25 October 2014

Oh, right, I've got to make a correction on my end.

Kirby does have a reason for his attitude, but it's not particularly important and won't come in as a plot point but it will be brought up later.

also beware short chapter


Leap Through the Rip

Chapter Nine: Looming Shadow


"Kid, have you seen Popon?"

Meta Knight cracked an eye open, staring lazily at the fox who seemed to be gnawing at the rug in her cell. Kirby's departure and Meta Knight's safe return to the cell had gone quite nicely, really. Vee had clearly instructed him that he would not try to escape while he was still wandering outside, while Kirby was still making a commotion. He really didn't like the prison cells. Who did?

After snatching a quick glance at Popon's cell, Meta Knight noticed with some interest that it was empty. Huh. Shouldn't be a big deal. Popon was always heading off to the bathroom whenever he pleased, and always returned with those annoying signature drawls—there wasn't anything to worry about.

Though, instead of a decent reply, Meta Knight said, "I'm going back to sleep."

He could feel Marilyn's annoyance radiate through the glass wall. It happened a lot of times, so it didn't intimidate him anymore. Vee hummed a tune at the back of his head, seemingly pleased with his answer.

"He's been out for a couple of hours—or I think it's been a couple of hours."

He didn't bother replying.

As he previously mentioned, Popon was always skipping off here and there. The bathroom, outside, separating his body parts and terrifying the hell out of other demon beasts... that slimy demon beasts that comprised a few green balls always had something to do. Good for him. He wouldn't stay bored that way.

Meta Knight, on the other hand, had literally nothing to do. Well, apart from sleeping. And listening to Vee yak away. And occasionally thinking of how some of his imaginary escapes might go. At that point in time, nothing but tiredness occupied his mind, though. When that happened, always sleep. Wasn't good to think about anything with weariness.

Noticing that Marilyn seemed to not bother about badgering him anymore, he tried to sleep, like he wanted to.

He was disturbed by the jingling of... something.

Metal?

When he bothered to snap open his eyes, he saw a small, floating purple demon beast unlock his cell. Strange... was it time for their crappy outdoor activity stuff again?

"Nope. They have a schedule for it, and it's not time."

He didn't bother asking how she calculated that.

They were all lined up in a straight row in the hallway and it was freezing. ...Well, it always was. (Why did he wear a metal mask, then? It was his thing and it always had been. That's it. Simple.) Then they started walking somewhere, in a direction that Meta Knight had never gone since coming to this prison of sorts. With a light frown, he turned to Marilyn with a questioning gaze. She shrugged in response.

The walls were made of hard steel, like most of the building (was it a building, anyway?) was. Just flat steel, no designs, no windows, just bolts. The floor was similar to the walls greatly. It seemed more like an endless corridor of just steel and the thudding of footsteps—which, mind you, was incredibly boring—and they seemed to walk for hours.

Needless to say, Meta Knight didn't notice when he was pushed into a rather low-class seat in an auditorium. Well, an auditorium-ish place. It gave off a creepy atmosphere, but everywhere did. He sat in-between two (jailed, presumably) demon beasts that he didn't know, so he just kept quiet and tried not to make himself seem too noticeable.

He got curious when nothing happened for a long while.

"Um, do you know what's going on?" Meta Knight asked the demon beast sitting on his right. It was some sort of robot-thing.

The robot shook its head. "This has never happened before. Understanding: zero-percent."

Geez, it was that kind of robot...

Meta Knight still couldn't find Popon. Even after he had scanned the row he was in while they were travelling in that extremely boring hallway, and looking around in the auditorium, still no sign of the stack of green balls. Strange.

"Must be a real special event, though! If they have to invite even the prisoners for it."

True.

The same purple, floating spherical demon beast that had unlocked his cell floated up on stage.

"I'm sure many of you were pleasantly surprised when you discovered that even the prisoners are here to attend for today," it announced, and paused when the other demon beasts cheered. "This auditorium, as you know, is not large enough to hold all the demon beasts, which is why others are stationed at different places and can only watch through a broadcast. But, in any case, all demon beasts should know what's going on."

He begged to differ.

"…Of course, except for our prisoners, but they'll catch on in no time."

Ah.

A couple of other demon beasts dragged something that was draped over in a cloth onstage. Meta Knight leaned over and frowned, trying to get a better look at it. What was that? He couldn't even tell what was under the brown cloth, but it was struggling, and that was all he knew.

"Well, we're gonna execute someone. But everyone should already have gotten that. Except for, you know, the prisoners." The "perfected" demon beasts let out a snicker. Meta Knight rolled his eyes—he didn't even know why they weren't considered garbage, seeing as how Kirby could single-handedly toss them away like he was tossing garbage that accumulated within the day.

Wait a second—"execute"?

Vee made a very irritated noise. "Jeez! We don't have time for this! We have an escape plan to make and prepare for! Freaking Nightmare, always unintentionally getting in the way of our plans, sheesh…"

You aren't curious as to what's going on?

"I am! But it's pretty much useless, so I suggest you sleep during this thing or something!" She sounded rather panicked, like she was trying to keep herself calm. Meta Knight wouldn't be surprised if she knew something that he didn't. Ah, well. She could tell him later.

"And today, we have one of the prisoners. Because, you know, he was trying to play with a corpse!" The demon beast onstage speaking suddenly paused. "Of course, we don't have any problems if you want to fiddle with a dead guy, but he was out of the prison boundaries."

"Go to sleep," Vee told him in a quick mumble.

Meta Knight rolled his eyes. Why?

Vee decided to be an asshole and basically began giving him a headache. A huge headache. "Because that," she said triumphantly. "Now, go ahead. I'm sure they won't mind you sleeping during this, uh, 'execution'."

I'd rather not fall asleep. I'm curious as to what's going on. I can sleep later.

The voice gave out a loud sigh. She didn't speak for a while—it seemed like she gave up trying to convince him to "sleep", which was surprising. Usually Vee would go to all extents to try and make him to whatever she wanted him to do.

Why did she want him to not pay attention to the "execution", anyway? It was something new, and it wouldn't be of any harm to him. He was just watching something, not participating in it actively. Just spectating. No harm could be done.

Who was being "executed", anyway?

"Oh, right, the name of the doofus." The demon beast onstage cleared its throat, and at the precise moment, the brown cloth was flung off. Meta Knight looked at it with a blank face.

"Well, the guy's name is Popon… however you pronounce it."