Following the victory against Skullseer, the group continues its journey through the cemetery, dealing with a few living tombstones trying to crush them. However, they eventually come before a wall with nowhere to go beside left or right to go around it. But before they start to do such a thing, Daroach points up his wand, letting the rest of them spot a red ribbon seemingly floating in the air, or more exactly, dropping from something invisible. Understanding what to do, the Kirbys jump at it and pull it down, tugging down a tarp that has been camouflage like the background and that Sweetie could swear hasn't been there before they tug the ribbon, or else, they would have seen it when they have come. It's even more confusing when the tarp reveals a mansion hidden behind it, looking really hold, with bones used as frames to the windows, and two giant bones mounted with skulls decorating the front, the eyes of the skull glowing. Nothing can be seen through the windows. Oh, and the roof looks like it's half dematerialized. Now she knows that there has been some illusion at work, or they would have seen the mansion from the side.
Stupid ghosts playing with their minds.
"Is that the haunted mansion that you talked about?" she asks. Dumb question, she thinks, because the appearance of this mansion really screams 'haunted'. But it's always good to ask just in case.
"Yes, it's this one," answers Daroach. "But before we enter it, I must warn you. There are many dangerous things that loom in the darkness in there and that we will not be able to fight back. In this manor more than anywhere else, remain in the light, unless you want to become another inhabitant of this mansion."
His warning give chills to everyone, and Dedede says "Noted."
At this, they enter the manor, entering a dark room with a few lights coming from lamps in the ceiling. From the little that they can see thanks to the light, the room, and probably the whole mansion, is really decrepit, with many holes everywhere, the forest and the cemetery visible through them, torn curtains hanging from the ceiling, and more spider web that they have ever seen in their life. There are also sculpted pumpkins, their sculpted eyes seemingly looking at them, some of them even looking through holes in the wall, making them uneasy. Add in candles that are not lightened, a chandelier with angry eyes looking more like a ghost, silhouettes of bats flying in the darkness, and an atmosphere that screams 'get out or you are gonna die', and you have the perfect haunted mansion for a good Nightmare Night. Excepted that nopony in their right mind would willingly want to go in it, even in Nightmare Night. This mansion is just too... scary. Even Sweetie, despite having fought ghosts, zombies, mummies, and creepy abominations, is glad that to be with her friends rather than being alone in this place. Even the cemetery and the dark forest outside aren't as wrong as this manor.
As Dedede knocks out the bats attacking them, Daroach points his wand in front of him, showing a door up on a platform, and a bomb block in the floor. "There are two ways. We will have to separate again. Sweetie, you will go up. Normally, this is the more dangerous path, but I have heard that you can create light with your horn, so you should be safe. Meanwhile, me and Dedede will take the way down."
"Alright, but just in case..." She gives the Fire ability to all the Kirbys, their fire hats producing light.
"Good thinking."
So Sweetie Belle and five of the Kirbys take the door, entering another part of the manor where Sweetie immediately lights her horn. Advancing slowly, they avoid being crushed by those block-like beings before seeing weird mirror-like blocks. When they are lightened, they disappear, letting the team continue until they reach a room with some lamps currently on and with a platform that they will have to press with their weight. They also see a Beanbon and a skull flying back and forth in panic. But then, the lamps turn off, and the skull covers himself in a purple cloud before charging at the Beanbon, devouring him.
Even if it's the Beanbon's fault for coming all the way here despite the clear danger, it's still disturbing to see something being eaten alive. At least, now, they know not to attack these things in the dark. But thanks to Sweetie's light spell, and the Kirbys' Fire ability, this will never happen.
So they easily destroy the skull before pressing the platform to open the door to let them exit this room. Before long, they reach a cannon that shoots them up through metal blocks, and in the following room, they have to pull down a tarp again, destroying the illusion, making a wall and windows disappear and revealing a couple of Waddle Dees that has been hidden behind them, bombs ready to be thrown. More victims of Necrodeus.
Rather than letting them here to be devoured by those flying skulls, they first knock them out before lifting them, two Kirbys for each Waddle Dees, and they continue. Another tarp further reveal however four more Waddle Dees... This time, Sweetie is the one lifting all of them with her magic.
Following the path through more of those skulls, mirror blocks, and mummy Beanbons, they find the first medal of the manor inside a flower blooming thanks to the light. However, just after, they have to choose between two doors. Three Kirbys take the door above, Sweetie hoping that they will be able to survive without her help, while the filly and the remaining two Kirbys take the door below. In the next section, they have to push big candle blocks blocking the way, including one that is being pushed toward them, but whatever has been pushing it hasn't been strong enough against them. When the block falls in a hole, Sweetie tries to not think about the squishing sound she hears. A second medal is found just after that, and they join with the three other Kirbys before passing another door.
But now, they enter a room full of blue clouds similar to the purple ones, except that they don't move, and when the light reaches them, they simply disappear before reappearing when the light goes away. The most dangerous path indeed. If that wasn't for their light, they would have had to follow a moving lamp, and it would have been very risky. While traversing the room, they find a third medal on a platform just before reaching the exit door.
The door leads them outside of the mansion, where Dedede, Daroach, and the remaining Kirbys are waiting for them on a big stone blocks that they have pushed, the mouse showing them a medal. Smiling, Sweetie Belle shows them the three medals they have gotten, as well the six Waddle Dees they have saved.
"There were Waddle Dees in there?" asks Dedede in surprise.
"They were ready to embush us with bombs. To think that Necrodeus would send Waddle Dees here despite the clear danger of them being eaten alive by those skulls things..."
Daroach takes a communication device and starts talking to it. "Hey Doc, we need you to come at the haunted mansion with your saucer."
...
"We need you to use your tractor beam to lift six Waddle Dees back to the airship."
...
"Yeah I know, but you can thank Necrodeus for this. That thing has no mercy."
...
"Very well, see you quickly. We are at the back of the mansion." And he turns the device off. "Doc is coming. He will bring the Waddle Dees to safety."
"Thank you Daroach."
They don't have to wait long before they see Doc approaching in his saucer. Using his tractor beam to lift the Waddle Dees, he flies away, letting the group continue.
While dealing with zombies coming out of the ground, Daroach says "We aren't finished with the mansion yet. There are still some medals in it."
"Then why are we outside?" asks Dedede.
"To use a door in the garden to enter the second part. It's also a good occasion to find the medals there."
Speaking of medals, they find a rainbow one by destroying a metal block in the floor, before they have to fight a bunch of living tombstone to open the way. just as they finish the fight, everything suddenly becomes darker, and lightning appear, making the dark area flash every few seconds, making the area even more scary.
"Just what we needed..." says Dedede with a groan.
They pass a door leading them to another part of the forest/garden behind the manor, Sweetie and the Kirbys using light to lead them through the dark. Thanks to this, they find a new medal in a star block not long before reentering the mansion, only for the door that they pass to lead them beside some kind of plantation of pumpkins, all sculpted with faces of course, along with a few trees. Not minding the pumpkins that are REALLY looking at them, they follow the path, avoid more block-like things wanting to crush them, which they probably wouldn't have seen in the dark, and they reach a small passageway barely big enough for Sweetie and Daroach to pass, forcing Dedede to crawl, to his annoyance. In it, they destroy a few metal blocks, opening a way in the floor.
Jumping in the hole, they pass a door that leads them to another part beside the pumpkins, and they have been forced to destroy a giant block thing trying to roll on them and blocking the way. They avoid spiked giant star blocks suddenly moving up of down, and use a cannon before destroying another block thing containing a rainbow medal.
Entering a room where the door closes behind them, they pass a door flying with bat wings, not minding the false one with the evil face beside it. After a small cannon maze, finding a medal in it, they enter another room with the door closing behind them, and pass another flying door, still not minding the false doors, this time two. In the next area, they suddenly hear an evil chuckle, before something charges at one of the walls, almost destroying it.
"What is it Daroach?" asks Sweetie Belle, gulping.
The thing charges at the wall again, fully destroying it, revealing what it is. A giant shadowy monster with a big mouth full of razor-sharp teeth, with no limbs. Somehow, they can see through the eyes. It chuckles again.
Daroach sweats. "Shadowbite, the master of this mansion... Probably the responsible of the war that shook the island in the past."
Shadowbite looks at them evilly before advancing, only to hesitate upon reaching the light.
"Oooh?" says Dedede with a smirk. "Master fears the light? Hahahahaha! A shadow is still a shadow! We have nothing to fear from it!"
Shadowbite growls at this.
"Even so, let's fight this thing," says Sweetie Belle. "Leaving it behind would be too dangerous."
"And how will you fight it, clever girl?" he asks.
Sweetie answers by taking Yin and Yarn who yell "Hey!"
"Time for you to do your job."
And so, she starts knitting, creating something rather big. Clawed feet, an elongated, muscled body ending with a long tail, two clawed hands, spikes on the back, a long neck, and a head with a big jaw full of sharp fangs and more spikes on it. For the eyes, she uses buttons. And thus, she creates a dragon, with a purple body, green light at the front from chin to tail, and green spikes.
Dedede's jaw drops. "Clever girl..."
Sweetie climbs the dragon, who roars at a sweating Shadowbite.
"Hey! that's me! I mean, that's adult me! Made of yarn! And smaller!" shouts Spike.
"Go Spikezilla!" they hear Sweetie shout.
The yarn dragon roars again before punching Shadowbite on the nose, sending it flying back where it comes from and through a wall. The shadow leaves behind a medal that Sweetie quickly takes before the slack-jawed expression of everyone, except the Kirbys who just jump in joy shouting "Poyo".
"Good job Spikezilla! So much for the master of this mansion." She looks at Yin and Yarn. "You saw that? That's a real dragon. Not like that oversized lizard that you created against me."
"Yeah yeah..."
"We understand..."
"You saw that everypony?!" shouts Spike. "She used me! SHE USED ME!! Scootaloo and Apple Bloom will not believe me when I tell them that! And I was so cool! Did you see when I punched that shadow thing through the wall?"
Applejack chuckles. "Yeah we saw."
"Woah, the power to give life to what she creates with yarn," says Rainbow Dash in awe. "You imagine what she could create with it?" She then starts to get excited. "She could create a giant robot me that shoot lasers from the eyes! That would be beyond awesome!"
"And meanwhile, she broke our dear princess nerd, again," says Discord with a laugh while pointing at Twilight who is looking at the portal with wide eyes without moving. "I thought that she learned her lesson."
"Seems like things a little too much impossible but still happening are still her weakness," says Pinkie. "Like creating and giving life to a dragon from yarn coming out of nowhere and without any spell to animate it. Don't worry, she will quickly recover."
"I know," replies Discord, before taking a marker. But before he can start to use it on Twilight, his arm is covered in magic, stopping it, and Twilight looks at him with an annoyed frown.
"Don't think about this."
"Drat."
Pinkie giggles. "Told you."
With Shadowbite gone, Sweetie has made the dragon disappear with a swing of Yin, and after some praises, the group advance, finding a last medal by plucking a plant hanging from the ceiling, before they exit the mansion, this time for good.
But their next destination should be as dangerous: the tower. After a small walk through the cemetery, the storm disappearing, making the area clearer, they return to the art of the island with the tower in sight. Destroying a giant hand made of stone cause a cannon to appear, which shoots them toward the tower, entering it through star blocks.
Inside the tower, there are thankfully no Skullys, probably all gone patrolling the sky around the islands of the cemetery, but another problem appears: it's teetering, forcing them to quickly move from one side of the tower to the other to not make it topple while climbing the platforms. They rapidly find a first medal before passing a door, reaching a part of the tower with holes in the walls and spiked balls that roll with the tower teeters. At least, they can use the holes to make some of the balls fall from the tower. The pigs with skull on the head return too, the air that they blow threatening to propel them through the holes and make them fall. Dedede is also eventually forced to wait outside the tower, being too big to pass through some parts of the tower, unless he wants to always crawl, making him vulnerable. However, once he is out of the tower, he has to deal with zombies and Skullys, but it is no problem for him.
After more climbing, they traverse a section where the walls at two sides of the tower have been fully destroyed, making the threat to fall in this section constant, but the walls quickly come back as they pass another door. But then come more of those giant hands of stone, those things ramming the tower to try to knock it over, forcing Sweetie and the others to quickly destroy them. They find a second medal on the way before they reach the top where a switch and a cannon are waiting for them. Daroach says that the switch is one of the two that will unlock the way toward the center of the island, so they press it before they take the cannon that propels them toward another hand, destroying it before it can hit the tower. With the hand destroyed, they continue until reaching the clouds where they find a rainbow medal before they find the mommy bird who accepts to bring them back on ground not far from the tower. They are joined by Dedede who has seen them on the bird.
"So we are done with the tower?" he asks.
"Yes," answers simply Daroach.
Sweetie looks at the tower with a frown. "Then let's destroy it."
"Let me do it!" shouts Dedede.
"Ok, but let me give you a little boost," replies Sweetie Belle before taking Yin and Yarn. She then uses them to create a cannon pointed toward the tower.
Dedede smirks. "Perfect."
He enters the cannon and is propelled toward the tower. While flying, he prepares his hammer, and as he is about to ram it, he swings his hammer and hits the tower violently with it, making it teeter enough so he can walk on the wall. On it, he jumps and drops back on it with his hammer again and again until he sees the tower started to fall. Clinging to it, he jumps from the tower just before it hits the ground with a big crash. When Dedede lands on the ground, all that remains of the tower are rubble.
"Ah! You! Have! Been! DEDEDEMOLISHED!!!"
Done with the tower, the group now go to the opposite side of the island, toward the base of the Space Oohroos, to search for the last switch and a spaceship to go search the medals taken by the monkeys. After traversing a bridge above muddy water, they find the switch in front of the base, along with two Oohroos wearing a bubble-like spacesuit with a visor in front of the eyes. When the Oohroos spot them, they panic and take the switch before quickly bringing it inside a spaceship that looks like a big saucer with a purple bottom, a grey top, two yellow eyes at the sides of the door, and two horns. The Oohroos jump in the ship that takes off toward space.
"Hey! Come back here or I swear you are gonna be on the menu tonight!" shouts Dedede.
"You eat monkeys?" asks Sweetie Belle.
"I eat everything that has meat and is not poisonous! Of course, I avoid eating things that can talk." He then looks up at the spaceship flying away. "Well now we have a new reason to find a spaceship."
"And quick before they go too far," says Daroach before running toward the entrance of the base, rapidly followed by the others.
Inside the base, they take a few elevators and fight some Oohroos before finding a room with the blueprint of a spaceship. However, the Oohroos in the room divide the blueprint into nine pieces before running away with eight of them, chased by the group.
"I already have enough of those guys," says Sweetie Belle.
The Oohroos go through three different doors a blue, yellow, and red, and the group first follow the one that has gone through the blue door. They leave the Waddle Dee that they encounter -he risks nothing in the base-, push a giant stone block, crushing the being that has been pushing it from behind, pull down another tarp to reveal more Waddle Dees, pass through a wall of star blocks, and pull another tarp to reveal one of the pieces of the blueprint.
Another tarp reveals a medal, and they find a second piece after pushing another stone block before they pass a green door that brings them back in the room with the three doors. This time, they take the yellow door, leading them to a dark room with lamps. Because Sweetie has given back to the Kirbys the Fire, Ice, Spark, Bomb, Stone, Needles, Ninja, Sword, Hammer, and Cutter abilities, there is only one Kirby that can light the way, but with the filly's light spell, it is enough.
They spot a painting of a Space Oohroos that is slightly tilted. Daroach huffs at such a stupid way to hide something before he knocks the painting away, taking the piece hidden behind it. Pulling down another tarp reveals the path, and they find another piece after destroying a couple of metal blocks in the ground. Before taking a green door that would probably bring them back to the room with the three doors, they spot a switch, and pressing it causes a few lamps to turn on, revealing another painting higher on a wall that they have missed in the dark despite the light from the light spell and Fire Kirby. This one is not tilted, but no need to be a genius to understand that something else is hidden behind it. So Daroach knocks it away and takes the piece hidden behind it.
Now they take the red door, and they have to swim through murky water full of jellyfish wanting to shock them. After a wall of star blocks, they find a piece in a clam, and another behind a stone block in the ceiling, before the Kirbys have to eat a bunch of green apples (in the murky water, yuck!) to make a medal appear. They find the last piece just after, under metal blocks in the floor, before they pass through the green door, returning to the room with the ninth piece of the blueprint.
Once the blueprint is assembled, the Kirbys take wrenches on the worktable, and in a cloud of dust, they build the spaceship like shown in the blueprint, a pink rocket-shaped spaceship with three orbs for landing gear, to everyone's amazement.
"With a good blueprint, Kirby can build a spaceship in record time..." says Daroach being chuckling. "Doc would be jealous."
"You are amazing Kirby!" shouts Sweetie Belle. She then gets an idea. "If I can ask Meta Knight the blueprint of the Halberd, does this means that you could build one too? A Halberd for us?"
The Kirbys look at each other, exchanging a few poyos, some rubbing their head, before they shrug. They don't know, but maybe. The Halberd is much bigger than this spaceship after all.
However, a small problem appears for Dedede: the door is too small.
"Curse!"
"Sorry Dedede, it seems like you will not be able to come..." says Sweetie Belle before thinking of something. "Unless I can shrink you with the Mini ability? I didn't think of that in the tower." She looks at the Kirbys. "Can I do that?"
"Uh... Poyo?" answers one of the Kirbys with a shrug.
"Well, let's test it."
She then turns toward Dedede, horn pointed at him, making his sweat in worry. After a couple of seconds, she shouts a beam, and sure enough, the next instant, Dedede shrinks until he is half his normal size, about as tall as Sweetie Belle.
"Sweet! It worked!" says Dedede. "Be happy everyone! I can finally come! Space! Be prepared to welcome the great Dedede!" he shouts while entering the ship, followed by the others.
"I should really test all I can do with this Mini ability. I should also see if there are other abilities that I have missed." says Sweetie Belle both to herself and the others while they enter.
Inside the ship, there are five computers in front of seven seats, and on the ceiling, there are three giant orange buttons. Seven of the Kirbys go on the seats to use the computers, while the last three go under the three buttons. The Kirbys at the computers then start pushing buttons, and the next instant, the ship takes off, exiting the base through a hole made for it. The three computers in the middle then start showing the exterior of the ship, reticles appearing in them, before the three Kirbys in front of those computers each take a wheel. The three Kirbys under the orange buttons keep a close eye on those computers.
"So, if I understand well, those three computers are for manipulating three cannons for targeting, and those orange buttons are for shooting?" asks Sweetie Belle.
The Kirby at the center confirms it with a nod and a poyo.
"What about those two computers at the sides?"
"Monitors," answers Daroach. "Probably to see things like the damage taken by the ship, the remaining fuel, the speed, and so on."
The Kirbys at those computers nod at him.
"So we just watch while the Kirbys do all the job?" asks Dedede.
They all nod.
"Alright."
Soon, following the direction taken by the Oohroos' spaceship, they exit Popstar's atmosphere, and the Kirbys at the three middle computers start to target the asteroids that threaten to ram the ship, and the Kirbys under the buttons jump at them to fire the cannons and destroy the obstacles. On the way, Daroach spots through the computers three medals floating in space, and he exits the ship to retrieve them, saying that he will join them later when they land.
After destroying a few small Oohroo UFO, the spaceship is eventually able to catch the one with the switch, and a space battle between the two spaceships start. Cannons come out of the Oohroo spaceship, only for them to quickly being destroyed by the Kirbys, each cannon destroyed damaging the enemy ship. After a moment, the Oohroos start to be tricky, and they try to trick the Kirbys by activating smaller cannons, only to immediately retract them, but this isn't enough to get the Kirbys who, even if they shoot at the wrong cannons, they still shoot at the right cannon. Later again, however, things start to become harder, with the Oohroos now using umbrellas to absorb the projectiles before firing them back at the Kirbys, damaging the ship. This force the Kirbys to be more cautious, not firing right when the spots open and waiting instead for when the cannons or the umbrellas get out. Thanks to this, they are able to destroy the Oohroo spaceship, which releases the switch that is propelled into space, and the Kirbys quickly chase it to catch it.
However, the chase is cut short when a big asteroid suddenly rams the ship from the side, taking everyone by surprise while forcing the Kirbys to land the ship on a small planet close enough. Once back on land, they all quickly escape the ship in fear of it exploding, discovering that on this planet, there is no gravity, making them float. In the end, the ship doesn't explode, but judging by the lights turning off, it will not be able to take off anymore.
The good news is that they have seen the switch land on this same planet, somewhere else. They have also spotted a base here, which is probably a Space Oohroo outpost that the apes wanted to hide the switch in. It's even probably here that they have taken the medals.
But now, they have to wait for Daroach to join them with the three medals, hoping that he has seen them land on this planet. So while waiting for him, Sweetie gives Dedede his normal size, and they admire the view, the group being able to see the wonders of space with the absence of atmosphere here.
"You know, despite the whole 'world in danger', 'almost dying every time', and 'fighting abominations' things, I love going on adventures. They almost always lead us to see wonderful things," She waves at the view. "Like this. The Rainbow Resort. That cloud world when we went to invoke Nova. The Mirror World. Just... anytime we go in space! Like now! Who knows what other wonderful things we will see in the next adventures?"
"Mmh... Maybe I should build a space station. No, better, a space resort, so we can have a good time while admiring the view and playing some games in low gravity,"
"You would need to ask Meta Knight to help you to transport the materials with his Halberd."
"I'm not sure that he would accept..."
"Then we can build our own spaceship. Seeing your new hammer, it is possible. And we can ask Kirby to help us."
"Poyo!"
"Ahahah! True! With him, the ship would be finished in a few seconds."
"I'm really thinking about this project of Halberd 2.0."
"And I hope that it will come true. Meta Knight wouldn't be the only one with an awesome battleship anymore."
"How would you name it?"
"The Warhammer!"
At this moment, they are finally joined by Daroach who floats down toward them. "Is everyone alright? I saw the asteroid crashing into the ship."
"Poyo!"
"We were waiting for you," says Dedede.
"The switch is somewhere on this planet."
"That's what I saw. I called the gang. As I'm talking, they are coming with the airship to take us back to Popstar. Until then, let's find the switch and the medals."
They all nod, before they pass the door, leaving behind the wreck of their spaceship. Swimming in space as if they are in water, they enter a tunnel full of creatures, including one that generate a black hole to try to pull the group toward it to devore them. They have to fight a giant space jellyfish to open a door, and not long after, they have to press a few switches to open more doors, leading them to a Skull Key, to their surprise. One slaughter of Skullys later, with a new medal in their possession, they press a switch to open a door before they pass another door leading them inside the base of the Space Oohroos, where there is gravity.
Not long after entering it, they enter a room where one of the Oohroos spot them before running away in panic. The Oohroo then presses a button, causing an alarm to resound in the area, and the doors of the room close, trapping them.
"They will not let us pass that easily," comments Daroach.
Dedede huffs. "We will still pass, no matter what they will bring against us."
Having no choice, they press two musical switch, making the room start to raise. Destroying all the obstacles and eliminating all the Oohroos attacking them, the room eventually does a whole loop, leading them to where the Oohroo has pressed the button earlier. Just before, they find a rainbow medal in a small space.
Once back on their original path, they pass a door and enter a room full of Oohroos busy eating bananas. Before they can understand what is going on, they are all knocked out in a few seconds, and the group pass the opening door to continue their exploration of the base. Just after, they find a blue switch that causes the gravity to disappear for a few seconds, letting the Kirbys eating a bunch of bananas. Another switch further lets the group fly swim up to find another medal, and to continue, they have to destroy a lot of metal blocks.
Now they have to choose between two paths: through a blocked door below, or swimming up through a corridor. In both cases, they have to press a switch to stop the gravity (or simply fly). Daroach and Dedede decide to take the door, leaving the corridor to Sweetie Belle. Once they press the switch and stop the gravity, Dedede and Daroach return to the door with five Kirbys and swim up to press a bunch of musical switch to open the door, while Sweetie and the five other Kirbys swim up through the corridor toward a door at the top.
While team Dedede-Daroach is busy swimming through a big corridor full of obstacles, team Sweetie Belle ends up exiting the base, finding themselves among many cannons on the roof. After passing another black hole creature, they discover a door that leads them to a switch that makes green apples appear in another room. But when the Kirbys eat all of them, it just causes a bunch of fruits to appear, much to the Kirbys' joy. The door that follows leads them back in the previous area.
Just after, they find a Jumbo Candy, and they charge through the many obstacles in the way, Sweetie taking a key that she uses on a chest a little further to obtain a medal. Not long after, as the Kirbys return to normal, they take a cannon that shoots them away from the base, inside a tunnel, quickly joined by team Dedede-Daroach who has found another medal.
"I think that's it. Now all that remains is the switch," says Daroach.
"It's right here!" shouts Sweetie Belle, who points at the exit of the tunnel, at the top of a stone pillar.
After pressing the switch, they haven't had to wait long for Daroach's airship to come. With his instruction, the Squeaks have quickly found them, and before long, they are back on Volcano Valley, ready to start exploring the unlocked area, where they will find the last medals, and the path toward the center of the island to fight Skullord.
Putting behind this space episode, they traverse again the cemetery, fighting many zombies They quickly find a key, but while searching for the chest, they have to fight Skullys harassing them. A rainbow medal is also found under a tombstone. Pushing another tombstone also opens the way into an underground tunnel leading to a crypt. Here, they find a big double door locked and chained, the chains coming from two other doors, with a third, blue door between those two.
"Do you know what is in there, Daroach?" asks Sweetie.
"I think... It's the den of Buzzybat, a redoubtable bat that can call its family to swarm us and protect itself. It is probably guarding the path toward Skullord. As for what is in those three smaller doors, I don't know. Probably powerful enemies to guard the chains and the key."
"Powerful, but not enough. Let's go," says Dedede.
They enter the first door above them, and they enter a room with a being familiar to Sweetie and Kirby: a giant robotic gear.
"Oh. Great Gear," says Daroach.
"Seriously? That thing? This will be a piece of cake," says Sweetie Belle.
Its weak points, some red small gear, is visible. However, Great Gear covers it in glass, and Stone creatures drop on the chains beside Great Gear, making it turn to cover the glass. Already knowing what to do, Sweetie and Kirby destroy some of the stone enemies, making Great Gear turn and reveal the glass that they attack and destroy before attacking the red gear, damaging Great Gear. At this moment, angry, Great Gear spits sand, turning the floor into quicksand, and spits two mummies. More stone enemies then come on the chains to make Great Gear turn, some of them covered in spikes, but against their projectiles, they don't last long. Easily dealing with the mummies and the stones, they reveal and attack Great Gear's weak point for the second time. A third attack on the weak point definitively destroys Great Gear. The door back to the previous area appears, and when they take it, the chain linking the door they come from to the big one is destroyed.
"So, which enemy do you think we will fight in the next one?" asks Dedede.
"Among all the ones we fought on those islands, I have no idea. We will quickly see," answers Sweetie Belle.
They pass the next door, the blue one, and this time, they have to fight the giant worm-like creature with the spiked helmet and that have had a door trapped in it. They remember smashing it without even fighting it thanks to a Jumbo Candy. Well now, seems like they will have to fight it, but now, the metallic segments are now magenta and spiked, and the orange parts are now yellow, a giant key trapping in them. And it has clearly become an undead. Daroach calls it a Big Warmiggle.
They quickly attack the yellow part to hurt it before it goes back in the ground. Each time that they feel the worm coming back under their feet/hooves, they run away and attack the yellow part before it returns in the grounds. After a moment, it comes out of the ground and enters the ceiling before coming out of it above them, and they quickly avoid it before attacking its weak point. As a last stand, the worm tries to surprise them by coming directly from the ceiling, but they see it coming, avoid it, and attack it, making it spit the key before it stops moving, its body remaining hanging from the ceiling. They take the key, which the head looks like a purple bat, and pass the appearing door, leaving the corpse of the giant worm behind.
Back in the room with the big door, Dedede says "Alright. We got the key. Only one chain to destroy."
"We got an enemy from Green Grounds, and one from Sandy Canyon," says Daroach. "The last one will probably come from Dedede Resort."
"The only one that I can see is the giant eel that I fought in the underwater caverns of the lake," says Sweetie Belle.
"King Eelongo. Yes, I see it too."
After putting the giant key in the lock of the big door, they enter the third door, which is orange, and they enter a room that is flooded in murky water, and before long, they see the giant eel of stone, now purple, charging at them, jaw wide open. Sweetie Belle puts herself in front of the eel, and at the last moment, as the eel closes its jaw on her to bite, she turns into metal, breaking its teeth. While in metal, still in its jaw, she charges her energy between her hooves, like when she charges her Giga Force Blast. But she charges more, much more, before releasing it in an energy beam almost as big as her that traverses King Eelongo from head to tail, causing the stone parts of its body to crumble, only leaving the skeleton that breaks down into pieces.
"Oh, now you can shoot energy beams from your hooves?" asks Yarn.
She giggles. "Since my battle against Dark Mind, I always wanted to shoot another one without needing the energy boost from Meta Knight's sword. I trained a lot since then, so I wanted to test if I could do it now."
Dedede rubs his head in wonder. "Maybe I should start training to use my energy too..."
They return to the room with the big door, and with the last chain destroyed, they open it. They enter a room, and find Buzzybat, which is surprisingly adorable. Buzzybat is a yellow bat that is just a head with two purple wings. The head resembles the one of a cat, with two big round red eyes. Similar bats, those ones black with blue eyes, are also in the room, putting themselves between them and Buzzybat.
They don't lose time and quickly attack the black bats to open the way to attack Buzzybat. Sweetie and Daroach are able to fly to it and hit it a few times before sending it with a big punch toward the ground where Dedede and the Kirby swarm it until it suddenly disappear, only to reappear with more of the black bats, and also a big round red bat with spikes on its body. A bomb eliminate the spiked bat, and the black bats quickly get the same fate, leaving the group to swarm Buzzybat who quickly disappears. When he reappears with more black bats, he turns red in anger and absorbs the other bats, turning into a flying, one eyes grave that tries to crush them. They avoid it, and Dedede immediately counterattack with a swing of his hammer before it can fly back up, destroying the grave and slamming the bat itself on a wall. Buzzybat recovers, disappears, and reappears surrounded by both the black and red bats that turn rapidly around it while they approach to ram the group. Some projectiles quickly eliminate the bats, and they attack Buzzybat again until, with one last whimper, the skin of the bat disappears in a poof, leaving its skeleton to fall on the ground.
"I wouldn't be surprised to learn if this bat was actually some kind of lich bringing back the dead to defend itself or to hunt its prey," says Daroach.
"If that's the case, then maybe this island will become safer from now," replies Sweetie Belle.
"But we still have to eliminate Skullord."
At this, they pass the door, reaching a new part of the crypt where they find a medal after lowering a platform. After a secret door, they also find the chest that the key they have found earlier opens, and they obtain the last medal. And so, they exit the crypt, and start their way toward the center of the island.
From there, they have taken a path that makes them climb toward the center of the island, which is also its top, leaving behind the cemetery and all its horrors. After some climbing they start to see a big volcano at the very center of the island, and they eventually take a door that leads them closer of it while also dropping them on a fragile rock platform between two walls similar to that moment with the falling boulders at the start of the island. Everything then shakes, until an absolutely titanic pig-like creature with a skull covering his head excepted his snout and his eyes comes out of the volcano. The pig wears a crown made of bones, with a humanoid skull on the front, and fire comes out from his ears.
"That's him. The Skullord," says Daroach.
"He is HUGE!" shouts Sweetie Belle.
"He could feed the whole army for at least one month," says Dedede, making Sweetie facehoof.
While the platform starts to raise, Skullord shoots boulders from his snout at them, forcing the group to destroy them so they don't destroy the platform. After some time, they reach a cannon that propels them toward Skullord, hitting him on the head where the skull doesn't cover it with enough forcing to push Skullord in the volcano and stunning him. On his head, they take the occasion to attack him with everything they have until Skullord recovers his senses and blows air toward them to propel them out of the volcano.
Quickly, Sweetie gives the Wing ability to all the Kirbys and uses the Mini ability to shrink Dedede before getting him on her back (By Celestia, he is still heavy!) and they all fly out of the volcano as Skullord gets his head out. They fly back to attack him, and Skullord rapidly restarts shooting boulders, those ones covered in fire. They easily avoid the boulders, but when they get too close, Skullord tries to slap them as if they are flies. But they are just too many for him, and they are often able to land a hit on his head not covered by the skull, or on the eyes. Dedede also uses his hammer to deflect the boulders back at the giant pig, greatly hurting him.
After a time, Skullord shoots a giant boulder, at least five times bigger than the others, and when Dedede hits it with his hammer, he ends up stuck in a showdown. Seeing this, the Kirbys and Daroach come to help him, and together, they send the boulder back at Skullord, the boulder hitting him on the snout and stunning him. While he is stunned, Sweetie flies above Skullord followed by the Kirbys, and she gives the Metal ability to all of them and herself, making all of them drop on Skullord's head, pushing him back inside the volcano. On his head, while he is still stunned, they all jump on it at the same time, their total weight hurting him when they all land at the same time.
While they jump again and again, Daroach comes and fires his ice beam at the snout, trapping it in ice, which forces Skullord to open his mouth to breath. Understanding what Daroach is about to do, sweetie gives the Bomb ability to all the Kirbys, and together with Daroach, they throw dozens of bombs inside Skullord's mouth, hurting him from inside. When Skullord finally recovers, he rapidly punches his own snout to destroy the ice, and he propels them out of the volcano again.
Once out, Skullord starts to climb out of the volcano, having enough of this fight. His action causes the volcano to spit lava, and cracks appear everywhere, more lava coming out of them. When Skullord spots them flying again, he takes a big shunk of the ground and throws it at them. Sweetie has thankfully gotten enough time after understanding what skullord has been about to do to call her Warp Star, and with all of them clinging at it as best they can, they are able to avoid the attack. With difficulty because of their weight, Sweetie then turns the Warp Star toward the walking Skullord and rams him on the head, making him slam head first on the ground, which causes the whole island to shake.
Skullord gets back up with difficulty, and discovers that Sweetie and the others are now on his head again. Instead of expelling them, he jumps and turns on his back, wanting to crush them between his head and the ground, but they fly away before that, and Skullord just provokes another earthquake that starts to collapse the whole area, the volcano crumbling and giant chunks of ground disappearing under rivers of lava that quickly grow in size and number. This comes to the point that Skullord loses foot and falls in it. But for someone who has been living in a volcano for many years, a lava bath is nothing, so he emerges a few seconds later with not even a burn. But then, he is hit on the head by the Warp Star followed by Sweetie and the Kirbys, all metal, dropping on his head before the filly gives them the Wing ability and they fly away as Skullord returns fully in the lava with a big yell of pain.
Skullord comes back out of the lava, only for some dark clouds to come out of him, the power given to him by Necrodeus seemingly escaping him. As this happens, Skullord thrashes around, his yells of pain becoming louder as they see the lava starting to burn his skin. He tries to get out of the lava, but at this point, the whole area as been submerged in lava, and the few ground remaining crumble under Skullord's weight. As more dark clouds come out of him, more of his skin burns and melts, until Skullord disappears in the lava, seemingly giving up. Only for him to come out a few seconds later, now just a skeleton as the last dark clouds escape his body. At this, the skeleton stops moving, breaks down into pieces, and sinks in the lava.
Thus disappears the Skullord.