Chapter Text
Today was finally peaceful out of the two rather chaotic first days Kirby had gone through ever since he landed in Pupupu Land. Perhaps it was being able to get a good night's sleep finally, but the warm sun felt so cosy that morning. He would have probably spent all day napping in the sun if Fumu didn’t visit that morning. “Come with me to town, I think you need a proper introduction to everyone. The last two days haven’t given you much of a chance have they?”
He didn’t understand, he had met three children so he did know some people, but she had also said there would be food so he came along. As the two entered the main square of the village his eyes were drawn to the various groups of people chatting amongst each other. He recognised three of the older men chatting amongst each other, one of them he was warier of though. He had a green suit and boots which were on the dirtier side, tufts of white hair that circled his blading head alongside bushy eyebrows and a small beard with a dark tan beige skin. He was not mean in any way, but Kirby had broken some of his old pots while looking for a place to stay and was likely still quite angry at him.
In fact, many of them were not the most impressed with the mess he had made yesterday but Fumu pressed on. “Hello, Mayor Len, Chief Borun and Mr Curio!” She greeted them, and their eyes drew to Kirby with raised eyebrows.
“Hello there Miss Fumu and…Kirby,” Curio replied with a bit of fear laced in his voice.
“What’s wrong? You all look upset?” she asked and the older men shook their heads nervously.
“Oh no nothing is wrong erm, just wasn’t expecting Kirby to be in the village today,” Borum stuttered.
Fumu raised an eyebrow. “Is this about yesterday?” Borum nodded without hesitation.
“I’m still getting my station rebuilt currently, and we had a few complaints filed against Kirby disturbing the peace,” he scratched his beard. “Of course being a minor I cannot arrest him outright. He did get rid of that monster eating our sheep, but still, he won’t be let off the hook so easily next time.”
Fumu slinked back a bit from the scolding, they were right however he did cause a lot of chaos yesterday the others told her about. Leaning toward the boy she whispered. “Kirby, a lot of people are upset with you today. So how about you say sorry to them?” she suggested.
He looked confused. “Howrey?...”
She shook her head. “S-orr-y.”
"S-orr-y!" he repeated back gleefully.
"Now repeat it together," she explained as she moved Kirby in front of her to face the three men.
"Sorry!" he cheered and the three sighed.
"Well, it's close I suppose. Just try not to get into any more trouble," Borum finished. Fumu nodded as a nervous twinge on her face formed for the day to come.
Next, the two began to walk by a couple of shops. There was a large shop with a giant book on its roof, next door to it was a sweet-scented store with flowers peppering its walkway. “That there is Bibli’s bookshop, he’s quite strict though. Never try and read a book before buying it. And that there is the florists, Honey’s family runs it.” What appeared to be Honey’s mother was standing by the door sweeping, sending a wave and a sweet smile their way as they passed.
Kirby’s eyes were quickly drawn to Kawasaki’s restaurant as they passed by, an odd aroma of his creative cooking drifting through an open window. Fumu repressed the urge to gag. “Uh, we’ll go to Kawasaki’s last. We’ll both eat there once we’re done okay?” Kirby’s eyes lit up at that much to her own confusion.
The two walked past the convenience store, its large clean windows and smooth green-painted walls. All of it drew Kirby’s eyes, a stark contrast to the more wood and stone-built homes he had seen so far.
“That there is the convenience store. Papa says it was built when I was born so it’s pretty new. You can get all kinds of neat food and other stuff from outside the island,” Fumu explained.
Though it seemed like the rest of it was lost at the mention of food as she had to tug the small boy away from its direction. Walking on the two spotted a few workmen with various crates and tools in the place of Gus’ station.
Fumu whipped her head around to look at Kirby with suspicion and he smiled none the wiser. Said suspicions would be confirmed when Gus came out from behind a box and narrowed his eyes at the boy. His thick unibrow only accentuated the glare in his eyes, thick messy blond hair and his golden beige skin had been made sticky with oil and dust repeating onto his skin and blue overalls.
“He looks pretty angry…Kirby, what did you do?” she put her hands on her hips.
The boy looked up at her with innocent eyes as he put his hands together before bursting them over as he mimicked the sound of an explosion. She felt her spine chill at that and turned to look at Gus who shook his head disapprovingly.
“Not a step closer, else the whole place goes up in flames again before it’s even rebuilt,” he scolded Kirby.
Fumu gave him a light push on the shoulder. “You know what to do, right Kirby? Say I’m sor-” but she was cut off.
“No no no, don’t give me any of that right now. I had to pull out a favour from the Mayor for all this sorry doesn’t really cut it,” he scolded the two of them, arms crossed.
Fumu slinked back a bit before biting back. “Come on he’s trying. He’s only young!” though it would have helped if Kirby was paying any attention in the slightest as he was watching some ants on the road.
“I’m just not really in the mood for that right now, both of you just need to leave alright?” he rubbed his temples to stave off an oncoming headache.
Fumu huffed. “Fine then, let’s go Kirby.” As she took his hand and continued walking down the street she could feel the eyes of numerous villagers boring into them. While Kirby kept at an upbeat pace she felt herself growing more uncomfortable as the stares became hushed whispers.
“Ah! I know someone you haven’t been properly introduced to yet. C’mon,” she tugged at his hand and the two vanished between some houses on the outskirts of the village. There was a quiet dirt road which a few more houses continued down on though they were few and far between. However, most notable was a large house with rocks all over its roof and two large round windows at the front that resembled a pair of glasses. He had been here on his first day, didn't really want to go back in.
But Fumu pulled him through the door into a quiet grey room with a few chairs in a line. “This is a waiting room, people wait here to get checked by the doctor,” she explained as she knocked on a door.
An old man in a large clean white coat opened the door with a grumble. Old spectacles at the bridge of his nose allowed his eyes to focus on the two in front of him as his grey hair nearly covered them and his skin was a paler even sickly beige that had not seen the sun in quite some time.
“Ah, Kirby wasn't it?” he adjusted his spectacles and observed the boy closer.
Fumu nodded. “Yeah, I’m trying to introduce him to everyone in the village since he’s going to be living here. I was wondering if he could get another check-up?” she smiled.
The doctor was almost immediately filled with energy. “Oh yes, of course, I’ve wanted to properly study the boy from the moment he landed. My name is Dr Yabui, now you won’t have any objections yes? Of course not, come along now.”
Kirby was practically dragged into his office. “Hudy?” Kirby exclaimed in surprise as he was sat down on an examining table with little effort.
“What do you mean by studying him?” Fumu asked as she joined the two, standing next to the examining table as the doctor fetched a clipboard stuffed with papers.
“Well, he’s an alien isn’t he, a chance like this is hard to come across. Even Sir Meta Knight turned down my various offers and requests to study him this may be the only chance I get!” he announced with vigour and Fumu began to regret bringing him there. Although part of her was just as curious to learn about Kirby.
The Doctor prodded at his cheeks and tugged at his wings. “Hmm, his skin is very elastic but not much different than an average healthy child. These wings, however, they’re quite a bit different than ones like Tokkori’s or any other beast child. They’re much studier and larger for his age.”
Fumu felt herself falling asleep as the man prattled on, poking and prodding at the confused child only to be jumped at the mention of a blood test.
-
Kracko, a violent Demon Beast that nary a Star Warrior ever caught a glimpse of underneath its ocean of clouds it hid amongst. Hearing its name echo through the throne room as the king made another order to defeat Kirby made Meta Knight’s brow furrow.
He closed the door quietly as he heard footsteps echo behind him, they were Bun’s. Turning around his observations were confirmed as the boy cheerfully greeted the knight as he rushed past him “How’s it going Sir Meta Knight!” he waved.
“Terrible,” Meta Knight replied bluntly leaving the boy confused.
“Hey! Sir Meta Knight! What’s going on?” Bun shouted as he ran after the Knight.
Meta Knight stopped for the boy, slightly turning his head over. “Where is Fumu? Is she with Kirby?” he asked.
The boy clearly seemed quite confused before he turned to look at where Meta Knight was earlier. “Oh, is it about Dedede? Yeah, she went out this morning, said she was gonna take him around the village.”
Meta Knight frowned at that, he did not trust those people in the slightest to give the boy much of a warm welcome. But it was not his place to judge nor did he wish to become involved with any of them.
Especially Kirby himself.
“Tell him to go into hiding as soon as possible, and that he must not leave until the storm subsides,” he explained much to Bun’s confusion.
“What? But the sky is clear as can be,” the boy crossed his arms in suspicion and concern for the older man.
“It will not last for long, Dedede has ordered a new monster that hides amongst a storm. No Warrior has lived to tell the tale of what it looks like, only its name Krako. Kirby may not survive,” it was clear his words frightened the boy.
Bun began pacing a bit. “Ahh, how quick is it coming? My sister might be in danger then too!”
“Likely in the next hour or so, we need to hurry. Dedede can only afford to keep it around for so long but its bolts can splinter even through the earth itself. Kirby will have to hide somewhere sturdy for a day till he gives up on the cost,” the Knight explained. The tiny concrete house would likely not survive the bolts, and he would not want to see the mess caused by it. If the villagers became caught in the crossfire it would only make matters worse for the boy too.
He held back a sigh before he began his way out of the castle, Bun speeding past him in a hurry allowing him to slow his own pace somewhat. Ever since he left behind his gifts for the boy, his mind had been plagued with doubt and regret. It would not be wise to grow attached to the child, but he could not leave the child all on his own.
He was too important for that, but too painful all the same.
Before long he felt himself drawn to Kabu like a magnet, the wind was growing chill and he could feel it in his bones a storm was approaching. Krako was closing in but the clouds had not yet reached the island.
“You do not hold the fear of lightning to yourself but for Kirby do you not?” the sage spoke, voice echoing through the valley. Meta Knight did not respond.
“Is it the boy you fear?” his words cut through him easier than any blade could. “Kabu foretold your arrival. The young are curious and are growing ever more, how long do you intend to hide from them?”
Meta Knight said nothing, biting down hard on his lip till blood drew, the metallic tang a familiar taste in his mouth. So once again he hid beneath the sage only to be met with a disruption.
The Warp Star had been left here, presumably by Fumu. He know what the interior had once been built for, but that purpose had been lost long ago. But the placement of the star made it look nearly holy, it was hard to not resist reaching out to feel it. Brushing his fingers over the smooth star, a warm pulse echoed from inside nearly sending his body into a relaxed state. So his fingers retreated, a cold bitterness settling back into his bones as he stood there all alone.
-
“Welcome to Kawasaki’s restaurant! Oh, it’s not often you visit Miss Fumu, what’s the occasion?” the large boisterous Kawasaki greeted Fumu and Kirby. The man neared in size to Dedede, if not a bit shorter than the king. He wore an orange short-sleeved what looked to be a jacket or robe similar to Dedede’s top with an apron and some worn-out trainers. His skin was russet brown and a bit sweaty which made bits of his short ginger hair stick to his forehead.
Fumu didn’t look too happy, however, “Hey Kawasaki. Kirby and I are here for lunch if that’s alright? It’ll be his first time eating here.” Peering from behind the girl Kirby could see the two didn’t have the happiest look on their faces, though Kawasaki’s was closer to concern.
“I don’t have much of a problem with Kirby pre-say, but I don’t want to get in trouble with the king. He caused a lot of trouble last time Kirby was here,” Kawasaki explained, the cogs in his head turning.
“Dedede is just a big bully! Besides he rarely ever comes here,” Fumu crossed her arms in a huff.
“Guess you do have a point there. Well, I’ve had no other customers today, so come with me!” he scooped up two menus and lead the two to the back of the restaurant with a few seats away from view.
Fumu felt quite comfortable sitting there, if anyone were to walk in they wouldn’t stare at Kirby and in turn at her. Although she was dreading having to eat some of Kawasaki’s food again, Kirby looked none the wiser. His eyes and head were turning all over the place, looking at every little detail on the walls ceiling or other tables.
“Here you go, just give me a shout when you’re ready to order,” he told the two as he laid down their menus and scurried off to clean his kitchen.
Fumu got right to reading, his menu was always massive and the text for each food was close to being squished together for space. He was always very quantity over quality, especially as two new menu items caught her eye. Last week there were just three added to the menu.
Looking over to Kirby though, she noticed the boy wasn’t reading the menu and was poking it curiously. After a few minutes, he picked it up and attempted to bite it before Fumu stopped him.
“I guess I should have figured you can’t read,” she sighed and the boy looked at her confused. Pulling herself up she sat closer to him and pulled the menu closer, a few items had pictures on them likely confusing him.
“These here are dumplings, they’re soft and they can have meat or veggies in them. That’s a pizza, it’s like a big round piece of bread with cheese tomatoes and almost anything you want on top of it. And that there is ramen, it’s a broth with lots of noodles and some meat if you want.” She went down the list of the various foods available to him, though not much seemed to make sense to him.
In the end, he liked the picture of the ramen the most so she decided to order it for the both of them. “Oh right, Kawasaki do you have those chopsticks for children still?” she asked the chef.
“You mean the ones Dedede tried to use once? I have a few that aren’t broken still, do you want them for Kirby?” he asked and Fumu gave a quick nod. Not long after she could hear him busy about in the kitchen nearly dropping a pot in the process.
As they waited Kirby stared at the menu more as if waiting for the words on the paper to suddenly make sense. “Kirby, that word there is cake. It’s spelt like C-A-K-E can you repeat that for me?”
“Kayke…Good?” he looked up at her with big expectant eyes and Fumu nearly slammed her head into the table. He was the spitting image of Bun when he was younger, though back then she was a bit too young too to really understand how to look after him. Now her heart was fluttering a bit every time he attempted to say a new word or learn something new.
“Yeah, you were really close well done. Now, let’s try this one…” she patted his head and moved on to another word. He was quite entertained with it for a while until the smell of their food arrived.
“Here you go! Two fresh bowls of ramen. One vegetarian,” Kawasaki slid two trays towards the both of them. Kirby’s chopsticks were designed for young children, being held in place by a thin block so that they only needed to pinch the sticks. As expected the broth was far too sour for her liking, and the tofu was stiff and flavourless but she gulped it down as Kawasaki watched her with expectant eyes.
Kirby on the other hand had quickly slurped down the noodles and everything else faster than anyone she had ever seen before. To top it all off he seemed pretty happy eating Kawasaki’s cooking much to the chef’s delight.
Fumu left some Dededen on the table as Kawasaki tried questioning the boy to no avail. Perhaps she could visit the grocery store for something edible, at least she thought that until the two of them were struck by lightning out of nowhere.
“Bad…” Kirby choked as a black cloud puffed out his mouth, his wings and hair had turned frazzled too. Kawasaki stared at the two dumbfounded at them and then at the hole now in his ceiling.
“What in the world?” the chef murmured as he scratched his head. Fumu flew off her seat, hand tightly wrapped around Kirby’s wrist as she dragged him outside with her. Peering into the sky she could see a swirling mass of dark grey clouds hovering above the village.
“A storm? But I would have felt it coming.” Normally it wasn’t too hard to sense a storm was coming, they were fairly common living in such a humid country. Various other villagers had also come outside and were staring at the sky in confusion, it felt completely unnatural.
It wasn’t long until another bolt of lightning struck by their feet, then another and then even more as it began to chase Kirby around with Fumu caught along with it. At some point, she swore she saw Bun run into the village and yell something, but Kirby was running the villagers straight into the crossfire in a panic.
“We’re sorry!” she yelled to the mayor and his wife as their car became sizzled by a stray lightning bolt. Grabbing Kirby’s hand she attempted to lead him somewhere safer, only for the lightning bolts to start chasing them like a missile.
“This must be a Demon Beast!” Fumu shouted though Kirby was practically just being dragged along at that point as a walking lightning rod. She kept rushing through the village in hopes it might just leave them alone, thankfully it had stopped soon enough after that but something was missing.
Bun finally caught up to her, just barely catching his breath. “Where’s Kirby?” Fumu froze as she looked around and back at the hand she had been holding him.
“...I lost him!” Fumu clasped her face in panic, he must have tripped somewhere along the road. To make matters worse the familiar sound of Dedede’s tank came rushing past the two, nearly knocking them over as he chased after the dark swirling clouds.
The king laughed. “Well, would you look at that, that Kirby is still bringing nothing but trouble. That Kracko was a really worthy investment eh?” he elbowed Escargon.
But the lanky man looked concerned. “Yes, yes that’s good and all but…Isn’t it coming directly at us?” Dedede’s eyes widened and he looked ahead to see Kirby sprinting down the street in a panic as lightning bolts followed his every step.
“Whoa whoa whoa! Get away! Shoo shoo!” Dedede yelled at the boy as all three of them panicked around the tank. Before the two could react Kirby swiftly hid in a small compartment at the back of their tank, he was just small enough to squeeze inside.
With his new hiding place, the king and his servant quickly got a taste of their own medicine as a powerful lightning bolt struck the tank. Slamming on the pedals the two sped away as the bolts continued to chase them.
“Argh this is friendly fire! I paid good money for you, stop!” Dedede yelled as Fumu watched them drive sporadically back towards the castle with the clouds following not far behind.
She crossed her arms. “Of course, he was behind this! But where did Kirby go? I just saw him a moment ago…Bun! Find Lololo and Lalala and go look for Kirby.” Her brother looked at her in surprise, aggravation crinkling up on his nose.
“Shouldn’t you go look for him? You’re the one who lost him in the first place,” he argued back.
“I want to go fetch the warp star, it might help him,” she waved her hands up in the air gesturing to the dark clouds above them. Bun bit the inside of his cheek but didn’t say a word back and ran off to look for the twins.
She could feel static energy still running in the air beginning to make her hair frizz up, it was a strange feeling as the weather was still quite warm but not damp in any way. Yet as she walked down Kabu’s valley she could feel the air grow damper and a bit dusty the lower she went.
“Kabu I-”
“Fumu, there is someone waiting for you down below,” the sage cut her off. Fumu stared at him in shock before her eyes drifted down to the opening below him, where the usual fires has been turned off.
Crawling inside she could feel the ancient cold stone chill her hands and knees to the bone, a quiet breeze swirled past her face as she stared down the staircase. Below her standing in front of the Warp Star was a dark figure clad in deep blues.
Wordlessly she walked down the small steps and approached the familiar man from behind “Sir Meta Knight?”
The knight did not turn to face her. “I came to check on it, the Warp Star,” he stepped away from the pedestal slowly turning to face the girl with his cloak still wrapped around him.
“Why did you bring it here?” he asked.
Fumu could feel his eyes digging into her, filled with an emotion she could not understand. Was it confusion or pride? He was never easy to read.
“I hid it down here after the fight. It shrunk again and I didn’t know where else to keep it safe… Should I not hide it here?” she asked, concern raised in her voice.
“No, it’s fine,” the knight replied bluntly seemingly satisfied with his investigation. But as he began to walk back up the staircase Fumu called back out to him.
“Sir Meta Knight!... How much do you really know about Kirby? Please, be honest with me!” the girl demanded, ever thirstful for knowledge and discovery.
Meta Knight paused for a moment, said knowledge is often a painful burden to bear. “I know everything, or perhaps only a part of it. Even I don’t know, such forbidden knowledge is only held now by the dead.”
Yet even so Fumu persisted. “Please, tell me all you know,” but the knight remained silent, stewing away in his thoughts and memories. “Please!”
Her final plea was enough to finally get him talking again. “It’s rather obvious, but those dark clouds are not natural. His Majesty has summoned another Demon Beast, Kracko a creature that living eyes have never seen.”
Fumu gasped as he continued talking. “There is a special system hidden in his throne room that’s an open secret to the servants. He uses that to download Demon Beasts. Perhaps he only sees it as a toy, a dangerous one at that like many others before him.”
“Ugh! I can’t believe that stupid excuse of a king! But, who is he buying them all from?” she asked.
Meta Knight could barely hold back the poisonous bile building upon his lips. “The Holy Nightmare Corporation. It’s an empire that holds total control over the entire universe… I and thousands tried to stop such an event over thirty thousand years ago, all created by one man. Nightmare, the President of the Company… To conquer the universe he created an army of monsters and sent them all to the far reaches of space.”
He held his head back, feeling a low rush of faded memories coming back to him like a cold tide. “Those that cherished freedom, all stood up against him, The Galaxy Solider Army and its Star Warriors. Though many fought against us we were strong in number, comrades in arms, but… Nightmare had an endless supply of monsters, slowly they began to exhaust the army before they all fell. One by one…”
As he closed his eyes now he could still picture it clearly in his mind, the army's final battle where steel and blood littered the dry cracked ground. He could not remember the battle itself, only the silent aftermath as the wind quietly whipped at his cape.
“I was the sole survivor. Yet I lived, for I always held onto hope. Someone once told me that, even the smallest seed can grow a magnificent garden. I prayed that the next generation of Star Warriors could be this seed and I had to live on to see it with my own eyes,” he continued as he reached out and held the Warp Star in his hand.
“Soon afterwards, I arrived here and sought employment under His Majesty.” Fumu clicked her tongue at that.
“That’s weird. Why would you want to work for someone that plays around with these monsters?” Fumu’s words were silenced by him returning the star to its pedestal.
“A soldiers spaceship is designed to detect the signals of Demon Beasts, and with a particular mode allow it to automatically land on that planet. As such it gave me a higher chance of finding another Star Warrior, granted they were in their ship.” For countless nights he would sit atop the castle, telescope in hand to watch the night sky for any ships. Unfamiliar ones come and went, but none ever in the shape he had waited so long for.
Fumu perked up. “And that did happen didn’t it? Kirby’s the one you’ve been waiting for all this time isn’t he?”
The knight grimaced. “Indeed…But he’s too young. He was awoken two hundred years too early by detecting the Demon Beast. Ideally, the age closest to what you're familiar with he should have woken up at is sixteen, ready for battle. Though he shall still grow it’ll be a painful confusing experience as his body attempts to catch up. If anything he’s closest to a child at the age of five, but with the mentality of a baby. He couldn’t even pilot the cradle he flew here in.”
Fumu also grimaced. “So it was an emergency landing then? How scary…”
Meta Knight nodded. “He knows next to nothing, yet his battle instincts are the most developed of all. The more he grows the more powerful he will become, powerful enough to defeat Nightmare. And I’ll make sure of it, as long as I live.”
“So you’ll watch over him? You almost sound like his father,” Fumu smiled, but he remained silent and his shoulders bunched together slightly.
“You are forgetting yourself, as you’ll watch over him too,” the girl looked at him surprised.
Turning back around to face her she still could not read any expression on his face, hidden as it always was, behind his cold metal mask. “Remember how you could control the Warp Star? It’s his source of energy. Even at the sight of it, he’s filled with hope and power. But on his own, he can't control it, only someone that truly loves and cares for him can.”
He turned and pointed to her much to her surprise. “I suppose he’s been a bit like a little brother to me…But then does that mean we can keep it here?” she asked.
The knight pondered for a moment. “How about a test? Kirby is in danger now, so we must find wherever he is and see if the star will answer your call,” he explained.
“Alright! Let’s go, Bun went to look for him but he must be underneath wherever the clouds are,” she explained. Meta Knight nodded and followed after her, silencing any grunts of pain having to climb through the small hole underneath Kabu.
-
“Kirby!” Bun yelled, frowning at the dark shadow the clouds had cast over the field of old ruins. There were lots of hiding places here, he knew so from years of playing hide and seek there yet somehow Kirby remained elusive. Even the twins were at a loss as they peered everywhere from a birdseye view.
“Kirby if you can hear me yell! The lightning isn’t gonna strike you for that!” Bun yelled again and held out his ear.
“Bun!” he heard a young voice call back somewhere below him. Sliding down the hill he fell below to a small brick hole. Curio said it might have been some sort of window in the past but he wasn’t really paying attention. Currently, Kirby was hiding inside of it, his knees and hands covered in dirt while his hair was still slightly singed by lightning.
The twins shortly followed suit, joining Bun and Kirby down below. “Kirby, do you think you can suck that thing up? Or even blow it away?” Bun asked as he pointed at the swirling clouds.
“Yeah! It’d be better than running away!” Lalala added. But Kirby didn’t look too convinced, concern creasing the edges of his round cheeks.
Bun smiled at the boy. “It’ll be alright! You can do it,” he cheered him on. Kirby stayed in place for a moment, before looking up and narrowing his eyes at the cloud. Before they knew it, he was running towards it at full speed and threw his hands into the air. The wind began to pick up but it was directionless on to push it away or to bring it closer and Kirby was swiftly struck by another bolt of lighting.
The three could only watch in shock as the boy panicked and scurried about with it nipping behind his heels. To make matters worse he soon became blocked off by Dedede and his tank which had also been seared a bit by lightning. The king cackled and began chasing the boy, giving him little to no escape from the bolts like it was some cruel game.
“Think of this as revenge for damaging my ta-” The king’s words were cut short as he did not look forward as Kirby darted out of the way and sent the tank flying into a wall. Kirby did not give it a second look and continued to run, even attempting to flutter away a few times only for his wings to frizz up in the static air.
Fumu and Meta Knight arrived to see his sandals nearly getting melted away, the knight frowning at the small burns that littered the mysterious cardigan the boy wore. With a deep breath, Fumu turned towards the direction of Kabu and yelled out. “Warp Star! Please come and help Kirby!”
Afterwards was only silence as the two waited in anxiety while Kirby continued to run for his life, each bolt growing faster than the last. She could barely breathe waiting anxiously for the star to appear over the horizon, perhaps Meta Knight was wrong, maybe he should have called for it instead.
But before she could word her worries to him there was a golden flash in the distance, the Warp Star spun around and flew towards them at high speed. It was hard to not control the massive grin that grew on her face. “Kirby!”
The boy heard the girl yelling and turned to see the star, his face lighting up at the sight of it as well before it snatched him off the ground away from another bolt. Grasping onto the edges of the star he tilted it skyward and vanished into the dark clouds.
Inside the clouds were uncomfortable, it was too dark to see anything and the static energy in the air made his feathers and hair go weird. What’s more, however, there was a strange sound coming from the centre. A low drumming sound.
He persisted through the dark maze, the air only growing heavier and heavier as he went on and the drumming got louder and louder until he broke through. At the very centre of the clouds was a swirling electrical abyss of various colours and a strange cloud.
And atop that cloud was what looked like an ogre, but its skin was a grey pale colour with a set of yellow horns atop its oddly fluffy white hair. Large teeth jutted out from the lower jaw and it wore nothing but a loincloth with a large drum at its side that struck lightning with every thump.
Its large singular eye focused in on Kirby, raising its large muscular arm into the air. Kirby glared at it, holding tight onto his star as it began to violently pound on the drum, creating long powerful bolts of lightning to launch at the child.
They were intense, zapping through the air like a knife as Kirby attempted to dodge them, blind to them crashing together behind him to create an even more powerful bolt.
Kirby wailed as he felt the powerful strike and lost balance on the Warp Star, he failed his arms in the air as the wind rushed past his ears. One of his shoulders suddenly bunched up, leaving him flailing with one arm as the shoulder tensed up. Turning his head back and forth he couldn’t see the Warp Star anywhere, which sent the boy into a panic when he broke through the clouds again.
His wings flapped aggressively against gravity without much avail, down below he could even see the silhouettes of the others growing larger and larger. But before he could try and land on one of them a familiar warmth blossomed inside of him as he felt the Warp Star sweep him back up.
But before he could regain his balance another bolt shot through the sky. A pinch of guilt washed over him as the star whizzed out of the way likely sending the bolt directly onto the others below. There wasn’t time to mull over it though as another bolt approached him, almost by instinct he pulled the star up turning it into a shield.
Watching the bolt become deflected filled the boy with strength, as he flipped back onto the Warp Star he stared up at the clouds with a glare across his face. Despite the protests in his arm he raised them up and began to pull at the centre with the wind once again. It felt as if he was pulling a thousand invisible ropes that steadily became hard and harder to keep a grip on. Each wisp of cloud gathered together in his hands in a way he could not describe, building up until he clasped them together.
With a deep breath, he then shot the clouds back, parting the clouds apart by force revealing the once hidden Demon Beast Kracko. The sight of the beast sent Meta Knight into shock, he never thought he would see it with his own eyes but the gawping did not last long as the assault resumed.
Perhaps in a fit of rage, Krako reached inside of its cloud and pulled out a long seven-branched sword and channelled it with lightning. Almost as if it were a pair of second arms two branches of lightning grasped the blade and began to swing at the boy.
Against all common sense, Kirby grabbed the blade before it could strike him leaving even Kracko surprised. With a battle cry, the boy tore the sword out of the lightnings grasp. “What is he doing!” he could barely hear Fumu scream from below.
A powerful sensation swept through his body as he absorbed the sword through his hands. And with a flick of his wings, he hid underneath the cape created by it, emerging as Sword Kirby.
Kracko glared at the transformation and sent more lightning at the boy only for them to be destroyed in a crescent swipe with his sword. The drumming became more aggressive as hundreds of bolts were sent flying across the air that Kirby deflected with his blade frustrating Kracko.
In a fit of rage, it slammed the drum so hard that it shattered leaving it defenceless. Before it could look for a new weapon a sword beam sliced through it sending out sparks of lightning. Kirby flew around it sending beam after beam as lightning crackled all over its body before he finally sliced it in half. In a flash of blinding light, it exploded lifting the accursed clouds away as they parted to reveal the sun again.
Everyone but Meta Knight ran towards Kirby as the Warp Star lowered itself onto the ground. “Kirby!” Fumu shouted as she ran towards the boy.
He was covered in light burns and his hair and wings were very frizzled nearly making her laugh as she attempted to pat down his hair. “Kirby, you can leave the Warp Star to me okay?” she smiled at him.
“Okay,” he repeated back and she patted him on the head. The knight, however, had silently left the children as they began their attempts to clean up the boy.