Meta Knight let out a sigh as he got to his room, looking around. Was it a good idea bringing that brute on board?
His sword hummed and the ruby in the hilt flashed. ("He seems to be doing well as long as you two don't fight.")
"He always wants to fight." Meta Knight brought up.
("I know,") his sword said. Her voice was dripping with amusement and it was obvious she was in no mood to actually help.
Ignoring her with no ill thoughts, the knight headed toward his desk. Blueprints, maps and other nerd things that one interested in history and technology building might have covered every inch of the desk. It was probably an 'organized mess' to nobody but the knight.
'I should clean this up soon,' he mused, glancing over the scattered papers. Meta Knight opened a drawer at random and looked through it, hoping to find...
Ah, here we go. Shiver Star's Map. Exactly where I left it.
...
"I'll organize the papers when I get back." He stated. Whether it was a compromise or a promise he'd never complete, he was satisfied with the way things ended up and left the room, tucking the map into his cape.
He hoped Sailor was faring well with Galacta. The Halberd couldn't afford another blow just yet.
Even with the weird mask, Sailor could tell just how impressed the winged knight was with the large armory. "Meta Knight has collected several weapons over the years, so there's a bunch of things. Swords, hammers, axes..."
"Any lances?" Galacta asked nonchalantly, picking up a spear and eyeing it.
"...Oh. For some weird reason, I don't think he has. Weird."
Galacta groaned in disappointment. "Just as well. Nothing he has will be as good as my lance anyway."
"Whatever you say. Have you seen his sword?" Sailor asked.
"...Once or twice," Galacta responded flatly. "I guess I can make do with a sword..."
"Wait, what? I'm just showing you around. You're not getting anything from here." Sailor stopped in her tracks.
Galacta turned to leer at her, and it was very effective. "What?"
"Uh, well, I mean not without Meta Knight's say-so."
The warrior's red eyes narrowed. It would be that bat's fault.
It is his ship after all. You wouldn't like if someone came to your house and got some things.
Haha. What house.
Galacta blinked. What house indeed? The crystal? How cozy. No, the place he lived...was it the first planet he destroyed? His planet?
Hmn. That sounded about right...was it a two story house or was he just imagining things now?
He lost interest in this, and something caught his eye. "What are those?" he asked.
"What, the maces?" Sailor asked.
"That." Galacta actually pointed now, annoyed.
Sailor stared over at the row of Copy Abilities. "Oh...um, Meta Knight keeps those around in case of an emergency. They're for Kirby."
"Hmm..." He muttered, staring between all of them. "Essences. Why does he have these? He has the permanent Wings and Sword, doesn't he?"
Sailor shrugged. "I just said they're for Kirby."
"Who the hell is Kirby?"
"Uh, this guy who...actually beat Meta Knight. He-"
"What? He's been defeated before!?"
"Uh...Yeah? That's why the Halberd crashed...The second time was because-"
"What did this 'Kirby' character use?"
"...Sword Ability?"
"Sword. Using the same weapon as your opponent. It's a great tactic, yet risky if you don't have the skill to back it up. What a genius. He must have spent years training.
"...Meta Knight just kinda gave him the sword before the fight."
"What. He forgot the sword and...tricked the bat into giving him one...? Or...mind control?"
Sailor blinked. "No...Kirby just didn't have a weapon to defend himself with so Meta Knight gave him one..."
"Why? That's stupid."
Sailor squinted, wondering if the warrior was kidding. It wasn't very funny. "Because it was fair?"
"But he lost."
"In a fair fight."
"But he lost."
"It did take me a while to get used to that, so I guess..."
"He can't lose! He defeated me! Twice!"
Sailor shrugged. "Kirby is pretty strong, from what I saw."
Galacta narrowed his eyes. "Sounds like he is, if he defeated that bat...Hmm...I gotta meet him. And if I kill him, then I'd know I have the ability to defeat the bat. It's perfect."
Sailor couldn't really think of a way to respond to that (except for 'Wow, you're really crazy,'), but thankfully, the warrior's attention span came in handy.
"Is that a knife set?" He practically flew to that shelf.
Was he really so dismissive of things like vowing to kill a kid or destroying planets? What a psycho. Sailor shivered. Now he was looking at the daggers like Dedede does with food. Obsessive, and kind of gross too.
"It seems like he's behaving well enough." Meta Knight observed, suddenly beside her.
Sailor jolted in fear before realizing it was just her captain."Oh," she settled down, "Yes, Sir. Um, we'll be fine as long as there's something shiny nearby. Where'd you find this one?"
"...Some rock." He answered.
She nodded, a bit disappointed, but not surprised. Meta Knight never outright said things, usually for the better. It had taken her a while to get why.
"Put those knives down." Meta Knight called out, "Nova said no weapons."
"He also said that crystal was unbreakable, but look at me, Bat!" Galacta shouted, throwing a handful of knives.
It wasn't difficult to block the daggers with his sword, but it was still annoying. "If you don't stop that..." He trailed off upon seeing the warrior disappear among the shelves, out of sight.
"I don't think he'll stop until you, uh, go get him?" Sailor suggested, before shaking her head. "Is he really a knight?"
"..." Meta Knight sighed. "It was more obvious when we were fighting and not talking."
"Oh." Sailor tilted her head. "I think he stopped somewhere. See? Shiny things!"
"Ugh. Pick up the knives. I'll return in a while."
Sailor saluted as Meta Knight flashed away with his cape. She grumbled under her breath as she knelt down.
Galacta flew lowly between the shelves, scanning quickly. There had to be something like a lance around here. He highly doubted a common weapon would be avoided, if the bat's collection was really this impressive.
He paused and stared at a few select tools. Flails, pole-axes, maces. These were heavier, but he was sure they were used differently than lances. His eyes flitted over to a sword beside them.
Kirby beat Meta Knight with one. Would a different choice of weapon be more efficient...? He closed the grip around the hilt and picked it up to try it out.
It was much lighter for sure. He wondered how well it would go with his shield. Giving it a few test swings, he quickly realized he hated it. He had gotten too used to heavier weapons.
As he was going to trade the sword for one of the heavier selections, he saw the bat appear in the next aisle over out of thin air.
Galacta jumped up with a strong flap of his wings, managing to make it out of sight before Meta Knight turned quickly, alert now. Before he thought to look up, Galacta dove towards him, pointing the edge of the sword at him.
Meta Knight's eyes darted to the attacker, and quickly moved to bring his sword up to meet his with a sharp clang. There was a bit of a struggle to gauge strength, so the moment the blades tilted toward him slightly, the bat swiftly slid his sword off Galacta's and hopped back.
The feathered warrior caught his momentum and gave chase, refusing to let up on the attack as he stayed in the air. This time, he used his shield to block the Bat's sword strike before jabbing his blade forward.
Again, the bat's eyes seemed to track every small movement, giving him the advantage. He went along with the shield strike but tipped his sword in order to deflect it instead of blocking it as Galacta had 'planned.' In the same movement, he slammed it against the approaching sword.
Galacta scowled and swung it a wide arc.
Meta Knight stepped back and caught it with the flat side of his golden sword. "Don't treat it like a lance. It's a completely different weapon. Use skill, not strength."
The warrior faltered blankly, taking a second to register the words. He narrowed his eyes furiously before shouting. "Don't lecture me on how to sword fight while I'm attacking you!"
Flying forward while keeping up the relentless attack, Galacta swung wildly, rage overtaking his ability to fight properly. He noticed the bat backing up gradually and grinned. He had the upper hand!
Meta Knight kept his defense up, blocking each blow with relative ease. It was wild and fast, but predictable. Extremely so. Blocking once more, he finally parried a strike and took a step forward, raising his blade.
He was coming closer- -
Galacta stopped abruptly, which Meta Knight wasn't planning for. Galaxia slid by the space between Galacta's shield and mask, and he stopped himself a bit closer than he had wanted to, but didn't think much of it. Despite the situation, he allowed himself a smile under his mask.
"I win." he said, and couldn't help but laugh. "And you weren't so much attacking as you were flailing wildly."
Galacta's eyes widened as he took in the words and that infuriating laugh, them turned slightly to glare straight at the bat with as much ferocity as he could muster.
Meta Knight paused at the lack of response and made eye contact with the still-hovering knight. He only saw the heated glare briefly before it dropped as soon as their eyes met.
All of Galacta's hate melted away instantly for...some reason. He felt his face flush and suddenly couldn't bear to hold the shared gaze without feeling dumb.
Think of some witty way to respond! Hurry!
His mind scrambled to do so but ultimately came up blank. Was getting closer an option?!
Meta Knight felt a bit awkward at the elongated eye contact, and drew back his sword slightly. Was he being too friendly? Had he overstepped his boundaries?
Too late-! Galacta kicked himself mentally for missing his chance and forgot to flap his wings for a second too long. He fell to the ground with a thud.
"Er..." the Bat stepped back, staring at the fallen lancer, "Wing cramp? It's what you deserve for causing so much trouble."
Galacta wanted to yell at him. Who did that bat think he was? Wing cramps were for rookie pages.
At the same time, there was no other explanation for falling all of a sudden in front of him, and he refused to move until the heat in his face died down.
Thus, the fallen warrior simply groaned tiredly and gave the best reply he could in this circumstance. "Fuck off."
Meta Knight rolled his eyes.