I've been going through the Kirby anime again and I'm having a good time. It would be great if there were a new series again! (But I suppose that won't happen...)

Anyway, this is based upon the Demon Frog episode and looks at its aftermath (something so cute shouldn't look so devilish!). Being possessed can't be much fun after all though it's pretty much a staple of many cartoons and games. Here we go!

P.S I notice that I often talk about dreams and nightmares in my writings. I wonder what that says about me?

After Possession: Part 1

All that lay before him was destruction. Beautiful, beautiful destruction. An entire place wiped out. All his own doing.

He surveyed the wasteland with satisfaction. The buildings burnt with ferocious crimson flames, erupting even higher when he poured petrol around them. The heat was alarmingly intense and the pungent smell of fuel spread quickly through the town. The furious flames, as they towered higher, made a wonderful, striking contrast against the pitch-black sky; the very picture of hell indeed.

A series of loud explosions rocked the few buildings still standing before they were reduced to rubble. Shattered glass flew in all directions cutting anyone in its path to bloody ribbons. You could see where they had ran, leaving red, streaky paths in their wake. It must have been very painful; not that he cared. He stood hard on the sharp glass shards and welcomed the piercing sensation that cut into his flesh. It did not matter; he was above the pain.

Heavy bricks smashed into the houses, punching out great holes before he razed them to the ground entirely. He battered the walls repeatedly until they caved in and then proceeded to batter them even more, wearing a manic grin while doing so. He took great pleasure in slashing at the possessions inside, especially the sentimental ones, tearing them open, leaving their ruined innards bare to the world. They were symbols of how memories could quite easily be blackened and obliterated.

The inhabitants were still screaming, panicking, running and crying, with red eyes, redder faces, all crimson in this half-light. The pain! Oh, the pain! But he would put a stop to that infernal caterwauling soon enough. How he hated those pleas for help! How they grated on him! Were they so pathetic that they could not sort out one single problem for themselves?! Gullible, stupid and weak: that was all these Cappies were. No wonder they succumbed to every trick and deception going. No wonder he had to sort everything out before. Well, not anymore.

The acrid stench continued to choke the air with those nearby gagging on it. Black smoke spewed over the atmosphere. The roaring flames were louder than the pitiful cries for help. The ground beneath him was broken and charred. How lovely.

They had all been rounded up in the town square. Each one, he was pleased to see, was trembling badly from head to toe, barely able to speak for fear of what would happen next. Stinging tears ran down their dirt-streaked faces. They held each other tightly to the point of crushing their ribs. Each breath came out more haggard and painful than the last. They dared not believe what was happening. How had it all transpired to this? Why? Why was this happening? Their whines filled the sky with such aggravating noise.

Don't worry, his mind spoke to him, he would put a stop to them soon enough.

Humming tunelessly to himself, he took time to select a suitable weapon. Which one, which one? Such decisions! Perhaps it would be best to construct his own, yes!

Each footstep made their hearts hammer even more violently. Each step was deliberately slow. His smile widened at their terror. His brandished weapon was ready and waiting. It was already blood-soaked. It worked splendidly. He wouldn't be troubled by royalty anymore.

He reached the crowd. Really, they ought to have rushed him; he was only one, small being. But that was their loss and a costly one at that.

"Please…" a young girl begged. "You're a good person. Don't do this. You're supposed to be a Star Warrior! A hero!"

A Star Warrior. They were dead. The war had killed them. All of them.

He raised his weapon and–

Kirby screamed and almost fell out of his tree. He scrabbled upright and clutched the trunk for dear life. He panted heavily and his eyes shone with distress. He cautiously surveyed his surroundings. He wasn't in town and there was nobody about. He was still in the tree next to the small house; his house technically, though it was occupied more often than not by a small yet loud, yellow bird known as Tokkori. It was still night-time and it was raining hard. He let the sound of the rainfall calm him as he rubbed his eyes. Yet another nightmare. How many had he had now? They were getting worse, so much worse...

"Huh? What's all that racket about?"

Before Kirby could hide himself, the window was thrown wide open by a tired-looking Tokkori. The bird eyed him beadily, seeing the source of his rude awakening.

"Don't tell me you had another nightmare, junior!" he squawked. "And don't you try telling me otherwise!" he added as Kirby vigorously shook his head. He didn't want to draw attention to himself. He just wanted to be left alone. "Kirby, you've gotta sort this out sooner or later or you're gonna be falling asleep during the day as well. You should try distracting yourself or something so you don't go disturbing me neither."

Kirby glowered at Tokkori. Did the bird think he hadn't bothered trying anything at all? He desperately wanted this to be over with. He hadn't had a decent night's sleep for nearly two weeks now. He'd been having nightmares every night; Tokkori was lucky he had only been woken up a couple of times.

Tokkori relented, seeing Kirby's fatigue. Poor boy had been through quite a bit recently.

"Come on, Kirby. You should probably get inside. A nest ain't a good place to be in when the weather's like this and I know it."

How generous. Inviting him into his own house. Kirby shook his head and turned away from Tokkori, not letting him see his distress.

"Fine. Be that way then. But you're only gonna be sorry in the morning when you've got yourself a bad cold!"

Once Tokkori had pulled the window shut, Kirby jumped down from his tree and started his slow walk to Cappy Town knowing that he wouldn't fall asleep again tonight. He trudged through the cold, wet grass and shivered slightly against the heavy rain. It was, of course, silly, taking a night-time stroll in this weather, but the young Star Warrior didn't care much for that. He had been feeling out of sorts ever since he had been taken control of by the Demon Frog.

The Demon Frog. A monster ordered by King Dedede some time ago, which had escaped before he had been able to put his plan into action. As it was, it was Kirby who had found it first. He thought that it was just an ordinary frog until it launched itself at him and after a brief struggle, sunk itself into the recesses of his mind.

Kirby shook. He had felt powerless, unable to fight back, unable to stop himself from attacking the town and its people. He had looked in a mirror and saw his glowing red eyes, his pronounced sneer, and the small bat-like wings protruding from his back. And when he laughed… it petrified him. He knew exactly what was happening and when he saw the terror in people's eyes… it was something that he couldn't forget easily.

The feeling of being possessed kept reappearing in his dreams and it was getting worse. He was terrified that during the midst of his nightmares, he would end up acting out what his possessed self was doing. Desperately hoping it would help, Kirby had stayed away from Cappy Town for some time, thinking that its citizens would be less angry with him and that the dreams would soon fade away, an unfortunate after-effect of the temporary possession.

But they had not.

Kirby knew that he didn't need to punish himself further. Once the demonbeast had been destroyed and everything had been sorted out, he couldn't apologise enough to the townspeople, to all who had been hurt. Though he couldn't speak properly yet, not even able to speak in full sentences, he hoped that they understood the sentiment.

But Kirby couldn't stop feeling guilty.

It must have been so terrifying to the locals, to see their hero, ever hungry yet ever cheerful, just suddenly go… haywire like that without any idea of the cause. His red, glowing eyes, his chilling, high-pitched laughter, his sudden urge to destroy as much as possible and feeling happy about it. While possessed, going completely wild like that had felt… marvellous. He felt free to do as he pleased. He didn't need to care for anyone or anything.

He had caused pain and suffering, he had caused anguish and fear. That was not what a hero did.

Who could stand up to Kirby when, by merely copying an available ability, he could take down ferocious demonbeasts even while he was still an infant? Only his mentor would be able to do that. But what if they had been forced to do battle? What if he had hurt Meta Knight? What if he had pinned him down, unable to defend himself? What if…?

Kirby shook his head wildly as if he could somehow shake the thoughts out. It would do him no good thinking like that. His mentor, who he admired and respected, would not have gone down so easily; he had fought far worse things in his time. He had confidence in Kirby's ability to free himself and he had, in the end, with Tiff's words.

Yet Kirby's actions still weighed down heavily on his heart.

"You've nearly destroyed the whole of Cappy Town!" he remembered being told fiercely. "Not even King Dedede has done so much damage! What drove you to do this? How could you let yourself go so out of control? We thought you were better than this!"

Everyone had been so livid with him that Kirby was frightened they were going to start throwing rocks at him or something. He hadn't meant any of his actions but clearly that wasn't being taken on board. He wanted to help them but they didn't let them, no doubt thinking he would only make things worse. What else could Kirby then do but go home and feel sad for himself?

They were never like this towards King Dedede even though it was he who brought in the monsters. Was it because Dedede was a familiar evil or was it simply because they expected more from Kirby and he had let them down? Or both?

Kirby didn't expect to see anyone at this time and, when he reached Cappy Town a little while later, was glad to be proven right. Everyone was asleep, safely warm and comfortable in their homes. At least, if their homes weren't still in the process of being repaired.

Kirby glanced this way and that as he slowly walked down the main road. The Cappies worked hard and fast on reconstruction, used to it as they were from the damage often caused by Dedede's numerous monsters (although they may have been helped out by the Waddle Dees this time round, he wasn't sure). He saw the houses with new, double-glazed windows and fine brickwork as well as now boasting better roofs and chimneys. He peered through one of the windows belonging to a house that had taken substantial damage and saw that the furniture had been replaced. He hoped that the Cappies hadn't had to pay for them. It was Dedede who had ordered the monster in the first place so it was Dedede who ought to have recuperated the costs. It wasn't as if Kirby could pay for anything; he never had any money but then again, he never needed it in the first place.

The young Star Warrior stopped in front of Kawasaki's. Of all the buildings that had been caught in the crossfire, the restaurant had been the worst hit: the entire thing had gone up in flames and only the quick thinking of Chief Bookem had prevented it from being razed completely. Blackened and charred wooden beams remained although many of these had now been replaced and the restaurant was now being given a fresh lick of paint. It wouldn't look too different once repairs were completed; Kawasaki wanted it as good as the old one.

Kirby's eyes watered. Kawasaki's restaurant was his favourite place. While most people thought that Kawasaki was a terrible if enthusiastic cook, Kirby absolutely loved his dishes, enjoying it when Kawasaki asked him to taste test any new combinations he made no matter how outlandish they were. Many a time Kirby sat happily in his restaurant, emptying countless bowls of food for free when they had been left behind by complaining customers who obviously did not have such a developed sense of taste as himself. Kawasaki was just so glad that someone appreciated his cooking and he hoped that he would always have Kirby's custom and never have another restaurant open up in town.

He doubted that Kawasaki would want him to eat there ever again considering what had happened.

He walked a little further and noticed Curio's antiques shop. Sometimes, Kirby headed there to help the old Cappy out with his work when he didn't feel like playing and welcomed the peace and quiet that came with piecing old pottery together. Curio appreciated this and while Kirby did not really understand his historical theories about ancient Cappy history, nor, truth to be told, did they really apply to him, he listened anyway because it was the polite thing to do, and some of the theories were quite interesting really.

The building had been quickly re-erected; it was mainly a case of re-tiling the roof and putting up some new shelves. The antiques and fossils inside, however, were a different matter. Priceless artefacts smashed into countless pieces, some near reduced to ashes, how was anyone supposed to restore these items against such damage? Many were surely irreparable. Curio's life-time work and passion, utterly wrecked, more so than anyone else in town. He surely hated Kirby now.

Still raining heavily, Kirby wandered near to Tuggle's grocery store. That hadn't been damaged too badly so at least people had not been inconvenienced when out shopping for much-needed groceries. The lights were out but he knew that there was food still sitting on the shelves. His stomach rumbled loudly. The food such as chocolate, fish, and crisps were highly tempting for one as hungry as he was feeling right now but he wasn't going to add robbery to his list of recent crimes. He stood there for some time before moving away.

However, as he walked around the corner, he noticed a number of stacks of packaged meals sitting outside the store, meals that were only going to be thrown away anyway. Kirby's stomach rumbled even louder. He felt rather light-hearted and almost a little dizzy. Much as people were baffled by the amount that Kirby could put away and still not feel full, the reason was actually rather simple: his stomach was a pocket universe. How could you fill that and not be hungry?

Kirby wondered if it would be OK for him to eat this. Tuggle often let Kirby eat meals that were out-of-date, Kirby having no problems with this whatsoever, especially as not only did it mean another free meal for him, but it helped Tuggle reduce his waste and kept Cappy Town a clean place. It was a win-win situation.

With this in mind, Kirby decided it would be fine to eat the meals so before he could change his mind, Kirby sat down and ripped open the packaging, engulfing each meal as if it would be his last. He hadn't eaten properly in ages by anybody's standards; he hadn't been in Cappy Town for a whole week, only going to the sea and Whispy Woods for fish and fruit respectively. They went down his gullet faster than he could open the boxes. He breathed a sigh of satisfaction once he emptied the last box.

Now that he was fed, Kirby considered that he hadn't helped at all during reconstruction, not since he had kept himself away from town since the Demon Frog incident. He was afraid that the people would have told him to go away yet again. Feeling a sudden rush of guilt, Kirby leapt up. There were ways in which he could help. And the Cappies didn't even need to see him. If he could help out in some small way, then perhaps he would feel better about himself.

He began to work feverishly throughout town for the rest of the night, not caring that he was being soaked to the skin. There were so many things to do! He hoped that the people would be happy with his efforts. He tried his best to please everyone; it was in his nature to do so.

But would it be enough?