Blaarg! I may have to apologize for this chapter. I just am not satisfied with it. It's on the shorter side and there ain't much action in it. It seems like another transition chapter. Oh well...anyways, I hope for your reviews anyway. Anyway, my thank yous for the reviews

Lady HexaKnight: Sorry for not reading your story sooner. I've just been busy with stuff. But I did recently R&R it!

Xanxi: Thanks for your comment and peoples go to his forum! Because! You'd! be! Cool!

Heh heh. Anyways, enjoy...I hope.

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 9

Planning

"Excellent work," stated Meta Knight as he approached Kirby. "I see that you have gained your powers very quickly. I am impressed."

"Wait! You knew that this would happen? How did I gain those powers?" asked Kirby adamantly, now expecting an explanation.

Meta Knight nodded. "The Warp Star activates the power hidden in certain individuals. It brings out your full potential."

"Well…how did you know that it would do that to me? What do you know about me? Just who are you guys?" Kirby had so many questions to ask Meta Knight.

"…We are a group of mercenaries known as the Meta Clan. As for your other two questions, when I saw you yesterday, you could say that I just had a feeling about you."

Kirby wasn't satisfied by that answer though. "You're sidestepping me. I know I've seen you somewhere before."

Meta Knight didn't seem to be fazed by that. "You must be mistaken. You are wasting time. You do know that, don't you? You must go to Whispy's Woods and retrieve the Sparkling Star. Take this." He handed him what looked like an earpiece. "Keep this. I'm going to have one of my men keep in touch with you."

Kirby took it, still unconvinced of Meta Knight's reasoning, but he had a feeling that he wasn't going to get a straighter answer from Meta Knight. "Fine…" He jumped on the Warp Star and zoomed off over the canyon separating the two areas.

Meta Knight looked over to Trila after Kirby had left. "Now to deal with you…"

"Sorry Meta. When Meta-Droid told me about Kirby…I just had to know. Sorry."

Meta Knight smirked. "Don't worry about it. Your tenacity is just what I needed. I'm going to be taking Meta-Droid with me, but I need you to perform some reconnaissance on Dreamland's Ruler. As you've probably figured from my conversation with Kirby, the Sparkling Stars were removed." He could see her shocked expression in her armor. "Don't worry, he didn't find all of them," he reassured her. "I need you to find out as much about the king's plans as possible." He then handed her a headset. "Use this to keep in communication with me and Kirby. The first channel will send your messages to Kirby, the second to me."

"Ok Meta," said Trila. "But, how am I going to be able to get the information I need? Even if I can spy on him, how am I going to get him to blurt out the information? I'm gonna need help."

Meta Knight nodded. "I've thought about that. I already have a contact in mind. You over there, please come here."

Waddle Dee looked around; then, realizing that Meta Knight was speaking to him, nervously walked over. "Y-y-yes?"

"You seemed panicked about the thievery of the Sparkling Stars, am I correct?"

Waddle Dee replied, "Um…well yeah, I guess so…"

Meta Knight continued. "Do you want to help your friend get them back?"

"Yeah, but what can I do?"

"I'm glad you asked. This is Trila. She will take you back to the castle. Once there, you will follow all her instructions. That way, we will be able to learn where the Sparkling Stars are and what your king is planning on."

Waddle Dee meekly nodded. "Well…ok."

"Very well. Trila, you know what to do. Good luck." Meta Knight saluted Trila and it was returned. Trila then picked up Waddle Dee and blasted off to Castle Dedede. Meta Knight then turned to Meta-Droid. "Alright Meta-Droid, you brought the information?"

"Affirmative," stated the droid. "All data on Popstar has been collected and filed. What piece of information would you like first?"

"…Give me information on anything related to the Star Warriors."

A screen flipped open on the front of Meta-Droid. "There is little information regarding that subject. Most is under ancient folklore, artifacts, and locations. Which would you like first?"

Meta Knight thought long and hard. "Give me…locations."

Several locations appeared on the screen. Let's see…only a few…this shouldn't take long then…Fountain of Dreams…Rainbow Resort…Great Cave …Valley of Kabu…that's it. "Give me information regarding the Valley of Kabu."

The information appeared. Meta Knight read it. "The Valley of Kabu has been said to be the location of totems known as Kabus which were used as havens for Star Warriors and refugees during the War of the Nightmare. Supposedly, the essence of good dreams possessed these totems. No Kabu has ever been located…that doesn't help me at all…Meta-Droid, cross reference Kabu with all information."

Meta Droid chirped after about thirty seconds. "There is one more piece of information on Kabu. 'Kabu were believed to move into caves once the war had ended.'"

"Alright. Meta-Droid, I'm going to need you to make a geological survey of the area. If you find any large caverns on the mainland or surrounding islands, let me know."

"Acknowledged." Meta-Droid hovered off leaving Meta Knight alone. With nothing left to do, he decided to head back to the Fountain of Dreams to finish the damage control he had started the night before.

The events that had just transpired did not go completely unnoticed however. On the other side of the canyon, at the outskirts of Whispy's Woods, a small elf was lying in some tall grass, a strong pair of binoculars giving him clear perception of the group of people standing on the other side. He wore blue colored clothes, almost looking as if he were ready to make toys for everyone. The forest had been on alert ever since Dedede had threatened them. It seemed that these individuals were enemies of the king. The pink one seemed powerful and the elf watching him sincerely hoped that he had no plans of heading in his direction. Unfortunately, the pink one jumped on his star and started flying towards him. The elf picked up his walkie-talkie to contact his superior. "Big Blue this is Little Blue, over?"

The recipient responded. "This is Big Blue, go ahead."

"We've got possible hostile approaching from the north, about a mile off from us. Hostile will be over on our side within a minute. Your orders?"

After a moment of silence. "Keep an eye on the hostile but don't let it see you. We'll set a trap for it. Copy that?"

"Roger. 10-4. Over and out." The blue elf shut off his walkie-talkie and nestled lower into the grass, just as the pink one jumped off his star.

To be Continued

Well...? Whaddya think! I hope it wasn't to bad. More Kirby kicks enemy butt action next chapter! Promise:D