Chapter 44: The Great Cave Offensive

The tunnels of Cavios span the entirety of Dreamland... underground that is. Long ago, when food wasn't as plentiful, Dreamlanders used Cavios for easy passage to places like Red Canyon, which is surrounded by an icy mountain range. Dreamlanders would not climb the mountains for fear of the monster called Mr. Frosty, who would kill Dreamlanders by crushing them with ice and eating them whole.

Sorry. I got a bit sidetracked. Where was I? Oh yes, Cavios.

No one knows who dug out the twisting tunnels of Cavios, but it was the early Dreamlanders who put in the tracks and carts.

Dreamlanders have no currency. They prefer trading. When Cavios fell into disuse, King Dedede found a very large amount of "worthless" gold in the tunnels and quickly modified the carts to be useful for mining. The Dreamlanders have no idea why he loves the stuff. It may be shiny, but it doesn't seem worth it to heave the heavy stuff out of deep mines just for decoration.

There are entrances to Cavios in Big Forest, in Red Canyon, in Sand Canyon, on Ice Cream Island, at the bottom of Mt. Dedede, and in Rainbow Resort.

It is very hard to find your way around Cavios and a map of it has never been made. The only two things that make it easier are the carts and the fact that each cart has a headlight. However, if you enter Cavios through the entrance in Big Forest, take the lowest tube, then go right, left, left, straight, diagonally up and to the left, down, right, right, left, right, straight, straight, left, down, right, you will see the age old marks of a battle held there.

Kirby sailed along through the darkness. The little light he had did not extend very far in front of him. Kirby had never traveled through Cavios before. Kirby looked back for the umpteenth time to make sure he wasn't being followed when—

THUMP! THUMP!

Kirby felt the jolt and realized, to his horror, that he had just run over a Grizzo. Those mine carts sure were powerful. Kirby decided to not think about the Grizzo. There were already two things bothering him. One: where was he going? The owl hadn't given him any instructions. It had just told him that what Kirby was searching for was "probably underground". Two: he remembered sailing through the air at an incredible speed before the owl caught him. How had he suddenly gotten like that? He remembered standing on a warpstar above a sea of fire and then shooting off into the distance. Not only that, when he saw Kracko and a metal bird fighting, he remembered seeing the bird before, but couldn't figure out when. His head hurt. He made another check behind and rode on.

Kirby was thinking hard about the two bothers, an expression of determination on his face, when he suddenly saw light ahead of him! It was faint and far away. Kirby's first thought when he saw it was that it was an exit, but then he wasn't so sure. He was so deep underground that it couldn't possibly be an exit. Well, it was getting closer. He would find out soon enough.

The Meta Clan was lost. They would not admit it, but they were. Meta Drone had gone over their progress again and again and had absolutely no idea how far they had traveled while Meta Knight was unconscious. Meta Knight was fuming about the fact that Kirby and Kracko were still alive. Meta Sword and Meta Blade had to pick him up every so often because of the fact that he was still very weak. Meta Chain was pulling the warpstars behind him; they were the only lights the Meta Clan had to go by. Meta Lance was watching the tracks below them. Lastly, Meta Axe was leading the group.

"I can see something," said Meta Axe, suddenly.

Everyone stopped.

"I can too," said the rest of the Meta Clan in turn.

"What is it?" said Meta Chain.

"It's light!" hissed Meta Lance. "We're out! We made it!"

"We can't be out," said Meta Axe, doubtfully. "We're too deep underground."

"It's getting closer," observed Meta Drone, "and it's traveling at a much faster speed than we are."

"Everyone, get ready," commanded Meta Knight. "It might be a runaway mine cart. If we can stop it and turn it around, we might be able to use it to escape."

Kirby was going quite fast now. Having never traveled through Cavios, he had never ridden one of the famous mine carts and therefore didn't know how to work them. He wished he could slow down, but he couldn't find a lever to pull, a button to push, anything. It was quite a bright light that he was coming up on. Shining just like a star... but it couldn't be...

"But, why do we need a mine cart to escape?" questioned Meta Lance. "We can just follow the tracks."

"Well, not only are these electrically-powered mine carts much faster than walking," explained Meta Knight, "but they will always go back the way they came. This means that when we hit an intersection, the cart will show us which way to go."

"Brilliant!" said Meta Lance, enthusiastically.

"Get ready," said Meta Drone, urgently. "The mine cart will reach this position in eighteen seconds. Sixteen, fif—"

"You skipped seventeen!" said Meta Chain.

"It took me more than one second to say 'eighteen seconds', so I had to—"

"Countdown!" Meta Knight interrupted.

"Sorry," apologized Meta Drone. "Nine, eight, seven..."

Kirby was so close; he was nearly there...

"...six, five, four..."

The light was so bright...

"...three, two, one..."

Just as Kirby got to the light, his mine cart suddenly flipped over and he was flung out. He flew a short distance over the completely shocked Meta Clan and landed on the source of the light. He had one split-second glimpse of the Meta Clan staring at him wide eyed (except for Meta Lance, who was trying to remove his trident weapon from one of the cart's wheels) before—

"GET HIM!" shouted Meta Knight and the chase was on.

Kirby sure was thankful for the fact that he had landed on a warpstar, but he was even more thankful for his flying experience and good reflexes. It immediately became clear why the Meta Clan had not been using their warpstars when he found them.

Kirby sustained scratches and bruises galore as he bounced off the walls, trying to keep ahead of the gaining Meta Clan. They had quickly turned the mine cart back over and were using the warpstars to push it along at an amazing speed.

Slash! Bang! Scratch! Bonk! The rocky walls of the tunnel showed no mercy. The Meta Clan was catching up.

"Yeah! Just a little farther..." Kirby heard one of them say.

One of their hands brushed him. They were reaching out... about to grab on...

Kirby turned to the left. The Meta Clan's cart turned to the right... and they went with it.

Kirby slowed down and stopped. It was a narrow escape and he knew it.

Kirby dismounted the warpstar and looked around. By the light of the warpstar, he could easily see his surroundings. For the first time, he had found an area without tracks. He looked at the walls. A strange yellow glittery stuff that he had never seen before stuck to the walls in chunks.

This area must be unexplored, he reasoned. The area with tracks doesn't have this stuff on the walls.

Kirby looked forward, away from where he came from and realized that the tunnel got wider farther in.

Kirby got back on his warpstar. What could possibly be down this way? Could it be something no Dreamlander has ever seen? Or could it be something too scary to put tracks past?