Just like the rest of the world, the Jungle had gained plenty of new enemies in the wake of the Guardian's defeat, and especially the underground section of it. There were Moss Hornets that packed a more powerful sting, Jungle Creepers that climbed along the walls and were prone to leaping down to try to snack on them, and it was best not to forget the Giant Tortoises.

"Watch out!" Meg shouted as one came rolling towards Sid at the speed of a train. He was not able to dodge in time, but to his surprise he didn't feel a thing, the massive creature just rolling right through him.

"That was weird," he said as his miniature Twins summons swooped in to attack, the Retinazers blasting at its shell with lasers while the Spazmatisms shot back and forth, raking across it with its sharp teeth.

"I think it's our new armour," Meg said. "I noticed it said its set bonus granted Holy Protection that could protect us completely from one blow every thirty seconds."

"Really? That's sweet!" Sid turned to the tortoise just as his summons had finished blasting it to pieces, the giant shell dropping lifeless to the ground. "The less said about their destructive capacity, the better."

On heading deeper underground, he began to notice glowing green veins of some type of ore infusing the mud of the Underground Jungle like roots of a tree. He'd never seen this type of ore before.

"Do you think that's what's growing restless?"

"That ore has been growing since the Guardian's defeat," Meg said. "I came down here once to check it out. Nearly got my head taken off by a tortoise, though. And my pickaxe couldn't mine it then."

Sid pulled out his new Pickaxe Axe and brought it into the green ore. It gave way after several swings.

"Chlorophyte," he muttered. "Must be even more useful if only this pickaxe can break it."

They delved deeper into the jungle, Sid mining as much as he could find along the way. They passed through the beehive where Meg had been trapped, and came across the Lihzahrd Temple.

"Don't suppose my pickaxe can break in here yet, can it?" Sid asked. Ten seconds of not being able to break a single block later, he turned away. "Not strong enough yet."

He slammed his pickaxe down into the ground, accidentally breaking the yellow heart-shaped plant in front of him. An item popped out from it and rushed into his inventory.

"Wuh-huh?" Sid held up the item. "Hey, it's Life Fruit! Increases maximum life by 5!"

"Does it work?" Meg asked.

They had long ago reached the maximum possible life – 400, with 20 hearts total. Trying to use more Life Crystals had resulted in the item refusing to be consumed. But the green 5 rising up from Sid's head a second later confirmed her question.

"Now I have a whopping 405 health! Kneel before me, my subjects!"

"Not today, Pixie Sid," Meg said.

"Hey, you're still going on about that name?"

That was when he noticed something glowing bright pink across the cavern next to where it was rooted.

"I don't think I've seen that plant over there before."

The two of them flew over. It looked to be shaped like a flower's bulb, and was slowly expanding in and out.

"There's a strange but sweet smell coming from this plant," Meg said. "Like waves of pheromones from a flower."

"So are you saying this is what's growing restless? It's so tiny!" Sid brought his pickaxe down on it.

"Wait, don't –"

She was too late. The bulb dissolved in a wave of pink dust. At that same moment, the jungle caves around them began rumbling. Muddy dust and plant fibres began trickling down from above, dislodged by the tremor.

Sid heard a cracking sound. Turning to it, he saw some claws were digging their way through from the other side. They burst through, and a larger and more monstrous pink bulb emerged.

"Well, today you just angered a plant," Meg said. "Just when I thought your people skills couldn't get any worse."

"Shut up."

The plant – named Plantera – moved into the cavern, its claws stretching out on long vines to grab hold of points around the cavern so it could move itself around. It aimed the top part of its bulb, and began shooting pink seeds out at them.

They both went on the offensive. Sid sent forth his armada of attack eyeballs and swung his Durendal, while Meg cast prismatic bolts of rainbow.

Plantera fired a few homing green seeds and some pink spiky balls that bounced around the cavern, but didn't seem to be too much of a threat. At least not until its life dropped below half and its pink bulb burst.

"Oh, cactuses!" Sid screamed as a large, thorn-filled mouth opened up beneath. Several more vines shot out, each with more grasping mouths and claws. It began moving faster and more aggressively around the cavern, with a particular appetite for a salubrious Sid snack.

"Help me!!!" he cried as the angry plant chased him around the cavern.

Meg just laughed as she pelted the vines and mouths with streams of yellow from her Golden Shower. Sid soon found himself cornered against a muddy wall and the wall of the Lihzahrd Temple. He desperately reached for the True Night's Edge that he had kept in his inventory and began hacking away at the plant's extending tentacles and its jaws. One of the glowing green swords it shot flew straight into Plantera's mouth, which it swallowed with a gulp.

That was when it suddenly stopped trying to bite into Sid. The vines that it used to move itself around stiffened. For a second it looked frozen in place, its mouth pitched tight, before blasting wide open with a strange choking noise. Another cough, and something shiny and metallic was spat out.

No. Someone.

"William!" Sid cried. He knew he couldn't have died! He watched as Plantera turned away from them and began moving towards Meg, who was shooting rainbow bolts at it from a distance.

William shakily got to his feet.

"Did Robyn trap you in that thing?" Sid asked.

"No, I fell in," he grumbled. "Just due to dumb luck. She got away again."

"Right. Well... um..." Sid held out the blade he was holding. "I thought you might want this."

William took it from his hands and took a second to admire its iridescent quality. "True Night's Edge. You guys were busy while I was gone!"

"We definitely were. But first," he pointed his Optic Staff up at Plantera, "We've got weeds to pull."

The two of them spread their wings and flew up. Sid's Twins summons aimed for Plantera itself, while William chopped at the mouth-tentacles that were sprouting out all around Plantera, the tentacles negatively reminding him of the Hungry from the Wall of Flesh. He soon dismembered all of the extending tentacles and went in for Plantera itself. With Meg as the bait, Sid, William, and the mini-Twins all pummeling Plantera to a pulp, it wasn't long until it was defeated.

At that same moment of Plantera's death, piercing screams echoed through the air. A strange noise for a plant to make, William thought.

"Wait until we get home and tell everyone Sid almost got killed by a plant," Meg said. "And that it threw up William. It's good that Robyn didn't kill you or curse you or anything."

"Hardy har har," Sid muttered sarcastically. "What did it drop?"

William landed amongst the drops.

"There's the usual Greater Healing Potions... a Spore Sac, a Grenade Launcher, some rockets, and... a Temple Key."

"A Temple Key?" Sid asked.

"It says it opens the jungle temple door."

"Oooh!"

"Wonder how Plantera had it."

"Maybe it ate some Lihzahrds and the key ended up in its stomach," Sid said.

"Did you hear those screams?" Meg asked.

William nodded. "Yeah, but I thought they came from the plant thing for whatever reason."

She shook her head. "I feel like they came from somewhere else. Someplace... far."

"The temple, perhaps?" Sid asked.

"No, someplace further. Outside the jungle." She stood straight and glanced upward, in the direction of the surface. "We should go check with the Dryad and the Witch Doctor. They might know."

Sid shrugged. "You can do that. But I'd like to open up the temple."

"Not right now, Sid. We don't know what's in there."

"I'm with Meg here," William said, holding up his hands. "Honestly, I just want to get out of this jungle after spending three days inside that plant's stomach."

"You were only in there for one day, William," Sid said.

He shrugged. "Felt like three days."

"Take it from me, time becomes just a concept when you're trapped like that," Meg said.

"She knows what she's talking about," Sid muttered. "Alright, we'll go check on the screams first. We've got all the time in the world to go open up the temple anyway."