Chapter 13 – Beach Scorcher
Sunny Beachside - Ice Cream Island
"Aw. I know you said that most of the areas are named after food for some reason, but I was really hoping for giant scopes of ice cream to be everywhere." I told Adeleine.
"I wouldn't mind having that." Ribbon said.
"Poyo!"
"Of course you two wouldn't." Adeleine said. "You guys love ice cream more than anything in the world."
"Wow. I didn't think you guys ate ice cream that much." Ringo said.
"Normally, it's any sweets they could get their hands on. Especially cake. And it's really cute when they eat together, too."
"H-Hey! W-Will you stop already?!" Ribbon whined, with her cheeks bright red from embarrassment.
"Aw come on, Ribbon. We all know that you like Kirby."
"Y-Yeah, as a friend! That's it!"
"But what about the time you felt extremely happy after you ki…"
"ADELEINE!" Ribbon's face was as red as Ringo's hair at this point.
"What? I'm just saying."
Ribbon was so embarrassed, she flew off ahead of us and Adeleine chased after her. Repeatedly apologizing to her. The four of us didn't really know what they were talking about and were mildly confused.
"Uh…hey, Bandana-Dee. Do you know why Ribbon was acting like that?" I asked.
Bandana-Dee wrote on his board then after a few seconds showed it to us.
"A while ago, we helped Ribbon collect the Crystal Shards and saved her planet, named Ripple Star, from being consumed by Dark Matter, the evil entity from before. It was the first time the four of us met Ribbon. And during the victory ceremony, she was so happy that Kirby saved her home and everyone on it, that she kissed him on the cheek and got even happier."
"Oh wow. That's really cute." Raffina said.
"So does Ribbon like Kirby? Like in that way?" Arle asked.
Bandana-Dee erased his board and wrote something else on it.
"She says she doesn't. but it's so obvious, I'm surprised she hasn't admitted it by now. Kirby, on the other hand…you kinda expect that from him."
"Oh. I get it now." I said.
"Poyo?" Kirby was listening throughout the whole conversation, and it looked like he didn't get it at all.
"*giggle* It's nothing, little buddy. Come on, let's catch up with Adeleine and Ribbon."
"Poyo…" Kirby didn't really want to accept it, but I guess he knew that if he kept asking, he'll get nowhere. So he went ahead and followed me.
Geez, if only Sig was more like that…
As we made our way through the inaccurately-named beach known as Ice Cream Island, we managed to catch up to Adeleine and Ribbon. The latter seemed to have calmed down already, which is good on our end.
Especially Kirby. Poor guy doesn't even know that Ribbon has feelings for him.
"Well, despite not having any giant ice cream everywhere, this place is still pretty beautiful. Don't you think, Ami?" Raffina asked me.
"Yeah, I admit, Raffina. This place is really nice."
And I meant that, too. The clear white sand sparkled in the sun and seashells were scattered all over. We were surrounded by really tall palm trees and only got a tiny glimpse of the ocean, which was crystal-clear blue.
"So is Orange Ocean over there?" I asked.
"Sure is. We just need to get pass these palm trees somehow." Adeleine said.
"Well, maybe we can climb over them."
"No."
"No way."
"Not happening."
These were the responses from Arle, Ringo, and Raffina.
"Huh? Why not?"
"Amitie…do we really need to say it?" Arle asked me.
"Say wha…"
Before I could finish, I took a look at the three girls again and remembered why they're against the idea.
"Oh…"
…
…I then giggled a bit…
"Shut up!"
…Which of course, got them angry.
"Sorry, sorry."
"So any other ideas then?" Adeleine asked.
We sat around for a bit trying to think of a way to get pass the palm trees. As we were doing so, we were suddenly ambushed by a huge group of puyos.
"So there really are puyos all the way out here." Ringo said.
"Well, in that case, let's start clearing them!" Arle cheered.
"You ready, Kirby?" I asked him.
"Poyo!"
"Then let's go!"
We started grabbing puyos and stacked them onto each other. Me and Kirby made one together and managed to create a 6-chain. We both felt the power rushing inside us as we prepared our attacks.
"FLAME!"
"FIRE BREATH!"
"CYCLOWHIRL!"
"SMASH PUNCH!"
"AKTINA!"
"FINAL CUTTER!"
And with that, we cleared a lot of puyos…but there was still a bunch more. Every time we thought it was all cleared, more kept showing up.
"How are there so many puyos here?!" Ringo asked.
"Do you think a Puyo Soul is nearby?" Adeleine asked.
"It can't be. All five colors are here." Raffina said.
"Guys! Look!" Arle shouted while pointing to the sky.
What fell from the sky was a huge green armored guy with a giant sword and a giant green shield. Much like Whispy, he had a creepy glowing aura around him, only this time it was red.
"RAAAWWWGGGHH!"
"AAAAAAHHHHHHHH!" Ringo and Ribbon screamed in terror as they ran and hid behind a palm tree.
"W-Woah! Wh-What is that thing?!" Raffina asked.
"That's Gigant Edge! He's known as a Demon Beast! There's a ton of them here, although we don't know how they got here." Adeleine said.
"D-Demon Beast?! Th-That sounds terrifying!" Arle said.
"Yeah, they are. In this case, Gigant Edge uses his giant sword to attack and can sometimes block attacks with his shield."
"Woah. So they can fight back?" Raffina asked.
"Yeah. They take a while to defeat, too. We had to deal with them a lot during past adventures."
"So, in a way, they're mini-bosses?" I asked.
…
"…Y-Yeah. That's exactly it, Amitie." Adeleine sounded surprised that I knew what a mini-boss was.
"Ami, how do know that?" Raffina asked me.
"Well…I play a lot of video games."
"I-I see."
"RAAAWWWGGGHH!"
"Looks like we have to defeat this guy in order to get past!"
"Us four can take him!" Arle cheered.
"Right with you, Arle!" Adeleine said.
"Kirby, can you and the others build the chains?" I asked him.
"Poyo!" Kirby agreed.
Bandana-Dee and Gooey agreed to help too.
"Will you two get over here?! We need your help!" Arle shouted at Ringo and Ribbon.
"B-But…t-the m-monster…I-IT'S SCARY!" They both cried.
"We'll leave you behind if you don't help." Adeleine said.
"N-No, please don't!" Ringo whined.
"We'll help, we'll help! Just don't leave us!" Ribbon whined.
Geez, these two are so much alike.
"Alrighty then!" I cheered with my fist in the air. "Let's…"
"PUYO BATTLE!"
"RAAAWWWGGGHH!"
A new set a puyo rained down on us as we prepared to do battle with Gigant Edge the demon beast. The five in the back each prepared a puyo wall while us four dodged the beast's multi sword strike attack. It then rose it's sword in the air, looking like it was charging up power, and slammed it down, causing a shockwave to appear and hitting all four of us. Knocking us back a bit.
"GAH! Geez, this guy's strong!" Raffina shouted.
"Demon beast are usually strong, but this much power is unlike them." Adeleine claimed. That's when we noticed the strange aura surrounding it.
"Hey, guys. That thing's glowing kinda like how Whispy was back in the forest." Arle said.
"Yeah, only it's red instead of green." I added.
"Adeleine…do you think?" Raffina asked.
"No, it can't be." Adeleine said. "Demon beast usually aren't that bright enough to absorb power on their own. The power of the Puyo Souls must've spread much like the puyos did."
"So you think the other demon beasts got the same power up as Gigant Edge?" I asked.
"Yeah. Most likely that's the case."
"Well, even so, it's still four against one!"
"Yeah, Ami's right! We can still beat this thing!" Raffina cheered.`
"Poyo poyo!"
"You guys are ready?" Adeline asked.
"Yeah, we are!" Ribbon said.
"Just get rid of the monster already!" Ringo shouted.
"Alright, let's go!" Arle cheered.
"RAAAWWWGGGHH!"
The back five had set off their chain and we soon felt the power rushing through our bodies. We eventually had enough power to attack with our lv. 1 spells, but then I remembered something.
"Hey, Adeleine. Didn't you say this guy will block our attacks?" I asked her.
"Yeah, but not all of them. He's weak to some elements, like fire."
"Fire…" That new info got me thinking. "Hey, you think you and Raffina could attack first and me and Arle hold back a bit?"
"You mean distract him enough so he won't use his shield twice in a row?"
"Not a bad idea, Ami." Raffina said.
"Alright, Amitie. We'll go with your plan. Ready, Raffina?"
"Ready when you are."
As me and Arle stepped back to gain more power, Adeleine and Raffina began to unleash their attacks on Gigant Edge.
"NEIGE!"
"BRUSH SLASH!"
And just like I thought, it blocked them with its shield. Once the shield was down, the two attacked again. This time, inflicting damage on the demon beast and knocking it down.
"Alright, guys. You're up." Raffina said.
"Thanks, Raffina. Ready, Arle?"
"Ready, Amitie."
As the two of us continued to charge up our power, for some reason we held each other's hand and felt a strong bond between us. Like a scorching surge of unknown power was flowing through us in rapid speed as we finally unleashed our powered-up fire spells.
…Or, so we thought it was our fire spells.
"DRAGON STORM!"
What came out from our hands was a torrent of fire that took the shape of a giant dragon and blasted the demon beast, shooting him in the air and falling to the ground face first, dropping its sword and shield before exploding out of existence.
"Woah…" Was all me and Arle were able to say.
"Did you plan that too, Amitie?" Ribbon asked me.
"No, not really. I just grabbed Arle's hand out of instinct. I didn't think it would do that."
"Yeah, me neither." Arle added. "I did the same thing, not thinking that would happen."
"That's kinda weird…" Adeleine said.
"Yeah…but also useful." Ringo said.
"Poyo…"
We looked over to see Kirby, Bandana-Dee, and Gooey looking at something with very deep looks of amazement. When we joined them to see what they were looking at, we too were amazed at what we saw.
"Wow…Ami, whatever trick you and Arle just did destroyed a bunch of palm trees and made a path." Raffina said.
"That's insane." Adeleine said.
"And kinda scary, too." Ribbon added.
"But still, what could've caused such a power to be unleased like that?" Ringo asked.
Me and Arle looked at each other with confused and somewhat scared looks on our faces. This new power we found was proving to be no only useful, but also dangerous.
"Hey, Arle. Let's agree to not use this new power unless it's necessary, or at least until some can explain it to us, okay?"
"Yeah. Sounds good to me, Amitie." Arle said.
"Well, at least it cleared a path for us." Ringo said.
"Yeah. Orange Ocean is down that burnt palm tree path." Adeleine said.
"Alrighty! Let's go, everybody!" I cheered.
"Yeah!"
"Poyo!"
We all then started making our way down the burnt palm tree path, with some pieces of bark still on fire a little. To think something that powerful was inside me and Arle the whole time…
…Is there something we don't know about each other?
A/N: In case you didn't read my notes from LOPPTsu Chapter 22, the reason why this chapter is late is because I've spent the last four days packing and moving stuff from two apartments into one…in the blazing sun…four hours on end. I had no time to write anything during that time and it really screwed me over. So now I'm trying to write as much as I can without overdoing myself. Hope you guys understand.
The term "Demon Beast" is used in the Japanese version of the anime. I thought it'll be cooler to use that instead of "monster". Also, the term "Dragon Storm" is the Monster Flame Super Copy Ability from Return to Dream Land, translated from Japanese. I used it for basically the same reason.
That's all I have to say. Feel free to review, favorite, and/or follow the story. Next chapter coming soon. Thanks for reading.
