Chapter 16: Oxytocin (Part 1)
It was a few months after the Cake Royale and Dreamland was back to its peaceful self. Meta Knight had gone on his usual aerial patrol, taking to the skies himself to take advantage of the nice weather the day had. Currently, he had just completed it and was now relaxing, polishing his sword underneath a tree. There was nothing out of the ordinary going on in Dreamland today. Admittedly, he quite enjoyed this peace and quiet, especially since it now felt like he had time to breathe. He remembered how much it felt like a luxury back when he trained under his mentor. Between the multiple training sessions and the long missions that were received almost weekly, it felt like the only break he got was whenever he stepped into his room on the GranEssex to sleep. Not that was to say he was constantly working, The Organization occasionally had wellness days where the entire crew was ordered to rest for a day. Just compared to his time on that ship, he now felt...relaxed.
Suddenly, the peaceful air and Meta Knight's nostalgic reflection were both broken when he noticed several purple and pink streaks falling from the sky, one falling straight towards him. Reacting quickly, he barely managed to dodge out of the way.
"What was that...?" he uttered, walking over the small crater that had formed.
At the bottom of the hole, he noticed a dark purple heart that radiated with a strange energy he never felt before. For some reason, it felt like it was beckoning to him. He wanted to leave it alone but... what if someone else got to it? He should probably take it back to the Halberd for analysis. With how close he was to this strange object, he began to feel...strangely ill. He noted that this must be from the surge of negative energy that permeated from it.
Jumping down into the hole, he reached down to pick up the strange object as he managed to suppress his gag reflex. The moment he did, a strange feeling permeated throughout his body. It was a feeling that was quite hard to describe. It was like his mind was being rewritten... was this brainwashing? Perhaps, but this felt a bit different. It was like...all the negativity within him was amplified to deafening levels. It was to the point where he could only follow those impulses. There was only one thing he wanted to do at this point. He had to prove he was the strongest! That's right...he had to defeat Kirby!
Meta Knight was waiting for Kirby to arrive, just knowing that he would show up eventually. He always had a habit of showing up when he wasn't needed... why did he just think that? No, that's not important, all that matters was proving his strength.
Thankfully, it seemed that he would get his wish as Kirby, joined by Bandana Dee, Dedede and two other helpers he didn't recognize, one a fairy and the other an artist. Not that it mattered. The only thing he cared about was proving himself.
"Kirby, prepare yourself!"
With that shout, he tossed down a sword. As expected, Kirby grabbed it and copied the Sword Ability. The moment that happened, Meta Knight took to the air and dive-bombed Kirby, knocking him away a few feet.
"Meta-sensei! What's wrong with you?!" The puff shouted.
"He must be under the influence of that Jamba whatever that made me all buff!" Dedede yelled out.
"None of that matters! I only care about Kirby, the rest of you can disappear!" Meta Knight yelled out, dark energy coming out of his body. He then created three clones of himself, an ability he had never used before and sent them after Kirby's friends.
The artist looking one gave Kirby a headband, giving him the Fighter Ability before having to deal with her own Meta Knight.
"Meta-sensei snap out of it!"
"Silence, Kirby! The time for talk is over!"
He summoned a bunch of boulders using telekinesis and threw them at Kirby, who was able to break all of them with a series of punches. But that's exactly what Meta Knight wanted as he got up close and performed his signature technique: the Mach Tornado, which was now amped by this mysterious dark energy. Kirby fell to the ground, barely conscious.
"Time to ensure my victory." Meta Knight said in an unusually monotone voice.
But he soon stopped in his tracks as he saw Kirby struggling to get up, with tears in his eyes as he looked towards him.
"Meta-sensei, please..." He cried, staring straight into those cold eyes.
Meta Knight's body shut down for a mere moment. This moment gave Kirby enough time to focus all of his energy into his fist.
"MEGATON PUNCH!" He roared, slamming his fist into Meta Knight's face, breaking his mask, and sending him into the ground.
"Now, please return to your senses!" Kirby threw a heart at Meta Knight that quickly began cleansing him of the dark energy's influence.
Once his thoughts were sufficiently organized, Meta Knight quickly opened his eyes. For some reason, he was laying on the ground.
"What happened?" he uttered, briefly remembering that he had just been fighting.
Immediately, he touched his face with his eyes quickly widening when he only felt his soft cheeks. Quickly, he reached into his cape subspace, pulled out a spare mask, and put it on.
"...no one saw my face, did they?" he uttered in a dark tone.
"Meta-sensei, you're back to normal!"
He turned to see his student standing next to him with Bandana, Dedede, and the unknown strangers standing a decent distance away. He had assumed that Kirby told them to wait there until he regained consciousness, as his student knew that he didn't want anyone seeing his face.
"Good to see you're finally awake, blueberry, but there's better places to sleep than the ground, ya know." Dedede said with a laugh.
"I'm just relieved that he's ok and not our enemy now..." Bandana said with a sigh.
"Yeah. I haven't seen how he normally fights, but he seemed to be really strong during that last battle." The stranger added with her fairy companion nodding.
Noting the stranger, Meta Knight instantly stood up.
"And who might you two be? I don't recognize either of you."
"We haven't met before. I'm Adeline and this is Ribbon, we're friends of Kirby."
The knight did actually recognize those names from when his student told him about the incident with the Crystal Shards. This was his first time meeting them in-person though.
"I see. I believe you have already been told who I am, but my name is Meta Knight."
"Oh yeah, Kirby told us! You're his mentor, aren't you?" Ribbon asked, being given a nod in response.
"Well, now that them introductions are done, MK, ya gots any idea 'bout them Jam-whatchamacallits?"
"Jamba Heart, your highness."
"Yeah, that thing!"
That phrase sounded familiar to Meta Knight. He racked his brain for a moment to think of where he heard of it.
"First, I'd like to ask why all of you are here."
This was Kirby's cue to start talking.
"Oh, uh...I was taking a nap, then I woke up when a pink heart thing hit me! It gave me the ability to toss these pink heart things at people and free them from some purple magic stuff! Oh, oh, oh! I also was walking around, and I found Bandana and Adeline and Ribbon! Adeline and Ribbon seemed to be visiting and stuff, but then I found out Waddle Dees were taking a bunch of food to Castle Dedede! Then Bandana said that something weird is going on 'cuz Dedede's telling the Waddle Dees to steal all the food in Dreamland again! Which is really, really bad since Dedede would never do that ever again! All the Waddle Dees were afraid to defy him, so he went out on his own while the archivist stayed in the library to investigate the purple heart thing that possessed Dedede! Then we beat up Whispy Woods and came to the castle and beat up Dedede!"
"Alright, pinky, let me take over." The king uttered.
"So, I was apparently possessed by one of them Jam Heart things, but I felt totally normal. Well, 'cept I was a bit hungrier than normal and just wanted to eat all the food I could and that feeling went away once Kirby tossed one of them heart things at me. Also, it gave me a bunch more power that caused me to go buff 'n stuff."
Meta Knight only looked at him in confusion.
"...you didn't miss much to be honest." Adeline shrugged with Ribbon and Bandana nodding in agreement.
"HEY, I WAS TOLD I LOOKED ABSOLUTELY STUNNING! BEAUTIFUL! HANDSOME! SHOULDA BEEN TURNED INTO A STATUE!" The king shouted back.
"So, what led all of you to come here?"
Bandana was the one to speak up next. "Renya managed to find out that the thing that possessed Dedede was called the Jamba Heart, so we decided to look for you. We thought that you would know more about it. It was also to chase after the piece that flew off. That led us here."
The knight nodded in understanding. That was when he realized where he heard of the phrase "Jamba Heart" before. It was during one of his mentor's dinnertime lectures a long time ago.
"Now, you asked me if I know about the Jamba Hearts, correct? Yes, I have." The knight finally responded.
"Ah! I knew you would know! So, what's this Jamba..."
"Those things aren't the Jamba Heart itself. They're it's fragments."
The blunt response slightly surprised everyone gathered.
Suddenly, the ground began to shake.
"AGH! WHAT'S GOIN' ON HERE?!" The king shouted.
"An earthquake? No..." The knight uttered as he turned in the direction of the tremors.
In the distance, the group began to see a massive object landing on the surface of the planet. It appeared to be a giant flying fortress of some kind. The knight got a bad feeling about this.
"Kirby, summon the Warp Star! I'll explain more while we make our way to that thing!" With a single nod, his student complied.
On their way to the mysterious fortress, Meta Knight continued his explanation.
"A long time ago, my mentor told me about an ancient book known as the book of legends. In it, there was a story about four heroes who sealed away an object that had suddenly emerged from a dimensional rift. This object was called the Jamba Heart. It and its fragments are best described as a crystal-like concentration of pure darkness and negative energy."
"Huh...that explains why I didn't feel so good when I looked at it." Kirby said.
"Exactly. It uses its power to corrupt anyone that comes near it and turn them evil by possessing them. However, this type of possession is slightly different from others. Instead of straightforward possession, it instead forces the most negative aspects of a person to take full control."
This made Bandana think for a moment.
"Hm...so is that why Dedede told everyone to steal all the food for himself when he was possessed?"
"Exactly. Because Dedede's worst trait is arguably his greed, that was what the fragment emphasized."
The king gave a slight laugh. "An' for you, it showed how vain you are!"
"I'm not vain." The knight replied with a glare.
"Aw, sure ya are! What 'bout all them times you were like "Oooh, I'm the strongest warrior in the galaxy, but I can't beat my own student! I'm so cool and mysterious! Look at how edgy and cool I am! I'm gonna show you how cool I am and how I'm SOOOOOO strong! Did I mention that I'm cool?"!"
"Dedede, unless you want to be eating dirt, I'm going to have to ask you to be quiet." Meta Knight uttered in a dark tone.
"Um... Meta Knight, did your mentor say what happened to the Jamba Heart after it was sealed?" Adeline asked, trying to break up the fight.
"She did. The four heroes originally sealed it with four objects called the Heart Spears. Afterwards, the heroes mysteriously vanished and were never seen nor heard from again. However, she never said where it was kept after that point. The only thing we can assume is that someone or something must have attempted to remove the Heart Spears."
"Meta-sensei, is that the reason why the fragments keep flying off? Because they want to become whole again?"
"...perhaps."
"I have another question, how is Kirby able to throw out those hearts free people from the Jamba Heart's influence?" Ribbon asked.
"I decided on calling it the Friend Heart! I wanted to call it the Friendship Heart, but that sounded too long..." The puff then commented.
This made the knight think for a moment.
"I'm not sure, but I have a theory. If the seal on the Jamba Heart was broken, then that would mean that the Heart Spears broke as well. Maybe one of these landed on Kirby, giving him the ability to create those hearts."
"That makes sense." Bandana commented.
"Guys, look alive, we're here."
With that said, the Warp Star landed not too far from the entrance of the giant fortress.
"Now, come on! Let's go smash some skulls!" The king shouted with a grin as he ran forth towards the fortress.
As the others began to follow after the king, Meta Knight's other thoughts had caught up to him. He began to regain his memories from earlier and the full realization began to set in. He was possessed yet again. True, it was nowhere near as horrible as "that" incident, but he still failed. He allowed those dark thoughts and that certain dark instinct he tried to keep hidden to take over and because of that, he came so close to killing his own student. Why... why did he have to be so weak!? Before he could delve further into self-loathing, he felt Kirby wrap him in a hug. His student didn't say a single word, but he already knew what he was saying through his emotions. Don't be sad. It's not your fault. Everything will be all right. It was a warm feeling that brought him comfort.
"...thank you, Kirby."
Right now, there were more important things that needed to be taken care of. Dealing with himself could wait, for Kirby's sake.
With both feeling slightly better, they began to follow after their allies. That was when the knight's mind turned back to the Jamba Heart. If something that dangerous was happening in the galaxy, he should've heard about it from his mentor by now.
"Did she try to call me about it?" He thought as he took out his cellphone.
There was only a single voicemail from Kurabe. He immediately played it and put the phone to his ear. There was a bit of static in the message, but he could still hear it was his mentor. However, he immediately noticed that her voice sounded... different, lacking the usual dangerous undertone she had when she spoke.
"Meta, I don't want you to panic, but there's something extremely dangerous going on right now. There have been several reports from various planets of Jamba Hearts falling from the sky and causing havoc. The Organization has already classified this as a Galaxy-class threat, though the rate things are going, this might become a Universe-class threat. Regardless, it's dangerous and as someone who is currently fighting on the frontlines of it right now, I... well, not that I think it'll happen, I'm known for being unkillable but... there's a chance I might not make it out of this."
The message ended at that, and it slowly began to drive Meta Knight crazy. Something that could make his mentor, a person who has rarely ever shown fear to anyone, believe that she might not make it out of this alive was unthinkable for the knight. But this was reality and he had to accept it. Normally, he would be excited at the idea of fighting something so powerful, but any excitement he might possibly have was immediately turned into dread. He attempted to call her, but after the twentieth try, he had to accept that she most likely would not be heard from for a while. After taking a deep breath, he looked at each of his current companions.
"Sensei, we will stop this. I promise." He thought to himself.
After traversing for what felt like an hour, the group arrived at what appeared to be an open gate and a piece of the Jamba heart.
"Quickly, we must grab it before-"
As soon as Meta Knight said that, the heart piece flew away and the gate entrance was immediately closed. Then two large figures dropped down in front of it. They were a fox and tanuki wearing armor.
"I'm Pon."
"And I'm Kon."
"We are the guardians of this place, turn back or face the consequences!" They both said at the same time.
"Augh, we don't have time for this!" Dedede yelled.
Suddenly, Pon was struck by what appeared to be black lighting and Kon was hit by bladed feathers.
"Who dares!" One of the guards shouted.
"What's a dare? Can I eat it?" A new voice said, causing Kirby's face to light up.
"I know that voice. Gooey, it's you!"
"He isn't the only one old friend." Another voice said.
"Coo, is that you? Rick and Kine too!"
"G'day, mates!"
"Guys! What are you doing here?" The puff quickly ran over to his friends as he shouted that.
"Gooey felt something disturbing, I think."
"We have also seen the effects of whatever's going on firsthand." Kine explained.
While this was going on, Adeline had quickly painted a key and used it to unlock the gate.
"Everyone, get going! Ribbon and I will help them fight these two off!"
"Are you sure?" Kirby then questioned, worried about their safety.
"Come on, Kirby, trust your friends. We need to stop the Jamba Heart as soon as possible." Meta Knight told his student, who begrudgingly agreed.
"Don't worry, mate, we'll catch up later!"
Kirby nodded at his friends and went through the gate with Meta Knight, Bandana, and Dedede.
When the group finally caught up to the Jamba Heart piece, it was quickly snatched up by an unknown woman. Upon examination, this woman had long blue hair, black and blue clothes, and a comically large hat with a strange blue symbol on it. Right away, Meta Knight could feel a literal and metaphorical cold aura coming off from her and was readying himself to strike if needed.
"...Bonjam." The lady said.
The word struck a chord in Meta Knight's head. Without a doubt, she was a major enemy.
"Heh. That's how we greet people on MY planet. I am Francisca, one of the three generals of magic. Together, we command the Fortress of Shadows known as... Jambastion!"
And that just confirmed his thoughts.
"So, you are the ones behind everything!" Kirby said, realizing how serious the situation is. He then immediately followed with a single question. "Why?"
The woman named Francisca scoffed at that. "Why, you ask? We wish to assemble the dark Jamba Heart pieces that were scattered across the universe. Once we do, our most twisted of visions will finally be... untwisted. Unthawed? Unfurled! Just know that should you attempt to oppose us..."
She then summoned a large axe that appeared to have ice magic engraved into it. "I'll have no choice but to put you on ice... FOREVER!"
Immediately, Francisca flew at Kirby, swinging her axe at full force, but it was effortlessly blocked by Meta Knight's sword.
"Your strength is impressive, but your skill..." With one strike, Meta Knight sent her axe flying out of her hand.
"Leaves much to be desired." He finished, angering Francisca to where she summoned large ice crystals and threw them at the knight.
Quickly, Kirby inhaled them all and spit them back at her, sending her immediately to the ground and breathing heavily.
"Perhaps I underestimated you... but no matter. I still have the piece of the Jamba Heart, and that's all that matters right now." She then created a large wall of ice separating her from them.
"Jambuhbye!" She said while flying off to the Jambastion fortress.
"Now what!?" Dedede said bitterly as he attempted to break the wall with a few hits of his hammer.
"We just need to break this wall, right?" Bandana said, noting that there was barely a dent being made in it.
Before either of them could answer, a laser beam destroyed the block of ice for them. Meta Knight quickly looked at where the beam came from and what he saw froze his blood much more than what that ice mage could do. Long pink hair. He really hoped it wasn't who he thought it was, but there's more pressing matters to attend to. Just as the knight prepared to follow after Kirby and Bandana, he felt himself be raised off the ground by a single hand. He glared back to see it was Dedede, who had a serious look on his face.
"You seem on edge." The king said, turning the knight to face him.
"It's nothing."
"It's not nothing. Now talk to me."
With a slight twist of the wrist, Meta Knight freed himself with an irritated sigh. "We're doing something important. Save the talking for later."
Just as he began walking away, he heard one single phrase.
"Ok, soldier boy."
Hearing that caused him to freeze in his tracks and Dedede to quickly pass him by. Only one question then came to mind: Why? He then remembered that Dedede had been in that battle when he was possessed by the Jamba Heart. Could he really have known? No, it might just be an assumption based on how much he followed his mentor's orders. Either way, now really isn't the time to think about it. They had to get to the source of all this.
The group was soon confronted by another woman who was wearing similar clothing to that of Francisca, except the blue on her clothing was replaced with a deep red color. Another major difference was that this mage general had short red hair and appeared to be in a bad mood.
"HEY, YOU! Stubby little... pink thing!" She shouted while pointing a wave-like sword at Kirby.
"Me?" The child questioned in absolute confusion.
"Yes, YOU! I have a burning question for you! You're the one who was so rude to sweet Francisca, aren't you?!"
"Fran-whonow?" Dedede grumbled.
"Don't you dare try to deny it!"
"She attacked us first-"
"Fiend! Coward! I swear, if you've harmed a single blue hair on her perfect head... you'll BURN for it! Now you must face Flamberge! That's ME! For what you've done, I'll-" She was cut off from her passionate speech by a thrown spear that landed directly in front of her.
"Would you be quiet!?" Bandana yelled out to the shock of everyone.
"That Francisca lady attacked us first. You have no right to be upset at Kirby for protecting himself!"
"Shut up, you miserable piece of-!"
Before she could finish that sentence, she got sent flying by a powerful hammer swing from a furious Dedede.
"No one insults Kirby except for me, and NO ONE insults one of my servants while I'm around! Ya got that?!"
"I think she might be too far to hear you, sire." Bandana said, watching her fade into the distance.
"Whatever, she better remember it!"
As they two finished their conversation, they noticed that Meta Knight was already rushing ahead with Kirby. Both were equally determined to put a stop to this.
Upon reaching the center of the Jambastion, the group saw a single woman. This one was like the previous two, except her hair was short and yellow, matching the yellow color on her clothes where the blue and red were. Immediately, she noticed the group's presence and turned towards them.
"Bonjam." The woman said.
"I am Zan Partizanne, the eldest of the three generals of magic." She continued with a tone that was a mixture of elegance and arrogance. "At first, I thought you and your friends to be just a group of simpletons with a knack for annoyance, but clearly that's not the case."
She then summoned a spear whose head was surging with electricity. "By the will of our beloved liege, Lord Hyness, Officiant of Doom. I shall defeat all of you here and now!"
Meta Knight wasted no time and went on the offensive, entering into blade-lock with the electric general. He then used his Galaxia to absorb some of her electricity, coating it in an electrical aura. He followed that by punching Zan in the stomach, stunning her.
"Kirby, Bandana! Take this!"
He then shot electricity at Kirby's staff and Bandana's spear, coating them in electricity as well. The three grouped up and unleashed a flurry of electricity charged attacks. Zan tried her best to endure it, but not even the strongest general could withstand such a powerful combination. Kirby delivered one final blow to her head, knocking her down to the floor.
"Ugh... Jam... blasted...!" The general uttered as she used her weapon to pull herself up. "Bah! How could there be such opposition on a measly and remote planet?!"
Meta Knight then turned his blade towards her. "Your first mistake was coming to this measly and remote planet. Your second mistake was underestimating us." He uttered coldly, receiving a glare in response.
"Well, it matters not. This Jamba Heart piece is already within my grasp!"
"EVERYONE, GRAB THAT THING!"
The moment Dedede shouted that, everyone attempted to grab the heart piece from Zan, to no avail as she managed to use the king as a springboard to now stand on top of the fortress's generator.
"Listen here, you tiny ball of puffy pink mischief! For all I care, you and this Jambastion can rot in ruin forever!"
The moment she shouted that, Zan stabbed the power core, causing the entire fortress to begin to crumble.
"Jambuhbye!"
With a laugh, the general made her escape, leaving Kirby's group behind.
"WE GOTTA GET OUTTA HERE!" Dedede screamed even more hysterically than normal.
"Calm yourself, Dedede." The knight replied.
"Calm myself!? Blueberry, this whole place is falling apart, we gotta go!"
"I agree, but panicking will just make things worse. We need to stay calm. One mistake and that's it." Meta Knight said, his tone that of someone who has dealt with this kind of situation before.
"You speaking from experience?"
"...perhaps."
"Well, Mr. Expert. You gots any bright ideas?"
"Well, first, we will need something to deal with the falling debris as well as smashing through any opposition, those will be our main obstacles."
"But where are we going to find something like that?" Bandana asked, trying to calm himself down.
"I have an idea! The Friend Circle!" Kirby exclaimed.
"What? That thing?" Dedede chimed in.
The Friend Circle, a combination idea Kirby came up with a while back where four allies link up to form a large circle and use their combined power to bust through various obstacles. While Meta Knight wasn't a fan of the move itself, he could not deny that it was exactly what they needed at the moment.
"Good idea, Kirby. Now, let's go."
The four linked together to form the Friend Circle and proceeded to smash through a nearby wall, going through various areas of the Jambastion they had ventured through previously. As hoped, the Friend Circle successfully kept them safe from harm while also making great progress. That is, until they hit a wall that was strong enough to stop the circle.
"Dang it! That hurt! Watch where you're going, pinky!"
"Hey, that was all you, Dedede!" The child pouted back.
"It doesn't matter who did it, all that matters is getting out. Kirby, can you summon the Warp Star?"
"Let me try, Meta-sensei."
Kirby pulled out his cell phone and thankfully he was able to connect to his Warp Star. In a matter of seconds, the Warp Star landed in front of them.
"Hop on, everyone!" Kirby shouted.
As soon as everyone was on it, the Warp Star sped off at extremely high speeds, successfully getting everyone away from the exploding Jambastion.
Upon escaping from the fortress, the group now found themselves in the deepness of space. Due to how unknown the location was and the current predicament, it was agreed by everyone that they should investigate the nearby planets and their moons for any Jamba Heart fragments or clues to where the three generals went off to. Currently, they were investigating the moon Mareen.
"That Planet Misteen, I feel like I've been there at least once before..." Meta Knight suddenly uttered.
"Huh? You know where in space we are, Meta-sensei?" Kirby asked, receiving an additional glare from the king in response.
"WE'RE IN SPACE! THERE'S NO DIFFERENCE BETWEEN AREAS IN SPACE! ALL OF THEM ARE JUST STARS AND PLANETS!"
"There are differences. Sectors can be told apart by whatever planets are in the area."
"Yeah, well, not everyone's a nerd like you, blueberry!"
"You don't need to be a nerd, you just need to be observant. Something you have quite a horrible track record of."
"Like you doing dumb things to try to get stronger?"
"You mean training?"
"No, I mean-"
Their conversation was suddenly cut off by a loud roar. Nodding at each other, the group ran towards the source of the sound. When they arrived, they saw a piece of the Jamba Heart. As they got closer to it, two large figures dropped from the sky.
"I am Goldon!"
"I am Silvox!"
"And we're not letting you go any further!" The two said together.
This just left the quartet silent for a few seconds.
"Anyone else getting a feeling of deja vu?" Dedede asked.
Suddenly, what appeared to be a ball slammed straight into Goldon's face and Silvox got blasted by magical spheres. While he didn't recognize the ball, Meta Knight knew exactly where the magic came from.
"Magolor, is that you?" He uttered.
"You got it in one! Hello everyone! It's been quite a while, hasn't it!"
The group turned around to see Magolor, their old foe-turned-friend/acquaintance, but he wasn't the only one. Right beside him was a light purple creature standing on top of a ball wearing a jester's hat. Meta Knight didn't recognize this person, but judging from Kirby's stunned expression, he could make a pretty good guess.
"M-Marx!?" Kirby exclaimed.
"Howdy, old pal! Mein Alter! Now don't worry, I'm not here to fight you or anything. I've reformed! Trust me, ja?"
Before Kirby could respond Meta Knight decided to ask a question.
"What are you two doing here?" His voice was understandably that of skepticism.
"Ah, yes, let me explain. I noticed that there was a lot of chaos being spread throughout the galaxy. It's getting to the point to where if nothing is done to stop it, this dimension and potentially many others will cease to exist." Magolor said in an uncharacteristically serious tone. "So, I decided to try to find a way to stop it. Along the way I met my new friend Marx, who came to a similar conclusion that I did."
"So, Marx, you're really here to help us?" Kirby asked with an unreadable expression as he turned to the jester.
"Listen Kirby, es tut mir- no, I'm really for what I did. If you can't forgive me, well, that's honestly what I deserve. But make no mistake, I'm your ally right now. Darauf kannst du Gift nehmen, as they say."
Hearing this, combined with the unusually serious to ne Marx had said it in, Kirby gave a small smile.
"Then, thank you. And thank you, too, Magolor."
"Don't mention it. Now go, Marx and I will handle this."
Giving them a nod, the quartet ran past the still recovering Goldon and Silvox.
"Ok, now that they are gone..."
Magolor then summoned a massive sword and Marx grew a pair of mosaic-like wings.
"So, big guys, would you rather be cut into pieces-"
"-or blasted into smithereens?"
The next planet to investigate was Frostak and its moon, Blizzno.
"There's nothing here. Let's just get out of here and move on to the next planet..." Meta Knight uttered, wrapping himself in his cape.
"What, blueberry? Scared of a bit of cold weather? I thought you was better than that!" Dedede laughed.
"Bit of cold!? Are you kidding me, it's freezing! Why else do you think I changed to my Fire Ability?!" Kirby gave a pout towards the king.
"Aw, you guys complain too much! Y'all weren't this bad back in White Wafers! What's the difference?"
"The difference is White Wafers isn't an entire planet." The knight seemed to grumble.
"Nah, I think you guys just whine too much, right, Bandana?"
"Uh-huh..." The reply was slightly muffled due to Dedede's robe as the Dee had been forced to take shelter underneath it due to the elements.
"Hey, that's no fair! How comes he gets to stay warm while I'm out here freezing!" Kirby shouted.
"Cuz you have that there Fire Ability!"
"So?!"
"Whaddaya mean "so"!? You trying to set me on fire!?"
Meta Knight only sighed in irritation. Honestly, he absolutely hated the cold and just wanted to get off this moon as soon as possible. Unfortunately, they weren't going to go anywhere at this rate.
"...hmph. Color me surprised." A somewhat familiar female voice caught their attention.
Everyone turned towards the voice to see that it was Francisca.
"I certainly didn't expect to run into your puffy self again. And here I thought you would all be buried along with the Jambastion..."
"That was because you and your friends made the mistake of underestimating us." The knight uttered with a glare.
"Well then! I'll just have to ensure that my victory is complete this time! Let's start by turning that pink ball of nice into a frozen block of ice!"
The moment she said that, she pulled out her own weapon with a chuckle. "I always wanted an ice sculpture for my trophy collection!"
Francisca dashed at Meta Knight, most likely deeming him to be a main threat and swung her axe at him, to which he simply blocked without much effort. This, however, caused Francisca to start laughing.
"You fell for my trap! Now you'll become a beautiful ice statue!"
She began to send ice magic through her axe into Meta Knight hoping to freeze him solid, only for it to do nothing to him.
"What?! Why isn't it working?!"
"My mentor's signature element is ice. Your magic doesn't even begin to compare to hers." He responded coldly.
Before she could respond, she was then tackled by Kirby's fire dash, causing massive damage to her. He then proceeded to breath a large amount of fire in her general direction causing her to make a shield of ice to protect her. The flames hit and soon the field began to fill with mist that quickly started to freeze. Francisca used this opportunity to use the freezing mist to trap Dedede and Bandana in ice, effectively removing them from the fight.
"That's two down, now to put out that fire."
She pulled out what appeared to be a water gun and started one of her laughing fits.
"I'm admittedly very weak in the presence of fire, so that's why I make sure to carry my ultimate weapon. No fire can stand up to it, now freeze!"
As she went to pull the trigger however, she noticed that the gun was no longer with her.
"When did-?"
"You looking for this, madam?"
Everyone turned to see the source of this voice was the leader of the Squeaks, Daroach.
"Good evening, lady and gentlemen. Most of you know me already, but allow me to introduce myself. I am Daroach, master thief and leader of the Squeaks, and I have a bone to pick with you Jamba people. One of you attacked my base of operations and even turned some of my men against me with some weird heart-looking object. After I took care of that mess, I decided to look into your little cult."
"We are not a cult, we are the Jambastion religion!"
"Did I stutter? Anyway, Kirby, Meta Knight. I assume it's safe to say we share a common goal?"
"We sure do! Please help us, Daroach." Kirby said in his usual cheerful manner.
"Well, since you asked nicely, you got it, kid."
Daroach quickly dashed at Francisca and slashed at her with his claws and then threw what appeared to be a treasure chest at her, which then exploded sending her up into the air. Meta Knight flew up after her and did a somersault slash, ending his attack with a mighty kick that sent her flying back to the ground. Getting back up, she attempted to engage with the knight again, but was hit by another fiery tackle from Kirby. With that blow, Francisca was down for the count. Silently, Meta Knight walked over to her barely conscious body with his blade drawn. From the look in his eyes, it was obvious he was ready to finish things. Suddenly, he was stopped by Daroach placing a hand on his shoulder.
"Hold up there. Unless something's changed, I'm pretty sure you don't do that sort of thing anymore, right?"
Meta Knight's eyes slightly widened. The thief was right. For a brief moment, the knight was once again back in a mindset he thought he had gotten rid of. Closing his eyes, Meta Knight turned away from the downed Mage General and began to walk towards Kirby, who was in the process of freeing Dedede and Bandana from their icy prison.
"Thank you, Daroach." He uttered.
"Don't mention it."
Daroach then blew a whistle, summoning the rest of the Squeaks. "I plan on interrogating her. You still have my number, right?"
"Yes."
"Then we'll keep in touch. Now get going!"
With a nod in response, the group headed off to the next planet.
After an uneventful trek of the next planet, the planet after that was the complete opposite of Frostak. It was Lavadom and its moon, Sizzlai. Despite the intense heat, the group was easily able to run through both areas. But there was something...off about all of this. As they stepped briskly on Sizzlai, Meta Knight began to notice what it was.
"Dedede, I'm surprised you haven't been complaining about the heat on this planet." He suddenly spoke.
The king stopped moving.
"Yo, Bandana, take the pink lump and continue forward for a moment."
The Waddle Dee jumped a bit. "Um... if I may ask, why?"
"You guys can talk about it while I'm here, you know! That's mean of you!" Kirby added with a pout.
"Just get out of here, you two!"
"C-come on, Kirby..." Bandana had to drag the child away.
As Meta Knight watched the scene in silence, Dedede spoke up again.
"So, blueberry, you know what a berserker is?"
The knight only turned and stared at the king in confusion. "Dedede, I know your thought process tends to be absolute nonsense, but what does this have to do with anything?"
"It was in a book I read. It said that berserkers are warriors that fought in a trance-like fury back in ye olden days." Dedede continued, crossing his arms.
Realization began to dawn on Meta Knight.
"Are you saying that I'm one of these berserkers?"
"Not exactly. Though I was frozen, I did see everything that happened in that there fight on Blizzno. You were 'bout to kill that there general without realizing what you were doing, weren't ya? I also saw the same thing happen back when we fought you. Come on, Meta Knight, just talk to me already."
Noting how unusually serious the king sounded, the knight sighed. Perhaps it wouldn't hurt to just say something, at least to get it off his chest.
"...that mindset used to be my default state of mind when I was a soldier working for The Organization. I've since discarded it, but I can revert to it at times. Mainly when I'm under a heavy amount of stress."
Dedede gave a look of understanding. "It's 'cuz of your teacher, isn't it? Can't blame ya for being worried, but I'm sure she's fine. She's the unkillable, right?"
"That she is." Meta Knight replied, a small smile forming underneath his mask.
"Bahahahaha!"
Suddenly, Dedede and Meta Knight heard a loud laugh from the direction that Kirby and Bandana ran in. Upon running towards the laugh, they came to a stop upon seeing that it was Flamberge.
"Who would've thought my search for the Jamba Heart pieces would lead me back to you and your puffery! This must be the fiery flames of fate at work!"
Before Kirby could give a response, the general let off a burst of fire from her sword, indicating proficiency with the element.
"OOOOHHHH YEAHHH! MY FLAMES AND I ARE FULLY STOKED NOW! BEWARE, YOU PUNY PINK PEST!"
As Kirby got into a battle stance, Meta Knight stepped in front of him.
"Kirby, you and the others go on ahead. I can handle her."
"Meta-sensei?"
"Just prepare to go!"
He then quickly turned to Flamberge.
"You said your name is Flamberge, correct? My name is Meta Knight, the current greatest warrior in the galaxy."
"Bah! So what?! You think I care about that?!"
"It's not every day that you get the chance to duel the greatest warrior in the galaxy, correct?"
The general only scoffed, but then gave a grin. "How interesting...very well then!"
She then set her sword on fire. "In the name of Lord Hyness... I'll turn you into a burning ball of meddlesomeness!"
Upon shouting that, the knight nodded towards his student and allies, who immediately ran off. The fight began and honestly, Meta Knight felt a tad disappointed. His opponent definitely had plenty of strength, but she was lacking in skill. The way she swung her sword around, you'd think she was a barbarian and not a skilled sword fighter. Even Dedede swung with more grace, and he used a hammer.
"Quit dodging!" She yelled, clearly getting frustrated with each failed attack.
"As you wish."
Suddenly, Flamberge felt herself get slashed, and then another and another until there were fifteen visible slash marks on her.
"AAAHHHHH I'VE HAD IT! TIME TO FRY!" She jumped into the air and summoned a large fireball, about the size of the Halberd's face.
Meta Knight wasn't worried, however. She threw the large ball, only for what appeared to be a giant glass sword to cut it in half. Meta Knight knew who it was instantly.
"Dark!"
The copy landed in front of the knight with his usual arrogant air.
"Hello, Mety."
It was Dark Meta Knight, his evil doppelganger from the Mirror World.
"What do you want?!"
"Calm down, Mety. The Dream World is in peril and Shadow Kirby begged me to find the source of this mess."
Meta Knight had to admit he could tell he wasn't lying.
"This woman works for the one responsible. You can interrogate her if you wish."
"HEY! YOU ACT AS IF I'VE ALREADY BEEN DEFEATED!"
The two knights quickly teleported behind her, readying their blades.
"You have." They both said, performing an X slash, taking her out of commission.
With Flamberge defeated, Meta Knight turned to leave and rejoin with Kirby and the others, but he had a feeling it wouldn't be that simple. Without any prompting, Dark Meta Knight summoned another large sword and threw it at Meta Knight, who decided to try to pull off a new move he had been working on. Wind and lightning began to swirl around the Galaxia, looking similar to his Mach Tornado technique. The main difference is that it only covered his sword, like a mini–Mach Tornado. The sword Galaxia now resembled a drill. Meta Knight lunged forward and with a mighty shout of "Galaxia Drill!", he started to tear apart the massive blade until there was nothing left.
"You've gotten stronger, Mety. Good, it'll make my victory over you even sweeter. Don't die until then."
"You act like you already know the outcome of our next battle." The knight replied, slightly smirking under his mask.
His doppelganger gave a huff. "Whatever. I'll settle things with you another time. Just remember that only I have the honor of destroying everything you hold dear. No one else, especially not some supposed destroyer of worlds or whatever."
With that said, Dark teleported away. The knight then turned his gaze towards a nearby rock.
"I know you're following me. Come out now." He said coldly.
A familiar pink-haired secretary stepped out from behind the rock.
"Susanna P. Haltmann, current president of the Haltmann Works Company." He had spit out that name more than saying it.
"Greetings, Sir Meta Knight. It has been quite some time, hasn't it?" She replied simply, only to get a cold, glaring silence in response. "...I assume that's still fresh in your mind, huh?"
It clearly sounded like she was treading carefully on her words as to not potentially anger him. For Meta Knight, it was taking all of his willpower to restrain himself. He couldn't afford to lose himself now of all times.
"Why are you here?"
"I've been keeping tabs on the situation going on in our galaxy, including all the work you and Kirby have been doing." She explained as calmly as she possibly could.
"Get to the point." Meta Knight said, his patience getting thin.
"I've come to offer my assistance."
"Give me one good reason as to why I should even trust you."
She seemed to give a sigh at that reply.
"First, I know that no amount of apologizing will ever be enough for you to forgive me, but I'd regardless like to offer my most sincere apologies for everything that happened during our first meeting." The woman said with a bow.
"I repeat. Give me one good reason as to why I should trust you." The knight only continued to glare at her.
"Sir Meta Knight, I'm afraid that's impossible. No matter what I say, I already know you won't trust me."
And she was right. Meta Knight had no intention of trusting her. Just looking at her boiled his blood and he could already feel his past memories of that event coming back to him.
"But as you are aware, this situation involving the Jamba Heart is getting worse. If my calculations are correct, then if something isn't done to stop it, our universe will be no more. As inhabitants of the same universe, wouldn't it be in our best interests to work together?"
As much as he'd like to, even Meta Knight couldn't deny that. Besides, the longer he stands here and tries to argue against this lady, the more likely that Kurabe might...
"Do as you wish." He uttered, begrudgingly.
Susie gave a nod. "Then, would you like me to help you get to the Jambandra Base?"
The knight seemed surprised to hear that information. "...what did you say?"
"The Jambandra Base. That's the Jambastion religion's headquarters. There's no doubt that's where Kirby and the others went to, so I thought I'd take you there."
Meta Knight only gave a sigh. He had no choice but to accept her assistance.
Upon entering the Jambandra Base, it was clear that it had already been ransacked. There was no doubt that Kirby and the others already made it here.
"This is the way to the Divine Terminus. It's said to be where the Jamba Heart ritual is being performed." Susie quickly explained.
The moment Meta Knight entered the door, he jumped to avoid a lighting attack. Looking in the direction it came from, he could see that Kirby, Dedede, Bandana, and another unknown person were battling against Zan Partizanne. In the background, he could see a robed figure performing some kind of ritual in front of a giant incomplete Jamba Heart. This was indeed the place they needed to be.
Suddenly, the thunder general let out another attack. Quickly reacting, Meta Knight blocked a bolt of lightning that was aimed towards the spider mage.
"Thank you..." The stranger uttered.
"What's your name?"
"My name is Taranza."
That name sounded familiar.
"Are you Kirby's ally?"
"...yes." The mage nodded.
"Then stay behind me."
"Meta-sensei! And Susie!?" Kirby yelled out, happy to see his mentor again, but confused about why he was with Susie.
"We'll talk about it later, Kirby. Right now, we need to finish Zan Partizanne off."
"If you buy me enough time, I have the perfect spell for this situation." Taranza spoke up.
Nodding at the mage, Kirby and Meta Knight rushed at Zan while Susie and Dedede attacked from a distance with laser blasts and tossed Gordos respectively. While Zan was without a doubt the strongest and most skilled of the Mage Generals, even she couldn't keep up with all of these adversaries. Seeing his chance Taranza launched a spell that wrapped Zan up in a spider web cocoon.
"You think this will keep me trapped!?" She said, sounding offended.
She attempted to break out of it with her electricity, but she soon found that it had no effect.
"These webs were made with the exact purpose of draining electricity. The more electricity you send out, the stronger the web will become. It's highly situational, but it gets the job done in this situation."
That was something that no one could deny, as it seemed like the general's power was draining quickly.
"Heeelp... Hy... ness..." Zan Partizanne uttered weakly.
The robed figure turned around upon hearing that, uttering a sound that sounded like "Juh?" before noticing the group behind him.
"What is this interference?"
The mysterious figure, who most likely was this Hyness that Meta Knight kept hearing about, started walking towards them, stopping at where Zan was.
"You... you seem to be in my way."
Hyness then knocked Zan aside, also freeing her from the cocoon in the process, though that didn't seem to be his intent.
"Well then..." the priest uttered darkly.
"It seems... we do not have enough energy... to revive our Dark Lord..." He slowly began to approach them from his platform, sending a chill up the spines of everyone watching.
"Must we... allow ourselves... to fall... into oblivion?" He came to a sudden stop.
"No." It was extremely blunt.
"NO!" He sounded like a madman.
"No no no no no no! NONONONONONONONONO! NOOOOO, I SAAAAY!"
With a sudden burst of rambling, Hyness shouted.
"We are the masters of a power driven to the far reaches of the universe, and we have but one desire! Can one such as you possibly fathom how dearly we have clung to this dream across the aeons? How could you! You couldn't! Never ever ever! We who once faced those who were in such fear of our power that they sealed us away and banished us to the edge of the galaxy! US! As if THAT loveliness wasn't enough, they tried to erase our very existence from history! RUDE! Only through our magic were we able to overcome their science and achieve great prosperity! We alone were responsible for stopping that repulsive nightmare of a galactic crisis, yet this is how you repay us! This won't stand! It won't be forgiven! It won't be forgotten! Never ever EVER! Those who called us mad, are you listening? You left us at the edge of the galaxy to be forgotten, then went along your merry way, probably living somewhere pretty and peaceful! But know this! Your future is a farce! You have none! We, masters of a matter most dark, vow to be restored, as told in the book of legend, which everyone thought was just a fairy tale! It WASN'T! We have already obtained the vessel that contains our Dark Lord, and he will soon awaken and shower us in compassion! Look! The vessel of our Dark Lord is filling up even as we speak! Now the time for his greatness to enter our world has come! Welcome to a new history! A new age! The age of awesome! HAPPY BIRTHDAY, DARK LORD! HAPPY BIRTHDAY! Grace us, Gloriously Dark Looooooord!"
Hyness panted heavily due to that sudden outburst as the entire group only stared at him in confusion. This was all except for Meta Knight, who only stared in shock.
"A clan of magic stopping a galactic crisis... didn't sensei mention something about that? But that was something that happened when she was about Kirby's age... I never thought something like this would be connected to something that ancient! And the clan of science? Could he mean... The Organization? No... it's just a hunch..."
"You see it now... don't you?"
Meta Knight felt that specific sentence from Hyness was directed at him in particular.
"Anyone who interrupts our revival ceremony... we must kindly ask that they... PLEASE DISAPPEAR FOREVER!"
Suddenly, Hyness got sent flying across the room, courtesy of Dedede's fist, to everyone's surprise.
"IF YA WANT US TO UNDERSTAND WHAT YA SAYIN', SPEAK SLOWER!" The king shouted.
When Hyness stood back up, his hood fell off, revealing his face underneath. To say that his appearance matched his unhinged personality would be an understatement.
"Juh?" He uttered, as if he were trying to process what had just happened.
"Juh. JUH! JUHYAMBAVITRIGOKOPOKOJAAAH!"
Hyness was now freaking out, his body contorting randomly. Then he used a magic spell to summon Zan and the other two Mage Generals to him, but they all had dark energy surrounding them and glowing red eyes devoid of any personality. While spouting more incoherent ramblings, Hyness, using his magic, threw Zan's body at Susie and Taranza like a torpedo. Zan's body hit Taranza directly causing him to take most of the damage, but the resulting electric pulse hit Susie causing her blaster to short circuit, effectively taking the both of them out of the fight. Dedede tried smacking Hyness with his hammer, but Hyness blocked the hit by using Francisca as a shield. Bandana attempted to attack from behind, but was smacked aside by Hyness using Flamberge as a baseball bat. Meta Knight, however, was able to get a clean hit on him, shortly followed by Kirby hitting Hyness with a full power plasma shot with his Plasma Ability. Hyness quickly teleported away and summoned his generals to him once again. What happened next surprised the group as Hyness formed the friend circle using his own body and the bodies of his minions.
"Two can play that game!" Kirby shouted.
The quartet looked at each other and came to a silent agreement. The four joined up and formed their own friend circle. The two circles smashed into each other, each struggling to crush the other. Though the quartet's power proved to be superior as they broke Hyness's friend circle and ran him over.
"Alright we won!" Kirby shouted in joy, but Meta Knight knew it wasn't over yet.
"Quickly, we have to detain him before it's-"
"Too late..." Hyness suddenly said.
Everyone turned towards the priest, who was dragging the bodies of the Three Mage Sisters to where the Jamba Heart is.
"An offering to our Dark Lord... perhaps if there is an offering... what should I... only one option remains..." he continued to ramble like a madman as he rushed up the stairs with the generals in tow.
"Those who harbor the greatest of magic, I call upon you... make it so... accept my aid... I pledge myself to you... Dark Lord of Destruction..."
"Don't just stand there! Do something!" Dedede shouted to the others as he ran towards the stairs and Meta Knight quickly took flight.
However, Hyness quickly tossed the generals' body onto the Jamba Heart. "I do this so that... our Dark Lord... may be rebooooorn..."
Just as the knight reached the top, Hyness himself jumped on to the Jamba Heart. "Rise, Destroyer of Worlds! RISE, VOID TERMINA!"
With that shout, an overpoweringly dark energy radiated from the Jamba Heart as it dissolved into a cloud of darkness. There was a moment of stunned silence as everyone attempted to process what happened.
"Soooo... now what?" Kirby suddenly said, scratching his head.
Almost everyone seemed to glare at the puff as he said that.
"Now what? NOW WHAT?! WHAT CAN WE DO!? WE'RE TOO LATE!" Dedede shouted at him.
"Not necessarily." Meta Knight said in his usual calm way.
"Blueberry, the destroyer of worlds has been reborn!"
"And we're still alive. If we can move, we can fight."
"That's all fine and dandy but how are we supposed to fight that thing!?"
"I know how!" Kirby said. He summoned the Friend Star, a warp star capable of harnessing the powers of whoever rides it and uses them to fight.
"DO YOU WANT TO DIE?" Dedede yelled.
"I'd rather fight than do nothing! Whether it was Nightmare, Dark Matter or any other enemy I've always tried my best! This time is no different! You guys all know that better than everyone!"
Despite the dire circumstances, Meta Knight couldn't help but be proud of his student.
Suddenly, the quartet was surrounded by what appeared to be the Heart Spears.
"They appear to be resonating with us." The knight observed. With this additional boost of strength, the Friend Star transformed.
"Star Allies Sparkler!" Kirby shouted.
"Came up with that on the spot?" The king questioned.
"You bet! Now, let's go save the universe!"
So, actually, this and the next chapter were supposed to be one, but I thought I'd give all of you time to breathe for...obvious reasons. So, yes, there will likely be an extra chapter uploaded before I go back to work on Let's Be Friends.
Dragon Of The Ecplising Moon - Thanks as always! It's great to hear people are enjoying this story!
Omake (Bonus)
MK: Finally, you've arrived, Kirby. Now pick up that sword!
Kirby: But I'd rather keep using Staff.
MK: Pick up the sword!
Kirby: No, I wanna use Staff!
(An hour of back and forth later)
MK: (kicking sword in frustration) Fine, whatever!