Kirby: Save the Rainbow Islands!
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| “ | Kirby’s friends, Rick, Kine, and Coo, have arrived! There seems to be something wrong, as it’s stopped raining in the Rainbow Islands, where the three live. Kirby heads to the Rainbow Islands with Meta Knight and King Dedede!! There, they meet a young girl named Pirika, who knows the cause of the issue. When they head above the clouds, they find Gooey, a good friend of Kirby’s. For some reason, Gooey rushes in to attack Kirby and his friends!? What in the world happened? Kirby rushes in to resolve the case!! | ” | — Unofficial translation of the description of Kirby: Save the Rainbow Islands! |
Kirby: Save the Rainbow Islands![derived from Japanese] is the fourteenth volume of the Kirby novel series, published exclusively in Japan on July 15th, 2019.[2] In this volume, Rick, Kine and Coo come from the Rainbow Islands, where it has stopped raining, to ask Kirby for help. On the Rainbow Islands, they meet Pirika, a traveler who claims to have seen Gooey damming the lake in the clouds. Once at said lake, she reveals herself to be the mastermind, using the lake water to turn everyone into her servants and taking control over King Dedede and Meta Knight. Kirby and his friends convince her to change her ways and offer to become friends with her, breaking the spell cast upon the water and returning rain to the Rainbow Islands.
This volume takes inspiration from Kirby's Dream Land 2, being set on the Rainbow Islands with a similar premise (albeit a different cause), and featuring Kirby's Animal Friends. It also has elements from Kirby: Triple Deluxe, namely the appearance of Taranza and mention of Queen Sectonia, as well as the Dreamstalk.
Characters[edit]
| Characters of "Kirby: Save the Rainbow Islands!" | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Main characters | |||
| Supporting & minor characters | |||
| For characters lacking illustrations, see this page | |||
Plot synopsis[edit]
Prologue[edit]
Pirika admires a castle in the sky. She is noticed by a a mysterious individual. Pirika explains that she came to Floralia to visit the castle where Queen Sectonia resided. Hearing about Pirika's admiration of the queen, the individual softens up and offers to explain his story.
Chapter 1: Rick & Kine & Coo Have Come![edit]
Kirby is in his home as it rains in Dream Land. He plans to invite Waddle Dee to a picnic when the weather improves when he notices Rick, Kine and Coo outside. After he greets them, they explain that they've come because there's trouble on the Rainbow Islands: it has completely stopped raining, negatively affecting the environment and inhabitants, as well as causing the Rainbow Bridges to fade away. They ask Kirby to help out. Understanding that the situation is dire, Kirby accepts, and the group heads out.
On their way to the Rainbow Islands, they run into Captain Vul, Trident Knight and Mace Knight. Despite Captain Vul's secrecy, the Meta-Knights reveal that they were sent to get themselves cake from Chef Kawasaki, only for Kirby to confess he ate the whole stock. As the Meta-Knights scold him, Kirby and his friends unsuccessfully try to convince them to ask Meta Knight to help.
Just then, King Dedede crosses their path, intending on enjoying a beach vacation on the Rainbow Islands and escorted by the Waddle Dees. Rick, Kine and Coo warn him of the situation, but Dedede has his mind on the vacation and likes the idea of no rain. As King Dedede intends to continue his trip, Captain Vul steps in. He commands that the Meta-Knights inform their leader immediately of the situation, while the three simultaneously envision a vacation like Dedede's. After Captain Vul and the Meta-Knights leave, Kirby and Dedede argue over the food they expect to have and run off. Rick, Kine, Coo and the Waddle Dees follow them.
Chapter 2: The Rainbow Islands in a Big Pinch![edit]
When Kirby and King Dedede reach the Rainbow Islands, they are distraught by the dried-up landscape. Dedede establishes that it's no natural disaster and someone is responsible. Meta Knight shows up and agrees with Dedede's conclusion. The group decides to investigate the area and splits up.
Despite being more trained than other fish, Kine struggles to traverse the land, but forgets about his struggles from fear when Rick hypothesizes about the source of the curse. Just then, they notice someone fall from the sky. They find Pirika, who weakly explains that she fell from the cloud above the area. The group bring Pirika to Rick's place to help her recover. Having been informed, Meta Knight and King Dedede's groups arrived not long before.
King Dedede's unsuccessful attempts to eat the food prepared for Pirika are interrupted when Meta Knight asks Pirika to tell her story. She explains that she is a traveler who came to visit the Rainbow Islands, and mentions that she saw a creature float over to the clouds, causing the rain to stop. She claims that she followed the creature to a lake that it was obstructing, but was attacked when she confronted it.
The group decides to act fast and catch the culprit and fix the situation. Meta Knight offers boarding a flying boat to reach the clouds since Rick and Kine can't fly. Pirika offers to join them so she could give directions. Before they set out, Pick gives Rick the knitted pouch she wore around her neck as a good luck charm. Bandana Waddle Dee stays with Pick and Mine, and the three wish their friends good luck.
Chapter 3: Above the Clouds We Go!![edit]
Squabbling ensues as the group of seven fits into the three-seater boat: Meta Knight at the captain's seat, Kirby inside Kine's mouth, and the rest crammed together in the back seats. They eventually reach the aforementioned clouds, and Kine feels the presence of water. As they head in its direction, Pirika describes the creature that attacked her, and Kirby and Coo recognize it as Gooey.
The group reaches the lake, where a large tree with dull, purple fruit grows. Kine happily tries to dive into the water but is cut short when Gooey appears. Pirika is horrified by the revelation that Gooey is their friend. Kirby suspects Gooey simply wanted to play with Pirika and tries to reach out to him. However, instead of answering, Gooey attacks Pirika with his tongue, avoiding the rest. Meta Knight and King Dedede prepare to retaliate, but Kirby refuses to fight his friend, instead retreating with Pirika. Coo agrees with Kirby, pointing out that their goal is not to win but to bring their friend back to his senses. The rest follow queue.
Chapter 4: A Foe I Don't Wanna Fight[edit]
When the group reaches a safe distance, they reflect on the cause of Gooey's behavior and suspect it's the work of a doppelgänger, but Kirby is certain it is the real Gooey. They hypothesize that Gooey is being controlled by someone and that defeating the mastermind would free him. Kine remembers the tree next to the lake, but before they can conclude that someone may have been hiding, Pirika says that she saw bubbles in the lake. Everyone turns to Kine, as he is the most fit for underwater combat. He cowers, so Pirika suggests that he has Kirby in his mouth so they can both fight.
With the strategy decided, the group returns to the lake, only for them to notice that Gooey is gone. Pirika urges Kine and Kirby to enter the lake to find him, but Gooey comes from under the water and tosses Kine (together with Kirby) away with his tongue. The blow causes them to crash into the tree, which drops fruit, and lose consciousness. King Dedede attempts to retaliate, but Gooey once again dodges and attacks Pirika. Meta Knight steps in to defend her and questions Gooey on his motives. Receiving no answer, he counterattacks, joined by King Dedede, but Gooey swiftly dodges all incoming blows, much to Coo's admiration.
Pirika impatiently asks Rick to go underwater in Kine's stead and find the one controlling Gooey. As he too cowers, she loses patience. Rick reluctantly heads to the water but is stopped by Gooey and suffers the same fate as Kine and Kirby. As King Dedede and Meta Knight's attacks continue futilely, Pirika insists that Coo checks the water. This makes Coo suspicious of her, as she wanted somebody to jump into the lake the whole time. When she shakes off the option of her entering due to her inability to swim, Coo flies over to Kirby and pecks him back to consciousness.
As Gooey continues to dodge King Dedede and Meta Knight's attacks, he grows tired. Worried for his friend, Kirby begins to inhale. Everyone else gets down as Gooey mimics Kirby. Just then, Gooey spits out a fruit from the tree beside the lake. As the group wonders if it was the cause of Gooey's behavior, the latter thanks them for helping him get it out since it got stuck in his throat. The rest are happy that Gooey is alright but puzzled by his attacks. Gooey explains that he was preventing them from entering the water due to its dangers. Coo realizes what this means and turns to the impostor: Pirika.
Chapter 5: The True Identity of the Mastermind[edit]
The frustrated Pirika admits that she was close to victory and flees. Coo, King Dedede, Meta Knight and Kirby give chase, intent on removing the rocks that dammed the lake. King Dedede manages to knock her down. However, when he approaches her to help her with her feigned injury, she swiftly throws him into the lake. Meta Knight tries to aid him by reaching out with his sword but is also knocked into the water by Pirika. Coo prevents Kirby from jumping into the water to rescue them. Soon, the two emerge from the water, but it's revealed that they are under Pirika's control. She commands them to attack Kirby. Gooey comes to Kirby's rescue by fighting with his tongue as Coo heads over to Rick and Kine to help them come to. Kirby struggles against his opponents due to his lack of a Copy Ability, so he uses Air Bullets and his Inhale to defend himself. He does not last long, and he braces himself for a final blow.
Chapter 6: With Everyone's Power[edit]
Coo swoops Kirby up in the nick of time. The three Animal Friends join forces. Gooey wraps his tongue around Kirby and flings him at King Dedede. This takes the latter out, as well as Meta Knight, due to the knockback. However, the power of the blow knocks Kirby out as well. Pirika tries to escape but is promptly captured by Gooey. The group of four confront Pirika, demanding that she undoes the spell, but she confesses that she doesn't know how. As a temporary measure, they decide to restrain King Dedede, Meta Knight, and Pirikia for good measure with the pouch Pick had given Rick, which stretches to unnatural lengths.
Kine sprays some water from his fins onto Kirby, who regains consciousness. Gooey explains the full story. He says that he saw Pirika flying near the clouds and followed her in hopes of playing together, then saw her plant the tree by the lake, but when Gooey offered to help, she threw its fruit at him. Examining the tree from afar, the rest suspect that it contaminated the lake and realize that if it pours down in the form of rain, it would affect the residents of the Rainbow Islands, so Gooey had piled up rocks to prevent this from happening. Rick gratefully hugs Gooey. Following their thoughts, the group concludes that Pirika devised her plan to steer off Gooey with their help, but Gooey had seen through her attempt to push his friends into the water, which is why he attacked. Coo realizes that Gooey had emerged from the lake but was unaffected by it, which baffles the group. The story explained, they head over to the tree to inspect it.
Chapter 7: The Mysterious Tree[edit]
When the five reach the tree, Kirby notices its similarity to the Dreamstalk. Recalling the events of an older adventure, they wonder how to undo its effects. Meanwhile, Kine notices movement in the pouch, which only means that Meta Knight and King Dedede had regained consciousness, but not free will. They break free from the pouch and continue the onslaught of attacks, now more precise than before. Moreover, Pirika flies over to the pile of rocks in order to remove them. The ability-less Kirby fails to catch up to her, so Gooey transforms into his Mock Matter form and steps in. His chase is not completed, however, as he turns back to shield Kirby from King Dedede. Away from the chaos, Pirika reaches the stones and starts clearing them away.
Chapter 8: The Secret of the Lake[edit]
In a last-ditch effort to save his friends on the Rainbow Islands, Kirby starts inhaling and sucks up all the water. Much like the lake is drained of water, Kirby is drained of energy and faints. This causes King Dedede and Meta Knight to halt, although they are not quite free yet. Rick and Kine run over to Kirby, who is in great pain. Despite their worries, Kirby eventually wakes up, still his usual gluttonous and friendly self. Kirby himself finds it hard to believe he had inhaled all of the water, which seems to have disappeared in his stomach with no trace. In the meantime, Gooey had restrained Pirika with his tongue again. Wondering why Kirby isn't controlled by her, they compare him to the spring breeze, being ungraspable with his soft heart.
This settled, they return to the tree, where King Dedede and Meta Knight remain motionless. When they confront Pirika, she repeats that she doesn't know how to undo the spell. Kirby asks her to talk about her feelings instead, recalling the pain he felt from the water and associating it with her. Although hesitant at first, she admits that she wanted to be as great as Queen Sectonia, and was shaken when the queen was defeated, unaware that the one responsible was in front of Pirika. Pirika says that she looked up to the queen and wished for similar power and admiration from others, to which Rick retorts that no one would admire forced power. Pirika continues her story, mentioning the queen's servant that told Pirika all about her. That was when she realized that she could use the power of the Dreamstalk, once parasitized by Queen Sectonia, to achieve her goal, so she found a remaining sapling on a distant star. She planted it, but when the spell was applied, it gained its eerie coloration.
She finishes the story. Kirby sympathizes with Pirika. Based on her description of her own powers, he realizes that she tried to use her spell before on others, but when it wore off, they would become upset. This cycle led to Pirika being lonely. When he says this, she bursts into tears, confessing that the hatred she received from others was the reason she wanted to amplify her power. Kirby offers to become Pirika's friend. This confuses her since she had just tried to puppet everyone, but he insists, joined by the rest, who felt her change of heart. Finally, she says that she was jealous of their friendship, and declares that she does want to be friends with them. Just then, everyone hears the sound of water.
Chapter 9: Happy Rain and Rainbow Bridges[edit]
The Dreamstalk begins to transform and gush out water into the lake with its roots. This only means that Pirika's spell is undone. King Dedede and Meta Knight come to, and the latter quickly realizes what happened and apologizes. King Dedede, however, takes a more aggressive approach and tries to strike down Pirika, so Kirby explains that she's a friend now and turns the hostile situation into a game of tag where the king is "it", so when King Dedede finally catches up to Pirika, she starts chasing him instead. Meanwhile, Kine happily jumps into the purified water. After clearing out the situation with Coo, Meta Knight requests that they return to land soon. Kirby offers Pirika to come with them, promising to not share the details with the others, but she plans on returning to her home village to apologize and reconcile. They part ways with a friendly good-bye. Realizing that they have to cram into the three-seater again, King Dedede picks a fight with Gooey, who could fly down on his own. Nonetheless, the seven squeeze into the boat and return.
Everyone is greeted with cheers. The Meta-Knights and Captain Vul misinterpret Meta Knight's disclaim of accomplishment as modesty. On the other hand, King Dedede gladly takes credit for the praises from the Waddle Dees and prepares for his beach holiday. Just as the others are greeted by their loved ones, it starts raining over the Rainbow Islands, much to everyone's joy and King Dedede's dismay. The rain ends the next morning, when Kirby and Bandana Waddle Dee go out to the beach. The latter fails to get any details from Kirby; however, disappointment turns into awe as they see the return of the Rainbow Bridges.
Epilogue[edit]
One of the fruits Pirika threw at Gooey drifts over to Floralia. This surprises Taranza. He remembers Pirika's intent on manifesting its power to become as great as Queen Sectonia, as well as Sectonia's gradual corruption, and hopes Pirika would not meet the same fate as his beloved queen. He then plants the fruit and waters it, hopeful to see it grow strong and see Queen Sectonia again.
Gallery[edit]
- Illustrations
Kirby and company run into Captain Vul and the Meta-Knights
King Dedede looks forward to a sunny vacation
Reflecting upon the mysterious situation
King Dedede gets a little too greedy
Kirby sets off to investigate
Retreating from the battlefield
Kine and Kirby team up
Kirby takes to the sky with Coo's help
Bagged for good measure
Rick hugs their savior Gooey
Kirby is worn out from the inhale
Pirika's tearful confession
A friendly game of tag
Gooey prefers to take a ride home
The Rainbow Bridges return
- Artwork
Kirby
King Dedede
Meta Knight
Rick
Kine
Coo
Pirika
Gooey
Kirby, Gooey, and the Animal Friends (dust jacket illustration)
Kirby (obi illustration)
Kirby, Gooey, and the Animal Friends (table of contents illustration)
Names in other languages[edit]
| Language | Name | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| Japanese | 星のカービィ 虹の島々を救え！ hoshi no kābyi niji no shimajima o sukue! |
Kirby of the Stars: Save the Rainbow Islands! |
