Kirby and the Rod of Darkness
Chapter 2: Trouble in Dream Land
The Warp Star hovered high above the hills, forests, and waters of Dream Land, its four riders scanning the vast areas below for anything out of the ordinary. At first, all they saw was an amazing view. "Where do we start?" Susie asked, "Dream Land is so big, and the Dream Rod is so small!"
"Maybe we should ask some of my friends if they've seen the Dream Rod," Kirby answered.
Magolor spotted something unusual. "Uh, Kirby? Any idea what that is?" He pointed to what looked like a large purple block made of crystal; the object was placed in the middle of a grassy field next to a pond.
Kirby landed the Warp Star beside the crystalline object; then he walked over and tapped on one side. "Whatever it is, it's very hard," he observed, "Our normal attacks won't cut it."
"This looks like a job for the strongest weapons around!" Magolor said, glancing at Susie who knew just what he was talking about. Once the others had moved aside, he pulled out an enormous Ultra Sword and swung it at the block, causing it to crack. Then Susie got in the Business Suit; it leapt above the block and smashed into its damaged top, shattering it. The machine returned to land, shiny purple shards scattered everywhere, and bright light emerged from where the large block had been.
When the shards and the light faded, no one could believe what they saw. Someone had been inside the block! Standing in its place was Gooey, one of Kirby's strangest friends. He basically looked like a blue blob with googly eyes and a long tongue, and right now he appeared to be asleep. "Gooey?" Kirby asked in disbelief.
Gooey woke up and greeted the four allies in front of him. "Oh hi Kirby, and blue guy, and spider guy, and giant pink thing!" While he did have some powerful abilities, Gooey wasn't exactly bright.
Susie was not amused. "Who are you calling a giant?!" She jumped onto the ground to prove that the Business Suit was, in fact, not part of her body.
Kirby decided to change the subject. "Hey Gooey, how exactly did you get inside that...thing, anyway?"
"Well, I was standing here fishing when the sun went away, and all I could see was shiny purple," his round blue friend answered, "It was pretty, but I missed the sun. I took a nice little nap and then you brought the sun back!"
"Mm-hmm," Kirby replied, although that wasn't much of a description, "One more thing: have you seen the Dream Rod lately?"
"You mean that lollipop from the Dream Palace? Yeah, I saw it...I just dreamed I was eating it. It was tasty!"
Kirby heard his friends groan from behind him. It was clear that Gooey wasn't going to be much help. "Well, thanks for your help, Gooey," he said as he started to walk away, "See you later!"
Once Kirby's team was away from Gooey, Taranza was the first to speak up. "Kirby, he thinks the Dream Rod is a lollipop! What if he eats it before we can find it?"
Kirby sighed. "I've tried to tell him before, but Gooey just won't understand the Dream Rod's not food. Don't worry, though-it wouldn't let him eat it!"
Everyone kept walking until they came to the edge of a forest, where they encountered two more of Kirby's friends. One of them was Rick, an overgrown white and brown hamster who walked upright; he was currently hurrying out of the woods as if being chased. The other one was Kine, a big blue fish who flopped around behind him like...well, a fish out of water. Kirby immediately noticed that one member of the animal trio was missing. "Rick and Kine! Where's Coo?" he asked his two animal friends.
The hamster and fish stopped beside him. "We need your help, Kirby!" Rick said worriedly, "Coo's gone mad!"
"He suddenly started chasing us and treating us like dart boards with his sharp feathers," Kine added while still flopping about, "I don't like it one bit."
It was then that they saw him. Coo, the normally friendly purple owl, emerged from the forest. Right away, it was clear something was off. His eyes were a bright red and stared blankly at the group before him, and then he launched sharp feathers from one of his wings. Kirby inhaled the feathers and became Cutter Kirby. "I hate to do this, Coo, but you've got to come to your senses somehow," he said, and he flung a series of cutters at the owl. Coo was hit by a few of them, but then he rose above the rest and tried to dive-bomb Kirby and friends.
Before Coo could reach his targets a bright pink web engulfed him, rendering him immobile. Taranza was using his magical spiderwebs to trap him. "A bird caught by a spider...how the tables have turned," he said to himself before slamming the web into the ground. As a result, Coo was released and landed face-down in the grass. What appeared to be dark energy came out of him and the area was peaceful once again.
Rick and Kine rushed to the fallen bird's side. "Are you okay, Coo? Say something!" Kine spoke to him.
Coo slowly lifted his head, clearly back to normal now. "What happened?" he asked weakly.
"You were going bonkers, chasing and attacking us!" Rick answered, "It was like someone or something was controlling you!"
Coo looked troubled as he got to his feet. "Oh dear, how could such a thing have happened?" he thought for a moment, "Come to think of it, the last thing I remember is seeing something like a dark version of the Dream Rod. It was flying all by itself toward Dedede's castle!"
"Dedede's castle? I think we'd better pay him a visit!" Kirby told his friends.
The round pink hero rode the Warp Star to King Dedede's castle with Magolor, Taranza, and Susie. As soon as they caught sight of the enormous castle, they could tell something was wrong. It was radiating ominously just like the Dream Palace had been. "Oh, that is NOT a good sign…" Magolor said.
Riding through the halls of the colossal building, the team could see large numbers of Waddle Dees running about in a frenzy. And when they landed in the king's room, they were shocked to find that he was not there! Only one particular Waddle Dee was in the room: Bandana Waddle Dee, whose blue bandana and spear set him apart from the others. He dashed over to Kirby's party when he spotted them. "Kirby! You won't believe what happened to King Dedede!" He paused for a moment. "...Oh, right. Crazy things happen to him all the time. Well, this was something that's never happened before! I saw the Dream Rod float into this very room, the king grabbed it, and he vanished! Poof!"
"What?! But how-" Kirby started. Before he could finish his sentence something shot into the room, breaking right through the ceiling. Just in time, everyone moved aside and found themselves facing a familiar masked knight; his normally yellow eyes were red just like Coo's had been and there was a long gash in the carpet where his blade had struck. "Meta Knight, what are you doing?!" Kirby exclaimed in alarm.
Meta Knight didn't answer. Instead he began to attack wildly with his sword, his usually chivalrous ways obviously forgotten. One by one, Kirby and his allies fought back. First the pink puffball charged at the knight with his cutter, causing both of their weapons to clash. This immobilized Meta Knight briefly, so Bandana Waddle Dee took the opportunity to attack with his spear. At this point, Meta Knight regained his mobility and used a midair spin slash, which knocked Kirby and Waddle Dee back.
Magolor fired electric orbs repeatedly, which allowed Taranza to sneak up behind Meta Knight and use a burst of magical power on him. The knight fell back, but then he got back up and used a spin slash on Taranza, sending him flying into Magolor. Susie pulled out her Blaster and hit Meta Knight with a few shots, but he caught her off guard by lunging forward and knocking the weapon out of her hands. She drew back, finding the shining blade pointed right at her throat.
Acting quickly, Kirby dashed at Meta Knight and used a cutter to knock him away from Susie. Without a word, the knight stood back up and flew into a portal that opened above him. "After him!" Kirby yelled, and he jumped into the portal, followed by Magolor and Taranza. Susie retrieved her Blaster and jumped in just before the portal closed.
Bandana Waddle Dee tried to follow the others, but he was a little too late and landed face-down on the floor. When he stood up he gazed at where they had gone. I hope they'll be all right in there… he thought.
Meanwhile, Kirby, Magolor, Taranza, and Susie fell into an entirely different place. When they lifted their heads and viewed their surroundings, they noticed a yellow ground and dark blue sky. Strange shapes and swirls of color floated in the air, and all of it rippled slightly like water in a glass. This place was very odd yet familiar. "Where are we?" Taranza wondered.
Magolor was the one to answer him. "If I'm not mistaken...we're in Another Dimension!"