The Beginning. Part 2: Reflections of Other Realities
For the first time in many years, Meta Knight was looking at his reflection. He hadn't taken off his mask, as his face wasn't what he wanted to check, but his wings.
Or rather, his right wing and the empty space where the left one should be.
The mistake that had ended with him losing it still weighed on his conscience. The deaths of Jecra and Garlude had filled his heart with wrath, and so he had become more aggressive in combat. Arthur had tried to reason with him, telling his pupil to stop that behaviour many times, but he hadn't listened. He wanted to finish off eNeMeE, and the wizard's monsters, to avenge his friends, no matter what happened to him.
And eNeMeE had not hesitated to exploit said wrath in an attempt to get rid of Meta Knigh for good. The wizard had set a trap for the Star Warrior, who had fallen for it like an idiot. He couldn't remember the place where he had been attacked nor the appearance of the monster, but he did remember the moment when it had struck him from behind and, before he could react, had injected him with a paralysing poison. Meta Knight had believed that the monster was going to kill him at that moment; however, it seemed that eNeMeE had instructed Meta Knight's attacker to torture him first, since the creature had begun to tear off one of his wings slowly and painfully.
As pain clouded his senses, Meta Knight had believed himself at death's door. He had been lucky that Arthur had not given up on him and had come to his rescue, preventing the monster from finishing its task before it killed the Star Warrior or, worse still, took him to eNeMeE's lair, where the villain could have done whatever he wanted with him.
After a long stay in the GSA's hospital facility, Meta Knight had recovered, though his wing was lost forever. It should have begun to grow back during the time he had been hospitalised, as Star Warriors of Meta Knight's kin were able to regenerate their wings, but it didn't. The doctors had been unable to find an explanation. They theorised that either the poison or the monster's own power had been designed to prevent its recovery. Meta Knight hadn't cared about the reason back then, since knowing the "why" wouldn't make him fly again. Instead, he decided to focus on learning how to use Air Ride machines, though the feeling of flying using those devices could never be compared to soaring the skies with his own wings.
Meta Knight sighed before retracting his remaining wing. There was no point in regretting something that had happened so many years ago. He had to focus on the present. He only had five days to spend in Floralia (discounting the day of his arrival and the day he was due to return to Dream Land), so he had no time to waste.
The Star Warrior left the bathroom and headed to the meeting room. There had to be a reason why fate had put those crystals in his path, bringing back so many unpleasant memories and buried emotions, and he was determined to find it.
When Meta Knight arrived there, he found a motley group of people, including Bandee, leaving the meeting room. The Star Warrior guessed that they were members of the Resistance, as they all wore their symbol embroidered on their clothes. Before entering the room, Meta Knight and the group saluted each other politely as they marched to their respective destinations.
"Good morning, Meta Knight," Sectonia greeted him upon entering.
"Good morning, Sectonia," Meta Knight greeted back. "Are we ready to begin with our investigation?"
"Yes. I have already given instructions to my team so we can dedicate ourselves to it without interruptions," the spider reported. "Where do you think we should start?"
Meta Knight suggested following the schedule he had planned: they would alternate exploring the crystals' visions with researching the NME database and devices. That day, they would start by observing the crystal he had examined the previous evening in order to check how the passage of time in reality affected the vision's world.
Due to the exhaustion he had experienced, Meta Knight had decided to limit his use of the crystals in short, well-spaced sessions. That way, he could gather information and avoid the side effect. However, as soon as he put his plan into practice, he ran into a problem. The world shown in the vision continued to move forward while he wasn't using the crystal, and that meant...
"I can't see anything," Meta Knight told Sectonia two minutes into the session. Those words alarmed the spider. If Meta Knight was no longer able to see the vision, they had just lost one of the few avenues they had to gather information. "Don't worry. I can't see anything because my other self just fell asleep in his bed," he added in order to calm Sectonia's nervousness.
"And why didn't you say that from the beginning?" Sectonia groaned, though she was actually more relieved than annoyed. "So in order to see the vision, the 'other' Meta Knight has to be conscious," she guessed. "Does that make what you see... real?"
"That would mean that those crazy 'multiverse' theories might not be foolish tales after all," Meta Knight joked. Then, he realised something. "How many times have you tried using the crystal? You might not have been able to see anything because your other self wasn't conscious," he said to Sectonia.
"I've tried looking at them at different times of the day, but the result is always the same. My other self must be a heavy sleeper," Sectonia replied, trying to hide her defeatism when it came to that subject with a joke. "What did you see when your other self fell asleep?"
"Everything went dark, like when you close your eyes, and I stopped hearing," Meta Knight described.
"That doesn't sound like my 'nothingness' at all," Sectonia replied, somewhat disheartened.
"Let me check the other one where you said you saw that 'nothingness.' I may find something that helps us get to the root of all this," Meta Knight offered, trying to lift her spirits.
Sectonia nodded, took out the crystal Meta Knight had requested from her bag, and put the other one back inside.
"I wonder what kind of reality this one is going to show me," the Star Warrior wondered, as his mind entered the second crystal's vision.
It didn't take him long to find out, and it didn't take him longer to regret it.
"So you have failed your mission again."
A shiver ran through Meta Knight's body as eNeMeE's repulsive voice echoed through the room where his other self was. He had hoped to never hear it again. Yet, the words that denoted barely contained fury and impatience weren't meant for his other self but for a terrified figure kneeling several meters in front of both eNeMeE and him. Meta Knight recognised it with ease: it was Bugzzy, the monster that Dedede had ordered in the past and that had interrupted the Star Warrior's duel against Kirby.
As for his other self, Meta Knight could only think of one reason why he was standing next to eNeMeE's throne and not locked in a cell or dead.
"I'm sorry, my lord," Bugzzy replied, his trembling voice acompained by desperate buzzing. "I didn't expect that kid to be so strong. I promise you that next time…"
"Next time? I think that I've given you more than enough 'next times,'" eNeMeE interrupted abruptly, his tone full of scorn. "I have no use for failures like you." Then, he turned to Meta Knight and said, "You know what you have to do."
Meta Knight watched as 'his' body nodded before approaching Bugzzy in an ominous way.
"Please, forgive me, sir," the insect begged again, raw fear reflected on his face. "I swear I will not fail again. I swear it!"
"There is no place for the weak in Lord Nightmare's empire," Meta Knight's own voice said in a cold and cruel manner.
The "new" Meta Knight unsheathed his sword, and with a slash of energy, he pierced Bugzzy, its body exploding in a flash of light. The speed of the execution, fleeting and clean, was the only mercy Meta Knight's other self showed to the insect. With the deed done, the new Meta Knight returned to his place beside his lord.
"Damn that Kirby. If it weren't for him and that meddling princess, King Dedede would have fallen into our clutches long ago, and with him the key to the last Fountain of Dreams," the tyrant complained.
"With the rest of the known universe under your control, do you really need it?" the other Meta Knight pointed out. "The inhabitants of a place as pathetically peaceful as Dream Land are way too lazy to even think of using the fountain's power to revolt against us," he explained, with clear disdain towards the kingdom.
"Of course I do. Once I corrupt it, I will achieve absolute power and become truly indestructible," eNeMeE answered condescendingly.
"May your greed become your grave," Meta Knight sentenced the wizard with contempt.
The reaction of his other self, on the other hand, was totally opposite.
"In that case, let me be the one to fulfil your wish," his other self offered with such reverence that Meta Knight felt his own blood run cold. " I have been longing to fight a rival of my level for years, and that 'Kirby of the Stars' could be the challenge I have been looking for. I will make sure to finish him off," he added coldly.
"Are you offering to kill a child?" asked eNeMeE, more interested than surprised.
"I don't care about his age or his species, if he is a warrior or a mere civilian. If he is an obstacle to our objectives, he must be eliminated. The other monsters and plans may have failed, but I will triumph," assured his other self, once again speaking with cruelty.
Cruelty that seemed to please eNeMeE, as the tyrant smiled with satisfaction.
"Heh. I thought I had already seen everything in my immortal life, but it seems there are still surprises to be found," the villain commented, amused. "Very well. Go to that planet and quench your thirst for battle."
Meta Knight saw how his body bowed before walking towards the exit of the room.
"And don't try to do anything 'funny,'" eNeMeE said behind Meta Knight's other self's back, who stopped in his tracks. "Remember what happened the last time you disobeyed me," the wizard added, his words sounding like a clear threat.
"Oh, please. I'm not an idiot who makes the same mistake twice," the other Meta Knight replied with indifference, not even bothering to look at his master. He then resumed his march, determined to take Kirby's life.
Meta Knight didn't need to see more. No, he didn't want to see more. From the moment his other self had used eNeMeE's true name, something that Star Warriors preferred to avoid, he had known that something was very wrong in that vision's reality, but he would not have imagined that "he himself" would volunteer to kill Kirby. "That reality may be doomed if the incoming first duel between this 'me' and the other Kirby develops in the same way as mine did. And the fact that the 'last Fountain of Dreams' is the centre of the conflict doesn't help with the feeling of hopelessness I get from this vision," Meta Knight reflected on what he just saw.
In Meta Knight's reality, the sacred Fountains of Dreams had ended up being a double-edged sword. While their magic was the natural antithesis of nightmares, and by extension eNeMeE himself, the wizard had found a method to take over them, turning the blessing protection they provided to the planets that sheltered them into a curse that would serve to make himself stronger. That was the reason why, after discovering what the villain had been doing, Sir Arthur's predecessor had made the difficult decision to seal or outright destroy every Fountain of Dreams they could, fusing all the uncorrupted Star Rods they found into one and hiding the result so it could only be found and used by the right person, who had turned out to be Kirby.
"Although I didn't know there was one in Dream Land. When I get back to the surface, I'll go ask Kabu if he knows what happened to it," he decided.
"Well, how did it go?" Sectonia asked him, noticing that he had returned to their reality. "From your reaction, I sense that it didn't end well," she added, a little worried. She had observed the Star Warrior's agitation, his eyes having changed from their usual yellow to a strange, dull grey.
"You are correct," Meta Knight replied, still disturbed by what he had just seen. "I don't think I'll be using this crystal again. You can put it away."
"What did you see?" the spider dared to ask after putting the crystal back into her bag. Meta Knight's reaction puzzled her quite a bit. What did the crystal show to cause such a strong reaction in a person who had gone through the horrors of war?
A side of Meta Knight that could be called cynical was currently grateful that Sectonia depended on his testimony to know the content of the visions, as he could choose to not tell her that in one of them he was serving the being that had taken everything from her.
"The worst possible fate," he simply replied. Although, objectively speaking, there were worse fates, that was how he felt about the vision.
While the answer didn't satisfy Sectonia, the sombre tone Meta Knight had used urged her not to ask more about it. Besides, it wasn't hard to imagine what a Star Warrior would call "the worst possible fate." For his part, Meta Knight had closed his eyes and taken a deep breath to regain control of his emotions, his eyes returning to their usual colour once he opened them again.
"So, are we done for now?" Sectonia wanted to know.
"No," Meta Knight denied. "I want to look at the crystal you described as normal."
"Do you really feel like using another crystal? That 'worst possible fate' seems to have shaken you deeply. Maybe we should move on to NME's data," the spider suggested.
"I need to get that grim vision out from my mind," Meta Knight said to himself.
"I'm fine. We shouldn't let what happens in the visions affect us," he replied to Sectonia. "Besides, the sooner we check this, the sooner we'll be done."
Sectonia rolled her eyes but complied and took out the third crystal. Meta Knight grabbed it. He tried to look at it through different angles, but the crystal showed what was on the other side, no visions or anything. Just as Sectonia had said, it behaved like a normal crystal.
"I think this only makes it weirder that I see that nothingness in the other two," Sectonia commented once the Star Warrior shared that fact with her. Meta Knight had merely nodded thoughtfully. "What does this third crystal mean?" they both wondered.
"We're at a dead end at the moment," the Star Warrior said, unable to answer that question. "I think it's time to see what we can find among that data."
Sectonia nodded in agreement before saying, "I'll call Bandee to lend us a hand."
"I hope we get to the root of this soon," they both thought.
— — —
The next few days flew by.
With two of the crystals discarded, Meta Knight had decided to focus on the first one. While it could be seen as useless, the more he learnt about that reality, the stronger a theory that the Star Warrior was working on became. However, since the investigation of the NME data required more time and effort, revisiting the vision had lost its priority.
As for said investigation, it had been totally fruitless up until that point, at least in regard to the crystals. There were a lot of files to check, unlock and decipher and only three people who could carry out that task, so their advances were slow. Due to the betrayal she had suffered in the past, Sectonia didn't want to leave that data in the hands of anyone else. Only Bandee was spared from that caution that bordered on paranoia, and so he was the only one allowed to help them.
Most of the documents they had managed to crack so far contained information about the "products" that NME had developed in Floralia. To name a few, there were records about monsters based on plant life, a wide variety of poisons, and even a method to turn even the most harmless of flowers into a being capable of absorbing the life energy of others.
"This is likely what they did to Whispy's flower," Meta Knight realised. While he had been absent from that particular event, Tiff had told him about it.
Others were even more irrelevant to their current case. Accounting ledgers, numerous e-mails between the NME supervisors stationed in Floralia and the main fortress, field reports, and a long list of files that were of no use to them at the moment. The only thing that had caught Meta Knight's attention was a notice that said an asteroid had been redirected towards Pop Star and that the "turtle protocol" was to be applied. Said protocol was basically a deployment of shields and artificial air that would allow the islands to withstand both the impact and the changes in the atmosphere caused by it. They surely had reversed it when Kirby had diverted it, most likely because of the elevated energy consumption.
"Though at least now I can confirm that, as I suspected, it was eNeMeE who accelerated the asteroid's trajectory towards Dream Land," Meta Knight thought. That incident had been quite intense.
The only thing related to "alternate realities" that they had managed to find so far was a collection of files that spoke of an artefact called the "Dimensional Mirror" that was supposedly hidden in the skies of Pop Star. This mirror was said to act as a "door" to a world that reflected the desires of the heart of whoever possessed it. Luckily for the universe, NME's forces had not been able to retrieve it, for who knows what eNeMeE would have brought out of a world that reflected the wickedness of his heart. The company's final note about the research indicated that they had denied the existence of said artefact, regarding it as a myth.
"So the mirror is nothing more than one of Floralia's many legends, like the Dreamstalk. I don't think these crystals have anything to do with it, then," Sectonia stated. "What a pity. Given the strong protection these files had, I thought we had found something important..." she complained.
"And couldn't the crystals be fragments of the mirror?" Bandee suggested. "Even though NME's research states they didn't find it, we could be checking an outdated version. Or maybe it was altered to hide its discovery." Shortly after finishing sharing his theory, the Sectra Dee seemed to realise something. "Nah, forget what I just said. If the crystals were part of the mirror, the three should have shown Meta Knight the same thing: a world his heart wishes," he corrected himself.
While Meta Knight had to admit that one of the two worlds he had seen showcased things he longed for, it still felt "incomplete" to him, so he couldn't call it a "reflection of his heart." And that was not taking into account the other one, which, rather than a wish, was a nightmare come true.
"Then we can rule out that fabled mirror being involved in this completely," Meta Knight replied. Then, he sighed dejectedly and added, "I'm afraid I'm going to have to ask my boss for more days off if we want to get to the root of this. Otherwise, you two will have to continue investigating on your own until Arthur can send someone else, or he can come in person."
"It would be a shame if you couldn't stay. It was thanks to you that we were able to decrypt a big chunk of this data," Bandee lamented.
"I'm not the only current member of the GSA capable of breaking into NME's systems. One of our newest recruits learnt how to do so on his own and even infiltrated NME's cyberspace," Meta Knight explained, thinking of Knuckle Joe. He hid the fact that the first time the son of his late best friend had done such a thing, it hadn't been with the best of intentions. "However, I must admit that I'd like to continue lending you my support in person," he finished.
"Well, if you want to stay with us so badly, I could write a letter to your boss to put some pressure on him," Sectonia suggested. "Maybe I should even give him a little scare by making the situation sound way more serious than it is," she added with a mischievous smile.
"But wouldn't lying to the leader of another country cause us diplomatic problems?" Bandee remarked, feeling anxious at the idea.
"Considering that he's a coward and not very smart, it could work," Meta Knight replied, attracted by Sectonia's plan. "Besides, the king could use a small diplomatic scare. Maybe that way he will start taking more seriously running his kingdom."
"And he wouldn't retaliate against Floralia if he found out?" Bandee insisted.
"I doubt so. King Dedede doesn't know how to manage his fortune, let alone handle this kind of conflict. He'd leave it in the hands of the prime minister, and since he's a good person, he'd end up being on our side if we explain everything to him," the Star Warrior exposed. "Not to mention that the GSA and the Star Warriors wouldn't allow Dream Land to carry out any act of aggression against Floralia due to our historical alliance," he added.
"Knowing that makes me feel more at ease, I guess," the Sectra Dee calmed down a bit.
After hearing all of that, a bewildered Sectonia couldn't help but wonder, "What kind of king is Meta Knight serving?"
— — —
On the fifth night, Meta Knight had borrowed one of the Resistance's laptops (well, one of the laptops the Resistance had seized from NME). His purpose was to write up a full report on the situation, which he would send to Arthur the next day. He doubted he could gather much more information in the 24 hours he had left on Floralia, and he needed to get his fellow Star Warriors and GSA members, including his possible replacement, up to date. It would also serve to put his own thoughts in order.
First, Meta Knight wrote a formal introduction to the subject of the report. Then he explained the context, added the detailed retelling of the attack Sectonia had suffered, and began writing down the two realities he had seen in the crystals.
He didn't elaborate much on the reality in which he served eNeMeE. He simply described it as one where the tyrant had won and only a small spark of hope remained, which light was likely to be extinguished soon. Probably, most Star Warriors wouldn't want to hear such a discouraging story, especially when it had been on the verge of happening in their reality.
Instead, he went into a few more details when describing what he had seen in the more "desirable" vision so his potential replacement could have some points of reference from an alternative point of view. However, he wasn't going to include anything he hadn't already shared with Sectonia and Bandee.
« I can attest that the geography of that vision's Dream Land is nothing like our reality. Everything is brighter and livelier, and magic seems to be much more common, leading me to believe that eNeMeE had little to no influence on it. As for key locations, Cappy Town doesn't exist, King Dedede's castle is much smaller, and the layout of the forests varies quite a bit, » Meta Knight described.
The lack of Cappy Town made him feel uncertain about its inhabitants, though it wasn't the only absence that worried him. He hadn't heard or seen anything about Tiff, Tuff, their parents, or Escargoon. Where could they be? Given his limited point of view, he couldn't confirm whether they even existed.
«The most striking thing about this alternative reality is the existence of a quartet of heroes dubbed by the locals as the "Dream Team," one of said heroes being an alternate version of me,» he wrote as an entry to the next block of information.
Or at least, that was how the other reality's Kawasaki had referred to them. His other self had gone to his restaurant, and the cook had been surprised to see him without the rest of "our local heroes, the Dream Team," to which his counterpart had nonchalantly reacted with:
"So that is what you guys call us nowadays. Heh, I like how that sounds. But they are not with me today. I'm here for 'our dark secret,' after all."
Although Meta Knight had been alarmed by how sinister those last words had sounded, in the end the secret between the cook and his other self had turned out to be a delicious-looking dark chocolate cake, which the knight didn't hesitate to devour as soon as he made sure no one was looking. That made the Star Warrior feel a little remorseful, as he was basically invading his other self's privacy.
And even with that weight on his conscience, he could not stop looking. He was fascinated by his other self's life, wondering why he and his counterpart were so similar and yet so different.
«One of the other members of this quartet is Kirby. In the world of that vision, he is older, having the mentality of a 9- or 10-year-old child, or basically the one that our Kirby will have in about 35 years,» he added next. «This means that he does not require the assistance of a guardian.»
The words he had just written reminded him of something he had yet to tell to Tiff, Tuff, and Kirby. The long life of Meta Knight's kin was accompanied by a childhood development that, while compared to their average lifespan, was short; for much less long-lived species, it was perceived as very, very slow. Tiff probably had already guessed it, but perhaps she didn't want to accept that while Kirby was going to remain a child, she and her brother were going to grow up, grow old, and die before their adopted sibling reached puberty. One day, he would have to prepare the three of them to face this bitter and sad reality.
«Despite his older mental age, his personality is almost identical to our Kirby's. He is kind and a bit naive, loves naps and food, and considers the other Meta Knight a rival, somewhat of a mentor, and a close friend,» he continued writing.
Two separated moments he had witnessed had made that point quite clear to him.
The first was a picnic under a large tree between that reality's Kirby, Meta Knight, and Dedede, plus a Waddle Dee wearing a blue bandana who had turned out to be the Bandee the other Dedede had referred to in the first vision.
The four of them had been chatting animatedly until the alternative Dedede had proclaimed that "this time" he and Meta Knight would be the ones to emerge victorious from the charity tournament they had organised's final duel.
"I'm sorry, but since you've offered my favourite cake as one of the prizes, I can't afford to lose, poyo!" Kirby exclaimed with determination.
The alternative Dedede smirked with satisfaction. It seemed that those were the words he was yearning to hear. Considering the conversation the king and his knight had shared in the first vision, Meta Knight could deduce that the inclusion of the cake as a prize was an additional measure to encourage Kirby to take the fight seriously, and the young puffball had gladly bitten the bait.
"Aren't you guys assuming too soon that the finals will be between us four?" the Waddle Dee enquired. His voice sounded almost identical to the Bandee Meta Knight had met in Floralia, though it lacked the soft buzzing that the insectoids made when they spoke.
"Bandee, who else is going to qualify?" the king answered. "Kirby already claimed that he isn't going to lose, and as his rivals, neither Meta Knight nor I are going to hold back."
"I know, I know. But what if we have to face each other in an earlier round?" The other Bandee countered.
The other Dedede opened his mouth to say something but immediately closed it. The Waddle Dee had just brought up a crucial point that the monarch had overlooked.
"Heh. I guess we hadn't thought of that," the other Meta Knight commented, amused.
"Well, in that case, let's promise that our duel will be the most memorable one, whenever it happens and whoever wins," the king suggested vigorously as he stretched out an arm to put it between the four of them.
"I promise, poyo!" The alternate Kirby exclaimed with energy and joy, putting his hand on top of the other Dedede's. The movement was imitated by the other Bandee and Meta Knight.
Once more, nostalgia and melancholy had stabbed Meta Knight's heart. Long ago, he had sealed a promise with Jecra and Garlude in the same fashion as those four just did.
The other moment that had made clear the bond between the other reality's Kirby and Meta Knight had taken place in the former's house. The younger puffball had passed a paper to his friend that featured Dream Land's alphabet's vowels poorly drawn.
"Good. It seems that you are improving," Meta Knight's other self praised Kirby, to the Star Warrior's surprise. If that was an improvement, how badly had the pink puffball written the letters at first?
"But I'm very bad at this, poyo," the other Kirby had complained, frustrated. "Why isn't there a 'writer' copy ability?"
"Kirby, you can't rely on your copy abilities for everything," the knight scolded him.
"I know, but making you waste your free time on this makes me feel bad. I know you would rather be training instead of teaching me how to write..." the little ball lamented.
"Kirby, you're the reason I have free time in the first place," the other Meta Knight reminded his friend in a reassuring tone. "I don't mind spending it with you, or else I wouldn't be here. Besides, training the mind is just as important as training the body."
"Really?"
"Yes, really," the knight had replied, causing a radiant smile to appear on Kirby's face. "Now let's get back to your lesson. Those vowels don't teach themselves."
«There has been no mention of the Star Warriors, the GSA, or the War against eNeMeE in their conversations, so I can neither confirm nor deny our existence as an organisation,» Meta Knight added to the report before moving to write about the next of the four heroes.
«Another member of the "Dream Team" is a Waddle Dee known as Bandana Waddle Dee or Bandee, loyal servant of King Dedede. Coincidentally, in our reality, the member of the Floralia Resistance who is collaborating in this investigation shares that same identity, with the difference that he is a Sectra Dee.»
When he had shared that with Sectonia and his reality's Bandee, he had been surprised that their reaction hadn't been one of absolute perplexity.
"Well, it makes sense when you stop to think about it," Sectonia had said. "After all, the Sectra Dees are Waddle Dees who adapted to Floralia's environment many centuries ago. Right, Bandee?" she added, in a way that invited her companion to delve deeper into the subject.
Bandee then began to elaborate very enthusiastically that the reason for the species difference between him and his counterpart was surely due to his ancestors deciding to follow King Hortensius II in what was known in Floralia's history as "the Age of Exploration." Said monarch had returned from his expedition followed by a large group of Waddle Dees, who in a matter of a couple of generations already had insectoid features due to the constant exposure to Floralia's magic. It was very likely that in the other reality, Bandee's ancestors decided to stay on Pop Star's surface.
Bandee had turned out to be very passionate about history, and he was even considering becoming a teacher once the school was rebuilt. Meta Knight was convinced that if the Sectra Dee had had the means, he would have accompanied his presentation with a slide show.
"Honestly, I would like to meet my other self. I'm sure he knows a lot of interesting things about the Lands Below," Bandee said in closing. "In exchange, I could tell him everything I know about the history of Floralia."
"Remember that we're talking about another reality. It's more than likely that the historical events that occurred there are different from those in our world," Sectonia told him to bring him back down to earth.
"Right. What he would tell me wouldn't have any validity or historical rigour," Bandee agreed, somewhat disappointed. "Well, I could still record the story of our two worlds and comment on all the differences, but it wouldn't be the same as he likely doesn't know anything about Floralia and I don't know anything about the surface..."
As Meta Knight remembered that exchange, he couldn't help but wonder, "if the Sectra Dees are just a variant of the Waddle Dees instead of a completely different species, why do the firsts talk and have their own personalities and goals while the others don't? Did something happen to the Waddle Dees that stayed on the surface that made them lose their individuality and ability to develop an identity? Well, another think to look into when I get back to the surface. Now it's time to focus on the report."
«The biggest surprise given his bad reputation is the fourth of those heroes being none other than Dedede, King of Dream Land,» were the next lines he added. «However, I must say that the Dedede shown to me in this vision is a different person despite having some common personality traits (big ego, mischievous tendencies, and laziness being the more prominent ones) with the one we know. He doesn't seem to have collaborated with NME at all, having stated clearly his dislike towards eNeMeE himself, and possesses combat skills worthy of a Star Warrior.»
Meta Knight had also witnessed one of the training sessions between his other self and the alternative Dedede. Seeing his body move with an agility and strength he hadn't had in years didn't surprise him as much as seeing Dedede being able to keep up with him and even getting the upper hand on a few occasions.
At the end of the intense match, both combatants had ended heated and breathing heavily.
"Ugh, I think we should take a break," the other Dedede decided as he sat on the floor of the ring where they had been sparring until that moment. "Wanna take a bath in the Fountain of Dreams?" the king offered.
"Dedede, the Fountain of Dreams is a very important place. Maybe we should stop using it as our pool," the knight replied as he cleaned his sword, which looked almost identical to Galaxia.
If doing so didn't take Meta Knight out of the vision, he would have rolled his eyes in exasperation. Of course Dedede would use a Fountain of Dreams as a swimming pool. "Though my other self has included himself in the sentence. Did he also use it?!"
"But nothing bad has ever happened," the monarch tried to convince the other Meta Knight. "Besides, if it weren't for that, I wouldn't have discovered Nightmare trying to corrupt it that time, remember?"
Okay, now the king had completely caught Meta Knight's attention. Not only had he called eNeMeE by his true name, but Dedede had also implied that he had, at the very least, tried to stop the villain.
"How could I forget it?" the other Meta Knight groaned, not hiding his annoyance. "The headaches you would have saved us if you had explained the situation to Kirby from the beginning instead of insisting on finding a solution on your own," he rebuked the king.
"You know how I was back then. I couldn't let 'a cheeky rascal pretending to be a hero' take away my moment of glory," said the monarch in a somewhat grumpy, embarrassed tone, as if he didn't want to remember those times. "Although in the end he did take it away from me when he finished off that rotten wizard. I suppose that leaving him locked up in the Fountain can't compare to hitting him so hard that the impact left a hole in the Moon," he added, defeated. "So much fuss I made for nothing..."
"So eNeMeE has already been defeated in this reality. And from the way they are talking about him, it seems he wasn't a big threat for them. How peculiar, although that explains why there doesn't seem to be any traces of his influence in their world," Meta Knight noted. "Wait, did he just say that Kirby made a hole in the Moon by defeating him?! Well, after what ours did to that asteroid, I don't know why I'm even surprised."
However, that revelation was nothing compared to the bombshell the other Meta Knight dropped next.
"Good thing you had already buried the hatchet by the time Jambastion and Void Termina happened. You were of great help back then."
Wait.
Wait, wait, wait.
Wait, wait, wait, wait, wait.
"What does he mean by Void Termina?!" Meta Knight screamed, flabbergasted, in his mind upon hearing those words.
"Ugh. Don't bring that event up. My stomach still turns whenever I think about it..." the monarch complained. "Though, I'm glad we were able to help Kirby put an end to all that madness. I don't want to imagine what would have happened if we had failed."
"The end of the universe," the other Meta Knight reminded him bluntly.
"You didn't have to answer! I was talking figuratively!" Dedede protested, to which the other Meta Knight reacted with a chuckle.
"They defeated Void Termina?!" he had exclaimed again.
In that case, it was no wonder that reality's Kawasaki had referred to them as heroes. Defeating an ancient being like Void Termina was not something that anyone could achieve. It required great power and perfect teamwork to accomplish such a feat. If he remembered correctly from the stories Arthur had told him, in his dimension it was the first four Star Warriors in history and their allies who defeated Void Termina after a long and arduous battle, though that had occurred many aeons before the rise of eNeMeE. In the present, few knew of that story, and most of those who did considered it a myth.
In the vision's reality, though, not only did that myth seem to be real, but his other self and his friends had been able to stop it. No wonder they had spoken of eNeMeE as a lesser threat. What else were they capable of?
As he remembered that scene while writing, Meta Knight couldn't help but think, "If only I had their power…" The Star Warrior then shook his head to push away that unpleasant feeling and focus on finishing his report.
« Conclusion:
My theory is that Night Mare Enterprises used these crystals for the purpose of spying on alternate dimensions. Considering that both crystals present two completely opposite alternatives, one in which the eNeMeE was defeated without causing serious impact to the Galaxy and another in which he is close to achieving absolute victory, it is likely that they influenced their strategic decisions during the war. Still, there is a possibility that these crystals are not related to our former enemies, and we are facing a new threat. Therefore, I make the following requests in both my name and Sectonia's, Leader of Floralia's Resistance:
- General consultation to members of the Galactic Soldier Army and Star Warriors. If anyone has any knowledge to contribute in this matter, please make it known.
- Access to the Galactic Soldier Army records, both old data preserved from the times before the fall and those seized from Night Mare Enterprises after its disbanding, that may be related to this issue.
- A replacement for me, so Sectonia has some assistance in case the extension of my stay in Floralia is denied.
(Note to self: encrypt the following lines so only Arthur can read them)
Arthur, we need to talk about what I saw in the dimension where eNeMeE has 'won.' I will call you when I return to Dream Land so we can arrange a meeting. It is very...»
"Meta Knight! Come quickly!"
Bandee's urgent shout made Meta Knight jump up from his seat.
"What's wrong?" the knight asked in alarm as he ran towards the exit of the room, completely putting the report aside.
"Something's wrong with one of the crystals!" Bandee explained, alarmed.
The Star Warrior and Sectra Dee ran towards the meeting room, where Sectonia was. She had placed the three crystals on the table, and one of them was 'blinking.'
"Meta Knight, look at this!" the spider called to him when she saw him arrive. "I was studying the crystals when suddenly the 'normal' one started to shine."
"Did you do something different?" he asked her, looking for the cause of that reaction.
"No. I wasn't even manipulating it at that moment," the spider answered. "I don't want to touch it because, since they work differently on me, it may stop doing that before we can find out why or how."
Meta Knight took that as an invitation to examine it himself. Intrigued, he gripped the crystal firmly.
[Connection established. New user detected. Granting access.]
That female voice, mechanical and monotonous, startled him. Granting access to what?
[Access granted.]
Suddenly, Meta Knight felt as if something was pulling on the crystal. Afraid that it would escape his grasp, he held it more firmly, but a force that seemed to come from the crystal itself began to pull on his entire arm.
"What's happening?!" Bandee exclaimed, frightened by the way Meta Knight's arm was shaking.
"The crystal is moving on its own," the Star Warrior answered while trying to resist the movement to no avail.
Then, Meta Knight's arm, guided by the crystal, began to draw something in the air, reality itself "flickering" in the area where it stroked. The movement repeated five times, forming a star. Once the drawing was complete, a vortex formed inside the star.
Vortex that immediately began to swallow Meta Knight. Because of his proximity, the Star Warrior couldn't do anything to avoid it.
"Meta Knight!" Sectonia exclaimed as she conjured a web to try to rescue him. The web managed to stick it to the Star Warrior's back, but the force of the vortex was too great, resulting in her being sucked in as well. Bandee could only scream in terror as he saw the vortex close just as it finished absorbing his leader.
— — —
"Are you okay, Meta Knight?" Sectonia asked the Star Warrior as she helped him up.
Because of the way her web had latched onto Meta Knight, she had ended up on top of the Star Warrior once the vortex expelled her, knocking him face-first onto the ground.
"I've been way worse," Meta Knight replied. "That was very sudden..." he commented, referring to the vortex that had just swallowed them.
"What was that thing?" the spider asked.
"It was a dimensional portal. I had read about them, but I would never have thought I would see one with my own eyes, much less be swallowed by it," Meta Knight informed.
The place they were in was almost completely dark. The ground beneath their feet was pitch black, as if they were standing on a glass that separated them from the rawest of darkness, and small lights similar to the object that had caused their arrival shone around them, like fireflies in the night sky. There was a bright area at some distance from where they were standing.
"So, are we in another dimension?" Sectonia asked just to be sure. Meta Knight nodded. "How are we going to get back?" she added, distraught by the idea of not being able to return to her people.
Meta Knight looked at the crystal he held in his hand. It had lightened up, its iridescent glow illuminating their faces. An idea came to the Star Warrior's mind as he studied it.
"Maybe just like it brought us here, the crystal can be used to open a portal back to our world. My arm drew a star to open it, so if I repeat the movement…" he said as he began to draw.
[Wait!]
The voice from before stopped him. This time, however, while it still sounded mechanical, it was no longer neutral and monotonous, but pleading and even a little desperate.
"What's wrong?" Why did you stop?" Sectonia asked, confused.
"I heard a voice in my mind, though I think it's coming from the crystal," the Star Warrior revealed. "It's the same one I heard before the portal opened."
"You heard a voice before the portal opened?" the spider repeated, bemused.
[Come to me, please,] the voice requested.
"It's telling us to go somewhere," Meta Knight told Sectonia.
"Stop, stop. A voice coming from the crystal that caused this is asking us to go somewhere?" Sectonia stopped him cautiously and with some scepticism. "Don't you find that suspicious?"
In that moment, the lights floating around them came together on the invisible ground and formed two separate lines, marking a path in the darkness. The path guided towards the bright area. "Is that a tree?" Meta Knight noticed.
[Follow the light.]
Meta Knight couldn't deny that Sectonia was right. It was clear that they had been brought to that place using the crystal. Who? Why? He had to know. Following the instructions of an unknown voice wasn't the most sensible thing to do, but he wouldn't be Meta Knight if he didn't do something reckless from time to time.
"It's suspicious," Meta Knight finally broke his silence, agreeing with Sectonia. "But look on the bright side. It seems that we are finally going to get to the root of this."
In the draft version, a big part of the next chapter's content was going to be in this one, but said version basically summarised most of this chapter's plot points, leaving up in the air what things Meta Knight had seen and how he had acquired the info about the gameverse. To avoid a chapter of more than 20 pages, I had two options: cut here or go back to the preliminary version. In the end, I found the first option way more personally satisfying. I've also taken the creative liberty of combining some things from the games' lore with the anime's to fill in some gaps.