Chapter 3: Combo Cannon

Things seemed to be going rather smoothly in the bridge of the Halberd since Kirby had been shot down. Captain Vul was rather pleased with his marksmanship, while a few of the others were a little terrified by it. It didn't help much that he was still boasting about it, either.

"Did you see him plummet when that cannonball hit him? Hah! That pink puff didn't see it coming! Some warrior he is! He's no match for the Combo Cannon!"

"Y-yes, we know, Captain Vul," Mace Knight said with a wince.

"D'you think he'll come back again?" Sailor Dee asked quietly. He squeaked in surprise when Vul suddenly spun around and shot a glare at him.

"Of course not! I blasted him out of the sky!" the captain snarled. "Shot 'im down! Obliterated him! Why would he come back?"

"Uh... guys?" Axe said nervously as he stared at one of the screens.

"There's no way he could have survived a blast from the Combo Cannon!"

"Guys?"

"He was blown to smithereens! Just like th—"

"GUYS!"

"WHAAAT?" Vul squawked, turning to look at Axe. "What is it?"

"Um... Kirby's back."

Immediately everyone's attention was directed to one viewscreen that displayed something on the left side of the ship. An enormous bird with rainbow-colored, razor-shaped feathers was rapidly making its way towards the Halberd, and riding on its back was a certain unwelcome pink visitor.

"Kirby is back!" Sailor Dee exclaimed, eyes widening.

"What?" That was Sir Meta Knight. "Why is he accompanied by Dynablade?"

Vul was still staring at the screen, and his eyes narrowed in anger when he saw who else was riding on the giant bird. "Look at that!" he screeched. "Look at that! That's that low-life Blade Knight we blasted off of the back deck!"

"It is?" Mace Knight rubbed his eyes under his goggles, as though to make sure what he was seeing was real. "He's still alive...?"

"That's not the point! He's flying with Kirby! He's a traitor! A trai—"

"Captain Vul," Meta Knight said, "shut up."

The crew members on the bridge weren't the only ones to spot the monstrous bird that was flying toward the ship. Cutter, who was limping through a hallway on one of the lower levels of the ship, happened to glance out the window… and, suddenly forgetting his air sickness, did a double-take.

"What?" he exclaimed. "Dynablade...? What's she doing here?" He moved closer to the window to get a better look, but it was hard to see her from where he stood. Because of where he was on the ship, he could only see her underside. "Is she going to attack the ship...? I-is..." The Sir Kibble's eyes widened in realization. "Is she trying to help Kirby?"

"Momma Bladeburd… help lots!" Dagger exclaimed, hugging Dynablade's neck. He was riding on her shoulders, whereas Kirby was riding on her back. "Imiss yuu!"

Dynablade squawked proudly, seeming to smile despite her lack of lips. She, of course, was more than happy to help the ones who helped save one of her chicks. Instead of looking back at them, though, she faced forward as she flew toward the ship.

"Yeah, I haven't seen you in a while, either. Thanks for this, Mrs. Dynablade!" Kirby said with a smile. "Can you drop us off at the deck?"

Nodding, the bird started to turn towards the deck of the ship.

"They're getting closer!" Mace Knight shouted, holding his head in panic. "Whadowedo?"

"I'll tell you what we do!" Captain Vul swung his wing at the knight, knocking him away. "Shoot—" he rushed over to one of the consoles, "—her—" and grabbed the controls for the Combo Cannon once more, "—down!"

Before anyone could protest, Vul pulled the trigger.

A sickening CRACK sounded through the air, accompanied by a deafening screech.

"MOMMA BLADE-BURD!" Dagger screamed, eyes wide in horror as he looked over at Dynablade's left wing, the bone of which had entirely snapped from the force of the cannonball hitting it.

The bird began to spiral, holding out her one good wing in an attempt to slow her descent. She shook her head around, attempting to knock Kirby and Dagger away.

Kirby understood immediately. "Dagger, let go!" he exclaimed, frantically jumping off of Dynablade's back and puffing up. "Grab my foot!"

"No! Momma Blade-burd…" Dagger clung to her neck, tears stinging at his eyes. "Flapwings! Pleez…!"

Dynablade glanced sadly back at the Blade Knight, giving him a look that seemed to be pleading him to let go.

Dagger shook his head. "No, no...!" The Blade Knight yelped when Kirby snatched the back of his shirt. "No, nonononono…!" he whimpered as he looked down at Dynablade, who kept the same expression. He felt his heart sink as he stared into her eyes, and slowly let go.

"Let's go...!" With that, Kirby puffed up as much as possible, flying up towards the deck of the ship. "D-Dagger, look away..."

He couldn't. While he and Kirby were flying to safety, his friend was plummeting to her doom, and he could do nothing to help her.

"Momma Blade-burd...! Momma Blade-burd!"

Cutter had turned away the instant he heard the Combo Cannon fire, eyes wide in shock as he realized what had just happened. "O-oh scrap..." he stammered as he felt the blood draining from his face. "Th-they just..."

He looked back at the window, just in time to see Dynablade's tail feathers disappear from his sight. "Dynablade... Th-they just..."

"...shot down Dynablade," Axe Knight said, still somewhat in shock at what had just happened.

"W-we did?" Sailor Dee squeaked, waddling a few steps back. "W-we shot down that big bird...?"

"...Yes," Meta Knight said slowly, turning his gaze to Captain Vul. "It appears as though we have. Though I do question that course of action."

"Whaaat?" Captain Vul blurted out when he saw that all eyes were on him. "What were we supposed to do? Let her attack the ship?"

"Was she attempting to do so?"

"How the heck am I supposed to know?"

The crew stared at him for a moment before going back to their duties.

Mace Knight looked over at the screens while Axe went back to steering, and did a double-take. "W-what... b-b-but... no way!" he stammered, eyes widening beneath his goggles.

"What?" Axe turned for a second. "What do you see?"

"Kirby's on the deck! And he's with that Blade Knight!"

"HE'S STILL ALIVE?" Captain Vul shrieked. It was impossible—absolutely impossible! "How can he still be alive? I've shot him down two times already!"

"Well obviously you're not shooting him down very good," Axe remarked, then ducked when Vul shot a bullet at him.

"Relax," Sir Meta Knight said, instantly silencing the group. "We must handle this calmly."

"Yeah, yeah, I got it," Vul grumbled, turning on the microphone and speaking into it. "Listen, you lubbers! I want you all after that Kirby! This instant!"

"Dagger, come on..."

"N-no..."

Kirby stood by Dagger, who was curled up on the edge of the part of the ship they'd landed on, shivering and whimpering miserably. Kirby was looking rather upset as well, but seemed to have better control over his emotions.

"Look," Kirby said, wiping some of the tears that were stinging his eyes and placing a paw on Dagger's back. "I... I know it's terrible what happened... but we have to keep going!"

"N-no want to..." Dagger choked between sobs. "Momma Blade-burd...!"

Kirby sighed, grabbing one of Dagger's arms and moving it away from the Blade Knight's face. "Dagger, if we don't keep going—if we don't stop this whole thing, a whole lot more people're gonna get hurt. Mrs. Dynablade was trying to help us stop Meta Knight... Don't you think she'd want us to keep tryin'?"

His face stained with tears, Dagger looked up at Kirby. "Y-yah," he said, wiping his face and trying to give a determined look. "We... westop... th-them!"

Just then, the two heard the announcement that Captain Vul had made over the loudspeakers. That startled them, and Dagger hopped to his feet.

"Oh great, they know we made it back onto the deck!" Kirby exclaimed, eyes widening when he saw some of the Halberd crew members rushing toward him. "C'mon, Dagger, we have to do somth—" He did a double-take, looking at the spot where Dagger had been standing. "...Dagger?"

"BUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUH!" the Blade Knight cried, charging headlong into the crowd. They immediately stopped running, a little confused as to why someone who they thought was on their side was charging toward them. This distraction wound up causing them to get bowled over by the enraged helper, who rammed into them and knocked them off to the side.

"There we go!" Kirby said, smiling as he rushed to join his friend. "That's the Dagger I know!"

Turning to look over his shoulder, Dagger gave a determined grin and a salute. "Yah! Weget 'em!"

Cutter had heard the announcement, and was secretly relieved that Kirby was still all right, despite the captain's shooting at him twice. I think... I think I understand why he wanted to stop all of this, now, the Sir Kibble thought sadly. …Dynablade… and Dagger… Dagger…! He shut his eyes tightly, pulling on the visor of his helmet and shaking. No… I can't break down again…! I need… there… there was an announcement…

Still, despite that announcement, he was not going to go after Kirby. I need… I need to get back to Heavy Lobster... He… needs to be ready for whenever Captain Vul needs him…

The Sir Kibble paused.

For whenever…

His eyes widened. That's it, he thought. That's what I need to do. With that in mind, he continued on his way down the hall.

Captain Vul glared at the viewscreen, which displayed Kirby and the traitor Blade Knight plowing through various lackeys. "Those stupid little...!" he growled under his breath, before speaking up. "I can't believe this! Kirby and that traitor are back on the ship, and no-one's doing anything about this!" He gestured at the viewscreen with a wing. "Look, they're just walking over everybody! It's ridiculous! What sort of worthless cronies did we hire, anyway?"

He did not stop to think about the fact that he was the one who had interviewed all of them. "And you guys," he said in a low voice, with a quick glance over his shoulder. "Just sitting around here like a bunch of lazy bums!" He turned around. "What are you doing standing there, when—"

The bird froze.

Axe Knight and Mace Knight were nowhere to be found. Taking Axe's position was Sir Meta Knight, who had been silently steering the ship while Vul had gone off on his tirade. Sailor Dee, meanwhile, was observing some of the ship's monitors.

Sir Meta Knight kept his focus on the wheel, and did not turn when he spoke. "Captain Vul," he said calmly, "if you are done ranting, I would like for you to get to your duty." He indicated the wheel by tapping a gloved paw against it lightly.

As he stared, the bird's stunned expression slowly turned to one of wounded pride. "...Yes, Sir."

"Hurry up, Axe!" Mace Knight called without turning back as he charged across the deck.

"What?" Axe Knight called back. "I can't hear you!"

Mace heaved a sigh and glanced over his shoulder. "I said, 'Hurry u—'"

CLUNK!

He collided with Trident Knight, who had been running slightly ahead. "Hey, watch it!" Trident grumbled, with no slur in his speech. He glanced ahead, where Lance Knight—the only robotic member of the Meta Knights—was blasting forward, having Kirby and Dagger's position logged in his memory. The group was following him in order to confront their antagonists.

"Now approaching target," Lance droned.

Up ahead, Kirby and Dagger had been plowing through everyone that stood in their way. Seeing the group that was charging toward them, though, they screeched to a halt, looking on in surprise.

From the viewscreens on the bridge, Sir Meta Knight and Sailor Dee watched the fight that was about to ensue. "That's far enough, Kirby!" shouted the former, more in a commanding voice than an angry one.

"Fight!" Sailor Dee squeaked, curling his tiny paws into fists as best as he could.

Captain Vul listened to this, and glanced over his shoulder. "Hah... now you will know the true power of... Meta Knight!" he exclaimed, a little hesitantly, and looked back at his superior.

Meta Knight simply glanced back. Although it was always hard to judge the armored puff's emotions, Vul got the feeling that he was not impressed. Frowning, the bird turned his attention back to steering the ship.

"Yuu!" Dagger exclaimed, pointing a finger at the group of knights in front of him. "Iknow... yuu!"

Mace, who had been preparing to rush forward and attack, stopped, blinking a few times. "Uh, yeah... I... know you, too."

"I don't think I've seen 'im before." Axe cocked his head—or body—to one side. "Aside from on the viewscreens..."

"...Hi!" Dagger said, suddenly grinning and waving cheerfully.

Kirby flinched. "Um... Dagger..."

"So uh, what are you doing on Kirby's side?" Mace asked, scratching the back of his head awkwardly.

"Buh?" Dagger looked back at Kirby, blinking, then turned back to face Mace Knight. "Ihelp... him... 'cuz Halb'rd stuff... bad."

"It is?" Axe asked.

"Yah." The Blade Knight gave a sage-like nod. "It bad."

"Um..." Mace glanced back at Axe and Trident, who returned his bewildered look.

"Dagger?" Kirby tugged on his helper's side.

"Yah?" Dagger glanced down at the puffball.

"They're the bad guys, too," he whispered.

"Oh." Dagger looked up at the Meta Knights, blinking, then did a double-take. "OH!" He pointed at them again, glaring this time. "Yuu bad!"

"We are?" Axe asked, tilting his head to the other side.

Mace answered him by knocking the handle of his mace into Axe's helmet. "Just fight them, you idiot!"

At those words, Kirby and Dagger rushed forward.

Fix Heavy Lobster, fix Heavy Lobster, fix Heavy Lobster… Cutter repeated that phrase in his head, trying to focus on it and nothing else. If he let his mind wander, he would ultimately go back to thinking about what had happened earlier during the takeoff, and he couldn't afford that now. He had to keep his focus on his task. Slowly he hobbled down the hallway, stopped at a particular door, and carefully opened it.

The place where Heavy Lobster was being repaired was similar to the lab that it had been built in. Some Dreamlanders were swarming the offline robot, working to put it back together. At the same time, a couple other Dreamlanders, who were looking rather bored, were sitting at some nearby consoles, which the robot was hooked to.

When the door creaked open, however, those two Dreamlanders looked up and gave a start. "Dude—Cutter, is that you?" Blaze blurted out, eyes wide.

"Wow, so you really did survive!" Wade looked the Sir Kibble over. "Geez, you're a mess!"

"Yeah, you aren't looking too great. Shouldn't you be at the med ward or something?"

Cutter hung in the doorway for a moment, mentally preparing himself for the stress of dealing with his co-workers. "…I'll be fine," he said slowly, starting to limp toward the consoles. "Captain Vul wanted me to help repair Heavy Lobster."

"You work too hard, man," Blaze said, crossing his paws. "If I were you, I'd just chill for a while."

"But you can't chill!" Wade pointed out, turning to look at his friend. "You're on fire!"

"You bet'cha!" the Burnin' Leo said with a wink, and he and his co-worker burst into laughter at their own jokes.

If Cutter were in a less somber mood, he would probably be fighting the urge to bang his head against one of the consoles. As it was, though, he climbed up onto a chair with some effort, and tried to focus on his job. "So what are we d—"

"Seriously, Cutter," Blaze said, scooting his chair closer to the Sir Kibble. He grabbed a hold of one of his shoulder guards and shook it. "You need to take a break for a while! I mean, you almost died!"

Cutter cringed.

"Yeah, you barely made it out alive!" Wade affirmed with a nod. "Not like that Blade Knight that got blasted straight into the Orange Ocean."

"I'm tellin' ya, I'm so glad we're not on the deck right n—" Blaze gave a start when Cutter tipped completely off of the chair he'd been sitting on. Straitening up, the Burnin' Leo looked down at his co-worker. "…Uh, Cutter?"

Cutter stayed on the floor, making no effort to get up. I need to get to work, I can't think about that right now, I can't, I can't, I can't I can't… His armor was clattering from his shaking at this point.

Wade and Blaze exchanged glances before the former hopped down from his chair, and approached Cutter. "Hey, are you all right?" he asked, reaching down to help the armored puff up.

Before the Waddle Dee could do anything, Cutter picked up one of the crutches that was lying on the floor and swiftly pointed it at Wade, causing him to back off. "I'm fine," he said, with much more force than he thought he was capable of using. Slowly he got up, and climbed back onto the chair. "What are we doing."

"U-um…" Blaze blinked. "We were just… programming Heavy Lobster to keep away from certain parts of the ship…"

"Y-yeah, any place that might hurt him, like the back deck," Wade explained as he climbed back onto his chair. "Then he won't go there if he's chasing Kirby again."

Cutter could see the map on one of the screens, with a few areas marked in red. "…Yeah, I see," he murmured with a short nod. Wordlessly he began to work on the program, keying in places that would bring potential harm to the robot. He said nothing, and neither did his co-workers.

"Uuughhh... My everything hurts..." Axe groaned as he dragged himself toward the bridge.

"Sir Meta Knight is going to kill us...!" Mace whined, limping after his companion. "I can't believe we lost to Kirby!"

"That Blade Knight was helping him, though," Trident pointed out, grunting a little as he hauled a very busted-up Lance Knight behind him. "That's how Lance got smashed."

"Don't you get smashed, too, while we're on this ship," Mace spat as he gave the other knight a quick glance over his shoulder guard. "We're gonna be in enough trouble as it is!"

"I'm not going to." Trident hoisted Lance onto his shoulder. "I need to repair Lance."

"You sure are smart when you're sober," Axe said. "You should do that more often!"

"Mind your own business, Axe."

The three knights and the busted robot stopped at the door to the bridge. Axe and Mace looked at Trident, who tossed Lance unceremoniously to the floor and casually leaned against the robot's casing, glancing at his two companions expectantly, as though to say, "Well, are you going?"

The two exchanged glances, gulped simultaneously, and limped into the bridge.

"Took you morons long enough!" Captain Vul shouted upon the door's opening. "Axe, get over here and steer the ship!"

"Uh... A-aye-aye, sir!" the skull-masked knight stammered, scrambling over to his usual post. As he did so, Vul knocked him in the head. "Ow!"

"That's for losing to Kirby, you lazy bum!" the bird squawked.

"They tried," Sir Meta Knight said, glancing at Mace as the knight cautiously scooted over to the monitors. "Kirby is not to be underestimated."

"That's for sure," Mace groaned, rubbing his forehead as he looked up at the screens. "Speaking of Kirby, it looks like he's trying to get up to the top deck."

"Ah, is that so?" Vul asked, grinning as he crossed his wings. "Well then, let's guide him in front of the Combo Cannon!"

"Didn't expect that plan," Axe commented, only to duck when the captain fired a bullet at him.

"...It might work," Sir Meta Knight said slowly. "Close all paths in Kirby's way, other than those that lead to the Combo Cannon."

"Yessir." Mace Knight looked down at the console in front of him, and began to fiddle with the dials that controlled the elevators.

"Hmmm, d'you really think that'll work?" Sailor Dee stood on the tips of his feet, trying to get a better look at what Mace was doing, only to be pushed aside by Captain Vul.

"Of course." The grin on his face grew wider as he watched Kirby and Dagger on the ship's monitors. "Nothing can get past the Combo Cannons... Nothing."

Dagger heaved a sigh, rubbing his right arm a little. He'd just barely missed getting hit by Mace's weapon, although one of its spikes had grazed his arm. "Buh... We win?"

"Yeah, they ran off," Kirby replied, dusting himself off.

"Wefollow?"

"Nah, we'll get to them later if we have to." He began dart over to another part of the ship. "C'mon!"

With a "buh" of surprise, the Blade Knight hopped up, and rushed after his friend. "Whatwe do?"

"We have some other stuff to take care of first," Kirby explained as he ran. "Those Meta Knights are tough, but they're not so tough without their warship! We're gonna take down the ship, and that should teach 'em!"

Dagger glanced around the ship, wondering what exactly Kirby wanted to "take down." Soon he noticed an elevator that was making its way down its shaft. "That down," he said, pointing at it.

Kirby screeched to a halt, turning to look at what Dagger was pointing at. "Huh?" He blinked, staring at the elevator for a moment. "Hey, just what I was looking for!" he cheered, rushing over to the elevator and hopping inside. "Let's go!"

"'Kay." Dagger carefully stepped on as well, looking around the small car and spotting a large "up" arrow button. Fascinated, he reached out and pushed it. Instantly the button lit up and the elevator began to ascend, causing the Blade Knight to start a little.

"Going up!" Kirby said with a slight laugh. "This'll take us up higher, to the top deck."

"'Kay," Dagger said with a nod, though he'd already forgotten why they were going up there. He blinked when the elevator gave a "ding!" noise and the doors opened. "Buh? It stop!"

"Yeah, that's 'cuz it brought us up a floor." Kirby stepped out of the car, but then rubbed his head in confusion. "Huh, guess it didn't take us to the top deck..."

"Do 'gain!" Dagger grinned, pressing the large "up" button once more. Oddly enough, it didn't light up this time, and the elevator remained stationary. "...Buuuuh?"

"Guess that's as high as this one goes..." Kirby said as he crossed his arms. "We'll have to find another one." With that, he turned around and began to walk down the hall, Dagger following.

It wasn't long before the two happened upon another elevator, but, like the last one, this one only took them up one floor as well, but never took them any higher or lower. The two found this as odd, but didn't question it too much. Instead, they continued to ascend different elevators, not really paying too much attention as to what part of the ship they were taking them to…

As they got off of yet another elevator, Kirby nodded in satisfaction. "We've gone up a lot of elevators, so I think we're almost there!"

And as soon as he said that, he yelped as something began firing at him rapidly.

Dagger quickly glanced to Kirby's side, where a Shotzo was hiding in the shadows. "Lookout!" he called, charging at his friend and tackling him out of the way of the cannon's line of fire.

The cannon, noticing its targets' new position, quickly re-adjusted and fired again. This time, though, the cannonballs sailed right over Kirby and Dagger's heads.

"Hah! Missed us!" Kirby said, sticking his tongue out as he and Dagger darted away from the Shotzo... only to drop into the hole it had blasted in the floor. "Waaaah!"

Dagger, seeing Kirby fall, attempted to stop running, but unfortunately fell through the hole as well. "BUUUUUH!"

The two of them dropped to the floor beneath, groaning a little. "Buuuuh... Thathurt..." Dagger whined, sitting up. "...It dark!"

"Ow... Yeah, it is." Kirby stood up, and began feeling around the wall. "Lessee... Here we go!" With that, he flipped on the light switch, and turned back to look at the illuminated room. "...W-what the...?"

"What... is this place?" Mace wondered aloud, giving the monitors a funny look.

"Iunno!" Axe replied, turning to look at the monitors as well. "Never seen it bef—ack!" He turned back to the steering wheel when Captain Vul smacked him with a wing, and grumbled a little.

"...Interesting," Sir Meta Knight said, glancing over at Sailor Dee, who was blushing a little.

"O-oh..." the Dee said quietly. "So that's where I left them..."

Kirby and Dagger stared up at a number of shelves lined with bags and containers of colorful, delicious candy.

"...I know we've got a mission to do, but... I think we can put that on hold for a minute." Kirby grinned. "Take five, Dagger!"

"Buh-huh!" Dagger cheered, charging over to one of the shelves. Quickly he wrapped his tongue around one of the jars of candy, and swallowed it whole. Kirby did more or less the same thing, though with the aid of his inhaling powers rather than a prehensile tongue. The two made quick work of the candy stash, and soon found themselves collapsed on the floor, on the verge of a food coma.

"That was yummy," Kirby said, a slightly dazed smile on his face. He glanced around the room, noting a few discarded (but empty) jars and bags, as well as a single lollypop that lay on the ground. "Hey Dagger, you missed one."

"Buh?" The Blade Knight looked up, spotting the candy on the floor. "Oh!" Smiling a little, he reached over with his tongue and swallowed the lollypop whole. Immediately he froze, eyes growing wide, and started to shake.

Kirby watched his friend, a little worried. "Uh... Dagger, you all right?"

Suddenly Dagger's eyes began to spin, and a crazy grin spread across his face. "WhhhhEeeeEEeEeEEEEEEEEEE!" he squealed, jumping up and running around the room at blinding speeds. It wasn't long before he started running up on the walls of the room, either.

"...Aw, I want an invincibility lollypop..." Kirby whined, sticking out his paw and grabbing the back of Dagger's shirt as the Blade neared him. "I get the next one we find!"

Dagger likely was not coherent enough to understand what his friend said, as, rather than acknowledging Kirby's statement, he charged up to the ceiling and through the hole they'd come from. He charged down the hallway and up yet another wall, this time somehow managing to plow straight through the ceiling.

"Well, this sure beats takin' the elevator!"

"Uhhh, should we be worried about this?" Mace Knight asked with a wince.

"Don't think so," Axe responded. "Kirby's gettin' closer to the Combo Cannon, isn't he?"

"You bet he is!" Captain Vul squawked in delight. "He'll be burnt to a crisp! Hahahahahahaha!"

Sailor Dee joined in with his own squeaky laugh. "Hehehe!" Axe and Mace exchanged glances, and joined in the chorus of laughter as well, filling the bridge with their guffaws.

This went on for a few moments before Sailor Dee, Mace, and Axe all dropped out, in that order, leaving Captain Vul laughing maniacally to himself.

"Bwahahahahhaa!" he cackled, glancing back at the others, only to slowly become aware that no-one else was laughing anymore. "Gahahahaa...! ...Hm." He cleared his throat, and went back to staring at the screen. "...Any time, now."

CRASH!

Dagger smashed through the roof, flying up into the air for a moment before landing on the top deck. "Heheheheheeeee!" he giggled, starting to run around again.

"Wooooah, there!" Kirby called from his perch atop the Blade Knight's shoulders. He had donned a pink cowboy hat, and was using the Blade's tongue as reigns. "Settle down, pardner! I think we're there!"

Of course, Dagger didn't pay attention, instead opting to run around in circles like an idiot as his sugar rush continued.

That lasted for all of two seconds, before an enormous blast of energy was fired inches above his head.

"...This ship ain't big enough for the both of us," Kirby murmured, taking off his cowboy hat (which now had the top half fried off) as he looked up at what had fired the beam. "Dagger, look."

The Blade Knight, now looking a little stunned, shuddered a little and looked up to see two enormous cannons, the top of which almost seemed to be glaring down at him. "Buuuuh?"

Kirby hopped off of Dagger's shoulders and landed next to his friend, but still stared ahead, glaring a little. "That's the thing that hurt Mrs. Dynablade."

"BUH?" Dagger blurted out, eyes widening. But soon they narrowed in rage, and he struck a ready pose next to his friend. "Yuu jurk!"

Somewhere nearby, an intercom crackled to life. "Hahahahahaha! This is the end, Kirby!" came Captain Vul's voice. The top cannon lowered its nozzle, pointed at both Kirby and Dagger. "Do you surrender?"

"Yeah, right!"

"Nuuu! Yuu bad!"

"Good!" Vul replied. "Bye-bye..." With that, the intercom turned off, and the second cannon sprung to life, opening up and starting to glow.

"Watch out!" Kirby cried, leaping into the air and puffing up.

Dagger did the same, snagging Kirby's foot as the puffball struggled to stay in the air. A massive beam blasted out of the bottom cannon, just barely missing the sole of Dagger's boot. "Buh...!" he whimpered, eyes wide as he held up one of his feet. The rubber on the bottom of his boot had melted a little, and he gulped.

"WOAH!" Kirby yelled, immediately dropping from the air. He grabbed Dagger's tongue and yanked him low to the ground as a massive cannonball sailed over their heads.

Dagger recognized the looks of the cannonball as the one that had broken Dynablade's wing, and retracted his tongue, gritting his teeth in rage. "It bad...!"

"Yeah, it's bad, but how do we stop it...?" Kirby glanced around, noticing the hole that Dagger had made in the deck from when he'd plowed through the ship. "Wait, that's it!" He darted off a distance, looking up at the top cannon and making a face. "Blaaaaah!"

Instead of the top cannon, though, the bottom cannon fired, the beam just barely going over Kirby's head.

"...Eheheh... that didn't work..." he said sheepishly, twitching a little. He shook it off, though, looking determined again. "Help me, Dagger!" With that, he began making faces at the top cannon again.

The Blade Knight had no idea what Kirby thought he was doing, but he wasn't going to not help his friend. Giving a nod, he rushed to the pink puff's side before turning around and facing the Combo Cannon, making faces as well.

As the two of them did this, the top cannon turned its nozzle toward them, as though it were about to fire. Before it did, though, Dagger (who had his paws at the sides of his head and was sticking his tongue forward in a silly face) suddenly gagged as something grabbed him tightly around the middle. He kicked and struggled in the grip of a giant mechanical claw, which hoisted him high up into the air above the top deck.

"Dagger!" Kirby cried in horror, losing his concentration. Suddenly the floor beneath him rose, and the lower cannon shot another beam at him. He narrowly dodged the beam, rolling off of the raised platform. "Guh...!"

Immediately after the beam stopped, the Combo Cannon's mechanical arm slammed Dagger into the deck, and released him. The Blade Knight gagged and wheezed, fighting to get his breath back. "Kur... bee...!"

Kirby looked at Dagger, then turned to glare at the massive cannon. "What's this thing's weakness...?"

"You idiot," crackled Vul's voice over the intercom. "The Combo Cannon has no weaknesses! It's invincible, unlike you! Bombs away!" With that, the cannon's arm began chucking a volley of bombs at Kirby and Dagger.

"Bombs..." Kirby repeated as he dodged the cannon's attacks. "...Bombs! That's it!" He opened his mouth wide, starting to inhale some of the bombs. As he did so, though, he noticed the bottom cannon charging and the floor beneath Dagger rising, and started to choke. "DAGGER!" He frantically spat the bombs out at the cannon, and charged at his friend, knocking him off of the platform before he was scorched by the beam cannon.

The two looked up, waiting until the beam stopped before they could see the results of the attack. Much to their dismay, there was not a scratch on the machine. "That didn't work...?"

Dagger gave Kirby an aside glance, holding up his tongue, which was wrapped around a still-lit bomb, and giving a questioning whimper.

"WOAH!" The pink puffball hurriedly knocked the bomb out of Dagger's grip and up into the air, where it sailed straight into the nozzle of the top cannon. "Whew, that was close..." He stood up, and helped Dagger to his feet. "Now let's—"

His voice broke off into a yelp as the cannon began to shake, belching flames out of its muzzle. "Let's get outta' here!" he cried, booking it away from the Combo Cannon, Dagger stumbling after him.

The two frantically leaped off of the top deck, just as a violent explosion rang out from behind them.

Chapter 2: Declaration << Previous | Next >> Chapter 4: Heavy Lobster