Personal Sacrifice
Chapter. 4
When they are children, their summers are spent in lazy afternoons and warm sunny days. Playing, eating, and laughing.
Kirby kicks his legs on the bench and says something he cannot remember, looking over. A Dark Matter hovers right beside him, blue and yellow, two-eyed and floating close beside. This one, he knows, is his best friend. He doesn't even need to think about it.
You're special, he thinks. He says. You're my bestest friend ever.
Gooey grins at him and he knows Gooey is happy. Gooey is happy and trusts him lots, and Kirby is /his/ bestest friend too. He feels it. He doesn't have the words to explain it, but he knows and he feels.
Kirby thinks sometimes about them. He has friends, but Gooey is his /bestest/ friend. He even wonders if he loves Gooey more than his parents sometimes, and that's saying something! him and Gooey, Gooey and him. They're always together and always will be.
Gooey tilts his body, his big smile widening, and Kirby knows what Gooey is saying without even having to think about it. He knows it, just from the feeling in his mind. Gooey is going to protect him no matter what. Always and always, and Kirby grins right back as he repeats words aloud that he had never heard nor thought of.
Who cares if he's a Dark Matter. That's nothing. Gooey is Gooey, and they'll always be together, no matter what. He trusts him.
Always.
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"Gooey--!!"
Kirby sits up with a shout on his tongue, arm outstretched for a specter he can no longer see. Eyes wide, frantic, he stares, and it takes him a second to realize that--
--It was just a dream.
"I..."
As the pain starts to set in, he hears a frantic voice from off to the side and two figures usher their way into his view, one already working to press him back down to the bed. His parents both peer at him, eyes bright and worried, and he would have questioned their presence had the sudden bloom of /pain/ not made him lose his breath. Everywhere, everywhere--
"Kirby..."
"Gooey--"
Hoarse, it comes on the throes of dulled agony, and he lets himself be laid back down, mindful of his wings. It makes Meta sigh to see, and when he's sure Kirby is back down, he drags the chair closer and sits.
"You really shouldn't be moving, Kirby." It's a mutter, filled with worry and exasperation both. "You're lucky I managed to find you and bring you back to the hospital when I did. Broken ribs, sprained wings, legs, not to mention the amount of gashes on your arms..."
Kirby listens to him without a word, as if through something of a fog, letting the aches of pain work its way through his body. He recognizes this place now, he thinks. A stale white ceiling greets his eyes and he would know the smell of antiseptic anywhere at this point. A hospital...
"I..."
How long has he been here? Why are they here? Where did Gooey go... Gooey--
"Don't. Even think about it." Meta's voice is sharp, the kind that Kirby has only heard a very few times in his childhood. He barely even had to move for Meta to catch on. "You took a thrashing and you're not near healed yet, boy. You're staying /here,/ and you're not leaving for some time. Do you understand?"
"I-- No, Gooey..." He shakes his head, and when he makes to sit up, this time it's a focused effort, pushing through the pain, ignoring how his bandages constrict and the wind squeezes out of his lungs. It's nothing. It's nothing... "Gooey...needs me. He needs help, dad, he--"
"Do you think I /care/ what he needs?"
Kirby jerks, stunned. Mouth open and silent.
Meta pauses and takes a deep, slow breath, eyes closing. When they open next, there is a hardness to them that Kirby has not seen before. Whatever he is feeling, Kirby will not know.
"How do you think I felt when I found you on the ground in a puddle of your own blood, looking like you were dead? How do you think a father would feel?" His stare makes something crawl in Kirby's stomach. He doesn't respond. "Gooey did this, Kirby. /Gooey/ did this. He's the one who left you to die. And you didn't fight back, either, did you? I saw those wounds. You defended yourself. And that was all.
"Kirby, you need to understand. That isn't your Guardian. Not anymore. Gooey is a Dark Matter. He's corrupted. And you still want to go and find him?"
He takes another breath, holding his hand up before Kirby could have a chance to retort. His brow is pinched, his eyes narrowed, not quite looking at Kirby as something turns in his mind. When he next looks, something is dark. Resolute.
"No. You're not going after him again. I forbid it. And if I have to fight you to stay down? I will."
Kirby...can't believe what he's hearing.
"You..." His voice cracks, the weight in his stomach twisting into a bubbling that burns tight in his chest, begging for release. "You can't /do/ that. Gooey was being /controlled/! He needs /help/! How dare you say he isn't my Guardian anymore, and how /dare/ you try to /keep me here!/!" It's the fire of an enraged Warrior that burns, the rage of a Warrior of legend fights for release. How dare he. How /dare/ he.
His father doesn't flinch. Just stands and takes one step before Kirby cries out and near crumples at the sudden burn of agony on his wing where the other has gripped it at the bone, tight enough to make it creak, or at least Kirby likes to think so.
"Do you think you can take me in this state? Do you think you could take Gooey, when you couldn't defeat him at full health? You can barely even move, and I'm not going to let you get yourself hurt more than you already are."
"Meta. Release him."
His mother, as quiet and observant as ever, steps further into view, brow furrowed but otherwise next to unreadable. Meta turns his head with a frown pulling at his lips, and Kirby twitches a bit at the way Meta squeezes just a bit as if in defiance.
"No. Listen to him, Kes. If I have to hold him like this for him to get it through his thick skull to stay put, or if I need him /sedated/, then that's what I'll do. He's just going to get up. You know that." Something in his expression twitches, a sneer if there ever was one, whether at Kirby or himself, hard to say. "I'm not going to take the blame if Kirby gets himself killed fighting an impossible."
The way those two lock eyes, hardened steel and freezing ice, makes Kirby swallow. Caught between a blizzard and a blade, he marvels, half awed and half intimidated, at the way the two seem to be /fighting/ for once. In as subtle a manner as those two can be. It's...not something he's ever seen before.
But pain pings up his wing again, jerks him back to reality, and he grimaces before jerking his wing in Meta's grip in one violent motion, barely wincing at the burning that comes with it. "This is stupid. Would you be like this if it were your Guardian Margalo? Would you leave her to die? Your friends? Mom? /Tulok/?"
Kirby feels the sting of tears in his eyes. He doesn't care, squeezes them shut and lets them fall.
"You don't get it. I'd rather die trying to save him than just /leave/ him there. He would've done the same for me, he /has/ done the same! There's nothing you can do that'll stop me." And he glares, as fiercely as he can, because his father will not stop him even if the man tries to break every bone in his body. "I made a promise I would always be there for him and I'm going to keep it. And if that means I need to fight you, mom, and everyone in this hospital, then so be it."
Meta's expression doesn't even twitch. Still, his hand loosens, and Kirby can't help letting out a breath of relief when he finally lets go. He watches as his father steps back, taking a pointed glance at Kes before he leaves in short order. Going to find someone to restrain him. Sedate him, probably.
And then, it's just he and his mother.
Kirby hadn't been bluffing. He knew he would do whatever it took to get out of here and find Gooey, even if it meant fighting his loved ones. But now, with his mother right there, some part of him quails at the idea. She's strong, he knows, as strong as Meta with the power of ice and snowstorms at her fingertips. She could freeze him before he could even blink.
He wouldn't be able to outrun it, but that means he would need to fight her head-on and knock her out. No matter what he's willing to do, it hurts his heart to even think about, because it's his mother. How can he do that to her, of all people...?
"Kirby."
His mother draws him out of his thoughts, and when he looks she's gazing at him with a pensive expression on her face. She's uncharacteristically serious, and something about it makes him sit up straight for all the pain it causes.
For a moment, she's quiet. And then, softly, she asks, "How much are you willing to sacrifice to save Gooey?"
And Kirby feels his breath leave him, heart fluttering.
She's...letting him go?
Kirby thinks about it. About Gooey, and all of their time spent together. Laughing and playing as children, fighting and defending the planet side by side as adults. Together, forever and always. "Everything." He says, and he means it.
Her face pinches, just for a moment, and he knows she feels pain. "You may not return from this," She says, "We won't be there to protect you this time."
"I understand."
And she sighs, a longwinded thing that blows cool air into the room, before she turns to reach behind her. As he sits up straighter, he sees, hears her grab something, and when she faces him once more, Galaxia's blade shines golden and bright before him.
"That's..."
Kes hands it over wordlessly, and he takes it with a marveling gaze, caught in its splendor even after these many years. After everything, it still has not a scratch, and he turns it in his hands as if to make certain before sliding his palm down to grip the hilt tight. Comfortable. Familiar. An extension of himself.
He gets up. Slowly, mindful of his many bandages, setting Galaxia down, shuffling over to his mother. When he hugs her, possibly for the last time in his life, it's with as much strength as his arms can summon, despite the pain, despite everything that shrieks at him for the strain on his muscles.
"I love you, mom," He whispers, and his voice trembles with the sincerity of it. Or maybe that's him trying to hold back the urge to cry. "I love you so much. I... Thank you. I can't thank you enough..."
No matter how much he says it, he never could.
He feels her hug back fiercely, enough to knock the wind out of him, and hears her sigh from his place buried in her hair. He thinks he can hear her crying, just a bit. "It's a decision everyone has to make at some point, my son," Comes her murmur from somewhere against him. "A life-changing decision that affects themselves and everyone around them. It's part of growing."
She takes a breath, and lets it out slow. "If this is what you truly want, I won't stop you." And Kirby hurts at just how /pained/ she sounds, how close she sounds to breaking down. This strong woman, reduced to tears. It's...humbling.
It makes it so hard to actually leave when the time comes, leaving his mother behind, leaving everyone, and he can't help but pause at the window as everyone flits through his mind. His parents, his cousins, his friends...his little brother, he'd never be able to say /goodbye/...
Kirby thinks, and hesitates. But he knows what he has to do, and he couldn't stop no matter how his heart aches. So he leaves, spreads his wings and takes off like a bird given freedom and flight, out into the skies above.
It hurts. It hurts so much it makes him want to throw up, but still he forces himself to flap, taking one moment to just orient himself in the air and settle himself down before pushing forward. From this angle he can just barely see his mother at the window, frown on her face and gaze cloudy. While it makes Kirby frown to see, he's quick to try and grin as reassuringly as he can with a wave of his hand. He doesn't want her to see her son leave in poor spirits.
And then, it's time. Now or never.
He sets off.
Kirby knows he isn't in the best state. Gooey could lay a clean hit on him and he would go down like wet paper. But it isn't going to stop him. He made a promise, and he's going to fulfill that promise if it kills him. And he needs to /hurry/, because already, he can feel Gooey's presence starting to fade, consumed by that parasite that has his mind in a stranglehold.
It reeks of evil. And Gooey is all alone.
Kirby feels pain, sharp and jabbing, deep in his side, in his wing, and while he winces he pays it no mind, just pushes himself to move faster. Doesn't matter, he thinks. Gooey needs him, and if he doesn't get there soon, Gooey's going to face a fate that Kirby can't bear to think about. He's not going to let Gooey face this alone. And, as he strains his wings to go just a bit faster, he's not going to let Meta /catch/ him before he can save him.
He's not slowing down.
--------------------------------------------------------------
Eventually, as evening gives way to night and Kirby's vision starts to go black, he arrives.
It's as the same place where they had their fateful battle, just some hours ago, or days, depending on who he asks. Orange Ocean is nothing more than a black sea, moon glittering overhead, and in its light he sees the spatters of blood and torn dirt where Gooey had given him the biggest thrashing of his life.
He walks - limps - his way past the sight with nary a glance, making his way to a cavern that he hadn't bothered to notice during his first visit. It's barely much of a cavern, nestled within the hills like it had been carved deliberately. It's dark. So dark he can't see anything at all, but he feels him, his other half. Lingering, deep inside.
Gooey...is in there. Or, not exactly in, but more like he's nearby, but far away. And he knows, then, that this cavern leads somewhere that isn't Pop Star at all. A portal, he thinks.
And along with him, he feels it. That plague that had been causing his other half so much trouble.
Darkness. Void. /Evil/. So potent it makes his mind shriek, in the way only an age-old enemy of the Star Warriors can. But it's...familiar, now that he's close enough to sense it.
Dark Matter yes. But a familiar one. An old enemy that he'd fought, that he thought he'd /defeated/, many years ago.
He won't be able to turn back when he steps forward. He won't be on Pop Star, or even this dimension, if he keeps going. And nobody will be able to save him this time.
With his hand on Galaxia's hilt, a deep breath in his lungs, he starts forward, steps true. Jumps.
And vanishes into the dark.
Kirby kicks his legs on the bench and says something he cannot remember, looking over. A Dark Matter hovers right beside him, blue and yellow, two-eyed and floating close beside. This one, he knows, is his best friend. He doesn't even need to think about it.
You're special, he thinks. He says. You're my bestest friend ever.
Gooey grins at him and he knows Gooey is happy. Gooey is happy and trusts him lots, and Kirby is /his/ bestest friend too. He feels it. He doesn't have the words to explain it, but he knows and he feels.
Kirby thinks sometimes about them. He has friends, but Gooey is his /bestest/ friend. He even wonders if he loves Gooey more than his parents sometimes, and that's saying something! him and Gooey, Gooey and him. They're always together and always will be.
Gooey tilts his body, his big smile widening, and Kirby knows what Gooey is saying without even having to think about it. He knows it, just from the feeling in his mind. Gooey is going to protect him no matter what. Always and always, and Kirby grins right back as he repeats words aloud that he had never heard nor thought of.
Who cares if he's a Dark Matter. That's nothing. Gooey is Gooey, and they'll always be together, no matter what. He trusts him.
Always.
--------------------------------------------------------------
"Gooey--!!"
Kirby sits up with a shout on his tongue, arm outstretched for a specter he can no longer see. Eyes wide, frantic, he stares, and it takes him a second to realize that--
--It was just a dream.
"I..."
As the pain starts to set in, he hears a frantic voice from off to the side and two figures usher their way into his view, one already working to press him back down to the bed. His parents both peer at him, eyes bright and worried, and he would have questioned their presence had the sudden bloom of /pain/ not made him lose his breath. Everywhere, everywhere--
"Kirby..."
"Gooey--"
Hoarse, it comes on the throes of dulled agony, and he lets himself be laid back down, mindful of his wings. It makes Meta sigh to see, and when he's sure Kirby is back down, he drags the chair closer and sits.
"You really shouldn't be moving, Kirby." It's a mutter, filled with worry and exasperation both. "You're lucky I managed to find you and bring you back to the hospital when I did. Broken ribs, sprained wings, legs, not to mention the amount of gashes on your arms..."
Kirby listens to him without a word, as if through something of a fog, letting the aches of pain work its way through his body. He recognizes this place now, he thinks. A stale white ceiling greets his eyes and he would know the smell of antiseptic anywhere at this point. A hospital...
"I..."
How long has he been here? Why are they here? Where did Gooey go... Gooey--
"Don't. Even think about it." Meta's voice is sharp, the kind that Kirby has only heard a very few times in his childhood. He barely even had to move for Meta to catch on. "You took a thrashing and you're not near healed yet, boy. You're staying /here,/ and you're not leaving for some time. Do you understand?"
"I-- No, Gooey..." He shakes his head, and when he makes to sit up, this time it's a focused effort, pushing through the pain, ignoring how his bandages constrict and the wind squeezes out of his lungs. It's nothing. It's nothing... "Gooey...needs me. He needs help, dad, he--"
"Do you think I /care/ what he needs?"
Kirby jerks, stunned. Mouth open and silent.
Meta pauses and takes a deep, slow breath, eyes closing. When they open next, there is a hardness to them that Kirby has not seen before. Whatever he is feeling, Kirby will not know.
"How do you think I felt when I found you on the ground in a puddle of your own blood, looking like you were dead? How do you think a father would feel?" His stare makes something crawl in Kirby's stomach. He doesn't respond. "Gooey did this, Kirby. /Gooey/ did this. He's the one who left you to die. And you didn't fight back, either, did you? I saw those wounds. You defended yourself. And that was all.
"Kirby, you need to understand. That isn't your Guardian. Not anymore. Gooey is a Dark Matter. He's corrupted. And you still want to go and find him?"
He takes another breath, holding his hand up before Kirby could have a chance to retort. His brow is pinched, his eyes narrowed, not quite looking at Kirby as something turns in his mind. When he next looks, something is dark. Resolute.
"No. You're not going after him again. I forbid it. And if I have to fight you to stay down? I will."
Kirby...can't believe what he's hearing.
"You..." His voice cracks, the weight in his stomach twisting into a bubbling that burns tight in his chest, begging for release. "You can't /do/ that. Gooey was being /controlled/! He needs /help/! How dare you say he isn't my Guardian anymore, and how /dare/ you try to /keep me here!/!" It's the fire of an enraged Warrior that burns, the rage of a Warrior of legend fights for release. How dare he. How /dare/ he.
His father doesn't flinch. Just stands and takes one step before Kirby cries out and near crumples at the sudden burn of agony on his wing where the other has gripped it at the bone, tight enough to make it creak, or at least Kirby likes to think so.
"Do you think you can take me in this state? Do you think you could take Gooey, when you couldn't defeat him at full health? You can barely even move, and I'm not going to let you get yourself hurt more than you already are."
"Meta. Release him."
His mother, as quiet and observant as ever, steps further into view, brow furrowed but otherwise next to unreadable. Meta turns his head with a frown pulling at his lips, and Kirby twitches a bit at the way Meta squeezes just a bit as if in defiance.
"No. Listen to him, Kes. If I have to hold him like this for him to get it through his thick skull to stay put, or if I need him /sedated/, then that's what I'll do. He's just going to get up. You know that." Something in his expression twitches, a sneer if there ever was one, whether at Kirby or himself, hard to say. "I'm not going to take the blame if Kirby gets himself killed fighting an impossible."
The way those two lock eyes, hardened steel and freezing ice, makes Kirby swallow. Caught between a blizzard and a blade, he marvels, half awed and half intimidated, at the way the two seem to be /fighting/ for once. In as subtle a manner as those two can be. It's...not something he's ever seen before.
But pain pings up his wing again, jerks him back to reality, and he grimaces before jerking his wing in Meta's grip in one violent motion, barely wincing at the burning that comes with it. "This is stupid. Would you be like this if it were your Guardian Margalo? Would you leave her to die? Your friends? Mom? /Tulok/?"
Kirby feels the sting of tears in his eyes. He doesn't care, squeezes them shut and lets them fall.
"You don't get it. I'd rather die trying to save him than just /leave/ him there. He would've done the same for me, he /has/ done the same! There's nothing you can do that'll stop me." And he glares, as fiercely as he can, because his father will not stop him even if the man tries to break every bone in his body. "I made a promise I would always be there for him and I'm going to keep it. And if that means I need to fight you, mom, and everyone in this hospital, then so be it."
Meta's expression doesn't even twitch. Still, his hand loosens, and Kirby can't help letting out a breath of relief when he finally lets go. He watches as his father steps back, taking a pointed glance at Kes before he leaves in short order. Going to find someone to restrain him. Sedate him, probably.
And then, it's just he and his mother.
Kirby hadn't been bluffing. He knew he would do whatever it took to get out of here and find Gooey, even if it meant fighting his loved ones. But now, with his mother right there, some part of him quails at the idea. She's strong, he knows, as strong as Meta with the power of ice and snowstorms at her fingertips. She could freeze him before he could even blink.
He wouldn't be able to outrun it, but that means he would need to fight her head-on and knock her out. No matter what he's willing to do, it hurts his heart to even think about, because it's his mother. How can he do that to her, of all people...?
"Kirby."
His mother draws him out of his thoughts, and when he looks she's gazing at him with a pensive expression on her face. She's uncharacteristically serious, and something about it makes him sit up straight for all the pain it causes.
For a moment, she's quiet. And then, softly, she asks, "How much are you willing to sacrifice to save Gooey?"
And Kirby feels his breath leave him, heart fluttering.
She's...letting him go?
Kirby thinks about it. About Gooey, and all of their time spent together. Laughing and playing as children, fighting and defending the planet side by side as adults. Together, forever and always. "Everything." He says, and he means it.
Her face pinches, just for a moment, and he knows she feels pain. "You may not return from this," She says, "We won't be there to protect you this time."
"I understand."
And she sighs, a longwinded thing that blows cool air into the room, before she turns to reach behind her. As he sits up straighter, he sees, hears her grab something, and when she faces him once more, Galaxia's blade shines golden and bright before him.
"That's..."
Kes hands it over wordlessly, and he takes it with a marveling gaze, caught in its splendor even after these many years. After everything, it still has not a scratch, and he turns it in his hands as if to make certain before sliding his palm down to grip the hilt tight. Comfortable. Familiar. An extension of himself.
He gets up. Slowly, mindful of his many bandages, setting Galaxia down, shuffling over to his mother. When he hugs her, possibly for the last time in his life, it's with as much strength as his arms can summon, despite the pain, despite everything that shrieks at him for the strain on his muscles.
"I love you, mom," He whispers, and his voice trembles with the sincerity of it. Or maybe that's him trying to hold back the urge to cry. "I love you so much. I... Thank you. I can't thank you enough..."
No matter how much he says it, he never could.
He feels her hug back fiercely, enough to knock the wind out of him, and hears her sigh from his place buried in her hair. He thinks he can hear her crying, just a bit. "It's a decision everyone has to make at some point, my son," Comes her murmur from somewhere against him. "A life-changing decision that affects themselves and everyone around them. It's part of growing."
She takes a breath, and lets it out slow. "If this is what you truly want, I won't stop you." And Kirby hurts at just how /pained/ she sounds, how close she sounds to breaking down. This strong woman, reduced to tears. It's...humbling.
It makes it so hard to actually leave when the time comes, leaving his mother behind, leaving everyone, and he can't help but pause at the window as everyone flits through his mind. His parents, his cousins, his friends...his little brother, he'd never be able to say /goodbye/...
Kirby thinks, and hesitates. But he knows what he has to do, and he couldn't stop no matter how his heart aches. So he leaves, spreads his wings and takes off like a bird given freedom and flight, out into the skies above.
It hurts. It hurts so much it makes him want to throw up, but still he forces himself to flap, taking one moment to just orient himself in the air and settle himself down before pushing forward. From this angle he can just barely see his mother at the window, frown on her face and gaze cloudy. While it makes Kirby frown to see, he's quick to try and grin as reassuringly as he can with a wave of his hand. He doesn't want her to see her son leave in poor spirits.
And then, it's time. Now or never.
He sets off.
Kirby knows he isn't in the best state. Gooey could lay a clean hit on him and he would go down like wet paper. But it isn't going to stop him. He made a promise, and he's going to fulfill that promise if it kills him. And he needs to /hurry/, because already, he can feel Gooey's presence starting to fade, consumed by that parasite that has his mind in a stranglehold.
It reeks of evil. And Gooey is all alone.
Kirby feels pain, sharp and jabbing, deep in his side, in his wing, and while he winces he pays it no mind, just pushes himself to move faster. Doesn't matter, he thinks. Gooey needs him, and if he doesn't get there soon, Gooey's going to face a fate that Kirby can't bear to think about. He's not going to let Gooey face this alone. And, as he strains his wings to go just a bit faster, he's not going to let Meta /catch/ him before he can save him.
He's not slowing down.
--------------------------------------------------------------
Eventually, as evening gives way to night and Kirby's vision starts to go black, he arrives.
It's as the same place where they had their fateful battle, just some hours ago, or days, depending on who he asks. Orange Ocean is nothing more than a black sea, moon glittering overhead, and in its light he sees the spatters of blood and torn dirt where Gooey had given him the biggest thrashing of his life.
He walks - limps - his way past the sight with nary a glance, making his way to a cavern that he hadn't bothered to notice during his first visit. It's barely much of a cavern, nestled within the hills like it had been carved deliberately. It's dark. So dark he can't see anything at all, but he feels him, his other half. Lingering, deep inside.
Gooey...is in there. Or, not exactly in, but more like he's nearby, but far away. And he knows, then, that this cavern leads somewhere that isn't Pop Star at all. A portal, he thinks.
And along with him, he feels it. That plague that had been causing his other half so much trouble.
Darkness. Void. /Evil/. So potent it makes his mind shriek, in the way only an age-old enemy of the Star Warriors can. But it's...familiar, now that he's close enough to sense it.
Dark Matter yes. But a familiar one. An old enemy that he'd fought, that he thought he'd /defeated/, many years ago.
He won't be able to turn back when he steps forward. He won't be on Pop Star, or even this dimension, if he keeps going. And nobody will be able to save him this time.
With his hand on Galaxia's hilt, a deep breath in his lungs, he starts forward, steps true. Jumps.
And vanishes into the dark.
-End Chapter 3-
<< Chapter 3 | Chapter 5 >>
Artist Comment:
Date: N/A
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Date: N/A
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Species © Nintendo/ HAL Laboratory
Interpreted characters created from said species © Rhylem
Interpreted characters created from said species © Rhylem