"I can't believe this whole time Vivian was just leading us into a death trap..." Flyer trailed, all nine heroes finally back on the grass on Viti. They were slowly making their way up the hill to the Palace of Gods.
Berry noticed the upset Chopper and tried to cheer him up. "Chopper, no need to be so upset. We're always here for you..."
"Thanks... But, it's just that... After all the things I did to help her, this whole time I was being used to just get her the Crystal Stars..." Chopper trailed. "I was even worried about her being sick back in the Illusion Forest!"
"Well... Maybe a trip back to the Palace of the Gods might make us feel better." Shadower suggested.
"Hold on..." Bombette paused. "How do we know you're not using us to get the Crystal Stars?"
"If that's what you want to think, then fine. But I never heard of the Crystal Stars until Mysterious gave us the idea of helping Grodus out. I had no part in doing something similar..."
"Well, I'm fine with that," Sonic said. "Though, leaving Vivian out like that is kinda harsh for us, don't you think?"
"We all think the same thing..." Flyer trailed. "But we can't really trust her now because of what we just found out... Anyway, we should be going back to the Palace of the Gods right now."
They had finally reached the Palace of the Gods and got to the shattered mirror they had seen last time they were here. Heus, Meta Knight, his two servants, and Pennington were there as well.
"Ah! I see you've returned! Welcome back, Chopper and Co.!" Heus welcomed. "How are you nine doing?"
"Well, we're... Wait, nine?" Chopper looked back at his group and started to count them. Obviously Vivian was not in the group, but he noticed another person missing. "Wait... Where's Mario?"
"Poyo, (I didn't see him leave us,)" Kirby shrugged.
"But... Where could he have gone?" Flyer gaped.
"Oh, no... Now we're missing Mario as well..." Chopper sighed, looking down at the floor. Meta Knight took notice of Chopper's expression and approached him.
"So... You finally found out the truth." Meta Knight said.
Chopper slowly gave him a nod.
"I'm sorry you had to find out about this..." the masked warrior trailed, turning away from him. "Perhaps because you considered her a friend for a long time is what made you want to defend her."
"Hey, can you lay off him for a bit?" Berry defended. "I mean, we're all sad to hear about the truth, but rubbing it in our faces isn't going to work!"
"I understand how you all feel, considering I have personally had a few friends in many battles years ago that had betrayed me and the Star Warriors. So, I do apologize for what I tried to tell you, but it was only done to prevent you from falling into a trap."
"Yeah... We know now." Chopper nodded. "We have all the Mirror Shards with us."
"Hmmmmm? So you do?" Heus gawked, looking at the Mirror Shards floating in Chopper's hands. "So... This shall bring the palace back up, then."
"Yeah... And my guess is that that 'trap' is somewhere in there."
"And you're all planning on bringing this palace back up from the ground?"
Everyone gave him a nod in response.
"I see... You are all such brave heroes to walk into this trap... I will not stop you."
"We're not going to walk into the trap. We're going to stop it." Chopper stated, raising his arms in front of the shattered mirror. All seven pieces began to float upward and into the mirror.
"Hrmmm… So with all seven Mirror Shards, something mysterious could happen! I must watch this moment!" Pennington declared, watching the Mirror of Viti finally form back.
When the pieces all combined, a bright light emitted from it. The mirror shot a beam of light down from the sky by a location near the hill leading to the Palace of the Gods a little west. Everyone noticed darkness surround that part of the area.
Along with that, the island and even the area where they stood began to violently shake.
"Contadre! Look!" Scrub pointed to the are covered in darkness, and they all saw a palace rising up from the ground. It was dark at first, but after it completely rose, it changed to a silver color. The windows appeared to look dark, though.
"The palace has finally been brought back," Heus warned. "And in there is the Crystal Stars... I must warn you all… If you enter that palace, I'm afraid there's no turning back."
Chopper clenched his fists and looked up at him. "We're still going in there. That's where the Crystal Star is, and it's our job to get it back."
"Very well then... But before you go, I must give you this." Heus pulled out a silver flute and let it float into Chopper's hands. "This is the God's Flute. If there is a ginormous force in there, I would recommend you play this and call me. Perhaps with my power, I can give you what you need. But, beware... This device can only be used once."
"Thank you," Chopper smiled, taking the God's Flute from Heus. "Well... I guess we're all set."
"I think it's time I took my leave as well," Meta Knight decided. "I have no reason to be here any longer. Come, my servants. We must return to Dream Land."
With that, Meta Knight and his servants took off, leaving the rest of the group to remain.
"Well, how about we go check out that palace?" Sonic suggested. "The Crystal Star's in there, after all!"
"OK," Chopper nodded. He turned his attention back to Heus. "Heus, if Mario comes here, can you tell him we'll be at that palace?"
"Understood, Chopper. I will make sure he gets the message." Heus assured. "And... I'm very sorry about Vivian... I wish this was something I had known about, but alas, it was not meant to be..."
The group slowly gave him a nod, and then they were off to the surface.
Surface-
After five minutes, Chopper and his friends had managed to get to the palace standing before them. Thankfully, they did some training while they were on the ground too, so Chopper was lucky enough to get his HP and FP to 100 and his BP to 60.
But the size of the palace... Boy was it a big one.
"Wow… This place is huge!" Bombette gaped. "And... Wait, does the door say the name 'Shadow Palace' on it?"
"Poyo! (Sounds an awful lot like the Palace of Shadow!)" Kirby recalled.
"Well, we might as well make our way in there," Chopper declared, approaching the stairway to the door.
"I wouldn't go in there if I were you…"
Everyone stopped and turned around to see a silver Bandit in a brown cowboy hat and a Goomba wearing a pilot's helmet.
"Who the heck are you?" Chopper asked. Tidos looked at the sketch he had and then at Chopper. A smirk had appeared on his face.
"Well well! So yer the one after all! A pleasure to meetcha, Chopper!"
"Wait... How do you know him?" Berry gawked.
"How I know him ain't any of yer business, toots," Tidos replied, making Berry look at him with disdain. "All that matters here is that I've got a job to take you down. Anyway, the name's Tidos. I'm one of the most skilled bounty hunters on Viti."
"Yup! This is Boss! And you got a price on your head!" Leon declared.
"Shush, Leon! Stay out of this." Tidos snapped, turning back to Chopper. "This Beldam said that you were quite a menace. You don't look so menacin'… Well, she'd reward me with 800 coins if I captured ya.
"Remember, Boss… You want to bring him back to her ALIVE."
"Quiet, Leon! Of course I know that. Now go find somewhere safe so you don't get yer butt blown up. Yer butt is probably worth more than yer arms anyway."
"Boss... I have no arms..."
"Oh. Right. Just stay out of the way."
"Got it, Boss!" Leon hid behind one of the bushes, while Tidos pulled out a futuristic pistol and aimed it at Chopper.
"More futuristic weapons..." Chopper groaned. "Why are there so many people with them?"
"Well, 'cause it helps me get the job done!" Tidos smirked. "Now, let's see how tough ya really are!"
Tattle: That's Tidos, a deadly bounty hunter that comes from Viti Town. Max HP is 270, Attack is 14, and Defense is 0. He'll usually attack you with that pistol he's holding or he might try to use some close-range attacks. Overall, there's not much else to him… So much for being the deadliest bounty hunter on Viti… Yeesh! You'd think he wouldn't be that tough, considering he's a Bandit!
"So, you wanna see how tough I am? Well, I'll show you!" Chopper pulled his hammer out and brought it down on Tidos. Sonic got in his ball form and struck the bounty hunter with his Spin Dash next.
Tidos quickly shook his head and fired a green shot from his pistol at Chopper. He brought his fists up and guarded the attack before landing a Power Bounce on his head.
"What? What do you think you're doing?!" Tidos exclaimed, cringing from every hit.
"I'm Power Bouncing you, of course!" Chopper finished his fourteenth stomp and jumped off of him, letting Tamber land a Combo Punch on him. Tidos cringed in pain from Tamber's punch, but he was able to fight back by landing a punch on Tamber.
"Augh! That punch hurt! All right, I'm giving you a big one" Tamber growled, readying a Power Punch. After Chopper hit Tidos with a Wall Jump, Tamber threw the punch at him and sent him flying near Leon.
"Boss! Are you OK?" Leon asked.
"Yes, I'm fine…" Tidos moaned as get got up. "I guess that Beldam wasn't bluffin'. This should be an interestin' challenge!"
Tidos approached Chopper and grabbed his arm just before he could attack and threw him to the ground. He prepared to land his feet on the boy, until he felt Berry's hammer hit him in the head.
"All right, Choppy! He's all yours now!"
"Uh… Thank you?" Chopper got up and tossed a fireball at Tidos, leaving a burn on him as well. In response, Tidos leaped in the air and dove at Chopper feet-first and knocked him to the ground.
"What? You're already givin' up?" Tidos asked.
"No, not yet," Chopper replied, getting up and tossing an electric ball at Tidos. Bombette blew up in front of the bounty hunter afterward. Tidos tried shooting at Chopper, but he Superguarded it and avoided taking damage. After Tidos was hurt by the burn, it wore off.
"Good... Now I don't have to deal with some dang burn." Tidos grinned.
Kirby took action and attacked him with his Cartwheel, while Chopper did 12 to Tidos with his Spin Jump. Tidos groaned in anger and fired a charged shot in between Chopper and Kirby. The shot had exploded and hit the two in the process. Thankfully, both managed to guard it.
"Yeesh... I never thought he could do that..." Chopper winced, lowering his arms. He conjured up an electric ball and threw it at Tidos. Surprisingly, it left him paralyzed.
"Urgh… I can't move!" Tidos cringed, attempting to move his arms and feet.
"Awesome!" Scrub smirked, and he landed a Ground Pound on Tidos. Since he couldn't move, Shadower used his Shadow Punch on him, while Chopper attacked with a Spin Jump.
Tidos still couldn't move, but after Chopper's Spin Jump and Tamber's Combo Punch, he was able to move again. Only this time, he fired at Tamber instead of Chopper.
"Apparently you're the one that can deal the most damage..." Tidos trailed, his eyes meeting Tamber's. "I suppose I should try to get you out of the way first to make this easier for me."
Tamber got ready to land a punch, but Flyer beat him to it and struck him with his Flying Attack, while Chopper brought his hammer down on Tidos. He was left with only 61 HP at this point..
"Gah… I'm gettin' down so easily? How?" Tidos gaped.
"You've probably just been underestimating us, that's all..." Chopper shrugged.
"Yes, you may be right... But it ain't over yet!" Tidos grabbed Flyer and threw him at Chopper, knocking the two back.
Chopper and Flyer got up, the latter hitting Tidos with a Wall Jump. After Tamber struck the bounty hunter with a Combo Punch, he was down to 32 HP.
"Urgh… This isn't over yet!" Tidos grunted, firing a shot at Tamber, which ended up missing. This allowed Chopper to stomp on him and Berry to hit him with her Ruby Hammer.
"Boss! You can still do this!" Leon exclaimed.
Getting annoyed, Tidos approached Leon and grabbed a hold of the Goomba. Despite the objections from his comrade, he ignored them and threw him at Chopper. He succeeded in hitting him, but that didn't seem to KO him.
"No... This can't be..." Tidos gaped.
Sonic got in his ball form and hit Tidos with his Spin Dash, and then Chopper finished the fight with a jump, receiving 50 Star Points and a level up. This time, he upgraded his HP to 105.
"Ugh... I don't believe it!" Tidos cried, now limping at this point. "How am I supposed to get my 800 coins now when I got beaten by a kid?! Look... Maybe we can make a li'l deal... There can be some way fer me to make some money!"
"Well... You were working with Beldam, and she's not much of a friendly person... Do you even know what I'm doing?"
"No.."
"I'm trying to save the universe!" Chopper exclaimed. "And there's something in that palace that I need to help save the world. Plus, there's also something in there that might be a big danger to this whole place, too..."
"What? That witch never mentioned that!" Tidos growled. "Argh! I swear when I find her I'm goin' to..."
"You can leave that all to us," Sonic assured. "We're experts in saving the world anyway!"
"Fine... I suppose there's not much else left to do at this point. Come, Leon. We're goin' home."
"Right, Boss!" Leon obeyed, following his leader away from the Shadow Palace. With that, the rest of the heroes had walked up the small stairway and stood in front of the purple door. Just by looking at it, they could feel a dark presence from behind.
"All right... This is it... The Shadow Palace." Chopper gulped, slowly reaching for the knob. "I don't think we can wait to find Mario at this point... There's going to be something in there, and we have to stop it together."
"Open the door, Contadre! I'm not scared!" Scrub declared, giving a brave look.
Nodding, Chopper slowly opened the door, and they all found a dark vortex standing before the. Thankfully, it had disappeared in a couple of second, allowing them to enter a strangely familiar-looking room to a few of the heroes.
"Whoa, it looks a lot different from the inside than from the outside," Flyer gaped.
"Hey... This room looks like one of those room from the Palace of Shadow!" Chopper gasped, walking into the palace along with everyone else, and the door shut behind them. The whole room suddenly changed, having an eerie, purple sky and a black floor. Along the pathway, there were bottomless pits hinted by a purple glow below.
"Yeesh... Talk about freaky." Sonic commented.
"Poyo… (It's strange how it changed from the Palace of Shadow into…this...)" Kirby shivered.
"Well, it's not gonna stop me! We can get through this place no sweat!" Tamber assured, giving a confident look, though it didn't sound that confident.
Chopper walked across the pathway to the door up ahead. As they traveled, they heard evil laughter echo from the eerie sky. It was enough to give everyone the chills.
"Eeeeuuugh… I don't like it here." Chopper frowned, finally reaching the door. Things got even stranger when they found the next room to be an exact replica of the room before the throne room. The one where they had battled Grodus in the Palace of Shadow.
"Wait a second... We've been in this room before! Back in the Palace of Shadow!" Berry gaped.
"Geez... Is this place trying to mess with our minds?" Shadower wondered.
"Well, I've never seen this room in my life," Sonic shrugged, heading to the door up ahead. A Save Block and Heart Block were waiting for them there, so Chopper hit them both before walking into the next room.
This room was another exact replica, but they noticed that the upper walls were already torn off, revealing the purplish, dark sky they saw before. The throne from before was even sitting there still.
"Ugh, this room really IS freaky! I don't like it here!" Bombette cringed.
"Poyo! (Well I've seen worse!)" Kirby noted, making his way up the stairs first. Everyone joined him, but they found nothing on the throne.
"All right… So we're here. Now what?" Sonic asked.
"I remember there was a secret passage the throne was blocking," Chopper recalled. "I think we need to move it aside."
"I'm afraid I cannot let you do that..."
Chopper gasped as he saw a familiar figure rising up from the shadows. It was Vivian, but her appearance looked much different. Her soft, pink hair was now lavender, and her hat was replaced with a large crown. Her eyes appeared red and evil.
"Vivian? What… What are you doing here?" Berry gaped, appalled by her appearance.
"Muh huh huh huh huh… Oh, I'm not your dear little friend." Vivian smirked. "Well, she WAS your friend. Do you not recognize my voice?"
Upon realizing it, Chopper gasped.
"You're...the Shadow Queen!" Chopper deduced.
"The Shadow what?" Tamber questioned.
"The Shadow Queen. She's a demon that tried to cover the world in darkness." Flyer explained. "It looks like she's possessing Vivian... But I don't know why..."
"I'm afraid it was a part of her job. She was meant to be my next vessel if I were ever to be destroyed again. She is basically a pawn for BOTH of us! Muh huh huh huh…and you thought she was using you this whole time!"
"Wait... What do you mean? You're telling me she was being forced to do this task?"
"Of course! My husband made dear Vivian do the work, or else she would suffer a terrible consequence, such as eliminating you all. I thank you for all the help, Chopper."
"So... She wasn't telling us about the Shadow King to protect us?" Chopper gasped.
"Muh huh huh huh... Absolutely. But unfortunately, it looks like things did not turn out the way she wanted... And now she has given up her body just for me!" Vivian cackled. "Anyway, I need to thank you, Chopper... Opening the entrance to the Shadow Palace just for me! I should repay you for your kind act!"
"Don't listen to her, Chopper. It's just a trick!" warned Flyer.
"For helping me this whole way, I might consider giving you a chance to live. That is, if you agree to become my servant."
"No way!" Chopper retorted. "I wouldn't be THAT stupid to join you..."
"I see… So you defy me again. Very well… Then I guess I have no choice but to put you out of your misery..."
"We beat you before, so I bet we could beat you again!" Chopper smirked.
"I'd like to see you try!"
Tattle: Omigosh! Has Vivian been possessed by the Shadow Queen?! It can't be! This is…HORRIBLE! H-Her Max HP is 150, Attack is 8, but it will rise as her HP goes down, and Defense is 0… I'm sorry, Chopper. I'm just…too freaked out right now.
"All right, then! Let's settle this once and for all!" Chopper brought his fists up…but he suddenly stopped in his tracts as he looked at Vivian. "I... I don't know if I can do it... I don't want to hurt Vivian."
"See? Now this is one of the few reasons why I possessed your friend." Vivian grinned. "You don't have what it takes!"
"Chopper! Get a hold of yourself! This isn't Vivian! This is the Shadow Queen!" Flyer exclaimed.
Chopper then remembered when he had fought against Peach when she was possessed by the Shadow Queen. She wasn't left injured in the process either. Realizing that, he put a more determined look on his face and jumped on Vivian. Though, it wasn't something he enjoyed. Flyer had struck her next with his Flying Attack.
"Taste my power, mortals!" Vivian's eyes began to glow, and she struck everyone with a lightning spell. To their surprise it didn't do as much damage as usual.
"Hey... She may be possessing Vivian, but she isn't that strong for us now..." Shadower realized.
"Then I'm going in!" Scrub declared, fluttering over Vivian and hitting her with a Ground Pound. Chopper took his hammer out and struck her with it afterward.
Vivian grumbled to herself and raised her finger to hit everyone with a Fiery Jinx. They guarded it, preventing them from getting burned. Chopper threw an ice ball, and then Kirby's Cartwheel struck her next. Once she used another lightning spell on them, though, she had done 9 damage instead.
"Wow… So her power DID get stronger… That's not good." Chopper quickly shook himself and attacked her with a Spin Jump, with Berry following up with her Ruby Hammer.
"Grrgh… No… I won't let myself go down so soon…" Vivian grumbled, seeing she ha 81 HP left.
"Well well! I guess this will be a lot easier than I thought.
Vivian glared at Sonic and she zapped him instead of Chopper, which caused him to attack her with a Spring Jump, taking 16 out of her.
"Hey! Leave my friends alone!" Chopper yelled, with Bombette striking her with her Bomb next. Vivian went into the shadows and struck Chopper with a Shade Fist, leaving him with a burn.
Chopper pondered, but he decided to throw in another Spin Jump on Vivian before Sonic hit her with another Spin Dash. She was already left with 36 HP.
"No… It can't be… Only 30 HP? How?"
"Because you're still the same as before," Chopper smirked.
Vivian growled and tried to zap Chopper. Unfortunately, for her, he Superguarded the attack and brought his hammer down on her. She was reduced to 20 HP after Shadower had hit her with a Shadow Punch.
"You won't bring me down!" Vivian yelled as she attempted to transform into her shadow form after hitting them with a Fiery Jinx. Tamber managed to interrupt her move with a Combo Punch, leaving her wide open for an attack. Chopper's Jump brought Vivian down to 1 HP, leaving her very weak.
Vivian struggled to make a move, but being in peril about this point, she felt her power slowly beginning to weaken.
"Argh... No... My power... It's...leaving me..."
Chopper looked down at Vivian and noticed her hair changing back and forth between pink and lavender, the latter seeming to win at this point. He thought of making another move, but he was unsure whether or not that would help.
"Vivian... If you can hear me… I just wanna say that we're sorry... We didn't know you were trying to keep a secret for us in order to keep us safe... I... I still consider you as a friend. You've been there for us the whole time. Don't think what you've done is bad. You're still really nice..."
Vivian slowly looked up at Chopper, her hair still changing between colors. However, her eyes quickly glowed red as she raised her arms.
"Heads up, Chopper!" Shadower shouted.
"DIE!" Vivian yelled, attempting to strike him with her spell. However, something suddenly flashed from within her body. "N-No... Impossible! I thought this was permanent?!"
"Huh? What's going on?" Flyer gawked.
The flash got even bigger, and Vivian couldn't take it any longer. She let out a scream, and out came the dark purple mist that couldn't handle her body. Her lavender hair had changed to a soft pink, and her crown was replaced with a red and white-striped hat. She fell over unconscious, while the dark mist escaped through the throne ahead.
Seeing it was safe, everyone walked over to Vivian, with Chopper holding her slightly up.
"Vivian! Are you all right?" Chopper asked. "Are you still here?"
Vivian let out a small moan and slowly opened her eyes. She noticed her friends looking down at her, making her a bit surprised. "G-Guys…? What are you doing here? I thought you didn't want to see me anymore?"
"It's all right, Vivian... We found something out. You were being forced to do your job and were just trying to protect us."
"You know?"
"Yeah. I think we should be sorry for what we did to you." Flyer said with a guilty look on his face. Everyone else seemed a bit guilty.
"You mean you still want me in your group?" Vivian gasped.
"Of course," Berry nodded. "You're our friend!"
"And friends stick together," Chopper added.
"Thank you, guys…" Vivian smiled, giving Chopper a hug, though he appeared a little uncomfortable from it.
"Whew… We finally got that out of the way." Sonic sighed. "But I still don't understand where Mario is..."
"Yeah, I wanna know too," Chopper agreed, no longer in Vivian's hug. "I hope nothing bad happened to him.
"YOU FOOLS!" a dark voice exclaimed, startling everyone. "How?! HOW? How did the possession of Vivian FAIL?!"
"What the… Who's speaking?" Chopper asked.
"I'm the one that holds your precious King's Star, mortals! You've all been a pain in my backside for too long! I was hoping for my wife to come back, but then it gets foiled by you, Chopper!"
"So, YOU'RE the Shadow King! Where are you?!"
"If you want to see me, then come into my chamber. We'll finally put an end to this once and for all!"
The throne was suddenly moved aside and a dark and narrow pathway was revealed to be behind it.
"Guys, we better go. It looks like we know where that Shadow King is…" Chopper trailed, running down the pathway and down the stairs. He found an Ultimate Shroom, a Sweet Punch and also a Save Block and Heart Block. Since he had leveled up from the previous fight, now having 105 FP, he ignored the Heart Block and hit the Save Block instead.
"This is just like the way to the Shadow Queen's chamber too," Shadower noticed.
"Poyo! (Well I bet this Shadow King is much stronger!)" Kirby noted.
"Whether he is stronger or not is not what matters," Chopper said. "What really matters is that we beat him! Let's go!"
Chopper opened the door, and everyone headed on through, ready to take down the evil Shadow King once and for all.
So, with this chapter, Chopper has fought three of his partners so far.
With all the buildup to this fight, I can honestly say that I'm looking forward to the boss chapter, which is coming up next!