After Chopper had come out of the pipe, he took a look at the huge view from the top of Lineland Road. It was THAT high. So high, that they were almost up to the clouds.
"Whoa… We're so high up here… This is the highest I've been in this dimension!" Chopper gaped as he stepped onto the stone ground. He stopped as soon as the pipe behind him disappeared. "Well, looks like there's no turning back now."
It was certainly bigger than any other area they were in, too. But, as soon as he took a few steps, he was suddenly interrupted.
"HOLD IT!"
Chopper stopped all movements as he looked around the area. But when he saw no sign of any figure, he tilted his head with a raised eyebrow.
That was until several black boxes were drawn in the sky. As the boxes flipped, a yellow, mechanical dragon appeared. It let out a ferocious roar down at the heroes, causing Chopper to let out a small gasp.
"INTRUSION ALERT. LIFEFORMS DETECTED. LEAVE IMMEDIATELY OR BE PURGED." the mechanical dragon stopped as it noticed Chopper. "WAIT. SCANNING INITIALIZED. PALE GREEN LIFEFORM DETECTED. WHITE GLOVES DETECTED. LEVEL 10 ANTENNAE DETECTED. COULD IT BE? HOLD YOUR POSITION."
"…Level 10 antennae? Do my antennae have a level or something?" Chopper questioned as the dragon's eyes changed to a sphere spinning around in a circle. After a few seconds, the dragon's eyes reverted back to normal.
"SCANNING COMPLETE: ONE POSITIVE MATCH. SYSTEM OVERLOAD! LEGENDARY HERO DETECTED!" the dragon glared at Chopper. "I HAVE BEEN WAITING FOR YOUR ARRIVAL, HERO. I AM KNOWN AS DRACKTAIL. I HAVE BEEN PROGRAMMED TO DESTROY YOU. THOUGH, YOUR ARRIVAL IS MUCH LATER THAN ANTICIPATED. OUR GREAT BATTLE WAS SUPPOSED TO HAPPEN THOUSANDS OF YEARS AGO. BUT NOW THAT YOU ARE HERE, I CAN COMPLETE MY OBJECTIVE. PREPARE YOURSELF, HERO, FOR YOUR GAME ENDS HERE."
With a roar, Dracktail made a mad dash toward the pale green hero, opening its mouth to chomp down on him.
...Or, that would have happened, but its tiny size was just enough for Chopper to tap the front of his foot and knock the little robot away.
"Perhaps I was mistaken about the monster..." Tippi remarked.
"Ah ha ha ha. I certainly agree..."
Chopper blinked as he looked up at the sky to find the source of the voice. Yet, there was no one in sight.
"WHO SPEAKS?!" exclaimed Dracktail.
As if on cue, a ripple in the shape of a box formed in the sky, with a purple and yellow jester popping out of the box with joy in his black and yellow eyes.
"Ah, so you are the one named Chopper, are you not? You certainly do have the looks of Tipral!" Dimentio chuckled. "It's so pleasant to meet you! …And your antennae! I am Tipral's master of dimensions, the pleaser of crowds… I am…Dimentio! Remember the name well…"
"Tipral sure has some weird minions..." Chopper remarked.
"You… What are you doing here?" Tippi questioned. "I thought you…"
"Hush now, my dear! I don't have time for explanations… I just came here to liven things up a bit!"
"Huh?" Chopper questioned.
"I'm sure you find this guardian very disappointing. Why don't we add a little more...pizzaz to your journey?" Dimentio turned to the small dragon with a mischievous smirk. "Just add a touch of magic, and..."
The masked magician raised an index finger, which emitted a large sparkle that shrunk in size. Aiming his finger at the dragon, a sparkle struck its antenna, causing its body to twitch.
"BZZZZZRRRRT."
"Presto!" Dimentio laughed, turning to look down at the hero. "Now it will be more exciting!"
"Why don't I just fight you instead?" Chopper suggested.
"Oh, no no no. Sadly, I don't have the time to battle you, Chopper. Even if I did, you'd be too busy spending some quality time with that robotic dragon... Yes, quality snack time!"
"You brought snacks?"
"Oh, but he'll be snacking on you! For you...ARE the snack! Ciao!"
Another rippling box formed around Dimentio, teleporting him out of the dimension as it shrunk until it was completely gone. But before Chopper could comprehend what the jester was saying, Dracktail's static voice caught his attention."
"What did he…" Chopper was not only interrupted by the sound of Dimentio teleporting out of this world, but by Dracktail's voice.
"BEEEEEEEEEEP. I AM ERROR! PRESS ANY KEY TO RESTART. …SYSTEM NOT FOUND! INSERT INSTALL DISC. NO DISC FOUND. PUT IT IN THE RIGHT WAY, RETARD. NO RESPONSE. SYSTEM MAY BE BUSY OR MELTING INTO SLAG. APPLICATION ERROR. SAVE YOUR WORK AND QUIT. YOU LOST EVERYTHING. WAY TO GO, GENIUS. WAITING FOR PROCESSORS. '404 computer hamsters not found.' THREAT LEVEL UPGRADED TO JELLY ROLL 1. DETONATION IMMINENT."
Another spark came from Dracktail's antenna, and suddenly several more boxes were drawn over Dracktail. Only this time, they were much bigger. The boxes flipped, revealing Dracktail as a giant.
"This isn't good..." Chopper frowned.
"BEEBLEBLIP! C:/ run query identification. C:/ run insult generator. C:/ results: go away yeti-lip! CTRL ALT DEL!"
Dracktail's eyes began to glow as it flew upward into the clouds.
"This might be the biggest enemy I've faced in a while..." the antennae hero admitted. "Though, its name sounds kind of like them... What were their names again?"
Chopper pondered a bit before Tippi snapped. "Chopper! We don't have time to be thinking about something right now! Look above you!"
"Huh?" Chopper saw Dracktail soar into the background and make a U-turn straight at him. "Whoa! I gotta get out of the way!"
Using his Speed Dash, he managed to get out of Dracktail's way, but he soon found it gliding over him afterward. Chopper gaped as he saw it make another turn…toward him.
"It's going to fly in from the right, I can sense it. You should flip back into 3-D…" Tippi informed.
"Then that's what I'll do!" Chopper threw his hands up in the air as he stepped out of Dracktail's way in the third dimension. "Hmmmm… I think I should get on him."
With a simple jump, he got on Dracktail's back and he was soon up in the sky with the mighty mechanical dragon.
"Before we get started… I need to find a weak point. I'm gonna need your help, Tippi." Chopper allowed Tippi to make his eyes turn to a rainbow light as he began to gather information from Dracktail.
"That's Dracktail, the robotic guardian of the Pure Heart. It's quite enormous... Max HP is ?. Attack is 2. It can fly and swoop down with its big open mouth... But I think the antenna-like horn atop its head is its weak spot... I think you're going to need to use Thoreau to hit it..." Tippi informed.
"All right, so I gotta hit that antenna thing over there. Good." Chopper smirked as he ran over to Dracktail's head. He noticed these small robotic creatures with duck-like beaks called Drackles appear.
"Perhaps now is the time to use me," Thoreau suggested.
"Yeah, I'll get to that," Chopper tossed Thoreau at one of the Drackles and then he threw it at Dracktail's antenna. The large, mechanical dragon screamed in pain as its eyes looked up at Chopper.
"That seems to be working… Try to throw it at Dracktail two more times." Tippi suggested.
Chopper managed to grab two more Drackles and throw them at Dracktail. The large dragon decided to shake Chopper off by moving in a circle.
"Uh oh… This thing is trying to get me off!" Chopper tried to hold on as hard as he could, but he was starting to slide off of him.
"Wait! It's possible for you to make a jump back onto Dracktail's head!" Tippi informed as she saw Dracktail's head in front of her. "Jump! Now!"
"Huh? All right!" Chopper jumped off of Dracktail's tail and he landed right on top of his antenna with a stomp, causing pain to the dragon.
"Wow. I never knew I was going to land on this thing's antenna! So, how many times do I need to do this to him?"
"You need to do that to him four more times in a row before he's finished," Tippi replied.
"Four more… Crud. I was hoping it would be less! …Oh well." Chopper managed to throw two more Drackles at Dracktail again, making him go in another circle.
"OK, just like before…" Chopper watched for Dracktail's head to appear in front of him before he jumped. When it did, he made a jump on his head, stomping on his antenna while at it.
"Ha HA!" Chopper smirked as he made a pose. "Score one for me again! …Well, more like twice, actually."
He threw two more Drackles at him before Dracktail tried to shake him off. This time, however, it did a little corkscrew. Because Chopper didn't see it coming, he fell off Dracktail and plummeted to the top of the castle.
"Oof!" Chopper pushed himself back up as he saw Dracktail charging straight at him. "Uh oh…" He did another Speed Dash in order to avoid it charging at him, but when he saw Dracktail glide over him, he knew something was going to happen.
"Watch out, Chopper! Dracktail's coming straight at you… You need to get out of the way…" Tippi informed.
"Yup, I'll do that!" Chopper threw his arms up as he flipped into 3-D, moving out of Dracktail's way and then jumping on top of him to deal some more damage to him.
"All right, this should be easy pickings! Just two more rounds!" Chopper grabbed one of Drackles he found in sight and he tossed it straight at Dracktail's antenna, causing some immense pain.
"ARRRRGGHHH… SYSTEM CRASH IS STARTING TO ENGAGE!" Dracktail screamed.
"Well, sorry for making you crash," Chopper groaned. "Can't you just give up or something? Or do I have to shut you up with my awesome hero skills?"
Dracktail didn't respond. "What? No response? Oh, all right… I guess I'll just do this." Chopper grabbed two more Drackles and he tossed them at Dracktail, causing him to circle around once again.
"This time you're NOT going to let me off you!" Chopper retorted as he readied himself to jump on Dracktail's head. Luckily, he succeeded and also got to stomp on his antenna twice before landing on his head.
"Only one more hit to go and he's defeated," Tippi informed.
"Yes! That good!" Chopper tossed Thoreau at one of the Drackles and he held it up, ready to throw it at Dracktail. "Any last words, Dracktail?"
He got no response from the mechanical dragon.
"Nothing? Oh, fine… FEEL THE POWER OF MY LEVEL 10 ANTENNAE! YAAAAAAAAAH!"
Chopper finally finished off Dracktail after he threw the last Drackle at its antenna. At that moment the mechanical dragon had enough.
"SYSTEM CRASH!" Dracktail screeched. "YOU ARE TOO STRONG! I HAD NOT ANTICIPATED YOUR POWER AND SKILLS TO BE THIS GREAT. THEY ARE TOO MUCH FOR MY ERROR. BUT... I FEEL I CAN FINALLY BE AT PEACE HAVING FULFILLED MY PROGRAMMING... BUT I AM NOT THE ONLY..."
Before Dracktail could finish, his whole body except for his head began to explode, revealing a bony spine underneath. Each piece began to disconnect and slowly fall. Seeing that the dragon was plummeting, Chopper made a leap off the head and landed back on the top of the castle. After a Drackle had fallen downward, a red door appear in front of Chopper, to his surprise.
"What the… Where does this lead?" Chopper opened the door to find himself in a chamber with small steps leading down to…a dead end.
"Wow. This is a beautiful place." Chopper smiled as he made it to the bottom of the stairs. "But where is the Pure Heart? Shouldn't it be here somewhere?"
"Welcome, little hero. My name is Merlumina." a soft, calm voice whispered.
"That voice… It sounds so calm... It makes me want to fall asleep…" Chopper yawned. He looked up to see a spirit of a woman in shades of blue with beautiful white hair float down to him.
"I am a dormant soul… I have waited for you for a long time to give you the Pure Heart after the seal was broken again. Your presence here must mean that The Void has come back, and will swallow up all worlds and collapse."
Chopper was about to speak, but then Tippi interrupted him. "Yes, unfortunately, they have because of Tipral… That's why we're here…"
"Yeah, what she said," Chopper added.
"Before I give you the Pure Heart, you and I must speak. Listen well, hero." Merlumina informed.
"Speak about what?"
"I must tell you what happened many years ago. It's important for the hero to listen and remember this story."
Chopper seemed a bit puzzled, but then he shrugged. "Oh, OK. I guess that's fine. What's the worst that can happen?"
Merlumina smiled at the child and then she began to explain her story. "Long, long ago…my people built a civilization hailed as a beacon of culture. Sadly, despite our power, there was one thing we were powerless to stop: The Dark Prognosticus. Nobody knows who authored the dark book. It foretold the events of the future. On the last page, it was written that a chaotic power would devour the world."
Chopper was starting to daze off a bit, but Merlumina didn't seem to pay attention to him, now that she turned around.
"We knew it had to be stopped. Our greatest minds devised a great plan to stop tragedy before it happened. We needed something with the pure essence of love to confront this chaos. Researchers set to work…and they created the Purity Heart. We divided the Purity Heart into eight pieces and hid them in different dimensions."
"Eight? But, last time I heard, Tipral ended up dividing them into twenty." Chopper informed.
"Hmmmm… Yes. He did do that if I recall. …But we'll discuss that later. I must finish the rest of this story." Merlumina cleared her throat. We hid them for their own protection, waiting for the day the hero would arrive. Everything was going as planned. Or so it seemed… But the wheels of destiny began to spin wildly out of control. It began with a very small incident… At that time, I was young and quite beautiful…"
At this moment, she started to go off on a tangent. "It started the day I met two very fetching young men. And, you see, my life set sail toward a maelstrom of love. You see, I asked one out, but… However… It was…well, you know… Basically…it… And then, I said… And he said…And then…"
Chopper let out a yawn before his eyes started to slowly close from her soothing voice and started to fall asleep. Even Tippi was falling asleep, landing right on top of Chopper's head.
Many, many hours later-
"… And THAT is why we hope the Purity Heart will have the power to defeat chaos. To save all worlds, we must find the twenty Pure Hearts that form the Purity Heart."
Merlumina turned back to Chopper. "And that is all I have to say on the matter. Were you listening carefully?"
Chopper snapped out of his sleep and nodded. "Yup! I listened to every single bit! Especially the part about…er…um… Well, let's just say that I listened to the whole thing!"
"Excellent… I did tell the short version, so I wasn't sure if you would fully understand. It is up to you to find the Pure Hearts, for they are our last and only hope. Go forth, hero, and save the worlds… We are all depending on you!"
Merulimina called forth an orange Pure Heart that floated above her. It began to float above Chopper as Thoreau started to dance.
"Huh? Why's Thoreau dancing?" Chopper questioned.
But it was a bit too late to answer his question. The red Pure Heart floated down to Chopper and he began to hold it up.
YOU GOT A PURE HEART
END OF CHAPTER
Before disappearing, Merlumina had entrusted Chopper to save every world. She had waited three months to deliver the message to this new legendary hero. With the second Pure Heart in hand, Chopper was in great spirits. But eighteen Pure Hearts still remained to be found, and the journey had just begun… With a flutter, Tippi said, "I think we'd better return to Flipside…" The weight of every world's fate once again rested on Chopper's shoulders… If he even has shoulders…
Well, that's Chapter 1 for you guys! I know it's a lot different than the other two Chapter 1's in the last two Paper Chopper stories - with it having pink and all that. But, you know... It can't always have pink...and it can't always have party members like Vivian or Koopla...or even Bruce.
Anyway, we're gonna see something interesting in the interlude, that's for sure!