CHAPTER 2-5
-The Basement Face-off-
"Oh, finally… So we're out of that annoying place…" Chopper sighed in relief, walking into the basement. They noticed the wooden stairs that led down to a door ahead, but that's just about it. "I suppose we're getting closer to that Pure Heart, now that we're down by the basement. Whoa… What a relief! …But I don't like the spider webs here. It brings spiders, which usually are a bad sign…"
"Yes, you're right, Chopper…" Tippi trailed. "I can feel the Pure Heart coming somewhere down in the basement… Its tremors are getting stronger… But the thing is… I don't know exactly where it is…"
"Poyo? (Then, that means we're gonna have to look all over the place down here? Isn't it a little too dark, though?)" Kirby questioned.
"Ah! Hooray! Whoopee! Thanks for coming to look for me!" a ghostly voice called out, startling Chopper and Kirby.
"Huh?! Who just said that?!" exclaimed Chopper in fright. "Show yourself, you ghostly person!"
A spirit of a woman appeared before their very eyes. This person was in a red dress and wore a yellow hat. Her red hair was also curled up, just like Merlumina's was, and she was wearing glasses as well. Although her voice was nothing compared to Merlumina's it wasn't too bad…
"Beautiful, mysterious Merlee! Mistress of the house, it's me! So glad it's you I see!" Merlee's spirit said in rhymes.
"Oh, no! We're too late!" Chopper cried, gaping at Merlee's spirit in sadness. "Merlee's game is over! Now how are we going to get that Pure Heart? …Wait, Merlumina's a spirit, and she had a Pure Heart…"
"Poyo! (I can't believe we're too late to help her, though!)" Kirby cried.
"Calm down, you two…" Tippi assured in an irritated tone. "Her game isn't over… I'm starting to remember that she would use this form to get in contact with someone…"
"She is right, my friends, for I am not dead," Merlee assured. "So long have I waited for you to come. Your arrival is way past due. But we can't meet like this, oh no, for something's amiss. An evil one is after me, and safe and sound I cannot be. In the basement do I dwell, maze-like rooms are my cell, you will find me, I can tell… And…if you do, take care… For…your eyes…may err… Trust nothing...foul...or fair…"
"Hmmmm? Is everything all right, Merlee?" Chopper questioned as he saw her spirit starting to fade.
"No… I cannot…last… My power…is…fading…fast… The distance…is…too…vast…Are…you…ready to find me? Beware…if you do, I plea…" It was too late for her to finish. She disappeared out of thin air.
"She's gone…" Chopper trailed, seeing her spirit gone. "So, she's somewhere down in this basement, is that correct?"
"Yes… If she has the Pure Heart, then it's down there for sure… I can feel its presence from down there…" Tippi fluttered down the stairs, turning to Chopper and Kirby. "Well, we don't have much time… Let's go!"
"Right!" Chopper made his way down the stairs in a blink of an eye. He waited patiently for Kirby to come down, since he's very generous and also for the fact that there was a ? Block near the Save Block.
Once Kirby made his way down, he hit the ? Block, making a Mushroom pop out. They both shared it to recover some of their health before going into the second door – closest to the Save Block.
"Poyo… (Oh, don't tell me this is going to be a maze…)" groaned Kirby as they found themselves in a room with a door nearby and a door above it on a wooden platform. There were two ? Blocks as well.
Chopper hit the first one, which contained a coin and then the second one, which contained a Zombie Shroom – that was soon taken out when Chopper stomped on its head.
"We ALWAYS have to run into these Zombie Shrooms…" Chopper trailed. "But, hey! At least I got to hit something!"
Kirby gestured Chopper to take the upper door, so he simply floated up while he had to jump on the block and go into another room, starting off at a door to the upper left. The room looked the same – but with a ? Block below and some block platforms that can help lead over to the other door.
"Poyo? (What's that thing?)" Kirby pointed to a large eye that seemed to be looking up at them.
"Hold on, let's see what Tippi has to say," Chopper allowed Tippi to go into his head, allowing him to stare at the eye for five seconds until Tippi gathered the information from it.
"It's a Mister I. These bizarre foes can't help but give you the evil eye... It will shoot sharp glances at any enemy it spots... None of your attacks will work... Try flipping and spinning around and around it..." Tippi informed.
"A Mister I? …I think I'm going to call it Mr. I for short. But, you say that we have to walk around it? …Well, I don't see anything interesting down there. It's probably going to be a waste of time."
Chopper avoided Mr. I's lasers that it fired as he jumped over to the wooden platform ahead. He and Kirby entered the next room, which had a nice, red wallpaper with a shade of purple. It was definitely a clean room, to be sure.
"Poyo… (Huh… Well this room seems a lot nicer than the others…)" Kirby stated as he saw a wall to their left.
"Poyo, (I don't see anything here,)" Kirby informed, but when he looked up, he saw an upper floor. "Poyo! (Wait! I'm just kidding! There's a floor above us!)" He began to float his way up.
"I'll see if I can find a way up there myself," Chopper threw his arms up in the air to flip, only to find some arrow blocks that could help him make his way up. So, he jumped on the ones that were the closest to him and then hit the two arrow blocks to bring them into 2-D.
After that whole procedure, he made his way up to where Kirby was and began to sit down, exhausted.
"Man… I guess it wouldn't been a better idea if you inhaled me than use all of that energy to get up here. But, resting in this room isn't such a bad idea…as long as you're away from the edge."
"Ahh, yes, how very nice… Thanks for coming! Thank you twice!" Chopper quickly stood up when he heard Merlee greet him.
"Merlee!"
"Poyo! (Merlee!)"
"Mysterious and so lovely, mistress of the house you see… It's me, Merlee! I shine on, like the brightest star, calling to you from miles afar… And I knew that soon I'd see you buzz on by, little bees. Hee hee hee hee hee!"
"We've come seeking the Pure Heart…" Tippi trailed.
"Oh, yes, of course, I know! The Pure Heart for Chopper! …And Kirby!"
Kirby pouted when Merlee nearly forgot his name, but nevertheless, they both nodded.
"For you, yes, I'll gladly part with that purest Pure Heart. Mmm, but there is a wee fee: yes, yes, 10,000,000 Rubees! Quite a bargain, you agree? So, folks, if you'd be dears, sign this dotted line here, and it's yours, free and clear!" Merlee pulled out a contract and pen.
"This again..." Tippi mumbled. "Chopper, don't listen to her..."
"Fees? You never mentioned that." Chopper replied, shaking his head. "No thanks!"
"If you lack the Rubees now, a smallish loan I could allow," Merlee assured. "You can work it off somehow. Just sign here, my dear…"
Chopper and Kirby, once again, declined the offer, shaking their heads at her.
"…OK, here's what we'll do. Have I got a deal for you! Sign up for a loan, and boom! A free gift! Away with gloom! A Super Mega Ultra Shroom! Just sign here, my dear…" Merlee pulled out another contract.
"While a Super Mega Ultra Shroom DOES sound nice… I'm not going to take it." Chopper declined once again.
"Ugh, fine, you bargain hard, I'll also throw in Breadward, a Pixl made of oats and lard. Isn't that so nice of me? I'm the best, don't you see? Here, dear, sign and cheer…"
"Ewww! That sounds gross! No way!" Chopper gagged.
"Poyo! (I'm not going to eat something made of lard! That's disgusting!)" Kirby gagged.
"NYAAAAH!" Now this is when Merlee started to get angry. "Idiots, the two of you! Turning down such a coup! None of you have a clue! Here it is: your last shot! Sign right now, on the dot!"
"What are you even offering us?!" Chopper exclaimed, pushing the contract away. "For the last time… NO!"
"Good choice, for my sake…" Merlee's spirit appeared once again, to their surprise. This Merlee's a total fake… Listen not! She is a snake!"
"Huh? What's going on here?" Chopper gaped as Merlee's spirit disappeared. "If that Merlee up there was the real one… Then who is…"
"Mimimimimimimimi… No point in trying to fool anyone now… I guess now's the time for me to reveal myself!" Purple smoke surrounded Merlee, transforming her into Mimi. This time, she was in a yellow dress with white polka dots.
"You again!" Chopper got in his fighting stance.
"Gee, lookee here! The girl you thought was a handmaid… She's the faithful servant of Tippy, master impersonator Mimi!"
"…Tippy?" Chopper blinked a few times before immediately bursting into laughter. Kirby, too, couldn't help himself either. "Hee hee! That's a silly name!"
"I have to admit… That is a funny name for someone evil…" Tippi giggled. "Though, it sounds similar to mine..."
"BE QUIET! BOTH OF YOU!" Mimi snapped. "I don't care what you say! That will ALWAYS be the name that I call him, whether you like it or not!"
"Well, at least I'm not being called Choppy..." Chopper mumbled. "Hey, maybe we can settle this peacefully? We have some important business to take care of..."
"Poyo! (Yeah!)" Kirby nodded in agreement with Chopper.
"No way! I was thinking about settling this peacefully, but it looks like you didn't want to before, so TOO BAD!"
"Oh, crud… Then this could get ugly…" Chopper whispered to his friends.
"Oh, do you want to make things ugly, huh? Well, that's super. Let's get ugly. TRUE MIMI COME FORTH!"
After things began to shake, Mimi graphically snapped her neck. Both Chopper and Kirby looked in horror as her eyes dilated, and her head began to spin around.
"What the heck?!" Chopper gaped.
When she finished spinning, Mimi's head was upside down. Her head grew bigger as well, while her eyes disappeared, and her body began to hang from her head. Six, long thin spider legs had appeared and lifted her from the ground.
"Mimimimimimimimimimimimi…"
"Oh... That's not nice..." Chopper commented.
"Please, my friends, beware," Merlee's spirit appeared once again. "A barrier protects her there. In fact, it's everywhere. I think attacks may well be useless against such as she."
"Attacks won't work? Ugh… What shall we do then?" Tippi questioned.
"I say we…RUN!" Chopper suggested.
"Poyo! (I agree with Chopper! We need to get out of here before that horrifying…THING tries to stop us!)"
"MIMIMIMIMI!" Mimi cackled as she crept her way to the heroes.
"Chopper is right. You must flee. Come and find the real me. I am hiding, look and see! If you can, my magic may weaken her and win the day! Hurry, hurry, don't delay!" Merlee's spirit disappeared from their sight.
"All right… So we need to find a way to avoid Mimi… I think I know how I'm getting past her." Chopper made a dash at Mimi, but he immediately slid under her to get to the door.
"Poyo! (I'll float over her!)" Kirby inhaled some air and began to float over Mimi, avoiding the Rubees that she fired at him, making it to Chopper and allowing them to go into the next room.
They didn't find much around this next room. It was a pretty small area, they both had to admit, but there were some purple bats called Swoops hanging from the ceiling, wanting to come down at them.
"Oh, we can take them down!" Chopper smirked as he tossed Hommissile at the Swoops, destroying them instantly. "Heh heh heh!"
They came across a skinny hole that was practically impossible to fit. The only way to get through that…would be to turn sideways.
"OK, we ought to use Slim now," Chopper suggested. He and Kirby immediately turned sideways and slipped down that little hole, leading to a door. That's when they stopped using his ability.
"All right, let's go before we have to run into Mimi again…" Chopper trailed as he opened the door to another similar room to the others. But this time there wasn't a door to the bottom right.
"Which one should we take?" Tippi asked.
"I say we take the upper right," Chopper made his way up by jumping on the ? Blocks that were below the door in 3-D and then jumping to the door above him. Kirby simply floated up there.
They walked into another similar room from the bottom right door and, to their surprise, they saw a blue Cherbil shooting its icy gas at them. Although Chopper didn't want to do it, he ended up stomping on it to defeat it.
"Ugh… I can't believe I had to touch that thing with my feet…" Chopper gagged.
After they made their way up to the door above them, they came out of a door to the bottom left in the next room. Two Shlurps were crawling around, so Chopper simply threw Hommissile at them, causing them to explode from the inside.
"Poyo? (Uhh… Chopper? How… How do we get up to one of those doors up there?)" Kirby questioned, looking at the two floating doors above them. "…Poyo? (…And why do I see fireballs coming at us?)"
"Fireballs?" Chopper looked up to see some fireballs coming down at them. He immediately rolled away as soon as the fireball came near his feet.
"Since when do torches shoot fireballs at us?!" he exclaimed. "God, could this get ANY worse?!"
"Mimimimimi…" Chopper gaped as he saw Mimi appear through the door they just came out of. "Thought that I wouldn't be around here, did you? I KNOW where you're going, dummies!"
"Well too bad for you, Mimi!" Chopper clenched his fists. "You're going DOWN!"
"Chopper! Don't attack her! Your attacks won't do a thing to her!" Tippi exclaimed, only to be ignored by Chopper when he made a jump on her. But this only helped him get to the door to the upper left on a wooden platform.
"Thanks, Mimi! You're going to help us get through here!" Chopper smirked as he waited for Kirby to float up to him (along with Tippi) to run into the next room. Mimi screamed at them as she disappeared.
"Whoa… Take a look at THAT." Chopper gaped as he walked into a different room. They could see a large Boo covering his face, but as he turned to Kirby, the Atomic Boo made its way to him.
"Poyo! (Hey! Don't turn back! That thing's going to attack!)" Kirby yelped until Chopper fired Hommissile at the Atomic Boo while facing away from it, destroying it in a matter of time.
"That was…impressive…" Tippi stated.
"Yeah, I know about these guys. If you look at them, they're not gonna move, so I just thought 'Why not just attack it while staying behind? That always works!' and that, I did! …Now let's go."
He turned around to see no stairs, but there were marks. "Ummmm… Can someone explain why there aren't any stairs?"
"I believe you need to use my power…" Tippi trailed.
"Oh, OK!" Chopper used Tippi's power to find hidden stairs. "Ah! There we go!" In no time, Tippi made them appear for them, allowing them to go up the stairs to a room with two doors. They were…doors to the bathroom.
"There's a boy's room and a girl's room… Huh... So which one do we need to go in?" Chopper asked as he hit the ? Block to make a Super Shroom pop out. He and Kirby split it to recover 20 HP.
"Well, if we were to find Merlee, she would be in the girl's bathroom..." Tippi deduced. "Let's make our way there..."
"Poyo... (Well... I guess we have no other choice...)" Kirby trailed, slowly opening the door to the girl's bathroom.
Wasting no time, Chopper and Kirby had entered the bathroom, hoping they would be able to find Merlee nearby.