While the Phis were destroyed from the destruction of Nocturnane, the heroes, on the other hand, were much luckier. The explosion had ended up sending them flying closer to Pop Star on a floating, silver platform. Unfortunately, it had left them unconscious in the process.
Chopper was the first to open his eyes. When he stood up, he didn't realize how painful it was to stand. But when he got a closer look at his surroundings, he was pleasantly surprised.
"Wait... I'm...alive?" Chopper gawked, looking at his hands and feet. Despite being alive, he was also badly injured, now having 1 HP. Moving was a lot harder than before due to being hurt, too. "Geez... I think I might've overdone it."
He turned around and noticed his friends were lying on the ground too. Vivian appeared to be the closest, so he approached her and gently shook her.
"Hey, Vivian! Are you there?" Chopper asked, hoping for a response.
Vivian let out a small moan and slowly opened her eyes to see Chopper looking down at her. "Ch-Chopper? What happened?"
"Well... I guess we survived that attack I pulled off." Chopper answered, helping the Shadow Siren up. He noticed that she, too, had only 1 HP left. "Are you all right?"
"I guess so... Thanks for asking." Vivian said, giving him a smile. She looked at her surroundings as well, noticing no sign of Phis. "I wonder what happened to the Phis..."
"I think they were destroyed from that blast."
"Ugh... Am I still alive?" Flyer groaned, slowly getting up. "Hey... We're all alive! But I don't feel too good, though. Not only that, but where's Nocturnane?"
"I think I ended up destroying it," Chopper answered. "I don't even know where it is."
Everyone else started to get up as well, noticing the low amount of HP they had. In the meantime, Chopper decided to take out the Magical Map and, to his surprise, it was glowing.
"Hey... Guys! The map's glowing!"
That's when the group stopped paying attention to their injuries and took a look at the map.
"If the map's glowing, then that means... The Crystal Star is not too far ahead!" Shadower realized. "So the star's still in one piece."
"It might be up ahead," Berry said. "We should check up ahead!"
"Yeah, we should do that," Chopper agreed, making his way over to the edge of the silver platform to find two blue platforms floating in a circle. "Oh... I'm not so sure if I can jump this. Maybe you can help, Scrub?"
"No can do," Scrub panted. "I'm too exhausted for that."
"OK... I suppose I can try to jump this." Chopper took a couple of steps back and then made a big leap onto one of the platforms. He was lucky to make it, as his feet had landed by the platform's edge.
"Hopefully I can make this," Bombette said, making a leap onto the platform. Once everyone crossed the two blue platforms, they had finally come across a green platform where a Save Block and Heart Block was. Up ahead was another pathway.
"A Heart Block!" Tamber gaped. "Hit it now, Gumball!"
Chopper immediately struck the Heart Block, which recovered everyone's HP and FP. Though it had cost them some coins, they didn't care, especially since they had 1 HP left.
"RELIEF!" Chopper exclaimed, stretching his arms. "I feel SO much better now!"
Mario: Definitely!
"I think I'm ready to get that star!" Sonic smiled.
Agreeing, everyone took the pathway ahead onto a large, floating platform. It appeared glassy and transparent in the center, having some yellow lights inside in the shape of a star. The outer part had was colored black and yellow.
"This is a pretty nice platform," Flyer remarked, staring down at the bright star inside. When he looked up ahead, a smile had appeared on his face. "Hey, Chopper! Look at what's up ahead!"
Chopper looked up ahead and saw the Dark Star sitting at the center of the platform. A smile had appeared on his face as well.
"Yes! It's the Crystal Star!" Chopper cheered, walking over to it. "I can't wait to show this to everyone back on Pop Star! Now we can finally save the universe!"
"STOP RIGHT THERE!"
A laser was fired near Chopper, causing him to jump away from the star. Another laser was shot at the pathway behind them, preventing anyone from turning back.
"What the heck? Now who's stopping us?!" Tamber groaned.
"You're not going anywhere, Chopper," Gemerl hissed, slowly descending on the platform with his hands balled into fists. "I should've known that you were responsible for the destruction of my entire army."
"Gemerl..." Chopper trailed, getting in a fighting stance. "You know, it's been pretty long since we ran into you."
"Yes, it certainly has," Gemerl nodded, noticing some new faces in Chopper's group. "It looks like you've brought in some new friends to help you. Such a pity that you're leading them to their death."
"So this is the Gemerl guy you've been talking about?" Flyer asked.
"Yeah... This is him." Chopper nodded. "We didn't see this guy since Chapter 9."
"This guy doesn't look too tough," Tamber scoffed. "I bet we can beat him."
"Chopper, it is your fault that my army is completely destroyed," Gemerl said, ignoring Tamber and returning his glare to Chopper. Eventually he started to calm down. "But, the more I think about it, I don't necessarily need them to accomplish my goal. They were rather incompetent, and they never seemed to succeed in stopping you. However, that doesn't mean I'm going to let you off the hook for destroying my hard work in getting that army."
"We're sorry about all that, but you were being kind of jerkish to us, so I think we were allowed to do that," Chopper said. "Can we just have the Crystal Star?"
"Not a chance. I vowed that I would get a hold of all twenty Crystal Stars and use them to make me the Ultimate Gizoid once again. Then I can finally rule the world as the most powerful robot in existence! The only thing getting in my way…is you.
"As if we're going to let you do something like that!" Berry scoffed. "We need that Crystal Star for more selfless reasons."
"And do you even know what those stars are supposed to do?" Gemerl asked.
"They're supposed to repel the darkness that's trying to destroy the universe," Chopper answered. "Right now, it's getting a lot closer."
"Oh, really? That's what you believe? Then you are a lot stupider than you think!"
"Poyo! (We're not stupid!)" Kirby retorted.
"Anyway, I shouldn't be wasting any more time now. The Crystal Star is finally in my hands!" Gemerl grinned, grabbing the star and holding it up. The star began to glow black, transforming the star in the platform into a depiction of his head. "And now to take care of you fools! Once you're finished, the twenty Crystal Stars shall finally be mine!"
"We're not going to let you get in our way!" Chopper shouted, taking out the Star Rod. "Let's settle this once and for all!"
"So be it!" Gemerl declared. "Ever since our previous battle, I've made sure that I became more powerful than ever. With the Crystal Star in my hands, my chances of destroying you have increased! Be prepared to meet your end!"
"Yo, Contadre! We're not going to let this punk insult us like that! We can take him! I know that!" Scrub shouted confidently.
"Let's show this robot who's boss!" Berry declared, hammer ready to strike.
Tattle: That's Gemerl. He's the leader of the Phis and he's also known as the Gizoid. Wow. I can't believe he's back after such a long time… Max HP is 400, Attack is 20, and Defense is 4. This robot will use all he's got against you, like his missiles, his charge, and even his copy abilities. What's worse is that he'll recover 100 HP thanks to his healing ability. Great... That's even better! ...Wait, there's more! It says he can use the Dark Star's power to summon a black hole that can deal about 65 damage to you! He can seriously do that?! Omigosh! That's horrible! When he does this, do everything you can to avoid that! Do everything you can to stop him, Chopper. We don't want this robot to become this universe's overlord...
"All right, Gemerl… Let's do this!" Chopper swung the Star Rod at Gemerl. Unfortunately, the attack was only able to deal 6 damage "What the heck? That didn't really do that much…"
"Of course it didn't," Gemerl grinned. "I made sure to improve on my defenses as well! So are you intimidated now?"
"Not a chance," Flyer retorted as he struck Gemerl with a Flying Attack, taking 10 out of him. "At least I can pierce through your defense!"
"Grrr! Not bad... Well, let's see if you can handle this!" Gemerl charged in Chopper and Flyer's direction with his jetpack, but his attack was Superguarded. "What?! How?!"
Gemerl was left nearly stunned as Chopper hurled an electric ball at him. Bombette then followed with a Bomb attack, taking another 6 out of him. He shook off any soot left on him and began to fly upward. Not wasting any time, he curled into a ball and began to spin rapidly. He threw himself at Chopper and knocked him back near the platform's edge, taking 20 out of him.
"Oof! …OK, 20 damage is a bit…extreme." Chopper cringed, returning to the group, taking his hammer out. "But I think this fight shouldn't last long if we use some strong moves."
He made a dash toward Gemerl with his hammer raised in the air. He brought it down on him with his Power Smash, and then Sonic struck the Gizoid with a Spin Dash.
"How was that?" Sonic taunted, waggling his finger.
"Not as bad as what you're about to receive!" Gemerl fired missiles into the air, which began to home in on Chopper and Sonic. They tried to avoid them, but they were already too late. Chopper suffered 17 damage while Sonic took 14.
"I suppose I could help us deal some more damage to him," Shadower decided, striking Gemerl with a Shadow Punch that lowered his defense to 0. "OK, Chopper! Give him everything you've got!"
"Got it!" Chopper nodded and rushed toward Gemerl, jumping in the air and stomping on his head, taking 10 out of him.
"Perhaps now is time for me to use one of your own attacks," Gemerl scanned Chopper, and once he finished, he conjured up an ice ball and tossed it at him. Thankfully, it didn't freeze him.
"Ack! That was cold!" Chopper shivered.
"So how does it feel to get hit by your own attacks?!"
"Nothing special..." Chopper shrugged, swinging the Star Rod and hitting Gemerl with a yellow star. The attack was able to knock him to the ground and leaving him cringing. However, when he got up, he saw another figure charging at him.
"I call making the next move!" Tamber blurted, one of his fists glowing green. He threw a Power Punch at Tamber and knocked him near the edge.
"I can't let these fools beat me like this!" Gemerl thought, appearing somewhat worried. However, he then remembered one of his newer moves and appeared confident. "I must admit, you and your friends do have some decent moves, Chopper. As for me, I have another trick in store for you!"
He raised one of his arms, making him appear dodgy.
"Hit me! I dare you!"
"Gladly!" Chopper smirked, ready to strike him with a Light Stomp. However, he ended up missing and falling over, while Gemerl cackled. Scrub was about to use his Gulp on him, but that had missed as well.
"No fair! This guy's cheating!" Scrub complained.
Gemerl evilly chuckled as he teleported out of their sight. He appeared at an angle near Chopper and then hurled himself at him, taking 20 out of the small hero.
"He's starting to get annoying..." Chopper groaned. "I think it's time I used a Power Bounce!"
With that, Chopper started to jump on Gemerl using his Power Bounce. He managed to jump on him about fourteen times before jumping away. Berry volunteered to go next and struck Gemerl with her hammer, bringing him down to 300 HP.
"OK... He's down to 300 HP now..." Berry sighed. "This is going to be fun..."
"I had enough with this! Chopper, it's time to put an end to this right now!" Gemerl pulled out the Dark Star and held it up. "How ironic! A Crystal Star will lead to your demise!"
The Dark Star began to let off a dark aura as a black hole began to appear before them. Everyone felt themselves slowly moving toward the black hole and were trying to move back.
"Oh, no... This isn't good!" Chopper cried.
"Gah ha ha ha! It's time to say goodbye, Chopper! Soon, your Crystal Stars shall be mine for the safekeeping!"
Just before the group could get sucked into the black hole, the platform began to shake and crumble. When Gemerl noticed this, he lowered the star, and the black hole disappeared.
At this point, they were all floating in midair.
"This...is not what I had in mind," Gemerl said with a blink face. "Of course, I shouldn't worry too much about thi-"
All of a sudden, Chopper's party and Gemerl began to plummet downward by another form of gravity nearby.
Pop Star's gravity, that is.
"Pop Star's gravity's pulling us down," Shadower noticed. "Well... This is nice."
Gemerl tried to escape with his jetpack, but it didn't appear to do much with the gravity being too strong. Soon enough, he had fallen down to the group's level.
However, that did not stop him from trying to fight back.
"Take this!" Gemerl fired a couple of missiles at the group. Chopper chose to fight back too, firing stars at the missiles and destroying them.
At this point, the two continued to duke it out with their projectiles, but neither of them had managed to land a hit on either of them.
Near the Fountain of Dreams-
"Things have been a little peaceful here so far in Dream Land, especially the Fountain of Dreams," Fumu spoke as she was writing in her journal. "Ever since Marx Soul was defeated by Chopper and his friends, everyone seems to be in a good mood. Not even King Dedede and Escargon have come up with some plans. Hopefully Chopper and his friends are all right. ...Especially Flyer."
"Heh heh heh! You like that one person in Chopper's group, do you, sis?"
"Bun!" Fumu blushed, giving him an annoyed look and closing her journal. "How many times do I have to tell you NOT to eavesdrop on me when I'm writing?"
"Well, you usually write some interesting stuff in that book."
"Oh... Well, if you really want to know what's in my book, you can just ask me instead."
Just as Bun as about to answer, he noticed several figures plummeting from the sky nearby. "Hey, sis! What's that?"
"We better check it out!" Fumu rushed over to the Fountain of Dreams. When she got there, she and Bun noticed Chopper, his friends, and a robot in front of the fountain, slowly getting up. "Hey, it's Chopper and his friends!"
"And who's that robot?" Bun wondered.
"Guys?" Chopper gawked, taking notice of Fumu and Bun. Before he could wave at them, Gemerl had managed to land a kick on him.
"This is no time to be saying your hellos, Chopper. Let's finish our fight!" Gemerl shouted. Before he could make another move, he stopped and looked around him. "Wait... What is this place?"
"You're on Pop Star, or Dream Land," Fumu answered. "This placed is supposedly 'ruled' by a king named King Dedede."
"Really? Well, sounds pathetic. I'll take over it once I'm through with Chopper and his friends."
"I think telling him that was a bad idea, sis..." Bun whispered.
"If you two want to live, then you'd stay out of this fight," Gemerl suggested. "Intervene, and I'll destroy you."
"You wouldn't DARE!" Flyer growled.
"I'm evil! Of course I'd do that! ...Anyway, let me get back to full health." Raising his arms, Gemerl used his recovering ability to heal off the 100 HP he had lost from battle. "Ah! Much better! Now I can destroy you all!"
"That's not fair!" Chopper frowned. "You can't do that!"
"Too late! I already did!" Gemerl grinned, his jetpack ready to charge at them. "Now to finish you off!"
Before he could charge, he and the rest noticed the Star Rod was starting to flash in response to the Fountain of Dreams. Sparkles of star energy had rained down on the heroes, recovering all of their HP, FP, and Star Power.
"Hey! I feel… Completely recovered!" Vivian gasped.
"Hmph... Fine, I guess we're even then." Gemerl stated, sounding a bit annoyed. "Now let us get back to our battle, Chopper! With those two friends of your watching, I can't wait for them to see you suffer!"
"Well, I can't wait for them to see me beat you!" Chopper declared, swinging the Star Rod and firing a star at Gemerl. Flyer flew in next and struck the Gizoid with his Flying Attack, which resulted in him getting struck by one of Gemerl's projectile's afterward.
"I'm not afraid to use the Dark Star's power at this point," Gemerl warned. "With no platform getting in the way, it should be much more successful!"
"It won't stop me from defeating you though," Chopper objected as he hit Gemerl's face with his hammer. A Power Smash, to be exact.
"I call punching him!" Tamber declared, rushing toward Gemerl and striking him with his Combo Punch. Gemerl easily shook it off and began to scan Tamber.
"Let's see how you like THIS!" Gemerl had managed to copy Tamber's Combo Punch and used it against him.
"What the... How'd he do that?!" Tamber gaped.
"He can copy our abilities..." Chopper frowned. "Be careful..."
"Oh, don't worry, Chopper… You'll be next!" Gemerl said, giving him a threatening look.
Chopper ignored his threat and smacked Gemerl with his Star Rod. Scrub laid a giant egg and threw it at Gemerl to take 12 out of him. Annoyed, Gemerl clenched his fists and activated his jetpack, making him tackle Chopper and Scrub, nearly making them dizzy.
"Whoa... I felt a little dizzy for a moment..." Chopper quickly shook his head and took action by tossing an ice ball at Gemerl. Vivian left a burn on Gemerl with her Shade Fist, but he didn't seem all that fazed by that.
"If you're planning on burning me, go ahead. It's not going to do much to stop me!" Gemerl flew up and curled in a ball, flying left and right to fire missiles at Chopper. In the end, he managed to take 22 out of him, to Chopper's dismay.
"Geez... If he keeps doing this, then I'm going to be using a lot of items!" the antennae hero gulped, getting ready to make another move. Shadower, however, had already attacked Gemerl, striking him with a Shadow Punch that lowered his defense to 0. "Oh, thanks, Shadower!"
"Anytime, Chopper!" Shadower replied as he watched Chopper strike Gemerl with his Power Smash, taking a good 12 out of him.
Gemerl copied Chopper's Power Smash ability and used it to his advantage once again. He flew up to Chopper and made a hammer materialize in his hand. It was a bit similar to Chopper's, but his had a color scheme that matched his style. He brought it down on him, but Chopper managed to guard it.
"Even if you use my attacks against me, I still won't go down!" Chopper yelled, delivering a Spin Jump to Gemerl's head. With Bombette's Bomb, they already brought him down to 298 HP.
"Nice! He's already down to 298 HP!" Bombette smiled.
"I haven't even warmed up yet!" Gemerl mentioned, changing his right hand to a cannon. He fired an ice beam at Bombette, freezing her instantly. "Heh heh heh! That takes care of one of them!"
"Crud... Well, let's make sure Bombette doesn't get hurt while she's frozen." Chopper pulled his hammer out and he struck Gemerl with a D-Down Pound. "This should be pretty useful!"
"Argh!" Gemerl winced, getting hit by Sonic's Spin Dash afterward. "I didn't expect him to have that..."
As Sonic gloated by doing a break-dance, Gemerl took this opportunity to send him flying back to his friends with a kick. He then charged at Chopper, but he was much faster and managed to strike the Gizoid with his Star Rod. Mario followed up by bringing his hammer down on him.
"Well, he's left with 270 HP, that's a good thing," Fumu stated, but she was a bit shocked when Flyer got hit by one of Gemerl's missiles. "Flyer! No!"
Gemerl turned his head to Fumu, making her eyes widen.
"Yes, go ahead and cry out for your friend. It lets me know that I'm doing something right! But remember, interfere, and it's the end for you."
"We better listen..." Bun whispered. "And let's try not to worry about them too much."
"Yeah, you're right," Fumu nodded. "I have faith in them..."
Chopper toward Gemerl and leaped in the air again, striking him with a Power Bounce. After bouncing on him twelve times, he performed a stylish move to make the crowd go nuts before getting off. Flyer helped out by taking 10 more out of Gemerl with his Flying Attack.
This time, Gemerl got his flamethrower ready, and he aimed it at Chopper, unleashing its flames upon him, and leaving him with a nasty burn.
"AACK!" Chopper screamed, his arms flailing around. "I-I won't go down so soon! T-Take this, Gemerl!"
He charged at Gemerl and he struck him with a Rainbow Spin, knocking him back and nearly making him lose his balance.
"This time, my attack's going to work!" Scrub declared, grabbing Gemerl by his tongue and inhaling him with his Gulp attack. Afterwards, he spat him out with a disgusted look no his face. "Yuck! He tastes horrible!"
"He's a robot. What were you expecting?" Berry questioned.
"Well, then that should help me, considering that Yoshi won't do that against me," Gemerl grinned.
"Hey, don't think I'm not going to use it," Scrub said, giving him a glare. "I'm still going to do what it takes to beat you!"
Ignoring Scrub, used his teleportation powers to move all over the place and leave everyone looking all over the place. Eventually, he ended up striking Chopper with the yellow stunner on his wrist, leaving him paralyzed for a turn.
"Gaack! Can't…move…" Chopper stammered.
"Oh, no!" Berry gripped her hammer and glared at Gemerl. "What'd you do to Choppy?!"
"Why, it's simple! I simply stunned him with my stun object on my wrist! He won't be able to move for a bit! Gah ha ha ha—OOF!"
Before he could finish, Gemerl found a hammer hit him in the head.
"Argh... Normally I would ignore little girls, but considering you always invaded my old base, I won't be so merciful!" Gemerl hissed, a hammer materializing in his hand and striking Berry with it. Rather than a pink trail, his was yellow upon swinging it.
With the turn finally over, Chopper was able to move again. Smiling, he rushed toward Gemerl and attacked him with another Power Smash. Tamber's Combo Punch brought the robot nearly halfway down. Gemerl shot an ice beam at Chopper, but he managed to guard it. What made things worse for Gemerl was when Chopper used his D-Down Hand attack, followed up with Flyer's Flying Attack.
Being at 190 HP was definitely not a good sign.
"I'm not going to let myself down so easily!" Gemerl raised his arms and surrounded himself in a red shield. "So, Chopper… Do you remember THIS?"
"Oh, great… This is just what we need." Chopper sighed, and he stomped on the shield twice. Though he expected it to shatter, it only turned green. "Oh... This is new."
"See? It's going to take a lot more to break my shield." Gemerl grinned, crossing his arms. Just then, Tamber's Combo Punch had managed to shatter it. "Well... So much for that. Allow me to show off another one of my moves!"
Gemerl teleported into the center of the stage and made a couple of missiles circle around him as he curled up into a ball again.
"What's this guy planning?" Tamber wondered.
Missiles came raining down on everyone, taking 20 out of everyone. Despite wheezing, it didn't stop Chopper from striking Gemerl with the Star Rod. Now that Bombette was thawed, she was able to attack with her Bomb, knocking Gemerl back with an explosion. In retaliation, he fired another ice beam, but this time at Vivian. Luckily, she was able to guard the attack and then strike him with a Fiery Jinx. Chopper helped throw in his Power Smash as well.
"You are all an annoying bunch. I suppose I have to resort to my strongest attack." Gemerl pressed the blue button on the yellow fin-like object on his head, and his Attack was raised by 20. "This will be able to take 40 HP out of you all. You better be ready..."
"Well, we definitely are," Chopper smirked, pulling out a Rainbow Master and eating it to recover 200 HP and FP. Vivian pulled everyone into the shadows to avoid Gemerl's powerful attack. The giant laser Gemerl fired had done no damage to them, but there were a couple of trees in his way that had gotten incinerated.
"Oh… That's not good…" Fumu gawked.
Gemerl was disappointed when he saw the group emerge with no harm done. However, it did not stop him from attacking them with a barrage of missiles. Chopper quickly shook it off and struck Gemerl with his Star Rod. Mario hit Gemerl with his Super Jump afterward to bring him to about 146 HP.
Mario: This isn't too bad!
Rubbing his head, Gemerl raised an arm and made himself dodgy. "I dare you to hit me now, you fools!"
"Oh, man... I don't know if I want to risk hitting Gemerl again with that status on," Chopper frowned.
"Say, Chop... What about the Crystal Stars?" Sonic suggested.
"Oh! Maybe we can use one of them! Though, I don't know if the Light Star's going to do any good..."
"We haven't tried out the King's Star yet," Berry mentioned. "Why not use that?"
"That star? I...don't know..." Chopper trailed, taking out the indigo-colored star. "I mean, it's ability... It doesn't sound nice..."
"Oh, really?" Gemerl spoke up, overhearing their conversation. "Then go ahead, Chopper! Show me this Crystal Star's power! Unless you lack the courage to do so!"
Chopper gave a more determined look and sighed. He raised the Crystal Star, but before he could pull off any moves by pressing buttons, he noticed the star circle around him, leaving a trail of darkness behind.
"What's going on with that star?" Bun wondered.
"I don't know, but it doesn't look good..." Fumu trailed.
As the darkness surrounded Chopper, he started to feel a strange emotion envelope him. It was something he had done before, but it was something he would always try to avoid.
Rage.
Chopper let out a scream as the dark smoke had finally faded away, revealing a dark figure underneath. There Chopper stood, appearing black with glowing white, angry eyes.
"Oh, no... Not this again..." Shadower gulped.
"What was the name of this star's ability? Dark Star Chopper?" Vivian wondered.
"Well, let's hope for once that he's on our side," Bombette hoped. "In the meantime, let's pay attention to Gemerl."
She rushed toward Gemerl and tried to strike him with her Bomb, but her attack ended up missing. Gemerl, meanwhile, had stared at this new transformation in surprise.
"This...is surprising," Gemerl commented, appearing shocked. Despite this, he remained confident and hurled a fireball at him. To his surprise, Dark Star Chopper had swatted it away as if it were a fly. "What kind of power is this supposed to be?!"
Before he could make another move, Dark Star Chopper had conjured up an attack swiftly and fired a dark blast at him, taking 14 out of him and leaving him in shock upon being knocked back. The others were shocked as well, being caught off guard by the attack.
"Are you OK, Chopper?" Vivian gasped.
Chopper spoke no words as he narrowed his eyes at Gemerl, who had been struck by Kirby's Final Cutter.
Gemerl decided not to let this form bother him and charged at Dark Star Chopper. Despite dealing damage, he was not able to escape the horrors of Dark Star Chopper's Spring Jump, which was powerful enough to take 28 out of him.
"Geez... I'm feeling that this was a big mistake." Shadower realized, noticing Dark Star Chopper's HP meter draining. "Hold on, Chopper! Can't you get rid of that power or something?"
"Shadower, forget it. There's not much we can do." Sonic said, using the Chaos Emeralds to transform into Super Sonic. "On the other hand, Gemerl only has 92 HP!"
"We'll see about that!" Gemerl hissed, raising his arms and recovering 100 HP. Super Sonic was not pleased, so he charged into him to bring his HP down to 180.
Dark Star Chopper hurled dark energy straight towards Gemerl afterward, taking another 14 out of him. Even when he was struck by a barrage of missiles, Dark Star Chopper didn't appear to budge, despite taking damage.
"You're such a fool, thinking you can hurt me like that," Gemerl scoffed. "You do know that it's only doing damage to you as well. Then again, that works very well for me!"
Dark Star Chopper countered with another Spring Jump. As he flew back, Super Sonic had lunged at Gemerl and took another 12 out of him.
As Gemerl was ready to make his move, the rage within Dark Star Chopper has suddenly vanished, turning him back to normal. He was left panting and exhausted.
"What...happened to me?" Chopper wondered. "I don't feel too good..."
Mario: Really?
"Yeah… I think…" Chopper looked at the King's Star in his hand before putting it away. "I'm going to make sure I never use this star again."
"Looks like that ability left you pretty weak. Excellent!" Gemerl charged at Chopper and Super Sonic – though he was damaged when he rammed into him, on the other hand.
As soon as Chopper used another Power Smash, and Vivian with her Shade Fist, Gemerl was down to 100 HP.
"Ha! How does it feel to lose?!" Scrub taunted.
"Fine! I think now's the perfect opportunity to use this!" Gemerl roared, holding up the Dark Star. "Now, Dark Star! Use your ability to destroy them!"
A black hole appeared above them and it began to suck everyone in. Everyone tried their best to escape, but the black hole was too much for them. The only ones who did not get sucked in were Fumu and Bun, who could only watch in horror as the heroes got sucked in.
"Oh, no... This doesn't look good..." Fumu gulped.
"I wouldn't want to be sucked into that," Bun shivered.
After the black hole spat them out, everyone suffered 65 damage from the attack. What made things worse was that Scrub, Kirby, Berry, and even Sonic had ended up falling in defeat when his super form was knocked out.
"Guys!" Chopper gasped.
"Gah ha ha ha! Face it, you deserved it after destroying my minions." Gemerl cackled.
Chopper turned to Gemerl and he clenched his fists. "That's it! You've gone FAR enough!"
He gripped the Star Rod and struck Gemerl with a Star Blast. Tamber ran toward him again and threw in a punch that managed to bring him down to 80 HP.
"OK, I'm not going to lie, this robot is a lot eviler than I thought," Tamber remarked, glaring at the Gizoid. "He makes me sick..."
Gemerl began to lift off the ground and unleash his flamethrower upon Chopper. After he guarded it, he used his Hammer Throw to knock Gemerl to the ground.
"Good one, Chopper," Flyer complimented as he struck Gemerl with a Flying Attack, bringing him to 60 HP. "I think we can do this. We might have a chance!"
"Yeah!" Fumu and Bun cheered happily for them, but then Gemerl copied Vivian's Fiery Jinx ability. Gemerl grinned as he raised his finger and struck everyone with a Fiery Jinx. They were left with a severe burn that dealt some serious damage to them.
"Heh heh heh... You will all burn!" Gemerl cackled.
"Argh! I'll get you for that!" Tamber growled, attacking Gemerl with a Power Punch. Chopper simply shrugged and swung the Star Rod at him, taking 6 out of him. Gemerl flew up and charged at Chopper with missiles. Luckily for him, he was able to Superguard the attack.
"Whew… THAT was close…" Chopper huffed, gripping his hammer and bringing it down on Gemerl. Once Flyer struck him with his Flying Attack, he was able to guard Gemerl's ice beam. Even then, he found himself shivering.
"Whew... I thought I was frozen for a moment…" Flyer shivered, striking Gemerl with another Flying Attack. Chopper brought the robot down to 8 HP after his Hammer Throw.
"Guh… You guys won't finish me off so soon! Bzzzzzzzt! I… I will end this!" Gemerl began to raise his attack up by 20, but, Chopper was already prepared to finish this battle off.
"Sorry, Gemerl, but it's over for you," Chopper began to charge power in the Star Rod. "Say hello to my…Star Blast!"
He swung the Star Rod, and a powerful star came hurling at Gemerl, striking him and making him emit sparks
"ARRRGGHHHH! BZZZZZZZT!"
An explosion came from Gemerl, knocking him onto the floor. The explosions continued until he remained motionless on the grass.
Coincidentally, Scrub, Kirby, Berry, and Sonic finally stood up, appearing exhausted.
"Geez... What happened?" Sonic asked, looking around. "Hey, where's Gemmy?"
"Take a look over that," Tamber answered, pointing to the defeating Gemerl on the ground.
"Nice! He's defeated!" Scrub cheered.
"You guys did it!" Fumu cheered, she and Bun running over to them now that it was safe.
"Way to take that guy down!" Bun added, noticing the Dark Star on the ground. "So, that's the last Crystal Star?"
"Yup!" Chopper nodded. "And speaking of that… I think the time has come. Right, guys?"
Everyone else exchanged nods.
"Go for it, Chopper! It's the last one!" Flyer smiled.
"All right, here it goes…" Chopper walked over to the Crystal Star and touched it. The Dark Star began to circle around him while he gaped.
However, what they didn't pay attention to was a certain robot's hand starting to move.
Once the Crystal Star had hovered over Chopper, held the Crystal Star up high above him.
You got a Crystal Star!
END OF-
"Ack! Guys!"
The heroes quickly stopped when they looked in the direction Fumu and Bun were and gasped. There they were, caught in a hold by Gemerl, who had one of his hands transformed into an arm gun.
"Gemerl! What are you doing?!" Chopper cried, getting in a fighting stance. "Let them go! NOW!"
"Go ahead, try to attack me," Gemerl challenged, chuckling darkly. "However, it's going to cost you these precious friends of yours."
"You wouldn't do such a thing!" Flyer yelled.
"Do you even know who I am? I am the Gizoid! I am not going to let some clowns humiliate me like this! Now, Chopper... I'm going to ask you one time and one time only...Bzzzzzzt... Give me the Crystal Stars!"
"Why would I do that?" Chopper asked.
"Because if you don't, these two are going to die!"
The heroes were unsure of how to respond due to being frozen in fear. Flyer, especially, was the most frightened.
"What...do we do?" Chopper muttered.
"Wait... Guys, I might know something." Shadower whispered. "Flyer, you can disable and repair things, right?"
"But Shadower, that-" Flyer paused, his brain now starting to work. "...I think I understand completely."
He started to whisper an idea to everyone, who began to nod in approval. Gemerl continued to glare at them impatiently, bringing his arm gun closer to Bun's head.
"I'm scared, sis..." Bun squeaked.
"I know... But...let's have faith in them..." Fumu whispered.
"What are you guys whispering?" Gemerl hissed. "If you're not going to give me the Crystal Stars, then I should pull the trigger on these useless friends of yours!"
When the group finally stopped whispering, they turned to Gemerl, appearing more confident.
"OK, Gemerl, we'll give you the stars," Chopper nodded. "But can we ask you a little question?"
"No."
"Come on! We just want to ask you something! Unless your chicken?"
"Shut up, Chopper. I want the Crystal Stars NOW!"
"Hey, Gemmy! Where'd you get the name anyway?" Sonic asked with a smirk.
"I swear, if you call me Gemmy one more time, I'll-"
"The more I think about it, your old base was pretty crumby," Berry remarked. "I mean, it had such bad security and such an obvious way of getting in! It should've been called 'Gemerl's Obvious Hideout'!"
"OK, I had enough," Gemerl snapped, silencing the group. "I've lost my patience, and now your friends are going to die!"
He prepared to fire, but surprisingly, it didn't seem to work.
"What the... I can't move!"
Flyer smirked, appearing from behind Gemerl putting his trusty screwdriver and wrench away. As he flew back to the group, Fumu and Bun were taken out of the Gizoid's grasps and were now by the group.
"What the... What did you do?!" Gemerl howled.
"Well, we simply let you be distracted, while Shadower made me invisible to get behind you and disable you," Flyer explained. "And then once I did that, we had Vivian bring them over to us so they were safe!"
"What?!"
"But there's one last part to the plan!"
Chopper smiled and swung the Star Rod with all his might, firing a star that was was faster than a bullet. It managed to hit Gemerl and send him flying back. He had fallen to the ground, this time appearing badly damaged.
He struggled to stand up, but when he did so, everyone approached him, narrowing their eyes at him.
At this point, there was no point in fighting any longer.
"...I'm done," Gemerl declared, sparks spewing out from his body. "I...bzzzzzzt...tried all I could to finish my goal... But...bzzzzzt...you ruined it for me!"
"Wait, you're giving up already?" Chopper gawked.
"I had enough. You can have that Crystal Star and find out what happens. I'm going now. Goodbye, Chopper."
And with that, Gemerl began to hover away slowly, severely damaged and unable to fight for any longer.
"We... We did it!" Tamber smiled. "We actually managed to beat this guy!"
"You guys did a real good job," Chopper smiled. "Thanks for saving Fumu and Bun."
"Sorry we got in the way," Fumu apologized.
"No need to. It wasn't your fault." Sonic assured.
"And the Crystal Star is finally ours...for real," Vivian smiled. "So, Chopper, should we continue where we were last off?"
"Yeah!" Chopper nodded, taking the Dark Star out. Once again, it began to circle around him with a single flash, and he held it up as it hovered above him. "Finally... The last Crystal Star is ours!"
You got a Crystal Star! Your Star Power is now 20! And Chopper can now use the special move Black Hole!
END OF CHAPTER
The last Crystal Star had been all over the place within both Starlite and Gamble Galaxy. But each time, Chopper went after it, and now he had finally collected all twenty Crystal Stars. But despite the victory, he was still bothered by what the results could be. Were Meta Knight's words true? So many questions to him were still left unanswered.
What a boss fight that was! I'm not going to lie, but this was definitely one of my favorite bosses and chapters so far. It was definitely a good comeback for Gemerl, in my opinion.
But, sadly, with the nineteenth chapter being complete, that means there is only one more interlude remaining.