Kirby and the Rod of Darkness
Chapter 30: In the Dream Kingdom, Part 1
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Kirby and friends exited the Lor so they could get a better look at the village they were now in. "I've never been to the Dream Kingdom before," Kirby stated as he viewed the unfamiliar place, "Actually, I've never even heard of it!" He'd been to many, many places but there were still some he'd never visited, he knew. The universe was very big, after all.
"That's because it's a parallel world of sorts to Popstar," Magolor answered him, "You can only get here from Another Dimension. Anyway, I think it's about time I tell you guys...I once stayed here at the Castle Village for a while. I was the shopkeeper of that little shop over there. I sold weapons and armor to four fellows who looked an awful lot like Kirby!"
Kirby stared at the mage in surprise, mostly because of the part about four Kirbys. "Whoa, really?"
"Yep!" Magolor continued, "You see, after Kirby defeated me that one time, I lost my powers and got sent to Another Dimension for a little while. When I found my way out I ended up here in the Dream Kingdom, where I planted the Gem Apple tree and opened my shop. I stayed until I'd made enough profit to get my resources back and return to Dream Land. By the way, it was during that time when I met Parallel Susie for the first time, and Taranza too."
Now all eyes were on Taranza, and he knew he had some explaining to do. "He's right," he began, "I have been here before. It all started when I came across a mirror that looked sort of like a parallel version of the Dimension Mirror. The Dimension Mirror is supposed to make your dreams come true if you gaze into it, so I tried to use it to bring Sectonia back. But what I didn't know was that it was actually the sinister Black Mirror I was using."
"Oh no!" Susie gasped, knowing where this was heading.
"I know, it was a foolish mistake. Grief can make you do crazy things, I guess. So, I was possessed by the mirror and sent to the Dream Kingdom, where I used its power to cause some trouble. During that time, it somehow brought Parallel Susie and Parallel Landia into existence and summoned them. Eventually the heroes of this world brought me to my senses and destroyed the Black Mirror; but just when I was about to leave, a wizard named Parallel Nightmare came and possessed me again. After the heroes defeated him I was finally able to go home."
Wow, that was a lot to process! Kirby and Susie were astonished to hear about these things they never knew Magolor and Taranza did. "Why didn't you tell us about all this before?" Susie questioned Taranza.
"Well, I...kind of forgot," the spider-like wizard admitted sheepishly, "It's hard to remember things that happen when you're being controlled."
Meanwhile Magolor looked up, noticing a certain dragon was watching them from above. It was apparent they were forgetting about the mission at hand. "Uh, guys? I think we're keeping Parallel Landia waiting," he reminded his allies. Now remembering what they were supposed to be doing, the four of them hopped on a Warp Star and followed Parallel Landia.
Parallel Landia led Kirby and company to the top of a very tall mountain-so tall, in fact, that clouds could be seen near the ground. The mountain had a crystalline appearance to it and star-topped spires were placed around it. The sky around the peak was dark and lightning flashed above. "This is the Empyrean," Parallel Landia informed the others, "Shadread chose this place because of its remote location. It is normally beautiful and tranquil, but his presence has caused it to become perpetually stormy." He turned his gaze to the center of the peak. "His hideout is over there."
Kirby noticed there was indeed a suspicious building in the middle of the Empyrean. It looked just like Shadread's previous hideout, except it was dark gray instead of red and did not have a rippling effect. "How will we get in?" Taranza wondered when the Warp Star got closer, "It's not like he's going to just open the door and let us in."
"Maybe we can go through the wall like we did in the past," Kirby suggested. He steered the Warp Star toward the building until...CRASH! It collided with the wall, knocking it back and flipping it upside-down. "Maybe not," Kirby said coyly. He and his three pals, who were not exactly happy with him at the moment, had to hold tightly to the star to keep from falling off. Luckily for them, Parallel Landia knew what to do. He came over and breathed fire at the wall until he'd seared a large hole into it, allowing the others to enter.
Inside the base, Shadread was trying to work in his new lab while Mirrobo was flying about and beeping nonstop. Finally he turned to his robot sidekick and said, "Silence! How am I supposed to scheme with you making such a racket?"
Mirrobo simply stopped in front of him with Kirby, Magolor, Taranza, and Susie's forms showing up on its mirror. "Four unfortunately familiar life forms approaching! Beep beep!"
Shadread, of course, recognized the four uninvited guests and was not happy to see them. "Not those annoying pests again!" he growled.
Before the villain could do any more complaining, a Warp Star flew into the room. "We've got you now, Shadread!" Kirby declared.
Shadread only turned to face his enemies with a smirk. "I don't think so!" Grinning smugly, he took out a yellow gem-the same one Kirby's team was searching for! "You fools thought you'd finished me off, but I had a backup plan. I was able to transfer the negative energy from the Rods of Darkness to this Shadow Gem at the last minute. My new weapons are even stronger than the last, thanks to the darkness I finally obtained from a certain Susie Haltmann."
Susie couldn't believe what she was hearing. "W-what are you talking about?" she demanded.
"Out of the four of you, you have the greatest amount of darkness inside," the shadowy man answered matter-of-factly, "That's why I sent the Shadow Gem to your headquarters and waited for the right moment to strike. When you were struck by that burst of energy it released, it gained a considerable amount of negative energy from you."
This explanation shocked everyone. How did Shadread know Susie's name, the difficult past she had, even where she lived? It was kind of scary, actually, but now was not the time for thought. It was the time for action. "Whatever you've got planned, we won't allow it!" Magolor said. He and the others jumped off the Warp Star, prepared to fight.
Totally unfazed, Shadread raised the Shadow Gem above his head. Darkness came from it and split into three groups, which morphed into a shadowy Galbel, Grizzo, and Fire Lion. Now our heroes had even more tough opponents to face! "Fire Lions, Galbels, and Grizzos, oh my!" Kirby cried out when he saw them.
"Go get them, Shadow Beasts!" Shadread commanded his new minions. With a ferocious roar they pounced at Kirby and friends, who dove out of the way just in time. Kirby tried to inhale the beasts but it had no effect on them. He ended up growing tired and then getting tackled by the Grizzo. Right after that the Fire Lion charged at Magolor while surrounded in flames, but he jumped over it and caused it to crash into the wall.
Meanwhile, Taranza was trying to escape from the Galbel as it leapt at him, but it was too fast for him. He soon found himself being knocked down by the fierce creature. He struggled to hold it back and prevent it from clawing at him. Susie saw this and knew she needed to do something, so she raised her Blaster and called out, "Magolor, throw some fire orbs over here!" Magolor did just that; the orbs struck Susie's Blaster, granting her Fire abilities. Now she could shoot a steady stream of fire at the Galbel, which jumped off of Taranza and backed away in response. "What's the matter? Never seen a girl with a flamethrower before?" Susie continued advancing toward the Galbel until it backed into the wall.
"That won't hold that monster back forever," Magolor said as Kirby and he watched the whole thing, "We've got to do something!"
Kirby had an idea. "Taranza, throw a magic sphere this way!" he called out to his spider-like friend. He inhaled the ball of magic that was then tossed his way and became Magic Kirby. "Ta-da! Now I'm Magic Kirby!" he announced with a grin, "I hope you're ready for a magic show, Shadread, 'cause you're gonna get one whether you want it or not!"
First, the pink puffball took off his huge top hat and three white doves flew out...followed by more and more, all of which began pecking at Shadread, Mirrobo, and the Shadow Beasts. Next, once most of the birds were chased away, Kirby sent a number of playing cards out of his hat. The Galbel and Fire Lion caught them with their front paws and sat across from each other, looking like they were ready to play a game. "This is no time to be playing cards!" Shadread hollered, shooing away the last of the doves, "Get them!" The two beasts dropped their cards and joined the Grizzo in charging at Kirby again, but little did they know what was in store for them. A big bouncy clown emerged from his hat, bonked them on the head, and smacked them right into Shadread and Mirrobo.
Kirby and his pals couldn't help but laugh at the way that awesome magic show ended, but then something happened which no one was expecting. The three Shadow Beasts stood back up and let out a mighty roar, and all of a sudden a circular black portal appeared in front of them. Kirby, who was standing closest to it, was almost pulled inside! "Kirby!" Magolor shouted. He rushed over, grabbed Kirby's hands, and tugged with all his might. He was grasped by Taranza, who was grasped by Susie, and they all pulled together until their round friend was finally free. All four of them were sent flying by the force, with Kirby landing inside his hat (which was really too big for him). He popped out of the hat with a cooing dove on his head.
The danger was not over yet-the dark void was still giving off a powerful suction. "We have to get out of here!" Taranza told the others urgently.
Susie knew what to do. She mounted her Business Suit and said, "Everyone hop aboard!" Kirby jumped onto the top of the Business Suit behind her and Magolor and Taranza each rode on one of its arms. The machine lifted off the ground and soared swiftly through the hideout until it reached the hole in the wall. Parallel Landia, knowing something was up, was waiting for them when they exited the building, and he led them back to the Castle Village. When everyone landed safely they looked up at the Empyrean in the distance. They could see clouds of darkness surrounding Shadread's base...
