I just want to thank a Guest reader for giving me an awesome idea! This will definitely keep the story more interesting! :D

Chapter 3: Suspicious Happenings

Thankfully, the next day was bright and sunny. Well, I wouldn't say that for King Dedede, though.

"Aw, man!" he whined, "I have to do that stupid meeting today!"

"Cheer up! There's really not much to say!" Escargon assured the whiny king.

"Yeah, I guess you're right…"

"Hey, I was just wondering… are you going to mention the little puffball to the town?"

"No way! They don't need to know! … Hey! Aren't you supposed to be watchin' the little creampuff?"

"Well, I kinda let the Waddle Dees take the job for a while."

"You did WHAT?! They don't know NOTHIN' about that kind of stuff!"

"Actually, Sire, they seem to be doing a pretty good job last time I checked. Besides, they actually don't mind doing so! They seem to enjoy it!"

"What do you mean?" the king asked as he started to walk towards the stairs. Escargon followed him. When Dedede walked down, a look of disbelief crossed his face when he saw what he saw. The Waddle Dees were all jumping up and down when a guy in a green striped shirt named Steve asked, "Where's the clue?"

"POYO!" Kirby squeaked as he pointed at the television.

"Wow, they sure are idiots, aren't they?" Escargon remarked (he was talking about the Waddle Dees.)

"Yes, but they're my idiots. Now scram! Tell the Cappies that the meeting will start at noon today!" the king yelled.

"Y-yes, Sire! Right away, Sire!" Escargon said as he scurried off. "Geez, you don't need to be so rude!" he mumbled.

"Citizens of Cappytown, Dreamland," Escargon announced, "the town meeting will commence at noon today, so don't be late!"

"Aw, man! Not another boring meeting! Why do us kids need to be there anyway?" a Cappy
boy with bluish green hair that covered his face complained.

"Because, Tuff," his sister Tiff replied, "we need to know too!"

"Well, the king hates these meetings too, so if he has to deal with them, you do too!" Escargon rudely said.

"Geez, he doesn't need to be so tough!" Tuff said.

"Okay, king, I'm ba-" Escargon started; his speech was stopped by the sight of King Dedede himself sitting in the room with the others.

"Oh! There's the clue!" Steve exclaimed. "But… what is it?"

"It's a ball, ya moron!" Dedede shouted.

"Poyo!"

Wow, no wonder he hired these idiots… Escargon thought, He's one himself!

Later on that day, King Dedede had to prepare for the boring meeting.

"Let's see," he sighed as he paced around in his bedroom, "I've got the list of things to mention, Escargon is right over there, and I guess that I'm here, so… Yup. I'm all set."

"Alright, you're Highness, let's get with it!" Escargon said. The two walked out the door and headed straight for the town square, where they had to move thought the crowd of people that were standing there; they all seemed as excited as Dedede was.

"Alright, let's get onto business. First off, I am glad to say that the Toy Boat race that was held last week was a huge success; it was a great way for the kids (and the adults, sadly,) to get out and have some fun! Second off… blah blah blah blah…"

"When is he going to just shut his mouth already?" Tuff complained.

"I don't know…" Tiff said.

"Yaddy yaddy yadda… blah blah blah… I really don't care about this… blah blah blah…"

"You've got to be joking!" a little yellow bird peeped. "I never knew that there was that much to talk about!"

"Apparently it's all part of every meeting, Tokkori," Tiff said flatly. "But I do wish that he would just stop rambling on!"

"Or at least tell us stuff that actually matters!" Tuff added.

"No kiddin'!" Tokkori piped. About five more minutes had passed, and by them, more than half of the people who attended were asleep.

"Blah blah this… blah blah that… food stocks seem to be good… Which reminds me! Escargon! Go and get that food that we couldn't get yesterday! You hear!?" the king ordered.

"Do you want me to buy twice as much as usual?" the snail asked.

"Oh! Um, yeah. You go ahead and do that," he replied nervously.

"Okay, Sire!" Escargon said as he scurried off for the grocery store.

"Oh!" a Cappy named Tuggle said as he suddenly woke up (for he was half dozed from boredom,) "I better make sure that I'm there when he's ready to check out!" he said as he ran off for his store.

"Well, that about does it. Meeting is over! (Thank gosh!)" Dedede said.

"Well, that was boring!" Tuff said.

"Yeah, but why did Dedede want twice as much food?" Tiff wondered.

"Maybe his appetite grew larger!" Tuff laughed.

"I doubt that! His appetite is big enough; I don't think there is any way for anyone, even Dedede, to eat more than he already does!" Tiff said. Except for Kirby, but he's out of town right now! She turned around and spotted a knight about Kirby's size wearing a mask that covered his entire face. He also wore a dark blue cape.

"Hey, Meta Knight?" Tiff asked, thus grabbing his attention. "What's going on with Dedede?"

"I do not know," Meta Knight replied. "I haven't seen anything strange lately…"

"Hey, maybe he got a pet!" Tuff said.

"No, pets are usually loud and energetic, so we would've known about it already. Besides, he isn't one who would enjoy having to watch one on a daily basis," Tiff said. "He's always too busy with his own meaningless life."

"You are right," Meta Knight said.

"But, maybe he changed his mind!" Tuff suggested. "Ya never know!"

"The only reason you are suggesting that is because you would get an excuse to play with it!" Tiff said quite annoyed.

"Aww…" Tuff said as he crossed his arms.

"Well, I suggest that we just wait and see if we can learn anything else," Meta Knight said. "It's our only option."

"WHOA!" Escargon said as he darted off for the castle. "I FORGOT THE CAR!"

Later on, Escargon swiftly parked right at the castle's entrance. Immediately, a stampede of Waddle Dees came running out; and each took a bag of food and brought it into the castle.

"Well, my work here is done," he said as he slithered into Castle Dedede and went down to Kirby's room. He sat down at the red and blue kids table that was in the top left corner of the room and decided that now was a good time to take a nap. Right as he plopped his head onto the table, he heard what seemed to be the sound of paper crunching.

"Huh?" he said as he lifted his head and peered at what made that strange noise.

"Oh, hey! It's that note that came with Kirby!" he said as he picked up the little slip of paper.

Hey wait a minute… he thought with a suspicious look. I just realized that Kirby's name is written with a different handwriting… Hey… wait… WHAT?! Isn't that a coincidence that this Kirby has the exact name and appearance as that other little brat?! Man am I stupid for JUST realizing that! He thought as he slapped his hand on his face.

"HEY, SLACKER!" Dedede boomed as he stomped down the stairs. "HOW COME YOU AREN'T HELPING WITH THE FOOD?"

"Hey," Escargon said, trying to change the subject, "did you realize that Kirby's name is written kinda' strangely?" he asked as he handed Dedede the paper.

"Yeah…" he responded.

"And isn't it weird that this kid is also named Kirby?"

"Yeah, but I just ignored that fact. And if you are trying to tell me that this is Kirby, THEN YOU'RE WRONG! This Kirby has green eyes, while the other has bl-"

"I GET it!"

"Don't you dare snap at me!"

"Never mind that! Anyway, now that I look at that name closer, it seems that it has been written over something else; most likely this kid's real name!"

"Hey! You just might be right! I never knew that you could be so logical!"

"Thanks for the lovely compliment," Escergon grumbled as he turned away from the one who insulted him. "Anyway, it's impossible to decipher what's underneath that name, so it's pretty much impossible to figure out wha-"

"SEND DOWN THE TECHNO SQUAD!" Dedede shouted.