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...

139. Enter the World of Darkness

CHAPTER 20-1

-Enter the World of Darkness-

When the heroes walked out of the black door, they paused and noticed what was around them. Up in the sky was nothing but purple darkness with all the aspects of The Void they saw when they saw it up in the sky before. They looked at the ground and noticed it was black and purple, but what made it worse for Luigi was the dark lightning that could be heard in the background.

"Wah! What's with the lightning here?!" Luigi yelped.

Mario: Considering how dangerous this area is, there would be something like that here…

"Well, this place kind of reminds me of Dark Subspace World…" Chopper trailed. "Maybe Maquano's in the center of The Void! …No, it's probably unlikely, since he told me he's in Underwhere Prison."

"Poyo, (But now it's only us,)" Kirby noted, seeing only them and no Pixls around. "Poyo… (I feel a bit lonely without them…)"

"Don't worry, Kirby. We're still here. They probably want us to do our best whether we succeed or fail."

"Well, then we better get ourselves ready," Blade suggested, readying his katana when he saw some strange creatures flying above and coming down. "Looks like we've got some company here!"

They noticed a dark ball with bat-like wings and purple eyes spitting dark energy from its mouth down at them. Apparently it was called a Void Bat, which tend to fly around and attack anything in sight.

"Wah! What are those?!" Luigi yelped.

"Void Bats," Tipral informed. "I suppose the True Chaos Heart created some monsters that stop the living that are in here."

"That's not stopping us," Blade declared, tossing a couple of shurikens at the Void Bat, causing it to fall to the ground and allow him to strike it one last time with a simple slash, finishing it off.

"Huh… You took that thing down with ease." Sonic blinked.

"Yup, I sure did! Plus, with some of the badges we got, we should be able to perform some new moves to help us fight off the monsters around here."

"Well… This place feels a bit more unforgiving…" Luigi gulped, noticing a couple of dark purple Goombas coming their way. They had black feet and a light purple body, and they were most likely Void Goombas.

Mario didn't seem afraid and walked over to the Void Goomba. Unfortunately, he ended up receiving a headbonk from it when it leaped into the air and landed on Mario's head, leaving it dazed.

"Well, they don't play friendly…" Chopper sweat dropped.

Once the Void Goomba got up, Luigi delivered a jump attack to it, followed by Tipral snapping his fingers and defeating it with his Star Magic. There were two others ahead, but that didn't stop Sonic from curling into a ball and attacking them with a Spin Dash.

"That was too easy," Sonic smirked.

Unfortunately, he ended up getting hit by a Motobug with a dark purple back with black spots and a black head. It also tried firing small, dark projectiles his way when he was able to see, so he jumped to avoid it.

"Man, we're seeing many enemies we haven't seen in a while," Blade realized. "But not they're much stronger, if I could see."

"Poyo? (Will this be just like Castle Tipral and Tipral's Palace?)" Kirby wondered as he inhaled the projectile the Void Motobug fired and spat it back at it, while Chopper jumped on it to finish it off.

"Probably not," Chopper answered. "We're all prepared for this, right?"

"Yeah! We definitely are!" Luigi agreed.

A Void Buzz Bomber, which was dark purple like the Void Motobug, flew over and tried to fire shots from its stinger. When Luigi hit it with a Super Jump, it tried to attack him with its stinger, but one final jump finished it off.

Thankfully, there wasn't much around in this area. It was a straight pathway leading up to a black door up ahead. The only thing in their way were some Void Firebars that attempted to burn the seven. There were three of them to be exact.

Chopper simply went into 3-D to avoid the Void Firebars with the others and got past them. The door was just up ahead, but there appeared to be a Void Goomba and a Void Bat guarding it.

They got themselves ready, with Mario jumping out of the way from the Void Goomba's headbonk and then bashing it with his hammer. Blade used a fire slash to hit the other Void Goomba, while Chopper finished the Void Bat with ease with a simple light ball.

"Light power works well against these enemies," Chopper smirked. "Well, this should come in handy!"

They entered the door and came across a dark platform. A Void Waddle Dee, which had a black body and a dark purple face with white eyes was rushing their way. Unlike normal Waddle Dees, this one actually tried to tackle them.

"Poyo, (So these Waddle Dees are much more harmful,)" Kirby noticed as he inhaled it and spat it to get rid of it. He quickly jumped on the dark platform that formed a staircase for them to go up.

Upon reaching the top of the staircase, they were met with a light yellow Shy Guy with a white mask. It looked like something they'd never expect to see in a place like this, considering the place was dark and all.

"What the... Who are you?" Tipral asked, clenching his fists.

"I'm a Void Anti Guy!" the Void Anti Guy introduced. "And you people look like you want to get through this door here, right?"

"Ummmmmm... I never knew Void Anti Guys were...this light..." Chopper trailed, sweat dropping a bit.

"Well, a normal Anti Guy's all dark and stuff. While me? I'm light and the most fearless thing here. Anyway, did you guys want to go through here?"

Mario: We'd like to!

"Heh heh! Sorry, pals! The only way you'll get through here is with a fight!" the Void Anti Guy declared. "And trust me, I'm not someone you'd want to pick a fight with. I'm incredibly, incredibly dangerous!"

"We've faced a crazy alien kid before," Tipral noted. "You shouldn't be any different."

"...Maybe we shouldn't fight," Chopper suggested.

"Why not?" Blade asked. "We can beat this guy!"

"But I feel like we would need some serious help from our Pixls if we were to fight this guy. If we were going to face a powerful foe without our Pixls, then we'd need to be very, VERY cautious."

"I'm siding with Chopper," Luigi declared.

"Why?" Sonic asked.

"Because I don't want to fight that thing!"

The rest turned to the Void Anti Guy, who gave them all a smirk under its mask.

"So, you all want to fight me?" the Void Anti Guy got in a kung fu stance and even let out a kung fu sound. "Then maybe we should get started!"

Mario: I guess we should just leave him be...

"What? Aw, man!"

They all agreed to turn away from the Void Anti Guy (though Tipral didn't want to do it, but had no choice) and noticed another platform to their left. They found another staircase to take them up to a long platform with a couple of small bamboo leading up to a platform where a door awaited.

"Hey! That looks like something I can do!" Blade realized.

"But we shouldn't just leave that...thing back there," Tipral growled. "There could've been something important through that door!"

"I heard Anti Guys love Lemon Candy," Luigi recalled. "Although, this is a Void Anti Guy, so I don't know what the heck they'd like. We know lemons are sour, so would it like something sweet?"

"Errrr... I don't know if this is such a good idea or not..." Blade took out a piece of candy in a wrapper. "When we were in that world with all the candy and sweets, I snatched something, but I didn't get the chance to eat it."

"And is it even good now?" Tipral wondered.

"Doubt it."

"Poyo...? (Should we really...?)" Kirby thought for a minute before he opened his mouth to attempt to eat it. Chopper was there just in time to pull him away before the candy was in his mouth.

"Actually, why not use it on the Void Anti Guy? Maybe that'll work?" Chopper wondered.

"Worth a try," Sonic shrugged.

They headed back to the Void Anti Guy, who began to smell something sweet now that Blade was holding the piece of candy in his hands.

"Sniff sniff... Sniff? Hey, what's that you got with ya?" the Void Anti Guy wondered. "Is that...CANDY?!"

"Why… Yes, it is indeed candy!" Blade nodded, holding the candy in front of the Void Anti Guy. It tried to snatch it, but Blade pulled it away and gave him a smirk. "But… This is mine."

"Come on, man! Be a pal and give something to the poor! I've been living here for a long time, and I haven't eaten in days! I'll… I'll even let you through this door if you let me have that!"

Blade shrugged and handed the candy over. The Void Anti Guy gasped and grabbed a hold of it and began to eat it. They could hear it mumble on about how good the candy was, but they ignored the Void Anti Guy and headed through the door.

They found themselves in a small area with two chests. Chopper approached the first one and opened it. Instead, the chest ended up coming to life by having two dark disembodied hands and purple eyes. It even began to fly around as well while spitting purple fireballs at the group.

"What in the world?!" Chopper gaped. "Is this a fake chest?!"

"Poyo, (Looks like it is,)" Kirby confirmed, noticing its name was indeed a Fake Chest. It continued to spit fireballs, while Kirby inhaled one and spat it at the chest. A simple Cyclone from Luigi was all they needed to defeat it and make it drop a Max Shroom Shake.

"This should be useful," Tipral noted as he picked it up and put it away. "We should check the other one."

They opened the other chest and found an Invincibility Candy, which lets any of the heroes become invincible for a short period of time and deal damage to any enemies that make contact with them.

"Poyo! (Hey! I remember that candy! It's so good!)" Kirby smiled. "Poyo… (If only I could eat it now…)"

"Well we're not eating it now," Chopper noted. "We're getting out of this area!"

They left the area and went over to where they saw the bamboo. Since no one but Blade could reach up to the platform above, he used his ninja skills to land on each bamboo and stand on top of it.

"Any idea how we can get up there?" Luigi asked. "I know my Super Jump won't help me!"

"Poyo? (Couldn't I get up there?)" Kirby wondered.

"Well, I don't know…" Chopper trailed. "The bottom of the platform has spikes, and the bamboo is rather close to the platform. Plus, you can only get past the bamboo in 3-D."

Blade finally made his way up to the platform and noticed a rope attached to the ground. When he cut it, the platform didn't fall, but it created other platforms to help the rest of the group get up to him.

With that, they entered the door and found some platforms attached to some ropes. Below them was some strange, dark liquid. Tipral told them it was dark matter and it shouldn't be touched. And even then, cutting the ropes was a bad idea too.

"Blade… Don't cut the ropes, please." Sonic suggested.

"Don't worry, I'm not going to do that," Blade assured.

They carefully jumped onto the platform before them, with Blade making sure his katana didn't make contact with the rope. Not only that, but there were Void Waddle Dees carrying spears as well.

However, that didn't stop Kirby from inhaling them and spitting them out. After all, he could eat anything, even if they were carrying sharp objects!

"These things kinda wobble a bit..." Sonic trailed. "I think we might wanna be a bit extra cautious..."

"Well I'd be even more cautious!" Luigi cried.

"Why?"

"I see Void Bats!"

They ducked as Void Bats flew down and tried to attack. Thankfully, the ropes weren't cut, so that gave Chopper the perfect chance to attack it by tossing a light ball to knock it into the dark matter.

Not even that creature could survive the terrible substance.

They jumped over two more platforms until they landed on solid ground and found some small blocks in the way. Blade simply destroyed them by swinging his katana until they found a large stump in front of them.

Mario: Leave this to me!

Mario jumped above the stump and used his Super Ground Pound to create a ladder below the platform that they used to climb down a small tunnel with some dark matter above them.

"I guess jumping's not a good idea here..." Luigi trailed.

"Poyo, (And we also have some enemies ahead,)" Kirby noted, pointing to the two Void Motobugs charging their way. Sonic reacted by using his Spin Dash to deal damage, while Blade lunged at them to finish them off.

"Well, that takes care of them," Blade sighed as they hurried on ahead and got past the tunnel part of the area and found a spring leading to a ledge. They used it to land in front of a dark crystal.

Knowing what he had to do, Chopper tossed a light ball to make a narrow pathway appear in 3-D that led to a door. Unfortunately, there was also a timer going, so he flipped him and everyone else in 3-D and made their way across while avoiding Void Bats that were also in 3-D.

They were relieved to be finally across, and they also noticed a ? Block. They found an Ultra Shroom in there, so they split it into seven pieces and recovered 50 HP from them.

"Looks like there'll be a large variety of puzzles here," Chopper realized. "So, this place might be a bit interesting!"

"Only if it wasn't so dark and creepy..." Luigi shuddered.

"You'll survive, don't worry about it," Tipral assured.

They headed through the door to find a couple of platforms above them leading up to a Brick Block. They also noticed some large blocks colliding with each other, which could get in their way.

"Geez... We gotta be quick with our jumping here..." Chopper sweat dropped.

"Poyo! (I don't think it'll be that hard!)" Kirby assured as he jumped up to a platform and tried to jump again. Unfortunately, because the two blocks were getting ready to collide, he had to jump back down.

When the way up was open, they moved up as fast as the could before the two blocks could squish them. The platform above it happened to have a Void Goomba ready to headbonk them.

Mario readied his hammer and moved back so the Void Goomba could bounce back up. When it was open for an attack, he brought his hammer down on the Goomba, with Tipral jumping on it to finish it off.

"It can be finished just like a normal Goomba," Tipral scoffed. "Pathetic..."

They noticed some dark matter on the walls, which happened to be closer. There was also a Void Starman that was flying around, so Chopper inhaled it and got a hold of the Hi-Jump ability.

"Why did you get that?" Blade asked.

"Because we can't go up unless we have a good enough jump," Chopper answered.

Luigi tried to use his Super Jump to reach the platform above. Thankfully, he was able to succeed and land on the platform. Kirby took in some air and floated up, and Chopper launched himself upward with his Hi-Jump ability.

"What about us?!" Sonic cried.

Mario: Can't you use your Whirlwind to get us up?

"Maybe... But I don't know if it'll be enough..."

Sonic tried using his Whirlwind to get him, Mario and Blade up, but that didn't appear to work. Tipral waited for them to come down before grabbing their arms and teleporting them up to the others.

"That works too," Blade realized.

Now there were two ways to go, with one being blocked by a couple of small blocks that they could easily break through. The left pathway didn't appear to have high jumps, so most of the group took that way, while Chopper and Luigi went the right.

The only thing Chopper and Luigi happened to find was a dark purple spider called a Void Spider trying to attack, but Chopper's Hi-Jump was able to take it down with ease and reach the top of the area. Luigi's Super Jump helped him reach up as well.

The left side was just some simple jumps with a couple of Void Waddle Dees in the way. Blade and Mario took them out with ease, while Tipral teleported up to the top to keep himself from wasting any more time.

"OK, no more jumping..." Sonic sighed. "Honestly, I was getting a bit tired of jumping, personally..."

"Poyo, (But we have bigger problems,)" Kirby pointed up ahead to a thick pillar that led down to a bottomless pit. It also happened to be holding up a large platform above as well.

"I'll take care of that," Tipral assured as he tossed a Star Spear at the pillar. It didn't destroy it, but it did enough damage. "Hmmmmm? Well, I guess I need a little more power to it..."

"Let me try," Blade took out a shuriken and tossed it straight at the pillar. It stuck, but it didn't appear to do anything.

All he could do was frown.

"Blade, a shuriken is probably not going to smash that thing," Chopper noted.

Before Blade could respond, there was another crack in the pillar, which caused it to break off and make the platform land in front of them. Everyone looked at Blade in surprise as he smirked.

"Ha! Looks like you were wrong!" Blade scoffed.

"Actually, I just used my Star Magic to destroy it," Tipral noted, which made Blade fall over.

"Yeah, yeah... Let's just go already..." Chopper groaned.

They jumped across the platform and noticed a Void Buzz Bomber on another platform ahead. Blade tossed a couple of shurikens at it to destroy it, and then afterward they jumped on the ground ahead.

Mario: Is that a Koopa ahead?

What they saw was a black Koopa with a dark purple shell and dark purple sunglasses coming their way. Chopper simply jumped on its head to make it go into its shell, but it was able to flip itself over and spin around to hit Chopper and knock away his Hi-Jump ability.

"Hey! My ability!" Chopper cried.

"Looks like that Koopa's a big threat too..." Luigi trailed.

"But it's not stopping me from fighting it," Tipral clenched his fists and used his Star Burst to hit the Void Koopa when it made contact with his attack. It left the Void Koopa dazed, allowing Kirby to use his Final Cutter and Mario finishing it off with a Super Ground Pound.

Mario: That solved that!

"Bur there's nowhere else to go now," Blade noticed. "I... Wait, is that a rope I see?"

"Whoa, Blade! Don't cut it!" Chopper cried when he noticed Blade was about to pull out a shuriken. He was interrupted by a Darkling with red eyes and a red bulb on its antenna that fired red magic at Blade.

It was for the better anyway.

"Damn it. Well, I guess using a shuriken wouldn't be the brightest idea…" Blade trailed while putting away the shuriken.

Tipral grabbed a hold of the rope and began to climb up. Everyone else followed him until they found a platform they had to swing over to. Thankfully, it didn't fall down, so they were able to stand on it as long as they wanted to.

"Hey, I think we can use that pole to cross over this gap," Luigi noted, pointing to the pole above them that was horizontal. There didn't appear to be anything connected to it. Not only that, but a Darkling was waiting for them ahead.

Chopper was able to chuck a few light balls at the Darkling while he made his way across to get rid of it, which was nice to attack while holding onto a pole. When they got across, they were met with a dead end.

"Dead end? Come on!" Sonic groaned. "Why do we always run into dead ends?"

Mario: Maybe there's a secret?

"I'll take a look," Chopper flipped into 3-D and noticed a ladder leading up to a hole in the ceiling. When they climbed up to the top, they noticed a bit of remains of a certain desert some of them remembered seeing.

"Poyo? (Is this Desert Oasis?)" Kirby gaped.

"Well, we saw Desert Oasis get destroyed… That could be possible."

They felt a little bit of sand on the ground, so Chopper took out his shovel and tried to dig for anything he could find. Blade also tried searching the area. He was surprised to find a dark purple key called a Void Key.

Mario: We could use some shovels too…

Tipral looked up and noticed some black platforms with a purple trim that resembled some of the squares in the background of The Void. "Hmmmm… Looks like you could probably use those platforms above us. I don't know what'll be there, though."

"I think I can reach them," Luigi said as he launched himself up to one of the three platforms with a Super Jump. He found a Void Bat firing dark energy at him, which he jumped over and attacked the enemy with a Super Jump to defeat it. He also found a chest, which contained Sleep Powder, which could put an enemy to sleep. However, it doesn't always work…

"Sleep Powder? Ummmm… OK…"

"No need to ask questions about that. I already have the key!" Blade said as he rushed on ahead to get to the door up a couple of small, ruin-like stairs. They encountered a dark purple Void Sand Bug that rose from the sand and spat poison at him, which he blocked with his katana.

"I just realized… If these guys poison us, then we can't use Piccolo to heal us." Sonic frowned. "Now I'm starting to miss the Pixls…"

"Healing items can help cure poison, if I could recall," Chopper remarked as he dug up a Shroom Shake. "…This might not do much, but I think we should take this with us anyway. It'll help cure our poison!"

Tipral snapped his finger and finished off the Void Sand Bug with his Star Magic. Afterward, they carried on through the door ahead to find another desert-like area, but with a couple of sand pits with small platforms above them.

"Hey! This place feels a bit familiar!" Chopper gaped. "Though… There's something I'm wondering…"

"What's that?" Tipral wondered.

"Does The Void take everything into it like someone eating something? The Void does swallow things and leave a world like nothing. …So maybe we might find things of our own world here!"

"Poyo…. (Maybe…)" Kirby trailed.

They noticed in the sand pits were some Void Sand Bugs that were spitting poison. Mario jumped over them and jumped on its head to leave it stunned, while Luigi followed afterward with a flutter jump.

"One more hit should do it," Luigi noted.

Sonic nodded and used a simple Spin Jump to defeat the Void Sand Bug. His proud look soon changed when he found out there was a pool of water up ahead. It appeared to be normal kind of water, but he wasn't pleased in the slightest.

"Water?! N-No… Why here?!" Sonic cried.

"You still fear water…" Tipral face palmed. "What a surprise…"

"Hey! It's not my fault I can't swim!"

Blade grabbed a hold of Sonic and ran over to the pond. They simply used the platforms to go over the sand pits and avoid any more Void Sand Bugs. Sonic struggled in order to break free, but Blade was able to toss him in and make him struggle to get out.

"Mmmmmmmmggggfffhhhhh!"

"Will he be OK?" Luigi wondered.

"He'll be just fine," Blade assured until he heard a timer going off. "…Wait a second. Be right back!"

He went underwater and grabbed Sonic so he could pull him up to the surface. Sonic began to gasp as he quickly began to breathe. Blade grinned at him, but all he got was a glare in response.

"No time to waste! Let's go!" Chopper cried as he jumped into the water. They found a tunnel underwater, so they swam through it and found the current moving down. They also saw a glowing white orb going down as well.

"Hey… Isn't that Desert Oasis I can see through there?!"

"Whatever it is, we should follow it," Tipral suggested.

They swam down and followed the current, but they happened to notice a couple of Void Gordos blocking the way. They were dark purple (oh, gee, what a surprise!) with black spikes and purple eyes. They tried to avoid them, though Sonic was having a harder time, since he couldn't breathe.

"Poyo, (We should really make sure Sonic's safe,)" Kirby noted as he took in some water to gain the Water ability and gave Sonic a bubble shield, allowing him to breathe. Blade glared at Kirby to make him do the same thing.

They found another tunnel at the bottom of the cave-like room to the right and went through to follow the light out of the water and in a strange, futuristic room that reminded them all of the flying pyramid.

"I'm getting some serious déjà vu all over again," Chopper blinked.

"Poyo? (Really?)"

"The flying pyramid in Desert Oasis. Remember it?"

"I think I do," Blade recalled. "But no time for discussion! We need to get moving!"

They noticed a small lift up ahead, as well as a dark purple Diam that was shooting a projectile at them. Chopper inhaled it and spat it at another Void Diam that happened to be right by the lift.

They used the lift and went up to find a platform to their left and one to the right. They found the platform to the left to have a locked door, while the one on the right happened to have a pole leading up to a hole in the ceiling.

"Poles... Oh, no." Blade face palmed as they jumped on the long platform and walked over to the pole. "I bet those spark things are going to attack us. And even then, we can't beat them!"

Tipral ignored Blade and began to climb up the pole, with Chopper following afterward. The rest decided to follow and go into a long room moving up. There was another pole to their right and some small platforms around.

"Why does the author like putting these poles around anyway?" Chopper wondered. "I find these things a bit uninteresting..."

"Poyo? (What are you talking about?)" Kirby wondered.

"You don't know about this whole author thing even when I said stuff like this before? ...You know what? It's not that important."

When they found Void Sparks on the pole, they jumped over to the other one. Sonic was unfortunate to get electrocuted by it, but he didn't let it stop him from climbing to the top, where a chest happened to be.

Chopper and Tipral ended up opening the chest at the same time and found a Void Key inside. Chopper tried to grab it, but Tipral was able to grab the key first and put it away.

"Hey! I was going to grab that!" Chopper frowned.

"Too bad for you. I got it first." Tipral replied.

"Ugh... Fine. We'll take it to the locked door."

---

Previous area-

They jumped back to the lift that reached them and then went to the long platform to the left. The only thing that left them off guard was a Darkling that tried to attack, but a light ball was all Chopper needed to take it out.

Mario: At least we know light is helpful here!

"Yeah, it sure is," Luigi agreed.

When Tipral skated over to the door, he took the Void Key out and unlocked it, which allowed the lock to break off and allow them through the door. No longer were they in the Desert Oasis area, but they did see some spikes sticking out of the flat ground.

"Hey, are those Dry Bones I see?" Blade wondered.

"They don't look like Dry Bones..." Chopper trailed as he saw one rise up from the ground. It was black with red eyes, which he remembered seeing before. "These are Shadow Bones, aren't they?"

"Poyo! (I think I remember seeing them in Dark Subspace World!)" Kirby recalled.

"I think these guys are weak to fire, so using fire isn't a bad idea," Sonic noted.

Blade readied his katana and jumped over the spikes to land a fire slash on the Shadow Bones. It didn't defeat it, but it was able to deal enough damage to it. Sadly, Blade ended up getting whacked by a bone the Shadow Bones grabbed a hold of.

Knowing they had to avoid the spikes, they jumped over them, with Mario jumping on a Shadow Bones that rose from the ground. His jump made it collapse and give Chopper the chance to chuck a fireball at it.

"Uhhh... Guys? A little help here?!" Blade called out, trying to fend off the Shadow Bones that was trying to hit him with its bone. He blocked its attacks, so Chopper helped get rid of it by throwing another fireball.

"Now that I think about it, it would've been cool if we had a fire Pixl," Sonic pondered. "We got an ice one, so why not a fire one?"

Mario: We never went into any volcanic world, though.

"Yeah, though, we were in some kind of area that reminded me of being inside a volcano... You know, the world with all the robots?"

Mario: Oh, yeah!

"Less talking, more destroying," Tipral mentioned as he destroyed some Shadow Bones by throwing a Star Spear. It was able to defeat the Shadow Bones like fire could, but that didn't surprise them.

They jumped over another set of spikes ahead and found a Void Buzz Bomber flying over some Shadow Bones. Blade smirked and tossed a shuriken at the Void Buzz Bomber to send it flying down to the Shadow Bones.

"Heh heh! That took care of that!" Blade smirked.

"The Shadow Bones isn't done yet," Luigi pointed out.

"Yeah yeah, I know. Lemme just finish it." he readied his katana and performed a fire slash to finish it off. With that, they hurried over to the door ahead that led them into a room with a staircase.

"A staircase? Why is there one here?" Chopper wondered.

"Who cares? We're moving anyway!"

On the steps, they happened to find some dark purple Boomerang Bros. throwing their boomerangs down toward the seven. Tipral snapped his finger and left one stunned, allowing Luigi to uppercut it from underneath with a Super Jump.

Chopper jumped up to attack the next Void Hammer Bro., but he ended up getting hit by its boomerang and was knocked to the ground. Kirby inhaled the boomerang and spat it at the Void Hammer Bro. afterward.

"Poyo, (It's not finished yet,)" Kirby noted.

Sonic gave this as a cue to attack, so he jumped and delivered a Homing Attack to the Void Boomerang Bro., which defeated it and allowed them to reach the top of the staircase. There was another staircase ahead, as well as a door.

"What's in the door?" Chopper asked.

"Go find out yourself," Tipral suggested, kicking Chopper over to the door and also knocking him over.

"That was pretty rude of you..." Luigi trailed.

"And do I honestly care? I'm much different than you, you know..."

Chopper sweat dropped as he got up and opened the door. They were led into an area with a small pond with a couple of bamboo sticking out and going up to a ledge where a chest was. A couple of dark purple Ninjoes called Void Ninjoes happened to appear and began to throw ninja stars.

"Ack! Ninjoes?!"

Mario: And there's an awful lot of them, too...

Most of the group's eyes widened as a ninja star was coming directly at them. Most of the group closed their eyes and prepared to get hurt by the object, but they didn't feel anything touch them or hear a scream.

Instead, they saw Blade with his finger through the hole in the center of the ninja star.

"What the heck?!" Sonic gaped. "How'd you do that?"

"That's a trick my sensei taught me," Blade grinned. "I thought it would come in handy against these guys, right?"

The Void Ninjoe gasped, but it decided to charge at Blade and try to attack with its katana. Blade gripped his own katana and slashed at the enemy to defeat it. He finished off the others with his Dragon Beam. He then proceeded up the bamboo and to the chest, where he found a Master Shroom Shake.

"All that for a sappy drink?! Come on!"

"It's a Master Shroom, technically..." Chopper trailed.

"Oh... Then why'd I say that?! That mushroom was pretty tasty!"

"Let's just leave this area," Tipral suggested.

They left the area and returned to the staircase. Instead of Void Boomerang Bros. waiting for them, they found Void Waddle Doo holding spears throwing them down at the group. Tipral grabbed the spear and disintegrated it before firing a Star Spear at the Void Waddle Doo.

They cleared out the last Void Waddle Doo before going to the top of the staircase. They found a door and entered it, which led them into an area with a couple of logs moving up rather than down.

"Wait a second... What's this all about?" Chopper gawked. "I see a waterfall, yet the logs are moving up?"

"This must be some kind of...inverted waterfall, maybe?" Luigi wondered.

Mario: Weird...

They found a Save Block near them, so Chopper hit it to save their game. They went on the logs afterward and found some Void Bats flying around. Chopper tried to take one out with a light ball, but it ended up missing, so Blade fired a Dragon Beam to take it out.

When they reached the third waterfall, they let it take them up to a rocky ledge where a door happened to be. Some of them were reminded of Sammer's Kingdom, but they felt like this was a lot easier than logs moving up.

"Wait... I think I see dark matter." Sonic noticed as he looked up. Not only that, but the logs were moving much faster, so they got off and landed on the rocky ledge. A ? Block was there too, so they hit it to find a Star Shroom. Blade sliced it into seven so they could all recover 150 HP.

"If a Star Shroom's here, then there must be something important up ahead," Luigi deduced.

"I'm ready to crush whatever's in my way," Tipral declared. "You people shouldn't get in my way."

"OK, fine," Chopper sighed as he opened the door and went through, along with the other six.

---

Next area-

When they walked out of the door, they noticed they were in a flat area with nothing of real interest. It was a small area that seemed like it would work perfectly fine for a fight. Not only that, but it seemed calm too.

"Hmmmm... Nothing much here." Chopper shrugged. "I see the door up ahead, so why don't we go?"

Before Chopper could walk over to the door, a shuriken landed right by his feet, causing him to stop when he saw a certain red cat facing him.

"So... You all showed up at long last!" Knife hissed. "Especially you, Brother..."

"Knife?!" Blade gaped. "How did you survive The Void?"

"Wait, if Knife survived The Void...then maybe my friends could still be alive in here!" Chopper gaped. "Then there might be some hope!"

"Or maybe this pendant I stole from that queen when I was left in the Underwhere helped me," Knife informed, holding a red pendant. "It didn't seem like anything important to her, so I took it myself and carried it with me. You see, when you left me to nearly die back in Sammer's Kingdom, I decided to take one last look at it when The Void was ready to destroy the world. Surprisingly I was surrounded by a red glow that helped me get swallowed into The Void while still very much alive. The pendant also absorbed a bit of the dark power here, which was given to me to heal my wounds and make me much, much stronger!"

"A pendant? That queen never mentioned that..." Tipral trailed.

"I said she didn't cared about it. Too bad this thing probably won't give me any more help. It's something it could only be used once, I believe."

"Well it doesn't matter now," Sonic said, getting in a fighting stance. "We're still going to kick your butt regardless!"

"This shouldn't take too long," Tipral said as he clenched his fist. "I once beat your brother before, so let's see how I do against you!"

"In all honesty, I could care less about you guys," Knife said as he glared at most of the group. "My real target is my brother!"

"If you're my intended target, then maybe you and I should settle this once and for all," Blade suggested. "I'll take you on without my friends."

"Wait... Blade!" Chopper gasped. "You honestly want to take him on yourself?!"

"Yes, Chopper. What's the point in him fighting you guys when all he wants is to destroy me? Besides... He ended my sensei's game, he refused to die and he's been causing a lot of trouble for me ever since he turned evil."

"Heh heh heh! Yes! A battle between you and I! Excellent!" Knife grinned.

"Well I'm still going to crush this guy," Tipral decided.

"No, Tipral. This is MY fight!" Blade snapped. "You and everyone else go back to the other area. This could get a bit messy..."

The rest of the group gave each other a quick glance and then looked at Blade before giving him a nod. They left the area, with Tipral turning to Blade.

"If you're in trouble, then you're welcome to call me in," he noted. "I'm sure I could beat this guy easily."

"I probably won't need your help. Now go."

Tipral gave a grunt before he left, leaving only Blade and Knife.

"Good! Now this is what I like to see..." Knife smirked. "Two brothers, two ninjas, and a dark void for the atmosphere. Sounds fitting for a fight to the death!"

"Very well. Then let the best ninja win." Blade was about to give an honorable bow, but Knife rushed toward him and struck him with his katana, forcing him to clench his teeth in pain from the cut on his arm.

"There's no honor in this fight, Brother! I'll destroy you in any way I can imagine! I may have some scars on me, but I still have the energy to end your game!"

Blade tried to shrug off the small wound and readied his katana as he saw Knife attempt to slash at him again. He brought up his guard and blocked some attacks and even jumped over him to kick his face. He saw he had a Max HP of 500, an Attack of 21 and a Defense of 8. Not as powerful as Shade, so he didn't seem as worried.

Knife sneered and tossed a couple of shurikens his way. He was able to deflect them and knock them to the ground. However, Knife was able to throw a couple of kunais, but they too ended up getting blocked.

"Ranged attacks won't help you, Knife," Blade informed. "I'll just continue to block them, you know."

"Oh, you'll get hit eventually…" Knife trailed as he jumped in the air and brought his katana down. Blade rolled out of the way from harm and managed to send his brother flying to the wall with a Dragon Beam.

Blade grinned until he noticed Knife fire a Dragon Beam of his own. It appeared to be dark red, unlike Blade's orange one. He tried to avoid it, but it followed him and sent him flying to the wall.

"Oh… And I think I forgot to tell you that the pendant gave me something similar to your strange dragon-like beam."

"Dang... This is going to be a lot harder than I thought..."

Blade got himself up and noticed a couple of shurikens flying his way. He threw a smoke bomb down to leave Knife confused, but it only angered him when he ended up getting struck from behind by Blade's katana.

"You coward! Attacking me from behind!" Knife hissed.

"What gives you the right to say that when you do that ALL the time?!" Blade exclaimed as he kicked Knife's stomach when he turned around. "Look, ninjas aren't always about facing your enemy head-on. They sometimes have to use subtlety."

Knife smirked and disappeared in a puff of smoke. Blade noticed a log in front of him, but he was soon struck in the back by Knife's katana.

"See? You ARE a hypocrite!"

Knife snickered and readied another attack on Blade, but he whirled around and tried to hit him with a fire slash. Knife ducked and managed to make Blade fall over on his back with a kick to his legs.

"Fuujin no Jutsu!" Knife cried as he summoned a large gust of wind to blow Blade back. Blade did the same thing and tried to blow Knife back, resulting in both of them getting sent flying to the wall.

Knife was the first to get himself off the wall and throw a couple of more shurikens. Blade gasped and barely dodged them. To make the fight a little more even, he threw a couple of shurikens toward Knife.

Surprisingly, both shurikens collided with each other and were knocked to the ground. Knife took this chance to jump in the air and try to attack Blade, but he too jumped up and began to attack Knife, who blocked his attacks.

It turned out they had so many similar moves that it was nearly impossible for both of them to hurt each other.

"Yeesh... We're both using the same moves!" Blade gaped.

"That's because we were trained by the same sensei," Knife noted. "Too bad that old man is now dead. Such a shame... If he were younger, he'd probably put up much more of a fight or even wear that ninja armor."

"You murdered our sensei in his sleep... That's not how ninjas end a person's game!"

"Like I honestly care. Not even you are a true ninja! You were usually one step behind me anyway, so chances are I'll win this!"

"Well, I managed to beat you before, so I'm sure I can do it again," Blade smirked as he blocked Knife's katana when he saw it being swung his way.

"That's because you had your friends to help you! But now? You're going to have to face me without your stupid friends!"

Blade realized this, but he wasn't going to let himself simply lose, so he used a hurricane slash to send Knife flying again. He didn't see it coming, so he was able to hit him head-on, allowing him to jump up to his older brother and slash at his arm, leaving a scar.

Knife let out a hiss and grabbed a hold of Blade. He threw him to the ground and made sure his head was hit first before trying to bring his katana through his chest. Blade gasped and rolled out of the way, which got Knife's katana stuck in the ground.

"Heh heh! Perfect!" Blade smirked as he rushed in for an attack. Unfortunately, that didn't mean Knife was going to let himself open. He threw a kunai at Blade's arm, causing him to cringe in pain.

"Argh! What the heck...?!"

"Don't think I'm going to let my guard down so easily," Knife informed as he pulled his blade out of the ground and aimed it at Blade, who pulled the kunai out and noticed his arm was bleeding. "Oh, what's the matter? You bleeding? Wanna go back to your sensei and help him heal it for you? ...Oh, wait! He's dead! But I can definitely take you to him!"

Blade growled and tried to fight back by jumping when Knife tried to slash at his legs. He was able to toss a shuriken at Knife's arm and cause him to cringe in pain. He too was bleeding as well.

Knife hissed at Blade and jumped in the air once again. He tried to hit him with a Dragon Beam, but Blade rolled under it just in time to toss a shuriken at Knife's leg. It didn't stop him from punching Blade.

He tried to punch at Blade again, but his arm was grabbed by the blue cat and ended up getting kicked in the stomach. Knife hissed and used his claws to scratch at Blade's face, leaving a scratch mark on him and hissing at his brother.

Blade wished to use his own claws against his brother, but he didn't want to have to resort to using only his claws, so he hit Knife in the head with the hilt of his katana, leaving him dazed.

"Bet you weren't expecting THAT!" Blade grinned.

Knife shook his head and swung at Blade, who ducked under, despite some of his ninja outfit getting a bit ripped in the process. Knife, on the other hand, took out the shuriken on his leg and threw it at Blade's leg.

"Ack! My leg!"

"Now you know how it feels," Knife grinned, grabbing a hold of Blade and slamming him to the ground.

"That's not even a ninja move..."

"I know, but sometimes I like to improvise!"

"Well, how about I improvise myself?" Blade spun his katana like a wheel and began to run over to his brother, who did the same thing. When both katanas clashed, both were knocked to the ground.

Blade got up first and took this chance to perform a jutsu attack, while Knife was rushing straight at him. The blue cat opened his eyes and was surrounded in a ball of fire. Even his katana was surrounded in a fiery glow.

Knife tossed a couple of shurikens his way, but Blade blocked them and melted them because of how hot the flames were. He lunged at Knife and performed a combo on him. He finished off his combo with a jab before Knife was left scorched. The flames surrounding Blade were also gone.

"Impressive, Brother…" Knife complimented. "I never expected you to perform some kind of fire jutsu. I'm sure you've used that plenty of times on your adventures…"

Blade realized something and sweat dropped. "Why didn't I use my jutsu moves throughout my adventures anyway?"

"Heh heh… Typical Blade."

The blue cat clenched his katana and attempted to jab at his brother, but he blocked his attack and gave him a grin before throwing Blade up with his katana so he could perform an aerial attack on him.

Blade tried to block Knife's attack, but he was too late when Knife swung down and knocked Blade to the ground. When Knife landed on the ground, he stylishly put away his katana and put his hands in a position to surround himself in an ice shield.

"What the heck? An ice shield?" Blade gawked.

"I believe that's something you haven't learned, Brother," Knife smirked. "And I don't think you learned this either!"

Knife raised his katana, which was surrounded by lightning energy. He managed to kick Blade's stomach and strike him with his katana, leaving him electrocuted. Blade even tried to attack him, but his ice shield protected him.

"Dang it... Stupid ice shield..." grumbled Blade.

"See? I'm invulnerable to your attacks!"

"That is, unless I melt it!" Blade performed his fire slash on Knifes ice shield, but it didn't seem to do that much. "What? That didn't do anything!"

"My ice shield is thicker than you think, so that much fire won't help you!"

"Maybe not...but I think this will!" Blade performed a couple of signs with his hands and was surrounded in a fiery glow again. He swung at Knife, which was able to melt his ice shield and allow him to combo his brother. The fire glow seemed to wear off afterward.

Blade smirked as he grabbed a hold of his brother while he was stunned and threw him to the ground. Knife sat up and grabbed Blade's arm and threw him to the ground on his back. This gave him a chance to drive his katana into Blade's chest when he stood up.

However, his katana was blocked by Blade's when he put it up to defend himself. He also kicked Knife in the shin and got himself up so he could swing at him. But, since his brother was one to act fast, he blocked his attack.

"Sorry, Brother… But you should've realized how fast I can react!" Knife smirked.

"Ugh... This isn't good..." Blade gulped and jumped back when Knife tried to swing at him again. He tossed a couple of shurikens Knife's way, which all hit him. Even when they were stuck in him, he seemed to move just fine.

"How is Knife still moving when I threw those at him?" Blade thought. "Unless... That pendant has something to do with it!"

He looked down at the pendant Knife had and noticed it glowing because of the dark power from The Void. He also noticed his brother raise his katana and store some dark energy in it.

"Yeesh... That's a lot of power!" Blade gaped as Knife rushed toward him and struck him with a dark slash. Blade looked down at his ninja outfit and noticed how ripped up it was now.

"Well now... Looks like your ninja outfit is ruined!" Knife snickered. "Looks like you're going to have to get a new one! ...Oh, right! You can't! Our dear old sensei is dead, so that's impossible!"

Blade grit his teeth, but he stopped and decided to calm down. After all, fighting with rage isn't the best tactic. He decided to go with another strategy, and that involved disappearing in a puff of smoke.

"Huh? Where'd he go?" Knife gawked, noticing Blade's disappearance. When the smoke was gone, he saw a piece of paper on the ground, so he picked it up and decided to read the message.

This paper is property of Blade the Cat.

"Ha ha, very funny, Brother..."

He took a look at the paper a little longer before his eyes widened. "Wait a second... This is a..."

He felt himself get knocked back by a kick in the back, which happened to be delivered by Blade. The blue cat smirked and struck his brother swiftly and left the sleeves on his ninja outfit get ripped.

Knife turned around and lunged at Blade, who ducked under his attack and managed to rip at his ninja outfit again with his blade. Now he could see the scars left on him from previous battles.

"See, Brother? These are the scars I have because of you." Knife hissed. "I appreciate you doing this to me!"

"You're welcome, Bro," Blade joked.

Knife growled and clawed at Blade's arm, which caused it to bleed more and make him screech in pain. But it didn't stop him from using a Star Shroom Shake to recover 150 HP. It didn't get rid of the wounds, but he did feel much better.

"Hrrrmmmm... So you're playing it that way, are you, brother?" Knife reached for a couple of ninja stars and threw them at Blade, who blocked most of them with his katana. As for the last one... He was able to catch it through the hole in the center.

"Bet you weren't expecting that, were ya?" Blade smirked.

"Wait... How can you catch it that way?!" the red cat gawked. "Not even I learned something like that!"

"Maybe because you were too busy murdering innocent people and trying to get a hold of some special power. Honestly, Knife... Why? WHY did you have to murder our sensei?!"

"That's none of your concern, Blade. What you should be concerned about is me trying to destroy you!"

Knife swung at his brother, but he blocked his attack again and managed to send the red cat flying up before landing an aerial combo on him. Blade also began to spin rapidly to harm his brother as well, who got a couple of cuts on his chest, arms and legs when Blade was finished.

"Ah, so you're playing tough now! Excellent! This is exactly what I wanted to see in you! Now it's my turn!" Knife attacked Blade, who tried to fight back, but he couldn't stand up to an ice slash which left him frozen. Knife smirked and thawed him out with a fire slash before leaving a small cut on Blade's cheek.

The younger ninja felt a bit of pain on his cheek, so he poked at it and realized what just happened. He growled in anger as he saw Knife grin and draw another katana, which made his eyes widen.

"Two katanas?!"

"Did I mention this is our sensei's katana? I was able to take it from him when I took his life! I'm sure this will be of some use for me!"

Blade blinked before he noticed Knife rushing toward him. He tried blocking him again, but he was no match for two katanas and received a couple of injuries all over his body.

"Heh heh heh! See? You're no match for me!"

Blade sweat dropped and threw a smoke bomb down to make Knife cough. He used his kunais to climb up the wall to keep himself safe. There was no way he could stand up to his brother like that.

"I need a better strategy..."

When the smoke cleared, Knife couldn't find Blade anywhere. "So, you're going to be a coward again and refuse to fight, huh? Well, I guess I don't have a problem with that!"

Blade tried tossing a couple of shurikens down at Knife, but he saw them coming and managed to block them all with ease. He took out a shuriken and threw it at the wall, barely hitting Blade's tail.

"I see you there, brother! It's quite obvious, you know!"

Blade jumped off and dashed in the air to land on Knife's head. While he couldn't deal damage by jumping on someone like Chopper could, he could certainly attack by using his katana, so he used a fire slash on his brother to leave a burn on him and even burn a bit of his ninja outfit.

"Subtlety is what you're using on me? Why don't you be more of a ninja and fight me face-to-face!"

"Because ninjas mostly use that when they fight," Blade noted. "You're not being a ninja if you simply use brute force!"

"A ninja is capable of using force if necessary, and that's what I'm doing," Knife declared, kicking Blade when he landed on the ground and also attempting to attack him by spinning his katanas around. Blade stepped back and tried to break it with a kunai, but that didn't seem to work.

Blade decided to slide under Knife and his katanas and get behind him to attack, leaving a large scar on Knife's back and making him hiss as he whirled around and punched Blade under his head.

When Knife slashed at Blade again, his pants were left ripped up, and he even got a couple of bruises on his face after Knife decided to punch his face a few times. Overall, he wasn't looking too good.

"Oh, my, brother... You don't look so good! Here, allow me to help you end the pain!" Knife was about to drive his sensei's katana into him, but Blade blocked the katana and knocked it out of his hand.

"What?!"

Blade also slashed at him again and gave him a kick to the face. Even when Blade was a bit wounded, Knife was badly hurt as well. What made it worse was the fact that his HP was running low too.

"Be a ninja and fight fair with me," Blade suggested, aiming the tip of his katana at Knife. "'Cause I'm going to keep sneaking around and attacking you at the right moment if you don't."

"Like I need to take the words from my younger brother," Knife hissed as he grabbed the katana and jumped toward Blade and swung at him. Thankfully, Blade managed to block his attack and pushed him back. This gave him the chance to slash at him downward and leave him stunned.

Blade smirked and jumped behind him to grab him and throw him to the ground. Knife ended up throwing a shuriken at Blade's leg, which caused him to wince as his brother got up and ripped the bottom of his ninja shirt with two slashes.

"Ahhh... Now that's a nice place for me to drive both katanas into!"

"I don't think so," Blade hissed, blocking his katanas and headbutting him to leave him stunned again. Instead of grabbing him, he decided to land another combo on him instead and send him flying in the air again. He jumped up and used his aerial combo and finished his attack with a Dragon Beam.

"Unnnnghh... So you've got some good combos, I'll give you that." Knife grumbled as he fired his own Dragon Beam. Blade fired another and caused both of them to get sent flying back to the wall.

When they both got up, they were both pretty close to being defeated. Blade's HP was low, and so was Knife's, which meant whoever made the final blow would be the winner of the fight.

"So... I guess it comes to this, brother." Knife declared. "And I think I've saved this moment for last, now that you've driven me this far!"

"Well, let's see what you've got!" Blade rushed at his brother and vice versa, and soon both were landing combos on each other at a ridiculous speed. Neither on them were getting hurt, and sparks were flying everywhere as their katanas continued to clash. They even went in the air and continued to block each other's attacks.

"Hmmmm... Not bad, Blade!"

"Same with you, Knife..."

When they both landed on the ground, both clashed again, with both of them trying to push each other back. It seemed Knife had the upper hand with two katanas, but then Blade realized something. He kicked Knife in the shin, which left him off guard for a bit when he hopped around a tiny bit.

Blade smirked and kicked both katanas out of Knife's hands and landed behind him, making him gape. "What?! No... This can't be!"

The blue cat delivered the final blow and quickly slashed at him to make him collapse. Afterward, Blade put away his katana and jumped back over to his brother. Meanwhile, the rest of the group came in and noticed how badly injured Knife was.

"Whoa... We sure missed something, didn't we?" Sonic gaped.

"That doesn't look too nice..." Chopper cringed.

"Unnnnghhhhh..." Knife moaned as he raised his head. "Blade... Whether I die here or not, the same fate is bound you happen to you in this world..."

"Honestly, I don't think I should finish you," Blade noted. "Our sensei told us ending a person's game wasn't the best thing to do in life, whether they be evil or not. You, on the other hand, don't seem to get it."

"Well what about you? You've probably ended a few people's games before, and you even ended mine before!"

"Because I was trying to protect someone who would've died if I didn't do anything to stop you. I'd rather leave you here to die than actually do it myself. That way, I'm don't have to see your death again."

"Hold on, Blade... Are you all right?" Luigi asked.

Mario: You don't look too good!

"I'll be fine..." Blade sighed. "This fight was very rough, and even my ninja outfit is a bit ruined. But I don't think my sensei would want me to back down now. ...Speaking of sensei."

He walked over to his sensei's katana and pulled it out of the ground. "I think it's better if I keep this with me for now. I don't trust you with our sensei's katana."

He turned back to his friends and gestured them to follow him, so they all followed him ahead to the door. Knife slowly turned around and watched the group leave. He also took a look at his katana.

"I swear, brother... I will murder you, and I won't stop until you die..."

---

Next area-

When they walked out of the door, they were met with a long, flat area with a couple of enemies such as Shadow Bones and Void Ninjoes. There was nothing new around the area, that's for sure.

"Blade, are you sure you're all right?" Chopper asked. "I mean, look at yourself! You look terrible!"

"Don't worry, I think I'll be fine," Blade assured. "I just need something to heal myself."

Mario noticed a ? Block near him, so he jumped under it to find an Ultimate Shroom. They were already at full health, so Blade took the whole silver Mushroom to recover 100 HP.

"OK, I think I've got plenty of energy in me."

"What about the cuts?" Sonic asked.

"They're not major, so I think I should be able to hold myself."

"I personally don't care," Tipral stated. "Right now, I want to get going. I don't know how far we are to The Void's center, but talking isn't going to help!"

"Poyo, (I hate to say it, but I agree with Tipral,)" Kirby frowned. "Poyo... (Talking isn't going to get us anywhere...)"

"Yeah, we should probably go," Chopper agreed, turning ahead to get hit in the face by a bone a Shadow Bones threw at him. "Well that was nice..."

Sonic used a Homing Attack on the Shadow Bones to make it collapse, while Blade slashed at it with a fire slash to finish it off quickly. The Void Ninjoes tossing ninja stars happened to be a problem too, but Chopper and Kirby inhaled their ninja stars and got the Ninja ability.

"Poyo? (Three ninjas? Isn't that a bit too much?)" Kirby wondered.

"OK, fine…" Chopper sighed and took off his Ninja ability. With that, they carried on ahead and defeated a couple of Void Ninjoes in their way. When Chopper found a Void Waddle Doo, he inhaled it to gain the Beam ability.

"OK, I think this should be fine."

A Void Ninjoe charged at them, but Luigi's Cyclone helped throw it upward, which allowed him to finish it off with a Super Jump. Despite how fast and dangerous they were, they didn't seem to have a lot of HP.

When they reached the end of the area, they found a locked door in front of them. Chopper flipped into 3-D, but he didn't notice anything around. But, when Luigi used his Super Jump, he found a hidden platform he ended up hitting underneath.

Mario: Are you all right?

"I'm fine…" Luigi moaned as he slowly landed on the ground before jumping back up. Kirby floated up instead and found a door. Because of this, he had to go back down and help some people get up, with Chopper grabbing a hold of Kirby's feet to reach the platform.

"You guys don't have to do that when I can do this," Tipral noted as he teleported everyone onto the platform. "See? That's taken care of."

They entered through the door into a small area where they found both Void Goombas and Spiky Void Goombas wandering around. When they spotted them, they attempted to headbonk them.

"There's a lot of 'em here," Blade noticed as he struck a Spiky Void Goomba with his katana and finished it off by tossing two shurikens at it. Chopper tossed a couple of fireballs at some Spiky Void Goombas, and Mario jumped on the normal Void Goombas, simply because the Spiky Void Goombas were gone.

Once they cleared the area, a chest appeared in front of them. Tipral opened it and found a Void Key inside. He showed it to the heroes before they left the small area and unlocked the door in the previous one.

Tipral kicked the door open and found a rope between them and the path up ahead. Not only that, but there was a Void Waddle Dee throwing a spear at the edge of the path. Tipral grabbed the rope first and swung across, knocking the Void Waddle Dee down the bottomless pit as well.

As soon as everyone crossed, they found another bottomless pit, but with some bamboo plants over the gap. There also happened to be some Void Bats above the bamboo, which gave Sonic an idea.

"Hey, I think I know what to do here!" Sonic smirked and jumped to perform a Homing Attack on the Void Bats and get across. Blade used his ninja jump to land on the bamboo and get across.

"Why are there bamboo plants over a bottomless pit anyway?" Chopper wondered. "It almost feels unfitting for this place."

"This place has remains of worlds that were swallowed up," Tipral informed. "So of course there might be something like this here."

Realizing the others couldn't get across, he teleported them to the other side and found a zip line leading down to lower ground. They took turns going down and ended up finding shallow water around them.

"Oh, no… Not water." Sonic gulped.

"It's only at our feet…" Luigi trailed.

"I know, but still…"

They found a small ledge to jump onto, but they were stopped when they noticed an enemy…or rather, someone who wasn't necessarily bad charging straight at them. Everyone but Tipral gaped and jumped away from its sword.

"Is that a Sammer Guy?!" Chopper gaped.

"Poyo! (Couldn't be!)" Kirby cried.

The dark purple Sammer Guy with light purple eyes let out a battle cry and tried to slash at Blade, who blocked its attack. Chopper charged up a beam attack and fired a blast straight at the Void Sammer Guy.

"I'm sure most of the enemies are going to be Void something," Chopper declared.

"What gives you that idea?" Blade wondered.

"Because they're corrupted by the power from The Void, I guess?"

The Void Sammer Guy got itself up and attacked Chopper, while Kirby rushed at the enemy and struck it with his small katana. He soon finished off the Void Sammer Guy by jumping and giving it a diving kick.

"Poyo, (That takes care of that,)" Kirby sighed, but he stopped when he found a dead end ahead, as well as another Void Sammer Guy. Tipral took action and jumped toward the enemy and landed a Star Punch on it. He sent it flying into the air with a kick and then teleported up to the Void Sammer Guy to throw it to the ground.

"Hmph... A dead end. Chopper, I think you should flip." Tipral suggested.

"Tipral, maybe we should..." Chopper froze when he saw Tipral's eyes. They seemed to give him a threatening look, and while he didn't fear Tipral as much now, he didn't want to get in a fight with him, so he threw his arms up and flipped everyone into 3-D.

There was something revealed to their right in 3-D.

"See? We've found a way to go."

They noticed a couple of platforms on the pathway, so they were forced to jump to avoid falling down a bottomless pit. When they reached the end, they were back into 2-D and found a Void Sammer Guy charging at them, along with two Void Ninjoes.

"Are they even trying?" Blade sighed. "I think we can take this!"

He tossed some shurikens at the Void Sammer Guy, while Sonic used his Sonic Wind on the two Void Ninjoes. While they were distracted, Tipral snapped his finger and finished them off with Star Magic.

"Huh… So teamwork does pay off." Sonic smirked.

"Yeah, sure," Tipral grumbled as he skated ahead to the door. There was also a ? Block, which revealed a Dark Shroom that tried to attack him. He jumped on it and destroyed it with a Star Spear.

"Yeesh… I was hoping we wouldn't see that." Luigi sighed.

They followed Tipral through the door into an area with a couple of lanterns around. They had black flames, which wasn't too much of a surprise, considering they were in The Void.

"Hey, what's that over there?" Chopper asked, pointing to some ruins up ahead. "What do you think those ruins could be?"

"Poyo? (Could it possibly be Sammer's Kingdom?)" Kirby wondered.

"I don't know… I don't think Sammer's Kingdom had ruins like this…"

Despite that, there happened to be some Void Sammer Guys around the area. Kirby dashed toward them while swinging his katana. He even managed to swing it at a Void Sammer Guy near him and leave a shockwave to knock it back.

Sonic got in a ball and finished the rest of the Void Sammer Guys around with a Spin Dash. He felt a bit sorry for hitting them, considering that Sammer Guys weren't necessarily evil, but he had no choice. Unfortunately, the door leading into the ruins happened to be locked.

Mario: Well there's probably something around here.

They turned around and gaped when they saw two ninja stars flying their way. Blade stepped in front and blocked the attacks with his katana, while Tipral teleported to the Void Ninjoes and used his Star Burst.

"Weaklings… Not even these…things can stand up to me!" Tipral scoffed. "Honestly, if this is what The Void's going to be like, then this should be easy for us!"

"But first, we need to find the key," Chopper informed. "So we should look around carefully…"

When Luigi looked to the left, he noticed some platforms leading up to a ladder, which could possibly go up to a door. "Ummmmm… Guys? I think there's something I found over there."

"Oh, I see it!" Sonic noticed as he ran over there. Once the rest reached him, they tried to find a way to get up to the platform, but alas, only Kirby could float up there. However, when Mario jumped, he ended up hitting an invisible block that drew a ladder to help them reach it.

Mario blinked for a moment, but then he shrugged and climbed up the ladder. Everyone else followed and jumped up a couple of platforms that acted like stairs until they reached the top platform and found a ladder.

When they reached the top, they found a ? Block that happened to reveal an Ultra Shroom. It wasn't much, but they took it anyway and headed through the door to find a blue ! Switch in a small area. Chopper hit it, causing the wall ahead to disappear and a couple of Void Bats to fly after them from behind.

"There's too many of them!" Luigi cried. "We should just run!"

"Well, I think that's the only thing we can do..." Blade trailed as he began to run. There were even some spikes around, to make things worse, so they were forced to jump over and continue to run while dodging their attacks.

They found a hole for them to jump into, so they jumped down and let the Void Bats pass by. Apparently at the end of the area was a high ledge, so the seven got out of the hole and walked over to it to find a pipe.

"A pipe? Well this is interesting…" Chopper trailed.

The pipe led them into a small area with a large Void Sammer Guy waiting for them. The first thing they saw it do was bring its large sword down near them, which gave Luigi the chance to jump on its head. Mario jumped on its head too and delivered a Super Ground Pound to stun it.

Mario: Just a few more hits!

Chopper took this time to charge up a beam attack, while Kirby began throwing kunais at the Void Sammer Guy to weaken it. When his wand was fully charged, he fired a ball of energy straight at the enemy and defeated it, making it drop an Ultimate Shroom Shake.

"Woo hoo! That's something I like seeing!" Chopper cheered as he grabbed the shake. There was another large Void Sammer Guy in the room, but Tipral was able to finish it off quickly by tossing a couple of shadow balls and firing two Star Spears. It didn't drop anything, but it caused a chest to be revealed.

"Well, I guess that should help us…" Tipral trailed.

"I think we can get in the ruins," Blade said as he grabbed the Void Key from inside. However, he had to hold his knee in pain for a moment. "Ugh… My knees are bothering me for some reason."

"What's wrong?" Sonic asked.

"I don't know... Maybe I'm still a little hurt from fighting Knife."

"I'm sure you still are, especially with your ninja outfit ripped up," Chopper mentioned.

"But I'm still going. I still have enough energy in me to press on."

They decided to go back to the previous area and found a couple of more Void Bats flying their way. While they wanted to run, Tipral wasn't going to run this time and used his ability to stop time. He was the only one moving around now.

"I'm not going to flee so soon," Tipral scoffed. "After all, I'm not a coward."

He fired some Star Spears at the Void Bats and snapped his finger at the rest to destroy them. When time was flowing back to normal, the six heroes noticed the Void Bats were all gone.

Mario: What happened to them?

"Don't thank me," Tipral suggested. "I think it's better we get out of here."

---

Near the ruins-

"Well, we have the key, so let's go in..." Blade trailed as he took out the Void Key and unlocked the door. They headed inside and noticed how dark the place felt. The walls were cracked and had a few holes, and there was a staircase going down. Some Void Boomerang Bros. were also on the steps.

Chopper made the first move and jumped in the air while pointing his wand at the Boomerang Bro. at a downward angle and fired beam-like energy at it. This angered the Boomerang Bro. and made it hit Chopper with a boomerang, knocking his Beam ability out.

"Hey! That's not fair! Learn to play a little nicer, OK?!" Chopper grumbled as he landed on one of the steps and threw rainbow balls at it to finish it off. Kirby jumped and kicked at a downward angle at the other enemy, but he ended up losing his ability too.

"Poyo! (Hey! That's not fair!)" Kirby sulked.

Chopper gave him a shrug as Blade jumped up and brought his katana down on the Boomerang Bro., finishing it off and allowing them to reach the bottom of the staircase. They found a staircase going up, but they noticed the door was locked.

"ANOTHER locked door?!" Luigi gaped. "Come on! How many of these locked doors are we going to see?!"

Mario: I'm not too sure...

"Wait a sec... I think I know what to do." Chopper threw his arms up and went into 3-D with his friends to find a hole in the ground. They all jumped down and found a Brick Block after going into 2-D. Sonic hit it to make a ladder appear.

"Well I guess that'll help," Sonic shrugged.

They noticed a door in front of them, as well as a Save Block, so Chopper hit it and entered the door to find a reel on the ground, as well as two spots up ahead. Luigi had an idea and used his Cyclone on the reel, which made the two spots rise up and appear as stumps.

Chopper went into 3-D and noticed the second one had to be hit first, so he told Mario to hit it first, and then he hit the second one, which made a door appear ahead, as well as two Darklings that fired spells their way.

"Uh oh..." Blade gripped his katana and slashed both of them to take them out. They rushed through the door and found a path being blocked by a large, stone-like block. There also appeared to be a hole shaped like a square, as if it could fit through the hole.

"Hmph... I guess this needs to be smashed?" Tipral walked up to the block and punched it. Sadly, it didn't seem to do anything. Thankfully, his hand wasn't injured badly like in the Whoa Zone.

"Did you hand get injured?" Chopper teased before he got punched by the fist Tipral used.

"Does that answer your question?!"

"Whoa... No need to be that violent." Blade blinked. "That's not a good way to react either."

"Let's just get through here."

Kirby suddenly had an idea and opened his mouth and started inhaling. His inhaling got stronger, which made the block move a bit toward him. Chopper helped out and started inhaling, which made it fall into the hole.

"Well that worked. Let's go!" Chopper ran on ahead and found a loop, but there was a bit of a crack on the ground that he bumped into when he went through it.

"Don't worry, Chop, I got this," Sonic assured as he went through the loop as a ball and managed to tear through the ruin below to land on the ground, where he found a dark purple Cherbil called a Void Cherbil. Everyone else landed by him and saw the Void Cherbil as well.

"You gotta be kidding me..." Chopper groaned. "Now we have to encounter a...BUTT?! How many times have we seen this?!"

The Void Cherbil spat nasty, dark gas their way, which made Chopper gasp and duck. Tipral blinked before he snapped his finger to get rid of the Void Cherbil. Up ahead was some dark grass, which Blade cut to reveal a Void Key.

"Got the key!" Blade announced. "Now we can probably get out of here!"

They headed back, which wasn't easy with the loop, and they were back in the area with the stairs. Of course, they had to climb up the ladder and get to the staircase ahead, where they found Void Bros. spitting fireballs and ice balls down. Chopper tossed a light ball at one to leave it stunned, while Blade performed an aerial attack with his katana to finish it off.

With the way clear, they went to the top of the staircase and used the key to unlock the door back outside. They noticed a stage where a large Sammer Guy was waiting. When they walked up, it didn't give a word and brought its sword down on Tipral.

"Ugh... So, that's how you want to play, huh?" Tipral teleported at its face and began to kick and punch at it until it was defeated. A Void Sammer Guy with a spike and a mustache noticed this and jumped in the air and tried to attack Tipral.

Blade was able to jump in and take care of the Void Sammer Guy, allowing them to get off the stage and find two Shadow Bones rising from the ground and throwing bones at them.

"All right, I think I know what to do," Chopper declared as he gave each Shadow Bones a fire stomp, and then he finished them off by tossing a charged fireball to burn them away.

Over by the door at the end were two Darklings and two Void Koopas getting in their shells and coming their way. Chopper jumped on the Darklings, while Mario and Luigi stopped the Void Koopas and kicked them away to send them crashing into each other.

"Even if they're stronger, they're still no match for a kick," Luigi laughed.

Mario: Oh, yes!

Blade was about to open the door, but he noticed something else was ahead. He found a picture of a couple of bamboo plants. The first, second and fourth were tall, while the third and fifth were short.

"What's this supposed to be?" Blade wondered.

"Yeah, I'm wondering too," Sonic agreed.

"I'm sure it's something for whatever's up ahead," Tipral noted. "Let's just go through the door and not waste any time."

They decided to head through the door, but Tipral stopped for a moment and took out the picture with him and the girl. The rainbow butterfly ribbon in her hair was bothering him, and it also made him think about the rainbow butterfly he saw before.

"No, I can't let this bother me," Tipral grumbled, putting the picture away. "She's long gone now, and what's in the past is over."

He went through the door and found the six heroes gawking at the six bamboo plants. Of course, since Blade remembered the portrait of the six bamboo, he cut the third and fifth plant, causing a couple of tall platforms to be drawn to a door that could only be accessed in 3-D.

"Hey, I see a Save Block here too," Chopper noticed, hitting it to save their game. They jumped up the tall staircase and found a ? Block near the door. Sonic hit it to find a Master Shroom, so Blade split it into seven for them all to eat to recover 200 HP.

"Poyo! (That was refreshing!)" Kirby squealed.

"And now it's time for us to go through this door," Chopper declared, flipping into 3-D with his friends and going through the door.

---

Next area-

"Hey, doesn't this place look a bit familiar?" Luigi wondered as they walked out of the door. The size of the area almost reminded them of where Blade fought Knife.

"Nothing's here either..." Chopper trailed.

"ARGLE-DEH!"

"But that voice sounds familiar," Blade groaned.

Up ahead, they noticed O'Chunks was waiting for them, so they approached him, with Chopper in front.

"So, it looks like the words were true," O'Chunks confirmed. "Yer all tryin' teh get through 'ere an' put a stop teh The Void!"

"Yes, we're trying to stop The Void," Chopper nodded. "Now please get out of the way, because we don't have time to deal with you."

"Why would I listen teh yeh?! After all yeh've done teh me, I ain't gonna let yeh all get past 'ere so easily! After all, yeh've all been a fork in me rumpus, that's fer sure!"

O'Chunks happened to notice Tipral, which made him gasp. "Tipral! So yer safe an' sound like me mum's gravy! ...But what're yeh doin' with them?"

"Look, it's a long story, and I don't want to drag it on forever," Tipral noted. "We need to get going."

"Ehhhhh... Well, I could let yeh through, but not them!" O'Chunks stomped the ground angrily as he glared at the heroes. "They've caused so much pain teh me! I've tried all I could teh stop 'em, but I always failed! ...But now, I think I've got what I need teh beat them!"

"And I'm sure you're going to simply fail like before," Blade scoffed, stepping in front and taunting O'Chunks, who gaped and the cat.

"Errghh... Yeh know, Blade... O' all the people 'ere, I hate yeh the most... Honestly, if I wanted teh fight someone right now, it'd be yeh!"

"Then maybe I can grant your wish. If you want to fight someone here, fight me. Trust me, I think you'll be fine with it."

"Hold on, Blade..." Chopper cut in. "Look at yourself! After what you had to go through with Knife? No. We're doing this together."

"Guys, even if I look bad right now, I wanna make sure you guys get through. Plus, with how I am, maybe it's time I used what Merlon gave me. Maybe it'll help me fight against him..."

"Are you sure about this?" Sonic asked.

"Yeah. Just get out of here. I don't want you guys getting caught in this mess. That goes for you too, Tipral."

"Fine, if you want to get beaten up and murdered, go ahead," Tipral decided as he walked out of the room. Everyone else looked back at Blade, who gestured them to leave, so they followed Tipral out of the area.

"It looks like it's just you and me," Blade smirked, drawing his katana. "This time, I'm taking you on all by myself. No Pixls, and no friends to help me."

"Heh heh heh! Well, this should be interestin'!" O'Chunks grinned. "I'm goin' teh 'urtle into yeh like a 'airy comet, just like before! An' this time, I'm goin' teh go at full power 'ere!"

"So you're going to use as much gas as before?"

"SUPER ULTRA CHUNKY POWER!"

O'Chunks raised his fists as he grew to a much larger size. Now his fists were made of steel, and his boots had spikes at the bottom. He was also wearing some red armor, and not only that, he gained more hair, especially around his beard and his armpits.

"Bet yeh weren't 'specting THAT, eh? Where's yeh whiskery mouth now?" O'Chunks cackled.

"Hmmmm... So you got a bit hairier, OK... But I think I've got something else special for you!" Blade pulled out the small sack and opened it, which revealed a powder to shoot up ward. The blue cat gawked, while O'Chunks cackled.

"That's yer special move?! Gwar har har har! I thought yeh were better than that, Blade!"

Suddenly, the powder surrounded Blade as he began to lift off the ground. O'Chunks stopped laughing when he noticed a puff of smoke surround Blade. When it was gone, the bearded warrior saw the blue cat wearing dark blue ninja armor, which his shoulder blades having spikes and his helmet only showing his eyes, since his mouth was covered by a mask. His own katana was strengthened by the powder, and so was his sensei's blade, which he decided to hold with him.

"What...? Yer in armor now?!" O'Chunks gaped.

"Wait a second... This is the very armor my sensei wore when he was young!" Blade gaped as he griped both katanas in his hand. "Well now... It looks like this makes us even now!"

"Then let us settle this once an' fer all!" O'Chunks declared as he raised his fists in the air. "LET THE CHUNKIN' BEGIN!"

Blade got himself ready as he jumped when O'Chunks began charging his way. He was able to stand on top of his head and taunt him a bit before jumping off and letting O'Chunks hit himself.

"This is so easy," Blade laughed. "It's so easy, this might be fun!"

"Don't get yerself too comfortable," O'Chunks said angrily as he grabbed a hold of Blade's leg. "Yeh may 'ave that fancy armor an' stuff, but I'm capable o' so much destruction now!"

O'Chunks began to swing Blade around and brought him near the wall so it would be easier for him to knock him out. Once the bearded warrior let go of him, Blade got sent flying all around the area. O'Chunks grinned and began to dance stupidly as Blade landed on the ground.

"…Wait, am I supposed teh be doin' this?" O'Chunks wondered as he started to ponder. Blade quickly got up and swung one of his katanas, which fired a flaming beam of sword energy at O'Chunks, scorching him.

Realizing what power he had, Blade smirked and rushed toward O'Chunks and struck him with both blades. Unlike before, it looked like O'Chunks was able to take it. After all, he had 510 HP, an Attack of 21 and a Defense of 8.

"Whoa… Yeah, his stats are more threatening now."

O'Chunks smashed the ground with his fists, which caused an earthquake in the area. Blade noticed some rubble began to fall from the sky and land on top of him. O'Chunks cleared the rubble and grabbed a hold of Blade, who was now choking.

"Now do yeh see what 'appens when yeh beat me rumpus a couple o' times?" O'Chunks asked in a threatening voice.

"Yeesh… Why're you being so threatening?" Blade choked, only able to say a few things before he was thrown to the wall. He noticed O'Chunks charging at him again, so he jumped out of harm's way and managed to strike his back.

O'Chunks gave a growl and grabbed a chunk of the ground and threw it Blade's way. The blue cat gaped, but realized something. His sensei's ninja armor gave enhanced strength as well.

"Hope this works…" Blade thought as he brought his hands up. When he opened his eyes, he noticed he was holding onto the chunk O'Chunks threw at him. "Whoa! I feel strong with this!"

"Wha?! Well, looks like we're evenly matched." O'Chunks realized. "But it ain't gonna 'elp yeh 'ere!"

O'Chunks smashed the chunk Blade threw back at him and then used his gas to propel himself toward Blade, making him gape as the bearded warrior crashed into him.

"Whoa, nelly!" Blade cried as O'Chunks held him up. "Look, man! We don't actually HAVE to do this! You know this place is extremely dangerous, especially when it's only us here!"

"An' why should I listen teh yeh?!" O'Chunks exclaimed. "The easier way is teh simply break yer bones! An' that's what I plan on doin' now!"

"Then… I guess I have no choice…" Blade threw a smoke down at O'Chunks's eyes, causing him to scream and release Blade, who landed on the ground and jumped away from the smoke.

When it was clear, O'Chunks found Blade and tried to punch him again. With the enhanced strength in his armor, Blade was able to block his punch and try to push him back. Afterward, he spun himself around as he jumped toward O'Chunks to hit him with his katanas rapidly.

O'Chunks cringed in pain and tried to clasp his hands together in order to smash Blade, but he ended up missing and ended up getting kicked in the face. Blade noticed the hair underneath his arms, which made him grimace.

"Yeesh... I don't like seeing you hairier..." Blade said as his eye twitched.

"An' I don't like seein' yeh in armor!" O'Chunks countered.

Blade grimaced at O'Chunks as he dodged O'Chunks's punch and fired two sword beams his way. One was made of fire, while the other was made of wind. O'Chunks was both scorched and blown to the wall. But he wasn't done there, Blade rushed toward the bearded warrior and began to combo him until he finished his combo with an upward slash.

When he was done, he tossed a couple of shurikens at O'Chunks, and they happened to be surrounded in light energy. However, despite this, O'Chunks was able to crush the shurikens while grinning at Blade.

"What the... How'd you smash those?!" Blade gawked.

"Didn't yeh notice me 'ands? They're made o' steel!" O'Chunks explained as he sent Blade flying back with a punch. The blue cat clenched his teeth in pain, but he pushed himself off the wall and surrounded himself in a puff of smoke.

When O'Chunks cleared the smoke, he noticed a log stood before him. He was about to smash it until Blade made him fall over on his back and proceeded to slash him while dashing around the area.

Unfortunately, when Blade stopped to taunt O'Chunks, the bearded man gave a grunt and jumped up to land on top of him, causing him to get flattened. O'Chunks picked up up and hurled him across the area, which made him cackle.

"Heh heh heh! Yeh should'nt 'ave taunted me like that!" O'Chunks scoffed. "'Cause yeh just left yerself open fer an attack!"

Blade grumbled and surrounded himself in fire energy with his jutsu. O'Chunks gaped, but he pounded his fists and rubbed them to give him tornado hands, which he used to blow the flames off Blade.

"You serious?! Tornado hands?!" Blade gaped.

"Yeah! When I chunk up, I mean it!"

O'Chunks picked up another chunk of the ground and hurled it toward Blade. Instead of using his strength to grab it, he used both katanas to slice up the rock into dust, leaving the bearded warrior to gape.

Not only that, but he dashed while in the air and kicked O'Chunks in the face. He also slashed his back to leave him cringing in pain. Even with the armor on, his katanas were somehow able to still harm him.

"Grrrr! Yeh think yeh can run away like that?! Well, when I give yeh the chunkin' o' a lifetime, then yer gonna regret runnin' from me!"

"I'm not going to let myself lose," Blade shot back as he struck the ground and fired a beam of fire and wind energy O'Chunks's way. He jumped in the air and landed near Blade to create a shockwave and stun him. While he punched him up in the air, he grabbed something he was holding onto.

A can of beans. Capable of giving such horrible gas.

He used his fist to smash the can and dump all the beans in his mouth. After swallowing, he felt a gurgle in his stomach. With a grin, O'Chunks began to fly into the air like a rocket with his...gas...and grabbed a hold of Blade.

"What the... You're seriously flying up with gas?" Blade grimaced.

"That's what I need teh defeat yeh," O'Chunks said as he threw Blade to the ground and prepared to stomp on him with his spiky feet. Blade gasped and rolled out of the way as a part of the ground had a large hole around O'Chunks.

"You keep damaging the battle arena, and we'll have no place else to fight, beardo."

O'Chunks let out a grunt as he slammed his fists on the ground and caused another earthquake. Blade noticed some rubble coming down near O'Chunks, so he dove toward him and pushed him out of the way...

Only to get hurled to the wall by him.

"Thank yeh fer savin' me," O'Chunks said. "Now lemme repay yeh fer that!"

Blade blinked as he managed to escape O'Chunks's fists and landed behind him. He was about to strike him with his katanas, but O'Chunks struck him first and began to spin his arms around and knock Blade back.

"Now I'm suddenly reminded of Luigi's Cyclone from that..." Blade trailed.

"An' now teh make thing's interestin'!" O'Chunks summoned a giant tornado to come flying toward Blade, who was forced to take out two kunais and climb up the wall. He was able to avoid the tornado, but he couldn't stay up long enough when O'Chunks crashed into the wall.

He fell down, but he was able to at least strike O'Chunks with his katanas once before sliding under him to avoid another punch.

"Your attacks are pretty slow," Blade informed. "It's making this a BIT easy..."

O'Chunks proved him wrong by hurling himself toward him and knocking him back. He did it again, but Blade was able to grab a hold of him and try to push him away with the strength he had. O'Chunks tried harder, but still, Blade was able to hold him back.

"'Ow are yeh able teh counter me strength like this?!" O'Chunks gaped. "Yer much smaller than me!"

"Just because I'm smaller than you doesn't mean I'm weaker," Blade said as he spun his katanas as he struck O'Chunks. He was even able to send him flying in the air. "See? I even did that to you!"

He jumped in the air to join O'Chunks and performed an aerial attack with his blades and finished off his combo by swinging his katanas down and throwing O'Chunks onto the ground once again.

However, that didn't stop O'Chunks from fighting back. When Blade was landing, O'Chunks aimed his butt up at Blade and used whatever gas he had in him to leave Blade coughing and wafting his arm around.

"Auuugh! O'Chunks! Lay off the gas, PLEASE!" Blade cried.

O'Chunks ignored the cat as he tried to kick him with his spiky feet. Blade put up his blades to block his feet and tossed a kunai at the bearded warrior to leave him cringing, despite punching Blade. O'Chunks cracked his knuckles while Blade ended up skidding back from the punch.

O'Chunks got another can of beans, but Blade lunged forward and struck him before he had the chance. At this point, both were delivering blow to blow, with Blade using his katanas and O'Chunks using his fists. They seemed to block each other's attacks as the attacks got faster.

"Huh... I'm actually impressed with you, O'Chunks." Blade complimented. "You're actually putting up a damn good fight!"

"Yer puttin' up one too," O'Chunks replied. "But yer armor ain't gonna help yeh beat me, yeh furry hairball!"

"Furry and hairball put together? Ummmm... I don't know if that makes sense..."

O'Chunks's clenched his fists and clenched his teeth as he looked constipated, from what Blade could see. It looked like he was ready to let another big one go, but all he heard was a squeak.

"What...was that?"

The bearded warrior blinked until he realized something: he didn't eat any beans. He whipped out another can, gobbled them up and got ready for another big one. Blade decided not to waste his time and used his fire jutsu to charge at him like a fireball.

O'Chunks ended up fart propelling and dodged Blade's lunge as he flew up in the air and landed headfirst. He was busy trying to get his head out while Blade decided to scorch him by using the previous attack that failed.

When O'Chunks got his head out, he cracked his knuckles and growled. "Oh, so yeh wanna see me get chunkier, 'uh? Well, I'm thinkin' o' gettin' teh that now!"

"Huh?"

"MORE CHUNKIN'!"

O'Chunks raised his arms again and gained spikes on his shoulder pads and gained a bigger beard and more armpit hair (which Blade commented on once again). Before he knew it, Blade was getting smacked around by O'Chunks's beard.

"What the heck?!"

"Bet yeh weren't 'specting me teh do that!" O'Chunks grinned. "When yeh mess with me chin hairs, then it's going teh mess with yeh!"

Blade dodged his beard again and threw one of his katanas in an attempt to cut off his beard. O'Chunks grabbed the katana and threw it back by Blade's feet, allowing him to take back the weapon.

"Thanks for giving me back my katana," Blade pulled it out of the ground and swung it. Now both katanas had its own kind of glow around it. One was surrounded in light energy while the other was surrounded in dark energy.

"What's this? Well, maybe this is a power my sensei was able to use when he was wielding two katanas!"

"Eh? Well, yer blades are no match fer me strength an' me beard!" O'Chunks slammed his fists on the ground to cause the room to shake a bit. Blade jumped and struck O'Chunks with a light and dark slash. He was even able to disappear before O'Chunks could get a hold of him.

The bearded warrior used his beard to search for Blade, but he ended up tripping and getting attacked by Blade's two drilling blades. He managed to grab a hold of Blade by the legs and hurl him around the room, but instead of dancing, he punched Blade when he came near.

Blade crashed into the wall while moaning in pain. When he slowly opened his eyes, he saw O'Chunks charging at him, which forced him to disappear in a puff of smoke. He appeared behind O'Chunks, he crashed into the wall, but instead, he drank a Master Shroom Shake to recover 200 HP.

"Whew... I think I needed that."

"Urgh... Where'd yeh go, yeh scrawny cat?" O'Chunks grumbled as he whirled around and noticed Blade finishing off the drink. "Ah! There yeh are!"

He jumped over to him and grabbed a hold of him. Blade, still holding the can, threw it at O'Chunks and managed to push himself out of O'Chunks's grasps with ease. Afterward, he spun his katanas rapidly and delivered a couple of slashes to O'Chunks, who couldn't handle his attacks.

"Are you ready to give up, O'Chunks?"

"Not by the hairs on me chin!"

"Then... I guess I have no other choice." Blade rose his katanas to store some power and then dashed at O'Chunks to deliver a couple of blows. He was even able to pierce through his thick armor and deal some massive damage to him. And he was much bigger than before, which made it seem more achieving for him!

With the strength he had, he was able to grab O'Chunks from behind and throw him to the ground. O'Chunks tried to grab his arm while on the ground, but Blade kicked his face to make him let go.

"Let's see how yeh deal with this!" O'Chunks clapped his hands together and caused rubble from the sky to fall on Blade. Some hit him, but he was able to slice through the rest of it and spin himself around as he attacked O'Chunks again. His head ended up getting bashed when O'Chunks gave him a powerful punch. If it weren't for the helmet, chances were he wouldn't be alive.

Blade decided to try another one of his moves and curled up in a ball and spun rapidly. He was surrounded in light and dark energy as he hurled himself at O'Chunks and sent him across the room. Although, his attack was stopped when O'Chunks brought his arms up and ended up skidding across the floor.

O'Chunks used one of his arms to punch Blade, only to have it blocked by one of his arms. Realizing something, he simply used his beard to send Blade flying back and made him hit the wall.

"Yeh see, Blade... Me brute strength is capable o' many things, such as crushin' yeh!" O'Chunks said as he clenched his fists. "An' because o' that, I'm not going teh let yeh hit me so easily!"

"Sure, you may have brawn," Blade coughed as he landed on the ground. "But you seriously lack a brain."

"An' what's that supposed teh mean when we're fightin'?!"

Blade answered by tossing a bomb shuriken and then threw his katana to make it explode in front of O'Chunks. It didn't send him flying, but his armor was left with some soot, and even he was a bit bruised up from the previous attacks he received.

"Huh? That's just a bomb!"

Little did he notice Blade kick him in the face and grab his katana before jumping in the air and bringing both blades down on the bearded warrior. He even managed to cut a bit of his long beard to keep him from using it against him.

"Do you want me to keep it at that? Or do I have to give you a close shave?"

"I ain't lettin' yeh get close teh me chin hairs," O'Chunks growled as he stored some power in his fists and delivered a powerful punch to Blade. He even grabbed another chunk of the ground and hurled it at him as well. This time, he was able to make it hit him without him grabbing it.

"An' now yer squashed like a little ant!"

Blade, however, was able to lift the chunk of the ground back up and tossed it back at O'Chunks. He saw it coming and smashed it easily with his fists before jumping over to Blade and punching him. Blade blocked his attacks with his weapons and tried to attack him, which was blocked by his fists.

"I'll admit, you're not even breaking a sweat," Blade commented. "Sure, you're a bit bruised, but you're playing tough. I like that!"

"I like 'ow yer givin' me a challenge," O'Chunks shot back as he grabbed Blade and threw him to the ground. "'Tis a shame yeh'll be long gone when I'm finished with yeh..."

Blade rolled out of the way when O'Chunks tried to punch him again and tossed a light shuriken at his back. O'Chunks grunted and spun his arms and himself to catch the blue cat. However, it failed when Blade put down another smoke bomb.

"Yeh can't throw smoke bombs ferever, cat!" O'Chunks yelled.

Blade done down and kicked O'Chunks's head before retreating back up. To try to counter this, O'Chunks began to stomp the ground to get Blade to fall. This worked, but the bue cat made it difficult and threw a couple of shuriken bombs down to not only hit O'Chunks, but to make it difficult for him to see.

"I KNEW this was a good idea!" Blade smirked as he landed on the ground and threw a dark shuriken at O'Chunks.

But the Scottish man wasn't going to let this stop him. He grabbed the weapon and managed to smash it with his own fists before letting his beard grow longer again and grab a hold of Blade.

"What an idiot!" Blade scoffed as he was pulled toward O'Chunks. "I'll just cut myself out of here easily!"

"Think again," O'Chunks grabbed a hold of his katanas and threw it to the side. "Now yer mine!"

Blade tried to break himself free, but he couldn't get out of his grasps because both of his arms were being held by his beard. He couldn't grab a hold of any weapons either, which made him be put in a tough situation.

"So, yeh got any last words?"

"Ummmmmm... Yes, actually! Could you pull down my mask?"

"Errr... If that's what yeh want, then fine." O'Chunks pulled down Blade's mask to reveal the lower part of his head. He ended up letting out a sneeze, causing O'Chunks to release him.

"Yeh sneezed in me eyes!"

"That's exactly what I wanted," Blade smirked as he put his mask back up and grabbed his two katanas. "Now let's finish this!"

He jumped toward O'Chunks and struck him with a light and dark smash to leave him severely low on HP. O'Chunks fought back, but he didn't have as much strength in him. All he could do was block Blade's next attack.

"You can't hold on forever, O'Chunks."

"I don't want teh disappoint Tipral, though! An' if I 'ave teh go through another punishment again, I don't know 'ow teh feel! Especially since the lass always gives me such harsh punishments! An' here I..."

"Here you what?" Blade gawked.

"Nothin'!" O'Chunks pushed Blade away and tried to punch at him, but it was over when Blade dashed and delivered the last blow with two single slashes.

"HUUUURRGHHH!"

A puff of smoke surrounded O'Chunks as he was reverted back to his normal self. Blade put away his two katanas and walked over to the injured warrior, who happened to be kneeling down and covered in bruises.

While that happened, someone else happened to be watching the fight as it made a clicking sound, as if a picture was being taken of them.

"Hmmmmm... Yes... This is good! Very good!"

The voice seemed to fade away, with neither of him hearing it.

"Blade, listen teh me..." O'Chunks wheezed. "I don't want teh 'ave teh live with all the failure I've taken. Yeh better just end it now so me dignity is still with me. An' please, actually do it! Yeh heroes 'ave never finished me off before, an' now is the perfect time fer yeh teh do it!"

"O'Chunks, listen..." Blade trailed as he walked over to him. "Maybe working for Tipral isn't helping you with your fighting. Every time you try to stop us, you end up losing all the time. Perhaps it's just better to...move on. And no, I'm not going to end your game. Give yourself another chance!"

"Are... Are yeh sure 'bout that?" O'Chunks wondered as he slowly got up.

"Yeah. You just need a break. And if you want my help, I'll give it to you."

"We'll see about that, especially if you die here!"

Blade's eyes shut tight in pain as he felt something stab his shoulder. The voice was something else he recognized. His brother, Knife, had just stabbed him from behind and was now standing on him when he fell over.

"Don't think you've gotten rid of me yet, Brother," Knife hissed as he turned Blade's head to his. "You should've ended my game right there!"

"'Ey! Leave 'im alone!" O'Chunks growled as he grabbed Knife and threw him to the wall. Knife quickly got up and tackled O'Chunks and tried to take out another kunai. He was able to stab his arm, but O'Chunks didn't let it stop him. He slammed his head to the ground and put his foot on him.

"Don't yeh EVER do that again! Yeh 'ear me?!"

"I'm not going to let some beardo finish me," Knife sneered as he hurled a couple of shurikens at O'Chunks. It didn't seem to harm him as much, but he was starting to feel a bit weak.

"Oh, look! Looks like someone's getting a bit weak! That's just fine!"

He was about to attack O'Chunks again, but Blade punched him and made him turn back to his brother. He didn't care about the armor he was wearing, he just wanted to kill him. He didn't even bother to bring his katana either.

Knife dashed toward Blade, and once they clashed, Knife saw Blade's katana through his chest.

"Y-You... You..."

Blade said nothing as he took his katana out of him and sheathed it. Knife's mouth was left wide open as he slowly began to collapse onto the ground.

Knife was dead.

"Blade... Yeh..."

Chopper poked his head through the door and noticed both Blade and O'Chunks panting. "Hey, Blade! Is it over?"

Everyone else came in the area and noticed the armor Blade was wearing. They, of course, gave their comments on how cool it looked. But some noticed Knife on the ground and were left shocked.

"Is Knife..." Chopper gaped.

"Yes. He's dead." Blade finished. "It was the only thing I could do."

Mario: It's definitely not a nice sight...

Before anyone else could make any comments, the area began to shake violently, leaving everyone off guard and in surprise.

"Eh? What's goin' on?" O'Chunks gawked.

"Something's not right here..." Tipral trailed. Everyone looked up and noticed a ceiling coming down on them, kind of like the ceiling from Castle Tipral.

"Oh, no! It's over for us!" Luigi cried as the ceiling came down faster and closer to them. Mostly everyone covered their eyes and ducked so they wouldn't have to see themselves getting crushed.

But they didn't feel themselves getting crushed.

The people that didn't dare to watch opened their eyes and noticed the ceiling was being stopped by something.

"HUUUUURK!"

Blade was the first to notice O'Chunks holding up the ceiling with as much strength as he could. They also noticed him struggling a bit.

"O'Chunks... But why?" Blade gaped.

"What are yeh waitin' fer?! Get outta 'ere!" O'Chunks cried.

"Wait, why did you do it?" Chopper gawked. "You're not one to help us ever since you've helped us get through Castle Tipral."

"Blade, yeh saved me from yer brother, an' I think I 'ave teh repay yeh fer that! Just get outta 'ere! Yeh earned the right teh go 'ere, and I'm goin' teh ma sure yeh do that!"

"O'Chunks, look at yourself," Tipral said as he looked at him. "You're struggling with that! There's no way you can do that alone."

"You're doing this because I saved you from Knife?"

"Yeah, an' yer words 'ave touched me a bit... Just a bit!"

"Well, you really are chunkier than I thought," Blade rose his arms and helped hold up the ceiling. "After all, you saved me from Knife, and I think I should repay you for that as well."

"What?!"

"Blade! You can't hold that up!" Sonic gaped.

"Of course I can. After all, this armor gives me some extra strength," he assured as he turned to the six. "Look, everyone... You go on ahead. I'll stay here with O'Chunks and hold this up."

"No, Blade!" Chopper retorted. "We're not leaving ANYONE behind! I don't want this to be like last time!"

"So I should stay here and let this guy die? Chopper! I thought you were better than this! You and the rest of the group get out of here now. If I die, then I guess my sacrifice will be worth it for you all."

"But..."

"Don't give me buts! GO!"

Chopper let out a sigh and slowly walked past him and O'Chunks. Tipral took a small glance at O'Chunks, who weakly smiled at him as he watched him leave. Sonic was the last to go, but he turned to Blade first.

"Blade..."

"It's OK, Sonic," Blade assured. "Just go."

Sonic frowned as he walked into the door ahead, leaving only Blade and O'Chunks in the room.

"I want you to leave too," Blade said.

What?! I'm not leavin' 'ere! Yeh have teh go with yer friends!" O'Chunks retorted. "I can hold this thing all day!"

"This armor can let my hold this all day. ...And thanks for taking that line too."

"Well don't be actin' tough, Blade! Go!"

"I AM tough! Get out of here, please!"

"No, yeh get out!"

"No, YOU!"

As they continued to argue, the shaking got a bit more extreme, which made them struggle even more.

"HUUUUUURGHH!"

---

Next area-

As soon as the rest of the six walked out of the door, they heard a loud thud coming from the other area, which frightened most of them a bit.

"Uh... Blade...?" Luigi trotted over to the door and tried to open it. He frowned as he was unable to open it and turned to the others.

"The door... It won't budge!"

"What?!" Chopper gaped. "See? I told him this wasn't a good idea! ...And now he's gone..."

"Oh, come on," Sonic assured. "Remember before? When something bad like this happened, everything turned out to be just fine."

"This is The Void. Chances are they could've died." Tipral replied. "And did you see how weak they looked? There was no chance of survival."

Mario: You're not making this any better!

"Even if Blade and O'Chunks sacrificed their lives, they wouldn't want us to stay here forever. We have to keep moving."

"But I don't want to leave any friends behind," Chopper frowned. "But I guess we can't just sit here forever... That's not the brightest idea anyway."

"Poyo... (I just hope Blade turns out fine...)" Kirby trailed worriedly.

With a sigh, Chopper walked over to the Star Block ahead along with the other five. Chopper struck the block, but he didn't feel as good when he hit it.

Hopefully things would turn out fine in the end.

END OF CHAPTER

An endless labyrinth of mind-boggling turns and dark, evil and deadly enemies… This final journey was more dangerous and trying than Chopper, Tipral, and Chopper's friends had ever seen before. They carried on through The Void without their friend, Blade, who was lost in a duel along with O'Chunks. But there was no time for them to sit and cry about it. Chopper and Co. knew they had to reach the True Chaos Heart and put an end to it once and for all.

---

Yeah, this didn't take as long as Chapter 19-5, that's for sure, and I'm pretty sure most of you are fine with that. Also, this is the first chapter I'm posting here from college. Don't expect updates to take about a month, though. I still have PLENTY of time to do something like this.

I can't say much for this chapter, but I'm sure it'll get much interesting later. And just a bit of a warning: this chapter only had two mini-bosses. Expect the later ones to have...four. So, lots of action you'll be seeing in this chapter!