Okay, fellow readers. Here is the sixteenth chapter of this story!
Now, I've been wanting to get to this chapter for a while, so I had fun writing it.
In this chapter, Andrew gets that necklace back to Flurrie, and she reveals herself to him and his two partners, Andrew has quite a moment, he gets his third partner, and we learn more about Andrew with some hidden depth, they get into the Great Tree and have to fight off some X-Nauts, along with a few other things.
How will this go for them? Read and find out, now!
BACK IN FLURRIE'S HOUSE:
"Hey, Punio!" Andrew called out as he entered Flurrie's house along with Goombella and Koops, with the necklace in his right hand. "We're back!"
"You are?" Punio perked up and saw them right in front of the door they entered. "Oh, thank goodness you're okay! How did it go for you?"
"It went all right. It was nothing we couldn't handle," Andrew told him calmly before showing him Flurrie's Necklace. "Plus, we got Flurrie's necklace back."
"That's great, Andrew," Punio jumped off the couch and got back onto the ground. "You can go return it to her!"
"We're just about to do that," Andrew smiled before motioning towards his two partners. "Let's go Goombella. Koops."
"Right," Goombella and Koops nodded as they went up the stairs to where Punio was waiting for them.
As soon as Andrew was right in front of the door leading to Flurrie's bedroom, Andrew went ahead and knocked on her door to get her attention.
"Hey Flurrie! Guess what?" Andrew shook her necklace so it'd make a jingling sound so she could hear it. "We got your necklace!"
"Oh! You delightful fellow! You've found my necklace!" Flurrie had expressed such great relief when she heard him say that and heard her necklace for herself. "I'm beside myself, truly!"
"Ah, it was nothing," Andrew said modestly. "I was honored to help you out. And Goombella and Koops were too."
"Yes. But...you still mustn't see me," Flurrie advised him. "Please, leave the necklace by the door and wait a moment."
"Got it," Andrew did just that as he placed the necklace right in front of her door and stepped away from it.
He watched the door open as a hand reached out and grabbed the necklace before the door closed again. Andrew still had this feeling that he had heard of Madame Flurrie from somewhere before. But how? And why did he feel like this?
His thoughts were interrupted when Flurrie was heard speaking on the other side of the door.
"Oh, splendid, SPLENDID! My oh-so-ravishing necklace! I'm awash in joy!" Andrew could've sworn that he heard her humming or singing when she said that.
"Y'know, I have to wonder what this Flurrie woman looks like," Goombella remarked in curiosity. "If she's a Wind Spirit, then we should expect anything."
"Right," Koops nodded. "She could be kinda cute... I guess. Though not cute like Koopie Koo..."
"We'll just have to wait and find out for ourselves," Andrew had to comment as he continued thinking.
Her name and voice sound so familiar, but why? Why do I recognize her name and voice? Then Andrew started coming to a revelation as a thought crossed his mind. Wait! Could it be? Is it possible that she's...?
He never got to finish that thought as the light above him started dimming out. He looked up along with Goombella and Koops as they saw the light being pulled up into an opened-up hatch.
Dropping down in its place was a mirror ball. Andrew recognized it as a disco ball, but why would something like that be popping out of nowhere like this?
Suddenly, he heard some rather funky psychedelic music in the background as the door to Flurrie's room opened up. Flurrie was just about to make her grand appearance to Andrew and his two partners.
As Flurrie pretty much got out of her room and stopped right outside her door, a couple of roses were shown around her. It would appear that she was treating this like a fashion show. And boy, was it beautiful?
She had finished the act by winking in a flirty manner before the roses disappeared, as did the mirror ball, which went right back up, and the light that was there before returned, and then the psychedelic music stopped.
Andrew, Goombella, and Koops got a full view of Flurrie, and what she looked like. She had light purple skin and was floating in midair, seeing that she had no legs, and her lower half was shaped just like a cloud, hence why she was called a wind spirit.
Aside from that, her face and hair brought to mind two Koopalings that looked identical to her face and her hair. Flurrie's purple hairstyle looked exactly like the hairstyle of Ludwig von Koopa, while Flurrie's face was identical to that of Wendy O. Koopa, down to having big pink lips.
The only differences were that Flurrie was also wearing two jade green earrings on each ear that resembled a pearl and that the eyeliner she was wearing on her half-lidded eyelids was blue-violet.
Flurrie also had green colored eyes and was wearing a gold bracelet on each arm which was the same golden color as the necklace that she was now wearing around her neck.
But the biggest elephant in the room that needed to be addressed about her appearance was the fact that she had some massive-looking breasts that were hanging right underneath her necklace. Even though most would think that she was overkilling it with fashion and stuff, she took great pride in her beauty, and she wanted people to know about it.
Goombella and Koops were staring off in confusion, not sure what they should say about what Flurrie looked like. Andrew, by sharp contrast, felt himself in a daze, as it was all coming back to him.
HOLY COW! IT...IT IS THE MADAME FLURRIE! THE MADAME FLURRIE! Andrew screamed in his mind as if he was a fanboy. I KNEW HER NAME AND VOICE WAS FAMILIAR! I KNEW IT! I... I can't believe I'm meeting the glamorous Madame Flurrie out here. She's my favorite actress, and... I'm such a big fan of hers!
It was true. Andrew had been a fan of Madame Flurrie for several years. 'In fact', she was an actress that his mother introduced to him.
He also happened to have had a huge crush on her for the longest time. That is until he had forgotten about her for the past 5 years or so. But he never expected to see her out here in these mysterious woods.
That wasn't the only thing going through Andrew's mind. Somehow, he felt his heart pounding at the sight of her. He had these warm fuzzy feelings going on in his stomach. His mouth was agape from looking at her beauty, and he was in a trance.
He was feeling something poking through the fabric of his boxer shorts and his pants, but he didn't pay attention to that. He was so amazed to see Flurrie after having forgotten about her for years. He felt like he was over the moon.
Goombella, meanwhile, took notice of Andrew's stare, and it was something that she had seen before. All of the young male Goombas that went to the University of Goom with her always gave her that same stare, showing how attracted they are to her. Andrew was giving Flurrie that same stare. Was it possible that he liked her? Was he...smitten by her?
It was then that Flurrie broke the silence in the air as she saw Andrew and all of his manly-looking body. Ignoring his lower half, she couldn't help but stare at his handsome-looking muscles, his arms were strong, and she even took notice of his six-pack abs right where his stomach was. Flurrie was starting to conclude as to who her necklace hunter was.
"Oh! Oh...my...word!" Flurrie started speaking with awe as she stared directly at Andrew with that half-lidded stare. "Andrew, isn't it? Are YOU my heroic little necklace hunter?"
"Yes, Flurrie. I am Andrew," Andrew droned off in that trance of his as he continued to stare at her. "And I am the one who found that necklace for you, along with Goombella and Koops."
"Ummm...Andrew? You okay?" Koops had to ask, noticing the stare Andrew was giving Flurrie.
It was remarkably similar to the stares that Koopie Koo had given him whenever they went out on dates. He could only conclude, as he decided not to say anything about it. Which was good since Andrew didn't hear him as he continued his stare.
Flurrie, for her part, couldn't help but feel captivated and swooned by Andrew's hunky-looking appearance. And she was going to make that clear with him too.
"Well! My, my, my... Aren't you a FINE specimen of a man!" Flurrie then started speaking to him in a rather seductive manner. "Yes, indeed!"
"Me? I am?" Andrew croaked as he felt like he had hitched his breath. Flurrie continued staring at him with those beautiful eyes of hers.
"I simply MUST thank you for your graciousness!" Flurrie had to declare before thinking to herself about what she should do for Andrew while rubbing her hand over her chin. "But how to do it? Hmmm..."
It was then that something clicked in Flurrie's mind. She knew exactly what to do for him, and it would tell him how she felt about him too.
"Perhaps if I...grabbed you and gave you a little sugar?" Flurrie then suggested as she stared into Andrew's eyes with that rather suggestive stare.
'THIS' is what got Andrew out of his trance as he started sweating. He felt something in his pants grow, and if she attempted to kiss him, well, let's just say that he wouldn't enjoy it too much going on in front of his two partners.
"Uhhhh...N-No Flurrie. No Madame Flurrie," Andrew tried stuttering and shook his head rapidly for her not to do that. "You don't have to do t-that! That won't be necessary..."
Of course, Flurrie didn't pay attention to him when he said that. She was determined to give Andrew his grand reward for his bravery and thoughtfulness.
"Here I come, handsome!" Flurrie declared to him. "Time to give you a proper thank-you! Pucker up!"
Andrew was just about to yell 'no' to her. But before he could do that, Flurrie came charging for him, knocking Goombella, Koops, and Punio to the side as she embraced Andrew with her strong arms and started kissing him everywhere on his face, and parts of his chest that swooned her.
Andrew felt like squirming, but he didn't. He didn't resist being given the proper thank you from Flurrie. He felt like he was melting in her grasp. Still, he was nervous about what would happen if she didn't stop soon. But, why did it feel so good?
Then, all of a sudden, something happened to Andrew. It was something that ended up humiliating him more than anything.
He creamed himself.
ONE COLD SHOWER AND ONE WASHING AND DRYING SESSION OF HIS PANTS AND BOXERS LATER...
"Oh no oh no oh no oh no oh no oh no oh noooooooooo," Andrew said in pure embarrassment, as he was red in the face and had just put on his completely washed and dried up boxers and pants back on, which he had to use Flurrie's washer and dryer to do so, which she was willing to have him use. "That had to be the most humiliating thing that I've ever been put through in my whole life."
He was able to use Flurrie's hairdryer after using her shower stall to take a cold shower. Even though Andrew was humiliated by what happened to himself, he couldn't stay mad at Flurrie. It was merely a moment of weakness on his part. He was just so thrilled to see her out here that he didn't have proper control of his emotions.
Goombella and Koops, meanwhile, had witnessed the moment that Andrew creamed himself. Goombella seemed a little shocked and slightly gross that Andrew would do something like that, while Koops was still registering it in his mind, as he was completely confused by what just happened.
"Ohmigosh! I can't believe I just saw that!" Goombella had to express her thoughts. "I did not just see Andrew do that when Flurrie was kissing him!"
"Ummm...golly. Wow...ummm...wow," Koops uttered as he was still in shock. "Did... Did Andrew just...?"
"Don'tcha dare say it, Koops!" Goombella forced him to stop. "I do not want to hear about how he did that! We don't want to bump up the rating of this story to M, do we?"
"Gosh Goombella, did you just...?" Koops started to ask after he shook his head.
"Yes, I did just break the fourth wall there. But that isn't the point!" Goombella told him. "Just thinking about what he did just now while we're traveling on this adventure is just so grooooooooooooossssss..."
"No kidding there," Andrew agreed as he then had to tell both Goombella and Koops something in a sharp tone. "Listen, you two are not allowed to mention a word of this to anyone, do you understand?"
"Loud and clear, Andrew," Goombella promised. "I'm gonna spend the rest of my life trying to forget about that. Don'tcha worry about that."
"Ummm...yeah Andrew," Koops spoke up too. "I'll keep what happened a secret between us only."
"Uh, I'll stay quiet about it," Punio remarked with that squeaky voice of his. "I want to forget that I saw it anyway..."
"Very good. Very good," Andrew sighed in relief. "Now, as for Flurrie, I..."
He never got to finish that sentence as Flurrie floated behind him and hugged him apologetically.
"Oh Andrew, you poor, poor dear. I'm 'terribly' sorry for making you do that," Flurrie had to apologize to him. "Can you forgive me for putting you in the spotlight like that?"
"Yes, Flurrie. I forgive you," Andrew uttered. "And I'm not mad at you either. I just didn't expect something like that."
"Why, in that case, I'm glad that you aren't angry about it," Flurrie put Andrew back down and stared at him.
"Anyway Flurrie, what you saw me do just then," Andrew had to ask her seriously. "Are you even a little bit disturbed by what I did?"
Flurrie only stared at him for a minute while blinking a couple of times when she let out a rather hearty laugh before patting him on the shoulders in adoration at his behavior.
"Oh, Andrew," Flurrie had to sigh at his behavior. "You are just the CUTEST little thing I've ever laid eyes on!"
"Uh, no," Andrew had to shake his head meekly. "No, I'm not. Really."
"Yes, you are, and that's that," Flurrie had to digress and stood by her comment before asking him something important. "So tell me, are you truly looking for the Crystal Stars?"
"Yes. Yes, we are," Andrew nodded before taking out the Magical Map. "We came to the Boggly Woods since one of the Crystal Stars; the Emerald Star is in the Great Tree."
"I see," Flurrie mused before asking. "The very same Crystal Stars spoken of by all the lowlifes in Rogueport?"
Andrew couldn't help but snicker at that comment since it was a pretty accurate description for most of the people who live in Rogueport, as he put away the Magical Map. "Yeah, describing them as lowlifes is the best way to put it. Right, Goombella?"
"You betcha Andrew," Goombella couldn't help but laugh too before she explained. "And we're finding the Crystal Stars to find the legendary treasure behind the Thousand-Year Door. And we're using the map to find them."
"Have you heard of the treasure too, Madame Flurrie?" Koops had to ask.
"Yes, I have dearie. And let me say that I am most intrigued by all of this," Flurrie had started thinking things over with herself. "Mmmm... A danger-filled search for beautiful jewels... How 'absolutely' marvelous!"
Flurrie then focused her attention back on Andrew. "And here I was thinking how frightfully bored I was! It's time for a change!"
"Huh?" Andrew seemed shocked by where she was getting at as Goombella and Koops were able to figure this out.
"Wait. D'you wanna come with us?" Goombella asked.
"You'd like to find the Crystal Stars too?" Koops wondered curiously.
"Mhmm," Flurrie nodded before looking into Andrew's emerald green eyes which were as green as her eyes. "And besides, I do declare... Those muscles of yours are arousing. And your six-pack abs have completely swooned me!"
Andrew started blushing profusely at that when she started massaging Andrew's shoulders before she continued. "A man as manly as you must attract all sorts of trouble, and I want to keep you safe!"
"Ulp...you do?" Andrew had to gulp as he asked that, somewhat enjoying the sensation that he was getting from the massage.
"Yes. So, I daresay I'll be joining you on this little adventure. I assume that's fine, Andrew?" Flurrie asked seductively before winking at him.
Andrew had a lot of thoughts running through his mind. Madame Flurrie, the famous actress, wanted to accompany Andrew in getting the rest of the Crystal Stars, along with Goombella and Koops. It seemed a part of him was jumping for joy, as he was more than flying over the moon.
"Yes, Flurrie. Of 'course' we'd love you to come along," Andrew said shyly. "I'm sure Goombella and Koops would like it too, right guys?"
"Oh, sure. Totally," Goombella beamed. "It would be nice to have you along Flurrie."
"Yeah. Uh...we'd love to have you," Koops told her.
"Great to see that you and your friends agree," Flurrie cooed right into Andrew's ear. "Anything I can do for you right now, dearie?"
"Just don't make me do THAT again...not right now at least," Andrew uttered softly to her. "I just had these pants and boxers cleaned and dried."
"Certainly, darling," Flurrie told him softly. "Now, you needed me to help with revealing a secret entrance to the Great Tree?"
"That's right," Andrew felt a blush coming onto his face. "We should get going, right Punio?"
"Right," Punio walked over to where Andrew was. "You know, this is so wonderful! It's so nice that Flurrie likes you, Andrew! It's great!"
"I know," Andrew said in slight pleasure as Flurrie continued massaging his shoulders.
"And even more importantly, Flurrie's chose to join us!" Punio then decided to declare. "Let's go to the Great Tree!"
"Right! We better get back to the Great Tree!" Andrew walked down the stairs and opened the door leading out of Flurrie's house, with Flurrie sticking behind him. "Let's get going Goombella. Koops. Flurrie. To the Great Tree."
All three of them nodded eagerly as Punio scattered out of Flurrie's house, with Andrew, Goombella, Koops, and Flurrie following right behind him back into the Boggly Woods. They had the ambition of heading back to the Great Tree, where they would finally get into and drive the X-Nauts out...
IN FRONT OF THE GREAT TREE:
It didn't take long at all for the five of them to make it back to the Great Tree. Punio was already on top of the branch where the supposed secret entrance was located. Andrew decided to walk up there to join him, with Goombella and Koops walking right behind him, and Flurrie was floating right behind the muscular man.
Once they were at the top where Punio was standing, it was shown that Flurrie was still massaging Andrew's shoulders when Punio had to get her attention.
"Uh, Madame Flurrie? This is the area where the secret entrance is. And we need you to blow away this invisible thingy that's in the way," Punio informed her before pointing his antenna toward the spot he was talking about. "So could you do the honor for us?"
"Yeah, Flurrie," Andrew agreed. "We can see what your special ability is, and witness why you are called a Wind Spirit."
"Certainly, Punio. I'll be more than obligated to offer my assistance," Flurrie floated away from Andrew and approached the spot that Punio referred to. "Okay, stand back. Cause what I'm gonna do is going to be quite a force to be reckoned with."
Andrew, Goombella, and Koops nodded as they backed up along with Punio as they watched Flurrie do her wind spirit powers. She then took a deep breath and blew out quite a strong wind, which was her Gale Force ability, that was powerful enough to cause a flap to move up and down from that spot.
In a matter of seconds, the flap was blown away, allowing Andrew and the others to see the Secret Entrance for themselves, which Punio approached with glee. It was a mouse-shaped hole with a flashing monochrome sign that said 'Secret Entrance' right above the hole.
"Well, what do you know? There is a sign right above the hole that says 'Secret Entrance'," Andrew didn't bother hiding his smirk as he crossed his arms. "Called it."
Punio didn't pay attention to what Andrew had said as he was too overjoyed to have found the secret entrance again.
"That's the secret entrance!" Punio declared. "We can finally get inside! Here I gooooooooo!"
As Punio said 'go' he jumped onto the branch and headed right into the mouse-shaped hole, hoping to find a way to unlock the red electronic door for Andrew and his three partners to get into the tree with. As they were waiting, Flurrie decided to make small talk with Andrew.
"Aren't Punies just the most precious little things?" Flurrie asked him.
"Yeah. They sure seem to be an adorable bunch from what I've seen from Punio alone," Andrew uncrossed his arms as he slowly turned to face Flurrie, along with Goombella and Koops.
"Andrew, I feel I must ask..." Flurrie started her query. "Did you know that I used to be a rather famous actress?"
"Oh yes," Andrew had to be honest. "Yes, I know that you are a famous actress. And I have seen all of your movies."
"Oh?" Flurrie raised her eyebrow curiously. "Well, pray tell, do tell me more."
"It's true. All of them are great," Andrew had to list them off. "A Mid-Winter Day's Nap. Scrambled Eggs and Hamlet. The Boy Who Cried Woo. The Cowing of King Steer. The Dunking of Noodle. I've seen them all. And I have all of your movies too! In fact...I...I..."
Andrew then took a deep breath to contain himself before revealing. "I happen to be a very big fan of yours."
"Is that so? You are quite the dedicated fan, aren't you? Well, that's very flattering. Really. I appreciate your honesty with me," Flurrie then decided to bring up. "I presume you knew that I was a 'diva' of the stage! And that I was known as Madame Flurrie the world over... Correct?"
"Absolutely," Andrew nodded before shyly admitting. "I've always admired you as an actress. And that I always had these thoughts that I'd get to meet you someday. Even though it was only a silly dream..."
Goombella couldn't help but jaw-drop at what Andrew just revealed. He never told her this before. This left her feeling curious as she thought it over to herself.
"But I never thought that I'd meet you in such a majestic place as the Boggly Woods," Andrew admitted before asking her. "Why did you happen to come to move here, Madame Flurrie?"
"I was just about to get to that, darling," Flurrie told him sweetly. "For you see...the filthy air outside the spotlight repelled me. So I came to the woods."
"Ah, I see." Andrew started putting it together. "It was because the toxicity of the theater business wasn't doing any good to your health?"
"Exactly, dearie," Flurrie nodded before exclaiming. "And it was the fact that these woods are so peaceful and tranquil, that they helped with soothing my tired and weary soul."
"Wow..." Andrew uttered in awe as Flurrie continued.
"And soon enough, I glimpsed the beauty of these Punies and their pure little hearts..." Flurrie had to reveal. "It reminded me of my 'own' innocence as an actress. And that made me realize... I shall ever love the stage! I must feel the spotlight shine on me again! I MUST!"
Flurrie had to take a deep breath to contain herself before she finished up. "As you can see, these dear little Punies helped me find my true self... That's why I must help them however I can before I go on my 'own' adventures."
"Gosh Flurrie," Andrew had to admit. "That was beautiful."
"Thank you ever so much darling," Flurrie had to thank him. "I humbly appreciate it."
"Hey, Andrew?" Goombella felt like speaking up and getting his attention. "I...I never knew that you were a big fan of Flurrie's. Let me ask, do you 'really' have all of her movies at your home?"
"Yeah. Of 'course' I do. I've been a fan of hers for years. And I always admired her in the shows that I've seen," Andrew had to confess before he looked downward and frowned. "Unfortunately, once I had moved to the Mushroom Kingdom, all of the movies that I had that starred Flurrie were kept in a box, taped up, and kept in my attic. I had 'actually' forgotten all about them and the fact that I am a fan of Madame Flurrie."
Andrew then looked back up towards Flurrie herself before finishing. "Until now. I just never expected to meet Madame Flurrie in the Boggly Woods. It was thanks to this that I happened to remember having them in the first place."
"Wow..." Koops had to admit. "Gee whiz, Andrew, that's something amazing...I never would've thought that that was true about you..."
"That's okay, Koops," Andrew remarked. "I think we were all surprised to see Madame Flurrie here."
"Yeah. I guess we were, Andrew," Goombella had to smile lightly.
She was surprised that Andrew shared this part about himself with her, Koops, and Flurrie. Surely it wasn't what she was hoping for from the muscular man, but it was a start. She hoped to learn more about him in due time. But for now, she'd be patient and go along with this adventure.
"Seriously though, Flurrie," Andrew had to confess to her. "It was truly an honor to have met you in these woods. I'm so happy to have finally met you like this."
"Why, that is very remarkable Andrew. I appreciate that," Flurrie told him sweetly. "And I'm about as grateful to have met such a brave, strong, and hunky-looking man such as yourself, Andrew. I'm sure that I'll make a great traveling companion for you and Goombella and Koops. Wouldn't you agree, darling? Hmm?"
Flurrie gave him that flirtatious look while winking at him, getting Andrew to blush harder as he nodded in agreement, showing that he truly admired her. Flurrie could only giggle at this adorable reaction. But before she could say anything, Punio was heard speaking from inside the Great Tree.
"Andrew! Can you hear me?" Punio asked.
"Yes Punio," Andrew hollered out to him as the door was unlocked, the red flashing light turned green and Punio walked out. "I could hear you."
"Good. Cause check it out!" Punio called out to him and his three partners. "I was able to open it from the inside! C'mon! Over here!"
Flurrie had to straighten out her fingers as she then made the declaration. "The time has come for me to repay my debt to the Punies. Come along, Andrew!"
"I'm right behind you, Flurrie," Andrew then turned to face Goombella and Koops. "Let's go Goombella. Koops. We have a Great Tree to save and some X-Nauts to drive out."
"You betcha Andrew. I'm 'totally' behind you on that," Goombella beamed.
"Sure Andrew," Koops nodded. "I'm more than ready..."
Andrew had to smile as he climbed down with Goombella and Koops while Flurrie floated back down. The four of them approached Punio, as they then opened the door, and entered the Great Tree. They were about to be amazed by what the tree looked like on the inside for themselves...
INSIDE THE GREAT TREE:
The place was even more spacious on the inside than it looked on the outside. The ground had the same tree-branch-like texture that was yellow in here, the walls that didn't represent tree trunks were blue and watery in appearance.
There were more small waterfalls glowing, white-colored round bushes, more of those gray curly-looking plants, and there were several giant vase-like pillars that were monochrome in color. One that happened to be in front of them had a Puni-shaped statue right on top of one of them, with a bowl-shaped stand on top of its head. To say that Andrew, Goombella, and Koops weren't amazed by what they were seeing would've been an understatement.
"Holy cow! This tree is HUGE on the inside. This is incredible," Andrew had to remark. "I've never seen anything like this! And I thought the Boggly Woods looked very mysterious!"
"Yeah..." Koops was trailing off. "Gosh. This place looks humongous. Never seen anything that was this impressive in my life."
"You're telling me! It's like another world inside this tree, huh?!" Goombella had to comment. "And check out these statues! They must've been left by the ancestors of the Punies. I wonder how many years the Punies have lived in this place, anyway..."
"There must've been more than 100 Punies that live here." Andrew took a guess.
"You know it," Goombella said. "Still, these are the kind of questions archaeologists have to ask, y'know. Such as myself."
"We know, Goombella," Andrew had to nod at that.
"I beg your pardon," Flurrie was rather curious by this. "Whatever does that mean, precisely?"
"Oh right, Flurrie. I haven't told you this," Andrew decided to share. "Goombella here happens to be an aspiring archaeologist. She has been into archaeology since she was a little girl."
"Got that right, Andrew," Goombella smirked as she nudged him in the left leg.
"Why, I must say that that sounds rather smashing," Flurrie had to admit. "Charming, if I may add. I'm quite lucky to be with you interesting travelers on this adventure. Especially you, Hunky Muscles."
"Yeah. We know, Flurrie," Andrew said while rubbing the back of his head.
"Trust me. I was as surprised as you were when I joined them," Koops confessed.
"Yeah. But now that it's on my mind," Andrew had to ask. "Where is everyone?"
Punio was trying to find out the answer to that exact question, as he was looking around for his kind. Only that none of them seemed to be around.
"Uh... Hmmm? Weird..." Punio murmured.
"Something wrong, Punio?" Andrew had to ask.
"Well, it's just that... Normally, everyone's right here..." Punio explained. "What the hey?"
Punio then cleared his throat before raising his voice to call for someone to come out. "Hey! Elder! Everybody! Come out! HELLOOOOOOOOOO?"
Goombella had to nudge Andrew to get his attention as she whispered. "Pssst...You don't suppose the X-Nauts captured them, do you?"
"It's possible," Andrew answered as he noticed the door ahead of them unlocked itself. "We're about to find out..."
As soon as the door was unlocked, it opened up and two people came into the same room that Andrew, Goombella, Koops, Flurrie, and Punio were in. They were revealed to be two X-Nauts. Andrew got a good look at them and realized that they were the same minions that accompanied Lord Crump at the Rogueport Harbor.
Oh yeah. They're the same people who attacked me and Goombella at Rogueport Harbor, all right. Andrew thought. So those same minions are, in fact, X-Nauts...
As soon as they entered the room, they were startled to see that some intruders had entered the Great Tree when the door was opened. Storming over to them, with Punio hiding behind the bushes. Both X-Nauts had to react toward the muscular human, the Goomba girl, the shy Koopa, and the Wind Spirit actress.
"Wah! Who are YOU guys?!" The first X-Naut cried out. "How'd you get in here?"
"Well apparently your stupid door wasn't enough to keep us out," Andrew had to deadpan in annoyance.
It was then the second X-Naut recognized who Andrew was. Considering the description of his appearance and the sarcastic response they were given, he was able to figure it out.
"Whoa! Dude! Is that..." The second X-Naut started to ask. "Isn't he that Andrew guy?"
It was then the first X-Naut jumped and whirled around to face his partner before he reacted.
"WHAAAAT?! He IS?" The first X-Naut then made the proper suggestion. "We'd better get him, then!"
"But, dude, Lord Crump told us to tell him IMMEDIATELY if we found Andrew. Remember?" The second X-Naut had to remind him.
"You idiot! Use your head!" The first X-Naut had to clonk him on the head with his fist. "If we capture him, we'll get all the credit, man! Duhhh!"
"Oh, yeah... Right on," the second X-Naut didn't object to this. "Let's rock this chump!"
"One two, three...BREAK!" The first X-Naut declared as they both went charging for Andrew.
Andrew had to sigh and roll his eyes at this. Seeing that they were taking orders from Lord Crump, it would make sense that they would resort to senseless violence to solve their problems. Especially if they were going to pick a fight with someone who could pummel them.
Without making a sound, Andrew jumped up and landed right in front of the two X-Naut before he decked both of them in the face with his fists. He then jumped through the air to perform his Multibounce attack; which was done with Andrew stomping on the head of one X-Naut before jumping up and landing on the head of the other one.
This got both X-Nauts a little dazed by the impact. They were not able to regain themselves soon enough when Koops went into his shell and performed a Power Shell attack on both of them, doing a little breakdance afterwards.
Once the X-Nauts regained themselves from this, they tried charging for Andrew yet again, only for one of them to be intersected by Goombella, who proceeded to dish out a Headbonk on that particular one.
Flurrie then decided to show Andrew and his other two partners just what it is she can do in battles when she soared through the air and landed an accurate Body Slam on the other X-Naut that Goombella didn't attack. Needless to say, Andrew was impressed.
"Great job Flurrie," Andrew praised her as he took out his baseball bat. "Now stand back as I wrap this fight up."
Flurrie obliged as she moved out of the way for Andrew to swing his bat into one of the X-Nauts and send him into the other one. Andrew then did his Power Swing to get the two X-Nauts to careen themselves right into the wall behind them.
Seconds later, they slid back down onto the ground, as they realized that this was one fight that they bit off more than they could chew.
Seeing that they didn't stand a chance against Andrew and his three partners, the two X-Nauts decided to go with what they should've gone with doing in the first place.
"C-Crud! That stung, man!" The first X-Naut grunted in pain as he shivered.
"Dude, maybe reporting back to Lord Crump isn't such a bad idea, after all!" The second X-Naut made the declaration.
With that, the two X-Nauts turned around to retreat through the door which they came out of. Once they went through the door, the door closed and the green light turned red, indicating that the X-Nauts locked it to forbid them from getting through it.
"Pretty slick work, handling those guys, Andrew," Punio complimented him as he came out from hiding from the bush. "Seriously, way to go!"
"Aw, well, I did have some help from my three partners," Andrew referred to Goombella, Koops, and Flurrie, of which they nodded in agreement.
"So, if I may presume, those guys were what you were referring to as the X-Nauts, correct?" Flurrie asked.
"Just about," Andrew nodded. "And they were the same people who attacked me and Goombella at the Rogueport Harbor too."
"Got that right Andrew," Goombella agreed. "And I bet Lord Crump is here too, orchestrating the infiltration of this tree just to find the Crystal Star."
"Gee... We 'really' do make quite a team," Koops had to admit.
"There's no doubt about that," Andrew nodded.
"But the question remains... Where did everyone go?" Punio queried. "What could 'possibly' make everyone leave?"
Then suddenly, to answer his question, he spotted something dashing behind a pillar. It was a regular Puni, which got his attention.
"Finally, SOMEBODY shows up!" Punio declared. "What are you doing hiding back there? Come out, for Pete's sake! I found us a powerful ally!"
Punio had to go behind the pillar, drag the Puni out, and have him placed in front of Andrew. The Puni had to quiver in slight fear.
"He... He's huge!" That Puni squeaked in response.
"Uh... Are you sure your huge muscular man won't try to eat us?" Another Puni had to ask from behind the pillar, which caught Punio's attention.
"Huh? Hey! Who's that?" Punio felt like calling out. "Who else is back there?"
It was then a few other normal Punies had poked their heads out from the pillars. Most of them were making comments about Andrew's humongous size, how he could step on them, crush them, eat them, or even turn them to jelly. One of the Punies did have to compliment his fine-looking muscles though. That one Puni notwithstanding, Punio had to set the record straight with them.
"Now, don't worry, everyone," Punio had to reassure them. "This is Andrew, and he's our friend. He's here to help! All those bad guys? Andrew'll stomp every one of them, just like those last goons."
"Oh come on Punio. Don't flatter me," Andrew had to say sheepishly.
It was then the other regular Punies came out. Excluding Punio, there were nine Punies right in front of Andrew and his three partners. They looked just like the one that Professor Frankly showed to Andrew, Goombella, and Koops.
Punio couldn't help but take notice of how very little there were of Punies.
"Is this it? There are so few..." Punio decided to go with it as he decided to go forth with the introduction. "Well, we have to make do! Let me formally introduce... Andrew..."
Andrew was about to wave and introduce himself to him before another voice was heard hollering.
"WAIT!" A burly sounding voice called from behind the pillars.
It was then another Puni came out from behind the pillars. This one was quite fat in size, had an orange orb attached to his antenna instead of yellow, and the pupils in his eyes were slanted slightly.
"How do we 'really' know this brawny fellow is our ally?" The fat Puni wondered. "He might be one of them!"
Punio recognized this Puni, and he didn't appreciate how he was acting right now.
"Puniper! What're you saying?" Punio approached the fat Puni who was named Puniper and decided to set him straight. "He's not one of them! Listen, we can all fight alongside Andrew and chase those goons out of here! We can take back our tree. We can take back our home!"
"Hah! Big, bad Punio..." Puniper couldn't help but snort before haughtily telling him. "Listen to yourself! Trying to sound all important-like! You have no idea the kind of troubles we've been through while you were gone!"
Punio didn't quite understand what Puniper was getting at, as Puniper pushed him out of the way before walking up to Andrew. So Punio needed to ask him for clarification.
"What? What are you talking about, Puniper?" Punio had to walk over to him and looked around, seeing how there were only ten Punies that were present, aside from Punio himself. "...And why are there so few of you here, anyway? What happened to everyone?"
"Well, they've been captured...by those goons!" Puniper revealed to him. "The elder... Everybody... Including... Your sister!"
Now this was enough to set Punio off the edge. He did not hear that. He didn't hear that the X-Nauts captured his 'own' sister, did he?
"WHAT?! PETUNI?!" Punio shouted, trying to be as convincingly outraged as he could. "Tell me it isn't so!"
"I had a feeling that the other Punies were captured by the X-Nauts," Andrew sighed as he had to shake his head.
"Oh, it is, all right!" Puniper told him with a huff as he ignored Andrew's comment. "She was taken off somewhere with the rest of them! They said it was because we wouldn't tell them where to find some crystal thing. We told them we'd never heard of it."
"Oh, poor Petuni..." Punio uttered before feeling that now he needed to take action against the X-Nauts. "Well, that 'absolutely' tears it! We've all got to go look for them right away!"
Puniper had to look at Punio as if he had just lost his mind and any wits that he may have had.
"What are you saying, Punio? We can't do anything to those giant goons!" Puniper explained to him while sounding kinda cynical about the whole situation. "Besides, they aren't alone. The cursed Jabbi tribe is in league with them. They're hoping to make this tree their own once we've all been driven from it. This is it for us. The end! And adding this giant man to our ranks won't help a bit!"
Andrew was curious about the Jabbi tribe bit. Punio mentioned earlier that Jabbies live in this tree as well. What could be going on between the Punies and Jabbies? Was it anything serious?
"How can you say that? You can't know that!" Punio snapped at him, not believing what he had just heard Puniper say to him. "We HAVE to try, don't you see? Think about it! If we all get together we can take care of any stupid Jabbies! So, who's with me, huh? Come on, everyone! Let's pool our strength!"
Puniper had to shake his head as he then acted quite smug with Punio again.
"Hah! Punio, Punio, Punio..." Puniper retorted smugly. "You'll have to convince me because I think you're nuts."
"What's that supposed to mean?" Punio asked, sounding quite offended by what Puniper just said.
Puniper then decided to face Andrew again before saying. "Tell you what: you and Mr. Muscles there can get the revolution started! If you can free our friends who got locked up somewhere in the tree..."
Puniper faced Punio again as he then continued.
"...then I'll join your little crusade." Puniper then let out a snort. "Ha! Like that'll ever happen! Please!"
Punio was pretty much fed up with Puniper's attitude. Nonetheless, he decided to prove him wrong as he went back over to Andrew's side.
"Fine! We'll show you! Right, Andrew? Right?" Punio then declared. "C'mon, follow me to glory! Let's go help them!"
"You got it, Punio," Andrew then motioned towards his three comraded to follow. "Let's go guys. We got to find where the other Punies are being held."
Goombella, Koops, and Flurrie nodded as they followed him and Punio. They saw the nine regular Punies go back behind the pillars while Puniper stood there all alone, head up and acting defiant.
"Y'know? I honestly think that Puniper has some issues," Goombella had to admit. "I seriously don't like his attitude."
"He certainly seems smug and haughty about all of this," Andrew had to admit. "Well, the door's locked. Guess we're gonna have to go up this pipe here."
And so the four of them followed Punio into the pipe as they went up to the room that was most likely above them...
Once they came out of the pipe that led them into another room, they saw a rather important pedestal with a pillar that had a number on it. It appeared the number was for how many Punies stepped onto the black and white panel that was on the floor, which was connected to the pedestal with a slot that required something important to go into.
"Wow. Nice looking pedestal," Andrew had to admit. "Though something tells me that that'll be important to us in a bit."
"Can't argue with that," Goombella said. "The ancient Punies must've been 'really' sophisticated... This is 'totally' fascinating!"
"Hey, uh, Andrew?" Koops then pointed towards another pipe that they'll have to go up. "What do you suppose that pipe leads to?"
"I don't know, Koops," Andrew scratched his head. "We'll have to find out."
"Yeah. The others must be up there somewhere," Punio proclaimed as they approached the pipe.
"Andrew, my fine dashingly handsome fellow, you are quite the adventurer, are you not?" Flurrie felt like asking him.
"I guess so," Andrew said shyly. "I originally came to Rogueport as a favor that someone asked me to do. Only it then turned into this adventure to find the seven Crystal Stars. We've already gotten one from Hooktail Castle. And now we have to claim the one here before the X-Nauts find it."
"I see. We'll worry not, dearie," Flurrie showed him her support. "We shall do everything in our power to send these X-Nauts packing permanently. You mustn't worry about that one bit."
"I'm all for doing that, Flurrie," Andrew had to smirk. "Now come on. Let's go."
It was then the five of them went up the pipe and ended up in another room above that one. Once they came out of the pipe, they jumped down and saw all the bushes nearby.
An X-Naut was waiting to ambush them, but Andrew was able to knock its lights out in a matter of seconds. Andrew then found what appeared to be a Power Punch item in one of the bushes, which he put into his backpack since it would be something important that they could use later on.
"Good job looking through the vegetation here Andrew," Goombella told him. "That item might be something useful to us, don'tcha think?"
"Yup," Andrew agreed as they went up another pipe, which led them to the pathway above them.
At the top was a Yux, a yellow-green colored X-shaped experiment of some kind created by the X-Nauts. It did give Andrew some trouble with the Mini-Yux that surrounded it, which created a shield around them that shattered once the Mini-Yux were destroyed, but Andrew pulled through along with Goombella, Koops, and Flurrie.
Once they dispatched the Yux, it exploded since it wasn't organic and was created in a laboratory. Andrew shrugged at that as the five of them kept going.
"My, my, mercy me... That strange creature certainly put up a fight with us," Flurrie had to huff in slight exhaustion before clearing herself. "Still, it's smashing that we were able to prevail."
"Yeah, Flurrie. I've never seen anything like those abominations before," Andrew had to admit. "Were they likely the creations of the X-Nauts? Maybe having been created in a laboratory somewhere?"
"You think they were Andrew," Koops had to gulp. "Made in a laboratory, that is?"
"It's possible," Andrew shrugged before looking at Goombella. "What do you think, Goombella?"
"Well, from what I've read in the Tattle Log, they are described as a creature created in the X-Naut labs," Goombella exclaimed. "So yeah. They were created in a lab."
"Goodness. The procedure sounds an awful lot like cloning," Andrew had to shiver at that thought. "Just thinking about it creeps me out."
"You and me both," Goombella agreed with him. "Now c'mon. I don't think the Punies are gonna rescue themselves."
"Right," Andrew agreed. "How much farther do we have to go, Punio?"
"Only a little more," Punio informed them as they approached another pipe. "We're almost there."
"Good to know," Andrew sighed as they approached the pipe. "Maybe the other Punies are up in the room right above us. Let's check it out."
Without making anymore objections, the five of them went up the pipe that led to the next room. They were unaware of what they were about to encounter the moment they set foot onto the floor above them...
MEANWHILE - IN A STOREROOM IN ANOTHER PART OF THE TREE:
As Andrew, Goombella, Koops, Flurrie, and Punio were going through that pipe, we were now focused on a storeroom that was not far from where Andrew and the others were going. In the storeroom was a single X-Naut, who was all alone and surrounded by lots of equipment that the X-Nauts had been using to search the tree, crates, and other supplies.
There was an opening about five feet above, as the X-Naut was growing rather impatient with this excavation of the Great Tree just to find the Crystal Star that was being kept here.
"Man... This is brutal," the X-Naut couldn't help but complain. "How much longer 'til we find that stupid Crystal Star? Not even those puny Punies we captured know anything about it. And they live here!"
The X-Naut then had to sigh before proclaiming. "After all this pointless searching, I'm thinking we're looking in the wrong place..."
It was then a shadow figure came in through the opening above as it jumped down onto the crates before landing on the ground. The figure looked like a Little Mouser, and based on its posture, it was likely a female.
Sensing that he wasn't alone anymore, the X-Naut turned to see who this mysterious woman was. Before he could react, however, the mysterious woman smacked the X-Naut right across the head.
"Uhhh... Ouch?" The X-Naut muttered under his breath before he was knocked out cold.
It appears that this mysterious woman in the shadows was after something, and she looked 'awfully' familiar if the heart-shaped end of her tail was any indication. There was no doubt that Andrew would recognize her once he entered the same room that she was in...
END OF CHAPTER 16...
Yeah, that's it for the chapter. I hope you all enjoyed it as much as I enjoyed writing it out.
I didn't think you'd expect that to happen to Andrew, huh? Well, I decided to have that happen to Andrew so he could be humiliated, because, well, I want him to be put into that position. And yeah, that moment is subtle and for the adults that get it, I'll leave it at that.
I also thought it'd be nice to have Andrew be a rather dedicated fan of Madame Flurrie, citing that he's seen and has all of her movies. This is some hidden depth for the character, as this and many other depths that'll be revealed later, along with his backstories, are to help him build a connection with his partners so he can relate to them.
As for Flurrie herself, well, I felt that she is quite underrated, to be honest. Yeah, I know, many of you people aren't fond of Flurrie for her design. Heck, I wasn't too keen on her when I was younger. As I got older though, I started growing more of an appreciation for the character, and her battle moves aren't just one-note gimmicky moves. Plus her being a former actress does seem to be interesting, even though it isn't explored any further.
As for the movies that are listed by Andrew here, those movies are only mentioned by a single female Toad who lives in the West Side of Rogueport, who's the only one who gives out further information about Flurrie in the game. So I used that information and incorporated it here. I hope it helps.
Lastly, I think this mishap helped show Andrew something important, being that he's been a reclusive loner before this adventure. And so he hasn't associated with girls at all. This chapter showcases that Andrew, despite being a loner and mainly stoic in personality (unless he's 'really' angry like he was in the previous chapter) and usually sane, is still a man. And what happened here is a reminder that he is a man and it feels natural for him to react like that.
And yes, I'll have you all know that Andrew is indeed single in this story. Just so you know.
Anyway, for the next chapter, Andrew and his three partners work on saving the Punies with Punio, they have another encounter with Ms. Mowz, the Puni Elder straightens out Puniper to help out Andrew, who she mispronounces his name, they get by puzzles, deal with some Jabbies, find a secret store and another Jabbi, and free the other Punies and Petuni who're locked up.
With that said, how will this go for them? Find out next time, readers!
For now, only if you like, you can leave a review and let me know what you thought of this chapter overall. Nothing else to say about it.
Otherwise, that's all that I got for now. So until next time, I hope you look forward to the rest of Chapter 2. And on that note, thanks again for reading, everyone!