The chamber contained a maze similar to the one where we already fought a ton of enemies, but it was remarkably smaller, and even contained a teleporter, which my companions and I, of course, had to check out.

The teleporter brought us to a seemingly deeper part of the moon, as the ceiling seemed a lot higher, and our footsteps even echoed a lot more.

There were a few enemies, yes – a Blood Dove, a Fobby and another nasty Starman Funk – which, furthermore, didn't represent anything special otherwise, except for the fact that they were perfect targets for me and Sherm to take their PP.

Connected to this deeper part we teleported to, was a small room with two streetlights and two presents, of which one was already opened for some reason.

"I have the feeling that the item in this present is specifically meant for someone" I said, as I neatly removed the paper ribbon and formally folded the box open, to find a sombrero. "And that someone is… me, apparently! What a coincidence!" I threw my current Santa hat for defence off, took the sombrero out of the box and put it on my head. "Oh my gosh, I feel fantabulous!"

"Wow, Arn" Sherm said, "that sombrero suits you really well, too! Indeed, a lot better than that lame old Santa hat you wore just now."

"Thanks, man." I smiled, chuckled, and petted Sherm's head.

"So, how many items are there in our possession that give off an aura that that item is specifically bound to someone?"

"So far?" Ness said. "Three, I guess… aw, man, that's unfair! That there's seemingly nothing for you!"

"That indeed is unfair." He shuffled up to me and suddenly jumped for a few times.

"Do you want to be held?" I asked, while rubbing my chin/beard.

"Rather quite, I want a hug. Pose your arms as if you're holding a baby."

I did as the teenage tangerine asked, and he immediately jumped into my arms, which slightly surprised me, as I never saw him do this before.

Anyway, I caressed his right side with my right hand until he shuffled to look me in the eyes.

"Thanks, Arn. I feel a bit better now."

"Anytime, Sherm." I crouched to put my fruity friend back onto the ground and petted his head. "I also certainly do hope that there's an item specially meant for you somewhere."

"Aw, man, that's really sweet of you to say."

The four of us went back to the teleporter, fought some more enemies in the small maze, briefly went back to that one bench to heal up, and then went to the other entrance in the hall, which led to some sort of green room.

In that room, there was an armour in a present, as well as few Blood Doves and Starmen Funk that we successfully owned, a few signs that none of us bothered to read, and a few ladders that led to a door to the next room.

However, we were soon stopped by a Dante's Fridge, but not for long. Thanks to my PSI Ice Beta, I swiftly turned it into a good old Dante's Fridge-sicle, and just decided to leave it out for the other enemies, as my companions and I probably wouldn't even like the taste anyway.

Anyhoo, there were also two ropes that were meant to be climbed, as well as another empty present.

"Now" Ness said, "which rope should we climb first? I think we should go for the right one."

"No, man" Dog said, "the left one."

Sherm and I also agreed on going for the rope on the right, but now, there was another problem. Sherm couldn't climb by himself.

"But I could easily sit in someone's backpack for that while" he said.

In response, I swiftly put my backpack down and opened its upper flap.

"It's most likely not the most comfortable spot" I said, "but it's always better than nothing at all, right?"

Sherm jumped into the open spot of my backpack, and I carefully put it back onto my back, after which Ness, Dog and I finally climbed the rope that got most of the votes.

At the end of the rope, there was a door, which led to a small, factory-like room, in which someone was actually present.

Before greeting that person, I let Sherm out of my backpack, of course.

"Well, a very good evening to you guys" the person greeted us. They looked like they were a girl, judging from their outfit, but their voice pitch seemed a little on the masculine side.

Wait, was it evening already? Man, I hadn't seen the sun in so long, and neither have I really been keeping my eyes on my wristwatch, so no wonder why I was a little bit surprised just now. But yeah, it was about 9:30 p.m. right now.

"So, hey" I said. "Do I know you? Do you know me?"

"Arn, don't you know anything?" Ness said. "No-one on the moon is gonna know you. Now, do you know ME?"

"No" the 'girl' said as 'she' shook her head, "but I do know the dog and the tangerine." 'She' suddenly giggled a little. "Hey, do you know the one where the tangerine and the dog walk into a bar…?"

"Get to the point."

"Anyway, the point is… that you totally need to play this game some more and read some slick signs. I mean, even I know what you're supposed to do at this rate." 'She' then rubbed 'her' chin as 'she' scanned us with 'her' eyes. "Also, another point is… That you totally need to find a secret item to totally give to Sherm. All the other guys are cool." 'She' applauded and smiled in delight before widening 'her' eyes and pointing 'her' right index finger towards us. "Maybe you'll find it in a ninja lair somewhere."

"Oh, yes!" Sherm cheered as he jumped into the air, "so there really is an item for me! No wonder that none of us knew, it's also a secret item! We should go and find it soon…!" He suddenly yawned widely. "Or, uh… tomorrow, I guess."

"Take all of the time you guys need. Don't overwork too much, now, and good luck on your quest."

"Thanks… ma'am?" I said with a hint of doubt in my voice, before briefly letting Sherm sit into my backpack again as we had to climb down the rope this time.

Once we were back at the start of the rope, we climbed the other one, which led to another green room, but this one was smaller and had a red truck inside for some reason.

My companions and I went to that truck to inspect it.

Dude, there's totally a switch in the truck. Shall I indulge you in switchy goodness?

Wait, you again?! Why do you keep on jump-scaring me out of nowhere?! Also, no! I don't want to flip some random switch! Anything could possibly happen, and…

Too bad, you gave in and flipped the switch anyway.

Indeed I did, as my curiosity had gotten the better of me in the meantime.

Ah, the sound of success.

"What was that even supposed to mean?" I said.

"What was what supposed to mean?" Ness asked.

"Someone distracted me and let me flip the switch inside of the truck, and it was none of you, really."

"Strange. Well, if that flipped switch is part of the plan somehow, we probably did it well then."

The four of us climbed down the ropes again, and fought a Lucifer Tree, a Sir Tenda, a Blood Dove and a Starman Funk before briefly heading back to the seemingly mandatory signs that we didn't read yet.

Truth is, I really don't think this one needs a hint because it's so obvious, you know?

The answer is simple. Something something pimple. I mean, I told you the other two so you should be able to figure it out by now. Seriously. (Wow, seriously, a failed poem? I bet that the person who wrote is immediately got kicked out of their high school literature club just for their poor poetry skills…)

Anyway, we went back to that hall with the ropes, into yet another green hall, in which some more Starmen Funk were looking to torment us, but were easily owned by us once again.

Oh, and the following sign was eventually present, too.

The Matrix had these in spades. Screw it nothing rhymes with spades. The dog wears the freaking sunglasses okay. (Aaaand another failed poem! Was it the same person who wrote it? Wouldn't surprise me.)

"Noooooo shit, Sherlock!" I imitated Audrey II from the Little Shop Of Horrors, already knowing that those Awesome Shades were Dog's mandatory item.

"Very well said, Arn" Dog said, as he somewhat applauded for me.

"So I guess we're done reading signs for now…" I stretched and yawned loudly. "Guess we need to get ready for bed soon. Well… more like, bed substitute, as there seem to be no hotels around here."

"Not a bad idea" Ness also yawned, "let's call it a day indeed."

We took a few more ladders until we arrived in a hallway that somewhat sensed fear, but decided not to mind that for now.

The more important part of that hall was the fact that there were a bench and a sparkly light to save at, and that we were also finally getting ready to sleep… on the bench, after saving.

We took our time to brush our teeth, and Ness was the only one to have PJs in his backpack, regarding which he suddenly got an idea.

"I can make a temporary bed for you out of my clothes if you'd like, Sherm" he said, once he was in his sleepwear and started 'arranging' his daytime clothes in some specific fashion.

"Why, but that's very nice of you!" Sherm said. "Even if it's not a basket – or in the shape of one, at least –, I'll still have a good place to sleep tonight."

I put my backpack onto the ground, got a large sackcloth out of it, which I 'put on', and sat down on the bench.

"What a funny sleeping bag you have there" Dog chuckled, as he got a simple blanket out of his bag, which he spread out to lay on.

"Thanks, although it's not really a sleeping bag, but if you look at it like that…"

Ness joined me on the bench, with his coat functioning as his covers.

"Well" he said, "here we are, camping out without anything in the way of a tent. Quite an interesting way to camp out, though. We'll see how it'll go."

Sherm had already settled on the baseball lover's daytime clothes, and grabbed his pocket guitar from his inventory.

"I know" he said, "I'm not going to use this item for its true purpose now. Instead, I'll play a few lullabies for you guys. No, not those lame baby ones, I hate those! No, a few that I've heard on my travels in the Mushroom Kingdom." Miraculously, he fluently played the pocket guitar without his hands or anything. Telepathy, perhaps?

I closed my eyes, and while listening to the soft song, I imagined a forest maze full of mushrooms here and there, as well as a starry sky.

Two more songs were played afterwards, and during those, I also had different visualisations. One was about Yoshi's Island, and the other was about a calm field with sleeping Piranha Plants, where the spring wind blew a gentle breeze every now and then.

Once the last song was done, Sherm put his pocket guitar back into his inventory and swapped it with his comfort blanket. Lastly, he actually nestled himself into the clothes (mainly Ness's iconic striped T-shirt) of his temporary 'bed', yawned and closed his eyes.

"Sleep well, you lot."

"Good night, everybody" I yawned once more.

"G'night, Arn and Sherm" Dog said, "and you too, Ness."

"Sleep tight" Ness said, "and don't let the bed bugs bite." He chuckled a little after saying this with the irony of us not being in actual beds now.

Within only just a few frantic seconds, I fell into a deep sleep.