Inside a large, futuristic room with a silver ground and some short pillars holding purple orbs, there were some small steps leading up to a computer to the right, and past it was a door that could open up on its own, just like the door to the left. A big, gray symbol of goggles with an X crossing appeared in the center of the room. It looked different than what was on Pop Star. It didn't have much technology and grayness like this place.
"Your body is fully complete, Sir Grodus. It is now stronger than ever." a computerized voice finished as a robot hand ascended back into the ceiling. "If you ever need me, just call for me."
"Excellent… My new body is fully complete! Thank you very much for doing this for me, my trustworthy computer! I very much appreciate it!"
A villain with a large black cranium head (that appeared mechanical) with blue glass embossed in it showing an X in there turned around. The rest of his body showed him in a purple robe with a black trim at the bottom. The sleeves were black with a golden yellow trim, with his collar's color being similar to his sleeves. He also had a white spiky collar below that and had blue glassy goggles with a yellow trim and was holding a golden scepter with a blue, translucent orb at the top with a small, white X inside. This was one baddie that someone wouldn't want to not take seriously.
Two minions that belonged to the alien walked into the room. They were smaller than their leader, but a little taller than Chopper. They were wearing a white hood-like hat with a large white, spiky collar that kept their face hidden. Just like their leader, they were wearing goggles. Their body was red and a black X was embossed on their outfit and were wearing white gloves and boots.
The two soldiers crossed their arms together as they gave their leader a salute. "Sir Grodus, would you like to take a look at your new body? We think it looks fantastic!"
"Yes… Let me take a look at myself, Johnson." Grodus took the mirror from his soldier and took a look at himself. "Perfect! This is exactly how my body looked before! Tell me, X-Nauts… Have you managed to capture Princess Peach and bring her here?"
"Yup! We got Princess Peach easily!" Johnson nodded. "All it took was a brown sack and a ship! Good thing we got those new ships to help us travel through space! Maybe we can go find a place that sells some good food out in space."
"Fools! Our ships are only for transportation, not to go find a space restaurant! Do you realize how much we've lost after Mario invaded our fortress five months ago? Actually… We haven't gotten our revenge against him yet. X-Nauts, you did get Mario, right?"
"We tried to look for him, but he wasn't around," the second X-Naut explained. "The only thing we saw was a ship by that plumber's house. I don't know what it was, but we can't explain. It was just there and then… Bam! It's gone. Sorry, sir… It looks like getting revenge on Mario will have to wait."
"Great, just great," Grodus sighed. "If I don't destroy Mario any sooner, then people will think we're weak! People think of us no longer as a threat now because of that stupid queen that destroyed my body! If we were to destroy the plumber, we would be considered the biggest threat to the whole world!"
The computer by Grodus revealed another X-Naut through a projector screen that crossed his arms in the shape of an X. "Grodus, sir! We've found something while searching through space!"
"Report at once."
"We discovered two round creatures heading down to Earth. They were both on some kind of yellow star. One was pale green, and the other was pink. We shot them down just in case."
"A pale green and a pink round creature, you say? Well if they weren't such a threat, then that's OK. However, was it necessary to tell me this? Get back to work, X-Naut."
"Understood, sir!" the projector screen disappeared and Grodus began to ponder. However, a light bulb lit up over Johnson's head as something struck him.
"Sir! What about the Magical Map?" Johnson mentioned. "You've been looking for the Crystal Stars for a long time, and even after finding one of them, you still had some problems looking for the rest! We still have a chance to conquer the world!"
"Ah, yes… That Magical Map." Grodus sighed. "I heard that thirteen Crystal Stars were discovered not too long ago. That's the key to ruling the universe, you know. If I had my hands on that, then maybe, just MAYBE I can finally get back to conquering the universe! …But I don't even know where it is. As of right now, you are dismissed."
"Understood, sir," Both X-Nauts nodded as they gave an X-shaped salute and left the room. Grodus pondered once again until the strange Cappy from Dream Land arrived.
"I'm back, Grodus! And I've got some good news!"
"Is that you, Lord Crump?!" Grodus gawked. "What are you doing in that hideous disguise?! People would obviously know that you're not like their kind."
Lord Crump took off his disguise, and it turned out he was an X-Naut too. He was much different than the others, with his hat being purple with horns sticking upward. He had goggles and had a light red spiky collar. Unlike the X-Nauts, his body, arms, and shoes were black, and the X on him was white, like his gloves. His pants were also purple like his hat, and he was wearing a spiky red cape.
"Well they didn't know I was in disguise!" Lord Crump mentioned. "But that's not the point. I've heard some pretty interesting stuff when I went to a planet called Pop Star. It's inhabited by some mushroom freaks without the actual caps on them and a fat penguin's their ruler. I think it's called Dream Land."
"I don't want to know what the place looks like! Even if you're able to build things, you have always lacked intelligence in your brain for the most part."
"Hey! Don't you call me stupid, Grodus! Maybe I won't tell you something you would die to know!"
"Hmmmm?"
"Yeah, it's something that you'll LOVE to hear! And it just so happens to be about that stupid map we've been looking for!"
"The Magical Map, you say? Speak at once, Lord Crump!" demanded Grodus.
"Buh! Buh! Buh huh huh! Oh, NOW you're listening!" Lord Crump smirked. "Apparently, some round, pale green ten year old is holding the map. I saw him take down that fat penguin with just stomps, a hammer, and some weird ability that involves inhaling something."
"What? A pale green kid? Wait a minute… That X-Naut told me something about a pale green kid passing by here. Could it really be him? Lord Crump! Give me the details on who he is! Now!"
"All right, I'll just draw what he looks like. He's not that tough to draw anyway. I think his name's Chopper. At least, from what I heard." Lord Crump mumbled as he took out a tan piece of paper and began to make a sketch of Chopper. After about three minutes, he finished and gave it to Grodus. "There. That's him. You happy now?"
"So… This is the one named Chopper that holds the Magical Map that we're looking for…" Grodus trailed as he glared at the sketch of the ten year old. "Lord Crump, for once you did something good, but if he's plummeting down to Earth right this second, then he'll be one step closer to that Crystal Star!"
"Er… How about I go take care of him! I think I can give him the old Crump-a-bomb!"
"No, that won't be necessary, thank you very much. You're fighting skills are not that great anyway. I'll hold onto this sketch for now. You go do something useful right now such as to check if Princess Peach is OK."
"Roger, Grodus! But I don't understand why you put her down at Sublevel 4. TEC is down there too, you know."
"Don't you remember? We returned to the base and you wiped away his memory! That's why he constructed me a new body that's even stronger than my old one! TEC won't remember a THING about her! You go ahead and go check to see how things are with her."
"Whuzzat?" Lord Crump blinked, merely ignoring him for a second. "Oh, yeah, sure! I remember what you just said. Don't worry. I'll go order a new statue of you. And with that… Pow! I'm gone!"
Lord Crump left the room as Grodus face palmed for his stupidity. "Sigh… I wish TEC could construct a BRAIN for him!"
Once the chubby X-Naut commander was out of the room, Grodus turned around for a minute and he pondered.
"Hmmm… I wonder if it's wise to send them out to go after that boy. Especially after what they did to me last time… I was reluctant in letting them join us again, but they seemed like they were desperate to come to my side. Hmmmm... Maybe, just maybe..."
He turned back around and called out, "X-Naut! I summon you!"
At that moment, a regular X-Naut walked into the room and saluted his leader.
"You rang, dude? I mean, sir? You rang, sir, Grodus, dude? Grodus? Sir Grodus, sir?"
"Shut up. Go find the Shadow Sirens and tell them to get over here." Grodus ordered.
The X-Naut was almost left startled by that name. "The Sh-Shadow Sirens, sir? But didn't they…"
"That topic is not important at the moment. Bring them here. Now."
"Gotcha!" the X-Naut saluted and left the room. Grodus waited patiently for these "Shadow Sirens" as the door closed in front of him.
"Ah, so the honorable Grodus requests our presence? Excellent! We won't be long!"
Three purple shadowy ghost-like figures with white gloves rose up from the shadows. What was interesting to note about them was the fact that they had no legs and had the ability to dive into the shadows with ease.
The first one looked more witch-like compared to the other two and wore a grin upon her face. She had lavender hair and a long nose. She was smaller than the other two and it looked hunched back. The blue and white striped hat of hers covering her eyes must indicate that she could use ice magic. She was the oldest of the three Shadow Sirens and definitely the ugliest and cruelest.
The second one was the biggest and strongest of the three. But being the strongest, she was also the fattest. She had red rosy cheeks and her hair was a light orange color, which covered her eyes. Her yellow and white striped hat showed that she used electric magic.
The third one looked cuter than her sisters, and her size was in between the other two. She had pink rosy cheeks, and a pink curl of hair appeared to be covering her eyes. Her long hair had a curl at the end, and the red and white striped hat indicated her ability to use fire magic. In terms of age, she was the youngest of the three.
"Mmmwee hee hee hee hee… So tell me, did you find where that Magical Map that you've been looking for months has been?" the oldest Shadow Siren asked.
"Still your tongue, Beldam," Grodus snapped. "We would've had it if we were able to capture that plumber in time... Unfortunately, he must've gotten the map away from his house before that ship arrived."
"Ah, so you've lost the map, I suppose?"
"No, we haven't lost it. Luckily, Lord Crump was able to find out where that map is. But now some poor fool named Chopper has the map in his hands. You begged me to have you three come back. I don't entirely trust you now, but I'm giving you one last chance. And that doesn't go just for you, Beldam! You too, Marilyn! And also you, Vivian…"
"Oh, no need to worry so much," Beldam assured. "We've gotten over that a long time ago. All we want to do is help you conquer the universe with the twenty Crystal Stars! Why worry? All we need to do is find this Chopper and steal the map, yesss?"
"Indeed, that is YOUR duty. Must I remind you again? That map is what we need for our plan. The X-Naut plan. Lord Crump was able to make a sketch of this boy." Grodus explained as he took out the sketch and handed it to Beldam. "I will lend it to you three to use to track down Chopper. He will most likely go to Rainbow Train, where the first Crystal Star is located. For now, hear me, Beldam! You Shadow Sirens must take care of this troublemaker! And if you destroy him, I will fully accept that. We X-Nauts don't care if we destroy a two year old or a ten year old. We do what we want. Do you understand?"
"Mmmmwee hee hee hee… Fear not, sire. I, Beldam, shall return with what you seek. You will certainly not be disappointed!" Beldam assured as she turned to her sisters. "Let's go, my lovelies! Marilyn! Vivian! Come! We've got a job to do!"
She followed up by sinking into the shadows.
"Guhhhhh…" Marilyn grunted as she joined her sister down in the shadows.
"Mmm hm hm hm hm…" Vivian giggled before sinking into the shadows. All that left was Grodus, who gripped his scepter tightly.
"So a ten year old boy has a hold of the map..." Grodus trailed. "Getting a hold of that from him should be very interesting..."
Ah, yes! Grodus and Lord Crump! Possibly one of my favorite characters not only in the game, but possibly in the series! Vivian's another character I like as well. And yes, I already know about the thing in Japan with her. I played the English version, and this is based off the English version as well.
Now that that's out of the way, we're about to visit a town next chapter.