Chapter 48: Pink Persuasion

Kirby pried Chuchu's mouth open and shoved in one of the maximum tomatoes he had gotten from Gooey.

Chuchu woke up.

"What happened?" was the first thing she said.

"I saved you," answered Kirby, making a long story short.

"Oh."

Silence.

"Um... thanks!" said Chuchu, eventually. "That was, like, really nice of you. I have to go now."

"Why?" asked Kirby, taken aback.

"Uh... I, like, need to go to the LAP hiding place, where no one will find us."

"But... no. You need to come with me!" protested Kirby.

"No!" Chuchu exclaimed.

Kirby was shocked.

"Why not?" he asked. It was a fair question.

"'Cause I, like, don't wanna die!"

"You won't die." Kirby rolled his eyes.

"I gotta go!" Chuchu made to leave.

"No! Don't go!" Kirby rushed in front of her.

"Leave me alone!" she shrieked.

"But you have to come with me!" persisted Kirby.

"Why is that?" spat Chuchu.

"Because..."

Kirby faltered. He couldn't tell her that a voice inside his head had told him he would need her. She would think he was crazy. He hatched a plan.

"...of a prophecy," he finished.

"A prophecy?"

"Yeah! A prophecy that I would need your help to complete my mission!"

"And what mission is that?" She sounded suspicious.

Kirby told her the story of his wanderings and collecting of the star rod shards. Chuchu listened attentively, not interrupting once.

When Kirby had finished, she quickly said, "Okay, that's great. Buh-bye."

Chuchu turned to leave, but Kirby blocked her again.

"Go away!" she yelled.

"Now you listen to me!" shouted Kirby, grabbing one of her tentacles. "Either you come with me, or Dark Matter will envelop Pop Star in darkness and suck the life from the planet! Do you want that?!"

"No..." Chuchu tugged at the ribbon she wore.

"I didn't think so."

"But you won't win! We won't win! Star Warriors never win!"

"Whaddya mean, 'Star Warriors never win'?"

Kirby suddenly realized that he was backing Chuchu into a dead-ended alleyway.

"I know what she means," said Gooey sullenly.

"Yeah?" Kirby stopped.

"Kirby," Gooey explained, "I'm not really allowed to be telling you this, but... Have you ever wondered why there aren't any Star Warriors around, sharing the stories of their adventures?"

Silence. Comprehension was dawning on Kirby.

"It's because no Star Warrior has ever survived his or her quest. They always complete enough of it so that the protectors can do the rest, but..."

"They die..." whispered Kirby.

He understood.

After a few seconds, Chuchu made another stab at leaving.

"AhyeswellIthinkyougetitsoI'mjustgonnaleavenowbye!" she said quickly and tried to side-step Kirby.

Kirby, however, his anger rising again, summoned Needle and Cutter abilities to become Snare Kirby. His spike-covered arms stretched wide and blocked the exit of the alleyway.

Chuchu stared. She looked half terrified and half amazed at Kirby's transformation.

"You... how..." she stammered.

"You'll learn to know many of my forms," said Kirby, "if you come with me and help. It's just the Star Warriors who die. However, it'll be you too if you don't come. Say no and I'll kill you!"

"Kirby, no!" shouted Gooey from the phone. "No threats! Force her and she'll run away first chance she gets! You can't blame her for being terrified. She knows she isn't strong enough to come with you on your mission."

"What did you say?" interrupted Chuchu fiercely.

"Oh, I was just saying that you're right. You probably can't handle this mission. You're only a rookie." replied Gooey with his signature smart-alec tone of voice.

"Only a rookie?!" growled Chuchu, seething. "A ROOKIE?!"

"It's nothing to be ashamed of," baited Gooey.

"You have no idea what I went through to get the position I have now," retorted Chuchu. "I had to undergo a rigorous training and then compete for the job with 46 other applicants. I was chosen as the best, even though I'm a girl! I can handle anything."

"Well, Kirby here has calmed Whispy Woods, navigated through Butter Building, freed Lololo and Lalala from possession, defeated Ado, destroyed the Halberd and even unmasked the notorious Meta Knight. You'd never be able to do that in a million years!"

"Oh, yeah?"

"Yeah!"

"Just set any of those tasks before me and I'll complete them so fast you won't even be able to finish saying 'go'."

"I'd love to see you try, but all of those 'tasks' were already completed by Kirby. How's this for a trial: accompany us on this mission and see if you can recover the star rod shard like in the 'prophecy'."

Chuchu froze. It was as if she had suddenly turned to stone.

Kirby was confused again. He was confused too often these days and was getting tired of it.

Silence.

Eventually, Chuchu seemed to regain her composure.

"Very well," she said slowly. "I'll do it."

"Excellent!" cheered Gooey, making both Kirby and Chuchu jump. "To business then."

Snare Kirby transformed back into regular Kirby as Gooey explained the mission. The gist of it was that Kirby and Chuchu were to search Rainbow Resort for signs of the shard. They were also to watch out for the Meta Clan, Kracko, Dark Matter, and even Marx if he should ever return.

"...and remember," finished Gooey, "the shard will be guarded or held by some monster. Be on the look-out for signs that one is near."