Chapter Text
The King was greeted by the sound of clashing metal, thudding wood, and the scampering of waddle dee feet. One would expect this to be a normal occurrence when approaching a training room, but with how uninterested his dees seemed to be in fighting, this came as a surprise. It would’ve alarmed him if he hadn’t known why there was increased activity in there.
“Well, it certainly seems like that Knight of yours is doing a good job!” Bandee offered in their usual chipper tone from beside the king. The assistant carried an inkwell with a few scrolls and quill balanced on top, meant to take stock of weapons and the progress each of the soldiers.
Dedede huffed in agreement. It had been roughly a week since he had appointed Meta Knight as his proper bodyguard, as well as the commander of his troops, and he had already made drastic changes around the castle. The dees became more disciplined nearly overnight, following protocol with composure that Dedede had never witnessed. The Knight had created a rotation of duties so no dee was stuck only doing one task. Patrols were sent out throughout the day to guard all areas around the castle, and soon, the rest of Dreamland. And, most remarkably of all, none of the dees have complained thus far.
Or well… since the initial appointment, anyway.
Some of the waddle dees, notably the higher-ranking ones, took a bit of issue with the sudden, drastic promotion of who some still considered to be an “outsider”. They thought it was unfair and suspicious, both of the King and the Knight; a childish thought to have in their opinions. Some even had the gall to spread rumors that the Knight had bribed the King in some way.
Needless to say, those rumors didn’t last long once Meta Knight had caught wind of them, and the waddle dees have been compliant since.
“He’d better be,” the King finally responded to his assistant. “I took a massive risk promoting him so soon, you know!”
Dedede didn’t pay attention to Bandee’s reply as he finally pushed open the double doors, letting the sound wash over him.
He was greeted with a sight that, like the sound, was new to him
Inside wide hall, nearly half of the guard were milling about. The waddle dees brandished their spears in groups of two to six, mock fighting with more precision he had ever seen from any of them, though it was certainly not perfect. Some even had simple shields which hadn’t been used in quite some time, judging by the dust and stray webs that still streaked behind a few of them. In the back, more dees marched in perfect formation, raising their spears in accordance with orders from the general at the front of the line.
And in the midst of it all was the Knight himself. He dashed about the hall from group to group, dee to dee, barking corrections or encouragement. His own sword was sheathed across his back, which he occasionally took out to show a dee the correct stance or sometimes surprise the trainees with a strike. He was clearly in his element, a streak of night amidst the sea of orange and silver.
If Meta Knight had visible ears, Dedede like to imagine that they would’ve perked up upon hearing the doors close, as the knight almost immediately paused to look up at him. He quickly finished the instruction he was giving before hurrying over to the king with a bow and a formal greeting.
“Well, seems you’ve been busy!” Dedede chuckled, his gaze travelling over his army once more. “I don’t think I’ve ever seen my dees work this hard. Or well… work at all, really.” He playfully nudged Bandee with the second comment, causing them to chuckle half-heartedly before looking at the ground the moment the king’s eyes left theirs.
“Yes, my liege,” Meta Knight replied, finally standing up from his deep bow. “The waddle dees have been doing remarkably well under my guide. I think they just needed a little push for them to reach their potential.” He followed this up with a breathy chuckle, which Dedede was pretty sure was the closest thing to a laugh he had heard from the knight all this time.
Before the King could reply, the Knight drew his sword and rapped it on the hard ground with lightning-fast speed, shouting a command that the King couldn’t make out over the immediate sound of all of the waddle dees stopping what they were doing and rushing about. It was only a few moments before all of the dees were in perfect formation, staggered lines set up behind the Knight, shields raised, spears bristling, and arrows nocked. The King didn’t even know that they had bows and arrows in the castle.
Even Meta Knight himself was in a perfect stance, though his sword remained lowered. The sudden preparation of the dees almost frightened the King. He could feel Bandee cowering behind him, clutching his robes.
Meta tapped his sword on the ground with another command, and the dees all lowered their weapons in response. Another tap, and they all broke formation and returned to their former activities. Meta relaxed and sheathed his sword.
Dedede was speechless. How had they managed to pull this off with barely a week of training?! Dedede had been king for roughly a year and nothing he did could get his dees to follow any sort of protocol.
“Wow. You, uh… really know your stuff, huh?” He finally managed to say, shaking away the shock of the whole ordeal. He ripped his robes out of Bandee’s grasp, getting them to cautiously return to his side.
“Hm. I suppose so yes,” the Knight replied. “I’ve had much experience with leading and such. We need to work on group combat more, but they’re on their way.”
“Well, whatever you’re doing, keep doing it. We’ll be stronger than ever in no time!” Dedede replied.
He leaned in closer to Meta Knight. “Say, why don’t you teach me some of those fancy fightin’ tricks of yours? I’ve already got some skills of my own, but surely the king should be able to defend himself?”
The Knight seemed to hesitate, as if he was thinking. No doubt he’s thinking about that night from a week ago, Dedede thought. He probably thinks he’s better than me. I’ll show him.
Meta Knight bowed his head. “Very well, your majesty. I will teach you all I know. When?”
Dedede shrugged his shoulders in mock uncertainty. “Well, I don’t have much else planned for this afternoon, so… now?”
The Knight gave a murmur of approval. He stopped a high-ranking dee, a general, by the looks of it, and whispered some order to her, to which she saluted and hurried off. Without another word, the Knight headed for the doors, expecting the King to follow.
Dedede and Bandee began to head out, but before closing the doors, the king snuck a glance over his shoulder. Although the dees were still at work, they seemed slightly less vigorous without the knight hovering nearby. And some had stopped all together, whispering to each other and looking over their backs with fearful glances, making Dedede’s skin crawl.
—
“Ready, your majesty?”
They were stood in a square, padded platform near the center of the palace, fenced in by sturdy elastic ropes. Overhead lights illuminated the pair, a stark contrast with the dark, nearly empty seats surrounding the ring. Alone sat Bandee, already cheering on their king despite the fight not yet starting.
Meta Knight thought the stadium was frivolous and flashy. Why would the King need such a thing anyway? He had retorted that they were using it now, so maybe it wasn’t useless after all. The Knight had rolled his eyes and refused to argue.
They both wielded mock versions of their usual weapons; a gigantic rubber hammer in the King’s hands and a stout wooden sword in the Knight’s. This was merely a spar, not a true fight. Still, they held themselves as if this were real, false malice and hunger in their eyes.
Without waiting for a reply, the Knight lunged with incredible speed, “slashing” the King across his side with the fake sword. Surprised, he stumbled to the side far too late, and the Knight made to turn and pounce again, hoping to take him by surprise once more. He would win the fight with no effort at all.
But Meta underestimated the King. The first blow had caught him off-guard, but he wasn’t going to make the same mistake twice. As the smaller man lunged at him, he swung his hammer with more speed than should be possible with such an unwieldy weapon, knocking Meta out of the air and sending him tumbling to the edge of the ring, but still on his feet. The Knight exhaled in a sign of amusement, but the King seemed deadly serious.
This time, they met eachother in the middle. As Meta Knight ran forward, sword flung out behind him, Dedede charged, hammer held high. The hammer smacked heavily against the ground as the Knight dodged and leaped onto the King’s shoulder as he was still bent. He poised his sword above the base of his skull, readying the equivalent of a killing blow, but the King used his momentum to duck and roll forward, forcing Meta to leap away in fear of getting crushed.
Dedede rose to his feet, though now weaponless. His hammer lay handle-up only a few feet away, but his adversary was right beside him and he was without an opening to run. Instead, thinking fast, he leaped up into the air, poised to bring his full weight onto the smaller man. He quickly rolled away, but thus gave the King an opportunity to run for his weapon.
Just as Dedede turned, hammer in hand, the Knight came literally flying at him, his wings finally making an appearance. Their weapons clashed, carving grooves into the rubber and sending splinters flying. They held there for a glorious moment, eyes locked, tension palpable. Even Bandee ceased in his cheers, held in suspense.
The King proved the victor.
With a final push, he knocked the Knight away, sending him sprawling and his fake sword clattering off of the platform. As he lay there, spurred on by his advisor’s cheers of triumph, Dedede laughed with mirth and raised his hammer up for the final blow. Meta remained prone, slipping as he tried to rise to his feet.
As Dedede paused, heartbeats away from swinging, Meta suddenly burst upwards and before Dedede could register what was happening, there was dull wooden blade to his throat, procured from somewhere on Meta’s person.
“Lesson one, your majesty,” Meta said, barely above a whisper. “Don’t get cocky.”
They stayed frozen like that, neither seemingly willing to pull away. Dedede felt sweat drip down his face, the physical weight of the battle beginning to weigh on him. Meta Knight, on the other hand, seemed completely unfazed.
He’s probably just too stubborn to let me down first, that’s all. Dedede thought, once the silence became uncomfortable. Yes, that’s all. And my face is hot and my heart is beating because of the fight. Yep. Definitely.
After what felt like an eternity, the the King pulled away first, prompting the Knight to lower his sword as well. They sustained their eye contect for a heartbeat longer before the Knight turned and hopped off of the platform.
“Great work today, my liege,” he said hurriedly. “We will continue tomorrow.”
Before Dedede could stutter out a response, the Knight was gone.