The interior only got stranger the farther into the tree we traveled. Giant spiders and Piranha plants had made their homes in the depths, and even the weird grunts were inspecting the place. Unfortunately, despite knocking most of them around, none of them dropped the key for the other cell full of Punies.
"Your tree is infested Punio." Peach commented, smacking away a large spider with her parasol.
"I never figured we'd have such a problem with them or the plants." Punio said.
"Did you not know, or prefer not to know?" I asked noticing the Punies around my feet looked close to panicking.
"…Spiders are scary." That answers that question.
"Hmph. Cowards." Puniper said smugly. Suddenly, another large spider fell in front of us and hissed. Every puni around me bolted back down the way we came and Puniper shot up to the top of my head. I smacked the spider back with my wooden weapon and the punies slowly came back.
"Brave move there high ground." I commented as Puniper moved back down my body to regroup with his friends on the ground.
"Don't worry you adorable little things." Flurrie said posing dramatically. "We shall protect you from any danger in these dark corridors." Actually, that was the most surprising aspect of the tree. The root system was not only visible, but gave off a glow that illuminated every part of the inside of the tree. The only things that could ambush us were the spiders because they came down from directly above us. Other than that, there were no shadowy edges for other creatures to hide in. Pulling out my scroll, I snapped a quick picture of the place; Lily would be fascinated by this.
"Hang on, look!" Punio hopped onto my shoulder and moved my attention to a nearby entryway. Standing in front of it was a creature about as small as the punies but nowhere as cute. It had a pair of buzzing wings and a long nose like sucker, and its eyes seems to dart around in all directions before landing on us and giving a small yelp before retreating backwards into the entryway.
"Was that a gnat?" I asked and Punio gave me a confused look.
"That was a Jabbi. Puniper said they were helping the intruders try to seize the tree."
"Seems vindictive."
"Well, our tribes have been enemies for a long time now. When we meet, we fight. A lot." Over a tree the size of a mansion!?
"Why not just share?" Peach gave a weary sigh at my question.
"Oh Soren…land disputes are never that simple."
"Sounds like you speak from experience sweetie." Flurrie comented.
"Before my treaty with Sarasaland, there were regular feuds over valuable land. There wasn't any chance at sharing anything in the rule of conquest." I always forget she's a ruler until she gets like this. It's like watching someone with multi-personality disorder sometimes.
"I used to get along with Jabble though." Punio said, bringing our attention back to the matter at hand. "He's one of the Jabbie tribe…I wonder if even Jabble is my enemy now."
"…Don't worry." I said, hoping to comfort him. "If he's one of your friends, I'm sure he's not our enemy."
"The best way to make sure is to find out for ourselves." Peach added pointing to the path the Jabbie went down. Guess we're going to find out.
When we came to the end of the path, we were met with a giant hive stuck to the interior of the tree. As we came close to it, a siren started blaring from the inside of the hive. As it rang, Jabbies started to fly out of the hive, forming into an army line of ten that glared at our army of Punies.
"This is your moment Punio!" Peach cheered as Punio stepped forward, leading the Punies.
"Alright everyone, we can do this! Charge!" They gave out a battle cry, and all ten punies and Punio rushed forward as the Jabbies met them in equal force. I moved to help but was stopped as Peach grabbed my shoulder and shook her head.
"It's not our place to get in the middle of foreign disputes."
"You get weirdly serious about politics you know?" She gave me a playful wink at my comment.
"I wouldn't be a princess if I wasn't both approachable and intelligent." The various cheers of Punies had us turn to see that they had taken out every last Jabbie and were rushing into the hive. Damn, they're tougher than I gave them credit for. Punio was the first to come back out, holding a blue key on top of his body and rushing over to us.
"Look what we found in there!"
"This must be the key to the other cell." I took the key from Punio and placed it in my pocket.
"You were magnificent darlings!" Flurrie praised as the Punies busily dismantled the Jabbie hive to nothing.
"We should head back and grab the others." I was about to agree, but found myself staring at the opening that was left with the nest gone.
"Hm...what's past here?" I asked.
"Oh, I'm not sure." Punio answered. "The few times I've been this deep in the tree, the only thing that was that way was a weird puzzle room I couldn't quite figure out."
"Think it could be something important in there?"
"Like treasure?" Peach asked with a hint of excitement in her voice.
"Maybe…but I think we might need help on that." This is probably right up Goombella's alley. "Let's head back and free the other Punies. We can ask for Goombella's help while we're at it."
We decided to split our focus. While I grabbed Goombella and headed back to the puzzle room, Peach went for the other cage and released the rest of the Punies.
The room itself was very bare, with only a small monument against a bark wall with sliding panels on it. The symbols it used weren't familiar at all but they were vaguely recognizable shapes. A Puni, star, moon, and sun.
"They must need to be put in the right order." Goombella mused.
"Kind of thought the same thing, but what order do we need?" I asked.
"Anywhere else in the tree you might have seen these symbols."
"No, the place has been mostly empty. I'm pretty sure I would have recognized something like these symbols in here." Goombella stared at the symbols, intensely focusing to the point I could see her head vibrate slightly as she tried to push out some kind of reference to the surface, "…This is going to take a while, isn't it?"
"…Hng…"
"I'll leave you to it then." I gave her a pat on the head and made my way to meet up with Peach and Flurrie.
Stepping out of the room I was immediately met with an army of Punies that gathered around my friends.
"Huh…this quite a few Punies." I said as I carefully stepped around the small creatures to reach Peach in the center.
"They're amazing!" Peach cheered. "They took out another Jabbi nest nearby with everything they had!" I looked over on her shoulder to see Punio looking a little greener than his orb.
"You okay Punio?"
"Y-Yeah…urp…just…a bit of food poisoning…urgh…" Well, we have all of the Punies now. None of the Jabbies can stop us from seeing every inch of this tree; and we should be able to get the star with all of them with us.
"What about the puzzle?" Peach asked. I sighed in reply.
"We need a certain pattern but we don't know what it is."
"Don't fret darling." Flurrie said. "I'm sure something in this tree will allude to the correct answer. Besides, we still must drive out those fiendish invaders." She was right. As much as that treasure tempted me, we needed to focus on the task at hand.
"Alright, Goombella is focusing on it for now. Let's keep moving down the tree."
As we descended lower into the root systems, the confrontation only got stronger from piranha plants and spiders that tried to block our way. Spiders had wedged themselves in the dark corners nobody went into while the plants twisted around various paths, leaving spiked vines for us to trip over so they could ensnare us and collect their next meal. Too bad they weren't dealing with something stupider. I smacked another plant making it recoil and shrink. Peach knocked into a spider, pushing it back and giving Flurrie the opportunity to blow it away.
"This tree is infested." I commented, kicking vines out of our path forward.
"Or maybe this is a defensive tactic." Peach brought up. "A way to keep people from getting the star." I lurched back as a piranha plant tried to snap me into its jaws, delivering a quick swing of my wooden sword to it.
"I'm pretty sure hostile vegetation isn't very cooperative for that kind of stuff." I looked over to see Punio's sister Petuni about to be ensnared in a piranha vine and scooped her up before stomping on the vine, making it slither back to its base.
"Thank you."
"Why don't you stay on my shoulder for right now. You're smaller than the others so it's more dangerous for you to stay on the ground."
Eventually we came to another circular room. Only this one seemed quite empty. No path forward, no hole down. Just a dead end.
"We didn't pass a fork somewhere, did we?" I asked and Flurrie shook her head.
"I only saw one way forward. Maybe there's a trap door somewhere." She probably means hidden door but same thing. We walked towards the center of the room and I heard a soft click underneath us. I instinctively jumped back as a large metal cage fell from the ceiling, trapping all of the Punies, along with Flurrie and Peach inside.
"Ah!" Peach gave out a small shriek of surprise as I rushed to the bars.
"Are you guys okay!?"
"Y-Yeah…we're all fine. But we're trapped." I pulled at the bars, finding them solidly locked in place. I couldn't even find a door to open it up, this was just meant to trap us for god knows how long. The frantic rushing of footsteps caught my attention as they got closer, I rushed to the far wall, hoping to slip into one of the dark corners, only to be met with a paper screen I immediately fell through. Well there's the door I guess. I peered through a hole in the screen, and saw more of those weird grunts, following a much larger man in a black suit with a white X across the chest. He wore a dark red cape and a purple mask with horns poking out of the sides and curving up.
"Buh! Buh! Buh huh huh! We got em boys!" He gave a boastful laugh of triumph. "Man, you guys totally fell for my trap! I knew you idiots would wander down this path and end up in my cage! I just didn't expect the Princess to be the one to trigger it. Talk about a luck break! Lord Grodus is sure to reward me for grabbing you." Damn, I can't let them get Peach…but I can't just rush out there; I don't know how to get them out of that cage, and I doubt they're willing to help me.
"Sir, what about the boy and the map." The large man gave a small grumble at this comment from his subordinate.
"The trap was supposed to be for BOTH of them…guess he chickened out and ran."
"No he didn't!" Peach yelled, "You stupid X-jerks don't scare Soren, or ME for that matter!" She blew them a raspberry and I gave a quiet chuckle.
"Then he must still be around here somewhere." The large man said. "Find him and rough him up! Make sure to grab the map while you're at it."
"Yes sir!" The two lower grunts said in unison before waddling off.
"Time to go give the boss the good news." The large man made his way towards where I was hiding and I quickly retreated down the path. I came into another room and looked around for a hiding spot, finding a nearby bush and diving into it. I stayed low and waited as the large man's footsteps became louder and closer before growing quieter and more distant.
"Alright, he's gone."
"E-Excuse me." A small nasally voice chirped up near my feet. I looked down to see a Jabbie looking up at me.
"Eek! A jabbie!" Petuni yelled.
"No wait! I'm not with the others!" I raised my eyebrow at this statement, before remembering what Punio had said earlier.
"Wait, are you Punio's friend?" The jabbie perked up at this question.
"Yes! My name is Jabble." Oh good. He won't rat us out at least.
"Jabble, Punio and my friends are trapped in a cage. I need a way to get them out."
"…Oh, I hear there's some kind of treasure in this tree. Maybe that can help. It's supposed to be behind a puzzle wall." He must mean the one Goombella is researching.
"We need a pattern to figure it out though."
"Well…there might be something like that, follow me." Jabble took off, heading down a smaller path I had to crouch through to get to. At the end of it was a dead ended room. Some of the vines against the wall twisted unnaturally, becoming shaped I had seen before.
"A sun…moon…puni…and a star!" This is the pattern we needed! I snatched up Jabble and placed him on my other shoulder. "Hang on guys. We're gonna be moving pretty fast!"
I bolted as fast as I could back to the room Goombella was in, coming to a quick stop as I came up to her and panting hard.
"Geez, where's the fire?"
"Forward a few rooms and shaped like a steel cage." I retorted. "But I have the pattern!" She gave a look of shock.
"Well then came on! Do it!" I moved over to the wall and put in the pattern I saw.
"Sun, moon, puni, star." As I stepped back, the wall gave a small rattle as it slowly sank into the floor of the tree, revealing a small opening with a chest inside. I opened it up to see a pair of boots inside. They seemed similar to mine, but were clearly made of a quality leather, and the sole was metal, but the weirdest part was the heel of the boot that seem to have some kind of gauge on it.
"NO Way!" Goombella yelled, making me jump. "Those are impact boots!"
"Impact boots?"
"Yeah! They're nifty little boots that build up kinetic energy as you run! When you follow it up with a kick, all that energy is released and blasted into whatever you kick." That seems extra dangerous.
"Wouldn't that energy also send me flying back in a wreck?"
"That's why there are two. The energy released by the kick that's supposed to backfire on you is countered by the energy in your other boot, balancing it out." Wow, that is pretty cool, "You hit an enemy with that and they'll be knocked out cold!"
"Oh!" Petuni spoke up. "Maybe if we hit the cage with that, we can make a hole for brother and everyone to get out of!"
"Not a bad plan Petuni. Let's hurry back!"
I back up from the cage as far as I could, making sure I would stay in a straight line with it. I readied myself…took a deep breath…and bolted forward. I ran as fast as I could, and when I was right in front of the cage, I slammed my back foot down and rocketed my front foot against the cage, feeling a blast of energy come out of my foot and slam against the cage. The energy seem to rattle the cage violently, and while a hole wasn't blasted into the cage, the violent shaking loosened the bolts of the cage. They rattled out, falling to the floor one by one until all of them had been removed. When the cage finally stopped shaking, the walls and bars fell apart and released everyone from inside.
"Well…whatever works."
"That was cool!" Petuni cheered.
"Thank you for saving us Soren." Peach said.
"Yes, truly a heroic feat worthy of praise and adoriation." Flurrie added on thickly.
"Uh…thanks." I replied feeling a bit awkward about Flurrie's description. "Anyway, we have to hurry. We don't want that big guy to get the crystal star!" Everyone gave a nod and we rushed down the path forward as quick as we could. No way were we letting them get it. Not when we're this close!
At the end of the path was another dead-end room. But this one seemed to have more ceremony to it than any other part of the tree. Statues of punies lined the walls, and a circle of steps led to a platform in the center. We all stepped onto it hesitantly, not sure what would happen when we did. The ground rumbled and the walls began to pulsate with a white light. From the back wall, a large basin began to fill with water from the tree's roots. When it was finally full, it rippled slightly as a large green star rose from within before hovering out and landing in front of us.
"There it is!" Goombella cheered.
"My it is rather beautiful, isn't it?" Flurrie commented.
"We did it!" Peach yelled motioning for a high five which I gladly reciprocated. As I went to reach for it, I was quickly shoved out of the way. When I looked back over, I saw the large purple masked man from earlier holding the star in his hand.
"Buh! Buh! Buh huh huh! Man, am I lucky or what? Or am I just gooooood? 'Oh, you say you need a Crystal Star, Lord Crump?' BOOM! Falls right in my lap!" He turned to me, and despite not seeing his face, I could tell he was scowling, "Still, this is humiliating. How did you free the Princess and those stupid Punies? That's cheating! So allow me to repay you for your cheating ways." He reached behind him and pulled out a small remote…oh no.
"Don't tell me that's-"
"You better believe it is! My own personal Remote Time-Bomb Detonator!"
"You're going to blow up our tree!" Punio yelled.
"As long as it takes you clowns with it, I'll blow up a city! I'm sure I can explain the Princess disappearing easily enough." Rotten jerk! He gave a click of the button and I heard a ticking clock start, "Well, enjoy your final minutes inside this dank old tree! And with that…pow! I'm gone!" Crump dashed off down the way we came up. He's most likely headed for the exit!
"Come on, we have to run!" I shouted rushing after Crump as everyone followed.
Whatever bomb he started must have spooked everything in the tree, because the way out was less than quick as everything tried to latch onto us. Either to take us out with them or piggyback on our way out of this place. We had to be swift in dispatching everything and still keep up with Crump. We even had his own minions in the way but they were a blow or smack away from not being an issue. The ticking of the clock in the corner of my ear had me slightly on edge; I had no idea how long he had set that thing for, but we didn't want to be around when it hit zero. When we finally came to the entrance of the tree, we found Crump had been stopped by Koops and the Elder who refused to move.
"Y-You won't get past me with that star!" Koops bravely yelled.
"Out of the way turtle soup!" He grabbed Koops by the shell and tossed him back towards us. We all moved to dodge the brick like shell Koops had curled into as it hit the far wall. Goombella was quick to move to help him as Flurrie, Peach and I moved up to Crump who was now baring down the Elder.
"Have you no manners young man!" The Elder said angrily. "You won't be going any farther this-a-way!"
"Move it geezer!"
"WHAT!? Did you just call me geezer!?" Oh no, not now. Now is not the time for an old person lecture. NOT WHILE THE PLACE IS SET TO EXPLODE!
"Crump!" I yelled turning his attention back to us. "You're not getting out of here with that star or that detonator!" He gave a low growl before clicking on his detonator, making the ticking clock sound stop. Oh thank god, that was not good for MY ticker.
"You goody-two shoes never make anything easy do you? Fine. I'll pummel you chumps into the dirt, nab that Princess AND the map. Then I'll go back to the boss as his number one guy!" Peach and I got into our battle stances as Flurrie pulled out her fan. Crump pulled out a different looking remote, and I could hear something rocket towards our location from outside the tree. A large metal pod landed in front of Crump, who quickly entered. The pod then changed shape, unlocking and changing shape to become a giant metal robot that towered over the tree of us. This wasn't good, "Awake, Magnus von Grapple! Time for a technological thrashing! Enjoy!"
I moved in first, aiming for one of the joint and slamming my blade against it, only to be met with the dull sound of wood hitting metal and doing nothing. Magnus von Grapple pulled back and threw a punch at me, prompting Peach to move in and block with her parasol. The force of the hit was too much though, as it sent the both of us flying back.
"Are you crying yet?" Crump asked. "Yeah? Sorry, but this thing isn't armed with tissues. My little baby has that effect on people though. Total, weeping terror. But you ain't seen nothing yet!" I went in for another swing, this time aiming for its base but was met with them same result.
"I can't do any damage. The metal is just too tough to break though."
"There must be something we can do." Peach said. Magnus von Grapple held it's fist out. Its wrists unlocked from the hand, and a giant metal fist came rushing towards us. Flurrie was quick to intercept, sending a gust of wind against the fist that sent it flying into a nearby wall.
"Don't lose heart darlings! This is the third act climax. We shan't lose here!" I looked over at where the fist had been sent to see it had been damaged by the impact.
"…Alright I've got a plan! Peach, we need him to both his fists at us. Focus on dodging for right now. Flurrie, wait for your signal.
"I shall eagerly await my cue."
"Hey Crumple!" I yelled. Visibly pissing him off.
"THAT'S CRUMP!" He threw his fist at me, which I quickly dodged.
"Well, maybe it's more fitting." Peach said turning his attention to her. "After all, that's what you'll end up doing."
"SHUT UP!" He swung at Peach who dodged effortlessly. We both stepped out of his swing radius. "LET'S SEE HOW YOU LIKE THIS!" He held his fists out again, disengaging both of them and sending them flying at us.
"NOW!" We jumped out of the way and Flurrie moved in and sent a powerful just of wind back at the fist, completely turning them around and sending them crashing back into the robots' chassis. The whole thing fell the ground as Crump desperately tried to get the thing back on its feet. "Hey Flurrie, think you can give me a quick spin?" Flurrie seemed quizzical before grinning at me.
"You have a flare for the dramatic dear! I knew I liked something about you!" I ran forward at top speed, building up as much energy in the boots as I could, when I got close enough, I leapt into the air and dived foot first towards the robot's base. As I did, Flurry rolled me in a gust that made me spin like a whirlwind drill towards it. With the built-up kinetic energy and sharp winds that whipped around me, I smashed into, and through, Magnus von Grapple, leaving a big hole in its center, and leaving Crump without a working robot to pilot against us.
The whole thing sparked and sputtered before bursting into little pieces as Crump when face first into the ground; the star bouncing out of his grip and at the large group of Punies.
"Buh! Bu-AAAAAARGH! No! Magnus von Grapple! How could we lose?!" Crump slowly got back up, looking disheveled and worn out, "Hurff…Hurfff…Hurffff…I'll remember this, losers!" With those words, he ran straight out of the tree, his minions not far behind in a flurry of panic and fear at how we had destroyed their boss.
"That was incredible!" Goombella congratulated. "I knew those boots were powerful but you took it to a whole nother level!"
"It's the actors trump card dear." Flurrie cut in, giving a dramatic pose. "Expect the unexpected."
"Not sure if that's exclusively an actor's moto." I said with a chuckle.
"S-Sorry I couldn't hold him back." Koops said dejectedly.
"No, you and the Elder did great." I assured him. "He might have been long gone had it not been for you."
"R-Really?" I nodded and Koops gave a little grin. "Yeah…I'll show him who's boss next time."
"We did it!" Peach cheered jumping onto my back and giving me a tight hug. "We kicked that thing's butt!"
"And tore it a new hole." I added, making her giggle.
"They're gone!" Punio cheered. "This place can finally go back to being the peaceful place I remember!"
"And it's all because you worked hard to get this place back." I spoke. "You led the Punies here to fight back and take back there home. I think you'll be a great chief one day."
"I know you will." Peach added.
"Of course he will, he's my big brother!" Petuni encouraged.
"Hmph, he's not a total loser I guess." Puniper begrudgingly admitted.
"Maybe together, we can get our tirbes to agree to peace." Jabble said hopefully.
"Thanks everyone…for all of your help." Punio said a bit teary eyed.
"Alright there Sorbet. You've earned the Emerald Star…the Crystal Star that resides in this tree!" I stepped forward, and grabbed the Crystal Star from the center of the Punies, feeling a familiar sensation of power course through my body, and giving me a new power to call upon when I need it. The moment washed over me, letting it all sink in…before Peach gave me a tap on the shoulder.
"Do you hear that?" I listened closely, hearing the familiar ticking from earlier, and feeling my body go into panic mode.
"HE STARTED IT AGAIN!?" Goombella shouted in fear. Peach quickly gripped my shoulder in fear.
"GAH! That's the ultimate petty move!" I yelled in frustration…wait…focus Soren…focus on the ticking…, "Clock out!" As I shouted that, the air around us seemed to stop and the ticking came to a sudden end, leaving me and Peach as the only ones moving.
"New power?" Peach asked and I nodded. We spent a few seconds standing there in terror of hearing the ticking continue. "…We should probably find that bomb."
"Agreed." Good thing she said it. I probably wouldn't have moved otherwise.