Chapter 9: The Trickster's Second Act
With the prime Dark Matter now dealt with for good, the Halbered continues to ascend through the daunting rift created earlier by the orb of darkness that represented Riku's Darkness element. Kirby, Meta Knight and the teenage Overlord himself took a steady breather on the deck, resting up so they'd be in peak condition again when they finally confronted the revived Zero, who supposedly was waiting at the very top of the rift. The Dark Matter swarm had subsided in its entirety when the prime specimen battled the heroes, but despite having a perfect chance to fight the ones who killed one of their controllers they hadn't made a single appearance since then.
Riku walks over to Kirby as the star warrior lies on the side of his body, having fallen asleep rather easily with tiny neon "Z"s floating over his head for some bizarre reason. Knowing that the star warrior wouldn't hold it against him, the teenage Overlord leans forward on his right foot and waves at Kirby, saying to him "Hey Kirby, can you wake up for a moment?"
The "Z"s pop apart from largest to smallest, and Kirby cracks his eyelids open and looks up at Riku with dazed eyes before blinking twice and quickly leaping onto his feet with a strange defiance of physics. The teenage Overlord says to the star warrior "Glad you hadn't fallen into a truly deep sleep. Anyways, I wanted to ask you something."
Widening his mouth as much as physically possible as he lets out a tired if somewhat youthful yawn, Kirby proceeds to say to Riku with a couple smacks of his lips "W-What is it?"
Riku waves his right hand beside his body as he stands back upright on the deck, proceeding to say to the star warrior "I've been feeling something rather weird in the air ever since we defeated Dark Matter. It reminds me of one of my elements, but I can't tell if its the Light one or one of the ones I reclaimed. When you ran into the Halberd to get the UFO power-up did you happen to see anything that looked like one of my element orbs?"
Kirby shook his head, saying to Riku in response to his inquiry "Nah, the only things there were the UFO and Angel power-ups. I'm pretty certain your Light element would be this very bright pearl colored orb or something like that, so it wouldn't be hard to find."
"Well I don't know how else to explain this feeling…" Riku quietly replies to the star warrior's words.
Kirby then proceeds to say to the boy "Think of it this way. If Meta Knight had your Light element, then he would have likely given it back to you by now since he knows how the orbs work. Meta Knight may keep to himself at times, but there is usually a method to his actions."
The star warrior gazes off to the side and chuckles nervously, saying in a whisper "Usually…" as he remembers the time Meta Knight tried to take over Dream Land with the very ship they are riding now.
"I probably should ask him though, just to be safe." Riku says to Kirby after the star warrior has finished recollecting past events.
"It wouldn't do any harm, if it will clear your mind of any doubts." Kirby said in a surprisingly mature tone of voice. The teenage Overlord nods his head in agreement, and quickly turns around to look at the stoic warrior as he stands at the left edge of the deck with his cape folded at the center of his chest.
Riku walks over to Meta Knight, his footsteps creating a loud enough noise that before he opens his mouth the stoic warrior asks "Is there something you need, Elemental Overlord?"
Riku flinches in surprise. Despite knowing how cautious the famed Meta Knight, he was still taken aback by just how observant the warrior was in person, and after retracting his right hand he decided to cut the small talk and speak to Meta Knight in a mature tone befitting the warrior's personality. "Meta Knight, did you happen to run across an orb of pure light between seeing Dark Matter for the first time and showing up at Castle Dedede?"
Meta Knight swiftly responds with a simple "No" and Riku nods his head and replies to that singular word with a appreciative "Alright, just thought I'd ask."
Riku turns around and prepares to depart, but is stopped by Meta Knight only a second after he spoke. "Hold on a moment, there is something I wish to ask you."
Riku pauses in surprise, letting out a light "Hmmm?" before glancing over his shoulder and watching as Meta Knight removes his arms from his cape and turns around to look at the boy. In Meta Knight's right hand is Galaxia, which he drew from a mysterious location.
"Draw your sword, warrior." Meta Knight said, his tone filled with a strange lack of animosity in his voice despite the words he used.
Riku, batting an eyelid at the warrior's sentence, nonetheless pointed his right hand forward and summoned his helix bladed weapon, which floated in front of the tip of his hand with the help of his mind. Meta Knight looked at the sword for a good few seconds before looking back at his own, saying to the teenage Overlord a mere moment later "Hmm…It seems our swords have some things in common."
"How so?" Riku asks with his head slightly tilted to the right and a look of curiosity on his face.
Meta Knight moves Galaxia around in the air, looking at it as he says to the boy "Both of our swords are linked to our wills. If you've noticed, I don't wear a sheath on my body. Have you ever wondered why that is?"
The teenage Overlord doesn't need to think too long about that, and says to Meta Knight "Do you summon Galaxia with your mind like I do with my sword?"
Meta Knight responds with a simple nod, and proceeds to say to Riku after sheathing the blade with a thought and a push of his right hand into his cape "It takes a strong mind to control Galaxia. I don't know the sword's specific origin, but I have carried it with me for hundreds of years and have learned that single fact about it. The more focused you are while using Galaxia, the stronger your attacks will be. With what little combat I have seen you in, I can tell that your sword operates in a very similar manner."
Meta Knight stares at Riku, saying to him as he points at the sword he holds before his right hand "But its interesting how your sword doesn't have a handle. Why is that?"
Riku holds the sword in front of his eyes, rolling it back and forth in the air as he glares at it and says to the stoic warrior "I don't know what to tell you Meta Knight. This weapon is a complete mystery to me for the most part."
"Did you acquire it recently?" Meta Knight asks with a hint of curiosity in his voice.
Riku shakes his head and says to the warrior "No. This sword has been with me ever since I was born. I just haven't gotten a good chance to figure out how to master this sword. All I know for certain is that it acts like a conduit for my elemental energy, and if I concentrate hard enough it allows me to change into different forms that amplify the efficiency of a single elemental power\."
"Hmm…How curious." Meta Knight remarks.
The stoic warrior then looks at Riku with a firm glare, causing the boy to blink twice as he looks over the sharp edge of his sword as he lowers it. "All I can really say to you is that even if you don't know how to operate the sword, you should treat it with the utmost respect. A bond, even between a living being and an inanimate object, can lead to beneficial results for both parties."
Riku dispels his sword for the time being and looks at Meta Knight, saying to him in a puzzled tone of voice "How come you are giving me this advice?"
Meta Knight says to the teenage Overlord "It is easy to recognize a rookie when you fight beside him. You may have a lot of power inside of your body, but you haven't learned how to control it to the best of your ability. You use your powers in very simple ways, but you already addressed why that is. As a fellow warrior, I felt as though it was right to offer a little advice to help you out. Unlike Kirby, who has always had a natural talent to him, you require some training to hone your skills to the fullest extent. When we have defeated Dark Master, I would be more than willing to train you in the ways of the sword."
Though Meta Knight was being genuine in what he was offering, the teenage Overlord smiled at him and said "Thanks for that, but if I have to be honest if I have to learn how to use my sword…I'll do it by myself."
Meta Knight nods his head, saying to the boy after he made his heartfelt request "I shall respect your wishes. But if you change your mind for any reason, then let me know."
Riku nods his head in agreement, and after this conversation has ended Meta Knight turns back towards the edge of the deck while the teenage Overlord turns around and walks back to the center. He then looks up towards the sky and notices how the dark, foggy edge of the rift was starting to vanish. The blank, dark purple sky at the top of the rift also began to change, with strange ultraviolet distortions appearing along the air. And as the Halberd passes the rim of the top of the rift the hole seals up instantly, with the ground suddenly becoming covered in various black hexagons with multicolored edges.
Meta Knight looks down at his left hand and says to the captain "Land the ship here, the ground appears to be stable."
Obeying his superior officer's wishes, the chicken captain begins to shut down the engines of the Halberd, the roar of the rockets in the back dying out as the massive battleship hovers above the floor that has been created below it before finally settling on the ground. With the Halberd now in place, Meta Knight says to the captain "Wait for us here. Tell everyone to prepare for self-defense in case of another enemy attack."
With his left hand swung beside his body after he has given his order, Meta Knight summons Galaxia in his right hand and immediately leaps off the side of the Halberd, summoning his wings to help with his descent. Kirby walks up to the edge of the Halberd alongside Riku, and after nodding their heads at each other they leap off the mighty battleship and land on the ground behind Meta Knight. With all three heroes gathered at the foot of the Halberd, they proceed to walk along this strange landscape in search of Zero.
It doesn't take very long for the heroes to such a long distance away from the Halberd that they can't even see it after they turn back, but nonetheless they keep walking straight ahead to try and find any sign of life. The eerie silence of this mysterious landscape put all three heroes on guard, especially Kirby, who didn't currently have a power-up with him. "You know, this place doesn't remind me at all of anything Dark Matter has created before." Kirby says.
"Rainbow colors, ultraviolet background? You're right Kirby, you would think something as gruesome as Zero would create a desolate area with red and black objects." Riku points out in response to Kirby's attentive comment.
Meta Knight glances back at the two heroes, saying in a stoic voice "And if you recall, the barrier around the Halberd could only be destroyed by something that wasn't related to Dark Matter."
Riku and Kirby both face Meta Knight, with the star warrior pointing out as they walk "Wait, are you suggesting that Zero isn't our opponent? But nobody else knows how to control Dark Matter."
"Hahaha! Actually, that's not exactly true, Kirby!" A cackling, demented shriek filled this almost empty void, causing the heroes to turn forward and face the air in front of them. Kirby's eyes widen, and for a rather good reason.
Floating down from the distorted atmosphere above is a nightmarish creature with a light violet body with widened furious eyes and a wide two fanged grin with an elongated tongue. Atop his head was a hat with two colors, with dark magenta on the left and sky blue on the right, the pompoms on both sides being rather spiky in design. The being wore brown shoes with pointy ends, and a tarnished gold necklace wrapped around his neck. On both sides of the body were disjointed dark red wings with three claws attached between the single joint and the body. The joints had bright blue hearts attached, and the membranes of the wings were represented by thin different colored hexagons that flickered in and out of existence with each passing second.
As this creature flapped his wings and floated a good ten feet off of the ground, Kirby stared at him in disbelief and said with a stutter in his voice "M-M-Marx?"
"Awwwww…You remembered me Kirby! How touching…Or it would be, if you hadn't killed me beforehand!" The bat-winged creature named Marx exclaims in a wickedly twisted tone of voice, the animosity amidst his insanity being as clear as day as he let out an echoing cackle.
"But its ok, I don't hold it against you…Much." Marx says, his wide-eyed expression not changing in the slightest. It was rather creepy how he floated in the eye with such insanity on his face. He was like a zombie, and that made his presence in this realm after encountering Dark Matter all the more unsettling.
"How are you still alive?" Kirby says, his tone becoming incredibly serious all of a sudden as he questions Marx about how he came back to life.
Marx laughs as he looks down at the three heroes, and he proceeds to say to them all in an unhinged tone of voice "Oh there is a LOVELY story behind my return, and a miraculous one at that!"
"It all started when you defeated me so, SO long ago…my body was launched back into the depths of space, where I crashed into NOVA and destroyed it, spreading its parts above the atmosphere of Dream Land. But even though the wish granting entity was destroyed, its purpose still lingered on…My wish, to conquer Pop Star in its entirety, still needed to be fulfilled, and even in its destruction NOVA worked to make my wish a reality! NOVA gave me its power and revived me in this new form, making me stronger than I could ever have hoped to be before!
But that wasn't enough…Hehehe, oh no, NOVA didn't just give me a new body to work with! Not long after I was revived, I was greeted by these dark black orbs that swarmed to me and submitted to my will almost instantly! They bowed before me, calling me their master in unison! Oh how glorious it felt to have an army of dark creatures under my command after my amazing revival! It was fantastic, I was so excited by all of this that I had to take advantage of it!
I used these 'Dark Matter' orbs for various purposes! I unleashed them on other planets, seeing just how efficiently they could conquer them and laughing at the misery of the people as they ran and screamed! Oh Kirby you should have been there…Well scratch that, you likely would have ruined my fun if you were there. But after having so much fun with the Dark Matter orbs, I decided to return to Dream Land to conquer it for myself, this time with this added power and army at my disposal! And what better way to celebrate my return than by turning you into dust, Kirby?!"
With his explanation at an end, Marx burst into echoing cackles once more, his elongated tongue emerging from his mouth as his eyes remained in the same positions as always, adding to the frightening aspect of his insanity until he eventually stops laughing and looks down at the three heroes. Meta Knight, with Galaxia swung beside his body, says to the demented Marx "You aren't in control of Dark Matter. Just like Dedede, they are simply manipulating you, and you don't even realize it."
Marx glares at this masked warrior and says to him in a puzzled tone of voice "And just who are you supposed to be? Kirby's super-serious cousin or something stupid like that? Whoever you are, you don't understand anything! I am in control of Dark Matter! They obey my whims and mine alone! And once you are done with I will use them to conquer Dream Land without opposition! Then I can have fun with the populace to my hearts' content, heheHE!"
The use of the word 'fun' sickened Kirby and Riku, who looked at Marx with utter disgust in their eyes. The star warrior said to the demented creature "Did coming back to life warp your mind, or were you always this twisted?"
"Is there anything wrong with either answer? What's twisted in your view is normal for me, and vice versa, etc etc etc…Enough talk! It won't take long for me to finally be done with you and your precious Dream Land, Kirby!" Marx, with one last declaration born for his insanity, begins to flap his wings rapidly in the air as he lets out a hallowed shriek.
Riku draws his sword ready to fight the demented creature, but as he stares at him he feels this incredibly unnatural chill creeping down what little spine he had in this body. This feeling mixed with the earlier sensation he had that reminded him of one of his elements was uncomfortable on the teenage Overlord's psyche, as he thought to himself "Don't tell me…Did Marx somehow get a hold of my Light element? Or am I sensing something else entirely? …This can't be good." These questions lingered on Riku's mind as he prepared for battle against Marx alongside his two comrades…
Next Time: Falling Hour