Chapter 7: This is NOT Dreamland

"Ahhh!" exclaimed Kirby, "My eyes! I did not realize how dark that vent was!" The rest of the group didn't seem to mind the new level of brightness.

"Uh," stammered Timpani as she looked down the walkway, "Kirby."

"Yeah?" asked Kirby as his eyes were adjusting to the sun.

"You just alerted all of the guards," sighed Blumiere. Mario facepalmed as bunch of black and white paratroopas and black and white fuzzies began charging at the group.

"My bad," peeped Kirby as he prepared for battle. In this encounter were two Corrupted Paratroopas and two Corrupted Fuzzies. Mario started off by jumping on the first paratroopa twice, removing its wings and knocking it onto its back. Blumiere and Timpani used their turn to tattle on the second paratroopa.

"This a Corrupted Paratroopa," informed Blumiere, "They have 4 HP, 1 Attack Power, and 2 defense. These troops take two hits to flip onto their backs, so be wise when attacking. When they are flipped. their defense drops to zero." Kirby followed Mario's example and knocked the second paratroopa to its back. Parakarry then was able to knock out the first koopa with a Shell Shot. Now it was the foes' turn. The remaining koopa failed to get to its feet while both of the black and white fuzzies used their turns to drain two health from Kirby."

"Fuzzies!" groaned Kirby as he rubbed his forehead. Mario allowed Timpani and Blumiere to start off the next turn by tattling one of the Fuzzies.

"This is a Corrupted Fuzzy," told Timpani, "They have 3 HP, 1 Attack Power, and no defense. Fuzzies can drain your HP if you don't use your action command correctly. They look so soft, I wonder if they're like pillows." Mario and Kirby both used their turns to take out the remaining koopa with quick strikes from their hammers. Parakarry finished off the attacking spree by doing two damage to a fuzzy with a Sky Dive. Once again the Corrupted Fuzzies attacked Kirby stealing two more of his health. Timpani and Blumiere next used Spear Spike to take out the second fuzzy, while Mario used one last hammer swing to end the battle.

"Meeoow!" cried both of the Fuzzies as they regained color.

"Are you alright?" asked Timpani. The two fuzzies looked around. The black creature saw two Koopas they had stolen shells from, and Mario. The two fuzzies shrieked in terror before running away.

"Fuzzies," sighed Kirby. The two Paratroopas were just as confused. Blumiere proceeded to explain why they were at the Koopa Bros' Fortress.

"You two need to get out of here," instructed Parakarry, "There's a vent just beyond that door. Use it to get down to the first floor."

"Thanks Mr. Mailman!" smiled the Paratroopas as they flew towards the door.

"Are there anymore troops guarding the door?" pondered Blumiere as he looked down the walkway.

"I don't think so," answered Kirby, "I screamed pretty loud, they should have all heard me." Mario nodded at Kirby and noticed that he seemed a little fatigued. Mario led the group towards the door that led to the area where Mario and Link had fought the Koopa Bros. Instead of heading into the room, Mario walked down the stairs that lead to a Heart Block. Mario struck the block, which replenished the group's HP and FP.

"That felt amazing!" cheered Timpani.

"Thanks, Mario," grinned Kirby, "Those darn fuzzies only targeted me for some reason."

"Perhaps they are attracted to shenanigans," chuckled Blumiere as Kirby giggled, "Now come on, we've got a lady to rescue and a Pure Heart to find."

Mario noticed a small chest that wasn't too far from the heart block. The plumber walked over to the chest and opened it. Inside was a Power Jump Badge.

"What's that?" asked Timpani in astonishment.

"It's a badge!" explained Kirby, "We can equip them to do special attacks!"

"Interesting," thought Blumiere as Mario equipped the badge. The group went back up the stairs and was facing the door to the second tower.

"*Gulp* I'm nervous," stated Parakarry.

"We don't have time to be nervous!" proclaimed Kirby, "Meta Knight might be in there!" Mario agreed with Kirby and opened the door.

The team walked into the chamber to see the the four Koopa Bros hanging upside down being interrogated by a flying round creature of some sort. The turtle brothers were tied together and were suspended by chains that connected to the ceiling. The group also noticed a pink shelled koopa that was lying unconscious on the stone floor. The strange figure was deep into his rant, so Timpani and Blumiere ran to Kolorado's Wife's side.

"Mam," whispered Timpani, "Are you alright?" Timpani tried to stir the pink shelled koopa awake.

"It seems she is out cold," explained Blumiere, "This corruption magic sure is powerful."

"Then how do we wake her up?" asked Kirby.

"Goompa said something about a finger snap," stated Parakarry.

"Timpani is the nicest one here," thought Kirby, "Maybe she can do the job."

"Alright," giggled Timpani, "If you say it might work, then there's no harm in trying." Timpani was about to snap her fingers, but a loud boom form the dark figure broke her train of thought.

"Where is it!" shouted the round figure.

"I don't know what your talking about," scoffed Red.

"What even is a "Pure Heart" anyways," added Black.

"Pure Heart?" whispered screamed Timpani as she put her hands on her chest. Mario wanted to do something, but his gut said otherwise.

"You imbeciles," grunted the figure, "Do you want me to shock you again?"

"Please don't," pleaded Green, "It still stings from the last time." Mario clenched his fists while Parakarry scowled at the spherical figure.

"Master Dimentio requests that we find the Pure Hearts that he wished away so we can permanently dispose of them. Now tell me where it is, or this time it will be 500 watts." threatened the figure.

"Permanently destroyed!" peeped Timpani. She looked as if she was going to faint. Blumiere put a hand around his wife to comfort her.

"First you do something weird to all of our students, then you teleport most of them away, and now you're torturing us! What kind of psychopath are you?" yelled Yellow.

"The psychopath you are talking about is none other than one of Dimentio's more promising minions," chuckled the sphere, "None other than the Navy Nightmare, Sir MK!" Kirby nearly exploded once he heard these words. The figure flew out of the shadows showing his true colors. A black cape, purple armor accents, black clothes, a grey mask, and devilish white and red eyes. Blumiere noticed the distress in Kirby's face.

"Kirby," comforted Blumiere, "I know you're hurting right now, but now is not the time to burst."

"Too late," groaned Parakarry as Kirby opened his mouth.

"WHAT IN THE STRAWBERRY SHORTCAKE DID YOU JUST SAY?" screamed Kirby. The corrupted Meta Knight swung his head around and faced the team of heroes.

"This is a lot to take in, isn't it," sneered Sir MK as he looked at the quintet, "I recognize three of you; the man in red, the pink puffball, and my old boss. Hey, puffball, you seem awfully upset about something."

"Yeah!" boomed Kirby, "You have my friend's body. You're using it to do evil things!"

"If I'm your old boss," added Blumiere, "Then relinquish the body immediately! Meta Knight does not deserve this!"

"I have no knowledge of the friend you speak of," scoffed Sir MK, "This is my body and I will use it to serve the King of All Worlds!" Kirby's body was basically red at this point.

"Me and my friends are going to save Meta Knight if you like it or not!" screeched the red puffball.

"If that is what you wish," sighed Sir MK before raising a black and golden sword into the air, "Rise my corrupted being!" An orange bolt of electricity shot from the tip of the sword. Kolorado's wife's body was struck by the strange energy.

"No!" cried Timpani as the color drained from the koopa's body. The pink koopa stood up and looked a Sir MK. Kolorado's Wife bowed at Sir MK, turned around, and growled ferociously.

"For Meta Knight!" called Kirby as he took a battle stance.

"And for Mrs. Kolorado or whatever her name is!" added Parakarry. The battle began with Mario switching the couple to the front of the party. The order was the Corrupted Kolorado's Wife and Sir Mk, who was flying in the air."

Timpani tattled, "That is a Corrupted Kolorado's Wife. I still don't know her actual name. Anyways, she has 4 HP, 2 Attack Power, and 2 defense. Just like any other koopa, she can be flipped over if you jump on her. It will also drop her defense to zero. Thank goodness that we got here before she was teleported away." Mario followed up by jumping twice onto Mrs. Kolorado, flipping her over, and doing one damage. Kirby, fueled by pure determination to free his friend, jumped on Sir MK twice. Kirby's fierce jump did two damage to the Navy Nightmare. Parakarry quickly finished off Kolorado's Wife with a well timed Shell Shot.

"Interesting," chuckled Sir MK, "Try this on for size." The Corrupted Meta Knight rose his sword into the air once again. An orange shock-wave swept across the battlefield. Mario, Timpani and Blumiere, and Kirby took two damage, while Parakarry was immobilized for two turns.

"No!" bellowed Kirby as he ran to Parakarry's side. Timpani and Blumiere started off the next turn by tattling Sir MK.

"This is Sir MK, a follower of Dimentio and a former minion of mine," informed Blumiere. "He has 13 HP, 3 Attack Power, and no defense. Since he is airborne, hammer attacks won't work. He also has a sweeping attack, that is very hard to dodge. If I remember correctly, he was very good at poetry when he worked for me." Mario, using this newfound knowledge, performed a Power Jump that did 4 damage to Sir MK. Kirby dashed from Parakarry's side and jumped onto the Navy Nightmare, doing two more damage.

"Take this!" screeched Sir MK, "As he fired a beam of orange energy towards Timpani. The fair lady took three damage as result.

"Nobody hurts my wife and gets away with it!" scolded Blumiere as he tossed his staff into the air. Timpani swiftly kicked the spear, doing 3 damage. Mario followed by doing a regular jump, that left the Corrupted Meta Knight on one HP.

"Meta Knight!" screamed Kirby as he jumped into the air one last time, "I'm coming for you!" Kirby delivered the final blow, sending Sir MK to ground. The Navy Nightmare dropped enough Star Points for Mario and Kirby to level up again. Mario chose HP and Kirby chose FP.

"Nooooooo!" screeched Sir MK before collapsing onto the cold stone floor. Timpani ran to Kolorado's Wife's, while Kirby ran to Meta Knight's side. Both of them slowly regained their original color. Mario wiped his forehead before walking over to where the Koopa Bros were being suspended from. He was trying to find a way to get them down.

"I'll go see if the weird grid system is gone," informed Parakarry as he flew out the door.

"Where am I?" asked Mrs. Kolorado as she stood up.

"It's a long story," chuckled Timpani as she started to explain.

"Meta Knight," peeped Kirby, "Are you okay?" Meta Knight slowly rose to his feet.

"Why are we in a stone room?" asked Meta Knight. Kirby's eyes swelled with tears of joy.

"Thank goodness!" cried Kirby as he hugged Meta Knight tightly, "You got turned into Sir MK and you were corrupting and teleporting a bunch of Koopas and Goombas from Koopa Village and you were really mean and and and!"

"It's okay Kirby, he's safe now," comforted Blumiere as he patted the puffball's back. Meta Knight looked at Blumiere and then at Timpani. He quickly realized who one of the two was.

"Count Bleck!" hissed Meta Knight, "Now I'm really confused. Timpani had just sent Kolorado's Wife on her way as she heard Meta Knight stuttered her husband's old name.

"It's actually Blumiere now," explained Blumiere. Timpani walked over and held her husband's hand. The gears in Meta Knight's head began spinning as he pried Kirby from his person.

"Wait," thought Meta Knight, "If you're Blumiere, does that mean you are who I think you are?"

"Hi Meta Knight," smiled Timpani, "I guess you didn't expect to see me as anything other than a rainbow butterfly."

"I now realize who you are," stated Meta Knight, "You are correct, Lady Timpani, I did not expect to see you as a human." Timpani giggled.

"Do you have any memories from when you were Sir MK," asked Kirby.

"I don't think so," frowned Meta Knight, "The last thing I remember before I woke up here was being on top of that blasted hill."

"Guys!" shouted Parakarry as he busted through the door with Goompa on his back, "The prisoners are free!"

"Where's Koopa Koot!" growled the old goomba as he hopped off of Parakarry.

"I've got some bad news for you old-timer," informed Red, "Sir MK already corrupted and teleported that old koopa away. I think he's some where in Keelhaul Key."

"Nooooooo!" cried Goompa, "Not my BINGO partner!"

"I know you're hurting right now, but you need to get back to Goomba Village."

"Okay," sniffled Goompa, "Thanks for rescuing me, I guess." Goompa slowly walked out of the stone room, with his head hung low.

"That poor old man," frowned Timpani.

"Yeah, Yeah, how sad. A little help over here!" cried Red. Mario could not find an easy way to get the Koopa Bros down.

"That may be my fault," groaned Meta Knight, "Let me help." Meta Knight spread his wings and flew over towards the Koopa Bros. With a quick slash from his sword, the chains supporting the Koopa Bros snapped. The four brothers screamed as they fell from the air, but Mario was able to soften their landing.

"Sorry, Mario," apologized Green as the plumber crawled out from under the stack of koopas. Kirby ran over to Mario and helped the man in red to untie the Koopa Bros.

"What exactly happened?" asked Blumiere.

"We were in the middle of teaching a class when this strange yellow object appeared in the middle of the room," explained Yellow, "I thought to myself, it seemed like a cool thing to hold onto."

"So the next day rolls around," adds Black, "Sir MK shows up and corrupts most of our current class and tied us up and hung us from the ceiling. As you guys saw, he was looking for something called a Pure Heart."

"We had no idea what he was talking about, but thank goodness you guys showed up," smiled Red, "We might have been actual toast if you guys didn't interrupt his evil speech."

"So you have a strange yellow object," thought Kirby, "Is it heart shaped?"

"Yes! Why do you ask," chuckled Yellow.

"Does is radiate yellow energy?" added Blumiere.

"Man! You guys are perfectly describing my pocket warmer!" exclaimed Yellow.

"Can we see it?" asked Timpani.

"Sure, I don't see why not," laughed Yellow. Mario dramatically fell to the floor as the Yellow Pure Heart appeared in Yellow's hands. "Isn't it neat?" asked Yellow enthusiastically.

"That's a Pure Heart!" cheered Timpani, "That explains why the tremors of energy were so high in here!"

"Ohhhhhh..." gasped Yellow, "Red, Black, and Green, I'm sorry, I just didn't know."

"It's fine Yellow," sighed Red, "I think we need to give it to Mario though."

"Yeah," agreed Black and Green.

"Okay," pouted Yellow, "Take good care of my pocket warmer, Mario," Yellow handed the plumber the Yellow Pure Heart. The Pure Heart floated above Mario's head as he raised his arms to claim it.

"Yes!" cheered Kirby and Meta Knight.

"So that's what a Pure Heart is," stated Parakarry.

"We've got a long way to go," sighed Blumiere.

"But as long as we're all together, it will be okay," smiled Timpani as she squeezed Blumiere's hand.

Mario and his friends successfully liberated the Koopa Bros Dojo and found the Yellow Pure Heart. Meta Knight joined the party, which especially raised Kirby's spirits. A member from Team Luigi only made Mario worry a little bit more. Where was his brother?