Kirby and the Rod of Darkness

Chapter 7: Double Trouble!


In Shadread's lair, Mirrobo returned with the dark rod and handed it to the shadowy villain himself. "Good work, Mirrobo," he said before an image popped up on his computer screen; it showed him the Lor Starcutter teleporting into the dimension and landing. "What is this?!" he demanded.

Mirrobo's eyes glowed with blue light. "The four life forms that defeated our Sphere Doomers were the ones who stole the Rod of Darkness. Now they are returning here in that vessel."

"So they are more than uninvited guests," Shadread growled, "They are a serious threat and must be stopped!"

"Why don't you let me take care of them? I'm certainly capable," said a voice. Approaching him was...a woman who looked just like Susie?! Well, not quite. Her hair was red instead of pink, and while she wore the same outfit, it was black with red accents.

"Very well. You may go, but do not fail me!" Shadread answered. Once she turned to leave he thought to himself, She and Marx have somehow managed to partially resist my control…

The mysterious woman headed out to find her targets, which didn't take long since the huge ship they arrived in was hard to miss. She watched them exit the craft from behind a wall, and when she saw Susie her eyes grew wide. "What? It can't be!" she exclaimed, but quickly regained herself, "Ha! This is my chance to prove which of us is the better one!"

Kirby, Magolor, Taranza, and Susie didn't get the chance to venture very far before an oddly familiar voice shouted, "Hold it right there!"

When the mysterious girl jumped down in front of the four of them, they couldn't believe their eyes. "Who? What? How?" Taranza stammered.

"AAH! I think I'm seeing double!" Kirby cried out.

The lookalike ignored these comments and instead fixed her gaze directly on Susie. "Well, if it isn't my otherworldly counterpart, Susanna." Kirby, Magolor, and Taranza stared in shock. They had never heard anyone call Susie by her real name before.

Susie's eyes narrowed. She was already not liking this girl who looked like her. "I think you're the otherworldly one around here. Who are you, anyway? How do you know who I am? And why do you look like me?"

"Oh, I'm sorry-where are my manners? I am known as Parallel Susie. Unfortunately, you simple creatures could never fully understand my ways."

Parallel Susie reminded Kirby of what Susie was like when he first met her-speaking in a polite manner but obviously thinking highly of herself while looking down on others. She'd learned the hard way when her ego led her to make a grave mistake, one that caused all life in existence to be threatened and ultimately the death of her father. She still had a bit of a proud streak within her, of course, but her character had certainly improved since then.

Kirby's thoughts on the matter were interrupted when Susie spoke again. "This imposter needs to learn her place!" she said angrily, mounting the Business Suit, "Kirby, Magolor, Taranza, stand back! I'll take care of this one!"

Parallel Susie brought out a machine that looked identical to the Business Suit, except it was black and red like her outfit; the visor that opened over her eyes was dark blue. The two mechs stood across from each other. Kirby, Magolor, and Taranza couldn't see either of the girls' eyes through their visors, but they were sure there were fires in them. The tension in the air was so thick it could be cut with an Ultra Sword. This whole situation made Kirby nervous. "Oh boy…" he told Magolor and Taranza, "I think we'd better stay out of this." The three of them hid behind a small wall and watched from there.

The battle began with Susie firing a pair of missiles. Parallel Susie did the exact same thing, which caused the missiles to crash into each other and explode on contact. Each mech tried to slam the other with its spinning arms, which soon made both of them move in circles around each other. "What is that, some kind of robot dance?" Magolor commented.

It wasn't long before Parallel Susie's machine managed to score a direct hit, and then both sides jumped back. "What do you think of that?" she said confidently.

Meanwhile, Shadread was watching the battle on his computer screen, but he was not impressed by his minion's performance so far. "You fool! You're supposed to be getting rid of them, not showing off!" he shouted, "Mirrobo, strengthen the control signal!" His robot then teleported away.

Mirrobo appeared high up in the sky behind its target, keeping its distance so it wouldn't be noticed. It began to emit strange waves while its eyes flashed rapidly. Then, something odd happened. Parallel Susie suddenly froze. She held her head as if she had a terrible headache, and a dark aura erupted from her body. After that, her Business Suit leapt straight up into the air with surprising speed. No one had any idea what had just happened, but they knew it couldn't be good. "Watch out, Susie! She might be more powerful now!" Kirby called out.

Parallel Susie's craft swiftly dropped from above and smashed into the ground. Susie moved hers out of the way just in time, barely avoiding the attack. "That was too close!" Taranza said worriedly.

Suddenly, Susie spotted Mirrobo floating in the distance, its eyes still flashing. She recognized it immediately. That's Mirrobo! she thought, It must be behind this! If I could just- Before she could try to attack the robot, she cried out in alarm when the other side slammed right into her Business Suit. Mirrobo would have to wait. Right now there was a battle to finish.

Kirby, Magolor, and Taranza did not take their eyes off of the two girls' machines, which continuously rammed into each other like bumper cars. Their hearts were thumping just watching. This was getting intense, and there was no telling what would happen. However, Parallel Susie seemed to have the advantage; after one particularly powerful blow, steam began to come from Susie's Business Suit.

She checked its status: heavy damage. One more blow and it would be all over. She was going to have to finish this quickly, so she set her mech's attack to full power and braced herself for the impact. CRASH! Both Business Suits collided, arms spinning wildly, both sides refusing to back down. "I can't watch!" Kirby exclaimed, covering his eyes.

Susie placed all her focus on the battle at hand. Her heart pounding furiously, she gripped the controls tightly. For a few moments, time seemed to stand still. Then...she got lucky! Parallel Susie's Business Suit suddenly fell back when a spot weakened during the fight was struck. It began to spark, its arms fell off, and then...BOOM! It exploded, sending its controller flying straight up like a rocket. "Now that's what I call an explosive finish!" Magolor commented.

Susie put her Business Suit away and her allies approached her. "Yay! You did it, Susie!" Kirby cheered, jumping for joy, "You had me worried for a minute there!"

"Whew! It was the toughest battle I've had in a while for sure!" she replied, "One of the strangest, too. I felt like I was looking in a warped mirror."

"I'll say it was strange," Taranza added, "It was like watching you fight yourself! Or maybe you were? In any case...I didn't know your real name was Susanna, either."

"Hardly anyone calls me that," Susie answered, "I've gone by 'Susie' for as long as I can remember."

Before this discussion could continue, Parallel Susie finally landed in front of the team. They approached her cautiously, but she appeared to be unresponsive. Just when they got close Mirrobo swooped down, grabbed her, and zipped away. "Wasn't that Mirrobo?" Taranza asked, "Does that mean Parallel Susie is working with Shadread?"

"Who is she, anyway?" Susie wondered, "I don't have any long-lost evil twins that I'm aware of."

"I believe I might have some answers," Magolor replied, "but right now we need to continue our search. I'll explain on the way." With that, everyone returned to the Lor.


Note: As I haven't played Team Kirby Clash Deluxe, I didn't realize that Taranza should already know Parallel Susie (as well as Parallel Landia). This is explained in chapter 31.