Tournament of the World
By: JadeDragonKnight
Chapter X
Day turned to night and night turned to morning. Once again, a runner entered the guest dorm.
"Challenger 162 is to report-"
King Dedede came out from his bedroom, dressed, and said, "Yeah we know."
The king walked up to Escargon's room and knocked on the door.
"You ready yet?" he shouted.
"Almost," escaped the room.
He turned to Meta Knight's room and went to pound on the door.
"Don't bother, no one's in there."
Dedede jumped when he saw Meta Knight sitting calmly on one of the lounge chairs.
"Wha- don't tell me you couldn't sleep," the king said worryingly.
"I did," the knight replied, getting up, "I just didn't want you to yank on my collar again."
When Escargon joined them, the runner led them to the arena.
King Dedede and Escargon walked onto the king's seat. To their surprise, Reginald and King Solomon were already there, waiting for them.
"Good, you're here," Solomon said from his chair, "I hope you're well rested."
"Yup," Dedede replied.
"Don't wear yourselves out again," Reginald stated sarcastically.
Escargon returned an indifferent look. They went to their usual spots on the balcony. They looked down at the battle field below. One of the iron gates opened. Meta Knight stepped onto the field. The referee also entered onto his platform.
"Welcome back to the Tournament of the World!" the hidden announcer exclaimed. "Today, Sir Meta Knight reenters the battlefield, ready for more! He has made it halfway through the challenges, but now he will face the toughest opponents in the greatest battle of his life! Will he become champion, or fall with the other challengers?"
Meta Knight looked to the other gate as it opened. A giant, spider like creature came forth. It was a demon beast he recognized.
'Doku Kumo,' he thought to himself, 'Its venom can kill a person in less than an hour. It can be killed when all of its legs are detached.'
Meta Knight got into his fighting stance. The referee held up his arm to give the signal for the fight to start. Dedede and Escargon stood at the railing anxiously. The judge gave the word and the monster raced up to the knight. He waited for it to come close then jumped above it as its large pinchers snapped at him. He pushed off of its body with one hand and landed behind it. The monster went to turn around, but stopped and cried out in pain. Meta Knight had cut off one of its legs. It landed on the ground and twitched. Escargon's tongue hung out in disgust. The demon glared at the knight. Suddenly, something white shot out from its mouth. It wrapped around Meta Knight's arm. The beast began to pull him towards itself. He groaned as he tried to release his arm from the sticky web. The spider pulled as hard as it could. Meta Knight was yanked from his position and thrown towards it. In an instant, his cape transformed into wings, he dived under the snapping pinchers, and dodged the stinger by a hair. He flew above it. The web that was still attached to him locked under the beast and forcefully flipped it over on its back. The demon thrashed about, trying to right itself. Meta Knight cut the sticky web clean off and dived down to the monster. He cut more of its legs off. It cried out in agony. The knight stood ready before it. It finally got up, but fell to the ground again. It only had three legs left and they couldn't support the beast. It struggled to stand. Meta Knight walked up to it and pointed his sword towards the ground.
"You should've lost some weight," he said as he brought the blade down on its neck.
It cried out once more then its whole body went limp. Meta Knight removed the sword and swung it once to get the green slime off of it.
"The opponent is unable to battle," the referee said, "Meta Knight wins round 51."
"Wow, it's like he knew how to kill it," Escargon informed.
"Come to think of it," Dedede added, "he helped Kirby a lot since he knew about the demons we ordered. That used to be a pain in the neck, but I guess he's useful now."
"He knows about these demons?" Reginald muttered.
"We couldn't have hoped for anyone better," King Solomon grinned.
Meta Knight seemed to do well since he has battled most of the opponents before. Dedede and Escargon tried to hold back their excitement so they don't tire out so soon, but they couldn't resist cheering for the warrior. Reginald and King Solomon seemed to be pleasantly surprised at the knight's vast experience. The next opponent stood before Meta Knight. It was about the same size as him, was dressed in a traditional jujitsu uniform with the addition of a black headband, and appeared to be carrying no weapons of any kind. After studying his enemy, Meta Knight withdrew his sword and got into a fighting stance.
"Ok, now he's just getting cocky," Dedede pointed out.
"I don't believe that's the case," Solomon added. "This opponent is an open-hand combat master, therefore it doesn't use weapons. I think Meta Knight is being honorable by removing his weapon to be on even grounds with his enemy."
"Yeah," Dedede replied, "but I still think he's being cocky."
The referee gave the word for the match to begin. The opponent raced up to the knight. It quickly threw punches and kicks. Meta Knight blocked and dodged the attacks. He could tell that this enemy had immense power in its strikes. It jumped back and took up its fighting stance. It smirked as its finger coaxed the warrior to strike. He ran up to the demon threw some attacks of his own. The beast dodged and blocked them as well then it started to fight back. Their swift movements looked like a swarm of attacks.
"I'm dizzy," Dedede said as he clutched his spinning head.
Meta knight ducked and swept the ground. The demon jumped back to avoid the attack. Then, it turned and ran in the other direction. Meta Knight ran after it. The opponent ran up a column with the knight standing at the base. It leapt from the pillar and came down on him. To the monster's surprise, he rebound from the column and hit it out of the air before it could reach him. The beast fell to the ground then hopped back up without using its hands. It ran up to the knight and began to strike him. He blocked the attacks and went to throw a palm strike. The demon quickly hit the center of the palm with its fingers before the attack could reach it. Meta Knight pulled his hand back in pain. The limb began throbbing from where it was hit.
"What happened?" Dedede asked.
"That demon just poked him," Escargon replied.
"Then he needs to suck it up," the king said with his arms crossed.
"The opponent hit a pressure point on his palm," Reginald informed, "therefore he may not be able to use that hand for a while, and he can't simply 'suck it up'.
Meta Knight attempted to ignore the pain. The beast resorted to using the spear hand technique. As he swept the strikes aside, the warrior could tell that it was aiming for other pressure points, ones that could cause serious damage. It threw a jab for his arm. Meta Knight dodged it and quickly wrapped his arm around the foe's arm. He kept his back against it, swung around, and elbowed the back of its neck hard. The demon went to the ground, but Meta Knight kept his grip on its arm. He pulled the monster over himself and slammed it into the ground. The opponent recovered from its shock and pressed its thumb into the knight's arm. He cried out and pulled away from the beast. His whole arm pounded. It got up and faced the warrior. Meta Knight knew he had to end the fight fast. He ran toward the demon. It also lunged at him. They crossed and stopped behind each other. The spectators watched in suspense. Suddenly, the demon swayed and held its neck. Then, it collapsed and exploded into a puff of smoke. Meta Knight stood tall for the attack the opponent threw only grazed the side of his face.
"The opponent is unable to battle," the judge called, "Meta Knight wins round 72!"
"That wasn't too hard," Escargon pointed out.
"Yeah, but he better get his sword back out," Dedede added.