//------------------------------// // Chapter 52: Secret Sea and Gamble Galaxy: Dark Nebula // Story: A Sweetie Dream Land // by Lucar //------------------------------// Sweetie Belle and Kirby, each on a Warp Star, have followed Meta Knight above the ocean, until reaching a forested island with a small mountain where they land at the edge with Meta Knight looking at the ocean, and more exactly, a shadow visible in the water. Whatever this shadow really is, it's big! Sweetie Belle remarks that they are not far off the coast of the mainland, seeing that they are beside a desert area. A rather familiar desert area. Now that she thinks about it, she swears that she has seen this island before. She doesn't focus on this however, but on the chest that Meta Knight is still holding. Maybe it's time to know what is in it, and Meta Knight seems to know. "Meta Knight, can you tell us what is in this chest?" "I will answer you once we reach our destination," replies Meta Knight. At this, he points with his sword the shadow in the water. "We are almost there." "Alright." So Meta Knight jumps in the water, quickly followed by Sweetie Belle and Kirby. Rapidly, they discover, jaws dropping, what the shadow really is: the Halberd. Of course that desert has been familiar! This is the desert where they have landed with the Wheelie after escaping from the battleship as it has been about to crash in the ocean! And she recognizes this island because this is the island beside which the Halberd has crashed and sunk! Stupid! And now, they are back there, and the Halberd is fully repaired, not a single hole left, as impressive as the first time she has seen it. So this is what the Meta Knights have been doing all this time? She smiles toward Meta Knight. "You didn't want to give up your precious battleship, uh?" He nods with a chuckle. "It would have been a waste to leave it at the bottom of the ocean. We have passed so much time on the Halberd, and it possesses so much potential, that we couldn't abandon it. Don't worry, I don't project to use it to try to take over Dreamland anymore. Rather, it will be a weapon to help protect the world." "And you will hide the chest in it?" "No. We will use the Halberd to find a place, somewhere in space, to hide the chest. An asteroid somewhere in the middle of nowhere would be nice. Or in a dangerous planet." Sweetie Belle can't help but grin. They are gonna fly in space aboard the Halberd! A futuristic battleship! This is so exciting! "Ah! That's rich! She is gonna fly aboard a battleship that she has destroyed previously! I never saw that happen before!" comments Discord with a laugh. "Well, generally, when a ship is sunk, we don't repair them," says Twilight. "But we can't blame the Meta Knights for repairing it," says Rainbow. "This ship is awesome!" "Now I hope that we will go aboard it one day too," says Scootaloo. "I wouldn't mind trying to pilot it." Applejack chuckles. "They just repaired it. I don't think they would like having to repair it again." "Hey! I'm sure she can be a great pilot!" rebuts Rainbow. "She is really good with her scooter!" "Driving a scooter is not the same as piloting a battleship!" As the two mares start bickering, Apple Bloom says to Scootaloo "Well, I believe that you would be good at piloting a ship. We could try it to gain our Cutie Marks once we can go to Dreamland." "Thanks. But you know, I would see you more as the... hum... I'm not sure what we call somepony whose job is to repair a ship." Twilight answers her. "Normally, for a wooden ship, they are called a carpenter, but for a ship made of metal like this one, with an engine and all, I think that it would be an engineer, which is very different." "Yes! An engineer! You are good at building stuff!" "With wood," replies Apple Bloom. "Metal is not something that I'm used to work with. And I know absolutely nothing on how to work with an engine and whatever else composes this ship, like the cannons." "Meh. You could still give it a try. Like this, we could try to have our Cutie Marks in both piloting and engin... Erh..." "Engineering," says Twilight. "Right, that." "And I will be sure to be there with the popcorn!" says Discord. They pass one of the many doors that serve as the entrances of the Halberd, and to be more precise, one that is at the base of the bridge, where they are welcomed by some members of the crew, including an Axe Knight. "Welcome back, lord Meta Knight!" he shouts with a salute. "Is everything ready?" asks Meta Knight. "Yes. Everything is functional. We are waiting for your green light." "Good. Prepare for take-off. I'm going to the bridge." "Yes sir!" "Lord Meta Knight is aboard! Everyone at their post!" they suddenly hear captain Vul shouting from a speaker. As they start climbing, Sweetie Belle asks Meta Knight "Is the reactor still working with Wheelies?" with a frown. "No. Now we are using water as powersource." This makes Sweetie Belle raise an eyebrow. "Water?" "Tubes filled with water propelled at extreme speed. The water pushes turbines activating generators supplying the reactor with the necessary energy." He chuckles. "No slavery, and perfectly ecological." She smiles in return. "Good!" They soon enter the bridge, where Sweetie Belle and Kirby finally get to meet Vul. They have no problem guessing that the bird wearing the uniform of a captain is him. In the bridge are too a Waddle Dee wearing a sailor hat, and a few knights, including an Axe Knight at the helm despite him being a little too small, forcing him to be on his tiptoes. Upon seeing Meta Knight, Vul turns toward him and salutes. "Lord Meta Knight. I have already started the preparations for the take-off." Meta Knight nods. "Then let's not waste time." Vul nods in return and takes a mike. "The green light is given everyone! Starting the take-off now!" "Activation of the anti-gravity plants!" "Wings ready to deploy!" "Anchor raised!" "The engines are ready!" The whole ship starts shaking as the crew follows the procedure to take-off. Soon, Sweetie Belle can see, through the windows, that the Halberd is starting to rise. She runs toward one of the windows at the sides while Kirby runs at the other side, and see that they are quickly reaching the surface. Soon, they emerge from the water, and the Halberd starts to float above the ocean. Then, she sees the wings deploying in a spectacular display, and with one last violent shake, the ship advances, starting its journey toward space. "The take-off is a success!" shouts the Waddle Dee. "Good job everyone," says Meta Knight. "Aaah... it's nice to be back," says Vul. "Hopefully, we will remain in the sky for more than one hour this time," says the Axe Knight at the helm, making the other knights laugh. "This time, Kirby isn't our enemy, so there is no chance!" "And then, a meteor crashes on us." "As if! The cannons will pulverize any meteors coming too close!" Sweetie Belle returns beside Meta Knight. "By the way everyone. No hard feelings about last time?" The Waddle Dee waves dismissively at her. "It's in the past. And we were kinda asking for it. Oh! Also, nice meeting you Sweetie Belle. I'm Sailor Waddle Dee." Captain Vul sighs and rubs his eyes. "While I still have it bad, I can put what happened behind to do my duty. However, don't think that I will suddenly become buddy buddy with you because we are now allies." Sweetie Belle giggles. "You are the one that tried to kill us, I'm the one that should say that. And yet, I wouldn't mind becoming your friend." He huffs. "You made a fool of me. I will not forgive that easily." She smiles at him. "You still did a really good job trying to stop us. you were just unlucky. You would have gotten us with the cannon if we hadn't found that Invincibility Candy. And the Heavy Lobster almost got us too. You are the only person so far who was almost able to kill us. Not even bad guys like Zero or Drawcia have gotten this close." "Really?" "Yup." "Poyo," confirms Kirby. Vul starts laughing. "You heard that everyone? I'm the one that has been closer to kill Kirby and Sweetie Belle!" "You are not the captain for nothing, captain Vul," says Sailor Waddle Dee. Sweetie Belle giggles before turning toward Meta Knight. "So, Meta Knight, about this chest?" He nods. "Yes." He takes a small break to look at the windows to watch as the Halberd is leaving Popstar's atmosphere before talking. "This chest is the prison of a powerful being named Dark Nebula." She frowns. "Something to do with Zero or the Dark Matters?" "Probably a cousin also created by the Dark God. He certainly possesses some similar particularities, like the power to possess others." "Ugh... If Daroach had opened the chest, he would have certainly gained great powers, but in exchange, he would have lost control of his body." "Exactly.... Dark Nebula came around 400 years ago to bring havoc to Popstar. My ancestor, Silver Knight, fought him. He quickly understood something about Nebula: he is a being of Dark Dreams." "Wait, really?! As in, nightmares?" He nods. "In a way. His body has the form of a dark star." "Oh yeah. It's easy to guess with this what this means. So let me guess, his weakness is Dream?" He nods again. "Yes. Silver Knight understood this, and tried to find a way to use Dream to defeat Dark Nebula. He tried to use the Star Rod, but he couldn't use its power. The humans, who had landed in Popstar a few years prior, helped him with their newly acquired knowledge of magic along with their technology to study the Star Rod and replicate it." He then shows the golden rod that he has taken from Daroach. "From this, they created this rod: the Triple Star Cane. The only problem is that Silver Knight didn't have time to wait for the humans to finish with Dark Nebula attacking Popstar, so he had no choice but to go fight him without. In the end, Silver Knight used his magic to seal Dark Nebula inside this chest, and he asked the humans to hide it." She smiles sheepishly at him. "The ruins at the other side of Popstar..." "With Dark Nebula dealt, the humans finished the Three Star Cane and kept it, only for it to be stolen a few years ago by those Squeaks." "So... This means that Dark Nebula could be at the origin, one way or another, of Nightmare?" "Maybe. But no confirmations." Vul rubs his chin in thought. "But why would this Dark Nebula target Popstar?" Sweetie Belle points toward Popstar visible through one of the windows. "Popstar is a star-shaped planet. It's a world of Dream. Either Dark Nebula wanted to turn it into a world of Nightmare, or destroy it." This gives everyone in the bridge, except Meta Knight and Kirby, goosebumps. "But Meta Knight," continues the filly. "Now that we have the Triple Star Cane, and that there are you, me, and Kirby, why don't we open the chest and deal with Dark Nebula once and for all? It would be better, no?" ... He facepalms. "Of course..." "Lord Meta Knight!" suddenly shouts a Mace Knight. "Airship spotted at starboard!" They all turn toward him. "Oh no... Could this be..." groans Sweetie Belle. "Is the airship a blimp with a red hat?" she asks the Mace Knight. "Yep!" "That's the Squeak Squad!" shouts Meta Knight, taking his sword. "Everyone at-" He is interrupted by the airship shooting its laser at the Halberd, hitting the right wing. "Oh no! Right wing damaged!" "Oh come on!" shouts Vul in anger before taking the mike. "At all the cannons, fire at will! Destroy this airship!" The cannons start shooting at the airship, and the Squeaks counterattack by firing three missiles that damage one of the cannons at the right of the Halberd. While the airship is quickly damaged, it is able to continue its course toward the battleship, and even dodges a laser from the Main Cannon number two. The mechanical arm successfully destroys one of the three canons of the airship, but the Squeaks don't give up and continue charging toward the Halberd at surprising speed. "Wait a minute!" shouts the Mace Knight. "They are in a collision course with the bridge!" "WHAAT?!" screams Vul. The Axe Knight at the helm then shouts "I will not be able to avoid it!" "Everyone!" yells Meta Knight. "Get away from the right side of the bridge! Quick!" Meanwhile, the mechanical arm attacks the airship again, only for the airship to tilt a little at the last second, making the arm missing its original target only to destroy another cannon. The remaining cannon then shoots a missile homing to the bridge, which blows a hole, soon followed by the airship crashing into the bridge, embedding itself to it while having a part of its gondola ripped open. From the opening, the Squeaks jump, boarding the bridge. "We just finished repairing the Halberd, you pirates!" shouts Vul. "We don't care!" shouts back Daroach. He then takes his wand and points it at the crew of the Halberd. "Attack!" "You are a fool if you think that you can win against the Meta Knights!" He takes a saber. "Come at us! We dare yo-Wah!" He lowers his head at the last second to avoid a laser from Doc's saucer. "You talk too much!" the old mouse shouts, only to take a beam from Sweetie Belle that destabilizes his saucer for a few seconds. "It's you who says that?" At this, chaos breaks out in the bridge. As the green, blue, and red Squeakers start to rain bombs among the knights who attack them in return, Meta Knight takes a sword and throws it at Kirby to give him the Sword ability before charging toward Daroach along with the puffball, and Doc shoots a purple stream of icy gas at Vul that the bird dodges with a jump, only for Storo to jump and threaten to crush him under his weight. But he is sent flying into a wall by a powerful kick from Sweetie Belle in the face, saving the captain. Sweetie Belle and Vul look at each other before the filly says "I'll deal with Doc." "Then I will deal with the big one." So the filly starts shooting beams at the flying saucer, only to miss each time because of its speed, while Vul joins Storo who is going back up. Seeing Vul, Storo laughs and hits his right fist into his left palm. "Tonight, I will have chicken." "Don't underestimate me!" At the same time, Spinni has decided to target the remaining opposant: Sailor Waddle Dee. "Eh. A Waddle Dee. This will be fast." And he throws a giant shuriken. Sailor Waddle Dee frowns before jumping above the shuriken. In his jump, he successfully puts his arm inside the hole of the shuriken as it passes under him, catching it before showing it proudly at Spinni, making the shuriken spin around his arm. "Don't underestimate me." "I'm a proud officer of the Meta Knights under direct orders of Meta Knight himself! Remember that!" both Vul and Sailor Waddle Dee shout at their respective adversary. And then, Vul slashes with his saber at Storo's belly, and Sailor Waddle Dee throws the shuriken back at Spinni who dodges it only to take a punch on the muzzle from the sailor. Meta Knight and Kirby are fighting Daroach, and as expected, they have the advantage, the leader of the Squeak Squad already kneeling in pain as his body is covered in cuts. Him being able to recuperate the Triple Star Cane thanks to a fast and sneaky yellow Squeaker hasn't helped any way. Daroach looks around at the bridge, seeing his Squeakers beings eliminated one by one by the knights. Doc's saucer, while more solid than the previous ones, is already getting badly damaged by Sweetie Belle's constant barrage of projectiles. Storo isn't able to land a single hit on Vul who punishes him each time with a new slash of his saber. Spinni uses his metal claw to attack Sailor Waddle Dee, only for the sailor to deflect it each time with a wave of his arm before he counterattacks with a storm of kicks and punches. True to their reputation, the Meta Knights are winning. But he has expected that. They haven't come to win. They have come to take back the chest! He looks at Doc, Storo, and Spinni, making sure that they see him, and nods. They nod back. He gets up and throws a bomb at Meta Knight, but the knight easily flies away before it explodes before charging toward Daroach. But just as Meta Knight attacks, Daroach teleports. The knight and Kirby quickly look around to see where the leader of the squeaks has reappeared, only to see him beside the chest, putting a key inside the keyhole. "Curse!" Daroach is quickly joined by Doc in his damaged saucer, followed by Storo and Spinni who have jumped away of their fights, the two badly hurt, especially Storo. Daroach turns the key, and the chest opens, to the cheers of the Squeaks. "No!" "Yes! Finally! Now all the treasures will be-What?!" A dark cloud constituted of small black stars suddenly comes out of the chest and envelops Daroach. Before Doc, Storo, and Spinni can do anything, they find themselves enveloped too, to the horror of everyone, especially the Squeakers. A few seconds later, the cloud flies out of the bridge, into space, taking the four members of the Squeak Squad with it. "What happened?!" shouts a yellow Squeaker. Meta Knight points his sword at him. "What happened is that your leader unleashed a threat that could destroy Popstar and got himself and his lieutenants possessed!" "We must not lose time! We must follow Dark Nebula!" shouts Sweetie Belle. "We must save the boss, Doc, Spinni and Storo!" shouts a Squeaker. "But what can we do?!" follows another one. Sweetie Belle sighs. "Leave it to us. We will save them." An Axe Knight, the one that has been at the helm, then says "We will not be able to follow them with the Halberd. In the battle, the helm has been destroyed." "It will take too long to repair it," says Meta Knight. "We will have to use Kirby's Warp Star." "Poyo!" "We have better!" says a red squeaker before he goes back inside the airship. A few seconds later, he comes back with something pink loosely resembling to a bird with red symmetrical designs. The wings each possess a curved metal talon extending forward, and it possesses behind its main body an engine like a jet. To the engine to the extremities of the wings are a total of eight spikes shaped like tear-drops of different colors, the ones closer to the engine smaller while the ones at the extremities are bigger. Seeing this, Sailor Waddle Dee releases a high-pitched squee. "The legendary Dragoon!!!" "Say what?!" shouts Vul. "How did you guys got in possession of this?!" "We found the three parts and assembled them." "We found many great treasures, and this includes it!" "You can use it to save our friends and destroy whatever it was!" The Squeakers gives it to Kirby who thanks them. "What is it?" asks Sweetie Belle. "An Air Ride Machine, like the Warp Star," answers Meta Knight. "But it's a legendary one, extremely rare." He chuckles. "With it, we will catch Dark Nebula in no time." "So there are more than the Warp Star?" "The Warp Star is the most common. But yes, there are other vehicles like the Warp Star, each with different particularities." "Poyo!" "Sadly, we don't have time to talk about the Air Ride Machines. Maybe another time. Just let me warn you. Once you are on the Dragoon, clings to it as if your life depends on it. Trust me." "Uh... Alright." They all go on the Dragoon, Kirby at the center, Sweetie Belle on the left wing, and Meta Knight on the right wing. And before Sweetie Belle knows it, they are gone from the Halberd! Meta Knight hasn't been kidding. The Dragoon is so fast that if she hadn't clung to it as Meta Knight said, she would have fallen! Everything becomes a blur! And the Halberd is already just a small dot in the far distance! "TOOOOO FAAAAAST!!!" But Kirby ignores her, too focused on where he is going at this speed. "At our right!" shouts Meta Knight. Kirby turns his head right and indeed spots the dark cloud among a few asteroids not far of Popstar. Quickly, Kirby turns left and does a loop with the Dragoon before charging toward the cloud, only for an asteroid to come in the way. "Watch o-" They pierce the asteroid from side to side, the shock exploding the space rock. "Never mind..." They then pass right through the cloud, dispersing it and releasing the Squeaks who fall on an asteroid. Quickly, Kirby does another loop, passing through a few more asteroids, and upon approaching the one which the Squeaks have fallen on, grabs both Sweetie Belle and Meta Knight and eats the Dragoon, stocking it inside him with the chests found in this adventure. When they land, they find themselves face to face with the four Squeaks, all changed. They are now all black, with Daroach and Storo's clothes, Doc's mustache and glasses, and Spinni's sunglasses and cape now purple. Doc's flying saucer has also passed from red to purple, and has been repaired. Without a word, they attack. Storo jumps in the air to smash them, and they all jump away from the impact area. When Storo smash the ground instead, he breaks the asteroid into pieces! While Sweetie Belle jumps, Doc shoots with his saucer a giant laser beam that she barely avoids with an air jump (yes, there is air in space! How else would she breathe?), and Spinni throws a bigger version of his shuriken at Kirby, but the puffball avoids it by flattening himself on the ground. Meta Knight flies toward a small piece of floating rock and kicks it toward Storo, successfully hitting him on the head. Daroach then appears behind him and uses the Triple Star Cane to send him away with a good swing before he turns toward Kirby to shoot a bigger version of his ice beam. Kirby runs away from it and sends with his sword a shockwave toward Doc, damaging his saucer while Sweetie Belle crushes Spinni under a shield, only to be punched by Storo, sending her into another asteroid. Daroach throws a bomb toward Kirby, the bomb being bigger, and red. Again, Kirby runs away from it before it explodes sending a big pillar of fire. Storo then comes with his hammer ready to crush Kirby, but Meta Knight comes to the rescue and cuts the hammer. Both him and Kirby then attack Storo with dozens of slashs all over his body before Kirby finishes him with a big diagonal slash while Meta Knight throws a tornado at Daroach. The leader teleports and uses the Triple Star Cane to send bigger stars that start bouncing on the asteroids around, making it hard to track them. The stars are however destroyed by explosive balls from Sweetie Belle before they can hit anyone, and the filly charges at Daroach from behind, headbutting his back and sending him toward Doc's saucer, making him lose control because of the unexpected impact as he has been about to shoot another giant laser at Meta Knight, the laser instead hitting an asteroid. Meanwhile, Kirby has gone attacking Spinni, and now, they are exchanging blows, Kirby with the sword, Spinni with the metal claw, until Kirby spits a big chest that rams Spinni on the head, breaking his sunglasses. The chest bounces away, and Kirby eats it again before slashing Spinni while he is stunned to knock him out. At this moment, Doc's saucer crashes beside him with the old mouse, and Meta Knight kicks him away. The lieutenants are done, now the leader. Daroach is busy with Sweetie Belle, teleporting to dodge again and again the many projectiles that the filly shoots at him. Having enough, Sweetie Belle shoots a last lightning bolt before jumping forward. Daroach teleports again to avoid the lightning bolt, but doesn't see the filly charging at him. She impacts him, and they both crash into an asteroid, forming a small crated and a cloud of dust on it. Sweetie Belle jumps away and throws a Force Blast at the cloud of dust at the point where Daroach is, only for an ice beam to destroy the blast and freeze her. Sweetie Belle is however able to surround herself in fire to get rid of the ice, and she jumps away to avoid a star from the rod. Daroach appears in her way, and swings the rod. In return, Sweetie Belle punches it, locking the two of them in a violent showdown that last two seconds before they separate. Meta Knight and Kirby then come from Daroach's two side, spinning to form cutting tornadoes slashing him countless times from the left and the right. They stop, and Kirby kicks him away toward Sweetie Belle who punches him so hard that he is sent through an asteroid before crashing on another one. He quickly comes back, and starts to throw his red bombs at them. While Kirby and Meta Knight are dodging the bombs, Sweetie Belle uses a mirror shield to deflect one of the bombs back at Daroach. Not prepared to this, the bomb explodes on Daroach, and he crashes again on an asteroid where Meta Knight comes and kicks him away, making him drop the Triple Star Cane. As Meta Knight takes it, Kirby attacks Daroach, only for him to teleport again and punch Kirby from behind. While the punch sends him flying, he is able to recover with a bounce on the floor of the asteroid they are in, and with another powerful bounce, he charges back toward Daroach. Daroach prepares his wand to intercept Kirby, only to be kicked at the back of the head by Sweetie Belle. This opens him to a big diagonal slash from Kirby, and Meta Knight comes then with the Triple Star Cane to pound Daroach on the head with it. Daroach falls on the floor, defeated. Before they can celebrate, a small black star suddenly comes out of Daroach and flies away, joined by three others. Sweetie Belle, Kirby, and Meta Knight look at each other and nod in determination before the first two summon each a Warp Star while Meta Knight's cape turns into bat wings, and the three of them take-off to chase the black star. They follow it through the asteroids until they reach a strange place made of giant crystals. Here, the four stars fuse before they duplicate to form a bigger star. In the center of this agglomeration of black stars appears a single purple eye. Then, with a big flash of light, the stars fuse into a single big black star with a purple aura escaping from the edges, finally forming Dark Nebula. Without counting his form, a star rather than a ball, he really does look like a Dark Matter. Weapons ready -Meta Knight takes his sword in his right hand, and the Triple Star Cane in his left hand-, they quickly start attacking him, the stars from the rod easily doing the most damage. Dark Nebula's eye then flashes, and with another flash of light, his body turns from black to red with fire! "What?" asks Sweetie Belle. "Mmh... My ancestor didn't write about it..." Dark Nebula then starts moving in angles, shooting hollowed stars similar to Nightmare's and Dark Mind's at them. Meta Knight puts himself at the front and uses both the stars orbiting him, his sword, and the rod to deflect the ones shot by Dark Nebula, leaving Sweetie Belle to shoot her projectiles. Eventually, Dark Nebula stops moving above them and releases a giant fireball that falls toward them. They quickly run away, but when the ball hits the floor, not only it explode in a giant pillar of fire, but it also releases fire on the ground all around it, catching them off guard and burning them. Just after, the eye flashes again, and Dark Nebula passes from red to green with electricity, and starts to move in zigzag patterns, and like previously, fire many hollowed stars, this time blocked by Sweetie Belle's mirror shield so she deflects them back at the black -now green- star. Meta Knight takes the occasion to shoot more stars from the rod. Like the first time, Dark Nebula stops moving, and shoots eight electric streams, four up and four down. Waiting for something similar to the fireball happening, they jump/float/fly up, just in time has the stream's discharge suddenly, trapping the whole area in an electric cube covering all directions, including the floor. Another flash of the eye, another change of form for Dark Nebula, this time turning blue with ice. Flying in circles or in arcs, Dark Nebula repeats his previous pattern, shooting stars before doing a special attack, this time consisting of firing a vertical ice laser at the ground while chasing them, the laser freezing the ground wherever it passes. This one is easier to dodge, but the frozen floor makes it tricky. but at least, they have an easier time attacking him while he does this attack. Dark Nebula then returns into his fire form, and repeats his previous attack. "He is not hard to fight, but he is rather annoying," comments Sweetie Belle. "Poyo!" They fly above the fire released by the fireball, melting the ice on the floor, then Dark Nebula releases another fireball above them and they quickly get away before it falls on them. Dark Nebula then returns into his electric form. "Kirby, show me your sword," asks Sweetie Belle. Kirby raises an eyebrow and shows her his sword. Sweetie Belle then shoots fire at it, covering it in fire. A fire sword. "Your turn Meta Knight." He nods, and soon, his sword is covered in electricity. Once done, Sweetie Belle focus on her magic, and the next instant, a sword made of ice floats beside her. She giggles. "Let's fight fire with fire, as we say." They chuckle. They avoid the electric cube, and when Dark Nebula takes his ice form, Kirby and Meta Knight attack him with everything they have while Sweetie Belle deflect the stars with her mirror shields. As soon as he stops firing his ice lasers, Kirby, Meta Knight, and Sweetie Belle jump toward him and simultaneously pierce him in the eye with their swords, burning, shocking, and freezing him all at the same time. While his sword is still piercing Dark Nebula, Meta Knight takes the Triple Star Cane and violently puts it in Dark Nebula's eye alongside the swords before shooting one star, two stars, three stars! Five stars! Ten stars! At the thirteenth star, Dark Nebula then loses control over his forms and quickly pass back and forth between Fire, Thunder, and Ice. Seeing this, they take their weapons and jump away from Dark Nebula as his body starts to break up into countless small black stars that disappear the next second. Little by little, Dark Nebula loses his body, until only the eye remains. The eye then flashes, and explodes, ending Dark Nebula's existence. Another creation of the Dark God disappears from the universe. They leave the crystals on Warp Stars, and fly back in space, ready to return to Popstar. "See?" says Sweetie Belle. "Now we don't have to worry about this chest anymore!" "And I have been able to finish what my ancestor couldn't," says Meta Knight. Closing his eyes, he continues. "Thank you, Kirby, Sweetie Belle." "Poyo!" "You are welcome!" They then hear a familiar sound at their right, and upon looking, they see the Halberd coming beside them, still damaged, but the right wing at least repaired. Meta Knight looks back at Sweetie Belle and Kirby and nods before flying into the bridge of the battleship. Another sound is heard at their left, and they now spot the Squeak Squad's airship, still damaged. Through a hole in the gondola, Daroach, in front of Spinni, Doc, and Storo, looks at them. "We owe you one..." he says. A yellow Squeaker then comes holding something that gains Kirby's attention: a strawberry shortcake. Wait! The cake was in the airship?! The Squeaker throws the cake at Kirby who catches it happily before waving at them to thank them. "You can also keep the Dragoon," continues Daroach. "as an apology for our wrongs. Also, we will not steal Dedede's fortresses anymore. We will look for treasures elsewhere." He then tilts his hat in front of his eyes. "And... Thank you." At this, the airship goes to the left, going to a different place of Popstar, leaving Sweetie Belle and Kirby, along the Halberd, to return to Dreamland. "Meh. That Dark Nebula was kinda lame compared to previous enemies," comments Discord. "But the space battle between the Meta Knights and the Squeaks was worth it!"