A/N: Sweet Nova have mercy, almost a six month wait...I'm such an awful author! I'm so sorry, I'm shocked if I hadn't lost any readers. For this, I'm going to make this a double upload!

Also, this is somewhat of a fluffy chapter that takes place during Meta's childhood so fasten your seatbelts.


A terrified pair of amber eyes stared up at Arthur, tiny blue stubs clutching onto his cape as he shivered. "But dad...I don't want to go to school! I don't need other friends besides Jecra! Can't I stay here with you?" He sniffled, the young child looking pitiful. Arthur sighed and hugged him, a small smile on his face.

"Oh Meta, you'll do just splendid! That sweet personality of yours will draw them in, I just know it!" He patted the child on the back, soon looking up as Joseph and Jecra walked into the small room. "Look at that, doesn't your cousin look excited?" Jecra cut his uncle a look, and walked over to Meta.

"Eww...I think uncle Arthur ate the strange mushrooms again. He's too chipper this early in the morning." Joseph laughed at the look on the green knight's face, which he knew was underneath his mask.

"You're not helping, brother." Arthur muttered, and the older Knuckle Joe smirked.


Some time later, the small classroom was filled with children of various species as they got to know each other. The teacher was inside the doorframe, in case a fight broke out but aside from that everything was going smoothly. Meta was reading a book, before a shadow fell over him. The young blue puffball looked up, annoyed at being interrupted but anything he said died in his throat as the book was snatched out of his stubs.

"Aww...look at this Xavier! The little baby still likes picture books, can he not read?" A Burning Leo leered, while a Poppy Bro laughed cruelly as Meta's face burned with embarrassment.

"Guess not, Inferno!" Xavier smirked but the duo stepped back as Meta stood to his feet.

"Give me my book back, my uncle Joseph gave it to me when I was younger!" Meta cried, but Inferno held it up where the younger male couldn't reach it.

"We could give it back, if you give us your lunch or lunch money!" He scoffed, while a figure walked up behind them.

"Well, is there a problem here, Inferno and Xavier?" The two bullies' blood froze in their veins as they looked over their shoulders, a pair of red eyes burning into them.

The Poppy Bro smiled nervously, that magenta puffball always gave him the creeps. "A-Ah, n-not at all Galacta, we were just-" He was cut off as the older child snatched the book back, glaring daggers at the duo.

"What the two of you was doing, was bullying this poor boy and he did nothing to you! Now scram, before I make you two have a reason to cry!" He snarled, his mouth curled into a snarl as his blood boiled in his veins. The two males yelped, before running as if Nightmare was on their heels. Galacta shook his head in disgust at the cowards, before looking back at the smaller male.

"Hey, I do believe this is yours. A rather nice book, I must say. You know how to care for your things...I'm sorry, I didn't get your name. Mine's Galacta, yours?" He asked, handing Meta his book back. The child smiled gratefully, carefully holding it to his chest as he blinked his tears away.

"I'm Meta, it's nice to meet you Galacta." He quietly replied, but he perked up as he saw Jecra rush on over to them. The Knuckle Joe had seen what the two others had done to him, and he about went to Fist City but luckily he didn't have to go there since the teacher had pulled them aside and was giving them an earful.

"Meta! They didn't put their hands on you, did they?" He asked, and felt relieved when he shook his head. "Oh, phew. I thought I'd have to rearrange their faces if they had done that." Meta giggled slightly, for he knew that he wouldn't had hesitated to do it. Dark amethyst eyes flicked over to Galacta, and he had to do a double take. "You're the one that protected him, right? I thank you, for Meta's not...an aggressive sort." Jecra shifted on his feet, for Galacta's red eyes sent a chill running through him.

"No worries, but your little friend needs to learn to stand up for himself, we won't always be around, you know." Meta scowled at him, but he knew he was telling the truth. Galacta turned his head, looking over and he saw a young Azulran girl and her sister waving him over. "Ah, if you excuse me, Angela and Garlude need help with something...unless you wish to meet them?" He asked, while Jecra grinned.

"Sure, Meta needs more friends than just me..wanna join us?" He asked, looking at his best friend. The child looked down at his book, afraid something would happen to it. "Don't worry, just put it in my backpack." He whispered to him, and Meta smiled at him before he did so. After that, he made his way on over to the Azulran girls, not knowing that he would make another friend today.


It was now lunchtime, and everyone was sitting at the same table. Galacta, Angela, Garlude, Jecra and Meta mixed and matched their lunches, giving things they didn't like to the others or a trade for what they did want. Meta learned a few things about the two sisters, like how Angela was the more tomboyish one of the two and is not afraid to get her hands dirty, a trait she would pass down to her future niece Sirica.

While Garlude had light lavender skin and hair, and light purple eyes Angela's skin was a light yellow, while her hair was a rich auburn, a dark red-brown color. Her hair was a mix of wavy and curly, instead of straight unlike her older sister, while her eyes were a beautiful light gray. It was clear that Angela and Galacta were close, something that Jecra was tempted to tease them about.

"So, were you guys home schooled?" She asked, grinning before he had the chance. Meta was too busy munching on an apple to answer, so Jecra did it for him.

"Yep, but the reason why we're here is because our parents couldn't teach us anything else, and plus with the war getting bad they just didn't have the time." Jecra frowned, he knew that when they got old enough they would have to fight in the war themselves. The solemn reminder caused a silence to fall upon the group, before Garlude shook her head.

"Worrying isn't going to help us any, but we need to be kids right now...we have to let the adults deal with things like this." Meta swallowed and smiled at Garlude.

"Wow, you act older than you are..you're the mature one outta all of us...hey Jerca, Garlude can be your teacher with maturity, you really need it." He grinned as the others cracked up, while Jecra scowled at him.

"Hey! I have my mature moments!" He pouted, disapproving his statement. Meta took a sip of his juice box, grinning around the straw. Galacta was still snickering, while Garlude shook her head and Angela was wiping the tears from her eyes.


"Urgh, we have homework on our first day?! This stinks!" Angela scowled, glaring at her backpack like it had betrayed her. The school day was over at last, and they were sitting in the office to wait on their parents to pick them up.

"What's the big deal? I like homework." Meta told her, and he was given a funny look by the others excluding Garlude, whose eyes lit up at the thought of a study partner. Angela rolled her eyes, slapping a hand to her forehead.

"Great, now we have another bookworm for Princess to deal with." She taunted, but her eyes held that gleam to show that she was just joking.

"The mind is a horrible thing to waste, unless you never really had one in the first place." Garlude smirked at the words she just said and cut Galacta a look, the puffball glaring at her.

"Excuse me ma'am, I'm strong, smart and handsome! The perfect combo!" He heard a snort, and Jecra rolled his eyes at him.

"Hey, that's my line! Get your own, pinky." He shoved the puffball slightly, and Galacta scoffed at him.

"In case you've forgotten, I'm a few years older than you. So in that regard, you stole that line from me!" The duo was now having a glaring contest, while Meta's gold eyes darted between the two, afraid it would turn into a fistfight. Angela stood between the two, curling her hands into fists before she punched the both of them.

"Calm down, we don't need to deal with high testosterone levels you nimrods!" She tapped her foot, crossing her arms as she glared at them. Jecra rubbed his jaw, while Galacta bit back a curse as he quickly stood back up.

"You know, if you weren't my dearest friend I'd hit you back Angie." He scowled, but she smirked at him.

"I know, that's why I get away with it." She laughed a bit, but she quickly turned around at the sound of the door creaking open. Her gray eyes widened as Sir Arthur walked into the room, his purple-blue eyes shining with amusement.

"Hello there, children. I hope you had a good first day?" He asked, while the group quickly nodded. Galacta leaned towards Meta, and asked him out of the corner of his mouth.

"Dude, you mean to tell me Sir Freaking Arthur himself is your pops?!" His red eyes looked ready to fall out of his sockets, while Meta giggled. Arthur looked over, a grin on his face.

"Why, indeed I am. Did you and these two young ladies befriend my son?" Meta groaned, slamming his face into his book, wondering if he could die of embarrassment. Galacta took notice, and smiled wickedly.

"Yes I did sir, your child is the sweetest little thing. He gave me cavities." He cackled, before Meta smacked him with a pillow. Jecra smirked before he stood up and walked over to his father, who had poked his head inside the door to see what was going on.

"Come on guys, let's get outta here...I'm starving!" Joseph laughed slightly, patting his son on the back.

As the group made their way out of the room, Meta couldn't help but smile. With his new friends, he knew the rest of the school year would be bearable.