Harmony of Heroes: Ultimate Multiverse Explorers

by Lucar

Chapter 134: Originull Wasteland Part 1

Following Dedede took many hours. Obviously because of Dedede's weight, the Clockers transporting him flew slowly and regularly needed to rest. As they flew over the ocean, they stopped on almost every islands they found for a few minutes before restarting their flight.

Meanwhile, Marx tried not to think about his unexpected defeat, and the Sonics groaned that they were defeated so easily, feeling a bit down as a result, and also impressed. For a fat penguin, he got them good, he was stupidly strong.

The Lor informed everyone that the being that had been following them since Natural Plains, regularly leaving only to rapidly return, swam ahead. They were also informed that Gorimondo hadn't attacked the Waddle Dee town since around the fight against Dedede. Considering that Dedede certainly knew that they were following him, the heroes had no doubt that the Beast Pack was preparing something. The Lor even saw Clawroline in the distance, being transported by another flock of Clockers in the same direction that Dedede was going.

By the time they arrived at what seemed to be their destination, the sun was already setting. The land they approached was an arid wasteland, but judging by the large presence of wrecks and what they transported as well as fossilised corals (among buoys and other stuff), at least part of this desert was once upon a time an ocean.

Elfilin was visibly shaking. "This place... It's Originull Wasteland. The Beast Pack's birthplace. I should have guessed..."

"Oh boy. We are entering enemy territory. Then let's prepare for a lot of resistance," Sweetie Void said.

To their surprise however, Dedede didn't stop here and the Clockers continued to transport him toward a huge volcano visible in the distance, they could barely see it because of the sand in the air. Elfilin gulped when he saw the volcano. Or more exactly, the city that was visible on top of the volcano's chimney. However, the heroes had to stop here as Krystal told them that Waddle Dees were present.

"Something you want to tell us, Elfilin?" Phantom asked when she saw Elfilin's reaction.

"Y-yeah... You see that city on the volcano? There is a laboratory in it. That's where I woke up for the first time. I don't remember anything before that time, so I don't know if I was born there or if I had a life before. All I know is that, when I woke up, there was chaos. There was smoke, an alarm was blaring, humans were running everywhere shouting stuff, and one of them tried to grab me, but I escaped. And since then, while I have explored the whole planet, I never returned there because, I don't know, there is something in this place that gives me the chill. Something wrong. Something that I want to remain away from."

At this, everyone exchanged looks.

"Am I the only one who has a bad feeling about that last part?" Pikachu asked.

"Nope," Apple Death answered.

"And I'm sure that, whatever it is, it will have something to do with whatever cosmic abomination we may end up fighting at the end of this adventure," Sweetie said.

"Uhh... So far, we have been fighting wild sapient animals to free Waddle Dees. How would we end up fighting a cosmic abomination from that?" Jeff asked.

"Because, that's generally how most adventures in the Dream Universe or related finish. Remember that warning I put in the text I sent to recruit you guys? It didn't come from nowhere," Sweetie answered. "To tell you an example, my first adventure consisted of exploring a bunch of islands to find rainbow pieces to repair some bridges. Then, suddenly, incarnation of darkness! And bam! Big fight of legends in the atmosphere above the planet! So prepare yourself. With a laboratory, for all we know, we will end up fighting some experiment gone wrong left behind by the humans."

"Uhm... Maybe I am the experiment gone wrong," Elfilin pointed out, a bit saddened at the thought.

Sweetie wanted to reassure him that he wasn't and had her hoof lifted, but she couldn't think of anything to contradict him. He did just say that his earliest memory was in this laboratory. He could really be a creation of the humans.

Thankfully, Bandana Dee was here. "Well, if this is the case, it would be a happy kind of wrong, because it created a very nice friend!"

"Poyo/Yeah!" Kirby and Sweetie quickly agreed, the filly silently thanking Bandana. Some of the others also added their word.

Elfilin brightened so much that he looked like a small star.

"But before thinking of what may await us in this laboratory, we have this desert to explore first," Anubis reminded.

"Right, right."

---

Like always, the Lor dropped everyone not far of the nearest Waddle Dee while Galacta Knight went to patrol the sky. However, a sandstorm started, promising a much more complicated life for everyone.

After passing a stone arch, they encountered a lone Awoofy standing guard. This Awoofy looked like the ones that had been at Dedede's size, and Elfilin informed that these special, more agressive Awoofies were known as Primal Awoofies.

When this Primal Awoofy saw them, it howled, announcing their presence to the rest of the Beast Pack. Past Sonic quickly shut it up, but he was too late.

Not that the heroes cared. They already knew that lots of big fights awaited them when coming to this place. It was the cradle of the Beast Pack, after all.

After the Primal Awoofy, they walked on a bridge formed by several shipping containers before the first Beast Pack members came to attack them, including some huge blue snakes with with green stripes that Elfilin called Sssnackers. Some of them guarded a chest with a piece of a key in it.

"How do ya think Twilight would have reacted if she saw these snakes?" Apple Death wondered.

"Very badly," Phantom answered. "She would have either teleported to the other side of the world, or blasted the snakes and everything around them by the same occasion into ash."

"It makes me want to show her one of these snakes to see which one would come true," Marx said.

Among the enemies, there were also yellow lizard-like creatures seemingly made of sand that Sweetie Void recognized as Sandrans, beings that usually remained out of the way. Getting a feeling, Kirby inhaled one, gaining another new Ability: Sand. He gained a crown made of sand atop a tiara, and as anyone could guess, he could use sand to attack.

Kirby immediately made use of it, showing to everyone its power. An Ability with near limitless potential. A huge plus to his arsenal.

Fighting through more Primal Awoofies and other enemies, including lots of Bernards, the heroes arrived at a large puddle of poison with platforms on it, some moving around an immobile circular one. On the immobile platforms were switches that the heroes had to press in a certain order to reveal another piece of key. To make it less risky, Kirby, Sweetie Void, and Francisca used water to get rid of the poison.

Further ahead, in the middle of a flock of Pactos, Kirby found a ring that he inhaled. With the powerful gusts of wind he could fire thanks to it, he cleared piles of sand to see if anything was hidden in them, finding another chest with another piece of key this way. By the same occasion, he sent the sand into the enemies' eyes, leaving them vulnerable.

Not long after the ring, they arrived at another large puddle of poison with more platforms positioned exactly like the previous group, including the moving ones, but instead of switches, there were fans, and they were guarded by a large pack of Scarfys. So, while Sweetie used water to clean the puddle and Kirby blasted wind on the fans, the others dealt with the Scarfys and other enemies present. Blowing all the fans revealed another piece of key.

"This makes four of them," Dixie said. "How many do you think we will have to collect?"

"One of two more, I think," Meta Knight answered.

"I just hope that we haven't missed any," Ness said.

After passing some pillars that conveniently fell as they passed, the heroes reached the wreck of a ship with lots of containers on it. The Mage Sisters spotted on it another key piece, possibly the last one, guarded by a Fleurina. The three quickly dealt with the dancing bird while some of the others climbed, then they took the key piece and gathered it with the others to reform the key which just happened to open a gate in one of the containers, with a Waddle Dee trapped behind.

With this, Krystal revealed that they were done with this area, so they climbed back in the Lor, much to the pleasure of some of the heroes who couldn't stand the heat. The inside of the Lor was just at the right temperature. And no sand on the eyes.

"We fought more Beast Pack members in this area alone than in all of Natural Plains. This really is the Beast Pack's territory," Pikachu said.

"Yeah, and this is just the beginning," DK replied.

"Speaking of," Jeff began. "The Beast Pack comes from this place, and this place reveals to be an ancient port. Could it be that the Beast Pack were at the origin animals ready to be transported across the ocean when humanity left? Maybe zoo animals?"

"With the presence of a laboratory not far? I'm ready to bet my arm that these animals were experiment subjects," Phantom said. "And maybe they were about to be sent back to their original habitats. This would explain why these specific animals gained sapience, maybe as an unexpected secondary effect of one of these experiments, and it didn't develop until a bit later."

"Any idea, Elfilin?" Sweetie Void asked. "Is it true?"

Elfilin shrugged. "I'm not sure. I tried to remain away from the humans, especially from the scientists of the labo, so I didn't follow what they were doing. But I guess that this is a possibility. Uh. So the Beast Pack and I may have the same origin. I don't know what to feel about that."

---

The Lor dropped the heroes at the beginning of a narrow path spanning an abyss. Because of this, they had to carefully advance while avoiding to accidentally push someone beyond the edge, and they tried to compose their formation so the ones who didn't have any projectile to fight (and who couldn't fly, of course) were at the front. Already, Beast Pack members were charging at them.

Advancing on the path, they had to avoid more falling pillars. There were particularly many of them on a part of the path that formed a small staircase. The flying heroes purposely flew ahead to make them fall in advance. Sweetie also sent a gust of wind to blow out a sand pile at the foot of a pillar to make it fall right on a cracked part of the ground, opening a hole revealing a treasure chest with a trapped Waddle Dee.

Another ring was present a bit further ahead, among more falling pillars, but Kirby decided to not bother with it this time. He was flying with the Dyna Wing Ability, and using the ring would only make him take place among the others.

Sweetie made another pillar fall on another cracked section of ground, revealing a secret door that Kirby passed with Dixie and Ness. In the end, only Kirby was needed as he had to pass a series of falling pillar to reach a trio of them blocking the way to a Waddle Dee. With the Dyna Wing, it was piece of cake, and he easily blew out the sand stopping the three last pillars from falling by sending wind with his powerful wings.

It didn't take long for the three of them to catch up with the others who were now slowly traversing a grid surrounding a pipe that served as a bridge to the following cliff. The grid was even more narrow than the previous path, and it was guarded by Beast Pack members (especially Pactos), so the advance was very slow, and some of the heroes decided to let flying friends transport them to the end.

After one last set of falling pillars once they reached the cliff, they reached a wall that they had to climb by a ladder, discovering a hotel. A golden cage with three Waddle Dee was just at its foot, the Clockers having long since escaped.

Just then, the sandstorm calmed down.

And they didn't even need to return inside the Lor. Krystal informed them that the next Waddle Dees were in this very hotel built around an oasis.

But before they could enter this hotel, they had to clear the way which was blocked by debris.

---

It took some time, but they were able to enter the hotel's courtyard, which had a dried-up pool. And of course, as it quickly became an habit by now in this desert, it was heavily guarded by the Beast Pack who had already formed a welcome comity. To make matter worse, toxic sludge was present here and there, forcing the water users to clean it to avoid that someone would accidentally step on it in the middle of the action.

The heroes then had to move around a wall that surrounded a secret pool, which was not so secret for the ones who could fly. And luckily, a Clocker with a captured Waddle Dee thought that it would have been a nice hiding place. Again, the water-users had to work a lot to clean the sludge which was heavily present, and they even had to deal with a huge frog that was entirely covered by it and even spat more of it at them, making it the responsible of all that sludge present around. Using water on it cleaned it and revealed that it was blue and yellow, and Elfilin recognised it as a Poison Croakom. Once the poison was cleaned from its body, it was defenseless.

The heroes then had to use one of Sweetie's flying carpets to continue, going on the rooftop of the hotel that formed a narrow path (less narrow than previously for the most part, thankfully) covered in sand with more toxic sludge. Lots of Totengas were attempting to block the way while other enemies attacked. When they reached another Poison Croakom, they found another Clocker with a Waddle Dee trying to hide on a moving floating platform just above.

Just beside the frog and the moving platforms was a water tower. The heroes could move on to the next door without having to explore it, but Kirby, with Marx and Dark Meta Knight, decided to give a look and had to move a dome at the top to open a chute that led to a pipe. He inhaled the pipe to wrap it and rolled through a cracked wall, then continued to roll on a long path where he had to jump a lot to cross pits and puddles of toxic sludge while crushing lots of Totengas on the way. One last jump made him crash through another cracked wall, revealing another captured Waddle Dee.

Not far of where he crashed was another door that eventually led to the same place than the previous door, allowing Kirby, Marx, and Meta Knight to join the others with the Waddle Dee they saved so Sweetie could send him home.

In this new area, they were at the bottom of a wall on top of which was a Poison Croakom that spat sludge on the heroes, forcing the flyers to quickly deal with him while the others dealt with Digguhs. They then climbed a ladder to join where the Poison Croakom had been where they saw another door behind a grid. They could dig under the grid to join the door, but they first had to clean the toxic sludge present here.

So, once Sweetie cleaned the sludge, Kirby used the Drill Ability, upgraded into Twin Drill, to pass the grid while Little Ghost and Pikachu followed him respectively by passing through the grid and by using Dig.

At the other side of the door, the Waddle Dee was trapped behind a gate, and it turned out that they had to search pieces of key in the sand on platforms moving on a ground entirely covered in toxic sludge to open it. However, Little Ghost didn't bother and passed through the gate to free the Waddle Dee right away. The problem was that, afterward, the two had to wait for the gate to be opened anyway because the Waddle Dee couldn't pass through the gate.

Too bad Kirby forgot that he could use the ESP Ability to teleport through the gate with the Waddle Dee, but he could be forgiven. He had too many Abilities to always think of the right choice, and Drill seemed the most obvious at the time.

While Kirby, Little Ghost, and Pikachu had to wait to gather five pieces of key to open the gate, the others went ahead and climbed another ladder to a roofpath guarded by another Poison Croakom and more Totengas. Defeating the frog revealed a wall of iron blocks that disappeared, allowing the heroes to free another Waddle Dee before they climbed two more ladders to another pool with another golden cage awaiting them.

Its destruction freed the last Waddle Dees of the hotel.

Sweetie wiped the sweat on her forehead. "How about we do a water break before we continue? I must remember that you guys can get thirsty, and we haven't reached the end of that desert yet."

"Aye aye," several answered.

"Let's return in the Lor first," Present Sonic said, and the others agreed.

Comments

[Herald of Opera]

Dyna Wing

For those playing at home, based on Dyna Blade from Kirby Super Star and its remake (and the anime, as it had a story hook that would work well in the anime's format).

And they didn't even need to return inside the Lor. Krystal informed them that the next Waddle Dees were in this very hotel built around an oasis.

But before they could enter this hotel, they had to clear the way which was blocked by debris.

In the game proper, you only get a single room by approaching the hotel. One that doesn't have anything necessary for 100% completion, but which still more than compensates you for your time and cleverness. The next level is more than likely the remains of the town the hotel is for because there's no point in a hotel in the middle of nowhere, protagonists of The Shining.

In this new area, they were at the bottom of a wall on top of which was a Poison Croakom that spat sludge on the heroes, forcing the flyers to quickly deal with him

In the game proper, this guy can only be dealt with via water, which itself requires finding a pipe to enter Mouthful Mode with. That also means you can't wash away the poison in the first level and have to actually platform while in Ring Mouthful Mode (if you want to assemble the star that Lucar called a key and get a Waddle Dee).

[Lucar]

11576025

In the game proper, you only get a single room by approaching the hotel. One that doesn't have anything necessary for 100% completion, but which still more than compensates you for your time and cleverness. The next level is more than likely the remains of the town the hotel is for because there's no point in a hotel in the middle of nowhere, protagonists of The Shining.

Considering there was a shipyard not far, it is possible that it was one of these hotels that we find along the road. A resting point between the port and Lab Discovera.

[herobrins mom]

11576027
I mean..true

Wait...what about Samus?

[Lucar]

11576124
Samus would rather kill you than do a belly dance.

[Herald of Opera]

11576124
Absolutely not. Extremely active lifestyle and no stable income means that her only body fat is going to be higher up.