Are You a Friend, Too?

Chapter 1
Intersection of Dreams

(Uploaded on July 5, 2018)
(Updated on March 29, 2019)

Summary: For the longest time, two different universes – each with their own Pop Star and subset of heroes and villains – have remained separate, living their lives completely unknowing of each other. That is, until a mysterious Warp Hole popped out of nowhere and brought them together.

Funny how things turn out, huh?

Notes: This fic is set after Kirby Star Allies, and about a couple months or so following the events of Harmony Never Really Dies. The True Arena (that is to say, Soul Melter) has been dealt with at this point, though not Heroes in Another Dimension and Soul Melter EX.

Cappy Town has already gone through the events of Episodes 1-18 of Kirby: Right Back at Ya! in the Japanese rotation, which I'll be using for this fic. This chapter occurs roughly a week-and-a-half prior to Episode 19, Here Comes the Son. Episode 13, Cappy New Year, hasn't happened yet, because—c'mon. It's not anywhere near New Year's in the timeframe I'm using.

This chapter was updated on March 29, 2019 to better serve as an introduction to this crossover and to add lore elements from Harmony Never Really Dies.

Ahem!

Greetings, everyone.

Today… I'm going to tell you the story of a Gamble Galaxy—one very much like, but at the same time, very different from the one you know.

An awfully long time ago, the galaxy was at peace. Civilizations formed and flourished beneath the stars, living happy and content and most importantly: free.

But one day… that all changed.

A being of darkness, known only to the wider universe as Nightmare, rose up from the unknown – and he was not benign. No, he was a tyrant, determined to accomplish one goal: to take over the galaxy, by any means necessary.

For many years, he has waged war with a squadron of rebels and their entourage of allies, striking back with an army of monsters by his side. Many moons rose and set—but eventually, the battle reached a standstill. Both sides found themselves unable to make any more progress, and it seemed as though the galaxy would remain forever in conflict.

But just when all hope seemed lost… the seeds of a miracle were planted.

On an idyllic planet known as Pop Star, a Star Warrior crash-landed into a world of peace—and with the blessings of the villagers of Cappy Town, he soon made it his new home. Prophesized by Kabu to be the savior of the universe, he was destined to be the cornerstone of many adventures to come.

His name was Kirby.

Although he was young and not particularly well-trained… he held a power unlike any Star Warrior that had come before him. Utilizing his special Copy Abilities, he rid his town of the various monsters summoned to wreak havoc—and with every clash, he learns more and more about himself and the world. In time… he will come into his own – and with a shining star lighting his way, he might be able to triumph over the threat of Nightmare, once and for all.

But perhaps… it doesn't have to be merely him and Cappy Town, alone against this enemy.

Perhaps… there can be another dimension backing them up, with their own strength.

After all, as I've stated… there are two Gamble Galaxies that we know of; two Pop Stars, even. And with so many amazing adventures and beautiful bonds behind them… it's only right that they come to help out another budding World of Miracles in their cause.

Cappy Town. The Star Allies.

They may be alike, and they may be different, but one thing is for certain—

There is no mistaking that something great is about to unfold.

Indeed…

This is the tale of a serendipitous union of two worlds, a crossover of the highest order.

Yes, this is where it all begins, in the middle of a homely village, and the courtyard of a castle. The journey of two star-born heroes, and their friendships across a multitude of adventures… starts here.

[Tiff]

Pop Star (Anime)
Cappy Town

It was another bright and sunny summer day here in Cappy Town. Luckily for me (and Kirby), Dedede wasn't up to any of his usual nonsense, so I decided to take a walk around the village, with Kirby in tow. Look, living in Castle Dedede isn't bad—I mean, it's comfortable enough, there's plenty of space for us to work with, and our esteemed king doesn't bother us too much… but in the end, this is Dedede we're talking about.

You know: he's only the guy who keeps trying to get rid of Kirby and sends all these demon beasts our way (though we call them monsters, for simplicity's sake). It hasn't been that long since Kirby came to Cappy Town – it's been about three months since March – and I've basically settled into this routine of 'Dedede summons a demon beast, it attacks us, Kirby stops it'. I really don't know what beef he has with everyone, Kirby especially, but I'm glad we're able to get away from it at times—even if it doesn't last that long.

A girl can only deal with so much before she gets tired of it all.

I looked at Kirby, his blue eyes sparkling brightly, looking happy to simply be outside and feeling the sun's rays wash over him. There was a "Poyo!" flying out of his mouth with every step he took, his head bobbing up and down not unlike a Waddle Dee's way of moving. I smiled. He's a baby, sure, and he's not exactly the smartest or the most sensible person – but he's our baby. I can't imagine life without him anymore, and him being here is enough to make any day better.

Of course, it wasn't just me and him around. "Man, it's an awesome day today!" my brother Tuff exclaimed, practically bouncing off the walls to go play. Like any annoying little sibling, he didn't hesitate to tag along when he heard we were heading out. I hope he doesn't have anything irrational planned in his head – I still vividly remember my heart metaphorically jumping out of my chest when he got trapped inside Booma-Dooma Volcano. "I can't wait to hang out with everyone today! And Dedede won't be around to mess things up this time!" Well, that's one thing we can both agree on. "Aren't you excited, Kirby!?"

"Poyo!" Kirby hopped upward as he replied jovially, hands eagerly sticking up in the air. Good to see he's enthusiastic – even if I think that's kind of the only thing he can understand. "Poyo, poyo!"

"You're ready to have some fun today, aren't you Kirby?" I remarked. He poyoed in acknowledgement. "Just make sure not to go eating anything weird this time. We don't want a repeat of the Noddy incident from last week."

"Oh come on, Tiff!" Tuff pouted at me. (He should know those don't work on me anymore.) "That was one time; it's not gonna happen again! Kirby knows better!" He looked a little uncertain now. "…at least, I hope Kirby does…"

Kirby didn't seem to be paying attention to our conversation. I'm… not exactly sure how I should feel about that. "…so long as we keep him away from anything he definitely shouldn't be eating, I think we'll be good," I decided.

…hmm? I tapped Tuff's shoulder and pointed my finger forward. "Tuff, look—something's going on up ahead," I told him. There's a crowd gathered around the big tree in the square. That's undeniably something abnormal! Even Kirby stopped for a bit and tilted his head in curiosity. ("Poyo?")

"Hey, you're right! Let's go check it out!" The three of us ran on forward as fast as we could, bumping through the assorted group of Cappies—"Oops!" "Sorry!" "Excuse me!"—until we finally made our way to the front to see just what was going on.

And what we saw, well…

…this was not what I expected to see when I woke up today.

Put simply: there was a strange rainbow vortex floating in the middle of Cappy Town.

I could hear murmurs ranging from "What could this be?" to "I hope it doesn't mean business!" to "Please don't let this be King Dedede's doing again…" The vortex itself didn't seem to be doing anything except spin around in place, changing colors every second. The core of it was this dark blue and black color scheme, and it greatly complimented the rainbow mix swirling on the edges. It didn't look dangerous, but then again, there were plenty of monsters Dedede sent that didn't look intimidating at first glance, either.

And here I thought things couldn't get any more bizarre around here, even by our standards.

"Wow," Tuff gaped at the portal (not that I could blame him), "what is that? Tiff, do you know anything about it?"

"I don't know…" I replied. "I—I haven't seen anything like it before." None of the books I read mentioned anything about mysterious portals showing up out of nowhere, either. I turned to everyone and asked, "Does anybody here know what it is?"

Beside me, Kirby jumped onto Tuff's head to get a better look, one hand on his face and placed right where his chin would've been, if he had one. "Poyo poyo?"

(…I hope he doesn't try to eat it.)

The Mayor responded to Tuff with, "I don't know! I just woke up and there it was, sitting in the middle of the square! It's got us all frightened about what it could be."

I narrowed my eyes and carefully analyzed the vortex. Just because it's not dangerous now doesn't mean it won't be dangerous later. That was the case with Octagon, before. "Based on the information available to us… I think it may be some sort of portal," I carefully said. I know that was obvious, but I have to say it! Everyone here can be kind of dimwitted, sometimes. "But to where, I don't know. Has it done anything since it showed up?"

"No, it's just been sitting there. None of us have tried touching it yet, either." Well, that made sense, at least. You wouldn't want to touch something you don't know what it does—wait a minute, Kirby!

Suddenly, I noticed Kirby trying to get up close and personal with the vortex—and my instincts immediately kicked into overdrive. "No, Kirby!" As fast as I could, I ran up and grabbed him into my hands, safely yanking him away from… whatever it is we're dealing with. "Don't touch it," I scolded him, "we don't know what it does!"

"Poyo?" True to form, Kirby didn't seem to understand what I was saying. He pointed his hand at the vortex in confusion. "Poyo poyo?"

"I know you want to see what it is, but it's too dangerous right now. What if you get hurt in the process?I'm don't want to lose you today." I felt my face go rather solemn, and Kirby, despite how innocent he was, got the memo. He touched my cheek with one of his hands, putting a reassuring expression on his face. "Poyo! Poyo!" It was like he was saying, 'Don't worry, I won't go anywhere!'

I smiled. He always knows how to cheer someone up. That's… what I like most about him.

Next to Tuff, I heard Iro predict, "Maybe it's another one of King Dedede's monsters! He sends them out practically every day."

"That can't be right," Tuff replied. "We would've heard something; Dedede's never that quiet, especially when it comes to ordering monsters."

It's sad when that's a viable excuse for there not being a monster, I mused. Had everybody really grown used to things like that over the past several months? It seems so strange, thinking about a time before all these monsters started showing up. Or a time before Kirby, to be honest.

Where would we be without Kirby?

…probably trampled beneath Octagon, I guess.

Just then, all of us heard the sound of a tank revving toward our positions. There was only one person in Dream Land that had anything like that. "Speak of the devil," my brother groaned, putting a hand to his forehead. I felt myself wanting to do the same. "It's Dedede!"

Of course he'd come. He'd never pass up an opportunity to harass us over whatever demon beast he's ordered this week (if this is the doing of a demon beast, that is). Listening to him ramble has gotten pretty stale, and I really could be doing so much more with my time. Too bad he's also the only television channel, too.

Well, television rots everyone's brains, so it's not like I'm missing a whole lot.

"I should've known he had something to do with this!" Mabel exclaimed.

"What does he want now? Hasn't he caused enough pain?"

"If I have to listen to him ramble about clobbering Kirby one more time…"

Reluctantly, the crowd of Cappies spread out a little in order to let the massive tank through. Dedede's trademark laugh echoed through the air ("HEH HEH HEH HEH HEH HEH!") as his massive vehicle halted a few feet away from the vortex. "Good mornin', Cappy Town!" he greeted, his arms raised in the air. "Yer great King Dedede is here!"

I still have no idea how he became king of Dream Land. He's certainly anything but great. And he's not fooling anyone with his current demeanor, for a chorus of groans and boos immediately echoed back at him.

A vein appeared on the self-proclaimed king's forehead. "HEY!" Dedede shouted, looking insulted at the 'cordial' response. "I haven't done anythin' wrong! Why are you all jeering at me!? I'm your King! Show some respect for yer elders!" I don't know how he expects us to give him respect when he barely gives us any, but that's Dedede for you.

"What, you mean you haven't caused this vortex to appear?" I asked, with my eyebrow raised and my arms crossed. "This type of event seems right up your alley."

"Vortex? Whaddya talkin' about?" Finally, Dedede turned his notice to the vortex in the middle of the square, and he immediately jumped in the air in surprise. "W-W-WHAAAAAAAA!? WHAT'S DAT DOING THERE!?"

Oh, great. His reaction basically tells me this definitely can't be his doing. Well, I suppose that's a good thing, but that also leaves me back at square one trying to come up with explanations for this.

"Wait, you mean not even Dedede knows what it is?" Tuff said. "That's crazy!"

Escargoon hopped off the vehicle, interjecting with his signature snooty tone, "Contrary to popular belief, we're not responsible for everything that goes on in this town. We're just as surprised as this as you are."

I wouldn't believe him if he wasn't working for Dedede.

"Hey, Escargoon!" Dedede looked at his loyal minion, not bothering to even whisper. "I didn't order any demon beasts in my sleep, did I?"

"I'm pretty sure I would've heard something if that happened, sire."

Now I can't the image out of my head. Dedede just going up to his throne and somehow spawning a monster out of nowhere? Despite myself, I found myself giggling at the thought. What are the odds that something like that would happen?

Meanwhile, everyone's theories had been thrown out the window, just like mine. "But if this isn't King Dedede's doing," Chief Bookem said, "then whose fault is it? This can't be legal in the slightest."

Breaking through the sound of the newly re-energized crowd was Meta Knight's voice. "Yes, this is quite the mystery." Looking up, I could see him standing on one of the rooftops, acting all mysterious as usual, what with his cape wrapped around him. He always manages to show up whenever we need it the most – or whenever Kirby's doing a thing with his Copy Abilities. Just… how does he keep doing stuff like that?

The knight jumped down, landing in the middle of the crowd. "It does not appear to be hostile," he continued, "but I would advise against performing any action with it. It is best to simply wait and see." Sadly, that advice… doesn't really help us any.

And as much as I would rather not say it, Dedede seemed to agree. "Dat's boring!" he dismissed. In an instant, his trusty hammer was in his hands. Which does make me wonder, since he's got it now: if he's so insistent on trying to 'clobber Kirby', then why doesn't he just use his hammer instead? Does he not exercise, or…? "Let's just smash it to pieces! That'll show it who's boss! HEH HEH HEH!"

"No, sire, we shouldn't!" Escargoon protested. "What if it's Nightmare Enterprises come to collect its debt? They might racket their prices even higher, and then how will we order any more demon beasts?"

"Pfft!" Dedede looked nonchalant about the situation. "Dat won't happen – not if I knock 'em out first!" (I thought he was trying to stay on their good side!?)

Suddenly, before Dedede could do anything, the vortex began to pulsate and vibrate, making some rather distorted noises as it did so. "Whoa, what's going on!?" Tuff exclaimed, putting some distance between him and the suddenly-active portal.

"I don't know!" I replied, reeling back, hoping against all the odds that this wasn't anything bad. Please, please, please…!

"Poyo poyo!?" Kirby was similarly panicking in my arms. I clutched him a little tighter.

"Eep! Escargoon, protect your king!" Unsurprisingly, our esteemed king tried to cower behind his lackey, who was very much protesting in response.

"What!? Are you crazy, sire!? I don't have anything that can fight against whatever comes out! You have a hammer, for crying out loud!"

"I don't wanna use it! You do something instead!"

"Quiet, Your Majesty!" Meta Knight interrupted the bickering duo. "The vortex could do anything, and we must be prepared for any eventuality."

Everyone went silent, waiting for the vortex to stop moving. It kept warbling and warping with all these weird noises for an uncomfortably long while. Everyone else watched nervously, waiting for it to finish whatever the heck it was doing.

Finally, after what seemed like an eternity… a circular figure burst out of the portal, unceremoniously landing face-first onto the ground. "Sure," they were muttering, their voice sounding sassy and more than a little childish, "just punt me into the Warp Hole first. Fantastic, Dedede. You owe me two cakes for this." Dedede? What does he have to do with this? I thought we established that he was innocent in all of this?

Looking down, I felt my eyes widen as I took in the features of this newcomer. He was pink, he had short, stubby arms, he had red feet, he was very much shaped like a ball…

"No way…!" Tuff breathed.

"P-Poyo!?" Kirby freaked.

"It can't be…!" I gawked.

Kirby was supposed to be the only one of his kind, the one and only legendary Star Warrior we'd ever see.

And yet, here we are, with another freaking Kirby right in front of us, looking the exact same as the one I was holding in my hands.

…well, he was a little bigger than our Kirby, but still!

Appropriately, every one of the Cappies began to murmur in not-so-quiet tones.

"Is that Kirby? But… isn't he right there in Tiff's hands?"

"There's two of them? Oh, I need to stock up on my food supplies…"

"I hope this doesn't mean we get double the monsters!"

I stared a little longer at our newest visitor, completely flummoxed by his entry, and finally I just groaned in exasperation. "This is going to be one of those days, isn't it…?"

Approximately a few minutes earlier…

[Kirby]

Pop Star (Canon)
Castle Dedede – Entrance

It was another bright and sunny summer day here in Dream Land. It was about as tranquil as you can imagine, nice and peaceful and with butterflies fluttering about in the wind—luckily, all of them being of the 'not Morpho Knight' category. It was a day like any other, just like the morning Dark Matter invaded our planet so many years ago… and the time Drawcia turned everything into a Picasso nightmare… and the time both my house and Dedede's place got strung up into the sky by the Dreamstalk… okay, this metaphor isn't exactly working out.

But I'm confident that nothing weirdly crazy will happen today; Hyness and his Jambandra Cult have already been taken down, the Star Allies aren't going through any friendship hang-ups or anything like that, and the Harmony Crew has gotten acclimated to life here on our little World of Miracles (following a lot of pain, heartache, heartbreak, and a trip to an academy that's kind of a wreck now). What more could you ask for?

I, for one, was perfectly prepared to go about today in my usual way: wake up, stretch my limbs, go fishing, chow on a few apples, maybe do a bit of flying… all the stuff you'd expect from a guy like me!

…and then my stomach practically growled, 'No, you can't go do that! I'm hungry; you must go eat!' Which is, uh… my normal state of affairs, to be honest, but it's still kind of suboptimal.

And since I'm the type of guy who'll listen to my gut—or the black hole we call my belly; either phrase works here—I decided to head over to Dedede's place. I mean, he always has a good selection of foodstuff available—especially cakes!—and that type of nourishment was exactly the thing I needed right now.

Besides, I'll get to see Kaede and the crew again. How could you say no to that?

I hummed the good 'ol Green Greens melody as I plodded along, walking the well-worn trail to Castle Dedede. Now, I know, I could just use my Warp Star and fly on over there – but where's the fun in that? Dream Land's a beautiful place; it's not wrong to want to take a look around and bask in its beauty!

Before too long, I had reached the entrance to my best friend's abode – and I waltzed into his courtyard. "Hey, Dedede!" I called, a hand cupped around my mouth, my typical sass flitting into my tone. "You got any food for me today? I'm feeling kind of peckish, so I'm willing to take whatever's left in your kitchen!"

As expected, Dedede was standing outside – probably waiting for me, I guess – seeming to stare at something in particular, a quizzical expression on his features. Alongside him were my other two good friends, Meta Knight and Bandana Dee; not surprising, when it's not just the two of us, it's usually the four of us. He turned toward me when he heard my call, and he looked utterly relieved at my presence. "Kirby!" he greeted me, waving a hand in my direction. "Good thing you're finally here." He pointed a thumb at whatever he had been looking at. "Come check this out; I think you'll be interested!"

"Y-Yeah, yeah!" Bandana Dee flailed his arms around, eyes closing shut in panic (as was the norm for him), Meta Knight grunting as we spoke. "I—I don't know what's going on, b-but—m-maybe you can help f-figure things out!"

I blinked. "O…kay?" I replied. "What about this thing's got you guys in such a tizzy…?" A part of me wondered if he'd discovered a 121st Energy Sphere by complete accident – I'm pretty sure Magolor doesn't need any more of 'em, but it'd be cool to give him as a present – but what was actually there stumped me more.

Hanging outside of Castle Dedede, right in the middle of the courtyard… was a Warp Hole, much like the ones in Floralia.

"…what," I bluntly stated, my mind trying (and failing) to come up with a rational explanation.

"I concur," Meta Knight felt the need to say. "'What' was my own reaction to this event. I had felt a disturbance while I was tending to the Halberd—" By tending, I hope he doesn't mean 'send it on a another trip into the Secret Sea', I internally snarked—"and I immediately flew over here to investigate. Dedede and Bandana Dee don't know anything more than I do, I'm afraid."

"So long as it's not Hyness or any of his mages trying to take another crack at us, I think we don't have too much to worry about," Dedede shrugged. Casual as ever, I see. "I am curious on how much this'll affect us, though."

"It—It was already here when we woke up this morning," Dee piped up. "Neither Great King or I heard a-anything about it last night—and when we asked all the other Waddle Dees, they said they hadn't heard anything either."

I hummed in dissatisfaction. "Hmm…" We're going into this blind. How perfect. "Have Kaede and her crew heard about this?" I asked. "This thing's practically in plain sight, after all." She and Shuichi are normally up around this time – they're remarkably good at waking each other up – so they can't have missed this. Not to mention, Warp Holes make a pretty distinctive warble. "Now that I think about it, I'm pretty sure I would've gotten a wake-up call from one of them over this…"

"Th-They're… having a c-camping trip over in Nature Notch," Dee answered me. "They're n-not gonna be back until the weekend."

…I feel like I should be surprised, but somehow, I'm really not. Strange coincidences happen all the time here; what are the odds they'd inevitably be out of the way while this is going on?

"Well… at least they don't have to worry over this?" I tentatively said, my voice a little questioning. They have been through enough shenanigans—both from their homeworld and from us. "That does leave the question of 'what the heck are we supposed to do with this,' though…"

"Indeed," Meta Knight agreed. "This is a mysterious occurrence, even by the standards which us native Dream Landers have grown accustomed to. We must keep ourselves on guard; we have no idea what this Warp Hole can do, or where it will even send us."

"Heh heh heh!" Dedede laughed. "You know, you two fret about these type of things too much!" He put his hands on his hips and beamed brightly. "Nothing's happened with this Warp Hole in the hour we've been watching it. Another hour could pass by and the exact same thing would happen. So let's relax and have a little fun!"

My best friend's gait was infectious, and it didn't take me long to gain a positive demeanor of my own. "You heard the D-man! We've got all the time in the world we need to experiment with this thing. Whoever's on the other side will probably be welcoming to that end, so long as we toss in a supply of apples or two as a gift!"

"Orrrrrr—" Dedede's voice continued, following where I left off, holding his hammer high in his hand for some reason, "we could throw Kirby in there and have him test it out for us!"

"Yeah! …hang on, wha?"

Without warning, Dedede swung his glorified golf club and smacked me straight into the Warp Hole. I yelped in surprise as I arced straight toward the thing in record speed. That's just not right! You have got to be kidding me! I internally complained.

"Don't worry, you've handled worse!" he nonchalantly 'reassured' me, a cheeky grin on his face. "You'll be fine!"

"Oh, you butttttttt—!" I screamed. My whole surroundings terraformed around me as I was sent into what I could only presume to be the void of space—or wherever the heck Another Dimension is; I can't tell the difference—and let me tell you, spinning around at the speed of sound is disorienting! (How does Sonic even do this all the time!?) I was in there for a good long while, aimlessly flying as I was carted by the winds toward my destination, just going and going and I swear I'm going to get Dedede back for this somehow and then—

Location: (How do you expect me to know? I just got here!)

—I was unceremoniously dropped face-first onto a hard stone pathway, one foot sticking up in the air and my mind reeling from the uncomfortable trip I just took. "Sure," I grumbled into the ground, "just punt me into the Warp Hole first. Fantastic, Dedede. You owe me two cakes for this."

I heard some sort of crowd humming with curiosity and confusion around me—

"Is that Kirby? But… isn't he right there in Tiff's hands?"

"There's two of them? Oh, I need to stock up on my food supplies…"

"I hope this doesn't mean we get double the monsters!"

—but I had far more pressing matters to think about first. Like, where the heck did this Warp Hole send me? The crowd here implies I'm at least in a village, but I don't remember any sort of village in Dream Land that would sound as active as this one, let alone have stone walkways.

I mean, not even the roads during the Robobot invasion were like this. Resolution Road and Rhythm Route are most definitely different locales. There's the island where the Arena guys hold City Trials and Air Ride races, but those don't really count; they aren't as populated as other areas on Planet Pop Star. So what exactly does that mean…?

Only one way to find out!

Getting to my feet, I shook off my nausea and took a look at the villagers before me. Oddly enough, there were a bunch of decorated Cappies, each one of them lacking their signature mushroom hat I'd come to associate with them. A bunch of them were dressed in a ton of different outfits: there was a fortune teller, a barman, a police officer, an archeologist… the list goes on and on. They weren't the only ones there—but they were enough to get me thinking.

"…okay, this day is getting even weirder than before," I muttered. What else is different in this bizarro world? Just then, my eyes were drawn to another important figure: a yellow girl with blond hair tied into a ponytail, and a more tan boy with remarkable dandelion-green hair covering his face. I've never seen their species before, and believe me, I've seen a lot—but the real standout was the figure the girl holding.

And much to my surprise… it was me. Well, me circa several centuries ago, when I was pretty much a glorified baby—but still, me.

That prompted me to take a glance at all the other colorful guys hanging about the area: a Meta Knight wrapped up in his cape as if it were a burrito, some purple snail that looked rather snooty, I think Chef Kawasaki was somewhere in this mass of people—and lastly, there was a King Dedede who was much more plump, looked far more aggressive… and completely lacked the kimono from my own friend.

…what? It was very obvious!

"Sire," I heard the snail whisper to the fatter Dedede, "are you seeing what I'm seeing?"

The other king answered in this weird Southern accent, "Dat portal can spawn Kirbies! I knew it was a bad thing!"

"Gee, how rude," I drawled, my face becoming deadpan at this Dedede's… interesting response. I barely know what's going on, but that's not gonna stop me from being my usual self! "And here I thought I'd get a much warmer welcome. Eh," I did my best impression of a shrug, "guess we can't have everything!"

"H-Hey…" the technicolor-haired boy tentatively spoke up. "Are… Are you really Kirby?"

"Well, yeah," I said. "Who else would I be, Meta Knight? Marx? I don't see anybody else who's quite this pink!" I imitated putting my hands on my nonexistent hips in faux-smugness. "They don't call me the 'Super Tuff Pink Puff' for nothing, buddy!"

"Poyo!?" my counterpart exclaimed in response, after a long silence (out of what I can only presume to be shock). Yep, he's undeniably as I was when I was born on Twinkle Star; he's still in the phase where he can only speak Poyoese. I grew out of that so long ago, it's honestly weird to see him speaking like that.

"But—But how is that possible!?" the yellow girl exclaimed. "Kirby's supposed to be the only one of his kind around! "

"Pfft—get used to the impossible 'round Planet Pop Star, girlie!" I smirked. "There's a reason we're the World of Miracles! Though—" I hedged a look back at the Warp Hole, which was fluctuating in place. "—something tells me this miracle's 'bout to get a little bigger."

"Cannonballlllll!" echoed that familiar regal, booming voice, and I instinctively knew to step out of the way. Landing with a decently-loud thud—and a hammer still in his hand-was a guy everyone in Dream Land had long grown accustomed to. Relaxed, carrying himself strongly, and more than a little penguin-y; it was my best friend, King Dedede. "Look alive, everybody – the pinnacle of perfection has arrived!" He grinned toothily. Yep—that's definitely Dedede.

"Glad to see you could finally join," I raised an eyebrow, "especially after you punted me straight here. Couldn't you have done it any more gentler?"

"Oh, c'mon," Dedede laughed, "you're clearly fine and all, so it's not like there was any real harm done! 'Sides—I know you could take care of anything that could've been tossed your way! No hard feelings, right?"

His grin was so dumb—edging on the type of ones I tend to have—that I couldn't help but shake my head and smile a warm smile myself. "No hard feelings," I agreed. "You are really lucky you're my best friend, y'know."

"Hey, you're the one who kept on pushin'; I'm just the gift that'll keep on givin'!"

"Friend!?" the other Dedede shouted with shock. "With dat there Kirby!? Not a chance! I'd rather eat Kawasaki's food!" (In the crowd of villagers, I heard someone shout a "Hey!" And also a "Wow! Those two… actually friends with each other? That's so… strange!") "And just who are you, anyway!?" he demanded, pointing a finger at my friend. "I'll have you know, there's only enough room fer one King Dedede in Dream Land!"

"Gee, this is one really weird place," my Dedede said, scratching the back of his head, "So, you're my counterpart here?" He went up to his doppelganger and looked at him closely. "Do you ever get any exercise? I swear I could not look any plumper if I tried."

A vein promptly appeared on Other Dedede's head. "PLUMP!?" he roared in rage, raising his arms to the sky. "How dare you insult the great king of Dream Land like that! You're just askin' fer trouble, now!"

"Eh, don't worry your feathers over it. I'm already perfect, so I guess I'll just have to pick up the slack from you. Shouldn't be too hard!"

"YOU LITTLE—!"

"Great King!" Bandana Dee warped in from the portal, still adorning his trusty spear and recognizable blue headscarf (otherwise known as a bandana, as you can no doubt tell). He was cutely flailing about his king, still so very concerned for his safety. That's the friendly worrywart I know. "D-Don't just jump into a Warp Hole like that! What if you got possessed again!? You know you have a problem with that type of thing!"

("A Waddle Dee that talks?" I overheard the Cappies buzz. "And what's with the bandana?")

"Heh, I'm sure I wouldn't be taken off guard by that again," Dedede dismissed. "Besides, if that happened, you and Kirby can just knock it out of me! And then I can give 'em a good slamming! It's a win-win for everybody!"

"I wouldn't quite say 'win-win'," I amended, "but that's usually how things end up playing out."

"N-N-Not you too, K-Kirby!"

"See, Dee? Kirby agrees with me!"

"You shouldn't be so casual about such an occurrence," Meta Knight's baritone filled our ears. With a flap of his wings, he descended right to our side, the Warp Hole summarily closing behind him. His gauntlets and violet metal boots were polished to perfection, as always, and his figure seemed to intimidate the Cappies hanging around. "After all, you should know better than anyone that danger is always around every corner."

"Aw, lighten up, Meta!" Dedede slapped the knight on the back. To his credit, he didn't flinch at all from the impact – more can I can say from Dee half the time. "Like I said earlier—we took down Hyness and his band of cultists already, all the Ultimates back home are alive and kickin', there aren't any newly revived villains to contend with, and the True Arena won't be hosted for at least another two years. There shouldn't be anything too stressful for a while! I mean, we haven't been attacked or anything yet! I consider that a plus!"

("Whoa," I overheard the yellow-green haired boy breathe. "Look, Tiff, that Dedede actually seems pretty cool!"

"Please never put 'Dedede' and 'cool' in the same sentence again," the ponytail girl replied quietly. If she was referring to my Dedede, I'd take insult, but the other Dedede seemed kind of like a jerk, so I could see where she was coming from.)

Meta Knight grunted. "That may be true, but it's not like the galaxy hasn't pulled any curveballs on us before. It is best to err on the side of caution, I believe." I could sense him raising an eyebrow behind his mask, once he caught wind of his caped counterpart. "…though I will admit," he said, seeming to engage in a little staring contest with his double, "I am intrigued by this turn of events."

In the strangest accent I ever heard (was he Mexican?), his counterpart replied, "We are in agreement there."

Meta Knight's eyebrow could not have been raised further, unable to be seen or not.

"That's the spirit," I sang. "Sometimes, it's best to just go along with the flow! I've learned that much, anyway~"

"Y-Yeah! Wh-What Kirby said!" Dee chimed in. "A-Again, I'm not entirely sure wh-what's going on—but I guess th-that means we'll have to do our best to find out!"

"Alright, alright," the ponytail girl raised her voice, getting us to pay attention to her. "I—I think we're all kind of confused right now, so we should get on the same track. I'm Tiff, that's Tuff over there—" She nodded her head toward the yellow-green-haired guy, who had a wide and toothy grin on her face. "—and this is Kirby. O-Our Kirby." Said Kirby joyously beamed at the sound of his name being called, waving his hands up and down. "So, uhh… who exactly are you all?"

Huh, I thought our similar appearances to this dimension's Kirby, Meta Knight, and King Dedede made things clear. But I suppose there's no harm in an official introduction. It's only right to be polite, after all! And what are the chances I'll get to do partake in something like this again?

We briefly looked at each other and smiled, before I turned to face the crowd.

"So, hiiiiiiiii~!" I gave my trademark greeting, raising my hands to the air and standing on my tippy-toes. "I'm Kirby, and this is Meta Knight—" Said knight merely gave off a "Hmph," in response. Typical.

"—King Dedede—" Our self-proclaimed king waved his hand in the air with a grin on his face. "Good to meet you all!" he told the crowd.

"—and Bandana Dee," I finished, seeing my fellow companion jumping up and down in a sort of excited manner.

"And together, we make up the core members of the Star Allies!" I gave out my happiest smile. "I hope we can be pretty good friends, everybody!"

I'm gonna be the first to say this: this situation is kind of new, even by our standards.

We've seen a lot of stuff before—heck, this year's been the craziest year I've ever had in my thousand-plus years of existence. Between Dedede's first Cake Royale, the Jambandra Cult's bid to summon Void Termina, the ensuing True Arena bout, plus Kaede and her group of fifteen other Ultimates… it's almost as if there's a competition to see how much more insane can get the year 2018 can be for us, what with how every adventure seems to escalate further than the last.

(Not to mention, Master Hand hinted last November of there being a new Smash Bros. tournament on the way…)

At this point, adding in another Pop Star and a clone of me (except way, way younger) is just the tip of the iceberg. You could toss in Dark Nebula or something and I wouldn't bat an eye anymore.

And judging by the fact that the Warp Hole closed after the four of us made our way here… I can only presume that this is going to be quite the extended affair.

That's fine by me.

I've always been one to enjoy a good adventure – heck, that's what I was doing for a literal millennium before I finally settled down on Pop Star; makes me wonder what my counterpart was doing before the same thing happened to him – and if I get the chance to make new friends along the way? I'll take it all in with open arms!

In a way, that's a miracle in and of itself!

So long as I've got my best friends by my side, then I'm totally prepared for this next step in our lives. And in time, when we've got the rest of our allies here – be them old adventurers or modern Ultimate – I know it'll only get better from there.

So bring it on, duplicate Pop Star! We're more than ready for you!

The Star Allies are gonna rock your world—you'll see!

Five guesses as to what game I ripped off for this fic's new introduction sequence, and the first four don't count.

Welcome, old and new readers, to the foundation of the Make a Friend 'verse!

Over nine-or-so months ago, I started this fanfic with the intent of it being a simple Game/Anime crossover. I've always wanted this type of fic to happen, given how much both universes have diverged since the Kirby franchise returned to prominence – and so here I am, taking the reins and doing it myself!

This chapter might look very different than some of you remember – the Make a Friend 'verse has expanded quite a lot since I began writing this fic, and given how I've added whole new lore details and even franchises into the mix, it's only right that I update these chapters to better reflect the state of this 'verse and my writing capabilities. (Plus, this is the introduction; I think it needs to feel a little more introductory, if you know what I mean.) I hope that this will make Are You a Friend, Too? a better fic overall – because it's certainly going to be a wild ride, having all these sets of characters on the crazy ride we call Kirby: Right Back at Ya!.

This fic will be like a lot one-shot collection – episodic and a tad formulaic in nature, much like the anime, because—I'm not ashamed to admit—I'm mostly in this for the humor and the character interactions. If you want something more narratively-structured, then take a glance at OwlsCantRead's Terminal Paralysis. Both my and his fics should be a treat!

As usual, the characterization of the canon Kirby characters will be consistent with my fics. Basically, Kirby is upbeat and sassy, Meta Knight is cool and serious, King Dedede is hilariously casual, and Bandana Dee is Bandana Dee. It's just them for now, given how it'll take time for a scenario of this magnitude to ease in – but don't worry, there'll be plenty more peeps showing up later (from both the Star Allies and the Harmony Crew).

And as the original author's notes said: this was meant to be a third-person POV fic, but with all the duplicate characters that are going to be running about, the flavor commentary from everyone's perspectives should probably make it easier to distinguish who's who. Besides, there's gonna be a lotta nonsense going on, and reading everyone's reactions in their head's gonna be worth a billion dollars, I'll tell you that!

Well, that's all for now – next chapter, there'll be a more formal introduction to our two squads! Be sure to check that out!