Are You a Friend, Too?

Chapter 2
Grateful Greetings

(Uploaded on July 8, 2018)

Summary: The Star Allies become a little more acquainted with the residents of Cappy Town. Dedede's certainly having a lot of fun in this new town – but the other King doesn't quite agree with his presence.

Notes: This chapter takes place shortly after the first one.

[Tiff]

Cappy Town – Hill

I'll be honest – this is pretty insane.

What else can I say? I mean, we're dealing with duplicates of people I know. Kirby, Meta Knight, King Dedede – there's double of them now, and that's so strange to think about.

They act so different, too! Kirby can speak and he's sassy! Meta Knight's even more serious than our own. And King Dedede? He actually seems like a good person. I thought that was impossible, but yet…

It's hard to argue with the sight before me, though.

"…and then Kirby fell asleep right in front of us. Can you believe it? The three of us – even Meta Knight – spent over half an hour trying to wake him up." The other Dedede was telling stories of the Star Allies' misadventures, as they called themselves. He had a big, heartfelt smile on his face, looking right in his element next to my brother and the other kids.

"Wow! Really?" Tuff seemed amazed.

"Yep! He can sleep pretty soundly when he wants to. Luckily, he got back up the minute he smelled some strawberry shortcake."

"Shortcake?" Honey noticed. "Not watermelons?"

"Nope!" the Waddle Dee – Bandana Dee, the other Kirby called him – replied. "While he doesn't mind melons, he's always loved eating cake the most. Great King has always made sure to keep a supply of cakes in his fridge, especially after the Squeak Squad incident." Squeak Squad incident? Hmm, I should ask the other Kirby about that sometime.

"Poyo poyo…" the Kirby I knew drooled next to Tuff. Oh no – I know that face. That means he's getting hungry. I should make sure he stays away from any lunch table today; we still have to eat, after all!

"Man, not even food would wake up our Kirby like that," Tuff said. "Me and Tiff had to go find this Pukey Flower in order to wake him up after he ate a Noddy. That took us forever to get!"

"Why would he need a flower?" Bandana Dee asked. "Wouldn't he just wake up after a few seconds or so? That's what our Kirby does when he's not actively trying to sleep."

"…actually, he would've been sleeping for a hundred years."

"A hundred years!?" Dedede jumped. "Gee, that's a long time! I know Kirby's old, but sheesh, that sounds practically nightmarish! Glad our Noddies don't do anything like that!" He gave a hearty laugh, one that sounded so much more light-hearted than anything our Dedede would say. "Well, I think I've gone on long enough about our own tales. What about you guys? Surely, you've got interesting things to say with your Kirby."

All of them seemed pretty excited, sharing stories about each other's dimensions. Me, I was still pretty weirded out – I mean, it's still Dedede. The guy who's always trying to kick Kirby out with a variety of monsters. And here he (technically) was, just hanging out with everyone as if it's no big deal, talking about Kirby as if he was his best friend (and judging by the stories, that very much was the truth).

"You seem pretty conflicted by all of this," I heard the other Kirby's voice. I turned around, and there he was, walking up beside me. Despite everything that had just happened, he looked as if it was just a regular day. "There's nothing wrong about that, though. I mean, If I wasn't so used to things like this, I think I'd have the same reaction too."

"You mean this isn't the first time you've traveled dimensions?" I asked, astonished.

"Nope! I've done it loads of times before, especially for the Smash Bros. tournaments. I've never missed a single one of those! Enough about that though. What's on your mind?"

"It's just…" For a moment, I struggled to put my thoughts into words. "You all act so different from what I'm used to. I mean, our Dedede has yet to get along with our Kirby, and he's also generally kind of a jerk to all of us."

"Hey, don't feel too bad about that!" the older Kirby soothed. "I've been where you are before. My Dedede used to act kind of like that, too. The first time we really met, he was actually trying to steal all the food in Dream Land."

"Steal… all the food… in Dream Land?" Okay, now I was just flabbergasted. "T-That's something not even our Dedede would do!" Besides, how would you the food supplies of an entire region? Why would you even want to? That's so greedy, it loops back around into being ridiculous.

"Yeah, even the people of my dimension thought that it was crazy. I had to go beat his butt until he started making sense again. And then I had to beat his butt several more times after that."

"So, you guys used to be enemies?"

"Of a sort. He puts up a pretty good fight with that hammer of his, actually. After a while, that transformed into being frenemies, and then we were just friends. I wouldn't have it any other way, if I'm being honest. The two of us have been through so much. I'd trust him with my life; Meta Knight and Bandana Dee, too. The three of them… they're my best friends."

He looked so fond of the three he was talking about. It made me wonder. If this Kirby and his Dedede could become friends, even if they started as enemies… then could my Kirby and Dedede be the same way, someday?

…yeah, I don't think so. Dedede's just too much of a jerk for that to happen.

"Say, now that I think about it…" Kirby looked wondering. "I've seen your Kirby, but I don't really know what your Meta Knight and King Dedede are like, beyond the weird accents they have."

That's right – this Kirby's Meta Knight and King Dedede speak a little differently. Meta Knight's got this dark and broody voice, while Dedede is more light-hearted and booming. They sound and act so different, it throws me off. But that's not what Kirby wants to know.

"Oh, where do I begin?" I groaned. "Dedede really doesn't like our Kirby for some reason, and he's always sending demon beasts at him. One time, he got a giant rock monolith of himself to try and squish him."

"Giant rock monolith?" the other Kirby asked. "Why would he need something like that? Wouldn't a giant robot have sufficed?" Giant robot? Just what type of things have the Star Allies been through that they expect giant robots first?

"He was trying to prove his legitimacy as the ruler of Dream Land, since no one really respected him. He wanted to 'prove' that the Dedede Clan were the founders of Cappy Town when it was actually the Cappy Clan that did that."

"Heh, that's something I couldn't see my Dedede doing," Kirby chuckled. "He may be a king that's self-proclaimed, but everyone in Dream Land still loves him anyway, so he's never needed to prove himself. So, how does Meta Knight fit into this equation?"

"Meta Knight's a… pretty complicated guy," I began. "From what he's told us, he was one of many Star Warriors that fought against this force of evil called Nightmare Enterprises. Most of them were defeated, so he came here, waiting for a Star Warrior to show up – that's Kirby – who could defeat Nightmare Enterprises for good."

"Hold up." The other Kirby suddenly looked far more alarmed than I expected. "Nightmare Enterprises? Is… Is that really what he called them? The company?"

"Yeah, he's never been wrong before," I stated, confused. Did he have a history with Nightmare Enterprises too? "Why do you ask?"

There was something unreadable on his face. "…no reason," he said carefully. I didn't buy that, not for a second. "Just… Remind me and Dedede to talk to your Meta Knight sometime. I think it'll be important."

Briefly, I caught what looked like determination – I recognized it as the one my own Kirby wore against all the demon beasts – before going back to his jolly demeanor. It seemed so strange and so quick, I almost thought I had imagined it. "…are you okay?" I asked.

"Yeah. I'm fine," Kirby was quick to reassure me. Maybe a little too quick. "What does your Meta Knight do here, anyway?"

It was a clear attempt to change the subject, but I decided to oblige him. I can get answers later. "He kind of acts as my Kirby's mentor," I said. "He knows practically everything about him, actually. He can explain every single Copy Ability in detail whenever it comes up."

Kirby snarked, "Yeah, that definitely sounds like Meta Knight. The mysterious warrior with knowledge beyond anyone's understanding." Gee, he certainly had a penchant for being sarcastic. Again, it totally throws me off because I've come to expect being childish out of Kirby's mouth. "I wonder if he picked up all that information from one of my journals, or something."

"You had journals?" I blinked in surprise.

"Well, yeah. Unlike your Kirby, I had to figure out what each of my Copy Abilities did myself. I had quite a lot to experiment with, so I always recorded the information I got on several journals I would keep on my starship. I lost them a long time ago, but by then, I had everything about my abilities figured out."

"Too bad you don't have those journals now," I lamented. "We still haven't seen all of my Kirby's Copy Abilities yet, and it would've been nice to see all of them."

"Don't worry, I'm sure you won't need 'em," Kirby dismissed. "Your Kirby's still learning, and there's no guarantee he'll be the same as me. With you and Meta Knight around, I'm certain he'll someday grow into his full potential."

"You really think so? …Thanks." As much as my Kirby can be frustrating to deal with at times, I really do care for him. I couldn't imagine life in Dream Land without him, now. To hear something like that from someone so similar to Kirby… It really warms my heart.

Yeah, I have a heart – as much as Tuff would tell you otherwise.

Mine's certainly bigger than our Dedede's, anyway.

"No problem. Now, how about we join the guys over there?" Kirby suggested, a hand vaguely pointed in the direction of Tuff and my Kirby, with the other Dedede and Bandana Dee enraptured in the stories Tuff was regaling to him. "I wouldn't mind interacting with 'Lil Kirbs myself."

I blinked again. "'Lil Kirbs?"

"Well, yeah. How else am I supposed to differentiate us? Besides… He's so tiny and adorable that I think he deserves it."

"Already have a soft spot for him?" I teased. "Hope you're not trying to steal my position, now. That's already taken!"

"Oh, don't worry – you've got the motherly figure down well. I'm fine just being the cool older brother."

"Motherly!? Hey, you take that back!" Grinning, Kirby started dashing away as I chased after him, my rage tapping up several notches. "I'm nowhere near like that!"

"Your protesting is only proving my point!"

"Grrrrr…! You get back here!"

[Meta Knight (Canon)]

Meta Knight's House

"So, this is your current house of residence?" I asked aloud, analyzing my alternate's abode with interest. It was a rather quaint place, with enough room for three. "And here I thought, with you being Dedede's servant, you'd be living inside his castle." Admittedly, I could not see myself being a long-term servant of King Dedede, though I have worked for him a few times in the past. My counterpart truly knows how to perform long-term infiltration missions, especially with how hostile this world's King Dedede is.

"While it would certainly be convenient, I believe there is merit to being separate from His Majesty," he explained, his Mexican accent being admittedly very soothing to my (non-existent) ears. "It allows me the ability to be active in places where I otherwise would not be able to. This way, I can keep an eye on Kirby, and help him grow as a Star Warrior."

"I must admit… It is strange to see your Kirby be so much like an infant child. When my Kirby arrived on Dream Land, he already had the ability to talk and think intelligently."

"Ah, I had figured you would ask that question. You see, Kirby was not supposed to arrive on Pop Star yet. He was supposed to arrive two hundred years from now."

"T-Two hundred years!?" I exclaimed, briefly losing my stoic composure. "I know us puffballs live longer than most other species, but that is quite a long time to wait."

"It is nothing I could not handle. After all the hardships I have faced in my time with the Galaxy Soldier Army, this was very much something I needed to do. If I were not here, Kirby would have much more of a difficult time. He needs the guidance of a true Star Warrior, so that he may be able to face off against Nightmare."

"Nightmare, Nightmare…" I muttered to myself. "That name sounds… vaguely familiar to me." I let my thoughts wander a bit. Was this 'Nightmare' a foe Kirby once vanquished? There are very few incidents in Dream Land that I do not have some recollection of. Unfortunately, this seems to be one of said few. Perhaps Kirby or King Dedede remember facing off against this supposed being.

"His name stretches out far across the galaxy," my counterpart continued. "I would not be surprised if he somehow managed to stretch his influence across entire dimensions. In fact, their Transporter Machine shows traces of that type of technology already."

"Hmph… If he does make it to our dimension, then I am certain us Star Allies will be able to easily dispatch of him," I stated confidently, an unseen smirk on my face.

"You seem confident about your chances, but Nightmare is a powerful adversary. He would not have conquered several systems without such power. You should not underestimate the wicked forces at his disposal."

"Us Star Allies have faced off against a wide variety of villains and abominations before," I argued back proudly. "No villain will be able to penetrate our defenses so long as Kirby and King Dedede are at my side. There is no one else I am prouder to call my companions."

"Companions…" my other mused. "I once had a few, in the days before I came to Dream Land. Perhaps one day… I may be able to consider my Kirby one of them."

"Sir!" The front door opened, and we both turned our heads to see Sword Knight and Blade Knight holding some sort of package. "We got you your take-out today!"

Much like back home, these two knights are my counterpart's loyal servants. Depressingly, I did not see any of my other crewmates under his service. Introducing him to Sailor Dee and Captain Vul is something I should do posthaste.

"Thank you, Sword, Blade. Come, let us eat together." The four of us gathered around my counterpart's table, preparing to eat some delicious sandwiches. Mmm, my counterpart has good taste.

…what? A knight is allowed to have simple interests.

"So…" Sword Knight began making conversation. "You're Meta Knight's counterpart from that other dimension, right?"

"That is correct," I confirmed. "It has been a very interesting day, seeing a Dream Land much different than the one I know. Take Dedede, for example. Back home, he is a regal, respectful king. But here, he appears to be more of a juvenile unfit for his crown."

"Hah! I told you our visitors would think the same as everyone else!" Blade Knight triumphantly declared. "Even this Meta Knight admits it!"

My counterpart chuckled with amusement, his eyes mysteriously turning a shimmering pink. Hmm, that is something new. Since when could us puffballs change their eye color like that? I should investigate further eventually.

"It seems most people in Cappy Town share such an opinion," he noted. "It is funny, since you have not even been here for a whole day, yet you have already picked up on that."

"Once you are in the company of my own Dedede for an extended period of time, the differences between him and the counterpart here are very noticeable," I explained. "Frankly, he should be acting better. It is clear that there are threats all too satisfied to come and take advantage of Dream Land's sleepy nature. And if the king is unable to push away such threats when the time comes, it will only end up harming Dream Land in the long run."

For a moment, a silence overtook the table's atmosphere. "Wow," Blade Knight said in surprise, "that was a rant I didn't see coming."

"It is true," I replied. "Though sometimes his efforts end up not working, my Dedede has proven time and time again that he has what it takes to defend Dream Land from danger. Something that this world's Dedede is sorely lacking."

"You have some valid points, I will admit," my counterpart said. "But with your squad of Star Warriors around, I am confident that his ways can be changed, given a little time."

"Dedede? Change?" Sword and Blade looked at each other for a moment before turning back to us. "Yeah, that'll be the day!"

"Don't be so quick to dismiss the possibility, my loyal knights. I am sure that my counterpart's king used to be a little bit like ours, in a way."

"That is… true," I admitted. "King Dedede used to have a strong rivalry against Kirby, and he has performed some… questionable acts in the past. But he did eventually grow out of it, so your words have merit."

"No way…" Sword Knight breathed. "You guys really think so?"

"We'll just have to wait and see, won't we?" my counterpart concluded, his eyes once more glimmering pink.

"Say, what is with your eyes glowing different colors?" I decided to ask. "I am not able to do such an action myself."

("Finally!" Sword Knight exclaimed. "Someone else notices, too!")

I could sense a smirk behind my counterpart's mask. "Allow me a few of my own secrets, would you?"

[King Dedede (Canon)]

Cappy Town – Hill

Man, the kids here are pretty hospitable! I kind of wish these guys were around back home; it's nice to tell stories about your exploits to others that haven't heard of them. The Dream Land I rule is a fairly small community, so everyone pretty much knows each other well – which is why I'm relishing in this opportunity.

Who wouldn't? I'm the great King Dedede, I deserve a little bit of ego-building now and then!

"Heh, that's a funny scene if I've ever heard one," I laughed heartily. "Kirby sleeping in a tree. I should get Kirbs over here to do the same thing sometime, even catch it on camera!"

"In your dreams," Kirby smirked. "I'm just fine in my own bed, thank you very much. But if my otherworldly self likes it, then who am I to complain?"

"Poyo! Poyo!" 'Lil Kirbs (as Kirby has taken to him) cheered up and down. "Poyo!"

"That's right, 'Lil Kirbs." Kirby gave his younger counterpart a little rub on the head. "Don't let anybody stop you from sleeping wherever you want."

"Well, I don't mind this arrangement at all!" Tokkori said. He's, uh, some screechy yellow bird. "Kirby gets to sleep comfortably, I get to sleep comfortably; everybody wins here!" He had dropped in a few minutes into our little meet-up. Like everyone else, he was pretty shocked at the whole dimensional double thing, even made a few groans about it, but he seemed to get over it pretty fast. I think.

He seems like the type of person to never let anything go, so maybe he's just bottling it up for now.

"I should probably get another house here, though," Kirby said to himself. "Something tells me we're going to be here a while." He turned his attention toward the annoying bird. "You don't have room for two, do you?"

"What? No way!" Tokkori screeched. "Sleeping in a bed is great, I'm not letting you take it away from me!"

"It's not like you need all the extra room to sleep," Kirby argued back. "You're a bird, you can just make another nest!"

"Besides," Bandana Dee cut in, "it is Kirby's house, even if it belongs to a different Kirby. Shouldn't he get first dibs because of that?"

"How about we compromise?" Tiff suggested. "We can just make another bed for you, Tokkori. We made Kirby's house once, a bed should be no problem."

"Hmph. Well, you better make sure it's as comfortable as the big one! I won't be accepting any downgrades!"

"Oh boy," Tuff groaned. "Tokkori just really knows how to give us all a headache."

"Well, I don't mind this scene one bit!" I added my two cents. "Dream Land's always better when we have such colorful residents. We should invite our other friends here sometime. What do you say, Dee?"

"Oh, right!" Dee remembered. "They'd love this place, I'm sure of it!"

"You guys have other friends?" one of the kids – Honey – asked me.

"Yep! Adeleine, Ribbon, Daroach, Gooey, all the rest of our Star Allies! Oh yeah, and we can't forget my Waddle Dees! I'd never leave my home without my wonderful servants. That being said…" I put a hand under my chin. "I wonder how they're doing right now? I did leave rather abruptly, and the Warp Hole closed pretty quickly behind us…" But before I could get another word in, the sound of an engine revving got everyone's attention.

Almost as fast as Captain Falcon (saying 'as fast as Sonic' would be a massive insult to Sonic), my counterpart drove his tank up the hill and right by us, a bunch of his Waddle Dees following right behind him (at pretty slow speeds, actually). I don't know why he needs to drive such a massive tank. I have my Grand Wheelie and he works just fine. He's even compact, which is more than I can say for that war machine monstrosity. If he's gonna keep driving a vehicle, at least have it be a cool limousine or something.

"Oh, great," Tiff groaned. "It's our Dedede again."

"I thought we were done with him for the day," Tuff complained. "What's he want now?"

"You!" my counterpart declared, dramatically pointing a finger right at me. I raised an eyebrow in response.

"Yes, King Dedede here, how may I help you?" I sardonically greeted him.

"Don't you take dat tone with me!" I swear, this guy has a temper as short as cherries. "Yer comments earlier are something dat I can't tolerate!"

"Pfft, if you can't take being called fat, then I don't know how you're gonna stay king," I remarked. "I'm a little plump myself and you don't see me complaining about it."

"He's got you there, Your Majesty," the snail noted. Escargoon was his name, I believe. He seems like my counterpart's answer to Bandana Dee. I don't think I'd mind having him onboard my ship myself. "You can't be a perfect king if you aren't in perfect physical condition."

"Hmph! I'm already as perfect as can be!" other me dismissed. "So I won't take insults to my name so easily!" Hopping off the tank, my counterpart whipped out his hammer.

"Hey, you've got a pretty nice hammer!" I casually noted. "No, really. You must take pretty good care of it."

"Enough talking! Time to fight!" He clumsily swung his hammer at me, inducing a lot of gasps from the kids nearby. However, his attack was so clumsy that all I needed to do was walk a few steps away from him.

"Man, you don't get a lot of exercise, don't you?" I commented, easily sidestepping every attack he tried to throw at me. I mean, I could run circles around him if this was '92. Me now, with years of experience from our adventures, plus the Brawl and Smash 4 tournaments? It's not even a contest.

"Stop dodging my attacks and just take the punishment!" other Dedede roared, continuing his pitiful assault.

"Wow, the other Dedede doesn't even need to put up a fight!" Tuff remarked. "He's so cool."

"I'm scared to see what he's like with an actual hammer!" Tokkori said.

"Goooooooo, King Dedede!" Kirby cheered. "Go get 'em!"

"Show him how perfect you are, Great King!" Dee agreed.

"Poyo! Poyo!" 'Lil Kirbs cheered alongside his 'big brother'.

"Hey, y'all should be cheering for me, not this baloney fake!" other me protested. "I'm just as perfect, too!"

"You're not doing a very good job showing it. Here, how about I 'even the odds' a little?" I yanked out my own hammer from my Hammerspace. This hammer, unlike my counterpart's, has been modified to have a mechanical jet cannon in it. It's not as cool as my Dedede Hammer or even my Star Rod Hammer Dedede Custom (don't ask about the name), but it'll do.

With it, I started matching my counterpart's swings blow-for-blow, and even pushed him back a bit. I could hear the sounds of amazement around me. 'Whoa's and 'Holy crud!'s echoed into my ear.

"That Dedede may be too much for even His Majesty to handle," Escargoon pondered. "Which means I need to do something to even the odds. Hey, Waddle Dees! Go assist your King!"

Without warning, I found my feet swarmed with Waddle Dees. "Eh? Hey, you're not allowed to do something like that!" I griped, trying to shake them off. I could just smash them with my hammer, but they're Waddle Dees in the service of their king. I can't fault them for that.

"HEH HEH HEH HEH HEH!" other me laughed, showing no regard for this lack of fair play. "I'm just evening the odds here, just like you said!"

"That is not how I meant it," I grumbled.

"Great King, let me help!" With gusto, Dee sprung into action, using his trusty spear skills to knock back all of the Waddle Dees. But even with his help (which I'm thankful for), there were a lot of Waddle Dees to deal with. Individually, Waddle Dees are Weak, But Skilled (as TV Tropes – that site Kirby likes – would put it), but together they can be formidable. I'd know.

"There's too many of 'em!" I said. "And I don't want to hurt 'em, even if they aren't my own Dees."

"Oh, if only the guys back home made it here!" Dee lamented.

As if on cue, the sound of something opening behind all of us. I shot my gaze toward it – it was another Warp Hole! Before any of us could question where it came from or how it got here, a swarm of Waddle Dees and Waddle Doos poured out, several of them wielding a spear or a parasol, prompting a lot of shouts of surprise. I'd recognize these guys anywhere.

"My Waddle Dees! My Waddle Doos! You made it!" I celebrated. Now it's a fair fight again!

"My friends! Oh, how I've missed you!" Dee similarly declared. I won't spoil his joy by pointing out he just saw them not a few hours ago.

"WHAT!? You have Waddle Dees too!?" other me whined. "Now you're just cheating!"

"Says the guy who sicced a bunch of his own Dees on me," I retorted. "Alright, gang – get 'em!"

My squadron of Dees and Doos started pushing back the other side, using their superior skill to steadily gain victory. These guys have fought against several alien invasions before, this Dream Land is only just dealing with its first major crisis. And all the while, my counterpart was growling very audibly.

"What? Can't take the heat?" I teased him. His short temper will be fun to mess around with, I'm sure.

"Thaaaaaat's it! I've had enough of this!" he proclaimed, hopping back into his tank. "Waddle Dees, let's go! Escargoon, get us outta here!"

"Whatever you say, sire," Escargoon muttered. "Why'd you even bring us out here if the only thing you're going to do is leave, anyway?"

"I don't tell you what to do! Step on it, already!"

As the oversized tank rocketed away, a stream of Waddle Dees trailing behind him, other me's voice yelled, "This isn't the last you've heard of me, you hear!? I'll beat you and show everybody who's the greatest king of Dream Land!"

"Yeah, you just keep dreaming about that!" I shouted back, cupping my hands around my mouth. "And I'll be here to beat you in any brawl!"

Once the tank's revving disappeared from our ears, I turned back to my group of Dees. "Oh, you guys are here! This is great! C'mon, give your king a hug!" Immediately, I was bowled over by a ball of ecstatic Dees and Doos, followed by Bandana Dee hugging the rest of his brethren. "Wow, you must've really missed me! Heh heh!"

"Wow, that was something I didn't expect to see," I heard Kirby say in astonishment. "Mighty conveniently timed, too. There's probably a trope for this, I'm sure…"

"Woot! Go, Dedede from another dimension!" Tuff cheered. "You were awesome!"

"Yeah, three cheers for Dedede!" the other kids said.

"Man, I never thought I'd see the day when people would actually be cheering for Dedede," Tokkori commented in his typical 'I'm-a-jerk!' tone. "Just goes to show, you can't expect everything to go as you'd think."

"Poyo!" 'Lil Kirbs decided to hop on the bandwagon, obliviously joining the other Waddle Dees in their joy as the kids around us repeatedly shouted "Hip hip hooray!" in excitement.

"Don't worry, you guys," I laughed, "they'll be plenty time for welcome back hugs today!"

("Days in Dream Land aren't going to be quiet anymore, huh?" Tiff said.

Kirby smirked. "Who said they were ever truly quiet to begin with?" he corrected. "If anything, I think they're about to get more interesting."

"I guess that's one way to put it," Tiff half-heartedly sighed.)

Since last chapter was fairly short on the whole character introduction thing, here's… the character introduction thing. Featuring the first-person perspectives of Tiff, Canon!Meta, and Canon!Dedede.

I hope that the personalities of each one are showcased appropriately. I expect to be swapping back and forth between them a lot throughout this one-shot collection, so nailing down their writing style is certainly a must if I'm to write well.

As I stated before, the core Star Allies won't be the only guys in Cappy Town. As time progresses, I'll add everyone else, but I need to gradually build up from here. If I just dump everyone in, it'll be a chore keeping track of all of them.

I'm going to be highlighting the relationship between Kirby and Dedede (and their anime counterparts) quite a lot in this collection. I mean, the relationships between their Canonverse and Animeverse versions are night and day; and a little rivalry between Anime!Dedede and Canon!Dedede will only serve to make things even more interesting. I hope their little 'duel' was staged out well.

Oh, and that bit about Nightmare in Canon!Meta's segment? You'll see where I'm going with that subject in time.

Well, that's all I've got. There's going to be a plethora of places to go from here – so stay tuned for more one-shots!