CHAPTER 10
-A Freezing Winter Experience-
Chopper jumped out of the pipe to find a huge, vast land of snow around him. Snowflakes began to fall from the sky and landed on Chopper's hand, which proceeded to melt. Everyone came out of the pipe as well and were astounded with the landscape.
"Wow... It feels like a whole different area here..." Vivian gaped.
"But it's still cold here!" Scrub mentioned, who was shivering. In fact, mostly everyone was shivering. "Contadre, why didn't we go get some winter gear to prepare ourselves for this?"
"I don't know. I've gone through snowy areas without anything to help me before. I'm pretty fine." Chopper stated, not looking too fazed by the winter. "It's cold, but I've gotten used to it."
"And ye didn't even think that we'd be cold?" Bombette gawked. "Then again, I'm a tough Bob-omb, an' I shouldn't be askin' fer yer help."
"Yes... Well..." Chopper trailed, unsure of what to say. "I guess the only thing we can do for now is proceed onward. So, let's get going."
The rest of the group agreed and decided to move on. However, before they could take a couple of steps, they noticed the area around them was foggy. Not only that, but the wind was blowing in their faces, forcing them to cover them up. People like Vivian, Shadower and Mario were even holding on to their hats.
Mario: It's way too windy!
"Yeah... But, I think I have a solution to this." Shadower's eyes flashed for a brief moment, and the fog suddenly disappeared, revealing a blue, starry sky above them. "There we go! All better!"
"Do you have an ability to clear the fog away or something?" Berry gawked.
"Well... The fog is still there, but not where we stand. Us shadow beings do have a lot of interesting abilities to use in harsh climates."
"Oh, cool!" Chopper smiled, interested in what Shadower said. He noticed nearby was a light blue river, which caught his attention. "Hey, guys! I see a river over here! It seems to end by the pipe, though."
Getting a closer look, he discovered a tunnel to be down there. "There's a tunnel down there! Maybe I should go check it out."
He leaped into the water, but in a couple of seconds he rocketed out while crying in pain. Chopper ended up landing right by the group face-first. Mario was immediately reminded of the Nibbles that would always chase him out of the water in the same fashion.
"Poyo? (Are you OK?)" Kirby asked, helping Chopper up.
"Brrrr! That's WAY too cold!" Chopper exclaimed, now shivering. "Does anyone have a blanket?"
"Chopper... We never got any blankets." Berry informed.
"What? Oh, dang it! ...Wait, I have a solution!"
Chopper's hands was suddenly surrounded in a fiery glow. He kept his hands near him and felt relieved. "Ahhh... This is much better! Good thing I've got this fire to keep me company! You should do the same thing, Vivian."
Vivian agreed and created small flames in her hands. Everyone stood near the flames and felt a warm sensation overcome them.
"Ahhhhhhh... I'm certainly warm!" Scrub grinned. "I think I can handle this if we get going!"
"I might as well lead the way, with my ability to see through the fog and all," Shadower decided. "Just try to stay close, because if that fog comes back, I won't be able to know or hear you with the heavy wind, OK?"
Everyone agreed and began to follow Shadower through the snowfield while staying close to Vivian's fire. The only ones who chose not to stay close to the fire were Chopper, Kirby, and Mario, who were used to traveling through snowy areas. Bombette also chose not to stay near the fire because she refused to let it stop her, and also it could make her explode.
To Chopper's dismay, there didn't appear to be many trees around, but the one tree they did come across resembled a Christmas tree. It was covered in a bit of snow and had a star on top, along with some lights and decorations. Chopper took a look at it for a brief moment before following Shadower.
Right near the pathway to the next area, Chopper hit the Save Block before proceeding onward to a field with enemies lurking around. There were Shy Guys wearing gas masks and Santa Claus hats called Snifits, and Hammer Bros. with light blue shells, boots and helmets called Ice Bros.. There was at least two Frost Piranhas around as well.
Mario: Ice Bros.?
The Ice Bro. spat an ice ball directly at Mario. He was able to dodge it with ease and land a jump on its head. Chopper tossed a fireball at the Ice Bro. to defeat it with ease. Just as he was about to hit the Frost Piranhas, though, a Snifit shot a small cannonball projectile that interrupted his attack. Mario responded by striking it with his hammer.
"Poyo! (Hey! Don't leave me out of the fun!)" Kirby cried, inhaling the Snifit and spitting it at a Frost Piranha. The Frost Piranha tried to take a bite of Vivian, but she guarded the attack and landed a Shade Fist to do away with it. Chopper jumped on the Snifit afterward to defeat it, while Mario defeated the Ice Bro. with his Jump attack.
"Yeesh! Those were a lot of enemies!" Scrub gaped. "But we sure showed them!"
As they proceeded through the field, they noticed one section of the area was covered in ice. Shadower had warned them not to slip, so they decided to be careful. However, there was one thing that caught Chopper by surprise upon looking down at the ice. There appeared to be a yellow ? Block above him with a badge above it. He smiled and used his Spring Jump to launch up to the block to gain a coin, along with a ice type hammer badge that landed on the ice. Picking it up, it was revealed to be the Fire Drive badge.
Mario: Oh! I remember something like that!
"Really? What does it do?" Chopper questioned, picking up the item.
Mario: It hurts all ground enemies and burns them!
"Seriously? That's cool!"
"Not to interrupt your conversation, but we still have to go," Shadower informed.
The two stopped talking and followed Shadower past the slippery ice and up ahead. They had reached the end of the area and proceeded to the pathway up ahead. They were met with a hill and a snowball coming down the hill. They were barely able to get away from it.
"Whoa... What the heck was that?!" Scrub gaped.
"Looks like someone's trying to stop us," Berry informed. "Just look up the hill!"
Up near the top of the hill was a blue penguin enemy with white eyebrows, a large, yellow beak and yellow feet. Kirby easily recognized the enemy as a Pengi, while the rest were unsure of what it was. Regardless, they decided to climb up the hill and reach the Pengi, but it saw them coming and dug up a large snowball that it rolled down the hill. Unfortunately, the eight heroes were caught in this snowball and were sent back to the previous area onto a snow mound by the ice.
"Arrr... That be one heck of a ride..." Bombette moaned, dazed from the impact. When she finally gained control of her sight, her fuse lit up. "I say we give that penguin a taste of its own medicine, mateys!"
"Yeah! I'm ready to take that thing down!" Berry agreed, taking out her hammer.
"As long as we avoid that snowball, we can take care of that enemy," Shadower assured. "Thankfully, that area does not have fog, so I don't have to lead the way!"
Once everyone had finally prepared themselves, they dashed toward the next area and went up the hill. Chopper, obviously being the fastest, was able to get ahead faster than the others and reach the Pengi near the top. He struck the enemy with his Fire Smash and left it with a nasty burn. Scrub finished it off with his Ground Pound afterward.
"Wait... Why didn't I inhale that creature?" Chopper gawked. "Maybe I could've gotten an ability from it!"
"Oh... I guess I shouldn't have finished it off, Contadre." Scrub gulped.
"It's all right. There might be plenty of more anyway." With that, Chopper continued up the hill until he reached the top, where a giant snowball was in the way. "Crud... This isn't good."
"What is it?" Vivian asked.
"A giant snowball's in the way. I don't know if fire will help, since it could take a while to melt..."
"Then we shall blow it up!" Bombette declared. "Chopper, matey! Just throw me at the snowball an' I'll take care of it!"
Chopper shrugged and threw Bombette at the snowball. She blew it up, revealing the snowball to be an ice enemy with yellow eyes and spikes all over it called an Icy Needle. Compared to the other enemies, though, it was much more threatening. It had a Max HP of 20 and an Attack of 9.
"Shiver me timbers! This thing be dangerous! Chopper, matey, I suggest we-"
"You don't need to tell me the obvious, Bombette," Chopper pointed out, conjuring a fireball in his hands. "I've fought before. I don't need to be told the obvious."
"Yar... Right."
Chopper threw the fireball toward the Icy Needle and managed to deal 6 damage to it, along with leaving it with a burn. Vivian was about to attack it with her Shade Fist, but she remembered that it would probably make her take damage instead. Scrub, however, made a sharp whistle and summoned a Yoshi stampede to come in and attack the Icy Needle, taking another 6 out of it.
"Not bad, Scrub!" Chopper smiled. "Though, you didn't necessarily have to waste 6 FP to do something like that..."
"Well it was useful," Scrub pointed out.
"...I guess so."
The Icy Needle began to roll toward them, but thankfully Chopper Superguarded its attack and made it take 1 damage, along with taking damage from the burn. Chopper easily finished off the Icy Needle with one last fireball that rewarded them with 12 Star Points.
"Well I guess that was interesting..." Shadower trailed. "Let's move on, I suppose."
The right reached the top of the hill and found a pathway up ahead. There was a hidden X mark on the snow too, which gave Chopper a suspicious look upon looking at it.
"What's with this small X on the ground?" Chopper asked.
Mario took a look at it for a moment before he realized what it was. He stood behind Chopper and brought his hammer down, forcing him underground.
"Hey! Why'd you do that?" Berry gaped.
Mario: Just dig out from where that X is.
Before anyone could say something, Chopper managed to dig out of the ground with a simple jump. Revealed under the X, however, was a coin. Nothing special, but now he knew there were some secrets around some areas now thanks to Mario.
Moving on, they noticed a narrow walkway with a couple of Pengis in the background throwing large snowballs. They appeared to be doing it rather quickly, so going across normally was not the best idea in the world.
"Poyo? (I wonder how these Pengis are able to do stuff like this?)" Kirby wondered. "Poyo. (Normally they don't throw large snowballs.)"
"I've never seen these things before, so I can't say too much about them," Chopper stated. "So, who has any bright ideas?"
"Well, I think I have one," Berry declared, leaning closer to him with a flirty look. This, unfortunately, made Chopper gulp. "I heard hugging can keep us warm!"
Chopper instantly bolted across the walkway as fast as he could and reached the other side.
"How do you always succeed with that?" Shadower wondered.
"Well, it's an ability I have, apparently," Berry shrugged.
On the other side, Chopper discovered a large Ice Block nearby, so with his Ultra Gloves, he began to repeatedly fire ice balls at the block until it was destroyed. This revealed a pipe leading into the background. Chopper took this opportunity to wipe out the Pengis in the background before going back into the pipe.
"OK, guys! It's all right to come!" Chopper called out.
Once they all crossed the other side, they headed into the next area. There wasn't much around except for an icy section by the northern wall with a cavern covered in ice. Just before they could move, however, snowmen made of two balls with a blue pale on its head, along with blue ball hands and a bell tied around its "neck" called a Chilly rose from the snow.
"Poyo! (Uh oh! Chillies! If they attack us, we're frozen!)" Kirby warned.
"These guys? I've seen them before back on my planet, surprisingly!" Chopper recalled, walking up to one of the Chillies. They ended up raising their arms and creating a freezing aura around their bodies. They had 16 HP, an Attack of 8 and a Defense of 0. Regardless of that, Chopper ended up inhaling the nearest one.
Mario tilted his head when he saw Chopper change to a tinted light blue color with indigo gloves and feet. On his head was a crown with a circular visor that has a blue gem embedded in it, and also ice crystals on top of the crown. One thing for sure was that he looked pretty cool.
"Poyo! (The Ice ability!)" Kirby cheered. "Poyo! (I don't think those Chillies can freeze you now!)"
One of the Chillies stopped using their attack and threw a snowball at Chopper. He easily guarded it and fought back with a fireball. Vivian's Fiery Jinx helped do away with all the Chillies.
"Seeing Contadre using a fireball while with an Ice ability sure is weird," Scrub commented.
"Wow, I can't believe we mopped the floor with them," Chopper said in a surprised tone. "I was hoping they'd put up more of a fight..."
"Hey, Choppy, look at that," Berry noted, pointing at the trees. The rest took a look and were surprised to see that they were made of ice.
"The trees are made of ice? How strange..." Vivian trailed, getting a closer look. To her surprise, there was a blue gem frozen in the tree. She extended her height in order to grab the frozen gem and melted the ice encapsulating it. "Hmmmmm... Maybe this could be useful?"
"Hey, what is that?" Chopper asked, looking at the gem in her hands.
"I found it in a tree. Maybe it might be helpful..."
"Maybe..." Chopper turned to the ice cave being blocked by ice. To his surprise, there was also a barrel and a red button beside the cave. A large icicle was blocking the way too. "I guess if we were to move that barrel, going right up to the button wouldn't be easy. I guess Mario will have to help here."
Mario: I can certainly help!
Mario walked over to Chopper and brought his hammer down on him, forcing him underground. Getting used to this, he slowly made his way under the barrel and dug his way out so he was in the barrel. Unfortunately, he was having difficulty moving because he couldn't see.
"Uhhhh... Can anyone guide me over to the button or something?" Chopper asked.
"I have a better idea," Shadower poked a hole through the barrel so Chopper could see. "Is that better?"
"Quite!" he replied. Unfortunately, he had bumped into the icicle and fell on his side, along with the barrel. "It's not so easy when the ground is snow!"
Mario face palmed and pushed the barrel over to the red button. After standing it straight up, he jumped onto the barrel and then smashed the button with his Ultra Hammer, smashing the ice in the process. Afterward, Chopper managed to break through the barrel and free himself.
"Phew! That sure was something!" Chopper sighed. "Let's check this place out!"
Just as they were about to, though, they noticed the door would not open. "Yar! So it looks like we need treasure!"
"Hmmmmm..." Vivian looked at the gem she held and then at the door. There appeared to be something missing. "Maybe this might work?"
"Aye? Is that treasure?" Bombette gaped, watching Vivian put the gem in the empty space on the door. "Hmmmm... If only I had found that..."
With the gem in place, the door began to open. Everyone went inside the cavern only to find a small table and a Bumpty in a furry hat. It seemed to resemble a shop, but there didn't appear to be anything in stock. However, when the Bumpty noticed them, it immediately went to the back.
"Hey, where'd he go?" Scrub asked.
"Poyo? (Maybe he has something for us?)" Kirby wondered.
Luckily for Kirby, his question turned out to be right when the Bumpty came back with plenty of items. Though, most of them appeared to be rather cold-looking.
"It's been so long since a customer came here!" the Bumpty exclaimed. "The name's Pengealer. I own this little shop here ever since I left Shiver City."
"Shiver City? I've been there before!" Chopper recalled. "...They thought someone died because of me."
Mario: That happened to me too!
"Let me guess, the mayor?" Pengealer wondered, and the two nodded. "Believe me, that's not the only time that happened. It normally occurs once a month."
"That sounds crazy..." Vivian trailed.
"Indeed. So... What would you like to buy from me? ...You are here to buy something, right?"
"Well, your door was locked, and we thought there would be something here," Chopper said.
"I locked the door? Yeesh... Why would I do such a thing?" Pengealer wondered.
"Maybe he is a lot like Shiver City's mayor..." Shadower whispered.
"Huh... Well, it's nice that I was able to get the door open! Heck, since you opened it, I should give you something! Like...this Fire Burst!" Pengealer gave Chopper a box with a fire symbol on it. "That's more potent than a Fire Flower, so be careful with it. It'll definitely work on the cold enemies you encounter here."
"Oh... Thanks! We'd stay here longer, but we have to go find a Crystal Star!" Chopper said while putting away the item.
With that, they said their goodbyes to the Bumpty and made their exit from the shop. As they left, Pengealer heard the sound of cackling echo in the room. The sound of it made him shiver and hide underneath the table.
Somewhere else on Snowy Mountain-
"I…HAVE…SHIVERS!" Fawful shouted, trudging through the snowy wasteland with his large grin plastered on his face. Where he was, a blizzard was growing much heavier, and Fawful was certainly shivering. "Why must Fawful walk like a flapping fish stuck in mashed potatoes? All Fawful wants is to be rolling in the dough of sloppy pizza in the heavy winds of fury!"
Fawful noticed something nearby. Picking it up, it was discovered to be a small, dark crystal. While he had no idea what it was, it left him with excitement upon feeling some of its power from inside.
"The power of the crystal is intense enough for Fawful to use for his plans! The mustard of doom will soon be coming toward the Green Antennae like a field full of potato salad! ...But Fawful must save this. Its usefulness will be of servicing for Fawful."
He slowly put the dark crystal away into his cloak and began to carry on while shouting, "I have excitement!"
Back by the heroes-
"Geez... Who's that person being loud?" Berry gawked. "...In fact, who would even be here anyway?"
"You know, I'm not so sure..." Chopper trailed. "That's one heck of a mystery... But for now, let's just move on rather than worry about that loudmouth."
They carried on ahead to the next area, where they found another hill. However, there did not appear to be any enemies in the way, which pleased the heroes. Not only did the wind calm down, but there were less snowflakes, which descended at a much slower pace.
Making their way at the top of the hill, they could see a large aurora up in the sky. Most of them couldn't help but gaze at the beauty.
"Dude, what is that up in the sky?" Scrub asked. "'Cause it sure is pretty!"
"It's called an aurora, Scrub," Berry explained. "They tend to be in northern places, which probably explains why this place is north of Fahr Outpost."
"Hmmmmm... Perhaps...there's treasure there?" Bombette wondered.
Mario: Not likely...
While the partners were gazing up at the aurora, Chopper couldn't help but stare at the icy door that was blocking their way. Auroras were something he had seen in the past before, and he was not so surprised to see them here. Eventually his friends noticed him staring at the door.
"Hey, Contadre! What're you staring at?" Scrub asked.
"Guys, look at this," Chopper noted, pointing to the icy door in their way. "This door's frozen, and I don't see it leading anywhere..."
"Well, I know I can take care of the door," Vivian assured, approaching it and placing her hand on it. It began to heat up and melt the ice off the door. Before she could step away, though, the door opened, and another Vivian popped out.
"Huh? What the heck?!" Chopper gaped.
Mario: Two Vivians?!
"The real question is, where did that Vivian come from?" Shadower wondered.
"Wait... Huh?" Vivian frowned at the other Vivian. "Why is there another me?"
"Hey! You! Kid! I'm the real Vivian, you got that?" the other Vivian declared, making everyone else look at her in confusion. "I mean, you do recognize me, right?"
"Yar..." Bombette grunted as she gawked.
"What are you talking about? Where did you even come from?" Vivian asked in a sad tone before turning to Chopper. "Chopper… You should know who's the real one…"
"That...is very obvious," Chopper approached the fake Vivian and bashed her with his hammer. "I mean, that was pretty...out of character to act like that, faker."
"YEOW! Seriously, that was just uncalled for!" the fake Vivian cried. "I knew doing this wasn't a good idea!"
With that, the fake Vivian threw a smoke bomb and disappeared.
"What was THAT all about?" Berry gawked.
"Poyo? (Could that have been Doopliss or Tipral?)" Kirby wondered.
"No, that couldn't be..." Chopper replied, shaking his head. "That voice sounded too high-pitched for it to be either one of them..."
"Well, whatever it was, that thing's gone for now," Vivian said, turning to Chopper. "Thanks for not hitting me, Chopper."
"Ummmmm... You're welcome?" he replied, unsure of what else to say. "Anyway, let's see where this door takes us."
Chopper opened the door and was surprised to see some pieces of ice floating on a lake through the door. "Hey! This takes us to the lake! Awesome!"
Everyone else was happy to hear the news and followed him through the door. They were now standing on a large chunk of ice and began to jump toward other ice chunks. Chopper was instantly reminded of the lake back on Shiver Road in the Mushroom Kingdom.
While they crossed the lake, three snowmen, with one of them being much larger, approached the top of the hill and stared down at the lake.
"So, Chopper thinks he can get that Crystal Star all on his own, huh? Well, we'll see what happens when we chase them down and take their star! Buh! Buh! Buh huh huh hu-"
"Lord Crump, I don't see how this plan is going to work..." one of the snowmen replied, removing his disguise to reveal himself as Johnson. "In fact, why did you bring me here? Grodus ordered me to research some more locations of the Crystal Star."
"Well... 'Cause...you obviously know more about the Crystal Star than me." Lord Crump answered, removing his disguise. You'd know EXACTLY where they are!"
"Then...why are we following them?"
"It's because they have the map, and the map leads them to the star! Haven't you been paying attention this whole story?"
"Lord Crump... There was no point in me being here then if you were just going to follow Chopper. Someone else could've taken my place."
"Ummmm... Dudes?" an Elite X-Naut removed his disguise. "Aren't we supposed to, y'know, go after them?"
"Yeah, of course! We just have to use this door to follow them!" Lord Crump declared. "Follow me!"
The three entered through the door and found themselves on a piece of ice. However, to their surprise, it was starting to crack.
"Oh, crud... We better move!"
With that, they began to hurry across the lake and after the heroes, who had just made it to the other side. Unfortunately, they had no idea they were being watched off on a higher mountain.
"So they're heading to the Temple of the Gods… The sacred place of the mountains…" Tipral trailed, glaring down at the heroes with his arms crossed. He also noticed Lord Crump and his comrades hurrying across the lake as well. "Those X-Nauts are still at it again? I don't see them making good progress."
Tipral let a snowflake fall into his right hand before crushing it. "The Shadow Queen may be destroyed, but that doesn't mean our plan is finished. There's still much more to be done… When the time comes, Chopper and his friends will fall and beg for mercy!"
He teleported out of the mountains, leaving the crushed snowflake to fall onto the ground.