Chapter 11: Crystalized Mayhem

Team Star Warriors had done it! They had completed their first mission under the Starlight Guild!

Kirby and Banny were out of Meteorite Woods, the puffball (without any copy abilities) carrying a fancy-looking treasure chest above him as they walked on the path to Agyneastra Town. The Mystery Dungeon was a fun activity for the puffball, it challenged him with fun Pokémon adversaries and was pretty to look at!

Although, for the scorbunny…

That Mystery Dungeon felt suspicious, WAY too suspicious. It was too easy, way more accessible than it looked. The Pokémon found in that dungeon did make sense to be there, and since it had low gravity, some battles were bound to be easier because they could aim their attacks in the air for longer. However, that was not the issue. The issue was that the place didn’t look that heavily guarded with such a treasure to be hidden deep inside the place. Or maybe… it was a minor treasure that wasn’t really worth having a lot of security? But that wouldn’t make sense.

Guildmaster Shitsuji said that the treasure was something valuable to be used against the cultists, so whatever it is that is inside the chest, it must be powerful enough to make cultists quiver in fear. The actual question was: ‘What even is inside the chest…?’

Banny tried to think what kind of item was inside the box; a weapon? A magic item able to summon a barrier? A forbidden berry? Whatever it was, the Guildmaster would know what to do with it and use it against the current threat.

As they walked forward, the fire bunny looked at the chest for a moment, a thought of opening the chest crossing her mind for a split second before disappearing. She shook her head, not letting the little demon in her shoulder persuade her with their silent and mischievous whispers. Banny obeyed the Guildmaster’s order until the end. Their mission wasn’t done yet, they still needed to deliver the chest back to Shitsuji.

Although, she still couldn’t shake the feeling that something was off. She didn’t know what it was, but it was still there, crawling on the back of her mind warning her that something wasn’t right. 

Banny looked at the puffball beside her, seeing his cheerful attitude as he hummed a song while carrying the chest like it didn’t weigh anything. Maybe she should ask Kirby for reassurance. “Hey, Kirby…?” The puffball turned to the scorbunny in confusion. “Don’t you think this dungeon was a little… uh… too easy?”

Kirby made a thoughtful look and shrugged as best as his body allowed. “I dunno. I’ve only been in two dungeons so far so I wouldn’t be able to tell.”

“But like… with an important item laying in the depths of the dungeon, it’s kinda required having a bit more security around it, don’t you think so? It’s not really an abandoned ruin or something like that.”

The puffball hummed in thought. “Now that you say that… eh, they probably forgot about it and left to do something better!” He said with enthusiasm.

Just as Banny expected, a positive and reassuring answer from the astrali. Perhaps Kirby just liked to see everything on the positive side of things to not stress himself? Or is he hiding something that makes him see everything positively? Either way, Banny saw the little puffball as an enigma she couldn’t quite crack. However, it was that positiveness and cheerfulness that reassured the scorbunny that everything would be okay and would be fine.

It was those traits that had gotten her to where she is right now.

Suddenly, panicked-sounding chirpings of flying type Pokémon could be heard above them as the shaking of leaves could be heard in the distance. Team Star Warriors stopped walking and looked at their surroundings in confusion and shock. “W-what was that!?” Banny asked concernedly

Kirby frowned and replied. “I don’t know… but whatever that was must be huge.” 

Suddenly, the duo could feel some vibrations across the ground rhythmically, slowly but surely getting more noticeable. The vibration then started turning into slight tremors, shaking up dirt and small rocks on the floor, growing in intensity. “W-what is this…? What’s happening?” Asked the scorbunny as she looked down at the ground.

“These tremors… they feel like footsteps!” Kirby detected as he started looking around a little more warily than usual. “And it seems whatever it is, it’s approaching us.”

“What!?” Banny let out a bit shocked. Her ears were twitching a lot after each tremor as they were getting stronger with each step. What was approaching them? And why was it going in their direction? What Pokémon was this big and caused this many tremors as it just walked ? “Just… what could it be…?”

The tremors had gotten to a point that made the team of explorers almost stumbled onto the ground but quickly regained their composure. They managed to pinpoint where the giant steps were coming from, seeing something poking out of the foliage of the trees that were quickly collapsing one by one. Eventually, the giant Pokémon got there, destroying the last set of trees in its path.

The Pokémon revealed to be one that Banny had seen mostly in history books and among other miscellaneous talks around other towns and villages she had visited, a golurk. It was bigger than any trees and it looked way more intimidating than other golurks that she saw on books. Its body had a darker color, its eyes were glowing purple along with the massive fissure on its torso and the markings on its shoulders and hands, as well as the many cracks along its limbs. However, what made it stand out more than any other golurk was the many purple crystal-made spikes that seemed to be making a trail from the fissure on its torso and ending on its left shoulder, the biggest spike being the one on the shoulder. For some reason, those crystals felt familiar…

That thing was gigantic compared to Team Star Warriors, it made Banny shiver to her very soul. It wasn’t really after them… right?

The golem stopped in its tracks and slowly but surely turned its head towards Kirby, staring at him for a few seconds as the puffball tensed a little. “You have the chest. Make the situation easy for both of us and return the chest to its rightful place.”

It then dawned on the scorbunny a realization. The crystals on the golurk’s body were the same ones they had encountered in the dungeon. The golurk was the guardian of the chest. “Crap, I knew that dungeon felt too easy for no reason.” Banny then looked at Kirby. “What do we do Kirby?”

The puffball then put the chest on the ground beside him before taking a step forward to the golurk, a determined and serious look on his face. “I’m sorry big guy, but our guild master requested we bring this chest back to the guild! It’s really important!”

The giant golem stared for a moment before finally responding. “If you do not comply with my demands…” It spun its torso around like a top while taking a step forward, the purple crystals on its body starting to glow. It then stopped spinning its body and bore its fists in front of it. “I shall crush you!”

“We’re gonna fight it!?” Banny asked while looking at Kirby with an astonished expression. “Are you crazy!?”

“I’ve beaten bigger foes than him, don’t worry, we’re together in this!” Kirby then grabbed from the bag the small battle axe that he got from Ruka and threw it in the air, swallowing whole as it fell into his mouth. The astrali shone with star power, a wooden-made cap with steel outlines and two horns on the side appearing on the puffball’s top. On his nub, a double-sided axe with a star emblem in the middle appeared. Kirby became Axe Kirby! “We’re gonna win this battle!” He said while pointing his axe at the golem.

Banny was shaking in pure fear, they were actually gonna fight this giant of a Pokémon just to get the treasure chest back to the town. And this was only their first mission!

But whatever the case, Banny would do it! She would make her mother proud by being the best explorer of Agyneastra town after her, and that was a promise she made herself! 

She would not back down, no matter what!

Banny, with her new resolve, nodded to Kirby and looked at the crystallized golem with a battle stance. “It’s our mission as explorers and we won’t back down from that!” 

“The chest shall be protected, it is my prime directive and I shall not let thieves shift that directive!” The Golem then released a rusty metal screech to the air and the battle started.

Crystalized Giant Golurk

The golem took some heavy steps to Team Star Warriors, readying a punch with its giant hands. The duo dodged the glowing Mega Punch from Golurk, Banny, and Kirby jumping in different directions to avoid the punch. 

Banny ran to the golem as it slowly turned its head to the scorbunny, her feet starting to heat up as she started to scorch the grass beneath her. She jumped in the air and tried to do a flaming dive kick at Golurk. However, the giant Pokémon spun its torso around and slapped Banny out of the air and onto the ground with a big hand. The bunny bounced a little on the ground before sliding across the dirt.

Meanwhile, Kirby took the opportunity to jump into the fray, swinging his axe along with his body in a spinning move in the air. The golem noticed that an attack in the back was coming and suddenly vanished into the ground with a shadowy purple aura surrounding it. Kirby landed back on the ground, looking around in confusion trying to figure out where the giant had gone. 

Suddenly, a shadowy aura manifested behind the puffball, Golurk appearing from it. The Golem then arched its arm back while lowering it and delivering a giant uppercut to the astrali, launching him into the sky. “Yaaaaaaaaaahhhh!!!” Kirby screamed as he rocketed into the air. 

“Kirby!!!” The scorbunny shouted as she looked at the scene. She then got up to her feet and started running to the giant again, this time shooting Embers from her mouth at the golem. The fireballs hit true as they hit the chest of the giant Pokémon, however, it seemed that didn’t even phase it. Banny stopped running and tensed when Golurk looked at her but she didn’t look afraid, she looked cautious. 

The fire bunny was right to be cautious because she sidestepped to the right once the golem tried throwing a fist coated in a shadowy and ghostly aura. As Golurk was busy retracting its arms while focusing on Banny, it failed to hear a battle cry coming from above. Banny looked upwards and saw Kirby spinning like a sawblade with his axe while falling down. Once the golem took notice, it was a little too late as Kirby managed to hit its right shoulder. Bouncing off of the attack, Kirby landed on the ground and saw the damage it caused on Golurk’s rocky body. There was a small crack on its shoulder, it was small but noticeable.

Banny regrouped with the puffball, checking for any injuries on the pink puff. “Are you alright, Kirby?” The puffball nodded at the fire bunny before looking back at the golem who was slowly approaching them with its heavy steps.

“Such unfounded resistance is respectable.” It said as it got closer to them. “However, do not think I shall go easy on you because of it. The chest shall be recovered and protected until my master comes back!” The crystals on Golurk’s shoulder glowed a faint hue of purple along with its eyes before they detached themselves from its shoulder and started floating in the air, aiming the tips at Team Star Warriors. 

Kirby and Banny flinched once one of the crystals rocketed towards them. “Dodge!” Banny shouted before the two explorers jumped to the side, avoiding being impaled by the glowing purple rock.

Kirby got up and looked at the golem. “Missiles, really!?” Suddenly, another crystal missile launched itself towards Kirby’s direction, this one being smaller than the other. Kirby then swung his axe down and chopped the crystal in half as it made contact with the blade of the weapon. “If that’s the case, take this!”

The puffball then charged something with the axe above him, the weapon glowing red a little. The scorbunny got up while looking at Kirby in confusion. The astrali swung the axe down again, this time hitting the ground. From the axe, a red wave of energy was released and it traveled along the ground until it reached Golurk. The energy wave suddenly erupted into a pillar of flames that struck the golem’s chest, making it recoil a little and stumble to the ground on its rear.

Banny was awestruck seeing the power of her partner. It was already clear that Kirby could wield such intense flames as seen in some of his other abilities and the literal fire ability but to the point of pushing a giant Pokémon with a lot of strength to the ground? It made the scorbunny question if Kirby had a legendary-like status back in his world. “Woah…”

Golurk slowly but surely got back up. “It seems that I underestimated you. Perhaps I failed to process that smaller Pokémon can also be strong despite their small size.” It looked back at them with its eyes glowing again as the crystals that were used as projectiles started regrowing on its shoulder. “However, I shall correct my miscalculations and apply the correct amount of strength to this battle so that my mission shall be completed!” 

The Golem released another rocky and rusty screech, baring its fists as Banny and Kirby tensed. Suddenly, Golurk’s legs retracted into its vest-like torso, making it look like it lost its legs for a moment. Then, flames started coming out from under its torso, sending hot winds and scorching the grass below it as it lifted into the air slowly like a rocket. 

It flew into the skies above, making Team Star Warrior look up to track it. “Wait, where is it going!?” Banny asked a little shocked.

“I dunno! But this looks bad…” Kirby said as he tightened the grip on his axe, readying for anything that the Golurk would throw out.

Banny got close to Kirby and readied her stance, her face morphing into a brave expression. “Whatever it is, I’ll stand right by your side!”

Kirby nodded in agreement before realizing something. The sun was getting covered up for some reason. The puffball tilted his head and realized that there was a slight shade below where the two explorers were standing, slowly growing in opacity. He then made a terrible realization. “Banny, move!” 

The scorbunny, a little startled by the shouting, looked up for a brief second before making the same realization that the puffball had. She screamed a little before the puffball tackled her away from the gigantic impact, a mere second before the Heavy Slam hit the exploration team.

Banny and Kirby rolled on the grass, boosted by the gigantic shockwave that the impact from the attack caused. Thankfully, they rolled away at the right moment since crystal spikes came out of the ground around the giant Golem. Team Star Warriors stopped rolling once they both impacted the same tree; Kirby hit the trunk first and lost his axe ability before being followed by Banny who used the puffball’s body as a cushion to soften the impact. The two explorers slumped onto the floor and looked back to the battlefield to find an enormous cloud of dust, cloaking their vision.

After the dust had settled they found the enormous giant of a Pokémon slowly getting up after the impact, seeing its menacing purple eyes stare back at the team. 

Battered and a bit bruised, Team Star Warriors got up quickly, the two members quickly formulating a plan in their heads. “What do we do now, Kirby…? Do you have a plan?” Banny asked, taking deep breaths.

Kirby looked back at Banny and smiled, lifting a nub in the air. “Yes, I do!” 

The scorbunny tilted her head. “And what is it?” 

The puffball looked back at Golurk as it was slowly but surely approaching them. “Hit it really hard!” 

Banny looked at Kirby with an expression of disbelief for a brief second before asking quickly. “You’re joking, right?”

“Nope! But… if you do want the details, just shoot a fireball at me, I thought of something amazing!” The astrali said with enthusiasm as the fire bunny tilted her head. “I remember seeing you kick a rock and it combusted into flames, so I thought I’d try something!”

Banny thought for a second before a realization formed in her head, her expression shifting into a grimace. “Are you sure about this…?” Kirby then nodded, flinching a bit as the footsteps disguised as small tremors were getting closer to them. Banny sighed before frowning in uncertainty. “Alright then, here it comes!”

Kirby jumped back a little before Banny released a fireball from her mouth, aiming at the puffball. Kirby then opened his mouth wide and started inhaling the air in front of him, the fireball being sucked directly into his mouth before he swallowed. The puffball shone with star power again as the top of his body started catching fire, and a golden crown with a blue gem in front of it appeared around the flames. Kirby became Fire Kirby! “Get ready, Banny!”

The scorbunny nodded and looked back at the golem with a determined look on her face along with Kirby. The Golem stopped moving and spoke. “Your attempts at defeating me are pointless. Surrender the chest now, or…” The crystals on its shoulders started floating again and aimed at Team Star Warriors. “I shall not hesitate to crush you.”

Kirby took a step forward while pointing a nub at Golurk. “We’re not gonna back down when we got a mission to complete!”

Banny added while also pointing a paw at the crystalized Golem. “That’s right! We’re gonna take the chest right back to the guild master to guarantee the safety of Agyneastra Town!”

Unbeknownst to the duo of explorers, the glow in Golurk’s eyes faltered a little as the town’s name was muttered. 

“Banny, now!” Kirby shouted before jumping up into the air and curling his small limbs, making the astrali look like a pink ball before he started spinning and covering himself with flames. 

Banny jumped after the puffball with a “Hup!” and arched a foot back a little. She then brought her leg forward and horizontally, kicking Kirby with a lot of force while giving more heat to the big fireball that was currently the puffball. The fire around Kirby grew in size as he rocketed towards the giant Pokémon at a fast speed. 

Golurk tried to intercept the projectile with its crystal missiles, extending a giant hand forward and launching three purple rocks at once towards the fireball. Unfortunately for the giant, the three crystals shattered once in contact with Kirby, failing to stop the fireball targeting it. The Golem had its guard wide open, being too slow to stop Kirby and receiving the hit right on the chest.

The impact was so strong that managed to launch the giant Pokémon a small distance backward, knocking it onto the ground. The fire then dissipated around Kirby and he landed on the ground, staring at the Golem for a moment. After seeing no movements from it, the puffball looked at the scorbunny who was on the ground, and grinned. “We did it! We beat it!”

Banny looked like she had seen a ghost (although, quite literally a ghost type) because of how stunned she was. She- no, they did it! They actually beat a golurk that was powered up by those weird crystals! 

The scorbunny looked down at her paws and muttered. “We did it…” She then clenched them and looked back at Kirby with a smile. “We actually did it, Kirby!” The scorbunny ran to the puffball, looking at the giant golem meanwhile. Its eyes stopped glowing, which meant it was knocked out… hopefully, they didn’t destroy it beyond repair. Banny looked back at Kirby with a grin. “I can’t believe we beat that thing. It’s all thanks to you, Kirby.”

The astrali embarrassedly rubbed the back of his head as he ejected his ability out of his body. “Nah, it wasn’t just me, you helped as well! It was the power of teamwork!”

The fire bunny looked aside and muttered. “Teamwork, huh…?” She then smiled as she looked back at Kirby. “You’re right, it was a team’s effort.”

Suddenly, Kirby grabbed Banny’s arms and pulled her a bit away from the giant Pokémon’s body. “Come on, dance with me!”

As Kirby finished pulling the scorbunny, she looked at the puffball a bit confused. “Dance…?”

“Oh, it’s just that I do this whenever I defeat a big bad guy!” The astrali explained while throwing a nub in the air. “Just follow my movements or dance the way you like it!”

“Uh… alright then?”

Kirby grinned before turning away from the scorbunny, starting his dance. He jumped while doing a single spin in the air before cartwheeling aside and jumping back to his original position. Following up, he did a small dance before doing three consecutive jumps, the last one being a twirl. He then finished it off with a small backflip and put a nub in the air. “Hai!”

While the puffball was doing his dance, the scorbunny did her dance at the same time. She started with a triple jump, the last one being a backflip, following up with a small dance with her feet as she put her paws on her side. She then did a twirl in the air before shooting small flames from her mouth around her two times, ending the dance with a kick in the air. After the excitement of the dance wore off, she commented. “Huh… that felt more refreshing than expected…”

The puffball then looked at the fire bunny with a grin. “That’s how you do it! I could notice you managed to do it really well!” 

The scorbunny rubbed the back of her head a bit sheepishly. “Thanks, might start doing that when the next big foe comes around.” After chuckling a little, Banny looked around for a moment. “Anyways, where’s the chest?”

Kirby looked around along with Banny, and after squinting his eyes in a certain direction, the puffball found the chest a certain distance away from them and went towards it. He analyzed it for a moment before picking it up and putting it over the top of his round body once again, turning to Banny. “Come on, let’s head back to the guild!” He then looked around for a moment. “Which way is it again…?”

The scorbunny giggled before walking to the puffball, passing by him. “It’s this way, I still remember.” The astrali nodded and started following after Banny.

Meteorite Woods

Mission: Success

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Team Star Warriors had finally returned to Agyneastra Town after a bit of a walk. The path towards the town was, thankfully, without any unfortunate hostile encounters. The exploration team had a nice walk, covering the silence with some small talk here and there while healing themselves with berries. 

Inside the small tunnel that leads inside the town, the zangoose guard eyed the exploration team with suspicion once he took a look at the chest. However, after a brief explanation without some important bits (that being the golurk), Zenith let them in with no issues. 

After a brief walk through the town, ignoring the few stares that the townsfolk gave because of the chest, Team Star Warriors finally reached Starlight Guild swiftly. They entered the Guildmaster’s office, getting Shitsuji’s attention away from some paperwork on his desk. Krystal wasn’t in the office with him.

The indeedee smiled and adjusted his glasses. “Ah, welcome back, Team Star Warriors. I see that you managed to complete the mission.” He clasped his paws on the desk as the puffball put the chest on the ground. “Well done, I knew you had the potential to finish an easy mission.”

Banny and Kirby looked away, scratching the side of their faces in unison. “Uh…”

The guild master tilted his head with a confused look. “Oh? Was there an issue in your mission?”

“Well… uh… how should I say it…?” Banny started, rubbing her arm and twisting her foot. “Apparently, there was a strong golurk with some purple crystal powers or something and it attacked us…” That made Shitsuji’s eyes widen a little bit before looking away thoughtfully and putting a paw over his chin. The scorbunny noticed but asked a different question while crossing her arms. “What even is in this chest anyways…?”

The indeedee then sighed as he got off his seat. “I am afraid that I need to explain a few things…” He folded his arms behind him and walked in front of the desk and looked back at the team. “I am the one who put the chest in that dungeon.”

Banny and Kirby’s eyes widened. “WHAT!?”

Shitsuji sighed. “I apologize for not mentioning that sooner. I should have told you about it earlier so your mission would be easier.” He then looked away quite ashamed. “However, the stress of these days would have made me forget about Mu’dir anyways…” The Indeedee looked back at them. “Let me explain. Some years ago, I put this chest in Meteorite Woods, under the guard of an old construct that looked unusual from others of its species. I learned later that millennia ago, it was created by an indeedee that was the ruler of an old land. It saw me as its master and wanted to please me for probably those reasons, so I assigned it to protect the chest for me and it happily obeyed my orders.”

Kirby then tilted its body. “But why did you put the chest in the forest in the first place?”

Shitsuji then went behind the desk again and pulled out a key from the drawer, inspecting the star-like design on it. “I was asked to by a friend.”

Banny tilted her head. “Who was it…?”

The indeedee smiled before walking to the chest and kneeling in front of it. “She is currently in this room, sleeping as we speak.” Team Star Warriors looked around the room for a moment before looking at the guild master in confusion. He smirked as he inserted the key into the keyhole of the chest and twisted it, opening it up without much fanfare and a creaky noise. 

Kirby and Banny gathered around the chest to see what it had inside. In the chest, there was one big sheet of paper with yellow, orange, and white colors. Kirby tilted his head a bit confused. “Did we seriously go into that forest just for a piece of paper?”

Shitsuji chuckled. “On the contrary, Kirby, this is the thing I was talking about that would help us against the cultists, my friend.” The indeedee then took a bell out of his fur and rang it for a second. After a moment, nothing seemed to happen before the piece of paper suddenly started floating in the air and started folding itself into multiple parts, the folding becoming way more complex. After the paper stopped folding itself, it looked to be a small origami being with two arms, two legs, and two antennas, wearing a fancy piece of cloth, and only having a mouth for a face. Shitsuji got back up and said while motioning a paw to the being that was currently analyzing their surroundings. “Team Star Warriors, meet my friend, Karikiri, the kartana.”