"Samus! Samus wait!" Without bothering to look back, the bounty hunter irritably dismissed Ike's distressed chittering. She had no patience for him anyway. The cheating bastard wasn't worth her time. "Samus I'm sorry, please wait!"

Then he caught her arm, and she turned on him, blue eyes blazing in hurt fury. "Sorry for what? Cheating on me with some random bimbo at a bar? Ha! Well apology not accepted, because frankly I don't want to be with a guy who thinks it's okay to lie to me!" She roughly smacked his arm away and stormed away. Samus swore beneath her breath as she felt her eyes sting with emotion. She sighed as she turned a corner, the burning behind her eyes fading as she fought for control. Ike's shoulders slumped as he helplessly watched the space bounty hunter walk out of sight. Soft footfalls silenced behind the warrior, unnoticed and unheard.

"You've surprised me yet again, Ike. I'd once believed you weren't one to make rash decisions." Ike jumped slightly at the familiar condescending voice and looked down. He sighed.

"Hey Meta Knight," he muttered glumly, giving the masked ball a sidewards glance. The small knight looked up at the mercenary with a steely gaze, dismay apparent in his shimmering gold eyes before they turned to stare down the hall.

"She won't forgive you easily, I know that much," the puff said, the obvious disappointment in the small knight's startlingly deep voice successfully making Ike feel worse than he already was. "It will be quite a time before she will truly trust you again. She isn't one to take cut-off relationships very well, as you should've learned from Captain Falcon." Ike bit his lip, making a small sound of acknowledgement as he casted look of shame down at his feet. Silence lapsed between the two friends before Meta Knight walked away moments later, softly excusing himself to fulfill some of the extra duties he had for the Smash Mansion. Ike watched the knight leave, his expression thoughtful.

Meta Knight was one of the few Brawlers who showed a sense of responsibility and maturity over things aside from himself, which surmised in him having a few extra privileges in exchange for the other things he does for the Mansion, aside from fighting.

The corners of his mouth turned down, Ike suddenly wished he had that grown-up sense of duty Meta Knight had, then maybe he might've not gotten so...distracted from his relationship. Ike sighed and trudged to his room.

Meta Knight tread quietly down twisting corridors Samus Aran had disappeared down, pondering where she might've gone considering her enraged state he'd witnessed earlier. If he assumed correctly, the bounty hunter would've gone down to either the training area or the weight room to blow off some steam. It wasn't long until he heard yelling, banging, and screams of terror, as well as a decidingly loud crashing that almost made him cringe. Whoever decided to mess with Samus now was surely a deadman. Meta Knight came to a stop by the weight room as another deafening crash sounded from within.

Sighing a quiet prayer, Meta Knight entered the room as a forty pound dumbbell came speeding by his head, caving the wall behind him in. Solid Snake soon darted past, causing Meta Knight to back into the doorway. A head of blonde hair appeared next, only mere seconds too late from taking Snake's head off with another weight.

"Snake, you cowardly son of a-!"

"Ms. Aran." At the firm usage of her surname, Samus came to an abrupt halt, feet nearly skidding on the floor. Meta Knight stood in the doorway, cape wrapped around his small, ball-like body. Samus frowned at him, and dropped the arm weight in her hand with a loud thud. She stepped back and crossed her arms.

"What?" Samus asked, irritated, "I'm kind of busy here." Meta Knight only sighed, closing his eyes for a moment, only to look up at her again with a sideways expression.

"Samus, I can see quite clearly that something is bothering you," he said softly, kindly. "Do you want to talk about it?" Her frown wavered and she looked away. Of all people Samus wouldn't have wanted to find her like this, Meta Knight was definitely around the top. While he was a dear friend, someone Samus believed she could count on for practically anything, it was the way he approached everything so calmly that made her feel childish. A feeling she despised more than anything in the world. She most definitely was not childish.

So she sat down heavily on a nearby bench press and put her head in her hands, her earlier anger dissipating into exasperation. Meta Knight remained in a strategic silence as he trotted over to her. He hopped onto the bench and sat too, his hands clasped together between his purple feet as he patiently waited for her to speak. Seconds turned to minutes before Samus straightened.

"Ike cheated on me," she finally muttered, clenched fists balled together in her lap as she faced away from the small knight, "I know I shouldn't be so worked up about it and I bet you think it's so kiddish of me to throw a freaking tantrum over something so trivial, but I can't help but feel betrayed by him." Meta Knight looked over, his intelligent yellow eyes studying her for a few seconds before he replied.

"Your reactions to discovering Ike's infidelity to you is far from being considered childish. In fact, had I been in a similar situation, I might've done the exact same thing," Meta Knight said, turning slightly to meet her shocked gaze. He chuckled softly at that, eyes transitioning into a soft amused pink. "Don't look so surprised! What is it, some sort of miracle that I too can feel emotion?" Samus laughed softly at his words and sighed as her mind mulled over what he said. The hurt from her very recent break-up eased mostly after a few moments of thoughtful silence. She knew that she'd have to confront Ike straight on about the matter between them, but for now she allowed herself to feel at peace in the presence of a friend. Finally, she stood, grinning as she turned to Meta Knight.

"Thanks for the talk Meta Knight. It really helped." The blue knight nodded and stood, brushing his cape behind him before wrapping the purple fabric around him in his natural habit.

"That's what friends are for," he said, jumping off the bench. He excused himself and disappeared behind the weight room's heavy metal doors. Samus smiled once at his small retreating figure, before returning to her workout routine.