The Star Warrior Kirby wakes up from a splendid dream of sweets by the sound of something crashing into the planet.
Scurrying towards the crater outside his home, Kirby happens upon another being that looks like him, but slick red and with brown eyes.
The being calls himself a "Rocky Maw", confusing Kirby.
In truth, this is Riku, who quickly comes to the realization that he's been transformed into a Kirby and lets out a panicked scream.
He tries to speak but talks in strange "Poyos" that Kirby misinterprets often. Riku can speak like him and also understands him.
Trying a little harder to speak coherently, Riku winds up finding out how to tell Kirby who he is and what he normally looks like. He doesn't know how he got like this, but states that he's not a threat.
Kirby seems to believe him, the friendly gumball he is and all. In fact Kirby knows about humans due to meeting Samus and Mario before in the Smash Bros. stuff.
This makes it easier for Riku to describe how he got here, at the least. But before he can get too deep into it Riku finds he's very, very hungry.
Kirby invites him to eat some food at his place, and Riku humbly complies. He then tries to float off, but finds he can't. In fact, once again, all his elements have been lost.
He believes it has something to do with the same event that turned him into a Kirby-like being. For now though, he decides to eat up and relax.
After Riku shows a surprisingly voracious appetite, Riku and Kirby have a bit of a friendly chat before Kirby decides to take Riku out to Green Greens in a hunt for his elements.
One quick Warp Star ride later, Kirby tries to get Riku to learn how to defend himself by sucking up powers from enemies. But Riku can't do that, for some reason.
Instead he's locked into "Sword" until he can get other elements back.
So Kirby sucks up "Beam" and then guides Riku on a jaunty stroll through Green Greens until they eventually run into the inevitable Whispy Woods fight.
Whispy has gotten hold of the Grass Element and decides he's going to use it to finally defeat Kirby for pestering him every time he starts an adventure.
Whispy becomes Whispy Sage and actually is a little bit of a tough fight! But being the first boss as usual, he goes down soon enough.
He then exhales the Grass Element for Riku to pick up, which allows him to now use "Leaf" whenever he wants. Curiously, Kirby does not recognize the power-up himself.
His next suggestion is Ripple Field, where Water probably is.
After a close encounter with a shark following a rocky Warp Star landing, Riku follows Kirby to the sea only to realize one major thing...He can't swim.
Kirby playfully tosses him in the water and though Riku flails a bit in a panic, he soon realizes his body adapts to the water quite naturally. And its beautiful underwater.
Kirby picks up his own "Sword" off a scared Sword Knight, the appearance of his green hat traumatizing Riku a bit.
But nevertheless they swim through the deep depths until ultimately having a run in with Acro, who sucks up the Water Element to become a fearsome predator.
Riku and Kirby take him out, as it customary, and Riku regains what he lost.
Kirby doesn't stop there though. He takes Riku straight on a one-way trip to the Bubbly Clouds above Dream Land, thinking they'll find two elements there.
And upon arriving they DO find Sky and Electricity waiting for them out in the open. However, they are then intercepted by Kracko, who is here under orders from King Dedede.
King D3 encountered a "black orb" that fell into his castle and is now interesting in finding more all for himself. But Kracko has other plans.
He wants to see what the elemental orbs can do on his own, and quickly absorbs Sky and Electricity inside of himself to become stronger and, as it seems, wiser. He even takes on a bigger, more humanoid appearance.
With his newfound wisdom he quickly deduces what these elements are for and chooses not to fight Kirby and Riku over them, believing he won't win.
So he wanders off, leaving Kirby and Riku befuddled at what the HECK just happened.
Riku's worried about Kracko getting even stronger and thinks they need to hurry up and grab the Earth element to counteract Kracko's powers.
But Kirby thinks that Kracko will just go after Ice to counter his counter.
So Riku says they'll just have to get Fire after Earth to counter the countering of his counter.
Kirby, now dizzy, calls back the Warp Star so they can just go to Yogurt Yard and find the Earth element.
Little did they know, however, that Kracko chose to stay behind and listen in. Now he knows where they're going, and plans around it.
Kirby and Riku crash land on the mountain and are immediately swarmed by a ton of familiar enemies. The Waddle Doo leading the pack is verbally annoyed at Kirby for...starting an adventure without letting them have the time to get ready to stop him!
Kirby promptly apologizes for the suddenness of his adventure but Waddle Doo says they aren't going to be merciful in setting up obstacles.
After a bit of meta humor exchanged between them Kirby and Riku move on, Kirby sucking up a Wheelie and just going to town through the mob of enemies in his path.
The way into the mountain is blocked off by Bonkers, Bubzzy, Poppy Bros. Sr, and Mr. Tick Tock, who are here for a reunion of pain upon Kirby.
Kirby is just really happy to see them again, accidentally blurting out what they're doing, much to Riku's confusion.
But the four already know and plan to grab the Earth element to punish Kracko. Riku tells them not to because they might lose their mind, but its alright, cause Bonkers doesn't have much of a mind to begin with.
Riku and Kirby beat them and in their "last moments" Bugzzy asks what power Kirby wants. Kirby shrugs and decides to keep Wheel, causing all four of them to blow up with an exasperated gasp of "WHAT?!"
Riku, tiring of the meta humor, decides to just say nothing and follow Kirby into the cave.
There they run into the Heavy Mole, who acquires the Earth element and become a wild drilling machine that burrows deeper into the planet.
Kirby makes a Wheelie partner and has Riku ride on his back so they can catch up quickly. After some high octane chasing Riku deals the final blow and gets the Earth element back.
They're next stop is the Vocal Volcano for the Fire element.
But upon arriving there they find the volcano going through intense seismic activity and its ruler, the kindly owl Bohboh, unconscious on the inside.
Kracko has changed his course and gotten fire ahead of time. And more than likely, he's gone and picked up Ice with ease while Kirby and Riku are distracted here.
Riku starts panicking over flashbacks to Ganondorf, with Kirby trying to settle him down.
As they fly off to try and intercept Kracko, the living cloud reverses their plans on them and throws them into a storm while on the Warp Star.
He is now much bigger, having grown four arms, each one representing the different elements he's absorbed, on top of gaining a beard and two eyes.
He understands so much more about the Elemental Overlord and who Riku truly is. He calls him a cruel master, saying how the elements suffered under his possession.
Riku's guilt-stricken, but more mad over Kracko trying to abuse his powers.
But Kracko doesn't intend to rain destruction down upon Dream Land. Once he has all the elements in his possession he's going to use his newly gained wisdom to travel the universe and continue to learn.
Kirby doesn't buy it, and he believes neither should Riku.
Riku draws his sword and says he'll make it up to the elements later.
Kracko laughs, and starts masterfully throwing the elements at his disposal against Kirby and Riku.
Riku cuts down the obstacles until Kirby can suck in a chunk of the elements to gain powers. He then tosses attacks at Kracko's arms to weaken the barrier he erects so Riku can hit him hard.
Once he's been weakened enough, Riku impales his sword into Kracko's head to drain his elements out.
Kracko reverts to the one-eyed cloud and is outraged. But he doesn't admit defeat, for he can still swipe up the "black orb" in Dedede's possession, and becoming even stronger than he was before.
Its now a race between both parties to get to Dedede's Castle and acquire the "black orb".
Kracko enters the castle first and tricks the Waddle Dees into getting in Riku and Kirby's way. But his plan's pretty dumb cause Waddle Dees aren't that tough.
Kirby and Riku follow the sparks the cloud leaves behind and find him trying to kiss up to Dedede, who knows of his betrayal.
After Kracko is donezo by Dedede's hammer-o, Riku decides to try and be diplomatic about Dedede handing over the orb.
Convinced by the concerns of him going power-mad, Dedede is about to relinquish the orb when Kirby brings up all the property damage casually.
Dedede gets pissed and decides they're going to fight anyways. Riku slaps his forehead and gets upset at Kirby, who just treats this like it was bound to happen eventually.
They follow Dedede to the rough and have a brief scuffle, but soon enough Riku senses a cutting presence in the air.
Meta Knight suddenly flies in and starts attacking Dedede, with Kirby getting in the way. Meta Knight doesn't speak a word of his reasons and eventually turns his blade on Kirby while trying to go after Dedede when he can.
Riku sneaks up behind Dedede and tries to steal his Darkness back. But then Dedede just decides this day ain't worth it and chooses to surrender the orb willingly.
But before he can make an attempt at it his arms suddenly stiffen up.
Meta Knight flinches and turns around, taking a clean slice at Dedede...But his target isn't the king, rather, the strand of darkness tethered to his body.
The one-eyed black orb Dark Matter is revealed having been covertly holding on to Dedede until just the right moment. Now, it quickly snags up the darkness element and moans that their master shall be revived.
With the power of darkness, Dark Matter opens a gap over Dream Land, causing other Dark Matter orbs to flood out into the skies above.
After flinging Dedede back into the castle the trio of Meta Knight, Kirby and Riku hold off the Dark Matter swarm until the Halberd can come in to bail them out.
They then begin a swift ascension towards the rift while Kirby and Riku grill Meta Knight for answers.
Meta Knight has known about Dark Matter for a few days after catching one of its sleeper agents trying to possess his officers.
He's kept a watchful eye on Dedede to see what they were planning exactly, but the sudden appearance of the strange black orb threw his plans off.
Riku apologizes for what happened but Meta Knight recognizes that it wasn't his fault. Kirby also says that they probably would've opened this rift anyways, not that it makes Riku feel any better.
Meta Knight then explains how Dark Matter is likely looking for something in Dream Land, hence why they're on a mass possession spree right now.
But if they can stop Dark Matter at the source, then their motives don't matter. Right now the Halberd is equipped with an anti-Dark Matter shield to let them puncture the rift above.
However, the ship is suddenly rocked by a laser of unknown origin, which rips open a hole in the barrier and allows Dark Matter to start flooding in.
Meta Knight keeps back to help with the guidance while Kirby and Riku arm up to go fight. The Heavy Lobster is sent out for back-up, but soon into the siege its consumed by Dark Matter globs, forcing Kirby and Riku to fight it off.
Meta Knight joins the fight soon into it, fending off the Dark Matter swarm while Kirby and Riku handle his berserk machine.
Once the machine is felled, Dark Matter, the TRUE Dark Matter, emerges from it and shows recognition of Kirby killing it twice in the past.
It decides to finish off Kirby and Riku for slowing the efforts of their master. Kirby runs off to get a power from the Halberd while Meta Knight and Riku engage the creature.
Kirby eventually comes back with UFO and starts wailing on Dark Matter, much to the creature's indifference.
Eventually they fell the master Dark Matter, who bemoans that it matters little...Their master will regain their full power soon enough.
With one last stretch between here and Dark Matter's domain, Kirby decides to take a nap, while Riku has a talk with Meta Knight about his still missing light element.
Meta Knight hasn't seen anything like it, unfortunately.
Meta Knight then comments on a strange similarity between Riku's sword and his Galaxia. They both realize they don't know much about their respective swords, but what separates the two of them is that Meta Knight respects Galaxia as a part of him while Riku...hasn't tried to learn much about his sword at all.
Meta Knight offers to train Riku in swordplay but Riku's determined to figure it out himself. Meta Knight respects his wishes, and retreats to the main deck to prepare for battle.
What awaits the trio at the top of this domain is a world of swirling rainbow colors and dark lights, not exactly what Dark Matter is used to making.
Given the whole laser thing earlier its clear someone else is behind Dark Matter besides Zero. And much to Kirby's surprise...Its Marx.
Marx, looking rather zombified since his last appearance, brags and boasts about his revival to the surprised Kirby.
Turns out the wish he made to NOVA had an unexpected side-effect. Since he wished to conquer Pop Star, he was brought back to life, since that wish had gone unfulfilled.
And, perhaps as another unintended result of the wish, a bunch of Dark Matter was lured over to Marx, who promptly called him their master.
Marx then brought Dark Matter down upon Dream Land to fulfill his desires. Kirby rightly points out that he's just being used like Dedede but Marx doesn't care. He just wants to conquer everything as he so desires.
As the fight begins, Riku senses an odd presence behind Marx...
Marx actually manages to put the trio on the ropes with his assortment of strange tricks, culminating in Kirby nearly getting dragged into a black hole.
Riku cries out with all his might for someone to save Kirby and suddenly, a draconic presence makes itself known, crushing the black hole.
Marx then gets really furious and lets loose powerful lasers in a last ditch effort to kill the trio. But Meta Knight swiftly slices him down, throwing him against the ground.
In the aftermath Meta Knight points his blade at the air and calls out to the true puppetmaster behind this invasion...The master of Dark Matter, and the embodiment of oblivion...Zero Two.
Zero continues to decry emotions and the abhorrent positivity of Dream Land, stating how he managed to endure his prior defeat on Ripple Star years ago, and came to possess Marx's corpse.
His current goal is to find a certain artifact on this world, and with it, bring about the end of Kirby's pleasant lifestyle as he knows it.
To that end, he also has possession of Riku's Light Element. Riku demands it be given back, but of course, Zero refuses.
He then binds Marx up in a flesh cocoon and casts him aside for now to his other Dark Matter subordinates, intending to finish the trio off now.
But while he puts up a good fight, Zero once again falls to Kirby's positive emotions. Yet he's not fazed. For while he distracted the trio, his underlings grabbed the one thing he desired...The Amazing Mirror.
Zero uses the Light Element to force himself into the Mirror World with the intent to "become whole".
Kirby and Riku follow, pulling the unconscious Meta Knight along with them. They wind up in the grassy plains on the outskirts of the mirror hub, where they find Zero Two and the Dark Matter hordes attempt to burn their way through a barrier surrounding the mirror hub.
Kirby's mirror counterpart, Shadow Kirby, pops in, pantomiming what's going on. Riku deduces that Dark Mind has revived.
Meta Knight wakes up not long after and finally puts two and two together. Zero and Dark Mind are two halves of a once singular being, and he plans to recreate it.
Given the current state of things, the trio decides to kill Dark Mind before the reunion can happen, and Shadow Kirby helps navigate them to a secret gate to Dark Mind's domain.
Dark Mind is shocked to see them but barely gets a chance to get a word in edgewise before the trio start wailing him down quickly.
But they just aren't fast enough, as Zero breeches the barrier and enters Dark Mind's domain. The two recognize each other, and immediately plan to become one...
Using Marx's body as the catalyst, Zero and Dark Mind fuse back together to become the ultimate warrior in the galaxy...Galacta Knight.
Meta Knight is stunned that this warrior now stands before him again, calling his existence an impossibility. But Galacta Knight has no recollection on Meta Knight, believing that if they met, it was because NOVA brought him forth from the future. But he does not believe that a weakling like Meta Knight could have beaten him, even if he does wield the cursed Galaxia.
Galacta Knight has a history with that blade, starting from a couple thousand years ago, when he scoured the galaxy red with blood in the search for the strongest warriors.
He happened upon an old man whose blade he cut down with relative ease. But the man promised a powerful fight, if given time to forge another blade, so Galacta Knight complied.
Later the old man returned, wielding Galaxia in one hand, and the Four Sword in the other.
With both blades a mighty duel occurred, shaping the galaxy around them as they fought from planet to planet, culminating in the old man dragging Galacta Knight to Pop Star.
In his final move, the old man split Galacta Knight in two with Galaxia and created the Amazing Mirror to force Dark Mind away, while Zero was expunged into space.
But now things are different. Having used Marx as a catalyst for his return, Galacta Knight is able to draw upon NOVA's remaining energies to grant his greatest wish...To never be split apart again.
He then vows to crush Galaxia under foot and spread blood and destruction across the universe, until he stands atop all as the strongest warrior.
The battle begins in earnest with Galacta Knight proving stronger than the warrior Meta Knight fought in the past. Yet through thick and thin, the trio stand defiant, hoping and praying for every opening they can get to push back.
Galacta Knight soon succumbs to paralysis as Marx starts becoming the dominant part of his mind. The wills of both their wishes on NOVA are clashing, causing Marx to continue and try to reclaim dominance over his body. This endless loop of desires has an adverse effect on their current body, forcing it to mutate into a near mindless abomination called Gigas Galactic.
The monster is quick to knock out Kirby and Meta Knight with a single swing of its gargantuan lance. Riku holds on just long enough to pull his Light element out from the main body at long last, and transform into Light Form.
The sole hero holding out, Riku draws his sword and prepares to save Kirby and Meta Knight, this time without sacrificing himself in the process.
A ferocious battle ensues, with Riku barely managing to land any hits on the mighty colossus.
The pain he inflicts gives Marx enough of an opening to resume full control temporarily, and with this limited time, he plans to use this body's god-like power to tear apart Dream Land AND the Mirror World.
With both worlds now coming under the threat of his power, Riku gathers his full strength and slashes down Gigas Galactic as hard as he can.
This manages to force Marx's mind into retreat, and reverts the titan back to Galacta Knight. The strongest warrior begs Riku to kill him so the jester won't control him again, but Riku refuses, saying the knight needs to pay for his crimes.
Riku, having been inspired by Zero's use of the Light element, manages to seal Galacta Knight away in a familiar prismatic crystal as the knight screams at his insolence.
Then Riku collapses, satisfied in his victory.
He wakes up a couple days later back in Kirby's house, fully refreshed and a little happy for once.
After Kirby explains how they got back safely, Riku deduces that this time, Dark Matter is TRULY done for good.
But there's still one loose end to wrap up regarding Galacta Knight. He has Kirby take him to the Halberd, which is currently overseeing the rebuilding of Dedede's castle.
Meta Knight has been examining Galacta Knight's crystal and determined that only Riku can open it, as far as he knows.
So just to be safe though, Riku decides it'd be best to chuck it far out into space so no one can find it.
Saying his goodbyes and thanks to Kirby and Meta Knight, Riku picks up the crystal and flies off into space, where he regains his human form.
He then flings Galacta Knight far away, and with a smile on his face, leaves to continue his adventures.
But little did he know, someone would soon find the crystal adrift in space and bring it aboard their spaceship.
A little blue orbed being with floating hands wanders up to the crystal and suddenly hears a voice talking to him...The voice of a friend.
The sounds of Marx call out to his being and tell him lies about what happened to put him in this state of living. He wants to be avenged. He wants Kirby dead...
Thus Magolor, the owner of the Lor Starcutter they are on, decides to fulfill his friend's request and get revenge on Kirby...
Part 4 Story 3 END.