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And it came to pass in those days, after the Battle of Sudden Flame, and the ruin of much of Beleriand and the valiant fall of Fingolfin, that many of those who dwelled in Valinor who had heard the tidings from the outer world began once more to entreat the Valar to send aid across the sea. For even if the Noldor who had fallen under the Doom ought not to be aided, it was said, surely the others, the Sindar who loved and cared for Yavanna’s forests, the dwarves that were Aulë’s children, and the Edain who had done no wrong, deserved succour from the wrath of Morgoth.
These entreaties were delivered to the Valar, who sat long in counsel over them, for it was true that many of them were loath to abandon the aftercomers. Yet they were uncertain, for Valinor was their first charge, and furthermore, no war against Morgoth could proceed without causing destruction on a scale as vast as anything the enemy could create on his own and more.
Long the Valar pondered, until Ulmo, coming late to the council, proposed that a champion of some sort be selected and sent against Morgoth.
“For Fingolfin was but one of the Eldar,” he said, “and yet he dealt mighty strokes, and Melkor still sits licking his wounds from them. What might a greater being accomplish, against our foe who has bound himself to physical form forever, and must live with the consequences of it?”
At once, Tulkas volunteered, but Manwë restrained his ardor, for even a single one of the Valar stepping onto the shores of Beleriand would be taken by Morgoth as a challenge that necessitated the use of all the force he possessed. And then the Valar were troubled, for the next choice would have been to send a Maia, yet the ones most suited to the task would have been Arien and Tilion, who could not be pulled away from the sun and moon, and there were no others who could hope to confront Morgoth. And thus the council of the Valar ended, and they went away sorrowful.
Yet Varda sat long in thought, until she left Valinor and entered the heavens that were her domain. For in those days many other worlds there were among the stars, each with their own peoples and struggles, and Varda sought long and hard among them. At last, after long searching, she came to a world in the furthest reaches of the sky, fashioned after a star itself, with five points about it and two rings of light encircling it.
This world was small and obscure, and sat very close to the Void, and was thus often hard beset with foul and unnamable creatures of unfathomable darkness and power, surrounded always by danger and with few true warriors. And yet this world had peace and plenty no less than that of Valinor, for in it dwelt a champion whom no darkness could overcome and no peril could daunt, a singular creature, who afterwards in Arda was called Cerbí Elenillor, or Cûrhbe-En-Giliath by those of Thingol’s people; the enemy called them Carnisca-Rauco, and spoke the name with trembling.
It was this champion that Varda sought, and she brought many gifts, in the hopes that Cerbí might be persuaded to answer to the plight of Beleriand.
---
Kirby yawned and stretched as they rolled out of bed. The sun was shining through the window- it was another beautiful day on Planet Popstar. Not that there was ever really any other kind of day on Popstar, barring any attacks by Dark Matter beings or malevolent interstellar corporations, or, lately, interdimensional vortexes in the sky.
Speaking of which, maybe Kirby ought to drop by to say hi to Elfilin today. True, they had visited the forgotten world just the day before yesterday, but it was hard to visit your friends too often.
(Speaking of which, they really needed to come up with a better name for Elfilin and the Beast Pack’s home than ‘the forgotten world.’ Sadly, Kirby wasn’t very good with names.)
But then again, today didn’t feel like a day to make plans. Kirby was just going to wander out and see what happened. Maybe they could hang out with Gooey, or convince Dyna Blade to have a race, or find Meta Knight and ask him to come up with a name for the forgotten world. Lots of possibilities!
Breakfast first, though; Kirby rummaged through the cupboards until they found a Maxim Tomato to wolf down, then chased it with a whole melon before running outside, where Bandana Dee was waiting for them.
“Heya, Kirby! I was looking for you.”
“Poyo?”
“There’s this weird tall lady named Varda who dropped by asking about you. I guess she wants to ask if you can do her a favor? She says it’s important. Anyway, she set up a picnic down by Whispy’s clearing.”
Well, wasn’t that something? Kirby had just eaten, but that was hardly an obstacle to eating again. They had best go and see what that lady wanted.
---
And Varda feasted Cerbí with all the finest foods that Valinor had to offer, and spoke long of the plight of Beleriand and the evil of Morgoth, and entreated the champion for aid.
“For of all whom I have found, you alone have the strength to perhaps overcome him, and you are far enough from his notice that you might take him by surprise. I implore you, take up arms, and bring down this enemy for the sake of all worlds, as they say you did with Morilórë and Munta-Atta and Elen Lórë.”
And Cerbí pondered Varda’s words, and took counsel with their friends.
---
Well, Varda could certainly put on a spread. There was more than enough for everyone, even after Bandana Dee tagged along and brought a bunch of the other Waddle Dees. Meta Knight wound up coming too, though he took a while to size up Varda before sitting down to eat. Kirby made sure to save him all- okay, maybe half- of the sweet pastries. All the food was really good, too, and somehow really energizing.
Anyway, that Morgoth sure sounded like a bad guy.
“I dunno, Kirby.” Bandana Dee whispered. “It all sounds good, but what if Varda is like Magolor? She seems kinda funny.”
Kirby shook their head. Just because Magolor had tricked them all into helping when they shouldn’t have one time was no reason to stop helping people who asked. Where would that other world be now if Kirby had decided not to help Elfilin out of suspicion? Besides, things had worked out okay even in Magolor’s case.
On Kirby’s other side, Meta Knight raised a hand.
“I have heard of this Morgoth,” he said. “He is a terrible creature, who would bring everyone under his rule if he could. The galaxy would be better off without him. But he is a dangerous enem-”
Kirby didn’t bother listening to the rest of it. If Meta Knight said this guy was a real threat, that was enough for Kirby- they had wanted to help anyway.
Calling up a warp star, Kirby mounted up, got Varda to point out which of the stars in the sky was Arda and give directions to Morgoth’s fortress, and soared away.
---
The first that Beleriand knew of Cerbí’s coming was when a new star appeared in the sky. It was faint, and its onset was brief, but it streaked across the skies of the north like a comet before coming down and passing into the smoke-clouds that wreathed Angband. And all who saw it knew that it was a great omen, though whether for good or ill they could not say.
---
Right, this looked like the right planet. Okay, the main landmass, north of the big river, look for the cloud of smoke. There it was! Kirby dove right in, and as usual, misjudged the landing and crashed hard into the ground- only this time, the impact threw up a big cloud of dust.
Kirby staggered away, coughing. Even when the dust cloud faded, there was nothing around but more dust. Whole barren plains of the stuff stretched to the horizon in every direction. It was worse than any desert; something horrible had happened here.
Whatever it was, Morgoth must have had something to do with it. All the more reason to hurry up.
Kirby set their sights on the big mountain to the north and ran towards it, ready for the challenge.
---
And thus did Cerbí come to the plain of Anfauglith, and went northwards, seeking their foe. The orcs set to guard the plain could scarcely believe their eyes, and the little pink creature that ran their way seemed to them more likely to be a meal than a threat. Yet no sooner had they challenged Cerbí than they were overcome and consumed, for that was Cerbí’s power; to draw strength and skill from whatever they took into themself, and thus match the power of any foe they met. And so Cerbí went on, and passed through the gates of Angband.
---
Wow, Morgoth’s guys were not very good at all. At least Kirby had managed to get a Hammer ability out of them, and a few good whacks had been enough to knock the doors open just a crack. Now, where would Morgoth be hiding? Kirby had no idea, so they decided to just run around and break stuff until Morgoth came out. Lots of those, oh, what were they called again, orcs, yes, lots of orcs tried to stop Kirby, but none of them needed more than one whack with the hammer to go down. It was a couple minutes before someone tougher showed up; a big guy with a whip made of fire.
Kirby ran towards the fire guy. It struck out with its whip, but Kirby managed to dodge. Again and again it attacked, but it wasn’t hard to avoid. It was almost like the thing wasn’t used to having to actually try in a fight. Soon enough, Kirby was close enough to give the fire guy a big whack with the hammer, and it fell backwards, seeming almost shocked that the hit had actually hurt. The fire guy struck back, but Kirby dodged it, then started hitting again and again with the hammer, each blow staggering it long enough to wind up another one. Soon enough, there was nothing left of the fire guy but a pile of ashes and a wisp of flame.
Kirby dropped the Hammer ability and inhaled, hoping they were right about this. Sure enough, as soon as the ashes and flame were sucked down, Kirby felt a familiar warmth inside them, and an equally familiar warmth on top of their head.
The Fire ability was always good when you needed to wreck things, after all.
---
And with the power of a Balrog taken for themself, Cerbí went about the halls of Angband breathing flame, and all were driven before them, for Cerbí’s power was in the flames, and even other Balrogs could not bear them. And the soldiers of Morgoth were burned and fled, and Cerbí came unopposed to the great caverns under the fortress, where the thralls of Morgoth were kept.
---
The next area looked like… some sort of mine. Well, that made sense; they were underground. Kirby braced to breathe more fire, but none of the people here were attacking. Were they friendly?
Kirby looked more closely. These people didn’t look like Morgoth’s other minions- wait, were they all chained up? Oh no!
Kirby ran up to the closest one, but he cringed away when he saw the fire, so Kirby quickly spit out the ability. The poor guy managed to at least look at Kirby then.
“Poyo!”
“I…” the fellow winced. “I’m sorry, I don’t understand you.”
Kirby nodded, then looked at the chain that was holding the guy to the big stone next to him. It was thick and heavy, but it hadn’t been well taken care of, and one sharp blow was enough to break a weak link.
The man looked on in disbelief, and then a flicker of hope crossed his face. Kirby broke a few more people’s chains, and then whispers started to spread around the cavern, followed by shouts of joy.
Kirby had to get these people out of here before fighting Morgoth, because that fight was probably going to level this place. But how? Most of them looked sick or hurt, so there was no way they would make it across the plains of dust, or be able to hold onto a warp star long enough. But thinking about stars had given Kirby an idea- they called out to Elfilin.
In just a few seconds, the familiar star-shaped portal flickered open next to Kirby, and Elfilin came fluttering out.
“Hi, Kirby! You’re a long way from Popstar, huh? What’re you- oh my goodness!”
“Poyo!”
“You’re right, we do have to help them. This is horrible!” Elfilin flew back into the portal briefly to call out for help. “Leon, come quick!”
Within a few minutes, the poor prisoners were being evacuated to Elfilin’s world. It had taken some cajoling to get them to understand that the newcomers weren’t going to hurt them (Elfilin pushing hard to expand the portal a bit so everyone could see the residents of Waddle Dee Town rushing to prepare enough food and bandages and so on for everyone had helped), but now everyone was moving along quickly. Leongar and Clawroline- no, wait, Leon and Carol, now that they were free from Fecto Forgo’s influence- had taken charge of everything, and the Beast Pack were doing a great job. Kirby was glad they had managed to make friends with everyone after the dust had settled.
“Orcs!” someone screamed, pointing.
Kirby looked; more of Morgoth’s guys, coming down the tunnels towards them. Leon and Carol turned to face them, claws bared, but Kirby was ahead of them, sucking up a pile of mining tools for a Drill ability, then diving into the stone, drawing a great circle around the mass of orcs until the rocks exploded up around them and buried them.
Only a few orcs escaped to continue towards the fleeing prisoners, and the few of them that weren’t taken down by Carol’s knives at a distance fell to Leon’s mighty blows up close.
“Kirby,” said Leon.
“Poyo?”
“I imagine you are here to deal with whoever is responsible for,” Leon waved at the mines “all this.”
“Poyo.”
“Go, then. We can handle things here, and we’ll be quick about it.” Leon smiled. “I know better than most how fearsome your battles can get.”
“Tell me about it.” Carol muttered.
Kirby nodded, then ran off, determination stamped on their face.
“Good luck, Kirby!” Elfilin called as they left. “I know you can do it!”
---
Soon after, as the thralls of Angband were taken to safety, Cerbí came to the doors of Morgoth’s throne room, and drove away the guards. No great foe remained to bar the way, for Sauron was in the south and Gothmog still prowled near Himring, and so Cerbí broke down the doors and entered, alone and without any absorbed power(for they wished to be adaptable against whatever might lie within), and yet fearless and fearsome.
Now Morgoth had sat trembling on his throne up until then, for he had thought that the alarm in his fortress was due to some agent sent by the Valar (and right he was). But when Cerbí entered he laughed, for they seemed to him not terribly imposing. And Morgoth felt foolish for feeling afraid over such a creature, and resolved to crush Cerbí to avenge his humiliation.
And Morgoth took up his hammer, Grond, and struck a blow at Cerbí that crashed down like a thunderbolt. But Cerbí sprang aside, quicker even than valiant Fingolfin, and as the force of Morgoth’s blow threw up many solid stones, Cerbí consumed one, then spat it back at Morgoth, and lo!, it flew like a falling star, and struck Morgoth full in the chest with a blow like a giant’s club.
Enraged, Morgoth essayed to strike Cerbí again, to similar result. On and on they struggled, and Morgoth struck again and again, with hammer and fist and foot, and with the fire of his hatred and the lightning of his wrath, harder and harder until each blow fell with the force of an earthquake, and all of Angband trembled.
Long did Cerbí endure, longer than any mortal creature, and indeed longer than many immortal creatures could have, and they dodged many blows, and struck Morgoth many times. But in the end hope seemed to fade. For even Cerbí flagged eventually, and suffered several of Morgoth’s blows, though their stature belied their sturdiness, and they did not perish. And Cerbí’s own attacks pained Morgoth and enraged him, but were not enough to bring him down.
At great length, after all the throne room was leveled and pitted as if a war of gods had been fought there, Morgoth drove Cerbí into a corner, and prepared a blow that he hoped would be fatal.
But Cerbí was brave and unyielding, and opened their mouth to consume all that there was to consume, in the hope that something might aid, and a great wind filled the room, such that great boulders tumbled like leaves, and even Morgoth stumbled.
And his stumble was his downfall, for his crown fell from his brow, and the great force of Cerbí’s wind tore the Silmarils from their iron mountings, and they were taken in.
---
Wow! Kirby had mostly just been hoping to gather up a star bullet big enough to actually hurt Morgoth, but those gems on his crown were apparently more than just pretty and shiny. As soon as Kirby had swallowed them, all their aches and pains washed away, and wasn’t that a relief. Kirby didn’t think they had ever fought anyone this tough before. But now Kirby felt like they were full to bursting with light that wanted to break free, and it was beautiful.
It felt powerful, too, like wielding the Star Rod or the Ultra Sword. Kirby was glowing like a star without even trying, and they felt like they could handle anything. They hadn’t even done anything yet and Morgoth was already cringing away.
Kirby grinned. Time to teach this bully a lesson.
---
Fear thus overcame Morgoth, for the light and beauty of the Silmarils was magnified many times over when combined with the power of Cerbí, and even to look upon that light seared Morgoth’s flesh like fire.
Morgoth would have fled, but Cerbí was the faster, and bore him to the ground, and Cerbí’s touch burned like a star.
Then as a cornered rat Morgoth fought bitterly, but to no avail, for he was weary from long battle, and every blow that Cerbí struck carried all the power of the finest works of the finest craftsman to ever live, refined and concentrated by Cerbí’s own great power. At last Cerbí threw Morgoth down, and it was well that all the thralls had fled to safety by then, for Morgoth’s fall broke through the floor of his throne room, and all the rooms below it, until it shivered the very foundations of Angband, and the shock of it shattered the towers of Thangorodrim.
And with one last mighty blow, Cerbí hurled Morgoth into the void, and he was not seen again in Beleriand until the breaking of the world.
What hosts of Morgoth remained fled before the light of Cerbí and the Silmarils, which was strong enough to disperse even the reek of smoke that had hung in the air, and the orcs were dismayed and terrified as they fled, to the amazement of elves, men, and dwarves alike, and even the great lieutenants of Morgoth who survived went into hiding, and did not trouble the world again for many a year.
And as night fell, the stars shone down clearly upon the former lair of Morgoth for the first time in many years, and Cerbí danced for joy upon the ruins of Angband.
Of all of this, the peoples of Beleriand had known nothing, save a sudden feeling of relief and joy as Morgoth had passed, but the eagles of Manwë took swiftly to wing, and spread the joyous tidings to the furthest corners of the land, and all the peoples of Beleriand rejoiced, as did those of Valinor, when the news came to them in turn.
And the hosts of the Eldar and the dwarves and the Edain made haste for the field of battle, and there met Cerbí, now dimmed but no less glorious, and met also those who had been Morgoth’s prisoners, now free, and there were many reunions that had been thought to be beyond hope, and the joy of it all was beyond description.
For seven days and seven nights they feasted, and many songs were sung. Cerbí was named elf-friend and dwarf-friend and a hundred other noble things besides, and Fingon the High King vowed the eternal friendship of the Noldor with Cerbí and Cerbí’s people. Eventually the celebrations lasted long enough that even the energy of such unbridled joy passed, and all the people passed into the most fulfilling rest that they had ever had, and Cerbí departed for their own world.
---
Phew! That had been exhausting. It was very much worth it, though. So many people had been so happy! So many new friends! Kirby was very proud, and very happy to have been able to be so much help.
Arda was definitely getting added to the list of other worlds that were friendly, now. That list kept getting longer and longer, and wasn’t that nice. Lovely as other worlds might be, though, Kirby was always going to be happy to be back on Popstar.
Skidding on a warp star down into an unusually soft crash landing, Kirby stumbled into their house, curled up in bed, and slept long and peacefully, dreaming of picnics under the stars.