About a month had passed since Kirby, Dedede, Meta Knight, and Bandana Dee had completely solidified their pack status. Meta Knight had to admit, it was going a lot better than he had hoped it would. As time had gone on, Dedede had been able to get the worst of his instincts under control, and his inherent need to compete against Axe Knight had died down ever so slightly.
Axe Knight himself had been getting the hang of his instincts, becoming a decent pack leader. Things on the Halberd had been awkward for a while after he had assumed the position as head of the pack, but the crew had been able to work through it. Meta Knight in particular had struggled with this, but understood that pack status did not affect his position as the Halberd's captain and Dedede's top knight. Axe Knight dictated pack issues ("I want to cuddle with Sailor, today! Stop letting those weird alphas try to scent you, Javelin! You don't even have pack instincts!"), while Meta Knight was in command of all of their actual work-related issues ("Axe, stop complaining and go help Mace in the radar room!").
As strange as it was, the Halberd crew was getting along just fine with their setup. It was the best for both Axe Knight and Meta Knight anyways, as Meta Knight would always be viewed by the crew as their captain, and Axe Knight's alpha instincts were better off if he was at least head of their pack. It also helped Meta Knight considerably with his insecurities and fears about alphas and pack dynamics. After all, Axe Knight was their alpha and pack leader, but everyone still looked up to and respected Meta Knight as their captain and superior. No one was treating anyone differently, which worked wonders at calming all of his worries.
There had been some issues, of course. After learning that Masher had presented as an alpha, Meta Knight knew he was going to start receiving more grief from his fellow swordsman. Masher was an alpha and the head of his pack, so why wasn't Meta Knight? He couldn't let it get to him though, as Masher had always been looking for reasons to give him a hard time and demean him. The larger knight had never taken kindly to King Dedede's obvious favoritism of the puffball, and had held it against him for as long as he could remember.
Meta Knight's own actions when the Halberd had first been built hadn't necessarily helped Masher's dislike of him. Despite being the loyal, chivalrous knight he claimed to be, Meta Knight had gone and tried to overthrow Dedede. It had been for Dreamland's own good, as Dedede had been corrupt to a fault back then, but he had gone about the issue in the worst possible way. After he and his crew had been exiled from Dreamland, Masher and his group had obviously ascended to be Dedede's top group.
After all of that nonsense with Dark Matter, and after Meta Knight had been rescued from the Dimensional Mirror, Dedede had caved and forced him and his crew back out of exile. Not only did he demand Meta Knight return to Dreamland, he had also given him back his position of top knight and head of Dedede's forces. Naturally, Masher had not taken this well, and he had every right to disagree with the decision. Meta Knight himself felt that he had done nothing to warrant forgiveness from Dedede, and had questioned Dedede's decision to give him back his positions so easily. Had he been Masher, he would have felt both cheated and wronged by this.
Unfortunately, at the time Meta Knight hadn't even considered Masher and his crew when he had been allowed back. He had had so much more to worry about and focus on during that time, and it hadn't been until sometime after the Halberd was fished out of Orange Ocean that he finally realized the issue. Masher had of course finally blown up at him, and Meta Knight's own aloof attitude hadn't helped things in the slightest. Their relationship had gone from strained to downright hostile after that, though they both tried their best to ignore each other. Masher and his crew weren't above petty heckling and mocking, unfortunately. Practically anything Meta Knight and his crew did was picked apart and stomped on by the other group, and his kidnapping during the Haltmann invasion had only succeeded in making the problem worse.
Thankfully, he hadn't seen either Masher or the members of his group since Darrin's spell had first gone off, and he figured it was for the better. It had been long enough that the entire castle knew of Axe Knight presenting and becoming the head of the Halberd crew's pack, and he could only imagine what Masher had to say about that.
Had he not known Dedede as well as he did, he would have worried that Masher might try to talk his way into taking over Meta Knight's position and succeed. He had more than enough reason to, based on pack dynamics alone. He was an alpha; Meta Knight was a beta. Alphas were supposed to be the leaders. Though this might have been something Meta Knight would normally worry about, he already had enough assurance of his position from both Dedede and Axe Knight. Dedede obviously did not want alpha superiority to become a commonplace idea, and actively fought to dissuade such a thing. Meanwhile, Axe Knight was an alpha and the head of his pack, but Meta Knight was still the one in charge of their work.
Over the course of a month, Meta Knight had thankfully become much more secure about alphas and omegas being treated no differently than betas. It was strange and different, but for the most part, everything had been working out as well as it possibly could.
Javelin Knight had eventually been able to come into contact with Planet Iceberg and had been directed to Darrin's tribe. The head of the tribe had confirmed Darrin's story, but explained that as far as he knew, Darrin had not returned to Iceberg since departing for Dreamland. This naturally concerned both Dedede and Meta Knight. Darrin had apparently been telling the truth about Dedede's parents and past, but why hadn't he returned to Iceberg? Where was he now, and why had he disappeared after casting his spell?
Meta Knight had discussed in length with the head of Darrin's tribe about Darrin's spell, and his suspicions had only been confirmed: there was no reversing it. With this being confirmed, Meta Knight figured he had had no choice but to go ahead and reveal that particular bit of information to Dedede. From there, it had spread throughout Dreamland, to the other kingdoms, and eventually all across Popstar. Everyone was stuck with their pack dynamics for good.
There was a good amount of outrage over this reveal, though the kings and queens of each kingdom did their absolute best to quell their citizens' anger. When asked about the location of the wizard who had caused all of this, Dedede merely informed them that he had never returned to Iceberg, and that they currently had no way of locating him. As per Meta Knight's advice, he had mentioned that they were still working diligently on trying to find him despite this, but that the citizens needed to remain patient.
Having heard about the anger and concern of Popstar's residents, Meta Knight figured it would be best to head out and see what was going on himself. After being cooped up in the Halberd and Castle Dedede for so long, his idea of Dreamland's state was likely skewed, and he wanted to fix that.
That was how he found himself running around with Kirby and some of his pack for the day. The pink puffball had been more than eager to go wandering around Dreamland with Meta Knight, and naturally many of his friends had wanted to come along. The two found themselves accompanied by Rick, Nago, Adeleine, and Gooey. Kine very obviously couldn't travel around in the same manner as the rest of his friends, and Chuchu had decided to accompany him for the day. Coo had wanted to help teach Pitch some new flying tricks, so they had opted out on adventuring for the day.
Meta Knight was a bit thankful for this, as he never really was comfortable around large groups of people he wasn't familiar with. He had hung out with both Gooey and Adeleine a little in the past, finding that he got along with the two fairly well (being able to relate with Gooey certainly helped), but he had never even spoken with the other animals before, let alone hung out with them. Starting with only Rick and Nago would be enough for one day.
Axe Knight had insisted that either he or someone else from his pack tag along with Meta Knight, though he had politely declined. He figured that there was no need for anyone to watch over him just because he was out and about for once, though Axe Knight seemed unconvinced. Meta Knight had woken up that day feeling a little warm and nauseous after all, though it wasn't enough to stop him from going about his business. Considering how his crew always worried about and fussed over him, he couldn't say he was surprised about this, but that wouldn't stop him from thinking it was unnecessary. The only reason he had made it off the Halberd without anyone following after him was thanks to Kirby. If Axe Knight wanted one of Meta Knight's pack members out with him, then having someone from his other pack was sufficient. Axe Knight had begrudgingly agreed to this logic, reluctantly letting his captain go.
It was midday, and the group was currently having lunch over at a café near Onion Ocean. The staff were struggling with keeping two puffballs well-fed along with their four friends, but that was only to be expected. The trips had gone smoothly up to that point, the group having traversed many different towns and regions of Dreamland by warp stars to check on the citizens.
Despite his original worries, the status of everything in Dreamland concurred with everything he had been told whenever he visited Castle Dedede, so there wasn't much to worry about, thankfully. Their excursion had quickly gone from just another job for Meta Knight, to a fun hangout for Kirby and his friends (though arguably, Kirby had considered it this from the very beginning). If the others were having a good time, then that was fine by him.
Meta Knight hadn't completely loosened up around Kirby's friends just yet, and had struggled with trying to act in the same dignified, polite manner he always did around strangers. It was hard when the people he was trying to be dignified with were a bunch of children only out to have a good time. Still, things could have definitely gone worse, and Meta Knight didn't mind listening to the various conversations Kirby and his friends had as they traveled.
After lunch, they had planned to fly over to Cookie Country and Rumble Ruins, but Kirby had started to feel a bit ill. It was unusual to see the pink puffball get sick, but it wasn't impossible for something like that to happen. After having a quick spell of dizziness and nausea, everyone had decided it was time to go home and let him rest. There was no need to worsen his illness by overexerting him, so they grabbed some warp stars and made their ways back to Prism Plains. Adeleine, Gooey, Rick, and Nago promised to bring Kirby home and take care of him, so Meta Knight bid them farewell and flew off towards the Halberd.
Though the trip hadn't ended as pleasantly as it could have, Meta Knight was admittedly a bit thankful for the sudden interruption. He had started to feel a bit too warm for his liking as the day went on, and running over to Rumble Ruins certainly wouldn't have helped that. The fact that both he and Kirby were acting so off was suspicious in and of itself, though he tried to ignore it. He had had an enjoyable day so far, and he didn't want to ruin that with his own typical worries.
Though his original plan after this had been to go to Castle Dedede and discuss some work-related issues with the king, the thought of his crew drove him back to his ship. As much as he was beginning to appreciate how close pack dynamics were bringing he and his crew together, it annoyed him ever-so-slightly how their usual protectiveness over him had only multiplied. It partly had to do with his kidnapping during the Haltmann invasion, as his crew had watched him like a hawk after that incident, but he swore it had been getting better before all of this pack nonsense had begun. This only reminded him of the persistent warmth that had been following him all day, though once again he ignored it.
After announcing his return and subsequent departure to his crew, he flew off towards Castle Dedede. His king had promised him some money to repair the Halberd with, and he fully intended to take it while he had the chance.
Upon landing and entering the castle, Meta Knight fully intended to head to the king's throne room and locate him, but was stopped on the way. A particularly large knight in purple armor stood off to the side, two smaller knights chatting away with him. Meta Knight was always eager to avoid confrontation with Masher and his group, especially now since he had been feeling off all day, but there was no avoiding it once Butch caught sight of him.
"Oi, Masher, look who it is!" the skull-faced knight declared, pointing his boss in the right direction.
His boss in question paused mid-sentence to turn and find the source of interruption, and Meta Knight was certain he could feel the other knight grinning at him from behind his dark helmet.
"Oh, Sir Meta Knight! Long time no see, my friend!" Masher spat out vehemently, sarcasm clear. "Surprised your alpha hasn't had the balls to take over for you, yet. Wouldn't be any different than someone trying to overthrow their king, am I right?"
"Sir Masher," Meta Knight nodded, already annoyed. "I have business to attend to with his majesty. If you wouldn't mind."
"No, no, don't mind me," Masher ground out. "You want to run straight to your boyfriend for protection. Maybe try to sleep your way straight to the throne. I get it." He chuckled darkly. "What's a useless beta even going to do in our ranks anyways? Maybe once you become the king's royal lapdog, the rest of us can finally get some damn recognition over here. I mean, now you're not only in my way and ruining my reputation, but you're preventing your dear old Axe Knight from rising up, too. Isn't it only right that an alpha command his crew? What gives you the right to prevent him from his privileges?"
Meta Knight remained silent through Masher's whole spiel, doing his best not to let his anger and irritation show.
"If you would like a reminder as to why I am Dedede's commanding officer, then perhaps you would like another duel? I am up for a rematch any time."
Masher scoffed, clenching his fist. "Whatever. It wouldn't even be a fair fight—"
"You're telling that to me?"
"—what with your legendary sword. Maybe drop the magic nonsense and fight like an actual knight. What are you going to do when one day you lose that sword and have to fight with your own power?"
"I can't imagine I would ever be separated from Galaxia so easily. And even then, I am confident enough in my swordsmanship that I could survive should I lose her," Meta Knight returned, trying to remain calm. "My status as a magic-user does not lessen my skills with a sword or commanding my crew."
"Yes, says the beta."
"Being beta means nothing. My skills remain the same, and yours have not changed just from presenting as an alpha."
"Oh, really?" Masher boasted. "Are you sure about that? You haven't seen me since I presented; you know nothing. I say you grab yourself a normal sword and meet me over in the courtyard. I'll show you—"
"Hey, Mety Knight!"
The shout from the throne room's entrance shut Masher up, causing Meta Knight to grimace in embarrassment at the same time. Of all the times for Dedede to show up…
Meta Knight, Masher, Butch, and Blade all bowed before their king (as well as most of them could), as the pengu bounded before them in excitement. As he stood before them, he took a good whiff of the scents before him, giving Masher an annoyed glance.
"Okay, I can smell ya gettin' all riled up out here. How about you cool it and leave your superior alone for once?" Dedede suggested, irritation showing.
At that, Masher groaned in fury and stormed out of the hall, Butch and Blade following suit. Dedede nodded at himself, immediately scooping up Meta Knight and snuggling him.
"Don't let those guys get to you, Meta. You've been doing so well, lately!" he chided.
"Perhaps I wouldn't be bothered by it if I knew they didn't have a point. You know Masher's always disapproved of you playing favorites with me."
"Honestly, it's been how many years?" Dedede asked, astounded.
"Too many, and you've never bothered to address Masher's problems. Perhaps it's time? We've both avoided it for far too long, and he deserves some sort of answer beyond your relationship with me."
Dedede gave a huff, burying Meta Knight into the crook of his neck. "That doesn't excuse him being so damn awful to you all of the time! And besides, he's had the worst attitude since he presented as an alpha. I try to talk some sense into him; about how he should respect betas and omegas more, but he doesn't get the hint!"
"Yes, about that," Meta Knight muttered, trying in vain to push himself out of Dedede's overbearing hold. "He feels that Axe Knight should take over my position."
A loud groan from Dedede nearly cut him off. "We talked about this last month! Don't go having second thoughts about it now!"
"That won't be an issue, don't worry. I just thought I should mention it."
"Ugh, that's fine, I guess. What'd you come here for, anyways?" He suddenly gave his knight a knowing grin. "You lookin' for some money from your great, generous king?"
Meta Knight suppressed a sigh, confirming Dedede's suspicions. The pengu waddled off through the castle, making his way to his room. Grabbing some files he had on a nightstand, he plopped down onto his bed with Meta Knight in tow.
The two sat comfortably for some time, going over the needed amounts for finishing repairs on the Halberd. They sat quietly, Meta Knight having already removed his mask and armor, the puffball cuddled snuggly into Dedede's side. His king scratched his back between his wings, and despite still feeling so warm, Meta Knight could feel himself drifting off. Unfortunately, Dedede spoke up, tone light.
"You know, it is okay to be a beta, right?"
"Hmm?" Meta Knight hummed in confusion, glancing up at Dedede. "Of course," he mumbled once he became more coherent. "Why do you ask?"
"It's just," Dedede paused, appearing uncertain of himself, "I worry about you, you know? I mean, I know you've been doing fine lately, but I know you like to hide your problems from me. You were so upset by all of this not even a month ago, and I find it hard to believe you've completely gotten over it already. And I know how hard Masher is on you. Sure, you only told me that he said he thought Axe Knight should take over for you, but I know he probably said a lot more than just that." When Meta Knight didn't respond, Dedede continued. "I just want you to know that it doesn't matter if you're a beta. I don't care, Bandana and Kirby don't care, and your crew certainly doesn't care. I've gotten no complaints about you being a beta. We both know betas can hold leadership positions just as good as any alpha."
"Yes, I know, Dedede," Meta Knight uttered, cuddling further into Dedede's side. "You also know that I don't enjoy worrying you. Axe Knight and I have worked out a system that's been going very well so far. I've seen for myself that being a beta in command is no issue. There's merely a stigma against betas taking leadership over alphas; a societal issue. I may have my own issues and insecurities, but as long as I have the support of both my packs, I feel that you should have no need to worry about me."
There was a nod from Dedede, who wrapped his arm firmly around Meta Knight and held him. Meta Knight figured that Dedede wasn't wholly convinced that everything was fine, but he knew that he was getting better about his insecurities. Things would only continue to get better from that point on, he was certain. Of course, there was no way he could ever truly tell how the future would go, and that pessimistic side of him was always there to remind him that things could, and probably would, go wrong eventually.
As their discussion came to a close, the two fell into a light nap, snuggled firmly against one another. It wasn't until Bandana Dee entered the room a few hours later that they woke up, confused as to why the waddle dee had decided to wake them.
Bandana appeared nervous, a small amount of sweat running down his brow. Though Dedede demanded to know what the issue was, the waddle dee could only stutter and stare warily in Dedede's and Meta Knight's direction. Worried for his friend, Meta Knight peeled himself from Dedede's tight hold, flying over to comfort the waddle dee. Bandana eagerly leaned into Meta Knight's touch as he put a reassuring paw to the waddle dee's cheek.
"Just try to calm yourself, Bandana," Meta Knight murmured, petting Bandana's back. "There's no need to panic, okay?"
Vaguely, he wondered when he had become the person to always rush in to calm others down, but shoved the thought away. What mattered was making sure Bandana felt okay.
"Right, right, I'm sorry," Bandana sighed, hugging Meta Knight and rubbing their cheeks together. "It's just, um, it's kind of a shock, I guess. I, uh, I'm not sure what to say," he stumbled his way through, eyes closed. "But I don't really know how happy you guys are going to be about this, so maybe I should just say it. Oh man…"
"Well, mine as well spit it out then. I'd rather be pissed off now than later," Dedede grumbled.
Bandana held on tighter to Meta Knight. "Okay, so some of Kirby's friends showed up a couple minutes ago to talk to you, but I knew you were guys were napping. So, I had them tell me what was up, and apparently Kirby's presenting as an alpha," Bandana sputtered out hurriedly.
The statement didn't register with Meta Knight right away, but it certainly came crashing down at Dedede's indignant cry of "What?!"
Meta Knight immediately left Castle Dedede. There was no suave announcement or excuse over it; he straight up teleported out of there and onto the Halberd. Panic had seized him, rationality thrown out the window. He knew Dedede would be worried over such an action, but he trusted his king to know when his knight needed to be left alone. Except, because Dedede knew him so well, there was no way he was going to let this go. Meta Knight was going to continue panicking over this. He was going to overthink himself into a breakdown, though that was the furthest thought from his mind.
How had Kirby presented as an alpha? He and Meta Knight were complete opposites, and Meta Knight was supposed to be an alpha, wasn't he? He took care of his crew and led them to victory as often as he could. He protected Dreamland and his king, and was a good leader for both his crew and the other knights of Castle Dedede. Right?
Taking care of people though, that was an omega trait, wasn't it? And how often did Meta Knight actually protect anyone? That was Kirby's job; it was always Kirby's job. He protected Dreamland, Popstar, and practically the entire galaxy. Both he and King Dedede were regarded as heroes in the land, while Meta Knight was always thought of as the one that took care of them. Kirby held the respect of not only his friends on Popstar, but people from entirely different galaxies and dimensions altogether without even trying. Of course he made a good alpha.
How hard did Meta Knight try to hold that same amount of respect? How many times had he failed in doing so over the years? He hated himself for it, but he had always been jealous of how easily everything came to Kirby, from his copy abilities down to his own self-confidence and how everyone looked up to him. Meta Knight had so desperately wanted all of that his entire life. Now here they were, Kirby presenting as an alpha; a natural born leader.
It was becoming difficult to breathe, and his wings were so tense that he could feel them straining in pain. He needed to calm down. This was ridiculous. He shouldn't be so jealous of Kirby, but it was hard when it seemed that the only other puffball he knew got everything. Meta Knight was a freak. A puffball who could barely even keep a copy ability for more than a few seconds thanks to Nightmare, and his appearance was no better. He tried so damn hard, and got nothing out of it. The only thing that made it even worse was Kirby himself. Kirby was too damn innocent. He only wanted those around him to be happy and safe. Everything he did that made Meta Knight so jealous was unintentional and definitely not his fault. That's why it was always so hard. If he hated himself for having so many insecurities, then being so upset over someone like Kirby only magnified that self-hatred.
He was starting to feel way too warm. The heat was practically sweltering.
"Sir? Are you okay?" That was Trident Knight.
Meta Knight figured he should have teleported to his room, but he hadn't been in the right state of mind as his panic struck. Trying in vain to respond to Trident, he gasped out a quiet sob, keeping his cape wrapped tightly around himself. This was so stupid. He shouldn't be reacting like this over Kirby presenting as an alpha. How completely unnecessary.
Vaguely, he heard Trident Knight telling someone to go get Sailor Dee. Whoever had left to get the waddle dee returned in no time, and Meta Knight found himself being crushed in a death grip. The scent of the omega struck him, and he found himself being calmed ever-so-slightly as Sailor shushed him and scented him. It was enough, as Meta Knight found himself back under some amount of control. He held onto Sailor as the waddle dee continued to soothe him, as Meta Knight had done back when Sailor had been in his heat.
Speaking of which, Meta Knight was still far too warm, and Axe Knight's scent from nearby was making him a little woozy. Sailor's omega scent helped to drown it out, but it still came through. He glanced up past Sailor to see Trident and Javelin Knight standing nearby. Axe Knight was standing warily in the doorway to the control room they all resided in. He could see the fear and nervousness in what was visible through Axe's mask, and could smell the same amount of nervousness coming off of Sailor.
This was bad. This was so bad. He didn't need this. He really didn't need this.
He buried his face back into Sailor Dee as best he could with his mask and armor still on, trying his best not to fall back into another panic attack. At this rate, he was going to end up crying in front of the whole crew.
The reasoning behind his sudden emotional outburst was pretty obvious now that he had begun to calm down, but he knew it was only going to get worse from there on out. He wanted to detach himself from Sailor's hold to preserve what little dignity he had left in front of his crew (what dignity?), but the urge to hold on and stay with the omega overrode everything else.
"I'm going to go to my room now," he managed to mumble out to Sailor.
"Okay, I'll help you," Sailor replied softly, concern never wavering from his face.
Meta Knight didn't even argue with him, letting himself be guided to his room. He wanted to cry so bad. Maybe once he was alone with Sailor Dee, away from the rest of the crew, but not now.
An omega, huh? This was so messed up.