Kirby and the Rod of Darkness

Chapter 37: Cavius Collisions

Thanks again for your review Dreamy! I'm glad you liked that scene from chapter 10. I did enjoy writing it! :)

To say the Lor was sent on a wild ride after the battle with Shadow Blade would be an understatement. It wasn't until after it flew uncontrollably through space for a time when it finally landed. By then its riders were lying unconscious on the floor but not for long. Kirby was the first to wake up, noticing the stillness all around as he slowly sat up and rubbed his head. "Well, we're still alive," he remarked, still a little drowsy, "but I wonder where we've landed?"

Susie, Taranza, and Magolor awakened one by one; the latter stood and approached the computer, viewing the information it showed him. "Looks like the cave planet Cavius. Man, Shadow Blade blew us halfway across the galaxy! Who needs a rocket ship when you have a Shadow Beast?"

Taranza and Susie came up beside him. "Look at that!" Taranza pointed at some small bright spots on the map, "Some of the Dream Rod's energy is on this planet!"

"Well then, shall we get exploring?" Susie replied.

Upon exiting the ship, the four of them discovered they'd landed outside one of the planet's caves. The light energy they sought appeared to be in this cave so they entered it. The inside started out with a spacious area that looked like a typical cavern. Although it was darker than outside there was still enough light to see, though where the light was coming from was uncertain.

At first it was very quiet while the adventurers advanced through the area, but about halfway through multiple pairs of tiny white eyes stared at them from above. "I feel like we're being watched," Taranza said softly.

Suddenly there was the sound of flapping wings as small black bats called Babuts started flying at them from behind. Acting quickly, Susie turned and fired at the creatures continuously until they were forced to retreat. "And that's why I carry this blaster around," she stated. The others stood watching the Babuts fly far, far away.

At the end of the large space, the beginning of a series of tunnels and smaller chambers was visible. "This place is a maze," Kirby told his friends when they walked into the first chamber, "I was attacked by mid-bosses last time I was here, but I beat them all. Of course, you know how mid-bosses are-they might be back by now."

Magolor paused when he spotted something sticking out from behind a big rock in the opposite corner. It looked like a pair of round ears. "Um...I don't think that's a mid-boss," he said, pointing it out.

A small blue mouse-like creature popped out from behind the rock, followed by a yellow one and a green one. Kirby recognized them immediately. "Those are Squeakers! The rest of the Squeaks must be around here somewhere!" Despite their cute appearance, the Squeakers were the henchmen of the Squeak Squad.

The little mice hopped into the nearest tunnel, and Kirby and company followed them until they reached the next room, where they found the leader of the Squeak Squad himself. "Daroach!" Kirby said, "We weren't expecting to see you here."

"What better place to hunt for treasure than a cave like this one?" Daroach answered, There could be precious gemstones here. Now, what brings you to this planet?"

Kirby told Daroach all about how Shadread scattered the Dream Rod's power which now needed to be recovered. After hearing the whole story the mouse thief said in reply, "Hmph. I can respect Shadread's interest in darkness, but his desire to take over the universe with all its treasure is another matter. Yes, we'll hold on to any light energy we find until we meet again."

Before another word could be spoken, Spinni came from the adjacent passage with Doc behind him. "Uh, Boss?" he addressed Daroach, "Storo's in a real jam back there!"

Everyone turned their gaze toward the passage. There was Storo, hopelessly stuck between the floor, walls, and ceiling because of his tremendous size. He was trying to wiggle his way out to no avail. "That's right," Doc added, "He's jammed in that tunnel. I told him he should have cut back on the strawberry cupcakes."

Kirby knew what to do. He positioned himself right in front of Storo and inhaled, slowly drawing the giant mouse toward him until he popped out...and landed on him, flattening him like a pancake. "All right Storo, let's not flatten our little friend again," Daroach sighed, "Come on, we have more treasure hunting to do." He turned and ran off.

"Okay, Boss," Storo got up and followed his leader with Spinni, Doc, and the three Squeakers behind him.

Now that the space thieves were gone, Magolor, Taranza, and Susie ran over to their poor flattened friend and picked him up. Taranza held him by his front while Magolor and Susie gripped his back. "Three...two...one...pull!" Taranza shouted. The three of them pulled until they all fell back and Kirby returned to his normal round shape.

The once again round puffball sat dizzily on the ground as he recovered. "Oh…" he groaned, "thanks. I like eating pancakes a lot more than becoming one."

THUD! THUD! All of a sudden repeated hammering sounds came from somewhere in the distance, causing a slight shaking in the cavern. Everyone looked around in surprise but saw nothing out of the ordinary. "What is that?" Susie wondered.

"It sounds like someone's beating up the cave," Magolor guessed, "Why would anyone want to do something like that?"

This was a puzzling situation indeed. With the loud noises continuing, Kirby's party quickly but carefully traversed the labyrinth until they neared the last small chamber. There they found the door leading to the next area along with the culprit-a shadowy version of Bonkers, the large hammer-wielding ape! It appeared to be on a rampage and was...well, going bonkers. It tried to pound Kirby and the others with its hammer upon noticing them but they moved aside. "A Shadow Beast!" Susie exclaimed, "I might have known!"

The Bonkers tossed its weapon at its opponents, which Kirby inhaled to become Hammer Kirby. "Time to give you a taste of your own medicine!" he declared, dashing toward the beast which pulled a new hammer out of nowhere. He didn't want to become a pancake again so he dodged every swing of its hammer until he got close; then he leapt up and whacked it on the head, causing it to vanish in a puff of smoke.

Now that the coast was clear the four travelers were able to move on from the first area of the cave. They passed through the second area, which contained flowing water and several passages, and then they came to a spacious and seemingly empty room. It was darker than the previous rooms; the floor was visible but nothing but a vast darkness could be seen to the side. It was very quiet inside until a deep echoing voice rang out from somewhere in the darkness: "Whooo goooes theeere?"

Magolor, Taranza, and Susie were alarmed by the unexpected presence. "Who said that?" Magolor questioned.

Kirby, on the other hand, wasn't at all surprised. "Oh, that's Wham Bam Rock, the cranky old guy who lives here."

Wham Bam Rock's rock-like face appeared, though his giant body was obscured by the darkness. "Iii aaam nooot craaanky," he frowned.

"Would you be attacking us if you weren't?"

"Yeees Iii wooould." With those words the peculiar enemy's hands appeared. They were made of rock but were capable of regenerating themselves whenever they crumbled.

Kirby shrugged and jumped out of the way, along with his allies, when one of the stone hands tried to drop down on them. He ran over and smacked it with his hammer before it rose off the ground. Next Wham Bam Rock reached out to grab his opponents. All of them tried to get away but their foe succeeded in snatching Magolor and Susie, trapping each of them in a rocky fist. Kirby gasped at the sight but Taranza didn't panic. He positioned himself between the two fists and released a burst of magic power, making them drop their victims.

Wham Bam Rock attempted to punch Kirby and Taranza, who hopped back to avoid the blow. The former then sprang into the air and struck his hand with his hammer before it withdrew again. At this point Magolor and Susie, having recovered and determined not to be picked up again, rejoined the battle. When the enemy started dropping his rocky fingers from above, Magolor used his Deadly Needles on his hand. After that Susie, in her Business Suit, ascended over his hand and smashed into it. That was all Wham Bam Rock could take; he faded into the darkness, leaving five pieces of light energy in his place.

Kirby took the bright orbs, which brought a comforting glow to the otherwise dim room, and jumped for joy. "We did it!" he laughed, "Too bad for Wham Bam Rock, he was on the receiving end of most of the wham bamming!"

"Yeah, being hardheaded didn't help him win, did it?" Taranza said. Everyone laughed as they headed to the cave's exit, happy to be a little closer to their goal.