A/N: Welcome to Chapter 7, my friends. This will be my biggest one yet; and will have some action-packed scenes (if you know what I'm referring to). Before we jump in, I should mention that the chapter title comes from the American commercial for Kirby: Nightmare in Dream Land, which contains a pretty catchy song that the chapter title serves as the opening lyrics to. You'll see why it's appropriate pretty soon :) Give it a listen; I'm sure you won't regret it. https/youtu.be/p0CYFOrdhTQ

Before you read, here's a lore tidbit: one of Magolor's powers that he retained from the Master Crown is the ability to sense the energy signatures of other beings. I also end up referencing My Little Pony as a brief Easter egg. I'm not really a brony, but my little sister went through a brief phase and, well, who doesn't like Pinkie Pie :)? I know Dustin's obsessed with Mlp, and Nintendo exists in the Stranger Things universe. Since the Mlp (Gen 4) and Nintendo universes are real in this fic, though, just assume that humans coincidentally made cartoons (not any G4 ones, though) about something that does actually exist (for Mlp) just with different characters (nobody that shares a name with Friendship is Magic characters) and Nintendo doesn't start any of the franchises mentioned in this fic like, of course, Kirby, Zelda, Metroid, Mario, etc. The multiverse's possibilities are as infinite as Kirby's power, after all. ONE MORE THING: The established timeline I have here is that Kirby's Dream Land took place, at the time of this fic, eleven (heh) years ago. There's a flashback scene in this chapter taking place shortly after the events of Kirby's Epic Yarn; which says it was ten years ago. This is because, in this fic, Return to Dream Land takes place a year after the events of Epic Yarn (and Epic Yarn came out in 2010 while Return to Dream Land came out in 2011 anyway, so it lines up!), with Kirby Mass Attack taking place in between the flashback and present day, about five months before Return to Dream Land (and this fic). If you watch the Dedede fight in Epic Yarn, he's about to attack Kirby before he gets brainwashed. Because he's cool with Kirby by that point in this fic, though, he was just calling out to him. In Mass Attack, he was corrupted by Necrodeus. You obviously don't see it in Epic Yarn, but, in this fic's canon, he also joined Kirby, Prince Fluff, and Meta Knight to battle Yin-Yarn together. Also, Dedede's character development is a noticeable topic in this chapter. I was inspired by the YouTube video "The Regal Heart of King Dedede: Designing for Kindness". Please give it a watch; it's incredible. Watch the other Kirby videos made by that channel, too, like the one about Kirby. Kirby and Dedede's characters take a lot of inspiration from those videos. While we're on the topic of Dedede, his Triple Deluxe/ OG Return to Dream Land design was canon for this fic, but I've changed my mind. His new one has grown on me.

With all that out of the way, though, welcome to Chapter 7.


Magolor had searched everywhere. Many distant universes he had searched, trying to sense Kirby's impossibly strong energy signature. He had searched countless worlds, from one overrun with an alien force called the "Combine", to one where creatures called "Humans" and "Monsters" ruled the world, to one where superpowers known as "Quirks" reigned supreme.

He had even had a rather unsettling encounter with a pink equine creature, hailing from a world teeming with Magic and other colorful equines, who popped out of the rift he'd opened and aggressively offered cupcakes and to throw him a party. Then, she'd (much to his absolute horror) climbed through and ran amuck around the castle, attempting to bake cakes and take over random areas to turn them into party rooms.

Magolor had placated her only by "pinkie promising" to visit, before sending her home. King Dedede had been furious at Magolor for accidentally letting an interdimensional creature into his castle and causing everything to get wrecked. Magolor felt guilty; so guilty. He messed everything up, didn't he?

Magolor truly didn't know what else to do but keep looking. But, he had looked in so many places. No Kirby. All he could do was continue searching the infinite multiverse; and hope against hope that he would be able to find Kirby.

That he would be able to tell him how sorry he was.


Kirby was on the balcony of Castle Dedede. It had been a day since the Yin-Yarn incident. Kirby and his friend were peacefully watching the sunset. They had come a long way; Kirby knew. Ten years ago, though it was a friendship he longed for, it was something he never would've thought would happen.

And now, here he was, a decade later, watching the sunset with his best friend at his side.

"Ya know..."

Kirby looked over to his right, where Dedede had spoken up.

Dedede looked at Kirby; giving a begrudging, but good-natured smile. "It's... nice, being a... "good guy", someone my subjects actually like."

Kirby smiled.

"I was... a real dummy back in the day," he said. Kirby nodded solemnly. "You were," he conceded. Dedede playfully punched him in his nonexistent shoulder, a mock-scowl on his face. Kirby rubbed his side. "But you know what else you were? After the whole... Food Incident, you were stubborn, still pretty prideful, but heroic."

Dedede's eyebrows went up. "Oh, you mean when I broke the Star Rod to lock Nightmare away and you didn't listen to me?" He asked playfully. Kirby smiled brightly, if a bit sheepish. "Yep. That time," he said, rubbing the back of his head. "But, the bottom line is, you tried to be a good king. You tried to protect your subjects, to protect everyone."

Dedede frowned a bit.

"Yeah... I, uh... felt a little bad after the Food Incident. Both you knocking sense into my wacky ass-er, wacky lil-noggin and me seein' how desperate and overjoyed everyone was to have the food back, how close they were to starvin'..."

Dedede trailed off.

"Well... they were all so grateful toward ya, ya know? They called you the "Hero of Dream Land", and you've sure as hell-uh, heck- proved you deserve that title ever since," Dedede said, once more struggling to keep himself from swearing. That in itself was proof for how far he'd come, in Kirby's opinion. He used to not care about Kirby's comfort at all, yet nowadays, he kept his castle stocked with Strawberry Shortcakes just for whenever Kirby visited.

It helped that Dedede had once insisted a certain treasure chest that Kirby believed held a stolen cake did not, in fact hold such a thing, with Kirby refusing to believe him and triggering an argument that eventually led to a physical brawl; which, as usual, Kirby won.

And all because of a cake.

Dedede mostly just did it because he liked Kirby, though. Kirby wasn't about coercion; it didn't matter to him whether Dedede's castle was stocked with his favorite snacks or not, Kirby was just glad Dedede was his friend.

"I realized then, watching them all cheer for you, that I didn't want to be the feared tyrant of Mt. Dedede anymore. I didn't want praise, either, though I wouldn've complained. I just wanted... ya know... friends, I guess," Dedede said, blushing as he trailed off.

Kirby smiled brightly. "And now you've got 'em!" He said. Dedede patted Kirby's head with his large, mittened hand. "That I do, lil' buddy," said Dedede. Retracting his hand and looking into the sunset, he sighed, and repeated himself, quieter this time.

"That I do..."

"I'm glad," said Kirby. "After the food thing, I had hoped you'd turn around, that we could be friends; and it looks like I got my wish. I had to pester you for years, but I got it."

"Heh heh heh!" Dedede laughed. "That's what I like about you, Kirbeh! You don't give up, especially when it comes to helpin' folks."

Dedede looked at Kirby once again, a tender (Dedede, being tender!) smile on his face. "That's why you're mah best friend," he said. Then he immediately blushed and looked into the sunset again, the wind making waves in the orange-tinted grass as it blowed across the land.

"But don't you go tellin' nobody I said somethin' so sappy, got it?!" His arms were crossed. Kirby giggled. "Don't worry, Dedede. Your sappy secret's safe with me."

"Hmph," Dedede said. "Good."

Then he and Kirby devolved into a fit of laughter at Dedede's seriousness. When they had finally calmed down and resumed watching the sunset in peace and contentment, Kirby decided to leave the emotional topics behind and ask his friend how his day had gone.

"How was the paperwork today, Dedede? As boring as usual? It's been a while since you passed any laws."

No response.

Kirby looked over at Dedede. He couldn't see his face, for the sun had fully set and night had fell. Kirby blinked. Wait, how did he not notice that? That didn't just happen in an instant. "Dedede?" Kirby asked uneasily. After a few moments of tense silence, Dedede finally looked at Kirby. His eyes were filled with static, like that of the recently-repaired Halberd's security monitor screens. Kirby could hear it hissing.

Dedede's beak was making no expression. Finally, Dedede opened it to speak.

And what came out wasn't his voice.

"Do you copy?" The staticky words came out. The voice sounded like that of a much younger male; teenage, even. Kirby swore he recognized that voice from somewhere. But... he'd never heard it before.

Right?

Kirby backed up a few steps, uneasy. "What?" He asked fearfully. Dedede suddenly got down on his hands, crawling toward Kirby rapidly on all fours and putting his hands on Kirby's shoulders; mittened grip tight and a far-cry from the gentle head-pat from just a few minutes ago.

Dedede now had a visible facial expression. It looked frantic and scared as he spoke once again, in that foreign voice.

"This is a code red!"


"Poyo!" Kirby shouted as he jumped awake, five feet above Max's bed. His shout was so loud it made Max jump awake, too. Kirby barely heard the "I repeat, this is a code red!" Over his own shouting. He could now recognize the voice as Lucas's.

Kirby landed back on the bed with a slight bounce. "Jesus, Kirby!" Max hissed, trying not to wake up El.

Too late.

El was already sitting up next to Max, her hair a frazzled mess. Max had fixed Kirby with an absolutely livid glare, and opened her mouth to speak, only to be cut off by Lucas's staticky voice once more.

"Max. Do you copy?" He asked. "This. Is. A code red!" Narrowing her eyes at Kirby, Max tore her gaze away and reached down next to the bed, coming back up with a walkie-talkie that she spoke angrily into. "Shut. Up," she said in an irritated mockery of Lucas's highly-punctuated speech.

She then slammed the walkie-talkie's antenna back down and put it back on the floor, before throwing herself back down into her lying-down position. Kirby tilted his head. "Poyo?" He asked. "Max, don't you wanna see what he needed? It sounds really important, poyo!"

Halfway through Kirby's second sentence, Max started drowning him out with a loud "Ughhhhh!" Which led to "I'm sure it was nothing, now will you please just shut up?" Kirby's gaze hardened. She just woke up and was already back to ignoring important things?! "What?! So he's just pestering you for no reason?!"

Max half-groaned, half-growled into her pillow. "Yes. Now will you please shut up so I can go back to sleep?"

Kirby's hardened gaze turned into a full-on glare. "Poyo!" He spat angrily. Max shot up into a sitting position, glaring at him like she had half a mind to throw him through her window. Kirby glared right back. However, the two's standoff was interrupted by the loud ringing of the telephone on the other side of Max's room.

"Oh, you've gotta be kidding me," she scoffed. She swung her legs out of bed. As Kirby had been standing near where her feet were, she ended up knocking Kirby off balance, and he wobbled for a bit before falling off the bed, landing on the hard floor with a few bounces. Max appeared not to care, as she walked briskly over to the phone.

Kirby jumped to his feet, furious. "Po-yo!" He shouted in offense; extremely annoyed at the way the day was starting. Max yanked the phone out of its cradle and held it up to her ear as she spoke. "I'm sleeping. Go away," she said, before immediately attempting to put the phone back down into the cradle.

She stopped that and held it back up to her ear almost as immediately as she had attempted to put it down.

The glare melted off of his face, and Kirby tilted his head, muttering a curious "Poyo?"

"What are you talking about?" Max asked whoever (probably a returning Lucas) was on the phone. Kirby heard the shifting of sheets and turned around to see El groggily sitting up in bed. "What?" Max asked confusedly to whoever was on the phone, causing Kirby to turn back around to face her again. A few seconds later, Max pulled the phone confusedly away from her ear, looking down at it with an unsettled expression on her face.

Ah. That would be whatever was happening to this town.

Well, at least now it couldn't be ignored anymore. And that meant Kirby could fix it!

"What did he say?" El asked Max.

Silence was the only answer Max offered.


https/youtu.be/k3Elh4vM1ws

Kirby had, about twenty minutes later, found himself in El's backpack, as Max peddled away down the streets on her bike. El was standing on the back of it, which made Kirby a little nervous, he wouldn't lie. If she fell backward, he'd get squashed like a pancake. That'd happened to him before, like when he first met El, for instance. That didn't mean it was fun, though. But what was most important was that El would get hurt!

And Kirby didn't want that!

They were heading to Mike's house, as he had been the one to tell Max over the phone of what was going on; he'd said everyone's very lives could be at stake, that something bad had happened.

Kirby:1. Max:0.

In the backpack, Kirby had a lot of time to reflect.

Without much else to do, his mind wandered. Wandered back to Dream Land. He sighed, wondering how his friends were doing. Was the ever-nervous Bandana okay? What about Dedede? He'd always had a bit of a temper, which Kirby and Bandana both lessened when they were around him. What would happen with Kirby gone?

And what about Meta? There was just no telling how he was reacting. He certainly wasn't happy. Though he didn't have a bad temper as a trait, unlike Dedede, he was already a rather grumpy guy, and when he was really angry, like when he had been facing Magolor, he could be downright murderous.

He put up a good front when he was fighting Kirby during the whole Halberd incident; especially with the whole "Prepare to die!" and "I won't let you escape!" but, like always, the knight's eyes showed how he'd really felt. They had been pure gray.

He had been scared. Scared for Kirby's safety. Kirby could even hear it in his voice when he had chased him off the Halberd. He hadn't been trying to kill him. Just to chase him off before it crashed into Orange Ocean. Meta had told him that Captain Vul had disobeyed a direct order when he'd shot Dynablade, who had chicks to care for and had just recovered from the injuries Kirby had inflicted.

Luckily, it wasn't fatal, and she fell onto an island, rather than into the sea, but it was still pretty close to fatal. Every other time, though, Meta had simply been trying to keep Kirby from boarding with attacks he knew wouldn't hurt or seriously kill Kirby.

Kirby only realized the bike had stopped when he felt El walking. He shook his head slightly as he shook himself out of his thoughts. He really missed home, but, even if he could somehow find a way to get back, he had friends to help with a crisis that was more than likely being caused by some dark god, like those that constantly went on on Popstar.

He had to help. In the meantime, he'd just have to trust that his friends could find some way to get him back from their end.

Because he seriously doubted he could find any way back from his end. This world seemed very ordinary. No artifacts or powerful magic-users like...

Kirby growled.

Magolor...

Kirby heard El knocking on what was probably the front door of Mike's house, snapping him out of his thoughts once more. The door soon opened, and a woman's voice sounded, "El, Max, it's good to see you! Mike's been expecting you."

Kirby supposed that must have been Mike's mom. It must have been nice for Mike. Kirby didn't have parents, but he thought of Meta Knight like a dad. They were the same species, after all. Kirby whimpered, quickly slapping a nub over his mouth.

"Did you girls hear something?" Mike's mom asked. "Nope," said Max at the same time as El said "No."

"Huh," Mike's mom said, before saying "Well, Mike, Lucas, and Will are all in the basement; let me know if you kids need anything."

Kirby then heard her footsteps moving away. Max and El simultaneously sighed in relief.

"Kirby, what was that?" Max whispered to him in annoyance. "Sorry, poyo..." Kirby whimpered. Both missing Meta Knight and the reminder of what, exactly, he and his father figure were had saddened and frightened him. The fear of himself was one he was used to; one he'd learned to deal with over time, but it still hurt whenever he thought of it; that for all the friends he'd defended from dark monsters...

None of them would like him anymore if they knew what he really was.

And these friends were no different. Especially because they were so new. They'd drop him in an even quicker heartbeat; and, well...

Kirby couldn't really blame them.

El's footsteps took on a certain rhythm that suggested that she, Max, and Kirby were going down some stairs, probably into the basement Mike's mom had mentioned. When they had finally reached the bottom, if the evening out of El's footsteps were of any indication, Kirby heard Max say "Hello, Mike. Stalker. Will. This better be good."

"It is," Will said. "You might wanna sit down for this."

El took the backpack off of her shoulders, and light flooded into it as she unzipped it. After his eyes adjusted, Kirby hopped out and landed on the carpeted floor, greeting Will, Lucas, and Mike with a cheerful "Poyo!"

"Uh... hey," Will said; looking slightly alarmed and uncomfortable. "You, uh... brought Kirby?" Lucas asked awkwardly, scratching the back of his head. "Yep, they did! I'm here to help!" Kirby said.

"I'm glad you want to, little guy, but I don't really think you'll be able to help us with this," Mike said. Max crossed her arms. "What exactly is going on anyway?" She asked. "Like I said," Will began. "You'll want to sit down for this."

So everyone sat down; Max on the floor in front of a small table, El on a chair next to Will, who was on a chair of his own; Lucas and Mike sharing a couch to Will's right. Kirby sat on El's lap.

There was a long, tense silence.

"I think the Mind Flayer's back," Will eventually said. Kirby's expression grew serious. Looked like he had a name for the problem now. And apparently, it was a familiar one, too.

The girls' reactions were much less tame than Kirby's.

"What?" They both asked in unison, dead serious. "How do you know?" Max asked. "I think... I still have a connection to him. I mean, when I got the feeling, I just...knew. It felt just like him. The presence was the exact same as the one I had to deal with that entire week I was possessed," Will said.

"Wait. Possessed?" Kirby asked, himself now dead serious. So this thing could possess people? Looked like his suspicions about Billy and Heather were true, after all. It was just like Dark Matter. This was the last straw. Everything had lined up, and Kirby'd have to be dumb to not see how it all connected.

He was, as Meta liked to call him, naive, but not dumb.

Will looked deep into Kirby's eyes. "Yeah," he said. "Possessed." Lucas then looked at Kirby, eyes squinted in curiosity; intrigue, even. "Wait, why is that significant to you, Kirby?"

"I've dealt with stuff like this before," he said.

The boys' reactions varied. Will had paled, looking at Kirby with wide eyes. Mike looked very, very serious, and Lucas' eyebrows went up, the only change to his expression. "What do you mean?" Mike asked carefully. "Dark Matter," Kirby said, gravely. "They invaded Planet Popstar twice, and then I had to help this Fairy named Ribbon save her planet."

Kirby couldn't help but notice how Will had flinched at the word "fairy". Mike and Lucas simply looked confused. "Wait, Fairy?" Said Lucas. "As in, like, an actual Fairy?"

"Well, yeah," Kirby said awkwardly. "The Fairies are from the planet Ripple Star."

Will looked... relieved? Mike's brows were furrowed in confusion, and Lucas just shrugged and said "Whatever."

"Alright, whatever, let's get back on track. Will, what happened?" Max said and asked. Will shook his head, probably trying to get his thoughts back on track. He sighed. "I mean, I think I just didn't want to believe it," he began. He paused briefly. "The first time I felt it was at Day of the Dead."

Kirby tilted his head. He almost spoke up to ask what that was, but luckily managed to stop himself just in time. "Power went out that night, too," Mike said. Kirby let out a small "Poyo?" in curiosity, wondering what power going out had to do with anything.

"And then I felt it again at the field near the Nelson farm the next day," Will continued. "Nelson farm?" Kirby asked. "Weathertop," Lucas said, clarifying things for Kirby. "Then I felt it again yesterday outside Castle Byers," Will continued.

Wait, a castle? Like Castle Dedede?

"Wait, you guys have a castle here? Do you have a king?" Kirby asked curiously. Lucas chuckled. "No, Kirbs, he just calls it a castle. It's really just a wooden fort."

"Oh," Kirby said; feeling oddly disappointed. At least if there was a real castle there'd be one thing here that was similar to Dream Land.

"What does it feel like? The Mind Flayer," Max asked. "It's almost like..." Will began. "You know when you drop on a roller coaster?"

"Sure," said Mike.

"Yeah," said Max.

"No," said El.

"What's a roller coaster?" Kirby asked in innocent curiosity.

Everybody briefly stared at him, before simultaneously looking away as Will continued his explanation. "It's like..." he began, presumably for El and Kirby's sakes. "Everything inside your body is just sinking all at once, but... this is worse."

Kirby felt dread growing within him.

"Your body... it goes cold and-and you can't...breathe."

Everybody was looking away, so nobody noticed it, but Kirby's pink complexion had paled considerably.

It sounded just like how Adeleine and Bandana (Dedede had been asleep all three times) had described what it felt like to be possessed by Dark Matter.

"Will," Kirby choked out. Everyone looked at Kirby and their eyes widened at the state of him. "What... is the Mind Flayer?"

Everybody went silent.

"Should he even be involved in all this?" Mike asked. "I mean-he-he's so... innocent."

"So were we," Will said. Mike's eyes became tender. "I know," he said softly.

"It's okay. I-I've dealt with scary stuff before; back on Popstar," Kirby said. "Monsters of darkness are drawn to it like moths to a flame. Every time, I've stopped them. I can help you guys stop this, too," he said confidently.

"Now's the part when I'd ask if you're willing to accept the risk, but if you say you've dealt with stuff like this before, and we already went and gave you a name for the problem... I don't see why not," Lucas said hesitantly.

"Alright, Kirby," Mike said. "From what you've told us, it sounds like you could be a big help. We'll fill you in."

And then he, Will, Lucas, Max, and, to a lesser extent, El, explained everything to him.


Kirby was positively boiling with rage by the end of the tale. El, kidnapped at birth, her mother all but killed for trying to rescue her. Raised in a lab like some science experiment and tortured for her entire life by wicked scientists.

Will, kidnapped by a monster from the Upside Down, which was much less benevolent than Kirby originally assumed. A dark reflection of this world. Will, possessed by the Mind Flayer, forced to lead an army of monsters on a killing spree. Will, held hostage by the monster, which, thanks to its connection to Will, couldn't be stopped without Will being killed.

Mike. Lucas. Dustin. Max. Everyone. All caught in the middle. Like-like puppets in some twisted game. All because the humans of this world had to meddle with things they couldn't understand. Just like Marx. Just like Magolor. (And at that realization, Kirby's anger grew tenfold). All because that monster wanted to spread darkness and misery to everyone, to make everyone part of it.

Just like Zero.

The thing on her arm El had been hiding from Kirby the whole time she'd known him? A tattoo. Forced on her. A brand. Something some sick scientist who liked to call himself a father (Kirby felt like that was an indirect insult to Meta Knight, since this "Brenner" sounded like the exact opposite of everything a father should be) had scrawled into her skin to say "I own you. You are nothing."

And that was why El's name was Eleven. The tattoo on her wrist was a number; scraped onto her skin to take away her personhood. Because, after all, numbers didn't have feelings, did they? You couldn't hurt a number. You couldn't torture a number. You couldn't take away everything a number had, because numbers didn't have anything to lose.

Kirby. Was. Pissed.

He wanted to get the Crash ability and blow up this entire town; wipe all its uncaring people off the face of this planet. And, since he could, after all, do it, since the Crash ability only affected things Kirby wanted it to, which would thus allow him to spare his friends, it was taking every ounce of willpower in his being not to. Even more than it took to keep himself from eating those cookies last night.

This made him more angry than any stolen cake, any betrayal, almost anything he'd ever been through besides the numerous takeovers of his planet, ever could. He was almost afraid he'd explode with his own rage, and the built up negative emotion would make him reincarnate as a Destroyer Void.

Had Kirby hands, they'd be clenched. Had he teeth, they'd be grinding so hard they'd shatter to pieces.

Everybody looked alarmed at his current state. Mike spoke up. "Yeah, I know. It pisses me off, too, Kirbs."

"How could they-all of them-do stuff like that?" He asked tensely. Teardrops gently hit the top of his head from where he sat on El's lap. She was petting the top of his head gently; probably trying to soothe him, but he had a feeling it may have been for her comfort, as well. "It's okay, Kirby," she choked out. "I'm okay. We're all okay, now."

"You're not," Kirby said. "Nothing's okay. What happened to you all was horrible, and now, it's about to happen again."

"No, it's not," Mike said determinedly. "We won't let it. Right, guys?"

The rest of the group muttered weak agreement. That wasn't a good sign. They couldn't just sit here and wallow, though. They had to stop this Mind Flayer thing before anything else bad happened.

Kirby eventually spoke up. "How..." he began, getting the group's attention. "How could he have come back, Will?"

"I closed the gate," El said through her tears, which, as Kirby could see when he looked up, she was trying to dry. "I know, but..." Will began.

"What if he never left?"

Kirby had paled once more.

"What if we locked him out here with us?"

An uneasy silence had taken over the room.


Not long after that, Will asked everybody to come gather around a table, slapping a sheet of paper down onto it. Kirby hung onto El's shoulders so he could see. Will began furiously scribbling on the paper in black crayon; quickly sketching out what Kirby could only interpret as some massive, shadowy Mariel with a flame-like head.

"This is him, all of him," Will said. "But that day on the field, a part of him... attached itself to me."

Will swiped his hand across his drawing, smearing it with black. "My mom got it out of me..." he continued. "And Eleven closed the Gate," he finished. Kirby twitched at the use of her full name, rather than her nickname. El, she had said, was fine. It was the nickname Mike had given her. But she said she'd just feel weird if people used her real name, Jane.

Eleven, though, Kirby did not like. It wasn't an affectionate nickname; it was a number. And El wasn't a number.

She didn't seem to mind, though, so Kirby pushed his thoughts aside and payed attention to what Will was saying. "But the part that was in me, what if it's still in our world?" He flipped the paper over to a blank side and pressed his hand firmly onto it, leaving a black imprint of it behind when he removed his hand.

"In Hawkins?" He finished.

"I... don't understand," Max began. "The Demodogs died when El closed the Gate; if the brain dies, the body dies."

"We can't take any chances," Mike said. "Agreed," Kirby said immediately after. "We need to assume the worst. The Mind Flayer's back."

"Yeah. And if he is, he'd want to attach himself to someone again. A new me," said Will. "Heh," Kirby chuckled quietly, heard only by El."A new host," said Lucas, beginning to catch on. Everyone looked at El (and Kirby, by extension), for guidance.

"How can you tell if someone is a host?" She asked. "Huh. I wonder-" Kirby began, only for his laughter to come bursting out of him before he could get the last syllable out. He immediately fell off of El's shoulder and rolled around on the floor in a fit of hysterical laughter. Max crossed her arms and rolled her eyes, while everyone else just looked at him in utter confusion.

Through his laughing, they just barely managed to hear his declaration.

"Kirby:1, Max:0!"


The backpack was the same as ever. They had all gone back to the community pool to scope out the Billy situation. The sound of splashing and the joyful laughs of children having fun drifted into Kirby's nonexistent ears through the backpack.

He really, really wanted to get out there and join them, but he couldn't show himself. He was also here on business. No time to play. "I don't know. He looks pretty normal to me," Max said, having brought binoculars so they could spy on Billy from afar.

"Normal?" Lucas asked. "How many times have you seen him with a shirt on?"

"I mean, it's a little weird," Max admitted. "More than a little," Mike insisted. Kirby was really starting to like Mike. He seemed like a way more sensible and agreeable person than Max; who Kirby had been butting heads with since last night over that very idea.

Something was up with Billy.

"He was in a tub with ice," Mike said, with El and Max having had to explain their and Kirby's own investigations after Kirby had his little laugh-a-thon on the floor. "The Mind Flayer likes it cold," Mike finished. "Plus everything else-" he continued, only for Max to cut him off with "-but he's lounging at the pool, which is, like, the least Mind Flayer thing ever."

Kirby hummed. "I guess you do have a point there, Max," he said. "Not really," said Will, much to Kirby (and probably everyone else's) surprise. Will soon elaborated. "The Mind Flayer...likes to hide. He only used me when he needed me."

"It's like... like you're dormant. And then, when he needs you, you're activated," Will said. "Okay, so we just... wait until he gets activated," Max said. "What?" Kirby said immediately, voice muffled by the backpack as it reached the ears of the kids outside. "We can't just let him... chill out, Max! We have to do something before he does!"

"Agreed," said Mike. "We can't take that chance. We need to find out if he's the host."

"I'm willing to bet my left nub that he is," Kirby said. "We've gotta know for sure, though," Lucas piped up. "If we're somehow wrong and try exorcising him, one, two, or most likely both, things will happen. One: he'll kill us. Two: he'd find out about all the Upside Down shit. And that's the last thing we need."

"He can try and kill me, but the only person it'll end badly for is him," Kirby said. "I do see your point, though. We should try and avoid a fight if possible, even if beating people up usually exorcises them in my experience," Kirby said, muttering the last part about beatdown exorcisms to himself.

"Where are you going?" El asked annoyedly. Kirby heard footsteps leaving the area. "I have an idea. Boys only," Mike said. Ah. It must have been him, Will, and Lucas that were leaving. Kirby, once again, felt helpless having to stay in the backpack. He was a boy, too, but this place, if El's life story was anything to go off of, was nothing like Dream Land. He'd rather not be seen, cause mass panic among the populace, and alert the apparently super-powerful military here to his presence and status as an infinitely-powerful alien being.

Besides, if he attracted attention, they'd find El, too. And Kirby could not let that happen; at all costs. He had to stay put until nobody was around and he was absolutely needed, for her sake.

"Seriously?" Max asked, sounding very annoyed at Mike's announcement of only boys being allowed wherever he, Will, and Lucas were going. "Just trust me on this one!" Mike called, as Kirby heard what were probably Lucas and Will's footsteps crunching away after him at a fast pace.

"Ugh," Max said. "Typical boys, right El?" "Yes," El said. "Poyo!" Kirby said, offended. "Sorry, Kirby," El said. "Are you even a boy?" Max asked. "Yep! Don't I sound like one?" Kirby asked. "Like a super-duper young one, but kinda, I guess," Max said. "How old are you, anyway?" She asked.

"Twelve," Kirby said happily. "What." Max said. "Excuse me, but you're twelve and used to defending your planet from dark elder gods?" "Well, that's the age you guys started, right?" Kirby asked. "Point taken," Max said. "I was thirteen, though. Everyone else was twelve," Max said.

"When was your first issue, anyway?" Max asked. "Eleven years ago," Kirby replied. "Ha ha. Very funny," Max said. "No, really, it was," Kirby insisted. "Adeline says you humans take, like, forever to grow up mentally. Us Puffballs are about as smart as a twelve year-old Human from birth, so I've been fighting for Popstar since before you guys could talk," said Kirby smugly.

Silence.

"Uh... Max? El? You guys still there?" Kirby asked. "Yes," said El. Kirby heard Max mutter "Smart as a twelve year-old from birth..." before she said, at a normal volume, "Whatever. I've seen weirder and you're a damn alien so... whatever."

Then, she said, "Wait. 'Adeleine'? Is she a human, too? How are there humans on Popstar? We don't have the technology to go to other planets yet."

"That's what makes me think I'm in another universe, not just on another planet," Kirby said. "Huh," said Max. "How'd you even get here anyway, then?" She asked. "It's a long story," Kirby said. "El knows it. If you want the short version, it's that the latest guy who tried to take over Popstar sent me here so I wouldn't be able to stop him."

"Damn," said Max. "That's rough, buddy."

"It sucks," Kirby said, then laughed at his own accidental pun. "What's so funny?" Asked Max. "Nothing," Kirby said, wiping tears from the corners of his eyes.


Mike, Will, and Lucas had come back shortly after that, saying they had a plan. The Mind Flayer was weak to heat. Good to know, thought Kirby. I just need the Fire ability. Unfortunately for Kirby, unlike the other people of Popstar, Humans were really, super fragile. That was why he'd always been able to beat Adeleine so easily. Literally all he'd ever had to do was sweep her legs.

As a matter of fact, that was about all he could do without seriously hurting her. So, unless it was a life or death situation, or the Mind Flayer was more powerful than he'd thought and made his host durable as well, Copy Abilities were probably out of the question.

Anyway, there was a way to expose Billy to heat and hurt the Mind Flayer without melting Billy, too. The plan was to lure and lock him into the pool's sauna room and heat it up. Unlike straight-up attacking him, that was something that could be explained away as a prank or something if it turned out Billy wasn't possessed.

However, Kirby, as always, still believed he was.

After that, everyone had split up to look for supplies to carry out their plan. They wanted to use a CPR dummy to lure Billy into the sauna room. Everybody had stated that Billy was the town tough guy; that he loved to beat people up.

He sounded like Dedede circa eleven years ago. Strong, and someone who loved to show it and throw his weight around on people weaker than him; just because he could. Maybe when all this was over, Kirby (because he had a feeling he'd probably show himself at some point, depending on how ugly things were going to get) could help him and be his friend, just like he did with Dedede.

For now, though, they had to free him. That was step number one. So Kirby was once more hanging out in El's backpack, ready to pop out if need be when the confrontation happened later. They were in a storage room looking for CPR dummies to use. Kirby was curious as to how it worked with Humans. Most Dreamlanders were spherical, so it had to be different, right?

Kirby was snapped out of his thoughts by the sound of El grunting. She must have found a dummy and was trying to carry it. Humans were way bigger than the standard Dreamlander, so it must have been heavier than the dummies on Popstar.

"Hey, I found the breakers," Mike's voice called out as Kirby heard his footsteps enter the room. While outlining his plan, Mike had explained to Kirby what those were and how they factored in.

"Good job, Mike!" He called from within the backpack. "Thanks, Kirbs," he said. "I see you found the dummy, El, and-" Kirby felt El turn around, probably now facing Mike with the dummy in hand. "Woah, that thing is super creepy. Let me see it," he said. Kirby heard him grunting and hard plastic knocking together as he probably took the dummy from El's arms.

"I think this'll work. Right, buddy?" He said. Kirby blinked. Was he talking to the dummy? Mike's voice was a bit higher-pitched and squeaky as he said "Right, Mike," probably pretending it was the dummy.

There was a word for that that Meta had insisted on Kirby using (since Meta always got on Kirby about "proper speech"), but what was it?

Ah! Now he remembered! Ventriloquy!

With his new appreciation for it, Kirby giggled at Mike's joke. However, he realized that El hadn't. Boy, did she not have a sense of humor, or something? That was top-notch comedy right there!

As the silence dragged on, Mike awkwardly chuckled at his own joke. Kirby heard the sound of plastic on plastic once more and a grunt from El as her weight shifted. Had she just snatched the dummy back? What, was she in a bad mood, or something?

"Hey, El," Mike said as Kirby felt her walk away. She stopped and turned around. "I just... wanted to say..." he began. "You know when I said Nana was sick?" He asked. Oh, right. That whole thing that led to Max and El going to the mall and El breaking up with Mike. Kirby'd forgotten about that. He remembered that El and Max hadn't believed Mike's story about his Nana being sick.

Well, here came the admission, Kirby figured.

"She wasn't," Mike said. "I lied."

"I know," El immediately replied, then tried to turn around again, only for Mike to quickly speak up once more, causing her to turn back. "Right, right, right. No, I just... think it was important important for you to know the context."

"Huh?" Kirby asked.

"Hopper, he went all crazy on me," began Mike. "Telling me I'm spending way too much time with El," Mike explained. Hmm. Overprotective dad situation., thought Kirby. Kirby totally understood. Ribbon's dad threatened me when she introduced me to him. Dedede said it's called a 'shovel talk'.

"He made me lie. I mean, you're the most important thing to me in the world," Mike said. Kirby heard the dummy immediately clatter to the floor as El said "What if he's right?"

"What?" Asked Mike at the same time as Kirby said "Huh?" "Dad," El said, not making an effort to elaborate any more. "No, no, no, no," Mike said. "He's just some angry old man who hates joy."

Well, that's a bit much., thought Kirby.

"But if I only see you," El began, with Kirby hearing a light tapping sound (Did she poke him? He thought), "and I'm a different species than you, then I should be with my species more."

"What? Species?" Kirby asked. "Yeah, what are you talking about?" Asked Mike. A moment passed in silence. "Oh, shit!" Mike hissed. "Mm," said El. "Huh?" Kirby asked. "El, back at the mall, the things Lucas and I were saying by the bikes, we didn't mean it, really!"

"Mmm," El said in clear disbelief. Oh, crap. Looked like Mike had been overheard while blowing off steam. Classic mistake.

El turned around and walked away, and this time, when Mike called out, she didn't stop.

"El! El, wait! Ah, come on!"

"Don't worry, poyo! You'll get her next time!"


Hours later, night had fallen. Outside, crickets chirped. It was a fine night.

Unfortunately, the things occurring inside the Hawkins Community Pool building were not so fine. A shower turned on. A shower turned off. A door banged. "Pool's closed," the voice of Billy Hargrove echoed. Another slam. "Hey. Do you hear me? Pool is closed!"

Mike's voice echoed down the halls in a teasing sing-song. "Billy! Billy!"

Billy's voice called back in a sing-song of its own, "Who's there?"

Kirby felt cold.

Mike's laughter echoed through the halls. "Billy! Billy!" The laughter continued. "Billy," Mike whispered. "Come and find me."

"I find you, it is your funeral," the young man, or rather, the thing inside him, intoned coldly.

"Come and get me. Come on!" Mike teased, unfazed. "Billy!" The laughter continued. "Got you," Billy said in a voice that chilled Kirby to the nonexistent bone. He laughed wickedly while clapping his hands in a sickening show of amusement.

"Come and get me, you piece of shit."

A door slammed open.

Footsteps.

Mike's voice.

"Hey. Behind you."

Go time.

"Hi," said El. Billy screamed and a great crash sounded as El, according to the outlined plan, telekinetically threw Billy into the sauna room. Mike, Will, Lucas, and Max ran out of hiding and El slammed the door shut, Will and Mike sliding a metal bar into place to keep it secured. Chains and a padlock were used as well.

Billy banged on the door.

"Max..." Billy's voice echoed chillingly. "Do it," Max said, voice wavering, yet clearly trying to hold steady. Kirby didn't know who, but someone ran up and cranked up the sauna's heat.


https/youtu.be/e-yLozplkLw

"Max! Let me out of here!" Billy roared, banging on the door. Kirby shivered, even within the safety of El's backpack. He had the sinking feeling that it wouldn't be safe for long. "Let me out," Billy repeated.

"You kids... you think this... is funny?" Billy was panting. "You kids think this is some kind of sick prank, huh?" Kirby heard Billy spit loudly on the window of the door he was trapped behind. "You little shits think this is funny?!"

"What is this?" Billy(?) asked. "Open... the door." When his demands weren't met, he began pounding on the door. "Open the door! Open the door! Open the goddamn door!"

This feeling...

Kirby heard Billy collapse. He was screaming. Someone ran up to the door. "We're at two-twenty," Will said.

This negativity...

Billy was crying.

"It's not my fault, it's not my fault. It's not my fault, Max. I promise you, it's not my fault."

This sorrow...

"What's not your fault, Billy?" Max asked. "I've done things, Max. Really... bad things. I didn't mean to..."

This fear...

"He made me do it," Billy said. "Who made you do it?" Max asked. "I don't know; it's like a shadow. Like a giant shadow."

(A giant cloud of pure blackness blotted out the sun, a blood-red eye gazing down on Popstar with cosmic indifference.)

"Please, Max."

"What did he make you do?"

"It's not my fault, okay? Max, please..."

This agony...

"Please believe me, Max, it's not my fault. I tried to stop him, okay? I did."

("But no matter how hard I tried to resist, to stop painting all those things to attack you, it was like my body wasn't my own anymore.")

"Please believe me, Max. Please believe me..."

"Billy, it's gonna be okay," Max said, voice breaking. "Max, please," Billy begged.

"It's gonna be okay."

This energy.

This darkness.

Kirby had felt it before.

Quicker than ever before, he forced himself out of the backpack and landed on the ground, right on his feet, sick to his stomach. El and the others, except for Max, glanced at him in alarm.

"We want to help you," Max said. "We want to help you."

"You just have to talk to us, okay? You have to talk to us," Max begged.

Kirby's entire being resonated with its polar opposite.

He knew that energy signature.

He looked behind him, seeing Will lifting a hand to the back of his neck. "I feel him," he said.

Kirby began muttering to himself in panic, feeling fear like he never had before. "How? How is this possible? I-I don't... p-poyo..."

"He's activated."

"Max, get away from the door," Mike muttered, eyes still trained on Will.

"What?" Max asked.

"Get away from the door!" Mike and Kirby yelled in unison. Glass shattered. Billy yelled. Max was next to the door, and Billy was swiping a sharp piece of broken floor tile at her. "Let me out, you bitch! Let me out! I'll fucking gut you!" Dear NOVA, Kirby thought. He sounds insane. Not-Billy reached down and started rattling the metal bar and chains keeping him contained, removing the bar, which clattered to the floor. Lucas pulled a slingshot out of his pocket. Billy roared. "Let me out!"

Lucas pulled back on the slingshot, firing a pebble that hit Billy square in the forehead with a crack. He immediately fell away from the door, hitting the floor of the room he was trapped in with a thud.

"Max, come on!" Lucas shouted. Max took her opportunity and ran from the door, joining the rest of the group. Kirby had positioned himself at the head of it. The lights began flickering. Kirby felt the energy, the darkness, stronger than ever, now.

The others looked all around at the flickering lights, but Kirby kept his eyes set firmly on the biggest threat in the area, who had gotten back to his feet, Kirby noticed. He turned his head upward, and screamed.

Billy charged the door.

It clanged against the chains.

He charged again.

The chains rattled louder.

"He can't get out, can he?" Max asked. "No way. No. Way," Lucas said.

"Yes, he can," said Kirby.

Billy charged again.

He roared.

And then he charged one final time, bursting through the door and tumbling out of the room he'd been trapped in. Kirby and the others jumped back in alarm.

Kirby set himself in a charging position, glaring fiercely at Billy as he got to his feet.

He looked down at Kirby.

Kirby looked up at him.

Kirby knew it. He'd recognize that energy signature anywhere.

"Zero." Kirby growled uncharacteristically. Billy's previously only angry facial expression twisted into one of true wrath.

"Kirby."

"I knew I should have ripped that backpack open the second I sensed you last night," he said. "But I didn't want to believe it. I couldn't believe it. That you'd return to pester me once more. As if my lives weren't already enough of a cosmic joke."

The sheer spite and hatred in those words, practically spat from Billy's mouth, were chilling. Kirby let out an involuntary shiver, his Matters agitated by the presence of their opposites. Kirby and Zero's essences were repelling each other like magnets, unable to stand the presence of each other.

https/youtu.be/cMWow7WXRkM

"How? How are you alive? And how did you get here?" Kirby demanded. "I could ask you the same thing," Billy (Zero) replied. "I killed you," Kirby spat, as the two began circling each other, positive and negative dancing like Yin and Yang. "And you did the first time, as well," Zero said.

"The Crystal of Joy was more powerful than the Love-Love Stick," Kirby insisted. "Indeed," agreed Zero. "But not strong enough to purify me, and you know how our kind works. I was not purified, so I once more returned as a being of the matter most dark."

"I found myself reborn, in a world of shadow, as a being of shadow. Unfortunately, that accursed crystal had weakened me such that I was bound to my place of rebirth. I was able to create a new Dark Matter Race, these ones partially-organic, monstrous creatures, a far-cry from the feeble clouds of pure Dark Matter I relied upon before. I even designed their mouths to look like Pop Flowers, just to spite you, your worthless, sickeningly-positive planet, and all you loved so much, Puffball, while at the same time resembling the old design, what with the orange spheres and all."

Kirby's eyes narrowed in anger.

"Even with my new army, however, unless all of me could cross through to the inhabited world beyond, I would be trapped. And even then, I would have to make such a world habitable first."

"Do you see now what you've done, Puffball? It wasn't enough that you had to deny me the twisted facsimile of happiness I so desperately desired twice. You, that Fairy, and that blasted Crystal had to permanently weaken and reduce me to this rather limiting form, as well. I used to be able to traverse the very depths of space. And now, I can't go anywhere but a disgusting, rebellious flesh sack or a world that suits my needs; the latter of which, by the way, I have to create myself."

"And, as I'm sure you're well aware, those cretins behind you have only made my mission more difficult. Can you imagine that, pink fool? I had been trapped, yes, but at least I had escaped my greatest enemy. My counterpart. The very antithesis of my existence. I thought I'd never be resisted to the extent I was before again. But I was so very wrong. No, instead, a new nuisance simply replaced the last one. But no, it didn't even stop there. Now, you are here as well; by some stroke of cosmic misfortune-or humor at my expense, perhaps-you have somehow returned to pester me once more."

"W-w-what the hell...?" Asked Max shakily.

That had reminded Kirby of his friends. It looked like he'd have to explain his origins, after all. The jig was up. Zero had let them know he and Kirby were of the same species.

It was likely they wouldn't be his friends for much longer.

Still, though, he would always think of them that way.

Glaring at Zero with a newfound resolve, Kirby said "I won't let you hurt my friends! I didn't back then, and I won't now!"

If Zero had any real positive emotion behind it, and not simply a twisted form of amusement without actual joy, the resulting empty cackle he let out would have been less chilling.


Vs.

The Shadowy Menace

Zeroed Billy

What the-Zero's back?! After his defeat at Kirby and Ribbon's hands in Dark Star six years ago, the embodiment of the Matter Most Dark reincarnated in the Upside Down, in the shadowy form Kirby's new Human friends call the Mind Flayer. He's up to his old tricks again, and to aid in his latest attempt to shroud planets in darkness, he's possessed Max's brother, Billy! Go, Kirby, and remind your old nemesis who's boss!


https/youtu.be/lcWmY48b5Rw

The possessed Billy charged toward Kirby, drawing his foot back for a kick. Kirby jumped up, landed on Billy's head, and jumped again, now just outside the sauna room. El and the others had jumped back, and were all huddled together at the back of the room.

Kirby opened his mouth wide, and began to inhale. He increased his power, soon performing his Super Inhale. The wind whipped about savagely as pink bands of energy blew about within the mini-whirlwind. Though Kirby couldn't see it, the jaws of the teens behind him (except for Eleven) had all dropped. The steam still rolling out of the sauna was sucked into Kirby's mouth.

Kirby flattened his body all the way to the floor, swallowing. Immediately, there was a bright flash of white light; yellow, five-pointed stars exploding outward from it.

When the light faded, a new Kirby was among the Humans in the room. He wore a beautiful golden tiara, with water permanently gushing out of the center in a small fountain. Kirby could now see the awe-struck faces of his friends. Even El's jaw had dropped, now; and fear and wonder showed clear as day in the eyes of the Human children.

Kirby had only discovered this ability during his most recent adventure that past week, but he'd had plenty of time to practice. Water Kirby summoned a mini-wave around himself and surged toward Billy, surfing on the wave. Billy's eyes widened, and the black veins under his skin briefly drew back a bit, Zero's essence visually losing its hold for a moment, oddly enough, right before Kirby and the wave he'd created slammed into Billy.

The sheer force cracked the brick wall. The wave fell apart, the water that would have spread across the floor inexplicably drying up completely within only a few seconds. Kirby charged away from Billy, hoping to get some distance.

Billy got to his feet, and charged at Kirby with a roar. Kirby jumped into the air, and when Billy was right below him, angled his head downward and let loose an incredibly strong and pressurized jet of water from the fountain on his head with an upside-down version of his Geyser move.

Billy was immediately forced onto his stomach from the mini-geyser above him. Kirby let the geyser peter out, before falling back toward the ground, bouncing on his head and landing on his feet.

Billy got to his feet. "As worthy an adversary as ever," Zero said through him. Then, he extended an arm toward Kirby, and his arm transformed into a tentacle of pure Dark Matter, with familiar little orange eyes peeking out of it. It shot toward Kirby quicker than the pink Puffball could react and grabbed him.

Kirby's world became a blur as he was swung around and around, before being thrown into a wall, cracking it and knocking his ability right out of him. The blue star popped out of Kirby's body, and his hat and personal fountain disappeared instantly.

The Ability Star made small clinking sounds as it bounced around the room, flashing white rapidly before it disappeared. Kirby's flattened body drifted toward the ground like a sheet of paper, before springing back into its normal shape as it touched the floor.

Kirby leapt onto his feet. Thinking fast, he inhaled some of the shards of glass left behind from when Billy had smashed the window of the sauna door earlier. Swallowing, Kirby flashed with white once again, and when the light faded, he had received another appearance-change. He now wore a silver-rimmed blue and purple jester hat and wielded a magical wand topped with a dark blue diamond.

With his nubs up and his feet pointed straight downward, Mirror Kirby held perfectly still as he glided toward Billy, leaving afterimages of himself behind. Billy stared at him in confusion, giving Mirror Kirby the perfect opportunity to, after he got close enough, leap into the air and split into two mirror-images diagonally, one of them going through Billy and then coming back again as the two Kirbies recombined.

Billy cried out in pain and his arm turned into a spike of darkness, which sharply struck Mirror Kirby, launching him backward. Mirror Kirby landed and recovered, leaping to the side just in time to avoid Billy as he charged at him. Mirror Kirby waved his wand, letting a stream of glass shards emerge and fly straight at Billy, creating several small cuts on his skin.

Billy howled and, turning around, charged Mirror Kirby once more. This time, the Puffball stayed right where he was and created a rainbow-colored spherical force-field around his body with Reflect Guard. Billy impacted the sphere and was flung backward instantly, further cracking the brick wall he'd been flung into earlier.

Taking his opportunity, Kirby dropped his current ability and inhaled a nearby barbell, swallowing and transforming once again, now a hulking metal golem. Metal Kirby took slow steps toward Billy, the ground quaking with each step. When he'd finally reached him, Metal Kirby wound his massive nub back, and then flung it forward, punching Billy straight through the much-abused brick wall, causing it to completely crumble.

Billy sailed through the air before eventually landing in the grass outside. Kirby dropped his ability, reverting back into his normal, small, nimble self. Leaving his stunned Human friends behind, he charged through the hole in the wall and across the grass to where Billy-where Zero-laid, looking down at him.

Billy coughed, before chuckling. There wasn't a trace of joy in that laugh. "It's been years, but you haven't lost your touch, have you, Puffball?"

"No," Kirby said emotionlessly. "I've only gotten stronger since Dark Star, Zero, and if you come after my friends ever again, I'll kill you, just like I've done twice before."

Zero chuckled again.

"Good to see nothing has changed, Puffball." He got to his feet, looking down at Kirby. "You are just as much of a nuisance as ever. But this time will be different, pink cretin, mark my words. I have more at my arsenal, now. You have won this battle, but you will not win the war. Not this time. This planet-and eventually, this entire universe-shall be mine."

He turned away from Kirby. "Until we meet again, Kirby."

Then he ran.

Kirby's eyes narrowed even as his counterpart fled from him. Zero was back. And there was no Rainbow Sword, no Love-Love Stick or Crystal Shard Gun to help Kirby defeat him this time.

All Kirby had was his Copy Abilities. And those had never failed him before. Though...

Kirby sighed as he realized just what kind of adventure he was in for, dragging his left nub down his face tiredly; too tired to even do his Victory Dance.

Maybe he should whip out his phone and call the other Kirbies.


IMPORTANT A/N PLEASE READ IT ALL: When the sky turns black as bubbling pitch, and the bleeding begins...

https/youtu.be/p4LGbIKPo6g

And there you have it, folks. The Mind Flayer is Zero Three. He stopped showing up in the Kirby games because he was reborn in the Upside Down as the Mind Flayer and trapped there after dying in Kirby 64: The Crystal Shards. Season 4 sucked except for Argyle and Vecna/One/Henry was dumb. I better liked the Mind Flayer as an eldritch abomination. Not just some misanthropic dude who liked spiders and had powers because plot. Kirby's nature and Copy Abilities have now been revealed to the Party. And considering they received the information about what Kirby was with the only context being that the monster that's been ruining their lives for two years claimed to be of the same species as him, odds are; Kirby's got a lot of explaining to do before any more teamwork can happen.

So, I may have lied in last chapter's A/N. Next chapter is when the gang finally finds out what Kirby's whole deal is. I don't know when that chapter'll be up, but I'll see you then. By the way, Kirby's inner monologue referenced a Mariel toward the beginning of the chapter. It's a spider enemy from Kirby's Dream Land 3 and Kirby 64: The Crystal Shards. Also, I wanted to include a comma in the chapter's title, but it was too long. I should probably also mention that, in this fic, Void Termina and Zero are both Voids, but they're two different ones. Since Voids represent all the possibilities of all four matters (Dream, Dark, Soul, and Heart), Void Termina took on a few of Zero's characteristics and referenced him and other Dark Matter creatures simply as a representation of the possibilities of a Void imbued with Dark Matter (with Zero being one of these possibilities). As a representation of Dream/Heart Matter-incarnated Voids (aka, Puffballs), Void also took on Kirby's face, because the positivity of the Star Allies Sparkler was starting to imbue him with Heart and Dream, too, causing him to start resembling Puffballs. At least, this is all what I'm headcannoning for this fic, because it's super confusing in canon. The dark force behind the Master Crown is yet another Void of Dark Matter (Dark and Soul when it turns Magolor into Magolor Soul) the Ancient Halacandrans sealed inside the crown and entrusted to Landia, since she (yeah, I'm headcannoning she's a girl for this fic even though she's canonically a dude) had high enough willpower (unlike Magolor) to not be corrupted by it. The same explanation I gave earlier is the reason why it makes Magolor's face look like Kirby's and have what looks like Zero's eye in his mouth at the same time.

Oh, and, uh... I wouldn't ever dream of letting you guys hang for more than a few months, but the next chapter might (might, because every time I tell you guys I'm taking a break I end up not taking a break) not be out till next month. Yeah, I am not, apparently, getting this out for Return to Dream Land Deluxe's release, lol.

Please leave a review so I know what you thought about this chapter, and, as always, I hope you guys enjoyed, and I'll see you guys...

Next time...