Welcome back, guys!
IMPORTANT NOTE: IF YOU HAVEN'T BEEN RECEIVING ANY EMAIL NOTIFICATIONS, IT'S BECAUSE NOW DOES EMAIL OPT-INS FOR NOTIFICATIONS, YOU CAN FIND IT IN YOUR ACCOUNT SETTINGS. HOWEVER, IT RESETS EVERY 90 DAYS SO THE SITE CAN PURGE BOTS APPARENTLY.
(I personally think it's an unnecessary change but I figured I'd let you guys know just in case, regardless.)
Happy Thanksgiving and Anniversary for the fic! Assuming I timed it right, of course - depending on the time zone you're at, I'm either a day late, or on time I think - for Thanksgiving. The anniversary was actually a few days ago, the 22nd. But regardless, it's November, and as I said in the previous chapter - I'm posting now! So, onto what this chapter will be about!
This is a transcript from Animan10 again (third time, I know), but it's a little different. This will be a video essay about the game series Kirby. If it sounds a bit odd compared to what is usually found in RWBY React Fics, I hope that reading this changes your mind. After all, video essays are informative and the RWBY characters reacting to it should result in interesting thoughts from them - which is something that I've hopefully managed to communicate adequately in previous chapters. All in all, I just thought this would be a nice change of pace. Like the music chapter!
For people who are wondering what video it is - or who want to watch it, it is called "The Lore of Kirby – Designing for Friendship", hence the title of the chapter.
Here is the link (split up - and just add youtube dot com, of course):
/watch?v= CUSYCLgEMfU
Anyways, enough of that and on with the show!
I DO NOT OWN RWBY OR ANY OF THE SOURCES THAT I WILL HAVE THE CHARACTERS REACT TO. That being said, all of that is implied since it's fanfiction.
Designing for Friendship (KIRBY SERIES)
TRANSCRIPT BY ANIMAN10
"I hope you all had a nice break," Chrono stated to the audience.
"Yeah. It was okay," Yang replied with a thumbs up. Many agreed with Yang, but some remained silent like Adam and Cardin.
"Indeed. We had a lot of interesting things to talk about," Cinder added. This got a raised eyebrow by many, especially Ozpin and Oobleck.
"Well that's good to hear. So, with the break done - I've figured out the viewing for all of you to watch!"
"What is it?" Pyrrha asked.
"I'll just let you all know in advance. It's a bit of weird viewing, at least compared to what you guys have been seeing so far."
"Like the one with me singing?" Jaune pointed out.
"Kind of." Chrono admitted. "No need to move though, guys!" The host added as people began to get out of their seats. "This is still something that can be watched, it's just not a show. It's more of a video essay."
"What, like a documentary? Pfft. Lame." Mercury stated.
"Just give it a chance. Some of you guys might find some interesting links between the video and your experiences. After all, is that not what some of you guys have pointed out before?"
Some in the audience perked up at this mention. He does have a point…okay, I'll give it a chance. Qrow and many others thought.
"Just one last question, Chrono," Ironwood asked. "What is the documentary about? I assume it's about something not from Remnant?"
"Correct. It's about a video game series called Kirby - a kid-friendly game. It mostly mentions its themes."
I'm assuming the themes somehow relate to our stories then…many in the audience thought. With that in mind, all were satisfied with Chrono's explanation.
"If that's all then folks…let the show begin!" Chrono exclaimed, as the screen began to play the next video.
The screen goes to life.
It opens up on a field of rolling green hills with Kirby plopping a squat on top of one of them and pulling out an apple. When he accidentally dropped the apple, he ran after it, quickly tripping and rolling down the hill himself, though he appeared to be enjoying himself.
"Kirby is kind of the best, isn't he? Adorable and cool. Simple but fascinating. Utterly broken for his genre, yet a joy to play. There's hardly anything to hate about the little guy. As such, despite my absolute love of the Kirby series, it makes talking about him beyond what he offers at an introductory level really difficult."
As the video opened up, there were several reactions. A few of them are visceral, some are muted.
Ruby's eyes widened, as did Yang's, when they saw the pink hero Kirby. "OH MY GOSH! HE'S SO CUTE!" Yang squealed.
"Sheesh! Keep it down, will ya! It just started!" Roman growled, covering his ears.
Keep it in, keep it in…stay composed…Winter repeated in her head, trying not to do the same thing as Yang. She found Kirby adorable of course, but she didn't want to make sense as well, she wanted to remain professional.
Unbeknownst to her, Weiss was also doing the same thing, but with less success.
"You realize you're murmuring your thoughts, right now, right?" Blake said to Weiss.
"What?! I am not! ..M-maybe it's just your faunus ears hearing stuff!" Weiss stammered and retorted back weakly.
Blake snorted. "My extra set of ears doesn't allow me to hear your thoughts."
Meanwhile, Ozpin's eyes widened slightly. It appears that I am narrating this…video essay. I wonder why? I guess I'll just have to see.
Ozpin taking interest in a children's game? Hmm… Salem thought. While she wanted to find comedy in her ex-husband taking interest in something so trivial, all it did was remind her how when he was Ozma, he would always play games with their children more than her. The thought of it just made her scowl.
"Kirby's good. You know he's good. It's obvious what makes him good. Go play Planet Robobot, it's like the best power fantasy game. It doesn't deserve to be locked in 3DS Jail with Kid Icarus and SMT 4. Set them free please."
A clip from an old commercial showing Kirby being knocked around like a pinball played. This was followed by a clip of another commercial, where Kirby was having a joyful good time with an oversized human finger.
What's a 3DS? Neo asked Roman.
"No idea. Probably a gaming device." He replied back.
Adam heard the name Icarus and was reminded of something. Icarus? Like Icarus Aquila? Adam thought. I remember him. One of the heroes of the Faunus Revolution. He used his eagle wing traits in battle against the humans and was crucial to the Faunus victory early on. But he got too ambitious, and tried to continue to push against the enemy lines. He ended up dying in the battle and was thrown into the sea…I wonder why there was a video game made about him in that world. [1]
"New Kirby games tend to just showcase different gimmicks and unique ways to play with Kirby, rather than creating some kind of deeper innovation."
To punctuate the point, the image of a stack of panties with Kirby's face printed on them was shown.
"Why is there panty merchandise of Kirby?" Nora asked.
"Probably to make profits." Weiss answered.
"...But why?" Nora asked again but in a whisper, still bewildered. [2]
Weiss tried to answer again, but Ren stopped her. "She's just muttering to herself and making up her own conclusions." He stated
"Kirby is like a childhood friend. When you go over to his house, you already know your favorite game and that you're going to play it together. But sometimes, he'll throw in a brand new toy to add to the fun. Outside of the Dark Matter games being focused on environmental puzzles and those following Super Star's design focusing more on beat-em-up action, Kirby's main line series is just a cozy escape into pure playfulness. And that's great! Kirby doesn't need to be anything more than a friend."
To punctuate the point, Kirby jumps to the front and center of the screen with a happy, "Hi!".
"Alright…he is pretty cute." Raven admitted. Even her heart melted a little bit from that adorable little greeting.
"However, there is one aspect of Kirby that has evolved in recent years, it's lore. Perhaps more than any other Nintendo franchise save for Smash, Kirby adores celebrating its history, bringing back past bosses and friends, giving them new forms or attacks to show off all the cool stuff that can be imagined with the passing of time."
"On top of that, It's no secret that Kirby games start nice and cheery, but end with a confrontation with a nightmarish, extradimensional being with reality shattering power."
To show the contrast, the opening scene and final boss of Kirby 64 was shown, showing Kirby and Ribbon running off into the sunrise to start their adventure, followed by then fighting 02 in the skies of Dark Star.
"...Kirby has lore?" Mercury asked, confused. "What type of lore does a game like that even need?"
"Maybe if you finish the video, we'll know, jackass." Emerald snarked.
Mercury responded by flipping her off.
Jaune saw that one of the gaming franchises that was also made by the same company as Kirby was The Legend of Zelda, and started to think to himself. So the same universe where I'm a true hero is made by the same people who created this pink guy? That's…cool?
Meanwhile, Ilia was just confused by the final boss of Kirby. A nightmarish being? Extradimensional stuff? Reality shattering power? It's just an eye with wings! All of these thoughts came out in one, poignant word.
"What."
"For a while, a final boss at the end was all they were. As cool as the Nightmare Wizard and Marx and 02 are, they're ultimately just terrifying foils to the pink puffball. You'd get a hint of a post-apocalyptic Earth here, a demonic possession there, but these guys are just in the way to show how good Kirby is, that no matter how tough and scary it gets, a smile, optimism, and boundless potential will see you through."
"They're a nifty talking point when discussing the series, and I will love Marx forever, but not something to really take with you outside of the assuredly amazing final boss theme."
Salem was suddenly reminded of that talk she had all those years ago with Ozpin. What was it that Ozpin said all those years ago…Victory is within a simple soul, I believe? Well, he's mistaken if he thinks a hunter with Kirby's disposition will stop me.
Ozpin smiled sadly at the screen. Oh how I wish that were true…he thought as he took a quick glance at the students watching the video. But nowadays, I'm not too sure. Perhaps James is right, these children cannot win a war.
"That is, until Shinya Kumazaki became director of the Kirby series. Starting with Kirby Super Star Ultra, a great deal more focus was given to the overall continuity of the Kirby series."
"Marx would revive, his dark soul reanimating his defeated body for one final showdown. The most loyal Waddle Dee in King Dedede's army was given a bandanna to distinguish him, that would carry on though future installments. Meta Knight would go on his own journey, and use the power of Nova to wish to fight the strongest warrior in the universe. All of these great, yet simple additions to Super Star's plot gave it just a bit more character."
"But it was Kumazaki's first original Kirby game, Return to Dream Land, where the series would gain a significantly more grandiose presentation. The days of Kirby getting a cake stolen leading to 'Oops! Accidentally released the ancient evil eyeball man!' where gone. Now, Magolor alludes to the ancients of the universe as he tricks Kirby into slaying a space hydra to gain ultimate power. King Dedede is considered the strongest warrior of his planet, and is kidnapped to prevent his resistance against alien invaders who wish to drain Popstar dry. An evil, galactic corporation wants to mechanize the whole of the planet to increase its corporate influence because its CEO has been driven mad with greed and power. Yo, Star Allies is that a death cult? Cool…"
"Wait…so the premise of these games originally was that Kirby had cake stolen from him, leading him to beating people up?" Mercury stated.
"Sounds stupid." Emerald scoffed.
"That sounds hilarious! Now I wanna play that game!" Mercury continued.
"...How in the world would you trick a person who only cares about cake into slaying a space hydra?" Jaune asked.
"Um…aren't you paying attention, Fearless Leader! You steal their cake of course and frame it on the Hydra! Obviously! DUh!" Nora answered.
"Oh. Yeah…I guess that can work."
"Damn, even Kirby's world has evil CEOs? I guess jerks like Jacques Schnee exist everywhere…" Qrow stated.
Winter wanted to retort, but even she couldn't disagree with him.
"Needless to say, the lore of Kirby became a much deeper part of its overall narrative. Later bosses weren't just obstacles, they were intrinsic parts of Kirby's universe. Star Allies featured brainwashed friends with new super forms as area bosses before moving on to the mysterious Mage Sisters, who all get their personalities and religious devotion to the Jamba Heart well established before their fights. Planet Robobot takes this a step further, taking Kirby's enemies and twisting them into mutated and assimilated versions of themselves, while the higher ups at Haltmann Enterprises analyzed the weird, pink ball in their own way."
"The plot wasn't just an excuse to move Kirby from Ice Cream Island to Butter Building, or to make King Dedede body horror again."
A stylized picture of King Dedede with a Dark Matter eye in a fang filled mouth in his stomach was briefly shown.
"By the Brothers, there are even religious nuts in the world of Kirby? What's next, twisted experi-oh." Kali stated, before seeing the video mention Haltmann Enterprises.
"Damn, this is some complex stuff for a kids game to mention, don't you guys think?" Sun asked his team.
"I guess." Scarlet agreed.
"Not really." Neptune disagreed. "Many games and media can disguise these themes. Half of the time you play a game, you won't notice it until you really look."
"Ice Cream Island? Butter Building? Weird…what's Kirby's power? Eating or something?" Yang asked.
"Yes. Actually."
"Seriously?"
"He can swallow and eat almost anything and copy the powers and properties of it."
"Wow…that can be both either the coolest and most useful, or the most disgusting power ever."
"Depends on what is eaten, I guess."
"Kirby had a story. Characters and arcs, and those arcs didn't always have the happiest endings. And what added to that, perhaps more than anything else, was the pause screens."
Just as a fight with Parallel Twin Kracko was about to start, the game immediately paused.
"A pause screen?" Ren said, skeptically. "Last time I checked, most people don't care to learn about a game's characters through pause screens, but rather through gameplay…"
"No, really. This might sound a bit ridiculous at first pass, but a majority of Kirby's deeper mythology is tucked away in the pause menu. During boss fights, the descriptive text explaining Kirby's ability will change into a brief description of the boss. At first, this is just a little bit of flavor that can be seen easily in the story."
"Oh no! King Dedede would never steal all the food in Dream Land! Perish the thought!"
As this was said, the box for Kirby's Dream Land crept into frame from the bottom right corner.
"Oh, the ancient texts read that the snake's weakness is its head? Cute!"
"Oh, so it's just some fun facts. I see."
"But as time goes on, these descriptions stop being purely flavorful, and start being charged with backstory and an odd emptiness. Villains in the later half of Kirby games stop being goofy apple trees and Mr. Dooter. They start showing their failings, their tragedies. Some played before the camera, but most tucked away. While you can see the madness of President Haltmann play out in front of you, his regrets, his pain, his motivation for living? All of these are tucked away to be discovered, only there if you truly want it."
"But then what's the point if you have to look for it? Surely a good story would tell it to you exactly…" Neptune thought.
"I mean, it IS a game, bro. And in games, you can play, interact, and look at stuff. The guy did say it's only there if you truly want it. Some people might just want to play for fun and not for story reasons, I guess." Sun noted. "And plus, you think a character like Kirby cares about that stuff? It's probably just dressing for a simple plot."
"Hmm…good point!"
"It wouldn't work in TV shows though."
"Oh, of course. Imagine how stupid it'd be if a show that to reveal it's lore and world in small videos since their episodes are too small?"
"That'd be so trash!" Sun said with a laugh. [3]
"Those who oppose Kirby are tragic souls. Perhaps entirely possessed by power. Perhaps forces naturally driven to do harm. Perhaps fulfilling their heart's mission that has turned dark and twisted."
Like Salem…Ozpin thought. The headmaster thought to himself these facts several times in the past, trying to justify not attacking her, usually during the times he lost the will to continue the conflict. 'It's just the Grimm blood in her'. 'The old Salem wouldn't have done this'. But he knew ever since the God of Light gave him this mission, that he was just lying to himself.
"But they all add so much to Kirby's world and their stories that I can't do them justice just discussing them. Truly, they speak for themselves."
The speaker of the video then allowed other people to voice over the dialogue of the pause menu entries.
"A sad shell possessed by the limitless power of the Master Crown. No more than a manifestation of the crown itself."
"It has the look and voice of King Dedede, but not his soul. Some things can't be cloned. Some of the trial models were only interested in food, some were fearful of a certain insect, and all were imperfect."
Penny heard that entry and was immediately thankful for her dad. The soul she has ensures that she wasn't just some piece of machinery. Thank you, dad…I won't die at Amity! I'll make you proud! She thought with determination.
"All worlds – whether in another dimension or some far flung galaxy – are bound by earth and sky. And where there is sky, there is Kracko! Made of fallen tears and the scattered mists of his enemies, Kracko roars with dark power."
"His full name is Max Profitt Haltmann. Ever since losing his only child in an accident long ago, he's dedicated his life to the company. However, his only wish is to see his daughter once again…"
So this Haltmann guy is not exactly like father. Weiss thought. She immediately felt a little bitter about how Haltmann's daughter was still cared for even after she died. Would father even care if I died? Or would he just be mad that I could no longer take over the company after him?
"Why did I reactivate such a terrible machine? Oh, I remember – I wanted to see her just one last time. How foolish! I should have known that no machine could make such a dream come true."
That determination began to falter slightly for Penny. No…NO. Dad already said that his dream came true when I was activated. I'm a real girl. Definitely! No-not a replacement! She thought. Her mind and databases went back to the files of her father, however. 'Pietro Polendina. Scientist. Originally had a daughter who died at the age of 17. Said child would form the basis and serve as the inspiration for the P.E.N.N.Y. Proj-' NO! I'M…I-
I'm not just a replacement…Penny thought. She didn't truly believe it though, and now she felt sadder than ever. [4]
Ruby looked at her friend in worry.
"Taranza's final words and offerings can no longer reach her ears. The former queen has become a pitiable husk in the throes of madness after losing everything. She has consumed the world, and all she has left to cling to is her vanity."
Qrow heard that and glanced at Ozpin to gauge his reaction, just in case. That might've hit a bit too close to home. That Taranza person sounds a bit like Mommy Salami!
"But there's one that stands out above all else. Kirby's had his fair share of demons. A dark planet desiring nothing but assimilation. Beings of pure nightmare reveling in torment. Onion girl." [6]
"Onion girl?" Pyrrha asked.
"Maybe she makes Kirby cry?" Jaune said.
"Making people cry on command does sound nightmarish, to be honest." Ren stated. "Although, that might be just because we're used to negative emotions meaning Grimm."
"But none compare, in both worldbuilding and scope, to perhaps the greatest and most terrifying being ever written into Kirby's mythos. For the entirety of Kirby Star Allies, shards of the mysterious Jamba Heart gathered, pulled out of friend and foe alike, intoxicated by their corrupting influence. Kirby must free his friends by battling through the mysterious Jambastion, a religious order dedicated to collecting their hearts for a dark ritual. Eventually, Kirby is able to defeat the order's generals, the Three Mage Sisters, and their high priest, Lord Hyness, in an attempt to stop whatever mean thing they happen to be doing."
"The Jamba Heart nearly completes, his body giving out, Hyness does the only thing he is capable of: sacrificing his own life, and the lives of his generals, in order to complete his cruel machinations. The essence of chaos, a godly being foretold by books of legend, revives, and the negativity and hatred gathered grant it a form equal in destructive power to its violent emotions. Summoned forth, is the true destroyer of worlds, a deity with the sole purpose to crush all opposition. Hatred, obsession, jealousy, greed, and chaos made manifest. It is the end of all."
"Rise! Oh, Dark Lord of Despair! Crush the stars! Lay waste to care! Rise and cover the land in sorrows! May your symphony of emptiness bring the end of all tomorrows! Rise! Oh, Dark Lord of Despair! Crush the stars! Lay waste to care! Upon your wing, dark judgment brings! May your symphony of tragedy bring the end of everything! Void Termina!"
Void Termina let out an echo roar as it did battle with Kirby and his friends on the Star Allies Sparkler. The behemoth attacked widely, releasing powerful shock waves with every strike, manifesting powerful weapons imbued with elemental magic, and firing barrages of lasers from freshly made Master Crowns.
"Alright. He might be a villain, but that was cool as hell!" Yang exclaimed. "Void Termina! That sounds awesome! And that chant! Chills! On my back!"
"And he looks like a grimm too! Oooh! Maybe we can crush his legs! With Kirby's help!" Nora stated.
"Nora. Void Termina is not real." Ren mentioned that fact to Nora.
"In my dreams, he'll be real, though! I'm gonna lucid dream about it when we get outta her, and we'll beat him together! Ooh! Do you think people can multiplayer dream?"
"Nora. You couldn't lucid dream last time. I doubt it'll work next time…"
"Oh ye of little faith, Renny! Ye of little faith!"
"Damn. I feel bad for that cult who sacrificed themselves…" Roman said.
Why? Neo asked.
Because they went through all that effort, and Void Termina's gonna get his ass kicked by a pink puffball anyways!" Roman exclaimed with a laugh.
"Like how you went through all that effort to steal dust and get beat by Red?" Mercury interjected with a smirk.
Roman was not amused.
"And the craziest thing about this boss is, introducing a suicide doomsday cult with universally apocalyptic consequences to Kirby isn't enough for it. Not only can it freely create Master Crowns to use as a tool, an artifact that nearly destroyed the universe on its own in Return to Dream Land, but within the hulking monstrosity, there is its purest essence."
"As Kirby fights the eater of worlds, plunges into the belly of the beast, knocks away the corpse of the corrupted Hyness fueling it with hatred, the core takes notice of the pink puffball, and it reacts."
"He has begun to feel. To desire. To think. Within the Void, there lurks…a Soul!"
"And when that soul becomes manifest, it takes the form… of a friend."
The very core of Void Termina's being revealed itself to be a predominantly violet sphere with a couple of dark indentations swirling across its surface. When the dark patches held still, they took the form of a familiar face, one that belonged to a certain pink puffball.
"Hi," Void Termina's soul said in a warped version of Kirby's own voice.
"Wait, so let me get this straight, Void Termina becomes similar to Kirby once the cult is taken out of him?" Weiss asked.
"I..I think that's what's being said?" I'm not fully sure though." Pyrrha replied.
"So what, deep down, Void Termina is basically just a corrupted version of Kirby?"
"This asks and answers so many questions. And the deeper the player goes, the more they fight, the harder they make it on themselves, the more the game answers."
The screen shows the increasing difficulty setting of "The Ultimate Choice", along with the image of Kirby progressively adding more and more hot sauce to his curry.
"Facing the dark force in Story Mode, it begins laughing, almost playing as it fights, having strong overtones of Kirby's first melody, Green Greens, mixed into its boss theme. Slowly, it begins using attacks familiar to other bosses in the series, before morphing into a form any Kirby fan would know, Dark Matter."
"Yep. It looks like your theory is right, Weiss. It seems that despite being the darkest, most evil creature in the game, Voidis just a reflection of the main character." Blake said.
"That seems a bit dumb…" Yang said.
"Oh not at all, there's a common technique in literature." Blake defended.
"What, like in Ninja of Love?" Yang teased back, knowing that it would get a reaction out of Blake.
Unamused, Blake glared at her partner. "Can you quit it?"
"No, no! I get it! Surely you just read that book for the metaphors! Like the big, hard, katan-"
"I get it!" Blake said, with a reddened face. "Can we continue to watch now, please?!"
The indentations that made Void Termina's eyes shrunk to the point of disappearing, while the indentation that made its mouth expanded until it was the shape of a massive eye, a pupil forming in the center of it.
"Kirby's friend Gooey possessed a similar Copy Ability to the Star Warrior, and always had a connection to the Dark Matter species, but never before was such a possible link created directly to Kirby. If you fought on the Soul Melter difficulty of The Ultimate Choice, the hardest challenge in Star Allies before the DLC came in…"
Kirby now wore an evil expression as he poured way too much hot sauce into his curry.
"… Void Soul shall appear. Delving into the pause screen presents a further reward, detailing the existence of Void."
Then another person voiced over the new pause screen information on the screen.
"No telling if it's true, but according to the ancient scrolls, Void Termina may rise again in other forms depending on whether positive or negative energy is gathered. It seems this being of darkness will wander the galaxy until one day he is reborn into a new existence. When he returns, hopefully it will be as…a friend."
So cute! Taiyang thought, the voiceover reminding him of Ruby.
Now back to the normal narrator, he continued.
"But nothing is quite as strong as the clash with the hardest foe possible. Added at the end of Star Allies' life cycle was Soul Melter EX, the greatest challenge possible."
Kirby now had a blank, practically dead expression on his face, having definitely overdone it with the hot sauce and now had three additional bottles of the stuff floating in his curry.
"There, replacing the soul, lies the Astral Birth itself, Void. Introduced with a splash screen of rapid colors mirroring the Hyper Zone that once contained Zero, the heart of all Dark Matter, Void plays with Kirby as aggressively as possible. Written into its soundtrack is a tragic, piano version of Green Greens, a soulful and sorrowful refrain of peace, clashing with the chaotic theme of Void Termina."
"Huh…that version of Void looks like a Grimm Ball!" Jaune said.
Hearing that, Ozpin had an epiphany. Hold on…with my voice narrator this video, and with the main villains seeming similar to Salem and other people on Remnant…could this video be telling us something? That diplomacy and the offer of friendship could help bring peace? Ozpin then thought of his past, however. He remembered how he left Salem and tried to bring his children with him. How it resulted in their deaths. Or perhaps it's mocking me…the video is showing me what choice I should've made…
The song played for a few seconds, feeling completely unlike what one would expect from an ultimate final boss theme. It was neither a triumphant rallying tune nor a menacing villain's theme, but rather a sad melody accompanied by a sorrowful choir.
"Before eventually, even that crumbles. The sounds of a Game Boy are mixed in, and the cheerful tune that started Kirby's adventures is turned into a lonely cry."
The song continued, the sound of primitive beeps rising to the surface that served to make the song sadder than it already was.
"What a sad song." Pyrrha said.
"Yeah, I guess most bad people are just people who have had it rough, huh?" Nora said.
"That's no excuse to do bad things though." Ren said.
"I know, Renny," Nora replied. "It's just…if someone went through what we went through, I could understand if they're bitter…"
Ren conceded her point. "Yeah…If I'm being honest, if you weren't there that day, I might've given up. But you helped me to be brave."
Nora was confused. "Wha-? But I was such a wimp! You needed to guide me away!"
"Perhaps. But when I saw you there, I wanted to make sure that I would be strong, if only to protect you for that moment." Ren continued.
Nora was shocked. Ren had never really mentioned this to her. With all that he said, and her thoughts from past viewings coming up again, her face heated up, much to her embarrassment.
She decided to deflect. "Psh. Dummy..." She said looking down, whilst plastering on a smile. "You…yo-...thank you…" She continued, deciding to be honest for once. She looked to him, seeing his shocked face.
"What?" She said.
"I-um…I just-I didn't expect that."
"Well, you should've!" She replied.
Annnnd THERE she is. Ren thought. That was kinda weird…she looked like she liked me for a second there…nah, must be my mind. She probably just sees me as her brother…He thought with a bit of sadness.
Jaune and Pyrrha just looked at them in confusement.
I know they like each other and all…but what have they gone through? Pyrrha thought.
Man. For all that I've said about him being a brother from another mother, I've really asked Ren about himself, huh? But then again, the same thing could be said for him. Jaune thought.
"At it is undoubtable. Void is Dark Matter. Dark Matter is Kirby. Void is Kirby. A Kirby born of hatred and suffering instead of friendship and joy. Kirby himself is a destructive god who forsook his violent appetite in favor of peace, happiness, and bonds with others. Void is the tragedy of a Kirby without friends, and only the power of that friendship can truly put him to rest."
To emphasize the point, the image of the Kirby of Disappointment was briefly shown.
Mercury began to roll his eyes. What a load of shit. Who needs friends? He thought. All friends do is drag you down, make you fail the mis-
Mercury's eyes widened and he immediately felt angry. UGH! Why am I thinking of my dad's bullshit advice all of a sudden?!
Meanwhile, Raven was looking at Kirby of Disappointment, and immediately felt uncomfortable. That same feeling of shame she had when she was talking to Qrow was beginning to resurface. And she wasn't liking it. Not. One. Bit.
"The final battle at hand, Void takes his first steps towards a new age. In place of tyrannical rage, will he find…naptime? Gentle breezes? Treats? He may even dream again…A dream of friends reunited!"
As Void fell in battle, his final face was that of Kirby's smile, seemingly accepting of its fate as it went up in a blinding white light and a shower of rainbow stars.
"Naptime does sound a LOT better than being rageful." Qrow stated.
"Agreed." Taiyang replied and he remembered his time with Team STRQ in Beacon once again. After all, all you needed in Beacon to get that stick out of your ass was to just sleep, since you spent so much training in the tribe. Too bad Raven didn't…
"You…may already know all this. It's not as if Kirby lore is a massive secret. The fact that Kumazaki himself voices Void Termina is telling enough that they want this stuff to be known. There are excellent studies out there explaining Kirby's lore in a tonality befitting its depth. But, does this lore really have a place?"
An image of Kirby pointing to a conspiracy board of all his collective lore was shown.
"This is Kirby after all. He's got a winning formula and great character design. There shouldn't be a need to load him up with horrors from the great beyond. Tons of series have had dramatic twists or moments where they've taken themselves too seriously, and most as strayed away from such attacks in the future. Why should Kirby be different?"
"And moreover, if you're going to commit to this bit, why hide the deep details in the pause menu? Kirby isn't Dark Souls. Piecing together bits of the ruined world around you isn't baked into the natural curiosity of the world. You just got to kill Whispy Woods for the fiftieth time!"
"Neptune and Sun had this argument literally a few minutes ago." Velvet said.
"Maybe they're right!" Coco said before smirking. "You wanna bet on it!"
Velvet groaned. "No! I always lose!"
"Oh come on Bun! It's Neptune and Sun! They're probably wrong!"
"Hey!" Neptune said, offended.
"What he said! Leave us alone!" Sun joined in.
"Then why would you bet that he's right, then?" Velvet pointed out.
"Maybe I just feel bad for ya!" Coco said. Then she looked at the two members of Team SSSN and stuck her tongue out at them.
Velvet narrowed her eyes on Coco, but eventually relent. "Fine…"
"And yet, something about this undeniably works. Something endearing ties all these disparate pieces together, allowing them to function. What should be bloated and obtuse is made not only functional, but fascinating, because of one simple piece."
"Which is?" Jaune asked.
Kirby popped out from the upper left corner of the screen before taking center stage and jumping up to give an enthusiastic wave.
"Hi!" Kirby greeted.
"Kirby…doesn't really care about his own lore. He's Kirby! He can't read the pause screens anyway."
A screenshot from Kirby Fighters 2 showed that Kirby was, indeed, completely illiterate.
"The little guy just wants to go about his day, make friends, eat a whole bunch, make sure everyone he cares about is safe, and that everyone being mean to them will stop it. No matter how complex the world around him is or how deep the lore gets, Kirby remains simple."
"Dark Matter, Heart Matter, Dream Matter, doesn't matter. What Kirby is physically, doesn't define him compared to what he is intrinsically, a friend. Whether he's fighting Mr. Dooter or a world ending nightmare, Kirby tackles every single problem with the same confidence, desire to play around, a positivity that he always exudes. The player can delve deeper, find stories that tug at the heartstrings or fascinate the mind. Or they can just follow Kirby's path, and move forward without much of a care."
"No matter what they chose, Kirby will be there with them, with the same answer. Let's play together and win together! And if they do delve deeper, all of the tragedy and mythos surrounding Kirby only elevates how powerful his simple message is. Kirby can overcome all of that and still do everything in his power to help others, because he's just that good of a boy!"
"Poyo! Poyo! Poyo!" Three Kirbys cheered as they popped on screen, each one in a radically different art style.
Velvet sighed. She got a couple of lien out of her bag and gave it to Coco.
"Yes!"
"'I just feel bad for ya'...I can't believe I fell for that!" Velvet said with a huff.
"It's alright, maybe you'll win next time!"
Meanwhile, Ozpin heard what his voice was saying and reconsidered his thought. So Kirby is like a simple soul...Perhaps there's still time. Perhaps victory can be found there…
"That's the beauty of Kirby's lore to me. No matter how tough things get, no matter how scary our obstacles, no matter how complex the world around us might become, a simple and earnest approach can always see us through. The solutions to our problems may not be a s simple as Kirby, but the place one comes from to solve them is. One of care, confidence, and love."
"Huh. Maybe that's what dad meant by 'all you need is confidence'." Jaune said.
"Yeah. I don't think he meant to go up to a girl acting like you own the place," Yang teased.
"I-I didn't act like that!" Jaune stammered.
"You kind of did. And you looked like an ass for that." Weiss said.
Jaune groaned.
"It's okay, VB. You just gotta remember the care and love part too. You gotta be CAREful in your LOVE!"
Jaune groaned even louder.
"If Kirby can fight monsters of immeasurable power and evil just because he cares, so can you. That's the message of the Kirby series to me. And it's one that's only shone brighter the more the series has developed around him. Kirby is shaped like a friend. Kirby is your friend. Kirby will always be your friend. And like him, you can take on anything. That's the value of Kirby. That's the story behind his lore. That's friendship."
As Kirby and his friends boarded his Warp Star, they all gave the audience one final wave goodbye before returning to their home on Planet Popstar, to the kingdom of Dream Land.
The screen turns to black.
"That was a pretty good video, don't ya think, darling?" Kali asked. However, she had no response.
"...Ghi-?"
Kali was interrupted by a loud sniffle. It turns out Ghira was crying.
"...Ghira?" She asked with wide eyes.
"S-sorry. It..it's just…i-it's just such a beautiful message!" Ghira said whilst blubbering.
Kali then understood why the message affected him so much. Oh darling…the White Fang was like a group of true friends for you when you made it…I'm guessing this video means you might go back to Fang and try to change it….
While that was happening, the other people in the audience were also discussing the video they watched.
There were the thieves"
"That was surprisingly good!" Roman said. Neo nodded her head in agreement.
"It seemed too sappy for me." Mercury said.
"I thought you said you wanted to play the game, though?" Emerald said with a grin.
"Tch. That was before the friendship crap…"
At the same time, part of Salem's group:
"I have to say, the way the video showed the technique in music, and the similarities between the hero and villain were very intriguing. Sure, it's not science, but I appreciate analysis like that, nonetheless." Watts concluded.
"It was a bit bizarre." Tyrian said.
Hazel just looked at the serial killer in confusement. "Bizarre?"
"Oh don't look at me like that! What? Because I'm crazy I can't find things weird?"
And of course, Ozpin's group:
Ozpin had told his group of what the video could have meant. About his new idea of peace and diplomacy with Salem. Of course, many of them disagreed.
"I'm sorry sir, but I think talks are out of the question!" Glynda stated.
"Yeah I gotta agree with her, Oz." Qrow remarked.
"Yes. You have a good point, Glynda. Perhaps we can use this in the future, take less punitive measures and make sure people don't fall into the cracks in society, and potentially feel the need to go to Salem." Ozpin pointed out.
"But look at the people with them, Ozpin! One is a deranged killer, the other is power hungry and is planning to undermine the Vytal Festival, and Watts may be with them too! And the only thing I did was reject his project! And Hazel, as we said before, could have been reasoned with, but you said he was too far gone!" Ironwood argued.
"Well, perhaps I was wrong!" Ozpin claimed. "I've said it before, I've made more mistakes than any other man and woman alive on this planet. Maybe I can rectify these mistakes and get some of them to join us." [6]
"Or maybe you'd just be making another mistake." Ironwood concluded, and walked away from the discussion.
As well as the huntsmen in training:
"Kirby is kind of like you, Ruby!" Yang said.
"WHAAAT! How?" Ruby asked.
"Well, the vid did say that Kirby loves to eat, and when it comes to sweets, you're pretty much the same!"
Ruby's face heated up. "N-no I'm not! That's not true!"
"It is kinda true…I bet if you were shrunk down by a semblance whilst eating a cookie, you'd be thrilled since there would be more of the cookie to eat, rather than be alarmed that you just got shrunk." Blake said.
As Ruby didn't respond to that as she felt embarrassed that she might have very well have that same thought process, the rest of the teens laugh good-heartedly at her predicament.
Eventually, after a little while of chatting, Chrono finally interjected.
"Alright! Enough time's passed! It's time for the next universe!"
And that's all for now! Hopefully it's a return to form!
I have to say, it's actually kind of hard to ensure the reactions are consistent with the development the characters have had from their learning experiences. Mostly because I'm forced to take hiatuses that after a few months I forget some details. Hopefully, it's not contradictory. If it is, please don't hesitate to tell me in the reviews - and then I'll change it to fit the story.
But anyways, I'll mention some of the elephants in the room now. At least the elephants I think are present. So I kind of focused on a few characters and resumed their arcs from other chapters - Ren and Nora, Mercury etc, and I decided to make an arc for Penny. The idea of her being based on an actual girl is from a story that I read a while ago. It'll be named in the numbered notes below. Hopefully these plot points that I've focused on make sense, though!
[1] - Lore drop! This is not canon by the way, I just thought of a way to flesh out the world of RWBY by taking inspiration from a myth - like with many characters in the series already.
[2] - Harold and Kumar is such a classic. Especially the hospital scene with Ryan Reynolds. And for those who didn't know - that's there the "But Why" gif/meme came from.
[3] - Looking at you, RWBY: World of Remnant. I find it wild how we all just accepted World of Remnant as an acceptable thing. Like, WHY ARE YOU NOT EXPLAINING THIS STUFF IN THE ACTUAL SHOW? WHY IS THERE A SEPARATE SERIES FOR THE LORE?
[4] - I got that idea from KtyouVSWriting's story "The Remnant Reactor" - a RWBY Crossover with Iron Man. SPOILER ALERT: It's set in the past of RWBY Canon, but there is a real girl named Penny Polendina who is the actual biological daughter of Pietro, and is friends with young Summer Rose. So I kinda got that idea, and made it Penny in this story, knowing that Pietro made the PENNY Project based on the original Penny.
[5] - FROM ANIMAN10: "The "Onion Girl" is Gryll, the final boss of Kirby Star Stacker, a puzzle game. Her being called a demon and being included in artwork depicting final bosses is mostly ironic since she's not malicious in the slightest."
[6] - Ozpin is kind of right, he was able to convince Hazel to betray Salem (as Oscar) in Volume 8.
AND NOW TO ANSWER SOME QUESTIONS/SUGGESTIONS FROM REVIEWS:
randyr2015: Thanks for finding it interesting! Hopefully this chapter makes it more interesting too!
DanteReDevil: I'm assuming by 'Seiyu' you mean their Japanese Dub actors/actresses (and saying Japanese in the context of a dub is weird to me lol, I'm used to English being the dub). And I may do that by showing them Ice Queendom in the Future! Problem is only the First 3 Episodes are free and I think those are just the recap ones - and after showing them PvP - going in the past (relatively) might not be the best move.
INFNIT09 : Sure! Are there any specific missions you want me to cover though? If not, I may just choose a mission at random then.
A Guest: I have heard good things about Barry, and Mercury being Barry makes sense. If I even feel like watching, then sure!
See you guys next time!
NEXT CHAPTER: The Lottery (SHORT STORY)