What's up guys? 087-B here with a new chapter! In the previous chapter, the gang met Punio and found their way to the Boggly Woods! In this chapter, they'll head off to the place that Punio lives to help the Punies!

Now, on with the show!

Chapter 2: The Great Boggly Tree - Part 2 - Shadows Amongst The Trees

As Dipper fell through the pipe, it felt as if everything was loosing color and everything around him was turning to shades of black and white. He flew out of the pipe and landed on the ground. Looking around, the area he was in was just that: black and white. The trees were black with white leaves, the flowers had black stems with white petals, and the ground was black with a colored vine pattern on it. The sky was a tinted orange, but not the typical evening orange, but a peaceful, calming orange, like the sky was a painting. Dipper stood up and rubbed his head.

"This place…" Pacifica smiled and looked around. "It's so peaceful!"

"It's like the X-Nauts never even touched this place." Goombella said.

"So, where to next?" Dipper asked.

"The place I live at is called the Great Tree, and it's pretty much haven for us Punies." Punio said. "That is, until the X-Nauts showed up. It's this way, follow me." He scurried down a small path and the others followed. They all entered a clearing and stopped upon seeing the shadow sirens.

"So, according to master Grodus," Beldam began. "That Mario guy and this Dipper kid should be here soon. Are you two prepared, Marilyn and Vivian?"

"Guuuuuuh." Marilyn said.

"Of course I am, sis." Vivian replied.

"Good." Beldam said, "Now, in order to identify them and ambush them, we need to look at the poster of Mario that master Grodus gave us, and the picture of Dipper we confiscated from the prisoner, so Vivian, please hand them over to me."

"Um, sis? You said I was too irresponsible to carry those things, so you took them from me." Vivian said.

"Don't be silly, you have them! Now give them to me!" Beldam said. Vivian didn't respond. "Vivian, what are you fondling over there?"

"Oh, this?" Vivian smiled and held up a necklace. "I found it by a tree over there."

"Picking up someone else's trash and ignoring the responsibility of holding onto those pictures?" Beldam yelled. "How inconsiderate! I'll take this has your punishment!" She grabbed the necklace from Vivian and yanked it away. "Now, until you give me the poster and the picture, you will not get this necklace back! Understand me?"

"…yes sis." Vivian said, frowning. The others walked over.

"Um… is everything okay here?" Dipper asked.

"Shut up, hat boy!" Beldam said angrily. "Leave us be, this is none of your business!"

"Okay…" The group continued forward.

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After a bit of walking, the group saw a large tree in the distance with a log shaped pipe leading to it nearby.

"Oh! There it is!" Punio said happily. "That's the Great Tree!" He scurried into the pipe, and the others jumped in after him.

The Great Tree was indeed great; in beauty and in size. The branches atop the tree hung over the forest floor, creating a beautiful view when looking up. The roots stuck out everywhere, and the tree itself had small, serene waterfalls that poured out of its sides. This tree seemed to be alive on its on if it can provide the right kind of heat and cooling temperatures, contain fresh water, and sustain another form of life inside of it. When the gang walked over, Punio sat in front of a red metal door with a red light hanging over it.

"Um… this door wasn't here before." Punio said. "It's locked, so we can't get through, and the secret entrance is of no use…"

"Why can't we use it?" Koops asked.

"Well, you see…" Punio began. "There's this… thing that blocks it. I don't know what it is, but it's some sort of papery, invisible object."

"So how do we move it?" Pacifica asked.

"We need the help of one of my friends, Madame Flurrie." Punio said. "She's the one who cares for all of the Punies, so she can help remove the thing with her powers."

"Let's go find her then." Mario suggested. "She may be our only way of getting inside the tree."

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After a bit of traveling, the gang found Flurrie's House. Along the way, Dipper found a new badge, one that looked like a big, purple hammer. The note attached said the following:

Quake Hammer. Requires 2 BP to wear. When worn, the bearer can use Quake Hammer, which is a ground based move that hits all ground bound enemies for 2 damage, and can flip over some enemies, like Koopas, on to their backs. 3 FP are required to use this move.

Entering the house, the six heroes found a beautiful decorative foyer, with stairs on each side leading up to the second floor. They all walked up the stairs and a door was against the back wall.

"Well, here it is." Punio said. "Madame Flurrie should be in there."

"Oh?" A feminine voice said from behind the door. "Is that you? Punio?"

"Madame Flurrie?" Punio asked. "We need your help! These guys have taken over the Great Tree, and we need your powers to get inside!"

"Oh, who is this 'we' you speak of?" Flurrie asked.

"This guy named Mario and a boy named Dipper." Punio answered. "So can you please help us?"

"I'd love to help you, sweetie, but alas, I cannot." Flurrie answered.

"What? Why?" Punio was confused.

"My necklace has gone missing, and I simply cannot go anywhere without it." Flurrie answered. "If you can find my necklace and return it to me safely, then I shall help you."

"Alright, Madame Flurrie!" Punio said. "We'll try!"

"I'm pretty sure I know where to find this necklace." Dipper said as the gang left the house. "Back to the entrance of the woods."

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"Ah, here we are!" Beldam pulled out the poster of Mario and the picture of Dipper. "Vivian, you get double punishment for not telling me that I had these!"

"But sis, I-" Vivian began, but was cut off.

"Do you want me to triple your punishment?" Beldam asked.

"No, sis…" Vivian said. Beldam set the two items down, and the sirens gasped.

"These look like Mustache Man and Hat Boy!" Beldam said. "Grrr, we'll never ambush them at this rate!"

:::::

The group dashed to the entrance of the woods, and upon seeing the shadow sirens, they readied themselves.

"You there!" Beldam was the first to notice them. "Mario and Dipper, I presume? Hand over the map and your Crystal Star!"

"Wait, if you want those things…" Dipper gasped. "You guys must work for the X-Nauts!" He took out his staff.

"Of course we do!" Beldam said.

"Who are you punks anyway?" Pacifica asked angrily, taking out her scepter.

"We are…" Beldam began.

"The three…" Marilyn continued, speaking the only eligible words that may ever come out of her mouth.

"Shadow beauties!" Vivian finished.

"Yes! The three shadow- wait…" Beldam turned to Vivian. "Vivian, you dolt! We're the three shadow sirens! Not shadow beauties! I don't see two beauties in front of me, I see one, and then there's you, and you're plug-ugly!"

"Sis…" Vivian stuttered, tears forming in her eyes.

"Shut up, you nincompoop!" Beldam yelled. "Let's take these fools on!"

"Guuuuuuuh!" Marilyn said.

"Yes, sis…" Vivian said. She followed Beldam and Marilyn toward the heroes.

The battle began.

Beldam threw an icy punch at Mario, who in turn took out his hammer to deflect the attack. He swung it and landed a blow on Beldam, then used a Power Jump on Marilyn.

Vivian disappeared into the shadows, then reappeared behind Dipper. She threw a punch and landed a blow on the back of his head. He fell to the ground with a thud, but got back up again and swung his staff, but he missed Vivian and hit Beldam instead.

"Grrr, enough of this!" Beldam held out her hands and an icy wind flew out from her palms, freezing Goombella and Koops.

"C-C-Cold!" Goombella and Koops cried out.

Dipper looked over at Wendy, who was standing in the sidelines of the battle.

"Wendy, we need help!" Dipper called out.

"I don't know what to do!" Wendy replied. Marilyn came over and attempted to shock her with lightning, but she rolled out of the way and landed a punch on Marilyn's head.

"Nice one!" Dipper smiled and held the thumbs up, then proceeded to whack Vivian with his staff. Wendy smiled back and continued her assault on Marilyn.

Vivian managed to dodge a hit from the staff and cast a fire spell, sending Dipper flying backwards on to the ground. He got up and growled.

"Time to finish this!" He held up his staff toward the air as it ignited on fire. It transformed into a glowing red hammer as a fire ball fell from the sky.

"Fire Drive!" Dipper smashed the fireball with the hammer and it sent waves of fire at the three sirens, inflicting massive damage and knocking them out. The staff returned to normal and was no longer on fire, and Goombella and Koops were no longer frozen. Dipper smiled.

"Game, set, and match!" They all put their weapons away.

"How could we have been… beaten?!" Beldam, Marilyn, and Vivian weakly stood up. "Retreat!" Beldam and Marilyn dashed off. Vivian began to run as well, but dropped the necklace. She took one last look at it before running off with her sisters. Pacifica picked up the necklace.

"Come on, guys." Pacifica said. "Let's get this thing back to Flurrie."

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Once the group arrived at Flurrie's House for the second time, they quickly went upstairs to Flurrie's room.

"Madame Flurrie, we have the necklace!" Punio said.

"Oh, you do?" Flurrie said from behind the door. "Thank you, darling! If you could, may you please leave it in front of the door?"

Pacifica set it in front of the door. It opened up a tiny bit, and the necklace was pulled inside. About 30 seconds later, a disco ball appeared from the ceiling, and the room became pink with the added light. Slow, romantic music began to play as the door to Flurrie's room opened. Out stepped a blue wind spirit with green earrings and a golden necklace.

"Oh, are you the one who helped get my necklace back?" She took note of Dipper, who stood in front of her. He began sweating and blushing. She puckered her lips and moved toward him, preparing to kiss him. He jumped out of the way, and Flurrie landed a kiss on Mario's cheek. Mario blushed heavily.

"Oh my, thank you so much, you handsome man, you." Flurrie stepped away from Mario. The girls chuckled.

"Well, let's get back to the Great Tree now." Wendy said. "I bet with Flurrie's powers, we can get inside."

"Then let's go." Dipper said. His blushing had died down.

They all left the home with Flurrie as a new addition to the group, changing the total number of heroes from six to seven. As they went toward the Great Tree, they were ready to help the Punies however they could.

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"I can't believe this is happening." The light-gray Puni Petuni said to herself. "Big brother's gone, and these strange X-Naut freaks took over the tree." A Puni scuttled over to her.

"You okay, Petuni?" It asked.

"Huh? Oh, I'm fine." Petuni replied.

"Do you think we'll ever get out of here?" The Puni asked.

"To be honest…" Petuni began. "I have no idea."

-(End Of Chapter)-

Well, the page this chapter ended on was Page 103, so this has already become the longest story I've ever written. I hope you've enjoyed this chapter, reviews are highly appreciated, and as always…

Stay Tuned!

~087-B