Disclaimer: Kirby belongs to Nintendo and HAL Laboratory.
Now that the festivities were over, Elfilin waited outside of Fecto Elfilis's room the next morning with the code injector in his arms. His large ears perked up when his larger fragment opened the door and ushered him inside.
"Are you prepared?" Elfilis asked, "this might be painful. I'll do my best to disable as many of your pain receptors as possible, but this will be affecting you a bit deeper than that."
Elfilin nodded as he held out the code injector. His larger fragment gently set the small chinchilla down onto the bed after taking the injector.
"I want you to be aware," they told him, "this will be adding some changes to your soul. Not anything negative, but it should allow you to regain most of your functions that you currently don't have. After this, you'll be able to operate much like I can, creating life as needed and acting as a high level information library for DNA storage."
"I-I understand," Elfilin replied, even as his tail swayed nervously.
Elfilis adjusted the position of the injector in their head when a thought popped into their head.
"One moment," they paused.
Elfilis sketched a six-pointed star in chalk and drew in a circle into the floor before filling it with runes around the edges. They added a second circle inside the star and added runes like with the outer circle. They placed a pillow onto the circle after that.
"Lay down on this," Elfilis instructed, "this should ease the pain your soul will feel a bit. Are you ready?"
Elfilin floated over to the pillow and rested on his belly.
"I'm ready," Elfilin answered.
Upon cue, Elfilis poked their smaller fragment with the injector, pressing down on the button to trigger it before proceeding to activate the circle. Elfilin simply squeezed his eyes shut, bracing for what was about to come next. It didn't take long for the pain to start shortly after. Despite the pain being akin to a form of torture, the circle helped keep it in waves, giving Elfilin time to recover. The small chinchilla whimpered softly as he kept pressing himself into the pillow. As moments passed, Elfilis noticed two tiny spikes began poking out of his forehead…which will eventually grow into antlers in several years. A thin ring of fur around his neck slowly began changing color from turquoise to a pale yellow like his larger fragment's chest mane. Lastly, the tip of his tail turned pink.
Well, Elfilis noticed these features, but they weren't sure if anyone else would at the moment.
"Just hang on for a couple more minutes," Elfilis cooed, "it's almost done."
"O-Ok," Elfilin stammered, tears welling up in his eyes.
Some time passed before the whole procedure drew to its completion. Elfilis gathered all the shed fur and leaking biomass into a sphere before kneading it into Elfilin, letting the small chinchilla reabsorb it. No doubt this would only be comparable to when the ultimate life-form attempted to assimilate Elfilin in their feral state. The small chinchilla blinked his eyes open and rubbed his cheeks.
"How are you feeling?" Elfilis asked him.
Elfilin began floating up as his eyes locked onto his larger fragment.
"I feel a little sore," Elfilin admitted, "but it's not too bad for me to worry about."
"That's good to hear," Elfilis nodded, "your soul should be perfectly fine now."
Elfilin floated closer to Elfilis and nuzzled their cheek. The tall angelic rodent started licking the top of the small chinchilla's head.
"You should know what your abilities are now," Elfilis explained, "there will be some trial and error, but largely it should be really intuitive."
"Good to hear," Elfilin clamored, "so what you got planned for today besides that?"
Elfilis took a moment to think as they placed a finger on their chin.
"Well," they frowned and glanced out the window, "I was thinking about creating some enchanted tools to help arm Dedede's army. I dislike the idea of arming most governments with powers that they do not have themselves, but I trust Dedede enough to do this."
Elfilin tilted his head sideways.
"It would suffice to be prepared in the event another threat shows up to threaten—" they continued.
Elfilis couldn't finish their sentence when a siren went off, echoing across the room while Elfilin frantically scanned his surroundings.
"Huh?" Elfilin warbled, "what's going on?!"
Elfilis twitched their feelers as they made their way to the door.
"It seems something tripped the mana tripwire set on the Mirror," they replied, "let's see who slipped through the portal."
Elfilis grabbed the small chinchilla and teleported directly to the Dimension Mirror. Upon arrival, the tall angelic rodent took a moment to examine the Mirror before surveying the room. Soon enough, they locked eyes onto a creature who exactly resembled Kirby, but had a blackish body with a faint purple swirl and white eyes. This doppelganger was currently fiddling with one of the Heart Spears in the room. Elfilin wriggled himself out of his larger fragment's hand and floated a few inches towards the doppelganger. Elfilis got to the doppelganger fast and yanked the Heart Spear from him.
"And the rest," Elfilis chided.
The doppelganger sheepishly coughed up the other three Heart Spears he had eaten. The doppelganger shifted his gaze between the tall alien rodent and the small chinchilla with a confused look.
"Uhh," Elfilin stammered, waving his arm, "hello."
The doppelganger waved cheerfully while Elfilis cleaned the saliva off the Heart Spears.
"Hi!" the doppelganger chirped.
A thought popped into Elfilin's head as he began circling around the doppelganger.
"Say," Elfilin asked, "do you…know Kirby? I mean, you sorta look like him."
The doppelganger used his body language and gesture to communicate that he was here for a visit. Elfilis merely rolled their eyes as they placed the Heart Spears back on the rack.
"Oh, is that so?" Elfilin chirped, "maybe we could show you the way out of the tower and help you get to Kirby's house, if you'd like!"
Elfilis sighed and pinched the bridge of their nose.
"I suppose so," they nodded, "after that, I'll need to visit Dedede and inform him of my plans."
Elfilin giggled and did a back flip.
"Good enough!" Elfilin smiled, "I'll lead the way!"
With that, Elfilis, Elfilin and the doppelganger leave the dungeon and make their way up the stairs into the foyer. The ultimate life-form paused for a brief moment.
"Should I teleport you there?" Elfilis offered.
Elfilin and the doppelganger shared a glance before nodding.
"That would be great!" Elfilin answered.
Elfilis closed their eyes slowly as they scooped up Elfilin and the doppelganger in their hand.
"One moment, then."
In the blink of an eye, Elfilis vanished from the foyer and arrived in front of Kirby's house. After they released Elfilin and the doppelganger from their grip, the small chinchilla knocked on the door and waited until Kirby emerged from the house.
"Morning, Kirby!" Elfilin waved his arm.
Kirby smiled and waved his arms at Elfilin and the doppelganger.
"Hi!" the pink puffball responded.
Elfilis perked up their feelers as the doppelganger waved his arms back at Kirby.
"I'll come back to pick you up in three hours," Elfilis told them, "anything you need before I get going?"
"No thanks," Elfilin shook his head, "we're good!"
"Later, poyo!" Kirby waved his arm at Elfilis.
Elfilis nodded and then teleported away. From there, Kirby beckoned his sparring drone to come outside, which caught the doppelganger's interest, though he sat on a nearby tree stump.
"Poyo?" Kirby asked Elfilin, "Kabii poyo?"
Elfilin perked up his large ears.
"Shadow…Kirby? So that's his name?" Elfilin paused.
"Poyo!" Kirby nodded.
Elfilin giggled as he swayed his tail side to side.
"Well," Elfilin explained, "he said he came here to visit when we found him having stumbled out of the Dimension Mirror."
"Poyo poyo!" Kirby replied, pointing at his sparring drone and then his doppelganger.
Shadow Kirby perked up as he hopped off the stump and approached the two.
"That's great!" Elfilin chirped, "Elfilis used that code injector thing this morning and now I can't wait to try out some cool powers I unlocked!"
"Poyo?" Shadow Kirby pondered.
Elfilin paused as he tilted his head sideways and thought over the options of what he could spawn, reading into what organisms he had stored inside of his genetic library.
"Let's see if we can try this," Elfilin suggested.
Kirby and Shadow Kirby watched with interest as Elfilin closed his eyes and began to concentrate. Touching down onto the snow-covered ground, the small chinchilla let a beetle emerge from his body seconds later. The two puffballs watched the newly spawned insect wander around, feeling the urge to eat it, but they both resisted such a temptation.
"Poyo," Kirby commented, staring in awe.
"Poyo poyo," Shadow Kirby added.
Elfilin raised his eyebrow at Shadow Kirby's comment.
"Throw ability?" Elfilin paused, "I don't think I've seen it before."
Elfilin returned his gaze to the beetle.
"And I don't think this beetle has a copy ability," Elfilin added with a sigh.
"Poyo," Kirby shrugged.
Shadow Kirby didn't hesitate to inhale a rock, gaining the Stone copy ability in the process. Elfilin raised his brows as he shifted his gaze between Kirby and the beetle he spawned.
"Well," Elfilin asked Kirby, "do you wanna see if it even has a copy ability?"
Shadow Kirby simply shrugged while Kirby stared at the beetle for a brief moment. The pink puffball simply picked up the insect and let it perch on his head. Kirby shifted his gaze towards his sparring drone as it kept its gaze on the snow-covered tree. He took notice of a branch of pine needles sticking out from the snow when a thought popped into his head.
"Poyo?" Kirby asked Elfilin.
Elfilin tilted his head.
"You…want to know what the beetle likes to eat?" Elfilin clarified.
"Poyo!" Kirby nodded eagerly.
Elfilin giggled as he placed his paw behind his head.
"Eheheh," he replied, "I guess it'll take me a bit to figure that out. Why do you ask?"
Kirby rose to the tip of his feet while waving his arms.
"Poyo poyo!"
"A terrarium?" Elfilin blurted, "sure! That sounds like an awesome idea!"
"Poyo!" Kirby nodded.
The pink star warrior shifted his gaze towards Shadow Kirby.
"Poyo?" Kirby called over.
Shadow Kirby scurried towards the two of them upon cue. The doppelganger listened in as Kirby explained the details of the materials they needed to gather with his limited speech and body language. Shadow Kirby eagerly nodded in agreement before he set off to find the materials for the terrarium. From there, Kirby and Elfilin made their way into the house with the beetle still perched on the pink puffball. Several minutes later, the darker doppelganger returned with some sticks, leaves and a mossy log. Kirby searched the cupboard until he found an empty jar. Shadow Kirby then stripped the bark off the log and broke off the little pieces. With his contribution done, the mirror doppelganger settled into the lounge chair and shed his copy ability, watching as Kirby and Elfilin brought the materials to the table. First, the small chinchilla gathered some soil from outside and placed it at the bottom of the jar. Second, Kirby arranged the twigs and leaves. Then, the pink star warrior added the pieces of the mossy log. Finally, he carefully placed the beetle inside and grabbed a metal lid with holes poked in it.
Once Kirby and Elfilin completed the terrarium, the small chinchilla squeaked in joy as he did a backflip and flapped his arms.
"Thank you so much, Kirby!" Elfilin chirped, "I'll take really good care of this little guy."
Without warning, Shadow Kirby let out an exasperated sigh.
"Poyo poi!" the doppelganger declared.
Kirby and Elfilin shifted their gaze towards Shadow Kirby, the pink star warrior realizing they needed to find something to do. The last thing he wanted was for his mirror doppelganger to cause mischief. Kirby grabbed his sword from the rack, exchanging a brief glance at his sparring drone before he pointed to the door.
"Poyo!" Kirby suggested, "poyo poyo?"
With that, Shadow Kirby raised his eyebrows.
"Poyo!" he answered cheerfully.
Kirby led Shadow Kirby, Elfilin and the sparring drone outside, the small chinchilla hugging the terrarium to his chest. Standing out in the snowy field, Kirby and his doppelganger stared down one another while Elfilin floated on the sideline next to the sparring drone. Shadow Kirby glowed without warning and brought out his sword, which appeared to be made for function more than style. The green cap he put on didn't have the yellow pom-pom unlike Kirby's. The pink star warrior drew out his sword, but didn't change into his copy ability as a reminder from Meta Knight rang in his mind. He still needed improvement before he could duel the veteran knight again.
The mirror doppelganger took a stance, running one of his dark little arms over the edge of the blade. Taking a breath, he made his first move. Moving fast enough to almost blur in Kirby's vision, he deliberately reflected the sun into the eyes of his pink opponent, using his swords flat edge as a mirror and reflecting light into his eyes and forcing the pure-hearted puffball to blink as he landed first blood on the pink puff, putting a large cut on his cheek. Letting out a pained yelp, Kirby took his own breath and wiped the blood off his wound, readying himself for a counter attack.
He watched as his doppelganger swung his blade again. Kirby parried the blow. Shadow Kirby stomped down hard on his mirror counterpart's foot, lashing it upwards. He kicked Kirby beneath his mouth and rapidly bashed him in the head with the pommel of the sword. Kirby couldn't just give in now. He kicked the ground hard enough, pushing himself a far distance.
The shadow doppelganger took a breath before he started throwing blade beams at him, forcing him to stay on his toes. Elfilin shook nervously as his tail swished side to side. Shadow Kirby paused after a moment and began to focus. His blade began to spark with green electricity. Small electrical jolts impacted the ground around his blade. Kirby recognized this power, as he once used it himself.
He had better turn the tide somehow.
Kirby readied his blade and slashed it upwards, lifting himself off the ground. Shadow Kirby moved back and dodged the razor edge of Kirby's blade. He grinned and hopped into the air after smashing his electrified sword into Kirby's own metal blade. A nasty shock ran through the blade, though it didn't sting Kirby too much despite the electrical charge causing a little backlash.
"Hang in there, Kirby!" Elfilin called, "you got this!"
"Poyo," Shadow Kirby declared mockingly.
Still, Elfilin's words of encouragement gave Kirby a boost of confidence. The pink puffball waved his arm at the sparring drone, prompting it to create a snowball and throw it at him. Kirby inhaled it and gained the Ice copy ability out of it. Shadow Kirby watched as his mirror counterpart gained an icy crown. The pink puffball held onto the sword as he blew a gust of ice which instantly froze the snow beneath him. Shadow Kirby narrowed his eyes a bit, unsure if he should keep his distance or try to close the gap and blitz him. His pink doppelganger began skating on the ice, twirling every few seconds.
Shadow Kirby went back to flinging blade beams at his opponent. Kirby kept dodging the projectiles as he skated closer and closer. The shadowy doppelganger huffed and began gathering energy. He lunged forward, stabbing directly into Kirby's belly—but didn't even pierce his body. Kirby recognized that Drill Stab as he used it himself. Shadow Kirby followed up with an Upward Slash and kicked him away at the peak of his jump. Kirby tried to freeze him at that moment, though it managed to chill him and do a little damage. He needed to find another ability to fight at range. The pink puffball staggered back to his feet and shed his copy ability.
"Poyo?" Kirby waved his arm at his doppelganger, "poyo?"
Shadow Kirby rolled his eyes before he coughed up a shard of reflective glass and threw it at him. Kirby immediately inhaled it and gained the Mirror copy ability in the process. His doppelganger dashed in quickly, the edge of his blade becoming rather reflective like a perfect mirror.
"Poyo poyo!" Shadow Kirby barked.
His eyes gleamed as his blade swung down, slicing into Kirby. Without warning, five identical slashes appeared at the other sides of his body. Elfilin shivered nervously as he held onto the jar in his arms. Doing a handstand, Shadow Kirby flipped backwards on both feet planting them firmly in the ground as the edge of his blade glowed. Several multi-colored copies of him, all in different colors of grey-scale appeared from mirrors around Kirby, and attacked at once, but each of them had different copy abilities. The pink puffball didn't have even a second to think, let alone react, as the copies bulldozed him with their assorted attacks. He barely managed to dodge a few, but as he became overwhelmed, all of Shadow Kirby's copies fused together and unleashed a powerful blow, sending Kirby flying.
"Kirby!" Elfilin panicked.
Elfilin gasped as he shoved the jar into the sparring drone's arms and flew to Kirby's side after the pink puffball crashed into the tree and fell into the snow.
"Kirby!" Elfilin called, "Kirby, are you ok? Say something!"
Kirby raised his arm which had a player card embedded into it, his face covered in scratches.
"Poyo," he mumbled.
Shadow Kirby grinned for a brief moment, pleased at himself for how heavily he dominated the fight. But then he frowned a little as a realization hit a ton of bricks…his doppelganger wasn't strong enough yet. Shadow Kirby may have more skill, but he wouldn't ever get more powerful until Kirby himself does. He began to consider forcing his mirror counterpart to get stronger if his own limit was to rise.
Feel free to leave a review so Kirby can use them to buy snacks for him and Elfilin.