NOTE TO THE READER: This is another one of those really long chapters that FanFiction.Net simply refuses to show breaks in. So, hopefully you'll do okay reading it. Enjoy! Oh, wait. One thing about Crystalline Waves (a place Kirby will visit in this chapter). No, this is not a fan-made location. It is the setting of Kirby's Wave Ride, which is a mini-game that will be appearing in the next Kirby release for GBA.
Chapter 75: The Great Air Ride
"At last! My latest project is compl- Ow! Dammit, Captain! Can't you fly this thing a little s- Ow! A little straighter!"
"Sorry, Escargoon," squawked Captain Birdbrain. "But tailing the %$#ing eye of Dark Matter is not %$#ing easy! Try not to take a #$% in your pants!"
Captain Birdbrain then turned sharply, causing the ship to go into a barrel roll. This sent everyone in the ship banging off the walls (except for the Captain himself, who seemed unaffected by all these sudden changes in gravitational direction).
"This is precisel- Ow!" continued Escargoon. "Precisely why I have been working o- Ow! On this current project! Ow!!! O-o-oh..."
The ship leveled out.
"What is this new project?" growled Meta Knight, hanging from an exposed bar on the ceiling.
"Originally," explained Escargoon, "I was working on this for a new plan, one that involved out-flying Kirby while he was on his warpstar, but now these machines will be better suited for chasing the eye of Dark Mat- Ow!"
Captain Birdbrain had started swerving again to keep up.
"If only this confounded thing could be flown straight!" grumbled Escargoon. "Then I'd b- Ow! Be able to show them to you!"
"Hold onto your masks, folks!" shouted Captain Birdbrain. "We're going up!"
"No!!!" protested everyone else, but then they were all thrown to the back of the ship as the Captain piloted them into a rapid vertical ascent.
"Congratulations, Star Warrior, you have assembled all seven pieces of the star rod. Now you can summon the Great Star Rod of Light at will. But be careful, Star Warrior. As the star rod shards are the source of your powers, you will lose them when the Great Star Rod of Light is summoned. You must once again consume the star rod for your powers to return. Your quest is nearing an end and the final confrontation is imminent. May you shine forth like a star."
"The message, like, replayed for you, didn't it?" asked Chuchu.
"Yeah," answered Kirby.
"So... What are you gonna, like, do about it?"
"About what?"
"The 'final confrontation'."
"Oh. I dunno. I guess if it's gonna happen, it's gonna happen."
Chuchu smacked her forehead with one of her tentacles.
"Kirby," she continued, "you can now summon the 'Great Star Rod of Light'! All you have left to do is defeat Dark Matter. Soon this whole mess will be over! We gotta, like, do something, go somewhere. We gotta find the big eye and blow it to smithereens!"
Kirby suddenly realized something.
"Wait," he said. "What do you mean 'we'? I'm sorry to say this, but I think your part in this mission had been completed. You no longer have a star rod shard in you, so going into the Dark Cloud would cause Dark Matter to possess you. Maybe Gooey will be able to supply you with something that will get you far away from here, to another planet. Staying here with me will only lead to Dark Matter taking control of you again."
Chuchu looked like she was about to cry.
Suddenly, the eye of Dark Matter burst from the Dark Cloud about half a mile away. Following it was the arsenal ship. Both ship and eye turned to streak off to the southwest. The ship's turn actually consisted of tipping backwards to end up upside-down, but then it righted itself.
For a split-second, both Kirby and Chuchu stared with eyes wide. Then a warpstar flew down to Chuchu's side (Kirby already had one).
"On second thought," said Kirby quickly, jumping on his warpstar, "scratch all that. Let's go!"
Chuchu mounted her warpstar as well and they both flew off after the Meta Clan.
"If we continue in this direction," announced Sasuke, "we will eventually arrive at Sky Sands."
"Oh, no," said Meta Axe. "That place is a frozen wasteland at night."
"However, the sand is as hot as fire during the day," put in Yamikage.
"We're in a ship!" hissed Meta Lance. "What do we care about hot sand?"
"We don't," answered Sasuke, "but this ship cannot function properly in such cold as Sky Sands at night. Dark Matter does not care about temperature, so it is leading us there to die."
"Here are my air-riding machines," interrupted Escargoon. "There's one for each of you."
Escargoon motioned to eleven... things that were lined up in the back of the ship. Each one was pretty much the same size as the others. Each one also had a little sign in front of it that displayed its name and specs. The list is below. (Sign -- appearance.)
Rocket Flyer. Connect orb to body to charge. Charge all the way to go really, REALLY fast. -- The machine was pretty much triangular and looked like it was made of brown leather. There was a zipper down the middle and a small bit of the luminous blue inside could be seen on one of the three sides. Behind that side, there was a blue orb with three metal straps around it.
Hover Board. No charging. Flies by tilting. Excellent turning (also by tilting). -- It was completely flat. It was also completely black. It looked a bit like a skateboard without wheels. (No one in the Meta Clan was quite sure how it was supposed to fly.)
Winged Flyer. Push wings forward to charge. Pull wings back to release charge. Excellent at altitude adjustment. Do not ground. -- It was a deep, white triangle with "tail feathers" spreading out from the small side. On the other two sides were bird-like wings. The wing joints and "neck" were blue.
Shadow Flyer. Push wings forward to charge. Pull wings back to release charge. Razor-sharp wings cut enemies mid-flight! -- Another triangle. This one had thee spikes sticking out its back and bat-like wings on its forward sides. The whole thing was very flat and colored in swirls of dark magenta.
Formula Flyer. Pull side thrusters inward to charge. Push back out to release charge. Poor acceleration and turning, but no limit to maximum speed! -- A very light blue, long oval was the main body of this machine. Along its sides were two more ovals. These were smaller, white, and ended in rocket nozzles. The rocket ovals were connected near the back by a glass arch.
Jet Flyer. Insert bomb into rocket nozzle for instant charge. Excellent at altitude adjustment. Spikes on front allow for an impaling offensive attack. -- This one was black on the edges and light green everywhere else. Its front was divided into two scythe-like points and its back was round, featuring four wings that stuck out diagonally. Its rear end featured a rocket nozzle with fiery, glowing interior.
UFO Capsule. Sit inside. No charging. Moves wherever directed. -- It was an orange donut that had a tapering outside. Underneath was a metallic pad with three thrusters (much like those on Meta Drone). The driver would sit in the "donut hole", supported by the pad.
Wagon Flyer. No charging. Poor altitude adjustment. Excellent turning and acceleration. Above average top speed. Sturdy. -- Picture a pure pink moving truck. Now squash it lengthwise so that it's more box-shaped. That's pretty much it. There were two width-spanning handles on top (one in front and one in back). Tiny wings were positioned on its sides and two thrusters protruded from its back.
Slick Flyer. Spin to charge. Stop spinning to release charge. Only the boost made by the charge can change the direction the machine flies. -- It was a circular, purple pad in the middle with three pink, glowing balls floating around it. The pad seemed to be made out of hundreds of scarves.
Turbo Flyer. Pull side thrusters inward to charge. Push back out to release charge. Great speed. Careful of erratic turning and charging, both depending on speed. -- Sleek and red. This machine was marginally triangular, but curving in and out from the front to the flat crown-shape on its posterior. The front featured a white "nose" where a slot seemingly led into the contraption. Two thrusters floated near its back (one on either side). Each thruster was white in the middle and red on the sides. If you looked closely, you could see the word "TURBO" written on each thruster's outside side in painted flaming letters.
Note: I only listed ten out of eleven because there were two Hover Boards.
"I'll take one of the Hover Boards," said Meta Sword the moment he saw them.
"And I'll take the other," said Meta Blade.
"Wait just a moment," interrupted Meta Knight. "There are only eleven machines, yet there are sixteen of us."
"Well," said Escargoon, "you have wings, so you don't need a machine. Meta Drone has thrusters, so he doesn't need one. The Captain has this ship. Sasuke must stay on this ship to direct the weapons. And, sorry Big Wheelie, but these machines can't accommodate wheels. Besides, your primary attack is driving over your opponent with your body. It'd be pretty pointless to have you on one of these. Anyway, that just leaves eleven people that need rides."
"We're nearing Sky Sands everybody!" interrupted Captain Birdbrain. "I'm gonna have to fly around this place, so choose your vehicles and get going!"
Yellow-suited Poppy Brothers Senior: "I call the Jet Flyer!"
Meta Lance: "The Shadow Flyer is mine!"
Yamikage: "The Winged Flyer shall be my ride."
Escargoon: "I'm goin' for speed today. Formula Flyer!"
Dekabu: "I take UFO."
Meta Axe: "I suppose the Slick Flyer is my choice."
Meta Chain: "Rocket Flyer, I guess."
Silver Kibble: "I accept my fate on the Turbo Flyer."
Silence.
Everybody looked at the last machine: the Wagon Flyer. Then they all looked at the person who still hadn't chosen one: the legendary Crazed Donut Hole General.
"So, buddy," said yellow-suited Poppy Brothers Senior, "it looks like you're stuck with this piece-of-junk Wagon Flyer."
"Sounds good to me," replied the legendary Crazed Donut Hole General, hopping on the Wagon Flyer.
Everyone boarded their machines.
"I'll be up top," rumbled Big Wheelie. "Maybe I can help in some way if I ride on the roof of this ship."
The back dock hatch of the ship opened. Remember, they were above the Dark Cloud, so there was no risk of possession.
"Let's go!" shouted Escargoon and all the riders sped out into the night air.
The back dock hatch closed.
Welcome back folks! Welcome to the second round of Dreamland racing! This time you're in for a very special treat. It's Dreamland's only Tour de Skies! In this race, you will see all of Dreamland's marvels of altitude landscaping, beginning with the infamous Sky Sands!
Sky Sands is a deadly environment. During the day, the sand is hot, sandstorms obscure your vision, mirages make you think there are three suns in the sky, and some sand can't even support weight! Step on unstable turf and you might find yourself falling toward the ground miles below! During the night, the air is frigid, the ground is frozen, and rocks can fall suddenly from the sky for no apparent reason! Better be on your toes, racers!
Instead of racing to capture Chuchu, who was an unmoving target in the last race, these racers are trying to destroy the eye of Dark Matter, which never stays put! Where will it go next? Only time will tell!
So, ON WITH THE RACE! Meta Knight soars into the lead with wings spread, but he's followed closely by that rocket-powered robot Meta Drone! Next come Meta Sword and Meta Blade, perfectly suited for those Hover Boards. There goes Yamikage, soaring high into the sky! My, that one sure wants a bird's eye view and what better machine than the Winged Flyer to get it with! Escargoon and Meta Chain linger behind. That Rocket Flyer takes a long time to charge, doesn't it Meta Chain? As for you Escargoon, you'll need a machine with much better acceleration to win this race! Kirby and Chuchu are both riding warpstars, but had a late start. They're even farther behind than Meta Chain and Escargoon! The rest of the riders are just getting the hang of their machines, flying in the area between Meta Drone and Escargoon. But wait! What's that explosion? It seems that yellow-suited Poppy Brothers Senior has shoved a bomb up the rocket nozzle of his Jet Flyer. Now look at that thing go!
"Wheeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee-haaaaaa!" shouted yellow-suited Poppy Brothers Senior as he zipped up just past Meta Knight.
And now the Poppy's in the lead! Keep using those bombs, O yellow one!
Now Dark Matter has entered a stone chasm! How will the other racers react? Wow! The Poppy has pulled upward, sailing over the cave ahead of Yamikage. Meta Knight and the others go right in! But beware, racers: sand leaks from the roof of this winding tunnel and you don't want to fly through a column of falling sand! Sand in your eyes is sure to impede your progress through those turns coming up.
Meta Knight passes through swiftly, dodging the sand with ease. So do Meta Drone, Meta Sword and Meta Blade. And there comes Meta Axe... Oh! Watch out! Meta Axe plows right through a column of sand! Steering on that Slick Flyer can be tough, eh Meta Axe? Now careful around the bend... Ooh! Meta Axe crashes into a wall, bounces, bounces off more walls... he can't see at all! It's just bounce, bounce, bounce! With no friction to slow his ride, he can't turn! Watch out! Whoa! Let's see that... in an instant replay. Slow motion!
Meta Axe is bouncing out of control... and then Meta Lance comes speeding along... They pass... and the left wing of Meta Lance's Shadow Flyer slices through one of the ribbons that makes up the body of Meta Axe's Slick Flyer. Meta Axe flips off of his machine as its body unravels. Meta Lance speeds away, unaware of what happened... and Meta Axe lands on the back of Dekabu's UFO Capsule.
Continuing with the race, Dekabu seems not to notice Meta Axe's presence. Now Escargoon has finally caught up to the action, but these tight turns have slowed him down tremendously. Looks like he'll have to build up speed all over again. The legendary Crazed Donut Hole General bounces off a few walls, but makes it to the other side without mishap, as does Silver Kibble. Kirby and Chuchu are just now entering Sky Sands. Whoa! Nice dodging Chuchu. Those random falling boulders can be devastating. And Meta Chain is still back at the beginning!
"This thing takes a loooooooooong time to charge," grunted Meta Chain to himself.
Entering another sandy stretch outside, yellow-suited Poppy Brothers Senior speeds into the lead! More bombs in the nozzle makes his machine go super-far! Flying in a vertical circle while inserting more bombs, the Poppy has caught up to the eye of Dark Matter! Now the question is: Can he stun the eye to win the race?
There he goes! Five bombs have been thrown in the eye's direction, but the eye closes before the explosions. What's this? Oh, no! Dark Matter has summoned a small army of minions onto the racecourse up ahead! What are they, you ask? Well, these creatures are referred to by the term N-Z and they are mindless annoyances that Dark Matter can produce to distract its enemies. However, the typical N-Z is unskilled at fighting and useless in a battle. For those of you who can't see, they look like dark-grey Dreamlanders with white feet. They also have pointy ears instead of arms.
Well, the Poppy is barely distracted at all. He's throwing more bombs at the eye instead of concentrating on clearing a path through the N-Z army. An N-Z or two are impaled on his machine's spikes, but now they're becoming too numerous to ignore. Unfortunately, the Poppy has not landed a hit in the eye of Dark Matter. Winding up to throw another bomb, an N-Z knocks him over! The bomb goes up... and KABLOOIE! The explosion blasts the poor Poppy from his Jet Flyer. With a shriek, he misses the frozen turf and falls far below the sands! Looks like this is the end of yellow-suited Poppy Brothers Senior. It's a long way down from Sky Sands.
Meta Knight swerves out of the way as the flaming Jet Flyer comes tearing backwards past him. Now a boulder falls out of the sky and crushes the Jet Flyer beneath it! Meta Knight continues forward, using his sword to slice through every N-Z to get near him. Meta Drone flies over the N-Z army, as does Yamikage and Dekabu. Meta Sword and Meta Blade cut them up with spinning sword slices.
"Bazooka engaged," said the legendary Crazed Donut Hole General in his alternate robotic voice.
The legendary Crazed Donut Hole General seems to be bringing out some heavy artillery, blasting the N-Z army with a bazooka that protrudes from inside his body. Meta Lance is also having no problem dealing with these enemies. He holds his large trident ahead of him and plows right through! He impales 'em on each spike of the trident and slices 'em with the wings of his Shadow Flyer! Silver Kibble sears through them as well. Now there are so few left that Escargoon will probably have an easy time getting through when he gets there.
The eye has left Sky Sands! It is now heading southeast instead of southwest! Whoa! And Meta Chain has finally left the starting line!!! YOW! That's fast!
Meta Chain's terrified scream performed a Doppler effect as he flew past the Meta Clan. He had missed the cave entirely. Somehow, he managed to turn and follow the eye, but Dark Matter had absolutely no idea what was going on when Meta Chain soared past it at a speed close to that of sound.
Fast! Too fast!!! Meta Chain! No! Don't dip! Oh, well. I tried to warn him folks, but Meta Chain has lost control of his machine and plummeted into the Dark Cloud. Looks like we won't be seeing any more of him in this race!
Now entering Beanstalk Park, the eye shows no sign of slowing down. Beanstalk Park is the area above Big Forest where huge plant stalks have grown to incredible heights. Certain flying animals find their home among these gravity-defying shoots. The racers will need good flyers that can adjust their altitude quickly in order to successfully pilot through this area, as there are many vines that connect the stalks, which can get in the way.
But Meta Knight doesn't seem to care about that. There goes another sword beam! He's using vertical sword beams to clear a path through the vines. And now Silver Kibble is using this path to catch up to him!
"Permission to continue on ahead, Sir," said Silver Kibble to Meta Knight as he passed on the Turbo Flyer.
"Permission granted," replied Meta Knight. "Good luck, Silver Kibble."
Silver Kibble takes the lead! He's coming up on Dark Matter... He's throwing a cutter blade... Whoa! Let's see that... in an instant replay. Slow motion!
You can tell by the way his arm is cocked that Silver Kibble is concentrating with all his might to throw the cutter blade in exactly the right way. There he throws... and just as the boomerang passes in front of Dark Matter's eye, light from the now-rising sun is reflected directly into it. Dark Matter spins around rapidly. In doing so, smoke seems to fall off of the ball around the eye and settle downwards in the Dark Cloud.
Ooh! Dark Matter has made a sharp turn. Silver Kibble reacts quickly, but the nature of the Turbo Flyer's turning causes him to spin instead of rapidly steer. Oh, no! The spinning has caused Silver Kibble to crash into a vine... which bends back... and flings his machine far away! This leaves the unfortunate warrior falling towards the Dark Cloud below. That's one more racer down.
And now it looks like Kirby and Chuchu have caught up to one of the racers. It's the legendary Crazed Donut Hole General on his Wagon Flyer!
"Bomb fountain engaged," said the legendary Crazed Donut Hole General in his alternate robotic voice.
Kirby summoned Fighter and Beam abilities to become Fighter Energy Kirby!
Bombs streamed from the legendary Crazed Donut Hole General's open mouth (which looked like a donut hole).
Kirby threw a barrage of punches, decimating the bombs that came near him with Fighter Energy orbs. He also aimed as many punches as he could at the legendary Crazed Donut Hole General himself, but there were too many bombs.
When six bombs came Chuchu's way, she did a forwards flip and used the momentum of her tentacles to send the bombs right back were they came from. The collective explosion destroyed both the legendary Crazed Donut Hole General and the Wagon Flyer he was riding.
And there's the finishing blow! No need to see that in an instant replay. It would spoil the excitement!
Dodging those stalks and vines is no easy task for Escargoon on his Formula Flyer. Wait a minute... He's in back of Kirby and Chuchu! How did that happen without Kirby and Chuchu noticing? Oh well. Yamikage on his Winged Flyer, however, can get around Beanstalk Park with the greatest of ease! That one may take first place if he keeps up this incredible flying. Whoop! There comes a vine! But Yamikage jumps over the vine to land on his machine again on the other side! Nice moves!
But now Dark Matter has left Beanstalk Park! The eye is heading north towards Nebula Belt.
Nebula Belt is a somehow oxygen-rich environment at the edge of Pop Star's atmosphere. However, almost nothing can live there due to the ground being unable to support over an ounce of weight. The straightaways here should give riders like Escargoon on his Formula Flyer an excellent opportunity to move to the front. And there he goes... he's charging his machine... now he lets go and throttles... slowly... forward. Oh well. That machine will accelerate eventually.
Now Kirby and Chuchu are nearly caught up to Meta Axe and Dekabu on the UFO Capsule. What?! Kirby has transformed into a bow with a flaming arrow cocked to fire! Then he shoots... and it hits! Wow! Let's see that... in an instant replay. Slow motion!
There the arrow's coming... it lands on the right side of the UFO Capsule. Watch Meta Axe's eyes. Wow they got big quickly! Then the machine ignites on fire and KABLOOIE! Two more racers have fallen... literally! Oh, but it looks like Meta Lance heard the noise of the explosion. There he turns... trident ready...
"Throw a bomb at Meta Lance right now!" shouted Chuchu.
Kirby summoned Bomb ability to become Bomb Kirby! Then he quickly took aim and threw a bomb.
The bomb flew through the air and stuck on the end of Meta Lance's trident weapon. Kirby trashed his ability.
"Augh!" shrieked Meta Lance. He then began shaking his trident in a desperate attempt to dislodge the bomb. "Get it off! Get it off!!!"
And KABOOM! Kirby and Chuchu are on a roll. Can no one in the Meta Clan stand up to this invincible duo?
Well, Escargoon can, apparently. Oh, wait. No he can't. He simply speeds by them. Wow, he sure is going fast. At this rate, he'll take first place in no time!
Yamikage is still flying high. And Meta Knight, Meta Drone, Meta Sword and Meta Blade are still neck-in-neck at the head.
But Nebula Belt isn't very large. Dark Matter is now turning to fly east. It is headed for... Crystalline Waves!
Crystalline Waves is a magical place above Rainbow Resort where the clouds turn into a transparent sea of crystal at their top. The crystal is very fragile, but the waves it makes aren't. Strange stationary waves are scattered about its surface. Because of the "ground's" fragility, nothing lives in Crystalline Waves.
What's this? Could it be that Yamikage is flying low for the first time all race? Yes! Yamikage swoops down to one of the waves... and soars off of it with an incredible burst of speed! How did he do that? Now he shoots right over all the competition and into first place! Looks like he'll get a shot at downing Dark Matter!
Yamikage throws some exploding ninja-stars, but Dark Matter swerves out of the way. Now Dark Matter descends until its underside is brushing the crystal sea. Yamikage descends rapidly, throwing more exploding ninja-stars, but Dark Matter closes its eye. Oh, no... The eye's descent had been a trap! The biggest wave in Crystalline Waves looms in front of Yamikage. He hits it! He goes up! WAY UP! Now he slips... and falls from his still-climbing Winged Flyer. Maybe that thing was a bit too good at altitude adjustment! Well it doesn't matter now! Yamikage smashes through the crystal sea and is gone.
But someone else seems to be having difficulty riding the waves. Meta Drone, surprisingly, has had to dodge every one. And this little problem has allowed Kirby and Chuchu to catch up to him!
"Dude!" shouted Meta Drone. "What are, like, you doin' here?! I mean, we're chasin' Dark Matter... an' all. And you're, like, not suppose' ta be, like, following us. Yeah... I'm gonna have ta, like, deal wit' ya... dudes."
Before Kirby could do anything, Chuchu (quick as lightning) flew her warpstar right up to Meta Drone, grabbed one of his thrusters, swung the robot over her head, and threw him downward. Meta Drone sailed down through the crystal sea, leaving a Meta Drone-shaped hole behind. Unceremonious, yes. But very effective.
You go girl! And Chuchu lays the smack-down on another of the Meta Clan.
Oh, my. Dark Matter is turning again. Now it's heading north towards Machine Passage. But before it gets there, I can see that another racer has a chance of catching up to it!
Miraculously, Escargoon has managed to retain his accelerating speed for most of the flight through Crystalline Waves. Now the determined snail is coming up on Dark Matter!
But at the speed it's going, Dark Matter will very quickly reach Machine Passage. There it comes... Escargoon had better do something quick... Aah! Ooh! That was nasty! Well, it looks like Escargoon is out of the race too. Let's watch that... in an instant replay. Slow motion!
Escargoon sees here that the entrance to Machine Passage is coming up, but he's just slightly off. Going straight will send him into the outside corner of the dividing wall, but his machine can't turn fast enough! He collides... his machine takes a huge dent in its front... and... KABOOM! Escargoon goes sailing... down... into the Dark Cloud.
Oh, I forgot to talk about Machine Passage. Well, Machine Passage is a structure high above the area north of Mt. Dedede. It is a metal stronghold where King Dedede can hide in safety when an attack is imminent. It even has still-operational cannons. Gigantic stone columns provide support for this great structure.
Anyway, back to the race! The only contestants left are Meta Knight, Meta Sword, Meta Blade, Kirby and Chuchu!
There are many hard turns to pull off in Machine Passage, but all the remaining racers seem to be doing just fine maneuvering around them.
Now Kirby and Chuchu are getting close to the others. Their warpstar speed has been allowing them to steadily move up in place since the race's beginning. Ooh... It seems that Meta Sword and Meta Blade have spotted them... and are swooping in for the kill.
"Kirby?!" exclaimed Meta Blade.
"Chuchu?!" exclaimed Meta Sword.
"What are you doing here?!!" they both shouted, flying around Kirby and Chuchu in respective diagonal circles.
"We're here to destroy Dark Matter!" replied Kirby and Chuchu together.
"Well, we can't let them get away with that, can we Meta Blade?" said Meta Sword.
"No," replied Meta Blade. "We must end their ride here, mustn't we Meta Sword?"
"Yes," answered Meta Sword. "We must."
And the Meta duo fly in with whirling slices! But Kirby changes colors and pulls out a... Wow! Is that a double light-saber? Awesome!!! Oh, sorry about that, folks. Slipped out of character for a moment there. Anyway, Kirby spins his light-saber, but Meta Sword manages to zip by and give him a slice on the back. Chuchu lunges at Meta Blade, but he dodges, he makes a slice, and Chuchu manages to evade it! Kirby flies towards the Meta pair with slice after slice, but they masterfully dodge, showing off the outstanding abilities of their Hover Boards.
"You can never defeat us on our Hover Boards!" shouted Meta Sword.
"We were born to ride these things!" shouted Meta Blade.
Kirby spins his light-saber while flying at Meta Sword and Meta Blade. Chuchu throws eight rapid punches. Both of the Meta Clan dodge. Both make slices with their swords. Kirby gets cut again. Chuchu swerves out of the way again!
"How do we beat these guys?" asked Kirby.
"Don't waste your breath discussing plans," said Meta Sword.
"We are unbeatable!" shouted Meta Blade.
"Let them come to us," whispered Chuchu.
It seems that the fighting match has come to a standstill. Now the combatants are reentering the open air. They are now on a bridge between two areas of Machine Passage.
The two sword-wielders fly in and Kirby gets cut again. But wow! Chuchu! Let's watch that... in an instant replay. Slow motion!!!
Meta Sword thrusts at Chuchu... but she grabs him by the arm... whirls him sideways... and slams him into the surprised Meta Blade. The two are thrown from their Hover Boards and then fall... down... into the Dark Cloud. The only combatant left is Meta Knight!!! Oh, did I say "combatant"? I meant "racer".
Kirby stopped and called Gooey. The three cuts he had gotten were deep and hurting terribly. After getting a maximum tomato (the warpstar that brought it flew away afterwards), he and Chuchu entered the next twisting passage.
But now Meta Knight was too far ahead to be caught up to and there were multiple paths to choose from. Which way had he gone?
Kirby and Chuchu (after flying through a number of random passages) stopped in a warehouse-type room that had crates everywhere. They dismounted their warpstars and Kirby asked Gooey for help locating Meta Knight.
"I'm sorry, Kirby," said Gooey. "But my scanners aren't that powerful. They can't even find Galaxia."
"No," replied Kirby. "There must be a way to find Dark Matter's eye at least! Otherwise, we'll have come all this way for nothing!"
"Well," put in Chuchu, "we did, sorta, defeat most of the Meta Clan."
"Yeah..." admitted Kirby. "But we need to destroy Dark Matter before Meta Knight does!"
Suddenly, Meta Knight shot by overhead. But then he stopped.
"Aargh," he muttered. "I've been through here before. What a terrible place."
Meta Knight landed on a crate and folded his wings.
"Meta Drone," he said, "status report. Where is the eye of Dark Matter?"
Silence.
"Meta Drone?" repeated Meta Knight.
Kirby nudged Chuchu.
"If only you hadn't killed him," he whispered.
"That little robot was about to, like, kill us," she replied.
Meta Knight turned.
"Now you've done it," said Kirby. "He noticed us."
"What a coincidence to find you two here!" interrupted Meta Knight. Suddenly, his voice became a lot gruffer. He was clearly very angry when he said, "I'm sure you have something to do with no one else in the Meta Clan being here with us!"
Kirby and Chuchu exchanged glances and then hopped back on their warpstars.
"Oh, you're not getting away..." continued Meta Knight. "Engage emergency force field!"
Kirby and Chuchu raced for one of the passageways that led off of the room. Chuchu just barely made it out... but Kirby was too late.
Chuchu turned around outside and pounded on the invisible wall. Kirby could see, but not hear, her shout, "No!"
Meta Knight laughed darkly. "Well then," he said. "It looks like this battle will be ours alone. Normally, I would somehow procure for you a sword, but not today. Today the Meta Clan no longer exists and its code shall die with it. Yes, Kirby. I shall no longer restrict myself to the code of the Meta Clan in battle! I shall use every ability at my disposal! I know you may have increased in skill since we dueled, but I assure you that I was holding back in that match! This is it, Kirby. Prepare to feel my wrath! Utter pain and agony shall put your interfering to an end!!!"