No one guessed, but I thought I'd mention: Daroach's costume is based on the Dread Pirate Roberts from the Princess Bride, and Meta Knight's is on his rather goofy cameo from Rainbow Curse. Just thought I'd mention.

Zorua Illusion: After my own experience with the school system, I'd have to say I'd agree with you. *sigh*

I think we all know someone we love and would like to throttle at the same time. It's just something that comes in life, and we wouldn't have it any other way.

Yay! Someone finally mentioned Stormholt! I actually did mention in a chapter that someone we know is looking for the fortress. Super mega bonus points to those who remember who it is.

Yes, Kirby is like most kids his age. To them, disabilities just are, and he rather takes it for granted that Meta Knight's always been blind. Since MK is the only adult Puffal he knows right now, he kind of assumed it happened to all of them.

However, if someone tried to blind Kirby, they would have to face the wrath of Meta Knight. A terrifying sight to behold. Yes, Meta Knight is very protective of little Kirby. The tot having to suffer everything he did is MK's worst nightmare.

Ah, yes, that final scene. Honestly, that was an experiment with writing a Big Lipped Alligator Moment. This is a scene which is weird, even by the standards of the show, comes out of nowhere, and is never mentioned again. As a result, I just threw in all the weirdest things I could think of and ran with it, though there are some references to Dean Koontz's Odd Thomas series. (Warning, these books are scary. They are not for children.)

Thanks for the comment on the style. That was inspired by another fix, Murphy's Laws, by Blackbirds and Shadowed Wings. I highly recommend it if you like my Four Forces segments.

Also, yay for correct music knowledge! Thank you, Little Einsteins! (It's funny what you learn when a kid's show is on.)

Kirbyproduction112: Yes, Kirby is a curious little fellow, isn't he? He has a lot of questions about his life, and not all of them can be answered right now. MK will answer them when the time is right, but now is not that time.

As for MK's appearance, he's actually not all that scary. He's somewhat battle-scarred, but due to Puffal's fast healing, he just looks like a big white eyed Kirby. Not that many people ever see him like that.

Also, I haven't seen Bambi 2. Is it any good? I've heard not, but that could be wrong. I do like Return to Neverland, after all.

I glad you like the Puffalings! I wasn't sure what people would think of them because OCs are rarely well liked, but I glad to hear you like them. Rest assured, I do have roles for them to play in future episodes.

Enjoy the newest chapter!

It appears in most of the previous chapters. You know how little I own.

Episode Thirty Six: Coming Crescendo, Part Three

"Alright, Kirby," Meta Knight said as the two of them finished up their lunch break. "You've done very well in your basic training so far, so I believe it is time to start putting you copy ability to the test."

"Yay! Copy time!" Kirby cheered. He always preferred the exercises that involved his copying ability, since he tended to have more control over his weapon that way.

The older warrior smiled as he watched his squire's enthusiasm. Once the younger creature had calmed down somewhat, he went back to the supply bag. The tot eagerly followed and peered over his teacher's shoulder, excited to find out just what weapon he was going to be practicing with.

"Wha' ya got?" he asked energetically. "Swowd? Ahchah? Speaw?" Meta Knight turned, handing the youngster just what he was going to use, and it was not what Kirby have been imagining.

"Bell?" he asked, lifting the golden hand bell up. He was a little confused, since he had never inhaled or fought will a bell before. However, he was willing to try it, and he did typically like the more musically themed abilities.

"I know it is a rather unconventional weapon, to say the least," the blue Puffal answered, "but conventional weapons will not always be available. This one is one of my favorites, as it is more effective against enemies than one would suppose. Go ahead. Inhale the bell and try it out."

Kirby nodded, tossing the bell into the air and inhaling it. Once he had caught it in his mouth, he copied it. A bright flash occurred, as it always did when he was gaining a copy ability. Once the flash died down, he emerged with as Bell Kirby. He wore a large bell that had a pink star on the front on his head. There was also a blue ribbon tied to the top of the bell. In each of his paws was a golden bell, just begging to be rung.

Bell Kirby was certainly willing to comply. Eagerly, he waved the little bells, which chimed prettily as he rang them. Excited by the sound, the little one shook harder and faster, happily enjoying the sound as he did. "Wing ding!" he sang out cheerfully with the little bells. "Wing ding dong!"

Meta Knight's eyes turned a bright pink as he observed his student play with his new ability. "I am pleased you like this ability," he said, raising his voice so as to be heard above the energetic ringing. "Now, there are several attacks that you can do with this ability. First of all, ringing the bells just as you are doing will unleash a sound wave that will stun your opponents. Doing so quickly will increase the power of this sound wave and might even take out some weaker enemies." He then set up a wooden pole, sawed through the middle so that it was weakened, though not cut in half. "Why don't you try on this?"

The little one nodded, turning quickly to the target. He began shaking the bells quickly, unleashing a loud ringing with was followed by an intense sound wave, which succeeded in striking the pole hard enough to knock the weakened half off. As the snapped pole hit the ground, the student turned back to his teacher, eager to learn the next move.

The veteran nodded in approval. "Very well done. If you ring the bells together as you go, it will unleash a larger burst of energy than before. This will take out more enemies, but it is difficult to get the timing exactly right.

"Now, before we move on to a different ability, there is one last way to utilize the bells in an attack." The warrior set up another pole, this time one that had a target on the top of it. "Throw one of the bells, and it will strike its target with a tremendous amount of force before curving around and returning to you. Why don't you try?"

Kirby nodded, taking a step back before unleashing the projectile. As expected, it flew hard at the target, causing it to shatter upon impact. The bell flew a little past that point before hooking around and coming back to its user.

The little one held out a paw to catch it, but he missed the catch, causing the bell to fly back and plow its way into the ground. Looking between his teacher and the newly dug trench, the squire smiled embarrassedly. "Uh, oops? Sowwy, poyo."

Meta Knight shook his head. "Do not worry. We have come out here to practice first for that very reason. Now, why don't we try that again?"

"Poyo!" Kirby responded cheerfully. He was determined to get this down.

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The troop headed through the enemy territory as fast as they could. The group, twelve men not counting the captain and a select group of beasts, had been tasked by their leader to move this important cargo as fast as they could without being detected. As there was a war going on, this would be easier said than done. The captain made a motion to his men to be prepared to move out. They nodded quickly before moving along as quietly as they could.

The captain himself looked completely cool and unaffected by where they were. His troops, however, could not say the same thing. All of them were nervous wrecks. The small troop huddled around the cart, as if the vehicle could protect them. They knew where they were and they knew who they were facing. All they could do was hope that they were not found.

Despite his cool façade, the captain was anxious as well. Their leader had given him a quick description of what was to be taken and where they were supposed to go. When he received the word about which troop of the enemy he was facing, however, he had wanted to quit, or at least hand this mission over to another commander. However, their leader was not to be denied, so all he could do was hope that they were not detected and a fight did not break out.

Behind him he could hear whimpering. Idiots. Didn't they know that such sounds would bring the enemy down right on top of them? "Shut up," he hissed behind him. "If we're going to get out of this alive we need to be as quiet as possible."

"Going for the stealth approach, huh?" The voice that spoke caused their blood to turn to ice in their veins. "Trust me, that ship has sailed."

All the men froze. It was him. He was one of them. He was one of the terrors that kept soldiers like them awake while on watch lest they run into him.

In particular, it was the one known as the Raging Giant. He stood a good head taller than any of them and wielded a sword that it would take ten of them to lift. He stood in their way, smirking at them. "So, are you going to hand that cart over, or are we going to have to do this the hard way?"

"It's one of them!" the captain yelled out. "Unleash the beasts!"

In response the men obeyed, allowing the creatures off of their leashes and siccing them on the Raging Giant. However, they were stopped in their tracks when a beam fired off from a different direction cut them off.

"It looks like they chose the hard way." The men could only look in terror as they realized that another of the fearsome band was standing nearby. It was the Killer Lady, well known to be the consort of the Raging Giant. "So," she asked, "shall we comply?"

"It would be quiet rude not to," a third voice piped in. Another figure came out of the shadows, this time behind the troop. They recognized him too; the Smiling Death. He gave his infamous smile, motioning with his cane that he was ready for the attack. "What do you think?"

"I say we give them their chance." A fourth figure came out, this one more terrifying than before. "Though we all know what that choice will be." The Ancient Terror who wielded the powerful blade of old. If all four were here, then their mission had all but ended.

However, they would not return empty handed. Quickly, the captain raised us his weapon. "Attack!" he called out as loudly as he could. "Attack now! Kill them!"

The troops and creatures charged the four and fought as hard as they could against them. However, the charge had been futile from the beginning. Even though it had been a dozen versus four, the power level had been one sided. Before long, the captain found himself staring at the Ancient Terror's weapon, his men unconscious or captured and all the beasts slain.

"The key to that cart," the masked terror said darkly. "Give it to me."

"Ce-certainly," the captain said quickly, tearing the key off of his own neck and handing it to his captor. "Please, just don't hurt me."

"I am here to do justice, not murder." Meta Knight took the key quickly and tossed it over to Daroach. "Here you go!" he called out to his teammate. "I'll get this one over with the other prisoners. Please get the slaves out while I do so."

"It's as good as done," Daroach replied, snatching up the key. He hurried around to the back of the cart, which he unlocked, allowing a group of people who had been kidnapped by Nightmare to go free. "Here we are," he said, motioning out of the cart. "You are all free, complements of the Star Warriors and the Galaxy Star Army. My name is Sir Daroach, at your service."

"Jecra, Garlude!" Meta called over, bringing the captive NME captain behind him. "You got the other prisoners secured?"

"You got it," Jecra called back, giving a thumbs up. "These guys won't be seeing the outside of a prison cell for a very long time."

"As it should be," Garlude commented. "Imagine, selling out your own people to Nightmare. What in this universe would compel someone to do something like that?"

"Greed. Cowardice. Who knows how many terrible things have been done because of personal vice." Meta Knight lifted his mask as he shook his head. "However, as long as we're here, such wrongs will not go unpunished."

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"Alright, I believe that might be enough practice with your bomb ability," Meta Knight said as he scanned the charred area.

Bomb Kirby gave an awkward smile. "Sowwy, poyo," he said before spitting out the offending ability.

The older warrior sighed and lifted his mask for a moment in frustration. However, the moment passed quickly and he replaced it back. "No matter," he said quietly. "I suppose such incidents are to be expected. That is why we came out here in the first place. Just understand you will need to be much more careful in future situations. As Star Warriors, it is our duty first and foremost to defend the innocent. It would not do to lose control in an actual battle and cause a lot of collateral damage. You need to think ahead so as to prepare to counter your opponent's attack when it happens in a safe manner.

"This, in fact, will lead us to our next lesson." The blue warrior then turned and began digging around in the bag for the object that would be so important in the next lesson. Kirby leaned forward, trying to catch a glimpse of what was being taken out. He expected that it would be some sort of new weapon, one that he hadn't ever used before; or maybe some old manuscript that told an old legend. Kirby liked old legends. However, he was certainly not expecting a small wooden box.

Meta Knight took the box over to an area where there was a flat stone, which would serve the purpose of a table very well. He opened up the box and began setting out the pieces as he explained just what they were going to be doing.

"This is chess," he said as he put out the pieces. "It is an ancient game of strategy. When one is playing, one is forced to concentrate not only on one's own moves, but the moves of one's opponents as well."

He motioned for Kirby to take a seat opposite of him. This was the area where the black pieces were arranged. The squire obeyed. Once he was seated, the older warrior continued in explaining the game.

"This is the king," he pointed out, lifting up a tall chess piece that had a flared cap and a cross on the top. "This is the most valuable piece in the game. It can only move one space on its own, but once another piece captures it, then a 'checkmate' occurs. Once a king is in checkmate, than the game ends and the checked king's side loses."

He then moved to the next piece. It too had a flared cap, though it had a small orb on top. "This is the queen. It is the most powerful piece on the board, as it can travel in any direction that the player wants it to go, be it horizontal, vertical, or diagonal. It cannot, however, jump pieces, and it is just as vulnerable to capture as any other piece."

Next, he went on to the piece that kind of reminded Kirby of a castle wall. "This piece is the rook. It is more limited in the queen in that it cannot move in a diagonal direction, only horizontally and vertically. However, it can move in these directions for as many spaces as it wants."

"This next one is the bishop." Kirby looked closely at this piece. It was shaped in an odd way, like a pineapple that had a large cut taken out of it and a ball glued on top. "This is like the rook in that it can only move in two directions, both of them diagonal. They can move as many spaces as they want, but once again, they cannot jump pieces."

Next came the piece that looked like a horse's head. "This one is the knight."

"Oh, oh, wike Medikni!" the youngster exclaimed excitedly once the name had come out.

Meta Knight's eyes turned pink as he chuckled. "Yes, I suppose it is rather like me. Now, this piece can move two spaces either vertically or horizontally, and then one space in the opposite direction. This basically amounts to the corners of any two by three rectangles."

"Finally, these are the pawns." He lifted up the smallest pieces, which looked like tables with orbs on them. "These are the most common piece on the board, but also the weakest. They can only move over one or two spaces ahead."

"Now, the goal of the game is to force the other side's king into checkmate," the warrior said as his explanation came to a close. "You use concentration and strategy to try to figure out what your opponent is thinking as well as trying to hide your own thoughts. This is a very good practice for warriors, as it allows for a safer practice for wartime strategy.

"So," he said, giving his student a small smile, "do you want to have a try?"

The little one grinned brightly. "Kaabii twy!"

Thus, the two began the game in earnest, Meta Knight commenting every now and then on Kirby's strategy. The squire didn't win that often, which wasn't a big surprise, but he learned fast and took to the game well. The older Star Warrior couldn't help but feel a sense of pride in his young pupil.

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"And checkmate." Lynette smiled as she moved her bishop into position.

"What? That can't be." Meta Knight smirked over at his wife. "You must have been switching the pieces around when I wasn't looking."

"Ah, is the famed Warrior of the Wind a sore loser," she taunted back. "Maybe next time I should let you win. Save that sore ego of yours."

"Maybe next time you have the opportunity to cheat." He went over, sat by her, and took his wife paw playfully.

"Or so you say," she responded with a grin before leaning in to kiss him. They had now been happily married for about a star year. There had not really been any major incidents over the last few years, and the Four Forces were now taking some time off to enjoy their own personal lives.

A knock at the door snapped the couple out of their banter and reminded them that they had plans. In particular, it was about half way between their wedding anniversary and Jecra and Garlude's. Even though the war was at peace for the moment, something could happen and the Forces could be sent anywhere at a moment's notice. As such, the two couples had decided to celebrate the occasions at dinner tonight, and then have more private celebrations later on.

Lynette got up and hurried over to the bedroom. "That must be them. I'll go get my pendent and then I'll be ready to go." She meant a small gold star pendant that she had received as a wedding present. It had been a precious heirloom in her family, and as such, she only wore it on special occasions.

While she went to prepare, he went over and answered the door. Sure enough, standing outside were Jecra and Garlude, also dressed up for the evening's occasion.

"Thanks for moving the reservation back a bit," Garlude said as she entered. "The babysitter we're used to wasn't available so we had to hire someone new, and you know how Joe and Silica get with new people. Thankfully they calmed down after a while and we were able to come out."

"No problem." Meta chuckled. He knew the little brother and sister well enough to know that they could be a bit of a handful when they weren't happy with the way things were going. However, once they were certain that there was nothing wrong with the newcomer, they warmed up pretty quickly. "Lynette's just getting ready. Why don't you have a seat while we wait?"

It didn't take long for the white Puffal to finish and return and the three of them went off to enjoy their dinner. It was a rather quiet, enjoyable evening for the two couples. However, that peace was soon to be broken. They were chatting about recent goings on in the Council when a new face joined into the party.

"Well, fancy meeting you here," Daroach commented, pulling a chair up to the table. "Just the folks I was looking for."

"Hellp Daroach," Garlude said. "Are you and Jeiliana having dinner here?"

"Actually, I really did come looking for you three." His face changed as he said these words. He still smiled, but it was more serious and sincere. "Sir Arthur's assigned us a new mission, and it's a doozy."

"What? What's going on?" Meta asked, recognizing the tone in his friend's voice.

"We've got intel from the ninja, Yamikage. It seems Nightmare is arranging a meeting with a group of his most trusted lieutenants on a distant planetoid. The Council believes that if we can intercept this meeting, then we could end this war once and for all."

There was a clear change in the atmosphere. The Four Forces might have been on their time off, but they were warriors first and foremost. News such as this clearly excited them.

"When are we to go?" Jecra asked, his eyes shining brightly.

"The day after tomorrow." The mouse rose once he gave the answer. "If you will excuse me, I shall be going to prepare myself for this trip." Once he had said this, he turned to go.

The remaining members of the Forces grinned at each other with excitement. This was it. Once this mission was finished, the war would be too. No more fear from Nightmare's territories. No having to go to strange areas to set up defences against the monsters. All they'd have to do is launch an attack on this meeting, and all would be well.

After all, what could go wrong?

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As Adeleine finished up the last story, she looked up at the sky peeking over the ruin's edge. "It looks like it's starting to get late," she commented. "We had better finished up pretty soon and start heading back."

"Aww, come on!" Tuff cried out. "The sun hasn't started to go down yet! Let's just read a bit more and find out what happened with the mission against Nightmare!"

"Yeah," Lololo said in agreement. "There's way too much going on right now, we gotta go on."

"Well, we don't even know if we have anymore to read," Ado explained. "A lot of these stories jump around through the years because some of the passages were damaged, and thus we couldn't read a lot of the entries."

"Also," her twin added, "even with the passages that weren't too damaged to read, not all of them were interesting. Remember, Sir Heavy Knight was a high ranking officer in the Star Warriors. A lot of his entries had to do with the strategies for battles that aren't described, or about commerce, or medicine, or stuff like that." She paused for a moment to stretch before continuing. "Most of it's not really all that interesting."

"There must be something or other that we could quickly read to find out what's going on," Tiff suggested. "Maybe just a quick page or passage that will give us a taste of what's to come. After all, with something as big as a game changing mission, there must be some mention of what happened in the upcoming pages."

The other kids quickly voiced their agreement. Indeed, it seemed the strange mission assigned on the word of the ninja was just too alluring. Finally, the artist siblings conceded.

"Alright," Ado said, slipping her inking pen out of her pocket. A cheer went up from the small group of children. It was decided that they would spend about fifteen minutes looking for a passage or page that mentioned what happened with the Four Forces. If that time ran out and they still had nothing, then they would concede that they would have to look later and finish up for the day.

However, it soon became clear that finding an intriguing page was not going to be a problem. Indeed, not two minutes after the search was started they come across a page that had Meta Knight's name written on it repeatedly. However, there were a lot do crossed out lines and scribbles as well, as if the writer had been trying to cover something up.

"This is really weird," Ado commented as she tried to reconstruct what few words they actually had. "He's never done this before. He keeps writing stuff in and crossing it out, like there's something in here he didn't like, but I can't tell what it is."

She struggled with it for a few more minutes, and after a clear fight, she finally inked in a line that could be easily read. However, the moment she saw what it said, she couldn't believe her eyes. Unable to say a single word, she just motioned for the others to look at the written word. Indeed, this was a line that could not be believed.

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Heavy Knight struggled to hold the pen as he wrote. Tears had gathered in his eyes, clouding his vision and making the paper near impossible to see. He wished he could just throw the pen away and make no mention of this ever again. It just hurt too much. However, this would be the right thing to do. After all, he needed to be remembered. After struggling for a whole page to figure out to right way to word it, he settled on a single line at the bottom of the page.

"My son is dead."

To be continued…

Author's Note: Oh, dear.

Tune in next week for Nightmares, Part One. Well, I hope to hear from you all. Have a nice week!- SilverWarriorWolf.