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It was a normal day for Susie. She woke up at precisely six hours and twenty-five minutes in the morning and five minutes later she had already changed into her uniform, brushed her hair, read her appointments for the day and was locking the apartment’s door.
As usual, she checked for new emails on her tablet on her way to the café she had breakfast at. Most were automatic reports from her automated robot employees or trash and she quickly deleted those. The two remaining ones, a new contract request and a delicate report on a recent malfunctioning of one of their products (operating way over the recommended conditions, mind you) had been dealt with by the time she entered the small coffee shop.
Her order, a large coffee and six medium-sized cheese breads, was always the same. This time, however, Susie called the waitress just as she turned around.
— Excuse me, there has been a mistake — she gestured at the small candy on her plate, next to the cheese breads — I did not ask for any chocolate.
— Oh, that’s on the house.
— Pardon me?
— It’s Dia dos Namorados , so clients get a free chocolate for each order. I can get another type if you don’t like this one.
— No, no, this is fine… — Susie smiled and proceeded to eat.
By six fifty, she was leaving the café and precisely ten minutes later she had arrived at her weapon-selling stand in the courtyard of Castle Dedede. Strangely though, all other stands were empty.
Or almost all. Magolor was standing with a very bored expression at the Shoppe, right next to her stand. He greeted her when she arrived.
— At least someone didn’t abandon me here — he commented.
— What happened? Where is everybody?
— Out for the holiday, of course. It’s Dia dos Namorados . I bet everyone will be here at the park in the afternoon, but right now there’s nobody. I don’t think we’ll sell anything before five. Even Marx left me alone to try and get free candy with the children.
That was odd, but Susie was already starting to get used to the Dream Landers’ habit of taking as many holidays off as they could.
Magolor was right and they didn’t sell anything that morning. The one time someone showed up, it was the children (and Marx) trying to see if they had free candy to give, just to leave empty-handed shortly after Susie’s failed attempt to sell them a bazooka.
At eleven forty-five, the secretary closed the stand for lunch and left. It was Wednesday, and like every Wednesday, as part of her business partnership (and as a way for them to keep an eye on each other), she would have lunch with Meta Knight.
They met at the recently-built second floor of Kawasaki’s restaurant which was always empty for their weekly meeting, mostly due to the villagers’ fear of interrupting their conversation. The knight had already been there, standing at the end of the staircase, for five minutes when she arrived, at exactly twelve in the afternoon. He didn’t have his sword and she didn’t have her blaster.
Meta Knight held the chair for Susie, then sat down. Each of their movements was cold, steady and calculated. Neither felt at ease in the other’s presence. A waddle dee came to take their order.
They didn’t wait for their food to arrive before starting to talk. It had been a surprisingly uneventful week since their last official encounter, without any major delays, explosions or bugs to be dealt with. Therefore, by the time their order arrived, most of the topics they needed to discuss had already been gone over.
To their surprise, the trays were brought by Kirby, Bun and another random cappy child Susie didn’t know the name of yet. They were all so similar.
— What are you kids doing here? — she asked them.
— Kawasaki said he’d give us a lot of chocolate if we helped him with lunch! — Bun replied excitedly, nearly dropping the rice.
— He said it gets really busy and he really, really needed our help! — the cappy added, carefully placing a bottle of wine on the center of the table.
Susie raised an eyebrow. Se was pretty sure that child labor was a crime, even in a hole like Popstar, but anything she was going to comment was forgotten when Kirby started jumping up and down for being able to not drop the plates and tableware. Meta Knight patted him on the shoulder and gave him a lollipop from a pocket of his jacket.
— Do you keep those stashed for him? — she asked with a smile as the children ran down the stairs.
— Um… I… — he cleaned his throat.
Susie disguised a chuckle as an elegant cough.
— Well, you were talking about the Artificial Gravity System? — the secretary changed the subject, serving her meal.
— Yes, of course. — the knight took off his mask and also started to serve his own plate — There has been a problem with the software’s last update which has caused the gravity pull to double.
— I’ll see to that. — Susie cut a piece of steak — Is there anything else out of order?
— No, not that I have noticed. — Meta Knight pushed some peas around his plate — What about you?
— Nothing either. — Susie ate the piece of steak.
— Well, that’s good… — Meta Knight ate a slice of tomato.
— Yes… — Susie ate some rice.
They fell in an awkward silence. There were usually many more things to discuss, but with their projects going as smoothly as a recently-polished plate of silver there wasn’t much to talk about.
Both drank a sip of wine.
If their eyes were lasers, an observer would notice two pairs of dots wandering around the room, avoiding each other.
Should Susie say something? Make up a problem? Create a new product idea off the top of her head? Stay in silence?
She peeked at the knight at the exact moment he peeked at her, then both looked away.
Susie ate a lettuce leaf. She had to say something, hadn’t she? But if Meta Knight still hadn’t started talking, maybe he didn’t want any small talk. That was a business meeting, technically…
Thankfully, the cappy child from before (or was it another?) showed up before she had to decide.
— Kawasaki is asking if you’ll want dessert. If you ask later, it may take a while to be finished.
Thank Nova.
— Do you have a recommendation?
The child thought for a moment — The strawberry sundae is on a discount.
— I’ll want that one.
— Yes, me too. — Susie joined in.
The ice that the child had broken formed again. Meta Knight started tapping his foot on the floor, but stopped when he noticed the loud sound his metal boot made. Susie was facing a similar problem with her high-heels.
That was it, she had to say something.
— Do you… — she started.
— So, you… — he started at the same time.
Both stopped speaking.
— You can talk — Meta Knight waved at her.
— No, no, I wasn’t going to say anything important — photographer drones, what was she even thinking ?
— You, uh… — Meta Knight cleared his throat — You like strawberry sundaes…
— Yes… well, it’s not my favorite dessert, but it’s not a bad one either.
— Yes, of course, I agree…
Dead silence fell again as they took another sip of their respective glasses. They had finished their meals. How long would the dessert take to arrive? They shouldn’t have asked for it.
Susie started playing with her hair clip, but realized that looked childish and stopped. Meta Knight tugged at his cape a few times.
Susie wanted to get under the table and never leave again.
Steps were coming up the stairs.
— Dessert is here! — Meta Knight exclaimed, a bit too loud. He cleared his throat again and corrected, in a lower voice: — I mean… it seems our dessert is read- it has arrived.
Kawasaki was walking surprisingly slow that day.
— Heeere you go! — he happily placed a large cup on the table — Enjoy!
— Uh, Kawasaki, I think there has been a mistake — Susie had a déjà-vu feeling as the knight spoke — We ordered two sundaes, not one.
— Hm? — the chef pulled out their check — But it’s written here that you ordered the Lover’s Special.
Susie’s face heated up so fast that she felt like her head would explode.
— NONONONONO!
— WE DIDN’T-
— IT WAS A MISTAKE, WE-
— I- SHE- WE-
— THE KID-
— THAT’S NOT-
— Oh, my, it seems that Honey did mess things up a bit. I’m sorry for the inconvenience, what was it that you wanted again?
— One normal sundae for me — Meta Knight muttered, his hand covering his eyes.
— Another, separate normal sundae for me — Susie squeaked from behind her hair.
— Separate orders, Kawasaki.
— Alright, I’ll be back in a moment! — the chef seemed truly oblivious of his clients’ deep embarrassment.
Silence fell again, but this one lasted much less as they gave in quicker to the pressure.
— Why is a dish with a name like that even on the menu? — Meta Knight groaned, not daring to look at the secretary.
Susie whispered something. The knight made a “huh?” noise.
— Dia dos Namorados .
— Oh, I had forgotten that existed. And why have an entire special dish just for that?
— I know, right? — Susie started laughing nervously. Her voice was higher than normal and she noticed it — That’s so weird! I mean, why do they care so much about a random day?! Dream Landers do love holidays! — Meta Knight didn’t reply. Oh, Nova. Susie let go of her hair, waving her hands — No, I mean- I- I don’t mean they are lazy, of course, I just mean…
His shoulders started shaking. Was Meta Knight… chuckling ?
— Yes, they do love a day off work. But didn’t you celebrate holidays in H.W.C.?
— We did… kind of. I mean, we put up some decorations, but work just resumed as normal. Even in Dia dos Namorados I’d just get a box of chocolates and forget about it until it started stinking. But what I truly don’t understand is why have a day to value one’s partner. If you don’t value them the rest of the year, what good is one day?
Meta Knight tilted his head in agreement. Kawasaki showed up again, this time with the right order, plus a dozen brigadeiros to make up for the mistake. They ate in silence for a while, but this time it wasn’t so awkward.
— Have you ever dated someone before? — Susie let out before being able to stop herself. Luckily, Meta Knight ignored the extreme unprofessionalism and replied:
— No. Never had the time. You?
— Same — she muttered.
They finished eating and stood up. The brief moment of relaxation hadn’t been enough to ease their awareness of each other, though, and they left the restaurant with the same precise, calculated movements from when they arrived.
Once outside, the knight asked:
— Are you busy this afternoon?
— I intended to go back to my stand, but it might be a waste of time. I don’t think anyone is going to buy weapons today of all days.
— Would you like to go somewhere?
Susie halted.
What?
— My entire crew will be out because of the holiday, so I don’t have much to do. If you don’t want it, it is fine, but I thought that maybe a casual meeting would be more interesting than a lonely training routine.
They stared at each other for an entire minute, making some passersby run away in fear. Both were equally aware of the risks of being so close for so long, but it was also an opportunity to watch each other for any suspicious behavior.
And, after all, what did she have to do? Sit in her apartment all day and scroll through piles and piles of read emails when she could be enjoying the sunlight with her favorite test subject, who conveniently wanted to hang her head by the door?
That could actually be interesting.
— I accept your invitation.
Casual clothes, casual clothes… Susie didn’t have many. She couldn’t remember needing many, to begin with. Her usual outfit was just her usual shirt, skirt, heels and haltonium hoodie. She could even go with those, but perhaps a serious look would make the villagers anxious.
Scavenging through the depths of her drawers, the secretary found a light green T-shirt and black shorts she didn’t even know were hers and after half an hour looking for a pair of boots she remembered seeing a few months ago, she found them behind the couch.
That looked casual… right?
Well, it would have to do.
Susie still had a few hours before the appointed time and she spent all of them lying down, playing on her communicator, thinking about what to do.
That day was going to be wonderful. Spending time with her favorite test subject of all as… well, she wouldn’t say friends… as a harmless ally, observing, acquiring information, assimilating his behavior in a non-threatening environment for the first time! The secretary smiled when she thought of that.
That smile was erased when she remembered there was still an obstacle in her way to get her experiment back; his fear. It was a major inconvenience, since she couldn’t just talk him into getting his body upgraded anymore, but it also tugged at her own pride. There weren’t many beings in the universe who could say Meta Knight was afraid of them.
Why was he doing that? So far, the knight refused to even be alone with her in a closed space. And now he was inviting her to go to a amusement park in a casual meeting? What was going on?
Well, it was time to go!
Susie put on the clothes she had picked earlier and tied her hair in a ponytail before going to the door. Right before leaving, her eyes fell on her haltonium hoodie, discarded by the arm of the sofa. Without thinking twice, she put it on, leaving the hood off, and closed the door.
Just to be greeted by the unnerving feeling that someone was taking something too far.
Anywhere she looked, there were hearts. On doors, on food, hanging on wires tied to lamp posts, on people… there was a dense scent of chocolate impregnated in the air, clinging to the insides of her nose and making her want to cough and so strong that she could actually taste it. And everywhere, there were couples. Hugging, holding hands, laughing, kissing. That was such a twist from earlier, when everything was mostly empty. Why was there such a commotion?
She was two minutes behind schedule. Susie snapped out of the confusion and marched to the castle, trying not to get tangled on the hanging hearts.
Somehow, despite having been pushed around by distracted couples and having her path blocked by endless lines of people desperate to buy some random dessert, she managed to get to the central square in time still looking presentable.
It wasn’t difficult to spot Meta Knight, or actually Kirby, who was sitting on his shoulders, his arms overflowing with candy, easily towering over the locals. And he was wearing his exact same attire as every day. Susie didn’t think he had any clothing apart from that uniform.
Upon seeing her, the knight put Kirby down and let the child run away, probably to get more candy.
— Haltmann — he greeted with a nod.
— Meta Knight — Susie retorted.
They stared at each other for the second time that day. Without her heels, the difference in their height was even more accentuated, but that would never intimidate the secretary. Both knew who was scared of whom there.
— Shall we depart? — Meta Knight said suddenly, stepping aside and gesturing to the path behind him. Susie walked next to him, keeping a good meter of distance between them.
Navigating around the town wasn’t easy, even if most people ran out of their way upon seeing them. Meta Knight almost got stuck in the wires with paper hearts several times. People talked loudly. The sweet smell was suffocating. After a short while, they decided to go to the amusement park at the castle. Hopefully it wouldn’t be so crowded.
It was, but with people scattered around the wide space and not squeezed in a tiny street, it was more endurable. And it didn’t smell like the air was made of gaseous glucose.
Magolor was still at the Shoppe, throwing a gem apple up and down, clearly less bored than in the morning. There was a half-empty tray of halcandran-shaped chocolate, dome strawberries on a stick and a small chocolate fountain for display.
— Are those brigadeiros? — Susie asked, pointing at the tray.
— I tried the recipe you gave me. I spoiled it a few times, but now I agree, this thing is delicious! It’s selling like water, too, I had six more trays and they were gone in an hour.
— I told you. Wait, you spoiled them ? How do you spoil brigadeiro? That’s impossible.
— Then I did the impossible — Magolor chuckled — They were so bad that I couldn’t eat them, so I gave them to Marx. He liked them, but Marx eats paper, so he isn’t much of a standard. But what are you two doing together, by the way?
— We’re spending an afternoon on friendly terms. — Meta Knight replied.
Magolor looked from one to the other, his eyes narrowed.
— Sure… Well, do you want to buy something?
— Since you’re saying you used my recipe, I’ll want five brigadeiros. — Susie looked at the halcandran-shaped chocolate — And the trick to giving them ears like that.
— That’s called magic — the wizard chuckled, floating the brigadeiros into a package.
— Are those really that good? — Meta Knight asked.
— My favorites ever since I was a child. My father used to give them to me when I solved bugs on softwares and when I was in a bad mood. When I started working for H.W.C., I’d make them for him on tiring days. — she had a distant smile on her lips — I miss those days… I mean- Yeah! They taste great!
Meta Knight gave Magolor a coin — I’ll take two then.
They paid and left to walk around. Susie’s brigadeiros were over in a minute. Meta Knight’s ones, she didn’t even see what he did to them, but they weren’t there when she looked.
— So, where should we go? — he asked her.
— What do you have in mind?
— How many of the park’s attractions have you been to?
Susie needed a second to try and remember any.
— None. I am always too busy to go to parks.
— Well, then pick one.
That was hard. Susie always picked the exact same brand of crackers at the market because she didn’t know how to choose one, and the market in Dream Land only had four of them. How was she going to pick a park attraction that was fundamentally different from every other?
She had to consider the fun to boredom ratio, the innovation factor, the popularity of the products, the risk of malfunctioning…
— Or you can just pick one — Meta Knight’s voice had a tight smile on it. The secretary noticed she had been saying all that out loud.
— Um, what about… — she looked for the closest thing that looked interesting — the Spinning Wheel?
The step that the knight took further from her did not escape her.
— Better not… — he muttered. Susie agreed. She didn’t want to have to deal with any lethal attack in such a closed space.
— That one!
Meta Knight looked. It was a shooting stand. Those types of attraction were the easiest ones to be altered, usually by compromising the toy guns and making their precision more than questionable. Somehow, however, Susie only missed one and walked out with a Dedede plush.
— I’m the best shooter at H.C.W. — she explained to his stare — They could have tried harder to mess with that gun. Aren’t you going to try?
— I’m not exactly allowed to. — he shrugged.
— This guy cheats! — the waddle doo in charge of the attraction explained — He never misses one shot and Kirby has every toy from the stand!
— It’s not true — Meta Knight whispered to her as they walked away — I’m just good at it.
They started laughing.
Next, the pair went to the large rollercoaster. Some of its loops were taller then the castle itself and a lot of turns looked far too dangerous for nobody to have died there yet, but according to the sign (clearly written in Magolor’s handwriting) it was safer than walking.
— We had one at the company. — the secretary commented while they were on the line — My father wanted to do something to balance the boredom of the meetings he had to attend, and the way he found was to put a rollercoaster to go from one to another. — the cart stopped and they got in, her at the front and him at the last seat.
She came out of the cart feeling like her stomach had swapped places with her brain, but Meta Knight didn’t even have a hair out of place.
— Flying with Warp Stars is more exciting and way more fun. — he commented while she clung to the walls of the castle to keep herself up on her wobbly knees.
— The- the little star thing- ugh- that Pinky uses to fly around?
— Yes. I regret not having mine anymore…
Susie wanted to ask about that, but by the time she made sure that her organs were in the right places, she looked up and her eyes glowed.
— Carousel! I’ve always wanted to go on one of those!
— I am going to stay out of it one this time.
— Is there a problem?
— Not at all. Go ahead.
She ran to the line and fought against four children who arrived at the same time for the first place. When the carousel stopped and the little door opened, she ran to the seat shaped like a strange green dinosaur and kicked off one of the children, who tried to pull her out and take her place. Five minutes later, Susie left, looking like she was having the time of her life.
Meta Knight suggested going to the tunnel of terror. As they were heading there, a large group of people ran out of the entrance, screaming. It should be scary.
It wasn’t, and both the secretary and the knight yawned during the entire thing, amidst the scream of the three couples that were brave enough to follow them in there.
Susie started to think about why he had invited her again. It still didn’t make sense. He ran the other way when she looked at him, she knew he had nightmares about his time at H.W.C., even during that afternoon, he was tense as if she had a bomb. Not even his excuse for wanting to invite her made sense, that much she had noticed immediately. If he had nothing to do, Meta Knight would train in his battleship or fly around alone. Loneliness wasn’t a problem to him. Then why would a man who loved to be challenged decide to go on a walk around an amusement park with an…
Oh.
That made much more sense.
Meta Knight was afraid of quite a few things, but facing those fears was not one of them.
He was challenging himself.
Susie was grateful that he was sitting so far back, otherwise the swordsman might have seen the large, delighted smile that spread across her face. From the moment they had met, the thing she admired the most about him was that bravery, that courage that made him never give up, never bow to anyone. If she hadn’t been so eager to accompany her test subject for so long, maybe the secretary would have noticed it sooner. And he even acquired data about her! In no longer than two hours, he discovered her favorite food, her favorite park attractions, even some fun facts about her childhood, and what had she found out about him? She couldn’t even see his reaction to eating brigadeiros for the first time!
Not for the first time, she relished in the wonderful feeling of having an even match. Meta Knight was a genius. Such brilliance and so many qualities in one person! That was why he was her favorite!
— Well, that was uneventful — Susie said, restraining her excitement, upon leaving the tunnel of terror.
— I agree.
— Do you want an apple? — she gestured to a stand selling candy apples.
— I’ve never eaten one of those. Sure.
— What have you eaten? — Susie joked.
— Many things, in fact. Some of them I would not wish to taste again. Some others I miss.
— For example?
— Have you ever eaten a dream?
Susie stared at him, trying to decipher whether or not that was a joke. Also to which of the two groups he mentioned did that belong in?
His eyes flashed blue and she didn’t know if he was laughing at her or at her confusion.
They paid for the candy apples and went to a less crowded area to eat them.
— You know, I had the worst disillusionment of my life with these apples — Susie knew she was talking more than before, but she couldn’t stop herself. She hoped Meta Knight would attribute it to boredom — I always heard people talking about how they were a type of candy and how it was very sweet, so the first time I ate one and noticed the inner side was just a normal apple I was so indignant . — The knight lifted his mask a little to bite the apple and at that moment Susie could see his smile. — I refused to eat them for years, until I came to terms with the fact that even though they’re just apples, they are very tasty.
— If you want sweet apples, just eat a gem apple.
— How am I going to eat that? Aren’t they crystals?
— They’re edible too. And very tasty. That’s why they’re used as currency. Magolor freaks out whenever someone eats one in front of him.
— Really? I never noticed it.
— Most of the time he’s scolding Marx, it’s because of that.
Well, that explained it. She rarely bothered paying attention to those two’s frequent arguments.
— Are you really having fun? — Susie blurted out suddenly.
— What do you mean?
— You haven’t enjoyed a single attraction so far and you look bored.
She saw his cape move a little over his foot closer to her. Not used to being the one to be observed, she remembered that from the time they met.
— I am enjoying this afternoon. The park is not as interesting because Kirby makes me come with him every week, but accompanying someone different is fun.
Because he was satisfied with his progression on his challenge, she was sure. But Susie allowed herself to feel good for the fact that she was the one making the evening fun, and not the park.
She finished eating and noticed Meta Knight was holding only the stick of his apple. So he liked it. Susie hid a smile.
— It’s getting late — the swordsman said, looking at the darkening sky — Do you want to go on the Wheel before ending this meeting?
Susie did her best to not inhale sharply.
— Sure!
It was surprisingly empty for an attraction so popular. They only had to wait in line for one group to go.
— Didn’t this thing fall once? — the secretary commented as they waited.
— Yes. But it was Marx’s fault. He threw some explosive apples at it.
— How has nobody commented on Magolor having explosive currency, by the way?
— That is a very good question. People seem to forget it every time something happens with those bombs.
— Aren’t you the maximum authority after the king? Shouldn’t you do something about those two?
Meta Knight raised his hands — I would, but they are mostly harmless and keep everybody entertained, so why bother?
Susie looked at the Shoppe, only a few meters away, where Marx and Magolor were arguing again, Marx had a mischievous expression on his face and there was smoke coming from inside the stand.
— That’s true.
The Wheel stopped and they got in. The secretary could hear the knight’s breath getting more and more restrained with each step he took into the small cabin. She also became increasingly aware of his sheathed sword.
Ten spins. That was going to be interesting.
— This is a pretty view — Susie said, watching Orange Ocean. — Not as pretty as the one from the Halberd, but still pretty.
He didn’t comment on that. Susie raised an eyebrow mentally. Under normal situations, he would jump at any chance to talk about the fantastic masterpiece that was his beloved battleship.
Could she make him relax a little? It was worth trying.
— You know, my father would have loved the Halberd. It’s… brilliant. A work of art, almost. I have never seen such mechanical mastery in my entire life dealing with robots. — His shoulders lowered a bit, less tense than before.
Eight spins.
— I know — he replied. — It is my best work.
Susie smiled. — If my father knew how wonderful she is, he wouldn’t have destroyed it when we — Meta Knight’s hand closed in a tight fist — When… when we came here…
— When you invaded here.
Susie gulped.
— Y-yes… well, he… he would have liked it a lot. Probably would try to hire you.
— “Hire”.
— Yes… — oh, Nova, that was not what she wanted. Susie peeked at him, but the knight was looking the other way. She became overly conscious of how easily his sword could cross the space between its sheath and her neck — That would technically have made us coworkers.
Six spins.
— If that had happened, would you still have mechanized me?
Crap.
Crap, crap, crap.
Meta Knight was looking straight at her.
And his eyes were red.
She needed to get out.
Susie laughed awkwardly — Well, we… we shouldn’t think about…
— Answer me, Haltmann. Would you have mechanized me? Was there any way I could have avoided that?
There was a hint of pain and despair in his voice. That made the secretary curious, but terrified.
They remained in silence, imobile, in expectation.
Five spins.
Why was the Spinning Wheel so slow?
— I… — Susie lowered her head, but didn’t dare to break eye contact — don’t think there was.
Meta Knight looked back outside, covering his left eye.
— Vital support malfunctioning — he echoed, making a shiver go up Susie’s spine. — All systems shutting down. Must. Eliminate. Target. — His voice was becoming increasingly panicked — We implore you, dear Haltmann. We implore you, dear Haltmann. Bless our work. And be at ease.
Susie was shaking. — You… you weren’t supposed to… the chip was…
— The chip was rebooted, yes. And how? Do you know, oh, noble Haltmann ? — Susie couldn’t answer. He wasn’t supposed to remember, his memory was deleted after every battle. — Because I never lost consciousness while you operated. I was aware of every needle, every wire, every piece of metal implanted into my skin. You were controlling me and it took me a lot of effort to even reduce your attacks on Kirby, but I was always there .
His eyes were glowing crimson now. That was much, much worse than bad. During the operation, he had been sedated to feel as little pain as possible. Every operation, despite being directed exclusively toward efficiency and impersonality, was as least painful as possible, both physically and mentally. But that man, that… wonder of nature, had slowly overwritten the code of the chip in his brain using itself. He felt everything.
Susie suddenly noticed how far Meta Knight’s fear of her went. She was feeling it at that moment.
Four spins.
— Do you see, Haltmann? Do you see why I can’t rest while you’re alive? I know that you want to repeat that. I know that you want to mechanize me again and test more features. And I know that you won’t stop wanting to do it until you finally do. It’s not personal. But I need you dead.
Susie sank down on her seat as Galaxia was thrusted into the space her head was occupying a moment ago and pulled out her blaster.
— It’s not personal — she said, shivering — but I don’t want to die.
Susie shot. Meta Knight looked back at the damaged lock of the cabin right before being kicked out. His cape morphed into his wings right as he was about to hit the ground and he flew up. Susie jumped off when she was closer to the floor and ran away.
The crowd around them started to disperse, screaming. Meta Knight sliced a Sword Beam at the secretary, who jumped out of its reach and shot back at him.
— I don’t want to hurt you, Meta Knight! — she wasn’t really sure she could hurt him to begin with.
The knight stabbed the floor, sending a wave of energy toward her thet Susie barely managed to jump over.
— You never did.
Another Beam was shot at her. She rolled to the side and it hit the castle wall.
— Stop! All of my robots are programmed to avenge me in case I die! If you kill me, they will hunt you down until you’re dead!
— In this case, I’ll have to storm into the facility like last time! Difference being, this time you and your father won’t be there to be blasted into the sky.
Susie lowered her weapon. Her father wouldn’t be there.
He wasn’t there anymore.
Her transporter formed on her back and wrapped around her shoulders. Susie turned around and flew out of the castle.
Meta Knight didn’t stop to think about what he was saying until after he had already said it.
He didn’t try to stop Haltmann when she ran away nor slash a Sword Beam at her. Instead, he sheathed Galaxia and followed the secretary.
She was at the beach, sitting on the sand, hugging her knees. Her head was covered by the hood, the headpiece sticking up. The knight sat a few meters to her side.
Neither of them said anything for several minutes.
— I’m sorry — Susie’s choked voice whispered at some point. Meta Knight could barely hear it.
— I know — he answered back, loud enough that she would hear. — I apologize for what I said.
Susie shook her head.
— You were only stating facts. There is nothing more to it.
— You don’t have to rationalize everything. Some lines I don’t enjoy crossing. You can be mad at me.
She shook her head again, then lifted it and wiped out a tear from her face.
— It is not what you said that made me sad, but his absence. This would have happened sooner or later. There is nothing to be mad about.
He slowly walked closer to her and sat down a meter away. The knight stuffed his hand into his Dimensional Cape and pulled out a package. He offered it to Susie.
— This is…
— The brigadeiros I bought from Magolor. I was saving them for later, but you can have them.
Susie reached out and picked up the package. She opened it, took one and gave the other back to Meta Knight.
— You haven’t eaten one yet. Take it — she said with a kind smile.
The swordsman took his mask off entirely to eat it.
— It really is delicious.
Susie just kept smiling as she ate hers.
They fell in silence once again, watching the sunset. It was at moments like that that Orange Ocean’s name was fully justified. And it was beautiful.
— I lied. — Meta Knight looked at her. — I said I had never dated anyone because I never had the time. That’s not true. I just never had the interest. — She chuckled. — It’s strange…
— What is?
— From my childhood, people always made such a fuss about dating. As if it were as essential as breathing. However, I don’t know if it’s because I was raised around mostly robots or if I’m just broken, but I never felt that need. Not even a slight hint of attraction.
A moment passed.
— You’re not the only one — Meta Knight replied and hugged his own knees. — Dia dos Namorados isn’t lonely, it’s confusing. I don’t know why it exists and I don’t understand why people act the way they do. That’s why I wanted company that didn’t care about it. So I could have a distraction from this confusion.
— Was I a good distraction? — Susie asked, half-joking.
Meta Knight sighed.
— I want to be your friend, Haltm- Susanna… But I can’t. I’m too scared of getting any closer to you. I can’t forget the feeling of wires together with my veins nor the commands I received. — He sighed again. — But I’m trying to. I don’t want to be afraid forever. I don’t like this feeling.
— I… I can’t say I’m trying to stop wanting to mechanize you again. I can’t deny you’re my best test subject ever and Mecha Knight is the most popular design we ever made at H.W.C.. But I would be willing to put it aside for a friend.
— Not now, however.
— Not now, however.
— But this is a good beginning, don’t you think? — Meta Knight stretched out a hand.
Susie smiled and shook his hand.
— I do.