Strange shadows
With a swift manoeuvre, Meta Knight landed in front of the group of shadowy creatures that resembled Waddle Dees.
It was a group of barely ten members, and each one of them held a spear. That struck Meta Knight as weird. What did they hope to accomplish with such a small group? The strength of the Waddle Dees usually lied in their numbers rather than individual power, as they were weak strength-wise (Bandana Waddle Dee being an exception). Just ten of them didn't have any chance against him, let alone the entire camp.
"Halt! Who sent you?" Meta Knight questioned the creatures in a demanding tone, imposingly brandishing his sword against them.
Despite that, he got no answer. The sinister Waddle Dees simply ignored him, continuing on their way as if he were nothing more than a rock in their path. The Waddle Dees' lack of reaction, along with their strange and sinister appearance, made it quite evident that something was very wrong with them. Meta Knight was not going to allow them to get any closer to the camp.
Meta Knight flew over them and landed to block the road once more.
"If you don't state your intentions, I will have no choice but to use force," he threatened them.
Again, the Waddle Dees ignored him and continued forward. Meta Knight growled in frustration.
"As you wish, then," Meta Knight said.
As a warning strike, the knight charged his sword with energy and released it in the form of a light slash towards the nearest of the Waddle Dees. Neither they nor their companions did anything to defend themselves.
Meta Knight intended the blow to knock out the Waddle Dee, but instead, their bodies absorbed the energy. Then, a strange visual effect began to occur in which the Waddle Dee's whole figure began to fragment and reattach itself at fast and short intervals.
When the weird but brief phenomenon ended, where before stood ten creatures, now stood eleven.
The group of Waddle Dees-like beings and its new member turned to look at Meta Knight for the first time. The yellow eyes of the creatures glowed menacingly in the dark, fixed on the knight. Meta Knight met their stares without fear as he studied them. What actually were they? Where did they come from? Why didn't they seem to be able to communicate at all?
Without warning, the beings raised their weapons and charged at the warrior. Meta Knight greeted them with a battle cry. Even if he did not understand the nature of those beings, he was determined to stop them.
.º·.º
"Meta is taking forever. I wonder who called him."
Every time Tiff thought she was done adding things to the list of shocking differences between that parallel dimension and her own, she was met with a new surprise. The most recent was witnessing Dedede being concerned about Meta Knight.
Several minutes had passed since Meta Knight went away to answer the call he had received, and he still hadn't returned. Because of that, the alternate Dedede was worried. Seeing the penguin's behaviour made Tiff wonder if her dimension's Dedede had ever cared about his knight.
"I don't think so. I have never seen Dedede treat Meta Knight with a minimal amount of respect, and he doesn't value him as a servant either. He even continued to collaborate with eNeMeE despite knowing everything that the Star Warriors, especially Meta Knight, had suffered, " she concluded. "Besides, I'm sure he only cares about himself. "
Suddenly, Tiff shuddered. An unsettling sensation had invaded her body, and she had no idea why. It had started shortly after the alternate Meta Knight had left, and she had initially assumed it was due to the stress of everything she'd been through that day. However, the sensation had grew stronger as time passed. She felt a weird pressure, as if she were being cornered by an invisible threat. But the worst thing was that she was sure that she had felt it before.
She just couldn't remember when.
"Tiff? Are you feeling sick again?" Kirby inquired after observing her.
"No, it's something different. I don't know how to describe it," she revealed. "Don't you feel it?"
"Now that you mention it, there is something odd in the air. It's similar to static electricity, but it feels wrong…" Bandana Waddle said as a shiver ran down his spine.
"You're right, Bandee," Kirby confirmed. "I don't like this one bit."
"Uh, I don't feel anything," Gooey commented, confused by the behavior of the others.
The alternate Dedede, who seemed to be very tense for some reason, looked at Gooey and then put a hand to his beak thoughtfully. After a few seconds, he shivered and said:
"Something bad is going on. I'm going to look for Meta."
Dedede leapt to his feet, pulled a hammer from his coat, and bolted in the same direction Meta Knight had left the camp minutes earlier.
"Wait, Dedede! Don't go alone, poyo!" Kirby cried out to the penguin as he ran after him, leaving his other three companions rather perplexed. Bandana Waddle Dee, Tiff and Gooey exchanged a quick glance between themselves before deciding to go after the two.
On their way there, Bandana Waddle Dee turned to Tiff and asked her:
"Hey, this won't make your condition worse, will it? Magolor said you needed to rest."
"Don't worry. I'm not feeling sick right now, just a bit tired," Tiff reassured him. "Besides, Gooey and I found a Maxi Tomato earlier. This world's King Dedede told us to keep it in case my condition worsens again."
"Well, half a Maxi Tomato..." Gooey confessed as he jumped after them.
"Gooey!" Bandana Waddle Dee scolded the blob.
"I'm sorry. I couldn't resist eating a piece. They are just too tasty."
Tiff couldn't decide whether to laugh or sigh in frustration. In the end, she chose to focus on keeping up with Bandana Waddle Dee, who was running faster. It wasn't difficult: even if she wasn't a warrior, the adventures she had lived with her brother and Kirby had given her a very good physical constitution.
By the time the trio found that dimension's Dedede and Kirby (who had obtained the sword ability at some point), they had joined Meta Knight and were fighting alongside him against twenty-two strange beings. They resembled Waddle Dees, but their bodies were made of darkness and their shapes looked distorted like a graphic corruption from a video game.
"Why do I have the feeling I've seen similar creatures before?" Tiff contemplated, but she quickly pushed that thought out of her head. "I'll think about it later," she told herself, choosing to avoid thinking about things she couldn't remember. She couldn't get dizzy in such a dire situation.
"Great King, Kirby, Meta Knight! Watch out, I'm charging!" Bandana Waddle yelled, brandishing his spear, as he joined the trio of fighters. The other made way for the Waddle Dee, who charged at one of the creatures, tackling it to the ground.
Bandana's action drew the attention of the beings towards the newcomers. Two of the "glitched" Waddle Dees (to give them some sort of name) stopped attacking the inhabitants of that Dreamland, dropped their spears, and went straight after Tiff in an attempt to catch her.
Just as the beings were about to put their hands on Tiff, Gooey intercepted them. The blob grabbed one with his tongue and then threw it against the other. Tiff, who now knew that she was their target, quickly went to search for something to defend herself with.
She came across a thick tree branch nearby. It was about the same weight as a baseball bat, so she could wield it with ease. When another of the glitched Waddle Dees tried to grab her, Tiff was ready to defend herself and knocked her assaltant with a sharp thud that stunned it. Tiff took the opportunity to check how the others were doing in case they needed her help.
Gooey was jumping around the two glitched Waddle Dees from before, who were trying to hit him but couldn't because they had dropped their spears and didn't have enough range to hit him. One of them even tripped, which Gooey took advantage of. The blob grabbed the fallen Waddle Dee with his tongue once more, swirled it around in the air to gain momentum, and then flung it at its mate.
Kirby and Bandana Waddle Dee were taking on ten of the creatures. The skill of both was impressive, with Bandana Waddle Dee being unerring with his spear while Kirby wielded his sword with speed, steadiness and power. "It looks like this world's Kirby has used the sword ability hundreds of times!" Tiff observed, amazed.
Lastly, Dedede and Meta Knight were surrounded by the rest of the creatures, fighting back-to-back and covering each other.
"It's been decades since you last used electricity in combat, and when you finally use it, it's against beings that multiply by absorbing energy!" Meta Knight yelled at Dedede while slashing at one of the enemies.
"And how was I supposed to know that? I only saw that those things were about to jump on you, and my electrical power is what has more range!" the king defended himself while hitting two glitched Waddles Dees with a single swing of his hammer. Tiff couldn't see what expression he had on his face because he was looking in the opposite direction. "Besides, are you going to blame me for not using it often? My hands always get numby when I do..."
Meta Knight rolled his eyes and said:
"Let's save this silly discussion for later and concentrate on the combat."
"True. We can't let Kirby and Bandee defeat more of these beings than us," Dedede said firmly.
While Dedede and Meta Knight were having their brief argument, Kirby and Bandana Waddle Dee had just defeated three of the glitched Waddle Dees. The creatures exploded in a puff of smoke, leaving small black sparks behind that quickly vanished.
Tiff was so focused on the others that she didn't notice that the glitched Waddle Dee she had stunned a few moments ago had recovered until it grabbed her from behind. Annoyed, she nudged it, causing it to let go.
"This thing is very weak! I suppose it resembles a Waddle Dee not only in looks but also in strength."
The glitched Waddle Dee tried to grab her again, but she fought back, hitting it again with the tree branch.
"I'm sorry, I don't like violence, but I won't just let myself get kidnapped," she claimed, holding the branch defensively. The Waddle Dee tried to catch her again and again, only to end up getting smacked every time it got close to the girl. Tiff noticed how the creature didn't make a single sound of pain, and its expression remained neutral the whole time.
"Just what is this creepy thing? Is it even alive?"
One by one, the glitched Waddle Dees fell, every single one of them vanishing in the same manner as the first ones who were defeated. As the last Waddle Dee exploded, Tiff watched as Kirby began to dance animatedly, just like when he had defeated Whispy, and everyone else, including Meta Knight, to her surprise, joined in. "¿Is this a cultural thing?" she wondered.
After the strange victory dance, Kirby released the copy ability and handed a sword to Meta Knight, who stored it in his cloak. Tiff then joined them.
"Tiff! I'm glad to see you're okay! Those meanies don't seem to have done you any harm," Kirby exclaimed happily when he saw her. "Do you feel dizzy or something?"
"No, but I do feel very tired," she replied. "What a way to end this crazy day."
"For someone who isn't used to fighting, you're not bad at landing hits," that dimension's Dedede praised her in an amused tone as he patted her shoulder. "Another proof of how different he is from my dimension's Dedede," Tiff sighed.
"You guys aren't hurt either, right?" Tiff asked the others.
"Do you really think that those buggers could even touch us?" Dedede laughed. "They had good endurance, but their strength was pitiful. Moreover, they had the audacity to take the appearance of my precious Waddle Dees..." he added, angry.
"I wonder what they were. They didn't look like anything we've fought before, and we've fought our fair share of dark beings," Bandana Waddle Dee commented.
"Wait, were they dark beings?" Gooey asked. "They didn't feel like... well, you know who."
"So maybe the Dark Matter aren't behind this after all," Kirirby reasoned following Gooey's remark. Tiff had no idea what a Dark Matter was, but it sounded bad. "What do you think, Meta?" the puffball asked his friend.
"Whatever they were, I don't think they had the intention of assaulting the camp. They weren't hostile until I got in their way and attacked them," Meta Knight revealed. "I think their goal was to take something away by using the darkness of the night to go unnoticed. Or maybe instead of something, I should say someone. Am I wrong, Tiff?" he inquired of the girl.
"So did you notice it too?" she asked him, although deep down she wasn't surprised. It seemed that Meta Knight was someone very observant in hers and any other dimension.
"I always keep my five senses aware of everything that is going on in battle. When I saw that some of these beings dropped their weapons and went after you, I realised that you were their target," the knight replied.
"What are you talking about, poyo?" Kirby asked.
"Those shadowy Waddle Dees wanted to kidnap Tiff and probably didn't expect any resistance," the knight explained. "The fact that they sent such weak beings to do it is probably because they didn't want her to suffer any harm."
"Or maybe whoever is behind this underestimated us and sent their weakest minions thinking that it would be an easy task," Dedede suggested.
"I'd be offended if that turned out to be the case," Meta Knight growled.
"But why would they go after Tiff? She's just a normal girl from what she's told us, isn't she?" Bandana Waddle Dee inquired.
Tiff thought about it for a few seconds. What was so special about her that she could attract dark beings? She doubted that these kinds of creatures would be interested in her "noble" title or her parents' money. Normally, every time someone came after her, it was only for one reason.
"Kirby..." she murmured, a little worried.
"Tell me," the one from that universe replied. That made her chuckle.
"Sorry, I was not thinking about you. I was referring to my Kirby. If they were so interested in me, it must be because of my connection to him. Perhaps they are looking for him or want to use me as a hostage," she explained. "They may even be after his Warp Star."
She finally decided to share her secret with the others, and thus she sowed the amulet form of Kirby's Warp Star.
"In my world, this Warp Star is the source of my Kirby's power, but due to his young age, he cannot summon and guard it on his own. As you can see, Warp Stars are very important to the Star Warriors I told you about."
While everyone was intrigued by the object, Tiff was surprised by the intensity with which Kirby and, in particular, Meta Knight were staring at it. There was a strange gleam in their eyes.
"I get it. Don't worry: we'll help you protect it!" Kirby promised, breaking eye contact with the object. Meta Knight nodded, although he seemed lost in his own thoughts.
"Okay, let's head back to the camp," Dedede decided. "Today has been way too busy for my liking, and I'm exhausted," he added as he stretched his arms.
Everyone agreed with the king of that Dreamland. After the short walk back to the camp, Tiff said goodnight to the others and headed into the tent that he shared with Kirby, Gooey, and Bandana Waddle. As soon as she got into her sleeping bag, Tiff collapsed, exhausted from everything that had happened that day.
"Kirby, Tuff, I hope you're okay..." were her last thoughts before she fell into a deep sleep.
.º·.º
[Failure to capture the target has been confirmed within the calculated margin of error. Importing unforeseen scenario data collected by ECHO-WD prototypes 123 through 133. Determining possible new routes.]
The mechanical voice echoed through the darkness, snapping him out of his sleep.
[So you have finally regained consciousness.]
He did not answer. He didn't have the strength to open his eyes, let alone respond. His body was numb, but even so, he could feel something lifting him up. How did that voice know that he had woken up?
[Well, now this is a pitiful sight. Do you know how much dark energy you have absorbed? Enough to have suffered a mutation if I hadn't prevented it.]
What was that voice talking about? What was happening? He was so tired. He felt that he could lose consciousness again at any moment.
Whatever had raised him before released him before saying:
[You are still in a daze, which is normal given the events that transpired hours ago. You don't need to worry, though. You are safe here. Time does not flow in this place, so you can rest as much as you need.]
Despite being a mechanical voice, the tone sounded oddly reassuring. But was he really safe? Something inside of him told him that wasn't the case, that he had to get up and get out of there (wherever there was), but he couldn't. No matter how hard he tried, his body didn't respond.
[Your doubts are understandable given the situation, but it is imperative that you rest. In that state, you will achieve nothing. You want to save them, right?]
Save them... Yes, of course he wanted to save them. That had been his goal from the beginning, hadn't it? The reason why it had all started...
[Then sleep. By the next time you wake up, hopefully I'll have already found the route that gives us the best chance of success.]
Whether it was because his body was too weak or because his will had wavered, he didn't put up any more resistance. He gave himself up to the comfort of dreams, hoping that when he recovered, his mind would be clearer and he would understand what was happening.
[Yeah. You will understand everything. The next time you open your eyes, you will see the light. We will reach our goal...]
[...even if we have to sacrifice everything else.]
About the delay of this chapter I only have one thing to say: Tears of the Kingdom is an amazing game.