Kirby and the Rod of Darkness

Chapter 28: Shadowy Shenanigans


That evening, just as dusk was falling over Dream Land, Magolor tried to research the mysterious gem. However, he wasn't making any progress at all because the Lor's computer suddenly wasn't working. "That's odd," he said to Kirby, Taranza, and Susie while the screen was covered in static, "The gem seems to be interfering with the computer."

"I could take it back to my headquarters," Susie offered, "I should be able to study it there." Magolor agreed that was a good idea, so he gave her the shiny yellow object. She promised to let the others know what she found in the morning before she left the ship.

The next day Kirby, Magolor, and Taranza waited all morning, but they didn't hear from Susie. Early in the afternoon, Kirby and Taranza returned to the main room after pacing around the ship's interior a bit. "Susie said she'd let us know what she found in the morning," Kirby said worriedly, "but it's 1:00 and we haven't heard a word from her!"

Magolor looked equally worried as he turned from the computer to face the other two. "I tried to contact her, but she didn't answer."

"I think we'd better go and check on her," Taranza spoke up. This was very concerning indeed.

When Kirby, Magolor, and Taranza reached Susie's headquarters, they could tell something was wrong right away. There were no worker robots outside the structure; instead they were scattered around the hall, lying still on the floor. And when the three visitors came to the lab, where they figured Susie would have been studying the jewel, they stopped short in shock.

The lab looked as if it had been hit by Tornado Kirby. Various objects were scattered all over the room, a large capsule near the center was shattered, and a chair by a desk beside the capsule appeared to have been knocked over. But what concerned Kirby, Magolor, and Taranza the most was when they finally spotted Susie-she was lying on the floor next to the chair. "Susie!" Magolor cried out as all three of them rushed to her side, "Are you okay?"

The pink-haired lady's eyes slowly opened, much to her friends' relief. "I...I think so," she answered, carefully pulling herself up. She felt a little sore all over but she didn't have any serious injuries.

"Do you remember what happened?" Taranza asked her.

Susie nodded. "It was that gem. I had it inside the capsule over there when I was in the process of researching it. After a few hours I suddenly became aware of a bright flash of light coming from within the capsule. I saw the gem release a great burst of energy that shattered the glass. It all happened so fast, there was no way I could escape the blast. I guess it must have knocked me out."

The nerve of that thing, Kirby thought, making a mess of the lab and making Susie take a nap on the floor! Though he could do it himself, he was sure it wasn't very comfortable for her.

After everyone worked together to clean up the lab and reactivate the worker robots, Susie took the others to the office to tell them what she'd discovered. She was using her laptop while they gathered around her. "I did manage to obtain a small amount of information on the gem before it escaped," she told them, "The type of energy it contains appears to be a mixture of light and darkness, and very similar to that of the Rods of Darkness, as far as I can tell. Its current location is…" she brought up a map of Dream Land and paused in surprise, "the Dream Palace?"

Kirby, Magolor, Taranza, and Susie knew this couldn't be good. They hastily left the Haltmann HQ and took a Warp Star to the Dream Palace. While the outside of the palace looked perfectly normal, something was definitely going on inside. A yellow light was visible from the entrance, and the team of four was met with a startling sight once inside. The jewel had collided with the Dream Rod, causing it to quiver and shake as if in an earthquake, and bright light shot from it in all directions. "Hey! Leave the Dream Rod alone!" Kirby cried out. He dashed toward the rod, but when he tried to grab it he was struck by a beam of light and fell back.

Magolor, Taranza, and Susie ran over to him to see if he was all right, but then a bright flash caught their attention. Everyone looked up to find the light fading as the yellow jewel ceased its attack on the Dream Rod; the now dull rod fell to the ground, its energy having been drained again. "Oh no, not again!" Kirby exclaimed.

He was about to get up and go for the Dream Rod when there was suddenly another flash of light. He and his friends had to cover their eyes until the flash was gone, at which point darkness began to emanate from the mysterious gemstone. This darkness quickly morphed into a shadowy blob and then took on the form of a large bear-like creature. It was a Grizzo, but with a dark body and gleaming eyes just like the Galbel from a few days before! It immediately started to charge at Kirby and company, so they jumped up and ran for the exit. "Here we go again!" Taranza remarked.

The four of them rushed outside in an attempt to get away from the Grizzo, but it merely zoomed right at them while surrounded in dark energy. As a result, they were sent flying into some bushes nearby. They took a moment to regain themselves before Magolor asked, "Is everyone okay?" Fortunately, they were fine.

All of them peeked out from the bushes and, seeing no sign of the shadowy creature, emerged from their hiding spot. But just when they were about to go back into the Dream Palace, they heard a noise coming from somewhere behind them and looked back. The Grizzo had turned around and was charging at them again! Going back inside would only lead to a dead end, so Kirby, Magolor, and Taranza hovered into the air while Susie used her Transporter to follow them. They all landed on the roof of the Dream Palace and watched the Grizzo race right into its interior. A few seconds later it came out with the powerless Dream Rod in its mouth. Kirby and friends leapt from the roof, but the beast vanished before they even had a chance to attack. "It got away with the Dream Rod!" Kirby said worriedly.

Susie looked displeased. "For an inanimate object that gem sure is rude. If only it had a brain, I'd say it needs to be taught manners!"

"I have a very bad feeling about all of this," Taranza spoke up next, "A jewel with energy similar to that of the Rods of Darkness, the Dream Rod being drained again, and a shadowy Grizzo stealing it...do you think it's possible that Shadread is still out there somewhere?"

That was a troubling thought but the others realized it was quite possible. "It certainly sounds like something he would do," Susie answered, "Come to think of it, I did notice that when we and the other Star Allies defeated him, it looked like he and Mirrobo were pulled into a portal of some kind!"

"Those two are like my cutters when I'm Cutter Kirby," Kirby replied, "You can throw them as far as you want, but they come back again and again!" He pretended to throw a cutter while he was saying this.

"Well, I think the best course of action at this point would be to check Another Dimension again," Magolor said, "If we look around we might be able to find Shadread." Everyone agreed that was a good idea, so they headed back to the Lor.

Meanwhile, Shadread and Mirrobo were hanging out in a dark building when the shadowy Grizzo appeared in front of them. "Good work, my pet," Shadread said to it, taking the Dream Rod from it. He chuckled to himself as he viewed the item. "As long as I have this rod in my possession, no one can stop me!"