"Ugh… What happened, guys?" As Chopper slowly got himself up, he noticed where he was. "Wait a minute… This isn't Flipside! …Guys? Kirby?! Sonic?! Blade?! …TIPPI?! PIXLS?! Where ARE you guys?!" Apparently, it was just him. There was nobody else around.
He looked up at the background. Apparently he could see SOME of the sky. They had these strange blue rectangles that sort of fit well with the blue and purple sky. But, most of the background was filled with rocks, just like the ground. It was rather dark, almost resembling a cave.
"This place feels unsettling… It sort of reminds me of a dark, horrible cave…" Chopper trailed, pondering as he turned around. "Where could I be? In fact… Where are my friends, too?"
"WELL, HI!"
Aloud voice caught Chopper off guard. Once he turned around, he was greeted by a strange being made up of many black squares and a face with white eyes. The outer part of his square bodies was white.
"He looks so creepy..." Chopper thought.
"Well well well! It looks like we have a new face here! Hey there, new face!" the person called a Shayde greeted kindly. "So tell me… First time down here in The Underwhere?"
"Underwhere?" Chopper felt like he was about to burst in laughter. "That's a weird name..."
"Yeah, that's what they all say," the Shayde replied. "So, you didn't answer my question before… Is this your first time down in The Underwhere?"
"Well..."
"…HA! Just a little joke. People don't arrive HERE twice! Hahahahahaha!"
"...Huh?" Chopper spoke, tilting his head.
"You...don't know what The Underwhere is?" the Shayde gave him a blank look. "…You're kidding, right?"
"No," Chopper replied while shaking his head.
"Man, for a little boy with no extra lives, you're sure hilarious! Isn't it obvious? This is where people go when their games are OVER! Some call it 'World -1'…"
"You mean… You mean it's game over for me?!" Chopper gasped. "Oh, no! Not so soon!"
"Yeah, most people have the same reaction as you. So… How'd your game end, anyway? Poison 1-Up? Bad jump? Or did someone…"
"My game CAN'T be over! That's just impossible! I'm NOT going to accept this!"
"Hahahaha! Yeah, I've heard THAT before." the Shayde remarked. "Denial, always the first step. Maybe you just need to hear it from Queen Jaydes. She's the scariest thing in The Underwhere…and that is SAYING something. She rules over us Shaydes, and she'll tell you straight…your game is OVER!"
Sighing, Chopper walked past the Shayde and found a white-faced Shayde over by a fountain.
"Hey, how's your after game?" the other Shayde asked. "Listen, if you feel tired, take a dip in that fountain. That'll power you right up."
"Hmmmmm? Is that so?" Chopper jumped into the fountain and before no time, his wounds were healed. "Whoa… A fountain that can heal you… That's pretty cool! …Though I don't get how it heals me when my game is over... ...No, it's not!"
After jumping out of the fountain, he overheard a white-faced Shayde and a dark-faced Shayde talking to each other about their game over.
"Boy, if that Micro Goomba hadn't dashed out just as I jumped for that platform…"
"Oh, you swerved in midair, landed on a spiked floor, and ended you game, huh?"
"What? No! What kind of a jumper do you think I am? I cleared the spikes, easy! Then BAM! Bottomless pit."
"Ugh… These deaths I'm hearing don't sound so good… Could this place get ANY worse?!" Chopper said to himself as he rushed over to the red door where a Saving Block was. After hitting it, he spoke with the Shayde right next to the door.
"Oh, boy, I can tell you're new here. Let me do you a favor and tell you what's up…The River Twygz is up ahead, okay? Be REALLY careful not to drown. Word is, there are ghosts down there that drag you down, never to surface again!"
"I don't like that... Wait, what if you fall in?"
"Well, their aftergame ends! I figure they end up in the post-aftergame or something."
Chopper nearly cringed while thinking about the post-aftergame. Where exactly was THAT? Well, it didn't matter to him at that point. He walked through the door into another area.
"Thank goodness I'm out of that area…" Chopper panted. "Those people sure were creepy… I'm glad my face didn't turn white."
He noticed there were two pipes to his left and a pipe up ahead. They were a bit too tall to jump, though.
"OK, so it looks like I can't go to the left… That stinks. I guess I have to go the other way…whichever it leads."
But before Chopper could even flip into 3-D, he heard a soft, angelic voice singing in the area.
"Doo bi doo bi doo!"
"Huh? What the heck was that?" Chopper questioned, now off guard at the moment. "That voice…doesn't sound like anything from this world… In fact, it sounded a bit calm…"
When the antennae hero looked up at the tall pipe to his right, he noticed a little angelic girl with heart-shaped wings singing up on the pipe. Her hair was done up in a small bun, and quite honestly, she was a pretty cute girl. Then again, that wasn't what Chopper was thinking at the moment.
"Ohhh me… I wonder if I shall meet my most special someone this day?" the girl sighed. "Surely he is a prince of countenance fair, pining now to meet me…"
"What on Clara is she talking about?" Chopper thought.
The girl spread her wings out and gazed at The Underwhere. "Quickly, my loving prince! Fly to me!"
Chopper looked around for any prince that would fly to her. No one had come to her. She noticed this as well.
"Pray, where is my charming prince?" the angelic girl asked. "Surely that call should hath brought him hither."
"What's up with her voice?" Chopper thought. "Maybe I should ask for her help?"
"Uhhhh... Hello? Could you help me?" Chopper called out, catching the girl off guard. She looked down and spotted Chopper. Instantly, her eyes widened in shock.
"Couldst it be…?" she gasped, her face turning red.
"Umm… Are you OK?" Chopper asked, waving his arm at her. "I need some help!"
"Hast my call been answered?" the girl gasped, gazing at the antennae boy. "A prince is standing before mine very eyes!"
"A prince? What do you mean?"
"Oh, I hath been waiting for such a long time to findeth thee…but now thou hast shown up!" she giggled, hearts appearing over her head.
Chopper instantly recognized those hearts, and he gasped.
"Eek! Not those things!" Chopper cried in fear. "I don't know what this prince thing is, but I'm not that! I'm just me, that's all!"
"Hee hee! Thou art even funny as well!" she giggled, staring down at him lovingly with her eyes sparkling. "Tell me thy name, sweet prince! I wish to knoweth thee!"
"Well... My name's Chopper. Chopper of Clara, and I don't understand why I'm here. Do you have any ideas?"
"Chopper… That is such a nice name for a cute boy like thee!" she sighed dreamily, ignoring Chopper's words. "Thou art exactly as I imagine! Adorable, light, and full of heart! Sure, thou mayest not be the tall prince I dreamed of, but it is not a fatal flaw! Come fly to me! I am ready to receive thy kiss!"
She had her lips puckered up, ready to kiss her true love.
"Blech!" Chopper gagged, sticking his tongue out. "Can't you take Meta Knight instead?"
"But I dost not care about this Meta Knight thou speakest of. Thou art just the one I hath been looking for!"
"This is like Berry all over again…" Chopper thought in disbelief. "Look, I don't have time to stay here! I need to go see someone named Queen Jaydes. Do you know where she might be?"
Although she kept swooning over him, she heard his question. "If thou wantest to see my mother, thou must makest thy way over to the door ahead. Come back hither afterward so we can speaketh the words of love!"
"Queen Jaydes is her mother?! OK…whoever you are. I'll go on ahead and find Queen Jaydes. I'll let you go back to…whatever you're doing."
Sighing in relief, Chopper flipped into 3-D, allowing the girl to go back to…whatever she was doing. He noticed two paths to take. The one on the left didn't appear to have much, but the one on the right seemed to lead the right way over some spikes.
"I guess I ought to go there," Chopper said while jumping over the spikes. This time, he had to go to the left after jumping onto the next pathway to avoid some spikes and take the left pathway. There were still some spikes and bottomless pits to go over, but he managed to get past those easily.
After passing the last pipe, he flipped back into 2-D, but was soon surprised by a Dry Bones that rose from the ground.
"Whoa!" Chopper stomped on the Dry Bones's head, causing it to plummet back to the ground. "Wait a minute… Don't these things still live after stomping on them? I remember that fire is needed…"
When the Dry Bones rose up, Chopper tossed two fireballs at it, which caused it to be defeated. "Yeah, there we go! THAT'S how you get rid of the Dry Bones!"
He was also able to hit a yellow arrowed block in 3-D that allowed him to grab a Super Shroom Shake on the pipe – which was much shorter than the other pipes around the area. Afterward, he walked into the next area.
"Thank goodness I'm out of there!" Chopper said, sighing in relief. "To be honest… I'd rather be talking to the Shaydes than that girl! That's like the fourth girl that has fallen in love with me!"
Anyway, he noticed the River Twygz was up ahead, but the only thing that caught him off guard was the strange monster person named Charold who was standing right by a canoe. The river itself was purple, and surprisingly, it looked a bit cool from where he was seeing it.
"Thisss is the River Twygz… Its watersss are tearsss of centuriesss of sinnersss… For 4 coinsss…I will ferry you to the other ssside…" Charold offered.
Chopper looked at his inventory. "Wow… Even after I 'died', I still have all my of stuff with me? Why is this so strange? I mean… Oh, forget it. Here's four coins, you…strange person."
"Thanksss. Now we depart…"
Chopper jumped on the canoe, as well as Charold, but he was now holding onto a long paddle that extended down into the river. Using it, he was able to move the boat slowly through the river.
Now that he had a better view, Chopper looked down at the River Twygz, but after heating what Charold had to say, the river did not look pretty down below. He remembered that the Shayde told him that someone would get dragged to the bottom if they were to ever fall in.
Once the canoe made its way over to the other side, they both got off the boat. "…Ssee you," was the last thing that Charold murmured before Chopper walked over to the door ahead.
"I demand to see the queen this instant!"
Once Chopper walked into the next area, he saw a palace up ahead, but right next to the palace was a purple, demon-like person in a suit being held up by a familiar face. Two other D-Men were trying to push him away.
"Look, we can't have you roaming around here," the second D-Man warned. "You shouldn't even be out of your prison. This is the third time that you got out! How many times do we need to keep this up?!"
"It looks like you'll have to do it as many times until you let the queen bring me back to life," Chopper's archenemy, Maquano was starting to strangle the D-Man to death, but, to the D-Man, he was just fine. It was him all right. That black and red armor with the gray spikes sticking out from his helmet were obvious, as were those red eyes of his. Those black gauntlets and boots were an easy thing to tell, as was the black cape and the red sword on his back.
"Maquano…? What are YOU doing here?!" Chopper gaped.
"Hmmmmm? That voice… I remember that voice…" Maquano released the D-Man, who fell over on the ground. He turned over to Chopper with a surprised and angered look. "Chopper?! …So! It appears that you too have died! That's just perfect! I have to spend my aftergame with my biggest enemy!"
"Hey, I didn't come here on purpose!" Chopper got in his fighting stance, ready to fight his enemy. "Just get out of the way! I need to go see the queen!"
"Oh, I don't think so…" Maquano opened his hand and aimed it at Chopper's forehead. "I'm the one who needs to see the queen at this moment! I can't have you roaming around this world if I'm forced to stay here. Better to destroy you so I don't have to deal with you."
Maquano prepared to obliterate Chopper, but he noticed no dark magic had come out. "Wait... What? Why don't my powers work?!"
"Look, man… When you were sent to your prison, you were stripped of all your powers." the third D-Man informed. "None of your powers are going to work, and they're certainly not going to hurt anyone."
"Ugh... I can't believe it!" Maquano was about to grab Chopper, but he was soon stunned by a D-Man and handcuffed.
"Look, we can make this easy if you don't get out of your prison often," the first D-Man whispered. "I hate having to stop you all the time. I'll just make it clear to you: you're not escaping this place."
Maquano growled at Chopper. "I swear to you that I'll find SOME way to come back and get my revenge on you! I was so close to destroying the universe five months ago…but you had to ruin it!"
"It's what I do," Chopper smirked as the D-Men summoned a portal to lead to the prison, taking Maquano with them. "Well, I guess I can finally go speak to Queen Jaydes."
After going up the steps, he saw a couple of D-Men and Shaydes roaming around. He decided to speak to the first D-Man at the front of the stairs.
"Hi, how are ya, good, great. I'm a D-Man, prime go-getter and faithful queen's servant. You wanna see the queen, you gotta MOVE, kid, OK? She's real busy. Oh, and here's a tip: she knows all the bad stuff you did before you game ended. So don't play that 'I'm-a-hero' stuff down here. Just warning ya kid!"
"…But I am a hero!" Chopper frowned while walking away from the D-Man. He noticed a lavender-skinned lady up ahead with a dark pink crown that faded into black at the tip, a purple dress that curled up at the bottom and a black jagged collar with white outlines just like her crown.
"Yikes! That Shayde wasn't kidding! She DOES look pretty freaky!" Chopper thought as his antennae sprung up. Nevertheless, he walked over to her and spoke to the Queen of The Underwhere.
"You… What business have you with me?" the queen glared down at the hero. "I am Queen Jaydes. Mistress of The Underwhere! Ruler of those with ended games! Here, in this place, your sins from your time among the living are weighed. If your sins are light enough, the bliss of The Overthere will be yours. But if not… You suffer for eternity among the game-overed!"
"The Overthere? I'm sensing some strange pattern…" Chopper pondered, but he certainly wasn't happy about what would happen if his sins were bad.
"Now let us weigh your sins…" Queen Jaydes squinted at Chopper, looking through all the things he's done in the past. "Hmmmmmm… From what I'm seeing, you have destroyed an entire species of dark monsters, destroyed an entire species of demons…and you also…saved the universe? Very interesting…"
What was even stranger was when she felt something else. "Hm? I sense a strange energy… Have you brought something strange into The Underwhere, by any chance?"
"Hmmmmmmm… Let me think… Oh! I believe I brought this with me!" Chopper took the dead Pure Heart out, shocking the queen.
"What is THIS?! No, no… It could not be… But how… It is badly damaged, yes…but what you hold is a Pure Heart! Who exactly ARE you, to have a Pure Heart…and what has happened to it?!"
"Well, it's a long story… You see…" Just before Chopper could explain, he heard a phone ringing. "…What was that?"
"Oh, wait, that is my phone… …Sorry, I have to take this." Queen Jaydes walked away from Chopper, who had an unimpressed look on his face once again.
"The Queen of The Underwhere carries a cell phone?! Why hasn't Merlon given me any of those to contact with him?! I mean, Professor Toadsmeth did that!"
While Chopper kept talking to himself, Queen Jaydes pulled her purple cell phone out. "What is it NOW, Grams? You know I am working…"
After receiving a response, Queen Jaydes jumped up in shock. "WHAT?! LUVBI IS MISSING?! Oh, mercy… I understand. Yes, yes, I will see to it. Mmmmm-bye!"
She hung up and sighed. "Great. Just what I need. I am already shorthanded… What am I going to do?"
Queen Jaydes slowly turned back around to Chopper, and then an idea struck her. "Oh! Perhaps you can help!"
"Wait… What do you mean?" Chopper questioned.
"You see, I just received a phone call. And who was the one calling me? It was the king of The Overthere, Grambi… One of the Nimbis vanished from The Overthere, and he asked me to look for her. But I cannot abandon my duties here in the palace…and my D-Men are all busy. So it must fall to you! Will you search for this missing person in my place?"
"A girl? I don't think I've ever…" Chopper paused for a moment, remembering that ONE thing a girl said to him in this world. "Oh... She's missing? I...think I might know where she is.""
Queen Jaydes took this as a yes. "Oh, thank you so very much. I apologize for asking this of you, but it would really help. The name of the missing Nimbi is Luvbi. Oh… and what is your name?"
While Chopper wanted to refuse to find the girl, who was named Luvbi, he answered, "Chopper."
"Chopper…" Queen Jaydes trailed. "Well, Chopper… May I hold on to this Pure Heart while you are busy searching?" She was able to lift the Pure Heart out of Chopper's hands without her touching it.
"H-Hey!" Chopper snapped. "I don't trust you with that thing! Even if you're the queen of this world!"
"Worry not. I just want a look. I will return it when YOU return with Luvbi. And in its place, allow me to give you this." She handed Chopper a triangular purple key, which floated above Chopper's hands.
"Word has reached me that someone has fallen into the River Twygz. Some said it was a dark shadowy person with a pair of antennae just like yours… That could not be Luvbi… Still, just in case, I would suggest that you check there first. This key will open a door to the underground waterways beneath the River Twygz. Please, I ask that you search the area thoroughly."
"Oh, boy… Don't tell me I have to jump into that river…" Chopper gulped, looking back at the door. "Fine, I'll go search down the river, THEN I'll go search for that Luvbi girl who fell in love with me…"
River Twygz-
"Ugggghhhhhh… I can't believe I actually have to jump into this river." Chopper gulped once again, looking down at the waters. "It shouldn't be too bad… I mean, this IS a river! …Just made of tears."
"I predict that you won't make it out," Charold predicted.
"Stop discouraging me!" Chopper snapped before he was pushed into the river by Charold. He slowly began to sink down to the bottom of the waters. The river began to become darker as he made his way to the bottom, which was mostly blue.
Once his feet were at the bottom of the river, he saw some skeletal hands roaming around, trying to grab the hero. Chopper tried to toss a fireball at them, but it didn't seem to work.
"What?! That's not fair! I can't defeat these guys?!" Chopper gaped. "Not only that…but these voices are incredibly creepy! It sounds like they're saying, 'Come into…the river…' and 'The end…is near…' That's what I'm getting…"
He noticed that there were a couple of bubbles coming up from the ground. Chopper flipped into 3-D to find a hole leading down to a hidden little area where a locked door awaited.
"Oh, finally! This must be the way out!" he sighed in relief as he unlocked and walked through the door. He could no longer hear the freaky voices, but he was stuck in some sort of waterway.
"It's underwater, but at least Sonic's not here," Chopper smiled as he swam to the right through the waterways and then moved up in order to avoid the Underhand that tried to grab him.
After making his way up, he noticed a stone block that looked like it could be pushed, so Chopper pushed it down a little pit where a pipe was by the side. Down the little pit was a lever that apparently could flood or empty the room.
"I guess I might need to use this lever," Chopper said as he pulled the lever down, emptying the room of all the water. Now he could use the block to jump on the pipe and find some Brick Blocks blocking the way.
Once he smashed those Brick Blocks with his fist, he flooded the room again in order to make his way through. He began to take the waterway until he reached the end. He knew he had to flip, so he did that to find another pathway.
"I KNEW there was a hidden pathway here!" he said as he swam through the hidden pathway. After flipping back to 2-D, he swam over to where a block was. He forced himself into 3-D to push it down so he could jump on the pipe easily after lowering the water level.
With the water level down after pulling the lever, he jumped over to the larger room in the waterway and flipped into 3-D. He remembered seeing a bunch of Underhands blocking the way from this hidden pathway.
"Good thing there aren't any Underhands…" he sighed in relief as he walked through the pathway to a small room with a pipe and a purple door up ahead. He started by taking the pipe, which brought him down to an underground area.
"Oh… It's one of those coin things…" Chopper grabbed all of the coins and exited the room so he could take the purple door. He was led back outside, where he could see three fountains erupting a bunch of orange water up ahead and also a platform with someone over by the rock.
"Hey… I can see someone over there!" Chopper jumped off the edge and landed over by the first fountain. Turning around, he realized that he couldn't get out. "Oh, crud… Well, it looks like I'm trapped."
Chopper leaped over each geyser, which got higher as he jumped up. At this moment, he knew exactly who was over by the rock.
"Ughhh… What… What happened?" Tipral slowly got himself up. Apparently he doesn't yet remember what happened to him. "Hold on… Now everything's coming back to me! I was…"
Before he could finish, he noticed Chopper staring at him in surprise. "Chopper! How did you get here?!"
"I should be asking the same thing to you!" Chopper retorted, getting in a fighting stance. Tipral immediately got in one as well.
"How I got here is none of your concern. All that matters is that we finish our battle!" Tipral teleported behind Chopper and grabbed both of his arms. "You're really the only one that I wish to destroy. I honestly couldn't care less about the others."
"You never learn, Tipral," Chopper got out of Tipral's grasps and kicked him in the face. "No matter how many times you fight me, you're going to lose. It happened. Every. Single. TIME! You haven't won ANY fight against me!"
"Don't ever bring up those defeats!" Tipral punched Chopper in the face with a Star Punch, knocking him over to the rock. He immediately grabbed him and began to slam him at the rock violently.
"So how does it feel to feel this kind of pain, Chopper? Does it feel like the pain you get when your arm is injured?!"
After Tipral stopped, Chopper slowly got himself up. His face looked completely race from those injuries. But it wasn't going to stop him from rushing toward him and punching him with a flaming fist.
"You may have your Star Punches, but I can punch you with fire!" Chopper shouted as he brought his flaming fists down on top of Tipral's head, knocking him to the ground.
Tipral managed to get back up and snap his fingers at Chopper, sending him flying up. He was about to strike him with a diving attack, but Chopper managed to land on his feet and stomp on his head, followed by a flaming slamming kick.
"Ack! Even when you're alone, you still put up some sort of fight…" Tipral grumbled, wiping any spit drooling from his mouth. He swung his arm afterward to fire a Star Spear at him.
Chopper inhaled the Star Spear thrown at him and spat it back at Tipral, knocking him off the edge and onto one of the geysers.
"Gah! You little pest! I should've left Twilight Town while I had your name and body!" Tipral growled as he teleported back to Chopper. They were both battered and beaten, so the fight was a bit close.
"Hmmmmm? You're not making a move…" Chopper noticed. Tipral was raising an eyebrow at this moment.
"Even though none of your friends are here… I'm still questioning why they AREN'T here. Did they get lost or something?"
"Something like that. You can thank your minion Dimentio for doing that dirty trick… Not only did he separate my friends, but now I don't have Tippi or the Pixls to help me either!"
Tipral stopped clenching his fists. "Wait… You were sent down here by Dimentio? Interesting… He sent me here as well." At this moment, he clenched his fist in anger. "I swear, I'm going to strangle him as painful as possible for what he's done! That dirty traitor!"
"Wait, did you say Dimentio BETRAYED you?" Chopper was starting to get curious.
"Yes, after our battle, he said he was done with me and sent me to this world. I don't know where we are, but it's definitely a dark world. Not too bad for me."
"Well, if you wanna know where we are… We're in The Underwhere. It's the world where all people's games end. …And what was surprising was that I saw Maquano here!"
"The Underwhere? What a stupid name for a world like this… And you say that Maquano is here as well? Where, exactly? In prison? Look, I don't need his help anymore. I'll just be off now."
Tipral searched for the Dark Prognosticus and Dark Star Scepter, but he noticed they were gone. "What the… My stuff's gone! …DIMEEEEEEEEENTIIIIIIIIO!"
"Yeah, you ALWAYS have to blame Dimentio," Chopper remarked.
"So, I'm down to just what I was before? Without that power, I can't crush the whole universe!"
"Tipral! Seriously? Even after Desert Oasis? Look, I understand that you've been betrayed and all…but we can't worry about that. I think it's best that we get out of this world."
"What do you mean 'we'?" Tipral raised an eyebrow.
"Well… You see… While I don't like this idea either… We both are trying to get to your castle and all too… But, I was thinking that maybe we should…gulp…work together to get out of here."
"Me? Help you? Why would I ever do that?"
"Because if Dimentio's the holder of the Dark Prognosticus, then I'm pretty sure we're both going to end up dead. I'm trying to stop the holder of the Chaos Heart, and I KNOW you want that. So, if we're both trying to find Dimentio, then I think it's best to work together."
"Hmmmmm… You do bring up an excellent point. Fine, I'll help you get to my castle. But once we're done taking care of Dimentio, that's it! Don't consider me a friend right now, because I'll NEVER be your friend!"
Chopper glared back at him. "Well I know that you're not going to be my friend. And there's no way you're going to be my friend either!"
"…But, there's not much we can do at this moment if our games are over," Tipral mentioned. "What can we do at this moment? Should we continue to fight each other?"
"Well… Uh…" Chopper twiddled his thumbs nervously. "You see… I met the Queen of The Underwhere and she kind of wants me to go find her daughter, Luvbi."
"You're looking for someone named Luvbi?" Tipral raised an eyebrow at him. "Why are you acting nervous about this person?"
"Uhhhh… Look, let's not get there. I think we should go over to where I saw her last time and tell her we need to bring her back to her mother."
Tipral folded his arms and closed his eyes. "Fine. If that's the only thing we can do at this moment, then we might as well do it."
Tipral has joined your group! As Tipral, he can use many of his Star powers to defeat many enemies that can't be defeated with usual attacks. He can also use his teleportation powers to get across areas or even teleport to ledges that are too high to reach! He can even move at the exact same speed as Chopper!
"OK, now that we got that introduction taken care of…" Chopper turned over to the door over to the left. "There's no way I can get myself over there. Don't you have something to get us across?"
"Yes, I do have something," Tipral grabbed Chopper's arm and teleported over to the ledge. "Is that good enough for you?"
"Why, yes, it is," Chopper nodded as he and Tipral made their way back into the waterway.
River Twygz-
"Ugh… I don't like being here… Heck, I don't think I'll last against these Underhands." Chopper wheezed as he tried swimming up to the surface.
"Hmph. Not a problem for me." Tipral turned to one of the Underhands and obliterated it with a single Star Spear. "You know, these things may be immune to your attacks, but they're certainly not immune to mine."
"Just shut up so we can go find Luvbi," Chopper groaned.
Back at the pipe after going to the fountain-
"Uh oh… She's not there…" Chopper frowned. "She DID say that she was going to wait for me here… I wonder why she decided to go off."
"Perhaps it's because she got tired of waiting for you…" Tipral predicted.
"Maybe…" Chopper turned to the pipes to their left. "It looks like the only way to go it this way… But I don't think I can make the jump."
"Again, leave this to me," Tipral grabbed Chopper's arm and teleported him over to the pipe. They were now at the upper level of this area, where they saw a couple of pipes like before, but now with Frost Piranhas.
"Dang… I wish I could get those guys, but I don't think I can even reach them!" Chopper frowned upon looking at the Frost Piranhas.
Tipral helped Chopper get past the pipe by simply teleporting past it. They ended up coming across a Dry Bones, but with one snap of his finger, Tipral destroyed the Dry Bones instantly with Star Magic.
"Wow, for someone with a lot of abilities, you can pretty much take out anything," Chopper commented.
"I'll take that as a compliment…" Tipral grumbled after jumping over the spikes. He looked up at the Frost Piranha that came out of the pipe and decimated it with a Star Spear.
Teleporting past that pipe, they came across a Poison Cherbil. Though Tipral was going to jump on it, Chopper was able to beat him to the punch and take out the enemy with a stomp.
"Too slow, Tipral!" Chopper smirked as he walked over to the next pipe. He tried hitting the Frost Piranha from up there, but he wasn't able to aim that well to get it. Tipral had to finish it with Star Magic.
After passing that pipe, Chopper jumped over the spikes and defeated the Dry Bones with a couple of fireballs. "That always makes me feel happy! Burning Dry Bones is fun, don't you think?"
"Yeah, I suppose," Tipral replied, helping Chopper get past the pipe next to them. They noticed three Brick Blocks near the pipe and also a red door. "Hmph. So we made it through all of that."
"No kidding. Let's head on through." Chopper panted as he opened the door to a smaller area with shorter pipes…with Frost Piranhas hiding in them!
"Doo bi doo bi doo!"
"Yeah, that's her all right," Chopper groaned, firing a barrage of fireballs at the Frost Piranhas. Past the pipes was another pipe at the end where Luvbi was floating above. She was smiling cutely as she thought about her prince.
"That's the girl we need to find? She doesn't look like any of the monsters we've seen!" Tipral turned to Chopper. "You fear her?!"
"Look, it's hard to explain. Why don't you go talk to her first?" suggested Chopper.
"Fine, I'll do that," Tipral jumped over the pipes and used his teleportation powers to get to the pipe where Luvbi was singing.
"Oh, hurry… Hasten to meee… Sweeet priiince…" she sang.
"You're not going to find any 'sweet' prince here, little girl," Tipral interrupted, making Luvbi angry as she glanced down at him.
"Foulness!" Luvbi spat. "What is this?! Thou art NOT the prince that I hath been seeking! Thou art too monstrous and hideous!"
"So this is why Chopper fears this girl…" Tipral thought, glaring at the Nimbi girl. "I'm not here to be your prince, you idiot."
"Talk not to me as though we have met! Speak now! What dost thou want of me?" Luvbi asked, acting like she was the superior one.
"Well, your mother wants you, and she also wants you to shut up."
"Thou came hither to find me? Pah! As if I would consort with a face so dark and hideous!" Luvbi huffed, sticking her "nose" up in the air. "I await a handsome and adorable prince! One that is more like Chopper! Understand? PRINCES ONLY!"
"You brat… You better not make me angry…" Tipral growled, clenching his fists in anger at the bratty girl.
"Oh, but hold on a moment… Ha HA! Dost thou claim to be the prince for whom I pine?"
"Do I have to repeat myself again? I said NO!"
"Priceless… Yea, verily…" Luvbi commented with an unimpressed look. "Very well then, hideous prince. Let us confirm thy linage. If thou art my prince, then surely thou knowest my name. Speak it to mine ears! If the name is true, then I shall admit thou art mine one and only."
"I'm going to make Chopper PAY for making me talk to this little brat!" Tipral thought, while Chopper felt like he was going to laugh at him for being scoffed at. "You're name is Luvbi. That's all I have to say."
"Ha HA! In thy face! My name is not Luv…" Luvbi soon realized that that WAS her name and soon her mouth was agape and her eyes widened. "WHAAAAAT?! H-H-How hast thou come by the knowledge of my name? No… Doth this mean…"
"No, it doesn't mean anything..." Tipral grumbled.
"Nay! Nay!" Luvbi retorted harshly. "Such foulness! The very thought cannot be abided! I cannot date someone who is dark, hideous, and monstrous! Thou art NOT my prince, you hideous, hideous thing!"
"Listen here, you little brat! You're really starting to tick me off, you know that?!" Tipral growled furiously, clenching his fists in anger at the girl. "I'm not afraid to destroy you, you realize that?! If you even TRY to insult me one last time, I'll destroy you soon enough!"
Chopper gasped and immediately jumped in. "Tipral! No! We can't do that! She's meant to go back to Queen Jaydes! You know… Her mother!"
At that moment, all of the hatred in Luvbi went away and she began to swoon at the sight of Chopper. "Oh, Chopper! Thou hast come hither to rescue me from that foul monster!"
Dreamily, she began to fly over to him, the hearts appearing over her head again.
"H-Hey! Get away from me!" Chopper began to back away from Luvbi until he bumped into one of the pipes. "Q-Quit calling me your prince! I'm definitely NOT whatever this prince is, OK?"
"But thou art the cutest boy I hath ever met!"
"I don't like the sound of that!"
"What the… Is THIS why he fears her so much?!" Tipral face palmed. "How pathetic… Chopper can't even handle being around her. Then again, she is unbearable..."
Luvbi began to feel Chopper's soft cheek, now that he couldn't get away. "Thy cheek is so soft! I feel like I couldst leave a kiss upon it!"
Before she could even kiss him, Chopper immediately jumped over her and landed over by Tipral, shivering in fear.
"L-Listen, L-L-Luvbi… Y-Your mother wants you to c-c-come back…" Chopper stammered.
"Pray, my mother wants me?" Luvbi frowned. "Why doth Mother always worry about me so much? Ugh… I guess I hath no other choice…"
Luvbi sighed as she flew away, making Chopper sigh in relief and Tipral to have a strange look on his face.
"I can't believe you actually fear her because she loves you," Tipral face palmed.
"Shut up, Tipral. Let's go back to Queen Jaydes." Chopper sighed as he made his way out of the area.
Queen Jaydes's Palace-
"Oh, Mother! There he is! That is my sweet prince!" Luvbi announced in a sweet voice as she smiled at Chopper, but once she saw Tipral, her smile turned into an angry frown. "And that is the foul, hideous monster that is with him! Thou art no prince! Thou art a liar! Thou approachest me at my mother's behest."
"Yeah, good going Tipral!" Chopper replied, only to receive a punch from Tipral.
While Chopper was rubbing his cheek, Queen Jaydes scolded her daughter. "Luvbi! Mind your manners! You know this all happened because you wandered off without permission! Now! Apologize to that nice, dark person at once!"
"You know, I wouldn't really consider Tipral to be in the 'nice' category…" Chopper trailed. "He did destroy a world..."
"Um, yea… Luvbi trailed sadly with her head down in shame as she flew over to Tipral. "So, ummm, yea, I am sorry…that thou art so hideous."
Tipral gave no response as Luvbi flew back over to Queen Jaydes, but not before giving Chopper a wink, making him gulp.
"Oh, Luvbi… You had us all very worried." Queen Jaydes smiled at Chopper. "Chopper. Please accept this as a sign of my eternal thanks. Here."
Queen Jaydes brought the revitalized purple Pure Heart out and gave it to Chopper, who was surprised to see it back.
"Whoa! The Pure Heart's back to normal!" Chopper gasped.
"Wait… How is this possible?!" Tipral gaped. "Do you…"
"Yes, that is correct," Queen Jaydes nodded. "I have power over life and death, you see. And with that power, I was able to use this power to restore this Pure Heart. I know not how you found it, but this Pure Heart shows that fate is on your side. Take good care of it."
"We will, Jaydes. Don't you worry." Chopper nodded while putting the Pure Heart away.
"And by the way, it may please both of you to know that your games are not truly over. Somehow, you were sent to The Underwhere while still very much alive… My power can return you to your world if you so wish… What would you like to do?"
Chopper and Tipral looked at each other with a surprised look. They were absolutely speechless. Nevertheless, they turned their heads to Queen Jaydes and nodded.
"Then I shall return you," Queen Jaydes's collar got larger as she spread it out. At this moment, she began to sing a little chant. "Mmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm! Jaydes, Jaydes, JA-JAYDES! OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOH! GAMEOVER GAMEOVER GAMEOVER GAMEOVER GAMEOVER... …CONTINUE!"
A dark pink star appeared over Chopper and Tipral as it began to pull them in.
"At long last… We'll be out of this world!" Tipral sighed in relief.
"Good riddance," Chopper smiled.
"Farewell, my sweet prince…" Luvbi trailed sadly. "I'll miss thee…"
With that, he and Tipral disappeared, leaving only the Queen and Pricess of The Underwhere to sigh.
Flipside Tower-
At the top of Flipside Tower, both Chopper and Tipral fell from the sky and landed on their heads, falling on their backs afterward. Their heads were slightly injured, but they managed to take the hit.
"Ughh… Thank goodness we're out of that place!" Chopper sighed in relief as he stood up. "I thought I was going to be trapped with that Luvbi person forever! It would've been a nightmare!"
"I would've had to deal with her insults again," Tipral grumbled as he got himself up. "Stupid little girl… I hope one day that I can strangle her."
"Chopper! You're alive!" a voice called out.
When the two turned around, they saw Tippi and a shocked Merlon walking over to them.
"C-C-C-C-CHOPPER?" Merlon bellowed. "But I saw Dimentio end your game… Then Tippi said you were here, so I thought I'd come and take a look, but… Wow… You're truly alive…"
"Yeah, we're both alive. It wasn't easy getting out of there, that's for sure." Chopper turned to Tipral. "But, I couldn't have gotten out of that world without the help of Tipral."
"Wait… Tipral?! Why is he with you?!" Tippi gawked.
"Calm down, Pixl. While you may think I'm here to destroy you all…which I wish I could be doing at this moment, I've lost the Dark Prognosticus and my scepter. My power isn't as great now. I'm just…how I usually am."
"We don't have time to explain about what's going on right now," Merlon broke in. "We'll explain this back at my house. You can explain as much as you want, Tipral."
Chopper and Tipral followed the Pixl and wizard all the way back to his house.
Merlon's house-
"So that's how you did it, then…" Tippi trailed.
"Yeah, I found Tipral and we both had one goal: to get to the Dark Prognosticus. …Only he wants to get it back and I want to stop it. But, we both want to stop Dimentio, so we made an agreement to work together until then." Chopper explained.
"And don't get all friendly with me," Tipral warned. "Just because I'm here doesn't mean we're considered friends. We're still enemies…it's just that when there's a bigger threat that we both want to go after, it's best to take care of that first."
"Hmmmmm… Now that I think about it, I did find something written in the Light Prognosticus." Merlon mentioned. "It said, 'The seventh lost Pure Heart will make the pale green hero and his evil counterpart work together…' But I also remember reading a quote that had to do with the 'dark one'. It said that the 'dark one' determines the fate of the Light or Dark Prognosticus…"
"The dark one…? You don't think that could be…" Tippi glanced over at the angry Tipral.
"Hmmmmm… I'm not sure if that's true or not…" Merlon trailed, looking at Tipral as well.
Tippi then turned her attention to Chopper. "Chopper… I never stopped believing you would return… But Kirby, Sonic, and Blade… How to proceed… Well, if you could come back, perhaps Kirby, Sonic, and Blade also can. But first, let's find a Heart Pillar where we can set this Pure Heart."
"All right, then!" Chopper nodded as he and Tipral walked out of Merlon's house. The Pixls also followed them as well, now that they were reunited with Chopper.
"So those Pixls give you strange powers… No wonder you were able to cause some injuries to me…" Tipral grumbled, looking at the Pixls.
"Well, since you're here… I might as well let you use one of them." Chopper gave Tipral Thoreau. "Here. I think you could probably use him to throw stuff at people. It's probably for the best."
"Fine, I'll take this Pixl. Now where do we go next?"
"We must take the Pure Heart to the Heart Pillar…" Tippi trailed. "If I'm correct, we need to go back to Flopside…"
"Flopside? What is this world, then?"
"It's Flipside. Apparently we're in between dimensions. It's kinda interesting…" Chopper walked over to the blue pipe ahead. "Come on! We don't have any time to waste!"
Flopside Outskirts, First Floor-
As Chopper and Tipral got out of the pipe that led them down to the first floor of Flopside Outskirts, they took out the two Squogs with their Jump attacks (Tipral can stomp on enemies too, you know). Up ahead, to the right, there was another pipe that they took to go lower down.
"What the… What's this block doing here?" Chopper raised an eyebrow as he rushed over to the block to his left. He simply pulled his hammer out and smashed it, but nothing happened.
"Well that was a waste of time," Tipral stated as he jumped over the pipe. He came across the wall, but he noticed that the top part had a little opening. "This should be easy."
"What do you mean?" Chopper questioned before Tipral grabbed his arm and teleported him to the other side. He saw a Heart Pillar right before his eyes. "Oh! Now I see it!"
Chopper pulled the purple Pure Heart out and let it go into the Heart Pillar, creating a purple clock that triggered a purple door to open at the top of Flipside Tower.
"Now what?" Tipral asked.
"We go back to Flipside Tower," Chopper pulled the Return Pipe out and they were immediately taken back to Flipside Tower.
Flipside Tower-
"Hmph. So you have a pipe that can take you back to this place? Not bad…" Tipral commented as they both jumped out of the red pipe.
"Apparently a purple door is right up ahead," Chopper walked over to the door. "I don't know where this door's going to take us, but I sure hope it's not where I think it might be…"
"Where do you think it's going to take you?" Tippi questioned.
"We can explain if that's the place we're going to," Tipral informed as he kicked the purple door open. "I don't want to waste any time right now. It's best that we go! Now!"
At that very moment, he and Chopper rushed straight into the purple door, hoping that things don't turn out to be bad for them…especially Chopper.
Dimentio's savage attack had separated Chopper from his friends… He had no choice but to work together with his biggest enemy, Tipral. But that still wasn't enough. Kirby, Sonic, and Blade were still missing. Just where were those three? And what new dangers lay ahead? It was time to venture through the door opened by the seventh Pure Heart. Once again, Chopper saw a nightmarish landscape beyond imagination…
Oh, man... Now THIS was a pretty big chapter to write. I really like this one because of the twists and the humor. And I know people might think that Luvbi doesn't seem in character with Chopper. ...But, she HAS been looking for her prince, right? I think it would make sense that she would act like that around someone she loves. Plus, a lot of times little girls will act like that when they're in love with someone, so it makes perfect sense.
Another thing with Luvbi being in love with Chopper... Some of the princesses in Greek Mythology fell in love at first sight with someone, so I thought it would be funny to parody that - except with someone who's not part of mythology (Chopper). Just like with Bow, Berry, and Vivian, it's not something you should take seriously.
So, what do you think is going to happen? With Tipral helping Chopper at this moment, do you think they're going to get along? Will Chopper ever see Luvbi again? Find out...in the next chapter.