~Ch. 10 The Metamorphosis~
Meta woke up with a start. He couldn't move and a bright light was shining in his eyes. The crackling of hot flames and the work of a smith was all that could be heard. He felt his body begin to tremble.
~How could I be so stupid?! My gut is always right!~
"Psst! Meta! Over here!" the familiar voice of Emit reached his ears.
Meta looked over to his left where Emit laid on a table identical to his. Emit gestured for him to look on his other side. Meta did so and discovered Venton was on his right side lying on another table.
"We're doomed!" he sighed when he noticed Meta staring at him.
"No we're not, we'll find a way," Meta said lightheartedly; though he wasn't too sure of it himself.
"I wouldn't be so sure if I were you!" a sly sinister voice flowed into the room. It was like the music of a piano that was far from being in tune.
Meta clenched and his brows drew together as the figure of Nightmare crept into the room like a snake.
"What right do you have to do this to us?!" Meta demanded.
Nightmare laughed, "Well you are on my planet am I right?"
Meta merely glared at him, his white eyes quickly changing from the purest white to the bloodiest red which caused Nightmare to skip a step.
"You have quite the temper!" Nightmare laughed, "So do you really want to know what happened to your father?"
As he spoke Meta's table began to lift, standing upright bringing Meta eye to eye with NME.
"What?! How do you know about my father?!" Meta spat as he began violently trying to break free of the straps.
"I knew him long ago, I found him and well you shall share his fate!" Nightmare snickered, "See Kikio and Cat here? They are perfect examples. Innocent minds bred to kill."
"What do you mean?" Meta looked at Nightmare in disgust.
"Well Kikio, Cat why don't you show him?" NME laughed.
"I-I can't… do it," Kikio muttered.
"You incompetent fool!" Nightmare struck her to the floor, "Do it now!"
"As you wish sire," she sighed. Before their eyes she altered into a great black dragon while Cat transformed into a great wolf like beast. Kikio shrieked in anger.
"Thank you, now you may return." NME sighed.
"You monster! How could you live with yourself after doing such a thing!?" Meta shouted and began to shake belligerently using all of his strength to break free of the straps. Once free he abruptly spread his wings then darted forward for Nightmare. Meta threw out his hands around Nightmare's neck then swung back to the lean man's back in attempt to choke him to his knees. Nightmare's subjects stared in astonishment.
"Get this meatball off of me… you fools!" Nightmare choked, "Don't… just… stand there!"
At first they were a little hesitant to begin until finally the tuxedo guy shouted an order. Turning into their demon beast forms they finlly pried Meta off their master only to have him instantly turn onto them skillfully knocking them down one by one with nothing but his hands.
"Should I have them kill him?" the tuxedo guy asked Nightmare.
"No, I have better plans for him Selax. Get him on the Edux Table." Nightmare said quietly. A sinister grin slid across his face as Meta struck down the black dragon. "Yes, he's perfect."
Meta was finally brought down when all three of the beasts attacked him at once. Finding himself alone in a fire lit room on another table he growled from the depths of his chest. He was irate.
"Heh heh, I don't even have to torture you to bring the rage out from within, but I guess it wouldn't hurt." NME once again appeared from out of the shadows. The worm! "Now, what skill shall I have you do, ah yes of course! The sword!"
The wound in his gut began to burn and Meta felt himself scream from the pain. No longer would he be able to contain it inside for it was too great for him to bear. He felt his head swim and nausea creep upon him but he couldn't black out. This was torture. When he thought he couldn't bear it any longer it ceased. Meta glared severely at Nightmare.
"Now that I have your full attention, I'd like you to meat your new face! Sajeah, bring it here." Nightmare laughed.
Sajeah was obviously skilled in welding for he was surrounded by tools and he stood in front of the fire holding a pole into the licking flames. He brought it out with something round at the end.
"Put it on." Nightmare ordered Sajeah. "And make sure you put it on perfectly this time! I don't want another phantom!"
Meta began to thrash about in attempt to free himself as the hot metal approached his face. HE broke out in a cold sweat as the heat reached his skin. A moment later he felt the boiling metal soak into his skin as it muffled his screams. He could see nothing but the supple, yellow metal. Then his sight returned as he saw a blade cut out a V shaped rectangular slit over his eyes. He began fighting back as he saw Sajeah come with a welding tool as he began to fuse the metal into his skin. The smell of his own flesh smoldering filled the air and the blue-green light of his eyes shone revealing his agony and the wicked grin lingering across Nightmare's face as he watched Meta's suffering.
Taking the left over metal from the slit he had cut for Meta's eyes Sajeah crafted four spikes that formed thick at the top and came down sharply over the mask.
Meta could feel the metal burn into his flesh. His screams were muted by the metal as Sajeah began to thrust it harder onto his face securing its permanence. Then it started to cool.
His feet then began to burn as Sajeah began forming a pair of metal shoes. Pain whirled around him and he attempted in letting nausea take over him but failed. It was as if some dark magic was keeping him from drifting away forcing him to endure the pain that was stealing his life away from him.
Finally Sejeah was done with his project. Meta was trembling under his metal armor the pain flowing rapidly through his body. Nightmare dismissed Sajeah from the room then walked over to study his new creation.
"Now, time for you to spread your wings."
"I won't do anything for a worm like you!"
"Really now? What if I said I'd kill your first born if you didn't do my will?"
"Why should I care? I have no child." Meta growled.
"That's not what I heard. I heard that the little princess of Cathica bears your child."
"Who told you that nonsense?"
"No one. No one in particular. Just someone who made a trade with me. He got the princess, I got you." Nightmare grinned.
"Sir David." Meta murmured to himself.
"Yes, and we did a few tests and well, it seems you have been quite the prince for the princess. I hear it was a… son," Meta's eyes widened and Nightmare laughed, "To bad it all a had to go to waste!"
Meta felt his heart shrivel into dust. Nightmare was right, Meta thought realizing that he now was contained by this mask he could no longer love Athenya.
"Fine, I suppose there's nothing else I can do for her." Meta muttered in submission.
"That's the spirit!" Nightmare laughed, "Now spread out your wings!"
Meta did so as another beast came forward.
"Meta Knight, meet Sipholix. He's going to finish you off!"
The only thing Meta could think of was the tools that this Sipholix carried. He began to feel nervous and felt the cold sweat once again break over him. He could hear his heart drum against his mask, unable to beat as hard as it wanted to. He felt something pulling his wings stretching them farther than they could reach. Flashes of heat and cold began coming over him. Meta began silently shrieking in his agony as he felt the bones become broken then restored moments later until his wings were twice as large as they had originated. Then he saw Siphorex's hands come crawling for his face and everything appeared in a yellow tint. Meta began to feel like a toy, something that anyone could add to. He didn't like the idea, but it helped him ignore the hurt. It was indeed a living nightmare!
Emit had heard Venton's screams harmonize with his own. He could see, but only very little. He had felt fire go over his skin engulfing him in whole and had no idea how long he had been there. It was a nightmare. Emit looked over to where Venton laid. He now wore a metal green helmet that covered his face and his wings were plated with metal. Emit himself was given a pair of wings, leathery like Meta's but shaped differently and instead he had two pairs. A large pair overlapped by a smaller pair. It felt strange having control over additional muscles.
The sound of footsteps from the hall echoed reaching Emit's ears. Nightmare walked forward followed by a strange creature caked in metal. Then Emit recognized him.
"Sir Meta Knight?" Emit heard his voice flow out with disbelief.
Nightmare laughed sinisterly, "Yes, that is him! It will be sometime before he may speak again!"
Meta growled beneath his metal exterior.
"That's right, I did promise to let you see yourself." Nightmare mumbled, "Here." He formed a circle in the air and grabbed it as it turned into a mirror. Meta's eyes widened and he jumped back in shock then took his wing and shattered the mirror and fell to his knees holding his face in grief.
"Get up fool!" Nightmare slapped Meta until he finally rose to his feet. "Let me think, what shall I call you three?" He stood deep in thought. "You shall be my ultimate demon beasts. I did add metal to you, so why not call you the MetalNightmare?" He looked at the three before him, then pushed a button allowing Emit and Venton to be free.
"Line up." He commanded.
They first looked at Meta who nodded to them before obeying Nightmare's command. They did so with Meta in the center, Emit on his right, and Venton on his left.
"Yes that's perfect." Nightmare smiled to himself, "Now let's go test you three out. Come with me."
Meta followed behind Nightmare with Emit and Venton trailing behind him. They felt loud and heavy with all the metal on top of them as they walked through the door. They then arrived to some sort of control room over looking a white room through a large glass window. Pushing a blue button Nightmare motioned for them to step out. Kikio came next to Nightmare who was handing out weapons to three new demon beasts and stopped when she recognized they were Meta Knight and his two followers. Her pain and anger shown in her eyes as she stared at him. Meta's eyes reached hers; staring deeply into them she could see his grief. Nightmare motioned them out and then sat down. Sitting down in the chair next to Nightmare, Kikio spoke into the microphone making her voice flow out into the white room. The three metal caked warriors stared up at her with little interest. Save for Meta Knight, who held much respect for her.
"We're going to start small with you then move on to the larger more difficult Demon Beasts." She said.
The three looked at each other in confusion which was interrupted by a loud, "POPON!" They turned only to find themselves face to face with a huge legless caterpillar like creature standing upright. It looked like a stack of green balls with two round eyes peering down at them blankly. It suddenly threw one of the balls on its body at them and the three jumped swiftly out of the way.
"It's acid!" Emit informed his friends as the ball formed into a pool of steaming liquid.
Meta's eyes glowed a faint red as his hatred for NME grew. Spreading his wings he pulled out Sighta and quickly sliced through the demon beast multiple times causing it to crumble to the ground. Emit and Venton stared in disbelief. Even though Meta was weighted by the metal he was still as swift as before. Meta turned and soon after watched in horror as the demon beast regenerated.
"PopON!" The creature threw balls quickly at Meta who quickly dodged out of the way but one managed to land on him. Kikio closed her eyes and Emit and Venton yelled and ran to where Meta had fallen. But before they reached it Meta burst out of the liquid, acid burning at his skin. He flew up and used drill rush slicing through the beast. Venton flew up as well and began shooting arrows at Popon which merely sunk deep into its body and disintegrated.
Emit looked up then pulled out his claws as Popon threw a ball at him. The two began bouncing it back and forth as Meta Knight began slicing it at the bottom. Venton began experimenting with the different kinds of arrows until he finally reached one that did great damage. Fire. Shooting the pieces of Popon that Meta sliced which cooked it disabling the ability to reform it. They continued this process until nothing but the cooked fragments of the Popon were left. The three warriors looked up as if to say, "What next?"
Kikio pushed another button and they heard a noise. They turned to see something very familiar. Scarfies. A muffled laugh came from Meta and followed by the laughter of Emit and Venton. Nightmare scowled. The three warriors then easily sliced through and ended the battle in a matter of seconds. An evil smile spread again across NME's face.
Throughout the day the three warriors went through a series of demon beasts until finally they reached the final for the day. Or so they hoped.
Before their eyes were their former selves. Only twisted and deformed in darkness. They were black like shadows and their eyes were red with hatred. The warriors hesitated to begin looking to Meta for orders. Meta nodded then stepped forward.
His shadow form laughed quietly, "It's too bad you will no longer be able to make love as I do!"
That did it. Meta's fuse reached the bomb and he darted for his shadow. Before he knew it he was battling not only himself but the other two shadows as well. At first this was the case but soon Emit and Venton reached the battle and began fighting their own and so it began.
Nightmare watched in growing interest as the three began quickly dominating their shadows. When they had finished and idea formed in his dark mind.
"Send out the clones."
Kikio looked up, "My lord?"
Nightmare looked at her in disgust," Do it now."
Kikio looked down and quietly tapped the controls feeling sorry for Meta Knight. Why was she so attatched to him? She better stop before Nightmare notices.
Meta looked around waitning. This couldn't be it. Suddenly his gaze caught sight of something that held him in horror. Athenya and Sir David stood a few yards away, their lips in harmony as they held eachother.
Meta glanced behind him, Emit and Venton glanced at him in their shock and then back at the scene before them. Meta returned his gaze to the two before him. Athenya had seen him. She walked over to him her expression of disbelief made Meta's grief greater. She came to his arms and he attempted a kiss but the mask held him back. She tried to pull it off and he winced in pain. A secret tear fell from Meta's eye as she shook her head and returned to Sir David who smiled, revenge twinkling in his eyes.
All the anger in Meta that was locked away was suddenly given a key. There was such hatred in him that even Emit and Venton backed away in fear. Pulling himself up Meta shot forth grabbing Sir David and taking him to the air and dropping him ten swooping down and punching David's face until his knuckles began to bleed. Taking his bade and Sir David he once again took to the sky. Dropping David he flew up then shot down in all his speed driving Sighta through David's body as he was still caught in the air. After he was satisfied he turned to where Athenya cowered in the corner screaming for him to stop. Looking away in the distance he drove his sword deep into her flesh drowning out her scream. Emit and Venton looked in disbelief and shock at the cruelty and malice Meta had just displayed. He walked past them giving them no eye contact as he made for the glass window. Muffled curses passed from his lips. The two hesitated then followed him to where the door opened.
He glanced at Nightmare who was grinning broadly then wrapped himself in his wings which morphed into his cape as he did so. He then walked by irritated with the situation but stopped when his eyes caught Kikio's. They were moistened with fear and pain for him. He looked down, muttered something, and then left the room in dismay and regret. Kikio's quiet gaze followed him as he passed through the door. Emit and Venton glanced at each other, and then glared at Nightmare as they went out to catch up with Meta.
Nightmare simply smiled, it was all falling according to plan.