"Ok, Kirby…" Meta Knight began, trying to be patient, "Let us try again…"
Kirby seemed more interested in a caterpillar he had found nearby.
"Say it…say 'The quick brown fox'," Meta Knight instructed, "Come on Kirby…"
Meta Knight had been teaching Kirby a lot lately, since there was very little going on in Dreamland. It had been very peaceful for the last several months. Meta Knight taught Kirby more sword techniques as well as how to be a dignified Star Warrior…that meant learning to speak properly.
"Poyo?" Kirby looked up, appeared to think for a bit, "Da qweek prown…poyo."
Meta Knight facepalmed.
Kirby was still young, but he should be learning to speak… Why he had so much trouble perplexed Meta Knight.
"Hello!" a voice called from down the dirt path.
Meta Knight looked up from training Kirby. A strange figure was headed toward them.
This newcomer looked odd even by Dreamland standards; he was shaped like an elongated, faceted diamond. His crystal body happened to be pale blue and the four wings sprouting from his back were purple. The top two wings were larger than the bottom and the tips were split into digits that functioned as hands. This particular being happened to be wearing spectacles and a white lab coat. He carried a small satchel, but that was it.
This was a strange being, but not completely unknown. Meta Knight had seen a few of these when he visited the eerie, shifting world known as Splithia. Nexuses led to all sorts of universes from the Popstar…Meta Knight was beginning to wonder if his universe was sort of a meeting spot…sort of a junction to all other places…like an interstellar truck stop of sorts. This diamond shaped being was called a diafrillan, and they were known to be incredibly smart.
"Hello there!" the diafrillan introduced, "May I ask for a bit of your time?"
"Certainly," Meta Knight said politely, bowing slightly, "I am Meta Knight, and this is my ss...my student, Kirby."
"Oh dear…. A sumaryan, how dangerous," Dr. Glass said quietly and nervously, sort of recoiling from Kirby. He shook himself free of his silly fear of the tiny pink puff and regained his cordial look again.
Meta Knight wondered why anyone would be afraid of Kirby, but then he remembered how strange Splithia was and it made more sense.
"My name is Dr. Everius Glass!" the diamond-being said, stretching out his wings.
Wing stretching was a typical Splithian greeting.
Kirby stretched his stubby little arms out. Meta Knight chuckled a bit and imitated him.
"So how can we help you, Dr. Glass?" Meta Knight asked.
"I'm here to find someone," Dr. Glass began, "He's a very rare creature… His species is highly endangered and I need to take him to Splithia. We have a reserve there. The only problem is I don't know his name… His kind is part of the demi-amorphicus phylum, we call them avi'cyclos in Splithia, but I'm not sure what you refer to them as."
Meta Knight had never heard of anything called an "Avi'Cyclo". It could be anything…
"I'm not really sure what those are…but we'll help you find him," Meta Knight offered, "Kirby could use a break from speech training…"
Meta Knight leaned closer to Dr. Glass and whispered, "He's just not getting it."
"Oh, that's normal…" Dr. Glass said plainly, "Sumaryans oftentimes go throughout their whole lives never being able to make coherent speech. You see, Kirby's species is prone to the underdevelopment of the Broca's area in the brain…but normal development of the Wernicke's area. They can understand language just fine, but can't speak it well."
Meta Knight felt a little down. Would Kirby never learn to speak? It couldn't be true…
"Poyo!" Kirby said cheerfully. He didn't understand Dr. Glass' scientific terms.
"Hey…HEEEYYY!" someone else screamed.
"Huh?"
All three of them turned to see a waddle-dee running up to them. This one was easily recognized by his blue bandana. The little fellow ran as fast as his stubby legs would carry him. He tripped and rolled to a stop at Meta Knight's feet.
"What is it?"
"I saw dark matter pieces!"
Meta Knight made a frustrated noise. Kirby tugged on his cape, pointing in the direction that the waddle dee had come from.
"Yes, yes… We're going," Meta Knight said, "Dr. Glass, you probably don't want to come with us…we're heading into a very dangerous place."
Dr. Glass laughed, "Yes, with the most dangerous creature in existence on our side!"
"Ok, what do you have against Kirby?" Meta Knight asked, "He's as harmless as a loaf of bread."
"Sumaryans are the only known being to be able to ingest any substance," Dr. Glass explained, "They are never full and can consume many thousand times their weight."
"Yes, that is what Kirby does…" Meta Knight replied, annoyed, "Actually, please come with us… I'd like you to see the things that are more dangerous than Kirby…by all means, join us."
Without another word, all three of them headed off, following the dirt path toward the woods.
"Quick brown fox, Kirby…"
"Qweek prowun folks Kaabi!"
"You're getting closer, at least."
Dr. Glass observed the trees and various vegetation around. It was much different than Splithia, that was for sure. He ambled along, a little ways behind Meta Knight and Kirby. He certainly didn't want to get in the way of that mouth…
"Poyo!"
Kirby's little cry got Dr. Glass' attention. He looked ahead with a start.
"He was right…" Meta Knight began, taking out his sword, "Dark matter…"
Dr. Glass got a good look at what they were going on about. A hazy ball of peculiar energy drifted about under the canopy. It had one single eye in front.
"Can you bring that down for me?" Dr. Glass asked.
"Oh, we'll bring it down all right."
With that, Kirby leaped into the air, fluttering his tiny arms. Dr. Glass shuddered. He could fly too? Truly a frightening creature…
Kirby spat the air in his body at the dark matter, sending it Meta Knight's way. With one swipe of his sword, Meta Knight cut it in two.
The fuzzy black energy floated to the forest floor, collecting in a puddle.
"Good work, Kirby!"
Meta Knight patted the puffball on the head.
"Hmmm…" Dr. Glass gazed at the dark matter remains.
He dipped one wing digit in and then tasted it.
"What…? What are you doing?" Meta Knight asked, baffled.
"Maybe I can tell what sort of energy this is and where it could have come from."
"You can't just…." Meta Knight was about to tell him that he shouldn't just eat things he found outside, but he looked at Kirby and stopped, "Nevermind."
"That was a ball of life energy, but it was by no means a living being. The laws governing energy here in Dreamland are much different than in Splithia. In my world, life energy manifests as light if the levels are high enough. Here, though…it seems to conglomerate on itself and form a semi-solid that absorbs all light…in high enough levels, it even seems to gain sentience."
Kirby looked confused.
"So…do you know where this came from?"
"No…but I do know that it is a rather cold energy… It is from somewhere that has a lot of sadness and fear. In my world…it would appear as a blue colored aurora or maybe even a pool of pale blue light…"
"Of course…" Meta Knight said, smacking his mask on the forehead, "Kirby, we know where this came from, don't we?"
"Poyo!" Kirby seemed very excited.
Kirby and Meta Knight ran off into the woods.
"Oh dear, wait for me, you two!"
The scenery here was much different… This was a very dark and foreboding place, but by all means not the darkest and most foreboding Dr. Glass had ever seen. The atmosphere was a blood red with swirling black clouds. The sun was not visible anywhere. Paths of solid, hexagonal energy led deeper into this void.
"This is the Dark Star," Meta Knight explained as he landed gracefully on a peculiar energy platform.
"Dark star, dark matter….does everything scary simply have dark before it?" Dr. Glass teased.
Meta Knight gave Dr. Glass an angry look.
"This is serious…do you even know where we are?"
"You just told us that we're on the Dark Star."
"Yes, but do you know why we're here?"
"Haven't the faintest."
Meta Knight turned to walk further down the energy path.
"You'll see," he said plainly, "If you're afraid of Kirby, then you will be terrified beyond your imagination soon."
Dr. Glass shut up. He was a bit nervous now. What could be scarier than that Kirby fellow?
It was getting even darker… Perhaps this Sir Meta Knight was right…oh dear, what had Dr. Glass gotten himself into.
"Ssh…sh!" Meta Knight whispered, putting out an arm to stop Dr. Glass and Kirby, "He doesn't even know we're here yet!"
"Who?" Dr. Glass asked, trying not to sound scared.
"Him," Meta Knight whispered, "The king of Dark Matter…ZeroTwo."
Dr. Glass looked out across the void. On a nearby energy platform lay a white colored creature. He was very still at the moment, segmented wings sprawled out on either side. It was facing the opposite way from Meta Knight, him and Kirby, but Dr. Glass knew very well that it had a single red eye. The halo, he knew, was a well developed antenna.
Dr. Glass breathed a sigh of relief.
"Ohh…THERE he is!" he said, gliding toward ZeroTwo, "I've been looking for you!"
"WHAT ARE YOU DOING?" Meta Knight rushed out and grabbed the scientist's lab coat, trying to pull him back to the platform, "Are you insane?"
"What's the matter?" Dr. Glass asked.
Meta Knight didn't even know how to respond to Dr. Glass.
"If you don't mind, I need to go tend to our specimen…" Dr. Glass said, unafraid.
"He WILL kill you!" Meta Knight warned.
"Relax, I have training in this sort of thing… I've handled ahrehk'taurs, you know."
Dr. Glass reached the island and moved slowly to the front…right to where ZeroTwo could see him. The creature looked at Dr. Glass with his one red eye and slowly began to get up. He drew his thorn-covered tail into his white body and spread out his red-tipped wings.
"Why hello to you too!" Dr. Glass greeted, doing the traditional wing stretch greeting.
ZeroTwo stared silently at the scientist, not knowing what to do. He was unarmed. He wasn't attacking…he wasn't even trying to. This newcomer was no threat… ZeroTwo sank to the ground again, hovering inches above it.
"I know this is sudden, but I need you to come with me," Dr. Glass explained to ZeroTwo, "We have a place for all of your kind to thrive."
"What is he doing?" Meta Knight questioned, "ZeroTwo is going to attack him any second!"
"Poyo!" Kirby cried out. He wasn't about to let the foolish scientist die like this!
Kirby took to the air, finding it hard to move in this atmosphere for a long period of time.
"Here, I got you," Meta Knight said, grabbing Kirby from behind. He provided flight for the young star warrior and together, they headed toward Dr. Glass and ZeroTwo.
Dr. Glass was not worried. This fellow was in no condition to be attacking anything. Bits of the black colored energy occasionally seeped out of seemingly nowhere, forming tiny pools and floating orbs.
"I see…the negative life energy is coming from you," Dr. Glass whispered, "I'm…I'm sorry… That must mean you are feeling deep sorrow….and to make so much of it. Me and my associates…we're here to help you…"
"POOOYYYOO!" Kirby made a squeaky battle cry.
ZeroTwo's one eye went wide and he suddenly whirled around, smacking Dr. Glass inadvertently with one wing.
"Ooff!" Dr. Glass cried, rolling a few times across the ground.
"He's attacking him," Meta Knight said to Kirby, "We don't have much time!"
ZeroTwo had gone from lazy and indifferent to fierce in no time at all. He bolted after Meta Knight and Kirby, hurling balls of energy at the two.
Kirby inhaled one and spit it back at the angry eyeball entity, striking him right in his one eye! ZeroTwo flinched, bending over in midair to rub his eye.
"I'll get the head, you get the tail!"
Meta Knight let go of Kirby, who steered himself toward ZeroTwo's tail. Meta Knight landed roughly on ZeroTwo's injured head and struck at his halo with his sword.
The red-eyed creature struggled, trying to shake off Meta Knight. He slashed at his halo repeatedly until it shattered.
"HEY!" Dr. Glass shouted, "What in Spliten's name are you doing?"
He flew up to their level as fast as his four wings could carry him.
"Get off! Get off!" he ordered Meta Knight, hurling him off ZeroTwo's head by his cape.
Kirby was on the platform, preparing to spit a piece of debris at ZeroTwo's tail.
"N, n, no!" Dr. Glass tried to order Kirby, "Don't kill us, please!"
Kirby swallowed the block and looked very confused.
"Why did you stop us?" Meta Knight grumbled.
"You're trying to kill an endangered species…an endangered, sentient being, excuse me," Dr. Glass explained, "Just look at how you made his poor eye bleed and how you damaged his antenna! He isn't even armed."
ZeroTwo hovered back from the crowd, finally able to regenerate his halo. He wanted to blast the two star warriors, but the scientist…he was the one who stopped them.
"He's the one who has been sending Dark Matter throughout our world!" Meta Knight explained angrily, "And you want us to let him go?"
"Those little black balls of energy? Yes, they can get into other beings and cause temporary insanity…I know this, I wrote a paper on it."
"Don't care…let me through!"
Meta Knight pushed past Dr. Glass and headed for ZeroTwo. The eyeball entity began to get agitated once again. He prepared to resume battle.
"Stop this!" Dr. Glass said, getting in the way, "I'm warning you!"
"Get out of my way!" Meta Knight shouted, pushing him aside.
"Ok, I'm sorry Sir Meta Knight," Dr. Glass said quietly.
Meta Knight took to the air and Kirby ran, trying to catch up.
Dr. Glass fluttered alongside the knight and reached into his pocket. He withdrew a tiny, two pronged device and deftly touched it to Meta Knight.
"TZZZAAAPPP!"
"OOH!" Meta Knight let out a cry and fell to the ground.
"I'm sorry, sir," Dr. Glass apologized, "But I'm not going to let you hurt this harmless creature. Also, I can't let you interfere with my research."
ZeroTwo and Kirby were equally confused.
"You don't understand how and why the dark matter is produced," Dr. Glass tried to explain, "You see, it isn't an attack…it's a distress signal. Because of how energy works here, the signal, which is his own energy born of his own suffering, makes those balls of dark matter. In Splithia, he would be able to send a signal to any other beings able to sense it…and they could respond. He's incredibly depressed and in a terrible amount of pain."
Dr. Glass muttered in Splithian as he dialed something on a tiny device in his wing digits.
"Emerson? He aiyo'furos a avi'cyclo n'te Popstar…se heya ZeroTwo. Uu'mao tes…"
"T'taiyous!" came from the device.
"We can't use life energy to broadcast here," Dr. Glass said, "For the same reason ZeroTwo is so destructive…it would make little black balls of energy, some bad some good. We have to use regular old radio waves."
A few seconds later, a light was seen up above. It descended onto the energy platform. It was a very odd ship that looked more like a clear glass crystal with metal tips on top and bottom. Surrounding it were three brilliant white lights. The ship was rather large; taking up nearly the whole island.
A small area opened on the side, looking much like a break in a clear waterfall. Out came three more diafrillan scientists.
"ZeroTwo, I would like you to meet my associates, Emerson, Lake, and Palmer!" Dr. Glass introduced.
"Welcome back my friend!" one said to Dr. Glass.
The other two turned to ZeroTwo.
"We're so glad you could attend!"
"Come inside, come inside!"
Emerson, Lake, and Palmer led ZeroTwo into the bubble-like ship.
"Sorry I had to taze you, Meta Knight…" Dr. Glass apologized, "I'm really grateful that you and your friend led us to him."
"He's my ss…star warrior apprentice…apology accepted…" Meta Knight replied, feeling a mixture of annoyance and embarrassment.
"Poyo!" Kirby cried, waving to Dr. Glass, his associates, and the now calm ZeroTwo.
"Bye-bye you terrifying little fellow!" Dr. Glass called, waving.
He boarded the strange ship with his friends and the opening closed up again. The balls of light spun around the ship faster and grew, until they covered the entire thing in brilliant white. The ship itself had become a ball of light! It rose into the red sky, becoming smaller and smaller until it was no longer visible.
Kirby and Meta Knight stared up where it used to be.
"Weirdos…poyo!" Kirby said.
"Hey! You're finally getting it!" Meta Knight congratulated.
He patted Kirby on the back and wondered what to do. This adventure had ended rather underwhelming. They were used to a huge battle at this point.
"Let's go grab a bite to eat…" Meta Knight sighed.
"YAY!" Kirby cried. That was, of course, his favorite thing to do.
He bounded away ahead of Meta Knight.
"Bunch of Splithian weirdos…" Meta Knight muttered, following Kirby.