"My story starts decades ago. In the Pupupu Village. It had been a few years since I had vanquished Nightmare with the Star Rod. This is the story of how I became the monster, the demon beast, the shadow... the Galactic Knightmare."
— Kirby
The Galactic Knightmare
, originally published February 2013, is a fanfiction written by My5cookies based on the Kirby franchise, blending both the Kirby game and the Kirby anime universes. While the story is told as Kirby retelling the tale to Magolor and Ribbon aboard the Lor Starcutter, the majority of the fic takes place following Meta Knight. After an attack on Dreamland, Kirby is kidnapped by Marx and brought to Nightmare, who has resurrected himself once again, and Meta Knight must find a way to save him. Bringing together all of the allies he's known, from his own loyal knaves Blade Knight and Sword Knight, to the enthusiastic Bandana Dee and mysterious Magolor, he sets out to save Kirby from Nightmare's clutches. But Nightmare's plan seems to only be the tip of the iceberg, and Dreamland's peace may be threatened by more than just the dark wizard's scheme.
This fanfic provides examples of:
- Berserk Button:
- Marx's is being made fun of in any way about his lack of arms.
- Meta Knight is generally patient and level headed, but even the sight of Dark Meta Knight is enough for him to fly into a rage.
- Dark Meta Knight's is anyone implying that the Meta Knight we know is more real than he is. He nearly kills Marx for saying "Meta Knight" instead of "Light Meta Knight."
- Sir Arthur, both in the story and the anime, gets very rash at the mention of Nightmare. In the fic, he also has a hatred of betrayal and traitors, notably Yamikage.
- Yamikage himself despises being called traitorous to Nightmare, despite having betrayed the GSA himself.
- Big Bad: Nightmare. At least, as of the most recent update.
- Break the Cutie: Magolor receives one extremely suddenly in the mirror world, when he realizes the bag hanging from the tree contains the mirror world's King Dedede, having been publicly hung.
- He later receives a harsher one when he witnesses Kirby's tortured state. It only gets worse when Nightmare begin fusing Dark Meta Knight's soul with Kirby's in an incredibly painful display, and Marx giddily comments on how exciting it is. Later, Magolor is attacked by a Dark Matter drone and has to fight a being for control over his own body. And on top of all that, he's forced to witness his best friend in the world, Bandana Waddle Dee,
die in his arms. Ouch.
- He later receives a harsher one when he witnesses Kirby's tortured state. It only gets worse when Nightmare begin fusing Dark Meta Knight's soul with Kirby's in an incredibly painful display, and Marx giddily comments on how exciting it is. Later, Magolor is attacked by a Dark Matter drone and has to fight a being for control over his own body. And on top of all that, he's forced to witness his best friend in the world, Bandana Waddle Dee,
- A God Am I: Drawcia. Justified since the power she holds over the paint dimension arguably does make her worthy of god status.
- Alien Blood: Marx has black blood, thanks to the Dark Matter animating him. If he bleeds, it can even form from the blood to do his bidding or possess others.
- Art Initiates Life: Drawcia, as both an example of the trope and one who uses it, having created her entire painted world but was created by an unknown artist long ago.
- Back from the Dead: Nightmare apparently is incapable of truly dying, but he also had a hand in Marx and Dark Meta Knight returning as well.
- Dark Is Not Evil: Despite being called 'dark' to separate them from the main 'light' universe, the mirror world inhabitants aren't evil, though Dark Meta Knight is an obvious exception.
- Demonic Possession: This is a Kirby fic, after all. Dedede is forced to serve Marx thanks to Dark Matter, and many, many others are in the same situation. Dark Meta Knight trying to possess Kirby is a rare instance without Dark Matter involved.
- Fusion Dance: Nightmare and Dark Meta Knight shared a body for a time due to both having been killed previously. Later Nightmare tries to push Dark Meta Knight into Kirby's mind to possess him, but the resulting Galacta Knight seemed to have both their memories but isn't truly either of them.
- Hell Is That Noise: Marx's laugh can be considered this, since whenever it's heard, it means he's nearby, and things are about to get very violent.
- I Shall Taunt You: Magolor invokes this on Marx by asking the armless beast for a high five. This causes Marx to charge at him, letting him dodge and sending Marx crashing into Yamikage.
- Made of Evil: Nightmare is explicitly said to be the embodiment of darkness and evil in general, and he seems to replace Zero as the source of Dark Matter itself.
- Nice Guy: Chef Kawasaki. After Fumu and Bunnote lose their parents, Kawasaki goes out of his way to send four boxes of homemade food to the mayor's house, where they're staying. Not because he had to- just because it was the right thing to do.
- And when he delivers it to them, he refuses to accept the credit, instead saying the entire town decided to pitch in.
- Rhymes on a Dime: Drawcia speaks this way, though occasionally she fumbles in the delivery. If she stops speaking like this, it's generally a bad sign.
- Villain Episode: Occasionally, the fic will show events happening with Nightmare and Marx, used to either give the reader insight into the story or expand on the villains' characterization.
