"Are you sure about this? Speak up, X-Naut!" Grodus demanded, who was speaking to an X-Naut PhD.
"Yes, sir, quite sure," the X-Naut PhD confirmed. "I did some more research on those Crystal Stars and Beldam's words were right. The Crystal Stars have some kind of odd powers to them, and with all twenty of them, you can make all of your wishes come true…such as world domination…or perhaps taking over the universe!"
"Excellent… So Beldam's words are true. I suppose she's also right about the Crystal Star being in some cave far out in the ocean… Is it Unagi's Cave that she was talking about?"
"Yes, we were told by her that there are a couple of islands in order to make it over there. How dangerous is it? Well we haven't heard much on how dangerous it is. There's a giant eel named Unagi that lives there. That Crystal Star…is on his tail. To be honest, we'd be risking our lives if we were to get that Crystal Star!"
"I don't care how many of you get eaten by that eel," Grodus said coldly. "What's important is that we get the Crystal Star. Even if it's a risky mission, we need to get them no matter what! That's what's needed for our plan to work..."
"Wh-What?! Y-You're actually going to risk losing X-Nauts to a giant eel?!" the X-Naut PhD stammered. "I did some research on this eel, and he's considered to be the most feared monster in the seas around Rogueport. I heard he was able to escape a painting from a castle in the Mushroom Kingdom owned by Peach and escape into the sewers to reach the seas around Rogueport. Ever since then, not many ships have gone out to sea. Some people don't even come back to tell the news about Unagi..."
"Well that's not going to stop us. I know who can handle a ship with no problem. For now, send the Shadow Sirens out to find Chopper! …And perhaps they can also help us with that Crystal Star."
"Hmm? Who do you plan on sending out, sir?"
"I'll send him in soon. For now, you are dismissed."
"Very well, sir," the X-Naut PhD crossed his arms in the form of an X and left the room. Before Grodus could call Lord Crump in, he ended up coming into the room covered in soot.
"Grodus… I'm getting bored. When are you sending me out on a mission?" Lord Crump asked. "That chump humiliated me back in that tree, and I'm getting pretty ticked about it! I wanna have my chance of getting a Crystal Star as well!"
"Well, Lord Crump..." Grodus began before he was cut off.
"Hold on a second... What do we even plan on doing with the Crystal Stars? Rule the world? 'Cause honestly, you haven't told me what we were going to do with 'em. Plus, why did we kidnap that princess?"
Grodus began to ponder for the moment while turning away from Lord Crump. But after a while, he turned back to him. "Hmmmm... Very well. I suppose I can tell you what those are for and why we got Princess Peach.
"Oh! Sweet!" Lord Crump fist pumped as Grodus cleared his throat.
"You see, Lord Crump… Those Crystal Stars are what we need to…"
One explanation later-
"Whoa, whoa, WHOA! That's AWESOME!" Lord Crump gaped. "Man! I didn't know you had it in you, Grodus! THAT is evil!"
"You must not tell any of the X-Nauts about this!" Grodus warned. "This is only between us! If you do somehow manage to tell any of them, I'm going to have to let you go..."
"Wh-What do you mean let me go?"
"I mean I'll send you out into space!"
"Whoa... OK, you have my word, Grodus. I'm not going to tell ANYONE about them! ...Now, what did I come here for? Oh yeah! I'm bored, and I came here 'cause I wanted to go out and take down that kid!"
"Well you came here just in time," Grodus noted. "You see, there's a cave out to the south of Rogueport where the ferocious Unagi the Eel lives. Apparently the Crystal Star is on his tail. You and the X-Nauts must go there and get that star!"
"Hold on... Isn't Unagi that sea monster many people have feared? You really expect me to take that thing down?!"
"Our ships were designed to take down any sea monster in its way! Now, to get that star, I recommend capturing the eel and snatching the Crystal Star quickly! You're bound to get it with ease..."
"Huh... That doesn't sound like a bad idea. Sure, I'll go ahead and do it! And don't you worry, Grodus. I'll be back with that star, for my name isn't Lord..."
"Yes, I know already," Grodus growled. "Now get out of my sight!"
"Oh... OK." Lord Crump scurried out of the room, leaving only Grodus, who couldn't help but think whether this plan would work or not. However, his thoughts were interrupted when he heard a green phone beside him ringing, so he picked it up to answer it.
"Hello? What do you want? I'm a little busy right now…"
"Huh? Are you that X-Weirdo leader? Listen! I've gone through A LOT to get your phone number, and I'm telling you to stay out of our way! The Crystal Stars belong to US! Not some alien race!"
"Who is speaking to me right now?" Grodus gawked.
"Who? Well, since I know you're Grodus, I might as well tell you who I am. I'm Gemerl! Leader of the Phis!"
"Gemerl... I swear I've heard that name before..." Grodus thought. "...Wait, he's the leader of those Phi things I was told about!"
"We're a robotic race that has come here to take over the universe," Gemerl explained. "I'm giving you a warning here. Stay out of our way and keep away from those Crystal Stars!"
"Don't be ridiculous!" Grodus hissed. "I'm not letting a bunch of robots get in my way! We X-Nauts are not all rainbows and unicorns. We're quite nasty. Perhaps nastier than you and your pieces of scrap metal."
"Ha ha ha! Yeah, good one. My Phis are quite nasty too. They're not afraid to take on anybody, and they don't run away that easily. They can even copy your moves and use them against you! In fact, even I can do that! If we were to face off against each other, I would probably win the fight."
"Well we already found a Crystal Star. We'll be adding one more to our collection. I'm pretty sure you don't have any. In fact, I shouldn't be wasting my time talking to you, robot pest!"
"Well we..."
Gemerl was cut off when Grodus quickly hung up the phone so he couldn't hear him anymore.
"Those robots and Chopper will not stop me! Once the day finally comes, my plans will finally come into place and the universe shall be mine! …And not even TEC can do anything about it! Foolish computer…. It's a good thing I wiped away his memory so he wouldn't remember anything about Peach. I've kept all of his previous data in a disk in my room… But now, no one can stop me! Everybody will kneel down before the X-Naut regime! And then I shall make a new world. One that's about me and made by me! GAAACK ACK ACK ACK ACK!"
Unfortunately, he didn't notice a camera watching the whole thing from down below the fortress.
The Boggly Woods-
Bowser came stomping his way through the Boggly Woods. From what he could recall, there was a Crystal Star located somewhere in the woods. Some Pale Piranhas and Clefts stood no chances when Bowser rampaged past them. He seemed to be enjoying it, while Kammy Koopa was staying behind and not having all the fun.
"Gra ha ha ha ha ha! Oh, baby! I remember being here! …It was when that Mario beat me to the Crystal Star here!" Bowser grumbled. "I'm pretty sure there's one of those babies in the tree! …And I'm talking about the Crystal Stars!"
"Of course, Lord Bowser! …Those days weren't so great." Kammy remarked. "That weird Puni hag thing and I ended up getting in a fight. Oh… That was no good for me…"
"Oh, yeah! The hag vs hag thing! Man, I need to see more of those fights often!" Bowser thought before he turned to his sidekick.
"Right, then! Let's go find that Crystal Star! Hmmmm…" Bowser noticed by the gray pipe that led to the Great Tree, Tipral was standing by the pipe and facing away from the group.
"Could it be? Is that actually Chopper?" gaped Kammy.
"Well it's payback for ruining me back at Glitzville!" he growled as he was about to breathe fire, but Kammy went over to Tipral first.
"You! Chopper! What are you doing in a place like…" At that moment, Tipral snapped his fingers and Kammy got knocked away. "Unngh... That was painful..."
"All right, Chopper! What are you doing here? Answer me NOW! Or else you're going to get one heck of a burning!" Bowser roared as Tipral turned around, leaving him to gawk. "Hold on… You're not Chopper! …But why do you look just like him?"
"Don't ask why I look like him," Tipral said angrily. "I heard you were looking for the Crystal Star here, right? Well you're too late. I lost my Crystal Star, and the one in the Great Tree is gone. You should just turn back now."
"Huh-WHAAAAAAAT?! Chopper beat me here?! GAH! Now where am I going to find the next one?! WHERE?!"
"…Go to Unagi's Cave out at sea. You want me to help you? I'll do it." Tipral snapped his fingers and Bowser was sent high up into the clouds.
"AAARRGGHH!" Bowser yelled as he landed on a cloud. When he finally got up, he noticed a level awaited him, just like when he went to Music Kingdom.
"Ready to roll!" Bowser began to stomp his way through the clouds, and he jumped on some falling platforms. He noticed three Dayzee girls flying up in the sky though. One had orange petals with a light yellow face, light red arms and legs, the next had light yellow petals, a golden yellow face and light blue arms and legs, and the third had black petals with a light yellow face and light green arms and legs.
An X-Naut tried to attack Bowser, but he stomped on him. "That's right! Stay on the ground like you should! I'm going to be your new ruler soon! Gwa ha ha ha!"
Bowser opened his mouth and scorched a Goomba in a green sock. While he did that, the three Dayzee girls noticed him.
"Girls! Do you see that? I think it's Bowser from before!" Blayzee noticed as Bowser grabbed a piece of meat and grew bigger (the Dayzee girls' names are said in the same order as they were described).
"Bowser? Why is he here?" Kayzee wondered. "That bad, mean Koopa shouldn't be here! We should just ask him to leave right now!"
"Are you kidding me, Kayzee? You don't ask people like him to leave! I say we beat him up right now!" Tayzee suggested. She stopped when she saw Bowser grow even bigger while stomping through everything in his path.
"Gwa ha ha ha ha! I'm INVINCIBLE!" Bowser cackled as he crashed into every single thing in his path. And then finally, he got the flag and crashed into the castle…and unfortunately, he ended up landing in front of Flurrie's house and turned back to normal.
"Oooog… I thought it wouldn't end like this…"
"Your Dizziness!" Kammy cried out, who was able to fly through everything else in the woods and make it to Bowser. "Where were you, if I may ask?"
"…Up in the sky."
"Really? Neat! I never thought you could do such a thing! And who are your friends who brought with… Uh oh…" Kammy gulped as she saw the Dayzeeflower Girls fly down, who looked like they were going to fight Bowser. "Your Nastiness! We're being under attack!"
"All right, Bowser! It's over! It's time for you to get what you deserve!" Blayzee declared as Bowser slowly got up and turned to the girls.
"…GRAAARGH!"
He opened his mouth and breathed fire on the Dayzeeflower Girls, covering them in soot. "How is it that EVERY TIME I go out to do somewhere, I get chased by girl scouts?! Listen! I DON'T WANT YOUR COOKIES! Get outta here!"
"Yes, you little brats! We're in the middle of a Crystal Star hunt!" Kammy spat. "And we can't let that boy Chopper get them!"
"Chopper? You mean that boy I traveled with to stop you? Tee hee! That adventure was fun!" Kayzee recalled. "Blayzee! Can we go see him and his friends? Can we? Can we? I know you would like to see him!"
"I don't know, Kayzee…" Blayzee pondered. "You know, I think we should! Nothing bad happened back at home, so I guess it was good coming here. Let's just hope everything's safe…"
"With Kojo Pete out of the city, everything's just fine," Tayzee sighed. "And I was hoping we'd be able to kick some butt around here!"
"It's not all about fighting, Tayzee. Anyway, let's go, girls!"
And with that, they flew off, leaving Bowser gawking as they flew away from him.
"Since when can girl scouts fly?"
Phi Base-
Gemerl hung up the phone, feeling like he achieved nothing. "Great… That didn't help at all. It appears this Grodus person still doesn't care if I told him to stay out of our way… Well that's just perfect."
He was about to relax, but two Phis had to interrupt him and bust through the door.
"Hey! Have you ever heard about KNOCKING?!"
"Oh... Sorry, sir." the first Phi apologized.
"Well, what do you want?"
"Well, we think it's time for you to make your speech now," the second Phi suggested. "Y'know, about the whole Crystal Star and where the next one is after we ran from that dark ghost by the Dark Steeple? You said you were going to do that."
"Oh, yes… I almost forgot about that." Gemerl realized. "Give me some time to get ready… Oh, and one more thing..."
"Yes, sir?"
"Get out of here!" Gemerl instantly kicked them out before he had time to relax again.
"It's a good thing those Phis got me this star. Maybe I SHOULD give them a promotion for their job…but I don't feel like it. It's not easy to get promoted, you know." Gemerl got up from his chair, fired a blast at the Shadower dummy and then grabbed the Crystal Star.
"It's show time," he walked over to his teleporter and was transported out of his room and to an auditorium - which was not in the base. It was somewhere out in the desert, and they kept it hidden underground like their base.
As he made his appearance on the stage, all of the Phis cheered for him. He could hear some whistling…and some exploding. A gray machine that could show pictures was on the stage, as well as a big screen behind the Phi leader.
"Hold your applause, Phis! Wait until the END!" Gemerl suggested as he turned on the machine, which flashed a picture of a Crystal Star on the screen.
"You see… We're hunting for these Crystal Stars. Of course, you guys know that, because I mentioned that to you guys before... And then we have to deal with THIS kid..."
Gemerl changed the picture to Chopper, which made all the Phis boo.
"Yes, keep booing! That's exactly what I want to hear, especially for him... You see, he's gotten FOUR Crystal Stars so far! The Diamond, Gold, Emerald and Ruby Star. I did a little research and know the whereabouts of three of them. One is called the Sapphire Star, which is located somewhere out in sea in some cave that's owned by a dangerous sea monster called Unagi."
The Phis cheered for him, but Gemerl gestured them to stop again.
"Another Crystal Star I discovered...happens to be in the hands of someone else. I don't know how we'll be able to get that one. But, don't think that it's over. The Garnet Star, on the other hand..."
Gemerl took out the Garnet Star, which sparkled on the stage, making the Phis cheer as Gemerl nodded in approval.
"Yes! I was able to acquire a Crystal Star! Apparently it was located in a town called Poshley Heights, a place where many rich people tend to go to often. There's a museum there, which happened to have the Crystal Star located there..."
"Hey! We're the ones that got the…"
"Silence, Phi! I never told you to speak!" Gemerl snapped. "Now… Onto business. You see…" he pressed the button on his remote again and it switched over to a picture with both Chopper and Grodus on it, which made the Phis boo once again.
"Down with Chopper!"
"Who's that other guy?"
"Boo!"
"…We're not the only ones looking for the Crystal Stars, apparently," Gemerl informed. "We have two others searching for it as well. One that's a hero, and one that's some kind of alien with some robotic head. Apparently that alien person is holding onto one of the Crystal Stars. Of course, we're not going to let them stop us."
"Then what do we do about it?" a Phi asked.
"Well… I've heard that the guy, supposedly named Grodus, is sending his troops over to Unagi's Cave. However, it actually isn't located IN the cave. The eel itself, Unagi, happens to have the Sapphire Star stuck on its tail!"
The Phis all let out a gasp.
"Also... I heard some tales from my research, and apparently sailors have not returned from the seas when they ventured out. Chances are that the eel must've gobbled them up. And, since it prefers live things, the chances of it attacking us are very slim. We're robots, and sea monsters aren't interested in robots. Now... We're going to need some bait if we're going to lure that sea monster! That way, we have an easier chance of obtaining the Sapphire Star!"
"Awesome! So how are we going to get out at sea, and what if we have to deal with Chopper and those X guys?" a yellow Phi with blue eyes and a golden fin-like object on its head pointing up called and Elite Phi asked.
"Well… We need a ship. If we're going to fight, it will be ship vs ship! Yes… That will do nicely." Gemerl decided. "You all must get yourselves ready! We can't be slow, because if we are, then they'll beat us to the punch! So go! And do not fail me!"
"YES, SIR!" the Phis gave Gemerl a salute and they all flew out of the auditorium with their jetpacks. He grinned as he watched them go.
"Excellent… Everything is going well." Gemerl smirked. "There's only one question… Who came into the base before? That's what I want to know… Well I'll find out sooner or later."
With that, he teleported out of the auditorium and back to his base.
Twilight Town-
Chopper and his friends, including their new friend, Shadower, were able to return to Twilight Town. They finished explaining all the details to Mayor Dour, who looked shocked.
"I can't believe that we were thanking a fake Chopper this whole time…" Dour trailed. "I'm so sorry about this, Chopper… After all you've done for our town… Have we…hurt your feelings?"
"Well, I know that I was violently thrown out of your house by my friends, and I was completely ignored, so… I guess my feelings were hurt." Chopper frowned. "Not to mention people accused me of being Tipral."
"Yeah, most likely. When I saw him give me a hand, he was beaten up, and I actually felt bad for him." Shadower mentioned. "So I guess we can all say that his feelings were hurt. A lot…"
"…I see…" Dour frowned. "We apologize for all of that. It's OK if your feelings were hurt after all of that. But, you were really the one to bring back light into our dim little town! Everybody of Twilight Town thanks you!"
"So now… Where exactly do we go now, Chopper?" Shadower asked as he turned to Chopper. "Do we bring the Crystal Star back to the Thousand-Year Door?"
"The Thousand-Year Door has been sealed ever since it was previously opened," Vivian informed. "We don't need to go there. Plus, the pedestal no longer works. We don't REALLY need to be there now. Chopper knows where to go, right?"
"Yup! We just need to call down a Warp Star! Like this!" Chopper made a sharp whistle and a Warp Star came down for him to get on. Kirby summoned his and got on his as well. Scrub and Shadower got on Kirby's, while Vivian went on Chopper's.
"MAN! Why does Vivian get to go on Contadre's? I would wanna go on his 'cause he's awesome!" Scrub complained.
Kirby patted him on the head to calm him down and they all took off and were now heading to Dream Land.
Hatty Town, Dream Land-
Once they landed down in Hatty Town, they saw all the Cappies looked worried. The Mayor walked out of his house to Chopper and his friends.
"Hey, Mayor! We got the Crystal Star we needed!" Chopper took out the Ruby Star and showed it to the Mayor, but even then, that didn't change the Mayor's worried expression.
"Chopper… We have bad news." the Mayor gulped. "We just got a call a couple of hours ago that Dream Land will soon be taken over…"
"Is this King Dedede's doing again? 'Cause if it is, I'll go take care of him!" Chopper declared as he cracked his knuckles while a flaming glow surrounded his hands.
"We'll take care of whoever's responsible for this! You don't have to worry!" Vivian assured. "Just tell us who it is and we'll be ready!"
"His name is… Meta Knight."
Out by the ocean-
A large ship with bat-like wings and a mask an the bow of the ship could be seen underwater. The lights were on from looking at the windows, and there were a couple of people running around and getting the ship ready. According to many people in Dream Land, this was one of the largest ships in Dream Land. It was called the Battleship Halberd.
Inside the Halberd, there was a Waddle Dee with a captain's hat named Sailor Dee and also a tan bird in a captain's outfit called Captain Vul. The steering wheel was just like a pirate ship's steering wheel, and one of the Meta-Knights, a small skull headed guy with a helmet and horns named an Axe Knight was driving it.
"Captain! Everything's looking good so far!" Sailor Dee announced. "There's nothing missing or any problems with the reactor core!"
"Excellent! Then we're ready for takeoff!" Captain Vul smirked. "The Halberd is finally ready to take off!"
"So you like it, Meta Knight?" the Axe Knight asked
At the back of the room, a blue person in a silver mask was standing in the room with his blue cape wrapped around himself. Two knights were beside him, with one of them being Sword Knight, who was in dark green armor, with his helmet being shaped like a vertical oval. He had yellow eyes, large, dark green shoulder pads, blue clothing, dark green boots and a yellow sword.
Meta Knight's other servant was in green, with his helmet being shaped similarly to Sword Knight's. However, he had a red plume on his helmet unlike the other knight. His shoulder pads were green with a yellow trim, and he wore a blue shirt, as well as yellow shoes. His sword was silver, but it had a spike on each side of its edge. They were his personal servants after he saved them from a dangerous, red wolf monster.
"Good. Everything's how I wanted it to be." Meta Knight nodded in approval. "Now the time has come, my servants. This is the day where I, Meta Knight, rule this boring land!"
The Halberd rose from the waters and began to fly over the ocean. Meta Knight looked out the window and looked at the beautiful sky. While he was a servant of King Dedede, he didn't always like the way he ruled. Perhaps he could take over and make things his way?
However, his thoughts were soon interrupted by one of his servants.
"Ummm… Sir Meta Knight… Look!" Sword Knight pointed out the window, where they saw two Warp Stars coming their way. Captain Vul's mouth dropped as he saw the five flying their way.
"You gotta be KIDDING me!" Captain Vul roared as he slammed his fist on the wall in anger. "Kirby's come back here to invade my Halberd again?! Grrr! This time we're going to be ready!"
"Simmer down, Captain!" Blade Knight snapped. "We came prepared this time! Sir Meta Knight had us install a new laser cannon."
"Pfffft! Yeah, and it only took us four days without any breaks!" Sword Knight pouted as he crossed his arms.
Sword Knight's pout was stopped when Blade Knight smacked him.
"Sword, you're the reason why it took four days! Now shut up and let's get back to work!" Blade Knight ordered before he looked out the window to see another Warp Star. "…Hey, I think I see somebody else on the other Warp Star. Some pale green kid… We'll take 'im down!"
"Hmmm?" Meta Knight took a glimpse of Chopper coming his way. "Is he the one I've been hearing about?"
"Sir Meta Knight! What are your orders?" Captain Vul asked.
"Fire all bombs at our target!" Meta Knight ordered. "We can't let him get to the reactor core! If they manage to get to it, this Halberd is going to be going down! Send some troops to guard the reactor core as well. This could get ugly…"
Outside-
As Chopper was flying to the Halberd, his Warp Star was unfortunate to get hit by a bomb he didn't see coming his way. It struck the Warp Star, making it crash down to the ocean.
"Uh oh... The Warp Star's crashing!" Chopper gulped.
"This isn't good..." Vivian trailed.
"Kirby, what do I do?!"
"Poyo! (Abandon your Warp Star then! You can still get on the Halberd!)"
Chopper nodded and jumped off, allowing him to free fall down to the ship. Vivian was able to get off as well and follow him. However, she couldn't necessarily free fall when her ghostly tail could only attach to something.
"Hmmm…" Chopper was coming near the ground, so he shot a fireball, making a hole in the ground and landing inside the Halberd. He found a Poppy Bro. Jr.'s, and some Meta-Knights. One was a Mace Knight that was in purple with shoulder pads sporting a yellow trim, and it also happened to be carrying a flail that was held by a chain.
"Don't let him reach the reactor core, or we're finished!" the Mace Knight noted. The Poppy Bro. Jr. threw a bomb at Chopper, but once he inhaled it, he was given a light blue floppy hat.
"Take this!" Chopper threw the bombs at them, and it knocked them away, but it didn't defeat them yet.
"Crud… These guys are not easy." Chopper noticed the the pipes in the brown, metallic room were leaking, and the smoke coming from them made the room foggy. Everyone began to cough now.
"Who did that?" At that moment, the Meta-Knights and the Poppy Bros. Jr. were taken out by a Fiery Jinx, Ground Pound, Cartwheel, and a Shadow Punch. The smoke cleared up, and he saw his partners.
"We're here, Chopper. Don't you worry about a thing!" Shadower assured as he punched the door with his Shadow Punch, but he realized it wouldn't work. He began to think, and he knew what to do.
"I got it!" Shadower made Chopper invisible and pushed him through the door to a diamond-shaped rainbow core, which controlled the entire ship. Chopper threw a bomb at it, but it slightly hurt it.
"Well that's not going to do anything," Vivian noticed a laser firing at them, so they immediately jumped out to avoid it. This gave Chopper an idea. He jumped at the laser cannon and he made it fire at the core, which destroyed it.
The Axe Knight noticed a TV screen near him turning to a bright red. "Ummm... Guys? Does anyone know what that thing means?"
"Wait, what're you talking about?" Captain Vul asked as he walked over to the screen. His eyes widened when he noticed the word "Warning" on it. "Oh, no... No no no no no!"
"Any problem, Captain?" Sailor Dee asked.
"Of course there's a problem, Sailor Dee! Who's the idiot that attacked the Halberd's core?!"
"That...would most likely be the guys who came here," answered a Mace Knight.
"WHAT?!"
Sirens began to go off and they realized that the Halberd was going to crash into the water. Everyone began screaming for their life, with Captain Vul flailing his arms around as he ran around, while Meta Knight stayed calm. Sword and Blade looked at him with confused looks.
"Sir Meta Knight? You seem rather calm…" Sword trailed. "Do you know what we should do though?"
"We've failed…" Meta Knight thought as he shut his eyes. "But now I know what he can do to such a ship… But that doesn't mean I'm done with him. There's only one thing left to do."
"Sir Meta Knight! What do you want us to do?" Blade wondered.
"Attention all crew! Evacuate ship! Now!" ordered Meta Knight, while Captain Vul opened the window.
"I gotta get outta here! There's no way I'm staying here! I'll see you guys later!" Captain Vul jumped out the window and began to fall into the water. Unfortunately, a shark fin happened to be on his tail, causing him to shriek and swim away toward some land.
"Well there goes the captain. He's going to get himself eaten by a shark." Sword Knight turned around and saw Meta Knight walking out the door in the room. "Sir? Where are you going?"
"I have to pay somebody a little visit," answered Meta Knight. "You and Blade get out of here now. I'll meet with you guys later."
As Meta Knight left, Sword was left confused, but Blade didn't take his time. "You heard him, Sword! We're gettin' out of here pronto! That's Sir Meta Knight's orders!"
"Yeah, I know, but don't you think that was a little... I don't know... Strange?" Sword wondered. "A lot of times he lets us stay by his side, but now he wants us to go without him."
"Orders are orders. Either we go out now, or we're swimmin' with the fishes!"
"Ugh... Fine. You're always being so serious."
"You oughta stop goofin' off and actually listen for once! Come on now!" Blade took off, along with Sword. All that remained was Sailor Dee, who was unsure of what to do.
"Oh... So it's just me now..." Sailor Dee trailed. "What should I do...?"
He noticed that the Axe Knight wasn't taking control of the ship because it made its escape. All he could do was follow the Meta-Knight out of the room and hopefully to an escape pod. He certainly didn't want to jump out like Captain Vul. He didn't want to be chased by sharks, for Pete's sake!
Back with the heroes-
Chopper and his friends were able to get out of the core room and to the outer room, where they were in an elevator, going up to the next room that led outside. By the door was a Save Block and Heart Block.
"Oh! How convenient!" Chopper hit both of those, removed his ability, and then they headed outside. They found it a little big on the top of the Halberd, and they noticed somebody on one of the wings.
"All right, we gotta escape this ship before it's too late!" Scrub noted.
"I'm afraid that's impossible at this point.
They all looked up and saw Meta Knight with his cape wrapped around himself standing on the wing. He looked down at the five, but mostly he looked down at Chopper and Kirby.
"Are you Meta Knight?" Chopper asked.
"You would be correct. I've been waiting for you, Chopper…" Meta Knight jumped off the wing and landed in front of the group, his cape no longer wrapped around him.
"Huh? How do you know my name?" Chopper asked with a confused look before getting in his fighting stance. "Did you talk to King Dedede or something?"
"Let's just say I heard a few things about you..."
"Really? It feels like a lot of people keep hearing about me..." Chopper trailed, clenching his fists. "Look, Meta Knight, surrender now! We don't want you taking over this world! Everyone likes it the way it is!"
"Oh, don't think taking over Dream Land was my only reason for bringing the Halberd up, Chopper!" Meta Knight said boldly.
"Well... Why are you doing all of this?"
"Well, one of the reasons was because I didn't like how Dream Land was like. Kirby once thwarted my plans to take over this place, but when he was left with you, I took my chance to ready the Halberd. Unfortunately, you returned, and most of my plans failed. And I said most of them."
"And what's your other plan?"
"My other plan...was to duel with you one-on-one."
"Duel Chopper? Look, we don't have the time to do this, so please…" Vivian's words were ignored by Meta Knight, who brought out his weapon. A sword formed from the hilt and created a golden sword with three spikes on the edges.
"Whoa... That's a cool sword." Chopper gaped, only to yelp when he saw Meta Knight take out a spare sword and throw it in front of him. "Whoa! What was that for?!"
"I suggest you take it. I usually fight fair against my enemies. I would like to see if you meet my match…"
Chopper grabbed the sword and ate it, giving him a green conic hat with a yellow cotton ball on the tip, a yellow cuff on the bottom, and a sword with a blue hilt.
"Yes... That's more like it." Meta Knight slowly nodded. "Now, if you're really the hero of Clara, you should be able to take me on!"
"Well, with this ability, I think I will!" Chopper declared, aiming his sword's tip at him.
"Good! Now fight me!"
Tattle: That's Meta Knight, a mysterious masked warrior from Dream Land. He works for King Dedede, but sometimes he tends to do things on his own at times. Max HP is 40, Attack is 4, and Defense is 0. With that sword, Meta Knight can do some serious damage to you. He'll even charge into you with his wings, or fire a Sword Beam. That one hurts, you know! But his most powerful move is his Mach Tornado. If he charges that up, do whatever you can to avoid it! As for Meta Knight himself... Something seems so mysterious about him... He looks like this intimidating warrior with bat-like wings, but he always seems to be unpredictable on what side he's on...
"All right, if you want me to fight… I will!" Chopper ran toward Meta Knight, swinging at him and knocking him back.
"Not bad… So you've really grown strong." Meta Knight grunted as he charged at Chopper, both of them blocking each other's attack. Before Chopper could attack again, Meta Knight whacked him in the head with his sword and then struck him again to knock him away like a tennis ball, taking 4 away from the pale green hero.
"Chopper!" Vivian cried.
"That is not the proper way to block an attack!" Meta Knight charged at him with his wings, but then Chopper blocked the attack with his sword, and then knocked him away with a Sword Beam.
"Yes… That's good…" Meta Knight jumped up and attacked again. Chopper kept guarding his attacks to prevent himself from getting hurt. Meta Knight noticed that Chopper swung, but he dodged it with ease.
"Wow, I can't believe Contadre's doing badly..." Scrub trailed.
"Scrub, please..." Vivian shushed.
"Not a good time to talk!" Shadower added.
"You just left your guard down, Chopper!" Meta Knight informed as he whacked Chopper further away with his sword. Afterward, Chopper got back up and was getting pretty angry. "And here I thought you had some skill. You have potential, I'll give you that."
"Well I defeated Maquano with a beam sword! So I'm sure I could defeat you!" Chopper rushed back at Meta Knight and swung, but unfortunately, his attack was dodged. Meta Knight swung again, and this time Chopper jumped over his attack. Now he spun his sword around like a drill and knocked Meta Knight far again.
"THIS is what happens when you mess with me!" Chopper knocked him back with another swing from behind. Meta Knight was only left with 20 HP. His friends began to cheer for him.
"C'mon, Contadre! You can take him!" Scrub called out.
"Please don't let yourself get hurt!" Vivian cried.
"Poyo! (And be ready!)" Kirby added.
Meta Knight began to pant, but then he fired a Sword Beam at Chopper, knocking him by the Halberd's wing and partly destroying it.
"This is called the Sword Beam. I'm sure you know this move if you've used the Sword ability before…" Meta Knight raised his sword again as he began to store some energy in it. "Unlike your sword, Galaxia, can store up more power and make a Mach Tornado! It could even destroy this entire ship…and I will risk using it…unless you take me out…"
"Uh oh… This isn't good!" Chopper gulped as he noticed Meta Knight's sword glow. He had to attack fast before he can pull it off. So… He got off the wing and swung at Meta Knight. It did some damage, but it didn't knock him away.
"It's useless! You can't knock me away with Galaxia being stored up!"
"Oh, yeah? Then how about THIS?" Chopper jumped up and he swung his sword down, making a Sword Beam hit him. It left Meta Knight with only 10 HP, but that wasn't enough.
"You're too late, Chopper! Take this!" Meta Knight brought his sword down on the Halberd and unleashed his Mach Tornado. Chopper gaped as he saw the large tornado suck him in. He began to fly all over the area until he fell on the ship, taking 8 damage. Not only that, but the Halberd took some serious damage and was getting closer to the water.
"Wow... That must've hurt..." Scrub trailed.
"Of course it did!" Chopper moaned.
"So, I see you lived... No matter..." Meta Knight charged at him, but Chopper quickly got himself up and kicked Meta Knight's mask, allowing him to jab at his opponent. Meta Knight let out a grunt and fired another Sword Beam. It ripped through some of the Halberd, but Chopper was able to guard it and only take 5 damage.
"Ungh... Not bad, Chopper..." the masked warrior let out a groan from having only 6 HP left. Chopper still had some energy in him for a Sword Beam, so he raised his sword and stored some power until it began to glow white.
"Sword Beam!" Chopper cried as he swung his sword and managed to knock Meta Knight back. When he fell over on his back, he dropped Galaxia. Not only that, but his mask cracked and broke off, revealing his face. Chopper was surprised to see him with white eyes and pink blushes like Kirby. In fact, he looked just like Kirby!
Although, Chopper's thoughts were a little different. "Those eyes... I can't help but feel that he looks almost like Tipral..."
"He looks more like Kirby to me..." Vivian trailed.
Meta Knight quickly got himself up, and after reclaiming Galaxia, he disappeared from their sights with the help of his cape. The five, meanwhile, were left with bewildered expressions.
"What a strange warrior..." Shadower trailed. "I can't believe he knew that much about Chopper..."
However, their conversation they were about to have was put at a halt when they heard some explosions coming from the Halberd. Chopper and Kirby called in two Warp Stars and took off with Vivian, Scrub and Shadower.
It was too close, but they escaped, and the Halberd sank into the water with one last explosion. Meta Knight watched them make their exit on the edge of a cliff near the ocean with a new mask.
"So… He does hold some skill in him. Maybe even enough to be considered a Star Warrior... We'll see next time."
With that he flew off.
Fountain of Dreams-
Chopper and his friends came down and landed by the Fountain of Dreams. They were all so exhausted - well Chopper at least. He was the one covered in bruises from Meta Knight's sword. But now they were at the Fountain of Dreams, where they were safe.
"Man, Contadre! You took a lot of damage from that duel against Meta Whoever!" Scrub commented, noticing the bruises on Chopper.
"Well he's fine, so we don't have to worry now," Shadower assured as Chopper removed his Sword ability. "But… Chopper was rescued by Meta Knight? How odd…"
"Well everything's OK, right?" Chopper sighed before he felt himself being hugged by Vivian, who was happy that he was fine. His cheeks turned red with embarrassment, to his dismay. "At least Bow isn't here… I think she would've smacked her by now…"
"It's good that you're safe," Vivian smiled as she let go of Chopper. "That fight really made you exhausted, didn't it?"
"Yeah, but now let's just go," Chopper turned around to the Fountain of Dreams, but Meta Knight was in their way, making him scream and fall back on the ground.
"Meta Knight? Did you come back to fight against me or something?!"
"Relax… I'm not here to attack." Meta Knight assured. "But, I did hear from His Majesty that you are hunting for the twenty Crystal Stars, are you not?"
"Well, yeah… But…"
"Listen, Chopper… I'm warning you right now. I know what will happen when you get all twenty of them, and the results are not good. You're going to end up causing a huge cataclysm thanks to the shadow demon's power. It will leave the universe even MORE vulnerable when it opens up a dark world!"
"Where did you get this from?"
"Long ago, a shadow demon once invaded this world, but with my ancestor's fighting skills and the Shaman's magic, we were able to push it away from our world. However, before this happened, the shadow demon created jeweled stars called Crystal Stars. It created thirteen, to be exact. With those and the seven other Crystal Stars, it could be able to activate the dark power to not only darken the universe, but destroy it as well.
Meta Knight then left with his cape, making everyone confused, especially Kirby. "Poyo? (Wait, so the Crystal Stars can do something bad to the universe?)"
"Well I'm not entirely convinced," Chopper declared. "He's not the one who made them anyway. We should just keep looking for those Crystal Stars. Besides, those X-Nauts and Phis are going to use them to conquer the universe! We can't let that happen!"
"While I think Meta Knight could be saying something important, letting the X-Nauts and Phis get a hold of them is not a good idea..." Vivian trailed.
"Then let's find the next Crystal Star!" Scrub suggested.
Chopper walked onto the pedestal and held up the Ruby Star, making it disappear and then appear on the blue light around the pedestal, as well as the other three Crystal Stars. The map began to reveal a new location, and it looked like a cave appeared in the sea area with a couple of islands. A blue Crystal Star was shown there.
"Huh... This is interesting..." Chopper trailed as Vivian looked at the map as well.
"We need to tell Professor Frankly about the information Meta Knight told us," Vivian suggested. "Maybe it's something he should know about…"
"Good idea!" Chopper nodded, and they all headed back to Professor Frankly's.
Frankly's house-
"Whuh-Whuh-WHAAAAAAT?!" Frankly gasped as the group finished their explanation. "A strange, masked person named Meta Knight told you that the Crystal Stars would open up a dark world beyond your imagination… And those fiends most likely want to use the power of the Crystal Stars to conquer the universe by going there? Oh, this is very chilling to my spine... However, I managed to find some information similar to this too."
"Really? Well what do you have?" Shadower asked.
"Hrmm… Well it did say that the demon who created the thirteen Crystal Stars wanted to use them to conquer the world…or possibly open up a new world. But they can also be used to protect the universe from such evil that could try to invade. If Meta Knight told you part of it, then he most likely does not know about the other effect!"
"Really? Was he just trying to trick us?" Chopper gaped. "If that's true, then we can't listen to his words! Where's the next Crystal Star?"
"Well… It seems to be pointing to a few islands…and a cave. I certainly don't know the location."
"Oh... That blows." Scrub frowned.
"Although, I have heard tales from many people that their friends once went out to sea to find some treasure. They never returned..."
Vivian gasped as she cupped her hands over her mouth. "What? Are the seas dangerous?!"
"At this time, yes. A sea monster by the name of Unagi dwells in the ocean, awaiting for anyone to come by. He doesn't take his time to make his move. He'll come out and take you with him. That's how most sailors now ended up..."
"That's not stopping us from going after the star," Chopper retorted. "We're going no matter what!"
"Poyo... (But that monster seems dangerous...)" Kirby shivered.
"That thing's nothing different to what we faced. If this thing wants a fight, then we're going to give him a fight."
"I also heard from people that a blue star is stuck on its tail," Frankly mentioned.
"That must be the Crystal Star..." Vivian trailed.
"But it was pointing to a cave," Shadower recalled.
"I guess it was because the cave belongs to that sea monster..." Chopper trailed. "Anyway, if we're going to go out, then we need to get ready. Professor, any ideas on how we can go out to sea?"
"If you could find a ship and a ship navigator, that would work just fine. If you check the harbor to the west of Rogueport, you'll find PLENTY of ships!"
"So we gotta go check a ship out! Check! We better go check now, Contadre! And fast!" Scrub suggested.
"Yeah, I know, Scrub. First we gotta go upgrade Shadower." Chopper headed to Merlon's house, where he upgraded Shadower to Super-Rank. He could use Shadow Smite, which allows him to strike all enemies with his shadow power. It was something he used against Chopper and his friends when they fought him and his brothers.
After that, they went to the west of Rogueport and to the harbor. They saw a lot of ships, and also a Goomba with a bandana on its. They walked over to him about a ship.
"Excuse me, but would you know where we can find a ship?" Chopper asked.
"A ship? Well sure, moron…I mean kid!" the Goomba replied. "Go to that black one over there! A perfectly good ship is right there, waiting for you! So, enjoy yourself now, OK?"
"Black ship? Ummmm... OK." the antennae boy looked over to his friends, who gave him a shrug before going to the black ship.
They looked at the black ship when they got to it. It looked a little creepy to them, but they simply got on it and entered the door that was in front of them. They found some barrels, some crates and some cobwebs in the brown room…but that wasn't all.
"OoOoOoOooOooOoOoOoOoOoOoO... Who dares enter my ship... Those who enter the next room will be lost in darkness…"
"Whoa! What was that?!" Chopper gasped, getting a bit startled.
"Er… C-C-Contadre… Maybe we sh-should just t-t-turn back right n-n-now…" Scrub stammered. Chopper felt a little scared, but he knew they had to keep going, so they walked into the next room to find a lot of treasure. Coins, chest, and a lot of other valuable things.
"Whoa! We hit the jackpot here!" Shadower gasped.
"Hey! I take everything back! We're going to be RICH!"
"OoOoOoOooOooOoOoOoOoOoOoO... You ignored my warnings..." the scary voice moaned. "Now come intooooooooo my... HACKPTH! HORK! AHEM! ...OoOoOoOooOooOoOoOoOoOoOoO..."
A tornado appeared near them and a big, pirate skull with a captain's hat and blue eyes appeared while letting out coughs.
"What in the world...?" Shadower gawked.
"Bah! That's it! I had enough with this 'OoOoO' business!" the floating skull spat. "I am above doing something like that! …And what do we have here? A small little kid with some friends? Who are you? Answer me now!"
"Well, who're you?" Scrub asked.
"The name's Cortez! Now answer my questions before I'm forced to get it out of you!"
"Well… My name's Chopper, and I would like to ask if we could uh…borrow your ship? Y'know, to go to a cave?" Chopper sweat dropped.
"How can I trust what you're saying, amigo? I know the look on your faces! I KNOW just what you want! You want my TREASURE!" Cortez howled. "And you're asking to use my ship? Forget it! I will not lend my ship to any thieves!"
"But we're not thieves!" Chopper objected. "We only came here because we need to get somewhere! We don't-"
"ENOUGH! I'll just have to deal with you! I'll turn your antennae into floss, amigo! Yohohohohohohohohohoho!"
Another tornado surrounded Cortez, and the whole group gaped when they saw his head attacked to a spiny going down to a pile of bones. He also had four arms with four weapons in his hands. They were three blades and a hook.
Tattle: That's Cortrez, the most feared pirate back in the days. I don't understand why he thinks you're after his treasure… Max HP is 40, Attack is 4, Defense is 1. He's not really that tough now after he stopped stealing people's treasure. But watch out! He'll sometimes attack four times, and that could be bad!
"All right, I'll just try something fast!" Chopper inhaled a cannonball in the room and got a captain's hat, an eye patch on his left eye and a scimitar. "Yup! Now I'm Pirate Chopper! It's kinda interesting, 'cause I got this ability pretty late on my previous adventure..."
"Well I guess I should lower his defense too…" Shadower lowered Cortez's defense by 2 with his Shadow Punch, which only did 4 damage.
"Aaaaaargh! You'll pay for that!" Cortez jabbed Shadower with his weapons, taking 4 out of him. Shadower cringed, but he was able to stand up again.
At that moment, a cannon appeared from Chopper's mouth, and he fired a cannonball at Cortez. After that, Shadower attacked him to take 5 away from him.
"You know, this guy really isn't that tough!" Chopper smirked while guarding Cortez's attack. Now this time he landed a Power Bounce on him, stomping on him seven times.
"Hey! His defense is 0! I can make my attack on him! Awesome!" Scrub butt stomped Cortez's head and left him with 15 HP left. Not too bad at all!
"This fight is actually going down quick…" Vivian trailed. Kirby agreed, but he got hit by Cortez's sword while distracted. Unfortunately, the lowered defense left on Cortez was gone, bringing his defense back to 1.
"Yohohoho! Now my defense is back to normal!" Cortez cackled.
"Aw, man! Oh well, we still got this." Chopper assured as he jumped up and attacked Cortez with his scimitar, and then Shadower lowered his defense again with a Shadow Punch.
Cortez knew that he wouldn't last long, so he knocked away Chopper's ability with his sword and then raised his attack by 4. Everyone gulped, but that was the same exact damage as Meta Knight's Mach Tornado.
"Uh oh… That can't be good. But that's just the same as Meta Knight's Mach Tornado." Chopper ended up tossing a fireball at Cortrez, leaving a burn on him. Since he was low on HP, Vivian raised a finger and let her Fiery Jinx finish him off. Her attack was able to destroy Cortez's spine and leave nothing but his head.
"Yeah! We did it!" Scrub cheered.
"Good work taking down his spine, Vivian," Chopper thanked, making Vivian blush.
"NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO! MY TREASURE!" Cortez cried as he dropped 24 Star Points and then shrunk to a smaller size. When he looked at the group, he didn't have anything left in him.
"…I am done for…"
Actually, that wasn't the case. He was able to grow back to his normal size and leave everyone alarmed.
"Yohohohohohohohohoho! You are foolish, amigo! I am not dead!" Cortez roared. "Well, technically, I was already dead...but my spirit endures, tied to my treasure! There's nothing you can do to me! I do not live, amigo! And now I'm going to finish this!"
"I'm telling you! I'm NOT here for your treasure!" Chopper cried.
"Cortez? What's going on?" Everyone heard a different voice and turned around to see an old, brown Bob-omb with a white captain's hat, a gray mustache, a pirate ship's steering wheel on his back and blue feet.
"Admiral Bobbery? Is that you?" Vivian gasped.
"Vivian! It's so good to see you!" Bobbery smiled. "How are you doing?"
"I'm doing fine!" Vivian grabbed Chopper and brought him over to her old friend. "This is Chopper. He's someone I'm traveling with. C'mon, Chopper! Say hi!"
"Ummmm... Hi." Chopper greeted.
"Why hello there, boy!"
"Are you the person who owns this ship?"
"Oh ho ho! Well, I don't OWN it, but I travel the seas with Cortez!" Bobbery chuckled. "…But what was going on here earlier?"
"Ah, Admiral Bobbery! These five tried to steal my treasure!" Cortez explained. "Now that you're here, you can just get them out."
"Now now, Cortez! There's no need to go at everyone who comes here. This boy's just a friend of Vivian's! He didn't seem like he was trying to do any harm anyway."
"I only came here because I needed to use your ship to go find a Crystal Star in a cave."
"…Crystal Star, you say? Why, I hunted them with Mario!" Bobbery recalled. "…Do you know him?"
"Yeah, of course I do!"
"Well, any friend of Mario's is a friend of mine!" Bobbery grinned. "And did you say you need to go to a cave? Unagi's Cave to be exact? Hmmm… We were thinking about sailing there."
"So, you're willing to take us out?"
"Hmmmmmm... All right, my boy! I'll be honored to take you and your friends there! Only because you know about those Crystal Stars. Did you know that I traveled with Mario and your friend Vivian once?"
"No, not at all! How was it?" Chopper asked.
"Oh, it was great! There was so many things I got to see, especially after my wife Scarlette passed away... I'm sure she's pleased to see me go out and do something for once."
"Ummmm... Hey, how about starting the ship?" Scrub suggested.
Bobbery let out a chuckle. "All right, then! Cortez! Start the ship!"
"All right…" Cortez grumbled as he made the ship move thanks to the Skull Gem, which made the ship begin to take off.
"Whoa! This is pretty cool!" Chopper gaped. "Well, I guess getting to that Crystal Star won't be as hard as I thought it would be!"
"Poyo... (Yeah! But I wonder how it'll turn out…)" Kirby wondered as the ship left the harbor and to the sea. Their quest to find the Sapphire Star has just begun!