When they walked into the large room, they noticed that the floors and walls were made out of marble. There were even a couple of pillars inside the room as well, with some pedestals holding a couple of vases.
"Wow, this is a pretty place," Chopper said as he gazed at the red rug.
"Those Cradians are such fools!" a robot cackled as the group noticed a blue cloak facing away from them. "They just couldn't listen to my ideas, so it's their fault that I had to install that mind control tower."
"Excuse me, but what gives you the right to do that?" Blade called out.
"What's this?" the robot whirled around and revealed to have a symbol of a widow spider on his forehead. His body was dark gray, yet for some reason, he didn't have any legs. It's like he was like some sort of ghost with a little tail, but something seemed to be installed on his waist to let him float around.
"Whoa… You're Master Mind? You're not exactly what I predicted you were like…" Sonic trailed.
"Who are you people? Can't you see I'm in the middle of my next scheme?" barked Master Mind. "I've been trying to find a way to set up a factory in my precious city, and you guys aren't helping. Get out of here before I get the cops to take you out."
"You know… Thanks to us, that tower you created is gone." Chopper stated. "Now give up before we 'ave to make ye walk the plank!"
Because of his horrible pirate accent, Master Mind took his blaster out and fired a green blast at Chopper, sending him flying across the room. Kirby gasped and went over to help him up.
"You destroyed my TOWER?!" Master Mind hissed as he aimed his weapon at Luigi, who yelped. "I spent YEARS trying to come up with the design! And now it's all ruined thanks to you people! …Come to think of it, who are you people? Are you associated with that ninja robot that tried to fight me before?"
"Uhhhhhhhhhhhh…"
"Oh, I can tell that you are. Did I ever tell you that Ninbot and I were sworn enemies?" Everyone looked a little confused.
"I thought Grim was Ninbot's sworn enemy…" Sonic trailed.
"Oh, no. I'm the real leader of the robot army. And yes, I've heard a couple of people attacked him and destroyed him. I suppose it was your doing, wasn't it? I wouldn't be too surprised for a couple of people with flesh."
"Uhhhh… Technically, it was Ninbot who defeated him…" Chopper trailed as he got back to the group.
"Oh, really? Did he cut off Grim's legs just like he did to me before? I used to have glorious legs back then, but thanks to him, I'm resorted to this! Thankfully, I discovered something that appeared at my front door a couple of weeks ago! Allow me to show you!"
Master Mind took out a brown Pure Heart and allowed it to levitate from his pointy fingers. "You see this? Thanks to this thing, I was able to get to where I am now! That is, until you people showed up…"
Mario: That's the Pure Heart!
Everyone got in fighting stances as they took a step toward Master Mind, who merely cackled at them.
"What's this? You seek this item? Oh, I can see it your eyes… Too bad I'm not giving this thing up so easily!"
"If you don't give it to us, chances are this world's going to be destroyed," Blade informed. "You need a world if you choose to rule it. If it's gone, there's nothing involving ruling."
"Oh, just shut up already. I'll use this thing as I please!" Master Mind scoffed.
"Fine… Then we have no other choice but to use force…" Sonic sighed. "Seriously, you really should reconsider."
"A fight? This is just silly! But, if that's how you want your fate to end, then that's how I'll end yours." Master Mind glared at them with his green eyes as he put the Pure Heart away and reached for his second blaster. "Heh heh heh! So, heroes… Let's get started, shall we?"
Master Mind's cape opened up to reveal his gray body. He began to fire two shots at once as Blade spun his katana to deflect the shots back at him. Master Mind got sent flying a couple of inches back as steam appeared on his body.
"So this guy has 440 HP, an Attack of 18, and a Defense of 8. Yeesh… That's pretty nasty…" Chopper gulped.
"Hmph… So you want to play it the hard way, do you? All right!" Master Mind charged up a shot and fired at Blade, who jumped in the air and spun his katana vertically. Unfortunately, Master Mind was able to grab his katana and keep him dangling over the ground.
"How'd you do that?!" Blade gaped.
"Trust me, I have my ways," Master Mind grinned as he shot Blade, who cringed in pain as he slid on the slippery floor.
"Ow… That blaster sure seems painful." Luigi winced as Blade slowly got up and clenched his teeth. Nevertheless, he knew he had to fight, so he grabbed Bonjourang and threw him at Master Mind.
Unfortunately, this wasn't good for Luigi when Master Mind brought his attention to him. He fired at him, but he was lucky enough to jump over the green lasers and stomp on him in the process. Master Mind tried to grab Luigi, but he dodged and hit him with a Cyclone.
"For a plumber, you seem to put up a bit of a fight," Master Mind commented. "But, it's going to take a little more than that!"
"…Which is something many bad guys tend to say," Chopper finished, trying to imitate Master Mind. He gulped as he ducked under the laser that was being fired his way. This ended up hitting Kirby instead.
"Poyo! (That's not fair!)" Kirby whined as he pushed himself off the wall and ran toward Master Mind with his katana ready. Master Mind tried to attack him, but he created a couple of clones that got hit by the shots instead.
"What? Where's the real one?!"
The real Kirby appeared in front of Master Mind, who tried to bash him with his blasters, but ended up getting hit when Kirby slashed at him with his katana. Even when Master Mind shot at him again, Kirby disintegrated into smoke, indicating that he disappeared.
"And this is why I wanted the Ninja ability," Chopper stated.
"Save the complaints for later, Chopper," Sonic suggested. "We have a bad guy to take down here!"
Master Mind managed to grab a hold of Kirby after he kicked him and threw him over by the door. Chopper ran over to grab his foot to prevent him from hitting the wall while Sonic hit the robot with his Sonic Wind.
Master Mind was sent upward, but he was able to hurl a dark blast of energy from his hand down at Sonic, who got knocked over on the ground while a couple of rings were scattered all over the room.
"Aw, man! My rings!" Sonic frowned. "That's not fair!"
"I think I'll take some of these myself," Master Mind declared as he picked up one. "They can be of good use to me. Maybe I'll use one of them to create something to make me more robots."
"Not gonna happen! Not on my watch!"
Sonic made a dash for Master Mind while dodging the blasts the robot hurled at him. As he curled up in a ball, he was able to hit him in the chest before using a Homing Attack. Master Mind managed to push Sonic away and fire a green explosion that knocked him over.
"If you have magic, what's the point of the blasters?" Chopper asked.
"My guns can stun you if I put it on stun, but I feel that my magic helps me much more, especially when I can use that power to mind control someone!" Master Mind cackled. "Oh, don't think just because the tower's gone doesn't mean my powers are!"
"Oh, yeah?" Chopper revealed a cannon in his mouth and fired a cannonball at Master Mind, who teleported away from the cannonball and reappeared behind Chopper. He fired a green spear of energy at Chopper's head, causing him to lose control of his mind.
"I SERVE THE ONE AND ONLY MASTER MIND!" he shouted as if he were a robot.
Mario: What in the world?!
"Oh, I'm sorry, does mind controlling your friend bother you?" Master Mind scoffed. "Now that I have control over him, I can make him attack you guys! Surely you wouldn't fight your own friend, would you?"
"Well…" Luigi trailed until Mario rushed at Master Mind and bashed him in the head with his hammer, causing him to lose control of Chopper for a second before getting him back into control.
"Poyo, (Hey, I just noticed something,)" Kirby gawked. "Poyo. (Apparently he'll lose control if we attack him.)"
"You honestly thought I'd leave him out of my control?" Master Mind scoffed as he hurled a green blast at Mario. He held his fists up to defend the attack, but he was pushed back by the blast.
Mario: That was strong…
Master Mind grinned as he made Chopper swing his cutlass at Blade, who brought his katana up to defend himself. He didn't want to use his katana on him, but maybe if he hurt him a tiny bit it would be all right.
"I'm sorry to do this," Blade apologized as he performed a roundhouse kick on Chopper, knocking him over. He then rushed to Master Mind and slashed at him repeatedly with his katana, forcing him to lose control over the the antennae hero.
"Whoa… What just happened?" Chopper moaned.
"Poyo, (You were mind controlled,)" Kirby explained.
"What?! Are you kidding me?!" Chopper turned to Master Mind, who was stunned for the moment thanks to Blade's fire slash. He clenched his fists and shot a cannonball out of his mouth at Master Mind.
"A cannonball coming out of your mouth? That must be pretty stupid…" Master Mind grumbled as he got hit by Chopper's cutlass. He decided to teleport away from him and teleport to the corner of the room. He grabbed his two blasters and fired rapidly, knocking Chopper's Pirate ability away. Kirby, on the other hand, used his Defend to prevent himself from losing his ability.
Mario got his hammer again and rushed at Master Mind. While he managed to bash him in the head, Master Mind teleported away from him, resulting in Mario hitting Luigi on accident when he tried to attack again.
"Ow…" Luigi moaned.
Mario: Sorry…
Master Mind cackled as he hurled a couple of green blasts from his hands at the rest of the group. Chopper inhaled one and spat it at Master Mind, but he created a mirror to deflect the attack back.
"What the… OOF!" Chopper skid across the room as he was knocked over. Kirby was able to jump over the blasts and toss a couple of kunais at Master Mind, along with shurikens tossed by Blade.
"Is that all you got?" scoffed Master Mind.
"No, not even close," Sonic smirked as he used Reflecto to deflect a blast back at Master Mind and hit him. He grumbled as he created some mirror shards to throw at the group. One hit Sonic, making him cringe in pain from the sharp shard.
"Ow… These aren't good at all!" Blade winced, a screech coming from his katana as he tried blocking them.
"I've got an idea of my own," Chopper opened his mouth and inhaled the mirror shards coming his way. As he swallowed it, his skin became a white tint, he wore a red and teal double-toned hat, and his gloves and feet changed to a gray color. In his hand was a small, golden scepter.
"Ooh! The Mirror ability! This is one of the last few abilities, if I could recall…"
"Poyo? (You mean no more new abilities to copy?)" Kirby gasped.
"Well… I don't know about that."
"So you changed from wearing a stupid pirate costume to wearing something like that?" Master Mind gawked. "I don't know if you're a complete idiot or not. Nevertheless, you're all going to die."
"Think again!" Chopper put up a mirror with his scepter that reflected the green blast back at Master Mind, hitting his chest. He let out a scream as he held his chest in pain.
"Whoa… That ability's pretty useful." Blade gaped.
"Yeah, it has helped me in the past before…"
Master Mind grumbled as he tried to shoot at Blade instead, who cringed as he got shot by the green laser fired at him. The next time, however, Blade managed to deflect the shot back at Master Mind by spinning his katana.
"We're not going to lose this fight," Blade declared.
"Then I'll use a little something to help me," Master Mind raised his arms and healed himself of 80 HP. "Ahhhh! Now that's much better! With some of my health replenished, fighting you guys should be easier!"
"Cripes! He can heal!" Luigi gasped. "This isn't good…"
"Oh, relax! Dimentio Doom could heal himself, but we managed to beat him!" Sonic assured. "I think this shouldn't be any problem for us!"
"Yeah, that's true…"
Mario: While he does show some strength, we can still outmaneuver him.
Master Mind gave them a threatening look as he tossed a ball of green energy at Mario, who gave it a whack with his hammer to send it flying back at him, leaving him off guard and allowing Mario to hit him with a Super Ground Pound.
"Annoying pest!" Master Mind grabbed Mario's foot and threw him to the ground. His pointy finger fired a small bolt of electricity that zapped him and left him paralyzed for a couple of seconds.
"Now he can use paralysis? That's not fair!" Luigi frowned.
"I should've told you not to underestimate me, but I guess it would've been better if I didn't," the robot mastermind smirked as he zapped Mario with a green spear, putting him under his control.
"Go ahead, my puppet. Destroy these people for me. Maybe you should start with the green plumber!"
"What?! I'm not fighting my brother!" Luigi stepped back as Mario, who now had green eyes, gripped his hammer and came charging at him. Luigi brought his guard up as the hammer came down on him.
"Heads up, I gotcha!" Sonic rushed in and pushed Mario out of the way, knocking him to the ground. Afterward, He used a Spin Dash to hit Master Mind and let him lose control of Mario, who was now dazed.
"Phew… Thank you, Sonic…"
Master Mind grumbled as he decided to attack Kirby instead. The purple puffball tried to avoid the green spheres, but ended up getting hit and got knocked to the ground. His ability didn't get knocked away, to his relief.
"Poyo, (We gotta be fast against this guy,)" Kirby informed.
Master Mind created another green sphere of energy that he hurled at Kirby, but with his katana, he was able to throw it back at him, hitting him in the face. Kirby was able to grab him afterward and slam him to the ground after launching up.
"Well, at least I have this ability," Chopper smiled, creating a small mirror before firing a mirror shard at Master Mind, who cringed as a small cut appeared on his robotic body. Even a couple of sparks appeared from the screeching sound of the mirror shard.
"That wasn't good…" Blade cringed.
Master Mind glared at Chopper as he fired two shots from his blaster at him. Chopper brought up a mirror to reflect the shots, but Master Mind teleported in front of the mirror and smashed it.
"Seven years of bad luck…" Chopper trailed as he got punched in the face before getting thrown back. "Honestly, man… This Pure Heart is driving you nuts! Something like that happened to a king once!"
"Driving me nuts? I've always been like this." Master Mind scoffed. "It's thanks to this brown thing that I can do what it takes to eliminate a couple of people like you guys."
"Then maybe if you didn't have it, we'd stand a chance against you," Blade said as he rushed at Master Mind. When he spotted him, he made a couple of clones that began to attack at once. Master Mind created a stick made of green energy and spun it around to get rid of the clones and hit Blade.
"Gah! That was a smart move…"
"Thank you," Master Mind picked him up and watched him struggle to break free. "You seem like you're being pretty persistent to stop me. Any reason why?"
"Because… You've brainwashed all of those people! We can end your reign of terror right now, and that is what we plan on doing."
"Oh, how nice of you to think of that… It's such a shame you won't live to see that." Master Mind aimed his blaster at Blade and fired, knocking him to the ground as he screeched in pain. Luigi helped him up and decided to use Reflecto to deflect the next laser back at him.
Mario walked up to Luigi and decided that they would use a team attack. Mario got on Luigi's shoulders and as they began to spin, Mario spun his hammer as they crashed into Master Mind like a cyclone.
"What's this? A team attack, I see? I should've seen this one coming…" muttered Master Mind as he tried to get up, resulting in him getting hit by another attack from Luigi's fists and Mario's hammer.
"I think I getting dizzy!" Luigi cried.
Mario: We just need to do this for a little longer!
After they hit him one last time, Master Mind teleported out of their range and recovered 80 more HP. Afterward, he made the room flash and sent a couple of lightning bolts to the ground. There were a couple of them that struck Chopper, Kirby, and Sonic, which they didn't see coming.
"What the… He can use lightning too?!" Chopper gawked.
"Poyo… (It looks like it…)" Kirby trailed.
Master Mind grinned as his victims got paralyzed for a brief moment. He was about to attack, but Blade managed to stop him by firing a Dragon Beam his way, making him turn back to him.
"Did you just fire a dragon out of your sword?"
"Yeah, I just did," Blade sneered. "And it's called a katana, thank you very much."
"OK, fine, you annoying little furball. I guess I better lay off the blasters for now and use something else." Master Mind put his two blasters away and took out a golden scepter and struck the ground with it, creating a green pulse that spread out through the whole room.
Mario: Jump!
Everyone managed to dodge the pulse attack and get back to Master Mind. Sonic decided to use Screwdy and attacked him with a Bounce Attack before using a corkscrew on him. It looked like it didn't do too much, but it was actually helpful in keeping him off guard.
Master Mind twirled his scepter before firing a blast of magic at Sonic. He curled up in a ball and managed to get away from the blast with a Spin Dash. Chopper helped create a mirror to deflect the attack back at Master Mind, who had to suffer the consequences of the damage he took.
"Hmmmmmm… Hold on, I think I might have another kind of attack to help me fight this guy." Chopper realized as Master Mind got struck by Blade's katana.
Once he saw that he had a chance to attack, he ran toward Master Mind and slammed his scepter on his body. That didn't do too much, but he split into two and struck him with a powerful mirror slash that made Master Mind screech.
"He's finally getting a taste of his own medicine. And by 'medicine', I mean mirrors."
Master Mind tried to swipe at Chopper with his scepter, but he managed to recoil and get back to the group. They all agreed to heal themselves, considering that their HP was a bit low at this point.
"So… Star Shroom Shake at this point?" Sonic asked.
"I could use one…" Luigi trailed. "I don't know what they even taste like anyway."
"Well, then prepare to be delighted with the taste," Chopper tossed Luigi the unopened Star Shroom Shake. He opened it and took a sip of it, recovering 150 HP. His expression was indeed delighted.
"That is really good!"
"Toldja," Chopper smirked as he took a sip, with Blade finishing the last one. He crushed the can and threw it at Master Mind.
…Who proceeded to burn it.
"Dumb move, 'heroes'," mocked Master Mind.
"Dang it. He saw that coming." Blade grumbled as he readied his katana and threw a couple of shurikens at Master Mind. He managed to block a couple, but four of them hit his chest.
"Hmmmmmm…" the robot teleported around the room, dropping a couple of green orbs of energy. When they noticed this, they jumped to avoid the explosions that they emitted. Not even a mirror was able to block it.
Master Mind flew back and charged at them with green fire surrounding him. All six of them were blown away by the attack as Master Mind teleported before he could crash into the wall.
"Recovery mode activate!" he shouted as he recovered 80 more HP. Everyone growled as they saw some of the wounds heal off Master Mind. Nevertheless, they were able to get a good shot at him by kicking Sonic straight at him while he was curled in a ball.
Master Mind's eyes widened in pain as he got struck by Sonic's Spin Dash. He tried to hit him, but Sonic went back over to Luigi, who kicked him back at Sonic while throwing Bonjourang at Master Mind.
"This isn't a bad idea!" Luigi smiled.
Mario: We really do work well as a team, Luigi!
When Sonic was kicked back at Master Mind, he used his mind controlling powers to brainwash Sonic and make him hit both Mario and Luigi, knocking them over. Chopper tried to make a mirror to protect them, but not even that helped when it broke and caused Chopper to get hurt.
Kirby created a couple of clones to help distract Sonic while Chopper fired a couple of mirror shards at Master Mind. Some of them hit him, but they weren't enough to stop him.
"I gotta use a stronger attack than this," Chopper thought as he gripped his hammer. When he managed to bash Master Mind, he stopped mind controlling Sonic, but a magic blast from his scepter was all it took to knock Chopper's Mirror ability away.
"Hey! That was a brand new ability!"
"And now for you…" Master Mind turned to Kirby and fired a blast from his scepter at him, knocking his ability away as well.
"Poyo! (Hey!)" Kirby frowned.
However, Blade managed to appear on top of Master Mind and struck him with a diving kick. With this, it appeared that they were all even.
"Well, you people sure won't give give up," Master Mind said. "But that's going to change. My ultimate attack is just about ready!"
"And what's that?" Blade asked.
"An attack that'll wipe this entire city! Everyone but me will die from this explosion!"
"You're not going to hurt a bunch of innocent people!"
"Oh, really? And what can you do about it?"
Blade instantly swung his katana at Master Mind, who brought his scepter up to block the attack. He was suddenly reminded of his battle with King Neptunian, where he brought his scepter up to block his attack.
"No… This isn't similar." Blade thought. "The difference between him and Neptunian is that this guy is evil. Neptunian wasn't truly evil."
"You can't hold this up forever, you know," Master Mind grinned.
"Yes I CAN!" Blade shouted with pride as he was able to push Master Mind back. While he was stunned, Blade attempted to slash at him again, but Master Mind brought his scepter up again.
He sliced through it.
"My scepter!" Master Mind gaped as he looked up at Blade. "Are you really going to…?"
Blade said nothing as he fired a Dragon Beam from his katana at Master Mind, impaling him right through the chest. His eyes widened in pain as the entire orange, flaming dragon went through his entire body.
"Whoa!" Chopper gaped.
Blade turned away as he sheathed his katana. Master Mind began to explode until he was gone. The brown Pure Heart was the only thing left from him.
"I can't believe it… We actually won the battle." Sonic gaped. "Not to mention we got the Pure Heart!"
"He got what he deserved…" Blade sighed as he walked over to his friends. "I apologize if I sounded a bit…harsh."
Mario: Sometimes we can't always act too kind.
"I know, but I think my sensei would've been disappointed with me if he were alive…"
"You were trying to defend a city from this guy! I think he would be proud of you!" Sonic denied. "That's not what you should be saying!"
"M-MASTER MIND!"
Everyone's eyes widened as a bunch of Cradians burst through the door and searched for Master Mind. Apparently they heard an explosion coming from this room.
"Wh-What you do with Master Mind?" a Cradian asked.
"We saved you from his tyranny," Chopper explained. "You should thank us!"
"B-But… We love Master Mind…"
All six heroes gasped. The Cradians? Liking this guy?
"Did you just say that you…like Master Mind? Even after what he's done to you?" Sonic gawked as a couple of Cradians mourned over Master Mind.
"He help us advance to this! We were people of the wild and died from Bushers! They very deadly! We be very endangered…until he came along."
"But don't you realize that he was acting like a complete DICTATOR?!" Blade exclaimed. "You guys should've realized it! He was going to destroy this entire city!"
"To protect us!"
At this point, they all realized something. Even without the mind control tower, these Cradians were brainwashed.
"But now… He gone because of you. You people monsters!"
"But… But…"
"It's no use, Chopper…" Blade trailed. "They've been brainwashed by Master Mind's dictatorship. Sometimes, there are rulers that are seen as gods to people. It looks like these people are one of them…"
"CRAGLEY HO!" Flint walked into the palace with his camera crew, Ninbot, and the SunMoonFlower. "'We've finally made our way to the palace at long last! …But, what I'm seeing here are people…mourning?'"
"What's going on here?" Ninbot asked.
"They destroyed our leader! After all he do for us, we go back to wild and die!" one Cradian cried. "This all your fault now!"
"Oh, no… They've been brainwashed by Master Mind's tyranny this whole time…"
"Yeah, I guess so," Sonic nodded. "But now this makes us look like the bad guys…"
"This bad news, brah," gulped Monzo.
"Not good. Not good at all." added Hornfels.
"I suppose you want brown heart thing, do you not?" a Cradian holding a spear asked, picking up the Pure Heart. "Then take it with you!"
Chopper was about to go over to get it, but the Cradian threw it at his face instead, knocking him to the ground.
"We don't want to see you monsters again!"
"But, look! We were just trying to help you guys and…" Luigi trailed until he got cut off again.
"Go! Now! You 'heroes' aren't welcome around here anymore!"
"We don't have much of a choice…" Chopper sighed as his head hung low. "Here I was hoping we'd do something good for this place, like different other worlds… But it looks like we're hated here…"
Mario: We might as well leave them be…
"And you don't want any help?" Blade asked.
"No! Go now!" the Cradian shouted.
Knowing that they didn't care about the world being destroyed right now, Chopper sighed and picked up the Pure Heart. All of the Pixls began to dance around him, but as he held the Pure Heart up, he didn't feel satisfied.
"All of this to get hated by brainwashed people… I'm disappointed."
YOU GOT A PURE HEART
END OF CHAPTER
"Now we have no leader thanks to you people! At this point, we die now, and it be all your fault!" the Cradians shouted as they threw stuff at the heroes as they left the palace and made their way out of the city. "Rest assured, guys," Flint spoke, trying to cheer the group up. "You managed to stop a city from being destroyed, and you even got your Pure Heart! It's better than getting nothing!" With that, Ninbot decided that he would go for now, now that Master Mind was gone. He seemed pleased that his tyranny was finally over. Chopper and Co. waved goodbye to Flint Cragley and his camera crew, who decided that it was best to head home. Now with only two Pure Hearts left, they hurried back to Flipside. Would all be better soon?
So, a lot of interesting things happened here. Especially with the Cradians actually liking Master Mind. But, you know, that's something some people are like when a dictator dies or ends up getting seriously injured. And for this story, it's actually pretty surprising...
Yeah, a lot of shocking moments in here and the previous part, and now the heroes don't see themselves as heroes in this world compared to others. I wonder what they'll think about this when they make it back to Flipside... Well, you'll find out in the interlude!