CHAPTER 3-3
-A Run Through the Bitlands-
"Oh, yeah! Now THIS is what I've been wanting to see this whole time! Come take a look at the view, you two. What you're about to see if perhaps one of the greatest places I might ever see around this world." Sonic grinned as he saw a whole area filled with some slopes going down and a couple of loops.
From his perspective, this felt like paradise, but in Kirby's, this didn't feel too good. Of course, HIS paradise was being on a grassy land filled with food such as apples or Max Tomatoes. Chopper's paradise was rather similar, having food as well, but also an opportunity to move around.
"I like this place too," Chopper smiled.
"Poyo… (This really isn't the kind of world that I feel comfortable in…)" Kirby mumbled. "Poyo… (I mean, I'm not as fast as you two… I'm pretty much slow…but not slow like Bowser…)"
"Relax, Kirby. I can help you through this place if you want me to. All we have to do is…" Chopper stopped when he saw a purple laser fire. He immediately jumped out of the way, grabbing Kirby as well.
"What in the world was that?" Sonic questioned.
"So we finally found you! Excellent!" the blue hedgehog turned to see these strange gray aliens in black and purple armor firing its weapon at them. "So, Sonic… You really think that you'd be making your way through here? Think again!"
"Dark Creatures… So you guys are back, is that right?" Sonic got in a fighting stance, ready to strike the evil alien with a Homing Attack.
"You really think that our leader would stay in prison like that? He was lucky to get out. We don't know how, since he never explain it to us… But, what's important is that we stop you heroes from collecting the Pure Heart!"
"Pure Heart? They're here to stop us from getting it?" Chopper dodged the purple lasers being fired at him and he struck the Dark Soldier with a spinning kick. Sonic immediately knocked him back on the grass with a Homing Attack.
"Try what you want, but you're already outnumbered," Sonic stated, smirking at the Dark Soldier.
"I'll wipe that smirk off your face!" the Dark Soldier fired another blast, but this time Sonic struck him with a Spin Dash, knocking him out of the area. He even rolled down a slope to a red door as well.
"Well, looks like you made your way down to the door already," Chopper sweat dropped as he let the small hill make him go faster down to the door. Kirby simply slid down, being capable of doing that.
When they walked into the next area, the first thing they saw was a wall that both Chopper and Sonic could run up. It reminded Chopper of when he was back at Lineland Road…or better yet, high up there.
"Oh, boy… Now THIS is something I've been wanting to do!" Chopper smirked as he made his way ahead, running up the wall at an incredible speed. Surely that this would lead up to a door nearby, that's for sure.
But it only led down to a large hill with a loop. "Well, looks like we're not done YET…" Chopper landed on the hill and he began to make his way down, going through the loop. He could see Sonic was following him too, but with Kirby with him.
"Don't worry, Chopper! I got Kirby here, so you don't have to worry about him!" Sonic assured.
"All right, good!" Chopper immediately stopped in front of a Motobug that tried charging at him. He could see two other platforms that are moving up and down. But, the second one seems to be at a higher elevation than the first one.
"I got this!" After Sonic let go of Kirby, he simply defeated the Motobug with a Spin Jump. A forest creature was released and it ran away in joy. "So Eggman still keeps those poor critters in those machines?"
"I guess it looks like it," Chopper agreed, jumping on the platforms to reach the door. "I can't believe that that door was easier to get to. I was hoping for some kind of challenge, but I guess not…"
Chopper walked through the door with his friends to find a flatter area this time. They noticed some bottomless pits around here, but what caught their attention were the stumps that were right in front of them near the large gap that was most likely too hard to cross.
"Well, this is interesting! We've got some stumps that we can take care of!" Sonic began to hit the stumps using Screwdy's ability. Unfortunately, doing that to the six stumps didn't do a thing.
"That did nothing? Aw, come on! That's WEAK!" Sonic pouted while kicking the ground.
"Hmmmmmmm…" Chopper pondered before looking at the stumps. "Say, Sonic… Maybe you ought to bring those stumps back up. I wanna see if there's some kind of puzzle here…"
"Ya want me to use my corkscrew on those?" Sonic's ears perked. "But how could I even do it when they're already in the ground?"
"Just try," Chopper suggested. "You never know… You might find something interesting through all of that."
"Oh, OK… I guess I'll hit them again." Sonic hit all six stumps with his corkscrew attack, but it didn't appear to do much except bring them back up. "Whoa, they can rise up from the ground?"
"It looks like it… Well, I'm going to check what's around in 3-D." Chopper threw his arms up in the air to find down arrows on the first and fifth stump. He also noticed a Catch Card right behind a bush, so he grabbed it and put it away (the difference about Cards in this is that it doesn't allow you to do more damage. It gives you an HP bar of the enemy and information on it. Yeah, I thought the whole card thing made SPM a bit on the easy side).
After flipping back to 2-D, Chopper jumped onto the first and the fifth stump. "These are the ones that you want to hit, Sonic. Trust me… These are DEFINITELY the ones that'll let us move on."
"All righty, then!" Sonic used his corkscrew on the first and then the fifth stump, causing a bridge to be drawn over the large chasm. "Yes! Now we can make our way through this place!"
"Poyo, (All I can see is a wall up ahead, but I also see a spring,)" Kirby looked up and gaped when he saw some grassy platforms floating up above them. It leads over to a door sitting on one of them.
"A spring? Heh heh heh! This'll be fun!" Sonic jumped on the spring, sending him up to the platform. There, he began to use his jumping skills to make it over to the door. He took down a Buzz Bomber that was in his way too.
Once Chopper and Kirby made their way up, they walked into another area. This one was a bit flat with no loops. There were even some bottomless pits around here as well and even a ? Block nearby.
"I bet it's a Mega Star!" Chopper smiled as he hit the block. Unfortunately, all that came out was a Happy Flower.
"What's that supposed to be?" Sonic touched it, making a bunch of coins rain from the sky. "Oh, I guess that's what happens when you get that thing."
Chopper, Kirby and Sonic began to collect the raining coins as they fell from the sky. The two Dark Soldiers that walked by stopped and looked at the heroes collecting all of the coins and big coins.
"…What are they doing?" the first one questioned.
"It looks like they're collecting coins," the second one replied, aiming his blaster at them. "And while they're distracted, we can simply blast 'em out of here! That'll be nice, wouldn't it?"
"Oh, yes! Let's finish them…for Dark!"
The two Dark Creatures loaded their blasters and fired straight at the heroes. Sonic immediately took action by dodging the shots while break dancing. He them curled up in a ball and rammed into the first Dark Creature.
"Poyo… (That Dark Creature isn't finished yet…)" Kirby gawked as the Dark Creature slowly got up and tried to fire at Sonic. But, he was too fast for him. He jumped and struck him with a Homing Attack, turning it into a puff of smoke.
"Hold on!" Chopper stopped Sonic before he could attack the next Dark Soldier. "I wanna try something against it."
"And what would that be?" the Dark Soldier gawked as Chopper pulled the Catch Card out. A black outlined box appeared around the soldier as it began to spin around. To Chopper's surprise, he managed to transform the alien into a card.
"Whoa… So that actually worked? Wow." Chopper was nearly gapping as he picked up the card. "I can't believe I turned something into a card… Wow." He could see the HP bar of a Dark Creature up ahead now.
"Poyo, (Well, I guess that certainly did something,)" Kirby stated as he jumped over a bottomless pit and inhaled the Dark Creature. He spat it out at a Motobug that was coming toward him.
"Man… How far until we finally get to that nerd's castle? I feel like it's been a long walk since we were at the beginning of this world…" Chopper panted.
"Well it didn't feel like that to me," Sonic replied with a red ? over his head. "I think we ought to get moving anyway. We can't stay here forever, you know…"
As Chopper jumped smashed two Brick Blocks with a Goomba sitting on one of them, he came across a couple of pipes. One was a bit tall, but when he flipped into 3-D, he saw a ? Block that he could jump on to get onto the pipe. But what got him surprised was when he saw a Mushroom come out of the block. He wished that he could share it, but his HP WAS a bit low, so he ate it to recover some of it.
"What do you see, Chopper?" Sonic asked.
"Well, all I can see is a block that can take me up to the top of the pipe. But, I don't think I see much up there. Let me take a look." Chopper jumped onto the block and then onto the top of the pipe. He saw a Brick Block on top, so he hit it, making a ladder get drawn to some clouds with faces on them.
"Oh, I see what they did here… It's almost like that one area in Lineland Road!" Chopper climbed up the ladder to find a row of coins and a chest. Inside of the chest was a Super Shroom Shake.
After jumping down, he showed Kirby and Sonic the Super Shroom Shake that he got from the chest. Both were gawking at it before he helped them go around the pipe and next to another pipe, where a Piranha Plant popped out and tried to bite them.
"Oh no you don't!" Sonic knocked the Piranha Plant out of the pipe with a simple Spin Jump. That allowed them to jump on top of the pipe, but it made the blue hedgehog question himself when he saw his whole body become like pixels as it went down the pipe.
"What the…" Before Sonic could react, he was already underground.
"Hold on, Sonic! We're coming!" Chopper jumped down the pipe with Kirby to reach the underground area. All there was was a row of coins.
"This is it? Well this is disappointing… Wait, hold on a minute. Let's see if there are more." Chopper threw his hands up in the air and flipped into 3-D. He saw more than those coins this time.
"Ahhh! Now we're getting somewhere!" Chopper grabbed all of the coins before his Flip Gauge dropped to zero. "OK, guys. I think we should go back outside. Y'know, where it's better?"
"Poyo, (Good idea,)" Kirby nodded as they headed out of the pipe. They could see the sun shining brightly to the direction they had to go.
"Man, look at that sun you two!" Sonic smirked as he looked up at the bright sun. "You don't see things like THAT every day, do you?" He put his left foot on a small tree stump nearby as he looked up.
"Yeah, it sure looks nice," Chopper agreed before seeing a Fire Bro. coming their way. "Oh, I'll take care of this guy! This should be easy!"
Chopper's hand faced the Fire Bro., hoping to shoot a fireball or light ball. Unfortunately, it didn't work.
"Wait… I can't use my elemental powers on these guys? Oh, come on! …Wait, I think those gloves shrunk in the washing machine. I swear that I didn't mistake that bottle for the other!"
"Poyo? (What happened to your elemental Hand abilities?)" Kirby questioned.
"Well, you see… I was washing my stuff in the washing machine, such as my shoes and my gloves. I swear that I put the right soap in, but I guess SOMEHOW I had a different soap. I mean, I had this soap that would wash those awesome shoes and gloves I had, but they just HAD to shrink!"
"Poyo? (But the main question is that did they get switched around? If you swear that you had the right soap for the washing machine, then there could be something fishy around here. …Oh, and how did you get those gloves and shoes, by the way?)"
"I usually have more than just one pair, you know," Chopper replied. "It's like Peach as a lot of the same pink dresses and Mario with a lot of the same blue overalls. I don't get the whole thing, but that's how it seems to work. Sonic could have the same pair of gloves in his house too, you know."
Sonic looked at his gloves and shoes. "Yeah… You got a point there, Chopper. But, anyway, I think we should get a move on, don't you think?" He raced his way over the bottomless pit nearby and over some spikes that were near two Motobugs.
Chopper and Kirby jumped over the pit and the spikes and they struck the two Motobugs. Kirby simply grabbed one with Thoreau and Chopper simply stomped on the Motobug twice, doing two stylish moves.
"Hey! You can do some stylish moves? Sweet!" Sonic grinned.
"I know, right? This is pretty cool, I have to admit." Chopper saw a Koopa up ahead, but he forgot that he still couldn't use his fireball. "Ugh… I wish I had that move. I remember when I had those elemental gloves..."
"So you got those gloves in some Mechanical Box, right? I remember you said something about getting them there." Sonic recalled. "But, how did you get those other gloves from five months ago?"
"I got them in the Dark Steeple. You know where we first met Tipral?"
"Poyo! (I remember that!)" Kirby exclaimed. "Poyo... (It was when people in Twilight Town were turning into pigs...)"
"Yeah, that was not pleasant," Chopper sighed. "Ugh… If only I had those fireballs to take these guys down easily… Oh, wait… I have Hommissile to help me there! Go get 'em, Hommissile!"
"Right on! BOOM!" the missile Pixl charged at the Koopa, blowing him up to a crisp. This allowed them all to move on ahead, hitting a Buzz Bomber before getting to a door.
They were led into an area with a simple hilly floor, but with a passageway that's on the wall across this large gap leading down into some water. Sonic gulped as he looked down there.
"Oh, no… There's NO way I'm going to go down THERE!" he retorted, backing away. "If I have to fall down there, then that means I'm going to DROWN! You hear me? DROWN!"
"Calm down, Sonic… I think we can get across that gap with that little pathway going on that wall." Chopper pointed to the wall. "Luckily, if you're fast enough, you can make your way across that gap, which is what I intend to do!"
"What do you…?"
Chopper already charged up a Speed Dash and took off, running on the way in a figure-8 pattern across the gap onto more grass that led him down a loop and to a door that he almost missed.
"Whoa… I thought that I was going to miss that for a second…" Chopper stopped moving when he saw four Dark Creatures with their weapons aimed straight at him near the door.
"Well well! Looks like we found the great hero himself! We've been looking for you, Chopper!" the Dark Soldiers cackled.
"Wait… Why were you looking for me?" Chopper questioned.
"Well, you see… We…" Before they could finish, the four got struck by Sonic's Spin Dash. They were immediately finished when Kirby came and inhaled two of them and spat them out at the other two.
"Hmmmmm… They didn't finish their sentence…" Chopper groaned.
"Oh, don't worry about it, Chopper! We took care of them, so we shouldn't have to worry about them for right now!" Sonic grinned while hitting the Save Block right next to them. He then hit the ? Block that contained a Super Shroom.
"We're gonna have to split that up," stated Chopper as they each grabbed a piece and devoured it, recovering 20 of their HP.
And with that, they walked into the next area, with had this one grassy platform sitting on the ground.
"Say… Why does this give me the Green Hill vibe?" Sonic questioned.
"Ah! So I finally found you!" a voice called out. To their surprise, they saw Dark appear on the hill nearby. "I've been waiting for you, heroes! This is where it all ends."
He pulled his pistol out and aimed at them. Kirby and Sonic immediately got in their fighting stances, while Chopper looked a bit confused.
"Wait… Heroes? Don't tell me you're working for Tipral too…" Chopper face palmed.
"He promised me something if I joined him," Dark stated, glaring at Chopper. "And besides… He just wants me to destroy you three – who are people that I DESPISE! So, I thought, 'Why not help him? He could give me whatever I needed!' such as…destroying you, Sonic."
"Hold on a second… I remember that Flyer sent me an email five months ago that you were in prison! …Come to think of it, when WAS the last time we had an encounter with you?"
"We fought him back in Tartamos, if I could remember," Sonic recalled.
"Yes, that was when we last fought. But anyway, I can't let you get your hands on that Pure Heart, Chopper. I may have been kept in prison for many months, but I certainly haven't forgotten my moves that I once used to fight you!" Dark fired a purple blast near Chopper's feet.
"And don't think I'm like those other two you fought before. It was that Scottish man and the green little girl, right? Yes… Well, anyway… My lunch is coming up soon, so let's just get this over with."
Sonic got in his fighting stance. "All right! Bring it on, Dark!"
"Very well, but you'll be surprised on what I have up my sleeves!" Dark managed to grab Sonic's leg before he could kick him and he threw him onto the ground. He aimed his pistol at him and began to fire…until he got interrupted by Chopper's green foot.
"Oof! Why you little…!" Dark knocked Chopper onto the wall of the hill with a simple blast from his pistol. He felt satisfied until Sonic grabbed his arm and threw him down to the ground.
"Man… I never thought he was gonna do THAT…" Sonic huffed as he got up. He jumped up and struck Dark afterward with a Homing Attack when he got back up.
"Oof! Impressive… Let's see how your pink friend will like THIS!" Dark fired a purple blast of energy straight at Kirby, but the simply blast was only deflected back at him when he inhaled it and spat it out at him.
"Poyo! (Take THAT, Dark!)" Kirby did a little dance before Dark zapped him with the moon crescent on his head.
"Take THIS!" Dark made Kirby use Thoreau on Chopper and throw him at Sonic, knocking both of them down. After he stopped brainwashing Kirby, he made a dash at him, punching him in the gut and knocking him to the ground.
"Heh heh heh!" Dark spun his pistol around before putting it away while grinning. "Looks like the battle is mine! I might as well…"
He was hit in the stomach by a blue ball that knocking him over by the door. "You're gonna wish you never did that, hedgehog!"
Dark kicked Sonic off of him and he attempted to blast him again. This time, he managed to strike him, but he too got hit. Chopper's spinning kick attack was capable of hitting Dark in the face, leaving it a bit bruised.
"I almost forgot about the door…" Dark fired a blast over by the door, making a cage appear on it, preventing them from escaping. "There's no way I'm letting you out of here, fools!"
"Well that stinks…" Chopper sent Hommissile straight at Dark, knocking him back a bit more with an intense explosion.
"And what are those 'things' that you carry with you?" Dark questioned as Chopper avoided his sweeping kick.
"These things? They're called Pixls, and they're good for beating you down to a pulp!" Chopper threw Hommissile at Dark again, but this time he dodged it again and hit Chopper with his elbow.
Enraged, Kirby threw Thoreau straight at Dark and lifted him from the air. "What the heck?! How is he doing this?!"
"Poyo! (Because the Pixl allows me to, that's what!)" Kirby shouted as he stunned him after a good throw. It allowed Sonic to strike the Dark Creature king with a simple Homing Attack.
"Thanks for the help, Kirby!" Sonic thanked. Kirby simple nodded to him before Dark could get out of the trance.
"En guarde! Swift Strike!" Dark aimed the palms of his hands straight at Kirby and Sonic. A purple crescent-like blade immediately fired from his hands and headed straight toward them.
"Poyo! (That's not good!)" Kirby took action by inhaling the attack, but when he spit it out, Dark immediately wrapped one side of him with his cape to block the attack.
"Holy… He can deflect abilities with that cape? In fact… Where did you get that thing?" Sonic questioned.
"Tipral was lucky enough to give this to me. While I'm not a huge fan of capes, he told me that this would give me the benefit of any projectiles heading my way. That inhaling ability of yours is useless!"
"Oh, yeah?" Chopper tried to use his inhaling ability to suck up Dark, but his efforts were fruitless when he saw that he wasn't even moving.
"Wait a second… I can't inhale him?"
"You fool! You're not going to get anywhere if you inhale me!" Dark knocked Chopper back with a simple kick in the face. "I'm surprised that you don't have those other abilities with you from before…"
"Blame my washing machine, why don't ya!" Chopper landed a punch to Dark's face. Unfortunately, it didn't seem to do a lot, due to his weak physical strength.
"What's wrong with you, Chopper?" Sonic questioned. "Don't you realize that your punches WON'T do anything to him?"
"He's right, Chopper! You made a mistake!" Dark threw Chopper toward Kirby, knocking them both onto the hill.
He attempted to kick Sonic with his legs, but due to Sonic's impressive speed, he managed to spin around him a couple of times and land a Homing Attack on him twice.
"Be gone!" Dark summoned a couple of dark, small meteors to come down on Sonic. Some of them struck Chopper and Kirby, but they both managed to inhale at least one and spit them at Dark before he could even grab Sonic.
"Argh! You're gonna pay for that!" Dark used his powers to fire two red blasts of energy straight at them, but they were able to easily dodge the attack when Chopper flipped into 3-D.
"What the heck was that?!" he gawked.
"Chopper just flipped into 3-D, for your information," Sonic knocked Dark back once again with a Spin Dash.
As Dark got up, he growled furiously at Sonic. Before Sonic could curl up in the ball, he grabbed him and held him up.
"All right, hedgehog! I'm getting a bit tired of you and your Homing Attacks! I think now's the time to put this to an end, wouldn't you say, my blue friend?"
"You can't snap his neck, y'know… He's got no neck!" Chopper shouted, striking Dark from behind with a spinning kick.
"Aargh! You little...!" Dark roared.
Smiling, Chopper performed an uppercut kick on Dark's head, sending him up in the air. Sonic immediately jumping up and struck him twice in the air with a Homing Attack before he could hit the ground.
"DIE!" Dark slowly raised his pistol up at them in an attempt to shoot them, but he didn't have the energy to shoot. With one Spin Dash, Dark was already finished, collapsing to the ground.
"You… You…" Dark coughed. "You got lucky this time, Sonic… If this fight was only between us, then you would've been the loser here!"
"Sorry, Dark, but I think coming here was a bad idea for you," Sonic smirked.
"Oh, you'll be sorry when you get to that tree, heroes!" Dark grinned as he looked up at them. "I know a person that's up there, waiting for you!"
"Someone's waiting for us up there?" Chopper's antennae perked up. "And who would THAT be?"
"Heh heh heh! Like I'd ever tell you! You'll have to find out for yourself!" Dark slowly got himself up. "For now, farewell, heroes! Next time we have a fight, don't expect to be so lucky."
With his cape, he disappeared out of thin air.
"I didn't expect Dark to make his appearance here…" Chopper wheezed. "But you guys never told me about Dark. Did you…see him before I even had a chance to meet him?"
"Poyo… (Yeah… It was in Tipral's castle… He was brainwashing some minions with his new ability…but I somehow got away from him. I don't know about the others, though…)" Kirby explained while panting.
"Well, let's not worry too much about them yet. If we find them, we find them. For now, let's try to get out of this place." Chopper charged a Speed Dash and he made his way up the hill, across a bridge where Choppers were trying to attack and down a hill over by the Star Block.
"Wow… So the Star Block was over here? That's pretty interesting…" Chopper gaped.
"Well, go ahead! Hit it, Chopper!" Sonic suggested as he and Kirby finally made their way to him.
"OK!" Chopper smashed the Star Block with one simple punch. With the twenty stars out, it sealed this chapter.
END OF CHAPTER
Somehow, the heroes managed to stop Dark Doom and make their way through the hilly land. But before they could even stop for a break, they saw the imposing silhouette of Fort Francis. "Well, looks like we're not too far from the castle now," Chopper said in relief. "Poyo? (But why is it so dark around here?)" questioned Kirby. Before they could look up, they realized they were in the shadow of a huge tree. Chopper, believing this must be the right way, set out toward the great tree…
Well, that one sure took me a while to get done. The fight with Dark Doom was a lot better than the fight between Dr. Eggman and the Big Blooper, in my opinion. But, this whole world isn't over yet, for there are two more parts of this chapter left.
...And I'm not much of a fan of the big tree, that's for sure. DX