Meta Knight woke up in a warm bed, covered with soft blankets. He was on his stomach and still felt a bit drowsy and hungry. He felt his stomach bubble when it growled. He sat up, stretching and yawning. He sniffed the air as the aroma of baked potatoes and stew reached him. Meta Knight looked over to the side of the bed that was open and saw a plate full of stew waiting for him. He was about to take it but stopped after thinking why it was there.

"Aren’t you hungry little one?" a familiar voice asked him. Meta Knight looked across the room to see Brigade sitting by a fire smoking a long pipe. It was than Meta Knight realized he wasn’t at a base. He was in a cave home, Brigade's home. Brigade turned to Meta Knight whom was looking at his bowl. He was still unsure of what to do. Brigade got up and walked over to Meta Knight. "Here, eat this. It’s yours." he said picking up the bowl and gave it to Meta Knight. Finally, Meta Knight took the bowl and started to eat. His eating speed picked up once he was comfortable. Brigade smiled at the boy. He was pleased to see that Meta Knight was eating.

"Meta Knight, why were you at the battle field the other day?" Brigade asked as he sat down by the bed.

"I was running… From the monsters… " He answered after a long pause.

"Do you remember why?" Brigade did want Meta Knight to feel like he was in danger, nor did he want Meta Knight to feel like he was being treated like the monsters.

Meta Knight shook his head no. He couldn’t remember anything before the chase. Brigade saw that the child was confused and most likely upset. He patted Meta Knight's head in reassurance. Meta Knight looked up at Brigade. The poor thing looked as if he was going to cry. He was all a lone in the world. In a world filled with terror and death.

"There is no need to be afraid little Meta. As long as you’re with me, nothing will harm you," Brigade said. Meta kept looking at him with mixed emotions. "I’ll take care of you," he said with a tender, fatherly voice.

Meta put the bowl down and leapt to embrace Brigade. Brigade was so big that Meta was only able to hug his leg. He buried his face into the armor that Brigade wore. Brigade set his hand on Meta’s head. He would take the role of father for the boy. He would teach him everything he knew, from a warrior to a kind-hearted soldier.

"Come… If you’re going to stay than you should become aquatinted with your surroundings," Brigade said as he stepped over Meta and headed outside. The boy watched him leave before quickly following. His eyes weren’t prepared for the bright light from the sun; he quickly covered them with his hand. As his eyes adjusted to the light he could hear voices from a number of different sources. There were sounds of metal work and wheels turning as wheelbarrows were being pushed across the street. He slowly opened his eyes to see an almost village type setting.

Meta was amazed at what he saw. It was like nothing he ever seen before in his life. He turned to ask Brigade a question but soon found that he wasn’t there. Meta was standing in the streets, alone. The small boy quickly panicked, not knowing what to do. Looking around frantically, he tried to find Brigade. The warrior was nowhere in sight. Meta stood there, afraid of what could happen if he wandered off. Many warriors walked past him, not even noticing that he was there.

"Meta! Over here!" Brigade called from a distance. Meta looked in the direction he heard Brigade and saw him. With a smile on his face, he ran over to his new mentor. The older soldier was talking to a fellow comrade about a matter that little Meta didn’t understand. After the conversation ended, Brigade looked down at Meta.

"Now, lets walk around so you can get comfortable. The place you're in is called ‘Star Village’. Almost all of the residents are Star Warriors." he explained as he walked with Meta. The boy looked around as Brigade told him about the little village. He explained to the future soldier that the monsters never attacked here because of the fact that they were well prepared.

Brigade brought Meta to the training circle where the rookies were practicing with the best. One of tutors was a Draklen with an ax. He was strong and a bit careless, but very skilled. At one point he broke the trainee's sword in half with his weapon. Meta Knight was amazed by the event that just happened. The big guy helped the kid up and handed him the broken blade.

"Galiathen!" Brigade called over. His friend looked over to them. Meta Knight felt his heart racing when Galiathan came to them. He wasn’t as big as Brigade was; but then again no average sized Draklen was as big as Brigade was.

"So the runt finally woke up," he said, looking down at the boy. Meta Knight puffed a bit in resentment. Galiathan laughed at Meta’s expression.

"Yes, and he seems to be unharmed as well." Brigade smiled at Meta.

"You going to train him?" Galiathan asked.

"Not if he doesn’t want to. I’m sure-"

"I want know how to fight. All I remember is running. I don’t want to run any more." Meta Knight cut Brigade off. He looked into the training circle and imagined himself being there, learning how to fight.

"Are you sure?" Brigade asked, lowering his head so they can see each other better. "It will be long and hard. We won’t go easy on you just because you’re a kid or because you’re alone."

"I don’t want you to go easy on me… The monster won’t," Meta said as he looked up at Brigade. He nodded his head and began to talk to Galiathan about the training. His words began to fade and the images began to darken as Meta Knight began to wake from the dream.

His present world began to emerge from the darkness and form around him. He stared at the ceiling as he thought about the dream. He remembered the lessons his mentor taught him. He felt pain in his heart when he thought about Brigade. He always felt that he was more like a father than a mentor was. Brigade was a great Warrior, greater than Meta Knight ever was.

He remembered how quickly Brigade brought down his prey. He never let his guard down and always protected the ones that needed it. Brigade never left anyone behind, not even the dead. He was loyal to everyone, not just to his friends but to the people as well. Meta Knight couldn’t recall any time that Brigade lost a battle.

Galithan was good too. He hadn't fallen to the monsters either, at least not to Meta Knight’s knowledge. Galiathan was just as good as Brigade. He thought of the battles that Brigade and Galiathan fought so many years ago. They never lost, he thought. After awhile of thinking and comprehending the past, Meta Knight slowly realized a question that he had asked himself so many years ago before coming to serve King Dedede.

If Brigade and Galiathan were so good, than why were Kirby and Meta Knight the last Star Warriors? Had they really been defeated? They couldn’t have, Meta Knight shook his head in disbelief. He got up from his bed and headed to the door. He knew they were alive but he just didn’t know were. He headed out of his room and walked down the halls. He hoped that the King would be tired of monsters for one day and not order any. Meta Knight didn’t feel in the mood to go run over to Cappy Town to terminate a monster. His mind wandered to the past again and brought back memories of his comrades. It was a nice memory.

Sitting around the fire and exchanging stories about the battlefield. He remembered getting up and leaving the circle; he didn’t want to hear about who died or who was almost there. He remembered the small cliff that he went to that night to escape from the war. It was night and the stars were out making their normal music in the sky. Looking up to the sky brought him sorrow, for he knew he might not see them again after the next day came. He sighed deeply as if was already old. He felt a pair of hands gently touch his back. He would have turned and demanded who was there but he already knew who it was.

"You shouldn’t be here… " He said as the hands gently began to rub his back.

"No one should be here." answered a soft voice from behind.

"Women shouldn’t fight," he said back, his voice firm and stubborn.

"Why must you be so hard? The Star Warriors need as many people who are willing to fight as they can get. Including women," the young girl said.

"Why don’t you take this seriously?" he asked turning to the girl to finally face her.

"I do take it seriously. But maybe you’re taking it too seriously," she said, looking at him with worry in her eyes. Meta Knight didn’t answer her and turned back to the stars. There was silence between the two friends for a while. The girl finally gave up and left him to the stars.

Meta Knight felt his heart break when he thought about the girl. He had no idea how many hes actually cared for her until the war had ended. As he walked down the hall, he felt a knot form in his chest and water building up in his eyes. It was a good thing he wore a mask because than everyone would have seen the old soldier cry.

Meanwhile, in his thrown room, King Dedede was contemplating on how to get rid of Kirby. The little pink pain in the neck already took down two of N.M.E.’s strongest monsters that were tamed. What a minute, what if the monster wasn’t tamed? Would that work against Kirby? If it were not tamed than that would mean a chance of the castle being totally destroyed. Dedede thought hard about this; did he really want to risk his kingdom?

Escargoon fidgeted in the silence. He never saw his king act this way before. Normally King Dedede would just go and order a monster. This time he was actually thinking about what he wanted and what he was looking for in a monster.

King Dedede was about to call up Nightmare Enterprises, when he realized one of the flaws that always popped in his plans, Meta Knight. Meta Knight always seemed to be there when Kirby was having trouble. Dedede thought hard about how to move around his obstacle and decided to go ahead and order a monster that hasn’t been tamed like Fire Lion or Wolfwrath. He’d get rid of Kirby and Meta Knight. Hit two birds with one stone.

The Monster delivery machine formed in the throne room and the TV’s came out of the walls. The N.M.E. Executive appeared on the screen with his normal smile.

"What can I get you today? We’ve got monsters lined up the wall waiting," he said, trying to sell the monsters that were there.

"I’ve been thinking up how to get rid of Kirby," Dedede started.

"You thinking? Now that’s dangerous," the Executive commented.

"I need a monster that will get rid of Kirby and Meta Knight."

Escargoon was taken by surprise when he heard the King say he wanted his Captain of the Guard taken down as well, although he understood the reason why he would want try to eliminate Meta Knight along with Kirby. Meta Knight did nothing but help Kirby win the battles against the Monsters. With Meta Knight out of the way Kirby would be easy picking.

"Then I've got the perfect monster for you. His name is Luka, our swordsman monster," He said as the creature was being downloaded. After a few minutes, the monster was there. Once the lights dimmed, it stood up and looked at Dedede. His head was in the shape of an arrowhead with sharp horn like crests extending from the eyes. The body was thin, but muscular in the arms, legs, and chest. The claws were long and thin with a sharp needle point tips.

"What can it do? If Kirby swallows his weapons he’ll turn into Sword Kirby!" he complained.

"That would be true if he had any weapons. You see, he uses his long claws to do the work of the sword," the Executive explained.

Dedede looked at the monster as it stepped off the platform. "This one will listen to me?" he asked.

"Oh yes he will, but he’ll carry out his assignments with a wild fury. He may listen to you, but he's still wild."

Dedede smiled in a sinister way at the creature. "Your first assignment is to get rid of Meta Knight and Kirby right away. I don’t care how you do it and I don't care where they end up. Just make sure that their life line has snapped," he told the creature in front of him. Luka smirked as he new he was going to enjoy this hunt. He turned and walked to the door and out of the room, and walked down the hall in search for the scent of his adversaries.

Sword and Blade were walking through the hall talking about Meta Knight. They were still very worried about him. They had been watching Meta Knight for a few weeks and haven’t seen much of a difference in his condition.

"He’s not telling us something I’m telling ya! He’s been waking up at night in a panic. Walking around in a daze, as if he doesn’t realize he’s still in the real world," Sword said in an irritated voice. Bladed nodded in agreement. Even though Meta Knight was their superior, he was still their friend.

Suddenly they heard a crash coming from somewhere down the hall. They hurried down the hallway to see what was going on and found Luka making a mess. He stared at them as if figuring out who they were. Once he knew that they weren’t his prey, he took off down the hall.

"What was that!?" Sword looked down at Blade.

"I don’t know but we should look for Meta Knight and tell him about this monster!" Blade said. The two young soldiers ran through the castle looking for Meta Knight. Unknown to them, Meta Knight was down in the courtyard watching the kids play.