"…pper… Chopper!"
Chopper's eyes opened and he saw Vivian was trying to wake him up. Mario was standing over him as well and helped pull him back up. Before asking anything, Chopper decided to catch his breath for a moment.
"So we landed in a pool, huh? Well sure were lucky..." Chopper panted, shaking off any water still on him.
"Yeah... Good thing we didn't hit solid ground..." Vivian trailed.
"So... What happened after we fell anyway? Any of you know?"
With that, Mario began to start his long explanation of the events beforehand. He explained to him about how mostly everyone became unconscious from the fall and that he, along with Berry, had to get a few, including Chopper, out of the pool.
"I think you were the last one to wake up..." Vivian noted.
"Oh, is that so? Well, I guess we can tell the others that everything's all good now."
Mario nodded in agreement and headed back to the others that were sitting down and relaxing. However, when Chopper looked back at the Distant Pool, he couldn't help but be amazed by its size.
"Wow! Take a look at this pool!" Chopper gasped. "This is probably one of the biggest pools I've seen! I don't know why, but I think I might want to relax here for a moment..."
Smiling, the pale green boy stretched his arms and sat down by the pool. Vivian couldn't help but do the same thing and sat next to him.
"Ummmm... Chopper?" Vivian asked, grabbing Chopper's attention.
"Huh? What is it?"
"I'd just like to say that I'm really sorry for all the trouble you had to go through to get these Crystal Stars… Especially with the Shadow Queen. I had a feeling both Beldam and Mysterious were plotting to bring her back..."
"What about Tipral?" Chopper mentioned. "I think he had a big part in it. He was trying to get us seriously hurt. I don't think that hag mentioned anything about destroying you. I don't know what's with her..."
"I'm not sure either... Though, my queen always preferred me over to Beldam..."
"I thought she'd prefer Beldam, since she was more evil?"
"Maybe..." Vivian trailed, but her thoughts were interrupted by another explosion, grabbing the attention of Chopper and his friends.
"What the heck was that just now?!" Chopper cried, noticing his friends run over to them. Scrub made it to Chopper first and pulled him up, while Vivian got up herself.
"You got an idea of where that came from, Contadre?" Scrub asked.
"No, not one bit."
"I suggest we check on ahead!" Bombette suggested, spotting a bridge past the pool. Berry had already made her way over to the bridge, so they followed her there. Some of them took notice of the unconscious Sun Hammer Bro. and Koopatrol lying on their backs by some rocks.
The heroes made their way over to the bridge where Berry was waiting before progressing. But what caught Chopper off guard was that there was also someone else on the bridge. It was a green Yoshi wearing sunglasses, a black jacket and a fake toupee.
"Hey, I know him!" Chopper gasped.
"Really?" Bombette gawked.
"Yeah! We went on an adventure two years ago! We need to go talk to him!" Chopper rushed over to the Yoshi with a smile. "Yosho!"
"Huh? Chopper?" Yosho gaped, looking down at his friend. "Whoa! It really is you! What are ya doin' in a place like this?!"
"I'm on another adventure! I've even got some friends here!"
Yosho looked over at Chopper's friends and gaped at the females. "Whoa... Look at all the chicks ya got with ya, kid! They sure are cute! Who the heck are they?"
"Well, they're... Wait, hang on a sec... I thought you had a girlfriend?"
"Well, yeah, I do, but..." Yosho trailed, looking off at the sunset. "Ya see, I've been gawkin' at many chicks while I was out with Yoshina. She caught me a couple of times, an' boy, was she mad. After enough times, she told me not to come back until I stop flirtin' with the other ladies. ...But seriously, man! I can't help it! It's in my blood! It's been in my family's blood too!"
"Well, sometimes things have to change," Chopper noted. "I mean, I didn't want to end up living on my own after what happened to Mondrao, but I had to get used to it, and now here I am! I think you should just learn to get used to not...well, you know."
"Wow, I never thought you'd say something like that," Shadower said.
"That's what happens when you're around a certain best friend of mine, I guess..."
Looking back up at Yosho, Chopper noticed he was paying more attention to the girls than him. "So, kid... Who're those chicks ya got with ya? That ghost one looks pretty cute, that Bob-omb...well, she looks hot-headed, an' I think the other one's probably way too young fer me."
"What happened to your girlfriend?" Scrub asked.
Yosho looked down at the white Yoshi kid and grin. "Dude! I never knew ya got another Yoshi friend with ya! Maybe I oughta teach him how to be like me one day! Anyway, she's still home, while I decided to come here to think."
"So she basically kicked ye out of yer house?" Bombette questioned. "Yar! The nerve of her... I'd give 'er a taste of 'er own medicine, matey! Why don't ye show me this girl of yers an' maybe I'll give 'er what she deserves!"
"No, hurtin' a lady wouldn't be wise," Yosho stated. "It's nothin' but trouble. Besides, I'm a gentleman, and as a gentleman, I shouldn't be hurtin' any chicks. But enough about that. Kid, ya said yer on some kind of adventure, right? Well, what're ya lookin' fer?"
"We're searching for the twenty Crystal Stars," Chopper answered. "Right now, we're looking for the ninth star that's located somewhere around here. We also heard an explosion, and we were wondering where it was coming from. You got any ideas?"
"Oh, an explosion? Yer gonna want to look ahead, an' ya'll see something. I'm tellin' ya! It is BIG there! Some robot came in an' blew the town up! I don't know if there are any survivors!"
"No survivors?" Vivian gasped. "That's terrible!"
"Yeah, I'll say!" Yosho agreed. "I even checked the placed out. I don't think I ever wanna go near that area again... But if yer all goin' there, then ya might as well be careful."
"All right, thanks, Yosho!" Chopper smiled, waving goodbye to his Yoshi friend while making his away across the bridge with his friends. Yosho waved goodbye as well, and once they were off the bridge, he let out a sigh.
"Well… I guess I better move on. Can't stay here all day!" Yosho smiled, making his way over to the Distant Pool.
The heroes entered another grassy area, but they noticed one path had a couple of ledges they could jump to in order to reach the pathway on a slightly higher elevation, while there was one to the lower right that was at a normal elevation. A yellowish orange Waddle Doo wearing sunglasses was walking around, along with a Sun Goomba, Sun Koopatrol and Sun Phi.
"Yeesh... Everything here always seems to have 'sun' in their name..." Chopper trailed. "Oh well. Maybe I can get the Beam ability!"
Chopper walked up to the Sun Waddle Doo and inhaled it to gain the Beam ability, which he used to fight the Sun Koopatrol charging at him. Mario got his hammer out and finished off the Sun Koopatrol before getting headbonked by the Sun Goomba. Bombette easily finished the Sun Goomba with her Bomb attack. For the Sun Phi, Berry damaged it with her Ruby Throw, while Chopper fired another charged beam shot at the robot to finish it.
"I think that lower path is covered by a couple of bushes," Scrub noticed, clearing the bushes out of the way. "Let's check it out!"
They headed past the bushes and found themselves in a small, round area with a single tree in the center. A red X happened to appear on it as well, so Chopper decided to whack it with his hammer. Unfortunately, nothing happened.
"Let's see if I can do something," Vivian decided, lighting Chopper's behind on fire slightly to make him crash into the tree and knocking the antennae hero onto the floor.
Mario: I'm not sure if that will work...
Bombette suggested she blow the tree up, so after Chopper got up, she threw her at the tree and exploded. Sadly, not even that worked. However, when Mario suggested that Chopper should get on his shoulder, their spin managed to lift the tree off the ground and spin into the air like a propeller. It soon landed in the ocean in the background.
"Oh, wow... That was...interesting." Chopper commented, unsure of what else to say. "So... What did that do?"
Looking down at where the tree once stood, a brown mole enemy known as a Monty Mole popped out of the ground. Like most enemies, it wore sunglasses as well.
"So, were you the ones who lifted that tree off the ground?" the Monty Mole asked. "If so, CONGRATULATIONS! Excellent work in performing such a task! For that, you must be rewarded!"
Going back in the hole, the Monty Mole tossed an Ultra Shroom out of the hole, which landed in Chopper's hands.
"Well... This was interesting, I suppose." Chopper said, blinking for a moment. "OK, then! I guess we should check the other way then!"
Leaving the area, they made their way up the small steps leading to the next pathway on the upper right. This eventually led them to a broken bridge, leaving the heroes disappointed.
"Wait... Wasn't that bridge supposed to lead us into that town?" Shadower gawked. "How disappointing..."
Mario noticed near them was a paper airplane panel. He pointed it to the others, who were left surprised by it. Chopper was especially excited and used it to transform into a paper airplane. Once everyone hitched a ride on it, Chopper started to glide down to a ledge right by the pathway across the bridge. Landing, he transformed back into himself.
However, the floor they stood on felt transparent when Shadower looked down at it. He made everyone transparent, and they found themselves phasing through the floor and onto a grassy platform below. There was a small gap between them and another platform to their left.
"Hey, Contadre! What do you say I help you get across there?" Scrub suggested.
"Good idea," Chopper smiled, getting on Scrub and letting him flutter over to the next platform. There was another gap ahead leading to a grassy platform with a badge called a Hammer Flip. However, it was too far for Scrub to flutter across, so he helped Berry across so she could help Chopper.
"Hold still, Choppy!" Berry exclaimed, swinging her hammer like a baseball bat and sending Chopper flying across the gap and to the badge. He picked it up and jumped onto the platform ahead to launch himself back to the paper airplane panel thanks to a yellow spring. Strangely, he ended up hitting the paper airplane from underneath and made it flip around. The rest of his friends had to get across so they could reach Chopper too before he transformed into a paper airplane and glided over the water.
Once they had taken care of things in this area, they saw a sign near the next pathway leading into the town. Entering the town, they were horrified from the sight.
"Whoa… Look at this city! It's in ruins!" Scrub gaped, noticing the houses were crumbled, and only the vending machines were left standing.
"Poyo! (But at least the vending machines are still standing!)" Kirby smiled, running up to the vending machine and pressing the buttons. "...Poyo. (...Oh, you need money for this.)"
Exploring the small town, the heroes noticed no one was left in the town. They saw some small rubble Bombette blew up, but nothing came out from them.
"Really… Why would those Phis do something like this?" Chopper gaped. "What is Gemerl trying to achieve from this?"
"Obviously he's desperate in finding that Crystal Star," Berry deduced. "He's being serious this time."
Before they could say anything else, they heard the sound of a motorcycle revving. The heroes looked around their surroundings, but they found no sign of the sound.
"Up here, you idiots!"
Everyone looked up and spotted a bird-like being with a mohawk and wore black, ripped pants and red boots. His feathered body was a lighter red, while his tail feathers, beak and hair were royal red. He also wore black, spiked wristbands, along with a spiked collar. The hawk-like being was also on a silver motorcycle that was floating in midair too.
"What the... Is that Rawk Hawk?" Chopper gawked. "But I don't remember him being red and...weird."
"Yar har har har har har har!" the hawk cackled. "Well, well, well… If it ain't the Great Contadre! The one who defeated my bro, Rawk Hawk, and also put my boss in prison!"
"Wait a second... WHAT?! Did you just say you're Rawk Hawk's BROTHER?! And you also work for GRUBBA?!"
"I told you already, punk! Rawk Hawk is my bro, an' I know Grubba's my boss! Yeah, he told me to look for ya an' bring you back to him. He really wants to get back at ya for messin' with him back in the Glitz Pit!"
"You mean that scumbag? Why would someone related to Rawk Hawk be helping Grubba?" Scrub asked, growling at the hawk. "But if you're not Rawk Hawk, then who are you?"
"'Cause Mr. Grubba said he'd pay me a lot of money if I found the Great Contadre and brought him here! That man's rich, you know!" he replied with a smirk. "...Oh, yeah! Of course I have to introduce myself! The name's Moe Hawk, an' many people know me for bein' one of the best racers out there! Also, speaking of Grubba, I believe he wanted to see you!"
"See us? We're not letting him see us, thank you very much." Chopper replied with a glare.
"Oh, no... You'll see." Moe Hawk pulled out a small little hologram with Grubba on it. He was in prison, but without his hat.
"Well, great hoppin' kangaroos! If it ain't the Great Contadre!" Grubba exclaimed. "Yer one pesky little boy fer sniffin' 'round my business, you know. You an' yer friends are gonna get what ya'll deserve for puttin' me in this here jail cell! Once Moe Hawk here brings you to me, I can finally settle the score with you!"
"Yes, he's pretty mad because of ya, Contadre!" Moe Hawk grinned, turning off his hologram. "An' he promised me a bunch of riches for bringin' you to him!"
"If it's a fight you want, then it's a fight you'll get," Chopper stated, getting in a fighting stance. His friends stepped in as well and got in a fighting stance too. "Face it, it's eight against one! It's unlikely that you'll win, Moe Hawk."
"Hold on a second... I'm not one to fight my opponents!" Moe Hawk growled, making everyone lower their guard. "You see, I was thinkin' that we do this in a more...interestin' fashion. See, I heard you're the fastest thing alive, are you not?"
"Yeah... I mean, at least that's what I think."
"See? I KNEW IT! Well, listen here, Contadre! This Hovercycle I got here can go faster than anything in the world! It hardly takes long for me to get to Glitzville from here! So, I was thinkin' that you an' me would have a little race..."
"A race? Are you being serious? I'd probably beat you with ease!" Chopper exclaimed.
"Well, you see, there's no runnin' in this race, or it ain't fair. We're usin' transportation only, got that?"
"OK, fine, I'll race you if it gets you away from me. ...Now, what do I have?" Chopper pondered for a moment until a light bulb appeared on his head. Whistling, he summoned the Warp Star and got on it. "There! This'll do! It may not be as fast as I am, but it sure can travel quickly!"
"Harharhar... Excellent! Now this is what I want!" Moe Hawk smirked.
"Chopper… I don't like this at all. He doesn't sound trustworthy..." Vivian trailed.
Mario: I'm sure Chopper can mop the floor with him!"
"All right! You accepted my little challenge!" Moe Hawk grinned. "All right, here's the deal, Contadre: We race three laps around this big island an' whoever makes it back here after three laps, wins! Yer gonna get MOOOOOOOOE'D when I'm done with ya!"
"'Moe'd'?" Scrub gawked. "Yeesh, that makes 'RAAAAAAAAWK' sound a lot cooler..."
"Ye should come up with somethin' better, ye red chicken," Bombette scoffed, angering Moe Hawk until he decided to calm down.
"You people don't know who yer standin' up to. I'm MOE Hawk, for Pete's sake! Ya'll got guts, and I can tell. But yer all stayin' out of the race that Contadre an' I are havin'. Now, here are the rules - wait! There are no rules! You can do just as much as ya want! Harharharharharharharharhar!"
"No rules? That doesn't sound good..." Vivian trailed.
"No worries, ghost girl! I'll make sure yer friend gets back here...when I'm at the finish line!"
"Shut up already. You're becoming really annoying now…" Chopper sighed, lying on his Warp Star.
"Oh, yeah. We gotta get this started! You know the drill, right? First one back here after three laps wins." Moe Hawk and Chopper's vehicles stood beside one another as the two prepared to race. "All right, get ready... Get set... GO!"
With that, both Chopper and Moe Hawk blasted off, creating a wind that made Chopper's friends cover their faces.
"All right, Contadre! You go show this chicken who's boss!" Scrub cheered.
Moe Hawk was traveling out of the town and began to go over the water. To give an idea of where the race was, he set up the entire course with red arrows to show where to go. So far, he was in the lead, and he was planning on keeping it that way.
"THIS is yer idea, Moe Hawk? Yer goin' to race him?!" Grubba gawked. "What kind of idea is this? I don't pay you to race! I paid you to bring him to me! Do that, or yer fired!"
"Hey, I said there ain't no rules! I can do whatever I can to prevent him fr Just calm down an' let me win the race! I'll take care of yer problem soon!" Moe Hawk flew out to the seas, with Chopper following him behind.
"He may have that Hovercycle on him, but I still got this Warp Star! This will get me to catch up to him in no time!" Chopper smirked, flying right beside Moe Hawk. He gave him a smirk before taking off, making Moe Hawk's jaw drop.
"What in the world?! How the heck was he able to catch up?!"
Chopper smiled as he made his way down to the destroyed town, where he saw his friends cheering for him. He gave them a wave before clearing his first lap, causing Moe Hawk to become infuriated.
"GRRRRRRRRR! All right, if yer gonna try an' beat me, then I'm playin' dirty!" Moe Hawk hissed, taking out a Bill Blaster. "Sorry, punk, but there ain't no rules in this game, so get ready to lose!"
"Oh, geez!" Chopper gulped, flying away from the town. Moe Hawk grinned, and even Grubba was grinning through the hologram.
"Hyuck hyuck hyuck hyuck! Now this is what I'm talkin' about! Yeah, you go ahead an' use that thing!" Grubba cackled until he noticed Moe Hawk looking at the Bill Blaster in disappointment. "…Moe Hawk?"
"Oh, crud... This thing doesn't even have ammo. Why did I forget to bring in some ammunition? Great... I gotta choose a different weapon!" Moe Hawk checked through his inventory and found a metal club. "Ah! Now this'll do!"
"Hot-diggity-DANG! That's one tough club you got there, Moe! You'll be a whackin' him now! Don't fail yer boss now, son! Yer job is dependin' on that race!"
Moe Hawk smirked as he caught up to Chopper and smacked his head with the club. It left him dazed, allowing the red chicken to go on ahead. However, Chopper was able to catch up to him rather quickly and gave Moe Hawk a glare.
"Ow! Hey! Why are you attacking me?!" Chopper asked. "You're not being fair!"
"Hey, like I said, there ain't no rules in this race! So stop complainin' an' lemme win the race! If not, then yer gonna get MOOOOOOOOOE'D big time!"
As Moe Hawk traveled out to sea, Chopper couldn't help but face palm. "Geez... That starts to sound dumber and dumber by the minute!"
He soon following the chicken out to sea, and the rest of Chopper's friends could only continue to watch the two catch up to each other.
"Arr! Don't give up now, matey! Ye can do this!" Bombette cheered.
"Don't let a red chicken beat you, man! You're meant to be awesome, and that's how it'll be!" Scrub cheered. "Give 'em a taste of his own medicine! Go on, Contadre! Don't let him hurt you!"
"Scrub… He'll just get in more trouble…" Vivian trailed. "I would avoid doing that. I don't want him getting hurt even more…"
"Poyo! (Show him who's boss, Chopper!)" Kirby cried.
Unfortunately, Moe Hawk happened to return to town first and clear the second lap, leaving Chopper's partners disappointed. "Harharhar! Once I clear this last lap, I'll be the winner, an' then I'm takin' Contadre to Grubba so he can deal with him!"
"No way! He'll beat you!" Scrub exclaimed.
"We'll see!" he took off once again, with Chopper coming into town next and completing his second lap.
"Come on, Choppy! You can do it!" Berry exclaimed. "Don't let him beat you!"
"All right, better activate the turbo boost!" Chopper let his turbo boost go to use, and he managed to catch up to Moe Hawk over by the water. However, he was not pleased to see him, and he tried whacking him with the club, but Chopper easily dodged them.
"MAN… Yer a fast one! Even on a Warp Star yer fast!" Moe Hawk gaped. "I guess we should just finish this right now! I'll knock ya down into the water!"
"We'll see about that!" Chopper frowned, using his Ultra Hammer to block Moe Hawk's club. While holding his club off, Chopper kicked Moe Hawk in the face. This pushed him back slightly, but it wasn't enough to stop him. Putting his club away, he took out a spiked mace instead.
"Harharhar! This'll do nicely!" Moe Hawk smirked, swinging his weapon at Chopper.
"Whoa!" Chopper ducked under the attack and threw a fireball at Moe Hawk's Hovercycle. This caused the vehicle to overheat, and Moe Hawk's behind was starting to feel hot.
"YOWCH! My biscuit's are burnin'!" Moe Hawk cried. "An' my Hovercycle! It's overheated!"
"Here, let me help you with that," Chopper raised his hammer like a gold club and allowed it to become surrounded in an icy glow. He swung it at Moe Hawk's Hovercycle, causing it to cool off, but at the same time, lose control. Moe Hawk tried to regain control, but it only began to plummet into the water.
"NO!" Moe Hawk cried, falling off his Hovercycle and landing near the town, while his vehicle fell in the water. Chopper, meanwhile, reached town and crossed his final lap. He jumped off his Warp Star and landed with a single flip.
"Good job, Chopper! You managed to win!" Shadower congratulated, giving a hi-five to Chopper.
"Well, it really wasn't hard..." Chopper trailed. "But did I win anything?"
"Errr... I don't know..." Bombette trailed, making Chopper disappointed.
"Well who cares about that? What's more important is that you showed that guy who's boss!" Scrub grinned. "Not even a guy related to Rawk Hawk could beat you!"
Just as they were about to celebrate, they heard footsteps behind them. Turning around, the heroes spotted Moe Hawk walking toward them with his broken Hovercycle.
"You… Look what ya did to my awesome vehicle!" Moe Hawk hissed, showing his broken vehicle and giving Chopper a death stare. "I spent A LOT on this awesome bike, an' ya destroy it with yer hammer! You were the one that was supposed to get MOOOOOOOOOE'D!"
"Well... You said no rules, right?" Chopper shrugged. "And personally, I think you should...MOE the lawn!"
All of Chopper's friends, including Mario, reacted with a face palm.
"What in the hey?!" Grubba gaped, noticing Moe Hawk's trashed vehicle. "Don't tell me you lost, son! GAH! I was hopin' you'd be giving him a whoopin' afterward to make it easier fer me, but it looks like you blew it! I don't believe what I'm seein'!"
"Look, can you just go already? I would really like to get out of here..." Chopper trailed.
Grubba turned his attention to Chopper and glared at him. "Listen, Contadre! I'm ready fer another fight once I get out of this here prison cell. Remember that!"
"You? Defeat me? Yeah right! With my Ultra Shoes, Hammer, Glove, and even my friends like Mario, we could mop the floor with you!"
"What? You've got the Great Gonzales with you? I see… I remember I still have a grudge against him... Well, remember this, boys! I'll be outta here in no time an' you'll be the ones goin' down!"
Mario couldn't help but let out a small chuckle. "Ha ha ha! There's no possible way that Grubba could defeat us! Not like that, of course!"
"You better keep that mouth of yers shut before I close it myself!" Moe Hawk growled, silencing the plumber, though he didn't appear to show fear. "Listen! All of ya! I'll be back one day, an' when I come back an' find ya'll, we'll have a rematch! You better be ready fer it, Contadre! 'Cause I just might have some powerful stuff on this bad boy when it's fixed! …An' you, Gonzales… I'm keeping an eye on ya! Just remember that Uncle Moe Hawk is goin' to teach you a lesson!"
With that, Moe Hawk turned away from them and took off. Afterward, everyone sighed in relief.
"Phew... That guy was starting to get pretty annoying!" Berry commented.
"His jokes stunk," Scrub stated.
"Well, we don't have to worry about him for a while," Chopper smiled cheerfully. "I say we just get outta this town before something bad happens!"
As if he had jinxed it, they all heard the sound of a detonator beeping nearby.
"Uh…oh…"
Before anyone could react, they were all sent flying by an explosion.
What? You actually thought I forgot all about Grubba? I was remembering him the WHOLE time!
Also, I originally had planned to call Moe Hawk "Jawk Hawk" when I first wrote this story four years ago. However, this one forum suggested the name "Moe Hawk" instead, and after pondering, I decided to go with that, since it sounds like mohawk. Besides, "MOE'D" sounds a lot funnier than "JAAAAAWKED". :P