Two-on-Two at Kirby's Dreamland!

The Goddess, Palutena, greeted every morning artfully. Rising from her luxurious, steam bath and wrapping herself in a downy white towel, she traversed the cloud-cover of her private dwelling and reached a resplendent standing wardrobe. Ordinarily, she'd grab her signature dress and either move on to her heavenly throne or else join the fields of the Smash tournament. Today, however, something stood out... her most recognizable dress was gone and ruined. She didn't even see the panties she'd been wearing yesterday. Had she thrown them out? "Whatever... I've been wearing white for eons. Today, I'm going to mix it up with pink. Pink for Kirby," she laughed to herself, trying to take her mind off of any jitters before her next challenge.

After the events of the previous night, Palutena could take some solace in today's match-up: she was teaming up with Metaknight to face off against Kirby and King Dedede in the Wispy Woods. Even with all of the happenings she'd observed- not to mention the little bit Pit had introduced her to in the name of reflex training- she didn't feel particularly worried. After all, this was Kirby! Everyone's favorite pink puff-ball! That little guy was friendly and cute as a button. Plus, this battle was taking place in Dreamland, a world full of cakes, lollipops, and dancing mushrooms. If she felt threatened there, she might as well go wait out the rest of the Smash tournament in the sky.

Also... Metaknight was a fine ally, garbed in his royal blue cape, stark silver mask, and wielding a wicked yellow sword. All of these would be pretty fetching on a full-height knight, but on him, they just looked cutesy, like everything in this place. "Greetings, my knight," Palutena introduced herself with a winsome smile, descending from the sky haloed in light. She took her place next to her ally, offering him her hand, as though suggesting he may kiss it to pledge his fealty. "Let's both give our best in this battle today."

Metaknight crossed his... arms... hands... gloves? Whatever they were, he crossed them, staring straight ahead with a standoffish coldness.

"Ooo, right... He's the cool type of creampuff," she reminded herself, growing slightly hungry as she found the place turning her mind to confectioneries of all types.

Speaking of hungry people, her opponents had arrived during her introduction. Most people thought of these two as mortal enemies. For that matter, King Dedede himself usually felt that way! However, they'd teamed up more often than not. Palutena wondered if some hint of strategy might lurk beyond that frankly adorable smile on Kirby's face. There was little more to say about him... he was round, he was pink, he was smiley, and he was cute. You'd never hear a strategy out of him, because he couldn't even talk. He was innocence incarnate, apart from near persistent gluttony!

Then there was King Dedede. If Kirby was innocent, he was the opposite: he wanted to take everybody's food just for the sake of hoarding it. He wanted to establish a hierarchy with him at the very top! The only thing that made him better than the Koopa King Bowser was that he didn't usually go for kidnappings. Other than that they were... well... pretty similar. He stood there, menacingly testing his hammer with a few practice swings while adjusting the belt around his bulbous penguin waist. As he did so, a rocket jet exploded out from the back of the hammer, causing him to spin the hammer around his body with dangerous ****. "I guess not everything in this place is cute..." she murmured to herself.

"Well, if nobody else is going to play strategist, it might as well be me. Let's come up with a game plan befitting a goddess..."