So far, staying at the castle was a strange experience. The Waddle Dees that lived here gave Gooey all kinds of attention. He felt a little weird being around them, but he didn't have the heart to complain about it. In fact, maybe he was starting to enjoy it? He wasn't sure...

It was dinner time, Gooey quietly sat next to Waddle Dee himself. He saw that there was a lot of food on the table, which consisted mostly of noodles and bread. Gooey wasn't sure what kind of noodles they were, but they looked tasty enough for his mouth to start watering. Soon enough, Dedede himself walked into the dining room. He was being followed by several Waddle Dees, who started to pour drinks into everyone's glasses.

"All right, you guys!" Dedede said as he sat in a chair at the end of the table. "Now as you all know, one of Kirby's friends is staying with us for the time being. So I want you guys to be nice to him while he's here, got it?"

Gooey received several glances from the Waddle Dees before they looked back at their beloved king. The least that the blob could do was wave at some of them.

"Let's see..." Dedede tried to think as he rubbed the bottom of his beak. "Next thing I wanna bring up is that Dream Land's been relatively peaceful as of late...aside from a few hiccups here and there," he said while he looked sternly at Waddle Dee. "So while we don't have to worry about someone like Nightmare showin' up anytime soon, it's a good idea to keep an eye out for anything suspicious. And if something DOES happen, I'll make sure it's taken care of. And with that outta the way, let's eat!"

The Waddle Dees cheered as they dug into their food. Gooey grabbed the bowl in front of him with his tongue and threw the noodles into his mouth. He was about to grab the bread the same way, but he recalled that doing so would cover the food in drool...which meant less food for everyone else, so he grabbed a piece of bread with an arm and ate it. As he looked around, he noticed that everyone else enjoyed their food while they talked to each other. Even Dedede happily talked with some of his subjects, despite his high rank. Lord Zero never would've talked so casually to anybody lower than him. Maybe to Lord Miracle at most, but certainly not someone like Gooey. But from the looks of it, Dedede seemed to enjoy being around his subjects no matter how low their rank was.

"Hey, Gooey!" Waddle Dee whispered as he tapped Gooey's back. He pushed his bowl towards the young Dark Matter. "Want the rest of this? I don't think I can eat another bite."

Gooey nodded as he grabbed the bowl with his tongue and threw the remaining noodles into his mouth. Waddle Dee gave him a curious look, but decided not to question it.

With all the food he'd eaten, Gooey sat with a content look on his face. He never would've felt this way while surrounded by his siblings, and hey...maybe his brother would enjoy Dedede's company? All that was missing now was Kirby.

Speaking of which, how was he doing out there? Did he have enough food to eat? Was Meta Knight keeping an eye on him? Gooey wasn't sure how much longer Kirby was going to be gone, but he wanted to hear all about his adventure when he got back.

Once night had arrived, Gooey was escorted to one of the guest rooms in the castle. The bed inside the room had many pillows and a thick blanket, Gooey couldn't help but fall asleep as soon as he climbed in.

As Gooey slept, he dreamed that he was on an adventure with Kirby. The two of them walked along a path surrounded by grassy hills. Every once in a while, Kirby would slow down and allow Gooey to catch up. Gooey wasn't holding his parasol, and yet the sun didn't seem to hurt his skin. He wasn't sure if it was another mutation or something else entirely. But at the moment, he didn't seem to care. He was happy to be frolicking along with his friend.

Soon, the scenery began to change. The sky started to turn dark, the grass started to wither. There were all kinds of creatures running past the duo. Further ahead, they could see Meta Knight, and Waddle Dee trying to protect Kirby's animal friends from...King Dedede? No, that couldn't be right. When Gooey looked up at the sky, he was horrified to see that Lord Zero was here. He shook as the larger blob stared back at him.

"Stand back, Gooey!" Kirby yelled as he ran towards Gooey's creator. He hopped onto a star and carelessly charged Lord Zero. Gooey panicked. He tried to fly behind Kirby, but he fell to the ground as if his fins no longer worked.

"Kirby, wait!"

...The next thing that happened was that Gooey had woken up on the floor. He was even more confused now than he was before falling asleep. He was sure that Kirby would protect him if anybody threatened him, but he really didn't want Kirby to go after Lord Zero. As awful as he was, he was still the one that created Gooey in the first place.

It was still night time, Gooey crawled out of the room and into the hallway. He would probably get lost inside the castle at some point, but he didn't seem to care as long as he could get his thoughts straightened out.

From the looks of it, most of the Waddle Dees in the castle had already gone to bed. It was dark and quiet, which Gooey didn't seem to mind. As he explored the castle, he eventually found Dedede, he sat in a dimly-lit room with the one-eyed Waddle Dee. They appeared to be playing a game of some sort, though it didn't take long for the bird to notice Gooey.

"What's wrong? Can't sleep?"

"Uh...no?"

Dedede replied with a shrug. "That's all right, I can't sleep either."

"Well you DID spend all day sleeping." The Waddle Dee added.

"Yeah, 'cause I had to save one of the Waddle Dees from gettin' himself killed!" Dedede argued.

"Er...understood, sire."

Gooey moved into the room and looked at the table, he could see black and red disks set up on a black and red board. He wasn't sure what kind of game it was, so he looked at Dedede. "What is it?"

Dedede tilted his head in confusion. "It's Checkers...haven't you played Checkers before?"

"Maybe they don't have checkers where he's from?" asked the one-eyed Waddle Dee. Gooey nodded in agreement.

"Ah, well...Do you wanna play after Waddle Doo and I are done?"

"No," Gooey replied. It was nice of Dedede to offer, but Gooey didn't want to risk angering him. Especially not when he had such a high status like Lord Zero. Nonetheless, Dedede shrugged. "All right, suit yourself!"

Gooey sat next to Dedede while he tried to think. Dedede was this world's king, right? Surely, he might be able to answer some of Gooey's questions.

"Can I...ask something?" Gooey asked as he looked up at the king.

"Sure, knock yourself out," Dedede said while Waddle Doo placed a disc at the end of the board. "King me!"

Dedede glared at Waddle Doo for a moment before he looked back at Gooey. He laid his arms across the chair. "So what'd you wanna say?"

"Um...Do you ever feel happy? But you feel sad at the same time?" Gooey asked. Dedede looked up as he tried to think. "Well...yeah. I'm pretty sure there's a word for it..."

"Bittersweet?"

"That's it, bittersweet!" Dedede said while he pointed at Waddle Doo in acknowledgement. "Why? Is somethin' bothering you?"

"Um..." Once again, Gooey tried to think. He wasn't sure how he was supposed to word this, but it was worth a shot.

"So...I lived with Lord Zero and my siblings...and the only nice one is Brother. But after I come to Pop'tar, everyone's been so nice to me. So I dunno how I should feel 'bout it."

Dedede brought a hand under his beak as he tried to think. "Let's see...This 'Zero' guy wouldn't happen to be your dad, would he?"

"My dad?"

"You know...Someone who takes care of you," Dedede explained. "Like...they're someone that watches over you and makes sure your safe."

"Oh!" Gooey's eyes suddenly lit up. "So a dad is someone like my brother?"

"Er...Kind of." Dedede asked as he gave Gooey a strange look. "What's Lord Zero to you, then?"

"He created me."

"Ah..." Suddenly, realization hit Dedede. "So he's the one that created you, but you don't consider him a dad...is that it?"

"I guess?" Gooey said with uncertainty. Dedede chuckled as he playfully patted Gooey on the head. "Tell ya what, kid. If you ever need a dad, you could always come to me for anything."

"Really?"

"Of course," Dedede replied. "Besides, a great king like me's gotta look out for his kingdom, you know?"

All Gooey could do at that point was smile. Though that bittersweet feeling was still there, he was happy to know that Dedede would look out for him just like Kirby would. He could certainly see why the Waddle Dees thought so highly of him. And hey, maybe one day Dedede might get to know his brother as well? If the two of them ever met, then maybe Dedede could be HIS dad, too?

Be careful what you wish for, Gooey...