(Note: This is a side story, and as such, is narrated in first person and is complementary to the main story.)
The next day, I woke up and just went to the arena next to Dedede’s castle on a Warp Star. I didn’t even know what time it was starting, but I was just so excited that I ran there as soon as I could. At the entrance, I spotted Bandana Waddle Dee, and he right after spotted me as well:
“Kirby!”
While he waved at me, I jumped off my Warp Star and asked, “So, when does it start?”
“Well, actually, very soon!” He turned to his right, then said, “So, let me guide you to the entrance…”
However, as he turned around, we both noticed there were two others who had just arrived, coming in our direction, and we looked at them.
“Keeby and Kirsy?” I asked, recognizing them both.
“Yeah Kirby,” Keeby started talking, “we came help yo—”
“Watch you!” Kirsy promptly interrupted Keeby.
Keeby looked at Kirsy and said, “Watch? No, I want to help Kirby!”
“But Keeby, this challenge is for Kirby…” Kirsy said to Keeby, with a serious face.
Seeing their talk, Bandana Dee asked, “ You’re Kirby’s friends from yesterday, right?”
“Yeah!” Kirsy answered.
“Well, I don’t think I can let you help Kirby directly…” Bandana Dee paused for a second, then continued, “but it would be good to have backup in case anything bad happens. So, you can come with us, but you can only help Kirby if it’s a life or death situation.”
That… sounded really dramatic to me. All my previous Arena challenges were overall fine. What was going on? What was he talking about? I was a bit confused and concerned.
“Sure!” Kirsy said anyway. I guess she didn’t think the same as me.
“…Alright,” Keeby said with a weird tone. I think he was satisfied but displeased at the same time somehow.
“Great!” Bandana Waddle Dee said. “Then follow me!”
And so, we four followed Bandana Waddle Dee, and entered a door that led to a backstage area of the arena.
After a basic talk explaining how it would work, Bandana Dee guided me, Keeby and Kirsy outside of the backstage area, to the arena’s battlefield. As we entered, I looked up and spotted the audience: there were so many people there!
I continued with my eyes on them, when I overheard Bandana Dee talking to Keeby and Kirsy. While I had nothing to do directly with that conversation, I figured out it was important for some reason, so I approached them slowly to listen better.
“But why can’t I have a challenge too?” Keeby asked.
“I could ask the Great King later, but this one is specifically for Kirby.” Bandana Dee lowered his head. “Sorry.”
With a frown on his face, Keeby started to say, “But…”
Kirsy said, not letting him talk, “Keeby, I know you’ve always wanted to take on these challenges, but…”
“‘But Kirby is the hero of Popstar, blah blah blah’…” He stomped his feet, and continued, shouting, “It’s not fair!”
After Keeby said that, he finally noticed me, and immediately stopped talking, and blushed in embarrassment. He turned around and ran to a corner of the battlefield, while Kirsy followed him.
I was a bit confused, but in a way I understood Keeby. He had a long lasting issue of getting… I suppose, jealous of the many times I saved Popstar and others. I was always the one in the spotlight, never him, and even when he helped me somehow, I always got the most credit.
While I was lost in thoughts, however, I was interrupted by Bandana Dee, who asked, “So, are you ready, Kirby?”
Stopping thinking about that, I turned to him and said, “Yes, of course! We can start; bring it on!”
“Great!” he said with a smile. “Your first opponent is coming then!”
As he said that, a Mr. Tick-Tock came in. I realized this was just the beginning, and although this first battle looked easy, I couldn’t let my guard down. And so, I started the first of many battles ahead of me.
I battled many kinds of enemies, one after another, with the last one being Wham Bam Jewel. And I won them all! I couldn’t be happier with my success.
“Hooray! I’ve done it again!”
Celebrating my most recent win alongside me was the audience. Their cheers were very loud and they sounded as excited as me… Or maybe they were even more excited.
Anyway, as I celebrated, Keeby and Kirsy headed in my direction. Kirsy was smiling, but Keeby had a serious face on.
“Kirby, you did it!” Kirsy said, with a big smile.
“Yeah, I did!” I said, also with a smile.
“Yeah, he did…” Keeby said… with a frown.
“Actually… not yet! Surprise!”
Hearing that fourth voice, I recognized it, and looked in its direction, and saw Bandana Waddle Dee running in my direction, as I expected. However, I was confused about what he had just said, so I asked, “…Not yet? What do you mean?”
“There is still one more opponent for you to battle, Kirby,” he said.
Confused and curious, I asked, “Oh, and who is that opponent?”
As I looked at Bandana Dee, who was looking towards me, Keeby and Kirsy, who were right next to Bandana Dee, turned their eyes towards me, as their faces became completely shocked. While at first I wasn’t sure why they had that reaction, soon after I had a guess, and I said it out loud:
“Huh… Is this opponent…”
“Behind you? Yes!” Bandana Dee confirmed, calmly.
Feeling a bit scared, I turned back to see who was behind me. And, surely enough, just like Keeby and Kirsy, I was in shock: the one who was behind me was Galacta Knight himself!
Well, I had never really seen him before that, but I had heard many stories about him, like anyone else on Popstar, so I kinda knew what he looked like. The story of the Greatest Warrior in the Galaxy, that was sealed away for being too powerful… Was that really him?
…But there was a big problem with that, that I soon realized after snapping out of my initial reaction:
“Wait, wait. If this really is Galacta Knight… How is he here?” I asked to Bandana Dee. “Wasn’t he sealed away in some unknown place? Then how…”
Fairly relaxed, Bandana Dee replied, “Kirby, don’t mind the details! What matters is that he’s here, and ready to battle you!”
Not satisfied with that non-answer, I tried to retort, “But…”
“Good luck Kirby!” Bandana Dee simply said, ignoring me completely. “This is why this is the TRUE Arena! This is your final battle!”
Having said that, Bandana Dee ran to a corner of the battlefield, followed by Kirsy and Keeby. Meanwhile, I was busy trying to figure out what to do.
I mean, sure, I’m Kirby, and I’m strong and all that. But people often overestimate my strength. I’m not that strong without a Copy Ability, and most real big bad guys that I beat I had the help of a friend or special ability, often both. So, being casually told that I needed to battle the Greatest Warrior in the Galaxy, after lots of tough battles, alone, with no Copy Ability? That was hard to digest.
To put it in other words: I wasn’t sure what to do. And not like I had lots of time to think either, as Galacta Knight flew closer to me and asked, “Are you ready?”
…The answer was no. I wasn’t ready at all. I still couldn’t believe that knight of legends was really in front of me. I had a mix of confusion and fear, and I could not even properly move. I was… completely frozen. I had no clue what to do.
But as I stood there, staring at him, I heard some shouts:
“Kirby, you can do it!” Kirsy shouted.
“Kirby, I wish I could help you more directly, but… I will cheer on you!” Keeby shouted.
The shouts of my friends… gave me strength. Sure, I wasn’t in a favorable position then, but I realized that lamenting would do literally no good. So, I finally brushed off my confusion, and started to try to think of a plan:
“Ok, so, I have no ability… Maybe some of his attacks can give me one?”
But before I could continue thinking that, something made of metal fell on my back. It wasn’t that big, so I just reached out to grab it, and I recognized it as soon as I pulled it in front of me
“Wait… this is Master!”
Master is a golden sword that Meta Knight threw to me in my battle against an evildoer called Dark Mind long ago. But I had given it back to him after I beat him in said battle… Why and how had it just fallen on me like that? I looked up to see if maybe it had fallen from somewhere, but I couldn’t really spot anything in the sky, not even a single cloud. What had happened?
…It didn’t matter at the time, however. I needed an ability and got Master, so I couldn’t complain; on the contrary, I was in luck, so I decided to just use it. I raised it upwards and said, “Alright, I’m ready now, Galacta Knight!”
Hearing me saying that, he readied his lance and said, “Bring it on.”
And so, we started to battle. It did take a while but, honestly, I expected better. Galacta Knight, for some reason… fought kinda badly. I mean, being called the “Greatest Warrior in the Galaxy”, I expected way better. Anyway, it wasn’t easy regardless, and even at one point when I fell down, Keeby tried to run after me, but Kirsy stopped him. But that was my only low, really, afterwards I had no major issues.
After battling him for a couple minutes, I attacked him with a strong Sword Slice, and he lost grip of his lance and fell down. And then he… just wasn’t moving at all. So I got close to him to see if he was awake or not, when…
“ENOUGH!” he shouted, thrusting his lance up.
Startled, I jumped backwards. I thought this meant he wasn’t done with the battle yet, but then…
…He flew up and simply left the arena, without saying anything else.
Seeing that scene, I just… stood there for a couple seconds, trying to process it. I was really tired, and confused, and at the same time I couldn’t believe it. Had I… really done it? Had I really beaten HIM?
“Kirby, you did it!”
Before I could continue deep in my thoughts, a voice ringed out in my head. I turned back to where it had come from, and saw Bandana Waddle Dee looking towards me. He continued, “You beat Galacta Knight! Congratulations!”
Blushing, I said, slowly, “Y-Yeah, I guess… I beat the Greatest Warrior in the Galaxy?”
It was hard to even talk then, as the cheers from the audience were really, really loud. With all that noise, combined with my tiredness, I wasn’t that sure what else to do. Like, I was happy to have won, but a bit dizzy and all that. My brain was processing too much information at the same time, to the point where I almost had a headache.
But yeah, yay, guess I beat Galacta Knight, the Greatest Warrior in the Galaxy!
20 Times Kirby! 