Chapter 19 – Dark Red Delusions
As we started looking for Lidelle, the explosions from the fireballs were getting extremely loud. And the fireballs themselves…well, they were getting bigger. Good news is they stopped creating giant icicles everywhere. Bad news is…due to their size, they're breaking off pieces of the ground. And even worse, now they're also making electric explosions on the ground and sky.
"This is insane! These fireballs aren't even fireballs anymore!" Arle shouted.
"We'll never find Lidelle in this mess!" Raffina shouted.
"This is strange. Normally this place isn't this frequent with its explosions." Taranza said.
"Taranza's right. Usually, Endless Explosions isn't this…destructive." Ribbon said.
"Something's going on here. Could we be getting closer to a Puyo Soul, Amitie?" Adeleine asked me.
"…"
"Amitie?"
"…"
"Amitie…"
To be honest, I wasn't listening to the conversation. I was basically lost in my own thoughts. Something was swarming inside me like crazy. And it's not like a normal something, either. It felt like a strange power was surging my body. A power that…I was somehow familiar with. Which to me was weird, because all of my powers are in my hat…
Speaking of which, I know I'm far away from my hat right now…yet I'm still conscious. I don't even feel weak at all. Is this light-pink part of my hair the reason? Is it the same reason why I'm wearing this outfit? Now that I think about it, that copy of me was wearing a different outfit as well. That copy…it used to be my hat, right?
…
Just what is that thing anyway? And more importantly, where did it go?
"YO! AMITIE!"
"Huh? What?"
"You okay there, Amitie? You were spacing out again." Ringo said.
"I-I was? S-Sorry. I just have a lot on my mind right now."
"I see."
"Wow. You…thinking? That's a shocker."
"There was no need for that insult, jerks!" I shouted.
"Huh?" Everyone looked confused.
"Amitie, none of us said anything." Arle said.
"Poyo."
"Huh? Really? But I could've sworn I…"
"G-G-G-G-G-G-Guys! L-L-L-L-L-L-Look up there!" Ribbon stuttered.
We looked up to where she was pointing to see someone sitting on top of a pillar behind us. This person…she looked all too familiar. After taking a closer look, I instantly recognized her. And my body solidified in a mix of fear, confusion, and anger.
"Wait…that's…you're…" I said.
"YOU'RE THE CLONE FROM BEFORE! YOU TRIED TO KILL AMI!" Raffina shouted with rage.
"WAIT, WHAT?!" Misuki shouted.
"Clone? How can you say such a mean thing to your best friend, Raffi?"
"SHUT UP! YOU'RE NOT THE REAL AMITIE!"
"POYO!"
"sigh. You're right. I was just trying to screw with you. Unfortunately, it didn't work. You really do have some brains in ya, and not just a barbaric brute."
"What the hell did you just say?!"
"Anyway, I'm surprised to see you still alive, Amitie. People don't normally survive such an attack. Guess I should've expected more from my other half."
"Other half? What do you mean by that?" I asked.
"Oops. Guess I said too much for you to understand with that tiny brain of yours. I shouldn't expect THAT much from you then."
"HEY!"
"Wow, you are such a narcissist!" Arle yelled.
"Narcissist? Hmph. You're one to talk, Tomboy. Talking to everyone like you're better than them."
"H-Hey! I changed! AND DON'T CALL ME A TOMBOY!"
"Oh, really? Cause how I remember it…"
*BOOM*
*BOOM* *BOOM* *BOOM*
*BOOM*
"GAH! THE FIREBALLS!" Ringo started panicking.
"Oh, goodie. Looks like I've distracted you all enough."
"D-Distracted us?! F-For what?!" Adeleine asked.
"Oh, nothing major. JUST THIS!"
The copy then formed a dark red colored energy sphere and grew it to a substantial size. As this was happening, she grew an evil and creepy smile on her face and giggled a bit in a creepy way.
"There's no way in hell I will let you find all the Puyo Souls! Much like all universes, you will all meet destruction! Nyahahaha!"
"WAIT, WHAT?!" We all shouted.
But before we could force a response from her, the clone shot the energy sphere at us, causing a ginormous explosion and a dark red star-shaped portal to form from behind and it sucked us up one by one. I was the last one to be sucked in. and before the portal closed, I saw my copy laughing hysterically in an evil way.
"Enjoy your new home, Amitie. I'll be sure to come by and visit…once all universes are annihilated, of course!"
Her sadistic giggles were the last thing I heard before the portal closed completely.
Dwarf Lava Planet - Star Lavadom
Uh…my head. Wh-What happened?
I sat up from the spot I was in and looked around the area. It looked completely different from before. The sky was all dark and gloomy and there was lots more lava and volcanos. The ground I was on was really hard and a dark purple color to it. As I looked around some more, I noticed that the volcanos were the same dark purple color as well. And the lava had covered most of the ground and volcanos, to the point where some can't even be seen anymore.
"W-Woah…what…what is this place?" I asked myself.
I then started hearing a strange noise that was getting louder and louder. It sounded like a…a plane that's about to crash or something. But then I looked up and saw what it actually was.
I didn't like what I saw.
What I saw was a giant flaming meteor with stars made of lava all over its sides heading towards me at a rapid pace. My eyes widen like a cartoon character when I finally realized what it was.
"wha…wha…WHAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA!" I screamed really loud as I quickly dodged the giant meteor just in time before it landed and destroyed the part of ground I was just on mere seconds ago. My heart was beating rapidly as I tried to regain my breath. Which took a lot longer than normal with all the ashes in the air.
"Wha…What the heck?! Where did that giant meteor come from?!" I shouted. I was still a bit jumpy from the whole thing. So when I felt something touch me, I screamed again and turned quickly to see what it was. I then realized it wasn't a "what" but a "who".
"B-Bandana-Dee?! O-Oh. It's just you."
Bandana-Dee nodded first, then wrote something on his board.
"Are you okay, Amitie?"
"Yeah, I'm fine. Well, besides the whole meteor thing. Just what is this place, anyway?"
Bandana-Dee took a quick glance around, then he turned back to me with a worried look on his face.
"Not good?"
"No, not at all. This place is called Star Lavadom. A completely different planet in our world. That clone of yours must've sent us here."
"Star Lavadom? A COMPLETELY DIFFERENT PLANET?!"
"It's one of the farthest planets in the galaxy. Getting back to Popstar will take a long time from here."
"Aw, fiddlesticks! What do we do now?!"
"Well, it's best that we find the others first. Then we can figure out how to get back."
"That sounds like a good idea…it's also our only idea, but you get the point. Let's go!"
Bandana-Dee nodded and we went looking around where we could on this planet for the others. What used to be a group of 13 is now down to just 2 people. The search itself will be the hardest thing I've done so far in this universe.
Well…besides nearly dying, I mean.
What made the search even harder for the two of us was the fact that there was barely any ground to cover. The hard dark purple path was getting smaller with the lava surrounding it and the giant meteors destroying more parts of it. Not to mention, this planet was WAY hotter than the entirety of Endless Explosions. I was sweating all over the place. Then I looked over at Bandana-Dee to see that he was perfectly fine.
"Hey, how come you're not sweating?" I asked him.
"Waddle-Dees don't sweat. We usually adapt to whatever environment we end up in. It's like a special trait of ours." He wrote.
"I see. Lucky you."
I wish I can adapt to weather environments.
While I was thinking that to myself, I felt Bandana-Dee tapping me again. When I turned to him, in a panicky way, he pointed to my head. Specifically, the weird light-pink part of my hair. It was glowing for some reason and neither one of us knew why. After a few seconds, it stopped glowing…along with something else that stopped.
"Huh? I-I…I don't feel sweaty anymore. And all the sweat from before is gone. I-I think…I've adapted to the weather here! B-But how?!"
"Maybe it's because of your light-pink hair glowing." Bandana-Dee wrote.
"I guess. I can't really explain it…but at least I'm not extremely hot anymore."
Bandana-Dee just looked at me with a look of confusion.
*RUMBLE* *RUMBLE* *RUMBLE*
"Wha? What's happening?!"
As we were talking, the lava suddenly started rising around us. The spot we were standing in was quickly getting smaller and smaller. We were getting surrounded by it on all sides. And what worse was more giant meteors were heading our way as well.
"GAH! WH-WHAT DO WE DO?!" I shouted.
I then saw Bandana-Dee spinning his spear really fast. I didn't know what he was doing at a time like this, but it was impressive to look at. He then started flying up in the air with the spear still spinning really fast. It was like I was looking at a helicopter. I couldn't believe it.
Now he was moving his feet a bunch, which during this situation, I knew what it meant.
"You want me to grab on? Okay, I'll do it!"
I then grabbed onto both of his feet as we got higher up from the ground. Bandana-Dee then started gliding through the meteor storm, dodging all the meteors like he's done it before. Not a single scratch throughout the whole trip.
"Woohoo! It's like I'm actually flying a plane! Wicked!"
We then landed on a high platform that we were sure the lava wouldn't reach. We both felt a little dizzy at first, but we regained our balance a short while later.
"Whoa! I didn't know you could do that! That was awesome! Oh, and thanks for rescuing me back there, Bandana-Dee."
Bandana-Dee rubbed the back of his head from the praise he received.
"H-Huh? Th-That voice…A-Amitie?!"
I then heard a voice I recognized, as it belonged to a person we've been searching for a good while now.
"Lidelle! We've found you!" I shouted with glee as I ran up to hug her.
"A-Amitie! I-It really is you! I'M SO HAPPY THAT I'M NOT ALONE ANYMORE! I WAS STUCK IN THIS SCARY PLACE FOR DAYS AND I THOUGHT I WAS A GONER! WAAAAAHHHHHH!" Lidelle started crying as she held me tighter than I was holding her.
"L-Lidelle! *ouchie* I-I missed you too *ouchie*, b-but you're really hurting me *ouchie* *ouchie* *ouchie*!"
"S-Sorry, Amitie." Lidelle said as she finally let go of me.
"Anyway, we're so glad you're safe, Lidelle. We've been looking all over for you."
"Y-You have? A-And what do you mean by we?"
"Oh, right. You don't know. Well, you see…"
Then explained to Lidelle everything that's happened these past few days. Kirby crashing in my yard, me, Raffina, Arle, and Ringo coming here, learning about the Puyo Souls from Misuki, finding Maguro here…even the part where my hat turned into a copy of me and nearly killed me. It was a long story. I'm surprised Lidelle listened to all of it.
"I-I see. So all of this started when this Kirby guy came to our world? Was he in your backpack that day at school when I asked you about it?" Lidelle asked.
"Y-Yeah, he was. I told him to stay quiet and gave him some of my food during lunch. I looked crazy, didn't I?"
"*giggle* Yeah, you did. But only a little."
"Gee thanks, Lidelle. That made me feel better." I said sarcastically.
I then felt a light tap on my arm. Bandana-Dee was standing next to me with a neutral look on his face.
"Oh, right. Lidelle, this is Bandana-Dee. He lives in this universe. Bandana-Dee, this is my friend and classmate Lidelle. She can be a bit shy, well okay, really shy…but she's a really good friend and good Puyo player."
"Nice to meet you, Bandana-Dee." Lidelle said.
"It's nice to meet you too, Lidelle." Bandana-Dee wrote.
"Oh, yeah. He can't talk, so he writes his thoughts on a dry-erase board." I added.
"I see."
*RUMBLE* *RUMBLE* *RUMBLE*
"GAH! THE LAVA! IT CAUGHT UP TO US!" I shouted.
"WH-WH-WH-WH-WHAT DO WE DO?! H-H-H-H-HOW DO WE GET OUTTA HERE?!" Lidelle stuttered in fear.
That's when Bandana-Dee used his spear to point at something we didn't notice before. It was a floating mirror that showed another volcano world in its reflection. It was a bit odd, but we didn't really have a choice right now.
"Right, Dee! Come on, Lidelle!" I shouted as I grabbed Lidelle's sleeve and pulled her along with me.
All three of us jumped inside the mirror and it transported us to this other world of some sorts. I wasn't sure where exactly it was taking us to, or what was waiting for us at the end. But hopefully it's better than elemental fireball, loud explosions, rising lava, and giant meteors everywhere.
And I probably just jinxed myself…
AUTHOR'S NOTE: Here it is! My favorite level in Star Allies: Star Lavadom! I said in the last chapter that I love lava levels, and Star Lavadom is by far my favorite in the series. The music is god-like, and the fact that you have to avoid meteors so big, they could destroy an entire city or two is exciting, although a bit nerve-racking.
Speaking of that game, I just got it yesterday. Already reached the final world. I wanted to at least play the level first before using it in this story. Just so I can get a good look at it.
That's all from me. Feel free to review, favorite, and/or follow the story. Thanks for reading. Later.
