Chapter 18: Titanium
The five months after that event were quite peaceful. This was until a certain mission arrived for Meta Knight from his mentor. The Organization had detected a sudden collapse in spacetime around the Divine Terminus area and he was ordered to investigate. Having a bad feeling about this, the knight took his student, Dedede, and Bandana along to try and figure out what had happened.
However, he didn't expect Kirby to contact several of the allies that had helped them during the Void Termina incident to assist them, but it proved to be quite helpful in the end. This was because Hyness had apparently created the rift with his prayers and the darkness that had built up within him created another Jamba Heart that ultimately consumed him. While they did manage to defeat the corrupted Hyness, they were then forced to fight the Three Mage-Sisters, who had also been corrupted when they entered the rift to search for Hyness. However, thanks to the power of the Heart Spears and all of the hearts the group had collected within Another Dimension, Kirby was able to use Friend Heart Ability to free the three generals and Hyness from the darkness once and for all.
Afterwards, they and many of their followers set off on a journey to search for the paradise that Hyness had seen in his vision and now were on good terms with the pink puff. Regardless, it was another report that needed to be completed.
It was about two years after that and Meta Knight was participating in some friendly games of chess with Dedede, who surprisingly was the one who came up with the idea.
"And that's another win for me." The knight said.
"Ugh... checkmate again? Man, how are you so good at this game?" Dedede grumbled as he stared at the chessboard.
"I'll admit, you're surprisingly a difficult opponent, but at the same time..."
"WAIT, WHAT DO YOU MEAN "SURPRISINGLY"!?"
"You're not the type to think things through, that's what I mean."
The king groaned, as if knowing already that he couldn't deny that.
"Besides, this is an aspect of my mentor's teachings, so you're at quite a disadvantage."
Dedede paused for a moment before giving a grin. "You mean Grape Lady, huh? Maybe I should ask 'er to teach me a few things. Maybe then I'll take that there greatest warrior title from ya!"
Immediately after he said that, Meta Knight suppressed a laugh.
"Wha? What's so funny?"
"You'll be six feet under by the time you master one-fourth of her teachings..."
"OH YEAH?! IF YOU REALLY THINK SO, PROVE IT!"
"How?" Dedede opened his mouth to speak again, but nothing came out. He then crossed his arms and mumbled as he thought.
"...good point. How 'bout you just tell me about her teachings and stuff?"
"Very well. However, I expect you to pay attention during this lecture."
Seeing a nod in response, Meta Knight then began to reset the chessboard to its starting state.
"Kurabe's school of combat teachings is known as "The School of the Lady of Shadows", named after her title in The Organization. Honestly, it's more effective if you combine it with previous combat teachings than if you use it alone. This is because it doesn't replace other martial arts or combat methods but builds on them. You do learn a few specific fighting techniques, but you're encouraged to improve on them to make yourself stronger. This also includes developing your own style of magecraft, which is another aspect of the school."
"Eh, sounds easy enough."
"On paper, yes, but there's more to it than that. One of the biggest aspects of the school is building up one's tolerance to pain."
"How much pain we talkin'? Stubbing your toe?"
"Being skewered by a spear straight through your body."
The king only stared in shock. "...shish kebab?"
"Shish kebab."
"Anything less extreme?"
"Having superspicy curry for lunch every day."
"Man, how do you still have taste buds?"
"I'm still questioning that to this day." He then made his first move. "Now, the last aspect is the concept of the Mental Game Board..."
"So, did you get your competitive streak from her or were you just born with it?" Dedede asked bluntly.
While Meta Knight was slightly annoyed about being cut off, this statement did make him think. Truth be told, he wasn't exactly sure where that part of him came from. For as long as he could remember, Meta Knight had always been very prideful, and that pride sometimes led him to make some terrible decisions. An example of this happened about a month ago. At that time, Dedede proposed an idea to team up and defeat Kirby. Normally, he would have just declined, but his stupid pride said otherwise. Even worse, it all stemmed from one stupid comment that his student made.
"I'm not too sure, to be honest." The knight finally responded.
"Yeah, I can't blame ya. I'm the same way. I've been prideful since the day I was born." Dedede said as he made his move on the board.
While Meta Knight could agree that the both of them were prideful, they showed it in different ways. The knight prided himself on his strength as a warrior whereas Dedede's pride was the result of arrogance born from the belief that he was superior. Though if Meta Knight was being honest, perhaps he wasn't the only one with an arrogant streak.
"So anyway, hypothetically, and be honest. Do you think I could handle the grape's training?" Dedede asked.
Meta Knight had to think on that. If he were asked this years ago, the answer would be an obvious "No.". But after, begrudgingly, getting closer to the king, he had to admit he was a lot stronger than he gave him credit for, and not just in terms of raw strength.
"As you are right now, there's a possibility that you could survive."
Hearing that seemed to surprise the king for a moment. "Like a big possibility or a small possibility?"
"A possibility."
Dedede frowned at that vague response.
"Now back to the idea of the Mental Game Board-"
"That another thing she taught ya?"
Meta Knight glared at him.
"Alright, I get it. Continue."
The knight then gave a nod.
"The Mental Game Board is the final aspect of the School of the Lady of Shadows and the most difficult to master. It's the primary reason why few have completely mastered all the school's teachings. It's a strategy method that combines several strategic board games such as chess, go, and shogi to plan and adapt to any combat situation. Because all of these games can have complex rules, especially when combined together, very few have fully learned it. The primary goal is to be able to read your opponent's move and counter easily."
The king gave a nod in understanding.
"However, there are also several flaws that make it imperfect..."
The knight then made his next move.
"The first is imperfect information about your opponent. Even with all the types of board games combined into one, real life is not like a board game. Because of that, unless you know everything about who you're fighting, you're bound to make mistakes. The second is imperfect moves. The Mental Game Board assumes that every move your opponent makes is the best possible one. It does not factor in things such as toying with the opponent, choosing on a whim, or making an honest mistake. This can also result in an incorrect response. The last one is misreading the opponent. It is arguably the greatest flaw, as misreading an opponent and their motives can cause your whole strategy to collapse. If you don't have enough information on your opponent's true motives, you will ultimately end up projecting yourself onto them and assume that they have the same motivation as you for their actions. Remembering all of these aspects can be difficult, so don't worry if you're a bit confused at first."
For a couple of minutes, Dedede stopped moving, as if all of his brainpower was being funneled into fully understanding what he was just told. Eventually, he crossed his arms, indicating that he was done.
"Ok. I get what you're saying, but what's the point of all that? Why botha tryin' to figure out the enemy when you can just hit them really hard?"
"Thinking like that is why you have never beaten Kirby."
"And like...what? He fights with strategy? The kid who gets easily distracted by random butterflies? We talkin' 'bout the same person?"
That aspect seemed to genuinely confuse the king.
"Of course. Kirby's a naturally curious child. That makes him a perfect strategist, even if he doesn't realize that himself."
Dedede smirked as he slammed another piece on the board. "Is that why you've never beaten him as well? 'Cuz you keep losing to a little kid?"
Meta Knight closed his eyes and Dedede immediately smacked himself, realizing what he just said. In the knight's head, he was reliving the events of the Buddy Tower incident. Where his stupid pride and anger almost led to doing something unforgivable. In his selfish rage, he fought to kill, and that mask Dedede gave him certainly didn't help with that.
Kirby and Meta Knight were clashing blades, evenly matched until the puff got in one lucky hit and the knight's mask broke. Immediately, he covered his face with his face. Seeing this from the opposite side of the arena, Dedede tossed another mask at him, the Waxing Crescent Mask, which Meta Knight caught effortlessly.
"Meta-sensei, please stop this!" His student cried out, but his mind was too clouded for it to fully register.
"I'm done being a loser." He uttered while putting on the mask.
The moment it was on, he felt an incredible surge of energy, but it also clouded his mind even more. Upon further reflection, it was incredibly similar to the Jamba Heart's effects. It might have been even worse than that, considering he barely could recall what happened outside of... that certain instinct... completely hijacking his mind.
Regardless, the fight resumed with both teacher and student getting seriously injured as it continued. Despite Meta Knight's increased power, it seemed as if Kirby refused to stay down no matter how many times he was knocked down. Then, Kirby did something unexpected and threw his sword at Meta Knight, who quickly dodged it but that move alone signaled the end of the fight. Kirby launched himself at Meta Knight with one of his tackle hugs, wrapping himself around the knight and preventing him from moving.
"Please just stop!" He cried and hugged Meta Knight as hard as he could, shattering the mask in the process.
"I'm horrible… I don't deserve to be your student…"
Honestly, remembering Kirby saying that afterwards still broke him inside.
"Yo, blueberry, are you ok?"
Meta Knight immediately opened his eyes as he noted Dedede looking at him in concern.
"I am. Thank you for your concern." He simply responded, shaking off the previous feeling he had.
"Yeah, no problem. How's the kid doin' anyway?"
"He's doing just fine."
And this was true. After the events that took place that day, the two were finally able to talk to each other. It took about a day, but they were able to talk regardless.
The first time Meta Knight heard those words from the child was after he had profusely apologized for several things with a tight hug. Simply put, it felt like the knight was stabbed in the heart.
"Kirby... no, you are the perfect student. You've been nothing but kind to me throughout our mentorship. I'm the one who is horrible. I'm an absolute disgrace as a teacher and as a warrior. I'm not fit to be yours or anyone's teacher."
The child then gave a pout. "What are you talking about, Meta-sensei?! I've already forgiven you! You don't need to be sad anymore!"
"I know but that still doesn't change..."
"You dummy! You're nice! And kind! And helpful! Even if you can be a bit pushy at times, that's only because you care for me, I think! And you really care a lot about me! And you know a lot about me and my Copy Abilities! Like more than anyone else! No matter what happens, you'll always be Meta-sensei to me! That's final!"
With that amount of rambling, there was no way he could reject it. However, the knight wished he had even a quarter of Kirby's kindness and optimism. Though Kirby forgave him, it would be a long time until he forgave himself.
"Blueberry, seriously are you ok? You keep spacing out."
The knight looked up again, expecting a comment about getting serious or he'll lose, but he didn't get one. Instead, he received a dire look from the king that indicated his worry. If there was one thing that was good about Dedede, is that he sometimes knew when it was and wasn't time for jokes.
"I'm fine. I just have a lot on my mind right now."
The king then gave a nod. "I probably already know the answer, but you wanna talk 'bout it?"
With a single move, it was checkmate again.
"No."
As the king became flustered over his loss, the knight quickly slipped a lemon drop under his mask. He had to try his best to move on from those thoughts.
"Dedede, I've noticed you've been reckless with the king piece. I also noticed that you seem to go out of your way to keep one of your bishops out of harm's way."
"Yeah w-what about it?"
"You're still worried about Bandana, aren't you?"
"And how can I not be? It's just like you and Kirby."
Meta Knight blinked in surprise.
"Oh, please. Just 'cuz you don't wanna talk 'bout it that doesn't mean I don't know what's bugging you."
There was a moment of silence as they continued to reset the board for the next round.
"Oh, by the way, the actual strongest piece in chess is the queen. Thought I'd point that out to you."
He didn't need to look at Dedede's face to know he was giving an annoyed glare.
After the board was reset yet again, they began another round.
"I know why you agreed to my idea, but you never actually told me what set you off. Like I figured it was because of your pride, but what actually happened?"
"It's none of your business."
The king only sighed in response to that as he moved yet another piece.
In his mind, Meta Knight could only remember what exactly did set him off. It was a single stupid and childish comment.
"Someday, I'll get so strong that I'll be an even stronger and better swordsman than Meta-sensei! Then… well, I guess I'd already be the strongest in the galaxy since I beat him before?"
It was something Kirby said to one of his friends, Saber Blade, after the last training session the two puffs had. He didn't know why...no, he did. It was because of his stupid pride and anger that he let that comment bother him so much. It was to the point where he agreed to that ridiculous plan that ultimately almost killed his own student. It made him sick to his stomach to think about. Oh, why did he have to be such a selfish and arrogant man?
"Sensei... I'm absolutely hopeless..." He thought as he placed the piece down. "To get so angry about my student being stronger... I really am the worst mentor in existence, aren't I...?"
"Yo, you doin' ok? Ya don't look so hot." The king asked, looking up from the board.
"I'm fine." The knight said in his usual calm manner.
"...well, Imma take your word for it, but you better not throw up or something!" Dedede stared back at the board.
"You're still worried about Bandana?" Meta Knight asked.
Not that he could blame the king. During the incident, it wasn't just the knight and his student that were on edge with each other. Bandana and Dedede directly clashed with each other, which resulted in the Waddle Dee being badly injured both physically and emotionally...
Meta Knight flew through the skies. Renya and Shinonome had informed him that Dedede had gone missing after the final battle and asked for his assistance. Eventually, he could see a familiar figure slowly dragging themselves along the pathway before suddenly tripping. Quickly, he landed and wrapped his cape around himself. It was indeed King Dedede. Seeing the knight caused the king to grit his teeth.
"What? Didja come to yell at me 'bout how stupid I am?" The monarch uttered dejectedly and looked away from the knight as if bothered by his presence.
"…we both screwed up." Meta Knight's reply was simple and blunt.
"We? WE!? WHADDAYA MEAN WE!?" The knight was slightly taken aback, expecting Dedede to be angry about their loss. "THIS IS ALL MY DAMN FAULT! THIS WAS MY DUMB IDEA! MY DUMB TOWER! MY DUMB EGO! EVERYTHING THAT HAPPENED WAS-!"
"…it's not entirely your fault, Dedede." Meta Knight replied in a calm manner, though it was noticeably filled with sadness. "I was the one who reached out to you and agreed to your plan. If I hadn't, then nothing today would have happened."
This only seemed to make the king more furious.
"But you only joined me 'cuz I forced you! I forced you to fight your own student and-!"
"I said it before, I'll say it again. You didn't force me to. Everything I did was because of my own stupid pride and anger. You have much to be sorry for today, but my involvement is not one. I could have… no, I should have stopped you before all of this could have happened. Unfortunately, it's too late for hypotheticals, as I'm sure we both already know."
Meta Knight slowly walked over to where Dedede was laying on the ground.
"Though, while it may be too late to change what we did, we can make up for it."
The king only blinked dully at him for a moment before responding.
"But… do ya really think we... no, that I can make up for this? Hell… I… I dunno if I can ever get better again..."
"…I don't know the answer to that. All I know is that we both can improve ourselves. The only thing is that you must be willing to put effort into it. You know that Kirby will give us as many chances as it takes. Honestly, he gives us more chances than either of us deserve."
The king gave a slight pout at that. "Like I give a damn what that stupid pink lump thinks 'bout me! …much."
"I assume Bandana is your concern then?"
"He hates me now… I just know it." Dedede averted his eyes in shame until he noticed the knight offering a hand to him.
"Then get up, be the king he deserves, and make it up to him."
The king gave a low growl while hiding his eyes.
"Dammit, blueberry… when ya start talking like that, ya know I can't say no…!"
He immediately took the offered hand in an act of acceptance.
Thankfully, they were immediately picked up by Renya and Shinonome in one of the royal automobiles after that moment. Frankly, Meta Knight didn't have the energy to fly them both back after that intense battle. After watching his opponent move one of his pieces, Dedede thought deeply about everything he was told.
"Well, if you want to discuss all them issues you have, ya can always talk to Okino. He seemed to be a lotta help for ya with... uh... you know what."
"I can't talk to him about it." The response was blunt.
The king gave a sigh.
"Well... how about your teacher? You put a lot of trust in her and have a lotta respect for her, so don't ya think she'd be a good person to talk 'bout them problems with?"
He then moved another one of his pieces.
"Besides, I think ya mentioned you're gonna be visiting her soon."
Ah, that was right. Recently, Meta Knight and Kurabe had planned for him to visit the GranEssex and catch up with each other in-person. The knight then closed his eyes in thought. Yes, his mentor was likely the only person he could be that open with. While he could definitely be honest with Kirby, there's just some things that he just couldn't talk about. At least not yet.
"I believe she would be a good person to talk to about that."
Dedede then gave a grin. "Well, ya better thank me later, cuz it was me who suggested it! Then you can start by getting a better attitude and actually start saying "hello" when I call you then..."
"Your move."
The king then looked at the game board. Yet again, it was checkmate.
"HOW DO YOU KEEP WINNING! IT'S NO FAIR! YOU HAVE THAT BOARD GAME BRAIN THING! NEXT TIME, DON'T USE IT!"
The knight only laughed quietly to himself.
Ok, I know this wasn't what everyone was expecting for the Kirby Fighters 2 chapter, but hear me out.
Honestly, after writing Another Voyage, which was a crossover adaption of KF2, I don't think I could top anything in that with a single chapter. Also, I didn't want to do anything too heavy after the previous chapter.
So, to make up for it, an extra dose of bromance. Hope you don't mind.
Good ol' Guest - Thanks! I really enjoy writing Dedede, so I'm glad to hear he's equally entertaining to see in this story.