[Chapter 4. I know I haven't used many OC's yet but they will all come in time, likely fairly soon. Anyway, enjoy.]
Tiff made her way towards the castle with Kirby by her side. She wished she was him right now, oblivious to everything. She had only known Reverie for a day but felt torn inside that he had disappeared. She also couldn't help but wonder why Meta Knight stopped them from helping Reverie. It was obvious though that if they did they may have disappeared along with him, but could they have done something? Tiff looked to Kirby who appeared a bit spacey, maybe he was confused about what had happened.
Tiff thought again about Meta Knight. She wanted to ask him what had happened and why he intervened. Tiff however trusted and respected him too much to question him and his judgments. For now she only wished to return to the castle, maybe read a book to clear her head.
Meta Knight, who had split off from them shortly after his intervention had already returned to the castle and back to his quarters where Sword and Blade awaited him.
"So, how'd it go?" Blade asked.
Meta Knight was silent and took a seat in his chair before he spoke.
"Not what I had expected" Meta Knight told them.
"Oh? And what might it have been?" Blade asked.
"I do not know, all I can say is that there is more to that machine and most likely Reverie than we can comprehend" said Meta Knight.
"Will you continue to keep an eye on him then?" Sword asked.
"No, Reverie and his machine disappeared" Meta Knight replied.
Dedede however was making much less progress with his day as he sat in his throne room watching television on the massive monitor protruding from the wall. Aside from the events an hour and a half prior to now, today was proceeding slowly for everyone. Even Escargon was doing little with his time. In town however, everyone was busy setting up for a celebration that they had no clue was now meaningless.
As Dedede watched whatever programs happened to be on, the television began to flicker. As it did so his eyes shifted in concern until the flickering ceased. Relieved that it had fixed its self he relaxed again only to have it flicker yet again.
"What's the big idea! Waddle Doo!" Dedede shouted.
A response was received almost immediately as Waddle Doo hurried to the king.
"Yes sir!" said Waddle Doo.
"Fetch me Escargon, something's wrong with the TV!" Dedede demanded.
"Yes sir!" said Waddle Doo with a solute.
Waddle Doo left the throne room and hurried to where he had last seen Escargon. As it was, Escargon was where he had thought, in his lab with a number of Waddle Dee assistants.
Escargon stood before a table, staring at a large pile of notes and books, flipping through them.
"Nothing, nothing! I haven't come up with anything since Holy Nightmare got wiped out. C'mon Escargon, you never needed them… if only there were some way to get some extra parts" said Escargon with a mix of talking to the Waddle Dees as well as himself.
"Escargon Sir! His highness requests you in the throne room" Waddle Doo stated.
"Of course he does, wonder what pointless reason it is this time" said Escargon frustrated.
Heeding Waddle Doo's message, Escargon made his way out of the lab and towards the throne room which was still experiencing difficulties.
"Escargon, it's about time!" Dedede growled.
"Yes, what exceedingly important task do you have for me now?" Escargon asked, a hint of sarcasm in his voice.
"Lookie there, I think the TV's busted or someth'n" said Dedede pointing to the flickering television screen.
"And I assume you want me to fix it then" said Escargon reluctantly.
"Yea, that's right" said Dedede.
"You know sire, you really aught to find something better to do with your time" said Escargon.
"There aint nothin' else to do" said Dedede.
Moments later the screen turned completely black.
"Awe, damn it, the whole things done gone and busted. Get ta fix'n it Escargon" Dedede ordered.
"Right away sire" said Escargon reluctantly.
Just as he began moving to fix the television an image appeared on the screen. Both Escargon and Dedede stared at its hocked. It was the familiar logo of a purple cloaked figure, then the words appeared beneath it reading Holy Nightmare Co.
"What's this about?" Dedede asked.
"Holy Nightmare?" said Escargon surprised.
They continued staring at the screen until it grew fuzzy for a moment. However, instead of fading out, another image began to appear taking the entire screen and replacing the logo. As the image began to focus the two could see another figure beyond it. As it cleared it appeared to be a person wearing a black, featureless mask, save for the eyes which appeared to have yellow lenses over them, tinting the eyes behind them. Much of the rest of the person's figure was off screen but they noticed snow white skin on the neck and shoulders as well as a long white tail in the background. When the image finished focusing the person took a more proper posture and stared towards them. The background appeared as if this location was overlooking the sea, From the edge of a forest.
"Just who do you think you are mess'n with my television like that!" Dedede shouted.
"King Dedede, a pleasure to make your acquaintance. From what I can tell, you were once a valued customer of the Holy Nightmare Corporation" said the figure in the screen.
"Holy Nightmare? Yea, I've made use of their services in the past, before they done got themselves wiped out by that pest Kirby" Dedede explained.
"Of course you did, I have the records. I thought it prudent to make contacting you my first priority" said the figure in the screen.
"Well just who are you and what do you want?" Dedede asked.
"Who am I?… well, I suppose I'm an heir, or maybe the heir. Hmm…what's important is what I want. Well, I have orders, or something like them. For now I need to return the spread of demon beasts. As a favored client, I wish to extend my services to you… or return the one you once had. If you have need of any demons beasts you may contact me in the manner you've done in the past" said the figure on the screen.
"Really? Well I'll be. This is great! This'll make thrashing that Kirby and that new friend of his much easier. Now then, you gonna give me a name or not?" Dedede asked.
"You seem highly interested in knowing my name. unfortunately I haven't got an answer for you… well, nothing that would satisfy you. Hmm… if you need to call me something then I will give you a name you are familiar with. You may refer to me from here on as Nightmare" the figure in the screen stated.
"Nightmare huh? Just like the last one… so Nightmare, you got any demon beasts for me today? It's been too long" said Dedede.
"Actually I do, in fact, the only one currently in my possession. A prototype, an experiment, whatever you wish to call him. And don't worry about payment, he's free. I planned him as a gift, he is yours to do with as you wish. The only thing I ask of you is to keep an eye on him. I do not have the same access to demon beast creation as the original Nightmare and this guy will be the key to helping me resolve that. I will send him your way now" said Nightmare, activating a switch.
In a moment, the transporter in the center of the room rose up and deployed, immediately beginning to light up. Dedede turned to the machine, the excitement in his eyes, extraordinary. Escargon was more surprised to see that they were seeing another demon beast coming through the machine. The light shone brighter as the demon beast passed into the machine and finally began to fade away. Dedede and Escargon moved closer to the machine, tense with excitement at what it could be. Their expressions dimmed down when the light cleared and revealed the demon beast.
It was a small hooded figure, possibly only slightly taller than Kirby, it's eyes and much of it's nose covered by the hoods shadow. The face that shone was light blue with round, squishy looking cheeks. On it's cheeks were darker blue pointed patterns. The creature reached up and rubbed it's eyes beneath the hood and seemed to stare up at Dedede and Escargon. the creature had light blue hands and large light blue feet that weren't covered by it's black coat. a distinctive feature was found on the backs of it's hands where there appeared to be two large dark blue gemstones bordered by gold skin.
"What? Is this some kinda joke!" Dedede asked.
"No, I don't think so. I know very little about him aside from the fact that he can provide me with information I need. If you would keep an eye on him and give me reports on his status and anything new I will reward your work" Nightmare explained.
"Really? That'll be easy. Alrighty, I'll take care o' him for ya" said Dedede.
"Excellent. Now then, before I go there is something you should know. He should respond to the name Hal. You need to be very careful with him. He has power but until something triggers it, it remains dormant. That means that you may accidentally trigger it if you aren't careful. Also, since I'm no good with this business stuff, I will be working on obtaining assistants. You may recognize him when you see him. Now then farewell" said Nightmare before disconnecting from Dedede's castle.
Dedede stared at the little creature before him who stared back silently sitting, he seemed curious about the two.
"Well now little guy, Nightmare wants me to keep an eye on you… and speaking of eyes, let's see what you look like" said Dedede reaching down to Hal's hood.
"Careful sire, you heard what Nightmare said" Escargon warned.
Hal stared up at Dedede's hand and watched it as it grabbed his hood. Dedede slowly lifted the hood but was forced back by a sudden flash of light when the hood reached eye level. As Dedede fell to the floor Hal shrieked in pain, holding his eyes tightly with his hands and reaching for his hood. As he tried, a number of small bursts of energy exploded around the room.
"What's go'n on Escargon?" Dedede asked in a fluster.
"Looks like you did exactly what you were told not to do" said Escargon rising up.
As they stood up Hal continued to flail around on the transporter trying to pull the hood back over his eyes until he final managed it, causing the explosions to cease immediately. Hal sat up breathing heavily and hugged the knees of his stubby legs to his chest. At this Dedede and Escargon proceeded to approach him. Hal watched them with a teary face until they neared him.
"Well that sure was someth'n. what say you go take out Kirby with that" Dedede suggested.
Hal continued to stare up at them silently.
"Awe great, looks like this guy doesn't even know what you're trying to say" said Escargon.
"Then looks like we's gonna have to show him" said Dedede as he reached out to Hal again.
Hal gasped and backed away.
"C'mon, what's the matter?" Dedede asked.
When Dedede moved closer, Hal whimpered and grabbed his hood pulling it over his face.
"Stay still" Dedede ordered.
Dedede moved in on him again, reaching over the transporter but Hal continued to back away until his foot stepped off the edge causing him to fall to the floor onto his back. As Dedede and Escargon rounded the machine Hal looked up and scrambled to his feet before grabbing his hood again and running out of the throne room in tears.
"Hey! You get back here right now!" Dedede ordered but received no response.
Fortunately for Dedede this wasn't entirely a Reverie or Kirby chase as Hal seemed a bit slower. As he and Escargon charged out into the hallway following him however, they tripped over a passing Waddle Dee. Hal continued running, picking up speed as he got a feel for his legs but as he neared a door in the passage he also tripped. However it was over his own feet. As he fell he crashed into the door and bounced backwards. The impact caught some attention and someone shortly came to the door to investigate. As it was, it was the cabinet minister.
"My my who might you be?" the cabinet minister asked.
Hal looked up into his eyes then rushed inside. Once there he turned to the door and breathed heavily, watching as the Cabinet Minister closed it.
"Oh deer, I wonder what's the matter with him" said the wife.
"Are you alright sir?" the cabinet minister asked as he approached.
Hal backed away slightly.
"Oh deer, he seems really scared" said the wife, just as the door busted open followed by five Waddle Dees, a mallet wielding Dedede, and Escargon.
Just as he did, Hal ran and took cover behind the curtains.
"Pamu, Memu, either of you two seen someone suspicious come run'n in here? Dedede asked.
The two in the room looked at one another, they knew exactly who he was looking for. Knowing Dedede he likely didn't have a good reason for catching him.
"What do you think you're doing here Dedede, you have no right just barging in here like that" said the wife Memu.
"What! This is my castle, I can do whatever I want!" Dedede shouted.
"N-now Dedede, please forgive Memu. What she means to tell you is that-" Pamu began before being cut off when Dedede noticed someone peeking out from behind the curtains.
"There you are, get him Waddle Dees!" Dedede ordered.
The Waddle Dees rushed forward to capture Hal. Hal gasped and ran our from behind the curtains to the living room where the Waddle Dees pursued him. Hal ran around the coffee table prompting some Waddle Dees to chase him and attempt to surround him. He then quickly ran up onto the coffee table and jumped over the Waddle Dees onto the couch where Dedede and Escargon awaited him. Jumping onto the back of it he attempted to jump over them but was caught by Escargon. Only for a moment however as he managed to squirm free from the snail's arms and rush out the door.
"Gahhh! Good go'n Escargon!… well what are y'all wait'n for. Go get im!" Dedede ordered.
The Waddle Dees scrambled around for a moment, bumping into one another before they managed to make it out the door. Dedede and Escargon followed shortly nearly knocking Tiff and Kirby to the ground as they approached the door.
"You've gotta be kidding me. Who's that jerk chasing this time?" Tiff asked annoyed.
"Poyo" said Kirby following after them.
Tiff began her own chase yet again. As before, Hal picked up speed as he ran, almost a bit much for him. A door appeared open to the right and he passed through it continuing down a well lit corridor with light streaming in through two long rows of windows. He looked behind himself to see the others in pursuit. Returning his attention forward he set his goal for the door at the opposite end. As he passed through it he found himself atop a round tower. He then looked back to his pursuers.
"Ha ha, nowhere to run now Hal!" Dedede shouted.
Hal began to breath heavily again and turned to the rise of the wall and climbed atop it as his pursuers made their way onto the tower.
"End o' the line palie, now c'mon, I've got orders for ya" said Dedede.
"You're not plan'n to jump are you?" Escargon asked finding him ridiculous.
Hal looked down to see the moat of water surrounding the castle. He looked back to the others who were closing in on him, then took notice of the others behind them.
"Dedede! What's the big idea this time!" Tiff asked.
"Poyo!" said Kirby demandingly.
"What are you two do'n here. In case ya can't tell, my new demon beast decided to run from me. Now we're gonna catch him" said Dedede determined.
Tiff looked beyond Dedede to the hooded figure atop the wall, his fear was obvious.
"What's the matter with you, he's obviously afraid of you" said Tiff.
"An he's gonna be even more afraid if he don't get himself over here now!" Dedede shouted more towards Hal.
Hal watched them bicker back and forth but still felt terrified. At that moment he felt his foot slip of the edge off the wall. Despite his attempt to grab the edge his hands sloped as well sending him plummeting down to the moat with a splash. Escargon and Dedede stared in shock at this.
"Dog goneit, he fell… well, so much for a free demon beast" said Dedede.
"Well, he was free sire, what else did you expect. It doesn't matter who's in charge that company still pulls the same lousy tricks" said Escargon.
Dedede grinned and began to laugh.
"Just think Escargon. Holy Nightmare is back in business and now we can start buy'n demon beasts again" said Dedede excitedly.
"C'mon sire, you know what that did to our funds last time" Escargon warned, however it fell upon deaf ears.
"You heat that Kirby, we're gonna get you yet!" Dedede shouted as he marched back towards his quarters happily.
"Poyo?" said Kirby confused.
Tiff however found herself more shocked than anything, that was before she heard the loud high pitched shouts from the moat. Tiff and Kirby hurried over and looked over the edge to see Hal struggling. In the water.
"Oh no! Kirby, can you do something?" Tiff asked.
"Poyo poy!" Kirby said Happily.
Kirby took in a large gulp of air and preformed a slight leap to pick himself up off the ground. From there he flapped his arms to push himself over the edge and floated down to Hal. Hal took notice of him and began reaching to him. When Kirby reached level with him he stuck out his foot in which Hal took hold of and returned to the top of the tower with Kirby. After being placed to the ground Hal took a seat breathing heavily from the struggle as well as being soaked.
"Are you alright?" Tiff asked.
Hal looked up to her but did not respond.
Poyo poy poyo" said Kirby gesturing with his arms.
Hal watched his arms and took hold of his hood bulling it down.
"Po?" said Kirby surprised at his sudden reaction.
"It's ok, Kirby and I aren't gonna hurt you" said Tiff in a friendly tone.
Hal looked up to her and slowly let go of his hood. Tiff stared at him for a moment before remembering Dedede calling him a demon beast. The thought brought a level of shock to her. The demon beast problem ended with Nightmare being eradicated. How did Dedede get a new demon beast? Was it just a leftover? Tiff knew that there were still a few left after the incident after all. Then she remembered what else he had said, bottom line about Holy Nightmare being back in business… but how? Tiff found herself bothered greatly by this, and found herself curious about the one Kirby just rescued. The first person she thought to ask was Meta Knight. Even if he didn't know about this he should still be warned about it at least.
Tiff looked back to Hal and Kirby. Kirby seemed to be trying to communicate with the demon beast while he simply stared at him.
"Poyo Po Poyo" said Kirby to Hal.
Hal stared at him for a moment.
"Po… po…?" said Hal trying to imitate him.
"Poyo poyo poyo" said Kirby happily.
"Kirby, c'mon. we've gotta go see Meta Knight… you can come with us if you'd like" said Tiff with a smile.
"Poyo Pooyo" said Kirby trying to encourage Hal to follow.
Hal watched as they began walking and slowly rose up to follow them. The three were able to pass through the castle with relative ease. Dedede and Escargon would no doubt try to catch Hal if they seen him but the castle was plenty large enough for those two to be plenty far away. The Waddle Dees didn't really seem to care, or notice. The three managed to make it to Meta Knight's room and knock at the door. As it was, Meta Knight himself answered it this time.
"Good afternoon Tiff, Kirby, and…" said Meta Knight.
"Umm… yea, that's kinda why we're here" said Tiff.
"I see. Very well. Take a seat and you can explain it to me" said Meta Knight leading them into the room.
Tiff and Kirby took their seats followed by Hal who imitated them to figure out what he was supposed to do.
"I heard quite a lot of commotion in the castle just a little while ago. I'm sure you can inform me as to what it was" said Meta Knight.
"Yes… well, when Kirby and I returned to the castle we found Dedede chasing someone. We followed him and eventually found the one but… Dedede said that he was a demon beast" said Tiff.
Meta Knight was silent and took a look at Hal who stared back at him.
"But… there's more. King Dedede also said that Holy Nightmare was back and making demon beasts" Tiff explained.
Meta Knight looked at her immediately.
"Holy Nightmare? Are you sure you heard him correctly?" Meta Knight asked.
"Yes. And apparently this guy here was a free demon beast from them" said Tiff.
Meta Knight looked back to Hal who returned the stare. Meta Knight reached over to Hal in an attempt to get a picture of his face but Hal released a small gasp and began to shake, he did not immediately reach to his hood this time however. Meta Knight took notice of his reaction and retracted his hand.
"Hmm…" said Meta Knight thinking to himself.
"What? Is something the mater?" Tiff asked.
"This is indeed grim news, Nightmare should have been the end of the demon beasts. If the corporation is once again active then we have a serious problem" said Meta Knight.
Tiff stared at him, it was obvious that this was bad but the fact that Meta Knight seemed o know so little about it unsettled her. She then recalled The incident in the forest with Reverie. She felt the sadness return at the thought. Maybe Meta Knight could help her with this anyway.
"Meta Knight. In the forest, you stopped us from helping Reverie… do you think he's ok?" Tiff asked.
Meta Knight looked at her, currently concerned about the return of Holy Nightmare he was a bit distracted. He could see that it was bothering her however.
"Reverie?… I do not know. I do not believe that was an explosion we witnessed, but a teleport. Even so. I can't know to where. Perhaps he is ok… unfortunately I do not know" said Meta Knight.
Tiff looked down until she noticed Hal staring at her. Something about this reminded her about the party the town was going to throw him. nobody else seemed to know that Reverie was gone, that there was now no one to thrown the party for. Everyone was likely still preparing. She didn't want to tell them anything however, and make their hard work meaningless. In the middle of her thought however there sounded a loud crash from somewhere in the castle causing Tiff, Kirby, and Hal to jump up.
"What was that!" Tiff asked surprised.
"I believe it came from the throne room, let's go" said Meta Knight causing the others to follow.
Dedede and Escargon stared in shock to where Dedede's throne once sat. there in it's place was a battered red space ship in the shape of a star. And a massive pile of rubble from the ceiling. They suddenly began to hear sounds coming from it and then something opposite them opened. They couldn't see what it was as the opening was facing the wrong direction. They did take notice of the white gloved hand that crabbed hold of the top of it. Whatever it was quickly pulled its self to the top of the sip and revealed its self.
It was another ball shaped creature with red skin. Many of it's features reminded the king of Meta Knight. He wore a worn looking steel mask covered in nicks and scratches, particularly across the left eye as well as a small steel horn on the right. It war a pair of battered red pauldrons with dark yellow spikes protruding from it. He wore a torn and raggedy looking cape that he let hang down on his arms were white bandage wrappings leading into a pair of battered gloves. His feet were a darker red than his body and his eyes shown green through his narrow and curved eye slits. On his back was what appeared to me a metallic rod with a leather wrapped handle.
"Just who do you think you are crash'n into my castle like that!" Dedede shouted.
The figure looked around the room at the damage he caused but didn't respond.
"Well, answer me!" Dedede shouted.
"Huh? And just who the hell are you for me to care?" said the man with a loud, wild, and growly voice.
"How dare you insult me!" Dedede shouted.
"Wha? So you're supposed to be king o' this place or someth'n?" the man asked.
"You better believe it buddy, I'm the great King Dedede!" Dedede proclaimed.
"Fan freak'n tastic… so where the hell am I?" the man asked.
"You in my kingdom chump, this is Pupu Land!" shouted Dedede.
"Pupu Land huh? Sounds like you got yourself a real winner of a kingdom here bucko" said the man taking a seat atop his ship.
"Enough o' this, what's your name already!" Dedede demanded.
"Name huh? Names Ragnarok! I'm a star warrior!" shouted the man drawing the rod from his back and slamming it against the metal of his ship.
Just as he finished shouting the door to the throne room opened and in entered Meta Knight and the others followed shortly by Waddle Doo, Mari, and several Waddle Dees. Meta Knight however was the first to speak up.
"Did you just say you were a star warrior?" Meta Knight asked.
"Yea. From the looks o' ya, you don't belong here either… wait a minute… think I remember you, hang on… a ha ha HA! Meta Knight, who'da thought I'd run into you here?" said Ragnarok excited.
"You know Meta Knight?" Dedede asked.
"Yea, we sere star warriors, we all knew each other" said Ragnarok.
"By star warriors, you mean them flunkies who done took out Nightmare?" Dedede asked.
"Yea, too bad I wasn't there for it" said Ragnarok.
"You better not be here to cause any trouble" said Dedede.
"Ship brought me here for a reason. If Nightmare's gone then all that's left must be the scraps. A hell of a break I'd say" said Ragnarok.
"Sire, If you wouldn't mind I'd like to have a word with this Ragnarok" said Meta Knight.
"Fine, but pull any funny business and you're gone. You're lucky I let you keep your job after all that business before" said Dedede.
"Very well sire, Come Ragnarok, I imagine that there is much to discuss" said Meta Knight taking his leave. Ragnarok followed shortly behind.
[That is all for chapter 4 and there is much more to come. Happy thanksgiving to all who celebrate it and hope it was nice. I shall see you all in the next chapter. So long!]