With everyone at the sixth floor, everyone had stepped off the clear pipe and approached the door before them. Beside it was a Save Block and Heart Block, the former being hit by Chopper.
"All right, this is it!" Chopper declared. "It's time to confront Grodus and get that Moon Star! Are you guys ready?"
"I'm ready," Vivian nodded.
"Time to open this door!" Tamber took out the X-shaped key and placed it in the opening. The X on the door began to glow red, and slowly, the door began to open and reveal the way.
"Whoa… Now THIS is cool!" Tamber remarked with a smile. "But there's a pretty long pathway up ahead that leads up to an elevator. Crud… Do we have to walk that whole way?"
"Well, there's a speed panel that can help increase our speed. I think that should help us." Chopper headed through the door and let the speed panel help him move faster through the long hallway. Everyone else joined him and managed to catch up. Unfortunately, that hadn't brought them that close to the lift.
While they made their way through the hallway, everyone looked at the glass windows all around him. Just like on the fourth floor, many planets could be seen from afar.
"Wow, this is such a sweet view!" Sonic smiled. "We can see all the asteroids, the planets, and, heck, we can even see Pop Star from here! Hey, is that Mobius over there? Man, I never knew I'd get to see my planet somewhere around here."
"Yeah, it's pretty cool that we can see our own planets from here," Chopper agreed.
Unfortunately, they did not have enough time to gaze at the planets, as they had finally reached the elevator. Unlike the other lifts, this one had a center made of mostly glass, and in the glass was another X-Naut emblem.
"Well, we're finally here… We're about to confront Grodus again..." Vivian said nervously. Everyone took a step onto the elevator, and it slowly began to take them up to the higher section of the room. It was large, round, and it even sported a blue rug leading up to a throne that was a mixture of purple, black, and yellow. The walls and ceiling were entirely made of laser-proof glass as well.
"Well... This is quite an interesting room." Flyer remarked.
"So... It appears you've arrived, Chopper..."
Everyone caught a glimpse of Grodus standing by his throne and got in fighting stances. He, however, did not appear to be fazed.
"Grodus..." Chopper trailed.
"It's such a pleasure to finally see you in person again, Chopper. I see you've brought some new friends with you, especially one in particular." Grodus glanced at Mario for a brief moment. "Honestly I'm not too surprised to see you arrive. I didn't expect Lord Crump to finish you off anyway. He's not really that tough when it comes to fighting."
"I guess we can agree on something... But how'd you get here?"
"Oh, that? It's simple, really." Grodus began. "When I teleported out of that chamber, I ended up here. It also happened to be a coincidence when I found Lord Crump on this same moon. But thanks to this moon, I have a much better fortress! But, you know, I haven't expressed my thanks to you, Chopper."
"Thanks? What for?" Chopper gawked.
"Thanks to you, that traitor of a witch is gone, and I no longer have to deal with her!" Grodus grinned. "As for those Shadow Sirens and Brothers… I have no use for them. I knew that they were just going to use me this whole time. I'm not that foolish..."
"Then why did you ask for their help?" Vivian asked.
"Well, obviously getting the Crystal Stars would not be so easy on my own. When you Shadow Sirens wished to return to me, I knew I couldn't reject that kind of request!"
"Hmmmm... Well, I'll admit, that was not a bad idea..." Flyer commented.
"But still... This whole time, we thought Grodus was dead." Chopper grumbled. "I guess that wasn't case..."
"True… True… But I'm not one to give up so easily! That's why I've gotten some stronger minions and a bigger fortress."
"Yeah, but that still didn't stop us. You see, WE got a little stronger while you were making plans." Sonic smirked. "So this kinda backfired on you if you were just sitting here making your minions stronger, while not concentrating on YOURSELF!"
"Gaaack ack ack ack! Oh, you honestly thought I would forget about myself? You are a foolish little blue…spiky animal thing." Grodus mused. "I've taken care of that already. After learning from my mistakes, I tried to find a weakness that should work against you!"
"Pffffffft! Yeah, right!" Chopper scoffed. "We'll just see what happens when we mop the floor with you!"
"Very well, then. Let us put this chatter aside and battle for what really matters. Now come!"
Chopper charged at the X-Naut leader and prepared to jump, but Grodus put his scepter to use and cast a spell. He sent a shock wave toward everyone, knocking them back nearly off the upper part of the room.
"I've been waiting for this moment, Chopper! Now we can finally put an end to our conflict! Now! Grodus X2s! Come out and assist me! Your assistance is required" Grodus summoned four gray Grodus X2s, and they surrounded him in a green shield. "Gaaack ack ack ack! These new Grodus Xs have a stronger defense, and they do EXACTLY as I say! This is the end for you, Chopper! Even if you were to destroy these, it wouldn't matter, as I could simply unleash my most devastating attacks upon you!"
"Well, just wait and see what we've got in store for you!" Chopper smirked.
Tattle: That's Grodus, the supreme ruler of the X-Nauts. Boy, it's been a while since I've seen this guy. Max HP is 250, Attack is 14, and Defense is 3. Those Grodus X2s have 7 HP, an Attack of 6, and a Defense of 2. Grodus will attack you with lightning, fire, ice and even water attacks. Seriously, his attacks can HURT, especially his arcane blasts, which can deal some serious damage to you. He'll also try to freeze time in order to allow himself some free attacks. Not to mention he'll try to use a confuse ray on you that'll make you confused. But, the WORST part about Grodus is that he can recover 50 HP when his HP is low. SERIOUSLY! That's just… What a cheap boss! Don't let this stop you, Chopper! You can do it!
"Crud… This isn't good. He's got that shield up and he's got a lot of HP." Chopper groaned. However, he soon remembered something during their last fight, so he turned to Vivian. "Hold on a minute… I remember you took care of those Grodus Xs. I'm sure you can destroy these too!"
"Well, I do know that my Fiery Jinx took care of them. All right, Chopper. I'm going to give it a go!" Vivian raised her finger and destroyed the Grodus X2s within a second.
"Gah! I should've made them resistant to fire! But, that's not a big deal…" Grodus pondered. Chopper shrugged and attacked Grodus with his Power Smash, taking 7 out of him.
Grodus pointed his scepter up to the ceiling, and it began to glow a yellow color. He then swung it swiftly and unleashed his powerful lightning magic upon everyone, taking 14 HP away from them.
"Gaaack ack ack ack! Now! Return to me, my Grodus X2s!" Grodus summoned two Grodus X2s that increased his defense. However, Chopper used his Ultra Glove attack and dealt damage to Grodus and his Grodus X2s, destroying them instantly.
"He's got a pretty high defense, but I don't think that should stop us from losing hope," Flyer flew over to Grodus and attacked his cranium head, causing him to cringe and lose 9 HP in the process, bringing him to 217 HP.
Grodus decided to try to freeze everyone in time – but that didn't work for him due to everyone guarding it. Annoyed, he summoned more Grodus X2s to increase his defense.
"If only there was a way to keep him from using them… I just WISH there was a way!" Chopper pondered for the moment right after he had equipped his Plasma ability.
"Hold on, Chopper… Let me lower his defense just to make this a little easier. It'll also take care of those two Grodus X2s that he's got with him! Just watch!" Shadower twirled his finger and aimed at Grodus. His finger flashes black, and his Shadow Smite had managed to eliminate the two Grodus X2s and lower Grodus's defense to 0
"Thanks, Shadower! Now this is where things get a little interesting!" Chopper shot a strong Plasma Blast toward Grodus that took 10 away from him. He was then knocked back by a strange power Grodus used by bringing the palm of his hand in front of him. "What the… What on earth was THAT?"
Grodus let out a cackle as he summoned two more Grodus X2s. "That is a powerful magic I hold within me!"
"And where did you get that sort of power from?" Bombette asked.
"I'm afraid that is top secret..."
"Well, whatever... Chopper shrugged and used his Ultra Glove attack on Grodus to deal 8 damage to him and destroy his Grodus X2s, while Tamber delivered a Combo Punch on Grodus, dealing 11 damage.
Grodus pointed his scepter up and quickly swung it to deliver a blast of fire energy at Chopper, which left a burn on him and also did 14 damage. "That was just a taste of some of my magic, Chopper. I still have more up my sleeve!"
"Man, with such a high defense, this fight is starting to become a REAL pain…" Chopper groaned after watching more Grodus X2s appear. Vivian was the first to attack, using a Fiery Jinx to scorch Grodus and destroy his Grodus X2s.
"Boy, do I have a present for YOU, Grodus!" Chopper walked over to him and with a flip and a bunch of sparkles from his feet, he lowered his defense down by three, but unfortunately, it only dealt 2 damage. "That's called a Soft Stomp, and it just softened you-"
"Yes, yes, I get what you mean. Anyway, I will make you regret that." Grodus fired an ice beam from his scepter at Chopper, but it ended up hitting Vivian instead, who became frozen.
"Vivian!" Chopper gasped, running over to her in shock.
"Gaaack ack ack ack! Well, it appears my attack missed the wrong target... But no worries. I'm perfectly fine with freezing her." Grodus grinned, summoning his two Grodus X2s.
"You're going to pay for that..." Chopper turned to Grodus and held up the Crystal Star. Using its power, he was able to create white webs around Grodus and cause them to explode, dealing 15 damage. This had managed to bring him down to 158 HP.
"Arrrgh! Very clever, Chopper... Using the Crystal Star I once held is not something I'd expect." Grodus groaned, just before he got hit by a Spin Dash coming from Sonic. He started by shaking the area with an earthquake spell that removed Chopper's Plasma ability and caused harm to the others. Well, except for the frozen Vivian and Shadower.
"Since he has no defense at the moment, I think I'm going to hit him again!" Tamber declared as he walked over to Grodus and, with three punches, he took 11 HP out of him. Chopper attacked Grodus using another Ultra Glove ability, bringing him to 129 HP.
"Gaaack ack ack ack! Foolish little antennae boy! You don't know what you've just done!" Grodus raised his scepter and cast a huge shockwave that ended up paralyzing Sonic and Tamber.
"Ack! No! I'm paralyzed! This isn't good!" Sonic winced, unable to move. Tamber was about to complain, but he he chose not to. The good news was that Vivian had thawed out.
"Ugh… What happened?" Vivian moaned.
"Vivian! You're OK!" Chopper said, smiling.
"Well it's nice that you're thawed out," Bombette said. "But we have something more important to worry about."
"Yeah, and I know what to do here," Berry smirked, using her Ruby Cyclone to deal 6 damage to Grodus and destroy his Grodus X2s. With them out of the way, Chopper took the opportunity to strike with his Power Bounce and brought Grodus down to 102 HP.
"So… You've managed to push me this far… Well, then I will no longer hold back! Let's see you handle THIS!" Grodus raised his scepter up and made a purple aura beam strike Chopper and his friends, taking 16 out of them.
"WOW… That…did a lot of damage…and my HP is pretty low. Not to mention Grodus's defense is back… Yeah, this is bad." Chopper pulled out a Jelly Ultra and ate it to recover 50 HP and 50 FP. "Whew! Well I feel much better."
"Don't try to worry too much, Chopper. We can do this. I KNOW we can!" Bombette declared, trying to bring some confidence back to him. In the meantime, she walked over to Grodus and detonated in front of him with her Bob-omb Blast. Unfortunately, due to the two Grodus X2s, the attack only did 5 damage.
Grodus used some fire magic and attacked Mario with it, which he successfully guarded to avoid being burned. The plumber destroyed his Grodus X2s and even dealt some damage to Grodus using his Triple Jump, dealing only 6 damage to him. Chopper, on the other hand, decided to switch to his Ninja ability.
"It's been a while since I had this on me, so I think now's the time to get back to using this!" Chopper rushed toward Grodus with a kunai knife and swung at him, dealing 8 damage. This helped bring his HP down to 83.
"A Ninja ability? I'm surprised you can even use something like that. No matter… I still have the upper hand!" Grodus began to cast a spell through his scepter and swung it in the direction of Chopper and his friends. "Go, comet! Destroy these impudent fools!"
Looking up, the group gaped at the comet falling in their direction. Scrub exclaimed, "Oh, come on! That's not fair!"
When the comet hit, the group had managed to Superguard it, leaving them unharmed and Grodus infuriated.
"WHAT?! How did you avoid that attack?! Impossible!" Grodus angrily summoned two more Grodus X2s during this moment. At this point, due to his HP, the group was feeling more confident. Plus, Sonic and Shadower had broken free from their paralysis.
"Ah! It feels good to move again!" Sonic smiled.
"You know, I think we can do this, guys! He's only at 83 HP!" Chopper made the first move, throwing two kunai knives. He hit the Grodus X2 behind Grodus and also him to take 8 HP out of him.
"Yo, Contadre! I got an idea! Watch THIS!" Scrub walked over to the Grodus X2 and inhaled with the help of his long tongue. He spat it at Grodus to deal 8 damage and destroy the other Grodus X2. This angered Grodus, making him hold his scepter up while gathering more magic.
"Take THIS!" Grodus swung his scepter and struck the group with a lightning spell while cackling. His cackling stopped once he got hit by a kunai knife by Chopper. The other Grodus X2 behind him was also struck and destroyed.
"Poyo! (I got an idea! It's kind of like Scrub's attack!)" Kirby walked over to the Grodus X2 and inhaled it and then spat it at Grodus to deal 8 damage.
"That's a real neat trick, Kirby!" Chopper smiled. "I should do something like that! ...Well, if my inhaling could penetrate through defenses..."
"This isn't over yet!" Grodus roared, firing an ice beam at Flyer, which he successfully guarded. Grodus summoned more Grodus X2s and his defenses were back up.
"Oh, forget this! I got a better idea on how to take him down!" Tamber pounded the ground with his fists and hit the Grodus X2s and also Grodus, which ended up doing 11 damage to him. Chopper had jumped on him, bringing him down to 38 HP.
"Woo-hoo! We've got this in the bag!" Sonic cheered.
"Just because you're bringing me down doesn't mean I'm going to give up just yet! I still have enough magic to take you all down!" Grodus used his Clock Out spell to immobilize them, but just like before, it had failed.
"Maybe you ought to use attacks that hurt us more," Berry scoffed.
"Next time, I'm using a stronger attack," Grodus told himself as he summoned two more Grodus X2s, which were unfortunate to get destroyed by Vivian's Fiery Jinx, and that allowed Chopper to attack him with his kunai knife.
Grodus simply scowled and he unleashed an aura beam down on Chopper and his friends, taking 16 out of them. But, once Vivian used her Fiery Jinx and then Chopper attacked with his kunai knife, Grodus wasn't looking too good. He was already down to 5 HP.
"Well, looks like it's over, Grodus," Chopper declared, aiming a kunai at Grodus. "Ready to give up?"
"Not yet!" Grodus raised his scepter, and using his magic involving a bluish green glow, he recovered 50 HP. Everyone was far from pleased.
"Hey! No cheap moves!"
"Gaaack ack ack ack! There aren't any rules, you know! I can recover my own HP whenever I want!" Grodus cackled.
"Argh..." Chopper clenched his fists and stomped on Grodus with a Soft Stomp (which sadly did no damage), and then Tamber delivered a Quake attack, destroying his Grodus X2s in the process. Afterward, Grodus created another aura attack from his scepter, but Chopper was lucky enough to Superguard it, which did not please the X-Naut leader.
"Well, this seems to be working in our favor!" Chopper created an electric ball and used his Ultra Glove attack to get rid of the Grodus X2s and deal 8 damage to him.
"Man, LOOK at you!" Tamber exclaimed, laughing at Grodus. "You're going to be going down soon with the help of my fists! Just watch!"
He charged at Grodus and struck him with his Combo Punch, taking 11 out of him in the process. This had brought him down to 25 HP.
"Gah! I can't let this stop me…" Grodus huffed, casting a fire spell on Tamber that dealt 14 damage. He followed up with more Grodus X2s, which ended up getting destroyed by Tamber's Quake, and then Chopper's Rainbow Spin had brought him to 6 HP.
"Ungh... I will not be defeated so soon, Chopper!" Grodus panted, now feeling exhausted from battle. One of his glasses had a crack left in it, and his robe was battered up as well. He aimed his scepter at Chopper and fired an ice beam. Though it had managed to hurt him, he prevented himself from freezing by guarding it.
"All right, Grodus! This is it!" Chopper declared. "You can give up anytime, and you will be spared!"
Unfortunately, Grodus had not said anything, but instead he aimed his scepter at him. Chopper knew he wasn't backing down anytime soon, so he charged at Grodus and finished him with a Rainbow Spin. The attack left a large crack in Grodus's cranium and scepter, and he had been brought to his knees.
Chopper rushed towards Grodus and with one Rainbow Spin Attack, he knocked the X-Naut leader back and sent him down onto the ground, dropping the Moon Star.
"Unhh… No… This…can't be…" Grodus groaned, dropping the Moon Star and giving Chopper 62 Star Points, which made Chopper level up and upgrade his FP to 85.
"It's over, Grodus. We've won fair and square." Chopper stated, staring down at the X-Naut leader.
The only response Grodus gave them was a small cackle. It had eventually gotten louder, which could now be heard by everyone. Many were left with confused looks.
"What're you laughing about?" Scrub questioned. "We kicked your butt!"
"This… This isn't over just yet… I was just getting started…" Grodus brought his head up and knocked Chopper and his friends back with a force from the palm of his hand. He was still staggering a little, but he still had some energy to stand up and cast spells. "All of the Crystal Stars belong to ME! That will never change! Even if I lost to you, I've still got a little something special! Take THIS!"
Swinging his scepter, he had struck Chopper with a lightning spell, making him spin and fall.
Vivian gasped. "Chopper!"
"Gaaack ack ack ack ack! Now, let us finish this, shall we?" Grodus was about to make another attack on Chopper, but Vivian raised her finger up and gave the X-Naut leader a glare.
"If you do that, then I will scorch you," Vivian threatened. "I'm... I'm not afraid to hurt you!"
"Well, now! It looks like Vivian is protecting her little friend, isn't she? You know, my dear… I happen to have discovered your betrayal just as soon as you had made your exit from my fortress.
"What are you talking about?" Vivian asked. Grodus took out a picture that had her and Chopper on it and showed it to the group. "No… That picture? How did you get your hands on that?"
"Well, I happen to know someone who was spying around. It was a certain X-Naut named Johnson, if I must say." Grodus explained. "I told him to go spy on Chopper for a little bit, because I wanted to know what you and your sisters were planning. Surprised? I would say that…"
"Picture?" Chopper asked while getting up. "Hey, I remember that when we got our first Crystal Star. Those were good times… But enough about that! Let's finish this!"
Chopper rushed toward Grodus with his hammer ready to strike. Grodus would've made his attack too, but seeing how fast he was approaching, he was left with no other option. He cast a quick spell through his scepter and teleported out of the fortress in a blink of an eye. All that was left was the Moon Star and a power device.
"Chopper! Look at THAT!" Flyer pointed to the power device. "That looks like something a robot would have! Like… A certain robot named C-2 Choppor, for instance!"
Upon realizing that, Chopper's antennae sprung up, and he picked up the power device. "Yeah, Flyer! This might be the thing that could help us get Choppor back up and running!"
Tamber had taken the opportunity to gaze at the Moon Star. "So this is another Crystal Star, huh? Wow, it looks pretty nice. Are we going to take it?"
"Yes, that is what we came for," Flyer nodded
Smiling, Chopper walked over to the Moon Star, and upon touching it, it started to circle around him. He held it above him, sighing in relief.
"Whew! We finally did it!"
You got a Crystal Star! Your Star Power is 16! And Chopper learned the special move Rapid Spin!
END OF CHAPTER
After many hours of exploring the dreaded New X-Naut Fortress, Chopper and his friends defeated Grodus and acquired the fifteenth Crystal Star, the Moon Star. Unfortunately, Grodus got away, and his location as of now is unknown. With Grodus out of the way for now, Chopper decided to wonder how they will get out of the fortress… They had no whereabouts on the location of Pop Star, and using the Warp Stars to travel would not help too much. Were they possibly stranded on Nautina?
Outside of Nautina-
With the defeat of Marx and the destruction of Nova, all that remained were the spare parts from the comet, and the lifeless body of Nova.
However, something strange suddenly began to happen. Power from Nova's remains began leave and go into Marx's body, causing him to become surrounded in a dark, gooey substance. It had eventually disappeared, and what had been created was a figure revived, yet different.
"Hee hee hee hee! I'm baaaaaaaaaack!"
Well, Chapter 15 has finally come to a close, and unlike Chapter 7, there was a fight against Grodus. And this time, Grodus was not messing around.
In the interlude, we see...well, some interesting things happen, that's all I will say.