Kiwi: Behold, my first Kirby fanfic. It feels kind of refreshing to get away from Transformers for a while.

Torio: I give up. I just give up.

Kiwi: Now on to other business. I don't really like this one. Alida just irks me.

Torio: She's too much like Silica, that's why.

Kiwi: Yeah, I realized that halfway through the story, when I finally got to the "Sacred Sword Galaxia" episode. (sighs) Oh well. On to the explanations!

Torio: Kiwi needed an original name for Meta Knight. She made one up simply because the name 'Meta' would have shortened this story by at least a page.

Kiwi: I also don't want to hear anything about Alida. I know she's too much like Silica. I know that she doesn't seem honorable despite the fact she talks about it (there is a reason for that) I don't like her. After this story is finished she'll probably never appear in my fanfics again. Also, sorry for errors. I've gone through it, but my spellchecker is broke and I don't know why.

Torio: She also isn't a love interest for Meta Knight. Just to clear that up.

Kiwi: I saw no chemistry in this…

Torio: But someone out there will. I know it.

Kiwi: maybe your right. Anyway, Kirby is the property of Nintendo. I only have the Kutharians.

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Part 1...

Fumu and Bun watched as something streaked across the midnight sky. There was a loud crash as it landed somewhere outside of town.

The two yawned. It was late and they were tired. They would investigate it tomorrow.

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Meta Knight watched the object with a mild unease. He had a bad feeling. He went back into his bed and tried to get some rest, but was too troubled by a feeling of familiarity and memories he didn't care for becoming unearthed.

"Are you…happy?"

Memories from a past life rushed though his mind.

"Take the sword."

"And if I don't?"

"I'll kill you anyway, though it lacks honor."

Meta Knight got back up and paced around his room. He had a feeling that tomorrow would not go well.

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The next day, Fumu, Bun and Kirby were traveling to where the object crashed. However, they were met by a traveler coming from the crash site.

She wore a tattered cloak, and the clothes underneath were in no better condition. She had dark green skin, bright purple hair, and vivid yellow eyes. There was a thin scar over her left eye.

"I seek repairs for my ship." she stated.

Bun and Fumu looked at each other. Was there anyone in Pupu village who knew how to repair a ship?

"We can try to help." Fumu said. "But I really don't think anyone can repair a spaceship." She offered her hand to the stranger. "I'm Fumu, by the way." The stranger shook her hand.

"Pleased to meet you, Fumu."

"I'm Bun." Bun stated. He picked up Kirby. "And this is Kirby."

"Kaabii!"

"My name is Alida." The traveler said with a smile.

As they walked back to Pupu village, the kids questioned Alida on her background.

"What planet are you from?" Fumu asked.

"Kuthar." Alida stated simply.

"Never heard of it." Bun said.

"It is fairly far off from here." Alida stated.

"Then why are you here?" Fumu asked.

"I am looking for someone."

Before Fumu could press further, Alida said, "Your village is…quaint. Very tropical."

Fumu smiled. "Yeah, it's always warm here. What's it like on Kuthar?"

"Kuthar is a desert planet."

"Sis, I'm hungry." Bun complained. "Hey, let's go to Kawasaki's! I'm sure he would want to meet Alida!"

Kirby was able to figure out that Kawasaki's equaled food, and was already halfway there before the remaining three began in that direction.

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Meta Knight stood on the tree branch. He checked to make sure his mask was securely in place. He couldn't afford any mistakes. Not with Alida here.

She would probably recognize him anyway. He had to lay low for now, and hope she left soon.

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"Kirby, don't eat all of the food!" Fumu scolded. "I'm sure our guest wants some."

"Poyo?" Kirby asked.

Alida laughed. "Your friend is very energetic."

"So, why are you here?" Bun asked. "Who are you looking for?"

"A mercenary named Mennen." Alida stated.

"A mercenary?" Fumu asked. "Why?"

"To avenge my father."

"Oh." Fumu muttered.

Kirby blinked at her in confusion. Alida chuckled and patted him on the head. "Your warrior is very young. Please tell me he is not your only defense in this village."

"No, we have Sir Meta Knight and…" Fumu paused. "How did you know he was a warrior?"

"I know of his type." Alida replied evenly. "Do you not?"

"No." Fumu and Bun muttered.

"Then I will tell you." Alida said. "You know of the Star Warriors, right?"

"A little." Fumu said. "They fight Nightmare."

"True." Alida told her. "But many of the Star Warriors were once Nightmare's creations."

Bun gasped. "You mean Star Warriors are Demon Beasts!"

"Were." Alida corrected. "They changed. Nightmare can create things, but he can't make them obedient. They must be trained for that." She picked up Kirby and set him on her lap. "Your friend's kind started when Nightmare attempted to make a being that could devour the universe. Needless to say, it did not go as planed. He tried again and again, but each time, his creations turned against him." Alida looked up. "There are variations of the genetic code that are loyal to Nightmare, ones that do not retain the copy ability, but none of Kirby's specific type are loyal to him."

"So, what's his species called?" Fumu asked.

Alida hesitated. "Ah… his kind have no name."

"A species with no name?" Kawasaki asked.

Alida paid him no mind. She was glaring out the window. "We are being watched." She growled. Quickly, she stepped outside. Fumu and Bun followed. Kirby continued eating.

Alida looked around, hands buried under her cloak.

Does she have weapons down there? Fumu wondered. Probably, if she's hunting this mercenary.

A few of the cappies were out, giving Alida strange looks. Sword and Blade were coming towards Fumu.

"Have you seen Sir Meta Knight?" Sword asked. "He has been missing all day."

Fumu thought. "No, I haven't seen him either." she shrugged. "He'll turn up eventually. He always does."

Kirby had finally devoured all of the food that had originally been set out for Alida. He walked outside. He continued walking until he was under the tree and looked up. There was Meta Knight. But Sword and Blade were looking for him, right? So why was he here?

Kirby tilted his head. Maybe… they were playing hide and seek? That would make sense.

"Poyo! Poyo!" Kirby was happy now. He won the game; he found Meta Knight first.

Bun ran over to Kirby and looked up. "He's right here!" He called out.

Meta Knight leapt out of the tree and briskly walked past them. Fumu ran to catch up, sensing something was off.

"Sir Meta Knight?" she asked.

"Not now." He mumbled, trying to keep his voice low. Alida would be sure to recognize it.

The sound of swords being drawn showed the Kutharian had heard.

Alida scowled, brandishing her two swords. "So this is where you've been hiding this whole time, Mennen."

Fumu noticed that Meta Knight made no eye contact. He kept his face down.

"This is a mistake." Fumu pleaded. "Sir Meta Knight is-"

"A liar and a deceiver." Alida said sharply.

Now Sword and Blade stood in front of Alida, hands on the hilts of their weapons.

"Stand down." Meta Knight ordered. They looked from Alida to Meta Knight and back. Slowly they stepped aside.

"This is a mistake." Fumu continued. "Right, Sir Meta Knight?" Meta Knight did not look up. "She's wrong. Tell her she's wrong, Sir Meta Knight."

"I do not wish to fight you, Alida." Meta Knight stated.

"Of course you don't" Alida spat. "You're just as much of a coward as ever, Mennen. Tell me, have you even thought of what happened to Kuthar after you helped that usurper gain the throne." Her glare deepened. "Draw your sword."

"And if I don't?"

"I'll kill you anyway."

"That would lack honor."

Alida laughed bitterly. "What would you know of honor?" She sneered.

Meta Knight did not answer.

"Draw your blade or I'll run you through!" Alida screeched. She charged at Meta Knight.

Meta Knight drew his sword at the last possible second, just in time to block. Alida swung again, and Meta Knight leapt out of the way.

Alida swung downwards, and Meta Knight blocked, catching her blades with his.

"Why do you hide behind a mask, Mennen?" Alida asked. "I doubt that you can use your special abilities with it on."

"I no longer use those abilities. I have others." Meta Knight answered.

Meanwhile, Kirby was watching the fight. "Poyo…" He muttered sadly. His new friend and his old friend weren't supposed to fight. It was wrong.

He stood up, deciding he was going to stop the fight.

Alida leapt back, frowning. A straight on approach was not working. She closed her eyes and focused her energy. "Sword Beam!"

Meta Knight dodged the first blast. Then he became aware of a presence behind him.

"Poyo!"

Meta Knight turned forgetting about Alida. "Kirby, get out-" As the second blast hit him, he remembered something. She has two swords. That means two Sword Beams…

Fumu ran over to Kirby. "Alida! You could have killed Kirby!"

Alida looked away, obviously caught between guilt at almost killing an innocent and her desire for revenge.

Slowly, Meta Knight stood up, supporting himself on his sword. Alida, went towards him, preparing for the final blow.

"This is too dangerous to continue here." Meta Knight stated.

"It won't be for much longer." Alida growled, raising her swords up.

As she swung her swords down, Meta Knight threw his cape around himself, and vanished. He reappeared a short distance behind her.

"If you want my blood that badly," he told her, "you will have to catch me first." Meta Knight's cape spread, turning into a large set of bat wings. He flew off, out of the town.

Alida ran after him. "Mennen, you coward!"

Tokkori followed. "I'll keep up!" He called out to Fumu. "I want to see how this turns out."

Bun turned to Sword and Blade. "He has wings?!"

"Sir Meta Knight's cape has the power of a sealed Demon Beast." Sword stated matter-of-factly.

Bun blinked. "A cape that turns into wings. Awesome."

Fumu frowned. This had to be a mistake. Alida wasn't the first person to claim Sir Meta Knight had killed someone they loved, after all.

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When the gang had arrived at the rugged terrain outside of town, the duel was still going on, just as heated as ever.

"Poyopoyo…" Kirby muttered. He wasn't too happy about this situation.

Fumu shook her head. "We have to stop this." Then, she noticed Dedede a distance away.

Bun saw him too. "Do you think he ordered another Demon Beast?"

"Let's hope so." Fumu said grimly. "That would break up this fight."

Dedede had, of course, bought another Demon Beast; this time it was a giant boar creature. Using one of Alida's swords, Sword Kirby made quick work of it.

Meta Knight, however, had used this as his cue to escape. By the time the battle was done, he was nowhere to be seen.

Alida scowled. "Coward…"

Fumu, against her better judgment, approached her. "Miss Alida, if you want, you can rest with our family tonight."

Alida's harsh look did not leave her face. "Yes. Thank you."

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Alida did not touch her food. Finally, to break the awkward silence, Fumu asked. "You said something about an usurper. What did you mean?"

"My father was the king of Kuthar. A man named Nero wanted the power for himself, so he started an uprising. Those loyal to my father held Nero's followers off, but then he hired Mennen. At first we did not know that; Mennen had came to my father saying that he heard his plight and was there to help. Then he betrayed and killed him, and Nero rose to power."

Fumu wanted to say something, but was sure that anything in Sir Meta Knight's defense would just cause trouble.

Kirby ran to the window. He smiled. "Star! Star!"

Everyone else followed him, watching as four more objects crashed down.

Suddenly, Alida was gone.

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Meta Knight sat deep in the woods. In his hand he held a dull, faded, star shaped object. A warp star. His warp star. The sign of a Star Warrior.

He resisted the urge to throw it. He didn't feel much like a Star Warrior now. Not with his past catching up to him like this.

The warp star was useless anyway. It had died alongside his good friend Jecra.

Again, those words that had been troubling him for a while rang through his head.

"Are you… happy?"

Meta Knight sighed. "I don't know, Good King. You tell me."

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Fumu, Bun and Kirby watched from the balcony as the newcomer talked with King Dedede. The newcomer was Kutharian. And he was huge. Not in the way Dedede was, though; most of his weight had to be muscle.

Fumu figured that that had to be Nero. It would explain why Alida had vanished.

Kirby leaned over more, trying to get a better look.

"Don't do that!" Fumu warned. Too late. Kirby tumbled over the side.

Fumu ran, desperate to get to the entrance of the castle before anyone noticed Kirby. However, when she arrived, both Kirby and Nero were gone.

She turned on Dedede. "What did you do with him!?"

Dedede laughed. "My good friend Emperor Nero asked if he could borrow him for a while. He said that Kirby was 'a miracle of biology', or something like that."

Fumu gasped. Would they really do science experiments on Kirby?

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"What do we do now?" Bun asked. Tokkori fluttered nervously. He knew this wouldn't end well.

Fumu sighed. "I don't know. Sir Meta Knight is gone. Alida is gone. Kirby is gone…"

"What happened to Kirby?"

They all turned to face Meta Knight, who was now standing on the balcony.

"Well," Tokkori started, "while you were busy running away from your past, Kirby was captured for experiments by this crazy named Nero!"

Bun gave him an angry look. "Yeah, where were you? You could have helped!"

Fumu looked away. "It's all true, isn't it? About you being a mercenary?"

"Yes." Meta Knight admitted.

"You killed Alida's father in cold blood." Fumu said in a low voice.

"I was young and foolish." Meta Knight told her. "I regret the things that I had done then. But time stands still for no man."

"What about you being a Demon Beast?" Bun asked.

Meta Knight paused. "We cannot choose how we are brought into this world." Then he left.

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Sylvan looked at the pink creature. It looked back.

"Poyo?"

Sylvan blinked. "Do… do you have a name?"

"Kaabii! Kaabii!"

Sylvan hesitated. This was a test subject. It wasn't supposed to have a name. Something was unsettling about this.

"My name's Sylvan." Sylvan stated. Kirby just blinked.

"Poyo?"

Sylvan frowned. "You can't understand, can you?" He sighed. "Do you want some food?"

"Watermelon." Kirby stated.

Sylvan tilted his head. It wasn't stupid. When asked about food, it stated specifics (not that Sylvan knew what a 'watermelon' was).

Sylvan reached through the bars and patted Kirby on the head. Kirby smiled up at him.

"You're nothing but a juvenile…" Sylvan stated. "A child…" Sylvan shook his head. "And they want me to do experiments on you…"

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Meta Knight quietly snuck into Sword and Blade's room. He very well knew what he was planning was crazy, but he saw no other option.

He unstrapped Galaxia's sheath, setting it next to Sword's bed. He couldn't bring it with him. He couldn't risk loosing Galaxia. He set his warp star next to it. He didn't want to loose that, either.

He thought about leaving his cape too, but that might prove to be useful. He would take it.

Silently, he took, Sword and Blade's swords. One for him, one for Kirby.

He shook his head. "This is madness…" he whispered.

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"I-I object to this!" Sylvan stuttered. "Commander Marcus, you do realize that we will be putting a child in harm's way, right? I cannot condone such tests on Kirby!"

Marcus continued to give Sylvan an even stare. "You named it."

"He named it self." Sylvan spat. "And when asked about food, he stated he wanted melons of water."

Marcus closed his eyes. "Emperor Nero's word is law, Sylvan. I cannot change it."

"B-but…"

"No, Sylvan. We have to go through with this." Marcus looked Sylvan in the eyes. "Don't argue. Don't do anything stupid."

Suddenly, the alarms in the ship blared.

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Alida noticed the commotion in the hallway of the castle. It was rather hard to miss.

Fumu and Bun came out of their rooms, rubbing their eyes. "Sword Knight, what's going on?" Fumu asked sleepily.

"Sir Meta Knight is missing." Sword stated.

"Again?" Bun asked. "It's not very surprising."

"He left Galaxia in our room." Blade told her.

Fumu blinked. She had never seen Sir Meta Knight without his sword. "Why would he do that?"

"I fear he has done something rash." Sword murmured.

Alida laughed. "With any luck, he'll get himself killed."

Sword and Blade tensed. They glared at Alida.

"It would only be fitting if he died at the hand of the monster he helped to create." Alida continued.

Finally, Blade snapped. "You will not say another ill word against our master!" He yelled. "He may have been a mercenary at one time, but he has since changed!"

Sword stepped between them. In a dangerously low voice, he hissed. "You are so blinded by the past that all you can see is the mercenary, not his true being, the Star Warrior who was willing to risk his life to save a couple of bandits who tried to rob him! You are the one at fault here, Alida. You've become the monster you swore to hunt!"

Alida snarled. "You say he is changed, that he is good, so why does he hide behind a mask? Only people with things to hide wear masks." Sword and Blade did not answer. "You've never seen under that mask, have you?"

"We do not question him on his history," Blade stated, "because we know that there are things that are difficult for him to talk about."

"Because he is a liar and a coward." Alida hissed.

"Because he is hurt." Sword countered. "He has lost more than you will ever know." Sword turned away. "We will go and look for him. If you wish to help, then please do so. If not, then stay out of our way."

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Kirby looked up at Meta Knight. "Poyo?" he asked.

"Listen to me Kirby; I need you to fly out of here-"

"Star! Star!" Kirby chirped.

Meta Knight shook his head. "Your warp star isn't here. I'm going to let you use my cape." He detached his shoulder armor and his cape placing it on Kirby. "You need to focus on the sky-"

Kirby tugged on Meta Knight's hand. "Poyopoyo?"

"I'll follow you from the ground." The blank stare following this statement told Meta Knight Kirby didn't get it. "Like a game of follow the leader."

"Game!"

Meta Knight nodded. "Yes. A game. And if I see you touch the ground, you lose. And if you fly all the way back to the castle, you win." He handed Kirby one of the swords. "Now, fly!"

Kirby smiled, focusing on the sky. The wings unfolded.

Meta Knight watched sadly as Kirby flew off, then turned to the Kutharian soldiers chasing them.

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Sylvan paced around uncertainly. He was shaking. Did he do the right thing?

After all, he did not have any combat skills whatsoever. It wasn't like he could have stopped Meta Knight/Mennen/Whoever from taking Kirby?

Kirby was out of here. That was good, right? But it was sure to incur Emperor Nero's wrath…

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Kirby dropped to the ground. He didn't like this game. He didn't care if he lost anymore.

He looked around. Meta Knight was supposed to have followed him. But he wasn't here.

Kirby frowned. That wasn't fair; Meta Knight switched games. He didn't want to play Hide and Seek.

Kirby toyed with the cape a bit, trying to figure out how Meta Knight did the wrapy thing. His arms didn't seem to quite reach.

He gave up, looking around again. Meta Knight sure was good at Hide and Seek…

Something else caught his attention. Something that glimmered in the light of the rising sun.

Kirby laughed. It was a shiny! He liked shiny things.

Kirby thought as he walked towards the shiny. Meta Knight seemed so sad lately. Maybe he could give Meta Knight the shiny and he would feel better. Meta Knight liked shiny things too, right? He did have a lot of them…

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Alida watched as Fumu, Bun, Sword, Blade and Tokkori looked for the missing Meta Knight.

"Hey, guys, I think I found him!" Bun called out.

Alida looked. "That's… too small to be Mennen." Like everyone else, she ran towards the figure.

Fumu gasped. "It's Kirby!"

Kirby tripped over the cape. He didn't bother to get up.

Sword was the first to get to Kirby. He helped the puffball up to his feet, but he collapsed.

"He has something in his hands." Sword told the others. He huddled back over Kirby. "What's wrong? Why are you crying?"

Kirby fumbled with the object. "Me…ta…"

Fumu patted Kirby on the head. "What happened to Sir Meta Knight?"

Kirby showed her the object, revealing it to be half of Meta Knight's mask.

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Sylvan sighed. He felt so horrible right now. Sure, Kirby had escaped, but now someone else was in his place.

He looked back into the cell and flinched under the gaze of those angry white eyes.

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Coo sat next to the sleeping Kirby. "Poor thing…"

Fumu went up to them. "Why was he so upset?" she asked.

Coo sighed. "He might be traumatized. He doesn't really understand that that was nothing more than a mask."

"You mean that he thinks it's Sir Meta Knight's face." Fumu stated. Coo nodded.

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"This is a wonderful planet." Nero stated. "There are many resources here." He turned to his two commanders. "Commander Gaius, I want you to find Kirby."

"Yes sir."

"Commander Marcus, I have a message for you to deliver to King Dedede."

"As you command."

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Kiwi: To be continued. You know, if you guys like it. And if I'm not lazy. Review please!