A/N -- Woah, intro!

Hello ! I'm gothicorca1895, previously reknown for my work in the Wall-E and Coraline sections of the site. Recently I got into a new fandom: Hoshi no Kaabii. The fruit of that was a fandom with fourteen, count 'em fourteen, fanfictions in it. They're all about the most awesome and mysterious character of the series -- Meta Knight.

I have dubbed the group of these fourteen fanfictions "Season 1.5" because rather than being a sequel to the anime series, they are an alternate-reality version of it. Meta Origins is the first "movie event" of this series. Granted, it's not my best work, but considering I've never written for Kirby before I thought it turned out okay.

Since I don't want to clog the category, I won't upload anything else unless people actually enjoy and review this.

So without further ado, I present to you...

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Meta Origins
Prologue: The Attack

"Meta! META! Wake up!"

Meta shifted slightly in his small bed, feeling the sheets and the mattress as if they were materializing beneath him. His sleep-fogged mind was still contemplating the dream he'd had, where the fearless Meta Knight had been confronted by a horde of demon beasts in a small village, and fires were burning and people were screaming and…

"Meta! I know it's late, but you have to wake up!"

Meta squinted at the blurred outline of his mother's face. No. Something wasn't right. It was still his mother's face, but every feature was tinted red…

"META! It's beginning!"

Meta gasped, senses slamming back to their enhanced level, absorbing the details of his dream that had carried into the real world. Beyond the flimsy glass and gauzy curtains of his bedroom window, the shrieks of injured and terrified villagers grated on his nerves. And as for what he could see, the jagged silhouettes of fires cast an eerie bloodred layer over the familiar colors of his home. It was like the eruption of a volcano, but volcanoes didn't roar monstrously, didn't match the phrase his mother had used, "It's beginning…"

But as he sat up, even with every detail falling into place, Meta didn't believe it. How could this be THE night, the one he'd been born for, the one he'd been anticipating for his entire life?

"I'm awake, Mama," he said, with a confused neutrality. "What's happening?"

His mother's eyes drifted towards the closed windows. "Demon beasts!" she gasped. "Three of them. One is attacking now. Meta, the time has come."

Fear drove into him like a stake, and he gasped. "Mama!" he cried, leaping out of bed. "There's real demon beasts outside?! We have to get the starships! We have to find Chuva!! We have to -- "

"Meta, calm down!" his mother instructed, placing both hands on his shoulders. He sucked in a deep breath, squeezing some of the tension from his muscles. "You musn't worry about anything, Meta," his mother continued. "Everything is ready. We'll meet up with Chuva and get to the starships. But first, you have to get dressed."

She nodded at a heap of clothes on the floor, a few gilded metal pieces resting atop the pile. Meta examined these, perplexed. He'd been given a walk-through of this crucial night for nearly as long as he could remember, and no one had ever mentioned anything about costumes.

"It's your uniform, Meta," his mother explained, smiling a little. "For when you become a star warrior. For when you are my little Meta Knight."

He gazed down at the pile doubtfully. Until tonight, all of his preparations had seemed almost like a big joke. Like a fairy tale, or a story about superheroes. One day, he would grow up to be big and strong and defeat the evil ruler of the universe, Nightmare, and that was why he'd created his alternate persona. When he reached the Galaxy Soldier Army, as he'd bragged about to Chuva a million times, he would progress so quickly that he would be knighted, and become Meta Knight. Meta Knight was strong and fearless. Meta Knight was bold and brave. Meta Knight would face his destiny without batting an eye.

He didn't feel a thing like Meta Knight. He felt like Meta, the kid who had been thrown into this night of turmoil, all because the universe had chosen him to be a future Star Warrior.

His mother helped him worm into the garments. This was nothing like the costume he wore when he was training with Chuva. That was just a ragged old blanket for a cape and a broken ceramic bowl as a helmet. These clothes were built for fighting. The cape was sewn from a reinforced fabric, the neck guard stiff and upright, the heavy metal shoulder pads not revealing an inch of skin. And there was a sword, the sharp silver blade nothing like the wooden replica toys he was used to. Everything was tailored for an individual twice his size.

"I know they're big, but when you come out of hibernation, you'll be an adult," said his mother. "By that time, they'll fit perfectly."

"Mama, we have to go get Chuva right now!" Meta insisted, trying to disentangle his feet from the cape, which was spread around him like a puddle of water. Chuva was definitely awake by now; he could feel her presence nipping him like a mosquito, her awareness laid over his like a ghostly second sight. If she reached the launch site and no one was there, what would she think had happened to him?

Rather than telling him to be patient as she usually did, his mother looked around, her eyes catching the burning light, and said, "Yes, we do. We'll leave, Meta. But first…" She handed him something round and flat, bent slightly concave.

"What's this?" asked Meta, turning the item around in his hands. There was a black shape in the middle, like an obtuse letter V. Two eyelike yellow ovals pulsed dully inside it. "A mask?"

"The final touch," agreed his mother, nodding.

A force struck the side of the house, making it rattle down to the foundations. Every candle was extinguished, plunging the little cottage into darkness as black as smoke.

"Mama!" gasped Meta.

"I'm here!" his mother answered, and he felt her hand grip his. "We have to get out of here. Quickly!"

A flash of fire from outside illuminated the room like a bolt of lightning, revealing for a split second the urgency in his mother's face. The next second she was striding through the darkened rooms purposefully. He clung to her for dear life with one hand; the other dragged the heavy metal mask behind him.

When they reached the door, Meta discovered to his horror that it had been rocked from its bearings and was splintered on the ground. Outside, the world was a mass of black sky with red splashes serving as his village. Everything was obscured by firelight and the haze of smoke. The buildings that weren't already destroyed were in the process of burning.

"What could have done this?" he gaped.

His mother's eyes narrowed. "Demon beasts are merciless, relentless creatures. They've come to conquer this star, and they'll stop at nothing until their mission is comple – META!"

"H-huh?" Meta stammered, but before he could assemble a complete thought, a cracking sound split the air, and his mother shoved him brutally away from the door. He skidded hard against the ground, frozen in shock. When he got his head to respond and look back at his mother, he saw what had happened. The entire front of the house had collapsed, trapping his mother beneath a mass of building debris, fires crackling viciously around her.

"MAMA!" he shouted, scrambling over to her, hugging the mask to his chest as if it were a teddy bear.

His mother groaned, struggling to push herself up, but falling as a beam heaved down on her. "Meta…" she choked out, "you can't wait for me. You must go."

"N-no! Mama!" Meta protested, voice trembling as he grabbed her hand. "I can't leave you, Mama, I can't, I can't…"

"You must!" Her eyes were as flaming as the wreckage around her, but with determination and love, rather than hatred and destruction. "You know your way to the launch site. Chuva's parents will help you when you get there." She leaned forward as much as her confines permitted and gently kissed his forehead. "I love you, my little Meta Knight."

"I love you too, Mama," sobbed Meta, tears freely streaming down his cheeks. "I…I w-won't forget you." He struggled to force down the anguish that came from knowing she'd be killed by the demon beasts the second he left. Crying was very un-warriorlike. He had to be Meta Knight now.

"You had better not forget me," she managed with a weak smile. "Now go on, Meta. And put on that mask. You need to protect that handsome little face of yours."

Reducing his tears down to sniffles, Meta pressed the gilded mask over his face. Like the rest of his ensemble, it was entirely too big. Nevertheless, it seemed to be made for him; his vision immediately locked on with the yellow eyes in the mask. Reluctantly releasing his mother's hand, he straightened up.

A demon beast was towering over the remnants of his home. It was a fire-spitter, utterly indescribable. Through the waves of fear jolting through him, he managed to stamp the beast's monstrous appearance into his memory. If ever the opportunity came to avenge his mother's death, he would need to remember that face too.

Heading to the launch site, he was caught in a whirlwind of chaos. Injured civilians moaned from the smoking skeletons of buildings. Luckier villagers, huddling with their families, obediently stepped aside when they saw him bounding their way. After all, they had to allow their savior passage.

The mask was half dangling off of his face, but it was nearly impossible to straighten while he was running. He was on the far side of town, in a route created for him by a maze of ruins, but there were two or three ways to reach the launch site. And he knew this village; he had grown up in it, carefully memorizing its layout over years of training. It was impossible for him to be lost here.

When he finally reached his destination through some roundabout path, he cried out in dread and disappointment. The launch site was squeezed in the gap between two buildings, sheltered by a couple of now-smoldering trees. The twin starships waited for their passengers. But besides him, the place was vacant. No one else was there.

"Chuva, where are you?!" he called aloud, feeling her absence so strongly that it was as if he was missing half of himself. The only time they had ever been separated longer than this was when they went home to sleep, and at least then they were unconscious, oblivious to their solitude. He had never pictured this night without her right beside him, as ready to become a Star Warrior as he was, for better or for worse. What if something had happened to her? What if the demon beast had gotten her too, or if one of the other ones had? On his way here, he'd counted three misshapen blots on the horizon. With three of those huge things, the chances of her being snagged had to be pretty good. And he couldn't operate the starship console by himself! What if –

"Meta-sama!"

He jumped and spun around. Coming from an entrance behind him were two familiar adult figures and one even more familiar child.

"Meta-sama," Chuva's father began, "where's your mother?"

"Hiro…" said Chuva's mother gently. "Perhaps it's best not to ask."

"Hey, Meta-sama," grinned Chuva, running towards him as fast as her regalia allowed. She was dressed almost identically to him, her clothes sagging with identical largeness around her. The headdress placed over her hair was so wide that it kept toppling over her eyes as she came to greet him.

"Chuva!" cried Meta in relief, squeezing her hands tightly. Chuva was the only one who could comfort him no matter what. Even when his father had died, even when his mother hadn't been able to help him, Chuva had been the warmth he felt in a cold world. "Chuva, I'm so glad you're here. I – I don't want to do this without you."

"You never have to do anything without me ever again, Meta," she whispered excitedly. "Just think – we're gonna be Star Warriors!"

"Yeah…" He shivered beneath his oversized cape. "Chuva," he confessed, "even though this is the night we've been waiting for, I'm – I'm really scared, Chuva!"

But looking deeper into her yellow eyes, he could tell that the thin layer of bravado was mostly false. The same emotions he felt were thriving within her.

"So am I, Meta," she admitted. But after a beat, she grinned nervously. "Hey, I thought you were supposed to be the fearless Meta Knight!"

He managed to pull a shaky smile. Leave it to Chuva to keep teasing him till the end.

"I'm sorry to break you up, but you two need to get into your capsules," interrupted Chuva's mother. "Things are quickly getting worse, so you'd best be on your way."

Meta and Chuva obediently clambered into their open starships. Meta settled into the recliner, trying to get used to the feel of the seat. He'd be sleeping there for a hundred years, after all. The Warp Star would steer, guiding him towards the rest of the Star Children, and then they could form the foretold Galactic Soldier Army.

In the seat of the other ship, Chuva waved to him cheerlessly.

Chuva's parents were busily pounding buttons at the control panels for the starships. The glass tops began to hiss closed. Meta leaned back, waiting for the hibernation sequence to overtake him. He could hear the final checks being shouted out as the glass sealed shut. "Flight sequence? Check. Hibernation sequence? Check. Warp Stars…"

By the time they reached Warp Stars, he'd been shut off from the sound of the world. But he only needed his masked eyes to know that something had gone wrong. Chuva's parents were exchanging urgent glances, rushing around to check his ship, then Chuva's. He pressed the side of his head to the glass, trying to fathom what was going on.

"The Warp Star! It's missing!"

"It's too late! The flight sequence is already set!"

"No! Stop it!"

"I can't!"

"NO! Chuva…!"

"Chuva!" he gasped. This couldn't be happening. After so much preparation, they couldn't be separated by something as trivial as a missing Warp Star. He tried to press his hands against the glass, but the grip of the hibernation sequence was coming over him, and his arms refused to obey.

"Chuva! CHUVA!" he frantically repeated, fighting the threatening unconsciousness. The starship was rumbling beneath him, but he couldn't lose her! They weren't meant to be separated! What would happen to her ship if she had no Warp Star?!

"Chuva," he tried to call again, but he only he had the energy left for a weak groan. "Chuva…no…you can't leave me…" His eyes were fluttering closed behind the mask as he slumped down in his seat. "Chuva…" he murmured one last time, as hibernation overcame him. "Chuva…"