The Great Boggly Tree Part 3

The Resistance

Jabble had just woken up from a restless night of sleep. No one really got much sleep anymore these days. The Jabbie tribe was on the warpath with the Puni tribe again and recently, all the days seemed to be spent preparing for an attack. Jabble crawled out of the hive that was his temporary home. The leaders of the Jabbie tribe had ordered these hives to be constructed in case of an emergency defensive. There were two in the Great Boggly Tree. The first one, the one Jabble was in, was much smaller, housing only about ten Jabbies. The Jabbie elder had sent almost all of the other Jabbies, well over a hundred, to defend their main home. The first hive that Jabble was in was more of a diversion to draw attention from the main hive then to serve as a defensive location. Jabble knew that if the Punies decided to attack, it would be over in seconds.

It hadn't always been this way though. Times had changed. Up until the X-Nauts had entered the Great Boggly Tree, Jabbies and the Punies had lived in peace. Jabble even used to be great friends with one of members of the Puni tribe, Punio. The fact was, even now, Jabble didn't see why they were fighting. He sure didn't want to fight the Punies, nor did he have any motivation to. Jabble's theory was that the X-Nauts had negotiated some sort of deal with the greedy elder of their tribe, which involved the Jabbie tribe fighting the Punies and aiding the X-Nauts. Jabble hated the idea of fighting those who had been his friends weeks ago. Every bit of common sense in his body was telling him to not listen to the corrupt elder but at the moment, he didn't really have a choice. Sighing, he turned and walked back to the hive for a quick breakfast before work began.

Mario had begun the long climb back down the tree. He noticed that Punio had a spring in his step now and seemed to be in a much better mood. Mario figured it was probably because now Punio had a slightly bigger chance of getting together a resistance group with the elder free.

"Look out!" cried Punio.

Mario, who was deep in thought, didn't hear the warning and plunged down one of the chutes that they had climbed up before. Luckily, it was at an angle so he didn't hit the ground head on.

"Mario! Are you okay?" screamed Goombella, petrified.

"Ugh... Yeah. Wasn't watching where I was going." moaned Mario, pulling himself up.

Koops came sliding down the chute a few seconds later.

"Well it looks like your still in one piece. It could have been worse." said Koops.

"Yeah. Its a good thing my face absorbed most of the impact. I could have gotten really hurt." muttered Mario, wiping the dirt off himself.

No one seemed to get Mario's attempt at humor so he decided to not delay any longer. He turned and led the group down the next chute and soon they had reached the beginning of the tree again. Punio quickly ran ahead and made a beeline for the Elder, who had fallen into a deep sleep.

"Elder! I'm back. Were all here. We need to save the rest of the Punies!" yelled Punio.

The Elder didn't move a muscle.

"Great time for a nap I guess." sighed Punio.

"Well what do we have here? I have to admit, I can't believe that you managed to rescue the Elder." said a voice.

Punio didn't even need to turn around to know that the mocking voice was Puniper.

"Yeah, I saved her, just like I said. Any more doubts buddy?" asked Punio.

"Well, I have no doubt now that you are going to be able to take the tree back. Just LOOK at the marvelous leader we have there to lead us to victory." mocked Puniper, gesturing at the sleeping Elder.

"That marvelous leader happens to be our Elder. You should show some respect for the person that watched over this tree years before you were even born!" yelled Punio.

"Let me spell it out for you. I don't give a care about the fact that you rescued the useless elder. I still don't trust that guy that you keep calling our ally and I am DEFINENTLY not moving from this spot until you save all of the Punies! It is a miracle that you managed to rescue the Elder and believe me, your luck will run out, and when it does, you will have no one to turn to!" brawled Puniper.

"EXCUSE ME!" screamed the Elder who had awoken.

"Calling an Elder USELESS? I can't believe you! You are the bay of this tribe's existence! You my friend are in a world of hurt if we ever get out tree back." shrieked the Elder, turning red.

"But... Elder... I'm sorry..." whimpered Puniper, turning a bright red color.

"Awwwww, the big bad Puniper is sorry?" mocked Goombella, snickering.

"Look at Punio over there! He just risked everything to help me. He is our only chance of ever getting our Great Boggly Tree back from the X-Cauts, I mean Nauts. So you get off you blubbery ass and help Punio!" roared the Elder, enraged.

"Yes Elder." skulked Puniper.

"Were coming too." said another voice.

Mario turned and saw the other group of Punies had formed behind them.

"Now that's more like it! See, were already a step closer to taking our tree back. Now, you should all take the chutes down this time. I overheard the X-Fauts... X-Nauts talking at one point. The key to the other cell is near the bottom of the tree. I suggest you make haste." ordered the Elder.

"Alright. You heard the woman. Lets go." said Puniper, ashamed.

"Don't worry Elder. I'll get the key and soon, the tree will be ours again." said Punio.

"Those are the words of a true leader Punio." said the Elder.

Punio stopped for a second as the elder's words sunk in. He looked back at the elder who nodded encouragingly. Punio smiled and then turned to follow the small army of Punies who were heading down the chute. Mario and his partners followed close behind. The Punies were already growing in strength and soon, the X-Nauts and the Jabbies wouldn't be able to contain them anymore.

Mario was the first to the chute. This one had a steep drop and the bottom was nowhere in sight.

"Its safe. Trust me." assured Punio who had also reached the ledge and was looking down.

"Oh boy." muttered Mario, as he gazed down into the seemingly endless chute.

He took a last breath and then jumped down the chute. It dropped steeply and Mario picked up speed at an alarming rate. He saw the light at the end of the chute coming up fast and he braced himself for the impact. He shot out and slid right into an X-Naut that was standing on the edge of a chasm. The X-Naut was knocked backwards into the pit as Mario slid to a stop right before the edge. Mario heard the X-Naut screaming on the way down and then a huge splash. Mario pulled himself up and gazed over the edge.

"Look out below!" screamed Koops who suddenly came flying out of the chute.

Mario froze as he realized that he was in the same position the X-Naut was when he came out of the...

Koops hit him from behind and Mario plunged over the edge. He fell for a few seconds before he splashed into the water below.

"Mario! Oh god!" yelled Koops from the top of the cliff.

"I'm fine! The water is actually pretty nice." yelled Mario back up at Koops.

"Mario! Hang on. We'll get you out." yelled Goombella who had also appeared at the top of the hole.

"Sounds like a plan." muttered Mario.

He had fallen into a huge foggy cavern and was treading water in some sort of massive pond in the tree. Before he even got a look around, he heard a splash behind him. Mario swam forwards to try to see if there was any level ground in sight but his hand soon brushed against the tree trunk. There was no ground, just water. Mario was suddenly pulled under the water. He broke away and swam to the surface, desperately trying to locate the attacker. It must have been the X-Naut he had knocked in earlier!

"Koops! Goombella! You need to get me out of here!" yelled Mario, knowing that it would be all too easy for the X-Naut to drown him.

"Almost there! Just hold on!" yelled Koops from somewhere above.

The X-Naut suddenly surfaced right in front of Mario.

"Hey buddy. Enjoying the swim?" asked the X-Naut.

Mario felt the trunk behind him, desperately looking for anything to use to fend off the X-Naut. His hand closed around a thick tree root that was loose. The X-Naut swam closer and closer. Mario pulled with all of his strength and the root came free in his hands just as the X-Naut reached him.

"How about we go for a nice swim to the bottom of the lake, just the two of us?" taunted the X-Naut.

"Sounds great." spat Mario as he brought the root up and smashed the X-Naut in the face with it.

Without a sound, the X-Naut went limp and sunk below the water. Mario sighed and relaxed. He leaned backwards so that he was now floating on his back. He got his first real look around.

"Oh, wow..." said Mario wearily.

He hadn't even noticed the beauty of the pond he was in. The warm water lapped gently at Mario's aching muscles and made him almost want to go to sleep and never wake up. The whole chamber was full of the most beautiful multicolored mist that Mario had ever seen. Pulling himself back up, he saw that the water he was in was twinkling and shining with all of the most vivid and stunningly beautiful colors he could imagine. Mario took off his hat and dived under the water. He opened his eyes and was lost in a fantastic world of color. The light under the water was almost blinding. Mario dived deeper and reached the bottom of the pond where he allowed himself to sink into a sitting position on the ground. Here, the colors were much deeper and surreal. He could see the sides of the tree, which were a bright red and green color that was shifting and moving slowly around the trunk. The whole scene kept changing colors and shimmering softly. The whole thing seemed like a dream. There was no way that something this dazzling could exist. Mario felt his lungs beginning to strain and he realized that he needed to get going again. He pushed off the bottom and swam upwards through a whirlwind of color and light. He broke through the surface and gasped for breath.

"Mario! Where are you!" Goombella was screaming.

"I'm okay. I'm still here!" yelled Mario up.

"Grab the vine!" yelled Koops, who appeared at the edge and tossed down a thick vine.

It splashed into the water next to Mario, sending up a brilliant spray of purple and green water. Mario grabbed it and hung on. Together, Koops and Flurrie who had just come down the chute pulled the vine upwards. Mario felt the air growing colder and he took one last look down at the pond but already, the colorful mist obscured any view of the water. Mario felt himself being pulled over the top and he was back on dry land.

"Mario! I was so worried about you. Oh. Thank goodness your alright!" gushed Flurrie who pulled Mario off his feet and kissed him so hard, he thought he might loose conciseness.

"I'm so sorry Mario! I didn't know." stammered Koops, looking at the ground.

Mario didn't say anything, he just sunk to the ground.

"Mario? Are you okay?" asked Goombella, confused.

Mario realized that he was smiling dreamily. He was so relaxed from the soothing water that felt like he was in a trance. Goombella's loud voice finally snapped him out of it.

" Yeah I'm okay, its perfectly fine Koops, it was just an accident, and thank you Flurrie." said Mario all in one breath. "Looks like you just went for a dip in the sacred pool." said Punio, who had emerged from the chute along with the other Punies.

"Sacred Pool?" asked Koops.

"Its the elder's private chamber. I've only been here one time before." said Punio who also seemed transfixed.

"There's a path around." yelled Goombella from somewhere to the side.

Everyone turned and saw a narrow ledge that crossed the gap.

"Alright lets keep moving." said Punio, leading the Punies towards the ledge. Goombella crossed first, then Koops, and then Mario. Punio went halfway and then turned to the other Punies.

"Lets make a single file line. Just don't look down." said Punio.

The Punies formed a line and they quickly scampered across the ledge. Only Puniper remained at the other side.

"Let go Puniper. Your doing great!" yelled Punio encouragingly.

"Shove it! I'm doing fine, thank you very much." croaked Puniper.

"Then lets go." said Punio.

Puniper hesitated for a long time before he slowly and carefully crossed the ledge. He didn't stop and walked ahead of the rest of the group and into the next chute.

"He's shaking like a baby!" laughed Goombella.

There were a few snickers from the Punies as they followed Puniper through.

Mario turned towards his group.

"You guys are doing fantastic. A few days ago, I was alone and hopeless. Now, I couldn't ask for better friends." said Mario warmly.

"And we couldn't either." said Koops.

Goombella and Flurrie both just smiled, a dreamy look coming over both of their faces. Koops smiled to himself, recognizing their expressions having seen the same one many times from Koopie Koo before they started dating. It appeared that both Goombella and Flurrie had quite a thing for Mario. Mario either didn't notice or he hid it well. Shaking his head, Koops followed the group into the next chute.

The chute led to a medium sized room. There were some more of the brilliantly colored shrubs as well as creeper vines snaking their way around the trunk. The chamber seemed to be empty.

"Alright. Lets get moving guys." said Punio, leading the way.

Mario suddenly felt the hair on the back of his neck stand up. He turned around just in time to see one of the shrubs swaying like something had just pushed it. Mario watched as his group and the Punies continued forward. There was a sudden skittering sound from somewhere up above. Mario quickly looked up but didn't see anything besides from more creeper vines crawling across the top of the chamber. He must have been imagining things. He ran to catch up with the group that was halfway across the room. Goombella who was bringing up the rear stopped to adjust her helmet just as Mario caught up to her.

"Mario? I thought you were leading." said Goombella.

"No. Shoe came untied." replied Mario, not wanting to cause panic over what was probably nothing.

"What's wrong?" asked Goombella, who had gotten good at reading Mario's face.

"Nothing. I just... I though I heard something but its probably nothing." replied Mario, scratching his neck nervously.

"Really? You should ignore stuff like that Mario. Not in these circumstances. Lets stop the group for a second and make sure everything's safe." said Goombella warily.

"Your probably right." said Mario.

Mario and Goombella started towards the front of the pack when Punio suddenly stopped.

"Where did Puniol go? Where is he?" asked Punio, alarmed.

Mario stopped and looked at the group of Punies. Mario realized that they were one short.

"Okay. Who was the last person that saw him?" asked Mario.

"He was right next to me when we came into here." squeaked one of the Punies.

Mario and Goombella exchanged worried glances. There had been eleven Punies when they entered the room. Mario had counted them earlier. Now there were ten. Something had happened in the room they were in right now.

"Okay. We need to split up and find him before.."

A piercing cry cut through the air like a knife. Mario whirled around to see a huge spider advancing on the group. It was as white and gray and had a black circular pattern on its body. Four long and twisted legs carried the bloated spider silently towards them with alarming speed. Its white pincers clicked rapidly, the sound echoing off the walls. The creature squealed in excitement as it got closer and closer.

"Its a Pider! Run for your lives!" screamed Punio.

All of the Punies took of running in all directions, shrieking in terror.

"Goombella! Flurrie! Get them out of here!" yelled Mario.

"This way! C'mon! Hurry!" yelled Goombella, desperately trying to get the Punies rounded up.

Koops and Mario stepped past the retreating Punies and faced the Pider who had reached them. It came to a stop in front of them. Mario pulled out his hammer and held it in front of him to keep the Pider from getting closer. It's black eyes darted back and forth between the two of them. Suddenly, it opened its mouth and let out a hissing, gurgling cackle that made both Mario and Koops shudder involuntarily. Mario noticed a tiny yellow ball had slipped out of the Pider's mouth. He glanced at it and felt his heart sink as he realized that it was the antenna of the missing Puni.

"Oh god..." sighed Koops, realizing the same thing.

Mario felt a throbbing anger come over him. He stepped forwards and slammed his hammer into the creature's head with all of his strength. The Pider let out a choking cry as its legs gave out and it's bloated body crashed to the ground. It thrashed around, tearing bushes out of the ground and sending up a spray of moss and dirt.

"Go. Run, now!" yelled Mario to Koops.

They both spun around and took off running towards the other side of the room. The last Puni was disappearing through the chute. Mario and Koops both jumped in and slid down farther to the next chamber where everyone was catching their breathes.

"Are you guys okay? It didn't hurt you did it?" asked Flurrie.

"Were okay. Mario took it down." said Koops, panting.

"That was a Pider. Nasty creatures. They come after us all the time." said Punio.

Punio looked at Mario and Koop's expressions and knew that something bad had happened. Koops was staring at the ground and Mario looked like someone had just strangled his favorite pet.

"Did you find Puniol?" asked Punio, dreading the answer.

Mario looked at the group of Punies who were all staring at him. He sadly shook his head. An eerie silence came over the group. No one said anything, they all just stood there and took in what they had just heard. Surprisingly, it was Punio who broke the silence.

"It's a shame. Puniol was all of our friends and this is going to hurt us all but we have to keep moving. It's what he would have wanted." said Punio, in a sad and defeated tone that Mario had not heard before.

Punio slowly took the lead again and walked into the next chute, his head hung.

Jabble had stepped out of the hive area to get away from the chaos that had become his everyday life. He allowed himself to sink to the ground against the trunk of the tree, carefully rearranging his wings. This was Jabble's favorite place to relax, a comfy corner of the tree that was kept nice and cool by the mist coming from a nearby waterfall. Jabble sighed with relief as he allowed his aching body to relax. He remembered when he was just a young Jabbie. He and Punio would play all day and then settle down for the nightly feast between the two tribes. Those were the good old days all right.

"Jabble? Is that you?" asked a voice from somewhere to the side.

Jabble sighed. Getting caught slacking off was the last thing he needed right now. This was perfect, just perfect.

"I'm sorry, I was just relaxing for a minute and..."

Jabble suddenly froze. It wasn't one of the Jabbies at all, it was none other then Punio!

"Punio? What are you doing here? There is a Jabbie hive on the other side of this trunk! They'll kill you if they catch you! You need to get out of here as fast as you can." whispered Jabble, looking around for any Jabbies who could possibly see them.

"It's okay, don't worry. How have you been buddy?" asked Punio, reaching Jabble's side.

"It's been hell for us. The X-Nauts bribed out elder to help them take over the tree. The greedy bastard took the deal and it has been nonstop work for us." sighed Jabble.

"So the Jabbies and X-Nauts are working together." muttered Punio, his heart sinking.

"I'm afraid so. Listen, it's too late to stop them. You have to get out of here and get someplace safe. I don't know what the X-Nauts will do to our tribes after they find whatever they are looking for but it isn't going to be good. It's to late for us but you can still save whoever is left."

"It's okay Jabble. Listen, we saved the Puni elder and we have a fighting chance now. I went for help and found..."

"It's a Jabbie! Lets get him!" yelled a voice from behind.

Punio and Jabble both leapt up and spun around. Puniper and the rest of the Punies had formed a circle around them.

"Way to go Punio! You got the bastard right where we want him" cried a Puni.

"Lets finish him!" cried another.

"No! Wait!" cried Jabbie, searching frantically for a way out.

Punio leaped in front of Jabble. The Punies stopped advancing, confused looks coming over their faces.

"And just what the hell do you think your doing?" yelled Puniper.

"Go! Get out of here!" yelled Punio.

Jabble quickly ran out from behind Punio and disappeared through the hole in the trunk. Punio turned to face Puniper.

"He's my friend alright? I've known him since I was a kid. He wouldn't hurt a fly!" barked Punio.

"He's not your friend anymore! He's a god damned Jabbie! Are you forgetting that they are half the reason we are in this situation?" screamed Puniper.

"Oh yeah? Well if he wasn't here, we would be walking into a hive of Jabbies blindly!" yelled Punio back, gesturing to the hole in the trunk that Jabble had disappeared into.

Puniper opened his mouth to reply but closed it after a few seconds of silence. Mario and his friends slid down the chute and took their place at the back of the group of Punies.

"Listen to me. Jabble told me that their elder made a deal with the X-Nauts. The Jabbies are just following orders! They don't want this any more then we do!" cried Punio.

"I don't care what they want! All I know is what I want, ever last one of them dead! I say we march into their hive right now and burn it down!" growled Puniper.

"Look, lets go into the hive and try to get them to join us! They are being worked to death against their will, I bet we couldn't get them to help us out if we talk to them rationally!" gushed Punio.

The circle of Punies went silent. They seemed lost in their own thoughts.

"Do... do you really think you could talk them down?" asked a Puni hopefully.

"Give me a few minutes and I bet I can. I have a friend in there. I really don't want anything to happen to him." said Punio sadly.

Puniper stepped forward and gave Punio a hard push. With a small cry, Punio stumbled backwards and fell to the ground against the trunk of the tree.

"You are the dumbest Puni I have ever known! Your going to get us killed. I say we go in there right now and..."

"Oh would you just shut the fuck up!" yelled Goombella, furious.

Puniper almost jumped out of his skin at the sound of her loud voice. Mario pretended to cough to hide the fact that he had a huge smile on his face.

"All you have done is waste our time Puniper!" screamed a Puni.

"Why don't you listen to good advice for once you jackass!" spat another.

Punio pulled himself up and brushed the dust off himself.

"Alright. Now that that's settled, whoever wants to try to be reasonable, step forward." said Punio, glaring at Puniper.

Everyone except for Puniper walked over to Punio. Puniper stared at them silently for a few seconds before joining them. He walked up to Punio and took a deep breath.

"Listen Punio. We have our differences but your right. I'm the one who is going to get us killed. I've always hated you because the elder thinks you should take over the tribe instead of me but... I think I agree with her now." said Puniper in a sad tone that no one had ever heard from him before.

"It's alright Puniper. We'll get through this together, okay?" asked Punio.

Puniper nodded and took his place behind Punio.

"Alright, is everyone ready?" asked Punio.

"Were ready alright." replied Puniper.

"Lets get going!" squeaked Punio, walking through the hole.

The group followed Punio through the trunk and found themselves in a huge chamber with the top at least a hundred feet above them. A waterfall fell from high above and the runoff forked into two streams, which ran across the ground. This wasn't what caught everyone's attention through. Against the back of the chamber was a huge rock structure built into the wall. It was the Jabbie hive that Jabble had mentioned. Punio stepped forward and called out.

"Hello? Is anyone home?" he yelled, his tiny voice echoing around the room.

It was completely silent for a few seconds but them there was a creaking sound as a rock at the base of the structure slid to the side. Mario saw a strange creature emerge from it. It must have been one of the Jabbies that Punio and Puniper had been arguing about constantly. It was the same gray shade as the Punies but it was much skinnier and taller. The Jabbie had huge eyes perched on the top of it's skinny body and it had a small pair of white wings sprouting from it's back.

"It's the Punies!" yelled the Jabbie frantically.

Only a few seconds later, more Jabbies began running out of the hive, ready to fight to the death to defend the supply base. Mario counted ten of them in all.

"That's it? We could take them easily." cried one of the Punies.

"Wait a second!" yelled Punio.

The Jabbies froze. They didn't seem eager to start the fight. Punio looked around and spotted Jabble in the back of the group of Jabbies. They made eye contact and Punio nodded in Jabble's direction. Punio's gaze drifted to another one of the Jabbies near the back of the group. He was shaking in terror. Punio had never seen a member of the Jabbie tribe look so afraid, so helpless. Hopeless looks were coming over the faces of the Jabbies as they realized that there was no way they could win. Punio looked at the small group of terrified Jabbies and suddenly knew that they shouldn't be fighting. They were all brothers in this tree and the X-Nauts were the enemy.

"Listen. We don't want to hurt any of you but don't think we wont if you make us." yelled Punio, walking closer to the Jabbies who remained silent.

"You guys are being forced to work for the X-Nauts instead of living your lives! Remember when the tribes used to get along? Remember those days where we lived in peace?" asked Punio, pacing back and forth.

The Jabbies remained silent, thinking over what Punio was saying.

"Don't you guys get it? Were friends! We should be fighting together against the X-Nauts, not against our childhood friends! Now, who wants to take back OUR tree?" asked Punio.

There was a deep silence. Punio stepped back. All he could do now was wait. A few minutes passed before a Jabbi finally spoke.

"I'm so sorry but we can't help you. There is another hive, five times the size of this one in the tree with our whole army in it. If we turn on them, they'll kill us. The X-Nauts are the stronger side and we will be safe with them." squeaked the Jabbi.

"No! Don't you get it? They are using you to try to find the crystal star at the bottom of the tree! All they need you for is for information about the tree and places to store their gear! When they get what they want, they will probably kill you all! If the Punies and the Jabbies teamed up, we could take back our tree!" yelled Punio desperately.

Punio looked at the group of Jabbies hopefully but it was no use.

"It... It's too late. This war will never end." muttered the Jabbi sadly.

Punio sighed walked back to the group.

"It's alright Punio. You tried." said Mario, patting Punio on the back.

He walked forward and stopped in front of the group of Jabbies.

"Okay. You won't help us but you need to clear out of here right now because I know you all don't want to fight us and I wouldn't either since you have no chance." said Mario.

The group of Jabbies was silent for a second but realizing Mario was right, they slowly formed a line and filed past the Punies and out of the hole in the trunk. Jabble paused and turned to Punio.

"I'm so sorry Punio..."

Punio walked over to Jabble and gave him a hug.

"It's okay. Well see each other again. One of these days, well walk through the tree together again in peace... just like we used to" said Punio warmly.

Jabble sighed, a tiny tear running down his face.

"Well, I guess this is goodbye. Good luck out there Punio."

"You too. Please be careful." replied Punio, sadly.

With that, Jabble turned and began walking away. He stopped and turned around one last time.

"If I don't see you again, I just wanted you to know that..."

"Well always be friends Jabble, no matter what happens. Well see each other again." said Punio.

"I know." said Jabble, smiling.

With one final glance, Jabble turned and followed the last of the Jabbies towards whatever fate awaited them.