Grodus was pleased with the results of the New X-Naut Fortress. After a hard day of work, the X-Nauts had finally completed the fortress. It appeared much more technical than the previous fortress, sporting a barrier that protected the place from harm and a couple of transporters to help X-Nauts get to another place in the fortress with ease. Some of the walls were completely made of glass to give a nice view of space, especially for Grodus's throne room, which happened to be located on the top.
The X-Naut leader stared at his own throne room, getting a glimpse of the whole thing. His throne was a mixture of purple, black and yellow, and there was an armrest to rest his arms. It even came with a massage button! The X-Naut emblem was painted largely on the floor so Grodus could get a good view of it. It was a symbol he created, and he would always keep it that way.
"At long last… Our fortress is finally complete! I've been waiting a long time for this, and now my wish has been granted!" Grodus exclaimed proudly, testing the glass with an ice beam. To his delight, the magic attack immediately disappeared upon touching the glass. "I must say, my X-Nauts... You have certainly outdone yourself. Much more than a certain commander..."
"Well, we wanted to make sure this place was all good!" an X-Naut wearing a construction helmet and carried a hammer called an X-Naut Constructionist explained. "The barrier was put in place just to make sure no meteors or asteroid would cause damage to it, and if this moon were to ever explode, the barrier would protect it from harm."
"We also made sure to wipe this place's location off the maps, just to make sure no one would find it," another one added.
"Interesting... That is definitely a smart plan. But, there's one problem with that." Grodus informed.
"Really? What is it?"
"That Magical Map Chopper carries can find locations whether they are wiped off the map or not. That isn't going to prevent Chopper from coming here if we have a Crystal Star in our hands!"
"Well, that barrier we put over the fortress should prevent him from going in," one of the X-Naut Constructionists explained. "And the transporters were designed for X-Nauts only. They would only reject non-X-Nauts."
"I see... Perhaps this is not a bad thing when we get our hands on another Crystal Star. For now, you are dismissed."
"Yes, sir!" both X-Nauts exclaimed, crossing their arms in the form of an X before leaving the room. A couple of more X-Nauts, including Lord Crump and Johnson, entered the room as well, though their clothing appeared to be a bit soggy.
"So, you return, Lord Crump?" Grodus noticed Johnson was with him. "And what were you doing with him? I thought I told you to go research more on those Crystal Stars?"
"Look, sir..." Johnson sighed. "Don't blame me, but Lord Crump made me come with him, as much as I didn't want to."
"We needed all the help we could get," Lord Crump proclaimed. He looked around the room and smirked under his outfit. "Wow, Grodus! This place looks pretty cool! Cool enough for someone like me! Buh huh huh..."
"Perhaps if you stepped your game up, then maybe you would get a room like this," Grodus said coldly. "You've failed me once again, Lord Crump. Must I always depend on you to find Chopper and get the Crystal Star?"
"Well, we ran into a...problem."
"A problem? Tell me this...problem."
"They spotted us when our disguises were not working," Lord Crump explained. "That little shrimp was the one that spotted us."
"I see... Then again, considering your record, I'm not too surprised, Lord Crump."
"My record?"
"Yes. So far, you've only did two things useful, while the rest were mediocre failures. I was actually considering finding a replacement for you."
Lord Crump's eyes widened in shock. "Wh-What?! A replacement?! No way, Grodus! Not in a million years!"
"Then you can start by doing a better job."
"That I can do!"
"Then leave."
Lord Crump nodded and left the room, leaving the other X-Nauts and Johnson in the same room as Grodus.
"So, dude, I mean sir..." one X-Naut trailed.
"You may leave as well," Grodus ordered. "Except for you, Johnson."
"Yes, sir!" the other X-Nauts replied, giving him their X salute and leaving. With that, Grodus got off his throne and approached Johnson.
"So, you want me to research more on these locations, right?" Johnson asked.
"Precisely," Grodus nodded. "Since we've failed to get the Winter Star, I suggest you go research more on the Crystal Stars. Maybe if you succeed, I might consider giving you Lord Crump's job. ...Then again, you don't seem like commander material."
"Oh... All right." Johnson said, a bit disappointed with what he said.
"Of course, I think I might have some other assist in the job. That's why I have my X-Naut Scouts ready for the job."
As if on cue, two X-Nauts in orange and red called X-Naut Scouts entered the room with their arms crossed in the shape of an X. They usually did this even when standing still near their leader. "You called us, Sir Grodus?"
"I've sent some of you to scout around Rogueport for any hints of a Crystal Star. Have you come back with any information?"
"No, sir," one scout replied with a shake of a head. However, he soon remembered something. "…Hold on a moment. There IS something we heard about. Something about this strange forest that's actually very difficult to reach."
"Really? This sounds interesting..."
"An old man wearing a blue cloak happened to be mentioning this, and he seemed eager for Chopper to come visit him."
"Yet you did not interrogate this old man?" Grodus asked, not appearing pleased.
Both X-Naut Scouts began to sweat. "Ummmmm... No?"
"You fools!" Grodus roared, causing them to shrink at their spots. "If you were smart enough, you would have gathered information from this old man! And here I thought you X-Naut Scouts were supposed to be reliable!"
"S-Sorry, dude, I mean sir! We just weren't sure!"
"Great... Just great. Now we're already too late. I'm sure this old man is already telling Chopper these news. We've most likely lost our chances in getting a Crystal Star!"
"Well... We did find this near another door." one X-Naut Scout informed, handing Grodus a letter. The X-Naut leader carefully read the letter, hoping it would at least give them some information.
Dear Chopper,
Guess what? I'm back! I bet you weren't expecting me to make my return, did you? I even said to you that I would be back for revenge, even if it would take two years, and now I'm here! Don't think those Toads hit my head too hard with those drumsticks. I'm much better now and I'm hoping to beat you soon. See you soon, Chopper, because it'll surely be your LAST!
"This doesn't look like anything interesting. Get rid of it." Grodus stated, throwing the crumpled paper over to the X-Naut Scout. He decided to throw it away before being dismissed. "You go back to researching, Johnson."
"That I can do," Johnson nodded, giving his leader a salute before leaving the room. Now only Grodus was left in the room.
"Even when my minions can create some great fortresses, some of them are rather unreliable..." Grodus sighed as he sat back on his throne to relax. "But when the time comes, you will be in for a treat, Chopper and Co.!"
Sunset Hill-
"Gwaa ha ha ha! Bowser's back, baby!" Bowser cackled as he flew over the ocean of Sunset Hill on his Koopa Clown Car. Kammy was following behind on her broomstick, but she was much slower.
"Your Evilness... Please wait up!" cried Kammy, only to stop when Bowser landed on Sunset Beach. "Oh good! Thank you very much!"
"Oh, please... I wasn't doing that to wait for you, Haggy! I only did that 'cause I can see some kind of temple up ahead!"
Kammy landed near Bowser and got a glimpse of the temple as well. "Lord Bowser! That is no ordinary temple. That is said to be the legendary Sun Temple!"
"Sun Temple? What the heck are you talking about?"
"The Sun Temple is said to be the home of a great sun sage many centuries ago! I've also heard that something called the Sun Star rests in there as well!"
Suddenly the gears in Bowser's head were starting to turn. "You mean there's a Crystal Star in there?"
"Well... It appears so, because obviously the Sun Star is-"
"GWAAAARGH!" Bowser roared, making the air around them shake slightly. "Why didn't you tell me this before?! We could've gotten here much faster if you had just TOLD me!"
"I suppose I just forgot then..." Kammy lied. "My brain is old, after all. Sometimes it tends to forget a few things..."
"Urgh... Whatever. It won't matter too much when Bowser here gets his hands on the Crystal Star!"
Bowser began to make his way toward the Sun Temple, and when he had reached the entrance, he noticed he could not fit through. This, of course, made him angrier and caused him to stomp the ground.
"Stupid door!"
Surprisingly, the door ended up falling over, and other parts around the door began to crumble in the process. Bowser noticed this and stopped stomping. "Well now! I guess anger can get you somewhere for a change!"
"Lord Bowser! Wait for me!" Kammy cried as she followed the Koopa into the temple. They had their moment to gaze upon its interior, and Kammy seemed to find it interesting. "I never thought I'd find such an interesting interior to this place..."
"It's nothing special," Bowser huffed, crossing his arms smugly. "My castle looks cooler than this."
"What's this? People have showed up?"
The two looked up and saw a spirit of a sun slowly descend from the ceiling. "Hmmmmm... You two do not look like the good type... However, I cannot do much to stop you."
"Yeah, that's right!" Bowser grinned. "You can't do a thing against the great Bowser!"
"Bowser? That doesn't sound very interesting... In fact, it sounds bland for a villain."
Bowser gawked at the sun spirit, but he quickly gave it a glare. "Look, I don't have time to be around a smug little sun thingy. Just hand over the Crystal Star! It's rightfully mine!"
"The Sun Star?" the sun spirit pondered. "Well, I'm afraid you're too late. It's already gone."
"WHA-WHAAAAAAAAAT?!" Bowser gaped.
"Yes. I had it much earlier, but I gave it to the Chosen One for him to claim."
"Ch-Chosen One?! Are you kidding me? First Chopper, and now some Chosen One?! Argh! Why are there so many people after the Crystal Stars?!"
"Oh, dear... This is not good..." Kammy trailed.
"This is YOUR fault, Kammy!" Bowser roared, turning to the old Magikoopa. "If we had gotten here sooner, we'd have claimed our very first Crystal Star!"
"Your Bashfulness! Please don't yell near me! You know how much it hurts my ears!"
"Oh, I'll give you a little something..."
Bowser began to breathe fire at Kammy, who had barely avoided the flames. Not wanting to get scorched, she began to fly away from him.
"GET BACK HERE, HAGGY!"
When she had flown outside, Bowser got on his Koopa Clown Car and began to chase her. The sun spirit slowly shook its head.
"Well... I guess there are more fools than I expected in this world..."
?-
"I can't believe I lost to that boy again," Gemerl growled as he slowly flew across a barren, dirt field around a station called Riverside Station. The sky appeared to resemble a sunset, only there was a bit of purple added to the reddish orange color. "I WILL find a way to defeat him and his friends. I don't care how long it takes. That day will finally come when I put an end to him!"
He stopped his rambling when he spotted a repair shop up ahead called "Evil Repairs". It was a shop made in the middle of nowhere so it was away from any suspicion. Many machines, such as Motobugs and Buzz Bombers are usually made and repaired there.
Gemerl showed up at the front entrance and found a Goomba wearing goggles and a Koopa carrying a wrench working on a few Badniks. When they spotted him, they greeted him a friendly, but fearful manner.
"G-Gemerl! Y-You're back!" the Goomba stammered.
"Wh-What brings you back here? D-damaged again?"
Gemerl looked down on the table of the damaged robots and destroyed them with a missile. The two engineers cried out and took cover. When they stood up, they saw Gemerl standing on the table.
"I request that you repair my damages immediately," demanded Gemerl, who lied on the table for the engineers to get to work. They reluctantly did so and started their repairs.
"So, what happened this time, Gemmy? Got yourself beaten by that kid again?" the Goomba asked.
"First of all, my name is Gemerl. Second, yes, it was that boy who did it..."
"I suppose you want us to find a way to make you stronger..." the Koopa trailed nervously.
"No. Just repair my damages so I can use all my abilities," Gemerl stated. "I will find my own way of defeating that boy..."
"All right... If that's what you wish." the two got back to their repairs, knowing that if they didn't this robot would toast them for sure. Gemerl, meanwhile, began to relax and think about his last two failures in defeating him. He tried to think of what he could do to stop him. There just had to be some sort of weakness to this boy! There just had to!
"I'll do whatever it takes to defeat him and get those Crystal Stars," Gemerl thought. "Only then will I have what I need to become the robot overlord and rule the universe!"
"Say, did you hear about that demon that ended up coming back from the Thousand-Year Door?" the Goomba asked.
"Yeah, I think so," the Koopa nodded. "I heard a pale green kid, a purple shadow being, a Yoshi, some pink puffball, a black shadow being, a pink Bob-omb, and some pink girl with a hammer managed to defeat that demon. Though it stinks something so evil lost, it sounds pretty cool how they beat her."
Hearing the two discuss these "heroes" began to get on his nerves. Hearing about them even more made him clench his fists in anger. "Shut up and get back to work!"
The two immediately became silent as they began to continue their repairs.
Fahr Outpost-
The eight jumped off the snowflake as it had landed right by the statue of the cannon in Fahr Outpost. It ended up disappearing from their sights, surprisingly. This, of course, also made a scene.
"Whoa... I didn't see that coming." Chopper gawked.
"Poyo! (That sure was something!)" Kirby smiled.
"Ah, I see you return," the Mayor said, making his way over to the group. "Most of us thought you wouldn't make it."
"Ye Bob-ombs sure don't 'ave much confidence in us..." Bombette trailed.
"Da. That is correct. ...By the way, a blue spiky thing came here earlier. He mention something about looking for antennae kid. Perhaps he's looking for you?"
"'Blue spiky thing'?" Chopper pondered for a moment until he had finally realized who that was. "Wait... Nah, it couldn't be! I don't think he was looking for me!"
"Who are you talking about?" Vivian asked.
"Well... He was someone I met back in the Music Kingdom... But I think we should get to something more important at the moment. You know, like getting out of the cold?"
"Yeah, I hate how stupid cold it is out here!" Scrub exclaimed, who was now shivering.
"Poyo! (Then back to Dream Land we go!)" Kirby cheered, summoning his Warp Star. Chopper had done the same and got on his Warp Star. After their friends joined them, they took off into the sky.
While they left, the Mayor began to ponder for a moment. "...Wait, if they carry flying star, then why they use cannon to reach moon?"
Fountain of Dreams-
When they had landed at the Fountain of Dreams, they didn't see anyone else roaming around. They decided to take their time and relax now that they were no longer in the cold.
"Phew! Finally! I'm glad to be somewhere warmer for a change!" Berry sighed. "I thought we'd freeze to death there!"
"Well what's done is done," Chopper smiled, jumping onto the pedestal and taking out the Winter Star. "We have ten Crystal Stars now, and that means ten more are left! We're halfway done with this quest!"
"And then we can finally relax!" Scrub grinned. "I was thinking we'd go celebrate with a mountain of food."
"Yeah! I like that!" he replied while the Crystal Star disappeared in his hands. The circular light surrounded the fountain, and ten Crystal Stars now appeared. Once the location to the next Crystal Star was revealed, Chopper got a closer look at the map's location. There appeared to be a dark green forest in between the Boggly Woods and Petal Meadows. A forest green Crystal Star appeared to be there.
"Hey, there's another forest in Chapter 11 just like in the first story? Weird..." Chopper trailed.
Mario: What are you talking about?
"Uhhhhh... Just a little something. Let's just go to Professor Frankly."
Professor Frankly's house-
"Hrrrmmmm..." Frankly had finally closed his book and turned to the heroes. "Well, it looks like the next location of the Crystal Star is in the Illusion Forest. That place is quite a rare sight, and it's not common for people to see it. Hence the term 'illusion'."
"OK... So how are we supposed to get into this forest?" Chopper asked.
"Hrrmmmm... Sadly, neither Goombella nor I have any clue on where you can find this place around Rogueport and its sewers, but perhaps you might need a little magic to get there."
"Magic? So we just need someone to go 'hocus pocus' on us and teleport us to this forest?" Shadower deduced.
"I'm afraid that's your only clue at the moment," Frankly answered.
"All right... Well, thanks for the help anyway." Chopper thanked, leaving his house with his friends. Once the door was closed, he let out a sigh. "Great... So we don't have any clue on how to get to this forest..."
"Perhaps we can just find it the old-fashioned way?" suggested Bombette.
"I don't think that's going to work..." Vivian noted.
"Well, it be a little suggestion!"
While Chopper began to ponder, he was soon startled when he heard his Mailbox SP going off. "What the heck?! Who could be calling me now?"
Mario: Oh, yeah! I remember giving you one of those!
"Uh huh! It has certainly been helpful!"
He pulled his device out and began to read the message.
If you wish to go to Illusion Forest, come to Merlon's House.
"Merlon's house? Huh... Well, at least this gives us a little idea!"
"Wait, really?" Scrub gawked. "Finally! I was hoping we wouldn't have to walk around here for hours!"
"You guys are going already?" Luigi asked, a hint of disappointment in his voice.
"Well... We don't have much of a choice, Luigi. But we'll surely come see you when we get the chance." Chopper assured as he walked over to Merlon's house with his friends. Upon entering, they noticed Merlon was eager to see them.
"Ah. I had a feeling you would show up." Merlon said.
"So you have something to tell us about the Illusion Forest?" Vivian asked.
"I'm a wizard, yes? I have magical powers that can not only upgrade your partners, but also take you to places. I'm the only one who can cast the spell to take someone to Illusion Forest. I heard you need to find the Forest Star there, right?"
"Yeah! We need that all right!" Chopper nodded.
"Then… I suppose I shall cast my spell and transport you all there." Merlon decided, conjuring up a little spell in his hands.
"Well, seeing as you felt we would come here, I'm guessing you sent us that message."
Merlon paused for a moment and looked up at them. "Message? I only foresaw your arrival..."
"Then... You...didn't send me that email?"
"Of course he didn't! What wizard carries around a technological device?!"
"Wait, what?! Who is that?" Chopper gasped, hearing a voice echo through the room. "Though for some reason, it almost sounds familiar..."
"Familiar?" Berry gawked.
"Allow me to do the honors of taking you where you want! That way, we can finally settle our conflict once and for all!"
Before anyone could do anything, blue energy orbs surrounded the eight heroes and transported them out of Merlon's house.
"Wh-What? What just happened?!" Merlon exclaimed, shaking in surprise.
"It's a little something that I managed to learn after my absence, and it works even better! Good thing I tested it out on that blue spiky freak! Anyway, I'm back and badder than ever! And that's how it's going to stay! So long, old wizard!"
"No! Tell me who you are this instant!" demanded Merlon, but unfortunately, he received no response. "Oh, dear... This is not good..."
And with this interlude finally over, this story is officially halfway done. ...OK, it's not halfway complete in terms of the amount of parts to a chapter, but there are only ten chapters of this story remaining.
Now Chapter 11 is certainly going to be a bit unique, and it's something that'll most likely be enjoyable for me to do!