Bloodline

I

Nightmare gazed down upon the battlefield and scowled. A small, round piece, very pink against the black landscape of a square it was standing on, had taken out one of his favorite pawns.

A futile attempt, perhaps, considering the innumerable majuu he could send to take its place. But something the lord of night found unnerving nonetheless. For every time Kirby of the Stars pressed back, Nightmare grew more… frustrated. He would have had any of his servants tortured for years on end, slowly feeding on their pain, should they dare imply he was afraid.

Nightmare ground his fangs on edge. The pathetic ball should have been dead many times over. But he had proved a more dangerous opponent than he appeared. Every time the deity heard his enemy's unwitting, innocent laughter, it infuriated him like no other thing could.

Or nearly any other thing. There was something else that had mocked him – did mock him, every day of his existence. And Kirby happened to have irritatingly similar qualities. All but identical in physical appearance. The softness about the face. The spark of rebellion, deep within, that surfaced in the eyes.

Impulsively, Nightmare lunged forward and seized the piece that represented it between his index finger and thumb. He growled, wanting nothing more than to crush it. Squeeze the life out of it, slowly and painfully. To make it suffer! The thought alone was overwhelming, and Nightmare had to use every shred of self-restraint he possessed to avoid giving in to the temptation.

Because he knew all too well that this piece would fight back. It was the only one of all his majuu that could resist, even here, on this board of his own creation. Instead, he lifted it before his five eyes, examining its wretched essence with the critical eye of a Wolfwrath sizing up its quarry.

So similar… like two sides of the same coin.

He fingered the piece thoughtfully. It's as if they were…

Nightmare roared: an ear-splitting snarl that shook the universe in its entirety, filled with rage and triumph.

After several minutes, a group of elite demon beasts nervously made mind-contact with their master. W-what is it, m-my l-lord? one said, apparently around a quivering tongue.

'What is it?' I have only discovered the instrument of our enemy's demise, you insolent fools! And with long-suffering articulation he informed them of his plot.

Another demon piped up hesitantly, But my lord, surely it has… occurred to one as clever and powerful as you that he cannot be controlled?

The demon's cautious selection of words did not save him from the consequence of his audacity: a less-than-favorable manner of death.

Would anyone else care to argue? Nightmare drawled, voice dripping with jaded apathy.

The other demon beasts had barely flinched when their companion's warm, violet blood had rained down upon them, his limbs hitting the floor with dull thuds. They lived without question under their lord's regimen. Impudence must be punished. And those who failed to realize this deserved a premature end.

No? Good. He grinned, amused. Then you shall be good little majuu and do as I command. The time has come. Tell our friend we would require his services. Do not hesitate to remind him that, should he refuse, he will remain in my debt.

The demons murmured assent and broke the link. Nightmare grinned wryly.

We will take him.

At this, he shifted his attention back to the diminutive figure between his claws. Yes, my prized pawn. Enjoy your miserable life while you can. Soon, you will be mine.

And your world will fall.

XXX

Meta Knight woke with a start. He found Galaxia's hilt, drew it, and leapt into a battle stance before a half-conscious thought so much as crossed his mind:

Wrong.

Panting softly, shaking from the frigid sweat drenching his velvet-fine fur, he flicked his luminous yellow eyes back and forth over the room. Nothing.

A stream of moonlight cast a pallid glow across the dark tiles, the wooden faces of his bookcase and table, turned his blue figure a pale, ghostly shade. It glinted off his shoulder plates and deepened the shadows in the creases of the navy cape, which, along with his teal ruff and gloves, all contributed to the respectable pile beside his bed.

Something is very wrong.

It was as if the very fabric of the universe was being warped. Meta Knight felt as if he had just been hewn into many tiny pieces and put back together within the span of an instant.

But it was more than merely uncomfortable. Something in the sensation had sent his very soul writhing with revulsion. It felt like nothing Meta Knight had known for at least two hundred years, and what he had hoped he would never feel again.

He whipped on the armor as swiftly as possible. One thought alone pounded through him now, in unison with the fearful drum that was his own heart. He flew down the stairs, silent as an owl's wing, and out the door into the castle corridors.

Kirby. He had to find Kirby.

XXX

Kirby couldn't fall sleep.

He wasn't sure why. He could always sleep when he wanted to. But tonight the moon outside his window had seemed as large and bright as the sun.

It bothered Kirby. The light was fierce and cold and made him squirm with discomfort. So it hadn't been long before he found himself kicked outside by an irritable Tokkori.

Kirby had inhaled and floated up to the all-too-familiar nook in the tree beside his house. He'd flopped out his big, red feet and let out a soft, "Poyo…"

At least the moon had been behind him then. Its glaring brightness only showed through the patches between leaves. Kirby had closed his eyes and waited for the soothing embrace of sleep to envelop him with its gentle arms. Minutes passed, and then hours. But try as he might, Kirby couldn't quite drift off.

He had hopped out of the tree and began to walk down the hill. He wasn't sure exactly where he was going. His feet had seemed to be moving by themselves, and when they stopped, a huge expanse of blue-black water stretched out from before them. Waves, whispering against white sand, faded into place. Kirby blinked a couple of times before he realized where he was: the beach.

He looked up to the stars. His faraway friends were glittering brilliantly as usual. Although something about their flickering seemed tense, like little candles flaring a warning.

He shifted his pink, ball-like body to one side. "Pwoy?"

A low wind whistled ominously around him. Kirby shivered. Suddenly, he felt an odd twinge deep inside him, like something being twisted sharply.

He took a nervous step back, drawing his stubby paws in below his face, and trembled.

Bad. Badbad. Where go? Home? …Maybe Fumu? he thought frantically.

He was about to start toward the castle when the wind picked up even stronger than before. It was funny… it almost sounded like a moan…

Kirby had no time to react when the demon beast lunged at him. It raked claws across his back and sent him soaring into the ocean. The salty water, now clouded with red, stung the cuts like needles, and Kirby barely managed to struggle to the surface.

The demon beast was coming again. From what Kirby managed to glimpse, it resembled a great bird, nearly as large as Dyna Blade, but with tattered black feathers that seemed afire with wispy purple flames. Its talons were outstretched, eyes blazing red. And it was charging over the water. Right toward him.

Kirby tried to duck underwater, only to cry out as the majuu seized him in its black claws. They surged up into the sky with a mighty downstroke of the demon beast's wings. It wheeled high into the star-dappled night, shreeing triumphantly. Kirby writhed but could not get free.

All of a sudden, it pinned back its wings in a dive. Demon beast and Star Warrior alike plummeted. Kirby wailed in terror, but was cut short with a huff of breath as the black raptor slammed him into the sand.

And then it wasn't a bird at all. As Kirby looked on, quailing in fear, the majuu became an arcing swirl of black, and rearranged its shadowy form into that of an enormous wolf.

Someone-someone-help-please-help-me-help-HELP-HELP! The thoughts pattered as swiftly as Kirby's own heartbeat.

The wolf leaned in with its red eyes and snarled, so close Kirby could count its fiery black fangs had he known how. Like the rest of its body, they didn't seem quite solid, but if they were anything like the demon's talons earlier, they still hurt just as much.

Kirby squeezed his eyes shut. But he couldn't possibly have braced himself for the excruciating pain that came: razor-sharp, burning agony sinking into his skin – through his skin, searing inside him, shooting through his veins like fire.

Kirby screamed. White light burst behind his eyelids as hot blood spurted from him like a hellish fountain, garnishing the bone-white sand with stains of crimson. The wolf-demon howled a victorious counterpoint to the terrible melody.

It twisted the blazing knives that had replaced its claws inside its tormented victim. This produced more pained shrieks. The majuu grinned, its red eyes dancing. To think the master had warned it that this prey would be dangerous! And that all of the other demons had failed to kill him, even the half-competent ones like Wolfwrath and Kirisakin!

Yet it was carrying out the masters' orders with exemplary skill and steadfast focus. How they would lavish it with praise upon its return!

A pathetic whimper from below returned it to the task at hand. It opened its jaws, giving itself the fangs of a sabertooth, and prepared to deliver the killing blow.

"No!"

A bullet of silver-blue flashed before it, and the demon beast's head and forearms were slashed in two. The shadows simply swirled away from the cleaving strike in little eddies like smoke, disintegrating into the night.

The headless majuu growled, aggravated, before drawing shreds of shadows from nearby cliffs. The blackish wisps pieced together to sculpt a new head, insect-like with gaping mandibles: that of a centipede. Centipede legs replaced its forelimbs as well, and as an afterthought, swept over and erased its lupine half. When it regained its sight, it found him standing before it, brandishing a battle-hungry Galaxia.

Meta Knight.

Meta Knight glared at his foe fiercely, trying to conceal his fear for the young warrior behind him.

So, the noble Star Warrior finally shows his face to defend his little apprentice, said the demon beast with its mind. Jagged skeletal teeth burst from the centipede's head for it to grin with. The shards of carapace fizzed into nothingness as they fell. Oh, how touching.

The blue knight's cape rustled and waved in the wind. But even beneath his armor, he did not so much as twitch.

What's wrong? Cat got your… tongue? At this, the shape-shifting demon produced a huge black one from between its mandibles, narrow and jagged, and lashed it back and forth like a whip. Kirby whimpered pitifully at the sight.

"Stop it." Meta Knight snapped at the majuu.

Ahh, am I scaring the poor little one? How foolish of me. It laughed: a deep, booming resonance.

"Your quarrel is with me. Why must you exhaust energy tormenting a child?"

Indeed, my fight is with you. And what better way to lure you out than with the suffering of your innocent young friend?

Meta Knight could feel the rage rising from that forbidden abyss deep within him, wrestled it down. He needed to tend to Kirby before it was too late. But rushing in blindly was certain death for both of them. He had to find a way to defeat the demon beast, and quickly.

Ah, yes. As the master's greatest creation, he has blessed me with his very own tastes. Quite literally, in fact. And this Kirby's pain… it is exquisite!

Meta Knight could not quite suppress a murderous growl, rising up from his throat in place of actions or words. Stop, he commanded himself. It's trying to provoke you. Concentrate!

Were you close enough to hear him scream? It was glorious, simply glorious. What a shame… that I am the only creation to possess the privilege of consuming his fear.

His eyes narrowed beneath his mask. "What, precisely, are you getting at?"

Oh, dear. More crude physical speech. Don't tell me you've forgotten how to mindspeak already?

The warrior's blood froze cold.

The demon beast smirked. Now, let's see. I believe there was indeed another of the master's creations before me. Created as superior even to myself. But this one…

"ENOUGH!" Meta Knight bellowed, leaping into the air.

He hadn't used this attack in a while. But it was his only chance.

Closing his eyes, he entered the state of mushin. Pure energy rushed through him as he presented the Sacred Sword to the moon. "Galaxia…" And brought it down, hard. "Sword Beam!"

The golden crescent blasted straight through the demon beast, carving a deep gulf in the sand and parting the sea before it. Eventually it petered out, leaving the ocean to hiss its irritation with a wake of froth and steam.

The demon beast was gone – instantly vaporized by the divine light of the Sacred Sword.

Meta Knight wasted no time. He hit the ground, stumbling slightly from lack of practice, and raced to Kirby's side. The young warrior looked very small in the sand pit, lying motionless in a pool of his own blood.

Meta Knight's yellow eyes shimmered with alarm. He's not… He can't be…

"Kirby. Kirby!" the old soldier cried urgently, leaning into the pit and placing his gloved paw over the little Star Warrior's.

The seconds it took for Kirby to respond were almost unbearable. At long last, he began to stir. His eyelids twitched before he slowly dragged them open.

Kirby blinked as the figure standing over him came into focus. His pure blue gaze met the concerned gold of his mentor, anxiously staring from beneath his mask. He managed a faint, "…Poy…"

Meta Knight's shoulderplates drooped slightly as he sighed in relief. Then it was as if a switch had been flicked, and he returned to his old, apathetic self. "All right; it appears we will have to find cloth with which to bind your lesions," he said brusquely. "Can you move at all?"

The little warrior assumed a brave face; however, when he put weight on one paw to push himself up, the motion made his already-throbbing wounds sing with pain. He fell back with a cry.

"Damn it," hissed the blue Star Warrior.

Kirby's eyes widened. That was one of the words Fumu had scolded Bun for saying! But he had thought Meta Knight never swore. And now he was swearing at Kirby for doing something wrong! What had he done? Was it because he couldn't get up? He was… weak? Was that it?

Sorry, Kirby thought, eyes brimming with tears. So sorry.

But all that came out was, "Poyo…"

Meta Knight inclined his body ever so slightly to one side, just the way Kirby did when he was puzzled. "What is it?" he frowned. It occurred to him then that the curse may not have been in his head, and that Kirby believed he was to blame. "Oh, no. It's not you. Sorry," he added.

Meta not mad? thought Kirby, now thoroughly confused. He felt dizzy and painful, and he was quite sure he could fall asleep now if he wanted to. Maybe that was a good idea. Sleep…

"Don't close your eyes," Meta Knight barked. "Just wait. I'll… I'll have cloth in a moment." For an instant he faltered, but one glance at Kirby immediately caused him to step away from the pit, out of the puffball's sight. There was a bit of rustling.

Kirby wondered what was going on. He was too tired for the noise to hold his attention long, though. Really tired – but he had promised Meta Knight, hadn't he?

So Kirby kept his eyes half-open, just for his friend.

XXX

The shape-shifting demon was not pleased. Not pleased at all.

How could I have let this happen? it fumed. Well, it hadn't expected him to have that technique. Maybe it should have, but it was too focused on his real powers to bother thinking of the Star Warriors'. The damned puffball probably knew it, too. Any one of our kind would have thought the same, it reassured itself.

Besides, it was no matter in the grand scheme of things. He had bought them time, nothing more. The masters would still commend it for succeeding in its mission, even if it failed on the first attempt.

And the second attempt… Well, it was not exactly that.

For how could a mere attempt be made when its result was certain?

So the majuu thought as it sent out its shapeless being over all of Popstar, gleaning shadows from everything it passed, leaving the world lifeless and flat. The moonlight served its purpose well.

A/N: Please critique!
I would greatly appreciate criticism to better my terrible writing style. I'm just beginning to play with motifs and symbolism, so I apologize in advance for their staring you in the face. If possible, advice on how to integrate setting would be wonderful as well. Thank you! :)