Chapter 1: Hello New World! (Again)

A pink puffball was drifting unconsciously through the endless space of the multiverse. Distorted stars, comets, and other astral objects swirled and passed around the pink entity. How did he get into this situation? Why was he crossing through the multiverse and when will he stop? Where will he stop?

Suddenly, the hero of planet Popstar was enveloped by a bright golden ball of light and started to go through the passage of the multiverse slightly faster. It was taking him somewhere…

Hero of another world.

A mysterious voice, that sounded both male and female at the same time, could be heard around the golden orb of light.

I have been watching you for some time now. Your valiant efforts against the forces that threaten not only your planet but also your entire universe, were such a sight to behold.

Even if the voice could clearly be heard, the hero did not wake up.

And it is because of the experience that you have that I sought to seek your help. I sense something dangerous approaching, and it is not only a simple threat to the world but the entire universe I created as well. I am afraid that I cannot defeat it alone, even with all my power…

It sounded sad at that last statement. However, its tone changed back to a formal one.

I know you do not owe me anything, however, I shall reward you greatly if you are able to defeat it.

The ball of light was approaching a swirling white portal that started glowing the moment the orb was approaching.

You will find allies and acquaintances on your journey to help you in your fight. I wish you luck… Kirby, the hero from planet Popstar.

With that, the orb of light entered the portal, and it disappeared.

---

Has he slept enough? Yep, he did. Nap time was over.

A pink puffball groggily opened his eyes and gently rubbed them. That really was a nice nap. He should definitely nap on Nutty Noon’s sky tower more, the breeze there is so nice. However, as the puffball’s awareness focused a bit more, he realized something foreign… this was not the sky tower.

Kirby jolted up as he quickly scanned his surroundings. He was definitely not in the sky, and he didn’t remember it having trees (well, aside from Floralia). It seemed he was in some sort of forest. Did he… did he fall off the tower while asleep? No, that wouldn’t be the case, or else he would have awakened before schedule. So… where was he? 

“Hm… I’m just gonna look around, hope I will find one of my friends soon!”

The pink puffball started walking in a random direction. If this was Whispy Woods’s forest, then he had to hope he didn’t find the tree. The last time he encountered Whispy, he was banned from the forest, the reason being Marx who was with him. Although, something seemed wrong with this forest… it didn’t have any of the usual star blocks that the forests in Dreamland usually had. On top of that, he had this… lack of something, a sort of connection that was missing. He then realized what connection he was lacking: The Star Rod.

He felt this lack of connection before when he got flung into that other world by Fecto Forgo. Did that mean… “Don’t tell me… no, I can’t be too sure yet.”

However, his train of thought stopped once he passed by two perfectly lined up rocks that were identically big. He felt like the environment around him shifted and morphed upon taking a step. The trees started to change positions, lining up with other trees. Paths started appearing, all perfectly lined. Kirby leaned back at the sight of what he saw. 

“What’s going on?” he asked himself.

He looked at the sky, the blue colors and clouds looked like they were being covered by a swirling color combination of pink and orange, dancing in the air. “Uh… I guess I can confirm this… isn’t Whispy’s forest.” He looked back and noticed that the way back was covered by trees, almost like an actual wall. “Guess the only way is forward then.”

Kirby walked onwards, taking careful steps as he looked around his new surroundings. The path he was walking was completely linear until he had to take sharp 90° degrees turns, following along the path. That was until said path became a wide-open area all of a sudden. The star ally saw some things on the ground: a small stack of gold coins, some kind of big blueberry, and a small blue orb.

Of course, Kirby, being the rational hero that he is, immediately went towards the blueberry and picked it up, swallowing it whole. He let out a sigh of satisfaction. “That tasted so good, almost like a Max Tomato! I didn’t notice how hungry I was until now.”

While Kirby was so busy reminiscing about the food he had just eaten, a figure snuck behind him and pounced on him, pinning him on his back. “Huh!?” Kirby looked at the creature. It was a canine that had black fur on the face and paws, and grey fur on the rest of the body. Its face was composed of yellow eyes, a red snout, and a muzzle with sharp teeth. The creature was currently growling at the puffball. “What are…”

The creature then opened its maw to get a chomp off of Kirby. However, the puffball reacted fast and kicked the dog-like creature off of him, managing to stand up once again. “Is this gonna be like the Elfilis incident again…?” He then remembered the first encounter he had with an Awoofy in the forgotten world, this felt way too similar. Kirby sighed as the creature came at him again. 

“Ugh, I hate getting fur stuck in my mouth.” Unfortunately, he had to defend himself.

Kirby opened his mouth and started inhaling the air in front of him like a big vacuum cleaner. Unfortunately for the grey and black dog, it got caught by the force, pulling it directly towards the puffball’s mouth. The last time Kirby ate a normal-looking furry creature, he didn’t gain any ability, unfortunately, so he decided to spit out the creature directly onto a tree. The dark canine slumped onto the ground, completely knocked out.

Kirby then noticed something from the creature he just spat… it had some kind of copy essence within it. He felt the essence coming from the fur that got stuck in his mouth. However, he couldn’t tell what kind of copy ability it was. He looked back towards the unconscious canine. 

“Hm… if I find more of them, I might try inhaling one,” he told himself

The puffball continued along the weird forest, not even bothering to pick up the cold coins or the shiny blue orb. After leaving the wide area, the paths started becoming narrow again. Kirby thought about trying to fly above the forest but quickly thought against it once he remembered about the strange dome above the weird forest maze that looked dangerous to touch. So, unfortunately, he was stuck on foot here. He managed to get to another wide area, with multiple paths this time to choose from. However, instead of finding another one of those delicious berries, he found a flock of other strange creatures.

They were round and pink like him, with nubs and feet, yellow eyes, and a tail. One distinct feature that made them even more weird, was the two long leaves sprouting from their heads. Apparently, one of them was using the leaves as a form of levitation?

“That looks… unique to say the least. Reminds me of a less angry-looking Bronto Burt.” Kirby quietly muttered.

The flock hadn’t seen the puffball yet, so he could use a method that didn’t involve violence, stealth. Kirby was… not a master of stealth. Although, he could become one if he had the Ninja ability. Unfortunately, the copy essence wasn’t with him. He didn’t take any essences with him because he decided that wouldn’t be necessary. He would just take a nap on the sky tower and that was it. Now, he really regrets that choice.

Thankfully, it seemed like the flock was focusing on something else rather than him, so he could definitely bypass them now with his bad stealth. Kirby stuck close to the wall, if he was seen, he would just book it. No need for unnecessary battles. His mission now was to get out of this forest. However, when the puffball looked at what the flock was focusing on, the stealth part of his plan quickly switched to beat them all. It would all be justified once he gulped down all of those delicious berries!

He started running to the flock of pink flying creatures, then instantly noticing Kirby. Before he could start inhaling, the flock started to fly away, using the little leaves as propellers to float. Kirby stopped running, looking up to the sky before instantly grinning. “Easy food for me!” He looked back at the berries and immediately went to the pile, inhaling them all with one single suck. Once he was done, he patted himself with satisfaction. “Well, at least the food here is still delicious as Dreamland’s fo-”

“HEEEEEELP!!!!”

Kirby flinched as he heard the call for help. He looked at his surroundings, trying to find where the voice was coming from. After pinpointing the direction of the voice, he started running towards it, following along one of the narrow paths hoping it was the right one. He reached another wide area. However, this one was a bit smaller than the others. In it, there were three of those dark canines grouping up against another creature that the puffball had never seen before. It looked like a white rabbit with orange fur on the tips of their ears and the tip of their feet. “Hey!”

The dark dogs turned away from their prey and looked at Kirby, the rabbit also opening their eyes to look confused at the puffball. “Huh…?”

“If you want to get to him, you have to defeat me, you furballs!” The puffball taunted with a smirk. One of the canines started snarling and started charging at Kirby. However, the canine quickly regretted the decision once Kirby opened his mouth and started sucking. As the dark canine went into Kirby’s mouth, the bunny’s mouth opened wide at the gruesome sight.

‘Alright! Give me something useful!’ Kirby thought before he swallowed.

The puffball shone with a star power as something unexpected happened. He grew a grey tail, black pointed ears on top of him, sharp teeth in his mouth, and three-pointed claws on his nubs and feet. Kirby opened his now yellow eyes with red pupils as he looked at his new form. “Whoa… what is this…?”

“Be- be careful!” The rabbit shouted as one of the other canin- no, poochyena angrily rushed towards Kirby, trying to take a bite out of him.

The star ally quickly dodged the bite of the creature and retaliated with a claw swipe at the poochyena, launching it some meters away. At the display of the new power, Kirby spoke to himself as he looked at his tail. “Did I… copy a bit of their species?” That was all he could ask before dodging another bite of the other canine. This time, an instinctive feeling took over his body, and the puffball bit the attacker on the torso. He shook the Poochyena with his mouth before spitting it to the side.

He looked at his surroundings, it seemed that everything was calm now. The puffball took a sigh of relief and released the “copy ability.” His form returned to normal as the star-shaped essence was released from his body and disappeared. He looked back at the bunny, who had a very terrified expression on everything that just happened. Kirby tilted his head. “Are you okay? Are you hurt?”

“N-no… I’m not…” After hearing the voice a bit better, Kirby noticed that they had a girlish voice. “O-on a more important note… w-who are you? W-… what are you?”

The puffball smiled. “I’m Kirby! Who are you?”

The rabbit slowly but surely got up. “My name is Banny and um…” She quickly changed the tone of her voice. “Just what was that!? Did you seriously just eat an entire poochyena?!”

Kirby waved his nubs in assurance. “Don’t worry! It is still alive, it just got transported to another place once I ate it!”

Banny grimaced slightly. “It just feels like you’re only soothing it just to make it look slightly better…”

The puffball threw his arms in the air. “But it’s the truth! I did that, like, a million times already, even with one of my best friends!”

The female bunny made a disgusted face and changed the topic. “What even are you…? You look a little bit like a jigglypuff but…”

Kirby rubbed his side sheepishly. “Well…” He mentally protested against revealing his origins. Should I tell them…? Would they freak out? He decided to go with a small lie, it wouldn’t hurt, right? “I’m a puffy! Yep… that’s my species name!” The white rabbit crossed her arms, narrowing her eyes. “What are you?”

“I’m a scorbunny. A fire type Pokémon, if you can’t remember from school.” She rubbed the patch on her nose.

The “puffy” put a nub on his chin. “What’s a Pokémon?”

The scorbunny looked at Kirby with a shocked expression. “You don’t know what a Pokémon is!? How!?”

Wow, was his disguise to blend in already down the drain? Kirby knew he couldn’t lie very well. Although, he wasn’t the worst at lying. Kirby sighed. “Well, um… long story short, but uh… I don’t think I’m from this world…”

“Huh!?” Banny flinched as she tried to process everything she was being told, rubbing her head. “So you’re telling me… you’re an alien… that came from another world?” Kirby nodded, and the bunny creature groaned. “I’m not in the mood to process this, I almost got eaten, and I just want to get out of this place. Could you help me find the exit to this Dungeon?”

“Dungeon?”

Banny sighed. “Mystery Dungeon. It’s this maze that we’re in.”

“Oh, I see!” Kirby nodded with a smile. “Yes, I’ll help you!”

“Thanks,” Banny said with a slight smile. The duo started exploring the so-called Mystery Dungeon together. Along the way, Banny picked up some of the items left on the ground that Kirby didn’t bother picking up, aside from the obvious berries and fruits he found, and put them in the bag that was with her. While on their trek through the dungeon, they also found more of the same creatures, which Banny explained were Pokémon, like her, minding their own business.

The puffball and the scorbunny also found more Pokémon that Kirby had never seen before, such as a blue round creature with feet, no arms, and grass coming out from the top of it. Apparently, they were called an oddish, as Banny said, and they had to be careful about their acid. Kirby then thought of a little test, what would he get from inhaling that Pokémon? He looked at Banny. “Hey, I’m gonna try to inhale it.”

The bunny tilted her head with a grimace. “What? Why?”

“I just wanna test something out. Don’t worry, it won’t take long!” Banny sighed and allowed the puffball to begin his test, even though she was disgusted with the whole eating Pokémon thing. Kirby charged at the sprout Pokémon, which took notice of him and began shooting out an acidic spit from its mouth. Kirby dodged and opened his mouth, beginning to inhale the oddish. After swallowing the creature that had no chance of fighting back, Kirby glowed with star power as oddish features appeared on his body. Five leaves appeared at the top of his head as the color of his body changed to blue. Kirby took a look at his new body, running a nub on the leaves on his head. “Wow… so it wasn’t just the poochyena!”

“Is this… normal to you?” Banny approached while asking. “Like… sucking up creatures and gaining their appearances?”

Kirby looked at her and grinned sheepishly. “Well… normally yes. I do suck up enemies and gain their powers. Although, copying appearances is news to me.” He turned away from her. “Actually… can I still use their powers besides just their appearances?” The blue puffball did the first thing that came with the ability and shot out an orange acid spit that, when touched the ground, immediately dissolved some blades of grass. “Oh wow, it worked!”

“Um… how did you figure out how to do it that fast…? Wasn’t it the first time you did that?” The scorbunny asked, crossing her arms.

Kirby turned to her with a smile. “Well, to put it simply… when I use copy abilities, I get the information right in my head on how to use it!” He put a nub on his chin and looked aside. “I guess the same applies to these weird form changes as well…” He smiled again. “That’s so cool!”

“Please don’t try to eat me…” Banny looked away nervously.

“No worries, I won’t!” Kirby grinned while reassuring. They began to walk again. This time, Kirby didn’t release the “Oddish Ability” since it could prove useful if they ever ran into danger. He knew that there were other moves at his disposal, so he couldn’t wait for an opportunity to try them out. However, he did notice some of these moves looked a little bit like the leaf ability, although the absorbing moves were something new to him. It would be great to recover some of his health if he ever got hit by an enemy.

Nonetheless, after a few more rooms without needing to engage in a needless fight against the Pokémon, the environment started to shift around them again. The trees returned to normal positions, the path became loose again, letting some grass in, and the dome covering the sky disappeared, letting the blue color along with some clouds be visible again. “Are we out?”

Banny sighed in relief. “Yes, we’re out…” She looked at Kirby, who had then just released his Oddish form; once released, it turned into a weird blue star with the face of an oddish in it. It made the Scorbunny a bit spooked. “I… I forgot to say… Thanks for saving me. I think I would’ve died if you weren’t there.”

The puffball grinned. “No problem! I can’t just back down when someone needs help! Also, why were you in that place anyway?”

The rabbit looked aside while rubbing the back of her head. “Um… it might sound kinda dumb, which honestly it is… but I came following some sort of golden light.”

Kirby tilted his body, looking curious. “A golden light?”

“Yeah… I’m not sure how to explain it… it was like, a ball of light or something like that.”

“Oh, I see! Have you ever found it?”

“Nope…” She sighs. “It looks like I’m going home empty-handed…” The scorbunny looked back at Kirby. “Where are you going, by the way?”

“Hm…” The puffball shrugged. “I want to get back in my world but…” He looked around him, still no star blocks or swirly-looking clouds that Dreamland has. “I don’t think it will be that easy…” Kirby looked at Banny. “Would you mind if you took me to your town?

“Um… sure, I guess? I mean, if you showed your weird abilities, people would be a bit afraid of you. Are you okay with that?”

Kirby smirked. “Don’t worry, I’m used to that! Back in my world, some of the people there were really scared once I swallowed them. Don’t worry, I won’t eat any of them, only if any of them don’t try anything funny.”

Banny sighed. “Alright follow me. I’m a bit fast so don’t slow down!” The Scorbunny grinned as she started sprinting.

“Wasn’t even planning on slowing down!” Kirby said before he started sprinting as well, following the scorbunny. He didn’t know what awaited him in this world, or if any of his friends would notice his disappearance, but he was sure they would come for him once they realized. Magolor, the Lor, and Elfilin were the dimension travel experts after all, but while they didn’t arrive, Kirby would enjoy the time in this world as best as he could! Hello, new world – again!