Chapter 7: Driblee

It was relatively early in the morning and Kirby was mostly wide awake. Normally by this time, he'd still be asleep but the day prior he was asked to come to Reef Resort first thing in the morning by Driblee. What she wanted he wasn't entirely sure as she seemed to be in a rush when asking him. When arrived he saw Driblee putting up beach chairs.

"Ah heya Kirby! I'm glad you made it!" she exclaimed, running over to the puff.

"Hi, Driblee! Whacha want me for?" he asked, taking a look at the chairs she had set up.

"You see, I want to throw a huge party for all our friends! You know, just get the gang together and have fun, y'know? I already asked Kawasaki if he'd be willing to make the grub and asked Birdon to hand out the invitations."

Kirby's eyes seemed to light up upon hearing this. "A party? That sounds like fun! What do need me for though?"

"The most important part: setting everything up! You are easily the most dependable person I know, hands down. With you helping out the party will be ready in no time!"

Hearing that made Kirby almost forget how tired he was. "Yeah! Let's get to work then!"

"Great, then you can start by setting up the rest of the beach chairs here!" His friend gestured towards the lay out.

"Do you want them in any specific spots?"

"Nah, I think it'll be fine if we just keep them all together."

With an understanding nod, Kirby got to work. However, while unfolding some of the chairs, a spell of drowsiness began to hit him. His head began to feel hazy, but he tried to fight it. One moment, he was standing while holding one of the folding beach chairs and the next moment he felt the rush of cold water over him.

"AH WH-WHAT HAPPENED?!" he shivered as he suddenly woke up.

"I apologize for making you get up so early, but you can rest later Kirby." The puff turned to see Driblee standing there with a slightly disappointed look on her face.

"Ah… sorry…" he uttered in embarrassment before continuing to work.

What Kirby himself didn't say was the real reason why he was so tired. While, yes, he would have been tired if he woke up early, but he was actually even more tired than he usually would be. Yesterday was one of his scheduled training days with his mentor. However, it also happened to be a day when Kirby wasn't in the best of moods for reasons he doesn't really remember. His mentor, Meta Knight, seemed to be the same way, arguably in an even worse mood. And when the knight was in a bad mood during their training, he would nitpick more harshly than normal, right down to the smallest and most insignificant detail. The whole day was spent doing combat drill after combat drill and it wasn't until long after the sun set that the knight was even the tiniest bit satisfied with the progress made. And he didn't even apologize for it! Only said "We'll continue this in a few days, I expect you to get in some practice before then" before flying off. He didn't even remember what time he went to bed at. Honestly, it felt more like he had to wake up just as he fell asleep. But, of course, he didn't tell Driblee any of this because he didn't want her to feel bad. Thinking back on it made the child pout.

"Stupid sensei... thinks he can do what he wants just 'cuz he's old. Bet he's sleeping like a baby right now…" he mumbled under his breath as he continued to work.

Driblee happened to overhear this and couldn't help but feel bad for him, especially after being able to piece together what had happened the previous day to make him so tired.

Eventually, Kirby finished putting all the folding beach chairs in place.

"Ok Kirby, now we have to set up all the tables I brought."

There was a pause, as if the puff needed to process for a moment what she just said. "How many tables?"

"Oh, not that many! Just four. One long table for the food, three for sitting and relaxing at."

"Well, alright, I'll grab the long one then." He walked off in the direction of the tables.

"Wait…by yourself?"

"Well…yeah, isn't that why you asked me to help?" He said in a cheery yet very tired tone. Not long after he went to grab the table, he came back carrying the whole thing with one hand. Barely even trying at that.

"Dude, don't you think that's a tad dangerous?" Driblee questioned.

"Is what dangerous?" He asked genuinely confused.

"Y'know…carrying that thing on your own when you're so tired."

"Oh. Oh, I'm…" Kirby gave a pause to let out a yawn. "I'm perfectly fine…"

"Ok then…" Driblee didn't say it, but seeing her friend acting like that made her worried.

Honestly, she wanted to just ask Kirby to rest while she set up the rest of the party, but she already knew that the puff wouldn't allow it.

Eventually, everything was ready for the beach party, despite Kirby occasionally falling asleep during the work. It seemed that all of their hard work had paid off. As the duo stood back to admire their work, Driblee spoke up.

"Sorry for making you work so hard when you're clearly so exhausted, Kirby. If I had known then-"

"Oh, don't worry about it, Driblee! I'm always happy to help! Besides, now that everything's set up, we can just relax!" Kirby exclaimed as he sat against one of the palm trees.

"You always know how to cheer people up, don't you?" she replied with a smile. "Well, I'm gonna go swim, wanna join?"

Kirby replied with a yawn. "Maybe after a nap…"

Giving an understanding nod in response, Driblee ran towards the sea and jumped into the water. While Kirby was attempting to sleep, he saw what appeared to be a shark's fin, though it was so blurry he figured it was his exhausted mind playing tricks on him. That was, until it got closer and closer. Kirby jolted up, now wide awake and with one thing on his mind.

"DRIBLEE! GET OUT OF THE WATER!"

"What? Why?"

Then, she started feeling the water itself shake and turned around to see a huge figure gunning right towards her. Thinking quickly, Driblee used her control over water to surf out of the way, escaping harm in the process. The huge figure then jumped out of the water and crashed into the set up for the party, destroying almost everything. When the dust settled, Kirby instantly recognized the inner tube-wearing shark that had crashed the party. It was Gobbler, a foe he had faced off against during the Mirror World incident a few years ago.

Gobbler turned towards Driblee and gave a nasty smirk. "These are my waters now, lady, and no one gets to mess around on my turf, got it?"

Driblee remained silent as if she was still processing what just happened.

The punk shark then turned and gave an evil glare towards Kirby. "I remember what you and your friends did to me, squirt, and I ain't the same Gobbler you kicked around before. I'm a new shark, ready to terrorize this world! You try an' stop me, you're dead meat."

Gobbler then dove back into the sea, gone just as fast as he arrived. Kirby was left speechless. All that hard work he and Driblee gone in an instant. While this alone would anger anyone, what truly did was the heartbroken look on Driblee's face. Kirby was genuinely furious, something that rarely if ever happens. Silently, he put on a Sword hat that he carried around for emergencies and started walking towards the ocean.

"Kirby, where are you going!?" Driblee shouted, still shaken by what just transpired.

"I'm going to make shark sushi." He replied bluntly, sending chills through Driblee.

"Wait! You should stay here and rest, it's dangerous to go and fight all sleep deprived!"

"Trust me, I'm wide awake now."

Driblee was taken aback for a moment due to how serious the puff sounded as he said that. "Ok, fine, but if I can't stop you, then I'm joining you. I need to give that ruffian a piece of my mind!"

Kirby gave a nod as he entered the water. The duo dived under to search for any clues as to where Gobbler took off to.

"Hmm… this way, Kirby, seems like he went northeast."

"How exactly can you tell? Not that I don't believe you." Kirby asked, his voice a bit distorted due to the water.

"Reading the water's movements, sensing movement in them all comes naturally to me. That's part of why I'm the best surfer around."

"That and you manipulating the waves."

"Well, yes, that too." She admitted, a tad embarrassed. "Ok then let's go, we don't want to lose the trail."

After a few minutes of swimming, the two came across what appeared to be a large mass of seaweed blocking the path.

"So, he went through here, right?"

"For sure, if you look closely this seaweed is new, like if it was destroyed and had to regrow. Especially in the middle."

The puff took a closer look. "Yeah, I see what you mean. Good thing I brought my sword with me, this shouldn't take long…"

"Kirby, wait! Those are electric!"

"Woah! What!?"

Then the seaweed started to shake, and electricity began to disperse. Thankfully, Kirby managed to avoid getting fried.

"Phew… that was close! But how are we gonna get through here now?" He looked to either side of him and noted that the wall of electrified seaweed stretched for several kilometers, like an organic electric fence.

Driblee closed her eyes, as if she were meditating. In reality, she was actually reading the ocean currents in an attempt to find an alternative route.

"Kirby, follow me, please." She said while already rushing through the water. The force of her movements caused Kirby to spin around in the water.

"Hey! Slow down! Just 'cuz I'm filled with adrenaline that doesn't make me supersonic!" With renewed determination, the puff followed after his friend.

Eventually, they reached a cave.

"Ok, this cave should lead us in the right direction. Be careful though, particularly rough fish tend to dwell in caves like this."

"Like rough in terms of touch or rough as in personality?"

"Um…more so personality, but the first one works, too."

There was no other choice but to enter. The cave's inside, while extremely dark, was quite straightforward. The only way to get lost was if you got the directions mixed up, but Kirby didn't have to worry about that thanks to Driblee. Suddenly, his friend stopped moving.

"Wait, I feel something big coming."

Kirby stopped behind her. "Like shark big?"

"No, not quite, but whatever it is it's coming right at us."

The two got ready to fight just as the incoming figure revealed themselves to be someone Kirby quite familiar with.

"Oh, hey, Kine!"

The sunfish also noticed them. "Oh, hey, Kirby! Who's your friend?"

"Oh, this is Driblee! We're looking for someone!"

"What exactly are you looking for?"

"A giant mean shark wearing an inner tube, did you happen to see anything like that?"

Kine thought for a moment. "Ah… yeah, I've seen him. In fact, he's just at the end of this cave. He's been messing with a lot of the sea life actually. I tried to stop him, but that attempt went poorly… but now that you're here everything will be fine!"

"Just leave it to us Kine, we'll make that jerk regret coming here!"

And with that, Kirby and Driblee advanced through the cave.

When the duo reached the end of the cave, Gobbler was there, just as Kine had told them. Not only that, but he appeared to be harassing some of the wildlife as well.

"Oh, it's you losers. What? You want me to chew you to bits so badly?" He said while giving a fish he currently had captive a noogie.

"Oh, just stop already. You stood no chance against four of me, so there's no way you're going to stand a chance against the two of us together. That's obviously why you swam off like a coward earlier…" Kirby replied with a voice that sounded entirely unimpressed. However, whether he was genuinely unimpressed, or it was simply because of how tired he was, no one could say.

"Yes, so please do us a favor and leave. We don't want to make you look even uglier than you already do."

The shark only smirked and began to swim around them at high speeds. "What's fish food like you going to do against me? Tickle me to death? Unless you want me to tear apart that pretty head of yours, best get the hell out of here missy!"

"Hmph. You merely swim in these waters. I command them!" Driblee then created a pillar of water that sent him into the air. "And watch your language. So disrespectful, dude."

She then sent Kirby into the air with a pillar of water. While in the air, the puff attacked the shark with several furious slashes, as if to both defeat him and let out his growing frustrations from the past two days. The impacts of these slashes ended up sending Gobbler back underwater.

"HAH! IS THAT REALLY ALL YOU SHRIMP CAN DO!?" The shark yelled, desperately trying to put on a tough act to try and not seem weak.

He then called for his minion fish, only for them to be swallowed up by Driblee's bubbles. Then, he himself was swallowed up by one. As he tried to get out, he saw Kirby charging through the water towards him with a giant sword and he was immediately cut with repeated slashes. Finally, Driblee summoned a massive wave carrying both the shark and puff far into the sky.

The wave crashed onto the beach where the party was to be held, stranding Gobbler on dry land.

"This can't be right! I'm bigger, badder, and better than you fools! You're so small! I should've been able to crush you easily!" the shark roared with anger.

"The only thing small here is your brain." Driblee simply uttered with a huff.

And with that, Gobbler fell unconscious. The duo then began to survey the damage.

"Ah…man…there's no way we're going to fix this all up in time…" Driblee uttered with a sigh.

"I'm sure we could if we…!" Kirby said in attempt to cheer her up but was cut off by his own yawning. It seemed that his exhaustion from lack of sleep had only escaped him long enough to take down Gobbler.

"That's exactly why I don't think we could, I think you're too tired out to help at your fullest." Just as Driblee said that, the mirrored back of the bar area began to ripple like water and a familiar grey puffball stepped out.

"Ah! It's Shadow Kirby!" the pink puff exclaimed.

"Hey, Kirby!" The shadowy counterpart called out in an equally cheery voice.

"Shadow… Kirby…?" Driblee asked in a confused voice.

"He's my counterpart from the Mirror World! He's super nice and helpful!" The puff then ran over to his mirror self. "So, what are you doing here?"

"Oh, I was just looking for Gobbler. I heard he was causing problems in Onion Ocean recently, so I went to look for him."

"Well, how'd you know he was here?" Driblee asked, following Kirby.

"Oh, you can thank Dark for that! He used his mirror magic to help find him. But don't tell him I said that, he was all like "don't tell anyone about this, you hear!?" and stuff!"

While that all did make sense to Kirby, there was still one major question on his mind. Shadow Kirby, Dark Meta Knight, and Shadow Dedede were the only ones from the Mirror World that he remembered could enter and exit the Mirror World as they please. The reason why no one else could was because they didn't want to, or they were baddies taken down by Shadow Kirby before they could. In other words, Gobbler should have been detected and defeated before he could enter Dreamland.

"By the way, Shadow Kirby, how did Gobbler get out of the Mirror World anyway?"

"Oh, that… heh heh… wellllll… I kinda overslept… heh heh…" Shadow Kirby replied with a timid laugh. That was when he noticed his normal counterpart staring at him with an irritated pout on his face.

"What's wrong?"

"THAT'S NO FAIIIIIRRRR! YOU GOT TO SLEEP ALL YOU WANTED WHILE I BARELY GOT ANY BECAUSE OF STUPID SENSEI!"

Shadow Kirby could only stare for a moment before he figured out what his counterpart was complaining about. "Why are you up so early then?" he asked.

"Because I wanted to help my friend prepare for the beach party we wanna have with our friends and then this stupid sushi came along and wrecked everything and then we had to go beat him up and then…" Kirby's mouth was suddenly shut by his darker counterpart. It seemed he was tired of his venting.

"You guys were going to have a party today?" he asked.

"Uh-huh…"

That was when Driblee thought of something. "Hey, if you don't mind, could you help us set everything up again? I think we'd be able to do it in time if we had you helping us."

Shadow Kirby paused for a moment to think. "Well… when you think about it, it's partially my fault that it got ruined in the first place. Sure, I'll help!"

He picked up two of the tables, to Driblee's surprise.

"Um…isn't that dangerous?"

"No, why would it be?" he gave a puzzled look.

A few hours passed and the party was ready to begin. Kawasaki arrived an hour prior to set up the food. He even gave Kirby a Maximum Tomato as he could tell he needed one. Eventually, everyone that was invited began to arrive and the fun was ready to begin. While Kirby was attempting to have as much fun as he could by eating and playing volleyball with the others, he could soon feel his adrenaline from earlier being replaced by pure exhaustion.

"Hey, Kirby, I want to thank you again for helping me set up this party! I really appreciate it!" Driblee exclaimed, before suddenly noticing the dazed look in his eyes.

"It's no problem! I'm glad I could…" the puff let out a yawn. "help…"

His friend gave an understanding nod. "Alright. How about you go take a nap? You deserve it after all of your help!"

"Really? Are you sure? Don't you want to enjoy the party?" he asked.

"I've already enjoyed enough of it. For now, I want to make sure that you get some peaceful rest! Now go lay down and relax!"

"Ok. Thank you!"

With that said, Kirby walked over to a beach chair laying underneath a palm tree and let himself begin to doze off. As he finally fell asleep, he was ignorant to the person sneaking up behind his chair. It was, of course, Knuckle Joe.

"Come on, Kirby! This is a party! No sleeping allowed!"

Just as Joe was about to pull the chair out from underneath him, he was blasted away by a cannon of water.

Quite a fun yet difficult chapter to write, honestly.

Omake (Bonus)

(Two days later)

Sailor: Hello?

Kirby: Um...it's Kirby. Sorry to bother you, but where's Meta Knight? I've been waiting at our usual spot for over an hour and I'm getting worried.

Sailor: Oh...uh...he's still asleep.

(Kirby hangs up)

Sailor: Kirby? Kirby, are you there?

(A loud crashing is heard from another direction.)

Sailor: Wait, that's where Lord Meta Knight's room is! AH! LORD META KNIGHT! I'M SORRY FOR THE INTRUSION BUT-!

(Door opens to an irritated Water Kirby riding on the Warp Star, a broken window, and a completely drenched Meta Knight)