The forest was dark, with shadows everywhere…any one of which could be concealing some unknown enemy. The moon was barely visible through the dense, uneven foliage above. They were looking at the back of an old oak tree...In front of the tree had been a plaque. It read This tree contains the spirit of Wispy Woods, the Guardian of the Forest. Tread lightly, and show respect.
The back of the oak had a strange carving on it, almost twice Brandon's size…in the shape of the key. Brandon stood marveling at what Kirby seemed to be saying was a Keyhole.
"I wonder…what is this Keyhole for?"
Feeling a slight chill, Brandon turned around in time to see a small figure step out from the shadows. The figure had yellow slits for eyes, or so it seemed. It had Kirby's shape, but was covered from…top of round body to bottom…with armor. In a hilt to its side was a golden sword with strange, wavy edges. It had a blue cape that was only slightly longer than it, but it flowed mysteriously in the wind. When it spoke, it had an almost Spanish accent. "The Keyhole…I never thought we'd have to worry about it. That Keyhole is not to be trifled with. The Keyhole helps to keep Dreamland in balance. Although…as of late, it seems to be slacking on its job."
Brandon appeared suspicious. "Who are you?"
"I am Meta Knight. I am one of the trusted knights of this kingdom's ruler, King Dedede. However, Dedede seems to have fled with the townspeople from Nightmare."
Kirby smiled. When Brandon saw this, he was put at least slightly at ease. Kirby seemed to know this Meta Knight, and Kirby didn't seem evil. Maybe Meta Knight wasn't, either. "Nightmare…I met a creature that called itself Nightmare in that castle up on the hill."
Meta Knight's eye seemed to raise itself…through his armor? "You met Nightmare face to face? And you weren't killed?"
Brandon looked confused. "No, I wasn't killed. He tried to tell me something about there being darkness in my heart, and asked me to join him."
Meta Knight pulled out his sword. "You are a minion of Nightmare!?" He asked suspiciously.
Brandon was surprised, but not afraid. He slowly pushed the sword out of cutting distance from his throat. "Calm down. I told the freak no. No way I'm getting involved with some floating shadowy piece of trash. I just wanna find my friend, Star."
"Waioooouh!" exclaimed Kirby, smiling.
Meta Knight resheathed his sword. "Kirby does not lie. If you do not mean Dreamland any harm, then I do not mean you any harm. I apologize for my outburst."
Brandon smiled. "No problem. I know how tough it is to trust people you've never met before. First thing after I left the castle, I was attacked by these three knights."
"You survived a battle with Nightmare's Elite Knights?"
"Well, it was kinda tough, but after I got the sword from one," Brandon said as he drew the sword and showed it to Meta Knight, "it wasn't that bad. I ended—wait…did you say ELITE KNIGHTS?"
"Yes. Nightmare employs many Heartless, but only three of them take the form of knights. They are Nightmare's Elite."
Brandon's eyes widened. "I…killed…Elite Knights?"
Suddenly, Brandon swung his sword in front of him in surprise as a flash of light approached. It seemed like it had taken a long time for the flash to hit his sword, but in reality, it didn't even take half a second for him to block it. Startled, Brandon staggered backwards a few steps. "What…what did you do that for?"
Landing silently on his feet, Meta Knight once again resheathed his sword. "It would appear you have excellent skill in battle. Tell me, child, where did you learn swordplay?"
"Swordplay? I never learned anything about swordplay…I just got this really bad feeling, saw a flash, and stopped it from killing me."
Meta Knight walked around Brandon, examining him. "Amazing. You are a mere child, with no expertise in swordplay…you probably never even saw a sword before tonight…and yet your reflexes and instincts are so great that you were able to defeat Nightmare's Elite Knights without beginning the battle with a weapon. I have never before met a child…or any creature with your kind of talents that did not learn from a master. Tell me, who are you, and where are you from?"
"My name's Brandon. I'm from Kanto."
"Kanto? Is that on another world? I've never heard of it."
"Probably…I've never been here. Come to think of it, when I was looking for Star earlier, Nightmare mentioned something about her being on another world…"
"Of course…the Heartless destroyed your world…"
"Destroyed? Shouldn't we have been killed if our world was destroyed?"
"No. When a world itself is destroyed, the people inhabiting it are not killed, but scattered. Scattered to other worlds, sometimes great distances apart. But distance does not matter. The Keyholes seal the worlds. They keep them separate from each other. Even if two worlds were but inches apart, it would be impossible for a normal being to cross between them."
"I see," said Brandon. He examined the Keyhole closely. It reminded him of something.
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"TAKE THIS, YOU UGLY FREAK!" Brandon threw a broken brick at the horrible creature that seemed to be tearing at the very world around it.
The creature didn't seem to notice Brandon at all. Brandon continued throwing bricks at the creature while Onix, Arcanine, and Milotic were attacking it. Misdreavus flew over behind Star.
"Misdreavus, what are you doing?"
Misdreavus picked up Star's pack, which had fallen on the ground, and brought it over to Brandon. "Miss…" she said, confused. She pointed back at Star, who was now charging the creature. In her hands, she held a strange looking sword…
---
Brandon snapped back into reality. "The sword…my friend had a sword…it was in the shape of a key…does that mean something?"
Meta Knight's eyes widened. "My friend…that means EVERYTHING."
