The Once and Future Master...
Who can guess where the title of this episode came from? Anyone? Whoever does gets the NO PRIZE, copyright of Stan Lee.
Roll 'em!
Rochalam, Meta Knight and Strife...
Meta Knight and Strife had been crawling through the rocks for about an hour, trying to find others.
"Damn whatever force decided to crash our ass on this fucking rock," Strife cursed.
"We are obviously here for a reason, Strife. You and I know this. The Spirits we possess warn of us of such things. I knew our first destination was never Dream Star," Meta Knight replied, ignoring the obscenities Strife was muttering.
"What... how do you know about my...?" Strife trailed off, seeing the Slayus Forge.
"That is our current destination. We must go there if we are to find the others," Meta Knight replied, "Oh. And you are not the only Etheri on board."
Strife muttered in an annoyed manner.
"In fact, Kirby is one as well," Meta Knight finished.
"I figured that. The kid is maybe a few decades old and he's killing monsters some Star Warriors in their prime would have trouble with," Strife retorted.
"How did you unlock your Spirits?" Meta Knight suddenly said.
"What? Is there some certain way?" Strife asked.
"You're corrupt, heavily. You're a mercenary, a killer for hire. You indulge in murder and greed. Yet you unlocked both of your Spirits. How?" Meta Knight continued.
"Long story short, I almost died, but an Etheri, who I had been hunting, saved me. She brought me back from the brink, and unlocked my White and Black Spirit. I haven't been using the powers consciously. Recently, however, I've figured out what I am. And I will become and Etheri Master," Strife said, suddenly ducking down.
Meta Knight followed suit. They had gotten to a ravine, where two huge Shakerren Lords were fighting. A dead Shakerren Lord was behind them, and there seemed to be debris of blasted rock around the arena, particularly a large hole on one end of the ravine. The two Star Warriors slowly made their way around the ravine until they saw several smaller Shakerrens, bluish-gray in color, indicating that they were female.
Strife looked pissed, while Meta Knight remained calm, formulating a plan already.
"Strife, use two sword beams on the cracks right at the bottom of that large stalagmite," Meta Knight ordered.
Strife pulled out two of the swords strapped to his back and began focusing all his energies and emotion into a center. And he let that center flow through him, giving him immense power. Finally, he channeled that center into his swords and leaped into the air, slashing downwards. Two massive sword beams erupted from the tips, slamming into the base of the rock face. It began cracking more dangerously, but the female Shakerrens had noticed him.
However, before they could attack, another sword beam shot out from Meta Knight's sword, causing the base to crumble. The giant, pillar-like stalagmite crashed on the Shakerrens, killing them. The shattered remains scattered, most of them falling into the ravine. Fortunately for the two fighting, the worst they got was a scratch or two on the arm, which was nothing.
Unfortunately for Meta Knight and Strife, the Shakerrens decided to look at what had caused the shards of the stalagmite. That's when they found their mates kinda... flat.
They roared in a fury and crawled out of the ravine. They were considerably stronger than Cooral, and smarter too.
"Ah HELL naw!" Strife shouted, clicking his swords together to make one sword with two blades on the same end.
Meta Knight glanced up and saw what he had hoped for. The full moon. He channeled its tremendous power to help fuel his transformation. His armor glowed a silvery-white color, a crown-like crystal band formed on his head, and the image of the moon appeared on his right shoulder pad.
He had become Artemis Meta Knight.
"Damn! Everyone's tapping into their potential but me!" Strife mock-complained, leaping through the air towards one of the Shakerren Lords.
Artemis Meta Knight pointed Galaxia at the other Shakerren Lord's head. An image of a bow and arrow formed and the arrow lanced from it, piercing the Shakerren Lord's thick skull, but not actually killing him. Meta Knight flew forward, his sword glowing with a radiant energy.
Meta Knight slashed away at its head, his sword clanging loudly against the beast's thick scales. It swiped a might claw at him, intending to knock him away. His cape opened and seperated into two wings, now angelic. He flew towards the hand and slashed it off. The Shakerren Lord screeched in pain.
Strife was pretty much having a blast. He always did in battle. It was a natural state to him. He'd been away from a true battle for so long, it was a euphoria now. Intoxicating enough for him to not notice that the Shakerren Lord had a boulder about to pound him into oblivion until it was hurtling towards him from the side. He tried to dodge, but his leg was smashed into a pulp, following with his scream of pain, followed by a roar of fury.
He threw his double-bladed sword towards the Shakerren Lord, and it dug into its collarbone. He was rewarded with a shriek of pain. It wasn't concentrated, so he wasn't affected. He pulled out two more swords and jumped up, using his swords still strapped to his back to help him jump. They started rotating, having been attached to a motorized pack. They provided enough momentum for him to shoot up.
He slashed into the beast's gut, getting another few shrieks of pain. He then pulled out a dagger and had his arm cocked back, ready to "fire" the dagger and finish the fight.
It turns out that's not how the Shakerrens roll (I can't believe I typed that...) as the cry of the other Shakerren rolled through the crevices, and pierced into Strife, incapacitating him long enough for the beast to swat him down, injuring him severely on the rock.
Artemis Meta Knight ended the shriek with "severe facial lacerations" as some would put it. Or, in layman's terms, he slashed the hell out of it till it shut up. And died.
Strife cried out in pain, and the world faded a little bit. But then a white light emerged from his hands, and the world started rebuilding itself again. His foot was healed enough for him to stand on. His spinal cord snapped back together and his back's cuts healed up. He stood back up and prepared about three daggers in each hand.
The Shakerren Lord roared for a challenge.
Strife snarled in reply and spun around, throwing the daggers in rapid succession, the spin giving them severely increased momentum.
Four pierced its throat, halting its roar. Two pierced its head, instantly killing it.
Strife walked over to it, ripping his double sword out and snapping them back apart and sliding them in his pack. He removed a few daggers as well. He glared down at the Shakerren Lord.
"Did NOT know who it was-" Strife started.
"Let's go, Strife. Our destination is close," Meta Knight interrupted, having returned to normal.
They reached a high peak and were astounded by their finds. They saw several lines of warriors surrounding a platform. There were several beasts there as well, but they were mostly chained. On the platform were three figures, all looking rather... ominous. Because they were rather far away, it was hard to actually see who they were.
"Disciples of Sin! Here my orders! There are eight fighters here against us! They must perish for their insolence!" Bloodbath shouted.
"WRATH! VICE! BLOODBATH!" the Disciples chanted in unison.
"How are they alive? Wrath was destroyed and so was Vice," Strife asked.
"No. Wrath, Vice, and this new Bloodbath are made of Nightmare Matter. Wrath and Vice probably reverted to that state when they were defeated until they gained enough energy to come back and prepare our demise," Meta Knight said.
"That's comforting," Strife muttered.
"Come. We must get going before sundown," Meta Knight said.
"It gets darker here?" Strife half-shouted.
"Yes. Pitch black, in fact. And they can actually see in the dark. We can't," Meta Knight replied, already half-skating down the peak.
"Shite," Strife muttered, sliding down after him, "I hate this planet."
BADUM! BADUM! BADUM!