Sighing, Meta Knight pulled his cloak tighter around himself as he stood at the entrance to the cave and stared at the sky, which was almost black. He had offered to take watch while Sakura woke up Kirby and Bandana Dee. She had been surprised that he wanted to continue watch now that it was day, but he knew they could take no chances. For now, the Monstrous Lightning had truly arrived, and they must be constantly vigilant.

Inside, Sakura explained to the little ones what was going to happen. "We're going to fight the boss sometime in the next day or two. You guys are my little heroes, you're going to be brave. Right?"

Kirby nodded, determined. "Yep-poyo!"

Bandana Dee touched foreheads with her. "You can count on us, Sis- um, I mean, Sakura."

She smiled at him in her mind. "You can call me Sis. I'd love that," she said aloud, giving both of the two little ones a hug.

"Well, you have pretty much been like an awesome big sister to us," Bandana Dee explained, giving her a 'smile' in real life.

"I'm glad you feel that way, Bandana," she said. "I, um, love you both. You guys are just like my little brothers."

Kirby grinned and joined the other two, making it a group hug. "Love you too! Love Sakura poyo!" he yelled, ecstatic that she understood now.

Meta Knight smiled to himself at the cave door. She really was just like an older sister to the two young ones. She reminded him a lot of someone else that he had known well, a very long time before...

Sakura kept Kirby and Bandana Dee in her arms for another long moment, then pulled away. "Come on, we don't want to keep Meta Knight waiting any longer than we have to. We have a monster who needs us to kick him into the next galaxy!"

Kirby laughed gleefully. "Kirby kick monster! Kirby be hero!"

Still touching foreheads with her, Bandana said, "I'm going to be a hero too. I'm a Hero Dee!"

"Yes, you are," she agreed, patting his head. "Now, let's go."

They had no trouble until afternoon, when lightning started to jump from cloud to cloud, making flying safely impossible. Even though Sakura and Kirby could use Spark to stay safe, Bandana Dee and Meta Knight couldn't. (Well, Meta Knight could've if he was desperate, but Sakura didn't know that.)

"What do we do now?" Sakura asked as they landed inside a hollowed-out hill for shelter. "We can't fly to Bubbly Clouds, what can we do?"

Meta Knight thought for a moment. "I have an idea. My cloak can be used as a sort of teleportation device, and I think yours can be too. Each of us can take a child and warp to Bubbly Clouds."

"Okay. I'll take Bandana," she agreed, taking her cape off and holding it over Bandana and her heads.

Meta Knight drew Kirby close and tucked him inside the cloak. "Then, I will take Kirby."

"How do we make sure we warp to the same place?" she asked. "I don't know what Bubbly Clouds is like, I've never been there."

"Bandana Dee, you will have to control the warp. She cannot travel to someplace she does not know, I should have remembered that," Meta Knight ordered the little Waddle Dee.

Bandana nodded, proud to be honored so. He touched foreheads with Sakura, who laughed and turned to Meta Knight. "He says he wants you to know that he won't let any dumb monsters hurt the Kirby Dee."

Meta Knight's eyes glowed an amused green. "I am sure you will protect her well, my small friend. Now, let us go." He and Kirby disappeared into the air.

"Well, we should join them," Sakura told Bandana, who nodded and closed his eyes in concentration. Nothing happened. "Why aren't we warping?" she asked.

"I don't know," Bandana replied. He was so close that their foreheads touched without effort. "Maybe yours can't warp like Meta Knight's can."

"Well, that's convenient," Sakura sighed.

"Why don't you call for the Warp Star?" Bandana suggested.

"It's not mine, it won't come. And how would that help?" she asked, a bit irritated at her cape.

"Kirby's told me before that even though it's his, a Warp Star will come aid any Star Warrior in need," Bandana explained.

"But I'm not a Star Warrior. I'm a Kirby Dee. And if we used a Warp Star, you'd still get fried," she pointed out.

Rolling his eyes, Bandana disagreed, "I think a Kirby Dee is close enough. And no I won't, because you're going to get Spark and surround the star in a protective field."

"Since when do you have tactical knowledge?" she asked warily.

"Since someone took the time to listen to me," he sighed mentally. "C'mon, Sakura. Trust me, this'll work, Sis."

She hesitated, then nodded. "Okay." She leaned outside and inhaled some lightning, which turned her into Spark Sakura. "Let's go. C'mon, Warp Star!" she shouted, just like Kirby had a few days before.

At first, there was nothing. But then, they heard the sparkly sound the Warp Star made, getting louder and louder. "Told you so!" Bandana Dee thought excitedly.

"I guess it will help me," she thought, amazed. She jumped on, Bandana Dee followed. Surrounding them in a protective field, she started to fly as fast as she could. "Is this the way to Bubbly Clouds?" she thought at him.

"Um, yeah. I think so, anyway," he thought, rubbing his head in embarrassment.

"This is just brilliant," she muttered, when suddenly, she felt something inside of her. It felt almost like a whisper, deep in her heart. "What is that?" she murmured. It went away after just a moment, though.

"What's what?" Bandana questioned.

"Nothing," she reassured him. "It was nothing." But she knew it wasn't just nothing. Was what I just felt... Star Power? she thought in the back of her head, where Bandana Dee couldn't hear. But I'm not a Star Warrior... She frowned, confused, as they zoomed through the skies.

*******************************************************************

Meta Knight paced back and forth nervously. "Where are we? Where are the others?"

"I dunno, poyo," Kirby told him nervously. The little one was currently unarmed, so he would be of little help if they were attacked. They seemed to be inside of a giant cloudbank, but it wasn't a normal part of Bubbly Clouds, he was sure of that. Mid-warp, they had been dragged back into reality right here.

"Welcome," they heard a deep voice chuckle. "As soon as your friends arrive, we will begin." A bolt of lightning jumped from the floor to the ceiling, then back, as if impatient.

"Where are we? Who are you?" Meta Knight interrogated the voice.

"Calm yourself, my little hero. It will be explained in time." There was an evil laugh, then the voice continued, "So, you are the 'Star Warriors' that Nightmare so feared. You're so tiny, how did you ever defeat him?"

"Small but mighty, poyo! Brave hearts, poyo!" Kirby shouted, giving a firm nod.

Meta Knight nodded at his small friend. "Exactly, Kirby. That is exactly how we won. Of course," he began, turning back to the clouds, "It helps when the one you are facing is naught but a coward, just as Nightmare was, and you are."

The voice paused, seemingly offended. "You will pay for that, hero." After another pause, the voice growled, "I grow impatient. I will wait no longer."

Meta Knight drew his sword, prepared to battle, but Sakura and Bandana Dee suddenly appeared. Confused, Sakura dismounted the Warp Star and automatically kicked out her Copy Ability, handing the Copy Essence to Kirby, who eagerly inhaled it. "Hai-yah!" he shouted, now ready to fight as well.

"Why did you not just warp here?" Meta Knight asked her as she leapt into fighting position behind him, seemingly without thinking about it.

"My cape can't warp, apparently," she explained, a bit annoyed.

"I see. But how did you get the Warp Star?" he asked, fascinated. "You are not a Star Warrior."

"I don't know, but I'm glad I found out I can do that. But, we just suddenly appeared here. Is this Bubbly Clouds?" Sakura wondered aloud.

Shaking his head, he warned her, "No, it is a trap of sorts. Our foe awaits."

"All right then," she said, narrowing her eyes in determination. "Let's do this."

"Are your niceties ended? Are you prepared?" the lightning asked, bored.

"Yes," three answered in unison, one nodded and jabbed his spear at the air.

"Well, then. Let us get this over with." A spark around three times their size came out of the clouds.

That can't be right, Sakura thought. He's supposed to be giant. Meta Knight's deep green eyes showed he was also confused.

The Monstrous Lightning noticed their confusion. "I may not be as large as you expected, but I can still easily overpower you!" The spark threw several bolts at them, which Sakura reflected back to him with her sword. "How can you do that? Should you not have been electrocuted?"

"Sorry, bozo, but magic glass doesn't conduct electricity," she snickered.

Meta Knight ducked a similar attack. "Unfortunately, magic gold does," he told her, sounding almost jealous.

"Hey, remember, your cloak warps. Mine doesn't," she laughed.

"Am I really that easy of an enemy? That you can be jovial as you fight me?" the lightning asked, angry.

"I'm afraid so," Sakura giggled, deflecting another attack back at him. Each time she did this, he seemed to shrink some.

Kirby jumped up and sent an attack at the monster, which hit him and caused him to shrink again. Bandana threw his spear, which should've done nothing, but it seemed like the final blow, as the Monstrous Lightning groaned and disappeared. Their cloudy cell disintegrating and leaving them standing in Bubbly Clouds, Kirby and Bandana Dee began to victory dance. "No. It is not time for celebration yet," Meta Knight warned.

"I agree. That was far too simple. It wasn't really a fight, it was a test," Sakura said to all three of them. "He's trying to find our weak points. He now knows that my sword resists electricity, but that Meta Knight's doesn't. He also knows that Bandana has no form of attack other than to use his spear."

Meta Knight nodded once, drawing his cloak back around himself. "So, how shall we fight him? He is obviously in the temple, over there." He brought one hand out of his cloak and pointed.

"Yep-poyo!" Kirby nodded, determined. "But still dance. Fun, poyo." He and Bandana Dee resumed dancing.

"Oh, why not," she laughed, leaping into the air and spreading her wings.

Meta Knight even joined her, his eyes green in amusement.

"What's gotten into you?" she asked, amazed, as he did a sort of flying kick that looked like martial arts, but was still extremely graceful.

"As you said, my friend. Why not?" he chuckled, flying around her once, then landing again. Resuming his typical stoic demeanor, he ordered, "But that is enough. We need to find shelter, a place to plan our strategy and rest before the final battle."

"How about one of these empty cloud-houses?" Sakura questioned.

He inspected one, making sure it was devoid of enemies. "It is as good a place as any."

They spent the afternoon in quiet chatter, or Kirby and Sakura did anyway. Meta Knight and Bandana Dee were as quiet as always, until Bandana Dee came over and touched foreheads with her. "Are you scared about really fighting the monster tomorrow?"

She grew quiet. She hadn't been wanting to think about it, but she knew she should. "I'm a little bit scared, but it's going to be fine. We're going to go home and receive a heroes' welcome," she reassured him with a 'smile,' trying to reassure herself.

That night, she couldn't sleep. There was that whisper in her heart again, and it drove her crazy. Why am I feeling the Star Power? Is it even the Star Power? What's going on? she worried mentally. Is it because I'm about to face a major foe? Why is this happening, when I'm not a Star Warrior? She felt like she wasn't supposed to be where she was right now whenever she felt it, like someone somewhere else needed her. "What's going on?" she whispered aloud, frightened.

Meta Knight's eyes suddenly began glowing. "What is it?"

"Nothing," she reassured him. "It's nothing." She shivered a bit and leaned back against the wall. "Go back to sleep, Sir Knight."

"You will also need your rest for tomorrow," he disagreed, standing up.

"I can't sleep. I'm too nervous," she understated. All she could see in her mind at the moment was the words, "c\:metaknightdie," and it made her shiver again. She was dreading tomorrow with everything in her, and Meta Knight could sense it.

"I cannot sleep, either," he told her. "I have just been meditating. Maybe we should duel, maybe it will help one of us become tired."

"Good idea," she agreed, standing up and drawing her sword. They dueled right outside of the cloudy house, neither of them knowing this would be their last duel together for years.