"Sir Meta Knight!"

It'd been a few days after the leafan incident, and Bandana Dee hadn't seen Kirby since. In the early hours of the morning, Bandana Dee discovered the pink puffball had been assigned to unloading cargo in the yards under – what luck! – Meta Knight's supervision. The knight didn't involve himself in the castle's matters much, so it was a pleasant and convenient surprise for Bandana Dee.

Meta Knight turned and acknowledged him with a nod.

Stay calm, Bandana Dee told himself as he rigidly stood next to the knight. His feet were aching from running around the entire morning. "I, um – it may be impudent of me, but I wanted to make a request."

As usual, Meta Knight made no physical response, eagle eyes zeroing in on the minions instead. "What is it?"

Beads of sweat began to pearl on his forehead. It was okay to ask, right? It should be. Yep, it was a rational request. It was for the good of the village, which in turn was for the good of the castle, which in turn would be good for Meta Knight. It wasn't a redundant request. There wasn't a reason for Meta Knight to turn it down, and if there was, it was out of Bandana Dee's control. Go, Bandana Dee! Ask him!

And then it took about half a minute of choking on his words. Meta Knight, used to it by now, didn't remark on Bandana Dee's fumbling. "You – well, Sir Meta Knight, you have your own elite platoon of minions – right?"

At that, golden eyes tilted to meet Bandana Dee's gaze. He'd piqued the knight's interest. Was that a success? No, that was a neutral reaction, right?

"...Yes, I do."

They worked under Meta Knight's direct commands and weren't subject to the normal lives of minions. It wasn't something all leaders in Castle Dedede had the liberty of doing; it had been Meta Knight's own specific request, pretentious as it may seem, and he had amassed a very capable group indeed. Bandana Dee hadn't expected any less.

Fidgeting: "Um, the incident in the village that happened the other day – if it's possible, could you send them to… investigate it..?"

When Meta Knight's silence followed, Bandana Dee realised that Meta Knight may or may not know about the incident – word spread fast in Castle Dedede, but Meta Knight usually kept to himself. "The other day, there was – "

"A leafan, I know." Oh. "But I heard the case closed that day, and there haven't been any following attacks since. So I don't understand the rationale behind arranging an investigation."

Oh, no. Opposition. Butterflies flitted in Bandana Dee's stomach; he squirmed a bit. Wasn't it obvious as to why they needed an investigation? Maybe it wasn't – Meta Knight hadn't been at the scene. Then Bandana Dee would just have to break it down for him. It was all right. He could do this!

"The leafan – it wasn't – it wasn't from… around Dream Land." No response. "It was… much bigger. That's why I don't think it's native. The ones from around here, they're – they're not really wild, either. They wouldn't attack for no reason. So I don't think it's from Dream Land."

In the distance, a crate toppled over, and Bandana Dee thought he might have heard a distinctly familiar wail. He wasn't paying attention; the contemplative look Meta Knight was wearing had his attention glued.

Meta Knight tipped his head downwards. "You think someone deployed the leafan there."

Being so bold in his accusations wasn't really Bandana Dee's style… "That's, erm, that's about it."

Or Bandana Dee could just have the whole situation upside-down and maybe there really wasn't anything to worry about. He curled the tips of his feet restlessly. Anything was a possibility – it being a mutant with innate hostility was also one.

Busy curling his feet, he didn't realise when Meta Knight had looked back at the working minions. "If you're tired, you may sit."

The words didn't sink in right away. Bandana Dee slowly looked up.

Then he was so flustered he was absolutely sure the natural blush on his cheeks became darker. "N-No, it's okay! It'd be rude to, if you're standing and I'm sitting – "

"It wouldn't be rude. You're a leader as well. You may sit."

If he was implying they were on the same level, then why was Bandana Dee being ordered by him to sit? He wouldn't deny that he soon found out the grass in the yard was actually soft and rather pleasant to sit on. Meta Knight would probably not be impressed if he said that out loud, though.

Bandana Dee didn't see Kirby anywhere in his field of vision. Horses lugging carriages arrived at the castle with all sorts of packages loaded, from hastily tied-up bundles to thick crates, so unloading wasn't as simple as it sounded. It was easy for things to come apart at their bindings. It was tedious – not that there was a non-tedious task in the castle.

Meta Knight cut through his train of thought. "There is a possibility of that being the case. But I can't imagine why someone would – if they wanted to harm the villagers, surely they'd release more than just a single leafan. Though we could take it as a test and assume that its sender wanted to experiment the damage output the leafan – "

"Oh, no, I don't think so." Bandana Dee clapped a hand over his mouth. "I'm sorry!" For interrupting. Meta Knight didn't seem bothered. "I – I was told that the leafan, it – Sir Meta Knight, did you read the reports from the villagers..?"

"I rewrote them, so naturally, yes."

"Right… um, there were reports of – the vegetation, it… there was some sort of problem."

"A virus."

If only he wasn't so tongue-tied! "Yes, that's what the village chief thought. But it's odd since there isn't any source of the virus around. Then I was told that the leafan is a different species of leafan, it – it appears. They have no official name, but they're typically larger in size, more hostile than usual, and they… erm… I didn't understand the science behind it, but they can infect plants with viruses."

Meta Knight understood in a heartbeat. "So you think someone was deliberately trying to sabotage the plantations."

If Bandana Dee had to pick, he would've chosen Meta Knight's sharpness as the knight's best trait – out of the many that existed, that is. Being astute led to him being able to catch on quickly. Bandana Dee didn't have to try and explain and make a complete fool out of himself as much.

He rocked back and forth and nodded, although Meta Knight wasn't looking.

Meta Knight's hand-picked squad was the most elite out of the elite-st, if Bandana Dee had to say. They'd definitely be able to determine the cause – whether Bandana Dee's wild assumption was to be considered or not. He wasn't sure how they'd do it, he wasn't sure what they'd do, but they were Meta Knight's accomplices. They were dependable to a fault.

"I'm not sure."

Bandana Dee froze. "Pardon?" Was it something he'd said? Maybe his train of thought had slipped up somewhere? Went off onto a track that didn't exist?

"It's a busy time," Meta Knight began to elaborate, and Bandana Dee felt the weight lift off his sinking heart. "The matter is concerning, but they also have their own duties to tend to. I can send a team out as soon as one is ready, but I'm not sure when that will be."

Shoulders hunching, Bandana Dee didn't even manage an oh. He hadn't expected that. Should he have? What Meta Knight's group of minions did was mostly classified, though; nobody knew.

Striving not to be rude, Bandana Dee muttered out, "I see."

"What do you plan on doing about it?"

What to do? He could be overthinking it. He could be completely correct about it. Either way, it was safer to check, and Bandana Dee knew no one more suitable than Meta Knight's – no, no, they were out of the equation. Think of someone else. He had some pretty capable friends back in the castle, and a pair of hunters that definitely wouldn't mind lending him a hand – would they work? They were busy, though, and they all had their own schedules, minion or not. The hunters would be more efficient but it'd also be troubling them, since they weren't a part of the castle.

So minions would be better.

"I think if I send a group of minions out, then it'd be slower but it could work," Bandana Dee slowly suggested.

But it was also dangerous and there was a higher probability they would come back with no concrete evidence after all. Surely Meta Knight knew this.

And he did. "Well."

Bandana Dee buried his face in his hands. Of course it'd turn out like this. He continued, voice muffled, "I think I'll ask a few people I know, like Dan – "

"I'll do my best to send a team out by the end of the week."

Two pauses. Bandana Dee slowly peeled his hands off his face.

"Er, wha – ?"

Meta Knight looked back down on Bandana Dee and the latter almost flinched. "That would be the most efficient method."

"But you just said – "

"That I will do my best to. It's a pressing issue, so there are definitely some duties that can be cleared away to deal with this matter first."

Bandana Dee might have been watering up. "Sir Meta Knight!"

"I should be thanking you. You've done well." Bandana Dee rubbed his eyes. "Admittedly, it is surprising that you'd know so much about the leafan species. Even I did not know that."

There was some arrogance in his words, but because it was Meta Knight, it didn't prickle Bandana Dee. He blinked blearily.

"Um, I didn't know, either. One of the minions I brought along witnessed the entire situation up close and told me."

That piqued Meta Knight's interest. "Oh?"

"Right. Kirby did." Again, silence for an answer. "He used to be a farmer, so he's familiar with all sorts of pests. Or at least, that's what he said. He also told me about his – "

A shrill voice cut in, "Bandyyyy!"

Speak of the devil – the pink puffball himself, standing where the unloaded cargo was, was waving his hand and bouncing up and down, as if beckoning Bandana Dee over.

"He's quite fond of you," Meta Knight said dryly.

Fortunately or unfortunately, Bandana Dee didn't know. He scrambled to his feet.

"Yes, uh," he blurted out, "thank you for your time, Sir Meta Knight. And thank you for your help."

"Yes. Stay safe."

How strangely apt for this situation.

Bandana Dee hurried over across the empty field, over to the unloading site. The carriages had disappeared, so they must've been more or less done. The minions were now balancing crates over their heads, others heaving sacks into the castle. Bandana Dee recalled when he still had to do that. He wouldn't be able to get up for the whole day.

Now that he thought about it, Kirby, who was jumping around and waving his arms, was definitely shirking his work.

So he thought he might as well tell Kirby off for doing that. No matter how much of an oddball the pink puffball was, it wasn't an excuse to leave the work all up to the rest of the minions.

When Bandana Dee was in close enough of a proximity, he began, "Kirby – "

"Bandy, you're slow!" Kirby jumped forward, schlepped Bandana Dee by the wrist, and began dragging him towards the back of the castle. "I found something!"

When they wiggled through the conga line of minions that was entering the castle, Bandana Dee remembered what he was supposed to be doing.

"Kirby, your work – "

"I unloaded stuff already! Plus, I can't carry heavy stuff. I'm weak."

Proven. Kirby could hardly hold a spear right if he didn't ingest a Spear ability – now that Bandana Dee was thinking about it, he still didn't fully understand Kirby's copy ability power, even though the wielder himself had gone through great lengths to elaborate on it. Bandana Dee wondered if Kirby could show him again.

They pulled around the corner and Bandana Dee began to rag at Kirby again, although the pink puffball just laughed it off. Then Kirby released his grip on Bandana Dee's hand and pointed upwards. Bandana Dee followed the trail with his eyes.

Up there was an air vent. Big enough for Kirby to fit in.

"I found something nice!"

Bandana Dee was attacked by an onslaught of flashbacks from the first day he had to wake Kirby up. Oh, no.

"You are not crawling through it," Bandana Dee said definitively.

Kirby blinked back at Bandana Dee. "...We are."

"No, we are not."

Again, Kirby blinked. Then his mouth split into a wide crescent. "Well, I am!"

By the time the words, "Hey, wait!" tumbled out of Bandana Dee's mouth, Kirby had already jumped once, snatching the grill off the vent, then another time, hands catching the edge. The grill clattered to the ground, and Kirby swung himself once, twice, then up the third time with the momentum. Before scuttling off into the darkness, he peeked back and tilted his head.

Bandana Dee wasn't entirely sure what he was doing when he jumped and hauled himself up in one motion, but he quickly reassured himself that he was just going to catch Kirby, drag him back to work, and then everything would be settled. His head bumped against the top of vent and he thought Kirby might have laughed.

"Where are you going?" It was supposed to be a demand, but with Bandana Dee it just sounded like a curious question.

"A surefire win in a game of hide-and-seek!"

...They weren't playing hide-and-seek, though..?

"You can show me after you're done bringing the cargo in," Bandana Dee offered.

"Nope! It's now or never!"

He wanted to press his face against the vent and start crying.

All of a sudden he tumbled out. He almost yelped – honed instincts kicked in and he landed on his hands and feet, then winced. That hadn't been a very high drop, but the impact was still a shock.

"In here!"

Bandana Dee looked up to see Kirby kicking a grill aside – from the vent, it must be – and fiddling with a large padlock on a pair of double doors. It didn't occur to the waddle dee what he was doing until a satisfying click was heard, and Kirby, looking triumphant, tossed a small silver stick-like object back into his mouth.

He spluttered, "Don't just pick a lock!"

"Frankly, I have no idea why there's a lock on this place!" Kirby said cheerfully, ripping the padlock out from the handles and tossing it on the floor. "But whatever!" And then he pulled the double doors open.

The stench of something horrible and rotting hit Bandana Dee's nostrils; he almost choked. The familiar hallway and rusty metal framework on the double doors suddenly hit him – this led to one of those garbage dumps in the castle. Trash collected from floors all the way up was thrown down into the rubbish chutes where it formed a straight drop down, all the way to the bottom where everything heaped together. The room was a special kind of filthy – so much that only specialised minions were allowed to take it out. They also got higher pay. Not that that was related.

Undeniably, it made for a good hiding spot, but it may also very well be a one-way trip to the land of skin diseases. Bandana Dee didn't know.

Undefeated by the odour, Kirby skipped inside. On autopilot, Bandana Dee quickly scrabbled after him, immediately clapping a hand ove rhis nose as he did.

He had seen these garbage dumps around the castle once or twice before – he was a leader, so he was inclined to know these things – but the awfulness of it could never settle in properly. Not the grey bricked walls coated over with grime, nor the waste that pooled over every inch of the room. It was dimly lit with the only source of light being the open door and a window much higher up; it would be kept completely dark if visibility wasn't required when clearing the trash out.

"You see!" Kirby exclaimed with a prideful puff. "If it's filled like this, you could just worm around in the garbage and camouflage. No one would ever find you."

"There's a lock, though…" Wait, Kirby had pretty much just picked a lock, right? Was that against the castle rules somewhere? Trespassing? "It doesn't make for a very good place to hide… and it smells… really bad."

"The lock is no problem! The door is old." Kirby jabbed his hand at the wooden-planked door. It was peeling off at the edges to reveal a layer of lighter brown. "You could bust it down super easily."

"N… No."

"No? But you can!"

No, you weren't supposed to do that, was what Bandana Dee meant. He found little point in voicing this out.

Another wave of the rancidity hit Bandana Dee and he pulled away. Kirby was somehow smiling like he wasn't standing next to a decomposing mountain.

Just when Bandana Dee thought Kirby was done and he could finally pull him back to work, the pink puffball continued in another burst.

"Also! It's good if you're playing tag, sort of. Hide-and-seek tag, especially. If you're on the higher floors and someone's the catcher you can just jump down the chute!" Kirby flung his hands up in the air. "They'll never know where you are!" Then he patted the ground. "And the trash will cushion your landing, too!"

And then probably pass out from the sheer stench. "I… don't think it's a good idea to ever do that."

"It's a good idea if you're in Meta Knight's room, or something! This one leads from it!"

"In Sir Meta Knight's room or… what?"

That wasn't Bandana Dee.

Alarmed, Bandana Dee spun around with his hand darting to his spear. Who snuck up on them so easily – ?

His hand stopped midway and he sighed. Ragnus the bio spark stood with his head cocked in curiosity.


19 May 2018

...You know, that one OC from chapter 2.

If you're an old reader you may know that I have a strange soft spot for rubbish chutes. Also, this is a random thought, but if I had to give Kirby a personality type it'd probably be ENFJ-A.

Feel free to speculate in your reviews, by the way. Some of you hit the plot points right on the head, it's amazing. Though of course I can't say who or I'll eventually give away everything.

(Next update may again come in 2 weeks - I have a national exam of sorts at the end of May.)