Chapter 18: Legend of the Glittering Star

The scenery the group arrived at was gloomy. It was almost as if the Hyper Zone's void-like nature had merged itself with the many structures that Kugel's society had built. Thankfully, there appeared to be some kind of barrier on the ground that allowed those traveling on foot to walk.

"Chamber, Striker is here, right?"

"Affirmative."

"Where?"

An immense dark energy surrounded the core of the Hyper Zone.

"Prepare yourselves, everyone!" Meta Knight unsheathed his sword in anticipation. Dedede and Bandana followed suit, assuming a combat-ready stance with their own weapons.

"Kirby!" he tossed a sword to his student, who grabbed it and obtained the Sword ability. He then spoke into a device he placed on his ear. "Did you hear that, ensign?"

"Loud and clear, sir."

"The final trap did not go as I had calculated. But no matter. It is mandatory to resupply before a mission."

The voice of Striker could be heard from all around the area. Ledo braced himself. A plume of dark energy opened up from Striker's large temple. The mech inside floated out ominously. The Striker that exited the plume looked much different than when he first saw it. Specifically, there were more red veins covering it and a big red eye in the currently open cockpit hatch.

"...it's Zero."

"Zero?"

"Not much is fully known about Zero, except that he is possibly the leader of Dark Matter and that Kirby defeated him twice. By the looks of it, Dark Matter might have been trying to revive Zero again, this time by having him become symbiotic with Striker."

"So... what? Would that make this thing a sort of Zero Three?"

"I guess you could say that."

The cockpit hatch on the Machine Caliber suddenly closed. "I will give you one final warning. Swear your life to me and I will spare all of you."

"If I said no the first time, what makes you think I'll say yes this time?!"

"Then perish." The mech fired off a shot that Chamber dodged. Upon regaining balance, the mech fired off the gatling gun.

"Gah! They're too high up for us to fight!" Dedede yelled.

"For you, maybe! Meta-sensei could easily help him out! Though…I think I might need the Wing ability myself…"

"I think we have something else to worry about, you two..." Bandana Dee uttered, pointing towards blobs of Dark Matter that had begun to form from pools below them.

"Geez. We don't get a break, do we?"

"Complaining won't defeat them more quickly! Come on!" Meta Knight called out.

"You think princess and his tin can will be okay fighting that bag of bolts alone?" Dedede looked back at them.

"...I have full faith in my subordinate."

Kirby gave a nod. "I have my full faith in him and Chamber, too! Because they're my friends!"

The king gave a smirk. "Heh. You're right. They got this far. There's no way they gonna die here!"

"Yeah! Let's go!" Bandana Dee cried out as they charged towards the blobs of Dark Matter.

For every round of missiles fired off and dodged, Striker was able to dodge and counter with a beam rifle shot. Like in their previous match, it was difficult to keep track of the two Machine Calibers. Meanwhile, on ground, it wasn't much easier.

"They just keep coming!" Bandana managed to stab two at once.

Utilizing a spin slash, Meta Knight destroyed a large majority of the blobs. A sudden large rumble drew his attention. It looked as if it was coming from Ledo and Chamber's own fight. Then the feeling came. It was a dreadful feeling, like he could feel all the anger, hate, and sadness around him at near-full volume. It had been in the back of his head this whole time, but it was particularly acting up now.

"Of all times this has to happen, why now?!" Meta Knight stumbled a bit as he cut several more apart.

"Meta-sensei…I don't really feel that good…" It seemed like his student was being affected by it as well.

"Hang in there, Kirby!" He quickly wrapped himself in his cape and teleported over, slicing apart the enemies that were starting to close in on the pink puff. "You were able to handle a Dark Star and Hyper Zone once already, Kirby! You can handle this!" Just as he said that he winced again.

"I know, but…it wasn't nearly as bad there as it is right now…" he stabbed some more of the blobs.

"This is because of Striker, no doubt…"

While Kirby and Meta Knight's species was famous for their incredible strength, they did have a few flaws. One in particular was their extreme sensitivity to the negative and positive energy that is exhibited through emotions. To much of a surge in said emotions could overload them, causing them to pass out. The reason why Kirby didn't need to worry about it during his previous battles with Dark Matter and Zero was because that specific Dark Matter was "perfected" so to say. It was at its completion, all it needed to do was possess people giving off these energies and spread itself further. However, Striker was using it as a power source, forcing Dark Matter to constantly be generated and strengthened by negative emotions, likely why that rain ritual was happening. All of these factors resulted in a Hyper Zone that emitted powerful surges of pure, raw negative emotion. To make it even worse, they seem to be growing stronger and stronger as time passes and with each surge, the two puffs began to feel more and more lightheaded. There is no doubt about it, Striker was trying to create a Dark Star.

The knight was broken out of his thoughts by a sudden hammer swing.

"MK! If you and that pink lump can't handle this, then get outta here!" the king gave a knowingly concerned look towards them, aware of why the two puffs were acting so unusual right now.

"Dedede, do you really think that you and Bandana can handle this alone?!" he shouted.

"I don't think! I know!" the king gave a grin as he charged towards the enemies.

"This isn't the time for you to show off your stupid pride, Dedede! This is serious!"

The penguin glared towards him. "I'm dead serious, Meta Knight." The weighty tone Dedede's voice had when he said that was so unlike him it was startling.

"Great King, I'm right behind you!"

"Alright, let's smash some heads then!"

Before the king and his assistant could charge forward, they were cut off by a freezing laser. "GAH! HOW DARE YOU! THIS WAS SUPPOSED TO BE MY MOMENT OF GLORY!"

"Is that how you thank someone who helped you? That's a bit rude."

"Daroach!" the mouse thief tipped his hat brim upon hearing Kirby exclaim that.

"Here! This should give you two some energy!"

"Adeleine and Ribbon!" The fairy tossed two pieces of cake the artist painted towards the two puffs.

"Thank you!" the pink puff handed one to Meta Knight, who took it hesitantly.

"…thank you."

"Geez, talk about perfect timing…" Dedede mumbled, but there seemed to be some positivity in his tone, sharply contrasting his angry tone from earlier.

"Sorry, we would've gotten here sooner, but we had to finish off all of those minibosses!" Adeleine smiled.

"I'm just happy you guys are here!"

The knight looked to his student, who appeared to be feeling better already. He himself also began to feel the dread began to wash away. Naturally, a rush of positive energy has an opposite effect on his and Kirby's species, even allowing them to survive large surges in negative energy if needed.

A giant sword cut down several more of the blobs as Magolor's group arrived on the scene. "Oh, sorry, are we late to the party?" he gave a mischievous smile.

"Looking above us, it seems it just started…" Taranza pointed towards the sky.

"We may be limited with what we can do in the air, but we should do what we can to help him from the ground." Susie launched some drill bits, which attacked Striker.

"ACHTUNG!" Shortly after, Marx rocketed out of the ground, startling a handful of people. "Wow! If you guys were scared by that, it's a miracle that you made it this far! I think I know a phrase that relates to that, but it slipped my mind…Geez, so many Treppenwitz today…"

"Nobody cares! Just focus on fighting these things!" Bio Spark shouted as he cut through several of the blobs.

"Don't forget about us!" Nago ran through riding on Rick in his stone form, followed by the other Animal Friends, who also began to attack the blobs.

A burning fireball rocketed through several of the matter blobs. "Gooey has also come to help!"

"Lord Meta Knight, what are your next orders?" The knight turned to see that his subordinates arrived.

"Trident Knight, Javelin Knight, both of you assist the ensign! I don't think we can destroy Striker, but if you can give him openings, he will. Axe Knight, Mace Knight, cover them!"

"YES, SIR!"

"We'll join you in providing cover fire!" Francisca, Flamberge, and Zan Partizanne had also arrived and were preparing their cannons.

More blobs were pierced by spears that appeared from magic circles. "Did somebody order assistance?"

"Ah! Hyness is here, too!" Kirby exclaimed.

Dedede slammed his hammer on the ground. "Alrighty everyone! Listen here! All of you that can shoot, focus your fire on that bag of bolts! The more hits Chamber an' Ledo can get in, the faster we can trash that thing! Everyone else fight these blobs and provide cover for 'em, ya hear?"

There were several nods of understanding.

"Great! Now, let's get this party started!"

After several more missiles were fired off, Striker managed to land a shot directly hitting the left missile launcher, forcing it to be disposed. Another high-speed flying and shooting match ensued, forcing the ensign to be on guard for attacks.

"How is it this strong without a pilot!?" Ledo grumbled as he dodged another laser.

"Striker must have analyzed the way that Lieutenant Colonel Kugel pilots and used that data to optimize its autopilot program. It is 47% more agile than me."

That would probably explain it. Kugel was the leader of his own unit for a reason. Striker's high-speed shooting was hard to dodge, causing several near misses.

"Surrender and obey."

While Chamber didn't seem to be taking any damage, it was unknown how long that would last. Not to mention that a time limit had also been put on defeating Striker, based on what Meta Knight said. There was no way he was going to let a Dark Star form. The two mechs clashed.

"Submission leads to peace. Understand that, ensign Ledo."

With a flick of the wrist, the gatling gun was wrecked, forcing it to be discarded. He fired off multiple shots at Striker to force it to back away. The two stared at each other in a stalemate, waiting for the other to attack first. Suddenly, several swords burst out from the ground, attacking Striker.

"What the!?" the young man looked down to see a small object flying straight towards the opposing Machine Caliber. "Is that…Dark Meta Knight?"

"The one and only!" The copy grinned.

"You! Why are you here?!" Meta Knight shouted.

"Relax Mety, I'm not here for you this time! I'm here for the flying junkyard who thinks they can use me and get away with it!" He created several mirror copies of himself before charging towards the machine.

"Is he suicidal?" Dedede grumbled.

"No, your highness, I think he's just very angry, right Meta Knight?" Bandana turned to see Meta Knight being strangely quiet while listening to the device that allowed him to talk to Ledo and Chamber.

"Yo, what's up?"

"Meta-sensei, what's wrong?"

The knight silently put a hand to his head, slightly trembling. "…Ledo…for the love of Nova…please don't…"

With Dark Meta Knight now distracting Striker, now was the chance for him to counterattack. There was only one thing Ledo could think of that could possibly defeat the Machine Caliber. It might startle the others, but there was no other option that he could think of.

"Chamber! Maximize! Enable Neuro-Plus power!"

There was silence from the machine in reply to that order.

"I cannot authorize that. Without proper support, neuromechanical merge is suicidal."

"I don't care, do it anyway!"

"Permission denied."

"Ledo… for the love of Nova…please don't…" He heard a faint voice come through a connected device, but immediately shut off the volume. This was a decision between him and Chamber.

Then, as if realizing the reasoning for Chamber's response, Ledo gave a sad smile. "It's okay, Chamber. I must clear the shame of mankind's name. I feel the same as you did earlier about what Striker had said."

No response.

The young man looked at the opposing Machine Caliber. "The more I think about it, the more it makes sense that Striker could synchronize so easily with something that feeds off negativity like Dark Matter. It's a monster given birth to by a species that couldn't stop hating each other, even after it costed them their home. You and I were born and raised in the same dimension…no, in the same world that it was. The three of us are the same and therefore don't belong on this peaceful planet. Not only that, but we can't return home either, so it doesn't even matter what happens. As long as we can stop this thing and save Dreamland, I'll have no regrets."

There was silence between pilot and machine.

"Final confirmation: are you willing to sacrifice your life, ensign Ledo?"

The young man tried to answer, but hesitated. Several thoughts began to scramble around in his mind. All he felt he could do is speak what he felt.

"I…"

His mind flashed back to all of the experiences he had in Dreamland. That time where the puff and his friends showed him around Dreamland. The Megaton Punch tournament. The Gourmet Race. Even just talking with those he met.

"My whole life...I knew how to die…" he clenched mech's controls.

"…but I didn't know how to live…" the more he remembered the events, good and bad, that took place while in Dreamland, the feeling of wetness that had begun to develop in his eyes became stronger.

"But… Kirby… no, not just Kirby…it was also Lord Meta Knight…and King Dedede…and Bandana Dee…they were there to help me find out how to live…" The quartet's words of encouragement from that night on the Halberd entered his mind.

"I wish I could've seen them again…" At this point, tears were streaming down Ledo's face.

"I wish…I could hear their voices again…" there was a moment of silence before he was startled by an alarm and the cockpit's sudden change to an orange hue. Several warning screens appeared on the monitor.

"Your current mental state makes you unfit to continue as a soldier. As such, I am relieving you of your military duties, effective immediately."

"Wait, Chamber!"

"Noncombatants are not permitted to enter the cockpit. Exit the unit immediately."

He was jolted by a sudden rumbling.

When Ledo looked down, he saw that his cockpit was detached from the top of Chamber's head.

"What are you doing, Chamber?!" he shouted.

"I am an interface system that oversees and supports the development of pilots. I exist solely to set you up for success."

"Are you serious…? But you…" The mech turned to face him.

"These skies and seas hold great possibilities for you. Stay alive. Pursue happiness. I expect much from your life." The mech then turned back away from him.

"Chamber…" the young man sounded as if part of his heart was crumbling.

He noticed several teleportation moves happen in a row around him. He wondered what it was until he saw it was Kirby wearing a sideways-turned baseball cap with balls of energy in his stubs. He recognized it as the ESP ability.

The puff stopped right in front of Chamber.

"CHAMBER!" A burst of psychic energy halted both the detached cockpit and the machine. "LEDO STILL NEEDS YOU, YOU DUMMY!"

"Kirby…!" the young man was stunned from both the puff's words and the burst of energy.

"You're not done with your duties yet, Chamber. Ledo still needs your strength if he wants to survive." While it was a bit shakier than normal, he knew that it was Meta Knight.

"The kid may have been disqualified from being a soldier, but he's still green when it comes to being human." Daroach nodded.

"Do you remember the Invader Armors, Ledo? All of our employees can pilot them, and they aren't soldiers! Plus, I'm a secretary and I have my own machine! My point is, you can still be a pilot even if you're not a soldier!" that was unmistakably Susie.

"Besides, there ain't no way you dyin' unless I give you permission to, ya hear?!"

"Kirby! Return the cockpit to Chamber!" Meta Knight ordered.

"Roger!" More psychic energy washed over him and saw that he had returned to controlling Chamber.

"Now, go get 'em! Ledo!" Dedede cried.

"Yeah." He looked down at the console that held his communication device. "Chamber…I said that I don't know how to live… but even if I don't know, I can find out how…with Kirby and everyone…"

"There is no failure in your logic."

With a new determination, he glared at the machine in front of him. "Give me access to Maximize mode."

"Roger. I will trust your judgement."

"Take these!" a rainbow-colored sword and a heart-shaped rod were tossed to Kirby, who combined the two into a single weapon.

"What are you doing? What's that thing?"

"I'm giving you the advantage in this fight! I call it the Rainbow Stick!"

An immense power began to radiate from Chamber's harpoon-spear.

"The Rainbow Sword and the Love-Love Stick were weapons used to defeat Dark Matter and Zero in the past. The Love-Love Stick should make it particularly effective due to being created with pure positive energy from the Heart-Stars." Meta Knight explained.

"Ah..."

"Ensign Ledo. You are not fit to be a soldier. You must be eliminated." Striker finally was able to break free of Dark Meta Knight's mirror sword attack.

"I don't care what you say about me, I'll live! I'll live and fight for this planet!"

"My mission is to support Ensign Ledo in that fight."

"Let's go, Chamber! There's nothing to hold us back anymore! Maximize! Enable neuro-plus power!"

"Roger."

The lines on his pilot suit began to turn green, which was synced up with the colored lines on Chamber's own body changing to a green color.

"Connecting all systems to the central nervous system."

His mind slowly merged and began to feel one with the AI, letting out a slightly pained groan.

"Critical performance limit updated to 153%. 482 seconds until vital signs fail."

"That's plenty." He uttered with in involuntary twitch.

"Resistance is futile, ensign."

With a charge, Chamber managed to damage Striker.

"Furthermore, a development support system does not have the authority to relieve its pilot." Turning his machine, several missiles were launched at the opponent, each barely hitting. Striker countered by destroying the right missile launcher, forcing the ensign to switch to using the beam rifle.

"Similar to you, this machine has confirmed system changes." The bayonet on the front of his beam rifle shot out on a line, wrapping itself around the machine's leg.

"Don't let go!"

Striker flew about at high speeds in an attempt to shake them off, but to no avail. The immense change in pressure and speed put a lot of weight on the young man's body, but his machine continued to hang on tightly. The two machines fired at each other until a stray shot hit the line connecting the two, causing Chamber to spin off in front.

"T-minus 20 seconds left. Continued use of neuromechanical merge after that point will result in your death."

The young man was huffing, and his heart was beating like crazy. His head was throbbing in pain.

"Just…a little bit longer…"

While intense on his own part, that clash did appear to deal much damage to Striker. It seems the others were right about the Rainbow Stick being the right weapon for this job.

"Unit number K6821, you have abandoned even the first principal of support systems. You are clearly malfunctioning. Reset and reboot immediately. This is your final warning." The opposing Machine Caliber advanced, firing its beam rifle, each and every shot being dodged.

"My response to your final warning is as follows."

Chamber thrusted the spear with one final burst of speed.

"Go to hell, tin can!"

There was a moment of hesitation upon the clash.

"…it's over."

The harpoon-spear had pierced Striker's head, including the core of Dark Matter. The mech was heavily damaged, as if the veins had retreated due to being destroyed. Body lines beginning to return to a normal blue color, Chamber flew back a bit and watched the opposing machine explode. A few of his allies had to avert their eyes from how bright the explosion was. When the light faded, there was nothing left but a glittery residue that fell upon them like snow. "…he did it!" Kirby was the first to speak up as Chamber landed.

"Guys! Look! Ledo did it!"

That was the moment everyone broke out into cheers.

"He did, didn't he?" the knight gave a sigh of relief.

"That means the Hyper Zone should fade away soon."

"Hahahaha! I told y'all he wasn't gonna die! He can't without my permission!"

"Hold on, we can't say for sure, Great King! We don't know how long he was in that merged state for! There's a chance that system thing was cut off too late!"

The crowd died down as Meta Knight began to listen in again. His hands were noticeably shaking as he listened to what was going on.

"I'm…still alive…?" The young man panted heavily. Every part of his body was screaming out in pain with his head in particular throbbing as if it was under immense pressure.

"Affirmative."

He barely managed to catch his breath again. "…the Hyper Zone should disappear soon… correct?"

"Affirmative."

"That's…a relief…" he never felt so…tired. His eyes were slowly beginning to close.

"I detect several abnormalities in your brainwaves. Ensign Ledo, I recommend seeking medical attention immediately. I am contacting the Halberd now to request assistance."

"Chamber, just… please…let me rest a bit…"

He could hear panicked yelling as his eyes closed and his consciousness faded to black.

Was anyone expecting me to go the Super Robot Wars route with this? It'd be a nice surprise for those who didn't expect it, I imagine..

I would have tried to extend the length of this chapter, but I feel this is just the right length and nothing could really be added.

So what will happen next? Well, wait another week to find out! (Unless you're reading this after I already uploaded the next chapter or completed the story. Then never mind.)