(Cubed Cinder)
NOTE from author: The names of the characters and locations are taken from the 4Kids dubbed version.
King Dedede sat back on his throne after pressing the button that would lower
the monitor from the ceiling. Once it was down, the screen powered on and
revealed the ever-cunning salesman from N.M.E. He had a big smile on his face
despite the ever stern look on Dedede’s face.
“Hey hey hey, Dedede! Welcome back to N.M.E.! How may I be of service to you?”
the salesman said.
“Quit sweet talking me you dumbbell! I want another monster to clobber that
blasted Kirby!” Dedede shouted.
“Gosh, I’ve heard that tune before, Big D. And yet Kirby still roams around your
lovely little town.” the salesman said.
“Yeah, well, your monsters have been the problem! I want a real good one this
time, ya hear!?” Dedede said.
“Perhaps I can offer you just the monster you need. Of course, it comes with a
hefty price tag. I’d say... oh... about 4 billion D-bills?” the salesman said.
Escargoon, Dedede’s right hand snail, as always objected with the king spending
that much money.
“Ack! Sire, you can’t possibly afford that! All of Cappy Town will go bankrupt!”
Escargoon said.
“Don’t be silly, Escargoon! You know we always use Cappy Credit! Heh heh heh
heh! Send that monster pronto!!” Dedede shouted.
“As you wish, Big D. Just give us a few minutes to approve your payment.” the
salesman said before his screen shut down.
“Heh heh heh... this monster will get that dang Kirby for sure!” Dedede said as
he laid back in his chair and waited for the monster to be downloaded.
Meanwhile, elsewhere in the royal palace, it was business as usual for the royal
family. Well, usually that's the case. Tuff was in the living room playing
around with his miniature city, moving toy cars and people around while Kirby
watched from the side, often cheering out happily with each move the young boy
made.
"Just another boring day in Mini Cappy Town, but you never know what surprises
are around the corner. For instance, watch as the bank robber carefully plans
his sneaky entrance into the bank!" Tuff said as he set the figures down by the
building labeled bank.
But speaking of surprises, Tuff suddenly had to watch (with Kirby having a
stunned look on its face) as a giant foot suddenly came down and crushed the
bank like a tin can.
"Ack!!! A giant monster on the loose! Everybody run for your life!" Tuff
shouted. But as he looked up, he realized the foot belonged to his sister, Tiff.
And she had an unhappy look on her face.
"What are you doing here? You were supposed to be at the dinner table 5 minutes
ago!” Tiff said.
“Hey! I couldn’t help it! I was deep into this game... and could you maybe take
your foot off the bank before the city goes bankrupt?” Tuff asked.
“Hmph! The next place I’ll put this foot is on your face if you don’t come to
the dinner table right now!” Tiff shouted before she lifted her foot and walked
away. Tuff simply looked over at Kirby.
“Huh? I wonder what’s eating her. Maybe she’s still mad about that cartoon that
aired with her on Channel DDD. Anyway, come on, Kirby!” Tuff said as he jumped
to his feet to follow his sister. Kirby happily followed and the two left the
toy city behind.
Back in Dedede’s room, the monster downloading machine finally went active, just
as the salesman returned to the viewing screen.
“Okey dokey, Big D! Your monster is on its way.” the salesman said.
“Hehehe! This is gonna be real good!” Dedede said. Eventually, the monster fully
appeared before the eyes of both Dedede and Escargoon. The monster’s physical
appearance was interesting to say the least. All anyone could see was a head,
two hands (one of them holding a staff), and the rest engulfed in shadow. He
wasn’t exactly huge, either, looking the same size as Escargoon.
“Allow me to introduce you to Necrodeus, Big D.” the salesman said.
“He looks more like a shrimp to me! Are you sure he can get the job done?”
Dedede said.
“He may look puny, but you know what they say, don’t judge a book by its cover.”
the salesman said.
“Eh? I don’t see no book on this here monster.” Dedede said.
“Anyway, Necrodeus’s specialty is the power split its victim into ten smaller
mindless clones. One zap of Kirby and he’ll be running around like a scared
flounder times ten!” the salesman said.
“But ten Kirby is more potent than one, especially when Kirby is already
mindless!” Escargoon shouted.
“Now now, Escargoon, let’s give our good buddy here the benefit of the doubt. I
got an idea! Let’s have this here monster run around Cappy Town and test its
power on some of the Cappys!” Dedede said.
“Yes, good thinking, your majesty. That's sure to lure Kirby out in the open."
the salesman said.
"Alright, Necrodeus, heh heh heh! Go out there and have some fun!" Dedede said.
Necrodeus nodded and turned around, zipping its way out of the throne room.
“Come on... we better go watch these here fireworks!” Dedede shouted as he
jumped off his throne and ran out of the room, with Escargoon trying to keep up
from behind.
In Cappy Town, it was business as usual for the citizens, at least until a group
of kids (many of them also friends with Kirby) stopped their running around when
they got a look at Necrodeus.
"Hey, look at that!" Honey shouted.
"Whoa... Is that another monster from Dedede?" Iroo said.
"Think we better warn Kirby?" Spikehead said. And before the three kids could do
anything, Necrodeus suddenly gave a very glancing look over at the children. He
then charged towards the kids, surprising them into a scream.
"EEEEEEEEEEEK!!!" they all shouted. Honey was able to dive out of the way on
time, but the two boys got zapped by the short range blast from Necrodeus.
Immediately after that, the two boys suddenly became 20 tiny-sized boys, 10 of
Spikehead and 10 of Iroo. They all ran around screaming like they lost their
hats, and Honey simply looked down in shock.
"Oh my gosh!" Honey shouted.
This of course did not go unnoticed by the rest of Cappy Town. Chef Kawasaki was
the first of the grownups to show panic in his behavior.
"Oh dear! Everybody run before this monster goes chop chop on all of us!"
Kawasaki said. He suddenly had to try and take cover with his favorite frying
pan, but this was nowhere close to protecting him from Necrodeus' attack. Chef
Kawasaki got zapped and he too split apart into ten miniature versions of
himself, many of them running around like crazy. More notable citizens, such as
Chief Bookem and even the mayor got zapped as well.
“Halt! You’re under arrest for unauthorized duplication! That’s a penalty of 5
years and 250,000 D-bills!” Chief Bookem shouted. Of course, his words along
with those of the mayor fell on deaf ears as Necrodeus blasted the two without a
second thought. As the tiny ten of each were running around, two of the female
citizens of Cappy Town, Mabel (the fortune teller) and Hana (Mayor Len’s wife)
reached down and picked everyone up.
“Oh my! What are we going to do?” Hana said.
“Only Kirby can save us now!” Mabel shouted.
Back at Dedede’s castle, the kids have just finished eating their dinner (of
course Kirby finished well before any of them), and excused themselves from the
table. Just as they did that, Waddle Doo opened up a nearby set of doors and
pointed his lone eye right at the family.
“Sir Ebrum, sir! Another monster is running loose around Cappy Town! Please stay
in these quarters by orders of the king!” Waddle Doo said before he quickly ran
back out, along with a small army of Waddle Dees.
“Another one! My goodness, when is King Dedede going to allow this madness to
stop?” Sir Ebrum said. His wife and the mother of Tiff and Tuff, Lady Like,
agreed.
“For a king, he sure does like to bring trouble with every step he takes.” Lady
Like said. Tiff, Tuff, and Kirby immediately sprung to action.
“Don’t worry, Mom! Kirby will save the day! Come on, Kirby!” Tiff said. Lady
Like knew there was no stopping her kids from defending their home, especially
with the powerful Kirby by their side.
“Be careful, everyone!” Lady Like said.
On top of the castle, King Dedede and Escargoon both watched the craziness
happening in Cappy Town as a result of Necrodeus running amok.
“Hehehe! Look at all them little Cappys running around. I declare Necrodeus
shrunkified and copified them good!” Dedede said. Escargoon looked down by the
front gate and saw Tiff, Tuff, and Kirby running out and down the path towards
Cappy Town.
“Sire, look! Kirby and the two kids are heading for Cappy Town!” Escargoon said.
“Heh heh! Beautiful! We got Kirby this time. Once Necrodeus gets the job done,
Kirby will be powerless to stop the next monster attack." Dedede said.
“If Kirby doesn’t stop this monster like the last billion and a half...”
Escargoon said before he got bonked on the head by Dedede.
“Oh ye have little faith, Escargoon! Just watch and learn!” Dedede said.
Eventually, the three heroes made it to Cappy Town, although they all had to
watch their step (Tiff in particular) from the many mini versions of their
friends and other citizens running around. Tiff loudly announced her presence
without a shred of doubt as she, Tuff, and Kirby all approached Necrodeus.
“Hey, monster! Are you looking for us!?” Tiff shouted. Necrodeus turned around
and took one look at Kirby. Upon seeing the round pink one, Necrodeus suddenly
gave off a loud laugh and aimed its staff at Kirby. Kirby, Tiff, and Tuff all
jumped out of the way from the blast, with Kirby trying its hardest to dodge
every subsequent blast, but it was getting trickier to dodge with Necrodeus
blasting faster and faster. Tiff and Tuff were out of Necrodeus’ range but could
not help Kirby at the same time.
“Watch out, Kirby!” both Tiff and Tuff shouted. In the end, however, Kirby could
not dodge the next blast, and it yelped out in pain as it watched helplessly the
laser strike him.
“KIRBY!!” Tiff shouted out of fear that something horrible had happened to
Kirby. The laser dissipated, and Kirby, just like some of the Cappies, was split
apart into 10 tiny copies of itself. Necrodeus once again laughed out seeing the
fruits of its labor, and it looked like it was ready to strike Kirby again and
hopefully split him up more. Tiff tried to run ahead and save the mini Kirbys,
but Tuff held her back.
“No, Tiff! It’s too dangerous!” Tuff shouted.
Fortunately, before Necrodeus could fire, he had to cancel his attack and dash
backwards to avoid being slashed by a hard charging Meta Knight, but the bright
light from Meta Knight’s sword, Galaxia, did temporarily blind Necrodeus as he
covered his face with his hands.
“Meta Knight?” Tiff said.
“We must fall back... it is too dangerous to fight him now.” Meta Knight said.
Tiff knew there was no arguing with a battle veteran like Meta Knight, and so
she scooped up the mini Kirbys, clutching them close to her heart and went
running back to Dedede’s castle, along with Tuff and Meta Knight. By the time
Necrodeus finally recovered his sight, everyone was gone, and he slammed the
ground with his staff in frustration.
King Dedede and Escargoon of course saw this development from the top of the
castle, and Dedede was certainly not pleased with Kirby able to escape from
further harm.
“Arrrgh! That dang blasted Meta Knight! Can’t he decide what not to do and what
to do not?” Dedede said.
“I don’t know what that means, sire... but I still think it’s because you
haven’t given him that raise you promised him.” Escargoon said, only to get
another conk on the head by Dedede.
“I didn’t promise nothing! Now come on, let’s go get our monster so he can
finish off Kirby!” Dedede said as he and Escargoon ran off the balcony and back
into the castle.
Back inside, Tiff and company were safe inside Sir Ebrum’s chambers. Tiff set
down the ten tiny Kirbys on the floor and looked over at Meta Knight.
“What do we do, Meta Knight?” Tuff said.
“What indeed... we have a rather large problem.” Meta Knight said.
“Please, Meta Knight, must you use the word large? But like Tuff said, isn’t
there anything we can do to fix this?” Tiff said.
“The only way to reverse Kirby’s condition is to defeat Necrodeus, and without
Kirby as a whole, that will be nearly impossible.” Meta Knight said.
“Man, Necrodeus is really strong.” Tuff said.
“Yes. He was one of the most formidable monsters in N.M.E.’s army. Frankly I am
surprised he wasn’t summoned sooner by the king. We will need some additional
help.” Meta Knight said.
“Like who?” Tiff asked. Just as she asked that, some of the tiny Kirbys either
jumped around Tiff’s feet or proceeded to climb up her body.
“Sirica.”
“Huh? Sirica? The girl who thought Galaxia belonged to her?” Tuff asked.
“Yes, but I know she owes us one after she learned the truth... and her mother
once fought against Necrodeus. She will know what to do.” Meta Knight said.
“But how do we contact her? She’s probably halfway across the galaxy.” Tiff
said.
“We must speak with Kabu. Come, Tuff, I will need your support.” Meta Knight
said.
“Huh? Me? Why not Tiff?” Tuff said.
“Because Kirby has grown quite attached to her, it would appear.” Meta Knight
said. Tiff looked around and saw mini Kirbys all around her... one even swinging
on her hair.
“Eeeeek!” Tiff said, a nervous wreck from seeing so many Kirbys around her.
“Well, look on the bright side, Tiff. At least you look really tall now!
Hahaha!” Tuff said.
“WHAT!? I dare you to make fun of my size again, you little pipsqueak!!” Tiff
said as she marched angrily towards Tuff.
“Watch out!” Meta Knight shouted, seeing one of Tiff’s feet heading right for
one of the tiny Kirbys, but it was too late. Tiff stepped on this Kirby and
gasped as she felt something beneath her foot.
She lifted that foot up and looked underneath it... and saw Kirby flattened
against her foot like a stick of gum. But as she peeled this Kirby off... the
Kirby was happily smiling and flailing about between Tiff’s fingers.
“Whew... that was close.” Tiff said.
“Yes, but exercise caution. We cannot afford to lose even one of those Kirbys...
and there’s no telling when Necrodeus will realize where we are hiding.” Meta
Knight said.
“I understand, Meta Knight. Just get Sirica as fast as you can.” Tiff said.
“Tuff, onward to Kabu!” Meta Knight said as he and Tuff ran out of the room,
leaving Tiff all to herself with the tiny Kirbys.
Necrodeus finally was able to recover from the blinding attack by Meta Knight,
and watched as King Dedede and Escargoon both drove up towards him in their
royal ride.
“Come on Necrodeus, crank that lead out of your shadowy brain. We've got Kirby
right where we want him!" Dedede said. Necrodeus didn't take too kindly to being
ordered around, and so it showed a mean look on its face and pointed its staff
at the two villains.
"Yo hey! Watch where you're pointing that here thing!" Dedede said.
"This fella's got one nasty temper tantrum." Escargoon said.
"Alright, just follow us! We'll lead you right to Kirby." Dedede said. As the
vehicle turned around and headed back to the castle, Necrodeus followed from
behind, anxious to put Kirby out of its misery.
Meanwhile, outside of Cappy Town at the mighty Kabu statue, Meta Knight and Tuff
approached.
"Kabu, we wish to speak with Sirica. Only you have the power to speak across the
cosmos and allow her to hear our voice." Meta Knight said.
"Communicating with the girl you speak of will not be a challenge." Kabu said.
"Oh, that's good." Tuff said. Meta Knight, however, rested a hand on his sword.
"That's because I'm right here!" a female voice suddenly shouted. And then,
jumping out from the hole in the ground in front of Kabu, was Sirica herself.
She was holding her weapon, which had many different functions but was currently
showing its sword mode.
"Yikes!" Tuff shouted as he dove for the dirt to avoid the attack. But Meta
Knight stood his ground and blocked the strike with his sword, Galaxia. As the
two swords clanged with each other, Sirica landed on her feet and smiled.
"I expected nothing less from the legendary Meta Knight." Sirica said.
"And I expected nothing less from a child of my dear friend, Garlude." Meta
Knight said. Sirica could tell from the tone of Meta Knight's voice that it was
an honorable comment. She put aside her weapon and offered to shake Meta
Knight's hand, which both characters did.
"I am glad we have now met under friendlier terms." Sirica said. The first time
the two sides met, Sirica was determined to take Meta Knight's sword thinking it
rightfully belonged to her deceased mother. But during a battle with the monster
that once guarded the sword named Galaxia, it revealed the truth in that Garlude
offered her life to the sword to help get it into Meta Knight's hands. Her quest
over despite not producing the results she expected, Sirica then returned to the
stars, helping the other Star Warriors in trying to find the hideout of N.M.E.
"Your arrival here before us is not a coincidence. You know that Necrodeus is
alive and here on Dream Land." Meta Knight said. Sirica nodded and quickly had a
solemn look on her face.
“I sensed his presence even from across the galaxy, so I came as soon as I
could.” Sirica said.
“And you will help us in defeating the monstrosity once and for all?” Meta
Knight asked.
“I owe you one, Meta Knight.” Sirica said. Meta Knight nodded.
“Then we must go at once. Necrodeus may already be at the castle.” Meta Knight
said, and with that, the trio set off to return to King Dedede’s castle.
And inside the castle, in the royal family’s chamber, Tiff could only watch as
the mini Kirbys continued to use Tiff’s gigantic body as a playground. Tiff’s
mother, Lady Like, couldn’t help but find it adorable even as some of the little
Kirbys approached her and started climbing up her dress.
“Hehe, Kirby looks even cuter when he’s so small and there are so many of them.”
Lady Like said.
“Yeah, I guess so. But we can’t keep him like this forever. I hope Meta Knight
gets back in time.” Tiff said.
All of a sudden, there was a big explosion as the double doors fell down onto
the floor. Walking into the room were King Dedede, Escargoon, and Necrodeus,
prompting a gasp from the two ladies.
“Heh heh heh! We got you now, Kirby! Go get ‘im, Necrodeus!” Dedede said.
Necrodeus charged up its beam as he his staff at the Kirbys. Right as Necrodeus
fired the beam, Sir Ebrum suddenly jumped in front of the group and took the
beam directly.
“Hold on, my dear. I will save...” Sir Ebrum shouted before he too split apart
into ten miniature copies of himself.
“Ebrum darling!” Lady Like said as she quickly scooped up her shrunken ten
husbands. Tiff quickly picked up the tiny Kirbys but backed up against a wall as
Necrodeus closed in on her.
“Help! Somebody!” Tiff shouted. She closed her eyes and clutched all the Kirbys
to her chest thinking she had nowhere else to go.
But then a nearby window broke apart and Sirica and Meta Knight came jumping
through.
“Haaaaaaaaaaaaa!!!” Sirica shouted as she tried to strike Necrodeus with her own
sword, but Necrodeus backed away to avoid being hit. As Sirica and Necrodeus
clashed weapons together, Escargoon and King Dedede recognized the girl and Meta
Knight checked to make sure Tiff and the Kirbys were okay.
“Are you alright, Tiff?” Meta Knight asked.
“I’m fine, and so is Kirby.” Tiff said.
“Oh spit! It’s that girly Star Warrior who gave us fits the last time!” Dedede
shouted.
“Come on, Necrodeus, don’t let that wimpy girl beat you!” Escargoon shouted.
Eventually Necrodeus had to retreat outside due to the small fighting area of
the room, and he and Sirica both jumped out and continued their fight on top of
one of the castle walls. Meta Knight joined in the fray, and while Necrodeus put
up a heck of a fight, the double team was proving too much.
In fact, a few minutes after the battle started, Sirica made a heck of a slash
at Necrodeus, and as a result, Necrodeus could only watch as his staff fell to
pieces.
Simultaneously, everyone in Dream Land who had been slashed to pieces reverted
back to their normal selves... including of course Kirby, to the delight of
Tiff.
“Kirby! You’re okay!” Tiff said. Lady Like hugged her husband, Sir Ebrum.
“Oh... what happened, my dearest? I had the strangest dream that you were
hundreds of feet tall and there were nine clones of me running around and...”
Sir Ebrum said.
“There there, sweetie. You were just having a bad dream.” Lady Like said with a
smile. Tiff and Kirby ran up to the window and saw Necrodeus being beaten by
Meta Knight and Sirica. But Tiffy could tell in Kirby’s eyes that he wanted to
finish this once and for all. Tiff nodded and gave Kirby the help he needed.
“Kabu! Warp Star!!” Tiff shouted as loud as she possibly could.
“Warp Star...” Kabu said as his mouth opened wide and Kirby’s famous Warp Star
came flying towards Kirby, who jumped out the window and promptly onto the Warp
Star. Once Kirby took control of the powerful star, Necrodeus basically had no
chance as he got hit left and right by the Warp Star’s dive bomb attacks. It was
finally too much for Necrodeus’s body to take, and after Kirby swung the Warp
Star upward like an uppercut attack, Necrodeus flew up into the air and
exploded.
Kirby jumped off the Warp Star (as it flew back to Kabu) and landed on the
ground, pumping its dainty fist in victory.
“Yay! Alright, Kirby!” Tiff said.
“Way to go, Kirby!!” Tuff shouted having just joined her sister. King Dedede
once again let out the waterworks having failed again to defeat Kirby.
“Waaaaaaaaah!!! There goes my four billion D-bills!” Dedede shouted.
“There there, sire. Come on, let me make you some tea to make you feel better.”
Escargoon said, patting Dedede on the back.
“Escargoon, you sure are a nice assistant.” Dedede said as he and Escargoon
walked away in defeat once more.
Life quickly was back to normal with Kirby having saved Dream Land once more.
And if you somehow enjoyed this story, good for you. =p
END