The Fate of Dreamland: A Kirby Story

One's Darkest Nightmare

Meta Knight rubbed his eyes and tried to ignore his frantically beating heart. He shivered as a breeze grazed his face and droplets of rain aimed for his eyes.

"...Where am I?" he asked aloud, as if someone could answer his question. He seemed to be in the middle of nowhere. Trees were sprinkled on the landscape here and there, and white snow blanketed the ground.

Suddenly, he felt an odd prickle behind him and turned to find the Dark Essence leering over him triumphantly.

"Now, you will learn the meaning of true pain...... little one."

Meta Knight scowled and attempted to pull out Galaxia to attack the Dark Essence, then realized with a shock that it wasn't with him. He reached out behind him to grab his cloak and pull it around himself to block out the cold, but it too was gone.

... With horror, he prodded himself in the face, as a reality check, and silently cursed in his head as realization dawned upon him:

He was defenseless and without his mask.

The rain shower quickly turned into a wall of falling snow, and as he shivered in the cold, pondering what to do, he heard muffled footsteps coming from behind him.

Then a familiar voice called out to him.

"Meta Knight? ....Is that you?"

Her voice was like the delicate ringing of wind chimes dancing with the gale. He couldn't have been more relieved to hear those spoken words come from her mouth.

"Yes, Sakura. It is me." Meta Knight turned around and smiled. Sakura was indeed there....

However, their pleasant encounter was short-lived. Meta Knight quickly noticed a dark silhouette hiding behind the tree not too far off from where Sakura was standing. They lifted up an object from the ground and proceeded to aiming it at her, the oblivious Waddle Dee.

"Sakura... Move! SAKURA! NO!" Meta Knight cried in anguish as he realized what the object was and leaped forward to save his beloved Flower. The unidentified figure silently pulled back from what Meta Knight now recognized as a crossbow. He frantically ran faster but tripped over a rock that hadn't been in front of him a few seconds ago, and fell face-down into the snow. As he got up, he heard the all-too familiar whistle of an arrow effortlessly streaming through the air and towards its target.

"No... No... SAKURA!" All dignity was forgotten as Meta Knight struggled through the snow to get to Sakura, his feet like blocks of metal. Dread loomed over him as he finally reached Sakura, and his suspicions were confirmed.

The snow abruptly stopped falling, as if it felt his sorrow and was taking pity on him.

The hidden figure stationed behind the tree dissolved into wisps of Dark Essence, chuckling quietly to himself in amusement.

"Oh, the sweet taste of triumph..."

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Magolor's eyes teared up and he gasped for air.

His hands clawed the air for something to grab onto. Anything....

Then he froze and realized where he was.

A burning building. Emphasis on the burning.

"Fire.... So much.... heat...."

He dove down and fanned away the smoke curling towards him. Fear threatened to engulf his mind.

"Okay... Think, Magolor, think... What puts out a fire? .... Water.... lots of water...."

FWOOSH!