Robbie and the gang sat outside the gang, waiting for Red and the party to return. "I wonder what's taking them so long."
"Maybe those Shadow dudes kidnapped them!" Erick suggested. "Didn't get a very ice vibe from them."
"Oh, my poor Red!" Aimee worried. "We've got to go find them!"
"No." Robbie refused.
"But, Robbie!"
"I've obeyed Red's orders ever since he arrived in Inkopolis. I won't disobey him now, Ma'an."
"Well, you won't have to!" Red shouted as he and the party strolled up to the tree.
"RED!" Aimee gave him a big hug. "Are you okay? Did those Shadow bums to anything to you?"
"Well," Red was embarrassed to tell, "One of them dodged my big Power Smash, and kinda sorta kissed me."
"WHAT!?" Aimee roared, angrily.
"It confused me, and by the time I snapped out, she'd put some fire-curse on me and knocked me out."
"Did they take the map?" Gyanna asked.
"Nope. Still got it right here." Red pulled it out. "Anyway, Madame Flurrie has agreed to help us locate the Emerald Star, which reminds me; we should start looking for that secret entrance." He hopped up to a large root of the tree. "Punio, is this where you remembered the secret entrance to be?"
"Yeah! It was somewhere up here. Madame Flurrie, could you try blowing this part of the tree?"
"I can try, Punio." She began to blow, and sure enough, there was a large paper covering the secret entrance. "There it is!"
"It's all your now, Punio." Red motioned towards the entrance.
"Right!" Punio affirmed. "Here I go!" He jumped into the hole, and disappeared. A moment later, the door opened. "The door's open! C'mon in, guys!" Red and his friends marveled at the sheer size of the tree's interior.
"It's huge!" Red said in awe.
"We could fit half of Inkopolis here!" Paul joked.
"Hey, guys!" Punio yelled. "You can come out now!" Strangely, no Punies arrived to greet them. "That's odd. Usually everyone is right here!" Punio explained to Red and the group. "Guys! It's Punio! You can come out now!"
The door swung open. Two X-Nauts walked out on patrol. "HEY!" The one X-Naut pointed. "Isn't that the Red Yoshi and his gang?"
"Yah!" The second answered, "That is!"
"Holy crap! Look at the size of that group! There must be ten of them!" The first said, again.
"Nope, nine actually." The second counted.
"Just nine?" The first asked. "We can take 'em."
"You moron!" The second said. "Lord Crump told us to report back to him immediately if we spotted them!"
"You mean Lord GRUMP?" The first mocked. "I can't believe Grodus put that loony in charge of us."
"Whatever, we can't argue with Grodus." The second answered.
"HEY!" Erick yelled out.
"WHAT DO YOU WANT?" the X-Nauts asked in unison.
"Are you guys gonna talk or FIGHT?" Erick taunted, as he readied a boxing stance.
"Uhh…" The first paused.
"What're we gonna do?" The second asked.
"Let's run!" The first suggested.
"Good idea." The second answered. "One… Two…" WHAM! Erick sent the X-Nauts flying out the door, which locked when they flew through.
"And that's how it's done!" Erick announced. Everyone applauded.
"That was incredible!" Punio said in awe.
"That power… how marvellous!" Flurrie celebrated.
"Yep, Erick's great." Red agreed. "Anyway, let's find these Punies."
"I still wonder where they all went." Punio walked up to the large fixtures near the wall. "Hey, Who's that?" He ran over to the statues. "Finally, someone shows up! It's okay, Abbie and I found us some outside help." The Puni joined Punio by the group.
"Wow, Punio! You really cleaned up! But are you sure they won't eat us?"
"Us?" Punio asked. "What do you mean us?" Punio turned around see all sorts of Punies hiding. "What are you guys hiding from? You can all come out!"
The Punies began to whisper, mainly about the Inklings' size as they proceeded out. "Don't worry, guys! This is Red Yoshi and a few of his friends. You guys catch a glimpse of those last samples? Red and his friends will pound everything that comes their way."
"THAT'S RIGHT!" Erick agreed, passionately. "Hi Punies, I'm Erick, one of Red's friends. Yah…" Erick stepped back. He leaned into Punio, "Keep talking."
"WAIT A SECOND!" A fat Puni walked out from behind the statue. "How can we trust this Red Yoshi and his friends? How do we know they're not X-Nauts?"
"Puniper! What are you saying?" Punio scolded. "Red and his friends can help us take back the tree!"
"Listen to yourself, you big-boy!" Puniper mocked, "You're trying to sound all important and stuff!"
"I think the correct word is 'revolutionary.'" Paul interjected.
"Paul." Red gave a 'not now' look.
"Puniper, where is everyone?" Punio asked.
"All captured! The Elder, most of the Punies, your sister!"
"PETUNI! Petuni got captured, too?"
"Afraid so. All because no one would tell the location of the crystal thing. Also, the Jabbies are working with the X-Nauts, too! They're gonna drive us out of our tree! We'll be finished!"
"Don't say that that! We can work with Red and his friends to take the tree back!" Punio turned to the rest of the Punies. "Come on! Let's go!"
"I'm not going anywhere!" Puniper declared. "You'll have to bring us more that these tall… people to convince me! If you can free all of the Punies, then I'll join you!"
"We accept your task, Puniper." Red answered stepping forward. "C'mon, Punio. Let's go free the Punies!"
"Thanks, Red!" Punio turned to the rest of the Punies. "We'll be back with the rest of the Punies!"
The team moved quickly through the tree, encountering both old and new enemies, defeating them with ease. Travelling through this piped had proved to be disorienting, resulting in the team having to take multiple breaks, due to Paul and Robbie's spinning heads. They travelled up a pipe to a room with some cages.
"MY ROOM!" Abbie realized. "They've changed it into a prison! Those monsters! All my furniture! All my stuff! They will pay."
"Elder?" Punio said as he ran up to the red cage.
"Punio!" The old grandma-ish Elder realized. "You look well."
"Don't worry, Elder! We're gonna break you out of here... Somehow."
"Thank you, Punio. But I think you should rescue the others first." The Elder told him.
"Where are they?" Punio asked.
"Brother?" A voice cried out from nearby.
"Petuni?" Punio ran up to the other cage. "Thank goodness you're all right!"
"It's good to see you, big bro!" Petuni spoke. "But you can't get us out until you fine the key!"
"Right." Punio turned the Red. "We need to find the keys to these cells."
"Right-o!" Red nodded. "Let's go find them!"
"Hey!' Aimee wondered over to the right side of the room. "What's back here?"
"Aimee!" Red ran over, "What are you-oh." Red and the group found themselves in a storeroom, similar to the one in Hooktail's Castle.
"My stuff!" Abbie ran up to some boxes. "Thank goodness it's safe."
Gyanna rushed up to an injured X-Naut. "It's okay, he's knocked out."
"Who could have done this?" Red asked himself. Suddenly, he spotted a face he had not seen in a while. "Ms. Mowz!"
"Why hello, darlings! Red!" She looked behind him. "I must say, your group gets even bigger and bigger every time we meet!" She turned back to Red. "How has your badge-hunting been? I see you've gotten stronger, meaning you can feel free to equip some more badges, darling?"
"Actually, we're here looking for the Emerald Star. Do you know where we can find it?" Red inquired.
"Ah, that dull thing. Near the bottom of the tree. But you'll have to beat the X-Nauts there. Anyway, I see your hammer has gotten stronger! A Power Smash, yes this is a useful badge. Here, I'll give you another- The Happy Flower. This one's quite useful. It allows you to regenerate your energy faster, meaning you can use your badge attacks more often." She pinned it onto him. "Well, I must bid you and your friends farewell." Ms. Mowz hopped to the window. "Until we meet again!"
"Goodbye, Ms. Mowz! Hope to see you again soon!" Red waved. He turned to the team. "Nice person, that Ms. Mowz!"
"Even if she is an international thief!" Aimee sarcastically laughed. Red gave that 'don't even think about it' look. She casually picked up the key to the Puni Elder's cage. "C'mon, let's go let the Elder out." The group proceeded to her cage. They turned the key into the lock, springing her out.
"Punio!" The Elder realized. "What're you doing in here?"
"We're breaking you out, Elder!" Punio led the way out of the cage "come on!"
"FOOLISH CHILD!" The Elder grew large as she yelled at Punio. "Look at you! Abandoning your sister for old me! That's shameful!"
"What are you talking about, Elder? We're going to save you, and then the rest of the Punies!"
"YOU LITTLE KNOW-IT-ALL!" The Elder grew big again.
"If only that power could be used for good…" Erick rolled his eyes.
"Let me tell you something…" The Elder began her three-hour speech. "And that's why you need to listen more to what I say!" Everyone was asleep, except for Punio.
"Yes, Elder!" Punio agreed.
"Good! Now, what were you doing here again?"
"We came to break you out!" Punio said for the eleventh time.
"Oh, is that so? Well, let me get out of this here cage then!" The Elder headed to the first floor to greet the remaining Punies.
"Okay!" Punio said to himself, "Come on, guys! Wake up already!"
"Rah… That was a CHEAP SHOT!" Paul mumbled as he woke up. "Sorry. In my dream, I just got shot in Turf Wars. Heh."