Chapter 1: The Visitors from the Sky

Welcome to Dreamland, a kingdom known for its peace and quiet. It's the perfect little land…if you like that sort of thing.

Kirby had been sleeping that morning when he heard a loud crash that sounded not too far from his home. He opened a sleepy eye and looked around.

"It's probably nothing..." he thought before falling back asleep.

Then came the rumbling. It was almost like a small earthquake, though it was likely due to the proximity of the crash site. Normally anyone would get up to see what it was, but Kirby simply fell back asleep. It was common for Kirby to sleep during a massive event such as an invasion, a giant plant growing, and the breaking of a dangerous seal. It was likely the result of living in the peaceful and quiet Dreamland, no doubt.

The pink puff did not wake up again until he heard banging on his door. "Yeah…now is around the time I should be getting up…" he thought as he stood up and shambled over to answer it. It was Bandana Dee.

"Oh, I'm sorry, did I wake you?"

"Yup, but I needed to get up anyway." Kirby sighed, "So what's this about? Does Dedede want to have another fight to settle or grudge or something?".

"Not today, no." Bandana Dee shook his head.

"What is it then? Is someone in trouble?" Kirby ran out of the house in concern. Kirby was the type who HAD to help someone if they were in trouble, that was just how he was. "I'll explain more as we walk, let's go." The Dee replied. "This must be urgent if he's saying that…" Kirby thought as he followed after him.

Travelling through the meadows, Bandanna filled Kirby in on what was going on. King Dedede had heard from some of the Waddle Dees about a large object falling into the lake in Vegetable Valley's Green Greens area. Dedede seemed very interested in the object and wanted it to be pulled out of the lake, which Bonkers and an army of Waddle Dees were doing since earlier this morning. "Okay, but what does this have to do with me?" Kirby asked. "You should know well. You know how we've been attacked by things that have fallen from the sky? That's why Dedede wants you here. He thinks it's too soon for another adventure to destroy another Popstar invader, so he wants you to nip it in the metaphorical bud if needed." Bandana explained. Kirby didn't really mind going on adventures, it was exciting being able to travel to new places. Honestly, it might be better if it was on an actual vacation instead of a mandatory trip to defeat whatever was plaguing Popstar or the entire galaxy at the time, but it was still fun.

When the two arrived at the lake, they saw that whatever fell from the sky that morning had already been pulled out of the lake. It was a giant robot. There appeared to be a few scratches on it, but it was mostly in perfect condition, which was very surprising. Dedede was standing by its side, apparently checking it over and talking to someone. "HEEEYYY! DEDEDE! I'M HERE!" the puff shouted running towards him.

"Perfect timing… for once…" Dedede snarked.

"Hey! What do you mean 'for once'?" his rival pouted. "You know what I mean! You'd prolly sleep through the Apocalypse if it didn't interrupt your naptime!" the king laughed before continuing "Anyway, you wouldn't happen to have any idea what this thing is?" "All I know is that it fell from the sky, so just about as much as you know." Kirby sighed as he looked up to the person Dedede was talking to.

It was Magolor, who was standing on the waist of the giant mech.

"Oh, hello Kirby! Fancy meeting you here!" he smiled, waving down towards him.

"Magolor, do you know what this thing is?" the pink puff asked. "No, I've never seen anything like this before. Most I could tell is it seems to be a robot of some kind." He patted one of the legs. "Well, if Magolor doesn't know what it is and if Susie doesn't know what it is when she gets here, then that means this is something completely new to us." Bandana Dee observed. "You'd think that Susie would be one of the first people you'd contact considering this stuff is up her alley." Kirby commented. "She destroyed one of my castles and made a clone based on my own royal image without my permission! Of course, she would be one of the last people I want to come here!" Dedede exclaimed while Bandana only sighed in response. "Oh, by the way, do you know if something's wrong with him?" Magolor pointed towards the top of the robot. Not knowing what the mage was talking about, Kirby floated up to stand beside him, ignoring Dedede's comment of "don't bother, the blueberry's just acting normal!".

Upon reaching where Magolor was standing, the mumbling of a familiar voice made the boy understand why the king said that. It was Meta Knight, who was kneeling (or rather, kneeling as much as a puffball could) at the mech's chest area. The knight had a belt of tools mounted onto his left side, his sword scabbard mounted on his right, and Kirby even noticed a mechanical pencil hanging on his mask band. He was mumbling feverishly to himself as he would sometimes take the pencil to write down notes into a spiral notebook he had on his left side.

While Meta Knight having Galaxia by his side was normal, everything else was abnormal to someone who hadn't known the knight well. While Kirby can't name all of his mentor's habits or hobbies other than training, there are three things the puff always remembers: he loves to read, he has a massive sweet tooth, and he is skilled at messing around with machines. The last of those often shined through at times when confronted with new technology during peacetime. Despite how he looked and acted, Meta Knight loved working on machines. In fact, his own crew said that he was very hands-on when building his battleship, the Halberd, and continues to do repairs in his spare time. However, it was all too often that when confronted with new technology, such as this robot, that he would develop a fixation for studying it to the point where he tends to ignore everything around him. Of course, that's what was happening now.

"No, nothing's wrong with him. He just gets really into studying machines." Kirby finally said. "Are you sure?" Magolor stared. "Yeah, watch…" Kirby turned to face his mentor.

"HEEEYYYY! META-SENSEIIIIIIIIIII!" his shouting was loud enough to make Magolor, Bandana, and the king cover their ears.

Most they got out of the masked knight was a flinch, but then he went back to work. "I can try it again with Mic if you want." "NO! NO! I'M GOOD, I'M GOOD!" Magolor shook his head frantically. "I mean, we should probably ask him what he's figured out from studying it, but how to get his attention?" Dedede wondered aloud. Bandana Dee hopped up next to the knight and waved one of his hand-nubs in front of him to no reaction. Then, Kirby walked over and covered his eyes, only to have his nubs brushed out of the way nonchalantly. There was a brief pause in his murmuring while he did that, but it wasn't too much. "Magolor, do you have any chocolate with you?" Bandana asked. "Er…I just have a small piece somewhere…" the mage looked like he was rummaging through some non-existent pockets. Dedede spoke up "Hold on a minute…YO, TARANZA!"

"I'm right here, don't shout, please." The spider mage was making tea under Dedede's event tent.

"Oh…uh…ya happen to have any chocolate?" the king asked.

"Chef Kawasaki said he'll be done with lunch in a couple of minutes, your highness. You shouldn't ruin your appetite." Taranza lectured.

"I know, mom. The chocolate ain't for me, it's for blueberry over there."

"Oh."

The spider mage tossed a piece to Dedede. He tossed it to Bandana Dee, who unwrapped it and held it in front of Meta Knight. The blue knight briefly stopped mumbling long enough to grab the chocolate, slip it under his mask, and continue on as if nothing happened.

"Well…that was pointless." Magolor uttered. "Alright, leave this to me!" Dedede climbed up onto the robot. "There's only one thing that'll break his concentration, guaranteed!" he grabbed the top of Meta Knight's mask and tried to pull it off. As if it was a reflex, the knight grabbed his arm and flipped him, causing him to fall onto the opposite side of the mecha. "OW! OH, NOVA! THAT WAS A TERRIBLE IDEA! OWWW!" Dedede yelled from the ground.

"What do you want?" Meta Knight spoke, standing up while readjusting his mask.

"Well done, Great King! You got his attention!" Bandana Dee cheered while the king weakly gave a thumbs-up. "If you wanted to get my attention, you could've just said my name." The knight shook his head. "I yelled at you and covered your eyes and you didn't respond! What else were we supposed to do?" Kirby tried to explain. "I would've heard you if you were yelling at me, Kirby." His mentor sighed. All Kirby could do was shrug.

"So, Meta Knight, what have you figured out about this robot?" Bandana Dee asked. "I don't have any tools on me that I can use to take it apart, that's my first discovery. Not even using any of the metalwork saws I brought are working." He pointed to his subordinate, Sailor Dee, who had a box of tools with him. "So, does that mean there's no way to open it?" Kirby asked. "Oh no, I'm just getting started." His mentor mused. "Sailor Dee, bring out the plasma blowtorch!" "Yes, sir!" The Waddle Dee ran up the mech bringing a torch mask and the blowtorch itself.

"HEY, WAIT A MINUTE! WHAT ARE YA DOIN' WITH THAT BLOWTORCH?! DON'T YA DARE GO BURNING THAT THING! I'MMA GONNA KEEP IT AT MY CA-!" Dedede covered his own mouth before he could finish. "So, your true purpose of wanting to take this robot out of the lake is finally revealed…" Meta Knight glared at him. "Hey, if I can harness its power, you and that pink lump student of yours can start to take it easy!" "I doubt that." Both puffs said.

"UGH! ALRIGHT, I JUST THINK IT LOOKS COOL AND I WANT IT! THERE I SAID IT!" the king crossed his arms. "Lunch is ready!" the voice of Taranza broke the group up. "Well, I guess I'll worry about blowtorching this later…" Meta Knight sighed as he climbed down. "Oh no, you won't! What part of 'you're not getting anywhere near this thing with that blowtorch' don't you get!?" Dedede shouted at him.

"Measuring brainwaves…no abnormalities in basic rhythms detected. Ensign Ledo, awakening confirmed. Revival successful."

The young man opened his eyes to hear the mechanical voice of his Machine Caliber's operating system.

"Cham…ber…?" he uttered. It took several minutes of blinking for his vision to focus.

"In accordance with emergency protocol, I have preserved your bodily functions via cryostasis. Two-hundred sixty-six thousand eighteen hundred and fifteen minutes have passed." Chamber responded.

"How long is that…?" Ledo asked, groggily shaking his head.

"Six months. Would you like me to break it down further?" "No, you don't need to…" he sighed. Chamber continued "My system functionality was in stasis as well, but I had rebooted about twenty minutes ago due to external stimuli." The young man gave a shocked look. "What stimuli?" he asked.

The monitor in front of him turned on, showing a blue ball-like creature with a plate of metal on his face and another tall creature seemingly arguing with each other in a language he could not recognize. The world around them was green and bright. Perhaps this is Avalon, where those who complete their required time in the military can go to rest. That might explain how peaceful it appears. "This current situation requires the judgement of the pilot, hence why I initiated your awakening." The AI explained. On his right, a pink ball creature pushed between the two and spoke.

"Teede pen, ka, pen' bila! De' tee de kame!" it said.

"What are these things and what language are they speaking?" the ensign questioned. "It is an unknown language that is not even recognized within the Galactic Alliance." "Even within the Galactic Alliance? How interesting." He sighed. "I am currently analyzing but I have insufficient data." It was probably a given that the language would be unknown if he wasn't seeing humans.

If it was an ancient language, maybe Chamber would've been able to more easily figure it out, but the language these strange inhabitants were speaking was not even remotely similar to anything that was heard before. There's also the possibility that this is some kind of tribe that hasn't joined the alliance yet, but that was out of the question because they weren't human.

"Based on how they're acting, they look like they've never seen a Machine Caliber before." Ledo observed. "It appears that they are trying to damage the craft but have no means of doing so. I assume that they might be a primitive species." That sounds about right to him. There's no way they could take apart a Machine Caliber with what he assumed was a blowtorch. "They shouldn't be able to open the hatch then. Where are we?" "Location unknown. We lack a point of reference." "What?!" Oh, how startling it was to suddenly wake up in an unknown place with unknown things roaming about with no one but your AI guide to help you.

"I have developed a working hypothesis. During the carrier Lamerack's telemarkering swing, we were caught up in the vortex of the changing space-time metric and later resynchronized with normal space-time at a set of arbitrary coordinates. I had already sent out a distress signal while you were in cryostasis. However, the situation has reached a critical point where intervention is required. Please advise."

All Ledo could do was sigh. "I…I don't know…I'm even more hesitant because whatever these things are, they clearly aren't human." He observed the ball creatures and tall creature walking over to a covered structure in the distance.

"It is possible that we can easily escape now."

"Yes, but where would we escape to? We don't know where we are. It's best that we figure that out first."

After waiting for the creatures to enter the tent, Ledo opened the cockpit. He took a device on the center console of his machine and put it on the collar of his pilot suit. He stepped down onto the grass and closed the hatch to his cockpit. "The gravity here is exactly 1 G. How's the air?" he asked his AI assistant. "The air consists primarily of nitrogen, oxygen, and carbon dioxide. The ratio is ideal for life." With a nod, the pilot deactivated his helmet. It'd be a good idea to save oxygen just in case. The air smelled strange to the young man. It was organic, not artificial, like the smells he had known on the spaceship. Did the spaceships even have any kind of smell? If they did, it was nothing like here. There was life here and he could tell. "Just what were those creatures?" Ledo looked down at the toolbox and blowtorch on the ground.

That's when he heard the grass rustling. Two people were walking over. He had to hide. Good thing there was a box nearby to hide behind.

"Dedede, what are you doing?" Taranza asked as he followed the monarch. "I'm gonna try and figure out this thing myself! There's no way I'm letting Meta Knight damage this beauty with his blowtorch!" he examined the mech to see if he could find anything new. Taranza was about to make a comment, until he noticed something at the base of the mech.

The grass was wet. It was a sunny day, so the water from dragging the robot out of the lake would've dried by now.

Dedede walked around to the opposite side. "Step away, your highness!" Taranza prepared his web magic. "Huh? Why?" Dedede asked, confused. "Something's up! Get over here!" the mage shouted. "Can't you just explain-" The penguin was cut off by a young human who locked him into a hold. "YOUR HIGHNESS!" Taranza shouted. Holding Dedede's neck under his arm, the young man pointed what appeared to be a pistol at the mage.

"Afurule fufle!" the young man said.

"Wh-what are you saying?!" Taranza questioned. "HEY! WHO THE HECK ARE YOU!? LET ME GO!" Dedede yelled and tried to struggle, to no avail. "Afurule fufle mata fule!" the person holding him stood firm. Taranza began to create a ball of magic, but the young man in front of him shot near where his feet would be. It had startled him enough to break his concentration. Looking at the grass below him, that was clearly a laser, not a bullet.

Taking advantage of the stunned silence, the young man took Dedede and began to run. For someone of his size to be able to carry someone as heavy as King Dedede while running away as quick as he did, this teenager must be a secret bodybuilder. "HEY! GET BACK HERE!" Taranza began to shout and then turned to the event tent "EVERYONE! HELP! SOME GUY JUST KIDNAPPED DEDEDE!". Voices of panic and urgency began to pour out of the tent as everyone who was eating rushed out to chase after the unknown kidnapper. All the while, Dedede continued to yell at the person who was holding him hostage to let him go.

"I cannot find any logic within your actions, ensign." Chamber spoke.

"They shouldn't attack me if I take a hostage…at least I hope they don't." Ledo responded.

His penguin hostage continued to rattle on, not that Ledo was able to understand a thing he was saying. "Va Shi Shi Va! Noh Shibi Shi Shitee, Ta'noh Shitee Va So En Derayvashi Shi Tee Nohshi Bi Shi Punoh!" it yelled. It continued to yell other things, but Ledo wasn't concerned about that.

"I can't risk activating you right now until I have a good idea of what kind of terrain we're dealing with." The young man explained. "Understood. Recording and analyzing footage. I advise you to cover as much ground as possible."

A few minutes of running later, and Ledo thought of something else. "Have you been able to figure out their language yet?"

"Analysis is at about 40% completion. More vocabulary samples are needed." The ensign slightly laughed. "Alright, you hear that? Keep talking about whatever you want." He tapped the creature's head with the hilt of his gun. "Ta Nohva De! Pu Teenoh Ta De Ta Ta Shi Va!" it yelled as he pushed forward.

"Taranza, what happened!?" Kirby asked.

Him, the spider mage, Magolor, and Bandana Dee were riding on his Warp Star to catch up to the kidnapper. Meta Knight had taken to the skies as well after he had ordered Sailor Dee to contact the Meta-Knights on the Halberd for backup. Kirby was confident they weren't needed, but his mentor often thought it was better to be safe than sorry.

"Dedede was kidnapped by some guy! I just told you!" he yelled. "Yeah, but where did he come from? Everyone should've gone to lunch!" the pink puff asked. "Wait…Kirby…that means…Taranza, do you think he come from inside that mech?" Magolor questioned. "How should I know? I wasn't the one watching that thing!" he stopped talking when the image of the puddle underneath the robot's head manifested in his mind.

Ledo had no choice but to press forward. Suddenly, the path was blocked by a group of orange creatures with spears.

"Are you kidding me!?" he uttered under his breath, and jumped over them, using one to boost him further. One of them said something. "That was a comment about being used as a springboard." Chamber said. "How simplistic…" Ledo grumbled. "Negative, ensign. I believe it is too soon to call these people simplistic." His AI partner replied.

It wasn't long until he reached what appeared to be a cliff overlooking the ocean. The blue ball-creature landed on the cliff in front of him, blocking the path. Behind him, the pink one, now wearing a purple hat and carrying a bow showed up alongside the spider being from earlier, another orange ball creature, and an egg thing. More orange ball creatures began to show up, now carrying bows.

The hostage Ledo was carrying began to speak again "Va noh' teeta nohva ta vashinoh bipuva de! En va!" the blue creature behind him sighed, his sword still pointed towards the young man. He was surrounded, with nowhere to escape to. That's when he felt his grip loosen, and the penguin creature escaped, retreating to the pink creature's side. "Well, it looks like I no longer have a choice…NOW, CHAMBER!" Ledo called out to his mech, which suddenly activated.

Bursting up from the ground, Chamber somersaulted in the air before landing in the water behind the ledge. The creature didn't flinch, but instead uttered something in a tone of surprise. "Noh shiva!?" Everyone gathered could only stare in awe at the giant robot before them.

"Chamber, what's going on here? Have you figured out our location yet?" the young man asked. "It appears that we find ourselves on a planet were respiration of the normal atmosphere is possible. While the only planet to match this in the database is Earth, there is no other details about this planet that matches it. It seems we have discovered an entirely new planet, ensign." Ledo's eyes widened "This…is an entirely new planet?!" he gasped.

Even more orange ball creatures arrived, plus one with a giant eye, and another one carrying a hammer. There were likely more to come at this rate. Chamber floated up and placed himself in front of Ledo as if to protect him while he locked eyes with the blue one. The two watched to see who would make a move first. "The current threat level has climbed by 225%. I propose a preemptive attack." The AI said. "Don't, Chamber. Tell them we mean no harm in their language." The ensign suggested.

"Discontinue…attack. We mean…no harm." The giant robot said.

"The heck? Why did they take me hostage then?!" Dedede grumbled and then locked eyes with Meta Knight on the other side. "Hey! What are you doing?! Attack them!"

"Don't be rash, Dedede! We don't know what they're fully capable of!"

"Please lower…your weapons." The robot finished.

"Great king, let me handle this!" Bandana Dee said, stepping forward.

He raised his spear to show that he didn't intend to harm them. He yelled to the young man "My name is Bandana Dee! I am the aide to King Dedede! Please identify yourself!".

Chamber pulled up a screen in front of Ledo with some text on it.

"The orange ball with the blue bandana is asking for your name and affiliation." The mech explained.

"Right, understood."

Ledo lowered his pistol, hoping that the blue creature would not take advantage of his open state.

The group first heard the unknown language of the young man before the robot began to speak as well. The robot seemed to be translating what he was saying.

"I am the pilot of the Anti-Hideauze Annihilation Weapon Chamber, Ensign Ledo." The robot said.

"An annihilation weapon?" Meta Knight whispered.

"What are the Hideauze?" Bandana Dee continued.

The mech in front of them responded "Enemy. Coexistence is impossible. Though you are not humans, we offer you to join the alliance. We request dialogue. Who is your commander?"

While Chamber gave his response, Ledo noticed that the blue creature behind him was making gestures with his gloved hands. Four other creatures had come to the front and pointed their weapons at him. He noticed the egg and tarantula creature even beginning to create something from their hands.

"Chamber…what did you tell them!?" the ensign questioned.

"I told them of the alliance's purpose and asked to see their commander."

"That's good, but why are they still hostile towards us?" Ledo questioned.

"The Meta-Knights came just in time!" Dedede smirked.

"Is there someone else inside the mecha? If so, come out and lower your weapons!" Bandana Dee shouted. The mecha and young man seemed to be confused by the statement, but Bandana Dee was able to figure out something from their reactions.

"Hey, what's going on? Why isn't the guy coming out?" Dedede asked.

"This machine is unmanned." The robot finally spoke.

"Huh? How can it be unmanned!?"

"That robot is being controlled by an AI." Kirby answered.

"You gotta be kidding me!" the monarch exclaimed.

Unlike the others, he had never seen a sentient AI before, so the concept seemed to be a bit far-fetched to him.

"So…wait, what should we do now?" Taranza asked.

"You said you requested dialogue with our commander. I ask that you come with us to one of his castles. Your robot friend can come, but he must travel on his own. Are my instructions clear?" Bandana Dee said.

The two conversed before the robot said "Understood… we shall follow you.".

"Bandana, what are you doing!?" The king yelled.

"Taking them to a place where you'll be more comfortable talking to them."

The precession to the castle began.

Well, that's the end of Chapter 1. This is my first fiction posted on this site, so please give me feedback to see what I can improve on for future chapters.

I had to use a made-up language generator since the Wingdings I used in the original Word document wouldn't transition over. A pity in my opinion, since using a translator would've allowed the reader to see what the characters are actually saying. If anything, I feel it helps emphasize the language barrier.