A/N: Wowow, I'm impressed by the number of people going back and reading Leech. You're making me nervous, guys; I feel like I should rewrite bits of it up to Lethean standards.
Anyhow, I promised Meta Knight and I bring Meta Knight. Behold! By the end of this chapter, Meta Knight's timeline has entirely caught up to Marx and Kirby's.
Chapter 3
Meta Knight weaved through houses of broken metal facades, and darted between strangers, keeping his head low all the while. He knew this place had seen a vast industrial revolution, and he also knew it had long past its prime. For several days now, he'd wandered through the city in search of someone who could either supply him the materials to build a temporary ship, or who could give him a ride to a place that could. This city was his last (and only) hope, because Popstar was not exactly known for being technologically advanced. If this city couldn't help him… then it would take him another year to build another ship from scratch, and the makeshift ship wouldn't be up to par at all.
Gods if only he had the Halberd. But if he had the Halberd… he wouldn't be in this miserable situation in the first place. His thoughts flitted back to Dreamland.
It had been what, two months since he'd left? Five months since Kirby had left… He gnawed his bottom lip.
Five months was such an incredibly short amount of time, once one had lived as long as he. Yet with each passing day, his anxiety deepened within him. Each marked another day for Kirby and Marx to blend into the infinite universe, to vanish from his sights entirely. Even now, the task of finding them seemed impossible - in five months, one could go to great lengths to disappear.
But 'giving up' was never an option. Time and time again he had been pushed to the wall, left with no alternatives, physically and spiritually defeated - and somehow, he had survived to live today. Even when things seemed most impossible... he always chose to fight on. Even when he wasn't sure what he was fighting for.
The nature of a warrior, he supposed. Something in him wouldn't let him give up. Though he desired peace, he craved war. It was this balance that somehow kept him alive, kept him going... fueled his determination. He sighed deeply.
He feared what he would find when he at last did reach his destination.
Now, though, he would be different. He'd gone about everything wrong. This time... this time he would be armed with the truth - he would not shy away from it for some twisted desire to let Kirby maintain his innocence, as it had only hurt him more in the end.
The question now was if he could-
"Won't somebody please help me? Please? Anybody? Does someone know how to fix a starship?"
That final word caught Meta Knight's attention. He paused in his tracks, causing a person walking behind him to curse at him and skirt around.
The desperate voice resumed, "it's just a small repair... I'd even pay f- No, please, I need help!"
Silently, Meta Knight followed the voice, parting through the crowd. His yellow eyes fixed upon a figure standing near a clutter of stone huts, wringing his hands and pleading with the indifferent passerbyers. The stranger wore clothes that blatantly set him apart from the others: Meta Knight would almost consider the outfit regal. He wore a deep blue hood lined by an unusual golden cog design, and ... were those ears? No, they must be part of his hat, but Meta Knight still didn't understand exactly why they were there.
In addition, he had a white cape and blue outfit. A white and blue strip of fabric, which Meta Knight could not determine to be a scarf or something else, was tied around his neck. Strangely enough, his wide innocent eyes were yellow.
Striding up, Meta Knight inquired, "You are in need of a mechanic?"
The stranger turned to him eagerly with his gloved hands clasped together. Though his mouth could not be seen, hope filled his eyes with obvious clarity. "Yes, yes- do you know anything about starships?"
"I spent many years designing and building starships. What is in need of repair?"
"Err... almost everything, sir." His yellow eyes darted away awkwardly before swiftly flicking back to Meta Knight. "I crashed on this planet and most of my ship has fallen apart. I was able to do some on my own, but I don't have the experience-"
Meta Knight held up a gloved hand, "say no more. I will help you."
The stranger bounced up and down on his heels. "Oh, thank you, thank you! Just name your price!"
"It is not money I am after, but a favor. Once your ship is repaired, I wish for a ride to the planet Mekkai."
"Oh, good! I mean; that's fine too. I'm heading that way anyway. I'm Magolor, by the way." He extended his hand cheerily. Meta Knight gave a brusque nod and shook.
"Meta Knight. Where is this ship of yours?"
"So, you'll definitely fix it?"
Meta Knight nodded and instantly Magolor's shoulders relaxed. "I'm so glad... This is the third day I've spent out here trying to find someone like you. I'm just about beat..."
"Your ship?" Meta Knight supplied.
"Right!" Magolor whirled around and trotted off between two houses. With his long strides, Meta Knight easily caught up and strode beside him. He let Magolor chatter away about god knew what, and maintained his own introspective silence. After only a few minutes, the hull of a medium-sized vessel loomed up from the hillside; pale and smooth-looking, like the belly of a beached whale.
"The Lor Starcutter," Magolor proudly announced as they reached it. "The finest ship to be built on my planet! Err... I know she doesn't look like much with all these broken parts, but just wait 'till you see her fly."
The architecture was nothing like Meta Knight had seen before, even with his extensive knowledge of starships. Hundreds of designs had passed before his eyes, not a single close to this. In fact, the proportionality was entirely unreasonable: the two light-weight wings would never support its heavy body, nor could the paddles jutting in a line down each side of the hull provide any benefit to flight. It would float in water, maybe... but fly? Meta Knight had his doubts, but at the same time he wasn't going to judge too quickly. The Halberd's design had also been looked upon as unreasonable and impossible, and its capabilities far exceeded many other battleships. This starship must also have its secrets. Of course, it also had a gaping hole in its bow, scratches down its sides, and broken paddles.
"And from what planet do you hail?"
"Halcandra," answered Magolor.
Meta Knight experienced a moment of disquiet at the fact he had never heard of such a planet before. Recovering himself, he asked, "is it uncommon for starships to be built in this way on your planet?"
Magolor nodded enthusiastically. "Pretty much. Lor is one of a kind. She can go through wormholes that would rip apart other ships."
Meta Knight's eyes shimmered emerald green. Going through wormholes - more commonly known as dimension swapping - was rare no matter where in the galaxies you went: even he had never been able to build a ship that wouldn't be destroyed in such a process. The technology wasn't just too advanced - it was also too unpredictable, too random. In the past, even if he managed to figure out a logical way to dimension swap a ship, some unforeseen element would dismantle the system and destroy it. Needless to say, he himself had never embarked on these test flights. "I would like very much to speak with the creator of the ship..." he murmured, more to himself than Magolor.
"Ah, about that..." Magolor scratched the back of his head. "I don't think they're still alive. Lor's pretty old. Probably older than you and me combined."
Meta Knight chuckled to himself. Doubtful. Though it was very disappointing the person who had built Lor Starcutter was no longer around. "Did they leave behind any notes or information about the ship?" he pried.
"Nada," Magolor replied, seeming uneasy with the topic. "Can you still fix it?"
Meta Knight nodded. Fixing it now had another benefit, especially if no notes remained: he could study the inner workings of the ship, learn about its architecture and how it functioned. Perhaps even how it managed to dimension swap. After all, he knew of only one other thing that enabled dimension swapping: and he couldn't exactly study it, as it was both part of his own body and had been created by magical means unable to replicate by his own talents.
"Thank you!" Magolor cried, wringing his hands together. "I'll get started fixing the online power right away, if you can work on the ship itself?"
"I will have to get some suitable tools from town," Meta Knight decided, eyeing some of the external damage. "When I return, I would not mind hearing more about the Lor Starcutter."
"Sure, sure! As soon as the online power is running! Err... please come back." Magolor nodded and inclined his head before jogging up the ramp and into the bowels of the ship.
Once Meta Knight purchased the necessary tools, he returned to the ship. Magolor was still in the control deck, or what Meta Knight supposed constituted the control deck for the Lor, dialing away at the keyboard and shaking his head at the enormous screen mounted on the wall, which flashed an angry red and displayed characters Meta Knight did not understand.
Though he did wish to inquire more about the ship - and perhaps where exactly Magolor was from that Meta Knight did not recognize his language, planet, or ship's build - but there would be plenty of time for that in the future.
Leaving Magolor to his work, he quietly tread outside again and studied the ship as a whole to determine where he wanted to begin. The worst damage was definitely at the bow of the ship: it looked as though Magolor had guided it into a dive and crashed into the planet, entirely mutilating the large star which adorned its bow.
And this was an accidental crash? Curious, Meta Knight's eyes drifted down the hull of the ship, examining its white belly for any sign of attack. Nothing that he could see, aside from the damage done by the crash itself. No holes that would evidence guns or cannons, no abnormal dents from being rammed.
Meta Knight shook his head and headed towards the bow. The vicious scratches down the sides and the broken paddles could be fixed later; he might as well begin with the worst damage. He let his wings unfurl, thinking to himself the irony of using them for such a trivial purpose, then flew up to the top of the bow for ceaseless hours of work.
At the close of the day, he'd learned an enormous amount about the structure of the starship: a basic concept of its entire skeletal structure, and the materials (some alien) that composed its hull, along with a better idea of how it maintained flight.
One thing he did not learn was how it dimension swapped. Magolor was very helpful, suggesting he look up unfamiliar elements and their attributes on the computer's database. So, as the darker shades of evening began to creep across the sky, he retreated to the inside of the ship.
Meta Knight took small chips from parts of the ship to run under the Lor's own scanner, and the results poured onto the screen: lines and lines of information, but all coded in the characters of Magolor's native language.
"Ah, sorry!" Magolor tapped several keys and the information swiftly retyped itself, this time in English.
Meta Knight leaned towards the screen, scanning each line. Magolor tugged on one of his 'ears' on his hat. "Err... I don't even know what half this means myself," he confessed.
"You are startlingly ignorant of the workings of your own ship," answered Meta Knight.
The comment silenced Magolor and quiet reigned over the ship. After several minutes of scanning, Meta Knight pulled away with an indistinguishable sigh. The base elements of the ship were entirely unremarkable. Even ones that Meta Knight recognized as foreign - substances he had never come across before in his lifetime - lacked any special properties that would enable something as complex as dimension swapping. Therefore, it was not the design or materials - something else entirely governed that ability.
It was at this point in his musing that he noticed Magolor watching him intently from the side, with an unusual... thoughtfulness in his eyes; a depth that heretofore Meta Knight had not observed. However, as soon as the knight faced him fully, this depth was well concealed again.
"The elements show nothing out of the ordinary," reported Meta Knight shortly.
"What about magic?" Magolor suggested, "Or would you be able to tell that from working on it?"
"Do you believe the Lor Starcutter is magic?"
"She might be. I, err... don't actually know much about that. I think it's possible though."
"Are your people commonly sorcerers?"
"Most are. I know a little bit of magic myself, but not much."
"..."
"What about you?" Magolor pressed.
"I have never dabbled in the magic arts... It is unpredictable and unnatural for me." Meta Knight fingered Galaxia's hilt; the sword, of course, had its own magical abilities, but beyond that it was steady and reliable. Consistent, where magic of any other sort was prone to fail him.
"They do say you're either good or bad at it. Magic picks who it likes."
"This would not surprise me," Meta Knight agreed. "As a warrior, my thoughts must always follow logical, tactical routes. Magic seems to require a level of... inconsistency."
Magolor laughed good-naturedly, "I have a friend who calls it 'open-mindedness.'"
"It is a useful and powerful art... only one I will never understand."
"Maybe that's why you can't figure out the Lor Starcutter, then. It has to be magic: it can even tell the intentions of its pilot. The Lor won't work if it doesn't like you."
This news caused Meta Knight's eyes to briefly turn white. "Is that so?"
Magolor nodded.
"Then magic may also be how it flies. Externally, the Lor Starcutter should be almost incapable of flight. Yet, it clearly is able to transverse dimensions and fly in space. Its light frame makes flight more reasonable, but I am beginning to think only magic could truly keep it in the air."
"Wow, you really do know a lot about ships."
"That was only logic," Meta Knight said dryly.
Magolor huffed. "But you do. Where did you learn so much?"
"It was my... job for many years to build and design them. Even after that, I retained my interest. It was something of a hobby."
"So, if you don't mind me asking... Why don't you have a ship yourself? With your talent, surely you could build one quickly?"
"I could build another," Meta Knight acknowledged, "yet there is a unique ship I have built that I fully intend to get back... one that was stolen from me."
"Heh, I'd hate to be the person you're looking for," Magolor remarked, eyeing Galaxia.
"You have no idea."
It was much in this manner that Meta Knight and Magolor's correspondence continued. Meta Knight would show up at the rising of the sun and without comment begin work on the damaged vessel. Magolor would often come out and try to initiate conversation - early on, Meta Knight figured out he was a people person and was a little starved of companionship. Despite Magolor's eager attempts, the warrior's saturnine attitude usually managed to drive him away soon enough, fabricating some excuse to leave, and let Meta Knight continue his work alone. Then towards midday, Meta Knight would eat alone at the town before returning for more work.
It was a little lonely, but he much preferred it that way... especially in contrast to the unwanted attention he'd gotten in his last few weeks in Dreamland... Anyhow, it gave him much needed time to reflect. Evenings he specifically reserved for star gazing, and this he did most often by sitting atop the ship, where no one could reach him without having the capability to fly.
In one particular night, the breeze was cool on his half-furled wings and he slumped against the ship frame. He sighed and let his eyes slip closed, considering sleeping atop the Lor tonight. It wouldn't be much more uncomfortable than the room he'd rented back at the town, and at least here he would be in the fresh night air.
"Hey! Meta Knight! Hello? Still up there - what is he doing? - Meta Knight!"
One eye opened. He leaned over the edge and spotted Magolor waving eagerly up at him from the ground.
So much for a peaceful respite, then. Preferring to interrupt his comfort rather than yell stupidly down at Magolor, he dropped from the ship and landed neatly beside him.
Magolor's eyes widened and traced his wings back to his cape. "So that's how you get up there. I got you a..." he gestured vaguely at a ladder laying in the grass not far, but then shook his head. "You know what, that works a lot better. Never mind." His gaze lingered at Meta Knight's cape, which the knight had now folded around his body.
"Was there a reason for disturbing me?" Meta Knight asked.
"Other than me gawking at your wings?" Magolor chuckled, easily noticing Meta Knight's cold glare. "Sorry. I was hoping you'd want to eat dinner, on me! Or on the Lor, if you want to be really accurate. I feel bad you're doing all this work and all I'm giving you is a lift to a planet."
"If you understood the importance of this 'lift,' you would realize it is your side of the bargain that is raw."
"... Right. Well, dinner?" Magolor rubbed his hands together hopefully.
Meta Knight sighed, and agreed. He followed Magolor through the Lor's doors, past the control room with the enormous computer screen. This was as far as Meta Knight had ever been, and he lagged behind Magolor in order to more carefully note his surroundings. Perhaps it was merely habit from the war, but he never overcame the tendency to examine new environments, regardless how innocuous they were.
Magolor lead him into an adjoining hall - though many lined the control deck - and through mostly indistinct hallways painted in a similar manner as to the outside of the ship, with many whites and blues, which reminded Meta Knight strongly of a bright sky and pure clouds. Personally, he found it a bit too bright, but would never dream of complaining. The ship in which one lived became one's home, and should rightly tailor to the captain's wishes, not any other.
What startled Meta Knight most, therefore, was the utter lack of decoration. Sure, it was brightly colored and evinced an overall cheerful outlook. But it lacked ornaments or personalized items. No pictures upon the wall, no trinkets, not a clock, nothing.
Even if Magolor only used this ship for shorter travels and did not care much for living in it, would there not still be some evidence of a life here? Though, depths of the ship still remained unexplored, and Meta Knight wondered if those hallways were also bare.
Just as he was dismissing his concerns, something glinted at the corner of his vision and he halted abruptly, whipping around to face the perceived threat.
It was nothing but a small, equally bare side-room. And yet… He stepped across the threshold of the doorless room and that's when he saw it. Was that… an amulet? Like an ancient artifact, it was held in a glass case on display. The red ruby, adorned with gold, almost seemed seem to glow within its closed space, as if it possessed a will of its own. He leaned closer. The gold edges were intricately carved; at first he had thought the swirled designs surrounding the ruby were only that: designs and nothing more - but at a closer look he found paper-thin carvings twirling around the ruby; hundreds of them, minuscule in size, and the more he looked, the more he imagined they formed tiny runes and characters. He couldn't be certain, but they didn't look like the same characters that composed Magolor's native language.
"Sir Meta Knight? Hello? Are you-? Oh." Magolor joined him beside the amulet.
"What do those runes say?"
"I don't really know," Magolor admitted, tugging at his scarf. "It's not mine."
Meta Knight shot him a stern look and Magolor jumped. "Oh no, no, I didn't steal it! It's my friend's. I'm sort of holding it for him."
"I see." Something struck him as odd about it... though he couldn't name it. An eerie feeling in his chest. Then, recalling their earlier discussion, he added, "is it also magical?"
"It is," Magolor said, surprised. "I thought you couldn't sense magic or anything?"
So did I. Meta Knight turned away from the amulet. "Shall we continue?"
"Right!" Magolor hurried ahead of him. "C'mere, I have something really cool to show you! In here," he encouraged "is a machine I bet you've never seen. Or... maybe you have..." Pausing in the kitchen, he glanced back anxiously. "I hope you haven't. It's really neat."
"What machine?" Meta Knight asked just to humor him. The kitchen was the same indistinct kind as the rest of the ship. A simple table sat in the center of the room with chairs, and this really was the only indication of it being a place to eat. One counter huddled against the wall, upon which sat an enormous square object resembling an oversized microwave.
Sure enough, Magolor went straight to it. "This machine. All you have to do, is close your eyes and imagine your favorite food. And ping! it serves it right up. Look, I'll show you." Magolor closed his eyes demonstratively. Moments later, ping! a china plate materialized, on which sat a gelatinous unidentified food. Or at least Meta Knight assumed it was a food.
"Does it tailor to any sort of food?" Meta Knight said uncertainly. "Or only Halcandran?"
"Hm…" Magolor eyed the machine. "Y'know, I don't really know. You'll have to find out."
"I am not very hungry." He didn't really want to have to eat in front of Magolor anyway. Magolor would just sit there and wonder what was under his mask.
"Aw, c'mon Meta Knight. I'm treating you to dinner. All you have to do is think about your favorite food. You can't even complain about a small menu."
"The menu may include only foods I am incapable of consuming."
"Halcandra food can't be that different from Popstar's. I ate at the inn once." Magolor looked a little queasy at the memory.
"How consoling."
"Just try," wheedled Magolor. "You'll never know if you don't try."
This was absolutely ridiculous. Meta Knight stalked in front of the machine. He blatantly refused to close his eyes all mystical-like as Magolor had done. No, if this machine were going to give him food, then it would give him food while he glared daggers at it.
"You can't blow stuff up with your mind, can you?" squeaked Magolor. "Cuz, if you can, then maybe you shouldn't-"
ping!
Magolor jumped. "Ooh, what food did you think about?"
"Sugar," Meta Knight said shortly. Candy would tide over that sting of hunger: he needed nothing more. He opened the metal door and was met with a plate full of... Well, he wasn't really sure what it was, but it certainly wasn't the toffies he had thought of.
"Oh, fuzzle pops!" Magolor declared happily.
"Excuse me?"
"They're fuzzle pops," Magolor said. "Something like your realm's 'marshmallows,' I think."
If marshmallows were triangular shaped and multi-colored, then yes, Meta Knight could see the similarity. "Hmmm…"
"I don't really see how that's a meal, though," Magolor frowned. "Maybe you should try to order something else?"
"No, this will be sufficient," Meta Knight said, hastily grabbing the plate of 'fuzzle pops.'
As they sat down at a nearby table, a very familiar resentment settled over Meta Knight's shoulders: he immensely disliked eating in front of others.
Since he would not remove his mask, it could become an awkward affair with the other person staring or asking intrusive questions. Surprising, Magolor didn't so much as blink at him. Instead, he pulled down his scarf the slightest bit and happily popped bits of his own green gelatinous meal in his nearly obscured mouth.
Meta Knight couldn't help his own concealed smile. So, he wouldn't have to endure irksome questions about his eating habits. Excellent.
Furthermore, after tentatively sampling one of those hideously named 'fuzzle pops,' he discovered that much like marshmallows, they seemed to be pure sugar. Perhaps Halcandran food wasn't so terrible after all, if they could do candy right.
All in all, the dinner was not nearly as insufferable as he had anticipated. Not only was his unusual method of eating not questioned, but also Magolor's ramblings required minimal responses. He even spoke fondly of his home planet, which evidently had many noxious volcanoes and sulfuric steam pools - none of which sounded altogether too pleasant to Meta Knight, but Magolor spoke of them with admiration. He also gushed over the otherworldly sights of the Halcandra sky: of the planets and stars you could see, along with the unique way that the horizon curved up and not down, as was the case with most planets of Meta Knight's dimension. In turn, Meta Knight spoke briefly of the planets he'd seen in his service to the army, such as the frozen ocean of Taalzak and the Northern Lights of Shiver Star. Magolor, then curious of Meta Knight's life as a soldier, wished to talk about his experience as a member of the GSA - inquiries to which Meta Knight adamantly responded with cold subject changes.
Only at the very end (as Magolor was licking his fingers happily) did Meta Knight bring up that topic which Magolor had earlier been so silent over. "Does your computer provide a translator for runes?"
Magolor blinked. "Huh?"
"The Lor. You mentioned that it has some computing capabilities. I have some questions about that."
Magolor looked confused. "You want to translate… runes? What runes?"
"Those on the amulet. I find myself intrigued by their meaning, if even you do not know."
Magolor's face closed off. Tension snaked through the air. "I don't… No. The Lor doesn't have any such capabilities."
"Are you not curious?" Meta Knight pressed, for no other reason than the odd draw he'd felt towards it. In truth, it was none of his business. If Magolor acted uneasy about the whole deal, then it would be respectful to leave him alone about it.
Magolor's hands had frozen over his plate and his eyes avoided Meta Knight's. "I'm… that is…"
"Nevermind," Meta Knight said quickly. "I see it bothers you. I will not harass you further on the matter."
Magolor's eyes softened. "Thanks for understanding."
"I do have one more question, however."
Magolor stiffened.
"Can your ship connect with another from this dimension?"
"Connect?" Magolor echoed, instantly relaxing. "Like, pull up someone else's control deck on here and chat with them? Huh, I don't actually know. How do you do it in this dimension anyway?"
"Generally, each ship is outfitted with a long identifying code that represents its model and number. This code can be entered - if known - into another ship to initiate communication." Or so was the basic method, where the receiving party must accept the communication before connection was fully established. The 'polite' way, persay. The way that Meta Knight had no intention of using in this instance.
"Huh. Well, around Halcandra ships don't have long complicated codes. If there's a ship on your radar, you can just tell Lor to send a message to whichever ship you want and ask if they accept a line of communication. I've never tried it here, but might be worth a shot."
"And ships not on the radar?" he pressed.
Magolor frowned. "Well, if you know the name I guess you could ask the Lor. You might have to be more descriptive if there are many ships with the same name, though. Why, are you trying to find your own ship?"
"Precisely."
Magolor shrugged. "You may as well try. Just gimme a moment, okay? Then I can take you to the control deck."
Meta Knight nodded and forced himself to wait patiently while Magolor cleared the dishes and tossed them into some sort of automatic cleaning device. He then allowed the Halcandran to guide him to the control board.
"There's the main screen. Obviously, heh." Magolor looked awkward. "You can just ask the Lor, like I said. If it works, the deck of the ship you're trying to find should appear on this screen."
"Very well. Would you please leave me for a moment?"
"Oh right! Privacy. So sorry. Good luck MK." He waved flippantly.
"Do not call me that."
"Oh. Um. Okay, good luck." He darted out and Meta Knight was thankfully alone.
Now remained the simple matter of calling to his ship. Which evidently was done verbally. Great. He was right about to talk to an inanimate object. He rolled his eyes. As if he hadn't talked to the Halberd before…
That was different, though.
Meta Knight cleared his throat awkwardly. "I… I would like to contact the battleship Halberd," he said clearly.
Nothing.
Perhaps the Lor's sense of other ships didn't work in this realm, after all.
"I wish to initiate communications with the battleship Halberd," Meta Knight articulated clearly.
Nothing.
"I wish to communicate with the battleship Halberd, identification number, 16095-43027."
No response.
Growling, Meta Knight tried one final time, "I want to open a line of communication to my ship, the Halberd!"
Abruptly, the enormous white screen flashed to life… And upon the screen was the unmistakable sight of the control deck of the battleship Halberd.
… But it was empty and dark. Nothing moved. Meta Knight instantly forgot his frustration. His hands tightened around his cape, digging into the fabric. The engines weren't running - he knew the sound of them, and now heard only a deathly silence.
It shouldn't be surprising, this empty silence. After all, what was the likelihood they would have stayed on the Halberd? Perhaps they were only parked upon another planet, refueling. Perhaps in a few days they'd be back in the air, and in trying to reach them a second time, later, Meta Knight would be successful.
But maybe not. What if, months ago, they'd ditched the Halberd on some unknown planet, and taken another ship, one which Meta Knight could not follow? If that should be the case, then the trail very likely ended with the Halberd. He had no way to track them further.
Meta Knight forced his eyes away from the screen - that empty dark room, once his, still his, overtaken. He forced away the terrible thought of them leaving the Halberd. Thoughts could destroy a person, and he would not allow that: would not allow his search to be dampened so early on. Thus, he shut off the display with full intention of calling again in a few days' time. He would find Kirby.