CHAPTER 2-3

-Tricks, Treats, Traps-

"Well, here we are… After going through that dreadful forest, we're at the mansion…" Chopper sighed in relief as he looked at the size of the place. "Well, it's nowhere near as big as King Boo's Mansion, that's for sure. That place was one of the biggest mansions I've ever set my eyes on… But, this one does look like it's bigger than Bow's Mansion, that's for sure."

"Poyo… (And what a relief we didn't have to wait for someone to go to the bathroom for about an hour…like Professor E. Gadd!)" Kirby recalled, thinking of that horrible moment in Boo Woods.

"Chopper… I see something over by those bushes…" Tippi trailed, taking a glance at a block behind the bushes.

"Oh, really? I better check it out then!" Chopper threw his hands up and he flipped into 3-D. He saw a path to the grass that led him to a Coin Block. With a couple of hits, he managed to grab some coins and flip back into 2-D.

"I think I saw a sign before flipping to 2-D… I wonder what it said." Chopper walked over to the front entrance and flipped into 3-D. He took a look at what the sign had to say. He looked quite surprised.

Welcome to Merlee's Mansion! Home to the great wizard Merlee! If you ever need to see Merlee, go to the crystal ball in the first room! There, you'll find her standing. She can see through the future and give you good luck! …For a small fee, of course. To the hero who can read this: she is in this mansion!

"Interesting…" Chopper had a strange look as he flipped back into 2-D. "All right, guys… Let's get a move on, shall we?"

Chopper walked over to the front door and he knocked on it. But, that didn't matter too much because Kirby already opened the door. Plus, the door was already unlocked, so what was the point?

"Kirby… Why'd you open the door like that? I find it more polite to just knock first before going in." Chopper gave him a glare.

"Poyo? (What? This mansion's big! There's no point in waiting for Merlee. I think we should just go through instead anyway.)" And with that, they walked into the first room of the mansion.

There wasn't much to describe the mansion, other than the windows and the red rug on the ground. The floor itself was pink, while the wallpaper was purple. However, Kirby nearly helped when he saw the giant dog-like creature walking around in the room. Its mouth was like a rectangle and is had these sharp teeth. It's a blue-green color with purple polka dots on it.

"Poyo! (Chopper! Watch out for the thing!)" Kirby shrieked.

"What IS that thing?" Chopper questioned. It didn't seem to notice them just yet. "Hmmmmm… Tippi, can you help me identify this thing?"

"I'll try…" Tippi identified the creature in the same procedure as before. "This is one of Merlee's pets, a Gnip... They're just getting you out of harms way when they kick you out of the mansion... They look scary, but they're actually quite nice..."

"Interesting… Don't worry, Kirby. Tippi said they're quite nice. I'm sure they're just going to…" Chopper turned to see the Gnip charging at him. "Aw, crud… Don't tell me we're gonna…"

Two minutes later-

"Oof!" Chopper and Kirby collapsed as soon as they were thrown out of the mansion by the Gnip. "…So much for being 'nice'…"

"Poyo... (Yeah...)" Kirby agreed.

"Tippi said they're nice, but why did they just throw us out like that?"

"That's a question that might not be easy to answer…" Tippi trailed, glancing at the front entrance again.

"Poyo... (Yeah, that's true...)" Kirby agreed. "Poyo. (Let's try going back in there."

They agreed and headed back into the mansion. This time, however, they decided to go into 3-D to avoid the Gnips. But they were in for a surprise.

"Poyo! (Hey… Those things are 3-D too! …But it doesn't look like they can get us…)" Kirby stopped when he saw a crystal ball up ahead over by a door. "Poyo! (Chopper! I can see that Crystal Ball!)"

Chopper gaped as he made his way around the Gnips and over to the crystal ball. Unfortunately, he saw no sign of Merlee.

"What? Merlee's not here? This is madness, I say!" Chopper grumbled. "Well, all we can do is go through that door. We better make it quick, 'cause my Flip Gauge is starting to come down!"

Once they made their way into the next room, they saw some stairs up ahead leading to the second floor. There were a couple of doors there, while on the first floor, there were doors over there…and a large, purple Gnip covered in blue polka dots and donning black and yellow striped horns named Gnaw chained to a locked door up ahead, making Kirby look uncertain.

"Kirby, relax! That thing can't hurt us as long as it's chained to that door! …But it looks like that lock is holding him. Though it may be a risk… We're gonna have to unlock that door."

"Hold on, Chopper… There's someone else here…" Tippi trailed, looking at a little green girl in a maid outfit.

"Hey, maybe she might be able to tell us where Merlee is!" Chopper smiled as he walked over to the maid.

"Well, hi there! Big welcome! Welcome to Merlee's Mansion!" the maid curtsied. "I'm Lady Merlee's handmaid! My name's Mimi! But you can call me Mimikins if you want!"

"Mimi? You mean a little girl such as yourself is working for Merlee? ...OK."

Mimi gave him a strange look. "Errr… Yeah… Anyway, you're here to see Lady Merlee, aren't you?"

Both Chopper and Kirby gave her a nod.

"How super for you! Lady Merlee is on the second floor, in the farthest room. Just head on up there whenever you're ready! Oh, golly, but listen…"

"What is it?" Chopper questioned.

"DON'T YOU DARE GO INTO ANY ROOMS BY ACCIDENT, OR ELSE!" Mimi yelled, causing the room to shake. Her angry look then returned to an innocent one as she said, "…Enjoy your visit, OK?"

"…For some reason you seem a bit suspicious to me," Chopper raised an eyebrow at her. "…Nah. Probaby not."

"Poyo… (I don't know, Chopper… She COULD be a bit suspicious…)" Kirby said.

"Hmmmm... You're right, Kirby. She MIGHT be suspicious! …Meh, we'll find out later. Right now, we gotta go see Merlee." Chopper jumped onto the staircase and made his way up to the second floor. "She said it's at the farthest room here… So we shall go there!"

Chopper and Kirby made their way into the farthest room on the second floor to find nothing else but a green button at the end of the room.

"Oh, there's something there!" Chopper made a Speed Dash over to the button and pressed it, triggering the windows to be locked tight by cold, iron bars. The ceiling was then covered in spikes and it was coming down on them.

"Poyo! (That was a bad idea! Let's get out of here!)" Kirby shouted…until Chopper grabbed his arm and flipped into 3-D.

"Oh no we're not! Tippi was just telling me that there was something above here. Maybe we can get on the ceiling and make our way up there. I'm sure we'll find something interesting…"

They immediately jumped on the ceiling and went back to 2-D. Afterward, when the ceiling hit the ground, it began to go up to the REAL ceiling. That's when Chopper hit a ? Block.

"You know… I could probably use this block as a shortcut. I mean, I think there's a chest up there… Yeah, I'm gonna take a risk and do that." Chopper flipped into 3-D and he jumped on the block and then onto the platform that had a chest. He found a Mansion Key from it.

"Ah, nice! Now let's get out of here before something bad happens!" Chopper suggested. Kirby nodded in agreement and they made their way out.

Lobby area-

"Listen, Mimi… We went up there to see if Merlee was there, but we didn't find her anywhere." Chopper informed.

"What? Lady Merlee wasn't in the farthest room on the second floor?" Mimi gawked.

"No... All we found were spikes that were trying to take us out."

"Oh, golly… What a big old messy-poo I've made of things!" Mimi frowned. "Lady Merlee must be in the CLOSEST room on the second floor. Please try there!"

"Well, we will!" Chopper turned to Kirby, shaking his head. "No we're not, 'cause we're going to go to that door over there."

"Poyo?! (Really?! That thing looks pretty dangerous!)" Kirby gulped.

"It'll be simple. Just watch!" Chopper grabbed Kirby's arm and he flipped into 3-D. They simply made their way over to the door, where Chopper pulled the key out and unlocked the door, breaking the lock off and freeing the dog.

"GrrrWAARGH!" Gnaw made his way over to Mimi while barking.

"EEEEEEEEEEK!" Mimi screamed as she ran out of the room with Gnaws chasing her. The heroes gawked in surprise.

"So… That savage beast just went after her, and paid us no mind… I'd like to think we look rather tasty… What do you think it means?" Tippi questioned.

"Look tasty? I highly doubt we'd look tasty…" Chopper murmured.

"Right… I think this mansion has some other secrets around here… I believe that there are…"

"Poyo… (Thank goodness that it didn't go after us… I guess you were right when you said that it's trying to keep us safe…)" Kirby sighed in relief as they made their way into the next room. All that there was was a Star Block.

"Huh? That's it? This is the end of the level? How disappointing… We didn't even get to fight." Chopper groaned as he hit the Star Block, ending this chapter…for the eighth time…

END OF CHAPTER

Chopper and friends kept up their search, delving ever deeper into the mansion. Wherever the heck they looked, there was no sign of Merlee. "Well we're not getting anywhere… I hope we actually find her." complained Chopper as they were looking through the mansion. Where was this mysterious woman? "Ah, maybe…this way…" So said Tippi, trying to sense the Pure Heart's location… "I hope your right, because I'm starting to not like this place…" Chopper replied to Tippi. With dread dangling like a broken chandelier, our heroes hurried onward...