Double-0-K and Super Spy Kirby
Chapter Seven: In the Earth
Josh was still staring in disbelief at the mountain that had just been destroyed. He had forgotten all about the presence of Kracko and the Mecha-Vultures. He was about to leap down there after him when something stopped him.
Josh was thrown to the ground and quickly looked up and saw the mecha-vultures surrounding him. One grabbed the Fantaray and stuck it in front of Josh's face to make sure he wouldn't move any further. Then the rest of them all stepped aside to make way for Kracko's descent.
"Well, well, well." Kracko started with an evil look in his one huge eye. "What did I tell you, you foolish little puffball? Jacob is now dead and you've been abandoned by that other puffball. Now I give you one last chance: Join me, or face the consequences!"
The blades of the mecha-vultures all shot up as soon as he finished. "Now it's time to decide." Kracko ended with an evil laugh that shook the heavens.
Josh first looked around and hoped he could see Kirby coming up with a plan to save him. But when he saw the puffball picking grapes up as fast as he could, he gave up on that, too.
"Alright," Josh gave in, but still stalling somewhat just incase something happened. "But…on one condition."
"And what would that be?" Kracko gave him a grim stare.
"I would like to see that the Dark Lord himself would just release one person from the game that doesn't include me, Jacob, or Kirby."
"Go on…"
"And that person…would be…" But before Josh could finish his request a very loud, irritating noise came from behind Kracko.
Without turning around, Kracko instantly started to charge up his lightning bolt, ready to strike. The thing that had cried out was Kirby; except for now he was looking like he had ate a watermelon and swallowed it whole.
What had really happened was during the whole time Kirby was gathering up a huge pile of grapes and inhaled them, but didn't actually swallow. I bet you're wondering how grapes would stop Kracko. Well, Kirby had a plan, and it was a good one.
Kracko was almost finished charging up, the sparks already zooming through him, when Kirby started to spit out the grapes. They came out in a rapid fire line, penetrating Kracko. But something else happened, too. When the grapes exploded, liquid gushed out and it made contact with the energy.
Kracko started to look like he was a malfunctioning robot as he quivered around, trying to find a way to stop it, but nothing could.
"He's gonna blow!" Josh yelled.
Kirby looked at the ground below them. "Let's jump!" he replied.
"Are you crazy?" Josh asked but before he could answer he found himself jumping off anyways.
Just as the two leaped off the clouds, Kracko seemed to explode, destroying everything that was closely surrounding him. The clouds just seemed to disappear, loose nuts and bolts could be seen flying everywhere, and that was the last anyone had seen of Kracko.
Josh and Kirby didn't need to look for a place to land safely. Apparently the mountain was a 'roof' for an underground series of caves. Both of them aimed towards the cave so they wouldn't get stabbed by the spiked rocks up top.
Kirby landed softly, but Josh fell with a clank on a sharp object. It was the Mysticant. He picked it up without Kirby noticing and than they looked around. The whole place literally had been smashed up, as if something went through and recklessly destroyed the cave. Stalactites and stalagmites were lying shattered across the ground and fresh saw marks were all over them.
"Is every place in this crazy game a twisted and deadly world?" Josh moaned as he looked at his surroundings. "Ever since I entered here it seems that a curse has been laid upon the game. There must be someone that laid the curse on this game!"
After Josh had finished his small rant, there was a small silence. For the first time they were able to listen, instead of look, at the environment. Heavy footsteps could be heard far away. They were getting closer, and now even Kirby could hear them. The footsteps couldn't be those of a puffball, as they were very heavy and unearthed the ground.
"And there is." A mysterious voice spoke out. Immediately Josh and Kirby drew their blades, circling around a small perimeter to see what they could find.
Almost out of nowhere a huge bug-like figure appeared in the floor. He must've been somehow underneath them or just really good in the arts of stealth and concealment.
"I come in peace!" It said as they aimed their swords at him. "And I know your troubles. Come, let me show you something."
"Wait just a minute!" Kirby said before anyone could move. "I know just who you are. You're Bugzzy!"
"So you may have noticed!" Bugzzy said and Kirby was ready to pounce at him in no time. "Minions, arise!"
Out of nowhere thousands of the beasts of the earth rose out of the ground. Many menacing bullet shaped like figures surrounded them. If they made one sign of attack, the bullet like figures would dart after both of them, sending the whole cave to oblivion.
"Now if you may, I would like to speak to both of you." Bugzzy started. "You are in no condition to fight. I have been a spy, hidden among the trees, land, and sky. You have already lost two companions in battle. Would you like to be next to Jacob's grave?"
They knew it was a rhetorical question, and there was a grim silence after he said that.
"I didn't think so." Bugzzy started back up again. "So I will give you a choice, just like Kracko. But now, you can't escape. Here are your choices. You can refuse and stay here to get slaughtered by my entire Dyclops army and burn in the fires of the destruction of Popstar, or you can join Nightmare and escape Popstar before it is destroyed and live a full life. It is your choice!"
Bugzzy let Josh think for a moment, and right when he was about to answer something came from behind.
"I am not dead." A voice staggered from behind. "Nor do I want to be."
Bugzzy flipped around, expecting Jacob or Meta Knight, but it wasn't either of them. It looked exactly like Jacob, to be honest, but it didn't look like a living thing. It was…a spirit, or a ghost.
Kirby gasped. "Is that... the spirit of Jacob?" Kirby stared at it, thinking that Jacob really was dead.
Josh, on the other hand, was smiling. He knew exactly what was going on. It was a secret power of the Mysticant that enabled the original wielder to summon a spirit that can conduct ultimate power. It was only able to have been accessed in direst need, and that was an incredibly rare occasion. Josh had glanced at a book of ancient power in the Cloud Prison and had read about the Mysticant. And ever since the sword was glowing sine he reached Yogurt Yard, he knew that Jacob was going to pull something off.
The spirit lunged forward, vanquishing all the Dyclops that tried to collide into him. One by one the Dyclops were defeated, and soon the last one had been zapped away into nothingness. Bugzzy slowly stepped backwards, slightly glancing left or right for sign of escape. He instantly ran off to the darkness.
The horribly cut body of Jacob staggered forward into the heart of the cave, and he collapsed in weariness. Kirby ran to help heal Jacob while Josh wielded the Mysticant and ran off after Bugzzy.
Bugzzy's tracks were extremely easy to figure out. He was really heavy, probably even heavier than the master mecha-vulture. Bugzzy's strength wasn't the only thing that was of great power, though. Despite his weight, he could move more skillfully than Josh had ever seen someone run.
"Think, Josh, think." Josh thought to himself as he was pursuing. "I won't be able to outrun him, but maybe I can try to use the powers of this blade…"
Josh aimed the sword at Bugzzy from afar, wondering what it would take to fire out something. He didn't care what it was, as long as it was destroyed. Bugzzy was rapidly increasing his speed. Then a vision came to him.
The vision was a third-person view of Jacob. He was in a dark forest in the middle of the night, holding a shining blade: Mysticant. Josh watched as Jacob leapt at a mutated thing that looked partly like Flamer, and he Jacob chanted out some words. 'Mysticant Ice' is what he yelled as a block of ice appeared in thin air.'
"It's that simple?" Josh said aloud as he targeted the fowl bug-like menace. Josh found his mark, and satisfied, he shouted out, "Mysticant Water," and just like that he started to hear some rumbling.
Water burst in through the ceiling, headed towards Buggy, and filled that small section of the cave with water. Josh leaped up through one of the cracks in the cave, landed on ground, and watched as Bugzzy sank to the bottom.
"That ended well!" Josh said, rubbing some dirt of his hands.
Just as he was about to jump back into the dry part of the cave something sprung onto his back.
"HE'S DESTROYING THE YOGURT YARD! RUN IF YOU KNOW WHAT'S GOOD FOR YOU!!!!" a voice screamed into his ears, ringing all the way through.
Josh spun around dizzily and saw what appeared to be a hamster running in circles like he was delirious. "Rick?" Josh asked in confusion. There was no answer, but instead he kept on screaming.
"HE HAS ALREADY DESTROYED HALF OF THE PLACE! FOLLOW ME AND I'LL SHOW YOU!"
Rick ran off into the caves, with Josh following close-at-hand. It was part of the cave Josh hadn't noticed before, even though it was right next to the open area where Bugzzy had attack them. Even Josh had trouble traveling through the narrow path they were in. Finally he stopped for a brief five second rest, when he realized Rick was already out of sight.
"Rick! Hold on! I was trying to..." his sentence was cut off into a mutter as he entered another huge area. Except for this was different…very, very, different.
The area appeared to be the exact same as the area he was in before, but there was a huge crack in the middle of the floor. Josh stepped close to the peak and peered down into the crack. It was as if he was staring into the heart of a volcano. Magma floated everywhere, and the only land that could be seen was a narrow path, a bridge, that went all along the flames. The bridge went as far as the eye could see both ways, and it probably went all around the earth of this game.
"Who could've done this?" Josh yelled out in horror.
"It's a robot gone mad." Rick silently stated. He had obviously calmed down all the way since they first encountered above the cave. Then he continued his explanation. "Heavy Mole has been reactivated, and Nightmare has dark plans for him. Heavy Mole has been destroying the Yogurt Yard, and now this whole mixed up game, too. He's creating a bridge that runs through all ends of this bizarre world, and it will soon be the only land that you can walk on."
He paused to let it sink in. "The Bridge is already completed and he's placed mines throughout the whole world. It's only a matter of hours before he blows the fuse and Nightmare's Domain of Fire will be completed."
"Then there isn't much time…" Josh said slowly. "Follow me! We must tell this to the others!"
"The others?..." Rick question himself, but followed Josh back anyways.
They briskly darted through the narrow hallway, turned at the point of the flooded cavern and arrived at the area in no time.
"Jacob is doing just fine!" Kirby sat up from his place on the ground. "There was some bit of potion I found in the Dyclops with the sleeping power. It was made of healing herbs that could heal nearly any wound, unless it was seriously fatal."
"I feel better already!" Jacob jumped up to his feet. No sign of anything happening to him was showing, except for some green liquid lying where the wounds would be.
"Great! Well there's something you hear, but first, let me introduce you to someone who will be joining in our travels!" Josh exclaimed, giving new information to Jacob, Kirby, AND Rick.
Josh told the two of them every single event that occurred on his very small journey, from the Bugzzy chase to the cave flooding, and from Rick's appearance to the Cracks of Fire. Then he told them about Rick's explanation and how the four of them only had a couple more hours to stop Heavy Mole.
"Then there's only one thing to do…" Jacob started.
"Follow me!" Rick said, while the other three followed right behind him.