Anyway, thanks sooo much for the reviews! :D They lift my spirits, and I'm super glad that my story's been enjoyed so far! The last chapter was also incredibly cute to write!
Hope you enjoy this chapter, guys...
Alarms blared and the lights flashed red in the starship, making Meta Knight jolt awake. He didn't notice how close the other knight was, and instead grabbed on to the helm automatically.
"..." He looked around the control panel to figure out what happened. The auto pilot was fine, so what...?
Oh. Meta Knight felt a bit sheepish as he saw the 'engine failure' symbol lit up. He supposed that barrel rolling twice on such an old ship would probably not be good for it...
Tapping a few times on the helm, Meta Knight contemplated what to do. Of course, a groggy mind and sleepy panic hardly helps anything.
He suddenly remembered the other person on the ship, and he turned, shaking him. "Galacta Knight, get up. How can you not be awake yet."
"Ugh, leave me alone," Galacta groaned, placing a wing to cover his face. "Shut that thing up too while you're at it..."
"If I leave you alone, you'll explode!" Meta Knight blinked and felt his face, "Oh, my mask. Where is it...?"
Since this was the obvious priority, the bat looked around. "Get up!" he ordered, "I have to have my mask, then I'll land it on Shiver Star..." Meta Knight glanced out the window. "Are we even here?"
The marvelous white planet slowly turned down below. It was a breathtaking sight. Clouds as white as the planet's perpetual snow swirled around the atmosphere, letting more snow fall slowly to the ground. Even from far, there where shimmering glints of silver from the abundance of factories that made Shiver Star renowned.
"Yes," Meta Knight muttered amidst the still-blaring alarms while looking at the map of Shiver Star (and not Shiver Star itself, for some reason) closely. "We're here."
He kept looking at it for a few seconds before remembering that the engine was making them hurtle toward the planet below. He rolled up the map and turned to the still sleeping warrior. "Galacta Knight, wake up," he ordered, emphasizing each word with a swift strike.
"Get away from me!" The warrior griped, removing his wing and glaring up, "I let you sleep, now leave me alone."
The change in his voice would unsettle almost anyone else, but Meta Knight just looked annoyed. "The ship's already too old to handle long distances, and your little stunt yesterday caused all of this."
"My stunt?" Galacta asked with a laugh. "You're the one who spun the ship around!" he had to struggle to not look at the scratch his horns had caused.
Meta Knight ignored that bit. "So, even if this is your fault, I'll forgive you."
Galacta blinked, and tilted his head ever so slightly. "Wait a minute. The ship's falling?"
Meta Knight briefly wondered if he was serious, but shook his head. "We'll have to prepare for the crash land. I can steer as best as I can toward the ground but with nothing keeping us in the air, we'll still crash."
"I know how crash landings work, Bat." Galacta grumbled.
"I'm sure you've had your fair share," Meta Knight replied, noting that Galacta hadn't interrupted him this time. "Move over, I'll be controlling the ship."
Galacta sat up, and moved over just an inch or two. Meta Knight rolled his eyes but made his way to the main seat behind the wheel, where he also found his mask. Seeing that, Galacta remembered and reached down to pick his mask off the floor.
"Okay..." Meta Knight stared at the row of buttons before pressing a few. He turned off auto-pilot, the alarm, and the engine symbol. He tilted the direction of the ship so it slanted towards the planet. "We'll be landing in just a few minutes, so brace yourself..."
The starship skidded along the ground, throwing clumps of snow everywhere. It traveled a fair distance before coming to a stop several feet under a mound of snow. It was still for a while until the hatch on the ship opened.
Meta Knight climbed out, sliding down the edge of the metal. "That was a relatively stable landing, if I say so myself." As Galacta clambered out, the Bat checked his cape to make sure if he had everything.
"I've done better," Galacta told him, "I told you I've driven before. I could have landed much better than yo-" His hand slipped off the edge and he fell face first into snow.
"That's nice," Meta Knight said nonchalantly, staring at the map. "I think we're a bit away from the factory..."
The warrior scrambled up. He didn't see me, did he? He brushed himself off quickly and glanced at the Bat. He shivered a little, the cold kicking in.
...
Meta Knight looked up. "Or...hmn." He looked back down.
Galacta frowned. "What, did you get us lost?"
"No. I just wasn't planning for the crash land."
"Let me see." Galacta demanded, holding out his hand.
"No." Meta Knight replied.
"Let me see," the warrior insisted, stepping forward.
"No!" Meta Knight turned away, "Just go fall in the snow again."
He saw it.
Galacta flustered. "You're going to get us more lost than you already did, Bat!" He reached forward to grab the paper and managed to hold onto a good portion of it.
"Stop, you're going to rip it!" Meta Knight tried to twist the paper out of his grip to no avail. He stepped forward as Galacta inched it toward himself. "I know where we're going, I've been here before!"
"By crashing?!" Galacta raged. He stepped back even more, "Just let me see it! There's no harm to it!" He lifted it up and managed to get the map out of the Bat's grip. "There we go!"
"Give me that back!" Meta Knight tried to grab on to it, but the white-winged knight held out of reach, turning and spreading his wings wide to prevent him from reaching the paper. It was too late...
"..." Galacta stopped and stared at the paper. Did they change the format of maps when he was in the crystal...? No, wait... "This isn't a map..." he muttered, looking back at Meta Knight to elaborate.
The Bat had his cape wrapped around himself, his visor pitch-black. "...It isn't." he confirmed.
Although it was easy to figure out why, Galacta decided to mess with him. Finally, he had an edge up on him. He turned to look at him fully, and held up the paper that wasn't Shiver Star's map. "It's a blueprint."
"Yes."
"You were acting like it was a map."
"...Yes."
Galacta shook it to prove a point. "Why?"
Meta Knight sighed, looking at a mound of snow elsewhere. "I may have grabbed the wrong document from my desk...and brought that along instead of the map..."
The pink warrior let out a short laugh. Then, when Meta Knight met his eyes in confusion, he burst out into laughter and let the paper flutter to the snowy ground.
"..." Meta Knight frowned, reddening under his mask. "It isn't..." he stopped, realizing that Galacta was simply ignoring him as he laughed nonstop. He stepped to where the blueprints were and snatched it up, placing it in his cape. "Be quiet." he mumbled.
He didn't, not for a good while longer. Eventually, Galacta caught his breath. It felt great to laugh, especially at something stupid the Bat did. ...Silly...
Galacta sighed, and looked over. "So should we just try and find the factory?"
"We're lost." Meta Knight said miserably.
"We can fly."
"Snow and wings don't go together."
"Right," Galacta hummed. "Our best bet...would probably be choosing a random direction and heading there."
"...I'm not fond of the idea of wandering aimlessly." Meta Knight told him.
"We wouldn't have to if somebody didn't bring blueprints!" With his voice tinged with pure amusement, he flicked the Bat's mask and walked ahead a few steps. "So, where do you want to go?"
Meta Knight adjusted his mask, but decided that he partially deserved that. "Starting from the ship, we'll head to the west."
"...How far did you want to walk...?" Galacta mumbled, trying his best not to shiver. He had one of his wings in front of him to prevent too much snow and wind from getting on his visor, but it was beginning to feel numb. He switched wings, hoping it'd make a difference.
Meta Knight thought about this for a few seconds. "A while longer. We can head back and stay in the ship again if push comes to shove. We can stay in the factory when we find it, to regather ourselves. It's abandoned."
Galacta flexed his wings out, then folded them back. "Okay. I can bear that long." He stared at his shield and held it in front of him in a second attempt to be less cold.
"Great." The Bat adjusted his cape closer and let out a sigh. "Do you think..." He glanced over, and trailed off when he saw the ridiculous stance Galacta was holding against the wind.
He struggles more with the wind than he did fighting me.
("Even so, he does seem uncomfortably cold.") Galaxia spoke up. ("Don't you have anything to offer him? It would be in your best interest to keep him content.")
Meta Knight thought about the contents stored in his cape. There wasn't much. He only put the most necessary things in it.
("Like blueprints?")
He ignored that, and glanced over at the other warrior. "Do you...er, my cape is great at keeping heat in."
Galacta turned to him. "...Okay?" he grumbled, annoyed. "Is that your idea of small talk?"
He's taunting you.
Meta Knight paused. "No. I meant that, well. Would you like it for a while?"
His glare softened up. Oh...he was offering it up to keep warm. That changed things. Galacta reddened a little and turned to the direction they were heading.
"I was imprisoned for decades and couldn't move a muscle. I don't need anything like comfort! I'm the strongest warrior in the galaxy!" Galacta declared, spreading his wings proudly.
Meta Knight restrained himself on pointing out that Galacta wasn't anymore. He was. Clearing his throat, he spoke up. "So is that a no?"
Galacta paused for a few seconds. The wind was starting to pick up and it was really starting to irritate his wings. He sighed. "Yeah, okay."
The Bat took his cape off for him, flapping his wings once at the sudden rush of cold. He could manage it for a while, and he held it out for the pink warrior. "Just be careful, items stored inside can easily fall out if you-"
"Yeah," Galacta said, practically snatching it. That, and the biting wind waved the Dimensional Fabric around wildly. A whip fell out.
Wait, a whip?! Galacta's eyes widened. What. What?
"Oh..." Meta Knight picked it up by the handle. "I used to dabble in this..."
What?! Was he a sadist? Masochist?! Galacta's face would have been hot if it weren't for the icy wind.
"In the end, I decided to just stick with swords."
S-swords? Wait, no...
"Oh! You meant the weapon you used in battle."
"Yes...?" Meta Knight absently ran his hand along the length of the whip and began to coil it. "What did you think I meant?"
Galacta stared, his eyes following the motion of his hand. This Bat. "Nothing." he replied flatly.
"In that case, would you mind storing it back in my cape?" Meta Knight asked, holding out the coiled whip.
Galacta didn't want to touch it, but refusing it would be questionable. He tentatively moved his hand to the whip's handle, grabbed and flicked it rapidly back into the cape.
Now that's over with...
He felt proud of himself for taking care of that pretty well. He looked back at Meta Knight. The Bat was staring at him strangely. "What?" he asked.
"Uh...is the cold too much for you?" he asked.
"Too much? What did I just say about not needing comfort?!"
"Right...well, just put the cape on and we can continue." Meta Knight urged.
Galacta wrapped the cape around him fluidly. It was really strange. His wings were stored away in the Fabric, but it didn't feel cramped.
And it was extremely warm.
That's why the Bat was always snuggled in it comfortably, that little hedonist.
...
Galacta grabbed the edges of the cape and did the same thing, gauging the feel. ...Dang it, it was comfortable. He didn't want to admit it.
Meta Knight couldn't help but get a light blush on his face and he turned away. Was Galacta imitating him? For someone who was intent on taking the title of strongest warrior back, he was certainly being rather...flattering.
("Do you feel flattered?") Galaxia mused.
Or something...
Meta Knight turned back to Galacta cautiously. "...Ready to keep going?" he tried his best to keep the waver out of his voice.
The now warm warrior looked at him, "Might as well. My wings aren't numb anymore."
"Okay..." Meta Knight muttered. He walked ahead and avoided looking at the warrior. He wouldn't be able to handle seeing him walk like he usually does with the cape.
The two knights trudged along through the snow, and the wind was starting to pick up increasingly.
Meta Knight weighed the chance of this direction being the way to the factory against the time they needed to get to the ship before dark. "Perhaps we should start heading back. We can try again tomorrow..."
With the icy wind and biting snow, Galacta didn't seem to hear him. "Galacta Knight." Meta Knight called. With a sigh, the Bat stepped closer and tapped him to get his attention. "Galacta."
Finally the warrior turned. "What?" He said, but Meta Knight could barely hear him.
He leaned closer to be heard without raising his voice. "I think we should get back to the ship for today. The factory probably isn't this way."
Galacta froze, hearing the statement this time but focusing instead on how close he was.
Why does he keep doing that?
"Uh..." Galacta mumbled, eyes glancing to the west as Meta Knight patiently waited for his answer.
He keeps getting in your space so...
React to it.
Kiss?
Kiss.
...Okay.
No!
Galacta raised a hand to his mask a bit hesitantly. He was dead set on doing so, but was still a bit...shy? Embarrassed? Uncertain?
But he, as strong as he is, would never back down from anything he decided to do, be it destroying a planet or kissing an irritating bat.
Meta Knight stared at him, a hint of concern for how long it always took Galacta to answer things. "Or do you think..." he began, trailing off.
Suddenly, there was a large crash, and the two knights turned quickly. Coming from the snowy expanse, a large robot with a shadowy underside stomped into sight. It look rusted and in bad condition, but its claws were sharp. It reminded Meta Knight of Heavy Lobster...
The two stepped back, braced for battle. Looks like they were headed in the right direction...
Despite the situation, Galacta was understandably disappointed.
Do you guys remember that episode of the anime where Meta Knight inexplicably saves the kids with a whip and then wraps it in his cape never to speak of it again? Yeah, I do too.
Anyway, there's going to be traces of elements of the Kirby anime in this fic, since it's the best place for characterization. Also, the old robot is HR-E from Kirby 64...just in really bad condition, since it was never shown to be destroyed completely by Kirby.
I think that's all the explanation I have for this chapter. If you do have any questions, feel free to ask away.