Heroes of Dreamland Rewritten, Book 1: Stars Amidst Lightning

Chapter 41

Meta Knight | メタナイト

Once you've been a soldier for long enough, surprise attacks become much less of an actual surprise and more of an annoying (and dangerous) inconvenience. Naturally, because of my history and experience with doing battle, I was not surprised when upon our arrival here in Bubbly Clouds, Kirby and I were almost instantly assaulted by a small platoon of Krackos. However, even though I was not surprised, I was also unaware of how unprepared I really am to face several electricity monsters all at once, especially when the hidden Lightning himself is constantly sending pulses of electricity through the clouds we stand on with seemingly little reason or rhyme.

Grunting, I continue to tuck and roll away from every lightning attack that comes at me, and count myself lucky if I can manage to get an attack in edgewise. There is much to be praised about bearing armor made of the strongest alloys the Star Warrior Army's scientists could come up with and a sword made of sacred gold forged by a fire spirit in ages of yore, but their usability in a fight against electrical monsters in an charged environment where they make for such utterly brilliant conductors is definitely not one of their strong points.

Needless to say, this has me more than a little bit disgruntled.

Also needless to say, the fact that Kirby seems to actually be having fun with his share of the fighting has me even more than more than a little bit disgruntled.

After fluidly dodging three or four bolts of lightning all in the matter of an instant, he peeks out from under the pom-pommed ends of the floppy jester's cap he wears and grins impishly up at the two Krackos who just tried to attack him while lazily twirling a glass-orb-topped wand around, gathering up energy to use in a giant attack against them. "Kracko-poys like to play ball, poyo?" he questions impishly, before launching a giant sphere made of pure light energy up at the both of them. Both of them drop a Waddle Doo (the sources of their power), and then glance at each other anxiously. It would seem that that was the end of their power source. "Uh-oh. Strikeout, poyo-po."

While Kirby cheerfully dances with his Beam Ability over to take on another Kracko or two, I launch myself up into the air, sword out and sharp side proffered, and slice right up and through the center of one of the power-drained Krackos before severing the other in half on the down-swipe as I fall back to the ground. Both of them shudder and set off several explosions before vanishing, rendering the situation that much less dangerous.

Breathing a sigh of relief, I then stiffen as I feel a crackling under my feet and launch myself up and away from the spot I was standing on none too slowly, as a bolt of lightning thicker than I am rams itself straight up through the clouds beneath like an electrified knife. "Shotzo," I hiss in a mixture of relief and irritation, only to turn around and see Kirby watching me from where he stands in midair, taking out the last two Krackos at the same time with a well-positioned Beam Whip attack. As the stream of light circles around and around him while he lazily swings the wand that produces it, keeping him aloft and the monsters in a constant state of losing strength, he giggles down at me. "Isn't this fun, Meta-poy?"

I survived almost two centuries of all-out warfare for... this. Rolling my eyes, I mutter back, "I don't know if 'fun,'" (here I dodge a lightning battering ram that plunges down from the ceiling before continuing), "is the word I personally would select to describe our current situation." As the two remaining Krackos' eyes glaze over and they clearly reach the point of death, I tell Kirby, "I think you've made your point, young one. You can stop now."

"Okee," he nods happily and releases the Krackos, who both hit the ground at the same time he does. As they begin rumbling with multiple explosions, he ejects his Waddle Doo-sourced Ability and then happy-go-luckily walks towards me away from the Krackos as they explode into nothingness behind him. "Can we find a snack now, poyo?"