Epilogue

The sun was setting, and the Orange Ocean almost looked red beneath its rays. The water was still rippling madly from where a once-airborne vessel had crashed there. But only two stood at the shore to watch this.

As Cutter and Dagger stared out at the ocean, they found it hard to believe that the attack on the Halberd had not even lasted twenty-four hours. Months and months—maybe even years—of preparation had gone into planning this operation and building the Halberd, and yet it had failed so quickly after its launch…

But after what had happened, they were glad it was over.

"Hey guys..." Kirby said quietly as he approached the group. "Thanks for your help."

Dagger smiled faintly, and Cutter nodded, not turning around.

"We're lucky to have made it out of that all right," Kirby asked, indicating the rippling ocean, "huh?"

At that, Cutter flinched, looking down. "...N-not everyone m-made it out all right..."

Kirby thought about that for a moment, and bowed his head. "...Oh, you're right."

"Momma Blade-burd..."

The two nodded sadly.

"...Momma Blade-burd!"

Kirby and Cutter looked up in confusion when Dagger suddenly took off running across the beach. When they saw what he was running toward, they both looked at each other in surprise, wondering how they'd missed it.

Lying on the shore was the once-mighty bird, Dynablade. Her beautiful feathers were tarnished with blood and dirt, one wing was bent at the wrong angle, and she was not moving.

Cutter turned away and snapped his visor shut, not wanting to look at his fallen friend. Kirby, meanwhile, watched sadly as Dagger stood by the bird and dug through his pockets. "I don't think there's anything you can do for her..." he said softly.

Dagger was not listening. His eyes lit up, and he yanked a slightly-bruised—but still edible—Maxim Tomato out of his pocket. He held it into the air triumphantly and glanced over his shoulder, giving Kirby and Cutter a bright grin. "Trythis!" he cheered, rushing up to Dynablade's head. Her beak was partially open, and with a bit of work he managed to open it enough to fit the magical fruit in. Narrowing his eyes a bit in concentration, he shoved the tomato down her throat, and pulled his arm back, waiting.

At first, nothing happened, but slowly Dynablade's eyes opened. She carefully stood up, the broken halves of her wing bone cracking back into place as she did so. Looking over at her wing, she tested it, lifting it a little and moving it around. Seeing that it had completely healed, she squawked triumphantly, ducking down and nuzzling Dagger.

"Cutter!" Kirby shouted, turning around and shaking the Sir Kibble's shoulder guard. "Look! Mrs. Dynablade's all right!"

"She is...?" Cutter lifted his visor and turned around, starting when he saw the massive bird standing up straight. "Dynablade!"

But before they could say anything else, the bird reached out a wing and carefully brushed Dagger aside before flying up into the air...

What… what happened…?

On another part of the beach, a little Waddle Dee stirred and blinked awake. He sat up slowly, glancing around at the unfamiliar surroundings and wondering why something felt off. Suddenly he reached up to his head, not feeling what he was looking for. "M-my hat…!"

Before he could panic, a sailor cap was handed to him.

"…Oh, thanks!" he said, heaving a sigh of relief and setting the cap on his head. "There… Wait, huh?" Looking to his side, he saw a familiar masked face, and started. "S-Sir!"

Sir Meta Knight watched him carefully. Though he looked mostly calm, Sailor Dee could tell that he seemed rather tired.

"The… The Halberd…" The brown puffball looked back out into the Orange Ocean, his heart sinking. "It's gone…"

Meta Knight did not reply.

"Wh-what do we do now, Sir?" Sailor Dee asked, tears starting to sting at the corners of his eyes.

"Be eternally thankful that we are still alive." With that, the old knight turned around and began to walk away from the beach. He stopped after walking a ways, and glanced behind him. "Come along, sailor."

The Waddle Dee squeaked and rushed to follow his superior, but not before glancing back at a certain spot in the ocean one more time.

Meanwhile, someone else was leaving as well. Vul stomped away from the beach, shaking the sand off of his feet as he did so. "Stupid Meta Knight," he grumbled. "Stupid Sir Kibble... I knew I should've killed him when I got the chance! Ugh... If I was the one running that operation, things would have gone much better..."

He shoved his hands in his pockets, and grinned a little. "Well, at least one thing went right... I got to shoot down that stupid turkey."

As soon as he said that, he felt the wind start to pick up. He pulled his wings out of his pockets, using them to shield his face from the wind. But as the wind grew stronger, he had to fight to hold his ground. "What on Popstar...?"

But the wind stopped, and he heard a dull thud somewhere nearby. He was about to shrug it off as odd weather until he heard a threatening caw from behind him.

"S-so I guess that's it then, huh?"

"Yup, that's it."

"Yuu leave...?"

"Yeah, I need some rest, and I'll bet you guys do, too!"

"Y-yeah..."

"Buh-huh."

"Well, see ya, guys."

"...See ya."

"Bye!" Slurp!

"Heheh! Bye, Dagger."

Cutter and Dagger both waved goodbye as Kirby walked over to a parked Wheelie. The sentient motorcycle honked happily as Kirby hopped on, and drove off.

"Wh-what about you, Dagger?" Cutter asked, glancing down from where he sat on the Blade Knight's head. "You ready to go home, too?"

"Yah," Dagger said with a smile. With that, he began to march off in the direction of Green Greens.

"Y'know... I'm s-sorry for fighting with you l-like that earlier..."

"Isorry, too..."

"I'll never fight with you again. H-how's that sound?"

Dagger grinned. "'Kay."

With that, the two friends walked off as the sun finally dipped down beneath the waves of the Orange Ocean.

Suddenly, Cutter's eyes widened. "...Oh scrap!"

"Buh?"

"My old armor is still on that ship!"

"…Goget?"

"I… I think I'll pass."

Chapter 6: Sir Meta Knight << Previous