Shades of Grey - Chapter 2
Meta-Knight stood before his smaller brethren. The sun was beginning to set, and highlighted the entire terrain in an orangish glow.
"Kirby, it is time that I train you," the elder star warrior stated. He expected a look of disappointment but instead what he received was a look of understanding. Without any further ado Meta-Knight threw a sword to Kirby. "I want you to have a friendly duel with me, so I know exactly where your skill level stands."
Kirby nodded obediently and raised the sword. It was obvious that he was having slight trouble handling the large weapon; nevertheless it did not deter his resolve. The smaller warrior lunged at his elder, swinging his sword in an arc. Meta-Knight easily deflected it and used his strength to push Kirby back. The small creampuff staggered back, almost falling. At the last minute he regained his composure and once again lunged at the war veteran. Meta-Knight and Kirby locked swords. The old soldier was first to break the lock, swinging the sword hard. Kirby flattened himself to avoid the blow and retaliated with a sword jab. Meta-Knight strafed aside and charged forward, ramming the smaller soldier to the ground.
Looking down on his temporarily stunned adversary, Meta-Knight felt a wave of rage. He couldn't decipher the origin to his newfound anger, but suddenly he felt himself raise his sword, the blade pointed down towards Kirby. The young star warrior looked up at his former protector and friend with fear. It was a look rarely seen in the naïve little creampuff and it brought the elder soldier a sense of dread and disgust. His mind screamed for him to stop, but his limbs did not obey. Instead, despite his mental commands to stop he stabbed the sword downwards…
"What have I done?!" Meta-Knight cried. He knelt down by Kirby's side and placed his hands on the wound in an attempt to stop the bleeding. But the damage had been done, and Kirby's wound was fatal. "What have I done?!!!"
"Sir Meta-Knight!"
Suddenly, the world began to spin around him. He felt nauseated and disorientated. When the world finally reshaped itself, the war veteran discovered that he was lying down on a couch with his cape over him like a blanket. A very concerned Blade and Sword stood over him. Was everything that happened just a dream? If so, was the whole fight with Dedede and the injection just a dream as well? He had to know.
"Kirby!" Meta-Knight cried, trying to push himself up to a sitting position.
"Kirby's fine," Sword stated as he and Blade gently pushed their leader back down.
"Yeah, it's you we're worried about," Blade said.
"Why?" the old veteran asked.
The two young soldiers looked at each other for a moment. "We came back about an hour ago." Blade began.
"When we arrived you were lying down, unconscious," Sword continued.
"When we tried to wake you up, you started having a seizure!" Blade exclaimed.
"A seizure?" Meta-Knight was thoroughly confused by that statement. He wasn't epileptic; he'd never had a seizure in his life.
Sword nodded, "Scared us half to death you did!"
"We were going to go get a doctor but you stopped, and that's when you woke up," Blade finished.
Meta-Knight shook his head to clear his thoughts. Maybe…the seizure was his body's way of fighting the affects of that Behemoth Serum that Escargoon ejected into him. The serum had never been tested on a star warrior and the old soldier figured that Escargoon didn't have enough time to eject that much of it. Star warriors were known to have quick healing abilities, maybe that was his body's way of purging the vile substance. The thought relieved him, but the knowledge of the oncoming war still plagued him. What was it that the N.M.E. Executive said? The war was soon going to start up again? That didn't give him much time. He had to train Kirby as soon as possible.
"Are you alright sir?" Sword asked gently. Meta-Knight turned to regard his subordinates. He had to admit, he was deeply touched by their obvious concern. It was nice to have soldiers as loyal and trustworthy as they were.
"Don't worry," Meta-Knight replied. "I'm fine now. Thank you for your concern." Sword and Blade appeared unsatisfied with their leader's response, as worry continued to etch their features. "Tomorrow we must find Kirby."
"The war's rekindling, isn't it?" Blade asked. Meta-Knight nodded.
"Yes, and tomorrow I will begin the training," the old soldier announced…
Tiff, Kirby and Tuff were sitting by the lake, fishing. Lololo and Lalala were floating peacefully above the lake, looking for fish. From his place behind the trees Meta-Knight watched their peaceful behavior, feeling a tinge of guilt that he was going to have to place such weight on the soldiers of such a young warrior.
"I don't see any fish," Lololo said. "Do you?"
"No," Lalala answered back.
"That would explain why we haven't caught any…" Tuff mumbled.
With a soft sigh, Meta-Knight stepped out from his place by the trees and walked over to the children. Tiff was the first to notice him. "Hi Meta-Knight!"
The old soldier nodded silently to the young girl, then looked straight at Kirby. The little creampuff turned to look back at him, placing the fishing rod gently on the ground. He knew, despite his underdeveloped sixth sense he could feel the tension in the air. "Kirby, forgive me. I wanted to spare you the burden of war as long as possible, but I fear that we're running out of time." The young star warrior slowly climbed onto his feet and looked directly into Meta-Knight's eyes. "I promise that I will protect you as long as I live, but if something were to happen to me there would be no one left to stop them. That's why I must train you." Kirby nodded in understanding, he still didn't have the ability to talk. "We will begin training today, alright?" Kirby replied with another nod.
"Wait!" Tuff suddenly cried, receiving a strange look from both star warriors, "Train me too, Meta-Knight!"
"Tuff…"
"No, I'm serious!" Tuff said sternly. "I may not be a star warrior, but I can't just stand back and do nothing while you and Kirby fight this horrific war!"
"Train us too, Meta-Knight!" Lololo and Lalala said simultaneously.
Meta-Knight shook his head, "You are all too young…"
"This involves us, too," Tiff replied sternly. She stood and crossed her arms. "No matter what happens we're all involved in this. Even if we don't fight, the outcome of this war will affect our very lives. At least we can feel that we have some control over our destiny."
The old knight grew quiet, considering the young girl's wise statement. "You're right, Tiff. But I warn you now, I can't go easy on you. In order to prepare you for the war I must be just as harsh to you as I will be to Kirby."
"We understand and accept. Don't we, guys?" Tuff looked to his friends and sister for their answers. Tiff nodded in agreement.
"Count us in!" Lololo and Lalala cheered.
"Alright then," Meta-Knight looked down at the lake, "Tuff, I notice that you have problems swimming. The enemy may use that to their advantage if they were to find out." He picked up a large rock from the ground and carved an arrow into it with his sword. "Memorize this symbol," the elder soldier ordered as he showed Tuff the rock. Once he was sure Tuff memorized it, he hurled the rock with all of his strength. It landed several yards away into the water. "I want you to retrieve that rock. Make sure it's the right one." Tuff nodded solemnly. He obviously disliked the task to which he was assigned, but without hesitation or complaint he dove into the water to search for the rock.
Lololo and Lalala watched silently as Meta-Knight turned to face them. "Your flying ability serves you well, but what if that was ever temporarily or permanently taken away? You need to be prepared for anything, so I would like you to run as many laps as you can around the lake. Count how many you can run so I can figure out your physical status." The little creampuffs nodded obediently as they landed softly on the ground and began their first lap around the lake.
"What do you want me to do, Meta-Knight?" Tiff asked.
Meta-Knight stood silently in thought. "Tiff, I noticed that you're much more intellectually advanced than most children, especially in regards to science." The girl nodded. "Would you rather I train you more in that field, or train you to fight?"
"What would I be a better help with?" Tiff asked. "I don't like to fight, but if I have to I will."
"Actually you may be a better help to us scientifically. Scientists were a great help during the war, they were able to counteract the effects of poison as well as find ways for us to enhance our abilities." Meta-Knight explained.
Tiff nodded in understanding. "Then that's what I want to do."
"Alright then, I want you to go to the library and find as many books as you can on environmental biology and chemistry. If you have any questions, the mayor is surprisingly scientifically inclined and should be able to help you." The war veteran explained. Tiff nodded again, then turned around and ran off to the Library. Finally, Meta-Knight turned to regard Kirby. The smaller warrior was looking up at his elder, a serious and solemn look on his young face. "As for you, let's have a friendly duel so that I can see your skills first hand."
Kirby nodded obediently. Meta-Knight pulled out a smaller sword that he had brought with him and tossed it to the younger star warrior. The little pink creampuff caught the sword, almost falling from its weight. Yet his initial difficult did nothing to deter his resolve and eventually he held the sword almost skillfully. Suddenly, Meta-Knight had a strange feeling of déjà vu, as if his intuition was trying to warn him of something. However, before he could further examine his sudden feeling of anxiety Kirby lunged at him. The elder soldier blocked the blow with ease and used his strength advantage to push Kirby forward. The young star warrior staggered back, but regained his balance. Everything seemed to be going all right, but Meta-Knight couldn't dispel that feeling of dread that threatened to overwhelm him. Suddenly, realization hit him like a physical blow - the dream!
Kirby lunged at him once again, and Meta-Knight deflected the blow and retaliated with one of his own. Kirby flattened himself to avoid the blow and jumped back. Was the dream a premonition? Could the seizure have been his body's failed attempt to squelch the effects of the serum? Maybe the serum was having a delayed effect on him. If that was true, if the dream was true…
Meta-Knight's train of thought was broken when he felt a sharp blow to his temple. He fell back, dropping his sword in the process. Kirby gasped and ran to his side, obviously surprised that his elder had failed to dodge his assault. The old knight was proud initially that Kirby had such strength so early in his young life. Suddenly, his feelings of satisfaction were replaced by overwhelming rage. A rage so intense that he saw everything in a haze of red. The young star warrior looked down at Meta-Knight with uncontained concern, oblivious to his elder's sudden and drastic change of emotions. It was then that the veteran knew, and the truth was almost too much to bare. That seizure had been his body's attempt to fight the virus, and that his body had failed.
He had to get away!
Meta-Knight abruptly sprang onto his feet and pushed Kirby aside. Ignoring the confused and frightened visage of his young disciple, the elder warrior ran away as fast as his feet could carry him. With every step he felt more nauseated, more disorientated. Eventually he felt too sick to continue and had to stop. He didn't know where he was or where had was trying to go, all he cared about was getting away from Kirby. If anything were to happen to the young star warrior everything would be lost.
Suddenly his feelings of anxiety and nausea passed, leaving him drained and enervated. As Meta-Knight sat down to regain his composure, he pondered what action he should take. The serum was slowly taking effect, that much was certain. Yet, what could he do about it? As far as he was aware there was no cure, and if he spent the time to look for one he would lose vital time to train Kirby. Even so, he was a danger to everyone, especially Kirby. Could he take that risk? His life was expendable, but Kirby's was not. On the other hand, there was no one else who could train Kirby in his place. Finally, after long consideration Meta-Knight figured out what course of action he had to take. He was going to train Kirby, and will continue to train him until he completely loses himself to the Behemoth Serum. Hopefully, by the time that comes Kirby would be able to defeat and destroy him. But the final chilling question in his mind remained: How long was he going to be able to last?
Author's Notes: Finally finished chapter 2! Yay! ::Does happy dance:: I will post the third chapter as soon as possible, but due to time constraints and college essays/finals it may take me longer than anticipated. I hope you like the story so far!!