CHAPTER 3-2
-Bloops Ahoy-
"Well, looks like we're down in the ocean…" Chopper stated, looking at his surroundings. The bubbles around them all were pixilated like everything else around them. In the background, some seaweed and coral could be seen and there were even some green Cheep-Cheeps swimming around. There are also these weird mechanical fish in the water too called a Chopper, which was surprised to Chopper after noticing the text that was put up above.
"Whoa… That thing's seriously named after me? What the heck?! …Or is it the other way around?" Chopper pondered a bit before hearing some choking. "Whoops! I almost forgot about you, Sonic…"
Sonic noticed the timer was beginning to start. That's when he immediately rushed over to a pixilated air bubble to gasp for some air. Why there were air bubbles here, nobody really knew.
"Poyo? (Can we even talk to Sonic? The water keeps him from speaking…)" Kirby stated, looking at Sonic.
"Well… He's gonna have to deal with it, unfortunately. I know how he feels about it, but we can't just sit here and choke. We've got some swimming to do!" Chopper swam over to the Chopper and he threw a bomb straight at it, blowing it up.
"Mmmmmmgggggfffhhhhh!" Sonic choked, but what he really was saying is, "You can use bombs underwater?"
Chopper and Kirby looked at each other with confusion until the timer started to go off again, making Sonic grab another air bubble before trying to make his way through the water. Unfortunately, his speed was altered while being underwater.
"Oh, yeah… I can't move as fast thanks to the water…" Chopper grumbled. "I don't even think my Speed Dash is so effective now!"
Sonic first hit a ? Block that was near him, making a Mushroom pop out. When Chopper noticed it, he suggested that they all split it so that they could all have a piece, allowing them to heal.
They made their way to a gap where the water current was trying to suck them in, but the only one that had a hard time getting past it was Sonic.
"OK, hold still, Sonic," Chopper grabbed Sonic and he tried as best as he could to swim through the current without being sucked in. Kirby didn't have any problem, but he sure had one, since he was carrying someone!
There wasn't much else around except for some blocks that got in their way for Sonic, forcing him to jump over some while Chopper and Kirby happily swam through. However, Sonic DID notice a TV-like box with a water drop.
"Mmmmmggfffhhh!" Sonic immediately rushed to the box before he was about to drown (and if he drowns, THAT'S an instant game over right there). As soon as he hit it, he was surrounded by a bubble shield.
"Oh, FINALLY! I can breath once again!" Sonic gasped, coughing a couple of times. "I thought for a second that I was going to DROWN!"
"What's that around you anyway?" Chopper questioned.
"Oh, this? This…is a Bubble Shield! I remember this baby when I had to go through Hydrocity! This thing was a LIFESAVER! If I had anything that I wanted to use more than anything, it would be this thing."
"Poyo… (Well that's interesting… You use a shield that's like a bubble. What exactly does it even do?)" Kirby questioned. Chopper translated what Kirby said to Sonic so he would understand.
"What can it do? Well, instead of my Homing Attack, I pretty much bounce on the ground. It can make me jump a bit higher, but that's just about it. But, enough talking. Let's keep going."
They made their way to a little tunnel where Cheep-Cheeps and Bloopers were blocking the way. Sonic simply defeated them by attacking them with his Spin Jump, allowing them to proceed out of the tunnel and seeing six stumps on the ground.
"Hmmmm? Now what are these stumps doing here?" Chopper questioned.
"Maybe we'll find out in the future…or possibly later in this area…" Sonic predicted. He noticed a big square-shaped wall floating in the middle of this area too. "Aw, man! We're at a dead end!"
"Not yet, Sonic… When there's nothing around, there's always flipping!" Chopper grabbed Kirby and Sonic's arms and he flipped into 3-D. Sonic gaped at the sight of being in 3-D.
"Whoa… I never knew you had such a power like that… Where'd you get it?"
"From some cheap wizard named Bestovius. I'll tell you all about it later." Chopper swam up to the pipe that could be seen. "Let's see where this pipe will take us… I'm a bit curious."
Going down the pipe, they all found themselves in some strange-looking underwater tunnel. They couldn't see the surface, so they knew they were deep down somewhere in the ocean. But they could see a pixilated sunken ship in the background, though.
"Hmmmmm… Nothing much here…" Chopper stated as he began to swim over to a whirlpool, but stopped when a giant tentacle rose from the pit nearby in an attempt to grab him.
"I got this!" Sonic used Barry's ability to strike the Blooper's tentacle, making it moan in pain as it sank back down. "Now we can get a move on!"
Sonic tried his best to make it over the whirlpool, but since he's a bit slow underwater, he was close to getting sucked in. Chopper was lucky enough to grab him before he got stuck in there.
"Poyo, (Maybe you ought to hold on to Sonic if we're going to make our way through these waters,)" Kirby suggested.
"Why do I have to do that, Kirby?" Chopper questioned. "Can't we both take turns? I mean… I DO have the bombs, which are probably capable of taking down any of the enemies around here… Just saying."
They were about to swim ahead until Kirby noticed a little cave up above them near a tentacle that rose up. They made their up out of the water and into some small cave with a pipe in front of them.
"Whew! We're finally out of that madness!" Sonic sighed in relief, despite the fact that his Bubble Shield is still around him. "Let's hope we don't have to go through MORE water…"
"Yeah, I highly doubt that we won't be seeing more water," Chopper predicted, going down the pipe into another cave-like area. The music changed to that underground theme, to his surprise.
"Poyo? (Why did the music suddenly change?)" questioned Kirby.
"I don't know, but let's forget about that, OK?" Chopper suggested, noticing two Spike Goombas in the tunnel.
"Leave this to me!" Sonic curled up in a ball and began to charge up a Spin Dash. As he crashed through both Spiky Goombas, he ended up falling into more water, resulting in him sinking.
"We better follow him!" Chopper charged up a Speed Dash before rushing through the small tunnel and down into the water. Kirby followed Chopper down and, to their surprise, they saw Sonic got hit by a Blooper, resulting in his Bubble Shield being destroyed.
"Uh oh… His shield's gone!" Chopper tossed a bomb at the two Bloopers with a boxed, dotted outline around them, destroying them. "We better get you to the next door FAST!"
Chopper grabbed Sonic and he swam over to the door nearby before he could drown. They noticed that after all three of them walked into another room, a cage was drawn to prevent them from going back.
"Oh, crud… This is just like in that underground room where I met Thoreau…" Chopper looked over at the stump right beside them. "I guess that's the only thing that can help us get out of here.
"Mmmmmgggggfffhh!" Sonic began to choke as the timer began to go off. When an air bubble appeared from the ground, he grabbed it to get more air.
All of the Choppers and Cheep-Cheeps in this area were cleared with Sonic's Spin Jump and Chopper's bombs, resulting in a large chest to appear in front of them.
"Mmmmmggffhh?" Sonic tilted his head, when he really meant, "Is this another upgrade for you, Chopper?"
"I think I know what it could be…" Chopper kicked the chest open with his foot, waiting for a voice to shout from the chest.
Chopper, Kirby and Sonic: ?
"Well, hello to you all!" a Pixl resembling a blue screw said happily, flying out of the chest. "I didn't think that I would be seeing people around here for these 1,500 years! What does this mean, you ask? Why… I'm sure that the hero has come!"
The Pixl looked down at Chopper. "Hmmmmm… Let's see here… You DO look like the hero, but I don't know about you… You're… Actually, despite your cuteness, you probably couldn't handle such power from me. But, no worries. I think you're still pretty cool."
Chopper slightly blushed. "Yeah… Well, looks like I'm not taking him then."
The Pixl floated down to Kirby. "Now let's take a look at you! You're one of those heroes too, but you're too pink and fluffy. Sorry, but I don't think my powers are going to be helpful to you. You're too…light. I don't mean to offend ya in any way. I still think you're cool!"
"Poyo… (Well he doesn't seem to be rude…)" Kirby stated.
Lastly, he floated over to Sonic. "Now, let's see here… You look like an interesting character! You may not be able to breathe underwater, but you look like the one with the cool attitude! And that blueness on you… AWESOME! I think I'm gonna stick around on your side. You're probably the one worthy of me. You can call me Screwdy!"
Screwdy circled around Sonic before the blue hedgehog held him up (before the timer went off again).
The corkscrewing Pixl, Screwdy, has become your friend! With him, you can perform a corkscrew attack that's capable of pounding on things such as stumps and even screws!
"With you on my side, we'll become an unstoppable force! C'mon, my man! Let's show the world what we're capable of!" Screwdy smirked.
Sonic smirked and gave him a thumbs up before inhaling another air bubble. "Sometimes I wish I had that Bubble Shield again… If I have to travel around here like this, then I KNOW for a fact that I'm not gonna get anywhere…"
"Well, Sonic… Why don't we start by hitting that stump?" Chopper suggested, pointing to the stump.
Sonic merely shrugged and he jumped on top of the stump, jumping and doing a corkscrew as he came down on the stump, making it go into the ground and destroying the cage around the door.
"It… Mmmmmgggfffhh!" Sonic started choking before he could speak, making him grab an air bubble before they made their way out of the room.
Back in the other area-
"Poyo… (I wonder what'll happen if we go to the right of this water area…)" Kirby wondered before diving straight into the water. Chopper decided that he should stay in the small cavern with Sonic, just to make sure he wouldn't go insane from being in a water area.
Kirby was forced to wait for the tentacles to lower down before he could find another cave. This one had a portrait of six stumps. For some reason… It reminded him of stumps that they saw before.
"Poyo? (Could it really be THOSE stumps? I swear that they remind me of those…)" Kirby remarked. He saw that the second, third and fifth stumps were flat in the ground, while the other three were still up.
"Poyo! (Hey, I better tell Chopper and Sonic about this! Maybe they'll be able to figure it out too! …Of course, I'll tell them about what stumps to hit, that is!)" Kirby swam back into the water to tell both Chopper and Sonic.
In the ocean area, by the stumps-
"Oh! Finally! Air!" Sonic managed to grab a Bubble Shield, surrounding him in a bubble filled with air. "Sweet sweet air!"
"Sonic… Kirby told us that you need to hit the second, third and fifth stump that's right in front of us…" Chopper recalled. "I think NOW'S a good time to use that Pixl of yours… OK?"
"Oh, yeah… I forgot. Let's do this, Screwdy!" Sonic grinned as he used a corkscrew on the second, third and fifth stump, causing a door to be drawn in between the stumps. "Too easy! Piece of cake!"
"Sonic… Let's not get with the cheesy lines at this point. They just seem so…cocky. …But I think I'm a bit cocky too, so don't blame yourself either." Chopper opened the door and they all headed in another ocean area.
"Heads up, guys! Those purple Choppers are NOT to be messed with. Plus, they're pretty big." Sonic warned, pointing to the purple Choppers that were swimming around this part of the area.
"Oh, boy… That's not good. But we can take those things on! I'm PRETTY sure that we can!" Chopper pulled a bomb out and he swam toward one of the Choppers, throwing a bomb at it.
"Wait… It's not dead yet?" Chopper threw one more bomb at the Chopper, blowing it up. "Oh, so it takes TWO hits to beat this thing… Dang. Why do the enemies have more HP than before?"
"Poyo, (Maybe it's because we're not in turn-based battles,)" Kirby answered. "Poyo. (We're not taking turns around here anymore, now that you think about it.)"
"You're right. Now let's get a move on," Chopper continued to swim his way through the vast ocean until he noticed another sunken ship in the background. Unfortunately, he had to wait for Sonic to catch up due to his slow speed underwater.
"Heads up, Kirby! You got a Chopper on your tail!" Sonic warned.
Kirby turned to see the Chopper coming at him, but he managed to drive it back by squirting some water at it. It didn't do much damage, but after doing it a couple of times, he managed to take it down.
"Well, that wasn't so bad… I don't think anything could get worse, now that you mention it." Sonic pointed to the pipe at the end of the area. "I mean, we already have the end of the level up ahead of us!"
"BLOOP!" a loud, monstrous voice caused all of the Choppers around the waters to swim away as the ground began to shake.
"BLUH-BLOOOOP! (WHAT'S GOING ON?)" A couple of tentacles began to rise from the ground, destroying parts of the ground, but not all of it (to Sonic's relief, that is…). Some of them had blue suckers on them, but only one had a red one. But, what caught their attention was the gigantic Blooper in the background. It was the largest Blooper that they've ever seen.
"Whoa… Not even Bloopink was THIS big!" Chopper gaped.
"Bloobloobloobloop! (Hey, land freaks! How'd you like a tentacle sandwich?)" the Blooper roared as it tried to whack at Chopper, Kirby and Sonic.
"Watch out, guys!" Sonic jumped out of the way of a tentacle that rose up near him. Unfortunately, Chopper ended up getting hit in the face by one of them.
"Oof! Take this!" Chopper pulled a bomb out and he threw it at one of the tentacles. Unfortunately, it didn't seem to do much to it. The Blooper didn't even yelp in pain either!
"Wait… Why isn't it working?" he questioned.
"Remember what I said before, hero?" Barry recalled. "When we're up against this thing, you need to hit the tentacle with the red suckers on it! Trust me, that's the only thing that will hurt him."
"Oh, you mean THIS one?" Sonic noticed the exact tentacle rise up near him. With one Spin Jump, he managed to make the Blooper cringe in pain.
"BLUH-BLOOP! Bloobloobloop! BLOOOP! (No! Not there! Please! Anywhere but there!)"
"Ha HA! Now we've got you!" Chopper tossed a bomb at one of the other tentacles, but sadly, it didn't do anything. "Crud. I guess I have to wait for the red tentacle to show up so I can give it a beating!"
Sonic attempted to attack one of the other tentacles, but it simply knocked him back after being whacked at.
It didn't take long before its red tentacle rose up, allowing Chopper to pull a bomb out and strike it with it, causing the Blooper to cringe in pain as it brought its red tentacle down.
"Bloobloobloop! (You monster! How could you do such a thing to my poor tentacle?! Take this!)" the Blooper managed to knock away Chopper's ability by whacking at him with its tentacle.
"Oh, no! Not my Bomb ability!" Chopper tried to swim for it, but since he can't inhale underwater, he had to let it go.
"Poyo… (Oh, poor ability…)" Kirby mourned before the red tentacle appeared right before him. With one squirt of water, he managed to make the Blooper cringe in pain once again and this time, make it give up.
"BLOO-ooop!" the Blooper cried. "Bloo-ooobloop! (OK! OK! I had enough, land people! I don't want to suffer like this just like three months ago!)" the Blooper sank down to the depths of the ocean, never to be seen again.
"Wow… That was it? That was the whole fight against a giant Blooper?" Chopper's eye began to twitch. "What a joke! I mean, BLOOPINK was harder than this! And he was smaller than THAT!"
"Chopper, let's not complain," Sonic suggested. "We took care of the Blooper, so now's best to get out of this dreadful water."
Sonic immediately made his way over to the pipe. "I'll meet you guys up at the surface. …I might be kissing the ground, too."
Kirby began to snicker. "Poyo… (Sonic's in love with the ground…)"
"I'll say!" Chopper snickered, following Sonic over to the pipe, where they all found themselves up at the surface. They could see the oceans a bit close to them, but what was important was that they made it to the end of the level.
"FINALLY! Land!" Sonic began to bend over and kiss the ground. "I missed you, ground!"
"Heh heh heh…" Chopper smirked as he walked over to the Star Block and smashed it with his fist. "That closes this chapter!"
END OF CHAPTER
Despite returning to land, the trio was still far from Fort Francis. "Now, remember…" started Barry. "There's a long way to go before we can make our way to the tree that's far from here… Hope you all can move through loops, 'cause that's what's gonna be around here!" The thought of loops made Sonic grin as he adjusted the cuffs on his gloves.
Yeah... I didn't like that the fight with the Blooper was so short... It was a bit disappointing. But, I'm pretty sure the next fights will be a lot more interesting... Yeah, I KNOW that they are, 'cause they're all going to be up against some tough people (though, I don't know if the boss will be hard or not. The Attack power in this story's a lot different than what the Attack power the boss has in Super Paper Mario. Y'know, just to make it tougher).