I have seen it...
That rumored realm. The one nobody returns from.
I drew close, and stared for months, considering if I should go forth and join one of the many others who leave behind their art.
But I dragged myself out of there and back here to continue!
So the next (real!) Chapter of Ships and Computers! Don't let the upload date Fool you! Haaaa... ah.
Meta Knight rolled his shoulders, stretching as best he could without bothering the still healing wound too much. Reclaiming Galaxia was his priority now, and then to search for whatever technology he could get his hands on in this factory.
Grabbing for his mask, he began to bring it to his face but stopped and flipped to see the front.
He frowned. As he feared. It was dirtied. And, he looked closer, was that a dent?!
Of everything that could happen...
Meta Knight decided against using his gloves to wipe it clean and brought up a tiny corner of his cape. He insistently rubbed at the metal to clean it as best he could, but considering the circumstances...
Luckily, what he thought was the dent was just a darker spot of soot than the rest. With a sigh of not-too-much relief (because the mask was still not as polished as it was before, he thought with ire), the knight placed his mask upon his face and clasped the strap.
Letting his cape fall around him as he stood slowly, Meta Knight groaned a bit as he was finally on his feet.
It hasn't been long since he got injured, but it's been much too long since he's last moved around. And though it still stung, it was better than just sitting around. He took out the bottle of the pills and took only one to dull the pain.
When I reobtain Galaxia once more, she can heal my wound completely.
Meta Knight stepped away from the seat to the entrance of the room, intent on accomplishing something. After yesterday's... eventful meal, he had been able to do nothing but wander in his own thoughts and take another dose of the painkillers to fall asleep.
After a few minutes of roaming the hall, he came across an elevator with a strange sense of déjà vu. He pressed the button not expecting much from a worn down and abandoned factory and was proven right. With unease lifting from him for whatever reason as he walked away from the elevator, he sought out the door to the staircase quickly.
Now, standing at the head of the stairs and looking down at the flight before him filled him with determination.
He begun the descent down, content with the simple action of moving.
And moving...
And moving...
Considering that he was in what seemed like an attic to the grand factory, it made sense for there to be so much stairs, of course...
Descending...
Trekking...
Moving...
Now I wish that the elevator worked...
Sigh.
Moving...
I wonder how Popstar is. Hopefully another attack hasn't gone down.
And my Halberd. I trust Sailor to oversee the ship but would she be willing to lead an attack? Maybe I'll teach her the guns on it one day.
Hmm.
I hope all this walking won't make my wound worse.
I doubt there will be another attack. Even if we're weak at the moment, Popstar is a peaceful planet. We keep to ourselves, we have no enemies...
Is my injury fine? ...I think it is.
I wonder how I'll-
He stumbled a bit upon hitting level ground and still trying to walk down stairs. He blinked in surprise.
Oh, I'm at the bottom now.
Wrapping his cape around him, he exited the room to head towards the lobby of the factory.
Galacta was there, still insistently working on the ship. Meta Knight stayed at the edge of the room, watching silently for a few moments. From afar, the ship looked...pretty bad, but not as horrible as he imagined.
Though, he recalled the broken seat and gave an inaudible sigh.
His eyes traveled from the ship to the warrior working on the engine. The pink haired man seemed focused on what was going on under the hood.
...It was nice seeing him so intent on helping. Perhaps they could still get off this planet before long.
"Galacta Knight." Meta Knight called out, observing the sudden cut of attention from the ship to his direction.
Galacta caught sight of him, and wondered when he got there, startled to have heard his voice suddenly. So quiet. "What?"
"I wanted to see how far you got with the ship," Meta Knight responded.
Galacta looked back down at the ship thoughtfully. "Well, I changed the engine."
"What? But that's-with how?" Meta Knight was completely baffled, and made his way to where Galacta stood in front of the ship. He stopped next to him and peered at the mechanics in the ship. "What did you-?"
He paused. Everything seemed to be the same model as before. Was there an identical one lying around here...?
Galacta tried his best to hold back from laughing, but only managed a few seconds. "I was joking. What do you think I could have replaced it with?"
Meta Knight blinked, looking at him. "Factory parts...?" He trailed off, and reddened. "I mean, well, that's what I was wondering!"
The pink haired warrior's laughter trailed to chuckles before he regained his composure.
"...Anyway, I really did work on the engine some. It... started to smoke when I drove it here but it should work better now."
"I'm glad." Meta Knight said, "I plan to go for my sword. I don't like being unarmed for long."
Galacta's right hand clenched into a tight fist. "...Understandable."
Oh. Meta Knight cleared his throat. "Would you like to come along with me? We can use the ship."
"A test run would be good." The warrior agreed with a nod, reaching to slam the hood of the ship down. "I'll go with you."
"That's great. Let's go." Meta Knight replied shortly, turning to the ship itself. He took a few steps to the driver's side and looked in through the window.
"You can drive us." He announced, and without skipping a beat, walked around the ship to the passenger's side.
The horned warrior narrowed his eyes in confusion, still complying and making his way to where Meta Knight stood a few seconds ago. Opening the door reminded him why the Bat chose that.
"Uh...! Hey!" He managed to get out after the knight had already sat back comfortably in the half-seat remaining in the ship. "How come you get that side!"
"I need the comfort." Meta Knight replied, eyes closed and his visor pitch-black.
"Then where am I going to sit!"
"You broke it so I sit here."
"That doesn't answer my question!"
Meta Knight stayed silent, smiling slightly underneath his mask.
Galacta stared at the size of the ship. He could probably stand... but that would look stupid...!
"...!" Spreading his wings wide, he took off to the large doors and flew through and up out of sight.
Meta Knight, surprised at the action, blinked and followed the rapid movement until Galacta was out of sight.
Quite baffled, he silently turned back to the front and sat patiently in his passenger seat. He looked around idly, not really knowing what to do with himself.
The Knight looked up to the rear view mirror, staring for any sign of Galacta's return before catching sight of himself.
"Oh..." He had made a good effort on the mask, but he hadn't had a chance to look in a mirror until now, and he felt absolutely downcast...
His hair was completely ruined. Singed with heat in some parts, fully mussed up, wild.
The battle with the robot...the missiles, the explosion, how couldn't he have realized!
Why hadn't Galacta said anything?
He had a grimace upon his hidden face as he raised his hands to try smoothing it out as best he could.
This entire process was just so much trouble! He never should have planned this mission to Shiver Star.
As he focused on styling his hair as best he could in the mirror, Galacta returned.
Well, first the couch dropped into sight heavily right in front of the entrance, miraculously not breaking. Galacta landed behind it urgently and lifted it up with a grunt, impatiently heading toward the ship with it.
Upon reaching it, he begun to shove the seat in carelessly.
Meta Knight's attention broke from the mirror and his hair when the edge of the seat slid up on his side.
"Hey, careful with that." he said, pushing it away from him, "Make sure it's lined up properly."
"Yeah, okay," Galacta muttered pulling back roughly. "Hold it still."
Meta Knight sighed and twisted in his seat to grab the edges and aligned it with his part of the seat. "Wait, what are you going to do?"
The horned warrior didn't answer and instead leaned down to check the underside of the seat.
"Galacta, how are you going to put it back in?"
Reaching to grab the metal fixtures, the horned warrior shifted it to straighten up the seat and the floor.
"You already yanked it clean off once, will it even work anymore? Galacta. At least use the...!" Meta Knight groaned, and muttered under his breath. "Never mind. You already broke the ejector seat, so what use is there in telling you?"
Galacta Knight began heating up the metal with energy from his hands, focusing on just reaching the melting point as the Bat rambled on in the background about the ship, the condition of it and how much he wanted to fix it.
"...But it doesn't matter what I say now, you aren't even listening! If I had to choose a food to abolish forever, it would easily be pie!"
Galacta blinked as the metal began to mold together and the strangely specific statement registered. "I am listening. I'm just not answering you."
"...Oh."
"Forget what I just said then." Meta Knight said sheepishly.
"Nope," he replied nonchalantly, eyeing the joined metals. He shook them roughly to ensure they would hold. Satisfied with the results, he scooted back from under the seat and clambered into the ship.
"Pie is delicious," he stated as he plopped into the newly re-added cushion and shut the door.
"No." was all Meta Knight said in a very angry, passionate tone. There would be absolutely no changing his mind.
With a final short laugh, Galacta turned the key in the ignition and the engine started beautifully.
Well, as beautifully as an old, crash-landed, and abused ship taken for a joyride and crashed into an elevator then fixed by a warrior with little experience with ships can sound.
"It's louder than before," Meta Knight commented a few seconds before the grating sound lowered to only a constant hum.
Galacta shrugged despite that. "At least it works."
Meta Knight nodded lightly, a bit concerned at the change, but nonetheless content about the ship having a chance to survive. Galacta took that as his cue to start driving forward to turn the ship toward the entrance in a sharp u-turn.
" Meta Knight commented.
Stepping on the pedal, they sped out the factory.
"Do you recall how far the lobster was?" Meta Knight asked Galacta as they traveled along the snowy fields.
"..Lobster?" Galacta echoed.
"Er," Meta Knight blinked. He had noted before that the robot looked vaguely like his Heavy Lobster, but had forgotten that Galacta hasn't seen the robot or even knew his thoughts. "I meant the robot. Those pills, you know." He excused himself vaguely.
"Oh," Galacta replied but still sounded confused. "Uhhh, it was a bit of a flight when you were hurt and it took hours when I drove the ship back while it was busted and slow."
"Hours..." Meta Knight muttered in surprise. He actually had the patience? "You really did fix up the ship then."
"What else did you think I was doing?"
"...I don't know...?" Meta Knight replied, half-truthfully. While he didn't really wonder much of what Galacta was doing while he was cooped up, previous interactions with him wouldn't amount to much favorable scenarios. "Throwing daggers, maybe?"
"I'll still throw daggers at you any day!" Galacta said defiantly, though honestly, that was a little embarrassing now, for some reason. Good thing he was keeping his eyes forward.
"As long as you didn't throw daggers at the ship to fix it." Meta Knight joked lightly.
"I only had the one." Galacta sighed wistfully.
Oh, that's right. He actually does have one. No doubt stolen from my Armory. Should I let it be? He did manage to save me with it, and it's peaceful now. Although, would he steal something more if I don't tell him now?
The knight gave a short sigh. "Just please don't take anything from my Armory again."
"A bunch of weapons you won't use? Why?"
Meta Knight blinked. "It's a...collection," he answered thoughtfully. "A way to appreciate the variety of tools to combat with."
The feather-winged warrior thought of the dagger he had plucked from the displays. It was a nice looking one admittedly, with its engravings.
Fancy, yet still able to withstand my attack.
"I won't take another weapon," Galacta told him, "But as you said, it's difficult being unarmed. I can't have just a shield."
I can't argue with that.
"I'll let you be with that dagger, then... I know it isn't a sword, or lance, but at least you can fight armed."
Although they both knew chances were low they'd have to fight something else... it was nice.
"... I'll, return it to you when I get my lance back." Galacta mustered after a few seconds. "I don't want to lessen your collection."
"I'll appreciate that very much." Meta Knight replied.
There was a comfortable silence for several minutes, the white scenery passing them by in a rush. It was nice to look at while it was calm and he wasn't caught in the middle of a blizzard. Meta Knight wondered how frequent snowstorms were on this planet. A few evergreen plants here and there showcased the planet's ability to still maintain life.
Meta Knight looked away from the window and to Galacta to suggest just that after reaching Galaxia when an unintelligible message came from the radio on the ship.
"Oh, yeah." Galacta spoke up over the scratchy transmission. "It's done that twice already when I was around. What is it?"
"The radio..." Meta Knight leaned forward in deep thought. Only Sailor would contact us, and she knows to contact me only for important instances. "It's for communication."
"And you understand that?" Galacta asked curiously. A secret code...!
"No, it's not supposed to sound like this." Meta Knight eyed the device, hand on it.
"Oh." He replied flatly. "Not very efficient then, huh."
"Well the ship did crash." Meta Knight replied absently as he fiddled with the machine. Feeling for the wires, he gently grabbed ahold of them and followed them to where they connected. He pressed each one into its socket firmly and tried the frequency now.
"... ...ight. This...Sailor Wa... ...Dee. A few... ... have... from the... ... unit is called..... They ...refuse to tell... but you haven't ans... ...a while, so I gave up... ... ... their way... ...I don't know how... ... reach you two ...ship is extremely ... ..
...are you ... Meta Kn...t...? I'm...worried... ..."
There were a few more seconds of static, before it stopped.
Galacta looked over at Meta Knight, and blinked at the green eyes he had.
The blunette was frowning at the garbled mess of a transmisson. It was too unclear to understand. Had there been an invasion on the Halberd? Sailor gave up? The ship was extremely what?! He didn't want to assume the worst with a message he couldn't understand thoroughly, but...!
He felt a hand on his shoulder, which then guided him to lean back in his seat. The pangs of pain at his back that he hadn't even noticed slowly ebbed away.
"We'll get the sword, then double down on fixing the ship." Galacta stated.
"Sailor, my Crew, my Halberd...! If only I could understand it!" Meta Knight replied, thinking about trying to contact her. The radio could barely handle an incoming transmission. He'd have to check the outside panel.
"One thing at a time. We're no help to them right now and you can't understand it so why bother worrying?"
"..." Meta Knight stewed in his own thoughts, still concerned. The horned warrior made a bit of a point, but he didn't personally know the Halberd's Crew. He didn't care so much about them, which was why he was so lax about the alarming message.
After a few more minutes of a tense silence, Galacta noticed the familiar shape of the destroyed robot. "We're close now, see?" He pointed out the silhouette.
"Oh, great." Meta Knight sounded just a bit eager. He was torn between being in the dark about his ship, and having Galaxia in his hands again.
Galacta couldn't help but roll his eyes. From stressing out so much on one thing, the Bat couldn't enjoy every victory he had. The Star Warrior was about to say something about this, but they had finally arrived.
Stopping the ship on the side that the sword resided on, he switched off the engine. "Oh. I hope it can turn on again."
Meta Knight didn't even want to know if he was joking this time or not. He opened the door and turned in his seat to face the outside. It was freezing already. The knight was regretting everything.
It doesn't matter.
Wrapping his cape around himself, the masked soldier braced himself for a few seconds and exited the ship, standing just off of his seat.
Galacta walked around the corner of the vehicle. "...Did you just barely stand up?"
"No," Meta Knight answered. "I was just waiting for you. I'm unarmed and injured. If something attacked suddenly like before..." He cleared his throat and scanned the area in front of him for his blade.
A golden glint caught his eye, and his eyes brightened up. There she was...!
Making his way to where she lay quickly but still with an eye out, he realized that there was what seemed to be melted puddles of snow for some reason...?
"Galaxia?"
Her gem glowed at his voice and he took that as a sign that she was herself. Stepping toward her while doing his best to avoid the slush on the ground from getting on his sabatons and cape, he reached her at long last.
He grabbed the hilt of her sword and lifted her, swinging her once to fling water off of her metal. He pointed her to the sky in triumph. The sentient blade emitted a white flash of light in delight at reuniting, and it reflected the droplets still in the air. A dazzling, spectacular scene.
Galacta stared from the ship.
("My Wielder! I feared the worst!")
I can say the same.
("The last I saw of you was defenseless in front of the mechanic assailant. I was merely thrown out of your grasp, Sir Meta Knight!")
The Knight laughed sheepishly, lowering the blade now and sheathing her. He turned to the ship, taking his time on doing so, stepping over the slush where he could.
I can still be concerned for you. What if you rusted?
("I would never!")
Even with all this water you're sunk in?
("...")
Why were you surrounded by melted snow, by the way...?
("Him.") Galaxia said venomously, prompting Meta Knight to turn to Galacta.
"He melted the snow around you?" He asked aloud in confusion, pausing where he stood. He wasn't far from the ship.
The pink haired warrior blinked to Meta Knight's voice.
("No. He covered me in snow! I melted it in anger. He tried to hold me.")
Meta Knight looked from Galaxia to Galacta. "Did you, uh... try and hold my sword?"
"What? Yeah! I saw it light up and I was gonna bring it to you! But when I picked it up, it shocked me!"
"..You picked her up?"
"But then it shocked me!" Galacta reminded. "What do you have in it?"
(I was led to believe he was you...! That's the only reason why he held me at all.) Galaxia defended herself.
"You mistook him for me?"
("He had your cape and no light shone from the sky.") She explained vehemently.
"What?" Galacta asked. "Who did I mistake?"
"No- I, my Sword did..."
("I did not mistake him! It was only brief!")
"But if you did let him..." Meta Knight shook his head lightly. "Wait. But then why did you melt the snow around you?"
("He covered me. In. Snow.")
You covered Galacta in snow?
...
Oh, no, wait a minute
"You covered my blade in snow, Galacta?"
"The stupid thing shocked me! And how did you know anyway! Do you have a camera there...!?" A camera...!
"No, she told me..." Meta Knight was just a bit disoriented with the thought-speak and piecing together the story here.
The very strange story... Galaxia saw Galacta Knight with my cape and signalled to him. Galacta noticed her and picked her up to return her to me and them was shocked. Then he covered her with snow...?
Do we look similar to you, Galaxia...?
That was thought in amusement, and Meta Knight started chuckling at the absurdity of his blade and current ally yelling at each other over that misunderstanding. If only he weren't the middle-man being yelled at!
He continued laughing a bit as Galaxia stewed a bit in embarrasment and Galacta flustered a bit under his mask. Although, he held his stare.
Pink eyes, now..., he noted.
"Well," Meta Knight started after settling down, "I assure you both that it won't happen again. Don't lure him in, Galaxia, and just ignore my blade, and Galacta Knight, if you don't touch her, she won't shock you."
"Yeah?" Galacta grumbled in annoyance, "I'll send a dimensional rift her way next time."
("Tell him that I'll-!)
"Not necessary, you two." Meta Knight cut in calmly.
And before we go, Galaxia... Would you mind healing my wound?
("A wound...?") A quick look into his memories. ("Oh, my Wielder... I certainly can. That should have been the first thing you told.")
We all get caught up on...things.
Galaxia's power started at his hand and traveled up his arm, healing a few scrapes along the way that he didn't know he had obtained. It then traveled over his shoulder, making him feel more relaxed, and finally to his main injury.
It soothed, closed, and healed the wound -lovingly, in a sense- before it traveled over the rest of his body for any other minor cuts or bruises. After doing so, the healing effect Galaxia granted bubbled away, job accomplished.
Though the slight wind of the magic made his cape and hair billow slightly, it felt comforting and warm, especially in this weather.
Galacta tilted his head slightly at the random wind. He waved a hand. He didn't feel anything.
"What happened?"
Meta Knight stretched out his arms and let his wings spread wide in relief. "I'm better now." He explained happily.
Thank you, Galaxia.
("You're very welcome, my Wielder. I hope you keep a strong grasp on me.")
Meta Knight nodded slightly. He'll be more careful from now on.. It could have easily ended up much worse. Instead of merely a deep cut, he could have been impa-!
"So, are we heading back or what?"
The blunette blinked and nodded again, more obviously this time. "Yes, let's." He agreed, before beginning to walk around the ship.
"Hey!" Galacta flared his wings to jump in the air and land in front of the driver's door. "Nope!" He exclaimed holding his open palm out to stop the Bat. "I'm driving both ways, get back to the passenger side."
"But I'm-"
"Nah."
"Galacta, I'm-!"
"Uh-uh."
"I'm better now..!"
"Nope."
"I was only letting you drive because-!"
"I don't care."
"-Because I was hurt-!"
"You snooze you lose."
"I was not sleeping!"
"You're on drugs."
"Only one pill!"
"You called the robot a lobster and you were talking with your sword."
"Ah, but that was just- I only-!"
"Too late!' Galacta took a step back and grabbed the handle.
"This is still my ship, Galacta!"
"I fixed it so I'm driving!" He pulled the door wide open.
"You broke most of it!"
"Still fixed it!" He said, diving in.
Meta Knight sighed as the door slammed shut, though he couldn't really be annoyed. Maybe because he was just healed. It was... very nice right now. The air was still, he felt a lot better, and things were... kind of being accomplished right now.
The engine started near flawlessly and a muffled "Come on, Baaaat!" Was called out to him. With an uplifting feeling, he jumped up and soared over the ship with a small twirl before landing with a plompf in the snow. He entered the vehicle and sat, more comfortable than ever.
"Fine, but I'm driving us back to Popstar." He told him, leaning in a bit.
Galacta stared at him, grinning but saying nothing, silently accepting that challenge. He also noticed the pink hue again. What does it mean?
Starting to drive along the way to the factory again, Galacta meant to ask but started to think about something else.
"Hey. Are you hungry?"
"Hmm? Oh... I am. We haven't eaten yet, have we?"
"No." He replied, turning the wheel suddenly to the right and changing their direction. "C'mon."
"What?" Meta Knight held on tightly, not like he had a choice. "Where could we be going here?"
"You'll see."
And...happy late Birthday, Meta Knight. ^-^