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.

148. The Battle of Tartamos

"Step on it, troopers! We're almost prepared to face off against those Tartaras!" Dark Doom shouted, his Dark Soldiers loading up their weapons. Some carried futuristic assault rifles, some carried huge machine gun blasters, and some had rocket launchers. Needless to say, all of them were armed up and ready for battle.

"Hold on, sir… How much are you offering us for this battle?" one of the Dark Soldiers asked. In response, Dark drew his blaster and aimed it at the soldier's head.

"It'll be your head if you don't get your lazy butt off the ground!"

The Dark Soldier's eyes widened and saluted its leader. "Y-Yes, sir! I'll get to work right now!"

Dark lowered his pistol and grinned. "Good. It better stay that way. Or else… BANG!"

"Wait, sir… How do we plan on defeating a large army when they have brutes that are bigger than ours?" a Dark Engineer asked. "We need to formulate a plan first before we even try to fight against them…"

"You Dark Engineers DID make some vehicles that are capable of blasting away anything in sight, right?"

"I believe so! We have this!" the Dark Engineer brought out a Dark Hoverbat with wings that were like a bat's wings. It was dark purple with laser cannons at the front and missiles to the side. It could also charge into opponent with the spear that it holds, and Dark admired the design of it.

"This design rocks," Dark stated as he looked at the spears at the front. "This thing is capable of shooting, blowing things up and also impaling our enemies. I have to say… I think this will do nicely. The only problem is that we need others that can FLY."

"Oh, it can, sir! You'll see when the time comes for battle! You won't be disappointed!"

"I better not be," Dark grabbed the Dark Engineer and glared at it. "Or else you're going to pay with your life."

"Errr... I value my life, sir."

"Then the first thing you can do is test the weapon out. We need a guinea pig to do it, and I think you'll do nicely."

"What? Why me? Can't you make the one that gets paid the least do it?"

"Nah. That'd be dumb."

The Dark Engineer let out a sigh.

"Anyway, perhaps now is the time we got moving." Dark suggested, turning to his troops. "We cannot allow the Tartaras to stop us! Tartamos…shall be mine! Hwa ha ha ha ha ha ha!"

"Does this mean we get a raise?"

Dark stopped cackling and shot the Dark Soldier who interrupted him. At that point, the soldiers remained silent and followed him out of the graveyard.

---

Outside of Bowser's Castle-

Chopper and his friends were able to make it out of Bowser's Castle with no problem. The door going back into the room where they fought the Koopa Bros. was no longer blocked, which helped them get out of the castle. Once they were standing outside in front of the entrance, they sighed in relief and started to make their way through the narrow, rocky path.

"Whew… I can't believe we made it out of there! I feel so much better, considering that we were in there for a WHILE…" Chopper said.

"No kidding! I was hoping that we'd get out of there sooner or later!" Flyer agreed. "However, we finally know where we need to go. But to do that, we need to get Camikon's wand."

"That's probably not going to be an easy task with all of his minions," Sonic noted.

"You're right, Sonic. I think we're going to need to form some sort of strategy…" Chopper nodded.

When they had finally returned to where they and Meta Knight had split, they had spotted Meta Knight waiting for them.

"Chopper! I see you've returned…" Meta Knight said, cape wrapped around him. "We've been waiting for you for quite a while."

"Meta Knight!" Chopper rushed over to Meta Knight and his two servants. "So, did you find anything?"

"While Sword, Blade and I were searching, we had found Silica near the city," Meta Knight informed, pointing to Silica nearby. "However, I had also succeeded in calling some others to assist us. Chopper, I'd like you to meet Kit Cosmos, Knuckle Joe, and Sir Arthur.

Chopper looked at the first figure that was behind Meta Knight. He looked like a dark gray ball of fur with round eyes and a mouth with a light gray mustache and eyebrows. He also had bare, tan arms and legs and a green cap with a gray stripe and a white circle on its front that had a star. Along with that, he was carrying a bow and arrow, and a bokken to train people with, and also a saber.

"Pbbbbtthhhh! Look at the hairball!" Tamber snickered.

"I'll have you know that I was in a war against Nightmare!" Kit Cosmos scolded, bringing his attention to Chopper. "So, I reckon you're the one who got us all into this mess, didn't you?"

"Well… Yeah." Chopper replied.

"Well, I'll be! A young fighter such as yourself got us into this mess! You have no idea how much shame the Galaxy Soldiers would feel for you if you were one of us! Back in the old days, us Galaxy Soldiers were loyal and we always listened to our masters! You ought to have listened to your father, you know…"

Chopper remained silent as he looked down at the floor. Kit Cosmos quickly caught onto this and looked more sorrowful.

"Oh... I'm sorry. I didn't know that you're father... Well, you know."

"It's OK. You didn't know."

The next person Chopper saw looked elf-like with spiky yellow hair, blue clothing, and a bandana wrapped around his head. He decided to wave as a greeting.

"Well, hello..."

"So, you're that boy that I've been hearing about on Dream Land," Knuckle Joe grinned, rubbing his nose area (despite lacking on). "Don't worry, I'm going to make sure that I provide enough help. I managed to take down the strongest Demon Beast twice!"

"Poyo! (Yeah!)" Kirby nodded.

"Well, I'm glad you're here to give a hand," Chopper nodded.

"With me on your side, those Tartaras are no match for us!"

"Good thing Meta Knight had found me," Silica said, bringing everyone's attention to her. "I didn't know how long I'd be able to stay in that one area for that long. That mushroom guy might've been leading me into a trap."

"What was strange was that the city was empty when we first went there," Shadower remarked. "But, it's good to see you here!"

Chopper looked at the last Galaxy Soldier Meta Knight had with him. This warrior had green skin, blue eyes, and armor that was golden and star-shaped. He was also holding a silver colored sword with a red gem on the handle. Just like Meta Knight, his face was hidden under his mask.

"So you're the one named Chopper that I've been hearing about these days," the warrior named Sir Arthur said. "It is a pleasure to meet you. I am Sir Arthur. I had once assisted Meta Knight in the battle against Nightmare."

"Sir Arthur? ...Hey, I heard of you before!" Chopper realized. "From that hologram of Sir Lancelon! He mentioned you, I think!"

"Sir Lancelon? He was a brave warrior, but unfortunately, he had fallen, just like many other soldiers on my side... That was definitely a grave time..."

"Well... We're going to make sure none of those bad things happen! We're going to take down those Tartaras and save the universe!"

"Yes, and I plan to help you with that," Sir Arthur declared, drawing his sword. "By my sword, those Tartaras will fall!"

"Good! So... I guess we should try to find Camikon and get his wand. He said something about a dark realm... Perhaps that's where our destination is!"

"Dark realm?" Meta Knight gawked. "Hmmmmm... Yes, I think that might be our destination in stopping this great evil."

"But where are we going to find this Camikon?" Sword asked.

"I suppose he's sitting in his castle like a lazy bum," Blade answered.

"Yes... That makes sense." Kit Cosmos agreed.

"So how is it at the city?" Chopper asked, turning to Meta Knight.

"It's all right, but I don't think it will be soon," Meta Knight explained. "I overheard another army talking, and they said something about attacking the Tartaras. I heard the name 'Dark Creature'."

"Dark Creatures? Aw, crud! Don't tell me they're here!" Sonic groaned. "Why do they always have to be at our butts all the time? Can't we get a chance not to deal with them?"

"Well, if they're occupied with the Tartaras, then it'll be easy taking them both out," Flyer mentioned. "Then we can get to Camikon with ease!"

"That sounds like a plan! Let's move!" Knuckle Joe ran on ahead toward the city. They noticed that the city was now on fire. Many shots were being fired as well. Sir Arthur had taken out his binoculars and took a look at the battle proceeding on.

"Those Tartaras are fighting those 'Dark Creatures' you spoke of," Sir Arthur informed.

"Looks like the Dark Creatures are doing the job for us," Shadower smiled. "Maybe if we can 'convince' them to help us, we'll have allies!"

"I highly doubt it. There's no way we're going to get them to help us." Flyer said, noticing a couple of Tartaras over by the city entrance guarding a cage with a purple dragon with bat-like wings. "Chopper, look over there!"

"Huh? What's that thing?" Chopper gawked, seeing the monster, Ridley, attempting to claw at the two Tartaras. Unfortunately, he couldn't get his hands on them.

"Man, this monster just won't stop!" groaned one of the soldiers. "How long do we have to wait for Chopper to release him?"

"Speaking of Chopper…" the Tartara looked over at Chopper and his big group. "Chopper's here, and he's even brought a group of friends with him! How interesting!"

"So, ya wanna go destroy him?"

"Definitely," the two Tartaras pulled their blasters out and began to fire at Chopper and his group. The young hero dodged the attack cartwheel and landed a jump on the first Tartara.

"Take this!" Chopper yelled, smashing the Tartara with his hammer to leave it dazed. The other Tartara lunged at him, but Silica changed to her machine gun and shot the soldier, giving it no chance to attack and destroying it. The other Tartara got up to attack, but Knuckle Joe had jumped in and used a Vulcan Jab to defeat it.

"That takes care of that," Knuckle Joe grinned, cracking his knuckles.

They brought their attention back to Ridley, who was continuously banging on the bars of the cage he was trapped in. The group decided that he was no threat and were about to progress. However, Ridley knew that they were underestimating his intelligence. With a malicious grin, he had grabbed a hold of the cage's bars and started to move them. Everyone had frozen in their tracks.

"Uh oh… This doesn't look good." Berry gulped.

Ridley didn't even have to bend the bars, as his strength was enough to break them off and free him. He landed on the rocky ground, letting out a roar as he swung his tail in the direction of the group. The Galaxy Soldiers were thrown back in the process, leaving Chopper and his friends to face the dragon-like monster.

"Crud… Well, there's no way I'm letting this thing get in my way!" Chopper declared, changing to his Bomb ability. "We're going to take you down!"

Ridley grinned, as if he was accepting his fight and let out a roar that managed to frighten many of them.

"Yeesh... That's one heck of a roar!" Scrub gawked.

Tattle: That's Ridley. He's a freaky-looking monster that is said to come from...another world? What in the world is he doing here, then? Max HP is 450, Attack is 20, and Defense is 3. He's a pretty aggressive fighter, being capable of using his tail, his claws, and even his gnarly fire breath. He might also grab you and drag you along the ground. I'd avoid that if I were you... Considering that the Tartaras were not able to handle this guy, I don't know what to think of him. Just try to do what you can to defeat him!

"Chopper, you might need help with this monster," Meta Knight suggested, getting back up. "If those Tartaras couldn't control him, then he is a force to be reckoned with."

"Don't worry, Meta Knight, we got this! Just watch!" Chopper tossed a bomb at Ridley. Since he was up in the air, ground attacks weren't going to do much to stop him. Shadower, however, could hit him with a Shadow Punch, which lowered his defenses.

Ridley roared as he swung his tail at Chopper. This was enough to knock him over. However, he had quickly gotten up and leaped in the air and used a Jump on Ridley. This was enough to send him to the ground, where Tamber dealt some heavy damage with his Power Punch.

"Heh heh heh! That should take care of him!" Tamber chuckled until he Ridley had struck him with his claws. "Hey! What the heck was THAT for?! It's not like I was doing anything to you!"

"Tamber, this thing is a monster. It's not going to listen to you." Flyer informed. "I don't see the point in talking to it. Though, I will admit, this thing is quite intelligent."

Chopper nodded in agreement, taking out a bomb and striking Ridley with a Power Bomb to deal 9 damage. Meanwhile, Sir Arthur had managed to get up and see the heroes fight against Ridley.

"Chopper! Perhaps you could demonstrate your sword skills." Sir Arthur suggested.

"Yes, I would agree," Kit Cosmos nodded. "I'm very interested in seeing how well you are with a sword."

"Ummmmm... Maybe next turn?" Chopper sweat dropped, turning to Kirby. "All right, Kirby… Give this thing a Final Cutter!"

"Poyo! (I'm on it!)" Kirby replied, pulling his Final Cutter out and striking Ridley with it, piercing through his defense and dealing 12 damage. It wasn't a lot compared to how much HP he had, but it was decent damage. But this only caused the beast to grab Kirby and throw him at Chopper, which knocked away his Bomb ability. Then again, Chopper planned on doing away with it, so he changed to his Sword ability and swung at Ridley with his trusty sword.

Ridley's HP was brought down to the 370s thanks to Flyer's Flying Attack, and he let out another loud roar before lunging at the heroes. Sword and Blade, however, decided to take action and stand in front of the group, their swords ready to strike. To get rid of them, Ridley opened his mouth and shot an explosive fireball that managed to knock them back.

"Argh!" Blade grunted, pulling himself together and getting up. "I don't know if we can help you fend off this thing, Chopper. Just keep fighting!"

Chopper nodded and lunged his sword at Ridley's chest, causing him to stagger back in pain. Scrub decided to attack next, using his Mega Egg to make a giant egg fall on Ridley.

"Take that, you ugly dragon!" Scrub cheered, only for Ridley to swing his tail and make Scrub fall over. "Ow! How did I not see that coming?!"

Chopper turned his attention back to Ridley and charged at him like a drill, striking him with his Spinning Sword attack and taking 9 out of the monster. Vivian had left a burn on him with her Shade Fist, along with dealing 7 damage.

When Silica got up, she smirked and aimed her weapon at Ridley, changing it to bazooka form. Before he could turn his attention to her, she fired a rocket that took 14 out of Ridley. That's when he turned to Silica and swung her tail to send her flying into a large rock. While this didn't knock her out, she did take some serious damage.

"Ugh... Well, I did my best against him." Silica groaned.

"Hey, if you're going to hurt my friends, then expect a serious beating out of it!" Chopper warned before striking the monster with a Sword Beam. Ridley didn't care and dove towards him. Chopper gulped and prepared to guard it, but Berry's Ruby Throw had managed to strike him and deal 10 damage.

Even with that attack, Ridley still managed to harm Chopper with his fire breath. It didn't stop Chopper from slashing at him with a D-Down Slash, though. After he did that, Sonic attacked him with a Spin Dash, bringing his HP down to 296.

Ridley roared at Chopper and attempted to strike him with his tail, but Kit Cosmos jumped on top of the monster and began hitting him with his saber. Ridley managed to shake him off, but unfortunately, for him, Kit Cosmos took an arrow out and struck him in the chest, dealing 12 damage.

"Go on, kid! Make a move!" Kit Cosmos shouted.

Ridley turned to Chopper and attempted to strike him with his tail once again, but he ended up failing. Chopper managed to strike him in the chest, leaving him to scream and hold his chest in pain. With that, Mario had leaped in the air and stomped on his head with a Super Jump. Unfortunately, since he was close to Ridley, he was grabbed a hold of and thrown back. Mario managed to get up after tumbling and take a deep breath. He thought it would be best to take a tiny break, so he let Chopper strike Ridley with another Spinning Sword.

"Let's see how an explosion will do against him," Bombette made her way over to Ridley and exploded in front of him with her Bomb, bringing him to 252 HP. "Well, this is working nicely for us."

"Vulcan Jab!" Knuckle Joe yelled, rushing towards Ridley and striking him with his Vulcan Jab, taking 10 out of him. He was able to jump out of the way of Ridley's claws and make another move. "Sweeping Kick!"

He swung his leg, and blue energy had fired at Ridley. However, this had also led to Ridley swiping at him with his tail, knocking him to the ground.

"Argh... This guy's quick. Well, at least I gave you a hand, Chopper." Knuckle Joe mumbled. "Take him down for me, will you?"

Chopper gave him a thumbs up before he struck Ridley with a Sword Beam, followed up by Tamber's Combo Punch. This had managed to bring the monster halfway down. And boy, was the group happy to know of that.

"Yeah! He's already down this far!" Tamber cheered, guarding Ridley's tail when it came flying in his direction. "Sorry, but you ain't getting in my way! Time for you to take a good ol' nap!"

Most of the Galaxy Soldiers were left in surprise when Tamber picked up a boulder and threw it at Ridley. Afterward, Chopper had folded himself up until he sprang into the air and landed on Ridley with a Spring Jump. Before he could land, however, Ridley grabbed him.

"Aw, crud!" Chopper gulped, trying to break free from Ridley's grasps. He ignored him and hurled him downward onto the rocky floor. The impact created a small hole, along with leaving him dazed. Ridley grinned and dove at him again, ready to make another move.

"You shall not pass!" Sir Arthur yelled, drawing his sword striking Ridley's tail, dealing 16 damage. This had brought his attention to Sir Arthur, and soon enough, he breathed fire on him. Though his armor protected him, it wasn't enough to keep him fighting.

"Ugh… That wasn't exactly what I was predicting…" groaned Sir Arthur, brushing off the soot on his armor while panting. "Chopper of Clara… I leave the rest to you!"

Chopper quickly shook his head and then gave Sir Arthur a thumbs up. He then turned to Ridley and he rushed toward him, swinging at his chest once again. Sonic quickly attacked as well, curling into a ball and striking Ridley with a Spin Dash. This, however, had gotten him struck by Ridley's tail. Meanwhile, Chopper decided to use up an Ultimate Shroom to recover 100 HP, and then Shadower lowered Ridley's defense to 0 with his Shadow Punch.

Ridley turned his attention to Shadower with a growl. He swung his tail at him to knock him back, but since Shadower lacked feet, he wasn't knocked too far back.

"All right… Now let's get to business!" Chopper leaped in the air and struck Ridley with a Gravity Jump. Before he could swipe at the antennae hero, he managed to jump away in time. Meanwhile, Tamber's fists started to glow green, and he had landed a punch in Ridley's chest. He let out a wince as he knocked Tamber away with his claws.

"Stupid whatever he is..." Tamber growled angrily.

"Well, at least he's down to 94 HP," Chopper sighed in relief, his floppy hat being somewhat torn from Ridley's fire. "And I don't like how I look... I guess there's another option.

Chopper removed his Sword ability, took out the Star Rod, and swung it in Ridley's direction, making a yellow star strike him and bring him down to 87 HP. Vivian's Shade Fist helped take 7 more HP out of him and burn the monster as well. Ridley roared loudly and was about to spew out flames at the group, but he was interrupted by a Galaxia Sword Beam that managed to deal 16 damage. He looked in the direction of the figure who had landed.

Meta Knight held his sword up high and proud.

Hissing, Ridley lunged in the direction of Meta Knight, but he was much faster, flying up with his wings. When Ridley was vulnerable, the masked warrior managed to swing at his chest. Unfortunately, his fight with Ridley did not last long when he was soon struck by a tail from behind. With him vulnerable, Ridley prepared to land a devastating blow on Meta Knight. However, he was soon interrupted when Chopper and Mario had jumped in and brought their hammers down on him.

When Ridley tried clawing at Mario, he successfully Superguarded it, with Chopper shooting a Star Blast and Flyer striking him with a Flying Attack afterward. That did not stop him from hitting Flyer with his tail, however. But, soon enough, Chopper's light ball and Tamber's Combo Punch brought him down to 2 HP.

Ridley panted. He knew he was going to be finished sooner or later. However, he wasn't going to go down just yet. He quickly grabbed Chopper and flew over the lava.

"Eep! I don't like this!" Chopper exclaimed, looking down at the hot boiling lava. "Can't we talk about this?!"

Ridley smirked and prepared to throw him in. That was, until he was suddenly stunned by a blue gust of wind. This ended up releasing Chopper from his grips, but Flyer managed to fly in and save Chopper.

"Thanks, Flyer!" Chopper sighed, being taken back onto solid ground.

"Let's finish this," Flyer suggested.

Chopper nodded and took out the Star Rod. With one yellow star, the attack was enough to defeat Ridley and send him plummeting into the lava. He let out screams of pain as he tried to escape from the lava, but not even he was strong enough to make his escape. Before they knew it, Ridley had sunk into the lava, the last thing being seen was a hand reaching out.

"What a gruesome way to go..." Berry trailed."That thing did pack a punch…" Silica remarked, walking over to the group. "How did something like that get here?"

"Hmph… That's a good question." replied Kit Cosmos. "I don't think we'll ever know…"

Suddenly they heard the sound of a shot fire, and a laser came whizzing toward them. The shot had barely hit Sir Arthur, who was the first to spot a Tartara Soldier aiming its weapon at them in their current, damaged state.

"Thank you very much, Chopper! Thanks to you, we lost that monster that we were going to use against you!" snarled the Tartara Soldier. "Then again, that thing was attacking our soldiers, so that was more likely a good thing. Plus, in the condition you're in, taking you out will be easy!"

"Crud... This isn't what I was hoping..." Chopper gulped.

"Well, too bad for you, Chopper!" the Tartara raised its blaster at Chopper's forehead. "Say goodbye, Chopper!"

The Tartara was ready to pull the trigger, but it suddenly felt a painful sensation in its leg. Looking down, it spotted a shuriken caught on its leg.

"What the…"

Before it could react, the Tartara was quickly defeated with a single shot. Everyone was left in surprise.

"What the heck?" Bombette gawked.

"I'm afraid we haven't missed anything, didn't we?"

Everyone looked up ahead saw three familiar faces: Blade, Bang and Night. Blade happened to be giving a smug grin.

"Blade? Bang? Night?" Chopper's eyes widened in surprise. "What are you guys doing here?!"

"It's kind of a long story, kiddo," Blade replied. "You see, we found some dark red portal opened up nearby, so we decided to take a look at what was through here. And... Yeah, we found ourselves here. Pretty cool, huh?"

"We've been through a lot, considering that we were trying to chase down those Dark Creatures," Night said.

"Yup! And now we're here!" Bang declared stupidly.

"I just said that, Bang..." Blade groaned. "Anyway, what're you doing here?"

"We got taken here when we tried to destroy with the darkness with the Crystal Stars," Chopper explained. "Right now, we're going after a wizard named Camikon to get a hold of his wand. Maybe you could help us?"

"If it involves destroying things, then I'm game," Night smirked.

"Plus, I don't like the idea of our world being destroyed," Blade added. "It makes me sick."

"Yeah, I agree," Knuckle Joe nodded. "I hope to find whoever's responsible for this and put a stop to him! ...Though, in this state, that's going to be difficult."

"HEALING TIME!" Bang exclaimed, taking out a bag of dog treats. He started to throw them at everyone, even if they didn't take them. They all gave him weird looks. "What? That stuff heals you!"

Despite being reluctant, they eventually decided to eat the treat. Despite it being disgusting (save for some people), their wounds were surprisingly healed.

"...Our injuries seriously got healed from dog treats," Scrub said in a dull tone. "What?"

"It didn't taste that bad," Sword remarked.

"Thanks for that," Chopper said, not minding the treat either.

"Well, now that we are prepared for battle, I suggest we progress," Meta Knight suggested, pointing his sword ahead. "Chopper, lead the way for us."

"Me? Lead the way?" Chopper gaped, pointing at himself. "But… Why me?"

"This is your job. You wish to stop all this madness, so we shall follow your orders."

"Wh-What?! But... I've never led an army before! What am I supposed to do?"

"You give us the orders, and we follow them," Sir Arthur explained. "It's very simple."

"Ummmmm… Let's just walk into the city to fight." Chopper stated. "And, uh... We should pay more attention to the Tartaras than the Dark Creatures, since the Tartaras are a bigger threat."

"If you're implying that we can get the Dark Creatures to work for us, then I don't think that'll work," Night informed. "They only work for themselves and no one else. Even then, we still need to capture Dark Doom. He's pretty dangerous on his own."

"Well... What if we just avoided them?"

"That won't be easy if they're all over the place," Blade noted.

"Then... If they attack us, we fight them, and that's it. Now let's go." Chopper rushed into the city along with the others. Thankfully, getting in there was pretty easy, but the city was in bad shape. There were buildings burnt down, a chunk of a skyscraper was torn off, and a couple of laser shots were firing everywhere. There were also many explosions.

"Keep firing, guys!" the Tartara General shouted. "We cannot let these filthy aliens take over our world!"

"Leave no Tartara alive!" the Dark Creature General shouted. "This world shall be ours! Kill all that are alive!"

"Sheesh! They're ALL fighting!" Berry said in disbelief.

"Well, they're fighters. What can you expect?" Sonic shrugged. "At least we're not in it."

"Getting through this city might not be difficult, then," Chopper smiled, moving through the path that appeared to be clear. They ended up coming across two paths in the end. One path led out of the city, and there were many Dark Creature bodies lying there. However, the other path had the sound of loud cheers, as if something important was going on.

It took Chopper a while to decide, but he had finally decided to go to the pathway with the bodies, since the cheering sounded an awful lot like Tartaras. This had led them into a graveyard, but there were no signs of any enemies, to their surprise.

Well, except for one.

Chopper had spotted a Dark Soldier getting itself out of the well with a couple of weapons.

"Ugh! I can't believe it took me THIS long to get myself out of that well! This isn't what I deserve!" the Dark Soldier mumbled, putting the weapons down and panting. It looked around and noticed none of the soldiers were in sight, and it also spotted Chopper ahead. "Hey… Where's the group? And are you…Chopper?"

"Uhh… No? My name's... Uhhh... Jacky?" Chopper lied.

"Oh no you don't, kid!" the Dark Soldier shouted, aiming its gun at him. "I know you're tryin' to fool, but it ain't working! First I'll take you out, then I'll destroy Sonic!"

The Dark Soldier fired at Chopper, but he was able to inhale the attack and spit it back at it, knocking the Dark Creature down the well again.

"I HATE YOU!" the Dark Soldier shouted as it hit the bottom of the well.

"Is this all there is here?" Bombette asked. "Because I don't see anything else here."

"Well, I suppose we ought to go the other way then," Knuckle Joe suggested. "I don't see the point in being here..."

Before they could turn back, the group had spotted a couple of chests in the area. Curious, Chopper decided to approach them. One of them contained an item called a Plasma Shield, which could absorb all attacks for two turns. There was also another item called a Plasma Grenade, which could be thrown and stick to an enemy. The explosion would be able to damage it and other ground enemies as well.

"I don't know if I should be taking this..." Chopper trailed, looking at the grenade. "This item doesn't fit me."

"Can I have it then?" Bang asked.

"Please... Don't give it to him." Blade suggested. "He's not trustworthy with explosives..."

"What? I'm an expert with them!"

Ignoring them, the group decided to take a look at the gravestones. They appeared dark gray with stone-like spikes protruding from its top. There didn't appear to be any names listed on them, which surprised many of them.

"Well, these gravestones are kinda pointless," Shadower said. "There's no names on them. Unless these Tartaras are not usually named..."

Just then, a hand had risen from one of the gravestones nearby, and a Fire Bones had come out. Two, to be exact. They rushed at the group, but Silica had fired a missile and sent them flying into the well. Soon enough, a scream was heard.

"Ack! Get these things away from me!" the Dark Soldier cried.

"Considering that there was a Dark Creature here, some bodies along the way, and also the fact that we found some weapons that look like they belong to them, it's safe to assume that this is where they were settling," Flyer deduced. "Of course, they're obviously gone."

"They are most likely all fighting at the moment," Meta Knight stated. "Perhaps we should check the other pathway, as dangerous as it might be."

"I guess so," Chopper nodded, making his way to the exit. "Let's get out of here."

Agreeing, they made their exit from the graveyard, leaving the Dark Soldier in the well to climb its way back up.

---

Other pathway-

When they had taken the other path, the sounds of the cheers had gotten much louder. Of course, there were the typical battles between some Tartaras and Dark Creatures that got in their way, but a few explosions had managed to destroy them, making it easier to progress. After a little ways of traveling, they came across a large, red colosseum with flags hanging over the front entrance. When they got closer, they noticed the flags had a symbol of Camikon's face.

"What is this supposed to be?" Chopper asked.

"It's an arena," Sir Arthur answered. "It's likely that a battle is going on in there..."

"I say we check it out," Kit Cosmos suggested, approaching the entrance. That was, until a projectile came his way and nearly hit his foot. "What the... What gives?!"

"I HAVE FURY!"

Looking up, most of the group let out sighs at the green bean hovering in front of the entrance.

"Not this guy again!" Berry groaned.

"Fawful welcomes you all!" Fawful cheered. "People have been having the waiting like an impatient fox searching for its wallet!"

"OK, what are you doing here?" Chopper asked, he and his friends getting in a fighting stance.

"Hey, this guy's the nutjob we saw back on your home planet!" Bang realized, pulling his pistol out and aiming it at the smiling bean.

"No nuts around here," Fawful replied. "Just a bunch of raging fans who fell over into a sandwich of chortles."

"...What?" Silica replied in a blank tone.

"Why, Fawful is having the allowance of letting you into the glorious arena! I still crave to see the fury of little children beating each other to death with pointy sticks!"

He turned around and flew over to the Tartara that was taking tickets. In a flash, the bean person pulled his ticket out, putting it up at its face.

"I have entry!" Fawful exclaimed. "Fawful has brought his ticket to where the clashing will begin!"

"Hmmmmm…" the Tartara trailed, inspecting the ticket. "Well, everything appears to be in order. All right, you're allowed in."

"Nyeah heh heh heh!" Fawful cackled as he rushed into the arena. Now that he was out of the way, Chopper decided to enter the arena.

"Hold it right there! You're going to need your…" the Tartara stopped when it saw that it was Chopper. "Oh, wait… It's you, Chopper! Well what a surprise... Some people have been expecting you."

"The heck are you talking about?" Tamber asked.

"Don't worry, none of you need a ticket. You're free to go in!" the Tartara grinned, allowing them in. "Enjoy the battles!"

Shrugging, Chopper took a step through the gate and into a tunnel ahead. Once they were all in, the gate had closed shut behind them, making it dark. Thankfully, there were some people around who had supplied some light to see.

"I don't like this…" Vivian trailed.

"We better be ready for an ambush," Kit Cosmos suggested, arming his bow. They spotted a bright light at the end of the tunnel ahead, and the sound of a crowd cheering was coming from there. As they got closer, the cheers got louder.

Eventually they reached the end of the tunnel and found a large gate before them. They didn't bother opening it, as it ended up doing that on its own. They shrugged and entered the light, leading them into a large, circular arena. That was when the cheers turned to boos.

Looking up at the audience, the heroes spotted many Tartaras and Darklings throwing tomatoes down at the party. They also spotted a couple of familiar faces up near where Camikon was sitting.

"Mmmmwee hee hee hee! So, Chopper has finally arrived!" Beldam cackled, staring down at Chopper from the balcony.

"Beldam?!" Vivian gaped, spotting her, Marilyn, and Doopliss watching them.

"Camikon!" Chopper shouted, his eyes more focused on the old wizard.

"Nyeah heh heh har! Welcome to my arena, Chopper!" Camikon cackled. "I see you and your group of soldiers fell right into our trap!"

The gate behind them began to close shut, preventing them from leaving.

Mario: Uh oh...

"Oh, this is going to be great! I can't wait to see what's in store for Chopper!" Mysterious chuckled.

"Were you guys in on this whole thing?!" Chopper exclaimed.

"Of course we were, Chopper! In fact, we thank you for doing all of the work for us! Those Crystal Stars you collected allowed the portal to this realm to be opened!"

"Now you're gonna pay the price for what you did, Slick!" Doopliss chuckled.

"Oh, shut up, freak-in-a-sheet," Beldam snapped. The poor Duplighost hung his head low and remained silent.

"Pay the price? What did we ever do to you guys?" Sonic asked.

"You didn't do anything to us, but we do consider you to be a threat," Tipral explained. "After all, you did destroy the Shadow King and Queen..."

"Hey, he looks just like you, Chopper," Silica whispered.

"Well it's not our fault that they were evil, you big fake!" Chopper yelled, pointing at his dark self. "We're doing what's best for the universe!"

"Or maybe you're doing what YOU think is best."

"Poyo! (Well we have better sense of what's better than you!)" Kirby shouted.

"Enough already!" Camikon intervened, while Tipral stepped away from the balcony. "Darklings and Tartaras! The time has finally come! Let's give it for Chopper and his friends!"

Predictably, the audience had booed at them.

"You're going to get what you deserve!" Decoya shouted, which the heroes were surprised to see, along with even some of the baddies.

"Who the heck is that girl?" a Darkling asked.

"Beats me," the other shrugged.

"So, what do we have to do? Fight some kind of dragon?" Tamber asked, cracking his knuckles. "We've done that before, and we beat it."

"No. We have something else more interesting." Camikon grinned. "How about you fight each other…"

"Wait, WHAT?!"

"…to the DEATH!"

"You can't be serious!" Vivian gaped. "Why would we ever do such a thing to each other?!"

"Mmmmmwee hee hee hee! You see, Vivian… Now you should have realized that you should've stayed with us!" Beldam grinned. "Plus, seeing you go up against your own friends would be very entertaining!"

"I wouldn't DARE to do something like that!"

"I'm fine with this," Night said calmly.

Blade looked at him with a strange look. "Dude, its a fight to the DEATH!"

"Oh... Well, I'm already dead..."

"Now, let us begin with the first battle," Camikon looked at Meta Knight's two servants. "Sword Knight and Blade Knight… You two will be the first ones going up against each other!"

"What? Why us?" Sword Knight gaped.

"We would never fight each other to the death!" Blade Knight objected. "We've been allies for so long!"

"Either you fight each other or you're both going to be eliminated," Camikon declared.

"…I'll do it," Sword Knight sighed, facing Blade Knight. "…But I'm not going to like it."

"Sword… Why would you do such a thing?"

"We have no other choice. I don't want to fight you, but it looks like we're being forced to do so by this…wizard. Please forgive me."

"We'll try to find a way to get out of this, Blade," Chopper assured. "So, just don't hurt each other, OK? Try to, uh, block each other's attacks."

"Hmph… I understand." Blade Knight turned to his friend. "Forgive me if I hurt you, my friend."

"Heh heh heh! Now then… Get yourselves ready to… FIIIIGHT!" Camikon shouted, hitting the gong. Both knights came charging at each other, swinging their swords. Both clashed, while the crowd began to cheer.

While the two fought, Chopper turned to the rest of the group. "I think I might have an idea of getting that wand. But I don't think it will be easy…"

"This is surprising," Flyer gawked. "Usually I'm the one thinking of the plans."

"What is your idea?" Sir Arthur asked.

"You see those stairways that lead up into the crowd?" Chopper asked, pointing to said staircase. "Well… We could probably take those to get out of the arena. The only problem is that Camikon would probably see us..."

"Then how are we gonna get the wand if he'll see us?" Silica asked.

"I'm not done yet," Chopper turned to Silica, who stayed silent. "We're going to need some people to distract Camikon. At least three or four people."

"No problem!" Blade cracked his knuckles. "I've got the ninja skills to sneak around. Leave this to me!"

"OK! I was planning on getting it myself, but I don't mind help. It might make it easier!"

"You don't look like the sneaking material, though."

"Not yet," Chopper said, quickly changing to his Ninja ability.

"Hold on… Did you just hit puberty?" Bang asked.

"No, he didn't hit puberty, you moron," Blade sighed. "He just changed to a ninja ability, that's all. Geez, your idiocy makes me want to punch myself in the face."

"All right, so who's going to distract them?" Chopper asked. Scrub, Tamber, Knuckle Joe, and Silica decided to step up. "Wait, are you sure, Scrub?"

"I can handle it, Contadre!" Scrub assured. "I mean, I handled the Glitz Pit before! And I plan on going back there after this adventure?"

"Wait, you're going to the Glitz Pit on your own?"

"Heck yeah. I think I learned a lot from you, and I think I am confident in taking the champ. But, let's talk about that later. We've got something more important to take care of."

"Just be careful and try not to get hurt," Berry suggested.

"Yeah, yeah... No need to remind me."

Chopper turned back to Blade. "All right, when they start distracting Camikon, that's when we turn invisible and make our way up those stairs."

"All right, I get it," Blade nodded. They both began to watch as the four walked past Sword and Blade Knight and looked up at Camikon.

"Huh? What do you dolts want?" Camikon asked.

"Hey, check out this new trick I can perform!" Tamber stuck his tongue out at Camikon while Scrub had laid a Dizzy Egg and threw it at Camikon's face, causing the old wizard to get angry.

"Grrrrrrrr! I'm warning you… Try that again and I'll order you to be shot first!" Camikon warned, aiming his wand at Scrub.

"Uhh… Sorry 'bout that, old geezer!" Scrub apologized. "Could you forgive me for that? I'll do something else!"

He laid two more eggs and a stick and plate came out of them. He began to balance them on his two hands and his nose. "Huh? How do you like it?"

"Is this supposed to be entertainment? Because I don't feel at all entertained." Camikon mumbled.

While they distracted him, Chopper and Blade used their ninja abilities to become invisible and run up to the stairs. They noticed in the audience that there were a couple of guards.

"Hmmmmm… This may not be so easy, but they probably won't notice us if we're quiet." Chopper whispered.

"I gotcha," Blade whispered back. They went around the seats and made their way to the entrance to Camikon's balcony. Two Tartara Soldiers happened to be guarding that door. An idea popped in Chopper's head, and he picked up a rock and threw it at one of the soldier's heads.

"Ow! What the heck?!" the Tartara Soldier looked at the one next to it. "What was that for?!"

"What?"

"Why'd you throw that rock at me?"

"Wait, I didn't do that!" objected the second Tartara. The other simply gave it a face and began to guard again…until the second Tartara was hit by a rock. "Hey! You hit me with a rock!"

"What?! No I didn't!"

"Oh, so you're trying to lie to me, aren't you? AREN'T YOU?! Well, guess what? That's not gonna work anymore!" the second Tartara whacked its comrade in the head with its blaster.

"Wow. You REALLY think I did it, didn't you?" the other whacked its comrade back. In a second or two, they were having a brawl that knocked them into the arena.

"Well that takes care of them," Chopper walked through the doorway and onto the balcony. He saw Tipral next to Camikon. The Shadow Sirens were behind his throne, and the Shadow Brothers were looking down, frowning at the distractions.

"Will you two let me watch the fight between Meta Knight's two servants?" Camikon growled. "I'm trying to see what's going on!"

"We're just trying to entertain you, that's all," Knuckle Joe stated, balancing Silica on his head.

"Don't you want us to possibly get injured from this?" Silica asked.

"That would be nice and all, but I want to see those two fight! Stand out of my way!" Camikon yelled, firing a dark spell in their direction.

"Aw, crud… It's not working!" Blade whispered.

Beldam grinned at their suffering, but she stopped for a moment. "Hold on a second… Is it me, or do I feel some kind of presence around here?"

"Now that you mention it, I feel it as well…" Mysterious agreed.

"Crud… If they can feel our prescence, then we gotta be as quiet as possible." Chopper whispered. Blade nodded and watched as Chopper snuck over to Camikon's throne. He started to reach out for the wand…

…Until Tipral's eyes opened.

"Someone is here, Camikon," Tipral alerted.

"Oh, crud," Chopper thought.

"What? Where?" Camikon asked.

"Stop right there, villains!" Bang yelled at the doorway, aiming his pistol at the villains, while they stared at him. "I've come for that wand, so you better hand it over!"

"Dang it, Bang! Why'd you have to ruin the plan?!" Blade thought.

"Who are you supposed to be?" Camikon asked. "Are you that dumb Chihuahua that's friends with that cat and undead mouse?"

"What? I'm not dumb!" Bang objected.

"Oh, shut up, Bang! You're ruining our whole plan!" Blade shouted.

"What was that?" Camikon asked, his eyes narrowing. "…We're not alone. There is someone else in this room."

"Crud…" Chopper groaned, knowing that he couldn't stay hidden for any longer and appeared visible to the villains, along with Blade. Camikon took notice of them and gave them a glare.

"So, you tried playing a little trick on me in order to steal my wand, right? Too bad your plan didn't work out for you!"

Chopper swiftly pulled a kunai knife out. "Stand back, Camikon… I'm not afraid to take you down!"

"Ah, so you want to face against me, is that it?" Camikon questioned. "Hmmmm... Now that I think about it, having you all take each other down isn't as fun as I thought. I had wanted to avenge Maquano myself, so I think I have a better idea."

"I have anger! There is no fighting?! Fawful is enraged!" Fawful shouted.

"And who are YOU supposed to be?" Camikon asked, noticing the bean.

"I am the great Fawful! The gorger of the salad! The one who is having anger of no battles!"

Camikon gave him a blank look before raising his wand and summoning a dark purple portal. Immediately, Fawful was sucked into it before it closed. "There. Now he's taken care of."

"Dang it... We could've gotten in there." Chopper frowned.

"Nyeah heh heh heh! You honestly think I would let you go through the portal?!" Camikon cackled, transporting Chopper, Blade, and Bang back into the arena through his magic. "I'm letting you guys go for now. I don't see much of a point having everyone fight against each other."

"So… We can stop now?" Blade Knight asked, lowering his sword, along with Sword.

"Yes! We don't need to fight anymore!" Sword Knight cheered.

"HOWEVER..." Camikon began. "Three of you must remain here and fight! And I get to choose who they are!"

"What?! Then don't pick me!" Tamber cried.

"The three people I choose are…" Camikon began as drums began to play in the background. "…Blade, Bang, and Night!"

"Dang it!" Night grumbled, snapping his finger in frustration.

"Oh, come on!" Bang complained.

"Wait, do we have to fight to the death?" Blade asked.

"Of course you have to! That's the point!" Camikon spat.

"Ugh... Fine. We'll do this." Blade looked at Bang and Night and winked at them. "Don't worry, I've got a plan!"

"Now, I think we should get started with this. Don't you think so, Tipral?" Camikon asked, looking over at Tipral, who slowly nodded. "Excellent! But first, allow me to show the rest of you the way out."

Camikon struck everyone but Blade, Bang and Night with his magic, sending them back to the arena entrance.

"Crud… Now it's just us." Blade gulped.

Camikon grabbed a megaphone as if he was announcing something. "Attention, everyone! We're about to start Round 2 of our great battle! Let us first start by announcing the fighters!"

"Wait, what?" Blade gawked, a spotlight appearing on him.

"To your left… The blue ninja cat that's named after a sword! He certainly loves to slice things up, and he also loves catnip! HEEEEEEEEERE'S BLADE!"

Blade made a face as everyone booed at him. "Catnip? I don't remember enjoying catnip! Never in my life have I even TRIED it!"

Of course, this was a big lie.

"To your right…" Camikon started, a spotlight appearing on Bang. "The yellow Chihuahua bounty hunter! This dude certainly loves to be around the chicks! Let's just say… He loves' to pick up chicks! …Unfortunately for him, his efforts in getting a girlfriend are not successful, and he can't even spell 'I'! HEEEEEEEEEEERE'S BANG!"

The Tartaras all booed at Bang as he made a face. "What the heck? I can spell 'I' easily! And I know how to get chicks easily! I mean, look at my awesome muscles!"

"Now… Over here…" Camikon began as a spotlight appeared on Night. "The red undead mouse…thing! I have no clue what he's suppose to be, but I guess that large weapon does show he's the powerhouse! He also loves destruction! HEEEEEEEEERE'S NIGHT!"

Night, too, was booed at, but he didn't care. "Yeah, keep it comin', folks! Throw anything you got at me, 'cause it ain't gonna work!"

"Get yourselves ready to… FIIIIIIGHT!" Camikon hit the gong and the fight immediately began. Blade started off by drawing his katana, but after thinking for a moment, he put it away.

"Nah... I'd rather use my bare hands!"

"Wait," Bang gawked, looking at Blade. "Why are you putting your kata-"

"Shhhhh! Go along with it..."

"What's this? Blade's putting his weapon away!" Camikon announced. "Apparently, he's going to fight with his bare hands! What a trooper he's being! Someone get me a tissue!"

"Errr... I'm using my bare hands as well." Bang said, putting his weapons away and using his bare hands. Night did the same thing as well.

"And now the other two are putting their weapons away! I don't believe this, folks! Are they really going to fight with their bare hands?!"

The audience gasped as Blade punched Bang in the face. Night did the same exact thing, almost knocking a tooth out of him.

"Hey! Why're you guys teaming up on me?!" Bang exclaimed.

"Shhhhh! Pretend you're dying." Blade whispered.

"Oh," Bang quickly fell over on the ground once Blade kicked him in the shin, clutching it. "Oh, my chin!"

"Shin," the blue cat corrected.

"It looks like Bang is down from a kick in the shin!" Camikon shouted. "Now it's only between Blade and Night!"

Blade and Night looked at each other. At that moment. Night decided to give him the evil eye, which made Blade's eyes widen in fear.

"No… Not the evil eye! Anything but that!" Blade pretended that he was dying from the evil eye by letting out a huge scream. After that, he fell to the ground.

"Heh heh! Who's the leader now?!" Night chuckled.

"I don't believe it folks! Night has won the battle without getting hurt!" Camikon announced, resulting in cheers. Once the cheering calmed down, Camikon sighed in relief and got off his throne. "Whew… Now that that is done with… It's time to go back to the castle."

"What about us?" Beldam asked.

"I don't need your help, so you do what you want," the old wizard declared, making his exit from the arena.

"So be it," Tipral stated. "If he doesn't require us anymore, we can just wait until Chopper finally shows up to his destination."

"Yes, that is true. We can wait for him there and surprise him!" Beldam grinned.

"We should give him our thanks as well! Come on, Purple!" Mysterious smirked, he and Purple going into the shadows, leaving the arena.

"Let us go to, my sort-of-lovelies! Marilyn! Freak-sheet!" Beldam and Marilyn sank into the shadows while Doopliss followed them through his shape-shifting.

---

Arena entrance-

"Man, that was one heck of a performance," Sonic commented as they landed on the ground.

"Too bad we didn't get that wand..." Chopper frowned. "What do we do now?"

"Hey, guys!" the group paused, taking notice of a Goomba calling out for them. It certainly looked familiar. "Yeah, I'm talking to you guys!"

"It's that Goomba from before…" Vivian trailed. "Should we…go to him?"

"Of course you wanna come over here! I've got some interesting stuff to tell you!"

"Really?" Chopper gawked, approaching the Goomba. "What do you know?"

"You know that wizard Camikon, right? Well, if you take that trail up ahead, you'll leave the city and go to the battlegrounds. There's this large red and black castle that he lives in. If you can make your way up to his room, I'm sure you can prevent him from getting away and get that wand!"

"Camikon's Castle? Hmmmmm… Interesting... Thanks for the help!"

"Though, why are you giving us a hand?" Shadower asked.

"Let's just say…that guy's a real jerk. Not many people that aren't Tartaras, Darklings, or anything affiliated with him like him. Plus, I overheard you talking about that wand before."

"Oh... OK." Chopper nodded. "We might as well go before we get into any more trouble, especially with Dark Creatures."

"Yes, we should," Meta Knight agreed. "Those three can take care of themselves for right now. They'll eventually meet up with us."

At that moment, they began to head out toward the pathway leading to Camikon's Castle.

"Good luck, you guys… You're gonna need it." the Goomba said boldly.

---

Battlegrounds-

"Excellent! We've finally made it to the castle!" Dark grinned as he saw the large red and black castle off at the distance. "This is our moment, Dark Creatures! If we can infiltrate that castle, then this realm is ours!"

"But, sir… The Tartaras are bringing all they got against us! Just look!" a Dark Soldier pointed at one that was stepped on by one of the Tartara Royal Guards.

"You're going to wish you've never came here, Dark Creatures!" the Tartara Royal Guard roared. "Destroy them all! Leave none alive!"

Dark saw a laser coming his way and easily stepped aside to dodge it. He then pulled out his pistol to shoot the Tartara that tried to shoot him. A Tartara Soldier with a sword tried to strike him, but he grabbed its arm and kicked it face, knocking the monster back. He picked up the red, jagged sword it carried and swung it at the Tartara Royal Guard's foot.

"AAARRRGGHHH! YOU…" the Tartara Royal Guard tried to step on Dark, but he got out of the way and shot the guard in the face, knocking it into the lava.

"Heh heh heh! Now THAT takes care of them for now!" Dark grinned as he put his gun away. The Tartaras, knowing that they couldn't keep this up, retreated back into the castle. "All right, my soldiers! Now's our chance! Let's get in that castle!"

"Uhhh… Sir? We got a problem." a Dark Creature warned, pointing to a defeated Dark Creature lying on the ground.

"What?" Dark turned around to see Chopper and his friends take down a Dark Creature that was attacking them. "What the… What are THEY doing here?!"

"We don't know, sir! They must want something!"

"And they brought some of their other friends here too? How…interesting." Dark grinned, deciding to approach the group with his weapon ready. Once they had defeated another Dark Creature, Dark fired his blaster, which had barely struck Chopper's foot. Everyone turned their attention to Dark, surprised to see him here.

"Wait, what's Dark doing over here?" Chopper gawked.

"I wanna know how he got here," Sonic added.

"That's very simple," Dark started. "We found a portal outside of our base, and after some studies, we found out we could go to Tartamos, a place I always wanted to conquer!"

"So... Portals have been appearing throughout the universe..." Shadower trailed. "The Crystal Stars were most likely involved in that."

"If that was you who opened it, then I thank you, Chopper," Dark smiled. "Now Tartamos will be mine! All I need to do is take care of that old geezer!"

"Slow down there, Mister! We're taking down that old geezer ourselves!" Scrub stated.

"What? YOU'RE going after that old geezer too?! Sorry, but you're too late. We beat you here, so we have the right to infiltrate the castle!"

"Poyo! (No way! We have a more important job than you!)" Kirby snapped.

"…I don't know what that creampuff said, but it sounds like you're threatening me. Well, now that you're here, I think I might just stay and wipe you fools out as well!"

"Believe me, you don't want to do that..." Chopper trailed, narrowing his eyes at the Dark Creature leader.

The Galaxy Soldiers pulled their weapons out, and Chopper's friends got in their fighting stances. Dark took a look at them and laughed.

"Oh, look! A bunch of round creatures and whatever the heck you other people are are threatening me! Oh, I'm so scared!" Dark cried, pretending to be scared. "Like I'm afraid of you all! You wanna get into that castle? Well, then you'll have to get through us first! Dark Creatures! ATTACK!"

"You guys focus on taking care of the Dark Creatures! My friends and I will take care of Dark Doom!" Chopper pulled the Star Rod out and he jumped toward Dark.

"Heh heh! Now this is interesting..." Dark smiled. "All right, then let us battle! When you and Sonic and finally gone, I will become the mighty ruler over all!"

"Like we're going to let that happen!" Bombette exclaimed. "Come on, Chopper! Let's show him what we've got!"

Tattle: That's Dark Doom. He's the leader of the Dark Creatures. Even still, he's a bit freaky with that closed eye on his forehead… Max HP is 480, Attack is 20, and Defense is 2. Most of his attacks are pretty much the same, but he might throw in a couple of new attacks, such as these small meteors and this swift strike attack. Just make sure you be careful when he makes himself dodgy for two turns. That'll get REAL annoying. Not to mention he might try to raise his defense to be a total jerk… Do all you can to stop him, 'cause I don't want this freak to take down Camikon!

"Let me show you what kind of new moves I got!" Chopper smiled, striking Dark with a projectile from his Star Rod. Sonic landed a Spin Dash on Dark to deal 8 to him as well. "So, how do you feel now?"

"Heh heh heh! This is only the beginning of the fight!" Dark cackled, firing a purple shot from his pistol at Chopper. He managed to guard it and then use his Gravity Jump to deal 22 damage to him. "Argh! What was that?!"

"Something pretty painful," Bombette smirked, using her Bomb to bring him to 430 HP. In response, Dark put away his weapon and performed a sweeping kick that managed to knock Bombette to the ground.

"I'm not gonna lie, that move seems interesting..." Sonic trailed. "Maybe I should use that one day."

"No time to be thinking about some kind of sweep kicks, Sonic. We gotta take down Dark!" Chopper approached Dark and took 8 out of him with his hammer, leaving him to cringe. With Kirby's Cartwheel, Dark decided to hit him with a sweeping kick. That did not stop Chopper from throwing an ice ball at him, while Berry had struck him with her hammer as well, bringing him down to 398 HP.

Dark thrust the palms of his hand forward, and he had summoned his red, crescent-shaped energy at the group, dealing 20 to them all. Chopper had shrugged it off and landed a Light Stomp on him to deal 8, while Tamber's Power Punch had dealt 12.

Dark grumbled to himself as he fired at Chopper again, who had managed to guard the attack. Afterward, he had decided to hit him with another Gravity Jump, while Tamber threw in another Power Punch to deal another 12. Once he had landed that punch, Chopper had taken a look at the Galaxy Soldiers fending off the Dark Creatures. Most of them appeared to be doing fine, though Kit Cosmos was struggling at first, Sir Arthur had assisted him by attacking the Dark Creatures that were after him. This gave Kit Cosmos the chance to get at a further range and fire his arrows. Chopper had also noticed that Meta Knight was taking one down with Galaxia.

"Chopper! Watch out!" Flyer shouted.

"Huh?" Chopper turned around and found himself getting hit by Dark's punch. "Hey! No fair!"

He quickly took action by hitting him with his hammer. Vivian decided to add in her Fire Wall to the mix, which managed to not only pierce through Dark's defense, but it also took out a few other Dark Creatures that were nearby. This had managed to bring him down to 320 HP, and he was starting to get annoyed.

"You may have brought me this far down, but I'm not going down so easily!" Dark yelled, purple swirls of energy appearing around him. Small meteors had fired down at the group, and they quickly brought their guard up to take less damage. Chopper then used a Star Blast to hit Dark afterward, while Flyer took 10 out of him with a Flying Attack.

"So, ready to give up?" Sonic asked.

"Not a chance! I still have more tricks up my sleeves!" Dark raised his arms, and he boosted his Defense by 2, bringing his Defense to 4. "There. That should save me the trouble of taking some serious damage."

"Crud… He rose his defense." Chopper frowned. "Well, this is going to be annoying..."

Regardless of that, Chopper had decided to use his Master Hammer and deal 14 damage to Dark. Following up, Scrub had used a Mega Egg to crush the Dark Creature leader with a giant egg, bringing him down to 270 HP.

"So they're throwing some stronger attacks against me now! This battle might become very interesting…" Dark grinned, firing at Chopper again. He managed to Superguard it and use a Star Blast against him. Shadower lowered his Defense to 0 with a Shadow Punch afterward, leading him to get shot by Dark. But, with his Defense at 0, Chopper took 30 out of him, and then Mario's Super Jump dealt 10 damage.

Throwing his hands forward, Dark fired another Swift Strike at the group, dealing another 20 to them. Thanks to Chopper's hammer and Sonic's Spin Dash, Dark was down to 199 HP. Along with that, Dark's defense boost wore off too.

"Heh heh! Looks like your defense boost is gone!" Sonic grinned.

"This fight is still far from over!" Dark roared. Raising his arms, he made himself dodgy. "Now try hitting me!"

"I'm not going to take the risk," Chopper said, pulling out a Maximum Recovery and recovering all of his HP and FP.

"Well I, personally, am I going to make a move!" Sonic declared before he curled up in a ball and struck Dark successfully with his Spin Dash, pulling a stylish move while at it. Dark remained confident, and he raised his arms again and had a large, dark ball of energy charged up.

"Heh heh heh!" Dark cackled, giving them all a demented smile.

"Uh oh… We better act fast!" Chopper ran up to Dark and struck him with his Diamond Hammer, and then Kirby had struck him with his Cartwheel afterward, bringing him to 173 HP.

"Take…THIS!" Dark tossed the dark orb of energy in the direction of Chopper. He gulped and quickly duck, letting it go over him.

"Ha! You missed me!"

"Who ever said I was trying to hit you?" Dark grinned, pointing behind him. "Take a look for yourself!"

Chopper turned around, and his eyes widened when he realized who it was going after.

With Flyer and Vivian, two Dark Creatures had noticed they were open and tried to attack them. They had taken notice of this and were now fighting back. Unfortunately, this left them open for any attack behind them. Coincidentally, a dark orb was coming their way...

"Vivian! Flyer! Watch out!" Chopper cried.

They both turned to Chopper, but they could only see a dark orb of energy coming toward him. The two barely had enough time to react, and the dark ball struck them, leaving them lying on the ground motionless.

"Vivian?! Flyer?!" Chopper rushed over to the two with worry. Everyone had put the battle to a pause when they brought their attention to him and the two injured ones. "Are you guys still here?! Please speak to me!"

"Whoa… That was… Wow." Sonic said, completely at a loss of words.

Chopper continued to attempt to wake them up by gently shaking them, but he had gotten no response, despite how much he tried.

Unfortunately, he didn't get a response from either one of them. He tried so many times to get them up, but they didn't.

"No… This… This can't be…" Chopper gaped, his eyes watering up. "Are they really...?"

"This is not good…" Silica trailed.

"When I first saw them getting distracted by my Dark Creatures, I knew it was the perfect opportunity to take them out!" Dark cackled. "And now, this fight will be much easier! Too bad for you, Chopper. They were probably just as pathetic as you are. Don't worry, you'll be joining them soon enough!"

"Do you even care about their lives?" Chopper sniffled.

"Not a chance! Heck, I've got a little secret for you." Dark started, approaching him and whispering, "I don't care about my own minions dying either."

Hearing the sniffling coming from Chopper made him laugh even more. "Awww, what's the matter? You gonna cry? Go ahead, Chopper! Let it all out! It'll be the last you'll cry before you die!"

That was when the crying had turned to rage, and a dark aura had immediately surrounded him. Dark was nearly caught off guard by the darkness, but when he saw Dark Star Chopper turn, he saw nothing by glowing white eyes.

"Oh, no... Not this again..." Shadower gulped.

"What the… What are you supposed to be?" Dark gaped. "What kind of power is that?!"

Dark Star Chopper aimed the palm of his hand at Dark, and a dark ball of energy struck him, taking 14 out of him. To his surprise, he found the attack very painful.

"Argh! I don't understand this! How can you have THAT kind of power?!"

"Because you did something that would severely anger him," Shadower answered. "And now he's lost control."

"He's real ticked off," Sonic nodded, pulling the seven Chaos Emeralds out and using them to transform into Super Sonic.

"Your dark powers don't scare me, little boy! I've faced things more threatening than you!" Dark tried to do a sweeping kick, but Dark Star Chopper ended up blocking it with ease. What happened afterward, was Dark getting severely punched in the stomach. His eyes widened in pain, and he clutched his stomach as well. Soon enough, Super Sonic had made a dash at him and dealt 12 damage. "You stupid hedgehog!"

Dark charged at Super Sonic and attempted to kick him, but as a result, he was hurt instead.

"Are… Are my attacks useless?" Dark gasped as Dark Star Chopper used a Power Bounce on him, taking 32 out of him with every jump doing more than it would usually do. Afterward, Super Sonic dashed at him again, and he was down to 89 HP. As Dark started to feel exhausted, he noticed something about Dark Star Chopper. Despite the immense power within him, his HP was also draining. "Hmmmmmm... So, it looks like that power is also draining him. Perhaps this may work to my advantage as well!"

He didn't want to risk attacking Dark Star Chopper, so he went after Super Sonic. He had taken 12 damage as a result, but Super Sonic's transformation had finally faded away.

"Dang it... So much for that." Sonic sighed.

Dark Star Chopper showed no mercy, using his Power Bounce to deal another 32 damage. After Shadower landed another Shadow Punch, Dark was down to 37 HP.

"Ugh... I... I don't know how long I'm going to last..." Dark panted, looking up at the dark being with hopelessness. Dark Star Chopper came flying toward him, ready to fire a blast to destroy him.

"Wait! Chopper…"

Dark Star Chopper came to a halt and turned around. His angry eyes had changed to one of surprise when he saw Vivian and Flyer slowly get up.

"Chopper... We're all right... Don't worry..." Vivian moaned, holding her arm in pain.

"We've taken worse hits before," Flyer assured, still wincing from the pain he took. "You don't need to be that to win..."

Suddenly, there was no more anger within the Chopper, and the darkness enveloping him had finally gone away, turning him back to normal. However, he was left exhausted from the fight.

Seeing this, Dark grinned and took the opportunity to make an attack.

"Chopper! Look out!" Vivian cried.

Turning around, Chopper had found a foot hit him in the face and knock him back.

"Heh heh heh!" Dark cackled, feeling more confident. "Well, looks like that dark power wore off on you already! And with the condition you're in, victory shall be mine!"

"Wait... What did happen?" Chopper asked, but upon hearing the word "dark power", he quickly realized what happened. "Oh, no... I didn't turn into...that, did I?!"

"I'm afraid so..." Shadower confirmed.

"Oh, man... I didn't want that to happen to me again!"

"Hey hey, easy there!" Sonic said. "This battle's not over yet! He's only got 37 HP left, and his Defense is now 0! What do you say we finish this off?"

Chopper looked up at Sonic and gave him a confident look. "Yeah! Let's finish this!"

He turned back to Dark and leaped in the air. Before Dark could attack him, Chopper had struck him with his Gravity Jump, bringing him down to 7 HP.

"Argh! What the..." Dark looked up ahead and was quickly struck by Sonic's Spin Dash, knocking him onto the ground in defeat.

"And that's how you win a battle!" Sonic smirked, landing on the ground and waggling his finger.

With Dark defeated, Chopper had approached Vivian and Flyer. He had taken out two Max Shrooms and let them eat them to fully recover their HP.

"Thanks, Chopper," Vivian smiled, giving him a hug.

"It's a good thing that attack didn't do us in," Flyer sighed. "I wouldn't have wanted things to end like that."

"I'm glad you're both alive as well," Chopper cheered. "Though, I'm sorry I turned into that...thing."

"Don't be. It helped us take down Dark. ...Right?"

"Speaking of Dark..." Bombette started, her attention shifting over to the Dark Creature leader, who was slowly getting up. He rubbed his head in pain before drawing his blaster.

"I'm...not finished yet," Dark hissed, gritting his teeth and revealing his fangs. "You will never defeat me... I am the king of the Dark Creatures! I surpass you all! And now, I'm going to finish you once and for-"

The sound of a shot fired, and Dark's blaster had exploded in his hands.

"One of the major rules of being a villain: never give out a speech when you have your enemy where you want them!"

The group turned around to see Blade, Bang, and Night behind them with an army of defeated Dark Creatures behind them as well. They had confident looks as Bang lowered his gun.

"Hey, it's you guys!" Berry gaped. "How'd you get out of that arena?"

"Oh, we pretended to defeat each other and played dead," Blade explained. "It was a lot easier than we thought."

"And I was the victor," Night grinned.

"And I destroyed Dark's gun!" Bang cheered.

"Yes, we know that already, Bang..." Blade sighed.

Dark stared down at the remains of his gun in disbelief and hissed at the group. "Argh! You will pay dearly for that! I guess this leaves me with no other option... Dark Creatures! Eliminate them all!"

He did not hear the sounds of shots firing.

"Uhhhh... Dark Creatures? Attack! Now!"

"I'm afraid that won't be happening," Sir Arthur explained, he and the other soldiers approaching him from behind. "They're finished."

"What?" Dark gaped.

"Face it, Dark, you're outnumbered," Meta Knight stated, his sword aimed at him.

"I'm outnumbered?" the Dark Creature leader gawked, seeing all of his Dark Creatures defeated. "How is that possible?!"

"Apparently those Dark Creatures were not strong enough to take us," Silica stated.

"Looks like you'll have to surrender to us," Blade smirked. "So, how does it feel to taste defeat?"

Dark let out a small grumble in response.

"Wait a minute…" Bang realized something after hearing some voices behind them. "Blade, did we tell them we're being followed by an angry mob?"

"Yeah, we…" Blade paused for a moment, and his eyes widened. "Crud! I forgot about that!"

They had turned around when the voices got louder and found an army of Tartaras and Darklings approaching them.

"Leave none alive!" the Tartara General shouted.

"Uh oh…" Chopper turned to the castle to see some Tartaras Snipers up on the castle's balcony. "Well, we can try to get into the castle, but it might not be easy…"

"Chopper, leave these Tartaras to us," Meta Knight declared, gripping Galaxia. "You don't have time to face these guys. We'll try to hold them off so you can find Camikon and get that wand!"

"Wait… I thought you were coming with us?" Chopper frowned.

"Unfortunately, it looks like we can't," Meta Knight parried one of the Tartara's blasts. "Just go!"

"But…"

"You have a mission, Chopper, and you need to finish it. Just stop asking questions and go!"

"All right, Meta Knight…" Chopper nodded, slowly facing his friends. "Let's go, guys. I guess it's just us."

Chopper's friends followed him to the castle entrance. With one kick, the door burst open, and they were able to walk inside. All that was left outside were Blade, Bang, Night, the Galaxy Soldiers, Dark, and the Tartaras.

As the army got closer, Meta Knight had gotten in a fighting stance. "Now then… Galaxy Soldiers! Attack!"

All of them rushed toward the army in a blink of an eye.