DISCLAIMER: I do not own Kirby or the Kirby's Dream Land 2 storyline—I'm just elaborating on it. Kirby and pals belong to Nintendo, Hal Laboratories, etc., and I am writing this for entertainment, not profit, OK? If it is illegal for me to do this, let me know because I'm not really sure. ^_^;
A/N: Whoo hoo! The next part! I WOULD have had this up several days ago had not a certain sister of mine hogged the blinkin' computer the whole time… that and ff.net was down for, what, three days?? o But thank you abcxyz and DestinyLord7381 for wonderful reviews that came so soon! And DL7381—yes, that is what the numbers stand for… *sheepish grin* You're all TOO sweet! ^_^-
Battle of a Lifetime
Chapter Six: Burning Desire-Part Two
Last time, Kirby and friends began their journey on the Island of Ice, and met up with much of the usual—and a bit of the unusual. A new and more dangerous enemy, the Propeller Bomb, transported Kine back to a miniboss room, leaving Kirby to fend for himself as he continued his mission. A new ability was also discovered: Ice. But the greatest danger of all is facing our heroes now—will Kine and Kirby survive falling off a cliff…?
Kine gulped and jumped over a chasm straight toward it while using his ability. The Propeller became an ice cube instantly, as Kirby predicted. But as Kine landed on the next plateau, he slipped and slid straight for the edge!
"Kine, quick, turn around! We're going to fall off!!" Kine tried to do as Kirby said, but it was too late—he teetered precariously at the edge… and fell…
They screamed the entire way down. There was nothing else to do. The ground came up faster and faster. Our friends were sure this was the end…
"Kine, I'm sorry for any times I made fun of you and the time I took your plastic shovel and buried it when we were kids!!" Kirby yelled quickly through tears as ominously approached them.
Kine was crying as well. "It's OK, Kirby, I was glad to be your friend, and I'll mis—wait, YOU took my shovel?!"
But Kirby could not reply—they were only seconds from impact. They shut their eyes tightly and…
FLASH!
A bright light suddenly surrounded them. They felt no pain, yet they knew that they had hit the ground. Kirby and Kine opened their eyes and were amazed to find that they were back at the start of the area where the Propeller was. Suddenly, seven of the tiny stars emerged from the light around them and formed the number "5" before they disappeared.
Well, Kirby and Kine just stood there and stared at the space where the stars created the mysterious number for about ten minutes. Then Kine's face lit up with a memory from his childhood…
"Kirby! Do you realize what just happened???"
"No… should I?"
"We were given an extra life!!"
Kirby gasped. "You mean like what you were talking about earlier?"
"Yeah! The guardian stars are giving us another chance… and I think that "5" meant that we have five more!" Kine almost slipped off the edge again in his excitement.
"Kine! Calm down! Let's not waste our chances!" Kine stopped bouncing around.
"Oh, yeah. Sorry… hey! But we don't have Ice Power anymore!"
"Well, maybe it's the stars' way of telling us that it had better not happen again," suggested Kirby.
"But, how are we going to get past that thing again?" Kine asked, referring to the Propeller Bomb that had magically reappeared.
"I have an idea. Kine, go wake it up." Kine's eyes went wide in disbelief.
"KIRBY! Are you CRAZY?? Last time we tried that I woke up with burlap in my mouth!!"
"We have a better idea of how to deal with them now, Kine. Just trust me."
Kine was near tears, but he did trust Kirby, and he knew that Kirby's plan would work—whatever it was.
He carefully approached the minion, and when it woke up and floated toward them, Kirby yelled, "Jump!"
Kine did just that, and the Propeller Bomb whizzed by underneath them. It turned around and continued its pursuit. But by this time Kine and Kirby had gone forward and found another Master Pengy. They swallowed it before the penguin even had a chance to protest and turned to face the Propeller. It was only feet away, and closing in fast.
"Ha! You can't beat us now you poor excuse for a beanie! Switch on the ice, Kine!"
Kine used the ability when the tear-drop shaped enemy was but inches away—and it became encased in ice.
Sighing with relief, our heroes continued their journey to the final door, freezing everything (including another Propeller Bomb) that stood in their way. Disintegrating blocks surrounded the door, and a Flamer guarded it as well. They froze the fiery sentinel and quickly entered the door before the block had a chance to collapse.
If we don't find the Drop in here, then I have NO clue where to look, Kirby anxiously thought to himself.
They entered the fourth (and last) door of Iceberg, and found themselves up against Efreeti again.
"Don't you ever knock?" Efreeti asked with a sly sneer, thinking he was funny.
"Don't you ever die?" Kirby shot back. "We defeated you already!"
Efreeti was not pleased with Kirby's response, but decided to let it slide… for now. "Well, it won't be so easy this time—I'll easily melt you both with my new and improved Comet Charge!"
"You gave your lame attack a name?"
"Insolent puffball! I'll show you! You won't free your friend this time—whichever stupid creature it is."
This caught Kirby off-guard. "What do you mean…?"
Efreeti laughed. "Lord Dark Matter only told me to guard him—he didn't tell me who it was."
Kirby was becoming aggravated. "It doesn't matter—one of my friends is in there and I'm going to free him! Kine, I need the Ice Star."
"Aw, but I like this power…"
"Kine, we won't be able to do much damage if he has to be two inches away for us to hurt him!"
"Oh, OK…" He released the star and Kirby inhaled it. Just as sent it into the miniboss, Efreeti fired into the air.
"I told you it was new and improved!" he cried triumphantly as the star flew past him. Efreeti came burning back down, creating a star from the hard impact. Kirby saw this and knew what to do.
"Kine, we have to charge at him full speed!"
Kine was getting the hang of Kirby's ideas. He slit his eyes and smiled. "OK, Kirby. We're gonna get you, Efreeti!!" And he sped toward the miniboss. Just as our friends expected, Efreeti stormed into the air again as Kine slipped by. But just as he returned to the ground, Kirby sucked up the star and shot it back at him before Efreeti could fly up again.
"Oh, so you have found a way around, have you? Ha! Try to find a way around this," he shouted. He went back to his old attack—and blazed right toward Kirby and Kine!
"Let me guess… jump?" Kine asked.
"Yep, you got it."
Kine jumped over Efreeti, and the flaming enemy created two stars: one upon hitting the wall, and one upon hitting the ground. Kirby sucked both up at once, and did twice the damage when he hit Efreeti, knocking the annoying fireball out.
Kirby swallowed him and gained Burning Power, allowing Kine to spit giant fireballs. Just as he was trying out his new power, the sack opened to reveal something new…
"Hello, friends," the new creature said. It was obviously female since she had a bow on her head. And she had a translucent appearance as though she were a ghost.
"I am the spirit of a friend of yours in the future," said she. "I have been sent to help you on your quest."
"But, how…" Kirby inquired.
"It matters not how I got here. It matters how I may help. Allow me to enter your souls and give you another chance."
"You mean like an extra life?" Kine asked. She giggled, a light and echoing sound.
"Yes. Will you let me assist you?" The friends could only nod. She began to glow and set herself upon Kine and Kirby. They received the exact same feeling as the seven stars gave them, and soon it was done. Still in awe, they entered the door.
"Yikes! Kine, you gotta move, NOW!" Kirby cried. A giant wall of ice was shutting in on them, and if they didn't keep going, they would be crushed! As if things weren't bad enough, Bouncy Tys kept jumping at them and then returning magically through the wall.
Kine and Kirby bounded through the area, burning everything in their paths lest they be destroyed. Eventually they came to the door, which was guarded by a Scarfy. Panicked, they flamed it and entered the door.
They fell a few feet onto some disintegrating blocks… which were situated on top of dangerous spikes! Boy, if I had a dime for every time Kine had to jump in this level…
"Good thinking, Kine. You used one of the blocks that hadn't collapsed yet to leap up onto the solid ledge." Kine beamed.
They kept going, destroying Sir Kibbles and Glunks as they went. Soon they came to a gap, which they decided to explore. They found three more chasms that were blocked by Ice Power Blocks. They saw very useful items in the ones on the sides, but they were most interested in the one in the center. Kine could swear, through the cloudy glass, that he could see a door!
Kirby looked around to find a way to break the blocks, and saw that they could spit fire from on of the sides and use those blocks to reach the center again. Kine did just that, and they splashed into the water that was in the middle.
"Kirby, look!"
They swam down past a couple Sir Slippys, and, after collecting three stars, saw that another door was there—obstructed by regular Star Blocks embedded in the ground.
"Kine, you can't use your fire power to break them—it won't reach the blocks!" Kirby cried hopelessly. But now it was Kine's turn to get an idea.
"I have a plan, Kirby. It's risky, but I think we can do it. Ready?"
"As much as I'll ever be, I guess." Kine told him the plan, and Kirby agreed.
Kine released the star, and Kirby quickly inhaled and swallowed a Star Block. Immediately Kine turned around and Kirby swallowed the Burning Star again before it broke.
"Kine, it's working! We just need to do that one more time!" They did just that—and now Kine could fit through the space to the door, which, it turned out, was guarded by pipes.
"Good thing you were here, Kine. Even if I had had Rick or Coo help me, we wouldn't have been able to get to the door," Kirby told his friend proudly. Kine blushed as he swam against the current into the door. Behind more Ice Power Blocks was the beautiful Rainbow Drop!
The two Dreamlanders cheered as they broke the blocks and grabbed the Drop. They went through the door above them and were again above the center gap where they had started.
In their excitement, they decided to go to the other chasms to collect the items. There was just one thing they forgot…
"Kirby… I can't jump back up there!"
Kirby looked at the tomato, and then looked up. Yep, it was definitely too high for him.
"Kirby, I'm going to have stay here. You can't continue if you stay with me," Kine declared.
"But, Kine, you'll get captured again!"
"At least then I'll be out of here—and I know you'll find me again," Kine reassured him. Kirby looked at his friend with tears in his eyes.
"OK, buddy… I… guess I'll see ya around." Kirby gave his good friend a good-bye hug, and floated up to the ledge.
"Good luck against the boss! I'll be cheering you on, even though I won't be there," Kine called after him.
"Thanks, Kine—good luck to you too!" Kirby replied as he continued on his way. As he sneaked past some Shotzos to the final door, he couldn't help but feel colder than he already was. If only we had paid more attention, he realized too late as he exited the area.
Kirby stood before the boss door for a minute before entering. He could hear a soft growling noise as he finally entered. It almost sounded like a…
"Dragon!"
The boss growled a deep, guttural laugh as he advanced toward Kirby. "That's Ice Dragon to you, punk," he roared. He began to blink as he shot an ice beam out at Kirby. Not expecting this, Kirby was frozen in ice for a minute while the frozen lizard slit his eyes in triumph.
Kirby broke through the ice and reclaimed his lost Power Star. Ice Dragon wagged his tail and attacked Kirby, but Kirby used his flaming attack right back. The dragon roared in pain.
"No!! Not fire! It's too hot! You shall not defeat me that way!" he roared. Suddenly, Ice Dragon began to wag his tail at light speed, and he flew into the air right above Kirby! Kirby ran out of the way before Ice Dragon fell, but the impact caused some icicles to drop onto Kirby. Kirby did manage to avoid two of them, but not before the third hit him. Kirby hissed as his arm began to bleed.
"Grrr, I WILL destroy you, Kirby, and Master Matter will be quite pleased." He stomped the ground, creating an ice spike, and he shoved it at Kirby. Kirby ran forward, flipped into the air, and used his Burning Power against the arctic monster before he even hit the ground. Kirby landed and winced from the pain in his arm. Ice Dragon charged again, and Kirby decided the best way to defeat him would be a continuous assault. This lizard was tough, and he meant business. He charged back and forth through the boss and took out about half Ice Dragon's energy before he had to get out of the way of Ice Dragon's flying body slams once again. This time he burned right through the icicles before they hit the ground.
"Not bad for one who's injured," said the dragon, indicating Kirby's sore arm. "But it will still be your downfall."
"I don't think so, Ice Dragon," Kirby retorted. He took a piece of an icicle and held it against the cut. Fascinated, the icy monster just watched—which wasn't wise for him to do. Kirby removed the ice and the cut had stopped bleeding!
"What do you know? Wasn't it Aesop who said, 'How often we supply our enemies with the means of our own destruction'?" Kirby said as he threw the ice away and charged at Ice Dragon again.
Now the subzero boss was angry, and he charged at Kirby more furiously. This, however, did not deter our hero. Soon Ice Dragon was on his last bit of health, Kirby only needed to hit the freezing dragon one more time…
"This one's for Kine!!" he shouted. With that, he glowed brighter than ever and shot like a comet straight at his enemy—and destroyed Ice Dragon.
Exhausted, Kirby gratefully hopped on the Warpstar that appeared from the icicles above, and continued his journey to the next part of Dream Land: Red Canyon—The Desert Island.
Next chapter: Kirby finally arrives on a new island in search of the Rainbow Drops. Which friends will he rescue there? What new enemies and surprises await him? Will they ever see the mysterious spirit again? And what about the strange creature that had restored their health so long ago in Big Forest? You have to read and review to find out!
A/N: OK, I don't know how long it will be till the next chapter—but I will get the next chapter up as soon as I can. I thank you all for reading this and reviewing. You have NO idea how much I appreciate it!! ^__^ And remember, Venus loves you! {VEnusAUR! (^o__~^)}