Chapter Text
Within the next few days. Kirby and Gooey were on their way to a museum in a nearby town. They followed Meta Knight as the snow gently fell from above. Gooey had been to this town a few times before, and usually it was to get some food, but a lot of people would give him confused looks. Kirby said that they probably thought he was a different species, and he could believe it in all honesty. After all, he didn't look like a typical Dark Matter.
...None of that was important, though. Once they entered the museum, they were greeted by a large striped cat with large teeth. Gooey tilted his head in confusion. Didn't Nago say they were gone?
"Good day, gentlemen." said the cat. "And how may I assist you?"
"I thought sabertooths were extinct," Gooey said out loud, which earned him shocked glances from both Kirby and Meta Knight. Thankfully, the cat didn't look too bothered by the comment.
"I'm a Galbel Tiger," said the cat. "Not quite a sabertooth, but close enough."
"Right, please forgive us," Meta Knight said calmly. "And I assume the sabertooth is on display, now?"
"Of course," the cat replied as it nodded. "You'll find it in the Prehistoric Exhibit. Please enjoy your stay."
"We will, thank you."
The group began to make their way over to the exhibit. Near the entrance, a certain penguin stood by a large skeleton. It looked like it once belonged to a huge beast with massive jaws and a long tail. Its empty eye sockets stared at nothing.
"Oh, I didn't think we'd have living dinosaurs running around," Kirby teased.
"Very funny, kid." Dedede said as he gave Kirby an annoyed look. Of course, Gooey floated over to the penguin and nearly tackled him. "What are you doing here, Dedede?"
"Ado said she wanted to check out the art exhibit, so I figured I'd wander around a bit, too." Dedede told him.
"So you wanted to look at the fossils, too?" Gooey asked. Dedede replied with a nod. "I was always more of a robot kid than a dino kid, but fossils are cool, too."
"You think so?"
"Yeah, dinos used to live even before Meta Knight was born."
"So they're all extinct, too?"
"Not exactly," Meta Knight replied, he looked as if he was smirking under his mask. "For example, Dedede himself is a dinosaur!"
"No, he's a bird." Gooey added.
"Technically, he's not wrong." Dedede replied. "I'm no t-rex, but I AM a dinosaur."
Gooey went quiet as he tried to think. That couldn't be right, could it? Then again, he didn't know enough about them to argue about it, either.
"Hey, did you still wanna go see the sabretooth?" Kirby asked as he patted Gooey's head for attention. Meta Knight glared in response. "Don't rush him!"
"No, it's OK." Gooey replied. "You guys go ahead, I'll catch up to you later!"
Kirby nodded as he ran further into the exhibit, happily shouting. "I'll meet you back at the entrance when we're done, OK!?"
"Kirby, wait!" Meta Knight yelled as he chased after the puffball. That just left Gooey with Dedede, but he was happy to see his "dad" here, and the penguin was happy to see him, too.
"So you're not lying?" Gooey asked. "Are you really a dinosaur?"
"Yep, all birds are dinos." Dedede told Gooey. "I remember when my dad told me that, so for the longest time I thought my birth parents were raptors or somethin'."
"Awe," Gooey said with a frown. "But he meant well, didn't he?"
"Yeah, he never liked to hide the fact that I was adopted." Dedede replied as a smile grew on his beak. "Not that he could of course."
"Of course!"
The duo slowly made their way through the exhibit, many of the fossils here ranged from being huge beasts to small bugs to even ancient plants. It was hard to believe that these were what lived on this planet so long ago. There was even a butterfly sitting inside what looked like a yellow rock.
"Oh hey, they've got amber here, too!"
"The butterfly's name is Amber?"
"No, I'm talking about the sap the butterfly's in."
"Oh..."
Gooey looked closer at the fossils, though he turned away and sneezed as the dust entered his airways. Still, they looked cool. He had to wonder if some of these things were alive out there somewhere...
...The Dark Matter shook his head, if there was life on other planets then surely they'd have their fossils, too.
"Somthin' wrong, kid?"
"No, but do you think that other planets still have these?" Gooey asked as he floated beside Dedede. The penguin thought for a moment as he brought his hand under his beak. "Some do, yeah. I know Neo Star still has dinos runnin' around."
"Maybe we should go to Neo Star, then."
"Maybe someday, kid."
Soon, the duo walked around some more, empty eye sockets greeted them as they walked by the ancient beasts. They eventually made their way to the sabertooth. It had the skull that Meta Knight had given to the museum, but it also had a body. Where did it come from?
"...Did Meta Knight donate the rest of it?"
"I don't think so," Dedede said as he shook his head. "I'm sure some of the bones were donated by someone else."
"But they're not all from the same cat, are they?"
"Probably not," Dedede told him. "But you've gotta admit, it looks cool."
Gooey locked eyes with the sabertooth skeleton, so it was made of different beings? Some of its bones belonged to other sabertooths, and those sabertooths had their own lives a long time ago...
...Suddenly, an idea hit Gooey. He excitedly floated around the penguin as he spoke loudly. "This thing's just like me!"
"What?" Dedede asked with a deadpan expression.
"Remember what I told you what happened when a Dark Matter died?"
"...It had something to do with reincarnation, right?" Dedede asked as he tried to think. Gooey quickly shook his head. "Close, when a Dark Matter dies, we're reduced to Dark Energy. That way, Lord Zero can consume that energy and create more Dark Matter. In other words, all the energy used from other Dark Matter can create a new one."
"Ah...so it's kind of like mixing some liquids together and getting something new, right?"
"Exactly!" Gooey said excitedly. "So this sabertooth is kinda like a new sabertooth!"
"But...it's not even alive."
"No, but it's here to show us what their bones looked like, right?"
"Sure, kid...whatever you say!"
Gooey was smiling, perhaps all the other displays in the museum were like this as well? All of the bones here belonged to many different creatures, and now they were here to share parts of themselves with the modern world. It wasn't quite a cemetery, but in a way it felt peaceful here.
"So since we're still here, did you wanna look at the other exhibits?" Dedede offered. "There's still the art exhibit, and then there's one on ancient artifacts."
"Oh, sure!" Gooey replied. "Lemme just look at the rest of the fossils first!"
Seeing all of the fossils really made Gooey's day, but the museum still had plenty to offer. And once he was done here, he followed Dedede into the next exhibit.
Compared to the fossil exhibit, the art exhibit looked a bit "cleaner". Then again, it was probably because it wasn't full of dead things. There were a lot of statues here, but there were also plenty of paintings here. Some of them were even alive, as Gooey had found himself staring at a painting of fish. The fish themselves swam around like they were inside of a fish tank.
"So who painted this one?" Gooey asked Dedede.
"Just a kid named Paint Roller," Dedede told Gooey. "I've commissioned him a few times for some of the art in the castle."
"...None of it's alive, is it?" Gooey asked with concern. Dedede shook his head. "Not that I know of, but if they were I probably wouldn't be able to sleep at night."
"You barely sleep at night."
"That's not the point."
Still, Gooey understood what Dedede meant. He probably wouldn't be able to sleep either if any of his drawings came to life at night. Not far from where they were was Ado, she stared at a painting of Cloudy Park's mountain. When Gooey looked closer, he noticed that the artist who made it used tiny dots in order to make the picture. It must've taken forever to complete it.
"...GAH!" Ado yelled as he stumbled backwards and landed on her backside. "Gees, Gooey...you scared me!"
"Sorry..."
"So you likin' the museum, so far?" Dedede asked as he offered one of his hands to help the human. Ado nodded as she grabbed his hand and stood. "It's like our museum back home."
"You guys had a museum?" Gooey asked. Ado replied with a nod. "There was a LOT of different art displayed back home, most of it was from our family, but I really like seeing all the art here, too."
"So in other words, you're a spoiled rich kid like me." Dedede teased. Ado playfully pushed him in response.
"Did you see the fossils, yet?" Gooey asked. Ado shook her head. "Not yet, I was gonna go there after I was done looking at the art."
"Well you gotta go there!" Gooey said, almost as if he was demanding it. "There's a lotta cool animal skeletons and little fossils and-"
"OK, kid. Take it easy." Dedede said as he gently rubbed Gooey's head. Gooey hummed softly as he closed his eyes, as he'd calmed down almost instantly.
"So I take it that you like fossils, Gooey?"
"Oh, he LOVED them." Dedede told the human. "Didn't you, Gooey?"
"Yeah, they're REALLY cool."
"Then I'll just have to make my way over there." Ado replied. "Now if you'll excuse me."
Ado smiled as she practically ran towards the fossil exhibit. Once again, Gooey and Dedede were all alone. The Dark Matter looked up at the penguin and tilted his head. "Since we're still here, what's your favorite art thing?"
"Well I REALLY like the portraits of my castle," Dedede said, though Gooey couldn't tell if he was messing with him. Nonetheless, he gave Dedede an annoyed look.
"OK, OK! Let's see..." The penguin looked around at the exhibit for a little bit. As he moved some of the art moved with him. Eyes would look in his direction, water would spray in his presence much to his annoyance...It wasn't until he stopped in front of a landscape painting. It wasn't a "living" painting like some of the others. Instead, it was a simple landscape painting of the Grass Lands.
"...I remember this," Dedede said as he looked down at Gooey. "When that human first started living here he'd ask my dad if he could paint somethin' from the castle...What was his name again, Cedar?"
"Oh, you're talkin' about Ado's Great Grandpa?"
"That's the one," Dedede told Gooey. "I think I asked him once why he liked painting so much, he said he wanted to capture this world's beauty...or somethin' like that."
It made sense. It would've been easier to take a picture or something, but paintings like this were a special thing. Maybe Ado felt the same way, too? It was always fun seeing what this world had to offer.
Later that day, the duo made their way to the artifacts exhibit. In the middle of the room was a fountain with some kind of wand at the top. Nago was here along with Coo and Kine.
"Isn't that the fountain you talked about, before?" Gooey asked Dedede.
"Yep, that's what the Fountain of Dreams looks like." Dedede told him. "But I promise, the real one looks better."
"Hey, guys. Did you see the fossils, yet?" Nago asked.
"Yep, AND we saw the art exhibit." Dedede said before Gooey could say anything, he was well aware of how excited the Dark Matter was now whenever fossils were brought up.
"Well I hope that Winter hasn't been too rough with you," Coo said kindly.
"It's been fine for us," Kine added. "There hasn't been anything big happening lately."
"Let's hope it stays that way for a while," Dedede said bitterly. Gooey nodded in response. He had yet to see any sign of Dark Star's colony, and he hoped he wouldn't see them for a long time.
"So none of the weapons here are real, right?" Gooey asked.
"Of course not." Nago replied. "If they were then I don't think they'd be here on display."
The group looked around the Exhibit for a little bit. The weapons here were mostly swords, but there were quite a few axes and scepters here, too.
There was one weapon that was on display that caught Gooey's eye. It looked similar to the wand on top of the fountain, but the top of the weapon had a heart instead of a star. The stick part of it was also weird, it looked more like a cone with the heart sitting on the wider side.
"What IS that thing?" Gooey asked.
"...It says it's called the Love-Love Stick," Coo said as he looked at the replica weapon. "We don't know much about it, but they say that it'll form if you've collected enough gratitude."
"So like...A Puffball could wield one, right?" Gooey asked.
"I S'pose so, but do you REALLY need to be a Puffball?" Dedede asked. "Couldn't you wield one as a Dark Matter?"
"Probably, but it sounds painful."
"...I suppose what you are wouldn't really matter," Coo said as he looked up. "I think the same thing applies for the Rainbow Sword, too. Kirby was the one who wielded it, but would it have been any different if it was me, Rick, or Kine? And what about Dark Matter, himself? Could he have wielded it if he was aware of it beforehand?"
"But the Rainbow Sword hurts us, doesn't it?" Gooey asked. "'Cause I couldn't touch the drops without getting hurt."
"Well look at it this way, kid." Dedede said as he looked down at Gooey. "Fire can be really dangerous, but if you know how to use it then it can be a really good tool. It's the same thing with light and darkness, either of 'em can be dangerous if you don't know how to handle it."
Gooey took another look at the Love-Love stick. Indeed, something made with pure Positive Energy could be dangerous to even Lord Zero himself. But in the right hands, maybe it could be useful after all?
Gooey wasn't sure what use he WOULD have with the Love-Love stick, such a thing would be better with Kirby anyway. But if he ever ran into Lord Zero again, then maybe he could use such positivity to defend himself?
...Of course, he'd rather not fight Lord Zero at all if he was being honest.
One they were done with the museum, Gooey and Dedede had headed back to the entrance. Kirby and Meta Knight were there. They were talking about something, the Pink Puffball walked over to Gooey once he noticed the young Blob.
"So we were gonna go look at some Christmas Trees next," Kirby said happily. "Wanna come with us?"
"Oh, sure!" Gooey said happily. Dedede patted him on the head. "All right, kid. I'll leave you to it, then."
"You're not coming with us?" Meta Knight asked. Dedede replied with a shrug. "I promised Marx I'd get him somethin' to eat, so I'll see you later."
"OK, goodbye!" Gooey said cheerfully as he waved at Dedede with his tongue. The Penguin waved back as he left. Kirby couldn't help but smile at Gooey. "It's always nice to see you guys get along, he's always been such a jerk before."
"He cares about you too, Kirby." Meta Knight told him. "He just won't admit it."
"Yeah, well...Let's go look at some trees before it gets dark out."
Gooey nodded as he followed Kirby and Meta Knight outside, the elder Puffball grabbed a nearby tree branch and lit it on fire before he gave it to the young blob. Gooey wasn't sure why a tree was so important, but they sounded pretty.