Chapter 59: Light vs. Dark

The entire Meta Army was gathered there.

In the great open area in the center of the Meta Base on Mecheye, Meta Knight was about to make a speech.

He walked up to the raised platform, on which the teeming multitude could see him.

Silence quickly filled the gigantic square and all eyes turned to Meta Knight.

"My warriors!" boomed Meta Knight's voice over the Meta Army. "The time has come! Dark Matter's forces are rapidly taking control of Dreamland and they will not stop before the entirety of Pop Star has fallen to their black hands. We are the chosen ones! We must fight against this darkness! Yes, I know some of you are just in it for the money or the recognition, but this war will be the single deciding event in the history of Pop Star. If we win, peace will reign with me as your king. If we lose, Dark Matter will envelop Pop Star and with its newfound energy, conquer the entire universe.

"I know that with courage, we can save ourselves from this fate. I have seen you in battle before. I know what you can do. We may not have the sun and moon fighting this time, but we can still pull through.

"There are better lives ahead of us after this victory. Years will pass and Dreamland will wonder how it ever got to be so peaceful and beautiful. Under my hand, we can make this utopian world a reality! If that isn't worth fighting for, I don't know what is!

"You know what you must do. You know of the hardships of war, but if you do not believe by now that you are superior, this battle shall prove it! Dark Matter's forces may be great, but they are untrained, and though the red eye may seem an imposing entity, it is still vulnerable to trickery. We have everything we need; now let's go fulfill our dreams and get everything we want!"

Cheers from the crowd filled the stadium.

"Yes!" continued Meta Knight. "That's it right there! You've got the spirit and now all you need to do is show it! Nothing! You hear me? Nothing will stand in our way! Dark Matter will fall, I will rule, and everything we have always fought for will become a reality!"

As the crowd screamed and shouted, Meta Knight stepped down from the platform.

"Captain," he said quietly, causing Captain Birdbrain to hurry over, "ready the transport cruisers. I need the troops positioned south of Neo City by the time first light hits its tallest skyscraper."

"Yes, Sir Meta Knight," replied the Captain, "they will be ready."

"Excellent. Everything is going according to plan."

"Sir Meta Knight, if I may, what happens if Dark Matter refuses?"

"If we don't get cooperation, Neo City burns to the ground."

"Gooey," said Kirby into the cell phone, "I need a reading of my current location."

No answer.

"Gooey? You there?"

Nothing.

Kirby closed the connection and tried to look at his surroundings. Tried to, but couldn't. It was so dark where he stood that he couldn't even see his feet below him.

Something bumped into him.

"Who's there?!" yelled Kirby in surprise, pushing wildly at the thing that had hit him.

"Stop it, Kirby!" said a familiar voice. "It's me!"

"Oh, sorry Chuchu," apologized Kirby. "I can't see at all."

"Me neither."

Silence. Kirby and Chuchu stayed back to back, not moving.

"Uh, Kirby?" asked Chuchu. "Do you maybe have some form that you could, like, change into that would give us some light?"

"Oh! Right!" exclaimed Kirby. "I'll try one out! Could you move for a second?"

"Okay."

Kirby felt the contact of Chuchu's body leave him.

"Here we go!" shouted Kirby, summoning Fire ability to become Fire Kirby!

By the flickering flame on Kirby's head, Chuchu finally became visible in the darkness.

"Finally!" said Chuchu. "I was starting to think I was blind!"

Kirby looked down. The ground was a deep blue and felt like stone. Small, flat, star-shaped stones that were the same color as the ground were spread all over.

"So, where are we?" asked Chuchu, looking around at the darkness.

"I have no idea," answered Kirby.

"I do," said a babyish voice behind Kirby.

Kirby whirled around.

It was Marx, just visible by the light of Kirby's fire. But it wasn't maniacal, mutated Marx. It was his cuter version, the one Kirby had met long ago in the woods.

"Surprised to see me?" asked Marx in an uncharacteristically businesslike way.

"Should I be?" replied Kirby.

"I don't think I know you well enough to answer that question," answered Marx, "but I can answer two questions that you will find very important to be answered. Ask away."

"Where are we?" asked Chuchu, stepping forward to stand next to Kirby.

"You are inside my mind," answered Marx. "Think of this place as an alternate universe that's based on whatever reality I choose. For instance, let me shed a little light on this situation."

The whole area was suddenly flooded with light. Kirby and Chuchu could see as if the sun was shining its brightest. However, the sky was full of stars.

Kirby and Chuchu looked every which way, but the picture was always the same. The blue ground stretched in every direction as far as the eye could see and everywhere there were those little star-shaped stones stuck into it.

"Why are you here?" asked Kirby. "Why are you down here instead of in the real world?"

"Good question," answered Marx. "The truth is that I was banished here by Dark Matter after it used the mutating machines in the dungeons of Castle Dedede to transform my body into the monster it is today. Dark Matter cannot establish complete possession over my body. This world is where I reside, preventing that from happening."

"Oh," said Kirby, though he still didn't understand.

"Hang on," said Marx suddenly, "I'm getting a message from Dark Matter. Since my body works for Dark Matter, I must either obey Dark Matter's commands or sacrifice myself to it. After that, my body and Dark Matter would become one in the mind, completing Dark Matter's possessive hold over me."

Silence. Kirby and Chuchu watched Marx as he gazed into the sky with a glazed look in his eyes.

"Yeah?" said Marx to himself. "Okay."

Marx's eyes refocused and he looked back at Kirby and Chuchu.

"Apparently I have to kill you," said Marx to the pair. "I'm sorry it must end like this. I am required to do my best to obey when Dark Matter bids anything of me. It is necessary."

Echoes of that last sentence were heard all around Kirby and Chuchu. They were coming from more Marxes. A ring of Marx copies formed itself around Kirby and Chuchu, each one repeating, "It is necessary."

More Marxes were coming. As they clustered together outside the ring, their repeated sentence changed to, "For without a mind..."

Kirby and Chuchu were looking wildly about. Though the world they were in remained at room temperature, they were both shivering.

"For without a mind... For without a mind... For without a mind... For without a mind..."

The voices changed again to the final phrase.

"...the body is but a puppet."