Kirby | カービィ

Here in Dreamland, there's only one TV channel, like you probably already know. Dedede runs the channel, so there really aren't many shows on it, and the ones that it does have aren't very good. The songs that play at the beginning of each show aren't very good either, but they get stuck in my head a lot, 'specially when I'm scared. Kinda like right now.

That's probably why I've been singing one of 'em over and over and over for the past forever and ever and ever.

"Dedede Man, Dedede Man, super-powered super-guy-an; he'll beatcha without try-an, he's the ultra-powered-extra-cool-super-dude-epic-chap-neato-bloke-coolio-bro superhero-an, Dedede Man... Hmm hmm hmm... Poyo poyopo, poyo poyoo..."

It's really getting kinda boring, but I can't remember how any other songs go, and just singing the 'Super Kirby Poyo Song' got old after awhile. If I don't get out of this creepy cave soon, though, I'll probably have to start singing it again soon. 'Dedede Man' is just too dumb.

The light at the end of the tunnel just keeps being super far away, but I'm really getting tired of walking. That, and I'm feeling super hungry too. I haven't eated anything for, like, hours at least. Maybe days. Probably days. Who knows, maybe it's even been a week, or even a century! Ugh, I'm just so hungry...

Whining quietly, I stop walking again and start sniffing around for a snack. "Food, poyo?" I call out, hoping maybe some will magically appear or sumfin. "Food, poyo! Food, poyo! Here, food-y food-y food!" No food comes, which I think is stupid. If I was the king of Dreamland, magic food would come whenever you called it. Hmm. Maybe I should ask Dedede if I can be king someday, if he ever gets bored.

Suddenly, a creepy dripping sound makes me jump a bit and cross my paws, and a scared sound that I didn't want to make flies out of my mouth. "Uwaa!" My face gets hot because I feel stupid, but nobody is here to hear me anyway, so it goes back to normal again really fast. The dripping noise doesn't stop though, making me whine again. "Cave dark, poyo. Cave drippy, poyo. Cave got no snacks, poyo-po. Cave just plain poyoin' 'tupid." After throwing myself down onto my face on the ground with an angry sound, I turn my face sideways and sigh, mad, "Zero-ten; no recommend."

But after a minute, another noise starts happening, and it's a lot scarier than the dumb dripping. This noise is a monster noise, just like the one that I heard earlier before the roaring knocked all the rocks down and took S'kura, Meta Knight, and Bandanna away. Popping back up onto my feet, I look around, trying to pretend like I'm not afraid. "Rawr! Rawr! Rawr!" I shout back at the monster, trying to scare it, but it sounds like it's laughing instead. Puffing myself up so I look bigger, I try to make scary noises back at it, but that just ends up with me accidentally blowing all the air out so fast that I throw myself back against the wall really hard. "Ow, poyo," I mutter to myself as I get up again.

Now the stupid monster's laughing even harder. Getting mad, I suck up a rock nearby and become Stone Kirby, with a fancy gray helmet on my head that Meta Knight told me the special name for, but I, uh, I forget what's it. Sammy-Eye, I think. Whatever that is. But anyway, I turn myself into a circle-topped rock with angry eyes and a rumbly voice just like how the monster's sounds. "Now try 'n hurt Kirby, poyo. Kirby'll crush you, 'tupid monster," I shout out, but the monster just keeps laughing, and then sounds like it's flying away toward the pretty light.

Now I'm really mad. Turning back into Stone Kirby, I run after the monster, yelling, "Just fight Kirby-poy! Kirby gonna make you never hurt 'body again!" The light is finally getting closer, but I don't care. I just keep chasing the stupid monster right into the light. It gets so bright that I can't even see anything anymore, but I keep running. I gotta stop the monster before it can hurt anybody else.

But then suddenly, the monster's sounds are gone and the really bright light is gone too. Now it's only light like a cloudy day. "Huh-wah?" I yell in surprise as I come to a stop so hard that I keep sliding along the ground for awhile. I always forget that I'm heavier when I'm Stone Kirby. Spitting out the Ability so it can't slow me down anymore, I keep looking around for a monster, but then suddenly realize something super weird.

I'm back at the castle, in Meta Knight's secret library. That doesn't... that doesn't work good. I mean, I can't be in the castle; I'm in a cave. There's no way for me be here again. This doesn't work good!

Feeling angry again, I yell out, "What are you doing, monster? Fix things! This isn't right!" But the monster doesn't answer me.

Instead, I hear the sound of a girl... not crying, really, but making scared noises. Feeling kinda scared for her, whoever she is, I walk around the bookcase it sounds like she's hiding behind, and find a funny-looking little yellow girl with kinda-grassy stuff like Blade's coming out of her head, all tied together like a rope. But Blade's is red, and hers is yellow, almost the same yellow as the rest of her. For some reason, I feel like I should know her, but I don't. She doesn't look like anybody I've ever seen before.

"Kirby?" she asks me, afraid and shaking. Her voice sounds like something I've heard before too, but I don't know why. "Aren't you gonna stop the monster? Cappy Town needs you! Now isn't the time to be hiding like everyone else; it's your job to save us from the monsters!"

"Poyo?" I question, tilting my head. "Who you, poyo?"

Staring at me in surprise, she stutters, "Wh-who am I?" Shaking her head suddenly, she runs over and pushes me out from behind the bookcase. "You know who I am, Kirby, and this is no time for joking around! Now go stop the monster before the Cappies find some way to think it's you again!"

Gurgling, I stare back at her, not knowing what's going on. Why would the Cappies think I'm a monster? That's silly. The only Cappy I ever talk to is the one with the restaurant who gives me food, Cavatappi, I think. Sumfin like that. But anyway, they don't think I'm a monster. They know I'm the super-good hero of Dreamland who stops all the bad monsters that wanna hurt people. "Who you, poyo? Tell Kirby," I tell the girl, crossing my paws and glaring back at her.

Making an angry noise, the girl rolls her eyes and buries her face in her weird hands. They have fingers like Meta Knight's gloves, but four instead of two, and they look super... weird. "I can't believe this. There's a monster, and you're standing here pretending you don't know me instead of fighting it. This can't be happening..."

Before I can say anything else, she suddenly picks me up under one arm and marches over to a window with me. "Go. Fight. The monster!" she huffs, before shoving open the window and tossing me out.

"Uwaa," I yelp again. But when I'm yelping, I can't puff up, so I land on my face on the ground. But for some reason, the ground has nothing on it except dirt, so it's really hard and uncomfy to land on. Ow. Gurgling again, I get up and dust off my face, but then let out another shout of "Uwaa!" There's nothing but dirt and empty trees everywhere. Where is everything?

More importantly, what's happened to all the food?

Starting to feel upset, I run out through a nearby giant hole in the castle wall that looks like a monster knocked it over. "Monster-poy?" I call out, feeling nervous. Other than rocks from the wall (and I really don't feel like sucking up another dirty rock right now) there's nothing anywhere I can see that I can use as an Ability, unless I have a secret Dirt Ability and Meta Knight just never told me so.

But when I get ready to run off, trying to find the monster and some food, since all of it here has disappeared, a bunch of Cappies suddenly come walking up the hill toward the castle.

"There he is! Right there! The Prime Minister's daughter isn't protecting him right now; we can get 'im!" one of them, the police one shouts angrily. Uh-oh. Guess they see the monster. Turning around fast, I try to spot it, but still don't see anything. Well, what are they so angry about?

I go running toward them, only for a bunch of them to scream and go running away. Ugh, now they're just like Waddle Dees, but I don't even eat Cappies. At least, not the ones in Cappy Town. And even the ones I do eat are only the ones who are really asking for it and won't get out of the way no matter how many times I ask goodly. The rest of them keep coming toward me, looking even angrier now.

Whining again, I stop short and check over my shoulder for a monster again, but then finally realize that they're chasing me. With a yelp of fright, I turn around and go running back towards the castle wall, only to suddenly run into the weird little girl and fall over. Scrabbling up, I run behind her and then peep out at the Cappies again, feeling kinda afraid. Why are they so angry at me? I didn't do anything wrong!

The little girl has her arms crossed and is glaring out at the Cappies. The mayor one and police one walk right up to her, seeming just as mad as she is.

The mayor one talks first after they both stop right in front of her. "You'll have to admit it this time; Kirby's a nuisance. He's eaten all the food in Dreamland. Even Dedede's historical Massive Midnight M-Snack wasn't this bad." Kicking at the ground (which is a weird thing to do when you're a Cappy and are kinda just a walking upside-down tater sack with no feet or legs), he adds, "All Kirby's left is dirt!"

Still mad, the girl shouts back, "Yeah, well, it wasn't Kirby. It's never Kirby. It's always some monster, and all of you always just blame it on Kirby. It was some monster, and you all know it; you're just too ashamed to admit it again!"

The mouthless mayor narrows his black eyes, getting ready to shout at the little girl some more, but then things get really weird. Even though I'm not making it, there's a sound like what I make when I suck stuff up, and the little girl suddenly flies backwards towards me and disappears like she would if I'd eated her. But I didn't eat her! I don't eat people, just monsters, and just ones I can't get to leave me alone! I'd never eat a goodguy!

Spinning around, I try to find somebody behind me who could have eated her, but there's no one else. But I didn't eat her! I promise!

Turning around again, I face the Cappies, who are all just staring at me, super scared. But then, all of a sudden, they're super angry instead. "The one person who was foolish and kind enough to protect you, and that's how you thank her?!" the police Cappy demands.

"But Kirby no eated her!" I yell back, getting more and more afraid all the time. None of this makes any sense. Scared, I turn around and run away. The Cappies yell after me, but don't seem to chase me. A second later, even though it doesn't work good again, I'm in the secret library again, only now it's dark like nighttime.

"Hello, poyo?" I call out, starting to shake a little. If there's a monster big enough to eat all the food in Dreamland around, I don't wanna run into it. I don't think I can fight something that big and bad. I mean, I could try to fight it, but I wouldn't win. Nothing answers what I said, but something feels scary and wrong.

Still shaking, I walk over to the part of the library where S'kura normally is, but all that's there is her flower ribbon, cape, and sword sitting on a window-chair. "S'kura poy?" I call out, wondering where she is. For a second, nobody answers, but when I spin around, Meta Knight's right there behind me. It makes me yell "Uwaa!" again and fall over onto my back.

He stares down at me, seeming sad. "Sakura starved, Kirby, just like most of the rest of the Waddle Dees have. Just like Bandanna Dee has."

I blink up at him. "So give 'em food," I shrug and stand up again. When you're starving, all you need is food and it all gets better. Everybody knows that.

Suddenly seeming irritated, Meta Knight says in a low voice, "There is no food, Kirby, and even if there was, it is far too late now. They're dead. Gone. They can't come back now, no matter what we do. Even if it only ate all the food... and Fumu, I suppose, as well... the monster's still quite effectively killed all of us. Soon enough, we'll all be gone." Growing sad again, he turns away. "I don't believe it was you; you're the Warrior of the Stars, not some common monster. You wouldn't have done this. And yet, it seems as though I am running out of other things to believe. There's been no sign of a monster anywhere, and you're the only one who hasn't seemed to be starving lately..." Shaking his head, he says to himself, "No, Meta Knight. It wasn't him. It can't have been him."

Tilting my head to one side, I say, kinda surprised, "But Kirby hungry right now. Kirby starvin' too."

But the way Meta Knight looks back at me makes it seem like I just said those words in a super scary voice, rather than the nice way I actually just said them. "...Kirby. What do you mean by that?"

Shrugging, I reply, "I just said that I'm hungry, poyo." Weirdly, Meta Knight seems almost afraid now, as he starts backing away from me.

"Kirby..." he says warningly, although his eyes are brown in scaredness, "this isn't something to joke about. Even you should know that, even at your age."

Tilting my head farther, I reply, "But Kirby not joking, Meta Knight poyo..."

Meta Knight's sword is suddenly out and pointed toward me, even though he's still scared. "So it is you. So you are the monster..."

Eyes widening, I shake my head no, but Meta Knight acts like I just laughed all creepy or something, because he suddenly turns and goes running away.

"Wait, Meta Knight poyo!" I shout after him, feeling scared and still not knowing what's going on. But instead of talking noises, the noise that comes out is the sucking-up noise, and a second later, Meta Knight is gone, with only his mask on the floor in front of me.

This time, my reaction is to squeal in terror and go falling back away from it. I didn't eat him. I'd never eat Meta Knight, even when he was being a badguy. He's my friend and teacher, not a snack! Even I know that much, and I'll eat, like, anything!

This doesn't work good! This doesn't work good!

Starting to cry, I go to run out of the library, but there are tons of angry Cappies coming in with fire, which they start setting everything on fire with, yelling all angry. And outside, there's more of them, as far as I can see, so I can't jump out the window either.

Really scared now, I puff up and float to the top of a bookcase, where I press myself against the top so nobody can see me and start shaking harder and harder. I can smell the fire and the Cappies just keep yelling louder and louder. Why do they want to hurt me? I didn't eat everything. If I did, I would remember! Right? But... but... what if I wouldn't?

I don't remember eating the little girl or Meta Knight, but I saw and heard it. What if eating everything was the same way? What if my whole brain doesn't work good and this has been happening many days? What if I really did eat everything? What if I really am a monster who hurt everyone?

"Kirby don't wanna be a monster, poyo!" I cry, forgetting about the Cappies, but they didn't forget about me. A bunch of them start pushing the bookcase again and again, trying to knock it over so they can get to me. When I look up for a second, I can see that the fire is coming closer and closer. The room's starting to feel super hot. Hiding my face again, I keep crying, "Kirby's the hero who stops the monsters, not a monster! Kirby don't wanna hurt anybody! Kirby sorry! Kirby sorry!" But being sorry doesn't seem to help anything. I mean, if I've really eated all the food and some people, that works good. I wouldn't forgive me if I eated everybody else, either.

But I still feel really scared.

If I'm the best hero Dreamland has, and even I'm just a monster...

Is anybody a goodguy, or are we all just monsters pretending like we're not?

Am I really a bad monster? Have I really hurted people?

It really kinda seems like it...

But still, none of this works good! I know I didn't eat Meta Knight or the little girl, and S'kura and Bandanna can't be died, they just can't. Nothing works good. I was in a cave; I can't be in the castle. And then I went from outside to in here again all of a sudden. It doesn't work good. It's all like a super bad dream... I don't wanna be a monster. I don't wanna hurt people. I wanna be the hero who saves them, not a bad monster!

This has gotta be a bad dream, but it feels real. But it can't be real. I won't let it be real.

Somebody please help me! Please wake me up! Please let all the scary be over! I don't want any more of this! None of it works good!

Crying harder, I curl up into a ball as the Cappies get closer and closer to knocking my bookcase over and the fire starts trying to catch it too. Please, let me not be a monster... Please, let this all be a bad dream...

Something in me reminds me that I'm Dreamland's hero, and that I have to be brave. None of this works good, so none of it can be real. If I wanna wake up, I'm gonna have to wake myself up. I'm gonna have to make it so it's all gone. I have to make it all work good, all by myself.

Scrunching my eyes shut tighter, I start yelling as loud as I can, until I'm yelling so loud I can't even hear the Cappies or the fire anymore. "All pretend, poyo! Pretend, poyo! Pretend!" The noises start to get even louder, so I cover my ears with my paws and scream as hard and as loud as I can, "Pretend, poyo! It doesn't work good because it's pretend! It's a bad dream! A bad dream, poyo, and it's gonna stop! Right! Now!"

After that, my voice hurts so much that it stops working for a second, but I can't hear anything anymore. Still shaking, I stay curled up in a ball for a moment before I pull one paw away from my ear slowly. There's still no more noise. Sitting up carefully, I open my eyes, but there's nothing that I can see, and still nothing that I can hear. Starting to feel even more scared, I start to wonder if maybe the fire or Cappies got me, but then I feel that what I'm sitting on isn't a bookcase, but cool rock. And somewhere, quiet, I can hear drippy sounds.

"Cave drippy poyo," I whisper, still feeling scared and alone, but also weirdly almost happy. The bad dream's over. I waked up. But I'm still alone, and that makes me scareder again. Where is everybody?

Even though my voice still really hurts, I shout as loud as I can, "Help! Help Kirby, please!" After that, I can't say anything else, at least not anything else loud, because it hurts too much and I start coughing a lot.

But then, somewhere not very far away, a tiny light appears, and Meta Knight's voice calls out, "Kirby! Quick, get out of that cursed place!"

He doesn't gotta tell me two times. Getting up so fast I almost fall down again, I run out towards the light as fast as I can. I hope this isn't just another bad dream...

But this time, when I reach the light, it doesn't turn into another bad dream. It's just Meta Knight, sitting in a tree with Galaxia pointed toward the sky. Flapping down, he hurries over to me, seeming worried. "Are you all right, young one? I heard your screaming, but when I went into the cave again to help you, I couldn't find you anywhere..."

I look up at him for a minute, but then I start crying really hard all over again, even though it makes my voice hurt even more. "Kirby," he mutters, surprised and even more worried. "Young one, what is it?"

Hugging him suddenly, I hide my face in his cape and keep crying. "Kirby love you and S'kura and Bandanna. Kirby don't ever wanna eat you. Kirby don't ever wanna eat everything. You guys are friends, and Kirby love Dreamland too. Don't wanna be monster. Please, Meta Knight-poy, don't let Kirby ever be monster..."

Meta Knight stands still for a moment, but then sighs and carefully puts one glove on top of my head. "It was only a nightmare, Kirby. You are no more a monster than I am. Whatever happened, it's over now, and it was never real to begin with."

I still can't stop crying. "Kirby hurted everybody. Kirby was super bad monster; hurt everyone. Eated everything. Eated you, Meta Knight, eated you!"

Meta Knight sighs again and pats my head gently. "You didn't eat me, little one; I believe I'm living proof of that." Gently pushing me off of him, he pats my head again once. "You'd never hurt a fly that didn't absolutely require hurting, Kirby; I know that better than perhaps anyone. You're not a monster, and you never will be. You're Dreamland's hero, after all." When I don't say anything, still trying to stop crying, he nudges my side a bit. "Correct, Kirby?"

Sniffling, I nod a little bit and try my best to smile, even though I still feel really bad. "Uh-huh, poyo," I mutter, and then swipe my paws across my eyes, and my runny nose too. Hopefully I didn't get Meta Knight's poor cape all icky. "Sorry for cryin', poy."

"You're fine, Kirby," Meta Knight tells me nicely, and then turns away. "Float up into the tree and get some rest. I'll keep waiting for the others."

"They not out yet, poyoyo?" I ask, feeling a little scared for them.

He shakes his head, seeming worried again now. "One, if not both of them, is probably trapped in a waking nightmare even as we speak." Shaking a bit, he mutters softly, "I certainly do not envy them that..."

Shaking a bit again too, I float up into the tree, but then suddenly wonder something. Looking down at Meta Knight, I call, "What your bad dream, poyo?" Somehow, I know he's had one. He woulda come when I called for help normally, so if he didn't, that means he's super scared of something in the cave...

At first, he seems to grow almost angry and doesn't answer. But after a long moment, he sighs and stops being as hard and angry. "I thought I was a monster as well, Kirby. I may not have eaten you, but I had... I had hurt you and everyone else." Glancing up at me, his eyes still yellow but still not seeming right, he sighs, "It seems our 'nightmares' were not as different as one might expect, eh, young one?"

Nodding slowly, I murmur as I snuggle back against the tree and sniffle a last time, "Yeah. Guess not, poy." After I minute, I add nicely, "Your dream not work good either, Meta Knight poy. You not a monster; never will be."

Not seeming to know what I mean by that, Meta Knight asks, "What do you mean, 'it didn't work good?'"

Rolling my eyes, I sigh, not really feeling like trying to tell him what I mean right now, "It didn't work good in a brain."

Meta Knight sighs heavily. "You mean it did not make sense."

Shrugging, I sigh, "Guess so, probably." Then, growing sad again, I mutter mostly to myself, "Kirby's not a monster, and wouldn't eat anybody, you or yellow girl."

Staring up at me with yellow eyes glowing in the dark, Meta Knight asks, seeming surprised, "'Yellow girl?'"

Nodding, feeling super sleepy now, I add, "Yeah, yellow girl with yellow tied-together grass stuff on head, poyoyo. Felt like she was somebody Kirby knows, but she can't be. Never saw her b'fore." Yawning, I finish, "Kirby-poyo go sleep now."

Meta Knight shakes his head and chuckles like something I said, uh, 'didn't make sense' or something. (Yeah, that sounds gooder than 'working good...') "Do that, Kirby. Get some rest, young one." He turns back to the way the cave is again, seeming to watch carefully for Bandanna and S'kura. But before I go to sleep, he tells me, "You were very brave, Kirby, and the fact that you were able to escape your nightmare proves that you have a very strong mind and heart. You've done well, little one."

Smiling to myself a little bit, I try to ignore my hurting throat and how uncomfy the tree is, and nestle back against it. "Yeah. Kirby brave." With a little giggle, I finish, "'Makes sense,' right, Meta Knight?"

But if he answers anything, I don't hear it, because right after, I fall asleep.

TWO CHAPTERS TWO DAYS IN A ROW WHAT IS THIS SORCERY

I DON'T KNOW

DON'T EXPECT IT TO CONTINUE

BUT IT HAS HAPPENED AGAIN FOR ONCE

WOOOOOOO

Poyo on, forever,

-Elizabeth