Meta Knight Adopts You

Your Wisdom Outshines My Wit

"I'm so sorry for being so much trouble. I don't mean to hurt you, but I'm a teenager, we do stupid shit, like, all the time, and I hate myself for it. I hate myself for hurting people. I don't wanna do that, and... and I have no regrets about meeting you, you were probably the best thing to happen to me here. I mean, we had a rocky start, but... if there's ever a day we're not together, you will continue to shine like gold in my memories. I'm sorry M, I know you're already hurting, you have every reason to hate me, and I have nothing to hold against you. I'm so sorry." He silently watches me as I give my apology, it will never be good enough, it will never make up for what I did, but I mean every word of it, and I hope he knows that. His silence at the moment is cutting through me, forcing me to replay my mistake over and over, seeing him paralyzed, practically dead because I was selfish. Because I wanted something.

"It's not okay." His eyes, a soothing gray that feel like they should calm me, instead pierce me like stone. "This will never be okay, I need you to know that. This hurt me, and you did that on purpose, some part of you wanted to hurt me. I wish you would've said so instead of letting it fester." His tone is like a disappointed parent like if your dad just found out you broke something of his and hid the pieces away. "You hurt me, you hurt Kirby, you hurt everyone in the palace, and you were going to hurt the people in town too." I don't have the right to cry right now, I have no right, but I can feel my eyes fill with tears, as I fight to keep from breaking down.

"I'm sorry."

"Sorry isn't enough here." He repeats it to himself, more quietly, like he still needs to come to terms with it. "Really Y/N, someone could've died." His eyes never shift from that steely gray color. "You tried killing yourself as soon as you registered what you had done, that shows some form of remorse. You were with N.M.E. for so long, I don't know what they did to you, but whatever happened, in the scheme of things, it wasn't your fault."

"It was!" I will take full responsibility for this! I fucked up!

"I don't know how long you were even yourself. I don't know how long you were subject to N.M.E. and their technology. Time passes differently around him. All I know for certain is that Joe threw you to them, and you came back different. You didn't attempt to hurt us until the king ordered the right monster. I don't even know if you were thinking straight or if you were drugged. Just because your actions weren't correct, that does not mean it was your intention."

"So what?" I wave my hands around as I talk. "You think it's some sleeper agent or something? It's still my fault! I still hurt people, and actively attacked and burned stuff!" My hands fly down at the end of the sentence, only to burst into flames. "What the fuck?" I yell and smack my hands around in an attempt to put them out. "I still have this?" I start crying, Meta Knight sets a hand on my leg, and the fire summers out.

"Y/N, you come from a death world, of course when you feel threatened you'd fight. N.M.E. clearly has you under something. Weather that be a drug or some magic doesn't matter. This is more like hypnosis. You said you get intrusive thoughts, that's likely what it pulled from, the part that would be willing to do something like this."

"I thought I killed you, and I just left."

"I know, and it's not okay, but I understand why it happened." I stare at him silently, waiting for some form of punishment. To be hit, or banished, or disowned or something! But it never comes. Instead, he sighs, lowers his head, and walks out of the room. Leaving me by myself.

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"I... I've been bad... really bad..." I stare down at my pants, flickering a flame on and off at the tip of my index finger. "I haven't had a lighter in a minute, and I'm so awful... I don't deserve... to not hurt..." I start rolling up my pants, exposing the previous burn marks, they're all old and faded. The only reason I stopped was because I didn't want to be hypocritical to my friends about it... but they aren't here, it's just me, and they won't know, they couldn't.

"Just a little bit. Just until I learn my lesson." I move the small flame to my calf and feel it singe my hairs, before quickly giving light burns to my calves. I move it around to different areas as I go, I don't want to get too serious of burns, then I have to go to a doctor. Just enough for it to hurt. And I can go back once they cooled off, and burn them again.

"What are you doing?" A low voice makes me freeze, the flame quickly going out, it only takes a few seconds to process the voice, before I pull my pant leg back over me. "Y/N, what was that?" I just shrug at him, I don't look up, he's already angry at me, how much worse can I make this situation? Why am I so awful? "Let me see you're leg." He grabs the fabric, but I quickly grip it and hold it firmly at my ankles.

"I'm fine."

"Clearly you are not, let me see what has happened."

"I promise, I'm fine!" He pulls it up, curse knight strength, and he just stares at the few new burns I've made. I yank it back down, but he already saw it.

"How did that happen?" His voice is stern, and I shrink back. I shrug again. "How did that happen?" He repeats, and his tone is no less stern this time.

"...I did it." My voice is quiet, practically a whisper. I think if I speak any louder I'll cry.

"Why?" His eyes have gone back to that steely gray from before.

"I... because I... I was bad, I needed to punish myself..." I need to show myself I can't let that happen. I can't just do that!

"Nightmare made me kill my best friend, don't make me watch as he takes another person from me." Silence again, his eyes are still gray, and I can almost see the desperation behind the mask. We just stare each other down. Waiting for a response from me.

"Why do you care?" His eyes flash white, before going back to gray.

"I..." he pauses, and looks away. Neither of us speaks up, waiting for something to break the tension. When he looks back, his mask is off. His face is smooth, it looks like Kirby's, the only difference is the colors. "I care about you. I've known you long enough that I know you wouldn't attempt to kill someone. Not unless you had to. Like I said, N.M.E. made me kill one of my best friends, he changed who he was entirely. I know that wasn't you." He hugs me. I feel tears stream down my face. I hug him tight. I half expected him to make a squeaking noise. It's nice to hug someone. It's nice to hold someone tight, without worrying I'll hurt them.

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"We're a few months in, the time is ticking. Being here alone has really got me thinking, what if Earth just got tired of spinning?" I'm tired again. Fuck low iron.

"Your species sure loves nihilism, huh?" Sword looks at me as I lay on the ground, hands folded and placed on my stomach.

"We might miss a lot, but at least we'll miss it together." It was mid day when he first came in, and now the suns gone down. Like before, the knights have been taking shifts watching me, only this time it's because Meta Knight is worried I'll hurt myself. "Why do I miss people who hurt me?"

"Because it's hard to forget things. Some people say it's better to have loved and lost than to never have loved at all. And sometimes that's true, but most of the time it isn't."

"Why? Why does it have to hurt?"

"I don't know." He shrugs. I can't believe I'm having an existential crisis in front of someone not even half my height.