//------------------------------//
// Chapter 48: The Absorbent Monstrosity Showdown 
// Story: Guest Star Kelduo: Justice from Afar 
// by The Kelduo 
//------------------------------//

While I was told to go to a dangerous place due to collectibles often being found in such places, I first chose to visit a stallion who I believed would make a good friend. It turned out that he had a little problem, so I happily obliged to assist him. Even though it took a day to solve the problem, I knew it would be worth it. As I left after finishing our project, the stallion said, "Your help has been essential in the building of my experimental prototype, Helix! We have finally completed... the Exceptionally Potent Official Chronological Hijacker, or EPOCH! I must offer you my heartfelt gratitude! I can't wait to test this!"

I turned back to him and smiled. "Considering the situation my friends and I are in, I may very well need to test it in the near future." Without further ado, I took flight and set off to the most dangerous place in Equestria that I knew of...



I finally reached a mighty black and purple gate, a double door, where Magolor was looking at his left glove as if there was a watch on it. "About time you got here, Helix. What was the holdup?"

I simply smirked. "A technology problem has been solved by yours truly."

His eyes opened wide. "Why didn't you tell me there was a technology problem?! You know that I could've solved it in the blink of an eye! The Lor Starcutter I renovated made the Halcandra run in less than ten seconds!"

My smirk grew bigger. "I counted, and it made the run in twelve seconds. Besides, you aren't one of the two who built an EPOCH from scratch."

"You can't build a period of time, dummy."

"I'm talking about a different kind of EPOCH."

"Right... Anyway, how do we open this thing?" Magolor pointed at the gate.

I examined the gate carefully, my smirk immediately disappearing. "This is difficult. The gate hasn't made any appearance in the show yet, so I honestly don't have a clue. I'm no thief, but if there was a lock, I'd use one of my feathers to pick it. I can't slide a feather into any slits, because it's that tightly shut. Knowing how Equestria works, this ominous gate probably has to be opened by magical purposes..." Of course, why didn't I think of that earlier? I turned to Magolor. "How powerful is your magic?"

He closed his eyes in thought. "Well, I can make spikes come out of the ground, and I can summon an Ultra Sword, not to mention the fact that I can summon several creatures and create powerful energy balls. Will that work?"

"There is only one way to find out." I pointed at a metallic lock towards the bottom of the gate. "Focus your magic on that lock. It might open the gate, but I'm certain it will take a lot of magic."

There was no way to tell, but I was sure that Magolor was grinning behind his face cover. "Magic is my middle name. This shouldn't be too tough." He aimed his hands at the lock before unleashing a large volley of magical orbs at it. However, there was no significant impact on the lock. "What? Nothing?! Seems like this will require a whole lot of power!" He held his hands back, charging up a powerful move. He then thrust his hands forward, a great laser coming from them. "Kamehameha!!!" The laser charged up the lock, causing the door to slowly open in a dramatic fashion.

Magolor began to float in, but I stopped him. "Wait here, in case the door must be opened from the outside. Only a powerful sorcerer can open the gate, so I'm the one going in."

I slowly walked into the dungeon known as Tartarus. I felt as if I was in the underworld, what with the dark coloring, stalactites, and creepy noises. But the first thing that my eyes noticed that was dangerous? A large black creature in the distance. I began to tiptoe closer to see what it was, only for it to wake from its slumber. A mighty howl came from the beast. The trio of canine heads led me to conclude that it was a Cerberus. The three-headed hound from the underworld. My Ghost-type Decidueye form would be next to useless against this dark monster, so I thought of a species that may be able to stand a chance... An idea formed. It was a good thing that I took acting classes when I was younger.

My body morphed, and I took on a rather humorous Pokemon's form. I became a species that would be an excellent entertainer in the Medieval Age. Its clown-like blue growths from its pale head and white hands with magenta fingertips should give away the fact that it is excellent at pantomiming, but if it doesn't, all you have to know is its name: Mr. Mime. Using Mr. Mime's incredible ability to solidify air molecules by vibrating its fingertips, I created something round that could be held in my hand. This confused the Cerberus, until I held the object up in the air. Yes, I had created a ball out of thin air, literally. I moved it around, and the Cerberus followed its every move. When I was certain that I had captured its interest, I threw the ball behind me, causing the foolish beast to chase it. Monsters from the underworld may be big and fierce, but they're idiots for sure. When the coast was clear, I pulled a rope to get myself further into Tartarus.

I saw something in the distance, but I couldn't make it out even with a mime telescope. I switched back to Decidueye to identify it. It was definitely in a cage, trying to reach for... some Energy Spheres that were almost out of its reach. Four, to be precise. And the mast as well! I didn't want to think about what happened to the fifth Energy Sphere. I whispered to Rotom Dex, "Call Roborygon, now!"

When Roborygon answered, I told him, "We have a big problem. There's a magi--"

I was cut off, though. "That's the kind of thing Discord needs to know about! I'll be right there, as soon as I find Discord once again." Apparently, Roborygon got the message. I didn't even get the chance to tell him that it was big, hairy, and pink... minus white, which meant it was red. He would have loved that reference.

I pulled on one of the two green vines on my chest using my left wing, stretching the vine above my head, before plucking a quill with my right wing. I held the quill and the center of the vine together with my right wing before pulling back. I set my sights in the space between the closest Energy Sphere to the monster and the monster itself before I let my arrow quill fly. I listened closely for the result... "Ow!" Bullseye. I struck the beast right on the hand that was reaching for the Energy Sphere.

I swooped towards the caged beast and looked him in the eye. "Trying to escape from your prison again, eh?"

He answered in a gravelly voice, "What are you gonna do about it? It isn't like you could beat me!" He showed me his strong muscles and his horns with similar length and diameter to those of longhorn cattle. "And besides, I'm not intent on escaping yet. Those blue orbs are very intriguing to me."

"So you want the Energy Spheres, do you? Well, too bad, you magic thief!" I kicked the Energy Spheres and mast away from the quadrupedal monster with humanoid arms.

He growled, "How dare you! I could just punch you right now... Oh, right, I can!" He then pulled the bars apart with his brute strength and stomped out. He pulled back his right fist for a devastating punch.



The opposing ??? used Dynamic Punch!



The punch went right through me. And I mean that literally.



It doesn't affect Helix...



I smirked. "Would you like some salt with that?"



Helix used Taunt! The opposing ??? fell for the taunt!



In a manner that suggested he knew the definition that I was intending to use, he retorted, "I don't, you archer-elbowed owl. I'm on a non-additive diet!" The monster charged up energy between his horns.



The opposing ??? used Psybeam!



I created a dark portal beneath my talons, and I sunk into it to dodge the laser.



Helix used Phantom Force! Helix vanished instantly!



I reappeared behind the fiend and slashed with an arrow quill.



Helix used Phantom Force! It's not very effective...



He laughed. "Did you really think you could hurt me with that, or were you just trying to scratch an itch on my back? If you don't have any attacks that can potentially destroy your surroundings, then just sit back, hand me the orbs, watch me consume them, and watch Equestria be controlled by yours truly, the mighty Lord Tirek!"

"That, or I can just do this..." I shot an arrow just past Tirek. "...giving me time to leave and come back even stronger." I then walked away with a smirk.

"Hey, you missed! Now, get back here!" Tirek stomped after me, but to no avail. "What the--? Whoever is holding onto my tail, you better let go!"

I turned towards him. "You're talking about me. And I didn't miss."

Tirek turned his head, and his eyes opened wide when he saw that the only thing stopping him was my arrow stuck in his shadow. He reached for the arrow, straining hard. "Ugh, if only... I could reach... your darned arrow..."



I hurried back to my new friend's place and knocked on the door.  When he opened the door, I quickly said, "It's time to put our creation to the test, Doctor Hooves. You ready?"

"Of course, Helix." The brown stallion flashed his cutie mark, an hourglass. "I've been waiting forever to put my talent to good use. What's the destination?"

I thought for a moment as I entered his home. "Considering the situation I'm in, a good destination might be the world of Pokemon, perhaps one year and eight months ahead to be safe. I am using such precision because new places to explore in the Pokemon world tend to be discovered towards the end of the year."

"The world of Pokemon? That sounds intriguing."

"It is very intriguing. But enough talk, I don't have much time. We must hurry before it's too late to stop a monster that might roam Equestria within minutes from now! The EPOCH must be--"

Doctor Hooves' eyes opened wide. "Wait, a monster?! What good will traveling to the future be if there's a monster in the present?! It isn't like we'll be able to return on time!"

"You know about that big red and black monster who eats magic? He got his hands on an Energy Sphere, and feeding on its energy gave him the strength to break out of his cage in Tartarus. And don't worry about him destroying Equestria or anything while we're in the future; I intend for us to return only twenty seconds or so after leaving. As for where in the world of Pokemon we will go, input the following coordinates..." I told him the coordinates for the Alola region, but I cannot reveal them to you. That is top-secret data that is classified to all but the closest of my friends.

Doctor Hooves entered the EPOCH via a door on the side, and I followed. Have you ever heard of something being bigger on the inside? Well, this machine takes that phrase to a whole new level. As I closed the door behind me, though...

"Hold on!" Meloetta put her quarter note-shaped foot in the door.

I turned towards her. "You came to see the future of music, didn't you?"

"That's right!"

"Understandable, Meloetta, but I'm afraid you cannot. If you saw your future self, or vice versa... then it would be Alice Through the Looking Glass all over again."

"Oh my! You're quite right." Meloetta began to leave before waving to me. "Say hi to future me!"

I smiled. "I can assure you that I will say hi to future you for present you, Meloetta."

The Doctor inputted the coordinates before asking, "...Okay! Helix, will your floating red partner come along?"

I nodded. "Rotom is an expert at identifying Pokemon, so he will be a valuable ally."

"Very well." The Doctor pressed a red, flashing button. "If you feel a bit distorted during the trip, don't panic. Traveling through time and space simultaneously may have some dizzying side effects. So sit back and hang on as we make the quantum leap to save the day!"

Impressive, even the time card didn't get the reference. And before you say anything about my breaking the fourth wall, that's because I've been hanging around Pinkie Pie too much. Since I'm a fan of comics, I also ran into Deadpool during my life... Needless to say, I've been taught a lot about becoming aware of the medium. Blame them for my ability to break the fourth wall. Anyway...



Doctor Hooves and I returned to Ponyville twenty seconds after our week-long trip, only to learn that twenty seconds was too long of an interval. I was surprised that twenty seconds was enough time for Tirek to escape from my arrow pinning down his shadow and steal energy from some source, as well as get into some kind of fight somewhere far from Ponyville. How did I know, you ask? I could see the tips of his horns.

Suddenly, Magolor fell from the sky. He panted, "Ow... You didn't tell me that he could steal magical energy..."

I asked, "Did anyone tell you?"

"Roborygon told me, but he seemed in a panic and crazed, so I dismissed it as being somewhat insane. I should've known that robots never lie."

Something buzzed in my pocket. I took out my phone and checked the notifications. Someone had texted me.


🙄 seriously? only now he figured that out? u would think Lor would b proof that Magolor trusts robots, but apparently not 😑


I put my phone back in my pocket, but not before replying:


true dat 🤣


Magolor continued, "And there's something else you should know..."

Button rushed to our location. "Bad news! Energy Spheres! Mast! Not where you are! Not in Tartarus! Bad guy on the loose!"

I frowned. "The Energy Spheres and Mast are missing, and Tirek is on the loose and very powerful? That can only mean one thing: Energy Spheres contain some kind of magical energy. I came to that conclusion because of Tirek's tendencies to consume magic to increase his strength."

Magolor's eyes widened. "So you're saying he literally eats magic? Now I know why he ate some weird kind of energy from my body and why I feel so drained... We're doomed."

I shook my head. "We're only doomed if he learns that the Lor has more Energy Spheres. We still have a chance to beat him. Magolor, you go find somewhere to rest and keep away from the centaur. Button, warn Rarity and all other nearby unicorns to stay indoors. Rotom, go and analyze Lord Tirek for his type and other stats. Doctor Hooves, you're coming with me to help my friends teach that fiend a lesson!"

Everyone did as instructed, but Button said, "But I want to help battle the bad guy!"

"Understandable." I put a wing to my chin in thought. "Let's see... How about you try and find Roborygon and Spike after warning the unicorns to stay indoors? I'm sure Spike will want to battle bad guys too, and I am certain Roborygon will prepare you for battle."

"Got it." Button galloped away, leaving me and Doctor Hooves to search for the centaur.

The Doctor said, "The GPS says that Lord Tirek is in San Palomino Desert, to the west of Ponyville."

"Okay. Hold still, and I'll carry you there. This may hurt a little, though." The Doctor obliged, and I flew above him before gripping his back with my talons.



We landed a safe distance of about one hundred yards away from the mighty centaur, who was now the size he became when he stole all the magic in Equestria in the season 4 finale. That's good to know. I'd have to remember how much magic the Energy Spheres, mast, and Magolor collectively have. All of my non-magic-using allies were already trying to take down Lord Tirek, except Pummel, Button, Spike, and Roborygon, who were nowhere to be found. They were putting up a good fight, but they still seemed to be on the receiving end.

Rotom returned to me. "I've finished analyzing Lord Tirek's stats. My prediction is that he is a Dark- and Fighting-type with the Huge Power Ability. Therefore, his physical attacks are much stronger than normal. It's unfortunate that you don't have Mimiketchum by your side to take down the centaur and resist his attacks."

I replied, "True, but I was going to give Mimiketchum a break anyway. A Mimikyu would easily beat someone like Tirek, a Dark- and Fighting-type. This is the time for my new partners to shine. But I'm not ready to let them be revealed. Let's first see how the others are doing without some timely assistance."

Sonic tried using his Spin Dash on the beast's forelegs, but that did virtually nothing. Tirek kicked Sonic away with enough force to send him into a large rock nearby. Next came Amy, who used her hammer to pole-vault up to Tirek's back with Heart Fist's aid. He tried to shake her off, but the pink hedgehog was able to hang on. She provided the distraction necessary for Mario to throw a hundred fireballs to Luigi, who then hammered them towards Tirek. However, Tirek blasted the fireballs with energy from his horns, and the fireballs rained down on the plumbers.

Meta Knight set his sights on Tirek's horns, which must have been where the energy rests after being absorbed. He flew around him at dizzying speeds while dodging the large, powerful energy blasts. When he got close enough, Meta Knight dove for Tirek's left horn and unleashed a dozen slashes on it. Upon finishing his onslaught, he was met with a punch directly to the face, his blade having not even left a scratch on the near-invincible Tirek.

"Poyo, poyo!" Kirby exclaimed.

Lucario translated, "Without the Rainbow Power granted by the Chest of Harmony, the odds of us defeating this fiend are slim." He dodged two punches and a stomp before adding his own opinion of the situation: "Even with a type advantage, our attacks are next to useless, and I would never forgive myself if I watched one of you sacrifice yourself with Destiny Bond. Moves like Mega Drain and Horn Leech will only sap health, not energy or magic, so forget using offensive moves like those. At this point, we can only stall and hope for a blessing from the heavens..."

"Poy... Poyo!" Kirby tried to flee after hearing what Lucario had to add. If Kirby flees from an Equestrian villain, you know it's dangerous. He knows them like he knows Pinkie Pie.

However, before the pink puffball could get far, Tirek grabbed him by the foot. "There's no running from me, the king of awesome! I know you're just a stubby little pink thing, but I don't like to let eyewitnesses go scot-free. You've got a choice: get crushed, or see just what I can do."

Kirby pointed to Tirek, then to his own mouth. "Magic thief!"

The centaur laughed. "So you do know what I can do!"

Lucario replied, "That's because he's been to Equestria before."

Tirek eyed Kirby closely with a raised eyebrow. "Wait a minute... are you this Kirby I've heard of that defeated Queen Chrysalis and a strange sorcerer?" Kirby nodded. "I'm not buying it. The one I heard of could eat laser beams and was stupid enough to eat the Elements of Harmony. If you're that Kirby, then I dare you to eat this!" Tirek fired a full-power laser beam directly at Kirby's face, leaving the pink demon with an ashen look. "See? You aren't that powerful! But I'm gonna steal all your magic anyway." The menace opened his mouth in anticipation of consuming magic, but nothing entered it. "What the--no magic? No wonder you're weak. Here, I'll just put you out of your miserable life of weakness."

Tirek then punched Kirby far over the horizon. "YAAAAAAAaaaaaaahhhhhhh..."

"Now, who's next?"

"Hold it right there!" A blazing Rapidash and a charged-up Zebstrika galloped forth. The Rapidash continued, "You, with the horns that're longer than a Tangrowth's vines! Are you the one who done sent Equestria's savior flyin'?"

"Well, yeah. Do any of these idiots look like they could do that?"

The Zebstrika's white mane glowed yellow as he replied, "First of all, only Ah can call others idiots! And second of all, ya done goofed. Kirby's a good friend of ours, so we won't put up with a monster clobberin' that there Kirby!"

Rapidash added, "Not to mention that yer rampagin' interrupted me when Ah was singin' a good ol' country song! Ah'm burnin' up here!"

"Literally," Lord Tirek noted as he looked at Rapidash's flaming mane. From what I saw, she had some blue flames in her mane, which would signify that she's very angry. "Not that it matters, because if you're Kirby's friends, then you must be pushovers as well. You couldn't hurt me if you tried!"

Zebstrika and Rapidash replied with a grin, "Is that a challenge we hear? Then yer on!"

"You're all a bunch of--hey, where'd you go?" The two equine Pokemon were gone from Tirek's sight. "Show yourself, you chickens, or I'll--Gah!" His hind legs slipped out from beneath him, and he fell forward, having lost his balance. "What happened?"

Rapidash laughed, "Ah'll tell ya what happened: Ya blinked. Ya called us chickens. And ya dropped yer guard. We're faster, stronger, and tougher than the average pony. And do ya even know the equation for force?"

"Now isn't the time for a science test, dummy!"

"Fine, ya asked fer it: We're way fast, so we're strong anyway! Size ain't the only thing that--D'oh!"

Tirek got back up and buried the blazing mare into the ground with his hind hoof. "Just because I'm big and bulky doesn't mean I'm not fast!"

Zebstrika growled, "Listen up, ya brute! Ah may be a meanie who picks on weaklings and gets angry over the tiniest stuff, but Ah do have a heart! And this here heart's sayin' that ya do NOT stomp mah wife!" He then cloaked himself in electricity and unleashed an onslaught of Wild Charge attacks on Tirek at lightning-fast speeds. "Rapidash is the apple of mah eye, and Ah love apples. Especially zap apples, but Ah'd still love Rapidash even if she didn't know Wild Charge. Not that it matters, because when apples become applesauce, they're basically murdered. And Ah hate murder! You 'bout applesauce'd mah soulmate, and Ah ain't standin' around to watch her get pounded!"

Unfortunately for the electric zebra, Tirek stomped the ground hard, knocking Zebstrika out of his attack. Zebstrika was left unconscious, considering the fact that Wild Charge does recoil damage equal to one fourth of the damage given. Tirek menaced, "Anyone else want to risk getting beat up by yours truly?"

"...I think we are doing it all wrong," Meta Knight spoke up. He turned to my Rotom. "You said he had the Huge Power Ability, yes?"

"That's correct."

"Good. That makes this much easier." Meta Knight sent out a Pokemon that looked like an upside-down squid whose tentacles acted as its hair. "Flipside, use Topsy-Turvy."

"How devilishly clever," the revolving squid Pokemon said in a cruel voice. It then turned on its head, releasing some kind of dark energy.

"I can't believe you think turning upside-down will be very--huh?" Suddenly, Lord Tirek began to shrink in size, his strength slowly going away. "Hey, what's happening? What did you do?!"

Meta Knight chuckled. "So, it worked. Malamar are able to use Topsy-Turvy, which can reverse stat changes. You absorbed much energy, giving you the Huge Power Ability, and with it's attack-doubling effects reversed rather than merely negated, you have been drained of much energy."

Tirek had been reduced to about twelve and a half feet tall, horns included. "So now my power is halved?"

"And you can't even do math right. Typical for a buff villain. Your strength is now one quarter of what it was. One divided by two is one half, and that divided by two is one quarter." Meta Knight turned to the rest of us. "Hurry and attack before he figures out what to do!"

I turned to Doctor Hooves and nodded. We stepped forward, and I said, "Our turn." I pressed the button on a Poke Ball in my wing/hand, and it grew to the size of a baseball before I threw it. "Here we go, partner. I know you can do it!"

The Doctor threw his Poke Ball as well. "Likewise for my own partner. Show them the power of friendship!"

When the energies dissipated, in their place stood two creatures: The creature from my own Poke Ball was a very dark, navy blue bird with glowing red eyes. Its wings were hard as steel. Now, before you jump to the conclusion of it being a Skarmory, remember the coloring of a Skarmory. It's silver, not navy blue, and its eyes don't glow. This was an entirely new Pokemon. The same goes for the Doctor's Pokemon: a yellow mouse Pokemon with red cheeks. Unlike Pikachu, though, the left third of its body was brown, and the right third was black. In addition, it seemed to have pouches where a Trainer's jean pockets would be.

I boldly declared, "Tremble before the might of Knightwing!"

Pummel finally arrived on the scene, and he was quite impressed with our new partners. "That's a pretty neat-looking Skarmory. It looks kind of like an iron raven to me. And what's up with that cross between Pikachu and Dedenne?"

Suddenly, Spike and Button Mash raced to the scene of the battle, the former riding the latter. For some reason, they appeared to be clad in full body armor.



"Okay, the two of you are in position. We're almost ready for battle, but there's one thing left to do. Before we do that, though, I have a request of you two. This request isn't mandatory, but I enjoy a good reference. Now, what I want you two to do is say, 'Mechanize me!'"

"Whatever you say. Mechanize me!" I promptly attached myself to Spike, my mechanical body morphing to fit the young dragon and extending past him to also cover Button Mash. My antenna planted itself on the top protrusion on Spike's head. Each one of my eyes attached themselves in front of one eye on each creature, becoming translucent to act as a stat-identifying heads-up display, although since it's from my point of view, it was less of a HUD and more of a cybernetic camera. I focused my main offensive tools to Spike's right hand, forming something akin to an energy cannon.

"Actually, make that two things left to do. I feel uneasy about this typing, for our enemy is likely to have a type advantage over Normal- and Steel-types. That is why I ask you to--"

Button interrupted, "Activate Torch Mane schematics! ...Sorry. I got a little ahead of myself."

"Uh... that might actually be a good mode. Its temperature-increasing qualities might cripple the enemy due to heat exhaustion. Alright, I'm on it!" I shifted my energy production core's coding to Fire Mode, and my exterior changed color to red with brown highlights. My eyes became neon orange. "Before we go, I would like to say something myself: Button Mash, I appreciate the fact that you noticed the reference."

"Well, I am a video game master. Of course I would spot a Mecha Mane reference."



Roborygon, who was acting as the exoskeleton for the dragon-colt duo, exclaimed, "I knew my sensors detected new species of Pokemon! You must provide me with their data!"

I held Rotom sideways, showing off his new vessel: a cell phone with a touch screen. Rotom showed a picture of my partner. "This is Corviknight, the Raven Pokemon. A Steel- and Flying-type, Corviknight are exceptionally intelligent and aerial masters. The black luster of their steel body could drive terror into any foe." It then switched to the Doctor's partner. "And that is Morpeko, the Two-Sided Pokemon. An Electric- and Dark-type, Morpeko constantly produces electricity, which leaves it hungry all the time, so it always carries Berry seeds as a snack. Both Pokemon are from the Galar region, which required some time-turning skills for our heroes to reach."

Doctor Hooves turned to his Morpeko. "Now would be a really bad time to get hangry."

Morpeko, who was named Evermore, finished eating the Berry seed that was in its left paw. "It's about time you knew my secret, Doc--I'm always both full and hangry. When I eat, I'm just less hangry, and when I don't, I'm just less full. It just depends on the situation. But, uh..." Evermore rummaged through its pouches. "...I ran out of snacks! I won't be able to stay full enough for long!"

I nodded. "I had expected this to happen. That's why I came prepared with..." I pulled a container out of the Doctor's backpack and opened it. The container held a stew of some sort. "...curry to go! Head's up--this one's super spicy!"

"Down the hatch!" Evermore gobbled down the curry before you could say Pokedex. "Yum, that tastes so...!" Evermore's face turned red. Then he breathed fire. "Hothothothothotbutitsworthit!" His fire breath caught Tirek by surprise, having roasted the centaur's face.

Tirek deadpanned. "So you're going to come at me with a steel bird and a weird mouse that you caused to breathe fire by feeding him spicy curry? Piece of cake." He then fired a laser at Knightwing.

I exclaimed, "Protect!"

Knightwing brought up a barrier that completely blocked the attack. However, he was propelled backwards by the blast. "Not bad, Lord Tirek. Not bad at all. But you must remember that we are heroes of justice. We won't back down just because our enemy is strong."

"Exactly. Now, use Brave Bird!"

"Nothing less than the strongest moves for the strongest opponent!" Covered in an orange, bird-shaped aura, Knightwing soared at a low altitude towards Tirek. However, Tirek grabbed Knightwing in an attempt to block the attack.

"Now it's my turn!" Keldeo launched a Focus Blast on Tirek's arms, causing Tirek to let go and get struck by Brave Bird. Unfortunately, Knightwing took some serious recoil damage from the attack. "You okay, Knightwing?"

Knightwing replied, "I can still go on. As long as Tirek's strength has been restrained, we won't have to unleash our ultimate power."

"Well, in that case, I'd love to see your ultimate power!" Tirek exclaimed before throwing a punch at Flipside.

"Foul Play!" Meta Knight said.

"Your power will prove to be your downfall!" Flipside grabbed Tirek's fist and threw him onto the ground.

"Now use Superpower!"

"Time to finish him!" Flipside jumped into the air, outlined in a light blue aura, before preparing to slam down on Tirek.

"I'm not through with you!" Tirek countered Flipside by kicking him straight in the gut, launching Flipside up where all the residents of Cloudsdale could see him. Soon after, Tirek began to glow in a dark aura, and he started to grow back to his previous size. "Oh, yeah, now we're talking!"

Meta Knight's pupils shrank. "Tirek found out the way to reverse the effects of Topsy-Turvy... Helix! Doctor Hooves! Trainers can have up to six Pokemon on their team at once. It is time for us to meet the rest of your team!"

Knightwing grimaced. "The Star Warrior is right. We need more help."

I nodded. "True. Doctor, it is time to introduce everyone to our other teammates." I threw five more Poke Balls into the air, all of them opening at the same time. The Doctor followed suit.

My team consisted of a rabbit that looked like a pro soccer player; a white duck with a leek sword and a leaf shield; a cybernetic, bipedal beetle with a ladybug's shell, which was connected to its head rather than covering the back of the beetle; a canine wielding a sword; and a tan snake Pokemon whose body was coiled up in such a way that the head was partially hidden by the camouflage green, ring-shaped sac around its neck.

Doctor Hooves' team consisted of a brown gorilla with grass-like hair, wielding two sticks and a drum; a canine with a shield around its head; a pair of black balls of gas with light green beards and top hat-shaped smokestacks; a bipedal monster made of coal, with a red-hot pile of coal behind its head; and a chalk-white unicorn with a smooth purple and pink mane and a black horn with white stripes.

Upon seeing the latter of the Doctor's Pokemon, Galarian Rapidash, Pummel and Keldeo watched it in awe. They were speechless.

After a long pause, Keldeo quickly said, "Oh! Uh, I'll be right back!" Then he raced away at high speed, leaving no trace of him except for a puddle.

I thrust my right wing forward in a dramatic fashion. "Everyone, it's time to unleash a maximum raid on this dynamically devious destroyer!" I turned to my beetle partner, whose species is Orbeetle. "Cranium, analyze Lord Tirek's strategic preferences!"

"Of course, Helix. Preparing mind-entering mental waves of energy." Cranium emitted psychic waves towards Tirek. "...It seems that he prefers to use brute force, as well as using the magic he's stolen to propel heavy objects towards his opponents and fire beams of light amplified by systematic emission of radiation."

"Excellent!" I turned to the Doctor. "Think you could keep Tirek occupied while I prepare a trick?"

"Certainly!" He looked at Evermore and gave a determined smile. "Now, use Aura Wheel and run around Tirek!"

"On it!" Evermore generated a hamster wheel of pure energy, the wheel changing color to red to match Evermore's immensely... spiced-up mood. He then ran in it and made it roll towards the monster, only to have it swerve to Tirek's right and roll counter-clockwise around him.

"Hey, stop it, you little rat!" Tirek yelled as he tried to grab the wheel. However, when the wheel grazed him, his fingers were left scorched. "This little burn is just a flesh wound. You'll have to actually impale me with something or other if you wanna do some real--"

"Here I go! Leaf Blade!" My duck Pokemon, a Sirfetch'd called Leeksalot, swept Tirek's front legs out from under him with his very long leek. "Ha ha! As they say, the bigger they are, the harder they fall!"

"Grr..." Lord Tirek charged up a laser aimed right at Leeksalot.

"Use Brutal Swing, and aim at the ground!"

"I shall pole-vault out of this sticky situation!" Leeksalot proclaimed before swinging his leek at the ground, launching himself into the air to avoid Tirek's laser. "He's in a prime position for my most powerful move! Shall I use it now?"

I smirked. "You shall."

"Very well. Meteor Assault!" Leeksalot repeatedly jabbed Tirek with his leek spear, only for that spear to be grabbed out of his wing. "Wha--you cheat! My colleagues shall punish you for that!"

"We'll see about that!" Tirek hurled Leeksalot's spear at the gorilla's drum.

"Attempting to destroy my most prized instrument? You must abhor harmony, and for that, I abhor you." The gorilla, a Rillaboom named Jungle Beat, stood in front of the drum and grabbed the spear with both his hands, stopping it in its tracks. "I call on the power of rhythm!" He then took out two sticks and beat the drum with them.

The drum attached itself to the ground via roots, and the roots burst out of the ground to knock Tirek's back legs out from beneath him. "Just because I can't stand doesn't mean I'm defenseless!" Tirek then used his magic to toss a boulder at my rabbit soccer player, a Cinderace.

"Hotshot, strike it with Double Kick!" I said.

"If this works, that centaur's in big trouble!" Hotshot proceeded to jump into the air and kick the boulder twice, shattering it into over a hundred small pebbles. "Nice! Looks like I don't have to worry about running out of PP to collect more ammo!"

I grinned. "In that case, hit him with as many Pyro Balls as you want!"

Hotshot juggled several pebbles with his feet, turning them into burning soccer balls. Then he shot them towards Tirek as if the latter was a goal net. However, Tirek used his magic to send them all back at Hotshot. "Uh oh, this is gonna turn out way differently than with Pummel's flaming Focus Blasts!" Hotshot was then hailed on by the onslaught of fiery rocks.

"Our turn!" The Doctor looked at his Galarian Rapidash. "Forest Horn, use Dazzling Gleam!"

"Anything for you, Doctor!" Forest Horn glowed brightly as she charged at Tirek. He fired a laser at Forest Horn. "Not this time! Agility!" She ran even faster, dodging the laser as it swept the ground. Tirek put his hand up to block, but Forest Horn burst through the blockade and rammed into Tirek's face.

Tirek finally broke through the roots holding him down, and he punched Forest Horn diagonally into the ground. He then looked fiercely at Jungle Beat. "You! You're the one that let your friends be a nuisance to me! I'm gonna laser beam you so hard that--"

I leapt up into the air while aiming my snake Pokemon, a Sandaconda named Sandacane, at Tirek. "Sand Attack!" Sandacane unleashed a blast of sand from its cannon-like nostrils into Tirek's eyes, temporarily blinding him.

"That's disgusting!" Tirek exclaimed. "You could at least cover your nose when you sneeze! Ever heard of something called a tissue?" Unfortunately, his blindness led to him randomly firing laser beams and throwing things around in a desparate attempt to attack us.

"Use Behemoth Blade!" I warned my sword-wielding canine, Zacian.

"Use Behemoth Bash!" the Doctor warned his shield canine, Zamazenta.

The two canines used their respective weapons to protect us as well as they could before some well-aimed punches knocked Zamazenta's shield out of his body and left him unconscious. "Brother!" Zacian exclaimed. Unfortunately, her lack of self-worry caused her to be struck by a large rock while trying to protect her brother. This knocked the sword out of her mouth and left her unconscious as well.

I looked at my Zacian and the Doctor's Zamazenta, both of the most powerful Pokemon on our teams no longer reacting to stimulus. "Unbelievable... Even the legendary sword and shield could not stand up to a mere magic thief... Tirek's much stronger than I had previously anticipated!"

Keldeo glanced at me. "Hey, Helix! Knightwing said something about your ultimate power. I don't know about you, but I think this would be the right time to unleash it!"

I grimaced. "You're right, Keldeo. It's time for you all to discover just what we can do." I held my right wrist up, where the Doctor could see a white band that had a sliver of red on one end and a sliver of blue on the other. On the top was a digital screen. "It is time to unleash our maximum strength."

The Doctor nodded as he looked at his own wristband. "I like the way you think! Maximizing our strength will be most potent when we've been pushed to our breaking point like this. But hold on a moment. We aren't sure if this will work here."

"Against a giant overpowered Tirek? In San Palomino Desert? This is as close to a Max Raid Battle as we can get."

Rotom said, "Actually, that couldn't be more true; my sensors are detecting that the entirety of Equestria is in itself abundant with the particles that also exist in Pokemon Dens and Pokemon Gyms!"

Our eyes widened with delight. "You're saying that Equestria... is essentially a single, planet-sized Power Spot? That's brilliant news to hear!"

I turned to my colleague. "Doctor Hooves, choose whose maximized power you use wisely."

"I have made my decision. Are you ready, Helix?"

"Yes. Here we go, with the power of Equestria!" I returned one of my Pokemon to his Poke Ball in my wing and thrust my wing outwards, as did Doctor Hooves. Our bands glowed purple, and the energy burst outward and into our Poke Balls, giving them a Premier Ball's coloration of completely white with a red midsection, except with a digital skin. That was not all, though; these special wristbands give the wearer a devastating skill, shown by the drastic increase in our Poke Balls' volume and surface area. "I declare that friendship is a sizable trait. The mightiest foes fear us when we unleash this futuristic ability..." Oh, and did I mention that the Poke Ball isn't the only thing that increases in size? "...Dynamax!" The Doctor and I threw our oversized Poke Balls behind us. Upon opening, it was like the release of our Pokemon from their Dynamax Balls caused the weather to change into a red and purple color scheme.

From my Dynamax Ball, a fifty-foot-tall Corviknight with magenta highlights emerged. His wings were stretched out, and behind his back were bird-shaped projectiles. "Or in my case, Gigantamax!"

From the Doctor's Dynamax Ball came a forty-five-foot Galarian Rapidash. "You will pay for your crimes, Lord Tirek! Your brute force will not stand a chance against our powerful bond!"

I exclaimed, "Use G-Max Wind Rage!"

Knightwing unleashed a massive burst of wind that hit Tirek with explosive force. "RRRRAAAAAAAAAHHH!!! Dang, that hurt! Still, it's about time you did some real damage to me. I was getting pretty bored by your pathetic attempts to wipe the floor with me."

The Doctor said, "Forest Horn, use Max Starfall!"

Forest Horn neighed to the sky, and several stars fell to strike Tirek. However, Tirek dodged each of the trio of stars. "There's some move names that make it really easy to tell what they do, and Max Starfall--" The stars created an explosion in the center of the triangle created by the three stars, which also happened to be where Tirek was. "--is one of them... But really, do you ever come up with good names that won't give away the functions of moves?"

I shook my head. "We don't make up the names of the attacks. Those are the actual names of moves. But relax, there are more clever names than those, such as Court Change and Spectral Thief."

But not even our Dynamaxed Pokemon could defeat Tirek, even though we switched up the Max and G-Max Moves. After first seeing G-Max Wind Rage, Max Starfall, and Max Steelspike, Tirek figured out how to dodge them. Because of the energy exhausted by their three turns of maximized attacks, Knightwing and Forest Horn were forced to return to normal. "We have failed you," Knightwing said. "Please forgive us..."

The evil centaur laughed. "Ha ha ha! You're still weak, even when you grow huge! Seriously, don't even bother trying to hurt me at this point. You'll only embarrass yourselves."

Just then, Paper Mario ran forward and struck a battle pose alongside his Kartana.

"Aww, are a couple of paper wads gonna try to beat me up? Good luck with that!"

"Don't forget this, paper bro!" Luigi threw an orange block with an image of a sheet of paper on it towards Paper Mario, and the samurai-plumber duo struck it. Nine clones of each came out and merged with the originals. "You can't let up against this guy! You're a Mario Bro!"

Paper Mario gave a thumbs-up before nodding towards Kartana.

"All right, paperweights, you asked for it." Tirek proceeded to stomp on Paper Mario and Kartana, much to Doctor Hooves' horror.

"No, Kartana!" The Doctor tried to rush over to check on them, but I used Spirit Shackle to stop him.

"Doctor, relax. This isn't a first for Paper Mario or his partner. Besides, they're paper. They can just unfold."

A few seconds later, a paper form slid out from under the mighty black hoof. It was Paper Mario, except he was wearing a samurai helmet... made of Kartana. He was also wielding a sword with a yellow hilt and a white blade. And as I had assured the Doctor, the duo merely had a couple of creases that could quickly be flattened out.

Tirek scoffed, "So what if you like to cosplay? The best you'll do is just give me a papercut, which is nothing!" He picked up Paper Mario by the foot as he did with Kirby. "I mean, you're like a hundredth of my size, and you're flat! You can't do hardly anything to me!"

It was unfortunate for Tirek that he had never been papercut before; Paper Mario's clones broke away from himself and proceeded to use their swords to slash all over Tirek's hands, especially between his fingers.

Tears welled up in the monster's eyes. "...OWWWW!!! Waaaahhhh! That hurts so much!" I couldn't help but chuckle as the mighty centaur became a big baby who cried for his mommy.  It's amazing how a papercut can cripple even a colossal centaur. "Make it go away, make it go away!" His childish crying quickly shifted to furious angry speak. "Arrgh! Dagnabbit, you blasted pieces of recycled tree, I oughta burn you alive and pour your ashes into the deepest pit in Tartarus! Then I'll--I'll force the royal alicorns to bring you back to life so I can repeat the process! If that gets too boring, I'll, uh... I'll crumple you up into wads of paper and stomp on you..."

As Tirek continued to rant, Meloetta spoke up. "Paper Mario made a perfect distraction, so now it's my turn."

I warned, "No, he'll just eat up your magic. Besides, your magic is your songs, and without songs or music, you're... weak, no offense."

"None taken. And no offense to the offender, but you're wrong. About the songs and magic part, I mean." She walked over to Tirek before I could ask anything more. She then cleared her throat. Was she going to... sing?

Rhythm gleam and glow, magic's what it is,
Make the clock reverse, restore what health was his...

She was singing... for Tirek?

Heal what has been hurt, let my music fizz,
Save that which was lost, restore what health was his, what health was his...

"Oh, the agony, oh, the...? Huh? I'm... not hurting anymore. My cuts... are gone?" Tirek stopped what he was doing, and so did Paper Mario. "I thought you good guys were supposed to battle bad guys, not heal their wounds! In Celestia's name, are you a rogue or something?"

Meloetta giggled. "Music is a friend to all. I'm not afraid to cleanse your many wounds, even if they were caused by a hero or two like Paper Mario and Kartana."

Of course, Tirek didn't understand what she said, but he seemed to know what she meant. "Okay, first of all, thank you for that. Second of all, why did you heal me? And third of all..." Before she could react, the centaur stole her magic energy, and Meloetta almost collapsed. "...thanks for that."

Meloetta answered, and I translated, "First of all, you're welcome. Second of all, I have two reasons for healing you: one, to make this a fair fight against yours truly; and two, hope. As a group of hopeful heroes recites..." Her eyes brightened up. "...'In fearful day, in raging night, with strong hearts full, our souls ignite. When all seems lost in the War of Light, look to the stars, for hope burns bright!' And third of all, you're welcome again. I don't need magic to do battle with you."

"...That's literally the dumbest thing I ever heard, that you don't need magic to beat me up."

Meloetta grinned. "I don't necessarily intend to beat you up, and besides, magic isn't my main weapon... Music and songs are, and I create them naturally!" She took a deep breath to sing another song, a bright blue light consuming her and growing as she sung:

Melody weaves a great spire of flame,
Sparks of truth call to a glorious name!

"Hey, I can understand you now!" exclaimed Tirek.

I explained, "Music and song are a universal language. She sings so that all can understand her."

We wield this torch against the cold of the night,
And cause our soul to reawaken the undying light!

Suddenly, the great ball of light dispersed, revealing Meloetta's incredible new form: She was now almost the size of the great centaur, and her body was colored the same sky blue that had surrounded her. In addition, she no longer had her treble clef of a hairpiece, allowing her hair to flow freely, its unburdened nature reminding me of a cartoon about a certain 13-year-old boy who adventured with his elastic canine. Meloetta's beautiful new appearance brought down Tirek's guard, and he was subject to a charming onslaught of melodic acrobatics. He quickly pulled himself together and fought back, so fists and feet/hooves danced throughout the battle.

On this day, if the sky fell away,
And our world came to an end,
In our eyes, the shining Sun would rise in the dark,
Glimmering shadows!

Just then, a pale purple unicorn wandered onto the scene. "Did somepony say my name?"

I turned to her. "No, Starlight. We're having an intense battle with Lord Tirek, and Meloetta's song happened to include the word 'glimmering.' Get out of here before he steals your magic!"

"Oh, okay. In that case, never mind, I'll leave you alone." Starlight teleported away so we could continue our battle.

Rhythm grows, in the spaces between,
Grooving on beyond time.
Rising up, as a choir of souls find a voice
Whispering through the void!

Of this I am certain: Ponies, dragons, and other creatures all around Equestria were able to hear the song, and they couldn't help but join in. From the fierce Yakyakistan...

Yak's little sparks cling on to life,
every yak caught in struggle!
Then storms of change, storms fan flames,
scattering ashes to wind!

...to the royal Crystal Empire...

All our souls contain a whisper of light,
singing faintly if they dwindle from sight.
There's no escape or greater fate to be made,
We won't allow our chains of time to break!

...everycreature made up the choir of lifelight. This in turn boosted Meloetta's abilities to the point that her sword-like Rhythm Baton could make lasting impressions on the centaur's horn, even though that did not seem to take away his energy, and that a kick from her could launch Tirek a few hundred meters.

"Lord Tirek's health is actually starting to go down!" my Rotom Phone exclaimed. "It may only be going down sliver by sliver, but it's still progress!"

I nodded. "That's good to know. And besides, Meloetta is doing what Lucario said to do: stall. For what specifically? We will have to wait to find out. Not even the Master of Aura himself knows what to wait for."

The Light will guide you on your way to the ultimate fiiiiiiight!

At that point, Meloetta performed a backflip as she returned to her Aria Forme, making way for a returning hero. I would identify him as one of his famous nicknames, but his appearance would go against that nickname. Therefore, I will reintroduce you to... the rainbow demon.



"...aaaaaaaAAAAHHHHH--Whoa!" I would have landed face-first in front of the Crystal Castle had the princess of love not caught me with her magic. I looked at her with determination in my eyes and hope in my heart. "Poyo!"

"Are you okay?!" she asked. "What happened this time?"

After Cadance put me down, I pointed where I came from. "Tirek!"

"He escaped from Tartarus?! But how?"

"Spheres!"

"He absorbed some Energy Spheres and is now trying to take over Equestria again?" Cadance turned solemn. "This is serious. The bearers of harmony do not have access to the power of the Chest of Harmony anymore to defeat him, and if he gets his claws on any more magic, there may be no hope left for Equestria..."

I shook my head with a bold scowl. "No." I pointed towards myself. "Tough hero!"

Cadance nodded. "True, but are you sure you can do it? If Tirek launched you this far..."

I grinned as I pointed towards where Tirek was. "Briar patch!"

Cadance tilted her head in confusion. "You... secretly wanted to escape from him, and he unwillingly obliged?"

I nodded. "Prepare. Need power."

"You needed to prepare and find something that can give you a power? Where can something like that be found?"

"Ponyville."

"Very well. I will teleport you there to speed up the process." Cadance's horn glowed in a light blue aura. The last things she said before teleporting me were, "Good luck, Kirby of the Stars..."

Once in Ponyville, I rushed straight for the Lor Starcutter and went down the hallway with the Copy Room doors. I stopped at the third door from the end. Please, I need this miracle badly...



"Poyo!" Kirby's rainbow of colors swirled around as he glared at the mighty Tirek.

"Back for more?" the centaur boasted. "Guess I'd better give it my very best this time to make sure you don't come back. If I happen to evaporate you, then that's that. I mean, villains destroy heroes. That's what they're supposed to do." He emphasized his next comment by stomping his front right hoof and fiercely pointing his finger downwards. "You're going DOWN!"

The fiend charged energy between his great horns, prompting the puffball to plant his feet firmly on the ground. Dedede cheered on Kirby, saying, "You gotta suck him up and blow him on outta here!"

"Here... I... COME!" Tirek fired an unnaturally massive laser beam from his horns. Kirby's reaction... using the amplifying power of the Miracle Fruit to Hypernova Inhale the laser beam.

Button lifted his visor up. "Did Kirby just... Big Bang Inhale?"

I replied, "Yes. Also, I noticed that you pronounced Kirby the correct way. Why is that?"

Button laughed softly. "Well, after the Hyness incident, I figured that Kirby was definitely different than Kirbay. I mean, that wizard guy was totally not Roiall. Hyness didn't have clearly visible nostrils, and he spoke kind of differently than Roiall, who rescued Blizzard Axe, Sizzle Blade, and Zap Barrage, and built all those Zebastilles. Plus, Hyness didn't even have a tail! I also noticed that everypony was pronouncing the hero's name Kirby instead of Kirbay, so I just made that guess."

I smiled. "Nice job, little guy. But that doesn't change the fact that Kirby seems to be losing the duel between him and Tirek!"

The rainbow puffball seemed to be sweating as he attempted to suck up the laser beam, which was convincingly more powerful than Flowered Queen Sectonia's laser.

Button panicked, "This doesn't make sense. If Kirbay could eat Fleur Arachnia's beam, then Kirby should be able to take Tirek's beam. But why is he having so much trouble? Did the Energy Spheres and Mast that Tirek ate really make him that much stronger than Fleur Arachnia? This isn't good..."

Meloetta exclaimed, "Less whys, more whats. And I'm not talking about electricity. Let's give this Big Bang hero an appetizing boost of energy with a native song!" She played a familiar, upbeat tune as she sang.

We're not flawless; we're a work in progress!
We've got dents and we've got quirks, but it's our flaws that make us work,
Yeah!

Three songs in a row? The melodic heroine's going all out. Kirby immediately showed signs of being strengthened, his inhaling increasing in power and becoming higher in pitch. We were able to see a small gust of blue wind traveling from Kirby's mouth along the laser beam.

We're not flawless; we're a work in progress!
So tell me what flaws you've got too, 'cause I still like what's flawed about you!

The gust quickly reached the other end of the laser. This meant doom for Flowered Queen Sectonia, so you can be sure Tirek was in trouble. Hypernova Kirby completely inhaled the entire laser... and a health bar that appeared out of nowhere. Probably Discord's doing. But that wasn't all... You do know that the Rainbow Power laser removed all the stolen energy from Tirek's body, right? Well, imagine that, except that the magic was stolen by means of inhalation, kind of like how the fire was stolen from the little green dragon by the charm in that one medieval movie with the cat and mouse who share a friendly rivalry.

The drained Tirek looked at the bloated rainbow hero in despair. "...You're going to send that right back at me, aren't you?"

Literally everyone in the vicinity deadpanned. Even Kirby. Lucario summarized what everyone was thinking in two sentences: "Do you think he's an idiot, you magic thief? All he'd do is give you back the magic."

"Mm-hmm..." Kirby waddled away.

Amy's Delphox suddenly came out of its Poke Ball and twirled around its flaming stick. "Ha ha! The heroes reign victorious yet again! Face it, you fiend--the light of justice always disperses darkness!"

Tirek looked at Delphox in wonder. "What a strange stick you have there. How do you keep the entire thing from going up in flames?"

Delphox snickered. "All the better to see into the future with! Don't you know? I'm both a Fire- and a Psychic-type!"

My eyes opened wide. "Delphox, you idiotic vulpine! Now he--"

Too late. Tirek stole her magic, extinguishing the flame. "My flame... is gone?" She tried to use friction to light the stick, but it failed. "That beast stole my fire magic!"

I grimaced. "At least he only got a very small fraction of the power he got from absorbing the Energy Spheres, the Mast, and Magolor's magic." Tirek was brought down to about eight feet tall now.

Tirek looked at us. "So, who's ready for more?"

Lucario turned to Pummel, who had temporarily fled for some reason after Dynamax Forest Horn initiated Max Starfall. "I request permission to unleash all my rage on Lord Tirek."

Pummel nodded. "Permission granted. After all, he both blasted Kirby in the face and punched him incredibly far. Kirby's your best friend and the one you were assigned to protect. This will be an excellent outlet for us. Feel free to unleash all heck on this guy."

I turned towards Tirek. "You do know what this means, right?"

"Uh... You're more evenly matched and will actually do me some real damage?"

"That too, but there's one other thing. Since you were evil enough to insult the hero of Equestria and launch him all the way to the Crystal Empire..." I closed my eyes in tranquil fury as I held a cerulean blue Waterium Z in front of my left eye. "...you're gonna have a bad time."

Button groaned. "Are you kidding me? Skelegrin's the only reason why I wanted to play Understory and the reason why I hated it; I waited forever to see if he was going to do anything."

I replied, "You should've gone pacifist on the enemies you encountered instead of beating everyone up."

"But I did go pacifist in my first run, and I beat it! And that Bloomy gave me quite a scare... I wanted to see what would happen if I beat everyone up for my second run, but I couldn't even touch Skelegrin. Is there some kind of secret that I don't know about?"

"That's right, Button Mash. I'll help you out after we take this guy down."

Roborygon chimed in, "So, what's the plan?"

I grinned. "Attack him with as many references as you can. We've got to make this interesting."

"On it!" Sonic spun around with a leg outward, repeatedly kicking Tirek with it... "Tatsumaki Senpukyak--oh!" (There's one. Or almost one.) ...only to be grabbed by that same leg.

But this left Tirek open to Mega Lucario tripping him with Bone Rush and using Close Combat on his face. "AURAURAURAURAURAURA!" Two. He then followed up with an Aura-powered Sky Uppercut that launched the centaur into the air. "Aurayuken!" Three (I suppose?). Several balls of aura appeared around him, which he threw at Tirek before holding his paws close together, forming an incredible amount of aura between them. He cupped them behind him before thrusting the energy forward in the form of a massive laser. "Aura... BLAAAAAAST!!!" Four.

Sonic asked, "Aren't you going to do anything, Helix?"

"I am. I'm just standing here... menacingly." Four and a half...

Sonic turned to the centaur. "Oh man, you better get out of there, Tirek!" Five.

Tirek crossed his arms. "I literally can't. Helix already pinned my shadow down with his arrow. Not that it matters, because I'm still strong enough to clobber you!"

"Only I can clobbah, ya big moron! That's right, we're gonna show ya some REAL star power!" King Dedede sent out Incineroar. "C'mon, show 'em the reason why you've got yer nickname! Darkest Lariat!"

"You don't scare me none!" Incineroar spun around with his arms out and struck Tirek with them before striking a pose. "This is what happens when you let the tiger outta his cage!"

Button beamed. "He just went Bash Cratesmash on Tirek!"

The king chuckled. "That's why Ah named 'im Burndicoot!" Six.

"Enough fooling around with references! Time for someone to show you how to REALLY beat someone up!" Tirek pulled back his fist, ready to throw a powerful punch. However, as he shot it forward...

"And that someone is me!" A very muscular, purple biped countered with his own fist, creating a glass-shattering shockwave. You don't need to know the Avengers to know that was the seventh reference.

During the shockwave... CRACK! "...I think that broke every single bone in my arm. Just who is this purple biped whose muscles are as big as mine?"



"Going giant against us seems a little unnecessary, Bowser!" I exclaimed.

"You're the one who used a giant boulder covered in magic to try to beat me after I countered the regular, slightly smaller boulder!" the Koopa King shot back. "And look where that got you!"

I glanced upward. "Good point. But I see no reason to give up!" I dug up a fair-sized hole from the ground after removing the stone slabs. "Cannonball!" I quickly jumped i--THUD!

Everyone gasped. The magic-covered boulder had crushed me. Bowser had defeated me, and not even the Mane 6 could stop him from winning our battle. My mind said, 'No, it's useless to fight. He won. We lost. You're too weak to defeat him.'

...But I didn't listen! It could've been my pounding headache from the boulder hitting my head as I jumped in the hole, but it was more likely my determination. No boulder can stop a Machop, even if it's covered in magic. 

I would normally use a strategic approach to this, but I remembered some advice from the most powerful Machamp I know: "If something isn't doing what you want it to do, punch it. If that doesn't work, punch it some more. If that still doesn't work, punch it HARDER." I readied my fist for a Power-Up Punch after using Bulk Up, then... Pow! "...That rock's stronger than I thought." I tried again. Pow! Still nothing. Pow! And again. Pow! Soon, I was attacking at one punch per second. Pow! Pow! POW! Suddenly, a blue light overtook my entire body, and I felt a new power within me. At the same time, I was getting growth pains, but I was sure they'd be worth it.

My muscles became much larger, and my mouth became more carnivorous in shape. I think I even got a bodybuilder's bulky stature!

POW!

POW!

POW!

...POOOOOOWWWWW!!! My mighty fist, strengthened by both Power-Up Punch and my new form, burst through the rock. Something materialized in my hand, and I began to grasp it... Bonk! A chunk of rock landed on my hand, making me lose grip of the object. Some feeling around later, and I finally grasped my belt and put it on. My evolution into Machoke complete, I rocketed out of the debris and faced Bowser. "Kept you waiting, huh?"



Pummel had evolved into Machoke, likely by rhythmically punching thin air. "You mean I broke all your arm bones with a single punch? Incredible! Not that it matters, because I'll show you who's the real powerhouse! And I'll make a reference to boot! Here's Saddle Rager for you!" He jumped up to Tirek's height before pulling back his fist and... thrusting his index and middle fingers into Tirek's nose? Yikes, he was right. He both made a (very grotesque) reference and was mean to Tirek. Still making the eighth reference, he made the ninth reference by slamming Tirek once on his right and twice on his left before looking at him. Then he slammed him left and right, once on each side. "You're pretty puny for a lord. I'll make this next part quick so you can be sent to Tartarus faster." The eighth reference? Only real anime fans would understand.

Returning to his Machop form, Pummel noticed Keldeo was back. "How are you feeling?"

Keldeo replied, "Better. I'd say it was embarrassing, but you're my best friend, and we know each other very well. I guess Galarian Rapidash just really surprised me, and first times always have the most potent reactions."

"Same."

Without any more discussion, they performed the Bond Phenomenon. Then Pummel said, "You know, we don't need references to be awesome. Let's pull the Keldeo Special on this guy, okay?"

Keldeo looked confused, but smiled. "Only the strongest moves for this fiend! Let's do it!"

Pummel held Keldeo like a fire hose, hooves aimed at the centaur. "Hydro Pump!" Keldeo doused Tirek in a thick layer of water. "It's showtime, partner... Use Forecast Change!"

Keldeo gasped as if remembering something. In addition, his flank glowed. "...!"

The water molecules on Tirek's body slowed to the point that they became solid, freezing the centaur. Not bad for a magic trainee, wouldn't you agree? Especially since that's his first time after the Super Bowser incident.

Suddenly, Twilight teleported to the scene. "I sensed a burst of magic over here! What happened?"

Keldeo smirked. "That was me. I froze him."

Twilight became suspicious. "You used magic? That means you lied to me at the School of Friendship!"

"No, I just forgot. It's a funny story, really. It all began when I happened to discover my special talent by mistake about a month ago..."



My friends watched in awe as my mighty Machoke form burst out of the rubble. "Kept you waiting, huh?"

Bowser laughed. "Man, you don't give up! Well, guess what: neither do I! Seriously, I've been kidnapping the princess for over thirty years! Plus, that boulder was way lighter and weaker than the king of awesome. You have no chance of beating me, so just sit back and watch as I show you my true--hey, where'd Peach go?"

"Don't change the subject!" my best friend suddenly yelled. "You almost killed Pummel! It was thanks to him that I became a Sword of Justice, and if someone were to end him..." Keldeo's eyes narrowed. "...I would make sure they paid for their crime."

A group of Discords in cheerleader uniforms appeared in the background, chanting, "Go, go, Keldeo! You are the star of the show!"

Keldeo glanced at them. "Nah, you got it all wrong. Pummel is the star. I'm just making sure his show doesn't get cancelled except by natural processes; in other words, aging."

The Discords looked at each other. "Go, go, Keldeo! Protect the star of the show!"

"That's more like it."

Bowser growled, "Would you creeps cut it out? We've got a serious battle going on that I'm gonna win!" He raised his right foot above Keldeo, ready to stomp.

"How about no!" I expected my buddy to run from the giant foot, but he didn't. Instead, he did something that wowed all of us: his horn glowed, but not bright orange as it normally did when he used Secret Sword, or rainbow for Phenomenal Sword. Rather, it glowed... light blue. At the same time, the rest of his body glowed. He seemed to physically change, but I couldn't tell how, because--*BAMF*

"Hey, where are you?" I asked. "We may be in sync, but not completely!"

*BAMF* "Up here!" Keldeo was now on Bowser's face. "Hey, big guy, time for you to face every swimmer's worst nightmare... besides drowning and sharks." He then unleashed a Hydro Pump straight into Bowser's nasal cavities.

"Gah! Watuh ub by dose!" Bowser threw Keldeo off his face as he bent forward in pain.

Keldeo landed in front of the fountain. "Now we're talking!" Keldeo aimed his horn at the fountain's water, and both glowed light blue. Suddenly, the water from the fountain shot towards Bowser's right foot, which was back on the ground.

"...Was that supposed to hurt?"

"It will soon." Keldeo's horn fired a cyan beam, and the next instant, Bowser's foot was stuck to the ground, covered in ice. Keldeo turned to me and my mom. "Now you guys get to punch him in the gut as hard as you can!"

I looked at my mom, who was now a Machoke herself. "Righteous anger over me getting crushed?"

She nodded. "Punching?"

I nodded. "Let's do this." We high-fived, and I felt energy within me once again. This time, I actually felt real pain. You would think I would be more used to it this time, but you try growing another pair of arms just above your original ones! That's right, we became Machamp. "We'll finish him with one punch!"



Keldeo showed Twilight his flank, which had a symbol of a blue water drop, with a star like Twilight's cutie mark inside it. The background of the cutie mark was a pink heart. "So now, I can control water molecules! However, I kind of lost consciousness after using so much energy, so I forgot that I could change the form of water, a move we called Forecast Change. This just reminded me of that time, and I remembered how to perform that skill."

Twilight beamed, "That's amazing, Keldeo!"

"And I'm not done yet!" Keldeo soaked Pummel in water, then... *BAMF*

"Wait, you can teleport?!"

Keldeo and Pummel had bamfed away from Tirek a short distance. "Not necessarily. Since I can control water molecules, I can speed them up or slow them down. When fast enough, they become steam. Because Pummel and I were covered in water molecules, they took our own molecules along for the ride, making both become steam-like. So we merely appeared to teleport when in reality we were only going really fast as steam and returned to normal at a different location."

"Wow, I can't believe I didn't consider that aspect of teleportation! I'll have to jot that down when I get back to the castle."

Pummel said, "Now to finish him off!" He held Keldeo on his shoulder, like a bazooka. "Here comes the Cynthia Reversal!" He glanced at the confused faces. "Guess it's time for another story."



"Keldeo, no!" During our battle outside the former Sinnoh Champion's villa in the Unova region, Cynthia's Mega Garchomp had lured Keldeo into the air with Earthquake before striking him head-on with Fire Blast. "Come on, buddy, get up!"

Keldeo tried to get back on his feet, but to no avail. "I... can't... give up..."

Cynthia laughed. "So you're still standing, huh? I would show you mercy, but you have beat me before and claimed the title of Champion of the Sinnoh region. Garchomp, finish him with Dragon Rush!"

"Garharhar!" the Mach Pokemon guffawed, its entire being becoming cloaked in blue energy.

I watched in horror as Mega Garchomp began charging towards my best friend. "It wasn't supposed to come to this... No! I won't let it!" I sped over to Keldeo and tried to help him up. I'd forgotten how heavy a colt was until now; the first time I learned just how heavy my partner was happened back when we first worked together to beat Team Rocket, their Inkay's Psybeam having launched Keldeo towards me.

"Garchomp, stop! There's an innocent Trainer in your path!" Cynthia exclaimed, but her command was useless; Mega Evolved Pokemon only think about battling, with no regard to the safety of others.

Keldeo and I were about to meet our end, and by way of Dragon Rush... "Keldeo! You've helped me throughout this whole adventure, so it's my turn to return the favor. Follow my lead!"

I immediately took hold of Keldeo's water-like tail, causing him to gasp. "Wha... Oh, I think I get it. I just hope I can gather up the strength necessary..."

"I believe in you, buddy. That's all the strength you need." With that, I made my muscles work their hardest, and I was able to lift Keldeo off the ground. I began to swing my partner round and round, at which point he drew his Secret Sword. With the centripetal force created by my swinging Keldeo around, we were able to completely deflect Mega Garchomp's Dragon Rush. Yep, a Mega Dragon-type's Dragon Rush, deflected by a speed-powered Secret Sword.

"What?!" Cynthia exclaimed. "But how?!"

I stopped swinging my partner and held him in both my arms. "If I had to guess, it was our friendship. I will do anything to help my best friend. It's true: Friendship really is magic. Keldeo..." I hoisted Keldeo up onto my right shoulder, facing him towards the offending Dragon-type. "...fire at will."

Keldeo charged up a ball of energy in his mouth. "Haaaaaa..."



"...AAAAAAAHHHHHH!" Powered by the Bond Phenomenon, Keldeo's Focus Blast was now infused with fire, water, and electricity: a Phenomenal Blast. And it was twenty times larger than normal.

Tirek frowned as the giant energy ball soared right at him. "I feel like you genuinely hate me."

Pummel replied, "We do. That's why I unleashed the Keldeo Cannon."


Covered in ash, water, and a tingly feeling all over, the mighty centaur collapsed.

After a long pause, Pummel asked, "Lucario?"

Having returned to his regular form, Lucario replied, "He's still alive. Badly hurt, but alive."

The rest of the Mane 6 (except for Fluttershy) arrived on the scene. Applejack asked, "Are y'all okay?"

We nodded. "Pummel and Keldeo just hit Tirek with an oversized Phenomenal Blast," I explained. "That's the move that Twilight, Pinkie, Rainbow, and Button Mash countered in the Lor Starcutter, causing it to lose several Energy Spheres."

"That's mighty good to know, but why does Lord Tirek still seem to have a lil' magic in him? Ah know Ah saw Kirby bring Magolor into the Lor and release somethin' bright inside of it."

Amy sighed, "Delphie celebrated too early, and Tirek stole her magic, so now she can't use pyrokinesis."

"I'll get Kirby." Rainbow soared away before bringing Kirby back a few moments later, the hero back to his normal form. "Kirby, we got a little magic problem, and now Tirek has this fire fox's magic. Do her a solid and get her energy back from Tirek, okay?"

"Poyo?"

Lucario replied, "It appears that Kirby can only do that with the Hypernova Ability. We need an alternative."

"We'll give it a shot!" Cappy said.

Rarity said, "It's all yours, my fashion friend!"

"Oh, yeah! Let's-a go!" Mario threw Cappy at Tirek's head, and Mario Captured the centaur. "Here you go!" Mario/Tirek opened his mouth, returning the magic to Delphie.

Delphie laughed. "The fire mage is back!"

"Now to take care of business." I turned to Twilight. "Could you help us bring Tirek back to his cage in Tartarus?"

"Of course, Helix. Let's go. But first..." Twilight glanced at the puddle. "...what's up with that puddle of water? Was it just left over from Keldeo's spell?"

Keldeo glanced around nervously. "Heh heh, well... It wasn't left over from my spell. Let's just say I kind of, uh... lost control."

"Lost control?" Twilight walked over to the puddle, as did the other ponies and Spike.

Lucario warned, "No! You're walking towards a puddle of liquid waste!"

Hearing that was enough to make Rarity faint upon the realization of what she was so near to. Twilight turned back to Lucario with a suspicious look. "I'm sorry, did you just say...?"

"In other words, Keldeo... had an accident. To make it worse, it happened due to intense admiration."

"But don't look at me, everypony, it wasn't my fault!" Keldeo washed away the mess with his water-ejecting hooves. "I bet you'd soil yourself too if you discovered that the Doctor obtained a Pokemon that looked very similar to your royal sun princess!"

"A Pokemon that looks somewhat like Celestia?" Twilight asked.

I turned to Rotom. "Did you get a picture of Galarian Rapidash?"

"Better yet, I got two video clips: one of her first being sent out, and another of her being Dynamaxed!" Rotom rolled the clips for the ponies and Spike.

"You've got to admit, Keldeo has a point," Spike said. "But I heard Pummel after Galarian Rapidash did that Dynamax thing. What's up with that?"

Pummel rubbed the back of his head nervously. "Yeah, well, it's pretty tough to get me to lose face, but when Galarian Rapidash went Dynamax... Not even my training with Celestia and Luna prepared me for that, so I just bailed out on the gang. I'd better go and ask the princesses for more guidance."

As he left, I called to him, "Meet us over in Tartarus!"

Twilight asked, "Why would you have him meet us back there?"

I replied, "Not just him. All of you. I want you all to meet me in Tartarus so you can witness me making amends for a friend. And Twilight, be sure to bring some ink."

Bandana Dee's eyes opened wide as he quickly dashed away. "I almost forgot to tell the yaks about how Kirby and the gang beat Magolor and rescued him from the crown!"



Taking Tirek to his cage was easier than I perceived; Mario held on to Tirek's body and went inside the cage before un-Capturing him. Mario then tossed Cappy between the bars to Capture me, who was outside of the cage, before leaving my own body. "Wahoo!"

"Now for the amends. Bandana, Twilight, and Pummel should be here soon." I took out what was in my pocket: a folded-up piece of paper. "Tirek, you did something completely terrible. Because you almost destroyed some of our friends, we punched you, slammed you around, soaked you, put you on ice, and blasted you. You did something bad to us, we did something bad to you. That's how karma works."

Tirek snorted, "Yeah, so?"

"So it's time for you to discover good karma." I unfolded the paper and showed it to the centaur, causing him to raise an eyebrow. It was a doodle of various villains of Equestria, including Tirek and Queen Chrysalis. "This was created by the cause of your downfall, Kirby. Sure, he beat up Queen Chrysalis so hard that he launched her over the horizon, and sure, he took back all the energy you stole, but he holds no grudges. He was just being a hero, saving the day. If he held grudges, he would eat each and every one of the villains he met."

The centaur was growing impatient. "Would you hurry up and cut to the chase? If I die down here, I'd rather do it without being lectured about my bad deeds and about that pink abomination."

I put on an innocent face. "Really? What if I told you..."

At that moment, the Mane 6, Spike, Kirby, and everyone else who took part in the battle (except for Pummel and Bandana Dee) also came. Twilight asked, "What did you need this for?"

I dipped the end of my quill into the ink. "...that it would make Kirby's day if you signed this for him?"

My friends exclaimed, "Whaaaaaaaat?!" (Except for Roborygon; he prefers to follow social media trends and memes. "NANI?!")

Lucario turned to Kirby. "Is that so?!"

Eyes wide, Kirby nodded. "Poyo!"

Tirek asked, "You mean, like an autograph?"

I smiled. "Of course. You're the least likely out of all of Equestria's villains to annihilate us at your weakest, no offense. And I know you can't overcome your arrogant nature."

"Those are very good reasons for you to offer me such an opportunity..." He suddenly crossed his arms in defiance. "But I'm not gonna do it! I won't help you after you all kicked my butt!"

I said, "Final offer."

"...No!"

I walked away with a frown, quickly followed by the others. "You're no fun."

While walking away, I heard Tirek mutter, "Says the friend of a pink marshmallow who is an omnivorous genocidal maniac that has no magic whatsoever."

I swear I saw Kirby's eyes turn into fire as he looked back. "...Poyo?!"

We all rushed back to Tirek's cage. Surprisingly, the King was the one who supported Kirby first. "Listen up, you nasty monster! This here Kirby's the greatest hero around. He goes here and there clobberin' dark monsters that invade his home turf such as Dark Matter and Zero, but don't you go thinkin' he got no mercy on the ones who aren't all bad, like Taranza and Daroach. Ah may be Kirby's former enemy and current rival, but even Ah don't insult him as badly as you did! You're no better than the Nightmare!"

Tirek laughed, "Of course I'm not! Nightmare Moon used to be the princess of the moon but turned bad, and now she's good again. I've always been bad!"

King Dedede looked at Kirby. "Uh... should I tell him about the Nightmare Wizard?"

Kirby shook his head. "Poyo, poyo."

Lucario translated, "None of us know the true origin of the Nightmare, so we can't tell the full story." He stepped towards Tirek. "What he means to say is that you are the lowest of the low. Your heart is toxic, corrupted by darkness. Not even Necrodeus is as bad as you."

Tirek became nervous. "I have no idea who that is, but he sounds absolutely horrible. Did I really insult Kirby that badly?"

"Yes. To put things lightly, Kirby now wants to remove you from the show, but he knows that would drastically change its course."

Meta Knight replied, "Things can be arranged so that we won't have to worry about that. My Dialga can turn back the clock."

I glared at the fiend. "Tirek, you now have a choice: sign Kirby's autograph, apologize to him profusely, or lose your life over and over and over again. I'm warning you, we're incredibly powerful and can be brutal if needed. If we were evil, we would most definitely conquer Uranus."

Tirek whimpered while covering himself. "Eep! You monster..."

Suddenly, a tiny Discord teleported to my ear. "Hey! This is a family story! Do you want it to be removed?!"

I replied, "Relax, the little ones won't get the pun."

"What pun?"

"I was speaking of the seventh planet from the sun in our universe's solar system."

Discord took out a book and read it with classic 3-D glasses. "Hmm, let's see... Pokeverse, Kirbyverse, Sonicverse, Bizarroverse... Here it is! Hahaha, it's laying on its side just chilling out, without a care in the multiverse! I've got to come over to your universe sometime!"

Lucario looked back at Tirek. "Once again, you can apologize sincerely, sign the autograph, or repeatedly lose all your health."

Tirek began to sweat. "I don't think I'll ever be able to apologize enough to him, but--"

"But! There's always a but!" King Dedede growled. He then pounded Kirby flat before thrusting Kartana onto the flattened puffball's head. "Kirby, go clobbah dat dere monstah!"

"Poyo!/Lliw ylniatrec tsom ew." As Kartana finished speaking, Rotom notified me that they speak human, but in reverse. In other words, Kartana said, "We most certainly will."

Kirby brought Kartana's arms together, forming a sword, before taking on a serious pose.

"Okay, okay, I'm sorry for saying you don't have any magic! Before you slash me, though, can you at least tell me what your magic is?"

Lucario sneered. "Do it, Kirby. Not only does he not even know the source of your magic, but he isn't being sincere; he's only apologizing to avoid your wrath. If the Rainbow Power Beam couldn't teach him a lesson, then perhaps losing his life will."

SLASH

Kirby and Kartana were now on the other side of the cage, behind Tirek. "Friendship./Daed ydaerla era uoy (You are already dead)." Kirby moved the blade to his side, as if sheathing it. Need I even tell you what happened to Tirek?

Meta Knight said, "Dialga, use Roar of Time."

The diamond-studded temporal Pokemon bellowed to the sky. "ROOOOAAAAR!"



We had gone back to one minute before Tirek's demise. He said, "Wow, that was... weird."

Lucario exclaimed, "He doesn't seem to have learned his lesson, even by dying."

"That's because we brought him back by turning back the clock," I said. "Since we have to keep the show's timeline from changing, we'll have to turn back the clock every time we finish him. Maybe beating him up isn't the right way to take care of this problem..."

Kirby seemed taken by surprise. "Poyo?!" He then looked at his drawing. "...Oh!"

I looked at Kirby with a smile. "You've figured out what you've been doing wrong, haven't you?"

Kirby nodded. "Uh-huh!" He took his drawing and gave it to Tirek. "Here!"

Tirek looked the doodle over. "You're seriously going to let me keep this?"

"Yeah!"

"Hmm..." Tirek paused for a long moment before acting...

...

...

RIIIIIP! We watched in shock as he tore the picture in two.

RIIIIIP! And again.

RIIIIIP! And again. "This isn't worthy enough for me. You're a terrible artist, you lousy pink marshmallow from Tartarus!"

"...!" Kirby's mouth was agape. He could not believe what just happened. He thought that any villain could be turned into a friend with the power of harmony and friendship. Having witnessed his own act of friendship failing on a villain, Kirby suddenly pouted. "...Poy!"

"Gee, I'm sorry it didn't go quite as--whoa, what are you doing?!" Spike exclaimed in surprise as Kirby suddenly picked him up. The enraged pink demon squeezed the young dragon tightly, causing him to breath a stream of fire that completely incinerated the drawing, as well as leaving Tirek covered in ash. "...Did you really just burn your own drawing, Kirby?"

"Humph!" Kirby scoffed, refusing to answer Spike. After putting Spike down, Kirby stormed off in a fit of rage and frustration, leaving all of us dumbfounded.

Lucario turned to us. "It is very unlike Kirby to do something like this. As we all should know, when someone does something that's out of character for them, it's serious. When Kirby is headstrong on something, there is no stopping him. We can only wait for the phase to pass, until he's more amiable and ready to talk." We all agreed on that.

Pinkie Pie suggested, "Hey, since we beat Tirek again, how about we celebrate with a feast at the Hay Burger joint?"

Cappy looked at Pinkie in surprise before giving the rest of us a confused look. "She's kidding, right?"

I shook my head. "Leave it to Pinkie to lighten the mood. Besides, I think it's a good idea. It will give Kirby time to come to his senses."

"Okay, let's go!"

As the others left, I stayed behind to speak with the one who had offended Kirby. "Tirek, there's something you should know."

Tirek raised an eyebrow in curiosity. "What's that?"

I closed my eyes in disappointment as I turned my back to the centaur. "It's a beautiful day outside; the birds are singing, the flowers are blooming... On days like these, there's something that creatures like you should know..." Craning my head one hundred and eighty degrees back to him without moving my body, I opened my eyes, and they were as black as evil itself. "...There's a very special place here in Tartarus for you to be burning in."

I then shot the terrified Tirek with Sandacane at gunpoint before I turned my head back to where I was walking. I loosened my grip on the Reaper Cloth I held in my right pocket, my eyes returning to their normal color. If you really want to scare someone, do as I did: say something menacing and scary as you tightly grip a Reaper Cloth (which apparently not only increases the power of Ghost-type moves but also makes your eyes glow an eerie black).