Oh my nova! my first Fanfiction!

Do I look Ok? Is my hair all right? Should I smile? No, I look stupid...will they notice me...?

I'm a little worried on how this'll come out, but I love this story idea! I don't want to give too much away, but MK will be a little OOC before he goes off to war. This is because he's younger and hasn't witnessed so many deaths yet. I hope to solve any Kirby mystery I can here... But no time for chit-chat! Read the fanfic!

Chapter One: Masks and Marx

"YOU want to work for my dad?"

The little blue penguin-like creature stared at him. The boy in question, a little navy puffball with white eyes and purple feet, looked indignant.

"I'm tougher than I look. Your dad IS the king here, right?"

He nodded. "Yeah. He's kinda busy right now with who knows what, but you can talk to him in a minute. That is, if he doesn't laugh his head off and kick you out."

The puffball scowled. "If I ever get the chance, I'll behead you someday." The penguin boy huffed.

"Don't you talk to a prince that way! When I'm king, you'll regret that remark...whatever your name is."

"Meta. I assume you are Prince Dedede then? The villagers told me about you."

Prince Dedede struck a pose, making a peace sign and adjusted his Pom-Pom hat. "That's my name; don't wear it out. The point is that if you wanna be a knight here, you gotta look tougher. Hold up a sec."

The robed penguin boy ran down the hallways of the dimly lit castle, the blue peace sign on the back of his robe flapping as he ran. Meta tapped his foot, impatient. The castle was huge, but he'd make it. He always did.

The prince came back, holding a silver mask in his hands. "I play pretend with these things all the time, pretending I'm a knight. Here, put it on."

The puff used the coarse, leather strap on the mask to hold it on, and glanced up at Dedede. Meta's eyes eyes were now yellow, which was slightly unnerving.

"I think there might be some yellow film in the eyeholes. It turns my eyes green when I put it on." The two walked towards the throne room, their voices echoing in the tall corridor.

"Dedede, kinda a funny name idn't it?"

"It's actually a pretty common name where I come from. Well, I think. That's what my dad says. My mom named me. Dad says she wasn't one for imagination."

"I don't know about my name or my parents. All I know is that my home planet was blown up by bad guys." He shook off that subject. He didn't like talking about his home planet, even if he didn't remember it at all. "What happened to your mother?"

"She died a little while after I was born. Some disease which meant she couldn't eat anything. I don't really like talking about it..."

Meta blushed. It was really getting awkward. After walking in silence for about five minutes, they met a strange purple creature. It looked like a noddy, but was purple and had a jester's hat perched merrily on his head. The hat was covered in silver jewels, probably fake. The noddy was sweating profusely.

"Hey hey hey, Your Majesty!"

"Hi Marx!"

Meta looked confused. "Oh, that's Marx, the court jester. And just between you and me, he's not very funny." The jester ran away.

The two made it to the throne room, joking and laughing. It was an ornate room, simply decorated with purple and gray walls, and Dedede's victory sign painted on the south end.

"Dad?"

His father wasn't there. All that was there was a torn note.

Dedede-

Check the basement. Come as soon as po-

Dedede went into a panic, eyes wide and running as fast as he could to the basement. Meta sped up to him, and in seconds reached the castle basement. Both their minds were awhirl. Dedede was more or less in a state of panic; his tongue was all tied up, and he couldn't walk in a straight direction. Meta really didn't know what to say. He just needed work and somewhere to train. The battle with Nightmare was still going strong, and Meta had an urge to help. He never thought five minutes in his new home could end up with his new boss held prisoner.

Five incredibly confused minutes later, the unusual pair arrived at the basement door. The little penguin pushed the door as hard as he could, but it wouldn't open.

"Gumball, it won't open! Why won't it open?!"

Meta sweatdropped. "Dedede, I think you're supposed to pull the door open. And don't call me Gumball."

"Oh." Dedede wrenched the door open.

Small, orange, round creatures stood at the door; hundreds of them. They had sort of an innocent cuteness to them, with huge eyes and blushing cheeks, but they had no mouths. Almost all if them were crying, small tears running down their adorable faces. They surrounded a black coffin. Dedede stared, taking uncertain steps toward the casket, then started to bawl.

"H-HE-HE'S DEAD!"

Meta looked at the coffin. Well, I guess I won't need a job interview now, he thought. He laughed, a small, slightly ominous chuckle deepened by the steel mask.

Everyone looked at him. Even poor Dedede looked up, slightly unnerved by Meta's laugh. The little round creatures looked genuinely scared of him. Meta wasn't sure if he liked it or not. "Sorry..."

The prince sniffed. "D-don't worry you guys...He's not as tough as he looks..."

The puffball sent Dedede an annoyed glare. "So, what happened to him?"

Ooh, cliffhanger... I'm so evil... XD

Well, that concludes chapter one! I'm going to keep track of all the tiny references and plot holes solved:

1: Kirby and Meta's home planet (it got blown up by Nightmare)

2: Who Dedede's parents were

3: Why Meta's eyes are yellow when he has the mask on

4: The introduction of Masked Dedede, or at least how he started wearing them.

Just a small clarification: Dedede's mother died of a disease similar to mono extreme. This is when you cannot keep foods down, like regular mono, but with mono extreme you can't keep LIQUIDS down either. I don't think it's fatal, but you do have to go to the hospital.

Meta Knight sure has a strange sense of humor, doesn't he? When Tiff told him that Tuggle and Gengu had made an action figure out of him, he laughed. How is that funny?

R&R! Constructive Criticism welcome! Compliments are great too!