Chapter Text
His Majesty had summoned a new demon beast, and it wouldn’t be for the last time either. It had become a simple routine, Dedede would fawn over his new ‘pet’ for a while until he grew bored of it and he and his servants Sword and Blade would quietly dispose of the creature before it could wreak any havoc on the villagers. However, this time it was content to secretly do so as its master slept.
The villagers were currently arguing with the king in his throne room. He would have joined them if so inclined. But his ever-changing sleeping schedule and naturally nocturnal nature left him too exhausted. Returning to their quarters he saw the two sitting at their table with coffee and a few crackers to sustain themselves after not eating a proper meal in so long.
Sword looked sleepy, a few crumbs covered the X-shaped scar in the centre of his face amongst tawny beige skin and a mess of short dark purple hair had been left behind by his helmet. His usually bright green eyes had been wrapped in red from recent sleepless nights attempting to get the new demon beast under control.
Blade was in a similar state to him, she had let her red hair down and part of it had fallen to cover her missing eye and white skin. While her eyes were naturally red in colour, the whites around her eyes had taken on the same hue now. And so the couple lay at their table deep in their coffee cups, they needed rest.
“Sword, Blade. You may turn in for the day, however, we must continue to wake again tomorrow night understood?” The two looked up at him blearily, taking a few moments to process his order as the coffee did not seem to be doing them any wonders.
“Yes sir…” Blade groaned as she cracked her back and stood up, dragging her body across the room, Sword following after her
Before the two retired to bed they needed to remove their armour and set it up in the main room for cleaning and repairs the next evening. Prior to him entering the room they had both removed their helmets and already left them in their proper place. Sword’s was a dark green oddly shaped helmet that was long with ridges and an open visor, the rest of his armour followed in that colour. Shoulder pads and a chest plate, alongside gauntlets and greaves that reached his thighs. The rest consisted of a leather tunic and chainmail with an X shaped strap and buckle at the centre of his stomach.
Blade’s helmet was conal in shape, it was a lighter green with gold trimming and a pink visor with a hole at the back that she would pull her ponytail through. Her shoulder pads were larger than Sword’s with golden trim and a golden crest that adorned it that she had supposedly found and subsequently stole once. Alongside that were green gauntlets and a chest plate, however, it was much larger than her husband's and covered up most of her body with only leather straps at the side that one could see through her blue tunic. Across her chest was also a leather strap to carry her scabbard though to reduce weight from the larger piece of armour she her boots were made of leather.
The two murmured amongst each other for a bit complaining about how grimy they felt, a sentiment he understood currently too. Both of them left the room to quickly wash, they’d likely be finished by the time he was done removing his own armour. Removing his steel shoulder pads first, he felt his navy cape dissipate and stretch into wings which was the best feeling of the day as the small bones in it cracked with age and disuse. His own shoulders also cracked as he moved them, weighed down by his armour.
His gauntlets were next, a dark purple in colour while the palm of his hand was white leather where the armour continued over the top ridge of his hand before being stopped by his blue padding. His grieves were the same colour as the gauntlets, ones that reached his thighs much as his servants did. Removing them was growing more difficult compared to when he was a squire from the aches in his knee at the end of the day. An act made more difficult by the dark purple chest plate that was quickly released by way of a few leather straps at the back. He could finally tear that blue padding off his chest, a stifling oven in the tropical heat, made even worse by black leather pants beneath his grieves.
There was very little he could do to let out a sigh of relief as he was freed. Undoing the bun he had made out of his navy braided hair from the top of his head and allowing them to trail across his back. He laid across the sofa there, beckoned to sleep despite his state of half dress.
He was close to drifting off until Blade woke him up. “We’re retiring in for the day sir. You should too.” She patted his shoulder, jolting him awake.
“I will, thank you both for your efforts these last two days.” The two nodded and retired to bed leaving him alone once again with his thoughts.
Even as hot water dripped down his face inside the shower it did not soothe his head but it did allow his body to relax more and wash off the sweat from the heavy layers of armour and padding he wore. Leaving the shower he was greeted by their steamy mirror, even through the steam he could see what was left of him. Scars littered the length of his umber brown body, he couldn’t remember where most of them came from anymore. There was one, however, he recalled. A beastly gash across his arm from the day he had met Sword and Blade.
As much as warm water soothed the body, it caused those scars to ache. And so he retired to bed finally, laying on his side cocooning his mask and a precious silver ring he wore around his neck. That was at least until he was woken up by a loud crashing sound, ripping himself out of bed he staggered to the window to catch a glimpse of the woodland near Kabu’s canyon almost reduced to nothing as something had ripped through the land itself.
He returned to bed. As much as his curiosity yelled at him it had only been three hours since he retired to bed in the last two days. But duty called eventually as he was later awoken by a loud banging, likely the king. Through the door, he could hear the muffled sounds of Sword and Blade talking to him and a loud. “Where is Meta Knight!” As such he dragged himself up and scooped his mask back onto his face.
“Is there something you needed Your Majesty,” he asked as he approached the gigantic man. The king was clearly in a bad mood, there was a deep scowl etched on his face that easily switched from jovial to enraged. Amongst his blue beard and shoulder-length thick curly hair was a pair of matching blue eyes framed by well-cared-for dark brown skin. Under his robes, he wore a long cream kimono with a red and yellow belly warmer across the waist and a pair of geta with socks. On his head was his self-proclaimed crown, the appearance of which confused Meta Knight greatly with the lack of any gemstones usually present in such jewellery. Which lead him to believe in a potential bald spot that the king was hiding from everyone in the country.
Behind him, he could spot Escargon who was also scowling while scribbling away in a notepad. His light green hair which was usually well-slicked back was out of place as if he had been running his hands through it. His face was always quite taut as if scowling came naturally to him with a scratchy goatee, moustache and a pale sickly white complexion that didn't get enough sun. Round glasses magnified his eyes however they usually ended up cracked or broken out of Dedede’s often physically rough treatment of people around him. He also wore a purple waistcoat and trousers while the shirt underneath his waistcoat was a paler purple.
“We’ve got a situation! I need you three to hunt down this alien called Kirby!” The name caught him by surprise from Dedede's order.
“You’ve been sleeping in all day today, so do your jobs for once!” Escargon added with a sneer.
Before he could respond the two scurried off kicking dust in their path to continue whatever chaos they had gotten themselves into. Blade huffed. “Do our jobs for once? We’ve been patrolling for the last two days.”
He sighed and turned to the two. “Get prepared we leave within the hour. I wish to meet this Kirby if my instinct is right…” his voice tapered off quietly. The two knights nodded in a quiet understanding and began preparing their armour. It wasn’t long until dusk began to settle and the three began their trek towards the village and its surroundings.
“Do you think that monster might attack tonight?” Sword spoke up.
“Hm, going by what we’ve been hearing it’ll likely visit the sheep field again. Perhaps we should head over there?” Blade suggested.
The two looked at their lord. “Hm…Alright, it sounds like a plan. We may find our other quarry there besides," he replied.
But as they arrived at the field they realised they were too late, bones scattered the field and not a sheep was in sight. The familiar veil of night draped over the sky as they walked through the silent field. “Seems it caught them again...” Sword murmured with a sigh as Meta Knight trailed behind them.
Blade scrunched her nose. “Ugh... It stinks here. Seems to be coming from that hut,” she complained. It was possibly some more sheep remains, but if they were lucky their quarry may still be eating in hiding.
While Meta Knight observed from a distance, the two approached the hut and kicked down the door. Yet they did not find any sort of monster, only the children of the minister. “Miss Fumu and Sir Bun?” Blade spoke up as the two approached them. The brother and sister were huddled together with their tiny flying servants Lololo and Lalala. As expected of a girl of her status, the twelve-year-old wore an A-line dress with puffy sleeves and a pink ribbon around her waist. However, her usually clean orange pumps and cotton tights had been muddied as if she had run through a field. She had a long light blonde ponytail held up by a chunky purple bead as well as a lighter beige complexion.
Her younger brother was a bit scruffier, his unkempt hair covered most of his face, his skin was a more tanned beige than his sister's. His short overalls were torn in places with thick stitches likely done by his mother. His holey green trainers and ankles were caked in mud like his sister's.
Their little floating servants were free of this fate however, they were the size of their heads and one would not be mistaken if they thought they were fairies without wings. Lalala wore a simple orange dress with a white shirt underneath, while her brother wore a white shirt with blue shorts. Being twins they shared the same face and pale white skin with a short fluffy hairstyle, however, Lololo’s was blue and Lalala’s was pink with a yellow ribbon.
“Wah! Why'd you gotta scare us like that,” Bun gasped out the breath he was holding.
“Oh, um! Sword and Blade…What are you two doing here?” Fumu breathed out a suspicious laugh as she hid something behind her back.
The two stepped forward. “We’re here on Sir Meta Knight's orders to search for a Kirby,” Sword explained observing Fumu’s behaviours.
Her eye’s widened a bit and her grip behind her tightened. “Oh really? So are we!” she lied through her teeth.
“Uh-huh! Doesn't look like he's here though! Better look somewhere else,” her brother added, shuffling closer to her as more of the sack became hidden behind him.
“Is that so…” Meta Knight’s voice rang out as he approached the doorway, the light of the moon enhancing his silhouette. Fumu gasped, her words failing her as her brain scrambled for an excuse as he slowly began to walk over to them. Taking out his sword she dove out of the way as he plunged it at the top of the sack behind her, pulling it up to reveal...
A boy resembling the age of five sitting there with bright blue eyes, pale white skin, long unkempt curly pink hair and a familiar white cape with a starry sky underneath that was his only protection against the cold. Meta Knight nearly dropped his sword, the colours in his glowing eyes changing at a rapid pace alongside his heartbeat. The boy only stared at him, mouth slightly agape at the sword. “Kirby…So this means…” he trailed off still deep in shock. He had suspected there was a small possibility it would be him, the baby from all those years ago. Yet he did not remain to reminisce, turning heel as his cape flowed with him leaving the children in confusion.
Standing outside he did not have much time to gather his thoughts before they followed him. “Uhm, Sir Meta Knight?” Fumu approached him first.
“What was that for?” Bun shouted before she could continue, his hand firmly on Kirby’s back where he could now see small white feathery wings from under the cape.
“He is the Star Warrior Kirby, I suspect you both knew that. But a problem still remains, where and what is the demon beast?” But before they could discuss there was an explosion off in the distance on one of the castle balconies.
Before they could begin to react, Kirby started to run towards it. “Kirby!” Fumu yelled as she began to chase after him, the others following behind.
As they chased him a realisation hit Meta Knight. “Fumu, might I ask why he’s not wearing anything?”
The question struck her out of nowhere almost throwing her running off-balance. “I dunno! He fell out of his ship only wearing that, we tried to make him wear something underneath but he just squirmed out of it!” While at the mayor's house they had attempted to put some pants on him, but he was so excited he had just run around until everyone was out of breath and gave up on it.
“And might he be responsible for that smell earlier?” Blade’s face scrunched up.
“Kinda, might have been that shed. He is really grimy though, who knows how long he was in that ship,” Bun commented nonchalantly.
-
Over by the castle, Dedede and Escargon were being pelted by raining metal plates and bolts. “Ugh this thing is pretty delicate,” Escargon complained, as a stray metal plate pelted him on the head.
“Be more careful with that thing! If we can keep this ship intact, Kirby is sure to come here.” Dedede roughly patted the burnt gold-coloured metal.
As his eyes drifted down to the cockpit, however, he spotted something interesting that resembled a case. Picking up the blue box Escargon peeked over, it was rather small in Dedede’s hand but that was usually the case for most things. As he popped it open though there was no sort of ring or treasure waiting inside like he expected. Instead, nestled in purple velvet was a golden star.
His eyebrow rose until it glittered and shone, so he decided it was a treasure after all and picked it up delicately between his finger and his thumb. “Ooo, look what I’ve got.” He held it in the air, cooing at it.
“Ah! That’s not fair what about me?” Escargon whined only to be pushed away by the king's big hand.
“Quiet! Keep on working, don’t forget I’m the king here.” Dedede turned and left with a hearty laugh, and Escargon stuck his tongue out behind the man's back.
“Honestly, he’s so greedy! Making me do all this damn work…” he groaned and whined to himself as he picked his wrench back up and rolled up the sleeves of his lab coat he put on to work on the ship. As he turned to continue working on the ship though he was rudely greeted by Kirby suddenly standing on the balcony with him causing him to yelp.
“Uhm! It’s just being repaired so you can go home!” He rubbed his hands together anxiously, hoping the strange child would just leave. But he picked up the box Dedede dropped. He saw it was empty and began to thrust it in Escargon’s direction as if asking ‘Where is it!?’ and Escargon found himself gnawing at his nails again and stuttering. “Erm, it’s uhm…”
But suddenly Kirby lost interest in him, turning around he stared into the inside of the castle and began to run in, dropping the box. Escargon watched in a mix of shock and confusion before sighing. “I don’t get paid nearly enough for this…” he murmured before trying to continue his repairs only to be scared by Meta Knight leaping up to the balcony too.
-
Meanwhile, deep inside the castle, Dedede watched his pet octopus float about in its tank as it hugged a bone leftover from dinner. “Hmph, as if a little thing like you could gobble up all those sheep,” he turned his head up angering the creature behind his back. “And I went through all this effort to buy this delivery system for such tiny pets.” He hopped on his throne in a huff and pressed one of the many buttons on the arm.
The room went dark and the centre floor parted to reveal a round metal platform and machine above it with two large TV screens opening up at the sides of the walls. As one switched on he was greeted with a familiar spiel. “Welcome to Holy Nightmare’s Demon Beast Download site.” The man behind the screen held a devilishly smug grin and a voice to fit it too, his suit was probably worth more than the whole country and his skin was as dead as he was.
“You made me pay tons for this, and all I get is a tiny octopus?” Dedede huffed, crossing his arms on his throne.
“Pardon me, but I’m afraid you're yet to understand Octakon’s true strength.” The man explained calmly, but Dedede leaned his head back uninterested.
“I don’t huh? Better of explained that earlier then!” he bit back and turned off the screen with a huff before the man could continue. But as he looked over at his pet he noticed something different. It had grown bigger in size and was beginning to climb out of its tank.
Running over to try and push it back in it responded in turn by spitting the bone it held back at him. And stared deeply into his eyes, freezing Dedede in place and putting him under its spell
-
Kirby entered the tall throne room and found the strange king staring at his fish tank. He slowly approached him with curious eyes before the man snapped around with an overstretched grin and his massive hammer held high.
He stepped back, a twinge of fear on his face before the hammer was let down with a loud bang in front of him. The king began to swing wildly and the boy did all he could to try and avoid its swings, eventually getting caught and sent flying into a wall.
“Kirby!” Fumu yelled as she ran into the room with her brother, watching Kirby run about madly in an effort to avoid the man. Soon he had kited him into a pillar where the star he picked up earlier flew out of his pocket and by Fumu’s foot.
As she picked it up to look at it, however, a shadow grew over her as a pillar began to collapse on top of her and her brother. “Look out!” Meta Knight yelled, as he scooped the two up and pushed them out of the way.
Fumu looked up at him with a grateful smile. “Sir Meta Knight!” However his focus was elsewhere.
“Look,” he ordered as he pointed towards the tank.
The octopus was beginning to grow bigger and bigger as its slimy skin turned to an aggressive red. Both of the children screamed in panic as it grew even bigger, beginning to shake the foundation of the castle itself.
“That was gobbling up all the sheep?” Bun yelled.
“It was controlling His Majesty as well!” Meta Knight added as he opened his cape to shield the children from the monster as its tentacles began to break through the walls, slithering up the spires.
Dedede pulled himself up and shook off the bits of stone that had landed on him, only to look up and see the massive creature now inside of his throne room and screamed. “What in the world is that?” He squawked before jolting up and ran.
“It’s the demon beast you downloaded id- Your Majesty!” Escargon shouted back from behind a pile of rubble before Dedede landed on him.
Shaking his shoulders he continued in his panic. “I don’t remember ordering something that big!”
Escargon scowled. “But weren’t you complaining it was too small?”
Ignoring their bickering, Meta Knight stood between them and the beast. “Your Majesty, escape now!” he ordered as his blade shone in the light. Sword and Blade had also begun their assault, running at the creature with their swords out only to be knocked out of the way by one of its flailing tentacles breaking through the wall. Fumu and Bun had also begun their escape only for it to follow the two through the throne room as Dedede sped past them with Escargon on his back.
The children's attempt was short-lived as it knocked the two down with one of its tentacles. At that moment despite being in a safe spot, Kirby ran out and stood between the monster and the children. “Kirby…” Fumu gasped at the boy’s bravery.
From the suckers, hundreds of tiny octopi began to emerge with a pop and floated in the air, the brother and sister cowered together as Kirby ran at them. Only to be bashed by the creatures from every direction, it went on for so long that he began to feel dizzy and sick, his face almost turning to a sickly pale green. But before he could recover from that, two of them dropped a loose piece of rubble on him.
Fumu could only watch in horror as the star in her hand began to dim and flash in what could be called a panic. It was almost as if it was responding to his pain, catching Meta Knight’s eye. “Fumu, how did you get that?”
She looked at him, panic plain on her face. “Huh? Uhm Dedede he…”
He did not give her a chance to finish. “That is the Warp Star! It's the source of Kirby's strength!” he explained.
Afterwards, she noticed the link between the two, when colour returned to his face the star glowed back to a beautiful gold as he began to run away from the tiny octopi. And she chased after them much to her brother’s resistance. While he ran up another set of stairs, she continued up the opposite side to a balcony where she would be able to watch from afar.
As Kirby reached his balcony, a tentacle crushed his way back out and burst through the main ceiling of the castle, staring straight at the boy. He walked back only to feel his heel slip down and pulled himself back forwards on the tiny platform he was trapped on. As his eyes searched for a way out, Fumu leapt on the edge of the balcony opposite to his and yelled. “Kirby!” Holding the glittering star above her.
It began to glow in her hands the moment Kirby’s eyes locked onto it and a giant smile grew on his face as his small hands reached out into the air for it. In his delight, a wind began to pick up and he held his hands together as it whipped around and began to suck up anything it came into contact with towards his hands. The numerous octopi struggled against it but eventually fell, pulled towards his hands where they vanished into specs of bright red light. Fumu herself was nearly pulled into the vortex if it wasn’t for her brother’s swift reaction.
“How does he even do that?” Bun gaped as he tried to pull his sister back down despite her insistence to pull herself closer to the edge.
Meta Knight was also left agape. “He’s a boy of freedom, even the wind cannot ignore him. With a touch, he can reduce something to pure energy and absorb it.”
With its tentacle raised high in the sky, Octakon released more of its children who were now ablaze with fire. Jumping towards them, Kirby deflected them with swift kicks and blocks with his wrists and feet leaving a small smouldering burn on his skin but creating a beautiful sight akin to sparks. Frustrated, it held up two of its tentacles together and unleashed twice as many, and so he repeated his absorption of the new pack much to everyone's shock as the flames enveloped his arms.
Yet this did not bother him, leaping up he allowed the flames to envelop his body as the cape he wrapped himself around in was thrown to the winds where Meta Knight caught it. Squeezing the familiar material in hand he looked up to see a ball of fire where Kirby once was.
Fumu screamed in panic. “He’s on fire! We’ve got to put it out!”
But he blocked her from trying to get towards him. “No, look.”
A hand broke through the flames and they dissipated, revealing the boy inside once again whose wings had turned into pure fire alongside the tips of his hair which had turned red. Atop his head was a golden banded crown with an emerald at the centre, and a loose red and golden yukata had formed that was parted at the centre where he was wearing shorts now underneath.
It had been years since Meta Knight last saw something like this. “A copy ability!” The two children looked at him confused. “It’s a unique ability that allows someone to absorb the power of someone or something and copy it. Changing their appearance in the process, through that he has become Fire Kirby!” he explained.
Octagon unleashed a fiery breath yet it breezed past Kirby as if he felt nothing, reaching out his hand the flames were pulled into his hands and he unleashed it back. It writhed in pain in the flames and approached the boy even more angered with burns and flames dotting all over its body.
“Kirby!” in a panic, Fumu threw the Warp Star towards him unsure of what it would do. It flew and grew in size before spinning around behind him, as if it were natural to him he leapt into the air to land on it as it passed by. As he flew by its head the octopus continued to try and spit fire at him as he flew past and around the spire, one of its tentacles following in pursuit. It was very slow to react, however, before it noticed he had come back around the loop more fire was thrown at it directly to its face. As much as it tried to hold onto the spire the pure force of the fire was so strong it eventually was ripped off and thrown far far away into the ocean.
With a satisfied smile, the flames on his body died out and he lept through the Warp Star as it returned to its original size with his yukata turning to ash. Normally after the ability would fade you would return to what you were wearing before with no damage done, however, he wasn’t exactly wearing anything before that much to Meta Knight’s panic. Before anyone could react, the moment he landed the man wrapped him back up in the cape with a sigh of relief.
Fumu and Bun’s parents had also arrived in awe of what happened while the brother and sister cheered in joy. “Oh dear he looks awful,” Memu commented in concern at the bits of ash sticking to his face as she hid partly behind her pink fan. There was an indecisiveness on her face, obviously not wanting to get her lilac dress ruined, her blonde curls had almost fallen out of place during all the fighting and her makeup had smudged across her warm beige skin.
Her husband only stared at her in confusion as she lightly pushed him towards the boy, wordlessly telling him ‘You do it’. But the man didn’t look too pleased with the idea of dirtying his suit very much either, his grey curled hair and well-groomed moustache had begun to stick out of places, and his light beige skin showed spots of dust left by the castle crumbling. With a sigh, Meta Knight approached them. “What’s wrong?”
Memu fluttered her fan a bit. “Well, I was thinking he could do with a bath. And he can borrow Bun’s clothes.”
“I see, good luck with that then,” he finished standing out the way much to their disappointment.
“Kirby would like to follow us?” Parm asked.
Bun just grabbed his hand, however. “C’mon we can go to our home!” he told the boy as he dragged him through the hallway past a disappointed Dedede.
Watching the family walk alongside the boy, Meta Knight followed quietly behind with the smell of ash clinging to his nose. “Kirby… He would be so proud,” he murmured as there was a pang of pain in his heart.
Sword and Blade approached him. “Sir, what will happen now?” Blade asked.
“He’ll stay here, I questioned Escargon earlier. They’ve put explosives in his ship. I cut a few cords so the most it’ll do is simply crash him again.”
The two looked at him in surprise. “Is that wise? What if he gets hurt?” she asked.
“They’re impatient, they’ll likely try and blow it up before he can even get close to the sky,” he explained.
“Is that boy then…” Sword murmured.
Meta Knight nodded. “Yes, but it’s far too early. I worry about his growth it may become too much for him…” The three remained quiet until they heard a loud screaming down the hallway that sounded like Kirby, rushing down he saw Fumu, Bun and their father, looking rather tired.
“What happened?” he asked approaching the three, Fumu only nervously laughed.
“He wasn’t too happy about the water.” It was a bit of a contrast to a few minutes ago, a brave boy who did not fear fire only to throw a tantrum about soapy water. His cries died down shortly afterwards, however, Dedede had already caught ear of the loud noises.
Stomping down the hallway he looked at the large group. “What’s going on here?” he demanded.
Fumu stood in front of him. “We’re treating Kirby to a refresher. He does deserve it after saving us all,” she dragged out the last few words as she put her hands on her hips and glared at the king.
He only scoffed at her. “Well don’t go getting too attached now, he’ll be gone before you know it,” he laughed as he walked away with Escargon following suit.
Fumu frowned. “I guess he’s right…It’s a shame I would have liked to spend more time with Kirby,” she sighed as she sat down by the door again.
Meanwhile inside Memu was surprisingly enjoying herself. “Your hair is so long! I’ve never seen a boy with such long hair before it may be longer than Fumu’s too.” She cooed and scrubbed through his long hair with shampoo and conditioner. “I used to play with Fumu’s hair all the time, but she’s gotten so picky now she’s getting older.”
Kirby only hummed as he played around with the bubbles while she combed her hands through his hair. “Oh, dear…It may have to be cut though after all, it’s very damaged,” she frowned at the state it was in despite layers of shampoo and conditioner. She managed to wiggle him into some of Bun’s spare clothes, he wouldn’t miss as he called them ‘Too babyish’ as it was a short-sleeved white shirt, she also cut two holes into the back and found some red shorts.
Collecting her comb and scissors she sat the boy down and pulled his hair back. “Oh my, you have cute little pointed ears just like Sir Meta Knight!” she squealed as she gave it a small tug and he yelped in response. “Oh dear, I’m sorry. You know, both of you look like elves or fairies. I wonder then if he has fluffy wings like you too, must be embarrassed about them,” she laughed.
Eventually, as she began snipping away at the hair as her family walked back in, Parm made sure they removed their muddied shoes or else Memu would have his head for the carpet. “Your cutting all his hair?” Fumu asked disappointed.
“Yes, it’s in really bad condition but thankfully he doesn’t need it all removed,” she explained as long strands were cut from his head.
“I did notice something strange though.”
“What is it, mama?”
“...He has no belly button!” she exasperated, Kirby looked at her confused while the other's eyes grew.
“How is that possible?” Bun asked.
“Maybe he came from an egg,” his father murmured.
“But he isn’t a bird!” Fumu argued.
“That’s not all, there’s not a single freckle on him either,” she nearly continued on if it wasn’t for Kirby loudly huffing in the chair to tell her to stop.
After his little outburst, they all quietly watched her work on his hair as it curled to the floor in a small pile. His hair was rather thick and fluffed up very easily once she dried it, despite her best efforts a lot of it stuck out and curled, refusing to be pressed down neatly. But she couldn’t help but coo at him. “He’s so cute,” she smiled as she patted his hair.
The coddling was short-lived however as Dedede returned, banging at the door. His ship was ready and he wanted him out much to their dismay. In the early morning sun, he stood by his ship alongside many of the other villagers he had met that day who came to say their farewells.
“This day went by so quickly and it’s already time to say goodbye…” Fumu frowned, Kirby looked at her with watery eyes and she turned around. “J-Just hurry up and go. Don't you have some sort of destiny to get to?” She crossed her arms and held up her head in an attempt to feel strong. Kirby’s frown only deepened and he climbed up into his cockpit, looking down at everyone as if he were a kicked puppy.
As it slowly began to drift away the two couldn’t help themselves but chase him. “Goodbye!” Fumu waved as she ran.
“Make sure to come and visit us again one day!” Bun added as Kirby gave the two a small wave.
But unbeknownst to him, as he drifted by Dedede and Escargon in their tank they had a plan. “This’ll make him say goodbye forever,” Dedede cackled as Esacrgon pressed a button and a loud bang was heard from Kirby’s ship.
Smoke began to fill his cockpit and outside of the ship too as it began to spiral down back to the earth, right into the king and his vehicle. Fumu and Bun chased after the explosion, catching Kirby as he rolled across the ground and helped him up. “Look at the mess you’ve made!” Dedede yelled at Escargon, looking at the remains of his and Kirby’s vehicles. The moment Escargon saw a glint of anger in his eyes he began to run from his hammer, a common occurrence to see by anyone at the castle.
Fumu and Bun only laughed at them, as Escargon ran behind the rubble and begged for forgiveness. “Looks like you stuck with us. So, fancy living here?” Fumu asked with a big smile on her face, Fumu looked at her and back at her brother before his face lit up and he babbled excitedly.
As they all excitedly ran back to the others, Meta Knight watched quietly in the distance, a gentle but sad smile on his face.