Upon reaching the bottom of the staircase, they were all caught by the beauty of the palace's interior. The floor was made of blue marble, while the dark blue walls were made of a rocky texture. There were a few pillars holding the hallway up as well. Everything was all nice and dandy...until they noticed flames rise up from a fire geyser.
"Eep! That was close!" Chopper cried, his face nearly getting caught in the flames.
"Looks like things are going to get hot," Sonic stated. "It's not too bothersome. I mean, it's just one fire geyser..."
"Obviously there would be much more where that came from," Flyer remarked. "There usually isn't just one fire geyser. They tend to be in a lot of groups due to to the likelihood of there being magma in the-"
"Then we shall move onward then!" Chopper declared, cutting Flyer off, who had become a bit annoyed. They progressed through the hallway, dodging a few fire geysers that appeared from not only the floor, but also the ceiling. Near the door, a wall of fire geysers were blocking their way, forcing Shadower to turn them all transparent in order to get past them. With that, they entered the door.
They came across a small set of steps leading up to some flat ground. There were also some sections of the wall that would stick out quickly to knock anyone out of the area. Not only that, but Koopatrols in light blue armor were lurking around.
"Uh oh... Not Koopatrol Scouts..." Chopper groaned.
"Koopatrol Scouts? You know them?" Bombette gawked.
"Well, I ran into these guys before. Though, seeing as I ran into them in Chapter 11 of the first story, maybe they'll be much weaker for me!"
Mario took a look at the pale blue-armored Koopas, and their pale blue eyes caught sight of him and Chopper. The two jumped in surprise and got in a fighting stance.
"Well, would ya look at that? If it isn't Mario! And Chopper's even here too! Man, we're lucky people to find you here! I guess this means we get to pulverize you!"
The two Koopatrol Scouts charged at the two, but Chopper had used his electrical powers and hit them with his Ultra Gloves.
"AIIYEEEEE! It's shocking!" the two shouted, only to get finished off by Bombette's Bob-omb Blast. The pink Bob-omb landed back by the group, slightly injured from the explosion.
"Are you all right?" Flyer asked.
"Ugh... Yeah, I'll be fine." Bombette assured, standing back up. "I'm used to that ability. Just don't get in the way of it, though."
They found another staircase up ahead - two, actually. One was going down to the right, and the staircase below was moving to the left. Upon reaching the bottom, they were met with a door up ahead and a long hallway to the north. The northern hallway didn't really lead to anywhere, except for a crack in the wall. By blowing it up, they found a Shine Block containing a Shine Sprite, a chest containing a Volt Shroom and a hidden Star Piece under the floor thanks to Chopper's Spin Jump. After collecting them, they returned to the other hallway and spotted a robot resembling a hermit crab. However, unlike the ones in the temple, these were brown, and their body was barely seen due to the large, bulky rock shell on its back. It was revealed to be called a Rock Shell, and when Chopper hit it with his hammer, it didn't leave a scratch.
"Whoa... My hammer doesn't do a thing!" Chopper gaped.
Mario: They must have a very high defense...
Despite most of their normal attacks (except Flyer's), the Rock Shell didn't appear to budge. However, when Bombette exploded, it had flipped over, revealing its soft side. When Chopper jumped on it, he was able to defeat it.
"These are just like those Clefts!" Bombette recalled. "An explosion will flip it on its back and become vulnerable!"
"Well that should be very useful," Flyer remarked. "Perhaps more of these specimens will be here?"
"Maybe..." Chopper trailed, heading through the door ahead. They ran into a round room with a door ahead, and another north and south. The room also appeared to be moving around as well. At first, it looked all right, but then flames had appeared on the ceiling from the fire geysers.
"This...doesn't look so good," Berry gawked. "But I think we can avoid them, right?"
"I hope so..." the antennae hero jumped on the spinning ground and reached the door to the left. They entered that door into a room with a green ! Switch near the edge of the floor. Up above were some blocks barricading what appeared to be a fire stone. Down below, however, was lava.
"Poyo! (I think this is the first time we saw lava in this adventure!)" Kirby remarked.
"Hmmmm... I might need to come up with some sort of hypothesis for this puzzle..." Flyer trailed, taking out a tablet and writing on it.
"Dude, we don't have time for this stuff! We need to-"
"Hold on, Scrub. Formulating a plan is much more helpful than you think..."
After a moment, Flyer had formulated a plan and had suggested that Chopper get Sonic to retrieve the object if it ends up falling. Though, he informed that they would have to time it correctly. Scrub decided to give the green ! Switch a kick, causing the fire stone to fall. With that, Chopper kicked Sonic while he was in a ball and got him to retrieve the item at the right moment.
"Well that takes care of that!" Sonic grinned, tossing the fire stone to Chopper. "Way too easy!"
They left that room and headed to the door south. The first thing they found were some rocky platforms and lava below. Unfortunately, the platforms did not appear to be sturdy, as they had some cracks in them. Needless to say, the heroes were not too happy to see this room.
"Ummmm... I know this is pretty obvious and all, but I don't think we should fall..." Chopper gulped.
"Well look on the bright side, Contadre! The jumps don't appear to difficul-AAHHH!" Scrub stepped back as the platform before them crumbled. He let out a sigh of relief, glad not to have been on that platform. Strangely, however, it reappeared.
"The platform just appeared?" Flyer gawked. "But there's no logical way for that to-"
"No time for that! Jumping time!" Chopper declared, quickly crossing the lava with the platforms. He came back with what appeared to be a water stone. "That was too close!"
With that out of the way, they returned to the previous door and headed into a small room with a wide door. The left and right side had an empty space of what was depicted as fire and water. Chopper understood what this meant and put the correct stones in each, opening the door. Of course, there was also a hidden Shine Block high above at the top of the room, which was identified by its shadow. Chopper's Spring Jump helped get it, and afterward, they entered the room ahead.
Unfortunately, they were led into a hallway moving to the right. Why it was unfortunate were the sounds of shots being fired. It was quite obvious what was being fired.
Mario: I hear Bullet Bills...
Walking through the hallway, they saw a dark green Bullet Bill flying in their direction called an Army Bullet Bill. As per usual, Vivian's Veil helped hide Chopper and his friends from the oncoming projectiles. They were met with the Army Bullet Blaster and defeated it thanks to Bombette and proceeded through the door.
The next room contained a few Firebars spinning around a narrow pathway, and surrounding them was also more lava. Mario went first and leaped over the Firebars, with Chopper coming next and gaining some coins.
"Hmmmm... That Labyrinth Temple was pretty annoying, but on the other hand, this place has dangerous lava..." Shadower pondered. "Which to prefer?"
"If you ask me, I prefer this area," Sonic remarked. "I'm not that good of a swimmer."
When they reached the end of the pathway, they found no sight of a door. However, they did see a ledge up above. Considering that there was a wall on the opposite side, Chopper took this opportunity to reach the upper level and meet two Rock Shells. Using his Diamond Hammer, he managed to do away with them both.
When they jumped down one step, they noticed a beam of fire coming their way. Shrieking, they all jumped away from the beam and got to safety.
"What the heck was that?!" Bombette gaped. "We could've been singed!"
"Though, it looked like it could easily be avoided if we stayed low..." Vivian noticed upon seeing the fire beam fire once again. That's when the gears in Chopper's head started to work, and a light bulb appeared over his head.
"Tube time!" Chopper proclaimed, transforming into a tube, while everyone else was forced to join him. When the fire beam stopped, he rolled into danger territory and watched as the fire went over him. "I had a feeling this would work!"
When the beam stopped, he got out of his tube form and jumped onto a small step over the small tank gun shooting fire. They were met with a door up ahead. Along with that, they were starting to see pillars in the background rather than a cave.
"This place is starting to look less like a cave," Shadower remarked. "I'm all fine with that!"
Mario: Let's just hope things don't get any hotter.
Chopper entered the door first and noticed a hill moving downward. At the end of the rocky hill was a gate locked shut. However, it didn't seem to attach to the ground, though. Above them, however, was a large hole, and they could hear the sound of someone pushing someone. After getting a better look, they saw Tamber pushing a boulder.
"Let's see how you like being smooshed, Gumball!" Tamber grinned, pushing the boulder behind them, which started to roll after them. "You won't be getting my Star Diamond now!"
"Run for it, guys!" Chopper cried, running down the hill first. Everyone followed and reached the gate. Using his ability, Chopper slipped under the gate with his friends and watched the boulder shatter upon hitting the gate.
"That didn't look so strong," Berry remarked.
"Well, we could've probably stopped it, but it would've been too risky," Flyer noted. "What matters is that we're safe from harm."
"Hey, guys! Look what I've found!" Chopper announced, holding a pale red Crystal Star in his hands. "I found the Ghost Star!"
"Neat! That means we're only missing one more, along with the one star located here!" Sonic grinned.
They decided to move on ahead and found two more Rock Shells. Defeating them gave Chopper a level up, allowing him to upgrade his HP to 80. They then found a pedestal with a large, dark pink star embedded in its center. For some reason, it reminded them of the pedestal back at the Fountain of Dreams.
"Poyo? (Maybe this'll be just like trying to find a Crystal Star?)" Kirby wondered.
"Well, only one way to find out," Chopper declared, jumping on the pedestal. Suddenly, the star began to glow a bright pink, and a blue beam had come down on Chopper and enveloped him in it. When it disappeared, he was gone.
"What happened to Contadre?" Scrub gaped.
"Perhaps this is just a transporter," Flyer deduced, flying over to it and standing on it. Just like Chopper, he had disappeared from the beam.
"We should check and see where it leads," Vivian suggested, entering the beam next, followed by the rest.
Outside, near an altar-
"Hmmm… I swear the Palace of Secrets should be around here somewhere…" John trailed as he looked carefully around an old, brown temple. There were stairs leading to the top, and up there was a large, green star resembling a Crystal Star and also a smaller, brown star.
Lemmy took notice of the star and began to point at it. "Mmmgffh! (Hey! That's that weird star thing! C'mon! Let's get it! I WANT it!)"
John turned around, his tail accidentally hitting Lemmy's face and knocking him over. "Oh, trust me. I don't think our targets are up there. It's most likely that they're in the Palace of Secrets. Thankfully, I just found its location at the side of this temple.
Lemmy slowly got up and followed John into the temple using a pedestal, unaware of two greedy plumbers that were hiding behind a few bushes. They revealed themselves and stared at the Star Diamond with that insidious look in their eyes.
"Wah ha ha ha ha ha! At long last! That star is ours!" Wario grinned. "We're going to be filthy, stinkin' rich!"
"Yeah! More money for us!" Waluigi agreed, following his chubby brother up the stairs. However, they were stopped when Tamber landed in front of them. "Huh? Who's this guy?"
"That Star Diamond is MINE!" Tamber exclaimed, clenching his fists. "You losers can go take a hike! That is, if you want to fight me!"
"Whaa? Yours? Wah ha ha ha! Yeah right! Like you can put up a fight!" Wario cackled, flexing his muscles. "Haven't you seen these-"
POW!
The two plumbers let out a cry as they were sent flying off the island with one punch. Tamber grinned in satisfaction as he walked up to the top of the temple where the altar was, a splash being heard in the process. He took this time to gaze at the Star Diamond, along with the other star.
"Don't worry, Starry. You're safe in my hands." Tamber assured, hugging the Star Diamond. "Though, I thought I heard of something mentioning that brown star... I wonder what it was? ...Nah, must be nothing special!"
Palace of Secrets-
After being teleported, Chopper found himself higher underground, but the surroundings had vastly changed. There was no sight of any lava, and the rocky, blue ground had transformed into a nice, crystal green color. In the background was a sparkling waterfall as well.
There were no walls in sight, nor were there any doors. When he stepped off, the others had appeared and gazed at the place as well.
"Dude... This is awesome!" Sonic grinned.
"I find it very intriguing that there's an underground palace is this area..." Flyer remarked.
Unfortunately, they were not alone, as Demolition Phis were roaming around. They spotted the group and fired bombs, but the group did away with them with their usual attacks.
"More Phis here? Well this is going to be fun..." Chopper sighed, hitting a yellow ? Block to reveal an ultimate Shroom. "Ooh! This should be helpful!"
Mario: A silver Mushroom?
"Yeah, it's an Ultimate Shroom. They recover 100 HP!"
"Sounds neat," Sonic grinned.
"I bet those'll replace those Ultra Shrooms now that we have these," Scrub predicted.
They continued onward to the end of the area, where they found two red ! Switches and a door. Unlike the greenish floor, this door was blue with a hint of yellow embedded in it as well. Hitting one of the switches caused the door to open, but there was one small problem: another door happened to be just ahead, and it was sealed. Plus, the back door seemed to close quicker.
"Poyo... (This doesn't look so easy...)" Kirby trailed.
"You know, I think I might know what to do here," Sonic said, stretching his arms. "You thinkin' what I'm thinkin', Chop?"
"Well, I was thinking about finding the Sky Star, but I think I know what you mean," Chopper nodded, keeping Sonic in place as a ball and then hitting the switch opening the first door. Everyone hurried through and let Sonic hit the other switch, allowing them to progress through the next door. Sonic had barely made it through both doors, though.
"That was a close one…" Sonic panted.
They found two small steps with a couple of small Rainbow Blocks that Chopper easily destroyed. In the background was a depiction showing a small, furry being handing a brown star over. It was very old, and it wasn't very clear either. Flyer took a good look and pondered.
"That painting looks like someone handing a Crystal Star over..." Flyer deduced. "But the only thing being seen by the other picture are some white hands... Almost like gloves."
"Like gloves? That's very difficult to decipher..." Vivian trailed, only to notice the Sky Star was nearby, which made her gasp. "Chopper! The Sky Star!"
"Really? This is GREAT!" Chopper cheered, holding up the Sky Star. "Now we got all the Crystal Stars that were stolen!"
"Mmmmwee hee hee hee! Ah, thank you so much for finding that Crystal Star for us, Chopper!"
Chopper's expression had changed as soon as two Shadow Sirens rose from the shadows, along with a Duplighost landing near them. Most of them were less than thrilled to see them.
"Those guys again?" Scrub groaned.
"It's been a while, hasn't it, Chopper?" Beldam recalled. "Oh, yesss… We've been waiting to see you again! You do remember us, right?"
"Ummmmm... Not really." Chopper lied, more interested in seeing the witch's reaction.
"WHAAAAAAAT?! H-How could you forget US?! We are the thre – I mean, the mighty Shadow Sirens…with freak-sheet here… We've encountered you many times!"
"Guh-huh!" Marilyn agreed.
"Well this Slick's probably not too smart," Doopliss remarked.
"Quiet down, freak," Beldam silenced.
"Well, I take it you must be another one of Chopper's enemies, am I right?" Sonic asked, rubbing underneath his nose with his index finger. "I'm guessing you know something about those Shadow Brother guys..."
"I remember seeing that Duplighost before, but I don't think you told me about two other shadow beings," Flyer remarked. "Say... They look similar to Vivian!"
"Those two shadow beings are my sisters, Flyer," Vivian noted. "I'm the youngest of the three..."
"Youngest? But you don't appear to be the smallest. Then again, siblings can be much different in size and height..."
"Ah, Vivian, dearie… I almost nearly forgot about you. I'll make sure that once everything is all over, I'll give you the biggest punishment I've ever thought of! I might as well strap you to a train while being shocked! That should teach you a little lesson!"
"Don't even try to!" Chopper exclaimed, defending Vivian. "You'll have to get through me first!"
"Ah, yes... Obviously you must be taught a lesson as well. Well, I might as well get started." Beldam fired her ice magic at him, but Chopper hurled a fireball that managed to counter it, causing an explosion between both projectiles. "Ack! Marilyn! Freak-sheet! Do something!"
"OK! OK! …But call me by my NAME!" Doopliss groaned, flying up and coming down headfirst toward Chopper, only to be blown back by Flyer's wind abilities.
"Guh!" Marilyn was about to unleash her electric attack, but then she got bonked in the head by a stick harshly, leaving her knocked out. Soon, Doopliss had gotten knocked out as well when he got back up, leaving Beldam furious.
"Arrrgh! Who is responsible for this?!" the witch turned around in anger, only to be struck by a stick as well. The last thing she noticed was a small person in a blue hood carrying a stick.
"Mmmgffh! (Take that, hag!)" Lemmy declared, dropping the stick. With the Shadow Sirens and Doopliss knocked out, he began to dance happily. "Mmmggfhh! (Yeah! I knocked out those freaks I saw before!)"
The group couldn't help but gawk at the strange hooded being, with Shadower mentioning, "Weird... This person's the same size as you, Chopper."
"Hey... You're right!" Chopper realized. "Maybe he's a friend?"
"Who are you exactly?" Berry asked, approaching Lemmy first.
"Mmmggfhh! (I'm Lemmy, and I'm awesome!)" Lemmy declared.
"Did...anyone understand what he was just saying?" Bombette asked. "His voice sounds muffled..."
"I think he was asking for a Mushroom," Chopper deduced, handing Lemmy a Mushroom. "Here ya go!"
In response, Lemmy threw the Mushroom to the side. "Mmmmmgggffhhhh! (Heck no! I don't need any stinkin' Mushrooms!)"
"What was he saying?" Chopper asked.
"It doesn't matter what he just said. There's a more important thing at hand." John said, making his entrance by landing in front of the group. His appearance caught everyone off guard, including Lemmy, who didn't expect him to land so quickly.
"Whoa... Talk about surprising..." Sonic muttered.
"So... Who is the one named Chopper?" John asked, eyeing the group before him.
"...He is?" Chopper answered, pointing at Lemmy. John responded by attempting to claw at him, but he jumped just in time to avoid.
"Yeah... Not gonna work."
"Mmmmgggffhhh! (Hey! Next time, warn me when you're going to jump in!)" Lemmy shouted.
Mario: Who are you guys?
"My name is John, and this small demon is Lemmy," John answered politely. "We are dual Demon Beasts sent by King Dedede to destroy you."
"Mmggfhhh? (Who's King Dedede?)" Lemmy asked.
"The fat penguin we had met briefly before coming here... Then again, we barely had the time to even meet each other. But that's not important. We have a mission, and we plan to accomplish that."
"King Dedede?" Chopper clenched a fist and glared at the two. "I can't believe he's still trying to stop us..."
"Yeah, well, let's just get this over with," John decided, getting in a fighting stance. "We'll wipe you and your friends off the face of the earth!"
"Mmmggffhhh! (Yeah!)" Lemmy added.
Tattle: That's Lemmy, a poor little…whatever he is. Max HP is 140, Attack is 11, and Defense is 0. All he really does is attack you with a stick and a boomerang. Other than that, there's nothing too special about him. He's just a small demon...
Tattle: That's John. Compared to Lemmy, he sure looks like a real Demon Beast! Max HP is 160, Attack is 12, and Defense is 0. Watch out! He can charge and attack both you and your partner! I'd say take him out first before focusing on Lemmy. He's the REAL powerhouse of the two, and boy does he look intimidating as well! It'd actually be interested in keeping him as a pet to scare away any thieves in Rogueport if he wasn't evil.
Chopper started off the fight by taking his hammer out and attacking the two with his Diamond Hammer, successfully doing 8 damage to both. Flyer attacked with his Tornado next and delivered an additional 9 damage to the two.
"You pests!" John growled, rushing toward Chopper and attacking him with his claw. Lemmy tossed his stick at Chopper, who had guarded the attack. He then ran in to reclaim his stick afterward.
"OK... So they can do some serious damage together... I'd say we should handle John first." Chopper suggested.
"Good idea. Though, it's also a good idea to hit 'em both." Sonic noted before hitting the two with a Spin Dash. Chopper had agreed to what Sonic said, but he still wished to take out the bigger threat, so he jumped on John's head.
John had charged at Chopper again, but this time, he turned his body so his tail could smack him. He guarded the attack, along with Lemmy's thrown boomerang that could hit two people at once. Sonic had managed to guard the attack as well.
"Mmmggffhh! (I love this boomerang!)" Lemmy remarked as he caught it.
"See how you like this, John!" Chopper exclaimed, using his Diamond Hand ability to fire a charged electric ball at John, taking 12 out of him in the process. Vivian raised her finger next and scorched both John and Lemmy with her Fiery Jinx.
"Mmmmgffhh! (Owwie! This is going to damage my parka!)" Lemmy cried.
"Just shut up and fight, Lemmy," John growled, jumping in the air and bringing his feet down on Chopper to flatten him. When he jumped back, Lemmy ran up to Vivian and hit her on the head with his stick. This was something she was easily able to guard.
Chopper decided to equip his Tornado ability and used its power to spin in a tornado and hit both John and Lemmy for 8 damage. Scrub's Gulp also helped deal an additional 8 damage to the two as well. In retaliation, John attacked Scrub, and Lemmy threw his stick at Chopper again.
"I might as well hit John with a Power Bounce," Chopper muttered, approaching John and jumping on him eight times with his Power Bounce. Berry bashed John with her hammer and brought him down to 66 HP.
"Unghh... Well, you people are pretty good. That fat penguin never mentioned your guys' strength..." John muttered, now becoming a bit exhausted. "This should be interesting..."
He charged at Chopper again and used his claws to attack. Unfortunately, this attack was Superguarded, making him take 1 damage. Even Lemmy's stick attack was Superguarded, so he had taken 1 damage as well. Add the burn they both got hurt from, and they took 2 damage overall.
"OK, let's get 'em again!" Chopper declared, attacking John and Lemmy with his Diamond Hammer. Bombette had followed up with her Bob-omb Blast and dealt 10 damage to the two. This did not bode well for John and Lemmy, but they had not given up. John jumped on Bombette's head, and Lemmy threw his boomerang at both Chopper and Bombette. Being low on HP, Chopper ate a Jelly Ultra to recover 50 HP and FP, and Mario put his Triple Jump to use and hit both John and Lemmy for 10 damage.
"John's only got 36 HP left, and Lemmy only has 59. Not too bad..." Chopper remarked.
"Argh! I will get you for this!" John roared, attacking Mario with his claws. He guarded the attack, while Lemmy threw his stick at Chopper, which he managed to guard as well.
Chopper went in for another tornado attack, while Kirby charged into both John and Lemmy with his Fireball ability. John did not have much left in him at this moment. He himself was getting exhausted, especially when he attacked Kirby. Though he did full damage, his attack was not as fast. Lemmy did not have much of an issue when throwing his boomerang.
"Mmmggffhh? (Are you OK, John?)" Lemmy asked.
"Do I look all right to you?!" John hissed, making Lemmy recoil. Chopper had struck John with a Power Smash, and it was all over for him when Kirby finished off the demon beast with his Stone attack. This caused John to collapse from exhaustion.
"Mmmgffghh! (John!)" Lemmy exclaimed.
"Looks like it's just between you and us," Chopper declared.
Lemmy glared at Chopper and took out his boomerang. He threw it at both Chopper and Kirby to deal 11 damage, then he caught it when he returned. The antennae hero and the Wingel worked together as a team to attack, with Chopper taking 12 out of him with a Spin Jump, and Flyer using a Flying Attack to bring Lemmy down to 22 HP.
"Mmmggffhhh! (You people are seriously getting on my nerves!)" Lemmy shouted. "Mmmggffhhh! (All I wanted was tons of riches!)"
"What the heck is he even saying?" Bombette asked.
Annoyed, Lemmy ran up to Bombette and bonked her on the head with his stick. This did not go well for her, as her fuse lit up in anger and made her blow up in front of Lemmy. Chopper hit him with a tornado attack, and he did not have much else left in him.
Though Lemmy was weak, he did manage to knock Chopper's Tornado ability off him. Chopper was about to make an attack, but Berry had already finished him off with her Ruby Hammer.
"Hey! I was going to finish him!" Chopper complained.
"Well... I guess you were a bit too late." Berry replied, though she gave him a smile. "If it makes you feel better, I can offer you a kiss!"
Chopper instantly backed away in response and claimed his 45 Star Points. Afterward, both Lemmy and John had gotten up from being unconscious, though they were very weak. John, in particular, appeared to be in the most pain.
"You... You..." John stammered.
"You what?" Chopper gawked.
"You may have bested me, but just you wait... When the time comes, you will face against more of us. Some even stronger than me..." the Demon Beast let out a couple of painful coughs as he held his chest in pain. "Even some that I don't even work for exist as well..."
"What are you trying to say?" Sonic asked.
"I'm saying that you should watch your back, because you're bound to run into more. One, in particular, can even possess people and take over their mind. You never know... You may possibly run into it. And when you all suffer, we'll see who has the last laugh!"
A bright light had emitted through John's chest, and as it got brighter, he had exploded, leaving no remains of him behind.
For Lemmy, all he could do was gape in fear and run. Unfortunately, he had not been paying too much attention and bumped into the depiction on the wall, knocking him out.
"Boy... That was pretty unlucky of him..." Chopper trailed.
"But what John said... Do you think we should be on the lookout?" Vivian asked.
"Ummmmm... Well, we'll find out..."
With nothing else to do, the heroes had progressed on ahead to a staircase leading higher up into the palace. There were a couple of them to the left and right, with the final staircase moving to the upper left. They headed through the door into a small room with a pedestal to the far left and a statue of what appeared to be a furry being just like the one on the depiction they saw earlier.
"Hey... Look at that statue!" Scrub gaped while pointing at it. "It looks so cool!"
"I think something's behind it," Bombette noted, noticing a small crack behind. "I'll just blow up this statue and we can be on our way!"
Unfortunately, her trick didn't work, as the statue remained unfazed from the explosion. "What?! How did that not work?!"
Mario: I don't think your explosion is strong enough.
"Crud... I guess we can just enter that pedestal to our left..."
"Yeah, we should do that," Chopper agreed, running over to the pedestal. "After all... We need to find a Crystal Star!"
After jumping on it, Chopper was transported out of the palace. The others quickly jumped into the beam to follow.
Unbeknownst to them, the Shadow Sirens had gotten up and noticed that Chopper and his friends were gone. Beldam was none too pleased.
"Argh! That's great! We had that boy in our hands, but now he's gone!" Beldam growled. "How are we supposed to stop him?"
"Guh? Guuuh?" Marilyn grunted.
"Hmmmm? Ah, yes! Of course! There is always THAT! Chopper and his friends will be history with THAT!"
"Hey, what about that freak that knocked us out?" Doopliss asked, looking over at the unconscious Lemmy.
"Oh, him? Well, I would teach that brat a lesson, but we have no time for that. Let us go, my sort-of-lovelies! Marilyn! Freak-sheet! We have some other business to take care of!"
"Guh-huh!" Marilyn replied, following her sisters into the shadows.
"Aw, c'mon! It took me a while to get here!" Doopliss complained, making his exit afterward.
There's that small little cameo of Wario and Waluigi...
Originally, Lemmy and John were not going to be Demon Beasts. But, seeing that I didn't put much into King Dedede sending Demon Beasts after Chopper, I think it would be fitting for them to be that. There was no other explanation of their existence, so I went with that.
Next chapter is the boss chapter! Hmmm... I wonder who the boss is?