#parallel nightmare

The Port Village was prospering more and more, and the Castle Village reconstruction was going along smoothly. 

However... The Adventurer Bell, as if it had rusted completely, would not ring.

Kirby kept up a cheerful act in front of everyone, but he was always thinking about Dream Land. 

The loneliness would attack him at night whenever he lay down in bed.

Waddle Dee, Meta Knight, King Dedede... one by one the thoughts would come up, bringing him close to tears.

(I hope everyone’s doing alright... I just want to see them...)

Even though Kirby loved sleeping just as much as he loved eating, many sleepless nights came and went, one after the other.

~

It was just another morning.

As always, Kirby woke up in his bed at the inn. He had slept lightly, so he woke up unrefreshed.

For a moment, he didn’t move from that bed, sitting down only half-awake.

Then, there was a knock on the door, and several energetic voices could be heard from behind.

“Heyyy, Sword!”

“How long have you been sleeping for?”

“C’mon, the sun is up and high in the sky. Wake up!”

It was the voices of Team Kirby Z!

Kirby jumped out of bed and opened the door.

“Oh... morning, everyone...”

“Good morning, Sword!” the trio said with cheerful voices.

Since the Kirbys were all staying at the same inn, they got to see each other often. However, this was the first time the three had rushed in invited in the morning.

“What’s going on?...”

“The weather outside is great today, so we thought about going out to play with everyone.”

“We thought you might wanna join. We’re gonna go swimming in the ocean!”

“Chef Kawasaki’s gonna pack boxed lunches for us. C’mon, it’ll be fun!”

The feelings of the trio spread to Kirby. He smiled.

Everyone must’ve noticed that Kirby wasn’t feeling well. So, they were trying to cheer him up.

The dark cloud that had been hanging over Kirby’s head quickly went away. 

“Alright. Let’s go!”

“First things first, though: the boxed lunches.”

The four left the inn and headed for Chef Kawasaki’s tavern.

“Once we’re done swimming,” Beam said while walking, “how about we go to the Castle Village? Heard the reconstruction’s been going well.”

“Ooh, sounds good to me. Let’s go.”

“They’ve already managed to rebuild a lot of the houses. Heard some of the villagers have decided to move back...”

While talking, they approached the village square.

At that moment, a strange commotion could be heard.

“What happened to that guy?”

“They’re injured!”

“This is bad, someone needs to get this guy a doctor, ASAP...”

The voices were overlapping.

Someone had come stumbling in, down the path leading from the village gate to the village square. They appeared to be some sort of traveler.

They were wearing a hat over their head, carrying some sort of large baggage with them. However, their clothes were worn-out and torn, and their feet were visibly injured.

The Kirbys were shocked.

The first to snap out of it was Doctor.

“Hold on, I’m a doctor!!” he shouted, rushing over to the collapsed traveler. 

The Kirbys gathered around the traveler. Doctor quickly mixed up some medicine and applied it to the wounds. 

The traveler, finally able to talk, said as if struggling:

“R... r... run...”

“Huh?”

“Run... away... monster... c... coming...!”

“A monster...?”

A ferocious roar reached the dumbfounded Kirbys’ ears.

“GRAAAAAAAAAR!!!!”

Then, a figure emerged: a thug carrying a large lightning-emitting hammer.

“IT’S SPARK BONKERS!!!”

The villagers all screamed before running around, trying to escape. Spark Bonkers started striking anything and everything in sight with their hammer, smashing the brick paths with lightning. 

But they didn’t come alone..

One after another, more monsters showed up.

Ice Dragon, King Doo, Colossal Kabu, Miasmoros...!

The monsters, spitting ice breath and poison, wreaked havoc on the buildings.

The villagers flew into panic.

“AAAAAHHHHHHHHH!!!!!”

“S-Stop! My house!!”

“Someone!! Anyone!! Help!!!”

Kirby, possessed by selflessness, jumped in front of the monsters.

“Knock it off!!!”

Doctor, Hammer, and Beam all joined alongside Kirby, blocking the monsters’ path.

They didn’t quite know what was happening, but they weren’t going to stand for this.

They had to find a way to stop the monsters.

However, Kirby then realized something:

He had planned on going swimming in the ocean, so he didn’t bring any weapons or armor with him. Neither did Hammer and Beam.

The monsters seemed to be on guard for just a moment, but, upon realizing that Team Kirby Z were unarmed, they carried on destroying the buildings with increasing energy. 

“GRAAAAAAAR!!!!”

Letting out roars, they charged at the quartet!

Doctor, immediately throwing explosives, stopped the monsters in their tracks. Only he carried his flash around at all times, as it was a research tool. It saved them for the moment, but there was no way they could fight them off like this.

The monsters were slowly approaching the Kirbys.

“Wh... what are we going to do?!?!”

The Kirbys, standing frozen still, were out of options. And then...

“Muahahahaha! Oh, what’s the matter? Can’t fight anymore?”

A roaring laughter echoed.

The Kirbys recoiled.

In the air, a black cape waved.

And there, he appeared: Parallel Nightmare!

“You’re... you’re alive!!” Doctor shouted. Parallel Nightmare bent back and laughed.

“Oh, you really thought that pathetic little explosion would be enough to destroy me, the great Parallel Nightmare? How foolish of you!”

Kirby noticed that the echo of Parallel Nightmare’s voice was different to how it had been before. Before, his voice had already been quite revolting, but now it seemed to possess more of a deep wrath and resentment. 

Just listening to it made Kirby shudder...

“-You lot have made me take this more seriously,” Parallel Nightmare said in a more melancholic voice, still floating in the air. “All I want is to take over this world. However, it seems that first I will have to get you four under control!”

Parallel Nightmare opened his big mouth wide.

“Now, I’m going to make you atone for your bad behavior! You’ve made me quite mad, you know! Apologies won’t cut it. Now, get ready, you foolish, conceited, ball-shaped brats!”

Parallel Nightmare spread open his cape. Star-shaped projectiles, much more powerful than before, flew all over the place! The villagers, unable to get up, screamed:

“AAAAAAAAAAAHHHH!!!!!”

“S-S-Save us!!!!”

Kirby spread both his arms out.

Even though he had no weapons or armor- he had to protect the villagers!

“Muahahahaha! Watch and learn, you pathetic round hellions!!!”

Parallel Nightmare let out a loud, triumphant laugh...

When...

“TEAM KIRBY Z! USE THESE!”

At the same time as the voice was heard, several weapons and armor pieces were thrown in front of the Kirbys.

It was the, Shoppe’s keeper, Magolor.

It seemed he had thrown them some of his wares.

Kirby quickly picked up a helmet and sword.

Unlike the usual weapons and armor, these were high-class items.

“An Abyssium Blade! And an Abyssium Helm too!”

Hammer, too, jumped at the weapons and armor.

“An Abyssium Hammer! And an Abyssium Helmet!”

And then Beam.

“Abyssium Staff! Abyssium Hat!”

And finally, Doctor, too, picked up the new, top-grade flask and headwear.

“Abyssium Flask! Abyssium Cap!”

After equipping the top-of-the-line gear, the four heroes sparkled like diamonds.

Team Kirby Z could finally strike back!

“Wh... what?!”

Parallel Nightmare could not believe his eyes.

“Hiyahhh!!!!”

Kirby jumped up and slashed at Parallel Nightmare. Parallel Nightmare bent back and dodged before panickedly giving orders to his monsters.

“Y-You lot!! Teach these round brats some manners!!” CRUSH THEM!!!”

“GRAAAAAAAAR!!!”

Knowing no fear, Spark Bonkers rushed in to attack. Kirby slashed at Spark Bonkers with his Abyssium Blade. He felt stronger than he had ever felt before up until this point.

Channeling all of his power into the sword, he further increased the sword’s power.

“TAAAAAAKE THIIIIISSS!!!!!

With just one hit, Super Bonkers was knocked over onto their own back.

Hammer and Beam, too, showed off a never-before-seen level of power.

“SAY HELLO TO MY GIANT SWING!!!”

“LET’S GO! TIME BEAM!!!”

The Abyssium gear was of tremendous power.

Before they knew it, they had taken care of the monsters.

The monsters started to flee, staggering away.

“Y-You idiots!!!” Parallel Nightmare shouted in haste. “Get back here!! Fight!! Don’t go!!!!!”

However, once he realized the monsters weren’t coming back, Parallel Nightmare shouted in rage:

“You haven’t seen the last of me! I, the great Parallel Nightmare, will bring your defeat! I will come back again, and again, AND AGAIN!!!!!”

He waved his cape.

“Wait!” Kirby shouted, but it was too late: Parallel Nightmare was gone.

~

The villagers were all frozen still in shock. Their once beautiful and peaceful village was now in absolute ruin thanks to those fiends. The brick paths were smashed, and there were large holes in the buildings. The injured villagers, they all let out a pain-filled groan.

“Oh my gosh...” Hammer mumbled in a hollow voice. 

“That meanie survived,” Beam said, tears threatening to spill, “and he followed us back to the village!”

“...yeah,” Doctor said, glaring up at the air where Parallel Nightmare had been, “that jerk’s original plan was to take over the world. But after we gave him that beat-down, he must’ve changed his mind.”

“Huh?”

“Now his goal is to get revenge on us.”

Kirby nodded. Parallel Nightmare’s voice had a much darker tone than before. Now it had an undeniable tone of seething anger and mal-intent. 

Now, Parallel Nightmare was driven by the desire for vengeance against Team Kirby Z.

One of the villagers than had been groaning in pain, Burning Leo, looked up.

“Team... Kirby Z...”

The Kirbys all looked toward him.

“As long as... you guys are... here... the village... will be targeted, won’t it!?...”

“...what?!”

Kirby was shocked.

The grief-stricken villagers, one by one, looked up. Their gazes all fixed on the Kirbys.

"...my house used to be in the Castle Village,” the snowman-like villager Chilly muttered with a dark eyes in his eyes. He hung his head before continuing on in tears. “It was destroyed in a monster attack. Now the same thing’s happening to this village too... isn’t that too much!?”

From the villagers mouths, out came many complaints all at once.

“Why!?! Why did they have to make him so mad!?!”

“Because of Team Kirby Z, the village is...!”

“I’m sick of it! I’m sick and tired of being attacked by monsters!!”

Surrounded by the villagers, the Kirbys were at a loss for words.

..and then:

“EVERYONE, STOP!!!”

The source of the loud shout jumped out:

Bandana Waddle Dee.

The normally docile and timid Bandana Waddle Dee. Upon seeing him, the villagers all had something to say:

“Wait, isn’t that the guardian of the Gem Apples?”

“Step aside! This isn’t about you!”

“I-I refuse to stand back!” Bandana Waddle Dee shouted with all the courage he could muster. “What are you guys even thinking!? Team Kirby Z are the ones who got rid of the monsters in the first place!!”

“But Team Kirby Z are the ones who made Parallel Nightmare mad too!!” Burning Leo rebutted. “It’s their fault!!”

The villagers all murmured amongst themselves.

“Uh... well...!”

Then, Kirby daringly shouted:

“Because we’re the ones who fight the monsters when they attack! Because we’re always trying to protect the village!”

“Yeah!”

Hammer raised his voice, holding up his Abyssium Hammer.

“I swear on this weapon in my hands right here. We’ll always give our all to protect this village!”

“Oh yeah, about that weapon...”

 Magolor stepped forward.

“Return it please.”

“...what?”

“I gave those to you guys as rentals, so would you mind returning them now that you’re done with them?”

“....whaaaaat?!”

The Kirbys were taken aback.

“R-Rental?? Returning?? These???”

“Of course! I can’t just go around giving gear of that quality to people for free! If you want to keep them, you can buy them with Gem Apples.”

“B-But-”

“You don’t have to pay for the rentals. I’m generous, y’know!”

Magolor quickly collected up the expensive equipment. From amongst the villagers, many harsh voices came up, one after another.

“They don’t even have any decent equipment!!”

“We can’t count on Team Kirby Z!!”

“Because of you guys, this village is OVER. Now I have to move again!”

“Can you guys just stop!!” Bandana Waddle Dee shouted as if out of patience. “How could you say such horrible things about the Kirbys!!!”

“It’s alright, Bandana.”

Doctor stopped Bandana Waddle Dee.

“Thank you,” Kirby added, gently grabbing Bandana Waddle Dee’s hand, “but you don’t have to defend us.”

“Kirby...!”

Hammer and Beam added:

“It’s just as everyone said.”

“It’s our fault for making that guy so mad.”

“No!!”

Bandana Waddle Dee looked as if he were about to cry.

The villagers spoke apathetically:

“...hmph. Well anyways, we’ve gotta repair these destroyed buildings.”

Kirby nodded.

“Yeah. Let’s split the work among everyone and-”

“Look, Kirbys, just sit this out. We don’t want your help.”

The villagers turned their backs on Team Kirby Z.

“We’re not going to rely on you guys anymore.”

“Yeah, we don’t wanna make any more monsters angry.”

The villagers left the Kirbys behind with those cold words.

~

The next day.

Early in the morning, Bandana Waddle Dee went to the inn where the Kirbys were staying. The Kirbys, having had such cold words hurled at them by everyone, were very uneasy. 

“Those ungrateful jerks. After all the Kirbys had done for them...”

Bandana Waddle Dee knocked on the door to Kirby’s room.

“Morning, Kirby! Good morning!...”

However, there was no response.

“Kirby? Kirby, is something wrong? Are you still asleep? Kirby!!”

With a sinking feeling, Bandana Waddle Dee went over to the other rooms’ doors and knocked.

“Doctor! Hammer! Beam!”

However, he didn’t get a response from any room.

“No way...”

Bandana Waddle Dee was dumbfounded.

The inn’s cleaner, Broom Hatter upon examining his expression, said:

“Oh, pretty sure those four left. All the rooms are empty, and the Gem Apples for the lodging fee were left on the bed.”

“Wha-!?! N... No...!!”

Bandana Waddle Dee ran out of the inn and ran all over the village. However, he couldn’t find the Kirbys anywhere.

Team Kirby Z had left the village without a word.

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