I started writing this soon after I first read Warrior of the Stars, which was... about... ten months ago? One year? A year and a half? Yeah, so, my writing has improved since then. After Meta Knight introduces himself is when I got BACK to writing it, so the beginning may be bad, long, or a little... odd... so... yeah. I know it's WAY TOO LONG FOR COMFORT, SO PLEASE JUST BEAR WITH ME.

The first part is awful simply because I thought it was so freaking boring to write it. SO BORING. WE ALL KNOW WHAT FREAKING HAPPENS. So, yeah, I wish I could just skip over it, but it's actually really important NOT to... so... yeah... CURSE YOU, SHEEP. CURSE YOU.

Enjoy. If you can, that is...

It was just like any other ordinary night, with a gentle breeze and a clear night sky, devoid of any clouds that may indicate rain. The moon hung on a lonely string in the sky, watching the village protectively, and seeming to know that something bad was about to happen. In the castle, from the throne room, something began to grow, somehow managing to keep the castle from coming down upon it, and flew overhead.

The field of sheep was sleeping, and the octopus identified them as easy prey in the late night. The red octopus went over the sheep, glaring down with cruel green eyes. It looked down hungrily at the sheep, casting a shadow over the moon, and waking up a sheep. It looked up sleepily, eyes widening when it saw the monster above it. It stood and bleated in panic, awakening and startling the other sheep. When they all saw the monster, they ran, bleating their little heads off, horns and all. The giant octopus quickly scooped them up in its gigantic arms and pulled them all toward its mouth.

The sheep died.

The commotion awakened a shepherd from his sleep, and he ran out, wondering what the heck was going on. A bone smacked him on the head, and he landed on his butt, rubbing his head, before the monster spat out the sheep's bones in a somewhat neat pile. The shepherd looked at the pile for a split second, then he looked at the monster. He screamed like a little girl as the demon rose up higher into the air, belly filled, and flew off toward the castle. The shepherd lost consciousness, fainting on the spot.

"Please, Kabu, we need your help!" begged a blonde girl, clasping her hands together and looking up at the giant stone tiki carved into the cliff face on the other side of the canyon. The giant stone tiki spoke, mouth opening into a gaping rectangular hole. "What is it that the citizens of Dreamland have come to ask of Kabu?" The holes where the eyes would have been stared ahead, as though expecting something to happen soon. The girl who spoke from before said then, "Kabu, we need your guidance! There's something that's been eating the sheep at night! Do you know what's making the sheep disappear?"

Kabu was silent for a moment. Then…

"There is a demon in Dreamland." This earned him several gasps from the village surrounding him. He payed no attention to the gasps, nor to the mutterings, instead sensing a vaguely familiar presence coming closer slowly. Then the girl said, "What will happen if the demon isn't gotten rid of?"

Kabu answered after a single second. "Dreamland will be destroyed."

The mutterings became more intense, and the air was anxious. Kabu paused a second, checking on the presence once more, before clarifying that it was who he thought it was. "But there is hope.

"Traveling the stars is a lone warrior. He is heading this way. He will help you." Fumu immediately got the image of a tall, handsome knight in shining armor. "His name is Meta Knight, and—"

He was interrupted by the sound of a tank. The king and his advisor were heading right toward them, and most of the people got out of the way just in time, except for one. Fortunately, the criminal was not impacted. The only reason that the criminal was there was to make sure that he didn't do anything while the sheriff was with the rest of the townspeople, talking to Kabu. The king laughed. "So, you say that some warrior is gonna' save this place from a demon invasion and whatnot?"

"Kabu does not lie," he said simply. What he said since the day he was created was always words of truth, nothing but the truth. Of course, he did usually speak in riddles and scarcely ever gave a straight answer to anyone, not even those whom have created him. But it always made sense, in the end. Yes, it always made perfect sense, indeed. There was only one that understood what he said all the time. There was only one of whom understood every last word that Kabu had ever said.

And that one person was coming to Dreamland.

"You don't lie, huh?" asked Dedede, getting ready to shoot his tank. "Then tell us all what'll happen when I shoot you up to kingdom kong?"

Kabu suddenly sensed a jerk in the presence, as though startled. He could feel the presence coming closer and closer, with increasing speed. "Dedede will not push the button."

"Oh, really?" he scoffed, taking aim and readying the tank. "I'll give you 'till the count of three to change your mind."

For once, I hope that he comes on time, he thought, knowing that the king was serious. "One… two… thr—"

He was cut off when a flash of light and a sound like crackling fire—before that, a whiz—came from high overhead. Kabu was relieved. Though he was going to crash, he was there, on time, as usual.

Wait. Did he just think that he was going to crash? Well, he couldn't deny the inevitable; it was bound to happen anyways. Kabu watched silently as the ship came down over the woods and made a magnificent curve upwards, slammed into a tree, and began to tear apart the land, as the star-shaped ship was on its side. A while later, after going through the sheep fields and making the sheep run away, some even toppling over, it stopped at a cliff. The townspeople almost instantly began to head toward the cliff almost immediately.

Definitely a crash.

Fumu really didn't believe what she was seeing. Right in front of her was a silver starship, shaped like a star with curved points. The others were obviously curious, as well; they had begun to mutter amidst themselves again. Despite all this, Fumu braved taking several steps forward. There was a dome facing toward the audience. She braced herself for a knight in beautiful shining armor.

The dome seemed to be slammed upon, as though whomever was in there was frustrated about something. The hum of the engine was still going, which led Fumu to believe that the engine wasn't completely extinguished, which surprised her, since the ship had taken a rather large beating. She couldn't tell if it was damaged before hand or if the damage was done during the crash. It was covered with dirt and grime, with some volcanic ashes in the mix. It didn't look as though it was being taken care of properly, due to the fact that parts of the metal looked rusted.

The audience gasped in shock, some taking a step or two back. The dome was opening, and a blue object fell to the ground. It shakily got up, and seemed to sway in a dazed state. "Ah…" It turned to look at the ship and leaned on it a bit. Once it lost its dizziness, it punched the ship and growled in pain. "Stupid silver star…" it muttered crossly in the voice of a male. He then turned towards the staring townspeople, and everyone gasped.

He was a blue puffball with a gray mask on that covered his face. He wore a blue cape the same shade as his skin and had white cotton gloves on. Lavender feet were what he stood on, there was a sword in a hilt, and the bottom of the cape looked to be a robin's egg blue. There was also a trim above his head, a part of the cape that framed the top of his head. But the most startling thing about him were his eyes. They were golden yellow, though at the same time held some kind of the sickly yellow of a rising moon inside of them. She could tell immediately that this wasn't any knight in shining armor.

"…What?" he asked, a tone of irritation in his voice, "You've never seen a ship crash on a…" he looked behind him, toward the sea over the bluff. "…A cliff?" He turned back toward them. They were all staring at him, mouths agape. He immediately recognized them as Cappys; they looked like the stems of mushrooms without the caps. How he loathed them. "What do you want?" he hissed. Fumu braved a step forward.

"Uh, excuse me?" He turned to the child. She could tell that he saw her differently from the others, since he seemed to relax only slightly. But that didn't mean that he wasn't still irritated with the many people there. "What?" he murmured, glowering at her. Fumu gulped. "Uh… I was just wondering if you could tell us your name."

He scoffed. "My name? You want me to tell you my name? My name? What does my name have anything to do with anything?"

She scowled at him. It was obvious that she wasn't intimidated, as if she were, she would probably have backed off by then. It didn't really matter very much to him. He just wanted to be out of the center of attention. Perhaps the only way he could accomplish that was if he answered her questions. After considering this for a while, he nodded curtly. "Meta Knight."

"Pardon?" she asked, somewhat confused. "What did you just say?"

"Meta Knight. It's my name. Me-tah Nite. It ain't French, and it ain't fancy, but it's me. French would be something like… erm… 'Meta Chevalier', or something of the sort. Maybe just 'Meta Knight' in French, though. As for Spanish, it's… still 'Meta Knight'… but in another language, I'd be called 'Fish Knight' I think it's Swedish. That's just wrong." He shook his head, disgruntled. After a pause, he suddenly muttered, "And now I've developed a strong urge to eat some fudge. Or Swedish fish."

Fumu only stared at the alien as he looked around in a bland sort of way, obviously unimpressed by what he was seeing. There was no way he was the hero that Kabu said would come and rescue them. Just no way. If he was, then everyone was road kill. Especially him. It was impossible.

If anything, it was almost as though he were looking for the aforemented sweets. However, if he were, he showed little interest in actually finding them, and instead sighed mutually. After several more moments, for lack of something better to say, he asked, "O-kay… what now?"

What, indeed.

What he focused mainly on was the safety of his ship, and he didn't step away from it even when everyone else almost pushed him to his limit. He simply let loose a threatening growl and went closer to his 'Dearly Beloved Ship', as Bun called it. This continued for several hours, until Dedede finally showed. Where he was, no one had no idea, and when Meta Knight lay eyes on him, his very first thought was, Here's someone who reeks of demon.

The scent wafted up his nose and almost made him choke. It was obvious that he was the one who bought demons from the Holy Nightmare Corporation. He was also the true reason that he crashed.

He instantly began to growl in a low tone, even though the creature was nowhere near him and his ship. The girl, who he now recognized as Fumu, looked between them, obviously confused. She didn't get it. Nobody even noticed that he was growling. No one even payed any mind to him, instead watching the kind with some wariness. Wariness that Meta Knight failed to detect.

"What might bring such a great big glutton to a crash site several hours after the crash itself occurred?"

Dedede went hot in the face; it turned red, and one could almost imagine steam coming from his ears and nose. "I am King Dedede! You will refer to me as such!"

"I don't think so. I thought that there was a demon running about here. I thought it would be some great, huge monster that could breathe fire. But I was partly mistaken. It's a great, big, fat chicken that's ripe for the taking and who breathes nothing more than steam, am I right, or am I right?" He let loose a low chuckle. The king continued fuming as he added, "Now I know what this place needs saving from. It needs saving from you. Heh, and I thought it was a demon of different colors."

"Why you...! You'll pay for that!" Dedede then pulled out his mallet from out of thin air, raising it above his head and sending it crashing down in the place where Meta Knight stood only seconds before. Everyone looked around, searching for him, none as confused as Fumu and as furious as Dedede. In the end, he was right behind Dedede, and he said, "Right here." As soon as the king turned around, he lept up in the air and over his head, landing silently behind him. "WHERE ARE YOU?"

"Honestly, are you that slow? A slug is faster than you."

He turned around again, but Meta Knight wasn't there; he was now on top of his ship, right in plain view. Dedede sneered, raising his mallet and running up to him with a battle cry. When he got to the ship, he slammed his mallet against it.

It didn't even move.

Not one inch.

Meta Knight couldn't help but chuckle. How easy it was to mug the idiotic fool. He then paused. Great, now he was thinking like Galacta Knight. But, either way, it was fine. He was friends with him, even though he almost tried to kill him. He was being possessed by his demon part. And he was pink. So no harm done.

As for him, he had his own problems to worry about. The idiot continued slamming his mallet into his ship, which was greatly damaging the metal. Obviously, he was infuriated. So, why not make him even more so just for the heck of it?

"Is that all? Couldn't you be a little crueler? I'm starting to get bored." For extra measure, he let loose a magnificent yawn, which he must have stored up. Completely infuriated, the penguin... chicken... thing... leaped into the air, raising his mallet high in the air, and brought it down, a fierce glimmer in his eyes.

He could have leaped away. He could have dodged it, or fled, or leapt over his head and landed behind the king. But he didn't do anything of the sort.

Instead, he stopped the attack before it hit him.

He used his hands to halt the face of the mallet, which had a star on it. Oh, stars! Lovely, glistening stars, now being used against him! White stars! Yellow stars! Silver! Ah, but that didn't matter now. He had to focus. He had to! He struggled to do so a little, but nonetheless, he succeeded. He let loose a low chuckle as he prepared to throw the king off balance.

It was at that moment that Dedede did the smartest thing he had ever done since he met Meta Knight. He fell.

Gravity is and always has been a very strange thing. But there is no avoiding gravity. What comes up must come down. That was that. Nothing more, nothing less. That was all there was to gravity. Meta Knight knew it. Surely, someone else knew it, too.

When he landed on the ground, he landed right on his bum.

He didn't even yelp, despite the fall; instead, he rubbed his lower back as though that would relieve the pain. Meta Knight knew it wouldn't, even if he were directly rubbing his oversized butt. This, Meta Knight knew from experience of a thousand times. He got to his feet slowly, though still infuriated, and glared at Meta Knight, who smirked and scoffed at him. Then he did the absolute smartest thing that there was to do at that moment. He turned tail and ran away.

Meta Knight jumped down, and as he looked around, a sudden wave of dizziness came over him. He had to lean against his ship and wait for the spell to pass. Everyone was staring at him. He stifled another yawn. He now felt his vision getting blurry, he was still dizzy. He had to shut his eyes.

So he did.

He literally had to fight to stay awake. The last time he slept... seventy-six hours...? More? He didn't know. He honestly didn't care.

Blackness.

He struggled to open his eyes, and when he did, everything was blurry. His head hurt. He immediately closed them again upon finding that he couldn't keep them open for much longer. It was agonizing. Embarrassing.

"Hey, are you awake?"

It was that girl. He could recognize her voice. For some reason, it seemed to comfort him somewhat. Since he couldn't speak, however, he only let out a small, "Hmph."

She seemed to exhale a breath. "That's good... what's wrong? Why did you lose consciousness?"

He only shifted a little. Nothing more. Nothing less.

She sighed. "Honestly, what happened back there? Come on, you can tell me."

"Sleep... just need sleep..." He let loose a large yawn and rolled over, now recognizing that he was in a bed. It was a little bumpy, but rather comfortable regardless. After several moments, he fell asleep.

He woke up several hours later from a nightmare, which he couldn't even remember. All he knew was that it was night time, and he was a little cold. He then curled up into a ball and opened his eyes blearily.

If he could yell, he would have, but the fact is, his voice just didn't want to work. He wanted to get up and look for his ship, but the comfort of being in a bed, covered in sheets and warm, just didn't want to let him go. He didn't care that the lights were on. It didn't matter to him if he was going to die in his sleep or be eaten by the mattress. He just wanted sleep.

Silent, blissful sleep.

Black, drifting nothingness.

As soon as he awoke in her bed again, Fumu had the urge to ask about a million questions all at once. But when he simply seemed to ignore her and turn on his side, it became evident that all that mattered to him was sleep at the time. Not answering any questions. Not speaking to anybody, or even listening, for that matter. It was honestly rather annoying. But he needed sleep, that was evident.

The question was, "How long is he going to sleep?" A day? Two? Maybe three? By then, that demon would probably have attacked, and Dreamland would be in another drought of chaos and panic. She couldn't afford that. She just wouldn't let it happen. The next morning, which would probably in about another thirteen hours or so, she was going to wake him up, whether he liked it or not, whether he yells at her or simply shifts. He was going to wake up. That was that.

So it was decided. She would wake him up the next morning.

The ugly fat king continued to fume long after Meta Knight had first encountered him. He hated him already. He hated that mouth of his, that annoying way that he constantly avoided him and countered his attacks. It almost seemed as though he could read his mind. However, despite this, he still hated him with all his heart. As he charged through the hall, practically lit on fire, seething and growing more and more annoyed, he was already plotting his revenge. But what could he do?

He had already tried attacking him himself, but that didn't really work too well, did it? He supposed that he could have had his demon beast to attack him, but the little octopus probably couldn't do a thing and would turn to smithereens in the first half second of a battle with Meta Knight.

After an hour or two, he finally decided to contact that demon company... what was it called again? Nightmare Enterprises? Holy Nightmare? Whatever. It had the word 'nightmare' in it. It didn't matter.

So, he changed his direction from where ever it was he was going and changed course to the throne room. Once he got there, he went over to his throne and sat in it. The little octopus was in a tank close by- right next to his throne, in fact. It hid a bone behind its back, not considering Dedede's stupidity and the fact that he probably wouldn't have noticed the bone if it was right in front of his face. He then opened up a panel that blended perfectly with the arm of his throne, and pressed a button.

The throne room changed. The lights turned off, and a teleporter was now in the center of the room. Screens or panels positioned themselves every which way. A screen came out of the wall on Dedede's left side and switched on. A light lavender man with a darker purple business suit and orange sunglasses with wavy yellow hair on top of his strong-jawed face was smiling broadly. "Welcome to Nightmare Enterprises. How may I help you, Your Majesty?"

"Yeah, I need a new demon beast! This one ain't worth a single deden!" He gestured toward the small, pinkish-red, beady-eyed demon octopus, which scowled and lowered its arm, exposing the bone that it was hiding. Dedede, of course, being the idiot that he was, didn't even notice.

The man chuckled. "Well, I'll bet you anything that Octocon is just waiting for the right moment to attack. Be patient, Your Highness. It's well worth it."

Then he just shut off the screen, disconnecting them.

"Customer Service? Customer Service?" He frowned and began to yell. "Customer Service! Don't ya dare cut meh off!" He raised his fist and shook it, even though, surprisingly, he knew that Customer Service couldn't possibly see or hear him. That really didn't stop him from trying.

It just infuriated him even more.

He craned his neck so he could look at the octopus, which was rather irritated, as well, but not nearly as much as Dedede. Despite this, it was still pissed off at Dedede's words, and it only deepened when the glutinous king said, "Alrigh', lil' pest. If ya don't show your true form soon, then I'ma have ta give ya back to that company thing."

It was all it could do to contain its anger. Only when Dedede left the throne room did it finally expload.

It threw the bone clear across the room, beady black eyes now a sharp, smart green.

"Take one look at yourself, realize...
Life's been treating you nice, better be wise,
And enjoy your moments.

"Take one look at yourself, into your eyes...
How you've treated your life? Wasn't too wise,
'Cause it's getting closer...

"Take one look at yourself, and realize...
Life's been treating you nice, better be wise,
And enjoy your moments.

"Take one look at yourself, into your eyes...
How you've treated your life? Wasn't too wise,
'Cause it's getting closer."

He was laying on his side, not caring whether he damaged his wound or caused himself pain. He didn't want to look outside. It was too bright. How he loathed the light, so very dearly.

The tempo... flawless... dark... energetic, somewhat... the words... true... him... heck, it described him perfectly. How he loved Infected Mushroom. Always so dark, so delirious...

His favorite music groups; Infected Mushroom, Evanescence, 30 Seconds to Mars, Daughtry, Voltaire. Anything that had dark songs in it. Or songs that signify loss and retribution.

That song, for instance, 'Legend of the Black Shawarma', consisted of those words, and those words only- simple, and yet complex. He adored it so much, he could almost die because of it. It was so gothic.

Aside from that. As soon as the door cracked open, he fell silent and didn't speak a single word until the girl did first. When she did, it was this.

"So... you're Meta Knight?"

"Yes. Yes, I am." He still didn't turn around to face her. Frankly, he was too tired, and still felt he needed rest. But he couldn't; the demon was probably going to strike at any moment, and he needed to be prepared. Just in case. "Didn't I already tell you that?"

"Well... I guess so..."

"Didn't I?"

"...Yes."

There was silence in which the only sound was that of the girl's little kinetic toy as it spun around in a semi-flawless pattern. It was a cheap toy, that was certain. It operated using magnetic energy. Apparently, she only had it because it looked cool. He didn't see anything of interest in it aside from sometimes becoming either hypnotized or lost within the swirling bands of metal. Occasionally, he wondered whether the universe would look like that when it imploded. Or a planet. Then again, he knew that was what some planets looked like.

The girl finally spoke again, telling him where he was. He honestly didn't want to know.

You're in Castle Dedede. I'm a resident of Castle Dedede. My dad's the cabinet minister."

"...He takes care of cabinets."

The flat tone in which he said those five words must have greatly infuriated Fumu, since she snapped back, "My dad is one of the most important people in Dreamland, and-"

"Relax, relax, kid," he sighed, not even shifting. "I was just saying what I thought I heard."

A sudden explosion in the castle caused him to instantly leap out of the bed and make for the doorway before Fumu could finish yelping in shock and falling to the floor. He left her there- quite non-chivalrous, but he was in a hurry. One couldn't blame him for simply forgetting about the girl.

He was too late when he got there. The destruction was done. The demon was no where to be found.

Meta Knight sat down and fell asleep again in the middle of the rubble. He was obviously exhausted.

Fumu dragged him back to her room.

He hadn't even made a complete recovery by the fourth day. He simply continued sleeping.

Eventually, Fumu's mother began to grow nervous and began talking about how he might be dead. The soft breathing contradicted this theory, however; as did the slight muttering that occasionally emanated from him, and the common shifting. After feeling his neck area, she found that he didn't seem to be too hot or too cold. He wasn't sick, just tired.

Sometimes, when Fumu took a seat next to him in her chair, he began struggling against an unseen force, possibly panicking. This always took her off guard, so it took her a moment to recover before she could help him. She had to restrain him for a moment or two- sometimes five minutes- before he began to cease his fighting and relaxed.

His eyes always flashed grey in this state.

Was he afraid?

Knights weren't supposed to be afraid.

When he finally opened his eyes, he was still tired and exhausted, though not as much as before. His yellow eyes still had a sick moon yellow in them, but he seemed at least a little more aware. He let his gaze go towards Fumu, who was sitting in her seat. She looked back at him. "...You're awake."

"Way to state the obvious."

How could he be acting so casual about it? He'd been sleeping for four, five days straight! Or did he not notice? She saw that he was looking at the calender, watching it as though he did not understand. He continued doing so for about five minutes before he probably only began to understand; since he said, "...Here on Tuesday... now it's Sunday... so... I've been out for five days."

"Yes. Yes, you have."

"Hmm..." He turned to look out at the sky, which had several white, puffy clouds drifting across its tranquil sea. His eyes turned green. Fumu gasped, shocked. Meta Knight turned to look at her, and the green faded away to make way for sickly yellow. "…What?"

"…Your eyes…" she muttered; "…They were green."

"Yes. So?"

She only sat there, appalled, and completely caught off guard. Was that normal for him, for his eyes to change colors? Did that make it similar to a mood ring or a mood necklace? If she absolutely had to say, she'd say that it was, but as she honestly didn't know very much about it, she couldn't be too sure. And that was only part of the unfortunate mishaps; she didn't really know if his behavior was how he behaved normally, or if it was reserved just for specific personnel, like herself, or Dedede. Stars, she hoped it wasn't the latter. If it was, then she was just plain unlucky. Or maybe lucky, in someone else's point of view, that he was treating her in a 'special, different manner'.

Bad luck, to her. Very much, bad luck.

"…I was born of the womb of a poisonous man.

Beaten and broken and chased from the land,

But I rise up above it, high up above it

And see.

"I was hung from a tree made of tongues of the weak,

The branches, the bones of the liars, the thieves,

But I rise up above it, high up above it

And see."

He blinked.

The blink gave Fumu the idea that he had not meant to say it aloud, but rather think it to himself in a calculative manner. It was odd to think that he was a song person, but he was singing, and that was rather quite strange. Even though it was in a low tone of voice, he was still singing. And he was actually pretty good at it.

Suddenly, he stood up. It seemed almost as though all signs or weariness had faded away within a fraction of a second, probably as though the words drove him onward and gave him adrenaline, fed them to his veins. Though why he stood at that moment was not revealed until moments later, when a loud bang was heard and caught Fumu off guard.

"I knew it."

He quickly ran off and left before Fumu could do anything. Maybe he was afraid of losing the demon again? That must have been it.

She ran after him.

He knew it. He could sense it. The words buzzed in his head and fed him energy to go off, if only for a moment, or two, or even an hour. The amount of adrenaline varied depending on his mood and his injuries. Due to the fact that they healed a while back, he figured that the adrenaline rush would last long enough for him to defeat the demon beast. Not only that, but after one of those rushes, his tiredness faded away for a good, long while, enabling him to stay awake at night again and brood on important matters rather that have nightmares and pathetic dreams.

Surprisingly, however, what he found when he got there was not a demon beast, but moreso his ship being taken apart by the stupid bird and his pet snail, the snail of which was doing the dismantling. It was just as bad for them as it would be if he'd encountered a demon beast.

"What the hell do you think you're doing?"

His voice was calm for one who was witnessing the destruction of his own ship before his very eyes, after he'd done so much protecting of it mere days before. The two turned to look at him, for they were facing toward the ship rather than at the knight behind them, apparently shocked. Then the penguin laughed, which was honestly rather stupid of him, since Meta Knight was already furious and didn't need to be any more annoyed. However, it only served to mildly amuse him; he chuckled, which certainly wasn't the reaction the two had been expecting.

"What're you laughin' about?"

"Oh, you're idiots, the both of you." He smirked when the two began laughing, hard. He knew exactly what they were going to say. They said it, anyways, and that was just what he'd been expecting, which served to further amuse him.

"We're gonna die, huh? And how are we gonna die if you don't even have a good sword?"

"Oh, trust me, you do not wish to tamper with the flames once they are lit. The fires and lightning of Galaxia will most certainly dampen your surprisingly stupid superior output on life, here." The king looked confused at his usage of words, so the snail had to whisper something in his ear. That slimy snail. How awkwardly amusing; a penguin was supposed to be smarter than a snail, but here, it was vise versa. When Escargoon, if he wasn't mistaken, finished whispering, the king's smirk turned into a scowl, and he pulled out a hammer out of thin air.

It honestly didn't surprise Meta Knight.

He expected something of the sort, and he'd already seen it before.

"You're gonna pay for that, you!" he snarled, slamming it down into the ground. Meta Knight easily sidestepped, which, for some reason, made Dedede even angrier than before, as he began chasing him around, blindly swinging his mallet into anything in his way. "Come back here, you!"

"You swine," he finished, actually speaking to the king rather than for him. A snicker distracted him for a mere moment, and when he looked in its direction, he was satisfied to see that Bun, the girl's brother, was laughing. Fumu was beside him, and so were their parents.

When he looked back to the king, he was distracted by the realization that his eyes were now demon-sharp and grass-green. Octacon. Of course, perhaps he should have known, but he honestly didn't care. His main concern was to get the stupid king away from him as soon as possible.

An idea came to mind, and he ran to a pillar and jumped off of it, doing a back flip off of it for his own petty amusement. The king, as planned, ran right into it and fell unconscious to the floor. He stood with his back to him for a mere moment before letting his eyes scan the room. Octacon had to be in the room, otherwise the connection couldn't have been strong enough to have possessed the idiot. He spotted it, growing, growing, growing, eyes like Dedede's when he was possessed, its pink hue turning slowly to magenta, growing until it was almost as large as the ceiling. The pillars fell, and Meta Knight himself needed great effort to avoid the falling rubble. He saw the family step backwards quickly—honestly rather smart for someone of their species.

When it finished growing, it slammed a tentacle at Meta Knight, who ran to the side promptly to avoid it. The tentacle immediately swept to the side, which took him off guard and slammed him into the wall with a grunt. After he fell to the floor and stood, dizzy, a stream of fire greeted him. He managed to escape with only the edge of his cape catching flame…

Wait… that wasn't good.

He cursed loudly and struggled to put the fire out, and as she watched, Fumu wondered why he would bother with his cape in the midst of battle. He could always buy a new one, if it was burnt to cinders or something, and if it was horribly torn, he could always mend it.

Fury overwhelmed him as he turned back toward the demon, fire extinguished with several swift flicks of his cape. The edges of the cape were charred and burnt, and a strange smell of burnt flesh filled his nose. How dare that demon breathe fire at him and catch his cape on fire? How dare it? He snapped, "Estoy perdiendo mi tiempo en usted, pero usted va a pagar!"

Translation: "I'm wasting my time on you, but you're going to pay!"

Fumu didn't know what he was saying. Neither did the others, and the demon probably didn't know, either, but suddenly Meta Knight unsheathed his sword. A cackle of electricity wound its way from the hilt and formed the image of a golden blade with six prongs, three on each side, double-bladed. The ruby seemed to glow for a second—so brief that Fumu thought she had imagined it—and Meta Knight raised his blade, eyes a strange shade of red. Realization dawned upon her as she realized that it meant that he was angry or infuriated. Obviously, that singe on his cape had done more to him than irritated him; it enraged him so.

With a mighty leap into the air, he brought his sword down and stuck. A beam of crimson light shot from his sword and slashed into the demon, spreading a dark crimson blood cascading to the floor like a waterfall. Not a direct hit, but it both weakened and incensed the demon greatly. Meta Knight landed on the floor, right next to the king, who was just recovering. Dedede raised his head and opened his eyes blearily, and when he saw the demon, he straight out panicked, yelling at it to get away from him, and ran like the fat old chicken he was. Meta Knight watched after him and sweat dropped, lowering his guard for a moment. "What an idiot…" he muttered. When the demon let out a bellow, he reverted his attention from him and looked behind himself.

Great. Now little mini Octacons were coming out of its suckers and lighting themselves on fire, and, while still flying in the air, launched themselves at him.

Only one option.

Get the Black Star out of there.

The reason was simple; he didn't want to fight the demon and its offspring in the crowding throne room. Or was it something else, like the fact that he loathed the beast enough as it was and wished to fight it outside for sure, utter destruction? Was it because he wanted to escape and recover?

He didn't know.

He honestly didn't care.

As long as the demon followed him to wherever he was going, he was good.

Beyond good, actually. He would be splendid.

While he ran from the throne room, the four inevitably following behind like the fools they were, the demon grew some more and followed. He had to run in order to keep ahead of the beast, and the family wisely chose another path toward the courtyard. Of course, he could have fought Octacon elsewhere, like the top of the tallest tower, but he'd then be at an advantage due to its ability to fly. He could, however, always just… nah, save that for later. Let the villagers find out for themselves, and see how they'd like him then when they found out what he was.

When he reached the courtyard, he noticed that the king was watching from the top of the tallest tower with a pair of binoculars. The coward! Why not come down from there and fight him face-to-face? That was not how a true ruler was. A true ruler fought to the death. He knew two good princes, at one time, but they were dead, as far as he was concerned.

He raised his sword in a battle position and slightly crouched, in case he had to run, jump, or sidestep—most likely jump. Sure enough, a small flock of the small creatures launched themselves at him, and he managed to leap above them just in time. When they doubled back, he slashed them to pieces, making them explode as most demons did. Luckily for him, he got away just before they did so, getting out of their range and landing peacefully on a wall.

The family was watching, and he could see the amazement and shock riddled on both Fumu and Bun's faces. He began to wonder what the two were thinking; then he quickly returned his attention to the battle before him. He couldn't afford even the smallest of distractions.

He knew his eyes weren't red anymore, but he was still sharply annoyed at the demon for doing what it did to his cape. His cape, no one else's! And that wasn't the half of it. The other half that irritated him… would come later. Just not at that moment.

He sidestepped when another flamethrower was launched at him, and he gave it another beam of light a little off to the side. The demon began bleeding even more, and a tentacle fell off of it, landing on the ground, slowly turning to ashes. He estimated that it would be gone by the time he was finished with the creature. A good thing, too; the tentacle was still wriggling and writhing as it disintegrated, making him feel, honestly, almost sick to the stomach. He wanted to destroy it immediately, but he had to focus on the battle.

Octacon bellowed its fury, and began attacking Meta Knight with a barrage of its remaining tentacles, which he dodged with great skill and precision. When he could, he would attack the overgrown octopus, but such opportunities were surprisingly seldom. Despite that, he was rarely hit, and Octacon was injured even moreso.

He sensed that the moment was now. The moment of death and fireworks. The demon would explode by his hand, like it or not, and it would be very, very soon. In five seconds.

Four.

Three.

Two.

One.

He jumped back up into the air, narrowly avoiding a tentacle that was swept at him across the ground, and raised his sword. He focused every last bit of his energy and adrenaline into the blade, making it glow with pure power. He cleared his mind of all thoughts, and his gaze grew to be a true amber shade as he swept his sword at the demon in a single, final strike. Two words were snapped out of his mouth as he did so, and by the time the golden beam of force and energy formed, they had already left him.

"Sword Beam!"

The strike hit its target dead-on.

Of course, the demon Octacon only got to stay alive for a mere moment before it went right through it and split it in half.

Then it began to fade off into the air, losing its momentum and power.

Then it exploded with a mighty BANG.

Meta Knight landed on the ground like a cat would. It was at that very moment when Fumu recovered and watched him closely.

He seemed to be tired.

He seemed to be weak.

And he seemed to be relieved. Actually relieved.

Maybe he wanted to sleep, but he didn't. While he was panting and trembling, obviously fighting the urge to just fall to the ground, instead he busied himself with looking and observing the destruction that he and the demon had created

Rubble littered the ground and continued falling from the skies. The baby Octacons were exploding in the air like fireworks on the Fourth of July. The night had begun to cry; the clouds overhead blocked all the stars, and it had begun to rain. Only thin rays of moonlight shone through.

To sum it all up, the castle was completely and utterly destroyed.

Things returned to normal in Dreamland soon enough, except for several things. Meta Knight was now living in Dreamland. The sheep weren't dying every other night. Dedede was furious. Octacon was destroyed. And, worst of all, his beloved castle was reduced to rubble.

Meta Knight honestly didn't care. He just picked up a bone and began twirling it in his hands like there was no tomorrow.