Fall of a Hero


|GK|


CLANG!!

The screech of metal on metal split the air in two as their blades clashed with the force of all the heavens. The two warriors pulled apart, each shaken slightly from the magnitude of the blow. Recovering from the recoil of the collision, Kirby looked up to see the sharp yellow blade coming at him again. With a growl of determination, he quickly rolled to the side, causing the sword to miss him; but only barely.

Jumping to his feet, Kirby looked around for his opponent, who had disappeared without a trace, as if into thin air. He spun quickly, expecting to be attacked from behind at any minute, but the space behind him was just as devoid of life as the rest of the room. Just as he relaxed for a moment, Kirby's ear caught the slight swish of a cape behind him. Without a second thought he pivoted around on one stubby red leg and slashed wildly with his sword behind him. However, his opponent was ready and easily blocked the reckless blow with his own sword.

Before Kirby could even register what happened, an elbow slammed into his round belly, knocking the wind from his lungs and forcing him to topple over on the ground. A serrated golden sword filled his vision as his opponent rested the very tip of the sword lightly just below Kirby's mouth.

"Your swordsmanship still needs work," Meta Knight noted, swinging his sword around and slipping it silently into its sheath. His bright yellow eyes glimmered with satisfaction at still being unmatched by anyone in Dreamland.

"Oh come on!" Kirby protested, jumping to his feet in fury. "You know I almost beat you earlier!"

"Almost may count in Plasma and Bomb abilities," Meta Knight growled, giving Kirby a stern stare, "But not in Sword. You said you wanted to take on Sword as your True Copy, correct?"

Kirby took a step forward. "Yeah, but-"

Meta Knight cut him off with a wave of his hand, raising his voice to drown out Kirby's. "Then you need to start being more serious!" he snapped. "Do you think mastery comes about overnight? Of course not! Even outside of our sparring matches, you must at least pick up that sword every day and practice to get the feel for it. Only once you are comfortable with a blade it your hands can you ever truly master it."

The pick warrior rolled his eyes in exasperation. It had been months since Kirby had begun these training sessions with Meta Knight, and every day he came closer to defeating the legendary knight. Kirby was convinced he had a good enough grasp on the ability, though he wished Meta Knight would ligthen up for just one minute. "I think you're just a little too serious about this sword thing."

"You cannot be 'too serious' about your True Copy!" Meta Knight insisted sharply, his hand twitching towards his own sword for a moment. "Do you even fully understand what your True Copy is?"

"Oh here we go again," Kirby didn't bother hiding the sarcasm in his voice. He could think of a thousand and one things he would rather do than listen to another one of Meta Knight's lectures about True Copy abilities. He'd heard the same speech at least eighteen times, and was pretty sick of it at this point.

"Your True Copy isn't just a copy ability that you really like and choose to hang on to," Meta Knight began, ignoring Kirby's obvious irritation. "It must become a part of you! After choosing your True Copy, there's no turning back! You can never change your mind, because it will be too late. What's more, the Sword is the most difficult True Copy to use, because it is not a natural ability. It takes practice to truly master!"

Meta Knight's heartfelt words fell on uncaring ears, and he could feel his face growing hot with anger underneath his mask as he saw that Kirby had dozed off after standing idle for so long. He drew his sword in one swift movement and smacked the rebellious pink hero over the head with the flat of the blade. Kirby gave a squeal of annoyance and leapt to his feet angrily.

"Yeah, well how often did you practice with the Sword before choosing it as your True Copy?!" Kirby retaliated hotly. "Maybe you should practice what you preach."

"I practiced every day," Meta Knight replied coolly, sliding his sword back into the sheath at his waist with a soft hsss of metal against leather.

"Every day?" Kirby echoed in disbelief.

"Every day," Meta Knight was becoming more and more irked with the younger hero by the second, but fought hard to keep his voice steady and calm, though not without a hint of condescendence. No battle is won by the warrior with anger clouding his judgment, the seasoned swords master told himself sternly. When he was sure he had his anger under control, Meta Knight continued, "I practiced every day, because I knew if I wanted to truly be able to use the Sword, I needed to become completely accustomed to wielding it. I knew I needed to practice every day, and you are no different!"

"Alright!" Kirby shouted, still defiant but defeated. "Fine! I'll practice more! Just please get off my back!"

"Hmph," was the only response Meta Knight gave, turning away from Kirby in disgust. "We shall see." With that, Meta Knight covered himself with his Dimensional Cape and disappeared into the empty air.

Kirby was beginning to lose his patience with Meta Knight. Who did he think he was, anyway? Did he finally vanquish Nightmare? Did he travel the Stars and find every single Crystal Shard? Did he defeat Dark Mind? And just where was he when Drawcia cursed all of Dream Land?

Kirby was the hero here – not Meta Knight – and Kirby knew this. And still Meta Knight struts around like some sort of all powerful being with no match, having never been bested even by enemies from other dimensions.

So maybe he was the greatest swordsman in Dreamland. Did that give him the right to treat Kirby like an inexperienced child? Meta Knight may have been better that Kirby, but how often did he really practice with the Sword nowadays? It probably wasn't every day. If Meta Knight didn't need to practice every single day, why did Kirby, the Hero of Dreamland?

I don't need to practice every day, Kirby thought angrily as he slashed his sword at the empty air where Meta Knight had stood moments before. Meta Knight is just acting all high and mighty to make me look like a fool! The sword's path became more frenzied as Kirby pictured for a moment it cutting through Meta Knight's armor like a hot knife through butter. Fury swarmed around his head like angry hornets.

Finally Kirby dropped to the ground in exhaustion, letting his sword slip away and land with a sharp clatter on the cold stone floor. As the adrenaline of Kirby's temper tantrum ebbed away, he let out a deep sigh and stretched out to stare up at the ceiling. One day I'll beat him, He told himself forcefully. That'll bring him down off his high-horse. I'm better than him, after all. I know I am.


|GK|


Credit where credit is due

Original concept: Darkurai

Primary drafting: Darkurai

Editing and final draft: peofun1

Kirby, Meta Knight, and all other characters and concepts from the Kirby series of video games are copyright Nintendo and HAL Laboratories. Darkurai, the writer, does not hold or claim any ownership to these characters.