Yay, I've uploaded something! (Well, I've had little work on at the moment so it's good to do something like this in my spare time.)
I've played Kirby Star Allies but it definitely was too easy even by Kirby standards and we definitely could do with a 3D Kirby adventure next time. Cool bosses though.
So yeah, this story references that game but it's mainly about Meta Knight dealing with being controlled more than once and in a future game, I honestly want Meta Knight to do some kind of badass thing rather than being possessed again. Oh, well. Enjoy! :)
Compromised
His mind was a complete blank.
As rain battered against the window, Meta Knight stared at the white paper, desperately trying to recall the words he had a moment ago. Normally he was quite the eloquent writer as befitting his status as a knight and was quite capable of writing reams without pause if he so wished. Today, however, was a different matter, for no matter how hard he thought, the words simply would not come.
Meta Knight jabbed his pen downwards. Not only did he break the nib but ink also spurted out, ruining the paper and splashing his silver mask. Frustrated, he tried wiping the ink off and then instantly realised what a mistake this was when one wore white gloves. Finally, Meta Knight scrunched up the now-useless paper and tossed it into the nearest wastebasket. From the nearby table, he grabbed his sword and scabbard and buckled it on, shifting it to its usual position, before resting his head against the glass pane and surveying all that was below him.
The rain continued to pelt down painting the landscape in dreary colours. The grey and black clouds constantly rumbled and shifted about to the extent that would one think the cycloptic nimbus monster Kracko to be behind all this had it not just recently been defeated once again. As it was, it was merely a natural storm so that even monsters who would ordinarily have ventured out had stayed under cover today. The kingdom was therefore quiet with everyone staying indoors and it gave Meta Knight the chance to view the land in its natural beauty and peaceful state. Peaceful. He almost scoffed. Dream Land, and indeed the whole of Popstar, had been invaded so frequently in recent times it was becoming practically normal. Yet it was always saved and restored before evil had a chance to triumph.
And it was never he who brought this about.
Meta Knight slammed the door behind him and moodily stomped past the numerous red banners that proudly displayed a symbol belonging to Dream Land's most questionable monarch King Dedede.
The Waddle Dees of the castle were generally milling about, feeling no need to rush about on such a day. Many would even knock off early and relax in the privacy of the servants' dormitories. As they saw Meta Knight storm down the carpeted hallways though, they all hastily moved out of his way and some endeavoured to look busy as if this would somehow please the masked warrior. The Waddle Dees saluted him as he passed although not one of these was acknowledged; very unusual considering that Meta Knight had always made efforts to acquaint himself with the castle inhabitants. What was perhaps even more unusual and surprising though was that he didn't have his cape wrapped around himself as was his particular habit; instead, he had his large wings unfurled and somehow looking threatening. More disturbing yet however was his normally yellow eyes burning red and it seemed clear they were not changing back any time soon.
The masked warrior reached the outdoors and found himself standing on one of the battlements. From here he would be able to fly directly to the Halberd stationed not too far from Dedede's castle and while the weather was indeed wild, he had enough confidence in his gift of flight to make the journey safely. It was one of the very few things he did have confidence in at the moment.
He happened to glance down to his left, past a flagpole broken in the storm and noticed the training grounds. He had trained up the Waddle Dee army here and all had become proficient in the spear. He had King Dedede improve his skills here. He had many intense sparring matches against a certain individual here. And here he had trained and trained until he could become the best swordsman in the land, the best swordsman in the world.
All that training and he had failed time and time again.
"So I guess you got captured by the Haltmann Works Company then?"
Meta Knight narrowed his eyes as King Dedede poured them both a generous amount of wine. He had been invited here (or more accurately ordered here) for what was apparently nothing more than a chat even though they rarely conversed with each other about anything other than defence matters. Not since the incident. That had made the Lor Starcutter quest awkward to say the least.
"I saw the Halberd go down again," Dedede prompted and Meta Knight winced; how many times had his battleship gone down now? "An' you were headin' right for their base. Surely you couldn't have escaped from that?"
"I had to protect my crew," Meta Knight spoke crisply. Dedede shrugged and gulped some of the wine down.
"Of course. But you did get captured, didn't you? An' then somethin' bad obviously happened."
"Why are you even asking me this?"
"Because I know what you're like, Meta Knight, an' you can stop givin' me that look." Dedede referred to Meta Knight's eyes glowing red. "I specifically ask because somethin' bad musta happened to make you forget about trainin' my troops."
Meta Knight exhaled. "What training?"
Dedede slapped down a file filled with numerous sheets and the masked warrior was obliged to peruse its contents. He glanced over the words and numbers without taking in their meaning until he came across several pages near the back with recent dates and yet nothing was filled in the comment boxes, nothing ticked, no kind of report made. He compared them with earlier sheets and acknowledged the copious notes, the meticulous record-keeping, the neat hand and with a jolt, he belatedly recognised that they were in fact, evidence of his own handwriting. After a training session, he always filled out the sheets; precise record-keeping was highly important in his view. It signified that the session had been completed, everything was normal and routine. All was well.
Meta Knight handed the file back to his liege. "I forgot. I apologise."
Dedede shook his head. "Two weeks. From someone who treats trainin' like a religion. What happened?"
Meta Knight could not comment. He stared at the burning fire close by. The bolts, screws and cables loomed darkly in his memory, the constant drone of the infernal machines that encompassed his entire surroundings, the blinding artificial lights, the searing agony as he attempted to free himself. Strapped down, heart pounding, he had nevertheless tried to reach out for his sword that felt so tantalisingly close. But then his sword was moved away and placed inside some kind of electromagnetic field. His wings were forced outwards and he felt an intense heat surround them, something blazing hot pressed against them. Soon enough, his wings had been encased in suffocating metal and that was only the beginning.
"Your wings are shakin'."
The masked warrior was brought back to the present and indeed felt his wing muscles shivering. He clenched his fists and focussed his energies on keeping his wings under control. Blast them.
"Take a drink."
Meta Knight stared at the glass; Dedede was already pouring himself another one. Tempting as it was to fortify himself against the on-going conversation, he did not; a knight needed to remain in control at all times. Even if he had not before. Even though control had slipped from his grasp on more than one occasion.
Quietly, he began to explain to King Dedede what exactly had happened in the research facility in the Haltmann Works Company Access Ark. To his credit, the penguin monarch did not interrupt his speech though Meta Knight could not help but resent the fact that he was telling this to Dedede of all people. During their quest to retrieve scattered parts of the fallen Lor Starcutter, what words they exchanged were brief and often forced and Meta Knight had been in equal parts surprised and dismayed that Dedede had immediately volunteered to lend his assistance and wondered whether he was trying to make amends or whether it was part of some new scheme. Kirby and Bandana Dee certainly had their work cut out to make the pair talk with each other like civilised people, at least until it became clear to both that the situation wasn't going to be used for anything immoral and that both genuinely just wanted to help out the Halcandran Magolor. It had almost become… pleasant to discuss things with one another and as always, Kirby had held the group together. It was pleasant up until Magolor's betrayal of course but they had managed to resolve that problem together at the very least.
"Oh, roboticisation," said King Dedede once Meta Knight had finished. "That's different I suppose. An' that's what you're hung up about?"
Meta Knight had been briefly thinking over how he had torn off the heavy metal, the laser cannon and the degrading prehensile tail once his mind had cleared, the awful humiliation he had felt and the desperation in ensuring his freedom before he retrieved the Halberd in order to help out Kirby. Anything to make amends in even the poorest of fashions. His mind snapped back to the present at that moment and his eyes narrowed. "What do you mean that's what I'm hung up about?"
"Well, it's kinda like being possessed, isn't it?" Dedede continued as if everything was normal and completely ignoring the sudden aggressive tones. "And believe you me, I know what that's like; I've practically made a career of it. I guess I avoided it this time but it seems I can't catch a break as far as that's concerned," he noted bitterly. Always there was Dark Matter or some similar form of it and it appeared that every time it came to Dream Land, he was in the firing line. What had he done to deserve this? Hadn't he already made up for past misdeeds several times over by now? Why was it always him who would get controlled by the forces of evil? He wasn't evil, he knew that; he'd just some… mistakes here and there.
He then shrugged and valiantly drew himself up. In his experience, there was no use dwelling on past events, especially as they had the pink squirt to solve their problems and Dedede always seemed to come out of it no worse for wear. He couldn't do anything about those past events and he might as well resign himself to any future mishaps and hope for the best. He raised his glass in what seemed to the knight an almost mocking fashion. "It could happen to anyone. Might happen again next week knowin' this place."
"It shouldn't happen at all," Meta Knight spoke, struggling to keep his voice calm. "I don't think you understand."
"Sure I understand," Dedede replied. "You're not the only person that this has happened to. Ain't the first time either, right?"
And that there was the crux of it. It was not the first time at all. The first time he had been… compromised was by the hand of his own counterpart in the Mirror World. At least he could rationalise that particular defeat as being struck down by his own dark alternative and thus possessing a similar, perhaps equal amount of skill with the sword and that his enemy had the power of the Dimension Mirror on his side and trapped his foe behind the broken glass. His enemy – or Dark Meta Knight to be exact – had been created by the Dimension Mirror itself as soon as Meta Knight had found the Mirror World to be in danger. He was essentially a copy and if he were to accept a loss, then this would be that loss.
The next occasion that he had lost though was shameful. Utterly shameful. How it had transpired that he should be defeated by some hedge wizard and turned into yarn of all things was a ridiculous notion indeed even if the very fabric of Dream Land was being transformed into actual fabrics at the same time. He could say he was ambushed and taken completely by surprise but that would be making a poor excuse for his slow actions. It was almost as bad as… no, it could not be as bad as the events on board the Access Ark.
"You survived anyway an' you don't seem too bad. Consider yourself lucky, Meta Knight. It coulda been worse."
Lucky? No, luck had nothing to do with it. He had been unable to fight back; he had been overwhelmed even though he prided himself on his strength. And being controlled like that and rendered helpless was something he could never tolerate.
Perhaps he was weak.
Weak. He who sought Nova and successfully challenged the strongest warrior in the galaxy! He who made it his mission to defend Popstar from the evils of the universe and train a strong soul to do likewise! He could not be weak. He could not accept that he was weak. How, after everything that he had done, could he still be weak?
"What?" Meta Knight spoke curtly, realising that Dedede was still talking to him.
"Are you going to drink that or what? You've been starin' at it fer ages an' you've still got the mask on."
The mask. Meta Knight refused to be seen without the mask by almost everyone. Without it, he would not be taken seriously. They would not see him as a true knight. They would see him merely as a cute, little puffball. That would not do. He turned aside, lifted his mask a little and threw the contents of the glass down his throat. It burned on the way down as he almost choked upon the liquid but at this present moment, he did not care.
Dedede folded his arms. "All these years I've known you an' I don't think I've ever seen you without that thing. Take it off."
Meta Knight glared at him. And expose his vulnerability? "I will have my privacy."
"I'm your king. Take it off."
"I will not repeat myself."
Dedede sighed under his breath. "Why won't you take the damn mask off?"
"I have my reasons."
"Clearly you don't trust me."
Meta Knight felt the reassuring weight of his sword by his side; he was never without his favoured weapon. "Not entirely. No."
Dedede threw his hands up. "Don't tell me, the Sparklin' Stars and all that! That was ages ago. I might as well say I don't trust you because of what you did several years ago! Remember?"
Meta Knight stood up. "And I paid back the debt."
Dedede also stood up and looked down on the winged knight, quite glad to have the advantage of considerable height. "I coulda had you struck down as a traitor. You took your battleship laden with all your weapons over the castle, you threatened the safety and security of Dream Land, you shot at Dyna Blade and Nova knows what else you did! You coulda hurt people! You coulda destroyed the kingdom!"
"But I didn't, did I?"
"But were you thinkin' it?"
The two glared at each other in silence and silently noted that both currently possessed their trademark weapons. It would be all too easy to launch themselves at each other and fight with abandon and yet both knew who would be the winner of such a brawl.
If I did anything now, I'd be like that robot.
Meta Knight was thus the first to stand down. "No. I would not have destroyed the kingdom. Why would I? But I have... made mistakes."
After a tense moment of thinking, Dedede sighed. "Yeah, well, that makes the two of us. Heh, you think we would be better at this by now."
Meta Knight touched his mask. "Perhaps so."
"Maybe we're both just weak."
Meta Knight stiffened and slowly lowered his hand. "No. I cannot be weak. I will not accept being weak."
The masked warrior walked to the balcony and took off into the open night sky despite his liege's every protest. He could not accept being weak. He would not be weak. He would train and be strong. He would be worthy of the title of the greatest swordsman of Popstar. He would be altogether worthy…
"Meta?"
Meta Knight didn't turn around even though he quite clearly knew who it was. Nobody called him just 'Meta' except for Kirby. No-one else had that privilege… or permission.
The young child stood on the ramparts behind the person he considered to be his mentor holding an umbrella. "Are you OK? What are you doing out here?"
The mask hid Meta Knight's scowl; he had very much wanted to be left alone. "Thinking."
Kirby winced; he could make a very well-educated guess as to what the older warrior was exactly thinking. "It wasn't your fault," he mumbled. "You were just unlucky."
"Unlucky," Meta Knight nearly spat. He still hadn't turned around. "All of my skill then is utterly for naught."
Kirby didn't know what to say. As far as he was concerned, Meta Knight had been unlucky, as had Dedede. The fact that both just happened to be very close to where the first of the purple Jamba Shards had fallen was simply unlucky (Bandana Dee had been very lucky once again and hadn't even come close to finding a Jamba Shard). As far as the universe was concerned, it was very lucky that Kirby had not been hit by a purple Jamba Shard at all, but rather a pink one. Since the Jamba Heart that the shards made up originally had four heart spears embedded within it before the failed ritual, Meta Knight suggested that perhaps Kirby had been hit by a shard that had been influenced in some way by one of the heart spears, allowing him not only to avoid corruption but also gain the ability to create Friend Hearts, removing the corruption of enemies and letting them become friends. Certainly the idea of friendship could not have come directly from an eldritch being that personified the complete absence of love and care.
Once again Kirby had been forced to fight his friends, people he knew and cared for, and he could not help but bitterly wonder to himself if he was fated to do this every time Popstar was threatened since it seemed that Kirby was never personally affected by whatever evil was thrown their way. Dedede, for his part, seemed to have coped relatively well with it provided he could smash things up with his hammer afterward and call it a day. Perhaps because they had fought each other before on antagonistic grounds without some evil possessing Dedede softened the blow to the king somewhat. Besides, the king knew he could not realistically defeat Kirby so for him, doing a bit better each time was a massive achievement in itself. For Meta Knight however, it was entirely different.
Once again, he had lost control of himself, had been compromised, and forced to fight against his will. True, he had fought Kirby many times before and usually Kirby came out on top though frankly, he had let Kirby win most of the time. The entire point of their battles was to test him, train him and make the boy stronger. Even when Kirby had confronted him during the incident, he had held himself back enough to ensure he didn't completely go all out on Kirby who was only trying to restore peace to Dream Land and he was glad for it. He had found himself enjoying those battles. But only if he initiated them, if they were on his terms.
"It seems I cannot defend myself from evil nowadays…" Dream Land's only true knight murmured almost to himself, "no matter how hard I train."
Kirby cautiously approached Meta Knight. "I guess there's stuff you can't train for."
"I should be able to!" Meta Knight snapped causing Kirby to flinch. "I have fought against monsters for most of my life, sought to eradicate evil where it stands: why have I let myself be defeated in such a pathetic manner? Why have I become weak?"
"I don't think you're weak," Kirby said, not at all sure if he was even saying the right thing. Meta Knight scoffed under his breath. The thing he had once prided himself upon was something he had become convinced didn't exist anymore. "You wouldn't have helped me out all those times if you were weak, would you?"
"You know as well as I do that you surpass me in every way despite your age," Meta Knight spoke. All Kirby could see was the back of Meta Knight flexing his wings as if even seeing his eyes now would bring shame. "I am superfluous to all requirements. I am done."
"Oh, come on!" Kirby said, now getting annoyed. "You think I would have beaten Magolor on my own? Star Dream on my own? That Void Termina on my own? The thing that looked like me?"
"You have required very little help for the most part," Meta Knight answered, "and you have brought justice where it is needed. My effect was only minimal where I was not compromised. In other cases, I have hindered you and even tried to injure you. It is my fault and it is because I am not strong enough and never will be."
"Just look at me!"
Meta Knight finally looked around, somewhat startled. It was a highly rare occurrence for Kirby to raise his voice in something like anger. The child stood there now, rather tense in realising that he had just shouted at his mentor. But he had good reason to and decided to press on.
"You know I can't beat everything on my own and I'll always take help if it's there," Kirby began. "You taught me how to sword-fight and use a lot of my Copy Abilities and that's kinda important. And you know with Star Dream I had to use your Halberd; I couldn't have destroyed it without that so if you weren't there, we would have been done for."
"But what about when we fought?"
"I don't care," Kirby stated, looking squarely at his mentor. "I just wanted to free you. You could have gone all out on me but you didn't. You were still fighting against it. Only you would call not being able to fight off an army of robots and stuff being weak."
Despite himself, the tiniest of smiles crept on Meta Knight's face. "Since you put it that way…"
"You helped fight those mages as well and those other people and the Jambastion army," Kirby pointed out. "There were so many of them! And everyone came together including you to fight Void Termina. I couldn't have destroyed that on my own. That thing that looked like me…"
Meta Knight heard Kirby's voice trail off and stepped forward towards the child, turning away from the view of the castle courtyard. Huddled alone under his umbrella, Kirby glanced up and saw the yellow eyes staring back down.
"Why did it look like me, Meta?"
No matter his own feelings, Meta Knight could not stand to see Kirby looking confused and sad. "It's possible that its core merely took on your form after identifying you as a strong adversary. That it used attacks similar to what you have experienced before from other enemies seems to suggest that either it shares the same origin as the Dark Matter race or it recognised the kind of beings you have previously battled against."
"What? Like reading my mind?"
Meta Knight hesitated. "It is possible."
Kirby shuffled on the spot. "But it kinda sounded like me too. I heard it cry out…"
"An aspect of taking on your form surely."
Kirby looked at the rain splashing into the pools of water. "Meta… what if… I'm related to it in some way? What if it was like me because I came from it?"
Kirby had no idea of his true origins and had arrived with the spring breeze in Dream Land a long time ago. The only person he had seen like him was Meta Knight and the older warrior had little idea of his origins as well. Like any child, Kirby was naturally curious about his past though he had never found any answer pertaining to his question. Even his strange powers left no clue as to where he came from and how he was born. To find such a dark foe resembling him so closely and maybe even possessing similar powers to his own was… disturbing.
Was this why Kirby had come searching for him? Other than to see if his mentor was OK though; it had been the first thing he had asked after all. If Kirby needed advice in any way, then Meta Knight was quite prepared, indeed, quite glad to give that advice. Oddly enough, he felt better in knowing that he was needed in some way. Perhaps he needed to talk with Kirby. Perhaps he needed to get it off his mind. And now clearly Kirby needed some reassurance of his own.
"Void Termina is the essence of darkness, hatred and despair; the complete opposite of everything you are and stand for, Kirby," Meta Knight spoke gently as the rain battered off his mask. "The legends about Void Termina state that it is an entity that has existed for eons composed of dark energy and it has no love or heart in itself, unlike you who could use the Friend Heart with such ease. It's possible that you may never find out your true origins but I cannot see how you would be related to this creature. And even if you were, you should not let that affect you as a person, seeing how you have saved the world time and time again."
Kirby was quiet though Meta Knight could see that the boy was thinking to himself. He wandered over to the wall and peered over it, looking at the same spot Meta Knight had been viewing earlier. He carried a terrible burden and had done for most of his life, Meta Knight knew, though he very rarely talked about it, though whatever he did, he always looked to Meta Knight for guidance and that surely counted for something.
When he had come round from their last battle, the Jamba Shard wrenched out of him and lying on the hard ground, the first thing that Meta Knight had saw was Kirby shaking him awake, desperately asking if he was OK and seeing the sadness in his eyes having been forced to fight a close friend once again. Meta Knight had immediately aimed to make amends but to have been taken control of again was simply too much. Yet if he was completely out of control, he could have destroyed Kirby. But he had not.
"I guess," Kirby said slowly, "that makes sense. But… what if I really am related to that Void Termina?"
"Then we'll get through that together."
Kirby thought a little more to himself then nodded. "Like you getting over your issue."
Meta Knight frowned. "What issue?"
"This feeling weak thing. You summoned Galacta Knight and defeated him after going through all those trials just to face him!" Kirby gave a little grin. "Why did you do that anyway?"
Meta Knight's answer to that had never changed. "I wanted a worthy challenge."
"You wouldn't go looking for that kind of challenge if you were weak, Meta."
Meta Knight's eyes brightened and he allowed himself a light chuckle. "True, I suppose."
He looked to the sky and saw night hastening in sooner than he anticipated. He also noticed Kirby shivering a little in the cold, damp air and so said, "You get inside and warm up and we'll discuss this further tomorrow. I need to return to the Halberd and sort things out with my crew. Are you staying at the castle?"
Kirby nodded even as he tried stifling a yawn. "Dedede's letting me stay in a guest room for 'services rendered.'"
"Hmm, there was a time when he wouldn't have allowed you to even cross the drawbridge," Meta Knight said. He shook the excess water off his wings and gathered his energy. "I shall see you on the morrow."
Far later than intended but ultimately glad for the delay, Meta Knight took himself into the sky and saw Kirby waving at him before the winged warrior headed for the Halberd. He felt his mind was a little clearer. Once conversation in the pouring rain was not enough to entirely shake him of his feelings of inadequacy no matter what Kirby said but there was some comfort there even if it was not in his habit, indeed, his pride and stubborn forbid it, to go seeking said comfort.
Barely any time had passed when he landed outside the Halberd and it seemed that despite the late hour, his presence had been eagerly anticipated as the hatch was lowered even before he had touched down on the wet grass. Once inside, his crew were very keen to give their commander updates on the Halberd's status and inform him that all their necessary jobs had most definitely been completed and someone had even volunteered to clean up the puddles that Meta Knight had left in the atrium.
"Ready when you are, sir," Axe Knight saluted him once Meta Knight had deemed himself satisfied by their accounts. "We're all behind you."
Meta Knight saw their eager faces waiting for instructions and not too soon Sailor Dee came from another room carrying a tea tray laden with the necessary equipment. Though the Halberd had gone down on multiple occasions, he had never lost a single member of his crew and he always made sure that they were all accounted for. Even when they brought down into the heart of the Access Arc courtesy of the Haltmann Works Company, he had ensured their safety by fighting off the invaders and giving them time to escape even if it meant his own capture. And though they had not been involved in fighting off the latest assault on Popstar and having heard of what happened to their commander in the interim, they knew also that he was quite prepared to fight back and not let the invaders be in any way of a hindrance. Meta Knight did not stand down and he never backed away from a fight. He would not be Meta Knight if he did.
"Thank you," Meta Knight said. "I appreciate your hard work. As it is, nothing more will need to be done tonight and I must return to the castle tomorrow so the rest of the day is yours. You may be dismissed."
His crew bade farewell and Meta Knight headed to his study where he had instructed Sailor Dee to place the tray. The teapot steamed next to the meticulously arranged silverware and past the numerous books that lined his shelves. Upon the desk lay a number of letters, reports and other correspondence plus a pot of ink.
Meta Knight seated himself and carefully removed his sword. It was still as powerful as ever and required a powerful hand to wield her. He would continue to wield that sword. For now though, he had other matters to consider and he had no time to feel sorry for himself; there was much work to be done.
Meta Knight dipped his pen into the ink and the words immediately began to flow.