"Huh… So this is the facility, huh? This place is sorta weird, I suppose…"
Chopper looked down at the glassy ground with purple lights under it. The walls were dark purple, with a hint of silver in it. The room was not too big, having a door up ahead. It was a bit dark, too, but not dark enough to make them blind. Thankfully, there was also a Save Block and Heart Block in this room as well.
"Well... Here we are. The facility." Chopper said, approaching the sign. "It says here that the place is called Gravity Gadget."
"Ahhhh... Very interesting. I'd assume that gravity will be taking a major role in this facility." Flyer said, interested in the place. "I thought this place looked strange from the outside, but from the inside? Even stranger... Plus, it feels like normal gravity in here, which is nice!"
"Let's hope this place is a piece of cake," Chopper walked up to the door, but he noticed that there was an exclamation point on it. "This thing won't open... I guess we need to find a switch."
Chopper scanned the area for a switch. The only thing he ended up spotting was a flap on the wall nearby. An idea suddenly popped into his mind, and he got Kirby's attention and pointed at the flap.
"Poyo! (I can definitely take care of that!)" Kirby smiled, opening his mouth to inhale the flap off, revealing a hidden switch. "Poyo! (Got it! All right, Chopper, hit that switch!)"
Kirby stepped out of the way, allowing Chopper to kick the switch, making the door open for them. Entering it, they walked into a bigger and much longer hallway with a yellow rail hanging from the ceiling over by a pit of green waste that appeared to be very acidic. There appeared to be that substance above the rail as well! Looking at said acid, most of them cringed.
"So... What would happen if we fell in that?" Scrub asked.
"I'd rather not know..." Berry gulped.
"Well, at least that railing above us can at least help me get over this...whatever that stuff is," Chopper mentioned, grabbing a hold of the railing thanks to his Spring Jump. When he slowly moved above the substance below, Vivian in particular appeared worried.
"Be careful, Chopper…" Vivian trailed nervously. "You don't want to fall in there..."
"Yeah... I really don't..."
"While you guys sit there and be worried about the gumball, I'm going to go over there myself." Tamber started to glide over to the wall up ahead. There was a platform that could be used to land on from the railing to get to another railing on another section of the ceiling, only higher. After landing on the platform, Tamber climbed up the wall and reached the door. There appeared to be a lever above the door, which he couldn't grab a hold of. "Hey! Can you guys get over here?!"
"Yeah, sure, we'll do that," Shadower assured, going into the shadows to meet Tamber on the other side. Vivian had done the same thing and had reached the door, too. When Chopper landed on the platform Tamber had gotten on, he made sure not to look down and used another Spring Jump to grab a hold of the next railing. He had landed by the door headfirst, leaving him dazed.
"Ow..." Chopper mumbled, quickly shaking his head. "I really need to make a better landing..."
Flyer decided to go next and flew over to where the door was. Now all that remained were the rest. Bombette, in particular, was less than thrilled.
"Great... Well there's no chance of me getting through here." Bombette sighed. "Curse me and not having arms..."
"I'll provide assistance!" Flyer shouted, flying back to the others who couldn't get across. He had spent nearly five minutes getting everyone to the door, and he was starting to get exhausted and landed to rest. "Gee... That sure was annoying... Did any of you gain weight?"
"Thanks for the help, though," Sonic mentioned. "If it weren't for you, we'd probably have a hard time getting here!"
"Well... It's one of the reasons why I'm here to assist you guys..."
Unfortunately, Flyer didn't have time to relax for long, as Chopper nudged him and pointed up at the switch above the door.
"Sorry, Chopper... My wings are a bit too exhausted to get to it now..."
"Poyo! (I'll do it!)" Kirby smiled, taking in some air and floating up to the switch. Once he pulled it, the door opened, revealing another hallway. Everyone smiled and entered the hallway, not finding much.
"So much for this place being... Wait, are those Phis?!" Scrub gulped, noticing three Master Phis nearby. One of them was carrying an electric shield.
Just as they were about to turn invisible, the Master Phis had already spotted them.
"Located! Located!" the Master Phi holding the shield announced in its monotone, robotic voice, pointing at Chopper and his crew. "Attack! Attack!"
"Ah good! This is just what we wanted!" another Master Phi grinned. "Now we can give him the proper beat down that he deserves for what he's done to us!"
"Like you guys hardly done much in a while," Scrub scoffed.
"Oh, you may think that, but that's where you're wrong," the third Master Phi spoke. "You see, ever since you've beaten Master Gemerl at Sunset Hill, he had found a brand new base, and was settling in it. He discovered that it was called the Palace of Shadow."
"The Palace of Shadow? You mean this whole time after we defeated Gemerl he's been staying in that horrid place?" Chopper gasped in surprise. "I didn't expect that..."
"Yeah, and no one even knew about it!" the first Master Phi cackled, it and the others aiming its weapons at the group. "So, Chopper… You wanna see how powerful us Phis are compared to the others?"
"Poyo! (I doubt you're even that hard!)" Kirby taunted.
"What did that pink…thing say?"
"It doesn't matter what that thing said," the second Master Phi stated. "What really matters is that we're going to destroy you!"
"Then bring it on!" Chopper shouted, landing a First Strike on the first Master Phi with a light ball. Thankfully, the projectile went through the electric shield and hurt it. The Master Phi was thrown to the door up ahead, which happened to be locked. It managed to get back up and fly back to the group with it shield in front.
"Hmmmmmm… All right, so these guys all have 70 HP, 18 Attack and 4 Defense." Flyer noticed. "Well... This could be a little difficult."
"Think you got anything to get rid of that shield?" Chopper wondered.
"I believe I do!" Flyer pulled out his arm cannon and fired at the Master Phi with the shield. It had managed to break through and deal 6 damage.
"Dang it! My shield is gone!" the first Master Phi grumbled. "Well... I guess we might as well show him what we can do!"
The three Master Phis shot Chopper with their projectiles, taking 54 out of him all together, leaving most of them shocked.
"Ow! That was pretty bad! ...Wait, I still have the Crystal Stars! Maybe we can try out the Clara Star?" Chopper decided, taking out the pale green Crystal Star. "Maybe it'll come to good use!"
"What the heck is this kid doing?" the Phi trio wondered, seeing Chopper put the star into use. Before they had time to come up with an answer, the ground began to shake and shift.
"Wh-Whoooooooa! Wh-What's going on?!" Scrub exclaimed, the ground suddenly shifting to the right.
The only one who wasn't affected by this was Chopper. Considering that he was the one responsible for the Planet Tide, he was not moving around. The heroes managed to grab a hold of something, while the Master Phis were not so lucky. Things were falling on them, and they had gotten hurt from crashing into walls. After that had ended, the shaking had stopped, and the Master Phis appeared badly damaged, having 10 HP left. The one who had the shield, however, was defeated.
"I guess I'll finish this up," Vivian raised a finger, and it it sparkled, quickly scorching the two Master Phis. They fell in defeat and dropped some Star Points for Chopper to claim. When the three Phis got up, they started to back away from them.
"Oh, boy… We better get outta here!"
The three Master Phis fled from the facility before the heroes could do any more to the. Despite them escaping, Chopper still felt satisfied.
"Well that takes care of that! Now we can get a move on!" Chopper walked over to the locked door to see a Light Block in the corner. He destroyed it with a light ball and found a lever. Pulling it unlocked the door into the next room.
And boy, was Chopper surprised to see a round creature that appeared yellow in color and had a mechanical head and hands, and also cyan eyes.
"Hey, that thing looks just like Staris!" Chopper gasped.
"Staris? Who's that?" Shadower wondered.
Mario: The God of the Stars.
"Wait... How come we didn't see him back in Viti then?" Bombette wondered. "Considering that the other gods were there."
"You know, guys..." Scrub started. "For some reason, this thing reminds me of-"
"Errr... Maybe we should just stop it there and get an idea of what this thing is," Flyer suggested, pulling his scanner out to scan the thing. "It's a Stardie, and it has the ability to multiply themselves... Dang, that's dangerous."
Chopper looked up at the Stardie and frowned. "Well, my hammer won't be doing a thing against that. Though… I guess my light power might help!"
He made a light ball and threw it at the Stardie. It was revealed by Goombella that it had 72 HP, an Attack of 18, and a Defense of 3. Seeing those stats, most of them frowned.
"Well this is great..." Tamber groaned.
"I'll try to deal some extra damage," Flyer flew over to the Stardie and struck it with a Flying Attack, knocking the thing back. Unfortunately, he had gotten struck by the monster's mechanical claws. "Ugh! Those claws are powerful…"
While Flyer rubbed his injury, he noticed that the pathway they stood on was pretty close to the acid. He then started to ponder.
"What's on your mind, Flyer?" Berry wondered.
"Hmmmmmm… What if these things are weak to that acid?" Flyer pondered. "Chopper, why don't you give it a try?"
"All right," Chopper threw his hammer at the Stardie, knocking it close to the acid. However, since it was floating in midair, it didn't appear to do too much. Berry added in her Ruby Throw, making it crash into one of the walls.
The Stardie managed to get itself up and give the group a glare. It turned its attention to Chopper, and after blinking its eye, it flashed, making two, cyan lasers fire out. He brought his fists up, guarding the attack and pushing him back slightly.
"That thing shoots LASERS!" Scrub gaped. "I wish I could do that!"
"Well that's fair!" Chopper frowned, conjuring up another light ball and throwing it at the Stardie. Shadower lowered its defense with a Shadow Punch.
"There. That should lower his defense." Shadower stated, only to be struck by a laser from the Stardie. This had created a yellow star in which Kirby inhaled and spat at the enemy. Chopper then hit it with a Wall Jump, guarding the Stardie's claws afterward.
"One more hit should do it. Who wants to do the honors?" Chopper looked at everyone until Mario stepped up and stomped on the Stardie, destroying it.
Mario: That takes care of that!
"Y'know, those guys kinda remind me of some other enemies I went up against before in a space station..." Sonic recalled.
"Really? Maybe you can tell us about that after this quest." Chopper smiled, walking around the acid on the ground and over to the door, where everyone proceeded into the next hallway. They didn't find that much except for more Stardie. There were two of them, but they had managed to take them down with ease
"Whew… Man, these guys are sure a pain in the butt!" Scrub groaned. "Why do we have to face such annoying enemies? These guys have more HP than Grubba!"
"...Or Lord Crump's second robot," Vivian added.
When they progressed ahead, they saw the pathway go at a downward. The ceiling appeared to be in a downward slope as well. There was also a railing on the ceiling too. Chopper quickly used his Spring Jump to grab a hold of it, but he soon found himself sliding down the rail.
"Uhhh... I can't stop myself here!" Chopper gulped, finally letting go when he reached the door. While he did manage to land on his feet, he hadn't gone to a halt and bumped into the wall instead.
"Ha ha! I wish I could see that again!" Tamber shouted, falling back and laughing. Everyone decided to ignore him and headed to the door without the use of the railing - with the exception of Sonic. Thankfully, Chopper appeared to be all right, and had no serious injury.
"So, what was the point of the railing?" Shadower asked.
"It's probably to get here faster," Sonic answered, having beaten the others to the door. "Plus, it's real fun!"
"Anyway... Moving on." Bombette said, entering the door into a much larger room. In front of them was a pit full of acid, but above them was an Artificial Stadie that appeared upside down. "Wait... What's up with that?"
"The Stardie appears to be upside down," Flyer deduced. "Perhaps your Master Shoes will come to great use, Chopper!"
"Hmmmm... All right, I'll give it a try." Chopper used his Gravity Jump to leap into the air and attach himself to the ceiling. A purple ! Switch appeared to be there. Hitting it made gravity change in the whole room, sending the others flying up.
"Whoa! This is…cool!" Sonic gaped upon landing on the ceiling. To their surprise, the Stardie had started to fall into the acid below, destroying it. "Man, it stinks to be that guy. I guess gravity changed for it as well…"
"That's one less enemy we have to worry about," Vivian remarked.
Chopper ran on ahead to a high ledge that he couldn't reach. A spring was right next to him, to his luck. Using it, he managed to get up to the ledge and reach the end of the room. There, he found a small opening with a purple glowing arrow pointing at it. Everyone else had noticed when they arrived.
"Hey, Chopper... Isn't that one of those openings that we could slide under?" Flyer inquired.
"Yeah, I think so! Let's give it a try!" Chopper used his 'cursed' ability to lie flat on the ground. With that, he started to inch his way through the opening like a caterpillar into a smaller room. When he stood up and saw the others get through, he used his Gravity Jump to land on the floor and kick the purple ! Switch to return gravity back to normal.
"Whew! It feels much better with things back to normal!" Berry sighed.
"Though, I feel that this probably isn't the end to the gravity..." Vivian trailed, inching to the door.
"Well, we'll see about that," Chopper walked into the next room to find another small hallway with two Master Phis patrolling, as well as an Stardie. Surprisingly, they didn't appear to be attacking the Stardie.
"Huh... I thought that thing would be attacking them..." Shadower said.
"Poyo, (They must be on their side,)" Kirby deduced. "Poyo! (And that's not good!)"
"It's awesome that these things are under our control," cackled a Master Phi as it looked over at the Stardie. It looked down at them, but it quickly spotted the heroes up ahead. The Stardie flew toward them, claws ready to strike.
"What? Those punks are here?" the second Master Phi gawked. "Neat! Master Gemerl will love to see some defeated heroes and the Crystal Stars they collected!"
"Uh oh... This isn't good..." Chopper frowned, getting in a fighting stance.
"Well good! This is just what I wanted to do!" Tamber grinned. "Smashing up some robots is always fun!"
Tamber was the first to charge at the enemies with all his might, but suddenly, he and the others were forced back by a blue blast. It sent them tumbling back, while the Phis and Stardie were destroyed. When they managed to get up, the only thing they spotted was a round robot flying out of the room.
"You gotta be kidding me!" Tamber gawked, looking down at the destroyed enemies. "I didn't even get a chance to break them!"
"I say it's a relief we didn't have to deal with them," Flyer commented. "But getting a glimpse of that robot, it looked kind of like you, Chopper..."
"Me? Wait..." Chopper paused, pondering over this. "Was that Choppor? ...No, wait, that shot was blue. Choppor's is usually yellow. Unless..."
Everyone, with the exception of Flyer and Tamber, started to ponder over who that robot was. However, the pondering had not lasted long when Berry suddenly had an idea.
"Wait a second... Was that that robot back in the forest?" Berry wondered, her eyes widening. "That jerk was the one who knocked me out, didn't he?!"
"Oh, yeah, I remember that piece of scrap metal!" Sonic recalled. "Man, he was sure out for you, Chop, wasn't he?"
"Metal Chopper? Oh, great... Him again?" Chopper groaned. "How'd he get here?"
"I'm sure he's just trying to go after you," Shadower guessed.
"Or he's a stalker," Scrub added.
At this point, Chopper didn't care. He wanted to know what was going on, so he ran on to the door ahead. Sadly, it appeared to have a lock on it. However, that did not stop him from searching around the room. Luckily, he found a flap that Kirby inhaled off to the north, allowing them into a room with a large pool of acid below them, along with a narrow walkway. At the end of the walkway was a chest safe from some acid projectiles being fired from a turret.
"They don't appear to be firing quickly," Vivian noticed. "Maybe I can help you, Chopper!"
Chopper nodded and started to progress through the walkway, while Vivian hid him in the shadows to avoid any acid projectiles. Thankfully, it hadn't taken him too long, and when he had opened the chest containing a purple key called a Gadget Key, the turret had stopped.
With the key in hand, the group returned to the other room and unlocked the door into a circular hallway. In front of them was a large, glass window with three black beams that appeared to be powering the facility. Chopper was the first to run up to the window and press his gloved hands against the wall as he got a closer look at the beam.
Being powered by those beams was the Crystal Star.
"Oh my gosh! It's the Crystal Star!" Chopper gaped, catching everyone's attention. "I can't believe it! It's actually here!"
"Really?" Scrub was the next to run up to the window and take a look at the blackish room. "Wow! It really is here!"
Mario: I can't believe we already found it!
"Hey, not to ruin the moment, but there's this window in our way," Tamber pointed out. "Of course, I can take care of this."
"Tamber! Don't-"
Tamber had ignored Flyer's plea and threw his fist at the window. Everyone covered their faces, but they didn't hear the sound of glass shatter. Instead...
"Argh! My fist!" Tamber yelled, shaking it. "Stupid window!"
"Poyo! (So much for that!)" Kirby giggled.
"Hmmmm... Well, I was going to tell you not to break it, since the energy powering up this facility would probably destroy us..." Flyer trailed. "But, the glass appears to be too difficult to break. The only way we could get the star is to shut this place down."
"Fair enough," Sonic said, stretching his arms. "We'll shut this place down and claim that star!"
After exploring the circular hallway, they found about three doors. It would make sense, since there were three beams. They took the left door into and outside area with blocks of water floating in space. Many of them were nearly caught off guard.
"Wow! This is...unbelievable!" Shadower gaped.
"Who ever thought we'd see water in SPACE of all places?!" Bombette exclaimed.
"Errrr... Yeah, I guess this'll be swell." Sonic said, despite his voice not sounding too enthusiastic.
"Hmmmm..." Chopper jumped into the water and found himself floating in the block. "Why don't I handle this? It'll probably be hard for you guys, considering the gravity."
"Really? You'll do all the work for us? Sweet!" Tamber grinned, ready to go back inside. Berry, however, pulled him back. "Hey! What's the idea!"
"No way! We're all doing this together!" Berry declared. "You're going to need our help, Choppy, whether you like it or not!"
"Oh... OK, that's fine, too..."
Everyone had joined Chopper in the water block and followed him into another one floating above the solid, purple floor. When they had reached a higher platform, they were met with a gap that required Scrub's help. After getting across, they spotted a black button, along with a small, glowing black trail leading back into the facility.
Once Chopper jumped on it, the trail had stopped glowing.
"Yes! One down, two more left!" Scrub cheered.
"Well, if it isn't my good friend and his other pests..."
Looking up, they saw Metal Chopper facing them in the air, his arms crossed. Everyone had gotten in their fighting stances and gave the robot a glare.
"All right, what are you doing here, Metal Chopper?" Chopper asked.
"Why do you think I'm here?" Metal Chopper hissed. "Isn't it obvious? I'm here to get my revenge!"
"Great... Why do we always run into freaks that look just like you, Gumball?" Tamber asked.
"I see you've got a few new useless friends... That means there were more people for me to eliminate!"
Immediately, Metal Chopper began to launch homing missiles at them. Gaping, the group quickly ran back into the facility. However, rather than going in after them, Metal Chopper flew to another side of the facility.
"I'll surprise them in the next room!"
As for the heroes, when they had gotten back inside, they had started to catch their breath, while Bombette eyed the door they had just walked through.
"He doesn't seem to be following us..." Bombette trailed.
"Good... Now let's go check the next door..." Chopper sighed, walking up to the upper left door. They had gone back outside, but they were left in shock by the amount of rocks on the large, purple platform they stood on. Each of them had cracks on them.
"Poyo! (Look at all these rocks!)" Kirby gasped.
Mario: We could probably blow these up!
"And that's what I plan on doing to you all!" Metal Chopper announced, surprising them and firing more missiles in their direction. They all took cover behind a few rocks, which surprisingly did not get destroyed by his missiles.
"Hold on..." Bombette paused for a moment and lit her fuse on one of the rocks, instantly blowing it up. "OK... So my bomb can destroy these rocks, but his missiles can't? They must be awfully weak..."
"I don't know about that..." Chopper trailed. "I'd say it's because of how this stor-"
Metal Chopper had fired another missile in Chopper's direction, making him get out of the way. At this point, they were forced to dodge all of his attacks and blow up the rocks around the area. However, when they noticed the glowing black trail lead to one rock, Bombette blew it up, revealing another switch. She jumped on it to shut down another beam.
Mario: Run, guys!
As Metal Chopper prepared his machine gun, the heroes escaped back into the facility. Now all that remained was one door. Well, actually there were two doors, with one having a star plastered on one of them. It was different than the others, but they ignored it for now and headed into the other door. Thankfully, it did not lead them outside, but there was definitely plenty of acid on both the floor and ceiling.
"Uhhhhh... How are we supposed to do this?" Tamber asked.
"There's a pathway up on the ceiling," Chopper noticed. "Looks like my Gravity Jump will come to use!"
After crossing his way on the narrow walkway to the edge, he used his Gravity Jump where there was a mark on the floor indicating that there was a path above. He landed, and continued his way until he found a switch. To his surprise, it was a blue ! Switch.
Regardless, he kicked it, making another walkway rise up from the acid on the floor. Annoyed, he returned to the others and found the pathway leading to a platform with a black switch.
"There it is! That's the last switch!" Vivian exclaimed.
Before they could go, they heard the sound of crashing from above. Looking up, they spotted Metal Chopper firing at them again.
"Don't think you're getting away from me so easily!" Meta Chopper roared.
"We need to act quick!" Chopper cried, rushing over to the switch. Once he had jumped on it, he shut off the final beam. However, that did not stop Metal Chopper from opening fire at them. Tamber, however, had managed to land a punch that stunned him.
"Ha! Take that!" Tamber grinned.
"Good work, Tamber! Now we gotta get out of here!" Sonic said, rushing out of the room with the others. When they had gotten back to the room, the three beams were finally gone, revealing the Dark Star in all its sparkling, dark glory.
"Well, we took care of one thing... Now how do we get this star out?" Berry asked.
"Perhaps we should check the other door?" Flyer suggested, going over to the door with the star. They followed him inside into a large, purple room with a large terminal nearby. There was also a large window, too.
"Whoa… This place is big." Scrub gaped.
"Hmmmm... Let's take a look at that terminal." Flyer suggested, walking over to the larger terminal. He activated the screen, and they were staring at a large asteroid with green eyes and a freaky, green mouth.
"What's that?" Bombette asked.
"It says here this place is called Asteroid Ring. It is inhabited by many dark creatures, and is said to be created by the powers of the Dark Star."
"Really? One star can do that?" Sonic gawked. "Neat."
"Perhaps the Dark Star is extraordinarily powerful, even more than any Crystal Star..."
"But how do we get that Crystal Star out?" Chopper asked.
"Let me get to that..." Flyer changed the camera to the Dark Star inside the capsule. Nearby was a switch to release it. "I just need to pull this, and everything will be all set."
When Berry looked to the window, she spotted a certain robot flying directly at them. "Uhhh... Heads up, guys! Metal Chopper's coming!"
"Well, I guess we might as well fight him..." Chopper frowned. "After all, we usually fight a boss before getting the Crystal Star-"
Upon pulling the switch, the capsule the star was in exploded, turning their attention back to the terminal. When the smoke had cleared, the star was gone.
"Aw, come on! Don't tell me the Crystal Star just got destroyed!" Scrub whined.
"Uh oh... That's not good..." Chopper frowned.
When they turned to the window, they saw Metal Chopper get closer. They knew they couldn't do much except for fight, so they got in their fighting stances and prepared for-
"Hey, what's that?" Bombette interjected, noticing a shooting star fly out of the facility. Coincidentally, it had struck Metal Chopper, sending him flying away from the facility. Everyone looked flabbergasted, but upon getting a better look at the star, they noticed it was black.
"Was that...the Crystal Star?" Vivian gawked.
"Wait... Didn't Meta Knight try to destroy one of the Crystal Stars?" Chopper recalled. "He failed to destroy it... Maybe something like an explosion can't destroy a star!"
"If that's the case, then we can probably still go after it!" Sonic grinned.
"Poyo! (There's still some hope!)" Kirby cheered.
"Let's go after it!" Chopper smirked, running over to the door leading back outside. "So, are you guys ready to go after it, or what?"
"Or what? What is that supposed to mean?" Tamber asked.
"Errr... Never mind that. Let's just go."
Without asking any questions, the eleven heroes made their exit out through the door and back outside, hoping to go after the Crystal Star. One thing for certain was that this was not going to be as easy as they thought.
Someplace farther out near the facility-
"Ungh... My head..."
Kojo Pete slowly grumbled as he stood up and brushed his white armor. He hadn't remembered being out for so long. Then again, why was he out in the first place.
However, remembering what happened before was not the most important question when he realized where he was.
"What is this place? This is not home! As my home is not up in such a starry world that is black! My home is back in the City of Flowersville, where I go to conquer the city!" Kojo exclaimed, continuing his ranting. Eventually, this got his brain working again. "Wait, now I remember what happened! That accursed Chopper had sent me flying! Curses... Curse him... I wish to curse him in his sleep! For attacking him in his sleep is when he is the most vulnerable, making-"
There was a sudden, mysterious sound that caught his attention, and upon turning around, his eyes widened.
"What in the world...?" Kojo questioned, now left slack-jawed.
Before he had time to speak up, the red, multi-eyed figure had charged at Kojo.
Of course getting the final Crystal Star wouldn't be this easy... :P
If you couldn't tell, the Stardie is based off the Artificial Chaos from some of the Sonic games. Only exception here is that the Stardie have mechanical claws. Also, the part about Metal Chopper unable to blow up the rocks is kind of a joke, where enemy AI can't destroy something in games, but you can.
Next up: Chopper and his friends chase after the Crystal Star, but it isn't going to be so easy!