CHAPTER 11
-Machinery in the Forest-
"Ooooooooog…" Chopper moaned, slowly opening his eyes and seeing his surroundings. He appeared to be in some kind of forest with many bushes surrounding him in this small, open area. When he got himself up, he noticed something was missing. "Uhhhh... Guys? Are you around here?"
He tried calling more times, but he didn't get any response. Nobody was even around him either. "Oh, no... This isn't good... All of my friends have been separated."
"Chopper! Are you still there?"
Chopper instantly yelped at the sound of the voice before looking around him. "Who... Who said that?"
"It's me, Merlon," Merlon answered. "I am talking with you through magic. It seems as though you are all right. Are you in the Illusion Forest?"
"Yeah, I am... But there's one small problem..." Chopper started. "My friends... They're not here!"
"Hmmmmmm... This is most certainly a problem. I'm not sure whether this mysterious voice chose to separate you and your friends or did this on accident. But I know for certain that they are still within the forest's vicinity. I'd highly recommend you start searching for them."
"I guess that doesn't sound like a bad idea... But what if I run into any enemies? I don't think I'd be able to handle them as well as with my friends. They're pretty reliable, you know!"
"If that is the case, then I would most recommend that you avoid any battles in the area. Just focus on finding all of your friends then getting a hold of a Crystal Star. Perhaps this mysterious villain is the one holding it..."
"I guess so," Chopper shrugged. "Anyway, I think I'm going to go search for them."
"Excellent idea, Chopper! I wish you the best of luck!"
With that, Merlon's voice could no longer be heard. But that didn't mean Chopper was completely alone...
"Cough! Cough! …Ah, darn it! Grounder! You're on my feathers! Get off!"
Chopper's antennae sprung up upon hearing the chicken-like voice coming from one of the bushes. Not only that, but said bushes were rustling as well. He whipped out his hammer just in case.
"Well excuse me! I didn't see your beak! I was looking for…well, that's not something you need to know!" This one sounded a little dumber, but he couldn't decipher what that could possibly be.
Soon both voices were starting to punch each other. Chopper could see a light blue feathered fist appear out of the bush and a drill acting like some sort of hand.
"Quit it!" both voices cried.
One thing that caught Chopper's attention was a beak that was now sticking out of the bush. He decided to walk over to the bush and get a better look.
"It's just a beak… Nothing too special... Maybe I should hit it…" Chopper struck the beak with his hammer, resulting in a chicken-like scream coming out of the bush.
"YEOUCH! MY BEAK! It hurts so much! We gotta get out of here!"
The two figures suddenly jumped out of the bush and began to comically run in a Scooby Doo fashion. All Chopper could do was tilt his head at the figures in confusion.
"Who...were those guys?" Chopper decided to open the bush to reveal a pathway behind it. He happened to spot some chicken footprints and tracks that looked like some conveyer belt was on. Unfortunately, there weren't more of them around. "Oh... I guess I lost them."
That was when he felt the wind around him suddenly speed up as a Motobug nearly flew past him. He was confused at first, considering that it was going at a rather fast pace, but he noticed some Shy Guys run past him as well.
"What the heck is going on? Are they throwing a party?" Chopper wondered before striking the Save Block nearby. When he head entered the next area, he came across a couple of trees and bushes. The Motobug was in the same area, but by getting a small glimpse of Chopper, it turned its attention to him.
"Hey! I think I recognize you..." the Motobug trailed, getting a closer look at him. "Yeah! You're that buffoon who trashed my best friend, Motobuggy back at the Music Kingdom!"
"Uhhhh... I don't know anyone called Motobuggy..."
"Well I'm going to make you pay for what you did!" the Motobug charged at him, but Chopper jumped up and landed on the Motobug. Now that he had control of it, he decided to hitch a ride and follow the other Motobugs and Shy Guys through the bushes that they were walking to.
As he left the area, he went past a couple of Shy Guys, causing them to trip and fall over and ended up passing by a couple of trees. However, in the same area, he heard someone shouting out.
"Man... I can't believe I just had to get myself captured." he complained. "Then again, I think I was unconscious at the time..."
This voice caught his attention, making him jump off the Motobug and let it crash into a tree, causing it to explode. He could hear the voice somewhere nearby. Chopper noticed some bushes near the tree and opened them to find someone tied to a tree. He seemed to struggle with the ropes, and not even running was helping.
"Yeesh... Tails would be shaking his head if he saw me tied up like this!"
"Hey... It's him!" Chopper thought. "Didn't that mayor tell me he was looking for me? But what's he doing here?"
Chopper decided to approach the blue hedgehog tied to the tree, who ended up seeing him as well. "Hey... I remember you! Didn't we meet before?"
"Yeah, we did," Chopper nodded.
"I was actually looking for you! Glad I finally found you!" Sonic grinned, though his expression soon changed to one of uncertainty. "Uhhh... Say... Think you can get me down?"
Chopper nodded and conjured up a fireball in his hand. Tossing it near the rope, it ended up getting cut, freeing the hedgehog. Sonic landed and did a little break-dance.
"Yeah! Now I'm back in action!" Sonic cheered. "Thanks for the help!"
"Don't mention it," Chopper smiled back.
When Sonic finally stood back up, he looked behind Chopper. "Say... Didn't you say you had a friend or two with you before?"
"Yeah... But the thing is... I don't know where they are."
"Really? How'd that happen?"
"I was about to head here, but someone ended up taking my friends and I here instead. He said something about settling some conflict or something... How about you?"
"Well, I was actually trying to find you because I found out something about a Crystal Star..." Sonic explained. "Apparently it was said to be in a place called the Illusion Forest, so I tried finding you. I actually spoke to some old professor guy, and he told me to find you at some snowy outpost or something... Though, I wasn't able to find you..."
"I think we were somewhere else during that time..." Chopper recalled. "But you don't have to worry about finding the Illusion Forest, because we're already here!"
"Really? Well that's awesome! Glad we're in the right place! Though, I think there are some bad news... You saw all those Badniks roaming around here?"
"Badniks?"
"They're those robots like those bees and ladybugs. Well, I found out they were being made here. I guess my foe, Dr. Eggman, is up to no good again!"
"Dr. Eggman? ...Oh, yeah! He's an enemy of yours, right?"
"Yeah. We've been duking it out since the old days. His name's actually Dr. Robotnik, but I like callin' him Eggman, 'cause I think it fits him more! He was actually the one responsible for bringing me to this world."
"Oh, really? That's interesting... Did he zap you or something?"
"Nah. I was actually comin' to trash his evil plans again, but while we were fighting, I ended up damaging one of his machines. That caused his entire base and those within it to transport into this world. Though, surprisingly, I was not taken here, unlike Eggman..."
"Huh... Then where did you hear about the Crystal Stars?" Chopper wondered.
"You're not going to believe this, but while I was running across these green meadows, I heard some voice in my head telling me to go find these things called Crystal Stars. It mentioned that if I didn't help you find all twenty, my home would end up getting destroyed, along with the entire universe. Of course, I couldn't back down from something like that, so that's why I tried to find you."
"So... That means you're here to help me then?"
Sonic gave him a grin and a thumbs up. "Yup! I think I can give you a little hand! It's probably not a good idea for you to go through this forest on your own."
"Well, I've handled worse..." Chopper shrugged. "But one things for certain is that I need my friends back!"
"All right! Then let's do this, er... What was your name again?"
"Chopper."
"OK, let's do this, Chopper!"
Sonic has joined your party! Press X to have Sonic go into a ball and shoot towards things with his Spin Dash! You can use this to retrieve items or hit switches! If you hold X, you can hold him one place after he dashes! After holding him in place, release X and he'll fire past Chopper! Chopper can even move around while being held in place! Press Y to have Chopper and Sonic move faster than they ever could! This is useful to get through places quickly and avoid enemies that move fast. While in battle, Sonic can attack all enemies on the ground with his Spin Dash… Or use the Homing Attack to shoot himself towards an enemy up in the air!
"All righty! Now that we got that out of the way, what do you say we go find that star and your friends?" Sonic suggested, only to see Chopper looking at a map. "Say... What's that ya got?"
"It's the map that helps me locate the Crystal Stars. See?" Chopper showed him the map, allowing him to get a full glimpse of the world he was in.
"Whoa… This map is really old! Looks like it's showing a star here! I guess we'll just have to search for it!" Sonic began to stretch his legs and arms. "So... Think you can keep up?"
"You'll see," Chopper smirked.
Unfortunately, they didn't know that a red robotic monkey was listening to their conversation in a bush. He had managed to get a glimpse of the map Chopper showed Sonic, and a grin had formed on his face.
"Wow! I don't believe what I just heard! That sounds like a world-conquering tool that Dr. Robotnik could use!" the little red robot monkey with a siren on his head and a silver body and tail named Coconuts muttered. "Once I tell him about this, he'll give me a promotion! That means no more cleaning the gutters!"
"All right, then! Let's go!" Sonic was about to take off, but he stopped for a minute. "Say... Do you know where to do through this place?"
Chopper found himself falling over on the dark green grass, while Sonic sheepishly shrugged.
"Oh... I guess you don't..."
"Don't worry about it..." Chopper groaned, slowly getting back up. "We'll just have to figure this place out ourselves."
They left the small area and returned to the previous one. With Chopper's increased speed, going through the forest felt a lot faster than usual, so they progressed onward into the next area to find some purple, electric water around the area. There were thankfully some tree stumps sticking out of the water for them to jump on.
"That water looks dangerous..." Chopper commented.
"Yeah... I ain't getting close to that!" Sonic proclaimed.
"Well, look on the bright side! We can jump over this!"
Chopper demonstrated by jumping onto the stump. Over by the distance was another stump with a blue ! Switch. There was at least one more stump to the south leading to some solid ground that had a red ? Block floating over it. Chopper decided to go there first and hit the block to receive a Dizzy Jump. He put it away and walked back onto the stump Sonic was on.
"Hey, Chopper, I think I have an idea on how to hit that switch over there," Sonic informed.
"Really? Tell me!" Chopper smiled.
"I'll just get in a ball, and you kick me over there. I'll be able to hit it and bring us over to the other side."
Chopper nodded and waited for Sonic to get in a ball. He then kicked the hedgehog toward the blue ! Switch. Thankfully, he was able to go over the electric water and hit the switch, causing a stump to the north of them to rise from the water. They jumped onto that stump and onto the grass ahead to find a red ! Switch this time. Chopper gave it a kick, causing the stump to their right to come out of the water.
"Huh... That was easy." Chopper jumped in the air and prepared to land on the stump, but it ended up sinking into the water. Now he was stuck in midair and was trying to make his way back onto the grass. Unfortunately, that was not so. He received a painful shock that managed to send him skyrocketing back by Sonic. "Ow... That was shocking..."
"You know, after you kick me, I can always hold myself in place before hitting something," Sonic noted. "Just kick me in the opposite direction of that switch and I'll stay there until you're ready."
Chopper obeyed and kicked him in the opposite direction of the red ! Switch. Afterward, Sonic threw himself at the switch, making the stump rise up again. Chopper quickly jumped across and landed on another stump, while Sonic managed to catch up to him. They jumped onto some grass ahead and proceeded over to the next area with a couple of bushes around.
"OK... This isn't too bad!" Chopper smiled, taking a couple of steps through the area, only to have a blue, red and yellow enemy jump out of the blue one called a Chill had yellow eyes, large ears, a buck tooth, white gloves and tan shoes. The red one called a Fever had small ears and horns, yellow eyes, a hole resembling a nose, a tail, two teeth, an orange tongue sticking out and white gloves and tan shoes. The yellow Weird had large horns, including ones on its arms, orange eyes, white gloves and tan shoes. Its mouth wasn't wide open like the other two, though.
"Whoa... Those are some weird baddies." Sonic commented, seeing the Fever stick its tongue out at them. "But, it doesn't look like anything difficult for me!"
Curling up in a ball, Sonic attacked the three enemies with his Spin Dash, dealing 6 damage to all of them. Chopper helped do away with them with his Ultra Hammer. Surprisingly, they did not have that much HP.
They passed by a couple of other Viruses that had emerged from the bushes and headed to the pathway up ahead, only to notice a gate blocking their way. It also had a lock on it too.
"OK... Looks like we're not going this way..." Chopper sighed.
"Well, then we oughta go look around this area," Sonic said, trying to be a bit positive. "There should be something around here!"
"I guess you're right. Let's try that out." Chopper started to explore the area for anything important, starting with the bushes. Some coins and a Super Shroom came out of a couple, but the rest of them contained some Viruses eager to attack. The two defeated them and noticed some bushes close together down south in the middle of the area. Moving those aside, they found another passageway. "Hey, you were right, Sonic!"
"Yeah. Let's see what's through here."
They headed down to the next area and found a pool of electric water to the right and a gate to the lower left. A large Metal Block appeared to be in the way, and behind it was a red ! Switch. Chopper knew what to do and performed his Ultra Hammer ability on the block, destroying it and allowing them to go through the gate. Once the block was hit, a stump emerged from the water.
"Huh... Well that's not so hard..." However, once they approached the stump, it had already went back into the water. "Crud... I think we need to go a little faster..."
"That's exactly what I was thinking," Sonic smiled. "C'mon! Let's go hit that block again!"
Chopper went back and hit the block again, and this time, the two sped up and reached the stump just as it came out of the water. Hopping onto it and onto the grass ahead, Chopper grabbed the Gate Key. Thankfully, another red ! Switch was near them as well, allowing them to get back to the other side and leave the area.
Once they returned to the locked gate, Chopper unlocked it and headed through the next area with Sonic, unaware of the dangers lurking ahead.
Outside the forest-
A half, spherical-shaped base with a mustache, nose and goggles was in the outer part of the fortress, with the interior being mostly light with a blue, metallic floor and yellow walls. A tall, chubby man with sunglasses, a long, light brown mustache, pink nose, a red jacket, white gloves and black pants and shoes was sitting on his navy blue chair. Beside it was a lever, and near him was a trapdoor that one of his assistants, Coconuts, was conveniently standing on as he explained to him the news.
"…And as soon as I saw that Magical Map, I HAD to let you know about it, Dr. Robotnik!" Coconuts finished.
"Oh? You say that it can help me find these gems called the Crystal Stars AND help me rule the world? Now THIS sounds interesting… Oh ho ho ho ho!" Eggman chuckled. "If I had my hands on those I could get rid of Sonic and his pesky friends!"
"I'm glad you're interested, Dr. Robotnik! So, does this mean I get that promotion?"
"Prrrrrrromotion?! What for?!" he exclaimed, lowering Coconuts's hopes. "If you were smart, you would've snatched that map for me!"
"B-But… B-But…" Coconuts stammered before Eggman handed him a mop and a bucket full of water.
"I'm demoting you to 'Scrub Monkey Fourth-Class'! Now go mop up the dungeon for future use!" Eggman demanded, pulling the lever to open the trapdoor.
Coconuts soon found himself plummeting into the trapdoor, screaming, "Uuuwwahhhh!"
"So Sonic has something called a map, eh? Well I should certainly get to stealing that thing! Yes… Perhaps I can…" Before Eggman could finish his sentence, a tall chicken robot called a Clucker named Scratch and a green Burrowbot sporting drills and a drill nose named Grounder came tumbling out of the door to his room. "Snooping as usual, I see…"
"Not me! I didn't hear anything about that Magical Map and the Crystal Stars!" Scratch lied.
"Uh… Me neither! Especially I didn't hear the part about the Forest Star!" Grounder lied as well, resulting in Eggman face palming.
"Ugh… You dingbots…" Eggman groaned. "You honestly think I would BELIEVE your words? Listen, I'm trying to formulate a plan right now, and I think it'll require you two to give me a hand."
"And a brilliant plan it is, Your Sneakiness!" Grounder proclaimed, kneeling down as he approached Eggman.
"It's a work of genius!" Scratch exclaimed, doing the same thing.
"You idiots! I haven't thought of one yet!" Eggman growled. "And what are you doing on the ground?! I didn't ask you to lick my boots yet!"
Scratch and Grounder exchanged glances before standing up.
"Oh… Right. …But WHEN you think of it…" Grounder trailed.
"I know it'll be marvelous!" Scratch assured.
"Yes… That's true…" Eggman pondered. "But to get that map from Sonic… Ah-HA! Now I see it! I finally figured out what to do! NOW you may lick my boots!"
Eggman extended his leg so it was near the two dumbots, making them stick their tongues out in disgust.
"I hate his boots…" Grounder gagged.
"Sometimes I regret making these dumbots..." Eggman thought, looking down at the two bootlickers. "They haven't even succeeded in a single plan! ...But, then again, stealing a map is pretty simple for these two..."
Back in the forest-
Sonic had just finished attacking a Buzz Bomber that was just about to hit Chopper and landed stylishly on the ground. Unfortunately, he didn't noticed an orange monkey Badnik called an Ai-Ai throwing coconut bombs below.
"Heads up, Sonic!" Chopper cried, firing a fireball directly at the Ai-Ai to take it out. Past the tree, however, were a line of Motobugs charging directly at them. "Uh oh..."
"I've got this!" Sonic assured, getting in a ball and destroying all of them with a Spin Dash. As soon as he hit the last one, he jumped and gave a thumbs up as a sign of victory. "Too easy! Piece of cake!"
"Mmmmmm... I'd like cake." Chopper smiled.
Sonic was unsure how to reply to that, so he changed the topic. "Say... Are we close to that Crystal Star?"
"Let's see..." Chopper took out the Magical Map and noticed it was not glowing. "No... I don't think we're close."
"Well that's disappointing... On the other hand, the fun's not over yet!"
"I guess so..." the antennae hero decided to slow down and looked around his surroundings. It was very difficult to see the sun's rays coming down on them, and the trees and leaves looked as green as ever. However, he couldn't help but feel a little unsafe in this situation. It almost reminded him of being in the forest alone...
Sonic happened to notice his uncertain look. "You all right, Chopper?"
"Err... Yeah..." Chopper nodded. "Though, being the forest like this doesn't make me too comfortable."
"What do you mean?"
"I mean, all of my friends are missing, and walking around the woods on my own is definitely not something I enjoy, especially when there are enemies lurking around. It just makes me feel like something might suddenly attack us at any point, and I don't like surprise attacks that much."
"Well... We can't always have everything our way. Heck, I didn't choose to come to this world. You can blame ol' Eggman for that! But I'm sure your friends are just fine if they are able to take care of themselves!"
"Yeah... Maybe so..." But in truth, Chopper wasn't entirely sure if all of his friends could handle themselves alone, particularly a certain white Yoshi. "But I don't want to have to find my friends possibly... Well, you know."
"Whoa, Chopper! Let's not think of that! I don't think THAT would ever happen to your friends!"
"I'm probably just exaggerating," Chopper shrugged. "But, I think I feel much safer with you around."
"Ah, that's much better," Sonic grinned. "I'm glad to be helping you, Chopper."
As they continued to the area up ahead, they were unaware of two, glowing eyes watching them behind some bushes.
Chopper and Sonic came across a gate with some bars blocking the way. Unfortunately, the switch to unlock it was up on a platform above it, and nearby was a red lift and a red ! Switch. Giving it a whack, Chopper noticed the lift slowly ascended. He hit it again and it quickly dropped back to the floor.
"I think we oughta do what we did last time! A good ol' Spin Dash!" Sonic grinned, getting in a ball. Chopper kicked him away from the red ! Switch and then jumped onto the lift.
"Let it rip!" Chopper shouted.
Sonic shot himself toward the red switch and the lift began to ascend. Chopper got on the platform above and hit the blue ! Switch, causing the bars on the gate to disappeared.
"And… BAM! We just got the door opened up! Great work, Chopper!" Sonic complimented, getting out of his ball form. Chopper jumped down and gave him a high five. With that, they progressed onward to the next area.
"Huh? I'm seeing some…Shy Guys?" Chopper gawked, seeing two Shy Guys right by an old, wooden house. However, what caught their attention was someone who was tied up to a log near a house. "Mario?!"
"Mario?" Sonic asked in confusion before trying to get a better look at the plumber.
"Oh, good! I'm glad Mario's safe and sound!" Chopper sighed, taking out his hammer and putting on an angry look. "But there's no way I'm going to let those Shy Guys keep him like that! That's wrong!"
He let out a battle cry and charged straight at the enemies. The two Shy Guys heard him and turned around to see him coming their way.
"Hey! Who's this freak that's trying to stop us from capturing Mario for King Bowser?" the first Shy Guy asked.
"Isn't he that Chopper kid Bowser hates?" the other wondered.
"Hey! He IS! Dude, we need to get him!"
The two Shy Guys charged at Chopper, but Sonic quickly took action and knocked one away with a Spin Dash, dealing 6 damage. Chopper stomped on the same Shy Guy as well, leaving it with low HP. They soon discovered that they had 17 HP, an Attack of 9 and a Defense of 0. The Shy Guys attacked with their normal jump, only to get angered when Chopper Superguarded their attacks.
"All right, I think I've got an idea…" Chopper trailed, using his Ultra Gloves to defeat the first Shy Guy and freeze the other, while Sonic brought it down to a low amount of HP with his Spin Dash.
"OK, one more hit should do it!" Sonic exclaimed. Chopper nodded and brought his hammer down on the Shy Guy, defeating it and rewarding him with 6 Star Points.
With them out of the way, Chopper walked up to the tied plumber and burned the ropes off him, setting him free. Mario landed and raised his fist with joy.
Mario: Wahoo!
"Mario! Man, I'm glad to see you!" Chopper smiled.
Mario: Where are the others?
"Ummmmm... I don't know where they went... All I remember was being sent here in Merlon's house, but not by Merlon..." he recalled. "Say, what happened to you? You're not one to usually get tied up."
Mario began to explain that when he woke up, he found himself near the old house and ended up getting caught by the Shy Guys.
"So you just got caught by them, that's it? But I thought you were Super Mario? You know... Super?"
The plumber could only shrug at his response. Meanwhile, Sonic was trying to get a look at Mario for a brief moment. His eyes widened in surprise when he finally figured out who this man was.
"Wait a sec... I remember you!" Sonic realized, approaching the plumber. Mario got a brief look at him as well and instantly recognized him as well.
"Huh? What's up with you guys?" Chopper asked, only to realize the answer was too obvious. "Wait... You two are rivals, right?"
"Well, we both competed in this friendly little game, and both he and I were in the championship," Sonic explained. "Unfortunately, he ended up cheating, which cost me the game. I'd usually congratulate someone who wins, but when they cheat? That's no good!"
Mario: I recall you doing the same thing...
"Wait... It was over a little game?" Chopper gawked. "What game?"
"Arm wrestling."
Mario: Arm wrestling.
"Wait... Arm wrestling?" Chopper blinked. "Your rivalry was just a game of arm wrestling? Maybe we should just...forget about it and move on?"
"Sorry, but this is pretty important between the two of us," Sonic dismissed, pointing a thumb at an abandoned, wooden house nearby. "What do you say you and I go into that house and finally settle the match?"
Mario: All right, then!
"Just prepare to lose," the hedgehog smirked, going into the house with Mario. It was very dirty and broken, so it was certainly not a good place to live. The two found two chairs, a table and some headphones connected to a jukebox. Chopper followed them in and was appalled. The jukebox appeared to be playing music at this point, and the two started their game.
"Uhhhh... Guys?" Chopper asked, trying to get their attention. Unfortunately, with the headphones on, they didn't seem to hear him. He tried jumping on the table, but they only seemed to ignore him. Not even moving them appeared to do a thing. They were practically glued to their seats! "OK, fine! I'll go search for the Crystal Star myself if that's how it's going to be!"
Chopper walked out of the house and was about to move on, but he saw another gate up ahead with a barrel and a button near the gate that was too high for him to reach.
"Oh, come on! I guess I DO need their help! I wish there was a way to end their little conflict… But I don't see anywhere else to go! All I see is nothing but trees and bushes! This is just great…"
Out of frustration, Chopper kicked a rock on the grass and it hit a wooden sign nearby. He looked up out of curiosity and walked over to the sign which had an arrow pointing to the upper left of the arrow. Chopper moved the bushes out of the way to discover a new pathway.
"Interesting… So there's another pathway here. Surely I can find something to get their attention if I take this way. I just hope they're not there for too long…"
Chopper headed on through the hidden pathway, unaware of the glowing blue eyes behind a tree nearby.
"Go ahead, Chopper… Find something to help your quest." a robotic voice muttered. "But you will never escape this forest unless you defeat me! But that is very unlikely now, since I have gotten stronger! You and your friends will be trapped here for all eternity!"
I'm sorry, but I couldn't help naming the chapter this. It had to be done...
Also, for those of you wondering about the whole rivalry between Mario and Sonic... This story takes place around the time before Mario and Sonic were really allies. I thought of a little way to make them become allies here... But you'll just have to find out what happens on your own!
Expect a familiar face to make his appearance next chapter as well. :P