A Shooting Star ~Kirby and Sonic crossover~

Chaoter 47: The Call of the Emerald

"Sonic? Sonic, are you okay?" Shadow's worried voice was like a ray of sunshine waking Sonic from his thoughts as he opened his eyes, twitching his ears to shake the buzzing that blared loudly in his head. Squinting, he slowly adjusted to the real world, and he blinked, feeling lightheaded and dazed.

Then he remembered Kirby's words. Get to Angel Island. The warrior's eyes had been full of desperation, and Sonic felt himself drawn to his gaze—because of the knowledge that shimmered within or the reflection of the stars, he did not know. But what he did know was that his task was to bring Kirby, Meta Knight, and Dedede to the Master Emerald, no matter what it took.

And so soon after we left! Knuckles would surely be annoyed, but Sonic knew how to deal with his hot-tempered friend. And deep down, Knuckles had a heart of gold. He wouldn't refuse if Sonic insisted to visit the Master Emerald.

But I wonder—why the Master Emerald? It seemed so random and frankly, Sonic had almost forgotten that it was an item that could balance the frontier between chaos and order. Perhaps the ancient warrior recognized the potential of the emerald?

Whatever it is, we need to get to it. As soon as possible.

"Sonic?"

Sonic held up a hand to silence Shadow, reassuring him that he was okay. "Yeah, I'm fine," he said, mind still whirling from the message. It seemed that no time had passed at all since he momentarily went into his own mind. Glancing around, Sonic's green eyes landed on Kirby. The puffball was still unconscious, oblivious to the presence of the powerful warrior that he had spoken with. I need to know more about him. The marked puffball's face appeared in his mind, blocking any other thoughts he might have had. Just a few more questions can't hurt, right?

He turned his attention to Meta Knight. The knight was staring at Sonic, yellow eyes unreadable. Kirby—or the Kirby with the scar—had spoken about the knight with so much love and pain. Dedede as well. Already, theories were beginning to form in Sonic's head. Could it be that Meta Knight and Dedede, like Kirby, had their own ancient spirits? Were they reincarnations much like the pink puffball? He decided to ask the knight directly. "Meta Knight? Could you tell me more about that warrior? Kirby of the Stars?" The one Eggman's after?

He still remembered their first encounter with Eggman when Kirby first arrived, and how he seemed to assess Kirby like he was a powerful artifact. It would make sense, then. According to Kintobor's logs, Zero's supposedly after Kirby, but now we know that he's not after our Kirby, but Kirby of the Stars—the ancient warrior. It would add up, since Kirby of the Stars was alive since ancient times, before the humans and mobians first coincided. That's how Zero would know Kirby.

But it sounds as if Kirby of the Stars once came to Mobius, Sonic thought. Before Zero took over Kintobor, he mentioned something about Kintobor finding out about Kirby in ancient relics. Could there be more to this than he initially thought? I'll just have to ask him, if we ever meet again.

He almost forgot he'd asked Meta Knight about the warrior until the Dreamlander spoke, his voice low and uncertain. "I do not know much myself," he confessed slowly, as if he was still thinking, "but Kirby and I are reincarnations of past warriors of old. Before he disappeared into my son's body, he spoke to me shortly. He sounded so..." Meta Knight paused as he struggled to explain. "He sounded so familiar," he finished. A wistful look crept over his gaze. "I did not feel like myself at that moment. I instead felt as if someone was controlling what I felt."

Sonic nodded, listening to every word carefully. So that pretty much confirms it. Meta Knight and Kirby are reincarnations of ancient warriors. He remembered how Kirby of the Stars had spoken about the knight and king. So that has to mean that Dedede is a reincarnation as well. His starry eyes had been glistening with tears when he'd asked Sonic to take them to the Master Emerald.