Vile: Hey everyone. I know it's been a couple months, and I'm pretty sure you might be thinking it's been due to the pandemic. Well, not quite. I planned on this being out earlier, but between some writer's block, a commission, helping my family with renovations to keep our minds off the pandemic, and ending up with laryngitis that I'm still trying to get over, it's been eventful. But I'm here, I'm safe and healthy (besides my throat), and I've got a new story chapter for you. Enjoy, folks!

Kirby: Right Back At Ya! Next Season

Episode 8: The Super Star Shines

Within King Dedede's castle during the night, his monitor emerged from the wall, switching on to reveal Magolor on the other end, holding a cup of what appeared to be coffee. "Ah, evening, Your Highness. I trust your party yesterday went well?" He asked.

"Yeah, it was a hit!" Dedede replied from his throne, Escargoon by his side as usual. "Wiz was the best dang performer I could've asked for!" As if on cue, Wiz poofed into existence next to the two of them, tipping his hat to Magolor.

"Excellent! I'm glad we at Lorxram Express are capable of meeting and exceeding your expectations!" Magolor chirped, though in his head he was a little less cheerful. 'When you keep them on a leash, that is…' He cleared his throat. "Anyway, what can I do for you this fine night?"

"I want info, Mabogor." Dedede said, leaning toward the screen. "You know anythin' about some creep called 'Dark Matter'?"

Magolor was mid-sip of his coffee when he heard that name, causing him to sharply inhale some of the drink. Evidently it went down the wrong pipe, as he began coughing up a storm, covering his "mouth" with his free hand. "W-W-What?"

"You heard him. This Dark Matter creep showed up during the party and tried to kill us!" Escargoon told him.

"H-He turned one of my animals into a monster!" Wiz added, gripping the sides of his hat.

Magolor merely stood there looking at them, not really reacting much, but under his outfit, he began to sweat profusely. 'Oh dear, oh dear… I didn't think he'd actually go the planet!' "Ummm… How did you learn that name, exactly?"

"Kirby told us. He said he tried to kill Meta Knight." Dedede said. "Crushed Eye Fly to dust, too!"

Eventually, Magolor just let out a groan of clear frustration as he downed his coffee in record time. "He always makes life difficult…" He said, placing his cup off-screen. "Listen, Your Highness. What I'm about to tell you is something I'm not really supposed to mention, but in the name of valuing Lorxram's customers, I don't mind bending the rules a bit…"

*Meanwhile*

Miles away from Cappy Town, the pristine lands of Green Greens had been marred by a large crater. The earth's depression held various pieces of scrap metal, once a spacecraft: A wing sticking out of the ground, broken glass shards, light components, etc. Then, the groaning of bending metal was heard as the shadowy swordsman grabbed hold of what appeared to be the craft's main body and outright ripped it clean off from the right of it, tossing it aside. The inside of the remains were completely empty aside from more scrap. "Rrrrrrgh… Curse it all, she's gone!" He growled. "I'll have to find it myself…" He held out a hand toward the ship, coating the hand in dark energy. A red-and-yellow eye opened within the darkness, focusing hard on the craft before diverting its gaze upward and to the left. Dark Matter rose out of the crater, stopping when the eye was no longer looking upward, and slowly turned left. Eventually, the eye's gaze was dead center, and Dark Matter could see where it was looking… seeing King Dedede's castle off in the distance. "So… it was there all along… I won't let it get away from me this time…"

*Back At Dedede's Castle*

"…and I'm guessing that's why he's on your planet now." Magolor said, finishing his explanation. "If he gets his hands on those artifacts, ohhh, the damage he'd do would exceed anything else in the universe."

Dedede and Escargoon glanced at each other briefly, not really feeling all that positive about what Magolor had told him. "So, how exactly is someone supposed to protect themselves from someone like this Dark Matter dude?" Dedede asked. "If he can make monsters, just about anything you send could be turned into some other kind of freak!"

"You're telling me something I already know, Your Majesty." Magolor said, pressing the tip of his mitten to his forehead. "It's taken all sorts of research to try and find SOMETHING that could withstand him..." He slammed his fist into his palm. "…but I think we have a breakthrough."

Dedede didn't look convinced. "Escargoon, get Waddle Doo in here. I might want his opinion on this."

"Yes, sire." Escargoon replied, but rather than leave, he whistled, getting the attention of a nearby Waddle Dee. He gestured for it to come over, which the soldier did. "Bring Waddle Doo to the throne room ASAP." The Waddle Dee saluted and rushed out like a bullet.

Magolor placed his hands where his hips would be. "The chain of command at work, I see."

"I'm a snail. We're not known for being athletes." Escargoon snarked back, making Magolor shrug. The snail then turned to Dedede. "Though sire, all due respect, are you looping Waddle Doo in because of the last time you wanted a monster guard?"

Dedede responded by giving Escargoon a reflexive bonk on the head with his fist, with his eyes closed. However, Escargoon barely even felt the blow, peeking one of his closed eyes open and realizing there was a pillow on his head. "As king, I do what I want no matter what others say." Dedede said, Escargoon removing the pillow and seeing Wiz waving at him, twirling his wand. "But I guess since the Waddle Dees got better since then, it doesn't hurt to have a second opinion on how to protect this place."

Magolor chuckled. "My, my. Hitting the books on decision-making lately, are we, Dedede?"

Escargoon scoffed, tossing the pillow back to Wiz. "More like the school of hard knocks seeing as how his plans backfire on him."

"Shut it, Shell-brain! No one asked you!" Dedede roared with a giant tic mark, Escargoon merely shooting him a smug grin in response.

At that moment, Waddle Doo walked into the throne room. "You sent for me, sire?"

"Waddle Doo, you know I don't always pay attention to little things." Dedede replied. "Were you at Meta Knight's shindig the other night?"

The cyclops nodded. "Yes, as were a good number of my Waddle Dees."

"Then you saw our new magic man's pet turn into a giant monster turkey. I've just been told that happened because of some creep with monster-makin' powers." Dedede leaned down from his throne to look at Waddle Doo more closely. "Let me ask ya, do you think you and your troops can handle a threat like that?" Waddle Doo could only respond with "Uhhhhhh..." a large sweatdrop forming near his eye, making Dedede frown. "Let me put it another way: Do you think your troops could hold it off until someone like Kirby can jump in to save the day?" The question didn't seem to be helping Waddle Doo's mental state, only increasing the sweatdrops. Dedede seemed to pick up on this. "Don't think honesty will cost you your job. I'm not risking losing you again after what happen with Captain Gemra."

"I... don't know, Your Highness." Waddle Doo answered after a deep sigh. "If it could do that to a simple bird... what could it do to me?"

Dedede nodded. "A question I don't really want to know the answer to. So with that said, I'd like to order a special monster from our friend there on the monitor. I wanted to make sure you were OK with this given how things last time didn't go so well.

Waddle Doo didn't immediately answer, glancing over at the monitor. Magolor took notice, giving a gesture that only said "What?" "...If you're confident enough, Your Majesty, it might be a risk worth taking. Anything that could help us with such a... THING could be useful."

Dedede nodded again. "Just make sure your troops know this is as much for their protection as it is for protecting me and the kingdom. Dismissed." Waddle Doo saluted, leaving the room.

"Well… that was unexpectedly emotional." Magolor mused.

"Don't get used to it, Mabogor." Dedede said, turning back to the mechanic. "Now… let's see whatcha got."

*Later that Day*

Near the outskirts of Cappy Town, the light breeze made a few trees sway gently. Meta Knight sat under one of the trees, absent-mindedly reading a book and chuckling from what he saw on the pages. The tree rustled a bit, and after a moment, an orange fell from it, Meta Knight holding up his hand and catching it without even having to turn his face. He held the fruit in front of him to see what it was, then slightly moved his mask to take a bite of the fruit, hmming in approval at the taste. "Hey, Meta Knight." Tiff's voice said, making him look to see her, Tuff, and Marx approaching. "You seen Kirby anywhere?"

Meta Knight didn't answer verbally or even stop chewing the bite of orange in his mouth; he merely pointed up into the tree. The others looked up as the leaves rustled, and Kirby's pink head eventually poked out, cheeks puffed up and teeth chewing something. "Did someone knock?" He asked with his mouth full.

"Heck of a way to get a snack." Marx mused. "You might wanna come outta there. We think Dedede's up to somethin' again!"

Kirby gulped what was in his mouth. "You don't say?" He fully emerged from the leaves and somehow laid himself out on a branch, tossing another orange from the tree up and down with a smirk. "How long do you think it'll take me to beat this next monster? Two minutes, tops?"

"Nah, probably not even a minute." Tuff replied.

"Sure are confident, aren't you, Kirby?" Tiff asked.

"Why not? My track record speaks for itself." Kirby replied before going for the orange, but right before he could bite into it, a very loud THUD was heard as the ground nearby shook. The shaking of the tree caused Kirby to lose his balance, throwing his orange up before the branch he was standing on snapped. "Whaaaaaaaa-OOF!" He landed in a heap on the grass next to Meta Knight, a few sticks and leaves in his hair.

"Ouch." Was the only thing Meta Knight said in response. Kirby rose his head off the ground, only for the orange he had to splatter on his head, making him groan. Tuff and Marx immediately burst out laughing.

At that moment, though, the shadow the tree was casting almost seemed to grow, covering Tiff, Tuff, and Marx along with Kirby and Meta Knight. Tuff and Marx stopped laughing as soon as they noticed, but the shadow slowly moved off of them as large, heavy footsteps were heard. Following the shadow, Tiff, Kirby, and Meta Knight eventually caught sight of something large and green lumbering near them. Perched atop the being's head was Waddle Doo. "What the…?" Kirby wondered, finally getting himself to his feet and pulling the orange' remains off his head.

"That's… what Marx was talking about." Tiff said. The large being stopped moving, and slowly started turning its body back and forth like a sentry. Kirby, intrigued, ran over to in front of where the creature was facing, Meta Knight closing his book and following.

Both Star Warriors stood right in front of the creature, getting a much better look at it. It was easily triple or even quadruple Kirby's height, with its entire body being made of shiny metal: A green helmet, a white chestplate, a small hole between these armor parts, a black base, gold shoes, and a ring of teal armor with two gold swirl designs on the front. Attached to its back was a shield about 2/3 of its height and a sword with a blade almost as tall and wide as the creature. "Be careful. Don't try to appear threatening." Waddle Doo cautioned. "They're not our enemies, Gigant Edge."

The creature made a low groan, slightly leaning down and allowing a single blue eye to be seen within the helmet, trained on Kirby and Meta Knight. "Uh… hi?" Kirby asked, waving at the monster. Within him, though, a small glow started growing, though not enough to be visible.

Meta Knight, meanwhile, stared back at the creature's unflinching eye. His eyes turned to shimmering green as the two merely remained in place, sizing each other's up. 'This energy… It feels… familiar?' He wondered.

Eventually, the creature moved back to its upright position, giving a firm noise. "Okay, it recognizes you as allies." Waddle Doo said.

"What is this… Gigant Edge, you called it?" Meta Knight asked, Tiff, Tuff, and Marx joining them.

"King Dedede ordered it to patrol Cappy Town." Waddle Doo told him. "He's sure Dark Matter's gonna show up again any day now."

"Wait, Dedede's concerned about Dark Matter?" Kirby asked, surprised.

"After the incident at the party, I don't think he's willing to take any chances!" Waddle Doo replied. "That weird guy he gets monsters from seems to know Dark Matter, and even he doesn't like him!"

"As if we needed more proof that thing is bad news!" Marx groaned, backflipping in frustration.

At that moment, Gigant Edge's body seized up, going completely rigid with a metallic groan. "What's it doing?" Tiff asked.

"Gigant Edge, you sense something?" Waddle Doo asked. It slightly lowered its head in a nod before reaching up, drawing its sword off its back. Waddle Doo hopped off as it pointed the sword forward, moving back and forth as if trying to locate something with it. Eventually, it reversed course on one of its turns and stayed perfectly still, the sword pointing directly at King Dedede's castle… mere seconds before a small explosion could be seen coming from it.

"Looks like it knows its stuff!" Kirby cried. "Come on, let's hurry!" Gigant Edge seemed to respond to Kirby with another firm grunt, following after the group as they all rushed toward the castle. The large knight moved surprisingly fast for its size and apparent weight, but not too fast so that the others couldn't keep up with it.

Inside the castle, blasts of dark energy were fired haphazardly around the hallways, blowing open walls. Waddle Dees with spears charged the assailant, who was none other than Dark Matter, but he conjured another dark orb and fired it, scattering them with one blast. "Fools… Now then." The shadow monster glanced into the nearby throne room, where King Dedede, Escargoon, and Wiz were hiding behind the throne chair. "You have something I want, King, and you will give me the answer I seek." He said as he slowly approached them.

"I don't know what you're talkin' about! I didn't find nothin'!" Dedede replied.

"Wrong answer. I know it's here." Dark Matter growled, holding up his hand and forming another dark orb. An eye opened up within the darkness, glancing around the room. "My eye tells me it's here… tell me its location."

"I don't suppose you got a picture for reference?" Escargoon meekly asked. Dark Matter's eye in his mask narrowed as he reached back and drew his sword, making both Dedede and Escargoon gulp.

"Hey, edgelord!" A voice cried from behind Dark Matter. The shadow slowly turned to see Kirby and co. standing in the throne room's entrance, Gigant Edge right behind them. "Visiting hours with the king are over!" Kirby added onto his insult.

"Ugh… You again…" Dark Matter groaned. "If I wasn't already on a task, I would have gladly humored you. Begone. The king has information to give me."

Meta Knight pointed Galaxia at Dark Matter. "The king owes you nothing. Leave this place or be torn asunder!" He said.

"Oh, how adorable. The knight has his spark back." Dark Matter mused. At that moment, however, Dark Matter felt something tug at his hand. "Hmm?" He looked at his hand, which still had the eye formed on it. It was staring in the group's direction. "What?" Holding the eye toward them, its gaze slowly shifted with his movements until it eventually stared directly ahead while the eye was pointed at Kirby, the eye twitching violently. "The child warrior? He has it?"

"Huh? I have what?" Kirby asked.

Dark Matter stared at Kirby, causing his own eye to turn yellow. His vision turned black, only able to make out silhouettes of the people around him, but within Kirby's silhouette, he could see it: A glowing white star shape deep within him. "I see it… The Super Star." Kirby looked confused at this, but the orb around Dark Matter's hand intensified, the eye moving around rapidly. "It appears I'll be facing you after all…" He turned his gaze to Tiff, making Kirby glance at her. "…You will do!" Dark Matter then threw the orb toward Tiff, the eye glowing brightly. "Benign soul, begone! Malicious soul, emerge!" Tiff, feeling blindsided, couldn't bring her body to react as the orb of darkness barreled toward her. However, her vision was quickly blocked by something being placed in front of her. The eye widened as it smacked right into the front of Gigant Edge's shield, its body dissolving into nothingness. "What…?!" Dark Matter looked up at the large knight, who growled before jumping over the group with sword drawn, intent on cleaving Dark Matter in two. The shadow knight had to quickly move out of the way as the sword slammed into the ground. Growling, the knight formed more dark orbs on his hands before firing off countless dark blasts, but Gigant quickly threw its shield up again, blocking the shots effortlessly.

"Heh heh heh heh!" Dedede laughed as Gigant Edge held up its sword, the blade slowly starting to glow green. "How do you like Gigant Edge, you dark dummy? Mabogor says this one's more than strong enough to beat you!" Gigant Edge swung its sword, sending a Sword Beam at Dark Matter, who vanished in order to avoid it, re-appearing right after.

"Curses… the power radiating from that creature is unbelievable!" Dark Matter growled. "Those monsters shouldn't be capable of this!" Its eye turned yellow again, causing its vision to go black. Within Gigant Edge's huge silhouette was a bright green glow, making the knight shield his eye with his hand. "Aaagh!"

"I'm liking this monster, and I don't say that lightly!" Kirby said.

Gigant Edge stomped toward Dark Matter, who still had his eye covered by his hand. "I understand now…" The knight growled, moving his hand away from his face with his eye still yellow. "This level of power cannot easily be defeated…" He drew his sword and pointed it at Gigant Edge. "Strike me down… if you CAN!" He charged at the large knight, sword brimming with dark power in the position of a jousting lance. Groaning, Gigant Edge rose its sword above its head, and as Dark Matter came within inches of it, the blade was swung.

SLASH!

The giant blade was touching the floor. Dark Matter's sword had only slightly punctured the hole within the knight's helmet. Neither being moved an inch… then Dark Matter's entire body had a slash mark go across it, losing grip of the sword as his body slowly separated into two halves, barely held together by thin strings of darkness. "It… It did it!" Tiff cried.

However, the hand still holding the sword clenched tighter. "…Ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha…" Dark Matter's grave voice was heard, making the others gasp. Every part of his body turned black, crawling down the length of the sword and into the being's armor. Gigant Edge groaned in a way that appeared to be pain, its body shaking and rigid as more and more of the dark entity seeped into the armor, until eventually the voice ceased, making the others worried. Then, its body moved, returning to a neutral stance and turning to look at Kirby, the eye within having turned yellow. "Much better…"

"G… Gigant Edge?" Dedede whimpered.

"It can't hear you anymore…" Dark Matter's voice came from within the armor, now having a metallic sound to it. "Magolor was a fool to think such a simple mind was beyond my control. This body and the power within it are mine now… and with it, I will take what I am after." He pointed Gigant Edge's sword at Kirby. "Young Star Warrior… you possess an item of untold power within you. I would ask you to relinquish it… but this meeting gives me a chance to do more than simply acquire it." The blade began to glow black, crackling with energy as it was brought to its side. "I know you will not go quietly, so I will take the Super Star from you… after I CUT YOU OPEN!" With a wide swing, a giant black Sword Beam fired from the blade, raw evil aura surrounding it.

"Stand back, guys!" Kirby yelled. "I've only got one shot at this!" Revving up his feet, Kirby leapt forward before unleashing a tornado of suction from within his mouth. Meta Knight and Waddle Doo stood in front of Tiff, Tuff, and Marx, standing their ground while making sure to be ready to protect them if needed as their clothing and hair blew from the wind. Gigant Edge's body, being as large as it was, was unaffected by the whirlwind, but the Sword Beam seemed to be. Notably, the attack seemed to actually slow down as Inhale tried to pull it in, only the dark aura surrounding it managing to be pulled into Kirby's mouth. The pink warrior ignored the darkness he was inhaling as he concentrated on the Sword Beam, but all of a sudden, his eyes widened, irises shrinking to almost pinprick size. He immediately began clutching at his throat as he began making struggling hacks. "I… can't… breathe…!" As his friends worriedly watched on, Kirby used what strength he could muster to punch himself in the gut, immediately dropping himself to his knees before a stream of darkness erupted from his mouth like vomit, Kirby making the retching sounds to match. The Sword Beam did not fully stop its course, Meta Knight quickly slashing one of his own that managed to knock it off-course and explode on contact with the ground. Kirby continued puking up darkness until no more came out, sweat permeating his forehead as he took deep, staggered breaths, his arms shaking. "What… What happened…?"

"It seems even you can't handle my raw power…" Dark Matter mused, making Kirby look up at him. "The darkness that forms me is primordial and eternal. It forms from nothing and returns to nothing… and all who dare to approach it suffer."

Kirby was still trying to catch his breath, looking at the possessed being with shaking eyes. "What… are you…?"

"I am darkness manifested. I am evil incarnate." Dark Matter said, raising Gigant Edge's sword before slamming it down. Suddenly, dark energy in the shape of prison bars slammed down over the throne room's entrance. "And I am death to all who serve the light!"

Kirby mustered a glare, slowly getting himself back to his feet. "Are you alright, Kirby?" Meta Knight asked.

"I… will be." Kirby said while still panting, albeit nowhere near as heavily as before. "Can someone… give me something I can actually inhale?"

"Over here, Kirby." Waddle Doo said, making his eye flash. Kirby turned to him and nodded before the cyclops let out a few yellow sparkles, which Kirby quickly inhaled before leaping into the air.

*Transformation Scene*

Kirby backflipped rapidly in the starry sky before righting himself, then he placed his hands in front of him. Pink, orange, and blue sparkles gathered into his hands and formed a large orb of energy, which transformed into a golden wand with small blue spherical crystals in its circular rim and a large blue spherical crystal on its top. Kirby grabbed the wand and began waving it around, sending pink, orange, and blue sparkles everywhere before they converged on top of Kirby's head. The sparkles flashed, which not only formed his new hat (a two-point jester hat with a white rim and white pom-poms on each end, half orange with white stars and half solid red), but changed his skin to a light orange color (it didn't change his hair) and changed his outfit to brown with orange sparkles on it, his feet turning orange. Kirby then pointed the wand forward, pink, orange, and blue sparkles orbiting the crystal on the end.

*End Scene*

Landing from the transformation, Beam Kirby took a deep breath from his nose, smiling. "Oh yeah, I feel a LOT better. Let's do this!" Waddle Doo turned to face Gigant Edge with him.

Marx was kicking his ball at the gate over and over again, but each time, it seemed to bounce off of an invisible field, one time hitting him in the face. "I hope you weren't gonna tell us to run, because we're trapped!" He cried.

"Find a place to hide, then!" Meta Knight told them before looking at Dedede. "You too, Your Majesty! We will do what we can to defeat this monster!"

"Don't have to tell me twice!" Dedede yelped, somehow pulling himself over the back of his throne and into the seat, quickly hitting a button on the armrest. Escargoon and Wiz quickly held onto the chair's sides before part of the floor opened up, allowing the throne chair and its occupants to sink using a hidden elevator, the floor closing behind them. While this happened, Tiff, Tuff, and Marx quickly rushed to a corner of the throne room, managing to find a table that they could hide under.

Within Gigant Edge's helmet, Dark Matter stared down all three of his opponents, clenching the hand holding onto its shield. "This is an opportunity I will not waste... With this monster's power, I will see to the Star Warriors' extinction!"

"You've done enough harm here, Dark Matter." Meta Knight said, stepping forward once. "This is where you'll meet your end."

"And I don't plan to go down today." Kirby said, tossing his wand up before cracking his knuckles. "But I do plan to not make this easy for you." He snatched his wand out of the air with a smirk.

The shadow monster growled within the helmet, raising its huge sword as black energy crackled across it. "Today…" Its yellow eye glowed brightly with hate within the helmet. "… your legend ends! DIE!"

*Cue Music: Kirby's Return to Dream Land Boss Theme*

As another black Sword Beam tore across the air, Kirby, Meta Knight, and Waddle Doo jumped out of its path, rolling to keep their footing as the Sword Beam destroyed itself on contact with the force field. Twirling his wand, Kirby swung as the crystal formed a whip of energy sparkles. Dark Matter quickly held up Gigant Edge's shield as Kirby rapidly flailed with the wand, sending lash after electric lash across the large metal block. Small shocks traveled through the metal, causing Dark Matter to slightly shake, but with a shake of the head, he moved Gigant Edge forward through the electricity shield-first. Kirby realized that this was not working as well as he'd hoped, gulping at the sight of the charging knight, but suddenly Waddle Doo jumped up with his eye glowing. Yellow sparkles fired from the pupil like a gatling gun, striking the charging Gigant Edge directly on top of the head. Such a direct application caused Dark Matter to grunt, his voice peppered with static as if his influence was disrupted, causing Gigant Edge to slow to a stop. With its speed reduced, Meta Knight dashed right up to the monster and began slashing furiously at its feet and legs, making it instinctively back away only to be pursued for more.

Then, Dark Matter's voice returned as an angry growl. "Annoying knight...!" Regaining control, the dark swordsman made Gigant Edge quickly kick Meta Knight away before charging forward with Gigant Edge's lumbering gait, sword overhead. Before he hit the ground, Meta Knight stuck Galaxia's tip into the floor as a makeshift brake, doing a quick flip before landing, only to see Gigant Edge's sword coming down. A sharp clang sounded through the throne room as Galaxia's blade struggled against the wider blade, Meta Knight grunting as he struggled to keep Gigant Edge's sword from coming any closer to him. "Why couldn't you just slink into the void where you belonged...?!" Dark Matter growled, Meta Knight not answering due to being too focused on the clash.

Dark Matter's rage was then interrupted by a zap to the back of his vessel's head, making him slowly turn around to see Kirby pointing his wand at him, beam sparkles orbiting the crystal. "Unlike you, Meta Knight has people who care about him, and we're not about to let him go anywhere." He then gave a smile and wink, and Meta Knight quickly slipped out from under the sword, jumped up, and landed a slash right across Gigant Edge's face. Dark Matter groaned in pain, the knight's left hand dropping the shield in order to clutch at the hole in its helmet. "Waddle Doo, now!"

Off to the side, Waddle Doo was already charging up a powerful attack in his eye, its glow becoming more and more frequent. "Almost done…!" His eye was trained on Gigant Edge, but he caught sight of the shield on the ground. Inspiration struck in line with his charge completing, so he unleashed the power of the Wave Beam. Groaning, Dark Matter removed his hand from his face, looking at it to realize the shield was now on the ground. It reached for the shield, but the Wave Beam flew past him and struck the shield in its weak back, the sheer force of the energy making the shield crack before bursting into tiny metal pieces.

"All right, now he's a sitting duck!" Tuff cried, pumping his fist.

"Don't be so sure, Tuff. I dunno what this thing might do." Marx said. Tiff said nothing, trying to remain cautiously optimistic.

Dark Matter merely stared at the remains of Gigant Edge's shield, the knight's body shaking. "Had enough yet?" Kirby asked, twirling his wand around. Energy gathered into the orb, causing it to start taking on a mystical glow. "Or do you want some more?"

Slowly, the massive knight pulled its hand back to its body, its other hand clenching over the sword's hilt. When Dark Matter spoke again, it was not a word Kirby was expecting. "...Fool..." Suddenly, without any warning, Gigant Edge's body was rushing at Kirby at a speed that was decidedly not the slow speed it had been moving beforehand.

"Wha?!" Was all Kirby could get out. Before he even realized what had happened, Gigant Edge's sword was slammed right into his stomach with a powerful thrust. Somehow, the blade never pierced his body, but the pain of the impact still caused Kirby to let out a breathless gasp. Everything seemed to slow down for a moment as the pain sunk in, a glow within him shaking violently as if trying to hold everything together, before Kirby was finally knocked several feet away, tumbling along the ground.

"KIRBY!" Tiff shrieked in horror, Tuff, Marx, Meta Knight, and Waddle Doo also letting out horrified gasps. Kirby laid motionless on his back on the ground, only managing to twitch from the pain. He didn't feel like he could move himself. His body then glowed before his Beam form disappeared, Kirby coughing up an orange star like last time, the star poofing out of existence as Kirby continued coughing.

Dark Matter twirled Gigant Edge's sword, slamming it into the ground. "Did you really think this form to be so simple?"

Kirby felt his ability to control himself slowly return, moving onto his hands and knees. "So... you're fast." He said, breathless. "So what...?" More coughing followed.

"I do commend Magolor for the amount of development that went into this monster..." Dark Matter breathed. "A weapon that even you cannot defeat." He then made Gigant Edge charge forward once more, sword pointed forward. As he saw the sword bearing down on him, Kirby felt every inch of his body fill with adrenaline, causing him to quickly leap out of the way of the incoming thrust, rolling to get back to his feet. He didn't get long to breathe, though, as Gigant Edge's body quickly bore down on him again. Reflexes Kirby didn't even know he had kicked in as Dark Matter slashed the sword at speeds not thought possible with such a huge blade, making Kirby have to make pinpoint movements in order to keep dodging. "Hold! Still! And! Die!" Dark Matter roared as he kept slashing, sweat flying off of Kirby's face as he kept up his dodging, teeth gritted together.

Meta Knight and Waddle Doo briefly watched what this monster was capable of, the former clenching his fist. "This is bad. Kirby can't fight well in his normal state."

"W-What do we do? That thing looks like we've barely done anything to it!" Waddle Doo asked.

Meta Knight's eyes turned green again, staring at the monster. It didn't take long for him to nod, his eyes returning to normal. "We need to make that monster drop his blade. Perhaps Kirby can use it against it!"

Waddle Doo nodded. "I'll try and give him some more power! Cover me!" The cyclops charged toward them, and as he did, Meta Knight readied his sword before slashing out multiple Sword Beams in the monster's direction. The knight continued swinging at Kirby until it felt the Sword Beams drawing closer, Dark Matter turning it around to face them. With its shield gone, it began to hold up its sword in that direction, Kirby taking notice of Waddle Doo rushing toward them. Waddle Doo made eye contact with Kirby, his eye flashing before it fired off more yellow sparkles, Kirby smiling.

As the Sword Beams got near, Dark Matter growled and swung its sword… but not to defend itself. Instead, it slammed the sword between Waddle Doo and Kirby, causing the sparkles to bounce off the blade harmlessly and fizzle out, merely letting the Sword Beams striking Gigant Edge and leave scratches in its armor. Meta Knight gasped, Waddle Doo letting out a "Huh?!" in response. "Not this time..." The shadow said threateningly before suddenly dragging the sword across the ground, launching a wave of energy that crawled along the ground. The wave struck the still-shocked Waddle Doo, knocking him clear into the nearest wall.

"Waddle Doo!" Kirby cried, the cyclops limply falling off the wall to the ground. A pained groan indicated he was alive, but badly hurt.

The stomp of Gigant Edge's armored foot made Kirby slowly look back up at it, locking eyes with the yellow light within. "I won't let you get stronger… You will NOT leave this place alive!"

*Meanwhile*

In a hidden part of the castle several floors down, Dedede and company watched the fight happen on a monitor. Wiz was holding onto his hat, shaking, while Dedede and Escargoon were watching with a mix of fear and disgust as Dark Matter kicked Kirby a few feet away. "This is bad, sire. The one time we don't want that pipsqueak pummeled, and he's getting creamed!" Escargoon groaned.

Dedede's hand twitched before it lightly slammed against his armrest. "Not for much longer." He turned to the shaking magician. "Wiz, can you do a little slight of hand between here and there? Get Kirby somethin' he can use?"

"I-I can try, Your Majesty!" Wiz stuttered, reaching into his hat before pulling out several different tools including a football and a toy car, looking over them. He shook his head before putting them back, pulling out a balloon.

As Wiz continued searching for something, the monitor suddently turned to static. Only a few seconds of this passed before the picture came back, with an unexpected blast of sound. "What did you do to my monster?!" The panicked voice of Magolor shouted on the other end, startling the king and his sidekick.

"We didn't do nothing!" Dedede cried.

"Then why is Gigant Edge attacking Kirby?! Everything was going completely smoothly until now!"

"Blame that Dark Matter freak!" Escargoon shot back. "He poked just enough of a hole in its armor to possess it!"

Magolor recoiled from the screen, eyes even bigger than they already were. "WHAT?!" He grabbed at the sides of his head (ears?), pulling on them in frustration. "Curse that wraith! Gigant Edge was supposed to be completely immune to his abilities! I even had to use the Verdant Star just to stabilize that level of power! If I lose that, I'm fired for sure!"

Something about Magolor's tirade sparked curiosity in King Dedede. "Verdant Star? What the heck is that supposed to do?"

That question silenced the egg-shaped mechanic in a heartbeat. He merely stood there, eyes wide in realization that he had just said that. "Oh, curses." He said meekly, only to shake his head and slam his hands on his desk. "Never mind the details! All you need to know is that as long as Dark Matter has it, this whole planet's at risk, so Kirby had better figure SOMETHING out!"

"Come to think of it…" Escargoon realized, making Magolor raise an "eyebrow". "Dark Matter focused right on Gigant Edge after sensing something within him." He snapped his fingers. "I bet he was after that Star's power, and now wants to use it to get whatever he thinks is inside Kirby."

"I'm not surprised..." Magolor groaned, holding one hand to his head. "If he gets hold of that object… this world's undeniably doomed." However, the sound of an "Aha!" caught their attention, looking over at Wiz. The magician was seemingly standing there, motionless, with his hands nowhere to be found.

Back on the battle field, Kirby was laying low under the same table as Tiff and the others, trying to catch his breath. Dark Matter had seemingly switched gears, as they could see him battling against Meta Knight, who was matching him blow for blow. "Dang it. If I could just swallow something..." Kirby groaned.

"I'd offer my ball, but I don't think this hunk of air's gonna do ya much good." Marx said with a resigned tone.

At that moment, though, Kirby felt something tap his shoulder. Looking beside him, the group saw Wiz's gloved hands floating next to him. Before Kirby could say anything, the hands came together with a soft clap, and then separated to show Wiz's wand standing between the palms, making the pink Star Warrior smile. "I owe ya, Wiz." He took the wand and quickly inhaled it, coming out from under the table before leaping into the air.

*Transformation Scene*

Kirby backflipped rapidly in the starry sky and righted himself, but then a black top hat with a gold ribbon landed on his head, hard enough to actually block his eyes. He ran around aimlessly, trying to get the hat off, only to trip over himself and land with the hat pointed up, Kirby actually being sucked into the hat. A magic wand dropped out of the sky, bouncing along the hat's brim three times before an explosion of confetti burst from the hat. Kirby landed from out of the explosion, now clad in a snazzy black suit with sleeves down his arms and a red cape, making him look the part of a true magician. Grabbing both the hat and wand, Kirby placed the hat on his head, twirled his wand, and tapped the wand to his brim with a smile and wink.

*End Scene*

Magic Kirby landed, adjusting his hat. "All right, the show's back on! Thanks, Wiz!" One of Wiz's hands gave a thumbs-up before they clapped together, disappearing in a puff of smoke. Looking back at Gigant Edge, Kirby snapped his fingers and formed a hand of cards, throwing them one after the other. The cards each struck Gigant Edge's armor, lodging there before exploding in sequence, leaving clear dents in the armor. Dark Matter made the monster stop attacking Meta Knight, growling inquisitively as he slowly made it turn around to face the newly-empowered Kirby, Meta Knight also noticing him. "Ready for Act 2, you big lummox?"

"…I won't even ask how you gained a new power." Dark Matter said simply. "I'll knock it out of you all the same!" With a big swing, Gigant Edge threw its sword, which flew toward Kirby like a boomerang. As the sword drew closer, Kirby quickly pulled the hat down over himself, disappearing in a puff of smoke as the sword flew past where he used to be. "Rrrgh!" As the sword boomeranged back to the knight, it caught it out of the air before looking around. "Where are you?!"

"The problem with using a body like that, Dark Matter," Kirby said from seemingly nowhere, "is that you're just limited to physical combat. I, on the other hand…" Suddenly, he poofed back into existence in mid-air, right next to Gigant Edge's head. "…can make the impossible possible." He quickly took off his hand and pointed the bottom at it, letting a boxing glove pop out and punch the knight right where its face would be. Gigant Edge's body stumbled back from the impact, shaking its head as Kirby landed. "I'm always full of surprises." He swung his hat, sending out a flock of doves made of energy that battered Gigant Edge in the chest, interrupting any attempts at swinging its sword.

Meta Knight looked up from a kneeling position, panting. Seeing Gigant Edge assaulted by this attack made his eyes flash. "Now's our chance… aim for the wrist!" He cried. As the doves ceased flying and Kirby put his hat back on, Dark Matter growled, eye glowing within the darkness. He rose the sword and caused black energy to crackle all around the blade, but out of nowhere, a sphere of energy struck Gigant Edge right in the hand, causing its sword to hit the ground with a dull clang. He turned toward the source, seeing Waddle Doo with a large lump in his head, but an angry glare on his dimly glowing eye. "Now, Kirby!" Taking the order, Kirby revved up his feet and leapt forward, unleashing Inhale while still in his Magic form. Despite the size of the sword, it was swept up by the wind and turned into energy, being swallowed by Kirby before he leapt into the air.

*Transformation Scene*

Kirby backflipped rapidly in the starry sky before righting himself, then a bolt of lightning struck the "ground" in front of him, making him briefly shield his eyes, a blue sword hilt with a red gem in it embedded in the ground where the bolt struck. Kirby looked back and grabbed the hilt with both hands, slowly pulling the sword out. As he did, his body changed color from his feet to his head, making his feet brown, his outfit resembling a green tunic with a brown belt, brown gloves appearing on his hands, and his hair turning blonde. When the sword was fully out, revealing its silver blade, Kirby slashed with it twice, a conical green hat with a yellow ring and pom-pom forming while he did this, then he held the sword aloft.

*End Scene*

Kirby landed on the ground, sword at the ready as Meta Knight moved over to join him. His cheeks briefly puffed up before he spits out the same pink star as the last time he became Magic Kirby, which reformed into Wiz's wand. The magician's gloved hands poofed into view just in time to snatch the wand out of the air before disappearing again. Dark Matter slowly turned away from Waddle Doo, facing Kirby and Meta Knight, its now empty hands clenching. "Looks like Gigant Edge has lost his edge." Kirby said with a cocky smirk, twirling his sword. "You're out of options, Dark Matter."

The being didn't respond for several seconds, merely glaring at them from behind the armor… but then, it let out a dark chuckle. "Oh, I beg to differ… This form has some surprises that will leave you in despair." Kirby rose an eyebrow as Dark Matter slowly crossed Gigant Edge's floating hands. The dark being groaned as the knight's body started to shake, dark energy gathering into each of the palms, concentrating into orbs of pure blackness. Then, he shot the hands to his sides, and the orbs suddenly morphed into two new large: One with a golden blade, the other with a gold ring-shaped hilt. Dark Matter chuckled again as he held both swords up, their blades gleaming.

Kirby and Meta Knight stepped backwards. "Oh great, it's Bugzzy all over again." Kirby groaned as he held his sword in front of him, remembering how the first monster he faced with a sword also formed new swords after he took its first one.

Meta Knight also readied Galaxia, but as he looked at the new swords, something didn't seem right to him. His eyes faded briefly to green again. "Wait...those look familiar..." Kirby, confused, got a good look at the swords Gigant Edge was holding, trying to see what Meta Knight meant. It didn't take realization to hit them both with a force of a speeding car, gasping.

Kirby stared at the sword with the golden blade. "That's... Sword Knight's sword!"

Meta Knight stared at the sword with the ring-shaped hilt. "A-And Blade Knight's!"

"So...you've realized the truth." Dark Matter said with another dark chuckle. "Yes, I pulled these from the memories of this monster's simple mind. To think you will be destroyed by something that is the combined form of your fallen friends."

"What?!" Kirby and Meta Knight cried simultaneously, Tiff, Tuff, Marx, and Waddle Doo also shocked at what Dark Matter just said.

"Oh... you DIDN'T realize? …How delightful." Dark Matter crossed Gigant Edge's new swords. "Those pathetic knights that assisted you... are the pieces that form this creature. A fusion of swordsmen held together by an artifact of grand cosmic power. And now, that power is mine to command." Gigant Edge stomped forward as Kirby and Meta Knight were still clearly trying to process this revelation, black energy slowly gathering into the blades of each sword. "I know not if their minds remain awake in this form, but if they are... it amuses me that they will see their own strength be the end of you." Before anyone could react, Dark Matter slashed both swords, sending an X made of two Sword Beams barreling toward the heroes.

Kirby snapped out of his trance in time to see the attack. "Move!" He yelled, snapping Meta Knight out of it as well. Both of them quickly dove to get out of the way of the Sword Beams, which ended up slamming into the dark field blocking everyone from escaping, actually causing cracks to form across it.

Kirby shook off the dive and faced the monster. He could actually see it now. Somehow, looking at this thing told him that Dark Matter wasn't lying: He could recognize Sword and Blade in its construction. Kirby knew that he couldn't just let this thing go, but the thought of possibly destroying them made him gulp. 'Those other two monsters turned back to normal when I beat them… but this one's from Lorxram, and…' His own thoughts trailed off, flashing back to the company's other monsters. Batafire, the Gemras, Box Boxer, Triplade… all of their defeats resulted in complete destruction with nothing left behind. 'If I beat that thing… what'll happen to them?' He turned to look at Meta Knight, hoping he'd known what to say, but one look at the quiver in his yellow eyes told him he was having the same dilemma, probably worse than he was.

Dark Matter twirled both of Gigant Edge's new swords. "Here I come." He said before suddenly leaping into the air. Looking down, he aimed his descent toward Meta Knight before pointing both swords downward at the peak of his jump, crashing down like a giant spike. Kirby noticed Meta Knight wasn't moving, so without even thinking, he rushed toward him as Dark Matter plummeted. The shadow creature's sickening laugh finally brought Meta Knight back to his senses in time to see the swords coming down onto him, but right before they reached him, a CLANG sounded followed by a heavy thud. Meta Knight quickly realized the swords hadn't hit him, looking to see Kirby in front of him, both his hands over his sword, the two larger swords clashed against the blade. Due to the weight of the attempted strike, the three blades were mere inches from Kirby's face, the young warrior having to use all his body weight to keep them from getting any closer.

Kirby's friends watched from under their table, each with a different expression: Tuff was gritting his teeth, Tiff looked afraid for their safety, and Marx had a slightly defeated look. "Darn it… We lost Sword and Blade just for them to turn into that?!" Tuff said with a slight growl in his voice.

"C-Can they even fight that thing now?" Tiff wondered, gulping as she realized there was a bad way this could end.

Marx groaned, but sighed. "They don't have a choice. That thing's gotta go down."

"But that's Sword and Blade!" Tuff cried in protest.

"You'd rather that thing turn them into sushi?" Marx asked. "I don't like it either, but if they don't beat this thing, it'll beat them!" He looked back at Gigant Edge, seeing the yellow eye within the armor. "I doubt Sword and Blade's bodies are even left in there! They might as well be dead now!"

Tiff and Tuff realized Marx had a point. As far as they could tell, there was no hint that the two knights' minds or bodies were intact beyond Gigant Edge resembling them. They looked back at the battle, only able to watch intently. 'Kirby… Meta Knight… Please be careful…' Tiff thought, holding her hand near her chest.

Kirby was sweating bullets, groaning as he continued struggling against Gigant Edge's swords. "HA HA HA HA!" Dark Matter laughed within the armor, glaring at Kirby. "Your skill with a blade is weaker than your mentor's will." He could see Meta Knight behind Kirby, who was shaking, eyes quivering as he stared into the armor. "Even now, he quivers before the fate of your friends. You failed to heal your friend, and now you will suffer for your efforts. I will cut you to ribbons, and then break him while he is at his deepest point of despair!"

Hearing those words of overt callousness made Kirby feel… something go through him. A glow deep inside him surged, pulsing like a heartbeat. His grip instinctively tightened on his sword, and his eyes twisted into a glare as a growl, one unmistakably of rage, came from his voice. "You know what...?" He breathed, and slowly, the sword clash's state began to reverse, moving away from Kirby's face. "I... am getting... so…" A flash of light went through his blue eyes. "SICK OF YOU!" Then, with a massive burst of strength, Kirby fully shoved the swords away from his face, actually managing to make Gigant Edge's body stumble backwards. "I'm sending you back to the abyss you crawled out of!"

Despite this, though, Dark Matter quickly regained its balance, stomping backward once. "Hmph. And what do you think you can do? Your attacks have barely drained any of my energy. This body's power is limitless!"

"Yeah? Well, so is mine!" Kirby yelled, pointing his sword at Gigant Edge. "I always find a way to do something, especially when a monster like you is so bent on hurting the people I care about! I don't know who or what you are, but know this: You go after my friends, and I'll beat you as bad as I beat eNeMeE!" He swiped his sword to his side to punctuate his declaration.

"Kirby…" Meta Knight breathed, his eyes fading to light blue. He then nodded, moving next to him. "Sword and Blade would want me to fight. If nothing else, this battle will finally set them free! I will not let them suffer under your control!"

Dark Matter merely glared from within Gigant Edge's armor for a moment, not moving an inch. Then, it clenched its hands tightly on the swords' grips, growling like a wild animal. "Those accursed speeches… every word of that Star Warrior code is a light that begs me to eclipse it… Grrrrrrr… RRRRRRGGGGGHHHH…" Both blades began to crackle with black energy, but then, Dark Matter suddenly let out an incredibly loud roar of unrestrained anger. The volume of his bellow carried a feeling of sheer power that could be felt throughout the castle, even by Dedede and Escargoon. Black waves seemingly emanated from Gigant Edge as Dark Matter continued to shout, striking the barrier that blocked the exit and causing the cracks to only grow, before the barrier itself shattered like glass. Dark Matter slammed both swords on the ground, going from his roar to angry panting and shuddering. "I… will listen… to no more of this! I will hurt you… worse than you could ever imagine!" Kirby and Meta Knight merely held up their swords… but Dark Matter then moved the knight's body. "Hmm?!" Stomping one foot backwards, Dark Matter locked his eye with Kirby's friends, who had crawled out from under the table to take the chance to run. "FREEZE, WEAKLINGS!" The shadow roared, making Tiff, Tuff, and Marx stop dead in their tracks, slowly looking over as Kirby, Meta Knight, and Waddle Doo realized Dark Matter was looking at them.

"Leave them alone, Dark Matter!" Kirby cried.

"Shut up!" Dark Matter shouted back, his eye beginning to glow even brighter within the armor. "They will be the first thing I take from you…" Black lightning seemed to crackle across the armor's face as the glow turned even harsher. "Suffer as darkness… claims your SOULS!" Another roar of rage burst from the monster as a powerful beam of black energy erupted from within the armor, bearing down on the trio, somehow bathing them in light and covering them in shadow at the same time. None of them could find the strength to move as they stared at death hurtling toward them, any life that could have flashed before them overtaken by the laser-shaped blackness.

"NO!" Kirby was heard screaming, and next thing they were able to process, the young warrior had dove in apparent slow motion to put himself between them and the attack, allowing the dark beam to strike him in its entirely. "AAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHH!" His scream of pain echoed throughout the throne room as black electricity coursed through his entire body, eyes shrunken to pinpricks as his body seemed to flash between different forms of grayscale from the dark energy.

"KIRBY!" All of Kirby's allies shrieked. Even Dedede and Escargoon had horrified looks on their face as they saw this happen.

Eventually, the dark beam vanished just as quickly as it formed with a loud cracking sound. Kirby merely stood there, motionless, groaning in pain as his hand lost its grip on his sword, the blade hitting the ground with little fanfare. Then, slowly, he began to fall forward before hitting the ground, a large black mark left behind on his back with smoke coming off it. His body twitched, eyes still wide open. All of Kirby's friends stared at his body in shock, shaking in fear as he didn't move an inch. Tiff's eyes began to fill with tears. "No…" She breathed. "NO!" She immediately ran toward him, falling to her knees and shaking him. "Kirby! Get up, Kirby!" Tuff, Marx, Meta Knight, and Waddle Doo rushed over as she rolled Kirby onto his back, trying whatever she could to get him to wake up.

Meta Knight's eyes were a solid bright red as he stared at the motionless Kirby, his hand barely keeping hold of Galaxia through all the shaking. "Please, Kirby… Not you too…"

"Worry not, creatures of light…" Dark Matter said as a stomp was heard, making them turn to see Gigant Edge slowly walking toward them, blades brimming with energy. "If you thought I was going to let any of you live… you were sorely mistaken." Then, he heard something: A barely audible inhale.

Marx seemingly heard it too, looking around before realizing it was near them. He looked down at Kirby, and his eyes lit up: Kirby's chest was slowly moving in and out. He was breathing. "He… He's alive!" The others looked down, seeing the small breathing motion.

"Kirby…?" Tiff breathed.

Dark Matter's anger showed itself with another animalistic growl. "So that first attack wasn't enough…" Black electricity began to form around the armor's face once more as his growl grew louder. "Then I'll make sure this one ends it! I'll send you all to the void with him, so you can ALL suffer!"

Kirby's friends whimpered in fear as they awaited their fate, except Meta Knight, who stood in front of them with Galaxia out front. However, deep within Kirby's body, the persistent pulsing glow of a star-shaped figure beated faster and faster, exuding more and more energy by the minute. Before long, the glow actually became visible to everyone, centered in Kirby's torso: Tiny at first, but growing larger and brighter. "What the?" Marx wondered.

"What is that?" Tuff asked. The bright white glow reflected off of the tears still in Tiff's eyes despite her speechlessness.

"Rrrrrrrrgh!" Dark Matter growled, holding one sword in front of his face to block out some of the light. "What trick is this?!"

Meta Knight turned back to look, and immediately his eyes became the same color white as the glow as he stared at the light in awe. "This… This power…" Then, Kirby's fingers began to move before his sword actually flew across the ground to place its hilt in his palm, his hand clenching around it. His stuck-open eyes closed before he was slowly lifted off the ground, his body reorienting until he was once again standing upright. The glow slowly dwindled in size, reverting to merely covering most of his chest. Kirby's eyes opened, a stern look in them that made Dark Matter growl again, but then, holding his sword up a bit, he leapt into the air.

*Transformation Scene*

Sword Kirby flew up into the starry sky, stopping and holding his sword in front of his face, the blade perpendicular to his face. Then, that mystical white glow began to concentrate on the brim of his hat, giving off a small burst to reveal a glowing white star giving off small star-shaped ripples of energy, that energy making his sword glow. Kirby swiped his sword to the side as the star's energy washed over his entire body, changing his appearance. His hat changed to a lighter green color with an orange brim, a star-shaped yellow pom-pom on the end, and three crystals on each side. His green tunic changed to a deep blue color much like Meta Knight's cape, his brown gloves turned silver, and his feet turned green. His blonde hair grew much longer, almost able to act as a makeshift cape. Kirby then pointed his glowing sword to the sky, which immediately morphed into a new sword with a wider blade and a fancier blue hilt with a yellow star on it. Twirling his new sword in front of himself, Kirby pointed it forward, the star on his hat gleaming.

*End Scene*

All of Kirby's friends watched as he slowly descended back to the ground, looks of awe across all of their faces. They could feel the raw power emanating from him as he stood there, new sword in hand, staring Dark Matter down with unflinching determination. Then, Kirby blinked before looking himself over, seemingly just now realizing he had changed. "Whoa… What did I just do?" He wondered. "I still feel like Sword Kirby, but I look so different… and I feel so powerful!"

"I… I do not know…" Meta Knight breathed. "I did not think you were yet capable of such power."

"You…" Dark Matter's seething voice growled, gripping the hilts of both swords hard enough to possibly break them. "You… wretched… WORM! How did you manage to aquire that level of power from the Super Star?!"

Kirby stared back at Dark Matter's glaring eye. "…Maybe it just took me nearly dying to get it to do that. Or the fact that I almost killed myself to save my friends from you. Not that I needed a reward to do that." He held up his sword, slowly bringing it around to hold it in front of himself. "But it's like I said, Dark Matter: No matter what, especially if you try to hurt the people I care about… I'll ALWAYS find a way to beat you." When his sword was in front of him, blade perpendicular to his face, he closed his eyes, and the Super Star began to radiate waves of energy. Kirby's hair began to blow as everyone felt even more power come from him, and the energy began to gather into Kirby's new sword.

"I will not allow this!" Dark Matter roared as black electricity surrounded his face once more. "DIE, KIRBY!" Another beam of black energy fired out from the helmet, barreling toward Kirby.

"Watch out, Kirby!" Tiff cried, her voice seeming to echo in his ears.

At that moment, Kirby's eyes shot open before he quickly spun around, and right as the beam was about to hit him, he delivered one clean slash that cleaved right through the beam. Though no Sword Beam was formed, the slash itself sent its own energy through the attack so fast that the dark beam completely evaporated not even a second after the sword touched it. After only a few seconds of staring Dark Matter down, the creature clearly horrified that its attack had been reduced to nothing, Kirby suddenly rushed forward, leaping into the air and reading his sword. "Haaaaaaaaahhhhhh…" The sword took on a glow as he raised it up with both hands, and then the sword began to grow in size, larger and larger until it dwarfed even Gigant Edge itself. "Now!" Reaching the peak of his jump, Kirby glared down at Dark Matter before angling himself properly to start diving toward its puppet body, letting out a warrior's yell. Dark Matter quickly crossed both swords in front of its body, but Kirby wasn't deterred. "Ultra Sword… SLASH!" Bringing the blade over his head effortlessly, Kirby swung as hard as he could with both hands, bringing the sword crashing down upon the green knight. The new swords it had conjured stood no chance, shattering like glass upon impact with the Ultra Sword, allowing it to cleave right through Gigant Edge's middle unimpeded. A small rainbow came off the blade as Kirby landed from his attack, locking eyes with Dark Matter as he panted heavily, his sword reverting to its normal size.

Then, the eye faded, and the slash's effect finally showed as a slice line ripped through its body. "GYAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHH!" Dark Matter screamed in absolute pain as all feeling in his puppet body was lost, its hands dropping the now-useless hilts as its halves slowly began to separate, showing only the darkness within the hollow armor, tethered to a gleaming green star-shaped jewel.

"Huh…? What is that…?" Kirby wondered. Then, a few strands of darkness lashed out from the armor toward the jewel, connecting to it and slowly pulling the halves toward each other, making Kirby realize what it was doing. "It's… trying to pull itself… back together!"

Immediately after he finished his line, he noticed Meta Knight dash right past him, Galaxia at the ready. "Sword… Blade… I do this for you." He said, moving his hand as if to throw Galaxia, focusing on the green star. "So your souls can rest in PEACE!" He threw Galaxia with all his might, with the perfect trajectory to strike the green jewel with enough force to disconnect it from all of the dark strands. Kirby then quickly used Inhale, pulling both the jewel and the sword right back through Gigant Edge's now-powerless body. Meta Knight caught Galaxia, but when Kirby stopped using Inhale to catch the jewel, it actually stopped moving in mid-air near him, merely floating there for a moment. It started floating all around Kirby, making him look at it in confusion, before it began to emanate the same small waves as the star on his hat.

Then, Kirby began to feel something… different. Despite what was going on, he could feel the green star's energy through the white one, and it felt calming. Natural. A compulsion seemed to come over him that he hadn't thought about before, but then he thought about the situation in mere seconds. 'Hmm… Well, I don't think it would hurt…' He thought before a small smile came on his face. Kirby walked a little closer to Gigant Edge's body, small beams of light coming from its halves, which were slowly falling apart. The green star followed him before finally falling out of the sky, landing in his free hand as he smiled. Then, with seemingly no provocation, Kirby began to break out into a short yet energetic dance: In the span of a few seconds, he had done a moonwalk, a few slides that went into a quick jump back to his starting position, and even a jumping twist. Hearing the imagined music come to an end, Kirby twirled his new sword before pointing it to the sky, shouting "YES!" as Gigant Edge's body finally exploded behind him. Kirby's friends, sans Meta Knight (but including Waddle Doo) cheered for his victory.

"Yeaaaaaaahhhh, heh heh heh heh!" Dedede also cheered from his chair in front of the monitor, Escargoon and Wiz clapping. "That'll teach that Dark Matter freak!"

Meta Knight twirled Galaxia before returning it to its sheath, sighing. Kirby walked over to Meta Knight, his face showing a hint of concern, but the knight merely nodded, getting a nod back from Kirby. At that moment, though, the green star Kirby was holding began to glow, making him hold it up to view. Two similar green glows formed within the massive amounts of smoke that came from the monster's destruction, growing slightly larger before vanishing instantly. Suspicious, Kirby swung the Ultra Sword, creating a bit of wind to blow the smoke away. When it was gone, he, Meta Knight, and the others all gasped in sheer disbelief. Lying on the ground where the monster was… were the bodies of Sword and Blade Knights, motionless with their swords next to them. None of them could form any words, wondering if what they were seeing was real. They were so focused on the knights' bodies that none of them noticed a shadow, small and pulsing as if trying to stay together, moved across the ground away from them with erratic movements, vanishing into another shadow of the castle walls.

Kirby took a step toward the knights… and then, his body slowly slumped forward until he hit the ground, glowing before he reverted to his normal form. The star-shaped iris-in focused on his face as he coughed up the same green star with a sword, albeit larger with sharper edges, the star vanishing before the iris closed.

Vile: I have seen the repeated anonymous comments from people who keep wondering if I'm going to come back to this story. I wouldn't just abandon a story without an official change to any story I'm not going to continue. My upload rate might be complete ass, but I don't like giving up on things. If you guys liked this chapter, leave a review for me. Stay safe, folks: We're in tough times, but I know we'll get through them. Ja ne for now!

Computer Voice: Vile, logging out.