Update: This chapter has been revised as of March 1st, 2023. Please note that the following chapters may still have mistakes as I've yet to revise them.

"Sister, why did you lie to them?"

Phoebe turned to Morphe, with sadness reflected in her eyes.

"Because I want to protect them. I don't know what is going on but I need to keep them safe. "

"But what or who is putting them in danger? I don't understand what is going on..."

"It's very complicated. I promise I will explain everything to you later."

"Fine... But can you at least tell me where we are going?"

"To the place I once called home."

.-.-.-.-.

Kirby was falling.

Once he had crossed the portal, he had lost control of the Warp Star. He looked around for a place he could land and discovered an island floating among the clouds a few metres below him. Kirby used his strength to steer the Warp Star to the island, where it crashed into a meadow in the middle of a forest. The Warp Star disappeared, leaving Kirby smashed against the ground like a ball of gum.

Kirby shook his head and stood up. His little body ached, but it hadn't been his worst landing. He took a Maxi Tomato from his pocket dimension and ate it, healing himself from any damage caused by the fall.

"Wow. How curious: in Dreamland it was daytime, but here it is nighttime," the little hero observed, his eyes wide with wonder and awe as he gazed at the sky full of stars in that new world.

A new world! That meant new friends to meet, new adventures to live, and new food to taste! He was a little disappointed because he wouldn't be able to make it to the picnic on time, but he was eager to explore that new land. Though he couldn't forget about Nightmare. The villain was going to be punished for ruining his meeting with his friends.

Speaking of Nightmare, where could he possibly be? That starry sky was too beautiful to be controlled by a being that, as he had been told, had spread terror and darkness across entire galaxies. If he wasn't in a dimension controlled by Nightmare, where had the evil wizard opened the portal to? Perhaps Nightmare was planning to take over that world. Kirby wasn't going to to let that happen!

Then, Kirby remembered something. The Star Rod! He had gotten one of its shards when the wizard had broken it, and he was sure he had seen Meta and Dedede take two more. Nightmare had taken a fouth one, but what about the other three?

"So my mission will be to find my friends, make new ones, locate the Star Rod shards, and defeat Nightmare. I'm looking forward to seeing what kind of food I'll eat all the way through!" he thought, excited.

Kirby began walking through the forest, humming the happy song he had heard on the radio when he first arrived in the Forgotten Land. He walked and walked, but found no one. He became bored after a while. Where were the people who lived in that world? Not even a monster had come out to attack him.

As if summoned by his thoughts, he heard a growl behind him. Kirby turned to greet the newcomer. Sharp fangs greeted him back. Their owner was a being similar to the Forgotten Land's Awoofys... but without the cuteness.

"Hiii," Kirby greeted the being in a friendly way, despite its fierce appearance. "Do you wanna be my friend?"

The creature responded with an even louder growl. Throughout his life, Kirby had encountered several beings who had attempted to kill him, and this was definitely one of them.

The hero of Dreamland did not hesitate: he began to absorb the monster, which let out a surprise sound similar to a puppy whimpering as it was lifted from the ground. For a few moments, Kirby held the creature in his mouth. No, he couldn't get any copy abilities from it. He immediately spat the monster into a tree.

"Bad dog!" Kirby scolded the monster.

The monster let out a howl and ran off. Kirby decided to ignore it and kept walking. However, after a few minutes, he noticed that he was being watched.

Looking around, he noticed a large group of bright yellow eyes staring back at him from the shadows. Those eyes were soon followed by elongated snouts and sharp fangs. The scarier Awoofy had summoned its more than twenty friends, and they were bigger than it.

"Good doggies," the puffball said as he slowly walked backwards, wondering how he was going to fight that aggressive pack.

The largest monster let out a howl that was clearly an order for the pack to attack. Kirby fledpondering what he could do without a copy ability against more than twenty monsters chasing him.
He couldn't inhale them all!

He puffed out his cheeks and rose into the air, hoping that the monsters would cease their pursuit if he flew away. But it was to no avail. The beings were determined to catch him and chased him from the ground everywhere he went. He'd be forced to descend soon, but fortunately, his eyes caught a campfire in the middle of the forest. Maybe he could find some help!

He quickly descended to where the campfire was located and perched to rest in a nearby tree. But he couldn't relax: the monsters would soon catch up with him. Around the fire, there were two beings of the same species as Adeleine, except larger, and they had set up a precarious camp. Kirby was very amazed by the fact that one of them had a pair of huge horns sticking out of their head.

"Bro, I can't believe that the villagers have called that skyfarer crew to hunt us down," the hornless person complained to his partner. He was skinny and wore a red bandana on his head, reminding Kirby of Bandee and making him miss his buddy. The person's partner, on the other hand, was quite stocky.

"It has become really difficult to be a treasure thief these days. You can't go to a goddamn island without the Grandcypher weirdos trying to get you! They are even friends with the Crew of Enforcers!"

Treasure thief? Were those guys like Daroach? They seemed to be in trouble. Kirby climbed down from the tree and came over to greet them... and to warn them that an angry pack of monsters was coming their way.

"Poyo, hi!"

The two thieves gave a cry of terror at the sudden appearance of a pink talking puffball.

"Bro! What in the Otherworld is that thing?!" the skinny thief yelled as he backed away from Kirby.

"It must be from the Grandcypher! That ship is a freak show! Do you remember that my cousin was attacked by a blue raccoon who was with them and used strange devices?"

"Wasn't it a weird cat?"

"Who cares about that? We must defend ourselves! I don't want to go to jail!"

The short thief pulled a long, sharp knife from his belt while the big man grabbed a huge axe from the ground. Kirby was kind of sad; no one he had encountered in that world wanted to be his friend.

It was then that the growls of the pack chasing Kirby became audible. The monsters quickly surrounded the thieves' camp.

"Oh great. This thing even brought the wolves here!" the skinny man shouted, accusingly pointing at Kirby .

"Bro, we're dead," the big guy trembled.

Kirby looked at the big thief's axe and got an idea. If the swords given to him by Meta Knight activated his Sword Copy Ability, then…

"Sorry!" he apologized before absorbing the big man's axe, who looked at him between confused and terrified.

Kirby swallowed the axe and acquired a new copy ability. The Dreamland hero now wore a grey wolf-head hat similar to the one he wore when he used his "animal" copy ability, and he wielded a massive silver axe with several spikes on the blade and a red gem in the centre.

Kirby began attacking the wolves with his new ability. Despite the weapon's size, the puffball could swing it with ease and speed, almost as if he were using the sword skill. However, he also noticed that his attacks were more aggressive and savage, similar to Dedede's when he was under Fecto Forgo's control (but before the king had completely lost his mind and started running on all fours like a beast). When he had asked the king, once their adventure on the Forgotten Land had ended, about that strange way of fighting, he had replied that it was an ancient combat style created by warriors called Berserkers. So he decided to call that new copy ability Kirby Berserker!

Brandishing the axe, he wasted no time dealing with the monsters, who soon started to retreat. Kirby strutted proudly: no wild pack could ever take him down!

Kirby released the new copy ability and handed the axe back to the big man.

"A primal beast!" the man shouted, frightened.

"Please don't kill us," begged the other. "We promise not to commit any more crimes."

Kirby looked at them, confused. What was a primal beast? He was just a young pink puffball. The thieves seemed to be afraid of him, so he was convinced that he was not going to get an answer from them that he could understand.

Suddenly his stomach growled.

"Er... could you tell me where I can find some food?" he asked, awkwardly.

After telling Kirby how to get to the nearest village, the thieves ran off. Kirby let them go, hoping they would keep their word of not commiting any more thievery.

Kirby finally arrived at the village after a long walk, but it was deserted because it was still dark. He was starting to feel sleepy because he hadn't taken his nap.
Where could he find food and a place to sleep? Everything was closed, and he didn't want to wake anyone up.

He continued walking until, with the first rays of dawn, he arrived at some sort of harbor. Kirby explored his surroundings despite being tired and hungry.

"Those ships look so cool! They all have wings and huge balloons attached to them! I guess they travel by air rather than water," Kirby presumed.

Kirby then came to a halt in front of the largest ship. For some reason, he felt he could find help and support on that one. Something within it drew him in like a magnet.

The little ball puffed out his cheeks and floated around the boat until he came across an open window. Kirby took a look around. Would it be alright to enter without permission? He was too tired and hungry to search for another way. He could always apologise to the ship's owner later.

Kirby entered through the window onto a huge kitchen. Lucky him! Oh, but the food wasn't his. He wasn't supposed to eat anything: that would be stealing. But that watermelon on the shelf looked so tasty...

The hero gave in to temptation and approached the watermelon, ready to eat it. Just then, the kitchen door opened. Another being of the same species as the thieves, only this one was red-haired and very stocky, entered whistling happily while carrying a box of provisions.

"What in all of the skies?!" the newcomer yelled when he saw Kirby about to devour a whole watermelon.

Kirby and the newcomer looked at each other intently. There was something in in the gaze of that person that was very different from that of the thieves. In a way, they reminded him of both Flamberge and Landia. It was as if pure fire lurked behind their eyes.

"Hiiiii! I'm Kirby!" he happily greeted the newcomerbefore his stomach let out a loud roar, embarrassing the little puffball.

"Hi. My name is Wilnas," the other introduced themselves, unable to believe what their eyes saw. "You seem to be really hungry, do you want some food?" they offered. Kirby almost cried with joy.

.-.-.-.-

Something was clearly wrong.

It wasn't just that Gran and Djeeta had a terrible night: after the first nightmare, the rest of their sleep had been accompanied by even more nightmares, albeit less terrifying and never with an ominous presence upon them.

Worryingly, their crewmates had also had nightmares. From the brave Katalina to the stoic Eustace, and even all the children on the ship (the youngest ones seemed to be the most affected and had spent the night sheltering next to Ladiva), nobody on the crew who needed to sleep had avoided being visited by awful dreams that night.

That wasn't the only thing. As soon as they woke up, Yuni informed them that Zooey and Sandalphon had left the ship in order to chase something that had entered the planet's atmosphere, which had frustrated the twins because they hadn't counted on them. Furthermore, Phoebe and Morphe appeared to have vanished, leaving Ladiva distraught. The siblings had left a letter stating that they would be travelling through the dream world to find the source of the nightmares and that they would be fine because it was their domain. Even so, the poor woman couldn't help but be concerned about their safety.

As a result, the atmosphere on the Grandcypher was duller than usual, and the mortal passengers were irritable and even sad after a night of bad dreams.
That in itself was worrying enough...

… But even more worrying was that,they went out to the village early in the morning to buy provisions before leaving to look for the remaining treasure thieves that they had been assigned to catch, they discovered that the villagers had also succumbed to the bad dreams plague.

Did the nightmares affect only that island, or was it a problem across the entire Skydom? Olivia's anxiousness provided them with the proof they needed. The primal beast of dusk's powers were supposed to keep nightmares from spreading throughout the Sky Realm, but for some unknown reason, they hadn't. For the time being, Djeeta had managed to calm her down.

Then, there were the thieves themselves. They turned themselves in just as the crew finished buying the provisions, claiming that they had a change of heart due to their encounter with a pink round primal beast, which made no sense. That description didn't fit any of the primal beasts who travelled with them, and Lyria had claimed that she hadn't detected the presence of one on the island. And, while they could conceal their auras, it was impossible for Lyria not to notice them when they used their powers.
The villagers also stated that their island was not bound to any of these beings and that nothing like this had ever occurred before.

Everything was so strange that Gran and Djeeta, along with Vyrn and Lyria, had locked themselves in the library to look for clues as soon as they returned to the ship.

"There isn't anything here to explain what's going on!" Djeeta complained after reading for a while. The captain threw the book she was reading out of frustration.

"Hey! I wrote that centuries ago! Show my writings some respect," Cagliostro, the eternally young alchemist, angrily yelled at her from her corner. "My beauty sleep has been ruined and you don't see me throwing ancient manuscripts around!"

"Oi, Cag. How come you know nothing about dream manipulation?" Vyrn inquired. Cagliostro had made herself immortal as the founder of alchemy, and even though she had been sealed for a long time, she possessed vast knowledge of multiple sciences and ancient magics.

"The person who created arts like Oneiromancy or Dream Manipulation, among others, was very reserved and secretive," the alchemist explained. "There are very few documents about their investigations, and the few that have been found are very difficult to interpret. There are rumors that they were an Astral who was treated like an outcast by his peers."

Then, seeing that the twins wanted to insist on their questions, she added:

"And, before you ask, not much more information about this supposed Astral has been preserved than what I have already told you. It could even be Lucilius, for all I know. He fits that description, and haven't his creations and their disciples visited you in your dreams more than once?"

Gran and Djeeta's faces twisted in disgust at the name of the Astral researcher who had engineered the process of creating the primal beasts. He had been one of the most terrible enemies they had faced on their journey. They hoped that what was happening was not the beginning of one of his alternate plans to bring about "the grand finale."

Then Wilnas leaned out the library door, drawing the twins' attention away from Lucilius. Cagliostro glared at the newcomer, her face saying, "If you take one more step, I'll kill you." She had forbidden the vermilion dragon, incarnation of flames, from entering a location where his powers could cause irreparable harm to her valuable manuscripts and books.

"Um, Singu... I mean, captains. Are you busy?" asked the dragon made human. The twins shook their heads as their investigation seemed to have reached a dead end. "I have something to show you in the kitchen."

Gran and Djeeta looked at each other. What did Wilnas want to show them? A new dish? The vermilion dragon had devoted himself to the worlds of agriculture and cooking since his incarnation in a human body. Wilnas had asked the captains to temporarily take the place of the Grandcypher's regular cooks while they were visiting their hometown after a long time to improve his culinary skills.

Wilnas wasn't a great cook. In fact, his dishes ranged from "merely edible" to "passable," but his drive to improve was inspiring. Besides, it was only a temporary situation, and who could say no to one of the six dragons?

When Gran and Djeeta entered the kitchen, they immediately identified what Wilnas wanted to show them: a tiny, almost spherical being, undeniably adorable, sleeping peacefully on one of the kitchen counters and emitting the cutest snoring they had ever heard. Wilnas had covered it with a clean kitchen towel.

"You see, I found this pigment—this being, I mean—a few hours ago, and I saw him so hungry that I felt sorry for him. I began to offer him food, and he started swallowing plate after plate until he fell asleep from exhaustion," said the dragon.

Vyrn moved closer to the dozing pink ball to take a better look at it.

"How much do you say he has eaten?" Gran asked Wilnas.

"A pot of soup, two plates of chicken, and two whole watermelons without cutting," he enumerated. "And I think he would have continued eating if he hadn't fallen asleep."

"Holy Bonito: that appetite rivals Lyria's!" Vyrn exclaimed.

"Oh, this could bring us ruin. We barely earn enough to feed one Lyria; imagine feeding two," Djeeta joked.

The aforementioned, on her part, had approached to examine the pink puffball, extending her hands towards him to try to perceive its aura.

"This being matches what the thieves claim they saw, but he is not a primal beast," she declared.

"Yes, I was going to tell you about that. I have spent several hours observing this creature and debating what to do with him. There is a great power within him," revealed Wilnas. " His existence is inconceivable under the natural laws that govern our world, and yet he exists. If I had been in my dragon form, I probably would have attacked him like I attacked you when I awakened," he stated sternly.

"Are you saying that this small thing could be another Singularity?" Djeeta interpreted.

"He could be, but I'm not totally certain," he admitted. "But I know for sure that he is an anomaly."

"Does he talk?" Gran wanted to know.

"Yes. He even told me his name: Kirby."

"Kirby? That name sounds so cute," Lyria said, looking tenderly at the creature.

"He could be dangerous even if he's adorable," Vyrn warned." Wait, do you think he could be the one behind the bad dreams?" he pointed out.

"I don't think so" Gran denied. "When I look at him, I feel like something inside me is saying 'don't worry, everything will be fine!' "

"Now that you mention it…" said Vyrn as he looked at the adorable creature. "Yeah, he doesn't seem like the type of being who would cause a nightmare with malicious intents," he rectified with a smile.

At that moment, the creature that had introduced himself to Wilnas as Kirby opened his eyes and looked around in confusion, as if trying to get used to his surroundings.

"Hello, little one. Don't be afraid," Lyria greeted him as she extended her hand, a radiant smile on her face.

"Finally, poyo..." he said excitedly, taking Lyria's hand with both of his... hands? Paws?

"Eh?"

"Finally friendly people!" Kirby continued with a big smile on his face. "Since I've arrived, I've been attacked or people have been scared of me. Wilnas has been the first person who has treated me well. I was beginning to think I wasn't going to make any friends on this journey."

"Journey?" Djeeta repeated, wanting to know more about it.

"Oh right, I haven't introduced myself. My name is Kirby, I come from planet Popstar and I have a mission!"

That introduction only served to bombard him with questions so quickly that the pink puffball couldn't tell who was asking what:

"Wait a minute, what do you mean Planet Popstar?"

"Are you from another world?"

"How did you get here?"

"And what about that mission?"

Kirby sighed. He wasn't all that good at giving explanations, but he would try to answer all the questions as best he could.

"So let me get this straight: this evil wizard named Nightmare, whom you defeated a long time ago, broke a very important magical artefact and brought you and your friends here, am I right?" Vyrn asked just to be sure that he had got Kirby's story right.

"Yes, poyo. And as a result, we won't be able to enjoy the picnic I had planned!" Kirby grumbled as he ate a piece of cake Lyria had just handed him while he was telling his story.

"You seem more upset about the picnic than the broken artefact," Djeeta observed, puzzled.

"The Star Rod can be fixed, but the picnic can't," he replied. "Convincing Dark Meta Knight to come was one of the hardest things I've ever done in my life! And Susie and Taranza are almost always too busy to come. Not to mention..."

"Why is this Nightmare guy so evil?" Gran interrupted him to prevent the little being from diverting the subject by rambling about his friends. "What kind of powers does he have?"

"Well, his more known power is to cause nightmares in order to make people feel bad."

"Looks like we have found our culprit," Djeeta said upon hearing that, throwing a glance at his brother, who nodded. It wasn't very difficult to put two and two together.

Kirby looked at Djeeta, concerded. Had Nightmare already attacked them?

"You see, last night we had a nightmare that was both realistic and terrifying. We almost didn't wake up," the young captain explained. "Fortunately, Lyria and Vyrn were able to get us out of it, but we had the impression that something was watching us. Also, we have found out that everyone has had nightmares last night."

"Yeah, that sounds like something I have been told he would do," Kirby confirmed.

Those present looked at him strangely. Shouldn't he had a lot of information about an enemy he defeated in the past? How was it that he only knew about it from what he had been told?

"You see, I had no idea who Nightmare was when I fought him the first time," he admitted. "All that I knew back then was that he was a bad guy who wanted to do bad things, and I had to stop him because I accidentally freed him after Dedede sealed him. Everything else that I know about him, Meta and Dedede told me later. They can give you a lot more information about him than I can."

"Then we'd better depart to find your friends and those fragments now," Djeeta announced, ready to leave the kitchen and tell Rackam to set sail.

"Hold on a sec, sis," Gran stopped her, grabbing her by the unarmored part of her dress. "How are we going to find the fragments and Kirby's friends? First, we would have to find a way to locate them."

"Poyo? Are you coming with me?" Kirby inquired eagerly.

"Well of course! This is our sky, and we will not allow anyone to turn it into a kingdom of nightmares! You are now officially a member of our crew, and the entire ship is at your disposal," Djeeta told him with a big smile.

"In that case, I officially declare you Star Allies and you're invited to my next picnic!" Kirby announced, jumping up and down with joy.

Lyria and Vyrn invited Kirby to explore the ship after their conversation. Djeeta and Gran remained behind to talk to Wilnas.

"You have been oddly quiet. What troubles you?" Gran asked the dragon.

"I've been thinking about what Kirby has told us. In particular, the other beings he claims have come with him, and how their presence may affect us, the six dragons, and other beings who watch over the balance of our world, such as the Supreme Primarch or the Arbitrator," Wilnas revealed.

"Why though? Beings from another worlds have come in the past and none of you have ever acted upon them," Djeeta replied.

"It is as I told you before: the existence of a creature like Kirby is inconceivable under the laws of this world," Wilnas reminded them. "Even if it is clear from his personality that he is not a danger, what happens if someone judges him for what he is and not for who he is?"

"Do you think they could attack him or his friends?" Gran asked him with concern.

"You know the supreme Primarch and the Arbitrator better than I do, so I will let you judge that. As for us, I don't think Wamdus, Fediel, and Galleon will bother to act," the dragon began. "Ewiyar is unpredictable, and we don't know where they are, but I don't think they will be a problem either."

A fluffy female cat with feathers on her fur walked by the kitchen and stretched in front of it before continuing on her way as he said all that. Wilnas chose to ignore her in order to avoid blowing the wind dragon's cover in front of the twins.

"The one I'm truly worried about is Lu Woh. You know how pragmatic he is," he finished.

Gran and Djeeta understood why.

Lu Woh was the most extreme of the six dragons in his belief that the world was "malformed" and needed to be fixed at any cost for its sake. If the dragon detected anything that could potentially ruin the "delicate stability of the world," he would immediately put an end to it.

They just hoped the dragon of light had decided to go after Nightmare and not one of Kirby's friends. They didn't want to have him as an enemy again.

Yes, the Doraemon collab is canon in my version of the Granblue Fantasy universe. Thanks Nobita for allowing me to 0 buttons OTK the Ex+ boss on the last light Guild War.

As already happened on the Spanish version, some chapters turned out to be longer than expected and I had to divide them in parts because I don't want 8000 words long chapters (4000 words ones are already hard to translate). This is the first of those chapters.