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The Legacy of Meta-Knight

I’ve had the honor to stand alongside one of the greatest knights the universe had ever known.
I have watched his rise, his fall, and rode along the currents of his determination.
A determination that nothing could weaken, that would never falter.
He was my leader, teacher, mentor, friend and confidante.
“Who is this knight?” one may ask.  Not because one didn’t know his name, for everyone knew of Meta-Knight’s legacy.  No, one may ask because in fact no one really knew who he was.  He was stoic, compassionate, honorable, but those only described his behavior.  No one knew what motive lay behind his actions, except for me, except for my brethren.  We were nothing but four knights expelled from our respective kingdoms for our sheer incompetence.  We had nothing, were nothing, until he came.
He didn’t need soldiers; he was sublime.  Yet in his kindness he took us in, trained us, cared for us, believed in us.  My young eyes were opened to a world I had long held disdain for.  Under his guidance I learned to understand the true beauty of life, and the meaning of purpose.
Everywhere he traveled, and everywhere we followed.  At the time we didn’t know where he was going or what he was looking for, but it never mattered.  No explanation was needed.  We would have followed him to the depths of hell itself if he so had wished.
Never had he allowed anyone to know him, except for us.  We were nothing, and yet he confided in us as if we were his brothers.
Not only did he believe in Fate, he revered it.  Once he had explained to us the secrets of Life.  He told us that everything was governed by Destiny.  His people were the very essence of this religion, for their sole and only life purpose was to control the population of monsters.  According to him, every generation spawned a massively powerful monster, and in return a ‘star warrior’ was produced to battle this evil entity.  Each battle always ended in a mutual kamikaze, and life goes on.
I had felt my heart tighten within my chest at the news.
That was the motive behind his endless traveling, the reason why he trained us so hard!    He knew that his lifespan was going to be unfairly short.  What he had been searching for all along was the monster that he was supposed to execute.  He was, literally, looking for his own death.
My eyes stung and numbness coursed through me as the revelation sank in.
I couldn’t believe that his purpose was only to die at the hands of some unruly beast!  One as sublime as he deserved a better Fate.  Yet despite the horror that was his supposed destiny, his voice had been tinged with passion and excitement… and I failed to understand why.  Nevertheless, this was the destiny he wished to pursue, and we vowed to stand by him until the very end.
We continued to travel, offering our services to those who needed it.  Despite the unnerving news he had bestowed on us, I felt secure with him.  His mere presence demanded awe and respect, and it in return was granted to him.  Everything had been so right, our purpose so clear, until the day our world came crashing down.
There were complaints, from a small planet called Dreamland, of nightmares invading their sleep.  What began as a mere investigation was met with the discovery of an entire underground of powerful monsters.  These monsters were led by a massively powerful, demonic entity conveniently named “Nightmare.”
Upon seeing the grotesque visage of the massive hellion, our leader turned to us.  He knew, as well as we, that this was the demon he had been created to defeat.  No words were needed.  It was time, time to fulfill his destiny.
I didn’t want him to go.
None of us wanted him to go.
I wanted to reach out to him, beg him to reconsider and hope that he could find a way to destroy the hell spawn without confiscating his life.  How could as impeccable as he be chained to such a flawed fate?  I could not understand why the Gods would create creatures as perfect as he only to make them throw their lives away as if they meant nothing.
While my mind screamed for me to stop him, to save him, I was held paralyzed by brilliant, golden eyes.  His illuminating gaze blazed with a passion I couldn’t begin to understand.  He knew his destiny, revered it.  Who was I to take that away from him?  So I, like my brethren, could only stand in agonizing silence as our savior treaded towards his impending doom.
In his valiance he refused our help and declared that he did not want us to bare witness to the battle, and his inevitable death.  Even with that said, I couldn’t help but cast one last glance at the evil entity that our glorious leader had been destined to slaughter.  For a moment, Nightmare met my curious gaze.  The blazing crimson eyes bore into me, sending shivers through my very core.  I will never forget the dread I felt when looking into the persimmon depths and finding nothing but a burning hatred and loathing for all living things.  I didn’t want to leave Lord Meta-Knight with such a horrible monstrosity, but I had no other choice.  So with heavy hearts I caught up with my brethren and we made our way back to the starship.  Although we were well aware of the Destiny to which he was compelled, my brethren and I remained in the starship, looking out the window in hopes that our glorious leader would walk out triumphant.  Despite the dreadful Fate that he had forewarned us of, we had always fancied him beyond the ties of mortality.  And we were right, or so I had thought.  Our leader did survive, but he had been incapable of killing Nightmare.  This newfound fact did not deter my steadfast love and loyalty, if anything it was heightened.
Perhaps the Gods had decided to spare Lord Meta-Knight, to give him a different Fate?  Maybe there was an alternative way this monster was to be defeated, a way that would not force him to sacrifice his life?
Unfortunately, he did not see it that way.  That night, battered and bruised, he paced across the room, golden orbs illuminated with an eerie brightness.
“I had failed,” he ranted, “I had broken the chain of destiny!  I had failed!”
My brethren stood in sympathetic silence.  I, however, stepped forward, “Sir!  Maybe it was fated for you to lose this battle?  Maybe Destiny has decided for you to beat him in a different way?”
He looked to me with those golden orbs.  I was immediately mesmerized.  He never answered, but I think he believed me, because his mood had brightened and he began to train diligently.  At that time I thought everything was going to be all right.
Then Kirby came.
The young one’s appearance was a shock to us all, as we had been told that a new star warrior is born when the previous one dies.  Not surprisingly, Lord Meta-Knight too was astounded.  Not just astounded, horrified.  Mortified.
“He should not be here!”  Our leader would roar, pacing the room like a caged animal.  “I’m not dead!  He’s not supposed to be here!  What has happened to Destiny?!!”
It never crossed my mind that his philosophy could have been wrong.  I didn’t know what to think, and that frightened me.  Suddenly, one of my brethren stepped forward.
“Sir, maybe Nightmare wasn’t the only monster created,” Lance had suggested, “That would also be why you weren’t able to defeat him.  What if there were two monsters that had been created, one for you to defeat, and one for Kirby?”
Of course, that had to be the answer!  I couldn’t believe that my faith had begun to falter when the solution had been right in front of me!  Ultimately Lord Meta-Knight, too, believed that this must be the case.  However he worried that Kirby would be too young and weak to defeat one as powerful as Nightmare, so he ordered us to fight him in order to test his strength.  While I was eager to follow his orders, I was also slightly nervous.  I couldn’t help but worry that my brethren and I may accidentally harm Kirby.  The thought of hurting anyone that was even remotely related to our admirable leader caused great apprehension.  Fortunately, my worries were for naught, as the little guy contained much power then one would have thought.  No matter how many times we battled, we were unable to defeat him.  Finally, our mentor decided to fight Kirby himself, to make sure that he had what it takes to defeat Nightmare.  We had expected Kirby to be a challenge, but it astounded us when he actually won!
Afterwards we watched from afar as the little one obtained some surprisingly powerful staff dubbed “star rod” and defeated Nightmare.  To my supreme joy, Kirby survived the battle relatively unscathed.  His survival broke the binds of Destiny!  If one as young and inexperienced as Kirby was given a chance to live free of the chains of Fate, then our leader could also survive!
Once the battle was finished, our mentor decided that it was time to find the monster that he was destined to battle.  With renewed hopes of his survival, my brethren and I helped him search.  For a long time we came up with nothing, until one day we started hearing rumors about an evil entity called “Dark Matter.”
I remember looking over to my leader, and seeing his golden orbs brighten with excitement.  This had to be the monster we were searching for!  Everything was going well, until we heard news that shook us all to the very core - Nightmare wasn’t dead.
I don’t even remember how we were informed… I don’t think we even were.  He just appeared, raising havoc and plaguing people’s dreams as if he had never been away.  I didn’t know what to think, as the former battle between Kirby and the hellion hadn’t left any room for doubt of his death.  After the battle, we had stopped watching over Kirby, so none of us had any idea of his whereabouts.  Suddenly, in his valiance Lord Meta-Knight decided to once again stand up to the demon that plagued the universe with its wretched presence!  I watched the battle alongside my brethren, excitement coursing through me.
I couldn’t help but wonder maybe if he was destined to defeat Nightmare after all.
Perhaps he lacked the experience necessary during their first duel, but now he was better trained, stronger and more ready this time.
This time, he would defeat Nightmare and bring peace back to the universe once again.
But to my abrupt horror, it was not to be.
Nightmare performed some kind of kamikaze, his body twisting and wrapping around Lord Meta-Knight like a snake coiled around unsuspecting prey!  Fear and surprise had held us in its grasp for only a moment before we finally broke through and ran to help.  But those few seconds proved fatal, as a massive explosion rocked the entire room and sent us all hurtling to the cold, dirt floor.
Pain had shot through my arm, and I later learned that it was broken, but I was distracted by more pressing matters.  I pushed myself up and turned to see our leader, mentor, friend… the one who we all wished we could be…laying on the ground.
He looked so broken, lifeless…
I ran to his side, but was afraid to touch him…
His mask was cracked in several places.
His golden orbs were so dim.
Never had they looked so dim.
Fortunately, Trident Knight knew what to do.  He swiftly but tenderly checked his wrist for a pulse.  With a sigh of relief he nodded to us.
He was alive.
We carried him to the nearest infirmary.  We were told that, despite the massive injuries he received, he should be able to make a full recovery.
He was alive.
I almost sobbed with relief.
He was going to survive.
He was going to make a full recovery.
Nightmare was dead.
Everything was going to be all right.
I was horribly wrong.
Ever since that battle, Meta-Knight had never been the same.  He began to stalk the darkness, and his golden orbs began to hold a red tinge.  The air about him began to lose its gentle serenity, to be replaced by a cold malcontent.  This change frightened me, frightened all of us.  I could see the uneasy looks my brethren would cast to each other and me.  But we were at a loss about what to do.  There was nothing technically wrong with Lord Meta-Knight, and he didn’t act any different.  It was just…the way his presence had changed.
During that time, we once again found the young star warrior.  While he was still young, in the small period of time that we had lost contact he had grown to be an impressive star warrior.  Eventually he obtained another legendary-esque weapon, fought and destroyed Dark Matter.
Kirby also survived the battle, and after the battle had been concluded I wondered if everything was going to become normal now.  There were no longer monsters left to fight, and both Kirby and Lord Meta-Knight were free from the bounds of Fate.  Perhaps the chilling air that had settled around our leader would dissipate and he would revert to the gentle, passionate knight that we knew and loved.
But, as Lord Meta-Knight would have said, it was not what Destiny had intended.
Instead, he began to harbor a dislike for Kirby on grounds that my brethren and I failed to understand.  The dislike grew at a frighteningly rapid pace until he openly despised the little star warrior.  His newfound rage frightened us more than anything else had.  Lord Meta-Knight was sublime, above weak emotions such as greed or hate.  But the dark feelings continued to consume him, until finally they overwhelmed him.  He built a large and magnificent ship called the Halberd, and hired a weak and greedy captain to pilot it.  With that ship he decided to hunt down and kill Kirby.
This decision sent a terrible chill through us, but what could we do?  Lord Meta-Knight had to have a good reason to want Kirby’s destruction.  Perhaps my brethren and I were not mentally capable of understanding something so complex.  But still, for the first time we couldn’t help but internally question our leader’s judgment.
I’m not quite sure when, but sometime during our search for Kirby (as we had awhile ago lost contact with him again) we found an orphaned Waddle Dee.  A surge of the old, compassionate Lord Meta-Knight resurfaced, and he adopted the little creature and cared for him.  Our mentor became quite attached to Waddle Dee and the hunt had temporarily slowed.  On witnessing their father-son interactions, and I concluded that he had just been lonely and yearned for a companionship that we couldn’t provide.  Waddle Dee’s presence brought us great comfort, as it drew the tender side of Lord Meta-Knight back out.  My old love and respect for him had returned full-force.  Only he, as powerful as he was, would be compassionate enough to care for a creature with such low fighting potential.
Unfortunately, even this was not to be.  Our relief quickly darkened to apprehension as the cold aura once again returned and he soon renewed his search.  Shortly afterwards we finally were, to my dismay, able to find Kirby.
Despite the many times we had to fight him, every one of them ended with him as the victor.  I was moderately relieved at this, as I really didn’t want to hurt Kirby.  I couldn’t understand why Lord Meta-Knight hated Kirby so, and hoped that somehow… I don’t know… something would happen and everything would be all right again.  Waddle Dee often pleaded with him to stop, and sometimes… in his golden eyes I could see that he wanted to.  But for reasons I could not understand, he continued his pursuit.  Many attempts were made at Kirby’s life, but by some miraculous means he managed not only to avoid destruction, but also to destroy the ship piece by piece.  The cowardly captain had been all too quick to abandon ship as soon as the tides were set against him.  However as the Halberd began to descend over the ocean my brethren and we found ourselves in quite a bind.
Remaining on the ship any longer proved dangerous, yet Lord Meta-Knight was dead-set on Kirby’s destruction.  By this time, my brethren and I had begun to wonder if somehow the young star warrior’s death would fix whatever was happening to our leader.  Together we decided that we would stay on the ship and try one last time to finish Kirby.  Unfortunately, despite our final attempts to defeat him, they were for naught.  By that time the ship was crashing down towards the ocean, and upon impact death would be inevitable.  My brethren and I swiftly boarded the escape ship and flew off and to the nearest island, with the hopes that our leader would not be far behind.
After we arrived that the island, we watched the ship sink into the choppy waters.  It was then I discovered that Waddle Dee had been left in the ship!  My heart sank as I figured that both he and Lord Meta-Knight had died on the ship.
I looked to my brethren, hoping that one of them could give me the answer I wanted to hear - that by some miracle they had survived.  That somehow the two found another escape ship and were on their way to the island as we stood.
Destiny has a strange way of granting wishes.  For we began to see Meta-Knight in the horizon.  But he wasn’t onboard an escape ship.  Instead he drifted to us on a pair of velvety, azure wings!  Battered and carrying Waddle Dee under his arm, he hovered to us and landed heavily on the ground.
I was momentarily mesmerized; the wings were frightening in their beauty.  They gave an aura of magnificence… yet at the same time, unspeakable dread.  But it wasn’t until he actually met our collective gaze that I was overwhelmed with terror.  His eyes were not the gentle golden glow that always held us mesmerized.  They were a crimson blaze!  Within we saw a chilling hatred that sent a tremor down my spine.  In his other hand Lord Meta-Knight held his eerily glowing broadsword as if he meant to impale us with it.  Fear controlling my actions, I was compelled to step back.
What was happening to him?!
What had he become?!
He so resembled the monsters that we had fought against for so long…
Out of the corner of my eye I vaguely noticed my brethren having similar reactions.  Suddenly, Waddle Dee stirred, the motion breaking our leader from whatever spell of rage that had consumed him.  Almost tenderly he lowered the little creature to the ground.  The dazed Waddle Dee slowly looked up at his father figure, and upon seeing the persimmon gaze that greeted him, backed away with a frightened squawk.  Lord Meta-Knight’s eyes wavered back to gold as he watched his adopted son cower in fear before him.  Through the little creature’s eyes, I think, he realized…
Realized what he had become.
That he fought Kirby not as a knight.
But as a monster.
Suddenly, Lord Meta-Knight’s wings drooped and his dimming sword fell limply from his hand.  With a shuddering heave, his shoulders slumped and he began to cry.  I could only stand there in stunned silence.  For all the time we had known him, he had been burned, beaten and had stood on death’s doorstep.  Yet despite all this he had never even emitted a whimper much less this…  our leader always had an air of invulnerability, and never had we even fathomed something like this occurring.  I looked to my brethren and in their blank expressions found no answers.  We were simply at a loss of what to do.  From the corner of my eye I watched Waddle Dee push himself onto his feet and slowly approach the one who had raised him.
“Don’t cry…” Waddle Dee said softly as he tenderly embraced him.
As I watched the interaction I came to the realization that our roles had reversed.  Our leader had mentored us, took care of us and was always there when we needed him.  Now he needed us more than ever before.  I didn’t know how we could help him, as I didn’t even know what precisely was wrong with him.  However my brethren and I made an open vow to try.
Unfortunately, even Lord Meta-Knight’s newfound awareness could not stop his transcendence into madness.  The chilling air about him intensified, and he began to harbor a general hatred towards everything… I know he wanted to stop, to revert back to the tenderhearted star warrior that we held such reverence for.  But he couldn’t, the animosity had become a part of him.  We stayed by his side, hoping that our companionship would ease his growing paranoia.  But his condition only deteriorated.
As time went on, despite our love and adoration we began to fear him.  Waddle Dee was the only one who could bring out our leader’s gentle side, but even he was having a much harder time of it.
One night Lord Meta-Knight snapped.
We knew of Kirby’s survival and escape from the Halberd, but until that night we hadn’t actually seen him since.  After the construction of a new airship, we were driving to a nearby town to offer our services when our leader spotted Kirby and Dynablade flying a few yards away.  He watched through blood-colored eyes as the two flew through the air as if there wasn’t a concern in the world.  With a deep, frightening growl, Lord Meta-Knight steered the airship to intercept the two.  What he didn’t notice was the Dynablade chicks flying behind her and Kirby.  I was the first to realize the existence of the innocent chicks and quickly informed our leader.  I thought that…
That Lord Meta-Knight would never hurt an innocent…
That once he knew of the chicks’ presence he would stop this meaningless assault.
But he only glared at me as if my information meant nothing and continued to drive the airship towards Kirby.  Suddenly Waddle Dee ran to our leader’s side.
“Please don’t hurt him!” he cried, grabbing onto Lord Meta-Knight’s arm.  “He didn’t do anything wrong!”
Normally the little creature’s presence soothed our leader and helped him to overcome whatever fog of hatred that consumed him.  But this time Lord Meta-Knight rage would not dissipate.  Everything… everything happened in horrifically slow motion…
I watched as our leader grabbed Waddle Dee and shoved him, hard.
I watched as the little one slammed backwards into the window.
I watched as the window shattered under the pressure.
I ran forward to grab him, but my limbs moved even slower then the events I was currently viewing.  With a blood-curdling scream, Waddle Dee fell out of the window and out of sight.
“WADDLEDEE!”  Ax Knight cried as he ran to the broken window and looked outside.  I was the second to arrive at the window.  But as I frantically searched the skies I found no traces of life…
“Sir Meta-Knight!”  I could hear Lance Knight’s panic-stricken voice from behind me.  “We have to turn around, Waddle Dee-”
I turned to see why Lance’s words had stopped.  Our leader had turned to face him, face us.  His eyes were ablaze with the same crimson fire as we saw after the descent of the Halberd.  The fiery persimmon eyes that threatened to devour us, yet at the same time were hauntingly familiar…
My stomach clenched as realization struck me like a blow.
All of this had begun the day Nightmare performed his version of kamikaze on Lord Meta-Knight.
Dark Matter had been known to have the capability to possess other living creatures.
Dark Matter was of the same race as Nightmare, which means that Nightmare had the same abilities.
Our leader had not pursued and fought Kirby as Lord Meta-Knight
But as Nightmare!
With this revelation also came the realization that I was too late.
Looking into Lord Meta-Knight’s blood-colored eyes a feeling of dread washed over me.  All this time our leader fought against Nightmare’s influences, but now there was no fight left within him.  We had failed; Lord Meta-Knight was dead.  All that was left was a lifeless husk being driven by the wretched poltergeist.  There was only one way to help him now.
I knew what had to be done… yet searching within the crimson pools I yearned for another way to save him.  Finding nothing within, I couldn’t help but laugh humorlessly at the irony of it all.  The only way to destroy Nightmare would be to destroy Lord Meta-Knight.  Just as our leader had told us so long ago, nothing could change the Fate to which each creature was compelled.  Every generation a powerful monster was born, in return a star warrior was created to battle that monster.  Each battle ended in mutual death, and Life goes on.
One can never truly alter Fate, only postpone it.
And Fate abhors postponement.
I could have, of course, continued to defy Fate.  I could have withheld this information and continued to serve Lord Meta-Knight faithfully.  I could have told myself that Waddle Dee’s death had been a complete accident.  I could even convince my brethren, and myself, to believe it.  However I knew this wasn’t what he would have wanted.  He would want us to stop him, even if it meant to destroy him.  We had failed him when he needed us most; I vowed not to fail again.
Instinct guided my actions as I charged forward.  I could feel the shocked eyes of my brethren upon me as I tackled Lord Meta-Knight off of his chair.  Holding onto him with strength that I didn’t even know I possessed, I threw him and myself through a window.  I could hear the glass shattering around me just above my leader’s roars of rage.  I felt his wings wildly fluttering underneath my tight grasp.  I barely heard Ax and Trident calling my name.  The wind rushed around me.
I knew the impact was going to kill me, but at least I could die knowing that I had saved the one who made my life worth something.  My eyes had tightly closed sometime during the attack.  I dared to open them and found myself looking into the crimson orbs of my once glorious leader.
But this time…within the persimmon depths I no longer found contempt.  For the last time, Lord Meta-Knight managed to overcome the demon that possessed him.  With the fatherly tenderness that I thought was lost forever, he embraced me.
“Thank you…” I heard him whisper.  Before I could react, he broke out of my hold and flapped his wings frantically.  The flapping propelled him downwards, while the resulting gust hurled me upwards.
“Lord Meta-Knight!”  I felt my mouth open and my throat working to make the sound, but I could hear nothing over the roar of the winds.  I suddenly felt something slam into me and everything went dark…
When I awoke, I was in a hospital.  I found out that Ax Knight had tried to steer the airship after us, but had not been able to catch up.  Lord Meta-Knight had died on impact, and if it had not been for the gust caused by Lord Meta-Knight’s wings, I would have died along with him.  In his final moments, he found it within himself to re-take control just long enough to save me.
My brethren never questioned the motive behind my attack.  I wonder if they had known the reason behind Lord Meta-Knight’s descent to madness before I did, and either didn’t know how to react or had compelled themselves to remain blind to the truth.  I know they wanted to help, but I think they never were truly able to dissipate the belief that Lord Meta-Knight was invincible.  I think, in their eyes, whatever had been wrong with him he could overcome on his own.  I am ashamed to say that I too had been incapable of dispelling that belief until it was too late.  After the horrific incident, the only belief I had left to hold onto was that while I failed Lord Meta-Knight in life, I would not fail him in death.
From then on, my brethren and I went our separate ways.  If there was one thing our leader taught us, it was that despite all of the hardships that Fate sends our way, Life will always go on.  He taught us to believe in ourselves, and to trust in our abilities.  With this in mind, I joined the army that had rejected me decades ago and became one of the greatest knights that country had ever known.  During that time I started my own training camp and tutored the weak and timid into the strong and confident.  I showed them the ways of life as they had been shown to me.  I told them of my life story, and the life of one of the greatest knights the universe had ever known.  As I watched the boys of my camp grow into men, I realized that although I couldn’t save Lord Meta-Knight’s life, I had saved and preserved his soul.  The Legacy of Meta-Knight would be passed down from generation to generation, and through that he was immortal.

The End

Description
The Legacy of Meta-Knight

I’ve had the honor to stand alongside one of the greatest knights the universe had ever known.
I have watched his rise, his fall, and rode along the currents of his determination.
A determination that nothing could weaken, that would never falter.
He was my leader, teacher, mentor, friend and confidante.
“Who is this knight?” one may ask.  Not because one didn’t know his name, for everyone knew of Meta-Knight’s legacy.  No, one may ask because in fact no one really knew who he was.  He was stoic, compassionate, honorable, but those only described his behavior.  No one knew what motive lay behind his actions, except for me, except for my brethren.  We were nothing but four knights expelled from our respective kingdoms for our sheer incompetence.  We had nothing, were nothing, until he came.
He didn’t need soldiers; he was sublime.  Yet in his kindness he took us in, trained us, cared for us, believed in us.  My young eyes were opened to a world I had long held disdain for.  Under his guidance I learned to understand the true beauty of life, and the meaning of purpose.
Everywhere he traveled, and everywhere we followed.  At the time we didn’t know where he was going or what he was looking for, but it never mattered.  No explanation was needed.  We would have followed him to the depths of hell itself if he so had wished.
Never had he allowed anyone to know him, except for us.  We were nothing, and yet he confided in us as if we were his brothers.
Not only did he believe in Fate, he revered it.  Once he had explained to us the secrets of Life.  He told us that everything was governed by Destiny.  His people were the very essence of this religion, for their sole and only life purpose was to control the population of monsters.  According to him, every generation spawned a massively powerful monster, and in return a ‘star warrior’ was produced to battle this evil entity.  Each battle always ended in a mutual kamikaze, and life goes on.
I had felt my heart tighten within my chest at the news.
That was the motive behind his endless traveling, the reason why he trained us so hard!    He knew that his lifespan was going to be unfairly short.  What he had been searching for all along was the monster that he was supposed to execute.  He was, literally, looking for his own death.
My eyes stung and numbness coursed through me as the revelation sank in.
I couldn’t believe that his purpose was only to die at the hands of some unruly beast!  One as sublime as he deserved a better Fate.  Yet despite the horror that was his supposed destiny, his voice had been tinged with passion and excitement… and I failed to understand why.  Nevertheless, this was the destiny he wished to pursue, and we vowed to stand by him until the very end.
We continued to travel, offering our services to those who needed it.  Despite the unnerving news he had bestowed on us, I felt secure with him.  His mere presence demanded awe and respect, and it in return was granted to him.  Everything had been so right, our purpose so clear, until the day our world came crashing down.
There were complaints, from a small planet called Dreamland, of nightmares invading their sleep.  What began as a mere investigation was met with the discovery of an entire underground of powerful monsters.  These monsters were led by a massively powerful, demonic entity conveniently named “Nightmare.”
Upon seeing the grotesque visage of the massive hellion, our leader turned to us.  He knew, as well as we, that this was the demon he had been created to defeat.  No words were needed.  It was time, time to fulfill his destiny.
I didn’t want him to go.
None of us wanted him to go.
I wanted to reach out to him, beg him to reconsider and hope that he could find a way to destroy the hell spawn without confiscating his life.  How could as impeccable as he be chained to such a flawed fate?  I could not understand why the Gods would create creatures as perfect as he only to make them throw their lives away as if they meant nothing.
While my mind screamed for me to stop him, to save him, I was held paralyzed by brilliant, golden eyes.  His illuminating gaze blazed with a passion I couldn’t begin to understand.  He knew his destiny, revered it.  Who was I to take that away from him?  So I, like my brethren, could only stand in agonizing silence as our savior treaded towards his impending doom.
In his valiance he refused our help and declared that he did not want us to bare witness to the battle, and his inevitable death.  Even with that said, I couldn’t help but cast one last glance at the evil entity that our glorious leader had been destined to slaughter.  For a moment, Nightmare met my curious gaze.  The blazing crimson eyes bore into me, sending shivers through my very core.  I will never forget the dread I felt when looking into the persimmon depths and finding nothing but a burning hatred and loathing for all living things.  I didn’t want to leave Lord Meta-Knight with such a horrible monstrosity, but I had no other choice.  So with heavy hearts I caught up with my brethren and we made our way back to the starship.  Although we were well aware of the Destiny to which he was compelled, my brethren and I remained in the starship, looking out the window in hopes that our glorious leader would walk out triumphant.  Despite the dreadful Fate that he had forewarned us of, we had always fancied him beyond the ties of mortality.  And we were right, or so I had thought.  Our leader did survive, but he had been incapable of killing Nightmare.  This newfound fact did not deter my steadfast love and loyalty, if anything it was heightened.
Perhaps the Gods had decided to spare Lord Meta-Knight, to give him a different Fate?  Maybe there was an alternative way this monster was to be defeated, a way that would not force him to sacrifice his life?
Unfortunately, he did not see it that way.  That night, battered and bruised, he paced across the room, golden orbs illuminated with an eerie brightness.
“I had failed,” he ranted, “I had broken the chain of destiny!  I had failed!”
My brethren stood in sympathetic silence.  I, however, stepped forward, “Sir!  Maybe it was fated for you to lose this battle?  Maybe Destiny has decided for you to beat him in a different way?”
He looked to me with those golden orbs.  I was immediately mesmerized.  He never answered, but I think he believed me, because his mood had brightened and he began to train diligently.  At that time I thought everything was going to be all right.
Then Kirby came.
The young one’s appearance was a shock to us all, as we had been told that a new star warrior is born when the previous one dies.  Not surprisingly, Lord Meta-Knight too was astounded.  Not just astounded, horrified.  Mortified.
“He should not be here!”  Our leader would roar, pacing the room like a caged animal.  “I’m not dead!  He’s not supposed to be here!  What has happened to Destiny?!!”
It never crossed my mind that his philosophy could have been wrong.  I didn’t know what to think, and that frightened me.  Suddenly, one of my brethren stepped forward.
“Sir, maybe Nightmare wasn’t the only monster created,” Lance had suggested, “That would also be why you weren’t able to defeat him.  What if there were two monsters that had been created, one for you to defeat, and one for Kirby?”
Of course, that had to be the answer!  I couldn’t believe that my faith had begun to falter when the solution had been right in front of me!  Ultimately Lord Meta-Knight, too, believed that this must be the case.  However he worried that Kirby would be too young and weak to defeat one as powerful as Nightmare, so he ordered us to fight him in order to test his strength.  While I was eager to follow his orders, I was also slightly nervous.  I couldn’t help but worry that my brethren and I may accidentally harm Kirby.  The thought of hurting anyone that was even remotely related to our admirable leader caused great apprehension.  Fortunately, my worries were for naught, as the little guy contained much power then one would have thought.  No matter how many times we battled, we were unable to defeat him.  Finally, our mentor decided to fight Kirby himself, to make sure that he had what it takes to defeat Nightmare.  We had expected Kirby to be a challenge, but it astounded us when he actually won!
Afterwards we watched from afar as the little one obtained some surprisingly powerful staff dubbed “star rod” and defeated Nightmare.  To my supreme joy, Kirby survived the battle relatively unscathed.  His survival broke the binds of Destiny!  If one as young and inexperienced as Kirby was given a chance to live free of the chains of Fate, then our leader could also survive!
Once the battle was finished, our mentor decided that it was time to find the monster that he was destined to battle.  With renewed hopes of his survival, my brethren and I helped him search.  For a long time we came up with nothing, until one day we started hearing rumors about an evil entity called “Dark Matter.”
I remember looking over to my leader, and seeing his golden orbs brighten with excitement.  This had to be the monster we were searching for!  Everything was going well, until we heard news that shook us all to the very core - Nightmare wasn’t dead.
I don’t even remember how we were informed… I don’t think we even were.  He just appeared, raising havoc and plaguing people’s dreams as if he had never been away.  I didn’t know what to think, as the former battle between Kirby and the hellion hadn’t left any room for doubt of his death.  After the battle, we had stopped watching over Kirby, so none of us had any idea of his whereabouts.  Suddenly, in his valiance Lord Meta-Knight decided to once again stand up to the demon that plagued the universe with its wretched presence!  I watched the battle alongside my brethren, excitement coursing through me.
I couldn’t help but wonder maybe if he was destined to defeat Nightmare after all.
Perhaps he lacked the experience necessary during their first duel, but now he was better trained, stronger and more ready this time.
This time, he would defeat Nightmare and bring peace back to the universe once again.
But to my abrupt horror, it was not to be.
Nightmare performed some kind of kamikaze, his body twisting and wrapping around Lord Meta-Knight like a snake coiled around unsuspecting prey!  Fear and surprise had held us in its grasp for only a moment before we finally broke through and ran to help.  But those few seconds proved fatal, as a massive explosion rocked the entire room and sent us all hurtling to the cold, dirt floor.
Pain had shot through my arm, and I later learned that it was broken, but I was distracted by more pressing matters.  I pushed myself up and turned to see our leader, mentor, friend… the one who we all wished we could be…laying on the ground.
He looked so broken, lifeless…
I ran to his side, but was afraid to touch him…
His mask was cracked in several places.
His golden orbs were so dim.
Never had they looked so dim.
Fortunately, Trident Knight knew what to do.  He swiftly but tenderly checked his wrist for a pulse.  With a sigh of relief he nodded to us.
He was alive.
We carried him to the nearest infirmary.  We were told that, despite the massive injuries he received, he should be able to make a full recovery.
He was alive.
I almost sobbed with relief.
He was going to survive.
He was going to make a full recovery.
Nightmare was dead.
Everything was going to be all right.
I was horribly wrong.
Ever since that battle, Meta-Knight had never been the same.  He began to stalk the darkness, and his golden orbs began to hold a red tinge.  The air about him began to lose its gentle serenity, to be replaced by a cold malcontent.  This change frightened me, frightened all of us.  I could see the uneasy looks my brethren would cast to each other and me.  But we were at a loss about what to do.  There was nothing technically wrong with Lord Meta-Knight, and he didn’t act any different.  It was just…the way his presence had changed.
During that time, we once again found the young star warrior.  While he was still young, in the small period of time that we had lost contact he had grown to be an impressive star warrior.  Eventually he obtained another legendary-esque weapon, fought and destroyed Dark Matter.
Kirby also survived the battle, and after the battle had been concluded I wondered if everything was going to become normal now.  There were no longer monsters left to fight, and both Kirby and Lord Meta-Knight were free from the bounds of Fate.  Perhaps the chilling air that had settled around our leader would dissipate and he would revert to the gentle, passionate knight that we knew and loved.
But, as Lord Meta-Knight would have said, it was not what Destiny had intended.
Instead, he began to harbor a dislike for Kirby on grounds that my brethren and I failed to understand.  The dislike grew at a frighteningly rapid pace until he openly despised the little star warrior.  His newfound rage frightened us more than anything else had.  Lord Meta-Knight was sublime, above weak emotions such as greed or hate.  But the dark feelings continued to consume him, until finally they overwhelmed him.  He built a large and magnificent ship called the Halberd, and hired a weak and greedy captain to pilot it.  With that ship he decided to hunt down and kill Kirby.
This decision sent a terrible chill through us, but what could we do?  Lord Meta-Knight had to have a good reason to want Kirby’s destruction.  Perhaps my brethren and I were not mentally capable of understanding something so complex.  But still, for the first time we couldn’t help but internally question our leader’s judgment.
I’m not quite sure when, but sometime during our search for Kirby (as we had awhile ago lost contact with him again) we found an orphaned Waddle Dee.  A surge of the old, compassionate Lord Meta-Knight resurfaced, and he adopted the little creature and cared for him.  Our mentor became quite attached to Waddle Dee and the hunt had temporarily slowed.  On witnessing their father-son interactions, and I concluded that he had just been lonely and yearned for a companionship that we couldn’t provide.  Waddle Dee’s presence brought us great comfort, as it drew the tender side of Lord Meta-Knight back out.  My old love and respect for him had returned full-force.  Only he, as powerful as he was, would be compassionate enough to care for a creature with such low fighting potential.
Unfortunately, even this was not to be.  Our relief quickly darkened to apprehension as the cold aura once again returned and he soon renewed his search.  Shortly afterwards we finally were, to my dismay, able to find Kirby.
Despite the many times we had to fight him, every one of them ended with him as the victor.  I was moderately relieved at this, as I really didn’t want to hurt Kirby.  I couldn’t understand why Lord Meta-Knight hated Kirby so, and hoped that somehow… I don’t know… something would happen and everything would be all right again.  Waddle Dee often pleaded with him to stop, and sometimes… in his golden eyes I could see that he wanted to.  But for reasons I could not understand, he continued his pursuit.  Many attempts were made at Kirby’s life, but by some miraculous means he managed not only to avoid destruction, but also to destroy the ship piece by piece.  The cowardly captain had been all too quick to abandon ship as soon as the tides were set against him.  However as the Halberd began to descend over the ocean my brethren and we found ourselves in quite a bind.
Remaining on the ship any longer proved dangerous, yet Lord Meta-Knight was dead-set on Kirby’s destruction.  By this time, my brethren and I had begun to wonder if somehow the young star warrior’s death would fix whatever was happening to our leader.  Together we decided that we would stay on the ship and try one last time to finish Kirby.  Unfortunately, despite our final attempts to defeat him, they were for naught.  By that time the ship was crashing down towards the ocean, and upon impact death would be inevitable.  My brethren and I swiftly boarded the escape ship and flew off and to the nearest island, with the hopes that our leader would not be far behind.
After we arrived that the island, we watched the ship sink into the choppy waters.  It was then I discovered that Waddle Dee had been left in the ship!  My heart sank as I figured that both he and Lord Meta-Knight had died on the ship.
I looked to my brethren, hoping that one of them could give me the answer I wanted to hear - that by some miracle they had survived.  That somehow the two found another escape ship and were on their way to the island as we stood.
Destiny has a strange way of granting wishes.  For we began to see Meta-Knight in the horizon.  But he wasn’t onboard an escape ship.  Instead he drifted to us on a pair of velvety, azure wings!  Battered and carrying Waddle Dee under his arm, he hovered to us and landed heavily on the ground.
I was momentarily mesmerized; the wings were frightening in their beauty.  They gave an aura of magnificence… yet at the same time, unspeakable dread.  But it wasn’t until he actually met our collective gaze that I was overwhelmed with terror.  His eyes were not the gentle golden glow that always held us mesmerized.  They were a crimson blaze!  Within we saw a chilling hatred that sent a tremor down my spine.  In his other hand Lord Meta-Knight held his eerily glowing broadsword as if he meant to impale us with it.  Fear controlling my actions, I was compelled to step back.
What was happening to him?!
What had he become?!
He so resembled the monsters that we had fought against for so long…
Out of the corner of my eye I vaguely noticed my brethren having similar reactions.  Suddenly, Waddle Dee stirred, the motion breaking our leader from whatever spell of rage that had consumed him.  Almost tenderly he lowered the little creature to the ground.  The dazed Waddle Dee slowly looked up at his father figure, and upon seeing the persimmon gaze that greeted him, backed away with a frightened squawk.  Lord Meta-Knight’s eyes wavered back to gold as he watched his adopted son cower in fear before him.  Through the little creature’s eyes, I think, he realized…
Realized what he had become.
That he fought Kirby not as a knight.
But as a monster.
Suddenly, Lord Meta-Knight’s wings drooped and his dimming sword fell limply from his hand.  With a shuddering heave, his shoulders slumped and he began to cry.  I could only stand there in stunned silence.  For all the time we had known him, he had been burned, beaten and had stood on death’s doorstep.  Yet despite all this he had never even emitted a whimper much less this…  our leader always had an air of invulnerability, and never had we even fathomed something like this occurring.  I looked to my brethren and in their blank expressions found no answers.  We were simply at a loss of what to do.  From the corner of my eye I watched Waddle Dee push himself onto his feet and slowly approach the one who had raised him.
“Don’t cry…” Waddle Dee said softly as he tenderly embraced him.
As I watched the interaction I came to the realization that our roles had reversed.  Our leader had mentored us, took care of us and was always there when we needed him.  Now he needed us more than ever before.  I didn’t know how we could help him, as I didn’t even know what precisely was wrong with him.  However my brethren and I made an open vow to try.
Unfortunately, even Lord Meta-Knight’s newfound awareness could not stop his transcendence into madness.  The chilling air about him intensified, and he began to harbor a general hatred towards everything… I know he wanted to stop, to revert back to the tenderhearted star warrior that we held such reverence for.  But he couldn’t, the animosity had become a part of him.  We stayed by his side, hoping that our companionship would ease his growing paranoia.  But his condition only deteriorated.
As time went on, despite our love and adoration we began to fear him.  Waddle Dee was the only one who could bring out our leader’s gentle side, but even he was having a much harder time of it.
One night Lord Meta-Knight snapped.
We knew of Kirby’s survival and escape from the Halberd, but until that night we hadn’t actually seen him since.  After the construction of a new airship, we were driving to a nearby town to offer our services when our leader spotted Kirby and Dynablade flying a few yards away.  He watched through blood-colored eyes as the two flew through the air as if there wasn’t a concern in the world.  With a deep, frightening growl, Lord Meta-Knight steered the airship to intercept the two.  What he didn’t notice was the Dynablade chicks flying behind her and Kirby.  I was the first to realize the existence of the innocent chicks and quickly informed our leader.  I thought that…
That Lord Meta-Knight would never hurt an innocent…
That once he knew of the chicks’ presence he would stop this meaningless assault.
But he only glared at me as if my information meant nothing and continued to drive the airship towards Kirby.  Suddenly Waddle Dee ran to our leader’s side.
“Please don’t hurt him!” he cried, grabbing onto Lord Meta-Knight’s arm.  “He didn’t do anything wrong!”
Normally the little creature’s presence soothed our leader and helped him to overcome whatever fog of hatred that consumed him.  But this time Lord Meta-Knight rage would not dissipate.  Everything… everything happened in horrifically slow motion…
I watched as our leader grabbed Waddle Dee and shoved him, hard.
I watched as the little one slammed backwards into the window.
I watched as the window shattered under the pressure.
I ran forward to grab him, but my limbs moved even slower then the events I was currently viewing.  With a blood-curdling scream, Waddle Dee fell out of the window and out of sight.
“WADDLEDEE!”  Ax Knight cried as he ran to the broken window and looked outside.  I was the second to arrive at the window.  But as I frantically searched the skies I found no traces of life…
“Sir Meta-Knight!”  I could hear Lance Knight’s panic-stricken voice from behind me.  “We have to turn around, Waddle Dee-”
I turned to see why Lance’s words had stopped.  Our leader had turned to face him, face us.  His eyes were ablaze with the same crimson fire as we saw after the descent of the Halberd.  The fiery persimmon eyes that threatened to devour us, yet at the same time were hauntingly familiar…
My stomach clenched as realization struck me like a blow.
All of this had begun the day Nightmare performed his version of kamikaze on Lord Meta-Knight.
Dark Matter had been known to have the capability to possess other living creatures.
Dark Matter was of the same race as Nightmare, which means that Nightmare had the same abilities.
Our leader had not pursued and fought Kirby as Lord Meta-Knight
But as Nightmare!
With this revelation also came the realization that I was too late.
Looking into Lord Meta-Knight’s blood-colored eyes a feeling of dread washed over me.  All this time our leader fought against Nightmare’s influences, but now there was no fight left within him.  We had failed; Lord Meta-Knight was dead.  All that was left was a lifeless husk being driven by the wretched poltergeist.  There was only one way to help him now.
I knew what had to be done… yet searching within the crimson pools I yearned for another way to save him.  Finding nothing within, I couldn’t help but laugh humorlessly at the irony of it all.  The only way to destroy Nightmare would be to destroy Lord Meta-Knight.  Just as our leader had told us so long ago, nothing could change the Fate to which each creature was compelled.  Every generation a powerful monster was born, in return a star warrior was created to battle that monster.  Each battle ended in mutual death, and Life goes on.
One can never truly alter Fate, only postpone it.
And Fate abhors postponement.
I could have, of course, continued to defy Fate.  I could have withheld this information and continued to serve Lord Meta-Knight faithfully.  I could have told myself that Waddle Dee’s death had been a complete accident.  I could even convince my brethren, and myself, to believe it.  However I knew this wasn’t what he would have wanted.  He would want us to stop him, even if it meant to destroy him.  We had failed him when he needed us most; I vowed not to fail again.
Instinct guided my actions as I charged forward.  I could feel the shocked eyes of my brethren upon me as I tackled Lord Meta-Knight off of his chair.  Holding onto him with strength that I didn’t even know I possessed, I threw him and myself through a window.  I could hear the glass shattering around me just above my leader’s roars of rage.  I felt his wings wildly fluttering underneath my tight grasp.  I barely heard Ax and Trident calling my name.  The wind rushed around me.
I knew the impact was going to kill me, but at least I could die knowing that I had saved the one who made my life worth something.  My eyes had tightly closed sometime during the attack.  I dared to open them and found myself looking into the crimson orbs of my once glorious leader.
But this time…within the persimmon depths I no longer found contempt.  For the last time, Lord Meta-Knight managed to overcome the demon that possessed him.  With the fatherly tenderness that I thought was lost forever, he embraced me.
“Thank you…” I heard him whisper.  Before I could react, he broke out of my hold and flapped his wings frantically.  The flapping propelled him downwards, while the resulting gust hurled me upwards.
“Lord Meta-Knight!”  I felt my mouth open and my throat working to make the sound, but I could hear nothing over the roar of the winds.  I suddenly felt something slam into me and everything went dark…
When I awoke, I was in a hospital.  I found out that Ax Knight had tried to steer the airship after us, but had not been able to catch up.  Lord Meta-Knight had died on impact, and if it had not been for the gust caused by Lord Meta-Knight’s wings, I would have died along with him.  In his final moments, he found it within himself to re-take control just long enough to save me.
My brethren never questioned the motive behind my attack.  I wonder if they had known the reason behind Lord Meta-Knight’s descent to madness before I did, and either didn’t know how to react or had compelled themselves to remain blind to the truth.  I know they wanted to help, but I think they never were truly able to dissipate the belief that Lord Meta-Knight was invincible.  I think, in their eyes, whatever had been wrong with him he could overcome on his own.  I am ashamed to say that I too had been incapable of dispelling that belief until it was too late.  After the horrific incident, the only belief I had left to hold onto was that while I failed Lord Meta-Knight in life, I would not fail him in death.
From then on, my brethren and I went our separate ways.  If there was one thing our leader taught us, it was that despite all of the hardships that Fate sends our way, Life will always go on.  He taught us to believe in ourselves, and to trust in our abilities.  With this in mind, I joined the army that had rejected me decades ago and became one of the greatest knights that country had ever known.  During that time I started my own training camp and tutored the weak and timid into the strong and confident.  I showed them the ways of life as they had been shown to me.  I told them of my life story, and the life of one of the greatest knights the universe had ever known.  As I watched the boys of my camp grow into men, I realized that although I couldn’t save Lord Meta-Knight’s life, I had saved and preserved his soul.  The Legacy of Meta-Knight would be passed down from generation to generation, and through that he was immortal.

The End