Done with the next chapter!
Enjoy! ;)
Chapter 4: Treasure of the Ruins
"Oh… I…I see it now…" Meta Knight mused. "So you four have twisted clones of yourselves that were created by this Mirror of Truth…"
"Yep." Eleven nodded. "We don't know where they are at the moment, but I just know that they'll come back for us looking for revenge. After all, we did assist Pit in killing Hades, their former lord."
"True…" Arusu chimed in. "But I don't understand… Why were you so interested in this subject in the first place?" he asked Meta Knight.
"Because…just for the fact that you have dark clones born from a mirror…" Meta Knight paused for a bit before adding, "…I can also relate to that."
The Loyal Bodyguards' eyes widened. "You too?" Eight asked.
"Yes. And this dark clone of mine was created by a mirror known as the Dimension Mirror."
"Dimension Mirror?" the Heroes asked in unison.
[BGM: Start Stage (Star Allies Arrange ver.) – Kirby Star Allies]
The scene changes to a clear blue sky, where in the middle, a certain mirror with a luxurious golden frame with wing and crown insignia was displayed. "The Dimension Mirror is a powerful artifact found in the Mirror World, a world that parallels Dream Land and is connected via a mirror found high up in the sky." Meta Knight explained. "This artifact serves as a gateway to another realm, but in a certain incident, it got corrupted and turned into a dark eerie reflection, whereupon it began to create evil copies of whatever stares into it." as he said this, the clear blue sky changed to a thunderous sky. "As you might know, I was one of these victims and that led to the creation of an evil clone of myself that reflects my negative attributes: Dark Meta Knight." Dark Meta Knight then appears in the Dimension Mirror before coming out and thrusting his sword to the sky while giving a raw intense glare at the fourth wall, right as lightning struck down in the background.
[BGM End]
The scene then changes back to the Heroes with Meta Knight. "Well? Doesn't that sound an awful lot like this Mirror of Truth that led to the creation of your clones?" he asked them.
"Yeah, you're right…" Solo breathed while nodding. "So this Dimension Mirror once used to be another 'Mirror of Truth', right?"
"Indeed. But thankfully, the Dimension Mirror was purged out of its corruption thanks to Kirby's actions and my dark clone was sealed into it. Unfortunately, though, I soon heard rumors that there's a Mirror World counterpart of Dedede, too. And considering how…rough he has been in the past, I can't even imagine how his counterpart must behave."
"Oh, yeah…" Eight trailed off. "Isn't there anyone in the Mirror World that can at least contain him?"
"There is, fortunately. Shadow Kirby, Kirby's counterpart from that world and its hero, should be able to keep him at bay in case he tries to attack, or even worse, accidentally break the seal on my dark clone." then, Meta Knight looked up at the Heroes and, while we can't really see it because of the mask covering his face, he gave them a confident look. "Now about your dark clones, the only thing I can say to you about this…is that you must not let your guard down when fighting them, no matter what. I know that from experience when I first dueled against my clone and lost; I had underestimated him and that led to me getting trapped in the Dimension Mirror. Just stay strong, and I'm sure that one day, you might even be able to eliminate them."
The Heroes smirked confidently in return. "Alright." Arusu nodded. "We appreciate your words of advice, Meta Knight!"
"Anything to help out other fellow brave warriors like me. I have to say… now that I got to know more about your current situations, I think I'm quite honored to have met you all."
The Heroes were about to reply, until…
"Oi!" Dedede's voice called out from offscreen. "What are y'all blabbing about over there? We've got some more of these ruins to explore!"
"Oh, right. We should get going now." Meta Knight said to them. "I can bet that the ship part we're looking for must be somewhere deep in these ruins."
"That's what we're assuming too." Eleven stated and then they walked off to catch up with the rest of the Kirby cast where they would all go inside deep into the ruins, but not before Kirby sucked up a Poppy Bros Jr standing nearby to obtain the Bomb Ability.
Stage 2-4: Deep Dark Ruins
[BGM: Mine Area – Kirby's Return to Dream Land]
Once inside, the group proceeded ahead as Kirby was rolling bombs along the sandy treadmills to take down several enemies on them, until they found a Round-trip door under a barrier of Cracked Blocks that Dedede easily smashed through them with his hammer. The challenge this time involved getting to the Energy Sphere below behind a Shutter Gate that would only open after stepping on a Red Switch, only that it had a time limit until the gate shuts down again.
Nevertheless, they managed to complete the challenge flawlessly since one of them just had to stay on the switch while someone else would run for the Sphere. After getting it, the group left the room and back into the main one, where they had to avoid several Scarfies on the way until they got to a door at the end… which took them to an incredibly dark room.
[BGM: Eerie Area – Kirby's Return to Dream Land]
"Gah! It's completely dark!" Arusu complained.
"Agh! I can't see anything!" Bandana Waddle Dee exclaimed frantically.
Eight then suddenly felt something wrapping around his right arm, making him freeze and tense up. "…Guys… please tell me it's one of you who's grabbing my arm…"
"Um…nope." Eleven replied.
"Perhaps this candle I found might reveal what it is." Meta Knight said as he walked over while holding a Candle above his head… and they saw that a Babut is what was clinging onto Eight's arm.
"AAAH!" Eight screamed, which thankfully seemed to scare the Babut as it flew off.
"Good thing it was just a Babut." Meta Knight remarked as he turned around to guide everyone through the dark passageway, as they encountered a few dead ends and foes along the path, including some Gordos on a narrow passage.
"Say, what are these things anyway?" Solo asked. "Last time I saw these was back when Whispy Woods dropped a few at us."
"Oh, these right here are Gordos." Dedede answered. "They're immune to pretty much anything; not even Kirby can suck them up."
"Yup." Kirby nodded.
"And yet you can easily smack them away with your hammer." Meta Knight spoke up. "In fact, where did you even get an unlimited supply of Gordos for you to fight with in the Smash Bros tournaments anyway?"
"A king never reveals his secrets." Dedede grinned smugly.
Meta Knight deadpanned in response. "Not funny, dude."
"Hmph, you just don't have a sense of humor." Dedede rolled his eyes as they carefully walked past the Gordos and went up an alcove, in which Kirby destroyed the Cracked Blocks by tossing bombs at them to clear the path leading to a hidden Energy Sphere. Then, the group just kept going forward until they found the dark room's exit.
[Resume "Mine Area" BGM]
After emerging out of the darkness, Meta Knight first tossed away the now-unlit Candle before they forged ahead as they came across some Fire Blocks that were easily doused by Solo… but then the group would soon walk into a Water Galboros ambush.
[BGM: Mid-Boss (Planet Popstar) – Kirby's Return to Dream Land]
"Come on, now! This is getting annoying!" Arusu complained.
"That's a Water Galboros!" Kirby said. "I'll try to throw some bombs into its mouth to make things easier for you all!"
The Water Galboros began by spitting waves of water at them, but they easily swerved around them as Bandana Waddle Dee attacked it with a Ground Thrust followed by Dedede smacking a Gordo at it, making it angry as it proceeded to charge directly at the two. They quickly jumped out of the way as Kirby noticed that the Water Galboros' mouth was open while it was doing that charge attack, and so he proceeded to chuck some bombs into its mouth, and once they exploded, the Water Galboros was left dazed and thus allowing the group to deliver a few free strikes at it.
After snapping out of it, the Water Galboros was now angrier than ever and proceeded to rain water blobs at them, but they quickly jumped away as Eleven got an idea and took advantage of still being in midair to unleash Revolution Beam, spinning his electric whip around him to channel electricity into the water blobs that electrocuted the Water Galboros and left it stunned, then Eight got in front of it with his whip at the ready.
"Here goes nothing… Serpent's Bite!" he called out and suddenly, the whip transformed into a giant serpent that mowed down the Water Galboros, and that was more than enough to defeat it.
[Resume "Mine Area" BGM]
"Aw, yeah!" Eight fist-pumped the air triumphantly. "I've always wanted to do that!"
"Woah! That was so awesome!" Bandana Waddle Dee gushed. "What skill was that? Please, tell me!"
Eight chuckled before replying, "It's called Serpent's Bite, one of the strongest whip skills. Basically, this skill turns the whip into a giant serpent that plows through an enemy group, and the element damage it does is earth-based."
"You know, I'll have to agree with Bandana Dee here; that was pretty awesome." Meta Knight admitted. "No matter what, you guys always find a way to impress me and probably all of us in general."
"You said it!" Dedede agreed.
"Yeah!" Kirby threw in. "I mean, I don't think I can even do something similar as you guys do!"
The Loyal Bodyguards smiled by all these compliments. "You're very welcome." Eleven said.
They all continued onwards, coming upon more Fire Blocks as Solo doused them all and they soon got into a door that led them to the next room of the ruins: a long corridor lined with many Gigatzos. The group carefully treaded along the corridor while avoiding the Gigatzos' shots, and then they eventually came across an Invisibility Stone.
"Oh, what's this?" Solo wondered and picked it up, and suddenly, his body turned transparent as a result. "What the?!"
"Whoa! Lo-Lo's entire body vanished!" Kirby exclaimed. "Maybe now he can easily avoid these Gigatzos' shots like this!"
"But I believe that this stone might have a time limit of usage, just like the other items we found throughout our journey." Meta Knight stated.
"I'll keep that in mind." Solo nodded as they walked off, where they would encounter a crystalline barrier resembling the Invisibility Stone's material, and thus only Solo could pass through since he was the one carrying the stone.
On the other side of this barrier lied a Round-trip door that Solo went in, and in the following room he just had to pass through another barrier on the lower level to nab the Energy Sphere. After catching up with the others and seeing them waiting for him at the exit, the Invisibility Stone shattered and made him visible again and then they all went through the door.
[BGM End]
Once on the ruins' exterior, the group walked a few feet ahead… where another Super Blade Knight popped up in front of them. "Ooooh!" Kirby cooed, immediately discarding his Bomb Ability before inhaling the enemy to become Ultra Sword Kirby again.
[BGM: Bring on the Super Ability! – Kirby's Return to Dream Land]
"Oh, here we go again…" Dedede trailed off.
"So, what's he cutting down this time?" Eight wondered as Kirby walked over to a giant rope with stars printed on it, and used his Ultra Sword to cut through it and lower a large stone platform.
"Giant ropes, it seems." Meta Knight said as they walked off with Kirby in the lead as he proceeded to cut through more giant ropes plus some Moai Statues at one point, and this time the sword kept changing into different giant forms every time he swung: whether it's its original form, a cutlass, a cleaver, a Shinai…or even Galaxia, which left Meta Knight surprised. "It can change into my sword too?" he thought.
Soon enough, the group would go down to the final portion of the area with two giant ropes guarded by some Scarfies, and so Kirby immediately cut them all down… with a giant golden paper fan of all things.
"…I don't think I even need to question about how the heck does that make any sense." Arusu lampshaded before an Another Dimension rift opened up, and the group immediately jumped into it.
[BGM: Another Dimension – Kirby's Return to Dream Land]
The moment they all stepped into this realm, they saw that the purple wall was coming directly towards them due to it starting from the right instead from the left. "Ack! It's coming from the opposite side this time!" Bandana Waddle Dee yelped and they quickly proceeded to run to the left, going up several steps as some of them featured Shotzos that they had to dislodge, allowing for safe passage.
A Gigatzo standing over several Star Blocks and Heave-Ho Blocks waited for them near the end of the stretch, and so Kirby quickly used his super inhale to suck up as many blocks as he could before spitting out a Star Bullet to destroy the remaining blocks and drop the Gigatzo down into a hole, and then the group rushed for the exit beyond. After that, they just walked ahead to encounter the Sphere Doomer.
[BGM: Sphere Doomer – Kirby's Return to Dream Land]
Immediately, the Sphere Doomer began by creating the same black hole attack to suck them all up, forcing them to quickly run away from it as the beast then attempted to swoop down at them while spitting out some red orbs, only to get slashed repeatedly in the face by Meta Knight before getting knocked away by Dedede's Jet Hammer, while Kirby decided to suck up one of the red orbs and swallow it to turn into Fire Kirby. At this point, the black hole disappeared as Sphere Doomer got back up and growled at the group before wreathing itself in flames to charge at them.
"Waterspout!" Solo called out, squiring the Sphere Doomer with a powerful jet of water as it screeched in pain, giving everyone the chance to attack it repeatedly until it managed to fly away from them in order to rain down red orbs, but Eight repelled all of them away with a Whip Tornado and gave Bandana Waddle Dee the chance to finish it off with a Skyward Thrust.
[BGM: Silence of Another Sky – Kirby's Return to Dream Land]
"Great use of water there, Solo!" Bandana Waddle Dee praised as he took the Energy Spheres. "That water spout attack you did was really cool!"
Solo chuckled. "Thank you." he said and they walked off to the rift, taking them out of this realm.
[BGM End]
The rift led them back at the ruins' exterior, where they had to go down a ladder to find a door as they went in, taking them back to the interior of the ruins.
Stage 2-5: Not Your Average Genie
[BGM: Omen of Battle – Kirby's Return to Dream Land]
"Are you sure these are ruins, Dedede? To me, it's more of a tomb if anything." Eleven said as they were walking up a staircase to get to the top of the ruins.
"Not to mention there's sand everywhere." Arusu added.
"Eh, ruins…tomb… Who cares?" Dedede replied with a shrug. "Let's just get to the top and find that ship part."
And with that, they kept going up until they got to a chamber… where they found a white turban lying on the ground.
[BGM End]
"Uh… what's with that turban?" Kirby raised an eyebrow (if he even had one) as they all stared at the turban in confusion… until all of a sudden, a pair of floating hands came down to pick up the turban and hoist it in midair, and then they began to pound it as black smoke came out. Once the smoke cleared, a vaguely bowling pin-shaped blue creature with regal djinni wear stood in its place.
Mr. Dooter.
"So now we got a…magician genie or something?" Eight asked.
"Maybe…" Meta Knight replied. "But if he's guarding the ship part, then we have to defeat him!" everyone then got ready to fight.
[BGM: White-Hot! Boss Battle – Kirby's Return to Dream Land]
Mr. Dooter made three skulls appear in a puff of smoke and started juggling them, leaving the group befuddled. "Is he…juggling skulls?" Bandana Waddle Dee asked.
Dedede scoffed. "Seriously, what exactly he can do with thes-" he cut himself off when Dooter snapped his fingers after making the skulls levitate around him, turning them into bombs. "…Uh-oh." Dedede gulped as Dooter sent the bombs at the group, but Dedede and Bandana Waddle Dee would each swing two of the bombs back at him while Eight grabbed the third one with his whip and threw it back at the genie, then Eleven would fire a few beam blasts from his wand at him right after. "Lesson learned: never underestimate our opponents, even if they do silly stuff." Dedede stated.
Dooter then spun around rapidly, materializing a sandy tornado around him that blew everyone back but Meta Knight got back up and used Mach Tornado to slam into Dooter's tornado as both were struggling, until Meta Knight was able to overpower him and knock him back a few feet as he would remove his turban to command snakes out of it to attack the warrior, but Kirby burned them all up with a Fire Breath as Dooter then put his turban back on and attempted to stomp the puffball, only to get incinerated by Fireball Inferno and get knocked back.
After getting back up, Dooter suddenly casted a spell upon himself to increase his size. "Just like Whispy did…" Kirby remarked as Dooter pulled back his fists to throw punches at the group, forcing them to quickly duck… but Eight wasn't so lucky and got hit, causing him to lose his Whip Ability as it came out of him as an Ability Star.
"No!" Eight exclaimed as he could only watch as the Whip Ability Star bounced away from him and got crushed underneath Dooter's weight when he jumped back, then he started juggling skulls again… only that these ones were on fire before he tossed them at the group, but Solo would cast Aquawall to raise a cascade curtain of water in front of them to shield them from the flaming skulls, and then Arusu followed up with a Mountainmover spell while dodging a punch from Dooter before he would get skewered by the stalagmite.
Dooter surprisingly recovered from that and proceeded to do his sandy tornado move again… but a torrent of water would hit him and wash away the sand circling around him, making him turn around as Solo aimed his hands at Dooter.
"By the power of water vested in me… you are finished!" Solo declared and unleashed Tidal Wave, sending a massive wave of water crashing down on Dooter and made him slam into the ground in defeat.
[BGM End]
That action also caused Dooter's turban to fall off before he exploded spectacularly, and in his place stood the next Lor part: the right wing.
Solo drew back his hands with a victorious smirk. "And that's that!" he said as he grabbed the ship part.
"Good job, Lo-Lo!" Kirby praised. "Now let's head back to Magolor's ship!"
Eventually…
[BGM: Lor Part Restored! – Kirby's Return to Dream Land]
After tossing the right wing onto the Lor, the part would then glow brightly before becoming a light that zoomed towards the floating ship in a spiral and attached itself to the vessel. It was then displayed in all its glory with a flash towards the camera, before the ship would descend back to its spot again.
[BGM End]
Now, one quick cut to when the group reported the news to Magolor later…
[BGM: Magolor, the Distant Traveler – Kirby's Return to Dream Land]
"You did it, everybody! My Starcutter has its right wing back in place!" Magolor celebrated.
"That's two parts down now." Eleven said. "Just three more to go!"
"Indeed! …You know, I've been thinking…"
"About what?" Dedede asked.
"Once you find all the parts and this baby can fly again, I'll take you all on a trip to visit my home world! Think of that as a form of repayment for helping me out!"
Bandana Waddle Dee's eyes sparkled. "Really?! You'll take us to visit your home?! Awesome!"
"Yep! I do hope you'll take me up on my generous offer."
"Aw, you don't really have to, Magolor…" Eight smiled sheepishly. "But then again, considering that I and my comrades are on vacation period… That sure would be nice!"
"Yeah!" Arusu nodded. "This is our best opportunity to see more of Kirby's universe, after all!"
"Great! I knew you would accept!" Magolor smiled. "Anyways, I come from a distant planet… It lies at the end of Another Dimension itself. It's REALLY far away, but the Lor is a beast. It can get us there in no time."
"Good to know." Solo said.
"Before crash landing here, I've traveled to countless worlds in my time. But this is the first time my Starcutter has failed me… *sigh* What bad luck for my poor ship to have completely broken down like this… but I'm so glad to have met a bunch of people as kind as you all!"
The group smiled. "You're very welcome, Magolor!" Kirby smiled… and then a stomach growl was heard from him. "Oh, sorry…" he blushed in embarrassment as he rubbed his belly area. "All this travelling through the desert has left me hungry…"
Bandana Waddle Dee and Dedede laughed. "Oh, just like back at Rock Star during the Crystal Shards incident, eh?" Dedede said in amusement.
"You're not hallucinating again, right Kirby?" Bandana Waddle Dee asked.
"Don't worry, I'm not." Kirby assured with a chuckle.
"Now that you said it, Kirby, we wouldn't mind having something to eat too." Eleven spoke up.
"…You know what? Count me in, too!" Magolor added. "I haven't eaten anything since I came here anyways."
"Okay!" Kirby nodded. "I have something in my house for us to eat and share together! Just wait here, you all! I'll go get the food!" and with that, Kirby left the Lor and hurried back to his house.
"Wonder what Kirby has for us." Meta Knight chuckled.
[BGM End]
Later…
[BGM: The Shape of a Heart – Kirby Star Allies]
"Mmm! This is way better than I expected!" Magolor exclaimed, as they were all sitting down on the floor eating and sharing some pizza that Kirby had brought to them from his house. "I still can't wait to return to my home planet, but I have to say… this planet's food must taste so good!"
"And they do!" Kirby said. "All the food in here is of the best quality possible!"
"Kirby speaks the truth there." Eleven chimed in. "Just like you, Magolor, I and my comrades aren't from here either. We came from a different universe, and after we already tried more foods in here… we thought that they were the best ones we've ever tasted."
"You said it!" Eight agreed. "And in fact, I remember already eating this back at Isle Delfino with the Phantom Thieves." he said while looking down at his pizza slice. "I think it was called a 'pizza', right?" he asked as he glanced down at Kirby to make sure.
"Yes, that's it!" Kirby nodded. "If you want an explanation, it's a dish consisting of a leavened wheat-based dough filled with all sorts of toppings, which is then baked and resulting in this mouth-watering goodness! And because this is considered a dish, it's perfect for sharing with your friends!"
Magolor's eyes suddenly perked up. "Friends…?" he thought. "Did he just say… friends…?" he stopped eating, and placed a hand on his chest region. "Suddenly…I feel as if something is warming up in my heart… Could these guys really be considered… my friends now?"
Everyone then noticed how silent Magolor was. "Uh, Magolor? You okay?" Bandana Waddle Dee asked.
"Huh? Wha?" Magolor snapped out of his thoughts. "Oh…i-it's nothing! Let's just keep eating!"
The group exchanged odd glances with each other, before eventually shrugging and resumed eating their pizza slices.
[BGM End]
After they were done and feeling satisfied, they immediately shifted their focus back to the main task at hand: finding the rest of the missing Lor parts. "Okay, obviously this one wing isn't going to get us off the ground. But slow and steady wins the race, right?" Magolor said and then went over to his console, zooming in on the left wing's location this time. "For the other wing of my ship… it's in an aquatic region known as Onion Ocean."
Arusu blinked. "First Cookie Country, then Raisin Ruins…and now Onion Ocean?" he questioned. "Gee, this world sure loves naming its places after foods…"
"And it doesn't stop there." Dedede spoke up. "We have Ice Cream Island, Grape Garden, Orange Ocean, Peanut Plains… the list goes on."
"…Wow, just wow."
"I'm making steady progress on my repairs, by the way!" Magolor said. "But there's only so much I can do without those lost parts. I really hope you'll look for the next one, everybody."
"Of course we will!" Kirby chirped. "Right, guys?"
"Yeah!" the rest of the group exclaimed.
"Thank you so much!" Magolor thanked. "As always, while you're all away, I'll keep working on my repairs! Good luck out there!"
The group waved at Magolor and exited the Lor, then Kirby called out his Warp Star to take everyone to their next destination: Onion Ocean.
But after they left, we go to a quick cut back in the Lor, where Magolor was in deep thoughts again…but his mind seemed conflicted now:
"I wonder if Kirby and the others actually consider me as a friend to them…? I don't know how I should feel about this… Because…I have a plan in mind… What should I say to them once that plan finally comes…?"
Hmm… Wonder what's he talking about? Eh, it's probably nothing important.
To be continued…
Okay, maybe it's time I make something clear for you. I have a headcanon for Kirby in which he loves referring others that are not from his universe by a cute-sounding nickname (I call them 'cutesy nicknames'). So, here's a list of which characters so far got a cute nickname from Kirby:
Jewel - Jewelie
Melissa - Meli
Trifle - Triffy
Mario - Mar-Mar
Pit - Pi
Eleven - Ven
Arusu - Su-Su
Solo - Lo-Lo
Eight - Eighty
I still have some other things to cover up for you, but I'll reveal them later on as the story progresses. And also... pay no attention to what Magolor thought about a plan of sorts. Nope! Nothing to see there! Y-yeah! N-not foreshadowing or anything! Just go on your merry way, heh heh!
Onion Ocean is next... so the group is about to have some fun in the sun! Until next time!
Trivia for this chapter:
1. The giant golden paper fan is one of the rarest variants you can actually pull out when you execute the Ultra Sword move (additionally, one thing I didn't mention about the fan is that in the original game, it sports the Dream Hatcher, HAL Laboratory's symbol, on the side). There is another similarly bizarre variant of Ultra Sword that is also incredibly rare to pull out, but it will only be shown off much later in the story.
2. Mr. Dooter's flaming skulls are only present in the EX version of his battle, which is only found in Extra Mode and in The True Arena.
