Kirby finds himself on a lush green hill dotted with a variety of multicolored flowers. He notices a paved path going down the hill. Who made such a path?, Kirby wonders. Nevertheless, he hastily hops down the hill, searching for his lost friends.
Over there, in the distance! Could that be… Mario? He's a friend!
Kirby rushes down the hill to greet Mario. "Poyo!" he squeaks, utterly unaware that what is running to is not Mario at all. The clone turns to look at the puffball, who abruptly stops in his tracks. The clone's piercing red gaze freezes Kirby, instilling the shock of something familiar yet frighteningly unknown into his youthful heart. The clone trudges toward the frozen Kirby, ill intent fueling each step. It wasn't until Kirby is sent flying with a kick that the Hero snaps out of it.
After brushing off the dirt, Kirby runs toward the clone, setting himself aflame as he tries to ram into the clone like a fireball. However, right before impact, the clone's body turned into pure metal, causing Kirby to bang his head on an incredibly hard surface unlike what he was first expecting. The clone raises a hand and conjures a fireball, rearing up give Kirby a taste of his own medicine, before a bullet flies in from afar, catching the side of the clone's head and sending it flying into a nearby tree. Kirby looks in the direction the bullet came from and sees a masked human donning rather dashing attire, standing atop a nearby hill- Joker. He was brandishing what looked to be a silver pistol.
Joker himself is quite perplexed, though. "Is that another Shadow…? No, they were fighting each other, and I don't sense that weird aura, but… then what is it?" The fake Mario begins to stand, the metal of his body reverting. Kirby turns back to the clone and readies a a giant hammer. "Well, the pink thing seems like it isn't after me, so I guess I'll help it out and hopefully find out more about this place. Arsène!" Responding to his call, a large humanoid demon appears behind Joker from a plume of blue flames.
The clone starts running toward Kirby. "SUKUNDA!" Joker exclaims as a dark-green miasma surrounds the clone and makes it's movements much slower. Slow enough for Kirby's hammer to be fully engulfed in flame and make a heavy collision with the fake Mario. "Poyo!" Kirby squeaks, uppercutting the clone with enough force to send it hurtling up in the air. "Eigaon!" Joker exclaims once more, sending dark curse energy at the flailing fraud, eventually causing it to dissolve into yellow particles in midair. In its wake, the spirit of a Smoky Progg lingers in place for a bit before flying high up in the sky. Joker slides down the hill to get closer to Kirby as Arsène dissipates into a blue mist.
"So. Can you talk?" Joker inquires. "Poyo." Kirby unhelpfully responds. Joker sighs. "Well, wherever this is, it's not the Metaverse because the MetaNav isn't working. And yet I can still summon Arsène, which means… what, exactly?" Joker sighs and shakes his head. "And why am I here alone? If only Oracle or the others were here. I have no choice but to move on," Joker thinks aloud, walking away from Kirby. The puffball trots over to follow Joker. "I guess you're along for the ride, too, huh?" Kirby, unsurprisingly, squeaks out another "Poyo."
The pair come across a large stone circle in the ground with some kind of inscription depicting a smaller circle with four lines jutting out diagonally like a preschooler's attempt at drawing a sun. The stone circle looked very out of place in the otherwise lush and colorful landscape and so gave Joker and Kirby pause. Plus, it looked worn somehow, as if it had been there for-
Suddenly, a suffocating presence hits the pair, causing them to instinctively recoil before looking up and seeing… Mythra. Yet not the same Mythra as before, yet also not different in the same way that the Mario clone was different. She was something else entirely.
"Well, well," Mythra utters in a cold, cocky tone. Dark shadows enveloped her being, her eyes a piercing maroon. "When I heard there were some that managed to evade the Scouring, I didn't think they'd look so… pathetic. Whatever. Not even Galeem is perfect, I guess."
Joker points his gun at Mythra. "Who are you? A Shadow? Do you know something about this place?"
Mythra scoffs. "Please, like I'd be dumb enough to give you all of the secrets. Since these are going to be your last few moments, though… I guess I'll throw you a bone. I am no Shadow. I am Mythra, Enforcer of the Light Armada and former Hero of World 58656E6F."
Mythra brandishes a complicated-looking sword with a blade made of light. "In other words… your executioner."