Kirby and the Rod of Darkness

Chapter 14: Tropical Trouble


The sun shone brightly over the shores of Dedede Resort, one of the Popopo Islands. This island was King Dedede's favorite resort and was largely tropical, with beaches, oceans, and even a few snowy areas. Right now, Kirby and his friends were spending some time on one of its beaches, which was a welcome change of scenery after being stuck in a graveyard two nights before.

Kirby was relaxing in a beach chair with an umbrella over him and sunglasses on his face, sipping lemonade. "Ahh...Dedede Resort is so much nicer than Volcano Valley," he sighed contentedly, "Especially when Dedede's not around to get in the way!"

Taranza was watching the hermit crab-like Coners scuttle around on the sand. "Hermit crabs are so interesting," he said to himself, "They have eight legs just like the average spider." Then he remembered: he had only six hands and no legs at all! "Oh right, I'm not the average spider."

Susie stood by the shore, watching Blippers swim about and leap out of the water every so often. "I still don't understand why any fish would need to wear goggles," she said to herself, "Not to mention, where do they get them?"

Meanwhile, the Lor Starcutter was sailing around on the water, with Magolor enjoying the ride on the deck. "Every now and then I get the urge to use the Lor like an actual ship!" he said.

"Look out, Magolor!" Susie called out to him suddenly. The blue-garbed wizard was having so much fun, he didn't even notice he was sailing toward a huge wave. He looked ahead just in time to find his ship being lifted by the wave. As a result, both Magolor and the Lor were sent flying; the former ended up landing next to the latter with his head in the sand. Kirby, with Taranza and Susie following, ran over to him and tugged on his cape a few times until he'd pulled him out of the sand. The force required to do this both knocked Kirby down and sent Magolor flying again.

Magolor stood up, rubbing his sore head. "Oof! I hope I'm done being thrown around like a volleyball," he muttered. At that moment, three dark familiar objects flew over his head and dove into the sea. Everyone quickly approached the shore and gazed out at the water. "Those Rods of Darkness just went into the ocean!" Magolor observed, "Who knew they could swim?"

"I guess we'll have to go in after them," Kirby replied.

"There's only one problem," Susie spoke up, "This is a large ocean. It might take a while to find them, and we're going to need air eventually."

"Don't worry! There should be some air bubbles down there. We can use them to get a breath of air while we're underwater!"

All four of them were ready, so they dove into the sea. The first thing they noticed upon going underwater was the beautiful ecosystem existing beneath the surface. Aquatic plants, small fish, and coral made up the colorful flora and fauna, and all were a dazzling sight. But the adventurers knew they didn't come here to sightsee, so they swam on.

After a short swim, Kirby bumped into a purple clam hanging upside-down on the ceiling of a nearby tunnel; in response, its shell opened and released four air bubbles. How convenient! Each of them inhaled a bubble, filling their lungs with air so they could continue on. Once this was done, however, the area suddenly began to rumble. They looked back to find a giant spiky fish called a Stickle headed straight for them!

Kirby, Magolor, Taranza, and Susie knew there was only one option. They swam as fast as they could through the tunnel. The Stickle was quickly catching up but fortunately for them, the second half of the tunnel was much narrower than the first half. The four friends were able to fit inside but the Stickle was much too big. It crashed right into the wall, causing a few rocks to fall from the ceiling. After dodging the rocks, Kirby and the others finally spotted the end of the tunnel, which led to the surface.

Taranza and Susie emerged from underwater, gasping for air. Susie noticed right away that the two of them were alone and looked around anxiously. "Where are Kirby and Magolor?"

"Down there!" Taranza pointed at the watery depths below. On the floor of the tunnel lay Magolor, who was pinned to the ground by a rock that had fallen on his cape. Kirby was trying to push the object off of his friend, but it was too heavy for him. Taranza and Susie swiftly dove back into the ocean, swam to their troubled allies, and worked together to push the rock away. Then Taranza grabbed Magolor while Susie took Kirby in her arms, and they got them back onto dry land.

Kirby and Magolor coughed while Taranza and Susie watched them with concern; thankfully, they were okay. "Thanks," Magolor gasped, "I thought I was a goner!"

Now that the excitement had died down, everyone had the chance to check out their new surroundings. They appeared to be standing on the deck of an old dilapidated ship surrounded by shallow water. "Looks like a shipwreck," Magolor observed, "I wonder if there's any treasure here?"

"Not unless you count those!" Kirby answered, pointing straight ahead. There, on the opposite side of the deck, three Rods of Darkness hovered side-by-side. Kirby's team dashed towards them, only to be knocked back by a dark beam that suddenly shot from them. Then two of the rods rapidly spun around the other one and, with a flash of light, they all combined to make a single larger rod.

"They...fused together!" Taranza was surprised. Now this was something the Rods of Darkness had never done before!

The big rod instantly began to quiver and quake, until a giant purple Squister materialized in front of it. The squid-like enemy was bigger than any Kirby had ever encountered and it was transparent like a hologram, which reminded him of a similar enemy he'd recently faced. "That Squister! It's just like that Sawyer we saw on Ripple Star!" he exclaimed.

Despite the fact that it looked like an illusion, the Squister was still able to rock the ship by hopping up and down on it. Kirby and friends struggled to keep from losing their balance. "Those rods are getting tougher-and meaner-by the minute!" Magolor remarked. He summoned a black hole over the Squister, but it launched itself at him and his allies before it could be sucked in. Its targets moved aside just in time, resulting in the monster striking the wrecked vessel instead; this created a hole in the deck, which it got its head stuck in. Magolor used the opportunity to swing his Ultra Sword at the squid-like creature, defeating it.

Now there was just the Rod of Darkness to worry about. Taranza tossed a few balls of magic power at it and Susie fired some shots at it with her Blaster, but unlike the previous smaller rods, it was not destroyed. Instead, it shot upward and crashed into a switch located on a ledge above before teleporting itself elsewhere. Before anyone could react, water spouted from beneath the ship with so much force, it smashed right through the deck and sent Kirby's party flying. Up, up, up they went until they were high above the beach.

Meanwhile, a large round yellow bird wearing blue overalls happened to be flying over the beach, carrying an empty basket. She was Big Birdee, yet another friend of Kirby's who was once an enemy. She and the other Birdees had held a grudge against him after he accidentally crashed into her and caused her to drop all the fruit she'd carefully collected; but all that changed when he rescued the youngest members of the family, the Wee Birdees. Right now, Big Birdee saw Kirby and his friends ascending right in front of her before beginning to fall. She quickly came over and caught them in her basket. "Big Birdee!" Kirby was happy to see her.

"Why, hello Kirby! What a pleasure to see you again."

Big Birdee took the others to a wooded spot near the beach where delicious bananas, apples, and melons grew in abundance. She gathered some of the sweet fruits in her basket, and there was still plenty left for the others to eat. (Of course, Kirby ate more than Magolor, Taranza, and Susie combined.) While this was going on, he told his friends all about his past adventure in the Popopo Islands. "...And so, even though the evil Necrodeus split me into ten small Kirbys, I was able to defeat him and save Popstar," he finished, "Then I used his magic staff to return myself to normal!"

"Boy, you've sure had some crazy adventures, haven't you?" Magolor said to him after hearing the whole story.

"My, that must have been positively frightful!" Big Birdee commented while filling up her basket, "I'm so glad the other Birdees and I were able to help you succeed." Now satisfied with the food she'd collected, she picked up her basket and lifted off the ground. "Well, I must be going-the children need fed. I do hope we bump into each other again sometime soon!"

"Byyye, Big Birdee!" Kirby called out to his bird-like friend. He and his three allies waved as they watched her fly away.

Kirby, Magolor, Taranza, and Susie returned to the Lor, which was located just outside the wooded area. "Any idea where that Rod of Darkness went?" Susie asked Magolor, who was checking his computer for any sign of the dark rod.

"Not exactly," he answered, "But according to the map, there aren't any more on the Popopo Islands. I guess we'll have to look elsewhere." And so, the Lor moved on from Dedede Resort to resume the search.