Chapter 74: It Takes Two

Gold.

Lots of gold.

Kirby just couldn't believe how much gold there was.

Some treasure... I mean, gold!

Gold.

This gigantic room was filled with nothing but...

No one could possibly want so much...

It was just an unbelievably large amount of...

...gold.

Before now, Kirby had never known why King Dedede liked it so much. It shined so bright. But Kirby was unaware that the room he was standing in was Meta Knight's secret treasury.

Long ago, before Meta Knight had found Galaxia, before the Meta Clan had consisted of more than three people (Meta Knight, Meta Sword and Meta Blade), Meta Knight had gone on a short excursion that led him to Titan Tower. Confident, he scaled the great pillar. When he had beaten all seven Titans and gotten to the top, Galaxia awaited him. Years later, when he had acquired an obscene amount of wealth, he scaled Titan Tower again and set up a teleportation system at its top. Meta Drone had designed it. It could only transport inanimate objects, but Meta Knight used it to store his gold at the top of Titan Tower, where he figured no one would find it.

It had been a good plan until now.

After stuffing some gold inside his mouth and locating the "exit" (a hole in the wall), Kirby left the room.

He immediately found himself back outside Titan Tower in the midst of the Dark Cloud.

The "green star" is actually not a star at all. It is simply an asteroid that is surrounded by a gigantic sphere of light-absorbing magic. From the outside, it looks like a green star. From the inside, the sky is black and the world is dark. The Meta Clan discovered this asteroid long ago and they have set up a small, secret base there.

The "green star" serves three purposes. 1) The Meta Clan can hide there when need be (but need has never been). 2) If a particularly large monster is required from NME, it can be sent there. 3) The other end of the teleportation system resides there, making it the place where Meta Knight can access his gold.

The new arsenal ship (onto which Escargoon's cargo car had been moved) landed in the "green star". Awaiting them were Captain Stitch and Masher.

Masher was big. Masher was really big! Masher was so insanely huge that Meta Knight could not see its top when standing next to it. Masher's main body was cylindrical. Instead of legs, it had the large feet common in most residents of Dreamland. On its front was a large grey plus sign. Its arms and hands were normal looking, but it held a huge chain in them, on the end of which was a mind-bogglingly huge, spiked mace. Its head was a flat cylinder, smaller in diameter than the main body. In the front of the head, there was a black space, which presumably contained a mechanical eye. A single silver spike topped its head. The entire monster was colored dark sienna, except for the chain and mace, which were black, and the spikes, which were silvery. As a finishing touch, it wore (attached to its shoulders) a long, dark blue cape.

Sasuke had to fly the arsenal ship up around Masher in order for Meta Knight to examine the colossus. Kirby would not be able to best this one. But there was one problem...

"How are we going to get this thing to Dreamland?" asked Sasuke.

Meta Knight commanded Sasuke to land the ship. Then the two stepped out to talk with the other members of the Meta Clan.

Captain Stitch also floated over. He sat in the air slightly detached from the Meta Clan and glared at no one in particular. The expression in those eyes never changed.

But before the Meta Clan could figure out a way to move Masher, it spoke.

"Set destination," it said. It had a low and very robotic voice.

Meta Knight looked up. He could not see Masher's head from where he was standing.

"One mile east of Titan Tower," said Meta Knight, taking a guess at how to respond.

Masher responded by flattening. His main body got shorter and shorter without increasing its diameter. Then it released the contraction, springing into the air like a rocket and disappearing into the sky.

The Meta Clan all rushed into the arsenal ship to follow. Captain Stitch floated in as the sliding door was closing.

"Gold?!" exclaimed Gooey. "Okay, I am very impressed that you managed to scale Titan Tower, but all you got was a few coins of gold?"

"Yeah..." answered Kirby unhappily. "It's disappointing, isn't it? There sure was a lot of it, though."

"A lot of it?"

"Yeah. When I got to the top, there was this huge room filled with gold, but I could only take a little bit of it out."

"Huh. Well, I don't know what to say to that. You should have been able to bring out more."

"It doesn't matter. What matters is that I survived and managed to get out of there."

"I suppose so."

Meta Knight turned. Though he didn't show any outward sings of this at all, what he saw seriously startled him. Captain Stitch had been hovering right behind him. As Meta Knight returned Captain Stitch's glare, he couldn't help but think there was something odd about this monster. Something about that stare... What was going on in Captain Stitch's mind? Those eyes were penetrating.

Meta Knight turned back around, but he could feel Captain Stitch's continuous gaze. The monster seemed to be analyzing Meta Knight, watching every motion so as to calculate the warrior's character and intentions. Maybe this was part of how Captain Stitch accomplished his missions... or maybe he was trying, for reasons unknown, to intimidate Meta Knight.

Escargoon came down from the cargo car, interrupting Meta Knight's train of thought. He was holding a syringe.

"Wait!" he shouted. "This ship hasn't been coated with Dark Matter! If we fly into the Dark Cloud, we'll all be possessed!"

"Hmm," acknowledged Meta Knight. "I hadn't thought of that. Do you have the serum ready?"

"As a matter of fact, I do."

Escargoon held up the syringe, which contained a small amount of a pure black substance.

"This is it," he said. "Now, who's first?"

Predictably, no one answered. If an abnormally large snail offered to give you an injection of some highly potent substance, would you allow him to do it?

"Oh," said Escargoon, thinking he understood what was going on. "Don't worry. You won't have to share a needle. I have more up in the cargo car."

No one moved.

Silence.

"I'll go first," said Meta Knight finally.

"Ah, thank you," replied Escargoon. "It'll be quick. You won't feel a thing."

Meta Knight highly doubted that last remark, but held out his arm.

Escargoon was indeed quick. In, out. After all, there wasn't much to inject.

Escargoon stood back, saying, "That should do it. Feel anything?"

"No," answered Meta Knight bluntly, but then he suddenly wished he had said "yes". A strange darkness seemed to creep in front of his eyes. To the rest of the Meta Clan, it looked like Meta Knight was just standing there, staring into space.

The Dark Matter that now coursed through Meta Knight's veins was inactive, not connected to the big red eye, so the command it gave the brain was to shut down.

Meta Knight's body tensed, then his eyes closed and he fell on his side.

"Meta Knight!" shouted numerous members of the Meta Clan.

"What have you done to him?" hissed Meta Lance angrily at Escargoon.

"O-o-oh!" moaned Escargoon, backing away. "I guess I should use even less next time."

"There won't be a next time!" yelled yellow-suited Poppy Brothers Senior.

"He's slipping into a coma!" shouted Meta Axe, who had run to Meta Knight's side.

"Get outta mah way, dude!" bellowed Meta Drone, pushing Meta Axe aside. "Defibrillation!"

Landing on top of Meta Knight, Meta Drone activated one of his electrical surges, sending powerful voltage streaming through Meta Knight's body.

Meta Knight's eyes opened wide and he coughed violently. A few faint wisps of black fog leaked from his mask.

"I thought you said it was safe, Escargoon," he said weakly.

KABOOM!

The earth-shattering blast knocked Kirby off his feet. Masher had landed.

Kirby watched in horror as Masher picked up its club again. This monster wasn't sent to fight him, was it?

And then Kirby saw the arsenal ship fly down next to it.

"Uh-oh," said both Kirby and Gooey together.

A warpstar flew down to Kirby's side.

"I'm detecting an abnormally large NME-certified monster within one mile of your current location," said Gooey. "I think it would be best now if you use this warpstar to make a quick getaway."

"Yeah, definitely," replied Kirby as he boarded the warpstar. In his haste, he smashed the maximum tomato on top of it. He then wiped off the warpstar with his hands, ate what remained of the maximum tomato, and flew away.

By the way, as it turns out, the Meta Clan had passed Masher during space travel in their haste to follow it, giving Escargoon time to don a spacesuit and coat the ship with Dark Matter before they entered Pop Star's atmosphere. The other members of the Meta Clan had flatly refused to take the Dark Matter "vaccine". Escargoon didn't take it either.

"Your next destination is Castle Dedede," said Gooey once Kirby had put considerable distance between him and Masher.

"Why?" asked Kirby. "Isn't that, sort of, Dark Matter's base?"

"Yes, and you must infiltrate this stronghold. Why? Simply put, you need to find Chuchu again."

Kirby groaned and said, "Why did she have to eat the shard? I could have gotten it from Marx myself. But why Castle Dedede?"

"You've been saying the word 'why' a lot lately, Kirby," commented Gooey. "Anyway, my instincts tell me that the Meta Clan freed Chuchu right into Marx's, or Dark Matter's, waiting hands and Castle Dedede is where Dark Matter has been taking all its prisoners. Remember? All your friends were originally trapped in there."

"Oh yeah." Kirby shivered. Suddenly this mission sounded a lot more difficult than before. He wasn't sure if he had the courage to go back inside that castle.

"Target not identified," reported Masher after scanning the area around Titan Tower.

"Um, Sir," said Meta Axe.

"What?" spat Meta Knight. He wasn't in a particularly good mood.

"Sir," continued Meta Axe calmly, "I don't think Kirby is really an issue anymore."

"What are you talking about?"

"Sir, now that you are immune to Dark Matter, we could simply storm Castle Dedede where the eye resides and then have you get out of the ship to kill it. Dark Matter will never see it coming."

"Whoa," interjected Meta Drone. "Like, tubular plan, dude."

Meta Knight considered this option for a moment.

"Captain," he said. "Set a course for Castle Dedede."

The warpstar took out a wall to get Kirby in. It now hovered above a staircase, which led up to the left and down to the right.

"Do I want to go up or down?" asked Kirby.

"It's easy to go up," answered Gooey, "so try going down."

"Okay..." Kirby traveled down the stairs, still on his warpstar. Somehow, he felt it would be unsafe to dismount.

The staircase went a long way down. Eventually, a door led off to the left. Kirby opened it and flew through.

Kirby immediately realized that he was down almost to dungeon level and what he saw was greatly disturbing.

Dark Matter had made this part of Castle Dedede into a factory, with an assembly line worked by all the possessed Dreamlanders. Never stopping, they were forced against their no-longer-existent will to slowly put together... what looked like electric chairs (something that Dreamland didn't have).

No, thought Kirby, preoccupied (to put it lightly) with the condition of his friends. This is terrible.

Luckily, the Dreamlanders did not notice him. It was as if they were on autopilot.

Captain Stitch turned and floated over to the air lock chamber where it could exit.

"Sir," said Meta Sword. "I think our sharp friend wants to be let out."

"That reminds me of something," commented Meta Blade.

"Then let him out," said Meta Knight. "I don't understand this monster. Maybe it would be best that we leave him to his own devices."

Once Captain Stitch had left, the Meta Clan watched him go through a hole in the side of Castle Dedede.

"I'm starting to regret buying that one," said Meta Knight.

"Oh!" interrupted Meta Blade. "I remember now! It was Tac who used to do that. Remember how he could never sit still in a ship? We always had to let him in and out. Don't you remember that? It was annoying, wasn't it?"

Some of the Meta Clan expressed their agreement.

"Have you found the eye yet, Sasuke?" asked Meta Knight.

"Sorry, Sir," answered Sasuke. "Not yet. Still scanning."

"Captain," said Meta Knight, "we are to land on the spot closest to the eye outside Castle Dedede as soon as it is found. From there, we shall make our move."

"What the-" Kirby shrieked, spinning around. "How did you sneak up behind me like that?!"

Predictably, Captain Stitch made no answer. It simply glared at Kirby, hovering in the air. He was about three times Kirby's size.

"What do you want?" asked Kirby nervously.

"Who are you talking to?" asked Gooey.

Kirby took a picture of Captain Stitch, who still hadn't moved.

Gooey gasped.

"This is a monster from NightMare Enterprises!" he said. "His name is Captain Stitch and I have no info on him whatsoever. Well... except for his name of course."

"Talk later," said Kirby, closing the connection. "It's time to fight."

This should take care of him, thought Kirby, summoning Bomb ability to become Bomb Kirby!

Kirby threw five bombs, which all hit Captain Stitch in the face. But they had no effect. Captain Stitch continued to hover and stare.

Kirby summoned Fire ability to become Firework Kirby! But fireworks didn't hurt it either.

Nor did lightning from Aura, or the light-saber from Darth, or dynamite from Dynamite, or ninja-stars from Ninja, or the huge mallet from Huge Hammer, or the spikes from Snare, or the fumes from Melt! Kirby tried about twenty abilities before giving up.

Captain Stitch continued to hover and stare.

Then Kirby's memory sparked. Captain Stitch looked just like an enlarged gordo! (Except for the smaller eyes in comparison to its body.) Gordos were indestructible, so this guy must be too!

"Okay," said Kirby to Captain Stitch. "Well, if you're not going to fight back, let's just call this match a draw. I'll be on my way!"

Kirby turned his warpstar around and started to fly away, but suddenly Captain Stitch was right in front of him! No matter where he turned Captain Stitch flew to block him.

Uh-oh, thought Kirby.

"Found it," announced Sasuke. "We should land down there." He pointed at an area of the Castle.

"Excellent," said Meta Knight. "Captain!"

Captain Birdbrain landed the ship.

Immediately, laser guns popped out everywhere on the castle walls and began firing at the arsenal ship.

Captain Birdbrain swore loudly, took off again and activated the shields. Eventually, the lasers stopped coming and the guns retracted. The Captain then turned off the shields.

"That went well," said Meta Sword sarcastically.

"What do we do now?" hissed Meta Lance.

"Set target," said Masher from outside.

Silence.

Meta Knight hesitated and then said, "Castle Dedede."

"Target acquired," replied Masher. "Demolition mode activated."

Captain Birdbrain reengaged the shields.

Kirby tried using an old trick. He started going in one direction, but then quickly sped in another, yet somehow Captain Stitch had seen it coming. It was as if his glaring eyes were reading Kirby's mind.

Kirby was getting really frustrated and he knew that Gooey couldn't help him.

"Come on!" he shouted. "Are you going to fight me or what?"

Kirby suddenly heard a resounding crash from high above him.

"Kirby!" shouted Gooey, coming back on the phone. "That huge monster from near Titan Tower has followed you here and it's destroying Castle Dedede! Get out now!!! You don't want to be in there if it collapses!"

Kirby's eyes widened. So this was Captain Stitch's plan. He was trapping Kirby in there until the castle flattened them both, but Captain Stitch was indestructible, so he would simply push his way out once the castle had fallen.

Kirby did the only thing he could think of. He dismounted his warpstar and summoned two Stone abilities to become Monolith Kirby! As a monolith, he intended to wait until Castle Dedede collapsed around him.

Captain Stitch, however, rammed hard into Monolith Kirby, causing him to nearly topple over. Kirby lost his ability.

Though the monster's facial expression had not changed, Kirby knew he had somehow angered Captain Stitch.

Kirby jumped back on his warpstar as Captain Stitch flew at him. Kirby tried to escape, but Captain Stitch rammed into the warpstar, nearly throwing Kirby off of it.

Kirby spun around and rammed his warpstar into Captain Stitch, not damaging the monster at all.

Captain Stitch flew around, repeatedly trying to bash into Kirby, who dodged over and over.

Then each of Captain Stitch's spikes detached themselves from his body. The spikes suddenly pointed at Kirby and shot at him like bullets.

Kirby turned vertical and felt numerous thuds as the spikes hit his warpstar. When Kirby turned horizontal again, he noticed that his warpstar was shaking slightly. He looked beneath it and saw that all eight spikes were lodged in its underside.

That's not good... thought Kirby.

BLAM! The warpstar exploded, blasting Kirby off. He hit a wall and fell to the ground in pain.

Eight new spikes appeared on Captain Stitch. Then Kirby had to jump out of the way as the monster tried to ram him again.

Captain Stitch shot his new spikes at Kirby, but Kirby inhaled them and shot them back at Captain Stitch. The spikes bounced off Captain Stitch and he subsequently grew a new set.

All the working Dreamlanders suddenly seemed to come to life. They turned in unison and walked single-file out the open door.

Kirby and Captain Stitch had no time to pay attention to this, however, as they were still in the midst of battle. Captain Stitch rammed into Kirby, sending him flying. Then the monster shot his spikes again.

Kirby, amazingly, managed to dodge the spikes. Then Kirby noticed something. At the spots where the spikes had detached themselves from Captain Stitch, they left behind circular holes (out of which new spikes would appear).

Wasting no time, Kirby summoned Spark and Sword abilities to become Darth Kirby! Kirby raced over to Captain Stitch and thrust one end of his double light-saber into the hole on Captain Stitch's left side.

Captain Stitch's eyes opened wide and the color of his body slowly changed from black to bright red. Then he fell to the ground and did not get up again.

Kirby trashed his ability, causing the double light-saber to disappear. Then he ran as fast as he could out the door, up the stairs, out the hole he had made in the wall, and away from Castle Dedede. A warpstar greeted him outside.

Kirby ate the maximum tomato on it and flew high above the collapsing wreckage of Castle Dedede. Hopefully, Chuchu was not still inside.

The eye of Dark Matter rose from the ruins and Nightmare flew over to its side. Nightmare was holding a sack in one of his floating hands.

"If you thought that could destroy us," said Nightmare to the Meta Clan, "then you are sadly mistaken."

Meta Knight got out on top of the arsenal ship. His eyes were red and Galaxia was in its true form.

Dark Matter's eye widened. If it had had someone to speak for it, the speaker would have said, "What?! How did you become immune to possession?!"

Instead, Nightmare looked at Dark Matter and asked, "What's wrong?"

Meta Knight made a horizontal slice with his sword, firing a sword beam straight into Dark Matter's eye.

The gigantic eye was blasted back. Some of the essence around it was blown off. The eye shrunk to two-thirds its size.

For about a second, Nightmare didn't move. During that second, he wore an utterly surprised look on his face. But then he turned and flew quickly away to the east. In his haste, he dropped the bag he was carrying. Kirby caught it on his head.

The eye of Dark Matter took off as well. It headed north.

Meta Knight quickly got back inside the arsenal ship, which chased after the eye.

Kirby could hear a sizzling noise coming from inside the bag. He knew Chuchu was in there. He could feel her. But he had no idea what the sizzling sound was.

Kirby figured that it was imperative that he take Chuchu out of the Dark Cloud before opening the bag, so he flew northeast to Bubbly Clouds, which was high enough to be outside the Dark Cloud.

The stars were a sight for sore eyes, but Kirby had no time to gaze at them. He quickly undid the knot and opened the bag.

Chuchu fell out. Kirby turned her over to see that both her mouth and eyes were wide open. She was twitching slightly, seemingly paralyzed by something.

However, it was obvious what that something was. In the middle of her forehead, there was a bright white, diamond-shaped stone embedded into her skin. White smoke was slowly issuing from it. That was what was making the sizzling sound.

Horrified, Kirby sprung into action. He summoned Bomb and Cutter abilities to become Ninja Kirby! Then he wedged his dagger under the white stone and levered it out.

As the stone fell to the ground, Kirby trashed his ability.

For a moment, the stone fizzled even louder, but then cracks started to form on it. Its outer layer fell off in pieces to reveal what lay inside, which was... the final star rod shard.

"Thanks, Kirby," wheezed Chuchu. Then she rolled over to let some blood trickle out of her mouth. Her head still had a diamond-shaped indentation on it.

"No," replied Kirby, picking up the shard. "Thank you."