Chapter 9: The Great Tree
"It's been a while before coming back here." Flurrie said, observing the tree. "So, what's this I hear of? There's a-"
Whatever she had to say next was cut off by a distant sound.
"That could be-a the X-nauts. Everyone, hide!" Mario shouted.
They all quickly hid behind a large tree and peeked to see a group of marching people coming near.
"Mario, those are the X-nauts!" Punio told him.
"Those people look like those guys who attacked Goombella at the docks!" Mario responded.
They saw the troops advancing towards the tree. Double D noticed they were being led by Crump, followed by Beldam, Marilynn and Vivian in a straight line. Beldam looked to the troops behind her and barked orders at them, while Marilynn had a simple face the whole way. Vivian still looked sad, and Crump marched on. The troops behind them here marching in rows and columns, in perfect succession.
"Troops, halt!" Crump ordered.
The troops stopped and faced him.
"Soldiers, our orders today are to finish our invasion and overtake this tree. Once the moment reinforcements arrive, we shall march in!" Crump said.
Just then, a huge ship flew over their heads, one with a huge X on it. It landed nearby the Tree, and out emerged even more troops.
"This feels like a Star Wars movie." Nazz said to Double D off behind the tree.
It was about then; they noticed the troops Crump ordered around where carrying a large pole. Something was tied to the pole.
"What is that?" Double D asked. He took out a pair of binoculars he had stored away.
"Oh, my lord!" he shouted unintentionally. "They have someone tied to that thing!"
"No way!" Nazz said. She grabbed the binoculars and looked. "Man, they do!"
"This is horrible. How many people are they going to capture!" Double D asked.
"Guys, quiet down before they hear us." Goombella whispered to them both.
"Now troops, march forth to the destiny!" Crump ordered.
They marched until they all walked into the tree, slamming the metal door shut behind them.
"No." Punio said when they were gone.
"Come, we have no time to lose!" Flurrie said and they ran to the tree.
"There should be some sort of secret entrance nearby, Flurrie." Punio instructed.
"Right." Flurrie said and nodded.
She started to inhale a lot of air, and then blew out the air in a strong gale.
"Oh man!" Goombella shouted as she, Mario and Double D struggled to hold their hats.
Suddenly, some bark began to peel off the tree. When it cleared, next to a small hole was a huge neon sign that read 'Secret Entrance.'
"…I stand corrected." Punio said. He jumped into the small hole.
A couple of seconds later, the metallic door opened, and Punio walked out.
"The door's open, let go!" Punio called out.
Rolf ran first and allowed Punio back onto his shoulder. The rest followed through the door. They now stood in a large chamber. The inside of the tree was quiet, and there where strange statues of Punies surrounding them.
However, before anyone could react, a set of doors opened from behind, and in emerged two X-nauts.
"It's Mario! And his team of people!" One shouted. "We should report this to Crump right away!"
"No, we'll get a big reward if we finish him now!" the other said.
"Let's take these guys DOWN!" Nazz said before she ran up and punched one of them.
"Uh!" The injured one shouted. "These people are annoying!"
"Oh, you idiot. Just because we're foot soldiers doesn't mean you have to act like that!" The other scolded.
Rolf shouted and ran. He took his bag of rocks and slammed it onto the two soldiers. But he didn't stop, he did it again, and again, until the ran away.
"Man, Rolf." Goombella said. "What is it with you all of a sudden?" she asked.
"Back in my own country, Punies were considered sacred. Rolf cannot let them be treated like this!" Rolf shouted.
"Sacred? Us?" Punio asked.
"Indeed." Rolf said.
"I don't get it. How could Rolf even know they exist?" Nazz asked.
"Well, this… huh?" Punio stopped.
"Something wrong?" Nazz asked.
He pointed to a Puni behind a statue.
"Relax guys. These people are here to help. Come on out." Punio said gently.
Small Puni voices started coming from behind the statues:
"Wow, they're tall!"
"I'm scared."
"Right in the neck of time."
"Why does he have a sock on his head?"
"Nice mustache!"
"Punio, you dork!"
Ten Punies cautiously approached from behind the statue.
"Ten? That's it? There should be more than this." Punio said.
"Punio, you dork!" One of the punies repeated, stepping forward.
This particular one was considerably larger than the others.
"Puniper." Punio sighed.
"We were in danger, you dolt. We got captured! How dare you run away like that!" Puniper shouted.
"I went to get some help." Punio said. "See? How did you guys' escape?"
"There was originally 11 in our group. However, as we were being herded to our prison, I pushed one of them into the way to trip the X-naut and the rest of us escaped." Puniper said proudly.
"You mean you sacrificed one of us to escape yourself! You've hit an all-time low!" Punio said.
"It was either we did it or no one escaped." Puniper stated sternly.
"Come with us, we have to save the others!" Punio said.
"No way! We're not going anywhere with you. It would be 11 punies and 7 giants vs. an also giant, great, and powerful army! Perhaps if you free everyone else, THEN we'll maybe be part of this little revolution." Puniper said.
"Fine! Where are they being held?" Punio asked.
"You find them yourself; we've done enough!" Puniper demanded.
They walked away and into a pipe leading into another room.
"Jerk." Punio said under his breath as they continued down the pathway.
"Now, keep quiet!" The X-naut kicked the walls of the prison.
The Punies within them gasped and hid on the other side of the prison. The soldier walked away.
"I'm so scared…" A female Puni shivered in fright.
"Don't worry, Petuni." one of the other punies within the cell said. "If your brother is even half as great as you say, he'll come back."
"No, he will not!" Another shouted. "He ran like a coward!"
"All of you, shut up!" Two more X-nauts walked in, carrying a pole.
Petuni noticed tied to the pole was a human kid. He seemed unconscious.
"What do we do with this kid?" one asked.
"We keep him in this cage with the rest of the pests!" the other shouted. They took the pole with the kid and trusted it into the cage, before abruptly slamming it shut.
"And when that freak Mario and his pathetic friends comes to save him, I will ambush the sucker and finally take him down!" The X-naut said.
They noticed one more X-naut walking in with a Puni struggling in its hands.
"Elder!" Petuni shouted.
"I said be quiet!" the X-naut demanded, slamming his hand into the bars to scare her quiet.
The X-naut threw the elder puni into its own cage and locked the door. It chucked as it shoved a red key into its pocket and walked away.
"Now, we wait!" The other two X-nauts said, walking into hiding.
As if on cue, something emerged from a nearby pipe. It was Rolf in the lead, with Punio on his shoulder. Mario appeared next, followed by Double D, Flurrie, Koops, Goombella, and Nazz in the rear.
"PENTUNI! Sister, I have returned!" Punio shouted.
"Punio, get out! It's an ambush!" Petuni shouted.
"Rolf knows." Rolf said.
He immediately took Punio off his shoulder and gave him to Double D. Punio was confused until he saw Rolf doing battle with two X-naut foot soldiers. Rolf took his bag and slammed it strait onto the head of one of them. The other one jumped on his head, but in a heartbeat, Rolf threw it right off.
Double D readied his pole and ran to Rolf, but Rolf held up his hand. "Rolf shall overcome them alone."
Double D nodded reluctantly and fell back.
Rolf slammed his bag right on the one that jumped, him and knocked it to the floor. The other one attempted to jump Rolf, but he quickly reacted and threw it right off him. He threw his hard bag again on the fallen soldier. He rapidly began beating it, until Double D ran to Rolf and stopped him.
"Rolf, he's down! Don't hit him anymore!" Double shouted.
Rolf growled and put away his bag. Punio quickly ran to the side of the cage.
"Sister!" He shouted.
"Brother! I never gave up that you would come back!" Petuni shouted.
"Wait a sec… that kid tied to the pole… IT'S JIMMY!" Nazz shouted.
They noticed the boy in the back of the cell still tied to the pole. When he heard his name, he started to wake up.
"…Nazz? Double D, Rolf!" Jimmy suddenly got exited. He knew instantly he would be rescued.
"We have all longed to see a friendly face around here." Double D said.
"As have I." Jimmy said.
He still sounded the same with his usual high voice and timid tone. "Oh, please save me from this accursed prison!"
"Yeah, us too!" A Puni shouted.
"I promise we will do what we can to save you all. We just have to find the key!" Flurrie said to the punies.
"Okay…" Jimmy said. "But please hurry, this whole ordeal is disturbing!"
"Right, we'll be right back!" Double D said.
They ran away from the prison room and into another.
"Ha! Those Punies didn't tell us the location of the star, so this is good payback!" One of the X-nauts said to himself. He was in a chamber within the tree filled with X-naut technology. "Now, what was I ordered to do next?"
But just then, a noise came from the direction of a knot-hole. He looked and saw something jump from the open hole. All he saw next as a hand coming into contact with his head, and everything went dark.
"Hm… pathetic security around here." The person who knocked him out laughed a little.
Just then, the door opened.
"Is there someone in here?" Mario asked.
"Wow. The cheese-hunk Mario? What brings you to this tree?" The person asked.
"Ms. Mowz!" Nazz asked with a surprised face.
"Mowz?" Flurrie asked confusedly.
"So, your still stealing? Fine, you tell me first, hotshot! What brings a mouse like you to the tree?" Goombella asked dryly.
"Stealing is such a crude word. I prefer to think of it as a treasure hunt! Now, if you don't mind, I'm just going to take some of this "X" stuff and leave." Ms. Mowz said.
"You know this person?" Punio asked to Rolf.
"Apparently they do." Rolf said as he aside from Flurrie was the only one in the group whom hadn't seen her before.
"Oh, I know why you're here! You're after that crystal star, aren't you?" Ms. Mowz asked. "From thief-to-thief, I guess I can tell you.
"I have already told you; we are not thieves." Double D protested.
"The star is somewhere in the lowest part of the tree, in some sort of alter of sorts. But ya didn't hear it from me." Ms. Mowz said.
"Fine." Mario said.
"Oh, and just so I don't forget…" Ms. Mowz ran over to Mario and gave him a kiss.
"You flirt!" Goombella yelled.
"And I'll be off now. Good luck to you all!" Ms. Mowz said, running onto a crate, onto a shelf, and out the hole.
"Well, at least now we have a lead." Koops said.
"Uhhhh… what the crap was that?" The awakening X-naut asked, getting up to stare right into the faces of Mario and his group.
"Oh crap!" He shouted.
Mario simply landed a hammer on its head and knocked it out again.
Double D turned the other way.
"This violence is really starting to get to you." Nazz noticed.
"It's hard to just do strike someone or observe someone getting hit without feeling terrible for them." Double D said.
"I know." Nazz said.
"Come, this soldier possessed a key." Rolf said, holding a red key.
"Hopefully this is what we require to open one of the cells." Double D said.
They ran back into the prison room. Rolf took the key and put it in the cell door with the Punies and Jimmy in it.
"Drat!" Rolf shook the door causing the timid Punies to move back, while Jimmy starred in awe.
He had never seen Rolf so upset.
"This accursed door will not open! These X-nauts have chosen the wrong people to capture! As long as Rolf lives, Rolf will end this atrocity!" Rolf shouted.
"Wait!" Double D shouted. "Rolf, let me see that key!"
Rolf thrust it to Double D's hands. He ran to other prison, the one with the lone puni elder, and opened the door.
Punio ran to the elder's side.
"Elder!" Punio shouted. "I came to save you!"
"SILENCE!" The elder yelled suddenly.
"W-w-w-what?" Punio asked, surprised to hear the scream. Everyone else watched as the elder spoke.
"Punio? How could you just abandon us like that! What, did you decide to leave your friends and family! You coward, how could you just leave us all like that! Explain!"
"Elder, forgive me. I tried to-"
"Shush, Punio! Shush and listen to me! Listen to everyone word I say!" The elder began…
TWO HOURS LATER…
By now, everyone had practically fallen asleep. Everyone, that is, except for Puni, the Elder and Rolf.
"…and of all the atrocities-" The elder had spoken long enough.
"Yes elder. But you see, I couldn't save our people alone. I had to find some assistance, and this team of people, whom I heard saved a town from a raging dragon just might be what we were looking for!" Punio said. "Besides, we found your key first, so we had to rescue you first, instead of everyone else."
"…all right." the elder sighed. "I need to calm down. You are probably right. Punio, let us head back into the foyer chamber and-"
"Recruit the remaining Punies to begin the evtomtali." Rolf finished.
"Yes, correct. How did you know?" The elder asked.
"Where I come from, Punies are sacred creatures." Rolf responded.
"And I am surprised you know what evtomtali means." The elder said.
"A plan or meeting arrangement amongst punies to decide or proceed with a future event." Rolf defined it as if he had read it from a dictionary.
"That was a perfect description. I wonder, are you…"
"Is Rolf what?"
"I shall explain in the evtomtali."
"Petuni!" Punio said, running to her prison. "I will come back, I promise!"
"Heroes!" Rolf shouted at the sleeping team who woke up abruptly. "It is time to go!"
They followed the elder away into a different room.
"Wait!" Jimmy shouted in panic. "Don't leave me here, please!"
It was to no avail.
"Please come back!" Jimmy shouted in despair.
Petuni walked over to Jimmy in an attempt to comfort him.
"Don't worry. You'll be okay, because my brother-"
"Ah! Get away from me!" Jimmy shouted at the confused Puni. "Back off!"
"I'm only trying to-"
"I said stay back!"