Warped Star

originally posted by Orwellian Wiress on Archive of our Own
Every great video game hero has their opposite. Someone who represents their worst traits and everything they stand against. Someone you have to overcome. Mario has Wario. Link has Dark Link. And Kirby has whatever I found that day.
I’m a speedrunner and a longtime fan of the Kirby franchise. Ever since I was old enough to pick up a controller and play a game, I was a true 100% completionist. No matter what game I was playing, I would play every level at least more than twice just to make sure I found all of the hidden secrets. That’s why my favorite Kirby game was The Great Cave Offensive from Kirby Super Star. You’re rewarded for backtracking and exploring every last corner of the map. I had already done the Great Cave Offensive speedrun. It was no record-breaker, but it was fairly decent. I wanted to challenge myself by 100%ing a Kirby game that I was a little bit less familiar with- Kirby Triple Deluxe.
I started a new playthrough just to familiarize myself with the basic layouts of each level. Once I beat it, I was going to go back and play it all again, this time with a guide to show me where all the collectibles and power-ups were. After that, I was just going to practice, practice, practice until I felt confident enough to record my run. I was able to complete Level 1-1 fairly quickly, but 1-2 was where I took a little detour. At the beginning of 1-2, you go down into this underground area, and that’s where I noticed something I hadn’t noticed before.
In the background there was this pretty rainbow star. It almost had the same effect as Hypernova Kirby, constantly changing colors. I thought it was just a part of the background until I remembered, duh, the whole point of this game is that you can switch from the foreground to the background! There just so happened to be a convenient 3D Warp Star right there. When I walked by the rainbow star, a bubble popped up prompting me to press the A button. I pressed it and Kirby walked into the star just like he was walking into a door.
It took me to another level that looked like an underground cave. Kirby was standing on the ceiling. I pressed the left and right buttons. When I pressed left, he went left and the same for the right. I hate it when games mess with the controls, so I was relieved. When I pressed up, he puffed up just like he does when flying, but he moved downwards. I pressed the down button and he released his breath and went back up to the ceiling.
This wasn’t so bad. I think I could get used to the reversed up-and-down controls if I practice this level a lot. I went ahead and it was literally just like a normal Kirby level, but upside down. It was actually really fun. You had Parasol Waddle Dees floating up from the bottom of the screen and Bronto Burts that you had to jump down to avoid. I was doing pretty well until there was a gap in the ceiling that I fell through. The death jingle played and Kirby fell upward into a rainbow pool of water.
When I respawned, I was in a completely different level. Kirby was back on the ground again. This time, the floor was lined with 3D Warp Stars and several small enemies. I got on the first star, and it landed right on the spot of the star in the background. Which made me go on that star, bringing me back to the foreground. And on the foreground, I just so happened to land right back on another star. And so on, and so on, and so on.
It seemed like this was going to go on forever. Then I took a closer look and saw something. Whatever plane I wasn’t on, there was a black Kirby there following me that jumped on the shadows of the Warp Stars. At first, I thought it was just Kirby’s shadow. Then it stopped mimicking my movement. It didn’t ride the stars anymore. It just walked behind me. Shadows of Waddle Dees began to appear. The black Kirby, trailing close to me, inhaled them all.
Finally I had reached the last 3D Warp Star. I got off and just started walking forward. There weren’t any hills or pits, or even enemies. But the shadow Kirby was still there, trailing behind me and sucking up Waddle Dees. I walked into a door which took me to an empty room. Kirby’s shadow wasn’t moving anymore. It was just inhaling as the Waddle Dees helplessly walked towards it. Soon the Waddle Dees stopped coming, but he wouldn’t stop inhaling. Another door appeared which I walked through.
The next part of the level was one of the ones where you just jump into the cannon and it automatically propels you through the whole thing, smashing everything in your path. The background had changed to one with giant fancy cakes in pastel colors that reminded me of wedding cakes. I jumped in the cannon and it shot me out. There were more food items in this little section than I had ever seen before in any Kirby game. I was already at full health before, so it didn’t really mean much to me. The foods were placed in different patterns- zig zags, circles, hearts and other shapes. I passed by a strange-looking one that looked more like some letter of the alphabet. Then they continued.
It spelled out “GLUTTONY”.
I knew about the HAL rooms but I don’t ever remember seeing levels in other games that spelled out any other words. Gluttony. What a strange word choice. Kirby flew more towards the ground, meaning that this cannon section was almost over. But then when he should have hit the ground and stopped, he just went lower and lower down.
The screen was white now, except for the black silhouettes of Kirby and a giant star. He stepped closer to it, but I wasn’t pressing any buttons. He kept bumping into it, then walked backwards and tried to inhale it. The star didn’t budge. Kirby kept trying and eventually sucked up the star. The Kirby silhouette bursted into pieces with this piercing, loud sound. It almost sounded like some sort of alien explosion that was constantly shifting pitch. It continued to ring as my head throbbed and I put my hands to my ears. I didn’t dare to move them until long after the ringing died down.
There was text on the screen that read:
“What have I become?”
The screen went dark as I stared at my own reflection in the 3DS screen, trying to process what just happened. Whatever my train of thought was doing was interrupted by the next level loading.
I spawned in a place that reminded me of the Fountain of Dreams. On the top of the fountain was an Invincibility Candy with rings around it, almost like the planet Saturn. I jumped on top of the fountain and got the candy. The background changed to red and white stripes that flashed and moved. A ton of enemies ran toward me. Naturally since I was invincible, I just bumped into them and they died. But instead of exploding into a cloud with stars, the enemies turned into little ghosts of themselves and floated away. The first time it happened, I just stopped. The Waddle Dee I just ran into turned blue and translucent. His eyes had no pupils. I continued on running forward as the enemies I bumped into changed into pink, purple and blue specters of their former bodies.
It took me about a minute to realize that invincibility is only supposed to last you a few seconds. If anything, this was a cool glitch that I could use in my speedruns, if only I could remember where it was and know how exactly it works. I paused the game to restart the level. I pressed the restart button and it just popped up with a message that said:
“There is no restarting what’s already been done.”
I also noticed that the screen that tells you what your current copy ability is has new text too.
“Kirby
You’re the hero of Dream Land. You alone can save it from emptiness.”
I went back into the game. The invincibility music was still going. It’s so repetitive. It was starting to drive me crazy. It just keeps going on and on and on. Text started to scroll across the red and white striped screen.
“Save me, Kirby.”
“Save me from myself.”
“Save Dream Land from me.”
With each message passing, the screen scrolled faster and now the enemies just wouldn’t stop coming. I inhaled one of the Waddle Dees. The scrolling immediately came to a halt. The colors of the stripes became light blue and pink. A color-changing circle enveloped Kirby. The circle cracked, and then he had something like a blue comet tail following him. The health bar with the ability name changed to say “Regret”.
The screen started to scroll again, but faster this time. The invincibility music sped up too. When I moved, I noticed that there were faces in the comet tail. They had blank pupils and wide, open mouths. Like they were screaming. As I ran, they made these strange wailing sounds. It was like halfway between someone crying and screaming. And Kirby was crying too. There were bright blue tears coming out of his eyes that trailed behind him.
I just wanted this to end already. I thought I had found a cool new secret that I didn’t remember from the last time I played. But now, I found something completely different.
I don’t know what I found.
Every time I tried to think about it or rationalize it, it just frustrated me. I knew that something weird was happening but I just can’t explain it. I don’t have the right words. I don’t even know if there are words to describe how I feel. I don’t know what’s happening. I just don’t know. And one thing scares me the most. It’s the fact that I don’t know what’s going to happen next.
I paused the game and considered just turning it off and playing on another console. When I tried to turn off the 3DS, I just couldn’t. I felt like there was something physically pulling me away from the power button like my finger and the button were two magnets on the same side, being repelled by some invisible force. When I looked anywhere that wasn’t directly at the screen, everything appeared colorful and distorted. The sky blue walls were pulsing and the lavender floor was wiggling. The echoes of wailing filled my head with tension. I closed my eyes in the hopes that it would all go away, but I saw the flashing stripes again. I tried to stand up, but I was so disoriented that I fell flat on my face with the glowing light of the 3DS right under my nose.
When I looked at the pause screen, I could actually read the words.
“Regret
Look what I’ve done to these innocent creatures living in harmony…
They didn’t deserve this.
I can’t undo my actions…
Someone must bring me to justice before the whole world passes into oblivion.”
I scrolled to the moveset menu to see what attacks this new Regret copy ability had. It didn’t have any button input instructions. There was just a picture of Kirby with the comet tail trailing behind him and some text.
“All you can do is run from your past.
But that doesn’t mean you can escape it.
You can keep moving forward all you want but the phantasms will always follow you.
You will remember their faces and they will remember yours.”
I unpaused the game and the background and music had changed. The background was so full of lights and shapes and colors that I can’t even begin to name. The music changed to an intense, fast-paced song that still used the cheerful Kirby soundfont. Kirby’s running speed was about twice as fast as normal. Behind him was a crowd of ghostly, hollow-eyed enemies chasing him.
Eventually I just couldn’t keep up and the ghosts caught up to me. The game froze for a second. Then the group of ghosts swirled together and created a colorful void. Kirby’s eyes went wide, then he fell in with an echoing scream.
The game prepared to load another level, and it was taking quite a while. More phrases faded in and out.
“I’ve been tortured long enough by my own fault.
I’m not the only one that has to suffer through the consequences.
There is just one ultimate punishment that I deserve.”
Pure darkness. The only light came from a Miracle Fruit.
There’s only one thing that a Miracle Fruit means. You’re about to go Hypernova.
I know what I must do.
The rainbow colored Kirby stood there alone in the black void. Then another Kirby-like creature walked up to him. This new character was like a mint green version of Kirby that had no face.
“Now is the time. Do what you must.
End this world’s mournfulness.
You have to protect existence as you know it.
Put me to eternal rest and I will be satisfied at last.”
The light teal Kirby opened his mouth in the shape of a star. It stretched across his whole face, making an ear-piercing shriek. Colors swirled and spiraled inside the pulsating star. I felt nauseous just looking at that changing pattern before me. Rubbing my eyes, I felt the pulsing in my head and in my heart. Then it hit me- his mouth looked exactly like that spinning rainbow star that I went through in the beginning!
The events of the previous levels flashed through my mind. Everything- the upside down cave, the endless Warp Stars, the shadow Kirby, “GLUTTONY”, the invincibility, the ghosts- was all preparing me for this very moment. I was finally there, face to face with the very thing that had been leading me on all this time. I felt so many emotions gazing into his twisted mouth. I was scared and angry. I don’t know what I was angry at. No, I was angry for something. I was angry for someone. Angry for all the sad souls that have been taken away.
A new health bar appeared, reading “Galaxy Flux”.Normally there would be a boss theme playing right now. But the only sound was something I can’t even describe. It sounded like it came from the deepest depths of space. Something that I shouldn’t be hearing right now.
Galaxy Flux just stood there at the edge of the screen, his star mouth spinning and pulsing away. Then he inhaled with a distorted roar that pulled Kirby towards him. I tried to fly away in the opposite direction, but it only worked for a couple seconds. Then I remembered I was in Hypernova mode. And I remembered what I had to do.
I pressed the button to inhale.
The vacuums of Kirby and Galaxy Flux collided, pushing both characters back. Kirby’s was a beautiful rainbow color and Galaxy Flux’s was a skin-crawling deep black. They swirled together in the empty void, creating a whirlwind of joy and uneasiness. The winds filled the entire screen until I saw what was in the center of it all. Planet Popstar. That’s what was at stake. That’s what I was fighting for.
Galaxy Flux’s inhale intensified. I felt Kirby slide towards him again. I pressed down harder on the button. I knew that I couldn’t just let go. I had to hold on. I pressed down on that button to the point that it hurt a little bit. But the little bit of pain was worth it. It was worth everything.
Then I felt my finger slip.
I panicked and held my breath.
Kirby kept inhaling. He stood his ground.
I felt a piercing whistle grow louder in my ears until I just couldn’t take it anymore. The screen strobed with all the flashing colors I couldn’t name and unearthly patterns dancing to a noise that shook me to my very core.
I closed my eyes and covered my ears. I saw the sounds and heard the lights. The ground was shaking- no, it was the ceiling, no, which way is up? I’m floating now as if there was zero gravity like I was in space. Don’t panic. Just try to breathe through it. Then I noticed all the stars in front of me. I tried to reach out to grab one. Then I started falling in slow motion. I looked down to see that I was falling into a spiral galaxy. I tried to scream but it came out in reverse. It started as a scream but ended as a whisper as I approached the center of the galaxy and fell right back onto my bedroom floor with the 3DS in front of me. It took me a few minutes to orient myself, then I was ready to see what would happen next.
I cautiously peeked at the screen. It was white with black text.
“You have lifted the burden of regret from me.
You have lifted the burden of me from Dream Land.
Thank you, Kirby.”
The white faded into the title screen from Kirby Triple Deluxe. I pressed start and found that there was no save data. It didn’t upset me as I only got up to level 1-2 on this save.
I beat the game several times over and eventually did my speedrun. I’m quite proud of it. That colorful star, or anything unusual, never appeared again. But I never did forget. In fact, I’m telling this story because of something that reminded me of it a few days ago.
I have a friend named Graham who’s really into astronomy and all things related to outer space. He sent me this article about how scientists predict that Earth will die in millions of years. It was really interesting and it got me thinking.
That day. I saved the entirety of Dream Land from complete obliteration.
But who’s going to be here to save us when our world dies?
And more importantly, what do they have to save us from?
Category:Video Games
Category:Video Game Creepypasta
Category:Video Game Creepypastas
Category:Kirby