Super Paper Chopper

by Mechanical Oven

After being lured into a trap by a party invitation, Chopper must save all worlds from a new group of foes from different dimensions and an old enemy. Can he and his friends save all worlds? Or will they be destined to be destroyed in a matter of time...

126. Corrupted Dreams

CHAPTER 18-4

-Corrupted Dreams-

"Heroes, as you leave the previous world you went into, you go higher into this world," Ortorain explained as everyone looked at how much The Void grew in the sky. Needless to say, it wasn't looking great for this world. "I made sure when you would leave, you'd be transferred higher up in this world. Of course, to get to the Pure Heart, you must go to the portal that's on the top of this world!"

"You never told us what this world is anyway," Chopper recalled. "Could you tell us where?"

"Honestly, if I did that, it wouldn't be so surprising to you guys. However, I will tell you something. When we DO reach that portal, I'll explain to you where the Pure Heart is so it makes it easier for you all."

"Poyo, (I guess that's fair,)" Kirby shrugged, but there was something that he couldn't help thinking about. His own world. He knew that Mario and Sonic's world was destroyed, but how was his world faring so far?

"Kirby? What's wrong?" Ortorain asked, giving him a suspicious look. "It looks like something's bothering you…"

"Poyo… (Well… I'm starting to get a little worried about my own world… Yes, I know we can't let it hit us, but I always enjoyed the color of my world. Seeing it go would truly break me…)"

"I'll admit, I think your world is the nicest of them all," Chopper commented. "I love the grass, and some of the people there are likable! …With some exceptions, that is."

"Yeah, I do think Dream Land has some of the nicest landscapes I've seen from another world," Sonic agreed. "I like Green Hill, but there's so much beauty to Dream Land that I can't overlook."

"I don't think I've been to Kirby's world yet…" Blade trailed.

"Same here…" Luigi added.

"Funny you should say that… The next card you need to find is actually in Kirby's world." Ortorain revealed. Everyone looked a little surprised, but not as much as they thought they would be.

"Well, I guess it's fair that you told us right now…" Chopper trailed.

Mario: It'll be nice to see some people there too.

"Well, then allow me to show you the way!" Ortorain declared as he flew on. When the heroes follow him up a small hill, they noticed a glowing pink barrier block their way. It was almost like the ones in cyberspace.

"Oh, I apologize for those. Those are meant to keep specific people out. You can go ahead and destroy them. I'll simply replace them later on!"

"Ummmm… All right." Chopper sweat dropped as he summoned lightning to strike the barrier, while Kirby threw a couple of bombs to shatter it, allowing them to go up the hill ahead, where a Dimensional Ghost waited.

"Well, you know what to do, Chopper," Luigi said as Chopper hurled a rainbow ball at the Dimensional Ghost. Once it was left open, Blade attacked it with his katana a couple of times, destroying it.

"How many of these guys are there, Ortorain?" Blade asked. "In fact, do you even do anything about them?"

"I could…if they were actually living beings," Ortorain informed. "I don't have control over the dead. Only Queen Jaydes and King Grambi are capable of that power. I'm only capable of dimension powers."

When they reached the door, they found themselves in an area with a high ledge up ahead. However, there was one thing that was bugging him for a while when they first met Ortorain.

"Uhhhh… Ortorain? Could I ask you a question?" Chopper asked.

"Go right ahead, young one."

"Don't suppose you know someone named Dimentio? He's some kind of jester that made a dimension of his own."

"Dimentio…? Hmmmmmmm… I believe I heard that name before…" the dimension creator trailed as he began to ponder. "Oh, yes! I DO know him! In fact, he was actually a close friend of mine when I was in dimension school."

Mario: You were friends with Dimentio?!

"Uh huh. We were roommates a very long time ago in college. That was when my father held the rank as dimension creator. …Yes, you see, I wasn't the only dimension creator. It's been passed on from generations. Each of us have created many worlds, like me, who made worlds like this and your own."

"Well that's interesting…" Sonic trailed. "Did you even know that we were fighting him when he tried to take the Chaos Heart?"

"Yes, I saw the whole thing," Ortorain nodded. "You see… We used to be great friends, but when he discovered my father was the dimension creator, he pleaded for his power. He refused, which forced that jester to…end his game. He even stole some of his power in order to create a dimension of his own: Dimension D."

"That's where he fought us those last two times…" Chopper recalled.

"However, despite my father dying, I was able to step up and take his place. But with that kind of power Dimentio had, I knew I was no match for him, even if he was busy writing a book… So, I watched every dimension to find the people I believed could stand against him. Sadly, I had no luck… But then I found you guys."

"Pardon me, but do you know what book Dimentio was writing?" Blade asked.

"No, I never saw the book he wrote out. However, I had a feeling he had some plans with that."

"Poyo… (Interesting…)" Kirby trailed.

"Anyway, I had a feeling you heroes would be able to stand up to him, which is why I saved you from certain death in Castle Tipral. Blade, remember when the ceiling was about to crash on you? I was able to destroy a part of the ground while staying hidden so you would fall through the floor. Kirby, when you fell through the floor, I made sure you landed on Blade instead in order to save you. And Sonic… I made sure that that void brought you to Blade and Kirby so you were safe and able to go after Dimentio. I also helped Tipral's minions because I didn't want to simply leave them out…"

"Wait… So those events that saved them were all thanks to you?" Chopper gaped. "What about Tipral's Palace?"

"I got an alien to go out and help you guys get back to the palace. Believe me, I did a lot for him to agree to help you guys."

"So, how come you did that?" Luigi asked.

"I didn't want Dimentio to succeed with his goals. Considering you're heroes of the Light Prognosticus, I needed to make sure you wouldn't have a game over and go back to The Underwhere."

"So does this mean that the whole time, you've been guiding us in the right direction?" Chopper asked, looking disappointed.

"No, those were the only moments where I helped you. And I thank you for getting rid of that horrible clown. I'm sure my father will be proud to see the man who destroyed him gone for good."

"I guess we really owe you, don't we?" Sonic asked.

"Rest assured, Sonic. You all already gave me something in return: the end of Dimentio. With that, my father can rest in peace. Although, it does make me feel ashamed that such a great friend of mine had to do such a thing like that just because he wanted to get a hold of dimensional powers."

Everyone followed him up the high ledge after he created a platform to help them jump up. A Dimensional Ghost appeared on the ledge as well and managed to possess Chopper, making him remove his Magic ability.

"Hey! That's not fair!" Chopper cried as the ghost got out of his body and was left vulnerable to a rainbow ball. Kirby finished it off with his Final Cutter. With that, they were led to a pink portal ahead.

"Hey, what kind of portal is this supposed to be?" Blade asked.

"It's a short-distance portal," Ortorain explained. "It'll take you to a portal somewhere else in the area. Jump in, and you'll see for yourself! There's a chance you might be a little amazed!"

Blade shrugged and jumped into the portal. When he walked out, he was on a glowing platform high above the rest of the group. Kirby jumped in next and landed on Blade, who fell over.

"Poyo! (This portal is amazing!)" Kirby cheered.

The rest of the group followed through and jumped out of the portal above the ground. They smiled as they jumped up a couple of platforms around them, with a Dimensional Ghost floating on one platform.

Chopper tossed a rainbow ball to leave it vulnerable, and Sonic finished it off with a Bounce Attack. He smiled as he jumped to a platform above him to find another portal. They jumped through over to a high ledge leading over to a screw sticking out of the ground, as well as a stump.

"A stump and a screw… Well, this requires two things." Chopper stated.

Mario: I guess I'll go over to the stump.

"I'll handle the screw," Sonic declared as he used Screwdy to perform a corkscrew on the screw, making it go into the ground. Mario's Super Ground Pound slammed the stump all the way into the ground as well, creating a pink portal in between.

Everyone exchanged a nod as they jumped into the portal and landed on a large platform above the previous portal. There was a small little block that looked like it could be picked up, and a blue ! Switch appeared to be above them.

"Poyo, (I guess this means we can use Thoreau for this,)" Kirby said as he used Thoreau to grab the block and throw it at the blue ! Switch. This created a door before them and let them enter an area with a large gap between them with a glowing spike pit. Needless to say, they were most likely going to get hurt by those.

"Well, I think we all know what to do here," Blade said as he looked over at Carrie. They each took turns crossing the spike pit with Carrie, and when they finally got through, Ortorain created a glowing pathway for them to travel on.

"Go right ahead, heroes," Ortorain said. "This path will take you where you need to go."

"All right," Chopper nodded as he readied his Speed Dash and took off. There was even a dash panel that helped him move faster too. There were no hills, but the road was slightly going at an upward slope, which helped the group when they went on the dash panel.

"These dash panels sure do a lot, even if we're not as fast," Luigi gaped.

Mario: They help Chopper and Sonic a lot more, though.

When they reached a high ledge, which Chopper and Sonic ran up due to a curve on the ground leading up. Kirby got onto the ledge and helped Mario up by inhaling him, while Blade used his kunais to climb up the ledge, and Luigi used a Super Jump.

"Geez… That was one heck of a run." Sonic sighed.

"I'll say! At least we GOT to do some running." Chopper nodded.

"So, I guess we've got another puzzle up ahead?" Luigi noticed a button on the ground and two red ! Switchs up ahead over a bottomless pit. When Mario stepped on it, the first red ! Switch disappeared.

Mario: Haven't we seen this before?

"Yeah, we have," Blade nodded. "Back in King Sunday's castle, if I could recall. But, I think we've seen many of these puzzles before, so let's just get this over with, all right?"

"Gotcha!" Luigi nodded as he threw Bonjourang and let it hit the red ! Switch ahead. He quickly jumped off the button and the other red ! Switch appeared. Once that block was hit, a platform appeared with four different colored panels.

"Argh… Not this again." Chopper groaned as he pressed on the panels that weren't purple. Once they all matched up, the platform began to glow and slowly ascend while carrying everyone up.

"It's like puzzles from different worlds are being thrown at us here…" Sonic trailed. "I guess it makes sense."

"I was the one to create them, you know," Ortorain informed.

"Could you tell us how to do them?" Chopper asked.

"Of course not! You're supposed to figure them out of your own…"

"Dang… Well, I guess I tried."

When the platform reached a platform with a door, they all headed through into an area with a crack in the background on a stone wall. Chopper flipped into 3-D and blew up the crack to reveal a chest from behind. There was apparently a Dimension Key inside.

"Keys? We haven't seen keys in this world before…" Luigi trailed.

"Well, it's one of the only few you'll see," Ortorain informed. "Needless to say, it's not going to bother you that much in this world."

When they reached another stone wall ahead, they didn't see anything. When Chopper flipped into 3-D, there was a small crack that looked like he could slip through if he turned sideways. He helped everyone into 3-D as well and used Slim's power to turn sideways and slip through the crack.

"Hey, are those Starmen I see over there?" Chopper gaped as he saw the two Starmen in their blue capes. Kirby instantly removed his Bomb ability and inhaled one to gain the Hi-Jump ability.

"Poyo, (We might need it for those platforms above,)" Kirby informed as Chopper shrugged and inhaled the Starman to gain the Hi-Jump ability.

"Well, I can tell you'll need to use that ability," Sonic noticed as he looked up. There were small yellow star blocks in the way of a platform. When Kirby launched himself up, he managed to break through the blocks and land on the platform.

Sonic simply used his Whirlwind to send the rest of the group flying up to the platform. That's where they found two ways to go. The left side had some spikes sticking out of the wall, while the other had electric fences that went on and off every couple of seconds.

"Ooh… Both look pretty hard." Blade sweat dropped.

"Well, I guess I'll try this side," Chopper declared as he launched to the right side. Unfortunately, he got zapped and landed beside the group. "OK… Bad idea, I suppose."

Kirby took the left side, but he unfortunately got hit by one of the spikes, forcing him to come back down. They tried again by taking the right side, and eventually, they made their way to the ladder they grabbed a hold of before falling.

"No platform to help us climb this ladder? This is intense!" Sonic gaped.

"That's why we're getting a bigger challenge here…" Blade trailed as they climbed to the top and found a door up on a glowing pink platform. But, with Chopper and Kirby's Hi-Jump ability, they were able to leap up to the door by using their ability twice.

"Hold on, I need to make that jump!" Luigi called out, attempting to use his Super Jump. Sadly, it didn't seem to work. Sonic simply used his Whirlwind and the rest of the group was sent flying up to the door.

Mario: Well that worked!

"It's nice to see that my Whirlwind comes in handy…" Sonic trailed as he followed the group through the door. There, they found two poles over a gap leading to a platform where a globe was.

"There's where you guys need to go next," Ortorain informed. "I'll create the portal while you all cross this gap."

Everyone sweat dropped as they watched him fly across the gap. They noticed in the background, a couple of portals were starting to show destroyed worlds. It appeared The Void had gotten a couple of other worlds as well.

"Oh, no… The Void is consuming more worlds by the second!" Luigi gulped.

"Let's not let it bother us," Chopper suggested, clenching his fist. "We're NOT going to let Tipral harm us emotionally! Let's go, before…"

Unfortunately, the ground began to shake and The Void grew bigger in the sky. Everyone glared at him while Chopper sweat dropped.

"I just had to open my mouth…"

Nevertheless, they used the poles to cross over the gap and meet up with Ortorain, who finished up with the portal. They saw the beautiful landscape that was through the portal, which made Kirby very happy.

"Poyo! (It's Dream Land!)" he squealed. "Poyo! (Home sweet home!)"

"Yeah… Home sweet home…" Luigi sighed, thinking about his own world and its destruction. "Let's just go…"

With a sigh, Luigi jumped into the portal, following Kirby. The rest of the group jumped through as well, leaving Orotrain to slowly float to the ground and sit by the edge of the platform. He decided to look over at The Void.

"I hope you're doing fine up there, Father…" Ortorain trailed. "Your murderer is finally gone thanks to the heroes. I just hope I didn't disappoint you with my job."

Little did he know a shadowy mist was floating around.

"Oh, Ortorain… Do you…really think that…I would let…myself die so easily? Ah…ha…ha…ha… Don't think this…is the end of me…just yet! You and…the heroes…will see!"

Without Ortorain noticing, the shadowy mist made its way into the portal, following the heroes into Dream Land.

"For some reason… I thought I heard Dimentio's voice in my head…"

---

Dream Land-

A portal appeared somewhere in the woods of Dream Land and all six heroes jumped out and landed on their feet. From what they knew, it was still daytime, but they couldn't see much of the sky because of the trees blocking their way. Needless to say, this was probably the one area they didn't want to be.

"Of all the places… We're in the woods?" Chopper groaned. "Honestly, I didn't want to be in here…"

"Poyo, (Well, the only option is to simply get going,)" Kirby shrugged.

"Well, what do we have here? I had a feeling you'd show up sooner or later…"

"Hold on a second…" Sonic trailed as his ears perked up. "That voice… I know it from somewhere! Oh, don't tell me…"

Dark jumped off the branch of a tree and landed in front of the heroes, giving them a dark glare. "So, how does it feel to have two of your precious worlds destroyed so far? I bet that really got to you, didn't it?"

Mario: Don't even go there, Dark…

"Oh, you think YOU had it bad?! Wanna know what happened to my Dark Creature army? The majority of them left me and went to Shade's side after they heard he has his own base on a comet! It's almost like Shade is trying to ruin my life!"

"Poyo? (But why did you come here to fight us and not Mobius?)" Kirby asked.

"Can someone tell me what that pink creampuff is saying? I don't understand what it's telling me." After Chopper told him, Dark nodded. "I already know enough about Mobius. I wanted to see what this world was like, so I decided to come here and see for myself."

"Well, the best thing you can do is get out of our way," Blade suggested, unsheathing his katana. "You know it's for the best."

"Sorry, but I'm not going to let that happen. Even if the majority of my army left me, it doesn't stop me from defeating you!" Dark drew his blaster and aimed it at them. "So… Wanna get out of these woods? Then defeat me first. Simple enough."

"Fine… We'll fight you." Chopper groaned, clenching his fists. "And if you think you're going to stop us from getting that card and Pure Heart, you're wrong."

"Well, then I'll make this fight interesting!" Dark took out the black emerald from before and used its power to surround himself in a dark glow. "There we go! I used this before against Sonic in Castle Tipral, and I decided to use its power again! Now let's settle this once and for all!"

Dark began to fire shots from his blaster at the group, with Sonic deflecting one back at him with Reflecto. Dark managed to bring his cape up and defend himself against the attack, making everyone gawk.

"I didn't know he could do that…" Luigi gaped.

Mario: You never really fought him though.

"Good point…"

From looking at his stats, there was nothing to laugh at. He had 450 HP, an Attack of 18, and a Defense of 8. That's pretty threatening, and even stronger than Master Mind!

"En guarde! Swift Strike!" the power of the red boomerang was strong enough to knock Chopper's Hi-Jump ability away and even nearly shave off Mario's mustache had he not jumped over it.

Mario: Watch the mustache!

"Sonic Wind!" Sonic shouted as he clenched his fist and summoned a blue gust of wind that struck him. "Yeah… I know you may have that black emerald in your hands, but I've got the Sonic Wind!"

"Not bad… I'll give you that." Dark sneered as he summoned dark meteors to fall toward them. Kirby used his Defend ability to take minimal damage, while Chopper inhaled a meteor and spat it at Dark, leaving him off guard.

"Oh, I don't think so," Before Blade could hit Dark with his katana, he disappeared using his cape and appeared behind Blade. He grabbed him and gave him a German suplex, leaving the cat dazed.

"Ugh… What the heck was that?" moaned Blade.

"Does he have martial art skills or something?" Luigi asked.

"Why, yes I do," Dark grinned as he made Luigi fall over with a sweeping kick. Mairo tried to bash him with his hammer, but Dark managed to punch his nose instead, leaving a red mark on Mario's nose.

Mario: Ouch! My nose!

"Well, now I know where you're weak point is!"

"You're not going to hurt my bro's nose like that again!" Luigi growled, stepping in front of Dark and hitting him with his Cyclone. While he was in the air, he attacked him with his Super Jump.

"You're lucky I didn't see that coming, plumber!"

Dark jumped in the air and landed on a tree branch. Once he got a good view on Kirby, he jumped and aimed his foot at him and sent him flying to a tree. Dark grinned before getting hit by a rainbow ball from behind.

"Ugh… Attacking someone from behind. What a cowardly move!" Dark scoffed as he whirled around to Chopper and fired a shot from his blaster, knocking Chopper back. He charged at him afterward, until Chopper opened his mouth. "Oh, crud…"

The Star Warrior inhaled him and spat him at the tree ahead, leaving him dazed. This gave Mario the opportunity to bash him with his hammer, and Blade to land a combo with his katana.

"At least we're not fighting another giant robot," Blade sighed. "My katana probably wouldn't work against it."

Dark held his arm in pain and grit his teeth as he looked up at Blade, who threw a couple of shurikens at him. Dark managed to block them with his cape and punch Blade in the face a couple of times.

While his face was bruised, Dark floated up in the air and fired meteors down. However, this left him open when Kirby attacked him with a Hi-Jump attack, followed by Luigi's Super Jump.

"Poyo, (Try not to let yourself open when you're in the air,)" Kirby advised.

"I'm going to wipe that mouth of yours away, pink puffball!" Dark snarled, bringing his foot to the ground and creating a dark pulse that knocked everyone back. He was about to shoot Kirby, but he ended up getting hit by a Homing Attack.

"Leave him alone, all right?" Sonic suggested. "You really want to go after me, right?"

"Of course. However, Tipral told me that I need to get rid of all the heroes, which includes the rest of you."

Luigi jumped out of the way when Dark fired a Swift Strike his way. Luckily, he was able to use Bonjourang and hit Dark with the Pixl, but that only got him shot by a dark laser.

"And you know… You probably wouldn't want to use fire here, Chopper." Dark warned as he noticed him readying a fireball. "Would you really want to set these woods on fire? I don't think so."

"Oh… He has a point there." Chopper frowned. "That means I have another option."

Dark was about to kick Chopper, but he ended up becoming frozen when Chopper threw a charged ice ball at him. This gave Blade the opportunity to attack him with a fire slash, which unfroze Dark, but it didn't stop him from kicking Blade in the stomach.

Sonic tried to attack him with his Homing Attack, but he simply disappeared using his cape. He reappeared in front of Luigi and gave him a headbutt, leaving the green plumber dazed.

"Ugh… That was awful…" Luigi moaned.

Dark jumped in the air before Chopper and Kirby could dive straight for him and ended up bumping into each other, leaving both of them dazed. Dark decided to have a little fun by grabbing them and smashing their faces into each other.

"So, how does that feel? Both of you are hitting each other!" Dark grinned before getting struck by Kickbrin. Mario leapt in the air and brought his hammer down on him, but failed when Dark rolled out of the way.

"Take this!" the Dark Creature king fired two red energy blades straight at Sonic and Luigi. Sonic managed to avoid one and hit Dark with a Homing Attack, while Luigi leapt over one and stomped on Dark's head.

"So, how is your eye anyway?" Sonic asked. "I remember last time, your eye helped Dimentio."

"My eye is fine, and you don't have to bring that up again," Dark snapped, grabbing Sonic and performing a suplex to slam him to the ground. When he noticed Chopper and Kirby get up, he fired a laser at them, until Chopper inhaled it and spat it back at him.

Kirby helped Chopper by taking his Final Cutter out and striking Dark with it. The pink puffball was even able to avoid Dark's kick and kick him in the face.

Dark did a back flip when Sonic tried to kick him and jumped in the air and kicked Sonic from an angle. The blue hedgehog was able to get up, but unfortunately, Dark was able to grab him and throw him at Blade.

"So, am I weaker than the previous time you fought me?" Dark asked, making Chopper scream as he began to shoot by his feet. "Yeah, you can keep doing that. I think that's a little…enjoyable to me!"

"Dude… You ENJOY violence?!" Chopper gaped. "Are you mad?"

"Of course I'm mad! Blame that fool Shade for nearly taking away my army! What makes it worse is that you look a little like him!" the Dark Creature grabbed Chopper by his feet and let him dangle. He began to charge up a dark blast from the power of the black emerald, but Chopper was able to use Starbow to make shooting stars fall on Dark, leaving him vulnerable.

Sonic jumped in the air and prepared to hit Dark with a Spin Jump, but he ended up getting knocked away when Dark fired a blast of dark energy from his hand at him, making him grab a hold of a tree branch.

"Whew! At least I'm safe!" Sonic sighed. That is…until Dark teleported onto the tree branch. "Hey! Can't you at least let me get down on my own?"

"Sonic, why don't we play a little game called 'Make the Hedgehog Fall from a Tree'?" Dark grinned as he began to step on Sonic's fingers until he released his grip. Kirby got Carrie to catch him before he could get himself hurt.

"Whoa… That was too close!"

"Poyo, (You're welcome,)" Kirby sighed as he used his Hi-Jump attack to knock Dark off the branch and allow Mario to hit him with a Super Ground Pound while he was left vulnerable.

Dark managed to kick Kirby away and get himself back up. While at it, he fired a couple of meteors that hit Blade and Mario. This ended up ticking Blade off and making him attack Dark with his katana. Even if he hit him once, Dark made two dark blades out of dark power and began blocking some of his slashes.

"What the heck?" Blade gaped. "You never said that you could create blades!"

"Well now I can!" the Dark Creature king declared as he slashed Blade with them and even kicked his stomach. Sonic tried to attack him with a whirlwind, but he teleported out and struck the blue hedgehog with one blade.

"Uhhhhh… Could we sit down and talk about this?" Chopper sweat dropped as he noticed Sonic get knocked to the ground.

"No."

"Please?"

"I said no."

"Pretty please with…" Before Chopper could continued, Dark threw his blade at Chopper and knocked him to the ground. He quickly got up, and Dark threw his blade at him again, which he inhaled and spat back at him.

"Damn that ability of yours…"

Chopper gave a silly look as he hurled a rainbow ball at him and then bashed him with his hammer. He quickly stepped back when Dark was struck by a Sonic Wind that he didn't see coming.

"You coward…" Dark growled, throwing Sonic over using his martial arts. Sonic moaned as he quickly got up and managed to make Dark trip thanks to his sweeping kick. Chopper even attacked with a sweeping kick, but it only sent him flying when Dark kicked him.

Dark attempted to swing his blades at Sonic, but when Kirby stepped in front of Dark, he swung his Final Cutter at him. Dark managed to knock his Hi-Jump ability away with a single slash, but it didn't stop the puffball from inhaling him and spitting him back at a tree.

"Poyo, (At least I can inhale him,)" Kirby smiled.

"Grrrgh…" Dark slowly got up and noticed Luigi running toward him. He teleported out of harm's way and got on another tree branch. He looked down at the heroes with a serious look.

"Not bad… You guys sure have improved, I'll give you that!"

"Yeah, yeah, no need to boast," Chopper scoffed as he crossed his arms. "That's only going to waste our time. If you wanna fight, then fight!"

"All right… I'll save the boasting for some other time." Dark jumped in the air and stomped the ground with full force, creating a dark shockwave that sent everyone flying back toward a tree.

"Hmmmmm… Maybe I have an idea!" Blade smiled as he prepared to chop off a tree branch.

"Poyo! (Don't hurt the trees!)" Kirby cried. "Poyo! (Think about nature!)"

"Uhhhhh… Translation, please?"

"Kirby doesn't want you hurting the trees," Chopper translated as he took a sip of a Star Shroom Shake. He passed it over to Kirby, who took a sip, and then to Blade. "Personally, I agree with him."

"Hippie…"

"I heard that!"

"Oh, so you're going to heal yourselves, huh?" Dark questioned as he raised an eyebrow. "Whatever… It doesn't really matter in the end."

Before Dark could continue, Mario jumped in the air and landed on Dark with a Triple Jump. He was also able to pull off a stylish move as well, making the plumber cheer while Luigi hit him with his Cyclone, which sent him flying in the air.

"All right, Luigi! I choose you!" Chopper cried. "Hit him with a Super Jump!"

"Chopper… Was that necessary?" Luigi sweat dropped. "Especially at a time like this?"

"Sorry! I just couldn't help it! This was the best moment!" he smiled sheepishly as Luigi hit Dark with a Super Jump. Dark growled as he grabbed Luigi and threw him to the ground with full force.

When Dark landed on the ground, Mario managed to bash his head with his hammer once again. Dark growled as he tried punching him, but he ended up failing when Mario bashed him with his own head.

Mario: Well, I never knew that was helpful…

Dark let out a howl as he whipped out bigger blades. When he swung them, a dark cutter blade was thrown toward Mario, forcing him to jump over the attack. Even a couple of dark meteors were sent flying down as well!

"I think he's lost it," Blade gulped.

"Poyo! (Don't cause too much damage to the woods!)" Kirby cried. "Poyo! (You're only going to make it worse!)"

"I don't care what you're saying, nor do I care about these woods!" Dark howled as he fired a couple of more dark meteors down. "You finally drew the line, and now I'm going to take you down!"

"Don't you mean the living sh-" Blade was eventually kicked in the face by Dark before he could finish his sentence, and he even managed to fire a dark blast from his hands at him as well.

Kirby frowned as he heard Dark cackle, and he attacked him with his Cartwheel in order to get him to stop. While it didn't work, it did stop him from attacking Blade and paying more attention to him.

"Take this!" Dark fired two dark blades straight at Kirby. He dodged one of them, but the last one hit him and sent him flying. Chopper tried to stop him by charging at him and tackling to the ground, but Dark saw it coming and gave him a suplex.

"Hey… What happens if I copy his ability?" Chopper wondered as he inhaled Dark. Unfortunately, this didn't seem to work when Dark simply broke out of Chopper's mouth and kicked his face.

"Take my ability, and I'm going to rip you apart," Dark sneered before getting struck by a Dragon Beam by Blade. He nearly gaped at the attack, but he ended up clenching his fists and firing a laser from his blaster at the cat, who managed to put Barry up to defend himself.

"Well, Dark… You're rather low on HP!" Sonic noticed. "Are ya gonna give up?"

"And why should I?"

"Because we don't want to leave you seriously injured…"

"Bite me."

"That's a little rude…" Chopper trailed, hurling a rainbow ball at Dark. When Sonic jumped in the air and attacked Dark with a Bounce Attack, the Dark Creature king jumped out of harm's way and blasted Sonic with his blaster.

When he created two blades, he threw both of them, but unfortunately, they were inhaled by both Chopper and Kirby and spat back at him, knocking him to the ground. Mario and Luigi jumped over to him, but they ended up getting kicked away when Dark got himself back up.

Mario: Geez… I guess he's moving fast now.

Dark jumped onto a tree branch and began to fire down at the group with his blaster. Luigi jumped out of the lasers' way and knocked Dark out of the tree with a Super Jump, leaving him rather weak.

After Sonic struck him with a Light Speed Attack, Dark fell to the ground in defeat. Even the power of the black emerald faded away.

"Unnghh… I lost." he moaned as he slowly got up. "But that doesn't matter. I'm sure The Void will take care of you anyway."

"The Void? You mean…" Chopper gulped.

"Yes, just like Mobius and the Mushroom Kingdom! I'm sure you guys aren't too surprised."

"Poyo! (Not Pop Star!)" Kirby cried.

"So long for now, heroes! Maybe we'll meet again – if you somehow survive, that is." With that, Dark fled from the group, jumping from tree branch to tree branch.

"Well, we can't just stay here!" Luigi cried. "We don't want The Void to swallow up that Pop Star Card, right?"

"Poyo… (No…)"

"Then we need to go. Now." Chopper declared as he ran off through the woods. Kirby sighed as he followed the rest of the room.

---

Meanwhile-

"I may have lost the fight, but at least I finished my job," Dark stated as he swung off a tree branch and landed on the grass. "Now the only problem is… How am I going to get out of this place?"

While Dark looked around, he felt that he wasn't alone in the woods. "Hmmmmmm… Something doesn't feel right here… I sense that I'm not the only one around here…"

He accidentally stepped on a twig, forcing him to turn around. Although he felt a little nervous, he knew he could put up a fight against whatever was around him. He had all of that power!

Or rather, he thought that.

"Ah…ha…ha…"

"What was that?" Dark clenched his fists and looked around him. Sadly, he didn't see anything, but when he turned around, he saw a shadowy mist. It was charging straight for him.

"What the…?!" Before he could strike at it, the mist went into his head and turned his eyes a black and yellow color. He grinned evilly as he walked over to one of the trees and set it on fire.

"Perfect! Now I got the power from all of Tipral's minions!" Dark grinned as he stepped back from the burning tree, which began to set a couple of others on fire. "The steps to getting unlimited power are almost complete! Only two things remain… And as for the trees, that should keep those heroes busy!"

The shadowy mist left Dark's body and slowly faded away, leaving Dark to cough and rub his eyes.

"What the... What just happened?!" Dark looked up and noticed the forest fire. "And how did this forest get set on fire?! Well, I don't care what happens to this world. I'm getting out of here."

Dark used his cape and teleported out of the woods and out of the world, wondering what the heck happened in the first place.

---

Back with the heroes-

"Poyo, (We should be able to get out of the woods this way,)" Kirby informed as they ran past a couple of trees. They noticed there weren't any forest creatures around, to their surprise.

"Hey… Where are all the birds?" Chopper asked. "Shouldn't they be here?"

However, when a bunch of woodland creatures passed them, they knew there was something wrong. One of Kirby's forest friends, Rick the Hamster, ran past them, but not before looking at them.

"Run for it, guys!" he cried. "There's a fire that's been set off!"

"Poyo?! (What?! Are you serious?!)" Kirby gaped.

They turned around and noticed the trees were ablaze. With gasps, they fled from the fires and followed the forest creatures out of the forest. They noticed how the sky got red as the flames emitted into the sky.

"Holy guacamole! We gotta move faster!" Blade cried as Sonic grabbed Blade and Mario's arm, while Chopper grabbed Kirby and Luigi's, allowing them to escape from the fires at a faster pace.

Once they were out of the woods, they stopped near a hill and turned around. All of the forest animals managed to escape, but the woods itself? Nearly everything was getting burnt down.

"Poyo… (The woods… No…)" Kirby trailed.

"Aw, man… Our home!" Rick gaped. "How did this fire get set off in the first place?!"

"I have no idea…" Chopper trailed.

"Do you think Dark had to do something with it?" Sonic asked.

"Who's Dark?" Rick asked.

"He was some weirdo that we fought in the forest," Blade explained. "After we beat him, he ran off somewhere. Unfortunately, we don't know where he went. Probably back to the palace."

"Well, we haven't seen you in a while, Kirby! Where were you?"

"Poyo, (I was out saving the world,)" Kirby smiled until he looked at The Void. "Poyo… (But now this place is in danger… The size of The Void looks as if it's going to tear this place apart…)"

"Well, then what are we going to do?" Rick asked until they saw an explosion over by Cappy Town and Hatty Town (a town near Cappy Town, if you don't know). "Whoa! What the heck was that?!"

---

Castle Dedede-

"Hey, Escargon! Take a look out at both town!" King Dedede informed as his lavender snail assistant with a goatee carried himself into the room.

"What is it, Your Majesty?" Escargon groaned.

"It looks like Chopper and Kirby and throwing some kind of parade! You see those explosions in both towns?"

"Wait… Those two from five months ago? Didn't you run into them before, from what I recall?"

"Yeah, I found 'em three times, but I was left on an island for a while until a portal suddenly showed up and took me back to this world. The voice that told me to come back here was kinda weird…"

"Like how weird?"

"I mean really, really weird. But anyway… Seeing them here finally gives me a chance to get revenge on those two for humiliating me those other times! Don't you agree with me, Escargon?"

"Well, Your Majesty… I was thinking of a better idea, such as luring them into a trap…?"

Escargon gaped as a hammer came down on his head. "Don't you EVER give me dumb ideas like that! I only care about crushing them, not capturing them! And… You know, maybe this might be the perfect chance for me to retry that one thing I used before…"

"You mean that plan that failed before?" Escargon recalled.

"Plan that failed before? I don't recall a plan ever failing!"

"Man, I knew you were stupid, but not THIS stupid…"

"What was that?!"

"Uhhh… Nothing, Your Majesty! Nothing at all!"

"Good, because I'm getting a little hungry," King Dedede clapped twice and two Waddle Dees came walking in. However, there seemed to be something different about them. They had a dark glow surrounding them.

"Escargon…"

"Yes, Your Majesty?"

"Were my men always dark and evil-looking?"

"No…"

"Then care to explain WHAT THE HECK JUST HAPPENED?!"

"I don't know!"

The Corrupted Waddle Dee pulled its spear out and charged at King Dedede, who managed to swipe it away with his hammer, sending it back into the hallway. That's when they locked the throne room shut.

"Aren't those Crystal Thingamajigs meant to protect the universe?" King Dedede squawked. "Then how come my minions are brainwashed?!"

"I have no idea! Let's just focus on staying alive!"

"No way! If there's one thing I need to do, it's to get my ultimate weapon and take those two down! And you're helping me!"

"No, Your Majesty! I don't want to!" Escargon cried as King Dedede began to drag him out of the throne room. "I'd rather hug my King Dedede doll than die!"

"What?"

"Oh, nothing!"

Unfortunately, it didn't work out too well for Escargon when King Dedede dragged him out of the throne room and began whacking the Corrupted Waddle Dee away from him. The important thing was that he wanted revenge.

---

Near Cappy Town-

"Did you just see that?!" Rick gaped. "There was an explosion by those two towns! Something must not be right!"

"We should go check the two towns," Chopper suggested

"We're going to two towns, right?" Blade pondered. "Then maybe we should split up."

"Oh, no!" Luigi gasped. "Remember what happened before? We were thrown into space until we got rescued! Splitting up is a bad idea!"

"Poyo, (Well, I'm going to Cappy Town,)" Kirby declared.

"And I guess I'll go to Hatty Town," Chopper added. "Kirby, you can lead the way to Cappy Town, and I'll lead Hatty Town, since I probably know about that place more. Of course, you know more about Cappy Town."

"Poyo. (Yeah.)"

"Well, I'm not leaving Mario again, that's for sure!" Luigi declared.

"I should probably go to Cappy Town with Kirby," Sonic decided. "Two fast people in one group wouldn't be the best idea."

Mario: I guess I'll go with Chopper.

"That means I'm going with him too," Luigi added.

"Well, then I guess this means it's me, Kirby, and Sonic going to Cappy Town," Blade shrugged. "Hopefully we find the card somewhere. I think using a communicator wouldn't be a bad idea. Here."

Blade tossed Chopper a communicator, but Mario ended up catching it instead. After making a face, the pale green hero shrugged and ran off to Hatty Town, but he soon stopped when a Corrupted Waddle Dee was charging toward him.

"Uh oh… The Waddle Dees are corrupted too!" Chopper gulped, whacking it with his hammer to defeat it. "Let's go! Now!"

Mario and Luigi exchanged nods and followed Chopper, while Kirby, Sonic and Blade headed to Cappy Town.

---

Cappy Town-

"My… My restaurant!" a orange oval-shaped person named Chef Kawasaki gaped as he saw his restaurant in ruins. "Why? Why would he do this to my precious place? I thought he loved the food here?!"

"This is preposterous!" a light yellow oval-shaped Cappy fortune teller named Maberu shouted. "What he did to our town is unacceptable! I predict a horrible future that awaits him…"

"But it makes no sense for him to do this," Knuckle Joe, who wears blue fighting gear, has blonde hair and a white bandanna growled as he clenched his fists. "And here I thought I had respect for that antennae kid!"

"Poyo! (Hi, guys!)" Kirby greeted as he, Sonic, and Blade walked into town. Kirby tried to stay as positive as he could, while Sonic and Blade's eyes widened at the destroyed buildings.

"Blade… Look at this place!" Sonic gasped.

"Yeah! Who would do this?!" Blade gawked.

"Well, I bet it had something to do with Tipral…"

"KIRBY!"

All of the Cappies came over to Kirby, who looked delighted to see them. However, when he opened his eyes, he noticed they were actually angry with him than happy. In fact, they were practically surrounded.

"Kirby! Why did you do this to our town?!"

"I thought you were a hero!"

"I've seriously lost some respect for you!"

"Yeah! I mean, you love this place!" a yellow bird named Tokkori spat as he flew down in front of Kirby. "I knew all this time you were a selfish little monster that could think of nothing but trying to eat us! Get out of here!"

"P-Poyo? (Wh-What are you talking about?)" Kirby gaped.

"Now, hold on a moment, there's gotta be an explanation here," Sonic said, stepping in. "Can you guys explain what's going on?"

"We saw Kirby destroying the town!" a Cappy in a brown jacket and brown hat named Mayor Len explained. "If you think you're hiding yourself, you can think again, Kirby! That pink blob looked EXACTLY like you!"

"What? He wasn't doing that!" Blade defended. "He was with us while trying to escape a forest fire!"

"Forest fire? So, you caused TWO things, is that right?!" Chef Kawasaki growled. "I'm so disappointed in you, Kirby! After all you've done to help us…"

"And we were thinking about repaying you too!" Mayor Len added.

"Poyo! (But I swear I didn't do it!)" Kirby cried, shedding a small tear. "Poyo? (Why would I do such a thing?)"

"Enough already!" Knuckle Joe shouted, charging at Kirby. "I'm going to make you pay for what you did!"

He kicked Kirby, sending him flying back. Sonic and Blade gaped and got ready to defend themselves, even though he didn't seem to be paying any attention to them, however.

"Hey! Lay off him!" Blade shouted as he grabbed Knuckle Joe's bandanna before he could punch Kirby. "You should seriously believe us, you know!"

"Get off of me, you smelly cat!" he managed to elbow Blade in the stomach and chase after Kirby, who began to flee. "Stop running and hold still! I'm giving your just desserts!"

"Poyo! (But I don't deserve this!)" Kirby cried.

When Knuckle Joe struck Kirby with a Vulcan Jab, that's when Sonic had enough of this. With his Whirlwind, he decided to leave Knuckle Joe stunned rather than hurting him and grabbed Kirby.

"We're not letting you get harmed by him," Sonic stated. "Come on, it looks like we're not going to be getting anywhere here. It looks like everyone's just accusing you of something dumb."

"Hey, guys…" Blade trailed looking back at an angry Knuckle Joe's eyes. Did you look at their eyes? I mean, for some reason, they feel a little purplish to me… You think that has something to do with The Void?"

"Poyo… (I hope so, because then that means they're not being themselves…)" Kirby trailed. "Poyo! (But I don't want them left like that either!)"

"I don't know what you said, but I think you don't want them being like that…" Sonic pondered. "Let's hope they'll realize soon…"

"Poyo… (Yeah… Let's go to King Dedede's Castle, I guess…)"

"Where?" Blade gawked until Kirby pointed to the castle. "All right, we should go there. The card COULD be there anyway."

"Poyo. (Chances are not everyone's like this.)"

---

Hatty Town-

"Wow… These people are strange…" Luigi trailed as he noticed some Cappies gaping at some of the destroyed buildings. "I can't believe something like this happened to these buildings! I mean, it's messed up!"

Mario: Yeah, it was unexpected.

"Man, it's been a while since I've been to Hatty Town," Chopper smiled as he looked at the Cappies. He also looked over at the Mayor's house. It had been so long since he paid him a visit...

"YOU!" a Cappy wearing a monocle walked over to Chopper and glared at him. He looked all too familiar to him. "What in the world did you do to our village?! Explain to us right now!"

"Wait… WHAT?! I did NOTHING to your village, Mayor!"

"We are NOT pleased with this! You help us one time, and then you decide it would be fun to simply cause damage to our place! UNACCEPTABLE!"

"I lost my home because of you!" a Cappy wearing a pink hat growled. "Now my husband and daughter are left homeless! Is this how you go around with your life? Making others miserable?!"

Mario: Chopper was out in the forest!

"Yeah! We were escaping a forest fire!" Luigi added.

"A forest fire, huh? Did you cause that too?" Mayor Grandid growled.

"Hey… You know, I noticed something."

Mario: What is it, Luigi?

"Look at their eyes," Luigi pointed to the Cappies eyes, which looked a little more purplish than black. "Do you guys see that? I think there's something wrong with them!"

"Yeah! There does appear to be!" Chopper gaped. "How come I didn't notice it before?"

"So, are you proud of yourself?" a white alien girl with long, white hair and a green bandanna jumped down from a building wearing an orange jumpsuit and a large, brown collar. She was holding a strange-looking weapon that could change to a sword, flamethrower, machine gun, missile launcher, and grappling hook.

"Silica?! Don't you realize what's going on?! Your eyes look all purple and stuff!"

"Do you even realize what you did to this town?!" Silica sneered aiming her weapon at Chopper. "I thought you were a hero that people could look up to sometimes, not a heartless kid who goes around causing destruction!"

"I swear to you that I didn't do anything," Chopper replied. "Just lower your weapon so no one gets hurt."

Unfortunately, that didn't stop Silica from firing. Chopper gasped and rolled out of the way of the bullets, while Luigi ducked in order to avoid some of them. Mario gaped when Silica used her flamethrower, which barely touched his mustache.

Mario: Luigi! We need to help Chopper!

"Well, he seems to be doing just fine!" Luigi pointed out as Chopper sped up to one building. A bunch of Cappies began to throw stuff like buckets and tomatoes at him, which ended up knocking him to the ground.

Mario and Luigi ran over to the messy Chopper, attempting to save him. However, someone else managed to grab him before they could reach him. The figure seemed to gesture them to follow.

"Whoa… Is he on our side?" Luigi gawked.

Mario: We better follow! He's going to the castle!

---

Entrance to Castle Dedede-

"Whew! I can't believe we made it!" Sonic grinned as he put Kirby down. They were in front of the gate to King Dedede's castle. "So… Is this the castle that that penguin guy we fought before is at?"

"Poyo, (Yeah, he is,)" Kirby nodded.

"Well, then we should try to wait for the others before those Cappies come here," Blade suggested before seeing four people off at the distance. "Hey… I think I see them coming…but who's the other guy?"

With Mario and Luigi, they were having a hard time trying to catch up to the person who had Chopper, since he was using his wings to fly.

"Meta Knight!" Chopper gaped as he looked at the purple metallic feet and the wings. "Are you like the others?"

"No," Meta Knight answered as he let go of Chopper and turned around. "You should be safe here. Apparently The Void's power has gotten so strong here, that some of the Cappies were corrupted by some of its power. They won't listen to a word any of you say."

"Then how come it doesn't affect you?" Luigi asked.

"I guess I'm one of those 'special' ones."

Mario: How do you know we weren't responsible for the destruction of those towns?

"I saw you escaping the fire when I was in the castle," Meta Knight explained. "I also noticed someone that resembled Chopper and Kirby causing destruction in the towns as well. Apparently this was Tipral's doing. He managed to create a clone that turned into Kirby to destroy Cappy Town, while he went for Hatty Town."

"I KNEW Tipral was behind this!" Chopper frowned. "But… Do you know where we could find some kind of card?"

"Yes, in fact, someone you know is holding it. You remember Fumu, do you not?"

"My friend's…uh…girlfriend? I guess so…"

"She's holding it," Meta Knight stopped at the gate, where the other three gasped. "Surprised to see me, I suppose?"

"Not really…" Blade trailed. "You DO live here…"

"Poyo? (How have you been doing with Dream Land so far?)" Kirby asked.

"Things were going fine…until The Void showed up and began to corrupt people's minds. And don't worry, I know everything that happened."

After a short explanation, Kirby, Sonic, and Blade nodded.

"So Fumu has the Pop Star Card, right?" Sonic asked.

"Correct. She's in the castle, so you'll need to go in there. However, beware of the Waddle Dees in there. Because of the corruption in their mind, they're a lot stronger than before."

"Believe me, we've dealt with something like that…" Luigi sighed, thinking about his home world and the Corrupted Goombas there.

"Well, we might as well go in the castle, right?" Sonic suggested as Meta Knight opened the gate, leading them into the courtyard. Three Corrupted Waddle Dees spotted them and began to charge at them.

"Heads up!" Chopper alarmed, swinging one away with his hammer, while Kirby inhaled one and spat it at another.

They noticed there was a fountain in the center of the courtyard with a golden statue of King Dedede sitting at the top. Some water was coming out of its mouth, and some was coming out of…its armpits?

"Sometimes I wonder why His Majesty had water coming out of the armpits," Meta Knight sighed as he noticed two Corrupted Waddle Dees holding paintbrushes.

"Allow me," Chopper declared as he inhaled one and swallowed it, gaining a backwards blue cap and a paintbrush. Knowing he got the Paint ability, he tested it out by painting the Corrupted Waddle Dee red, scorching it.

"Whoa… Paint can do that?!" Blade gawked.

"Apparently so…" Sonic trailed. "I've seen it before, so I would know."

Since the fountain was in their way, Chopper flipped into 3-D and helped everyone get past it. When they reached the door ahead, they noticed it had a lock. However, there happened to be a balcony above them with a Corrupted Waddle Dee throwing spears.

"Uh oh…" Luigi gulped as he dodged the spear.

Kirby took in some air and floated up to the balcony. After kicking the Corrupted Waddle Dee, it dropped a Castle Key, which he took in order to open the door into the castle.

---

Inside Castle Dedede-

Once they were inside, they looked at the dark blue walls and the green floor. There didn't appear to be anything special so far, but they noticed a couple of Corrupted Waddle Doo holding spears marching down the hallway.

"Uh oh… This isn't good." Blade gulped, unsheathing his katana. "And there's no place to hide from them either!"

"Unless we go into 3-D," Chopper smirked as he flipped into 3-D. However, he noticed the Corrupted Waddle Doo could flip because of the outlined box around them. "Oh… Well that's nice…"

"Then we fight," Sonic declared as he threw himself at the Corrupted Waddle Doo with a Spin Dash. He managed to hit one, but one of them shot a beam out of its eye and knocked Sonic back.

"Look, I'll take care of these Waddle Doo," Meta Knight stated, getting Galaxia ready. "Though I will not try to hurt them, I will fend them off. You guys need to focus on finding the Cabinet Master's room. There, you'll find Fumu."

"How can we do that?" Luigi asked.

"Sadly, that is not where I can help you…"

"OK… I guess we'll have to find out all on our own." Chopper sighed as they avoided the Corrupted Waddle Doo while Meta Knight held them off. When they reached the end of the hallway, they noticed in 3-D, there was another hallway up north, so they took that way and went back into 2-D to make the hallway move to the right.

"All right… So we need to find a door in this entire hallway, right?" Blade asked.

Mario: Well, that makes sense.

"Poyo, (I think I know the way,)" Kirby informed as he took the lead and let everyone follow him through the hallway. There were two Corrupted Waddle Dees in their way, but with some white paint, one was frozen, while Kirby kicked the frozen Waddle Dee at the other, disintegrating both. One dropped an Ultimate Shroom Shake, to their surprise.

"Hey! This could turn out to be useful!" Chopper smiled as he took the shake and continued on. He painted one Corrupted Waddle Dee green to poison it, while Blade finished it off with his katana.

"Hey, I think I see a door up ahead!" Luigi noticed, which was being guarded by a Corrupted Waddle Doo holding a spear. The green plumber decided to throw Bonjourang at the enemy, but all it did was tick it off.

However, it was easily defeated when it got pelted by a couple of shooting stars thanks to Starbow. With that, they were able to carry on ahead into the next room, where they found a staircase that could only be accessed through 3-D.

"More 3-D stuff, huh?" Chopper said as he flipped everyone in 3-D and got them up the stairs into a small room with a door up ahead, which led into another similar hallway. The only difference was that there was a lollipop sitting on the floor and a bunch of enemies up ahead.

"Wait… Doesn't that make you invincible?" Sonic gawked.

"Poyo! (Yeah! Just watch!)" Kirby ate the lollipop, with its power enveloping around him and transforming him into a giant 8-bit version of himself. "…Poyo? (…Huh? How come I became 8-bit?)"

"I guess it's the Mega Star of this world," Chopper shrugged. "Why don't you go ahead and trample the enemies in our way!"

"Poyo! (With pleasure!)"

Kirby began to trample over all of the Corrupted Waddle Dee and Waddle Doo in his path. However, it didn't last long when he reached the end of the hallway, where he only found a Save Block.

"OK… I guess we need to save?" Luigi questioned as he hit the Save Block. Chopper flipped into 3-D again to find another hallway up north, but no door.

So after making their way to the end of the hallway, they went into 3-D and took the next hallway, where they found a hallway. There were a couple of Corrupted Bronto Burts there as well, so it wasn't safe. But with Luigi's Super Jump, they were able to take them down with ease.

"Don't suppose Fumu is up on the third floor, right?" Chopper asked.

"Poyo, (Yeah, she is,)" Kirby nodded as they headed through the door and found a spring leading up to the next floor. After launching themselves up to it, they found a door and headed into a smaller hallway with a large, golden door up ahead. There was a ? Block there as well, which contained an Ultimate Shroom.

Mario: That should help us!

Blade sliced the Ultimate Shroom into six pieces and everyone took a piece, recovering 100 HP. With that, they decided to head through the large door.

---

Dark room-

"Hey! What's going on?! I can't see a thing!" Luigi cried. "Where are you, Bro!"

"Hey! You're touching me, Luigi!" Sonic cried.

"Oh, sorry…"

"This is weird… Hold on, let me get some light." Chopper conjured up a rainbow ball and held it in his hand. They noticed a small staircase up ahead. Kirby led the way up to an arena, where they noticed a large, electric fence surrounding everywhere but the entrance they were standing by.

"Heh heh heh! I knew you'd come in here!"

"What? Who said that?" Blade asked, looking around the room until he heard a loud thud that sent Sonic, him, Mario, and Luigi flying out of the arena. The entrance into the arena was sealed off by an electric fence.

"Poyo? (What's going on? )" Kirby gawked.

"And who just said that?" Chopper asked before looking behind him. "And why are the rest of our friends not here?"

"I've been waiting a long time for this…" the voice trailed. "You see, ever since you left me on that island, I could barely do a thing! But, now that I'm back here, we can finally settle this! This is only between you two and me!"

"Poyo… (Hold on… I recognize that voice…)" Kirby realized until the lights turned on. Outside of the arena, Escargon was right beside the light switch, while King Dedede jumped in front of them with a black mask with small spikes pointing out, shoulder pads, and a mechanized hammer with a couple of sparks appearing on it.

"Remember this, you guys?" King Dedede grinned as he lifted his mask and cackled. "Remember when you trounced me at Mt. Dedede when I had this too? Well, I learned from my mistakes then and tweaked up this hammer a bit! Now, as Masked Dedede, I'm unstoppable!"

"Aw, come on!" Chopper cried. "We were so close, but now you show up and try to attack us! Listen, we don't have time for any of your games!"

"Try to leave and you'll get electrocuted," Masked Dedede declared. "So if you wanna get out of here, you either win or get trounced by me!"

"Poyo… (Then we have no choice…)" Kirby trailed as he got in a fighting stance, while Chopper got his paintbrush ready.

"Let us settle this!"

Things didn't look good, especially when Masked Dedede had 460 HP, an Attack of 18 and a Defense of 8. This looked a lot tougher than the battle with him before in Mt. Dedede, that's for sure.

"Ugh… All right, I guess my paintbrush could use some…well, painting." Chopper sweat dropped as his paintbrush drooped as Masked Dedede jumped toward them and stomped on Chopper. Thankfully, two yellow stars appeared, which allowed Kirby to inhale them and spit them at Masked Dedede.

"Oof! Why you little…!" the king tried to grab Kirby, who simply floated above him to avoid his attacks. Afterward, when he landed behind him, he attacked him with his Final Cutter to leave him off guard.

"Poyo! (You're not THAT tough!)" Kirby mocked.

"Well, compared to last time, I'm not messing around now!" Masked Dedede gripped his hammer and slammed it on the ground, creating a massive shockwave that struck both Chopper and Kirby, leaving them paralyzed.

"Unngh…! I…can't move…!" Chopper cringed.

"Are you serious? He can paralyze both of them at once?!" Blade gaped. "I'm sorry, but that's not fair!"

While Masked Dedede grinned, he fired missiles out of his hammer, which sent Chopper and Kirby flying into the electric fence, electrocuting them as well. This also got them out of their paralysis state and allowed Chopper to even paint Masked Dedede red to burn him.

"What the…?! Since when is paint hot?!" Masked Dedede gawked.

"Well, this is a strange ability I have," Chopper shrugged as he jumped on Masked Dedede's head. "I'd rather not question something like this anyway, because you probably want to fight, right?"

"Oh… Yeah! Of course I do!"

Masked Dedede charged toward Chopper and tried to tackle him, but he simply jumped over him and stomped on his head, while Kirby kicked him in the butt. It wasn't much, but it did get Masked Dedede upset.

"Your Majesty! Use your spinning attack!" Escargon cried.

"Hey! You're not the one who gives me commands!" Masked Dedede snapped. "I'm king around here! KING!"

"Poyo, (We already know that,)" Kirby sighed as he ran up to Masked Dedede and struck him with his Final Cutter. The king growled as he tried to inhale Kirby. However, he was too far from range to get him, which allowed Chopper to paint him white and leave him frozen.

"Maybe I should become an artist!" Chopper smiled as Kirby struck Masked Dedede with his Final Cutter, unfreezing him instantly.

Mario: That's not a good idea…

"Poyo? (After what happened last time?)" Kirby gaped. "Poyo… (Although my art's bad too…)"

Masked Dedede stood his hammer up and let the face open up to reveal a couple of missiles. Some of them were ice, while some others were fire. Kirby inhaled an ice missile and spat it at him.

"Urghh… It's s-so c-cold…" Masked Dedede shivered.

"Poyo, (Well, you should've realized I could inhale things,)" Kirby informed.

"Grrrrr! Next time you say 'Poyo' to me, I'm going to smash you with this hammer!" he growled as he attempted to smash Kirby with his hammer anyway. Chopper managed to bash his head with his own hammer. When Masked Dedede turned around, Chopper hurled a rainbow ball to his face.

However, due to his mask, it didn't do that much.

"Oh, that's just cute! You threw something at my face when I have this mask on!" Masked Dedede cackled as he grabbed Chopper by the feet and let him dangle over. "Here! I've got something you might like!"

"Pizza?" Chopper asked with a smile and glittering eyes before getting thrown toward the fence, which electrocuted him.

"Yeah! Go His Majesty!" Escargon cheered, holding pompoms. "If he can't do it, nobody can!"

"Should we take care of him?" Sonic asked.

"Nah…" Blade shook his head. "Seeing him act like that is a little more entertaining than watching him get scared."

Mario: Really?

"What? To be fair, scaring people isn't a good thing in my opinion… Did you see the fear in everyone's eyes in the previous worlds?!"

"Yeah, they were definitely scared…" Luigi trailed. "Especially Toad Town…"

Masked Dedede tried to whack at Kirby from above him, since the pink puffball was floating around. At this point, he had enough and took in some air and began to float up to him. Though he couldn't hit him with his hammer, he could still ram into him.

Knowing Kirby was in danger, Chopper threw a rainbow ball at Masked Dedede's stomach, forcing him to exhale and fall to the ground. The masked helped prevent his face from getting hurt and let him get back up and bash Chopper with his mechanized hammer.

"Youch! That is painful!" Chopper cried.

"Heh heh heh! I knew this was a good idea!" Masked Dedede grinned.

The pale green gumball quickly got up and punched his stomach using rainbow energy. While his punches don't do much damage, punching with rainbow energy was much more effective. He also used some yellow paint to electrocute him.

"Well, looks like you got a taste of your own medicine," Chopper said as he jumped out of the way of Masked Dedede's hammer.

"You know, Chopper… You wanna know how I felt after I lost to you back in Mt. Dedede five months ago?!" Masked Dedede cried as he tried to swipe at him with his hammer.

"Well… I'd rather not know…"

"I was left MISERABLE! I was left to walk in depression in the sunset as I slowly walked home! Not only that, but those Tartaras just HAD to take my castle away! I was ANGRY!"

"You should be happy that we saved your castle!" Chopper shouted. "And how do you thank us? By trying to beat us with that?! That's SUCH a good way to return the favor!"

"Just shut up and die!" Masked Dedede growled as he stood his hammer up and allowed the face to open. Instead of missiles, it unleashed a flamethrower that Kirby managed to save Chopper from when he grabbed Kirby's feet to fly over it.

"Whew… Thanks!"

"Poyo, (Well I had to do something,)" Kirby said.

Masked Dedede took in some air and began to fly in the air as well in an attempt to follow them. What Kirby did was simply lure him to the electric fence and let him bump into it as Kirby dropped to the ground, electrocuting the king.

"Ack! Stupid puffball! I knew I should've gotten rid of you before!" Masked Dedede cried as he slammed his hammer to the ground and created a shockwave. Knowing what to do, Chopper and Kirby jumped over it to avoid another paralysis.

"Well, at least we're not paralyzed," Chopper sighed.

Masked Dedede stomped the ground in anger as he charged for Chopper and Kirby. What he didn't notice was Chopper painted a part of the ground white to cover it in ice, making Masked Dedede slip and crash into the electric fence, electrocuting him.

"Your Majesty! Don't let them fool you like that!" Escargon cried. "Don't you realize brute force won't work?!"

"I don't need your help, Escargon!" Masked Dedede snapped. "I'm trying to defeat my foes on my own and not depend on anyone else!"

"But you're doing so poorly! You should listen to my advice!"

"Actually, it's better that you don't listen," Sonic suggested.

"You're dang right I'm not going to listen!" Masked Dedede growled as he managed to inhale Chopper and spit him at Kirby. "See? I'm already doing just fine! Inhaling usually works for me!"

Masked Dedede tried to inhale again, but this time Chopper threw a fireball in his mouth. Unfortunately, his plan didn't work when the king spat the fireball back at him, knocking him into the electric fence and electrocuting him.

"That was a dumb move on your part, Chopper," Blade commented.

"I know… You don't have to tell me."

Masked Dedede grinned as he walked over to Chopper, but not before getting hit by Kirby's Final Cutter. He turned around and attempted to bash at his nemesis with his hammer, but ended up resulting in spinning his hammer around.

"Poyo! (Hold on, I've got you!)" Kirby cried as he floated above Chopper. The pale green hero managed to grab Kirby's feet and float above Masked Dedede, who was starting to get tired.

Once he dazed, Chopper let go of Kirby's feet and jumped on him twice, performing a stylish move. Kirby followed up with his Cartwheel, and then Chopper painted him green, leaving him poisoned.

"You think poisoning me is funny?!" Masked Dedede barked as he took out a potion and drank it to cure the poison. "Well I have a couple of these bad boys to help me if you try poisoning me again!"

"Well, then that didn't work," Chopper sighed as he got whacked by Masked Dedede's hammer. Kirby managed to get on Masked Dedede afterward, which forced him to try to hit Kirby.

And that ended up failing when he hit his head instead.

"OW! What the heck?!"

"Your Majesty, you shouldn't hit your opponent when he's on you!" Escargon cried.

"I don't need your yappin'! I'm fine!" Masked Dedede cried as he dove after Kirby. The pink puffball tried to get away, but Masked Dedede managed to catch him and send him flying back upon impact as well.

Chopper and Kirby stood back, while Masked Dedede jumped in the air and began to stomp the ground. Yellow stars appeared around him for every stomp he performed. This helped Kirby hit him by inhaling the stars and spitting them out.

"Poyo? (You know those help me, right?)" Kirby wondered.

"Quit goin' 'Poyo'! That's annoying!" Masked Dedede growled as he tried to inhale him like a vacuum. When he stopped, Chopper painted him yellow and left him electrocuted. However, his Paint ability didn't last long when Masked Dedede bashed him, knocking his ability away.

"Ack! Not my ability!" Chopper cried as he chased it to the fence. When the star hit the fence, it was destroyed. "Great… Now I have no ability to use!"

"Heh heh! Well now! I guess I have the upper hand here!" the king grinned as he clenched his hammer and raised it up. Chopper got his hammer and bashed his foot, causing him to hop around the arena.

"Well that did something!"

"Well it's better than nothing," Luigi shrugged as Masked Dedede yelped. When he got to Kirby, he ended up stepping on him on complete accident, and afterward, he bumped into the electric fence, electrocuting him.

"Your Majesty… Are you sure the electric fence was necessary?" Escargon asked as Masked Dedede fell to the ground.

"Ugh… Turn off the electricity!" ordered the king. "It's being used against me, and that's something I don't want!"

"About time you listen to me…" the snail grumbled as he flipped the switch to turn off the electric fence. "Now it's just you and those two for now. Don't try to get hurt, Your Majesty!"

"Quiet now, Escargon! I need to focus here!"

Chopper readied his hammer and spun it around while Masked Dedede was preoccupied. Because of this, he got angry and spun his hammer around as well. Kirby tried throwing Crystaline at him, but it didn't seem to work.

"Poyo, (I guess we can only avoid that attack,)" Kirby frowned as Chopper grabbed his feet and held on as Kirby floated up.

After Masked Dedede stopped, he was left dizzy. At this point, Kirby threw Crystaline at him and froze him. Chopper threw a charged fireball at Masked Dedede afterward, unfreezing him and leaving him with a burn.

"You know what I don't get?"

"What?"

"How the heck do you have that rainbow stuff?" Masked Dedede wondered.

"I got it from a rainbow," Chopper replied.

"A rainbow? PBBBBBBBBBBTH! That's gold!" he jumped in the air and attempted to stomp on Chopper, who simply jumped out of the way and jumped off the cage to stomp on Masked Dedede's head.

"Poyo? (How far until he's defeated?)" Kirby wondered.

"I have no idea…" groaned Chopper. "However, I think we should heal up."

Kirby agreed and they drank a Star Shroom Shake, recovering 150 HP. Masked Dedede fumed and let his hammer fire missiles. Chopper inhaled one, while Kirby inhaled two, and they both spat them back at Masked Dedede.

"Crud! Fighting two people that can copy abilities sure is an annoyance!" Masked Dedede whined as he slammed his hammer to the ground to create a shockwave that hit Chopper, but not Kirby.

"Ack! I'm paralyzed!"

Thankfully, with Piccolo's power, he was able to cure himself of paralysis. Kirby, on the other hand, was unfortunate to get hit by Masked Dedede's hammer. Escargon continued to cheer with his pompoms.

"Gimme a K! An I! N! G! D! E! D! E! D! E! What does that spell?"

"The cheerleader squad is at the game," Sonic said while Chopper struck Masked Dedede with a rainbow smash. "Go join them."

"Yeah! You're REALLY annoying us…" Blade grumbled.

"I'll do whatever I please, thank you very much… And as for you, Chopper…" Escargon began, glaring at him. "One more word out of that mouth and you're going to get smashed by His Majesty!"

"…Word?" Chopper shrugged before getting bashed by Masked Dedede, who began to cackle before Kirby grabbed Cudge for a second and bashed Masked Dedede in the head with a hammer.

"Oh, so you're playing the cowardly role, are ya, Kirby?" Masked Dedede growled as he turned around and tried to swing at Kirby, who used Carrie to jump on his head and leave him stunned.

"Poyo, (Well, it doesn't look like there's much of him left,)" Kirby noticed as he hit Masked Dedede with his Final Cutter. The king managed to bash Kirby, but he was soon bashed by Chopper's hammer.

"Look, Dedede… We're practically winning the fight right now." Chopper informed.

"Just barely," Masked Dedede added.

"Yeah, whatever… I'm not going to tell you the same thing we've told everyone else. They've never listened."

"Poyo, (Yeah, I know,)" Kirby agreed.

While they began to talk, Masked Dedede inhaled both of them and spat them toward the cage. Since the power wasn't on, it didn't shock them, which frustrated Masked Dedede. This also made it easier for Chopper and Kirby to jump off the fence and hit Masked Dedede in the face, with Chopper kicking him with rainbow energy and Kirby kicking him normally.

"Ugh… You guys are just a nuisance!" Masked Dedede scoffed.

"Nuisance? You seem like the nuisance to us!" Chopper barked. "Don't you realize that this world is in DANGER?! Not only did we get framed for destroying a town, but you just happen to come in and try to fight us instead of letting us save the world!"

"Bah! Who cares when there isn't much time left? The only thing I can even do with limited time left is clobber my enemies!"

"You tell them, Your Majesty!" Escargon cheered.

Chopper and Kirby sighed as Masked Dedede jumped toward them. Chopper managed to jump out of the way and hit the king with a sweeping kick, making Masked Dedede trip. Kirby followed up with his Final Cutter, which left him battered and bruised.

"Ugh… Well, look what you did to me…" Masked Dedede grunted. "My robe is entirely ruined because of you two… Here I was hoping this grudge would finally be settled, but when you ruin my ROBE?"

"Don't you have more of those?" Chopper asked.

"Poyo, (He does,)" Kirby replied.

"That's it!" Masked Dedede began to hop around the room in order to trounce the two. Unfortunately, since he relies on brute force more, this didn't work out too well when the two heroes inhaled some of the stars left over and spat them at Masked Dedede.

"Your Majesty! Don't jump around! It's not good when they can inhale those stars!" Escargon cried.

"Don't make me come out there and bash you with my hammer!"

"You can't when the cage is locked."

"Then I'll bash it open with my hammer!" Masked Dedede growled before getting knocked back by a rainbow ball. He was immediately brought back into the fight, and he even opened the face of his hammer to unleash his flamethrower.

Chopper got behind Kirby as he used his Defend to prevent himself from taking serious damage (considering his Attack is 18). After the flames were gone, Kirby inhaled the star left over and spat it at Masked Dedede.

The king managed to endure the hit by bringing his hammer up, but with the little strength he had left, he couldn't put up much of a fight anymore.

"Ugh… I might as well give up…" Masked Dedede thought. "…NO! I can't do that! I have a fight to win here!"

Masked Dedede began to spin his hammer rapidly, knocking the two back toward the cage. Once he finished spinning around, Kirby inhaled the star while Chopper spun his hammer to hit Masked Dedede a couple of times.

Even then, those two were getting a little exhausted as well.

"Poyo? (How long can this battle go?)" Kirby coughed.

"Not long…" Chopper huffed. "I can tell his HP is dangerously low. A couple of more attacks and that should do it."

Kirby spat the star back at Masked Dedede, only to have him knock it back. Chopper knocked it back with his hammer, but the king only knocked it back to the cage, destroying the star.

"Take this!" Masked Dedede growled, storing power in his hammer and readying it to strike down upon his opponents. "Now THIS should be strong enough to take the two of you down!"

"I don't think so!" Chopper jumped in the air and stomped on Masked Dedede's head while performing a flip. It also made him let go of his hammer, which dropped to the ground.

When Kirby looked at it, he attempted to lift it up. However, since he could inhale it, he did that and gained the Masked Kirby ability, which gives him a mask and a mechanized hammer like Masked Dedede.

"What the…! My hammer!" Masked Dedede gaped. "Come on, Kirby! Don't do this to me!"

"Poyo, (I'm sorry, but it's too late,)" Kirby frowned as he swung his new hammer at Masked Dedede. This caused him to let out a low-pitched scream as his mask got shattered in half. He was also sent flying out of the arena, crashing through the fence and even his own castle.

"Your… Your Majesty!" Escargon gaped before looking at the group. Kirby was able to smash the cage with his hammer and free both him and Chopper. Their friends also came to their aid as they walked over to Escargon.

"So…" Sonic began.

"OK! You win!" the snail made Kirby hit him with his hammer, which sent him flying out of the castle. Apparently he was trying to follow to where King Dedede may have landed. "Your Majesty! Wait for meeeeeeeeeeee!"

And after that, they heard no more from him.

"Poyo…? (Did he throw himself out of the castle…?)" Kirby gawked.

"Well… I guess he did." Chopper shrugged. "I know he wanted me to throw him out when we were in Mt. Dedede five months ago. It's strange, you know? It's like he really cares about him."

"Too much, maybe?" Blade pondered.

"Ehhhh… I don't think that's important." Sonic shrugged. "But what's important is that we…"

Before anyone could say anything, they felt a tremor coming from outside that shook the castle. They gulped, knowing that this place was most likely going to get destroyed very soon.

"Oh, man… We gotta go now!" Chopper cried.

They found the exit up ahead and entered another hallway. There, they found a door that looked different compared to the others. From what they could tell, this was probably the room.

"Poyo, (Here it is,)" Kirby announced as he knocked on the door. A yellow girl with an ornate ponytail held by a purple clasp, a one-piece outfit that's pink on the top and green on the bottom separated by zigzags, and orange feet opened the door. The first thing she noticed was Kirby smiling at her.

"Kirby? Is that really you?" the girl known as Fumu gasped. "Everyone's been looking for you for a long time!"

"Poyo! (Hi, Fumu!)"

"And Chopper's here too! Although… I'm a little surprised that Flyer's not with you. Wouldn't he have come here to see me if he knew you were coming?"

At this point, everyone's smiles turned to worried looks. Would they really tell her what happened?

"Fumu…" Chopper trailed nervously. "Flyer…"

"…What happened to Flyer?"

"He's…no longer around."

Everyone stood in silence as Fumu said absolutely nothing. She blinked a couple of times until her eyes began to get watery.

"N-No! Th-That's impossible! H-How did this h-happen?!"

"Did you look outside?" Chopper sighed.

"I haven't looked out lately…"

"Come on, follow me," he led her and his friends into the room and over to the balcony. There, she saw the burnt forest and The Void, which began to tower over the whole world.

"The forest! It's all gone!" Fumu cried.

"We don't know what happened there, but we barely made it out of there," Blade explained. "And that darkness in the sky… It looks like it's about to destroy this place soon."

"So… Was that responsible for Flyer being…gone?"

"Yes…" Chopper sighed as his head hung low. "Everyone we've known and love… They're all starting to die because of The Void, thanks to someone who's had a grudge against me for a long time."

"And the only way to get rid of that is to collect the Pure Hearts," Sonic explained. "There are only two left, and to get the one we're looking for now, we need a card called a Pop Star Card."

"Actually, I found a card somewhere on the grass and took it," Fumu recalled, taking it out of her pocket. It began to levitate off her hand and over to Kirby, who managed to grab it. "Wait… That's no ordinary card, isn't it?"

"Poyo, (It's not,)" Kirby confirmed. "Poyo? (Is it OK if we take it?)"

Chopper explained to Fumu what he said. "Well… If you need it to save the world, then I suppose you can take it."

"Listen, Fumu. Just because Flyer is gone doesn't mean you should lose hope." Chopper explained. "You see, if the Pure Hearts are used to destroy The Void, everyone trapped inside that place will be free and the worlds itself will be back. Trust me, we won't let this happen!"

"…I guess I have no other choice. Just make sure you and your friends don't get hurt, all right?"

"We'll make sure, because we're going to…"

Before anything else could be said, a missile came flying their way. The explosion sent them flying out of the castle and far toward the hills.

"GUYS!" Fumu cried as she saw Silica walk onto the balcony and watch them fall. She noticed the smirk of her face. "Silica?! Why did you do that?!"

"They're the ones responsible for the destruction of those two towns!" Silica shouted. "Did you even see?!"

"Silica… What happened to your eyes? They don't look so good…"

"There's nothing wrong with my eyes. …Now, if you'll excuse me, I have to find where they landed."

Before Fumu could stop her, Silica already jumped off the balcony and used her grappling hook to go down.

---

Fields of Dream Land-

After a long fall, the heroes were lying on the ground on the fields outside of town. They were near the burnt down forest that only had ashes remaining. However, there was another person standing in front of them.

"Look at you pathetic heroes," Tipral scoffed, looking down at Chopper. "You try your best to save your worlds, but your efforts end up becoming fruitless. If you don't want to die, then I suppose I could make a deal with you and have you become slaves for me."

"Unnngh… I… I will never…join you…" Chopper moaned as he looked up at Tipral. "Especially when you…destroyed our…worlds…!"

"What's the matter? A little weak from fighting against King Dedede?" However, before he could continue, the ground began to tremor again. "…Oh, it looks like it's time for me to leave already. Have fun, heroes!"

Before anyone could say anything, Tipral disappeared, leaving them all speechless. That is, until Silica and Knuckle Joe tried to attack.

"Give up right now!" Knuckle Joe cried as he tried to hit Kirby, who used his hammer to defend himself.

"Poyo! (Snap out of it, Knuckle Joe!)" Kirby cried while Chopper ducked under Silica's flamethrower.

"You've destroyed a town, and now you have to pay the price!" Silica sneered. "You know you don't stand a chance!"

As the ground shook, they were all knocked over. When they looked up at the sky, they saw that there was no sky anymore. It was all The Void.

"Wait… What IS that?!"

"The Void," Chopper muttered.

---

Road of Shame-

King Dedede sighed as he slowly began to walk away from his castle on the road that he called the "Road of Shame", because it was where the losers would leave the town for good.

"There's no way I'm ever going to win against those two…" King Dedede sighed as the place flashed white. "Not even the destruction of this entire world is going to change that… Did my dictatorship really bring me down like this?"

"Your Majesty! Your Majesty!" the king whirled around and saw Escargon coming his way. "Please, Your Majesty! I don't want to have you go alone!"

"Escargon? Why did you follow me here?"

"Because…" Escargon panted. "I… I… I consider you to be my best friend…"

"Wait… Really?! But… I've been trouncing you with my hammer so many times! Why would you ever think that still?!"

"When I first left my mom's farmhouse, I was hoping I'd get to see a lot. When I ended up working for you instead, I thought I would be sitting in the castle the entire time doing your job. …However, I turned out to be wrong when we got to explore Dream Land often. Remember when we gave a tour to those people? We got to see so much! It actually helped me get used to this area easily."

"Really? Wow… I never knew you liked exploration. …But what about me hurting you all the time?"

"Well… That's a whole different story. That's your angry side."

"Yeah… I get angry a lot…" King Dedede trailed. "Look, I'm sorry if I've caused any problems for you in the past. I think I should've given you better treatment than just a secretary. You… You should be my sidekick!"

"Sidekick?! Your Majesty… You've made me feel so happy…"

"Yes, and as my sidekick, we shall get swallowed together by The Void. It's important that both of us stay together."

"Of course," Escargon nodded as he and King Dedede walked off. "Maybe then you'll finally go on a diet and get exercise once in your life."

The moment had suddenly stopped, and King Dedede narrowed his eyes at him.

"...What?"

"Well... Since you're going to be good, maybe I suggest you finally lose all of that fat and-"

Soon enough, a hammer had hit Escargon's head, leaving him with a bump.

"How DARE you insult me like that!" King Dedede yelled, raising his hammer up.

"Oh, no... Not again!" Escargon yelled, making a run for it again.

"Come back here, Escargon!"

King Dedede began to chase Escargon as the world around them was slowly getting destroyed.

---

Fields of Dream Land-

"I can't believe it…" Knuckle Joe trailed, his senses getting to him. "Our own world is slowly getting destroyed?!"

"That's horrible!" Silica gasped, her purple eyes slowly turning back to normal. "I'm… I'm really sorry if we caused any trouble…"

"It's OK…" Chopper trailed. "It's quick to forgive when the world is going to die, right?"

"Yeah… I guess…"

The world once again flashed white a couple of times. "Poyo! (Dream Land! No!)"

"We can't let its power overwhelm us!" Chopper cried, the forces of The Void pushing him back. Luigi managed to grab his hand and pull him back.

However, that didn't stop The Void from swallowing up the world. Everyone gasped as the beautiful world slowly began to fade away. There was absolutely nothing they could do about it.

The last thing they heard was Kirby's sniffling.

---

Dimensional X-

"Unnnnghhhhh…" Luigi groaned as he slowly pulled himself up. "Man… My head hurts for some reason."

Everyone else got up and sighed in relief to see they were back in Dimensional X. The only person who didn't get up was Kirby, who was bursting in tears.

"Poyo! (Dream Land… No…)" Kirby sniffled. "Poyo… (Such a great world… Now gone…)"

"Oh, dear…" Ortorain trailed as he flew down to Kirby, who dropped the card. "It appears your own world was destroyed by The Void, right?"

"Poyo… (Yes…)"

"I loved Pop Star very much. I especially loved the shape of it as well. That star shape…" he picked up the card and let it glow. "Listen, Kirby… There's still a chance for you to save your home world. With the card you have, we can finally open the final portal to where the Pure Heart is."

"The Pure Heart… We definitely need that…" Chopper nodded.

"Sadly, while you were gone, The Void has gotten bigger. In fact, I fear that this place will soon go…"

Mario: What?! That's horrible!

"That's why there's no time to waste. Come, heroes! We have to get going now!"

"Poyo, (You're right,)" Kirby said as he stood up. "Poyo! (I'm going to save the grieving for later! Right now, we need to get that Pure Heart!)"

"Agreed," Chopper nodded. "Now let us go!"

Chopper ran up to the Star Block up ahead and gave it a punch, shattering the whole block.

"Let's just hope we're not too late…" Ortorain trailed.

END OF CHAPTER

Chopper and Co. were under a lot of pressure because of the destruction of the four worlds. Kirby felt completely shattered by the loss of his friends and his planet, but he knew he couldn't cry forever. What was important was that they had the last card needed to get the Pure Heart. But despite this, they knew the end of this world was at hand. Would Ortorain succeed in helping the heroes get to the last portal? Watching the flower petals fall from the sky, Chopper made his way to the last way.

---

I can't say much other than the fact that the title of this chapter sounds a little...sinister.

But now that our heroes got the last card, they have full access to the final world where the Pure Heart is. Where will it be? You'll have to find out later.