"Whooooooooa!" Lord Crump cried, still flying in the middle of space. "I can't believe I got myself into this mess! That Crystal Star was supposed to help me beat Chopper, not send me flying into space! I guess those Crystal Stars are a lot lamer than I thought! I swear I'll-"
Just before Lord Crump could continue, he felt the gravity of a purple moon pull him into its atmosphere. He let out another cry before landing on the moon headfirst.
"Ooog… Thank goodness it's over. I thought I was going to hurl from spinning for that long…" Lord Crump slowly pulled himself up and looked at the black spacey sky. "Where the heck am I? I've been flying through space for days, and now this where I am? MAN, I'm probably too far from the base! Hopefully Grodus is fine without me helping him. ...Perhaps I can set up a new base here and rule this moon! ...But first, I gotta check this place out first."
Lord Crump began to explore the purple moon, but the only thing he found were mostly rocks. It was a pretty barren wasteland, but the only thing that got his attention were the planets in the sky.
"Whoa… Those planets look cool. I wonder what that one over there is." Lord Crump wondered, pointing at a specific planet. It appeared to have seven continents with different landscapes in each area. "You know, come to think of it... I wonder where Chopper lives. I mean, messing with his home planet would be an excellent idea! Buh huh huh huh huh!"
As he cackled stupidly, a shooting star flew past him, interrupting his moment. "Buh-huh? A shooting star? Don't those things allow you to wish for something? ...Hey, I think I know what I can wish for! I'd wish for someone to be on here so I'm not here alone!"
At that moment, a spark appeared over the X-Naut commander, and soon he found himself on his stomach once the figure landed on top of him.
"Hmmmmm? What's this?" the figure looked around his surroundings, only to be disappointed. "What?! This isn't what I had in mind! Gah, I guess that teleportation spell is just as flawed as I thought! No matter... I'll just have to find a way out of here..."
"Whuh?" Lord Crump moaned, looking up at the figure on his back. "Gr-Grodus?"
Grodus looked down at Lord Crump in surprise before stepping off him. "Lord Crump? What are YOU doing here?"
"What am I doing here?!" he growled, standing up and glaring at his leader. "I was flying in space for days, dang it! It's all because of that Chopper! Man, I'm going to give him a bigger Crump-a-bomb when I manage to get my hands on him!"
"I can say the same thing here, Lord Crump. I was hoping my plans of resurrecting the Shadow Queen would work, but I guess it didn't turn out to be that way. She should at least be keeping Chopper busy... For now, we just need to contact the base so we can get off this moon."
Grodus rolled down his right sleeve to reveal a communicator on his arm. "X-Nauts! This is your leader Grodus speaking! I request a pickup from this purple moon right away! ...X-Nauts? Are you there?!"
"Uhhhh... That doesn't sound good..." Lord Crump trailed.
"Great. Just great." Grodus sighed, turning off his communicator. "It appears there's no one remaining in the fortress. I'm guessing Chopper or TEC had to do something with it. I knew I should've destroyed his memory disk when I had the chance! ...But that'll be for later. I'm sure there are some X-Nauts remaining, and with them, we'll be able to crush Chopper and resume the plan we intended to follow!"
"Yeah, we're going to get Chopper no matter what! Buh! Buh! Buh huh huh huh!" Lord Crump cackled.
"I just said that, you idiot," the X-Naut leader snapped, silencing Lord Crump's laughter. "We need to get things back in order for us. Since we're already on a different moon, we should create our new base here to keep us from being too predictable against the enemy. We also must contact all remaining X-Nauts and recruit new units that are much stronger!"
"Oh, I like the sound of that! Yeah, and I'll get to work on Magnus von Grapple 3.0! It's bound to be my most powerful weapon ever!"
"…We're not going to make another one, Lord Crump. Your others were terrible, and making a third one will be a waste of time. Just help me get things started, and perhaps I can forgive you for your failures earlier against Chopper."
"Oh... All right, so what do you need."
"Well first off, I need you to get out of my sight and go contact some remaining X-Nauts."
"...Roger, Grodus! And with that, pow! I'm gone!" Lord Crump exclaimed, getting out of Grodus's sight. With him gone, the X-Naut leader look at the shining orb on his scepter to get a clear image of Chopper. He noticed him battered up, which pleased him, but when he saw the Queen's Star in his hand, his expression was a mix between shock and anger.
"Grrr! Unthinkable! Chopper destroyed the Shadow Queen and took the Crystal Star! That brat's a lot stronger than I thought!" Grodus began to calm down, a confident look now returning. "Well, that's just fine. With the Shadow Queen out of the way, my plans can easily resume. The Shadow Queen is merely a peanut compared to what I'm after! So, Chopper... Enjoy your little victory, because the X-Nauts will soon rise again and exterminate you!"
?-
"So, it looks like the darkness in the sky is finally gone," Gemerl said, flying over the orange water at top speed. "That's the least of my concern at the moment. I have much more important things at hand, and that is to get the next Crystal Star: the Sun Star! I'm guessing Chopper was responsible for getting rid of that darkness. Well, congratulations, but I'm already one step ahead of you now!"
As he continued to fly over the water, he heard his communicator going off. He took it out and answered, "What is it, Phi?"
"Well, sir… We found something interesting!" the Elite Phi exclaimed. "Our radars are picking something up on an island! We're sure that it's the Sun Star that we need to complete our goals! …But that's the only Crystal Star we know about."
"So, you're saying the only ones we know about are the Garnet and Sun Star? Very well. We're closer to the Sun Star right now, and if you see any towns, destroy them! But make sure the Sun Star isn't there first before destroying it!"
In response to that, Gemerl saw an explosion in the distance. "I seriously hope those Phis listened to me, because I'll remove any intelligence in their mind left!"
Gemerl increased his flight speed, now going into hyper dash mode. Up in the distance, his eyes caught a red chicken riding on a flying motorcycle.
"Who the heck is that?"
"Harharharharhar! Yeah, Grubba. I know what to do!" the red chicken smirked. "Ya want me to find that Contadre kid, izzat it? That's jus' fine! I'll find 'im an' I'll get 'im fer ya! All right, boss? Good!"
"…Who is Contadre?" Gemerl tilted his head in confusion as the red hawk made his exit. Regardless, Gemerl made his way onto the beach up ahead and slowed down in order to land. "Now then... It's time to search for the Sun Star!"
Rogueport Harbor-
"Bye, Princess Peach! I hope things turn out to be all right for you back at the Mushroom Kingdom!" Chopper shouted, waving goodbye to the princess and Toadsworth. As the boat got even further, the rest of Chopper's friends began waving goodbye.
"Well, it's a good thing she's safe from harm now," Shadower sighed.
"Well done, Chopper!" Frankly congratulated, turning his head to the antennae hero. "Not only have you managed to rescue Princess Peach, but also you defeated the Shadow Queen! I'm very proud of you, Chopper. For a small child, you are doing well with your task!"
"Thanks, professor!" Chopper smiled. "I feel so good that I want to go and eat something yummy!"
"Poyo! (I'm with you on that!)" Kirby cheered. "Poyo. (Maybe we can have a little eating contest between us.)"
"Ooh! I like the sound of that, Kirby! You're on!"
"Hey! Did Princess Peach just leave?"
Chopper and Kirby stopped for a moment when they noticed Luigi running down to the harbor with his other partners. When they had finally arrive, Luigi took a moment to catch his breath.
"Luigi? I don't think we've seen you for a couple of interludes..." Chopper trailed.
"Thanks..." Luigi sighed. "But where did the princess go? Did she leave already?"
Everyone gave the green plumber a nod, disappointing him.
"Aww… I was hoping I would be able to say goodbye to her. It feels like I'm always late to the party... Well, I don't think she knows that Mario hasn't been around for WEEKS!"
"You mean Mario is missing?" Vivian gasped.
"And he was missing for weeks?" Chopper gasped. "I seriously hope this isn't Staris's doing like before... He's supposed to be a good guy!"
"I say what-what? Who is this Mario that ye speak of, Chopper?" Bombette asked, tilting her head. "I'm rather…curious."
Luigi noticed Bombette and smiled. "Hey, Bombette's with you? That's really cool! Hey, Bombette! It's my bro's bro, Luigi!"
"Yar? I be sorry, but I don't know ye. In fact, I don't really remember what happened…" Everyone except for Chopper and his friends gasped.
"Whoa… She doesn't remember anything?" Jerry gaped. "That's just messed up. Don't tell me she's got bombnesia, does she?"
"Well, apparently she does. No idea how she got it, but we thought it would be best to bring her with us and possibly, well, help her with her problem." Chopper explained, holding the Queen's Star. "Now that we got the Queen's Star, we just need twelve more! We're getting there!"
"Yes, we're getting there faster than we thought we would," Vivian smiled. "I think this time getting those Crystal Stars will be a breeze without Grodus in the way. As for Gemerl… He could still be out there."
"Now that we're here, how about I tell you a story of one of my adventures," Luigi suggested. "It's kind of a long story, but I'll shorten it for you, Chopper!"
"Oh, here we go again..." Blooey groaned, rolling his eyes.
"I know how this might end," Jerry remarked. "I hope he doesn't mention that horrifying moment..."
"Oh, great... More stories." Torque sighed.
"I, for one, am looking forward to the grass moment," Hayzee smiled.
"This story may have us standing here for a while," Screamy stated.
"Now… Ahem!" Luigi started, clearing his throat. "So I decided to go back to the Waffle Kingdom and…we saw…Éclair and the king…they…it was fun and…beautiful castle…"
Fifteen minutes later-
Chopper and his friends were already asleep. Professor Frankly ended up leaving, and even Luigi's partners fell asleep as well. Luigi, however, had not been paying too much attention to them.
"…And then we met somebody named Flyer that came with us through our journey in the Waffle Kingdom. He was an awesome friend. I mean, he is really intelligent, a little cowardly, but kind of confusing. Yeah, he helped and then returned home, which was a shame. And that's just about it! So, how was it?"
Everyone instantly woke up and explained how amazing it was, while Luigi appeared to be pleased.
"Well, listen… We gotta get going." Chopper mentioned. "I need to find where the next Crystal Star is. Sitting here is not the best idea…"
"Oh, all right. Well, good luck on your quest, and let's hope my bro's found!" Luigi said as Chopper and Kirby whistled and summoned their Warp Stars.
"See ya, Luigi!" Chopper cried, waving goodbye to the green plumber. Soon, the heroes were out of Rogueport and on their way to Pop Star.
Fountain of Dreams-
When the Warp Stars landed, the heroes leaped off them and landed safely beside the fountain. Some of them decided to smell the fresh air they had been missing ever since they stepped foot in the Palace of Shadow.
"Ahhhhh... It feels so good to be back here!" Chopper cheered, stretching.
"Hold on, Choppy... Don't we have something to do first?" Berry asked, looking back at the fountain.
"Oh... I was hoping to at least relax for a moment, but OK..." he approached the fountain and jumped on the pedestal.
"OK, go ahead and do your thing, Contadre!" Scrub shouted.
Nodding, Chopper raised the Queen's Star and watch it materialize from his hands. A glowing light blue circle appeared around the fountain as eight Crystal Stars appeared. As usual, the energy from the stars began to go into the map now hovering over Chopper's head, revealing the next location of the Crystal Star.
However, little did they know that Meta Knight was watching the whole thing behind one of the trees.
"The Shadow Queen may be gone for now, but he's still putting people in danger as he gets more of them," Meta Knight thought. "She was nothing compared to what he might unleash next…"
Chopper looked at the map, and he saw a couple of hills to the west of Rogueport, a sunset, and a golden temple. A yellowish gold Crystal Star was revealed to be there.
"Interesting… So the Crystal Star is somewhere else now? This should be interesting…" Chopper smiled. "Let's go see Professor Frankly about this!"
Outside of Professor Frankly's house-
"All right, old man! Tell us where the legendary treasure is right now!"
Upon hearing that voice, Chopper stepped away from the door from hearing the gnarly voice. Everyone else was left startled as well.
"Poyo! (Whoa! What kind of voice is THAT?)" Kirby gasped.
"Doesn't sound like it's a nice one," Shadower noted. "He might be in some serious danger."
Chopper decided to take a peek through the door and was left shocked to see who the voice belonged to. There were two, black and red lizard creatures with orange eyes, wings, and black and red armor covering their shoulders, chest, and legs.
"What's wrong, Choppy?" Berry asked, noticing the shocked look on his face.
"T-Tartaras!" Chopper gasped. "But... What are THEY doing here? I thought they were all gone two years ago after that whole Star Haven incident!"
"I told you, weird lizard dragon things! I have the legendary treasure, but it's not something you want!" Frankly exclaimed.
"Ha! You're just trying to tell us that so you will make us uninterested!" the first Tartara spat, aiming its blaster at the professor.
"Well, I'm telling you it's a Dried Shroom! Even look!" Professor Frankly took out a chest and a Dried Shroom was revealed to be in there. The second Tartara grabbed it, sniffed it, and then stuffed it in his mouth before spitting the Dried Shroom out.
"Augh! Disgusting!" the second Tartara gagged, aiming its blaster at Frankly's forehead. "Don't lie to us now, old man! If you don't give us the treasure, then we'll blast you right here!"
Chopper gasped, realizing he had to take action. Stepping back, he kicked the door open and glared at the two Tartaras. "You will NOT harm him!"
"So! You ARE here!" the first Tartara hissed. "We were expecting you to show up!"
"Hold on a second… Why are we wasting our time with this guy?" the second Tartara asked. "This legendary treasure really isn't anything important! We've got better things to do, especially with what we've got now!"
"Hmmmmmm... I suppose you're right. Let's get out of here!"
The two Tartaras bolted out of the house, pushing Chopper and his friends out of the way and pressing a button on their wrist pad to get beamed into their ships. Before any of Chopper's friends could attack, they were out of Rogueport in two seconds.
"Whoa! Those guys were freaky!" Scrub gaped. "And I thought the Shadow Queen was freaky..."
"Phew… That was a close call." Frankly sighed as the heroes came into his house. "I'm glad you all came..."
"Are you hurt?" Berry asked.
"No, I'm just fine. Luckily, those freaks didn't even hurt me! Now, with that out of the way, I suppose you came here for the next Crystal Star, correct?"
"Uh huh," Chopper nodded, giving him the Magical Map. "Do you know anything about this place?"
"Hmmmm… I'm going to need to think for a moment. Let's see…" Frankly began to study the map and pondered for a brief moment until he figured it all out. "Ah-HA! It's at Sunset Hill! There's a little grassy field that will take you to Sunset Hill to the west of the Rogueport's western harbor. I can assure you that getting this Crystal Star will be easy. It's just in the Sun Temple."
"The Sun Temple? What kind of place is that?" Shadower asked. "It's a temple of the sun or something?"
"You would be correct. The Sun Temple is where the Sun Star is being held in. Don't worry, there's nothing evil in there. It's just a nice temple, so you shouldn't have to worry. That's all I can tell you, however."
"OK, thanks for the help!" Chopper smiled, waving goodbye to the professor and leaving the house. However, before he could make a single step, he noticed someone lying on the floor in front of the house. He was left in utter shock.
"MARIO?!"
"Mario?" Vivian gasped, looking down at the plumber in red.
Mario slowly opened his eyes and looked at his surroundings. "Huh? I'm…in Rogueport? But why here?"
"Mario! I can't believe you're here!" Chopper cried, grabbing Mario's attention, who was surprised to see him as well "What are you doing in Rogueport when Peach left here already?"
Mario: What happened to the princess?
"Don't worry, Mario. She's safe now. She's already heading back home. What we all wanna know is where you were."
Standing up, Mario was able to explain all the details. He mentioned something about the Tartaras taking him and trying to use him as profit, but nobody would accept him. Because they had no reason to use him, Mario said they decided to drop him here instead.
"Yar... That sounds pretty bad." Bombette trailed.
Mario took a look at Bombette and gave her a wave, but Chopper had explained to him that she had bombnesia. Despite being confused, he quickly realized what it was.
"Well, since Peach is safe, we were going to go out and find the rest of the Crystal Stars. You know, the ones you were searching for?" Chopper mentioned, grabbing Mario's attention once again. "Do you want to help us find the rest?"
Mario was left pondering for a moment, but he eventually agreed, leaving Chopper delighted.
"Wow! I can't believe it! THE Mario is actually going to be coming with us!" Chopper cheered. "I always wished to go on an adventure with him someday!"
Mario has joined your party! Press X to have Mario hammer Chopper into the ground! You can move around while you're underground too and past some obstacles! If you get into a barrel as Chopper, press X to have Mario get on top of the barrel. You can press X to have Mario use his hammer while on top of the barrel or press Y to let him get off. Press Y to have Chopper get on Mario and use the Spin Attack to move up to places you can't normally reach higher up. This also works underwater as well! While in battle, Mario can jump on his enemies… Or use his hammer to attack ground enemies!
"Someone sure sounds excited," Scrub whispered.
"Let me introduce you to my friends!" Chopper suggested, pointing to each of his friends to introduce them. Some of his friends, like Vivian and Berry were flattered, while Scrub was feeling excited. Though, some couldn't think but find this a bit unnecessary. "With Mario on our side, we'll be unstoppable! Now we can head on over to the harbor!"
Before going, they went to Merlon's house to upgrade Mario to Ultra Rank, now having 45 HP, and now able to use his Hammer Spin and Super Jump. After that, they walked over to the harbor and saw the sun shining down at them by the grassy field to the west.
Mario: So where are we going?
"Where are we going? Why… We're going to Sunset Hill!" Chopper smiled. "That's where the ninth Crystal Star is! Hopefully your abilities can help us!
"Wahoo!" Mario jumped cheerfully, following Chopper and his comrades through the grassy field. While they only had twelve more stars to find, Chopper felt like this was almost like the beginning.
Mario in the party? Yes! Luigi's long story? Yes! A sunset-esque type of area? Heck yes!