"Whoa... So I guess this was the right way to go..." Chopper gaped.
Going through the door leading to Gloomtail's lair, no longer was the hallway straight, but now it contained a staircase leading deeper into the Palace of Shadows. Though some were disappointed they couldn't go back to Gloomtail's room, they thought it was for the best if that dragon was still alive.
"So, I'm guessing that X-Naut leader is somewhere down here," Scrub deduced.
"Yes, and that means the enemies will only get tougher from here," Shadower replied. "So, shall we make our way through this palace?"
"Absolutely," Chopper nodded, leading the way by moving down to the bottom of the staircase. They were met with a Dark Wizzerd that attempted to attack them, but Scrub managed to eat it and then spit it out, while Chopper delivered an ice ball to defeat it.
"Mateys! Take a look at these walls!" Bombette suggested, looking at the walls containing green depictions that reminded her of the planetary figure. "A very strange decorative..."
With the enemy out of the way, Chopper decided to hit the yellow ? Block that was too high for him to regularly reach by using his Spring Jump. Inside the block wad a Thunder Rage, which he happily took.
Unfortunately, another Dark Wizzerd intervened and tried attacking. Thankfully, they were prepared for the attack and took it down with ease thanks to Shadower's Shadow Punch and Chopper's jumping abilities. The heroes proceeded onward and ran into a slip of paper covering a section of the wall.
"Poyo! (Leave this to me!)" Kirby declared, inhaling the paper and revealing a secret passageway leading up to a staircase in the wall. That eventually led them to a doorway on a ledge across a gap. Berry suggested to help, but the gap was not big enough, so Chopper got on Scrub, and he fluttered over to the ledge.
"Oh, yeah, baby! I'm finally doing something! Awesome." Scrub cheered while landing near the doorway. Everyone else with the exception of Bombette and Berry also crossed the gap.
"Hmmmm... Well this appears to be a problem..." Bombette trailed.
"Yeah, I wish I could get over there," Berry sighed. "I guess Scrub will have to help."
Hearing that, Scrub quickly crossed the gap in order to provide assistance to the two female partners. The others could obviously tell he was motivated to help. However, all he received as an award was a pat to the head.
Entering the doorway led them into a room with a green tiled floor and a small staircase to their left. Vivian noticed something was missing, however.
"Strange... Wasn't there supposed to be a red ! Switch here?" Vivian questioned.
"What do you mean?" Chopper asked.
"...Oh, nothing. Though I wonder how we're supposed to get across that gap... It's probably too far for Scrub to carry some of us across."
"Don't worry! I've got that all covered!" Berry assured, getting her hammer out. Chopper gulped when Berry gestured him to go up the small stairs, and he didn't have much of a choice. After climbing the staircase, Chopper stood near the edge of the floor and looked at the ledge across the gap. "Don't worry, Choppy! You can trust me with this, right?"
"Ummmm... Yeah, I guess so. Just do it." Chopper gulped.
"OK... FORE!"
Everyone near Berry quickly got out of the way as she swung her hammer like a golf club behind Chopper, which sent him flying across the gap and to the other side. He ended up landing face-first, leaving a large, red mark on his face.
"Uh oh... Are you OK?" Berry asked after Vivian helped her across. "I hope I didn't hurt you..."
"N-No... I'm fine." Chopper assured, despite not feeling all right. "I can progress just fine."
After everyone else got across, Chopper and his friends moved down the staircase ahead of them and found another yellow ? Block. Inside was a Repel Cape, which they chose to hold on for now. Afterward, Chopper headed through the doorway to the south.
The seven heroes were led into a room with a red carpet once again, but they were at a higher point than before. To their right were two shiny large black blocks with the closet having a yellow frame and the other having a green one. However, the green one was blocking their way.
"I call climbing this staircase!" Scrub blurted, pointing to the staircase to their left. Everyone else had no other choice and followed the Yoshi up to a door, leading them to a previous room they had been in before. Only this time, they were near a small staircase leading to small blocks. One was yellow and the other was green, and both of them had a triangle.
"Hey, don't these blocks look a bit similar to the one we saw in that other room?" Chopper recalled. "I think that green one was in our way..."
"Then hit it we shall!" Bombette declared, punting the green block with her foot, which made it appear dull. Going back to the other room, the large block further to them was gone, and now a gap was created between them and a small staircase.
Just before Chopper could say anything, Berry managed to get him across with her hammer. The rest chose to use Scrub to get across, the latter helping Chopper up when he crashed into the staircase.
"Berry, warn me next time you do that..." Chopper moaned.
"Sorry about that..." Berry apologized, kissing Chopper on the cheek. "I hope that makes up for what I did..."
Chopper quickly put his hands over her mouth as if he felt like he was going to hurl.
"Yeah, he's all right," Shadower assured. "Anyway, moving on."
Up the staircase was a pit below leading to two large blocks, but unlike the other two, these two had a purple and red frame. There was also a ledge slightly below that appeared to be too far to reach as well. They all simply dropped down to the two blocks and found a small, dull purple block similar to the other ones.
Chopper was about to hit the small block until Vivian got in the way. "Chopper, don't do that! I'd recommend hitting it with something that gives you enough time to get on that block."
"Like...an explosion?" Chopper pondered while a light bulb suddenly appeared over Bombette's head.
"Arr! Leave this to me, matey!" Bombette exclaimed. "Throw me at the switch an' I'll give ye enough time to get on that block!"
Chopper shrugged and threw the Bob-omb near the switch, while the rest got on the purple block. Her explosion turned the small block on, and soon the block, along with the heroes, were ascending. Bombette was thankful enough to land beside them after her explosion.
"OK, jump!" Chopper cried, leaping off the block and landing on the ledge across from them as soon as they were high enough. One thing to note was that the ceiling was very low, making jumping very difficult. There was also a large Ice Block blocking the way.
"Looks like we need fire, right?" Scrub asked.
"Nope!" Chopper began to fire ice balls rapidly at the Ice Block with his help of his Ultra Gloves, which destroyed the block and created a gap between them and a small staircase going down to a door. Obviously Scrub volunteered to help, so Chopper got on him and let him flutter across to the door. Everyone soon followed them into the next room.
Seeing the yellow poles on the ceiling made Chopper smile when he realized he was going to be using his Spring Jump. However, looking down, his smile soon faded.
"There's a huge spike pit below us..." Chopper gulped. "Now this doesn't feel as exciting..."
Nevertheless, Chopper aligned himself with the yellow line on the carpet and folded himself up before launching upward to grab the pole. However, just before he could move, he felt someone jump up and grab a hold of his feet.
"Huh?!" Looking down, he saw Berry climbing closer up to him to get a better hold of him, as if he was being hugged by her. "Berry! Wh-What're you doing?!"
"Trying to get across, of course," Berry answered in a sweet tone. "I'm not capable of getting across this spike pit, you know."
"Let Vivian or Shadower help you across!" the antennae hero began to sweat, not paying attention to the pole he was actually moving across.
"Well it's too late for that. You're already crossing the pit. Besides..." the girl's eyes glittered as she looked at her love interest. "I like it this way more!"
Chopper let out a sigh, knowing he wouldn't win the argument and continued his way across the pit. Just when he crossed and landed on safe ground, there was another pole he had to Spring Jump up to, and the same procedure had occurred.
The others had it much easier than him. With both Vivian and Shadower, people such as Scrub and Bombette had a much easier time getting through the obstacles by simply going into the shadows with them and emerging where the next pole had ended. Kirby easily floated across and landed by a doorway to their north.
As soon as Chopper had reached the end of the pole, Berry decided to drop down and catch Chopper once he dropped down. The way the girl held him, however, made a few of the others snicker.
"Chopper... You know, I don't think you really should be being held like that if you're supposed to be the bride!" Shadower laughed, along with Scrub and Kirby. Bombette was also rolling on the floor laughing.
"What do you guys mean?" Chopper asked with confusion. "What's a bride?"
The laughing soon stopped, and everyone was face palming at this point.
"Poyo, (Well, we might as well check that doorway,)" Kirby suggested.
"Yeah, we really should," Chopper agreed. "I'm seriously getting worried about Princess Peach."
Entering the doorway, they were back in a room with green tiles. The upper walls also appeared to have gears in them too, which surprised some of the people.
"Wow... Who ever thought there'd be some technology in this place?" Chopper gaped. "Considering that the place is a thousand years old... Yeah!"
"Poyo? (What's that over there?)" Kirby asked, pointing to the Phantom Ember ahead. "Poyo... (Uh oh... Another one of those...)"
They decided to take care of the Phantom Ember by having both Chopper and Kirby inhale it and spit it to the wall. Afterward, they noticed a small ledge slightly above them containing a red ! Switch. Above that ledge was a gap between two other ledges.
Kirby decided to float up to the switch and give it a good kick, making a platform come out of the wall. This made the heroes hurry up the stairs that were right by the doorway they had gone through, but they were too late.
"Poyo... (I don't think we're fast enough...)" Kirby trailed.
"Well, the switch is below us..." Chopper noticed while looking down.
"Then ye'll need me help!" Bombette declared. "Do yer thing, matey!"
Picking up the Bob-omb, Chopper threw her below on the red ! Switch. As soon as the explosion triggered, the platform appeared on the gap and allowed them to cross the other side - with Bombette landing near them coincidentally. Sadly, a Chain Chomp was waiting for them and quickly lunged as soon as the heroes were close.
"Yaah!" Berry managed to whack the Chain Chomp with her hammer, but it only did 1 point of damage. "Yeesh! These things have way too much defense!"
Smirking, Scrub took the Chain Chomp in his mouth and spat it out to finish it off. "See? That's all I needed to do to take care of it! Aren't I awesome or what?"
"Ummm... Well, there's this diagram here." Vivian said, unsure of what else to say to Scrub. Everyone else looked at what Vivian was pointing at and saw seven stars. The first, third, fourth and sixth star appeared to be bright, while the second, fifth and seventh were dull. "I'm guessing we need to memorize this..."
"Sounds easy!" Chopper smiled. "I'd say remember the bright ones by thinking 1, 3, 4 and 6. I think that'll help us."
They climbed up the stairs to their left to find a locked door, as well as a Save Block and Heart Block. Chopper hit the Heart Block to recover their stats before turning to the right where a large unmoving wheel containing four platforms were. Jumping down onto the bottom platform, they found a key across a gap.
"I could just use my hammer to get you across, but I don't think you'd like that," Berry noted.
"Yeah, that wouldn't be a good idea," Chopper agreed, though Kirby ended up catching the key in his mouth after inhaling. He spat the key over to Chopper, who managed to catch it and hold it up.
"Well, we have the key! ...Though I don't think Kirby should've eaten it."
"Poyo! (Well I didn't swallow it!)" Kirby assured. "Poyo! (Time to put that key where it belongs!)"
They jumped off the platform and landed where the star diagram was and proceeded back up the stairs to the lock. Chopper quickly put the key in its keyhole and unlocked the door, allowing them to progress.
The next room contained another staircase for them to go up, as well as a yellow ? Block that contained a Life Shroom after Chopper struck it with his Spring Jump. Afterward, the seven heroes made their way up the stairs.
"Man, what is it with all of these stairs lately?" Scrub complained. "Is this palace a big fan of stairs?!"
"It almost sounds like it," Berry answered. "But I guess this is giving us quite a workout, huh?"
Reaching the top of the staircase, they found, once again, another staircase. The group groaned, but Chopper noticed that the ceiling had lowered in that specific section. This instantly gave him the idea to roll up in a tube with his friends and go up the small steps. This led them to an area with seven red ! Switches with a dull star above each, and there was also a Dark Wizzerd lingering around.
As the partners handled the Dark Wizzerd, Shadower reminded Chopper of the proper order to hit the blocks in, leading him to hit the first, third, fourth and sixth block. This caused all seven stars to brighten and make the room tremor.
"Wh-What's going on?" Berry asked, now finished with the Dark Wizzerd along with the others. When the shaking had stopped, everyone stood silent for a moment.
"I wonder what happened..." wondered Bombette. "Sounds like it's comin' from the other room!"
"Then let's go back there," suggested Vivian.
"Oh, I wouldn't be going so soon!"
Hearing that voice left everyone alarmed when they saw Mysterious rise from the shadows near the staircase.
"Bro!" Shadower gasped.
"Well well well, if it isn't my nemesis Chopper and that traitorous Shadower!" Mysterious said, giving the latter a glare. "It's such a pleasure to see you again!"
"It's you..." Chopper trailed, clenching his fists at Mysterious. "Choosing to come here alone, huh?"
Mysterious gave a smirk as Purple rose from the shadows, and to Mysterious's other side, Tipral appeared via teleportation, leaving Chopper alarmed.
"Tipral!" the antennae hero nearly exclaimed. "...Wait, since when do you work with them?"
"Mysterious gave me an offer," Tipral explained, giving Chopper a glare. "I'm not one to work with others, but I was told it was for the better, considering that their younger brother left."
"Who told you?" Vivian asked.
"Hmph... Well it's not really any of your concern. Maybe you'll figure out if you actually live!"
Mysterious looked at both Chopper and Tipral for a quick moment. "Huh… So I see the resemblance! Anyway, after seeing you defeat those wimpy Shadow Sirens, we thought it would be nice to pay you a little visit. Purple, shadow-freak, and I will take care of you no problem! Right, boys?"
Tipral turned his head to Mysterious with an angry look. "I have a name, you know."
"I see a lot of irony in this..." Shadower trailed. "And seeing Tipral actually work with you is also strange."
"This freak is very important to our plans, and we wouldn't have gotten farther without him," Mysterious noted. "Anyway, before we get our battle started… I must say… You did a great job opening the door for us! Thank you so much for that!"
"If you were smart, you would've kept that door closed," Tipral informed. "Now you got us to finish our plan. I could even tell you where the Queen's Star and Princess Peach is and it wouldn't make a difference."
"No! We're not going to tell them anything, shadow-freak! Telling them where the Crystal Star is would be a BAD thing! …Or it could be a good thing! Yesss… I think we can tell you where it is, Chopper."
Seeing the grin on the leader's face unsettled Chopper a little. "I don't like where this is going..."
"Forget it, Mysterious! We don't need your help getting the Crystal Star! You're just luring us into a trap, aren't you? Sorry, bro, but we're not going to let you do something for US…" Shadower clenched his fist. "Listen… I've had enough of you and your games. It's time we put and end to this once and for all!"
"So you refuse my offer? Ah, I find that amusing!" Mysterious smirked. "You really think you can stand up to your own brother, Shadower? Very well! If it's a fight you want, then it's a fight you'll get! Let's get 'em, boys!"
Tipral clenched his fists that were surrounded in a purple glow as he glared at Chopper. "You better be ready for this, Chopper."
Tattle: That's Mysterious. You know him, and you hate him! Max HP is 40, Attack is 5, and Defense is 0. This guy can use water and a little bit of fire on you. So I suggest you watch out when he does that Tidal Wave attack. Eh… I say take him out second like before. That's my suggestion.
Tattle: That's Purple, and he packs a punch, if you know what I'm saying… Max HP is 50, Attack is 7, and Defense is 0. He's got the strongest attack power, and he can boost his Attack twice like Marilyn! His Earthquake will do A LOT of he boosts his attack, but it seems like Vivian and Shadower won't be affected by it… How strange… But he's the one to take out first!
Tattle: That's Tipral. He's said to be some sort of creation…and he was considered a failure due to his power. Max HP is 50, Attack is 6, and Defense is 0. He'll use his star powers to attack you and also some shadow balls, but he doesn't seem to deal a lot of damage… Hold it! If you take the others out first, he WILL go harder on you. But, he's the last one to worry about, even if he can shape-shift.
"OK, so I'm guessing we should use the same strategy as before and take out the strongest one first - that being Purple, of course," Chopper suggested. "I'm sure it'll make the fight easier."
Chopper ran up to Purple and jumped on his head twice while performing a stylish move. This made the audience cheer more as he returned to his friends.
Shadower twirled his finger before aiming it at his opponents, causing them to get struck by his Shadow Smite. This also lowered their defense by three, despite them now having defense. Nevertheless, it only made Tipral hurl a shadow ball in Chopper's face.
"Oof!" Chopper grunted, getting knocked back slightly. Tipral crossed his arms as the boy got up, while Mysterious did not look pleased.
"Tipral! Focus on Shadower first, you twit!" the leader exclaimed. "I have a grudge against him, and he deserves to be destroy first…"
"Just because I'm on your side at the moment doesn't mean I'm going to listen to you completely," Tipral replied coldly. "Chopper's my target here, not your brother."
"Grrrrr... Fine! Purple! Get Shadower!"
Purple obeyed his brother and approached Shadower after going into the shadows. Raising his powerful arms, he brought them down on Shadower and left him knocked on the floor for a slight moment. When he returned, his brother looked pleased.
"Excellent…" Mysterious raised his arms and summoned a small wave that came down on Chopper and his friends to deal 5 damage. After shaking the water off, Chopper took action and decided to use one of his Crystal Stars on them. To make it more interesting, he used the Ruby Star.
"So you're using my star, huh? Well, let's see what you can do with it!" Tipral scoffed, while Chopper began to create a circle around his targets. Unfortunately, he was only able to circle them three times and deal only 9 damage to them.
"Crud... That was bad." Chopper frowned.
"You're not even good enough to use that star! Next time, leave the experts to use such an object!"
Chopper clenched his fists at Tipral and gave him a glare, but Vivian quickly grabbed his hands.
"Chopper, don't let him get to you..." Vivian cooed. "There's always next time..."
The boy looked back at Tipral and then at Vivian. "All right... For now, let's just finish things with them."
Bombette decided to make the next move by using her Bob-omb Blast to take 8 out of the group. Afterward, Tipral snapped his finger and tried hitting Chopper with his Star Magic, but the antennae hero successfully guarded it and took 5 damage.
"Lucky..." Tipral murmured.
Purple made his next move by punching the ground with all his might. This caused the ground to shake violently and make things fall from the sky and hit them, causing the heroes to lose 7 HP in the process. Afterward, Mysterious created a water fist that he fired at Shadower.
"Just so you know, when I'm done with my brother, you're next, Chopper!" Mysterious hissed.
"There's not going to be a next here!" Chopper declared, jumping over Tipral in order to hit Purple. Scrub fluttered over to the purple Shadow Brother afterward and struck him with a Ground Pound, leaving him with 9 HP.
"He's almost down, Contadre!" Scrub cheered.
Chopper smiled, but he didn't notice Tipral appear in front of him and deliver a Star Punch to his face, while Purple chose to raise his Attack by 7. Mysterious created another wave that the group managed to Superguard and take no damage.
"Gah! You were lucky that time!" sneered Mysterious, while Chopper jumped on Purple and was soon finished off by Shadower's Shadow Punch. All Purple could do was let out a grunt as he fell.
"So what now, brother?" Shadower asked as he returned to his friends. "Our brother is down at the moment, and there are only two of you left."
"Oh, don't worry... Things will be all right!" the Shadow Brother leader assured before glaring at Tipral. "I want you to hit Shadower, understand?"
Tipral let out a grunt before looking away from the group as he hurled a Star Spear in their direction. It ended up hitting Shadower and making him lose 6 HP.
"Good. Now I don't have to give you much of a punishment if we lose." Mysterious appeared in front of Shadower and gave him a watery punch.
As soon as Mysterious retreated, Chopper stomped on his head to deal 6 damage, while Berry used her Hammerang ability to throw her hammer like a boomerang at the two. Her hammer soon returned, and she easily caught it, leaving Mysterious with 15 HP.
"Grrrgh! You annoying pest!"
Chopper managed to guard Tipral's Star Kick with ease, while Mysterious decided to fire a watery fist at Berry, leaving her drenched in the process. "What now, little girl? You going to complain about your wet hair?"
Berry gave him a look of annoyance while Chopper decided to attack both Mysterious and Tipral with his Ultra Glove attack. He started shooting ice balls rapidly at the two, which ended up dealing 6 damage to both, while Vivian gave the Shadow Brother a scorching punch.
"2 HP already?! Grrrr... Well, let's see how you like it when I do THIS!" Mysterious raised his arms and raised his defense by 2. Tipral fired another Star Spear and easily struck Chopper.
Chopper chose to get back at Tipral by striking him with his hammer. Shadower, on the other hand, decided to get up close to his brother.
"This is for the bad treatment you gave me, brother," Shadower stated, getting a shadowy fist ready.
"Would you really strike your brother down like this?!" Mysterious hissed, now exhausted. "You never know what it could do..."
"Who said anything about destroying you?" the younger Shadow Brother threw his fist and let his Shadow Punch strike Mysterious, who began to gasp as he was nearly unconscious.
"Urrgh... Heh heh heh... Not bad, Shadower... I never thought you'd manage to fight me like this. But the battle is not over yet. Finish them, Tipral..."
Mysterious soon collapsed afterward, leaving Tipral the only one standing.
"So it all comes down to this," Chopper stated, giving his enemy a glare. "It's just you and us now, Tipral."
"Very well. I'm not afraid to destroy you all myself." Tipral stated, clenching one of his fists. "And I'm not going to hold back! ...Though, there is something I can tell you before settling this."
Chopper was left a bit off guard as he gave Tipral a suspicious look. "...What do you mean?"
"You remember that computer you may have ran into back in the X-Naut Fortress, right? You know, TEC-XX?"
"Yeah... He was in bad shape... But how do you know him?"
"I assumed you probably met him before leaving."
"Yeah, we did," Berry nodded. "How he became like that, we have no idea."
"I can give you a little hint: someone helped in deleting him."
"Well how are we supposed to..." Chopper paused for a moment before gaping. "No way... That was you?!"
"That's correct!" Tipral declared, giving them a glare. "I also managed to spill the beans to Grodus about him providing help for that princess! I think it was for the better anyway. He could have had her spill the plans to you."
"I can't believe you would do something like that..." the antennae hero clenched his fists and glared back at Tipral. "We're going to make sure you get what you deserve!"
"We'll see about that!" Tipral quickly teleported in front of Chopper and delivered a Star Punch to his face once again. However, the antennae boy was prepared for it and managed to guard just in time, forcing Tipral back.
"Not fast enough," Chopper smirked, managing to strike him with a fireball. Kirby used his Cartwheel on Tipral afterward to leave him with 3 HP. "Face it, Tipral. It's over!"
"Don't think just yet, Chopper... Not without going all out on you with my Star Blast!" Tipral hissed, clenching his fists to surround himself in a purple glow. His Attack power was raised by 6 as well.
"Poyo... (I'm hoping I wasn't the one to cause that...)" Kirby trailed.
"Probably not," Chopper assured. "Anyway, he just wasted a turn doing than, and now I shall make the finishing blow!"
Chopper did a flip in the air and delivered a stomp on Tipral's head. Soon the glow around him faded, and he was starting to feel dazed before he collapsed.
"Hnurgh… How could this be...?" Tipral grunted before he passed out, allowing Chopper to receive his 48 star Points in the process.
With the three opponents now unconscious, the seven heroes were unsure of what to do.
"Well, we might as well leave them be," Scrub suggested. "Not much we can do here, right, Contadre?"
"I guess so..." Chopper trailed.
"While I do feel a little bad for hurting my brother, I believe it was for the better," Shadower stated. "Let's go, guys."
Previous room-
Going back to the previous room, they had discovered that the unmoving wheel they had saw before was now moving counterclockwise.
"Ahhhh... So this is what the effect was from hittin' those switches!" Bombette commented, jumping on the platform that was closest to them. "Mateys, let us forge onward!"
The rest joined her and waited for the platform to move to the right to reach a downward staircase leading to a door. There was a piece of paper that appeared to be capable of being peeled off, so Kirby ate it to reveal a large Flame Block. Another interesting thing was that a large Metal Block was standing above it.
"Poyo? (Two blocks stacked together?)" Kirby gawked. "Poyo... (Strange...)"
"Nothing my Ultra Gloves can't handle," Chopper smirked, shooting fireballs rapidly at the Flame Block and destroying it. Afterward, Chopper twisted his body and spun his Ultra Hammer at the Metal Block that landed on the floor to destroy it. Revealed under the block was a wooden X.
"Yeesh, how much stuff is supposed to be in your way?" Berry gawked.
"Beats me," Chopper shrugged before hitting the wooden X with his Spin Jump. He ended up falling through the hole and landing on a spring below. His partners jumped down and took notice of the yellow ? Block on the floor. Hitting it with his hammer, Chopper only got a coin.
"Yarr... This block lacks treasure..." Bombette commented.
"Well we have plenty of coins, so it's no big deal," Chopper assured as he walked down to the doorway to their south. "Moving on..."
Heading through the doorway led to a room with a red carpet and a small, narrow walkway leading to a door. Below them was another spike pit.
"Well this is something new..." Shadower trailed. "But we need to be verrrry cautious here."
The group carefully walked across the narrow path. It changed directions mostly by moving north or south, but it was nothing huge. They managed to get across and over to the door, where they all sighed in relief.
"Poyo... (That was very nerve-wracking...)" Kirby sighed.
"Come on, guys! Let's not take a break now!" Chopper cried. "We must continue on!"
"Fine..." Berry groaned. "But if you want us to keep going, it's going to have to cost you a kiss!"
Chopper's eyes widened as he quickly backed away. Berry's annoyed look changed to a smile as she giggled.
"Oh, I'm just kidding! You're so gullible sometimes that it makes it cute!"
"...Moving on," Chopper decided, his face a little red. The door had led them into a much larger room, where they were at a higher point. They could see at the far end of the room was a locked door, and in the middle was a platform with a doorway. Near them, on the other hand, was a paper airplane panel. "Ooh! It's one of these! I haven't seen these in a while!"
Standing on the panel, Chopper jumped and transformed into a paper airplane. When his friends jumped it, he glided down to the platform where the doorway was and transformed back to normal in order to go through the doorway.
"Another one of these green tiled rooms?" Scrub gawked as they entered the next room. There was a short staircase near them, but on the other hand, there was a red ! Switch over to their left guarded by a Chain Chomp. Berry easily took care of it with her Ruby Throw before they walked over to the switch.
"Hmmmmm... Judgin' by this switch, ye might need me help again!" Bombette deduced.
"Bombette, your explosion can't reach that..." Chopper trailed.
"Oh, right..."
"You can use my help, Contadre!" Scrub declared. "I'll get you there as fast as I can!"
"Hmmmmm... That's not a bad idea. Though, I really should be fast enough to reach it..."
Chopper struck the block with his fist and instantly sped over to the platform that now appeared. He managed to cross over and get the Palace Key from inside the chest.
"Awwwww... I really wanted to help." Scrub sulked.
"It's OK, Scrub..." Vivian assured. "I'm pretty sure he might need your help another time..."
"You might have a point. I did help him before, after all!"
When Chopper returned to the group, they all left the room and returned to the previous one. They decided to land on the ground to their right, but Chopper had accidentally stumbled upon a Life Shroom and Shooting Star before landing on the ground. Nevertheless, he took them and helped his friends against the Phantom Ember that attacked them.
There were more Phantom Embers in their way, but everyone decided it was pointless to fight them and chose to use the spring all the way to their left to get back to the paper airplane panel. Chopper turned into an airplane again, but rather than gliding to the platform, he landed at the locked door on the ledge.
"All right... Here we go..." Inserting the key into the lock, Chopper opened the door and slowly began to enter.
The room had led them into a very large chamber with five chandeliers hanging from the ceiling and pillars connected to the floor and ceiling. It was a very fancy room, that's for sure.
"Wow... This room is just... Wow." Chopper commented, unsure of what else to say. "Sure, the entrance to this place was nice and all, but this area is just..."
"Awesome?" Scrub finished.
"Yeah..."
"This definitely feels like the end... I remember..." Vivian trailed, feeling the air grow heavy. "We're close..."
"To the Crystal Star? Or close to Princess Peach?" Berry wondered.
"Both..."
"Aye! This be great news!" Bombette cheered. "So, Chopper, matey! Ye must be ready fer what's comin' up, right?"
"Of course," Chopper nodded, progressing through the large room while taking a good look at it. When they had reached the door, they found a Save Block and Heart Block. After hitting both, he approached the door and grabbed a hold of the knob.
"I guess this is it, huh?" Shadower wondered. "If this is truly the end and all..."
"Yeah... You guys ready?"
"Uh huh..." Vivian nodded.
"I'm ready for anything, Contadre!" Scrub assured.
"Poyo! (You can count me in!)" Kirby smiled.
"Yup, I'm good."
"Do I not look ready, matey?!"
"I'm ready for anything, Choppy!"
"All right..." Chopper trailed, slowly opening the door. "Then let's do this!"
Opening the door, he and his friends entered, awaiting what would be ahead.
I can assure you that the next chapter will be pretty interesting. ;)