"Dear Diary… Today was such a great day! I was able to get Tippy's… No, that's not a good way to start off. Hmmmmmm… Ooh! I know now! Dear Diary… I had such a fantastic day today! Tippy let me go out for a little break to wherever I wanted to go! …Ugh! I'm soooo bad at writing this!"
Mimi was getting too frustrated with her diary at the moment in her pink and girly room. She held a Tipral doll right beside her as her diary was becoming a big mess. There were pencil marks smeared all over her diary, and her eraser was almost about used up.
"Oh, golly… I guess I'm gonna have to get a new eraser. Hopefully Nassy has one. I'll go ask her." she got herself up, closed her diary and put a lock on it so no one could open it. Just to make things more secure for her diary, she put it in the far back of her bookshelf.
"There! There's no way Dimentio will get it now!"
She took her key and locked the door to her room behind her to make things easier for her as well. Mimi looked over to the door to the far left to make sure a certain jester wouldn't be coming out.
"OK, it looks safe…" Mimi headed over to Nastasia's house, but little did she know that in her room, Dimentio simply teleported in silently without her even noticing.
"Ah ha ha ha. Doesn't Mimi ever learn that locking her door won't keep me from getting in here?" Dimentio chuckled as he found Mimi's diary in the back of the shelf. "Oh, silly Mimikins. Finding your diary is easy, like a weak spot that is obvious."
He snapped his finger and made the lock on the diary come off. He opened to the latest page and began reading. The jester looked a bit surprised with what he saw, but he decided to close it.
"Perhaps this is best…for another time. It is quite surprising…" Dimentio put the lock back on and put it back in the back of the shelf, as if it was never touched. He quickly teleported out of the room afterward.
And he did all of that before Mimi could even get to Nastasia's room, which was quite surprising.
"Hey, Nassy!" Mimi shouted as he knocked on the door to her room. "Can you open your door for a second?"
"What is it, Mimi? I'm a little busy here…" Nastasia groaned, opening the door to her room. She had a bunch of paperwork that she was busy with, from what Mimi could see from behind her.
"Nassy… What are you…"
"It's nothing special," she bluntly stated.
"Well… Do you have an eraser that I could borrow? I used up my other eraser…" Mimi trailed sadly, giving Nastasia an innocent look. Despite looking confused, she grabbed an eraser from her pencil cup and gave it to her.
"Don't use it up too much, 'K? That's the eleventh eraser you used up this week." she closed the door as Mimi began to head back to her room until she realized something.
"Golly! I use up so many erasers!"
"You're tellin' me!" Mr. L grumbled as he opened the door to his room. "You know how much money we have to pay 'cause of you? Heck, we use more money for you than my new Brobot!"
"Why do you need to buy more dresses?!" Dark growled as he walked out of his room. "You only wear something ONCE and buy something new! You know what? How about you stop buying stuff, you spoiled brat!"
At this point, everyone got in an argument. But it made things worse when Tipral opened the door to his room with a grumpy look. Everyone stopped and looked over at the pissed off Tipral.
"Will you guys SHUT UP?! Why won't you guys ever learn to get along?!" Tipral exclaimed. "You know what's holding us back?! Your ARGUING! I'm trying to get some sleep here and you people won't learn to shut up! If you REALLY want to argue, then take it outside the palace, where I CAN'T hear it! If not, then you're spending your time outside in space!"
"Wait… We're in space?" Mr. L gaped. "How come no one told me that?!"
"I told you that when you first came here," Tipral reminded before remembering something. "Hold on a minute… I do remember something. If I could recall, the heroes managed to get a hold of the sixteenth Pure Heart."
"Wait… Then that means they're coming here!" Mimi gaped. "Aw, golly! Now they're gonna ruin our plan!"
"No, they won't be able to… You see, I was able to get just what I needed to revive the Chaos Heart. However, it's going to take some time, so I need you guys to keep the heroes busy when they show up."
"Did someone say somethin' about the heroes?" O'Chunks came busting through his room with a chicken leg in his hands. "…Oh, I fergot about the chicken leg. Sorry 'bout that."
"Let's discuss this in a…bigger place."
Meeting room-
"So, what yer sayin' is that yeh got everythin' yeh need teh bring back the Chaos Heart an' The Void, but it'll take time teh get it back?" O'Chunks asked.
"You are correct, O'Chunks," Tipral nodded.
"I have chortles! Fawful has had the waiting of this moment!" Fawful grinned. "When all worlds are gorged on, I will be receiving the fury Fawful has wanted all these years! Even more fury than the mustaches!"
"Why, that sounds very interesting!" Dimentio slowly nodded. "Distracting the heroes is a glorious idea! Well done, Tipral!"
"Yeah, yeah, that's good and all…" Dark trailed while looking at his eye through a mirror he had with him. "But why is my eye growing faster than it normally does? It doesn't hurt now, but something's weird… Dimentio, did you have something to do with this?"
"That eye? My magic just helped you relieve the pain. Although, it could've caused something like that on accident… But, I don't believe that I did anything to make it grow!"
"Well I can see the purple in it now… If you're lying, I swear that I'm going to rip your mask off."
"So, we get to kick some hero butt?" Mr. L smirked as he pounded his fist. "I like that! I like that a lot! I've heard a lot about this Luigi fellow that looks like me. Maybe I'll finally have my chance to see who that guy is and fight him!"
"And I can also get revenge against that pink puffball! Mimimimimimi!" Mimi cackled. "Remember what he did to me back in your previous castle, Tippy? Well this time, I'll be prepared to win the battle!"
"With what? Your pointless Rubees?"
"Hey! My Rubees are capable of winning fights!"
"Ah ha ha ha! How amusing! You two fight like two whiny kids who are fighting over candy!" Dimentio cackled.
"Tipral, are you sure about this?" Nastasia asked. "Do you really think this plan will work out? I mean, none of your other plans seemed to work against the heroes. They've defeated all of your minions countless times and…"
"That's enough, Nastasia," Tipral stopped. "Trust me, I know this will work for us. Besides… Even if Chopper and his friends make it over here, I believe I still might have enough time to bring The Void back."
"But what purpose is there to bring it back? Why do you want to destroy all worlds in the first place?"
"To get revenge against those pathetic people that took everything away from me. Chopper… Ever since he defeated Maquano, I was sent to another dimension and stayed there for five months. And don't get me started on that Shadow Brother Mysterious… And besides… When I destroy all worlds, I'll make a new world for everyone. It can be whatever they desire."
"'K…" Nastasia began to scribble on her clipboard, but her pencil broke. "Ummm… Tipral? Could you excuse me for a moment? I think I need to…"
Tipral waved his scepter at the pencil and it was fully sharpened. Nastasia looked a little surprised by this, but she gave him a nod and continued to write something on her clipboard.
It was then Dimentio realized something and snapped his finger.
"Oh, Tipral! I just remembered something!" he recalled. "Does the name 'Timpani' ring a bell to you?"
"Timpani…" Tipral's eyes widened. "Dimentio… Where did you ever hear that name before?"
"Oh, nowhere special… Although, if I could recall, I once heard the name Timpani when you were sleeping. Is she someone you know?"
"I'm not exactly sure what that name is. It's something I've been hearing for a long time."
"Are yeh havin' amnesia, Tipral?" O'Chunks asked.
"I don't have amnesia. All I know is that that name does ring a bell for some reason. But do I have to explain about this? I don't think so. For now, you guys should get to your posts."
"Ugh… I don't know if I can." Dark grunted. "Kind of dangerous to go fight when I have an eye that's almost about to open. It's going to keep me off guard."
"Then let's let the poor alien thing sit out," Dimentio chuckled.
"Shut it, clown."
"Enough already," Tipral said, silencing the two. "I want you all to get to your positions now. I've already discussed the plan, so all you need to do is go out and keep the heroes busy for a while."
"Oh, that's an easy one for me," Dimentio cackled. "Now, if you'll excuse me… I believe I should go to my position! Ciao!"
The rest followed him afterward, leaving only Tipral and Nastasia in the room. While Dark may have left, he was actually returning to his room.
"So, Chopper… It appears you've collected the sixteenth Pure Heart!" Tipral said as he looked at the black star on the Dark Star Scepter, which began to show something through there. "Well, let's see how you do when I finally destroy the universe with The Void!"
Flopside Tower-
"Tipral… Why does that name haunt me so?"
"Tippi, is something all right?"
"Tipral's name haunts you? Well, it's not too surprising…"
All seven were in front of the fifth door of Flopside Tower, where a silver crystal heart appeared above it. Chopper was holding onto the glowing wand, where they could hear Timpani mumbling.
"Is something the matter, Tippi? Is there something bothering you?" Chopper asked.
"Well… I'm not exactly sure…" Timpani trailed. "I keep hearing the word 'Tipral' in my head, as if it's trying to haunt me. Look, how about we return to Merlon's house with the Pure Heart?"
"That sounds like a good idea," Meta Knight nodded. "Wenbi DID want us to take good care of it, and do that we shall."
"Poyo, (Yeah, we should go back,)" Kirby agreed. "Poyo… (And we should also tell Flyer about our broken communicators…)"
"Yeah, we need to do that too," Chopper agreed. "Hopefully they're not mad at us for not communicating with them…"
Merlon's house-
"I swear, they haven't communicated with us through our communicators for a while…" Parakarry trailed as he held his communicator. "You think something bad happened to 'em or something?"
"If something bad happened to them…" Vivian gasped and covered her mouth. "That would be a horrible thing… I don't want to lose more friends, especially one who's treated me well like Chopper and Mario…"
"Choppor, you know how to find out if people are alive or not, right?" Bow asked, flying over to the robot. "If you do… Maybe you can, let's just say… Check and see if they're alive."
"I don't have any programs that allow me to do that," C-2 Choppor informed. "Am I just a mere toy to all of you, just to be used for certain things and make you not do things yourself?"
"I'll admit, sometimes we are kind of lazy and rely on robots a lot," Berry confessed. "Is this what we're going to be like in the future?"
"I sure hope not," Flyer hoped. "I mean, I usually BUILD my stuff with tools and stuff, but creating stuff to do all the work for me? I'm not really getting anything from something I like doing."
"Relax, young ones," Merlon assured, turning his head to the group as he scanned his bookshelf for something. "I'm sure in the far distant future, our world will be much better. Some worlds might be cleaner, while some might change their ways for the better."
"Let's hope that happens," Bow nodded. "Especially the Mushroom Kingdom. It would be SO much better without Bowser around."
"I hear ya!" Parakarry agreed.
"Well, I just hope my Choppy is still alive," Berry hoped, looking worried. "Ever since I met him, I knew we would be meant for each other."
"I doubt it," Bow muttered.
"What?"
"Oh, nothing."
"Hmmmmm… Scanners are picking something up." C-2 Choppor informed, getting everyone's attention.
"Could it be a surprise attack?" Vivian asked, getting her fire powers ready.
The door opened and, to their surprise, all seven came walking into the house. But, they looked a bit shocked to see that they were covered in burns from Shade's assault back in The Peaceness.
"You're alive!" Flyer gaped.
"Who would've thought that you'd make it back OK?" Bow smiled.
"Yeah! And your game isn't over!" Parakarry cheered.
"I'm relieved to see you back," Vivian said with a smile.
"I guess my scanners were picking up you guys…" C-2 Choppor trailed.
"It's good to see you all!" Berry smiled.
"Same with you..." Chopper sighed. "We went through a lot in The Peaceness..."
"Hold on… I recognize some of the people here…" Meta Knight trailed, noticing mostly Berry, Vivian, and Flyer the most. "But for the other three…"
"Oh! Do I hear Meta Knight's voice in the room?" Merlon paused and turned around with a book in his hands. "I welcome you here, Meta Knight! It has been quite a while, hasn't it?"
"Last time we saw you, you helped us fight the Tataras in Tartamos," Vivian recalled.
"Yeah, that was something, wasn't it?" Flyer smirked.
"I think it was," Blade nodded. "Well, anyway… We brought the sixteenth Pure Heart with us. We need that one to lead us to Tipral's Palace, is that correct?"
"Yes, you are correct, Blade," Merlon confirmed. "With the sixteenth Pure Heart in your hands, you should be able to find Tipral's Palace and stop him before it's too late!"
"Yes, that is a good idea…" Timpani agreed. At first, everyone was confused, but soon Merlon recognized that voice.
"T-Tippi?! Are… Are you here?!"
"Yes, I'm here, with Blumiere as well. For some reason, your magic isn't preventing me from speaking through here. But, I'm disappointed that we finally managed to get a hold of you now."
"Wait, that voice is coming from that wand," Berry realized, noticing it float out of Chopper's inventory.
"Well it's about time!" Sonic grinned.
"Merlon, I have a little question… Was there anything written in a journal from the Tribe of Ancients about something involving Tipral? For some reason… That name haunts my mind…"
"Hmmmmmm… Unfortunately, I don't have such a thing with me. I used to have something like that, but now it's gone… However, I was just reading this interesting spell book."
"Spell book? What's it about?" Luigi asked.
"I was just trying to find a way to help your friends get back home. I believe I found just the spell to take them back."
"Wait… So does this mean that…we're going now?" Berry gasped.
"But we haven't gotten much of a chance to speak with Chopper and his friends…" Bow trailed.
"And at a time like this?" Flyer frowned.
"You know, as much as I don't like to say goodbyes, I think this might be the best chance at the moment," Chopper sighed. "I mean, when are we ever going to say goodbye to each other? This might be your only chance to return back to your own world!"
"As much as I would hate to admit it, I think he's right," Meta Knight nodded. "We'll try our best to take care of everything, especially all worlds."
"Meta Knight… I want you to go as well."
"What? But only through one world? Why would you need me to go, Chopper?"
"I have nothing against you, Meta Knight… But, after what happened with you and losing Galaxia, I believe you'll be safe back at your own world. I really hate to let you go too, but we're heroes. We've gotta take care of this ourselves."
"Are you sure about this, Chopper?" Timpani asked. "Meta Knight has proven to be very helpful in the past…"
"If he continued to travel with us, I think he'd be at a high risk of danger. Now that he has his sword, I think he'll be able to protect himself, which someone people might disagree with me on him coming with us is dangerous. But… What would happen to Dream Land without a protector? Someone's gotta do it!"
"Poyo! (And I can't do it when I'm saving the universe!)" Kirby added.
"…All right, Chopper… I suppose I'll let you heroes take it all from here." Meta Knight sighed as he shut his eyes. "Where should we go to leave Flipside?"
"I believe Flipside Tower would be the best option," Merlon said as he walked over to the door. "Come, young ones! Meet me up at the tower!"
"Well, we better follow…" Vivian trailed sadly.
Flipside Tower-
"So, I guess this is it then? This is where we say goodbye…" Flyer trailed as Chopper's friends looked over at the heroes and Merlon across from them. "It's a real shame we didn't get to spend much time with you…"
The blue portal was already set after Merlon used the spell. "There we go. The spell is all ready. Are you guys ready to go now?"
"Well, we're not leaving without saying goodbye," Bow denied as she flew over to the heroes. "Because… Well, it makes it feel worse without one."
"Yeah, I'll agree with that," Blade nodded. "I hate not saying goodbye."
Mario: What are you going to do?
"Oh, I don't know, really… Hopefully Bootler isn't too worried about me right now. He tends to get over the top when I'm missing for over a day. But, I'll tell Bootler you said hi, Mario."
"Poyo! (And tell him too!)" Kirby smiled. Chopper simply translated what he just said.
"I guess I will tell him too," Bow giggled. "Despite not lasting long, I did enjoy seeing you all here. Hopefully I see you again sometime, Chopper. You too, Mario."
She pinched his cheek before entering the portal. Chopper began to rub his cheek in annoyance.
"Ow…" Chopper mumbled.
"Well... It was really nice seein' you guys around." Parakarry said, approaching them. "I almost feel like I'm gonna cry here!"
"Do you need a handkerchief?" Berry asked, pulling a handkerchief out.
"Thanks, missy," the Paratroopa took the handkerchief and blew his nose with it. He gave it back to her, but she simply looked at it in disgust. "Hopefully I'm able to get my letters back in time… My boss is probably goin' to be REAL mad me if I don't get them in on time!"
"Oh, boy… That's not good." Luigi gulped. "Do you plan on making an excuse?"
"Honestly… I don't think I should. Lying doesn't get you anywhere in this world. …Well, I'll see you guys later. If you have the time, why don't you come to the Mushroom Kingdom?"
"We should do that!" Sonic nodded as he gave a thumbs up. Parakarry smiled as he flew into the portal, waving goodbye.
"To be honest, I don't like saying goodbyes…" Vivian said shyly as she trailed over to the heroes. "And… Chopper, I'm really sorry if I caused any problems around here. With Tipral out now, I feel somewhat responsible…"
"What?! No you're not! I don't even think you've got a part in why he's trying to destroy all worlds! It's probably because of me!" Chopper guessed.
"I suppose that may be true… But, I don't know…"
"Don't put yourself down! Negativity won't get you anywhere here!" Sonic said.
"Mmmmmm… Well, I guess I feel a little better, Sonic. Thanks for talking to me for a bit, guys. I kind of appreciate that."
Vivian waved goodbye and floated through the portal, leaving only four left.
"I apologize if I don't have much to say to you, but I wish you luck on your quest," C-2 Choppor said, walking over to the group. "And remember… We'll be there to cheer you on. All of us."
"What do you mean 'all of us'?" Luigi questioned.
"All of the friends you guys encountered in the past. We will cheer you on and make sure you save the world."
"Well… I guess we appreciate that. Thanks, Choppor!" Chopper smiled.
"I will see you guys later. Your mission isn't complete just yet." C-2 Choppor followed Vivian through the portal.
"So, that means only three of you are left, right?" Blade asked.
Mario: Looks like it…
"Yeah, apparently…" Berry trailed as she walked up to the group. "Well, I guess I have to take part now. Just remember that even in your state right now, you still have your hearts. As long as you help others, your heart will be as big and healthy as ever."
Mario: Yeah, that's true!
"Yeah…" Berry got a little closer to Chopper. "Choppy… I'll be thinking of you. Come back in one piece, OK?"
"I'll make sure I do," Chopper assured.
"Thanks," Berry waved goodbye as she finally went into the portal.
"Well, I'm probably going to go back to Wingel Town and get back to my workshop," Flyer said, approaching the group. "My mother must be worried sick about me at this moment. I promised that I would be back for supper! …And I'm late!"
"Yeah, like a couple of days late…" Blade trailed.
"You better go quickly then!" Luigi suggested.
"Yeah, I should… Good luck, guys! And stay safe!" Flyer waved goodbye to them one more time as he flew into the portal. All that remained was Meta Knight.
"So… It finally comes down to us now…" he trailed. "Heroes, I just want to thank you for rescuing me back in that previous world. We may have gone through a lot there, but remember this: my spirit will always be with you. Keep my spirit with you, and you shall be safe."
"You can keep my spirit with you too," Chopper added. "You might stay safer."
"I see what you did there…" Sonic trailed.
"Hey! He's safe with his sword! My spirit can make him stay safer!"
Meta Knight chuckled as he patted Chopper on the head. "You never change… Hopefully you stay the same as you usually are."
"Same goes to you!"
Meta Knight slowly nodded as he walked over to the portal. "Farewell, heroes. I hope your adventure lasts well."
And with that, the portal closed, leaving only the heroes and Merlon.
"Poyo… (They're gone now… All of them…)" Kirby trailed sadly.
"Look, I think it's just best that we go bring the Pure Heart to its Heart Pillar," Chopper suggested. "I don't want to spend our whole time grieving."
Mario: I hate to admit it, but I have to agree…
"Yes, I believe that is for the best," Merlon nodded. "You heroes have a palace to go to and someone to stop. I will not stop you this time, for you don't have much time."
"If my calculations are correct… I believe we have to go to Flopside Outskirts on the second floor." Sonic concluded.
"Then let's go there," Blade suggested.
Flopside, Second Floor Outskirts-
"Man… It feels kind of different without Meta Knight around…" Luigi trailed as they walked to the left of the outskirts. "Don't you guys feel the same way about that too?"
"Yeah… We're not going to see our friends again…" Chopper frowned. "…No! I can't grieve! It's not going to get us anywhere!"
"Poyo, (Face it, Chopper, we can't hold it in,)" Kirby stated.
"Well, we can get the Pure Heart in its pillar," Chopper walked over to the Heart Pillar to the end of the path on the left. What was shocking was that nothing was in their way. It was almost like the eighth Heart Pillar.
"Well, you know what to do, Chopper…" Timpani trailed.
"Yeah… Wenbi's Pure Heart will stay here, in a safe place…" he allowed the silver Pure Heart to go into its pillar and create a silver clock. The same thing as usual happened here as they waited patiently.
But, while they did that, a dark gray door appeared right next to the silver door on Flopside Tower.
"So… You think we should go up there now?" Sonic asked.
Mario: I guess so.
"All right, there's no point in staying here…" Chopper trailed as they headed to the tower.
Flopside Tower-
"So, you heroes have finally opened the door to Tipral's Palace…" Over by the dark gray door, Nolrem stood there. "Did you heroes know that you just filled up all of the Heart Pillars in Flopside?"
"Poyo? (Aren't there twenty Heart Pillars, though?)" Kirby gawked.
"Yes, there are indeed twenty of them, but as for the four remaining ones… Their locations are unknown to both Merlon and I so far. But, word has it that there's a town high above both Flipside and Flopside that carries many mysterious things… Maybe you'll find that new town someday…"
"That's kind of interesting…" Luigi trailed.
"Now, I won't waste your time anymore. You heroes have to stop Tipral before he brings back the Chaos Heart and summons forth The Void!"
"Yeah… We better go…" Chopper nodded. "Are you guys ready?"
"Poyo! (Yeah! I'm all good!)" Kirby nodded.
"You betcha!" Sonic nodded.
"All set," Blade nodded.
Mario: Oh, yes!
"I suppose I am…" Luigi trailed.
"Let's go…" Timpani said as the heroes entered through the sixth door of Flopside Tower.
"Good luck, Chopper, Kirby, Sonic, Blade, Mario, and Luigi…" Nolrem trailed.
"…and to you too, Count Blumiere and Lady Timpani."
Six heroes. Six powerful minions, and two Prognosticuses. With our heroes ready to go, they set off through the door to Tipral's Palace. To them, this meant no turning back now. To some, they felt like this was almost going to be something like Castle Tipral, a dungeon that was rather challenging. They continued to listen to Timpani mumble, "Why do I feel as if I know this Tipral? It almost feels like something back from my childhood…" Would these questions be answered? Our heroes began to wonder if Tipral would hold these answers.
'Tis a shame that they had to go now, including Meta Knight (he, like Tipral, was only a temporary party member, unfortunately). However, the next chapter... Well, I'll probably talk about that when we get to it.
At least you didn't have to wait a long time for this chapter. :P