CHAPTER 6
-Phis in the Desert-
"What a day! Sneaking into the Phi Base was so fun!" a girl's voice said as she headed over to a pink building called Our Apartments "…I hope they didn't notice me. I know there's some kind of camera in the room, but they're security is so bad. It's always funny to see how some of those robot guys react in such stupid ways! It's a place to go around to get away from some people here. Especially those people who have to laugh at my name... But I guess I'm a bit popular enough."
She ran up to her door on the sixth floor, which happened to have a heart on it, and she unlocked the door to go into her room.
"But I can't help but feel that some of my friends do things that I'm particularly not interested in. And great, I'm talking to myself as well!" she sighed as the door closed. "You know, being the only one of my kind is kind of hard. Ever since I was rescued from Mondrao, I haven't seen another one of my kind. I even miss that one boy I liked back there. None of the people here remind me of him, sadly..."
When she sat down on her sofa in her pink room, she began to ponder. "Well, I haven't been doing much outside of that base. I heard there were some moles that I could hit with my hammer. Maybe I should go find my Hearty Hammer! Tee hee! It's such a strange, but cute name for a hammer, I suppose. ...Wait a second..."
She noticed it was nowhere in the apartment.
"No… NO…NOOOOO! It can't be! My Ruby Hammer! It's not here! Who could've stolen it? I can't leave without that thing! It's my most prized possession and my only weapon!"
Sand Town-
Chopper came out of the tan pipe, and he was right by a couple of houses. Once he stepped foot on the sand, he felt it getting hot around him. It was also dry was well, but there happened to be a fountain in the center of the town, which was nice.
"Wow… It feels so hot here. Good thing his hat's on my head, or else it would be worse…" Vivian trailed. Scrub, meanwhile, began to sweat in the heat. He felt as if it was a hundred degrees.
"Man… I can't stand the heat here. Can't we just go somewhere else or refresh ourselves? Wait!" Scrub rushed over to the fountain and he began to drink from it. He felt relived afterward.
"I don't know if that was a good idea..." Shadower trailed.
"What're you talking about? I was thirsty!"
"Yeah, but it's a public fountain. You never know what could be in there."
Scrub's eyes widened as he covered his mouth. "OK... I think I see your point."
"Poyo? (Why did the next Crystal Star have to be in a desert?)" Kirby groaned. "Poyo! (It's so hot! Gah! I wish it was back in another beach. THAT was paradise. It was great!)
"Yeah, that's true. I remember one of my friends said that she hated the desert so much. Ah… Good times. …Well, kind of." Chopper recalled, thinking about Koopla's hatred of the desert.
"Yar! What about the treasure?!" Bombette asked.
"Well, we might as well ask some people... Let's go look around." Chopper suggested as he walked around the town, passing by the fountain. Shadower, despite saying that it wasn't a good idea, dumped his head in the fountain to cool him off.
"Oh man! That feels MUCH better!" Shadower sighed.
"Come on, man!" Scrub whined. "You told me things could be in there!"
"I know, but I seriously had to do it. It's so HOT out here!"
Eventually they followed everyone else and found some kids walking out of a building nearby. Most of them were Toads, Goombas, Koopas, Dayzees and many others, including some Mousers attended it!"
"You know, I didn't see Berry today. I wonder where she was… Was she absent again?" a Toad boy asked.
"That girly weirdo that attends this school? Well, it's a shame she wasn't there, 'cause makin' fun of her is usually fun!" a male Shy Guy snorted.
"Oh, I know what you mean!" a female Bandit agreed. "She thinks she's so clever, cutting school like that! I'd like to see her when she finds out she won't be getting any further in life!"
"Hey, now! Don't be so harsh on her!" a female Dayzee suggested. "She's not ALWAYS absent. This was probably the second time she's been absent anyway! Besides, Berry's a nice girl. You people just judge her because of how different she is!"
"By different, you mean someone like him?" a Mouser asked, pointing to Chopper.
"Huh? ...Oh! Hi there! I'm Chopper!" Chopper greeted, giving the kids a wave. Some of them simply laughed at them as they walked away, leaving Chopper baffled. "Hey! What's so funny?! You never saw someone like me?!"
"Arr! Well these kids have no respect fer us!" Bombette growled.
"Yeah! Those jerks!" Scrub grumbled. "They have no idea who they're laughing at!"
"I suppose they're not the greatest kids in the world..." Vivian trailed.
"Yes, sometimes the children do tend to be a little...like that toward outsiders," a Toad wearing a green robe and veil said as he walked over to the six. "Hello to you all! My name is Must T.! I'm the Mayor of this town!"
"Oh... At least someone isn't laughing at us..." Shadower trailed. "Good riddance!"
"I apologize for the rudeness from those children. Outsiders aren't meant to be treated like that! Then again, the people around here have never seen outsiders such as yourself around these parts."
"All right, Toad person!" Scrub began. "Tell us everything about the Crystal Star!"
"Scrub! That's not how you get answers from people!" Vivian scolded.
"Anyway..." Chopper began. "We're looking for something called the Crystal Star. Do you have any clue on that?"
"Errrmmm... Unfortunately, I don't..." Must T. trailed, shaking his head. "I'm only an expert on this town, not what lies outside of Sand Town. However, I do believe there might be someone who could give you a hand. She's someone who usually leaves this town often. I'm sure most of the children might know about her!"
"Well spill it out, Gramps!" demanded Scrub. "We wanna know!"
"Scrub, he isn't even old!" Chopper noticed.
"Oh..."
"Well, my friends, that girl you're seeking is named Berry."
"...Berry?" Scrub repeated, raising an eyebrow. "What kind of name is 'Berry'?"
"What kind of name is Scrub?" Shadower questioned.
"...Blame Contadre for that."
"From what I know, she had come here not too long ago," Must T. recalled. "From what I know, someone once took Berry to another planet. I don't remember the planet's name, but she was trained to survive the desert and combat those against her. Berry ended up coming here as well, but only temporarily."
"Temporarily? Is she still here?" Vivian asked.
"Well, yes. In fact, she lives in Our Apartments for the moment. Apparently she's also the only one who goes out into the desert."
"Hmmmm... Maybe she's the key to helping us find that Crystal Star." Chopper pondered. "Do you know where in Our Apartments she is?"
"Well, from what I can recall, she's on the sixth floor in room 603. Try not to forget about it!"
"All right. We might as well go there then." Chopper decided as he began to run over to the pink building up ahead. Scrub was disgusted with the pink color, but they headed in and ran to the elevator to the far upper right, passing the Toad lady at the desk. Upon entering the elevator, they noticed the walls were hot pink.
"Errrr... There be a lot of pink here..." Bombette trailed.
"Yeah, it must be pretty famous around these parts," Shadower pondered.
As the elevator door closed, they all heard elevator music that sounded like E-101 mkII battle theme. Scrub began to tap his foot to the music as he grinned.
"Hey! I like this song!" Scrub commented.
"Poyo, (Has a nice touch to it,)" Kirby nodded.
The elevator door opened and they found a pink carpet hallway with doors of different colors. It was nice, especially because they were getting sick of the color pink. However, when they reached room 603, the door was, you guessed it, pink.
"I must admit. This apartment is pretty big. I think it would be nice to stay in here, really…" Vivian trailed as she looked at the door.
"Well, I better knock..." Chopper trailed, walking up to the door and giving a knock.
"No, no," Bombette said, pushing Chopper out of the way. "Yer not knockin' hard enough! We should make sure it's loud enough fer her to listen!"
When they noticed her fuse light up, everyone cried out as Chopper quickly stopped her fuse from lighting up.
"Hey! Why'd you stop it?!"
"Do you wanna blow up the whole building?!" Chopper exclaimed. "Look, how about I knock a little harder?"
"Do it, Contadre!" Scrub agreed as Chopper knocked a little harder.
"Hello? Who's there?" Now they knew she heard it.
"Ummm… Hi there." Chopper greeted, feeling a little nervous. "Are you, by any chance, Berry?"
"Yeah, that's me. Who are you? Another person judging me for being different?"
"What?! I'm not any of those! I'm someone a lot different than everyone else here too. In fact, I'm pretty much the last of my kind..."
"What?! You're the last of your kind?! Aw... Now I feel a little bad for thinking you were someone else..."
"Well, your name is pretty funny!" Scrub snickered.
"Who was that? Are there more people with you?"
"...Yeah, there are, but they're not bad people!" Chopper assured. "In fact, the reason why we came to you is because we heard you knew something about the Crystal Stars! At least, that's what we heard from the mayor..."
"Oh! So you spoke to the mayor! OK, now I'm thinking you're one of those good people. Well, I DID happen to spot a little something when I was sneaking through a base full of robots! If that's what you're looking for, then yes, I think I know where it is!"
"I don't know why, but her voice sounds kinda cute..." Scrub trailed. "Don'tcha think so, Contadre!"
"Stop it, Scrub!" Chopper snapped before turning back to the door. "Anyway, do you think you can take us over there? We desperately need to get that gem, because if we don't collect them all, chances are the universe will be destroyed."
"The universe getting destroyed... Huh..." she trailed. "...Wait, the universe will get destroyed if you don't collect it?! Oh my gosh! Well, I think I should help you find that Crystal Star! ...Although, I wish I could, but I have a small problem."
"What's the problem?" Vivian asked.
"My Ruby Hammer's gone missing! That's the only weapon I have that I can defend myself with!"
"Ruby Hammer? Does it do a lot of damage?"
"Yes. It's actually helped me through a lot. I'm pretty sure it could knock you out!"
"Not likely!"
"No, we're not going to fight," Chopper declared. "That's going to get us nowhere!"
"Yeah, I think you're right... Wait, I never got to know your name! You seem like a nice person!"
"My name? Well, I'm Chopper."
"That sounds like a strange name, especially for around here... But, I think it sounds cute! Hee hee! Anyway, here's the deal: if you can find my Hearty Hammer, then I promise I'll help you get into that base. You know, you-scratch-my-back-and-I-scratch-yours?"
"That sounds like a fair deal," Chopper nodded.
"Good! I'm pretty sure my hammer is somewhere outside of town. I just hope it's safe and sound..."
"Then that means we're leaving this apartment," Shadower declared as everyone left the apartment.
Outside-
"Why do we need to get her hammer?" Vivian wondered. "I mean, she sounds sweet and all, but couldn't she have come with us? I think that would've been more acceptable."
"Yeah, I know. But it was her choice I guess. We can find that hammer no problem anyway! Let's go out of town and check!" Chopper headed out of town and found a barren area with some rocks, and not to mention Poison Pokeys.
"Hey! What be over there?" Bombette asked.
They happened to notice two Phis talking to each other. Since they didn't spot them, they decided to listen in to the conversation, and boy, was it worth listening to.
"I don't understand why we're close to town," the first Phi wondered. "Isn't it dangerous for us to be here? Sure, we're supposed to be waiting for that girl and all, but come on! What if someone comes out here and sees us? That would be bad."
"Yeah, but orders are orders. Master Gemerl wanted us to wait at this place, and that's what we're going to do. But don't think we came here for nothing. I found THIS!" the second Phi pulled out a red hammer that had a horizontal yellow trim on the top and bottom of the hammer. The face was pink, as was the handle.
"What a strange hammer... ...I bet it belongs to that girl, doesn't it?"
"Yeah, I'm sure it does…" the second Phi nodded until a light bulb lit up above his head. "Hey, if we brought this back to Master Gemerl, do you think we can get that promotion…or possibly get credit for finding something that belongs to the girl? I mean, we can scan it and see who it belongs to. That way, we can find where the girl is and get rid of her! That sounds perfect!"
"Hey, that's not a bad idea at all! I think Master Gemerl would let us hold the Crystal Star if we did that. Good idea there, Phi!"
"Ahem!"
The two Phis turned around and saw Chopper in his fighting stance, along with his friends.
"Gah! It's Chopper!" the first Phi cried, but soon paused and then pondered. "Hold the phone… If we capture Chopper, we can probably get even more credit! Y'know… I think it was a good idea coming here! First we find the girl's hammer, and now we find Chopper! Man! Master Gemerl is definitely going to be pleased with us!"
"Give that hammer back, Phis! We need it!" Bombette demanded.
"Really? All right, if you need it, then let's see you take it from us! I dare you to try and take it!" the Phi was suddenly struck by an explosion from Bombette, taking 6 away from it. Chopper finished the Phi off with his hammer, which was all it took to get rid of 10 HP.
"Whoa! They've gotten tough! His friends can deal 6 damage! That's baaaaaaaaad!" the second Phi aimed its gun at Chopper and fired a laser at him, which took away 4 from him.
"Well these guys got stronger too…" Chopper trailed before he stomped on the Phi's head with his Jump, and Vivian finished it off with her Shade Fist.
"Retreat!" the Phis cried as they got up and ran away, dropping the Hearty Hammer. Chopper managed to grab a hold of it, but his eye was twitching when he held it up.
"Er… I do NOT feel comfortable holding this." Chopper cringed.
"Yeah, that hammer looks too girly for you," Scrub mentioned. "I bet it belongs to the girl."
"I'm pretty sure it does... Vivian, do you wanna hold onto it?"
"OK, Chopper," Vivian nodded as she took the hammer. "Let's go back to Sand Town."
Sand Town-
"Poyo! (I'm glad to be back in town!)" Kirby smiled as they set foot back in the town.
"Well we finally got the hammer. So, we're going to go back to that girl, right?" Vivian asked as she looked at the hammer. "…I still wish she went with us. I mean, this is pretty much her own responsibility..."
"I guess it's too late for that," Chopper shrugged.
"Yeah, but then again, Contadre's one to do stuff for other people," Scrub mentioned. "I don't think he'd say no to a girl anyway..."
"Poyo! (Can we go in the apartment place now? It's getting HOT out here!)" Kirby groaned.
"Yar! I don't want me fuse lightin' up!" Bombette agreed.
Chopper nodded before they all quickly headed over to Our Apartments to get away from the heat, and once they got back in the lobby, they felt cool. Probably because there was an air conditioner in the rooms.
Sixth floor, near Room 603-
When they all came out of the elevator, they sighed in relief. Not only that, they didn't feel as hot compared to being outside. Although, it wasn't as cool in the hallway than it was at the lobby.
"Boy, we sure ran into something back there, didn't we?" Shadower sighed. "Those Phis didn't want anyone seeing them, but we ran into them. But, only we saw them, so it wouldn't make much of a difference now, would it?"
"Arr! We don't need to worry now." Bombette assured. "I wish we were out on the seas like before. Pirates are not really interested in deserts… We need a pirate ship, with a poop deck! That's what we need!"
"A poop deck? Err… Yeah… I still don't understand poop decks. Anyway, I say we deliver the hammer now." Chopper decided as he walked over to room 603 and knocked on the door, and this time, he made sure Berry could hear them.
"Huh? Are you all back again? Did you get my hammer like I said?" Berry asked.
"Yeah, we got it!" Chopper nodded. "Vivian, give me the hammer."
"OK," Vivian nodded as she gave the hammer to Chopper.
"All right! Let me come out!"
When the door opened, they noticed a pink girl with long, deep pink hair. She was wearing a red, sleeveless shirt that went slightly below her waist. The girl also wore a pale pink scarf, and around her waist was a pale pink sash. Along with that she was wearing gray tights ending a couple inches above her knees, red boots, and a pair of large, golden ring bracelets. On her hands, meanwhile, were white gloves. She was around Chopper's size, but slightly taller.
"She's pink?" Scrub gawked.
"Poyo, (I'm pink,)" Kirby reminded.
"Hi, guys! So you're the ones who brought me my hammer, huh?" Berry asked, looking at the group, but mostly paying attention to Chopper. "So, Chopper... Do you have my hammer?"
"Yeah, it's right here," Chopper nodded, giving her the hammer. She smiled as she took it and looked at it herself.
"Finally! I've got my hammer back! I was almost starting to worry about it..."
"Well, now that we got your hammer, can you help us?"
"Yes, I'm going to..." Berry nodded, putting the hammer away. However, she couldn't help but look at Chopper a little more carefully. "You know, there's something strange about you... You said you were the only one of your kind right?"
"Uh huh. It stinks, honestly..."
"But there's something odd about you... It's almost if I recognize your face or something... You kind of remind me of someone..."
"Really?" Chopper gawked as Berry suddenly realized it and snapped her finger.
"Oh! Now I see it!" Berry smiled cheerfully. "I can't believe I'm not the only one left?"
"Huh? What do you mean?"
"Chopper... We're both the same species..."
Everyone but Chopper and Berry: UUUUWWHHHAAAAAAAAAA?!
"Wait... HOW can we be the same species?! We don't look that similar! I'm a round shape, while you... I guess you technically have a body..."
"Our kind doesn't always look exactly the same, you know," Berry mentioned. "Hold on... Chopper, who were your parents?"
"My parents? They're named Toalune and Tonya. Why?"
Berry let out a gasp as she realized another thing. "It's... It's actually you! I actually remember seeing you back on Mondrao!"
"Wait, hold on..." Scrub cut in. "Are you saying you know Contadre?!"
"Yes, I do! I think when I was two, there was a boy I had a crush on at the Daycare when my parents had to go to work. He was also the first boy I ever got to kiss at my birthday party!"
"Hold on, I don't get what you're..." Chopper paused as his eyes widened. "Wait a second... I think I remember that now! That's when my fear of the cooties had just begun..."
When he looked up at the girl, he almost saw an image of Berry at the age of three.
"It is you..."
"Yes, I knew your name sounded familiar!" Berry squealed. "I was sad that I would never see you again because of what happened to our planet, but to see you still alive makes me happy! You're still as cute as before, too!"
Chopper noticed Berry get a little closer to him, which made him step away from her while shaking in fear. He even noticed red hearts fluttering over the girl. "Berry... Please! Don't do this to me! I'm too young to have a girlfriend anyway! I'm only ten!"
"Tee hee hee! It's OK! You don't have to be so worried! There's someone you know here! Plus, I'm also ten, so it makes things even better!"
"Yeah, and it just so happens that the person of my kind to survive was someone who liked me!"
As Berry continued to gush over Chopper, everyone else but Vivian were left confused.
"So, let me get this straight..." Shadower started. "Chopper happened to know this girl back on his birth planet? And this same girl happened to be someone who was and is still in love with him?"
"Poyo, (Looks like it,)" Kirby nodded.
"Yaaarrrr... Who ever knew she still thought of him when she thought he be dead?" Bombette wondered.
"You know, since you were the one to help me get my hammer back, I think I should give you a reward," Berry suggested, giving Chopper a wink.
"A r-reward? Oh, that's fine. If it's a Mushroom or Star Piece, I w-wouldn't mind." Chopper stammered. "Those are some important items, you know!"
"I'm talking about a special reward," she giggled as she blushed with red lightning bolts on her cheeks in the same way as Chopper would. "After all, you're someone special in my eyes! And people who help me that I find special deserve rewards like this!"
"Sp-Special? So... It is a Star Piece?"
"You'll find out right now!"
Before Chopper could respond, Berry caught Chopper in a hug and planted a kiss on his cheek. His eyes widened in fear, remembering that one incident back on Mondrao. Chopper tried to pry himself out of her grip. But sadly, he failed to do so.
When Berry let go of Chopper, he began to wipe his cheek as fast as he could. "EWWWWW! Gross! That's not what I was hoping for!"
"But it's something you deserved, Choppy!" Berry giggled.
"Oh... Well that's not that big of a deal anyway. I'm glad to be reunited with Choppy again!"
"Choppy?! No no no!" Chopper cried. "I don't like that name!"
"Not to interrupt the moment, but didn't you owe us a favor?" Shadower asked.
"Oh, right. Thanks for reminding me." Berry nodded. "So you guys need to go into the Phi Base, correct? Well, now that you've helped me get my hammer back, I guess I might as well help you get in there. Besides, I'd do anything for Choppy anyway, now that I mention it!"
"Well, we need to find that Crystal Star," Scrub nodded. "And maybe we can kick that leader's butt if we have the chance while we're at it!"
"Yeah... That's important..." Vivian trailed.
"An' maybe we can find some loot in the base too!" Bombette declared. "Pirates don't always have to use ships to get loot, you know..."
"Yes, we'll find the Crystal Star and get out of the base," Chopper said before looking at Berry. "However, I don't want you trying to gush over me! I'm NOT your boyfriend, OK?"
"Oh, I can't promise that," Berry smiled, pinching Chopper's cheeks. "You don't need to get so grouchy, you know. You should be happy to see an old friend back!"
Berry has joined your party! Press X to make Berry use her hammer to whack Chopper over things that are too far for him to jump, such as cliffs, lava, spikes, and also quicksand! Press Y to make Chopper run away from Berry and run past lasers and other things! In battle, she can use her Ruby Hammer to attack a foe on the ground… Or she can use Refreshing Love to blow a kiss at Chopper to recover some HP each turn.
"Let's go down to the main lobby and leave this place. I would let you explore my room a bit, but I don't think we have the time. Maybe we can hold hands, Choppy?"
She noticed him immediately make his way over to the elevator.
"Oh, right."
When they were all in the elevator, Berry gave a smile to Chopper, but he simply stayed away from her and decided to stay by Kirby.
"Poyo, (You're overreacting, Chopper,)" Kirby noted. "Poyo! (And besides, you never acted like this when you were around Vivian!)"
"I know... But she's gushing over me... And I don't feel safe around Berry..." Chopper gulped, noticing Berry wave sweetly to him. "You see?"
"So… How have things been for ye?" Bombette asked.
"Oh, me?" Berry asked. "Well... They've been all right. I don't have too many friends, so all I do is just go sneaking around...or sometimes I just play the Nintendo GameCube.
"GameCube? Does it require yer hands?"
"Yeah..."
"Yar... That be a shame fer me..."
When the elevator door opened, they noticed Must T. was at the lobby waiting for them.
"Oh! There you guys are! I wanted to see if things were OK!" Must T. smiled as they approached him. "Berry! How's it been?"
"Hi, Mayor!" Berry greeted. "You're seriously not going to believe it, but this boy is actually the first friend I met!"
"I don't completely believe that," Chopper denied.
"What? But I know about your family and that birthday! What else do I have to give to you?"
"Ummmmmm... Carry on, I guess."
"OK... Anyway, Choppy is..."
"But I'm Chopper!"
"OK... Chopper also happens to be someone I met back on Mondrao. He was the first friend I made, believe it or not."
"Ah! That's interesting!" Must T. smiled. "So, where are you heading?"
"We're going...somewhere that requires my help," Berry explained sheepishly. "...Don't follow, OK?"
"If you say so..."
"Well, let's go, guys!" Berry suggested, grabbing Chopper by the hand and running out of the building. The others followed behind, trying to catch up to the pink girl, who, while not as fast as Chopper, had some decent speed.