"…And that's what happened," an X-Naut finished explaining to Grodus.
"So… You're saying you've found out where the Crystal Star was…yet you were too late?" Grodus asked. "And I suppose it was Chopper who got that Crystal Star, am I correct? We always appear to be beaten to the punch, and that is unacceptable!"
"HOWEVER…" the X-Naut started, grabbing Grodus's attention again. "The good news is that we found another Crystal Star. It's called the Ghost Star and it's somewhere by Twilight Town. I think it's in…some kind of mansion located in Boo Town. I hear from many people that it's one of the scariest mansions out there run by one, evil ghost king."
"Boo Town? A mansion? Interesting… I'm guessing that place is full of Boos. They're no threat to us, but it might not be wise to send only one there. Tell Lord Crump that he must go there at once with some X-Nauts! We will not be late this time for the Crystal Star…"
"Oh, we'll make sure we get it… There's nothing in the town except for some Boo that many think of as a princess, and she probably doesn't have much to say. We can probably just get rid of the Boos if you want. ...Oh, yeah! An old man lives in that town too. Should we get some answers from him?"
"An old man?" Grodus started to ponder. "Hmmmmm... Well, if he has any knowledge of the mansion, then you must gather as much information from him, even if it means interrogation."
"You've got it, sir!"
"I'm here…" Lord Crump entered the room, appearing very exhausted. "Geez... You could've given me a teleporter rather than making me use an elevator... But did you say you wanted me, Grodus?"
"Yes, I want you to go to Boo Town and search for the Crystal Star located in a mansion," Grodus ordered. "We won't let Chopper get it this time. If you see him anywhere, try to ambush him. I'd recommend finding a dark area to make your move, as he won't be expecting it."
Lord Crump was picking at his "ear" with his finger. "What? What'd you say? You want me to go find Chopper and give him cookies? What kind of idea is that?"
"Idiot! I never said that! I said to go ambush Chopper! …Then again, you could disguise yourself and make an attack on him…"
"What about the Shadow Sirens and Brothers? They're still out there, and I have no idea what to do if I see them!"
"Get rid of them if you can! They're no longer on our side. Besides, they used me to resurrect the Shadow Queen! This time, however, once my plans are fulfilled, it will be I who will be using them! Gaaack ack ack ack! ...But we'll deal with them later. As of now, we must focus on Chopper and the Crystal Stars. So go now, Lord Crump!"
"Roger, uh… Grodus! Is it OK if I heard someone heading over there too? One of the X-Nauts told me they were spying down on the planet with cameras. I heard someone named Dusty going to that mansion."
"Dusty? Lord Crump, we're not focusing on other people at the moment!" Grodus exclaimed. "Chopper is our number one target along with the Crystal Stars! Someone named Dusty is probably not a big threat! Go now and bring a couple of X-Naut Scouts with you!"
"Oh, fine…" Lord Crump sulked while leaving the room. The other X-Naut was ordered to leave as well, so he make his exit after saluting.
"Chopper… You may have gotten eleven Crystal Stars so far, but I'll soon be one step ahead of you when I finally get my hands on those Crystal Stars!" Grodus grinned. "They will give me the unlimited power I need to put an end to you!"
Snowy Mountain, Temple of the Gods-
"G-G-Gwa ha ha ha ha!" Bowser cackled as he flew down to Snowy Mountain with the thanks of his Koopa Clown Car. Unfortunately, he had been shivering during his time here, and two icicles had been sticking out of his nostrils. When they made it to the temple's front entrance, Bowser got off while his teeth were chattering. "Brrrr! Are you sure this is where one of the Crystal Stars are, Kammy? I mean, in a place cold like this?"
"W-Well of course it i-is, Your Ch-Chilliness!" Kammy replied while her small teeth chattered. "Th-This is the c-coldest place around R-Rogueport! Wh-What were y-you e-expecting?"
"Urgh… I d-don't like it h-here. I need to heat things up a bit!" Bowser opened his mouth to breathe fire, but all that came out was ice cold breath instead. "Wh-What the… Since wh-when do I h-have ice b-breath?!"
"Oh, d-dear… Th-This isn't g-good…"
"Great! Th-That's just g-great! Now p-people are g-going to th-think of me as the o-one who g-gives children s-snow c-cones!" Bowser complained. "N-Not this time! Now let's break in there and get our Crystal Star!" Bowser got in his shell and shot himself toward the door, breaking through it and making his way up the stairs and to the first spirit.
"What in the… Who are you?" Tricky asked. "And how did you get in here?"
Bowser got out of his shell form and stormed over to Tricky with a glare. "Who DO you think I am?! I'm King Bowser, that's what! Give me the Crystal Star this INSTANT! Maybe then I won't destroy your temple that I just broke into!"
"Oh, you mean the Winter Star?"
"Winter Star? If it's the Crystal Star, then yeah! Gimme it right now!"
"Errrr... I'm afraid you're too late for that..." Tricky trailed. "You see… The Hero of the Stars has claimed it already.
"Wh-WHAAAAAAAAT?!" Bowser exclaimed, his jaw dropping to the ground. "Come on! Now someone called the Hero of the STARS has it now! Great! That's just great! Now I have to chase after Chopper, some chosen one that I don't care about, and now someone called the Hero of the Losers!"
When Kammy had made her way up to Bowser, she noticed the damage he had made thanks to his shell. "Oh, dear… Look at this, Your Messiness! This floor is badly damaged for my poor old feet! I can't even stand to look at it!"
"We're leaving, Haggy. There's no point in being here when we were beaten to the punch by someone ELSE! Let's just get out of here…" Bowser stormed out of the temple. Unfortunately, he found himself tumbling down the stairs.
"Oh, dear... I'm coming, Your Klutziness!" Kammy cried, flying down the stairs.
Tricky, meanwhile, couldn't help but chuckle. "Oh, yeah… Those stairs are too small for his feet. Heh heh heh…"
Castle Dedede-
King Dedede continued to sit on his throne lazily, eating Max Tomatoes some Waddle Dees had been holding over their heads. When he noticed the bowl of food was empty, he demanded that they bring him more. As usual, his minions obeyed and were off. Escargon happened to come in as the Waddle Dees marched out with a bag of groceries.
"I'm back with the food, Your Majesty!" Escargon announced. "So what was going on while I was out?"
"Ehh… The usual." King Dedede shrugged. "Been eating a lot of food."
"Makes me wonder if those tomatoes will make that belly any smaller..."
"What was that?!" the king growled, his face somewhat steaming.
"Errr... Nothing, Your Majesty!" Escargon gulped, waving his hands in front of him to dismiss it. Seeing King Dedede getting ready to reach for his hammer was one of the things that scared him the most. "So... Have you spoken to Tartara Corporations lately?"
"Hmmmmm... Now that you mention it, I think I oughta give 'em a call! I gotta know about how that Demon Beat is doing!" King Dedede turned his throne around with a press of a button, causing his monitor to come out from the ceiling and turn on to the corporation's channel.
"Why good day to you, Your Majesty," the Tartara greeted. "How are you doing today?"
King Dedede let out a chuckle as Escargon walked beside him. "Why, I'm doing fine! So how is my Demon Beast doing? Did she get the job done?"
"Uhhhh... Well, there's been a slight problem with our job... She...apparently escaped."
"Escaped? How?!" Escargon gasped.
"Apparently she didn't want to cooperate with us. We had sent her who to eliminate, but she quickly escaped before we could put the tag on her. Basically, she's off on her own now."
"What?! That's unacceptable!" King Dedede yelled, swinging his arms down, with one unintentionally hitting Escargon in the head. "Go find her right now so I can put her under MY control!"
"That...might not be easy," the Tartara sweat dropped. "She has the ability to make copies of whatever she wants and hide. Trying to capture her would be too difficult if we're not sure who she could be in disguise. Besides, you still haven't paid for that Demon Beast. Do you want to be caught in a debt?"
"Wait... You didn't pay them?" Escargon gawked, shaking off the injury.
"Errrrr... No, not yet." King Dedede answered nervously. He looked back up at the monitor and pointed at it. "I can assure you that I will pay for that Demon Beast! Just give me some time to prepare, OK?"
"Very well," the Tartara replied. "But do not take forever. We Tartaras are not very patient. We will always get what we want in the end. Got that?"
"Yeah... All right."
While they were speaking, Fumu was walking through the hallway, and she just so happened to hear in on what the two were talking about.
"Is Dedede with those fiery monster things again?" Fumu wondered, looking through the doorway carefully to avoid being seen. She noticed King Dedede and Escargon speaking to the Tartara once again. "I wonder what Dedede is plotting… If these guys are like Nightmare Enterprises, then there might be some serious issues in Dream Land. I need to warn everyone about this!"
Unfortunately, she didn't see some Waddle Dees carrying some food approaching behind her. "Hey, what are you doing, Fumu?"
"Huh?" Fumu turned around, but she found herself being grabbed by the arms by two Waddle Dee that had open hands. The two remaining Waddle Dees burst through the door, causing King Dedede to quickly hide the computer monitor.
"Hey! Next time, knock, minions!" King Dedede barked.
"So sorry, Your Majesty, but we found someone spying on you!" a Waddle Dee explained, showing Fumu to him.
"Huh? You again? What is she doing here?"
"I know what you're planning, Dedede!" Fumu shouted. "There's no use hiding!"
"Oh, really?" King Dedede pondered for a brief moment. "Minions... Put my food back in my bowl and leave her here. I'll handle this myself."
"As you wish," the Waddle Dees obeyed, putting the food in his bowl and exiting his throne room. This time, the door was kept shut.
Now that Fumu was free, she pointed at the two with a glare. "All right, Dedede! I already know what you're planning! There's no use in keeping it a secret, especially when I go and expose this to everyone!"
She was about to make her leave, but Escargon quickly got in the way of the door. "Oh no... You're not going anywhere, you brat! Not when you know our secret!" Escargon looked over at King Dedede. "Your Majesty, may I suggest the death penalty?"
"Hmmmmmm... Maybe that's not a bad idea!" King Dedede grinned evilly, looking at Fumu. "The thought of getting rid of you once and for all was always on my mind! You and Kirby had always been ruinin' my plans! Putting and end to one of you might just help me!"
"You wouldn't dare!" Fumu gasped.
"Hold on, Your Majesty... Who is this girl interfering with our business?" the Tartara asked.
"She's just someone who's been getting in the way of my plans in the past," King Dedede replied, picking up Fumu by her ponytail and showing her to the Tartara. "Don't worry, we'll eliminate her."
"Tell me who you are and what you're planning," Fumu demanded, trying to show some bravery over the Tartara, though it didn't seem to be working.
"Who we are is none of your concern. We are simply a corporation doing business with His Majesty. Of course, are business is rather evil. We could say our leader was the most evil in the universe. Such a shame he is no longer around these parts... Anyway, I'm afraid we cannot let you go just yet. Having someone tell everyone about us is a big no-no."
"So you want us to get rid of her then?" Escargon asked.
"Actually I have a much better idea," King Dedede declared, going into his closet and taking out a metal collar. "Yeah, this'll do nicely!"
"But Your Majesty... The death penalty!"
"You know, thinking about it more... I'm not sure if that would be too smart. Not only would we have to hide our secret with the Tartaras, but we'd have to hide our secret of getting rid of Fumu. Plus, I think this would be much more entertaining when she realizes she can't do a thing about it!"
King Dedede placed the collar around Fumu's neck and then took a chip from it to insert it in his ear. Escargon took one as well and did the same thing, despite the lack of ears.
"With this, we'll be able to listen to you from anywhere," King Dedede grinned, taking out a small, red button. "You mention anything about these guys to the others, and I'll just press this button here to give you a nasty shock."
"A shock? Well that doesn't sound so bad..." Fumu trailed.
"Well, the thing is, His Majesty can make the shock strong enough to put an end to you before you could even spill the beans!" Escargon grinned. "Face it, you're not going to beat us!"
"This is insane! You can't just do something like this!"
"Of course I can! I'm king!" King Dedede laughed. "Guards! Escort her out of here!"
"Yes, sir!" Two Waddle Dee came in and picked her up. Despite her objections of letting her go, the Waddle Dee ignored her and threw her out of the throne room.
"Not bad, Your Majesty!" Escargon complimented. "Though, usually you're not this harsh toward that brat..."
"Well, when you gotta protect a secret, sometimes you gotta be harsh about it," King Dedede shrugged. "Besides... For the first time, I feel like we beat her unlike the last few times!"
"Hmmmm... I guess you're right."
"Will that collar be very effective?" the Tartara asked.
"Oh, of course!" King Dedede assured. "We'll listen to what she has to say, and when she decides to tell everyone, BAM! We shock the life out of her!"
"I see... Well for now, I must get going. Call us anytime you need a request." And with that, the TV had turned off. King Dedede had gotten back on his throne and continued to eat his food, while Escargon was forced to watch as usual.
Dark forest-
Tipral was walking through a creepy forest full of ravens with white eyes and jack-o-lanterns. He, however, did not appear to be affected by any of the scenery, though.
"I don't know why I'm in this forest, but Mysterious told me to come here. I remember him mentioning something about Chopper most likely coming here..." Tipral trailed, clenching his fist and remembering his battle against him in Snowy Mountain. "I swear, I'm going to get back at him for what he did to me back there! I'm going to blast him and his pathetic frie-"
"Tipral…"
"Huh? Who just said that?" Tipral asked, his fists surrounded in Star energy. "Show yourself!"
"Relax, Tipral… No need to use violence, only when your enemies are near."
"I don't even know who you are, and I don't care what you say. You're not going to tell me what to do!"
"Stop now, Tipral. That's not what you say to the one who's responsible for your creation."
"Creation?" Tipral said in surprise, picking up a jack-o-lantern to crush it. However, he paused for a brief moment, putting the pieces together. "Wait a minute... That queen said that she was responsible for creating me."
"That is true... But she wasn't the only one. Part of my DNA was also added to you to make you the strongest of our kind, possibly even stronger than me. In a way, I'm kind of like your father..."
"Father? I don't have a father, nor do I have a mother."
"Very well... Think what you want. But I chose to speak to you for a reason. I can see that you despise Chopper so much, is that so?"
"Of course I despise him. Why would you think that I wouldn't?"
"I can assure you that I despise that boy just as much as you do. You see, I had high hopes when I heard that queen would be coming back, but then as soon as Chopper came in, he destroyed her shadow form! Tipral, you still have that crystal ball, do you not?"
Tipral took out the crystal ball with the purple mist. "So this is what remains of her..."
"Yes. That would be correct. With that crystal ball, we could bring her back…but we would need another host. A host that doesn't have a heart. And I think I happen to know the exact person for the Shadow Queen to control her body!"
"She? Are you talking about that princess? That was done before, and Chopper had beaten her."
"No. I was actually deciding on one of Chopper's friends."
"Really? That doesn't sound like a bad idea..." Tipral trailed, putting away the crystal ball and glaring at the sky. "But give me a good reason why I should help you. I'm not too affected by her demise. Plus, I'm not one to serve people."
"Oh, but it is what he would want you to do... It was he who had found you and brought you back where you truly belong. In fact, it was his idea for you to join the Shadow Brothers when their youngest brother joined Chopper."
"Just because he helped me out doesn't mean I'm going to listen to him."
"Tipral, by completing this task, you will be given anything you desire. Tell me, what is one thing you want the most in your life?"
"What do I want?" Tipral pondered for a moment, trying to remember the one thing he cared about. "That's none of your concern."
"You do want the world to finally come to an end, yes? Over the loss of your friend?"
"I told you that my past is none of your business!" Tipral hissed, his fists glowing purple.
"Then you should heed my words and do the job when the time comes."
Tipral let out an annoyed sigh. "Fine. But I'm not doing this to help you. I'm doing this just for myself."
"Excellent! You've made a wise choice, Tipral! Keep that crystal ball with you, and I will tell you when you will do the job. But you must NOT tell anyone of this conversation, not even the Shadow Sirens and Shadow Brothers."
"Fine. But consider yourself lucky that I'm actually listening to you. Next time, don't consider that a possibility."
Tipral decided to move on through the woods, leaving the dark voice's cackle to echo through the sky until his voice began to fade away. Up ahead, Tipral had gotten a glimpse of both Mysterious and Purple.
Merlon's house-
A dark green pipe had appeared from a house that appeared to be on an upper floor. It was pretty small, but the nine could see many stars on the ceiling and walls.
"Well this place looks pretty cool! I wonder where the door is…" Chopper checked for a door but all he could see was a wooden X on the ground and a pole on the ceiling. He decided to use a Spin Jump and break through the wooden X. To his surprise, he landed right in front of a table, and across it was a certain blue Shaman.
"Chopper... You return?" Merlon gaped, though it had become bigger when the rest landed beside him. "Everyone has returned? But how is this possible? You were teleported out of this room a while ago!"
"We were, but we managed to find our way out of there. And look what we got!" Chopper held up the Forest Star, making Merlon stare at it in awe.
"The Forest Star… It looks so magnificent! The color of this thing definitely matches the forest's color. I can assure that you will take good care of it."
"We'll definitely take care of it," Sonic assured with a thumbs up. "We're heroes! That's what we do!"
"Ah, I see you have a new friend! Would you care to upgrade him, Chopper?"
"Upgrade? What do you mean?"
"Go right ahead!" Chopper nodded, leaving Sonic confused. Regardless, Merlon had used his magic to make Sonic Ultra-Rank. He now had 45 HP and learned Sonic Speed, which can allow him to grant Chopper an extra turn to attack. The Ultra move he learned was Whirlwind, which allowed him to attack all enemies with a blue tornado.
"Sweet! Some new moves!" Sonic smirked. "I know this'll be fun to use!"
"Now you may go! And good luck on the rest of your quest."
"Thanks," Chopper replied, exiting the Shaman's house. They noticed Luigi nearby, who was soaking wet. Chopper was about to talk to him, but Mario told him it probably wasn't a good idea. After all, he didn't look like he was in the best mood.
"I guess we can just go to the Fountain of Dreams!" Chopper decided, summoning his Warp Star. Kirby had done the same thing and got on his Warp Star. Sonic was left confused when everyone but him got on.
"Whoa... What are those things?" Sonic gawked.
"They're Warp Stars," Chopper answered. "They'll take us to our destination!"
"Our destination is on another planet?"
"Yup! Hop on, Sonic! ...And make sure you hold on tight."
Sonic shrugged and decided to join Chopper on his Warp Star. With that, they took off into space. It hadn't been long until the planet was like a small speck.
"Whoa... This thing's fast." Sonic gaped. "Though, I don't think it can match my speed!"
"Is that all you talk about?" Bombette asked. "Because you don't need to rub it in on everyone else."
"Oh, sorry 'bout that. Sometimes I get a little carried away..."
Hatty Town-
"…So why do you have that electric collar on you, Sis?" Bun asked, who was walking beside Fumu in Hatty Town.
"Ummm… I, uh… This is actually a gift, from uh… The Mayor!" Fumu lied, knowing that King Dedede was listening in on her. "He thought this collar would be nice on me."
"Really? Because it makes you look like a dog!"
Fumu was getting a bit annoyed with her brother. It bothered her so much that she just wanted to tell her the truth. However, before she could, King Dedede's voice echoed through the collar and into her ears."
"Remember, Fumu... Tell anyone about those monsters, and you'll be shocked to death!" the sounds of both King Dedede and Escargon laughing only made things worse for her. She tried pulling the collar off, but it didn't appear to do much.
"Hey, why're you pulling on your collar? Is it getting too tight?" Bun asked.
"Y-Yeah... Just had to loosen it up a bit." Fumu sighed, looking up at the sky. She noticed Chopper and his friends fly by toward the Fountain of Dreams. "Perhaps if I get the chance, I should probably tell Chopper about this collar. But... If I tell him about those monsters, Dedede will shock me!"
Fountain of Dreams-
"Whoa... Get a load of this place!" Sonic gaped, jumping off the Warp Star and taking a look at the fountain. "Dude, I didn't know this was your home!"
"It's not my home..." Chopper trailed. "It's Kirby's..."
"Poyo! (Yup!)" Kirby nodded.
"So... How do we find the next Crystal Star anyway?" Sonic asked. "Do to just do something with the map or something?"
"Just watch," Chopper leaped onto the fountain's pedestal and held up the Forest Star. Sonic stared in awe at the whole fountain glowing and the eleven Crystal Stars surrounding him. When the map started glowing white, the next Crystal Star was revealed.
"Interesting… So the next Crystal Star is a pale red color? That's kinda cool!" Chopper commented, getting a glimpse of a dark mansion appear on the map by a dark forest. The twelfth Crystal Star, the Ghost Star, was located there.
Vivian and Sonic jumped on the pedestal and got a good look at the map as well.
"Whoa... There wasn't a location like that on the map." Sonic gaped. "Well, this thing really IS magic!"
"That place is right next to Twilight Town..." Vivian noticed. "I don't know if I know too much about it... We should go see Profressor Frankly about this."
"I was just thinking the same thing," Chopper smiled, jumping back on his Warp Star. "Let's go guys!"
Everyone followed and soon took off afterward, not knowing that Meta Knight had gotten a glimpse of them taking off while standing on a tree branch.
"His power feels much stronger than before... Perhaps it is time..."
Frankly's house-
"Whoa… Ermm… I don't know what to say about this…" Frankly trailed after studying the map.
"You don't know?" Berry gawked.
"No, wait! I think I remember now! Yes, this is the Crystal Star that's supposedly located in Boo Town."
"Boo Town? You mean the place is filled with Boos?" Shadower asked.
"Yes,it is filled with Boos. It used to be barren until a couple of Boos had moved there six months ago," Frankly explained. "I believe it is run by a beautiful female Boo with two bows on her head. A rather...well, unique Boo if I may say so."
"Whoa, that sounds cool!" Scrub grinned. "Though... Boos are kinda freaky..."
"I'll say," Chopper agreed. "Though, the description of that female Boo sounds kinda familiar... Reminds me of someone else."
"Someone else?" Berry asked.
"If I'm correct, there is a pipe that can take you to Boo Town," Frankly informed. "It's somewhere near the pipe leading to Twilight Town."
"Last time we went there, we saw nothing around!" Scrub exclaimed. "You really expect us to find something there?!"
"Well, you guys haven't let anything stop you. Perhaps you will find your way to Boo Town."
"He is right," Chopper agreed. "Let's go check out ourselves."
Rogueport Sewers, by the pipe leading to Twilight Town-
When they had entered the small room with the rusty brown pipe, everything appeared to be the same as usual. They began to scan the room for anything suspicious, but they hardly found much.
"Huh... There's not much here..." Shadower trailed. "Professor Frankly had said that the pipe was near this one... Where exactly would it be, though?"
"Poyo! (Guys! I found something!)" Kirby called out.
The rest walked over to the upper left corner, where Kirby pointed to a small folded slip of paper. Obviously that was suspicious, so he inhaled it to reveal a hole.
"Hey... There's a switch in that hole!" Sonic noticed. "Maybe if I hit it with a Spin Dash, I can probably reveal something!"
"I know what to do!" Chopper smiled, kicking Sonic while in a ball to send him flying toward the blue ! Switch. This caused a green door much like the other door nearby to appear. Sonic had gotten out of the hole and quickly shook himself.
"Well that sure was something! Looks like a door has appeared! Let's check it out, guys!"
The nine entered the door into another similar room, only this time they found a pale red pipe sitting in the middle.
"I think this is it!" Shadower exclaimed. "This must lead to Boo Town!"
"Yay! Now we can get the next Crystal Star!" Chopper cheered. "Let's go!"
Agreeing, everyone leaped into the pipe into Boo Town.
Interesting stuff this chapter... It does kinda fit in the dark category in this story. Y'know, kind of like Halloween does! Which reminds me... Happy Halloween!
Too bad Chapter 12 won't be up today because it would be PERFECT for me around this time. I just...never even started it yer. D:
Well, anyway. That's all. Chapter 12 will definitely be an interesting one. Though, it does kinda borrow from a certain game that I like...