Melanie proceeded to tell her new friends everything that had happened, how she was sucked into a mirror and ended up in here. Dessie and Haley were amazed by all of this to the point where they wanted to know all about her world.
The Hammer Kirby thought about this and said, "Well, I live on a planet called Dark Star. It's not the nicest place to live but it's okay. As the name implies, the skies are always dark."
"That sounds terrible," Dessie replied, "Why would you want to go back there?" Haley grinning and stating, "I think it sounds cool..." Melanie sighing, "It's home, though," Dessie nodding in understand. She couldn't imagine living anywhere besides Moleville.
The mole then asked, "Wait, if your village was destroyed, where do you live now?" Melanie beaming and replying, "Well, I don't mean to brag, but I live in the castle of a town called New Pupupuland and serve the royal army," Haley's eyes going wide as she slowly walked over to the Hammer Kirby, bowing her head and saying, "You are officially my hero."
Melanie chuckled in response to this before saying, "Yeah, I've met many good people there. Of course my childhood friends Spencer and Flint are great, but my trainer, Knuckle Joe, is a very fun guy and I also met the love of my life."
Haley stuck out her tongue remarking, "Forget what I just said," Dessie holding her hands together with a big smile saying, "I think it's sweet," Melanie sighing with her cheeks red adding, "Yes, I met Metaknight shortly after moving there. See, he's a big-time celebrity in my world and has always been my hero."
Haley looked slightly more interested as Melanie told of Metaknight's many exploits as a Star Soldier. The more and more the hedgehog heard of this man's many accomplishments and just how powerful he was, her eyes sparkled brighter and brighter. This Metaknight sounded like the most awesome creature in existence.
"He can also transform into a dragon," Melanie added as if said power was a good thing, Dessie and Haley even more amazed until the Hammer Kirby sighed, Dessie asking, "Have you told him your feelings yet?"
Melanie looked down and nodded her head replying, "Yeah, but... well... it won't work..." Haley barking, "WHY NOT!?" Dessie giving the hedgehog an awkward stare as Haley shrugged her shoulders, replying, "Hey, he sounds cool. That's good enough for me," Melanie letting out a sigh and replying, "He's... older than me..." Dessie replying, "Well, that doesn't sound like such a big..." the Hammer Kirby adding, "by more than thirty years," the mole staring wide-eyed. This had just turned awkward.
"How would you not know that?" Haley asked, Dessie about to retort until she remembered that was actually a good question, Melanie sighing, "It's the big downfall to us Kirbies when it comes to figuring out age. We always look the same no matter how old we are, so a 100 year old Kirby would look similar to a 15 year old," Haley blinking and saying, "Wow... you just blew my mind..."
Melanie took a deep breath and smiled lightly saying, "It's okay, though. I've come to accept it. Besides, I might meet someone better someday," Haley remarking, "Better than a guy who can turn into a dragon!?" Dessie clamping the hedgehog's mouth shut, smiling sweetly and saying, "Good for you. Acceptance is always a good thing."
Melanie grinned before getting up and adding, "It was great meeting you guys, but I need to find a way back home," Haley turned to Dessie and sighing, "I know exactly what you're thinking," the mole grinning before walking over to Melanie, saying, "You're not going alone. We may not know the way back home, but we do know of a mirror that leads to another area. That might just help."
Melanie's eyes widened, soon sparkling as she smiled bright, nodding her head and saying, "Thanks, guys," the rodents grinning with pride before leading Melanie into the forest area.
Unlike with Flint and Fumu, Melanie had a very calm and clear path ahead. Luckily, none of the creatures here were vicious or deadly, so travelling through the area was a breeze. Along the way, they simply conversed with each other about various things regarding their personal lives, Haley and Dessie more and more amazed every time the Hammer Kirby told them a story of her many battles.
She even told of the war that had taken place a week ago, the rodents sniffing when she mentioned the death of her friend Bun. Even Haley couldn't imagine just how painful it was to lose a friend. But they were glad to hear that the demon beasts had started to lay off after the big battle.
Soon the group was in a wide open field with no trees or bushed or anything, just flowers and grass, Dessie saying, "The mirror should be somewhere around here," the ground shaking, Dessie and Haley's eyes going wide, the two gulping as Haley uttered, "Wait... isn't this where you ran into...?" Dessie cutting in, whimpering, "I think it is..."
At that moment, a big patch of dirt rose up as a huge mammal came up, grabbing a worm crawling by and slurping it down like a spaghetti strand, Dessie and Haley trembling as Melanie blinked at the sight of this. The creature that had appeared was a huge grey mole with the ears of a mouse. It had sharp red claws on the ends of its light-brown paws and sported a pair of shades.
"IT'S THE MOUSE MOLE!" both exclaimed, trembling as Melanie asked, "How do you know it's the same one?" Dessie letting down nervous sweat and replying, "Well, we should have mentioned earlier that it's the only one of its kind..."
Melanie blinked and replied, "Okay, that doesn't really make sense, but it makes this battle a little bit easier knowing more won't appear," the other two staring as she pulled out her hammer, Dessie asking, "You're not gonna fight it, are you?" Melanie replying, "Please, I've faced a giant suit of armour with a flail before. This is nothing."
The two stared, their eyes sparkling, Melanie officially having become their new hero. With that, the Kirby held her guard up, the mole turning toward her and licking its lips, clearly still hungry despite having just eaten a worm. Unlike most moles, this mouse mole seemed to have a taste for anything that was smaller than it.
This showed when the creature started to charged at Melanie, using its claws to propel it forward only for Melanie to panic, leaping to the side just in time along with the other two shouting, "GODDAMMIT, THIS THING'S FAST!" the mole blinking, looking back and forth, clearly confused as to where the three had gone as Melanie took full of advantage of this, leaping toward the creature and spinning her body around with her hammer at the ready.
However, the mole turned just in time to see her coming, quickly burrowing back underground as Melanie's hammer rammed into the ground, the Kirby blinking as the mole came up from behind, striking her in the back with his claws as her skin opened up, blood flying out, the Kirby rolling along the ground a bit.
With that, Melanie finally lost her temper for the first time today, fuming as she charged at the mole shouting, "HOLD STILL, YOU PRICK!" the rodent simply burrowing underground as Melanie slammed her hammer down again, Dessie and Haley watching this with concern.
The Kirby noticed the mole appear right behind her, turning around and swinging her hammer downward again only for the mole to go back underground, appearing next to her as she swung it sideways, the mole going underground a forth time. It was as if the demon viewed this as a game or something.
After a while, the rodent rose up holding a tire, Melanie turning and asking, "Where did he get that?" the creature hurling it at her as she narrowly dodged it, the mole then hurling rocks toward her, Melanie unable to dodge in time before taking a couple to the face, rubbing said spot and groaning, the mole going back underground, soon popping up again, this time holding an oil drum.
"Okay, seriously, who would bury something like that underground!?" Melanie spat as the mole hurled it forward, the Kirby narrowly dodging just in time to avoid a huge explosion, the resulting shock wave sending her tumbling toward Dessie and Haley, the rodents catching her and stopping her little trip across the ground.
Melanie shook her head, trying to get up as Haley asked, "Are you okay?" Melanie taking a deep breath and replying, "Never been better..." slowing getting up as Dessie said, "Wait, if you're serious about fighting this beast, then we'll help you."
Haley nodded and grinned saying, "Anything for our new friend," Melanie blinked before smiling and nodding, replying, "Yeah, let's do this."
With that, Melanie charged at the mole, the rodent about to burrow back underground only for Haley to streak around the area, soon charging hard into the side of the mole's face, putting a light bruise on the spot as Dessie proceeded to deliver a hard two-fisted punch to its midsection. With the mole distracted, Melanie had the perfect advantage as she rammed her hammer hard into the top of the beast's head, its eyes swirling as it fell back, using its last ounce of strength to hold its arms back just in time to stop its back from breaking, the mouse mole out like a light.
Melanie took a deep breath and grinned saying, "And that's that," Dessie and Haley staring in shock, both of them turning to one-another and squealing with delight. They had just defeated the most powerful creature in their area. This was a day worth celebrating.
With that, the trio headed a little bit further down before reaching a rather tall bush. Dessie pushed the leaves to the side revealing a big mirror sticking up out of the ground, Melanie bowing her head to the two, thanking them before holding out her fists, Dessie bumping her fist against the Kirby's while Haley used her nose as her feet were too small and stubby for her to lift that high.
With that, Melanie grinned at each of them, both waving, Dessie exclaiming, "If we can, we promise we'll visit you every now and then!" Haley adding, "You're the coolest girl I've ever met, even cooler than Dessie!" the mole next to her not even taking all that much offence to this statement as she actually kind of agreed.
With Melanie's story out of the way, it is time to go back in time yet again, this time to witness another story. Perhaps that of Knuckle Joe. Why not? He was the forth to be sucked into the Mirror World.
Joe was currently walking down a hallway, looking around with a look of irritation on his face. He just wanted to get out of here as soon as possible. Not only was this because of the predicament he was in, but he felt extremely uncomfortable being in a castle where the walls were coloured purple. Sure, Joe didn't really hate the colour or anything, he just felt uncomfortable being surrounded by something he viewed as 'slightly feminine', especially since the colour reminded him of Motoko and her deceitful ways.
While wandering the hall, he noticed an army of Rockies dead ahead, his eyes going wide as he quickly hid behind a corner, peering into the room just to see if these rocks could be trusted or not. It seemed unlikely as a huge Rocky, one that was at least three times the size of the others, was training them saying, "Alright, men, listen up! Our king just got word from Drake himself that someone has infiltrated our castle! I can't imagine how anyone could slip past our defences, but this cannot go on any longer! So, are we gonna dispose of this threat!?" the Rockies all jumping up and down before giving an army salute with one foot each shouting, "YES, SIR, SERGEANT STONE, SIR!" Joe thinking, 'Very original, naming your son Stone.'
After the speech, Stone sent the Rockies off for patrol. A couple walked Joe's way, noticing him standing there, but just as they were about to call for backup, Joe grabbed them and slammed them into the wall behind him, knocking them out in seconds.
He then peered back to make sure the coast was clear when he noticed two people made of stone, one pink and the other grey. Each one was shaped like an egg with arms and feet, their eyes and mouths perfectly round as if they were holes drilled into them.
"Can we do anything?" asked the grey one, the voice clearly being that of a male as the other spoke in a female voice saying, "Yeah, we can be useful too."
Stone nodded and grinned, saying, "Volunteering! That's what I like to see! I wish my soldiers would take action without me needing to tell them!" before adding, "Alright, Golem siblings..." the pink one replying, "We have names," Stone sighing, "Right..." pointing at the male with his foot and saying, "Granite..." then pointing at the female and adding, "Kimberlite, I want you two to guard the king's chambers. This intruder is looking for something that's specifically hidden in his chambers, so if ever finds out about it, I want you guys to stop him," the two giving an army salute exclaiming, "Sir, yes, sir!"
With that, the two tucked in their feet and arms, rolling out of the area as Stone proceeded to walk off as well, Joe grinning while thinking, 'Thanks for the information, moron,' looking at his victims and narrowing his eyelids, smacking one of them until he woke up, the Rocky about to cry for help when Joe rose his fist threateningly, the rock simply nodding, not saying a word.
"Good boy," Joe said with a wicked grin, "Now tell me where I can find your king's chamber, oh, and if you send me in the wrong direction, I will hunt you down, got it!?" the Rocky nodding in understanding before saying, "First, you must go into the room our commander was just in. After that, go through the far right door. Remember, far right," Joe nodding in understanding the rock continued, "After that, you must go down the hall before you find a dead end with two paths. Take the left path and keep going until you reach it."
Joe smirked and set the rock down saying, "Thanks. Stay out of my way and I'll leave you be," the Rocky nodding as the fighter ran off, the rock narrowing his eyelids and whispering, "You won't be able to exact revenge on me once you find out the truth," the rock soon stomping up and down, causing a certain vibration that only other Rockies could hear, using Morse code to send a message to them regarding Joe's presence.
While running down the hall, Joe found it surprisingly easy to get around. No one was trying to stop him, which was strange. He had truly seen a group of Rockies go through the far right door earlier, so why hadn't he at least run into some of them? Either way, this simply made the job easier so he thought little of it.
Soon enough, the boy came to the fork with the path leading left, but just as he was about to head that way, he stopped and thought carefully about this. Why had no one tried to stop him yet?
"This just isn't right," he said aloud to himself, "There should be guards patrolling this hall for me to beat up," one Rocky poking his head out from behind a corner in the right hallway, jumping up and down as the code went to the others translating to 'He's starting to get suspicious. Send a guard to the left hall,' one Rocky immediately stepping out from a corner leading to another path down the left hallway and clearing his throat before pointing and shouting, "INTRUDER ALERT!"
Joe frowned and said, "Alright, now I know I'm going the right way," the fighter using a Smash Punch to knock out the Rocky, barrelling down the hall as the rock on the right side followed him just far away enough not to be spotted.
Joe soon turned the corner, the Rocky he'd hit grumbling curses under his breath as the fighter ran into more willing to sacrifice themselves for this minor job. Joe easily made quick work of them, shaking his head at what weak guards this Sergeant Stone guy had under his wing. Soon enough, he found a door at the end of the hall, entering, ready to come face-to-face with the king. In all the excitement, it had completely slipped his mind that the two golems earlier were supposed to be standing guard.
As Joe entered the next room, he found himself in what looked like a battle arena with the lights turned off, iron bars shooting up and blocking the door he'd just entered from, the boy's eyes going wide when the lights turned on. He then realized he was surrounded by Rockies and Sergeant Stone himself in the bleachers, Stone barking, "ATTACK!" all of the Rockies leaping out of their seats, headed for Joe from above.
The fighter cringed before running around, doing his best to dodge the incoming rocks, kicking a few after they'd landed. However, he soon found himself overwhelmed, the Rockies seconds away from crushing him, the fighter taking a deep breath and throwing his fists forward, releasing an onslaught of Vulcan jabs, the energy from his fists knocking most of them back into the bleachers, the Rockies he hit now lying out cold. The only ones that had bypassed him were the ones covering the areas he wasn't standing in, all of them landing and forming a large ring around him.
Stone stared in absolute shock before shaking his head and smirking, shouting, "YOU JUST DUG YOUR OWN GRAVE, BOY!" leaping up high into the air, knowing the gap that Joe was standing in was just the sergeant's size.
Joe cringed at the sight of this as the other Rockies started to hone in on him, the fighter realizing he couldn't possibly make a line of them in time to save himself, the boy focusing hard before throwing his fist upward, energy flowing through it thus letting loose a fierce uppercut. Luckily, he had done this just in time for Stone to hone in on him, the giant rock taking in the blow hard as he flew up into the air a bit, his body turning 180 degrees, the top of his head facing downward as he fell onto a row of Rockies, crushing them underneath his extreme weight.
Seeing their general taken down, the others Rockies screamed in terror before fleeing for their lives, using their might to break open the iron bars so that they could escape, Joe smirking as he walked nonchalantly over to the door, opening it up and casually making his way out of the room. That ended up being a lot easier than it first seemed, but it only felt natural to someone like Joe.
Soon enough, Joe was back to heading down the hall grumbling, "Great... now where do I go?" noticing no other Rockies around. Those must have been all the soldiers this king of theirs had. Well, that certainly wasn't much of a security system, was it? Nevertheless, Joe realized he'd have to search the whole building until he found one being guarded by two egg-shaped golems.
At this very moment, the two rock people were standing by the door to their king's chambers, Granite smiling with his arms folded, the male saying, "I hope the Rockies haven't been beaten up by that intruder," Kimberlite sighing, "Sometimes I wonder, brother," Granite blinking and asking, "About what, sis?" the pink golem looking at her brother and replying, "Sometimes I wonder if we're really serving the right king."
"Why would you say such a thing?" Granite asked as Kimberlite sighed, "Think about it... he just randomly appeared one day and we simply decided he would rule us because we figured his presence was a sign of God, but think about it: he's never done anything for us. He always demands that we do things for him while making no laws, no order, nothing. He just sits there all day."
"Yeah, but keep in mind he literally can't move from that spot," Granite replied as the female took a deep breath, replying, "I know, but... well... you'd think a king would do more."
The sad fact was that this king of theirs wasn't a very good one at all. Like they said, he had randomly appeared one day, just a big stone pillar that had one day come to life for some unexplained reason. Since then, all the Rockies and golems ever did was wait on him, keeping any guests from entering his chambers be them good or bad. Probably the worst though was that once a week, this king of theirs would eat. This didn't sound so bad except for the fact that he ate rocks and since no one dared damage the mansion and the king refused to let anyone leave it for paranoid reasons, Stone would always end up having to sacrifice one of his soldiers, going with the weakest one every time, hence why Rockies often did their best to appease their sergeant.
At that moment, Joe arrived with a lone Rocky in his hand, the rock with tears in his eyes sniffing, "Okay, we're here now! Please let me go!" Joe nodding and replying, "Thank you for your cooperation," releasing the stone as he ran off in terror, the golems staring as Joe cracked his knuckles, saying, "Alright, let's get this over with."
Granite held out his fists with a proud smile saying, "You've reached your end, criminal!" Kimberlite adding, "That's right, because now you're dealing with the Golem Siblings!"
With that, the two locked hands with one another as Joe blinked, slapping his hand against his forehead groaning, "You're not gonna sing, are you?" the two pointing their free hands into the air singing, "WE ARE THE GOLEM SIBLINGS, GRANITE AND KIMBERLITE!"
With that, the two separated their hands from each other as Granite stated, "We live to serve our mighty king..." Kimberlite adding, "We'll never give up the fight!"
With that, Kimberlite stepped on her brother's hands, climbing onto his shoulders and standing there, both singing, "We defend the Moonlight Mansion with everything we got!" Kimberlite leaping off of Granite as the brother locked arms with her, both moving their feet up and down as both added, "If you dare to mess with us, you are destined to be caught!"
With that, the two tucked in and rolled around each other in a figure eight formation singing, "We are the Golem Siblings, Granite and Kimberlite! Don't dare to challenge us for we're always poised to fight! We powerful, near invincible, our strength is inconceivable, we're the greatest fighters in this place, we're the last people you should face!" Granite lifting up his sister by her hand and holding her up, the girl balancing perfectly while upside down, Joe blinking and asking, "You know you just wasted a bunch of time, right?"
With that, the golems got into fighter stances as Granite held up his fists saying, "Come on, let's make this quick," Kimberlite nodding and saying, "As long as we're together, no one can stop us," Joe smirking and pounding his fist against the palm of his other hand stating, "That's what you think!"