Kirby's newest adventure had just begun; a malefic, angelic entity had committed universal-scale genocide and with its power it had transformed the realm the fighters had lived in, disfiguring what was once a more naturally-orderly—if not somewhat nondescript—world that was still bustling with life into more of a mix-and-max patchwork of the fighters' various home worlds cobbled together that somehow felt hollow and lifeless, and most of it was obscured by bright clouds from what Kirby could see. Still, he could see the one responsible from a great distance away, perched upon the very edge of the world reaching out into the heavens, and what mattered most now was getting to it and putting an end to its twisted schemes. With his mission clear, Kirby gave himself a determined nod and made his way down from the hill he had landed upon.

Upon rounding a corner down the hill, Kirby quickly came face-to-face with a face he didn't expect to see so soon; Mario of all people had apparently been waiting for him while leaning under some shade. Kirby couldn't make him out all that well. but he was more than happy to reunite with one of his friends so early into his adventure. The young star warrior ran up to the man and waved to get his attention, but now that Kirby had gotten closer he started to notice that there was something distinctly different about him; it wasn't until Mario slowly opened his eyes and revealed the true nature of the fighter.

"Mario's" eyes burned bright with white irises framing blood-red pupils, and his clothing color was different—being a black-and-white combo with a white shirt and gloves alongside a pair of black shoes, black overalls, and a black cap. Not long after spotting Kirby, this "Mario" became enveloped in a multi-colored aura, and he locked his eyes dead into Kirby's for a brief spell. What happened next was something that the young star warrior was not entirely prepared for; "Mario" clenched his fists before leaping high into the air, and he came crashing back down with a fist aimed at Kirby. Kirby dodged the attack in time and looked to "Mario" for an explanation behind the attack; the response he received, however, was that "Mario" was somehow spawning an unira in his hand before pitching the spiny item at Kirby. Thinking fast, Kirby inhaled the unira and swallowed it down, relieved for thinking on his feet yet also disappointed in not acquiring the needle copy ability from it. His relief did not last long as not too soon did the star warrior find "Mario" ramming into him with a sliding leg takedown. Though the young star warrior was taken down from the hit for the moment, he was far from out of the fight; once he was back on his feet Kirby waited for "Mario" to close the distance between them while assuming a guarding stance—"Mario" took this as a challenge and bolted toward Kirby and reached out toward his enemy with a grabbing gesture. Kirby sidestepped the maneuver with little effort and laid into "Mario" with a vulcan jab flurry and finished it off with a mighty smash punch.

Now it was Kirby's turn to go on the offensive, following up his punches with a burning tackle against the helpless "Mario" and sending him flying like a fireball. Kirby continued his assault and leapt up at "Mario" ready to bean him with his triple spin kicks, but when he reached his enemy his attack had only struck thin air as "Mario" had enough time to shift his aerial momentum in another direction, safely landing off to Kirby's side. Seeing this, Kirby tried to turn himself around to better protect himself with whatever attack "Mario" had in store for him, but he was too slow to prepare for "Mario" jumping up at him and getting in two somersault kicks before capping off the combo with his super jump punch. Call it crazy, but Kirby could swear that "Mario" was quite stronger than the last time he faced him; he knew his attacks shouldn't normally hurt that much from having sparred against him too many times to count and that he wasn't doing as much damage to him in turn, and he quickly suspected that this was the doing of that evil-looking angel that started this whole mess, but Kirby could always hit harder than him—after having gained generous distance away from each other, Kirby pulled out a copy of the late King Dedede's hammer that he often had on loan and began channeling his ferocity into it which manifested as an intense blaze cloaking it, slowly floating back down toward the battlefield. "Mario" saw this coming and tried to intercept the attack with another super jump punch, but Kirby being as light as he was had evaded the move and he glided toward the now helpless "Mario". Once he felt the sting of power overflowing, Kirby readied his landing stance and let loose with the dreaded hammer flip, swinging the hammer in a massive arc and sending "Mario" flying as far as the eye could see.

Or at least that's what should have happened.

Kirby could hear and feel his hammer striking something very hard of metallic nature, and the force of his swing colliding with such an object sent him reeling slightly in the opposite direction. When he looked at "Mario" to see why, he found his answer: "Mario" was inexplicably now made of metal, and the hammer flip didn't do so much as even dent his surface. Now Kirby was incredibly confused and nervous—the Mario he knew had never displayed any sort of ability to suddenly coat himself in metal, not counting the actual Metal Mario separate from him who was like such all the time. "Mario" was able to quickly regain his stance and charged at Kirby once again with his arm outstretched to grab the star warrior. With Kirby in his grasp he wasted no time slamming iron head after iron head into the lad, not too staggered from the headbutts but more than disorienting his opponent before tossing him behind like how he had done to Bowser so many years ago. This whole turn of events had caught Kirby by complete surprise, and until "Mario" had changed back to normal—assuming if he ever did—the star warrior would have to remain on the defensive. Patience was a virtue and he would be rewarded if he played his cards right.

Unfortunately for Kirby, by the time "Mario" had changed back to normal—and even then he kept changing back into his metal form at crucial points during the fight—he had already beaten the poor Dreamlander into the ground with a modified fighting style that Kirby was not used to dealing with before; Mario was an all-arounder who was already tricky to deal with, and now it felt as though "Mario" was possessed by something else entirely like it isn't naturally used to being in "Mario's" body. Thinking about such things were irrelevant now, as Kirby was already in the red while "Mario" was hardly fazed at all by Kirby's attacks. One more good hit on the star warrior and it was off to the K.O. zone for him. Kirby frantically looked to his surroundings left and right to find anything that would help him escape; continuing to fight at this point was suicidal with how "Mario" kept activating his metal skin at inconvenient (for Kirby) moments, never letting the star warrior get a single good hit in. When it almost looked like Kirby would have to face "Mario's" wrath and endure through it, he spotted a nearby smoke ball that had dropped in on them. Kirby was quick to grab it right before "Mario" could catch him and the star warrior threw the item in "Mario's" face, blinding the fighter with colorful smoke and causing him to wander about aimlessly. Kirby was tempted to try and attack "Mario" as he was now, but Kirby was still in the danger zone while "Mario" was effectively unscathed, and he still had his metalmorph ability that Kirby was far too tired to deal with for the moment. Thus, with the chances Kirby had he decided to accept the loss for the moment and retreat while he still could—formulate a plan of attack then come back for a comeback after he recovered enough of his strength.

And so, his feet carried him back up to the top of the hill where he had crash landed from earlier as fast as they could for his condition, not bothering to peer over the edge to see if "Mario" was searching for him or not. In hindsight, Kirby honestly didn't know where else to go, and if "Mario" was smart enough then he'd know that there really was nowhere else to go either except for right past him; Kirby did consider running past him instead of retreating back to the hilltop, but he still wanted an explanation behind "Mario's" strange behavior, not helped by "Mario's" total unwillingness to speak to him. If only Kirby knew what exactly was wrong then perhaps he'd have an easier time on this journey to defeat this "ultimate enemy"; his adventure had already started on a bleak note with absolutely everyone else but him and the monster behind it alive with the rest of the universe obliterated, and having to fight his friend (or at least whatever looked like his friend) without knowing the reason behind their hostility had Kirby confused and sad at best. He knew that he couldn't—mustn't—give up as everything literally depended on him, but he was starting to wonder how he could do this without any sort of help. And Kirby knew that this monster was likely doing everything it could to stop him, and it was just a matter of time until he was actively being hunted down.

'…'

…? Kirby could have sworn that he just heard a low humming sound, but as far as he knew that could have just been the wind howling since there was no one else but him up on the hilltop—unless somebody had found him up there. This was really something Kirby was in no right mood to deal with but he had to, so he gathered up what little strength he had left and prepared for a fight.

'…' The humming sound continued and got louder while sounding like it was coming from behind Kirby; the star warrior spun on his heel to confront the intruding force but only found empty air. The sound continued again from behind him, and naturally when Kirby turned around there was nothing there while the noise persisted. This was getting very irritating very quickly because now it was just messing with the star warrior, and in response Kirby took out his hammer and swung it around him with a battle cry hoping to catch this annoyance off guard.

'…!' The sound abruptly stopped, making Kirby wonder if he had hit something without knowing it, and when he looked around to see if he was truly alone he found something very curious; levitating just a few feet away from him was a glowing white will-o'-the-wisp covered in a multi-color flame, shaking like a leaf before Kirby. The poor thing must have been startled when Kirby swung around his hammer, but being cautious himself Kirby slowly approached it. As expected, it backed away from him in fear seeing that the hammer was still in his hands, so Kirby put away the weapon and slowly approached the being without trying to cause much alarm. Though it flinched, it did not stray too far from Kirby now that the hammer was gone, and Kirby stared at this being in curiosity; this led to Kirby easing up around it, and he could feel that it was doing the same. Upon closer inspection, it did not happen to have any identifiable features beyond its colorful fire so Kirby couldn't' exactly tell what it was supposed to be, but it did have a pleasantly warm feeling from just being near it that seemed to soothe his mood.

" !" Suddenly the ball of light didn't seem so afraid of Kirby anymore and quickly flew toward him, circling his body in a way that made Kirby feel like he was being hugged; it even felt like his battle wounds were slowly starting to heal, and this made the star warrior absentmindedly wonder about what this thing truly was. It seemed friendly enough when not threatened, and while it didn't speak Kirby knew that it felt safe with him. He didn't get much time to ponder on what it was, as the sound of footsteps nearby alerted him to another's presence…

"Mario" had found him, looking no worse for wear as if he hadn't sustained any damage from prior, apparently having followed the sound of Kirby's war cry from earlier. His eyes went straight into Kirby's at first, but something strange happened when he looked upon the floating energy creature beside Kirby; suddenly he was snarling like a mad beast and adopted a primal stance, a far cry from the stoic fury he displayed earlier. The creature had panicked from the sight and did something Kirby was not expecting. It flew straight into Kirby to avoid being attacked and the star warrior could feel a bright power coursing through him as a rainbow aura hugged his small body, invigorating him to levels he didn't think were possible in his current state, and when he turned to look at "Mario" that's when the most noticeable change had occurred; it turns out "Mario" was not alone—another one of the energy beings was flying behind him, and this one had clearly defined features inside its will-o'-the-wisp shape: a green slug-like body, glowing purple eyes, and two arms at its front. Kirby recognized this creature as the "smoky progg" that Captain Olimar had met during one of his expeditions and talked about with the others in-depth. More importantly was that Kirby could see what looked like tendrils attaching itself to "Mario's" body. Kirby, however, couldn't feel any true ill will coming from the smoky progg but rather sadness and pain, and it looked as though it was trying to pull away from "Mario" instead. This gave Kirby the impression that this smoky progg was actually anchored to "Mario" rather than actively controlling him. It still didn't entirely explain "Mario's" hostility or what this all fully meant, but at least Kirby knew that there was more going on to it, and with a new friend on his side Kirby was fully determined to square off against "Mario" once more.

This time he took the initiative, charging at the Smoky Progg-possessed "Mario" with a burning tackle and sending him flying farther than last time Kirby had noted—still not as powerfully as normal but this was certainly progress. Though "Mario" tried his best to recover aerial stability Kirby was already on him with his triple spin kicks, sending the possessed plumber flying right onto his back. Kirby made a mad dash for his downed opponent and stopped right before him, waiting for the now enraged man to throw out a flare kick to defend himself from his enemy. It was dodged with minimal effort and the star warrior now had "Mario" in his grasp, taking his turn to pummel the man with punches only to let him go. Thinking he had an opening, "Mario" whipped out his firebrand thrust at the star warrior and only struck air, as Kirby had slipped behind him with a dodge. The next thing "Mario" knew he was being grabbed from behind before being violently slammed to the ground by Kirby's German Suplex. The lad was quick to distance himself from his enemy and wait for another opening once "Mario" inevitably made another mistake, but that was when Kirby noticed something strange about the Smoky Progg possessing "Mario".

It started with a few violent and uncontrollable spasms, followed by a few of its tendrils breaking away from "Mario", and Kirby could more clearly see that the creature was trying to break away from the other fighter. Now Kirby knew that it truly was trapped, and it seemed to break free more and more the closer to defeat "Mario" was. With this new knowledge Kirby reignited his vigor, determined to save the Smoky Progg. "Mario" eventually stood to his feet and was starting to see more red than usual, rushing at Kirby with a super jump punch in mind, though when Kirby had his hammer prepared to knock the wind out of the possessed plumber, "Mario's" body had began its metalmorphisis midway into his charge. Kirby knew from experience that it ultimately hurt him more than "Mario" whenever he tried to drop the hammer on him unprepared, so Kirby hopped away to grant himself sizeable difference and readjust his swinging force as "Mario" attempted to launch him to the sky. When the metal man came back down from his jump, though, the force of his landing so close to Kirby threw the boy's concentration off center right before his swing was carried out, clumsily throwing his entire body into the attack and reeling from the impact of his hammer against the metal "Mario", and the plumber seized this chance to slide into Kirby with a leg takedown and leapt at the disoriented star warrior to ground him with a flaming meteor knuckle. Had Kirby been able to speak proper English he'd have had a choice curse or two to yell at the plumber for activating his metalmorph yet again right as he was about to land a good hit, now starting to wonder if it was intentional or not. He stood up regardless and decided to take a different approach to fighting the man. Baiting the plumber with a cheeky taunt, Kirby silently thanked the stars that "Mario" took it without hesitation and ran toward him, and Kirby decided to keep the man at bay with his kicks constantly poking at him from a distance. When "Mario" retaliated in kind with a kick of his own, Kirby merely dodged and ran in for a grapple, laying into "Mario" with more jabs to soften him up before the plumber harshly threw him off. It went back to poking at "Mario" with kicks and tripping him up a few times until his metalmorph wore off, and when it did Kirby quickly threw out a single grounded spin kick, immediately following up the attack with his breakdance spin kicks and finishing off his crazy kick combo with a lunging double spin kick. The combo did serious damage to "Mario" and nearly flung him off of the hilltop but he was not out just yet, channeling his inner fire and throwing it out as fireballs to keep Kirby at bay; though Kirby simply inhaled them with no issue, "Mario" had been charging up his F.L.U.D.D. water pressure while the star warrior was busy, and by the time Kirby realized this "Mario" had already finished. Ready to fight again, "Mario" took to rushing Kirby again and the star warrior inwardly sighed wondering if the man had any actual strategy left or if he was getting desperate. Kirby had dodged what he assumed to be another sliding tackle, but this time "Mario" was the one with a trick up his sleeve.

The man swung out his cape when Kirby was ready to counterattack, flipping his orientation in the other direction when Kirby went for another grab. Before Kirby realized what had happened "Mario" tripped him up with a sweep kick followed by an uppercut, and without giving Kirby any time to recover "Mario" unleashed his firebrand thrust upon him again to blast the boy near the edge of the hilltop. Not one to give his opponent a chance to fight back, Mario charged the downed star warrior again with a sliding leg takedown, flinging him to where Kirby was forced to grab on to the hilltop's ledge. When Kirby looked down to the ground while considering another retreat, he found that he was suddenly tons of feet in the air when he could have sworn that he was only a few dozen feet above ground just moments before the fight had started. Was this the work of that light demon far off in the distance…?

'…!' Kirby could hear his new friend's distress and tried reassuring them that he was okay, at least until "Mario" walked up to him with a none-too-pleased look on his face. Kirby's hand would have been promptly stomped on which would have sent him plummeting to certain doom had he not have the foresight to let go and take to the air, utilizing his signature hovering to pass over "Mario", but even this was countered; "Mario" had finally unleashed his F.L.U.D.D. upon Kirby to push him way past a safe distance to be away from the stage, and Kirby being so full of air only made it easier for "Mario" to trap him and harder for Kirby to win. His exhaustion starting to get the better of him, Kirby's hover flight was not lasting long at all, and he pushed himself to make it back to the hilltop, and then he saw "Mario" running towards him ready for another meteor knuckle. Swearing to himself Kirby had only two options left: evade his attack to make it back to the hilltop and leave "Mario" able to get back to it himself, or intercept "Mario's" attack with one of his own to finish the man off and potentially risk losing his life in the process.

"…!" "Mario" swung his fist down at Kirby to finish the last piece of resistance against his lord, but he failed when in a quick burst of movement Kirby had propelled himself back toward the much to his own shock and infuriation. Just how long did this weak Dreamlander intend on dragging out his inevitable death instead of accepting his loss?! No matter— he'd get his due in time, but for now he had to get back to the hill himself and not disappoint his master. Using his spare midair jump he steered himself toward the ledge, not feeling the need to use his super jump punch, but that was where things had started to go downhill for him. The beginning of the end for him was near when he felt Kirby's foot kick him squarely in his stomach, flinging him a ways away from the ledge; now realizing the predicament he was in, "Mario" did his best to steer his fall toward the wall he could kick off of, but then he felt the metal in him pouring out through his pores and coating his entire form, meaning he had to make this next move count. He put all his might into his super jump punch to try and reach the ledge, but it was already too late by then.

Kirby was beyond irritated with fighting "Mario" and used his smash kick to give him time to charge up his fierce aura into his hammer one more time, and when the plumber was trying to recover Kirby knew he had finally won when he felt the burn of his fully-charged hammer flip. Wasting no more time, Kirby marched over to the ledge and pulled off a move he hadn't done since his time in the Super Smash Bros. Melee scene back in 2001: Kirby dove off at the ledge and performed a flaming variant of his big hammer swing, barreling at "Mario" while swinging his hammer at a furious speed and then finally smashing it into the metal face of his opponent, sending him falling down like a blazing meteor. "Mario's" last thought as this had happened was how he had failed his lord and silently begged forgiveness for his failure, finally crashing into the ground from up above and exploding into a burst of bright multi-colored lights from the impact. Kirby was also so spent from the sheer force he put into his attack that he simply allowed himself to glide down to the earth below, knowing that he couldn't make it back up and wondering if it was all worth it in the end before drifting off midflight…

So, the Smoky Progg I had sent after Kirby has failed me…

'Hah, as if a novice ghost-a possessing a body of mine could be any real challenge for-a Kirby!' Mario said, rubbing in their enemy's failure in its face. 'Even with the metal shift, Kirby still-a beat him no problemo.'

Only because of the intervention of a rogue spirit that had somehow eluded my reach

'I think it is time you face the music,' Marth spoke. 'You've committed a grave mistake that will be your downfall.'

'It is only a matter of time until Kirby comes for you,' Sheik continued. 'Your vile schemes shall soon lay broken before your feet.'

'That'll teach you to destroy everything you big bully!' Redd Smascevilla taunted. Though they knew that their enemy was not one who took to jeering very kindly, they couldn't help themselves after feeling Kirby's first victory against this menace. Thus, they were hardly surprised when it decided to punish them for their mouthing off at it.

I see. Then perhaps my overreliance on the weaker novice spirits was an error in judgment. Though I am still recovering my energy, I still possess an unchallenged hold over this world, and Kirby has far more to worry about alongside the traps I have put into place. In the meantime, I shall correct my error from sending a novice spirit believing that it would finish Kirby.

'And how exactly do you plan to do that?' Mario asked, not convinced that this thing had any contingency plans in the making.

You will fight him Marius. If a novice spirit truly cannot compare to you, then you will assuredly kill Kirby without so much effort. And should you fail, I will have Prince Mars Lowell, Princess Zelda Wakana Hyrule IV, and the Smashville mayoral candidates on standby to finish off the weakened Kirby. I need not worry so much about the outcome of your battle either way—I have all the puppet fighters I need from you and as such I require no further assistance from you.

The enemy certainly was subtle about sending Mario to his death against Kirby, and a part of him sorely hoped that it wasn't the case, after all if Kirby had no reason to believe that there was a spirit to be freed he would keep fighting until Mario had simply stopped fighting, and that could easily be caused through his ultimate demise.

'Come on-a Kirby, don't-a let us down now. You can do this…'

I believe that now would be most opportune for you to battle Kirby. I would say do not disappoint me, but I must remind myself that—for better or worse—you have no say in the matter anyhow. I suppose that this is a farewell then, Marius Gonzales Mario, Prince Mars Lowell, Princess Zelda Wakana Hyrule IV, and Smashville mayor aspirants. Pray that Kirby fells you in his ill-fated quest to stop me should you fail, for what I have in store for those who oppose me will not be pleasant.

'Why you sunnova—' Mario never finished the curse directed at him before he was instantly spirited away, soon followed by Marth, Sheik, and the Villagers right behind him. The others can only hope and pray to whatever benign power that be left out in the empty universe that Kirby had the strength to prevail against tried and true fighters hellbent on killing him, and that he would avoid killing said fighters in kind.

Fret not, for it shall all over be soon. Kirby may be mighty but he is not invincible, and he will learn this soon enough…

When Mario had finally come to, he found himself standing guard before a crossroad of sorts, though the whole area was heavily cloaked in a thick sea of shining clouds of gold. Somehow he knew exactly what was around his immediate vicinity as strange and scary as that was. Not too far ahead of him were three false Yoshis—coming in colors of blue, yellow, and red with Tanooki ears and tails—all strung along by a very scared Eevee doing its best to not to get attacked again yet forced to remain on watch for Kirby, all of whom preceded Celeste controlling a Jigglypuff's body who had little else to do besides nap—none too enthused to fight her target so soon and would much rather get back to the other villagers who were undoubtedly worried sick about her just like how she worried about them in return. Behind Mario was a giant R.O.B. visited by the spirit of one of Hyrule's many Guardian Stalkers, the Sheikah sentinel expressing great depression over not just merely being an unwilling tool of Calamity Ganon that destroyed countless innocent lives with reckless abandon but now also being forced to lend its strength to a shell under a fell god's thrall for the purpose of eradicating the one thing able to free it from its torment—if only its creators could look upon its pitiful soul now, having majorly failed its duty of being a protector many times over. Further off were Mario's other friends Marth, Sheik, and the Villagers at each of the crossroad's ends who were hoping to hope to be freed and even if that wasn't an option that Kirby at least would continue having the strength to face their enemy and free the universe from its control. He understood how they felt; everything they had done in preparation of facing this menace was all in vain, and now everything hung on a very bleak thread as Kirby alone had to carry on for everyone, assuming that the ultimately couldn't find a way to save them all. Mario wouldn't put it past that monster to make it so, perhaps as a twisted way of "punishing" the fighters for defying it. Either way, it wasn't as if Kirby knew exactly everything that was going on and likely wouldn't know of a surefire way to free everyone, let alone anyone, and while that was a depressing thought to think that Kirby may be forced to kill all of the friends he made Mario couldn't find it in himself to hate Kirby if it ever came down to that. He knew that Kirby would've done everything that he could do and would've been heartbroken in the ensuing failure, and he believed that the others would surely understand that too. All anyone could do at this point was—damning as it sounded—resign themselves to being at the mercy of both Kirby and their enemy, with only time telling what fate had in store for them yet remain hopeful in the dream of salvation from this brightly-light hell.

'Well, Kirby ol' pal, you're about to face the greatest challenge you've-a ever had, taking cautious steps everywhere you go not sure what to expect, but don't you feel like giving up, alright? We gotcha back kiddo, right to the end-a your journey… Good luck kiddo, and may we shine ever brighter to bring back the dying life in this world…!'