby grinned. 

“I might have an idea, poyo.” 

El, Will, and Bandee had taken no part in Kirby’s wild idea, opting for the simpler and undoubtedly safer option of reaching the next—and penultimate—island by Warp Star; an intimidating volcanic landscape, where Taranza was undoubtedly hiding. Kirby had treated it like some kind of loss on their part. All three of them firmly disagreed, but with the time he was clearly having, who could blame him? 

“WOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!” Kirby screamed practically loud enough to be heard from the topmost, Capital island (whose shadow was now looming over them). He was soaring on the back of a great, rainbow-feathered serpent. 

Coily Rattler—with a very un-Godlike grin of childish mischief and pure exhilaration—had dispelled His armor in a flurry of sparkles and heavenly golden threads, unfurling the vibrant feathers and various wings along His unarmored form. Immature as his expression was, the three other children now truly understood how He had come to be known as Lord of the Sky. 

Coily Rattler roared in triumphant return as they approached their final hurdle, the vocalization almost seeming to shake the heavens around them as Kirby ferally whooped alongside the Sky God. 

They were almost there.

And high above, gazing over Her Holy Empire from an extravagant balcony, a fledgling Goddess quietly finalized her plans for an ugly world.