Pura ran inside Grodus's room, where Grodus was waiting. "Ah, you're back. How did it go?"
Without a word, Pura dropped the Gold Star and Crump in front of Grodus and left the room.
"Hmm, I assume something didn't go quite right..." Grodus pondered, picking up the Crystal Star and putting it with the others, along with calling some doctors for his injured lord.
Pura entered her room and locked it, taking out a spellbook and reading it. She wasn't actually reading, but in fact thinking about what had just happened. Grodus had installed a security system that included having cameras set up in every room, and Pura did not want him to think something was bothering her, though it may have been a case of too little too late. There was a knock at the door.
"I'm a bit busy..." Pura said to whoever was there.
"It is I." The voice was Grodus's.
Pura sighed quietly and opened the door.
"I sensed something was bothering you," Grodus said. "The last task did not go well?"
"It went fine," Pura quickly said, pretending to read. "I mean, we got the Crystal Star, right?"
"Of course, but Crump was injured..."
"You said so yourself: Crump isn't very reliable," the Yoshi tactfully responded.
Grodus let out a light chuckle. "Indeed." He then added, "Nonethless I was wondering if you'd like me to join you once again on the next."
"No need." Pura did not want him to come.
"Are you certain?"
"Yes."
"Hmm..." Grodus thought for a moment. "Sorry, but I feel I should come anyway. We've gotten too far to risk losing a Crystal Star."
Pura groaned to herself, and then tried to think up an excuse. "Well, who's going to make sure the Crystal Stars already collected are safe?"
"They are in my room, which is electronically locked with a password only I know. It is also being guarded by a pair of Z-Yux. That should not be a problem," the X-Naut leader assured.
"Well, I guess it's okay then."
"Excellent. We will depart as soon as Crump is healed. I will see you then." Grodus exited the room.
Pura clenched her fist as he left. She was really starting to dislike him, and what the Magikoopa had told her had not helped the situation. She decided to just think about it later and simply went to sleep.
Meanwhile, Crump was inside the same chamber Pura was healed in earlier, and was also having a similar dream, fighting the very same Magikoopa who had injured him and in the same place, the Glitz Pit. He was being beaten pretty badly too.
The Magikoopa chuckled as he knocked Crump off his feet. "Who- who are you?" Crump managed to ask.
"My name is none of your concern," the Magikoopa retorted.
"Yeah? Well... I'll send Grodus and Pura after you!" Crump threatened. "Yeah, we'll see how you like that."
"I already disposed of them..." the Magikoopa said dryly, taking out his Fogblade and polishing it.
Crump considered this a moment, and then ran off screaming like a little girl. The Magikoopa laughed and fired a beam at him. Before it hit, Crump awoke.
"It appears Lord Crump is a quick healer," the X-Naut PhD watching him noted, also writing it down.
"Where am I?" Crump asked, "And who are you?"
"... Perplexed today, Lord?" the PhD asked, writing something else down. "In regards to your question, you are at the X-Naut Base and I am Dr. Swirl, and I just healed you... or so I think."
"X-Naut Base? Oooh, goody!" Crump ran out of the room.
"It appears he was hit in the head especially hard," Dr. Swirl noted, walking out of the healing chambers' room to work on some other task.
***
"Let me in!" Larry demanded, pounding on the door of Castle Koopa.
"What do you want, Larry?!" someone called from the second floor.
"Let me in, Ludwig!" Larry shouted to his brother.
"Sorry, no can do," Ludwig said, now looking down out of a window.
"What?! Why not?!"
"King Dad's in a rotten mood, so Kammy ordered a castle lockdown."
"Oh, come on! Is there any way you can let me in?"
Ludwig thought a moment. "Well, I'm pretty hungry, and we're pretty much out of food. I'd sneak out and get some myself, but the chances of me getting back in are slim, and I'm busy anyway, so... I'll let you back in if you give me something nice to eat."
"Fine..."
"Very good. Call for me when you return." Ludwig left the window.
"Oooh, I know just the place!" Wendy said.
"As do I. Not only do I own a sucessful restaurant, but it is also rivaled by someone just as good as my cook and servant Bandit, Pilfer," Regal stated. "His name is Cook Guy."
"Yes! Cook Guy! Let's go to his restaurant!" Wendy suggested.
"Very well," Regal agreed.
"Sounds fine to me," Jack added.
"Whatever," Larry mumbled.
"Follow me!" Wendy walked off, the group following.
***
"Hey, fire dude." Thumbs was poking a Phantom Ember.
"Stop that please," the Phantom Ember asked politely. "It's freaking me out."
"Doesn't that burn your finger?" Silver asked.
"No, not really," Thumbs answered, still poking. "Hey, do ya got a name?"
"Spectric, " the Lava Bubble replied. "Now please stop poking me. I tend to get freaked out really easily."
"Really? Well, what would happen if I did this?" Thumbs asked, and then shouted, "OOOGA BOOOGA!"
"Well," Spectric explained, "I'd do this." Spectric floated off, screaming.
"Aw man, now what am I gonna do for fun?" Thumbs whined.
"We need to go adventuring or something," Silver suggested.
"Yeah, you say that a lot."
"Because it's true," Silver said. "How about Mt. Lavalava? I heard there was still treasure in there that Kolorado missed when he was there last. And if not, it would at least be interesting to look around."
"Um... Sure," Thumbs agreed, though he was sipping a slushie and not really paying attention.
"Good, let's go there now." Silver began to walk toward the docks of Toad Town.
"Doesn't he know there's a warp pipe that leads straight to Yoshi's Village from here? Oh well." Thumbs shrugged and floated down the warp pipe he mentioned. He was indeed just outside of Yoshi's Village when he came out of the other end. "Hmm, I wonder how long it will take Silv to get here by walking or swimming or whatever." Thumbs sipped his slushie and stood next to the warp pipe. He waited one hour, two hours, three hours...
***
"Hey Grodus!" Crump called. "I mean, Sir!"
"I see you're healed... What do you need?"
"Buh... I just had a dream, and you were in it."
"Oh really?" Grodus asked, sounding amused. "Do tell."
"Well, you died..." Crump simply said.
Grodus no longer sounded amused. "Do you really think I care?"
"Buh?"
Grodus sighed. "Was that all you wanted?"
"Uh... Oh! I was wondering if you knew who that Magikoopa dude who attacked me was."
"Magikoopa?" Grodus wondered. "Please decribe this Magikoopa."
"Well... he has black robes with red cuffs, he acts all mysterious and stuff, and his some dagger thingy he calls the Fogblade."
"What?!" Grodus sounded quite angry. "Why is Wilco Blackflame interfering with my plans?! Well, it's a good thing he didn't harm Pura, but now we have to be extra cautious."
"Uh... why?" Crump asked dumbly.
"Did you or did not realize he injured you?" Grodus asked. "He's not exactly a weakling, and I'm not gonna be happy if he gets a hold of one of the Crystal Stars."
"But he already had one," Crump informed, "but Pura took it from him, I guess."
"She beat Wilco?" Grodus asked, sounding shocked.
"I don't know. I was knocked out."
"Hmm... Well, is that all you wanted?"
"Yeah, I'll be going now." Crump left the room.
"Well, if Pura beat Wilco, she may be too powerful to keep under my control. However, if she didn't, I still have Wilco himself to deal with," Grodus said to himself. "My plans will NOT be derailed again. I must take over the world. Nothing will stop me, not even Wilco!"
***
"Here it is!" Wendy headed inside a restaurant and waited for the others to follow.
"Can I help you?" a Pyro Guy almost immediately asked.
"Hello, chap," Regal greeted the Pyro Guy.
"Welcome, Regal. Got bored of Pilfer's cooking?" the Pyro Guy joked. "What would you like?"
"The Koopaling is here for the food, not me, really."
"Very well," Cook Guy simply said.
"What would Ludwig like?" Larry asked.
"I suggest the Soup of No Return," Regal told him.
"Sounds dangerous," Jack informed.
"Nah, it's fine unless I have to substitute some of the ingredients," Cook Guy assured.
"We'll take that then," decided Larry
"Very well. Wait here, please." Cook Guy walked into his kitchen.
"You sure about this?" Jack asked.
Larry looked toward Regal, who nodded. "He is an excellent cook. He isn't called Cook Guy for nothing."
Cook Guy came back out. "A bit of a problem. I'm missing an ingredient."
"Fine. We'll order something else," Larry immediately said.
"That'll have to wait until I get this ingredient."
"Why?" Larry asked.
"I refuse having to turn down an order for a customer of mine."
"It's all right. We can order something else," Wendy told Cook Guy.
"No, I insist."
Larry sighed. "Is there any way we can speed this up?"
"I suppose you can go yourselves while I make what I can without the ingredient. The ingredient is a very small piece of the Moon Stone located in the Fuzzy Lair in Petal Meadows," Cook Guy informed.
"Okay." Larry left to go get the Moon Stone. Wendy and Regal followed.
Jack did not. "Wait."
"Yes?"
"What happens when the Moon Stone is completely gone?" asked Jack.
"I guess I can no longer make my soup," Cook Guy answered. "Either that, or whoever made it can make another one."
"Oh... well, okay. See you." Jack also left the restaurant.
***
Five hours after he had exited the warp pipe, Thumbs was still waiting for Silver, and finally saw him, walking slowly toward him, wet and breathing heavily.
"How did you get here so fast?" he asked.
"Warp pipe," Thumbs said, pointing at it.
Silver glared at him for several minutes. Thumbs broke the silence by offering a slushie, which Silver accepted. "I suppose we should just go to Mt. Lavalava now."
"Sure, it's this way." Thumbs floated toward it, as Silver followed, still a bit exhausted. They got there with no problems, flying over the small pool of lava. They walked through the volcano without any problems as well. "I wonder where that treasure is..." Thumbs wondered.
As that got deeper into the mountain, they spotted a Putrid Piranha who went below ground when Thumbs and Silver got close. The two of them thought nothing of it, and continued walking. However, they soon felt shaking.
"I hope this place isn't erupting..." Silver said, a hint of worry in his voice.
"Doubt it. It doesn't feel like an earthquake or whatever kind of shaking volcanos cause," Thumbs informed Silver.
"Then what is it?"
"Probably Lava Piranha."
"Lovely... so he's not dead?"
The shaking grew louder.
"I'd say no," Thumbs said, preparing for battle by making a slushie.
"BWAHAHAHA!"
***
Pura walked grogily into Grodus's room, after being awoken for something important. She yawned. "What's the problem?"
"We found the next Crystal Star," Grodus responded.
Pura yawned again. "Can't it wait until morning? I'm really tired."
"No. PhDs say this Crystal Star is constantly moving. If we don't get it now, we might lose it."
Crump was asleep on the floor, teddy bear in hand. Pura yawned deeply. "All right, I'll get ready." She walked back to her room after kicking Crump in an attempt to wake him up.
"Ow!" he yelped. "She kicked me!"
"Stop whining and get ready to leave," Grodus ordered. "And I better not see you with that teddy bear again."
"Oh fine," Crump pouted, walking back to his room and hiding the teddy bear.
***
"Boy, does this place smell," Larry complained, walking around in the Fuzzy Lair.
"Let's just find that Moon Stone," suggested Jack.
"Hello!" they heard a voice call.
"Hmm?"
A Forest Fuzzy bounced toward them. "Hi! MEORK!"
"Um, hi?" Larry somewhat greeted. "Do you know where the Moon Stone is?"
"The what?"
"The Moon Stone."
"What's that?" the Fuzzy asked, sounding confused.
"Er, never mind. Can you show us someone who does?"
"Like who?"
"Another Fuzzy, perhaps?" asked Larry.
"Sure! MEORK! Follow me!"
"Hey, what's your name?" Wendy asked the Fuzzy.
"MEORK!"
"No, your name."
"MEORK!"
"Yes, I know you say that a lot, but what is your name?"
"That is my name!" the Fuzzy assured gleefully.
"Uh... Okay, well, can you spell it then?"
"Okay! M-E-J-O-R-K. The J is silent."
"Ooooh... Okay then, Mejork."
"MEORK!" Mejork bounced off and the group followed until they saw a blue Fuzzy. "Here ya go!"
"Hello!" the blue Fuzzy greeted.
"Hello," Wendy greeted back. "Do you know where the Moon Stone is?"
"Of course!" replied the blue Fuzzy, "It was here, but some Koopas stole it."
"Koopas?"
"Yeah, there were four of them, and they wore bandanas. They were weird."
"Sounds like the Koopa Bros," Larry informed.
"Of course it was!" shouted a voice from behind everyone. Soon four Koopas landed nearby. "It's the Koopa Bros!"
"Look Aqua! It's those Koopas from before!" Mejork told the blue Fuzzy. "Cool!"
"What do you losers want?" asked Wendy.
"Losers?" Black asked.
"Look, we know you work for King Dad, so just give us the Moon Stone and there won't be a problem."
"We quit your dad's patheric army, kid," Red announced.
"Why would you do that, chaps?" Regal asked.
"We have our own ideas for the army," Yellow answered, "but Bowser won't listen to us."
"Oh boo hoo," Jack taunted.
"I think the first thing we'll do is eliminate you four," Green threatened. "I think it will be an improvement to the army indeed."
"I'm not part of Bowser's army," Regal pointed out.
"No one cares," Red told him before ordering the Koopa Bros. make a stack, him jumping to the top. "I think we'll get rid of the annoying British Bob-omb first." The Koopa Bros' stack sped off towards Regal.
"BLAST!" Regal shouted, and exploded as the Koopa Bros hit. Regal's explosion knocked them to the ground, where they dropped the Moon Stone.
"Augh! We can't get up!"
Larry fell on the ground laughing. "What losers! One attack took them out! NYAHAHAHAHA!" His laughing continued.
Wendy walked by and picked up the Moon Stone, chipping a small piece off of it and giving the rest of it to Aqua. "Hmph."
"Thanks!" Aqua bounced away with the stone.
"Bye bye!" Mejork also bounced away.
By the time Larry had finished laughing, everyone was already gone, the Koopa Bros. having gotten up and run off. "Hey! Wait for me!" Larry ran after his group.
***
Lava Piranha immediately blew a fireball at Thumbs. "NYUCK! LOOKS LIKE I'LL BE HAVING DINNER!"
Thumbs barely dodged the fireball. "I don't think so!" He took out an ice Spiny, but it melted it in his hands, which gave Lava Piranha enough time to hit him with another fireball.
Silver, on the other hand, took flight and headed right towards Lava Piranha's head. Silver got a slice in before he was knocked away by a Lava Bud.
"Perhaps we should leave," Thumbs suggested.
"What kind of adventure would that be? Don't be a coward," challenged Silver, landing near Thumbs after being struck.
"Oh, all right." Thumbs charged up a dark Spiny and threw it at a Lava Bud, hitting it and causing it to fall limp. He then took out his fishing rod and began spinning the string and hook at high speeds.
Lava Piranha forced some lava to come up and head towards Silver, who jumped over it and slashed Lava Piranha in the head. He shouted out in pain and blasted Silver to the ground with another fireball. "Gah!"
"C'mere, Silver. I got an idea," Thumbs said, still spinning his rod. "When I say go, jump onto my hook."
"That sounds risky," Silver warned, "but that's my kind of attack." He nodded.
Lava Piranha was still recovering form the previous blow. "Ready... Go!" Thumbs shouted as Silver jumped on the hook. He spun Silver around quickly on the hook and then flung him at Lava Piranha. Silver, now going extremely fast, got two clean hits off of Lava Piranha, the first slicing the remaining Lava Bud straight off, the second another slash at Lava Piranha's head. Silver landed behind Lava Piranha as the fiery plant screamed and went back down into its lava pool.
"Awesome!" Silver exclaimed.
"You! Winged Yoshi!" someone shouted in front of him. Silver could see two figures appraching him, both rather large, but one larger than the other. "We know you have a Crystal Star."
"What? I do no- AGH!" Silver was hit with a lightning bolt as the two figures got closer.
"Silver!" Thumbs began to head towards him, but before he could get much closer, Lava Piranha quickly came back out of the lava, blasting Thumbs with a fireball and sending him into a nearby room. He quickly got up, but the doorway to the room with Silver, Lava Piranha, and the others was now blocked by a purple barrier.
"Lakitu! Turn around." Thumbs turned around to see a purple Yoshi with a cloak. "Hand over the Crystal Star."
"Well, this shouldn't be too hard, now should it, Sir Grodus?" one of the figures asked the other.
"Of course not, Crump. We have this one right where we want him and Pura is dealing with the other," the other replied.
"Who are you guys?" Silver asked, starting to stand back up.
"We're the X-Nauts! Har har har!" Crump laughed.
"Shut up, Crump," Grodus commanded. "Now, Yoshi, will you now cooperate and give us the Star?"
"No, but I'll give you this!" Silver pointed his sword at Grodus and fired a white beam at him.
Grodus waved his staff and it froze in place. "Foolish Yoshi. You should know you have no chance."
"I STILL WANT MY FOOD!" Lava Piranha shouted, spitting a fireball at Silver. He ducked and it hit Grodus.
"Agh! Idiotic plant!" Grodus blasted Lava Piranha with a lightning bolt, causing the plant to shout out in pain. "Crump, eliminate this Yoshi," he told his second in-command.
"Yes, sir!" Crump advanced on Silver.
"You're that girl from Rogueport. What are you doing here?" Thumbs asked.
"I'm here to get that Crystal Star you've been carrying around," Pura answered.
"What? No way! This thing is cool."
"Then prepare to die!" Pura fired a shadow ball at Thumbs.
"Woah!" He quickly threw a Spiny at it to destroy it. "What's your deal?" he wondered.
Pura said nothing and fired another shadow ball which promptly hit Thumbs.
"Ow! That's it!" Thumbs took out his Hurricane and cooled down the room with a wave of the rod. He then threw a light Spiny. Pura blasted it with another shadow ball. Thumbs then charged and swung his Hurricane at Pura, who parried it with her own sword. Thumbs swung again and knocked Pura off her feet. "Ha! Take that!" Thumbs was already starting a victory dance.
Pura quickly stood up. "Fool. I can take way more than that."
Crump dive-bombed Silver, who quickly kicked him in the gut. Crump keeled over.
"Useless..." Grodus groaned at the sight of Crump for a second, and then fired a Grodus-X at Silver, who was able to slice it in half. Grodus fired two more, Silver succeeding in destroying them both with relative ease. Silver then charged at Grodus and slashed at him, Grodus blocking both shots with his staff and trying to force back Silver's swords with Silver trying to force them forward. Both held their positions for a few seconds before Crump dive-bombed Silver successfully, distracting him long enough to be struck in the face by Grodus's staff. Silver stepped back a few steps away from Grodus and Crump. "Not bad, Yoshi," Grodus complimented, "but you must realize you have no chance."
"I don't care," Silver said defiantly, wiping some blood off his lip.
"How persistant..."
Lava Piranha, now annoyed with Grodus after being attacked by him, blew some more fire at him. "TAKE THAT, JERK!"
Pura quickly jumped into the air and threw a shadow shuriken at Thumbs. It hit his shoulder, leaving a small cut. He retaliated by creating a green wave of energy with his fishing rod, the Hurricane, which Pura was able to block by putting a shield up. Seeing his first blocked, Thumbs fired another, and another, until the shield broke, and then he tossed an ice Spiny. At the same time, Pura tossed a rope of dark energy at Thumbs, which wrapped around him when it got close to him and pinned him to the ground. However, in doing this, Pura was struck with the ice Spiny. It froze her body all the way up to her shoulders. Both were now pinned to the ground, struggling to break free of each others' traps.
Grodus was burnt again. "Grah! Blasted plant!" He fired some Grodus-Xs at Lava Piranha, but the plant retaliated, his Lava Bud firing Petit Piranhas at the Grodus-Xs, each destroying each other.
Crump punched Silver across the right side of his face, knocking his black sword out of his hand. "Buh huh huh- Agh!" Crump's laughing was interupted as he received a punch himself from Silver, his fist filled with dark energy. Silver then ran over to his sword to pick it up, only to have it kicked it away by Crump, who laughed once again and pounded Silver to the ground with a fist.
Silver growled as he got back up and slashed Crump across the chest with his white sword, leaving a huge gash. Silver followed up with a kick to Crump's chest, knocking him off his feet, where he would stay. Silver then retrieved his black sword and turned to Grodus, who was still busy with Lava Piranha. "You're next," he said quietly.
Pura was the first to break out of her icy trap, the heat from Mt. Lavalava aiding her in destroying the ice. She wasted no time in blasting the still-trapped Thumbs with a dark beam. Thumbs was knocked into a wall, but Pura kept firing, a cloud of smoke appearing where Thumbs was. She did not stop firing until she was short of breath, panting a bit. When the smoke cleared Thumbs was no longer there. "I vaporized him that easily?" Pura laughed. "What a joke. Now, where did he leave that Crystal Star?" Pura began to approach Thumbs's cloud, but was instead cracked in the back of the head with his Hurricane. Pura staggered forward, nearly losing consciousness from the attack. She then turned around and glared at Thumbs as he hopped back onto his cloud. "Why won't you die already?!" she demanded of him, still panting.
Thumbs was panting as well, covered in cuts and bruises. "Who are you anyway?"
"My name is Pura, fool. Be sure to remember it if you live," was the cold response.
"And what do you want with my Crystal Star?"
"My leader Grodus plans to collect all seven."
"And then what?" asked Thumbs.
"That's none of your business," Pura said, "but he has assured me a reward of great proportions for aiding him."
The lava around them was noisily bubbling. For the most part they were fighting on solid ground though.
"I can give rewards too," Thumbs began, his shell making a mechanical buzz. He reached inside of it and took out a slushie. "Here. Leave me alone and you get this."
A small purple beam went through the slushie and what was left of it poured to the ground. "No deal."
Thumbs responded by throwing an electric Spiny at Pura. Pura wasted no time in vaporizing it. Thumbs then threw two regular Spiny eggs to the ground, and some living Spinies barrelled toward Pura. She jumped in the air only to be struck with a fire Spiny from Thumbs. Pura fell back down and the Spinies approached. They both got decent hits in, but Pura slashed one with her sword and then kicked it in the lava. The other backed up a bit as Thumbs fired another green wave. Pura narrowly dodged it and in one quick action, threw her sword at Thumbs and blasted the remaining Spiny with a dark beam, knocking it out. Thumbs ducked under the sword and it hit a wall of rocks, creating a crack in it before the sword vanished.
Lava Piranha blew his fiery breath at Grodus, but with one wave of his staff, the fire froze in place. "I believe this is yours," Grodus said, redirecting the fire to go the opposite diection before unfreezing it. It hit Lava Piranha. Grodus readied another attack while the Piranha Plant was stunned, but was struck in the back by a black beam. He turned around and quickly fired a bolt at Silver, who avoided it. The bolt turned around after missing Silver and chased after him. "It appears you've defeated Lord Crump. How expected..."
Lava Piranha, after recovering, took this chance to spit a fireball at Silver. It hit, and Silver fell to the ground. Seeing this, Grodus redirected the bolt to go after Lava Piranha. The plant knocked it away with his Lava Bud and it collided with Pura's barrier nearby, where the bolt vaporized. "HAHAHAHA! WEAK X-NAUT AND YOSHI!"
Grodus waved his staff again and a green beam struck the laughing Lava Piranha, freezing him in place. "We won't be bothered by him for a while..." Grodus turned to Silver, who was just standing back up, now being on one knee. Grodus approached Silver. "Do you give up now?" Silver made no reply, waiting for Grodus to come closer... "Do you hear me, boy? I asked if you are giving up."
Silver jumped to his feet quickly and in a moment of confidence threw his white sword at Grodus. It struck him in the head and the glass around it became slightly cracked. "Yes! Take that!" Silver cheered.
"AARRGGHHH!" Grodus shouted. "Fool! You will pay with your life for that!" He was panting a little.
Silver laughed lightly. "It looks like you're tiring out." Though he was breathing somewhat heavy himself.
Some lava started pouring out of the crack Pura's sword made. "This fight won't last much longer," she declared.
"Of course not!" Thumbs agreed. "At this rate, you'll kill us both, psycho!"
"Shut up!" Pura demanded, spitting a purple flame at Thumbs out of her mouth. Lava continued to pour into the room.
Thumbs tossed a Spiny at the flame to fizzle it out. "This isn't a joke! The volcano is going to erupt if this continues. We need to stop this fight now or lava will fill up this room and we'll be dead in a matter of minutes."
"Then give me the Crystal Star!"
"Fine." Thumbs dropped the Sapphire Star to the ground. "Take it. It's not worth dying over." Pura ran over to pick it up. "Now let me out of here," Thumbs demanded.
Pura laughed, a sinister smile on her face. "No."
"What?!"
"Die." Pura fired a beam from her finger at Thumbs. He swore to himself and quickly moved out of the way as Pura kept firing. Thumbs eventually flew by the barrier as Pura fired another shot. Thumbs avoided the beam and it hit the barrier, bouncing back towards Pura. She put up a shield to defend herself and the beam bounced away from her, hitting the barrier once more. This time, the beam destroyed the barrier.
"Yes! See ya later, nutcase!" Thumbs flew out of the room.
Silver was struck in the face by Grodus's staff and knocked to where his sword had landed after he had thrown it. "Ugh..." Silver was starting to lose consciousness.
"Silver!" Thumbs quickly flew over to him and lifted him onto his cloud. "Let's get out of here!" He quickly flew off with Silver, not giving anyone else a chance to intervene.
Grodus was too tired out to follow. "Curses!" he shouted. "They got away so easily!" Pura stumbled out of the room where she had been fighting Thumbs. "How could you let him escape?!" Grodus shouted at her.
"I'll get him later," Pura assured, "but for now I took his Crystal Star." She handed it to Grodus.
"Good, good." Grodus sounded relieved now despite his injuries. "This task could have gone better, but it appears we have succeeded. Get Crump. We're leaving." Grodus turned away and started to walk out of the volcano.
Pura nodded and walked past the still-time frozen Lava Piranha and to Crump, who was still out cold. She picked him up and followed Grodus to the exit of Mt. Lavalava.