//------------------------------// // Chapter 18: Journey through the Storm // Story: Of Copy Abilities and Friendship // by MeeM //------------------------------// Kirby was never happier to be back inside the Lor. Everything was the same as before, even the Copy Essences Magolor had collected for him back on Pop Star. He didn’t know why, but the weird bug queen was coming with them. “Poyo?” Kirby asked Meta Knight who was reading a book in the corner. “Dedede is forcing her to come with us," Meta Knight replied. "He wants her to deal with the things we face to get home as well as use her as a meat shield. Don’t worry, if she gives us any trouble Dedede said he’ll smack her with his hammer." Celestia was coming with them while Luna was staying in Canterlot. After around half an hour, everyone was ready to go. Magolor booted up the Lor's systems while everyone went to the crew's quarters to relax on their journey to the crystal empire. Zan looked out the window at the dark thunder clouds. “Francisca?“ she asked. “What's wrong, sis?“ Francisca replied. “What if Flamberge is up in this corrupted area? You know what happened last time we were infused with dark power,“ Zan told her sister. She thought back to when Hyness had infused them with darkness for his own personal gain during his battle with Kirby after his hood was knocked off. “Besides, we were wrong; the dark lord turned out to be a god of destruction. And in the end, Kirby still rescued us despite what we had done. You know, at some point I think we owe Kirby and his friends an apology for what we did. What do you think?“ she asked. “Yeah, I think so,“ her icy sister said sympathetically. Suddenly, the Lor began to rock and shake as if there were a storm. They all hurried up to the control room (except Chrysalis who refused). “Magolor, what the heck's going on?!“ Dedede yelled over the lighting strikes. “This is really bad!“ Magolor said as he put up the Lor's emergency shields. “The engine has taken a hit, and a really persistent cloud is trying to destroy us!“ “Pssh, cloud? No problem, let me out there and it'll be gone in less than ten seconds flat!“ Rainbow Dash bragged. “No, you don’t understand! This one has somehow gained sentience, and it's attacking us!“ Magolor warned. "Aw, come on!" Rainbow pleaded. "I'm awesome at dealing with clouds!" Magolor sighed. “Fine. If you really think you're so tough, go out there and get it off my back!“ He pressed the emergency hatch button and a hole in the roof opened. “You guys better go with her and make sure she doesn't get hurt,“ Magolor said. They followed Rainbow dash to the Lor's rear where the cloud rose up to them. “I beat up clouds every morning! Bring it on!“ Rainbow Dash said. Suddenly, the cloud grew spikes on itself from all sides. Electricity gathered around it, and a single eye appeared in the center. “Kracko!“ Marx said in surprise. Vs. Cycloptic Stormcloud: Kracko? Kracko flew forward while firing spinning electric beams from himself before summoning a Chilly which Burning Leo melted into a puddle. Kracko charged up and fired a lightning bolt at Marx first before unleashing acid rain upon Twilight as she guarded herself with a magic shield. Pikachu unexpectedly jumped off Marx's hat in front of him and took a bullet for him. “Pikachu!“ Marx cried in fear for his friend as Pikachu began to glow. Pikachu's skin turned orange, his tail grew longer and thinner, his rosy cheeks turned yellow and his electrical powers multiplied. “Raichu!“ Pikachu said as he returned the lightning bolt back to Kracko while he was busy preparing to swoop down at them, catching him off-guard as his eye faded to reveal... “Doc!“ Meta Knight said in shock. Doc growled at them as he popped the cloudiness of his machine back up. He looked to have a dark aura around him of which they didn’t know. “Fools! You will never reach the king’s empire alive! Taste lightning!“ He fired another lightning bolt and dispensed a Waddle Doo as he then dived at them. They made sure to jump over him when he dived while Kirby inhaled the Waddle Doo to gain the Beam Ability. Kirby dropped a energy barrage at Doc as he dived at them again, slightly slowing him, which allowed Eevee to jump off Marx’s hat and headbutt Doc’s cockpit! Twilight and the others were firing magic beams which helped to disperse the clouds around Doc’s Mecha Kracko alongside Dedede burning the rest off with a hammer flip and Meta Knight slashing off a couple of the electric rods. Once Doc’s machine was exposed for the hunk of metal that it was, Twilight grabbed it with magic and as she slightly fluttered into the air, she slammed it on the Lor's roof with magic and held it down as Raichu delivered a final blow. “RAI!” Raichu screamed as he made all the clouds around them rumble as lightning struck the exposed machine. Doc ejected himself and his UFO and made a speedy getaway north while Mecha Kracko’s remains fell into the snowy valley below. “We did it!” Bandanna Dee cheered. The Lor was still shaking, though, so they went down to Magolor. “I saw what happened,” Magolor said. “Why would Doc attack us like that? We're friends now! He mentioned a king of some kind... I can only assume he’s been corrupted by Sombra.” Suddenly, the Lor’s alarm sounded and smoke and fire poured out from the Lor’s rear. “Shoot,” Magolor said. “We're going to have to make a crash landing. Hold on for emergency brakes!” They grabbed on to the underside of the control panel while the Lor plummeted at high speed toward the snow-covered tundra below with the windows being covered in snow as blistering winds began to whirl around them.