Kirby and the Rod of Darkness

Chapter 33: A Bug Problem


Kirby rolled over onto his back and stared at the ceiling in the darkness of the night. Magolor was asleep on his bed; Taranza couldn't be seen through his web but he was most likely asleep as well. Kirby didn't usually have trouble sleeping so he wasn't sure why he couldn't sleep tonight. Finally he sat up on his cushion and thought to himself, It's no use-I just can't sleep. Then he remembered what Susie told him a while back about what she did when she couldn't sleep, which gave him an idea. He got up and headed outside.

Stars in the skyyyy…

Unlike Susie, Kirby was not gifted with musical talent. In fact, his singing was so bad it injured nearby enemies (and gave nearby friends a headache). That was why when he started singing, Magolor and Taranza were jolted awake by the noise; the former jumped up in bed while the latter fell from the ceiling. "What is that awful racket?" Magolor wondered.

The two of them quickly left the room and found that Susie was awake too, standing at the entrance to her room. "I'm glad Kirby likes my song," she said, "but I wish he'd sing it more quietly!" All of them had to cover their ears as they approached the Lor's exit.

All you have to doooo is believe in youuuu!

Kirby had just finished his song when his allies came over to him. "Kirby, your singing is loud enough to wake the dead!" Taranza told him.

Kirby decided he did not want to wake the dead. "Sorry," he replied, "I guess I got carried away." He yawned and got up from the rock he was sitting on. "I'm getting sleepy now, anyway." With that, he went back inside.

Susie shook her head. "Poor Kirby. He couldn't even get singing lessons-his instructor would go deaf!"

Now that it was quiet, all was calm and peaceful again. Magolor, Taranza, and Susie were wide awake now, so they took a few moments to watch the fireflies flying about. The tiny creatures' flashing lights almost seemed to sparkle in the stillness of the night.

Susie took a few steps forward and started singing to herself as she gazed at the fireflies:

In the night the fireflies

The fireflies, they glow so bright

In their flight the fireflies

Are a beautiful sight

The little bugs seemed to like her song; they were hovering around her while she sang. "Hee hee! Sometimes I'll just start singing about whatever's on my mind at the moment," she giggled, "My workers are used to it by now."

Magolor and Taranza noticed three small lights floating together a short distance away. These particular ones were larger than fireflies and glowed continuously. "Those are too big to be fireflies," Taranza said to Magolor, "They must be pieces of the Dream Rod's energy!"

Suddenly the bright objects changed direction and collided with Magolor's face, knocking him down. "Ow! They're pretty strong too!" he remarked. Once he got back up, Taranza and he chased after the orbs with Susie following.

It didn't take long to catch up to the pieces of energy. Taranza grabbed them, but then something dark suddenly charged right at him and seized him. It was another Shadow Beast, this one resembling a Bugzzy, and it had a surprised Taranza caught in its massive pincers! "Oh no!" he cried out, "A spider caught by a bug! Now the tables have turned on me!" He tried to struggle free but the beast only tightened its grip. "Let me go! I can't breathe!" Fortunately Magolor knew what to do. He sent fiery spheres at the Bugzzy's back, causing it to drop Taranza and leap away like a Rabiroo. Susie and he couldn't help but laugh at that.

The next morning Kirby was surprised to be the first one awake. Magolor and Taranza were fast asleep and Susie was still in her room. Since he didn't have much to do while he waited for them to wake up, he decided to have some breakfast…

When Magolor, Taranza, and Susie did wake up, they found a startling sight in the room where the food was kept. Kirby was eating waffles, and they could tell by the lack of breakfast food in the open cabinet that he'd eaten more than his share. "Kirby! What do you think you're doing?!" Magolor said, looking annoyed.

At this Kirby jumped up, realizing what he'd done. He couldn't believe he ate every waffle in the ship-well, maybe he could believe it-but he certainly didn't want his friends to be mad at him. "D-don't worry, I'll go get some more!" he exclaimed, rushing out the door.

Finding more waffles was not a difficult task since food had the strange tendency to appear out of nowhere on Popstar. But as Kirby walked around filling up a basket, he caught sight of a shadowy Bugzzy coming at him. "No, no, you can't have my waffles!" he shouted, jumping up in alarm. He raised the basket over his head and zoomed back to the Lor.

Panting, Kirby burst into the room where Magolor, Taranza, and Susie were waiting. "What's the matter?" Susie asked him.

"There's...there's a monster...out there!" he gasped.

Before anyone could react, the beetle-like Shadow Beast entered the room with a menacing glare. Kirby quickly stuck his basket of waffles in the cabinet before everyone ran from the beast. When they passed the other cabinet containing Magolor's stash of Gem Apples, the Bugzzy accidentally bumped into it. As a result, the doors opened and Gem Apples rolled out all over the floor. "My Gem Apples!" Magolor cried out. The Bugzzy didn't like seeing the shiny fruits on the floor any more than he did. They were too slippery to stand on so it fell on its back trying to get off of them.

That mishap gave Kirby and the others a chance to escape but not for long. The Bugzzy was still able to make it to the main room right after they did. They knew they couldn't keep running forever. "Taranza, can't you do something about this since you're a spider?" Kirby said to his silver-haired ally.

"But I'm a civilized spider! I don't eat bugs!"

"You don't have to eat it," Susie stated, "Just catch it in a web!"

"Oh right, why didn't I think of that?" Taranza laughed nervously. He flung magic webs at the Bugzzy until it was trapped in a large pod. Then he picked up the pod, hurried outside, and threw it as far as he could. However, the Bugzzy was not ready to give up and charged at Kirby's team as soon as it was free. Luckily Magolor was ready for it. He smacked it on the head with his Ultra Sword, causing it to vanish in a puff of smoke.

For a few moments no one spoke. Everyone was relieved to be rid of the Shadow Beast but also wondered why another one was coming after them. It was Kirby who finally broke the silence. "Why do you suppose that Bugzzy was going after us? Did Shadread find out about the Dream Rod's power somehow?"

"He's weak against that kind of energy, so I can't imagine he'd want to collect it himself," Magolor answered, "Since he already got the negative energy he wanted from Susie, he's probably trying to get some from Taranza next."

That was a troubling thought, especially for Taranza. "We'll never let that happen!" Kirby declared.

By now Magolor, Taranza, and Susie were starving. They were glad to finally have some breakfast even if it was almost lunchtime. When they were finished eating, Taranza and Susie helped Magolor put all the Gem Apples back in the cabinet where they belonged. At the same time, Kirby was resisting the temptation to eat more food from the Lor by walking around outside and eating whatever food he found. Everyone was happy to no longer be in bug trouble.