Chapter 2: Rescue
Dust and rubble filled the air and Meta Knight shielded his face with his cape as he waited for the dust to settle so he could see. He hoped the three kids had made it through safely, but with Kirby hidden on the other side of the debris, the mumbies switched targets to the only star warrior in the room and Meta Knight prepared himself for another battle.
—-
Tiff coughed and got to her feet, dusting herself off.
"You okay?" Tuff asked her. He was sitting on the rocky ground, rubbing his head. Kirby was lying on the ground next to him.
"Kirby!" Tiff shouted and went to help her pink friend.
"Poyoooo." Kirby groaned, lifting an arm and sitting up.
"Oh good, you're okay." Tiff said with a relieved sigh.
"I'm fine too, thanks for asking." Tuff grumbled. He looked around before noticing a distinct lack of Knights around them. "Hey, where's Meta Knight?"
Tiff blinked and looked around. She called out, "Meta Knight?"
"Meeeta Knight!" Tuff shouted, but there was no answer, so he asked Tiff, "Did you see if he was following us when we ran through?"
"No, I was just focused on getting us and Kirby out of there!" Tiff ran over to the rock pile that blocked the entrance to the room full of mumbies, and she searched the ground for anything belonging to Meta Knight. She shouted for the knight a few more times.
"D-do you think he was.." Tuff didn't finish the thought.
"I think he's trapped on the other side!" Tiff exclaimed, putting a hand on the wall. She looked back at Tuff. "Last time Kirby fought a mumbie, he said they only attack star warriors! Now that Kirby is out here, he'll be swarmed by them!"
"Poyo?" Kirby asked, bouncing over in alarm.
"We gotta get him outta there!" Tuff replied.
Kirby ran along the length of the rocks, looking for an opening. If only there was a hole he could squeeze through. He tried sucking up the rockslide, almost pulling Tiff and Tuff off their feet, but the rocks didn't move.
"Hey, watch it, Kirby!" Tuff shouted, and Kirby stopped trying to inhale the rocks.
"That won't work, those rocks are just too big, Kirby." Tiff explained. "We need to find something to give you an ability!"
Kirby nodded that he understood, looking determined.
"Hey, I've got it!" Tuff announced, and he bolted down the open tunnel.
"Tuff! Where are you going?" Tiff yelled after him.
"To get Kirby an ability!" Tuff hollered back.
Tiff looked at Kirby, who immediately took off in pursuit of Tuff. She followed quickly, taking only one quick glance back at the cave in. Wondering how Meta Knight was faring against the mumbies. She'd seen how powerful he was before though, so she believed he'd be fine for now.
—-
Meta Knight was indeed being swarmed by the horde mumbies. He'd taken out quite a few already, but it seemed like every time he defeated one, there were infinitely more trying to attack him from all sides.
The knight had known his fair share of Star Warriors defeated by a horde of Mumbies. The mummified monsters were most effective in giant hordes. It was rarely ever one Mumbie. He'd been sure to investigate that there were no more Mumbies at the castle after King Dedede ordered one. This horde wasn't as bad as some he'd seen, but then again, it'd been more than just him fighting them then.
He dodged a bolt of black lighting one of the Mumbies fired at him. He'd moved away from the wall to avoid the attack, but that was a mistake. The Mumbies surrounded him immediately, launching lightning attacks to keep him from running away while some bit at the exposed area at the top of his head and at his arms and hand. One attempted to bite his sword hand and impaled itself on Galaxia, turning into dust. Meanwhile another Mumbie sunk his teeth into Meta Knight's left side behind his cape. The Knight whipped around, flinging the mumbie off of him and spinning off into the air. He turned to face the mumbie and they locked eyes.
A mistake Meta Knight realized when he was caught in the glowing purple gaze of the monster. He felt his energy trickling away as his sword got heavier in his hand. He forced himself to rip his gaze away from the Mumbie's and charged at one who was attempting to sink it's teeth into his head.
The Knight knew he had very few options now. He would either have to defeat all the Mumbies before he grew tired, or find a way out that the Mumbies couldn't follow him. Letting the Mumbies go wasn't an option now. They would aim for Kirby, and the star warrior in-training had trouble taking down one Mumbie. Whatever the case, he would have to do one of them soon.
—-
"Tuff, where are you going?" Tiff shouted as she ran after her brother and Kirby. "It would take almost all night to get to Cappy town or the castle to find something for Kirby and get it back here!"
"If this works, we won't have to!" Tuff answered. He ran into the small room they'd found earlier and ran straight for the ancient hammer. He picked it up, causing a big dust cloud.
"Good idea Tuff!" Tiff exclaimed.
"Kirby, suck it up!" Tuff instructed, tossing the old hammer towards their pink friend. Kirby opened his mouth and inhaled the hammer, swallowing it and transforming into hammer Kirby.
"Come on!" Tiff shouted, and the three of them ran back to where the ceiling had caved in. Tiff and Tuff stood back while Kirby got in his ready position. Tiff said, "I hope this works."
The pink warrior wound his hammer back and then swung it at the first giant rock, which exploded into rubble upon impact.
"Yeah! Way to go, Kirby!" Tuff cheered.
"Keep clearing those rocks, Kirby!" Tiff said.
Kirby didn't need to be told twice. He slammed the hammer into the next rock, and the next one, smashing them all to rubble. With one last mighty swing, he cleared the rest of the entrance, sending the rocks flying back into the room full of mumbies.
They could hear Meta Knight fighting the Mumbies, but as soon as the floating monsters noticed Kirby, most of them charged at him to attack, but the pink star warrior batted them down with his hammer.
Meta Knight had been taken by surprise when the blockade of fallen rocks exploded open, and more surprised to see Hammer Kirby, but he quickly pieced the clues together. Most of the Mumbies had stopped attacking him now, so he started cutting through them to thin the numbers to an easier amount for Kirby to handle. Although Kirby had an ability now, so he took down the Mumbies much easier.
Kirby was taking out monsters left and right, knocking them into walls, the floor, and each other. The number of monsters dwindled. When there were only a few left, Meta Knight sheathed Galaxia and went to stand by Tuff and Tiff, who were cheering Kirby on. They didn't notice him appear behind them so he could watch the last of the battle.
Kirby finished off the last monster, flattening it with his hammer. It disappeared and Kirby reverted back to normal and rejoined his friends. Tiff had noticed Meta Knight standing just behind them now, and Tuff noticed the knight when Kirby bounded over to him.
Meta Knight looked a little worse for wear. There were a few bite marks in his cape, and they could see a few on his armor and head as well, but he was standing wrapped up in his cape, so they couldn't see the ones on his arms, or the one on his foot.
"Poya?" Kirby inquired, tilting his head and looking at the older Star Warrior.
"I'm fine. Thank you." Meta Knight replied, a little gruffly, but not meanly. He could feel the adrenaline from battle wearing off, so now the bite marks were starting to ache, and he was feeling a little tired. Plus seeing so many Mumbies at once brought back some… unpleasant memories to say the least. He added, "Using the old hammer you found. Very resourceful."
"That was my idea!" Tuff grinned proudly. Meta Knight nodded in acknowledgement.
"I think we should head back to the castle now. Mom and Dad are probably wondering where we are." Tiff suggested. "Come on, Kirby, you can sleep over with us tonight."
"Poya!" Kirby nodded.
"Everything is wrapped up here." Meta Knight said in agreement.
Tiff led the way back out of the cave and Meta Knight escorted them back to the castle. He opted not to walk them all the way to their apartment in the castle, firstly because it might worry their parents, but also because he was feeling tired and sore. So he parted ways with them as soon as they got inside the castle, disappearing the way he normally did.
Tiff and Tuff didn't notice the knight's absence until they reached their door and Tiff was going to invite him inside. She wasn't surprised. He probably had other things to do anyway.
Tiff, Tuff, and Kirby enjoyed a dinner of leftovers before saying goodnight to their parents and finally going to bed, sleepy from their adventure, they fell asleep quickly. For them, it would be a peaceful night.
—-
Meta Knight, however, arrived home to two concerned knights.
Blade and Sword Knight were watching tv and eating food they'd grabbed from the kitchen when Meta Knight had returned home. Sword turned to say something, but he noticed the bite marks on the blue Knight's cape and head.
"What happened to you?" Sword asked, standing at once. Blade had noticed too and stood up as well, looking on guard.
"Cave and a Horde of Mumbies." Meta Knight answered, not elaborating. "It 's all wrapped up now."
Blade went to get the first aid kit while Sword tried to convince Meta Knight to sit down in his chair so they could take care of his injuries. Blade returned and Meta Knight took the first aid kit from him.
"Thank you, but I can handle it." Meta Knight said dismissively. He didn't feel like cooperating. What he really wanted to do was wash up and go to bed.
"It's okay, sir, we can do it." Sword tried to insist, but Meta Knight didn't budge. The blue knight could take care of himself, and although he appreciated the offer for help, he did not need to be pampered.
Sword and Blade sighed as Meta Knight stubbornly went into his room with the first aid kit to take care of his own injuries.
Meta Knight sat on his bed, his foot already feeling better now that he wasn't standing on it, and started dressing the bite marks so they'd heal faster. The ones on his back were annoyingly deep. He caught Sword and Blade watching him from the door as he dressed the bite on his arm, but he paid them no mind. They were just concerned.
The dressing he put on the bites made them sting, but after Meta Knight finished and polished the dust off his mask and armor he went to bed. Try as he might though, he couldn't sleep. Seeing the horde of Mumbies had brought back memories.. And he stayed awake for hours, lost in thought. Another restless night.
Author's Note: Hope you enjoyed my little head cannon about Mumbies. One Mumbie is trouble for star warriors for sure, but a horde of them could be devastating and left as a trap for an unsuspecting someone to release at random.
