Having been watching the Kirby anime again (I love it!), I note that the Cappies can be quite mean, even nasty, to Kirby at times in certain episodes such as Un-Reality TV, The Pillow Case and definitely Cappy Down Town, the latter which forms part of the reason for Kirby's feelings in this chapter. Also King Dedede has managed to trick the Cappies on numerous occasions making Kirby look like a bad guy. You'd think they'd have learnt by now, huh?
Wings Of Change: Part 4
High above the clouds, a shadowy sphere blacker than midnight emerged into existence from an unknown dimension. Its blood-red eye scanned the environment, watching for the source of its disturbance. The essences of two figures of light had broken its rest as it drifted silently through space. This light would drown the darkness, blind those existed in the shadows and shatter the eternal blackness. What pain that burning light would cause! A threat to its ever-enduring survival! An existence without the embrace of darkness was not one to contemplate. Such light would have to be snuffed out.
The shade moved slowly while it detected the presence of the earthbound stars and attempted to focus closer upon the location. The stars shone brightly and could be viewed far above by one who could sense the essence of such things, even hidden deep as they were, forming their hearts. Truly their power was immense. One such star was countless of years old, its strength honed by a lifetime's worth of experience. The other was very young in comparison though it was fuelled by outstanding potential and it constantly strove to forge that into true skill. A new power had also awakened in it very recently and as such, it sensed that the star, the figure of light, needed time to adjust to it.
What it needed was a figure to work through, one who was weak of mind and easily manipulated. If possible, a harboured fascination with monsters would prove to be a splendid addition to the cause. And indeed, it could quite easily detect the frequent and congested essence of monsters here. Dream Land was a veritable breeding ground for nightmarish monsters.
What about that castle ahead?
Meta Knight had explained to him the principles of taking-off. It was the most energetically demanding aspect of flight as one needed to generate enough airflow across the wings to create lift. As a beginner, Kirby would need to take a run up in order to generate that airflow. Once more accomplished, he would learn to take off from a standing position as Meta Knight did. When truly advanced, he could then learn hovering in which one generated lift by flapping alone but it required a great deal of energy. That would not be covered for a long time.
Meta Knight touched down lightly as he demonstrated his abilities to Kirby once more, showing him the correct procedure again. Kirby was desperate to take to the skies like his mentor but so far, he wasn't having success in staying up there.
"You do realise this will not be like having your Wing Ability where the copy power did much of the work for you," Meta Knight had warned. "This will be performed with your own wings, your own energy." Flapping one's arms with the Wing Ability was not a difficult exercise; anyone could do that. Trying to make wings on your back flap was rather more difficult. Kirby hadn't realised exactly how much work this was going to involve until he tried flying like Meta Knight for the first time.
It had been a shambles.
Kirby tripped up three times and otherwise fluffed his take-off in different ways by jumping up only to fall back down due to not having his wings in the right position. Once he managed to get up in the air at all, he wobbled precariously like an aeroplane undergoing turbulence and forgot to streamline himself. He lost his balance in the air and suddenly dropped like a stone.
"Change your wings into a cape before you crash!" Meta Knight yelled, before Kirby could damage them. The pink puffball desperately tried to remember how to do this, not having tried it in mid-air before, and, still with his wings at full stretch, collided against the terrain with a heavy thud.
"When I said about folding your wings inwards slightly upon the up-stroke to reduce the amount of energy needed, I did mean slightly, not the whole way," Meta Knight lectured. "It is a common error."
"Ow, my head…"
"You are not injured. Pick yourself up and try again."
Without hesitation despite his crash, the young Star Warrior scrambled upright and launched himself into the air a second time. He stayed up for a little longer this time only for the same result to occur except that he slammed into the treetops rather than the ground. Fortunately they were not in Whispy Woods itself otherwise he would have got a serious telling-off from a talking tree just now. At least gliding had proven easier when he was taken to a suitable height and promptly, to his surprise, shoved off it, Meta Knight believing in a practical approach to these matters. It didn't require thrust and he only stumbled a little when landing.
Once, Kirby had tried inflating his body to reach the same heights as his mentor rather than soaring but try as he might, he couldn't seem to trap the air and lift himself off the ground this way. The winged structure changed his body significantly. Mother Nature would allow one or the other, not both. With a sudden overwhelming feeling of sadness, Kirby realised exactly what he had lost.
"You feel sad that you can no longer float into the sky, don't you?" Meta Knight stated. Kirby snapped to attention realising he'd been daydreaming. How did Meta Knight know what he was thinking? Then again, Meta Knight knew most things about Kirby; he was an open book to the old Star Warrior.
"I… yeah. Seems silly really. I mean, flying's gotta be better, not to mention being able to warp as well."
"I was the same," Meta Knight admitted, "even though I had much more time with it than you've had. I suspect it was because everyone else was later than me and I had to begin the process of flight sooner. As they say, you don't know what you've got until it's gone."
"Yeah…"
"However, it does no good dwelling on the past," Meta Knight said in a matter-of-fact tone. "We move on into the future. Now, we shall leave that for the time being and take a look at warping." Kirby smiled. He had been waiting eagerly for this one.
He wanted to show Meta Knight that he could do this as much as he could with their other sessions. Although there were times when he plainly did not feel up to the demands considering how much Meta Knight expected from him, Kirby liked his sessions with Meta Knight overall. There was something about being able to focus upon a new move to the distraction of everything else, away from prying eyes. Meta Knight never belittled him. He understood Kirby intricately. That was because he was so much like himself.
Meta Knight could not help but remember his first time flying. Though he was much older than Kirby at the time, he had been much younger than everyone else upon gaining wings and thus found a number of people giving him tips and all sorts bombarding him with information. They had, of course, proven helpful in the end although he had proudly insisted he could accomplish this by himself and was determined to receive no assistance. He was going to be a Star Warrior after all! He had to swallow both his pride and words when he plummeted onto a rooftop and knocked several chimneys off. Everyone had laughed at him, especially when he had knocked off a tin of magenta paint as well, splattering himself. Those were the days…
He wrapped his cape around his body tightly and almost without thinking, phased out of sight and reappeared several feet away.
"I saw a shimmer!" Kirby cried out excitedly.
Pleased, Meta Knight replied, "I'm surprised. You must have been observing closely. It is usually unseen by the naked eye."
The process of warping involved focussing one's energy into transferring every particle of themselves across the boundaries of space not physically but mentally. It was difficult keeping the warping stable at first as a beginner practitioner often physically catapulted themselves through the air completely exposed to the elements, not to mention the strong disorientation often experienced. Also, to then immediately be able to move and strike after reappearance required great mental discipline that many lacked, especially if they were not warriors. But Meta Knight had faith that Kirby would not struggle as much as most; he had touched upon the process before with his Ninja Ability.
He gazed at his student, so eager to please, and felt, not for the first time, a warm tenderness towards him. He had witnessed Kirby's many milestones from his learning new Copy Abilities to speaking coherently for the first time and to defeating many terrible and vicious monsters despite his young age. He continued to organise his training, yes, for there would be no shortage of evil to be vanquished, but now he had another priority and that was Kirby's well-being.
Though the teen had remained tight-lipped, he knew there was something not quite right. Maybe it was the way he held himself, maybe it was in his eyes, but over the last few months, Kirby had changed. He could put it down to maturation, making him develop a more reserved and quiet character but his intuition told him otherwise. He wasn't sure if Kirby would appreciate his prying, adolescence not exactly an area that he was well-versed in, but if this state of affairs continued, then he would indeed have to pry. The trouble was how he could go about that exactly. Children, he reflected, were much easier to deal with than this awkward point between childhood and adulthood.
He was distracted from his thoughts when, after attempting to warp, Kirby made a wrong turn in spatial dimensions, turned rather green and promptly lost his lunch.
Kirby wearily walked home after finishing today's session, feeling bruised and sore all over. He was disheartened by his inability to pick the art up straight away and ruefully noted that his Copy Abilities had led him to believe he could pick up non-copy abilities straight away as well. He was also mortified by his reaction to warping, even if this apparently happened to most first-timers. He felt queasy still. He had been sick twice. Even worse, he then heard yelling in the distance.
Trying to ignore his stomach churning, Kirby raced towards town and was alarmed to see a monster had landed directly in the main square; they were getting far too confident these days. This one was pretty large too, with orange, bat wings, a cat-like face and a body consisting of a raging fireball. For a monster though, it was really rather cute. It was appropriately named Batafire.
"Don't just stand there, Kirby!" one of the terrified locals squealed. "Take it out!"
What do you think I'm going to do? Kirby grumbled. Have tea with it?
Batafire sent a barrage of burning fireballs blasting Kirby's way forcing the pink puffball to quickly evade them. One surged directly into Kirby and he yelled, feeling a sudden intense heat envelop his body. Another caught the edge of his cape and he yelped having to put it out. He didn't get time to check the damage as the squeaking monster dive-bombed at Kirby almost burning and crushing him at the same time.
I need something to douse those flames. He then spotted the fountain that had been installed only a couple of weeks back to 'beautify' the town. Batafire swooped down on him again making Kirby decide on the spot to try out the dimensional warp again, hoping that the intense nature of battling would bring out his skills like they usually did. He pulled his cape close and concentrated on a point near to the fountain. He momentarily gasped, feeling nauseous with his vision blurred, time seemingly slowing down as he phased through a distance of space greater than that he was used to when using the Ninja Ability. Batafire missed him by inches and slammed into the pavement, breaking it upon contact, understandably stunned. Kirby, having overshot, splashed into the cold water and spluttered heavily.
Hey, not perfect, but I least I managed it more or less! Meta will be happy about that! Kirby bobbed up, feeling very pleased with himself. He hadn't even felt very sick this time! He hoped the others had noticed his new move. Nevertheless, he didn't let his pride distract him from his duty. He quickly slurped up the amount of water necessary to allow him to transform into Water Kirby, feeling the tiara with its whirling watery vortex settle upon his head. Energised, he shot a strong pulse of water at the flaming Batafire causing it to squeak even more high-pitched.
"Ah! Don't fly that way!" he called out as Batafire, now dizzy, wavered drunkenly in mid-air and made a couple of rooftops catch fire. Damn. Why can't they use better building materials? "Hey! Over here!" He shot another pulse of water to regain its attention.
Batafire responded with several, fast-moving fireballs. The pink puffball countered them by sending a powerful column of water straight up. Adrenaline pumping, he charged towards the fiery monster and executed Rainbow Rain, projecting a sphere of water whirling around his body and concluding with a rainbow flourish. He was highly delighted with how beautiful the move looked; another method of turning his frequent battles into an art form.
Kirby warped again when the enraged monster struck once more and reappeared several feet away, only staggering a little. He felt euphoric; he bet that everyone wished they had a cape like his! Perhaps the next time he battled, he could use his wings though Meta Knight wanted to take him through several lessons on flight combat before he attempted it for real otherwise it could do him more harm than good. He unleashed Rainbow Rain one more time just as Batafire zoomed towards him and completely doused the monster whole.
Having taken enough punishment, the monster then exploded, leaving not a trace of itself behind. A crying shame really; Kirby felt that this monster, if fed and treated with respect, could have become quite friendly.
"Hey, did you see what I did?" Kirby asked excitedly. "Did you see me teleport like that? I—"
"You should have got here sooner!" a Cappy fumed. "Look at the damage it did!"
Kirby noticed that a few other buildings had been set alight as the fireballs that missed him struck elsewhere. Whoops. I suppose that wasn't totally unexpected.
"Uhh, sorry. I'll put them out." The young Star Warrior blasted jets of water onto each blaze until they were completely extinguished. Smoke rose a little but the damage was not too severe. "There we go; you might just have to replace a few tiles. Anyway, did you notice me—?"
"Where were you?" the Cappy interrupted. A few other Cappies stood there wearing similar disapproving faces. "Things could have got really heated here!"
"I was training elsewhere. Anyway, did you see my—?"
"You could have put your training to good use here," the Cappy grumbled. "Now we're gonna have to pay and get it fixed."
"Petition Dedede," Kirby said, now getting annoyed. "Look, I want to know if—"
"Petitioning Dedede's no good," Gengu moaned, who had had to rush outside when his shop was attacked. "You should have been here guarding us. Those demonbeasts can be pretty nasty, especially when they're after you personally."
"I can't be here all the time," the teen muttered, his euphoria drained away. "Besides, Batafire was just wandering about; it didn't want me personally otherwise it probably would have said something. That one wasn't too bad; it looked pretty cute really. I mean," he thought with sudden inspiration, wanting to check something out, "it looked kinda fluffy and cute and it had nice wings. You wouldn't think it was a monster with wings like that would you?"
"What are you talking about?" Gengu scoffed, looking at Kirby with a strange expression. "If it has wings like that, it's more likely than not to be a demonbeast. I don't know why but that's the way it goes. You've fought enough of them to know that, Kirby."
"But... what if it was good?"
"I don't know. It would seem pretty suspicious to me. Might be a demonbeast that's not properly disguised itself!"
The young Star Warrior flinched. "Do you really think that?" Kirby mumbled.
"Huh? Of course I do. I'm pretty sure everyone else thinks like that as well. It must be true when you've seen them used in books and films so many times. Nothing good comes out of them demonbeasts and the winged ones are the worst since you can't even fight them at ground level. Not that we fight them of course but still. Hey, wasn't there something you were gonna say before?"
"… No, it doesn't matter. I'm sorry that I couldn't get here earlier."
"You could have led it away from town or something," the other Cappy said, not willing to let go of a grudge.
"I'm sorry; it's not always easy to do. I won't disturb you any longer. See you later…"
With a heavy heart, Kirby wandered through town, ignoring the smells of evening cooking. He spoke to people who questioned him about the latest monster attack and asked the same question only to get very similar responses. To Kirby, it was clear that he would be seen as something even more unnatural than he already was. He sadly thought what Meta Knight had said about his own experiences and resolved to keep his wings hidden from sight. They wouldn't understand. It wouldn't be the first time he was accused of being something he was not.
"Hey, Kirby," Kawasaki called out from his restaurant when he saw the young Star Warrior passing slowly by with his head down. "I made too much stew. Do you fancy some? You must be hungry!"
"No thanks, Kawasaki," Kirby mumbled. "I'm not that hungry really."
The young Star Warrior left the surprised chef behind and went straight home.
Upon seeing the mob carrying the obligatory mob weaponry i.e. torches and pitchforks (where did they even get them from anyway?), Kirby found himself rooted to the spot despite his very best attempts to move. To his alarm, he found that his wings were still unfurled but no matter what he tried, they steadfastly refused to return to cape form. Rather, they only spread out even further as if in preparation for battle. Blood pumped strongly throughout his wings; he felt them tense along with his other muscles. Was he going to have to fight for his life or something?
He was surrounded by the mob, their faces looking eerily sinister when flickering between the shadows and light cast by the burning flames. The kindly faces that he knew and saw on a near day-to-day basis were now contorted with hatred. What the devil had they brought to their town and allowed to live in their town for so many years?
"Demonbeast!"
"I'm not a demonbeast!" Kirby cried. "I fight demonbeasts! How can I be a demonbeast?"
"Demonbeast! Look at yourself!"
Not knowing what else to do, Kirby called out for his Warp Star, the mythical object that had been a part of him since birth and represented his connection to the stars. While a person could touch his Warp Star, no one else could ride it without him; the Warp Star just would not accept that. While Tiff had been the one to call for it in his early years, he was now able to summon it himself once he had been able to form the words. It would come flying straight from Kabu and help him. His bright star would swoop down in the darkness and lift him to safety.
Please come, please come…
His heart thudded louder as painful seconds passed. Where are you? Please help me…
"No Warp Star. A demonbeast cannot control a Warp Star."
"I'm not a demonbeast!" he insisted. Please come, please come…
"Then what are you? Where did you come from? Where is your star?"
"I'm a Star Warrior! That's who I am!"
"Where did you come from? Where is your star?"
"I… I…"
He came from outer space from an unknown destination. He came alone with no idea of his birth. He came not knowing where he should go, drifting only through endless space. He came only with a starship and a miniature star, connected to his heroic heart pulsing with the power of the stars: he was Kirby of the Stars.
But now his star was gone. A part of him was lost. There was one less star in the shining skies. He felt it as a physical blow directly against his heart, missing that elemental piece of himself. It pained him more than words could say. He had lost his stellar guide.
Where was his other stellar guide? Why was he not here? He cast a frantic gaze around the dark landscape, past those terrible faces, hoping to settle upon that constant symbol of endurance and tenacity. Had they got him too? Or was he never there to begin with?
You said you wanted to be stronger did you not? He also wants to you to be stronger doesn't he? You want to be stronger without guidance, without help. You want to stand on your own two feet. Your wings tell you that you are an adult, no longer a child; why would you receive them otherwise? You want to be as good as your mentor and must stand these trials alone. Well, little Kirby, did you not get what you wished for?
"The demonbeast must be destroyed!"
He had no choice but to take to the air. But as the circle tightened around him, he could not do a running start. But I must escape! I can't fight them!
Focussing as much energy into his wings as possible, Kirby emulated his mentor and kicked off the ground, gasping as he worked against gravity, beating powerfully against the wind, into his natural element away from those restricted to the ground. They waved their weapons madly, torches burning intensely, to the one whom they called a hero only when it suited them, only when they were not so blindingly and obviously deceived.
Heat coursed through his veins before bursting into flames around his wings. The fire incinerated the air around him, creating a furnace and before his very eyes, his wings began to blacken and burn. Pain as hot and intense as the fire itself surged through his body, searing skin, cracking bone, boiling blood. Yet he must fly! Flapping his wings harder, he must fly! Even as the smoke grew thicker, even as all other sensations were blocked out other than the intensity of his agony, he needed to soar ever higher. He needed to prove that he was a Star Warrior, that he could do this, and that he was worthy enough to whoever deemed him so.
Fly… fly…
Without friend, without star, without hope, the lone Star Warrior felt something break in him and knew that all was lost. He tumbled out of the sky and saw the ground rush towards him…
Kirby jolted upright with a yell and panted vigorously. His bedsheets were soaked with sweat and he realised that his wings were flung wide open and trembling, even feeling searing hot to the touch, continuing their reaction to his dream; it would be quite some time before he could develop better control over them. It was with quite some difficulty that he managed to revert them to normal and when he took a drink to calm himself down, he spilled most of it upon himself. He lay back again, shivering, and stared at the ceiling.
It occurred to Kirby that while no-one would try and set him alight (apart from Dedede of course but there you go), there were many times in which people had got angry with him or treated him coldly. Not because he had done anything bad like steal food from the grocery store or painted rude graffiti on public buildings mind. No, it was that he was still occasionally blamed for the presence of monsters in Cappy Town, as if he acted as a beacon for them, as if he was the one who brought them here. If said monster stated that it was intentionally after Kirby, well, that was when the proverbial hit the fan. If Kirby wasn't here then the monsters would never come in the first place so it was obviously his presence that caused so much trouble!
The young Star Warrior was unable to remember the details himself as such but he had managed to build up a series of pictures based on questions he had asked Meta Knight, Tiff and Tuff, when he was curious about his early years in Dream Land. He knew that Tiff in particular kept diaries and had filled books concerning Kirby's escapades; she'd be able to tell him what went on.
While Tiff and Tuff were reluctant to go over certain details, Meta Knight told him things with complete honesty, even if they were painful; it would go against his code of honour to speak less than the truth when asked for it. Kirby had asked about what happened when Nightmare Enterprises had launched a full-scale assault against Dream Land with the aim of completely destroying him for good and what the Cappies did during the crisis.
He wished he had never asked.
The land, he had been informed, had been devastated by an immense UFO firing powerful laser beams at every possible place. The Destroyas, mechanical offshoots from the main weapon, served to raze the town even further. Every building had been completely reduced to ashes and rubble. Many had been injured and it had been pure luck that nobody was killed. Kirby, Tiff and Tuff had rushed back to town in order to recruit the locals for Meta Knight's Halberd and to take the fight to Nightmare himself.
They had all blamed Kirby. It was his fault. All of it.
"When your ship crashed, we welcomed you into Cappy Town and now we're paying for it, Kirby," Mayor Len sighed. Not angry, just immensely disappointed.
"Yeah, we lost everything 'cos of you!" Kawasaki cried out. Kirby was supposed to be his favourite customer. He was a good friend.
"It was a mistake to let you live here," Tuggle muttered.
"Maybe it's time for you to move on," Buttercup added, almost the voice of reason.
"Yeah! It's all your fault, Kirby!" Gengu snapped.
When Tiff and Tuff pointed out that it was Dedede's fault, and implored them to remember all the other times Kirby had protected them, they had muttered things like: "he sure didn't protect us this time", "that's why we don't have a place to live anymore" and "it's a fine mess Kirby's got us in." The infant, they believed, was the cause of all their woes.
With shining eyes, Kirby thought to himself: all this time he had been here, had they only wanted him to protect them from the times when they got random monsters that weren't sent out solely to destroy the young Star Warrior? Had they ever seen him as a friend at all? Or did they just see him as a nuisance, an alien, someone… who didn't belong?
Such comments made Kirby recall how for some time it was suspected that he was some kind of demonbeast that had gone against its programming. Surely someone with such an array of abilities had been created for some special purpose and not born? Being able to wield Galaxia had disproven the notion and when Meta Knight had revealed his true self to Kirby, he felt it proven beyond doubt that he was a not a demonbeast. And yet still they wondered…
Back in the days of Nightmare, Kirby was literally an infant and even now he was still only a youth, still confused, still developing and still getting used to the strange changes in his life. Why should he have to carry the world on his shoulders? Why was it that when Dedede said something bad about Kirby, they believed it and then castigated Kirby for it? Why did they blame him for things and yet do nothing about the situation themselves? Even when Dream Land, nay, the whole of Popstar, was under terrible danger from Nightmare, they did not answer Meta Knight's pleas to board his Halberd and help save everyone, even when Meta Knight had done so much preparation for this day, even when Kirby was risking his life trying to stall the assault. Only a last-minute change of heart made them finally board. Any further delay and it would have been too late.
With highly unusual anger, Kirby thumped the wall. I never asked for this! They had never apologised for their accusations either. They assumed everything was alright, Kirby was the cheerful one, he could deal with this kind of thing, he never held grudges, blah-de-blah-de-blah.
Did Meta Knight know anything about what the locals assumed of him? Of course he must. He knew everything that there was to know though how he received this information considering his lack of interaction with the locals he did not know. Couldn't he say anything to them? Couldn't he sort things out?
He must do this alone. Yes, Meta Knight had said those words on many occasions. Surely he was to fight his own battles. Meta Knight must have fought many personal battles of a similar sort, especially in the aftermath of having one friend sacrificing herself to retrieve Galaxia and then another in being forced to kill his best friend. Surely he could sort this out himself.
Kirby closed his eyes and let his body and wings relax, trying to fill his mind with calmness and put his fraught emotions aside. He tried imagining a butterfly amongst the stars, his usual method of meditation. The butterfly, however, burst into flames, wings first. Grimacing, he tried again only to have the same result. He opened his eyes. Clearly this wasn't going to work. He swung himself out of bed and stepped outside his house. The night air was cold and there was a light wind. If he could achieve anything tonight, he could at least try and improve his flying. The warping wasn't too bad; it was flight that was giving him trouble. He wanted to reach Meta Knight's standards. Everything would be alright if he could perfect himself.
He threw open his wings, charged straight ahead and launched himself in the air, desperately hoping that he could reach the same level as the mentor he admired so much.
All that he did for them: was it worth it?
