Chapter 20
Kirby listened to Meta Knight's words, gaze hardening. With a small frown, he nodded. Casting his deep blue eyes upwards, he took off on Warp Star so fast that Meta Knight's cape and the hair of the children whipped forward violently from the wind. Everyone present watched him go, a tiny yellow and pink blur arcing across the sky towards the black mass.
Meta Knight turned around to face Sword, Blade, Bun and Fumu. "Go!" He demanded, eyes flashing with emphasis as he spoke.
"Y-yes, Sir!" Sword said, snapping to attention after he began to usher Blade and the children towards the castle's less trafficked back entrance.
Meta Knight watched them leave silently, wrapped up in his cape. He then turned to Shieldmaiden, cape slowly drawing aside as he withdrew Galaxia from its sheath. The fiery golden sword radiated brightly against the darkness surrounding them. He took a deep breath.
"Be ready."
Shieldmaiden nodded without a word, lowering her shield. Together, the two approached the castle grounds. They made it past the front of the hold, using Meta Knight's expertise about every entrance, exit, and hallway to its fullest. As they crept down a hallway, a Waddle Dee suddenly rounded the corner and headed towards them. Both Star Warriors slammed their backs to the wall just out of sight.
"Stay here" Meta Knight instructed, deep voice barely a whisper. He then stepped out in front of the Waddle Dee. The Waddle Dee rattled its spear and prepared to charge; however, as it raised its spear, the blue knight suddenly spun around in his cape and vanished.
The Waddle Dee paused. It looked to its left and its right, scratching its head. The Waddle Dee suddenly fell forward, collapsing in an unconscious heap. Behind it stood Meta Knight, panting, his hands raised high with Galaxia held pommel first. He had struck such a blow purposefully, trying not to kill the innocent Waddle Dee which acted as a vessel. A small blob of Dark Matter rose from the Waddle Dee's body, dissipating into the air slowly as if it were a plume of fanned smoke.
Meta Knight looked down, still panting. He swiped up the discarded spear from the fallen Waddle Dee and calmly walked back to Shieldmaiden, handing it to her.
"Your new weapon."
Shieldmaiden took it, examining it carefully.
"Well done...thank you" she said. She was impressed.
The two then proceeded down the castle's hallway. Shieldmaiden was curious why they were inside sneaking, when the whole point of their mission was to mow down as many possessed citizens as possible. She looked to Meta Knight as the two crept silently.
"Where are we going?" She asked.
Meta Knight did not look back at her, amber eyes staring fixedly ahead. "To eliminate the largest threat first."
The two began to travel up the castle's floors, the rooms becoming larger and more lavish. Shieldmaiden's heart dropped as she recognized where they were going; the room of King Dedede. The two Star Warriors eventually made it to the bedroom of the king itself. It was closed. Slowly, Carefully, Meta Knight crouched low. He looked to Shieldmaiden, who gave him a barely perceptible nod. She was ready.
In a single fluid movement, Meta Knight kicked the door down and charged inside. The two Star Warriors barged into the room, wings flared and weapons brandished, only to slowly drop them to their sides in confusion. The room was empty.
Meta Knight turned around with a curse, eyes squeezed shut as he tried to figure out where else the King could be. He then looked up, eyes glowing brighter. "The dining hall."
The two then exited the room and dashed down the hall, heading towards the castle's lavish dining area. Shieldmaiden thought as she ran; from what she knew of Dark Matter, it typically didn't attend to the needs of the body it possessed and ran them to the ground, starving and weak, like the irresponsible caretaker of a vehicle. However, it was known to take the bodies of those who it prized and keep them as healthy as possible. If Meta Knight's guess was correct, and the King was in the dining hall, then Dark Matter obviously had no intention of letting him go.
Sword and Fumu held Blade up, moving as quickly as they could through the back entrance reserved for laundry. Bun traveled shortly behind them, hyper alert and hidden eyes scrutinizing every dark shadow the group passed as if it would leap out at them. They made it to the bathroom, a public space utilized by the Waddle Dee servants, and set Blade down. Since it was a public restroom, they couldn't lock the door.
"We have to act fast" Sword uttered just loudly enough for the others to hear.
Bun spread out a laundry towel which was hanging nearby, and the two others then gently laid Blade to the floor. Blade let out a stifled groan in pain, causing Fumu to look up at the door nervously. No one seemed to hear. The two then worked frantically, tearing up the restroom in an attempt to find a First-Aid kit.
Fumu cursed with frustration as she rummaged through the bathroom's cabinets and shelving, finding everything else, even diapers, but no First-Aid box.
"Figures King Dedede's bathrooms are not up to safety code", she growled.
As Fumu dug, she came across enough valuable things to make their plan work. A few thin, clean socks from a pile of clean but unfolded laundry for bandages. Rubbing alcohol. Hydrogen peroxide. She hastily brought the items to Sword, and they both loomed over Blade's body.
Sword took the cloth section of Blade's armor over his side, where he was cut, and after dousing his weapon in rubbing alcohol gently began to slice away enough of his cloth tunic to fully expose the wound. Fumu grimaced as the sight of the wound hit her; it had definitely become infected, despite their diligant care. Considering Blade was forced to sit in a wild and germ-infested jungle for hours, it was inevitable. Sword shook his head slightly at the sight, lifting the hydrogen peroxide bottle. Fumu held Blade's hand, turning her head away and shutting her eyes. She knew what was coming.
"Sorry, buddy. This is going to sting" Sword said gently. Blade gave a silent nod in response.
Sword then poured hydrogen peroxide over the wound, causing a sickly frothy mixture to erupt forth from it. Even with her eyes closed, the strange hissing of the hydrogen peroxide mixed with the smell of the wound nearly made Fumu vomit. Blade quaked in pain, letting out a strained cry and gripping Fumu's hand so tightly it hurt.
Fumu looked up at Sword, averting her eyes from the frothy mess. "We need to clean it with soap now and get it bandaged." She grabbed a plastic cup from the bathroom sink and filled it with a mixture of liquid soap and water, running back over to Blade. Blade was breathing heavily, clearly suffering as the disinfectant caused his pain to flare up even worse than before.
Sword flinched, feeling terrible for inflicting further pain on Blade even though they had no choice. He patted his friend's hand.
"You holding up okay?"
Blade's weak voice took on a haughty tone as he replied "Ahh, please. This is nothing."
Sword chuckled, despite himself. Blade making a comment like that was the first time the wounded knight truly sounded like himself in days.
Meta Knight and Shieldmaiden headed towards the banquet hall. Since the King loved his meals to the point of gluttony, possibly even as much as Kirby, his dining area was perhaps the most elaborate and lavish room in the entire castle. Slowly, they crept up to the door. This time, Meta Knight very slowly cracked it open with one gloved hand. He peered inside with one eye, before slowly sliding it further open. The two Star Warriors then slipped into the room, using their short stature to their advantage by ducking under empty chairs at the end of the king's table.
After a few tense minutes of hiding, the pair of Star Warriors observed a pair of small tan feet walk by from their vantage point between the chair's legs. A line of Waddle Dees walked in procession, their hands out of view but the smell of well-prepared food hitting the noseholes of both Star Warriors. Meta Knight closed his eyes, willing his stomach not to growl and give them away; it had been days since he had eaten anything other than a random jungle fruit or handful of nuts. He was starving.
The two peered forward from the chair legs, noting that at the base of the table a pair of large, yellow feet hung freely. Meta Knight looked at Shieldmaiden as he slowly withdrew Galaxia from its sheath.
"At my word..." he said. He then glanced up, watching from his vantage point the Waddle Dee's feet turn around and leave. He waited until they exited the room, giving it a full minute after they heard the door close.
"...Now!" Meta Knight ordered. He slipped out from under the table with Galaxia in hand, Shieldmaiden hopping up from behind the chair across from him. Seated at the head of the long dining table was King Dedede. The king's eyes were closed, beak twisted in a slight frown. He held a fork in his hand, head slowly lifting upwards from his food to look at the two intruders.
Dedede's eyes flew open, revealing no pupil. In jerky, contorted motions as if he were a puppet, he slowly lifted out of his chair. The King's belly then suddenly ripped open as if gutted, revealing a black, solid mass within. A single amber eye popped open in the middle of the King's stomach, darting around wildly before it focused on the two Star Warriors. Shieldmaiden screamed in terror, her spear dropping and hitting the hard floor with a clatter. Meta Knight flung his cape around himself with his eyes narrowed, Galaxia still held outwards; usually unshakable, the grotesque sight caused even him to flinch.
King Dedede then began to float towards them, levitating. A dark purple mass suddenly shot forth from the unholy eye on his stomach. Shieldmaiden raised her wings and scrambled to grab her spear, rolling out of the way, as Meta Knight wrapped himself in his cape and dodged the attack by teleporting. The beam of dark energy smashed into the floor, leaving a smoking dent.
Dark Matter then rested its terrible gaze on Shieldmaiden, sensing her fear. The winged Star Warrior held up her shield just in time to deflect another blast, the dark energy bouncing off of her shield safely but the blow knocking her back. Meta Knight hurled a sword beam forth at Dedede, causing the grotesque mockery of the king to be knocked back. It then aimed and shot at Meta Knight, who dove out of the way. Shieldmaiden beat her chest with the hand that held her spear, seeking courage. She then held her hand outwards and flicked her wrist, as if she were performing a parlor trick with cards. With an odd sound like splintering wood, the single spear suddenly turned into many. She then took to the air, flying as high as she could in the tall ceiling of the banquet hall, and threw her summoned javelins at Dedede. One at a time the spears lodged themselves into the dark mass, appearing to pass through Dark Matter for about a foot before sticking and sinking in like mud. Another spear impaled the loose part of Dedede's sleeve.
King Dedede rose in the air until he levitated at her level, spears sticking out from his belly like a pincushion. He withdrew his star-emblazoned hammer, which had gone nearly black from the unholy energies radiating from it. The King then charged through the air with his hammer out, ready to connect with Shieldmaiden. The Star Warrior, being more agile in the air, dodged it as the King nearly crashed into a wall. With unnatural reflexes, Dedede turned to bounce his feet off the wall and swung to hit the escaping Shieldmaiden at the same time. The hammer's blow clipped her wingtip, throwing her off balance. She spun wildly out of control, crashing into an empty serving cart.
Meta Knight aimed a sword beam dead center at King Dedede's eye, only to suddenly get knocked off balance from behind by a blunt force. He staggered forward, mask knocked off center. Shieldmaiden stepped out of the wrecked serving cart to see Escargon, his back turned and aimed shell first to ram Meta Knight from behind. She was surprised to see him, considering that the snail was less of a threat in battle than a weaponless Waddle Dee, but serving as a distraction from the far more powerful King Dedede made his presence much more deadly. She paused her attack on Dark Matter to take off and aim downwards at Escargon like a diving hawk, shield out. Escargon saw the blow coming and ducked. Shieldmaiden crashed into his shell with her shield, the force so tremendous that a deep crack formed in the snail's shell. Escargon flailed momentarily, his host clearly trying to find out how to counter her attack, as Shieldmaiden landed. She charged forward, shield out, to bash the snail square in the face. His face rattled visibly, eyes rolling to the back of his head and mouth hanging open. The snail then swayed and fell over, a violet mist beginning to seep out from under his shell. Shieldmaiden got a running start to fly again, preparing to charge headfirst into Dedede. As she did, she watched Meta Knight hold his sword poised. He began to shake, the motion radiating from the core of his body to his sword. Galaxia's glow brightened until it looked like a radiating shaft of light. Shieldmaiden dived onto Dedede head first with her shield out again, smacking him in the back of the head and stunning him. As he shook his head, he lifted his blank eyes to see a massive sword beam hurtling towards him.
The sword beam hit him with enough force to knock the King into a wall, his huge body slamming so hard that a shower of stone debris rained on top of his head. King Dedede's body sagged, crumpled. The large dark mass that made up the King's belly slowly began to disappear, dark vapors seeping out of his earholes and beak like smoke out of an oven. To the immense relief of both Star Warriors, the part of the King's midsection that Dark Matter inhabited still looked like a normal belly after it was gone. The javelins which punctured his belly like a pincushion fell out, one by one, as Dark Matter vacated his body.
Both Star Warriors stood, panting. Meta Knight wrapped his cape around himself and calmly walked over to first Escargon, then Dedede, checking their pulse.
"Alive" he muttered, resting Dedede's gloved hand back down on the ground and walking towards the dining room entrance. Upon hearing the news, Shieldmaiden breathed a deep sigh of relief through her helmet. She was thankful that both she and Meta Knight only hit the visible parts of Dark Matter in the King's belly. Had they aimed elsewhere, the King might have been rendered worse than just unconscious. Meta Knight looked to Shieldmaiden, whose spear was raised and wings were flared.
"Every possessed soul in Dreamland has probably caught wind of us by now", he stated. "We cannot rest. This is just the beginning."