"Ooooooog… I don't feel so good..." Chopper groaned, slowly getting up. Looking around, he saw no sign of his friends. "Huh? Guys? Where are you?"
Surrounding him was a vast, spacey sky filled with many stars, kind of like Starlite Galaxy. However, when he looked down, he spotted grass. He rubbed his eyes to make sure he was seeing things, but sadly, he was not.
"How did I even get here? Is there anybody around here that can talk to me?! HELLOOOOOO?!" Chopper shouted, trying to get someone's attention. Sadly, he got no response. "Great... Looks like there's no one around. I guess I should just take a look around."
When Chopper looked over at a hill nearby, he frowned. "I kinda wish a tree with yummy food would be there..."
Suddenly, a tree with yummy food had appeared. Chopper blinked for a moment and gawked.
"Wait... Huh? That tree suddenly appeared! ...Where the heck am I?"
"You are in your mind, Chopper."
Turning around, Chopper spotted a familiar face staring at him. Well, not exactly familiar, but one he had seen before. Standing before him was a person in gray armor that resembled the shape of his parents, such as his oval-shaped body and round head. The only thing he could see through his helmet were those orange eyes.
"Hey... Aren't you that guy I saw on that hologram thingy?" Chopper gawked.
"Yes, it is me," Sir Lancelon nodded, approaching the boy. "It's a pleasure to meet you. ...Though, sadly, I am not the REAL Lancelon."
"What do you mean?"
"You see, Chopper, you are not in the real world at the moment. You're...actually unconscious at the moment."
"What? But how?"
"You don't remember setting off a bomb, do you?"
"Oh... Yeah, I think I remember now." Chopper realized, sweat dropping and giving a guilty look. "So, why are you here?"
"That darkness continues to grow bigger and bigger by the minute," Lancelon explained, arms crossed. "You do know of the consequences of it growing bigger, yes?"
"The universe will be gone..."
"Correct. And you are very close to finishing your job. Unfortunately, the darkness is coming closer to Pop Star as well... That means you cannot dawdle on in your dream and accomplish this task."
"Yeah... But I'm not sure how to wake up..." Chopper trailed.
"Chopper, do not listen to him."
Turning around, Chopper saw Meta Knight with his cape wrapped around himself approaching the two.
"Meta Knight? You're here too?" Chopper gawked. "...Oh, wait, you're not the real Meta Knight."
"Yes," Meta Knight nodded, finally stopping to face the two. "Chopper, you should know of the terrible consequences of what the Crystal Stars will do. I've told you many times."
"But didn't you say that you couldn't stop me?"
"True... But that was what the real Meta Knight said."
"Listen Meta Knight," Lancelon started. "The Crystal Stars are absolutely viable in restoring the universe! If the last one isn't collected, we are all DOOMED!"
"Chopper, you should know better," Meta Knight stated. "Remember what I've told you about. I've experienced many battles and witnessed many great evils. How do you think I knew about them?"
"Well... Ummm..." Chopper mumbled, looking back at the two warriors with uncertainty.
"Think about your quest!" Lancelon cried. "Think about the people who are trapped in the darkness!"
"Chopper, many lives will be lost by those twenty Crystal Stars!" Meta Knight noted.
"People will be saved!"
"People will be in grave danger!"
"Listen to me, Chopper!"
"Heed my words, Chopper!"
At this point, Chopper was having a hard time listening into both of them and was now closing his eyes tightly while covering his face. "Please... Let this just be over... Please let me wake up!"
Opening his eyes, he had seen a bright light ahead, and it was getting closer.
"Yo, Gumball! Get your butt up this instant!" Tamber yelled, shaking Chopper like crazy.
"Whoa! Don't start shaking him!" Sonic cried, pulling the furball away from the unconscious boy. "Chop got hit by a bomb and is unconscious! Ya can't just throttle him! It'll make things worse!"
"Sonic is right," Flyer nodded. "This isn't a good way to wake him up."
"Then what's your idea then?" Tamber asked.
"Well... I did hear of something called CPR. It's usually done when someone is unconscious."
"...Oh, that thing? But don't you gotta put your mouth on theirs?"
"Well... Yes..."
"Then..." Tamber trailed, stepping aside. "Go do it."
"Wait, what?!" Flyer gaped. "There's no way I'm doing that! Why don't you do it?"
"Heck no! I ain't touching no gumball mouth! You do it! Unless you're...chicken?"
"Tamber, I refuse to do something like that."
"Then you do it," Tamber suggested, turning to Shadower.
"I don't have a mouth," Shadower pointed out, not trying to get involved.
"Same here," Bombette added.
"I'll volunteer," Berry declared, pushing Flyer and Tamber out of the way. The two stopped their arguing and decided to step back, relieved that neither of them had to do anything mouth-to-mouth related. On the other hand, Flyer knew the one volunteering could cause some...trouble for Chopper.
"This is gonna be good," Tamber snickered.
When she knelt down to face the unconscious and hurt Chopper, worry was starting to fill Berry's mind. But, considering that she was able to help heal him before, she felt confident that she could do it again.
"All right, stand back, everyone," Berry suggested. "Watch how a real expert gets the job done."
She leaned down and opened Chopper's mouth. Soon she placed her mouth over his. Of course, her idea of saving him was a bit different...
Chopper's eyes slowly opened, but he didn't seem to pay too much attention. However, it was then he noticed Berry's lips touching his mouth, and his eyes instantly widened.
"EEEEEK!" Chopper cried, quickly standing up and flailing his arms around. "Someone get me something that can clean my mouth! Like...that soap stuff!"
"I knew it would work," Berry smiled. "And I even got to kiss you as well!"
"Well... I guess that's one way to get him up." Flyer said, looking a little confused. Tamber, meanwhile, was on the floor, laughing like a maniac.
"BAH HA HA HA! The look on the gumball's face was priceless!" Tamber chortled.
"C'mon, let's just leave Contadre be!" Scrub suggested. "He got hit by what? An explosion?"
"I think so..." Chopper mumbled, rubbing his head.
"How are you feeling, Chopper?" Vivian asked.
"Well... I guess I'm all right. I think I might be able to keep going."
"Yeah, we need to find the Crystal Star," Bombette nodded.
Chopper then began to remember the dream he had. The sounds of the two arguing seemed to bother him, but he tried casting that aside. "R-Right... Let's get a move on."
And at that point, they took off toward the next area. While the icy floors were no longer around, that did not mean the pain was over with, especially for a certain blue hedgehog. Floating in the next area were some water blocks.
"Aw, great… Not those again!" Sonic sighed and he took a step over to it. "I was hoping we wouldn't see these things again… Guess I was wrong."
"We'll try to get through it as best as we can," Chopper assured as he made a leap into the water block and swam over to the one nearby when it had finally approached.
"I hope I don't sink to the bottom of those things," Taking a deep breath, Sonic jumped into the water block, knowing that the gravity would hopefully keep him floating in the water. He jumped out of it and into the next when it approached. He finally jumped out of the block and landed on a starry road.
"Hey, it's that starry path again!" Shadower smiled once he and the rest had gotten out of the water blocks. Looking down at it, it appeared to be a misty white with trillions of different, small stars on it. "It's definitely a sight to look at."
Entering the next area, they were met with another long walkway. However, there was also another path up above them as well, along with a purple ! Switch. Seeing that block made everyone nearly groan.
"Oh, great. I thought we were done with this?" Tamber mumbled.
"I have no problem with this. In fact, I'm glad to use the Gravity Jump again!" Chopper leaped upward with his Gravity Jump and stuck to the road above him. With one strike from the block, the gravity changed around them, and everyone landed on the road above them.
"Oh, man... My head feels all weird upside down." Scrub remarked, putting one of his hands on his head.
Chopper made a dash over toward the next area to find a couple of shooting stars, and not to mention a spinning star blade in the center of the area.
Actually, it was a Master Phi spinning the blade around like a madman.
"Master Gemerl told me to keep spinning this star blade around to prevent Chopper from appearing..." the Master Phi mumbled in an annoyed manner. "But he is nowhere in sight!"
"I'm right here," Chopper announced, getting the Phi's attention. At first, it looked at him like it was no big deal and got back to business. However, when the Phi realized who was standing there, it quickly faced him.
"What in the… You're Chopper!" the Master Phi stopped spinning the blade and glared at Chopper. "So, now you finally show up. Well, looks like I can finally get to doing what Master Gemerl ordered!"
The Master Phi began to charge at Chopper, while he changed to his Ninja ability and dodged the blade the Phi swung. He jumped over the Phi and knocked it to the floor (or rather, the floor upside down) with a kick. He then started to pounce the robot with many more ninja attacks. Eventually the Master Phi managed to shake him off and throw him toward the group.
Angered to see him get hurt like that, Berry charged at the Master Phi and gave it quite a beating.
"What the… Hey! Stop it! What do you... Ow! Oof! Wait a second... What're you doing with that hammer?"
Before they knew it, the Master Phi was sent flying through space.
"Awww... I wanted to fight it!" Scrub pouted.
"Well... At least it's gone." Sonic shrugged, noticing that there was no road ahead. "Looks like we gotta change the gravity here again."
"I'll get to it," Chopper said, finally getting up and using his Gravity Jump to land on the floor below. He found a purple ! Switch again, so he hit it to make everyone land on the floor and restore gravity to normal. "See? All taken care of!"
With that out of the way, they moved on ahead to the next area. There was a Save Block and Heart Block, the latter Chopper needed. Afterward, when they reached the center of the pathway, they spotted something in the background. It was giant, silver ball with a mustache, yellow eyes, and a creepy grin. From the looks of it, it didn't look complete, as it needed a lot of work done.
"Ugh... I don't like the look on that thing's face." Bombette remarked, shuddering at the ball.
"Hey... That place looks awfully familiar..." Sonic trailed, trying to get a better look at it. "Hold on... Isn't that the Death Egg?"
"What's a Death Egg?" Tamber asked, now starting to snicker. "Is it an egg that's supposed to destroy you? That sounds dumb."
"I don't get the name either, but it was made by Eggman."
"Eggman? That guy with that mustache?" Chopper gawked. "Oh, yeah! Him!"
Before they could continue their conversation, they heard the sound of firing up ahead. Turning their attention up ahead, they spotted a Master Phi taking control of a turret. Smirking, Tamber rushed up to the Phi and punched it out of the turret.
"I say we blow that thing up!" Tamber suggested, pointing to the Death Egg.
"Not a bad idea," Sonic admitted, getting a hold of the turret. Pressing the button, a large, green laser had fired out from the turret and struck the Death Egg. In no seconds flat, the space station exploded, and fireworks had appeared in the background too.
"That's it? Well... So much for that." Bombette commented with a blank look. "We should get out of here."
They would've progressed further, if they didn't see a figure in his Egg Mobile get sent flying in their direction. The group quickly recoiled as Eggman had fallen to the ground before them.
"Oof!" Eggman grunted, slowly getting up from his mech. "Great… All of that hard work was all for nothing! Bah! Who could've done such a thing to my creation?!"
"Right here, Egghead!" Sonic grinned, pointing at himself. "I thought your space station would be a lot stronger, but then again, your stuff tends to get destroyed by me anyway!"
"YOU… YOU… So YOU were responsible for that act!" Eggman growled, his face turning steaming red. "I'm going to... No, I need to keep calm..."
"Sorry about that base of yours, but it was probably for the better," Chopper mentioned.
"Sure, my base is destroyed, but that doesn't mean I'm finished just yet," Eggman grinned, pulling out a remote. "You see, I have a magnificent robot that I can assure you that survived the explosion."
Eggman jumped back into his mech and pressed the red button on the remote. Behind him, a silver and red robot had appeared, and it was very large in size. The group's eyes widened in shock as the scientist entered his new machine.
"I can't help but compare this guy to Lord Crump," Chopper whispered to his friends. "They both make stuff, and they're both chubby..."
"Yeah, both sure are chubby," Sonic agreed, getting Eggman's attention.
"Grrrrrrr! I had enough of your insults, Sonic! It's time to put you all back in your place! Egg Guardian, go!" Eggman yelled, making sure the robot was off the pathway, considering it was too big to fit there. "This will be the last time you fools have to deal with me!"
"If by defeating you, then I'm fine with that," Flyer assured.
Tattle: That's the Egg Guardian. It's a robot made by Dr. Eggman. Wow! Look at the size of this thing! It's almost as big as one of those dragons you've faced! Max HP is 370, Attack is 19, and Defense is 3. This thing is able to smash you, shoot lasers, or it might even fire missiles. Watch out for the big beam attack! If you get caught in that, be prepared to take some serious damage. If I were you, I'd try to get away from such a deadly attack...
"Well, we might as well do this!" Chopper pulled out his kunai knife and charged at the Egg Guardian. With one slash, he took 10 out of the robot.
"Blah! You little…! I'll get you for that!" the Egg Guardian aimed its machine gun at Chopper, but Sonic intervened and struck the robot with a Homing Attack, knocking it back.
"Grrrgh! Take this!" Eggman pressed a button, and the Egg Guardian began to fire its machine guns at Chopper and Sonic. They managed to guard the attacks, but even then, they still took some heavy damage.
"Ow... That seriously hurt." Chopper winced.
"Nyah ha ha ha!" cackled Eggman. "This robot's armor is so strong, that it causes pain to those who get punched! I'm such a genius!"
"That doesn't sound like anything new," Sonic scoffed.
"Yeah... Sonic's kinda got a point." Chopper pulled out a shuriken and tossed it at the Egg Guardian. "Good thing I'm not throwing this at Eggman. It could really hurt..."
"Good thing," Bombette agreed as she attacked the Egg Guardian with her Bomb. Sadly, it only managed to do 7 damage, to her disappointment.
"Grrrr! Out of my sight!" the Egg Guardian brought its fists down on Chopper, flattening him like a pancake. "Oh ho ho ho! Not so round now, are you?"
"Well you're even rounder!" Chopper unflattened himself with the help of a bicycle pump that Kirby pumped for him to make him round again. "Now let's get back to business!"
With his kunai knife, he slashed at the Egg Guardian, causing some sparks to come out from the robot, leaving Eggman shocked.
"What in the… How did you do that?!" Eggman gawked.
"I don't know," Chopper shrugged. Eggman face palmed as Flyer struck the Egg Guardian's head with a Flying Attack.
The Egg Guardian didn't take much time to make its move. It fired a laser from its eyes at Flyer, who was lucky enough to guard the attack.
"OK, you weren't lying about that hurting," Flyer said, lowering his guard.
Chopper tossed two shurikens at the Egg Guardian to take 12 out of it. Tamber's Power Punch was able to leave a big dent in the robot's chest, along with taking 9 out of the Egg Guardian.
"Heh heh heh! I can't believe my fists are strong enough to break through that! Awesome!" snickered Tamber. This, of course, did not go unnoticed by their opponent.
"Why you little… Take this, your big hairball!" Eggman pressed a button, and the robot shot a laser at Tamber, knocking him back.
"Gah! Stupid robot! Go get 'em for me, Gumball!" Tamber grumbled. "Plus, he called me a hairball!"
"OK, I'll do it. I was going to attack him anyway..." Chopper sighed as he pulled his hammer out. He approached the Egg Guardian and slammed the hammer down on the Egg Guardian's head. Vivian sunk into the shadows and rose in front of the Egg Guardian. With one fiery punch, she left a burn on the robot.
"Grrrgh! What did you do to my glorious creation?!" Eggman yelled, noticing the burn on his creation. He pressed a button and made the Egg Guardian attack Vivian with a fist, but she Superguarded it and took no damage. "NO!"
"I think that's more of a 'YES' to me," Chopper said, rushing toward the Egg Guardian and slashing at it with his kunai knife, which then followed up with Shadower's Shadow Punch, lowering its defense to 0.
"Well, now we can deal a little bit more damage to it now with its defense at 0," Berry smiled.
Eggman grumbled to himself, but he made the Egg Guardian fire missiles out of its head and hit everyone, leaving them all cringing in pain.
"Oh, man! That really did hurt!" Scrub winced. "It was a lot more painful than Grodus's attacks!"
"Hmmmmmm… I suppose I need to plan out a little…" Eggman pondered, only to notice Chopper jump up to the cockpit. "H-Hey! What do you think you're doing?!"
"What do you think?" Chopper pulled his kunai knife out and he swung it at the Egg Guardian's head, thus angering the fat scientist more.
"Hey! That's going to cost a lot of rings to repair, you know!" Eggman yelled. Unfortunately, he was ignored, and his robot had received a Super Jump from Mario. To make matters worse, the Egg Guardian appeared to be malfunctioning.
Mario: What's going on?
"Looks like it's disabled," Sonic noticed with a grin. "Neat!"
"Bleh! Come on, you piece of junk! WORK!" Eggman exclaimed, slamming his fists on the buttons. That was when the robot started to work, along with opening its chest to reveal a large cannon charging a beam. "Huh? Oh… YES! Now we're talking!"
"Oh... Well, that's not good. ...Wait, I think I have an idea!" Using his ninja powers, Chopper disappeared, leaving the others to gawk.
"Hey! Are you seriously leaving us here?!" Tamber asked angrily.
"Hold on, guys… I think we CAN do something. Just watch." Flyer pulled out a Boo's Sheet. "We have a big supply on these things. Since only one of us is bound to get hit, I'll use it."
"What?! Hey! I think I should be the one to use-"
Unfortunately, he was ignored as soon as Flyer put the Boo's Sheet on, making him invisible for a turn. The Boo's in the audience applauded Flyer for this action as well.
"Heh heh heh... Let's see how you deal with this!" Eggman grinned, pressing the large, red button. "FIRE!"
The cannon in the Egg Guardian's chest fired a huge blue laser beam straight at Flyer. However, due to him being transparent, the attack only phased through him. Once the invisibility wore off, Eggman noticed Flyer was left unharmed.
"Great… I missed!" Eggman growled. Afterward, He was struck by a kick from Chopper when he appeared, which then followed up with Berry's Ruby Hammer. Annoyed, Eggman fired missiles at everyone again, but it didn't stop Chopper from throwing two shurikens at the Egg Guardian, followed up with Scrub's Mega Egg.
"You're getting OWNED!" Scrub snickered, only to get hit by the Egg Guardian's fists. Chopper looked back at Eggman in anger.
"Perhaps that will teach you to not make fun of a genius such as myself," Eggman said, letting out a small snicker.
"You're going to pay for that!" Chopper jumped toward the Egg Guardian's chest and slashed at it, causing more sparks to come out from the machine.
"Argh! Again with that?!"
"Poyo! (And here's this as well!)" Kirby pulled out his Final Cutter and swung it at the Egg Guardian, bringing the robot down to 177 HP.
Eggman pressed another button to make the Egg Guardian smash Chopper, but he was able to quickly avoid it with ease. Meanwhile, Shadower used a Shadow Punch to bring its defense to 0, and then Chopper delivered a Gravity Jump that took 30 out of the Egg Guardian.
"Whoawhoawhoa! This is crazy!" Eggman shouted, the inside of his machine now having sparks. "No! Not the controls as well!"
"Gee, Eggy… You sure are bad when it comes to your creations!" Sonic scoffed, hitting the head with a Homing Attack. "I mean, this thing is just ridiculous! Could this thing be any worse?"
"With this added, maybe," Chopper answered, throwing a shuriken at the Egg Guardian, taking another 10 out of it.
"Grrrrrrr! Get a load of this!" Eggman slammed his fist on an orange button, and the Egg Guardian's fist crushed Chopper, removing his ability. When he finally got himself unflattened with Kirby's help, he noticed his own ability was gone.
"Hey! You got rid of my Ninja ability! That's not fair!" Chopper frowned, pulling out the Star Rod and firing a Star Blast at the Egg Guardian. "Looks like I'll use this instead."
Flyer made another attack on the Egg Guardian, striking its head to dish out 10 damage, but he was quickly swatted back to the group by the robot's hand.
"Well, we're almost there, Chopper…" Flyer wheezed while he slowly got up.
"Let's hope nothing gets in our way," Chopper clenched the Star Rod and performed a cartwheel spin with it, knocking the Egg Guardian back with the attack. With Bombette's Bomb, the Egg Guardian was down to 84 HP.
"The robot's close to defeat. We've got this!" Bombette assured.
"Argh! Well, let's see how you like THIS!" Eggman grinned maliciously, pressing a blue button. The Egg Guardian unleashed its flamethrower upon the whole group, dishing 21 out of them. "Oh ho ho ho ho! Now THAT was satisfying!"
Unfortunately, his chortling left him off guard, and he didn't see Chopper shoot a star straight at Eggman until the robot got hit, which then followed up with Shadower's Shadow Punch.
"Grrr!" Eggman began to fire more missiles at the group, but they managed to Superguard them with ease. Afterward, Chopper struck the Egg Guardian with his Spin Jump, which then followed up with Scrub's Ground Pound.
"You know, the bigger they are, the bigger the target they are!" Scrub smirked.
"I believe it's the bigger they are, the harder they fall," Flyer corrected.
"...What about if your small?" Chopper wondered.
"Hmmmm... You know, I never thought of that befo-"
"Enough of this!" Eggman yelled, the Egg Guardian grabbing Chopper and throwing him at Scrub. They both got up, with Chopper firing a Star Blast. With Berry's Ruby Throw, Eggman's mech was down to 23 HP.
"This robot's almost down," Berry sighed. "Thank goodness!"
"Great… This thing is starting to get weak…" Eggman looked at the outside of the robot. "Bah! I don't need to worry about it! Victory shall belong to me! Just look at yourselves!"
Chopper looked at himself with a reflection from the Star Rod. "You're right… But that doesn't mean we're done so soon!"
He leaped in the air and jumped on the Egg Guardian with his Spring Jump. Once he jumped off the robot, he landed back by the group with a smile.
"All right, Sonic… You can finish this up!"
"Thanks! I'm going to get him good!" Sonic clenched his fist as he grinned at Eggman. "Sonic Wind!"
"Wh-What?!" Eggman gaped as a blue gust of wind began to surround the Egg Guardian. Several explosions were starting to come from the robot as well. "No... This can't be! My glorious creation! Ruined! All thanks to you, Sonic!"
"Heh heh heh! Here we go!" Sonic dashed the Egg Guardian, and with a jump and a Homing Attack, he sent Eggman and his Egg Mobile flying out of the robot.
"I HATE THAT HEDGEHOG!" Eggman yelled, an explosion with a depiction of his symbol appearing in the sky.
"Well, it looks like it's over," Sonic declared, facing the group. "Eggman…is gone."
"Wait..." Shadower paused. "You mean he's actually...?"
"Not a chance. He's just defeated, that's all! But wherever he is now, he's out there...somewhere."
"I wonder how he'll get home," Chopper mentioned as he upgraded his FP to 200. "I mean, being stuck in space like that? That might be difficult."
"Ehhh… Don't worry about it! I'm sure Eggy's going to come back anyway. I mean, he always does! For now, let's relax and get a move on."
They made their exit from the are, with what remained of the Egg Guardian exploding. They entered the next area to find a Save Block and a doorway. Though the group was somewhat surprised to see the Save Block, they decided not to take it as a big deal and hit it before progressing.
It was even more of a surprise when they found a waving road up ahead, as if it was some kind of a racetrack.
"Hey... Didn't we already find some kind of racetrack? What gives?" Tamber asked.
"If this is another race with Moe Hawk, then I'm not doing it," Chopper grumbled. "I've had enough of those races."
"But Chopper, we sent him out of here, remember?"
"Oh..."
"Actually, it is I who has been waiting for you this whole time, Chopper!"
"Wait... Don't tell me who I think it is..." Chopper looked at one of the higher sections of the road and saw Robo Chopper staring down at them. "Crud... I thought we were rid of him?"
"Well you thought wrong!" Robo Chopper grinned.
"Well... Uh... We don't have time to be here. Maybe if you let us go, then maybe you can be the main bad guy of the sequel!"
"That sounds nice, but when you're already wiped out, there will be no need for a sequel!"
"Oh... Dang... Well, there's no way I'm going to deal with you." Chopper declared, quickly running past Robo Chopper like a bullet, leaving him spinning and dazed. When he finally regained his senses, he clenched his fists angrily.
"Argh! You're not getting away so easily!" Robo Chopper growled. Remembering his friends, one eye looked back at them. "I will deal with you all later."
With that, he dashed after Chopper with the help of his thrusters.
"Should we follow them?" Berry asked.
"Heck yeah! We're not lettin' that piece of scrap metal stop us!" Sonic declared, slamming a fist into his open hand before taking off.
Mario: Well, we better follow.
Agreeing, the rest followed behind.
Chopper continued to run, his feet moving faster than before. Unfortunately, this speed wasn't enough to fully outrun his robotic counterpart, who was getting closer to him.
Looking back, Chopper gulped upon seeing Robo Chopper getting closer. "Oh, geez... How'd you get here so quickly?"
"You should know by now that I have all of your data," Robo Chopper said, aiming his machine gun at Chopper. "And now to begin annihilating you!"
Robo Chopper began firing, but each of his shots had missed his target. One had nearly struck the back of Chopper's foot, but he managed to speed up just in time.
"Watch where you fire that thing!" Chopper cried. "You could seriously hurt someone with that!"
"That's what I intend on doing!" Robo Chopper was about to fire, but then his machine gun began to overheat. He muttered angrily to himself, but he still had another trick up his sleeves. The robot counterpart switched to his blue laser sword and managed to knock Chopper forward with one swing. Though he was satisfied he managed to hit him, this only pushed Chopper further. "Great... That was a bad move on my part..."
Chopper continued to run, but he was eventually put to a halt when he found the edge of the road in front of him. He tried to balance himself, trying to not fall off. When he finally maintained balance, he looked around for another pathway.
To his dismay, there was none. This was the end of the road.
"Wait... There's no other way to go?" Chopper gasped. "Then... Where do we go from here?"
"That's very simple: you don't!" Robo Chopper cackled, his laser sword ready to land the final strike. "This is the end for you, Chopper! And then I shall never have to deal with your face again!"
Chopper gulped and covered his face while shaking in fear, knowing that he was unable to do anything at this point.
"Here it comes! Say your prayers, Chopper!" Robo Chopper swung his laser sword at him…
…Until a light barrier came in between them. Because of the speed he was going at, Robo Chopper had also crashed into it and was left stunned.
"What?! What just happened?!" Robo Chopper questioned, now seeing a yellow, watery being land by Chopper. "And you are…"
The being did not speak. All he did was throw a powerful punch at Robo Chopper, sending him flying away. The robot was left in shock when he noticed this being's arm stretch.
"ARRRGH! I'll get you next time, Chopper!" Robo Chopper yelled, until he was no longer seen. Chopper decided to take a peek at what happened and noticed he was still alive.
"Huh? What just happened?" Chopper wondered, spotting something in front of him that looked all to familiar. The being with the star-shaped head...the arms and legs...the cyan eyes...and the stardust he was made out of. That was when he realized who it was. "Staris? Is that really you?"
Staris turned around and looked down at Chopper. He noticed the wounds left on him, so he placed a hand on him and, using his power, he healed them off.
"Oh… Thanks, Staris." Chopper said, noticing the injuries healed off. "But what are you doing here? Shouldn't you be at Star Haven with all the stars?"
Before Staris could even answer, Chopper saw a large observatory appear before his very eyes. Flying around it were many stars.
"Whoa! That's...cool! Do you use this place to travel around?"
As Staris nodded, Sonic had managed to stop by and notice him and Staris. Following behind were the rest, with Tamber stopping in front of Staris to catch his breath.
"Huff… Huff… Finally. We made it…" Tamber panted slowly getting up to find the robot. "Wait… Where's that robot freak that looks like you, Gumball?"
"He's gone, apparently," Chopper answered. "And the road ends here... But, I did find an old friend of mine!"
"Who? That guy?" Scrub gawked, looking up at Staris. "Why does he look like-"
"Who the heck is he supposed to be?" Tamber asked, cutting off Scrub.
"He's Staris, the Star God," Chopper said. "He was at first corrupted by the dark power in the Star Rod, but I managed to help turn him back to normal."
"You? Turn a god back to normal? Pbbbbbth! Yeah right!"
"But I'm serious!"
"Wait... So Staris is a god?" Vivian gaped. "Maybe he could help us!"
Before anyone had time to answer, Staris had created yellow spheres of energy that surrounded the group, and in a blink of an eye, they were suddenly thrown toward the observatory.
Observatory-
Once everyone appeared on the observatory, they got a chance to finally take a breather and look at the gray and yellow place. There were many Star Kids flying around, but when they spotted the group, they quickly flew over to them with excitement.
Mario: Star Kids!
"Star Kids? The heck are those?" Tamber asked.
"They're stars... But they're kids." Chopper answered.
"OK... Fair enough." Bombette shrugged - if she could actually shrug. As for the Star Kids, they began to make comments toward the group as they continued to circle them.
"What do those antennae do?"
"How does she move with no legs?"
"That Yoshi has a big nose."
"Why does he look so puffy?"
"What's under that guy's hat?"
"Is that ponytail supposed to be a fuse?"
"What's with the hammer?"
"I like your mustache!"
"I never saw a creature in blue fur before!"
"Cool wings!"
"You remind me of a tulip..."
All of them didn't seem too bothered by their comments, whether they were negative or not. However, Tamber was the one exception, who felt his face redden in anger.
"Why you little...!" Tamber was about to dive at the Star Kid who "insulted" him, but everyone managed to hold him back. "Hey! Lemme at him! He called me a tulip!"
"Ah, Chopper! It's been a while, hasn't it?"
Chopper stopped pulling Tamber upon hearing the voice. Turning around, he saw a brown, wooden doll in blue approaching him and his friends.
"Geno! You're here too?" Chopper gaped.
"Of course I am," Geno nodded. "After all, Staris wanted me to stay with him, so here I am. But what brings you here?"
"Well, we're trying to look for a Crystal Star. I was told it was located on a place called Nocturnane."
"Nocturnane. Hmmmm... I believe I've heard of that place. But why do you need this Crystal Star?"
"Without it, the universe is doomed by some darkness," Scrub answered. "And it got Contadre's planet, too!"
"I see... Then this is a serious business. After what you've done for Staris, I think he'll be happy to take you guys there." Geno turned to Staris and gave him the details. He then turned back to the group. "Staris says that the Crystal Star you need is back in Gamble Galaxy."
"Poyo! (That's my home galaxy!)" Kirby gaped.
"Wait... So how are we supposed to get there?" Chopper wondered.
"Staris can do that with the observatory, obviously," Geno nodded with a grin. "Staris, shall we begin?"
Staris nodded and drove his arms into the ground. The whole observatory began to glow, leaving many to cover their eyes.
"It's too bright!" Berry cried.
"What is Staris doing?" Vivian asked.
"He's setting course for Nocturnane," Geno explained, the observatory now starting to move. "Only he has the power to move this observatory wherever he pleases."
"That sounds cool," Tamber remarked. "So we just sit down and relax for now! Good!"
"Staris! Staris!" a Star Kid cried, making its way to the Star God. "There's something on top of the observatory!"
"What? What is it?" Geno asked.
"There's this scary-looking white creature with a halo on its head! I've never seen it before!"
"White creature?" Chopper gawked.
"Poyo? (Halo?)" Kirby gawked as well.
"It's really scary! I think it's trying to attack the observatory!"
"That's preposterous," Flyer spoke up. "I don't think it's going to attack-"
Just then, a red projectile had fired by Flyer's feet, leaving everyone off guard.
"OK... So it is attacking this place."
"Well, Staris can't take care of that thing at the top at the moment," Geno said, slowly turning to the group. "So we shall leave it to you to take care of this invader."
"What're you going to do?" Tamber asked.
"I'm going to try to keep the Star Kids under control. Unfortunately, Staris is busy moving this observatory, so he is depending on me to do it. You focus on defeating the enemy, OK?"
Everyone gave him a nod, and they hurried their way up to the top of the observatory. Coincidentally, there were these blue star beams that could transport them to the upper level, where they happened to spot a small, red staircase leading up to a red platform at the top.
Once Chopper hit the Save Block, they reached the red platform. However, they noticed there was no one there.
"Come on out and show yourself!" Chopper demanded, knowing that the enemy was probably hiding.
The figure responded by finally descending to face them. It appeared circular and white, having red wings, beady eyes, a red mouth, and also a yellow halo that floated above its head. On top of its head was also a bandage. But for some reason, this enemy looked somewhat familiar to them.
"Hey, this looks just like that freak we saw before," Bombette recalled. "Wasn't it called Zero?"
"Yeah... But it doesn't have the eye." Shadower reminded.
The beady eyes had disappeared, and the red smile changed into a red eye. One that everyone remembered not too long ago.
"Wait... That's Zero!" Chopper gaped. "But I thought we destroyed this thing?"
"Poyo... (I guess not...)" Kirby trailed, getting in a fighting stance. "Poyo... (Now it's...Zero Two...)"
"If this is what's attacking the observatory, then we have to stop it," Vivian declared.
"Yes," Chopper nodded, taking out the Star Rod. "OK, Zero...Two! We don't know how you managed to come back, but this time, we WILL defeat you! ...Again!"
Zero Two responded with a blink, a small trail of red liquid trailing down from its eye in the process.
Tattle: That's Zero Two. ...Wait, really? What kind of name is that?! Well, it's basically Zero with a new form. Max HP is 380, Attack is 19, and Defense is 2. Unlike before, Zero Two will now fire small, sparkling blue energy balls, or it'll fire a red laser from its eye as well. Be careful, Chopper… Zero Two will raise its Attack up and shoot a huge blast from that halo. I would advise you to have Vivian pull you into the shadows when he does that, OK? Ummmm… I don't know what to say... Well, why is this thing crying?
Chopper swung the Star Rod, and a yellow star struck Zero Two's eye. It closed its eye, cringing in pain and making it shed another red tear.
"Hey, what's up with those tears?" Chopper wondered.
"I'm not so sure..." Berry trailed, who gripped her hammer and brought it down on Zero Two's head. "What's up with the bandage and halo on its head?"
"Beats me," Shadower shrugged, only for Zero Two to fire a red laser at Chopper.
"Ow! He's definitely a lot tougher than before!" Chopper cringed, managing to fire another star at Zero Two.
"Let's see what happens when I throw this egg!" Scrub laid a giant egg and he threw it at Zero Two. It took 12 out of him afterward. He was about to celebrate, but Zero Two fired a sparkling energy ball at the Yoshi. Chopper jumped toward Zero Two and shot a light ball, leaving the enemy blind for a turn.
"Yes! Zero Two's blind!" Chopper cheered. Mario pulled out his hammer and brought it down on Zero Two. Due to being blind, Zero was unable to make a move, which helped Chopper hit Zero Two with a Hammer Throw, followed up with Vivian's Shade Fist, leaving it with a burn.
Zero Two's eye opened up, and it fired another energy ball at Chopper, who managed to guard the attack. Chopper retaliated by shooting a star, and then Shadower lowered Zero Two's defense with a Shadow Punch, bringing it down to 293 HP.
"Hopefully that'll give us an advantage," Shadower said, soon getting hit by another laser. He grumbled to himself as he let Chopper strike Zero with a Gravity Jump, taking 30 out of it.
"Well, that worked out well," Sonic remarked, striking Zero Two with a Homing Attack. He was able to Superguard Zero Two's projectile afterward.
"Good job, Sonic!" Chopper complimented. He brought his attention back to Zero Two, and he struck it with another star to its eye. Kirby followed up with a Final Cutter, causing him to get hit by another one of Zero Two's projectiles, but he easily guarded it.
Chopper gave Kirby a nod of approval before he turned his attention back to Zero Two. He leaped in the air and used his Light Stomp to take 8 out of it. Bombette soon followed up with her Bob-omb Blast, which not only sent her flying, but Chopper as well.
"Bombette! Weren't you aware of Chopper?" Vivian gasped.
"Wait, what?" Bombette noticed Chopper land headfirst on the floor. "Oh... I didn't mean to do that."
"What I don't get is why you wasted 9 FP on one enemy..." Shadower trailed, Zero Two shooting a red beam at Bombette. This had knocked her back toward the edge, but Berry had grabbed her by the ponytail and pulled her back before she could fall.
"Phew... Thanks for the help, Berry."
"It's no big deal. We're all here to help each other."
Meanwhile, Chopper had his Star Rod ready, and he fired another star at Zero Two's eye, making it close its eye in pain. While it was off guard, Tamber rushed in and struck the dark being with his Combo Punch. Unfortunately, it was he who got hit by Zero Two's energy ball.
"Argh! Stupid white angel ball thing!" Tamber growled, going back to the others, who watched him go to the back to wait his turn. Chopper shrugged and decided to use his Diamond Glove attack to hurl a charged electric ball at Zero Two. With Flyer's Flying Attack, it was down to 175 HP. Not only that, but parts of its red wings had been destroyed as well.
"Well, this is going a lot smoother than I thought," Flyer remarked, guarding Zero Two's laser.
"I guess so," Chopper agreed, smacking Zero Two with the Star Rod. Once he did that, Kirby attacked next, pulling out his Final Cutter and swinging the blade at Zero Two. The red eyed being gave Kirby a glare as its halo started to glow, making its Attack raise by 19.
"Poyo... (Uh oh... We need to hide...)" Kirby gulped.
"I think I'm going to heal for the turn, then we can hide," Chopper decided, pulling out a Rainbow Master and recovering 200 HP and FP. Vivian immediately pulled everyone into the shadows as Zero Two fired a large, yellow beam from it. Luckily for the group, its attack missed, and they had emerged unharmed. It, however, did not stop Zero Two from firing a sparkling projectile that exploded and hit them all.
"So this thing has sparkling bombs too? Great..." Tamber groaned.
Chopper ignored Tamber and fired a Star Blast at Zero Two, pushing it back and giving Tamber the opportunity to hit it with a Power Punch. He proceeded to taunt it until he was hit by Zero Two's projectile. However, unlike before, he decided not to complain and returned to the others. Chopper proceeded to strike Zero Two with his hammer, while Vivian left it with another burn thanks to her Shade Fist.
Zero Two tried to attack Chopper with a projectile, but he Superguarded it and then used a Soft Stomp, which brought its defense to 0. Mario proceeded to strike Zero Two with a Super Jump, taking 12 out of it. The dark, angel being swooped down to attack Chopper, but he managed to guard the attack and then jump on its head. After Berry struck it with her hammer, Zero Two was down to 74 HP, and more of its wings had been destroyed.
"We almost got this," Berry sighed.
"You're almost finished, Zero Two," Chopper said, pointing at the red eyed opponent. "You may have become...that, but you're still no match for us!"
Zero Two gave Chopper a glare before firing another red laser from its eye. This knocked him back, but it didn't stop him from leaping forward and hitting it with a Rainbow Spin. Scrub struck it with a Ground Pound afterward, Superguarding its energy ball.
With Chopper's Gravity Jump, and Tamber's Combo Punch, Zero Two was left with 12 HP. At this point, all of its red wings were destroyed. But Zero Two was not going to go down just yet, so it started to charge up another attack through its halo.
"So... Who wants to finish Zero Two off?" Chopper asked.
"Poyo, (I'll do it,)" Kirby volunteered, swiping the Star Rod from Chopper's grasps, to his surprise. "Poyo. (And I'll be using this.)"
Chopper was surprised by this, but he reluctantly agreed to let him use it. Kirby turned his attention back to Zero Two, the Star Rod ready to make the final blow.
"Poyo, (If I managed to defeat you before, I can do it again,)" Kirby declared, firing a Star Blast at Zero Two. Once the attack made contact, Zero Two's halo had suddenly exploded, and its body began to shine.
The last thing they saw was another red tear trail down Zero Two's eye before exploding.
Chopper was left surprised. Not just because of Zero Two's death, but how Kirby used the Star Rod. "Whoa... You're a lot better with that than me!"
"Poyo, (I used it before,)" Kirby mentioned, returning the Star Rod back to him. With him leveling up again, Chopper upgraded his BP to 120.
"Well... Let's go back down and tell them the good news!"
Everyone agreed with him, and they headed back down to Staris and Geno. They had gotten a glimpse of the white explosion from above, and they were also proud.
"So, it looks like they did it," Geno smiled.
When the heroes had finally returned to them, they had gotten a glimpse of something up in the distance.
"The job has been finished," Flyer sighed.
"Excellent. Now hopefully the Star Kids will not panic again." Geno said, looking around at the relieved Star Kids. "I wish I could thank you for your deed... Actually, since you're all battered and bruised, why not do this?"
Geno pulled out a bag and threw star dust out of it. It glittered down on everyone, and it got rid of any injuries left from Zero Two.
"Whew! I feel so much better!" Shadower sighed. "Thank you, Geno."
"It's no problem. Right now, we're not too far off from Nocturnane. In fact, we are already in Gamble Galaxy at the moment." Geno informed, leaving everyone hopeful. "However, we still have some time to wait. So... Who are these friends of yours, Chopper?"
"Them? Their names are-"
"Easy there, Gumball, why don't WE introduce ourselves," Tamber suggested, approaching Geno with a smug look. "The name's Tamber, the coolest guy you'll ever meet. Just keep away from my Star Diamond, 'cause it's mine."
"Star Diamond? That sounds like a powerful relic... How are you holding onto that?"
"It ain't your business."
"Oh... Very well, then."
After Tamber had stepped away, the rest began to make their introductions. Vivian was unsure of what to say, thus she didn't have anything interesting to say. Scrub had told him about the stories of him and Chopper rocking the Glitz Pit. Geno was not able to understand Kirby, but Chopper had said that Kirby was a big fan of food, along with going out on adventures.
Shadower had mentioned that he was once a servant to the Shadow King, but he decided to leave off the background of the dark power still in him. Bombette explained that she had gotten bombnesia, which caught Geno off guard for a moment. Berry had explained that she lived with her grandfather in Desert Sands, though he had died at the age of six, leaving her to remember what he taught her to become more independent. She also mentioned she was Chopper's girlfriend - which he said was untrue. Geno had obviously found this to be funny.
Mario said that he was the hero of the Mushroom Kingdom. Obviously, this was something Geno knew. Sonic stated he was Mobius's hero and had stopped the evil Dr. Eggman from his evil schemes. Flyer informed him that he was Chopper's best friend, but Geno had still remembered him from before from two years ago. Especially that one incident...
"Hmmmm... Very interesting..." Geno remarked. "I must say, these people are quite the successors to the others that traveled with you, Chopper."
"Yeah, I guess so," Chopper nodded. "But some of them are very unique!"
"Yes..." Geno nodded, soon getting interrupted when the observatory had come to a stop. Everyone looked at what was before them and saw a giant, rocky landscape before them. "Ah! So we have finally arrived..."
The group had approached the edge of the observatory to get a much better view of the asteroid. One thing for certain was that it was vast. Nearby was Pop Star itself, to their surprise.
"So... This is Nocturnane..." Flyer trailed. "It's absolutely massive!"
"But it's right by that Pop Star planet!" Tamber complained.
"Yes... That's true." Vivian noticed.
After getting a good view of the asteroid, Chopper turned to Geno and Staris. "Well... I guess this is goodbye, right?"
"I suppose..." Geno nodded with his arms crossed. "But, that doesn't mean we shall never see each other again. There will come a time when we shall meet again."
"You really think so?"
"Of course," the doll smiled, only to hear something from Staris. "What? There are robots that inhabit this place? Hmmmmm... That sounds like trouble."
"You think those Phis are on that asteroid, Choppy?" Berry asked.
"If they are, then we gotta get to it before they do," Chopper gulped. "Thanks for everything, Staris and Geno, but we gotta get going!"
The two gave them an assuring nod before they waved goodbye and leaped off the asteroid. Getting a look behind them, the observatory started to fly off.
"All right... It's time to get that Crystal Star once and for all!" Chopper declared.