Meta Knight looked through the window. He could see Green Greens in the distance. He closed his eyes, and thought, “And so it finally begins…”
Meta Knight was aboard his ship, the mighty Halberd. It was soaring across the sky, flying above the outskirts of Green Greens and other nearby locations. In the main cabin he would usually have two of his best men, Captain Vul and Sailor Waddle Dee; however, the two were on vacation, and two others took their place for this mission.
“Meta Knight!”
A voice called for him, and he opened his eyes and looked back. He saw King Dedede and Bandana Waddle Dee.
“Ah, you’re finally awake!” continued Dedede. “Will you hear my question now?”
“Oh, my apologies,” said Meta Knight. “Please, repeat your question, I didn’t hear it.”
“I knew it! Anyway, I asked… what exactly are we doing here?”
Meta Knight sighed. “I told you before. I’m luring Kirby here to tell him something. That’s all.”
King Dedede raised his eyebrows. “Luring Kirby is not your thing… Are you desperate or something?”
Meta Knight heard that and froze. Dedede was right: that definitely wasn’t something he would do, and it was because he was desperate. He didn’t want to admit that, however, so he kept quiet, trying to think of something else to answer.
“What’s this silence all of sudden?” King Dedede smirked. “What, did I hit it spot on?”
“Great King!” Bandana Dee called him out.
King Dedede was surprised to see the Dee interrupt him; he had never done that in the past. He looked at him, and asked, “What’s with you now, Dee?”
“Bandana Dee, please…” Bandana Dee insisted. “In any case, sorry, Great King, I just had to interrupt you because I don’t believe that matters.”
“Hmm?” King Dedede was confused.
“We came here just to help Sir Meta Knight with his duties in the Halberd. If he decided to take it off and asked Kirby to come here, that doesn’t change what we have to do. So why insist on asking him for information?”
King Dedede stopped, and thought about what he had just told him. His logic made sense, but the king still thought that what Meta Knight was doing was strange. He was starting to formulate a counterargument, when he was interrupted.
“Didn’t you want revenge on Kirby, King Dedede?” Meta Knight asked him.
“…Revenge?” King Dedede was confused once again. “Why?”
“Oh, that’s just some rumors I’ve heard.” Meta Knight arranged his cape. “Rumors that ever since you lost against Kirby last time, despite you wearing that mask in that battle, you’ve been wanting to get revenge on him.”
Dedede took a quick pause, and started laughing, “Hahahaha, really? What, do I still have this bad of a reputation? Well, it’s true that I still would like to beat Kirby one day, but I wouldn’t call that ‘revenge’!”
“I see.” Meta Knight lowered his head. “So you aren’t looking to battle him?”
“Well, I’m not against it, but it’s not something in my mind right now.”
“That makes sense.”
“Sir Meta Knight,” Bandana Dee started saying, “just another question… You mentioned others are coming with Kirby?”
“Indeed,” answered Meta Knight.
“Other… kirbies, you said?”
“Hm-hm. Other kirbies.”
“But, right now, we really only have Kirby and two others living here on Popstar—”
“That is true. And these others being here is a total mystery. Which is why I want them to come here, and why I’m about to give you a mission.”
“…A mission?” Bandana Dee’s eyes sparkled.
“Please monitor all the cameras and write down all the information you can about all the kirbies you spot. Their colors, abilities, names, anything you can track down. I need to find out as much about them as I can.”
Bandana Dee saluted Meta Knight. “Yes, sir! I will do my best!” He ran off to get ready for his task.
“Hey, and what about me?” asked Dedede.
“You will watch the ship to make sure it’s sailing through the skies smoothly. Soon I will head out and stay outside this cabin.”
“Why?” asked Dedede, confused yet again.
Meta Knight’s eyes flared up. “I will be waiting… for a challenger.”
“…Meta Knight?!”
Kirby was still speechless. He certainly wasn’t expecting a letter from Meta Knight, let alone one about him stealing his food.
“But he… Why would he?” Kirby kept asking himself multiple questions about the situation, while only being able to deduce very few answers to them. “Why steal the food? Why now? The kirbies? But how did he know about this meeting? Or did he not? But it was now…” When he realized he was thinking too much, he forced himself to snap out of it, shaking his head repeatedly.
“Everyone!” he spoke up, turning to all the kirbies who were next to him. Most turned their attention to the pink puffball, so he continued, “We have a mission!”
“A mission?” asked Clare, curious.
“Yes, a mission! We have to go to the Halberd—” Kirby took a brief pause. “Huh”
Kirby had just realized that he had no idea where the Halberd was. It could be anywhere in the sky, and he couldn’t just ask them all to head there if he had no clear idea where to go.
“Well,” Kirby continued regardless, “first I need to find out where the Halberd is, heh.”
“Huh,” Jake spoke up, “it is probably near here, right? After all, the food got stolen not long ago.”
“Oh, you’re right!” said Kirby. He looked at the sky. “I wonder if we can spot it…”
“Is it that over there?” asked Anny, as she pointed to somewhere in the sky.
Kirby looked at the direction she was pointing at, and he could see the Halberd’s very distinct shape, albeit very roughly, but he had no doubt it was it. “Indeed, that’s it!” he said. “Alright, now let’s head to it!”
Silence followed Kirby’s words. The kirbies all looked at each other, all wondering the same thing.
“But how do we get there?” Clare was the first to ask.
“Well,” Kirby said, “duh, we fly there!”
“…Fly? But it’s so high! We can’t reach it!” said Daniel.
“But I can!” said Matt, preparing to take off. “And I will be the first to get there!” He finished charging his backpack and blasted off, leaving a trail of smoke behind.
Following him at an even speed was Natty, screaming, “Who says you will be first?! It will be me!” She was flying so fast that some of her feathers fell off.
Kirby looked at the two, as they got further away from him and the others. “Well then,” he said, “what an… interesting duo. Flying like this to the Halberd will tire them, for sure.”
“Then how do we get there without tiring ourselves?” asked Daisy.
“Simple:” Kirby striked a pose, “Warp Stars!”
As if like a deja vu, silence followed Kirby’s words. Remembering what had happened earlier, he said, disappointed but now not surprised, “So you also don’t know what Warp Stars are?”
“Stars… that warp?” asked Leo.
“Well yes, but actually no…” Kirby scratched his head, thinking how to explain what they were, but soon he changed his mind, and said, “You know what, I better just summon some and you will see. Riding them should be second nature to you all.”
20 Times Kirby! 