CHAPTER 8-1
-The Impending Darkness-
The five walked out of the light gray door in the next world and noticed they were surrounded by darkness in the sky. They saw that it was a dark purple sky with all of those small squares of purple and black. The very ground that they were standing on was a black color with a white outline. It looked strange to Chopper, but the rest knew what it looked like.
"Wow… This is one strange world we've stepped into…" Chopper trailed. "I've never seen a world filled with such…black."
"So here we are at last… Tipral's castle…" Tippi trailed as she looked up at the large castle. Chopper, Kirby, Sonic and Blade nearly gaped at the size of this thing. They didn't know that Castle Tipral would be THIS big. It made things cooler with the torches on the poles and also the large door leading inside.
"Holy moley. That castle's MASSIVE!" Blade gaped. "I didn't expect you to have a castle THIS size, Tipral. I just… I just didn't."
"Yes, I know that my castle is big," Tipral agreed, but still giving the group an angry look. "Somewhere in that castle, Dimentio is waiting for me. I think he knows that I'm still alive. But, I'm sure that this Count Bleck fellow told my minions to ambush us. They better not have betrayed me."
"I'm sure they haven't betrayed you…" Tippi trailed. She fluttered a little ahead and continued to look up at the castle. "So, you probably ARE here, Blumiere…"
"Huh? What was that?" Chopper asked, walking over to the rainbow butterfly. "I thought I heard you say something…"
"Er… Never mind. I think we better get going…"
"Good idea," Sonic immediately rushed through the pathway that led to Castle Tipral. However, he stopped when he saw no door at the front. "Hold on a second… I don't see a door here!"
"That's because the door is in 3-D," Chopper stated as he walked up to the front entrance. "You obviously don't have the ability to flip into 3-D, so I guess I gotta get us all through there."
"Poyo! (That doesn't sound bad at all!)" Kirby said cheerfully as he made it over to the group. Once everyone was together, Chopper threw his arms up and flipped into 3-D with his group. Now they could see the large door before them.
"All right… Here we go!" Blade said as they entered the castle.
Inside Castle Tipral-
Once they stepped foot in the castle, Kirby, Sonic and Blade started to remember the floor and the windows. Yeah, this was definitely Castle Tipral for them. The black floor, the black torches, everything just made it look like something they remembered seeing before.
"Poyo, (Well at least this isn't the Palace of Shadow, that's for sure,)" Kirby remarked.
"Ugh… Don't even bring up that place, Kirby…" Chopper trailed. "That place was just…pure horror. Everything about it was creepy, cold and extremely lonely – especially with Riddle Tower."
"Heads up, guys," Sonic warned, pointing to a silver armored Koopa called a Koopatrol. "There are some Koopatrols around here. I don't know what stats they have, though…"
"Well, then let's see what Tippi has to say about them then," Chopper, using Tippi's powers, managed to gather information on the armored Koopa.
"That's a Koopatrol, a merciless minion wrapped in spikes and armor... Max HP is 15, Attack is 6, and Defense is 4. You better not try to stomp on it... Koopatrols tend to rush in and tackle, so watch out... Only the toughest Koopas are selected to join the elite Koopatrol guard... They have to sharpen those spikes every day. That's what it takes to be the best..." Tippi informed.
"Whoa… They're a bit tougher than before… But these guys are just normal Koopatrols, so that's… Well, actually, that's not good." Chopper inhaled the Koopatrol and spat it out at the Koopatrol patrolling ahead.
"It didn't quite get them," Tipral stated. "Although… I'm not quite sure that it would be wise for me to attack my own minions…"
"HAIL BLECK!" the Koopatrols cried out.
"Well, it doesn't look like they're on your side now, Tipral…" Blade trailed. "I guess you ought to fight them yourself."
"Fine, I might as well make them pay for betraying me!" Tipral grabbed the first Koopatrol by the spike and threw it over to the other Koopatrol, knocking them into each other and destroying them instantly.
"So, I guess we just have to make our way over to that door and we'll be fine," Chopper smiled, bringing his hammer down on a Koopatrol that was charging at him. Before he could collect a Shroom Shake it dropped, a dark enemy with light blue eyes and an antenna with a light blue diamond-shaped bulb appeared.
"What in the WORLD is that thing?!" Sonic gawked.
"These things remind me of the Darklings for some reason…" the pale green gumball trailed. "I'm gonna see what Tippi has to say about 'em." using Tippi's powers, Chopper gathered information on the enemy.
"That's a Blue Magiblot. These mad mages live in the space between dimensions... Max HP is 25 and Attack is 5. They only appear long enough to hurl spells at you... They use magic, so I assume they are quite intelligent, but nobody knows for sure... Blue Magiblots are known for their high HP..."
"25 HP?! That's just… Oh, come on!" Blade swung his katana at the Blue Magiblot. Even that didn't bring its HP to zero. "This thing has so much HP! That's not funny!"
"Poyo, (Well, I might as well try something to fight back,)" once the Blue Magiblot reappeared, Kirby inhaled its spell and spat it back at it, defeating it. Unfortunately, there was still another one around.
"I got this one!" Chopper hurled a fireball straight at the Blue Magiblot, scorching it and then allowing him to slam his flaming foot on its head. After one stomp (and one stylish move), Chopper defeated the Blue Magiblot.
"All right, guys! We've taken down those enemies, so let's make our way through the door!" Chopper smiled as he made his way through the door with his friends. They were now in a room with a staircase leading up to a door at the top. They also noticed some Goombas coming down the stairs.
"Goombas?! Are you kidding me? Come on, Tipral… THESE are the minions you have out to stop me! Talk about pathetic!" Chopper began to laugh hysterically before getting punched by Tipral.
"Ow! What was THAT for?!"
"You should know WHY I punched you in the face!" Tipral growled, giving him a cold glare. "Next time you try to mock me, I'm probably going to throw you out of this castle, where you'll be flying through nothing by darkness!"
"BUT, if you did that, you probably wouldn't be able to make your way through this castle easily. After all, I CAN flip."
"Chopper… You seem so… I don't know why, but you seem a bit happy ever since you claimed the white Pure Heart back in The Overthere…" Tippi trailed.
"Tippi… I'd rather NOT remember that, please." Chopper frowned. "That was an extremely sad scene I had to go through. I think it would be best just to move on. That's what Luvbi would've wanted anyway."
"Well… Yes… I guess so… I just hope that he doesn't try to cause havoc…"
"What do you mean by 'he'?" Sonic asked.
"Ummmmmmm… Nothing!" Tippi chirped. "Let's… Let's just move on, all right?"
"Well, all right…" Chopper started by knocking the Goombas out of the room by scorching them with some fireballs. It reminded him of how Mario would always take out enemies with a Fire Flower.
"Uh oh… I see some Boomerang Bros…" Sonic trailed, pointing to a Boomerang Bro. throwing a boomerang. Just because he felt like it, Chopper used Tippi's powers to investigate this enemy.
"This is a Boomerang Bro. These Koopas love to throw their boomerangs... Max HP 12, Attack is 5, and Defense 1. A tough foe indeed... The boomerangs fly back, so watch the back of your head... However, those boomerangs can be inhaled and spat back at them if possible…" Tippi informed.
"Poyo! (That's pretty interesting!)" Kirby inhaled a boomerang and spat it back at the Boomerang Bro. Because of its low HP, the Boomerang Bro. was easily defeated, allowing them to proceed to the next Boomerang Bro.
"I got this one!" Sonic performed a Spin Jump on the next Boomerang Bro. and then finished it off with a Homing Attack.
Before they knew it, they made it to the top. A Koopa Troopa with a red shell and sunglasses was walking around this area, but it was easily defeated when Chopper stomped on it and kicked it down the stairs.
"So… Where do you think this door leads to anyway?" Chopper asked.
"Well, I know for a fact that we still have some more stairs to go up," Tipral pointed to the next staircase ahead. "I suppose that we should check and see what's through this door first."
They all agreed and moved through the door next to them. Upon coming out of it, they found themselves outside, but they noticed there was a cliff over by the edge of the pathway. For some reason, Kirby remember this.
"Poyo! (I remember now! I remember being in this area!)" Kirby gasped. "Poyo! (This is where Dark had me cornered! But, somehow… Some white box appeared around me and teleported me to Flipside…)"
"Wait… You didn't say anything about a white box teleporting you here!" Chopper's antennae perked up. "All you said was that you were cornered and you somehow found yourself in Flipside…"
"Poyo… (Oh, well I apologize for not telling you that… I completely forgot that I was teleported back to Flipside. The only thing I don't know is…who exactly did that? That's what I wanna know…)"
Blade looked around the area. Unfortunately, he found nothing. "Well, I don't see the point in being here at this very moment… There's nothing around here. I think it's best that we go back in the castle."
"Yeah, I think we should," agreed Sonic. "There's no point in being here anyway… We should just explore deeper in the castle."
They left that are and returned back into the castle. The next pair of stairs had more Boomerang Bros., but they were soon trounced when Tipral teleported above them and stomped on them a couple of times, but not performing stylish moves.
"What? No stylish moves?" Chopper questioned.
"Stylish moves aren't my thing," Tipral bluntly stated as he opened the door. "This way, guys."
They walked through the door into another room that looked familiar to Kirby. "Poyo! (Hey! This is the room where one of those Hammer Bros. was brainwashed by Dark! Even that platform is up there too!)"
"What the heck are those things?" Chopper asked, pointing to the two floating eyes. One was a white one with a blue eye while the other was a light yellow with a red eye. "I swear that I've seen one of those in Merlee's Mansion…"
"Well, I say use Tippi to check 'em out," suggested Blade. Chopper listened and used Tippi's powers to gather information on both enemies.
"It's a Mr. I. These bizarre foes can't help but give you the evil eye... Max HP is ?. Attack is 3. It will shoot sharp glances at any enemy it spots... None of your attacks will work... Try flipping and spinning around and around it..."
"This is a Red I. They glare at anyone that walks by... Max HP is ?. Attack is 5. It will shoot sharp glances at any enemy it spots... None of your attacks will work... Try flipping and running around and around it..."
"Oh, yeah… I remember that Tattle of the Mr. I when we were in the mansion's basement…" Chopper trailed. "Hopefully I can take these guys out by running around 'em!"
Flipping into 3-D, Chopper ran around both Is. It didn't take long for him to defeat them, however. They simply disappeared out of thin air after running around them enough times!
"Well, now we can progress!" Blade walked over to the door ahead, but stopped. "Aw, crud. This thing's locked!"
Kirby looked up at the platform. "Poyo, (Maybe we need to go up there and see what's around there,)" he suggested. "Poyo! (I don't think I've searched everything around there!)"
"Well, I guess we should go up there…if we can get up there, that is," Chopper frowned.
Kirby simply floated up to the platform while Tipral teleported the rest of them up onto the platform. "Well, now you know how it feels to not be able to jump high without your Hi-Jump ability." Sonic smirked.
"Oh, shut up, Sonic."
They made their way outside into another area familiar to Kirby. "Poyo! (Yeah! This is where I was at the very beginning after being taken to that one world with the rest of you guys!)"
"Well, let's see what we can find here…" Chopper whirled over to Tipral. "This is your castle, right? Wouldn't you happen to know any secrets around here?"
"I wouldn't tell you if we weren't working together, but since we're both here, there's a ledge you can grab onto to your right. If you cross the gap up there, I'm sure you'll find a pipe."
"Oh, that sounds easy!" Sonic looked up at the ledge. "It doesn't seem too high up. I think we can help each other get across. Kirby, you should get up there and grab a hold on anyone who needs to make it up there."
"Poyo! (Got it!)" Kirby floated up onto the ledge and began to wait for people to come up.
"We'll start with Chopper, since he's probably the lightest," Blade lifted Chopper from the ground and attempted to toss him up. Kirby was lucky enough to grab a hold of his hand and pull him up.
"Well that worked out pretty well. Now two people…er, three can help." Chopper noticed Tipral managed to get up.
"You two don't need to come up here," stated Tipral. "It's just a little key, so I think it's best that you stay here."
"What? You're going to leave us here?" Sonic gaped.
"That's a load of bull!" Blade growled.
"Both of you calm down!" Chopper snapped. "Tipral has a point. He said that it wouldn't take long anyway. Besides, if we tried helping you two up, it would only waste time. We don't want THAT, right?"
"Well… Yeah, you have a point…" Sonic trailed.
"We'll try to make sure that things are OK, here, all right?" Blade asked.
"You two do that… Hopefully we'll be back…" Tippi trailed, turning back to Chopper. "I suppose we should get going then…"
"Yeah, we should," Chopper allowed Kirby to inhale him and spit him out across the gap over by the pipe, while Tipral used his Star powers to teleport across the gap and over by the pipe.
"Poyo, (Well, it looks like it's just us round-shaped people,)" Kirby stated as he made his way down the pipe with the other two.
Down the pipe-
As they came out of the pipe, the three found themselves in a small, long hallway with a couple of silver Koopa Strikers with their Koopa shells. But the one thing that caught them off guard was a Blue Magiblot.
"Ack! What ARE these things meant to be?!" Chopper exclaimed, getting struck by its spell.
"I had these things spy around the castle to make sure no intruders would come in and attack," Tipral explained. "But, since these guys are not on my side anymore, I might as well take care of it."
As the Blue Magiblot appeared, Tipral struck it with Star Magic and then with a Star Spear, successfully taking it out. "Now then… Those Koopa Strikers are definitely getting in the way."
"I'm gonna check what those guys area… They look a lot different than the normal Koopa Strikers…" Chopper used Tippi's powers and investigated the new Koopa Striker enemies.
"This is a Soopa Striker. These superstars of the pitch have cleats of solid gold... Max HP is 16. Attack is 6. Defense is 1. The way this athlete puts the shell right in your neck is truly inspiring... I hear Soopa Strikers never miss their goal..."
"Poyo. (Oh… So these guys are a lot more dangerous than a normal Koopa Striker.)"
Tipral skated his way through the hallway with his air shoes, striking each Soopa Striker with a Star Spear. In no time at all, both Chopper and Kirby saw that there were no more Soopa Strikers.
"Wow… That was neat." Chopper gawked.
"Poyo? (I wonder… Is he faster than you?)" Kirby asked.
"Nah, I don't think so."
"I've got the key," Tipral returned to the two with a silver key. "I call these Castle Tipral Keys. I know for a fact that it will unlock the door that we previously couldn't unlock before…"
Inside Castle Tipral-
"So you found these enemies called Soopa Strikers and found a Castle Tipral Key? Interesting…" Chopper finished explaining to Sonic about what was through that pipe.
"Well, now we need to get moving," Tipral pulled the Castle Tipral Key out and inserted it into the lock. It broke off and allowed all five of them to move on through the next room.
"Another one of these hallways? This really isn't a good design…" Blade trailed.
"I wasn't the one who designed the castle, genius," Tipral grumbled, noticing a couple of dead enemies lying on the ground. "Hold on, guys, these enemies will rise if you get close to them."
"Then let's see what Tippi has to say about them," Chopper looked at the dead Koopa with the rainbow light ray coming from his eyes.
"This is a Dull Bones. It's a lifeless Koopa that enjoys throwing bones... Max HP is 15 and Attack is 5. No matter how many times you stomp it, it will keep getting back up... I have heard that they are not too fond of fire, though..." Tippi informed.
"Dull Bones? I heard that these guys were much weaker than Dry Bones…" Chopper trailed. "Oh, well. I guess some fire will do them in anyway."
He hurled a couple of fireballs at the first Dull Bones and turned it to ash. Tipral took care of the other Dull Bones with a snap of his finger. There were still a couple of more ahead, but they were devastated by Chopper and Tipral's attacks.
"Uh oh… There's a Heavy Cursya there…" Sonic gulped.
"I'll handle it!" Blade took the Heavy Cursya out with one single hit with his katana. "I'm surprised that these guys are quite easy to beat…"
After dealing with the Dull Bones, they noticed some Magikoopas on brooms flying toward them. Sonic knocked one off using his Homing Attack and Chopper knocked another off with a simple jump.
"Poyo! (I'll finish this!)" Kirby inhaled a Magikoopa and spat it out at the other, defeating them in mere seconds.
"I see more Dry Bones up ahead…" Tippi trailed. "And I see a new enemy up ahead too… Maybe I should help see what that is…"
"Sounds like a good idea to me," Chopper defeated the Dull Bones with a couple of fireballs and used Tippi's power to identify the silver Jawbus-like enemy.
"This is a Gawbus, a beast that's even meaner than a Rawbus... Max HP is 20 and Attack is 5. Its only weakness is the glowing spot on its back... By now, you should know you can flip to 3-D and get behind it..."
"OR… Maybe using Flippay wouldn't be a bad idea!" Chopper used Flippay's power to turn the giant Gawbus around while it wasn't in its dog-like form. Blade immediately came into action by sending Hommissile at it and then tossing two shurikens at it.
"Man, these guys have a lot of HP," he groaned.
"Well what about the Dark Magiblot? That thing had even more!"
"Poyo! (But we still have two more Gawbuses to defeat!)" Kirby mentioned, pointing to both Gawbuses they had to deal with.
"Oh, yeah… We better take care of those guys." Chopper flipped into 3-D and used his hammer to destroy the Gawbus's tail in only two hits. He used Flippay on the other one to turn it around so its tail was open for them.
"This isn't such a bad strategy, I'll admit," Tipral stated as he stomped on the tail once and threw a Star Spear at it afterward. They then came across a door at the end of the hallway.
"Is this what these rooms are usually like? Because it doesn't exactly seem original…" Sonic trailed.
"Like I said before, I wasn't the one who designed this place," Tipral reminded as he kicked the door open. They were led into another similar room with the stairs leading up to a door, but this time there were Fire Bros. on the stairs spitting fireballs.
"It's a Fire Bro. These lethal Koopas spit searing balls of flame... Max HP is 12. Attack is 4. Defense is 1. Learning to shoot fire from your mouth must have taken some practice... Those fireballs bounce on the ground, so watch it very carefully..." Tippi informed.
"Fire Bros., huh? Well, maybe they can give me an ability!" Chopper jumped up to the Fire Bro. on the stairs and inhaled him. He was able to gain the Fire ability back on Underwhere Road.
"Oh, yeah! Back to having the Fire ability!" Chopper smirked as he walked up a couple of more stairs to the next Fire Bro. The fireball it spat hit him, but it didn't do much damage to him, that's for sure.
"Taste fire!" he breathed fire at the Fire Bro. and knocked it out of the room with one hit. Very, very easy. Although, he ended up bumping into a Blue Magiblot, which was a bit of a problem for him.
"Uh oh… Not these guys!" Chopper spewed out flames upon the Blue Magiblot. It ended up disappearing and appearing behind Sonic.
"Oh, I got this!" Blade finished off the Blue Magiblot with a swing of his katana. Afterward, they walked up to the stop of the staircase to find five torches. Well, only three of them were unlit.
"Hmmmm… For some reason, I feel like we're supposed to memorize this…" Tippi trailed.
"I guess this might be for something up ahead," Chopper took out a scrap piece of paper. "Anyone got a pencil with them? I could surely use one so we can memorize what the pattern is."
"Poyo, (I think I may have one,)" Kirby pulled a pencil out and gave it to Chopper. "Poyo… (Although, I don't think it's sharpened…)"
"Well, it's better than nothing," the antennae hero began to write which ones were lit up. "OK, so the second, third and fifth one are the ones that are lit. OK… Two, three, five. Two, three, five. Better remember that."
They found another pair of stairs with two Fire Bros. spitting fire down. Kirby inhaled one of the fireballs and spat it straight at the Fire Bro., while Tipral grabbed it with Thoreau and tossed it at the other Fire Bro.
"Now it's open for an attack," Tipral snapped his finger and the Fire Bro. was destroyed by his Star Magic ability.
At the top of the stairs, there was a ? Block floating over by the door. Chopper bashed it with his fist and an Ultra Shroom popped out. They all ended up splitting it into five so they could all recover 50 HP.
"Say… I wonder what would've happened if I actually used fire on it…" wondered Chopper.
"I'm pretty sure we'd be having a burnt Ultra Shroom then," Blade assured.
"What if we put jelly on it? Then we could have something nice! Like those Jelly Ultras! ...I wonder why we never run into those?"
"Didn't you have to cook them?" Sonic asked.
"Oh, yeah. That, and we don't have FP, apparently..."
"Poyo? (So are we going to go through this door or what?)" Kirby asked, starting to get a little impatient.
"Geez, you're almost like Sonic, Kirby…" Chopper opened the door into a different room. There were five unlit torches in the small room and a Save Block to the left over by the wall. Chopper hit the block to save their game and walked over to the five unlit torches.
"I suppose now would be the time for you to light those torches up…" suggested Tippi.
"Yeah, just let me get that paper out," Chopper pulled the piece of paper out and read the numbers. "OK, so I need to light the second, third and fifth torch with my flames. OK, not bad at all."
Using his speed, he lit up the three torches that needed to be lit. This triggered some stairs to be created to lead up to a door up on the wall. Unlike the other ones, this one was in 3-D.
"Well there we go! We can probably get somewhere now!" Blade smirked, jumping up the big stairs. Chopper removed his Fire ability and made his way up the stairs as well, coming across the wall.
"Hey… There's nothing here!" Sonic frowned.
"Actually, we gotta flip into 3-D to find it!" Chopper flipped to find the door in 3-D. "See? We just have to go through it!"
Next room-
"Whew… I'm glad we're out of that mess…" Blade sighed in relief. "I thought we were going to run into more enemies. I'm glad this room doesn't have anything here at all, don't you agree?"
"HARBLE-DEH!"
"Oh, geez…" Chopper smacked his forehead. "Don't tell me who I think it is…"
Chopper was indeed correct. Waiting for them in the room was O'Chunks, who looked like he was prepared for a fight. The heroes groaned as they walked up to the burly Scottish man.
"Slap me down with a slab o' mutton, I never would o' thought yeh'd make it 'ere!" O'Chunks gawked. "I'll tell yeh this, though, yeh shouldn't 'ave been such a fork in me rumpus! Now I 'ave to hit yeh with the full force o' me chunks!"
"O'Chunks… Were YOU planning on ambushing us?" Tipral asked with a cold glare. O'Chunks nearly yelped.
"T-Tipral?! What… What're yeh doin' 'ere?! An' why are yeh with the heroes?!"
"Look, it's a long story. I was forced to escape The Underwhere with Chopper, but even then, there was no way I could get back to the castle, so I helped him get the last Pure Heart so I can get a hold of the Chaos Heart!"
"Err… That's where yeh've been all o' this time?"
"Yeah, and I need to get moving. I need to claim my spot back from that person who might be holding it right now."
"Ehhhhh…" O'Chunks began to rub the top of his head. "Errr… Listen 'ere, Tipral… I'm on yer side, but I don't want teh make the count feel bad if I just took yer side an' fought against 'im. 'Tis wrong fer me."
Tipral frowned (although he was frowning from the beginning). "Very well. So be it. I guess I'm going to have to settle getting the Chaos Heart myself. I'm a bit disappointed in you."
"I swear that I'll come back teh yeh when it's over!" O'Chunks promise. He turned his attention to the rest of the group. "All right, heroes! Now it's time yeh get CHUNKED!"
Everyone prepared themselves, but one person scoffed. "Pfffgghhht! That's what all villains say…kind of like you! I mean, this is coming from someone who gets stomped again…and AGAIN!"
O'Chunks gasped. "'OW DARE YEH!"
Blade made his way past Chopper and faced the bearded warrior himself. "Yeah! You heard me, chunky! You're goin' down!"
"WHAAAAA?!" O'Chunks began to stomp in anger as he glared at Blade. "'Ow about provin' it, then, yeh small little shrimp! Right 'ere, yeh an' me! Wrasslin' match o' the ages!"
"You realize that ninjas DON'T wrestle, right?" Blade questioned, drawing his katana. "But, whatever. I think it would be a good idea to take you down, beardo! Yeah! I think I'll take you on alone! My katana hasn't really got into some action yet!"
"Blade… Are you exactly sure about fighting him alone?" Chopper asked.
"Hey, don't worry about it, Chopper!" the ninja assured. "I mean, this guy is just complete garbage! Remember the last time we fought this guy? He was a total wimp! Just leave this to me, OK?"
"Well… All right. I know that I DID take this guy on myself before, so I think you should be fine too."
Chopper, Kirby, Sonic and Tipral walked back into the previous room. Tipral decided to leave Thoreau with Blade just in case he needed him for the fight. Although, he didn't care who would win the fight. Tippi also stayed with Blade too.
"I'm gonna 'urtle into yeh with the force of a massive, 'airy comet, yeh great crybaby!" O'Chunks growled.
"Oh, yeah? I wanna see you try!" Blade smirked.
"All right, yeh asked fer it! CHUNK UP!" Clenching his fists, O'Chunks gained even more power, now being surrounded by a red aura that smelled kind of like meat.
"That's a nice, meaty smell."
"Bet yeh weren't 'specting THAT, were yeh?" O'Chunks cackled. "Where's yer flappin' mouth now, eh? It's time fer an old-fashioned no-'olds-barred…"
"RUMBLE!" they both shouted in unison before battling. Both of the fighters jumped back. O'Chunks was preparing to charge at him using his elbow, but Blade managed to use Tippi's powers himself to gather information on the bearded warrior.
"That's O'Chunks. He's even stronger and smellier now... How is that even possible? Max HP is 100 and Attack is 6. He can now perform aerial attacks... When you see him in the air, take evasive action... Just keep moving to avoid him. Well, Blade, now is your chance to settle it with O'Chunks..."
"You betcha it's my chance to settle things with him!" Blade smirked, tossing a couple of shurikens at the charging O'Chunks. However, they just bounced away instead, causing the ninja to get elbowed into the wall by the brute warrior.
"Gra ha ha ha! Oh, look at the poor cat!" O'Chunks grabbed him and attempted to squeeze him with his big, burly hands. "Yeh don't 'ave the chunks teh take me down!"
"Unnnngghhhh!" Blade struggled to break himself free, but he didn't something else. He coughed a hairball at O'Chunks's face.
"What in the… Why is this hairy ball on me face?!" exclaimed the warrior as he release Blade and tried to wipe off the wet ball of hair off of him. But what he saw after wiping it off was Hommissile coming straight toward him.
"Uh oh…" the explosion knocked O'Chunks across the room, over by the door they need to go through.
"Wow… I never thought that I would have a hairball coming out of me at that very moment." Blade wheezed. "I guess that's what happens when you're getting squeezed by some burly guy."
"Blade! He's coming back!" Tippi warned, noticing O'Chunks was jumping toward Blade.
"Oh! Whoops! Let me get myself ready!" Blade gripped his katana and swung it at O'Chunks when he got close to him. When the warrior tried to grab him, he jumped in the air and clung to the wall.
"'Ey! Come back 'ere, yeh big scardy-cat!" O'Chunks yelled, grabbing a chuck of the ground and throwing it straight at him.
"Holy…!" the chunk struck Blade and sent him flying to the ground. Luckily, he managed to land on his feet and attack O'Chunks with his katana a few times, leaving some scars on his arms.
"Yeh little…!" O'Chunks jumped over Blade and performed a ground pound on him, flattening him a tiny bit. When he got off, he grabbed Blade and threw him across the room.
"That Bowser guy was much heavier than yeh!" O'Chunks cackled. "Yeh really think ye'd beat me when yeh don't 'ave the strength that I 'ave?!"
"Who says that I need your kind of strength to defeat you?" Blade grinned, striking O'Chunks with a couple of shurikens. "You see, you rely more of brute force, right? Well, that's not going to help you in battle when you're up against a ninja."
"Oh yeah? 'Ow about provin' it teh me?!" O'Chunks charged at Blade with a powerful punch, but he ended up disappearing after making signs with his hands.
"Huh? Where'd 'e go?"
"Right behind you!" Blade struck him from behind with a kick, knocking O'Chunks over to the wall. Blade continued to strike him with his katana until O'Chunks regained conscience and punched him back.
"Try to get behind him…" Tippi informed.
"All right, I'll try something," Blade made a couple of clones of himself and they all attacked O'Chunks with kicks.
"Yeh better stop with all of those kicks, yeh stupid blue cat!" O'Chunks barked, attempting to grab him. Unfortunately, he wasn't fast enough to grab a hold of Blade, which resulted in him getting struck by Blade's katana again.
"Whuh? Why can't yeh just stop movin'?!" the bearded warrior growled, only to be struck by another slash from Blade's katana.
"Why would I stop moving? You're only going to hit me, you know." Blade taunted, kicking O'Chunks in the butt.
"Why yeh little!" O'Chunks grabbed a hold of Blade's legs and swung him around until he released him. Blade began to fly all over the room crashing into the walls, the floor and the ceiling.
"Oof!" Blade hit the ground and took some serious damage. "Wow… Even when he smells like meat, his attacks do a bit more damage now…"
"Gra ha ha ha ha! Now how does it feel teh get chunked, cat?" O'Chunks cackled as he began to do a stupid dance like before (and also a stupid pose!).
"Well…" Blade began as he got himself up. "Maybe my good friend Hommissile would like to show you!"
He tossed Hommissile straight at O'Chunks, knocking him back to the wall. Some soot was on his face and arms, but that was pretty much it. But it didn't stop him from charging at him again.
"Nope! Ya can't do that!" Blade pulled Barry out and defended himself against O'Chunks's attack, stunning him for a couple of seconds.
"I wonder what it would be like to use Thoreau…" Blade used Thoreau to grab a hold on O'Chunks and throw him. It didn't do much except for leaving him stunned, allowing him to strike him with his katana.
"What in me mother's gravy… What was that?!" O'Chunks gaped before jumping up into the air and performing a ground pound on Blade.
"It's…OOF! A Pixl…" Blade managed to get himself back up, but the thing that stopped him from attack was O'Chunks's growling belly.
"Don't tell me you're hungry again…"
"Whaa? Well, lookie 'ere! I think I've got some gas comin'!" O'Chunks clenched his fists as he rocketed himself up into the air with his…farting?
"Oh, this again…" Tippi trailed.
"Oh, hell no," Blade jumped out of the way when O'Chunks hit the ground headfirst. Luckily, it allowed Blade to strike him a couple of times with his katana before the bearded warrior got up.
"Wow… I can't believe I'm facing someone with 100 HP. This is almost like fighting against Shade Doom ALL over again." Blade grumbled to himself as he jumped out of the way from O'Chunks's punch as he got up.
"Stop dodgin' me attacks, yeh stupid cat! Get back 'ere!" O'Chunks managed to grab a hold of Blade and throw him up to the ceiling, nearly breaking his skull, but it definitely didn't stop him.
"Ugh… I gotta step up on this…" Blade pulled a Shroom Shake out and drank it to recover 10 HP. He then crushed it. "Well, this is all I can really drink, since I don't wanna waste another Super or Ultra Shroom Shake…"
He threw the crushed can down at O'Chunks's head, stunning him for a couple of seconds before striking him with his katana once again.
"Izzat ALL yeh can do?! Try somethin' new fer once!" O'Chunks rocketed himself up into the air with his farting powers and came down toward Blade headfirst…but missed like before.
"Don't you have anything else to throw at him?" Tippi asked.
"Oh, yeah! I think I've got one last finisher!" Blade's katana began to glow in flames. "I think this should be a nice, satisfying victory!"
As O'Chunks pushed his head out of the ground, he was ready to make another move. "All right, Blade! Now it's time we finished this!"
"Uhhh… I don't think so!" Blade struck O'Chunks one last time with a flaming slash attack, making the bearded warrior cry for mercy.
"HURRRRRRGH!" O'Chunks kneeled to the floor as his meaty glow disappeared. "Oooog… 'Ow did I lose this?"
"Well, because you relied on brute force, maybe?"
"'Ow could yeh be chunkier than I? Yer naught but a ninja cat…and yer not even bigger than me! 'Ow could I go on livin' with the shame o' it all?" O'Chunks slowly got himself up, but was still exhausted.
"'Ey, Blade! Let me keep me dignity as me game ends! Finish me quick!"
"What?! Hey, there's no shame in being smacked down by a blue ninja cat! You just rely too much on brute force, that's all."
Before Blade could continue, the ground began to shake. "Uhhhhh… What's that shakin'?" asked the bearded warrior.
When Blade looked up, he noticed that the ceiling was falling. Even when Chopper, Kirby, Sonic and Tipral walked into the room, they noticed that the ceiling was coming down.
"Uh oh… I think we came at a bad time…" Chopper gulped.
"GAAAACK!" Blade screamed as the ceiling crashed down on the heroes.
"We're seriously screwed!"
"Poyo? (Huh…? I thought that we'd be squished for a minute there…)" Kirby noticed that the ceiling didn't actually fall on them…yet. It was apparently being held up by something.
"Wait… You mean it didn't fall?" Chopper opened his eyes and looked up at the ceiling. "Whoa… We're still alive?"
"HUUUURRRK!"
"O'Chunks… You're… What are you doing?" Tipral nearly gaped as he saw O'Chunks holding the ceiling up.
"What are yeh waitin' fer! Get out o' this place!" O'Chunks barked.
"But… Why on earth did you try to save us?" Blade asked.
"Because yeh spanked me, 'ey! Yeh earned the right teh pass. Now I'm makin' sure yeh do just that! An' I… I don't want teh disappoint Tipral either. Yeh came 'ere teh get the Chaos Heart… Well, I don't want teh stop yeh."
"O'Chunks… I never knew you would be this…loyal." Tipral gawked.
"I made a promise that I would not turn against yeh! I…urk…don't want teh break that promise."
More shaking occurred and O'Chunks's arms began to tremble. "HURRRGGG! I… I don't know how long I can hold this up!"
"Man… You've got some serious guts to hold this thing up." seeing that O'Chunks wasn't going to hold the ceiling up much longer, Blade created a couple of clones to help hold the ceiling up.
"Blade?! What're yeh doin'?!" O'Chunks gasped.
"Chopper, Sonic, Kirby…and you too, Tipral," Blade began. "I want you guys to get out of here NOW!"
"B-But…" Chopper stammered.
"I said GO!"
"But we don't want to leave you behind, Blade. You've got to come with us!" Sonic cried.
"Look, I don't care what happens. Can't you see that I'm trying to risk my life for you guys?! GET OUT OF HERE!"
"Fine, if you want us to, then we might as well," Tipral was the first one to walk on ahead. The rest of the group followed, although Chopper frowned when he looked back at him before leaving.
"Hey! O'Chunks!" Blade called out. "You better get outta here too! Don't worry about me! I can make as MANY clones as I want and hold this all day!"
"'Ey! Yeh stole me line! Yer hands are quiverin' like a ladle of me mum's lard gravy. Don't be the tough guy! Go!"
"I can be as tough as I WANT! YOU get out!"
"No, yeh get out!"
"No, YOU!"
"HURRRRRG!"
Next room-
As the four made their way into the next room, they heard a loud thud coming from the other room.
"Uh… Blade…?" Chopper walked over to the door and attempted to open it. He turned back to the group after failing to open it.
"The door… It's not opening!"
"Oh, no…" Tippi gasped.
"Poyo… (That's…horrible…)" Kirby sniffled.
"I feel bad for Blade…" Sonic trailed. "He risked his own LIFE to save us all…"
"I can't believe I'm losing a lot of friends. …Although, I won't classify Luvbi as a friend, she, too risked her life, just like Blade." Chopper frowned.
As a small amount of shaking occurred, Tipral spoke up. "Look, I feel bad that O'Chunks had to risk his own life to save us, but we don't have time to cry over spilt milk. We need to get going."
Chopper looked up at Tipral. "As much as I'd hate to leave a friend behind, I don't think we have much of a choice.
"Are you sure, Chopper?" Tippi asked.
"Yes, I'm sure. I'm sure Blade as gone through worse. Even if he is somehow alive, he might be able to handle himself."
He sighed as he walked over to the Star Block ahead. With one punch, he smashed it.
END OF CHAPTER
An endless labyrinth of mind-bogging turns and deadly enemies… This journey to the Chaos Heart was more dangerous and trying than our heroes had seen before. Chopper and friends kept on without Blade, who was lost in a duel. There was no time to stop and search for Blade, or even grieve… Our heroes knew they had to rush toward the final encounter with Count Bleck…who the heroes all believe is the holder of the Dark Prognosticus.
Yeah, I know that when I first wrote this, this wasn't as long as it was now. Well, it's a good thing that I made it a bit longer, because when it's too short, it's usually not good (some people might say the same thing with a chapter being too long).
But, anyway... Let's see how things turn out to be without Blade on their side now.
I actually like this kind of place too, if you wanted to know. I think the Castle Bleck song's one of my favorite Mario tunes. :D