Kirby cautiously pulled himself up onto the very top of a rocky hill that overlooked a plain. With one hard glance he could spot his target from a few miles away based on where he stood. A series of smaller rocky hills were at the base of the one he stood on, holding it up like a statue above the ground. Nestled in the center of the vast plain was a lone metal platform akin to the one Kirby fought Mario on, but this one was glowing different colors since the sun was setting quicker than Kirby had anticipated. The warm oranges were replaced with luscious red and violet colors that made Kirby sleepy looking at them. Faint stars contrasted against the plain sky, reminding Kirby of what things were like on Popstar. A strange new feeling hit him, and it wasn't just the cold breeze that grazed his body. It was a longing for peace, a feeling that things were never going to be the same. He felt lonely and worried all of a sudden.
He felt homesick.
He mumbled a sad "Poyo," to himself as he unwillingly brought his eyes down to the metal stage again, thinking about the fighting and why he was participating in it in the first place. Friends are here too, friends from other planets. They care about you, you care about them. Friends need help now and you go rescue, he thought to himself. Oddly now of all times was he regretting trying to rescue them at all. The scenes of the previous fights he had suffered through flashed in his mind. Since he was thinking surprisingly deep for how simple minded he was, he didn't feel he could handle fighting another hellish clone or having to save a demonized version of his friend that wanted to eat his flesh. Part of him was ready to leave when something below the hill moved. If he squinted a bit he could see a faint blue figure walking around the stage, searching for something behind a crooked, jagged mess of steel that protruded from the short side of the stage. The colors of the figure began to jog his memory slowly; and then he remembered. It was Marth, the prince of Altea, the one who shared biscuits and tea with him and Peach. The royal who always wore a tiara - which Kirby thought was odd. But then again Kirby didn't fully know that Marth was a man. Upon recognizing his friend, the urge to run up to him and ask for food pounded in his head. If there was anything to Kirby that was more difficult than fighting demented versions of his friends, it was refusing food. Unfortunately, this was all that Kirby knew about Marth, and it was something that was near impossible to refuse. So, of course, Kirby slid right down the rocky hill and skipped off to the stage to ask Marth for some tea and biscuits.
His stubby hands pulled him up the edge of the stage weakly, tiring him slightly more than he was before. On the opposite side of the stage was Marth, who was bending over and searching for something behind a pair of jagged steel protrusions. Though about a third of his body was blocked by the metal, Kirby could still tell it was the Hero-king himself based on the rest of his clothing. Kirby hesitated for a second or so, unsure of whether or not he should ask, or even approach Marth for that matter. But when his stomach called for food, nothing would stop the puff from getting whatever he was craving in the moment; and now it was Marth's tea and biscuits. Within about five steps Marth pulled his head out from between the metal and bore through Kirby's eyes with an animalistic and hungry grimace. Kirby froze in his tracks when he heard Marth growl, a growl that sounded much like a wolf. His eyebrows knitted and his mouth opened to reveal a pair of sharp canines on his upper and lower jaw that were connected by a thin thread of spit. The growl turned into a canine roar, and he drew Falchion from its sheath on his belt. Kirby backed up a few feet, raising his arms up in defense as Marth came closer to him with the blade in one hand. "Tea-poyo?" Kirby asked with a shy smile. Marth roared at Kirby again, which segmented into a sharp swing of Falchion right above his head. The end of the sword hit thin air as Kirby ducked below the path of it and prepared to take off in the opposite direction. Marth was quick to stop him, and he grabbed Kirby from behind and threw him backwards against the stage. Kirby lost all the air in his body when he rested on the floor, trying to move out of the way fast enough before Falchion could cut him from above. Blood leaked out of Kirby's foot when Falchion hit the metal floor, giving Marth the fuel to keep fighting Kirby.
The puff rolled out of the way when the sword came to him again, making Marth grumble at his missed attempt. Falchion sliced the air rapidly, trying to catch Kirby in whatever moment time wanted it to. Finally, Falchion left three nasty cuts on the side of Kirby's face using the very end of the blade; blood gushed into the air and lightly painted Marth's sword. Kirby whimpered in pain and tried to roll behind Marth as the prince lashed out again. Kirby successfully rolled behind him and kicked Marth as hard as he could in the back, earning a grunt from the attack. Marth hit the floor with another grunt, but had no time to recover as Kirby gave him a kick to the back of the head. Instead of following up the string of kicks, he shuffled backward away from the prince, hoping maybe that would snap him out of this control and they wouldn't have to fight anymore. But Marth raised his head and snarled, pulling himself off the ground and pointing Falchion at Kirby. He lunged forward and shot the sword at Kirby, missing by a few inches as Kirby turned and ran behind the metal formation behind him. Marth turned after him and tried to reach through a spot between the metal with one hand to grab Kirby. Panicking, Kirby took a small chunk of metal off the surface of the stage, preparing to use it as a weapon of sorts. Marth leapt over the metal in front of Kirby, snapping his jaws at the puff as he hit the floor. The piece of metal flew out of Kirby's hands and into Marth's jaws, making him choke on it. While Marth was stunned, Kirby kicked him across the face, being careful not to help get the piece of metal out from his throat, and delivered a vertical kick to his chin. After the set of kicks, Kirby grabbed Marth by his cape and threw him back over the metal structure onto the flat surface of the stage. Marth groaned at the impact of being hit on the back of the head, and it helped burn any anger he had for Kirby when the puffball came out from behind the metal. Falchion was lifted above Marth's head and came down in a swift but barbaric motion down to hit the ground as Kirby dodged it. A series of unruly, unfocused swings came after it, making it harder for Kirby to avoid it, but also not landing Marth any successful hits. Seconds after the sixth swing Kirby kicked Marth in the torso, making the prince stumble backward and nearly drop Falchion. Before Kirby could land another kick, Marth snatched Kirby by his stubby hand and pushed him against the ground, launching him vertically into the air. Falchion was able to catch Kirby this time, slicing him open on the side of his body with the sound of slicing flesh following it. Kirby cried out at the attack, and Marth was able to grab him by his foot to bring him back down to earth. The puff was then sandwiched between the snarling prince above him and the cold steel below, watching Marth try to bite into Kirby with the sharp fangs he now possessed. Kirby's struggling didn't do very much for him no matter how hard he fought, and Marth ended up nipping him in some spots on his face. Kirby's foot came to hit Marth in the chin, and the prince recoiled a bit and giving Kirby more room to wiggle. Finally, he squirmed out of the prince's grip and kicked him three times in the face, earning a snarl from Marth. Just before Kirby could land back on the stage, Falchion came in a blur out of nowhere and cut him deep across the face.
The sting was unbearable for Kirby, and he could feel his life crippling away sluggishly. Crimson blood stained both Falchion and Marth's attire, which became a sight that made Marth grin maliciously. He stepped in front of Kirby with Falchion pointed downward, thinking of the best way to kill the pink puff below him. Said puff was still trying to get himself to breathe and ignore the pain of all his cuts, but he had never felt pain this intense before and thus it was very difficult to manage. Falchion rose above both Marth and Kirby, the end of it twinkling with the rising moonlight, signaling it had defeated its opponent. Mere milliseconds before it came down on him again, Kirby stood up and inhaled as best he could, aiming for the weapon above him. Marth growled at Kirby in surprise, his grip tightening around Falchion's hilt as it slipped from his fingers. Kirby put more power into his vacuum-like pull, still hoping to steal the sword out of the prince's hands. Falchion finally slipped from Marth's hands and swung into Kirby's mouth, gaining him the Shield breaker ability and his own mini Falchion. The real sword he discarded in the form of a star to the far end of the stage, making its owner uneasy at having to retrieve it. The prince was not one to lose the precious seconds he had to get it, and pursued the weapon immediately before Kirby could notice. He ran right up to Marth, using the tip of Falchion to catch him by his left foot and twist it slightly to one side, tripping his target. He fell just inches away from Falchion's hilt, which Kirby poppy guarded to keep Marth from getting any ideas. Grumbling, Marth stood up and brought an unnoticed clawed hand to Kirby's face, drawing blood and pushing him out of the way of his prize. As Marth pulled himself towards Falchion's hilt, Kirby retaliated by stabbing Marth's fingers with his mini Falchion, slicing off a pinky and a ring finger as a result. Marth reached out with another hand to grab the hilt, but lost two more fingers when Kirby sliced him again. A growl rose from his throat and he slapped Kirby with whatever remained on his left hand to get Falchion with his right. Unfortunately for him, Falchion was practically buried in the steel of the stage, which, to Marth's dismay, meant he would have to try and pull it out with both hands. The Popstarian, however, knew that it would be almost impossible for Marth to retrieve his blade in time, and started to charge up his hammer for the third time. This time it was Marth who panicked, and he started pulling so hard that the flesh in his arms were partly tearing out of the sockets. When the hammer burst into flames with a loud fwoosh, Kirby bounced into the air and struck Marth in the jaw with it, causing Marth to roar in protest.
Marth's body landed a few feet away from Falchion, utterly stunned and laying on the floor hopelessly. Kirby abandoned his ability as a tiny star that vanished into the air and watched Marth's flesh expand in his neck. It moved further downward to his chest, where his chest, shoulders, and face began to bubble up. Then, with a demonic howl he exploded into chunks of rancid flesh. Thankfully for Kirby, none of it landed on him, and he was able to stand idly and watch his friend come back to life. Marth appeared where the fake body lay before, his eyes fluttering open sleepily as he lifted a hand to his forehead. His aching muscles pushed him to sit up and face Kirby, who was ready to move had Marth still been under Galeem's control. "Ngh, where the- Kirby?" He mumbled, staggering to his feet only to stumble and hit the stage face first. Kirby waddled up to him and talk as he regained his strength. "Poyo…?" Kirby said, looking the prince in his fatigued blue eyes. "Kirby, what's going on? Where is everyone else?" He asked, now pulling himself up on his own and getting the hang of walking. This moment of strength was short lived however, as he ended up back down on his hands and knees vomiting rather violently. He coughed the remains of the vomit a few seconds after and stood back up unhurriedly. "Poyo poyo," Kirby told him. "You don't know? Then how did you find me here?" Kirby tried to explain the current events that were unfolding; including the demonic clones, the spirits, and how he found Mario. "So Mario is alive and searching for our friends as well? And we're supposed to meet him east of here at an abandoned shrine you said?" Kirby nodded and pointed in the direction they were supposed to go. "If that is what he asks and if that is what is most beneficial to us, then say no more."
A/N: Just a heads up about a few things for the future of this story: the first being that I won't cover every single battle in WoL because there are way too many of them to cover in a simple story like this, so I'm going to stick to the ones that are either the most interesting to me or the ones that I feel are important (other than the character awakening battles of course). The second thing is that I'm going to add letters at the beginning of each chapter so you know whose it is. For instance, the next chapter will be part of Mario's path, so I'm going to put an (M) in the chapter if you want to follow his story. After that will be Kirby's path, so I'll put a (K) if you want to follow Kirby's path. That way it will be easier for both me and you, as the reader, to follow a story or keep track of which one is which. The last thing is that I might not update for a little while since the holidays are coming up and I'm kind of busy with personal stuff so I'd say expect an update by at least February or March. Thank you for being patient and happy Smashing!
Edit (12/13/18): Fixed A/N, some grammar mistakes, and some other tiny minor changes here and there.