Things may have ended on a sour note the last chapter, but Gooey still has plenty to learn about this planet!

Even more time had passed since then, the strength of the sun had started to weaken. However, Popstar didn't go back to normal like Gooey expected. The leaves began to change color and the winds became stronger. It was as if Popstar was dying, yet Kirby acted as if this was normal.

During their morning stroll, Kirby and Gooey had come across the sunflower fields that they explored a while back. The flowers were replaced by orange fruit, and there were no signs of those frogs, either. Gooey looked at Kirby and frowned. "Why is everything so...dead?"

"It's Autumn," Kirby replied. "The days get colder, plants start to wilt, and animals get ready to sleep for the next several months."

"Oh, so...does that mean your friends are getting ready to sleep, too?"

"Um...I know Rick is," Kirby said while trying to think. "He'll wake up every now and then, but we aren't gonna see him as much until Spring."

"Oh..." Gooey looked down, he couldn't help but worry about Rick. But it shouldn't take long until Spring came back, right?

"What's Spring like?"

"That's when all the plants come back to life and the animals start to wake up," Kirby explained. "You were here when it was Spring, remember?

Gooey was shocked, "So Pop'tar really will go back to normal?"

"Something like that, yeah." Kirby told Gooey. "But Autumn's a lot of fun, too. It's just as normal as the other seasons here."

"How so?"

"Well, it's the time of year where we carve pumpkins," Kirby explained as he grabbed one of the orange plants from the ground. "And later this month, we dress up like monsters and collect candy."

So the people of Dream Land have an event dedicated to collecting candy? This sounded like something Dedede would've come up with. Gooey really liked the idea, though he wasn't sure what sort of monster he was supposed to dress up as. He wasn't really sure about what counted as a monster here, either.

"What are you gonna dress up as, Kirby?"

"I was thinking about being a ghost again this year, but I don't know." Kirby said as he grabbed another pumpkin. "What about you?"

"I dunno," Gooey replied. Kirby inhaled a third pumpkin before he started walking again. "Well, maybe we can find something when we get home?"

"Maybe..."

Kirby placed the two pumpkins in front of his house as soon as he got home. As he went inside the house, he started to dig under the bed for something he could give to Gooey. And whenever he grabbed something, he'd always ask about it before he tossed it aside.

"Wanna be a vampire?"

"No."

"All right...how about a dragon?"

"...No."

"A werewolf?"

"I dun even know what these things are!"

"Hm..." Kirby kept searching under the bed, so much so that he didn't realize that his feet barely touched the light outside. There were many clothes thrown across the floor. Some of them looked fancy while others looked kind of goofy. But if Kirby couldn't find anything soon, then Gooey will have to give up on getting any candy.

"Oh!" Kirby exclaimed as he pulled himself out from under the bed. He held onto a pointy hat. "How about a witch?"

"Uh...maybe?"

Kirby walked over to Gooey and placed the hat on his head. It was like a wide umbrella that shielded Gooey from the light. Given how many creatures liked to hide in the dark, something like this worked perfectly.

There was a knock at the door, Kirby walked over and opened it. Rick and Nago stood outside. For some reason, Nago looked fluffier than he usually did.

"Hey, Kirby!" Rick greeted. "Whaddaya up to?"

Kirby looked at Gooey and pointed. "I was just finding something for Gooey to wear."

"Well don't we look scary today?" Nago asked as he looked at Gooey. The Dark Matter smiled proudly. "Good, 'cause that means I get a lotta candy."

"Not if Kirby eats it first," Rick teased, which earned him a bitter look from Kirby.

"I can't help but feel like something's missing, though," Nago said as he placed a paw under his chin. He thought about it for a little while until an idea had formed in his head. "I know, you need a cloak! Every good witch needs a cloak!"

Oh, was Gooey's costume not done? A cloak would help him hide in the dark more easily, but he wasn't sure how it would fit on his body. Especially not without a Blade form...Maybe he could fit it over his fins instead?

"So what brought you guys here, today?" Kirby asked.

"Well...I was thinking that we should go camping before I get ready to hibernate," Rick said as he scratched his ear with his foot. "I wanna know if you guys wanna come with us."

"Sure thing," Kirby replied. "I could even bring my fishing rod!"

"But what about the candy?" Gooey asked. Nago sighed as he patted the Dark Matter's back. "That won't be until later this month, Gooey."

Oh...right...Gooey still had a whole month ahead of him until he could gather candy...how long was a month supposed to be, again?

"We could still roast marshmallows while we're out camping," Rick assured Gooey. "They're kinda sticky, but I'm sure you'd love 'em."

"Oh, maybe we should bring chocolate with us, too!" Kirby said excitedly. "We could make S'mores."

"Now you're talkin'!"

Nago sighed as he shook his head. Gooey looked at him with a curious gaze. "What's wrong?"

"Hm?" Nago opened his eyes for a moment. "I'm not a big fan of marshmallows, they always find a way to stick to my fur."

"But what will you eat?"

"There's always fish," Nago replied. "I could just cook it over the fire like you would with marshmallows."

"Ah."

Gooey wasn't sure what camping would involve, but he felt as if he might actually enjoy it. Especially since Rick was going to be sleeping soon, so the least he could do was to join him before the time came up.

Later that day. Kirby and his friends were outside, they were cutting up the pumpkins. Kirby would eat whatever was inside the pumpkin before Rick and Nago cut shapes into the sides. The shapes made the pumpkins look like they had faces. Gooey had to assume that this was another thing that happened during Autumn, as he couldn't recall any other time someone would cut faces into food before this.

"Why do you gotta cut up the pum'kins?" Gooey asked. "Why not something bigger like watermelon?"

"We COULD do that, but..." Rick paused as he tried to think. "Actually, why DO we carve pumpkins?"

Nago shrugged, as he didn't have an answer either. "I just know that watermelons aren't as good this time of year."

"We just cut pumpkins because it's fun," Kirby added as he ate a piece of pumpkin that he carved off. If that were the case, then Gooey would've loved to help. That is, if he were able to handle a knife. He liked to imagine that it was like using a smaller sword, except it was used for food rather than fighting.

There seemed to be so much to do in Autumn. Although it was getting colder, Kirby showed no signs of slowing down. Even Rick seemed happy, despite the fact that he was going to sleep soon.

Perhaps Popstar wasn't actually dying after all? Like Rick, maybe it was just getting ready to sleep, too? That's what Gooey liked to believe.