Just A Robot (Dedesuka)

Who Is Truly Dedede?

DededeDroid stood in front of the door to Escargoon's makeshift room. His metallic hand hovered over the doorknob, slightly worried as to what reaction Escargoon would have. He didn't want to hurt Escargoon, he had hurt him enough already. DededeDroid could hear faint noises coming from the room. He took one last look at the doorknob before twisting it open. DededeDroid opened the door only to see Escargoon sulking in the corner of the empty room. Escargoon's face was in his hands, as there was a puddle of tears quite clearly in front of him. It was clear that he had been crying for hours. Escargoon turned his head towards the door. His face was a sickly red and his eyes looked raw from what DededeDroid could only guess was the tears. Escargoon's eyes lingered on DededeDroid for a while before turning away. "Dedede, please. I don't want you to see me like this." DededeDroid noticed the tears in Escargoon's eyes started to appear once again. DededeDroid edged closer to the corner where Escargoon was sitting. He sat down next to him. There was a long silence. No one dared to utter a word. DededeDroid turned to Escargoon. He grabbed the snail's tiny body and pulled him into a hug. Escagoon looked at him, shocked. "Dedede, I-" DededeDroid sighed, realizing that it was finally time to tell the truth. "I AM NOT DEDEDE." There was a silence. Escargoon stared at the giant penguin, unable to comprehend what he meant. "What do you mean?" Escargoon's voice barely above a whisper. Then something inside Escargoon changed. He looked at his husband once again, but something was off. He noticed all the bolts and messy wires. He noticed the dead, unmoving eyes. He noticed the husk of a body that imitated his husband's. The fantasy was wearing off. This was not Dedede. Escargoon's muscles tightened and his head ached. "No, it can't be true. It's not." Pictures of Dedede flashed across Escargoon's mind, then it would switch back to DededeDroid, then back to Dedede. Escargoon grabbed onto his own whiskers in pain. He couldn't comprehend the difference between the robot and his husband. "It's not possible. You will be Dedede, you are Dedede!" Escargoon pushed DededeDroid off of him, tears streaming down his face once again. "I order you to say it! You will obey me! Say it, say you're Dedede! SAY IT!" Escargoon screamed. "I- I AM...." DededeDroid's mind filled with errors. His programming was telling him one thing, but his robotic heart was telling him another. "I AM-" Escargoon was furious. His mind switching from Dedede back to DededeDroid once again. He could no longer stand to look at the robot any longer. Then Escargoon's mind snapped.

"I AM........"

.

..

...

....

.....

"I AM NOT DEDEDE."

Silence. No one dared to say a word. Only the faintest rumbles of the underground base could be heard. Escargoon sighed. He got up from the corner and approached the robotic penguin. He then put his hand on his shoulder. Escargoon could feel the heat from the motors through the thick metallic skin. He moved his hand towards DededeDroid's chest. He kept moving his hand around till he reached a certain spot. He could feel something beating. "A robot with a robotic heart, huh?" DededeDroid just stared at the mollusk as he kept his hand on his heart. Escargoon started giggling. "Y'know, when I first built you, I didn't even think the heart was going to work. I only added it because it reminded me of Dedede. He always said I had too big of a heart." DededeDroid said nothing. "Escargoon then proceeded to open DededeDroid's chest-plate. There it was. The beating heart. It was made of a golden material and pumped up and down in a rhythmic pattern. "Then I would always tell him that he had a heart of gold. Kinda cheesy but I always remember him blushing after I would say it." Escargoon chuckled. However, DededeDroid was in shock. "YOU AREN'T MAD AT ME?" The robot questioned. Escargoon laughed. "Why would I be mad at you? You did the right thing." DededeDroid just stared at his tiny master. "Anyway, when I made the heart I never thought that it would actually be able to give a robot feelings to such an extent. You really are quite the combination of parts and wires, aren't you?" DededeDroid's robotic heart started beating a bit faster. "I just wish I could have given you a better life, instead I got you caught up in my own mess." Escargoon closed the hatch on DededeDroid's chest and turned away from the metallic penguin. "I'm really sorry for all of this. Everything was my fault, I didn't mean for any of this to happen. I just...... I just really wanted my husband back." Escargoon lowered his head in shame. DededeDroid approached the small snail from behind. "DEDEDE IS NO LONGER WITH US, CORRECT?" Escargoon turned around. "He has been gone for five years now. I just wish I could've convinced him to stay. I can't live happily without him." DededeDroid hugged the snail once more, but this time Escargoon enjoyed the embrace. "ESCARGOON, CAN YOU TAKE ME TO HIM? CAN YOU TAKE ME TO DEDEDE?" Escargoon looked at the robot in confusion, but then he understood what the robot had meant. He sighed. 

"Alright, let's go pay Dedede a visit, shall we?"