Hey, its been awhile. I've been busy with school, and honestly, this chapter was hard to write. I hope I did a good enough job with it. I double-checked for grammatical errors and such, and I think I got most of them...but maybe not. Xanxi, as always, thank you for the comments(btw, I had reviwed your latest chapter in your story, but alas, it never showed up on the review page :P)As for everyone else, please review. I've got nearly 150 hits. I'd like to know what some of you think. Any leitimate comment is welcome. You don't like something, tell me. I appreciate constructive criticism, and will consider it.

By the way, just as a small blooper for those interested: The Spark O's actual name is Spark i, a mistake on my part. For those who played Kirby 64, the Spark i were these blue diamonds that floated in the air and took potshots at Kirby. Just a fun little fact here. And for those who've ever seen the Kirby anime (specifically the Japanese) one of Meta Knight's lines in this chapter is taken from the first anime episode, in, oddly enough, a rather similar circumstance. See if you can find it.

Disclaimer stuff: Kirby and all characters that happen to fall under that franchise are owned by Nintendo and Hal. I don't care if you use any original characters that I make, however, it'd be nice if I get some credit for them. Enough legal junk, let's get on with the story.

Chapter 4

Discovery

Meta Knight stood atop the wreckage of the Halberd. The hull had been torn apart by the entry into Popstar's atmosphere. Much of his crew was also missing. He had spent hours searching for his missing companions but so far had only found Sword and Meta-Droid. He sat down to rest, contemplating the possibility that he very well may have lost most of his team. Even so, he had a mission to complete here.

Meta-Droid, a dark-green colored, domed head robot, hovered up to him. "Status report: Blade has been located."

"…Where?" said Meta Knight, feeling a glimmer of hope that he may still find his team.

"His location is at the remains of the navigational station. It is approximately one quarter of a mile away from here," Stated the mechanical voice.

"Show me." The two headed in that direction.

They found Blade and Sword trying to lift a large piece of debris. Blade wore light-green armor while Sword wore light-blue armor. As Meta Knight approached they stopped and turned to their leader. Blade spoke first. "Sir, Trila seems to be deep in the wreckage. She called out to us awhile ago. We've been trying to move the debris…but there's too much. We could use your help sir."

Meta Knight nodded then turned to Meta-Droid. "Go search for Masher and Butch."

"Affirmative." The robot flew off into one of the more heavily vegetated area.

Meta Knight then joined his two companions as they again attempted to lift the large piece of metal. After a few minutes of no success, they sat down to think of other solutions.

"Sir, if we could use another piece as a lever, we may be able to lift the piece," suggested Sword.

"…Alright, we'll use that piece over there. We can't lift too fast, otherwise we may bring the whole thing down on-"

Meta Knight was cut off by a laser blast barely missing him and hitting the large piece of debris, obliterating it. He turned to see about a dozen Spark O. "It looks like the Spark O sent for reinforcements…" Meta Knight pulled out a bladeless hilt. "Sword, Blade…let's do this."

Kirby and Waddle Dee anchored the small motor boat they had to a rock on the islands beach. About an hour after leaving the harbor, they found a large amount of smoke coming from one of the more distant islands and had decided to head towards it. The island looked like the average jungle island. Kirby, slightly confused on what Dee wanted to accomplish decided to inquire upon the subject. "So, Dee, why are we here again?"

"We're here to find the space ship. There may be some interesting stuff on it." Dee said as he began to walk off into the forest.

"Yeah, but I've been thinking and, well, if there were survivors down here, then don't you think they'd at least be annoyed that we're snooping around in there stuff? And what if they're mean and nasty? Then we're really in trouble."

"Kirby, we spent a good two hours finding this place. Now, I don't know about you, but I'm ready to explore here," Dee said, masking the fact that what his friend had just said was probably very true.

"If you say so Dee," Kirby sighed. The two walked into the tree covered area. "Dee, why are you so curious about these guys, anyways?"

"If you had seen what their ship did, you'd want to know about them too. Last night, they were in a battle with another ship, and then they suddenly just completely took it out with some massive beam. Then it came crashing down. Think about what discoveries about these people we could make."

"Dee, you really are crazy. If these guys are as tough as you make them sound then maybe we should…" Kirby was stopped from speaking by four blue-colored diamonds surrounding them. "Uh Dee…I think we might be in some trouble…" This was a pointless thing to say as Dee had already fainted out of sheer terror. One of the diamonds began to open, revealing a black orb with a menacing, yellow eye. The eyes began to glow seeming to charge some sort of energy. Kirby braced for the worst.

Suddenly, an axe flew across in a boomerang-like fashion. Three of the Diamond creatures were sliced in half, consecutively exploding. Kirby and Dee turned around to see a skull-faced creature, wearing a horned red helmet. The other diamond creature spun around, beginning to charge again. A giant mace came crashing down on top of it, obliterating the diamond. The mace was held by a giant in dark-blue armor.

"Butch, are you alright?" said the giant.

The skull-faced axe wielder nodded. "Yeah, Masher, I'm fine…What about those two? They definitely aren't Spark O."

Masher nodded. "Probably just some of the natives…I wouldn't worry about them."

Butch nodded. "Right." He began to walk away when he turned around to get another look at Kirby. He slowly walked up to him. "Are you from this area?"

Kirby quickly shook his head, intimidated by the skulled warrior.

Butch continued to stare at him. "What is your name?"

Kirby slowly gulped as he let out just enough air to pronounce his name.

Butch stood there for a second, looking as if he was struggling to make a decision. Then, he suddenly brought his axe out and held the blunt end against Kirby. "Alright kid, you're coming with us. Don't try to run away, because you'll just make it harder for yourself. Masher, pick up the other one. These two are our prisoners now."

Meta Knight sheathed his blade. The Spark O had underestimated them again. Blade and Sword were now pulling Trila out of the remaining wreckage. Blade walked up to Meta Knight. "She's lost consciousness, but it doesn't look like she was badly injured. We still don't know where Masher and Butch are though."

Meta Knight nodded. "They're a hardy bunch. They'll be fine. In the meantime, we have to set up a shelter. Blade, do you think you could repair the communications device? We need to be able to contact Cavios. We don't need to be here long, just long enough for me to check on the Fountain of Dreams."

"But sir, do you really think that there is any danger?" inquired Blade.

"I'm not sure…I just have a feeling that…never mind. Get those repairs started." Blade walked off. Meta Knight sat down, contemplating many things: his missing comrades, getting off the planet…the Dream Spring. In the middle of his thoughts he was interrupted by Meta-Droid. "Butch and Masher have returned. There are two other life forms with them. One is unconscious, the other appears to be walking between them. They have requested to see you."

Meta Knight, with Meta-Droid behind him, stood up and walked to the awaiting warriors, sincerely hoping that they had not caused any trouble. He saw Masher and Butch walking in the distance. He couldn't see the other one standing between them. Masher appeared to be carrying a small brownish life form. He approached them. "Masher. Butch. I certainly hope that there is a good reason behind this."

Butch nodded. "We found them in the forest, surrounded by Spark O. We were going to let them go…but then I saw this one and thought that you'd be interested." He moved aside to reveal Kirby standing there, still confused on the situation.

Meta Knight walked up to Kirby, his yellow eyes turning to a slight green color. "I…see…" He then turned away. "Let them go…"

"Sir, are you sure?" said Butch. Meta Knight turned and glared at him, his eyes turning crimson red. "Yes Sir." He and Masher began to take the two back into the forest area.

Meta Knight turned to Meta-Droid. "When they get back, we're going to have a meeting…we may be here longer than we thought."

To be Continued

R-E-V-I-E-W, I hope this word means somethin' to you. Love the story? Tell me. Hate it? Tell me why. Trust me, if you genuinely don't like it, I'll be willing to listen to your reasons. Expect the next chapter up soon. Probably sooner than this one.