Tournament of the World
By: JadeDragonKnight
Chapter XII
The throne room was wild with excitement. All the villagers jumped and cheered at the sight of Meta Knight's endless victories. Kirby, Fumu, Bun, and the two knights grew anxious.
"Ladies and gentlemen, the time has finally come!"
The crowd grew silent from the voice of the announcer.
"This is the moment you have been waiting for! Sir Meta Knight has bested all the previous opponents one by one. Now, he shall come face to face with the final opponent, Alpha9260K, also known as, The Death Droid!"
The whole room shook with excited cheering.
"The Death Droid," Blade asked.
"That doesn't sound good," Bun muttered.
"The Death Droid is the latest in high grade weapon technology. This is truly a battle worthy of the title Champion of the World! Meta Knight will be in for the fight of his life!"
"This is crazy! How is he going to beat something like that? He's already worn out from the other battles," Sword objected.
Kirby became worried. He looked to Fumu for some amount of comfort. She was staring at the screen in shock. She slowly looked down at the floor. Kirby almost went into shock himself. He was afraid for his rival.
"This is it, the final round."
Her whisper caught Kirby's attention.
She threw her head up and shouted, "I know you can do it! You can win, Sir Meta Knight!"
Kirby's confidence in the knight returned. He jumped up and cheered for his victory.
The sound of trumpets filled the coliseum. King Dedede and Escargon hopped out of their chairs and practically hung off the balcony. King Solomon tried to contain his anxiety. Reginald gulped. Valdis clenched his fists. All of their hearts pounded. Meta Knight panted from his weariness. He looked to the opening iron gate. He took a deep breath, gathered his strength, and faced his enemy with his sword poised. The sound of clanking metal escaped the dark tunnel. Crimson, glaring eyes gazed out of the opening. Light reflected off the metallic armor as it walked into the light. It stopped a few yards away from the knight. This was the demon android, The Death Droid. The referee held up his arm. Meta Knight glared into the eyes of his opponent.
"Fight!"
The demon ran up to the knight. He dodged the attacks it threw. Meta Knight swung his sword and hit the steel. It didn't leave a scratch. The robot turned to the knight. He jumped back and guarded himself. Its red eyes flashed. Words appeared in the demons view. A command flashed, "Adapt". Metal plates began to shift on the monsters body. Meta Knight looked at it puzzled. The parts collected in its back and disappeared. The new form was thinner. It slowly crouched down. Suddenly, in surged forward. Meta Knight was surprised, but quickly blocked the attack. The robots strength was immense. It began to throw attacks with lightning speed. Meta Knight blocked the attacks, but found it increasing difficult. He quickly jumped off the ground. His cape transformed into wings and he hovered over the arena. He panted from his struggle. The demon looked up at him. Adapt. Something shifted in its feet. Rockets formed at the bottom and ignited. It launched into the air and hovered in front of the warrior.
"What is this?" Reginald objected.
"I see now," Valdis stated.
They all turned to him.
"The Death Droid is adapting to match Meta Knight's abilities. If this continues, he won't be able to defeat it," he explained.
Dedede growled and shouted, "It's like a demon Kirby!"
"Except this thing doesn't need other objects to transform," Escargon added angrily.
"This isn't looking good your majesty," Reginald muttered to the king.
Solomon continued to watch the fight. Meta Knight glared at the beast. He flew up to it and sliced through it. It was unaffected. It slowly turned to face the knight. Meta Knight flew higher in the air. The demon followed him with difficulty. He curved around and slammed into the side of the demon. It lost control and plummeted to the earth. Adapt. Thin metal pieces came out from its body. It immediately regained control and locked onto the knight. It held up one of its metal arms and its claw like fingers shot out. Meta Knight blocked what he could, but cried out in pain from the claws slicing through him. New fingers replaced the old ones and shot out. Meta Knight flew out of the way and circled the beast. It continued to fire its claws. He flew towards the demon with a battle cry. The robot lowered its arm and flew up to him. He swung his sword. The demon swiftly dodged it, stopped, and uppercut him hard in the stomach. Meta Knight gasped for air. The robot spun around and kicked the warrior. He rocketed toward the ground and slammed into the wall. A cloud of dust erupted from the spot. Everyone in the king's seat gasped. The dust cleared and revealed Meta Knight imbedded in the wall. His gaze seemed blank. He peeled off the wall and fell to the earth, unmoving. The demon landed on the ground and faced the downed warrior. It went to approach him, but was stopped by another command. Disengage. It stood there motionless.
Silence fell over the throne room. Meta Knight lay still on the screen.
"No, Meta Knight…" one of the knights muttered.
Fumu stared at the screen. She thought, pleaded, for him to stand up. The villagers were holding their breath.
Everyone stared at the knight. Dedede was clutching the railing of the balcony. The referee didn't really know what to do.
Then he began with a heavy heart, "Sir Meta Knight…is unable to-"
"Hold it ref!"
He gasped slightly, and so did the others in the king's seat. They all turned to King Dedede. He slammed his hand on the railing and pointed at Meta Knight.
"Hey, don't think I'm letting you give up!" he shouted at him. "You've gotten this far haven't you? Have you ever thought of why I chose you over Kirby? He could barely beat five martial art knock-offs! You went through 99 demon beasts! This piece of junk isn't any different! Now get up! You can finish this!"
Everyone looked back to the battlefield. The warrior still didn't move. Dedede let go of the railing and sighed.
The judge waited another moment then said, "Sir Meta Knight…is unable to-"
He stopped when he saw movement. Meta Knight groaned as he began to prop himself up. Everyone's eyes grew wide. The knight grabbed his sword and gradually stood tall. He glared at the robot and pointed his sword at it.
"By the end of today," he growled, "you will know my power."
The villagers yelled with joy. Some even had tears in their eyes. Fumu was struck with relief. Kirby continued to jump up and down. Bun and the knights mixed their cheers with the crowd. The screen showed everyone in the king's seat cheering as well. Meta Knight got into a fighting stance.
A new command came into The Death Droid's vision. Destroy. Its rockets ignited. It flew straight at the knight. He jumped into the air and the robots vision suddenly became impaired. It had flown right into the hole in the wall where Meta Knight once was. It dragged itself out and locked onto the knight that had taken to the sky. It flew up him and swung its claw at him. He dodged the attack and sliced through the armor. This time, a long gash appeared on the monster's back. It spun around and swung its arm again. Meta Knight flew out of the way and hovered a few feet away. If the robot had emotions, it would feel a fiery agitation. The command Destroy appeared again in the demon's red glare. Metal plates on its chest began to move. They parted and revealed red plasma sparking furiously inside the chest. Suddenly, the spark's light grew intense and a powerful crimson beam radiated from the chest. Meta Knight threw up his sword and was pushed back by the blast. He landed hard into the stands of the stadium. The beam continued to drive the knight into the stone. He groaned as he tried to push the beam back with his blade. Stone cracked and crumbled all around him. The beam drilled him into the wall, out of sight.
"Meta Knight!" King Dedede called out to him.
The red light continued to drill a hole in the stadium.
"This is it," King Solomon stated grimly, "if it manages to break through the walls of the arena then it will completely destroy the town."
"Wait, that part of the town that was attacked," Escargon muttered then turned and replied, "by that demon! The Death Droid attacked the village!"
"Yes, but we don't have time to explain this," Reginald replied. He turned to Solomon and said, "Your majesty, we must evacuate the town while we still can!"
The wise king didn't answer. His eyes were locked on the crimson beam.
"Look," Valdis said pointing.
They looked to the hole. Something was pushing the beam back. Meta Knight appeared from the rubble. His sword was glowing with a bright light. His cape turned to wings and he flew from the wall. The beam with cut in two as the knight flew closer. Frantic commands were flashing on the demon sights. Evade, Destroy, Disengage, Engage, Adapt. Then, the commands stopped. The eyes' color changed from red to black. The beam seized to drill into the coliseum. Meta Knight flew past the demon with his sword behind him. The robot parted down the middle. Sparks erupted from the cut then the demon exploded in midair. Meta Knight was caught in the smoke. He roughly landed on the ground and panted.
"The opponent is unable to battle!" the referee announced, "Sir Meta Knight wins the tournament!"
Everyone jumped up in the king's seat and cheered. Meta Knight glanced at the joy filled faces. Then he sighed and fell back onto the ground.
There was uproar of excitement. Anything the villagers were holding was tossed into the air. Some people began hugging each other.
"He did it!" Sword and Blade exclaimed happily.
Kirby continued to cheer. Bun and Fumu were doing a victory dance.
