The knock on effects

Day One

In a bored mannerism, he glanced out of the window.

The sounds of cheery children leaked through the walls, into the castle. To him, it all was no more than irritating noise pollution; he could never understand why somebody would ever decide to have a child. Irresponsibility, he believed, or pure boredom.

His advisor, Escargoon, babbled to Captain Waddle Doo. Again, it was a noise he didn't care about, as his thought patterns criss-crossed into a formulated plan to rid their town of Kirby. It was ingenious, it was creative but it was evil; it would mean he would be stooping down to a low that nobody had ever seen him go down to. The Townsfolk already considered him to be a reincarnation of evil, a puppet to Nightmare and an all-around chaos-causer, but this would bestow him a title that would blow all of those out of the water.

Escargoon, completely oblivious to the idea, nonchalantly waved it off as a bad idea, insisting that Kirby's presence was something that he should simply accept. The child did more good than harm, and had defeated Nightmare, saving the Townsfolk from having their tax money wasted on yet another demon beast who's recklessness would destroy the town. The cycle had been broken, and Escargoon couldn't understand why Dedede couldn't throw away such a meaningless grudge.

"Whatever your idea is, I don't want to hear it. Everyone's happy now, can't you just be happy too?" Escargoon insisted, taking sides with Kirby, something he'd been aching to do for the majority of his life.

Guffawing, he shook his head and slammed his hand onto the armrests of his throne,"You, taking sides with that Kirby? Are you makin a joke, Goonie? Cause, it's a good one!"

His words had finally driven Escargoon over the edge. The constant abuse, both verbally and physically, was too much. He served no purpose in the castle anymore as it was, so he could finally get out what it was he wanted to say.

"I quit."

The laughter was short lived, as Dedede frowned, eyeing the snail daringly,"Repeat that, Goonie."

Beginning to sweat nervously, he choked on his words as he spoke,"I quit. I just can't do this anymore. I've tolerated you for longer than I've had to, and I've decided that I'll move into the village, find a job and live a more peaceful life. Even if the Cappies are gullible, they're also very welcoming and charitable. I'll take their ignorance over yours."

Red faced, he gasped for air; that moment was one he'd dreampt of for countless years. Standing up to Dedede was something that every Cappy had been waiting for. Heck, even Tiff pitied him and hoped he'd find enough courage to face Dedede someday.

Scoffing, Dedede began to grit his teeth as realisation dawned on him. He wasn't the brightest of people, but he knew when the snail was being sincere about something, and when he was acting light-hearted and joking.

With gritted teeth and clenched fists, he shouted at him," Fine then, I'll be just fine without you, ya lousy snail! Yer a good-for-nothing anyway, and you've only got on my way all these years. I'll find someone else to replace ya, like Meta Knight or something!"

"Sire, I'm willing to bet that Meta Knight has probably heard you say that and has gone somewhere with Sword and Blade just to avoid you." Escargoon stated, blank faced.

After he'd done speaking, he left the room, unprompted by Dedede. Whether he was simply caught up in the moment or truly fed up with the despicable actions of the monarch, he was gone like he promised.

Left alone in his throne room, the king slumped back in his chair, storm clouds practically swarming his head. Escargoon was somebody the King had trusted more than anyone else, and now he had taken sides with his biggest enemy. It was unacceptable, and he knew it.