After about three minutes of traveling through the trail, Chopper hadn't come across anything. The trail looked exactly the same as he continued to run. "Man... It's been a while, and I still haven't found anything here. Maybe nothing's even around here to begin with?"
Two more minutes had passed, and the trail appeared to look the same. "Great... Five minutes have passed, and I still find nothing. I guess while I'm here I can think of a way to get Mario and Sonic to stop... Maybe something louder than what's on their headphones? Maybe the Mike ability would work! My singing is so bad that windows can't even bear to break because of it! Only problem is, I don't have a microphone, nor do I see one..."
Before he could ponder any further, he heard the sound of a motor above him. He looked up and noticed a flying motorcycle flying in his direction. Chopper yelped and got out of the way just in time. It was a vehicle he found familiar, along with the person - or chicken that was riding it.
"I finally found ya, Contadre!" Moe Hawk exclaimed. "Ya thought I would be beaten so easily, did ya? Well not today!"
"Oh, great… You again…" Chopper groaned. "What do you want? Came here while I was all alone?"
"I just came here fer a rematch! You humiliated me back in Sunset Hill, and it took me a while to track you down. Good thing I've got a tracker so I can hunt ya down easily!"
"A tracker?" Chopper looked around himself for any tracker. "I don't see one..."
"That's 'cause I have a little gadget that tracks ya. Grubba just gave me it and put in the location so findin' ya would be easy! I guess that's what makes things easier fer me when I'm findin' a retired fighter!"
"Oh... Well that's just great. Now I'm being followed..." the antennae hero groaned. "Look, I don't have time to deal with you. I need to find a way to stop my friends from arm wrestling."
"Well I know ya won't back out of this race!" Moe Hawk grinned, pulling out an item. "'Cause I think you'll be needin' this!"
Chopper got a glimpse of the item in Moe Hawk's hand and gasped. "Hey... A microphone! I can use that to get Mario and Sonic's attention!"
"Yeah, that's right, punk. An' I'll only give it to ya if ya beat me in a race. 'Course, I ain't gonna lose this time 'cause I'm number one!"
"Sounds ironic, considering that I beat you before..." Chopper replied, making Moe Hawk enraged.
"Oh, yeah?! Well we'll see who's laughin' when I win this race!" the red chicken yelled, getting his Hovercycle ready. "I've got some new devices installed to this bad boy to make sure I one hundred and twenty percent win this race!"
"I don't know if that'll help you..." Chopper trailed, summoning his Warp Star to get on. "Though, this trail doesn't have that much to it for a race..."
"If that's the case, then it'll only be one lap, so this might be a lot shorter than last time, Contadre. So... You better be prepared!"
"I'm as prepared as ever, you big chicken. Get ready to be moe'd!"
"Hey! That's my line! ...Oh, forget it. Ready… Set… GO!" Moe Hawk instantly took off, leaving a large amount of smoke behind for Chopper to cough up.
"Hey! No fair! You can't do something like that!" Chopper cried.
"THERE AIN'T NO RULES HERE, SUCKER!"
Chopper sighed and took off on his Warp Star after Moe Hawk. "Dang it, Moe…"
He managed to catch up to Moe Hawk, who was left shocked. "What the... How'd you catch up so easily?! My Hovercycle is too fast for your little toy!"
"Well... The Warp Star does travel through space, so it is kinda fast..." Chopper trailed. "But it's not as fast as-"
Moe Hawk cut him off by bumping into him from the side, causing Chopper to spiral around. He smirked as he saw him bump into a couple of rocks.
"Ow ow ow!" Chopper cried, trying to steer his way out of this mess. He tried to make sure he was away from any trees, but Moe Hawk continued to bump into him each time. "Stop doing that! You're not playing fair!"
"Hey, didn't I tell ya before, Contadre? There ain't no rules to these races! And that means I can do THIS to you!" Moe Hawk pulled out a bat with a poorly drawn picture of Chopper's head getting knocked out. "See this? Yeah. This was meant for ya. An' you're going to get MOE'D by it!"
"Oh, crud..." Chopper gulped, ducking as Moe Hawk swung the bat. Next time he swung, Chopper managed to bring his hammer out and hold the attack, successfully pushing it away from him.
"Not too bad, Contadre! But too bad this'll be it for ya! 'Cause I'm goin' to win this race! Har har har har har ha-"
CRASH!
Moe Hawk had ended up crashing into a tree in a comical matter, resulting in his Hovercycle getting damage and nearly destroyed. Chopper looked back in surprise, but he noticed a tree coming his way. Thankfully, he had more time to react and swerved out of the way in time. Since Moe Hawk's vehicle was destroyed, he had assumed he won the race and flew back to him.
"So... Did I win?" Chopper asked.
"ARRRGHHH! My Hovercycle! Broken once again! Annoyin' little tree!" Moe Hawk stood up, and out of anger, he kicked the tree, resulting in him hopping around in one foot while he held his other foot. "YEOW!"
After the pain had subsided, he glared at Chopper. "You were lucky, Contadre! If that tree wasn't in my way, I swear I'd be winnin' this race for sure!"
"So I did win, right?"
Moe Hawk growled and threw the microphone in his face, causing him to fall back with a slight bruise on his face. Feeling somewhat satisfied, Moe Hawk picked up the remains of his Hovercycle and left while grumbling.
"Someone has anger issues..." Chopper muttered, slowly getting back up with the microphone in his hands. A smile had appeared on his face now. "Great! Now I just have to go back to that house and make those two stop! ...Well, if it works, that is."
Old house-
When Chopper had returned to the house, he noticed both Mario and Sonic were still in the same position as before, but they didn't appear to be getting anywhere. Their arms were barely moving, for crying out loud!
"I think I know what I must do..." Chopper mumbled, eating the microphone to gain red headphones and a wireless microphone. "All right... Let's hope this works..."
He took a deep breath and screamed into the microphone, causing sound waves that caused the air around him to shake. The jukebox both Mario and Sonic used ended up breaking, causing the two to stop arm wrestling and fall back in shock. Their headphones ended up being damaged in the process.
"Geez... What the heck was that?" Sonic gawked, rubbing his ears in pain. When he stood up, he saw Chopper with the microphone. "That was a bit uncalled for..."
Mario: We were a little busy here...
"I know, but there's something more important we have to do! Our friends are still out there and need our help! Not to mention we need to find the Crystal Star!"
Sonic turned to Mario. "You know, now that I think about it, the arm wrestling contest was not that special..."
Mario: The prize was nothing important too...
"Wait... So this whole thing was pointless?" Chopper gawked.
"Ehhhh... I guess." Sonic shrugged sheepishly, making Chopper fall over. He turned to Mario with a smirk. "Say... Maybe we work better as a team! We're both pretty good on our own, but we'd be practically unstoppable together!"
Mario: I was just thinking the same thing!
"So... You in?" he asked, extending his hand to Mario. In response, Mario grabbed his hand and smirked.
Mario: Oh, yes!
"Hooray! You finally did it!" Chopper cheered. "Now we can get back to finding our friends!"
"Oh, yeah! I'm actually interested in meeting them..." Sonic realized.
They left the house and headed back outside to the gate with the barrel nearby. Chopper gestured Mario to hit him with his hammer, the latter obeying and performing the action. Chopper found himself underground and slowly moving underneath the barrel. Sonic couldn't help but slightly wince.
"That hammer must've hurt," Sonic commented.
Mario: He's perfectly fine with it.
"Really? Well, whatever floats his boat!"
When Chopper got into the barrel, he walked over to the small pillar where a red button was. Mario jumped on top of the barrel and hit the button with his hammer, making the gate open.
"All right! Now we can continue onward!" Chopper cheered, breaking out of the barrel, forgetting that Mario was still on it. This caused him to get sent flying off and fall onto the ground. Sonic helped him up before he told Chopper to pay more attention. "Whoops... I didn't mean to do that..."
They moved on and entered the next area. They found another pool of electric water, along with some stumps sticking out. In the center of the pool was some solid ground with something apparently sticking out. Two Shy Guys were also lurking around nearby. Sonic attacked them with his Spin Dash, while Chopper and Mario both jumped on them, defeating them.
Leaping over the stump in the water, they landed on the grassy section with something sticking out. Chopper got a closer look at it until he finally realized what it was. Mario knew it as well and used his hammer to bring Chopper underground, allowing him to dig the red ! Switch out. Now Sonic just needed to play his part...
Chopper kicked Sonic in the opposite direction of the switch, and he kept himself in place as the other two walked over to where they assumed the stump going to the other side would emerge. Surprisingly, the stump had emerged in front of them when Sonic hit the switch. Wasting no time, Chopper and Mario leaped to the other side and found a pathway dead ahead to the right and another south.
"Hmmmmm... Which way should we go?" Chopper pondered.
Mario: Let's check south!
"I'm fine with that," Sonic agreed.
"OK, then!" Chopper headed down south and found a loop down south and another electric pond. This time, there were lily pads instead of stumps. Right by the water was a sign as well. Before going there, however, Chopper ran through the loop and found a bush revealing a purple bomb with a depiction of a skull on it called a Poisonous Bomb. He put that away and headed over to the sign near the water.
Watch your step, as lily pads are quite light! However, one who is fast enough can jump off before it sinks!
"That seems obvious..." Chopper commented. "We just need to be fast!"
"Now we're talkin'!" Sonic smiled.
Chopper started to gain some speed and leaped from lily pad to lily pad. When he had finally reached the other side, he found a Shine Block and a red ? Block containing a Double Hand Badge, allowing Chopper to throw a fireball and ice ball at a single enemy. After collecting the badge and Shine Sprite, he returned to the other side and headed back to the previous area.
"Now to see what's through here..." Chopper declared, running toward the pathway to their right. They found a medium-sized area with two trees close to each other, along with a Shy Guy standing on top of a drill in between the two trees.
When the Shy Guy spotted the three, it jumped up in shock until it realized the drill it stood on. "Geez... This isn't good! Then again, this large drill prevents you from going any further! Try all you want, but you will never get passed me!"
"Oh, boy... What ever shall we do?" the ten-year-old asked sarcastically, jumped on Mario's shoulders once they were near the large drill. Their spin attack resulted in the drill spinning as well, and, as most drills, it started to go into the ground.
"Oh, crud..." the Shy Guy gulped, plunging underground with the drill.
"Huh... Well I guess that's one way to take care of those guys..." Sonic trailed. "Anyway, let's move on!"
Chopper whacked the trees, only to find nothing fall out of them. Nevertheless, they continued their way through the area, defeating some Viruses that tried to charge at them. Unfortunately, there didn't appear to be anywhere else to go when they reached the end of the path.
"Nothing? Well that's nice..." Chopper sighed.
Mario: We can always search the area!
"...Why didn't I think of that?!" Chopper face palmed, remembering what happened last time.
So they started to search around for any secret passage. To their luck, the secret passage behind the bushes was a lot closer than they thought. Chopper moved the bushes out of the way to reveal another pathway going north. They entered a round area with an electric pond in the center, along with three passages just up ahead and a Save Block. A couple of trees were near the passages as well.
"I'm guessing the right way is to the north," Sonic assumed, pointing to the north passage between two trees.
Mario: We could always go left...
Chopper checked to see what was to the left. Sadly, it didn't look like they could do anything, as there was an electric floor leading to a chest. The electric seemed to turn on and off at a very brief moment, and even going fast would probably not be enough. Because of that, Chopper checked to see what was to the right. To their disappointment, they found nothing special except for a block that seemed to blend in to the dark green grass. Obviously Mario and Sonic could not do something to get rid of that.
"Well, north it is, I guess," Chopper declared, taking the north route with his friends.
Eggman's secret base-
"Hmmmm… Now let me think for a moment… I don't think so!" Eggman declared, looking down at the begging Scratch and Grounder, who were at his knees.
"Oh, come on, Dr. Robotnik! We'll do anything!" Scratch pleaded, kissing the scientist's boots. "We'll wash your car!"
"I don't carry a car, Dingbot! An Egg Mobile is what I tend to use! And that doesn't need to be washed when it has the ability to do so!"
"We want to catch that hedgehog! We want to catch that hedgehog!" Grounder begged. "Pretty pretty please with uh…drills on it?"
"Stop it now, Dumbots! Go get me my coffee right now. I'm feeling a little tired." Eggman ordered. The two robots saluted and went off to get him his coffee. While they were busy, Eggman, began to scheme. "Hmmmmmm... Perhaps I should send them out? After all, they're probably not going to shut up about this until they get what they want... On the other hand, they'll just fail at capturing that blue rodent. However... Getting the map is much easier for even a dumbot. Perhaps I should think a little deeper later."
"We got the coffee!" Scratch and Grounder came running over to Eggman, both of them carrying the same mug in their hands. Unfortunately, both of them began to scramble around as they got closer to Eggman.
"Stop! Don't move!" Eggman demanded. Unfortunately, they tripped and the coffee got all over him. "GAAAH! HOT! HOT! HOT! YOU IDIOTS! LOOK WHAT YOU'VE DONE!"
"Whoops! Let me get you a towel!" Scratch suggested.
"No! Let MEget you a towel!" Grounder exclaimed.
"No way! I'll get your towel, Dr. Robotnik!"
"You're out of your mind! Dr. Robotnik loves me more than you do, Birdbrain!"
"Yeah, well he made me first, and therefore, I'm his favorite, you bucket of bolts"
"Well I have more accessories! He likes me best! I deserve to get the towel for him!"
The two continued to argue and they even ended up fighting. Scratch kicked Grounder, while he used his drill to poke Scratch's butt. All of them began to make Eggman's face red as a chili pepper.
"SILENCE!" Eggman yelled, causing the two to stop fighting and turned to him. "I'll go get a towel myself!"
"But..."
"No buts, you two! Get out of here immediately!"
"Wait..." Grounder paused until a smile formed on his face. "You mean we get to stop that hedgehog!"
"Yes! I don't care what you do! Just get out of my sight!" Eggman exclaimed. "And if you DO go after that pesky hedgehog, I expect a map and star in my hands!"
"Right away!" Scratch saluted. "I'll take down that hedgehog, and I'll get you that map for you! Ba HA ha HAAAA!"
"You mean 'we'!" Grounder corrected. "'WE'!"
Back in the forest-
"Man, there's a lot of interesting stuff around here, I'll admit!" Sonic commented, entering an area with his friends containing at least two paths to take. There was an arrow pointing to the left out of the forest, and the right way led somewhere deeper in the forest. They seemed more interested in the left way, however.
"Hey... It says the left trail leads to a field of flowers!" Chopper gasped. "Wow... That's cool!"
"Gee... I know a certain pink hedgehog who'd probably drag me in that direction..." Sonic mumbled. "But that's not important. I'd say the Crystal Star is located to the right, so we oughta go that way."
Mario: That's true!
"All right, I guess we'll take the right way then," Chopper declared, turning to the right ahead. However, before they could progress any further, they heard a moan nearby. It sounded like a girl's moan, and one that felt all too familiar to Chopper. "Hey... You guys hear that moan?"
Sonic tried to listen carefully. "...Yeah! I hear it! Someone else is around here!"
Near the right pathway was a gate in between some bushes. Compared to the other secret paths, this one was a little more obvious, and the gate was open as well. It ended up leading them into a small, square-shaped area with tall grass surrounding them. Chopper's eyes widened in shock when he saw the person moaning in pain.
"Vivian!" Chopper cried, immediately rushing over to her. Near her was a reddish purple flower with a devilish look on its face. Vivian, however, wasn't looking any good, as she was kneeling on the ground in pain (if that's even possible for a Shadow Siren) and was letting out coughs. Her purple face and pink hair were paler than usual. "Vivian! Are you all right?!"
Vivian managed to get a glimpse of Chopper and weakly smiled. A small portion of her eyes could be seen, but they looked duller than usual. Seeing her like this almost broke Chopper.
"Oh, Chopper… You're here... I'm so glad…" Vivian wheezed. "Sorry that I sound like this... I took a sniff from the flower here, and…I'm not feeling too well now..."
"Vivian, please don't talk! That's just going to hurt you!" Chopper cried, trying to keep her from falling over. "Just hang tight!"
Mario and Sonic had walked over to Chopper and were shocked to see Vivian weak.
Mario: Vivian!
"So... This is one of your friends, Chopper?" Sonic asked, receiving a nod from him. "Whoa! She's not looking too good! What happened to her?!"
"I think she sniffed the flower right here and became sick," Chopper answered, pointing down at the flower close to Vivian. Sonic walked over to the flower and got a closer look without getting too close.
"Hey... I think I've seen this flower before! Yeah! I think there's one like this in my world! Basically, if anyone ends up taking a big whiff from it, it'll poison you severely. It's very deadly, which is why I always stay away from them."
"That's horrible!" Chopper gasped, looking back at the weak Vivian and then back at the hedgehog. "Is there a way to cure her?"
"Well... I do believe there is something that can cure deadly heat poison," Sonic recalled. "There's a flower called the Ruby Flower, a flower that's able to cure heat poison. Considering that it comes from my world, I'm betting that it's also here as well. My guess? It's somewhere to the left where that flower field is. We should go take her there before she... Well, I'd rather not say it out loud."
"But... I don't want THAT to happen to her!" Chopper cried. "She's my friend, and I don't want to lose a friend that doesn't deserve to go like this after what she's gone through!"
"Thanks, Chopper..." Hearing this made Vivian smile at Chopper, though she didn't seem to have much strength to do that, making her cough instead.
Mario: Well, then we better go find this flower now!
"Yeah..." Chopper slowly put Vivian down and made sure she was away from the flower. "I'm sorry, Vivian, but I have to leave you for now... But I promise you that I'm not going to let THAT happen to you. I'll do whatever it takes to get that Ruby Flower."
Though Vivian was weak, she felt enough energy for her to get up for a brief moment and hug Chopper, despite him feeling a bit uncomfortable over it.
"I'll be waiting for you..." Vivian said weakly, letting go of Chopper and falling back on the floor.
Though he was still a bit nervous from the hug, Chopper gave her a nod and ran out of the area with his two friends and in the direction of the flower field.
"Don't worry, Chopper. We'll find that Ruby Flower for her." Sonic assured. "I certainly don't want a friend of yours to go so soon..."
"Thanks, Sonic," Chopper replied, feeling better now that people were supporting him.
As the three continued their way through the left trail, they didn't notice Scratch and Grounder hiding behind some trees, snickering as they watched them approach a pile of leaves dead ahead.
"Bah HA ha HAA! Now we're going to get that hedgehog for good!" Scratch grinned. "Setting that hole on the ground was a perfect idea! Those leaves will keep them from even noticing!"
"So what's that plan? Do we jump them or something? Do we get to attack them with drills?" Grounder asked. Scratch looked at his comrade annoyingly and smacked him across the face, making his head comically spin around.
"Quiet, bucket of bolts! You don't wanna get their attention! We already made our plan, remember? We're going to jump them once they fall into our trap! That's the obvious reason, of course!"
"Oh… I never knew that." Grounder sweat dropped.
They noticed Chopper, Mario and Sonic coming closer to the pile of leaves. Chopper was holding the map, and it was right open for them to snatch.
"...Wait, forget that plan! Let's just snatch the map!" Scratch suggested.
"Really? What abou-"
"Just do it!"
As the three got closer, Scratch and Grounder jumped out of the trees and attempted to snatch the map from Chopper. What they didn't notice, however, was that they were standing on top of a pile of leaves. Looking down, the two dumbots gulped and fell through the leaves and into a pit below.
"Was that Scratch and Grounder? What the heck were they doing here?" Sonic gawked.
"Who's Scratch and Grounder?" Chopper asked.
"They're two robots that help Eggman out, but they never succeed in catching me! Though... If these two dumbots know where we are, then Eggman must know as well! I say we be careful, you two!"
Mario gave him a nod, but before he could say anything they heard the sound of snoring. They noticed up ahead, a familiar pink puffball was sleeping by a bush with a couple of apples.
"Kirby! And apples!" Chopper cheered, his sad mood changing to happy at the moment he saw the apples. He ran straight to the apples and began to inhale a few of them, making Sonic gawk.
"Whoa... I didn't know he could do that."
Mario: Well at least we found another friend!
"Oh... That's another friend of yours? Maybe we should go wake him up," Sonic suggested, nudging the pink puffball and slowly making him wake up. Kirby stood up and looked at his surroundings in confusion.
"Poyo? (Huh? Where am I?)" Kirby questioned before he caught a glimpse of the three, making him smile. "Poyo! (…Hey! Mario! Chopper! …Who the heck is that?)"
Sonic looked confused. "Uh… You got any idea on what he's saying?"
Mario replied with a shake of his head, while Chopper gave him a nod.
"It's great to see you back, Kirby," Chopper smiled, dropping one last apple in his mouth. "Do you know where anyone else is?"
"Poyo... (No...)" Kirby replied, slowly shaking his head sadly. "Poyo. (I had just woken up. Last thing I remember is being in Merlon's house.)"
"What's he saying?" Sonic whispered to Chopper.
"Oh... Well that stinks..." Chopper sighed. "But, what do you say we try looking for them? I know where Vivian is, but...she's not looking too good. That's why we're looking for a flower up ahead."
"Poyo! (Count me in!)" Kirby cheered, jumping up and walking over to him. When he got a glimpse of Sonic, however, he gawked. "Poyo? (Chopper, who's that blue guy with you?)"
"Was he talking about me?" Sonic wondered.
"He just wants to know who you area," Chopper explained.
"Oh... No problem!" Sonic smirked and gave a thumbs up. "I'm Sonic! Sonic the Hedgehog!"
"Poyo, (He sure doesn't look like he comes from this world,)" Kirby whispered.
"Kirby... Both of us don't come from this world either." Chopper whispered back.
"Poyo... (Oh, yeah...)"
Mario: Don't we have something to be doing?
Chopper came to his realizations, making his antennae spring up. "Oh, no! We've spent too much time trying to talk! We need to go to that flower field immediately!"
He wasted no time and grabbed Kirby. Sonic grabbed Mario's arm and then they were blasting off toward the forest's exit.
It hadn't taken them too long to get to the forest's exit. The first glimpse they got was a beautiful, hilly landscape filled more many types of flowers. A sign was nearby, telling them they were in a place called Flower Hills, which was a very fitting name for the many hills around. The sound of the birds chirping made them feel in peace.
"Wow... This is a whole new level of beauty." Sonic commented. "Everyone and their pet would wanna come here!"
"I agree with Sonic. Seeing these flowers makes me feel at peace. It kind of reminds me of when my parents..." Chopper paused at that point, suddenly being reminded of something in the past. He looked off at a hill in the distance, and upon blinking, he noticed two figures in sight. One was a lime color had a body shaped like a thick oval. He was had a black mustache, and was wearing a gold and green helmet with a red plume, while his armor matched his helmet's color. His cape, meanwhile, was a red color.
The other figure had an oval-shaped body like her husband, but was shorter. Her skin color matched Chopper's pale green, while her light green hair was in a ponytail. She was also wearing a light blue tiara with a yellow star in the center, light blue light armor and brown, leather gloves. On her back was a bow and arrow. She stared at her husband with a smile, who was holding her a flower.
"Mommy? Daddy?" Chopper gawked. He rubbed his eyes to make sure he wasn't seeing things. It certainly didn't look like it. They were right there!
"Poyo? (Huh? Did you say something, Chopper?)" Kirby asked.
Chopper took a couple of steps near the hill and noticed the spirit of his father kneeling down. At this point, he finally remembered the connection between his parents and the field of flowers. In fact, seeing his parents' spirits made his head hung low. Chopper found himself remembering that horrible event six years ago and nearly made his eyes water up.
It was at that moment that he bolted toward the hill. However, when he had reached the top of the hill, he noticed his parents were no longer there. He looked in all directions to see if they were there, but alas, there was no sign of them.
"I guess that was just all in my mind..." Chopper trailed, wiping his eyes clean.
"Hey, Chopper, what was up back there?" Sonic asked, he, Kirby and Mario approaching him up on the hill.
"I... I don't know." Chopper replied. "For a second, I thought I just saw my parents..."
"Your parents? What do you mean by-" the hedgehog stopped himself, suddenly realizing what might've happened. "Ooh... Don't tell me THAT happened to them..."
"Yeah... It happened."
"Dude... That must be pretty terrible! I mean, having no one to take care of you? Especially for a kid!"
"It's all right, Sonic. You don't have to be sorry." Chopper assured, giving him a smile.
"Really? You're not upset?"
"Well, I learned to move on from those events after my first adventure and ended up becoming a hero. That's why I can control my powers a lot easily than before! Besides... I'm sure my parents would've wanted me to move on from those events."
Mario: That's understandable.
"Anyway... Let's search this flower field for a Ruby Flower. You should know what it is, right, Sonic?"
"Yeah, I'll let you know if there's a Ruby Flower," Sonic nodded.
With that, the four began to search around Flower Field for any flowers. They mostly found red, yellow and blue flowers, and when they brought them to Sonic, he shook his head at each of them. It felt like it would take days to search this entire field considering how vast it was.
Through their travels, they came across a tree up on a hill near the forest. Curiosity had overcome the heroes as they walked up the hill. Upon getting closer, they noticed some Buzz Bombers were circling the tree, looking up at a Bob-omb that was hurt and stuck on the tree.
"Hey... I recognize that Bob-omb!" Chopper gaped, now getting a better view of the tree. "Oh, no! Bombette!"
"Poyo? (Bombette?)" Kirby gasped, running up to the tree with Chopper. Mario and Sonic got to the tree as well, catching the Buzz Bomber's attention and turning to them. Sonic took action by destroying one of them with his Homing Attack. Mario took care of the other with his jump.
"Yarr? Those bees! They be gone!" Bombette gasped, noticing the Buzz Bombers were gone. She looked down below and noticed the four looking up at her. "M-Mateys... Ye came..."
"It's all right, Bombette! You can come down now!" Chopper called out.
"Matey... I don't think I can... Those bees did a good number on me, an' I don't have the strength to get down. Do ye think ye can 'elp me down from here?"
Chopper obeyed and whacked the tree, causing Bombette to fall and crash onto the floor. When she stood up, she began to pant heavily with the little energy left in here.
"Thank ye, Chopper..." Bombette wheezed. "Listen, I don't know if I'm goin' to make it... Urgh... HAAACK! Urrffff..."
"What? No! You ARE going to make it!" Chopper cried. "I don't want another friend of mine to go so soon!"
"I just wanted to thank ye fer takin' me on this adventure... When I first met ye, ye were a different person. But now... I see ye've actually grown stronger. I could tell after we faced off the Shadow Queen..." Bombette let out a couple of coughs, worrying some of the heroes. "We managed to collect half of the Crystal Stars so far, but it doesn't look like I'll be able to see the day when we get the final one..."
"Don't think about that, please! We have Mushrooms! Ultra Shrooms! We can use those to heal you!"
"No, 'tis all right, matey... I think now is the perfect time fer me to make me exit... Give me regards to everyone else... Fare...well..."
Bombette's became silent, and her eyes slowly closed. She didn't appear to be moving. The four heroes slowly hung their heads low in respect for the pink Bob-omb.
"She's...gone..." Chopper trailed. "And we were never able to get her memory back either... I feel so bad..."
Their respect was soon interrupted by a soft moan. Looking up, they heard it coming from Bombette. Chopper gawked for a moment and poked the pink Bob-omb out of curiosity.
Mario: What are you doing?
"C'mon, man! Have some respect!" Sonic gaped.
"...Snuuuuurgh... Pshooooooo... Snorrrrgggghhhhhhhh..." Bombette snored.
Everyone raised an eyebrow in confusion while Sonic said, "Wait... She's just asleep."
"Poyo! (I was almost getting choked up!)" Kirby gaped. "Poyo! (Someone should give her a good whack!)"
"I'll do it," Chopper volunteered, hitting Bombette in the head.
"YEOW! Hey! Who's the jerk who hit me with a hammer?!" Bombette exclaimed, making everyone step back. "I swear I'm going to explode when I find out who did that!"
"...Huh? You don't seem like yourself, Bombette."
"Was it YOU?!" Bombette ran up to Chopper with her fuse lit up. "Who do you think you are, trying to hit me like that?! I swear, you're in a WORLD of pain right about now!"
"W-Wait! I don't understand! You were being all 'Yar, I'll make ye walk the plank!' or something like that! You're not one to be so...angry."
Unfortunately, this only made the Bob-omb angrier. The anger in her face obviously showed the complete fear the guys were in at this point. However, Mario was brave enough to stand in, making Bombette's braid fuse turn back to normal.
"Mario? Is that you?!" Bombette gawked.
Mario: Yes!
"...Why didn't you speak earlier?!" This ended up driving Mario back a bit, but he still held his guard and tried to explain everything to her. It took a bit of explaining to do, but after five minutes, they got the whole thing explained.
"OK... So what you're telling me is that I ended up getting something called bombnesia on an island?"
Mario: Uh huh!
"And this boy named Chopper helped me regain my memory?"
"I guess so," Chopper shrugged.
"OK, I think I'm starting to get it," Bombette stated. "Now that I think about it, I kinda remember traveling around with someone looking like him and some other friends he had with him. I also kinda remember talking like a pirate. Ugggghh... Sounding like a pirate... I don't like the sound of that. Well, now I know better than to not stand under trees with coconuts, 'cause that'll cause bombnesia."
"So... Are you cool with us?" Sonic asked.
"Yeah, I guess so. You do have Mario with you, who I've known for quite a while, and if this Chopper kid was helping me out while I had bombnesia, then I should be thankful. I don't know what would happen to me without his help!"
"Well... I do help people, I guess." Chopper shrugged.
"I guess I should probably give you something in return," Bombette pondered. "...Oh! Maybe I can help you find the rest of those Crystal Stars you're still looking for!
"Well we greatly appreciate that," Sonic grinned. "Right now, though, we're searching for a Ruby Flower for one of Chopper's friends. You should probably give us a hand."
"A hand? I could, if I HAD hands."
"...Whoops. Didn't mean to get you so defensive."
"You know what's funny? Two years ago, I went on an adventure with your ex-boyfriend, Bruce, and now I'm on an adventure with you." Chopper realized.
"Let me guess: he wouldn't shut up about me, right?" Bombette predicted.
"Not really... He was a bit attracted to some ghost."
"Oh... Well then I have no problem with that!
Mario: Let's get back to what's more important.
Agreeing, the five explored Flower Hill in search of the Ruby Flower. Unfortunately, Bombette ended up falling onto the flowers. Mario noticed this and gave her a hand getting back up. After a brief thank you, they continued on.
"Ugh... If this is something I have to deal with, then I think I'm probably better off with that pirate accent." Bombette said in an aggravated voice, following the heroes further into Flower Hills with her stubby orange feet.
Well, we managed to get three people to join back with the group, and we already know where one is. Not only that, but Bombette has also regained her memory! Sorry to disappoint those who preferred the pirate accent over her normal personality. I didn't want to let her bombnesia last too long so she herself could at least shine in the story. Besides... There will definitely be some funny moments with her explosive personality! :P
Next chapter, expect the heroes to find more of their friends, along with more idiocy from Scratch and Grounder!