Okay, readers. This is the eighteenth chapter of this story!
Now, for this chapter, the 90 other Punies are set free, while Punio and Petuni have a rather happy reunion, only for the 101 Punies and Jabble to get trapped again, courtesy of Lord Crump, Andrew gets a new pair of boots, he gets the 101 Punies and Jabble out as they sink further down into the tree, they find the Emerald Star for Crump to snatch it, and he sets off a time bomb detonator to blow up the Great Tree. And some other stuff will occur.
How will this go for them? Read and find out, now!
IN THE GREAT TREE:
As Andrew, and his three partners, the 11 Punies and Jabble head back up to the prison cell room, we see the 89 Punies and Petuni still in the blue prison cell. Petuni had remained hopeful that her big brother would return, and never lost faith in him. Meanwhile, one of the Punies decided to complain about how their hope was lost, and the chances of Punio coming back were slim.
"...and they'll never come back and that's that and what's gonna happen to us and..." The Puni stopped his rant when he noticed Petuni holding onto something for dear life. "Hey, by the way... What's that thing you've been holding on to so tightly?"
Petuni then shows it to him. It is revealed to be a Dried 'Shroom', and it looks like it has gone bad, judging by its appearance.
"It's a mushroom..." Petuni said softly.
"Oh," the Puni decided to be honest with her. "Not to be, you know, rude, but it looks all dry and wrinkly and gross."
"Yeah, yeah, I know..." Petuni then had to explain to him. "I picked it so I could give it to my brother to eat. But then I got captured and stuck in here, and after a few days it dried out."
"Oh, 'really'? Great story," the Puni then decided to say something else. "Anyway, don't worry so much. All my complaining aside, I'm sure Punio will return."
"He's got to. He promised. He never breaks his promises," Petuni had to tell him. "I know he'll be back..."
It was then a thought crossed Petuni's mind that she kept to herself. I hope...
With that, the 89 Punies and Petuni decided to wait a bit longer for Punio to return, with the hope that they'll finally be free and can finally take back their tree from the X-Nauts...
By now, Andrew had gotten through parts of the tree just to head back up to the prison cell room, along with Goombella, Koops, Flurrie, the 11 Punies, and Jabble. It didn't take long at all for them to emerge from the pipe that led them right into the prison room. Punio wasted no time in approaching the blue cell as he got Petuni's attention.
"Petuni! I'm back! We brought the key!" Punio told her. "We're opening the cell right now! OK, Andrew! Open the cell!"
"I'm on it," Andrew said casually as he took out the Blue Key, and placed it into the padlock.
As soon as it was in there, he turned it and it caused the padlock to fall off as it disappeared shortly afterwards. Immediately after the blue cell door opened, all 90 Punies flocked out of the blue cell and formed a circle, with Petuni in the center.
"Big brother!" Petuni called for her brother from the crowd, to which Punio instantly got through and was now in the center with his baby sister. The Punies all formed a circle surrounding them as Punio decided to say.
"Little Petuni! Are you all right?" Punio had to ask her. "You're not hurt, are you?"
"Nope! I'm fine!" Petuni told him honestly.
"Thank heavens!" Punio expressed relief when he heard that.
"Hey, big brother... I have something for you!" Petuni then reached behind herself to grab what she needed to give him. "I meant to give this to you sooner, but..."
Petuni then showed him the Dried Shroom that she had for him.
"Mushrooms are your favorite, aren't they, big brother?" She then had to explain. "But... Well, this one kinda got dried out."
Punio nonetheless approached the Dried Shroom and started eating it. Based on how he uttered how disgusting it was, and the look on his face that looked like he was going to throw up, it was clear that he hated it, and that it had gone bad.
"Big brother... It was icky, wasn't it?" Petuni looked sad as she looked downward. "I'm sorry."
"Not, not...URK! ...Not at all!" Punio had lied to her, trying his best not to sound disgusted by it. "Mmmm-MMMMM! Delicious!Very...uh...urp... Very...gag...yummy..."
Petuni then had a worried expression on her face to see if he was sick. She had assumed that he was lying to her to make her feel better and not to feel sorry for herself. Still, she decided not to comment on it. Instead, she decided to check on the well-being of her brother.
"Big brother? You OK?" Petuni asked worriedly.
"GIMME A HUG, PETUNI!" Punio shouted as he went in and hugged her in a way that Punies would normally hug.
"Hey, quit it, Punio! C'mon!" Petuni tried to squirm, telling him not to embarrass her. "Don't get all mushy! Everyone's staring!"
"Well, it was just a really sweet gesture, that's all," Punio told her thoughtfully.
Petuni had to stare at her brother and the thoughtful comment that he made to her. "...Aw, it was nothing!"
The other ten Punies (including Puniper) and Jabble were just watching them have their reunion moment. Meanwhile, Andrew, Goombella, Koops, and Flurrie watched this with smiles on their faces.
"Awwwww. That's so 'totally' cute," Goombella had to comment in a gush. "Don'tcha think that it's cute, guys?"
"Ummm...yeah," Koops admitted. "Great to see that they're back together."
"Why, this is the 'most' cutest reunion I have ever seen," Flurrie said sweetly. "Don't you think so, Andrew?"
"Yeah. I guess so," Andrew said softly with a small smile on his face as he then had a thought cross his mind.
If only things with my older brother could've been as nice as those two... Andrew thought sadly to himself, not feeling like sharing it with his partners.
"Well, Andrew! We're all freed!" Punio told him. "There are now 101 of us, and Jabble too!"
"That's great," Andrew then decided to ask them the all-important question. "Now, are we ready to drive the X-Nauts out of the Great Tree?"
"YEAH!" All 101 Punies (even Puniper) had to cheer in unison, while Jabble jumped up and down, which was a sign that he was all for it too.
"Then let's get that Crystal Star, and send them packing," Andrew declared.
"You betcha, Andrew," Goombella smirked at him. "Let's get going!"
With that, Andrew walked back over to the pipe and got on top of it along with Goombella, Koops, and Flurrie, where they then went down through the pipe, while the 101 Punies and Jabble went through the mouse hole. They were planning on going back to the room with the twisty path to explore the room on the left side of the twisty path...
After some more backtracking through the tree, which was getting to Andrew, the group made it back to the room with the twisty path. They had plans of going to the left this time once they got out of the pipe. But before they could go further, Goombella and the Punies saw that there were two more Piders in their way. Andrew took notice of them too and, remembering what Goombella and Punio said, taking notice of how high up they were, and that they had to get by there, Andrew went ahead and took out two more shurikens, which he got ready to throw upward to slice through the web string and cut the Piders down.
"Normally, I would never condone killing someone. But Andrew," Goombella decided to share with him. "Feel free to kill off those Piders for me! They're just so groooooooooooooooooooosss..."
"Sorry, Goombella. No can do," Andrew shook his head as he threw both shurikens upwards, and both of them were able to cut off the individual web strings. "We're just gonna have to take them out the old-fashioned way."
With that, the Piders fell onto the ground below, where Andrew jumped down and performed a Power Jump on one of them. Koops followed by getting into his shell and launched himself into that same Pider with his Shell Toss. The Pider was down for the count, and Andrew took out his bat to handle the other one.
He performed a Power Swing on it before Flurrie decided to soar through the air and landed on the Pider, performing a successful Body Slam on it. The other Pider was crushed and dispatched afterwards.
As soon as they were taken out, Andrew, Koops, and Flurrie went back up to Goombella, the 101 Punies, and Jabble so they could continue.
However, right as they were halfway to the left walkway where they needed to head, Andrew saw a red ?-block floating in midair. Andrew realized that he couldn't reach it, but something told him that there was something hidden underneath that would allow him to get it.
"Hmmm...I bet there's a secret here that should be solved," Andrew rubbed his chin before facing his Koopa partner. "OK, Koops? Could you hit whatever is in front of us, right below this red ?-block?"
"Ummm... Sure?" Koops said shyly as he went into his shell and Andrew jumped and kicked him into the invisible block.
The invisible block was revealed, rewarding Andrew with a single coin. He then jumped on top of the now-visible block, jumped up, and punched the red ?-block above him.
Coming out of it was a Damage Dodge P Badge, which Andrew picked up and regrouped with the others.
"All right! That's another badge that you found," Goombella beamed at him.
"Yup," Andrew had to admit as he took out that badge kit.
"You've gotten good with finding badges wherever we go," Koops commented.
"I know, Koops," Andrew opened his badge kit and placed the badge in there. "I'm just surprised that I've found this many so far."
"Excuse me? Andrew, dearie? Perhaps I just misheard you," Flurrie decided to ask. "But did you just say you've been collecting badges?"
"Sure. Oh, yeah! I haven't told you, Flurrie," Andrew remembered to tell her. "I've been finding badges since Goombella and I first set foot in Petal Meadows."
"Oh, I see," Flurrie saw the badge kit that Andrew was using. "You've been using that for your badges?"
"Yeah. It's my badge kit," Andrew shared with her as he put the lid back onto it. "Goombella gave it to me right before we went into the Rogueport Sewers to start this new journey."
"And I've been happy to have given it to him ever since," Goombella proclaimed, giving Andrew a slight wink.
"Well, how simply marvelous," Flurrie had to admit. "I daresay that we'll probably find other badges elsewhere outside of this tree as well."
"No kidding. I know we will," Andrew put the badge kit back into his backpack. "Now, shall we continue?"
They all nodded as the group finally made it to the left side and entered into the next room to see what was in there...
The room that they entered looked almost identical to the room to the right. It had the same type of hive fortress, with the same gray camouflage pattern, the same hives that were above it, with the same small house hole right in the center bottom of it, and the same red light siren that was shown near the hives.
And just like before, once they were close enough to it, it activated the siren which then started flashing a red light. This time, however, a total of 100 Jabbies came out of the fortress, and this was enough to get Punio's attention.
"Everyone! It's the Jabbies!" Punio declared again to the other 100 Punies and Jabble. "It's a 100-Jabbi squadron! Uh... Chaaaaaaaaarge! Come on, Andrew!"
"So you want us to do exactly what we did last time," Andrew then commented. "And have Flurrie blow the Jabbies back to give you an advantage?"
"That would be great. Thanks, Andrew," Punio told him.
"Anytime," Andrew said before facing Flurrie. "All right, Flurrie. You know what to do."
"Certainly," Flurrie nodded as they approached the 100 Jabbies.
As soon as the battle started to ensue, Flurrie went and blew away the Jabbies a bit.
"Whoa, nelly!" Punio said again as he and the other Punies, and Jabble charged and attacked the 100 Jabbies.
Just like before, Flurrie floated over to where Andrew, Goombella, and Koops were standing as the four of them watched the fight unravel for themselves.
It took a little longer than the last time, but the Punies and Jabble were able to defeat all 100 Jabbies, as Punio made it clear how excited he was about this.
"Whoa! We beat them! We KO'd every last Jabbi here!" Punio announced. "Now let's destroy the Jabbi hive fortress!"
Then just like last time, Punio went and stormed into the mouse hole first. He was then followed by Petuni, Puniper, the other 98 Punies, and Jabble.
And, of course, just like the last one they destroyed, the ground started shaking several times, which was then followed by them blowing up the fortress as the hive got blown to bits. This revealed another walkway that Andrew could get by, as they could now press forward.
"Great job, Punio," Andrew told him before announcing. "Let's continue."
None of them said anything as they continued into the next room.
The next room had a Pale Piranha ahead of them, which Andrew could dispatch with his three partners as they passed by another empty pedestal with a wooden black-and-white panel in front of it.
There was another pipe that led downward. Andrew, Goombella, Koops, and Flurrie went down the pipe while the 101 Punies and Jabble went through the mouse hole.
After they had gotten out of the pipe, another Pale Piranha ambushed him, but Andrew and his three partners dispatched that one too. The group then saw that there was another room just to the right of them they went into that exact room to see what was in it.
They then noticed that the only thing in the room was a pedestal and a wooden black-and-white panel on the ground nearby. Andrew was curious as to whether or not this pedestal would reveal something else to them.
"Hey guys, look," Andrew pointed towards it. "There's another pedestal. Might as well put the Puni Orb into it."
"Go for it, Andrew!" Goombella encouraged him. "What could 'possibly' go wrong for us if we put it in there?"
"Right," Andrew took out the Puni Orb and placed it into the pedestal, resulting in the 101 Punies and Jabble starting flocking and standing right in front of the Puni Orb in the pedestal.
As soon as he did that, he and the others were in for the biggest shocker of a surprise they could've expected. For you see, once the Puni Orb was in the pedestal and all the Punies and Jabble were in that spot, a giant prison cage dropped down right over them, with no door to get out through. A pipe suddenly appeared near the cage immediately afterwards, which led to a room that was right below it.
"Hey, what the...?" Andrew could utter right as the cage landed right over them.
The Punies stopped flocking as they realized that they were now trapped in the cage. Punio was entirely confused by this so he decided to voice his confusion on it.
"Uhhhhh...huh? What?" Punio queried. "What just happened?"
"That's what I want to know," Andrew had to speak up. "Where the heck did this stupid cage come from!?"
"Buh! Buh! Buh huh huh!" It was then Andrew heard that familiar hearty laugh coming from right above them.
Oh great. I recognize that laugh from one person... Andrew thought as he furrowed his eyebrows and frowned as if he knew what to expect next.
Then jumping down from above in front of the cage was Lord Crump and his two X-Naut minions. Lord Crump wasted no time in pulling the punches as he decided to make fun of their predicament.
"Man, you guys are dense!" Lord Crump insulted them on the spot.
"Lord Crump. Long time no see," Andrew greeted sarcastically as he then deadpanned in annoyance. "Tell me something, Crump. Did you happen to move on from kidnapping Goomba girls to capturing Punies and trying to steal Crystal Stars?"
"You can make all the smart-mouth comments you like, punk! But you ain't getting out of there," Lord Crump told him snidely. "After all, you gotta admit that this is a brilliant little trap, huh? And BOY, did you bite on it!"
Andrew felt his frown deepen as Lord Crump decided to gloat about his latest achievement.
"I saw you sticking that silly stone on the pedestals, so I made a fake one..." Lord Crump revealed.
"Seriously, Crump?!" Andrew commented with annoyance in his voice.
"Yeah! And man, was it awesome," Lord Crump continued to boost about his trap. "I mean, I KNEW it was great, but seeing you fall for it 'really' gives me a warm fuzzy."
Lord Crump let out that laugh of his again before he continued.
"Buh! Buh! Buh huh huh!" Lord Crump then said smugly. "Talk about complete idiots! You guys are so dumb, it hurts!"
Andrew was now fuming at the fact that Crump was insulting his level of intelligence, on top of pulling a rather juvenile trap of a cage right over him, his partners, the Punies and Jabble. Goombella was fuming too, as she desperately wanted to beat the snot out of Lord Crump for his smugness.
Koops looked rather offended by how condescending Lord Crump was being towards them, as well as having trapped them. And Flurrie just glowered at Crump, not liking him in the slightest because of what he did to them.
Seeing the looks he was getting from Andrew and his three partners gave Lord Crump the sign to take his leave without them interfering.
"Anyway, with you fools out of the picture, I can take my time hunting the Crystal Star," Lord Crump declared. "Buh! Buh! Buh huh huh!"
With that, Lord Crump and his two X-Naut minions left the room, leaving the group stuck in the cage. Goombella had the urge to yell at him, but he was already out of earshot. So she settled on making a biting comment on him.
"I 'totally' want to Headbonk that creep," Goombella's voice was filled with hatred when she started yelling. "No, seriously! I soooooo want to beat up Crump very badly right now!"
"Me too, Goombella," Andrew said sympathetically as he patted her on the head. "Me too."
"What do you know? We're trapped again," Puniper was snarky when he said that. "Well Punio, what now? What kind of 'brilliant' scheme do you have that'll get us out of this mess that you got us into?"
"Quit talking like that, Puniper," Petuni had to scold him. "My brother will think of something to get us out! Won't you, Punio?"
"I would, but...there isn't a way out for us. Andrew! What do we do?" Punio had to ask Andrew for an idea. "We HAVE to find a way out of here... But what can we do?"
"Punio is onto something. I mean, boy! This just isn't right," Koops had to agree with him. "Let's do something before my claustrophobia sets in..."
"Come on Koops. You don't need to talk like that," Andrew advised his Koopa partner. "I think you've forgotten that we can slide right through these bars with our special ability."
"That's right," Goombella beamed. "We can use Paper Mode to get out of here."
"I beg your pardon?" Flurrie raised an eyebrow. "Paper what?"
"Flurrie? Do you remember how I said earlier that I got cursed by two black chests," Andrew advised her. "With Paper Mode, we can turn paper-thin and get through narrow spots, such as these bars. This is a curse that I got at Hooktail Castle."
"Oh, how dashingly amusing," Flurrie seemed interested. "Please feel free to demonstrate."
"You got it," Andrew nodded as he thought of himself like a piece of cardboard, which made him paper-thin.
This also made Goombella, Koops, and Flurrie paper-thin as all four of them slid right through the bars. The Punies and Jabble couldn't turn paper-thin, so they had to remain stuck in the cage until Andrew found some way to get them out. Once Andrew and his three partners got out, they realized that they needed to do something for the Punies and Jabble.
"This isn't good, Andrew," Goombella admitted. "We gotta do something."
"My! Such wonderful drama!" Flurrie declared. "I imagine we have to do something now, don't we?"
"Yeah," Andrew then saw Punio look right into his eyes.
"Andrew! Think of something!" Punio begged. "I'm counting on you!"
"We will," Andrew told him before facing his three partners. "Looks, guys. That pipe over there came out of nowhere around the same time that that giant cage fell right over us. We better check this out."
"Gotcha Andrew," Goombella beamed as he walked over to the pipe, with his three partners following before he and Goombella jumped on top of it. "Let's see what's below us."
"May as well," Koops joined them on top of the pipe. "Hopefully there's something that could help..."
"Surely we should find something that's below us," Flurrie nodded as she joined them. "In any case, we better check this out."
And with that, the four of them went through the pipe and came out on the floor below it. As soon as they reached the bottom, and after Andrew grabbed a Star Piece that was behind the pipe, they took notice of four columns and the particular pattern that they were in. It showed a Sun, Moon, Puni, and Star, in that order, which got the four of them perplexed.
"Hey, guys? Have you noticed these columns over here?" Andrew queried. "Don't they ring a bell to you?"
"Omigosh! You're right!" Goombella looked at them. "I SWEAR I've seen these decorated columns before..."
"Yeah..." Koops nodded. "I'm pretty sure I've seen columns like those before as well..."
"I must ask as well," Flurrie voiced herself. "These odd columns look somewhat familiar, don't they?"
"Yeah. I think we saw something like this in the other room where we found the Blue Key," Andrew rubbed his chin before noticing a black-colored switch with a '!' in the center of it. "Hey! A switch! I think hitting it might activate something."
Andrew went over and slammed his bat onto the switch, which activated it and caused a rumble to occur. Andrew, Goombella, Koops, and Flurrie felt that rumble as they wondered where it came from.
"Huh? Did you feel that? That crazy shaking?" Goombella proclaimed.
"Huh? Whoa, whoa, whoa! The... The tree just shook!" Koops told them.
"Oh, I feel I might swoon!" Flurrie let out a dramatic gasp.
"Yeah. I almost felt myself fall over from it too," Andrew dusted himself off.
"What in the world was that?" Goombella asked.
"What was it? An earthquake?" Koops queried.
"What was that, I wonder?" Flurrie wondered in surprise.
"Whether it was an earthquake or not, I'm sure that it must've revealed something in another room," Andrew had to tell them. "And something tells me that we're gonna have to backtrack to the room we found that Blue Key in so we can solve this mystery."
"Excellent way to put it, Andrew," Goombella beamed. "You could become a great archaeologist with that kind of attitude!"
"Yeah. I get it, Goombella," Andrew rubbed the back of his head sheepishly. "So, let's go check out that one particular room again."
"Got it, Andrew," Koops nodded. "We might find something this time."
"I daresay Andrew, we are the heroes," Flurrie proclaimed. "And as the heroes here, we shall prevail no matter the circumstances!"
"Yeah. I heard of that line," Andrew perked up as they went back up the pipe. "And I LOVED that movie that you starred in, Flurrie."
"Why thank you kindly, darling," Flurrie gushed as she waved her hand at him.
"What movie?" Goombella was confused, as was Koops.
"Well, it's quite a story," Andrew told her. "Let's just say that it involved the heroes getting stuck into a mess like this one. Only they weren't even captured and were stuck in a maze. They had to use all of their resources around them to get by, and what they had on hand and could find to survive the whole ordeal."
"Well I'm not surprised," Goombella smirked. "The four of us are a team in this. And we've done some excellent things, and WHY? Because we are an awesome team that could kick any bad guy to the curb!"
"Uh, that's right..." Koops agreed.
"My, my, Goombella. That was a nice speech you gave," Flurrie mused with a smile. "And may I say that I'd like to use it for future references in movies."
"That would be nice. But it'll have to be at another time," Andrew advised them. "Right now, we gotta find out what that rumble was and figure out how to free the Punies and Jabble from the cage. Now let's get going."
Goombella, Koops, and Flurrie all nodded as the four of them left the room and headed back up the pipe to get back to the room where they found the Blue Key...
As the four travelers headed back to the room where the Blue Key was found, Andrew found himself having a conversation with Flurrie as the two of them were talking about some of the movies that Flurrie starred in and how much Andrew loved them.
Goombella was rather perplexed by this. She didn't think this side of Andrew existed. It seemed to be a far cry from what she witnessed before they met Madame Flurrie and she decided to join them. Could Flurrie have had some sort of a positive effect on Andrew?
He also wasn't being as cynical as he was in Petal Meadows, which is something that she took notice of. Then again, other people were far more cynical than he was, such as Puniper. And then there was Beldam, who was a horrible crone of a woman.
He remained sarcastic and snarky though, especially when dealing with those who are doing bad stuff, such as Lord Crump.
Koops, for his part, didn't seem bothered by this side of Andrew being shown. Since he only joined Andrew when they were getting the first Crystal Star, it only made sense that he didn't think much about Andrew's more cynical side.
"...and 'furthermore' Flurrie, I 'really' love your role in the movie Who Blamed Gary Goomba," Andrew informed her. "That was a great movie."
"Ah, yes. Who Blamed Gary Goomba? That one was a preferable classic through my eyes." Flurrie had to admit proudly.
"Yeah. And you know what I loved," Andrew shared. "That you starred in the movie as Gary Goomba's beautiful wife."
"Ummm...Who Blamed Gary Goomba, huh?" Koops commented. "Is it any good?"
"Is it? Koops, you'll have to see it to believe it," Andrew informed him. "Isn't that right, Flurrie?"
"'Absolutely', darling," Flurrie agreed with him.
"Hey Andrew? Flurrie? I'd hate to interrupt your talk on movies and such," Goombella had to get their attention as they were back in that one particular room. "But I'm gonna need you to take a look at this."
Goombella got them to look forward along with Koops, as they were surprised to see four white-colored switches with a '!' in the center of them.
"Wow. Where did those white switches come from?" Andrew had to query. "Could that tremor we felt earlier have had something to do with this?"
"Beats me. I do know that this area seems to have been laid out for a special reason," Goombella exclaimed. "And from the way those four switches are laid out like this, I smell a puzzle that needs solving!"
"Good call there, Goombella," Andrew told her. "And I think if we make these pictures match the columns we saw in that other room in this particular order; Sun, Moon, Puni, Star, then something might happen and we might end up discovering something."
"Exactly," Goombella told him brightly. "Now I think each of us should handle the switch to change the image in front of us to what we saw in those columns earlier."
After nodding, Andrew went to the switch that was on the far left, with Goombella taking the switch next to Andrew, Koops taking the switch next to Goombella, and Flurrie taking the switch on the far right, next to Koops.
Andrew simply hit the switch with his bat until the image of a Puni changed to that of a Sun. Goombella, worked on Headbonk her switch until the image changed from Star to Moon. Koops went into his shell and slammed into the switch several times until his image changed from a Moon to a Puni. And finally, Flurrie simply Body Slammed onto her switch until that image changed from a Sun to a Star.
Once the images were in the order of Sun-Moon-Puni-Star, the switches suddenly disappeared, and the rectangular-shaped stand that was there started to crumble into pieces. Once that was gone, a walkway was revealed, which led into a rather secret room.
"Hey, there's a secret room," Andrew pointed out before walking towards it. "Let's check this out."
Goombella nodded as she raced after him, with Koops following close behind, and Flurrie floated after them in an attempt to stay with the group.
They were now in a rather secluded room with some vase-like pillars and a Puni statue with a bowl on its head. They then saw the elephant in the room; the giant brown treasure chest in front of them.
"This is a big treasure chest... The Punies must've left it..." Goombella had to deduce.
"Yeah. Wonder what could be inside of it," Andrew had to muse.
"Well... Only one way to find out, am I right?" Goombella suggested. "Open it and see what's in there."
"Right," Andrew walked over to the chest and opened it up.
As soon as he opened it, he was able to pull out something that was in there. In his hands were a pair of blue-colored combat boots, which got him staring curiously at them.
"Hey. These are a new pair of boots," Andrew looked at them.
"Omigosh Andrew! Y'know what those are," Goombella had to share with him. "Those are a pair of Super Boots."
"Super Boots, huh?" Andrew had to take off his black combat boots and move them to the side. "I better try these on."
With that, Andrew put on the Super Boots as he then felt something strange from these boots. It was then he felt his right foot rubbing against a piece of paper of some kind. Andrew took off that boot and pulled the paper out.
"Huh? What do you know?" Andrew unfolded the paper and saw some instructions on the front. "These are instructions on how to use these Super Boots properly."
"Really?" What's it say?" Goombella raised an eyebrow.
"It says that when I wear these boots, I can use the Spin Jump," Andrew read off to her. "To do this Spin Jump, I have to jump in the air and then spin around with my bottom facing downward. When I land, I have successfully performed a Spin Jump."
"Ummm...wow," Koops seemed intrigued. "Cool..."
"Wait. There's more," Andrew then continued reading it. "With Spin Jump, I can smash through wooden panels that are on the floor, and reveal holes from underneath the wooden panels."
"Why, that sounds 'absolutely' smashing, darling," Flurrie had to praise him. "I daresay, that has to have been a lucky find for you."
"It sure is," Andrew then told them. "Oh! And I can also use Spin Jump in battles too. And my jumping seems to have gotten stronger too."
"Can't argue with that," Goombella proclaimed. "So, whattaya wanna do with your old boots?"
"I'll just put them into my backpack until we get back to the Rogueport Inn," Andrew put his black combat boots into his backpack. "After that, I'll leave it in a pile next to my luggage."
"Great thinking, Andrew," Goombella winked at him. "I saw a wooden panel right near the switches we pressed previously. Might be a good idea to try Spin Jumping on it and break right through it, don'tcha think?"
"Good idea, Goombella," Andrew smiled as he put his backpack on and left the room. "Let's try it out."
Goombella, Koops, and Flurrie followed right behind him as he stood right on top of the black-and-white wooden panel before jumping in the air. He then spun around with his butt facing downward before he fell onto the panel. Then just like that, he broke right through it, and he was in an underground room right below.
Andrew managed to land on a pillar when he saw several pillars lined out in a way that he could jump from pillar to pillar. He then saw two things of interest. One was a Charge Badge that was on a pillar far out of reach that he'd need Koops to get. And the other was another Shine Sprite in that clear yellow box. This caught his attention as Goombella called out to him in concern.
"You OK, Andrew!?" Goombella hollered with Koops and Flurrie looking down towards him, also seeming worried for him. "You aren't hurt, aren'tcha!?"
"Yeah! I'm fine! Looks like the Spin Jump works like a charm!" Andrew hollered out to them. "Come down here, guys! I think I found a couple of things that we should claim!"
Goombella just shrugged as she jumped down to join Andrew. Koops and Flurrie also went down to join them as the four of them were on one pillar.
"Look. Over there," Andrew pointed towards one of the pillars. "It's another Shine Sprite."
"By the stars, that is a Shine Sprite," Flurrie was in awe at the sight of another one. "I daresay, it would be an appropriate time to claim it, Andrew."
"You're right, Flurrie," Andrew agreed as he jumped over to that pillar, and then jumped and punched the box, claiming the Shine Sprite for himself. "Now I got five of these in my possession."
"Totally! And Andrew! I see what else it is you were talking about," Goombella brought his attention over to the Charge Badge that was on another pillar. "There's that badge over there!"
"Right," Andrew jumped over to the pillar, and once it was in front of the pillar that was out of reach, the muscular man turned towards his Koopa partner. "Koops, if you wouldn't mind retrieving that badge for me."
"Of course," Koops nodded before getting into his shell.
Andrew then jumped and kicked him over to the Charge Badge. He then grabbed the badge and went back to Andrew like a boomerang. Andrew was able to grab it as he then put it in his badge kit with the other badges.
"I'll say, that was a lucky find," Flurrie had to admit.
"It sure was," Andrew agreed. "Now, I remember seeing a wooden panel in the cage that the Punies and Jabble are trapped in. If I break through the panel, we can get the Punies out of there."
"Good thinking, Andrew," Goombella beamed. "We better get back to them as quickly as possible."
"Right," Andrew nodded as the four of them went back up a pipe that they saw, that brought them right back to the upper floor.
Once they came out of the pipe, they jumped down and walked out of the room, with the ambition of going back and freeing the other Punies...
After doing some more traveling, the four travelers were making their way back to the caged in Punies and Jabble. And Andrew was starting to get a little worn out from all the backtracking they've been doing.
"You know? I'm starting to become very weary about having to constantly go back and forth from one place to another," Andrew had to complain about it. "All this backtracking is making me tired."
"Yeah. It is pretty exhausting and all," Koops had to agree.
"That ain't the only thing on my mind right now," Goombella felt like commenting. "I wonder if the inside of the tree was always like this... I mean, do you think it was, or do you think someone MADE it this way?"
"I doubt anyone could've made this tree the way it is," Andrew proclaimed. "Unless it was by the Punies themselves."
"Well regardless, it's a mystery," Goombella proclaimed.
"A mystery that we'll likely never get the answer to," Andrew had to say.
"Well fret no longer dearie, we shall be nearly done with this," Flurrie assured him. "We should be close to that Crystal Star by now."
"You're right, Flurrie," Andrew nodded. "The Crystal Star is waiting at the bottom of the tree. And we should be almost there. First off, let's free the Punies and Jabble."
They didn't say another word as they went back into the room where the Punies and Jabble were still imprisoned in that giant cage.
Once they got back into the room, Andrew saw that the 101 Punies and Jabble were still flocking the pedestal that the Puni Orb was in, and they had no way of escaping. But that was going to be resolved in a few seconds.
"All right, guys," Andrew got their attention. "I think I know how to get you out of there."
"You do?" Punio looked curious about this. "How?"
"Watch THIS!" Andrew went back into the cell using Paper Mode.
Once he turned back to normal, Andrew walked on top of that black-and-white panel and then performed a Spin Jump on it. Once he made contact with it butt-first, Andrew broke through the panel and made a hole that the Punies and Jabble could get down through. Needless to say, Punio was overjoyed by what Andrew had just done for them.
"You did it! Yes! Yes!" Punio cheered. "Now we can get out of here!"
"You got it," Andrew then turned towards his Wind Spirit partner who went into the cage with him. "Flurrie, if you would blow these Punies and Jabble down this hole, so they can get out of here?"
Flurrie nodded and winked playfully at him before using her Gale Force move to blow all 101 Punies and Jabble down the hole. As soon as all of them were successfully at the bottom and out of the cage, Andrew took out the Puni Orb and jumped down there with Flurrie following him as they all went back up the pipe.
Goombella and Koops were waiting at the top for them to show up as the group decided to leave the room and go back up the pipe in the previous room.
Andrew then did a Spin Jump on the other wooden black-and-white panel near the pedestal that was above and made another hole that led to the pipe that was below them.
Andrew then put the Puni Orb on the pedestal, and he allowed Flurrie to once again, blow all the Punies and Jabble down the hole towards the pipe below. Once all 101 of the Punies were down there with Jabble, Andrew took out the Puni Orb and jumped down there to join them, along with Goombella, Koops, and Flurrie.
Andrew grabbed another Star Piece that was behind the pipe that he was standing on, before he went down the pipe with his three partners, with the Punies and Jabble following behind him.
As soon as they came out of the pipe, they saw another X-Naut try to pick a fight with them. But Andrew was able to dispatch it with his new Super Boots to land a more powerful Power Jump on it. They continued walking along the path until they saw another pipe, which they went down through, ending up on the floor below them.
Upon reaching the bottom, the group found another Yux, but Andrew was more than prepared for this one. When the Yux created those Mini-Yuxes to keep them protected from attack, Flurrie stepped up and used her Gale Force move to blow away the Mini-Yuxes.
This gave Andrew the clear to stomp on it multiple times with his Power Bounce move, landing six jumps in a row. The Yux then exploded upon being dispatched.
"Wow. I'm glad we were prepared for that Yux," Andrew dusted his hands off.
"Tell me about it," Goombella agreed. "It was nice to know that Flurrie's Gale Force ability can blow away those Mini-Yuxes."
"I was honored to do so," Flurrie proclaimed. "I must say, I was getting a little tired of fighting that cad of an experiment anyway."
"Same with the rest of us," Andrew then pointed towards another pipe nearby. "Well, let's see where this pipe will bring us."
Andrew, Goombella, Koops, and Flurrie got on top of the pipe and went down through it, with the Punies and Jabble going through the mouse hole to join them.
The next room that they ended up in had a great amount of water to the right. They noticed the amount of water before seeing another pipe that led below this lake in the tree.
"Wow," Andrew had to blink at this. "I didn't know there was a lake in this tree. Then again, considering the flows of water we've seen in the tree so far, I shouldn't be so surprised."
"You're telling me," Goombella had to share with him. "This area makes me feel like I'm exploring a watery swamp even though we're in a tree..."
It was then something hit Goombella as she got into further details about her little Tattle advice that she was giving.
"Water! I bet we need Koops!" Goombella then backtracked her sentence before adding. "Um... Or maybe that doesn't make any sense at all..."
"No, no, Goombella. That does make sense," Andrew had his hands up as he said. "Koopas love living near streams and riverflows. Heck, I heard plenty of Koopas down in Pleasant Path love bathing in the river that flows there. The same goes for Petal Meadows and Petalburg, I presume."
Koopas are related to turtles, after all. Andrew thought. And turtles love living near water.
"Yeah. You're right, Andrew. Plenty of the Koopa residents from Petalburg love relaxing near the river shore," Koops then reminisced on something. "Uh, in fact, I remember always going fishing with my dad near the river shore just on the outskirts of Petalburg when I was a young Koopa."
"You don't say," Andrew seemed amused by this. "Did you catch anything?"
"Only a few Cheep Cheeps, and the occasional Nibbles," Koops exclaimed. "But ummm...that didn't matter. It was all in good fun. And we always loved doing it sometime before Hooktail started terrorizing Petalburg."
"Yeah. That does sound nice," Andrew had to smile. "Anyway, we should probably go down that pipe right there."
They all agreed as they went down through the pipe to the bottom to see that the lake down here had dried up, or all the water was being held up above. Andrew could see a Shine Sprite in that clear yellow box, but he was unable to reach it, so he had to wait to get it.
He then had to jump across the line of pillars leading to another pipe leading back up above, along with Goombella and Koops, and Flurrie had to float after them, while the Punies waited for them to make a new path across the dried-up waterbed.
Once they got to the top, Andrew saw a light blue push switch, with a regular-blue switch right across from it, placed on top of a mechanical pillar. Andrew realized what this meant. He'd have to make use of Koops's Hold ability again.
"OK, Koops. I'm gonna step on this switch, and I'll need you to come with me," Andrew advised him. "When I'm on the switch, I'll have to kick you in your shell over to where that switch is, and you'll have to use your hold ability. Then when I get off the switch, you can let 'er rip and hit the blue switch to solve this water puzzle."
"Got it, Andrew. I'm ready to help you..." Koops informed him.
"Great to know," Andrew smiled as he walked over to that switch along with Koops as they both jumped on top of it. Stepping on the switch caused that blue switch to sink underwater. "Ready for this?"
"Ummm...yes," Koops nodded as he got into his shell.
Andrew jumped and kicked Koops forward towards where the switch was previously, as Koops then displayed his hold ability. Seeing how Koops was spinning in place, Andrew got off the push switch when the blue switch reemerged from underwater. As soon as it surfaced back up, Andrew then called out for him. "OK, Koops! LET 'ER RIP!"
With that, Koops slammed right into the switch, thus activating it. Andrew and his three partners then saw the water starting to drain out and pour water down below them through the mechanical hatchet.
Several lilypads floated up when the dried-up waterbed got filled up with water. This gave the Punies and Jabble a walkway to get by and regroup with the others.
"Wowsers, Andrew! I didn't think that you could do that," Goombella had to admit.
"I daresay, it was a rather intriguing experience to witness," Flurrie commented. "However did you learn to do that?"
"You know, I think some things are NOT gonna be revealed or answered to us," Andrew said as he jumped down into the now dried-up waterhole.
He found a Dizzy Dial beside the stairs, which he put into his backpack before he stumbled upon a treasure chest. He opened it to find the Shrink Stomp Badge.
Feeling satisfied with another badge find, Andrew put the badge into his badge kit before going back downstairs to regroup the 101 Punies and Jabble back together. Goombella, Koops, and Flurrie joined him as they were now on the bottom floor. Because the water making a lilypad float below a Shine Sprite, Andrew was granted access to it.
"All right! Now I can get this Shine Sprite," Andrew jumped over to it and punched through the yellow clear box to claim the Shine Sprite. "Well, now I have six of these. When we get back to Rogueport, I have enough to power up both of you, Koops and Flurrie."
"Wow. That's great to know," Koops admitted. "Golly, can't believe you have six of them already."
"Splendid! Truly splendid words, dearie," Flurrie expressed her joy. "And I humbly await for the moment we get back to see this Merlon who's responsible for these power-ups that you so speak of."
"I think all of us look forward to it," Andrew said as he jumped back over to the others before jumping onto another pipe. "We better get going. We should be pretty close to the Emerald Star by now."
"Gotcha, Andrew," Goombella smirked as she got on top of the pipe and nudged her head affectionately against Andrew's leg. "Let's see how much further we have to go now."
Koops and Flurrie joined the two as all four of them went down the pipe, with the 101 Punies and Jabble joining them by going through that mouse hole.
When they got out of the pipe, they started to realize just how far they had gotten down into the tree, as they found another pedestal and a panel in front of it, along with a pillar that had the number 101 on it, which was its tally count required to activate the secret behind the pedestal.
"We've come down pretty far," Goombella had to comment. "The air is a bit colder here, don'tcha think?"
"No kidding," Andrew agreed before seeing the pedestal. "Hey, there's another pedestal. And a panel and tally count on the pillar."
"Pffft, yeah. Like, duh," Goombella showed her sass before commenting in a beaming manner. "The technology used here is pretty insane, too. I wish I had more time to inspect it."
"Maybe someday when the X-Nauts are not invading the tree, and we aren't looking for the Crystal Stars," Andrew suggested. "For now, I better put this Puni Orb into the pedestal."
And that's what he did. He placed the Puni Orb into the pedestal, which got all 101 Punies and Jabble onto the panel that started glowing. Once they were all on it, the ground started rumbling, which got Punio a little concerned.
"Uh... What's... Oh, no!" Punio had to express himself. "What's happening?"
"Gee whiz," Koops admitted. "Hope nothing bad's gonna happen."
It was then the panel that they were all standing on had lowered them onto the bottom room of the tree. Needless to say, they were all impressed by what happened.
"So THAT'S how you get to this room..." Punio commented.
"Marvelous! Simply marvelous!" Flurrie proclaimed. "We're at the bottom of the tree, at long last!"
"You're right Flurrie. This HAS to be the lowest part of the tree," Andrew said in agreement before he took out the Puni Orb from the pedestal. He then pointed towards the right before declaring. "The Crystal Star should be in this room over there! Let's find it!"
After claiming a Mushroom that he found in the left bush, Andrew went into the next room to the right, with his three partners, the 101 Punies and Jabble following right behind him. They were going to be in for a HUGE surprise once they found it...
MEANWHILE - IN THAT SAME ROOM AT THE BOTTOM OF THE TREE:
We see that Lord Crump was already in that room, scampering back and forth through every corner of the room for signs of the Crystal Star. He couldn't believe it. According to the information that the X-Nauts gave him, the Crystal Star should've been in this room.
So why wasn't he finding it? Was there something he was missing that he needed to reveal the Crystal Star? Whatever it was, he was having no luck finding it, as he started grumbling to himself.
"Hmm... Lemme see..." Lord Crump uttered to himself. "That thing's gotta be around here somewhere..."
It was then he perked up when he heard some footsteps heading this way.
"Buh...huh? What's that?" Crump then realized that there were a bunch of people heading for this room, and that could mean big trouble for him. "Whoa! Sounds like a mob! Better clear out..."
In a matter of seconds, Lord Crump scampered over to the right in hiding as he stayed there without being seen. He hoped that whoever it was wouldn't stick around for too long. Otherwise, he'd NEVER get the Crystal Star that Sir Grodus wanted him to retrieve from the Great Tree...
By now, Andrew had entered the room with his three partners, the 101 Punies and Jabble. And frankly, Andrew was astounded by how big the room was.
"Whoa! This room is huge," Andrew had to utter. "And there are plenty of Puni statues over here too, with this one facing us while standing on top of a pillar with another tally count."
"Yeah. This must be the lowest chamber. Saying it's solemn here is an understatement," Goombella mused. "Under these statues' glares... I feel like the Punies' ancestors are watching us..."
"Yeah..." Andrew trailed off before looking at the statue in the center, on top of the pillar with the tally count. "I bet the bowl-shaped vase on that Punie's head is hiding something. And it must involve putting the Puni Orb into this pedestal right here."
"Ummm... OK. Put it in," Koops encouraged. "Something might happen."
"Go for it, sweetums," Flurrie advised him. "I'm just curious to see what may happen."
"Got it," Andrew nodded as he walked up to the pedestal and placed the Puni Orb into it.
All 101 Punies and Jabble stormed onto the panel underneath as it started glowing. It was then the ground started shaking, a light started flashing, and some kind of secret was about to be unveiled.
"Omigosh! That light!" Goombella gasped.
"And that tremor!" Koops yelped in agreement.
"Dearie, what is happening here?" Flurrie questioned with a wince.
"Guys! GUYS!" Andrew pointed towards the bowl-shaped vase on the Punie Statue's head. "Look! Over there! Something's happening!"
All three of Andrew's partners looked towards the direction that he was pointing in. The lights faded, and the tremors stopped as something emerged from inside the bowl-shaped vase.
It was the Crystal Star. The Emerald Star, to be exact. Andrew couldn't help but gawk in awe at its sheer beauty, and the sparkly green lights that accompanied it. Just like the case with the Diamond Star, the Emerald Star looked more beautiful up close than it did on the map. Needless to say, he was amazed, as were his three partners.
The Emerald Star landed on the ground where it was floating in midair.
"Wow, Andrew! Check it out!" Goombella seemed amazed to have found the second Crystal Star. "The Crystal Star! Score!"
"Andrew, look! Look look look!" Koops was also impressed by seeing the Emerald Star. "It's the Crystal Star!"
"Oh, dear me! Andrew!" Flurrie felt like asking since this was the first time she'd seen a Crystal Star up close like this. "Isn't that the Crystal Star?"
"Yes it is, Flurrie," Andrew nodded in agreement before he shook his head. "I think I should grab it right away."
Andrew was just about to walk over and grab the Crystal Star. Unfortunately, before he could even walk over to it, Lord Crump came out of nowhere from his hiding spot, as he seized the opportunity to swipe the Crystal Star right then and there.
"Well, that went well," Andrew retorted sarcastically at the fact that Lord Crump stole the Crystal Star.
"What? Did he just..." Koops struggled to say before clearing his throat. "Hey! What's going on here?"
"Hey! You! I see you, jerk!" Goombella sneered as she glared at Lord Crump. "Andrew, it's that weasel!"
"That wretched beast again!" Flurrie yelled dramatically as she shook her head. "Dearie me!"
"Buh! Buh! Buh huh huh! Man, am I lucky or what? Or am I just goooooood?" Lord Crump declared proudly as he gloated over stealing the Crystal Star. "'Oh, you say you need a Crystal Star, Lord Crump?' BOOM! Falls right into my lap!"
It was then he noticed Andrew and the others accompanying him as if they had managed to escape from his cage trap from before. Ignoring the glares he was getting from Andrew and his three partners, Lord Crump commented on this setback.
"Still, this is humiliating!" Lord Crump complained. "You shouldn't have been able to escape that cell..."
"No, Crump. We managed to book ourselves a nice and relaxing vacation here in the Great Tree to get away from the stress of Rogueport," Andrew told him sarcastically with a sharp tongue. "Of 'course' we escaped that cell! How did you think we got down here anyway?!"
"Make smart-alec comments now, but you won't be laughing for long when you see what I have up my sleeve," Lord Crump told him snidely. "Because for insulting my awesome trap, I'm gonna repay you with a little present. Know what it is?"
"I'm afraid to ask," Andrew sighed as Crump got out a remote with a red button on it. "What is it?"
"Oh, just a little something I like to call A REMOTE TIME-BOMB DETONATOR!" Lord Crump announced pretty drastically.
"WHAT?!" Goombella, Koops, and Flurrie yelled in unison as Andrew moaned.
"I had a feeling that something like this would happen..." Andrew commented in a rather cynical manner while Lord Crump walked over to the other side of the room.
"I'm gonna use this to bury you and those squirmy Punies in 'rubble'! Sound fun?" Crump pretty much revealed that he was going to destroy the Great Tree with them in it. "Well, enjoy your final minutes inside this dank old tree! And with that...POW! I'm gone!"
And with that, POW! A pipe appeared that led up to the floor above them. Once Crump pressed the button on his remote, he went up the pipe to make his daring escape as there were 300 seconds (five minutes) before the place blew up.
"This is so not cool!" Goombella screamed in fright.
"D-Did he just 'say'... Eek!" Koops yelped in panic.
"I must say, I craved exciting times, but I never expected this!" Flurrie admitted rather drastically.
"I believe there's only one thing we should do now," Andrew said calmly as he took the Puni Orb out of the pedestal. "RUN!"
No one argued with him as the group rushed over to the pipe and went up it with no hesitation at all. When they got out of the top of the pipe, they saw Lord Crump rush through the electronic door with two X-Nauts guarding it.
The X-Nauts were planning to stall them in an ambush, but Flurrie put a stop to that by grabbing them by the scruff of their necks and slamming their heads into one another, resulting in an instant knock-out.
By the time Flurrie dropped them, Andrew pressed the button on the panel to unlock the door, which they used to get by, with 279 seconds remaining.
As soon as they got through the door, they realized that they were across from where Pungent's store was located. Without wasting anymore time, Andrew rushed through getting back to the entrance, with Goombella, Koops, Flurrie, the 101 Punies, and Jabble not hesitating to follow him up, and up, and up. Pipe after pipe after pipe after pipe.
By the time they reached the bubble pond, 224 seconds were remaining as Andrew, Goombella, and Koops jumped over to the other side, with the former placing the Puni Orb into the pedestal.
Once the Punies and Jabble flocked the edge, Flurrie wasted no time with blowing them off the edge. And once they floated back up in bubbles, Flurrie performed a rather vigorous Gale-Force wind to get them to the other side.
As soon as they were all on the other side with the electronic door, Andrew took the Puni Orb out to ensure that the 101 Punies and Jabble would follow him to safety. Flurrie floated over to them quickly as they all headed for the door.
They only had 181 seconds remaining before the time bomb went off and blew up the tree. But Andrew had no idea what was in store for him, Goombella, Koops, and Flurrie, in regards to Lord Crump and that he had a plan B that involved cutting the time bomb. They would find that out soon enough...
END OF CHAPTER 18...
Yeah, that's it for this chapter. Looks like we've reached the climax of Chapter 2, and we're almost done with it. Hope you enjoyed reading it.
Yeah, I don't have anything to say here that I already said before. Aside from that one movie that Andrew mentioned, which is a parody of another movie. I won't go into details about that at all.
Anyway, the next chapter is going to be the last part of Chapter 2. It's gonna involve the fight against Magnus von Grapple; the Chapter 2 Boss, as Andrew, Goombella, Koops, and Flurrie have to battle and take down Magnus to recover the Emerald Star, and drive the X-Nauts out of the Great Tree for good. 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 think about this particular chapter. That is all.
Otherwise, I have nothing else to say here. So until next, I hope you look forward to the final part of Chapter 2. And on that note, thanks again for reading everyone!