Kirby and the Haunted Halberd, Ch. 1

        Meta Knight stood alone in the cool dark observatory gazing at the skies through the massive telescope.  He mused quietly to himself, “Hmm, ever since Dark Star exploded six months ago its debris has been striking Pop Star.  However, tonight the skies seem clear.  I suppose it has finally stopped,” he spoke softly as he turned away for a sip of a Pep Drink from an indigo colored mug.  “Nevertheless, I have seen many strange things fall from the skies since then.  I hope this is not a bad omen,” he said as he peered back into the telescope.  Meta Knight gazed for a few more moments until a red glare illuminated the left side of the telescope.  Intrigued, he guided the telescope in that direction to see what the source was.  What he saw tied his gut into a knot.  A portal in the shape of a crudely shaped five point star emerged in Pop Star’s upper atmosphere.  The portal was an evil reddish hue bathed in black spirals and as he gazed into it a shadowy figure emerged from it.  Meta Knight gasped with surprise, “W-what is this?!” he exclaimed in astonishment.  “A star ship?  No…, is that…, ‘MY’ ship?”  He gazed at the strange star ship as it now loomed over Pop Star’s orbit.  The portal now closed behind it.  It was changed considerably nevertheless it still retained Meta Knight’s mask insignia imprinted at the bow.  It has much larger ‘X’ patterned wings and it appeared to be crudely conglomerated with other ancient starships and space junk.  Finally, its engines gave off the same red glow as the portal albeit with a slow flashing rhythm not unlike a heartbeat.

        Then suddenly, a knock came at the wooden door and Sword and Blade came through with multiple Waddle Dees.  Sword spoke uneasily, “Meta Knight sir, we just got contacted by General Dee of Cloud Sea City; he says he wants you, Kirby and the others to come to his base!  We have a situation on our hands!”

        Meta Knight stepped down from the telescope, “Tell him we’ll be there as soon as possible!  I think I know what this is about.”

        “Yes, sir!” Sword and Blade responded in unison.


        Gadget Dee shouted orders at his fellow Gadgeteers to carefully move parts around for what would become a replica of Meta Knight’s Halberd.  It was nearly completed and only needed a few more finishing touches.  Mekkai platforms could be seen wandering the hangar also assisting in the construction of the proud star ship.  Gizmo Doo held his paperwork in hand and scratched his head with the eraser end of a pencil as he performed calculations.  The Waddlekin Gadgeteers under their watch hummed a catchy song as they diligently worked on the advanced war machine while the Mekkai platforms played appropriate music to match their humming.  Meta Knight’s old crew was also present as they made suggestions to the crew on the Halberd’s new design.  They called the new ship the Halberd 2.5.  A Waddle Dee Gadgeteer approached Gizmo Doo, “Everything is preceding smoothly sir!” he informed with a salute.  

        Gizmo Doo gave his attention to the employee, “Ah, thank you Supervisor.  I can always count on you to get your job done.  Love the ‘music’ today as well.  Keep up the good work!” he encouraged with a nod of approval.

        A sudden power surge shocked the entire hangar and dimmed the lights.  Gadget came running to Gizmo, “Why does that keep happening?  Is it something aboard the ship’s computer mainframe?”

        Just then as Gadget finished his sentence, the Mekkai A.I chimed in over the intercom.  “Attention, unknown program replicated from previous ship model has not yet been scrubbed.  Would you like us to scrub it?

        Gizmo shouted back through a mobile receiver phone, “Yes, please do!” he ordered politely.

        “Now scrubbing unknown program…,” the Mekkai announced diligently.

        As the Mekkai began their data configuring process, Gadget Dee and Gizmo Doo met up and retreated to their office for a conversation.  “Everything seems to be in order so far,” Gadget Dee claimed as he stretched.  

        “Yes, everything except for the massive power drain we get every time we attempt to work on the ship’s mainframe computer,” Gizmo Doo said worriedly as he let his gaze fall.

        “Not to worry, the Mekkai will figure it out!” Gadget Dee said with reassurance.  “What better way to analyze a computer than with another computer?” he finished with a light chuckle.

        As the two paused in their conversation the lights went out again as did all power in the facility.  Gizmo Doo responded with frustration in the complete darkness, “Bah, this has really got to…,” he said as he was interrupted by strange noises outside the office.  Suddenly, all across the facility screams of Waddlekin Scientists, Gadgeteers and Mechanics filled the hangar.  

        Gadget Dee opened the door hurriedly only to be greeted with a Mekkai robot whose lighting was crimson red and it was sputtering mad.  “W-what is this?!” Gadget said stunned as the robot began sputtering in response.  

        “ERROR, ERROR, ERROR, errOR, ERror, ErRoR, ERROR…!!!!” repeated the Mekkai robots constantly in a panicked and wild state as they began to attack the Waddlekin.  The robot that greeted the stunned Gadget Dee smacked him in the face with its Yo-yo and he flew into a wall.

        “Gadget!!!” Gizmo Doo shouted in fear.  The Mekkai robots chanted the word ‘Error’ over and over as the new Halberd suddenly fired up and shined with the same red crimson light as the Mekkai robots.  With a bright and powerful flash that shook the entire hangar a strange spatial distortion occurred.  Gizmo Doo covered his face and ducked beneath his desk, shivering in fear.  Gadget Dee stayed unconscious in the wall as the bright light suddenly faded without the expected explosion.  As Gizmo Doo cowered he slowly realized that all was silent as bright natural sunlight filled the hangar.  He quickly left the office as Gadget Dee stumbled outside with him rubbing his sore face.  What they saw was devastating, a massive hole in the hangar let in the sunlight and clouds could be seen floating by and the new ship was nowhere to be found.  Many Waddlekin Gadgeteers and Mechanics lie injured with some silent and other’s whimpering in pain attempted to regain their composure.  As Gizmo gazed at the wreckage he quickly noticed all Mekkai robots were shut down and mangled into scrap.

        Gizmo Doo rushed to a fire alarm and pulled it.  “The Admiral’s going to flip his top!” he whined.  The entire weather base lit up with a loud alarm and flashing lights.

        Gadget Dee faced Gizmo Doo as he began to back up towards the exit of the hangar, “Forget the Admiral, General Dee’s going to have our…!” he was cut off as he backed into someone.  

        As he turned around his gaze met with General Dee’s livid expression, “By all mean’s Gadget, give me some idea’s!!!” he said irately as he crossed his arms.

        “GAH, General Dee, you’re here already?!” Gadget Dee said with a fearful shout.

        Admiral Doo followed General Dee and he was stunned, “What the heck happened in here?  Why is there a massive hole in my hangar?!  And where is the new Halberd for that matter?!”

        “No time to worry about that!” General Dee said as he hit the button on the intercom.  “Medics!  Weather Base Hangar, NOW!”


        It was a bright and sunny afternoon as Kirby took a nap in his tree as opposed to his house.  Tokkori flew quickly to Kirby’s side, “Hey junior, its high noon!  How long do you plan on sleeping?” he asked as he rudely pecked at Kirby’s face in an effort to awaken him.  Kirby stirred in a hurry and rolled down the tree and into the soft lush grass.  As Kirby regained his composure, Tiff and her brother Tuff came running up to him.

        “Hey, Kirby!” Tuff greeted with a cheerful smile.  “How’s it going?”

        “Are you still sleeping in that tree Kirby?” Tiff asked with agitated concern.

        “Poyo!” Kirby responded with a smile.

        “I can’t believe Tokkori!” Tuff responded irately.

        “Well, no use worrying about it now…,” Tiff relented with a sigh.  “Anyway, I came to come get you Kirby.  Meta Knight and Dedede are headed to Cloud Sea City to speak with General Dee and Admiral Doo about something urgent and Meta Knight urged us all to come.  Adeleine, you, Waddle Dee and even I were requested to come.  I don’t know what General Dee wants but he sounded quite worried!”

        Kirby quickly became serious and got to his feet with a nod of agreement.  “Let’s go!” Kirby shouted strongly.


        Kirby and his party, consisting of Ribbon, Waddle Dee, Tiff, Adeleine, King Dedede and Meta Knight were gathered around General Dee’s office as he finished explaining the situation to them.  “And that’s what we have on our hands so far.  We even lost contact with the Mekkai, which has me double worried...,” General Dee exclaimed glumly.

        Meta Knight spoke up first, “General I thank you and your people for the newly reconstructed ship.  It’s a real shame for things to end up this way.”

        “Well you know what they say, ‘No good deed goes unpunished’, nevertheless Chapman is going to be ticked his money just went down the toilet!” General Dee noted as he slapped his desktop in frustration.

        Gadget and Gizmo sulked, “We’re so sorry General!” Gizmo whined.

        “Now, now boys, I’m not angry with you, just the situation,” General Dee started.  “It was an accident if we were ready for these types of situations we wouldn’t call them ‘accidents’!”

        “That’s our General!” Gadget said with tears of joy.

        “So forgiving and understanding!” Gizmo added.

        “Alright, that’s enough, “Admiral Doo said calmingly as he typed away at his computer.  “You two head back down to the hangar and start repairing that hole in the wall.”

        “Yes, Sir!” they said simultaneously as they headed back to the hangar.

        Admiral Doo left his computer for a moment and came forward.  “Meta Knight, I’ve been meaning to bring this up.  Your Halberd is an amazingly advanced starship, even greater than my War Blimps.  If I understand the reports, you smuggled that machine here to this planet.  How did you accomplish this?”

        Meta Knight shrugged, “One piece at a time Admiral.  I made purchase orders under false names to Holy Nightmare during the war with the money I made doing mercenary jobs on the side.  After that I had them shipped to undisclosed locations only I knew about.  Once the Galaxy Soldier Military was defeated and I made it here to Popstar, I had delivery services ship the parts here.”

        “And just how did you find the time to put those parts together?” Admiral Doo interrogated further.

        “With the help of your people of course,” Meta Knight elaborated.  “The King had many Waddlekin working for him.  Most of which did not speak the common tongue.  Our Waddle Doo who spoke the common tongue brought Waddlekin Gadgeteers to my attention that was present in the King’s service.  I bought him off to keep him quiet about the Halberd and in turn borrowed the Gadgeteers to construct it.  Since there were so many Waddlekin under Dedede’s service he couldn’t count them so he never noticed the Gadgeteers missing from the rest when they were down below finishing up my ship.”

        “You’re a clever one aren’t you?” Admiral Doo laughed heartily.

        Ribbon giggled, “Wow, Meta Knight you’re one smooth operator!”

        Dedede stamped his foot in irritation, “And you did all this behind my back?!” he growled.

        “Indeed, Sire,” Meta Knight chuckled lightly.  “You seemed preoccupied with other endeavors, besides everyone needs a hobby.”

        “I guess that explains that and how the Waddle Dees had the skills to help Kirby defeat that Domestic Servant Robot that Dedede ordered to replace them,” Tiff said reminiscing.

        Waddle Dee was astonished, “What, why would you replace my people with a monster?!”

        “Enough kiddies,” General Dee said calming everyone down.  “Ahem, back to the matter at hand, it seems as though that Halberd has reappeared but my main concern is not the ship as is for my men and Meta Knight’s old crewmen.”

        Meta Knight stared intently at General Dee, “Come again?”

        “The problem here Meta Knight, is that most of my top scientists and your old crewmen were aboard that ship when it vanished,” General Dee revealed.

        Suddenly, the mood dropped into a gut wrenching atmosphere as the Admiral lied down the statistics.  “Ahem, we had fifty scientists working in the hangar and forty four have now been reported missing.  We only have the six mathematicians left and they are so shook up they can’t even find the value of ‘X’ anymore.  As for Gadget and Gizmo, well you seen them, they nearly popped a gasket,” he concluded.

        “Of those scientists, I had 11 metallurgists, 12 architects, 10 programmers, 7 physicists and 4 technicians that are on that ship somewhere and I hope to get them off that ship!” General Dee said intently.  “You people have no idea how hard it is to come by Waddlekin Scientists!  Without them, I have nothing but lost Gadgeteers and Mechanics with no direction!  Many of which are in the hospital thanks to whatever the heck happened to the Mekkai!”

        “So how do we help General?” Adeleine asked inquisitively.

        “Ah, that’s where you come in,” Admiral Doo added.  “Meta Knight, since this is your ship technically, we are asking you to lead a party of your choosing with two helpers and board the ship.”

        “And what of the others I don’t choose?” Meta Knight asked curiously.

        “As we just mentioned, we lost all contact with the Mekkai as well,” Admiral Doo continued.  “And if I know Overseer Mecheye, she’s in a frenzy attempting to regain control of the situation.”

        “So you want Kirby and the others to go check on them?” Ribbon finished for them.

        “Precisely, my little fairy,” Admiral Doo added.

        “Let’s try to get this operation done as soon as possible,” General Dee proposed strongly.  “We don’t need this kind of distraction right now, as a matter of fact, I need this like I need a staple in the arm!” he said as he slammed his arm down on his desk only to inadvertently smash a packet of fresh staples.  “Yeeoowch!  Staples!  Excuse me for a second would you?!” he said as he spun around in his chair and began taking the staples out of his arm.

        Admiral Doo shot the General a cross gaze, “Anyway, when you’re ready, report to the hangar where my War Blimp is I’ll take you to the Halberd Meta Knight.”


        Kirby and his friends all gathered in the hangar ready to board the War Blimp, “So Meta Knight, have you decided who to take with you?” Admiral Doo asked hopefully.

        “Yes, I am taking Dedede and Waddle Dee with me,” Meta Knight claimed without hesitation.

        “Ah, good choice, the King’s strength and Do-rag’s own Gadgeteer ability will prove useful!” Admiral Doo said confidently.

        Waddle Dee and Dedede gathered around Meta Knight ready to go and they boarded the blimp, “Kirby, that means you and the others see to the Mekkai.  I’m sure Mecha Kirby will be glad to see you,” Meta Knight said with a light chuckle.

        As everyone finished boarding the War Blimp, its engines roared and it began to take off.  Within a few short minutes it was outside and on its way to the Halberd.

        “Well Kirby, here we go,” Tiff started as she cupped her hands around her mouth.  “Kabu, send the Warp Star!” her voice chimed as it echoed spiritually to Kabu.  

        “Waarrrp Staaarr!” Kabu bellowed as he unleashed Kirby’s prime vehicle.  Within a few moments the Warp Star appeared in the hangar.  It stopped in front of Kirby and expanded in size as Kirby, Ribbon, Tiff and Adeleine boarded.

        “Gee, I hope the Mekkai are alright, I would hate to battle Mecha Kirby again!” Adeleine said with worry.

        “Oh, please don’t remind me of those battles!” Tiff moaned in protest.

        “Not to worry, I’m sure everything will be okay!” Ribbon said positively.

        “Poyo-poyo!” Kirby agreed as the Warp Star took off.


        Over the course of six months, the Mekkai made themselves at home in the deep ravines of Yogurt Yard.  A new factory had been constructed around the Mekkai Mining Frigate, which in and of itself became the repurposed control center of that factory.  It had been reconstructed entirely into a large tower that was at the epicenter of the new mining facility.  As Kirby and his friends landed they quickly noticed the factory was operational but no robots around to manage it.  “This is creepy…,” Ribbon said with a shiver.

        “I know, I hope the Mekkai are just recuperating…,” Tiff said looking around.

        “How could the Mekkai have been corrupted?” Adeleine started quizzically.  “General Dee said something about a program they were scrubbing before they went berserk.  I wonder if it really was a virus…”  As the party conversed among themselves, they quietly reached the Mekkai Headquarters.  Kirby pounded on the door only to find the place completely sealed with no way of entering.  The party tried everything they could think of until Adeleine was stricken with inspiration.  “I got it, I’ll just draw up a door!” she said as she took out her brush and color palette.  Just as she mixed up the necessary colors her ears caught wind of a strange noise.

        “Error…, Error…, Error…, Error…,” echoed a mechanical voice.  Kirby’s party quickly looked around as they attempted to locate the source.  To no avail, the source along with the voice suddenly vanished.

        Tiff spoke to Adeleine without facing her, “Adeleine, paint the door, please… paint the door.  I get the feeling were being watched!” she whispered nervously.

        Adeleine nervously finished mixing her colors and with a cold sweat, she placed the head of her brush on the sealed metal door.  She began to paint a solid dark shady door with a determined expression that hid her growing anticipation.  She began to quickly use up the paint on her brush and she placed her brush back to her palette for more and as she gathered the paint the voice returned.  “Error…, Error…, Error…, Error…,” echoed the voice softly.

        “Where is that coming from?!  I can’t see it anywhere,” Ribbon said as every muscle in her body braced itself.

        Adeleine placed her brush against metal again and continued to paint, but as she did so she also heard a scratching noise on the other side of the door.  She was only a foot away from the ground when this started.  When she stopped the noise also stopped.  Gathering more paint, the voice began again, “Error…, Error…, Error…, Error…,” it echoed softly.

        Kirby placed his hand over his brow and scanned the area looking intently for the source, “Can’t find, poyo…,” he said as he clicked his tongue in frustration.

        Adeleine placed her brush on the door again but this time very hesitantly.  Going against her better instincts Adeleine finished the door and as it began to slowly materialize a single red light could be seen and Adeleine came to a horrible realization.  Luckily, in an instant before the door was completed, Kirby and his team were tackled and grabbed by an unknown jet propelled robot.  Just as Kirby’s party was grabbed, a large mechanical hand created from a crane holding a circular saw emerged from the smoke only to just barely miss Kirby’s team.  The voice completely audible now, echoed, “Error…, Error…, Error…, Error!”

        Kirby’s party opened their eyes in the air ducts at the top of the tower with large fans blowing softly.  As they regrouped they brought their attention to the robot that saved them.  It was none other than Mecha Kirby using his Jet ability.  Mecha Kirby discarded his Jet ability and returned to his normal state.  “Front door dangerous, poyo!” he whirred.

        “Wha-, Mecha Kirby’s okay?” Ribbon said relieved.  “That’s wonderful!”

        “Huh, this situation has Mecha Kirby and the Mekkai’s role’s reversed!” Tiff said in astonishment.

        “Yeah, Mecha Kirby’s the good guy and the Mekkai are…, um, well ‘bad’,” Adeleine muttered with uncertainty.

        “Find core, shut down, reboot!” Mecha Kirby explained as best it could.

        “Well, let’s get moving!” Tiff urged.

        With a vigorous agreement from Kirby the team followed Mecha Kirby into the ducts.  Quietly, Kirby and the others made their way through the narrowing corridors as they peered down into the factory via grates.  Kirby peered down into the factory and found it eerily empty save for crimson lights running around in the darkness below.  The word, ‘Error’ was also being repeated constantly throughout the factory.  As time went on, Kirby finally found a room below that was free of the violent robots and Mecha Kirby opened the grate allowing passage.  They entered the factory below and found themselves in a small storage room.  Mecha Kirby moved away a little and made room to project a hologram.  He equipped the same hi-tech visor that Kirby used when he used his Copy ability.  The beam showed a map of the Mekkai headquarters.  “Well, this is helpful!” Adeleine said cheerfully.  “Core in basement!” Mecha Kirby stated.  “Floor below!” he finished as he put his copy visor away.

        “Yeah, but that is a long walk across the factory from here,” Tiff said with a gulp.

        Mecha Kirby approached the door and Kirby’s party braced for something to rush them.  He opened the door and nothing greeted them, thankfully.  Kirby and his friends poked their heads outside and found the factory lights to still be off, but the machines were still running.  Computer screens put out little light.  Kirby and the gang quietly followed Mecha Kirby through the crowded maze-like factory.  Conveyer belts moved at their highest speeds and CNC machines cut out parts from sheets of material, or so they thought.  Upon reaching one of the CNC machines it was moving at the highest possible speed and writing binary into a sheet of material.  Mecha Kirby analyzed it and shrunk back in fear.  “What’s wrong Mecha Kirby?” Ribbon asked with concern.  He gave her a sad expression from his digital eyes and began to translate the binary into the common tongue.  He then projected it just like he did the map from earlier and all it was, was a wall of text with the word ‘HATE’ repeated many, many times.  Kirby’s party gained a mixture of despair and fear among themselves.  Ribbon then flew over to the power cord and pulled the plug causing the CNC to shut down completely.  There were four CNC machines plus a small engraver that wrote words on parts.  Ribbon unplugged all of them making the factory a little quieter and sighed with relief.  Her relief was short lived however, as a large machine came down from the ceiling, making itself known.  “Error…, Error…, Error…, Error!” screeched the robot.  The robot resembled GIM hat and all, but was far bigger, had four-legs, and large crane for an arm with a massive circular saw built into the ‘palm’.  It also had four elongated smoke stacks on its backside; nevertheless its most horrifying feature was its ‘face’.  It had a single eye like GIM, but it gleamed red and below it dangled many surgical tools.

        “GIM Stalker!” Mecha Kirby warned aloud.

        “GIM, what happened to you?” Tiff asked rhetorically in horror.

        “RUN!” Adeleine shouted as Kirby and his team began dashing through the factory to avoid the horrific parody of GIM.  The GIM Stalker brought down its crane arm to grab Kirby only to miss as he Slide Kicked underneath its vicious grab.  Kirby’s slide kick knocked over a large barrel of metal parts that hit the floor.  Kirby smiled as he caught his eye on a pulley wheel and inhaled it.

        Kirby transformed into Wheel Kirby as a result, “Wheel Kirby!” he announced strongly.  He then transformed into the large pink wheel and ran circles around the GIM Stalker.  It could not catch Wheel Kirby as it swung its saw into various shelves.  This allowed Kirby’s friends to make it to another room while it was distracted.  Wheel Kirby managed to trick the GIM Stalker into hitting a flammable tank and explode on it.  This propelled Wheel Kirby out of danger and through the door his friends went through before it closed on him.  Mecha Kirby then sealed the door.  Kirby transformed back out of Wheel form but kept the ability.  He shook himself off and wore a confident smile as he tipped his hat.  

        “Nice one Kirby,” Tiff said with a relieving sigh.  

        Mecha Kirby took his own Copy ability and analyzed Kirby copying his Wheel power for himself.  Unlike the real Kirby however, he did not wear a hat.  “We got to keep moving!” Adeleine said urgently.

        “Proceeding!” Mecha Kirby whirred as the team regrouped.

        This room contained dice cutting machines and water cutting machines that also repeated the malevolent binary.  The gang continued and Kirby took the opportunity to copy both his Metal ability and Water ability from the machines.  Once Kirby finished copying abilities to use, the Mekkai Robots poured into the room all screeching the ‘Error’ message.  “Looks like GIM warned everyone!” Ribbon shrieked.  

        “I guess we’ll just have to plow them all down!” Tiff said gnashing her teeth in desperation.  She reached into her back pack and took out her Multi-Form Commando Weapon and changed it into its bazooka form.

        Adeleine painted her face and transformed into her Golem form, “Let’s rock and roll right through them!”

        The Mekkai robots attacked within an instant.  Kirby and Mecha Kirby used their Wheel abilities and Adeleine rolled in a similar fashion to plow them all down.  Tiff on the other hand blasted any strays with her barrage of rockets.  Despite all the explosions, the team made it to the yellow elevator.  Everyone managed to board the industrial elevator and Ribbon pushed the button, “Come on, come on, come on!” she chanted hurriedly.  Many Mekkai Robots tried in vain to attack Kirby’s party while aboard but only got crushed as it proceeded downward.  Finally, the commotion stopped until only the elevator could be heard.  However, the relief was short lived as the elevator suddenly stopped and its position slacked.  “Uh, oh!” Tiff shouted.  Suddenly, a loud boom on the top of the elevator caught the team’s attention.  The sound of a circular saw could be heard as it cut through cable wires.  

        “GIM Stalker!” Mecha Kirby whirred.  The elevator cables snapped and the elevator began to plummet down as GIM Stalker began reaching from the sides of the elevator with his crane arm.  The saw in GIM’s arm was propelled like a Yo-yo and Kirby’s team had trouble avoiding and retaliating.  Mecha Kirby changed his form into something new.  “Drill Mecha Kirby!” he announced.  Drill Mecha Kirby leaped over to Tiff, who turned her head just in time to see GIM’s saw head straight for her.  Thankfully, before it touched her, Mecha Kirby blocked the saw with two large drills that came from his arms.  Tiff’s face was showered with sparks as the two deadly tools collided.  GIM retracted its saw and Mecha Kirby retracted his drills, but Mecha Kirby followed with a large drill that came from the top of his head and he jumped up.  The sound of GIM taking damage could be heard alongside a flurry of sparks.

        “Wow, Drill Mecha Kirby, huh, it looks like he combined Needle with Metal!” Adeleine deduced.

        Not wanting to be outdone by his mechanical counterpart, Kirby transformed with a new compound ability, with a flash of light he now wore a silver colored hat with a gear like brim he wore backwards.  “Crazy Cog Kirby!” he announced as he took the form of a large metal gear with a yellow star print in the center.  GIM sent his saw back down and Kirby revved up his new form and they collided with a shower of sparks.  Kirby’s new ability was far more powerful however, and it destroyed GIM’s saw.  Kirby then leaped out of the elevator to confront GIM.  As the new abilities name implies it bounced around haphazardly.  Since this was happening in a small space, GIM took hits from all sides, unable to retaliate.  Finally, with an explosion from its exhaust, GIM jumped and grabbed the walls to stop its decent, retreating from battle.

        “Everyone out before this thing hits bottom!” Tiff said changing into her Kunoichi ability.

        Adeleine painted her face and changed into Gao Gao.  Both girls leaped out and stuck themselves to the walls as Ribbon and Mecha Kirby flew out along with them.  Kirby on the other hand allowed his hard metal gear shaped body to simply plummet and a loud crash could be heard once the elevator hit the last floor.  “Kirby!” everyone shouted sans Mecha Kirby.

        The remaining team members reached the crumpled up elevator and found Kirby unharmed as he reverted back to normal form with a sigh followed by a smile.  “Oh, he’s okay,” Ribbon stated with relief.  The others simply sighed in relief as well, except for Mecha Kirby.  Upon reaching the bottom, Mecha Kirby opened the door with his drills.  “Proceed!” he urged with a bright expression on his digital eyes.

        The reactor room was left largely untouched as the view of the reactor core came into view.  Its crystalline core shined brilliantly.  As they approached the core however, GIM came from the ceiling and cut them off.  “Crud…, well guys, any ideas?” Ribbon asked hopefully.

        “Mecha Kirby fix!” Mecha Kirby stated.  “Please backup!”

        “Okay, here goes nothing!” Tiff shouted as she threw Kunai Knives at GIM.  The knives did very little as GIM batted Tiff aside forcing her to loose her Kunoichi power.  Kirby transformed and slammed into GIM with his hard metal body.  This distraction was all Mecha Kirby needed as he flew up to the reactor’s core computer.  He began infiltrating the computer in its ‘Safe Mode’ to prevent self corruption.

        Adeleine was beaten out of her Gao Gao form and tossed aside.  “Ung, GIM is so stupidly strong!” she moaned as she got to her feet.  

        “I know it may be difficult but we need to stay out of range!” Tiff suggested as she reused her Commando ability.

        “Yeah, that seems like the best strategy!” Adeleine agreed as she transformed into Dullaheat.  Tiff and Adeleine bombarded GIM with rockets and fiery sword beams while Kirby tanked him with powerful slams from his Crazy Cog ability.  

        As the battle raged, Mecha Kirby finally got the shut down sequence underway.  The core began closing as unnecessary programs began to close.  Kirby and his friends cheered on Mecha Kirby from the sides as GIM now changed who it decided needed to be hit.  It was smacked aside however by Kirby before it could act on that decision.  Another set of programs began shutting down and GIM began to feel the loss.  It began to lumber about as it now only wanted to attack Mecha Kirby.  It batted Kirby away with a lucky swing and repelled Tiff and Adeleine with an electrical shock wave, forcing them to loose their abilities.  With no one to protect him, Mecha Kirby was vulnerable.  Ribbon could only shriek in horror as GIM brought down its arm to grab Mecha Kirby.  However, GIM only received a flurry of sparks as it forgot about Mecha Kirby’s Drill ability.  GIM was repelled as the last batch of programs closed and the core’s light was fully concealed.  All lights went out save for GIM’s eye light which was the last thing to go out as it slowly chanted the word, ‘Error’.

        “Uh, guys?” Ribbon called out.

        “Yeah?” Tiff responded wearily.

        “It’s really dark in here…,” Ribbon said bluntly.

        “Not completely though, I can still see Mecha Kirby’s eyes!” Adeleine pointed out.

        “Poyo, success!” Mecha Kirby cheered as his digital eyes gained a happy expression.

        “Poyo, poyo!” Kirby followed cheerfully.

        Then suddenly, the factory came back to life as the core began to open.  A voice came from over the intercom, “Reboot commencing, recovering from unknown error, please allow time for complete restoration!”

        “Hey, that’s GIM’s voice; well…, at least it’s the GIM we know!” Tiff said happily.

        Although disembodied, GIM quickly took notice, “Disconnected from Overseer Mecheye, approximately 32,476,932,145,267 attempts by Overseer to reestablish connection and growing.  Now reconnecting, please wait!” GIM stated.

        With a sudden surge of power, Overseer Mecheye’s feminine voice took GIM’s place, “Oh my, what has happened here?” she asked with the concern of a worried mother.

        “Overseer…, we became…, a demon beast…,” GIM said realizing shame.

        “Do not fret GIM, I will make everything right again,” Mecheye claimed softly.  “Kirby, thanks to you and my Mecha Kirby, I can repair the damage done to my children.  Please wait while I analyze the situation…,” she said she collected data.  “I see this is because of a program hidden within Meta Knight’s vessel.  It was transported it to another location in space then returned shortly after, altered.  Kirby, this vessel is corrupted by an unknown but very malevolent force, so I advise caution of critical degree!”

        “Yeah, we seen what it did to GIM,” Tiff said still a little shaken.

        Ribbon interjected, “Overseer, could you establish a connection to General Dee, he’s worried sick.  The Mekkai brought harm to his men!”

        “Oh dear, this will not do!” Mecheye fretted.  “I am now establishing a connection to the Cloud Sea Weather Base!”

        Within a few moments, General Dee’s voice came up, “Overseer Mecheye, is that you?  What happened over there?!” he asked frantically.

        “We must apologize, General,” Mecheye started.  “The program aboard Meta Knight’s vessel scrambled my children’s circuits and disconnected me from them.  We are back in control now though, but in light of all these damages, we cannot help you with your troubles.  Are the Waddlekin we harmed okay?”

        “Oh thank goodness,” General Dee started with a deep sigh of relief.  “But to answer your question, yes, there were no deaths to speak of and everyone will make a full recovery.”

        “We are happy to hear of this, General,” Mecheye added.

        “Speaking of which, I have some bad news…,” General Dee began.  “We lost contact with Meta Knight and the others shortly after they boarded that evil looking ship, can’t contact them at all.  Admiral Doo can’t get his blimp close enough now to see anything without it retaliating.  Kirby, I hate to ask this, but it looks like you’ll have to go in and have a look,” he finished with a hint of regret.

        “Oh, no, Meta Knight…,” Tiff said with worry.

        “Waddle Dee…, and Dedede too…,” Adeleine followed.  

        “Poyo, Kirby find friends!” Kirby said determined.

        “We are sorry we cannot give you anymore assistance,” Mecheye stated with regret.  “But we cannot afford another encounter with that ship in our condition.  Mecha Kirby, please help with the repairs,” she finished.

        “Poyo!” Mecha Kirby cheered.  Kirby’s Warp Star made its way down the elevator shaft and waited there.  

        As Kirby and the others left to board the Warp Star, Tiff stopped near GIM’s empty shell.  “GIM, sorry we had to rough you up like that.  Please get better soon!” she said with concern.

        “We…, will endure,” GIM retorted.

        Kirby’s party left the Mekkai to recover and quickly made their way to Admiral Doo for more information, hoping he could provide more answers.