"What? Are these news true? Speak up, X-naut!" demanded Grodus, who was speaking to a hologram of an X-Naut Scout.
"Yes, sir. It is confirmed that Chopper will be coming to our base next." the X-Naut Scout confirmed. "He has acquired fourteen of the twenty Crystal Stars. If he takes our Moon Star, then he'll have fifteen in his hands. Sir, I have a feeling he might collect them all."
"Don't think like that, X-Naut. He may have many stars in his disposal, but he won't be collecting them all when us X-Nauts are there to stop him. Besides, I believe Chopper has come at the right time. After all, we have buffed up the security in our base. This time, he will have a much harder time getting here!"
"Shall we round up some of the troops?"
"Absolutely. If he somehow breaches security, it's probably for the best that we be prepared. Tell Lord Crump to help gather up the troops and prepare for an ambush! We will eliminate him and those friends of his once and for all!"
"But... What if this plan were to fail?"
"Don't be ridiculous. We've been planning for this moment! If all else fails, Chopper will have to deal with me personally. I can assure that I have reached new levels of power. I am even greater than the Shadow Queen herself!"
"Should we get the C Robos ready as well?"
"Obviously," Grodus replied sharply. "Even if my men do not succeed, I know the C Robos may have an easier time... They will eliminate Chopper, and then they will hand me his Crystal Stars! It's all thanks to a pathetic little robot that we have this army! Too bad he couldn't give us a hand..."
"OK, dude, I mean sir..." the X-Naut Scout trailed.
"Are you still here? You should be telling Lord Crump to get prepared!"
"Got it, sir!" the X-Naut Scout saluted his leader, and then the hologram disappeared. Now being alone, Grodus looked out into the glass wall with a glare.
"So, we'll finally meet face-to-face again, Chopper… I can remember the last time we first met. The feeling of rage has been burning inside me from my defeat! You've left me humiliated! I will make sure that in our next battle, I will not give you any mercy! Your fate will come to an end!"
Wingel City-
Things back in Wingel City had gone back to normal. Without the threat of Chillbi and the Aliebits, all of the Wingels had returned to peace. People could live their normal lives with no invasions and no heroes to help save the day.
Well... That's what could've been happening at the moment if a large turtle and an old hag came into the city, causing many Wingels to run in fear. Someone like Bowser was used to this whole scenario, but he couldn't help but cackle still.
"Gwa ha ha ha! Yes! That's it! Your new awesome ruler has finally arrived!" Bowser declared, raising his arms. "I, Lord Bowser, have come to reclaim what is rightfully mine!"
"Yes! And if you refuse to heed our commands, a severe punishment shall be coming your way!" Kammy grinned. "I've always wanted to say that..."
"What in tarnation?! Who are you to have the right to take our city?!" the Wingel soldier exclaimed, overhearing the two and approaching them. "We Wingels have finally had peace restored, and you chubby turtle and your ugly, wrinkly witch, will not disturb us!"
"Ugly? WRINKLY?!" Kammy gaped. "I'll have you know that I am as young and beautiful as any one of your kind! You should've seen me back in the old days!"
"We will not fall for your ludicrous attempts in taking over our city! I'll have you know that you will suffer the awesome, mighty power of-"
Having enough, Bowser jumped on the Wingel soldier, leaving him flattened. "Yeah, I hardly have the time for something like that. All I care about is finding those blasted Crystal Stars!"
"Hmmmm... Perhaps we should go ask the mayor of this town." Kammy suggested. "We did just that back in that desert! You know, this place looks like the perfect area to set up a little picnic! We could bring fried eggs and-"
"Kammy! What did I tell you about the picnics?!" Bowser growled, giving his assistant a glare.
"R-Right, Your Viciousness. Crystal Stars first, picnics later."
"Good. Now then, let us get to-"
"Hold it right there!"
Bowser turned around and saw two Wingel cops approaching him. One of them appeared to be carrying a baton.
"What's this? You guys dressing for Halloween or something?" Bowser snickered. "Go over to that ghost area, 'cause they don't mind."
"Excuse me, but is that your hovercraft?" one cop asked, pointing his baton at Bowser's Koopa Clown Car. It was right beside a house, which appeared to be damaged.
"Yeah, it is," he replied, crossing his arms. "What're you gonna do about it?"
"You do know that it is illegal to damage personal property. I'm afraid we have to place you under arrest."
The Koopa King gaped. "Wait... ARREST?!"
"Now you listen here!" Kammy shouted, getting in front of Bowser. "We are in the middle of an important quest! There's much more important stuff going on here!"
"Sorry, ma'am, but one cannot damage property. I'm afraid your friend's going to have to spend the day in the slammer." the second cop noted, putting handcuffs on Bowser.
"Wh-What?! You can't be serious! I'm trying to conquer the world here!" Bowser complained.
"Yeah, yeah... Tell it to the judge." the first cop said as they both took Bowser to the police station.
"Oh, dear..." Kammy trailed, now alone. "...I suppose I can wait by setting up a little picnic!"
Castle Dedede-
"So, Your Majesty... How are you feeling today?" Escargon asked, approaching his king's throne.
"I am feeling very good, Escargon," King Dedede replied calmly, soon giving him a glare. "However, I'd feel much better if you weren't in my way!"
"Oh, right..." the secretary stepped aside and asked, "So, how do you think the new Demon Beasts are doing?"
"I was just getting to that..." the king got to work and pressed a button to move his throne to get a look at his large monitor. As per usual, the Tartara appeared on it.
"Good day, Your Majesty. Are you well?" the Tartara asked.
"Yeah, I'm fine. How are the Demon Beasts doing?"
"You mean Lemmy and John? Well, we've received some reports that John was destroyed by Chopper."
"What?! That can't be right!" King Dedede gaped.
"However, we did not hear about Lemmy... If he, too, was defeated, he is surely still alive. Though, on his own, he really isn't that much."
King Dedede slammed his fist on the arm of his throne. "Then get me a new Demon Beast right away if he's already useless!"
"I'm sorry, Your Majesty, but we don't have any new ones coming in yet. On the other hand, you still have to pay us back. With you ordering Decoya, Lemmy and John, you owe us 3,400,000 Deden overall."
"3,400,000 Deden?! But… We don't have THAT much money!" Escargon gaped, grabbing onto the throne. "Your Majesty, do you have any bright ideas?"
"Uh… Why are you putting your hand on my throne? You know you can't touch my royal throne, remember?" King Dedede reminded.
"Whoops! Heh heh…" Escargon chuckled nervously, removing his hand from the throne. "Sorry, Your Majesty… I just got a little carried away."
"Must I remind you of the terrible consequences of not paying us back?" the Tartara asked in a threatening voice.
"But how can I pay you back the money if I don't HAVE that money?" King Dedede asked, twiddling his thumbs. "Can't we make a deal or something?"
"Well… There is ONE thing you can do… You can always try to eliminate the threat yourself."
"You mean you want us to get rid of Chopper?" Escargon gawked.
"Of course. Do that, and we can cancel your payment and even offer you Demon Beasts for free."
King Dedede's jaw dropped to the floor. "No payments and free Demon Beasts?! How come Nightmare Enterprises couldn't be like this?!"
"Your Majesty, should we really be listening to...whatever this thing is?" Escargon whispered, receiving a bonk in the head in return.
"Escargon! Didn't you hear?! Free Demon Beasts! That will surely come in handy!"
"Obviously that would be a bit pointless... Typical for you." Escargon muttered so no one could hear him. He looked back up at the monitor and asked, "So, why do you want Chopper eliminated so badly?"
"That is none of your concern," the Tartara retorted. "All that we demand is that you eliminate Chopper and bring his body here as proof. Then we will consider the deal."
"Now that I think about it, I'm sure Chopper will be back at the Fountain of Dreams," Escargon remarked. "Should we go there?"
"Heck yeah we will!" King Dedede replied with a shout. "Chopper's got the Crystal Stars, and we can become rich off 'em! Plus, with him eliminated, we can conserve our money and use it for whatever we want! C'mon, Escargon! We're going!"
Before Escargon could object, King Dedede grabbed his arm and began to run out of the throne room.
"Heh heh heh… What idiots." the Tartara chuckled before the monitor turned off.
Palace of Shadow-
Standing before Gemerl in the throne room was a black Phi with a hint of red on parts of its body, sporting intimidating red eyes as well. Compared to other Phis, this type of Phi far surpasses them in strength and speed. Though, the info it gave to Gemerl was far from pleasing.
"So, you say that the Phis failed to get the Island Star from Clearno Island, is that true?" Gemerl asked.
"Yes, Master Gemerl," the Phi known as a Master Phi confirmed. "They could not find its location, and most of the Phis on the island were wiped out by Chopper. Phimin, included, was eliminated."
"Phimin? Great... One of my commanders is gone. This does not bode well for us, especially when that X-Naut leader has his commander." Gemerl stood up from his throne and clenched a fist. "Argh! To know that my forces are decreasing is a huge issue if those X-Nauts plan to fight us! This is going to be a huge pro-"
The sound of a dark moan caught Gemerl and the Master Phi off guard. The Phi leader quickly got a weapon out to prepare himself for what was lingering around.
"Who dares interrupt me?!" Gemerl exclaimed. "Show yourself right now!"
The dark moan continued, though Gemerl didn't appear to be too fearful of it. Looking back at his throne, he noticed something. Moving it aside, he discovered a secret doorway.
"What's this? I didn't notice this doorway before..." Gemerl trailed.
"What shall we do, Master Gemerl?" the Master Phi asked.
"What you will be doing is staying here. I will explore this place on my own."
With that, Gemerl entered the doorway and headed down the staircase. The air began to grow heavier as he traveled, but as a robot, he was hardly affected. Eventually he reached a door leading into a chamber with many lit candles.
"A chamber? Here? What is the point of this place?" Gemerl flew over to the coffin and noticed its lid was not in place. "Looks like something was in here... Though I can still sense something in here."
"Ah, so the dark presence still remains in here... How interesting."
Hearing the voice, Gemerl stopped in place and looked around his surroundings. "Who speaks?! Answer now!"
"Let's just say I have a relation to this place. Let me tell you a little something, robot. You see that coffin you checked out? Something...precious used to be there. Unfortunately, it ended up getting destroyed by a plumber named Mario…and then that fool Chopper did the same thing. Your rival, Grodus, was involved in summoning this demon. However, he was 'obliterated' by her and disappeared."
"I don't care about any back stories, you fool! I just need to find the Crystal Stars so I can use its power to make all living things bow before me! That transformation is all I need to rule this universe!"
"But, at what price? You do realize that if you decide to eliminate everyone, there won't be much to do and you yourself may become uninterested. Do you want to live alone for the rest of your life?"
"Who ever said anything about eliminating everything in the universe? I'd rather make them my slaves. It will be us Phis ruling over all. Robots are much more superior to living beings. The idea of living alone for the rest of myself also sounds foolish."
"You do have one point, I'll give you that. I think I only know one person who wishes to live alone for the rest of his life after what happened to him."
"Sorry, but I don't care. I have other business to take care of." Gemerl stated, exiting the chamber. The dark voice chose not to object and faded from the room as well.
Rogueport Sewers-
In the center of the small town area of Rogueport Sewers, a statue was created in place. It had been there for the past five months when a certain someone discovered a pedestal capable of taking them to Clearno Island. Some of the people didn't seem to care too much, as they had already adjusted to the statue being there.
What they didn't expect, however, was a beam to fire out of the statue and shatter it. The eleven heroes had jumped out of the beam and landed on the ground.
"I haven't been here in a while..." Tamber trailed. "You guys have any idea where we are?"
Mario: This is Rogueport Sewers.
"Rogueport Sewers? It looks stupid."
"Well if we go to the surface, we'll find Rogueport," Vivian informed. "Though, it's not the nicest place out there..."
"Well, I'd like to see it!" demanded Tamber. "I don't care if you hate it. I wanna see for myself!"
Shrugging, they all headed up to the town itself. Tamber took this moment to look at his surroundings. The quality of Rogueport looked absolutely awful. There were a few thieves around, robbing a few people of their coins, and two Pianta gangsters were dealing with two Craws. It was overall abysmal.
"This place looks awesome," Tamber smiled, receiving surprised looks from the others.
"You...like this unsanitary place?" Flyer gawked.
"Yup! What? Gumballs hate this place? Then I like it!"
"OK... Well, I think there's something we should do at the moment." Chopper suggested, taking Tamber to Merlon's house. The Shaman himself was surprised to see him, though Tamber didn't like the look of his face.
"Ah, I see you've arrived. You brought back another friend for me to upgrade, am I correct?" Merlon asked.
"This old guy's going to upgrade me? He looks kinda stupid..." Tamber trailed.
Merlon ignored the furball and used his magic through the power of the Shine Sprites Chopper collect to upgrade him. A large amount of power had surged into Tamber, and he felt his power and defense increase.
Tamber's HP went from 50 to 120. He even learned his Super-Rank move, Rock Throw, his Ultra-Rank move, Power Punch, and his Diamond-Rank move, Quake, which allows him pound the ground with his fists and hit all enemies on the ground and ceiling. It also ignores defense and flips some enemies over.
"Did I just get stronger? If that's the case… Ha ha ha ha! I'm stronger than you, Gumball!" Tamber laughed.
"Yeah, yeah... Just keep throwing those at me..." Chopper sighed.
"Well, I can do 11 damage to any enemy when I attack! I bet you'd like to do that much damage, Gumball!"
"Whatever… Let's just get outta here and go to the Fountain of Dreams." When Chopper headed outside, he whistled and summoned his Warp Star. Kirby summoned his as well, and the two jumped on them when they arrived. Tamber chose to go on Kirby's proclaiming that he will never join a gumball on a Warp Star.
"I can't believe we're going back to Dream Land. I hope that I get to see Fumu there…" Flyer trailed, the dreamy look appearing on his face once again.
"Flyer! Please! Don't be like that!" Chopper gasped. "You know the dangers of...that!"
"Oh, relax, Choppy," Berry interjected. "I, personally, support this. It'll work well for not only Flyer, but us too-"
"Hey, I think I see Pop Star just up ahead!" Scrub yelled.
"Poyo! (Time to return home!)" Kirby cheered.
Fountain of Dreams-
It hadn't taken them long for them to arrive in the Fountain of Dreams. Everyone dismounted from the Warp Star, though Tamber ended up landing headfirst.
"Ungh... You dirty gumball..." Tamber mumbled.
"But I didn't cause you to fall," Chopper noted, looking around. He noticed Fumu back up on the hill where the tree was. "Hey! It's Fumu!"
Hearing the name caught Flyer's attention as he turned to the girl up on the hill. The rest of the group saw her as well, and she too took notice of them and met them at the bottom of the hill.
"Hey, guys!" Fumu greeted. "I suppose things are going well."
"Absolutely," Berry nodded. "We only have six more stars to go!"
"That's great!" she turned to Flyer. "So, how has that device been going?"
"Err... It's been going great!" Flyer replied, trying to sound confident. "I was able to work on it while we were traveling on Clearno Island. Hopefully that collar will be off you in no time."
"Or maybe I can just smash that thing!" Tamber suggested, a manipulative grin appearing on his face.
"No no no!" Berry scolded. "You're NOT going to do that!"
"That might actually do more harm than good," Sonic noted.
"What? C'mon! I can prove how awesome and ripped I am!" Tamber complained.
Chopper was about to raise a finger and speak, but the sound of a vehicle stopped him. Turning around, the gang saw King Dedede and Escargon get out of their car.
"Dedede!" Fumu gasped.
"CHOOOOOOOPPERRRRR!" King Dedede yelled, finally approaching the pale green boy.
"You again?" Chopper sighed. "Why at this time?"
"We have a bone to pick with you, Chopper!" Escargon explained. "First we're gonna crush you and THEN we're gonna take you back to the castle!"
"You can't do that! Why do you want him anyway?" Fumu asked.
"That's none of your business! Stay out of this or else things might be a little shocking for you." King Dedede grinned, reaching for a certain remote. Upon realizing this, Fumu backed away.
"Well... Now that I think about it, I do miss beating your butt, Dedede!" Chopper smirked. "I might actually have a fun time fighting you again!"
"Heh heh heh! Well, I think I might as well." the king smirked as he pulled out his hammer.
"You will regret messing with His Majesty!" Escargon exclaimed.
"...Hey! Forget that collar on the girl!" Tamber declared, turning to the two opponents. "These guys are a better fit!"
Tattle: That's King Dedede, the ruler of Dream Land. That hammer is HUGE! Max HP is 190, Attack is 13, and Defense is 0. He'll use that hammer to deal some heavy damage against you. He'll even inhale you or even jump on top of you. Luckily, he makes yellow stars appear, which you can use against him if you inhale them. As usual, he'll try to throw his own minions at you, which I find really weird… Personally, this guy REALLY needs to lose some weight. Seriously!
Tattle: That's Escargon, King Dedede's secretary. He's just a weird snail-like thing. Max HP is 170, Attack is 11, and Defense is 0. His spiky balls that he throws at you can be poisonous. He'll even offer King Dedede some food to heal himself with, so I think it would be best if you took him out first. Another thing mentioned in here is that he tends to point out Dedede's flaws, but the results usually aren't pretty. I guess that's what happens when you work with someone so ignorant...
"Well, considering the things Escargon has, I guess we should take him out first," Chopper jumped on Escargon and took 8 HP out of him. Tamber was about to punch, but he realized he could only hit an enemy in the front, and the king himself was the one in front of them.
"If I can't punch one of you, then I'm attacking you both!" Tamber punched the ground with both fists and dealt 11 damage to both King Dedede and Escargon with his Quake. Both of them nearly fell over, but they managed to maintain balance.
"Whoa! That weirdo sure packed a punch" King Dedede quickly shook his head and brought his hammer down on Chopper, while Escargon threw his spear at Tamber, who easily guarded the attack.
"Let's put the Island Star to use!" Chopper suggested as he pulled out the Island Star and used its ability to cause an earthquake. Like before, King Dedede and Escargon struggled to stand.
"Argh! Another one of these?!" King Dedede cringed, he and Escargon taking 20 damage in the process. Tamber added more to it with another Quake attack.
"Your Majesty! Are you all right?" Escargon asked.
"Yeah, yeah! I'm fine! I'll be much better when we clobber these guys!" King Dedede leaped in the air and landed on Chopper, taking 13 out of him. Escargon took out a piece of cake and tossed it to King Dedede, who recovered 20 HP from it. "Ahhhh! Very nice, Escargon!"
"Well, that cake must explain his poor diet..." Flyer remarked.
"How dare you speak that way to His Majesty!" Escargon shouted back sharply. Before he could say another word, Chopper had hit him with a Wall Jump, and then Tamber used his Dig to go underground and shoot up from below Escargon to take another 11 out of him.
"Escargon! Get me some of those sodas you saved for me!" demanded King Dedede.
"Of course, Your Majesty!" Escargon pulled out a Fast Shake and gave it to King Dedede. As soon as he drank it, he became dodgy. He even threw an electric spiked ball at Kirby to paralyze him.
"Poyo! (Hey! You can't go twice a turn!)" Kirby cried.
"Heh heh heh! I simply just took His Majesty's turn, that's all!" the lavender snail chuckled, only to get smacked by King Dedede.
"I never gave you permission to steal my turn, Escargon!" King Dedede growled.
Chopper performed another Wall Jump and landed on the snail to dish another 18 outta him. Tamber used his Quake once again to attack both opponents, leaving Escargon with 62 HP. King Dedede inhaled Chopper and spat him out at Tamber, while Escargon charged at Vivian with his spear, even if she was able to guard the attack.
Conjuring up an electric ball, Chopper hurled it directly at Escargon, while Bob-omb joined in and attacked them both with a Bob-omb Blast. Angry at this, King Dedede charged directly at them both, but he didn't see the rock coming and tripped. On the plus side, he fell over Chopper and Bombette.
"Ungh... What the heck?! This stupid rock was here!" King Dedede shouted angrily, kicking the rock. It bounced off a tree and hit Escargon's eye, causing him to yelp in pain.
"YEOW! Your Majesty! Watch where you kick!" Escargon cried.
"Oops..."
Rubbing his eye, Escargon took out a flaming spike ball and hurled it at Bombette. She put her guard up and prevented herself from getting burned. Kirby ended up shaking off the paralysis, so he left both King Dedede and Escargon with a burn thanks to his Fireball attack. Chopper added a Spring Jump to Escargon and he was down to 36 HP.
"You're going to pay for that, Kirby!" King Dedede growled, jumping in the air and flattening the pink puffball. Escargon threw a spear at him as well, but Kirby saw it coming and Superguarded it just on time.
After Chopper hit them both with his Diamond Hammer, Tamber punched the ground again and took 11 out of the two. One thing for certain was that Escargon was going down pretty soon. Unfortunately for them, their attacks were easily Superguarded by Chopper, with both of them taking 1 damage upon physical contact.
With Chopper's Jump attack and Tamber's Quake, Escargon had fallen.
"Forgive me, Your Majesty… I've failed you…" Escargon moaned.
"Whoa, I'm already down to 105 HP? Great… Now you've made me mad!" King Dedede jumped on Chopper and took 13 HP from him.
"Oh, boy… This isn't good! Wait, hold on a moment. I got some Jelly Ultraz!" Chopper smiled.
"...I don't know what to say about that," Shadower stated.
"It doesn't matter," Chopper replied, eating the Jelly Ultra and recovering 50 HP and FP. Meanwhile, Tamber ran up to King Dedede and landed his Combo Punch on him. He punched him twice, with his third attack ending with an uppercut and had taken 11 HP out of him. Afterward, Tamber went back to his friends to brag. Well, not until King Dedede jumped on him.
"You know, I still think you should lose some weight," Chopper remarked.
"I don't need to lose weight! I'm in perfect shape!" King Dedede declared. Chopper shrugged and he inhaled one of the stars created by him and spat it at the king, leaving him with only 86 HP. Once Tamber attacked with his punches, King Dedede was left with only 75 HP. So what did this fat penguin do? He brought his hammer down on Chopper and took another 13 out of him.
"Wow, that did hurt…" Chopper shrugged and threw an electric ball at King Dedede, while Tamber attacked with his Combo Punch. At this point, the king was started to feel exhausted.
"You know, now that I think about it... I still never got to use my minions against you! Well, looks like that time has come!" King Dedede grinned, summoning a Waddle Dee and throwing it at Chopper. He then threw a Waddle Doo at Tamber, but then Chopper followed up by hitting him with an electric ball. This made King Dedede's face turn red with anger. "YEOOW! Seriously, HOW did you get that electric attack? In fact, how did you get a new hammer?! You didn't have this stuff before!"
"Well, I just got stronger..."
"Who cares about that? Beating your butt is my priority!" Tamber declared, landing another Combo Punch on King Dedede to bring him down to 35 HP.
"I should get you outta the way first," King Dedede knocked Tamber back with his hammer and then walked over to Chopper and brought his hammer up.
"Oh no ya don't!" Chopper brought his hammer down on King Dedede's foot, causing him to yelp, while Tamber got back up and punched him. He wasn't too far from defeat now...
"Grrr!" King Dedede rubbed his foot and whacked Chopper with his hammer, knocking him to the ground. While he struggled to get up, he did manage to strike him with an electric ball, weakening him just enough to be defeated.
"Ouch… Tamber, get him!"
"Heh heh! Of course!" Tamber grinned, clenching his fists tightly as he charged at King Dedede. With a single punch, he was able to send him flying toward a tree behind him. The force was even strong enough to break the tree as well.
"Woo! 42 Star Points!" Chopper cheered.
"Unnghhh... What was that all about?" King Dedede moaned, only to fall unconscious like his assistant. With the coast being clear, Fumu had finally approached them.
"That punch was amazing!" Fumu gasped, looking over at Tamber. "That kind of strength isn't common for people your age..."
"Well, it's because I'm awesome and cool," Tamber grinned. "No gumball could ever do that!"
"Errrr... Yeah, sure." Chopper sighed. "Maybe you should go back to the village or something. I don't think those two will be knocked out long enough."
"I was planning on that. It was great to see you guys again." With that, Fumu headed off, but she noticed Flyer waving goodbye. She gave him a little smile as she waved goodbye as well.
"You like that weirdo?" Tamber asked, noticing Flyer's expression.
"Well... Ummm..." Flyer stammered.
"PBBBBBBBTTHHH! BAH HA HA HA! What a dork! ...Well, then again, that gumball's the bigger dork."
"Hey, man! Contadre ain't a dork!" Scrub defended. "He's one of the coolest people out there!"
"Well, I'm cooler."
Choosing to ignore him, Chopper jumped onto the pedestal and held the Island Star above him. Tamber's bullying was interrupted when he gazed upon the ritual before him.
"Whoa... What IS that?!"
"This happens when we get a new Crystal Star," Vivian answered.
When the process was finished, Chopper discovered a yellow Crystal Star up on a purple moon in some kind of fortress. The moon looked much smaller than the other one. ...Or was it just due to distance?
"Fascinating..." Flyer gasped, getting a glimpse of the map. "Just look at the next Crystal Star location!"
"What? Lemme see!" Tamber pushed Flyer off the pedestal and snatched the map from Chopper. "It looks like some yellow star's located on a purple ball in this map! Where the heck is that?!"
Chopper took the map back from him and answered, "Well, we just need to go see Professor Frankly about this. Usually he knows about these locations."
Frankly's house-
"Hrrmmmm… HRRRMMMMM… This one looks very confusing. That fortress there reminds me of the X-Naut Fortress on the moon." Frankly deduced, studying the map very carefully. "If you said that the X-Nauts have finally returned, then perhaps this is where their new base is."
"New base? They've already made a new one already?" Chopper gawked. "Don't those things take like...a long time?"
"Some large fortresses tend to take many years," Flyer remarked. "But perhaps these X-Nauts possess the technology to make a fortress in a lesser amount of time?"
"Perhaps that is more likely," Frankly stated. "But if those X-Nauts have the Crystal Star, then surely they will be preparing for your arrival. It would be best to be on guard."
"Well I can just smash our way through," Tamber declared. "I'm pretty good at that!"
"Hold on a moment, Tamber. We can't just smash our way through." Flyer cut in. "Haven't you ever heard of 'strategy'?"
"...Nope."
"Well, first we need to know where this moon is and how we get to it," Shadower noted. "I don't know if the Fahr Outpost cannon would help us get there... Plus, I think they said something about it being overheated. Do you have any ideas, Frankly?"
"Let me think for a moment…" Frankly pondered. "Hrmmm… I think… No, that wouldn't be it. How about… No, not a good thing. Oh! AH-HA! I think…"
"You think what?" Berry asked.
"I DON'T KNOW!"
Everyone fell over in frustration, but they quickly stood back up and gave Frankly an annoyed look.
"Oh, you gotta be kidding me! You're telling us that you have NO clue on what to do?!" Tamber complained. "I thought you were some smart professor guy!"
"Well, I THINK I have a suggestion, but you better listen up," Frankly suggested. "Are all of you ready? And you there! In front of the computer! You listen up too!"
"Did someone pile-drive your head or something?" Scrub gawked. "I don't see a computer around here!"
"OH, NEVER YOU MIND! Don't worry about such trivial details! Sheesh! Anyway, the only place I would recommend is going back to the planet where you locate the Crystal Stars. Unfortunately, other than that, I don't have as many ideas. There's not much else around Rogueport that can help reach a moon far from here."
"Poyo! (Then back to Dream Land we go!)" Kirby cheered.
"Well, I guess we don't have much of a choice," Bombette said.
"If that's our only option, then we shall return to Dream Land," Chopper smiled. "Besides, I've always wanted to start a chapter in Pop Star! This should be fun!"
Mario: We could probably see more of the planet too!
The eleven heroes left, saying their goodbyes to Frankly. Both Chopper and Kirby let out a whistle, and both Warp Stars came flying their way. Everyone got on and headed off back to Pop Star. One thing for sure was that it wasn't going to be easy.