As soon as the group landed on Nocturnane, they suddenly felt the gravity around them change, as if they were back on the two moons. All except for Chopper, who was pleased that he was unaffected by it.
"So... This is Nocturnane, huh?" Sonic wondered, looking around the giant asteroid. "Feels pretty empty here... And it's the perfect opportunity for a nice run!"
"Poyo! (And the Crystal Star is close to Pop Star, too!)" Kirby squealed. "Poyo! (We won't have to worry about trying to get back there now!"
"Oh, yeah! That's actually really nice! That's one thing I was worried about!" Chopper agreed. Afterward, he turned his attention back to the area with a serious look. "OK, guys… This is it! This time, we're going to get that Crystal Star! And nothing's going to stop us!"
"Once we get that star, then we can finally bring it back to the Fountain of Dreams and save the universe," Vivian said. "Hopefully we'll be able to stop the darkness in time..."
"Yeah... You're right. Anyway, let's go!" Chopper gripped the Star Rod and began to make move on. He and the others were being cautious of any Phis, as warned before. Thankfully, there were none in sight. There were, however, some rocks that could be blown up, and some boulders that could easily be smashed.
"Chopper, you might need me to blow up some of the rocks around here," Bombette informed.
"And I'll smash the other stuff," Tamber added.
"All right," Chopper nodded and spotted a rock with a crack in it. Remembering what Bombette said, he picked up the Bob-omb and threw her by it. She blew it up, revealing a Max Shroom inside. Smiling, he retrieved it. "It's nice to get these kind of items!"
"I wonder what's in this rock," Tamber smashed a larger rock to find Max Juice inside. "Ooh! Now we're talking!"
He picked up the Max Juice and was about to drink it, only for Chopper to take it from him. "Hey! What the heck was that for, Gumball?! I'm not allowed to have a drink or something?!"
"It's called saving, Tamber," Chopper answered, putting the juice away. "We need to save this stuff for REAL emergencies. And... This isn't an emergency."
"Bah! Whatever..."
"Chopper, I think you should pull out that Magical Map and see where we could find the Crystal Star," Flyer suggested.
"That sounds like a good idea!" Chopper pulled out the Magical Map to find the location of the Dark Star. But, just like before, he wasn't getting any results. "Dang it. It's just like before! How are we supposed to find it around here?"
Mario: We'll just have to do this the old-fashioned way.
"Old-fashioned way? Well bring it it, then!" Scrub declared.
"Yeah! That's the way to go! Now let's get going!" Chopper suggested, walking on to the northern pathway. There, they spotted a silver base with a couple of Phis patrolling. "Oh... Well, looks like there ARE Phis here! Maybe we should try avoiding them?"
"They don't appear to be Master Phis," Berry noticed, pointing to the normal gray Phis that were carrying some materials toward their base.
"Wow. I didn't expect to see those guys here." Shadower said in surprise.
"So, are we gonna give those Phis a beating or two?" Scrub asked, punching the air.
"Honestly, that would be a bad idea," Flyer said, shaking his head. "If we were to be caught, then the rest of the Phis would be alerted of our presence, and they'd be after us like a swarm of bees. It's too risky."
"We can get Shadower to help us if a Phi almost spots us," Chopper added.
"That sounds like a good idea," Shadower agreed.
Chopper gave him a nod and rushed behind a rock nearby. He decided to slowly peek over the rock to see if there were any Phis looking at their direction. When the coast was clear, he gave everyone a signal to come on over. They listened and they rushed over behind the rock as well.
"We better not destroy these rocks," Bombette whispered. "That means no smashing rocks, Tamber."
"All right, I have no problem with that. I know how to control my own strength." Tamber assured, hitting the rock with his fist.
And that was when the rock was smashed into smithereens.
"Huh?" one of the Phis noticed Chopper and his friends over by the destroyed rock. "Hey, guys! You're not going to guess what I found!"
"What?!" another Phi yelled.
"Chopper and his friends! They're here!"
"You serious? Then what're we doing here, working on this base? Let's get him and alert the others!"
"Uh oh..." Chopper gulped, holding the Star Rod close to him. The Phis working on the base dropped their things and charged at them. With the Star Rod ready, he swung it and fired a yellow star that knocked the Phis over like bowling pins. "Guys! Let's run for it!"
Chopper rushed over to the left pathway, which happened to lead away from a base. There, they sighed in relief and decided to take a breather. There was also another left pathway they could take, but that had led them to another Phi base.
"Crud... With those Phis knowing of our presence, this is going to be a big problem," Chopper groaned.
"Nice going, Tamber," Bombette said, glaring at Tamber.
"What? What'd I do?!"
"You smashed the rock, obviously."
"It was an accident!"
"It doesn't matter if it was an accident or not," Flyer cut in. "We were probably going to be found out eventually. Though I would not comply with fighting, I feel that it is our only opportunity for now."
"Hey, Chopper!" a Phi called out from the base ahead. When Chopper faced the Phi, his eyes widened when he spotted some Phis such as normal ones, elites, suns, demolitions, and masters on hover bikes. "Check out these new rides! We're going to take you down with these awesome bikes!"
"Uh oh..." Chopper gulped. "Now they have bikes..."
"How do they get so much equipment like that?" Vivian wondered.
"They must have a lot of materials..." Shadower trailed.
When the Phi Bikes got closer, Chopper instantly ran out of the area once they fired red lasers. The rest of his friends, however, had not noticed.
"Crud... Got any ideas, Contadre?" Scrub asked, turning to Chopper, only to notice his disappearance. "Hey! Did Contadre run away? I...guess we should follow?"
"No way!" Berry objected.
"No? Why not?"
"They're Phis. It's not like they're impossible to beat. Plus, I think I might have an idea!"
When the Phi Bikes got closer, Berry took her hammer out and threw it. An Elite Phi happened to get hit by her hammer and was knocked off. Smiling, Berry caught her hammer and jumped into the bike. She pressed the button labeled "fire" and managed to shoot away another Phi Bike.
Mario got the idea of what she was doing and jumped into one of the empty Phi Bikes to help her out. Many more had been empty, and the rest had managed to get onto a Phi Bike as well.
"This bike is very easy to pilot," Flyer commented, looking at the controls. "It even has an autopilot, too."
"Which I'm using," Tamber grinned, letting the bike do the work for him. Sadly, he had paid no attention to the rock his bike was moving toward, and he ended up crashing into it. Grumbling, he got back on the bike and turned off autopilot. "All right, fine. I'll do it myself."
While everyone managed to shoot a decent amount of Phis, a group had managed to get away and continued to follow Chopper. They decided to follow the Phis, knowing they would find Chopper eventually. Vivian had noticed Sonic was simply running instead.
"Why aren't you using a bike?" Vivian asked.
"Who needs one of those bikes when you can go super fast?" Sonic answered with a grin. "I'll try to make sure they don't capture Chopper, all right?"
"That sounds good..." the Shadow Siren nodded, watching Sonic blast off. "Please be safe, Chopper..."
Chopper had taken the northern pathway in the previous area, which had a couple of black Master Phimatites flying around. He had no problem taking care of those, as his jumping and Star Rod had helped do away with them.
Just as he was about to celebrate, he spotted some Phi Bikes up ahead. He would've tried to run from them, but they had already surrounded him.
"We got you now, Chopper!" one Phi shouted.
"There is nowhere to hide now!" an Elite Phi cackled. "This is the end of the road for you."
"I suggest you hand us what Master Gemerl wants," demanded the Sun Phi, readying its turret. "Or face the consequences."
"We were going to eliminate him anyway," a Demolition Phi reminded.
"So, do you have any last words, Chopper?" the Master Phi asked.
"Well... Errr..." Chopper trailed.
"Nah, forget it. Let's destroy him!"
Before the Phis could fire, they and their bikes were suddenly destroyed by projectiles from behind, as well as a blue ball going at incredible speeds. Some Phis had managed to survive, specifically the Master Phis. When they stood up, they quickly flew off.
All Chopper could do was gape at astonishment.
"What...was that?" Chopper gawked, unsure of what else to say. When he saw some Phi Bikes approaching him, he quickly got in his fighting stance. "Well... I think I can take these guys on!"
He leaped in the air and prepared to fire a star at the bikes.
"Wait, Chopper! Don't fire! It's just us!" Flyer cried.
Chopper paused in midair for a brief moment before he fell to the ground. When he finally stood up, he got a closer look and saw that it was really his friends.
"Hey, it really is you guys!" Chopper smiled. "How'd you manage to use those things anyway? Are there instructions?"
"Well... Not necessarily, but it's not that hard to learn. There's even an autopilot."
"And we all know how that turned out..." Berry trailed, looking over at Tamber, who gave her a face in return. She turned back to Chopper with a smile. "By the way, this was my idea. What do you think?"
"Ummmmm... Well, good work!" Chopper replied, giving her a thumbs up. She blushed in return and offered a hand. "Huh? What's that?"
"Don't you want to join me on this bike?"
"Who needs that when I can run on my own?" Chopper smiled, running over to the northern pathway. Berry had let out a small sigh and frowned, while Chopper pointed to the path he faced. "Let's go this way, guys!"
Everyone followed Chopper to the north into another barren landscape. Once again, there were many cracked rocks that could be destroyed, but along with that, there were now Xs on the ground. Tamber leaped off his Phi Bike and dug where an X was to find a Max Shroom.
"Here, take it, Gumball," Tamber tossed the item over to Chopper, who put it away.
"Man, finding this Crystal Star is going to be a lot tougher than I thought," Sonic remarked.
When they took the pathway to their left, they had run into another Phi Base. The Phis settling there, on the other hand, were more prepared than the ones at the other base. They had Phi Bikes like theirs, but their bases also had a couple of turrets as well.
"Oh, you gotta be kidding me..." Tamber groaned. "They got even more bikes, and now they have turrets!"
"They sure have gone overboard," Sonic commented. "But so what if they got this stuff? We can still mop the floor with them!"
"Yeah!" Chopper agreed, swinging the Star Rod and firing a star at the Phis, knocking a few off their bikes and even destroying them. One turret had also gotten destroyed as well. "Uhhh... We could use some attacks that hit multiple targets!"
"I'm on it!" Vivian raised her finger, and upon sparkling, all of the Phis and turrets were set aflame with her Fiery Jinx. "That should keep them distracted."
"Mario and I will take care of the rest," Sonic decided, taking out the seven Chaos Emeralds. Mario had nodded in agreement and took out a feather. Both of them transformed into Super Sonic and Cape Mario and took off toward the Phis and the base.
Phis on the Phi Bikes started to fire at the duo, but Cape Mario spun his cape to deflect the shots and destroy both the bikes and the Phis. He then flew in the air, following Super Sonic over to the base.
Everyone gaped as they watched the Phi base explode.
"Dude... That...was...awesome..." Scrub gaped.
Super Sonic and Cape Mario had flown out of the destruction and landed back by their friends, transforming back to normal in the process.
Mario: I'm a bit exhausted...
"Yeah, me too," Sonic sighed, putting the Chaos Emeralds away. "Yeesh... I never thought using the emeralds would burn up so much energy in me..."
They decided to exit the area by taking the left path. To their dismay, they had run into an icy ground. However, they were less annoyed, considering that they had gotten adjusted to the ice. Rather than rocks, there were chunks of ice around. There was even a frozen chest that Chopper melted to find a Star Shroom inside.
Since there was nothing else around, they decided to take the pathway up north. Thankfully, there didn't appear to be any ice here, so walking was much easier. There didn't appear to be any rocks or Phis in sight either.
"How far have we traveled on this giant asteroid?" Chopper asked.
"I'm...not so sure..." Flyer trailed.
"Well, hopefully we're not too far from our destination. Let's not waste any time and get a move on!"
"Oh, I don't think so! Not when I'm around!"
Everyone looked around until they noticed a figure land in front of them. His landing wasn't exactly precise, but he managed to pull himself together and glare at the group with his red eyes.
"Long time no see, Chopper!" Kibbler smirked. "I've been waiting to finish you once and for all! You remember me, don't you?"
Everyone looked at him in confusion, leaving Kibbler to gawk.
"Wait... You guys don't remember me? Kibbler? The guy who spoke while you and Rawk Hawk were fighting? COME ON! How could you not remember me?!"
"Dude, just get out of the way," Scrub suggested. "We're trying to look for a Crystal Star."
"Heck no! Not when I'm trying to stop you!"
"Now that I think about it, I think I remember seeing him..." Vivian realized.
"See? At least someone has the decency to remember me!" Kibbler grumbled. "Anyway, I made a vow to put a stop to your plans, and now I can finally do that!"
"Wait... What do you have against us?" Chopper asked.
"Well... Perhaps I should unveil who I truly am!"
"Darling, what's going on here?"
Before Kibbler could remove his armor, hot pink dinosaur-like being with a funnel-shaped snout, spikes on her tail, a rounded white belly, and a red bow made her entrance. Many were left gawking at her.
"Hey, wait a second... Didn't I see that thing before?" Chopper asked.
"Thing?! I'll have you know that I am a beautiful Birdo!" Birdo declared, giving Chopper a glare before turning back to Kibbler. "So, these are the ones you were speaking of, darling?"
"Yes, these are-" Kibbler paused, his red eye twitching. "The names KIBBLER! With a capital K!"
"Hmmmmm... Maybe instead of dealing with them, we could go out on a romantic date."
"Not now..." Kibbler grumbled. He turned back to Chopper with a sheepish grin. "You see, Chopper… This...whatever she is was happy enough to join me in order to destroy you. This is my new sidekick, Birdo!"
"No need to call me Birdo, sweetie," Birdo said, appearing love-struck. "You can call me 'Birdie'!"
"Listen here, kid," Kibbler began, ignoring Birdo. "You may have defeated Rawk Hawk, but there's no way you're a match for me and my sidekick! Today is the day that you will be defeated-"
"By the power of love!"
"AAAARRRRRRRGGGGGGGHHHH!" Kibbler began to steam with rage as he stomped the ground like an angry child. When everyone was giving him a weird look, he eventually stopped. "Now listen here, Chopper… Whatever power we're going to use, we're going to destroy you with it!"
"But... I still don't get why you want to destroy me..." Chopper trailed. "I never did anything to you."
"Oh, you did something, all right… And now I'm going to get back at you once and for all! Let's go, Birdo!" Kibbler pulled out a cutter blade and got in his fighting stance.
"Well, let's show them who's boss!" Sonic suggested, the others getting out of their Phi Bikes to prepare for battle.
Tattle: That's Kibbler. He's a strange-looking Sir Kibbles with…red eyes? Strange... Sir Kibbles don't usually have red eyes... Max HP is 180, Attack is 18, and Defense is 1. It says here that he only has that cutter blade he can detach from his helmet. Usually he'll throw it only at you, or he might throw it at all of you guys. That's…really all he has. He doesn't seem like a huge threat to me compared to all of the other major enemies.
Tattle: That's Birdo. She's one strange-looking dinosaur, I have to admit. She can shoot eggs from her mouth? Weird… Max HP is 200, Attack is 19, and Defense is 0. All she does is shoot eggs at you. And...she'll even try to protect her "hubby". ...Hey! Don't look at me! I didn't write this!
"Wow. Their HP is pretty low compared to other enemies we've faced. This might not be so hard... Let's take out Birdo first." Chopper leaped in the air and jumped Birdo's, performing a stylish move afterward as he bounced off her head again.
"Maybe my Fiery Jinx will help," Vivian muttered, raising her finger and engulfing Kibbler and Birdo in flames, leaving a harsh burn on them as well.
"Youch! That burns!" Kibbler cried, as throwing his cutter blade at Chopper, knocking him back.
"Why, sweetheart, there's no need to fret over some fire," Birdo said while batting her eyelashes before shooting an egg at Vivian, who immediately guarded the attack.
"But it REALLY hurts!"
While Kibbler continued to complain about the fire, Chopper struck both Kibbler and Birdo with a Star Blast. Kirby then followed up with a Final Cutter to take 12 more out of the two.
"Argh!" Kibbler growled, clenching his fists in anger. "I'm going to make you pay for that! It's time I conjured up a spell!"
"Huh?" Chopper gawked, noticing Kibbler create a red spell and hurl it at Kirby, sending him tumbling back. "Wait... That kind of attack looks familiar..."
"What do you mean?" Vivian asked.
"I mean it's just that... When I see something like that, I think of a Darkling..."
"That's because my darling is great!" Birdo said cheerfully, shooting an egg at Chopper. He managed to guard it and take only 18 damage instead. After that, Chopper put his Master Gloves to use, and he had created a large ball of light energy above the two. Once it fell, the two had taken 16 damage.
"Let's see how you chumps handle this!" Tamber grinned, smashed at the ground with his Quake attack to take 12 out of the two opponents.
"All right, so Birdo has 126 HP left, and Kibbler has 128. Not too bad…" Chopper brought the Star Rod in front of him to guard Kibbler's red spell and also Birdo's egg. He struck the two with a Star Blast afterward.
"Let's see how you like a Sonic Wind!" Sonic clenched his fist and a bunch of blue wind surrounded the two opponents, dealing some heavy damage to them. Birdo was immediately down to 101 HP, with Kibbler being at 103, which made everyone smile.
"Curse you, Chopper!" Kibbler tossed his cutter blade at him, but he was able to Superguard it with ease. Berry was the one to get hit by Birdo's egg. She decided to take action by striking the two with her Ruby Cyclone. This set them flying in the air and made them hit the ground painfully hard.
"Oooog… I never thought a pink tornado would be able to hurt me…" Kibbler slid down from the iceberg and he quickly shook his head. When he looked back up, he saw Chopper strike him and Birdo with his Ultra Gloves. They happened to be ice balls, leaving him shivering. "Too c-cold..."
He saw Chopper strike him and Birdo with his Ultra Glove attack. It was an ice ball, which made things a little colder for the two of them. "Argh! I hate it when it has to be cold!"
Kibbler shivered as he hurled another red energy ball straight at Chopper with a grin. Unfortunately, the satisfaction did not last very long when Birdo approached him from behind and grabbed him.
"Don't worry, my love! I'll protect you!" Birdo cried romantically.
"Wait… What the heck?! What are you DOING?!" Before he knew it, Kibbler was inhaled by Birdo, and then was spat out into an egg. Four other eggs appeared as well.
"Oh, this should be easy," Chopper smiled, turning to Vivian. "Just use your Fiery Jinx and we'll find out where Kibbler is."
"All right," Vivian raised her finger and used her Fiery Jinx to burn Birdo and destroy the other eggs, dealing damage to Kibbler as well.
"Excellent!" Chopper raised the Star Rod and he struck the two with another Star Blast, bringing Birdo down to 59 HP and Kibbler to 62.
"Oh, dear… My HP is running low… Darling, what shall we do?!" Birdo cried.
"First off, I'm KIBBLER! And second, why don't you suck it up instead of complaining?!" Kibbler growled as he hurled a red spell at Vivian. She managed to Superguard an egg from Birdo, to her luck.
Chopper struck the two, but this time with his Master Hammer ability, dishing 14 out of both of them. Bombette decided to use her Explosion to deal 14 to Birdo and 13 to Kibbler.
"You guys are seriously a complete joke!" Bombette scoffed. "Look how far we've brought you down!"
"Well, I'll be the one having the last laugh, that's for sure!" Kibbler grumbled as he struck Bombette with his cutter blade. Birdo attacked her for insulting her 'sweetheart'.
"Meh, it doesn't matter. You guys are going down." Chopper used his Master Glove attack, followed by Vivian's Fire Wall, which helped bring Birdo down to 3 HP. Birdo had spat an egg at Vivian, while Kibbler had fired another red spell at Chopper.
"With this turn, they should be finished!" Berry smirked.
"Go ahead and finish them, Vivian," Chopper suggested.
"But why me?" Vivian asked.
"Well, I don't think you got a chance to finish off some baddies for a while... So, why not just finish them with a Fiery Jinx?"
"Well… OK... I guess I can." With that, Vivian raised her finger, and both Kibbler and Birdo were engulfed in flames and had fallen on the floor, covered in soot and barely moving. Vivian looked a bit guilty, believing they were seriously hurt. "I hope my attack didn't do too much harm..."
"Probably not," Bombette replied, while Chopper leveled up and upgraded his HP to 205. That was when both Kibbler and Birdo got up, appearing exhausted. "See? They're not too hurt!"
"Grrrrrr... Dang you, Chopper… Wait, what am I talking about?!" Kibbler turned around and pointed at Birdo angrily. "This is all your fault! If you hadn't gotten in the way, we'd have them! What was I thinking about hiring you? You're FIRED!"
Birdo gasped, tears starting to come down her face. "You mean… You're breaking up with me?! But… But…"
Suddenly, the tears began to stop, and her face turned steaming red. Everyone who wasn't Kibbler slowly stepped back.
"THIS IS JUST LIKE WHEN MY OTHER BOYFRIEND BROKE UP WITH ME! YOU STUPID LITTLE THING!" Birdo yelled, knocking Kibbler back with her tail. "I'm done here!"
Birdo let out a huff as she walked away. Everyone turned their attention back to Kibbler, who slowly got up. Before he could yell at them, he noticed his armor was cracking.
"Uh oh…" Kibbler's armor completely shattered, revealing himself to be a dark being with an antenna with a red bulb on it, a round head with red glowing eyes, an oval-shaped body and two disembodied hands.
"Wait... What is that?" Berry gawked. "That thing looks just like what we fought when that painter made something like that."
"So he WAS a Darkling!" Chopper gaped.
"Great… Now my disguise is gone! I should've made sure this armor was a lot stronger..." the Darkling muttered, glaring and pointing at Chopper. "Listen, Chopper! Soon we shall return, and you'll be sorry for what you did to us!"
"Huh? What do you mean?"
"Oh, you and your foolish friends will find out soon enough... As for now, I'm outta here!" the Darkling made its escape by disappearing, leaving everyone to gawk.
"What did he mean by saying we'll find out soon enough?" Tamber gawked.
"I'm not so sure..." Chopper trailed. "I mean, those guys were trouble two years ago, but after that incident, I don't think I've seen them before... But those two Tartaras we saw at Professor Frankly's... What was up with that?"
"Let's not worry about that at the moment," Flyer suggested, getting back onto his Phi Bike. "That Crystal Star is our number one priority right now."
"Yeah, you're right. Let's get going." Chopper made a dash forward, his friends following them on their Phi Bikes.
As they reached the next area, they could get a much better view of Pop Star. There were about two pathways they could go, one to the right and one to the left. When they headed left, they found another Phi base with Phis prepared to attack. Thankfully, they had not spotted them, so they decided to go to the right. Unfortunately, they were met with another Phi base.
"Geez! There's so many bases around here!" Shadower gaped. "A lot more than before!"
"Hey, look over there," Berry noted, pointing over to a rock blocking the pathway to the right near the base. "There's a rock in the way, but it looks like there's plenty of room to get through."
"Well, I could just lie down and inch my way under there, but I think turning into a tube will work a lot better," Chopper declared, turning sideways and then into a tube. He and the others rolled under the rock with ease, getting to the next area without being spotted. Unfortunately, that meant they had to abandon their Phi Bikes.
"So much for taking those bikes with us..." Flyer trailed, spotting another rock ahead, along with a huge rubble to their north. "I think that one rock ahead has enough space to slide underneath."
Chopper nodded and lied down near the rock, slipping under the opening. They were brought into a much smaller area, with a little bush and a tree with white outlines. Chopper hit the tree with his hammer, and a Star Fruit fell into his hands. With it, it could heal off 175 HP and 200 FP.
The bush, unfortunately, only had a single coin, so they left the area and returned to the large rubble that was before them. Chopper suggested blowing it up, but it did no good when Bombette exploded. Smashing through it with Tamber did no good either. He was about to give up, but then he spotted a panel with a piece of paper ripped in half.
"Say... Didn't we once see something like that?" Chopper asked, pointing to the panel.
"Didn't you get some kind of ability to tear through some stuff in the way?" Flyer asked.
"Oh, yeah! I was 'cursed' with it!"
He stood on the panel, and he thrust his arms forward and clenched his hands into fists near the rubble. To him, it felt like he was actually grabbing a hold of it. He threw his hands upward and ripped off the piece of paper blocking their way and revealing an open pathway.
"Aw, yeah! Now that's what I'm talking about!" Scrub cheered.
Smiling, Chopper and his friends made their way to the area ahead. There didn't appear to be much around, sadly. There were no other pathways to take either.
"Wait... A dead hand? No way... I can't be!" Chopper gasped.
While the others were disappointed, Vivian had spotted something in the center and gasped.
"Chopper! Look over there!" Vivian announced, pointing to the object ahead.
"Hmmmm?" Chopper looked ahead and nearly gaped at what he saw.
The Dark Star.
"Oh my gosh! I don't believe it! It's the Crystal Star!"
Everyone exchanged smiles as they approached the Crystal Star in all its glory. Just looking at the sight of it gave them a feeling of hope.
Chopper was about to take the star, but the sound of robots and vehicles had alarmed them. Looking up, everyone spotted Phis descending into the area, with a few on Phi Bikes.
"Hold it right there!" a Master Phi shouted. "Escape from this place, and you'll be eliminated!"
When the Phis finally landed, they all readied their weapons and aimed at the group.
"Great... We're surrounded..." Shadower sighed.
"Well we can always just take 'em on!" Scrub smirked. "Let's show them what we've got, Contadre!"
"I wouldn't do that if I were you," the Master Phi warned. "You're all outnumbered. If you fight us, don't expect to come out alive."
"For once, I think that Phi's right," Sonic agreed. "Mario and I have already used our Master-Rank abilities, so we can't start using those yet..."
Mario: Where's the leader, though?
"Master Gemerl is not here at this moment," the Master Phi explained. "He was actually trying to scan the area for you. Of course, we can just tell him you are here, and then he will come back here pretty soon! In the meantime, I believe you should hand over those Crystal Stars."
"What if we refuse?" Tamber asked.
"Well... I'm sure you would know what would happen."
There the heroes stood, unsure of what to do. Being surrounded by an army of robots was especially bad, and since they were a bit exhausted from the walking, it was even worse. Many of the Phis grinned, ready to open fire on the group.
"So... What's it going to be?" an Elite Phi asked. "You going to give us what we want, or are you going to die?"
"There's no way we're going down so soon!" Chopper declared, holding the Star Rod up. "We've come this far, and we aren't going to fail!"
"What is that supposed to be?" a Sun Phi scoffed. "It's just a candy cane with a star on it!"
"It may look like that, but it's actually the Star Rod! This thing has so much power in it, that it might even be tough enough to destroy this asteroid if I use its full power!"
Many of the Phis suddenly recoiled, with a few even lowering their weapons.
"Don't be so foolish, Phis!" the Master Phi yelled. "He's only trying to trick you! There's no way he's going to destroy this place!"
"I will!" Chopper cried. "And I bet it'll destroy you all!"
"Wait, Chopper... Are you actually planning on doing that?!" Flyer gaped in horror. "I mean, if you do that, then chances are we could..."
"I know... But if we don't act now, then these guys are going to blast us!"
"OK, that does it," the Master Phi growled, preparing to fire. "Phis! Destroy these fools for Master Gemerl!"
Surprisingly, none of the Phis fired.
"You cowards... Very well, I guess it's up to me to destroy them."
"If you do that, this place will be destroyed," Chopper warned, the Star Rod glowing with immense power.
"Chopper, please..." Vivian pleaded. "Don't take the risk."
"It's too late for that," Chopper replied. "If anything bad happens to us, then I'm sorry..."
"All right, I've had enough. This is it for you, Chopper!" the Master Phi yelled, firing a shot at Chopper. It knocked him back, but he was able to get back up, now ready to attack.
"This is it, Phis! See how you like THIS!" Chopper let out a cry as he swung the Star Rod to the ground with all his might. Nothing happened at first, but then the asteroid began to glow brightly, and the ground started to shake.
"You idiot! Now we're all going to die!" Tamber yelled.
"Whoa… I don't like this..." a Demolition Phi gulped.
"I...really messed up," the Master Phi said, nearly falling over. "Master Gemerl is going to get real angry with me. Well... There is one option... RETREEEEEAT!"
All of the Phis obeyed and tried to make their escape from Nocturnane. Unfortunately, it was not enough time. The asteroid had exploded, taking the Phi army with them. Not even Chopper and his friends could see each other through the blinding lights.
All that remained was sparkling dust.
Near Nocturnane-
Gemerl, on the other hand, had decided to sit on a small, lonely asteroid - the one he had found himself on when he woke up in order to scan the area for Chopper. The only thing he had seen recently was an observatory flying to the asteroid and then away. He suspected that Chopper would be on there, but he would wait for the Phis to tell him.
He was ready to get in contact with them just in case, but he had heard the sound of a large explosion. Turning around, he noticed Nocturnane was no longer there.
"What? What happened to that asteroid?!" Gemerl gawked, seeing nothing but space dust remain from it. Immediately, he turned on his communicator. "Phis? PHIS?! Come in, Phis! Are you there?!"
No response.
"Are you there, my minions?! Speak to me!"
Still no response. The only thing he could heard was a buzzing noise.
"No... It can't be... How could that place be destroyed?! Everything was in good condition! Unless it could've been..." Gemerl paused and suddenly got the answer. He clenched his fists in anger, as if he was ready to punch someone's lights out. "That Crystal Star... So it WAS on that asteroid... And Chopper DESTROYED the place!"
Using his jetpack, he blasted off toward the destroyed Nocturnane.
"Now you've pushed me to my limit, Chopper..." Gemerl hissed, his eyes turning red with anger. "I'm going to do everything to make you suffer!"
What a chapter that was. I guess you can say that it ended with a bang. *shot*
After eleven chapters going through Chapter 19, we're finally getting to the boss. And boy, is Gemerl not going to hold anything back.