Only a few fluffy white clouds
marked an otherwise clear sky that day, the air filled with
laughter and music. Colorful streamers and banners were strung
up across the village, and vendors sold all manner of snacks and
toys. There was even a small carnival set up in the fields right
outside, using the equipment King Dedede had once had in his
castle.
There was no prank this time. The
king still liked to make mischief, though he didn’t order
demon beasts anymore. Instead, this day marked the third
anniversary of Kirby’s arrival, and also fell close to the
first anniversary of the defeat of Nightmare at his hands.
Since then, Dreamland had been
pleasantly demon free. For the little Star Warrior this day
honored, there was nothing left to fight. And for the first time
in 10,000 years, the universe seemed at peace.
For the one standing high on a
tree branch, watching the proceedings with a somewhat interested
gaze, it was the first time in a very, very long time that he
could actually relax. There was no need to keep a constant vigil
over Kirby, as there was no longer anything to threaten him. He
hoped so, anyhow.
Sir Meta Knight watched as a
group of Cappy children ran by beneath him, clutching colorful
balloons. In the back of his mind, he knew- peace rarely lasted
long. You toppled one evil dictator only to have another, even
worse, take its place. A 10,000-year reign such as Nightmare’s
didn’t vanish as quickly as its leader had.
He wished he had been there to
see Kirby’s battle. Kirby, who had been rushed into fighting
though he was just a small child. It was so much for one person’s
shoulders, but he carried himself better than many seasoned
warriors Meta Knight had known. Thankfully it had been easy for
him to adjust and go back to playing as a child should.
Things weren’t perfect of
course. King Dedede was still a slight nuisance from time to
time. Meta Knight had yet to understand why the people of the
village tolerated him. They were far too passive and gullible-
and frankly, stupid- for their own good. If it hadn’t been for
Kirby, it wasn’t likely they’d all still be around. Nor
would anyone else, for that matter.
And suddenly, Meta Knight’s
view was filled with pink. He’d been so lost in his thoughts
he hadn’t noticed the balloon float up- No, not just a
balloon. This one had a face.
“Poyo!”
“Kirby. What are you doing?”
he asked, looking over as Kirby landed next to him, exhaling and
deflating slightly. “Shouldn’t you be out enjoying yourself?”
Kirby shook his head. “Meta
look lonely,” he said matter-of-factly. Kirby had made a huge
amount of progress with his speaking in the past year. Sometimes
he’d still digress back into ‘poyos’, though that was a
language in itself that only few understood.
“I’m not, I assure you. Go on
now…” He motioned toward the carnival.
“Poy…” Kirby sounded
annoyed. He then opened his mouth, reached inside… and pulled
out a candy apple on a stick, which he then offered to Meta
Knight. He was smiling brightly.
Meta Knight stared for a moment.
“I really don’t…” Kirby’s face fell. Meta Knight
sighed and accepted it. “Thank you…”
“Come on rides!” Kirby
exclaimed, tugging on his cape. “Rides! Now! Poyopoy!”
Meta Knight resisted easily as
Kirby attempted to pull him off the branch. “Kirby, please, I
don’t want to go on the rides.”
Kirby paused. “…Play games?”
“No thank you. Look, Bun’s
over there, he’s probably looking for you.” He pointed to
where the shaggy haired boy was heading towards the ferris
wheel.
Meta Knight, in truth, had mixed
feeling about Kirby. There was the fact Kirby was a legendary
Warrior destined to save the universe. On the other hand, Kirby
was also a small child, with many of the rather annoying habits
small children had. Truth be told, Meta Knight didn’t really
like kids. But, he was a patient soul if anything.
Kirby deflated a bit more,
looking defeated. Meta Knight thought for a moment.
“Fine, if you’d really like
to do something… Later I’ll give you some sword fighting
lessons. Would that be suitable?”
Kirby smiled, jumping on the
branch. “Poyoyes!”
Another voice rang out from the
bottom of the tree. “Kirby! Leave Sir Meta Knight alone!”
Kirby promptly lost his balance and fell, landing on Fumu’s
head and bouncing off.
“Sowwy Fumu…”
“It’s all right; you’re
soft.” Fumu patted him on the head, laughing. “Bun and Hohhe
are going on the ferris wheel, they wanted you to go too!”
“Yay poyo!” Kirby cheered,
running off towards the rides without another thought. Fumu
watched him leave and shook her head. She was carrying a stick
of cotton candy and a plush sheep she’d won at a game.
“Was he bothering you again?”
Fumu asked, grinning up at Meta Knight.
“You could say that…” Meta
Knight looked at the candy apple in his hand, not quite sure
what to do with it. Shrugging, he lifted his mask slightly,
sticking the apple under. This was followed by audible sounds of
crunching. He tossed the bare stick aside, right into a nearby
trashcan. He noticed Fumu was looking at him rather strangely.
“…What,” he said flatly.
“Er, nothing… So are you
going to be up there watching all day? Even Sword and Blade are
having fun!” She pointed over to a target game of some sort
where the two of them seemed to be trying to win the highest
prize- a Meta Knight plushie.
“…I don’t remember giving
them permission to use my likeness.” Meta Knight muttered. He
shook his head. “Perhaps later.”
She sighed. “Well, it’s not
like you have anything else to do, right?”
He actually laughed at that. “Oh,
it’s really better that way you know. If I had anything to do,
that would mean there was something dangerous I needed to
protect you from, correct?”
“I guess so…” She sighed
again. “All right then… See you around,” she waved,
walking off to meet up with a friend.
Meta Knight sat down against the
tree trunk, closing his eyes. He was a little tired, maybe a
short nap. It was too noisy here to really concentrate, but that
was what he wanted.
When the screaming started a few
moments later, he wasn’t sure if he was dreaming it or not.
He jumped up, hand automatically
reaching for the hilt of his sword. The people were milling
about in panic, many of them pointing towards the castle. It was
easy to see what was causing the commotion. A huge, disk shaped
ship hovered above it, casting a huge shadow over the land.
Sword and Blade both ran beneath
the tree, calling up to him. “Sir Meta Knight, it’s another
Destrayar! Is it here to attack?” Blade asked. Meta Knight
jumped down, landing lightly in front of them.
Meta Knight shook his head. “I
don’t think there’s any need to worry… I believe this one
carries friends.” The two of them nodded, trusting his
judgment. “Let’s get to the castle, quickly!” he shouted,
and the three of them headed off.
A smaller ship had come down from
the imposing Destrayar, landing closer to the village and
keeping the knights’ trip short. Meta Knight was quick to
inform everyone that there wasn’t any danger, but they kept
their distance regardless.
“Sir Meta Knight, what’s
going on?” It was Fumu again, along with her brother now. “Are
you sure it’s safe?”
“Of course,” he said,
watching as the door opened and a small figure stepped out into
the light.
“Knuckle Joe! Poyoyo Joe!”
Kirby exclaimed as soon as he saw his friend, jumping up from
the crowd and running over to him.
“Whoa hey wait a second!” Joe
protested as Kirby tried to tackle hug him. “Geez I’m happy
to see you too but I’m not an affectionate type and you know
that! Get off!”
“Knuckle Joe, what are you
doing here?” Fumu asked, walking up to him.
Bun pushed in front of her
excitedly. “Have you killed a lot of demons lately?”
Joe seemed a bit upset at that,
looking away. “Yeah. Too many.”
“Huh?”
A feminine voice came from inside
the ship. “There are more left than there should be.” Silica
stepped out a moment later, her multi-use weapon in hand and
bandages around her arm. She gestured to the massive ship
overhead. “This is our only ship left. The other two were
destroyed.”
This sent a flurry of worried
discussion through the gathered crowd. Meta Knight stepped
forward. “Destroyed? By what? Whom?”
Silica stepped aside to allow
four other figures to exit. They were similar to Meta Knight’s
in their body shape, only they had much more elaborate armor.
They were the four of the last remaining Star Warriors that had
come to assist them during the attack on Nightmare’s fortress.
They all appeared to be the same race as Meta Knight or Kirby,
only in different colors and armor.
“Sir Arthur, Dragato, Nonsurat,
Falspar.” Meta Knight said, addressing each of them. “It’s
good to see you again, but which of you can tell me what’s
going on?”
The leader of the Galaxy Fighter
Team and the Star Warriors, clad in scratched and dented gold
armor- Sir Arthur- approached him. “This is a serious matter.
We should speak in private, as to not give these people undue
distress.”
“Excuse me…” Mayor Len
walked out of the crowd. “My house is nearby, you could use it
if you’d like. Just let me know what’s going on if this
could be a threat to my village!”
“Very well.”
Soon the group was seated around
the long table in the Mayor’s dining room. The mayor, Meta
Knight, Sword and Blade, Knuckle Joe, Silica, Sir Arthur, Kirby,
and Fumu and Bun had managed to get in as well.
“Can I get anyone something to
drink?” Hana asked from the doorway.
Len stood up quickly. “That’s
all right dear, but this is rather important…”
“She can stay if she wishes,”
Arthur said. He was seated at the end of the table, his blue
eyes serious. “Meta Knight, I can say now that though
Nightmare appears to have been defeated, his influence remains.
He has many that are still loyal to him, and many demons still
roam the universe, seeking to do his bidding.”
“But isn’t that why you all
left? To go kill the rest of them?” Bun interrupted, getting
an angry glare from his sister.
“That’s right,” Joe
answered, leaning back in his chair, his focus far away. “But
we expected them to be disorganized, scattered… We didn’t
expect them to attack us in groups. They have a leader, a good
one. Someone’s bringing them all together into one huge army…”
“An army?” Meta Knight said,
incredulous. No, he should have expected something like this. It
couldn’t have been so easy.
“Big enough to have their own
ships and artillery. We found their base and barely made it out
alive,” Silica pounded the table, teeth clenched. “It was a
damned ambush! They knew exactly where we were.”
They were silent for a moment.
Kirby was the one to speak up.
“Nightmare not gone? Still
demons? Poy…” He looked distressed for a moment, but
immediately perked up. “I get them! Poyo! I eat ‘em!”
“It’s not so simple, young
one,” Arthur said. “Sad to say, you cannot truly vanquish a
being like Nightmare. He always exists, but now his power is
diminished.”
“Nightmare isn’t dead?!”
Fumu exclaimed, jumping from her seat. “All that was for
nothing?!” That wasn’t possible. All they had gone through,
and he wasn’t gone?
“Fumu, please…” Meta Knight
said, motioning for her to sit. “I know what Arthur is talking
about, but I didn’t believe it would become a problem so soon.”
He paused, looking for the right words. “Basically he’s…
weakened. This has happened before.” They were looking at him,
expecting an explanation. “This isn’t the first time
Nightmare has appeared, according to the legends. He has before,
possibly many times in the universe’s existence.”
“He’s a being that thrives on
fear, hate, suffering…” Arthur added. “As long as those
things exist, so will he. And in turn he will do his worst to
intensify those feelings. War, genocide, slavery. His power
grows.”
Meta Knight nodded. “And the
legends say that Star Warriors exist to fight him, or any other
darkness that should appear. Each time he appears, he is
defeated and there is peace, but not forever. There could never
be a universe without fear or suffering, so there is always
something for him to feed on.” Meta Knight looked down at the
table. It sounded so terrible when said like that. It was.
“So… It doesn’t matter?
Even after all that, he’ll come back?” Bun asked,
distraught. “That’s not fair!”
“It’s not. But you should
have been able to live a happy life before his return, as would
your children and their children.” Arthur said, his cold blue
eyes kind for a moment. “That is what the legends say. But
this time, it seems they are trying to bring him back more
quickly by starting another war.”
“Nothing gives him more power
than war.”
“But we think we know a
weakness…” Silica spoke up from cleaning her weapon. “It’s
just a theory though, based on those old stories.” She laughed
bitterly. “No one even knows if they’re true. But we think
if we can find Nightmare in his weakened state, we can finish
the bastard off.”
“Of course, we have no idea
where he would be, or even if we could finish him off,
but it’s a nice idea right?” Joe asked, still leaning back
in his chair. “Of course without an army of our own, it’s
pretty difficult… Which is why we came here.”
Arthur turned to the other two
Star Warriors. “Meta Knight, Kirby, we must need to the power
of the Galaxia sword, and the Star Rod.” He nodded to each of
them in turn. “Will you assist us?”
“Poyo!” Kirby jumped up with
a determined look.
“Of course.” Meta Knight didn’t
feel like he had a choice anyway. He felt a familiar and utterly
ancient presence in his mind as Galaxia ‘woke up.’ He- the
sword- seemed interested in the discussion. “Do we have any
kind of plan yet? If there truly isn’t a way to defeat him…”
“Then it would have been for
nothing…” Arthur said quietly. “But if there is, we will
spare everyone born after us from ever having to experience
Nightmare’s wrath. It’s worth the risk, don’t you agree?”
Meta knight was silent a moment.
“It isn’t something we can rush into…”
“I know. We have some time
still for repairs and to gather supplies. We’ve taken out many
of the stations for the Internet that the HNM Corporation used
to transfer demons, so this new army won’t be able to travel
as quickly. We have time.”
“They’ll be expecting us to
go to them.”
“We know. We’ll come up with
something. We have to.”
Mayor Len stood up again, nodding
to Arthur. “Well until then, you’re our guests here. If
there’s anything the citizens can do to help, feel free to
ask!”
“You have my gratitude.”
Arthur turned to the others. “I will be up on the Destrayar
working on repairs if anyone needs us. I wish you all well.”
Joe grumbled. “Hey, can we get
those drinks now by any chance? I’m pretty thirsty.”
Fumu turned to Meta Knight. “This
is horrible… Now what are we supposed to do?”
He didn’t answer. He didn’t
know what to say.
Meta Knight still kept his
promise to Kirby. The next day they were out near the woods for
training. Now it was even more important to polish their
fighting skills. After some time fighting Kirby himself, he had
Sword and Blade fight him together. It was good training for all
three of them.
“Wow…” Fumu stood nearby,
watching. “Kirby’s really good even when he’s not using
the actual sword ability!”
“Yes, it’s very impressive.
He’s a fast learner, and fighting comes naturally to Star
Warriors.” He watched as Kirby managed to disarm Blade, only
to be attacked from behind by Sword. It was rather entertaining
to watch, he had to admit. Sword and Blade had relatively little
skill or experience with fighting, though they worked extremely
well as a team to take down a stronger opponent.
“Yeah… It’s weird though,”
Fumu said as she sat down next to him.
“What is?”
She idly twirled the stem of a
flower in her hand. “Well, even when Kirby first got here, he
still knew how to fight. Not quite at first, but usually when he
copies an attack. Haven’t you noticed?”
Meta Knight mused over that for a
moment, shifting slightly as a dragonfly decided to alight on
his mask. “Yes, I’ve noticed… But I honestly never put
much thought into it.”
Fumu raised an eyebrow. “So you
don’t know?”
He shook his head. “Nothing but
old legends. Nothing anyone could prove…”
“Legends? You’ve never
mentioned anything like said.”
“Stories about the origins of
Star Warriors… It’s rather-”
They both looked up, as there was
suddenly a small explosion in the field that sent the three
fighters flying. Meta Knight reached for Galaxia, only to stop
and grumble a bit as he saw Knuckle Joe, running quickly past
the three fighters.
He laughed, skidding to a halt
nearby. “Who needs swords? Use your body as a weapon and you’ll
never be disarmed!” He ran right for them.
“Gah!” Blade jumped out of
the way as Joe tried kicking at him. “I don’t want to fight
you!”
“Hey, watch it!” Sword ducked
under a round of Vulcan Jabs. “Sir Meta Knight told us to help
Kirby train, what are you doing?!”
Joe came to a stop behind them.
“Bah, you two are no fun, why do you listen to that old weirdo
anyway?” he mumbled, rubbing his nose. “What about you
Kirby? Up for a bit of training?”
Kirby looked a bit confused. “Poy…”
“Come on, I’m bored, let’s
fight!” Joe kicked, expecting Kirby to dodge or block… No
such luck. Kirby took the hit and went flying, bouncing along
the grass. Joe slapped his forehead, rolling his eyes. “…Ah
jeez…”
“Joe! It’s rude to interrupt
like that,” Fumu shouted, running over to see if Kirby was
okay. Of course he was, just confused. “Aren’t you supposed
to be helping Sir Arthur and the others?”
“I don’t work for them,”
Joe said with his arms crossed behind his head. “Thought I’d
help Kirby toughen up that squishy pink blob he calls a body.”
He rubbed his nose.
Kirby stood up, also imitating
him. “Poyo. Maybe later. Meda Knight said we sword training.”
“Aw, fine…” Joe walked over
to a tree and plopped down beneath it, legs crossed. “Train
with your damn swords then.”
“Done wreaking havoc?” It was
Meta Knight, walking over from the other side of the tree.
Joe gave him a bored look. “For
now. So, what have you been up to?”
“Not much, to be honest. Just
trying to enjoy my vacation. And you?” Meta Knight was rather
surprised Joe had chosen to speak to him at all. Though he’d
visited before, he seemed to always avoid him.
“Ah… Oh, you know, traveling,
killing demons, the usual…” Joe looked down, hands on his
knees. He suddenly appeared to be very interested in a
caterpillar’s path along the grass in front of him. “I was…I
was wondering…”
“Yes…?”
Joe shook his head quickly. “No,
nothing, never mind. See ya’.” He took off without another
word, leaving Meta Knight rather baffled.
“What was that all about?”
Fumu asked from nearby.
“I have no idea…” Meta
Knight shrugged it off and looked to see Kirby fighting Sword
and Blade once more, though this time he seemed distracted and
was disarmed quickly.
Sword laughed. “Hm, if we can
disarm him, that’s not a good sign,” he commented. “Hungry
or something?”
Kirby thought for a moment before
nodding. “Lunchtime! Poyo!” He pointed to the forest,
motioning for them to follow. “Apples!” The forest was
always a great place to get a snack, as long as you asked the
trees first.
Blade looked across the field,
waving to get Meta Knight’s attention. “Sir, we’re going
to get something to eat, is that all right?”
“It’s fine. Don’t get lost.”
“We won’t!”
Meta Knight stood up, watching
them go. “I’m going back to see how Arthur and the others
are doing.”
The room was in complete
darkness, the meager light from the door swallowed up in the
gloom. He knew he was in there, however. His lord seemed to
enjoy the dark, the shadows. The minion cleared his throat. “Sir,
the enemy ship arrived on Popstar not long ago. Your orders?”
Oppressive silence, and then he
spoke in a low, twisted tone. Red eyes glinted. “Send out the
group from the ship… A few for now and have the rest hide
themselves. It should be enough to shake them up a bit.”
“Sir, shouldn’t we launch a
full attack while they’re still weakened? After all, what
happened last time?” The soldier shrank back at the sudden
furious glare from his leader.
“You do not question me… I
won’t make those mistakes again,” The voice snarled.
"Have a small group of demons sent out. Sabotage their
ship; I don’t want them going anywhere…” He laughed, a
cruel sound. “We can take our time for now. Go.”
“Kirby… Enjoy your happy
existence while you can…”
Whispy Woods looked a bit less
inviting than normal. Maybe it was the time of day, but the
shadows did look more menacing and there was a disturbing lack
of birdsong. Kirby didn’t really notice, intent on getting a
snack and getting distracted by the occasional strange bug.
“So… are we getting apples
from Whispy?” Blade asked. Kirby didn’t answer, inspecting
some colorful flowers. Blade shrugged and elbowed Sword. “So
what do you think about all this? With this new army?”
“I want to stop them before
they hurt anyone…” Sword said. “I’m worried.”
Blade sighed. “It’s a shame
we don’t have the Halberd. If we still had that I’d feel
much better.”
“We have that Destrayar at
least…”
Kirby was walking backwards,
looking back at the two of them. He didn’t see them very much;
they were always… well he didn’t really know where they
always were. They were always together when he saw them though.
They were nice, and he wished he saw them more.
Blade noticed Kirby staring at
them. “Er, yes?”
“Poy…Poyo poy…” Kirby
wasn’t sure how to say what he wanted to ask. So many words to
remember. “Sword, Bwade, family?” That was the one.
“Family…? Oh, we’re not
related, if that’s what you mean,” Blade said. Kirby could
understand their language, even if he couldn’t speak it well.
Kirby stopped walking, a quizzical expression on his face.
“Friends?”
Sword nodded. “Yeah, we’re
good friends; we have been since we were kids.”
Kirby smiled and nodded,
apparently satisfied. “Poy!” He turned and continued on
through the woods.
“I hope it’s not too much
farther…” Blade said a few minutes later. He glanced up.
Either it was getting dark early, or the trees were getting
thicker.
“Hey!” Sword stopped as he
almost ran into Kirby. “Is something wrong?”
Kirby was quiet, staring intently
at the branches above them. Sword and Blade followed his
example. There was nothing but leaves and a bit of blue sky
beyond.
Blade waved his hand
dismissively. “It’s probably a monkey. Come on Kirby, let’s
get something to eat.” Blade said, pushing him forward. Then
he heard the growling, a low menacing sound from above them.
“Blade MOVE!” Sword
shouted, pushing both him and Kirby to one side as a snarling
mass of fur and teeth fell from above, nearly slashing him as
well. It looked somewhat like a spiked, mutated cat, the remains
of some forest creature dangling from its jagged teeth.
“It’s a demon beast!” Blade
exclaimed, sword in hand. The two of them immediately moved in
front of Kirby. True, Kirby could probably protect them better
than they him, but it seemed like the right thing to do.
The creature hissed, back arched
as it circled the three of them.
“Poyo…” Kirby wasn’t sure
what to do. He was afraid of the demon, but he didn’t want
Sword and Blade to get hurt! “Sawd, Bwade!” He couldn’t
let them fight this thing! He was a Star Warrior; it was his
purpose to protect people. He reached over, grabbing one of
their swords and jumping to the side to distract the beast.
“Kirby, what are you doing?!”
Sword exclaimed.
The creature leapt then, straight
for Kirby. The little warrior didn’t have time to inhale the
sword to gain the copy ability. He wasn’t very good with a
sword like this but he had to act NOW.
And suddenly he knew what to do.
When the beast landed, it hit
nothing but dirt, leaving furrows in the ground with its claws.
It whirled, snarling in confusion and not realizing Kirby was
above it until it was too late.
He came down fast, sword pointed
down and neatly severing the beast’s spine as he jumped to one
side. It twitched once, and fell. Kirby landed in front of Sword
and Blade, breathing hard.
The two of them were silent for a
moment. “…I guess the training’s paying off…” Blade
said in awe as Sword went to pull his weapon from the body.
Kirby tilted his body to one
side. “Poyo?”
“We never taught you any moves
like that, did Meta Knight?”
Kirby shook his head.
“Well, I guess you were lucky
then,” Sword walked over, wiping the blade off on the grass.
“Great job, but now we need to tell everyone what happened. I
wouldn’t be surprised if there were more around here. Let’s
go!”
Blade nodded and the two of them
started out of the forest.
“Poyo food!” Kirby protested.
“Later, Kirby! This is more
important!”
Kirby sighed. All that work and
no food? That just wasn’t fair. He hurried to catch up. “Wait
poyo!”
Much to their dismay, everyone
else all ready knew.
Sword and Blade stood right
outside the village, Kirby running to catch up. They could see
from there that other beasts were all ready attacking. Not small
pests like they had seen before- these ones could do some real
damage.
“Help me someone HELP!” a
Cappy woman shrieked, trying ineffectually to fend off one with
a walking stick. It shattered the stick in its jaws and got
ready to pounce.
“I’ll get that one!” Sword
shouted. Both of them rushed forward to aid the people. Sword
swiped at the one attacking the woman, severing its head. “At
least there aren’t that ma- GAH!” He rolled to one side as
an even bigger, bird like monster swooped down from above.
Kirby looked around frantically
for something he could inhale. Rocks? No, Stone was too slow of
a power. Parasol- no…
“Kirby, look out!”
He felt himself knocked hard to
one side, he and his rescuer rolling along the ground as the
bird-demon landed hard where he’d stood. He opened his eyes to
see Meta Knight. “Meda Knight!”
“Sir Meta Knight!” Blade ran
over, holding his arm. There was blood on his glove. “What
happened? Where did all these things come from?”
“Stowaways on the ship!” he
replied, slashing a beast that leapt from nearby bushes. “We
don’t know how they got on undetected!” He pushed Kirby
aside. Kirby could fight on his own now.
Kirby was still unsure, however,
moving so he at least wasn’t in Meta Knight’s way. The
demons were too big and fast to inhale, he was sure if he tried
one would attack him first. There had to be something…
“Hey Kirby!”
The pink warrior looked up to see
Knuckle Joe standing on the roof above him.
“Need a hand?”
“Poyo!”
“All right then! Vulcan Jab!”
As he had before, Kirby inhaled the attack to gain Joe’s
fighting abilities. It didn’t make that much sense, but it
wasn’t something Kirby thought about.
Knuckle Joe jumped down, landing
next to him. “Same as always! C’mon!”
Meta Knight saw the two of them
and grinned. These demons wouldn’t last long now. Kirby and
Joe worked well together, and they’d make short work of them.
“Look out!” Blade shouted,
and Meta Knight barely dodged to the side as a piece of stone
from a nearby building crashed where he had stood. He mentally
derided himself for getting distracted.
“I don’t think there are many
left, maybe a half dozen!” Sword shouted. There was a loud
explosion and a howl and Joe and Kirby got one. “Make that
five.”
The battle didn’t last much
longer with their combined efforts. Finally Joe and Kirby had
the last demon, another spiked cat-beast cornered.
“Any last words?” Joe
smirked, pulling his fist back. “Smash-“
“POYO!” Kirby shouted,
causing Joe to lose his concentration.
“Hey, what’s the big id-“
he started, but Kirby grabbed his arm and pointed frantically
upwards.
“Look Joe look poyo!”
He did, to see the Destrayar
flying overhead, very quickly. His eyes went wide. “What are
they--?! Agh, damnit! Smash Punch!” He quickly dealt with the
demon and leapt to the nearest rooftop, watching the ship. Kirby
followed his example.
The ship’s flight was uneven,
tilting to the left or right. It was rapidly losing altitude.
“What happen?” Kirby asked,
his Fighter bandana gone.
“I don’t know…”
Nearby, Meta Knight, Sword and
Blade were watching with similar confusion.
“Did they lose control of the
ship?”
Meta Knight was silent, watching
it head for the nearby ocean. He knew perfectly well what was
happening and that there was no way for any of them to stop it.
He only hoped that everyone else was safe.
Knuckle Joe and Kirby watched in
silence as the ship went farther out over the ocean, falling
lower until it finally hit the water hard, flipping forward as
it’s front end went under. There was a horrendous sound of
breaking metal as it fell, its momentum causing it to break
nearly in half. For a second then it was calm, followed by a
blinding flash of light and deafening roar as it exploded.
“Damn it… DAMN IT!” Knuckle
Joe screamed, running and jumping from the roof. “Arthur!
Silica! Where the hell are you!” Kirby tried following, only
to meet up with Meta Knight on the ground.
“Poyo, they okay? Meda Knight,
they okay?” he asked, tugging on his cape. He’d had friends
die before and he didn’t want to it to happen again.
“The demons must have taken
control of the ship…” Meta Knight said quietly. He looked
down at Kirby. “We have to try and find them.”
Blade gasped. “Sir, look! Their
ship!” They looked to see the smaller ship zip by above them,
heading for a nearby field, smoke billowing from the engine. “Oh
no…”
“Hurry!”
Thankfully the ship landed
safely, leaving a long furrow in the ground before coming to a
stop at the bottom of a hill. Joe arrived first, running over to
open the door.
“Are you guys all right?!” he
asked as the door hissed open. Arthur stepped out first,
obviously injured. The others were in similar shape, but alive.
Meta Knight, Kirby, Sword and Blade arrived a few moments later,
followed by Fumu and Bun who had seen it all happen.
“We should have known there
could have been enemies on board…” Arthur said, voice harsh.
“We were foolish.”
“Now we don’t have any ships
left. This is exactly what they want!” Silica exclaimed, blood
trailing from her forehead. “They want us to be here like
sitting ducks. They aren’t stupid.”
“Then it seems we’ve still
been underestimating them,” Meta Knight said. “If they’re
expecting us to go to them, obviously we must think of another
plan.”
Arthur shook his head. “We
cannot simply wait for them to gain power and come to us; we
would never be able to stand up to them.”
“Our best bet is still to get
to them first,” Joe said. “Especially now, while they think
we’re stuck here.”
“But, we still need a ship.
What are we going to do, build one?”
“Wait, I have an idea!” It
was Fumu, walking up next to Meta Knight. “We need another
ship, right? And weapons and supplies… I know who we can get
those from.”
A/N: Yes, after nearly a year of
writing... it is finished! (I shall be posting one chapter at a
time, over the course of several days.)
Much thanks to many people - Pyrasaur for giving me the most
help with ideas and plot and the like. BabyCharmander and Rat for beta
reading and catching those pesky typoes, Jboy for beta reading
too and also helping by listening to me babble about story
ideas.
And finally, dear reader, if you would take a moment of your
time and do me a favor...
Yes, we all know the Kirby anime is dubbed- and with that dub
comes different voices. This story was written with the original
voices in mind, and it helps to be able to imagine those.
So to help you, I have put together several small, easy to
download clips of the original voices of characters important to
the story. Enjoy.
