Grodus stood before the ruins of Rogueport Sewers where the Thousand-Year Door was. Lord Crump and the X-Naut, Johnson, were by his side. The leader appeared to be looking through the glass sphere on his scepter, where the three could see Chopper holding the King's Star.
"That Chopper… So he managed to get that Crystal Star the Shadow King holds..." Grodus trailed. "I have to thank you for that. He would've been a major nuisance if he had gotten in my way. Thankfully, I don't need him to accomplish my goals."
"Sir, are you sure we should be around here?" Johnson asked. "I mean, remember what happened last time..."
"Relax, Johnson. That demon behind the door is already gone. And with the Shadow King destroyed, I don't have to deal with him. I have to say, Chopper has actually helped me by doing this."
"Well, what about the Shadow Sirens and Brothers?" Lord Crump mentioned.
"Them? I know that those minions are not as big of a threat with the Shadow King and Queen gone. I might be even stronger than them!" Grodus grinned. "Though... Even if the king and queen are gone, I don't think they're giving up so easily. "
"Perhaps I should start researching the next Crystal Star?" Johnson suggested, pulling out his laptop.
"Yes, you go and do that, Johnson. We still have some stars to..." Grodus paused, noticing some footprints near the large door. "What's this?"
"Whoa, where ya going, Grodus?" Lord Crump asked, noticing the X-Naut leader walk in front of the Thousand-Year Door. He looked down at the footprints and opened the door. The footprints appeared to be inside the Palace of Shadow.
"Well now... It appears someone else is settling in this place..." Grodus pondered. "Those feet don't resemble a Toad's or Koopa's. They looked more like a robot's foot to me..."
"Uhhh... What the heck are you talking about?"
"You know, Lord Crump... I was always wondering something. There's that one robot that is after the Crystal Stars as well. Thinking about it more, I've never met him in person."
"Oh, I get it! You wanna go pay him a visit? Lemme come with you!"
"No, Lord Crump. Not yet... First, I want to see if this Gemerl is here. I'd prefer to wait here and see if a certain robot ends up coming out of the door to find a Crystal Star. Once he goes inside, then I will follow him."
"Wait... What about me?" Lord Crump gawked.
"I want you to go help Johnson look for a Crystal Star. If you find one, alert me and bring the rest of our army there. We will not let Chopper get to it so easily..."
"Oh... Well, all right, then. And with that... Pow! I'm gone!"
Lord Crump took off with Johnson, while Grodus conjured up a spell that shrouded himself from anyone who dared to come to this area.
"By disposing of this robot, I'll have one less enemy to deal with... Then you're next, Chopper!"
Viti, near Ash Field-
"Urgh... That was terrible..." Bowser groaned, now back up from his defeat against Chopper and his friends. "We finally set our eyes on Chopper and Mario, and we end up losing! ...And my head still hurts!"
"Your Dizziness, shall I get some ice for you?" Kammy asked.
"No way! I don't need no stinkin' ice! I'm a big Koopa, just to let you know!"
"My apologies, Lord Bowser..." Kammy replied, looking around the area. "Great... Chopper and his sniveling friends are most likely gone! We must've been out for too long!"
"If that's the case, then Chopper must've gotten that Crystal Star! ARRGHH! I HATE that kid!" Having enough, Bowser pushed Kammy out of the way and got onto his Koopa Clown Car. "We're leaving this island, so get to it, Haggy!"
Kammy got on her broomstick and followed her leader off the island and over the water. "Your Evilness!"
"What now?!" Bowser groaned, glaring at the old Magikoopa.
"When was the last time you checked the fuel supply on your Koopa Clown Car?"
"Fuel? Pbbbbbbth! This thing has a propeller! There's no need for fuel for something like this!"
"But the fuel is what keeps the propeller going!"
"Wait, what?" Just then, Bowser heard the sound of his propeller slowing down. Looking down, he noticed it was no longer moving. "Wait a minute... Oh, crud..."
"You never changed the fuel supply, did you..." Kammy trailed, narrowing her eyes at Bowser with disappointment.
"I have minions to do that thing."
"What surprises me is that you're still in mid-"
At that moment, the Koopa Clown Car flipped upside down, along with Bowser, and both began to plummet into the ocean below.
"AAARRGGHH!"
Kammy cringed once Bowser and his vehicle splashed into the water. "Oh, dear... Well, I wish I could help, but I don't wish to get this old robe wet."
She took off, heading back to Rogueport.
Bowser opened his eyes and saw himself lying on the ocean floor, and beside him was his crashed Koopa Clown Car. A couple of Cheep Cheeps and Bloopers were roaming around, along with some X-Nauts and Phis dropping from the sky above.
Being Bowser, he wasn't going to give up so easily.
"Ready to roll!" Bowser declared, now starting to swim. He opened his mouth and breathed fire near some Cheep Cheeps and Bloopers, burning them to a crisp. "Bwa ha ha ha! It feels so good to breathe fire underwater!"
A Phi tried charging at him, but it was no match for his fire breath, leading it to explode. Not even the X-Nauts managed to hit him.
"Gwa ha ha ha ha! I've never had this much fun since I went into Rogueport Sewers!" Bowser cackled, hitting a yellow block and devouring some meat to grow bigger. "And hello meat! THIS is what I'm talking about!"
Bowser crushed all the Bloopers in his way and grabbed another piece of meat, making him bigger and invincible. This allowed him to plow through all the blocks in his way until he reached the flagpole in the end. Because he was big, he ended up stepping on the castle.
Rogueport Harbor-
"Gwaf…urgh…" Bowser groaned, getting himself out of the water. A couple of sailors getting ready to go on their boats recognized him and bolted, fearing the Koopa king. "Ugh... Why do I always have the worst luck? Today is not my day!"
"Ah! Your Sogginess! There you are!" Kammy cried, flying down to meet Bowser. "So how did you get back here so quickly?"
"...By swimming."
"Oh, wow! I never knew you were such a strong swimmer! You wouldn't believe what I saw while heading here! There was this beautiful cruise heading straight for Viti! It had so many things you could do, such as suntanning, food, and a pool-"
"I swear, Kammy... You mention anything related to water, I'm going to..."
"You should've been there to see it! The ocean was absolutely gorge-"
"GWWARGH!"
Bowser charged straight at Kammy, but he found himself tripping and falling on the old Magikoopa instead.
"I swear, I'm going to make sure I get my hands on at least ONE Crystal Star..." Bowser grumbled, too exhausted to get up.
Castle Dedede-
"Ah... Now THIS is a chair!" King Dedede grinned, sitting on a throne that supported a massage and feeding button. "Escargon, why didn't you get me one of these before? Too lazy?"
"No, Your Majesty…" Escargon sighed. "...Though, I bet with this chair, you're going to gain some weight..."
"What was that?" King Dedede asked, looking far from pleased.
"I was just saying how nice it would be if you got some other contents added to that throne!"
"Oh... I agree with that. Now, let's see how that demon beast is doing with the job." King Dedede pressed another button, and the TV monitor came out from the ceiling.
"Good day to you, Your Majesty," the Tartara greeted. "What brings you here?"
"I want some status updates on that Demon Beast pronto!" the king demanded angrily. "I haven't heard any news from the Demon Beast in a while! Did he get the job done?!"
"Unfortunately, we haven't heard an news from Tree... Wait, what?" the Tartara gawked, turning to another that appeared to speak to it. After a few mumbles, the fiery dragon lizard brought its attention back to the king. "We've just received news about Treenoon. Unfortunately... He failed."
"Shocking..." Escargon mumbled sarcastically.
"And unfortunately, we've also received news of the Shadow King being destroyed."
"The Shadow what?" King Dedede gawked.
"The Shadow King. He was going to eliminate those heroes, but it looks like he failed, sadly. No matter, even with him gone, we shall still thrive as a business! Speaking of that, let's get to some business issues." the Tartara pulled out a chart and showed the amount to King Dedede. "You still haven't paid us for the previous Demon Beasts, Your Majesty."
"Yeah, yeah, I know... You don't have to tell me a million times."
"Oh, but telling you is important. We've been constantly telling you of the terrible consequences. Believe me, we Tartaras will not tolerate thieves."
"Yeah, yeah..." King Dedede trailed, rolling his eyes. "Look, I will get you the money. I promise!"
"Your Majesty! Come quick! I just spotted something!" Escargon took King Dedede over to the window. He gave him some binoculars to take a look at what was going on near Cappy Town.
"This better be important, Escargon," King Dedede hissed. "I was doing some important business!"
"Take a look at Fumu. You see what she's doing?"
King Dedede looked at Fumu, who was holding a book with a drawing of herself with a jump rope. She flipped the pages and it showed the picture jumping, like it was animated.
"Hey, that looks cool!" King Dedede remarked. "Though, isn't that something we've seen before?"
"Well, when I got a glimpse of it, an idea suddenly popped into my head," Escargon said, pulling the king in close. "You know, sometimes making an anime can help lead us to getting some money."
"But isn't their pay awful?"
"Errrr... Yeah, but you can still make money off of it. We could broadcast an anime all over the universe, and that could probably help make us enough Deden to pay them off!"
"And you really believe this will work?" King Dedede asked, giving his assistant an uncertain look. "You remember what happened last time, right?"
"Well... They say that later in life, you tend to improve on certain things. Plus, Tartara Co. could probably help fund it!"
"What are you two bickering about?" the Tartara asked.
King Dedede slowly turned to the Tartara, still looking uncertain. However, he tried to remain calm and bold. "I have a little idea... Perhaps you can help us fund a little anime that we were interested in making."
"An anime? Getting that much money would require it to be broadcasted throughout the universe."
"Exactly," Escargon noted.
"Hmmmmmm... Very well. Just make sure it doesn't involve the usual things you see in anime."
"Like what?" King Dedede gawked.
"...Just don't make it stupid. Also, do you have a crew to help you? Because if you want to make an anime, you can't do it on your own."
"Oh, we'll get our crew…" King Dedede assured, rubbing his hands with a big grin on his face.
?-
Upon exploring around Rogueport, Gemerl had come across a hidden little area. It contained a green rug in the center of the room and also a couple of weights and a treadmill.
"So, those Phis apparently told me there's a Crystal Star located in here," Gemerl recalled, remembering what the Phis had told him. To his surprise, he spotted a golden Crystal Star on the wall. "Ah! There it is! Just what I came for!"
He walked over to the Crystal Star and tried to pry if off the wall. Unfortunately, it wouldn't even come off. "What? How come it won't come off? ...Wait, is this thing attached to a belt? Ugh... I guess I have to do things the hard way.
Gemerl's hands changed to what appeared to be a blue laser sword. He placed it near the belt and prepared to cut it off.
"Freeze, you metal chump!"
Gemerl's laser sword disappeared as he turned to face the yellow chicken facing him.
"What? And you are…?"
"Harharharharharharhar! Don't tell me you don't know the famous Rawk Hawk! I'm the biggest fighter in the Glitz Pit! EVERYONE knows me!" Rawk Hawk grinned, flexing his muscles and pointing at the monitor. "Hey, you little punk-weasels! Don't think you forgot about me so soon! Especially these muscles and Rawkness!"
"Yeah, well I don't have a clue on who you are. I don't come from this world." Gemerl stated.
"Hmph! That was impressive! You were able to clear my Secret Training Facility! Not too shabby!"
"Your Secret Training Facility?" Gemerl gawked, pausing for a moment to ponder. "…You're talking about the mushrooms and X-Nauts I blasted, right?"
"Yeah! Those were them! You're pretty good..." Rawk Hawk trailed. "'Course, good don't count for squat in this biz, robot! My champ's belt is…mine!"
"A weak yellow chicken like yourself taking me on? As if." Gemerl scoffed. "You probably couldn't stand a chance against me."
"Weak… Chicken… Wait, WHAT?! Well, tell me something: you ever see a weakling…DO THIS?"
Rawk Hawk tried to slide under Gemerl in an attempt to attack, but he simply avoided the attack by hovering up with his jetpack. A simple jump was all he needed to make the Rawk fall.
"Pain."
"That was it? That was all you had? Pathetic..." Gemerl groaned, only to hear something shatter. He quickly whirled around and noticed the Crystal Star on the belt break. "No! The star! ...Wait a second, the Crystal Star I had seemed much more durable than this."
"Yeah...ugh... It was...fake..." Rawk Hawk groaned.
Gemerl turned to Rawk Hawk with a glare. "Then where is the real one?"
"You…ow…want the real one? The Great…urk…Contadre…has it… Oh, my aching hair… Feel…the…Rawk…"
"Contadre? I don't know any Contadre." Gemerl replied. "So, I guess those Phis were only bluffing. Great... So much for finding a Crystal Star."
He lifted himself off the ground and began to slowly fly out of the room past the exhausted Rawk Hawk.
"Urg… Feel…the Rawk…tin can…"
Viti, Palace of the Gods-
"I thank you for your hard work, Chopper and Co.," Heus thanked. "Not only did you manage to restore the Mirror of Viti, but you also saved Viti from the threats of the Shadow King! I'm proud of you…and I'm sure Meta Knight is too."
"What are you planning on doing with that crystal ball?" Vivian asked.
"This?" Heus looked over at the crystal ball in his hands. "Well... I think I'll leave it in your hands."
With that, he dropped the crystal ball in her hands.
"Me? But why would you give it to me?"
"Those two can't do a thing in there, so you can keep it as a souvenir. Besides, I have no use for it. I don't think any of the gods want to see something like this..."
"Oh... Well thank you."
"I guess we should get going," Flyer suggested. "After all, we do need to place that Crystal Star in its place."
Mario: Yeah, we should do that!
"Well, I will not stop you heroes," Heus assured. "If you ever wish to come back here, you are free to do so."
"We'll keep that in mind," Sonic nodded. "C'mon, guys! I'll race ya back to the surface!"
Sonic was the first to take off, with the rest following behind. Along the way, Vivian looked down at the crystal ball in her hands and looked at the blue liquid inside. It looked very beautiful. Much better than that smoky mist, that's for sure.
They had eventually made their exit from the palace and were now back on the surface. Right by Viti's harbor, they saw Goombella waiting for them.
"Hey, guys! You have NO idea what I've found throughout this island!" Goombella exclaimed.
"We've found a lot, too," Scrub said. "We beat the Shadow King!"
"...Yeah, I know that."
"Wait... How?"
"Uh, HELLO? Don't you see me with the Tattle book out?! I mean, geez! It would be pretty obvious that I go around tattling the mini-bosses and bosses you face each chapter! ...Whoops, I think I said too much."
"OK... I guess we're off?" Chopper wondered, getting ready to whistle.
"Poyo! (I'm ready to go!)" Kirby nodded, summoning his Warp Star. Chopper had done the same and leaped onto it.
"Hey, can I come with you guys?" Goombella asked. "I mean, I just need you to drop me back at Rogueport, that's all."
"All right, that's fine," Chopper nodded, allowing Goombella to join them. She decided to go onto Kirby's Warp Star before they took off. It hadn't taken them long for them to reach Rogueport and drop her off. After that, they were back in space, heading back to Pop Star.
"Well... That took a lot less time than the cruise." Shadower remarked.
"This is why I wanted to take the Warp Star," Chopper pointed out. "The cruise... Well... I don't know what to say about it..."
"Awesome?" Scrub corrected.
"Stupid?" Tamber asked, appearing uninterested in this conversation.
"Well I liked it," Berry remarked. "It was a nice change of pace compared to what we normally do."
"Maybe we'll get more of an opportunity to relax next time?" Bombette pondered.
"Poyo! (I think I see Pop Star up ahead!)" Kirby announced, interrupting the conversation. They all took a look and saw the planet getting much bigger as they approached it.
Hatty Town-
The first thing they did was land in front of the Mayor's house in Hatty Town. They were about to knock on his door, but he was already outside, looking more worried than usual.
"Oh, Chopper! There you are!" the Mayor cried, approaching the group. "I've been waiting for you!"
"Waiting for me? What's wrong?" Chopper asked, noticing the sweat coming from the yellow Cappy.
"You should take a look at this," the Mayor pulled out a letter that resembled the black letter from before. It also had the red handwriting too. "This one appears to be addressed to you."
Taking the letter, Chopper began to read through it.
Dear Chopper of Clara,
I have to commend you for your efforts. You managed to defeat both the Shadow King and Queen! For a small, antennae freak, you and your friends are much stronger than I thought. However, that does not mean you're all safe and sound! My dark power is slowly coming your way, and it'll devour everything in its path and transform it into unlike anything you've seen before. You may have sixteen Crystal Stars in your hand, but do you have enough time to get them?
"I bet that guy who wrote you that other letter wrote this one too!" Chopper deduced.
"I know. I guess time is slowly running out..." the Mayor trailed. "Please, Chopper. You MUST get the remaining four Crystal Stars! They're our only hope in stopping this darkness!"
"That's what we plan on doing!" Chopper declared. "Come on, guys! We got another Crystal Star to find!"
Everyone agreed and made their exit out of Hatty Town. This time, they decided to head to the Fountain of Dreams on foot. It wasn't like it was a far way to go anyway. However, they noticed over by another pathway leading to Green Greens, it didn't look as green as usual.
"Poyo? (What's up with Green Greens?)" Kirby gawked.
"I don't know... It wasn't like that before..." Chopper trailed. "Then again, I don't think I've been there before..."
"Perhaps it's a different time of the season?" Flyer wondered, working on a gadget. Berry noticed the gadget, and it looked awfully familiar.
"Hey, isn't that the invention you're making to help Fumu? How is it?" Berry asked.
"It's actually nearly complete!" the Wingel smiled. "I think it won't take me very long to get this thing done! And with that, Fumu will finally be free of that collar!"
"I could've handled tearing that thing off," Tamber mentioned.
"The problem with that is that you might hurt Fumu," Berry pointed out.
"Whatever..."
Eventually they reached the Fountain of Dreams, and Chopper held the King's Star above him. They knew the same scenario would occur and took a look at the map when Chopper finally got a glimpse of the next location.
It showed a pink Crystal Star right on a yellow star that looked all too familiar to Chopper.
"Hey... A pink Crystal Star is located on a yellow star." Chopper noticed.
"Poyo! (The Crystal Star is located here!)" Kirby gasped.
"Let's see what Professor Frankly has to say about this! We should also mention the Shadow King, too."
Frankly's house-
"Whuh-Whuh-WHAAAAAT?!" Frankly gasped. "You're telling me you ended up meeting the Shadow King on Viti?!"
"Yeah! And you said that the place was completely harmless!" Tamber pointed out. "And what do we run into? Monsters and demons!"
"Well, I must apologize for that... I've always been hearing about how nice it was to go there. Apparently you arrived at an unlucky moment... But the good news is that you defeated the Shadow King, and he's finally gone!"
"He's gone, but there's still an issue with that darkness..." Chopper trailed, showing Frankly the letter. "Take a look at this!"
"Hmmmmm..." Frankly took the letter from him and began to read it carefully. When he finished, he placed it on the table. "This is most troublesome... So apparently the Shadow King and Queen are not the ones behind this travesty..."
"If only..." Shadower sighed. "We were actually led to believe that they were possibly the ones behind this issue! Looks like there's a bigger baddy out there."
"And the Shadow King said that this guy was ten times as strong as him!" Chopper recalled. "Man... That kinda frightens me..."
"We should not worry too much about that when we have the Crystal Stars," Frankly mentioned. "So, apparently, the map is showing a pink star on a yellow planet shaped like a star. And you say this is Pop Star?"
"Poyo! (Yeah! I easily recognize it!)" Kirby nodded.
"Well, whether this is Pop Star or not, this is one star I feel you can easily get on your own. After all, you've been to this place before, correct?"
"Of course," Chopper nodded.
"That's great! Perhaps this will be an easy one for you to get?"
"Poyo... (Well, I'm not so sure...)" Kirby trailed. "Poyo... (That Crystal Star could be located ANYWHERE on Pop Star...)"
"It doesn't matter where it is, Kirby. We're still getting it." Chopper declared.
"Poyo. (I know that.)"
"If you people plan on going, then I wish you luck. Perhaps you can find me a little something there? I'd be interested in seeing what Pop Star holds."
Mario: We'll keep that in mind.
They made their exit from Frankly's house, but before they could go, they saw Merlon standing in front of his house. He approached them when he spotted them.
"Ah, Chopper! Perfect timing!" Merlon spoke. "Please, come to my house immediately! I need to speak to you about something important!"
Shrugging, Chopper and his friends followed Merlon into his house. He looked like he was eager to say something.
"Listen well, Chopper, for I have discovered something that may help you..." Merlon started, clearing his throat. "I've done a lot of research on the types of ranks a being can achieve through the power of Shine Sprites or Upgrade Blocks. There's the usual ranks: Super-Rank, Ultra-Rank, and finally Diamond-Rank. However, while looking through my shelves, I recently discovered something incredible."
"Incredible? Like what?" Chopper asked.
"It is possible that one can exceed from Diamond-Rank to Master-Rank! However, to get something like this is no easy task. One would need something sparkled with the power of the King of Gods to make this happen. Unfortunately, I do not carry such an orb... Perhaps you might have an idea..."
"'Sparkled with the power of the King of Gods'..." Vivian quoted, taking out the crystal ball and inspecting it. "What about this?"
Merlon took the ball from her and inspected it as well. He studied it very closely, taking notice of the blue sparkle and liquid. When he finished, he replaced the Diamond Stone with it.
"This... This is it..." Merlon gasped. "The one and only Master Stone! I never thought I'd actually have a chance to get my hands on it! ...You are willing to give it to me, right?"
"I guess so," Vivian nodded.
"Excellent! In return, I shall allow you to upgrade your friends up to Master-Rank! They will finally reach their fullest potential and even become stronger in battle!"
"Seriously?! Oh, man, that's SWEET!" Scrub cheered.
"So... Shall I upgrade your friends, Chopper?" Merlon asked.
"Of course!" Chopper nodded, tossing his Shine Sprites to the Shaman.
"Thank you. Now... We shall begin!"
Using his magic, Merlon began to bring all of Chopper's friends to Master-Rank.
Vivian's HP went up to 150, and she learned the move Fire Wall, which allows her to attack all enemies with a wall of fire. It could deal up to 12 damage, along with piercing defense.
Scrub's HP went up to 130 and he learned the move Mega Egg, allowing him to deal 12 damage to an enemy and pierce their defense with a giant egg.
Kirby's HP went up to 140 and he learned the move Final Cutter. This could allow him to deal 12 damage to all enemies on the field.
Shadower's HP went up to 170 and he learned the move Shadow Blast, which allows him to unleash a huge blast upon all enemies. It ignores defense and flips some enemies over as well.
Bombette's HP went up to 180 and her strong attack was Explosion, being able to deal 14 damage to all enemies on the battle.
Berry's HP went up to 150. She gained the ability Sweet Kiss, allowing her and Chopper to recover 60 HP by kissing him. The downside, however, was that it consumed a lot of FP.
Mario's HP went up to 180, and he learned the ability called Cape Mario. With an unlimited amount of Cape Feathers he was granted with the upgrade, he gained the Cape power-up, allowing him to deflect projectiles with his cape. He could also attack normally and pierce through their defense.
Sonic's HP also went up to 180, and he learned Super Sonic. With all seven Chaos Emeralds he was granted from this upgrade, he could transform into Super Sonic and blaze through enemies with his attacks. While it allows him to be invincible, there is a limit to only three turns..
Flyer's HP went up to 150, and he learned the move Hurricane. This move would allow him to summon the Hurricane, with Chopper using the machine gun to fire at enemies. It resembles Art Attack in a way, but it costs 15 FP to use.
Tamber's HP went up to 200, and he learned the move Star Diamond Fist. With it, he could deal double the damage to every single enemy on the field, ignoring their defense as well. However, to use this move, Tamber would have to charge up the attack.
"Sweet... I've got my Star Diamond Fist!" Tamber grinned.
"Yes... You should all be fully capable of taking down the biggest of threats." Merlon assured. "This is all I can help you with, Chopper. Just know that with your friends on your side, you can win this."
"Thanks, Merlon," Chopper smiled, waving goodbye as they left his house. "Well... Looks like you're all Master-Rank!"
"Yeah! And I can actually become Super Sonic!" Sonic smirked.
"I can't wait to test my new ability on you," Berry said, leaning closer to Chopper. He quickly backed away and summoned his Warp Star.
"OK... I guess we're off!" Chopper declared, jumping on it. Kirby summoned his, and the eleven took off for Pop Star once again.
Well, there's the newest rank: the Master-Rank. This is a new rank introduced, unlike in Paper Chopper. Also, unlike that story, there's still four more chapters left here.
Next up: Chopper and his friends start a chapter NOT located around Rogueport!