Chapter 14: Adrenaline
"So, would you care to go into detail about your experience or are we just gonna keep pulling teeth like we have been for the past 45 minutes?"
Meta Knight only continued to glare daggers at the neckerchief-wearing Waddle Dee, who was slowly getting more irritated with him as time passed.
This was Okino, a psychiatrist working at Castle Dedede. Admittedly, the knight was slightly surprised to hear that the king had a psychiatrist working at his castle but finding out about it right now was probably the worst time to do so. He had come to deliver a completed observance report of Dreamland but was instantly stopped and told to come to this damned office. Honestly, there were several much more productive things he could do than sit on this sofa and it bothered him so.
The Waddle Dee continued to stare at him for a few more minutes before letting out a sigh.
"Listen, Mr. Meta Knight, I can wait as long as I need to. I have nothing else planned for today. You're not leaving this room until you open up. I understand that it might be difficult for you, but if I can't help you if you don't cooperate." Okino said as he twirled his pen around his stub.
Difficult? Meta Knight grew furious upon hearing that. Who does this person think he is? Though, he might have a point. Meta Knight has tried to forget what happened, but the visions kept coming back no matter what he did.
"Fine...It started a few weeks ago..." He began with a slight sigh to calm himself. "When the Haltmann Works company invaded, I and my crew went to fight them. Though I was quickly separated from my crew as a shot from the Access Ark took down my battleship, the Halberd. I proceeded to fight several waves of the Haltmann Works Company's minions. The battle lasted for 12 hours, or so I was told. I was eventually incapacitated by a stun gun blast by the commander of their force, Susie."
As soon as that name left his mouth he felt like vomiting, but managed to keep it in.
"There's a garbage can next to you if you need it. We have it there for a reason." Okino said, pointing towards it with his pen. "But forgive me for interrupting, please continue."
"I became unconscious after that, but when I woke up again, I was in an unknown laboratory and that woman was there as well."
"And what happened there?"
Noting Okino was writing this down, he took advantage of the distraction to eat a handful of lemon drops.
"She turned me into a machine." His response was blunt.
"...is that so? You were mechanized... we might be getting somewhere now. So, I'd like to know something... how does that make you feel? I'd like you to elaborate, if you could."
"I hated it."
"Well, even I could tell you that. But I want to know how you felt."
"I felt trapped in my own body."
Another blunt reply.
Okino sighed. "Well...I can already tell you aren't going to be an easy case to crack."
Upon hearing that Meta Knight's eyes quickly flashed red, but Okino either didn't notice it or wasn't fazed by it.
"Tell you what, you can leave, but I expect you to come back in let's say... two weeks. If you can't open up here, then hopefully spending time with your crew will help." The Waddle Dee handed him a piece of paper. "Understand?"
"Yes, I..."
Meta Knight froze upon seeing the neat-yet-somewhat-scribbled handwriting on the paper. It was Bio Gale's.
"Where did you get this?" he uttered, taking it in hand.
"His highness gave me this mental evaluation sheet. He said that your head nurse gave it to him and that's the other reason why you're here today."
Immediately the knight stood up and stormed out the door without another word.
"...not even a thanks? That's a bit rude." The Waddle Dee uttered with a sigh.
Eventually, Meta Knight finally found King Dedede, who was observing the progress being made on rebuilding his castle. Upon seeing the knight walking towards him, the king turned around.
"So, you feeling better after talkin' with 'im for a bit?" Dedede asked before noting the furious aura emanating from the knight.
"Dedede, how did you get this?" Meta Knight said, clearly attempting to suppress his anger as he showed him the sheet of paper.
"The whanow- oh, that mental evaluation sheet thing from your nurse, right? Well, she gave it to me and-"
"I know very well that you're lying." He glared at him.
"I ain't lying. She really did an' just forgot 'bout it."
"That's not it! Tell me the truth!" The knight's eyes began to flicker to red.
"Eh? How you know it ain't the tru-"
"Because Bio Gale is part of my crew and she'd never release sensitive medical information without consent! It's part of her oath as a doctor!"
That was when Meta Knight's eyes turned red and remained that way. The king blinked in surprise for a moment.
"Uh... yeah... didn't she tell ya? I visited the Halberd and asked if she could let ya see my psychiatrist."
"When was this!?"
"I dunno. Last time I was on the Halberd, maybe?"
It was at this point that Meta Knight could feel his blood boiling and his heart racing. He needed to get away from here now. Quickly, he transformed his cape into wings and flew out of the castle as fast as he could. Left behind in the dust of this series of sudden actions was a confused and guilty Dedede.
When Meta Knight arrived at the Halberd, which was still being repaired for minor damages, he went straight to his room. He only stopped once to return the stolen medical records to Bio Gale. Now he was attempting to write a report on the incident for Kurabe, but that was easier said than done. The fact that he had to force himself to think about that horrible situation filled him with dread. Actually, the more he thought about it, the more he began to develop several emotions, the other strongest being anger over the king's actions. In the state he was in, there was no way he was going to get this done. He had been sitting at his desk silently holding his pen in his hand for several minutes.
After a few minutes, he became frustrated with his inability to write and decided to stand up for a few minutes. His gaze glanced by a single mirror... and immediately punched it, shattering it on contact. For a moment, he thought his reflection was that of Mecha Knight, the form he had taken when he was mechanized by the Haltmann Works Company. He looked down at the broken shards to briefly see it again, quickly stabbing it with his sword. Suddenly, he heard the sounds of someone running down the hallway followed by a knocking on his door.
"Lord Meta Knight? It's Sailor. Is something wrong? I thought I heard something breaking in here."
The knight took a brief moment to weigh his options before quickly laying the frame of the mirror down.
"Oh, it's nothing, Sailor. The mirror just fell over and broke. Could you give me a hand in cleaning it up?"
"Ah! Right away, sir! Let me get some cleaning supplies quick!"
It was then that Meta Knight realized that he'd have to find a way to hide his injury from punching the mirror. The report could wait until tomorrow.
When Meta Knight regained consciousness, he saw himself in some kind of laboratory. The first thing he could think of to do is to try moving, but he strangely couldn't. That's when he noticed why: there were wires embedded into his body and restraints placed on his limbs. The sudden movements from earlier caused a dull, throbbing pain to surge through his body. That wasn't the only thing, this room smelled awful. Even though Meta Knight enjoyed working with machines, the intense smell of oil, smoke, and hot metal in that room was just nauseating. But it was even worse, he was hyperaware of everything going on around him, with his body on overdrive and his senses were on maximum output. His mind continued to race as it struggled to process all the stimuli around it. Everything... all of it... it just…hurt. So much that it took so much effort just to focus his thoughts. Even then, by the time his thoughts were sufficiently organized, he finally realized that he didn't have his sword, mask, or armor. He panicked internally. The idea of him being seen not just unarmed, but with his face exposed was just...it was just plain humiliating.
That was when a door on the other side of the room opened up and that...wretched woman entered the room. It was that pink haired lady that had stunned and captured him during his assault on Access Ark.
"Popstar Test Subject Number 02260 Meta Knight has regained consciousness. That's quite impressive, usually people don't wake up until after being converted." She sounded mildly amazed, though he felt that was a horrible thing in this particular situation.
He wanted to attack her, but the moment he began to move again, the pain returned, but it got even worse. The woman walked close to him, and he wanted so badly to spit on her, but resisted the urge.
"Oh, I believe I haven't introduced myself yet. My name is Susie, and I'm the private secretary of the Haltmann Works Company's CEO. I'm sure we are going to get to know each other very well." she said with a bow and slight smile.
Meta Knight could only glare at her in cold silence. This was a common response for the knight to force someone else to talk, since most of the people he met tended to hate having awkward silence in their conversations. It appeared to be working now as well, as Susie fiddled with her hair slightly and seemed to sweat a bit during this moment. She then cleared her throat to attempt to break this silence.
"You're here because we sense that you have a great amount of strength within you. You'd be a perfect candidate to work at our company. Not only that, but your position would be quite high! All you would need is a few... modifications before you could."
"I assume I have no choice in this?" The knight uttered coldly, knowing instantly what she meant by those words.
"You have a choice in whether we do this the easy way or the hard way, if that makes you feel any better."
It didn't. It didn't at all.
Susie then clasped her hands together and looked at him sweetly. "I'm sure you have quite a lot of questions right now, so allow me to explain everything so you don't have any misconceptions before you make your decision. We at the Haltmann Works Company value prosperity and efficiency. However, as you already know, people themselves are not very efficient. They get tired, they make errors in judgement due to emotions, they can be lazy, and all of it is very detrimental to maximizing profit and efficiency. That is why we came up with the Mechanizing Occupation Project, a way to convert a planet's natives into efficient workers of the Haltmann Works Company so we can easily harvest the wealth of natural resources on any planet we come across."
While the fact that this woman made all of that sound like a sales pitch was unsettling, use of the phrase "as you already know" was particularly disturbing to Meta Knight.
"Based on my observances, the natives on this planet are especially lazy. I'm sure you know that all too well. For that reason, I hope you will make the right decision." She patted one of his cheeks, giving a slight squeal before immediately trying to regain her senses and be serious.
That's when he realized why it was so disturbing. That phrase implied that she already knew that the knight had felt like that before. There was also one more thing.
"...I don't remember ever telling you my name." he uttered.
"Oh, right. I forgot to tell you. We used our technology to extract a couple memories from your mind."
He felt his eyes widen in horror upon hearing that.
"We were able to find out quite a lot about you because of it!" She then pulled up a hologram and began reading off information.
"According to your file, you are Meta Knight, the leader of a band of warriors known as the Meta-Knights. Formerly known as "the Knightmare" during your time working for The Organization. In fact, you were a longtime student of one of The Organization's Big Four, the Lady of Shadows. Better known as Kurabe the Unkillable. You came to Dreamland in search of a new challenge and became furious when you saw how lazy its inhabitants were. As a result, you attempted to use your crew and battleship to take over all of Dreamland and force them to fight. Since then, you have become the greatest warrior in the galaxy and mentored a student. Is all of this information correct?"
At this point, the knight's blood was boiling.
"RELEASE ME!"
If looks could kill, the glare he gave Susie would have killed her several times over. However, the secretary merely attempted to keep her calm, trying her hardest not to tremble in front of him.
"By the look on your face, I assume you want to do things the hard way. Don't you worry, after this is all over, you won't feel a thing."
Susie pressed a button on a remote she was carrying, causing the wires inside him to send electrical currents throughout his body. He knew what she was trying to do: make him submit through pain. Well, he wouldn't let her win that easily. Meta Knight persevered through the pain, looking Susie dead in the eyes with defiance and after an hour, he continued to remain strong. Though this only seemed to further excite the woman.
"You know, most people faint within the first five seconds of this. I can already tell you aren't going to be an easy case to crack, aren't you?" She then placed a hand on his face. "Good, prove to me how strong you are. Prove to me that I made the right choice in choosing you."
With a smile, she pressed a different button, summoning what appeared to be a knife above his head.
"Now, normally I do this when the subject is unconscious, but I'll gladly make an exception this time." She said in the most fake-sounding kind voice he had ever heard.
The knife slowly pressed itself onto Meta Knight's forehead and began to slice it open, all while he was still being electrocuted. No matter how hard he tried, he just couldn't break free from his restraints. At this rate, he didn't know if he'd ever see his crew again, let alone get back to the Halberd. The knife finished slicing his head open and then Susie walked forward with a syringe and injected its contents directly into his open wound.
"I just injected you with nanomachines. They will slowly mechanize you from the inside, while I have the honor of taking care of the outside."
With a slightly excited giggle, she pressed one last button, summoning an arm holding an object that looked suspiciously like his mask. The arm slowly moved towards Meta Knight, intent on placing it on him. During this, he began to lose sight of himself. His thoughts and memories scrambled. His senses completely vanished. As the mask began to attach itself to him, he started to lose consciousness.
The last thing he heard were the ominous words of "Goodbye, Meta Knight and happy birthday, Mecha Knight."
"Lord Meta Knight!"
Meta Knight suddenly woke up to being shaken. He immediately noticed that he was covered in sweat and panting heavily, both definitely the results of his nightmare.
"Lord Meta Knight, are you ok? You were screaming rather loudly."
He looked to his side to see that it was Bio Gale holding an electric lantern. She had most likely heard his screams and came running. Or was she already in his room hiding in the shadows as she tended to? Either way, it didn't matter. Despite the fact that he was ashamed of himself for screaming in his sleep, he was also thankful for her being here.
"Thank you, Nurse Gale. I was just having a nightmare, nothing to be worried about." He said as calmly as possible.
"My lord, if I may be so bold to ask... could you talk about your nightmare? I might be able to help you."
The way the kunoichi spoke as she said that felt... unusually warm, especially for someone that tended to act as distant as she did. Honestly, it made Meta Knight feel conflicted. A part of him wanted to accept her offer, but a much louder part of him wanted nothing more than to run away from the topic. It disgusted him to his very core the more that he was forced to think about it.
"I appreciate the offer, Gale, but I'll be fine." His reply was blunt.
"...I shall remain in here until you are ready then."
With a fluid motion, she turned off the electric lantern and vanished into the shadows.
Slightly sighing, Meta Knight decided to attempt to fall asleep again. Hopefully, this time he wouldn't have any more nightmares.
It was now the next morning. Thankfully, Meta Knight was able to sleep without any more nightmares, though it did take him a while to get back to sleep. If he had to guess, he probably only got three hours of sleep. Better than nothing he figured, remembering several of the all-night training sessions his mentor used to put him through.
Today, he had yet again attempted to work on the report for his mentor, only to return with the same results. He was unable to write it due to memories of the event. To better clear his mind, he decided to take a walk around the Halberd. During his aimless walk, he arrived at the engine room. Everything was fine until the engine began to roar to life. The moment it did, his body completely froze up as he began to shiver. The worst part was those mechanical sounds. Normally, he wouldn't mind them, but now they caused a bout of nausea that made him want to be sick to his stomach.
The next time Meta Knight awoke, he wasn't even sure if he was awake or not. No, he clearly was. However, he had that familiar feeling yet again. He could feel that he was still in his body, but when he attempted to move, there was no response. Yet again, he was merely a passenger in his own body. But the difference between this time and the time this happened with Yin Yarn was the fact that he had zero resistance. Any attempt he made to take control back of his body was met with nothing, like any connections had been severed.
"Huh. I thought you'd be completely under control by now." He heard the voice of that frigid witch of a woman yet again. She stood to the side, crossing her arms in deep thought. "Tell me, what is your name?"
"Model #M-7110 Mecha Knight."
To his own shock, Meta Knight responded like that instantly. It was like the moment he was given orders, any other thoughts shut completely down, and he simply obeyed. It was...utterly disgusting to say the least.
Susie's eyes gained a sinister gleam.
"What is your purpose?"
"To assist the Haltmann Works Company by completing the Mechanizing Occupation Project on Popstar." Meta Knight's body replied in the same emotionless tone.
The secretary then gave a nod. "We've also received word of a pink ball native working on thwarting our operations. So, I feel that I must ask you this: what will you do upon seeing the person known as Kirby?"
"As with all other obstacles, eliminate him."
Hearing these words coming out of his body almost destroyed his soul. They were going to use him to kill his student. Why stop there? They'll probably force him to kill countless innocents just for getting in their way as well. He so desperately wanted to scream, but he had no mouth to do so.
"Lord Meta Knight!"
The knight blinked back into awareness to see that Sailor Dee was shaking him.
"...what is it, Sailor?" he asked, trying to sound as calm as possible.
"Um... I came in here to check on the engine, but then I saw that you were standing completely still and didn't react when I called you. So, I got worried and thought that I should try to shake you and wake you up."
The knight continued to remain silent.
"I see. Thank you."
He then turned his back to the Waddle Dee.
"Uh... sir? If it'll make you feel better, you can talk to me about your problems or even if you just need to vent for a few minutes. I'm actually pretty good at listening to people vent! Then again...I guess that's a bit obvious since I once worked for Dedede... heh heh..."
"I appreciate the thought, Sailor, but it will not be needed."
He walked out of the room without another word. He had been outside long enough.
The moment Meta Knight returned to his room; he heard a familiar voice shouting from the other side of the hallway.
"META-SENSEIIIIIIIIIIII!"
It was obvious who it was, and it made him freeze in his tracks. As he turned in the direction of the voice, he immediately saw Kirby running towards him. It was in that single instant that yet another memory was dragged up from the depths of his mind.
When Meta Knight awoke yet again, he was in some kind of engine room. His body was being suspended in the air, for what reason he didn't know. What he did know was that he was being forced to listen to that witch's singing. Then out of the corner of his mask's eye, he saw his student come in.
"Oh no... please... not now." He thought to himself.
Susie began to monologue to Kirby about how she met an impressive warrior and remodeled him. His body then began to descend slowly to the floor, landing right in front of Kirby.
"Please allow me to present Model #M-7110 Mecha Knight... Engage!" While laughing like a maniac she pressed a button on her remote and he could feel his body getting ready to attack.
"Kirby, get out of here! Run!" He shouted inside his head.
"Meta-sensei, what did they do to you?" Kirby asked while blocking a sword strike with his own sword.
In fact, none of Mecha Knight's attacks even came close to hitting its target. The attacks were way too slow, which was a good thing for the knight. His body suddenly took to the skies using the jetpack attached to him and began firing missiles, to which Kirby used as stepping stones to get close to Mecha Knight. With a mighty slash to his back, Meta Knight felt the jetpack explode sending him to the ground. His body stood up and was getting ready to keep fighting but suddenly it stopped.
"I won't let you!" Meta Knight screamed internally, briefly regaining control, but he knew it wasn't going to last for long.
He forced his body to walk backwards, falling down a pit in the arena. His body crashed onto the ground, and his free will was once again being suppressed. While he was thankful that Kirby got out unscathed, he was still disgusted over being forced to fight his student like that. He did not awaken again until he heard someone speaking.
"I just don't get it. He's supposed to be the strongest employee here."
Meta Knight knew all too well who that voice belonged to. He turned to see that it was indeed Susie.
"Mecha Knight, how did you lose? It's unthinkable that you lost. You machines are undoubtedly superior... so why?" She asked, genuinely distraught.
"Isn't it obvious? You might have my body, but none of its skills. These 'upgrades' you gave me are worthless if I'm not the one in control." Meta Knight thought to himself with a slight grin.
"Oh well, no matter. I'll just need to make a couple of adjustments for next time." The woman gave a slight giggle.
"I'll be sure to be gentle." She said in a faux gentle voice, placing a "loving" hand on the Mecha Knight mask.
Once that memory was over, a new one took its place. It was his second fight against Kirby, this time the battlefield was much more even and even more brutal than the last. For every sword strike Kirby delivered, Mecha Knight + returned in full. Kirby was panting and coughing up blood. The whole scene was torture for Meta Knight. Seeing his student like this and knowing that it was his body doing it. It was enough to almost break his spirit completely. That is until he heard one thing.
"META-SENSEI! PLEASE FIGHT BACK! I BELIEVE IN YOU!" His student cried out.
"Give up, Kirby. Your teacher is gone forever." Susie said coldly. "Mecha Knight +, finish him." She said, only to get nothing in response.
"Mecha Knight +?" The secretary only stared in confusion.
Inside Meta Knight's own mind, he was having an internal struggle, fighting a personification of Mecha Knight and desperately trying to gain the upper hand.
Meanwhile, Kirby got back to his feet and dashed forward, raising his sword and yelling "COME BACK, META-SENSEI!"
With one final slash, the mask was destroyed and with it, Meta Knight finally regained control.
"Meta-sensei!"
The knight was snapped back to reality by Kirby shaking him, making him blink silently in response.
"I'm sorry, Kirby, what were you saying?"
The child gave a look of genuine concern. "You've been acting strangely the past few weeks, is something wrong?"
"Everything's fine, Kirby, don't worry about it."
Upon hearing that, his student instantly pouted in annoyance.
"You big liar! You've barely left the Halberd these past few weeks and cancelled every training session we've had! You've never ever cancelled any of our training sessions unless something's wrong!"
The knight gritted his teeth.
"Kirby, you won't understand this, but I'm an adult. Unlike you, I have certain responsibilities to take care of. One of these is a report I have to write, so would you kindly just leave me alone and go play somewhere else?"
Admittedly, Meta Knight didn't realize the words that came out of his mouth until he had already said them and noticed the tearful look on Kirby's face.
Quickly, he opened the door to his room and shut it. Honestly, he didn't have the energy to lock it. Instead, he went over to his desk and opened up a bottle of what appeared to be lemon drops. He took one and swallowed it in one gulp before sitting down at his desk once more. His mind then recalled the first "physical examination" he had upon his return to the Halberd.
When his eyes opened, he was in a much more familiar room this time.
"The operation was a success, Lord Meta Knight. Your body should be feeling like its normal self in no time."
The knight's mind was still a bit hazy, but he still knew very well where he was. It was Bio Gale's office, with the medic herself washing up after surgery. He made an attempt to move, but his limbs just felt heavy.
"Just continue to lay there for a bit. The anesthesia still hasn't completely worn off yet."
He wanted to speak, but he honestly just felt too tired to. Likely another side effect of the sedative.
"You're going to stay here for at least a day. I'd like to monitor your condition in case any complications from the surgery happen. Don't worry, you won't be having any visitors right now."
It took Meta Knight a moment to process what she meant by those words. Quickly, he put a hand to his face, only to be stopped by Gale.
"Don't do any sudden movements, you're still recovering from the surgery. That's also why I haven't allowed any visitors in to see you."
A feeling of relief washed over him.
"Nurse Gale, how bad was it?"
The kunoichi then walked to her desk and grabbed a clipboard.
"While there was still some machinery left in your body, most of the damage was from when you tore out everything yourself upon regaining your senses."
That's right. That was the second thing he did upon being released from his mind control. The first was to escape because his true face was exposed.
"You needed about...say 33 sutures and four skin grafts. You're lucky I cultured several of your skin cells just in case, or I was probably going to have to ask for volunteers. So please don't do anything too taxing on your body for a while at least until the sutures are ready to be removed. I also disabled and flushed out the nanomachines. I was honestly surprised it wasn't that hard to do."
The knight quietly examined the bandages covering his body. "I genuinely appreciate it."
Honestly, he was happier to get that machinery out of his body more than anything.
Bio Gale then grabbed a bottle from her desk.
"I know you already told me that paroxetine and its related medications are ineffective on you, so I prepared this for you instead."
She handed him the bottle.
"This medicine is to help slow down your heart. As you are still recovering, there's a chance that something can cause immense stress on the heart. This medicine is to help prevent that."
It didn't take long for Meta Knight to understand what she meant by "something".
"Now, I know they look like those lemon drops you sometimes eat, but only take one at a time. Any more than that and it can potentially cause more issues. Understand?"
There was a brief moment of silence as the knight thought about everything he was just told.
"I understand." He replied with a nod.
Hearing this, Gale turned back around and began to walk away towards her desk.
"...Nurse Gale?" He suddenly asked with slight concern over how unusually quiet she became.
"Please don't push yourself too hard, sir. I...no, all of us would be quite sad if anything were to happen to you."
There was something particularly warm about the way that she said that. Honestly, Meta Knight didn't know how to feel about it. While he did appreciate the concern and it did sound like the nurse to be worried about those under her care, the tone she used was one he often didn't hear from her.
Meanwhile in the Halberd's cafeteria, Kirby was trying his best to remain calm while the Meta-Knights were discussing what to do about their leader. All these problems seemed to be going on for quite a while, and it was concerning him ever more.
"I'm really worried about him..." Sailor Dee uttered with a slight shudder.
"What can we do about it though? Each time one of us attempts to speak to him, he just locks himself in his room. Not that I can blame him..." Mace Knight said, with everyone nodding in agreement.
"Maybe a good sparring session can cheer him up?" Axe Knight added.
"I don't think fighting is the answer this time. It's been weeks since he's last even touched a weapon." Trident Knight said.
"Didn't the Head Nurse say he's not allowed to do any sparring, anyway?" Blade Knight asked, scratching his head.
"That was while he still had the stitches in his body. Gale already removed them a few days ago." Sword Knight explained.
"M-maybe we can call that mentor of his!" Javelin gave his proposal.
"You know we can't rely on her forever, you know." Archer sipped from another juice box.
"What do you think, Captain Vul?" Sailor asked, noticing how quiet the second in command was being.
"I think we need to use our secret weapon." He said, focusing his attention on Kirby, who was also equally as silent up to that point.
"Who, me?" The child blinked with confusion.
Vul gave a nod. "That's right. If anyone here can break through to him, it's you."
"But he doesn't want to see me..." Kirby said sadly, remembering what his mentor had said.
"Trust me, kid, he does want to see you. The only thing preventing him from doing so is his fear. He's afraid, Kirby, and you're the only one who can help him." Vul said while placing a wing on the child's head.
That encouragement was enough for Kirby to give a small nod.
Meta Knight continued to quietly stare at the report paper in his office. Its incomplete nature felt like it was mocking him at this point. When he tried to begin writing, he'd stop again the moment those damn memories began to show up. Suddenly, his phone started to ring. The caller was Kurabe, again. For the past few days, she had tried to contact the knight, but to no avail. While he felt guilty, Meta Knight didn't have time to talk to Kurabe. He needed to finish the report. The report meant for Kurabe...
Taking a deep breath, the knight finally went to answer the call, fighting the growing urge to just leave it.
"Hello?"
"Meta, why haven't you been answering?" Kurabe said in a seemingly calm tone, completely devoid of any of her usual dangerous undertones.
Meta Knight knew better, though. This was the tone she used when she was incredibly angry.
"I've been busy, Kurabe."
"If you mean with the report, I already told you to take your time on it."
"Yes, however-"
"There is no "however", Meta. What's the real reason that you've been avoiding me?"
"Forgive me, but talking to people makes me lose my focus when I'm trying to work..." He replied, hoping that excuse would be accepted.
"Tell me the truth, Meta. Now." Kurabe's voice was now noticeably stern, an indication that she was slowly losing her patience.
There was no way he was going to be able to hide this anymore. Especially not without incurring the wrath of his mentor.
He ate a few lemon drops and took a deep breath.
"A few weeks ago, Dreamland was attacked by a group known as the Haltmann Works Company. They wanted to harvest all the resources of the planet and they mechanized the entire land to do it. I attempted to stop them, but the Halberd was shot down by one of their attacks."
There was a moment of pause on the other end, as if his mentor was processing this information.
"I know that isn't all. Talk."
Meta Knight gave yet another sigh.
"I attempted to fight them off on my own while my crew attempted to repair the Halberd. But I was captured by their commander, Susie." He barely managed to prevent himself from vomiting that time. "After I was captured...she tortured me and mechanized me."
There was complete silence on the other end of the line.
"Kurabe?"
Silence.
"...sensei?"
Nothing.
Meta Knight checked to make sure he was still connected to her, which he was. She was most likely trying to gather her thoughts, not that he could blame her. He did just drop a bomb on her, one that no mentor would ever want to hear from their student.
"Meta... why didn't you contact me sooner?" She asked, obviously trying to hold back tears.
Why didn't he talk to her sooner? The answer seemed obvious to Meta Knight.
"Because I can handle things on my own, Kurabe."
"You're lying again, Meta." She uttered.
"I'm not lying."
"Yes, you are!" A third voice chimed in.
Suddenly Meta Knight's door swung open, revealing Kirby, who had been listening to their entire conversation.
"Kirby, I thought I told you to-"
Before the knight could finish that sentence, the child tackled him in a hug, making him fall out of his chair as well.
"Meta-sensei, there's no way you're ok! You've been barely speaking to anyone! You almost never step outside the Halberd anymore! All of your crew has said that you barely even leave your room anymore! We've never ever trained ever since that stuff happened! And..."
At this point, Kirby was in tears.
"...it all hurts. I miss the training sessions and fun we have! I miss just talking to you! And... and... Bandana even said that Dedede's been really upset over what he did... but... but... no... you keep saying you're ok but you're not and it really hurts because it feels like I can't do anything!"
Despite the fractured nature of his words, the knight clearly understood what he was saying in between his sobs. The child's hug began to tighten as he continued on.
"Meta-sensei, please! You don't have to go through this alone! Let me help you! Let all of us help you!"
For a moment, the knight took a moment to think about everything he just heard.
"Am I lying to myself?" Meta Knight thought.
The answer was, quite honestly, yes. He knew deep down that he couldn't endure this pain by himself. He was just too stubborn to admit it.
He managed to pull himself up to a sitting position and grab his cell phone, which had fallen a short distance away from him after being tackled by his student.
"Kirby, sensei, thank you." He uttered, patting his student's head and receiving a teary smile in return.
"Just remember that you can call me at any time if you need help. Oh, and Meta... that other voice... is it that student of yours you've told me so much about?"
"Y-yes."
"I see. Now, that person who tortured and mechanized you...it was Susie correct?" The dangerous undertone in her voice became overpowering at that moment.
"Y-yes..."
His mentor gave a sinister chuckle. "Oh... well she might want to leave this dimension immediately. The moment I lay my eyes on her...I'm going to take pleasure in tearing her limb from limb with my bare hands...to hear her beg for mercy before I snuff out her flame in the most slow and painful way possible...and to think... how when she falls into the very depths of hell, she will remember the wrath of the Lady of Shadows..."
Noting his mentor's ecstatic tone, Meta Knight shuddered. As much as he hated Susie for her actions, a sliver of him couldn't help but feel sorry for her due to becoming the next grudge target. At least Kurabe merely wanted to put Daroach in prison. Susie, she clearly wanted to obliterate from existence.
"Well, I believe I have to go on another mission in a bit. Please remember what I told you, Meta."
"I will, thank you."
"Bye."
"Goodbye."
After Kurabe hung up, Meta Knight looked down at his own student. Either Kirby completely ignored that dark speech she gave or didn't hear it, because he only continued to silently hug him. It was almost like he was asleep. Not having the heart to move him away, the knight simply fell asleep as he continued to be hugged by his sleeping student.
It was then that, for the first time since the incident with the Haltmann Works Company occurred, Meta Knight had a nightmare-less sleep.
Two weeks had passed and Meta Knight, with the support of his crew and student, decided to visit Okino as he had been told. He honestly didn't know if any of this would work but for the sake of his crew and especially Kirby, he would see it through. He was guided through the castle by a small group of Waddle Dees in order to reach the office. Upon opening the door, he saw the psychiatrist reading a book at his desk. For a brief moment, he appeared to be surprised by the knight's appearance at his office, but then quickly became more formal again.
"Welcome back, Mr. Meta Knight. I trust that you are ready to talk now?" He motioned over to the sofa next to his desk.
Wrapping his cape around himself, the knight walked towards it. "Well, yes. I feel like it's worth a try if it means I can get better for my crew and student."
Okino gave a silent and understanding nod. "Now last time, you told me that you hated what happened to you. Will you please go into more detail?"
Eating a lemon drop, Meta Knight began. "It started with a woman named Susie..."
First I'd like to apologize if this chapter is a bit disturbing for some people.
But anyway, this was a chapter I was excited to write since I was going to break the standard "real-time" format of these chapters with this one. Hopefully all of you enjoyed it.
Dragon Of The Ecplising Moon - Earlier in the story, Meta would've definitely gone anyway. I hope this chapter can live up to your expectations!