Kirby and the Rod of Darkness
Chapter 49: A Climactic Clash
"Nightmare!" the new form of Shadread said, "He was my cousin!" Kirby and his allies continued staring in shock. The pink hero remembered when Nightmare's power disrupted the pleasant dreams and peaceful slumber of Dream Land's residents, until he used the Star Rod to take him down. But he never would have guessed that Shadread was related to him.
"I looked up to him like an older brother," the shadowy villain continued, "until the day he went to take over the Fountain of Dreams on Popstar and was never seen again. Even without him, I tried as hard as I could to achieve my true form just as he once did. That's why I created the Rods of Darkness, the Shadow Gem, and finally the Nightmare Rod-the negative energy they collected brought me closer to my goal." He teleported himself to the highest level of the base. "But enough talk. Prepare to witness my true power!"
A cloud of darkness emanated from Shadread and the ground began to shake again. "Oh no, not again!" Beam Mage remarked.
Landia and his lookalike watched several small pieces of the ceiling fall from above. "Shadread's power has become so great that his hideout is slowly crumbling," he explained, "But fear not!" With a flash of light both dragons split into four smaller ones. "If we combine our power we can stop him!"
Kirby, Magolor, Taranza, and Susie each mounted a Landia, each member of Team Kirby mounted a Parallel Landia, and Parallel Susie brought out her Business Suit. They all took off and began to pursue Shadread, who was now swiftly hovering at the top of the lair. When the villain saw them following him he fired a stream of stars from his hand, but they were able to dodge these. All eight dragons breathed fireballs at him but he teleported behind them. Then he tried to swoop at them but Parallel Susie stopped him by launching missiles.
Kirby took the opportunity to strike while Shadread was briefly stunned by the attack. He tossed a rapid succession of throwing stars at the shadowy scoundrel, some of which stuck into his cape. "What do I look like, a dart board?" he commented once he recovered and shook the throwing stars off his cape. He shot two more streams of stars from his hands which were impossible to avoid, but Sword Hero created a barrier that protected the entire team from the assault. This allowed the eight dragons to ascend out of range and then ram into Shadread at high speed.
The villain fell back but was still ready for more. He created a ball of energy in his hand and shot it at the heroes as a powerful beam, which they barely evaded. When he did this a second time, Beam Mage charged up his staff and released a big ball of magic power; when it struck Shadread he suddenly became frozen in time. Even the small chunks of the walls and ceiling that broke off were suspended in midair, but Kirby and his allies were still able to move freely. "I don't believe it!" Susie marveled, "Beam Mage has the ability to stop time!"
Now was their chance! First the Landias approached the immobilized wizard, breathing fire while Kirby, Taranza, and Susie used throwing stars, magic webs, and blaster shots on him. "Shadread makes a really ugly statue, if you ask me," Magolor said before using some of his magic orbs on him. Next the Parallel Landias breathed fire while Sword Hero attacked with his sword, Hammer Lord with his hammer, Doctor Healmore with small gems from his flask, and Beam Mage with beams from his staff. Finally Parallel Susie struck with her Business Suit's spinning arms.
That was when the Time Beam wore off and Shadread regained his mobility. Now he was both injured and furious. "Enough!" he roared, "I will show you the ultimate power of darkness!" Suddenly his tornado-like body began to spin violently, threatening to suck in every one of his rivals. Parallel Susie, who was the closest to him, tried desperately to escape but her mech wasn't fast enough. The intense force damaged it and knocked it out of the sky. Unable to stop, it collided with the four Parallel Landias and took them down with it.
"Oh no!" Kirby cried out when he saw his comrades falling but it was already too late. The twister was too powerful to flee from and soon sent the four Landias falling. It also knocked Kirby's party off the dragons' backs; now they found themselves descending fast! What were they going to do?
The answer came when Kirby raised the Dream Rod and tapped into its power. Four rays of light came forth from its tip and engulfed each party member. There was a bright flash and then they were no longer falling, for an object similar to the Friend Star had materialized beneath them. Kirby held on to the star with a pink visor over his eyes while Magolor, Taranza, and Susie rode on the trail of light behind it. "It's the Star Allies Sparkler, the strongest Friend Ability!" he said, "Now we can take Shadread down!"
The Star Allies Sparkler speedily hovered toward Shadread, leaving sparkles in its wake. Now that his tornado attack had faded the battle could continue. "This is it, Shadread!" Taranza declared, "We've had enough of your nonsense! Now we're going to show you the ultimate power of friendship!"
"Ha! I don't think so!" Shadread retorted. He fired stars from his hands but the sparkler moved above them and struck him with small bursts of light. He created three large spheres of energy, the first of which landed a hit on his adversaries but they were able to recover. They shot a beam of light at the remaining spheres which blasted right through them, dissolving them and hitting Shadread.
At this point the villain's body began to flash; he was getting weak and desperate. When he started charging up a dark blast Kirby knew this was it-it was time for the powers of light and darkness to truly clash. "Everyone, give it your all!" Kirby called out to his comrades as the Star Allies Sparkler charged up a beam of light. That was just what they did once both bursts of intense power were released.
Light and darkness, positivity and negativity, good and evil...the two powers collided, each ray trying hard to overcome the other. Kirby and friends held their breath and watched intently, refusing to give in. Finally, with all their might they overpowered Shadread and light prevailed. Their burst of power overtook his and struck him with a mighty blow. "NOOO!" he yelled while he was engulfed in brightness and flickered like a hologram before fading into oblivion.
The evil wizard's demise caused his base to slowly vanish. Now Kirby's team could see they were high above the Empyrean but it was no longer dark and stormy. The sun shone brightly above the clouds, and the crystals covering the mountain glistened beautifully in the sunlight. The Star Allies Sparkler descended to the peak, its riders landing there once it disappeared. They found Team Kirby, Parallel Susie, Landia, and Parallel Landia waiting for them there. "You guys are okay!" Kirby was happy to see them.
"Of course we are," Hammer Lord replied, "We're all able to fly to some extent, remember? So we had a soft landing."
"And just in case any of us were hurt, I used my healing potion," Doctor Healmore added, holding up his flask.
Parallel Susie hopped out of her machine. "But my Business Suit can't be healed, so I'll have to take it to my headquarters for repairs."
"We no longer sense Shadread's presence anywhere," Parallel Landia told the others, "You have vanquished him at last and he will not be causing any more trouble. Thanks to you, the universe is safe once again." What wonderful news that was! Now it was time to return to the Castle Village but Susie noticed something before leaving. Every trace of Shadread's hideout was gone except for one thing-Mirrobo was lying motionless in its place with the deactivator still in its back.
Everyone was overjoyed at the victory when they arrived at the village. Kirby was so happy he couldn't resist dancing around, and his dance was so contagious that Team Kirby joined him. Parallel Susie, however, discovered Bandana Dee was unsurprisingly taking a nap. "Sleeping again," she sighed before raising her voice, "Bandana Dee! You missed it! We took care of Shadread and you slept through the whole thing!"
Poor Bandana Dee was startled awake again and fell backward into the soil. "Don't worry, I still cheered you on in my dreams," he answered, climbing back out.
By now evening was arriving and the sun was starting to set. It was almost time for everyone to go home. "Thank you all for everything," Sword Hero said to his lookalike's team, "You helped us save our kingdom. It was great meeting all of you-I hope you'll come back and visit sometime!"
"That would be awesome!" Kirby replied, "We couldn't have done it without you!" With that the two Kirbys high-fived.
The pink hero and his friends were about to leave when Magolor thought of something. "Wait, there's one thing I still don't understand. If the Rods of Darkness didn't have to ability to teleport people, then why did Dedede and Dark Meta Knight disappear when they grabbed one? And how did Taranza, Susie, and I get sent to the Dream Palace at the start of our adventure?"
"King Dedede and Dark Meta Knight were indeed teleported," Landia explained, "but it was Shadread who did this rather than the Rods of Darkness. As for the three of you, the Dream Rod sensed the impending threat and summoned you to the Dream Palace before it was entirely drained." Now that they knew the answer and peace was restored, everyone said their farewells. Kirby, Magolor, Taranza, and Susie went back to Dream Land and Landia, Parallel Landia, and Parallel Susie returned to Another Dimension.