Notes: Yay! We got a couple of good reviews, so we'll continue! My husband's already created two more chapters. Oh, and this DOES contain character bashing (and I don't mean hate bashing. I mean literal bashing. Just so we're clear on that!) To all of you who reviewed, we say "Thank you!" (Lord Tsuru claps for you as I run up and glomp you). Anyway, enjoy!
Chapter Two: The Puffball Protection Agency
A couple of days went by peacefully. Though the incident with Jigglypuff was not forgotten, everyone including the victim could put it out of their minds. As that day dawned bright and cool, nothing seemed too out of place… until Lucas noticed that Kirby was missing.
"Have you seen Kirby?" the blonde boy asked Peach.
"Well, no…" she thought about it for a minute, "Have you checked the kitchen? He does love food!"
"I looked; I even looked in the fridge," the boy sighed, "I looked in the pool, in the TV room, in his bedroom, outside, and even in the game room. He's nowhere!"
"I'm sure he'll turn up for breakfast," Peach chirped cheerfully as she turned to walk towards the kitchens.
However, it was clear that the puffball was not going to come to breakfast. After all of the fighters had dispersed, Ness and Lucas began searching again for their friend. He had to be asleep somewhere, they figured; he often dozed off in strange places. This wasn't too unusual. Still, they decided to check in everyone else's bedrooms in case the child-like creature had decided to be nosey.
"Hey, Zelda…" Peach said as she approached the taller princess, "Have you seen Kirby? Ness and Lucas have been looking for him all day!"
"No, I haven't," Zelda said, "Are you sure they've checked everywhere?"
"Yes, I've been watching them. Oh, you don't think…"
"Surely not," Zelda looked out the window at the two boys, who where shaking trees and watching for anything round and pink to fall from the boughs, "At least, I hope not…"
"Hey," Fox greeted the two ladies as he walked by, "Why so worried looking?"
"Kirby's gone missing," Zelda said, "We think that it may have some connection to the attack on Jigglypuff."
"Really?" Fox frowned, "But Wario was put in the dungeon. I checked on him earlier."
"…It could have been someone else…" Zelda mused, "After all, Wario never did confess. He usually brags about that stuff."
"But then… That would mean that it was Marth!"
"Not true," Zelda reasoned, "Didn't Bowser and Ganondorf say they were together? Either one of them could have done it."
"I guess so… What should we do?"
"…I will speak with Samus," Zelda turned to walk away, "She's good at crisis management. Perhaps she can think of something."
Indeed, Samus had a plan almost as soon as Zelda had finished speaking. "Put the castle on lockdown," she ordered, "Tell everyone to gather in the commons NOW." Zelda carried out this task, making sure that everyone was safely in the dining hall, but she couldn't help but feel that this measure was a little extreme…
Soon, almost all of the fighters were locked in the large room. Only Samus, Zelda, Snake, Mario, and Link were gathered in the game room. "OK, Snake," Samus said, leaning over a map of the castle, "I want you to dig out your surveillance equipment and begin wiring the place. I want every room covered, understand? Don't open the commons doors yet, though. Drill a hole in the ceiling from the attic floor, and try not to attract their attention."
"Yes, Ma'am," Snake took off immediately.
"The rest of us will start looking for Kirby. We'll do a quick run through the castle and surrounding area split up, and then we'll all go into each fighting stage."
This plan seemed agreeable, so they all split up and began searching. Meanwhile, Meta Knight and Marth sat away from the crowd at the end of the table. "This is strange…" Marth said worriedly, "First Jigglypuff, and now Kirby… I hope that he is all right."
"I'm sure he is fine," Meta Knight said, though he was a little worried as well. Even if he didn't like to admit it out loud, he was still Kirby's mentor.
"Sir Meta Knight," Marth said, his tone suddenly shy, "I- I am a little afraid, if I may be so blunt."
"Why are you afraid, Prince Marth?"
"I… I just fear that you will be attacked next…"
"Hm. I almost hope that I am."
"Meta Knight!" Marth gasped in shock, "What a thing to say! And at such a frightening time!"
"It is true," Meta Knight shrugged, "I hope I am attacked, for I would be the last one. This mysterious thief… this devious person… shall know my power."
"You are so sure of yourself…" Marth smiled a little, "I admire that…"
Meta Knight didn't say anything, but he was pleased with himself. He had managed to impress Marth, and that was very good. He felt that perhaps being locked in the commons wasn't so bad, as long as Marth was looking down at him with that gentle smile, his eyes shining with admiration…
However, as all things do, his moment came to an end. Their attention was turned from each other to the other end of the room, where Peach was screaming that something was trying to get into the room. She was pointing to a spot in the corner of the ceiling.
Everyone else was looking, but nothing was there. "But I saw it!" she insisted, "There was something poking through the ceiling!"
"It was probably just a bug," Sonic said, but that didn't help at all. Peach squealed louder than ever and shielded herself with her parasol.
"Strange…" Meta Knight shrugged and turned back to Marth, but soon another shout came from Lucas. He was pointing to the same spot, and everyone else looked up again. Just like before, there was nothing there… though there seemed to be a tiny hole in the ceiling.
Now everyone was talking about the strange occurrence. Meta Knight opened his cape and flew up to the ceiling. Sure enough, there was a hole in it. Curious, he motioned for everyone below to be quiet. Drawing Galaxia, he positioned the blade over the hole and thrust upward. A sharp yell came from above, followed by a loud thump that made everyone else gasp. As Meta Knight flew down again, they could all hear muffled curses coming from the room above.
"It's him!" Lucas shouted in fear, "It's the kidnapper!"
"Oh, no!"
"What will we do?"
"Are you SURE it's him?"
"Pika!"
Amidst the turmoil, Lucario sat with his eyes closed. It was only Snake, he thought; that man was probably messing around with cameras. He had probably been told to do so. "Enough," his voice went through everyone else's minds, and they quieted enough to hear him, "It is only Snake."
"How do we know that HE'S not-a the kidnapper?" Luigi asked.
"Because we told him to install the cameras," Samus' voice rang loud and clear around the room, and everyone turned. She, Zelda, Link, and Mario came into the room. In Zelda's arms, looking weary, was Kirby.
Everyone immediately crowded around them, asking the same question: "Where did you find him?!"
"He was in Yoshi's Island," Zelda announced, "Someone had tied him to a Shy Guy, and he had been flying around there for goodness knows how long."
"We already have a suspect," Samus said, and she snapped her fingers.
They all waited. Nothing happened. She snapped her fingers again, and then looked back at Link and Mario. "What?" Link asked, shrugging his shoulders.
"Close the door, Moron!" Samus sighed, and he did so. "Now, where was I?" she turned back to the anxious group, "Ah, yes… Our suspect. It was extremely odd that Kirby was sent to that stage without being detected. It was even odder that the stage was shown as unoccupied. As you know, we had a few battles earlier, and we were able to select different stages with little difficulty. Also, he was carried away from the stage several times and never fell out. Whoever did this has to have a bit more knowledge about the stage programming than the rest of us."
All was silent. Each fighter was hanging off of her words, and everyone was thinking the same thing: Who could it be? "To know so much about the stages," Samus continued, "One would either have to have access to a computer, or be on a friendly basis with Master Hand. Now, Snake has the only computer, and he would have no motive to get rid of either Kirby or Jigglypuff. He also doesn't let anyone else onto his computer. So that leaves Master Hand. Someone who could get that information from him has to be sneaky and diplomatic…"
Most of the fighters had caught on by now, and several of them were looking towards the suspect. "Take him to the dungeon," Zelda said, pointing at Ganondorf.
"Fools!" the Gerudo thief exclaimed as Lucario encased him in an aura shield, "I had nothing to do with this! I have done nothing to them!" His outraged cries echoed through the hallway as Lucario, Link, Mario, and Donkey Kong "escorted" him to the dungeon. The others stared after them, hopeful that perhaps this time, they had gotten the right one.
"Now, we have to do something to protect the victims from a second strike," Samus said as all eyes turned to her again, "Just because we've locked him up doesn't mean that they're safe. He could have other people working for him. That is why we have formed the Puffball Protection Agency."
"The what?" Ness wondered.
"The Puffball Protection Agency," Mario explained, "is-a how we're gonna keep watch on-a Jigglypuff and-a Kirby. Me, Link, Samus, and-a Zelda are part of it, so how about-a you?"
"Sure, I'll join," Ness said with a glance at the sleeping Kirby, "Sounds cool!"
"Um… I'll join, too…" Lucas said.
"Pika!" said Pikachu.
"And don't forget me!" Captain Falcon stepped forward.
"I'll do it, too…" Fox said, "For the little guys! How about it, Falco?"
"Nah," Falco yawned and walked past them all, "I'm gonna go watch TV. Have fun with yer Creampuff Watch, or whatever."
"OK," Samus said once Falco was out of sight, "Screw him. We've got a good team here. What we'll do is basically round-the-clock camera monitoring. Snake's got the monitors set up in his room, and we'll each take turns watching that everyone's safe. Got it?"
"Right!" the members of the PPA said.
As the fighters all filed out of the commons, Marth sighed. "What is the matter?" Meta Knight asked, hobbling beside him.
"Oh, nothing…" Marth smiled reassuringly at him, "I just hope that this protection system works… I worry so much about your safety!" Meta Knight huffed and patted his sword hilt. As the two walked down the hallway, Marth couldn't help but frown. His next victim would be a little more difficult to get to…
TBC
Well? What do you think? Like I said, it was really intended as a one-shot, but we hope this works too. Anyway, thanks for reading! We hope to have another chapter out soon.