Paper Chopper: The Crystal Stars

by Mechanical Oven

It's been two years since Chopper saved the Mushroom Kingdom, but now there's a problem for the whole universe! He must collect the twenty Crystal Stars around Rogueport, but he certainly cannot do this alone. Will the universe be saved from this dark evil? Or will it plunge into darkness for eternity.

147. Seizing Bowser's Castle

When the elevator stopped, they all found themselves back outside. While they were not as close as they were to the portal and city, they were definitely not too far.

"Whew! I can't believe we made it out of there!" Sonic sighed, stepping off the elevator and stretching his arms and legs. "Though, this place isn't much better anyway..."

"Hey, it's better than being in prison," Chopper shrugged. He looked at his surroundings, but he stopped when he saw a rocky platform with Bowser's Castle on it off at the distance. A small, narrow pathway led over to the front entrance. "Hey, guys! Take a look at that castle! You think Camikon would be in it?"

"Well it does look evil," Scrub said. "I bet he is in there! Let's go pay him a little visit, Contadre!"

Mario, on the other hand, looked at the castle suspiciously. The gray texture and the style of the castle looked all too familiar to him. Though this one looked a bit different compared to some of the other castles, it just screamed that guy's.

Mario: Guys... I don't think that's Camikon's Castle.

"It's not? Then who's castle is it?" Sonic wondered.

Mario: Bowser's.

"That's Bowser's Castle?" Chopper seemed a bit surprised, but he got another look at it. "…It doesn't look like his castle. I remember it being bigger and scarier than THAT. This one looks...pretty small."

"But… What would Bowser be doing here?" Vivian wondered. "It's not like he has anything to do with this place…"

"Well, whatever he's doing, he's probably planning something. I say we go take a look through his castle. You coming, Meta Knight?"

"I'd rather not," answered Meta Knight. "I don't know much about this 'Bowser' you speak of, and I cannot focus on him for the moment. If you want to go find him, then you are allowed.

"What are we going to do then?" Sword asked.

"We might as well go find some others to lend us a hand. We don't have a chance of getting to Camikon's Castle with just a small army like us."

"Small army?! We got about fourteen here!" Chopper exclaimed. "We can stand a chance!"

"Even that's not enough to bring down an entire Tartara army. We may be able to take a couple down, but we'd be highly outnumbered. We still might barely win if I call in some help anyway."

"You're seriously doubting our skills, Meta Knight," Bombette stated. "We've taken down two DEMONS! I think we can handle an army of Tartaras! I bet it'll be easy!"

"You know, I think he's right," Flyer stated. Everyone turned to him in surprise. "What? We're practically outnumbered! The only thing that COULD change is if we found some others that knew how to fight. Besides, we don't know where Silica is, and she's someone who could help us."

"Yeah," Chopper agreed, turning to Meta Knight. "Hey, Meta Knight, you go ahead and get some help. We'll go and see what Bowser's trying to plot."

"Then it's settled. Come, my servants." Meta Knight turned away into the direction of the city. "If I'm correct, Silica would be around the city. However, if Tartaras are all over the place, then she'd be in the outer part."

His two knights nodded and followed him to the outer part of the city. As they left, Chopper and his friends walked over to the narrow pathway leading to Bowser's Castle. The only thing they had to be careful was the lava below. Thankfully, the walk hadn't taken too long, and no one had struggled to cross either.

"All right, here we are," Chopper sighed in relief as they made it to the front door. "Should we knock the door first?"

"Heck no!" Tamber intervened, punching the door a couple of times until it finally fell over on a Koopatrol guarding the door. Many other Koopatrols inside the main room had turned their attention to them. "All right! Listen up, idiots! We're taking over!"

The Koopatrols got in their shells and charged at Tamber. Unfortunately, they weren't strong enough to stop him, since he managed to knock them away with a punch. With the Koopatrols knocked out, everyone was able to step foot on the red rug that led up to a throne. It was Bowser's throne, but he wasn't there.

"Where do you think Bowser might be?" Chopper asked. Mario pointed at the stairs to the side. "Oh. Why didn't I see that before?"

"We better go up there, then. I bet we'll find that Koopa if we start searching." Sonic ran over to the stairs and waited patiently for everyone else to walk over to him. When the rest reached him, they made their way up to the top of the staircase.

They only found a small hallway when they reached the top. There weren't any Flaming Bill Blasters to get in the way, which was a relief, but they could see a Save Block at the door up ahead.

…And also a Koopa in a yellow mask. He looked up at everyone from up ahead and jumped up in shock.

"WHOA! I don't believe it! Chopper's…already here?!" Yellow gaped.

"Yellow? From the Koopa Bros.?" Chopper gawked. I haven't seen you in such a long time. Last time I saw you, I was fighting against Perfect Staris. Did you guys mellow out or something?"

"Heck no! We always stay on Bowser's side!" Yellow retorted, pointing at him while his finger flashed. "We're loyal to that guy and that's how it's going to be! Anyway, now that you're here, let me just…"

Yellow turned toward the door ahead and he bolted in before Chopper could do or say anything.

"I think the Koopa Bros. are planning something big," Chopper said. "I mean, why would they be here too?"

Mario shrugged. He didn't have any clue either. But, perhaps they could get answers from the Koopa Bros, so he approached the door and opened it after Chopper hit the Save Block. With that, they rushed into the next room.

"Hey! What the heck?" Chopper gaped, finding something atrocious in the room, which had a round platform attached to chains on the ceiling over lava. He was standing before himself - only it was made of cardboard and looked atrocious.

"I don't know what I'm looking at…" Vivian commented.

"Huh? What… What is the meaning of this?!" the Trojan Chopper roared. "Why is there another Chopper in my face?! This is an outrage!"

"You're the outrage here!" Chopper shot back, taking out his hammer.

"Then I shall prove that I'm the real one by crushing you!" the Trojan Chopper raised its cardboard fists. Even when it raised a fist, it looked awful.

Tattle: That's Trojan Chopper. …I have no comment on this. Max HP is 30, Attack is 1, and Defense is 1. Is this some kind of joke?

"A fake me? How many versions of me are there?" Chopper asked.

"Fake? You've got it all wrong! I'm the real Chopper here!" the Trojan Chopper declared. "And I will prove it by taking you out, you fake!"

Shrugging, Chopper slammed his hammer down on the Trojan Chopper, taking 9 out of it. Bombette's Bomb managed to pierce through the…cardboard Chopper's defense and deal 10 damage.

"Whoa… This isn't good…" Trojan Chopper gulped, only for the sound of a smack to be heard from inside.

"Shut it, Yellow! You don't want them to hear us!"

"Red! They can probably hear us!"

"Oh, crud... Ahem! So what if you dealt 19 damage to me! I still have this!" the Trojan Chopper brought its fist down on Chopper, but when he guarded the attack, he didn't take any damage.

"Yup. This thing is stupid." Chopper stated, tossing a light ball at the Trojan Chopper. With one more Bomb, the Trojan Chopper exploded.

"Whoooooooaaaa!"

"Well, that was easy," Bombette commented.

The Koopa Bros. came flying out of the atrocious cardboard Chopper, but they all landed on their feet and flashed a thumbs up.

"Here come the Koopa Bros.!" Red shouted, giving Chopper a smirk. "So, Chopper… You surprised to see us again? Well, guess what? We're not going to act like the way we were before!"

"How are you going to act, then?" Chopper asked.

"Oh, just you wait and see!" Red made a signal by pointing his finger. "All right, boys! Form up the tower and we'll show him what we've got up our sleeves!"

The others obeyed and jumped on top of each other to form a tower. Red jumped up on Black and pointed down at the heroes. "All right… Taste THIS!"

As they all went in their shells, they struck Chopper with a Dizzy Strike, leaving him dizzy and taking 16 out of him.

"What just happened?" Chopper asked while his eyes began to spin like crazy.

"You're a bit dizzy," Vivian explained. "I could heal if off for you..."

"No no! I can do this!" Chopper assured, taking his hammer out and approaching the Koopa Bros. Unfortunately, his hammer missed, and he ended up falling over. The Koopa Bros. couldn't help but laugh at him.

"Ha ha ha! He can't take it like a man!" chortled Black. "I KNEW this was a good idea!"

"You know what's a good idea?" Bombette asked. The Koopa Bros. stopped laughing and looked at her. When they the fuse on her light up, they instantly gulped. "See how you like this!"

With her Bomb, she was able to send the Koopa Bros. flying.

"Whooooooooa!" the Koopa Bros fell over on their backs, unable to get up.

Tattle: Those are the Koopa Bros. They're a group of Bowser's minions that had guarded one of the Star Spirits two years ago. They look pretty pathetic... Each have a Max HP of 100, an Attack of 17, and a Defense of 2. If they're on their backs, then their Defense goes to 0. Y'know, like all Koopas! When they're in that tower, that's when they're real dangerous. They can attack together and deal a whooping 20 to you! Watch out for that... However, you can easily knock them over with an explosion. Other than that, there's nothing too special about them... They're Koopas in ninja gear. That sounds cool...but these guys sure aren't.

"Well, I think it's time to deal some damage to these guys," Chopper said as he struck the Koopa Bros. with his Diamond Hammer, taking 10 out of them all. "Anyone got something that can hit everyone?"

"Yeah," Shadower nodded, hitting the Koopa Bros. with his Shadow Smite, bringing their defense down to 0 - even if they were lying on their backs.

"Ack! Why is it so hard to get up?!" Red grumbled as he and the others managed to get themselves up. "OK… We'll try again. Form up a tower! Now!"

The Koopa Bros. formed their tower again, but this time they had a dark aura surrounding them as they spun in their shells. Many were left surprised by this, especially Chopper.

"What the..."

"See how you like a good old Dark Shell!"

They rammed straight at Chopper, but he was lucky enough to Superguard it, despite being dizzy. The Koopa Bros. were unfortunate to fall over on their backs upon being Superguarded.

"Aw, great… Not again!" Red grumbled as he and the rest of the Koopa Bros. got struck by Chopper's Quake Hammer. They were all flying off the ground from this one, that's for sure.

"I know just what to do!" Scrub smirked, making a sharp whistle that summoned a Yoshi stampede. They struck the Koopa Bros. for 10 HP, also leaving them with 60 HP.

"Can't…get…up…" Red struggled to get up, but he and the others continued to struggle. This left them all open for another attack. They were quickly struck by Chopper's Diamond Hammer and Vivian's Fiery Jinx.

"Youch! That was hot!" Green screamed.

"Totally," Green agreed.

"Oh, shut up…" Red replied as he managed to get himself up. "I got a better idea! Let's attack 'em one at a time!"

The Koopa Bros. all got in their shells, and one by one, they threw themselves at Chopper. He managed to Superguard three of their attacks, but he got hit by Red's Fire Shell, taking 17 out of him.

"Now to flip you guys over!" Chopper used his Quake Hammer again to flip them all over. With Mario's Triple Jump, they were all left with 20 HP.

"Oh, great… We're almost down…" Yellow gulped.

"You're not helping, Yellow…" Red replied before he was struck by another Quake Hammer, bringing their HP down to 10.

"And now to make the final blow!" Bombette's fuse began to light up. "I think it's payback for what they've done to me in the past! Especially since they left me rotting in a prison cell in their fortress!"

"Fortress? But I remember it being a park..." Chopper trailed. Nevertheless, he stepped out of the way, allowing Bombette to unleash a Bob-omb Blast upon the Koopa Bros., sending them flying up to the ceiling.

When they came down to the ground, they were all covered in soot and were left unconscious. Chopper was lucky enough to upgrade his FP to 255 upon leveling up as well.

"Just like before, the Koopa Bros. were just as pathetic as before. Let's move before they get up." Chopper walked away from the unconscious Koopa Bros. and headed to the door ahead. The others followed him to the door, making their exit out of the room.

"All right, guys! I think I saw them come through here!"

The door where the group first came into opened up, and one of the Dry Bros., Dry Red, came walking in.

"All right, boys! The coast is clear! Ya'll can come on in!" Dry Red gave the signal for the other three to walk in. "Now it's time to give that kid what's coming to him ever since he beat us down in Unagi's Cave!"

"Uhhhh... Dry Red, that's not the kid." Dry Black pointed out, taking notice of the Koopa Bros. "And... The look a lot like ys!"

"What?! How is that even possible?" Dry Green gawked, poking Green with his finger. Unfortunately, he ended up waking up, along with the rest of the Koopa Bros. They rubbed their eyes for a moment until they finally got a view of the Dry Bros.

"What in the world?!" Red gaped, looking at Dry Red. "Who… What…? All right, tell me what's going on! Why is there someone here that looks like me?! You better have a good explanation!"

"I should be saying the same thing, bub!" Dry Red retorted.

"Dude, look at yourself! You're not even worthy enough to be the coolest of the cool! …Such as myself!" Red grinned, flashing a thumbs up. The other three did the same thing as well.

"Oh, yeah! Well we're smoother than that!" Dry Red flashed a thumbs up too, even though it was basically the same thing.

"These guy's are stealing our style!" Black barked.

"Yeah, I know..." Red trailed, both groups narrowing their eyes at each other. "I think we should settle this in a different way…"

"Maybe a good ol' fight will do!" Dry Red suggested, cracking his knuckles. "It'll be you and me! Outside of the castle! Four o'clock!"

"I say we fight now!" Red came charging at Dry Red, knocking him back. He managed to smack Red in the face with his own arm. Dry Black helped pull Red off of him, but he was attacked by Black.

"All right, boys! I think it's time we showed 'em our Dark Shell attack!" Red ordered. The Koopa Bros. formed a tower and spun in their shells.

"We're not giving up so easily! Let's use our Dark Shell too!" Dry Red ordered as well, making a tower and spinning in their shells as well.

"TAKE THIS!"

Bboth towers rammed into each other, and the last thing both sides could see was an explosion before everything went blank.

---

Next room-

As they stepped into the next room, they all heard an explosion from the other room.

"Whoa… What the heck was that?" Chopper went over to the door and tried opening it. Sadly, it didn't seem to open. "What? It won't open?"

"Wait, it's budged? Then how are we going to get out of this castle?!" Berry asked, appearing worried.

"I don't know... But let's worry about that later." Chopper said as he turned around. "We should get a move on."

As the group traveled through the hallway, Chopper noticed that it had a tan brick ground and walls. Plus, there was a bit of sand around.

Mario: This place seems familiar...

"It really does feel like Dry Dry Ruins," Chopper recalled, coming to a halt at the door ahead.

"Bleeag, Blooooaaaagh! Who daaaaares set foot in my territory?!" a ghastly voice echoed through the room. "I am the great and evil King Tutankoopa! I rule the desert with an iron fist!"

"Uhhhh... I think I already know who it is." Chopper said. "You can drop that act, Tutankoopa."

"Aw, come on! Why do you always have to—I mean… Flee now while you can! Or face the wrath of the sands!"

"No thanks," Chopper smiled, opening the door to another room with a similar texture to the hallway, except that it was a bit bigger with Chain Chomp statues on the walls.

And in the center was King Tutankoopa in his Egyptian headdress and white robe, who had his arms raised up when upon speaking in his ghastly voice.

"Er… Uh… Gee, what a coincidence! We haven't seen each other in a while, haven't we?" Tutankoopa said, looking surprised and scared at the same time. "I was just… Wait, why am I afraid of YOU?!"

"I don't know... Why are you?" Chopper wondered.

Tutankoopa floated up onto a platform with Buzzy Beetle shells. "I remember why I was waiting for you! It's payback time for what you did to me in Dry Dry Ruins! The Curse of Dry Dry Ruins will be put upon you! Same goes to you, Mario..."

Mario immediately got in a fighting stance and glared at the Koopa, along with everyone else.

Tattle: That's King Tutankoopa. He's a Koopa that's in some kind of Egyptian clothing or something along those lines. He may think he's all incredible, but he looks more like a weirdo to me. Max HP is 320, Attack is 17, and Defense is 0. He'll throw those Buzzy Beetle shells at you, or he might even summon a friend of his named Chomp. ...That's all there is to him. To be honest, he's nothing interesting. Sounds like Tutankoopa's a pushover.

Chopper made a big leap onto the platform and stomped on Tutankoopa's head, leaving him dizzy for the moment. Upon remembering those feet, the Koopa was left horrified.

"No… Not those feet!" Afterward, Tutankoopa was struck by Mario's Jump attack as well. "…And those too!"

After recovering from being dizzy, he raised his arms. "Come, Chomp! I shall release you from your prison!"

"Chomp? What kind of dumb name is that?" Scrub scoffed.

A bunch of magic waves fired up from Tutankoopa's hand and then flew down on one of the Chain Chomp statues. It broke, and a Chain Chomp hopped down from the pedestal it was on.

"That's…freaky," Berry gaped.

"This thing may have a Defense of 9, but it has 10 HP! This will be no problem with my Quake Hammer!" Chopper pulled out his hammer and slammed it on the ground to take out Chomp and also deal some damage to Tutankoopa.

"Hmmmmm… I could probably hit him, but I'd have to waste FP. ...Oh, who cares about that? We have a lot of it!" Berry used her Ruby Throw and struck Tutankoopa with her thrown hammer. Eventually she managed to reclaim it after Tutankoopa had thrown a small tantrum.

"Ooog… Stupid little… I shall avenge Chomp…by crushing you all! Bleah heh heh heh… You'll regret it!" Tutankoopa made a wave of magic energy fire up from above, and a giant Chain Chomp appeared on top of Chopper, which fell on him to deal 17 HP.

"OK, this guy is a lot stronger than before..." Chopper mumbled, quickly shaking his head and stomping on Tutankoopa, followed by Scrub's Ground Pound. Tutankoopa grabbed a Buzzy Beetle shell and threw it at Chopper. He proceeded to guard it, and then he tossed a light ball at Tutankoopa, and then Flyer struck him with a Flying Attack.

"Bleag! I'll show you true power!" Tutankoopa raised his arms again and started to perform his own magic. However, it didn't turn out how he had hoped, and after a Chain Chomp had fallen on the ground, a rock had fallen on Tutankoopa and knocked him off the platform. "Ohhhhhh... Why isn't my magic perfected?"

"He's open for an attack! Let's get him!" Chopper brought his down on Tutankoopa, stunning him for about ten seconds, allowing Berry hit him with her own hammer.

"This feels pretty satisfying," Berry smirked.

"Urrgh…" Tutankoopa quickly shook his head and turned to Chopper. "Feel my wrath!"

Using his magic again, he made a Chain Chomp fall on top of him. Chopper retaliated by throwing an ice ball at him, despite it not freezing him. Bombette son struck him with her Bomb attack afterward. What was even better for the heroes was that someone in the audience had gotten annoyed with Tutankoopa doing terrible, that he got pelted by a rock that dealt 3 damage,

"Who dares throw that rock at me?!" exclaimed Tutankoopa, looking at the audience. They were completely silent. "No one, huh? Well then…"

He grinned as he raised his arms and used his magic to raise the audience from their seats.

"Now, fools… You'll see what I'm capable of!" Tutankoopa fired the audience at Chopper and his friends. They managed to bring their guards up and take no damage from the twenty audience members flung at them.

"Whoa… That was intense." Chopper sighed.

"Poyo, (At least we took no damage,)" Kirby said.

Chopper agreed and hurled an electric ball at Tutankoopa, paralyzing him instantly. This allowed Berry to bring her hammer down on the Koopa, making the rest of the audience members cheer.

"Heh! We get a free turn!" Sonic got in a ball and struck Tutankoopa with a Spin Dash. When Chopper stomped on his head, their opponent was already halfway down. Tutankoopa had soon recovered from being paralyzed, and he was far from pleased.

"Ouch! You horrible young child!" Tutankoopa complained. "How could you do such a thing to King Tutankoopa, king of the desert?!"

"Because you're a bad guy?" Chopper replied.

Tutankoopa floated back onto the platform while raising his arms up as he shouted, "Come here, Chomp! Aid me once again!"

Using his magic, one of the other Chain Chomp statues were destroyed, and another Chain Chomp had stepped into the battlefield. However, just like before, Chopper easily defeated it using his quake Hammer and hurting Tutankoopa. Vivian struck the Koopa with a Shade Fist to leave a severe burn on him.

"Let's see how you handle THIS!" Tutankoopa used his magic to electrify a Buzzy Beetle shell. He then tossed it at Chopper, who proceeded to guard it.

"You asked for it!" Chopper made a big leap over to Tutankoopa and stomped on his head. As soon as he bounced off, Kirby jumped up and performed a Cartwheel, bringing him down to 120 HP. He was annoyed at first, but when he grabbed a fire shell, he instantly grinned.

"A nice fire shell should fry you up!" Tutankoopa cackled as he tossed it at Chopper, leaving a burn on him.

"Hey, why not attack someone else?" Chopper complained, taking damage from the burn.

"No way! Keep attacking him!" Tamber suggested, causing the others to glare at him.

Regardless, Tutankoopa ignored them, while Chopper had stomped on his head. Shadower quickly struck him with a Shadow Punch to bring him to 100 HP.

"Wow. We're almost done with him. Awesome." Scrub grinned.

"Uh huh," Chopper nodded, Superguarding the giant Chain Chomp Tutankoopa summoned to fall above him. He immediately stomped on him when he afterward.

Tamber grabbed a boulder from out of nowhere and threw it at Tutankoopa to bring his guard down. Because of this, he was the one to get hit by an electric Buzzy Beetle shell. This made Chopper feel better, on the other hand. Tamber made a face at him in response, so he got back to the fight and jumped on Tutankoopa. After Mario stomped on him, they had him down to 56 HP.

"Fear my power!" Tutankoopa roared, using his magic to summon another Chain Chomp. But, it ended up falling on top of him instead, making him fall off the platform. It was good, since Chopper and Berry were able to bring him to 19 HP with their hammers.

"Two more hits and it's over," Flyer smiled, while Tutankoopa slowly stood up.

"Ouch! You ungrateful little…" Tutankoopa grit his teeth as used his magic to fire a Chain Chomp at Chopper. He didn't care whether he got hit or not, as he managed to throw a light ball at Tutankoopa.

"I'll make the final blow!" Berry volunteered, gripping her hammer. "I haven't gotten an opportunity in a while!"

"Go for it," Chopper nodded, watching as Berry brought her hammer down on Tutankoopa, knocking him over.

"Bluuuuuuuuuuurgh…" Tutankoopa, slowly getting up a moment later. That was when the Chain Chomp statues had exploded and turned into normal ones, which landed behind him and began barking. When he turned to them, he began to shake and sweat. "Uh... Hey, Chomps! Did you come here to give me a hug?"

The Chain Chomps barked even louder and started to chase after Tutankoopa, ignoring the others.

"Waah! What're you doing?! I thought you were…ow! Someone help me!" Tutankoopa cried, leaving the room and dropping something along the way.

"You know, I can't help but feel that I remember something similar to that with him two years ago..." Chopper recalled.

"He dropped something," Berry walked over to the key and picked it up. "I bet this is what we need to open that door over there!"

"Door?" Scrub looked up ahead and noticed a locked door. "Oh, yeah! There is a door!"

"Now let's see if the key works," Berry ran over to the door and put the key in the lock, which ended up breaking off. "Yeah, it fits perfectly! Now we can get a move on! ...Though, what's up next?"

"Hmmmmm… Maybe Bubba Blubba?" Chopper wondered, thinking about Bubba Blubba as they entered a room with a floor made of marble. There was also a large table and even a large bed with a blue quilt.

Mario: This place is very nice!

"Chopper, look!" Vivian whispered, pointing to someone sleeping on the bed.

"What do you… Whoa." Chopper saw a big blue Clubba taking a nap in the comfortable bed. "That's not Bubba Blubba… He's someone else..."

Mario: That's Tubba Blubba!

"Tubba Blubba? Weird name..." Chopper was about to continue speaking, but the group heard some noise coming from upstairs. Curious, they went up to see two Goombas in tuxedos over by a table.

"Why, good day to you all!" the first Goomba greeted. "Please. Have a seat over there. We'll get to you shortly."

"Ummmmmmm… OK?" Chopper had a puzzled look on his face as he sat down. Everyone else had taken a seat and found a small cup of tea to sip.

"Before we get started… Would you care to save your game first?" the second Goomba asked.

"Save? Oh, I'll do that then." Chopper hit the Save Block above, saving his game. "I don't get the whole point in that…"

"Now then... Let us get started! Wait here a moment..."

The two Goombas had gone downstairs, and upon approaching Tubba Blubba, they began to continuously headbonk him. However, they hadn't gotten much of a response from the sleepy Clubba, to their dismay.

"THEY'RE HERE!"

Tubba Blubba's nose bubble instantly popped, and he sat up on his bed, looking a bit drowsy.

"Hmmmph? What's all the noise?" Tubba Blubba mumbled. "Can't I have five more minutes?"

Immediately, Tubba Blubba went back to sleep. The two Goombas exchanged annoyed glances and gave the Clubba a Mega Headbonk, waking him up completely.

"Who?! What?! Where?! What's going on?!" Tubba Blubba jumped off his bed and glared at the two Goombas. "You better have a good explanation on why you woke me up!"

"You better look upstairs then," one of the Goombas told him.

Tubba Blubba sniffed the room. "Hmmmm… I'm getting a scent. One smells familiar... And I don't like the other one!"

He stomped his way up the stairs, where he saw Chopper and his friends sitting. They quickly stood up and got in their fighting stances.

"I had a feeling this was a trap..." Shadower mumbled.

"What are you people doing in my room?! People shouldn't be walking in here when I'm asleep!" Tubba Blubba growled, pounding his fists together. "I may be a wuss when I'm around Boos, but I've changed! I'm going to crush you all!"

"Crud... Well, looks like we have no other choice." Chopper groaned. "We're going to take you down, blue Bubba Blubba!"

"I'm TUBBA Blubba! And if that's what you want, then fine! I don't need invincibility to win this! My fists will do all of the work for me!" Tubba Blubba brought his fists down on the ground, knocking everyone back.

Tattle: That's Tubba Blubba. Apparently he's some big Clubba who used to be invincible. I heard from Mario that he fought this guy before. That's pretty interesting… Max HP is 340, Attack is 18, and Defense is 0. He'll attack by bringing his fists down, or he might just use a hip attack. Overall, he's another 'meh' person. Kind of like the others... It makes me wonder if the others are even lamer.

Chopper started the fight by creating a light ball of energy and throwing it directly at Tubba Blubba. It made contact with him and sent him flying back. He blinked for a moment as Chopper lowered his arm.

"What was that?!" questioned Tubba Blubba before he was hit by Mario's hammer. Before the plumber could step away, the large Clubba angrily grabbed him and threw him at Chopper.

"Ow... Well, he seems stronger than Bubba Blubba." Chopper mumbled before he jumped on Tubba Blubba to take 10 out of him. Mario jumped on the Clubba as well, bringing him down to 300 HP. Tubba Blubba stomped over to Chopper and he brought both of his fists down, creating a shockwave that struck him.

"Whoa... That's impressive." Sonic gaped.

The Clubba grinned as he stepped away, but he was swiftly hit by Chopper's Jump attack. He performed a couple of Stylish moves on him upon bouncing on his head. Scrub had fluttered over to Tubba Blubba next and used his Ground Pound to strike his head. After that, he cheered after performing a Stylish move.

"Being stylish is always cool!" Scrub cheered.

"And it also lets us get more Star Power," Flyer added.

"I'll flatten you!" Tubba Blubba shouted as he jumped on Chopper using his own weight. After he stepped off him, Chopper managed to get himself up, with the help of Kirby, of course.

"So I guess you wanna play it the hard way, huh? Then fine!" Chopper pulled out his hammer and struck him in the stomach, leaving Tubba Blubba to heave in pain. Vivian took another 10 out of him with her Shade Fist, along with burning him.

Tubba Blubba charged at Chopper with a punch, knocking him back toward Vivian. She helped Chopper up before he threw an electric ball at Tubba Blubba. Tamber decided to throw a punch to his stomach next, causing him to hold it in pain.

"Oooooog…" Tubba Blubba moaned. "My belly's starting to hurt..."

Despite this, he took a couple of steps back and charged at Chopper, attempting to flatten him with his weight again. However, his attack was Superguarded, making him take damage instead.

"Whew! That was close... Now to hit him with a Rainbow Spin!" Chopper smiled as he ran up to Tubba Blubba and struck him with a Rainbow Spin, followed up with Berry's Ruby Hammer. When Tubba Blubba threw a punch at him, he managed to guard the attack and strike him with his hammer.

"Now that I think about it, you seriously remind me of Grubba," Chopper mentioned. "Both are blue, and both are pretty bad."

"Really? That Grubba guy? That's weird..." Sonic trailed, hitting Tubba Blubba with a Spin Dash.

Once Chopper got struck by another shock wave, he clenched his fists, having enough. He leaped up in the air and landed on Tubba Blubba's head, using a Gravity Jump to take 30 out of him.

"EEEEEOUCH! What was THAT?!" exclaimed Tubba Blubba.

"My Gravity Jump," Chopper replied.

Afterward, Vivian struck Tubba Blubba with her Shade Fist to leave a burn on him. Chopper easily avoided Tubba Blubba's stomp attack with his Superguard before using a Spin Jump to take 15 out of him. Mario landed a Super Jump on him afterward, with him being hit by Tubba Blubba's Fists. Chopper landed another Gravity Jump on him to bring him to 97 HP.

"Might as well give this to you," Sonic pulled out a Rainbow Master and tossed it to Chopper so he could recover 200 HP and 200 FP.

"Bluuurg… That's not funny!" complained Tubba Blubba, seeing Chopper recover from the damage he took. Out of anger, he ran toward him and flattened him with another jump. Once Chopper got up, he threw a light ball at Tubba Blubba's face to stun him.

"We almost got him, so this shouldn't be too bad," Bombette said, exploding in front of Tubba Blubba with her Bomb.

"Grrrrrr!" Tubba Blubba grabbed Bombette and threw her at Chopper. He managed to guard her, and then he hit him with another hammer attack. Kirby's Cartwheel had brought the large Clubba down to 57 HP. Tubba Blubba tried punching at Chopper, but to his dismay, his attack had ended up missing. "Urgh... I'm definitely not on my A game here..."

Once Chopper landed another Gravity Jump, Tamber had thrown in his Power Punch and laughed at Tubba Blubba.

"You're so pathetic!" Tamber scoffed.

"Oof! What's wrong with me? How are these people who are smaller than me taking me down like this?!" Tubba Blubba brushed himself and stomped on Chopper. That, however, did not stop him from hitting him with a light ball.

What sealed his defeat was when Mario landed a Jump attack on his head.

"Eeeeeeeoooooow!"

Tubba Blubba collapsed onto the ground in defeat, while Chopper had claimed his Star Points. Afterward, the group approached the Clubba, noticing that he was not unconscious.

"OK! OK! You win!" Tubba Blubba cried. "I really don't like getting hurt so much! Honestly, I'm really a sensitive guy who doesn't like to be scared to death by ghosts. It started two years ago… Look, I'll let you have the key to the next room!"

Tubba Blubba walked over to the wall nearby and ripped through it, leaving a large, hole. He ripped through another part of the wall with a key this time.

"Here! Just take it! All I want to do is sleep at this moment… Could you please leave me be?"

"OK... Will you promise not to hurt anyone?" Chopper asked.

"Yes! Yes! I really do!" Tubba Blubba pleaded.

"All right. I guess so. Besides, we're not really after you anyway."

"Oh, thank you…" Tubba Blubba walked back down the stairs and began to resume his nap. Thankfully, that hadn't taken too long.

"I...guess we can move on," Chopper gawked, hitting the Save Block and unlocking the door downstairs. Through that door was a round room with marble ground. Along with that, there were some pillars holding the ceiling. Along with that, there were a lot of toys.

"What the heck is this place?" Scrub asked. "And what's with the toys?"

"Weird... I thought you'd like this room." Shadower gawked.

"Heck no! I'm into manlier things than this!"

"Who goes there? !"

The group instantly froze when they saw an army of Shy Guys standing before them. Up on a large present box was a white Shy Guy wearing a badge, along with a peaked cap, golden shoulder pads, and a gold metal with a ribbon on it. Chopper took a look at the hat he wore and smiled.

"Hey, I like that hat! Can I have it?" Chopper asked.

"Absolutely not!" General Guy snapped in a military-like voice. "This hat is mine and only mine! It shows my authority over my army! But before I get on a tangent, allow me to introduce myself… I am General Guy! I am a loyal servant of King Bowser and I lead this Shy Guy army! I once heard from King Bowser that a certain pale green boy with two antennae was coming here… You, sir, definitely match that description!"

"Well, uh…"

"Ah-HA! Then you ARE Chopper. How would I know? King Bowser said you'd be with Mario, who I have always remembered! I would never forget about him!"

Mario let out a sigh.

General Guy stopped laughing and he adjusted his hat. "Anyway… You, young boy, are rather rude for trespassing in our territory. This room belongs to us Shy Guys, and if you think you're getting to the next room, you're dead wrong! Only evil minions like us Shy Guys are allowed into the other rooms in the castle!"

"All I wanna do is find Bowser," Chopper replied.

"Yeah, so maybe you oughta back off, unless you want me and Contadre to take you down!" Scrub taunted.

"Hmph! Very well then. You won't be leaving this room alive, then." General Guy declared. "Shy Guys! Get ready!"

"Yes, sir!"

"Got it, sir!"

"You can count on us, sir!"

"Um… OK?"

"Let's take them down!"

"Pipe down, Shy Guys!" General Guy shouted, silencing the Shy Guys. He then turned back to Chopper. "You shall taste defeat, Chopper! Chaaaaaaaarge!"

Instantly the Shy Guys faced the group and got prepared for battle.

"All right, guys!" a random Shy Guy began. "Let's not mess this up like last time, OK? Chaaarge!"

Upon seeing their HP, Chopper was pleasantly surprised.

"These guys have 35 HP? That's not so bad…" Chopper decided to bring his hammer down on them, which then followed up with Sonic's Spin Dash. That was when the Shy Guys mobbed Chopper, jumping and even kicking him. Since he guarded their attacks, it didn't do much. For the heck of it, Chopper used the Diamond Star and attacked them with an Earth Tremor. Though he wasn't completely successful in the attack, he managed to do 4 damage, leaving only one left.

"Eeep! I'm the only one left! We can't take them on! We must ruuuuuuuun!" the Shy Guy fled from the battle and passed General Guy. The latter was not pleased.

"Stand your ground, men! We don't have time for cowards!" General Guy shouted. "Running away will not be tolerated! I will not abide deserters!"

The Shy Guy passed by the group, leaving them spinning before they got their act together. General Guy ended up face palming.

"You men make me sick! We can't let Chopper get deeper into the castle! We must prevent that from happening! Am I the only one with guts?" General Guy yelled, jumping into his toy-like tank. "Alley-oop!"

A Shy Guy with light sticks came walking in, acting like it was air traffic. General Guy moved his tank toward the group and accidentally hitting the Shy Guy. The Shy Guy ended up crying on the ground.

"Get up this instant!" General Guy shouted. "We don't have time for sleeping on the stage! So stop being a crybaby and be a trooper!"

"OK! OK!" cried the Shy Guy as it got up and ran away. General Guy looked back at the Shy Guy in disdain before he brought his attention back to Chopper.

"Chopper! You, sir, will pay! You took down those disgraces of an army! But, that's all you're going to ever do to us! It's time for the next wave!"

General Guy whistled, and two Shy Guys that were on a piece of paper come down with stilts. They got up and the paper surrounding them disappeared.

"Attack Chopper, Stilt Guys! Fight! Fight! Fight!"

"Sir, yes sir!"

"Right away, sir!"

"These Stilt Guys have 25 HP, so we should focus on attacks that'll hit 'em both," Flyer suggested, using his Hurricane to have Chopper man the plane's turret and hit both Stilt Guys. Chopper then finished the job with his Master Hammer attack.

"That takes care of them!" Chopper smiled.

"Unbelievable! You defeated the Stilt Guys!" General Guy was traumatized. "Well… Looks like I only got one more thing left for you!"

Four Shy Guys fell from the ground and began to form some a small tower. Three Shy Guys came down next to them, forming another tower. A Shy Guy came out of General Guy's tank, leaving him surprised.

"Ho ho ho!" General Guy chortled. "I honestly doubt you'll get passed these guys! They really do pack a punch! Attaaaaaaaack!"

"Sir, yes sir!"

"So these guys have 30 HP, huh? Well, I think we can finish 'em off easily!" Chopper attacked them with his Master Hammer. "Now, Bombette… Use your Explosion and they'll be done with!"

"All right, I'll do it! Stand back, everyone!" Bombette's fuse lit up as she slowly began to walk over to the Shy Guys. With her Explosion, she sent the Shy Guys flying. This had left General Guy completely speechless.

"Gah! Grrrr…! Fine! Looks like I'll have to beat you myself!" General Guy shouted. "Nobody embarrasses the brave Shy Guys in my army! Nobody!"

"But most of them were cowards!" Scrub scoffed.

"That's not the point! Prepare to battle against me and my tank!" General Guy closed the top, and he got inside of his tank.

"That looks more like a stroller than a tank," Chopper noticed.

"Oh, really?" General Guy turned the barrel and pointed it at Chopper. "What did you just say?"

"Err… Nothing?" Chopper gulped.

"I thought so…"

Tattle: That's General Guy. Well, more like his tank. It looks more like a stroller to me. I mean, come on! Max HP is 320, Attack is 18, and Defense is 2. Defense against electric attacks is 0, so keep that in mind. He'll shoot missiles at you from that barrel, or maybe he just might throw bombs at you. There's also that light bulb, which can deal some serious damage if you don't take it out soon. That has 40 HP. Honestly, I think this is the first time I saw Shy Guys acting military-like. I thought these guys were just crazy, like those thieving Bandits.

"All right, so we'll have to take out the light bulb first," Chopper started off by jumping on the light bulb, with Shadower throwing a Shadow Punch at it afterward.

"Take this, you rotten little boy!" General Guy popped his head out of the tank and threw an ice bomb at Chopper. He quickly guarded the attack so he didn't become frozen. With that, Chopper jumped on the light bulb one last time before Mario jumped on it, shattering it.

"That takes care of that," Vivian said.

"Great… I just lost my light bulb!" General Guy groaned. "HOWEVER, I still got my tank! And it's also got a couple of new tricks up its sleeves too! Take a look at this!"

He pressed a button, and a missile fired out of the tank and hit everyone, dealing 20 damage. As they were left covered in soot, General Guy began to laugh.

"What the… Wow. I underestimated that thing…" Flyer gawked.

"Well, surely he doesn't know that I can do THIS!" Chopper changed to his Plasma ability and fired a Plasma Needle at the tank, piercing through its defense.

"Ack! My high-tech tank defenses don't seem to stand up to that electric attack for some reason!" General Guy cried. "Quit doing that! You're breaking the rules of war, electric headed...whatever you are!"

"There are rules to war?" Chopper asked as Sonic struck the tank with a Spin Dash. General Guy grabbed an electric bomb and threw it directly at Chopper. Unfortunately, for him, the bomb ended up HEALING Chopper instead.

"Wh-What?!" General Guy stammered. "How did my electric bomb heal you?!"

"Uhh… Hello? ELECTRIC?!" Chopper pointed at himself. "Of course that wasn't going to work!"

"What an idiot," Tamber snickered.

Chopper fired another Plasma Needle at the tank to electrocute it, which then followed up with Berry's hammer. General Guy popped out of the tank again and managed to hit Chopper with a fire bomb this time, leaving a burn on him. It still didn't stop him from piercing through the tank with another Plasma Needle.

Mario shrugged and pulled out his hammer. He brought it down on General Guy's tank afterward, which was what led him to get struck by an electric bomb.

"Where does General Guy even get these bombs? In fact, how many does he have?" Chopper questioned as he struck the tank with his Spark attack.

"If I knew, I'd tell you," Flyer answered, being the next one to hit General Guy's tank with his Flying Attack. Since General Guy had some garbage left in his tank, he decided to pull it out and throw it at Flyer for 18 damage. "Youch! Garbage doing 18 damage? Yeesh..."

"Yeah, it is weird," Chopper agreed, electrocuting the tank with a Plasma Needle.

"Let's see how I'll do against this thing!" Tamber clenched his fist and managed to leave a big dent on the tank. "Oh, yeah, baby! I'm AWESOME!"

"Arrrgh! How dare you damage my precious tank! You'll pay for that!" General Guy grabbed a fire bomb and tossed it at Tamber, leaving a burn on him.

"Gah! Stupid bomb!" Tamber grit his teeth and shook his fist at the tank. Chopper ignored him, while Shadower lowered the tank's defense with a Shadow Punch. Seeing this as a perfect opportunity to use his Gravity Jump, Chopper leaped in the air and came down on the tank, taking 30 out of it.

General Guy loaded another missile in the tank's barrel and opened fire. Thankfully, they all managed to guard the attack and take only 19 damage. This made Chopper attack with a Spin Jump, which then led up to Bombette using her Bomb.

"Taste more garbage!" General Guy threw more garbage at Chopper, hitting him in the face.

"Augh! I don't like this!" Chopper complained, getting the garbage off him and struck General Guy's tank with a Plasma Needle. Kirby made the next move, pulling out his Final Cutter and striking the tank with it. It managed to leave a mark, too.

"No! Look what you did to my beautiful tank!" General Guy cried.

"That thing looks more like a stroller than a tank," Sonic taunted. In response, General Guy threw a bomb at Sonic. "Looks like someone's a little too sensitive..."

"Yeah," Chopper nodded, firing a bigger electric blast at General Guy's tank, taking 14 out of it.

"And then comes the Power Punch!" Tamber rushed straight at General Guy's tank with a Power Punch, bringing it down to 127 HP. With that, General Guy fired another missile at Chopper and his group to take another 20 out of them. Once Chopper threw in an electric ball, some smoke was starting to come out of it.

"Wow. We're getting closer and closer to beating this thing down. Neat!" Sonic smirked as he attacked the tank with his Sonic Wind. General Guy was about to throw an electric ball at Sonic, but since the wind from Sonic's attack was starting to wear off, the bomb hit Chopper instead, healing him.

"Thank you!" Chopper smiled.

"GRAAAAH! What is WRONG with me today?!" General Guy raged. "I'm not being the general that I used to be!"

"Well, sorry to hear that."

Once Shadower struck the tank with a Shadow Punch, Chopper attacked with another Gravity Jump, bringing it to 69 HP.

"Wow. We're chipping him down for real!" Scrub smirked.

"Grrrrr! Let's see how you like another missile!" General Guy went back inside of his tank and fired a missile at the group. "I hope you enjoyed that."

"At this point, we don't really care," Chopper replied, attacking the tank with a Wall Jump, taking a good 26 out of it. When Scrub threw a giant egg at the tank, they brought it down to 31 HP.

"Nice!" Scrub grinned.

"Grrrrrrrr! My tank…is almost about to explode!" General Guy gaped, noticing some sparks coming from his tank. "Looks like I have to take things a little bit further!"

He grabbed a couple of bombs and began chucking them at Chopper and his friends. To his dismay, they managed to Superguard them all.

"Great… That didn't work." General Guy face palmed as Chopper struck the tank with a Spark attack, followed by Flyer's Flying Attack, bringing it down to 11 HP. General Guy could feel some shaking coming from the tank. "Uh oh… This thing's almost about to blow! Mayday! Mayday!"

"Allow me," Sonic volunteered as he got in a ball. With one Homing Attack, he caused the tank to explode. It also sent General Guy crashing through the ceiling, as well as sending him flying out of the castle. "Looks like he's finished!"

"Yup!" Chopper nodded. "Though, was sending him out of here necessary?"

"No idea," Sonic shrugged. "I was just doin' what I usually do."

They looked up ahead at the remaining Shy Guys. Without their general leading them, they were all huddled together, shaking in fear.

"Uh… RUN FOR IT, GUYS!" one Shy Guy cried, fleeing from the room with the others. Along with that, a key happened to drop from them.

"Hey, they dropped a key!" Chopper grabbed the key and brought it over to the door ahead. "Let's go, guys!"

He unlocked it, and they entered a room with a couple of lava pits and a brown, rocky ground. That said, everyone was less than thrilled to be back in a place that reminded them of the volcano.

"Oh, goody… We're in a hot place again." Tamber groaned.

"Well... We are already in a hot place." Flyer pointed out, while Chopper removed his Plasma ability and hit the Save Block and Heart Block. He spotted the door up ahead, along with a large lava pit.

"There's the door already! Let's get outta here quick!" Chopper suggested, running over to the door. However, he was put to a halt when the lava pit started to become bubbly.

"What the… Something's not right." Flyer said, taking notice of the lava pit.

When the others walked over to Chopper, they saw a large, red Piranha Plant emerge from the lava. It had a green stem with thorns on it, and its head had white polka dots, which resembled white rings than actual full spots. Like most Piranha Plants, it had white, thick lips and sharp teeth. Two other thorny stems were beside it including small buds with thick lips.

Mario: Lava Piranha...

"BLECK HYUK HYUK YUCK!" Lava Piranha cackled. "SO YOU ARE THE ONE KING BOWSER WAS TALKING ABOUT!"

"I guess so..." Chopper shrugged. "And why are you speaking in all caps?"

"WE NEVER LISTEN TO A BAD PERSON LIKE YOURSELF! YOU ARE BAD!"

"Oh, come on! We're not bad! We do what we need to do!" Tamber yelled. "At least, I'm not bad."

"OH, BUT YOU ARE! YOU ARE BAD!" Lava Piranha shouted. "BAD GUYS COME TO BOWSER'S CASTLE TO FIGHT BOWSER! BAD GUYS WHO TRY TO COME HERE GET HURT! THEY DON'T LEAVE THIS CASTLE ALIVE! WE PREVENT THOSE FROM CONTINUING! WE MAKE THINGS VERY HOT, CHOPPER! WE TRY TO DESTROY YOU!"

"You look like a rip-off of Poison Piranha," Chopper remarked. "…Or is it the other way around?"

"WE DON'T CARE WHAT POISON PIRANHA IS! HE IS OLD! BUT WE STOP YOU FROM MOVING! WE BEAT YOU, CHOPPER!"

Chopper stood speechless for a moment before finally getting in a fighting stance. "Well, fine. You might make things hot, but we're going to cool you down!"

"I don't know whether that was supposed to be a pun or not..." Shadower trailed.

Tattle: That's Lava Piranha. He's a deadly Piranha Plant that will use fire against you. You know, like most Piranha Plants? Talk about unoriginality. Max HP is 180, Attack is 18, and Defense is 0. The only thing it'll do is spew fireballs at you. However, those Lava Buds will do the same thing as well. They have 30 HP, an Attack of 15, and a Defense of 0. I'd try to get rid of those as well if I were you. It doesn't say much else... If only this thing could take a chill pill. It is WAY too loud!

"Let's take this thing down," Chopper started off by using his Master Glove attack to take 16 out of Lava Piranha and the Lava Buds with a giant light ball.

"Good idea. We need to take out those Lava Buds too." Vivian said, raising her finger and striking them with a Fiery Jinx. Thankfully, none of them were healed by this. Lava Piranha had ended up attacking Chopper with a fireball, while the Lava Buds' fireballs were Superguarded by Vivian.

"This one last attack should finish the buds off," Chopper stated as he attacked Lava Piranha with another Master Glove attack. The huge amount of light energy caused it to cringe while taking out the buds.

"THE LIGHT! IT HURTS! IT HURTS!" screamed Lava Piranha.

"Argh! Stop being loud!"

"I'll get him to shut up," Tamber approached Lava Piranha and landed a punch on it, which managed to silence it as well. "That'll teach ya!"

Lava Piranha spat a fireball straight at Tamber, leaving a burn on him in retaliation. While Tamber grumbled, Chopper stomped on the Piranha Plant's head, performing a stylish move in the process.

"Let's see what I can pull off," Scrub fluttered over to Lava Piranhas head and attacked it with a Ground Pound. This made Lava Piranha shoot a fireball at him, but he easily guarded it. Along with that, the Lava Buds had come back, and they were ready for action again.

Chopper decided to throw in a Gravity Jump on Lava Piranha to deal 30 damage. Add Flyer's Hurricane, and Lava Piranha and its buds had lost 12 HP in the process. It did manage to hit Chopper with a fireball, while the Lava Buds shot fireballs at Flyer and Tamber. Chopper left the Lava Buds at 2 HP when he used his Master Glove attack. It also left Lava Piranha with 36 HP when Kirby used his Final Cutter against it.

"BLECK HYUCK HYUCK YUCK! WE WON'T LOSE SO SOON!" Lava Piranha yelled, spitting a fireball at Chopper, who managed to guard the attack.

"Let's just get rid of this guy already," Chopper groaned as he performed a stylish move on him with a Jump attack. Mario brought the Piranha Plant down to 16 HP with his jump, but he got burnt by a fireball while at it.

"Yup. We're wrapping it up now." Tamber stated, getting ready to finish off the Piranha Plant after Chopper stomped on him. "Take…THIS!"

With one punch, he knocked Lava Piranha's head back. Not only that, but he managed to make the creature sink into the lava.

"Wow. That was easier than I thought!"

"Well, that wraps this up!" Chopper smiled. "I guess we ought to…"

Suddenly, the lava began to bubble once again. Soon enough, Lava Piranha emerged again, but this time covered in flames. This time, his tongue was hanging out as well.

"WE WON'T GIVE UP SO EASILY, CHOPPER!" Lava Piranha cackled. "BAD GUYS DON'T DESERVE TO WIN QUICKLY!"

"Dang it... I guess it's not over yet... Well, better do what I usually do to flaming enemies." Chopper sighed, changing to his Water ability. He raised his arm, and a large wave struck Lava Piranha and the Lava Buds, stunning them for two turns.

"Now's our chance to attack! Quickly! Before his flames return!" Flyer shouted. Tamber was the first to make a move, punching Lava Piranha's head with his fists. Since Lava Piranha was stunned, it couldn't make an attack.

"A free attack! Heck yeah!" Tamber grinned, punching Lava Piranha again.

"This is easier than I thought it was going to be!" Chopper smiled as jumped on Lava Piranha. Unfortunately, it managed to restore its flames, along with its buds, and it shot fireballs at them. This time, they did more damage. Regardless of that, Chopper used a Tidal Wave to stop them in their tracks. Tamber threw in another punch afterward.

"Let someone else have a turn! Sheesh…" Berry frowned.

"Oh, boo hoo! You want to make an attack!" Tamber fake cried. "Well, only the strong ones get to make a move – excluding the gumball."

Once again, Lava Piranha was unable to attack, so Chopper and Mario both jumped on the enemy, and eventually it managed to restore its flames and leave its tongue hanging from its mouth.

Lava Piranha shook a little before his flames were back, bringing it back to its crazy self.

"NOW YOU WILL BURN!" Lava Piranha spewed fiery breath upon Chopper, dealing 19 damage to him. The Lava Buds shot two bombs that would attack next turn, but they only had 1 HP.

"Uh oh… I better get rid of them!" Chopper used another Tidal Wave to take out the bombs and stun Lava Piranha once again. "Wow... This is actually pretty easy."

"Now let's see if I can finally attack," Berry pulled her Ruby Hammer out and slammed it down on Lava Piranha's head.

"And now… Here's a nice Gravity Jump!" Chopper delivered a Gravity Jump on Lava Piranha. Tamber brought it down to 46 HP with his Combo Punch.

"He's still not getting up. DOG PILE ON HIM!" Tamber shouted, rushing at Lava Piranha. However, its flames had come back, and the result was him getting scorched. "Ow..."

"Think before you act," Flyer suggested.

Tamber mumbled as he went back to the group. Chopper took out the Lava Buds with his Tidal Wave, and then Flyer used his Flying Attack. After Kirby used a Cartwheel and Chopper a normal jump, Lava Piranha was down to 4 HP. However, Lava Piranha was able to get back up and scorch them with its fire breath.

However, Tamber was not going to let any of these losers get the final hit, so he picked up a boulder from out of nowhere and tossed it at Lava Piranha while it cackled. Soon enough, its fell fell on the ground unconscious.

"There! It's finished!" Tamber smirked, crossing his arms. "You can start thanking me now."

"Ummmm... Thanks?" Chopper gawked, removing his Water ability. Afterward, he hit the Save Block and Heart Block near the door. "This way, guys."

He opened the door for everyone to walk in, and then he went in. They noticed that it wasn't as dark in here. It felt nice and bright, and the ground was made of clouds. Even the walls were a sky blue color.

"Wow... This is a nice room!" Flyer smiled. "Even though I get some serious déjà vu from the Night Palace..."

"Yeah, it does look like it," Chopper agreed with a smile too. His smile, however, didn't last long when he saw a large, brown lump in the middle of the room. "Hey, what's that?"

Everyone could only shrug.

"OK... Let's check it out." Chopper walked over to the lump and poked at it. At first, nothing happened, but then it started to move. "Whoa! It moves!"

"Are you the boy named Chopper that King Bowser mentioned?" the lump asked.

"Whoa! It even talks!"

The lump ignored Chopper and continued. "What possessed you to run into this castle and knock away King Bowser's minions?"

"Well, er… That's hard to say. I was thinking that Bowser might know something." Chopper pondered. "Plus, I'm wondering WHY he's even here in the first place."

"But he has not done anything to you…yet," the lump looked over at Mario. "Is that you, Mario?! I had a feeling you'd be here with Chopper. So I was right after all…"

"And who are you supposed to be?" Flyer asked.

"Me? I'm just a simple cloud who takes orders from King Bowser. You can call me Huff N. Puff. But I can't allow someone of the likes of you to move on. I definitely do not want to disappoint King Bowser after my other failure…"

"I'm not going to let some brown cloud get in my way," Chopper declared. "So move it."

"I don't think so," Huff N. Puff rose, up, revealing his light red eyes and mouth and also his fat cheeks. "I do what King Bowser tells me to do, and his orders are to eliminate you!"

Mario noticed the size of Huff N. Puff was a lot different than before. He was much bigger. His guess was that there were much more Tuff Puffs in him.

Tattle: That's Huff N. Puff. He's a giant, brown cloud that's made up of 380 Tuff Puffs. That's right! Max HP is 380, Attack is 19, and Defense is 0. Huff N. Puff will only attack you with his thunder attacks, or he might even inhale his own Tuff Puffs to recover HP. You don't want that to happen, since he'll heal more HP depending on how many Tuff Puffs there are. Make sure you use attacks that can hit more than one enemies when he's got a ton of Tuff Puffs out. That's the key to winning this. You know, looking at this cloud, I can't help but notice that it reminds me of something...strange...

"So he's got 380 HP? That's not too bad…" Chopper started off by using his Power Bounce. He managed to stomp on him twelve times before he bounced off of him, performing a stylish move in the end.

"Whoa, I think I might need to do something about these Tuff Puffs!" Flyer used his wind powers to attack the Tuff Puffs with a Tornado, destroying them in the process. Only two remained.

"Master Huff N. Puff! I wish to pummel Chopper too! Permission to attack?" one Tuff Puff asked.

"Yes, attack him!" Huff N. Puff replied.

The two Tuff Puffs tried to attack Chopper, but he managed to shake them off before they could do anything. Seeing as they were pointless, Huff N. Puff inhaled the two Tuff Puffs back into him to recover 4 HP.

"Cheap," Scrub mumbled.

"Well, it's only 4 HP…" Chopper trailed, stomping on Huff N. Puff with his Jump, making a couple of Tuff Puffs come out. Vivian attacked them with a Fiery Jinx afterward, setting Huff N. Puff aflame as well.

"Hey, that Goomba chick did say this thing looks like something," Tamber recalled. "What do you think it looks like?"

"I don't know. It just looks like a brown cloud." Chopper shrugged, causing Tamber to snicker upon realization.

The two Tuff Puffs attacked Flyer, taking 8 out of him. Huff N. Puff made his next attack, inhaling some air and then using all of his might to blow Chopper away, only to deal 10 damage to him because he managed to hold his own against it.

"Sorry, but I don't think you're going to stop me so easily," Chopper said as he stomped on Huff N. Puff again.

Flyer used another Tornado attack to defeat the Tuff Puffs. The two remaining ones tried to attack him, but he managed to throw them off before they could get a hold on him.

"Whew... Well that's a relief." Flyer sighed.

While that happened, Huff N. Puff body slammed Chopper with his own weight, taking 19 out of him. This did not stop the little hero from striking him with a Gravity Jump, however. Bombette used her Explosion afterward to take out the Tuff Puffs and deal 14 damage to Huff N. Puff.

"You asked for it… Now you're going to witness the full power of my storm!" Huff N. Puff exclaimed.

"Master Huff N. Puff! We got this!" one Tuff Puff assured as it and the other one charged at Chopper, attacking him, but they were driven back by Chopper's Rainbow Spin.

"Now to charge my storm…" Huff N. Puff clenched his fists and teeth as he was surrounded in electricity.

"He looks...uhhh... Oh, never mind." Chopper frowned, tossing a light ball at Huff N. Puff. Flyer used another Tornado to get rid of the Tuff Puffs that were around, and Huff N. Puff was left with 230 HP.

Chopper managed to drive the two Tuff Puffs away when they attacked, but the main problem was Huff N. Puff's storm. He already unleashed the attack, but ironically, the attack was Superguarded.

"Aw… My attack missed?" Huff N. Puff frowned, seeing the group unharmed. "That should've hit you!"

"Guess not!" Chopper replied as he struck Huff N. Puff with a Spin Jump. "I bet using some strong attacks will work nicely against him."

"Then I'm going in for another Explosion!" Bombette charged at Huff N. Puff and his Tuff Puffs and destroyed all of the small clouds, making Huff N. Puff even smaller.

"No! Not my beautiful clouds!" Huff N. Puff clenched his fists and knocked Bombette away with one of them. "Now I'm angry!"

"Ugh... Who ever thought a cloud could pack a punch?" Bombette groaned as she watched Chopper perform another Power Bounce on Huff N. Puff, stomping on him fourteen times this time.

"Good job!" Berry complimented, using her Ruby Cyclone to take out the rest of the Tuff Puffs. The two remaining tried to attack her, but she shook them off.

Huff N. Puff tried his Hurricane attack again, but it only did 10 damage to Chopper, since he managed to hold on to the cloud. To make sure his FP was fine, he drank a Jammin' Jelly to recover 50 FP. Meanwhile, Tamber started to charge up his Star Diamond Fist. After guarding Huff N. Puff's body slam, Chopper delivered a nice Spring Jump on him, taking 20 out of him and making more Tuff Puffs coming out of him.

"This battle is getting easier and easier by the minute!" Tamber used his Star Diamond Fist to take out all of the Tuff Puffs and also deal damage to Huff N. Puff, bringing him to 139 HP.

"Gnnnnrgh… How dare you humiliate the great Huff N. Puff like this?!" Huff N. Puff body slammed Chopper again, taking another 19 out of him. When he finally got off, Chopper took 30 out of him with a Gravity Jump. With Scrub's Ground Pound, he was down to 99 HP.

"This cloud doesn't stand a chance against us!" Scrub cheered.

"Master Huff N. Puff! We can't give up now!" one Tuff Puff cried. "We still have a chance!"

"Yes… We still do." Huff N. Puff ordered the Tuff Puffs to attack Chopper. He managed to shake them off, while Huff N. Puff used his Hurricane to blow Chopper away. Though it did manage to hurt him, it was not enough. "Argh! My attacks are not working!"

"Works for us," Chopper replied, using another Gravity Jump to bring Huff N. Puff down to 69 HP. Bombette's Explosion had helped deplete the brown cloud to 55 HP.

Huff N. Puff ordered the Tuff Puffs to strike Chopper again, and this time they did 2 damage. He quickly inhaled the two small clouds so he could get a little bigger, recovering 4 HP. Chopper shrugged it off and struck Huff N. Puff with a Spin Jump. Berry used another Ruby Cyclone to help take out all but two Tuff Puffs.

Huff N. Puff brought his whole cloudy body down on Berry to deal 19 to her. Unfortunately, his attack missed, and he ended up getting struck by her hammer. Chopper tossed a light ball at Huff N. Puff, bringing him down to 14 HP.

"Hmmmm… Perhaps I can still win this…" Huff N. Puff thought, preparing himself for another storm. Considering he was surrounded by electricity, Chopper threw a fireball at him. Flyer volunteered to finish him off with his Tornado, which managed to shrink him down to Chopper's height.

"Game over, Huff N. Puff!" Chopper smiled, staring at the helpless cloud.

"No! How could this happen to me?!" Huff N. Puff cried before he finally exploded.

"That's it? That was hardly an explosion!" Scrub pouted. "That could've been so COOL!"

"Well, we might as well move on with Huff N. Puff gone," Vivian suggested, opening the door ahead. She noticed that the ground in the next room was made of ice. "Another cold room?"

"Really? Let me see." Chopper entered the room and was left in surprise by the room's appearance. There were stairs in front of him too, leading to the upper floor. The walls were blue with snowflakes depicted on them. Along with that, he was shivering. "You weren't wrong when you said it's cold in here, Vivian."

"Well, it's better than being out in the burning heat at the moment," Flyer said as he walked in. He almost slipped because of the icy floor. "They really need to do something about this floor."

"Yeah, that's true," Chopper walked up the spiral stairs to the top, where he found a frozen door on the upper floor. "I'll take care of this!"

He changed to his Fire ability and he melted the door with his fire breath.

"Now we can head in," Berry smiled, the group entering a smaller room with a Save Block and Heart Block. However, to them, the room felt a bit eerie, just like a similar, small room like this in the Crystal Palace.

"Why does Bowser's Castle have so many different designs for their minions?" Chopper wondered after hitting both blocks. "It's…strange."

"I'm guessing that the next minion…is an ice one," Vivian trailed off over to the door and opened it to find a snowy pathway leading up to an icy platform. The walls almost made it look like they were outside.

"Interesting design," Flyer commented as they set foot on the snowy ground. "And it's definitely real snow."

Chopper let a snowflake fall into his hands and melt. "Yup. This is real snow all right. Though, I don't get how it's snowing in this castle. Oh well..."

He made his way up the snowy hill and onto the icy platform. Across the platform was another door, and hopefully, the last one.

"Who comes to my cold room?"

Everyone stopped when they made it on the platform, and they looked up to see a familiar face floating down.

"The Crystal King?" Chopper clenched his fists and got in a fighting stance. "I had a feeling you'd be here…"

"And I knew of your appearance" the Crystal King said coldly as he descended. "After my last defeat, I was nothing but star dust! If it weren't for Bowser's Magikoopa, I don't think I'd be here in one piece."

"Well, I'm not surprised, considering that a lot of bad guys I fight keep coming back!"

"When I heard that you'd be coming here, I knew my chance at getting revenge would finally come!"

"Revenge? Ha! You don't even have a face!" Tamber laughed.

"True, but I'm still capable of destroying the lot of you!" the Crystal King raised his arms and summoned his three Crystal Bits. "This time, I'm not holding back! You better be ready, Chopper!"

Tattle: That's the Crystal King. He…really looks freaky with no face or arms! That voice itself makes me shiver! Max HP is 400, Attack is 20, and Defense is 2. Those Crystal Bits can be fired at you, or the Crystal King might even use his Ice Beam! It gets worse from there, though… If he's low on HP, he might end up recovering 50 HP because he can! Honestly, it's a really bad thing… Even his ability to clone himself is also a pain! Honestly, this is one guy you should be careful with... He's much tougher than the others.

"Let's see how fire does against you!" Chopper smirked as he used his fire breath to burn the Crystal King. While it didn't necessarily deal additional damage, it did leave the Crystal King wincing in pain.

"Argh!" the Crystal King cried.

Vivian sank into the shadows and emerged in front of the Crystal King. She left a longer burn on him with her Shade Fist and then returned to the others. The Crystal King decided to inhale his Crystal Bits and spit them at Chopper. Each did 8 damage to him, taking 24 damage altogether.

"Wow. This guy can really deal some damage…" Chopper quickly shook his head and spat a fireball out at the Crystal King. Vivian also burned the Crystal King with her Shade Fist. The Crystal King mumbled to himself as he raised his arms, summoning his Crystal Bits back. This had also made him waste a turn, to his dismay.

"A free turn! Thanks, Crystal King!" Chopper smirked, hitting the Crystal King with a Fire Spin, taking 10 out of him. "You know, this battle is probably suited for you, Vivian!"

"Ummmm... Yeah, I guess so." Vivian blushed, raising her finger to strike the Crystal King with her Fiery Jinx. Along with that, she had managed to take out his Crystal Bits too.

"I don't need my Crystal Bits to win this. Take this, Chopper!" the Crystal King's robe sparkled before he shot an Ice Beam at Chopper. Luckily, he managed to guard it to prevent himself from being frozen. "Hmph... You have some quick reflexes."

"Well, I guess that's a good thing," Chopper said as he tossed a fireball at the Crystal King, burning him once again.

"Argh... I can't stand the heat!" the Crystal King hissed.

"Deal with it!" Tamber retorted, punching the Crystal King with a Combo Punch. The Crystal King did not tolerate this, so he shot an ice beam at Tamber and froze him.

"Dang… I was hoping he would be able to guard it, but oh well…" Chopper used his Fire Breath on the Crystal King, while Vivian used another Shade Fist on him to bring him close to 310 HP.

"Perhaps this attack should surprise you!" the Crystal King swung his arm, and the background near Chopper ripped. The Ice Slash struck both Chopper and Vivian, which froze the poor Shadow Siren.

"Vivian! No!" Chopper cried.

"Oh, I'm sorry… Did I hurt your little friend?" the Crystal King chuckled.

Chopper rushed at the Crystal King, leaping in the air and hitting the Crystal King with a Spring Jump to take 16 out of him.

"Poyo! (I'm going to make a move!)" Kirby declared, pulling his Final Cutter out and striking the Crystal King with it to deal 12 damage. This time, the Crystal King attacked Kirby with an ice beam, but he successfully Superguarded it. "Poyo! (You missed!)"

"You'll have to do better than that, Crystal King!" Chopper taunted, hitting the Crystal King with more of his Fire Breath. Thankfully, Tamber had thawed out and was ready to attack. However, Mario beat him to it and managed to hit the Crystal King with his hammer.

"Don't think I've forgotten about giving Bowser with an iced Mario gift!" the Crystal King reminded, freezing Mario with another ice attack.

"Aw, great… He's got Mario too!" Sonic sighed. "Well, time to make things a little interesting then!"

He curled up in a ball and struck the Crystal King with a Spin Dash. After that, Chopper spat another fireball at the Crystal King. With that attack, Vivian had finally thawed out.

"Are you all right?" Chopper asked.

"I feel much better, now that I'm thawed out," Vivian nodded.

"Good!"

"I'm going to need my Crystal Bits for this…" the Crystal King muttered, raising his arms and summoning his Crystal Bits, but he ended up losing all of his defense when Shadower hit him with a Shadow Punch. Chopper landed on the Crystal King with a Gravity Jump and then he guarded the Crystal King's Crystal Bits that were fired at him. He then performed a Wall Jump on him to deal 26 damage. Tamber's Power Punch helped bring him halfway down.

"Ready to give up?" Chopper asked.

"Urgh… You won't stop me!" the Crystal King grumbled, summoning his Crystal Bits again. "I will not stop until you are defeated!"

"All right, then..." Chopper breathed more fire on the Crystal King, while Vivian had scorched him even more with her Shade Fist. The Crystal King managed to take 24 out of Chopper by spitting his Crystal Bits, but that didn't stop Chopper and Vivian from hitting him with more fire-based attack, the latter performing a stylish move.

The Crystal King gave an evil grin as he raised his arms and recovered 50 HP, leaving everyone to gape. "Heh heh heh... This should help me prevent myself from losing to you fools!"

"That's cheaper than that stupid cloud!" Scrub pouted.

"Well... I guess it's time to use a Gravity Jump." Chopper said as he used a Gravity Jump to strike the Crystal King. After Vivian hit him with another Shade Fist, the Crystal King tried freezing her. Sadly, his attack was a failure when she Superguarded it.

"That was too close!" Vivian sighed.

"You were lucky," the Crystal King hissed before taking damage from Chopper's Gravity Jump. When Scrub used his Mega Egg on him, he was down to 107 HP.

"Whew... It's good to know that the Crystal King is nearly defeated." Chopper sighed, bringing his guard up to prevent himself from becoming frozen by an ice beam. Chopper fought back with his Fire Spin, which managed to deal 10 damage. With Bombette's Bomb, the Crystal King was down to 89 HP.

The Crystal King summoned his Crystal Bits to prepare for his next attack, but this led him to get hit by Chopper's Fire Breath and Vivian's Shade Fist.

"Heh heh heh heh… I know you think you can win this fight, but I'm not going to let you! Behold!" the Crystal King raised his arms up and began to spin around vertically. Two other Crystal Kings appeared in front of them. "Can you guess which one is the real one?"

"So he can clone himself..." Flyer trailed. "Very interesting."

"Vivian, go ahead and use a Fiery Jinx," Chopper suggested with a smile. Vivian nodded and scorched all three Crystal Kings with fire. Though, in reality, two were unaffected, while the real one was struck, causing the clones to disappear.

"Curses! I thought this would work!" the Crystal King spat.

"I guess not," Chopper said as he struck him with another Gravity Jump, bringing him to 37 HP.

The Crystal King inhaled his Crystal Bits he had and spat them out at the antennae hero. "If I'm going to stay alive, I'm going to have to heal soon… It's bad when stuff like this happens."

"Hi-ya!" Chopper yelled, throwing a fireball at him. Once Berry brought her hammer down on the Crystal King, he smirked and raised his arms.

"Heh heh heh!" the Crystal King cackled as he recovered 50 HP.

"Not again..." Chopper mumbled, hitting him with a Power Smash. "This battle is dragging on and on…"

"I understand how you feel, Chopper," Vivian agreed after striking the Crystal King with a Shade Fist. They at least brought him down to 51 HP.

The Crystal King decided to make two other clones once again, hoping to trick Chopper and his friends. Chopper, feeling confident, tossed a fireball at the one in front, but it turned out to be a phantom, which disappeared.

"Dang it..." Chopper frowned. What was worse was that the Crystal King had taunted him as well. Vivian revealed the real Crystal King with her Fiery Jinx, scorching him in flames. He grumbled to himself as he struck the group with an Ice Slash, which managed to deal 22 damage.

…But it was Superguarded, to his surprise.

"Arrrgh! How dare you Superguard my attack?!" the Crystal King hissed. He could hear the audience cheering for them. "Shut up! You're not helping!"

"Hey, they're just cheering! Sheesh!" Chopper spat a fireball straight at the Crystal King, with Tamber leaving him at 21 HP with his punch.

The Crystal King panted, but he wasn't going to stop there. He struck Tamber with an Ice Beam, freezing him. But it was coming to an end when Chopper and Vivian both struck him with fire attacks.

"I'm not going to last long…" the Crystal King thought, looking at his burnt robe and his melted crown. "…But I STILL won't let myself down!"

He slowly got up and struck the group with an Ice Slash.

"Sorry, dude, but we gotta end this," Sonic said.

The group nodded, and Vivian had sunk into the shadows and delivered the final blow with her Shade Fist.

"No… I've…failed!" the Crystal King cried, feeling sparkles emit from him. "Forgive me, King Bowser, for I have failed…"

With that, the Crystal King exploded into star dust once again.

"Whew! That was close!" Chopper sighed in relief, but he took notice of the star dust that flew out of the room. "Wait... That star dust..."

"Who cares about that?" Tamber groaned. "That thing's defeated. Let's go!"

"Yeah... You're right..." Chopper nodded, removing his Fire ability and reaching the door ahead. When he opened, they found a small room with a red rug and a spiral staircase. "What's with the stairs these days?"

"Maybe this is how Bowser likes to set up things," Vivian wondered.

They all made their way up the stairs until they got to a large, red door with a Bowser face on it. They could see two Bowser statues next to the door, giving them the idea of who would be ahead.

"Here we go!" Chopper kicked the door open to walk into the throne room. "All right, Bowser! We finally found you! Now you can't run!"

"Hunh?" Bowser got up from his throne and spotted Chopper and his friends. He jumped over to them, causing the ground to tremble for a moment. "What are YOU doing here?! Shouldn't you be in prison?"

Mario: We escaped.

"Whuh?! Then… How am I supposed to celebrate my victory against you guys?!" Bowser began to stomp the ground angrily. "This. Isn't. FAIR!"

"Your Grouchiness! Settle down!" Kammy cried, trying to calm Bowser down. "You know that getting angry won't do anything!"

"Hmmmm… You're right, Haggy! But giving Chopper and Mario a beating will!" Bowser grinned, his fists now covered in flames. "You're gonna wish you've never gotten out of that prison of yours!"

"Wait a second! I never said I wanted to fi-"

Chopper barely had time to finish, as Bowser's fist had knocked him into the wall behind him.

"Gra ha ha ha! Now THAT felt good!" Bowser cackled. "It almost makes me feel better!"

"Rah rah rah! Go get him, Lord Bowser!" Kammy cheered.

"Good idea, Haggy! How about I land another punch on him?" Bowser stomped over to Chopper and landed another punch on him while he was on the wall. Many were left at shock and anger, especially Berry, who was now steaming.

"Get away from him!" Berry yelled, attempting to bring her hammer down on Bowser's tail. However, Kammy had warned him at the last moment, and Bowser managed to knock her away with his tail.

"Not now, pinky! Can't you see I'm taking down Chopper?!" Bowser grumbled, getting ready to pummel Chopper again. He soon found someone grab a hold of his tail, and when he turned, he saw Mario grabbing a hold of it. "...Oh, crud."

Mario gave him a grin and began to swing Bowser around with all his might until he let go, causing him to crash into the wall and be left dazed. Meanwhile, the others, including Berry, had run over to Chopper.

"Are you all right, Choppy?" Berry asked.

"Ungh... Yeah..." Chopper mumbled, rubbing his head. Seeing the bruises on him, Berry attempted to use her Sweet Kiss on him, but he managed to push her away. "No no no no! Not that!"

Bowser, meanwhile, had gotten back up and stormed back over to the group, steam now coming out from his nose. "All right, no more nonsense! Now's the time that we put an end to this! Haggy, you're helping me!"

"Of course, Your Evilness!" Kammy agreed, flying over to him.

"Unfortunately, I might have to cut this battle short."

Looking above, everyone spotted Camikon making his appearance in the room.

"Huh? What're you doing here, you old fart?" Bowser asked.

"I'm here because I found out Chopper was coming here, of course!" Camikon answered. "Thanks for all the help, Bowser. You're no longer needed!"

"What?! Were you using me this whole time?!"

"Of course… Now that I no longer need you, I have a good idea of where you can stay!" Camikon raised his wand and summoned a dark purple portal. The current was so strong, that it started to suck Bowser in.

"YOU… YOU TRAITOR!" Bowser screamed, getting sent through the portal.

"Camikon… How could you do this to us? After all we've done for you guys, you turn on us…" Kammy trailed.

"Do you really think that we were actually HELPING you, Kammy?" Camikon spat. "We only do things for ourselves! Lord Maquano only told Bowser to get the Star Rod because he KNEW it would help him. With that Star God Staris going crazy, Lord Maquano could take control of the dark power corrupting him, and taking over your world would be a snap!"

"You… I don't believe this! All this time we were being used?! …And to think I considered you to be my friend!"

"I'm sorry, but we Tartaras do not have any friends. ...Now that I mention it, sending you to Bowser's location would not be such a bad idea."

"What?!"

Soon enough, Kammy was sucked into the portal, which soon closed afterward.

"Where'd they go?!" Chopper gaped.

"Nyeah heh heh heh! Oh, rest assured, my friend! They'll be just fine in there! ...That is, if they can handle the pure evil of that dark realm!"

"Dark realm?"

"Yes. I had learned a new spell from looking at Lord Maquano's books, and I had discovered an evil, dark realm where all those who are of no use would go. I've once heard that there are some evil beings within that world that even put the Tartara Royal Guards to shame..."

"Wh-What?" Chopper gaped. "If he's telling the truth, then maybe... Could that be the place we need to go?"

"You were lucky to get out of that rotten jail cell. But, it was my own fault for leaving such a pathetic guard to take care of you guys. Then again, this just makes this more exciting! Unfortunately, I must say goodbye to you all. Perhaps I may see you... Perhaps not!"

Cackling, Camikon cast a spell that teleported him out of the castle.

"So… I guess we have an idea of where we might need to go..." Vivian trailed. "But how will we get there?"

"That wand is capable of doing such a thing," Flyer said. "Maybe if we get a hold of that, we can get to where Bowser and Kammy Koopa are held captive! ...But I don't like what he said when he mentioned some evil beings being even stronger than the Tartara Royal Guards."

"Hopefully Meta Knight can help us..." Chopper trailed.

"Sounds like a plan! Let's get outta here!" Sonic suggested as he left the room. Everyone else followed him, now having an idea of where they'll need to go.

---

Yeah, I wasn't kidding when I said this chapter is long. The next one is pretty long too, but not as long as this. Plus, there's a lot more interesting stuff going on there as well. Hence why it's probably one of my favorite chapters in this story. There's a lot of progression, trust me.