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CHAPTER THREE

Chapter Title: No More Distractions

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"Sir Metaknight, you seem better now. You should probably go back to the deck," Waddle Dee assured Metaknight, who was standing near his bedroom window.

"You're probably right, my good fellow," Metaknight replied, "I shall resume monitoring the Halberde's status. I thank you for helping me, first mate Waddle Dee," he continued. He pushed his cape behind him as he turned, and walked out of the room. Waddle Dee began tidying up the master's quarters after Metaknight left.

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As Captain Byrd was monitoring the status of the crew, the door to the deck slid open, and Metaknight walked in. The captain stepped aside as Metaknight took his seat in the center of the deck.

"What have I told you about sitting in my chair, Byrd?" Metaknight growled.

"I am not supposed to sit in your chair, sir." the captain replied, standing straight up like a soldier at boot camp.

"Good, now what did I miss?" Metaknight asked.

"Oh, yes! Good news-we've killed Kirby, sir!" Captain Byrd commented smugly. Metaknight suddenly jumped out of his seat.

"WHAT? YOU KILLED KIRBY? YOU?" Metaknight roared. "You know the rule; I am the only one who is allowed to finish off Kirby," Metaknight continued. Captain Byrd began to sweat. His once cool expression turned frantic and scared.

"Well, um, he may, uh, still be alive, sir," Byrd stammered. He knew he was in trouble.

"Strike one, Byrd . . . " Metaknight sighed, " . . . three strikes, and you're not just out, you're DEAD!" Captain Byrd started to shake. Being threatened by Metaknight was like being on Death Row. There was no chance of ever getting out after he got in.

"Sir Metaknight, Heavy Lobster was destroyed when Captain Byrd told me to activate the thrusters, near which Heavy Lobster and Kirby were both lying, nearly unconscious," Skullkor added, hoping to get Byrd back for yelling at him.

"STRIKE TWO BYRD!" Metaknight roared.

"But sir, we can rebuild Hea-" Byrd stammered. Sweat dripped down his face, and he shook uncontrollably.

"Captain Byrd, it took me three, count em', three YEARS to rebuild Heavy Mole into Heavy Lobster, and you went and destroyed it in mere SECONDS!" Metaknight roared, pulling out his sword from his sheath. "One more to go Byrd, one more to go . . . "

"Sir, one of our land bound operatives is sending a distress call," Tridint imparted.

"Help," the transmission blared, "I'm having trouble fight-" the transmission went dead silent. The whole room was staring at the intercom, hoping to hear more from the unlucky soldier.

"Ignore that soldier," Metaknight assured his crew, "let's focus on conquering Grape Gardens! Increase speed to ten flaps per minute! FIRE!"

The Halberde once again started to open up as cannons arose from under the armor of the airship. Even the twin cannon turret at the top of the ship targeted the island of Grape Gardens, a large island off the coast of Hawaii. With one simultaneous explosion, cannonballs and bombs began falling upon the tropical island.

"Metaknight, the bio-sensors are picking up a massive object heading straight for us!" Tridint chimed. A huge blip had appeared on his monitor.

"The metal sensors are picking up the same massive object!" reported Blade Knight, Metaknight's brother. Blade Knight wore emerald green armor, with a long, knight-like helmet. He wore the same color shirt and pants as Metaknight under his armor, and Blade Knight's armor was much showier, but less protective. He had a much more elaborate sword than Metaknight, but he was not as skilled at swordfighting.

"FIRE AT IT!" Captain Byrd commanded. Skullkor, not wanting another fight, heeded Captain Byrd's orders. The cannons on the Halberde moved away from targeting Grape Gardens and began attacking the giant creature.

"Byrd, you idiot! Bring the creature up on screen," Metaknight ordered. The large panel in front of them blinked on as the creature they were firing at was displayed along the front of the deck like an IMAX movie.

The creature was a bird, but she was much larger than anything on record. Her feathers were made of metal, and were colored in red, yellow, green, and steel blue. Her eyes were a dark blue, and her beak looked razor- sharp. The talons of the large bird were flailing around violently, making an orange blur under her.

"That's Dyna Blade! Cease fire immediately! Cease fire!" Metaknight screamed. He had bought Dyna Blade from a rare animal collector during his earlier travels, and she had cost him a great deal of money.

"Too late brother, she's going down," Blade Knight sighed. Captain Byrd sped out of the room, wary of the fate that was about to befall him.

"BYRD!" Metaknight hollered, which echoed throughout the Halberde's hallways. The entire crew was motionless, petrified with fear. His cape and shoulder pads exploded into bat wings. His fingers and toes grew into giant claws. His eyes turned a bright red, and, with a great roar, he flapped his wings and flew after Byrd.

As Byrd ran frantically through the winding corridors of the Halberde, he could hear the maniacal panting of Demoknight, the embodiment of Metaknight's evil. Suddenly, something caught his foot, and he fell to the floor of the lunch hall. As he turned to face Demoknight, he could only see a silhouette of the demon because of the ball of energy Demoknight was forming to destroy the condemned captain.

"Sir, I'm sorry, please, don't . . . " Byrd pleaded, "I'll be good, please sir, no!"

"Dodenka Beam . . . FIRE!" Demoknight yelled as a beam of light stretched out from his cupped hands towards Captain Byrd. There was a brilliant flash of light, and then the entire floor exploded under the force of the beam. Captain Byrd could be heard screaming in agony for seconds before the explosion. As the debris settled, maintenance personnel entered the room, and began cleaning up the mess. Demoknight's wings morphed back into Metaknight's cape, as his claws turned back into Metaknight's hands and feet. His eyes returned to their normal color, and his maniacal growling stopped.

"There, no more distractions," Metaknight murmured. He began laughing aloud, scaring the maintenance personnel and causing an eerie uneasiness among the Halberde. . .

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It can only get better from here, right? Wrong! Prepare for more new surprises and new characters in the next chapter!

NOTE: In the actual game Kirby's Super Star, Blade Knight is not Metaknight's brother. I just found the names so similar, and add that onto the fact that Blade Knight appears so often in Revenge Of The Metaknight, I felt it worked well in the story.