Chapter/Tale 5: Despair on Lunadark Star: Act 1

Author's Note Intro:

Hey everyone! Hope you're enjoying Smash Ultimate! I'm so glad I was able to play it that week! So anyways, how did you like the last chapter? Yeah, I know. There's definitely a lot to think about regarding about… well literally everything that happened so far. I'll admit, although the escape plan sounds great, honestly I can say it sucks in many aspects, due to how Zero executed his plan from the start; it was kinda pointless and just as Eclipse has said last chapter, there was no point of doing that when he could've wished for Niva to grant his wish just like that. What was he even thinking?

Oh well. With that in mind, I should say that at some point in the chapter 5 arc that's when they'll escape and probably appear somewhere in the middle… I don't know yet. Eh, I'll think of something. I'll just say there may be new abilities on this planet because there's honestly a lot to go with the theme of that planet. Oh, and I've changed the name from Shadow Star to Lunaclipse Star, but you can still call it any one you prefer; this planet will basically be this version of Japan. With that, let's start off with our protagonists heading off for Lunadark Star. Enjoy!

(Disclaimer- I don't own the opening songs listed here. You should know that.)

Recap so far…

After the battle with Peganoa Knight ended on Skylight Star, our band of human heroes sets their next destination to Shadow Star for the next day. Meanwhile, Princess Kailaine and Adeline are suddenly aided by the help of one of the Zero Knights, Eclipse, providing them a means of a possible escape and the guarantee to turn the tables on Zero and Niva's safety. As everyone settles in for a night's sleep, something bizarre occurs with Kirby and Karly, as well as everyone crying in their sleep uncontrollably. What's going on with them?

Opening Theme 5: (PSI-missing- A Certain Magical Index)

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Chapter 5: Inner Struggle of Dedede: Hope Through Despair

Kirby's POV: The Taste of Despair- Next Day

Another day has gone by. We're halfway into the month, and we're halfway there. That's good… if only I wasn't in bad shape as of this morning. I was in deep pain last night as I slept, not to mention I was having a gruesome time in a nightmare like no other; one that I never experienced before. After that, I don't think I was myself anymore.

That morning, I felt groggy when I woke up. My body felt so stiff and sore with every movement possible. Not only that, but I was feeling an intense pain coming from my back. I couldn't imagine a worst way to wake up in the morning than feeling like this. After I had woken up, I sluggishly went downstairs to meet with everyone, and it seems to me that everyone had the same experience too; nonetheless, they were pretty okay with their expressions as if they had gotten over it.

"Morning, everyone…" I greeted slowly. Everyone wasn't that responsive, but they still waved back. "I see that no one had a good night's sleep, I suppose?"

"Yeah, I didn't feel so good last night," Karly groaned, clenching her stomach. "It was like going through labor for me. Not to mention I was having a nightmare as well too."

"I thought so. I had the worst nightmare of my life; I thought everyone was dead for good… I'm just glad it wasn't real," I sighed. I sat myself down on the table and just planted my face directly on the top of the table. It just felt good this way.

"What's going on with you guys today? You all acting right or what?" Dedede asked. "Sure, I did have a nightmare, but I'm still fine. Come on, don't be all that depressed! You know, we're still halfway into the month, so hopefully things should turn around somehow for us." He's still positive; that's good.

"I hope so, but I'm not entirely sure how," Bandana Dee yawned, with a dazed Aqua leaning next to him comfortably. "There's still a lot of factors that are still involved."

"Don't worry, everything will work out when it calls for it," Aege spoke. "That's what I believe to happen anyways. I think things will turn out different than what we least expect it to."

"I'll take your word for it," Dash shrugged. "So, our next destination is Lunadark Star, right? I wonder what's gonna happen there. I've heard it's most famous for lots of similar themes that most likely goes with a planet like that."

"Who can say for sure? We'll find out once we get there, bro." Dylan added to that.

Breakfast was served at the time, which is my favorite moment to start the mornings. If only I wasn't feeling down that time, I would've gobbled up multiple bowls of them. But that never happened. I ate very little and the whole time I was just poking at my plate like a picky child. Everyone found this very weird and unusual for me not to even leave breakfast without a couple of bowls cleaned out of food.

"Kirby, what's wrong?" Callie asked. "You were never this resistant to not eating, you know. Are you okay? Karly's eating okay, but not you."

"I… I don't know how to describe it… but maybe, I guess I don't feel hungry as I normally am," I vaguely replied, still poking at my food with a fork. "Sorry."

"That's okay, Kirby," Dinah says. "We'll save that for later whenever you feel like so. But it's definitely strange of you to not be eating at all. You aren't called the Pink Demon for nothing. If that's the case, then did something happen to you last night? I know I'm not the only one." Everyone agreed.

"Actually, I did suffer from a sharp stomach pain and some targeted back pain, not to mention that I was sweating and turning like crazy, also uncontrollable crying I noticed," I explained. "I thought I had broken by then."

"I must say, for someone to be experiencing all of that at once is definitely abnormal for it to be just any regular condition. If that's the case, they I can only assume you may be undergoing some sort of puberty process as of right now," Saito guessed. "The rest of us might be affected by something else entirely."

"You think so?" I groaned. "That's really cliché. Karly's doing okay over there, so I don't see how that's possible."

"Think again, I'm having a bad time too." Karly made a cranky face as she stares at me. "I'm not supposed to overeat like you do all the time, Kirby."

"Either way, let's just hope that it won't stick around for long when we get to the next planet over," Merina sighs. "It wouldn't be good if you weren't feeling under the weather, you two."

"Thanks for that, Merina. I'm gonna take a shower," I groaned.

Eventually, I had to excuse myself from the table for a while before going into the shower. As I settled in with the water pouring from the nozzle, my mind was swirling and spiraling inside mentally. It was like I was disappearing from this world or it was some kind of sickness in me.

"What's going on with me?" I thought to myself.

I could still feel my back hurting for a while. Sometime later has passed; perhaps I was in the shower for too long. I had already changed into my normal clothes without my jacket by then and sat on the couch to wait for the others to finish. Most of them were done at the hour, so it wasn't much of a problem. This stubborn feeling doesn't seem to go away yet, and all the more while I felt more depressed than usual in the process. I wonder why?

As I gave that a chance to dive into thought, it seemed that everyone else had finished with getting ready. Soon, we were going to venture off to the next planet and repeat the whole process again until we get to Crystal Star. That makes me think too much of Kaila and Adeline, who we are trying to save. I'm hoping for any kind of change now. I sighed as I sunk further into the couch. It hurts even more.

Besides that, I just wanna leave as soon as possible. Eventually, before they were all done, Dinah took the time to speak to me. "Hey Kirby. How are you feeling?" She asks when sitting down next to me. Now that I think about it, she's neither in any of her two personalities- no horns, no halo, just in the middle. I think she's back in her original body now; she'll most likely switch between them every once in a while.

"I don't know about that, but I know I don't feel so good," I weakly smile. "I don't know why I'm feeling this way or dealing with the pain. Now I can just feel it surging through my back like crazy; it's kinda itchy now that I think about it."

"Hmm? Your back?" Dinah in response places her hand on my back, which made me flinch and hiss while jumping a little bit away from her. She then pulls me back to try again, this time holding me down. It goes on for a little bit until she cops a feel on my back.

"Hold it, Kirby. I think I feel something." She holds me with her breasts touching my back for whatever reason until she lets out a small gasp, letting me go but holding my arm.

"What is it, Dinah?" I asked. She touched my back again to make sure she's feeling something, then pulls away from my back.

"Oh my gosh. I think we've found the cause of your moody condition. It may be the same for Karly too," Dinah gasps, getting everyone's attention and circling around us.

"What's going on with Kirby, Dinah?" Fololo asked. "Did you find out what's making him and Karly acting different?" Falala asked also.

"I think I did, guys. That proof can be found on their backs. Look!" Dinah suddenly grabs my shirt and lifts it up, showing them my fleshly back and making me turn red. Everyone gasps upon seeing whatever was on my back.

"Holy nova, his back has some kind of weird symbol on it, not to mention there's two big lumps on it!" Adena points out. "That must be the cause of his mood today! Does that also goes for Karly too?"

"Sure seems like it," Karly replied. "I can feel it too on my own back. What does it mean?"

"I'll tell you what it means," Suddenly Meta Knight appeared from the crowd as if he was waiting for his time to shine. Kind of cliché, if you ask me. "Boy, I did not ever see this coming."

"The heck are you getting on at?" Dedede asked. "You knew what was going on with them from the start? Why didn't you open up sooner?"

"Because I wasn't too sure about it, whether it appeared I was positive about them or not. The thing is, I thought it would've been impossible to happen in their human state, but it did," Meta explained.

"Don't leave us in suspense! Tell us, what's happening to Kirby and Karly?" Aqua demanded.

"The truth is unbelievable, but trust me on this when I tell you that they're undergoing just exactly as Saito stated earlier, a process commonly known as Winglenovia," Meta answered.

"What the heck is that anyways?" I asked. "Some sort of murder motive in the form of a personality disordering disease in a killing game?"

"In other words, you two are growing wings," He answered, leaving everyone in a state of shock.

"What?!"

"Your actions and mood says it all. When someone has Winglenovia, they'll experience it overnight at a time when they have matured. Of course, they'll experience nausea, stomach cramp, a high fever, sweating, loss of appetite, mood shifts, no control over emotions, uncontrollable crying, and of course, back pain. It all depends on the person who gets it, that is. After that, the wings will grow in due time once the symbol appears on their backs. That is what you two are going through now."

"Seriously? We're getting our own wings?!" Karly gasped. "No way! But how is it possible for us to just randomly grow a pair of wings as of right now?"

"I know it's hard to take in; I didn't believe it at first either. It bothers me as to why you're experiencing it now due to your current human state. Such a thing never occurred with humans before. I'm still intrigued as to why it's happening," He sighs.

"So when will they grow?" I asked.

"I'm uncertain as to when, but just know that it could happen at any given time here. Best be prepared for that," He confirms. "It's certainly not going to happen just by standing here. We best be going now, and we're going in style, of course."

"With the Halberd? Oh yeah, I've always wanted to see the inside of it personally," Dedede yelped. "I was thinking it might be weird to fly to planets like that, but what's the harm in it?"

"Thanks for that. Anyways, how about we take our leave as of right now? I'll explain more to you on the way there, but for the time being, you two should be fine," Meta assures us both.

"Yeah, we should be going- it is noon, so we should be there to meet with Yae soon," Merina added. "I hope she's doing okay…"

"Well, what are we waiting for? Let's go!" I shouted although I lacked the spirit. Everyone else agreed as we all flood out the door of the tower and surf to where the Halberd was. I could tell Meta can hardly contain his excitement to finally use his own Halberd in this situation. Things would go well then… but soon that was all going down the drain.

"All everyone, now before you all truly step foot on the Halberd, we must establish some ground rules," Meta declared. "Especially since the number one rule is to never touch any of my things in there! EVER! If any one of you does, you all are gonna be screwed! Especially you, Kirby. Got it? Good."

But I didn't even say anything yet. I don't even know what he's talking about.

It was nice to go the rest of the adventure with the Halberd, but now I don't think we'll ever get to do that if only Meta Knight had just turned around behind him. Fololo and Falala were trying to get his attention.

"Uh, Meta Knight? About that…" Fololo tried to say. It wasn't long before everyone realized what was going on, and they went into shock.

"What now? Can it wait until we get inside?" Meta said. "I've got a few things to take care of before we go."

"How should we put it sensibly? I guess we should tell you the fact that…" They both pointed behind him and laid it on him. "YOUR BATTLESHIP IS GONE, META KNIGHT."

"What? Nonsense, that can't be true. As you can see, it's obviously right over there….. Oh, you've gotta be kidding me!" Meta Knight turns around, only to be proven wrong. Where the Halberd was supposed to be yesterday- it wasn't there anymore. It was gone.

Meta let out light gasps much to his dismay. "This… this can't be…! Impossible! It's gone?! When?! How?! Why?! WHO?!"

"Um, Meta Knight?" Kazela called out to him, holding what appears to be a note. "I found this note on the dock. But I'm sure you're not gonna like what happened to it overnight; or maybe I should say who managed to steal it overnight." She hands him the note and he read it, radiating great anger as veins popped visible from his forehead.

"So? What happened to it, Kazela?" Karly asked. "Who took it?"

"It turns out… it was stolen by one of the members of the Zero Seven Force, who calls herself Coral. It says:"

I stole your battleship while you were all sleeping and crying like little sissies to replace our old one, Masked Swordsman. We'll give it back to you… in about NEVER. Happy travels, suckers!

Signed, Coral.

P.S. Thanks for the supply of drinks too! Hope you don't mind that I take some! Oh, and captain, you've run out of brews as of right now. Thanks!

"All of it?! That was three years' worth!" Meta shouted. "And she took it all?!"

"That's what it says," Kazela sweatdrops. "And now, here it comes. Everyone, cover your ears." We all did that without hesitating to do so.

Now Meta was about to crack at the sight of this- his battleship stolen again, this time for good. He gritted his teeth, snarled and growled, clenched his fists, took in a deep breath, escalated his voice, and then after that… he shattered.

"No… not again… out of all the people…. It had to be her?! Unforgivable…" Actually, he popped after this line. "SON OF A-!"

To understand what just happened, just imagine it as the loudest triggered scream you ever heard in your life. Meta Knight screamed so loud that I'm pretty sure the entire galaxy could clearly hear it, even perhaps Kaila and Adeline. Heck, maybe even Zero could hear it, and he knows he's really feeling it; that's music to his ears… if he had any, of course.

Oh boy, this is gonna be a long day today. And for that reason, how about I just skip to the part when we arrived on Shadow Star by using the Warpstar and warping to the nearest town on the planet since the Chaos Gate was malfunctioning? Before that, Meta Knight was awfully down in the down and collapsed of exhaustion, so it took longer than an hour to calm him down and hauling him on the Warpstar before flying off and going into hyperdrive to the next planet.

Sorry everyone, I'm really not feeling it today. And that quote was not intended.

Coincidentally…

"Hey Kaila, do you hear something?" Adeline asked me. "I could hear it in my own dreams just now."

"Hmm… sounds like the scream of a triggered swordsman to me," I replied. "I just hope it doesn't go on for long, I just wanna sleep a little more."

"Yeah, but we should ready ourselves when that happens, you know. Don't wanna miss it before we're stuck here for good." Adeline said.

"I know, I know. We just don't know when exactly it's gonna happen, but it is close, I can say that for certain. Now can I get a few minutes of sleep? Thanks for that." I groaned before collapsing entirely.

"If you say so…" Adeline mumbles afterwards. "I won't hesitate to drag you out the hard way if it comes to that."

Another Coincidence…

"Excuse me, Young Master," One of my personal servants asked me. "I can't help but ask if you did hear some kind of scream just now."

"Hmm, now that I think about it, I think I did hear a scream outside of this planet. It sounds like the scream of one of the Pink Demon's allies; now that's music to my ears. A wonderful form of what I call pure blood art." I chuckle.

"I've never heard of that before, Young Master," She replies. "Is that actually a thing?"

"Yeah, I just came up with it now actually," I sweatdropped. "But it will be once the pieces are set in place and when I finally get my hands on Kailaine and the rest of the Seven Elemental Princesses. And then we'll be able to crush those human warriors and rule the world. Oh boy, I can hardly wait, but it's a hassle managing everything else," I admitted afterwards.

"Don't fret, Young Master. Everything will run in your favor soon, I just know it will," She said to me. Now that was even better for pure blood art. I smiled at her.

"Well, thanks for that. I'll keep that in mind for the remainder of this time and for future reference. Now I've gotta figure out the key to unlocking that yet… oh well, it'll come to me sooner or later." I shrugged. "Either way, I can't wait to see the look on their faces once they get here!" I laughed haughtily until I kinda choked a little and ceased it at once.

"Oh yeah, where's my booze? I forgot to take another shot today."

"Right away, Young Master!" My servant obeyed with a smile.

Kirby's POV: Cherryna Bloomarixa Capital, Tale of Despair

It was somewhere in the afternoon, and it seems like it was still dark for some reason. However, what amazed me was the town itself. Although Shadow Star, or Lunadark as well can be seen as some kind of Halloween bash or Castlevania if you prefer weirdos, it is, but actually it focuses more on the theme of Japan, being it as what you know of it as. Hey, I don't watch anime or read manga for nothing, you know. Either way, it was still beautiful and it looks lively today. Cherryna Capital was like Cappy Town, with a big circle hub and something in the middle of it. Everyone's just having a good time and chatting.

Still, I'm not sure why it's dark at a time it's not supposed to be. That wasn't the only thing I noticed. But that would take forever noting every single reference as well, so I'll just leave it at that for now. While the crowds were busy, we were already at a house supposedly where the fifth elemental princess lived. Inside was pretty fancy, just like a real traditional house in Japan. I would enjoy it more if only Meta wasn't bawling his eyes out in shallow regrets; actually, this is the first time I've ever seen him shed tears before. I don't blame him though.

Anyway, we were sitting down on the carpet floor as we were greeted by the fifth princess, who had just came from training. She had long purple hair and lavender eyes, with a bang covering her right eye. A black neck brace wrapped her neck while she wore what seems to be a traditional ninja outfit for females, as it was fuchsia purple and sleeveless with her arms being covered in long black sleeves and two metal bracelets, the top of the garb vest seemed to carry her big breasts without any problems. She wore a ribbon sash around it, and the bottom was the end of the outfit; she also had long black stockings and thong sandals as well. I also noticed that she had a bushy tail and some animal ears. Yep, she's cursed too. She sits on her knees in a traditional matter and turns to face the four other princesses as well.

"Hey guys. Long time no see," She smiles. "Sorry about that, I just came back from another training session with Master again. So, I see you've brought some friends over; any particular reason why?"

"It's a long story, Yae," They sighed. "You wouldn't like it either, but it's important, you know."

Yae, the name of the fifth princess, had already understood what they were gonna tell her already before they could even speak. "I see, so Zero's still on the loose, and he's taken Kaila hostage once they attacked on Popstar, and now his forces are diminished one by one by these guys here, correct? I'll admit, I wasn't aware of this at all when I should've been."

"Huh? How did you know what they were gonna say?" Kazela asked.

"I'm more than just a ninja fox princess, you know," She replies. "I'm also psychic; the name's Yaenia Nirazeiko, but call me Yae. In short, I can read your mind and dive right into your memories, kind of. Saves the trouble of an unnecessary explanation, don't you think?"

"I guess so," She replies.

"In any case, you all have been doing that by finding the main den of darkness on each planet and destroying it. Well, to be honest, a lot of weird things had taken place lately; there's been so many that I don't know where to start," She sighs.

"That's okay, the same was for us too," Merina replies. "I suppose you wouldn't happen to know specifically the cause that started it all, would you?"

"Oh, that? If I had to guess, it may have started when some purple star crashed somewhere in the Voidana Palace a few weeks ago, or so I've heard. At first, no one ever thought of it as strange, since no one dares to step foot in the Void Capital. But that all changed when all of a sudden the Void Capital invaded capitals, and one thing led to a series of events that went out of control," Yae explains.

"That must be the fifth Gem Star there. No doubt this was Dark Matter's doing," I concluded. "Speaking of which, what kind of incidents have been happening as a result?"

Yae was hesitant about saying it, but she decides to do so anyways. "Incidents? I can say no one was ever the same again once tragedy struck. It began with the invasion, then escalating into pure bloodshed as they slaughtered innocent people and animals without any hesitation; soon, people were being assassinated without warning left and right- children were kidnapped suddenly, and you could find anyone's dead bodies in your house unexpectedly and would be framed for murder by the Emperor here and be punished. Worst of it all, it seems Lunadark tends to attract surviving Demon Beasts after Nightmare's defeat and they swarm around Void Capital now; turns out Void Capital gathered an army of them, and the majority were ones that we've defeated and they're reanimated again. Not only has this capital, but all other ones now live in hidden fear because of the Void." Everyone let out small, concerning gasps at the hearing of her testimony.

"Demon Beasts?!" Dedede shouted. "The hell?!"

"But that's impossible! Of course there were surviving ones, but that's absurd to make such a bold statement!" Meta Knight piped up suddenly. "How's that possible for a capital to suddenly attract what was supposed to be the end of the Demon Beast race and use them for their own gain? There shouldn't be that many surviving ones at all in one place!"

"Thought so too. But I should've known that due to the fact that Void Capital is now a fortress of shadows; I think its aura attracts them all in that location. Nonetheless, that's where they've all holed up now," She continues further. Just like Jambastion…

"Void Capital? Who's the emperor there?" Aege asked. "There's no way a capital could give out mindless orders without one."

"The emperor of that capital… was assassinated without warning. Now it's overrun by a specific demon beast known as Monovoida, who created these dark beings known as Monozodias, beings that takes the form of animals with human instincts and intense bloodlust; that's what attacked the other capitals and caused the slaughter to happen," Yae answers.

"You've gotta be kidding… this planet's overrun by demon beasts? What the hell?" Dedede groaned. "Looks like my plan didn't work after all."

"Regardless, we still have to take them down, no matter what," Karly sighed. "But it appears it won't be as easy as it sounds."

"Damn, so that's what's going on here. What else is going on?" I asked, although I was still gloomy from before.

"Cherryna is the only capital that hasn't been affected by the Void, but sooner or later it will fall victim to this as well if we don't put a stop to it. Believe me, I've tried to infiltrate the capital many times, but I wasn't able to reach the palace due to the many Monozodias flooding the entire city. Now there's some kind of barrier protecting the entire Void, so no one can get in at all."

"That means we need to find the Jewel Chamber on this planet and get the Gem Soul Spirit to break the barrier then. But that will have to wait. There's more problems to deal with than the current one," Bandana Dee added.

"I know this is too much to ask of any of you, but you'd still be willing to help me raid the Void Capital, right?" Yae asked us. We all nodded without hesitation.

"Of course we would- that's the whole point of being here in the first place," Callie answered. "We'll try our best to handle any problem you may have."

"Thanks guys," Yae smiled. "Just like the old times again, eh?"

"Damn right it is!" Dinah chuckled. "Now all we need is to know where to start on this."

"Maybe first we can take a look around the city and see what we can find out," I suggested. "These so-called Monozodias are really something; I've never heard of a demon beast like that before."

"Yae! Are you planning to send fresh meat into the capital again? You should know better, not without letting me get a taste of that precious steak myself!" A voice echoed from the hallway, thus opening the sliding door to the room, although we saw no one there.

"Huh?" We all wondered in unison. "There's no one at the door-"

"Upupupupupupupu!"

Suddenly we all screamed and jumped back at what appears to be a small being that popped up in front of us. It was… a stuffed animal?

"Konichiwa everyone!" It chuckled in a sinister way.

"Huh? Who the heck are you?" Dedede asked.

Asking a question like that was enough to make it mad. Now that I got a closer look, it appeared to be a black and white animal that resembles a teddy bear, being split into separate colors of Ying-Yang. On the white side, all it had was a simple black eye and its mouth looks almost like a bear's flattened, whereas the black side has a horizontal red stripe like a scar over its eye and a grin for the other half. Its hands and legs are like a fictional bear character, being that it has the fox paws on them. It also had fur in the middle and a bushy tail of nine. That's definitely unexpected. And also it was wearing the clothes of a Ninja master.

"Well, Sumimasen if you had any brains!" It growled. "That's how I greet guests like you lot anyways!"

"What is that? Some sort of build-a-bear reject?" Kazela commented. "It's hideous but yet it's kinda cute- by 10% of course." A bullet to the heart and self-esteem.

"How dare you, young princess?! Have you no manners at all?!" It growled. "Come on, Yae! At least you should've mentioned me when you told them about the Monozodias! They're breaking my poor innocent heart like yesterday's trash!" We sweatdropped.

"Wait, you're one of the Monozodias Yae spoke about?!" Dylan exclaimed.

"Yeah, if you're done insulting me!" It calmed down a little bit. "Allow me to knock some sense into you brainless bakas! My name's Monokitsune; I'm half-hope and half-despair! Burn that into your empty brains, you idiots! And I'm not a build-a-bear reject either! I'm not even a bear; are you blind?!"

"Okay, but you look more like an alternate version of the original despair care bear in that murder mystery visual novel series," I compared and replied. "Sounds like a rip-off copyright claim or something. You sure you're not in chains with that guy, because I'm not going through that."

"Of course not! How dare you try to link me with that despair lunatic care bear?!" Monokitsune growled, unsheathing his stubby claws. "True, I just so happen to resemble him, but don't you dare get the wrong idea, pink boy. Besides, if you haven't figured it out yet, I'm no bear- I'm a kitsune. That's Japanese for a fox. You didn't notice my nine tails and my fox ears? Amateurs. Show some respect, I'm Yae's Sensei."

We stare at him in disbelief before Yae.

"Yeah, it's a long story," Yae awkwardly replies. "But in the end, he became my sensei and so that's how I got through. He reminds me of my old stuffed animal toy I had since I was little, so that's also why. He's so cute, right?" Yae squeals a bit at that line.

"In case you're wondering, I'm not like all those other Monozodias although you never encountered one before, but basically as Yae explained before, they're all made by Monovoida, a surviving demon beast after Nightmare's defeat years ago. Now you're wondering, how? Who knows, but this may be more connected to your current situation deeper than you think. Let's not worry about that for now. Anyway, you get the gist of what's happening on this planet, right? Listen, for the time that you'll spend here, you'll live under our rules until you go out on various missions for us until we're able to launch a full scale assault on the Void Capital," Monokitsune explained. "Of course, we need to break that barrier first, so we make that our top priority."

"Where are you going with this?" Kazela questioned. "Not that anyone would wanna hear from your mouth."

"How dare you, young princess! For your own sake, this is important!" He steamed. "Look, we have to get rid of any other problems that'll come our way before anything else! Who knows? I think hope may be on your side after all; something tells me things might change around in the way you'd least expect it to!"

"If you say so…" Kazela sighed.

"Moving on, you lot will all have to change your outfits due to the natural law of Cherryna Capital that everyone visitor must adhere to wearing traditional outfits," He continued further.

"Wait, why do we have to change again?" Karly huffed. The boys gave her a "You know why" look instantly.

"One- it's the law and all must follow it to avoid serious punishment. And two- just look at yourselves, especially the females in your party, except the young princess here. I mean, the way you all dress and such are giving people massive nuts and nosebleeds like a turf war in Splatoon; you're making men lose winning the challenge of every November! Seriously, as if pink girl's original outfit wasn't enough to make me bleach my eyeballs on the cover manga of today's latest issue. Talk about no sense of style! The heck you're trying to be, Elizabeth from Nanatsu no Taizai? Woman, you're showing way too much skin in that skimpy outfit, not to mention everyone's biggest complaint in their reviews ended up being you in the cover image of the story! What the heck, pinky?"

"Hey, it's not like I had anything else to wear the first time! What's wrong with my first outfit anyways?" Karly shot. "It was a beauty; there's no way anybody hated it!"

"YOU GOT THAT WRONG!" He refuted. Suddenly, an aura like bullet just struck Karly in the shoulder, I mean it literally.

"Ow! What the heck, you little fox?!" Karly groaned, clenching her shoulder. "You shot the words right out of my mouth! Wait, did you just literally shoot me?!"

"Er, sorry about that," Monokitsune sweatdropped. "It's one of my most famous ninja moves: The Shooty Refuty! Anyone who says a false statement will cower to my truth bullets and get refuted- literally! And to refute your statement, everyone has their own reasons for that, but one of them remains the same. Either way, we can all agree your first outfit was freaking hideous! Don't deny it!"

"But-!" Karly spoke.

"I'm gonna have to cut you off there with a big nope! Rules are rules, and you must obey them! Resist, and I'll have no choice but to give you severe punishment. You don't want that, do you?" Monokitsune demanded. "Then stop complaining! You're lucky I have enough for each and every one of you here. Later on, we're gonna start with icebreakers with the rest of the family, so now I'll have Yae take you to the changing rooms where you all will wear these for the rest of your stay. Any more objections unless you wanna be refuted like her?"

Everyone shook their heads no.

"Good. The men I won't have a problem with changing. Ladies however, take the clothes, go into the changing rooms and cover your shame! You should know better from the incident at Aquarius Star! How dare you ladies tried to kill your galaxy's only hope! That brings despair; you all caused a revolution there!" Monokitsune scolded the ladies. Although some parts weren't true, that was basically the point.

"Yes, sir…" They all replied heartbroken. Soon, we were all ordered to change once Yae led us to the dressing rooms. The boys had no complaints as opposed to the girls who were mumbling and groaning.

"It's Sensei!" He refuted back. "You will refer to me as- oh, who am I kidding?"

Later on, we were all finished. The boys were wearing yukatas in the same color preference. However, the girls were wearing something different; only Kazela was wearing a yukata. They were wearing long Japanese cheongsams, that's what they are called here, in the form similar to a yukata that hugs the body tight and a bit of cleavage was shown, except for Karly. In my opinion, mine's was pink- weird at first sight but I don't mind it.

"Ah, now that's better," Monokitsune blushed and grinned carrying a manga and whistling. "Nothing like taking a good dump while reading manga on a daily basis does wonders. Ooh, looking good, ladies. That's better censorship right there. Impressive, right? These were all made by Yae herself single-handedly in a matter of minutes! Best give her thanks she provided clothes to cover your shame. I hope this was enough to satisfy you readers out there- you're welcome by the way. Upupupupupupupu!"

"I freaking hate you," Karly grumbled under her breath.

"Thanks for the compliment, flat-chest. Yae, front and center please." At cue, Yae appears instantly with a smoke bomb that quickly vanishes, a most basic ninja skill. "Anyways, we'll discuss matters later on. Right now, let's play some icebreakers to start the mood, eh? In customs, we always play traditional games in order to get to know each other better. And so, we'll start with a most simple game: Jan-ken-pon!"

"You mean Rock-Paper-Scissors?" I translated.

"A man of culture, I see. In that case, just know that we'll be playing differently this time," Monokitsune explained, whipping out toy hammers and silver helmets out of nowhere. "In this version, once you made your move, whoever loses must quickly grab the helmet to avoid being dunked on by the winner with the squeaky hammer. Simple enough, right?"

"Yeah! I'm ready to play! What about you guys?" I asked the others. They just shrugged. "I'll take that as a yes."

"Awesome! Now let's get this ball rolling! The winner will receive a fabulous prize depending on whoever becomes lucky. Regardless, everyone have fun! Let's see… how about the king of epicness against female Kirby?" He pointed.

"All right!" Dedede cheered. "You're going down, Karly!" Karly said nothing in response as they walked up to the table where on it were two pairs of hammers and helmets. They sat on opposite ends and held out their fists to each other.

"Round one! Let's give it everything you got! It's go time!" Monokitsune gestured and waved his hand down for them both to start.

"Jan-Ken-Pon!" They both made their move. Dedede shot scissors. Karly shot rock. It all came down to their speed in reacting. A glint beamed in her eye as she grabbed the hammer for the strike- unfortunately she was too slow.

"And I'm safe!" Dedede cackled, already grabbing the helmet and equipping it in a flash. "Too easy! Hahahahahaha!" Or was he?

"You're not safe from her!" Bandana Dee suddenly blurts out in a panic. "Run for it, Dedede-san!"

"Huh?" Both Monokitsune and Dedede replied. It wasn't long before a murderous aura filled the room like airborne poison. "Eh?!" Oh shoot, I totally forgot about that.

"Let the heaven's wrath fall to eliminate the fool in front of me…" Karly was emitting that same aura we felt just now. She was chanting some kind of spell rite or something while holding the hammer in the offense position. Dedede freaked out.

"Wait… this… Karly, I already have my helmet on… there's no point in doing whatever it is that you're doing… can't we talk this out?" Dedede tried to consult with Karly in a panic. "Hey, Monofox! Can't you call this off already; I've already beaten her!"

"Huh?! Oh, right! Karly, the winner has been decided long ago! Just accept your defeat already! Ack!" Monokitsune spoke to her, and that ultimately got him a boot to the face as Karly had kicked him across the room without even batting her leg or letting anyone see it clearly; the poor monozodia hit the wall unconscious.

"Karly, knock it off! It's just a game, girl!" Dedede shouted, and that was his biggest regret ever. Karly was about to shed blood, if it was painted pink. She raised her hammer to strike the king with her bloody possession of rage taking over her body like a hollow puppet with only the incentive intent of trigger happy bloodshed.

"Dedede, DODGE!" We, the boys, warned him. "She's gonna kill you!" Our warning came somehow too late.

"HEEEYAAAAAAH! DIE!" She pulled back and swung with the wrath of a diabolical hand; before Dedede could even react or dodge, the hammer made contact with his helmet. You all would be thinking that a squeaky hammer wouldn't do jack, right? Well…

You got that wrong. So did I as well- the hammer purged through the helmet and right into his head so hard that it forced a strong nosebleed out of his nostrils, slamming him into the floor! It was even enough to make the hammer blow a hole in the ground and snap off! Everyone froze and gasped, quivering at almost what appeared to be a murder in action, our mouths couldn't stay shut for that time being. A steam evaporated from the huge lump that swelled on Dedede's head, and he's pretty out for the day.

"Dedede! Why didn't you dodge?!" Aege shouted. "Always dodge a woman's attacks, man! Noob- you didn't dodge and it costed you!"

"Now's not the time for that, Aege," Fololo sighed. "He's knocked out cold, probably for the rest of the day too. But to think a toy hammer was enough to do that- no, maybe it's because of her."

The aura disappeared completely from Karly, who bore an innocent look on her face as she smiles… like she had nothing to do with this. Monokitsune got up from his crater and was steaming angry at her.

"What the heck, woman?! It's just a game- you didn't have to go that far! Now we've got an unconscious ally lying in his own pool of nose blood because you knocked him out like this was a game of whack-a-mole! Not to mention you tossed me across the room as well! Didn't I warn you before? Now you're gonna get it, tsundere!" Monokitsune lunged at Karly- well, more like he waddled towards her for the punishment.

Only to be picked up by a suddenly angry Karly. "Screw you, foxy! HIYAH!" She yells as she hurls the fox across the room again.

"Oh god!" He cried out; little did we expect it, he ended up exploding! That added to our current state of shock as well. It had never occurred to me that my sister had that kind of personality in her; this is beyond a tsundere. It won't change the fact that now he's gone-

"What the honk do you think you're doing?!" Suddenly, Monokitsune reappeared in front of us again, making us scream a second time. "Seriously, you all need to keep a leash on that abomination of a warrior girl! I mean, her personality's worse than a simple tsundere! She just have clear anger issues now! What's with her all of a sudden?!"

"Didn't you just explode?" Dylan asked. "Just how? Karly threw you and you self-destruct instantly!"

"Oh, you mean one of my clones, right?" Monokitsune shrugged. "They sure come in handy, don't they? Classic ninja basic. Anyways, is there something wrong with this girl? It's like she has a personality disorder or something."

"That's because she does," Meta answered. "Only that her sudden change in personality is a side effect of Winglenovia. It all depends on the person, however. Kirby we can handle, but Karly now is suffering an emotional disorder part of it. That's why."

"You mean she's growing wings or something? I guess that's plausible of an answer," Monokitsune sighed. "With the scene that had unfolded, looks like we're gonna have to put the games on hold for now. As for this guy, tsk tsk. He lacks training- he'll need a private training session sometime in the week or the day; he'll undergo a special training regimen for this single basic."

"What kind exactly?" Merina asked. "Any training basically involves tons of skills… unless you have a specific one in mind you wanna try out, right?"

"Simple: he'll be learning how to dodge like a pro! That's the most critical rule in combat: ALWAYS DODGE! Right Yae?" Yae nodded.

"That's right, Sensei. Always dodging is a basic skill in a ninja way," Yae replied. Somehow, I doubt that it's a ninja basic. Nonetheless, it's crucial in combat. Who knows if we're asked to become phantom thieves or something later on in the days here? All we can do is wait for the results to happen.

"What a shame we ended up off on the wrong foot of things. Oh well, we'll have to continue some other time if we have the chance to do so. Everyone, you're free to roam the capital for the day. However, be sure to not draw any sort of attention to yourselves as a safety precaution. There's no telling what effect that would have on this city. I'll handle this guy here; take that girl out to cool down until the night strolls by." Monokitsune allowed.

"But it's already dark outside," I replied. "It's only in the afternoon or something, right?"

"Nah, that's just how it is during the Luna Festival. Now beat it before I end up giving you all punishment! You don't wanna be around when I'm pissed off!" He yelled at us to leave; we had no choice but to comply with his orders. Soon, we all left the house and went our separate ways at that point.

Cherryna City: Luna Festival (Festival Town- Mystic Ninja Starring Goemon)

I went with Meta and Kazela as we walked through the streets filled with busy people who were having a great time as they headed to booths to get food and compete in carnival games for various prizes. It was lively just like how it was back home, there's always something new every day that makes it exciting. We walked through the pass of the booths as we traveled a little further throughout the capital while playing some of them as well as getting some goodies. Soon, we had a decent amount of stuff to take with us. A few hours have passed since then. While we were walking, I was hoping to ask Meta about my wings, but I suppose he's not in the mood for talking as of now. It wouldn't hurt to get something out of him, right?

"Hey Meta, what was it like for you when you had your wings?" I dared to ask. Meta didn't have a problem in replying back to that.

"It was… rather a pain-giving experience. When that happened to me, it was still back in the days of when I was still in the GSA. It all happened without any warning… and soon I was in pain for a decent amount of time. Like turning into a mutant or being corrupted in darkness; wings come out raw, so they're naturally unstable. Nothing but small sprouts on your back when they start, but it gradually grows until it pops. At least that's how I remember it; everything then was a blur for me. I had somewhat control over it, but not until after the bloody war I lost it. I'm not certain whether it'll happen to you, but i know the process is entirely the same for all," He explained.

"Geez, that sounded gruesome when you put it that way," I groaned. "Still, I don't know why we're even growing wings at this moment. I thought the curse stripped us of nearly any sort of power we have or potentially will, right? Yet, we managed to recover a decent amount of our abilities back ironically. Was that some sort of defect in his plans or are we getting them back in a way we don't even know about? My head fries just thinking about it. I mean, no matter how much we find out, there's still holes in this whole plot that hasn't been filled yet, like Kazela being amnesiac. We know what happened 8 years ago but we literally know nothing at all ironically about certain specifics like how it actually went down. I'm saying there's obviously a connection, but what role does that play out exactly in areas such as why Kazela lost her memories in the first place? It's like we missed out on a big chunk of our own lives without realizing it; almost like a crisis…"

"You're probably right, Kirby," Kazela spoke. "I barely have any real memories of what happened that time. It is strange how I only begun to remember the other girls and not anything important. Why, though? There must be a trick to this somehow…"

Unlocking Kazela's Memories

I know it hasn't come up as often as before, but still, don't forget about recovering Kazela's lost memories! However, I can see why you wouldn't think about it as often for multiple reasons, being that one of them is that she only remembers each one of the seven princesses in the past before she met so far. Hmm, if her memories won't gradually come to her on its own, then it looks like you'll have to trigger them yourself. I was expecting more of her memories to come back way before then, but since that's not happening, we're going with plan B.

In this case, as you spend time with your party members when you're not adventuring, you gain certain quirks and perks and stats will go up constantly a little bit, but mainly your bond with them. You may even gain a new skill or special perk as well in side-quests. With Kazela, your friendship as well as the role of her temporary big brother will strengthen too. In fact, she'll recover some of her memories, but it varies. Maybe you have to do something specific with Kazela for that to work perhaps. After all, she didn't remember who exactly she was until she saw the news of the incident on Aura Star. The same goes for Merina, as she didn't remember her true identity until she was almost kidnapped.

You see the point I'm making? In other words, you'll have to trigger her memories by doing something with her. Who knows what that could be? At that point, try anything you think could work in your free time with Kazela. Remember this, as getting her memories back is one of your major priorities in solving the mystery to this adventure and lore the same way too. For now, no rush or anything. Just remind yourself to do that, because it's important later on in the story. Well, have fun!

"Maybe so, but I guess we'll learn of it sooner or later. Any sort of information will appear useful in their own way somehow. For now though, we've got more than just one crisis on our hands. Popstar's robbed of innocents, there's more beasts on the loose, and now your Halberd's stolen in one night." I sighed. "So much problems to juggle at once, so little time. Especially with the most recent incident. Sorry about the whole battleship thing, Meta."

"Nah, I shouldn't be too concerned about it. Although it was a shame they managed to get a hold of it in one day," Meta shrugged slowly. "But now there's nothing I can do about it now that it's going to be the new vessel of Dark Matter, not to mention… what to do now?" He sighed.

"Hey, Kirby!" A familiar voice ranged out and I knew it so well- because it was a part of me. It was Kailo, this time by himself and not with Kirie appeared before us.

"Hi Kailo! It's been a while since we last saw you," I smiled. "Where's Kirie?"

"She's speaking to Karly and the other girls now. Anyways, I've got something to tell you. I'm sure you were told about the demon beasts taking over, right? In that regard, there's a lot you don't know about the beast taking over- Monovoida. I don't know how, but ever since it took over after the sudden assassination of the former capital, it was able to manipulate any abilities of all types of shadows as well as recreating former fallen demon beasts in the past. That means it's literally almost like Nightmare made a clone of himself or perhaps gained another form. On top of that, many people were giving in to despair, and that's not even an exaggeration," Kailo explained.

"You know, I think you're onto something here. I've been getting those kind of vibes lately," I shook my head. "It's been on my mind for a while, but I don't even know why I'm feeling it."

"That's strange. I guess that vibe must be coming from Monovoida as it was a surviving demon beast, but it must be more of an elite kind; maybe it's the same as nightmare somehow, but we don't have any proof of that. Nonetheless, it is spreading the rebirths of fallen demon beasts nonstop without end because of Dark Matter. Soon, it may bring about another tragedy if you don't stop them; I'm afraid it could bring about the revival of possibly Nightmare again." That last line beguiled us.

"Meaning we've gotta stop them before it actually happens," Meta grunted. "This could add to our current situation in our pursuit of Kailaine. He's really cracking the pressure on us this time."

"Wait, what about my older sister?" Kazela asked. "Is she okay?"

"She's doing alright, princess," Kailo answers. "Adeline as well is fine too."

"I see, so they're still waiting on us to save them," I said. "Glad to know that. Except the fact that we can't do that because we don't know where the ship is exactly. How are we gonna do that at the same time we're juggling more balls in our hands? If only there was a way to find out exactly where or anything…"

"Well, based off of what they found out, they managed to find another ship to replace their original one in terms of a high chance of success in their mission. What kind they stole was really unusual; I'd never expected it to be your battleship, Meta Knight. I don't see how this could be used to our advantage, not in any way I'd see it. I could go back to her, but the intensity of the dark crystals has made the distortion stronger, so we really can't stay that long with her. After all, Star Kids can't handle dark distortion that well as the other spirits. Sorry about that." Kailo apologized.

"No, I think you're onto something there, Kailo," I said, thinking about it. "The distortion's getting stronger, so you won't be able to aid them that much. But now that I think about it, possibly there's a chance of them stealing the Halberd turning out to be their undoing, although I'm not sure what that undoing may be, but I have a feeling something like that will happen! We'll just have to wait then until that chance happens."

"Kirby, are you saying that Dark Matter merging with the Halberd may be the fatal flaw in their plans?" Kazela asked. "What exactly do you hope for if that happens?"

"I dunno, possibly it just means we just got lucky somehow in a way we'd never expect it to be and in more ways than one. Can't describe it, but as Shulk would always say, I'm really feeling it. Well, we won't know what that chance is unless we take action later on. That means looking for the next Gem Soul Spirit during our time here. Speaking of which, you wouldn't happen to know about the next spirit, right?" I turned to Kailo.

"You mean Luno? About his chambers, it's actually hidden somewhere in Cherryna Capital," Kailo pointed out. "However, based on the folklore of the city, it won't reveal itself until someone takes back the pieces of its heart at various locations. Only then will the chambers reveal itself. A bit easier, since you don't have to travel out the distance this time. However, you'll have to be very cautious, as wherever you are is packed with tons of demon beasts, some you may recognize before. If push comes to shove, then you'll have to bail for the time being. Remember the fact that you'll have to raid the Void Capital once you assemble all the pieces and get Luno to break the barrier," Kailo informed us. "This time's a little risky, so prepare yourselves for the worst to ever come."

"So that's the gimmick here this time. I see, in that case we'll eventually decide on what to do in the meantime. Thanks for telling us this. Everything's already set in place- now we just have to put the pieces in action! We should tell everyone once we're done here, okay?" I said. "After that, it's time to eliminate the rest of Nightmare's surviving abominations and send them right where they belong- in the void."

"You're welcome," Kailo smiled. "I probably should be going now. We can only be by their side for the last time before the distortion kicks us out. But Kazela, don't worry- you'll get to see Kailaine again, I just know it."

"Wait!" She called out to Kailo before he could even move an inch. He floated slowly at Kazela's whim for what she wanted from him, but it ended up being that she gave something to him- a kiss to the cheek. "Thank you for watching over her. Tell her I wish to see them soon and safely from harm, okay?" Kailo blushed as he stands back a little.

"Oh um, I definitely will, princess!" He stuttered. "Anyway, I hope that was enough to help you all on this one! The rest is up to you guys! Take care!" He waved.

"Okay, you too!" I smiled as Kailo vanishes instantly like light. I assumed that Kirie was finished as well in that time-lapse. Now it seems like there may be a possible change in things- it all rides down on what occurs exactly. Kazela let out a heavy sigh afterwards. She must be filled with anxiety, worrying about when she'll see her sister again ages to getting her memories back… it must be a pain for her to bear all of that stress on her brain. Poor girl.

"Kazela, if you're not feeling up to it, we can always head back if you want," I told her. She shook her head no. I gave a neutral expression and a sweatdrop in response to giving up. "Geez, you're just being stubborn now. Maybe it's because you're stuffing yourself full of cotton candy, huh?"

"That's not it," She said between each bite of cotton candy. "I'm just going through emotions, something males wouldn't understand, even if you're my temporary older brother… if I had an actual one, that is!"

I sweatdropped. Meta sweatdropped. "Okay…" We both blandly responded in a neutral voice. I decided to change the topic in regards to Meta.

"What do you say about what we've just learned, Meta?" I asked. "I'd never saw it coming, and it seems that things will go from bad to worse later."

"To be fair, I am uncertain about it as well; regarding that, if what Kailo and Yae informed us about earlier were actually true, most likely it will result in more escalating disasters should that scrap of the lore ever becomes reality. Such a twist like that is just too much… there's only a scarce amount of Star Warriors left to combat against Nightmare's forces."

Meta shook his head, seemingly somewhat distraught about it. "Reminds me of the old days, I suppose. Days like those easily burns into ashes once fate decides to make you despair for fun. I should've realized that was all going to rot once the war started."

"Hey, that reminds me… I haven't heard from Knuckle Joe or Sirica in a while. I've tried calling them, but I get voicemails every time I do. I wonder how they're doing…" I scratched my head. "Perhaps that'll wait for another time. You wanna bail for the day, you two?" They nodded. "Okay, let's go find the others before we head back."

"Yes, let's do that," Meta nodded.

To our surprise, a commotion had stirred up among the people. It then resulted in the sound of a blast echoing from the north side of the city. Something flew from all the way there to crashing right in front of us. It was an unconscious person, but luckily Meta caught him unexpectedly.

"Woah! What the hell?! Are you okay?!" I went to help him. "What happened?! Who did this?!"

"It… was... ack!" He coughed. "P-please! You have to help us! L-look!"

Weakly pointing in the sky, there was a great presentation of a great fire ignition filling the air. I could sense the aura of something malicious as well- the aura I knew well the most. Meta knew it. Even Kazela knew it. That's no ordinary fire out of the blue by accident. Of course, anything could start a fire.

But a fire like this can be only caused by the bloodlust of what started the war- A Demon Beast.

"So the rumors were true after all! There's no mistake- those are the flames of a demon beast!" Meta growled. "How did this happen?! This capital should've been the only one not affected by the Void!"

"It doesn't matter!" I gritted my teeth. "Listen, Meta, take Kazela to safety as well as this guy here and make sure he gets some treatment!" I started to make my way towards the core of the fire. "I'll go check it out and do something about it! Round up the others while you're at it!"

"Understood. Kazela, let's go!" Meta called out to her, and she obeyed to go help the innocent get aid.

Level One: Burning Cherryna (She's Got Moves- Shantae: Risky's Revenge)

(Battle Theme 5: Da'at Battle- Shin Megami Tensei V)

I dashed through the crowds of people that were running for their lives away from the fire that ignited just now. With the crowds pushing, I decided to head to the rooftops instead by just taking the nearby ladder.

There wasn't a moment to waste as I dashed on the roofs. Soon, fire was starting to spread from that location, if I could only pinpoint what place is it exactly. Everywhere is starting to sprout embers that fall from the fire and floats away to the most vulnerable places. Anything could be set ablaze at this rate.

My energy to run wasn't depleted for some reason as I run towards the fire; I jump from roof to roof and swung from pole to pole- I ended up going door to door at some point in a parkour attempt like a ninja, and I don't even have the ability yet!

So far, it's basically been like this. No signs of enemies anywhere as I go further into the burning core. I still saw many people being evacuated like a flood. There were that many people in the origin of the fire? Tch, how troublesome it'll be to avoid interference.

At one point, the fire was starting to get bigger but that's because I'm almost there. "I'm getting closer! Whatever it is, I hope I'm not too late!" I grabbed a nearby sturdy yet bendable pole on the roof and used it like I was doing the pole jump at the Olympics, sending me flying the rest of the way.

Cherryna Shrine Courtyard

I landed safely in what appears to look like a public shrine after I used the pole to cushion the impact of my descent. Debris was found everywhere. Some of the cherry trees were now scarlet ashes in autumn. Bonfires were around like chicken pox. A huge fire covered the roof of the shrine and gave it the inside-out package. No doubt this is where it started.

"This is it… the only question is which beast caused the fire?" I speculated.

Darting my eyes around, I noticed small red droppings, and red splatter across some of the walls nearby. Somehow, those red marks looked so familiar to me. Then, I realized why.

It was blood. And if there's so much splattered about, it could only mean… could it? My thoughts were interrupted by an incoming fireball which I evaded. Skidding to a stop away from the radius, the attention targeted the one who shot it. What I saw was a fuchsia wolf. But I knew this one particularly well. It had the same form as before, sliver marks and yellow eyes. White claws, lavender fur. A green jewel in the center of its forehead with a fire symbol surrounding it. My mind starts to flash with unwanted memories, reminding me of the terror that befell that day; no, out of all of them, it had to be this one? I trembled even before the monstrosity that almost killed Meta… The flames catered to its every whim as it walked to reveal itself fully. And I'm afraid everything I've been told earlier was really true. It was a Demon Beast, and I ran into the one we all know as…

"Wolfwrath," I gasped.

He walked about like a roaring lion, seeking to devour someone; he acted like a king. Snarling, he licked his mouth as if it already had his meal, glaring at me intently on the basis of payback from last time. But it looked like he didn't care about hounding me at all; I should know better, because the one he really wants… is Meta Knight. So he could dig his fangs into him for last time.

But he has unfinished business here first before anything else comes- bloodshed. I don't know who he got first, but I'm gonna make sure it's gonna be his very last right here, right now. The fuchsia wolf beast then turns his attention to elsewhere, or specifically someone else. I dart my eyes to wherever he's looking, and to my surprise, the target this time was a girl that was possibly injured by the wolf. I think she might be the shrine maiden here. The girl was desperately trying to hold her ground, but her wounds won't allow it at all. She felt overpowered by the demon beast as he was about to make her into a corpse once he raised his claw at her for the final strike. But he froze at the moment he swung.

Because she was gone from the spot she was cornered at. I took her without warning and got her away safely. She was wearing a stained in blood Hakama torn in shreds and wounds and nasty scars. I set her down gently and she winced every time.

I called upon the Gem Spirits to help. "Guys, I need you to heal her for me, any longer and she may not make it."

"We're on it, Kirby." The Gem Stars complied with my command.

"Thanks, you guys," I smiled, but now becoming serious to tackle the main biggest problem. "Watch over her- I've got a Demon Beast to slay again." Walking over and away, I went to confront one of the most malicious demon beasts I've ever met, who growled like he had rabies, leading to a bloodthirsty howl under the moonlight.

"Your killing spree ends here, Wolfwrath! Let's go!" I yelled.

Hour of the Demon Beasts- 22nd Boss Battle

Kirby VS Demon Beast Wolfwrath Monovoid (Fierce Battle- Shin Megami Tensei 3: Nocturne/The Arena- Persona 4 Arena)

Boss Description: A formerly adversary of Meta Knight in the past, this revived demon beast is a force to be reckoned with. Hour of the Wolfwrath was the time when Meta Knight almost fell to him by paralysis, seemingly for good. Wolfwrath doesn't take orders from people that well yet he is one of Nightmare's most powerful creations ever made. He specializes in pyrokinesis, where he uses the most strongest of flames ever to heal himself; it has unlimited firepower, enough to devastate a city or two if he feels like it. Now he feeds not only on fire, but he depends now on the taste of blood from humans. I don't know how exactly he was revived, but something tells me he won't be the same way as before. If push comes to shove, just know he has one major weakness that can disable his firepower. Take him down for us!

Wolfwrath roars for bloodshed! Give it everything you got! It's time to fight!

Wolfwrath exhales fireballs from his mouth and shot them towards me at a fast pace. I leaped to the side from one as I skid to the other from another, followed by a quick slide under one, rolling into a ball and horizontally spun myself over the last one like a drill and shot at Wolfwrath, who actually stood up on his hind legs and threw his arms up for defense. I jab locked at his shield and I managed to break it, leaving him open as I rebounded from there and socked him in the stomach with a punch. I combo attacked him from there and knocked him back with a jet kick.

Wolfwrath slid back and powered up an even more powerful blast. I was caught off guard and was left to block the attack, but it wasn't enough and I was shot backwards. Thinking fast, I grabbed a nearby pole and swung from there to dash at him again. Wolfwrath then shoots another one, this time at the ground, which caused a shockwave of fire. I side-stepped out of the way, only to realize the fire was a fluke. The wolf appears suddenly through the fire as he ends up clawing me by surprise, slashing against my face and shot me back with another fireball.

Blood dripped from my face where it had the scratch. I got up from where I crashed, and that's when I was almost fried when he attacked with his claws ignited with fire as he shot a blast from his claws in that shape, hacking a house in pieces that way in flames. He grinned with a malicious intent as he claws and hacks more and more wildly. I grabbed a nearby rock and threw it at Wolfwrath, right in his forehead where the jewel was.

He cried out rubbing his forehead like he was self-conscious somehow and whined. It was a short fuse and he quickly recovered, snarling at me. He rolled up into a ball of flames and bounced around before he tried to pounce me; a quick evasion got me away, not away from the shockwaves of fire. I ended up taking some damage instead. Luckily, he was rather dizzy after the rollout, so I intensified his recent experience by dunking him with a bigger rock on the head. After that, I knocked him back with a backflip kick in the air and a jet kick backwards into a rock that shattered in contact.

Wolfwrath immediately gets back up and snarls, noticing his jewel had a huge crack in it. He then roars ever louder under the moon.

Phase Two Activated!

Before he did anything else, smoke started to circulate around him as he bathed in the fire that he just made around him. Suddenly, all the damage I've dealt to him went to waste as the wounds on him disappears. The fire remains once he left it and then he begins to attack again.

"He heals himself with fire, how did I forget that? Well, seeing it as it is, all I have to do is put out nearby flames! That'll decrease his firepower!" I thought. "But first, I'll stall him a little longer then!"

Wolfwrath then sneered and let out a roaring blast wave from his mouth that stabbed a hole through all the houses unfortunate to be in its range. I dashed through it and tried to attack, but he vanished the second I swung at him. The next thing I knew, I found myself in a crater on the ground in seconds flat.

I jump from the crater and rushed at him again, but he vanishes again and the same thing happened. Found myself in another one. I kept getting shot every time I try to attack him. And that one time I get up from a crater, he whacked me aside with his tail that he managed to turn into metal and all the way to where the shrine maiden was laying, crashing a few feet before colliding with her.

"Well, so much for trying to stall him," I spat the blood. "Time to go with plan B after all- wait a minute." Unfortunately, I realized I can't put out the flames because I left the essences at the house! "Dang it! I forgot them back there! I still haven't been able to do it automatically yet; it must be because of Winglenovia as a side effect. Great. Now what?"

At this, I turned to the shrine maiden, who managed to recover from her wounds. She jumped back a little in response; she seemed over on the edge after what happened to her and looks as if she's planning to go against me. "Woah, it's okay! I just saved you earlier back there; I'm not your enemy, alright?"

The girl then lowers her defenses at my statement. "I see. Sorry about that." The scene was interrupted by more flames being spat about everywhere.

"Okay, we don't have much time! Answer me this: what exactly happened and why is he targeting you?!" I quickly asked her.

"It must be because of this," She pulls out a piece of what appears to be a jewel orb, perhaps the Shadow Orb needed to head into the chambers. "I don't know what it's for, but it's definitely something special if a monster like that wolf is after it; it ravaged the entire shrine for it and went out of its way to scar so many people. I don't think that's all I'm targeted for; I think it wants to take me captive somewhere, even by force- just like all the others!"

"So that's what this whole wildfire's about!" I growled. "Now's a good time to end him quickly before it gets out of hand! If I remember correctly, Wolfwrath's fatal weakness is water, but we need to drown him in a pool full of it! Listen, where's the nearest lake here or anything large enough to get him in?"

"The nearest one I know from here is the Blossom Lake- I think it's large enough to do what you'd planned to do to it," She replied. "But how are you gonna lure it all the way there?" Speaking of which, Wolfwrath got impatient and decides to lunge at us while we were conversing.

"Look out!" She screamed.

Quickly, I managed to grab his arm and hurl him backwards. He rolled to stop the impact and he growled and roared. "Alright, give me a second- woah! Duck!"

I ordered her to do so as Wolfwrath then generates a giant fireball from his mouth and volleys it crazily in the form of a laser, directing it through the houses and decimating them into ashes and explosions.

"Dang it, this isn't going well! All of this fire is only making him stronger and destructive, not to mention it heals him at once! I'd better do something quick or the entire capital's going down in flames! If only I had brought at least something with me to deal with him…"

"Wait, what about this? I'm not sure, but I have a feeling only someone like you can harness its power," She pulls out actually a new copy ability trophy from her outfit and hands it to me. It was purple, alright. I was already fascinated by it that I almost didn't realize Wolfwrath was behind me. Without thinking, I slashed my right hand to counter the beast's arm.

Remarkably, there was now a blade in my hand that clashed with his claws. A ninja blade specifically that pushed Wolfwrath once again backwards. I glanced at myself wearing a purple ninja outfit and wielding a fancy katana in my hand. I obviously knew what this ability is anyways, but I'm so stoked!

You got the Ninja ability! Now is accessible for use! 1/12 abilities collected!

"Woah! Did not see that coming!" I shouted. "Hey, thanks for this, lady!" I ran towards like the usual ninjas as the wolf shot more fireballs at me; with my katana, I stealth slashed through them all in mere seconds flat.

I threw multiple kunais at him and some stuck to his skin as well. Pulling out a big shuriken, I spun it and hurled it at Wolfwrath, who received a heavy scar across the stomach. He rolls into a ball and tries to ram me, but I instantly vanish before that and once he came out of it to realize I wasn't there, he got spiked by a drop kick in the air.

Igniting the katana, I unleashed Shock and waves sprouted from it; Wolfwrath was pinned to where he stood, and I rushed in for the temporary kill. I reappear and grabbed behind him, jumping up into the air and then dropping him down to the ground instantly. Wolfwrath barely managed to get up; he was at his knees, but he still had the will to keep on going. In that allotted time, I went over to the girl.

"I've done all I can, now we'll have to end him quickly. The only problem is how to bait him to the lake…" I questioned. "Normally, I wouldn't do this, but since it has a target, I could pull it off… but that's way too risky…" It took her a second to realize what I meant by that; somehow, she agreed.

"No, I understand. In that case," The girl then leaps into my arms willingly without further hesitation. "I'll comply with your plan."

"Wow. I'll never see that coming," I sweatdropped. "But it doesn't matter. I hope you're ready to run!" I tossed a single kunai at Wolfwrath, who immediately turns to where we were, his eyes fixated on mostly the shrine maiden, in whose name I forgot to ask for. "Hey Wolfwrath! You want her?!" He licked his lips in response, so I'll assume that's a yes.

"Then come and get her- if you can!" I taunted, unleashing a smoke bomb as a cover for a free headstart. The wolf growled and howled and starts to chase.

Final Phase Activated! (Strong and Strike- Naruto)

"Tell me, where's that lake you mentioned earlier?!" I asked while running. "Oh, and I never got your name, so…" I hopped from wall to wall and all the way on the rooftops this time with a girl on my back. "My name's Kirby."

"It's Kaguya," She answers. "And thanks for helping me back there." I nodded while running through the capital. "Anyways, the lake isn't too far from here- it's just a bit further from the square!"

"Got it!" I shouted. The desperate run continued throughout the town as we still caught the attention of Wolfwrath, who maneuvered out of hard crashes into houses by accident and stands like a savage animal; that's really ironic to be saying that. I also performed the Shadow Clone Jutsu to hold off Wolfwrath for a while.

Wolfwrath kept volleying more fireballs at us, and I had to keep evading them for as long as I can until we arrive there. Man, if only the others were around to help. At one point, Wolfwrath unleashed his tail again, only that it split into nine tails; it stretched out to stab us, or so we thought. They reach over us and struck the ground ahead, causing multiple of them to sprout out and block our route.

"He's trying to cut us off before we get any further! Hang on- we're taking a detour!" I exclaimed, and instead of skidding to a complete stop, I skid and made a sharp right turn over to the public square immediately.

It was swarming with people; but not for long as I shouted, "Everyone, take cover! There's a Demon Beast on the loose!" We dashed through the crowds of people as I shouted that to them, and instantly they did as soon as they saw Wolfwrath came sprinting after us.

"Kaguya, how much farther? I don't know how long I can keep outrunning him!" I asked huffing. "And he's on our tail as well!" Wolfwrath was gradually gaining on us at the moment and I ran up to the roof for a better view.

"We're almost there! It's just straight ahead!" She points to the open space of the town, revealing a giant lake ahead, and the wolf was right behind us. He starts to roll into a ball and immediately charges for the kill.

"Get ready, we're gonna jump for this one!" I shouted, preparing to do the famous long jump in the Olympics from the bouncing point from the roof, and just like that, we were catapulted into the air. Wolfwrath also bounced from that point as well, but he somehow calculated the exact position we were in and he bounced over and front of us, which I did not see coming.

"Ack! This isn't good!" I shouted. Wolfwrath was now about to deal in the final blow by charging up a burning flamethrower from his mouth, and we ended up in the range of it; he didn't stutter to open fire that fast. I didn't have time to evade it at all, and now we're gonna be scarred to the flames in that moment-

"Not today." Suddenly, Wolfwrath's attack was cancelled out without warning and he was seen being kicked across the face by his own former adversary- the one and only Meta Knight! The blow was enough to knock back the wolf away from us; Meta then took us to safety once he did that on the ground nearby the lake.

"I'd never expected him to be the first to attack or be revived," Meta growled, his eyes offers a hint of a painful experience. "You okay, Kirby? And who's the shrine maiden with you?"

"Long story short- Wolfwrath was targeting this girl for reasons clearly unknown and was going trigger happy on the town. And so we decided to lead him into the lake due to last time," I explained. "I'd figured you'd do the same, right?" Wolfwrath caught our attention as he roared maliciously and starts charging towards; now he's aiming for Meta Knight, immediately recognizing him.

That was put to a halt when a hammer socked him into the stomach and launched the wolf into the waters of suffering, hissing, and roaring as his power decreases and so does his firepower. That was Dedede himself who did the job.

"Hope I'm not too late to join in on the fun!" He smirked.

Wolfwrath struggled to get out of the water like someone who can't swim; he was swimming in a pool of acid to him as it looked like some parts of him were melting off like ice cream. He ends up jumping at last from the acidic lake only to be unfortunate as to being impaled by multiple spears at once- that was Bandana Dee.

And just when he possibly thought things couldn't get any worse for him, the irony struck when the waters started to jump out as impaling chains and jabbed through his arms and legs to make sure he couldn't escape and once went straight for the heart. The scream from him was ear-piercing when that happened. That was none other than Aqua. Talk about overkill.

"I've got him chained! Hurry up, I can't do this for much longer!" She yells out. Soon, many of the citizens from the capital before gathered around to witness the public punishment of the fuchsia demon beast in live action.

"Meta, you wanna do the honors this time?" I asked him. "At least now you can end this your way to make up for it, probably."

"You don't have to tell me twice!" Meta raised Galaxia and summoned to gather a ton of energy to store in the blade.

But Wolfwrath wasn't gonna let it end this way as he still had enough power to pull off one last attack by ending it with a supernova blast that gathered energy from the fires that he created from the town all in one shot. And Wolfwrath shot first and quickly out of obvious desperation to not admit defeat from last time and he shot it fast as a giant sun. He thought he had won… if only he had realized that was his biggest mistake soon when it was about to close in on Meta Knight.

"Know my power! HYPER STRIKE!"

At that moment, he swung Galaxia at will, and all it took for the supernova blast to cancel was one strike, and it exactly did. Wolfwrath's eyes widen once he saw it failed and he tried to desperately escape, but he was already imprisoned by Aqua's water chains, so he must've wasted the last of his energy on that one attack. He knew what that resulted to as Meta Knight jumped into the air in front of him to deal the true final blow. His second burial.

"So long, you pitiful demon beast! Game over!" Meta declared and shot a sword beam at the wolf, brutally slicing through him like a knife cutting a tomato in half almost in a gore-like way, and it made it to the end of cutting its victim. Electricity radiated around him as the water chains take back its old form, leaving him in air frozen for needles of lights to poke out of him continually until like a balloon-

He explodes into a ball of a supernova fire, leaving behind an unforgettable roar of the third defeat in a row. All that remains were nothing but ashes of the demon beast that was punished a second ago. Meta Knight lands to the ground and crossed his arms and grinned in victory at the same time the beast exploded.

"And that ends the score between this match. Permanently." I just did a victory dance instead because I always do.

Today thus ends the Hour of the Wolfwrath. This time for good.

Wolfwrath's hour has ended! Victory!

You gained 900 experience points! You are now Level 24!

Health has increased to 750! All stats have increased!

You got the Silver Ability Scroll!

Item Retrieval: Emerald Beast Jewel! (Forgeable)

Next Level in 923 experience points.

The crowd cheered at the punishment of Wolfwrath as the flames caused by the culprit were put out everywhere. Some were injured, but it's a good thing no one was killed, otherwise, that's a whole different scenario right there. The rest of the party rushed here soon after, including Monokitsune who was riding on top of Yae's head. I was talking to Kaguya at the time being.

"Sorry about putting you through all of that, Kaguya," I apologized. "Well, I'm glad no one got hurt."

"That's okay," She replies. "I should be thanking you for saving my life. Just as expected from the Legendary Star Warrior."

"Ah, that reminds me- I know I've asked you before, but why was Wolfwrath targeting you exactly? And didn't you say that he was gonna take you just like all the others? Did something happen before?" I asked.

"I assume you've heard that the Void Capital has been recently attacking other capitals, right?" I nodded. "Regarding that, many have been assassinated and children are being kidnapped, along with every girl in every capital that has some relation to old folklore; possibly me, because as my name goes, people think I'm actually the princess from the folklore known as the Tale of the Bamboo Cutter. That's just how it was. But I'm certain there's more to this than it seems," She explains.

"I see. And if that's the scenario, does that mean they were captured using Demon Beasts, just like the one that almost got you?"

"That's right, taken to the Void Capital every time," Kaguya answers. "From what I've heard, there's a barrier around it in order to keep anyone but the beasts from entering inside. No one was able to break in either way they tried. I don't know why they're doing this to everybody…"

"So the rumors were true after all; just seeing Wolfwrath was enough to confirm the fact that the planet is filled with surviving beasts. And the capital is surrounded by the Dark Barrier, innocent people being kidnapped, and other problems popping left and right. Alright then, I think that's all the questions I have. We'll go check it out later on when we're ready," I sighed.

"Wait, I think you should hold onto this," Kaguya then hands me the piece of the Shadow Orb she had before. "It may help you somehow, I know it."

You got the first piece of the Shadow Orb! Trial unwittingly complete! Level One Complete!

"Oh, thanks! Actually, we needed this to break through the barrier there! I appreciate it!" I smiled.

"It's the least I can do after you saved me," She blushes. "Anyway, I must be going now. Thanks for everything, Kirby." She leans forward and kissed me on the cheek, leaving me to blush as she waved bye when she left. This is also starting to become cliché… not that it's a bad thing, you know? Well, at least that part of this act ended well… for now.

"Nice job, Kirby! You've successfully defeated one of Nightmare's most powerful creations… well actually, Meta Knight swung the final blow, but no one cares who did it exactly, right?" Monokitsune spoke up in the hugged hands of Yae. "Nonetheless, I didn't see that coming; specifically the fact that Void had already made their move to attack- looks like we'll have to rush the plan if it continues any longer. So then, it looks to me the shrine maiden princess Kaguya gave you the first orb piece somehow! A little more of those, and we'll be able to raid the Void Capital in no time!"

"Hopefully so sooner…" I sighed, my body feeling really off-balance today. "I think I need to sit down for a bit, I really exhausted my energy back there."

"Alright, pinky. Everyone, let's head back home and then we'll try to play a much simpler game, one that even your sister can't screw up! We don't want a repeat of earlier before, right?" Monokitsune chuckled. I merely sweatdropped.

Yae's Dojo- Later On...

Night tolled and stuck seemingly throughout the day, and I haven't seen the sun ever since we stepped foot on this planet. Sounds unusual to me. In that time, Monokitsune decided to have us play Twister; unfortunately, he didn't think this through because Karly ruined things again once someone poked her with their elbow due to the position they were in and that caused everyone to lose balance and pile on each other. That didn't end well.

Monokitsune eventually gave up and ordered us to cool off in the fancy hot springs just in the back of the dojo whereas Kazela and Falala went off for some treats out in the district for everyone. Later on, in minutes flat we were in the best comfort in life- a hot spring. Actually, this is my first time being in one; it was outside and divided by a wooden fence to separate genders of male and females. The air was dampened with the steam of hot water, and so it gave my body the relief it deserves.

"Aw yeah, this is what I needed in my life, a nice hot steamy bath," I exhaled in satisfied relief as I sunk deeper into the waters. The boys did the same as well, enjoying it too. I could feel the bumps on my back, soon they will be wings later on. I'd never see that one coming at all. My thought were sealed away at the sight of some of the boys crowding against the wood fence.

"What are you guys doing over there?" I asked them. Pretty much every boy except for Meta was at the fence, glaring at me to come over; so I had no choice but to see what they're up to.

"What does it look like? Keep it down, man," Aege shushed me. "Or else they'll catch us in the act."

"You mean, you're trying to peep on the girls, right?" I sighed. "So cliché; you all know dang well how it's gonna end for you all. Besides, you're violating one of Monokitsune's regulations-"

"Screw his rules, Kirby. That little Monokuma ripoff can kiss my stinky butt for all I care; the only thing I care about now is finally being able to reach adulthood, the stage in life where a man gets to stretch out to a man's true fantasy- one better than the actual dreamland! No offense though. There's just some things I have to see, and I refuse to hit adulthood until that mission is complete. You gotta learn that being a man of culture means being willing to become a total perv too, Kirby, starting now," Aege silently proposed his idea of this.

"I don't even know how to respond to that."

"Come on, just one look and even that counts you as a man of culture."

"Meh, fine," I shrugged and went along with it.

"Aw man, I can't find a single hole to look through," Dylan groaned silently. "How are we gonna pull this off now?" I noticed Fololo was waving at us to come over to where he was. I think he found one on the end of the fence.

"Found one, guys. I can see Dinah from here. Who wants first dibs?" Aege took the first bait to peep through the hole, and when he did, his eyes widen as the guy that saw the forbidden treasures of the springs, causing a massive nosebleed to take place and falling over.

"Oh yeah, that's the stuff right there."

Sweatdropping, all the other boys took their chances at peeping and thus got the same results before hopping back into the tub like nothing happened. I was the last to look, but I was hesitant about it because I was afraid of that cliché happening to me. Still, I just wanted to get it over with, so I reluctantly peered over the hole and took a quick glance at what Aege claimed to be a man's dreamland. All I saw was nothing but the mist that surrounded the other side. I frowned and turned away.

"I saw nothing, Aege. Thanks for despairing my hopes, now I'm not really feeling it anymore," I groaned as I went back to the water, but with a sudden urge. "Hold it, I'm gonna use the bathroom, be right back."

After I finished using the can, I went back to the springs again, but I noticed something on the ground and went for a closer look. It was some sort of built-in scope that was planted in the ground. I tried to pull it up, and it budged as it reveals to be exactly so, and it's adjustable as well.

"Hey guys, look at this," I called them over as I took a glance at the glass on top of the tube to see what it is. Immediately, my eyes shot wide open- blood dripped from my nose. I had witnessed the forbidden treasure for myself, just as Aege claimed.

"Everyone, we've struck gold. Enjoy." I fall over while the boys takes their shot at looking through except Meta, who was still reading his book in the waters. After we had our fill, we got rid of any evidence that we ever peeped on the girls and turned in for the day.

All the boys earned the title, "Men of Culture!"

Later on that night, I glanced at the null moon in the sky as I laid down to rest. My mind overflows with the events and knowledge of today, leaving me to ponder over the many possibilities about each one: Void Capital, Monovoida, Demon Beasts returning- all of this is making my head hurt so much. But our main goal is to save Kailaine and Adeline from Dark Matter- that's the reason why we're on this adventure in the first place. I just wish there was some way we could help them out; Kailo and Kirie can't handle the dark distortion any longer, so the time they see her may be their last as the distortion kicks them out for good.

As of right now, that can only be possible if there was some kind of plot device to change this around… since they stole Meta's Halberd, I don't think he has anything that could possibly override the darkness possessing it, let alone that he had no need for that since these scenarios don't come up as much. It would take a miracle to pull that off. But I have a feeling something might pull through for us by that single act of taking over the Halberd somehow. I noticed Meta has something attached to his arm, but I suppose it doesn't matter now, don't you think? But regardless…

I just wish that all could come true for us someday. Maybe then we won't have to worry about the loads on our backs anymore and we can just focus on defeating Dark Matter. Not like that's happening anytime soon, I suppose…

If we end up getting lucky, that is. With that, I moaned and forced myself to sleep in the eternal wave of darkness under the still moon of Lunadark Star. That reminds me, I wonder how Knuckle Joe and Sirica are doing… I hope they're okay for now… My eyes are getting sleepy, and after that… I went into my own dream realm for the day...

You feel your back ache, growing with a strange aura a little bit…

Meanwhile, Elsewhere…

"Wolfwrath has been defeated, huh? Just as I thought, looks like thing are going smoothly than I'd expected. Now all I have to do is let nature take its course, specifically the prisoner's escape with whatever ship they've managed to get their hands on. Man, I can't wait to see the results spring into action tomorrow! I hope the three makes it out in one piece in that allotted time!" I cackled silently on the rooftops.

"After that, the rest will come into play, starting here with the Demon Beasts. I wonder how the despair was caused, considering the fact that I had nothing to do with it or anything that recently happened. It's weird, there were that many surviving demon beast after Nightmare's defeat? Something's definitely off here; I've never heard of Monovoida before, yet that wretched creature managed to make people despair and influence the entire planet? If that's the case, then this must be his doing, the one we haven't seen up until now," I thought.

I darted my eyes around the city under the night sky. "Huh. This one's capable of making his own army of monsters, just like Nightmare. You know, now that I think about it, Dark Soul does somehow resemble him in a way. I wonder if that's a coincidence or not… Either way, everyone does have something in common, but there's more to someone than it appears. The same goes for me as well; if only I could find out more about my past…"

"For now, I should do as I'm told and get on with it… but there won't be a need to follow orders once my plan goes into effect… heh." I smirked. "The truth of this incident will be revealed someday, and I think everyone involved is the key to solving that mystery…"

"Well, I've done all I can. The rest is up to you, princess. Good luck." I smiled. This plan has to work, I just know it will. I really am something, aren't I?

Ending Theme 5: (Waning Moon- Assassination Classroom)

Now Saving… Save Complete!

To be continued…

End of Chapter 5 Act 1!

Author's Note Summary:

Hey guys! I hoped you liked today's chapter as well as the last! So… this time, since I've finished exams already, I used that time to finish writing the rest of this chapter while I was at it. I've got a lot to cover, so just hang on for a while. After this week is finally winter break! So I'll continue this once I come back from break. Not much for that, so yeah.

Let's get on with the contents of this chapter, starting with the fact that both the twins are actually growing wings in their human state! This was inspired by the fanfic Wings of the Falling by Lunar Xerneas, which I've read a long time ago. You should check it out sometime. In that regard, I don't think it has an official name for the condition of growing them, so Winglenovia was the best I could come up with… for now. Of course, the process could take who knows how long, so you won't see that the majority of this story.

Moving on, now it's confirmed that Meta Knight's battleship was officially abducted in one night. And of course, you can see what happened when he found out. But nonetheless, that event will be obviously a major device in the plot later on as the story progresses. While he screamed his butt off, the scene skips to both Kailaine and Adeline to actually the graphic violence of Dark Matter himself in his point of view. You can tell he enjoyed it.

That aside, we now have Shadow Star, or Lunaclipse Star if you prefer, which is basically Japan in the living flesh. That's why I tried to keep the setting of it similar to both real life and anime kind at the same time by adding features a Japan setting would have. And what's Japan without ninjas- speaking of which, we have the ninja fox Yae, princess of shadows. Her style was inspired by Yuki from the anime Dog Days, which is one of my favorite animes and the Yae from Goemon, who is my favorite character and also Sheele from Akame Ga Kill.

The master of Yae is who you'll never see coming- the one and only Monokuma- oh, wrong one! I mean, Monokitsune! He's based off Monokuma from the Danganronpa series, except just as a different animal- and I do not own that series- disclaimer. As stated before, in this story, he is one of the Monozodias that were made from Monovoida, the newest Demon Beast rumored to be a surviving one after the defeat of Nightmare and that he took over Void Capital and attacked all other ones. No one know how, but he's obviously the one taken over by Dark Matter… probably.

With that, the party game they played afterwards was basically Rock-Paper-Scissors gone wrong, and unfortunately, it went wrong when Karly's mood affected her as she nearly ended Dedede there with a squeaky hammer; Dedede should've dodged then; inspired by Gintama. During the festival, remember what the tip about Kazela's memories said? Spending time with party members to increased stats and stuff was inspired by Danganronpa and such games like that one. Getting her memories back is crucial in order to find out what happened to her those many years ago by doing something specific with her. Keep that in mind. So Kailo explained the current situation with the three and that the chambers are actually hidden somewhere in the capital, plus that he and Kirie can't see Kaila due to the distortion of dark crystals in one spot.

After that, now here comes the twist you never saw coming. A wildfire broke out, and Kirby goes to investigate it, only to find out that the one who caused it was none other than a revived Demon Beast- Wolfwrath. If you watched the anime, then you may remember him before. I cried when I first watched it because I thought Meta was gonna die. Anyways, Wolfwrath was targeting a shrine maiden known as Kaguya, in which I referenced the old folklore story there. So then, after they lead the beast into the lake, remember how Aqua chained him with water? The way she did was actually a reference to World of Light, and many of you should know the possible way the game ends. That part was actually Galeem's brutal death by Darkhon in one of the endings. If that was Monokuma doing that, it would've been a brutal punishment, don't you agree? Talk about an overkill.

Once Wolfwrath was defeated, it's clear that fallen Demon Beasts were now being constantly revived was confirmed. And luckily for Kirby, Kaguya had the piece of the Shadow Orb with her. Why does she have it? The reason why is unclear as Kirby forgot to ask that, but who cares? I'm gonna be straightforward with you guys- you will see the most known Demon Beasts come back in this chapter arc, a warning to you all.

I guess that's basically everything about this chapter that was major, I think. Oh yeah, I know it's late, but adding the soundtrack for Wolfwrath's battle was all because of the reveal trailer for Joker from Persona 5 as a DLC character in Smash. I've never looked into the Persona series before, but after that reveal, I had to, and the game's pretty awesome! You definitely should check that out if you're unfamiliar with the Persona series. Hmm, maybe I should do something in that regard as well.

Anyways, I hope you enjoyed this chapter! I'll have to let you know that I'm still editing the oldest chapters, so that's that. Sometimes I wonder why I even wrote some of the stuff that was in there in the first place that anyone can find cringy and unnecessary. It was probably excited fanboy or something, but even I cringe at what the past me wrote, and I'm kinda hesitant to do that, but I have to; it's still in the phase, so it will take some time to do. Aside from that, let me know what you think about this chapter and tell me how I can improve in my writing in your reviews kindly.

All right, that'll be the end of that long summary, so sorry about that. Oh yeah, don't forget about the question I asked the last chapter! It still applies to this story's lore! Thanks for reading and I'll see you all next year! Have a nice winter break everyone!