"After plowing through this whole place, I find this garden?! What is up with this place?!" a robot figure busted through the door into the garden, surprised at what he had found. "I thought this place was evil?! Well, it doesn't matter. Hopefully I can find something interesting around here..."
Robo Chopper had flown to the center of the garden where the tower was. He looked over at the tower, but it didn't interest him. "Getting through Starlite Galaxy wasn't so easy for me, especially after Chopper got lucky... I'm lucky I ended up getting sucked into a portal here anyway. Maybe I'll find something interesting."
Ignoring the tower, he flew over to the door ahead, which happened to be locked. While that happened, Chopper and his friends had walked out of the tower and went to the center of the garden. Chopper's eyes widened in surprise when he saw Robo Chopper over by the door ahead.
"What the…! What's Robo Chopper doing here?!" Chopper exclaimed, only to have Berry cover his mouth.
"Shhhhhh! Don't shout! He'll notice us!" Berry whispered, looking over at Robo Chopper, who did not respond. "Good… He didn't seem to notice us…"
"What's he doing here, though?" Sonic questioned.
Robo Chopper poked the lock on the door. He smirked (despite the lack of a mouth), and he changed his hand to his blue laser sword and cut through it, breaking the lock.
"Ahhhh… Much better! Now I can make my way through here!" Robo Chopper grinned, entering the door into a hallway.
"We better follow him. I mean, he just open the door for us!" Scrub suggested, making his way to the door and opening it. The others followed through into a hallway-like area. Unfortunately, there was no beautiful grass or flowers around. It was nothing but darkness and a glowing road leading to the door ahead.
"Interesting… This place reminds me of the hallway we had to go to get to Gloomtail's room." Chopper recalled. "Though, with that Star Key, I don't think we can go back there."
"What ever happened to not talking about the Palace of Shadow?" Shadower asked.
"Oh. Right." Chopper made his way through the hall, passing by the Subspace Embers. As they traveled, they could get a glimpse of more dark lightning in the sky.
"I can feel something dark through these doors…" Vivian trailed as they walked into another similar area through the door with a single Subspace Ember there. "It does feel like we're reaching greater depths into this place."
"If that's true, then that's a good thing!" Chopper smiled as he took out the Subspace Ember and made his way into the next area. There were two Darklings he managed to take care of with a light ball there. They also saw a Save Block and Heart Block up ahead.
"Well, from the looks of the Save Block and Heart Block, there must be something big ahead," Bombette deduced.
"That's lucky for us!" Chopper made his way over to both blocks and hit both of them to save and to fully recover his stats. "Whew! I feel a lot better!"
"You leveled up a couple of times from those fights! Isn't that enough?" Tamber asked.
"No. Now let's get going." Chopper kicked the door open into a large room with dark pillars near the outer parts of the round area. While it reminded them of Gloomtail's room, it was a lot smaller.
"This is it? There's nothing else around here?!" Scrub exclaimed.
"Tell me now! Where am I?!" Robo Chopper demanded, having a Darksprine Trooper in his clutches, along with his gun aimed at it. "Talk now, or else I'll fire at you!"
"Unghh...!" the Darksprine grunted, not being able to respond. This had led to Robo Chopper hitting the trooper again.
"That's not an answer! I want to know where I am, and how I can get out of here!"
"Ugh... You're... You're in Dark Subspace World, Robo Chopper..." the Darksprine groaned. "We Darksprine Troopers inhabit this place. We're ruled by-"
"Dark Subspace World?" Robo Chopper suddenly paused for a moment. "Hold on a second… How do you know my name?!"
"We know about the Tartaras. They created you, you know. Not to mention our leader knows about you, too. You just wanted to find Chopper yourself, right?"
"Yes, that's correct."
"Then you may want to look behind you, then!" the Darksprine suggested, already taking notice of Chopper and his friends behind Robo Chopper.
"What?" Robo Chopper turned around, appearing surprised when he saw his old nemesis again. "YOU! You're here as well?! How did you get here?!"
"I should be asking the same thing to you!" Chopper replied sharply, getting in his fighting stance. "Don't tell me you found a portal to this place too…"
"I didn't 'find' the portal. It found me." Robo Chopper explained, throwing the Darksprine away so it wouldn't cause a problem. "You see, while I was floating in space after our little race, thanks to some kind of monster, a dark portal had appeared before me and taken me in. So, I'm not exactly happy to be here, but with you here, maybe I might feel different when I destroy you! Now tell me how you managed to get here!"
"Well, we came through a dark red portal first, which brought us to Tartamos," Chopper explained. "Then we had to fight our way through that place through Camikon's Castle, which had a door that led to this place. If you ask me, we probably had it worse."
"I see… So we both had our ways of getting here. No matter…" Robo Chopper aimed his gun at Chopper. "Now that nothing stands in my way, I can finally finish the deed that should've been finished back in Star Haven!"
"If you think anything's going to change, then think again," Chopper declared, he and his friends getting in a fighting stance. "I've got even more friends here to help!"
"After all I've improved, I'm sure this fight's outcome will be different!" Robo Chopper declared, lunging at Chopper and grabbing him. Unfortunately, Chopper managed to headbutt him first, knocking him back. Angered, Robo Chopper began firing his machine gun at Chopper, who dodged them by running up the pillar. The shots caused the pillar to fall over on the ground.
"Let's take down this piece of scrap metal!" Scrub suggested, growling at Robo Chopper.
"So be it," Robo Chopper said, his firing being put to a halt. "Be prepared, Chopper, because I'm not holding back!"
"And I won't hold back either," Chopper retorted, pointing at his robotic counterpart.
Tattle: That's Robo Chopper. He looks…a lot similar to you for some reason… I don't see much of a similarity, though. Max HP is 520, Attack is 21, and Defense is 4. He'll use that laser sword of his to fight you, or he might even resort to his other weapons he carries with him. If I were you, I'd try to use some defense-piercing attacks that can go through his tough body. It says here he might even use the audience as a weapon if possible! What? That's insane! Come to think of it, this robot's just ridiculous! Kind of like you in a way. ...Wait, what am I talking about?!
Chopper decided to start off the fight by doing a lot of damage to him, so he ran over to the wall and jumped off it, using a Wall Jump to strike Robo Chopper and deal 18 damage. Sonic curled up in a ball next and threw himself at the robot, dealing only 6 damage.
"Man... Why do we have to run into enemies with such high defense now?" Sonic complained.
"I thought you liked a challenge?" Chopper recalled.
"Oh, yeah... Good point."
Robo Chopper wasted no time and tackled Chopper to the wall. He had him in a hold in the same manner as the Darksprine, but this time he was punching him in the face as hard as he could.
"Ack! Get off of me!" Chopper cried, pushing his enemy off him after suffering from 21 damage. He decided to put his Master Gloves to use and fire a giant light ball down on Robo Chopper to deal 16 damage.
"Even if you somehow managed to defeat me, you're still not going to get something that I was lucky enough to find!" Robo Chopper cackled, holding up a key shaped like a dark sword.
"Where'd you get that?" Berry asked.
"Oh, I found it lying around..."
"Maybe there's a point to that item..." Shadower trailed.
"Like I'd give it to you fools!" Robo Chopper scoffed.
"Then we'll just have to take from you by force!" Scrub declared, taking 12 out of Robo Chopper thanks to his Mega Egg. He managed to shake off Scrub's attack and shoot a blue laser at the Yoshi. "Ow! This guy can really pack a punch!"
"Of course I do. I especially pack a punch against those I hate!"
"Well that's not surprising..." Vivian trailed.
"I'm sure most of my enemies would've known that by now."
"Then you probably know that WE pack a punch as well!" Chopper exclaimed, throwing a light ball at Robo Chopper.
"That's your idea of a comeback? Foolish." Robo Chopper scoffed.
Regardless of that, Mario decided to focus on the battle by bringing his hammer down on Robo Chopper. This didn't help him when Robo Chopper tackled Mario and knocked him into the wall, attempting to punch him.
"Oh no you don't!" Chopper rushed behind Robo Chopper and knocked him into the wall with his Master Hammer attack.
Mario: Thank you…
"Don't mention it, Mario," Chopper gave him a thumbs up before he dodged Robo Chopper's missile, who had been hit by Berry's hammer beforehand. When it was his turn again, Chopper jumped behind Robo Chopper and changed to his Needle ability. He struck his robotic foe by curling up into a needle ball and rolling into him for 8 damage.
"Poyo! (I ought to use my Final Cutter again!)" Kirby decided, striking Robo Chopper with his Final Cutter, taking 12 out of him. When Chopper's robot foe tried to shoot a missile at him, he ended up guarding the attack, while Chopper had decided to throw in his Gravity Jump and deal 22 damage to him. With Bombette's Bomb, Robo Chopper was brought down to 388 HP.
"Grrgh… I'm gonna knock that ability out of you!" Robo Chopper growled, rushing at Chopper and firing his machine guns at him. Unfortunately, there was no way he was going to hit him with those machine guns due to his speed. Instead, he pulled his blue laser sword out and swung at Chopper, knocking his Needle ability out.
"Oof! Dang it... Not my Needle ability." Chopper groaned as he took out the Star Rod and fired a Star Blast at him. "I think this feels a lot more satisfying than in Starlite Galaxy, to be honest!"
"I'll be satisfied once I've destroyed you!" yelled Robo Chopper, rushing at him for an attack. Unfortunately, it was not his turn, and a Flying Attack knocked him back to one of the other pillars, knocking it over. Enraged, Robo Chopper got back up and transformed one of his hands into a large cannon. "That's it! I'm going to put you all down once and for all!"
Chopper remained calm and went in for another Gravity Jump, leaping in the air and stomping on him. When he landed on the ground, Vivian had gathered the group up and hid in the shadows. That was when Robo Chopper had fired a large laser, which was unfortunate for him to miss.
"Argh... You were lucky..." Robo Chopper growled, firing a missile at Vivian. She managed to guard the attack, but even then, it had still hurt her. In response, she raised her finger and scorched Robo Chopper with a Fiery Jinx. After Chopper struck him with a Rainbow Spin, Robo Chopper was down to 328 HP.
"This guy isn't a big challenge!" Tamber scoffed. "Why don't you give up now, and maybe we'll let you off a little easy?"
"You really think I'm finish just yet?" Robo Chopper scoffed. "You haven't even brought me halfway down! No... I have a different idea on what I'm going to do..."
"All right, show us!"
"Gladly," Robo Chopper smirked as he flew over to the audience, grabbing a couple of the people in there, leading them to scream.
"Oh, come on! Don't do what Lord Crump did and use them against us!" Chopper frowned.
"So, Chopper… How would you like it if I threw your adoring fans at you?" Robo Chopper asked, now starting to throw them one bye one at Chopper, who began to guard the attacks. In the end, he only took about 25 damage. "Geez... That actually hurt."
"Then we'll make sure we seriously hurt Robo Chopper," Shadower stated, lowering Robo Chopper's defense with a Shadow Punch. Chopper thanked him before using his Gravity Jump to deal 30 damage.
"I'm going to make you regret that..." Robo Chopper hissed, his fingers starting to get longer and sharper as he charged at Chopper to slash at him. The antennae hero managed to Superguard it and deal 1 damage to Robo Chopper. While he was stunned, Chopper threw in another Gravity Jump for another 30 damage. Tamber rushed at Robo Chopper next, his fists glowing.
"There's not enough room for one gumball around here!" Tamber shouted, striking Robo Chopper with his Power Punch and sending him flying to the wall. He managed to get himself up and brush himself off.
"You think you're so strong, do you? Well, let's see how you handle this!" Robo Chopper raised his gun at Tamber and fired a blue laser straight at him, knocking him back at one of the pillars.
"Whoa… That's not good." Chopper took action and used his Spring Jump to take 14 out of Robo Chopper. Flyer was able to bring him down to 220 HP with his Flying Attack.
Robo Chopper clenched his fists as he knocked Flyer back with a punch. It didn't do that much to gravely injure him, though. Then Chopper managed to dish 14 out of him with a Master Hammer, and then Scrub used a Mega Egg to deal 12 damage.
"Take this!" Robo Chopper fired a missiles at Scrub, which dealt 21 to him, and he also fired one at Chopper, which managed to throw him back. Chopper then used another Gravity Jump, and then Mario used his Super Jump to deal 8 damage. After Robo Chopper swung his blue laser sword at Mario, Chopper brought his hammer down on him, and them Sonic followed up with a Spin Dash, bringing him to 152 HP.
Robo Chopper used his blue laser sword again and made a dash at Chopper, swinging at him with it. He flew back with a satisfied look on his face.
"Man, he's never going to give up, isn't he?" Sonic asked.
"Yeah, I don't think he will… But we'll surely make him weaker with THIS!" Chopper pulled the Dark Star out, and he began to use its power to summon a black hole to suck Robo Chopper in.
"What are you…?" When Robo Chopper got spat out of the black hole, he suffered 65 damage. "What… What was THAT?!"
"My Black Hole ability!" Chopper answered proudly. "Although, it drained a lot of my Star Power... But I don't care! It did a lot of damage to you!"
"Dang those Crystal Stars!" Robo Chopper spat. "I should've tried to snatch that star when I had the chance!"
"Too bad for you!" Sonic clenched his fist and he struck Robo Chopper with a Sonic Wind, bringing him down to 79 HP. Robo Chopper tackled Sonic in response, and he began to punch at him. While that happened, Chopper inhaled him and spit him at one of the pillars, doing only 6 damage.
"Ugh… I forgot you can do that." Robo Chopper moaned.
"Well it's good to use," Flyer grinned, summoning his airplane for Chopper to get on and man the turret. He started to fire shots at Robo Chopper, and overall it did 12 damage and brought his HP down to 60.
Robo Chopper flew up thanks to his thrusters and began to fire rapidly down at everyone with his machine guns. This time, he was successful in hitting everyone, taking 21 out of them.
"Don't worry, I'll get him down," Vivian raised her finger, and Robo Chopper found himself engulfed in flames. It was good enough to bring him down to the ground so Chopper could hit him with a D-Down Jump. Robo Chopper decided to use his flamethrower to leave everyone with a burn as well.
"Now we're even!"
"Well, considering you're almost finished, I wouldn't say that," Chopper replied, striking Robo Chopper with his Master Hammer, which was followed up with Tamber's Power Punch, bringing him down to 22 HP.
"Urk… This can't be possible…" Robo Chopper groaned, attempting to freeze Chopper with an ice beam. Unfortunately, his attack fail when it was guarded.
"All right, here it goes!" Sonic clenched his fist, and he struck Robo Chopper with his Sonic Wind, leaving him close to his defeat. "OK, Chopper! Hit 'em with a Star Blast!"
"What?! No! Not so soon!" Robo Chopper cried.
Chopper took the Star Rod out and began to charge up an attack. "This is it, Robo Chopper! You're finished!"
"Not if I finish you off first!" Robo Chopper roared, now beginning to charge up a laser. He had fired, but the Star Blast Chopper had fired overpowered Robo Chopper's attack driving both his attack and Chopper's to come in his direction.
Then there was an explosion. Parts of Robo Chopper's body was flying up in the air.
"ARRRGGGHH! How?! How did I lose to you AGAIN?!" Robo Chopper exclaimed as his head finally flew up. "Remember these words, Chopper: I will be back! If it has to take about five months for me to make my return, then so be it!"
"I doubt it!" Chopper replied, waving goodbye to Robo Chopper as his destroyed body flew out of the vicinity. "Bye, Robo Chopper! Maybe I won't see you again for real!"
"Don't try to jinx it, Chopper," Sonic warned.
"Oh, relax. He's not gonna come back. Sure, he came back before, but he's probably not gonna come back again. I just know it."
While Chopper and Sonic were talking about whether he would return, Vivian noticed the key Robo Chopper had with him before was lying to the ground.
"Chopper! The key!" Vivian called out, getting Chopper's attention. He turned his attention to it and picked it up.
"OK... So, where do we you think we should take this?" Chopper wondered.
"Back at that tower, maybe?" Shadower suggested. "I mean, last time we were... Never mind that. Let's just bring it to the tower."
"Hmmmmm… I guess we should." Chopper decided putting the key away. "Let's get out of here!"
As everyone made their way out of the room, Bombette stopped Chopper in his tracks, causing him to fall over. "Hey, Chopper… Hold on a moment."
"What?" Chopper asked, finally getting up.
"Maybe we should..." Bombette looked over at the wall ahead. "You know what I mean, right?"
"Oh... OK." Chopper picked her up and threw her over by the wall. Most of them were not too surprised to see a hidden area revealed through the hole in the wall. They found two yellow ? Blocks, and they contained a Max Shroom and Max Juice. "Hey, this should help!"
"Now we need to go back to that tower," Berry said, making her way back to the garden.
Subspace Tower entrance-
"All right, we're back at this freaky place… All alone." Chopper shivered as he opened the door to the main room of the tower. "OK, I'm guessing we need to go to the top of the tower."
"I guess so," Scrub replied. "Let's get a move on!"
"Hopefully Fawful's not up in time to attack us again..." Berry recalled, the group going up the spiral staircase. When they reached the top, however, they saw no sign of the bean. "Hey... He's gone!"
"Yeah! Where'd Fawful go?!" Chopper wondered.
"I guess he already got up and left," Flyer predicted. "There's no way he's going to bother us now if he's been defeated already. I say we just forget about that."
"I guess you're right… But the question is, where does this key go?"
Shadower looked around, and then he looked over at the key Chopper held. It appeared to be glowing with darkness. When he took notice of the pedestal the dark sphere was previously on, it began to glow as well.
"Hey, Chopper... Take a look at that pedestal!" Shadower suggested.
"Huh?" Chopper looked over at the pedestal and noticed the dark glow on it. Then he looked back at the key in his hands. "Hey, they're both glowing! ...Wait, does this mean what I think?"
Mario: It seems obvious.
"Then... I guess I know what to do here." Chopper stated, raising the key and sticking its point into the pedestal, as if a sword was now stuck in it. It was at that point that they all began to feel shaking coming from the tower, and sixteen squares appeared in the room.
"Poyo? (What the… What do you think this is?)" Kirby asked.
"It looks like some kind of matching puzzle," Chopper used a Spin Jump on one of them, revealing a Darkling on it. He found another square, but this time it had a Darksprine Trooper's head on it. "Oh... Is this one of those games that you have to match two correct faces or something?"
"Yes," Flyer nodded. "And it requires memorization as well."
"Dang it. It doesn't help that there's a time limit too!"
Chopper started to continue the game, using his Spin Jump to try to get matches. He had about three minutes to do the job, but for him, that was difficult when he had to match eight pairs. Thankfully, his friends were there to assist him and reminded him of some of the pictures they had seen. If it weren't for them, he would've probably been doing this a lot longer.
Thankfully, it had managed to take him two minutes to complete.
"Well, I finally got that out of the way…" Chopper sighed as he noticed that the key on the pedestal turned a little. He walked over to it and turned it himself. This caused the whole place to shake.
"…The shaking isn't coming from here," Shadower stated. "I can feel it coming from somewhere else…"
"Hmmmm? Where?" Chopper raised an eyebrow.
"I think it was coming from where we were before. Come on, follow me." Shadower suggested, making his way down the stairs.
"Well, we better follow him," Chopper suggested, he and the rest of the making their exit out of the tower and to the door they were at before. Behind it, they found something interesting.
I would've put a couple of doors in the Subspace Tower with puzzles, but it would really make it feel like I'm just rehashing the Tower of Riddles from the Palace of Shadow. Actually, I'm sure many of you believe that I'm rehashing Chapter 8 of Paper Mario: The Thousand-Year Door, which I don't blame you.
Thankfully, there won't be much of that for the remaining parts of this area. ...At least, that's what I think. *shot*