Chapter 12: Trapped

We got back down to the lower levels a while after. We entered the next room across from us, above the shop. It was another large room with a jabbi hive. When we got close, a alarm we off. Again, more jabbis poured out, but this one was ten times bigger. "100 Jabbi Squadron! Chhhhhhhhaaaaaaarrrrrggggeee!" Punio shouted as the two sides classed and boy was it more hectic than the one before. We even saw some of the punis going down in the struggle. At least no one was dying in this only being knocked out.

"I'm surprised even Jabble is fighting his own people." Koops spoke up while seeing the little Jabbi fighting with Punio.

"He must not like how his tribe is acting towards friend's tribe." Maria reasoned.

"Well, it's a step forward." I smiled. "Who knows, if Jabble stays and grows up, he might start a family, and the war between both sides will end for good."

"Time will only tell." Flurrie added.

Taking the time now that we have it, I turned to Goombella and asked. "Goombella, I want to know, why do you get pissed at me?"

"About what?" She asked.

"About you getting pissed when women advance on me? Is something bothering you about it?" I asked.

Her face flushed before turning away quickly. "N-No nothing is wrong."

"The bruise on my head says otherwise." I replied. "You whack me in the head almost every time it happens. If it was nothing then you wouldn't do that."

"I said nothing is wrong!" She stated. "J-Just drop it Ace!"

I sighed. "Fine, I was just hoping to understand what is going on." Man she is stubborn as hell. What is going on in her mind?

"Nice job guys!" We saw the last of the Jabbis defeated as the others helped the downed punis up. "Alright, lts take out the hive!" They all rushed in as like before there was rumbling then the hive blasted apart.

We moved forward into the room as we saw a pedestal with a plank. "Think you can break this Maria?"

She approached the plank and swung her hammer down on it. It didn't budge. "It's too thick. My hammers are not built for destructive damage."

"Maybe try the pedestal, it might reveal another way." Koops suggested. I approached the pedestal and inserted the stone. The punis gathered to it when it glowed gold….but nothing happened. 'Huh…is it a dud?"

"It has to be used for something." I hummed before removing the stone. "Well, lets move on, maybe it will be for a use later." We headed out and saw a pipe ahead. Taking it to the lower area, we soon came into another room with a pedestal. "Maybe this one might trigger somthing." We approached it and set the stone in.

The Punis gathered. But…

*CLANK!*

A large cage slammed down over us and trapped us with a pipe revealed next to us. "A trap?!" Goombella shouted.

"Buh ! Buh huh huh huh huh!" A familiar laugh echoed before a familiar chubby X-Naut dropped down with two goons. "Man you guys are dense! Brilliant trap huh? And BOY, did you bite into it!"

"Crump you fat fuck!" I shouted.

"I saw you sticking that silly stone on the petals, so I make a fake one. Awesome." Crump spoke in glee. "I mean I knew It was great, but seeing you all fall for it really gives me a warm fuzzy."

I slammed my fist on the bars. "I'll give you a fucking warm fuzzy! By burning your heart to hell!"

"Oooh Touchy." He mocked. "But with you fools out of the picture I can take my time finding the crystal star." He waved at us mockingly. "Ta ta." He and his minions walked out of the room.

"I hate that guy." I growled.

"You and me both." Goombella scoffed.

"We gotta get outta here Ace." Punio spoke. "But how do we do that?"

I then smirked. "That's easy Punio." I pushed myself against the bars before slipping through them with ease as the others followed.

"Amazing!" The soon to be puni leader beamed. "Now you guys can find a way to get us out. We're counting on you."

"Alright hang on tight." Maria nodded before we went down the pipe. Took us to a small room. Before us was a black switch.

"Hmm? What could this be for?" Flurrie asked curiously.

"Hey guys look at these." Koops spoke pointing to four pillars showing familiar symbols: A sun, Moon, Puni, and star in order.

"They look like the same symbols from that room we got the blue key from." I realized.

"Maybe those pillars are a combination lock." Goombella suggested.

Maria hit the switch as the ground rumbled for a moment. "Well something happened. Maybe back in that room."

"Let's check it out." I suggested as we departed.

Returning to the room not long after, we saw four white switches before the four pillars. "Yup we were right." I mused. "Okay, so it was…Sun, Moon, Puni, Star?" We got to work hitting the switches to the correct symbols. When it was in proper order, the grounded rumbled again before the pillars sank down into the ground, revealing a hidden door. "Let's see what's behind door number one." we walked into the room which housed a large as hell chest. "Well…thats something you don't see everyday."

"Let's see what's inside." Maria spoke before opening the chest up. She pulled out what she got and beamed. "Well I'll be!" She came down holding a set of blue shoes. "We found the Super Boots!"

"Super Boots?" I blinked.

"Specialized shoes that gives the user the ability to do a ground pound attack." She explained. "I think it can be used for the boarded up floors we saw."

"Who should wear them?" I asked. The shoes suddenly glowed blue before dissolving into two orbs of blue lights. Each one floated to me and Maria's shoes as our shoes glowed blue a second before fading. "...Okay that happened."

"Some power-ups can do that." She mused. She jumped before doing a 180 degree spin and slammed on the ground. "Oh yeah, this will be handy."

I hummed before I jumped as well. I thought of the ground pound before I spun and slammed down. "Wow I can seriously bodyslam someone with this."

"Lets head back to the others now." Goombella smiled. And back up we go.

"Punio!" I called as we ran back in. "We found a way to get you all out."

"Thats great!" He beamed as we slipped back through the bars. Maria and I stood on the platform with a nod before we jumped and ground pounded the platform. It shattered into pieces as we slipped under. "Alright now we're talking!"

I took out the ord and held it up. "Alright Punis, let's get the show back on the road!" They cheered as we all jumped the hole down to the level with the pillars. With the punis free, we continued our quest through the tree. We passed by a few obstacles such as a water puzzle, but nothing too hard to handle. We soon found ourselves in a large room with a massive platform with a pedestal.

I came up to it before setting the stone inside. The punies gathered up before the ground rumbled. "Uh…Oh no! Whats happening?" The platform slowly lowered down to a lower level of the tree. "Huh…so that's what it does."

A light in my pocket got my attention as I pulled out the Diamond star as it was sparkling brightly. "I think we are close to the next Crystal star, the Diamond star is reacting to it."

"Sweet, lets go." Maria smiled as we ran to the next room. It was almost over, but I have a hunch, the battles have just begun.