Daytime had finally come, and all of the passengers on the ship were fast asleep. That was, until the sound of the loudspeakers went off.
"Good morning, cruise passengers! How did you sleep, last night? This is your captain, speaking. We only have 48 hours left until we reach Viti, so please, enjoy yourselves for now and go to some of our activities, or perhaps even get yourself your own foot massage at the spa!"
Sonic opened his eyes and stretched. "Whew! Now THAT was a good night's sleep! Man, last night was pretty nice when I walked outside. I wonder what it's like outside…"
He walked over to the window and opened the curtains. The sun's rays came through the window and lightened up the room, waking up Kirby, Shadower and Mario.
"Ack! Sonic! Don't open those curtains! The sun's getting in my eyes thanks to you!" Shadower shouted, covering his eyes. Kirby nodded in agreement, since they couldn't understand him.
"Yeah, Sonic! Don't open the curtains when we're asleep!" Mario scolded. "You're gonna get the sun in our eyes! Close those curtains before someone becomes blind!"
"OK, fine," Sonic shrugged, approaching the curtains to close him. He, along with Kirby and Shadower, suddenly froze and turned to Mario.
"Poyo? (Did Mario just…talk?)" Kirby asked.
"Of course I can talk! I'm-a Mario, for Pete's sake!" Mario declared. "I've been talking this whole time! Don't you remember me talking? It was very quiet!"
"Errrmmmm… I don't know what to say, Mario…" Sonic said, shrugging. Shadower got up and took his comb out to fix his afro, followed by putting his hat on.
"Well, I guess we should wait until Chopper gives us the cue to come down for breakfast, wouldn't you say?" Shadower wondered, adjusting his hat.
"Maybe we should just go out and get some food ourselves!" Mario suggested. "After all, we do need to fill our stomachs!"
Everyone looked at each other in confusion, but they eventually agreed and went out to get some breakfast themselves.
Room 777-
Because of the loudspeaker, the girls were slowly getting up. Berry had gotten up first, giving her Chopper plushie a hug. "Last night was fun! ...Too bad I didn't get what I wanted, though."
"Girls, it's already morning time. We should be getting out of bed right now!" Bombette shouted, trying to get them moving. People such as Vivian and Goombella struggled to get up, the latter appearing more irritated.
"Calm down, Bombette! Seriously!" Goombella yelled. "I was almost about to headbonk you for a second! Don't nag us out of bed! You said that's how you ended up leaving Koopa Village, because of your nagging and yelling."
"…Yeah, you got a point there, Goombella. That WAS my own fault. I think I ought to lay off the nagging for a little bit." the pink Bob-omb had sat back down on her bottom bunk, not calm. "You know, sometimes it's a good thing that we're away from those boys, don't you think?"
"Ummmm... I guess I can see why." Vivian said, slowly getting up with her messy hair.
"Hmmmmm... Well, I suppose I can understand why you wouldn't want to use them." Bombette said. "Anyway, we should go get some breakfast! I'm starving!"
"But... You don't have a mouth." Berry noted.
"Armless people can carry objects around in this universe, so there's no problem with mouthless people eating food."
"Well, I think I'm going to go see Chopper. You can go get breakfast if you want." Vivian grabbed her hat and put it on to shield he eyes. She then sank into the shadows.
Room 778-
In Room 778, Tamber was the first one to wake up and stretch. He took out the Star Diamond and began to hold it tightly. "It's all right, Star Diamond. You know that I'll never leave you."
"What the heck are you talking about, Tamber?" Flyer asked.
"Errrr... Nothing!" Tamber shouted, quickly putting the Star Diamond away. "I was just..."
"Hugging and talking to your Star Diamond?"
"No! ...You go back to your inventions, nerd!"
Flyer ignored him and got back to his inventions. Chopper had slowly gotten up and happily stretched.
"Ahhhh! Today is another new day!" Chopper smiled. "It's daytime out, everything's so calm, and there's going to be some food to eat!"
"And you came running into the room last night," Tamber added.
"Yeah, I- Wait, I did?"
"Yeah. You complained about that pink one trying to kiss you, and it was HILARIOUS!" Tamber laughed.
"...Which pink one do you mean?" Chopper asked.
"...Never mind." the furry one frowned.
"Wait... I do remember one thing... Didn't I see Bow?"
"Bow? Who is she?" Flyer asked.
"Another friend of mine I went on an adventure with. She's nice, but I don't like her pinching my cheeks. It really hurts."
"Well I wanna see that. It might be funny." Tamber grinned.
"Tamber, that's not something you should be doing. Anyway, are we going to stay here or are we going to get some breakfast? We can't leave our friends waiting." Flyer slowly turned to Scrub's bunk. "…That means get up, Scrub."
"Awwww, man! I thought you guys would think I'm asleep! I really don't wanna get up anyway. I'm a little too tired." Scrub protested. Chopper gave Tamber a glance and gestured him to get him down. Despite not wanting to, Tamber decided to do so and punched below the bed and Scrub came jumping off off the bed and into Chopper's hands - though he had a problem holding him.
"Whoa! Scrub, you've grown a little while we've been traveling!" Chopper winced, putting him down. "It must've been that running that got you to grow."
When Scrub took notice of his height, he noticed he was actually becoming a little bit taller than him.
"Hey, I've gotten a little taller than you, Contadre! Now who's the scrub now, huh?" Scrub smirked. "Oh, yeah! Being a little taller than you is just awesome! I'm even taller than Bombette, Berry and even Flyer! Heck, I can be taller than Vivian and Shadower as well!"
"But you'll never be as tall as me," Tamber declared, crossing his arms and smirking.
"Well... You're not exactly the tallest one in the group either." Flyer noted. Tamber responded by angrily pushing him out of the way and leaving the room. The Wingel was far from pleased. "Man, he's got some serious problems…"
He flew out of the room afterward, with Scrub following next. Chopper walked out of the room as well, but he was stopped when Vivian rose up from the shadows in front of him.
"Whoa! You surprised me for a second there, Vivian…" Chopper gasped.
"I'm sorry, Chopper. I didn't mean to startle you like that." Vivian apologized.
"Well, it's all right..."
"Thanks... Well, the reason why I'm here is I wanted to ask if we could, umm… If we could spend some time later. Just you and me and no one else."
"...Huh?" Chopper gawked.
"I'll tell you why later... It's pretty important."
"Oh... OK. If it's important, I might as well."
With that, they went over to Rainbow's to get something to eat. Unfortunately, they stopped as soon as they saw a green ghost lying on the floor. Pennington had arrived at the scene to inspect the issue, and Bootler was there as well. A worried look appeared on his face.
"So, you're telling me that you were going to go find your master while she was looking around to do something and you find her lying dead in the gaming room?" Pennington concluded. "Answer me now, because I don't have the patience…yet."
"What the… What's going on?" Chopper asked, walking over to the two. He noticed Bow and gasped. "Oh my gosh! What happened to her?"
Pennington heard the sound of Chopper's voice and turned to him. "Ah, my dear Flyer! Your timing is impeccable! A new case has arisen! Now then, Mr. Bootler, please explain the facts to my assistant, Flyer."
"Of course, I must!" Bootler assured, sounding nervous. "You see, Lady Bow was supposed to come to Viti to visit her father at the mansion. I was told to come with her and make sure she would be OK, but then I found her body in the gaming room, motionless!"
"Now, now, calm yourself… The next part is vital. So tell Flyer very slowly." Pennington suggested.
Bootler's head hung low and he slowly shook his head in shame. "OK… OK… To be honest, her father wanted me to guard her and make sure she was unharmed. He told me if she was in terrible shape, I would face insufferable doom! I do not wish for that to happen… The thing is, she was just fine yesterday."
Pennington began to walk back and forth. "Let's examine these facts, shall we? Someone has decided to murder this the Boo… Though she was definitely fine yesterday… Hmmmm… And the boat has not stopped in the intervening time… I have it! Rudimentary, my dear Flyer! Rudimentary! The murderer is still on the boat! …Ah-ha!"
"Ummmm... My name's Chopper, not Flyer. And I think I might have an idea." Chopper grabbed a glass of water and splashed it on Bow's head. To Pennington and Bootler's surprise, she had woken.
"Ugh… What just happened?" Bow moaned, slowly opening her eyes and getting up. "I remember going to the gaming corner, and then I was suddenly knocked out. Though, I don't remember what caused it..."
"What?!" Pennington gasped. "I mean… Yes! Just as I suspected! Ghosts cannot die! That's highly impossible!"
"My lady! You're OK!" Bootler gasped.
"Yes, I'm still alive. Were you the one to wake me up, Chopper?" Bow asked.
"Well... I guess so."
"Well... Since you are here, could I get a chance to talk to you about something important? Like around eleven?"
"Wait, what?! I'm not getting a break here!" Chopper thought. "Well... If it's important, then all right."
"Good. I'm certainly looking forward to it." Bow said, pinching his cheeks before going off. Chopper winced and rubbed his cheek before going to a table where Scrub, Flyer and Tamber were. Vivian had even joined them.
"Dude, what the heck are you doing, bringing a GIRL to our table?" Tamber asked, giving Chopper a glare. "This is a GUY'S table, so we can't have any girls here!"
"This is a guy's table?" Chopper gawked. "But... I don't see a label on here."
"Tamber's just bluffing," Flyer stated. "You're more than welcome to join us, Vivian."
"Thank you..." Vivian smiled, sitting down with the group. "So... What's going on with you guys?"
"Well, Tamber was hugging his Star Diamond back in his room," Scrub snickered.
"HEY!"
"That's funny," Vivian giggled.
"OK, that's fine! Laugh all you want!" Tamber scowled. "I'm fine with my Star Diamond! It's not like you have something so important to you!"
"OK..." Scrub ignored Tamber and turned to Chopper. "You know... There's something I always wondered."
"What?" Chopper asked.
"Remember when you two found me in my egg? Does that mean you're my parents?"
"I don't think that is likely," Flyer stepped in. "You see, if you were born from an egg, then obviously someone has to have laid that egg."
"And we found you at a hot dog stand," Chopper pointed out, not liking this conversation one bit. "I think you just got out of the egg on your own."
"Yeah, maybe that's true..." Scrub trailed. "But still! You made sure that nothing bad happened to me! That's kinda like parenting, right?"
"Ummmmm... I don't know." Chopper shrugged. "I'm not an expert on this!"
"I don't know too much either..." Vivian trailed.
"Well, it doesn't matter whether it's parenting or not. What matters is that I'm not being sold as hot dogs to people back at the Glitz Pit." Scrub sighed, though he cringed at the thought. "Eeeeuuughhh... Just imagining that turns my stomach inside out!"
In a moment of time, the Waitress had approached them. "Hi there!"
For some reason, she sounded a bit stranger than usual, leaving the group to tilt their head.
"Ermm… Sorry about that! Well, welcome to, uh… Rainbows! I'll be you server for today! What would you like to order?" the Waitress asked. Chopper decided that he would have pancakes, Vivian went for an omelet, Scrub chose a waffle, Flyer chose to have scrambled eggs, and Tamber chose to have bacon and sausages. "Thank you! I'll be on my way!"
The Waitress took their menus and quickly left. While they began to talk, Pennington was sitting with Dark Toad and a Koopa named Koopsicle, who happened to have a popsicle picture on his shirt, coincidentally.
"So, you two know some interesting things about Viti, especially you, Dark Toad…" Pennington mentioned. "Have you been there before, if I may ask?"
"How do I know about Viti? I LIVE there." Dark Toad replied, giving him his usual grim look. "…Excuse me for my rudeness. I'm not in the happiest mood. To be honest, I'm never happy. Is it because of loneliness? Maybe… Maybe not. But maybe I should tell you a little about Viti. You have heard about the Gods there, right?"
"The Gods? They're on that island? Whoa… I never knew THAT." Koopsicle gaped. "Can you tell me a little about them, Sli—er, Dark Toad?"
Dark Toad looked at Koopsicle suspiciously. "Perhaps I should tell you about the Gods… Whoever you are."
"My name's Koopsicle! Didn't I tell you that?"
"Well... That last thing you mentioned is making me suspicious..." Dark Toad trailed, glaring at Koopsicle. "Do you have anything to say to us?"
"...Crud. I'm in a pickle here." Giving up, Koopsicle was surrounded in purple smoke, revealing himself to be none other than Doopliss. Pennington took a look at him and was pleasantly surprised.
"What now? You look just like that one person back in the Excess Express!" Pennington exclaimed. "What was it, now? Hrrmmm... Yes! It was something related to a sticky explosion!"
"Also, your acting was mediocre," Dark Toad scoffed. "Next time, try to be less suspicious."
"Great... I thought my plan to spy on Chopper and sabotage the boat would work!" Doopliss scowled. "But you had to ruin it! ...I guess I have no choice but to make a run for it!"
Doopliss had gotten off his chair and immediately made a run for it back to his room.
"Hrmmm… Interesting… So we have someone who was planning on sabotaging this boat..." Pennington trailed. "This is rather unsettling..."
"But he's gone, so there's no point in worrying," Dark Toad deadpanned.
"Indeed, dear Dark Toad."
While Pennington and Dark Toad spoke, Kirby, Shadower, Mario, and Sonic were at their table waiting to get their food. They saw a couple of plates coming to their table. One had chili dogs, another a Max Tomato, the next one with pasta and the last one with a Jelly Ultra.
"Here you go! Enjoy!" the Waitress said cheerfully, putting the plates down. Afterward, she quickly ran into the kitchen.
"She was off in a hurry..." Shadower trailed.
"Poyo? (Who cares! It's food time!)" Kirby cheered, gorging down on his Max Tomato. Sonic had started to eat his chili dog as well, eager to eat one of his favorite foods.
"Ah, pasta… My favorite. I don't know why I'm having it for breakfast, but it's still good stuff!" Mario was about to eat his pasta, but he noticed Sonic suddenly looked a little constipated.
"Urgh… I don't know why, but I feel as though I need to go to the bathroom BADLY." Sonic winced. "I was just fine before, but now I seriously have to GO! Mario! The keys! NOW!
Mario looked at his pasta and he sniffed it. "Mama mia! What's that horrible smell? This doesn't smell like pasta!" After shoving his pasta away, he gave Sonic the keys, and he suddenly went off.
Kirby suddenly looked green, unlike Sonic. "Poyo… (I'm not feeling so good… I need to find a bathroom!)"
He had bolted off too, going into a public bathroom to exhale what he had eaten. Pennington had watched the two run off with a raised eyebrow.
"Hrrrrrrmmmmmm? This smells like a case to me. I can definitely smell it." Pennington remarked, literally smelling the 'case'. However, what he smelled was not what he expected. "…No, that smells like…CONJUICE?! I mean… Yes! There's Conjuice in the food. My dear assistant, Flyer! We have another case!"
"Oh, great… Not another case." Chopper groaned. "Can't I eat some food?"
"Not now, my dear Flyer. The food can wait later. This case is an emergency!" Pennington declared.
"OK..." Chopper frowned, getting up from he chair to follow Pennington. However, he felt someone tap his arm, so he turned to see Vivian.
"I'll come with you," Vivian decided.
"Oh... OK, then!" Chopper and Vivian followed Pennington to Chef Chimi.
"'Ello there, sirs and ma'am!" Chef Chimi greeted. "What would you like me to brew for you? …Excuse me, I meant to say 'do' and not 'brew'! My apologies…"
Pennington walked over to him and looked at him through his magnify glass, which Vivian noticed in confusion.
"What is he doing?" Vivian asked, only receiving a shrug from Chopper.
"Hrrrrrmmmmm..." Pennington stopped looking at Chef Chimi through the magnify glass and stepped back a little, pondering. "I see… Do you realize that there have been two people who had some problems after eating your food? Have you put…Conjuice in the food you cook? Don't you know how detrimental that stuff is to people such as hedgehogs and pink puffballs?"
"What? Conjuice? I would never put that kind of stuff in people's food!" the chef objected. "Are you accusing me of spicing it up with that?! I don't even own Conjuice!"
"Hrmmm…" Pennington began to walk back in forth, pondering in the process. "So you say that you've never had any Conjuice with you…yet the chefs are the ones that put the toppings on food. This is getting very… Hold on! I've got it!"
"What did you get?" Chopper asked, tilting his head.
"Flyer!" the detective exclaimed, turning to him. "I have a question to ask you… Did you, by any chance, see anyone put Conjuice in the food? Perhaps it can lead us somewhere…"
"Ummmmm... I don't think so..." he replied, now starting to ponder. Vivian tapped him on the arm again and pointed to some mushroom crumbs leading to the kitchen. "Hey! What's that over there?"
Chopper bent down and looked at the crumbs. He touched it and let it go back onto the floor. Pennington took a look at it with his magnify glass.
"I see… My dear Flyer! Perhaps you can find the criminal by following that trail! Do not fail me now…" Pennington ordered.
Chopper sighed and followed the trail to the kitchen, with Vivian following behind. They found a wooden table with a knife sticking on it and also a cabinet that was banging.
"I think the suspect might be in here, Chopper. We should hide in the shadows just in case." Vivian suggested.
"Yeah... That doesn't sound like a bad idea." Chopper agreed. Vivian grabbed a hold of him and went into the shadows to wait. Though they didn't catch anyone entering the room, they did hear a voice coming from the cabinet now.
"Is someone here? Get me out of this cabinet! PLEASE! I've been trapped in here for three hours!"
Vivian brought Chopper up from the shadows in order to approach the cabinet, but they noticed the knife on the table was gone. That's where the trail of Conjuice ended, apparently. They ignored that for now and unlocked the cabinet. The Waitress had come out, appearing very exhausted.
"Whew! I'm… I'm out of that cabinet! Thank GOODNESS!" the Waitress huffed. "I mean, someone seriously has a problem with me… Whose idea was it to lock me in that cabinet anyway?"
"What happened? Were you locked in there this whole time?" Chopper asked. "But we saw you serving food to people!"
"Well, I was getting ready for work until I was thrown into this cabinet. I don't know who it was, but she suddenly changed into a shape like me. That's all I can remember… But now my hair is all ruined, and my jewelry is so out of place! Some people just don't understand how difficult it is to be a waitress!"
"Wait... If the Conjuice led us here, then where's the fake Waitress?" Vivian asked.
"Hello, there! It's been a while, hasn't it?"
Chopper turned around and saw the fake Waitress giving them an evil smirk. Not only that, but the knife was also in her hand as well. Before saying another word, she suddenly transformed into her real form.
"Decoya? How did YOU get here?" Chopper gasped, he and Vivian getting in a fighting stance.
"Aren't you surprised to see me here? You honestly thought I would think you were gone after that battle against the Mushroom Colossus? I had a feeling that thing would fail miserably. Sorry, but I gotta put you down! And how else?" Decoya grinned, approaching them with the knife's sharp end pointing directly at them.
"Wh-What are you going to do with that knife?" Chopper asked, somewhat scared of the knife in her hands.
"What am I going to do? Something I should've done a long time ago... And don't think I'll leave your friend out of their either! She'll be next!" Decoya came a little closer, but Chopper quickly took action and threw an ice ball to freeze the knife and her hand. "Ow! Hey, what was that for?!"
"All right! I think it's time to expose you for your crimes!" Chopper declared, he and Vivian bringing the Toad out of the kitchen and over to Pennington and Chef Chimi. "Here you go, guys! The real culprit!"
"Ahhhh! Flyer, so you bring me another culprit!" Pennington noticed, approaching Decoya with his magnifying glass pointing at her. "So, it was you all along who was putting Conjuice in people's food, wasn't it?"
"Yes, I was the one who did it," Decoya confessed in an annoyed tone. "I was hoping I could get my revenge on Chopper for what he's done to me. But, it looks like my plan was foiled...again But that doesn't mean I'm done yet! This was just a little warm-up! I'll get you when you're on that island when you least expect it!"
Decoya escaped from the room with another smoke bomb, leaving Pennington and even Chopper dumbfounded.
"Now what was that she did?" Pennington gawked. "That makes this case a little more mysterious… Hmmmmm… What do you think, Flyer?"
"Can you please stop calling me Flyer?" Chopper groaned. "The real Flyer IS on this boat! In fact, I'll even bring you to him as proof!"
"Oh, that's not necessary, because I-" Pennington was suddenly interrupted when Bow appeared, grabbing Chopper by his antenna.
"It's 11:00, Chopper. You remember what that means, right?" Bow asked.
"Ow! Not my antenna!" Chopper winced, getting her hand off his antenna. "Yeah, yeah, I know..."
"Good," the Boo smirked, disappearing with him. The rest of the group was unsure how to react to this, especially Vivian. All she could do was return to the table with Scrub, Flyer, and Tamber.
Bow's room-
Chopper suddenly found himself in a dark room with a couple of mirrors and some pictures of ghosts. Obviously this room had belonged to Bow, since Boos usually enjoyed being in the dark.
"Bow? Where are you?" Chopper, asked, looking around the room.
"I'm right here," Bow answered, appearing right behind him. He quickly turned around to face her. "Listen, Chopper... The reason why I brought you here is that I need a little favor..."
"A favor? What do you need?"
"You see, my father had told me that he had someone who was willing to help me run the mansion back in Forever Forest, and he doesn't know that my mansion was destroyed... Also, this 'suitor' was supposed to report back to my father on how the mansion is going with me running it."
"But didn't you say the mansion was destroyed?"
"Yeah... Well, my father doesn't know about it, and if he hears about it, I might have to be forced to stay there. And let me tell you... Being around my father is not fun."
"OK... So where do I come in here?" Chopper wondered.
"Well, the thing is, if I come with a 'suitor', then it will be a lot easier to get my father to not send someone over to Forever Forest. He'll think that person's 'taking care' of me and will easily assume things are OK. ...Which is why I need your help."
"What's a suitor?"
"A suitor is someone who is interested in marrying someone else," Bow answered, though she cut him off before he could object. "But the idea is for you to pretend that you're going to be my husband. That way, he won't send anyone back with me, and it will help Bootler not get fired."
"He was going to fire Bootler?" Chopper gawked.
"Yeah. Out of a cannon and into space."
"Gosh, that sounds bad... Wait, why me, though? Wouldn't it make more sense to have Mario instead?"
"Admittedly, yes... However, my father prefers ghosts, and since you can acquire a Ghost ability, well... You get the picture. We'd just have a little talk and that's it. Nothing too big."
"...Shadower's a ghost, I think..."
"I don't know if a shadow being would be convincing..." Bow trailed. "Sorry, I don't want to take any risks."
"OK... I'll help you." Chopper frowned. "Am I allowed to go now?"
"Yes, I suppose you can go now," Bow decided. "Just remember what I told you, all right?"
Chopper gave her a nod before heading out.
770s hallway-
"How long are you going to be in there, Sonic?" Mario asked, standing right outside of the bathroom door.
"Well... I don't know how long I'll be in here." Sonic answered. "Listen, bud, maybe you ought to go somewhere else?"
"Why? Is there a problem?"
"No, not really. ...Well, maybe a bit. No offense, but I don't feel too comfortable with you standing in front of the bathroom door, y'know? It's supposed to be a private area."
"Oh, I understand. I supposed I'll let you be." Mario stepped away from the bathroom door and decided to head back to his room. He caught sight of Vivian going into her room thanks to Bombette opening the door. He kept his eyes on her before the door had closed behind her.
"I better keep an eye on her... That opportunity will soon come..."
Nighttime-
Unfortunately, the group could not meet together in the afternoon due to the issues with Kirby and Sonic continuing. They had each gone their ways during that time, but when night fell, everything was back to normal. Everyone had gone to eat at Rainbows, with the exception of Chopper, who had promised to see Vivian during this time.
Since she wasn't here at the moment, Chopper had taken the time to gaze upon the stars.
"Man... Those stars look so cool at night..." Chopper remarked. "Too bad they only appear during the night..."
"Yeah, it's a shame..." Vivian agreed, appearing beside him, which caught him off guard. "Oh, I'm sorry, Chopper... I didn't mean to surprise you like that."
"It's OK," Chopper assured. "I wasn't too scared."
"Oh... Well, Thank you for spending some time with me, Chopper. I really appreciate it."
"Well, I had enough time during the night, so why not? Though, if this is something important, then why did you want to tell me this without the others around? I'm sure they'd want to hear this."
"Ummmmm... I think it's best if it was kept between you and I..." Vivian trailed, her body shaking nervously. "Look, Chopper... I've been trying to tell you this ever since I first joined you. It's really important. And, um..."
Unfortunately, she didn't have time to say more, as something began to glow in Chopper's inventory. He took it out and saw the map glowing.
"What's going on with the Crystal Star?" Vivian asked, noticing the Crystal Star on the map glowing.
"I don't know... We're not even close to the Crystal Star, and yet it's glowing? Weird…" Chopper trailed, taking the time to look at the indigo Crystal Star. "Come to think of it, this star kinda looks like the Crystal Star we got in the Palace of Shadow. What was it called again? The Queen's Star? I wonder... Is this the King's Star?"
"Yes, that's the King's Star…" Vivian answered with a nod.
"Huh... Weird. I never thought there'd be a King's-" Chopper stopped and quickly turned to her. "Wait... How did you know that it was called that?"
"Oh... Right..." Vivian trailed. "Chopper... If I tell you this, will you not...you know, get mad?"
"Why would I get mad at you? After all the poor treatment Beldam gave you, I don't think it would be right to be a jerk to you."
"Oh, thanks, Chopper... You're so nice..." Vivian smiled, which quickly changed to a frown. "But I don't know if you'll be nice to me after what I tell you..."
"Why do you think that?" Chopper wondered. "It's kind of hard for me to get mad at you."
As Chopper looked back at the stars, he let out a yawn, and his eyes started to slowly half close.
"Gee... I'm pretty tired..."
"Chopper... This is very important... It's probably the only time I can tell you this." Vivian said in a serious tone. "There's..."
Unfortunately, she was too late. Chopper had already fallen asleep. Vivian let out a disappointed sigh as she got up and made her way back inside. However, when she looked back at Chopper, she felt the urge not to just leave him there.
"Maybe I should keep an eye on him..." Vivian trailed, floating over to the seat and looking at him. However, she herself slowly started to close her eyes, and soon enough, she had fallen asleep.
But, just as the previous night, they were not alone. On the upper level, Dark Toad had walked outside and looked up at the moon and stars. He then looked down and noticed Chopper and Vivian asleep.
"Hmph... So it appears that they're asleep here..." Dark Toad realized. "Well, that's no problem. But it's too bad for them that they won't be getting to Viti safely tomorrow."
A puff of dark smoke had surrounded Dark Toad, and walking out of it was Tipral. "I don't need this pitiful disguise anymore, especially when this boat will meet its doom! Farewell, Chopper! This is the last time you will be messing with us!"
Tipral had turned away and headed back inside to go to his room. "By nine in the morning, the whole cruise will sink to the bottom of the ocean as soon as my Star Bomb explodes. Everyone else will go along with the ship, and in the end, there will only be one survivor to finish our goal."
Tipral then disappeared in the shadows, never to be seen through the night.
More mysteries, and a lot of strange things going on in this chapter. Unfortunately, this is the last chapter that contains mostly cruise material. We get to the action for the most part in the next chapter!