Mechanical Minds

Possession is Nine-Tenths of the Law

Meta walked along the edge of the Halberd's ruined wing, balancing effortlessly as he surveyed the damage. Much of the membrane was damaged beyond repair, and would require replacement. It would take at least a day to swap it out for a viable spare, but that didn't bother Meta much. Retrieving the Pitchnium he needed would take at least a day anyway. No, what bothered him was that whatever attacked them was most likely still lurking about. His crew was scuttling around below, save for Sword who had been both sidelined by injury and relegated to the babysitter of the concussed Susie. Meta turned his gaze upwards to survey the landscape. At least, what he could see of it. A dark fog obscured everything beyond a certain point.
The planet was covered in withered plants and jagged black rocks, punctuated by the occasional ruins of a long destroyed civilization. A civilization that he wished he could've seen in its heyday, judging by the elaborate architecture and rusting technology that seemed far beyond its time.

"Home sweet home" he drawled, hiding the slight hitch in his voice with sarcasm. So this was Puffstar, his home planet. Not that he remembered it, having been only a toddler when he escaped before its destruction. Now it was infested by Dark Matter, like many planets mired in desolation and tragedy. Meta stretched his wings and glided down to his crewmates. He'd had quite enough self-reflection and moping for now.

"I'm heading out to gather Pitchnium" he said as soon as he touched down.

"By yourself?" Dee asked, folding her arms.

"We'll need full manpower to repair the Halberd within a reasonable time-frame." Meta turned to stride away.

"If you want to be alone to take it in, just say so" Dee muttered. Meta froze for only a moment before silently continuing on, stretching his wings out once more. A few powerful wing thrusts sent him airborne, and he streaked off into the sky.

"I mean, I know he's perfectly capable of turning Dark Matter into evil confetti, but..." Blade trailed off.

"He's in a bad state of mind, so he might attract them" Mace added.

"Only attracting them isn't the problem. He could get possessed. We can handle Dark Matter alone, but can we handle a possessed Meta Knight?" Vul said. Dee smacked him on the back of the head.

"Quit it with all the doom and gloom. He can handle himself, and he's so strong willed I sincerely doubt he could be possessed" she admonished "You're only scaring everyone."

"If you say so" Vul grumbled, rubbing his head.

Meta soared high above the landscape, scanning the ground below for any sign of his quarry. An enormous ruined building caught his eye, and he nimbly darted through a hole in the roof of the crumbling structure. Perhaps the building could contain his other target: knowledge. He looked around, eyes piercing through the gloom. It appeared to be some sort of lavish home, judging by the numerous moth-eaten tapestries and a partially smashed bed. Remnants of a see-through, flowing fabric encircled the bed, and several button eyes stared back at Meta as he noticed the plush animals scattered on the decrepit mattress. He snatched a dust-coated book off the rotting bed stand. It was written in a language entirely foreign to him, and he surmised that this particular language must have died along with the majority of his people. The cover had a smiling girl drawn in a simplistic style, holding hands with several other children who all sported the distinctive cheek markings that marked them as the same species. Several had feathery wings, and a few had horns.

He carefully opened the book. The first page a little girl, smiling placidly. The next page depicted a young boy with spiral horns, smiling as well. The next showing a feathery winged child, and the next a child with both features. He froze as he turned the page again. It was the same girl from the cover, but now her bat-like wings were clearly visible. He flipped to the next page. Multiple unseen children were pointing fingers at the girl, who was hiding her face and weeping. The next showed the girl alone, until the child from the first page reached out to her. The final page showed the two standing side-by-side, smiling wide. A picture fell from between the pages, and Meta picked it up.

A young girl stood with a slightly older one, both smiling and making a silly pose. They both sported wings identical to Meta's aside from their brown coloring. He gazed at it for a long while, before stashing both it and the book within his cape. He tried to imagine what could've been, how he could have been surrounded by people just like him. He became acutely aware of his eyes misting up, and he shook his head. How foolish, getting sentimental over the impossible. He gazed at the hole in the roof, before deciding to continue his exploration of the house. He exited the room.

Meta hopped over the bannister, using his wings to gently flutter to the first floor. It was far darker on this floor, but Meta's luminescent eyes easily saw through. There seemed to be more scattered objects around, as well as more items of furniture that appeared to have been violently disassembled rather than having merely rotted away. He froze as he spotted something white peeking from around the corner. He crept over for a closer look, and regretted it instantly.

A skeleton was sprawled out over the stone tiled floor, wing bones splayed out from its back. An outline of what must have been decomposition ringed the floor around it. Meta solemnly kneeled before it, removing his helm and holding it to his chest out of respect. Tears pricked at the corners of his eyes, and he allowed them to trickle down his cheeks. It really was all gone, wasn't it? He would never know what it was like to live among his kind. The weeping knight stayed focused on the skeletal remains, so focused that he didn't notice the inky black creature approaching him from behind.

Susie wobbled slightly, but managed to stay upright as she picked her way along the corridor. She wanted to at least get a glance at the planet she'd landed on. It had been easy enough to evade Sword at least. The man seemed to care far more about going through the entire stock of painkillers than actually keeping an eye on his charge. Or maybe not caring was secondary to consuming large amounts of said medication. Her eyes light up as she spotted a familiar figure. He would escort her back to the infirmary, no doubt, but she could certainly have some fun chatting with him. Or, more accurately, at him.

"Sir Meta Knight, you've returned" she quipped, voice brimming with false cheeriness. Meta turned to her in a stiff, almost mechanical manner. "I know you must have been oh so concerned about my wellbeing, but alas, I am fine" she continued, faltering slightly at his lack of response. He only tilted his head lightly at her, eyes totally devoid of any emotion. Susie backed away slightly, unnerved. "You didn't happen to take a blow to the head as well, did you?" Hadn't Sword said something about Dark Matter possessing people? But surely Meta couldn't be-

A second set of eyes opened as Meta's eyes turned a vibrant scarlet.

"Well, shit."