CHAPTER 19
-Chopper of the Stars-
With Chopper's Warp Star, they had decided to make their landing at Hatty Town. Kirby's Warp Star, on the other hand, decided to fly by Castle Dedede. Thankfully, with Marx Soul gone, and King Dedede and Escargon not scheming, peace had finally returned to Dream Land.
"Man, why do we always go to an area where Contadre and the others AREN'T with us?" Scrub asked. "Why do you take us away from him and the others anyway?"
"Poyo, (I want to see what's going on with King Dedede,)" Kirby answered, flying the Warp Star to the throne room's window. They saw King Dedede eating a bunch of food, with a couple of Waddle Dee holding pots of Max Tomatoes. Something like that was very difficult for the pink puffball to resist.
"So, Your Majesty… Would you like anything else to eat?" Escargon asked while King Dedede gorged on his delicious treats like a wild boar.
"Heh heh heh…" King Dedede chortled after swallowing his last bite. "Well, how 'bout you tell those Waddle Dee to get me something good! Something that'll put those Max Tomatoes to shame!"
"Hmmmmmmmm…" Escargon pondered, a devious grin appearing on his face as he turned to one of the Waddle Dee chefs. "Psssssssst! Listen! I need you to do me a big favor! Find the hottest ingredients and put them in the delicacy! I want to see how he manages to handle something so spicy!"
The Waddle Dees nodded and left the throne room. Escargon couldn't help but snicker as he rubbed his hands evilly.
"That'll surely make you pay for the constant hammer swings you've given me..." Escargon muttered.
"What was that, Escargon?" King Dedede asked, appearing suspicious.
"Well... I just hope that your food is very enjoyable!" Escargon assured, turning to him with a grin.
"OK... But first, move it!" King Dedede pushed Escargon aside as he turned on the television. "You're blocking the way!"
"Whoa… So King Dedede is basically eating food all day instead of being like a dictator?" Shadower wondered. "Huh... I thought it'd be worse."
"I'd like to be a dictator one day," Tamber declared, receiving strange looks from the others. "What? I wanna rule some land and make people do what I want them to do! Especially to those gumballs!"
Mario: I don't like that one bit!
As King Dedede was changing the channels, Kirby couldn't help but stare at the food a bit more. Having a hard time resisting it, Kirby opening his mouth and inhaled the treats out of King Dedede's bowl.
"Poyo! (Delicious!)" Kirby cheered.
When King Dedede picked up a bone-in-cut from his bowl, he noticed a lot of empty space. Looking at the bowl, he saw nothing.
"Escargon!" King Dedede yelled. "Did you eat all of my food?!"
"What?! Of course not, Your Majesty!" Escargon objected, eyes widened. "You know I don't eat like a glutton such as your-"
Turning red, King Dedede got off his throne, took his hammer out, and began to swing at Escargon. "Hold still, Escargon!"
At that point, King Dedede started to chase his assistant around the room, leaving Kirby to giggle for a while until they decided to leave.
Hatty Town-
When Chopper and the the others landed in Hatty Town, there was something awfully different about it.
"Say… Where did everyone go?" Chopper asked, surprised by the emptiness. "I'm pretty sure that things are all right around Dream Land…"
"Yeah, something's fishy..." Flyer trailed. "Where's the Mayor? Shouldn't he be out here or anything?"
Their ponders were eventually interrupted by a loud voice coming from out of town. They checked it out, and what they found between both towns was a stage with the Mayor speaking. Cappies from both towns were sitting in chairs. Fumu, Bun, and their parents were there as well.
"Huh... Looks like something big is happening there." Sonic suggested. "I say we go check it out!"
The others nodded in agreement and went over to the stage to see what was going on. Apparently they had just come in on time for the Mayor to make a speech on a podium.
"My fellow Cappies…" the Mayor began. "Today is the day where us Cappies first came here many centuries ago! It's a great pleasure to honor our ancestors by celebrating our traditional holiday: Cappy Day!"
The audience began to applaud him while the group decided to approach him.
"What's going on here, Mayor?" Chopper asked. The Mayor took notice of him and decided to drag him onto the stage.
"Oh! I forgot to mention something, Cappies!" the Mayor added, putting Chopper in front of the podium, the others deciding to join. "As of now, Chopper has only one more Crystal Star to find!"
Everyone began to cheer as Chopper took a look at the microphone. "Well... Ummmm... I..."
"Go on, Chopper. Don't be shy."
Before Chopper could say a word, he looked up and saw a Warp Star coming his way. "Uhhhh... I'd like to talk, but I need to take cover!"
Chopper jumped out of the way as the Warp Star crashed onto the stage, destroying the podium. Kirby and the others had gotten off the star and noticed the damage they caused.
"Well... That...was awesome." Scrub commented.
"Errrr... I think it's time we went." Chopper decided, jumping off the stage. He walked over to Fumu and Bun and whispered, "Hey... Have you seen Meta Knight around."
"No, not for a while," Fumu replied. "We didn't even see his servants either."
"Oh... That's not good."
"Well, I thought I saw a couple of Meta-Knights going to the beach before..." Bun recalled. "Maybe you should check there?"
"Hey! That doesn't sound like a bad idea! Thanks!" Chopper quickly went over to his friends and suggested they go to the beach. They gave nods and started to follow him toward Dream Land's beach.
Beach-
After a five minute walk, they had finally reached Dream Land's beach and ocean. It was vast, and water itself was sparkling and clear. Everyone looked down at the water and saw their own reflections.
"This water's so clear… It's probably the nicest water I've ever seen!" Berry smiled. However, that smile had eventually gone away when she noticed a green fish quickly swim up to the surface in front of her.
"Oh, sweet Fumu! You've finally come back to see me!" the fish called Kine cheered. Berry's eyes shot wide open, and she stepped away from the water. When Kine opened his eyes, he realized it was not Fumu. "Wait… You're not Fumu. I'm sorry if I surprised you..."
"Fish can talk?" Bombette gawked.
"Why, many fish can speak! I'm not the only fish in the sea to speak the words of…whatever you guys are! Some of the fish in the Rainbow Coral Reef could speak to you! …But they haven't been there lately because of a giant ship."
"A giant ship?" Chopper gawked.
"Yeah... It had wings, and the front resembled a mask..."
"Then... Meta Knight is bound to be there..." Chopper trailed. "We gotta go there and find him so we ask him to take us to space!"
"Space? You mean… Up in the sky? Where those stars are? That kind of space?" Kine asked, with Chopper giving him a nod. "Wow… I always wondered what would be up there... Maybe someday..."
"Well, space can be very beautiful," Vivian added.
"You think you could take us to the Rainbow Coral Reef?" Shadower asked.
"Of course! Just follow me!" Kine declared, diving underwater.
"You heard him! Let's go!" Chopper jumped into the water, along with his friends. They didn't see Kine too far off, and they started to follow the fish.
Of course, they had some problems with a certain blue hedgehog along the way...
Rainbow Coral Reef-
After a few minutes, they had all reached the bottom of the ocean. From their view, the reef was absolutely beautiful. It reminded them of the rainbows that they saw when they were up in the sky on Chopper's home planet. Nearby was the Halberd.
"This is the Rainbow Coral Reef, my home," Kine explained as pointed his fin at the halberd. "That's the ship that's getting in the way. Maybe you convincing that warrior will get that ship out of here."
"That's exactly what we're going to do!" Chopper looked at Sonic, who looked like he was about to drown. "Yeah… We need to get going RIGHT NOW. Sonic looks like he's going to drown soon."
Everyone swam into the little opening in the halberd, which led them out of the water. They were brought into a metallic room with a pathway up ahead. However, there was a big problem. A large, block orb was in the way of the pathway, and it caught many of their attention.
"What the heck is this?" Chopper gawked, approaching it to take a better look at it. But when he got too close, an eye appeared on the dark orb, along with orange petals surrounding it.
"Poyo! (That's Dark Matter!)" Kirby gasped. "Poyo! (I didn't expect these guys to be here!)"
"Well, I know how to handle this!" Chopper took his hammer out and performed his Master Hammer technique on it. However, it didn't appear to even faze the creature. "Uh oh... That's not going to work...
"What? Bummer, man!" Scrub groaned. "So, what're we supposed to do? Sit here and wait for it to go away?"
Before Chopper could speak, he heard his Mailbox SP going off. "What the… Is my Mailbox SP going off? That thing hasn't gone off since the time Merlon called me into his house!"
"I didn't even know you had that thing," Tamber said.
Ignoring Tamber, Chopper opened his Mailbox SP and began to read the message.
So, I heard you need to go up into space to find the final Crystal Star. If you wanna get the job done, then you'll need to heed my instructions! If you don't do them correctly, then you're out of luck. The first thing you're gonna have to do is go back to your home on Clara. There's a little something there.
From The Champ
"This message is from someone named 'The Champ'," Chopper noted. "I wonder... Is Jolene sending me messages again?"
"What? Lemme see!" Scrub took a glance at the message Chopper received. "Whoa! It's just like in Glitzville! ...Except for the different ringtone. You think we should listen to this person?"
"I guess we don't have much of a choice... Though, I'm wondering if everything's all right there..."
"We don't have much of a choice. I think we should go there." Vivian decided. Chopper eventually agreed with her, and they all went back outside.
"So… Did you manage to talk to that knight person about moving that ship?" Kine asked. Mario explained to him about Dark Matter being in their way. "What? There's something called Dark Matter in the way?"
"Yeah," Chopper nodded. "But, then I got this message from 'The Champ'. The message told us to go to my home planet."
"Oh... Well, then good luck with that!"
After waving goodbye, they finally made their exit out of the ocean.
Beach-
"Whew! Finally! We're out of the water! Thank goodness!" Sonic sighed, doing a bit of stretches. "I hope we're not going back in the water..."
Mario: We probably are.
"...Dang it."
"So... We need to go back to my house..." Chopper trailed with a bit of worry in his voice. "I'm not so sure what to think right now..."
"Poyo, (Well, we might as well check it out,)" Kirby suggested.
They made their exit from the beach and headed to where the teleporter was. Tamber burst the door open with his fist and approached the panel. To his surprise, he saw that they could still go to the planet.
"Hey, Gumball! Looks like we can still go to your planet!" Tamber called out.
"Really? Well... I guess we might as well go..." Chopper trailed.
He punched in the location, and then they entered the teleporter. What awaited them on Clara, they weren't so sure.
Clara-
Once everyone walked out of the teleporter machine, they all remained silent, trying to hear what was around them. They didn't hear a thing.
"Gee… I don't know what to do... I feel a little too scared to go out there and see what's around." Chopper shivered, stepping away from the door and back to the teleporter. "I think it's best to get out of here..."
"No way, Choppy!" Berry grabbed Chopper's arm and she pulled him back over to the door. "We still have a Crystal Star to find! If this is the only way to get to space, then we have to do it! You'd do it for me, right?"
"No!" the pale green hero quickly got his arm out of Berry's grasps and stepped away from the door.
Mario sighed and decided to open the door himself. Everyone turned their attention to what was revealed behind it. All over the place were many dark ghosts, and the sky itself was a dark red. The grass was very dark, not appearing green, but black.
Nearly everyone's eyes widened, and they had stepped away from the door.
"Pbbbbbbbbbbth! You call this scary! This is nothing!" Tamber declared, he, Mario, and Sonic being the only ones near the door. "So, if you wusses wanna stay here, then go right ahead!"
"N-No... We better get going..." Chopper agreed, walking out of the room with the others. All they could mostly see around was lots of evil, but they tried their best to ignore it.
Eventually they reached Chopper's house. However, the main difference was that instead of the cap being red with white spots, it was black with red spots. His door was also black as well.
"Geez, this place is so EVIL! Heck, look at the sky!" Scrub exclaimed, pointing to the swirling, dark sky, as if there was a vortex.
"Let's not get too distracted, Scrub. We need to see what's in my house." Chopper opened the door, and was in for a shock when he saw his furniture alive with evil, glowing red eyes. They appeared to let out hisses at them.
Not only that, but a certain leaf king was there too. Instead of being green, he appeared blackish with red eyes.
"Well, look what we have here!" Trinado grinned in a demented voice. "It's been a while, hasn't it, Chopper? You see what happened to me? DO YOU?!"
"Are... Are you actually Trinado?" Chopper stammered.
"That's right! I have drastically changed, haven't I? Don't worry, your friends have changed, too! Come on out, guys!" Trinado whistled, and Stoneard, Captain Steelfoot, and Princess Poisna came out. They appeared black like Trinado and had red eyes.
"Stoneard is angry that planet turn to this!" Stoneard growled.
"However, that's not stoppin' us from destroyin' ye, matey!" Steelfoot chortled. "We even feel stronger than before!"
"And now it's payback time!" Poisna shouted.
They charged at him, but Chopper jumped out of the way and rushed upstairs into his room. The minions decided to charge at his friends instead, but Trinado was jumped on by Mario, Tamber managed to knock Stoneard back with a punch, Steelfoot had been hit by Sonic's Homing Attack, and Poisna had gotten hit in the face by Berry's Ruby Hammer. With that, they followed Chopper up to his room.
"Man, that was TOO close!" Chopper sighed in relief. He looked around the room and noticed a piece of paper near his bed. "Huh? What's that?"
"Looks like a piece of paper," Sonic answered.
"But I don't remember this being here..." the antennae hero trailed, picking up the paper.
Clue Number 1: So! You finally found my first clue… Not bad, kid. You have a LONG way ahead of you, just to let you know. This is the first clue out of…how many there are! And don't think you can abandon this search, because I'm watching you…
Just in time, Chopper heard his Mailbox SP going off at the very moment he finished reading the clue. "Whoa… The message just came in after I finished reading this."
"That's disturbing..." Flyer trailed with a surprised expression.
Chopper took out his Mailbox SP and read the message.
You did a pretty good job looking for that clue! It wasn't easy putting it there! …That's why I hired someone to put 'em all around somewhere! I know you probably want me to just tell you where I am, but NO! I want to make this a little challenging! Now… The next place you wanna go starts with a P. The next word has an M at it. 'Burg' is in the name of this town. Got that?
From The Champ
"Hmmmmm… From the looks of that e-mail…" Vivian began as she looked at the message. "…It must mean that the next clue is located in Petal Meadows! It's in Petalburg!"
"Well, now we know where to go! …But, the thing is…" Chopper trailed, walking out of the room and to the stairs. "…Those goons are still here. How do we get past them?"
"We gave 'em a bit of a beating, so they should be unconscious," Scrub mentioned.
"Oh... Then that's good!"
Just as they headed downstairs, the four minions had started to get up. They spotted the group making their way out and proceeded to chase them. Well, until Chopper slammed the door in front of them, knocking them out once again.
"That was close! Now let's get out of here!" Chopper suggested, heading back to to the teleporter.
Rogueport Sewers-
The door to the teleporter building opened, and everyone came walking out. Chopper would've tripped on a paint bucket with a paintbrush in it, but an old Toad had stopped him.
"E-Excuse me, sonny…" an old Toad with orange spots on his cap standing next to one of the buildings mumbled. "C-Could you give me that paint bucket. My back is killing me… Cough…hack…wheeze…"
"Ummmmm... OK..." Chopper trailed, picking up the paint. "What do you need it for?"
"Well, sonny... I was called here to help repaint the bar." the old Toad explained.
Chopper couldn't help but feel guilty for the old Toad. He didn't look like he'd be able to get the job done so easily. Suddenly, an idea sparked his mind, and he ate the paintbrush. He had ended up gaining a backwards blue hat, and he also held a paintbrush with many different colors of paint on it.
"Say hello to Paint Chopper!"
"Huh? What are you doing, sonny?" the old Toad asked in curiosity. Chopper put his paintbrush in the paint bucket and began to swipe at the building with his paintbrush, painting it in many different colors.
"Ta-da! It's done!" Chopper smiled.
"Why... Thanks, sonny! ...Though, they told me that they wanted it painted blue and not in many different colors..."
"Oh..."
"Anyway, you said we need to go to Petal Meadows, right?" Shadower asked, getting back on topic. "Wasn't that Koopa named Koops there?"
"Yeah," Vivian nodded. "Let's head there."
And that they did, leaving the old Toad to stare at the colorful building. Regardless of the specific paint needed, he decided it was fine enough and left.
Petal Meadows-
Everyone simply walked past the Goombas that still roamed around Petal Meadows. They saw no reason to face them, and they were much stronger than them by now. Instead, their continued their merry way to Petalburg.
"Boy, this place hasn't changed one bit," Chopper remarked, not seeing any big contests or something. On the other hand, by the pond, he saw a note lying on the ground.
"Hey, guys!" Koops greeted, he and Koopie Koo being by the pond. "It's been quite a while hasn't it?"
Mario: Hi, Koops!
"Hey there!" Chopper greeted.
"So how was your little trip?" Koopie Koo asked.
Mario: We only have one more Crystal Star left.
"Really? Neat!" Koops commented. "So... Is the star around here, then?"
"No... We're trying to get to it, though." Vivian answered. "Someone named 'The Champ', hired someone to place a clue here. That's why we're here."
"This wouldn't happen to be it, would it?" Koopie Koo picked up the white paper from the ground and handed it to Vivian. "We noticed this on the ground, but we weren't sure whether to take it or not."
"That's all right," the Shadow Siren gave the paper to Chopper so he could check it out. The others circled around them as well.
Clue Number 2: Ah… So you managed to find my next clue! Man, I didn't expect you to do it so easily! You're some kid! …But you're not as good as me! Unh! Yeah! Feel the… Wait, I shouldn't write that! Darn... I should've used a pencil for this. Anyway, good job on finding the clue, but you're not done yet!
"Dang it... Really? That's just-" Chopper stopped when he heard his Mailbox SP going off. "…And then another e-mail comes in. Gee, I wonder what 'The Champ' has to say…"
Taking out his Mailbox SP, Chopper read the message.
Nice going, man… But you still got a lot more than this. This is only the beginning. What you gotta do next is go to Toy Kingdom…or Music Kingdom. Whatever the heck it is… You just gotta find this train. Trust me, it'll help you big time!
From The Champ
"Music Kingdom or Toy Kingdom? What kind of places are THOSE? They sound like a kids' place!" Tamber scoffed.
"That's where I went to find the first Crystal Star..." Chopper trailed, feeling a sense of nostalgia. "Anyway, you two... We have to get going... See ya!"
Everyone waved goodbye to Koops and Koopie Koo as they left Petalburg. Both Chopper and Vivian knew a little shortcut that could take them into Toy Kingdom, which they took by going into the red pipe in Petal Meadows.
Toy Kingdom-
Everyone came out of the red pipe ,and they saw, to their amazement, the large kingdom. They stood in the area where Chopper and Vivian faced Beldam and Marilyn before, taking a glimpse of the many toys and balloons in the background.
"It's been so long since we've been here..." Vivian trailed, looking at the beautiful view. That blue sky was absolutely marvelous with the fireworks.
"Poyo! (I would've liked coming here before!)" Kirby smiled.
"This is so dumb," Tamber scoffed, walking over to the lift nearby. "Well I'm outta this dumb place!"
"I'd say this place is more intriguing than 'dumb'," Flyer stated.
"Well... Fine." Tamber pouted, crossing his arms.
"Geez, no need to be so sour, Tamber," Sonic said. "Maybe if you didn't act like the way you are now, I think people would learn to appreciate you more."
"...Yeah, I'd have to agree," Berry concurred.
"Aside from that, let's go check out Music Kingdom," Chopper suggested, jumping onto the lift. His partners joined him and ended up getting a much better view as they traveled.
"Well... This is quite a magical place." Shadower admitted.
Music Kingdom-
"All right, let me tell you this: if you let me bounce on the xylophones, I promise that I'll let you go out with my sister, all right?" a Music Note said to another.
"Yeah! I'm all for that!" the other Music Note smiled. When he looked up, he saw a lift coming down their way. "Uhhh... I think we gotta move..."
The Music Notes moved out of the way on time for the lift to land in between them. The heroes leaped off the lift and landed on the pink floor. They appeared to be around Music Town, from what Chopper saw.
"Man, being here brings back memories," Sonic remarked with a smirk.
"Yeah, it is," Chopper nodded.
"Wait, Sonic first joined you here, Chopper?" Flyer asked.
"Nah. We just met here this one time. I was doing other things before I finally decided to tag along." Sonic explained.
"Anyway, I guess the clue should be around here somewhere…" Chopper trailed as he looked around the area. He noticed the Rainbow Train at the train station above him. "Maybe...the Rainbow Train?"
Flyer noticed Chopper run off to the train station, above, and he told the rest to follow. When they reached the train, they headed inside into the pink room, where Chopper had first spotted the Crystal Star.
"This was the place where we first met, Chopper..." Vivian recalled.
"Uh huh. I can't believe that was over a hundred chapters ago." Chopper added.
"Maybe you might need to be saved by more Motobugs again?" Sonic recalled.
"...Probably not."
Vivian noticed a note on the ground and picked it up. She handed it to Chopper so he could see it for himself.
Clue Number 3: Yeah, you found the third clue. There's not much to say here, punk! Deal with it!
"OK..." Chopper trailed, his Mailbox SP going off. "Well, I know what to do..."
Annoyed, he began to read the message on his device.
Well, well… You went to the train. Good work. Want a cookie? Thought so. The next place you'll want to go is someplace dark. And one thing for sure is that it's filled with a lot of ghosts.
From The Champ
"Ghosts? Then we're probably going to Boo Town." Chopper deduced. "I'm sure Bow is there!"
"Oh, goody..." Berry mumbled sarcastically.
"Well, I guess it's backtracking time," Bombette sighed.
"Poyo, (Or, we could use the Warp Star,)" Kirby mentioned, walking out of the train and summoning his Warp Star. "Poyo! (It'll go much faster!)"
"That works! Let's get going!" Chopper walked out of the Rainbow Train and he summoned his Warp Star as well. They hopped on and they took off. However, Chopper couldn't help but look back at both Music and Toy Kingdom. "Well... I guess it's goodbye to that place... I wonder if we'll ever go back there."
Boo Town-
Once they landed in the town, Chopper did a cartwheel while getting off the Warp Star. However, he ended up failing horribly and landed on his head. Kirby had done a cartwheel and landed on his feet before shaking his head at Chopper.
"Well, this place has hardly changed," Shadower commented, not noticing much of a change.
"Chopper? Is that you?"
Turning around, Chopper noticed Bow flying his way with a smile.
"Hey, Bow," Chopper waved.
"I didn't expect you to be here, but I don't mind," Bow said, pinching Chopper's cheeks. "I almost missed doing this."
"OK, seriously, stop," Berry suggested, smacking Bow's stubby hand away.
"Oh… You again..." Bow said in an annoyed voice. "Look, pinky, I don't have time to be dealing with you, OK?"
"Ditto, sister," she replied, not liking the name Bow called her.
"If this is going to turn out how I think it's going to be..." Scrub trailed. "Who're you placing your bet on, Contadre?"
"What do you mean?" Chopper asked.
"My money goes on the ghost," Tamber declared.
"You guys are really going to place bets? That's so wrong." Flyer scolded. "We should be searching for a clue."
Mario: There's one up on a tree.
Kirby had floated up to grab it, and he tossed it to Chopper for him to open it.
Clue Number 4: Well, you managed to find the clue. No big deal… But, MAN… That clue was HARD to put up! I almost thought I was going to break my back for a second! …Wait, I didn't even put it up there! Kibbler did that!
"Kibbler? Who the heck is Kibbler?" Chopper asked in confusion.
"Looks like he was the one putting these clues around," Vivian said.
Chopper would've said another thing if his Mailbox SP didn't go off. Sighing, he took his Mailbox SP out and began to read the message.
If you read the clue, you know I had a hard time putting it up there. Now, if ya want the next clue, you gotta go to a big tree. And there's absolutely NO color there. You hearin' me? NO COLOR!
From The Champ
"No color? Well… I think I know where we have to go. Back to the Great Tree!" Chopper announced.
"OK, Berry, we gotta go," Shadower said, pulling her away from Bow by the hair.
"Youch! That hurts!" Berry winced.
"Sorry..."
Bow watched in disappointment as the crew had taken off on their Warp Stars. "Well... It's a shame I didn't get to see them for too long. But it's fine here, considering that we are no longer being terrorized by King Boo."
The Great Tree-
The entrance to the Great Tree opened up, and all eleven heroes came walking in. All of the Punies saw them return and immediately went over to him.
"I don't believe it! Chopper's back already?" one Puni gasped. "Have… Have you come here to play with us?"
"Well... Not exactly..." Chopper trailed, disappointing many. "But we're looking for a piece of paper here!"
"A note? I think I've seen one around here." Petuni recalled, picking up a piece of paper from a bush. "We just saw this today. It wasn't here yesterday."
"Poyo, (Then the clue came here during the night,)" Kirby deduced, taking the note and reading it.
Clue Number 5: Already five clues? I seriously have no comment on this whatsoever… But, good job.
And then a message followed up from Chopper's Mailbox SP.
Five clues already? You gotta be kidding me! But… That's not halfway, and I'm glad it's not. The next area you'd want to go is at an uh… It's at some kind of desert. And I'm sure you've NEVER been to a desert! Harharhar!
From The Champ
"Did the Champ just say that we need to go to Desert Sands?" Chopper gawked.
"Desert Sands? Hey, I'm going back home!" Berry smiled. "I wonder how things have changed there?"
"Well, we might as well find out," Flyer suggested.
"You guys are going already? Aww... That stinks." Punio said in disappointment.
They said their goodbyes to the Punies before they took off to the desert.
Sand Town-
"Dang it... Back to another dry area..." Scrub groaned.
"Say, isn't this the place where you met Berry, Chopper?" Sonic asked, looking around at Sand Town, specifically the school and the apartment building.
"Yeah. This is also the place where Gemerl apparently had a base, too." Chopper mentioned.
"Really? Huh. That's interesting."
"Well, if it isn't that pink girl and the freaky antennae kid!" the Shy Guy exclaimed, he and the female Bandit approaching them. "We thought we'd never see you! And you brought a couple of new freaks in too!"
"Freaks?! Who do you think you are?!" Bombette hissed, giving them a death glare.
"Now now... Let's not be so rude." Tamber stepped in. "Why don't we handle this like gentlemen?"
"I'm not a gentlemen..." the pink Bandit trailed.
"Yeah, sure. Now, do us a good favor and shoo, OK?"
"Why should we?"
"Because I said so."
"All right, fine. Only to get away from you."
With that, the two turned around and started to walk away from the group.
"Tamber actually stood up for us?" Berry gawked.
"I'm...actually surprised," Chopper added. "Why'd you do that?"
"Wha... Isn't it obvious?" Tamber gaped. "It's MY job to mock you guys! No way can I have some freaks making fun of you!"
"...So you didn't care about us, then?"
"Errmmm..." Tamber trailed, rubbing the back of his head.
"It's all right, Tamber," Vivian assured. "It's not a bad thing, you know."
"Sh-Shut up!"
While Tamber began to fume, Berry noticed a piece of paper near one of the shops. She picked it up and showed it to the group.
Clue Number 6: Harhar! I'm pretty sure he's not going to find this clue! I hid it in the sand! …But I should've put the whole thing under there. Wait, he's got it? Dang it… Well I did tell him to get it, so it doesn't really matter.
Chopper heard his Mailbox SP going off again and did the usual.
So, you found my sixth clue? Not bad. Not bad at all. But, I'm sure you won't find the next one on a floating island!
From The Champ
"We're going back to my island? Neat." Tamber smiled, joining Kirby on his Warp Star when they summoned them. "I just hope people aren't there..."
Clearno Island-
They happened to land on top of the temple where the group had fought Tamber. Though, it did feel different, with the Star Diamond no longer on its altar.
"Say, Tamber... There's one thing I'd like to know." Flyer started. "What ever happened to the rest of your kind?"
"They're gone," Tamber answered, sounding like he didn't care.
"You mean they...?"
"Beats me. They're not here, that's for sure."
"Hmmmmm... Interesting... So why is it just you on this island?"
Tamber, appearing unsure at the moment, noticed a piece of paper on the altar. "Hey, would you look at that? Another clue!"
Flyer raised a finger to speak, but Tamber ignored him and picked up the clue. Chopper gave Flyer an assuring look before Tamber started reading the clue.
Clue Number 7: I can't believe this piece of paper is going to be impossible to find! I always wanted to hide one that's tough to find! Wait… I think he DID find it! Uh oh… This is definitely bad news for the Ra—Whoa, I ain't giving my name out so easily!
Chopper then got an e-mail from 'The Champ' again.
Not bad. You went to the floating island above the sea. Good going. But how are you doing this so fast? Seriously? Meh, who cares about that? I bet you couldn't reach an island that contains the gods! Not likely!
From The Champ
"So he want us to go to Viti?" Shadower sighed.
"We're practically going all over the place!" Bombette gaped.
"This is just like searching for General White..." Chopper groaned, jumping on his Warp Star, and they all took off to Viti.
Viti, by the Shadow Palace-
"Geez... Why did we have to stop here?" Scrub mumbled, shuddering at the palace before them. "This place still gives me the creeps!"
"Well, without the Shadow King, we should be fine," Vivian assured, searching around the area. "If the note is somewhere else... Ugh, that won't be any fun..."
"Hold up! I spotted something at the front door!" Sonic announced, pointing to the note.
"Oh! That's good!" Vivian grabbed the note and gave it to Chopper. "Here you go, Chopper!"
"Thanks," Chopper smiled, taking the note from Vivian, and he began to read the note.
Clue Number 8: Wow… I know this palace looks kinda scary, but isn't this um… The Thousand-Year Door? It looks just like it... But, how would I know? I've never been there. But I think Gonzales was there, and even Contadre. ...I just hope this note doesn't give out my name at this point.
"Errmmm... OK..." Chopper heard his Mailbox SP go off, and he took it out to read the message.
Wow… I can't believe you're actually not scared to go into that…place! Well, we'll just see what happens when I tell you the next clue is in another dark area! Heh heh... Like I'd ever tell you it's located in place full of twilight! ...D'oh!
From The Champ
"Well, to Twilight Town we go," Shadower declared, the group taking on on their Warp Stars.
Twilight Town-
"Man, we're back in Twilight Town..." Vivian trailed. "Hopefully everything's OK here."
"It doesn't look like there's anything dangerous here..." Sonic trailed, looking around. He spotted a tree with two birds, with one bird holding onto a piece of paper. "There's the next clue!"
"I'll get it," Shadower decided, going over to the tree. "Hey, little raven! Think you can give me that piece of paper you got there?"
The raven merely ignored him and pecked his hat. Annoyed, Shadower thought of a plan and pulled out a little caterpillar, which got the raven to drop the note.
"Thank you. And this is for you." the Shadow Brother tossed the caterpillar to the raven, while he picked up the paper and began to read it. "Geez… It's like this person's talking to himself now..."
Clue Number 9: Man, it took me a while to give this clue to one of those birds! For some reason, it feels like they know what I am saying. Kinda weird though… But, I succeeded in giving it to the bird. Consider myself lucky…
"How many clues are we going to be going through? It's getting annoying!" Chopper complained, only to hear his Mailbox SP going off. He knew what to expect as he read the message.
You actually got that from the bird? You gotta be kidding me… Well, I guess the next place is at some kind of beach. I think it's pretty nice.
From The Champ
"Then we're off to Pudgy Island, then?" Bombette asked.
"Looks like it," Chopper said, summoning his Warp Star again so they could head to Pudgy Island.
Pudgy Island-
"So… I'll trade you one of my bandannas if you give me your shell." Bambo suggested to his friend, Kooplang.
"Are you serious? I'm not going to give my shell up! …But, if you let me throw you, I'll give you this piece of paper I just found!" Kooplang declared, holding a note up. However, it soon got swiped out of his grasps. "Huh? Where'd it go?"
He and Bambo looked up at the sky and noticed two Warp Stars flying off.
"Hey, was that Chopper?" Bambo asked.
"It looked an awful like like him, that's for sure..." Kooplang trailed.
"So... Got anything else to trade?"
"Nope."
As the group flew away from the island, Chopper opened up the note/
Clue Number 10: Wow, I got ten clues done already. But, I gave this one to some Koopa. He'll give it to him I guess. Hopefully.
"Well that was pretty useless," Bombette stated, with Chopper getting another message.
You must really want that item I have. If you want it, I say you go someplace pretty far. ...If you know what I mean.
From The Champ
"Yeah, Fahr Outpost sure is a fahr place!" Chopper smiled, receiving annoying looks from everyone.
Fahr Outpost-
"Geez, this place is cold," Tamber stated as they landed on the ground in the outpost. "Why can't we be in a place warmer?"
"On a side note, the note is on the statue of that cannon," Bombette noted, her attention drawn to the statue.
"Allow me to get it," Flyer said, flying up to the statue to grab the note. He then returned to his friends to show the note.
Clue Number 11: So I saw these Bob-ombs, and they looked weird. Looks like they had no problem with this note being in that statue.
…Which followed up with another message from The Champ.
Not even the cold can destroy you? You're pretty tough. But, I don't want to actually destroy you. But, the next area you should head to is a pipe nearby.
From The Champ
Mario: That must be Snowy Mountain!
"Well, that's better than traveling across the world!" Chopper smiled, jumping into the pipe with his friends They had emerged in Snowy Mountain, though it only got colder from there.
"I-I think I'd like to g-go someplace w-warmer..." Berry shivered.
"I don't see the note anywhere..." Chopper trailed, scanning the area around him. However, it was Kirby who had spotted a note in the river.
"Poyo! (I see something in the river!)" Kirby announced, quickly diving in there to grab it. When he emerged, he found himself shivering. "P-Poyo... (S-So cold...)"
Aside from that, he read the note anyway.
Clue Number 12: Wow… I HAD to go into an icy river. And it was COLD! Very, very cold! I wish I didn't put it in there!
"All right, time to get the Mailbox SP out," Chopper pulled his Mailbox SP out just in time when he got the message. "I swear, I feel like we're being followed."
"I think the correct term you're looking for is 'stalked', Chopper," Flyer corrected.
You went into the icy river? You must be insane! No wonder you were the champ of Glitzville… But, if you want to find the next clue, you might find it in a forest. One that is very difficult to get to.
From The Champ
"Illusion Forest? Well... It'll be interesting to go back to that place." Sonic said.
Illusion Forest, Flower Hills-
Since Flower Hills was the only area that appeared to be the most open and not filled with trees, they had landed there. Those who had not witnessed this placed gazed at the flowers in awe.
"Was this the place where you found that flower, Chopper?" Vivian asked.
"Yeah, it was," Chopper nodded. "Though, it was kinda far..."
"And you found me surrounded by giant eggs," Scrub added.
"Found the note, Chopper!" Sonic interrupted, speeding over to him with the note. "Now, let's see what it has to say…"
Clue Number 13: Thirteen is definitely an unlucky number. But not for me! This one was pretty easy for me to hide, so good for me!
"Yup. More rambling."
Then came the e-mail…
"And that's my Mailbox SP calling for me!" Chopper pulled out his Mailbox SP and read the message again.
Yeah, that one was easy to find. But I don't think the next one will be easy! You gotta go to someplace with a nice sunset. It has some hills also, which is nice.
From The Champ
Mario: That's Sunset Hill!
"I'm sure we're almost done with this," Chopper hoped, jumping on his Warp Star and taking off to Sunset Hill.
Sunset Hill, the beach-
When they decided to land somewhere in Sunset Hill, they had decided to land at the beach where they faced Gemerl for the Sun Star. They could get a glimpse of the Sun Temple up ahead. However, Sonic was paying more attention to the orange water and the waves.
"What a neat place," Sonic commented.
"I thought you didn't like water?" Chopper recalled.
"I don't," the hedgehog said, picking up a rock. "But I don't mind going to the beach! Especially when I can do this!" Sonic threw the rock, causing it to skip across the water and go a long distance.
Mario: Nice shot!
"I can do that too!" Chopper smiled, picking up a rock and throwing it. His had managed to skip at least twice, but it sank into the water. "Dang... So much for that."
Mario decided that he would do the same thing. However, he stepped on something, and he lifted his foot to reveal a note. He picked it up and told them that he found the note. Everyone quickly went over to him to check it out.
Clue Number 14: I gotta admit, this beach looks pretty neat... I thought I saw a temple just up ahead too. I'd stay here, but, y'know, there's these notes.
"OK, I don't get these clues anymore," Flyer sighed. "First they say that we need to listen to the instructions on it, and now it's just blabber."
"Well… I just hope it's not some kind of trap. That's for sure." Chopper heard his Mailbox SP going off, so he pulled it out and read the message.
Sunset Hill was a nice place, but how did you find that so easily? Well, I guess I gotta tell you the next place. It appears to be up in the sky. And the buildings look fantastic there.
From The Champ
"Why, we're going back to Wingel City!" Flyer gasped. "This'll be a treat, despite the repetitiveness of these clues!"
"Errr... Yeah, you're right." Chopper agreed, he and the group getting on the Warp Star.
Wingel City-
They landed in the city and were delighted to see how peaceful it felt. With no Aliebits or Chilbi getting in the way, there was no possibility of there being any issues. That was, if King Bebe decided to not be a jerk again.
"Ahhh... It feels great to be home again." Flyer sighed, though his expression turned to one of worry. "Though... I'm a bit worried about how my mom feels. I mean, she never told me whether I could go on this adventure or not."
"Who cares? You're with us anyway." Tamber said. "So let's just find the stinkin' note already, OK?"
"Yes... You're right." Flyer looked around his surroundings, only to notice a note sticking out from a pole on a building. "I believe I've found the note!"
He opened the note and showed it to the rest.
Clue Number 15: What a nice place! Seriously! I wish I lived in a place like this - if it weren't for my fighting career, that is.
"Seriously! Why can't we get REAL clues?!" Tamber whined, Chopper's Mailbox SP go off soon after.
The sky is pretty cool. But, say goodbye to it, 'cause the next clue is located in front of a large door! I dare you to get to it! Harharhar!
From The Champ
"Does this person want us to go to the Thousand-Year Door?" Vivian gawked. "That's ridiculous! Why go there?"
"I'm not sure..." Chopper trailed. "Well, we can't just take the Warp Star there. We need to go into the sewers for that."
Chopper turned to the pipe, and with a leap, he went into the sewers.
Ruins of the Thousand-Year Door-
Everyone felt so exhausted upon their travel around the world. They had been to almost every single area, and they were all getting sick of it. Sonic, including, wanted to get to the action.
"Ugh... So here we area... Back at the Thousand-Year Door..." Chopper trailed, looking at the bright stars on the door.
"It's been a long time since we've opened that door…" Vivian trailed. "But with the Shadow King and Queen gone, I don't feel so nervous upon approaching the door."
"You think we should check inside?" Sonic asked.
"I'd rather not go back in there after what I saw," Scrub objected.
"For once, I have to agree," Bombette spoke.
"Pbbbbbbbth! All of you guys are wusses!" Tamber mocked, walking over to the door. "If you ladies wanna stand here, then go for it! I'll go in there myself!"
"We don't have to. I already found the note." Vivian said, picking up the note and opening it.
Clue Number 16: End of the road, suckers!
"End of the road? Great... Now what?!"
"What? Really?" Scrub gaped. "You gotta be kidding me! All that for nothing?!"
"If this is what I think it is..." Chopper mumbled. Before he could ramble, his Mailbox SP went off, so he opened it up to check the message. "What now?"
All right. Listen here, punk! You've gone around the world, and I'm pretty sure you're worn out. This time, I'm being serious! If you want to get to that last Crystal Star, then come to Glitzville! I'm waiting there just for you!"
From The Champ
"So... It says that we need to go to Glitzville to get what we want..." Chopper trailed. "If the champs' telling the truth, then I'm feeling much better!"
"Glitzville? Sweet! We're going to my favorite place!" Scrub cheered, running out of the ruins and heading back to the surface.
"Wait up, Scrub!" Chopper cried, he and his friends following the Yoshi to their destination.
If you weren't a fan of this chapter, well, I can't blame you too much. It's probably more repetitive than the General White quest. On the other hand, there was some fun dialogue to put in here, such as the one with King Dedede and Escargon. ...And yes, Kine has a crush on Fumu (despite having a wife in Kirby's Dream Land 3).
But don't worry, for the next chapter will not be repetitive. ...And it probably won't be as long. That's where things get much more interesting.