Kirby and his friends do not belong to me. If they did, the anime would be much more accessible.

Kirby and related characters belong to Nintendo, Hal Laboratories, 4Kids, and Warpstar Inc.

Episode One: Glimpse of the Past, Part one

Dreamland. The very sound of the name calls to mind a place where fanciful things occur. And rightly so it should, for this is the land where dreams are made. For as long as anyone can remember, the country of Dreamland, on the planet Pop Star of the Gamble Galaxy, has housed the Fountain of Dreams. It is from this wellspring that the dreams of its citizens flows from. It rests in the center courtyard of the palace of King Dedede, where it is free to send the dreams of many individuals throughout the planet.

Once, however, the dreams did not flow, for the fountain had been corrupted by a wicked being imprisoned within, known only as Nightmare.

Nightmare was a terrible creature who ran a huge organization of monsters known to the public as NME. For years, the forces of NME waged war to take over the universe. His only opponents had been a brave race of fighters, the Star Warriors. The monsters and Star Warriors fought against each other for years, until a brave fighter among the Star Warrior's ranks, a valiant Puffal named Meta Knight, defeated Nightmare and locked him, unconscious, in the fountain of dreams. There Meta Knight stayed, vigilant to make sure the prisoner wouldn't wake or escape. He wouldn't have, either, if it wasn't for Dedede.

King Dedede, the so-called king of Dreamland, accidentally awakened Nightmare, who began to corrupt the Fountain of Dreams. Dedede attempted to stop Nightmare's fear from spreading, but he was not a wise individual, and due to his inability to communicate properly, Nightmare was accidently released from his prison by Kirby, a well-meaning baby Puffal.

Once he realized his mistake, Kirby worked, with the help of his allies, to obtain the Star Rod, defeat Nightmare, and to repair the fountain of dreams so that all the dreams of the Pop Star once again flowed free. All was once again at peace in Dreamland.

However, Nightmare had not been destroyed, only weakened. You see, Nightmare had faced Kirby without fear for he knew only a Star Warrior could wield the Star Rod. He was not, however, aware that Kirby, young though he was, was a fledgling Star Warrior, so his defeat at the hands of the infant was both shocking and humiliating. He allowed the Dreamlanders to believe that he was destroyed, and crept back to the shambles of his forces to rebuild his army.

One day, when he is strong again, Nightmare will take his troops back to get vengeance on Dreamland, and especially on Dedede, Meta Knight, and Kirby.

But right now is not that day…

First you draw a circle,

( )

Then you dot the eyes,

(0 0)

Add a great big smile,

(0u0)

And Presto! It's Kirby!

Right now, Kirby was enjoying a bright Dreamland day. Like any young one his age, Kirby was not content with just staying inside, especially on such a bright beautiful day. Thus, when he was invited to play outside with some of his friends on a scavenger hunt, the pink Puffal jumped at the chance. Though at first, he didn't quite understand the rules.

"No, Kirby!" Tuff, a young Dreamland boy, cried. "You're supposed to hold on to the scavenger hunt items, not eat them!"

Nearby, Tiff, Tuff's sister, laughed. "What did you expect when you put apples, grapes, and a watermelon as some of the items on the list?"

"Yeah," Ado, one of the resident painters added as she handed a dandelion to her twin, Adeleine. "He can't keep food out of his mouth, not to mention in the basket!"

"Be gentle with him!" Ribbon, a fairy from the nearby planted of Ripple Star, scolded. "He's only a baby, and he's doing the best he can. Aren't you."

Kirby looked up happily after he swallowed the remainder of the watermelon. "Poyo wawa-mewon!" he excitedly proclaimed.

Suddenly, something caught the infant Star Warrior's eye. Without another word of warning, he dashed up into a nearby tree, and stretched out to look over the horizon.

"What is it Kirby?" Tiff asked after Kirby had taken a hold of a tree branch. "Do you see something?"

"Poyo! Poyo poyo poyo!" the little Puffal excitedly bounced up and down on the tree branch, pointing towards the distance. "Poyo wook!"

"I think he's telling us to look that way." Ado turned to her twin. "Adeleine, get on my shoulders. Tell us if you see anything."

Adeleine complied, and strained he eyes to see out over the distance. Suddenly she gasped. "Hey guys! He's right! Theirs smoke out over the distance! It looks like someone crashed right past Kabu Canyon!"

"We'd better head over there to make sure everything's alright," Ribbon stated, and the others nodded in agreement.

After travelling some distance, they came across a small purple and white ship, which sure enough, had crashed. There was some fire, but Kirby quickly put it out with his inhale ability. Once it was safe to proceed, the children began to move the wreckage away.

"Hello!" Tuff called out. "Is anybody in here?"

"Help!" a voice cried out from within the ship. "I'm trapped beneath the control panel!"

The children, upon hearing the voice, headed in that direction and began clearing away the debris. Soon they had unearthed a female alien with purple hair and eyes.

"Oh, thank you!" the woman exclaimed. "I was so worried that no one was going to find me. And I have such important business-" The woman cut herself off once she caught a glimpse of Kirby. "My! Are you the Star Warrior Meta Knight?"

"Poyo Kaabii Medikni! Poyo Dedededede poyo!" Kirby cried out.

"This isn't Meta Knight," Ado translated. "This is Kirby. Meta Knight is at Castle Dedede."

"I must get there immediately then." The woman hoisted herself up. "I have urgent business with Meta Knight!" After taking a few steps forward, however, she stumbled and fell, clutching her side.

"You're too hurt to go that far," Tuff said, helping the woman to her feet. "Kirby's house isn't too far from here. We'll take you there. Ribbon, please go to Castle Dedede and ask Meta Knight to meet us at Kirby's house."

The little fairy saluted. "You got it!"

"By the way," Tiff continued, "that was our friend Ribbon. My name is Tiff. This is my brother Tuff, and these are our friend Ado and Adeleine. What's your name?"

The woman smiled. "Zaroffina."

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It had been fairly peaceful at Castle Dedede for the last couple of days. Or, at least, as peaceful as it can be with a total pengu-child for a king. Still, all was well for the time being, so Meta Knight was taking this as an opportunity to just relax.

He was reclining in the hammock in his room with his mask off. He couldn't see anything without the corrective lenses in the visor, but that didn't matter right now. What mattered was that all was quiet and was going to be able to get some well-deserved rest.

Or, at least, he thought he was. He was just starting to doze when a loud knocking resounded in his room. "Meta Knight! Quick! It's an emergency!"

Hearing the urgency in the voice, the seasoned warrior shot up and grabbed his mask. He rushed to the door, and swung it open. "What is it? What's the emergency?" To his surprise however, there was no one there.

He turned around, and realized that the knocking was coming from the window. Outside, Ribbon was madly thrusting herself against the glass. In response, Meta Knight opened the widow and repeated his questions.

Ribbon panted as she gave her answer. "We-we were playing outside of Kirby's house wh-when Kirby spotted at plume of smoke. We followed it t-to the crash site, and there was a person inside of it. She was hurt, but said she had urgent business with you. You-you need to come back to Kirby's…"

Meta Knight nodded. "I will come." He picked the fairy up, as she was too worn out for the return flight, and stretched out his own wings, a pair of blue-black bat-like wings which were typically hidden beneath his cape.

Ribbon held on tight as they flew away. Meta Knight was a fast flier. Even at her fastest, she couldn't match his speed. Still, she hoped that they wouldn't be too late.

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Zaroffina was resting as the children awaited for Meta Knight's arrival. They did not have to wait long, however, as the sound of flapping wings announced the elder Star Warrior's arrival.

"Medikni! Poyo!" Kirby exclaimed excitedly, before anyone else could do anything, the pink Puffal rushed out to greet his mentor.

Meta Knight's eyes tuned pink with amusement. Kirby did this just about every time they met, even when it was time for training exercises. He couldn't help but wonder if this was what he was like at sixty years of age.

Meta Knight strode forward, doing his best not to trip over the dancing toddler. "I was told that someone had urgent business with me."

"That would be Zaroffina," Adeleine said, motioning inside the house. "She's resting in side."

Something about that name tripped a warning signal in Meta Knight's head. However, nothing in particular came to mind, so he shook it off and entered into the house.

As he did, Zaroffina rose from the bed. Meta Knight bowed deeply (or, at least as deeply as you can when your body is a ball.) "I was told you have news for me, Madam."

Zaroffina nodded. "Yes, and it's quite important that we begin at once." She began as if to speak, but then turned and glared at the children. "Privately."

"Aww, come on!" Tuff exclaimed. "We won't tell anyone! Promise!" The others clambered in agreement, eager to hear what would be so important it would require the attention of the veteran Star Warrior.

"Not everything is meant to be heard by everyone," Meta Knight scolded. "Please wait outside for us to finish."

The children disappointedly trundled outside, when Zaroffina added, "Kirby may stay. What we have to speak of concerns him as well."

Kirby turned to the others questioningly. "Poyo?"

"Go on," Tiff responded. "If you're allowed you can listen."

"Yeah," Tuff whispered to the baby, "and tell us what the big deal's about."

"Poyo!" Kirby eagerly skipped back into the tiny house.

Once he was inside, the door was shut. Meta Knight held up a hand, motioning for silence. After a moment, he turned. "They have not left, so we must be quiet."

The woman laughed. "That is to be expected. Children have a natural need to know everything that's going on. I know I did. Still do."

The three moved into the other room, and the two Puffals turned to their guest. Now that the setting had been made more privet, she initiated her message.

"I'm so glad I found you," Zaroffina began. "There are several things that are very important that I need to collect. You must give them to me."

Meta Knight's eyes flashed bight green in suspicion. He moved closer to Kirby, ready to protect the younger Star Warrior if necessary. "And what would they be?"

The alien's smile turned greedy. She said a single word. "You." With that, she released a small metal canister, which filled the room with smoke.

Meta Knight wrapped Kirby in his cape, as if trying to keep the baby away from the gas, and made a dash for the door. However, it was too late, as both of them had already been exposed. The gas worked fast, and the veteran only stayed awake long enough to see Kirby fall unconscious. Then the darkness took him.

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Outside, the other kids awaited the meeting to end.

"This is bogus!" Tuff grumbled in frustration. "Every time there's some cool Star Warrior-y thing that's going on, we get shooed out!"

"Come on, Tuff," Tiff said, shaking her head. "We don't need to know every single thing that's going on."

"But what if it's something to do with Nightmare?" he exclaimed. "Wouldn't we want to know what's happening so that we can help Kirby this time?!"

"Nightmare? You surely can't be that stupid," a rude voice called out. The children turned, and saw Kirby's bad-mannered neighbor, Tokkori, fly down from his nest.

"That ball a' wind was dealt with a long time ago!" the bird continued. "You gotta be real paranoid if you think he's coming back."

"But after that Meta Knight told us not to let our guard down," Adeleine piped up.

"Yeah!" her twin added. "He said that Nightmare was defeated, but not destroyed, and that he would come back."

"That Creampuff's got his mask on too tight," Tokkori said dismissively. "Besides, if-" Before the bird could finish, there was a loud pop from inside Kirby's house. Immediately, the children rushed to the door to see what happened.

Tiff pulled on the door, but much to her distress, it didn't budge. "Something's made it stuck!" she called out. "Ribbon, can you sense anything inside?"

The little fairy concentrated. "Meta Knight and Kirby are afraid, but I can't feel anything clearer than that!" She focused harder. "I think she did something to them!"

Before anything else could be done, a huge vessel, which had be invisible just a few moments ago, appeared above the small house. A long, tentacle like pipe descended on the place, demolishing both Kirby's house and Tokkori's tree. When it rose again, there was a pile of rubble where the structure once stood, and there was no sign of the three who had been inside.

Tokkori was the first to recover from what had just happened. "My Tree! That thing just destroyed my tree!"

"Where'd they go?" Adeleine gasped, as the others scrambled for some sign of their missing friends.

"I'm not sure," Tiff said, "but I think we'd better tell Dad what happened."

"Sword and Blade, too!" Ribbon added. "And we'd better hurry. Kirby and Meta Knight might be in danger."

The children hurried towards Castle Dedede. Tokkori took flight after them. "I'm coming too!" he stated. "This is that knight's fault, so I'm gonna give his boss a piece of my mind!"

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The first thing Kirby was aware of when he woke up was the feeling of something digging into his side. He moved over to get away from the offending item, but only found himself plagued by a similar bother. "Poyo," he mumbled sleepily as he pushed himself to his feet. It took a minute, but soon his blue eyes were glowing, which allowed him to survey his surroundings.

There really wasn't much to look at. He was in a room that looked as if it was woven out of sticks and straw. Nearby, Meta Knight lay, still unconscious and stripped of both mask and armor. Without these items, Meta Knight looked nearly identical to Kirby, just blue and with a pair of large bat wings, which were currently splayed out by the position he was laying in.

Surrounding the duo in a semicircle fashion lay seven brightly colored balls. Red, green, white, brown, yellow, light blue, and purple, and each rested in a small divot. Kirby went and attempted to pick up the white one, but found it stuck in its resting place. No matter how hard he tried, the little Puffal could not make it move, so he eventually gave up and looked out the door of the room.

He was surprised to find that they were in a nest in a tree! That explained the odd building materials. Outside, there were many tree like the one they were hanging from, and a river passed close by. Kirby probably would have noticed other elements of the surrounding area, but soon something else caught his eye.

It was a cluster of bright orange berries, which hung from the branches of the very tree he was in. Eagerly, Kirby flew to the nearest branch, plucked a berry, and ate it. Why, it was the best thing he had ever tasted, and rather similar to Pep Brew. He ate several more berries and then flew to another near berry tree to sample some violet ones.

After a few minutes, Kirby began to feel full. That was when he remembered Meta Knight, still back in the nest in the first tree. The little Puffal gathered an armful of the berries, before hurrying back to await his mentor's awakening.

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The kids rushed as fast as they could into the courtyard of the castle. Once within, they were soon met by their friends, the twins Lololo and Lalala.

"Hi guys!" Lololo called out. "Where have you guys been?"

"Can't talk right now!" Tiff called out. "Where's Dad? Or Sword and Blade?"

"Sir Ebrum is in council with King Dedede," Lalala answered. "I think Sword and Blade are in their rooms, mending their armor. Why are you in such a rush?"

"Long story short, Meta Knight and Kirby are in trouble!" Ribbon called back. "Tiff, Tuff, you guys go and tell your Dad and Dedede. Ado, Adeline, and I'll find Sword and Blade."

"Got it!" The brother and sister rushed off to the throne room, Lololo and Lalala trailing behind, eager to hear the important news. Meanwhile, the rest of the group headed off to the barracks.

Inside the throne room, King Dedede was going on one of his infamous tirades to his royal council, made up of the most prominent members Cappy Town and the surrounding areas. "And furthermore," he continued, "I want to have a permanent twenty-five percent tax increase on all pink puff-balls who live in the kingdom! They're an annoyance, and it's a gaudy color too! Now, on to item seventy-eight, the changing of taxes from money to food items."

Before he could finish another of his ridiculous ideas, Tiff and Tuff burst into the room. "Dad, Dad! There something we need to tell you."

Dedede visibly bristled at the interruption. "We don't have time for any moronic nonsense," the Pengu said, irritation clear in his voice. "I've got sixty-seven more items to discuss, so get a move on it!"

"Now, now, calm down sir" Sir Ebrum said. He and the rest of the council seemed glad for the interruption. "The children seem to have something important to tell us. We can quickly listen and then move back to your list of demand-I mean ideas. Now, go on, Tiff."

'Kirby and Meta Knight have been kidnapped!" Tiff cried out. A frightened hush fell over the council. Meta Knight was Dreamland's famed protector, and Kirby was gaining a reputation similar to his mentor. If some creature had abducted them, what was the country in store for? Almost everyone was in shock from the news, and only one voice sounded in the quiet.

King Dedede laughed loudly. "That's a hoot!" He straightened up, and looked Tiff straight in the eye. "Listen here, Girly, if Kirby were as easy as that to get rid of, then he would've been all the way past Shiver Star by now!"

"It's true!" Tuff voiced in. He and Tiff explained what had happened, with Tokkori butting in every now and then to complain about his tree. When they were finished, even Dedede was at a loss for words.

"Oh, my" a quiet voice said eventually. This was Bandana Dee, Dedede's personal paying intern. He tugged the corner of his blue bandana down nervously. "They really are gone, you say? What can we do?"

"I'll say what we can do!" Chief Bookem, the chief of the Cappy Police, piped up. "We start a search. We don't have any guarantee this alien woman has taken them from Pop Star, and if she hasn't, then we'll find 'em!"

There was a loud chorus of agreement, and soon the council had switched to a plan to find their missing heroes.

King Dedede grumbled as he left the throne room. "Good for nothings can't tell an important issue if it came up and bit 'em. Kirby's gonna show up again sooner or later. Annoying little pinky always does. In the meantime, who's gonna care out the lack of a personal theater in the castle? That was item ninety-four!"

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Meanwhile, Ado, Adeleine, and Ribbon rushed out to the soldier's barracks where Sword and Blade had their rooms. They reached the area without much difficulty, and rushed into the rooms, desperate to convey their message.

Just as they had been told, Meta Knight's two knaves had been sitting in Sword's room, mending the small damages in their armor. Sword looked up as the kids entered, and called out to them. "'Ello, Ado, Adeleine, Ribbon. What brings you here today?"

The two humanoid girls were panting with exhaustion, so Ribbon explained the current predicament. After explaining what she knew, she paused, waiting for them to respond.

The duo of soldiers turned to each other, before Sword turned back to the messengers. "You are certain of what you saw?" he asked. He was skeptical, but more so in the hope rather than doubt. "Meta Knight often sets up training exercises that are meant to test your awareness. Are you certain it's not one of those?" Blade mumbled something in agreement, but only Sword could tell what it actually was.

"Completely certain," Adeleine said, her breath finally caught. "There was nothing left in the rubble to that we could find. They were all gone."

Sword nodded and stood up. "Thank you for telling us. We'll go back and see if we can't find anything."

Ado shot up, eager to help with the search. "Is there anything we can do?"

He thought for a moment, before responding. "Actually, yes, there is. Get Rick and Coo. Rick knows that area like the back of his paw, and Coo's got the best chance of spotting anything from the air. He can also alert Kine and Chuchu of what's going on. Once you've got them, meet us by the wreckage."

The three girls nodded and rushed out. Within the hour, all of Dreamland was searching for the missing Puffals. However, little was discovered.

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Kirby returned to the nest, and found that Meta Knight was still asleep. With little else to do, the baby Puffal began stacking the berries like blocks and arranging them according to brightness of color. After he became bored with that, he instead selected a long stick and began sword practice with it.

However, shortly after he started his practice, a cracking sound came from one of the surrounding orbs. Kirby paused what he was doing and looked towards the intruding sound. When the cracking didn't stop, Kirby walked over to the balls. It was the yellow ball which was making the sound.

Curiosity overcame the young Puffal. He bent down to get a closer look at the object as cracks began to appear along the outside. However, as soon as he did so, a foot popped out and kicked him in the face!

"Aiiee!" Kirby cried in alarm. He immediately dashed over to where Meta Knight lay, and began shaking his mentor vigorously. "Medikni!" he cried. "Medikni! G'up! H'wee! Medikni!"

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Meta Knight lay, strapped down to an operating table. He was in agony from the recent experimentation, but could do little but lay still and wait for his tormenters to return.

He could hear their voices. One of them was Nightmare. He would never forget the dark, cold voice which had condemned the young Star Warrior to this fate. "How is he doing on the trials?"

The other was Nightmare's head crony. Meta Knight had never heard his name, but he was often the one who oversaw the torment. He responded in a very cool tone, as one who had bad news but was trying to downplay it. "He is taking most of the trials well, but we've run into a problem."

"Problem?" Nightmare growled. "What sort of problem?"

"The last trial caused severe injury. He'll live, but he is completely blind now."

"That matters little." The disregard in Nightmare's voice was completely evident. "He is only here to show us Project Night-Terror's limits. How is that project developing?"

"The egg has shown high levels of growth stimulation. It will be the best monster you've ever created!"

"And with it, those puny Star Warrior's will fall for good!"

Meta Knight struggled against his bonds. He had to break free, to get out and stop Nightmare. However, he was tightly bound and wouldn't be going anywhere anytime soon.

As he fought with his bindings, a third voice began to overtake the other two. "Medikni! Wh'up! H'wee kwik!"

Kirby! That was Kirby's voice! Had Nightmare captured him too?!

The veteran Star Warrior forced his eyes open. No, they weren't in NME. That had just been a dream. They were in some sort of nest-like room. Kirby was nearby, shaking him hard. It was clear the baby Puffal was scared.

"I'm up, Kirby" he said, trying to sound as comforting as possible. He tried to move, but found his body unresponsive. He began to grow frightened himself, but he did his best to mask it. "What's wrong?"

The little one hid himself behind his elder's wing and pointed. Meta Knight looked at what was pointed out, and was surprised by what he saw.

The yellow ball had a large piece kicked out of it, and through the hole a glowing blue eye could clearly be seen.

To Be Continued…

Author's Note: Just as a heads up, this is not a fan fiction for any particular Kirby media. This series is a separate universe, one where nearly all the characters and elements from the various series will interact. Also, most of the references made to the anime will be from Right Back at Ya, though some elements from Hoshi no Kaabii will be included.