After many well earned hours of playing or resting on a beach and in the ocean of Aqua Star, Queen Ripple guided Sweetie Belle and the others back to Popstar. After a ride of a few minutes on Warp Stars, they reached the star-shaped world, and landed in Dream Land, not far from the mountains where Dedede's castle was.
As she looked around, Queen Ripple said, "It's a nice world. I wouldn't mind coming back here sometime."
Ribbon nodded. "I know I will."
"And I will be happy to return to Ripple Star one day too," Sweetie Belle said.
"I agree/Poyo," Kirby, Adeleine and Waddle Dee said.
Ribbon hugged the team one by one, saying, "I can't wait for that day. I will miss all of you."
Dedede chuckled. "You know, I plan to celebrate the ultimate defeat-I hope-of the Dark Matters, the biggest threat of the universe. Well, without counting that Dark God" He spread his arms. "Tomorrow, there will be a huge party! My Waddle Dees will spread the word to all of Popstar! This will be the biggest celebration ever, from dawn to dusk, and even beyond! So if you want, you can come!"
Pinkie Pie put a hoof on her heart and took a huge breath. "That feeling... It's like the biggest party ever is about to happen... And I'm gonna miss it!"
Ripple and Ribbon both smiled widely. "I would be happy! And I'm sure that all the fairies will want to come too!" the queen said. "Goodbye everyone, and thank you again for saving Ripple Star." At that, she bowed at them, waved her right arm, and started to fly toward the sky.
"Goodbye!" Ribbon shouted as she followed her queen. "See you tomorrow!"
The heroes shouted goodbye and waved at them as they saw the fairies getting smaller and smaller in the sky, until they disappeared.
After that, they all went back to their life while waiting for tomorrow's party, or almost. While Dedede and Waddle Dee returned to the castle, and Adeleine returned to her home, Sweetie proposed to Kirby to do something they had talked about in their journey: exploring the other side of Popstar. Curious, Kirby accepted, and rapidly, the two of them climbed on a Warp Star and went to the nearest edge of the world.
To their disappointment, the other side of Popstar was... normal. As they flew, they saw oceans and lands of various shapes, generally stars, with grasslands, forests, mountains, deserts, and so on. Anyway, they still separated to explore, in the hope of finding something interesting.
Now that she thought about it, she should explore the first side too. Outside of Dream Land, the Rainbow Islands, Rainbow Resort, and a part of Orange Ocean, she hadn't seen much.
It was only an hour before dusk that Sweetie found something that may be of interest: a very old, ruined structure carved in a mountain. Sadly, seeing that it was getting too late, she simply reported her finding to Kirby as the two returned to Dream Land, the filly deciding that she will explore this ruin another day.
At least, they made friends with a few of the inhabitants of Popstar living on the other side, that weren't different actually. Also, they had had to fight a few ones.
The inhabitants of this universe really loved fighting, uh?
Once back in Dream Land, Kirby waved goodbye to Sweetie Belle and returned to his home. However, before going back to the castle, Sweetie Belle did a quick detour to Marx's home to tell him about the party tomorrow. Now that Dedede knew that he was alive but didn't seem to want to kill him, then why couldn't he come? Beside, he was a jester. A party will be perfect for him.
He couldn't stop bouncing in joy once Sweetie told him about it.
When she finally came back to the castle, it was to see the servants busy preparing the party. They will probably be at it all night, but seeing their expressions, they didn't mind. Celebrating the end of the Dark Matters will be worth it. It was still surprising, seeing how they had been at it since Dedede's return. The numerous stands and other things being built that she had spotted in the way to the castle were a big proof of how busy they had been. While the party will extend to the whole world-not everyone will go all the way to Dream Land-, the heart of it will really be in and around the castle.
Watching them, their excitement spread to Sweetie Belle. Sleeping was for the weak! She was gonna help them all night! Beside, as second in command, she had to give the example. What would it look like if she was sleeping while they were doing all the work?
But before, a quick dinner, and after that, she will do something she had been thinking about doing for Waddle Dee. Hopefully, she will be able to do it. Making a bandana should be easy, right?
The party started just as the first rays of the sun appeared above the horizon, and it was like Dedede had said: grandiose, to the point that it looked more like a giant funfair. Already, there were thousands of inhabitants of Dream Land either eating the tons of food proposed, or playing the many games, often related to the destruction of the Dark Matters. whack-a-moles with Dark Matters instead of moles, shoot the target with Dark Matters as the targets, Dark Matters pinatas, put the Rainbow Sword on the Dark Matter, and so on.
They were not the only things proposed. Dedede had really diversified the activities. So there were also various competitions: fighting competition, competitions to test the strength by hitting piles of blocks of marble (Knuckle Joe loved this one), racing, with or without vehicles (including one similar to what they had had in Aqua Star, with the river and the rafts), dancing, and so many others. At that, we could add a gallery made by Adeleine where she painted various things from their adventure, the other worlds, the places they visited, the enemies, and some key moments of their fights like Waddle Dee piercing the head of the creature of lava with his spear covered in ice; stages to sing where bands were sometimes playing Dedede's anthem on some of them; fireworks everywhere, everytime; bouncy castles; a haunted manor; a mirror maze...
Actually, more than a funfair, it really looked more like an amusement park. All it missed was a roller coaster and it would be complete.
After a small breakfast followed by a nap to regain some energy after a whole night of work, It was almost noon when Sweetie Belle joined in the festivities. She could see that the fairies came, the little beings flying around to do the various activities among the inhabitants of Popstar. She could see Queen Ripple on one of the stages, singing shyly some song, with a few fairies doing the choir, and she spotted Ribbon beside Adeleine at the entrance of the gallery, the girl painting the fairy who was standing on a big Dark Matter plushy, wearing proudly a crystal gun smaller, and certainly less powerful than the one used against Zero Two, but easier to use.
She first decided to test how she was doing in the competition with the blocks of marble. Once in it, she was led to a pile of ten blocks, and there were three other piles, each with an opponent, which were a Bonkers, an Iron Mam, and a Knuckle Joe. She could also see some cracks in the ground.
The Knuckle Joe waved at her. "Hey! Sweetie Belle! Nice seeing you competing here!"
She waved back at him. "Nice seeing you too! I'm not surprised to see you here! This is totally your kind of competition!"
"Exactly! It's already my tenth participation! I haven't won any, but I have so much fun testing my strength against others!"
"Alright everyone!" a Waddle Doo with a whistle shouted. "Be ready! Once I whistle, you will hit your piles of blocks!"
Sweetie Belle took position behind her pile and readied her right hoof, wrapping it in her energy. After a few seconds, she heard the Waddle Doo whistling, and hit the pile with all her strength, and to her surprise, was actually able to break all ten of them and even create a very small crack in the ground under it. At the same time, she felt the earth shaking and looked to see that the Iron Mam had not only pulverised her pile of blocks, but had also created a crack at least five hooves long! Bonkers had also created a crack barely bigger than Sweetie's, while Knuckle Joe had just destroyed the ten blocks without forming any cracks. Seeing the full strength of what she had fought in the past, she couldn't help but sweat. How had she not gotten her spine broken into dust?
Waddle Doo raised his right arm. "Iron Mam is the winner! Followed by Bonkers, Sweetie Belle at the third place, and Knuckle Joe at the last place!"
"That's awesome Sweetie Belle!" Knuckle Joe shouted. "You have surpassed me!"
"I... Woah..."
"I know, right?!" At that, waterfalls of tears started to fall from his eyes. "The student has already surpassed the teacher! I am so, SO, SOOOOOO PROUD!"
"Uh... Thanks. Well, I gotta go! I want to test the other activities!"
"Of course! Good luck! You should try the fighting tournament! I'm sure you will win it! Urh... Maybe not. I have heard that the king will participate in it."
"Yeah, I don't think I'm of Dedede's level yet. But I can still try."
The tournament was rather surprising. While all the fights were actually duels, if she was to trust the board, the final will be a free for all battle between four fighters. After enrolling, she looked at who were the others participants. There were still a few spots without participants, but she could already see that her first fight will be against a Sword Knight, and her second, probably a Bugzzy, seeing that he will fight against a Waddle Doo. Among the other participants, she could see that there was Dedede, as she had been told, but also Kirby, probably forced in by Dedede so the penguin could fight him. Kirby had no reason entering a tournament unless the price was a big cake.
Oh... The price was a big fruit cake.
Well, again, the price was probably a bait made by Dedede to ensure that Kirby would enter the tournament. She didn't care about the cake, but if, and that was a big IF, she won the tournament, she will make sure to share it with Kirby, and Dedede to not make him jealous.
Once she was called for her first fight, she entered the arena, a simple round area without any obstacles surrounded by a stands with many spectators, and saw the Sword Knight she was about to face. She then heard someone shout in a microphone "Ready?!" and prepared her whip. When she heard "Fight!", she cracked her whip toward the knight, forcing him to jump back. As he jumped, she shot a beam at him, and hit him in the head. Seeing that he was not knocked out yet when he landed, but that he was a little stunned, Sweetie Belle charged at him. She jumped to her left to avoid a poor swing of his sword, and gave an uppercut to him, sending him flying. She then wrapped her whip around his foot, and tugged at it, making him violently crash on the floor.
He didn't get back up.
"Winner: Sweetie Belle!"
Under the cheers of the spectators, she left the arena to wait for the next fight. It didn't take long for her to be called back. She entered the arena at the same time that the Bugzzy, as she had guessed, and once they heard "Fight!", the Bugzzy immediately charged at her to grab her. But at the last second, Sweetie Belle created a shield and sent it toward him. As a result, Bugzzy was not able to avoid the shield and hit it full force before being sent back, landing on his back not far of the edge of the arena. At that, she charged a beam, and just as Bugzzy got back up, she shot it at him. Bugzzy, too busy rubbing his head in pain, only saw the beam come at the last moment, and could only panic as he was sent back again, this time hitting the wall at the base of the stand. Another shield sent at him ended the fight by making him go through the wall, leaving a Bugzzy-shaped hole.
"Winner: Sweetie Belle! However, could you please avoid destroying the wall?"
"Sorry!"
This made two wins, and already, it was the final. She already knew that she will fight Kirby and Dedede, but now, she wondered who will be the fourth one. Before she had time to go look at the board, she was already called. Well, I'll quickly find out, she thought.
She entered the arena, and saw that Dedede was already there. Kirby was the next to come, quickly followed by none other than Meta Knight, to the surprise of the three other fighters.
"You are here too?" Dedede asked.
"I saw Kirby and Sweetie Belle participating, and I wanted to fight them again. And I'm curious to see if you have gotten better since our last fight."
Dedede smirked at him. "I have trained hard! However, you are not my priority target." He turned toward Kirby. "You hear that? Prepare to be clobbered!"
Kirby took a fighting stance toward Dedede. "Poyo!"
"Uh. Remember Dedede, it's a free for all," Sweetie Belle said. "If you focus too much on Kirby, you will open yourself to me or Meta Knight. And it's not because I serve you that I will go easy." She then frowned while looking at the three of them, sweating. "However..." She turned toward the stand. "Hum... Maybe you should evacuate the stand everyone. I fear that this fight will get out of proportion."
The referee then started to speak with the microphone. "No need." At that, a few Simirrors created a dome made of mirrors around the arena. "When I saw who was participating in the tournament, I immediately knew this would end like this, so I recruited a few Simirrors to protect the stands."
"Good thinking," Dedede said. "However, this means that we will also have to watch out for the projectiles that bounce from the mirrors."
Meta Knight chuckled. "I don't mind this new challenge. This will make this fight even more interesting."
"Now, are you ready?" the referre asked. "Time to start the big final of this tournament! 3... 2... 1........... FIGHT!"
The very instant they heard the word, Meta Knight opened his bat wings and flew up while Dedede charged at Kirby with his hammer. He however jumped back to avoid a dive attack from the knight and swung his hammer at him, only for Meta Knight to parry it. The dive attack from Meta Knight caused the apparition of a yellow star that Kirby inhaled before spitting it at Meta Knight from behind, judging him to be the most dangerous foe. The hit caused Meta Knight to lose balance, opening him for another swing of Dedede's hammer that sent him away in the air.
As Dedede looked at the knight with a proud smile, he was suddenly hit on the head by a shield, followed by another shield hitting him from the back, almost making him fall on Kirby, the puffball running away before being crushed. Sweetie Belle then jumped on Dedede's back, saying, "Forgot about me?"
Dedede growled. "So you wanna play like this?"
Before Sweetie could answer anything, she had to use another shield to protect herself from Meta Knight attacking her. Quickly, Dedede got back up, making the filly fall from his back, and jumped in the air to try to crush both Sweetie Belle and Meta Knight, only for the two of them to separate just before. Again, Kirby took the occasion to inhale one of the stars that appeared and spat it at Dedede, hurting him. Rather than attacking directly Kirby in vengeance, Dedede started inhaling, targeting Sweetie Belle. The filly was not able to stop herself from being inhaled, and when she was in Dedede's mouth, the penguin spat her at the puffball. He jumped out of the way, but was slashed by Meta Knight, and both of them were crushed under Dedede's belly. Meta Knight, of course, didn't let himself being crushed like that without answering, and slashed Dedede's belly, forcing him to get back up.
Kirby kicked Meta Knight to stun him a little, and quickly got away, only to have a whip wrapped around him, and Sweetie threw him back at Meta Knight and Dedede. Meta Knight stepped out of the way, so Dedede was the only one hit, but it only caused him to slide a little before he caught Kirby and slammed him on the floor. Meanwhile, Meta Knight sent three waves at Sweetie Belle, forcing her to run, before he charged at her. She was slashed a few times, until, between two slashes, she punched Meta Knight with an energy charged hoof, making him step back, followed by another punch that was parried. He swung back, she dodged, she punched, he parried, he swung, she punched the sword, he punched her in the muzzle, and he followed it by a headbutt.
The filly stunned, Meta Knight grabbed her and threw her toward Kirby and Dedede, the both of them busy attacking each other, Kirby having the advantage. Sweetie's head rammed Kirby, opening the both of them to Dedede who swung down his hammer on them. At this instant, Meta Knight sent a tornado at them, taking Dedede by surprise, and the three of them were swept away by it.
As they landed and got back up, Dedede was the one parrying Meta Knight charging at them, and Sweetie Belle jumped on a shield before flying away. Once far enough she shot elemental projectiles randomly at the mirrors. The beams were reflected by them, and soon, they were flying everywhere from all directions, threatening to hit everyone. Dedede was hit by a fireball in the back, putting him in fire, and Meta Knight deflected the projectiles about to hit him with his sword. The projectiles hitting the ground caused the apparition of many stars, giving ammunition for Kirby. But to his curiosity, he could see that the stars were colored differently. The ones left by the fireballs were red, the ones left by the ice balls were blue, and the ones left by the lightning bolts were green. Having an idea, he inhaled one of the green stars and gained the Spark Ability, to his pleasure. Immediately, he electrified Meta Knight, only to be hit by an ice ball freezing him and knocking the Ability away.
After being burned again by another fireball, Dedede had enough and grabbed the frozen Kirby before tossing him up. Like he did with the beach ball in Aqua Star, he hit him with the hammer and sent him toward Sweetie Belle, only for the filly to make the shield go slightly to the right, making Kirby pass at her left. The puffball was reflected by a mirror, and as he come back toward Sweetie Belle, she kicked him, sending him back at Dedede, only for him to be hit again by the hammer, and to be sent back toward the filly. Sweetie Belle being too busy preparing to intercept Kirby again, she didn't see the wave sent by Meta Knight at her. Because of it, she lost her focus and was hit by Kirby, making her fall from her shield.
As she fell, Kirby was finally able to get out of the ice, just in time to avoid another wave from Meta Knight, followed by the knight himself charging at him. Not wanting to be slashed again, as he fell, Kirby opened his mouth and started inhaling, forcing Meta Knight to stop his charge and use his wings to resist Kirby's aspiration. Suddenly, he was hit from behind by Dedede's hammer thrown at him by the penguin. The hammer was rapidly grabbed by Dedede who had jumped after it, and swung it down at Meta Knight, sending him toward Kirby who had now landed beside Sweetie Belle who was slowly getting up. Kirby still trying to inhale him, Meta Knight found himself inside the puffball's mouth who spat him back at Sweetie Belle before she was able to fully get up.
The hit caused Sweetie to roll on the floor until she stopped near the mirrors, and she yet again tried to get back up. Seemingly forgotten by the three others, who were now busy trading blows to each other, she was able to get back on her hooves, and she slowly walked toward the center of the arena. Meanwhile, Kirby avoided Dedede's hammer and counterattacked by inhaling the star it left behind. However, rather than spitting it at Dedede, he targeted Meta Knight, only for him to deflect the star at Dedede. Meta Knight followed this by attacking Dedede, and the king stepped around him to avoid his sword before trying to hit him with his hammer, only for the knight to spin around and parry the hammer, and punch at the same time Kirby in the head as the puffball had been about to punch him.
At the center of the arena, Sweetie was now surrounding herself in a shield, to which she gave more and more energy with some difficulty. Once she thought she had given enough, she released a big "AAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!" and expanded the shield in all directions. Hearing her, Dedede looked above his shoulder toward her, only to be hit by the shield which continued to expand. Meta Knight being in front of Dedede, and not having seen the shield coming, was rammed by the penguin, finding himself against his belly. As Meta Knight had been between Dedede and Kirby, Meta Knight himself collided with the puffball. They very rapidly reached the mirrors, which were able to stop the expanding shield that then disappeared, leaving behind a crushed Dedede that fell back to the ground, leaving behind a crushed Meta Knight that fell back on Dedede, leaving behind a crushed Kirby that fell back on Meta Knight who had, by the way, lost his mask, again. Sweetie Belle herself was now unconscious, not having any energy left.
This left the arena in a deep silence, not even the spectators saying anything. After a moment, seeing that none of the fighters were getting back up, they started hearing the referee speaking in the microphone.
"What do we do? The four of them are unconscious. Do we wait for the first to get back up?"
"Sweetie Belle has knocked out the three others. Maybe we can count it?"
Eventually, after some discussions, the referee said, "The four fighters have fallen unconscious at the same time! It's a draw! In consequence, the four of them are considered victorious!"
At that, the mirrors disappeared, and the unconscious fighters were force fed Maxim Tomato juices under the cheers from the spectators. The first one to wake up was Sweetie Belle, quickly followed by Kirby, then Meta Knight, and finally Dedede. As soon as he saw that his mask was broken, Meta Knight flew away without saying a word.
"Who won?" the filly asked.
A Waddle Dee answered her. "It's a draw, so the four of you are considered victorious. But you still have done a really good job. You have been able to knock out Kirby, King Dedede, and Meta Knight with that last attack. Too bad you lost consciousness, because you would have won."
"Darn..."
Dedede approached her. "You have still done what none of us has been able to do until now: knock out Kirby. Even if it was a free for all, and that Meta Knight and I have helped, that's still a big exploit. Just for that, you deserve a whole buffet worth of Maxim Tomato pies."
"No thanks. I don't have a black hole for a stomach like you and Kirby, and I don't want to become an immobile ball." After some thinking, she added, "A single pie should be enough. And this can wait for tomorrow. There iss already enough food in this party. Just the cake that we will eat as the price of this fight will be filling enough."
Dedede chuckled. "True." He then noogied her. "You still made me a proud king today. Ask me anything, and you will have it."
"That wasn't already the case from the moment you made me second in command?"
He laughed. "Good point."
After that, and eating the cake, they went their separate ways. A quick rest later while looking at a butterfly flying around her, she entered the raft racing that she was able to win rather easily. She will definitely have to race again one day against Kirby, Waddle Dee, Dedede, and Adeleine, and maybe more. It would be nice if Broom Sunglasses, Cape Knight, Knuckle Joe, the animals, Gooey, or Marx came racing too. She will ask Dedede to organize that.
She then tried the haunted manor, which was really haunted with real ghosts, of course recruited to scare the fools testing their courage. But while she did get a few starts because of the ghosts jumpscaring her, she was not scared by them. No wonder, after fighting a few ghosts in her previous adventure. And frankly, after Zero, ghosts were nothing. At least, she had some fun.
And then, she found Waddle Dee racing with a Poppy, a Plugg, and a Broom Hatter. In the end, he won the race, with the Hatter being second, the Poppy being third, and the Plugg being last. Seeing him winning, Sweetie Belle cheered for him, attracting his attention.
"Sweetie Belle! Have you seen it?! I won!"
"Yes! I saw! I knew you would win! Let's get some ice cream to celebrate this!"
"Yeah!"
Once they got their ice cream, they sat on a bench not far, and they started eating. Sweetie Belle then said, "I have something for you."
"Really?"
She nodded and took something from under her kerchief, revealing it to be a blue bandana. "I wanted to thank you for helping us saving Ripple Star, and I thought of a way to make you really unique among the Waddle Dees, especially now that you have started to use a spear to help us fight bad guys. And after some thinking, I thought that a blue bandana would be nice on you." At that, she gave the bandana to him. "I made it last night. I hope you like."
Waddle Dee looked at the bandana. "Th... Thank you, Sweetie Belle. It's the first time that I get a gift." He gave his ice cream to Sweetie Belle, and wrapped the bandana on his head, doing the knot at the back. "How do I look?"
She clapped her fore hooves. "As one of my friends would say, you look awesome!"
He took a proud pose. "Then from now on, you can call me... Bandana Waddle Dee! Or Bandana Dee for short!"
She giggled. "It will take some time to get used to it."
After noon, Sweetie Belle was now with both Kirby, Bandana Dee, and the animals in front of one of the stages, listening to Pitch singing. Being a bird, he was a natural. Once he finished, they all applauded him, Pitch's mother being the loudest.
Bandana Dee then turned toward Kirby. "Hey Kirby, I heard that you can sing. You could try."
Sweetie Belle frowned. "I have heard too. But I also heard that his singing is painful. Some soldiers complained that they almost became deaf." She looked at kirby. "Can you sing without breaking our ear-drums?"
Kirby looked at the both of them, smiled, and went on the stage. Everyone around the stage immediately prepared their hands, claws, hooves, wings, or whatever to protect their ears as Kirby took the microphone.
And then, he starts to sing, and to everyone's relief, he was not singing to the point of making them half-deaf. In fact, he was singing pretty well, even if it was just with "Ahahaaah!", and the song was really good! It was so... happy-go-lucky, that they all just had to smile at hearing it, and some of them even started to hum it, and Pitch rapidly helped him by singing a fast paced accompaniment.
"Cheep cheep cheep cheep cheep cheep
Cheep cheep cheep cheep cheep cheep
Cheep cheep cheep
Cheep cheep cheep
Cheep cheep cheep cheep cheep cheep."
Sweetie Belle eventually joined them on the stage, and once he started a new verse, she started singing.
"In Dream Land
Lives a little pink puffball
So joyful, so playful, and gourmand
But watch out
He defends the world from all
That threaten to bring it to it's end
This hero's name is Kirby
Back and forth he journeys with his friends or alone, fighting foes, the darkness, to bring baaack dreams!
In the sea, in the space, with courage, he will go, bring peace and return to the land ooof dreams!
In Drea-"
Prt prt prrrrt!
Just as they started the next verse, they were interrupted by farting noises coming from behind the singers. Looking at the origin in annoyance, they saw that it was Marx using a big whoopee cushion, pressing it with his right foot in the rhythm of the song. In anger at having the song stopped like that, Pitch started chasing him, and Marx sprouted his wings to escape him while laughing maniacally.
For a few seconds, Sweetie Belle growled in annoyance as she watched Marx, before slowly, her growl turned into laughter. She was quickly followed by Kirby and some of the spectators, including Bandana Dee, while others were rather pouting, like ChuChu or Pitch's mother.
She was glad to have given Marx a second chance. He was really good at making things more entertaining. Without him, this party would be less fun, even if not everyone had her opinion.
"I like this guy!" she heard Broom Sunglasses say among the spectators.
Her laughter increased.
Many hours of fun later, as the sun set, Sweetie Belle was now with all her friends looking at a pyre where a dummy of Zero was burning-an idea of Gooey, surprisingly-. They were all here, even Meta Knight. Strangely, watching this dummy burn was making her nostalgic. Zero was definitely dead, his whole body having exploded, leaving nothing for him to regenerate and come back as a 'Zero Three', meaning in the same case the end of the Dark Matters. But the Dark Matters had been her main enemies until now. She had had four adventures until now, the Halberd not really counting as one, and among those four adventures, she had ended up fighting the Dark Matters in three, and Zero in two. She probably would have remained a simple filly training to fight a puffball if that hadn't been for the Dark Matters forcing her hoof to become the hero she was now, and it was thanks to them that she was now friends with Kirby.
It was like a chapter of her life was closing.
But, now that the Dark Matters were gone, what will come next? She thought back to all those artefacts created by the Ancients, and to this Dark God. Will her next adventure have something to do with them again?
And... now that she thought about it, did Kirby have something to do with them? The Dark Matters had called him the Incarnation. Zero knew something about Kirby, and with Zero being a creation of the Dark God, what did that mean for Kirby?
Wait a minute. Gooey was like Kirby, but he was a Dark Matter that gained a soul, a heart, and the capacity to have dreams. A Dark Matter, a being that didn't possess any of the three Great Forces of this universe, became like Kirby when he gained those three Great Forces.
She looked at Kirby in wonder. Could Kirby be the incarnation of those three Great Forces? But then, how was he born? Was he a creation of the Dark God too? But then... what did it mean for Meta Knight? He looked like Kirby. The only two differences were that he possesses hands, and that he was dark blue.
She decided to directly ask him. As she approached him, he saw her, and waited for her to say something.
"Meta Knight..." She looked around at the crowd, and whispered, "Do you know something about the Dark God?"
...
...
...
"Follow me."
At that, Meta Knight turned around, and Sweetie Belle did as he just told. A few minutes later, they reached the arena where they fought earlier, now empty, except for a butterfly. Once they reached the center, he finally started speaking without turning to look at the filly.
"How have you learned about the God's existence?"
"On Ripple Star. Queen Ripple showed me a book about the Ancients and the Dark God. She explained to me the three Great Forces of this universe, how the God created them, how he became the Dark God he is now... Thanks to her, I now understand that Zero was a creation of this God, and... and I now think that Kirby may be another of his creations."
Meta Knight looked at her at this. "Why do you think that?"
"Do you know Gooey? He is a Dark Matter that obtained the three Great Forces thanks to the Fountain of Dreams. What is weird is that by obtaining them, he gained the same ability to copy than Kirby. Beside, when I was possessed by a Dark Matter, back when Zero attacked Popstar, they named Kirby the Incarnation, which I now think is the incarnation of the three Great Forces. And the God created the three Great Forces."
"And so, because the God created the Great Forces, and Kirby is the incarnation of them, you concluded that he was created by the God too."
"Yes. And this makes me question about you too. I mean, you are of the same species as Kirby, right? I... I saw you, without your mask, and you really look like him."
Meta Knight chuckled. "Am I a creation of the God too?" He removed his mask, and looked at Sweetie Belle in the eyes. "You can say that, in a way, I am indeed a creation of this God."
"So, am I right for Kirby?"
Meta Knight looked down, thoughtful. "You are right to say that Kirby and I are similar. However, I can't confirm if you are right about him being the incarnation of the three Great Forces. But it's a good theory, and with the Dark Matters calling him the Incarnation, I think that this is a strong possibility. This is enforced by him possessing this ability to copy, ability that I do not possess, despite the two of us being similar."
"So, you don't know?"
He shook his head. "I wasn't present at the time of the God, I was born only many centuries later. So I don't know everything about that time."
"But you said that you are a creation of the God!"
""In a way,'' I said. Queen Ripple told you about the God and the Ancients, but has she talked to you about anything else? Has she told you how the God became the Destructor?"
"Erh..." She tilted her head, trying to remember what Ripple told her. "She told me that there were two clans of the Ancients, and that after some crisis, they started a war between the two clans, which caused the God to become like that."
He nodded. "What did she tell you about this crisis that started everything?"
"That... That this was caused by... I think she said 'one of the children of the God' going into a rampage. Wait..." She looked back at Meta Knight. "Are you implying that you are one of those children?"
He nodded again. "The Children of the God. We were created by him using the three Great Forces, making us the most powerful people in the universe. We were the Guardians, and the Messengers." He sighed. "And then, the crisis happened, one of us, for some reason, went into a rampage, destroyed many worlds, killed countless people, almost exterminated us, before he was finally sealed. The few of us that survived then separated, and we were forgotten, and we forgot. Of course, the survivors continued their life, and generations passed, until I was born. What I just told you is all that remains of our History." He put his mask back on his face. "Now, all I can do is continue the duty of my ancestors and being the Guardian of this world that incarnates the very Dreams that the God created."
Sweetie Belle smiled at him. "And remember that you can count on me and Kirby to help you defend Popstar."
He huffed. "You even have done a better job than me so far. You have been able to eliminate the Dark Matters, while I could do nothing."
"Well... If that wasn't for Gooey telling me that Zero's main weakness was love, I don't think that even Kirby could have done anything. It was a teamwork. As for the most recent problem with Zero Two, I'm sure that if we had found you, you would have joined us to save Ripple Star. You are a Guardian, but so are me, Kirby, Dedede, Bandana Dee, Rick, Coo, Kine, Chuchu, Nago, Pitch, Gooey, and Adeleine. Even Marx will probably defend Popstar if he has the occasion. It's together that we will stop beings like Nightmare or Zero from plunging Popstar into darkness, despair, or whatever." She suddenly gasped. "Nightmare! I remember! Kirby was able to use the Star Rod to stop him! And nobody could use it until now! Maybe he could use it because he incarnates Dreams! This would confirm that he is really the incarnation of the Great Forces! So, does that mean that he was directly created by the God, rather than being born like you?"
"It seems like it. But Kirby is so young, so it doesn't make sense, or else, he would be centuries old, and he should know about everything that we have just talked about."
"And yet, he was as surprised as me at seeing the Dark Matter the first time, and he didn't know anything about Zero or the Dark God before I told him about them. He doesn't even know that he is the incarnation of the Great Forces. You are right, this doesn't make sense."
Meta Knights sighed. "We seem to be in a dead end here. In the end, it doesn't matter how Kirby has come to life. What matters is that he is effectively the incarnation of Dreams, Heart, and Soul, and that means that he will be our biggest ally against whatever spawn of the Dark God we may fight in the future."
She nodded. "There are also the artefacts of the Ancients. Queen Ripple showed me a few of them, and apparently, some of them are corrupted by the Dark God."
"Yes. And there are always the power hungry overlords wannabe that will try to conquer Popstar."
"And the Dark God himself. Ripple and I think that we may end up fighting him."
He chuckled. "Looks like we may be busy in the future."
She giggled. "Yes. It looks like."
They then looked at each other, and nodded, saying at the same time, "But together, we will stop them."