Author's note: Well, this chapter turned out nicely! It doesn't have much action, but it does well to wrap up the part of the story focusing on Dark Meta Knight and introducing Nightmare's return. Looking back, this chapter probably should have been part of the last one, but eh. I wasn't quite sure what I wanted to do for this one, and I wanted to get that chapter up, so it was split into two chapters. Speaking of two chapters, some of you probably have noticed that the prologue is not longer a prologue, and is instead part of chapter one. I've done some editing of previous chapters, fixing errors, adding more detail, etc. There weren't any major changes other than the removal of the prologue and a change in the first part of chapter four. Anyway, I'd like to say thanks to the only reviewer of the last chapter, 'AA'. I'm appreciate that you think so highly of this story! And now that all that's done, on to the chapter!

Chapter Ten

Impossibility

With a loud groan, King Dedede slowly sat up. Blinking his eyes rapidly, he looked around. He was lying on the ground behind a hill with Escargoon leaning over him with a concerned expression on his face.

"Oh! Sire! You're awake! I thought you were never going to wake up!" He sighed with relief.

"Ugh... Where am I?"

"Erm... S-sire, don't you remember? We were watching Kirby get beat up by the copy?" At his words, Dedede's eyes widened and he jumped up to his feet. He scanned the ground frantically, then snatched up the binoculars at his feet.

"Oh yeah! What happened? Who won?"

"I-I don't know Sire... I woke up a few minutes before you did..."

"ESCARGOON YOU USELESS USE OF SPACE!" Dedede roared and slammed his hammer on Escargoon's head, knocking him unconscious. With a sigh at Escargoon's incompetence, he lifted the binoculars to his eyes to see just what was happening. He might not be able to hear them, but he would certainly spy on them.

"So... The copy... Um... 'Dark Meta Knight,' was created by a mirror?" Bun asked. As Dedede and Escargoon were conversing, he and the others had gathered and were discussing the copy.

"Correct. Nightmare sold the mirror to Dedede, which Dedede used to create the copy and trap me in."

"Later, me and Blade freed him from it, and, well, you know the rest. We came here, and Meta Knight-kyo defeated the copy."

"Wait a second. How did Dedede get the mirror if Nightmare is gone? Kirby defeated him." Fumu narrowed her eyes skeptically.

"Nightmare feeds off of the darkness in people's hearts. Hatred... Anger... Malice... It strengthens him. A few warriors have managed to temporarily weaken Nightmare, but none have defeated him as totally as Kirby did. I had hoped that there wasn't enough darkness in the universe to revive him, but unfortunately, it was not to be." Meta Knight explained wearily. His words were met with silence and wide eyes. After a few moments, Bun sputtered out, "W-wait a second! Are you saying that it's impossible to defeat Nightmare?! W-why didn't you mention that before we aggravated him?!" The old knight shook his head.

"Everyone can be defeated. It's just a matter of finding their weakness. Besides, Nightmare's attention was going to turn to Popstar sooner or later due to Kirby's presence. He would see Kirby as a threat; as something to be eliminated."

"Speaking of Nightmare and his demonbeasts, I have a question for you Meta Knight." Fumu interjected. The aforementioned knight turned his attention towards her. "How do you know so much about Nightmare? You knew exactly where his fortress was, you know how he would react to certain things and what many of his demonbeasts are and their weaknesses. And you have those wings that you've hidden from everyone, even Sword and Blade! So, all of this has lead me to one question. Meta Knight, are you a demonbeast?"

For several long moments Meta Knight was silent. His eyes remained their neutral yellow, giving no clue as to what he was thinking. Then he sighed.

"Fumu, answer me this. If I was a demonbeast, why would I be assisting Kirby? Why would I be fighting Nightmare, the creator of demonbeasts?" Fumu looked at a loss for words, but quickly recovered.

"Because you're trying to gain our trust, then stab us in the back when we least expect it?" Meta Knight laughed at her words, and was met with a stare from the others.

"That's doubtful. Most demonbeasts aren't bright enough to follow such a concept, let alone come up with it."

"I... Um... That makes sense." Fumu admitted, scratching the back of her head in embarrassment.

"So what should we do now Sir? Do we wait for Nightmare to make the next move or..." Blade trailed off, looking to Meta Knight for advice.

"We should prepare for demonbeast arrivals as best we can and-" Meta Knight suddenly grunted in pain and dropped to one knee, breathing heavily. Sword and Blade rushed to his side as Fumu and Bun exchanged looks and approached Meta Knight much more carefully.

"Meta Knight-kyo! Are you alright?!" The knight didn't respond, instead letting out another groan as his eyes began flickering between a lingering red and yellow. His wings slowly slipped out from their folded position and instead hung limply from his back. Slowly the flickering stopped and his eyes came to rest on his normal, while dimmer than usual, yellow.

"I'm... I'm fine." He said, still panting.

"Sure poyo?" Kirby asked, speaking for the first time since the copy was defeated.

"Yeah, are you sure? This is the second time in twenty-four hours that this has happened." Bun asked, concerned.

"...I'm certain. I... Just need to... Rest for a bit." Meta Knight said, trying to catch his breath. Watching him carefully, everyone took a step back to give the knight his space. He tried to stand up, but fell to his knee almost immediately. Sword started to try and help him, but was stopped by Meta Knight holding up a hand, signaling that he wanted to stand up on his own. Meta Knight tried to stand up again much more carefully, and succeeded with the aid of a weak flap from his wings before he folded them upon his back once more. He walked over to where his cape lay on the ground, stumbling twice along the way, then shook the dirt off it and put it back on, concealing his wings.

"Fumu, I assume that you remember how to fix the warpstar?" Meta Knight asked as he walked back towards where she and the others were standing.

"Of course I do!" Fumu replied, irritated by the question. "I would never forget anything as important as that!"

"I never said you would. I was just making sure that you knew."

"Hmph." She folded her arms and made sure she looked as offended as possible. Meta Knight sighed at her behavior. He wasn't interested in dealing with Fumu's temper.

"We don't know when King Dedede will order another demonbeast, so stay on your guard and be alert for anything amiss." Meta Knight concluded, then wrapped his cape around himself and began walking towards the castle, soon followed by Sword and Blade. Once they were out of sight, Fumu, Bun, and Kirby exchanged glances then set off to do what they could.