Kirby and the Rod of Darkness
Chapter 5: Lost in the Jungle
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The Lor Starcutter landed in an open area of Jam Jungle. Kirby, Magolor, Taranza, and Susie came outside and viewed their new surroundings; all they could see for miles was a vast jungle. While a large portion of this place was jungle, the Lor's computer had indicated that ancient ruins, an abandoned factory, and a small desert also existed here. "It doesn't look like much has changed since last time I was here," Kirby observed, then turned to Magolor, "So which way do we go?"
"According to the map, the Dream Rod is west of here," Magolor then began to lead the others in the proper direction. Upon entering the jungle, they found that there was only a narrow path inside because most of the space was taken up by greenery. They had to walk single file down the path.
After only a few minutes of walking, Kirby, Magolor, and Taranza started hearing noises like lasers being fired. They looked back to see Susie, who was at the back of the line, shooting at the air repeatedly with her Blaster. "Um...Susie, what are you shooting at?" Taranza asked her.
"Mosquitoes, what else?" she answered while zapping a buzzing insect that flew above her head.
"Well, at least we don't have to worry about getting bitten," Magolor said.
They all continued on for a little while longer, until Taranza spotted a spider on a leaf. "Well hello there, little friend!" he said, letting it crawl onto one of his hands. It seemed happy to meet a relative, even if he was quite big for a spider.
"Taranza, we didn't come here to adopt a pet!" Kirby called out from ahead. Taranza sighed, put the spider back where he found it, and hurried after his friends.
It didn't take long for the four allies to reach a small clearing in the middle of the jungle, where they found something they weren't expecting. It was a shiny purple block just like the one they'd seen in Dream Land, but this one was MUCH bigger! "Isn't that the same kind of block Gooey was trapped in yesterday?" Kirby noticed.
Upon approaching the colossal object, Magolor could hear something banging against it from the inside with so much force, it nearly shook the earth. "I have a feeling someone's inside this one too," he remarked, "Someone really big, judging by the size of this thing!" Once he'd used his Ultra Sword to crack the crystalline block, a hammer smashed through it from inside. Then, in its place stood three familiar mice.
"It's Spinni, Doc, and Storo from the Squeak Squad!" Kirby said upon seeing them. The Squeak Squad was a band of mouse thieves who traveled the galaxy in search of treasure. While they had once caused Kirby a lot of trouble, they became friendly toward him after he saved their leader, Daroach, from the evil Dark Nebula. Of course, they also knew that Kirby didn't usually carry anything of value around.
"Well, well, if it isn't Kirby and friends," Doc, the small brainy gray mouse who rode in a machine resembling a UFO, said.
"I'm glad you got us out of there! I was getting stir-crazy!" Spinni, the speedy yellow mouse, added while scurrying back and forth.
Kirby quickly noticed the leader of the Squeaks was missing. "Wait a minute, where's Daroach?"
The three thieves looked around. "We don't know," Storo, the tremendous brawny blue mouse with a hammer, answered, "He said he saw something interesting by the ruins, but we couldn't follow him because that blocky thing came out of nowhere."
"I guess we'll have to keep an eye out for him," Kirby said.
Everyone decided it would be a good idea to search the ruins next, so Kirby's team headed toward the front entrance while the Squeaks checked out the back. However, before he could even get close to the entrance, the pink hero suddenly froze. "What's wrong?" Susie asked him.
"I...think I stepped on something…" Unfortunately, Kirby had just stepped on a hidden switch that activated an ancient trap. This caused the ground to open up beneath the four allies, sending them into the deep chasm below.
The next thing Magolor knew, he was landing on the ground while Taranza bounced off a large spiderweb hanging nearby. "Where are we?" he wondered once he looked up and saw his current surroundings. Taranza and he appeared to be in some kind of underground chamber; it was somewhat dark inside, but the sunlight far above did provide some light. Magolor got up and quickly scanned the area, finding that two of his friends were nowhere in sight. "And where are Kirby and Susie? We've got to find them!" With those words, he set off.
Taranza, however, paid no attention because he was busy staring at the spiderweb he'd just bounced off of. "Wow! Now that's what I call a masterpiece!" he was amazed by how big it was.
"Are you coming, or are you going to admire that spiderweb all day?" Magolor called out from ahead. Grumbling, Taranza went after him.
Meanwhile, Susie had landed in a different area of the chamber. She opened her eyes and carefully stood up, fortunately unhurt. She was only able to view her surroundings briefly before she heard someone mumbling to her right. It was Kirby, who had his head stuck in the soil nearby and was futilely trying to free himself. Susie grabbed onto him and pulled a few times until he was finally out of the soil. "Thanks," Kirby said, looking relieved, "I was starting to feel like an ostrich." Then he looked up. "This must be an underground section of the ruins. It gives me the creeps…"
"I wonder where Magolor and Taranza are? I hope they're all right," Susie noticed the two magicians were missing. She set Kirby down and approached the only path connected to the room, which was blocked entirely by boulders. "We can't leave this room with these boulders in the way…" the former secretary knew what to do. A moment later, the Business Suit appeared and she jumped in. Turning to Kirby, she said, "Hop on, Pinky! We're going to need the Business Suit to clear this path!" Kirby leapt onto the top of the Business Suit-well, actually, he pretty much had to ride on Susie's head because it was the only place where he wouldn't be hit by the spinning arms if they were needed. Then, the machine began to break the boulders by smashing into them.
Magolor continued roaming through the underground rooms while Taranza followed him, still eyeing all the spiderwebs hanging around. Soon, they started hearing a thump, thump, thump coming from somewhere nearby. "Do you hear that?" Taranza asked.
Magolor listened carefully; he recognized the sound. "It sounds like the Business Suit! Susie must be around here somewhere!" Taranza and he dashed toward where the noise was coming from.
The Business Suit had successfully destroyed all the boulders and was now advancing through the area at the other end of the path. Kirby was enjoying the ride, even if it was sort of bumpy since the mech's method of moving consisted of bouncing along the ground. After a short distance, he spotted a familiar wizard coming to his right. "It's Magolor!" he said, and the Business Suit stopped.
"There you are! I've been looking all over for you two!" Magolor said.
"Where's Taranza?" Susie asked him.
He glanced up at the ceiling, where Taranza was floating in the air. "Up there. He seems to think this is some kind of spiderweb museum."
However, this time Taranza had his eye on something else. "Look over there!" he pointed to the next room, which was very large and spacious. There, right in the center, floated the Dream Rod!
Followed by his friends, Kirby raced toward the rod; but just when he got close, he was suddenly scratched by a set of sharp claws. After tumbling backward, he lifted his head to see a familiar blue-gray mouse wearing a red hat and cape. "It's Daroach!" he exclaimed. The leader of the Squeak Squad was clearly not himself, for his normally golden eyes were bright red.
Daroach used his Triple Star to launch three stars at the others; the Business Suit pulverized one by spinning its arms while Kirby, Magolor, and Taranza dodged the other two. He tossed a bomb at them, which Kirby inhaled to become Bomb Kirby. The pink puffball threw some bombs at the mouse thief, who was struck by a few of them but then moved above them. He fired an ice beam, which his opponents jumped over. A pair of missiles from Susie's machine caught him off guard and he was finally taken down. When he fell to the floor, the darkness came out of him.
Kirby cautiously approached Daroach, who slowly opened his eyes. "Kirby? What are you doing here?" he said as he stood up.
"We came here in search of the Dream Rod," Kirby answered, "and then we found you. It seemed like you were being controlled by something."
Daroach looked up at the Dream Rod still floating in midair. "Ah yes, the Dream Rod...we spotted something glowing in the jungle so we followed it, thinking it might be treasure. When I followed it into this room, I found that it was not treasure but a peculiarly dark Dream Rod. I have no memories of what happened after that, but I do remember hearing a strange voice when I approached the rod. It said, 'Rod of Darkness, arise! Consume the darkness inside!'"
Kirby looked puzzled. "What does that mean?"
"I don't know, but it sounds like it's connected to all the weird things happening to our friends lately!" Magolor replied, "Come on, let's get the Dream Rod to the Lor Starcutter so I can study it. Maybe that will give us some answers." Taranza used his magical powers to trap the dark rod in a web, which he then carried behind him. Everyone caught up with the rest of the Squeaks, who went back to their airship while Kirby's party returned to the Lor.