While Clare and Anny had their eyes on her, Daisy started telling her story, “So, it all begins with when I first met Grace. I was walking around in Green Greens’ forest area, because at the time I was studying interactions between various creatures from there. When I was there, I was observing some Poppy Bros. Srs. training some Poppy Bros. Jrs. Nothing out of the ordinary. However, soon I noticed one of the Srs. was training a different kind of group… Perots.”
“Perots? What is a Perot?” asked Clare.
“Perots are really similar to Poppy Bros. Jrs.,” said Daisy, “however they have a key difference… Perots’ faces look like clowns. Or more specifically… Mimes.”
“Oh… So they don’t talk?”
Daisy nodded. “Precisely. And Perots also don’t change their facial expression… And up until then, I had never made a connection that they were actually Poppy Bros. Jrs….”
“Oh?!” Clare said, surprised.
“Indeed. Watching the Poppy Bros. Sr. train those Perots, I realized they were once Poppy Bros. Jrs. And I also noticed that they were much more skilled than the Poppy Bros. Jrs., so I concluded that was the goal of those Srs.: to turn all the Jrs. into Perots.”
Anny started saying, “Ok, cool… But what does that have to do with Grace?”
“Didn’t you make the connection yet?” asked Daisy.
Anny stopped to think for a moment, and realized, “Wait… You mean…”
“Yes,” Daisy said, imagining that Anny had understood what she was going to say. “I then saw a kirby in the middle of all that training, and she was doing pretty well. But I noticed she didn’t say a word, even when the Srs. talked to her. After observing her for a while, I ultimately noticed she was taking the same training as those Jrs., and was going to turn into a mime! I couldn’t allow that.”
“Do you have anything against mimes?” asked Anny.
Daisy sighed. “No, that’s not it. I…” Daisy closed her eyes. “I just had a hunch that for some reason Grace liked to talk… And that that could hurt her if it continued like that…” Daisy opened her eyes. “So I just followed my instincts… and when Grace was out of sight of everyone else, I grabbed her hand and just dragged her away.”
“Just like that?”
“Indeed. Looking back, it’s curious that Grace didn’t resist…”
Grace, who had been listening to the whole story, thought to herself, “And looking back, I’m glad I didn’t resist. I got enough training to get stronger, but not too much to lose my identity…”
“…In either case, I brought her to Peanut Plains, very far from where we were, and that was when I questioned her about all that: what were those Poppy Bros. Srs. trying to do with her? Why was she there? Did she agree to all that? However, no matter what I asked, she wouldn’t say a word.”
“Typical Grace,” said Anny.
“That was when I decided to ask a different question: I asked who she was. And, to my surprise, she said, and I quote, ‘I’m Grace.’. That was all. I tried to make her say more, but it was all in vain. Ultimately, I gave up.”
“Fair enough…”
“And this is all I know regarding Grace not talking. After that, I never really saw her speak again. Until minutes ago, of course.”
“Aww…” Clare was disappointed. “I thought you knew exactly why she doesn’t talk…”
“Well, I do have a huge lead, and I think it’s due to her training, but indeed, I don’t know anything other than that. I certainly don’t know why she continued to not talk after I forced her to stop that training.”
“That sure is weird…” Anny said, thinking about all she had just heard.
Grace sighed quietly, and thought to herself, “Maybe one day they will understand… Regardless, when will one of them realize that maybe Anny can destroy this orb?”
“Either way,” Daisy started saying, and looked at the orb, “while I was explaining all this, I had an idea about this orb.”
“Oh? What is it?” Clare asked, very curious.
Daisy looked at Anny and said, “Well, Anny, it’s awfully similar to orbs you can create, right?”
Anny looked at Daisy and replied, “Yeah, duh. I noticed that right away. And that Panee guy apparently copied the power I have, so…”
“Well, if you can create them, maybe you can destroy them too?” Daisy suggested.
“Huh?”
Anny was in shock. She hadn’t thought about that, but it was such a simple idea that she felt dumb about not thinking of it before. “Wait, duh…” she said out loud. “Good point, Daisy. Let’s see!”
Anny pointed her wand upwards and waved it a couple times. However, nothing happened. Disappointed, she tried waving it again, but yet again nothing happened. Now mad, she waved it one more time, but got the same results.
“Ughh!” she screamed in anger. “Why does it not work?!”
“Really? You thought I would leave such a simple loophole?”
Anny turned back and saw Panee, who was close enough to the orb to talk to them who were inside it. Both confused and angry, Anny asked, “But why can’t I just make it disappear? I’ve always been able to…”
“But it was always orbs you created!” Panee said. “This one I created, so only I can make it disappear like that!”
“Oh…” Anny said with a low voice. She got really embarrassed for trying that and failing, even though she seriously expected it to work.
“Anyway,” Panee said as he turned his back to them, “I wasted too much time with you all again. Back to business…”
Daisy looked at him and said, “Wait, now that you mention it, why are you back? Didn’t you say you were going to look for others?”
Panee shrugged. “Yeah, but I found no one nearby, so first I thought to go check back to make sure you won’t try escaping.”
“But… You just said only you can destroy the orb…” Clare said, thoughtful.
Panee gulped, and realized that he had accidentally said too much. However, before he could even think about said situation, he heard a voice. Or rather, two voices.
“You know that I will win this time!”
“Just keep dreaming, just keep dreaming…”
High in the sky, Natty and Matt were having a race, arguing with each other as they flew.
“You’re not going to win today!” shouted Natty.
“Just accept your defeat,” said Matt with a smirk. “I’m in front of you!”
Natty got even angrier, since Matt was actually saying the truth this time: he had a small lead. “Not so fast,” she said, as she started flapping her wings faster and started accelerating a bit. “I can go faster than that; I was just testing you.”
Matt chuckled, as he looked back at Natty. “Oh, reall—”
Before he could finish, however, he was surprised by a mirror that had suddenly appeared in front of him, and he crashed into it.
“What the?!” said Natty, in shock and confused about what she had just seen happen to Matt.
Due to the crash, Matt fainted, and thus his jetpack turned off. He immediately started falling down, in free fall.
Natty promptly changed the course of her flight and started flying in Matt’s direction, trying to save him. When she was about to catch him, however, a mirror appeared between her and him, and she came to a full stop right in front of it.
“What is with these mirrors now?!” she thought.
Due to the interruption, Matt continued falling until he reached the ground… or, rather, someone’s hat.
“Ouch!” said Daisy. Something had just fallen on her hat.
“Oh, what is this?” said Clare, curious.
“You mean ‘who’ is this…” said Anny, looking at that kirby. “Wait,” she realized, “wasn’t he in the meeting too?”
“Oh, right!” said Clare, recognizing him. “I think his name was Matt?”
“No matter, guess he’s also stuck here with us now…” said Daisy, as she looked up. “And he’s unconscious?”
“Did Panee attack him?!” asked Clare.
“I guess so…” said Anny.
Still flying, Natty spotted a rainbow-colored orb from afar, and noticed Matt was inside it along with other kirbies she had seen before. Although she couldn’t fully understand what was going on, she understood that they weren’t inside it because they wanted to.
“I have to help them!” she thought. “But how…”
Before she could even start thinking of something, she noticed another mirror near her and dodged it. She flew around trying to find who was throwing those mirrors, when she looked down and spotted a white kirby on the ground.
“Hey there, Natty!” Panee greeted her, with a smile.
“…Do I know you?” Natty asked, confused.
“Do you? Well, but I know you! And I want you to join your friends inside that orb.” Panee smirked.
Natty got even more confused. “What is that orb all about even?!”
Panee continued smirking. “Well, nothing that important… I guess some sort of party? Yeah, totally that.”
Natty realized Panee was mocking her, and she said, “…Yeah, I’m not dumb. So you’re capturing kirbies? No good!”
“Yes good…” Panee got his wand ready. “Join them!”
Panee pointed his wand upwards and a mirror was shot in Natty’s direction. Dodging it was a piece of cake for Natty, however, who is very agile in the air. She realized she needed to do something, so she got ready to launch a powerful attack.
Panee noticed Natty was about to attack him, and put out his rainbow shield. Right after, Natty took a deep breath and started flapping her wings really fast, shooting hundreds of feathers in Panee’s direction. His shield managed to reflect the feathers, but their impact on the shield made him lose balance, little by little. Before he could realize what was going on, Panee fell off, accidentally made his shield go down, and was hit by the flock of feathers. Promptly after, his hat disappeared and a yellow star popped off from him, and it disappeared in a flash. With his face now on the ground, he, who was barely conscious, realized that he had lost his Copy Ability due to the damage he had just received.
Natty noticed she had attacked Panee successfully, so she stopped her attack and started running away. “I need to find some help to save them!” she thought.
Panee, on the other hand, was recovering from the attack. “Ugh…” he thought. “She made me lose my ability… Screw you, Natty… Speaking of…”
Panee looked up, looking for Natty, when he saw her flying away. “So she’s running away?” he thought. “What a coward…”
Panee got up and started looking around. “It doesn’t matter anyway, as I need to find another ability, otherwise I will be no match for them…”
He ran in the direction of Kirby’s house, as if looking for something. As he passed right in front of the rainbow orb, the kirbies inside it observed him.
“Hah, he lost Mirror… Now I’m the only one here with Mirror!” Anny said, very happy.
“Eh, now that you say it… If he lost it, how is this orb still up?” asked Clare.
“What do you mean?” Anny asked back.
Clare explained, “If he could only create this thanks to those powers, and he lost the powers… How did this not disappear?”
Anny stopped to think for a moment, and then said, “Huh, good question…”
“So, huh… He’s still laying down on me…”
Clare looked at Daisy and observed Matt. He was snoring, but quietly.
“Aww, how cute, he’s napping! I bet your hat is really soft…” Clare said with a smile.
20 Times Kirby! 