Well, it seems I've gotten back on track with my missing deadlines habit. I think I did quite well though, updating on time for as long as I did. I have no excuses for the delay, I had a two week Easter break after all, and the Super Smash Bros contest I opened didn't get in the way much.
Talking about the contest that I'm holding though (feel free to join if you wish but it is a Super Smash Bros contest, not a Kirby one) I will be placing this fanfic on a hiatus of sorts. With both the contest to run and my A-2 exams being in this month and the next, I will not be able to upload the next chapter of Kirby Ancient Ruin Adventure until July. For details of my update schedule you can check my profile, I always have my fanfic writing plans for the year up there.
Now to talk about this fanfic specifically. I've noted that throughout this fanfic I have been misspelling Adeleine's name as 'Adeline'. I have corrected that mistake in this chapter and will go back and correct past chapters sometime in the future. Other than that there's not much else to say. Enjoy reading!
Chapter 8: Passageway Paradise! A maze of hidden passages.
Below, in the deeper floors of the ruins, were more hallways. Hallways that were more expansive, hallways that were bright as day, the old walls and ancient carvings entrenched in glimmering moss. These hallways were the most silent, as nothing stirred on the bottom floor. That's how it should have been at least.
"Who knew this place had a maze in it?" The sailor hat wearing albatross murmured as he piloted the vehicle he was in to navigate about the corridors, "I don't even know how long I've been down here and I still haven't found the treasure."
The sailor captain clothed bird kept his machine moving forward, the engines hissing lightly with steam. The silver painted, metallic feet of the machine crushed the illuminating vegetation that covered the floor, and proved no hindrance to the vehicles progress. Onward the albatross went, and though for the most part all the gleaming corridors looked the same, sometimes heaps of moss would have grown out to such an extent that our current focal character would operate his lobster shaped robot to snip away at it with its large mechanical pincers.
"I'm going to lose my mind if I stay down here much longer," The pilot thought as he now travelled forth mindlessly, "I'd kill for some company right now."
Seemingly, the brown and beige feathered bird's pleas were answered as he soon began to hear someone. The sound of screaming and/or yelling, to which echoed like those of a person falling down a large hole. Such noise was followed by a crashing sound, resembling the noise made by someone falling to the bottom of said hole.
"What in blazes?" The bird said aloud as he turned round to corner, finding the source of the noise.
Metaknight shook his head, throwing off dust and most that had become attached to him via the fall. Though he had just fallen down a very long trap hole, and collided to the floor with a good deal of force, he did not fail in hearing the sound of gears churning. Spinning round Metaknight prepared himself to face this approaching possible threat.
When the two saw one another they froze, the knight did and so did the bird. The mechanical lobster naturally froze considering the bird had froze and it required the bird to move in order to operate it. Silence, like the sort that originally filled the air before the various groups arrival, returned for a brief second.
"M-Metaknight-sama." The bird spurted with a mixture of shock and horror.
"Captain Vul." Metaknight said with a mixture of shock and hate.
"Run for it dear, run." Iru hollered as he and his student began to sprint away from the zombie like beings behind them.
Well 'sprint' is not the best term to use with Iru, as being a Croucar it is quicker and easier to fly instead. Thus he flew lightly off the ground, just a bit before the poppy bros assistant of his. Iru turned his head round to check that Ume was indeed following him but such a thing also lead him to check on the strange beings that had crept up on the teacher and student.
The creatures were moving, moaning while doing so, but they were not moving fast. In fact their feet were being dragged across the floor, and their muscles creaked and cracked as they forced themselves into movement. Though their attitude was like zombies they did not raise their arms to head height, or leave their arms sagging and drooping, their arms were positioned (for those of them that had arms or hands) were positioned to grasp at the floor, as if they thought they would collapse at any moment and need to drag themselves forward. Their weak and dry mouthed moans were in tune with their struggles to move, as if the walking was causing them pain and the fliers within the group of petrified beings remained flightless.
By now the two were a good distance away and had stopped to examine from afar the strange creatures. This was a difficult task with the lacklustre lighting of the current area.
"There not too fast are they sensei?" Ume asked aloud, though it was more of a statement.
"No...Rigor mortis appears to have set in, or arthritis though I doubt these things before us our living beings," Iru said, his eyes constantly perceiving the situation of the creatures before them, "We should be safe from these things."
Ume breathed a sigh of relief, her heart still pounding from the freight. On the other hand the old Croucar still kept watch, waiting for any change to occur.
"We can't just presume they are unable to move properly just yet, we still don't even know if these things are dead or alive, or were ever living to begin with." The wise bird thought, and such wisdom and patience paid off.
A sudden although slight shaking sensation was felt, the floor, the walls and the ceiling all quivering. The floor upon which the stone zombie like beings stood on paled and the beings suddenly shot upright, as if they were standing to attention. Upon that, once the floor regained its earthy colours, and the ground stopped its quiet shaking, the beings began to relax slowly. From the upright position they dropped down till their bodies arched, and their heads nodded gently.
"My assistant," Iru began to address Ume, turning his head round to her, "It is best we run away as fast as we can."
With that the two turned round to run, though Ume wasn't sure why, and with that the stone creatures sprung into action, dashing at fast speeds towards them.
"Ah, there not slow anymore!" Ume screamed as she began to pick up her pace and run for her life.
"Less talk more running." Iru squawked as he flew as fast as his old wings could allow him.
The two did go forth as fast as they could but it seemed hopeless against the sudden newfound speeds of the creatures behind them. The gap between them began to close, and any chance of hope dispersed into nothingness once the duo reached the wall. The path they had taken was a dead end.
"N-No, we're trapped!" Ume Screamed as she hit against the wall, and then turned to face the dust covered beings before them.
Wailing and moaning as if each rapid movement was agonising, they continued to advance. Ume began to toss out bomb after bomb, hoping she could destroy them, but when one fell another would take its place; their numbers were seemingly endless.
Iru on the other hand, despite the situation at hand, had his focus drawn to the carvings. Before him were numerous patterns, words and messages of an ancient civilisation. For many this would be but a mass of nonsense, for the professor it was but a second language. As the monsters lunged without a drop of grace, Iru grabbed his wailing assistant by the arm, and pressed his wing against one of the nearby walls carvings. With that wall slid open, spinning round like a revolving door, and pulling Iru and Ume into a new corridor, while at the same time blocking off entry to the previous one.
Ume stopped wailing when she realised that she felt no pain from being attacked and opened her eyes to be greeted by darkness.
"Am I dead already? I guess I'm lucky that it was such a painless death." Ume mused aloud before her teacher bonked her on the head.
"Fool, we are still alive. I opened up a trap door and took us through it. We should be safe for now." Iru said, still able to detect where his student was in the moss less and thus lightless area.
"W-where are we professor?" Ume said, pulling herself up.
"A hidden passageway, accordingly there are numerous of these passageways spread across the ruins," Iru began to say, walking forth in the pathway of blackness, "Let's go dear."
"Yes Professor."
The two men stood still, basked in the chilling silence that the ruins usually emitted. Memories of their times together and memories of the incident that drove them apart came forth, and the stood there with these memories in mind.
"M-Metaknight, Metaknight-sama, it has been a while." Vul nervously said the first of the two to speak.
"Yes, it has been a long time since you abandoned the Halberd to its destruction." Metaknight replied, his voice tinted with bitterness.
Vul chuckled nervously to himself, worrying constantly at what his former master might plan to do with him, "Well sir, with all Kirby had done there was no chance of the ship to remain airborne, what was I suppose to do?"
"You could have tried to stop him! You could have tried to repair the ship! You could have been willing to risk your life like all the other men aboard the ship but no, you fled the moment you thought we couldn't win!" The usually calm knight yelled back, his anger in a rare moment getting the better of him.
Vul retreated from these words, pushing his body back into his seat, and edging away from the knight within the safety of his cockpit.
"Sure I did. That is the smart thing to do. Going down with the ship is honourable and all but once you're dead you can't do much now can you."
Once again the silence resumed, Vul out of fear and Metaknight out of anger, they chose to remain silent.
Turning round, his back towards his former comrade, Metaknight began to walk away, "You are no longer a member of the Meta-Knights so don't get in my way."
Vul watched the blue cape swish in the air, staring at the back of a man he feared. A small but powerful man that he once thought would secure him his life of peace by conquering Dreamland. Without a word Vul operated one of the lobster arms of his vehicle, raised it in the direction of Metaknight, and pressed a button.
Always alert, Metaknight swiftly leaped over the stream of fire that shot out towards him. The moss was illuminating enough but with the fire a blazing the swordsman's mask shone, his stare directly piercing into the bird before him.
Once the fire had stopped Metaknight drew his sword, it too gleaming, and pronounced, "I was going to pass on punishing a traitor but if you so desire it I shall hence forth cut you to ribbons coward."
"Ya know, I don't see why you guys were all worried and all," Gooey said as he hopped over a stumbling stone/zombie being, "these guys are nothing to worry bout."
"Well, they looked terrifying." Dee said as he stared at the scene before him.
When the statues, or what they thought were statues, came to life, both Dee and Adeleine were scared. Mostly because they looked like zombies, but also at how suddenly they spawned, closing in on the area they were. Now though, as the two watched the powerless heroes nimbly avoiding every clumsy and awkward attempt to attack from the ruin dwelling creatures, they did not fear.
"Poyo!" Kirby exclaimed as he slid attacked one of the creatures, causing it to collapse to the floor.
"It's strange though," Adeleine mused as she watched the statue zombie struggle to get up, moaning with each ounce of effort, "it seems like there in pain."
"Cause they are, we are beating them up after all." Gooey bragged as he whipped the creatures back with his extending tongue.
It was at this point though, as the group of youthful explorers watched the weak monsters before them, that the events of the prior Iru and Ume focused scene occurred. It was at this moment that the ground shook ever so gently and the floor paled. The creatures received a silent order to stand to attention, and they stayed that way till the ground stopped paling. Thus the earthy colours returned to the floor, and the strange beings resumed their arched posture.
The four friends looked on curiously, the shake being unnoticed and the floor only brought to their attention when their attention was drawn to the enemies weird behaviour.
"That's odd, nothing happ-Gooey begun to say until the zombie like creatures shot forth at rapid speeds, "something happened!"
Though the sudden rush was as the description suggests, sudden, and such suddenness took our focused group by surprise, they were saved by luck. For it was lucky for them that so many of the now speedy statues were within the area that moving at once caused them to crash and bash into one another. The majority hence formed a large dog pile in the corridor, unable to stop their prey from running away as fast as they could.
"Even with only a few of them they are still scary." Dee yelled, having looked behind to see the few un-trapped foes rapidly gaining on them.
"Run, run, run!" Kirby chanted, not to inform his allies to run but rather he said it from habit, enjoying his chants when playing running games.
The group continued to run but their speeds were quite different, and so they ran moreso in a line up than a huddle. Waddle Dee led the way for once for if it counts for anything Waddle Dee's were rather good at running away. Kirby followed closely, and he would probably be in front if the seriousness of the situation sunk in. Then there was a good distance apart from Kirby to their next member, Adeleine, who was unused to the physical labours of running. Holding the rear, and almost about to be caught was Gooey, running at the slowest pace due to a lack of feet.
"Curse my feet-less-ness!" Gooey cried, a cry that echoed along the many passageways of the ruins.
Fortune however shone once again on the heroes, and in the strangest of ways. Kirby's foot sunk into the earth, or rather he stepped on a switch which sunk into the floor when pressed. Kirby tripped, but the sudden stop did not matter for behind him, and behind his companions rose a wall, a stone wall that rose up from the brick floor and sealed them away from the berserk 'things'.
As Kirby rubbed his head, Adeleine and Dee stood both shocked and amazed, their minds beginning to take in the information. A grey stone wall had risen from the ground, barricading the enemies, and as such they were safe. As they realised they were safe they gave out a sigh of relief.
Kirby however was shaking his head, his gentle eyes scanning the area, "Where's Gooey?"
The question sent a chill down the backs of the group as both the painter and servant noticed one absent party member.
Kirby hopped forward and begun to look around once again, calling out "Gooey."
Dee and Adeleine on the other hand looked only to the wall, slowly walking over to it. Dee, despite his lack of an ear, placed his head against the wall to hear his begrudged friend on the other side. He heard silence, and silence only.
"I-I can't hear him." Dee whispered faintly, a hand set to the wall.
Kirby was oblivious to the thoughts of his comrade but the human girl knew what Dee meant and lowered her head. Then she felt something wet and slimy stroke against her cheek and immediately pulled back from the wall, stumbling as she did.
"Wha-Adeleine." Dee said aloud to his stumbling friend but then turned his attention to the long red tongue hanging in the air.
Following said tongue the sailor noticed a small blue blob blocking the hidden wall from connecting to the ceiling. Crushed between the ceiling and the wall was an animate Gooey.
"C-could you help me out of here." Gooey slobbered his compressed body making it sound more slurred than usual.
"Gooey!" The two closer ones yelled, and said yell brought Kirby over who also greeted with joy.
With a slight spring in his step Kirby latched onto the tongue and pulled Gooey out from his predicament. A now rather flat Gooey thanked them.
"I thought you were a goner there." Dee commented, tapping the good dark matter on the head as if it were his shoulder.
"Ya wish." Gooey once again slurred before his body sprung back into its usual round shape.
"Well, we're glad you're okay." Adeleine said as she gave the 'for the moment thought to be dead' Gooey a slight hug (slight due Gooey being half her size).
Dee flinched, and his eyes shot arrows into the blue copier's back, a gaze of hate that said copier was all too aware of. The group, with their worries pushed aside continued to march on, slowly though due to their low reserves of energy from the chase. Slowly walking at the back were a pained Waddle Dee and a joyous dark matter, the latter of which decided to hop over to the former.
Gooey proceeded to whisper to Dee "Just thought you'd like to know, she tastes of strawberries."
The reaction was immediate, an intense blush and a gasp for air. Such a reaction was the entertainment Gooey desired and he chuckled on as Dee tripped to the floor, the other two clueless at what was so amusing.
Dee's eyes sparkled upon the sight of the rail cart, and more importantly the rail tracks. The group had only walked a small distance, unhindered by the possibility of enemy encounters, when they came to a new corridor. Dee upon entering immediately spotted the rail tracks and almost immediately found a rail cart near it, though not on it.
"This is great; it doesn't even have a spot of rust on it." Dee babbled excitedly as he heaved the fallen cart onto its wheels.
Kirby looked puzzled for a second but memories of riding all sorts of transport with Dee flooded back to him, and soon he too was excited.
"Dee's rides very fun." Kirby squealed.
"Really."
Soon the three men were preoccupied with the rail cart and though the one female of the group was also preoccupied it was for a different reason.
"Do any of you hear that?" Adeleine whispered aloud though her words went unnoticed.
The sound came from deeper in the corridor; though not too far as otherwise the painter wouldn't have heard it. It was a familiar sound to the painter, the distinctive noise of a brush stroking against an uneven and tough surface, like stones and rocks. Following only the sound she pushed her beret away from her ears and walked without knowing.
Walked on until she saw a light, more of the fluorescent moss that did not grow in this particular corridor but appeared to be up ahead. In fact the former was correct, the corridor was absent of moss, but it opened into two paths, one which continued as rail tracked but pitch black corridor, and another which opened into a shimmering move.
The painter entered the room where brush sounds could be heard. She entered the vast area where sounds of rolling wheels and high pitched glee could be heard. She entered the majestic room covered in graffiti.
"W-what?" Adeleine said allowed as she took in what she was seeing.
As a painter she had been eager to see the mystic ruins, whom none knew who made them, and all its isolated glory, untouched by outside forces. As she watched the orange spherical man skidding around the room on roller skates, waving his paint coated brush against the walls, it was far from untouched. Carvings and stone paintings were covered in a new artists work, namely the work of one cap wearing boss, who seemed oblivious to Adeleine's arrival.
"What are you doing?" Adeleine yelled out, and though she was usually calm and reserved, her voice now wavered with anger.
Startled by the yell, the speedy painter tried to stop himself but ended up tying his feet together and falling to the floor. With a groan and a heave though he was soon back on his feet.
"Hey, hey, hey! Who interrupted the creation of my artistic masterpieces." The roller-skating painter complained, turning round to see Adeleine.
"I did, what are you doing making a mess of this place."
Such a comment seemed to hurt the orange spherical man as he pulled back, a look of shock on his face. This shock soon became a frown, and anger replaced any sense of pained pride.
"M-M-Mess you say. I'm creating art little missy, and I've decided that the best place to immortalise the great works of Paint Roller, me, is here, in this dinky ruin." Paint Roller yelled out, waving his arms furiously.
"Y-You can't do that. This entire place is a work of art." Adeleine called back, though her voice was no longer a yell the anger within it had not faded.
"True, an inferior work of art. With my help I'm making this place into something appreciative to the eyes, this place should be glad I'm putting the time and effort into spicing it up."
"This-I mean just because you think this temple is of inferior quality doesn't give you the write to tarnish them with your graffiti." The young artist once again argued back, and the shock expression once again formed on Paint Roller.
"G-G-Graffiti," Paint Roller murmured while stumbling backwards, "How dare you insult my art!"
The small patches of moss that sprouted out from the corners may not have not have been necessary at that particular moment, for Paint Roller anger flourished into flames as bright and intense as a volcano's eruption. Witnessing the rage of the second world boss, Adeleine stepped back.
"Don't try anything funny," Adeleine said nervously, still retreating via small steps backwards, "my friends are with me, so if you move a step closer I'll call them."
Paint Roller stopped at this though his body still seethed with anger. He kept his stare of hatred on the girl before him, and his mind digested the info.
"D-darn it, if memory serves me correct this brat is friends with Kirby," Paint Roller thought, remembering back to having past Kirby earlier "That would be no fun; I want to have more fun here."
Seeing the racing mind and obvious fear on Paint Rollers face the green dressed artist appeared more confident and continued to speak, "That's right, so leave already, or my friends will be here in a jiffy."
Coincidentally it was at that point that the sound of grinding rails could be heard, and the click-click-clikity of the metallic wheels just beginning to turn. Hollers of excitement accompanied the less pleasant noise, engulfing it in the most part with laughter. Adeleine could not help but smile as she saw several beads of sweat surfacing on the orange body of Paint Roller before her.
"That's right; my friends are none other than..." Adeleine started, holding her out to the doorway where her friends came into view, all huddled jollily on the speeding mine cart...which went past the doorway.
Neither Adeleine nor Paint Roller uttered a sound as the joyous chatter of Kirby, Dee and Gooey became more and more distant. Nor did they more, nor did their expressions change, not at least until the sound of heroes became nothing.
"Now, what did you say about my art again," Paint Roller said, and Adeleine gulped down her worries as she saw the previous hot headed anger return to the spherical foe before her, "let me paint you a lovely portrait...of you losing to me!"
Iru's black feathered wing glided over the pale brown surface, heaping layers of dust off as it gently caressed the stone wall. With the secret hallways were move carvings across the walls, though now the source of light was the small blazing torch Ume held in her hands as the area lacked the glowing vegetation found elsewhere.
"So professor...have you found anything?" Ume asked impatiently.
She wasn't usually one to bother the professor however, as she had been tasked in holding the light in the right angle for her senior to see the carvings she herself were unable to study the carvings. There was also the whole unidentified monsters roaming thing but that had gotten the wrong ticket for her train of thought.
The Croucar did not reply; lost in thought. His eyes looked, his brains recorded and his mind tried to tie the images and memory together. This process was slow but he was getting a rough estimate of what the symbols meant. This process of his abruptly stopped when his wing hovered to the floor in front of him and he realised there was more.
Picking himself up, the Croucar moved back and ushered his brown locked assistant to hold the torch so its warm light touched the floor.
"More carvings," Iru said aloud and this time he did not need to rack his mind for the translation, "Fresh ones. This is probably the translation to what we see on the walls."
This time Ume was able to see them, roughly carved words on the floor, all in the modern language of Popstar. Parts of them had clouded over, where the carving wasn't so deep, but most of it was clear, if a bit scruffy.
"So, does this mean someone has also been here recently?" Ume asked, now studying her professor's expression.
A smile cropped up on the old birds beak and he whispered, "Yes."
A smile passed between the two, albeit unknown. Ume was happy for knowing what Iru was thinking and happy he had come to such a conclusion, and Iru was happy in believing this translation to be the work of his dear friend.
"Ume dear, listen to this," The professor started as he traced his wing across each line, reading them out while filling in the gaps, "Our assurance of victory lay not where they see but by flirting-flitting, fitting through walls as a spectre do-does at night you will come to find what we hold dear."
"I sort of understand that professor. Right now we are in a hidden passageway, a place you can't see and through the walls." Ume said, proud at her quick interpretation.
"Very good my student," Iru said, raising Ume's smile even more, "but there's more, a single bit parted from the sentence."
Iru now pointed to a square with a single dot in the middle, and a line from that dot pointing to the bottom of the square, "This, probably, translates into," Iru begun to say, moving his purplish black limb down to a small translated carving, "this. Chamber of Preservation."
"Chamber of Preservation? What is that?" Ume asked, not noticing light being overshadowed by something large.
"Well I have a theory or two..." Iru continued to talk as the figure loomed, it's tongue touching the floor, and it's head shaking left to right, right to left.
Patches of moss had been torn away and patches had been burned away. The walls, the floor and ceiling beneath such vegetation remained unscathed, a word not to be aligned with the knight that heaved his body up. His sword was covered in an odd goo, one that illuminated like the moss he stood on. His cape, swung over one shoulder as if he had just stood up from rolling was singed at the ends. His feet, unsteady, though his eyes never shook, never straying from it's focused target.
Before the weakened Meta-Knight was a laughing albatross seated comfortably in his mechanical weapon "Nice try 'Metaknight-sama' but... it will be I who will be cutting you to ribbons."
I do apologise for the lateness of this chapter, though I don't know who I'm apologising too as I don't know if anyone's even reading this fanfic. Reviews tend to help confirm, even if they are lacking criticism or are full of it, that people are reading your fanfic. I'm also annoyed that as a result of a lack of reviews I do not know where I'm messing up and which areas I need to improve.
I've heard a good method to attract readers is to read and review, something I have no difficulty doing. But with the Kirby section I'm dissuaded from doing so as nearly all the fanfics are either anime based or Metaknight centric. You may have also caught on that my perception of Metaknight is that he is a villain which seems to go against most writers views of him within both the Kirby and Super Smash Bros section.
Surprisingly King Dedede is absent for this chapter though that was intentional. I managed to sneak in some hints to DeeXAdeleine (maybe even a bit of GooeyXAdeleine) and I've set things up for two of the planned fights. Next chapter will introduce a third fight as well as the identity of the strange shadow.
I hope you'll forward to such events in July, the time I'll upload the next chapter of this fanfic. I also hope you all enjoyed Kirby Ancient Ruin Adventure Chapter 8!