The inside of the pyramid was just as well lit inside as it was outside. They could see more of those weird hieroglyphs, aware all treasure in the triangular formation had been looted a long time ago. If not by Dedede and his loyal guards, it would have definitely been looted by random wanderers. They came across three separate pathways to go. They went down the centre thinking it would be better to head to the bigger part of the pyramid instead of the side parts. The first room they found was a big pit that had lines of pillars that were clearly broken. The room had caved in on itself the last time Kirby had come by hunting for crystal shards.
"Hop on, girly. I can get us across," Dedede said. Adeleine didn't disagree. She doubted she could make the jump on her own right now. She had to put her trust into the greedy king. She climbed onto his back. He offered Ness a ride too, so they could all get across at once.
"I know you have a limit, Dedede. I'll be fine, go," Ness insisted. He was probably a lot better at jumping alone, and he didn't want to add unnecessary weight to the penguin. Dedede nodded, taking a step back. The teenage artist held on tight as the king made a running leap, taking in a deep breath as he jumped, going over like an over sized balloon gently floating across. He landed on the other side, letting her off safely. Ness had to make one jump at a time. It wasn't the hardest he had done, a lot worse in terms of platforming. When he made it to the other side, he had a smile, though the group was distracted by the sound of someone's voice.
"Stand down!" the familiar voice rung out.
"Was that Meta Knight?" Ness questioned. The others didn't disagree. The voice was exact. They dashed into the next room through the dusty halls. The sand was prominent here too, being in random piles everywhere. They couldn't go one step without some of the small grains getting kicked up. They arrived to a new room that was big in size. It had four more cracked pillars supporting the ceiling. The room should be entirely dark, but it was currently being illuminated by torches like some trap was activated upon being entered, judging by how the main floor was like a mini pit. They saw Meta Knight with his blade drawn, clashing with two oversized knights. They looked almost like they were made of sand. One took a slash at him. He blocked it, but the other took a swing, cutting his right wing. Meta jumped back, groaning.
"Ey, get off him!" Dedede shouted. Before anyone else could do anything, the overweight penguin dove down, his hammer drawn. He slammed the head of it on top of one of the sand knights, crushing it and making it explode into more sand.
"Nice work!" Ness cheered. Meta Knight was somewhat relieved that they had appeared just in time to break the stalemate.
"Thank you…" Meta Knight panted. Adeleine and Ness jumped in as well to help, though they saw the sand left behind from the sand knight turn into another sand knight, like it regenerated with no damage sustained.
"Where's Kirby?" Ness and Adeleine asked simultaneously, somewhat casting a look to one another for the similar worries, different minds that think alike. The short knight pointed ahead to the other side where another doorway was.
"We found the monster, but it made these things and fled. Kirby pursued it," Meta Knight elaborated. It looked like they would be here a while dealing with the two sand knights if they just kept coming back with no method to keep them down permanently. The artist girl looked too worried for her friend, but she had an idea.
"Ness! You should go help Kirby. I can help these two keep fighting," the raven haired girl declared while pulling out a small canvas and her paintbrush. Ness knew she could probably put a lot more effort in aiding them, but he was aware about the risk of letting the monster that caused the minor plague escape. He nodded.
"Alright. Stay safe you guys," Ness told them before running past the sand knights. They did try to swing at him but they wound up colliding blades with one another, missing entirely. When he reached the other side, he had to pull himself out of the small pit to get to the door, just charging down the hall as fast as he could. He passed through multiple rooms, all of them being emptier than the next. Finally, he reached the end where he was relieved to see the familiar star warrior.
"Kirby!" Ness called out, seeing the pink puffball standing there. His friend looked focused, though he knew something bad was going on. He ran to him, assuming it was safer for them to be together than apart at this moment.
"Poyo!" Kirby said, happy his friend was safe, presuming this meant his other friends were entirely safe as well. The room had one thing prominent in it, though. It was a giant statue that was holding two giant stone swords. Ness realized what his friend was being cautious about. He set his eyes upon the tiny shadowy creature, its three beady eyes staring at them from across the room. It came off as not that menacing, though it was tiny, even shorter than the pink star warrior.
"Should we kill it, or capture it?" the psychic asked. It was an awkward staring contest, but he knew there was a reason his partner had not gone charging straight at it.
"No-hurt…" Kirby spoke. His small vocabulary allowed him to get that much out. They watched the tiny shadow monster crawl up the statue, while they were distracted. It didn't seem as scary as half the castle inhabitants made it out to be. But then Ness saw it reach the head of the statue and crawl in one of the eyes like the stone they were made out of didn't stop it.
"Oh, what in the name of Master Hand?!" Ness screamed, seeing the eyes of the statue glow bright yellow. They felt the pyramid rumble somewhat as its arms began to move. The ancient architectures, two blades being made out of stone, looked like they could still hurt a lot. The tiny shadow had possessed the entire statue.
"Poyo! Poyo!" Kirby jumped up, wanting him to use his PSI to give him a power. His teenage friend nodded.
"PK Fire!" Ness shouted, making a small ball of fire in his hand, letting the short pink star warrior inhale it. Upon gulping, he suddenly got a blazing crown appearing on his head, his pink limbs blazing with fire. They saw the statue pull back, getting ready to swing.
"Here it comes!"