Chapter 4: His True Identity
"So, what are you planning to do with them?" Escargon asked as he stared at the very large group of Waddle Dees that were staring at a long group of screens that were displaying all sorts of codes and information.
"I'm havin' them decipher what's underneath that name. Once they finally get this all figured out, we'll finally know what this kid's name really is!" Dedede explained as the Waddle Dees continued to type away at their computers. "In the meantime, we're gonna give this kid, as well as myself, somethin' to eat!" he said as he walked towards the kitchen.
Oh, dear… Escargon thought as he reluctantly followed the king.
"All right, what do we have? Oh! Maybe there's something in the cupboard!" he said as he grabbed its handles.
"DON'T OPEN THA-!" Escargon warned; but he was too late. The doors were opened, and in an instant, a powerful stream of food blasted onto Dedede, covering him in a mountain of food.
"Oh, no…"
"YOU IDIOTS!" he burst in pure rage. "I TOLD YA NOT TO PACK THE FOOD INTO THE SHELVES SO TIGHTLY!"
"Sorry, sir… I tried to-"
"Shaddup and get this mess cleaned up!" Dedede commanded as Escargon scurried over to clean up the mess. And to their surprise, the little pink child came running into the kitchen, mouth open, eyes alight. He wanted food, and lots of it.
"Hey! How did the little brat get out?!" Dedede interrogated the snail.
"How should I know?" Escargon replied, when a stampede of Waddle Dees came running into the kitchen, forming a mass mob around them. They were trying to chase after the kid.
"Get outta here, you fools!" Dedede said as he pushed one away from him, who was attempting to climb on him.
"What has gotten into them?" Escargon said as he tried to shake off one that was grabbing onto his feet (or whatever you want to call them, since snails don't have feet).
"GET OUTTA HERE!" the king screamed. The Waddle Dees immediately obeyed, and ran out of the kitchen. It was even worse of a mess now, for the food that was lying on the ground was trampled on, crushed and squashed.
"Awww man! Idiots!" Dedede whined.
"Umm… Sire… look at what the kid is doing…" Escargon said as he pointed out the little puff, who was eating entire boxes of food, box and all.
"That's just… weird…" the king said.
"Yeah, but he's cleaning up the mess!" Escargon said.
"Hey, you're right!" Dedede said as 'Kirby' stuffed a can in his mouth and swallowed it whole. "He's just like Kirby!"
"Not to mention that he looks like him."
"I already knew that!"
"Hey, your Highness!" a little orange creature with one large eye said as he walked into the kitchen. "I hate to interrupt… whatever you're doing… but we've decoded part of the name!"
"Well, that's just great, Waddle Doo!" Dedede said sarcastically.
"I know!" Waddle Doo replied.
"I was being sarcastic! I want the WHOLE name, not part of it! Now get back to work!"
"Y-yes, sir!" Waddle Doo said as he scurried down the hall afraid to take any of Dedede's wrath.
"You could've at least asked what they found out… Then we could guess what the name is," Escargon said.
"Oh!" Dedede said as he ran to the hall and shouted, "WADDLE DOO!"
"Yeah?"
"WHAT LETTERS DID YA DECODE?!"
"R, sir. Just R."
"Well, that's helpful…" Dedede said as he gave a heavy sigh.
"Well, now you can keep yourself busy for the rest of the day," Escargon pointed out.
"Shaddup and GET 'IM AWAY FROM THE FOOD!" Dedede shouted when he noticed the child eating perfectly good food.
"Ohhh no you don't!" Escrgon said as he picked up the child. He squirmed around stupidly in his arms. "Poyo! Aii!"
"Alright, you. Let's get you back in your playpen," he said as he slithered out of the kitchen, struggling to keep his grasp on the kid.
"I guess I'm not eating…" Dedede said disappointedly as he slowly followed Escargon.
"So…" Dedede pondered as he sat at the table; pencil in hand, paper in front of him. It had all sorts of names written and scratched out on it. "Rand?"
"Nah…" Escargon said. Dedede scribbled that name out.
"Raivis?"
"Maybe."
"Rory?"
"Nah."
"Rachel?"
"That's a girl's name, sire."
"Oh, yeah. Well I'm tired! I can't think straight!" Dedede complained as he crumpled the paper into a ball and threw it across the room. "I give up! This is impossible! If we had another letter, we could narrow the list down."
"POYO!" the child hollered in pleasure as he pointed to Mickey Mouse doing the "Hot Dog" dance.
"Yes, I see!" Dedede grouched as he slammed his head on the table.
"Don't overwork yourself, sire…" Escargon said.
"HEY! WE FOUND OUT THE NAME AT LAST!" Waddle Doo screamed in exhilaration as he scurried down the stairs, tripping and falling flat on his face.
"WHAT IS IT?!" Dedede interrogated impatiently.
"His name is Rai."
"Rai?" the king and the snail said in unison.
"Poyo?" Rai responded. He thought they were calling him.