Disclaimer Thingy: I do not own the Squeaks, Drawcia, Kirby, or any other of the Kirby characters. Yet. And major Squeak Squad spoilers abound. (Like anyone cares about these things anyway.) On with the fic.

Daroach's eyes opened slowly. "Urrgh…Have we taken over the universe yet?

His fellow Squeaks sighed in relief.

"Oh good, you're not dead," said Doc.

"We were worried, Boss!" chirped Spinni.

"Worrying makes me hungry," rumbled Storo.

Daroach waved his comrade's concerned comments (ooh, alliteration!) away impatiently. "Yes, I can assure you I'm quite alive. Has my amazing plan for the acquisition of the Ultimate Power succeeded?"

Doc was about to remind Daroach that it had been his plan when Spinni interrupted. "Well, no Boss…You see, it kinda…"

"Kinda what?" Daroach growled.

"…was an evil star thingy called Dark Nebula that possessed you and would have killed us all if Kirby didn't stop it," finished Storo.

Spinni gave him a dirty look. "What?" asked Storo.

Daroach narrowed his eyes and looked around. The ground was torn to pieces, obviously the results of his epic clash with Kirby, which he surely had won. No wait…that crushing feeling he felt…perhaps that was defeat? Surely not…

Daroach shook his head. He must not think about such ridiculous things. In any case, after the battle the idiotic interfering Meta Knight had taken the treasure for reasons unknown. The Squeaks had then followed him to his enormous and extremely tacky airship and, after cleverly waiting for Kirby to defeat him (all Daroach's idea, of course) had taken back their treasure. He had opened it and then…

And then what? He looked back at his teammates.

Spinni looked anxious, adjusting his oversized sunglasses and twitching his nose. Doc looked bored, staring into space and chewing on his moustache thoughtfully. And Storo looked hungry. Same as usual.

Daroach decided to humor them. "Okay, so then what happened? How long have I been out?"

"About twenty minutes, Boss," said Spinni.

Daroach stared at him disbelievingly. "You're telling me the Lord of the Underworld took a pink marshmallow twenty minutes to destroy?"

"Actually, it only took about five. We've been waiting for you to wake up for the other fifteen."

"Did someone say marshmallow?" Storo interrupted.

Daroach put his head in his paws. "All right. What did you do?"

"What do you mean, Boss?" asked Spinni innocently.

Daroach looked up, a half-amused look in his yellow eyes. "You expect me to believe that you were able to stand still for more than half a minute, let alone fifteen?"

"It was really hard, but yeah, we…"

"…accidentally lost all the treasure we collected to Kirby," finished Storo.

Daroach and Spinni glared at him murderously, but for different reasons. "WHAT?" screeched the Squeak Squad leader.

"I said, we accidentally lost…"

"SHUT UP!!" Daroach shouted. "Just shut up!" Storo did. "Can you do anything without my brilliant leadership? For twenty minutes?"

"Well we did manage to hold on to one thing," said Spinni hesitantly.

"What is it?" asked Daroach, trying to keep calm.

Spinni pulled a large painting out of his ridiculously long cape. "We got it from some weird guy on an island somewhere. Said it was his masterpiece."

Daroach inspected the painting. "Hmm, that looks like a genuine Da Vinci. Those go for a lot in some obscure circles, which I happen to know of."

"Wow, you know a lot, Boss," Spinni said admiringly, glad to be alive.

Daroach pulled his hat down lower on his forehead. "Of course I do."

Meanwhile, on Ice Cream Island…

"Sacre bleu! Those leetle rats stole my piece de resistance!" shouted Paintroller.

"Dude, you just splattered paint all over a canvas. It took you like five seconds," said a Waddle Dee.

"Shut up! You 'ave no taste for zee fine works of art!"

"And drop the French accent, dude. It's getting really old."

"Your muzzer eez zee one zat eez getting old!" retorted Paintroller lamely. "I fart in your general direction!"

"Whatever," said the Waddle Dee. "Where's the kitchen in this place?"

Back in the Gamble Galaxy…

Doc half-listened to his fellow Squeaks carry on with disinterest. It wasn't anything new. He directed his thoughts to his idea for the MechaKrackoSnail Mark II.

All of the Squeaks were too absorbed in their separate arguments (Doc's was with himself) to notice a creepy yellow eye staring balefully out at them from the painting. No one heard the faint cackling laughter echoing from within.

Dreamland was not to remain peaceful for long.

Dun dun dunnnnn! Hope you enjoyed my first fanfic. There should be more, better chapters unless I'm too lazy, which has been known to happen. Reviews would be greatly appreciated!