Chapter 4: Ethoxyethane

Meta Knight had effectively locked himself in his study, his mind constantly replaying all the recent events. It has been a week since what has been since called "the Halberd incident". Against all odds, his crew managed to discover its location in the Secret Sea and had been taking several diving expeditions nonstop to repair it. While thankful, his mind couldn't help but think of a conversation he had with them.

It was after the Halberd had sunk. Meta Knight eventually returned to his base in Orange Ocean, but he felt...different. There was a gnawing feeling in his chest and his mind was racing, beginning to fall into an ever-decreasing spiral of depression. It was to the point that he immediately called a meeting upon his return. While the entire crew was extremely happy to see that he was alright, the aura he gave off was nothing good, especially to the few who noticed him eat a small handful of lemon drops before he turned back around to speak.

"Everyone, I'd like to have your attention for a moment."

The side conversations between the crewmembers came to a halt. He paused, trying to think of the right words to say.

"I would like to formally apologize for the failure of this operation. Out of a fit of rage, it appears I underestimated the strength of one particular person on this planet. As we have clearly seen for ourselves now, this person is more than capable of defending the planet from any invader. Because of my own ignorance, pride, and overconfidence, I put all of you at risk. I must first ask that none of you blame each other for this. The fault of this operation's failure lies with no one but myself. For that, I am deeply sorry."

He stopped again to let out a sigh, noting the small discussions in the audience.

"I understand that what I am about to tell you might be upsetting. Some of you might even hate me for it and after my actions today, you have every right to. Regardless, know that I am extremely grateful for your service. I did not think I would ever be able to gather a crew of the strongest and most skilled warriors across various planets and this land to create something I could be so proud of. However, as we all know, nothing is permanent. Nothing will last forever."

Out of the corner of his eye, he noticed Vul's eyes widen, as if he realized what the announcement was.

"It is with great regret that I am announcing the disbandment of the Meta-Knights."

Naturally, all of the knights started shouting in opposition. It was hard to understand what they were all saying, but he was able to make out a few statements. Expected remarks like "You can't be serious!" "But sir!?" and "I don't want to leave yet!". But one statement did catch him off guard. It was one single word.

"Coward."

Now, that wasn't a word he expected to hear, especially since his long-time members would have never called him that.

"Who said that?" Meta Knight asked, his voice mixed with grief and anger as he searched around the room.

"It was me, sir."

The one who said it surprised Meta Knight to no end. It was none other than the newest member, Sailor Dee. The responses from the other knights about this statement were also expected. "What are you saying!?" "Insolent!" "How dare you say such a thing!" "Get out of here!" They were various statements condemning the Waddle Dee. That was when another loud voice rose above them.

"ALL OF YOU SHUT YOUR TRAP!" It was Captain Vul, who then cleared his throat.

"Now, instead of trying to burn him at the stake, how 'bout we hear him out?" he said while adjusting his cap and giving a nod to the Dee.

With a newfound confidence, Sailor began to speak.

"I was the one who called you a coward, and I meant it. Are you really going to run away and give up just because you failed? What happened to the passion you had in that speech you gave before this operation? What happened to the man so determined to change Dreamland's lazy lifestyle? What happened to the furious man who terrified me with his glare before chasing after his opponent? After everything we went through, are you really going to just abandon everything and run away? Only...ONLY A COWARD WOULD DO THAT!"

The more he listened, the more Meta Knight realized that Sailor was right. He was being a coward. But even then, one question came to his mind.

"Sailor, you make a very good point. I assume that since you are so passionate about this, you want the crew to stay together, is that right?"

"Yes, that's right." The Waddle Dee gave a hearty nod.

"Why exactly? My actions almost got you all killed. What is it that makes you want to stay?"

"Sir, you saved my life! Or did you forget that? Yes, your actions put us in danger, but we all still choose to follow you despite that! When the Halberd started to go down, your first thought was to tell get us to safety! I, as well as everyone here wants to stay with you because we trust you with our lives!"

Meta Knight took a moment to process what he had just heard. Then, he gave a proposal.

"If anyone else objects to the dissolving of this crew, speak now or forever hold your peace."

There was a moment of silence, then throat clearing before Axe Knight spoke. "We'd be nothing without you, boss. If it weren't for you giving me a chance all those years ago, I'd still be nothing more than a street punk with a bad attitude. The only reason we got so far as a group is because of you. Please don't make us split."

Then it was Mace Knight, Trident Knight, and Javelin Knight. "Even I'd we end up disbanding, I'll always remain loyal to you, lord Meta Knight."

"The same goes for me. Wherever you go, I will follow. "

"The feeling is mutual."

This was followed up by two other members of the crew, Sword Knight and Blade Knight.

"If you want to disband, it's your decision, we won't stop you. However, like everyone else here, we'll follow you regardless, sir."

"It's as he said. Even if we are no longer the Meta-Knights, we will still continue to serve under you regardless."

This only served to further draw their superior into silence.

"Allow me to say my peace."

Next to the knight now stood Bio Gale.

"Allow me to ask you one question, Lord Meta Knight. As a kunoichi that has been scorned by most of my clan for wanting to heal instead of kill, where would I go?" Silence.

"Exactly. Even if tension between us has lessened somewhat thanks to my cousin, I don't believe I will be going home any time soon. For that reason, I consider you all family and it serves to further motivate me to treat all of you and make sure that you are in good health. For those reasons, I object to your proposal, Lord Meta Knight."

Without another word, she vanished. However, the knight knew her well enough and was able to sense that she was nearby.

Finally, Vul began to speak.

"I already feel guilty about being the first to ditch the Halberd, I'd feel even worse everything ended like this. If you'd still have me, I promise to make up for it, sir." He said with a grin.

An indescribable feeling welled up in the knight's heart as he heard all the words of encouragement from his men. Was it relief? Happiness? Whatever it was, it made him feel grateful to have such a loyal and supportive crew.

After hearing their thoughts, he took a bow and said one last thing. "Everyone, thank you for giving me a second chance." He slightly stumbled for a moment before Captain Vul and Bio Gale helped him keep steady. It seems that the exhaustion was fully beginning to kick in.

"...I retract my statement. We will not be disbanding."

There was a loud cheer from the entire crew.

"I will be retiring to my room for the rest of the evening. If you have any other questions, please direct them to Captain Vul."

With that, he began to make his way to the exit. As he saw a couple of the crew members begin to approach his vice-captain, he noticed one in particular coming to him directly. It was Sailor Dee.

"Excuse me, sir?" The Waddle Dee asked nervously.

"Yes, Sailor, what is it?"

The Dee shifted anxiously, as if unsure about what he wanted to say. "Sir... I'm sorry for calling you a coward."

Meta Knight, upon hearing that, raised his hand causing Sailor Dee to flinch, but then he gently placed his hand on the Dee's head.

"Don't be."

That was the only thing he said before he left for his room.

Even with encouragement from his crew, Meta Knight just couldn't feel better. Especially now that he had the feeling of being constantly watched, which became more and more irritating as the seconds ticked by. With a slight sigh, he clapped his hands together.

"You called?" The crew's nurse, Bio Gale now stood on his room's filing cabinet.

"...I believe I told you I wanted to be alone." He replied coldly.

The kunoichi only glared. "Your most recent mental evaluation has determined you are unfit for solitude. For that reason, I will accompany you until it improves."

"Don't you have other important things to do? Like treat patients?"

"Nothing a few clones can't handle. Not only that, but you are my patient right now and that's all that matters."

The knight only became silent. He honestly didn't have the energy or mindset to argue. After a few minutes, Meta Knight stood up and started walking towards the door.

"Where do you think you're going?" Gale asked, ready to subdue him if necessary.

"I'm going on a walk. Sailor Dee told me I shouldn't stay locked up in here, so I'm getting some fresh air."

That and he figured getting away from his normal surroundings could help him better organize his thoughts.

"Unless you have an issue with that?" he gave a slight glance towards the ninja.

"Not at all. Just know that I will be accompanying you as you do."

Meta Knight let out a sigh. "Do as you wish." He then walked out.

Meta Knight was once again trekking along the familiar shoreline of the island the main base was stationed on. However, the difference between this and the other times he walked here was that his soul remained distressed and restless. Whenever he would look back at the setting sun of Orange Ocean, he would be forced back into that entire scene on the Halberd, his brain constantly replaying the various "what-ifs" that could have happened. As a result, he tried to turn his mind away from it. That would be the better option, as the head nurse following him would likely not be much help with discussion topics. Even then, his mind started turning to one particular subject: Kirby. During their clash on the Halberd, he felt many emotions from their fight. Anger. Sadness. Hesitation. All of them were understandable. But the one that confused him still the most was happiness. It was small, but it was there. Why exactly would Kirby be happy with their fight? Well, there was probably no way of asking him now, if anything. He was knocked out of his thoughts when he noticed a familiar pink blob lying face down in the sand on the beach.

"Kirby?" Meta Knight called out. Nothing.

He got closer to the child to help him sit up, what he saw was... unnerving. Kirby's eyes were completely vacant, as if he were unconscious, despite that clearly not being the case.

"Gale, can you see what's wrong with Kirby?" The knight asked, his voiced filled with worry. Instantly, the kunoichi appeared by his side.

"Understood."

While Bio Gale was looking over Kirby, Meta Knight began to question something.

"Why am I so concerned for my enemy?" He asked himself.

Regardless of why, part of him still hoped that Kirby was alright.

"Lord Meta Knight, he's coming to!" Gale's sudden shout snapped him out of his thoughts.

As he walked towards them, he could hear Kirby coughing, most likely on sand and seawater considering where he had found the poor child. After a few more minutes of coughing, light began to return to the puff's eyes.

"...Bio Spark?" Kirby said, his eyes still readjusting.

"I'm not my cousin, I'm afraid. My name is Bio Gale, head nurse of the Meta-Knights."

"The Meta-Knights? Then that means-"

As soon as he said that, Kirby's eyes met with Meta Knight's.

"Hello, Kirby."

There was a moment of silence before the child's eyes seemed to widen in fear, as if all the memories of what had happened last week were flooding back into his mind. Then, Kirby started to cry, and it was at that point Meta Knight knew for sure something was wrong.

"Is he scared of me?" Was among the first thoughts that crossed his mind. That was when he decided to speak.

"Kirby, calm down. I have no intention of hurting you." He tried to say as calm as he could. While this didn't stop the crying, Kirby did seem to visibly relax.

"Y-your eyes..." Kirby said, hiccupping between his words.

"My eyes?"

"Th-they aren't as scary... as they were then. Wh... when we fought, it...it felt like you wanted to kill me..."

Meta Knight could feel his heart sink. The realization hit him like a truck. He tried to kill Kirby. He tried to kill a literal child who was trying to stop him from fighting. The more he continued to think about it, the more he realized that all the damage Kirby did to the Halberd was in response to his actions. Kirby destroying the Halberd? It was because he gave the order to attack. The one-on-one fight? He started it. He was so caught up in his mental board game, trying to figure what Kirby was doing instead of asking why Kirby was doing it. For all Meta Knight knew, Kirby might have not wanted to fight in the first place. But because of his actions, a fight is what happened. It was as Kurabe had told him, as useful as the mental gameboard was, it had three significant flaws to it. But there was one flaw that was stronger than all of the others. Said flaw was "misreading the opponent", where one projected themselves on the opponent and assume they have the same goals, where that sometimes cannot be the case. This ultimately could result in misreading their actual goals. Because of that, his entire battleship is now at the bottom of the sea. Because of that, he caused his entire crew great worry and pain. Because of that, he tried to kill a child.

He tried to kill a child.

He tried to kill a child.

That single thought kept echoing and echoing throughout his mind, making him sick to his stomach the more it did.

To his surprise, Kirby got close to the knight and suddenly gave him a hug. It felt a bit awkward and as much as he wanted to tell him to let go, he could only relent. It was at least getting the child to calm down, as he was hearing the sobs becoming more sparring. He quietly placed a hand on his head, with the slight hope that would also assist in calming him down.

"Kirby." Meta Knight said, drawing the child's attention. "What happened to you?"

While he probably could have worded that better, the knight still wasn't thinking completely straight either. Despite this, he wanted to know what caused this child pain, besides himself. Kirby then sat down in the sand.

"Oh...I um... fell off the Warp Star while I was riding it because, well, um..." he hummed a bit, as if trying to think of the words he wanted to say. "I was sad and that's why I fell."

"And what made you sad?"

"Because... uh... well, did you notice the sun and moon acting weird earlier?"

"My assistant told me something was up with the sun and moon. Admittedly, I didn't notice it myself."

That was mostly because Meta Knight had the shades drawn to make it dark while he was in his room.

"Well, something caused the sun and moon to fight with each other, making it go back between day and night and day and night! I was trying to think of a way to calm them down when this silly guy with a clown hat and talked funny told me about Nova."

That name sounded familiar to the knight.

"Nova? As in the being that supposedly grants wishes?"

"Yup! So, Marx, that's the guy's name, told me that in order to stop the sun and moon from fighting I needed to summon Nova. So, I went on a quest to do just that. He said I had to gather the star power from some planets near Popstar to summon Nova and make a wish to stop them from fighting! When I did it and summoned Nova... um... then..." The child whimpered a bit.

It was at this point Meta Knight could guess why that was. "This Marx... he tricked you, didn't he?"

"Wow you're so smart! How'd you know?"

The knight was slightly surprised by the sudden change in attitude, but he didn't show it.

"While I'm not the best at it, I can read the emotions of others."

"You can, too?"

"That's correct."

He internally questioned why Kirby didn't notice such a thing if they were the same species. Though it was likely because the child had no one to teach him about it. Then Kirby's face fell again.

"But you defeated him, didn't you? So why are you so upset?"

"Poy... it hurts..." the puff began to whimper again.

"...what hurts? Does your stomach hurt?"

"No... I... I just wanted to help people... but he used me! It... it hurts..." he began to sob again.

With infinite patience, Meta Knight gave a slight sigh. While he wanted to reprimand the child about how naïve he was being, how the world is just unfair and full of people who'd exploit the kindness of others to get what they want, but now was just not the time.

"Kirby tell me. Did you manage to stop the sun and moon?"

Kirby stopped sobbing enough to answer. "Y-yes..."

"And this Marx person, I'm sure he wanted the wish for himself. What did he wish for?"

"He wished to rule over Popstar... and then he transformed into a scary monster."

"And you defeated him, correct?"

Kirby nodded.

"Then you helped people. If you didn't stop him, Dreamland would be under the rule of a monster. You also stopped the sun and moon, preventing any issues that could come from that."

"Yes, but..."

"But?"

"Marx tricked me! He took advantage of me and-"

"And you took care of him. What he did was wrong, and you gave him what he deserved."

"I know but it still hurts..."

It was at this point that Meta Knight began to realize he was getting nowhere with Kirby.

"I see... well I don't think I can help you with that, but I can at least make amends."

While he knew he couldn't erase the pain of being betrayed, he thought of something that could provide even the least bit of comfort for the child. Honestly, he was a bit unsure if he wanted to go through with it himself, but it was probably his best option right now.

"...know that I do not do this lightly."

He knelt to be more at the child's level and suddenly, to Kirby's surprise, he removed his mask.

"Kirby. I'm sorry for everything I did to you. If you don't forgive me for it, that's fine. All I want you to know is..."

"Don't worry about it!"

The knight was suddenly cut off. "...excuse me?"

"I said don't worry about it! I already forgave you for it!" Kirby replied with the most innocent smile the knight had ever seen on his face.

There was a moment of silence as Meta Knight attempted to process what he just heard.

"Hee hee! You look so funny when you're surprised!"

Slightly embarrassed, the knight quickly covered his face again.

"I see. Well...I should be going then. Please remember to be careful when flying around water then."

"Poyokay..."

Satisfied with that answer, the knight began to make his way back to the main base. But just as he took two steps, he heard Kirby speak up again.

"Excuse me, Meta Knight?" The young puffball cautiously asked, fidgeting a bit.

"What is it, Kirby?" The knight responded, trying not to sound too frightening to the child.

"I was wondering if… that… that maybe I could be your student?"

Meta Knight fell quiet, seemingly thinking about the proposition as the child continued his nervous fidgeting. Admittedly, he had thought about it before, but didn't know how to approach the subject. Especially after what had just recently happened with the Halberd.

"You want me to train you? Even after I tried to kill you?" he uttered in surprise.

"Well, yeah. But you regret what you did, right?"

"Well, yes-"

"And you had a good reason for why you wanted to take over Dreamland, right?"

"Yes, I did. I wanted to change Dreamland so that it could handle any threat that came it's way."

"See? You had good intentions! You were just misguided that's all! We all make mistakes! So, don't worry about it!"

While that took care of that problem, there was still one more thing about this proposal he had to address, and this was equally serious.

"Kirby, if I take you on as my apprentice, I expect you to take my lessons seriously. Do you understand?"

Kirby's face lit up with excitement. "Yes, sir, Meta-sensei!"

"Sensei?" the knight uttered with a mix of surprise and slight confusion.

"Isn't that what you're supposed to call teachers? Unless you want me to call you "mister"!"

There was a brief pause.

"...sensei it is, then." The blue puff gave a slight chuckle.

As Meta Knight started to walk towards the main base, he was suddenly stopped in his tracks when he noticed the puff was still standing there, as if he still had something that he wanted to say.

"Hey, Meta-sensei…?"

"Yes, Kirby?"

The child gave the biggest smile the knight had ever seen him have. "I can't wait to start training!"

The knight gave a nod. "Tomorrow afternoon we'll meet at this shore to begin our training, understood?"

"Yes, sir!" Kirby said with excitement.

There was still one more thing Meta Knight needed to know before he left, at least so he could leave with a clear conscience.

"Are you feeling better, Kirby?"

"Yup! It's all thanks to you, Meta-sensei! I'll see you tomorrow!" The child then began to run off, but halted himself again and looked back towards the knight and his subordinate. "Um...Ms. Gale? Thank you for helping me!"

"Don't thank me. I'm only doing my job."

"Ok, well, thank you anyway! I really appreciate it and I'll say hi to Bio Spark if I happen to see him again!"

With that said, the puff then ran out of sight, presumably to summon a Warp Star and head back to where he lived.

"...sensei." Meta Knight repeated to himself. For some reason, the sound of it made him smile.

Unbeknownst to him, Bio Gale, who had remained silent throughout their encounter with Kirby, noticed the slight change in the knight's mood.

"Perhaps I won't need to keep an eye on him for much longer." She thought, feeling a wave of relief wash over her.

After that thought, Meta Knight turned back towards his base and began to walk back.

"We're heading home, Gale. I have work to do for tomorrow."

And...that's chapter 4! I hope it was worth the wait for everyone! Again, I'm sorry it took so long, I had a lot of other stories I wanted to do and some work for school I was busy with.

Guest - Ah...this is one of the best complements I've received for my writing! Thank you very much, it means a lot to hear that!

naninaninaninani - Thank you for your complements! I hope you enjoyed this chapter you waited so long for!

Omake (Bonus)

Kirby: "I said don't worry about it! I already forgave you for it!"

MK: ... ( has stopped working)

Bio Gale: Allow me. (Karate chops MK on the back of the head)

MK: ...excuse me?