Disclaimer: Kirby belongs to Nintendo and HAL Laboratory.
Kirby arrived via a teleport pad before hopping off. The pink star warrior stepped out of the chamber and meandered through the corridor, passing by the vehicles in the docking area.
Kirby gasped in awe as he bore witness to one of the largest caves he has ever seen, and he ventured through the Great Cave before. Though, a cavern was probably more appropriate for a cave this size, as the Great Cave consisted of a large series of tunnels and different caves which went to many locations. Peering ahead, the pink star warrior noted the plentiful amount of lights like a tiny society existed right under everyone's noses.
Kirby didn't hesitate as he scampered down the cavern slope. Misjudging his grip on the cavern floor, he slipped on the wet rocks. He yelped as he simply bounced off the rocks, tumbling down the slope. He landed flat on his face at the bottom of the cavern.
"Poyo," he grumbled.
Staggering back to his feet, Kirby glanced around the back alley. He proceeded to sneak around a little and look over the place. The buildings he examined were either carved right into the stone or made of smoothed out rocks. As much as it was lively, he noted the condition of this underground city, especially the lack of anything valuable, gave indication it was impoverished. He saw food more often than not, but even then it was more scarce than at the surface. He floated onto a building and scanned his surroundings on the rooftop. He spotted patches of land where farms were set up. The lack of light and poor soil, however, was enough for him to figure out the civilians here didn't have much luck growing crops.
Kirby continued to wander along the rooftops while occasionally glancing at the Squeakers down below going about their lives. Much to his dismay, there weren't any large buildings which would give away a headquarters. The Squeaks seemed to be making the best of this dreary and depressing kind of life. The pink star warrior floated down to the cavern floor and started wandering down the streets. Maybe Daroach could be hiding in one of those buildings. Part of him thought of searching one by one, but there were far too many buildings to be that time efficient. Then, he wondered if getting spotted would probably catch the attention of someone important.
With a plan in mind, Kirby walked up to a Squeaker.
"Poyo?" Kirby waved his arm.
The little mouse turned to face him, its eyes widening before it squealed and ran off. Kirby shuddered for a brief moment before he continued wandering the streets. Ten minutes passed before a rodent with a metal gauntlet viciously clawed him without warning. Kirby yelped in pain as he struggled to push off the assailant. Making a brief glance at his attacker, he immediately recognized the sunglasses and red cape Spinni wore.
"Poyo!" Kirby cried, "poyo!"
"There isn't anything to explain," Spinni growled, "I hate to do this, but no one can know about this place. Stay still."
Spinni stepped on solid air and leapt above Kirby, lashing out with a ninja star. No doubt, the Squeaks might've reassessed their tactics in preparation for another confrontation with him. With no time to even inhale the projectile, Kirby tried to jump out of the way. The ninja star dug into the ground, and Spinni yanked it back, catching it in his caw. The pink star warrior had a brief moment of relief in his mind, horrified at the thought of the ninja star being yanked out of his mouth.
"I need you to stand still," Spinni growled, his tone hinting annoyance.
Kirby shifted his stance as he considered resorting to dodging for now.
"Poyo!" Kirby insisted, waving his arm, "poyo poyo!"
"I'm glad to hear that," Spinni retorted, "I'm still going to have to ask you to stop breathing."
Spinni dashed at him again, getting in close and not giving him space to breathe. Kirby went on to dodge the speedster's attacks and occasionally parry a strike with his arms. He had a difficult time moving around in the narrow alleyways as is. The pink star warrior checked his surroundings quickly, wondering if there was a possible option for an escape. Spinni also eyed the ladder to the roof, and was considering baiting the pink star warrior into climbing. Kirby spotted a few nearby loose rocks, an abandoned dagger and some broken glass.
Kirby jumped back and inhaled the dagger on the ground. Soon enough, he became Ninja Kirby. Spinni frowned and threw the massive throwing star into the wall behind Kirby, twisting the wire around the gauntlet before jumping into their air. He retracted the wire and pulled himself directly at Kirby, lashing out again with his claw. Kirby shouted while the speedster rodent left another set of claw marks on the pink puff.
Kirby dashed towards Spinni and swung a katana at him. The speedster parried the blade with the back end of his claw. He moved inward towards the pink puff and grabbed him by the arm. With a press of a button on the gauntlet, the throwing star yanked itself out of the wall and started hurtling towards Kirby. Spinni kept his arms locked in a death grip.
"End of the road," he told Kirby coldly.
Kirby squeezed his eyes shut and grumbled incoherently as he flailed his feet. Time seemed to slow down as the star flew at them both. Spinni pinned one of Kirby's feet to the ground with his own paw. The pink puff shed his copy ability. He let out a huff of breath before he began to flatten himself like a pancake. Spinni widened his eyes as his living shield deflated himself enough for the star to miss. The speedster also attempted to move, avoiding serious injury by a hair. Though, he ended up getting a nasty cut on his side while the star tore up his cape a little.
"You ruined my scarf!" Spinni hissed, "you're going to bleed for that!"
Spinni paused before he launched another attack. While keeping a firm grip on Kirby's arms, he had another idea pop into his head. The speedster rodent pulled out some wire from his pocket dimension and tied Kirby's feet together.
"Now you're my prisoner," Spinni declared with a sly grin, "maybe we won't need to kill you. After all, you wouldn't be able to fight Daroach in your current state."
Spinni thought of adding duct tape to take away Kirby's ability to inhale, but realized he would need to find some, so that would have to wait. Spinni proceeded to tie Kirby's arms together next before he started dragging the deflated star warrior along the ground. The Squeak Squad's speedster felt a boost in pride, sure he had every advantage in the book. He could still kill Kirby if he wanted to, but capturing him was just enough to satisfy the mouse's ego.
Spinni passed by a few buildings while nearby Squeakers glanced at the defeated Kirby in restraints. The speedster rodent found Daroach's home and set foot inside.
"Boss!" Spinni called over, "check it out!"
Spinni waited in the front hall until Daroach emerged from a set of stairs leading to a basement floor. The leader of the Squeak Squad scratched his head as he approached his subordinate, his eyes locked onto the restrained pink puff.
"Well," he commented, "Daroach can't say he's not impressed that you not only got him, but also managed to capture him alive. Both are commendable feats."
Seeing a potential avenue for a truce, Kirby started reinflating himself. By the time he finished within a few seconds, the wires wrapped around his feet made him fall over.
"Well, Daroach knows someone is getting a raise," Daroach commented.
Spinni stood a little taller upon hearing those words.
"Go get Doc, would you?" Daroach ordered, "Daroach needs Doc to set up some better accommodations for our friend here, as well as getting him some medical treatment."
With a quick nod, Spinni darted off. Daroach picked up Kirby and took him upstairs, untying the pink puff when they reached the second floor. The Squeak Squad leader gestured to a chair and sat back in his own seat. Kirby climbed onto the chair without hesitation.
"Daroach is conflicted, my pink friend," Daroach told Kirby, "on one paw, you helped him find treasure in the past and have been an excellent listener for when Daroach ranted. On the other paw, you caused a big issue that Daroach will now need to deal with."
Daroach leaned back and let out an exasperated sigh.
"Never let it be said Daroach is without mercy," he continued, "this place is meant to be kept a secret. I trust you to be a good person to your core, so allow me to explain why this place needs to be hidden."
"Poyo," Kirby nodded.
Daroach frowned before he got up and poured himself a small glass of vodka he retrieved from a cabinet.
"This city is small and poor," Daroach elaborated, "but it's where almost all the Squeaks make their home. Daroach is sure you figured out why we have little success growing our own crops here, yes?"
"Poyo," Kirby nodded.
Daroach sat back down.
"Our parents and grandparents before them, and so on, used magic to help grow the crops better, letting the crops pull nutrients out of the soil at a greater speed and allowing them to grow faster and healthier. However, this ruined the soil in most parts of this area over time," Daroach added, "we had no choice but to import goods from other places to feed the many mouths that exist down here. But…what could we export? Rocks? Useless soil? This cavern has no natural ore veins down here, either. What we have here is a crisis. This is why the Squeak Squad has to steal and sell stolen goods on the black market. From there, we trade money for food to provide for the many people of this city. Can you imagine the fury the people we stole from would rain down on us should they learn of this place? They'd come down on this place harder than the hangover Daroach is sure to have after tonight."
Kirby blinked twice before he let out a sigh.
"We cannot leave this cave," Daroach clarified, "many of the magical artifacts Daroach steals serve to maintain the barrier around this place; to keep the city hidden, protect it from earthquakes and the many fights that happen above ground."
Daroach gave an annoyed look as he took a sip of his vodka.
"Without the barrier, we would all be dead many times over from various planet shaking incidents; some instigated by you and others caused by other forces."
"Poyo?" Kirby asked, "poyo poyo?"
Daroach raised his eyebrow as he understood how Kirby witnessed Elfilis's power to collide planets with one another.
"Well, that wasn't nearly as bad for us as it mostly affected the surface," Daroach agreed, "but you see, this is why we need to keep this place a secret. Otherwise, everyone here could be killed in what would literally be a genocide. Doc has been trying to come up with more legitimate means of income or even some kind of machine to fix the soil, but none of us are good at business and nothing has worked so far. Storo is attempting to learn how to become a high class chef, but that wouldn't be enough to pay for an entire city. It might help pay for the food he eats, though."
Kirby scratched his head as Daroach downed the rest of the glass in one go. From there, Kirby took some time to think over the situation. He really couldn't help but feel bad for the Squeaks despite some of the skirmishes he got into with them. He knew Elfilis would be expecting some sort of feedback to his venture, but already decided against giving away the location. If that was the case, then what should the pink star warrior tell Elfilis? Was there some way he could provide help to these poor rodents? This could be an indication there wasn't an easy answer to the problem, especially when the Squeaks were skilled with theft, magical talent, combat, brute force attacks, agility, scientific knowledge and large numbers. He reckoned the Squeaks had a large network of spies who'd report to Daroach the instant a single Squeak learned something interesting.
Kirby closed his eyes and took a deep breath.
"Poyo poyo," Kirby said, "poyo."
"Daroach would say he appreciates that," Daroach sighed, resting a paw on his face, "but Daroach would appreciate you not having been here at all more."
Kirby couldn't help but shudder.
"The locals are going to be afraid now, for you being here could easily signify our worst fears have been confirmed; that we're soon going to be under threat," Daroach warned Kirby, fidgeting with his cane a bit, "you haven't exactly made many friends today, I'm afraid. The Squeaks are going to be up in arms over this, and there will likely be some that'll attempt to go after you. We aren't the only Squeaks capable of fighting, as there are plenty of more capable Squeaks who'll come for you after this. Our way of life has been placed into jeopardy over this, and they'll do anything to ensure our secret stays safe. Daroach isn't the leader of this city, we have no real leaders here. He may be the closest thing to one, but Daroach can't stop others from coming for you."
Daroach cleared his throat for a brief second.
"The point is I can't stop them from coming for you," Daroach continued in an ominous tone, "I can state my opinion that you won't cause trouble anymore, but not all Squeaks are as noble and dashing as I am. We're simply the most popular group of thieves here and people tend to value our opinions, but there are plenty of other small gangs around here who'll gladly try to finish what Spinni started. They don't have the same morals that the gang and I run do. They'll use every dirty trick in the book to keep you quiet, and they may try to target those close to you to make you give yourself up. I'll try to plead in your favor, but expect some nighttime visitors in the near future…and keep your loved ones close."
At that moment, Kirby trembled with worry.
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