A Shooting Star ~Kirby and Sonic crossover~

Chapter 8: Catching On, The Two Worlds

Kirby plopped himself onto Dedede's crown, purring as he felt Dedede pet him softly on the back. Melting at his gentle touch, Kirby closed his eyes, half sleeping as he dreamed of tomatoes.

Ahh, yes. Tomatoes. Kirby's favorite food. His mouth watered at just thinking of the ripe, round fruit. Oooh, how he craved tomatoes...

He perked up when he heard Sonic speak,

"So... Er, Kirby's the hero that saved your galaxy from... Nightmare?" Sonic asked, his eyes showing a glimpse of doubt as he stared up at the young Star Warrior. Meta Knight, who had told all of the feats that Kirby had accomplished to the two hedgehogs, were still a little uncertain that such a little puffball could complete such missions with minimal care. "Are you sure?"

Kirby wasn't offended at all by the treatment. He was always used to it when tourists would visit Dreamland, mainly because they wanted to meet their legendary hero. Always thinking they would meet some handsome, tall knight with a long, gleaming sword, they were instead met with a baby who had yet to learn to speak.

It was no surprise that Sonic would treat him the same way.

Meta Knight nodded. "Yes. Do not allow size or appearance fool you, my friend, for often the most cutest things are the deadliest," he murmured wisely, sweeping his majestic cape tighter around him to appear more mysterious.

Shadow raised an eyebrow. "He's not cute."

Everyone (excluding Kirby, who was playing with the little pom pom on Dedede's crown) turned to the black hedgehog with surprised glances, all of them putting their hands on their hips (except for Meta Knight, who didn't have hips. Instead, he loosened his hold on his cape, almost as if he was disappointed).

Shadow growled, then sighed. "Okay, maybe he's a little cute," he confessed, ears drooping in defeat. "But only a little!"

Sonic grinned, rubbing his nose triumphantly. "Yeah, I don't think even your heart is that cold, Shadow," he teased, his voice light with mirth. "Nice try though."

Shadow frowned before turning the other way, choosing to ignore Sonic's taunt, which was where Dedede stood. Kirby, ontop of Dedede, gave Shadow a small wave with his paws, crying, "Poyo!"

Shadow gave Kirby a small scowl, his eyes narrowing in dislike. But deep inside Shadow's heart, Kirby knew he was warming up, melting all the cold snow that encased the dark hedgehog's soul.

Kirby and the others hiked out of the mountain, while Sonic informed the Dreamlanders more about himself and Shadow.

"Well, you see," Sonic began confidently, "we protect Mobius from Eggman, who was the one who attacked us earlier. He's smart, but he's also incredibly- er... silly. His plans for Mobius is to turn us all into robots seems threatening, but of course, I'm always there to save the day! He's a joke, really, once you get to know him well enough."

His words were convincing, but Kirby could hear what seemed to be sadness hidden in the blue hedgehog's voice. The pink puff tipped his head curiously. Why was he sad? What was there to mourn about?

Meta Knight's eyes glowed green in thought. "So... this 'Eggman' is the one who attacked you, Shadow, and Kirby earlier? The one who caused the explosion?" he recalled.

Sonic nodded, giving Meta Knight a thumbs up. "Yup! But he was no match for us in the end!" he said smugly, his fur less chest puffing up.

Shadow scoffed, giving Sonic a look that was meant to only read anger, but Kirby could sense a layer of worry as well. "You could've died Sonic," Shadow snarled, his voice hard with fury. Sonic took a surprised step back at Shadow's tone, and Shadow softened a little, his eyes sparkling with what Kirby recognized as fear. "You can't always be so cocky. It's going to get you killed one day, don't you see? Why can't you just give it a rest? Let the others do the work for once."