Chopper and Vivian got back to the minor league locker room after defeating the Pokey Triplets. They were a little exhausted, so after Chopper got his fighting money, which was 4 coins and rose up to Rank 17, he slept for about fifteen minutes in bed, while Vivian was beside the bed, looking at Chopper.
"Heh. You sure seem to care about the little guy, don't ya?" Bandy Andy chuckled. Vivian turned to him and gave a nod.
"I know Chopper's fine, you don't need to ask," Vivian assured. "He's one of the few people that were actually very nice to me."
"Though, I don't get why you're fighting here. You're a girl, right?"
"Hey! That's such an unnecessary comment, Bandy!" King K. scolded. "You shouldn't be makin' any bad remarks on one of C-dude's buddies!"
"Errrr... Sorry 'bout that. I was just a little curious."
"Ummm... That's OK, I suppose." Vivian replied.
Bandy Andy looked down at Chopper and poked his Red headband. "Man, he's lucky that he has that headband on him! Bandanas make you look pretty cool. Heh. You know what I'm saying, right, er…ghost girl?"
"You can call me Vivian."
"I mean, you and him being the champs in this place? Maybe that could happen. Heh. I could totally see you and him defeating the champ here!"
"Well, to be honest, there's a different reason for us being here. Do you know anything about Grubba?"
"Uh… Not really. He's just a great guy and all! I don't know why, but a month ago, he came back here with some kind of… I don't really know what it is, honestly. I can't remember what happened. Sorry, girl, but all I know is that Grubba did a good thing with setting up this battle arena. I just wish I can move up to Major-League. Heh. It must be AWESOME there!" Bandy Andy wondered as he walked over to the door to leave the locker room. "I gotta go head out somewhere. Sorry, but you can watch your boyfriend if you want - if he IS your boyfriend."
Chopper woke up and stretched. He was fully recovered by now. Thankfully, Vivian didn't need a nap because she already had full HP. King K. noticed that Chopper was awake and decided to go talk to him.
"Hey, what's crackin', Con-boy? You just finished beatin' down some poor fools or what?" King K. asked. "You lookin' good, man. The old King K. wouldn't mind a little bit of your luck, man. Yeah, that'd be nice."
"Hmmmm... Luck wouldn't be too bad, personally." Chopper smiled. "Maybe there's a chance I can quickly reach to..."
"Get in there, you!"
"Huh? What was that?"
"Sounds like someone got in trouble..." King K. trailed.
The locker room door opened up and Jolene came in with Bandy Andy. "How many times do I have to tell you: that room is absolutely OFF-LIMITS! If you want to remain on our fight roster, you must follow the rules. And don't think I haven't noticed you following me. Stop that, too. It's creepy. If you don't obey the rules, we'll ban you from the Glitz Pit. Understood?"
Bandy Andy couldn't help but snicker as Jolene left the room.
"Again, dude? Man, you just a MAGNET for trouble!" King K. face palmed.
"Heh heh heh heh heh... Sorry, King K. Didn't mean to bring Queen Nag in here again." Bandy Andy smirked. "You know me. I'm one to leave the place and cause a ruckus whenever I'm a little bored."
"Aw, don't sweat it, B-money. Jolene can take that 'tude of hers and shove it up her nose. Why you always chasin' that girl, anyway, man? I don't understand… Do you have a little thing for her?"
"Shut up, K! ...Now... If you folks will pardon me, I must be off." Bandy Andy quickly left the room, which worried Chopper a bit.
"Is he...a stalker?"
"Well... I'm not too sure 'bout that..." King K. trailed. "But if he bothers you or your friend, just come talk to me and I'll deal with him."
"Thank you," Vivian smiled.
"Well, there's not much we can do right now. I guess we might as well reserve a match." Chopper shrugged. He walked over to the screen and chose to reserve a match.
"Well, boy howdy, Contadre! Fixin' for a fight, huh? Well alrighty then! Lemme just see here... Yer next will be... Ranked 16 in the Glitz Pit... The Dead Bones! Now listen, son: in this battle, I want you to avoid usin' any of them there Flower Points! Yeah, you heard me! Let's see how you do without none of them fancy-pants moves! Now get in there an' show me somethin', son!"
"OK, let's wait for security," Vivian suggested.
"Of course," Chopper agreed.
They sat down on the uncomfortable bench and began to wait. After fifteen seconds, a Security Guard showed up to escort them to the pit.
"Contadre! Match time! Follow me, bub." Chopper and Vivian followed the Security guard over to the ring, where they found three Dull Bones.
"Oh, geez... It's all coming back to me two years ago, especially against those dead pirates..."
"Fer our next battle, we got the Red Headbanded Fighter, the GREAT CONTADRE and... The Bone-Banging Rockers..." Grubba introduced. "Yep, a fight to the finish with the Dead Bones!"
"Don't worry, Chopper. I'll be right beside you. We can take care of them, right?" Vivian asked. Chopper smiled and nodded, turning back to the Dead Bones with his fists clenched.
"We're gonna take the skin off YOUR bones!" the Dead Bone leader cackled.
"Get yerselves ready to… BAAAAAATTLE!" the gong rang and the fight began. They couldn't use Flower Points, but that didn't mean anything, because they only had 1 HP and a Defense of 1.
"OK, I'll show these guys what moves I have! C'mon!" Chopper ran toward the front one and used a Vulcan Jab, knocking it back. Vivian defeated the second one easily with her Shade Fist.
"Take this, Contadre!" the last Dead Bone, who was the leader, threw a bone at Chopper, hitting him right on the head.
"Hey! Oh man, now you're gonna get it!" Chopper used a roundhouse kick on the Dull Bones and knocked it down, which gave him 8 Star Points for the fight.
"We've got ourselves a winner! THE GRRRRRREAT CONTADRE!" Grubba shouted as the Dead Bones collapsed while the entire audience began to cheer.
"We did it, Chopper!" Vivian squealed.
"Yeah! That wasn't so hard!" Chopper smiled.
At that moment, they left the ring and headed back to the locker room. Jolene gave Chopper 5 coins for the battle and his rank rose to 16. After she left, King K. walked over to Chopper.
"Man, I heard you just KNOCKED some blocks off!" King K. recalled. "Not bad Double-Con-boy. You're the real deal, mean. The realest I ever seen. Keep bustin' heads! An' if anyone gives you lip, you just tell 'em King K said to back it up! Biz-OWWWW!"
"AIGH! HURTS!"
"Huh? What was that?" Chopper gawked.
"It sounds like it was coming from the hallway..." Vivian trailed as they heard some voices from the hallway.
"Keep quiet."
"MY FOOOOOT!"
"Oh, you're fine. Just shut up."
"Apply pressure right there."
"OOOOOOOUCH!"
"Do we have a gag, maybe?"
"C'mon, get a grip, will you?"
"MOMMMMMMY!"
"Outta the way up there!"
"Whoa. Sounds like some poor sucker just earned himself a trip to the hospital." King K. cringed. "Hey, man, this is brutal sport, sometimes, you know? This stuff happens."
"Yeah, I'm not one who likes to injure people, especially fighters here, considering that they're not evil."
"Should we go do another fight?" Vivian asked.
"Yeah, I think so," Chopper nodded as he walked over to reserve a match.
"Well, boy howdy, Contadre! Fixin' for a fight, huh? Well, all righty, then! Lemme just see here... Yer next opponent will be... Ranked 15 in the Glitz Pit... Spike Storm! Now listen, son: in this battle, I want you to let yer enemy damage you three times, OK? It's just so dang borin' when a match is too one-sided, you hear what I'm sayin' to you? Now get in there and kick some behind!"
Chopper waited on the bench for his fight, and then after fifteen seconds, the Security Guard came in. "Contadre! Match time! Follow me, bub."
"What's with the guard's and calling me bub? I don't understand that one bit." Chopper wondered as he tightened his headband and followed the Security Guard to the ring, along with Vivian.
"Fer our next battle, we got the Red Headbanded Fighter, the GREAT CONTADRE and... The Midnight Spike-Bombers..." Grubba hollered. "Yep, a fight to the finish with Spike Storm!"
"Well this should be interesting, huh?" Vivian wondered as the opposing team gave them a glare.
"We're gonna spike-bomb you into submission, you little pipsqueak!" the Lakitu taunted.
"Get yerselves ready to... BAAAAAATTLE!"
"Oh boy… This isn't good. Chopper, that Spiny has a Thunder Rage." Vivian noticed. "We need to find a way to take him out before getting rid of the rest. But we can't exactly take them all out at the same time."
"How about… Earth Tremor!" Chopper smiled as he held the Crystal Star up and jumped on it with Vivian. He was only able to make it grow twice, and it stomped the ground, making the Spinies and Lakitu get hurt. The Spinies were defeated, but not the Lakitu.
"I guess I should just Appeal to the crowd. We'll get some more Star Power if I do that." Vivian used Appeal to make the crowd adore her, and then Chopper got hit by a Spiny thrown by the Lakitu.
After about two more hits, he walked over to the Lakitu and used an Air Kick, which sent it crashing to the ground, making it dizzy along with the Spinies, and earning 9 Star Points.
"We got ourselves a winner! THE GRRRRRREAT CONTADRE!" Grubba shouted. The audience cheered loudly for Chopper, and a couple of girls from the crowd squealed like fangirls.
"Wow! We sure took care of them!" Vivian smiled.
They quickly left the Glitz Pit before Chopper could get glomped by anyone that tried to jump onto the ring and went back to the locker room, receiving 5 coins and rising to rank 15. Just like before, King K. walked over to Chopper as Jolene left the room.
"Hey, man, check this: I heard the Hot Dog Stand outside's gettin' a new menu item," King K. informed. "Yeah, sounds like it's some crazy Hot Dog made with an egg from a southern island. Some fool was even sayin' the Hot Dog'll help you win fights! You oughta snack on one!"
"Really? Hmmm… We should go check out the Hot Dog Stand, Vivian." Chopper suggested. She agreed and left the locker room with him to go back outside, but they ended up seeing a bunch of adoring fans that belonged to Rawk Hawk in the main lobby.
"Oh yeah! Unh! The fans LOVE me!" Rawk Hawk gloated as he noticed Chopper. "Hey, you! Yeah you! Minor-Leaguer! You probably wish that you were me, don't ya? You probably want all of these adoring fans screaming for your attention! Well, too bad for you, scrub! You'll never be as good as the Rawk! You don't got the guts to become champ! Look at yourself! I'll tell you this though: Rawk Hawk is number one!"
Chopper glared at him and smashed his way through the crowd with his hammer to get out of the Glitz Pit. Rawk Hawk, on the other hand, wasn't pleased.
"Hey! What gives you the right to hit my fans?!"
He ignored him as they went outside, but what they noticed was Mr. Hoggle chasing an egg around with blue, yellow, and hot pink polka dots. "No! Bad! So very bad! Behave yourself, egg! I can't let you wander around here!"
"What the heck?" Chopper gawked.
"No! Bad! Come back! Help! My imported egg escaped! Somebody, catch it!"
Chopper tried to catch the egg, but it hopped away from him, which it kept doing every time he got closer. But after a while, the egg hopped on top of the truck and fell asleep.
"MOST AWFULLY BAD! Come down from there, bad egg! How am I supposed to get it now? FLY there?" Mr. Hoggle cried before he looked at Chopper. "You! Don't just stand there with your antennae! Find a way to get up there!"
"ZZZZZZZZZZZ… ZZZZZZZZZZZ…"
"Well, I guess this is our best chance to get the egg," Chopper saw a small blue ! Switch by some blocks over to the right, so he and Vivian walked over there and hit the switch. Stairs were made and unfolded as they went down, allowing them both to go up the stairs and open a chest that contained a Power Plus P Badge, which is a Badge used for a partner.
"OK, I think I can see a paper airplane panel. Let's use it to get the egg." Vivian suggested. Chopper nodded and jumped on the spring to go onto the panel. He noticed the picture of Rawk Hawk when he jumped onto the panel.
Chopper turned into a paper airplane and he and Vivian flew over to the truck. Once they landed on it, the egg woke up and began to jump up.
"Huh? This egg… I think it's telling us it wants our help!" Vivian noticed. "It's a really cute egg! What do you think we should do, Chopper? It's your call."
"LET THERE BE HOT DOGS!"
"Chopper..."
"Hey! That wasn't me! It was the pig!" Chopper cried as he noticed Mr. Hoggle's arms flailing. "Well... Even though I'm hungry, I wanna help the egg."
"Good idea, Chopper! I think we can set him free, right? If…that's OK with you, pig person."
"Aww... Fine. Most people don't like eating stuff that jumps all over the place, anyway." Mr. Hoggle sighed as his head hung low.
"Cool! OK, little guy! You're free and clear to go! Bye!" Chopper smiled. However, he stopped when it hopped over to him and Vivian.
"I think he wants to come with us!" Vivian smiled as she clasped her arms together. "Awww… It thinks we're its parents! I think it needs us, Chopper. Don't you think so?"
"Uh… Yes, I suppose? You can come with us, little guy. Just…try and stay outta the way. We don't want you running into the ring and being attacked by anyone, don't you? Well you're more than welcome to join us!"
The egg went behind Vivian, who picked it up and headed back into the Glitz Pit. At this point, Chopper was wondering what was inside the egg.
Minor-league locker room-
"What now? What's this? I didn't know you were a father, Con-boy!" King K. grinned. "I never knew that your girlfriend could lay an egg! Congratulations you two!"
"Huh? But I'm no daddy..." Chopper trailed. "I just found the egg..."
"I'm just jokin' with you, Conny."
"Oh... Anyway... I'm going to go reserve a match." Chopper declared as he walked over to the terminal to reserve a match.
"Well, boy howdy, Contadre! Fixin' for a fight, huh? Well, all righty, then! Lemme just see here... Yer next opponent will be... Ranked 14 in the Glitz Pit… The Hand-It-Overs! Now listen, son: in this battle, I want you to avoid usin' any of them there Flower Points! Yeah, you heard me! Let's see how you do without none of them fancy-pants moves! Now get in there an' show me somethin', son!"
"Why does he keep calling me 'son'?" Chopper asked. Unfortunately, he got no answer as the terminal shut off. "Say, King K... You think you could make sure this egg doesn't get kidnapped or something while we're gone?"
"Sure thing, C-boy!"
A Security Guard came after fifteen seconds, and Chopper and Vivian were escorted to the ring, with the egg resting on the benches in the locker room. They saw Bandy Andy and two red Bandits and another green Bandit come up to the ring.
"Fer our next battle, we got the Red Headbanded Fighter, the GREAT CONTADRE and... The grim Death Burglars… Yep, a fight to the finish with The Hand-it-Overs!"
"We're facing against Bandy Andy? Well that's interesting…" Vivian trailed. "Hopefully we don't hurt him too much."
"Heh heh heh heh heh! We're awful quick, awful agile…and just plain awful!" Bandy Andy chuckled.
"Get yerselves ready to… BAAAAAATTLE!"
Chopper had two Thunder Rages, and he was never told that he couldn't use items. The green Bandits had 8 HP, so that could be a little tough for him.
"I guess I'll use a Thunder Rage," Chopper used his Thunder Rage, which made lightning strike the Bandits from above. The two red Bandits were knocked unconscious from the attack, while the two green ones were left with 3 HP.
"I'll finish one of the Bandits," Vivian sunk into the shadows and rose up in front of the green one, using a fiery punch to knock him down. Only Bandy Andy was left standing now.
"Heh heh heh. It's show time!" Bandy Andy rushed toward Chopper and rammed into him, making him drop ten coins. He chuckled as he held the big coin up. This made Chopper use his Vulcan Jab on him to make him drop his coins and bring him down to 1 HP.
"All right, Vivian! You can do the honors!" Chopper declared. Vivian nodded and punched Bandy Andy with her Shade Fist, knocking him down and giving Chopper 12 Star Points.
"We've got ourselves a winner! THE GRRRRRREAT CONTADRE!" Grubba shouted as the audience cheered for Chopper and Vivian.
"Wow, we did it, Chopper!" Vivian cheered.
"Yeah! I can't believe it!" Chopper smiled.
They headed back to the locker room, where Jolene gave Chopper 6 coins. His rank even rose to 14 as well. Once she left the room, the egg hopped back over to the two while King K. walked over to them.
"Hey, you hear the latest, C-dog?" King K. asked.
"Uhhh... No? What's the news?" Chopper asked.
"Well, my boys said they saw a STUNNIN' babe havin' a juice at the Fresh Juice Shop. King K could use a little shortie in his life, dig? Check her out for me, man!"
"Uh… Why me? I'm only ten years old... And I just want to be in a cleaner locker room instead of this place. Who even made this room anyway? Were people too lazy or something?"
"Beats me, man. I wish I could get outta this place too. I hear most of the fame's in the Major-League room. Wish I were there…but I like it here. All of my buds are here, and I thought I should just stay here instead of move on and be around people I don't know. But you, I think you have a chance at getting there."
"Well, let's hope... But for now, I think I'm going to rest up for a bit." Chopper walked over to the bed and took a quick nap to heal his HP and FP. Afterward, he decided to reserve a match.
"Well, boy howdy, Contadre! Fixin' for a fight, huh? Well, all righty, then! Lemme just see here... Yer next opponent will be... Ranked 13 in the Glitz Pit…The Mind-Bogglers! Now listen, son: in this battle, I want you to avoid usin' yer hammer! Not even once, son! I wanna see how you do when you ain't got somethin' to beat a fella with. Now get in there an' let's see some acrobatifyin'!"
After waiting for a bit, the Security Guard walked into the room. "Contadre! Match time! Follow me, bub."
"Got it," Chopper nodded as he and Vivian followed him while the egg sat down on the bench again. They walked up to the ring to see a Pale Piranha, a pale-looking Puff Cloud, and also a pale-looking spider called a Pider.
"Fer our next battle, we got the Red Headbanded Fighter, the GREAT CONTADRE and... The Gray Entanglers... Yep, a fight to the finish with The Mind-Bogglers!"
"You're about to have a terrible experience!" Vivian declared.
"Prepare to be ensnared, mystified, and devoured!" the Pale Piranha hissed.
"Get yerselves ready to… BAAAAAATTLE!"
Chopper was about to attack, but he noticed a Goomba in the audience holding a rock that was going to be thrown at him.
"Great… Hold on a second." Chopper got down from the pit and he used a kicking attack to scare the Goomba away. He then got back on the ring and did an Air Kick on the Pider.
"I'll finish this up!" Vivian declared as she used her Fiery Jinx and defeated them. Chopper got 9 Star Points and leveled up. He chose FP, so now he had 20 FP.
"We've got ourselves a winner! THE GRRRRRREAT CONTADRE!"
"Looks like we overdid it a little bit… Do you think they're OK?" Vivian asked.
"Well... They're just a little dazed..."
Once they left the pit, they went back to the locker room, where Jolene gave Chopper 6 coins and reached rank 13. After Jolene adjusted her glasses and left, King K. walked over to the two. However, his positive expression wasn't there this time.
"Huh? Is there something wrong?"
"Listen, man... Keep it under your uh...glove, but I'm thinkin' 'bout retirin' soon." King K. whispered. "If I stay any longer...well, my future might get shorter, dig? I've been gettin' lots of bruises and injuries, an' it ain't helpin' me here. After next match, I'm gone. It ain't cool, man, that's for sure, but you know what? That's life, Double-Con-boy. Listen... You be cool, man. Promise me you won't forget you once knew the King K!"
"I won't forget. I'll make sure I remember you."
"Thanks… That means a lot to me, man." Once King K. left him be, Chopper decided to go reserve another match.
"Are you sure, Chopper?" Vivian asked. "We've been doing a lot of fighting..."
"Well, the sooner we rise up to a rank, the better," Chopper noted. "We can probably go into that nicer locker room."
"Yeah, I suppose that's true..."
"Well, boy howdy, Contadre! Fixin' for a fight, huh? Well, all righty, then! Lemme just see here... Yer next opponent will be... Ranked 12 in the Glitz Pit... The Punk Rocks! Now listen, son: in this battle, I want you to avoid usin' yer hammer like before! Not even once, son! I wanna see how you do when you ain't got somethin' to beat a fella with. Now get in there an' let's see some acrobatifyin'! I know you can do it, son!"
Chopper noticed that the egg was still sleeping, so he walked over to it and patted it. The Security Guard came and took him and Vivian to the pit, where they found three Hyper Bald clefts. One of them was Cleftor.
"Fer our next battle, we got the Red Headbanded Fighter, the GREAT CONTADRE and... The Green Torture Squad… Yep, a fight to the finish with the Punk Rocks!"
"Get ready to feel some pain, antennae!" Cleftor taunted, cutting Vivian's words before she could speak.
"Wait, I'm not afraid on you!" Chopper declared, getting in a fighting stance.
"Get yerselves ready to… BAAAAAATTLE!"
Chopper started by using his Earth Tremor attack. He was only able to make the Crystal Star get big twice, but it was enough to take the Hyper Bald Clefts down. He didn't have anything else to use on them anyway. He was lucky enough to get 9 Star Points from the fight too.
"We've got ourselves a winner! THE GRRRRRREAT CONTADRE!"
"Gee... That wasn't so hard." Chopper realized.
They were taken back to the locker room, where Jolene gave Chopper 7 coins, and also his rank rose up to 12 as well.
"Now if you'll excuse me... I must be going." Jolene said as she adjusted her glasses and left the room. However, there was one thing missing in the locker room.
King K. was no longer there.
"King K. isn't around here? Aw, that's a shame." Vivian frowned. "I wonder where he went after retiring. But we'll never find out, won't we? Or maybe we might actually find him... Oh well, let's just reserve a match."
"Yeah, kind of a shame..." Chopper agreed as he went up to the terminal and reserved a match.
"Well, boy howdy, Contadre! Fixin' for a fight, huh? Well, all righty, then! Lemme just see here... Yer next opponent will be... Ranked 11 in the Glitz Pit... The Bob-omb Squad! Now listen, son: in this battle, I want you to avoid usin' any of them special moves! I think the crowd's cravin' a nice, long battle at its simplest and finest! Now get in there an' don't go a-grandstandin'!"
The Security Guard came and escorted Chopper and Vivian to the Glitz Pit while the egg stayed behind on the bench. At the pit, they saw Master Crash and three other black Bob-ombs at the ring.
"Fer our next battle, we got the Red Headbanded Fighter, the GREAT CONTADRE and... The Big Bomb Boomers… Yep, a fight to the finish with The Bob-omb Squad!"
"Bob-ombs? I don't think this should be a tough fight." Vivian said.
"Here we go, Contadre BOMB! I have advice! Just give up now BOMB!" Master Crash suggested.
"Not a chance!" Chopper objected.
"Get yerselves ready to… BAAAAAATTLE!"
Once the fight began, Vivian finished the battle with her Fiery Jinx, making the Bob-ombs explode and fall over on the ground, giving Chopper 8 Star Points for the fight.
"Whoa... Not bad, Vivian!" Chopper smiled.
"Ummm... Thanks!" Vivian blushed.
"We've got ourselves a winner! THE GRRRRRREAT CONTADRE!" Grubba announced.
They headed back to the locker room, where Jolene gave Chopper 7 coins while his rank rose up to 11. After she left, the two noticed Master Crash looking a little glum, while Cleftor was right beside him.
"Is he sad because I won against him?" Chopper wondered.
"I'm not so sure..." Vivian trailed.
"It is quite lonely without King K around BOMB..." Master Crash trailed.
"No lonely... Him too weak..." Cleftor trailed. "Now him not here. Sound normal to Cleftor."
"You are in BOMB denial, Cleftor. I saw you weeping in that locker BOMB-BOMB!"
Their conversation was cut off when Jolene brought in a new fighter. Chopper's eyes widened when he realized it was actually a Waddle Doo holding a spear.
"What the... A Waddle Doo?!" Chopper gaped.
"You know him?" Vivian asked.
"Well... I know their kind. They serve a tyrant named King Dedede, that's for sure."
"Right this way, Waddler," Jolene said as Waddler followed her inside. "This is your dressing room. You're starting in the minor league, of course, as you've just now started your career. If you don't like this dingy room, I suggest you work your way up through the ranks. When you're ready to fight, you just log on to this computer terminal here. Mr. Grubba will then decide who you'll match up against. You will have no say in this. Why don't you try it once? Walk up to the screen and log on with A. Then pick, 'Reserve a Match.'"
Waddler walked over to the terminal and reserved a match to find Grubba in the terminal.
"Well, howdy, The Waddler! Ready to get yer spear dirty, huh? There you go, son! I got a treat fer you: yer first battle's gonna be against the Goomba Bros.! Don't you worry 'bout them... They'll be a piece of cake! just mop 'em up, OK, son? Hey, we wanna get the crowd fired up, so do a triple jab and fall over! You got any questions about detailed rules, just ask the lovely Ms. Jolene, OK, son? Well good luck, pard!"
"OK, your battle is reserved. At this point, you just wait until Security comes for you..." Jolene started.
"How did a Waddle Doo get here?" Chopper whispered, not paying much attention to Jolene's explanation to Waddler.
"You know what he is?" Vivian questioned quietly. "I don't think I've seen someone like him before..."
"They're from Pop Star. Maybe this guy knows how to travel to different planets?"
"...That's all you need to know for now," Jolene finished. "Did you understand all that?"
"Of course," Waddler nodded.
"OK, good. For now, just wait until Security comes to get you, Waddler."
"Ummm... Hi guys." Waddler greeted. "Yeah... My name's Waddler. THE Waddler, I mean. Nice to meet you."
"Good to meet you too, I guess?" Chopper shrugged. "How'd you get here from Pop Star?"
"Pop Star? What's that place?"
"Whoa... A Waddle Doo that knows nothing about Pop Star? That's interesting!" Chopper thought. "Well, where are you from?"
Before Waddler could answer, a Security Guard came in and noticed The Waddler. "You. Yes, you. The Waddler. Time for your battle, bub. Follow me."
"OK, Security's here to escort you to the ring," Jolene noted. "Try not to get completely destroyed out there."
Jolene left the room along with Waddler and the Security Guard. Though he was unable to get his answer, Chopper decided it was probably best not to question where that Waddle Doo came from and took a nap. Once he was fully recovered, he went to the terminal to reserve a match.
"Well, dog my cats! If it ain't the Great Contadre! Fixin' for a fight, huh? Hyuk hyuk hyuk hyuk hyuk! Hoo-wee! Yer gonna love this! Yer next opponent is... Ranked 10 in the Glitz Pit... The Armored Harriers! That's right! Yer darn tootin'! Yer finally gonna make a go at the major league, son! We're expecting great things from you, so don't you go a-lettin' us down, now! Now, listen, son: in this battle, I want you to avoid usin' any items! Empty them pockets! Real men don't need no trinkets to help 'em hand out a proper whuppin', you hear? No get out there and knock some heads the old-fashioned way, will ya?"
A Security Guard showed up and escorted Chopper and Vivian to the ring
"Well, this should be interesting," Chopper smiled. "If we win this, we get to leave this locker room!"
"I can't wait to get out of there," Vivian smiled. "I enjoy a nicer room anyway!"
As the door closed behind them, the egg sitting on the bench began to crack.
The ring-
"And now... today's main event!" Grubba announced. "The major league awaits the 11th-ranked Great Contadre... But only if he can beat the 10th-ranked powerhouses... The Iron Adonis Twins! First, let's get the Red Headbanded Fighter in here, folks! THE GRRRREAT CONTADRE!"
Chopper walked out of the left entrance with Vivian and saw all of the people cheering for them. They were standing in awe at the entire crowd.
"Chopper... This is amazing!" Vivian gasped.
"Yeah, I know!" Chopper agreed as they made their way up to the ring. While they did that, they could hear a lot of comments from the crowd.
"CONTADRE!"
"Kick their iron tails!"
"Don't you dare lose, dude!"
"Love those antennae!"
When they reached the ring, Grubba walked over to them with a grin.
"Hooooooooo-WEEEEEEEEEE! The Great Contadre! How're you feelin'?" Grubba asked as he brought the mic over to him.
"Well..." Chopper began until he felt something come out of him. "BUUUUUUUUURP! Excuse me..."
"Whoa, nelly! You heard the fella, folks! He's obviously itchin' to mix it up some!"
Grubba heard some heavy footsteps and turned around to see the Iron Clefts come out. Chopper saw two big Clefts that were blue. One had red feet while the other had green. They even heard comments from the crowd on their side.
"Good gravy!"
"Iron 'em out!"
"Whoa! Are spikes legal?"
"Hyuk hyuk! Your challenger is real confident, boys!" Grubba informed as the two Iron Clefts got on the ring. "Yep, he's talkin' trash... 'Iron Adonis Twins?' he said. 'More like Paper Dog-Face Bros.! ...And they stink!' And he said: 'I bet they just play video games an' cry when they lose!' Um, yeah, and then he said... 'Outie belly buttons run in their families! Stinkwads!' ...And so on. Yep."
"WHAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAT!" the Red Iron Cleft gaped. "How does he know Mom has an outie? That jerk! We're gonna blend you up into a smoothie, pal! And then we're gonna drink ya! Oh, and one more thing... Only smelly stinkwads call other people stinkwads! Understand, stinkwad?"
"Simmer down there, Bro," the Green Iron Cleft suggested before looking up at Chopper. "You! Stinkwad! You're gonna regret opening your yap, pal! See these bods? Solid iron. See these spikes? Yeah, they penetrate any substance. So basically, what I'm telling you is that whatever you try will be completely useless. Think that over in the very short time you have left with a functional brain."
"What? But I didn't even say any of that!" Chopper protested.
"Get yerselves ready to… BAAAAAATTLE!"
At that point, Chopper and Vivian got in their fighting stance.
"We're gonna do it! We make the major league if we win! Get ready, Chopper!" Vivian suggested.
"Bluh huh huh huh huh... Give up now!" the Red Iron Cleft chortled.
"Well, stinkwads, you're about to learn about our skills the hard way," the Green Iron Cleft declared.
"Oh, yeah? Take this, Iron Clefts! Hi-YAAAAA!" Chopper used his Vulcan Jab on the red one, which didn't do a thing. Chopper gulped and stepped back.
"Uh… This isn't good. ...Wait, I think I have an idea!" Chopper turned around and fled from the battle.
"Chopper! What are you doing? You can run away now! Ugh…" Vivian sighed as she followed him, while the two Iron Clefts began to laugh at them.
"Bluh huh huh huh huh... See? Those two are complete chickens! We tried to tell you you couldn't hit us, but nooooooo..."
"If you want another piece of pummel pie, have a bath and come on back! Punk!" The two Armored Twins laughed at them while the people on the right side cheered for them.
Locker room-
Back in the Minor League locker room, Jolene gave Chopper 1 coin, while his rank remained at 11. After she left, Chopper noticed the egg is nowhere to be seen, leaving them shocked.
"Heyyy… Where the heck is our egg friend?" Chopper wondered. "Did he hop away? I suppose he didn't really need us, then."
"Yo!"
They stopped when they noticed a white Yoshi walk over to them. This Yoshi had a small yellow curl on his head and hot pink boots.
"Contadre! Check me out!" the baby Yoshi noted. "Thanks to you, I hatched safe and sound! Thanks, man!"
"Wait… You were in that egg we found?" Vivian gaped.
"Yeah... But who cares about that? You guys wanna be champs, right? You want a Crystal Star? I heard it from you while I was in the egg! Yeah! Anyway, I gotta repay you for saving me from old Hoggle out there, so I'll fight for you! I can hold my own! I'll swallow any opponent whole! Just like you! Just leave it to me!"
"Great! I could always use a friend to help me!" Chopper smiled. "But… What's your name? You never told us your name."
"Huh? My name? Lessee... I just came outta that egg, so I guess I don't have a name yet. You seem fired up about it, so why don't you gimme one? Make it cool, OK? It better sound awesome!"
"All right, I'll try to..." Chopper trailed, pondering over a name. "...Well, you sure remind me of Yosho, one of my friends who lives on Yoshi's Island. But, since you look pretty small and tough… Hmmm… This might be a little tough to name you."
"How about we name him… What about Benny?" Vivian suggested.
"Nah, that won't fit. Ooh! I got it! I'll call you… Scrub!"
"Hmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm... Scrub, huh? Not too bad, dude. Not too bad at all." Scrub smiled. "Yeah… I like it. It sounds REALLY awesome! OK, Contadre… Let's get out there and do some damage!"
The Yoshi is now your friend! He'll answer to "Scrub"! Press X to get on and off of the Yoshi! While riding the Yoshi, you'll move faster! Also, while on the Yoshi, if you press A, you'll float briefly in the air! In battle you can repeatedly bounce on enemies using his Ground Pound move or… You can use Gulp to inhale enemies whole and spit them out for massive damage!
Chopper decided that he should upgrade Scrub, so he went back to Rogueport to get him upgraded so now his HP was 20 instead of 10, and his Ground Pound could do 4 damage instead of 2. His Gulp could do 5 damage, and he learned to use the Mini-Egg attack.
Once they returned to the locker room, Chopper reserved a match on the terminal to have a rematch against the Iron Clefts. However, he was told to appeal to the crowd at least once.
"Since you can only have one person helping you, I'll sit out, OK?" Vivian suggested. "You and Scrub will take care of those Iron Clefts! I hope…"
"Don't worry, Vivian! Contadre and I got this in the bag!" Scrub assured. "I may look small, but I'm a pretty tough fighter! I'll even prove it to ya!"
A Security Guard came and took Chopper and the baby Yoshi to the arena. Vivian sunk into the shadows to go to the front of the audience when the two reached the battle arena.
"Fer our next battle, we got the Red Headbanded Fighter, the GREAT CONTADRE and... The Iron Adonis Twins... Yep, a fight to the finish with The Armored Harriers!"
"You think you can take me and Contadre? HA!" Scrub scoffed, showing off his coolness.
"These ultrahard bods just can't lose!" the Red Iron Cleft declared.
"Get yerselves ready to... BAAAAAATTLE!"
With that, the fight began.
"Contadre! Lemme at 'em! We're gonna take these punks this time!"
"Bluh huh huh huh huh... Stinkwad's challenging us again. He never learns!" the Red Iron Cleft cackled.
"Looks like he brought some new, shrimpy partner...as if that's gonna help him!" the Green Iron Cleft scoffed.
"Oh, yeah? Well you show 'em, Scrub!" Chopper suggested after he appealed. Scrub nodded and walked over to the Red Iron Cleft.
"Eh? What in the world does he think he's doin'?"
Scrub used his long tongue to inhale the Iron Cleft and spat him out at his brother, hitting him right by the spike.
"YEEEEEEEEEOOOOOOOOWCH! You spiked me right in the... THAT REALLY HURTS! Our iron bodies and pointy nastiness are being used against us! Not fair!"
"Oh, dang, Bro! Has he discovered our weak points?"
The two Iron Clefts attacked Chopper, which both did 4 damage to him, but he was able to take it.
"OK, Scrub! Finish them off!" Chopper declared. Scrub used his Gulp once again and spat the Red Iron Cleft at his brother, making them faint in defeat. The battle rewarded Chopper with 16 Star Points!
"Oooooooooorg…"
"Do we have to go back to the minor league now, Bro? I think I'm gonna be sick."
"Cooooooooongragulations! Great Contadre! With this win, you made the major league!" Grubba declared. "Now, THAT, folks was what I call a wiiiiild an' wooly fight! A diggety-dang DOOZY! Keep it up, kid! You're goin' places, I can tell! Hoo-wee! C'mon, now, folks, give it up! We got a new major-leaguer! LET'S HEAR IT FOR HIM!"
The audience began to cheer for Chopper and Scrub as he let out a "Woo-hoo!" while they cheered. Vivian came up to the ring and hugged Chopper.
"You did it! We're going to be out of that disgusting locker room now!" Vivian squealed.
"Aw, YEAH! We did it, Contadre! We are AWESOME!" Scrub cheered as Vivian let go of Chopper.
"Good riddance too! The sooner we go up the ranks, the sooner we can get that Crystal Star!" Chopper smiled.
Yes! The minor league is DONE! And we have our new party member, Scrub! Why did I name him that? Well I did that because originally, his name was Yoshi when I first wrote the fic, which felt a bit bland to me. I went with a name that would fit him, and I thought Scrub would do just fine because of his size. Oh, and he's a white Yoshi because they're rare, and that's one of the Yoshis I got when playing the game. Y'know, to make it interesting.
We start the major leagues next chapter! Isn't it exciting? I don't know, really.