Chapter 19: The Ultimate Choice


A/N: Welcome to the finale chapters. The Battle of Starcourt has begun.

MAJOR GORE WARNING! THIS IS *THAT* EPISODE. IF YOU HAVE NOT WATCHED SEASON 3 AND DON'T KNOW WHAT YOU'RE IN FOR, LEAVE NOW. THIS WILL BE YOUR ONLY WARNING.

Another warning: this chapter contains period-typical anti-communist views and slurs, as Stranger Things is set during the Red Scare. Any offensive language, views, or slurs do not in any way reflect my own views or opinions on these matters.

With all that said, please enjoy.


Holy shit, holy shit, holy shit!!! I'm dead! I am so dead!

Dustin Henderson trembled behind the counter of Great Cookie. He, his older brothe--Steve, Robin, and Erica had stumbled on a Soviet infiltration beneath the Starcourt fucking Mall. They'd ended up trapped down in the Commie bastards' base of operations, and Steve and Robin had been captured and--because of course they'd been--drugged and made to spill all of Dustin's personal information. His physical appearance, his full-ass government name, his home address, all of it.

Thankfully, Dustin and Erica had managed to evade capture, rescue their drugged friends, and escape the subterranean facility. Unfortunately, the gun-wielding, Soviet-planted mall cops had gone after them (and no one was around to help; the mall had closed) and were about to find their hiding place in the food court.

And now they were all fucked.

Dustin was going to die. He was going to die and it was going to be covered up as an accident. Or maybe he'd just disappear. Maybe they'd just hide his body instead of saying something else happened. Oh, God, he couldn't--fuck he didn't want to just... disappear like Will did.

He'd never see Will again. Not him; nor Lucas, or Mike, or Max, or El or the cute little guy they'd found, Kirby. Shit, now that they knew where he lived, what if they went after his mom, too?

Before the tears that would've surely flowed from the thought could compromise his position further, the alarm of the car on display at the center of the food court went off, causing Dustin and his friends to all flinch at the tense silence finally shattering.

It let fleeting relief flood into their bones that it wasn't a gunshot that had broken the stillness.

As the alarm continued wailing incessantly, Dustin was just able to pick up one of the Commie mall cops muttering something in Russian before Dustin finally registered the odd, familiar feeling in the air as said feeling sharpened.

An electric stillness. A buzz along his skin and the prickle of hair standing on end as psychic energy hummed in the air.

And then there were mighty crashes. Something great and metallic tumbling end over end straight down the middle of the food court before one last mighty crash that sounded like several things shattering and metal denting.

Carefully, slowly, Dustin and his friends rose to their feet and peeked over the counter they had hid behind earlier. The corpses of those Commie mall cops littered the ground. Something round and metallic rattled on the floor before settling. The gazes of Dustin and his companions slowly roved over to another food counter across the way, where the entire damn display car laid dented on its side, far from the spot at the center of the Food Court it had previously rested at.

He and his friends turned their heads up toward the second level of the mall, and sure enough, there El stood, Mike, Lucas, Will, Max, Jonathan, and Nancy running up to join her in leaning over the railing and gazing down at Dustin.

Dustin's heart leapt for joy, then skipped a beat when he noticed Kirby perched on Mike's shoulder, waving happily. Dustin's heart skipped two beats when he realized there were now three other Kirbies, colored red, yellow, and green, perched on Max, Lucas, and Will's shoulders, respectively.

He hardly noticed. He was just too happy to still be alive and able to see all his friends again.


With El's arm draped across Mike's shoulder for support, Kirby was relegated to walking instead. It hardly mattered as Dustin and three Humans Kirby hadn't met yet rounded a corner.

Something had rung familiar in a distant corner of Kirby's mind when they'd entered this place. Even more so when he saw the metallic stairs that that same distant corner of his mind made him feel were supposed to move. He couldn't bring himself to think too hard about it, though. He was just happy that Dustin was okay and he got to see him for the first time in days.

Dustin cackled in joy as he ran toward El and hugged her tightly. "You flung that thing like a Hot Wheel!"

When he let go of El, Kirby, with a joyful 'poyo', flung himself at Dustin's face. Letting out a pleasantly surprised sound, Dustin removed Kirby from his head and grinned up at him.

"Kirby? What are you doin' here, little buddy? It's not safe!" Dustin admonished. There was hardly any actual scolding tone behind it, though, as Dustin then gave him a strong hug, squeezing Kirby against his chest, with the Puff letting out a happy, albeit strangled coo.

After Dustin let up, Kirby climbed up onto his cap and seated himself, causing the Human boy to let out an amused chuckle.

"Lucas?!" A little girl with the same dark skin as the boy in question squeaked in surprise as she ran up to stand beside Dustin, along with Dustin's other Human companions: a young adult male and female similar to Nancy and Jonathan. "What are you doing here?" Lucas asked in what sounded like a mixture of exasperation, utter disbelief, and concern.

"Uhhh, sorry to interrupt this little reunion, but what the hell are those little balloon things? They're seriously creeping me out and Dustin you have one on your head!" Dustin's older male friend exclaimed. Unperturbed by his comment about him being creepy, Kirby turned toward the young man and waved.

"Hi! I'm Kirby!"

The man actually jumped backward, then stumbled. "Hol--hol--ho--holy shit, did it just talk?!"

"Yeah, Steve! Remember what I told you? Kirby?" Dustin prompted as if speaking to a much younger child. The young man, who was apparently named Steve, relaxed a little, but still anxiously ran a hand through his hair. "Yeah. Yeah, okay. Fuck, man, I didn't think it was actually real!"

"What?!" Dustin cried, sounding betrayed. "But you said you believed me! Even if Robin didn't!"

Steve's face paled. "Uh... uhhhhh..."

"Ah, damnit, Steve," Dustin groaned.

Suddenly, the little girl who had spoken to Lucas earlier squealed. She reached up and knocked Dustin's cap, Kirby included, off his head, causing Kirby to fall right into her arms. She squeezed him so tight Kirby could feel her small arms shaking with the effort.

"Poy, poyo..."

"He's so cute!" She cried. Then, she seemed to notice the other Puffballs. "There's more?!"

"Touch me and you die," Tuffy deadpanned from atop Max's shoulder, earning him a soft punch from the redheaded girl.

"Erica!" Lucas shouted. "Answer me. What. Is going. On?"

The girl named Erica placed Kirby on her head absentmindedly, like he was some sort of hat. "Ask them, it's their fault," she pointed at Steve and the other young woman and said with no trace of the bubbly excitement she'd just displayed toward Kirby.

"True, yeah. Totally true. It's absolutely our fault," Steve said, looking a little out of it. "I don't understand what happened to that car," the young Human lady that process of elimination told Kirby was Robin said as she looked at Dustin in search of an explanation, before eyeing all the Kirbies warily, clearly trying to come to terms with the fact that Dustin hadn't been kidding about them.

"El has superpowers," Dustin said casually as he pointed in her direction with his thumb. "I'm sorry?" Robin said incredulously. "She's got superpowers, lady. Y'know, mind over matter?" Tuffy huffed impatiently. Robin openly gaped in astonishment at the seemingly English-speaking alien. Kirby could tell her mind was churning furiously as it tried to process so much mind-blowing information at once.

"That's El?" Erica asked, sounding like she was on the verge of fangirling again. Kirby could only guess Dustin had filled her in. Steve already seemed to be part of this whole thing, but Mike and the others had said no one else who wasn't already in on it could know about all the Upside Down stuff, so Kirby had to wonder what kind of situation Dustin had been in to where he'd felt the need to tell Erica about it all.

Wait. Had they had an encounter with Zero or one of the people he'd possessed?!

"Who's El?" Robin asked in frustration. Tuffy wrinkled his nonexistent nose. "Wouldn't you like to know! Who the hell are you?"

Robin opened and closed her mouth several times before, much like Nancy had done when she first met Kirby, speaking her next words slowly, as if she couldn't believe she was actually talking to an alien.

"I--I'm Robin. I work with Steve," she said. "She cracked the top-secret code," Dustin said, grinning like the excitable goofball he was. "Yeah, which is how we found out about the Russians in the first place," Steve said, still looking like he wasn't entirely focused on what was happening around him. "Russians? What Russians?" Jonathan asked. "TheRussians!" Steve said loudly, as if that clarified anything. "Those were Russians?" Max asked in disbelief and what looked like fear.

"What are Russians?" Keeby asked innocently. "People from Russia," Mike answered offhandedly, much more concerned about staying in tune with the conversation, which was moving so quickly it undoubtedly would cost anyone who missed even a second of it. Keeby nodded like he actually understood what that meant, before asking, "What's Russia?"

"What are you?!" Steve asked, finally snapping under the stress and confusion.

"We're Puffballs," came Tuffy's curt reply. "Voids, if you want to be less specific."

"What are... Voids?" Robin asked, giving up on trying to understand what was going on and openly displaying the fact that she was entirely lost. "It's what the Mind Flayer is," Will answered, causing Steve and Dustin to explode into panic. "What?!" Dustin cried at the same time as Steve screamed and punched Kirby off the head of the (thankfully still not afraid) Erica like a pesky bug. Kirby bounced and rolled away from the group, letting out all sorts of pained noises.

"Get--get--get them off of you!" Steve cried, moving toward the Puffballs on Max, Lucas, and Will's shoulders. Mike got defensively in front of them, arms spread wide to block Steve's way. "Wait, wait, wait! They're not evil like the Mind Flayer is! Just let us explain!"

"What is the Mind Flayer?" Robin asked exasperatedly.

"What did you mean by 'Russians'?" Mike.

"Dustin, did you say 'Gate ' or 'great'?" Will; concerned.

"Gate! The Russians are reopening the Gate! Didn't you hear what I said over the supercom?"

"I could barely make out what you were saying!" Mike.

"Goddamn low battery!"

"Hey, hey, hey! Hellllooooo? Will someone please explain what the fuck the marshmallows have to do with the Mind Flayer?!" Steve panickedly asked.

The argument continued in the background as Kirby rolled to a stop. He sat up and groaned, rubbing his head in a daze.

"Poyo..."

He shook his head as if to clear it of the stars he was seeing.

NOVA, that Steve guy can punch...

Putting a nub to the side of his head, Kirby got to his feet and looked around, spotting El a few feet to his side. She was spinning slowly, looking around as if in a trance. When had she walked away from everyone else?

She looked like she was going to be sick.

"El, poyo?" Kirby asked in concern, frowning with a tilted head. "Are you okay?"

She groaned and whimpered in misery, slowly bringing her hands up to cover her ears. It seemed that the sound of the intense conversation taking place nearby was overwhelming her and only making her feel worse.

"El?" Kirby said as he slowly, cautiously walked toward her.

Her face screwed up in pain. She began to sway on her feet.

El? El, El, El, El, El!" Kirby cried, each exclamation getting louder as he realized what was happening almost too late to cushion her as best he could when she fell to the ground.

His nubs were nearly crushed as she hit the ground with a cry of, "Ugh!" Kirby's eyes welled up with tears as he pulled his nubs out from under her body and shook her desperately. "El! El! El, what's the matter?!"

"Mike! Mike, help!" Kirby called, waving a nub frantically in the air to get his attention. However, Mike and all the others had already turned to look, having heard El collapse.

"El! El!" Mike said, panicking as he and the others ran over and surrounded her and Kirby. Mike kneeled on the side of her opposite to Kirby, rolling her onto her back, showing a sweaty face and two bleeding nostrils.

"What's wrong with her?" Erica asked. Kirby waved both nubs frantically in the air, tears physically flying off his face as he panickedly explained, "She--she was--she looked like she was in pain, and--and then, poyo, she just f--fell!!!"

"I don't know what's wrong with her, poyo! W--what if!!! What if she--!!!" Kirby was cut off by Greeny firmly hugging him, snapping out of his panic somewhat. He gently, yet quickly guided Kirby away from El to give her and Mike more space.

"What's wrong?" Mike asked quickly, containing his panic much better than Kirby. "My leg," she croaked, panting heavily. "My leg."

"Her leg, her leg. Okay," Jonathan echoed as he, Nancy, and Mike undid her bandages.

When everyone saw the state her leg wound was in, they let out simultaneous groans and noises of disgust. The wound had festered, surrounded by fluid and red--slightly blackened, even--swollen skin, from which dark veins radiated. Something moved under her skin, swimming like a tadpole, and all the Puffballs tensed as they sensed Dark Matter, once again accompanied by a bit of Soul.

Greeny turned a bit more green as his supportive grip on Kirby tightened protectively. Keeby had covered his mouth and Tuffy was gaping.

El shouted and wailed in pain as the piece of that meat monster once more moved beneath her skin. "El! El!" Mike cried. "El! El, are you okay? El! El! El!" Mike continued shouting in vain as El turned her head upward and screamed.


Kirby's heart broke further with each pained wail El let out. Nothing he'd been through before could compare to this, possibly excluding both times he'd killed Zero, who had let out his own pained howls--fueled by agony both physical and spiritual as his body was torn apart by the very emotions he, deep down, wanted so badly to be able to feel.

It had hurt Kirby on an instinctual level, causing such pain to a member of his own kind; almost like a brother of sorts. Voids should have been in it together, not fighting over whether positivity was better than negativity.

In any case, this situation was more painful for Kirby than both Zero incidents were; both because, unlike Zero, El was completely innocent; and because Zero had killed probably at least thirty people to create the monstrous vessel that was causing El such pain at the moment, so Kirby definitely sympathized a lot more with El.

Everyone looked on in horror and sympathy, not knowing what to do, as whatever was trapped in her leg continued squirming beneath her skin. Kirby felt nauseous. He'd only thrown up a few times in his life: namely after killing Zero for the first time (trust him, that reaction was very warranted) and after winning in that Gourmet Race against Dedede. Even Puffballs had their limits, bottomless as their stomachs technically were.

NOVA, the only two times he'd thrown up in his life, and the first time was because he ate too much while the second was because he'd had to watch someone who he could've easily been had he not been saved by Popstar's positive energy ripping his own eye out.

What even was his life?

"What is that?" Erica asked in disgusted disbelief. "There's something in there!" Mike said panickedly. "No shit, Pufflock!" Tuffy exploded. "Jesus Christ," Dustin said as the tadpole-shaped whatever that was moved around inside El's leg again.

Kirby, for once, didn't have the energy to be frustrated at the continued lack of elaboration on this "Jesus" guy.

"Keep her talking. Keep her awake, okay?" Jonathan gravely instructed as he jumped up and ran off; hopefully to look for something to help.

"Hey, hey, hey. Stay awake, stay awake," Mike hurriedly instructed as El began looking like she was about to drift off.

Kirby couldn't help but flinch in the middle of his hyperventilation.


"Hey, hey, hey!" A nasally voice sneered.

Kirby gasped, the telltale squeak of a beach ball being bounced on echoing in a way far too dreamlike to be real.

Magenta, vibrant and visible even in the gloom, emerged from the shadows, bright jester hat bobbing up and down.

"Boy, some hero, aren't ya? Barely a week in another world and you're already failing the locals you're supposed to protect!"

Kirby shivered. His insides felt cold.

Golden wings sprouted. Floating hexagonal crystals flashed nauseatingly in every color of the rainbow. Fangs sprouted. Eyes popped out of sockets and lolled disturbingly around in the jester's head. A golden necklace made of pieces of a Clockwork Star dangled in front of a now far more undead body.

His face was directly in front of Kirby's now.

"What a riot!"


"Kirby? Kirby, dude, snap out of it!" Tuffy's uncharacteristically anxious voice sounded, snapping the Puff back into reality. He was getting a few strange looks from everyone who wasn't distracted with El--namely, Steve, Robin, Erica, and Nancy, the latter of whom seemed to know what was happening.

The sympathy and recognition in her eyes was proof.

"He's having flashbacks. Tuffy, keep talking to him," Nancy instructed sternly.

"Uh...uh...uh, shit. Uh..." Tuffy began with all the grace of a Phan Phan. "Uh... charcoal or gas??" Tuffy asked hopelessly, trying desperately to keep Kirby grounded with such a casual question. Robin audibly snorted at the attempt, but was put firmly in her place by an icy glare from Nancy.

Kirby paid no mind to any of it.

His vision got foggy as his breathing began to speed back up. El's leg was all he could focus on.


"Ah, Kirby. Lovely, oblivious little Kirby. Living happily in his paradise while others suffer."

The icy voice of a nightmare vanquished echoed in his head.

"You killed Zero without a thought of where he'd end up afterward. The first time, your impulsivity jeopardized Ripple Star. Then, it endangered this world. When will your carelessness finally catch up to you? Or, should I say, when will it catch up to your friends?"

"You're dead," Kirby choked. "Get out of my head."

The Nightmare chuckled, but obliged, fading back into the oblivion from which it had returned.


"Kirby! Wake. Up!" Tuffy's voice cried as red nubs shook Kirby back into awareness. Kirby gasped for air as if emerging from the waters of Ripple Field, as he stared desperately at his red counterpart. He sobbed in anguish, terrified that at any second he'd be yanked back into the darkness of his subconscious; where, it seemed, all his old demons were waiting for him.

"Please..." He whispered.

"Alright. El?" Jonathan's voice chimed. Kirby clung to it, terrified that if he didn't he'd come face-to-face with yet another one of his subconscious tormentors.

"This is gonna hurt like hell, okay?" He asked rather plainly, yet still kindly, clearly wanting to make sure that she knew what she was in for and could prepare.

"Okay..." she sobbed, further cracking Kirby's heart. Kirby could see that, for the first time ever, Tuffy's eyes were watering as well. It was tearing all four Puffballs apart; almost literally. They were made of friendship. To see their friend in so much pain and be utterly powerless to do anything about it was a unique kind of spiritual agony that they could only imagine was probably their equivalent of what Zero had gone through during both of his previous defeats.

"Need you to stay real still," Jonathan said as he slipped on plastic gloves. "Here, you're gonna wanna bite down on this, okay?" He said, handing her a wooden spoon. It was only then that the realization of exactly the kind of horror they were about to witness hit both the Puffballs and everyone else present.

"Jesus Christ," Dustin muttered in disbelief and dawning horror, voicing the unspoken general sentiment of everyone else around him.

Mike took the spoon Jonathan handed him and placed it between El's teeth. She bit down on it so hard everyone could hear the wood creak, even those at the edge of the group.

Jonathan pulled out a kitchen knife, and the Puffballs couldn't take it anymore. All four turned away and vomited, Heart and Dream Matter spilling out in liquid swirls of yellow stars and pink hearts. Just like Zero when Kirby had battled him with the Love-Love Stick and Crystal Shard Gun, the four could feel their Matters vibrating inside them at the almost incomprehensibly horrible thing that was about to happen to their friend. The sight of a friend in such pain and fear was so against their nature it was physically hurting them.

Voids would only incarnate in an accordant form if they were influenced by positive or negative Matters and emotions while in a neutral state. Even while already "occupied" by a certain Matter, though, Voids, by their very nature, could still be affected by the emotions of those around them. For the same reason a Destroyer Void surrounded by love and friendship would experience pain, a Puffball was caused pain by the negative emotions of those around them.

The sheer amount of fear, anguish and pain practically floating around in the air of the immediate area was soaking into the Puffs like water into paper, making them squirm uncomfortably.

"This is what you get," Zero's (he's not there, he's not there, it's just in my head) monotone voice echoed from the back of Kirby's head. "Now you will experience the same kind of pain that you subjected me to. This is what you deserve."

The Kirbies turned back around just as everyone looked away from them and the puddle of cosmic vomit they'd made, having turned their attention back to El. All the Puffballs, even Tuffy, were now openly crying, the tears streaming uncontrollably down their faces.

"Do it." Mike said what El and every other person in the room was unable to when Jonathan hesitated, the sharp knifepoint hovering just over the wound on El's leg.

"Okay," Jonathan whispered almost too lowly for the others to pick up. He took deep, steadying breaths, trying to summon up a strength that he didn't have.

He seemed to realize that he'd never truly be ready, because before he could give himself the chance to have any more second thoughts, he sank the knife into El's festering wound.

Infected flesh squelched disgustingly as pus bubbled out. Eleven's shriek was muffled by the spoon she was biting down on with probably enough force to crack her teeth, but was still just as piercing to everyone present.

"Fuck!" Tuffy cursed as he stumbled backward, a wall of concentrated negative emotion--invisible Dark Matter--slamming into him and the other Puffballs as it practically rolled off the suffering girl in fog-like waves.

Keeby, undoubtedly the most positive of the four Puffballs, made a strangled noise, a pained scream not even able to escape before the wind was knocked out of him.

Kirby felt his Matters vibrating under his skin in agitation, like the arching back of a threatened cat. He knew, after the power he'd recently awoken, the sensation of Matter-vibration the others were experiencing couldn't have been as powerful as his.

Or as ready to surface.

After (finally) completing the incision, Jonathan dropped the knife to the ground with a clatter, looking like he wanted absolutely nothing more to do with it. Dustin cursed. El was sobbing so hard she began to cough. The wound on her leg was now reopened; widened into a slit. Jonathan closed his eyes and took deep breaths, clearly steeling himself. He lowered his glove-clad hand toward the opening in El's leg.

And then.

He.

Reached.

Inside.

Eleven screeched. Everyone exclaimed in horror, disgust, and sympathy. Will was crying. The Kirbies were hit by a sharp wave of pure agony that caused them all to stumble backward, with Kirby actually falling down, skin pale with horror and disgust and his own pain. El was practically attacking him with negativity. She didn't know, of course, and even if she did, Kirby couldn't blame her.

But it hurt. And this was how Zero felt, wasn't it? Every time Kirby had killed him? Every time he'd made a choice between the lives of his friends and the life of one of his own kind, who just wanted to feel happy but could only feel pain when he tried?

Kirby didn't ask for any of this. He didn't ask to make that choice. He didn't ask to come to this world. He just wanted to keep his friends safe. That was all. He didn't... he never meant for people to get hurt, but they never gave him a choice.

He'd tried to stop them peacefully, he really did. He'd tried to talk to them. He'd tried it with Dedede when he stole Dream Land's food supply; tried it with Meta Knight when he tried to take over Dream Land with the Halberd. He'd tried it with Drawcia and with Yin-Yarn and with Zero and with... with Magolor.

No matter what he did, whether they were friend or foe, somebody always got hurt because of him. Even though they'd only actually settled their rivalry with the Mask Incident, Kirby and Dedede had called a truce years earlier, after Nightmare. They'd come to an understanding; but even then, he'd had to battle Dedede three more times when he was possessed, despite the peace agreement they had reached. All he wanted was to be friends with him. That was all he wanted for everybody.

But they never. Gave. Him. A choice.

Kirby's nubs sparked, then ignited, and the rest of his body followed. The call of his purpose was almost as deafening as last time.

Befriend.

Protect.

But this time, Kirby didn't lose himself. He never had a say in anything--could never help people without paying some sort of price; could never just live peacefully. He never wanted to hurt anyone, not even Magolor; but like the others, he hadn't given Kirby a choice.

He was choosing now.

Nancy was trying to get Jonathan's attention. Jonathan was frantically trying to grab whatever was in El's leg. El was screaming at him to stop. She spat out the wooden spoon in her mouth and insisted she could do it herself. Encouraged by Nancy, Jonathan sat back and let her try. She extended her hand toward her leg.

Kirby didn't give her the chance.

Body cloaked in warm energy flowing pink and yellow, eyes shining pure white, Kirby stepped forward. Everyone, even the agonized El, went utterly still when they noticed him. Far from his usual bounciness, Kirby's every movement was somehow unnaturally smooth. Even the most noticeable turn of his head was so fluid one almost couldn't notice it was happening until ancient eyes previously trained in an entirely different direction were suddenly boring into one's soul.

Kirby made eye contact with El, and El just...

Understood.

She couldn't explain it, but in this state, Kirby somehow... radiated a feeling of pure safety; like he had everything under control. He felt like an untouchable, cosmically powerful hero aeons old, able and willing to annihilate anything that threatened those he cared about, yet he also felt like a gentle, lifelong friend who anyone could relate to, who they could share anything with.

El laid back, returning to the position she was in earlier.

Kirby walked over to her wounded leg. He placed his glowing nubs on it, and her entire leg was cloaked in the same light as his body. Oh, she screamed; alright. It burned, but only around the immediate area of the wound, blackened with festering Dark Matter and black veins.

As for the rest of it, she felt warm, safe, and loved. She felt like it was cleansing her, purging the evil.

Kirby stared unrelentingly down at his friend's leg, letting the energy flow from his nubs onto it--into it--filling it with positivity. Any trace of Dark Matter was instantly condensed into one spot and launched straight out of her leg and into the air.

Kirby could hear the fleshy little monster screeching as it flew through the air. With his vision enhanced by Matter Mode, he could see it even from below. It looked just like a tiny version of the tentacle that had originally done this to his friend--the one that had implanted this smaller piece of Zero's vessel into her body to begin with. At the memory, rage overtook him. The white glow in his eyes sharpened, becoming harsh.

The creature fell back down, and Kirby swallowed it whole.

Matter Mode instantly retreated back into his core as it was replaced with something entirely new.

When the rush of unfamiliar power dimmed to the comforting background hum of a Copy Ability, Kirby was left still stunned and breathless in Matter Mode's wake. Yet, the power tingling just under his skin was familiar.

He'd felt it when he'd first met El, and she'd thrown him into a wall.

The all-powerful deity gone and the curious child returned, Kirby reached upward and felt the new weight atop his head with his nubs.

It was a cap.

He heard footsteps; loud and unmistakable on the linoleum floor. He and his still-speechless friends turned and saw none other than Hopper, now accompanied by an unfamiliar bald Human man and a shorter woman.

Kirby and the new arrivals stared each other down, Hopper's eyes weary and resigned. He scrubbed a hand tiredly down his face.

"Jesus, marshmallow. I thought I told you to keep yourself and my daughter out of trouble."

Kirby smiled.


A/N: Kirby's (second!) existential crisis, self-hatred and belief that he deserves nothing better than to have to fight forever was (partially) inspired by this:

https/youtu.be/dxh0pN7b9JY

Figured we could use a bit of levity at the end, which I'm sure ruined the tone I'd set immediately before, but oh well :)

I got really into it with the scene about El's leg, but rereading that and everything afterward, I kinda hate it now, lol. Unfortunately, though, it'll just have to do.

By the way, Matter Mode is meant to be the same power Kirby gets with a Friend Star or with the Star Allies Sparkler. You know, where he can shoot yellow and pink energy projectiles? It's displayed especially well when he gets into that energy beam fight with Void Termina. That ability and all other Friend Abilities were forcefully awakened in him by the Pink Heart in Star Allies, except in this timeline, Kirby discovers it early and on his own. The Friend Abilities weren't granted by the Pink Heart, just awakened by the extra Heart Matter it imbued Kirby with.

That's right--Matter Mode and Friend Abilities are one and the same. Friend Abilities are more a power subset of Matter Mode, caused by Kirby only channeling some of Matter Mode's power and sharing it with his friends. The full-on usages I've shown so far are just full-on Matter Mode, which, rather than making Kirby and his friends a better team with the power of friendship and allowing Kirby to keep his normal personality, just makes Kirby an almost robotically heroic one-Puff army using positive energy to just annihilate anything in his path.

And Matter Mode is totally not inspired at all by the Avatar State no siree bob that's just crazy.

Ahem. In other news, I now have a (vague) outline of how the next (and last) few chapters are gonna go. If all goes according to plan, there should only be five chapters left, bringing us to a total of twenty-four. Wow!

We're not quite done yet, though, so hold on; for the Battle of Starcourt has begun.

I hope you all enjoyed! Let me know in the comments what you think of the direction this thing's going in, as well as any other thoughts or questions you may have (as well as any typos I may have made).

With that said, I will see you all...

Next time...