• Welcome to Smashboards, the world's largest Super Smash Brothers community! Over 250,000 Smash Bros. fans from around the world have come to discuss these great games in over 19 million posts!

    You are currently viewing our boards as a visitor. Click here to sign up right now and start on your path in the Smash community!

Quest for Destiny! (White Version)

Destiny Smasher

BRoomer
BRoomer
Joined
Jan 10, 2002
Messages
2,298
Location
Searching for my own way of the ninja.
Well, the original version of Q4D! hasn't been seeing much press lately, and that's OK, because this version of the story is the one I'd much rather have people read...

Although it has the same general plot as Q4D! Black, the two are, indeed, drastically different from each other.

At any rate, I hope you enjoy reading it, if there's anyone here who's actually going to read it.

And don't worry, I have the first 40 updates completed, so feel free to ask for more.

Ummm...So I guess I'll begin.

It starts off being pretty similar to the original, but it gradually gets far different as time goes on.

By the way, in case you've never heard of Q4D!, I can assure it that it's a very large crossover fanfic project, and if you ever find one that can match it, let me know.

~*~*~*~*~*

Quest for Destiny!

The Epic Adventure.

Preface: Listen up. I don't own the SSBM characters, or many of the other characters in this fic. I will let you know at the end of a chapter which characters are owned by who when someone new is introduced. I just want to let you all know that this fic will mislead you- the plot, as you will see, is much more than a Yoshi on a simple quest.

I would also like to say that I greatly appreciate all and any reviews or comments. I'm trying to get better writing skills. Another note about ratings- although the rating is PG-13, some chapters aren't bad at all; while others are pretty violent, so keep a lookout. I will warn you that there will be blood and lots of violence in some chapters, and a warning to you all- there will be swearing in many cases. Um...And blood...Yea, there will be blood later on, too...:D

Now, enjoy.

Chapter 1- Midnight Bandit

It was a clear, frigid night as the Magikoopa whizzed through the twilight air. It was quite a cold night, indeed, the air almost freezing his nose as it soared past his pudgy face. The ominous moon was near full off in the sky, and it was large behind him in vast the dark blue. The sky was cloudless and serene. He hadn't been on a good flight for ages. But this night, he had a purpose. He knew that the Gold Egg had to do something, and he wanted it badly.

"Nothing like a midnight flight..." he muttered to himself, relaxed.

Over the scenic island he flew, and he cackled when he thought of what he'd do to Raptalcon and his family when he stole that egg. The pure look of fear and surprise on their faces. His mind was averted to his current situation as he leaned his broom down to land behind a shop in the main square of the village. He carefully hid his broom behind an old box among many leaned up on the building's side, stocked with fruit, weapons, armor, and medicine.
A sly, merry grin spread across him as his wand was drawn from its place beneath his sky blue cloak. He had been able to recover some magical attributes over the years he had studied while trapped in the castle's underside, and although he knew many spells, they never seemed to work, oddly enough.

Maybe he was getting too old? No. He immediately dismissed the thought. He needed a better source of magic than an ancient piece of Star Stone. The mystical powers of this rock could be immense, but this particular one was old and worn, like the Magikoopa who wielded it.

He knew that the Gold Egg had to have magical potential. Lots. He could feel it. Magic knows magic, and he could feel the power tingle within him at the mere thought of the treasure.

So, quietly, he slowly peered over the walls of the store to see two guards clad in gear standing before the main gates, their eyes stone cold, with almost no tiredness in them. That would change soon enough.
He had brought a few things to help him out, of course. And, like always, Kamek had a backup plan should they fail. So, he carefully scooped out something from a pocket within his massive cloak, each pocket concealing something new and potentially dangerous.

When his hand came back out to the chilly night air, it was grasping a tube. A tube that looked similar to that of one of toothpaste. On it were the words, 'Repel Gel.' Silently, he unscrewed the plastic cap and squeezed an application's worth of the clear gel into his scaly palm.

As it was lathered upon only his hands, the gel started to take full effect, making his whole body and clothes gain the attribute of a ghost- invisible and transparent.

After a couple of seconds of getting used to this transformation, Kamek started to silently slink toward the main gate of the minor castle that was before him. The piercing eyes of the Yoshi guards flew through him, and Kamek felt confident that this was going to work.

They were two rough, surly males. One purple, and one black. They both had equipped a shield and sword. The shield was of a classic shape, with a giant Yoshi egg painted on its front. The sword was a nice, sharp blade that glinted in the moon and had a red handle.

Kamek slipped out his invisible wand from beneath a similarly transparent garment as he noticed the noses of the two gruffly guards starting to pick up an odd odor in the night air.

Catching the guards by surprise, he called out, "Hypnotic Dust!!"
As these words were called, a cloud of thick, black powder floated outward from the wand's tip, and as it gracefully drifted to the ground, so did the two Yoshies, sound asleep.

Snickering with a humor not awaken for what felt like ages, the Magikoopa gleefully swung open the giant red doors, their squeaking surprisingly soft for being so big. "Stupid dinosaurs..." he muttered to himself, still finding the two guards amusing.

The dark interiors of the castle greeted him next, and he smiled. So neat, so tidy. The red carpet that led down the large room to the next, the paintings all aligned along the walls. The floors: immaculate tiles with all kinds of inscriptions upon them. The air clean and fresh.

It had been a long while since last he had visited here...
But what he was here for now was much more important. So he sneaked through the halls, and darted through the doors. Using his Hypnotic Dust here and there, he was granted easy access to the hallway where they rested- the king, the queen, and their child.

This darkened hallway was slightly lit by the open windows on its left side. The floor had another nice, neat carpet along it, with gold trimming. To his right, about ten feet forward, was a door. A door that led to the prince's bedroom. The door was open at the moment, and some dim light radiated from it.

Kamek sighed deeply. Yoshi always had to stay up late to play his accursed video games, didn't he? That meddling brat would be taught a lesson soon enough. But Kamek couldn't dare attack now. It was useless, he knew.
The King and Queen could overpower him easily in this weaker state he was in. Besides, he couldn't use his magic to kill those too pure of heart. Not yet, at least. But with time...he would gain power. If he had enough dark power, it could counter attack the positive energies of those he despised.
Yes....

And then those three....They would be gone. And he could win in a heartbeat against the whole of Yoshi's Island. Those three, chosen by Fate to one day protect their kind....

Yoshi...
Fireball...
Tarts...

The names he had loathed with a passion since their births sixteen years before. He had kept track of them with his magic over the years, and he knew they were weak now, but if he waited too long to challenge them...
They could ruin everything. Which was why the plan had to be perfect. And it nearly was...

And step one was about to take place.

The door to Yoshi's bedroom slowly peered open, and a green head poked out to glance down the dark, moonlit hallways with wonder. A knot balled up in his stomach, but he saw nothing odd, nor heard anything. His nose couldn't pick up the scent of anything out of the ordinary.

A sweet, soft voice called to him in a near whisper.

"Yoshi..?" What's wrong?" The concern of the tone brought the creature's attention back to his room.

"Uh..." he hesitated a moment, "...Nothin'. I just...thought there was somebody out in the hallway," he replied with an edge of weariness in his words as he slowly closed the red door and returned to the comfort of his room. Perhaps he had been staying up too late these past few nights?

"Yea, right," a sarcastic voice answered. "You're just stalling time because I'M kickin' your can at Smash Brothers Melee!!" the dialogue accused.

"That's not it!" Yoshi protested back.

His red friend nodded with a roll of the eyes. This red Yoshi's name was Fireball.

"Yeaa...." he said slyly, continuing his sarcasm.

That same voice that had been sweet and soft just moments before boiled a bit at her red friend.

"Would you shut up already, Fireball?" she growled irritably.

She was Tarts, Yoshi's other best friend. She was a cute pink Yoshi admired for her beauty by many a guy at school, and sought after for her feisty temper and sweet compassion.

Fireball smugly added, "And you're saying THAT because I'm kickin' your Ice Climber @$$!"

The environment of the room was warm and inviting. Posters were hung upon the dark red walls, with images of legends known far and wide. An elfish Hyrulian swordsman with a green cap...A galactic bounty hunter who adorned a metallic suit of armor...A muscular monkey with a red tie with the letters 'DK' printed on it...A stern, strong willed fox with a laser blaster in hand...And a sort of pudgy man with a thick black mustache and a red hat known all over the young dinosaur's world.

There were plastic figures topping the shelves, which jutted out of the wall, and other various knicks and knacks.

Two big beds lay on opposite sides of the room, adjacent to the door, while straight ahead of the entrance was a wide, open space with a TV leaned up against the wall.

One bed was for guests, and one was for the prince himself. Both blankets were covered with egg patterns of all colors.

And right now, it was the middle of the night, and the three good friends were playing a game of Melee on the television. As Yoshi slid in place on the soft carpet between his buddies, he grabbed his Gamecube controller tightly and returned to the game. It felt good to battle his friends without literally being hurt.

The match upon the set was that between Yoshi, playing as himself, Tarts, playing as the Ice Climbers, and Fireball, playing as Mario. Fireball was in the lead by two stock, while his fellows both had one.

"I just have this weird feeling in my stomach..." Yoshi moaned, his gut in slight pain.

Tarts stopped concentrating a moment and nodded to him in a agreement.
"Yea, I know. Me too. But...I guess maybe I'm just hungry..." she muttered.
Her lack of attention gave her away to her friend Fireball, who slammed her Ice Climbers away from the Hyrule Temple stage with a firey Smash Attack.
Yoshi, as well, was sent spiraling downward from Mario's Meteor Smash just seconds later as a result of his weariness.

"This game's winner is....MARIO!" a deep voice announced.
"HA!" Fireball smirked.

Tarts argued bitterly, "If we were playing Mario Kart 64, I'd SO beat you!"
Fireball nodded he was expecting that to come up.

"This ain't Mario Kart, girl. That's prissy stuff," he told her coolly.
She frowned hardly.

"What do you mean 'prissy'? What's THAT supposed to mean? Are you saying I'm a wimp?!" she demanded, almost standing up.

"Hm! It's not SUPPOSED to mean anything! It's fact! You ARE a wimp!" he laughed back.

Yoshi slapped his controller down to the carpet with a roll of the eyes.
Yep. Perfect timing...

"Guys..." he moaned amidst their quarrel.
They ignored him, so he repeated louder and clearer.

When they stopped, he informed them in an annoyed voice, "It's two in the morning! My parents said we could stay up if we were QUIET..."

The two blinked embarrassingly for a moment, until Fireball spat out immaturely, "Well, she started it."

Tarts had a look of disbelief on her face.
"What are YOU talking about?"

With a deep sigh, Yoshi retreated to his bed and sat there a moment. He noticed a framed picture on his black nightstand, and scooped it up in his green palms. It was a picture taken weeks ago, of him and ten of his good Yoshi friends. His face let out a warm smile while his two buddies spat insults at each other.

His friends. If only they didn't act so much like babies sometimes...
But he knew he could always count on them...They would always be there...Until that very night...Then, THEY would be counting on HIM...
Kamek was a little shaky after Yoshi had peered out to see what was wrong, but he was still invisible, so he remained undetected. It was a good thing he had sprayed himself with some strawberry perfume before he had entered...A good Yoshi nose could've picked him out easily.

But now that the runt had returned to his room, the magician could slip down the hall further. If he was caught, the King and Queen Yoshi could easily take him out. He wasn't strong enough just yet to wage battles with those pure-hearted- they could definitely defeat him in a wink right now. That's what the Golden Egg was for...

If his assumptions were correct, the Gold Egg contained massive amounts of magical power, but there was only one way to find out- by breaking it open.
Breaking it open had proved to be difficult for those dinos, but how hard could it be for a Magikoopa with plenty of years under his cloak?
As he silently sneaked by the royal bedroom, its door gleaming and golden, he drew near, and the hall gradually lit up with a dim golden light. He was coming close...

Finally, he reached a small, round room, about ten feet in diameter. In the center rested a black marble podium with a bowl top. In that 'bowl' sat a Yoshi egg, its surface glittering like the sun.

It was about two feet tall, and was light gold all over. Its various splotches were dark gold in color, and the whole surface was perfectly smooth after being polished every day for such a long period of time.

With the grin of a little child, the scaly hands of the old coot snatched up that which he sought quite eagerly. He almost collapsed under its weight- his arms weren't what they used to be, and this egg was quite heavy.
And so, he toted it to the nearby window, simply a wide gap in the stone walls. When one lived in the tropics, closed windows were barely necessary. However, this night was indeed a more chilly one than Yoshi's Island normally experienced. He peeked out into the night, the many buildings of the town looking back up at him in horror. He cleared his throat and hesitated a moment.

Then, he went for it. Lifted his fingers to his mouth, he let out a shrill whistle. Within a couple of seconds, his trusty broom came whizzing to his side, and he was worried for a moment that it would crash into the walls.
After its stop, he hastily hopped on carefully, making sure not to drop his new treasure. He instantly scooped out his wand, its sleek metallic handle glinting in the moonlight.

With a short wave, the egg levitated from his hands and hovered loyally at his side, and thus the three of them took to the skies, as Kamek pondered a way to open it.

With a shout and a wave of the wand, a blast of fire energy collided with the Gold Eggshell, but it barely did anything at all, leaving behind an unscathed Egg.

With a grunt, he had to think some more. Perhaps if he used a strong enough combination...

As he muttered names of spells, his wand began to glow more and more. Slowly it built up more and more power, until his trembling arm lifted it high enough to blast out the barrage of magic.

With a loud cry, an explosion rocked the air, sending out a pulse of unstableness. The many bright colors of light from the magical attack bombarded the Golden Eggshell, and this time, it worked like a charm. Shards of Gold rained down upon the island below him. He was extremely high up, and the pieces sparkled down upon Yoshi's Island gracefully, each piece going out in a different direction.

With a toothy grin, Kamek laughed at what met his eyes next...

~*~*~*~*~*

Yay! Um...Yea, there ya go...Like it so far?

Well, sorry I didn't include the Prologue, but to be honest, it sucks. :p

And sorry that through most of this fic, vulgar language is gonna look like a bunch of *'s, because then you won't know for sure what word it is, and I like to be precise. If Bowser says fu** you, I want you to know he said that. If Mario mumbles da**it, I want you to know he said THAT instead of fu****...

*sweatdrop*

Well, um...I guess that's all for now. Tootles.
 

MewtwoMaster2002

ミュウツーマスター2002
Joined
Dec 19, 2002
Messages
6,148
Location
Japan
3DS FC
2922-0496-2962
Hmm this is good. I won't read the original until summer vacation comes along.
 

Destiny Smasher

BRoomer
BRoomer
Joined
Jan 10, 2002
Messages
2,298
Location
Searching for my own way of the ninja.
You mean, you'll read because you're pathetically bored?

Yea, trust me, it sucks compared to my more recent style, at least through most of what's there. About 'The Fall' is where is starts to get nicer again.

Ummm...

So here's more, I suppose.

The new Zelda Game is looking TIGHT, da**it!!

I'm drooling. Fortunately, it won't bomb us this year. As happy as that would be, I'm going to be busy enough with Paper Mario 2, the DS, and possibly others.

~*~*~*~*~*

Chapter 2- The Gold Egg is Gone...So What?

The dawning sun's light gently poked at his face. He turned to the other side a moment, his body irritated by the interruption. But moments later, it realized that the time had come to awaken. It would have dropped back dead asleep if it knew what was in store for it.

Two skinny green hands reached out for the morning air, stretching in unison with a yawn from a wide mouth. Two big eyes blinked groggily at the sight before him.

As he sat up slowly, wandering out of his bed, something odd happened. He plummeted a couple of feet to the ground, landing flat on his big, green nose, the fresh, hard, yellow soil meeting with it. After a moment of surprised blinking, the dino jumped awake, and realized something was very peculiar. He wasn't in his castle!

With a trembling jump, he launched himself onto his feet and frantically searched around. No Fireball. No Tarts. No one. Just trees, grass, fruit...

In shock, he stepped back, only to stumble haphazardly over the hammock that he had awoken in, slipping over his own feet and collapsing to the ground again.

Gasping in surprise and a twinge of fear, he lay there a few moments, wondering what the heck could have happened...

Trying to dismiss it all, he wobbled up to his feet once again and took a breather for a moment. He was in the Hawk's Eye Clubhouse, a tranquil place off to the east of his hometown. Yoshi and his friends, with the help of their parents, constructed this hang out about seven years ago.

It was basically an area cleared away so that trees all around surrounded it. It was adorned with a hammock, a tree house, and other various things.

As Yoshi left the area of his younger days, he let out a nostalgic sigh.

But today would be one of the most important days of his life. For today, the greatest challenge for him would start. A challenge that would breach time and space.

He carried himself out of the clubhouse to find the open, grassy plains of the area he called home. The short, clean grass blew slightly in the morning breeze.

As he sucked in the fresh air through his nostrils, his pace followed a worn path down toward his home.

As the sun raised into the sky a tad more, Yoshi's eyes caught the sight of a very familiar wooden sign. The sign had three little points jutting out. One to where he just been, one straight ahead of him, and one to his left and backward.

The one said 'Hawk's Eye Clubhouse.' The one pointed back the other path was inscribed, 'Magician's Court.' The Magician's Court was an outdoor stadium where combat was practiced. The perfect place for a magic competition.

The last arrow was directed toward Yoshi's hometown, Yoshina Village. It was where his home castle resided, and was quite a bustling place at times.

As he casually strolled on, he was met by the eastern gate of the town soon enough. There were no guards on the scene as there usually were, so Yoshi's already churning stomach bubbled again with worry.

He shoved the elegant metal doors wide open and peered inside to see townspeople making a ruckus at the huge, red front doors of the castle. The castle looked as good as it ever did, but there was an odd feeling coming out of it. Yoshi couldn't quite describe the feeling. Like...Evil had lurked within its walls just earlier that day.

As he neared the castle, the crowd's voices grew louder.

"What do you mean?! My son is missing, and if the King doesn't do anything about it-"

"My sweet little girl has vanished, and she was entrusted to the King and Queen last night! How could they let something like this happen-"

"Where's my kid?! You better go tell Raptalcon he's got something coming if he's just gonna ignore-"

"Does he not even care for his son, either?!"

Yoshi growled. Of course. No wonder his friends were all immature: their parents were babies, too.

Yoshi knew another way in, as this path was clearly inaccessible at the moment.

Trying not to draw any attention to himself, Yoshi went back to the side of the building. There was another door there in the side of the place, which was hidden by a pile of crates containing extra rations. Yoshi knew that if he moved over a couple of them, he'd find the door.

With a grunt, the few boxes were shoved over to the side and a little door was made visible.

Quickly opening it, Yoshi dashed inside the room that greeted him. It was actually a closet full of clothes for the King, mostly royal capes, and he gently pushed them aside to burst through the door and gape at the hallway to his castle.

When the door swung open, Yoshi was greeted by a woman's scream.

He cried out, too at the sight of the Black Yoshi chef.

It was Louise, one of the two royal cookers to the throne. Her partner was another black Yoshi named Louey, and the two were engaged at that time. After catching her breath for a moment, Louise's eyes bulged open.

"Yoshi...??" she murmured.

"Yea. Uhh...Sorry for the scare there.." he added in a mumble.

"Oh! Quite allright..I'm fine...But are YOU?" she wondered as she led him down the hall to the kitchen.

"Psh! Oh, yea! I'm fine. I little shaky, I guess, but OK..." Yoshi replied with a shrug.

Louise trotted with a slight waver in her voice.

As they entered the kitchen, its white, patterned walls meeting their eyes, Yoshi brought up a topic he had been wondering about.

"Hey, uh, Louise, do you know why I woke up in-"

Yoshi's question was interrupted, however, by a familiar voice.

"Yoshi!! Hey-eh!! Yea, buddy! Where the heck were YOU?"

Yoshi's eyes blinked rapidly for a second as Fireball met them.

"Fff....Fff....-" was all he could mutter. He had woken up in the clubhouse, but here was his friend, eating breakfast.

Fireball smiled with glee as he stuffed pancakes covered with strawberry syrup. The sticky goop slowly dripped down onto the plate, and Yoshi's stomach growled, and saliva poured into his mouth, ready for incoming food. But now was certainly NOT a good time for food.

"What's got a hold of YOUR ten foot tongue?" Fireball's pancake-muffled voice inquired.

"I..uh...Nothing," Yoshi muttered, realizing that something very odd was going on.

"Uh...So, where's Tarts?" he mumbled, hopeful.

Fireball's face froze a moment.

"Ummm....Well, see. we don't really-"

Yoshi tossed his arms and spun around before Fireball even finished.

"I can't believe this! What the heck happened last night?" Suddenly, in frustration, Yoshi spun around and glared at Fireball.

"Did YOU have anything to do with this?!" he grumbled with uncertainty.

"What?!" Fireball's face lit up with some anger from the accusation.

Yoshi suddenly felt a pang of guilt. Here he was putting the blame on one of his best friends.

"I...I'm sorry about that," he murmured, quickly calming down.

"I just...-" he trailed off with a sigh.

A frown still on, Fireball returned to his eating.

"Yea. I get it. You actually care about her..." he grumbled, his arms crossed.

The truth was that Fireball DID care about her, and he was angry, too. Because Tarts wasn't the only one missing.

"Just so you know," he added, his voice still tinted with a little rage, "All of our friends are missing, too. Surfer, Snoball, Ivy, Cruiser...everyone.."

Yoshi stared blankly for a moment. He had figured that was the case. Geez...

With a deep sigh, Yoshi pulled up a seat to the table and collapsed into it. Louise was fetching his already busy parents. Soon enough, his mom would choke him with a hug, and those 'I was so worried about you' comments would erupt into the room.

But right now he didn't care- he wanted to know where his friends were, and, more importantly, what had happened to them all.

He simply sat there, his appetite suddenly gone. Fireball and he shared a few moments of silence, the only noise the chewing of Fireball's jaws.

Then, came the clapping of shoes against the floor as someone came eagerly trotting toward the room.

Yoshi's eyes rolled.

"Mom..." he murmured.

Fireball's eyes lifted from his little remaining food.

"Hm?"

Yoshi shook his head to send the message, "Never mind."

Fireball's gaze was about to meet his pancakes again, but they quickly sprung up as an adult green Yoshi wearing an elegant red cape with silver brimming came swarming into the room.

Her eyes flashed with joy as she spotted her dear son.

Instantly, her arms became tangled around the grouch-faced dino.

"OHHH!!! I'm so glad you're HOME!! We were SOOO WORRIED!!!"

~~~~~~~~~~~

Ten minutes later, the King and Queen were finally done uttering their worries and Yoshi had scarfed down some food for the long day ahead of him.

"But...How the heck could that happen? They all just...disappeared?"

The Queen replied to her son, "Yes, yes. We know it's strange. That's why we're so worried. We thought you'd all been kidnapped, but...Now we know that something possibly worse is at work..."

The King nodded solemnly.

"Boys...I've got some explaining to do..." he muttered, "But first...I am quite sure that one of your other friends is nearby...And I need all three of you here. So, I request that you both depart the village and head west to Melon Bridge."

Yoshi and Fireball both looked at the King in shock for a moment. Why were they supposed to head out and find a friend of theirs so suddenly and by themselves?

But the King's stern glare kind of scared them a bit, so they decided they should probably listen to him.

~~~~~~~~~~~~

Fireball let out a grumpy huff as they paced down the dirt path to Cider River, which sat but only a hop and a skip from Yo****a Village to the east.

"Man! Why the heck do WE have to go somewhere to find the stupid girl! Ain't MY fault Tarts sleepwalks!"

Yoshi rolled his eyes and turned his head around as he stepped forward in the morning sun.

"She didn't SLEEPWALK! Something else happened...And I have a real bad feeling about it..."

Fireball shook his head.

"Yea, I hope not. I really am NOT in the mood to work my @$$ off today. I just wanna eat and sleep. And maybe kick the crap outta people in Melee."

Yoshi nodded. He wouldn't mind that, either.

"I wouldn't hold out on that," Yoshi muttered.

"I'm telling you. My stomach isn't agreeing with those pancakes, and it's telling me that something's up," he explained.

"Oh, whatever," Fireball put it off. "You and your little premonitions."

Yoshi came back with a smart remark. "Yea? Well, then. Who was the one who thought something weird was going to happen last night? Who was the one who knew something was up? I rest my case," he finished, waving his hands.

Fireball's crossed arms dropped as he couldn't really disagree with that.

The both of them were a bit cranky, as they were not planning on something so confusing happening that day. They had planned on a meeting to discuss their upcoming birthday. As many of them were born on the same day, a huge party was always in order, and it was like Christmas for them all. They always planned it a month in advance.

Just then, the long, wooden bridge came into view. The sound of streaming water became clearer, as the Cider River appeared before them.

The Melon Bridge was a sturdy, well taken care of bridge made of wood that curved with an upward arc over the water to the other side. It was the gateway over the Cider River, a body of water that flowed at a smooth, steady pace with an average width of about fifty yards! The big wooden bridge was a famous landmark and often visited, but there was no one there this morning- or was there?

The silhouette of a creature came into view. An elegant figure with neat curves. (Reeow..;)...) A large, roundish head and big feet. There was a distinct, familiar gracefulness in the person's posture that Yoshi knew.

He almost muttered the name, but wasn't quite sure just yet. He kicked into a jog, and Fireball called to him to ask what he was doing.

But he didn't care right then.

"Tarts...? Is that you?!" he shouted, raising his hand and waving as he ran.

The figure was now visible as a pretty, pink Yoshi who looked quite beat, in more ways than one.

Her face lit up as she saw her two friends, and she smiled.

She had little strength right now to run, though, so she just waited for the two to arrive. Fireball, after realizing who it was, had started to catch up to his green bud.

After reached her, Yoshi had a strong urge to just run and hug her, but he came to a short stop. He didn't want to cause an awkward scene, and he knew Fireball would either complain or make fun of him. But it wasn't really...THAT sort of thing, it was the fact she was his best friend, and he was worried about her.

Fireball came to a panting halt in front behind the two, and they all exchanged glances for a few moments.

Tarts' eyes watered up slightly, and her smile grew a little. But, quite abruptly, it vanished. And just as suddenly, Yoshi was caught off guard as two slender, pink arms wrapped themselves around him and the weight of Tarts' body tested his endurance as she collided with him in a friendly hug. A desperately friendly hug.

She rested her head on his shoulder and let a few tears drip down. This made Yoshi quite nervous, especially with Fireball nearby, who was huffing, a slight puff of smoke flowing out of his nose. Not knowing exactly what he should do, Yoshi just let his right arm slink behind her and massage her bare, bruised back slowly.

Her face had a couple of cuts on it. The rest of her was dotted with a bruise here or a scrape there.

As water slowly dripped out of her eyes, she told them what was going through her mind.

"Oh, guys...Thank goodness. I was SO scared. I just...woke up, and I was in this strange place, with grass everywhere, and trees. And it took me a minute to realize it was Grape Valley, and when I did, I really freaked out. I KNEW I hadn't fallen asleep there, and when I met these weird, tube faced weirdoes with...with axes...I just...I didn't know what to do," she spat out, quite quickly.

Her eyes had opened and were staring at the ground.

She let out a gentle scream at the though of it, which sounded more like a whimper.

"It was horrible. I got lost, they beat me up, and there were these monsters around and everything that were out to get me. I just ran. I ran, hoping I'd get back here before they all got me or something."

There was a waver in her voice that Yoshi rarely knew from her. She really WAS frightened. But, then again, so was he, only he hadn't have been attacked when he awoke.

She wasn't wearing anything, and Yoshi knew it was best to bring her back. This only confirmed the already awful feelings he had.

As he let her go, her one arm stayed rested on his shoulder. He spun around to Fireball, which was kind of a personal way to get that arm off, as he felt butterflies float around in his gut, which doesn't mix well with worry and fear.

It wasn't that he hated her. She made him nervous when she acted like that. And he didn't like that nervousness, especially right now.

"Uhh....So! Let's just...go back, and my dad can explain what's going on," he announced, glancing at Fireball.

"Huh? Wh...What do you mean?" Tarts asked, a knot curling up in her gut, her eyes furrowing a bit with seriousness.

Yoshi left it for the moment at, "You'll find out. I'm still waiting to know."

~*~*~*~*~*

Yea...Actually, I'd say this kinda sucks, too...Oh, well.
 

MewtwoMaster2002

ミュウツーマスター2002
Joined
Dec 19, 2002
Messages
6,148
Location
Japan
3DS FC
2922-0496-2962
Wasn't as good as your usual updates but still...better than mines:) .
 

Destiny Smasher

BRoomer
BRoomer
Joined
Jan 10, 2002
Messages
2,298
Location
Searching for my own way of the ninja.
*chuckles*

Geez...

Yo****a...

Stupid blocker thing...

Actually, I believe it SHOULD be YOSHINA. Oops.

I wrote that section a YEAR ago...^_^

Um...And this I wrote shortly after THAT, sooo...

It gets better later on, I assure you.

~*~*~*~*~*

Chapter 3- On a New Journey...

The sun shone brightly on their faces as they entered Yoshina Village. The commotion had died down, and Yoshi figured it was because the villagers had realized that complaining was no use.

But why was no one doing anything to help find them? Why had he and Fireball been sent out to investigate, and not the adults? Yoshi and his two best friends were about to find out very shortly.

As they assisted the hurt Tarts into the town, she begged to go and see her parents, to let them know she was allright.

"Oh, don't worry about that right now," Yoshi told her. "Fireball can go and tell them. We need to bring you to the castle to get some help there. Besides, a Yoshi can't run on an empty stomach, can they?"

Fireball let out a huff of sorts. Yoshi could have at least asked him if he even wanted to go run this little errand.

But he cared for his pink friend, and ran off to her residence, while Yoshi helped the girl into his huge estate.

The townspeople were all quiet, or so it seemed. After getting in the main gates and down the entrance hallway, they reached the throne room. No one was there at the moment, though.

"Where is everyone?" Tarts mumbled, feeling a little nervous.
Yoshi glanced around suspiciously.

"I...don't really know..." he admitted.
"Come on."

He led her further into the castle, to the dining room, it's enormous table extending quite a distance.

And there, at the end of the table, sat a plate. A single, solitary porcelain plate covered with pancakes and red, strawberry syrup.
The two figures stared at it for a moment in silence.

"Well...I guess that's your breakfast.." Yoshi mumbled, shrugging.

Tarts, still aching a bit here and there from her earlier ordeal, sat down slowly at the table and picked up the shining fork that sat on a napkin beside her meal.

As Yoshi hustled into the kitchen nearby to inspect the area and see who was there, Tarts suddenly realized just how hungry she was, and dropped her fork on the red, shining tablecloth, and within another couple of seconds, had engulfed her pancakes with the swipe of a tongue.

Yoshi came back in calmer than before. The chef, Louey, was at his side and asked how the food was.

Tarts answered with a satisfied, "Oh, thank you. It was very nice." After hesitating a moment, she asked, "Um...Is there any more?"
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

The shaking Tarts was showing earlier died down when she talked with her parents. She assured them that she fine, now that she was home.
What she didn't know was that staying home wouldn't last very long.
In fact, her life was about to change quite dramatically. She would soon be intertwined in something that would throw the balance of all worlds out of whack.

Her parents didn't seem to want to let her go, but the King informed them that he had to speak with their daughter.

"I'm terribly sorry, but now is the time..." he whispered to them as Yoshi led Tarts into the next room as his mother requested.

The white father Yoshi and red mother Yoshi both nodded, seeming to know fully well what was going on.

Tarts was oblivious, but she was certainly not alone. As Fireball joined up with them in the long hallway leading to a spiraling staircase, he spoke up.
"Do you guys have any frickin' idea what the HECK is going on?" he asked quietly.

Yoshi shook his head, eyes wide, while Tarts just shrugged.
"I TOLD you," Yoshi reminded him, "My stomach hasn't been feeling right. I have a gut feeling that something really bad is up."
Tarts nodded solemnly.

"Yea...I know.." She sighed sadly.
She then realized that she still didn't have any shoes on, no saddle, or anything.

She blushed for a moment, but just kept on walking. The carpet floors of the castle felt good beneath her big Yoshi toes.

They finally reached the hallway that led to their bedrooms, and the room at the end that had once held the Gold Egg. That beautiful Golden Egg was missing, though. They didn't really notice this at first, as King Raptalcon was blocking the passage to the room.

When they spotted him, they immediately quickened pace.
As he spotted them, his thoughtful eyes lit up and he called out, "Young ones! Come forth!"

"What does he think we're doing?" Fireball grumbled, panting down the hall.
After a moment of no sound but the pounding of feet against the floor, they reached His Majesty and paused.

After taking a quick breather, Yoshi glanced up.
"Dad? What's going on?" he questioned.

He then stopped as he saw the glimmer in his father's eyes. A proud glimmer. It was as if his eyes were made of diamonds.

"Ahhhh....The day has come.." he murmured.
Yoshi lifted a brow.

"Huh?" he mumbled, confused.
"What do you mean?"

Raptalcon shook his head with a smile.
"Oooohhh.....My boy," he stated, "The day has come for you all to fulfill your destiny." He let his teeth shine out in a grin.
They all stared at him, perplexed.

"...Rrrriiiight..." Fireball muttered.

"And...WHAT, exactly, does this have to do with our friends missing..?" He rotated his hands around, motioning the King to explain.

He laughed out humorously.
"Well....Everything!" He cleared his throat and returned to a more serious tone of voice.

"You see..." he began, feeling embarrassed. He trailed off for a moment.
The three younger dinos exchanged confused glances for a few moments.
The King cleared his throat quickly.

"Let me try to explain a little bit...You see." He was still at a loss of words. Trying to phrase it right wasn't coming to him.

"Just spit it OUTt! We haven't got all friggin' day!!" Fireball grumbled.
Tarts glared at him in shock.

"Fireball!!" she growled between grit teeth.
"That's RUDE! He's the KING!" she scolded.

With a roll of the eyes, Yoshi shook his head and turned back to his father.
"Just.Tell us, dad," he begged.

His Majesty nodded solemnly.
"You see, kids...Something happened last night."

He stepped to his side to reveal the entrance to the white walled room at the end of the hallway. An empty stone podium sat there, and the room was slightly dark, as the only light entering it was pouring from the small window.
They all blinked a bit, their eyes wide.

"Hey, uh, isn't there supposed to be a big, shiny egg there or summin'?" Fireball mumbled.

"Yea!! The Gold Egg used to sit there!" Yoshi realized.

"OH!! Right!" Fireball cried. "That thing was sweet @$$!"

Tarts shook her head, puzzled.
"Wait...Why is it gone?" she questioned, shrugging.
Fireball snapped out at her, "Well, DUH! Somebody must have taken it."
Tarts huffed and rolled her eyes in a very fed up kind of way.
"Well, GEE, thanks for telling me. I think I figured that one out before you did, ya big-"

"Oooookay, oookay." Yoshi muttered, waving his hands in front of her.
"We don't have the time, guys," he informed them.

He turned to his father now.

"All right. So...Who took it?" he wondered.
The King nodded and scratched his chin carefully.

"I have strong reason to believe that it was Kamek." he mumbled uneasily.
"KAMEK?" Yoshi asked, not sure he had heard right.

Fireball added in, "That old fart's still ALIVE?!"
The King nodded, his eyes wandering.

"Well...Why would he take it?" Tarts pondered, tapping her index finger against her cheek.

"To sell it or something.?" Yoshi suggested, unsure.
"No. No, no!" Raptalcon assured.

"I know exactly why he took it. Because he knew its true potential." The wise monarch turned his back to them to face the window of the room, and he stepped slowly inside, his wondrous royal red cape flapping elegantly behind him.

The others followed him into the room, waiting for him to explain further.
"You might be wondering why I sent you two to find Tarts instead of doing it myself." he muttered, directing his words to Fireball and Yoshi.
"Well, the truth of the matter," he began, "is that.we.can't actually LEAVE." he mumbled out, embarrassed.

The three teens stared at him, their jaws slightly dropped.
"..Rrriiiggghhhttt." Fireball murmured.

"Uh.Where's the Queen? She's probably a little more sane than him, right?" he guessed.

Tarts growled out, "Stop insulting him, you moron!! Why do you have to be such a jerk?" she snapped at him.

"Why do you have to be little Miss Perfect?" he countered.
Her face fumed. She took a deep breath and decided to let it go, for Yoshi's sake.

"Wait.What do you mean, dad? Why wouldn't you guys be able to leave.?" Yoshi asked in a quiet voice.

The King bobbed his head.
"Apparently, the Golden Egg which used to rest in this very room was stolen last night, as you know. After Kamek stole it, he somehow broke it open, and-"

"Broke it OPEN?" Fireball's jaw dropped.

"How the he** did he do THAT? Musta needed one he** of a sledgehammer."

Tarts had the urge to shout, "You idiot! He used magic, DUH! He's a MAGICIAN!!" but she let it go once again.

"No, actually," the King corrected, "He had to have used a good combination spell." His Majesty scratched at his chin a little before his eyes snapped awake once more.

"Anyway, the point of the matter is that the explosion of the Golden Eggshell had some effect on every Yoshi in this village. None of us can use our magical capabilities, nor can we exit Yoshina Village. Quite a predicament, wouldn't you say?" he looked back at them, a thoughtful gleam in his eyes.
"That doesn't make any sense!" Yoshi objected. "If none of the Yoshies can leave or use magic."

He paused a moment and raised his palm in front of his face.
After a moment of staring at it, puzzled, he called out, "Egg Smash!" Upon doing so, a white egg with light green spots came out of a green cloud and into his hand, ready to be thrown at a target. "How come I can use magic, then? And how were we able to leave the Village and come back in?" he finished, looking back at his dad, his eyes narrowed.
The King smiled warmly.

"That is because you three are very different than the rest of us. 'Tis your duty to find your friends and restore the Gold Egg to its former glory."
They all stared at one another for a few seconds. Why did it seem so strange.and yet make so much sense.?

Right from birth they had been heroes, saving the Super Happy Tree from a teenage Bowser. But this was a lot different.

The King nodded, expecting their reaction.

"I thought you'd understand it. Now...Fireball, you explain to the parents just what exactly is going on. Tarts, you go see the Queen. And Yoshi, you go and prepare yourself. I believe Alex should be waiting in the kitchen for you. He has something that should prove useful."

After the King had addressed them, they went about their assigned duties without delay, knowing that this was urgent.
~~~~~~~~~~~

A few minutes had passed, and Yoshi had made his way into the kitchen, a glamorous room of white and red walls. Its floor was that of a shining white tile, each square had a red 'Y' printed onto it.

A plastic island jutted out from the middle of the room to create a counter for cooking. A stove was attached to this part, but there were two other stoves on one side of the room, and a giant refrigerator on the other. A doorway opened up on the opposite side of its main entrance, which led to a huge storage room.

There didn't seem to be anyone in the room at the moment. There didn't SEEM to be. But there was.

A small, swift white shape dashed up from behind the 'island' in the middle of the kitchen and greeted Yoshi.

"Hi, champ!" he cried, the little propeller on top of his head spinning wildly.
It was Alex, the White Fly Guy and one of the King's trusted viziers.
Yoshi let out a sigh. Just like when he was a kid. "Hey, Alex," he replied, his voice sounding a little depressed.

Yoshi walked onward and sat on a stool that was leaned up against the 'island' counter. His serious eyes stared into the gleaming white surface of the counter as he laid his head down on his folded arms.
Alex showed a sympathetic look and hovered next to him.
"Why the long face, sport?" he asked curiously.

"Don't ever call me 'sport' again," Yoshi grumbled, his voice muffled by his arms.

"Oh, come on.Aren't you excited? I mean, I've been waiting YEARS for this day. When you got to go out into the world and be a great hero and what- not." he trailed off.

Yoshi's brow furrowed and he raised his head.
"What the heck are you talking about? How does everyone KNOW about this?" he demanded.

Alex hesitated a moment.
"Well, Yoshi.It's hard to explain. All I can really say is that we all saw it coming. We all knew you'd be a great figure in our history from the day you were born."

He cleared his throat and continued.
"I mean, you're an excellent leader. All of your friends see you as the 'leader of the pack,' don't they?"

Yoshi huffed and lowered his head again.
"Yea? Well, then why do they have to get on my nerves so much sometimes.?" he grumbled between his arms again.
Alex laughed.

"Oh, don't be ridiculous! You're just angry because your friends are missing!"
Yoshi growled a bi, but Alex didn't seem to hear him.

He suddenly burst out, "Well, of COURSE I'm angry!! Why do you think I have a 'long face?' Geez! I mean, I've gone out and done...heroic...crap before, but.My friends were never GONE OUT OF THIN AIR!!" Upon shouting this, Yoshi threw his arms out and slammed them onto the counter.
Alex remained very quiet for a few moments, but then decided to give Yoshi what he was supposed to.

He silently soared over to a nearby drawer and pulled it open slowly. Inside was a leather backpack, its surface tinted with a light brown. It had a large pocket on the outside, and a simple flap to protect the main sack area.
He tugged it upward and dropped it onto the counter in front of Yoshi's face, which had calmed down a bit.

He paused a moment, his eyes wide with surprise.
He pawed the brown pack a little with his hands, but before he said anything, Alex piped up, "It was your grandpa's. Your dad thought it could prove useful."

Yoshi was a little skeptical. A wussy little brown backpack was supposed to be useful?

Alex chuckled at his expression, but not quite as loudly as he had last time.
"Put something INSIDE it," he urged, waving his hand vertically.
Confused, Yoshi searched around. The refrigerator!

He knew they'd be needing food if they were going to be traveling a lot.
So he swung open the massive fridge door and grabbed a juicy melon. He shoved it into the backpack, and then jammed a couple of apples in, too. Next came in some bananas, and some grapes, and some strawberries, and some watermelons.Before he knew it, he'd realized he might have popped the thing with so much fruit.

And yet.It was fine. Puzzled, he gazed inside. A mass of colorful fruit met his eyes, and he squinted at it all. It looked like three times what the backpack appeared to be capable of carrying.
Blinking wildly, Yoshi placed the brown pack onto the counter slowly and turned to Alex.

"..Oh," he spat out, now understanding why it could be so 'useful.'
"Yes, I thought you'd see what I meant," Alex muttered, smiling.
"But, uh...Anyway, in the front pocket there you should find a map of Yoshi's Island. It should help guide you when you're lost, so don't lose it."
Yoshi nodded and slipped it onto his back.

"Well.Thanks a lot, Alex," Yoshi mumbled with a sigh.

"I, uh.gotta go. I'll see you later." With that, he started to exit the room and head upstairs.

"Don't you worry, champ! I'll see ya 'round! Stop by now and then, ya hear?!"
~~~~~~~~~~~~~

The warm, royal red walls of his bedroom greeted him with a blend of loneliness and joy.

As he strolled through his room, reminiscing about all the good times he'd had in here with his friends, he now realized how much he wanted to get them back.

After staring at posters and figures of various people he knew, he reached his nightstand, where sat a portrait of he and his Yoshi friends. The friends he'd grown up with.

He suddenly paused and grabbed it firmly within his green hands. He slowly lifted it up to his face and gazed into it.

All of his best Yoshi buddies were all around him. Their bright faces shone forth from the frame. He smiled warmly at the photo.

Himself, about to set sail on a new journey.
Fireball, the wise crack of the group. The lazy red one who always seemed to get on girls' nerves. Yoshi had been friends with him from the beginning.
Tarts. One of his best friends from birth. A cute, pink bundle of joy. And yet, she could be such a grouch when she was angered. Sweet, yet sour. He liked that.

Surfer.The light blue, laid back, enthusiastic one. The optimistic one, who always saw things from the light side.

Snoball. The pure white tomboy. A feminist through and through, but definitely not what you might call a 'girly girl.' Snoball was similar to Tarts, but her tough side showed more often than her soft. Always honest and sincere, Snoball was one of Yoshi's better friends.

Termite. An odd one, indeed. The brown, muscular brute. Not too much brains, but a lot of brawn and a lot of raw power.

Cruiser. A calm, cool, collected orange. He liked to take the hard way and speed through things. But you could always count on him.

Buzzsaw. The bully, the meanie, and the nasty brat. A poisonous purple who tried to be tough and 'cool' like his older brother Boshi, but always seemed to fail and be looked down upon. He tried to take lead o the group early on, but everyone saw Yoshi as a better leader than he.

Sandy. A bright, usually cheerful girl. A shining yellow who loved to chat, Sandy was very sincere and caring, but could also be annoying and self centered when not in a good mood. Whenever she was feeling upset, everyone around her seemed to sadden as well.

Shadow. An intelligent black who loved literature and science. He loved to explore, but did so with a thinking mind, always planning things out. He wanted to be an archaeologist when he grew up and loved studying the ways of the ancients.

Ivy. A quiet dark green who always got shy when surrounded by too many people. Ivy had moved into Yoshina Village about five years beforehand, and she had been accepted as a friend very quickly. It remained a mystery where she had come from and why she didn't like to talk about her past, but they all knew for certain that it was dark and sad.

Yoshi's eyes glazed over and a tear almost trickled down his big cheek. Who had kidnapped them? Why?

"I'll find you guys." he murmured aloud, but slowly and quietly.
"I swear it."

It was at this moment he was caught off guard by a soothing, slender hand, which rubbed his right shoulder. He spun around to see Tarts' long face staring back at him.

"You mean WE'LL find them." she added with just barely a smile.
She had adorned some new garb, including a pair of black sandals on her big feet. A bright red saddle rested on her back, and Yoshi pointed to it and asked, "Isn't that...mine?"

Tarts grinned and nodded, blushing a little.

"Yea. Your mom said I could use it. Feels good," she replied, patting it a little.

"Oh.Well, uh, that's good." Yoshi mumbled, putting his portrait back down.
She also was wearing a necklace. Just a black string around her neck, which had a smooth, ovular jewel on its end. This came to rest right on her chest.
This jewel was an emerald green, and embedded in its center was a sphere of solid gold.

Yoshi was shocked when he realized this was his mother's engagement necklace.

"Isn't...that...-?" he muttered, wondering why she was wearing it. Tarts' eyes widened as she looked down at it affectionately.

"Oh! This! Yea, your mom said she would love to see me wear it. I like it a lot. You?"

She glanced back up at her green friend.
"Yea. It looks pretty good on you," Yoshi admitted, tightening his pack.

It was time to go. The cogs of time were turning, and wouldn't wait for dawdlers. It was time. Time for a new journey to start. A journey that would bring the fate of many together. The biggest journey of Yoshi's life, possibly. The biggest journey of all for many awaited. But what would be the outcome?
Only two things would decide. Time, and Destiny.

~*~*~*~*~*

Blech...Yea, it's OK. Obviously different from what I'm writing now, as my writing two years from now will be different from what I'm writing now.
 

MewtwoMaster2002

ミュウツーマスター2002
Joined
Dec 19, 2002
Messages
6,148
Location
Japan
3DS FC
2922-0496-2962
Great update even though it's old. Well just update once a day ok because it feels like your updating twice a day.
 

Destiny Smasher

BRoomer
BRoomer
Joined
Jan 10, 2002
Messages
2,298
Location
Searching for my own way of the ninja.
I TOLD you, I'm up to Chapter 40 now...

And here's Chapter 4. Don't worry about falling behind, this is all old stuff and I've barely been writing lately. You'll certainly have the summer to catch up if it's too much. I'm trying to get it all up as soon as possible so it's up to date. This one's short, anyway.

~*~*~*~*~*

Chapter 4- Magic 101

Here it is written the laws of basic magic for ye who know not how magic works.

Quote the words of Eldstar, Leader of The Honorable Star Spirits.

Magic is the ability to summon forces from the heart and spirit. Anyone has the capabilities to use magic, but not all harness the powers from within their soul to use it properly.

It can be used for good or evil, but it takes one main thing to be able to use it to its full potential- practice. Lots of practice.

There are many types of magic and many types of ways to use it. Magic can attack, defend, assist, and add various effects to those it is used upon.

All in all, magic is becoming better understood and being used very commonly today all over. Many residents of our planet, commonly referred to as the 'Mushroom World' but officially known as 'Stellon,' have harnessed the abilities of magic.

In particular are noted the Yoshies. Yoshies are now known to use magic in many ways, and their uniqueness in color variations seems to have a connection with this.

We Star Spirits have founded a great school in the midst of Star Haven, our capital city. We have declared it the Star Haven Academy of Magic, and have succeeded in schooling many students to the ways of magic. There seems to be no limit to the possibilities we may obtain from studying into this matter further.
Quote the words of Frogfucious, the wise amphibian philosopher and poet.

The mystical powers of nature are at work all around this world of ours. As more and more magical abilities were being discovered, I immediately started categorizing them into the many elements of nature itself. I was one of the first people of our planet to recognize all of the element types of magic up to date.

Normal

These are very common and just about anyone has the potential to learn how to use them. They involve mostly physical abilities, as well as enhancing ones, too, such as those that increase physical or magical attacking strength temporarily.

Fire

The powers of flame have been used in magic since magic itself began. Fire often specializes in pure magical power and damaging foes. Well known and used, fire magic is the choice of many a magic user. The heat of magma rests within the planet itself. The awe inspired by a volcanic eruption is just a taste of the powers of the flame.

Water

Another crucial element of nature is water, and it's no surprise to me that this is another of the elements. Water abilities do various effects, but mostly damaging or lowering physical defense of the enemy for a period. Water is unique in the fact that it can be soft and gentle one moment, flowing like a stream, and then careening down in a fast current the next.

Electricity

Electricity, oddly enough, seems to come more naturally to female users than males. Why this is true is yet to be understood. Nevertheless, the power of lightning is not to be trifled with. Some of the most immense magical abilities known to this day are electricity-based. The powers of the bolt are known to harm foes and often charge the power of an ally. The ferocity of nature's wrath becomes clear when a bolt of lightning rains down from the heavens.

Ice

The freezing capabilities of ice have been mastered by many a magic user, and it's no wonder why. The numbing properties of ice can be very useful in slowing down a foe or stopping them in their tracks completely. The raw strength of the icy mountain can tear a foe to pieces quite quickly when ice is used by a true magician. Nature's furious cold heart can eat away at the bone of a mere mortal quite easily.

Wind

Nature's whispers are among you wherever you go on the planet, and it shouldn't come as a shock that magic users of all sorts have learned to change the winds to their favor. The wind is known for its swiftness and agility, so anyone who wishes to out speed their foe should master the abilities of the air. When Nature shouts out in fury, the winds of our planet can become very deadly in an instant.

Stone

The mighty planet is composed of stone and earth, and magic can take the ground and shift it accordingly. Rock and stone are known as the most powerful physical force in magic. Physical defense and raw attack are their specialties, as well as shifting the ground itself. The unbreakable mettle of the planet's crust is not to be taken lightly, for the mere shaking of the earth beneath ones feet can cause massive destruction.

Poison

The cruel ways of disease and toxins are taken advantage of by many who wish to be sneaky. Poison is a dangerous type of magic that often focuses on shifting the enemy's status to favor the user. Poison slowly eats away at one's well being, making it very risky to fight. The ability to harness the powers of chemicals and waste can make your foe's life a bit shorter than expected.

Plant

Nature's beauty can clearly be seen in the essence of vegetation. The blooming rose is quite wonderful to look at. However, as you know, it is not so nice to touch. Plant type magic controls one of the most obvious matters of Nature- its lush beauty that should remain un-touched. It harms, helps, and restores. Plants are almost everywhere you go- the forest, the plains, and even underwater. Plants co-exist with the planet itself, and without them, life might not exist at all.

Light

The pure rays of light that beam down from the sun itself have served the purpose of magic well. The sun's energy is often used to aid allies and brighten the darkness that presides before one. It often represents the good, kind, and pure hearted, but not always. Although the sun is warm and polite, it can be dangerous as well.

Dark

Commonly used by the forces of evil, darkness is the most feared of magic types. It blinds, terrorizes, and batters a foe until there is nothing left. The evil essence of the heart brings out this magic in its most powerful form, but not everyone who uses dark magic is evil. When used for the powers of good, darkness can help defend allies from its wicked power. Wherever there is darkness, however, there is light. And wherever there is light, there is also darkness.

Star

The final element type is that of the heavens. Star abilities call upon the spirit of the sky to aid one in battle. But the Stars are often unpredictable, as is Star magic. Just because you make a wish, it doesn't mean you'll always get it granted. But sometimes luck will be on your side, and you may get more than you asked for. The gracious energies of the Power Stars themselves can take flight into the palm of your hand if you master this element.

And thus, I have concluded that magic and nature come hand-in-hand, and together they govern our world, as well as many others.

Quote the words of Spekkio, Master of War and Magic.

It is with good tidings I greet whomever might be reading this document.

Well now, for all those morons out there, magic has been around straight from the beginning. I should know- I was there! But magic is not always used properly or for the right purposes.

The power of magic all depends on the faith of the caster and the strength not of their fist, but of their heart. If you fight for a cause true to your heart, then the energies of nature can be yours to command.

Practice is also important. With more experience, you will be able to perform magic abilities beyond your wildest dreams. And don't think for one moment that just because you're some bum out in Hicksville, Nowhere, you can't use magic.

ANYONE can use magic! The only things that limit you from this potential are your mind and your environment. If you're having trouble with the spiritual powers coming to you, then find a place that is beautiful to your heart and try there. Your chances of success will be much higher.

But the most important thing to remember is to use it well and proud. Never brag about your abilities. No matter what, you will never know everything. Heck, I used to think I knew it all, but I got the facts set straight a few times until I realized that I wasn't the biggest man on campus.

Just be confident in your own skills and stay true to yourself. Trust me, it'll come to ya.

Quote the words of Keapora Geabora, the Wise and Watchful Owl.

Many a trial have I seen magic prevail. The power of Din, the grace of Farore, and the love of Nayru. Mine is a world where magic presides over all, and if one wishes to vanquish evil, magic is what one might prefer to use.

One must also be watchful of their surroundings. You never know which shadows are your friends, and which ones are your foes. Light, dark, it makes no difference. Power, Courage, and Knowledge. They tie together all that I needed to use magic. But it is not these three alone that will get you there.

Many factors come into play, and many of them you will have to find out on your own. But it is through adventure, tragedy, anguish, joy, and merriment that character is made.

And it is character, my friend, that will get you through everything and anything.

Here it has been written.

Words of the wise passed down to those newcomers to the world of magic.

Fate has sealed the souls of many together.

And it is through their trials that friendships shall be built and broken.

The Destinies of the few shall be bound to the fate of the many, and it will be theses few that shape the future of everyone around them.

Good, Evil, Light, Dark. To Fate, it doesn't matter who wins. But whose side will YOU be on when the time comes?

The War of Fate is beginning.

Your Quest for Destiny has already begun.

~*~*~*~*~*

See? Merely an explanation.
 

MewtwoMaster2002

ミュウツーマスター2002
Joined
Dec 19, 2002
Messages
6,148
Location
Japan
3DS FC
2922-0496-2962
Great upda...er explanation. I never knew EVERYTHING had magic in your fics...so does Robin have magic in your teen titan fic?
 

Destiny Smasher

BRoomer
BRoomer
Joined
Jan 10, 2002
Messages
2,298
Location
Searching for my own way of the ninja.
Spekkio, Kaepora Gaebora, Frogfucious...None of those names rung a bell?

If not, my friend, you've missed out on three of the greatest games of all time...in my opinion...

Anyway, to answer your question...

Yes. Robin is CAPABLE of magic. That doesn't mean he has it in him to USE it. Robin doesn't really think something like 'magic' is practical.

Of course, when you have three friends who basically use magic (Raven, Starfire, Beastboy) I don't see why you'd be so skeptic about it, but hey...I'm not Robin.

Robin just doesn't trust that sort of supernatural stuff enough. He relies on the devices he builds with his own hands, because he KNOWS those will work.

So to PROPERLY answer your question...

NO. EveryONE does not HAVE magic. EveryONE is CAPABLE of magic.

Hence why Star Road has an Academy of Magic. Buuuuut...That's later in this fic...

~*~*~*~*~*

Chapter 5- O, Yoshi, Where Art Thou?

He sucked in a deep breath and relaxed. The moist air swam down his trachea and into his lungs as he could feel himself becoming one with his environment.

How he had arrived in this place upon waking up was still a mystery to him, and yet he wasn't worried about it whatsoever. Because he was a very calm, laid back kind of fellow, and he knew that either he'd find his way back himself, or his buddies would find him first.

Then, finally, he opened his eyes. They met the wet, damp atmosphere of Aqua Cave. This location was off to the southeastern corner of Yoshi's Island, and a river flowed through its wide, open spaces, soaking everything within. Of course, there were semi-dry spots of rock here and there that jutted out of the ravaging river.

He tilted down his sunglasses slowly and scanned the area around him once more, now remembering exactly where he was, and realizing where to set his sights on going next. He cocked them back upright and started to stand up from his cross-legged position.

His bare, sky blue feet met the smooth, water-worn stone and rested there a few moments. His meditating session was now done with- now it was time to head out for whatever awaited him.

He was Surfer. One of Yoshi's better friends. The enthusiastic one of the group, he could see the good side of almost everything. He wasn't exactly one to carry on a conversation with, but he didn't need words. It was all in the body language with him.

And now, as he slipped on his dark blue Yoshi boots, he was faced with a bit of a predicament. A river was cascading all around his large stone isle. Where was he to go next?

~~~~~~~~~~

A groan escaped her as she rubbed the back of her head, dazed and confused.

"Sh*t.." she grumbled, remembering what had happened.
Her half closed eyes stared straight upward at the rock walls around her. This cursed stone barrier had her stuck in a freezer. She decided that her time would be better spent looking around than lying helpless, so she rose to her feet again.

Her sore legs almost buckled under her own weight as she started to walk.
Her head still throbbed from that stalactite of ice that had crushed it some period of time ago. She couldn't tell just how long ago, as she was inside a giant cave of some sort.

Ice was frosted along most of the walls, and any light that poured in from holes in the higher walls was reflected across their smooth surface to light up the place quite well.

Her eyes half closed, she started to meander around the area in search of an exit. Unfortunately, none could be found, at least not where she was looking.
She let out another anguished moan as she plopped down on a knee-high stone, her rear end sore from lying round on rocks while she was out of it.
As she took a deep breath, she wondered how any of this had happened. How did she wakeup in a giant cavern of ice? WHY did she wake up in a giant cavern of ice? And HOW was she supposed to get OUT?
She took a glance above her to stare at the awe-inspiring sight of this colossal, ice-plastered place.

"Come on, Snoball." she murmured to herself, trying to think.
"How would you get out of a place like this...?"

Snoball (spelled without a 'W' intentionally) was one of Yoshi's best friends.
She certainly wasn't the nicest persona round, but definitely wasn't the meanest, either. Although a tough, independent side shrouded her interior most of the time, deep at heart she was a caring, friendly person.

Her cloudy white skin made her blend in with her environs quite nicely, and being an ice element Yoshi, one might think she wouldn't mind at all where she was.

However, this was not the case. As a matter of fact, Snoball got sick quite easily in cold weather, and sometimes, it drove her crazy.
"An ice element Yoshi who catches a cold in the snow?!"

That's what many people thought, and Snoball got very embarrassed about it at times. She couldn't control her immune system, now could she?

Then there was the matter of her parents. But she very much disliked conversing about this topic.

And so, with another heavy moan, she asked herself when she would ever escape this place, and how she would do so.

~~~~~~~~~~

The fresh air flowed around him gracefully, and he appreciated its presence after all the walking he had been doing.

His fat feet came into contact with soft grass as he finally exited the dark caverns he had just been inside. He knew where he was- the Chomp Rock Cave. Which meant he could probably find his way back.

He scratched his chest with his powerful hands and yawned as his fierce eyes scanned his surroundings.

His nose sniffed the clean air roughly. Pine. Lots of pine.
As a matter of fact, he was surrounded by conifers, but they weren't all too thick in density.

He let out a smile, and upon doing so, his teeth shone with a metallic silver. Their razor edges gleamed in the late morning sun, and he was proud to show them to the world.

He was Termite. At least, that was his name NOW. Originally, it had been Crash.

But when he was about ten years of age, he went off exploring where he shouldn't have been- off in Sledger Valley, westward of Yoshina Village.
This place was a gathering spot for Hammer Brothers and their buds to hang out and pick on whoever got in their way.

Unfortunately, Termite just happened to be in the wrong place at the wrong time. Because a couple of Hammer Brothers were looking for a test subject to use as a weapon of their own. They found little Crash, and immediately took him in.

Now, of course, the whole of Yoshina Village was in an uproar as to his disappearance, and a team was sent out quite promptly to search for him.
A day or two later, he was finally retrieved from the fiendish little turtles. However, they were horrified to discover an odd new trait Crash supported.
Metal, razor-sharp teeth. At first, his parents wanted them removed, but then they discovered that Crash actually LIKED his new addition. Apparently, his abductors were planning to use him as a little 'attack dog' of sorts.
So, they let him keep his unique set of choppers. His nickname became Termite, and the name stuck after six more years of having the odd razors in his mouth. Eventually, he outgrew them, but, oddly enough, had them replaced once in a while!

He decided to start training to be a strong and powerful bodybuilder, and succeeded. When compared to someone with rather slender arms, like Tarts, his appeared three times their size in thickness!

Perhaps this was one reason why he was a stone element person. Or maybe his brown coloring had something to do with it as well.
Either way, he was quite physically powerful, indeed.

His relationship with Yoshi wasn't incredibly close, but the two were friends, nonetheless. His closer buddies were still part of the 'group,' anyway.
He was one who didn't worry too often, and didn't know too much, either. A guy of common sense, he simply went straight to the point of something.
And right now, he was going to get straight to the point. What the heck had just happened that had sent him here?

~~~~~~~~~~

His feet skidded to a complete stop, and he almost fell over on his face. Was he where he thought he was?

The warm air cascaded over him and invited him in. The ocean's calm waves called out his name. But, more importantly, the island off slightly in the distance beckoned him.
He muttered its name, almost drooling.
"Yo'ster Isle."

Yo'ster Isle was the most famous place for Yoshi racing. It had been some time since he had last been here. And as a matter of fact, Boshi had whupped his tail severely in a race.

That day he vowed he would train and TRAIN to be the fastest Yoshi there was in Yoshina Village. And he was almost there, too.

His idol? Well, Sonic the Hedgehog, of course. He would DIE to meet that guy anytime soon. What he didn't know was that he'd be meeting the blur sooner than he'd expected.

But right now, his sights were set on blazing across the ocean before him, about a mile or so, to the isle right there.

As the warm sun beat down on the beach he was on, he didn't care how he had gotten here or why- all he cared about was racing. That was the kind of guy Cruiser was.

He was always dependable, though. At least when you asked him to help you out.

He was good friends with Termite. The two of them had moved from Rose Town, a village off a little ways from Yoshina, both at the same time. After they arrived in Yoshina, they were overjoyed to know each of them had moved. They had been good friends there, and that didn't change after they came to a new home. Now they were part of the 'gang.'
But Cruiser was blinded when he saw a challenge. Like right now. He didn't think about his friends too much, or his parents who were worried sick about him. Just racing.

Of course, no one's perfect.

But this free-roaming orange Yoshi had been barred down to the immediate area of Yoshina Village lately, as his parents got tired of him running off wherever he wanted. But now, he was just where he wanted to be, and the annual Seabreeze Derby was about to take place very soon. He couldn't miss an opportunity like this!

He was born to be wild, after all.

~~~~~~~~~~

His eyes cautiously darted from spot to spot, searching for any other traps. Anytime he stepped he could land in another one.
Drops of sweat poured down his neck as he tip-toed along. His day thus far had been long and agonizing, and he wished it would end already- although it was barely noon.

He wiped a hand across his purple face, and sweat dripped off of it.
He was Buzzsaw, a bully of sorts. He was always trying to be tough and 'cool' like his older brother Boshi, a re-knowned gangster. However, Boshi had stopped his thieving ways to be a warm-hearted guy.

Buzzsaw was still trying to be a big guy, though. He was always competing with Yoshi to be the 'leader' and whatnot. However, everyone didn't really like his arrogance, so they always shunned him about it. Buzzsaw wasn't the friendliest guy of the group, and therefore didn't have many good friends. He and Cruiser got along well, but that was about it.

He also had a little crush on Tarts, and was infuriated by the fact that she didn't want him. The thing that really pulled his string was that she wanted Yoshi- and yet, Yoshi didn't seem to be making any moves on her or showing that he wanted the same that she did.

And then, quite suddenly, he felt the blood rush to his head, his feet fly into the air, and the worlds around him flip upside-down.
A creaking noise was all he heard as he swayed to and fro softly. He then realized what had just happened.

He'd stepped on another of those stupid traps. A vine was tied around his right foot and he was left dangling on a thick tree branch among the many above him. He was in a fern-infested place with bushes and shrubs galore.
The dirt ground was barely visible among the vegetation surrounding him. He didn't exactly know where he was, as he didn't really like going exploring too much. He was in the northern region of Yoshi's Island, as a matter of fact.
He growled and started to shake his arms and legs, trying to pry himself free. Unfortunately, this didn't do anything but tire him out. His body floated there, panting and sweaty, for a minute or so until he made a decision.
He frowned sort of reluctantly and started to speak to what seemed like no one.

"Allright, allright." He folded his hands and started to pray to the Stars.
"Listen, I know I haven't quite been on the best of terms with you guys lately, but I'd really friggin' appreciate it if you guys let me know what the he** is goin' on!!!"

His eyes were bloodshot as he spat out the end of that sentence. But then, he took a deep breath and went on, much more calmed down.

"I'm sorry for the time I put Fuzzy fur in Sandy's sandwich. And...I'm sorry for the time I dunked a bucket of syrup on Surfer's bed. And...I guess I'm sorry for the time I put 30 spiders in Ivy's locker. And...I'm sorry for the time I almost melted Yoshi's Nintendo 64. Aaaand...Sorry for the time I almost cut Snoball's hand off with a ban saw...But that wasn't my fault!!...Kinda." His eyes nervously glanced around the shrubbery.

"I mean, the teachers should have been smarter than that. Geez, stupid idiots, leaving us dumb kids in the same room with sharp objects! Especially knowing me! Besides, after that, Snoball haunted me day and night, threatening to stab a butcher's knife through my guts!...She almost DID, too, no thanks to you guys!!"

He let out a huff after that and crossed his arms crossly.
He wasn't exactly the best one to carry on conversations with things he couldn't see. Or things he COULD see, for that matter.
But the Stars were listening. They always were. But it didn't always mean they could actually do something about it.

~~~~~~~~~~

The weltering heat of the sun was clear and present, and it beat down relentlessly on her head as she wandered through this barren wasteland.
Her footsteps were plastered all over the ground behind her, and they created a wavy shape- indicating she had been walking in a dizzy state. When one was dehydrated, tired, confused, and stuck in the middle of nowhere, it was hard to walk straight.

She was in the middle of the Choco Dessert, located on the western edge of Yoshi's Island.

She muttered to herself as she paced onward.
"Like.I KNOW my name is Sandy, but...This is, like, TOTALLY ridiculous!"
Sandy was a sunshine-yellow colored Yoshi.

She'd been good friends with the gang since the beginning when they were kids and had saved the Super happy Tree.

She was a bright and cheerful girl who always looked at the up side of things. But when she was depressed, you knew it.

It was funny, actually- Whenever Sandy was overjoyed, it made everyone around her feel good. But when she was sad, all of her friends seemed to get depressed, too.

And right now, she was pretty upset. If there were any two things Sandy didn't like, they were being all by herself and walking long distances.
Considering she was under both circumstances, she was in no mood for smiling.

Her normally glowing eyes were half open and bloodshot, and her arms drooped in front of her, and her legs dragged across the sand.
Of course, she had questioned how she had gotten here at first, like all the others, but couldn't really think at all in her current state of mind.

She had no idea who was watching her and what they were about to do as a tall figure loomed over her in the vast wastelands of the Choco Dessert.
Her day hadn't been too happy- and it wasn't about to get any better, either.

~~~~~~~~~~

The thick, beautiful growth of this lush forest enchanted her somehow, although she was frightened and alone.

The pungent smells of flowers were clear and present, and her nose would sniff ecstatically here and there, catching a scent it liked. But what she really wanted right now was an explanation as to how she wound up here. She knew she had never been here before, and that was certain.

Her body gracefully paced through this garden of sorts, but she was cautious not to touch anything, because most of it didn't look friendly.

Being a plant lover, she loved this atmosphere, but she didn't relish the fact that she was alone. She hated being alone, no matter where she was. Ironic, as she tended to be a shy hermit when she actually WAS around other people.

She let out a deep and longing sigh as her eyes fell to the grassy ground beneath her. Her delicate feet brushed against the ground softly in rhythm with each other, and she couldn't help but worry about what was happening.
Her name was Ivy- quite appropriate for her tastes in vegetation.
She could tell you which plants were safe to touch, and which ones weren't. Which ones had edible fruits, and which ones didn't. But getting her to talk was the hard part.

Unlike most of the 'gang' Yoshi seemed to lead, Ivy had not been around since the beginning. She had moved into Yoshina Village from her hometown not far across the ocean just a few years ago, so she was relatively new. But this didn't mean that people didn't like her.

Once she arrived, she was accepted quite quickly, as Yoshi and his pals made friends fast.

She was probably most closely attached to Sandy, however, and it was Sandy alone at this point that she felt completely comfortable talking with.
Her dark, pine green skin blended in perfectly with her environs, which was good- she didn't know what lurked in the bushes three feet behind her.
Her elegant motions were finally noticed among the trees and shrubbery as a young fellow came out through a tick and thorny bush, grumbling to himself.
His grouchy muttering was cut short as he caught sight of the fair dark green before him, and his dull orange body froze in shock as he fumbled for words.
Ivy paused as well, her eyes wide and wonderous. She didn't know whether or not this was a friend or a foe, but...at least it was SOMEONE, she supposed.

Before she could formulate a sentence to utter, this stranger let words spill forth from his own lips.

"Oh!...Uh...Hi," he mumbled, breaking the ice with a toothpick.
"You're a new face...You from these parts?"

Ivy's stomach filled up with butterflies as she moved her lips, but words failed to come out.

The orange Yoshi before her let her off.

"Oh, geez! I'm really sorry!" he exclaimed, trying to relax.

"My name is Alahd. Nice to meet ya. And you are...-?" He stopped, awaiting a reply.

Shyly, she answered, "My name is Ivy...Umm...Nice to meet you, too..."
Her eyes wandered to the ground as she decided to ask him a question herself. "Umm...Could you tell me where I am? I think I'm a little lost..." she muttered, blushing slightly. 'A little lost' was an understatement.
Alahd smiled and nodded his head.

"Sure! You're in the Pyrana Grove!" He paused a minute and glanced her down.

"Where are you from, anyway?"

She finally returned eye contact and told him, "I'm from Yoshina Village..."
His eyes widened.

"Yoshina?! Holy crap!"
He shook his head for a minute in deep thought.

"A LITTLE lost? Well, geez...I don't see how you could get a 'little lost' from Yoshina..."

She felt a lump form in her throat.
"..Why?" she uttered shakily.

Alahd's brows furrowed.

"Well...Yoshina's just about ten miles east of here, but...That way's blocked off by a series of steep mountains. Either you were intentionally heading here that way, or...you traveled across this whole island!"

Ivy froze to ponder this. Suddenly she wasn't quite so calm about where she was. In the blink of an eye, she wanted to get back home.

~~~~~~~~~~

His eyes traveled from point A to point B over and over again. He couldn't decide which route to take.

The one worn, wooden sign on his right said, 'Mysteria City.' The other to his left read, 'Tunnel of the Wise Zooper.'

He mumbled to himself about it for a few minutes.

Similar to Cruiser, he was a figure who could get easily drawn into something he enjoyed, and although he wouldn't mind getting back home, he had been waiting his whole life to come to this place.

And now he couldn't decide which to visit first. His black skin absorbed the sunlight well as he scratched his chin.

His name was Shadow, but everyone called him Shade.

Right from an egg he'd gone exploring. Yoshi and his baby companions had retrieved his newborn body within the depths of a cave that rested at the east side of the isle. Once they had found him, his black spotted shell was broken off.

Since then, he had lived as a loyal civilian of Yoshina Village.

Shade loved to learn, and he loved to explore his environs. He was a young man of science and observation. Reasoning and knowledge. His idea of a day well spent was to go spellunking and see what kinds of things he could find.
His dream was to someday be a great archeaologist like the great Kolorado Kornelyous, one of the most famous Koopa Troopas of his day. Kolorado was an avid adventurer, and Shade wanted to be a daring soul like him when he was old enough.

But there was always a time to start, now wasn't there?
His eyes scanned both paths, and he noticed that the one to his right was worn and commonly passed.

But the other one looked like it could use a little more trailblazing.
He nodded and said to himself,
"Two roads diverged in a wood, And I-
I took the one less traveled by,
And that has made all the difference." (Robert Frost, I believe?)

And with that, he sucked in a breath of fresh air, and let his feet do all the talking from that point onward.
~~~~~~~~~~

Well, er...Yea, that one's not bad, I'd say. I kinda like it...Too bad it's quite some while until you hear from them all again.
 

MewtwoMaster2002

ミュウツーマスター2002
Joined
Dec 19, 2002
Messages
6,148
Location
Japan
3DS FC
2922-0496-2962
Hmm Cruiser reminds me of myself...trying to become FASTER.
"Two roads diverged in a wood, And I-
I took the one less traveled by,
And that has made all the difference."
I think I read that in a poem in my ethics book last week. Great update.
 

Destiny Smasher

BRoomer
BRoomer
Joined
Jan 10, 2002
Messages
2,298
Location
Searching for my own way of the ninja.
Hello, [Insert your name here] you lucky devil!

[Insert sender's name here] has just sent you a
GALACTIC GREETING!!!

-+-+-+-+-+-+

Hiya, sorry guys. I've been really busy lately, but fortunately for you, Chapters 1-39 are done...

I accidentally sent Chapter 7 last time, when I MEANT to send 6...

So when I found out, I was COM-PLETELY shocked as to how NOBODY NOTICED...

Then I realized that no one EVER notices, even when I spell things out really clearly...*sigh*

So anyway, here's 6.

~*~*~*~*~*

Chapter 6-

The Bumpy Road To Fate Begins


The sun of day pierced into their hopeful faces, their souls. Like a candle lit in the darkness, the anxiety and eagerness of their restless hearts tore the roads apart like rubble, their feet traversing toward Melon Bridge with an upbeat attitude. An attitude that wouldn't last too long.



“So…Let me get this straight…” Fireball started, confused.



“The other Yoshies of Yoshina can’t get out becauuuaaasse…The Gold Egg is gone?”



Yoshi nodded, fixing his pack a bit roughly.



“That’s about it, from what I got,” he replied.



“Sooo…That means that we have to go and find our friends…Then what?”



Tarts put in an answer this time.



“Well…I think we might want to try finding our friends first, but…I think the King implied that we should go and find the Gold Egg or something…” She trailed off after that.



Yoshi sighed.



“Listen, I say we just deal with what needs to be dealt with right now. Once we find something, we’ll go back and tell my dad, OK?”



“Sounds good,” Fireball muttered with a shrug.



“Fine with me,” Tarts agreed with a bit of a smile.



The wooden surface of Melon Bridge was plodded upon as they started their way across. The sun of day was clear and present, and it helped ease their worries a bit.



Until, that is, they heard an odd arrangement of high-pitched sounds race toward them.



SHING-SHING-SHING-SHING-SHING!!!



A colorful display of blurs appeared before them in the blink of an eye.



Tarts’ eyes widened with a little fear. She recognized these people. The strange figures that had tortured her that very morning.



Her stomach felt empty and her throat got dry. But then she remembered that her friends were here now- at least some of them- and that these oddballs wouldn't stand a chance.



There were five of them, and they had appeared in a brilliant blur.



They lined up in V formation, and at the tip of the group was a red one. He had red boots and red gloves adorned upon his short arms and legs. His hands were round in shape, and they grasped an axe with a blade about as big as his head topping it off.



His eyes appeared bold and unkind, as did his whole posture. And where a mouth would be (or a nose for that matter), rested an odd tube-like structure that seemed to serve the same purpose.



“Hey, there, Pinky!!” he called out to Tarts, his voice kind of high and nasty.



A Black one stood next to him on the right, and he looked very similar, except wherever there was red on the first, there was black on this one. Also, he wore a pair of shining black sunglasses on his face.



“You better watch yourself, you freaks!” his booming, low voice bellowed out.



To the right of the black stood a yellow male, although his axe was small in comparison to his round, bouncy body.



“Yea, ya stupid…girly girl!” he snapped out with a clumsy and deep voice.



On the left side of the red creature stood a taller, thinner green one with a worrisome look about him.



“I see you brought some buddies with you this time…” he mumbled shakily, feeling a little less confident than he had that morning.



And lastly, the fifth stood to the green’s right. This one had eyelashes, a skirt over her bright pink suit, and her axe was tinier than the others. She seemed more delicate than the other four, and she was.



“Hmph! You can bring as many of your boyfriends as you want, you little priss, but you won’t match up to us!” she declared in a defiant tone.



Yoshi and Fireball just stared at this group with a bewildered look about them.



“Umm…And who the heck are YOU guys?” Yoshi mumbled, feeling awkward.



“Yea, and why the he** are you callin’ me a GIRLY GIRL??!!” Fireball cried out.



Tarts sighed with both irritability and worry.



The red one called out to the others, “All right, guys, let’s set ‘em straight…”



The other four nodded, and they began a little ‘dance’ of sorts.



The red one twirled his axe around in intricate circles while announcing, “We’re nasty!!”



The black one called out “We’re strong!!” while tossing his axe into the air, its edge spinning rapidly through the sky. He caught it nimbly within his fingers as it descended.



“We’re color coordinated and beautiful!!” the pink one shouted out sweetly, blowing a kiss their way.



“We’re…uh…Well, we’re…” the green stammered for an answer.



Before the others could complain because he was taking too long to answer, the green managed to spit out hastily, “We’re buff!!”



The leader of their little band sighed and rolled his eyes to that comment, thinking it was a lousy adjective to describe his gang.



The chubby yellow put in his remark while rubbing his tummy sourly, “We’re hungry, too!!” All of the others, except the green, mumbled their objections to this statement as well.



Finally, they all held up their axes high above them, their arms outstretched as far as they could be, and they all yelled out in unison, “We are…”



“The AXEM RANGERS!!!”



“And you were afraid of these freaks because…-?” Fireball rotated his hands, awaiting an answer from Tarts. Her face grew bright red in a second, and she felt rather stupid. But, nonetheless, they had scared her that morning. Or maybe it was more or less the fact she had awoken in a strange land…?



“Leave her alone,” Yoshi snapped quickly.



“We should find out what the heck is the deal with these clowns…”



The odd creatures before them gasped in shock.



“…CLOWNS, you say?” the pink one snapped, fuming.



“We are anything BUT clowns, you hideous reptile!!”



This insult was partially incorrect, as Yoshies were not fully reptiles, as a matter of fact. They were more or less a blend of mammal and reptile together. But that had little significance at the time.



“Yea!” the red leader cried.



“And if you’re gonna go insulting our cool @$$ intro, then screw you!!”



“Ooooh, we’re REAL scared now!” Fireball jeered back.



“How about backin’ up some of your fancy talk with a little action?!” he challenged.



“How about YOU take a hike and frick yourselves!!” the black warrior yelled back.



Yoshi sighed a moment, shaking his head. His friends were acting like his foes, and vice versa.



“We came here for one thing,” the red announced, as the green Ranger, who had slipped undetected underneath the bridge, its cold waters flowing across his suit smoothly, was retrieving something.



With the yellow Ranger’s help, he made it back up the side of the structure, and tossed a flat, shining object into the red’s hands. It was a glowing piece of what appeared to be the Gold Eggshell!



The three Yoshies gasped a moment, surprised at the fact that these goons had been sent here to retrieve it.



“Hey! That’s ours! Hand that over, Tube-face!” Yoshi demanded.



“Psh! Want it? Come and GET IT!” the leader of the Rangers spat out, making a vulgar face.



With that, the five of them sped off, their speed blinding for a moment, but dying down after a second. These creatures were capable of performing quick but short bursts of speed, and it would prove rather irritating to catch up with them.



That was probably why Fireball was the first of the three to kick in to a dash.



Tarts and Yoshi exchanged confused glances a moment, but then pursued their fiery friend.



~~~~~~~~~~



The lush bushes and normally peaceful grasses of Grape Valley, which lay just beyond Melon Bridge, were interrupted by the cried of Axem Rangers and Yoshies dashing through the once serene hills. Hordes of critters wandered around the area, and the Yoshies had to bat them away like flies to keep up with the Rangers.



After a couple minutes of crazy antics, Tarts felt like her lungs were about to burst like balloons, so she leaned herself against a tree, using her palm as a support, and let her head bob, sucking in air.



“Come ON, you wuss!” Fireball cried, shoving her off the rough tree bark.



“Can’t you RUN? That’s what we’re designed for, y’know!” he spat out.



Tarts’ eyes furrowed in annoyance as she lagged to a stop once again, letting him travel past her.



“Yea?…Well…I’m…not…designed…for…running…” she informed, panting between words.



Yoshi brought up their rear, and tried to urge her along, knowing that there wasn’t TOO much of a rush if Fireball was on the hunt.



She whimpered a bit, but tried to keep up pace, her legs starting to feel like lead.



“You’re gonna have to get used to this,” Yoshi advised.



“I have a feeling we’re going to be doing this sort of thing a lot in the next while.”



The sights, sounds, and smells of Grape Valley swept past them as they zipped by, their targets getting closer by the second.



The Axem Rangers had found themselves trapped in a tight spot. They’d dashed right up to a steep ravine. The red Ranger had almost been knocked clear off when his comrades collided into his back, but had stopped early enough where he was only slammed into the ground.



However, this left them vulnerable to the Yoshies. The three of them were closing in, and unless they wanted to commit suicide, they were going to have to defend themselves.



“Crap…” the red leader mumbled to himself in annoyance.



“Umm…Does that mean we’re in trouble?” the green inquired.



“What the **** do ya think?!” he snapped back irritably.



“Looks like we’re just gonna have to give ‘em a good butt-kicking, Axem style!” Pink announced smugly.



“Easy for you to say,” Yellow grumbled. “All you do is stand back and let us men do the work!”



Pink’s eyes popped open in shock, and she gave him a very unpleasant glare.



“WHAT DID YOU SAY?!!” she shrieked at him.




“GUYS!! SHUT THE **** UP, WOULD YOU?!!” the Red roared, realizing that their pursuers were mere meters away.



“Yea, I t’ink da’d be a smart idea,” Black agreed.



It was at about this moment that three Yoshies came at them briskly. After they realized that the group of oddballs had trapped themselves, their quick pace died down to a walk, so they could catch their much-needed breath.



“All right…” Yoshi puffed out slowly.



“You guys…better hand over…what you stole…or else…we’ll have…to make ya…”



“Oooo!!! We’re so scared!!” Yellow barked out sarcastically.



The Green poked his back with the tip of his shiny, silver axe. “I really don’t think you should be saying stuff like-“ his trembling voice was interrupted by Fireball’s reply.



“Really? Well, then, you frickin’ hotshots, show us what ya got!!”



The Red Ranger had a bad habit of giving in to challenges, especially when he was declared a wimp of some sort.



“Unless, of course, you guys don’t think you’re…Uh…Axey enough!”



‘Axey’ enough? At any rate, this sounded like an insult, and the Rangers never gave in to insults, either.



It appeared they would have to prove their…’Axey’ness to this band of teens.





And thus a battle between the two forces began. It would be short lived, but it was a start to something much bigger…



"What do YOU idiots need it for, anyway?" Yoshi asked them, knowing that something was up.



Red began to reply, "What's it to you?" but was cut off halfway as Pink shouted, "None of your business, puke face!"



Yoshi frowned. "Well, fine, then! It's ours, and YOU guys are stealing it- so we're gonna have to take it back!" he growled in annoyance.



"Have fun, then!" Black cried slyly, readying himself.



"Egg Smash!" Yoshi called out to the air. A green, spotted egg particalized into his hand, and he whipped it at the Black Ranger, beginning their duel. It exploded violently, sending shards of shell all over.



Black was quick to counterattack, and lunged at his foe with his axe, cutting it across Yoshi's arm swiftly.



Fireball began with Red, delivering a powerful punch to his face, sending him wheeling.



Yellow charged himself into the red Yoshi, however, sending him off to the side a bit.



Tarts summoned up a small electric spell named Shock- she still wasn't very experience yet with magic- none of them really were.



She launched this pink lightning attack at the Red Ranger, and he jumped pain from the blow.



The Green gave Tarts a slight cut of the blade after she had launched her little spell.



Then Pink acted, and volley a Shock spell at Fireball's head.



Red finally had his chance, and he spent it by slashing at Yoshi's face, just before Yoshi crushed him with a spell called 'Power Stomp.'



The Black stuck out his fist to send a ball of Dark magic called 'Shadow Ball' into Tarts' stomach, and she cried out from the blow.



Fireball had his hands full sending a small 'Flame' spell into Yellow's face, and he countered by swinging his axe- but missed.



Pink attempted to 'Heal' Red, and did so- but only a bit.



The quivering Green one aimed his axe at Yoshi, and called upon a 'Razor Vine' skill. The plant-type ability sent a sharp, whip-like vine to slash the enemy with its thorny edges.



Yoshi absorbed the attack well, however, and Tarts gave the Green a 'Zap Wave', which used pink electricity to paralyze him in his tracks.



Fireball lobbed a 'Flame' at Green while he was paralyzed, and at about the same time, Black used a spell called, 'Black Bomber,' which launched a cherry bomb at Tarts, sending her to the ground. But she didn't quite get back up.



Yoshi growled menacingly.



"Hey! If you're gonna mess with MY friend, you're REALLY gonna ask for it?"



And with that, he Smashed a Normal type Egg into Black's face, and he fell over in defeat.



Within the course of a minute or two, the rest of them had been slaughtered down to the grass, left to moan in their anguish and pain.



However, their pink ally had fallen during the bout, and wasn't quite concious yet. Before the two Yoshies could decide on what to do, the Axem Rangers were growling at them, their bodies feeling a very painful sensation at the moment.



And then Yoshi remembered why they had quarreled in the first place. The Eggshell Piece.



It lay on the ground next to Red, whose body was bruised and battered. As Yoshi bent down slowly to grasp it within his large, soft palms, he heard Red mumble out in protest, but ignored the barely audible voice.



As he lifted the golden crust from the grass, the ground before him began to rumble. It quaked ferociously, until a hole burst forth from the planet, and a glimmering, metallic object made of a shining, golden material rose upward. It was a Warp Pipe. But what was normally a green surface on any other Pipe was a color like that of the sun on this one.



Staring at it in wonder, Yoshi just pondered about what was going on, and what was about to happen next.



He'd started his journey on the bumpy road, and it would be a long and painful one, right to the end.



~*~*~*~*~*

Well, there's that...Things are slowly picking up...

I know there's all the weird lines in the recent Chapters, I don't why...Something to do with the FF.net format...Sometimes it does the OPPOSITE and DOESN'T space them...

Oh, and sorry for the balloon-o-gram, it was all I could find on this stupid-

-+-+-+-+-+

We hope you have enjoyed your
GALACTIC GREETING!!!
 

ZeekeXIV

Smash Journeyman
Joined
Apr 26, 2004
Messages
229
Location
On the Edge
NEW READER!

Hey Destiny Smasher!

I just finished reading chapter 5. I really like the way this is going! I wasn't around to read the first version, so this is all completely new to me. This is great so far. I like the vivid descriptions of whats going on. I escpecially liked the way you characterized the Yoshis by their color. They're all very fitting.

I'm looking forward to the rest of the story.
 

MewtwoMaster2002

ミュウツーマスター2002
Joined
Dec 19, 2002
Messages
6,148
Location
Japan
3DS FC
2922-0496-2962
Great update. Oh no he's going to kill KING BOWSER:eek: . I hope to see what happens next.
 

Destiny Smasher

BRoomer
BRoomer
Joined
Jan 10, 2002
Messages
2,298
Location
Searching for my own way of the ninja.
'Tarts stared at it in awe for a moment, her cheeks turning as pink as her skin.'

Oops. Oxymoron type thing, eh?

Oh, and as for the Galactic Greeting thing, only Ratchet+Clank buffs will get that joke.

Onto business...

New reader?

Good deal. Enjoy the fic, you'll love it. Thanks for the compliments- it only gets better.

Colors? Well...

As you may have noticed, colors express feelings.

With the character Tenochtitlan (The X Factor) colors obviously show different emeotions, and the colors I use all match to a specific element type of magic.

Every Yoshi is capable of magic, of course, and depending on their color is the type they specialize in.

Yoshi=Normal, Fireball=Fire, Tarts=Electric, etc.

WHOA!

Goin' so fast, I mess up...

Ummm...

Did nobody notice that Tarts was randomly UNCONSCIOUS and all of a sudden THERE?!

I missed Chapter 6, folks! *sigh*

Figures nobody noticed...

Here's 7 again, I'm putting 6 where it belongs....

~*~*~*~*~*

Chapter 7- Master Plans

_

(I know it’s taking a while, but this fic is VERY long. The Smashers will make their first appearance within the next two chapters, so hang in there!)

_

"Whoa..." Yoshi's glazed eyes stared at this beaming, golden pipe in wonder. Fireball, taking a breather from their encounter, wiped some sweat from his temple slowly.

_

"Uhh...Yosh," he mumbled. "What the heck just happened...? Where'd that friggin' pipe come from...?" His tone was quiet and awe filled.

_

Yoshi, his eyes transfixed, his jaw agape, mumbled a reply.

_

"Uhh...I...I dunno...I just picked up the Eggshell, and..."

_

His green hands gently tucked the Eggshell in a back pocket of his wondrous pack.

_

Yoshi suddenly became aware of the fact that his best friend was lying injured on the ground.

_

"Oh!! We've gotta get her back home!" he exclaimed to himself.

_

Fireball glanced at the dazed Tarts, who lay on the grass, a few bruises spread across her body.

_

He sighed deeply, now not feeling quite as excited about battling.

_

Then the pink creature that was sprawled on the soft ground let out a painful moan, her eyes slowly opening to the world around her.

_

"Ugh..." She didn't move, mainly because she almost couldn't. Her body felt like a mangled mess.

_

"Tarts?! You OK?!" Yoshi cried out, practically leaping at her. He sunk to his knees in an instant, like a tree that's been cut down.

_

"Uuuggghhh...I think I'll be...all right..." she groaned slowly.

_

Fireball, being the voice of reason, of course, asked, "Hey, how about we get back to the castle instead of whining about a little flesh wound, huh?"

_

Yoshi scowled at him with fury.

_

"You idiot!! Just...shut up, OK? We're going back right now..."

_

He grabbed Tarts' arm with one hand, and gripped her back with the other. Gently, yet firmly, he raised her to her feet, and she leaned on his shoulder for support.

_

But Yoshi was heading toward the Golden Pipe before them.

_

Tarts was too dazed to realize what exactly was going on, but Fireball immediately demanded, "Whoa, whoa! Where the **** you think you're going?!"

_

Yoshi didn't reply, his eyes frozen to the transportation device.

_

The red Yoshi behind him paused a moment and stared at it in awe. He could feel it, too. Somehow...He knew that it lead back to Yoshina...Although odd, he remembered that Yoshi had told him of the strange things he felt would happen that very day.

_

The tip of the iceberg? Oh, no, no. They still had to dig through a 3-inch wall of steel until they'd be able to even scratch the iceberg.

_

~~~~~~~~~~

_

"She'll be FINE, my boy, stop worrying!!" His bellowing laugh was accompanied by a rough pat on the back, and Yoshi almost coughed.

_

"...Ugh...OK, all right, Dad...If you say so..."

_

He let out a sigh as they exited the medical quarters, slowly pacing their way toward the bedroom hallways, their steps booming loud in the tranquil castle.

_

"Mmmm...I must understand..." the King began.

_

"This...bright, shining Warp Pipe of gold just popped out of nowhere?" He stared at his son in curiosity.

_

"Yes! I TOLD you- that's exactly what happened! Once I grabbed it, it just shot up." Yoshi swiped his palm in a rising motion.

_

"I see..." The King scratched his chin for a moment in thought, then continued his questions.

_

"It lead here, did it?"

_

Yoshi rolled his eyes.

_

"Yes, Dad. Right into the Pipe Vault in the basement. And it should still be there..."

_

Raptalcon nodded in amusement.

_

"Indeed...Well, I supposed this is a mystery we'll have to work at in solving, isn't it, lad?"

_

Yoshi shrugged, shaking his head.

_

"Yea, whatever..." he mumbled.

_

"Perhaps the books might have something to say on the matter..." the Yoshina King mumbled to himself.

_

"Huh?" Yoshi cocked his head up.

_

"Oh, nothing, nothing..." Raptalcon's constantly thoughtful face didn't disappoint at that moment as he strolled quickly up the glorious staircase and to the bedroom halls.

_

He took a deep breath as they started their rounds down the red carpet.

_

"Yoshi, my boy...I am now very confident that you have just begun something very grand..."

_

Yoshi was thrown off by the comment.

_

"What do you mean?" he pondered aloud.

_

Just in time, Fireball came bursting out of Yoshi's bedroom, but before he could crack a joke, Raptalcon announced, "You must find the rest of this Shell. It is written in legend that this is the start of what has been called the War of Fate...And it is your duty to carry out your responsibilities..."

_

Yoshi and Fireball exchanged confused glances, and Fireball whispered, "Yea, once ya become an adult, the brain cells are the first to go..."

_

Yoshi elbowed him, being at least partially serious about the matter at hand.

_

"Well, wait...What are our responsibilities?" he asked, drawn in by his father's talk.

_

He hesitated to respond, picking up his pacing. As he entered the room where the Egg once sat, he replied, "Never mind, son. It is not important right now. First, you must worry about finding your friends. And while you're at it, you must try to collect these Eggshell shards..."

_

He came to a halt before the podium where the Egg had rested just hours before, and from beneath his cape, he pulled out the piece Yoshi had collected, which had previously been hiding behind his back as he strolled.

_

He placed it firmly in place in the bowl-shaped pedestal, in a bottom corner. It seemed to lock itself in place and let out a beaming flash of white light- and then it returned to its normal color.

_

The King nodded, his face serious.

_

"Indeed...This is what needs to be done...But right now, you must take a break. The trials ahead of you, no doubt, will be long and painful. As we cannot be of any service to you out of this village...We can help you within it. However, no one must know of this mess. We cannot let it out. If the people panic and lose hope, so do the Stars themselves, and we must not let that happen."

_

Fireball motioned his hands from behind the King in a manner than mocked his speech, flapping his fingers like two jaws.

_

Yoshi shot him a glare, and he stopped suddenly as Raptalcon spun around.

_

The King addressed the two boys again.

_

"The Queen is explaining everything to Tart as we speak, so she'll be up to speed," he told them suddenly.

_

"Now, I suggest you start your trekking very soon. If you head off east, you should be able to reach Tulip Town before sun fall...Do you understand?"

_

Yoshi nodded, and Fireball reluctantly followed.

_

"Good, good. I suggest you pay a visit to the armory while your friend is recovering. Make sure to pick up one for each of you. And..."

_

He tapped his foot quickly before snapping back.

_

"Yes, yes. You might want to check out Anthony's Grocery, while you're at it- get stocked up for your travels."

_

Yoshi nodded, waving his hands around in circles, motioning for his father to speed things up, for he knew fully well what he wanted to do.

_

"Ah! Yes, and one more thing- do bear in mind that the Super Happy Tree is quite free. Of course, it doesn't have an infinite supply, you know how it operates...Oh, and don't forget to-"

_

The King's finger slowly dropped as he watched his son go zipping down the stairs, Fireball close behind.

_

"Ahh...Today's youth..." he mumbled to himself.

_

~~~~~~~~~~

_

Her legs were still a little sore, but not nearly as much as they had been before.

_

"Wow..." she murmured to herself. Things had been flying by too fast that day, but an hour or two had passed since the Axem Rangers had fled.

_

But at least now she had a general idea of what was happening.

_

They had to find everyone- and soon. Who knew what could've been happening to them! She felt her gut tie up in a knot just by thinking about it.

_

Then her mind suddenly wondered where Yoshi and Fireball were. She jumped off of the tidy little white bed she had been resting on and scanned the white-walled room quickly.

_

At the moment, she wasn't wearing anything, but she noticed that her sandals rested at the foot of her bed, and her jewelry sat on a small table to the beds side, along with a ceramic lamp.

_

She hastily fit everything on and started to leave, but the Queen caught sight of her.

_

"Tarts! Young lady, where do you think you're going?" she demanded, crossing her arms, blocking Tarts path down the hallway.

_

"I...Your Majesty, I was just going to find the boys. Do you know where they are?" she asked quietly.

_

"They're preparing to depart. And you aren't leaving quite yet! You should still be resting- you have a long journey ahead of you, don't you?" She had a tone of stern caring within her voice.

_

Tarts' opened her mouth to protest, but held it in. After a moment of thought, she spilt forth a reply.

_

"Yes, Your Majesty. But how long will it take? I don't want to just be sitting her all alone."

_

The Queen laughed.

_

"Oh, don't you worry. As long as my son is in charge, they'll get straight to their business and be back before you know it! Besides, I'll be here!"

_

Tarts felt very comfortable talking with Yoshi's mom. She felt she could tell her just about anything. The Queen was indeed like a second mother to her, and the two were very loyal to one another.

_

She smiled warmly, letting her troubles melt.

_

"Albright, then."

_

~~~~~~~~~~

_

The old, battered pages were yellowed and worn, but they proved their strength when the white Fly Guy flipped them around wildly, scavenging their many verses for what he was after.

_

"Hmm...Lemme see...War of the Hands. No, no. Not in this one," he mumbled to himself, tossing the book aside for another.

_

"...The Hero of Time...Nope."

_

Another old book was thrown to the table, its red cover engraved with a shining gold set of triangles. Another was scooped up into Alex's small hands.

_

"...History of Star Road...Not quite..."

_

he let out a sigh as yet another piece of literature came to his hand. His propeller spun a bit in frustration.

_

Despite the fact he wore a mask, the beady eyes upon it lit up in glee.

_

"Aha! The War of Fate..."

_

His eyes checked the pages with care for a few minutes, until the King entered the library, his cape flowing from his speed.

_

"Alex! Have you found anything yet? Did you find it?"

_

Alex glanced up at him for a moment to answer, but then continued to scan the book.

_

"Yes, Sire! I believe I've found one of the books you were looking for."

_

"The author?" Raptalcon questioned immediately.

_

"..Uh..." Alex fumbled the book around, glancing at its cover.

_

"...Merlon, Sire. Merlon."

_

The King smiled.

_

"Ah, yes. Merlon. The prophet living in Toad Town to this date, I presume?"

_

Alex shrugged.

_

"I believe so. How am I to know?"

_

He decided it would be best to hand the literature to the King.

_

"Hmmm..." His careful eyes darted from left to right as he consumed the text.

_

"Yes, yes. As I thought..."

_

Alex was curious indeed, but said not a word.

_

"They must depart shortly. There is no time to waste. Kamek is no doubt preparing himself as we speak. The more time we wait, the more time he gains."

_

And time was of the essence.

_

~~~~~~~~~~

_

"Hehe!! Yea, that's more like it, babay!" Fireball cried out in an evil sort of joy, brandishing his newly acquired Flame Pistol.

_

Yoshi tested his mallet's weight. A nice, thick wooden one. Just like the one Mario had used when he started his quest to save the Star Spirits. The wood felt smooth and comfy between his fingers.

_

"Albine, my dude!" Fireball called out gleefully to the white Yoshi behind the counter.

_

"You rock, man," he said as he caught his attention.

_

"Psh!" Albine threw his arms.

_

"No problem, man! You're happy, I'm happy. We're all happy. I'm workin' on a couple of new things, too, so stop on by sometime later this week."

_

Yoshi nodded, smiling.

_

"Don't you worry, we will be," he assured.

_

"Well, whatever. Happy hunting! Bring the gang back home!"

_

"You got it!" Fireball cried out, waving, as they exited with their new arms.

_

~~~~~~~~~~

_

"I would, Your Majesty. I'd follow him anywhere," she said dreamily.

_

The Queen chuckled.

_

"Oh, my dear..." she murmured.

_

"Well, then do just that! My son will know what he's doing- he always does, you know that. But if there's anything you'll learn out there, it's that you should always trust yourself. Always trust your gut instincts, your heart. Because they always have the best answer."

_

Just then, the door flung open, and a dark blue Yoshi burst in, her eyes excited.

_

"Your Majesty, they've arrived!" she reported with a smile.

_

"Good! Bring the boys in!" the green woman called, waving her hand.

_

Moments later, Yoshi and Fireball came storming in, smiles on their faces.

_

"We're almost ready!" Yoshi shouted, shooting Tarts a warm grin.

_

She almost blushed, her mind still on other things, but she held it in.

_

"Great. I'm about ready, myself," she told him shyly.

_

She felt so silly, now. Acting like her best friend was a stranger. She had to stop that.

_

"We got something for you," Yoshi added, unstrapping his pack and digging into it.

_

He pulled out a ring. A gold ring with a pink, cut jewel embedded in it, The jewel had a diamond point, and glowed brilliantly.

_

Tarts stared at it in awe for a moment, her cheeks turning as pink as her skin.

_

"What's up with you?" Yoshi wondered, holding the ring out.

_

"Just take it, already," Fireball said smoothly.

_

"It's a Zap Ring. From Albine's. Good weapon, he told us," Yoshi explained.

_

Tarts' eyes bulged. A weapon? OH! Of course! She felt nervous and was now blushing out of embarrassment.

_

"Thank you, thanks," she mumbled out quickly, reaching her hand out.

_

But before she could grab it, Yoshi had her arm gently in his hand, and fitted the ring on her index finger- where this type of ring was supposed to go.

_

She smiled kindly at him, trying to build up that calm relaxing mood he always brought to her.

_

He grinned back and let her arm drop slowly.

_

After a minute of silence, he said suddenly, "Well...Let's go, then."

_

Tarts nodded and turned to wave to the Queen, who was already on her way to squeeze her son in her arms once more.

_

"You come back whenever you can!" she cried out, her eyes squinted shut over his shoulder.

_

"Don't you worry, mom," he told her calmly. "We'll be back plenty of times."

_

After his mother let him go, she patted Tarts' cheek a bit with her palm, and ran her hand down the spikes on Fireball's head.

_

The two of them said not a word, but returned a caring smile to the Queen.

_

"Now, go on, before I decide you can't go!" she muttered cheerily.

_

She waved merrily as the three of them took off down the halls, eagerly.

_

"They grew up so fast," the blue assistant next to her murmured slowly.

_

"Very true..." the Queen agreed.

_

~~~~~~~~~~

_

"Hey, toss me one of those apples, would ya?" Yoshi muttered, holding his hand out to Fireball, who was to his side.

_

"Yup," he mumbled, plucking one from the long, thin branch with ease, and lightly tossing it to Yoshi's open palm.

_

"Thanks." Yoshi stuffed it into his pack, which he grasped before him with his other hand.

_

Tarts pawed a bunch of grapes before delicately placing them in her mouth with her tongue.

_

"OK, OK...That's enough," Yoshi announced, looking at her sternly.

_

"We have to save some for other people, too, ya know," he told her.

_

She nodded, feeling a tad ashamed, but it was Yoshi instinct, and she was hungry.

_

"Sorry," she muttered slowly.

_

"It's all right. But the Super Happy Tree doesn't have an endless supply. You know that," he explained.

_

"Just because we need some for our trip doesn't mean we need to prevent other people from eating."

_

Tarts sighed, nodded. She knew. Couldn't he just drop it?

_

"We have enough, right?" Fireball whined.

_

"We've been running around town the past hour, getting this or that. Can we GO now?" he whined.

_

Yoshi smiled eagerly.

_

"Yea, yea, I guess. You ready, Tarts?" He turned to her, strapping his bag onto his back tightly.

_

"Oh! Mm hm!" she nodded her head ecstatically.

_

"Good. Well, then...Uh..." Yoshi checked his mental 'To Do' list.

_

"OK. We got what we need...Did you guys say good-bye to your parents while I was shopping?"

_

Fireball nodded, while Tarts responded with another high, "Mm hm."

_

"Uh...Well, I think that was it, so..."

_

His eyes turned to the door that lead to the exit of the royal garden, leaving the Super Happy Tree, along with the multitude of flowers and other pretty plants, behind them.

_

~~~~~~~~~~

_

Three days had passed since he had put his plan into action. However, the core of the Golden Egg had been in his possession for not even a day now, but that didn't matter. Its power was already pulsing through him, and although at a small rate, it was powerful enough to perform his next planned action.

_

The red, smooth, rounded jewel that was embedded in his wands tip glowed beyond any glow it had ever shone with since he had received it. The Core was doing its job, indeed. In way he...he felt 'young' again.

_

He was sitting quietly within the dark depths of Bowser's Keep, a very large castle with extensive halls and dungeons.

_

Kamek loved the place with all his heart- but he didn't like the fact that his Godson was ruling over it! Once Bowser had become of age, and was able to throw his Godfather off of the thrown, he instantly sent his servants to plaster his face everywhere within the walls. And he kicked Kamek down to the basement regions of the domain, ignoring his advice for the past couple of years. Whenever he wanted a Baby Bowser clone or a good magic spell, he came to the Magikoopa, but other than that, the two had no relationship- at least not friendly one.

_

Kamek still had some that were truly loyal to him. Loyal being very loosely used. A set of Toadies hung around his quarters most of the time, but he had no authority over them. Toadies, for those who don't know, are not Mushroom People. Those are Toads, 'Funguys' in slang, or, officially (At least to Star Road), Fungiades.

_

Toadies are about as large as Toads, and they are odd creatures with stubby feet, practically no legs, and pudgy arms. They wear red outfits over most of their body- just a 'ghost-sheet- sort of clothing, with holes cut out for eyes. But they wear goofy goggles on those eyes. And the last touch are the propellers on their heads.

_

Kamek's 'friends' had an odd assortment of names. Inky, Dinky, Pinky, Stinky, and Bob. They were all siblings to eachother, and it was clear when they were all put in the same room. They were fluttering about Kamek's study, bickering like little kids.

_

"Hehe!! OOOhhhh, that's just rich," one of them mumbled to himself, taking a deep breath of laughter.

_

The lot of them were snickering about how Kamek's plan would miserably fail. Of course, they weren't the brightest things around.

_

"What's funny?" Kamek grumbled in irritancy, glancing up from his wand at Dinky, who was hovering over his left shoulder.

_

"Psh! Well, come ON. YOU- defeat King BOWSER?! That's like impossible, unless you're Mario, of course!" Dinky's goofy voice chuckled.

_

Another Toadie, named Pinky, added her input with her squeaky tone.

_

"Yea!! I mean, come on! You really think you can take him on with that old wand of yours?!"

_

Kamek frowned at the creature in the pink garb, huffing.

_

"Well, then...We'll see about that..." he replied.

_

Their eyes widened.

_

"...HA! He...he really thinks he can do it!!" Inky spat out incredulously.

_

"Hey, then!" Stinky cried out as Kamek fastened his long wizard's hat.

_

Kamek's eyes turned to him from underneath his silver, shining shades. They concealed his eyes from the rest of the world, as if he wanted to be left alone. But no one could quite tell or sure. He sure seemed to love complaining and yelling to people.

_

"How 'bout we make things a lil' int'restin'?" Stinky's deep tone bellowed, his breath skunk-ridden.

_

Kamek paused, amused.

_

"...What do you mean, exactly?" he slowly and slyly said.

_

"Well, alls I'm sayin' isat if yous happen ta squish dat King todays, I'd be willin' ta bes ya servant an' all dat. O' course, if ya lose, yous gonna be servin' ME," Stinky explained clearly.

_

Dinky paused a moment to ponder this suggestion.

_

"Hmm...Hey, yea, count me in, too! You'll get to give me massages..." he said in a relaxed tone, lost in his mind.

_

"I could use someone to polish my propeller..." Pinky mumbled to herself.

_

"I'm in on it!" Inky shouted, plain and simple, his body eagerly hovering around.

_

"...Uhhhh...Yea, shooa. What dey said..." Bob grumbled, concentrating on mixing himself a potion. He was tossing ingredients chosen at random into a bubbling black cauldron. The sides of the huge pot were dripping with slimy fluids of all sorts and colors, and the inside of the container glowed a brilliant magenta, the substance within it sloshing around, stewing.

_

Kamek growled out at him, "YOU IDIOT!!"

_

He pointed out his hand angrily, about to scold some more, but something unexpected happened. Bob was flung from the cauldron like a rag doll, and was flung straight into a cold, stone wall, almost knocking over a lantern that was strung about it.

_

The Toadies around the mage froze in surprise, as did the Magikoopa himself. His powers were indeed coming back, much faster- and stronger- than he could have hoped. He could imagine just how much punch they would have when he was INTENTIONALLY trying to hurt someone...

_

A devious grin spread across his face, recalling memories of 'The Grinch.' But the eyes- those cold eyes- could not be seen through the silvery tints of his glasses. But one could guess what they looked like.

_

Leaving the fearful beings in their dazzled phase, he began to slowly pace out of the room. And just before he exited the chamber, he cried out slyly, "I accept your wager," leaving the Toadies to stew in their own juices.

_

*********

_

The damp, disheveled halls smelt of slime, and the lanterns strung about the walls provided the only light at the time. Ahhh...Home, sweet home.

_

And it was about to become HIS once again. Yes...Just his. No Bowser. He was going for a little 'vacation.' At least that's what his kids were going to be told. And why would they not trust their dear, sweet grandfather? Now, Kamek was by no means their real grandfather- but since he was Bowser's father figure while growing from a pint-sized shell, Kamek was often referred to as 'Grandpa' by the Koopa Kids.

_

As he passed through the long hallway containing their rooms, a few poked their faces out to observe the koot.

_

"Hey, Grandpa!" Iggy's cheerful face called out from behind.

_

"It's been a while! Where have you been?" His hair was spiked up and contained a vast array of colored strands, from red to blue to yellow.

_

"I've been busy," Kamek shouted back in irritancy, not bothering to even glance at the kid.

_

Iggy paused, a little surprised. Kamek wasn't always this cranky.

_

With a shrug, Iggy slowly crept back into his bedroom to see his twin brother, Lemmy.

_

"What's got Gramps?" Lemmy's voice questioned slowly, seeing Iggy's confused expression.

_

Lemmy was essentially the same as Iggy in appearance, but his hair was completely blue, and he never wore glasses.

_

Although well known for his glasses, Iggy often liked to look more casual, and had been recently replacing them with contacts. Everyone loved the look.

_

As Kamek neared the end of the hall, where Bowser's room resided, a cute little pair of eyes emerge from her door, and a sweet voice beckoned him with a gasp.

_

"Oh! Grandpa!! Oh, It’s so nice to see you!!" she squealed.

_

Kamek paused a moment, caught off guard by the politeness. How did a mangy bunch of brats learn manners like that from such an abusive father? Of course, they'd almost always been that way, but...Kamek had never really put much thought into it.

_

He shook his head, clearing his mind for what he was set on doing.

_

"Uh, yea. Hi, Wendy. Nice day out, huh?" he grumbled, pressing onward.

_

As he whizzed by, Wendy spat out quickly, "It's thundering and pouring!!"

_

Kamek smiled, and as he reached Bowser's chambers, he replied, very darkly, "Exactly."

_

And at that moment, as if sent by destiny, a loud and corrupt boom of thunder rocked the castle, just as Kamek rapped his wand on the gigantic red door, its dark, maroon color reflecting off of his shades in the dim light.

_

His plan had been set into action, and the next phase was about to take place.

~*~*~*~*~*
 

ZeekeXIV

Smash Journeyman
Joined
Apr 26, 2004
Messages
229
Location
On the Edge
Hey, HEY!

I knew there was something weird about how the story jumped from one thing to another. I just thought it was part of the plan...

Oh well, everything makes a little more sense now.

By the way... I thought Axem Yellow was a tomboyish girl that liked to eat a lot. I probably thought this because the reality counterpart (Yellow Power Ranger) was a girl. I guess I was dead wrong.

Good update today!
 

MewtwoMaster2002

ミュウツーマスター2002
Joined
Dec 19, 2002
Messages
6,148
Location
Japan
3DS FC
2922-0496-2962
Oh uh I didn't notice it because I was under great depression at that time =/. Great update though it doesn't sound original plus I can't get a clear picture of what they look like.
 

Destiny Smasher

BRoomer
BRoomer
Joined
Jan 10, 2002
Messages
2,298
Location
Searching for my own way of the ninja.
'Great update though it doesn't sound original plus I can't get a clear picture of what they look like.'

Um...OK...

I'm entirely sure what you're talking about, but if it's the update, you contradicted yourself...

Anyway, it's not SPECIFICALLY stated whether Axem Yellow is a boy or girl- so I guess it really COULD be a girl...

But on my standards, it's a guy.

As for 'originality,' I TOLD you this part of the story isn't great. Trust me, if you're patient, it'll start getting much better, I assure you.

I finally got to see Paper Mario 2, the DS, and the new Zelda game all in action, and da**, am I excited.

~*~*~*~*~*

The ominous rapping of the glowing red stone of Kamek's rod slammed itself into the gloomy, maroon door of metal. Printed upon the hard material was a black silhouette of the Koopa King's face.



From within the silent space of the room, the King was positioned over a small book of some sort, doodling at it with a large pencil, his handwriting looking like chicken scratch. The page his eyes were scanning on read as follows:



"Dear Diary,

Man, am I tired. It's been a LONG day. REAL long. I've been busy yelling at guards, making fun of those stupid Mushrooms, throwing darts at the picture of Mario on my wall, torturing prisoners...I am BUSHED. I'm so tired I can't think of any more to WRITE. As a matter of fact, I think I'll stop now. Oh- wait. Somebody's at the door. Well, Diary, see ya tomorrow!"



With a grunt, the scaly Koopa shoved the small blue book into the oak drawer his desk, noting the tapping from a guest.



"...COMING!!" he growled impatiently, his voice low and rough, like a frog blended with a crocodile.



As he warily removed himself from his large and very firm chair, he let out a slow sigh, inching his way to the metal entrance.



Then there was another rapping- a tapping coming from his chamber door. Quote the Koopa, "NO MORE!!"



He pounded his feet like hammers into the cold stone floor of the room- it just added a unique touch to the average bedroom.



His claws snatched the door handles lazily, and he yanked them open forcefully, a creaking echoing slowly throughout the hall beyond.



There, before him, stood a relatively short and sly old Koopa. He was garbed in a light blue mage's suit, accustomed to his Magikoopa army.



But something in this one's demeanor- his smile, his eyes- though one couldn't see them, one could FEEL them.



It was surely Kamek.



"Uh?..." He blinked a bit. Kamek was almost the last person he'd expect to come to his bedroom door, especially at this hour.



"...What the **** do you want?" he grumbled slowly, shaking his head, his eyes bloodshot with exhaustion.



At that moment, Kamek's serious and solemn face smirked. His teeth showed viciously, and he slowly hissed, "Your Kingdom..."



http://www.vgmusic.com/music/console/nintendo/snes/ctmagus_Blackwindblows.mid
Magus Theme- Blaze Hedgehog



Bowser's eyes slowly widened at that remark as he tried to ponder exactly what was going on. After about a couple of seconds, he'd figured it all out. And he wasn't going to tolerate such nonsense.



His brows furrowed and cocked, he snapped, "I am in NO mood for jokes, all right?! You hear me? I'm takin' a break, so drag your wand between your legs and get the **** away from me! Got it?" His arms were crossed, and his posture was crooked.



Kamek frowned in a sarcastic disappointment. "Tch, tch, tch. Ohhh...I am SO sorry, Master Bowser. I really didn't want it to have to happen like this..." He shook his head slowly, and it was bobbed.



"So...I guess this means I'll just have to do it the FUN way!" He smiled with a dark kind of glee, and pulled his wand into the air. Time to give him what he had within his spirit.



He held out his wand gracefully, his hand losing the veil of his long and broad sleeves, the silky apparel flopping over.



Bowser's face was confused and his eyes were wide, the veins visible if you looked close enough.



"Solar Cannon!!" Kamek's sly and slightly raspy voice bellowed out.



His glasses twinkled a moment as his wand's tip shone with a bright tint of yellow.



After about a second of yellow particles flying around the gem like fireflies, a beam shot out. Near the wand, it started out thin and narrow, then sharply burst into a thick, golden cylinder of Light energy, aimed directly at the King.



Bowser, mystified at the fact that Kamek could produce such a strong attack so suddenly, attempted to dodge it by hopping to his left- but the magic had embedded itself into his chest by the time his nerves had commanded his body to move- and thus the force sent his body onto his shell, the spines not about o dig into the cold stone floor.



Kamek's face lit up with excitement. This didn't seem like it'd be too hard. Bowser was a Poisonous Element creature by spirit, and Light attacks were effective against that attribute.



Kamek tried to remember another type that was potent on Poison.



Bowser wasn't going to sit around and wait, though. He instantly leapt up to his feet, using his arms to lift. Melee tournaments paid off in times like these.



Just as he rebounded, he pulled back his fist, but didn't feel he had to yell out, "Koopa Klaw!" He plunged his nails through the air like knives, blue, sparkling lines floated trailing where they had been.



But they didn't reach Kamek. For he had used his wand to help counter the claws, and the attack bounced off, a loud clash of claws on metal ringing out.



Bowser growled and did a backward dodge, rolling into his shell briefly as he did so.



After he had pulled out of his protection, he snarled at the wizard, he was floating before him, wand at the ready. He sucked in a deep breath, and exhaled a cloud of flames upon Kamek.



The Magikoopa, however, was expecting this, and erected his wand above his head, calling out, "Wizard Shield!" A bright flash of white flickered around him for a moment, as if a glass orb was encasing him.



The flames bounced off the wall and were flung upward and to the sides, (it wasn't a potent enough attack) leaving Bowser to think of his next move.



Kamek had already pondered his choice.



He smirked as he pulled his wand back, pointing it behind him.



"...Icebergz!" he shouted out to the spirits of Magic.



Bowser, caught off by this sudden spurt of noise, jumped back to reality and pulled all the force he had into creating a magic shield around him- the same kind used in Melee. One that helped reduce both physical and magical damage.



But Poison Elemental creatures were weakened by Ice, and that's exactly what started pouring all over Bowser from Kamek's wand.



It was just an icy wind at first, but that quickly changed.



Bowser, now covered in a frosty powder, started to shake it away like a disease and prepared to spurt out an array of flames.

However, just as he opened his mouth to suck in a breath, a pointed chunk of solid, rigid ice jammed itself into his chin, stunning him.

As he recovered from his dazed position, he was met by a flock of more of these 'icebergz,' each one shattering into his scales.

Overcome with pain, bruises and cuts galore, Bowser roared out in agony, his head reaching up to the skies, as if to call out for help.

But none came, and his body collided with the cold floor, his body like stone.

The squeaking of Kamek's boots against the smooth surface echoed through the room, traces of ice and snow still lingering.

Moments later, Kamek kneeled down to the Koopa's face, very slowly.

A serious grin upon him, he blew off some particles of snow with a gust of his breath.

Bowser's face cringed warily at it, and his eyes opened partially in anguish.

"...No words," Kamek said smoothly and quietly.

"Wouldn't want to waste your breath..."

With that, Kamek's face twisted a moment before landing a wad of saliva on Bowser's right cheek, the one that was opposite to the floor.

"Go cry to your little friends...That is, if you HAVE any. Because as of right now, you are officially not welcome here."

Kamek turned to face the wide, open window behind Bowser. A gentle breeze blew in, tossing his cloak around elegantly.

"...And don't worry," he murmured confidently. "Rest assured, the castle will be well cared for. We wouldn't want all the work of our ancestors to go up in smoke over a meaningless little quarrel as this, hm?"

His arms were crossed behind his back, and a smile was slowly crawling across him.

"...Some things change, Bowser...And some things do not. Today is a time for change. Your day has ended. And now it's my turn. Accept that."

With that said, Kamek readied his wand for the last blow.

"Irony...Cruel Fate..." he mumbled as his aim took hold of the once King of the Koopas.

"To be subdued by the move that previously sent your rival out of a window. To send you crawling to that whom you conspire against...Hm, hm. Enjoy the ride...Son," he added frigidly.

As his wand began to shine with a brilliant pink, he murmured, "...Ultra Bolt..."

As if from nowhere, a beaming, shocking lightning bolt rocked into Bowser's body, hailing from the sky above him. His body jumped from the shock, pounded by electricity, and Kamek drove the force to toss him, shell shocked, out through the window, just as he had done to Mario months beforehand.

His solid body grew limp as it plummeted through the dark and dry air, cruising like a fried missile all the way over his molten moat, and crashing the turtle creature into Vienna Hill, a black stoned, rocky bump on a cliff that faced his castle.

And as he lay there, defeated, he had the chance to think to himself, "...This has just not been my day..." And after that, his consciousness was lost.

~~~~~~~~~~

http://www.vgmusic.com/music/console/nintendo/nes/DG_SMB_Main.mid
Mario’s Theme- Daniel Genz

His fingers tapped at the small, white buttons nimbly, entering a code of some sort. It was a lengthy one, at that- a long sequence of various digits.

Once he was done, he raised the small, bright red device to his ear. It was curved and smooth, and the section where the numbered buttons rested was flat and foldable. At the bottom most portion of the device was a small speaker, and another like it resided at the top.

As he waited, patiently and anxiously, he scratched his fingers through his thick, black mustache. He adorned a fiery red shirt, and his hands wore white gloves at the time. The next piece of his apparel was a pair of blue denim overalls, with shiny, golden buttons. His feet had on dark brown shoes, which didn't have laces. They were rounded, and had golden soles at the bottom. Over his mess of brown hair rested the most famous part of the ensemble. A smooth, red cap, and on the forehead section of it, just above the brim, was a round, white spot with a red 'M' in the middle. His beaming blue eyes wandered about the room, until meeting with the friend he had invited.

His friend was leaned up against a nearby wall his arms crossed over his chest. He was unarmed at the time- his equipment was sitting on a table across the room, waiting to be used. He had a pointed, pyramid-shaped nose, and long, sharp ears. His hair was a golden blonde, and his eyes always seemed to have some sense of seriousness to them. He wore an emerald green tunic, complete with brown, large boots, gloves of the same shade with the tips of the fingers removed, and a long, pointed hat that shared that green tint.

He was drumming the fingers of his right hand against his other arm, and was staring at his pal contently.

The walls of the room were a light blue, like the sky, and clouds were painted all over. Ahead of them sat an intricate painting of a sun on the tile floor, just in front of the entrance door.

A red-carpeted staircase rested after that, which led to a few various doors.

The silence was finally broken.

"...Hello?" the red capped person spoke out to the cellular phone in his hand.

"...This is Mario, yea...Oh! Well, hello, Eaglesia! How are things?"

He paused to hear his response.

"...Yea...Mm, hm...Good, good. Hey, is your son there?"

There was another moment of silence, and Link's brows furrowed a bit when he saw Mario's face get a confused expression.

"...Oh. Uhh...I see. Well, is there any way I can contact him?"

More silence. At least to Link.

"Ah. So...He's too busy for a tournament?......That sucks, doesn't it?.....OK, OK...No, no, he's not needed. I mean, if he's busy with something important, that's perfectly all right. What's wrong, anyway?..........I see...OK...Don't worry, we'll be fine....You have a good day, Your Majesty.....Bye!"

With a beep, the phone was shut off.

Mario sighed as he glanced at Link, letting his arm with the cell phone drop to his side.

"What's up?" Link asked quickly, uncrossing his arms and standing up straight.

"I'm not really sure," Mario responded. "The Queen just said that he was very busy with personal matters, and he wouldn't be able to make it." He shrugged slowly.

"That's all right, though. We still have everyone else to call, don't we?"

Link nodded with a toothy grin. "**** right, we do! If everyone else cowers out, then it'll just be you and me, really!"

Mario cocked his head to the side in a nod. Zelda and Peach were already guaranteed to go, but they probably would only fight each other in a case like that.

"Besides," Link added slyly, "You're just a little eager to get another tournament going because I won the last one, aren't you?"

Mario smiled back at him devilishly.

"Perhaps..." he replied slowly.

~~~~~~~~~~

http://www.vgmusic.com/music/console/nintendo/gamecube/MP_Mission_Final.mid
Samus Theme- Hale-Bop

ZzZzZzZtTtTtT!!!

POW!!

WHAP!

PSHOOOOoOoOooooooommmmm!

Hordes of purple, human-like beings were sent spiraling into the white walls of the room, vanishing as they did so in an array of black sparkles.

The spectators watched anxiously. Would she do it?

"One hundred!" cried out an anthro fox. He was wearing tight gray pants, a green vest, and a white shirt. Metallic boots rested on his feet, and atop his furry, orange-ish head was a shining helmet of sorts that covered his back and a stripe of his head.

"Keep 'em comin', Sammy!!" he shouted out to her, giving a thumbs up. But she was far too busy to notice.

"Fox, you know she hates being called 'Sammy,' right?" a blue feathered bird from his side checked. He had on a similar outfit as the fox, with a few various color differences.

Fox ignored his comment and gazed expectantly at the arena ahead of them, which had a very tough, glass-like barrier to close it off from them. On the opposite side was a white wall. In the middle of the large room was a brown platform that was raised about thirty feet up by a thick pole. The platform itself was at the same level as the spectators were.

The purple creatures continued to flood in, and the bounty hunter clad in orange kept sending them packing.

Her name was Samus, and this was a virtual testing arena. The creatures adorned red symbols on their foreheads. Circles with two lines cut through it, which made a cross at the bottom left portion of it. It was the Melee symbol- it signified the League of Melee, the Smashers.

“Go on, girl!!” Peppy cheered as number 150 went splattering against the barrier, slowly sliding downward.

“Woo…” Falco slicked his ‘hair’ back.

“She can really kick *** when she wants to, can’t she?” he mumbled.

“I’ll say!” a pudgy green amphibian agreed from his chair, watching the numbers on the computer monitor before him rocket upwards.

“One minute, and she’s already at 187!” he confirmed. “She must really want to beat that record…”

“Psh. Yea, I hear that,” Fox nodded at the comment.

Inside the suit bestowed upon her by the Chozo, Samus Aran was sweating like a black dog on a hot day in the outback.

A punch here, a blast of fire there, a beam over at that one, and a missile into this one. One by one, Wire Frames were send colliding into the walls of the arena, and Samus grinned with a crazed sort of glee at their downfall. But she was sustaining damage herself. Bit by bit, but when you added a lot of bits together, it made a BIG bit, didn’t it?

Intently, the Starfox Team gazed in awe for what seemed like an eternity, but only lasted about three minutes. Samus had now reached over three hundred KO’s, but that was still not enough.

Fox was getting a little worried. She was being tossed around a little too much.

He bit his lip a moment before calling out, “GO! GO! Only another two hundred or so!! You can do it!!”

Falco stood crossly, his arms arranged so as well.

He was a little annoyed at the fact that she had breezed by his record with ease. Although, it was still amusing to watch the battle.

But Samus’s rock hard concentration wore away.

“…ONLY THREE HUNDRED?!” she thought. It felt like a lot more than that.

She was starting to wear away and fatigue, so it was no surprise that when a rogue Female Frame came up behind her back and send her reeling off into the air at a vertical angle, she had a little difficulty getting back.

Everyone around her gasped as she nimbly did a midair flip toward the arena, and curled into a ball to perform a Screw Attack, which launched her upward.

However, a Male Frame found this opportunity to hop lightly into the air, pull in his legs, then smash them downwards into Samus’ armored body, sending her spiraling downward into the hard, tiled floor.

“…Aaawwwww….” Fox mumbled.

“She was close, too…” With a shrug and a sigh, Fox prepared to meet up with her. Peppy typed a few keys into the computer, and the floor began to slowly rise. The Wire Frames disappeared, the atmosphere calmed, and Samus broke the tranquility.

She slowly stood up, a little shaky. When Fox nervously went over to help her, she shoved him away viciously.

“I don’t need your help, FOXY,” she growled out.

Fox, not needing another hint, backed off and let her get some air.

She stomped out of the training area and into the spectator’s room.

The three other people that had been watching contently were wide-eyed and quiet.

She marched on past them and roughly removed her helmet, chucking it to the ground like a piece of garbage.

Her hair was short cut and dyed purple. Although blonde was her natural color, her hair had this appearance due to a bet she had lost some long time ago against the burly ape, Donkey Kong.

Her eyes were a pale green, but at the moment, one might have mistaken them for red.

“Looks like somebody’s a sore loooooser,” Falco taunted, elbowing Fox comically.

But when he saw the look upon her face- the glare she shot at him- his face turned pale. She cocked her head back to face the exit door.

“…Ya need to stop being so hard on yourself, Sam,” McCloud urged from behind, trying to make it sound like a suggestion, and not a command.

“…I was aiming for 537,” she grumbled in irritancy, pausing.

Fox rolled his eyes.

“Yes? And-?”

Samus spun around and glared at him in shock.

“How the **** does a dumb *** plumber get a higher score than I do?!” she roared in frustration.

Fox’s brows furrowed. He knew it’d come to this.

“Listen, Samus- I don’t know. I mean, he’s probably trained here more than you have. Or maybe he studies how they move instead of just randomly blasting stuff. Besides, don’t ever call him a plumber. You know that’s not what he is anymore,” he added with a smirk.

“Perhaps he just has some natural talent?” Peppy suggested.

“At any rate,” Fox concluded, “If you just be patient and practice, I KNOW you’ll be able to break it. Besides, you can always beat him in the next tournament. You did last time, didn’t you?”

Samus grinned. This was true.

Just then, they were all stirred by a monotone voice erupting from a loudspeaker hung on the wall to their side, opposite the testing grounds.

“Calling Fox. Calling Fox. You have a message via cell phone. Caller identified as Mario Mario, resident of the Mushroom Kingdom of the planet Stellon.”

http://www.vgmusic.com/music/console/nintendo/n64/Song_017.mid
Starfox Theme- Sirius

Fox smiled a sharp-toothed grin.

“Hehe…See, Samus?” He glanced at her. “It’s like Fate made him call us.” Fox chuckled a bit, then responded loudly, “Good. Thanks, Rob, put him on the speaker.”

Rob was a robot that could, through computer, assume control of the ship. He was created by Slippy Toad, and was upgraded every once in a while to match up to standards.

A voice blared out of the speaker. It was a voice that had a sense of humor yet seriousness. Courage yet kindness. A bit of Brooklyn with a bit of Italian. It was Mario, all right.

“…Hey? Fox? You there?”

Fox laughed a little more, settling himself down into a plastic chair that hovered slightly over the floor using an odd force.

“Yea, yea. We’re here. Samus is here, too. Why? Whatcha need?” he asked merrily, folding his arms behind his neck and resting on them.

“Oh! Good! We couldn’t get a hold of her on her ship. I mean, this sure isn’t your average phone and all, but we weren’t sure if she was even there or not…Anyway, yea, Link and I are calling to ask if you guys could come to our next tournament. We’re planning on having it tomorrow. Sound good?”

Indeed, the phone Mario was using was no ordinary phone. It was a special one, custom made for each member of the Melee League. They were all red, and on their backside had the Melee symbol printed on. Using these phones, powered by the energies of the Honorable Star Spirits themselves, from the Star Rod, the Smashers could contact others far beyond the normal reaches of a phone.

A demonic smile crawled across Samus like night over day, and said, in an evil kind of sweet tone, “Oh! That would be delightful! Count me in!”

Fox glanced at her slowly, and the two exchanged evil grins.

“Yea. We’ll be there. Where do we meet? When?”

Mario paused a minute to think.

“Oh, just meet up with us at Peach’s place, all right? Like, say, three p.m. We’ll make plans from there. I’ve got it scheduled to be a live event. Televised, too. Hehe…”

Fox’s eyes widened. Televised, huh? Up the stakes a little bit…Now, reputations could be on the line…Of course, No matter who won, everyone would still have their reps in place. All of the members of the Melee League had won a tournament at least once.

Samus was instantly interested, even more so.

This could be very enjoyable.

~~~~~~~~~~

http://www.vgmusic.com/music/other/miscellaneous/medley/Zelda_concerto-ocarina_songs.mid
Medley- ???

“Oh, come on, have a seat! It’s not gonna bite ya!” his sweet, inviting voice greeted.

His friend was hesitant. Her eyes scanned the room cautiously. There wasn’t anything to be afraid of, of course. It was just his house. But her stomach wasn’t uneasy about that- it was the pink puff that stood in front of her.

“I…” she began slowly.

“Sorry, I’ve just had a long day,” her polite tone managed to mumble.

She slowly took the seat, it’s plush, red cushions feeling good after such a day as this.

As she sat back in the recliner, her body instantly began to relax. From her long, ellipse feet, through her pudgy, multi-colored body, up through her skinny, long arms, and into her large, yellow head. The mat of saffron hair upon it spread over her forehead, and a long ponytail rose out of the back. Her eyes were always careful and watchful, no matter what. Perhaps this was why Kirby enjoyed her company. He could stop worrying about danger whenever she was around- after all, she always sensed it before he ever did.

And if she was relaxed, then there was no reason for him NOT to be.

He smiled at her a moment, his insides bubbling up. But he was still trying to figure out precisely WHY. He wasn’t sure of how he felt, entirely. But he shook these thoughts out and proceeded to try and ease the mood a bit.

“Sooo…” He smiled and glanced around his house.

It had a cozy atmosphere about it. The walls were kind of dark. It wasn’t incredibly big, either, but neither was Kirby.

There were barely any walls. The entrance led to the living room- a recliner, a TV, etc. Then, to the right of the recliner rested an ‘island’ counter. Various pots hung from the ceiling over it, and behind that sat the sink, the fridge, the cabinets…

“What would ya like, Tiffany?” he asked shyly.

The girl snapped out of her calm and answered, quite quickly, "Oh! I'm sorry...Anything will do, Kirby. Thank you." After muttering that, she sighed slowly and started to twiddle her thumbs.

Kirby, wanting to please, scurried to his kitchen and scavenged it from head to toe, looking for something decent. He soon realized that he really didn't have too much at the time. He never did for very long, anyway.

A little uneasy, he scooped out a bowl he prepared earlier that day. A big, red bowl of fruit salad.

Now, he instantly thought of handing the whole thing to her, only to remember that she wasn't such a pig as he. A little ashamed at the truth of that matter, he shoveled a good portion of it into a small ceramic bowl from a nearby wooden cabinet.

Noticing from the corner of his eye that she was still plainly sitting there, he invited, "Feel free to turn on the TV-" His thoughts were shut off when he remembered how much Tiffany despised television. Unless it was educational, anyway.

"-Errr, the radio, I mean," he quickly reverted.

After a few moments of preparing himself a bowl, (he'd try his hardest to eat it like your average person) he heard the radio get clicked on, the sounds of soothing Ocarina music filling his house.

"There," he mumbled, his task completed.

He snatched up both dishes with his stubby hands, and proceeded into the living room with a slight amount of difficulty.

"Here ya go," he announced, passing the bowl, spoon included, to his friend.

"Thank you!" she said with a smile.

She paused a moment, scanning the room. This didn't feel right- eating in a recliner, and not at the table?

Unsure, she watched as Kirby sat himself down on a nearby stool, which was lined up next to the island counter.

He spun around, bowl in hand, spoon in the other, and gave Tiff a glance.

He instantly recognized the confused expression upon her.

"What's wrong?" he broke the silence.

"Nothing," Tiff responded, trying to sound casual.

"I'm just...Not used to...-"

She trailed off, and Kirby fit it together.

"Oh, don't worry about making a mess!" he said with a laugh.

"I mean, even if you DO, I've a vacuum cleaner! And what that can't get- Gooey CAN."

Gooey was a blue blob of a friend, that sort or served as Kirby's 'pet' of sorts. He had bulging, vacant eyes, and a long, slimy tongue. No arms, no legs- just a rounded blob.

"Ok," Tiff answered him, still a little hesitant to 'dive in.'

The momentary tranquility was once again shattered, but this time, by a phone.

Kirby immediately dropped his salad on the counter and grabbed the small cell phone, which rested to his left on the white plastic at that moment.

As it reached him, he called out, "Yea? Kirby here."

The voice on the other end responded, "Hey, Kirb. It's Mario. How are things?"

Kirby, pleasantly surprised, answered, "Goin' good, goin' good. What's up? I'm in the middle of dinner."

Mario snickered a bit, and said in good humor, "Kirby, if I'd have called an hour from now, you'd STILL be in the middle of dinner!"

Kirby couldn't deny this, but today, he had a guest. He wouldn't be scarfing everything in sight.

"Well, here's the deal," Mario began after his chuckling had ended.

"We're having another tournament, you know the gig. If you're coming, just stop on by Peach's place at about three or so. We should be done and everybody will be back home by midnight, give or take. Sound good?"

Kirby nodded, despite the fact he wasn't seen, and replied, "Oh, yea. That'd be great."

"Ok, good. I gotta go. Have people to call up, ya know?"

"Yep. I'll see ya."

"Later days!"

Kirby gently set down his Melee model phone and turned to Tiffany, expecting her to speak up and ask, "Who was that?"

Naturally, she did so, and he accordingly answered.

"Mario. We're having another tournament tomorrow."

"Oh." Tiff's voice dulled. She didn't really like the Melee tournaments one bit. Useless violence, in her opinion. But she didn't disrespect them- she just never went to them. And she wasn't planning on going to this one, either.

Kirby knew how she felt, but he couldn't refuse.

The radio piped up, the smooth, calm voice of the DJ setting the mood back up.

"And that was a lovely medley performed by Saria Kokiri of Hyrule. Next up, we'll be listening to 'Ode to the King,' as performed by the Dedede Philharmonic Symphony."

~~~~~~~~~~

http://www.vgmusic.com/music/console/nintendo/gamecube/fz-Mute_City.mid
Mute City- ???

The rushing sights and sounds of the city passed by quickly, and the driver took no heed to them. A drive such as this was only routine. Just like a traffic commute to work in the morning.

His brain as ease, his mood calm, he took a deep breath, taking it all in.

And then the phone rang. Surprised, but not by much, he paused a moment, letting it ring, keeping his eyes on the zipping road for a bit.

"Make 'em wait for it," he thought.

Then, after about three rings, he snatched it up with his right hand, his left glued to the wheel, and raised it to his head, straining a little to hear, despite the fact that the volume was turned up at the max.

"Hello?!" he cried out amidst the loud roaring sounds among him.

"CAPTAIN FALCON?!" Mario's voice greeted.

"ARE YOU THERE???! WHAT'S GOING ON?!"

The driver smirked and replied coolly, yet loudly, "IN THE MIDDLE OF A RACE!! NO BIGGY!!"

Mario stopped a moment, but wasn't very shocked.

"Whatever..." he mumbled, but falcon couldn't hear him.

"LISTEN! WE'RE HAVING A TOURNAMENT TOMORROW, SO STOP BY AT PEACH'S CASTLE AT ABOUT THREE!! GOT IT?!"

Falcon analyzed it a bit.

"GOT YA! I LOVE FRUIT, TOO!!"

But before Mario could interject, he finished.

"TELL YA WHAT- HOW ABOUT I COME ON OVER TO PEACH'S CASTLE AT, LIKE, THREE- OK?!"

Just as Mario answered, Falcon's voice growled out, "SHUT THE **** UP!! DON'T YOU GIVE ME THE FINGER!! I'LL BREAK THAT ****ED FINGER OFF, YOU PIECE OF CRAP!! THAT’S RIGHT!! YOU HEARD ME!!"

Mario sighed and shook his head dully to Link. Link smiled and nodded back.

"YEA, ALL RIGHT...GO AND...WIN ONE...Or something…" Mario trailed off, and turned the phone off, his ears in pain for a few seconds afterward.

~~~~~~~~~~

http://www.vgmusic.com/music/console/nintendo/gamecube/Ztmremix.mid
Hyrule Temple- Keith Koshman

"Rrr...HaaaaaAAAAAAAA!!!!!"

The fierce, shrill cry pierced through the air, as a blade did so with the same intensity. This blade had flames trickling down its sides, and it had an elegantly designed hilt. The beautiful sword came crashing violently with another thinner, equally graceful one, creating a very loud ‘ting’ sound effect that rang throughout the breezy air.

The two weapons interlocked viciously, forcing into each other like opposite gravities.

The faces of the owners of these sharp-edged objects were dripping with sweat, and their eyes were competitive, flames seething within. The blue, smooth hair of the one on the left reflected the light of the sun, and the seriousness about him showed through in his style. He was the older one, Mr. Right, and was constantly making sure he was doing things right.

The other was slightly younger, and one could tell just by the twinkle in his eyes that he was a more foolhardy and careless, but tried his best to get as much fun as possible out of life.

But their conflict was interrupted quite abruptly by the clear and distinct "*Bbrrrrinnnngg...Bbrrrrinnnngg*"

The two pairs of eyes both froze at each other in shock, then darted quickly to their side.

The soft wind lazily ran through the fur of the looming figure they were staring at.

He had a long, whip-like tail, and thick, strong legs. His white head had two appendages that protruded out above two strange tube-like structures, which ran out of his neck and circulated back in. His eyes were dark and cold, yet held an odd sort of purity to them. He was an experiment that went out of hand. He...was Mewtwo.

"I’ll get it," he told them, despite the fact that his mouth didn’t move.

Mewtwo could transmit his thoughts out like a radio, and thus he could be heard without having to physically speak.

His eyes casually flicked to his right, and a small, red cellular phone came soaring through the air to the side of his head, and its bottom flicked open with a 'click', a small speaker now available for use.

"Ugh...Phones...Such primitive things," he thought, only to himself.

"If people just tapped into their inner brain mass...-" his mind trailed off.

The two warriors were still frozen, their ears and eyes attentive on Mewtwo, eagerly awaiting to find out who the caller was.

After a second of two, Mewtwo's eyes shot up at the brothers.

"...Guys," he started, shaking his head, his arms crossed, the phone hovering gently beside him.

"It's just Mario- go at it!"

The eyes of the knights slowly crept toward one another once again, and they both smiled the same wicked smile.

Their arms tensed as they returned to their fight. As they pressed into each others swords with their own, Mewtwo rolled his eyes and sighed.

He added quietly, "I don't see what's the big deal with Mario, anyway, the fat little-" His eyes bulged out as he heard laughter from the other side.

He'd accidentally 'spoken' the words instead of just thinking them.

"I...Uhhh..." he began, fumbling for words.

Mario's chuckling voice interrupted.

"No need to apologize," he blurted out, a snicker still in him. The clanging of swords of cries of fury echoed in the background from Marth and Roy's little duel.

"If you really think I'm so fat and stupid, why don't you take me on in a tournament tomorrow? By the way, tell the guys they're invited too, of course."

Mario had called Marth's number, and as that was the phone on hand at the time, he figured Marth and Roy had to be there, too.

The point of the cell phones was to contact other Smashers in case of emergency, or to call everyone up for a tournament, as was the current case.

Mewtwo replied, "Yes, yes...Don't worry. Rest assured, we'll be there. We're training at the moment, actually."

Mewtwo's eyes glanced up to see Marth pinned to the gray-stoned ground, Roy's blade pointed at his neck, and yet, they were paused, staring at Mewtwo with anticipation.

"Yes, yes!!" Mewtwo growled out.

"We're having one!! Now get back your training, I want a decent opponent to combat against! If you two get distracted by a phone so easily, then how do you think you will fare against a crowd of spectators!"

Mewtwo, being the mind-reader he was, had sensed that this event was to be televised.

With a heavy sigh, Mewtwo bid Mario farewell and let the phone slowly drop to the floor beside him.

~~~~~~~~~~

"Uh huh...Yea...Yep..." his low voice grumbled out his replies.

"Yea, yea. I got that part...Nope, can't do.....Welll...See, I already made plans with somebody...Yea, just called me a minute ago...It's private, we'll leave it at that."

His pale, brown face was dull and tired, and his demeanor was such.

"Sorry...Can't make it...Yea...Uh huh...I figured as much...Tell Fairy Boy I said 'hey,' would ya?"

The old and broad wizard sighed and muttered, "Yea, enjoy yourselves. Bye."

~~~~~~~~~~



With a puzzled look, Mario turned the phone off and turned to Link's hopeful face. His hope fell like a stone when he saw Mario's eyes.

"What?! But he HAS to come! Man, I've been dying to kick that idiot's *** for a long time now!" With an irritable huff, Link ran his hand down the length of his pointed, green hat.

"Don't look at me, Link," Mario protested.

"I have no idea what's up."

Link paused a moment.

"But he always comes. I mean, it's his only opportunity to beat the crap outta stuff, I don't see why HE of all people would turn it down..."

Ever since Link had thwarted the Great Evil, Ganondorf, from the land, he had been sealed away in the Dark Realm. When the Melee tournaments began, the Seven Sages thought it safe to release Ganon from his prison to compete. The wizard's powers had been weakened by far compared to what they had been, and when he wasn't in a competition, his powers were useless, the Sages' spell still holding a firm grip on him.

Why he would refuse a Melee tournament was a total mystery to Link. But it certainly did mean he wouldn't enjoy himself.

~~~~~~~~~~

http://www.vgmusic.com/music/console/nintendo/gamecube/ssbm_drmario_jazz_1_2.mid
Dr. Mario Jazz- Dr. Fruitcake

"Good, good..." The curious and wise eyes of the Doctor scanned his patient carefully.

"Now...Uh...Try moving it..." he murmured hopefully.

The black arm moved up and down slowly in response.

"Ah! Very good! Now, just...Don't perform anything strenuous for a while..."

The black, round head with eyes nodded and answered, "Got it, Doc..."

The mustachioed one with the stethoscope turned to face the small boy.

"Now...Ness, you say you both had a tumble while in practice, then?"

The beady eyes of the boy turned bashful as he scratched his neck.

"Yea, we kinda got into an accident with a bus..."

Dr. Mario turned to Game and Watch, a white cloth wrapped around his arm where it had detached.

"Hm..." He tapped his cheek with his right index finger for a moment.

"This sort of thing doesn't happen very often...But I suppose it's nothing to worry about now...Just take a break for a while, I'm sure it-"

A beeping came from the Doc's belt. He checked his little black pager to find it was Mario.

"Ah...I see," he mumbled. "We're having a good old tournament tomorrow...

Game and Watch let out a sigh of relief.

"Well, at least I have an excuse to not participate," he murmured.

The Doc stared at him incredulously. "What are you saying?!" he bellowed.

G+W paused a moment to contemplate.

"I...Well, you said that-"

"Never mind what I said! There is no reason for you to miss out! Besides, it's very difficult to get your arm cut off again!"

Ness' face was puzzled. Perhaps this Doctor had been taking too much of his own medicine?

Oddly enough, the Melee League could get slashed across the face with a sword and still live, with only a cut.

This was because of a strange force at work.

If they believed in themselves enough, and had strong spirit, a flesh wound wouldn't be nearly as severe. It also worked the other way around. If they didn't really want to hurt someone, they wouldn't actually wound them. However, this didn't mean their opposition felt no pain.

Quite an odd and strange mystery that hadn't quite been worked out yet. Not everyone had this gift, but many did.

At any rate, a tournament was to take place. And G+W was not planning on joining in.



~~~~~~~~~~
~~~~~~~~~~



The short, intellectual girl gulped slowly, her eyes nervous, her fat hands trembling a bit.

"It looks kinda...unfriendly..." she murmured slowly, brushing away a loose strand of her thick, chocolate hair from her face.

"Psh!" The boy next to her, who was very similar in appearence but almost opposite in personality, tossed his arms, his face smug and confident.

"It's just one little mountain. What? You're afraid of mountains, now?" he jeered, rubbing his mitted hands together quickly.

The girl to his side tightened the grip on her wooden mallet.

"Hey! I never said that I was afraid of anything!" she protested.

"I just pointed out that we should be a little cautious...And anyway, it's not ONE mountain- it's TWO. And one is covered in ice, while the other is a volcano."

The pudgy boy frowned in annoyance.

"Well, you just always have to be correct, don't you? What's the difference?! We can just choose a side and go up! What's so difficult about that?" he demanded, his arms outstretched.

"Nothing!!" his twin sister answered, her voice raised.

"I'm just saying that we should be careful! I've heard that two Dragons live on top of these mountains, too, Popo!"

Popo rolled his eyes and ran his palm down his face.

After he let out a sigh, he turned to her and spat out abruptly, "Where do you HEAR these things?"

Nana, his older sister, (by ten minutes) huffed and crossed her arms.

"I've got an idea," she muttered grouchily. "How about you go up one side, and I go up the other? Hm?"

Popo growled a bit, and tossed his mallet to the rough, stone ground of the platform they were upon, looking down the fiery side of the formidable Hailfire Peaks.

"SHUT UP ALREADY!!!" a squaky voice screeched out from behind them.

They both spun around to meet the two who had escorted them thus far.

"Geez! You two argue more than...More than WE do! And that's saying something!"

The voice was that of a red-crested Breegull, who, at the time, was rested in a big, blue backpack. The blue backpack was strapped on the shoulders of a broad, brown bear with bright yellow shorts and a shark tooth necklace.

The birds brilliant eyes glowed with impatience as she glared at them, peering around her friend's neck.

"Ya know, guys," a low, kind of goofy voice began from the bear, as he crossed his arms on his chest.

"She DOES have a point. And that's not very often, either!" He chuckled a bit, and his Breegull buddy gave him a few pecks on the head with her sharp beak.

"Sorry, Banjo," Nana mumbled, her cheeks pink.

"Yea, yea..." Popo grumbled out, waving his arm at them, turning back.

Suddenly, Kazooie, the bird that rested on Banjo's back, jumped with a cry of surprise.

"What the ****?!" she cried out in irritated shock. A ringing sound was erupting from beneath her, within the sack.

She reached her mouth into the pack to retrieve a red cellular phone, and Banjo reached his hand blindly back to receive it from Kazooie.

"Who the **** put that in there?!" Kazooie demanded, as Banjo cringed from the pain in his ear.

"I did," Nana timidly squeaked.

"We're supposed to carry one with us at all times, so I figured...-" she trailed off shyly.

Popo let out another huff and snapped, "Don't mind her," he glared at his sister, "she just always has to be little Miss Goody-Goody and follow all the rules."

Banjo frowned and finally answered the phone, casting the matter aside.

"Uh...Hello, who is it?" he asked lazily.

"Ah! Well, good day, Mr. Mario! How are you?"

Nana's face lit up with excitement, while Popo's even showed a bit of interest.

Mario was Nana's idol, in a sense, but, yet, at the same time, he was a friend of hers. She certainlty respected him dearly, and tried to live up to his example. Popo saw him as another 'Goody-Goody' in the world, though, and could care less.

Kazooie thougt him to be 'Mr. Perfect,' believing he was simply a glory hound.

Banjo thought he was a pretty nice guy.

"Oh! Goood! That's great!......Oh, well, we were just about to go for a little climb, and-.....Really?"

Suddenly, the phone found its way into Popo's hands, as he had swiped it.

Banjo's brows furrowed at this, and Nana gasped in disbelief.

"Popo!" she cried out.

"That was real rude, you know that?" she scolded.

"Yea, thanks, that was the idea," Popo growled back, ignoring her.

"Uh huh.....That sounds good.....Oh, you bet...."

Nana's hands were at her hips, and her face was cross. Popo's eyes drearily gazed at hers, but she was given the cold shoulder otherwise.

"Yep.....OK.....Bye." He quickly turned off the phone and chucked it at Nana, who was about five feet from him.

She yelped out in surprise and shot up her hands in reflex, just barely catching it.

"Good eye," Popo sneered with a chuckle.

"What's your problem today?!" Nana snarled out irritably.

He was being slightly more annoying than usual, and she was also acting more cranky than normal.

"Psh. Problem?" He shrugged.

"I don't know what the heck you're talkin' about. Anyway, Mr. Perfect there said we're having a Melee tomorrow afternoon, so you'd better not slack off."

Her face flashed with anger, and she was about to spit out some insulting comment, but managed to stop herself.

She could take out her aggression on other things.

Tomorrow was a new day.

Tomorrow, she'd meet up with her friends once again.

Tomorrow, she'd go to a tournament.

Tomorrow, things would CHANGE.

~~~~~~~~~~


Trophy Tussle- Tony Thai

With a deep and tiring sigh, the phone finally turned off for the last time that day, and Mario wiped a bit of sweat from his forehead, removing his cap to scratch through his messy hair and replacing it.

"That everyone?" Link mumbled, half asleep from boredom.

Now that he thought about it, he could have better spent his time.

"Yea..." Mario replied lazily. Donkey Kong had been contacted in person ahead of time, (he'd jus gotten back from an enriching trip to Kanto) and he was already scheduled.

"...So...?" Link began, waiting for Mario to respond.

"Well...Bowser wasn't home. I got his assitant or something. Kamek. Just some stupid little wizard or whatever. Said the King wasn't in right now, that he'd been relieved from his duties or something for a long time."

Mario paused a moment to tap his chin.

"Where is he, then?" Link mumbled curiously.

"Oh," Mario's mind returned. "On vacation somwhere. Wasn't very specific. All I know is that I was lookin' forward to seein' the guy..."

With a grin, Mario recalled the last tournament, in which he was disappointed to not have the opportunity to duel with the King of the Koopas.

Despite what many believed, Mario and Bowser were actually friends, in a sense. Rivals, and yet friends.

It was a complicated relationship to explain, and it was only natural to think it may have something to do with their parents. Mario and Bowser, an expert could suggest, shared something in common from their births. Although born a few years later, Mario had to have something unique in common with the Koopa King.

And then, like lightning, the entrance doors to the castle burst open violently, and a broad, muscular figure stumbled in, bruised all over.


Bowser Theme-Chad Acosta

"****ed *******..." he growled out, glaring at no one in particular.

His eyes darted to Mario, who was shocked and amazed.

"...BOWSER...?" he uttered, bewildered.

"You know how many ****in' Toads I had to listen to on my way here?!" he grumbled out warily.

"What the **** is going on?" Link demanded, alert now, and standing straight.

"Yea! Aren't you on vacation?" Mario demanded, feeling a hint of suspiscion in the air.

"Oh, am I?" Bowser replied, amused.

"Who the **** told you that?" he asked gruffly.

"Wait, no...Lemme guess...Kamek, right?" He was standing in the doorway, battered and hunched over.

Mario nodded slowly, his eyes serious.

"Psh...Figures..."

Mario's brow cocked.

"Why did he tell me that?" the hero questioned, his fists tensing.

"Because..." Bowser trailed off, feeling embarrassed to admit that his own castle had been taken from him- again.

"Well...I AM going to be going on vacation..." he replied, which was half-truth.

"I just...haven't decided WHERE yet..." He huffed and started to wander into the large, bright room.

"Uhh...Yea, sorry, man," Mario mumbled, glancing around.

"Sit down...There...aren't really any seats in here right now, so...-"

Bowser's large body collided with the floor loudly, and by now he'd been noticed by a few of the castle's attendants, who would scurry off fearfully.

Just then, the double doors that led upstairs slammed open, and the serious face of Princess Peach could be seen.

"Just what in the Star Road in going on here?" she demanded curtly, glaring at Bowser.

"And why are you here? Were you invited?!" she demanded, her face red.

"Peach, Peach, calm down," Mario advised, holding up his palms.

"It's all right. He knows better than to pick a fight right now. I think he was just in one."

Peach placed her hand to her mouth for a moment when she noticed his damaged body, and muttered, "I'll go get the Medic..." Shaking her head, she retreated back upstairs.

"So, uh, what the **** happened to you?" Link asked quietly, sitting down on the red, carpeted staircase in the center of the lobby.

"Ugh..." Bowser rubbed his temple.

"Long story...Let's just say that I got into a scrap with an old friend of mine..."

Mario and Link could tell that talking more of this matter, at least at the current moment, was not such a good idea.

Kamek was right.

Things were changing, fast.

~~~~~~~~~~

Hehe...I took out the Pokemon scene because I messed up, n'...Nevermind.
 

MewtwoMaster2002

ミュウツーマスター2002
Joined
Dec 19, 2002
Messages
6,148
Location
Japan
3DS FC
2922-0496-2962
Great update. You took that from a pokemon SCENE??? Which one? Oh and I hope either Mewtwo or Samus wins. Oh and Marth and Roy aren't brothers too...unless your doing it on purpose:o .
 

ZeekeXIV

Smash Journeyman
Joined
Apr 26, 2004
Messages
229
Location
On the Edge
Wow, you're really descriptive!

This was a real cool chapter. I liked the introductions of (almost) all the characters.

As MewtwoMaster said, Marth and Roy are not brothers... but if you're making them bros for purposes that we don't know of, then I won't argue with that.

It's funny how you have Mario and Link together calling up all the other smashers. Those two are working together in my fic to save things and right wrongs. Are they gonna be working together more later on in the story?
 

Destiny Smasher

BRoomer
BRoomer
Joined
Jan 10, 2002
Messages
2,298
Location
Searching for my own way of the ninja.
MEWTWOMASTER2002, it seems that you somehow find a way to put kinks into my system...*sigh* Too bad half the time it's because you don't understand...*sweatdrop* Ah, well. Gives me some work, I guess.

OK, first of all, READ what I said. I took a Pokemon secen OUT- I didn't take anything FROM one.

In the original scene, I introduced Ash, Misty, and Brock. In Chapter 39, later on, I RE-introduce them, only they're with May and Max instead. Because Chapters something-39 take place over the course of a day and half or two, that makes NO SENSE, so I simply got of rid of it, and you won't meet Ash until later. :p

I posted up links to MIDIs, too, but ONCE AGAIN, those did not work.

For the twentieth time, I KNOW Marth and Roy are not brothers.

They don'tlive in the same 'world' as the Fire Emblem series- I'm editing things to fit my own meanings, here...

For example, Lilina is a character that you get to meet later on. Roy and Marth are SUPPOSED to live HUNDREDS of years apart- but I think that's dumb...

SOOO...I borrowed ideas from the first American Fire Emblem and morphed them a bit...

Besides, the Fire Emblem aspects are not important. Roy and Marth aren't really important, to be honest. The importance of characters like Link, Mario, and Sonic FAR surpass Roy and Marth.

Nana, even, is certainly more crucial than they are.

As for Link and Mario 'working together'...Later on you will see what I'm doing with this story, and I have a feeling you'll like it.

To summarize, Mario and Link don't just fight in Melee tournaments.

Mario lives on the planet Stellon. Neighboring Stellon is another planet called Hylia, and yet another named Mobius.

These three main locales are CORE to the fic. Though I will focus others like Corneria, when Fox McCloud's sister HOPS into things (*chortle* I guarantee you'll be surprised! ^_^) or Popstar (which I do in about Chapter 20 or so) these three are by far the most important.

If you REALLY want to read everything I've written so far RIGHT NOW, go to ff.net

Otherwise, just hang out and tune in and I bring you more for every reply I get.

You may sigh at the end of this Chapter, because of its lack of 'originality' and such...But I don't care.

AND GRAH DO I HATE THESE FILTERS...

When someone says "da**", it looks like they said "fu**", and all this crap...

I want my readers to SPECIFICALLY KNOW what the word is...

That's why you could go to FF.net, where there ISN'T a stupid filter...

~*~*~*~*~*

Chapter 9- Waves of the Heart

The light of morning pierced through the window slowly, crawling across his face inch by inch.

He grunted, squinted, and squirmed around his bed, his dark blue blanket being tossed off of his bare, smooth green skin.

He was sprawled on his back, his arms and legs stretched out as far as they could be.

A smiling pink face was staring at him from above, her right palm lifted to her mouth to prevent the sound of her giggles from escaping.

Her eyes were half open in a dreamy state, and her cheeks, which would normally be white, had a slight rosy tone to them.

Her soft, slender arm came down ever slowly to caress Yoshi's cheek, and she whispered, "Wake up," in a dreamy and cheery tone, her palm reluctantly removing itself from Yoshi's face.

A groggy moan erupted from Yoshi, and his eyes opened a bit, only to fall back down like rocks.

Tarts sighed and gave his large nose a swift smack, gentle enough not to really hurt, but harsh enough to wake him.

His eyes rapidly blinked a few times, and he sat up, yawning. His mouth opened wide, and Tarts backed away to give him room.

"...Ugh? Wha-?" he mumbled, scratching a section of his nose just above the nostrils.

"It's nine-thirty, Yoshi," Tarts announced softly as she turned to the windows.

She reached out her skinny arms and in one quick motion; the curtains had been opened, letting light pour into the darkened room.

"Ah!" Yoshi cried out, shielding his eyes from the penetrating light of dawn.

Tarts placed her hands on her hips for a moment, and then proceeded to tear the green creature's arms away from his face in a playful manner. "Oh, come on, now, you lazy-"

"Break it up," came a familiar voice from behind them.

Tarts jumped, a look of terror on her face for a split second.

Then it calmed and got even irritated when she realized whom it was.

"Fireball!" she scolded, her eyes tense. "Don't ever scare me like that again, you creep!!"

"Don't worry about HIM," Yoshi muttered groggily, yawning.

Tarts huffed, crossed her arms over her chest, and stood up off the bed, muttering, "I'll ALWAYS worry about Fireball...He'll never change..."

Fireball smirked. "**** right!" he declared in agreement. "And you'll never stop being a prissy little jerk, either." Tarts fumed at that comment, her fists clenching.

Yoshi sighed. It had only been mere moments from his awakening, and they were already at it. Perhaps something was going on between them that he knew nothing about. "Guys, let's try to act just a LITTLE mature today, what do ya say?" he suggested.

Fireball shrugged, while Tarts nodded, neither of them meeting eyes with the other. Tarts slowly let herself fall back to the bed, squirming around her short tail in such a manner that it just barely touched with the tip of Yoshi's. They had slept in the Twilight's Tulip Hotel, a pretty decent place located in Tulip Town, which lay a few mere miles east from Yoshina Village. Tulip Town was a quaint little place, yet it bustled with business some days. The populace of the town was about half-Yoshi, half-Fungiade. [Fuhn-jee-ad] (a.k.a. Toad) Yoshi, not really noticing this slight action, shook his head slowly, and hopped out of bed, tossing the sheets down. He would normally have been more considerate and made his bed properly, but his mind was on other other important things. Besides, there were maids that got paid to do that. He proceeded to slip on his boots carefully.

"Listen," he began, strapping his pack onto his shoulders briskly.

"Let's just eat breakfast quick, and then have a look around town. Maybe somebody can help us out." Fireball dully nodded, while Tarts sat on the cushion, staring at her feet in a kind of melancholy way, or so it seemed.

Perhaps she was worrying for their safety- running around all day really ached her tender toes, that was for sure. Or perhaps it was something more. Perhaps it had to do with her very spirit and heart; maybe something was missing.

~~~~~~~~~~

"OO-OH! Oh!" Her arms went crazy, waving around like they were on fire. "Look, look!" she cried out, stabbing her index finger through the air like a knife, pointing at a small, black tent off down the road a little ways.

The streets of the town were cobblestone, as most people didn't have automobiles, at least not on Yoshi's Island. Though the technology probably was possible for the residents of the Mushroom Kingdom, Princess Peach rarely allowed factories to be built. She believed they ruined the environment and were a waste when people could find better ways to get around.

They had devoured breakfast quite swiftly, and had been wandering around Tulip Town for about an hour now, finding a little this and little that.

So far, their only clue to finding another piece of this Eggshell was a small little Fungiade with blue splotches on his head.

"Mmm...Well, I saw this suspicious lookin' group of guys down the road 'bout thirty minutes ago. I tell ya, theys was pre-ty funny lookin'...Looked like they was waitin' for somebody. Next time I look theys was gone."

Yoshi had given him a humble thanks, and Tarts had bid him good day.

And so, here they were, meandering about the place, only to stumble upon a fortune teller's tent, which Tarts instantly felt driven to.

"It's only ten coins, Yoshi! Please?" She folded her hands before her chin, gave a pleading smile, and won Yoshi over with ease.

"All right, all right," he mumbled, pulling out ten golden coins from a small pocket on the front of his pack, which, of course, could carry a lot more than it seemed. "But be quick, ok?" he advised.

"We haven't got all day. For all we know, these guys are long gone by now, if they're even who we're looking for..."

As Tarts went skipping off to visit the teller, Yoshi crossed his arms on his chest and let out a sigh, tapping his foot slowly against the cobblestone street.

"Man, Yoshi, I swear, all someone has to do is give you those little puppy eyes, and you fall for it!" Fireball picked.

"At least I'm generous," Yoshi countered, leaving Fireball with no defense on his behalf.

"I mean, we can't go taking money from the royal reserves...The village needs that money right now, seeing as how they can't go anywhere," he explained. "Other people can come in and go out, but the actual residents can't..." he said with curiosity. He lightly tapped his chin with his finger as he pondered a bit more.

"What's really bugging me is why my parents are so intent on not telling everyone...I mean, if the Island really IS in danger, why would he not want anybody to know about it...?"

Fireball shrugged and answered, "I hate to admit it, but I'll bet your dad knows what he's doing..." Yoshi nodded slowly, his eyes serious and distant.

"Yes...I just wish that I knew what I was doing..."

~~~~~~~~~~

The scents of aroma candles flooded Tarts' nose like a tidal wave. She may not be like the average Yoshi in speed, but her nose was still quite acute, and she almost felt like passing out for a moment.

She coughed a bit, waving her dainty hand before her face to fan away the smell long enough for her to get used to it.

Having overcome the strong odor, she proceeded through the doorway of dark beads, a clacking, rattling sound following her as she entered.

There was a table, a small one, and two black, wooden chairs. One of these was empty, the one closest to her. The opposite one was occupied by an odd and mysterious-looking lady. She wore a dark cloak, and a hood over her head. Two long locks of soft blonde hair flowed out from the sides of her head, dangling out of the hood. A third puff of gold came out to act as bangs. Her face appeared pitch black, and all one could see of them was a pair of glowing yellow eyes. She wore a small gem on her chest, attached to her suit, and she had small, black hands with skinny fingers. Lastly, her shoes poked out from her cloak as long and clown-like boots.

The room was kind of dark, and the source of light in the chamber was a glowing pyramid of glass that hovered inches above the small table between the two chairs.

"Greetings, young Yoshi," a soothing voice greeted.

Tarts suddenly jumped at the sound- it had been so eerily quiet before. "I have been expecting you..." she added.

Tarts nodded solemnly. Despite that this phrase would normally have a dull 'cheesiness' to it, Tarts somehow felt that this was genuine.

"You are the one called 'Tarts,' are you not?" she confirmed. Tarts' face kept its seriousness as she nodded, and she was not shocked at all by this stranger knowing her name.

In the Mushroom Kingdom, fortune tellers were not nearly looked at the same way. They were taken a lot more seriously than in American Earth. Of course, some still doubted them, but most recognized their abilities.

The teller paused a moment, resting her palms on the table gently.

"I am the great reader, Merluvee. It is a pleasure to meet your acquaintance, Tarts. I sense you are here for my guidance, of course. I sense bright Gold in your future. But, I also see gold in mine..." It took Tarts a second or so to realize what she meant by this exactly, but when it occurred to her, she reached for the ten golden coins she had been carrying and slid them across the ebony table, Merluvee's hands scooping them up slowly. The gold circles disappeared within her cloak, and she went on to read Tarts' fortune- or misfortune, for that matter.

"Ah...My, my..." she murmured, glaring Tarts down coolly.

"That necklace you wear," she noted, gazing at it in awe. "I sense it is very dear to you. Very symbolic and unique..."

Tarts blushed slightly, and told her in a small voice, "Yes. My friend's mother gave it to me." She was pawing it, rubbing her fingers against its smooth, green surface.

"The Queen, you mean?" Merluvee made sure.

Tarts looked back up slowly and nodded, then went back to stroking the jewel.

"It was...an engagement gift. From the King. It's been around for years, and she just...decided to give it to me..." Tarts muttered in awe, her eyes glistening.

Merluvee stared at the gem, struck by it herself. "I see that she holds a great trust in you. A faith that you do not understand. It is beyond my vision, but I believe that you should keep that jewel with you at all costs. It is very symbolic and very special..."

Merluvee then realized she had slightly strayed off topic.

"My, my..." she mumbled. "I apologize for my ranting...It is time I read your future, isn't it...?"

She closed her eyes, spread her arms out, and started to chant a strange ritual in a moan-like tone. "Waaa-----!!" she gasped out. "Twinkle light! Twinkle bright!!" she cried in whisper, her hands slowly rising. "Waaa----pang! Woooo----poy!! Wa, waa, waaaa...!!!" Each sound was accompanied by a gentle waving of the hands through the air. The glass pyramid hovering over Merluvee's table began to glow a bright white and shoot out red sparkles. "Uh huh...!" She nodded, almost in dance. "Oh, yeah!" She dramatically reached out her palms to the skies, and uttered, "Master Star! Fill my eyes with the light of that which I seek!"

After a moment of intense light and whirring, it all died down, and Tarts' quickened heartbeat calmed. Merluvee had returned to her seat, her eyes closed, her body appeared as if she were in deep meditation.

"I see a broken shard of Gold..." she murmured dully.

"A piece of a greater entity. An entity you seek to return to its original state..." Her voice was slowly gaining interest.

"And now I see...Turtles...Koopas. Koopa Troopas. Many of them. I see a battle. No, I see two. I see two battles. A band of strange Koopa Troopas adorning odd costumes...They are trying to intercept your Gold treasure...They will meet with another of their kind. Today. On Wise Man's Meadow, not far east of here...That is where you must go. Your path will become clear after that..."

And then, her eyes snapped open in a jolt.

"And that is all I can tell you," she finished with a totally different tone than before. A more cheerful one.

Tarts was awe-struck, her eyes narrow and wondrous.

After a minute of absorbing it all in, she answered, "Thank you, Miss Merluvee." The wizard nodded, and muttered, "It is my pleasure, darling..."

Tarts slowly crept from her seat in a daze, and stepped out through the shining beads elegantly and quietly.

~~~~~~~~~~

The refreshing air cleansed his lungs and the breeze gave him new bursts of optimism. He sucked in a fresh batch and exhaled, relaxed.

"So...What did she say, then?" Yoshi finally questioned, his eyes on the grass before him. They had strayed from the dirt pathway to reach Wise Man's Meadow, and the grass here was long and cushy. It swayed too and fro in the early afternoon zephyrs like waves in the ocean.

"Well," Tarts began, collecting her thoughts. "She said that we need to go this way, because we'll find the Gold we're looking for."

"A Golden Shell piece, ya mean?" Yoshi checked, his eyes turning to her.

"Mm, hm," she nodded, confident in the lady's words.

"Oyy..." Fireball groaned.

"I've heard the only good thing about Merluvee is looking at her," he announced bluntly.

Tarts rolled her eyes in the way that she always seemed to do whenever he said something, and continued.

"Anyway, we're supposed to meet a Koopa Troopa here who has it. She said that there'd be a fight, and-" "Big surprise," Yoshi interrupted.

"-and that we'd know where to go when the time came."

Her statement concluded, Tarts let out a deep breath and felt a pang of worry.

She'd been bombarded the last time they'd fought a major battle. Minor little pests were no worry, for the most part, but she felt kind of useless. Her attack strength lacked, as did her defenses, and her speed. And she barely knew any magic abilities. One couldn't just shout out a name willy nilly. One had to have earned it through bonding with Nature and unlocking the powers within their own heart.

But Tarts had a lot of stamina, and she knew if only she worked on her magic skills more, she'd be very useful.

Her thoughts were cut apart as Yoshi pointed out a large red shape in the distance, resting on the top of a large hill within the meadow. This large, grassy hill was the 'Wise Man,' and this was his domain. He seemed to like being alone to think without distraction.

But as they drew nearer, the red object appeared to vanish over the side of the hill opposite them. "Hm...What's got him?" Fireball mumbled.

~~~~~~~~~~

"This is crazy! We've been here searching for, what, fifteen minutes? He's GONE, Yoshi!" Fireball growled out.

"We lost him!"

Yoshi was confused. How did you lose an enormous red blob in a huge, grassy field? And a relatively flat one, at that?

"Rrr...Shock!!" Tarts cried, sending an orb of pink electricity into a small attacking Goomba, which exploded in small burst of multi-colored particles.

"Well, I'm not the one who led us here!" Yoshi grumbled irritably, dusting off his arms from the minor scrap. Tarts felt a little shame, but this was where she had been led. She was confident that they'd find out where to go.

Just then, from nowhere it seemed, a voice penetrated the lazy afternoon from behind them. "WHOA!! MAH HOMIES!!" it called out merrily.

The three of them spun around to face the top of Wise Man Hill, and there, waving to them, stood a familiar figure.

A purple Yoshi with a lazy kind of posture, who wore black shades across his face and a collar around his neck. The red leather collar projected out white spikes. He wore no saddle and his boots were missing the front ends. Purple type Yoshies tended to have sharper spikes on their heads and claws on their toes. There were orange spines lining the back of his head, and the one closest to his eyes poked up very steeply and curved backward.

His red shoes had been custom made to let his sharp claws hang out freely, the way he liked it. Tarts let out a dull whimper, and Fireball frowned. Yoshi, on the other hand, smiled nervously, waved back with both arms, and responded, "Hey, Boshi!! What's up?!"

~~~~~~~~~~

"Oh, yea, yea. You bet, yo. I been all over, man." Yoshi nodded, amused.

Tarts and Fireball were sort of cowering away from the conversation. They never really liked Boshi, but they didn't know him as well as Yoshi did.

Boshi was very misunderstood. He was their age, born on the same day as they were. He'd helped saved the Super Happy Tree, but as he grew older, he strayed farther from being such a little angel. He'd been involved in violence and drugs already in his life. Gangs, beatings, you name it- he'd been there. But one day, his life changed. No one really knew why at that time, but he turned a new leaf. He started to go around warning people not to act the way he used to, especially at this time in their life. Yoshi had befriended him, but most of his friends remained to be convinced that his change was genuine.

"Really?" Yoshi said, his brows lifting.

"How'd you get them?"

Boshi smiled slyly, and Tarts muttered to Fireball in a very careful manner, "Probably stole 'em, or sold drugs for 'em..."

"Well, I tol' ya. I been around. Been working hard fo' deez, lemme tell ya. Dey ain't common." Yoshi nodded, wishing for a better explanation.

"See, I been in the business of trading lately. Whenever I find summin' I sell it for deez. People who got the cash buy. If you got any, I could sell you some coo' stuff. I got it all stashed 'way in my account at Yoshina."

"Oh. Well, how do ya sell it to people if you travel so much, then?" Yoshi wondered.

"Oh! Well, see, Yosh, mah homie, I gots me one o' dem packs you have."

Yoshi paused, then realized that he meant one similar to the backpack he wore. "Where'd you get it?" Yoshi asked curiously.

"Well, seems mah ol' man got one given to 'im by some ol' coot who traveled by through town da one time. So, he gives it ta me, dig?"

Yoshi nodded, glancing at the big golden coins in Boshi's hands. He had a stack of them ten high. They were as big as his palm in area. On one side, a picture of a smiling Yoshi was carved. On the other side was an engraving of a serious Dragon. They were called Dragon Coins.

"So...What do ya want 'em for?" Yoshi pondered, pointing.

Boshi smiled and looked at Yoshi over his shades, his head leaning downward. "Not sho, yet. All I knows izzat it'll be worth it later."

Tarts' voice piped up, with a slight sense of impatience.

"Hey, Yoshi, are we going or what? We can't just sit here and wait for that guy to run away." Yoshi's eyes snapped open.

"Oh! That's right! Boshi, did you see a big red...thing running off somewhere?"

Boshi had been coming west at the time, and the creature had to have passed by him. "Well, sho- whatuvit?" he mumbled.

"Well, he kinda..." Yoshi remembered that his father didn't want him breathing much detail about the matter. If Boshi didn't know by now, it was his problem.

"We need to see 'im. He has something we want." Boshi nodded, straightening his shades.

"Yea, I saw 'im go runnin' down east to the beach down 'ere. Can't see how da **** ya miss a guy like dat. Huge!"

Yoshi nodded hurriedly, and said, "Yea, thanks. Listen, sorry, but we gotta go, OK?" "A'ight, whateva."

After Yoshi motioned his two allies to follow him, they dashed off ahead, leaving him to wave good-bye to Boshi.

"Peace, yo!" Boshi cried out as they separated, raising his fist to his chest in some sort of salute.

~~~~~~~~~~

The grasses of the meadows slowly vanished, starting to become much more space as golden-brown sands replaced them.

The crashing of waves against the shore became much more clear, and Tarts began to feel relaxed and dreamy as she walked onward. The waves had a tendency to calm her down, no matter what. She had no idea why, but she loved to sit on a beach and enjoy the sound of nature at work.

~*~*~*~*

Just the two of them, bare footed, their toes tickling each other's in the wet sand. The waves barely lapping at them. The sun was shining down in a cool orange, and it reflected off the sea gracefully. Their eyes twinkled with the visions of the ocean at sunset. The sound of giggles echoed, and their eyes met after a few moments, half open in a dazed kind of way. They both smiled at each other passionately, and leaned against each other, hand in hand. They listened to the sound of the everlasting waves splash into the shores off into the night. This was her idea of an evening well spent. Just the two of them. Tarts and Yoshi.

~*~*~*~*~*

At least, that was a dream of hers. She had been reminded of this particular dream by listening to the waves at that time, but she had seen this dream the night before. One would think that she wouldn't be able to sleep at all, but in truth, she'd slept very well. She felt this dream had to have significance. A telling of things to come? She certainly HOPED so. Her mind acting out its fantasy? Very likely. Or perhaps it was the Stars trying to speak to her without actually disturbing her? She had no idea for sure.

One thing she positively knew was that she felt very strange when she thought about Yoshi nowadays. It had been this way for a while, and she rarely let it be known. Mostly because she didn't even know what she was actually feeling. It was something she had never known before in her life.

~~~~~~~~~~

It was something new. And very hard to describe. Her gut would get queasy if she thought about him for too long, which was very often. She could never EVER completely erase him from her thoughts. It was as if he were a looming cloud, governing over the rest of her brain, always there, no matter what happened.

She would find herself fretting about whether Yoshi felt the same way- did he know how she felt? Did he worry so much about HER, she did him? Or was it a feeling known only to herself? Was it...LOVE...?

Whenever she found herself raising up that question, she'd dismiss it. It couldn't be LOVE- she wasn't old enough for LOVE. At least not THIS kind. She loved her mother, her father, Yoshi, Snoball, even Fireball. She loved the whole village (almost), but this was very different indeed. It certainly was not based on physical attraction. She certainly couldn't deny the fact she found him attractive, but...It was far more than that. She cared about him deeply, far beyond looks. Or was this her deep friendship toward Yoshi? She couldn't even come up with a proper word for it.

It was indefinable, from what she could gather.

So whenever it was brought up, she would stray from the topic as far as she could. But it was certainly known to everyone, as stated earlier. Her strange feeling, that is. But she knew they didn't understand well. And if anyone didn't understand, it was Yoshi. For he seemed to either deny its presence, or know not that it existed.

This only stressed her heart further. She knew she would find out the truth, some day. And she knew, without a doubt, that it would be soon.

"Tarts!!" Yoshi's voice was irritable and tired, despite the time of day- about noon. "What is UP with you?! Wake up!!"

He was at the point of waving before her face, and very close to smacking her, but she came to. Fireball was snickering and shaking his head.

"Oyyy...Here we go again," he mumbled.

"What?" Yoshi murmured, as Tarts eyes snapped into focus.

"Sorry," her voice shyly muttered, looking downward, avoiding the green one's stare as his head turned back.

"You know how I am at the beach sometimes..."

Yoshi sighed and nodded. Her day dreaming near the sea was not uncommon.

The sea was vast and wide, filled with life. Whether it be a gigantic Bloober attacking a pirate ship, a pelican scooping up a Cheep-Cheep, or even a fretful clownfish named Marlin scouring the ocean for his lost son- one thing was certain: the sea was life. It gave life- if the sea did not exist, life itself might not exist. Although Stellon was not Earth, its surface was covered with about the same amount of water, and about the same amount of life.

"Yea, I know...I just...I got worried. I guess I forgot," Yoshi mumbled, shifting himself back toward the sand before them. Large walls of gray rock were clear, as were various palm trees and the like.

After a little more hiking, they finally reached it- the trademark spot of the whole beach. Very near the shores, a structure jutted out of the bright particles of crushed stones.

It appeared to be shaped into a recognizable pose. Whether it was Stellon made, (this might be called 'man-made' on earth, but not all Stellon residents are humans, this is certain) created by some freak coincidence of Nature, or sculpted by the Stars- it was unique.

The hard, pointed edges implied the presence of a great stone Koopa Troopa, resting on all fours. A small red sign sat below it- two arrows, one pointing left, one right. Various ramps lined the beach here and there, colored orange and yellow in stripe pattern.

This was Koopa Troopa Beach, a popular racing course for go-karts. It had once been well used by Mario and his friends, but as times changed, so did their preference of racing tracks.

But Koopa Rock was undoubtedly the spectacle of the place. To the Koopa's left, opposite the ocean, lay a wall of stone, and beyond this was the beginning of the plains of grass. They had rounded the rock walls and were facing it at that moment.

"Wow..." Tarts murmured in awe.

"I haven't been here for a couple of years. It seems so much...bigger..." Yoshi nodded, smiling for what might have been the first time that day.

"Yea, I know...It was probably back when you were cheering me on in the derbies we had here a while back." Fireball grinned. "Yep...I can't believe they didn't let me join in..." he whined.

Yoshi shook his head. Tarts answered his 'question' of sorts.

"That's because Yoshi's a lot more famous than you..." she pointed out matter-of-factly. "Psh. Whatever," he grumbled, tossing his arms.

"Anyway, where's this guy we're lookin' for? I still don't see how the **** we coulda lost him so easily...I mean, a guy THAT BIG couldn't go running off too far for too long..."

"I KNOW," Yoshi agreed in frustration.

Then, a voice piped up coolly from behind. It was smooth and flowing, just like the ocean water itself. The voice bellowed out loud and proudly, as it was slightly distant.

"Ya wouldn't happen to be lookin' for our friend, would ya?" it shouted, and one could tell that its owner was suspicious.

The three of them spun around to come face-to-face with a group of characters. They were all Koopas. Four of them.

They were odd in the fact that they had odd bandanas tied across their heads, covering the forehead. Each one had a different color. They adorned rubber boots and gloves to match, and their shells did so as well. The one that had spoken out was red, and behind him stood a yellow, a green, and a black. They all had a calm, collected look upon them, almost identical from turtle to turtle, and they were all serious.

"...Who're YOU?" Yoshi demanded.

"And what are you doing here? Do you have any idea who're we talking about?"

His eyes were glued to them, while Tarts glanced worriedly at Yoshi's glare.

"Cue intro," the red one muttered, so as the Yoshies couldn't hear.

One by one, they lined up, green in front, then yellow, then black, and lastly, the red. The black one jumped down to his knees, bending over and holding himself up with his feet and arms. Next, the yellow hopped to the left of the black and pointed out his right index finger at them. The black followed up by performing a mirror image of what the last had done, on the opposite side of the black creature. Lastly came the red. He jumped on top of the black one's shoulders, turned to one side, and jabbed out his index finger at the opposition. It glistened in an odd way, a sparkle of light beaming off of it.

"We are here to meet a friend who has a special delivery for us," he announced boldly, keeping his finger out.

"And we have been warned about YOU. You're in our way, and we don't like people who get in our way. We are the coolest of cool," he cried with an arrogant nod.

"We are the KOOPA BROTHERS!!"

~*~*~*~*~*

I hope Paper Mario fans are happy...-_-'

Anyway, catch ya around for 10...

Yea, things lag a bit, but by Chapter 20-ish you'll be freakin' out, methinks.
 

ZeekeXIV

Smash Journeyman
Joined
Apr 26, 2004
Messages
229
Location
On the Edge
Cool chapter. I have no idea who the Koopa Brothers are. I never played Paper Mario...

I figured you had this story written out in FanFic.net. I think you hinted that ealier. I think I'm just gonna stick around here and wait for the updates.

Suspense is cool!
 

MewtwoMaster2002

ミュウツーマスター2002
Joined
Dec 19, 2002
Messages
6,148
Location
Japan
3DS FC
2922-0496-2962
Great update. I have never heard of them because I never played Paper Mario.
 

Destiny Smasher

BRoomer
BRoomer
Joined
Jan 10, 2002
Messages
2,298
Location
Searching for my own way of the ninja.
Chapter 10

Paper Mario is an EXCELLENT GAME. Try it some time. It's sequel looks to even more kick-@$$.

This one's a bit short. Blech, awful fight scene...They get better.

~*~*~*~*~*

Chapter 10- Beach Brawl

The light of the midday sun gleamed across the red Troopa's bright smile, a wicked sort of smile. It was arrogance blended with a sort of superiority, and Yoshi was certainly not willing to back down from it.

"What do you mean?" he demanded, knowing for certain that this group of show-offs knew about the Golden Egg.

"Just like I said, ya little green twerp!" 'Red' snapped back.

"Yea! We're just here waitin' for somebody," Black innocently added from underneath Red's feet, his shell supporting his brother well.

"And we have a feelin' that you punks are wantin' to cause trouble..." Yellow noted slowly, his eyes narrowing.

"Which means," stated Green, "that we're gonna have to ask ya to LEAVE!"

Yoshi shook his head in a half sigh. Of course, Big surprise. A fight. It always had to be that way, didn't it?

"Why should we? WE have a feeling that YOU are trying to take something that belongs to US!"

The Koopas eyes gleamed. Red chuckled under his breath. He dropped his fancy pose and stood casually, his arms folded over his chest.

"Sooo...You sayin' that you wanna bring it with US?"

"Oh, just shut UP, you filthy, arrogant...morons!!" Tarts spat out suddenly, waving her arms in frustration.

The four of them paused in shock.

"Yo, greeny, you better keep that little ***** of yours quiet," Black announced grimly. "We don't take crap from girls, that's fer sure."

Tarts realized this was a weakness to their 'coolness,' and so she continued to spit out insults at them, shooting her tongue out to them, smacking Red right in the face. He stumbled a bit, caught off guard, and slipped off of his Black sibling's shell.

The remaining three all stood in a serious pose, balling their fists as Red recovered from the minor fall.

"That just does it. Ain't NOBODY- ESPECIALLY some prissy pink Yoshi-" Tarts' face turned beet red at that, "-gonna be puttin' down our life, our essential coolness...This calls for extra measures..."

"I hear that, Red," Yellow said with a smirk, pounding one fist into the palm of the other hand.

Fireball shot Tarts a dull glare, and she defended, "Well, if we're gonna fight 'em ANYWAY, I might as well have some fun about it...Right?"

Yoshi shook his head, trying to focus more on the approaching Koopa Troopas.

"All right, then," he muttered, hunching over a bit. "Time to have some fun, right?"

!!!!!

"Hehe...So, you wussy little kids think you got what it takes to beat us, just because you're TALLER?" Red jeered, his fists before him as he inched toward the three. "Your little girlfriend there is in for a beating," Yellow added briskly. Yoshi let out a snarl of sorts.

"Don't you wish..." he growled. Tarts' heart skipped a beat to see Yoshi acting so protective. But she couldn't tell what kind of protectiveness it was.

"Guys, let's do this," Red commanded, nodding his head to the side.

Black instantly leaped down on all fours. Then, Green hopped on top of him. But he, too dropped to all fours. Yellow was next, who mimicked the others, and lastly, Red made a high hop to land on Yellow. He stood on two legs and glared at them with a confident look.

The three Yoshies were caught slightly off guard by this odd maneuver, but Fireball was certainly not afraid to try out his new weapon on these freaks. He summoned the Flame Pistol to his hands, the new weapon he had gotten from Albine, and pointed it at the bottom most Troopa.

Upon pulling the trigger, his arm received a thrust backward, and a ball of fire came soaring from its barrel, smacking right into Black's face. The Koopa was ready for the blow, and it merely left a slight mark on his face, barely fazing him.

Yoshi took his turn, and his new wooden mallet was summoned to his hands in a puff of green smoke. After brandishing it twice, he lunged at the tower of Troopas, swinging it in a vertical motion. This proved to be foolhardy, however, as all it did was teeter them slightly. Tarts decided that she'd give it a try before anyone else had time to act. She pointed out her right index finger- the one upon which the Zap Ring rested. She'd been wearing it ever since she had received it, not even removing it to go to sleep.

It glowed a neon pink for a quick moment, and a small burst of pink lightning jumping from the jewel and heading straight into the Red Koopa's face. But like the attacks before, it only caused slight damage, and now the Koopas were ready for their own attack.

"Super Spinner, guys..." the Red, who was clearly the leader, muttered. He pointed quickly at Tarts, and it seemed they were out for revenge on the insults she had shot them earlier.

The tower of Troopas turned into a twister of spinning shells, the colors becoming blurry lines. After twirling atop each other in an amazing manner, the force of their hard bodies went swirling across the beach, kicking up sand all over. Fireball instinctively dived out of the way, but Yoshi tried to intercept the attack by tossing his hammer in a counterattack. But the hammer missed by a few feet, and went whizzing through the air, landing with a 'pfft' into the golden ground.

"Nice aim!" Fireball snapped.

"So sue me!" Yoshi cried back in frustration.

Tarts had tried to dodge the attack by hopping to the side, but it was too swift, and knocked into her side, reeling her over to the ground. But she was determined not to give up so easily this time.

She scrambled to her feet, and readied to send out a spell.

Fireball pelted a Flame ability at the tower just as it slowed to a stop. The Red Troopa jumped out of his shell and pointed at the Yoshies in that mocking way, and his index twinkled again.

"Wah!" he cried out, as a Flame smacked his face. The attack was slightly more powerful than Fireball's Flame Pistol's attacks, but it consumed a bit of Magic power in the process.

Tarts eyes were cold and fierce as she called upon a Pulse attack. She jutted out her hands like knives, and rings of pink electricity came soaring from her fingertips, increasing in size as they went sailing through the air.

The Koopa Brothers were all hit by the attacks force, and their bodies twitched from its impact.

But this attack didn't actually cause damage. It was still a minor spell, but tried to paralyze the foes using magnetic waves. The ability had worked, and the tower of four Troopas tumbled apart, shells crashing into shells. A loud, rapid knocking sound ringing out, accompanied by groans and grunts.

Yoshi stood, dumbfounded and impressed. Good strategy...

And now that the Troopas were temporarily our of order, he found it the perfect time to perform a good Stomp attack. So he nimbly hopped into the air, kicking up a bit of sand into the early afternoon as he did so.

His weight came smashing down onto the bare stomach of the Yellow Troopa. His brown boots crushed into his foe, knocking any air totally out of him.

As the turtle's body recoiled back slightly, Yoshi used the countering force to give him a boost into the air, and after spinning a bit, he slammed into the soft ground, almost stumbling down as he did so.

Such a simple ability, and yet it had proved to be effective. The Yellow Koopa appeared to be out of commission.

Fireball knew that now was the time to act, and so he sent another Flame spell plummeting into the Green Troopa's face. This time it was much more effective, and Green's face winced in pain, but his body had yet to regain mobilization. Tarts was on her toes and already prepared to throw out another attack.

She reeled back her fist behind her, like a pitcher ready to toss, and as her fingers spread out in one swift motion, a ball of seething electricity was revealed. Pink lines of lightning jumped around her hand as she swung her arm forth, chucking the neon ball of energy at the Green Koopa Brother.

This attack sent his body flipping a little, so he landed on his gut. When he refused to move, Tarts knew that he, too, was down and out.

By now, Red and Black were stumbling to their feet, preparing to initialize their next tactic.

"Dark Orb..." the Black one murmured, as he seemed to mimic Tarts' last move with a Dark attribute one. Swirls of smoke trailed behind the pitch- black ball as it came crashing into Yoshi's large nose. Yoshi almost cried out from the dark force, but absorbed it quite well.

"Yoshi!!" Tarts cried, half of her tone in worry, the other half concerned about her opponents. "I need boost!"

Yoshi understood precisely what she had meant. Magic abilities consumed power, of course, and that power had to be replenished. So he quickly snagged a small jar from his pack and chucked it at her. It was blue and had a bright yellow substance within. Tarts caught the container with ease, popped off the cork top, and guzzled down the stuff. It was Honey Syrup, a food well-known in the Mushroom Kingdom for restoring magical strength.

The Red Koopa Brother smacked into Yoshi's legs with a forceful attack. He'd jumped into his shell and launched his body at Yoshi, a whirling sound following him. His move had tripped the green creature, and as the leader of the three of them scrambled back up, his red friend Fireball had lobbed a ball of heat from his Flame Pistol at the Black Troopa, damaging him moderately.

As the Red turtle twirled out of his hard, shiny shell, he glared at Tarts with a sneaky smile.

Tarts shot him a disgusted stare back, and called out to use another Shock on him. Red wasn't quick enough to dodge the blow, and found himself stuck on his back, struggling to get back up.

Yoshi grinned and made a famous green-spotted egg appear in his palm with a 'pop.' He aimed with care, and let the little bomb fly. The normal-element strike bombarded into Red's stomach, and he cried out in agony as his body was flung a few feet back from the blast.

Yoshi spun around to see that Fireball had disposed of the Black Troopa with no trouble, and he felt the rush of adrenaline within him slow down.

Breathing heavily, he slowly turned to face his beaten foe, who was barely conscious. "*******..." the turtle spat out in a cough.

Yoshi smirked at him smugly. "Yea, well, now we'll be takin' back what's ours..." He extended his palm, ready to receive his reward.

"We don't have it," the Red sputtered out forcefully.

Yoshi's eyes widened.

"What? What do you mean?!" he demanded, his voice rising.

The Red smirked back in an odd way, and Yoshi knew that his work had been in vain.

"I don't know who you think you are..." Red breathed out. "But you've got a beating coming if you try messing with our new boss..."

Yoshi's brow lifted. "Boss...? Wh...Who?!" he cried out, grabbing the scaly creature by the neck. Moments of tension passed, and there was no response. "Gah.." Yoshi growled, slamming his body to the ground irritably.

Tarts sighed deeply as she gazed into the frustrated eyes of her long time friend. It hurt to see him hurt, that was for sure. She whimpered at the though of the bruise he had gotten on his left leg from the Red Troopa's earlier ambush.

"He's out like a light," Yoshi concluded, spitting out a small amount of grain he'd accumulated from his fall.

With a heavy huff, he kicked up a bit of sand into the air and frowned at the ocean for a moment.

After what seemed like small eternity of serenity, Yoshi felt a gentle presence at his side. He glanced over to see Tarts grasping a wooden mallet in her hands quietly, staring at him with a sympathetic smile.

"Uh...You dropped it," she muttered, handing it to him slowly.

He returned the smile, now remembering that his friends were here. "Thanks," he mumbled out, feeling a bit embarrassed now.

He got a rough slap on his shoulder from Fireball, who had a mile-long grin on his face.

"Woo!! Yea, baby! That was a little taste of combat, and I loved it, man!" He started to do an odd little celebration dance, and Yoshi, still smiling, shook his head.

"Fireball, they didn't have it," he grumbled out.

Fireball continued his jig, the statement having very little effect.

"Do I look like I care?" he asked, glancing at his friend.

"Uhh...No," Yoshi admitted, confused.

"Good! All I care about is kickin' ***, all right?! So you lead me to the ***, and I'll KICK IT!!"

Tarts couldn't help but let out a small snicker. She felt very satisfied herself. She'd really contributed, hadn't she?

Yoshi, as if reading her thoughts, murmured out, "Man, Tarts...You rocked back there..." She blushed slightly, smiled, and said, "Yea? Well, I'll bet those guys will think before taking US on again. You certainly weren't bad yourself."

Yoshi nodded in agreement. They had made a fairy good team. But...The whole team was far from complete...The rest of Yoshi friends were lost somewhere out there, and now that he thought of his friends, he had to think of them. He hoped they were still all right. They just had to hang in there.

Then Yoshi came to a realization. Everything that the fortune teller had told his friend had come true. So, he theorized, it certainly couldn't hurt to go and pay another visit to her. Who knew what she'd tell them? Who was this strange red creature they'd seen? He wasn't the Red Koopa Brother...No, he was far bigger...Where had he gone? How had he disappeared so quickly out in a relatively flat, open field...? These questions yearned for answers, and this Merluvee person very well might be able to find them.

The only sound that could be heard for the next couple of minutes was the gentle splashing of the waves against the shore's end. He let himself become the ocean for a moment, and felt what Tarts felt whenever she was around it.

He then realized that he wanted to be like the ocean. Brimming with life and energy. Softly sloshing and swaying one moment, and careening down in a fierce tidal wave the next.
 

ZeekeXIV

Smash Journeyman
Joined
Apr 26, 2004
Messages
229
Location
On the Edge
This update wasn't bad at all! It's great to see an easy battle every once in a while. Not every fight can't be an epic struggle for victory.

Hey, can you do me a favor? Check out my fic sometime. The link is in my signature. Don't expect A+ material. The last story I actually sat down and took time of write was in the 10th grade (a long-a** time ago). I think it's going pretty good and MewtwoMaster (my only weekly reader) seems to think so too.

Is there a solid schedule to your updates? Like do you update everyday, or every other day, or just when you have a chance? Just wondering...
 

MewtwoMaster2002

ミュウツーマスター2002
Joined
Dec 19, 2002
Messages
6,148
Location
Japan
3DS FC
2922-0496-2962
Great update. So they are going to seek for more help huh?

ZeekeXIV: DS already has most of the updates for this. He only updates when he has the chance and spends a lot of time doing it. He doesn't have a schedule. Oh and I don't think the mods will like people to advertise their fics in a post so don't do it. DS only reads fics that he thinks he should read so even if he DID see my advertisement for mines in my sig he doesn't read it.

Hmm...I wonder who that huge fat red guy is...
 

Destiny Smasher

BRoomer
BRoomer
Joined
Jan 10, 2002
Messages
2,298
Location
Searching for my own way of the ninja.
Big, red, fat guy?

Yea, he's a Koopa Troopa, as I believed I said. Again, another cameo from Paper Mario. The Axem Rangers were from Mario RPG, by the way.

You'll get to see the Axem Rangers and the Koopa Brothers again, I assure you. Just not for a LONG while.

As for reading other fics...

'ZeekeXIV: DS already has most of the updates for this. He only updates when he has the chance and spends a lot of time doing it. He doesn't have a schedule. Oh and I don't think the mods will like people to advertise their fics in a post so don't do it. DS only reads fics that he thinks he should read so even if he DID see my advertisement for mines in my sig he doesn't read it.'

You seem a bit hostile, 2002. There's no need to get worked up, this IS my thread, and I don't mind.

Just because I see an ad, doesn't mean I'll read it. *shrug* If someone ASKS me, I can never promise, but I can TRY to look into the matter.

As for my schedule, you don't know. I DO have a scehdule, I follow it almost evey day. I don't spend a lot of time updating, either. MAYBE an hour a day trying to write, and when I DO, I often don't get much accomplished.

As for THIS fic, I update every time there's a reply and I get on.

I'll be able to do that up until about Chapter 40.

If you like THIS fic, Zeeke, you should look into my others. They're all part of the same story-network, ya know. Those two just take place far after where we are...

Well, really, it's only a week or two after, but it takes a while to write through that period of time with all the characters I have here.

OH!

Right, then.

~*~*~*~*~*

Chapter 11- Inner Strength
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
"That time has come again, folks!! All of your favorites, right here! One night. One winner. One incredible tournament!!"

"You got that right, Jim. I've never seen so many different people all at sea like this before..."

"Well, Larry, when you take into consideration where we ARE, it shouldn't come as a surprise!"

"Right you are, Jim. Greetings, viewers, from the H.S.S.!! This is our first ever Melee tournament to be televised from this place. Today's tournament is being sponsered by the H.S.S staff. This sleek beauty is my idea of innovation!"

"Can't argue there. The H.S.S. was designed for two things- accomodating passengers for oversea travel, and entertainment! This sea-faring dome sails across the sea, bringing people to their desinations, through the course of one day!! But instead of sitting around like a potato on deck, you get to watch some good sporting events! Whether it's a soccer game, a football duel, a dirt-biek race, a Pokemon battle, or even a Melee Tournament, the H.S.S. refuses to disappoint!"

"So the next time you're planning on traversing waters, check out where the H.S.S. is heading next in your local newspaper!"

"Ah, yes. But all shameless advertising aside, we've got a show for ya that promises to please tonight! The League of Smashers is about to have their 57 official Melee Tournament, and, as always, you just can't miss it!"

The atmosphere was loud and wild. People were eagerly yapping and yelling, staring in awe at the large, metallic platform that was hitched up into the air. It was a large rectangle, measuring about thirty yards in length. It had an emerald green tint to it, with balck outlines on its edges, similar to that of the Pokemon Stadiun in Vermillion, Kanto. Its sleek, silver base was fortified and thick- a large pole that poked up through the bottom of the enormous vessel, about fifty feet into the air. Along the black floor of the center of this large, ocean-going arena, a team of multi-racial people (Fungiades, Troopas, and Nomadimice) was fitting large, orange padding along the ground snugly.

Along the outside of the arena, just before the thousands of cushioned seats, a gigantic plastic wall that was see-through was sliding into place, being moved by a machine. These precautions were being taken place because participants in Melee bouts tended to be sent just about everywhere. The sky above was covered by a tough plastic dome that could make a person feel puny. Up in the sky, the midday sun shone brightly through the dome, down into the people below. Of course, the dome was built with such materials that it let light in, but not too much, and not dangerous rays.

At either side of the stadium rested two gigantic teleivision screens, and each one was blasting out images of various advertising campaigns.
One read 'Drink Kero-Kero Cola! The drink that gets around!' and showed a picture of a glass bottle of green-colored soda. Another advertised for 'Jammin' Jelly,' another for 'Gadd Lights,' and yet another for the Toad Town Post Office.

Up high, dwarfing many of the viewers in this massive place in heaight, was a glass booth. It faced the rectangular platform from the wide side, so the two within it could see all the action. It rested just below one of the towering TV's. A small table sat, with two chairs. The dark maroon room held within it a pair of announcers. One was a tie-wearing Gobon named Jim, a green, shelled creature with beady black eyes, big lips and a bigger mouth. The other was Larry, a Fungiade with a black vest, red tie, and a blue top dotted with a ton of white freckle-like spots. Their conversation continued on into the booming atmosphere, and a Lakitu served as a cameraman. Wielding his camera right up to his eyes, he floated on his puffy cloud right in front of the two, just inside the room.

"So true, Jim, so true. Unfortunately, we're missing out on some of the Smashers, but I'm sure we'll make due."

"Indeed...A shame, really. Sorry, fans out there, but you'll be missing out on Yoshi, Game+Watch, and even Ganondorf! Mr. Watch got in a nasty accident, it seems, while no one knows for certain where the other two have gone. And since we're at an odd number of participants, 23, (counting the two Ice Climbers as one, of course), that means someone else is going to have to join in, doesn't it?"

"Darn right, Jim."

"Today, three guest fighters will be filling in for the three lost. Those three will be none other than Princess Daisy of Sarasaland, Wario, reknowned for his sneaky ways, and the epic duo of Banjo and Kazooie! Although not very experienced in Melee fighting, and not members of the Melee League, these three surely have some fight in 'em, so let's see what turns up. I must admit, this turn of events has got me riled up."

"Yea, that sure is strange, isn't it, Jim? TWO Smashers both with a no-show, and no one knows WHY...And some temporary replacements...Who knows? Maybe we'll get a non-member that wins today?"

"You said it, Larry."

"Now, it's a bit early, so we'll start diving into our participants' statistics. They have yet to arrive, but rest assured, they won't want to miss out on the action."

"Let's start off with the winner of 56, and work our way around from that, shall we? First off, we've got good ol' Link."

To the viewers at home, as well as the on the gigantic TV screens on spot, a display of Link's picture and various information about his battles appeared onscreen.

"He never seems to disappoint. With his outstanding number of KO's from the past 56 tournaments, 514, we can certainly conclude that he will be a tough one to beat. Based on his performance last time, we're pretty confident he'll make 5th or better. Who knows? Maybe, for the first time in Melee history, we'll have a combatant get two consecutive tournament victories!"

"There's nothing I can complain about there, Jim, but I have my eyes set on that Mario. He got batted out earlier than expected last time, and I have a feeling that this time around, he's going to be back with a vengeance. Now, when we compare his total KO's from official tournaments with those of other Smashers...-"

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
"Mm hm. That's the tent!" Tarts squealed out.

Yoshi sighed, shaking his head. He felt kind of odd walking in to get advice from a fortune teller...

"Oh, come on!" Tarts cried out upon glancing at his doubtful face.

"She was right about everything that happened so far today!" Tarts pointed out. "Besides," she added suddenly, "Mario even got help from her!"

Yoshi's brows lifted at this comment. "Really?" he asked slowly, his eyes narrowing slightly.

"Yes, really!" Tarts spat out, waving her arms.

If Mario needed help from fortune tellers, then it had to be credible in Yoshi's view. What harm could it do, anyway...?

Fireball frowned and crossed his arms. "See? Just start the begging, and Yoshi's hooked like a Cheep-Cheep!" he grumbled.

Yoshi glared him down sternly, not caring to hear his insulting opinions.
"Ya know," Tarts mumbled, "She's known for her beauty..."

Fireball paused a moment. "...Is that so...?" He paused a moment to ponder. "Well," he concluded, taking Tarts' word, "If that's true, I suppose that it would be worth the embarrassment of listening to her chanting and crap..."

"See?" Tarts said with glee. "Even FIREBALL wants to go see her!"

Yoshi nodded, rolling his eyes. "Yea, yea...All right, OK!! We'll go. But it's gonna be quick and it better be good. We don't have time to screw around..."

~~~~~~~~~~

Fireball's face was wide and grinning, alhough grinning stupidly. The balls of sensory cells on his face were locked on to the mysterious lady who stood before them.

Yoshi was much more interested in her voice than what she looked like, and Tarts was eager to prove to them her ways.

The bright light of her triangle dimmed, and her eyes became relaxed and solemn.

"My vision is unclear," she admitted. "But I have reason to believe that your target is heading eastward, straight into the woodlands..."

Yoshi paused a moment, and withdrew his map as Merluvee continued to ponder her vision.

He found the spot she was obviously speaking of, and checked with her. "Do you mean Grange Forest?" he mumbled curiously.

Merluvee nodded slowly, her eyes closed, her face appearing only as a black shadow.

"It is there. This is where you must go." she concluded abruptly. Tarts felt a little discouraged, but her heart rose as Merluvee spun around and began to dig into a small wooden chest at the rear of her tent.

"Although my sight is blurred, I have concluded that your quest is vital..." she murmured, shuffling around objects, a clanging sound ringing here and there.
"Uhh...So what does that mean?" Yoshi asked quietly.

As Merluvee stood erect from her treasures, she grasped what she had been looking for in her hand. Cupping it there, she slowly rotated back to face them, and finished.

"It means I am going to bestow this upon you..."

With that, she threw the object through the air swiftly, and Yoshi's reflexes were good enough to catch it easily.

It was a glass orb, about as wide as a stretched out palm. Yoshi's fat hands could clutch it well, and he stared into it in wonder. Its clear surface glimmered like that of mother of pearl for an instant, and Yoshi could feel a strange tingle jump up his spine.

"It is an Elemental Orb..." Merluvee announced loudly, returning to her post at the table.

Tarts and Yoshi gazed into it in awe, while Fireball was still doing the same to the magician.

"...What's it do?" Yoshi questioned in a whisper.
Merluvee explained.

"The powers of an Elemental Orb are invaluable, especially to a novice user of magic. Its powers are complex to explain fully, and you ahve no time for explanations. I will tell you this- throw this at your foes, and invision their essence. This may sound complicated, but I can tell that you will get the hang of it. That is all I can really say, as I myself don't fully understand it." Her tone of voice shifted from a serious one to a warm and humble one. "I believe you will make good use of it, Yoshi..."

Yoshi smiled at her in an eager fashion, ready and raring to try this new 'toy' out. It seemed he was getting new stuff all the time.

He unzipped his pack and went to go and put it in a pocket in the front of it, but was frozen in shock when Meluvee proclaimed, "That will not be necessary." Yoshi, as well as his friends, were like surprised statues.
"...Wh...What?" Yoshi mumbled, feeling uncomfortable.

Merluvee's sudden spat calmed and she tried to explain herself in that warm voice.
"I...I apologize for startling you...I meant that you don't need to manually do it every time..."

Yoshi's brows lifted. "...Uh...Help me out, I'm not gettin' ya..."

Merluvee laughed humbly. "Oh, surely you don't ALWAYS do it that way!" she chuckled. Yoshi did have an idea as to where she was going. He'd been able to use objects he'd accumulated before simply by thinking about them, but...

"It's very simple," the teller began. "It works just as magic itself does. If your mind and your heart concentrate enough one what it is you are trying to use, you can summon objects at will from your pack, and vice versa. Try it." She nudged her head toward him, motioning him to practice.

Yoshi stared at the Orb for a moment, and let its shining surface dive into his thoughts. He concentrated hard on it flying from his hand to his pack's pocket. After about ten seconds of doing so, it disappeared in a 'pop' sound, and sparkling, dust-like material of many colors floated downward where it had been. Yoshi rubbed his hands together to remove the excess dust that had built up there, while amazed at this skill.

Now that he thought of it, people could do the same with the Coins of the Mushroom Kingdom quite easily. His thoughts jumped back to something he'd learned back from his mother...

~*~*~*~*~*

"Oh, of course!" she'd said with a toss of the arms. "You see, the reason why we use those special coins is because of the metal they're made of. Although they're called Gold Coins, they are really made of a special type of material that comes from Star Road."

Her mother proceeded to explain the legend behind the currency...
Long ago, when the Mushroom Kingdom was young, before Yoshina Kingdom ever existed...Star Road had discovered a type of material they called Stelamentite. Now, apparently, when this metal was forged into weapons, it gave them a beautiful luster unlike any other metal. A brilliant prism that reflected all the 12 colors of the magical rainbow...But, when they melted it and shaped it into coins to use as their currency, they found out it had a quality to it unlike any other. They could be collected in mass quantities, and they'd vanish when stored. At first, people were confused and irritated, but they soon realized that if they merely though about the amount of money they had received, it would appear in their hands, ready to use.

Now, of course, many people tried to 'imagine' up more money...But it never worked. Many believed that Stelamentite coins were 'stored' somehow within one's own heart. And when one wished to retrieve it from within themselves, they could. Of course, many became able to make transactions of currency without even m,aking it actually appear. This skill, it seemed, took a lot of practice, like all other forms of magic, to master.

One day, the Spirits of Star Road decided that the residents on Stellon itself deserved to discover this vast and plentiful wealth as their own. And so, it rained coins. And after two days straight of raining coins, everyone in the world had some money of their own. Old currencies of paper money were traded for this unique new way of economics. And that is how we started using Stelamentite money...
~*~*~*~*~*

Yoshi found himself awakening slowly, standing outside the fortune teller's tent, still gazing at the gift he had been given. The wooden buildings around him began to take shape, although still unclear, and townspeople could be made out just barely.

His eyes focused, and the visions of his friends became clear.
Tarts smile was relieved and joyous, and she gave him a brisk slap to wake him up.

"Don't ever do that!" she snapped out, at first her expression aggrevated. But it quickly died down to a glowing grin. "I was worried," she admitted.
Yoshi rubbed his eyes a bit as the world around him came alive.
"Oh...Uhh...Sorry...I was off in my own little world, wasn't I...?" he mumbled groggily.

"**** right you were, you looney!" Fireball declared boldly.

"Let's get a move on, already!" he added, shoving Yoshi onward, out of the city.

"I'm itchin' to start kickin' more ***! I'm addicted!!" he cried out, the people of the town pausing to exchange puzzled glances of worry.

~~~~~~~~~~
"So what are your comments on the first bout?" Jim's voice questioned quickly.

A microphone was handed to an enormous brown creature, and his huge hand accepted it reluctantly, afraid of shattering it to pieces.
A low, smooth voice bellowed out from his throat as he straightened his trademark red tie with his left hand, the right grasping the speaking device to his lips.

"Well, I'd have to say that little Kirb man really socked it to Falcon out there. The use of sacraficing his last stock to take Falcon down with him was just perfectly pulled. I'd have to say that Falcon needs to work a bit on his tactics, instead of just bursting out there with his fists flying. All in all, I'll admit that I'm not lookin' forward to facing that pink puff down if he keeps up at that rate..."

"Thank you, Donkey Kong, for your comments, and we wish you teh best of luck." Jim said as the ape handed the mike back, turning around and leaving the room hurriedly.

As his eyes switched back to the camera, his co-host Larry began to speak. "Yes, yes. That was some first duel. Using his grab techniques to maneuver Captain Falcon over the edge while slamming down with him finished up that duel nicely. He had no idea what hit him!"

Jim jumped in and announced, "And you know what that means- Captain Falcon is now eliminated! Now for those of you at home not aquanted with the rules taking effect this time around, let's go through a rundown, shall we? In today's tournament, our contestants are competing in one-on-one, stock-based matches. In Round one, battles take place with three stock apiece. As we move up to the next round, the stock will be lowered to two. For the third round, stock will ahve dropped to one. And, during the last round, with one stock, there will be NO items at all."

"Yup. I can't wait to see how this tournament develops. But, as tradition goes, just before the final round, eleven- count 'em, eleven, four on four full-fledged Melee rounds will take place to determine each individual's rank. I could go into more depth, but the next fight's about to start, and you certainly don't want to miss it! Fox McCloud is going to take on the lithe Marth! We'll be right back after this commercial break, so hang in there!"

~~~~~~~~~~

Drips of sweat trickled down the back of his neck like morning dew off of grass. He felt his stomach tense up fiercely, like it was being crushed by a Thwomp. His hands were trembling and wet with sweat- but it wasn't his own. With a nervous glance, his turned to his friend. They'd been walking for about ten minutes now, and he was beginning to feel very uncomfortable.
The sounds of pattering shoes could be heard, as well as a breeze now and then, the far off rushing waters of a river, and the rustling of leaves now and then. They were traverising through the dimly lit Grange Forest, miles east of Yoshina. It wasn't quite as dark as proclaimed, but despite this, it still had an eerie feel to it. Amd Yoshi felt like he was being followed by stranger. No matter how hard he looked around him, he couldn't find much of a speck of anything out of the ordinary- yet.
________
He was honestly curious as to whether or not she was really SCARED. He began to jitter his arm about, hinting that he wanted her to let go, but her slender arm was apparently stronger than it looked, for it held him like a vicegrip.

"Uh...Tarts," he mumbled, his face as pink as hers.
"Could you...let go please...? It kinda hurts..."

Tarts, her gut squirming, reluctantly let go, feeling distraught. He didn't even want to hold her hand...?

"Oh...Hehe...Sorry," she squeaked out, just barely. With a brisk cough, her arm dropped from his. Her heart whimpered for a moment, but then her voice of reason kicked in, telling her that Yoshi was far too concerned of other things to be worrying about such foolishness as this. Besides, she didn't even know if he felt the same way as she did.

Fireball, from behind the two, smirked in a devilish way. He knew exactly what was going on.

"Ya know, Tarts, you can hold MY hand if ya want to. If you're really scared, that is..." he offered.

Tarts' eyes widened in shock for a moment, and she spat out, not quite thinking first, "**** NO, YOU PERVERT!!"

A split second later, her brain caught up with her words, and she slapped a palm over her mouth in embarrassment.

"I...I didn't mean that," she quickly stated.

Her brain was so focused on Yoshi, and no one else, it had forgotten she was in REALITY.

Fireball, in all due honesty, actually felt rather hurt from this outburst, yet he tried to show mroe irritance than anything. He folded his arms across his chest and frowned, his eyes narrowed.

"Psh! 'I didn't mean that'...If ya didn't mean it, why'd ya SAY it?!" he demanded.

"...I...-" she fumbled for words, "I just...OK, then. Fine! I DID mean that, all right?!!"

"**** you, too!!" Fireball spat back, huffing.
A deep and depressed sigh came from about five feet in front of Tarts, and before the ashamed pink one could say another word, she spun around and instantly caught up with Yoshi.

She felt the urge to apologize for basically starting another spat, but Yoshi didn't look to be in the listening mood.
"I-" she barely began.

"Whatever. OK? Just...Who cares?" he shot out suddenly, with a strange tone of anger about him.

"If all you two want to do is swear at eachother about **** knows what, then I might as well not even TRY to get you two to be the way you USED to be..."

The couple Yoshies behind him blinked in shame, but he refused to even give them eye contact.

"...We just...We're sorry..." Tarts whispered, just loud enough for him to hear.
"Oh, yea...Sorry...If you're REALLY sorry, then could you please shut UP until we find this ****ed thing?" Yoshi bitterly requested.

The two warm colored creatures gave eachother saddened glances, and said not a word thereafter.

Yoshi was certainly not bursting with anger for no reason, Tarts knew. He was frustrated, stressed, worn out, both physically and mentally, and he missed his friends, overall. And right now, even she or Fireball were not acting like his friends. For this, Tarts felt her heart turn into a puddle of mush. If she really cared about him that much, she could control her temper, couldn't she? It would take some inner strength to muster it, but she could.

~*~*~*~*~*

Hopefully, that's the Chapter that's SUPPOSED to be up...Yea, I think.

I can TRY to make time to read your fic, Zeeke, but I can't promise.
 

ZeekeXIV

Smash Journeyman
Joined
Apr 26, 2004
Messages
229
Location
On the Edge
I see you've made time to check it out. Thanks a lot. All I can say is that it gets better as you keep reading. What I assume you've read so far isn't as great as I thought it would be...

As for your latest chapter, what can I say now that I haven't said before? Good imagery, excellent character introductions and re-introductions... There's even a side story in addition to the main plot:

Will Tarts really ever let Yoshi know how she feels?

It's so, sooo sad how no matter how hard she tries, Yoshi is completely oblivious to what's going on. It kinda reminds me of me back in high school with the girls... Completely oblivious...

Great update! I'm waiting on the next addition to the story.
 

ZeekeXIV

Smash Journeyman
Joined
Apr 26, 2004
Messages
229
Location
On the Edge
I see you've made time to check it out. Thanks a lot. All I can say is that it gets better as you keep reading. What I assume you've read so far is Act 1. Definately not the greatest introduction on earth...

As for your latest chapter, what can I say now that I haven't said before? Good imagery, excellent character introductions and re-introductions... There's even a side story in addition to the main plot:

Will Tarts really ever let Yoshi know how she feels?

It's so, sooo sad how no matter how hard she tries, Yoshi is completely oblivious to what's going on. It kinda reminds me of me back in high school with the girls... Completely oblivious...

Great update! I'm waiting on the next addition to the story.
 

MewtwoMaster2002

ミュウツーマスター2002
Joined
Dec 19, 2002
Messages
6,148
Location
Japan
3DS FC
2922-0496-2962
Great update. The reason why I never advertised or asked you to read my fic is because I'm afraid to get a warning for advertising and my record won't be clear. Hmm Kirby made a SUICIDE ATTACK...that kinda made me laugh a bit.
 

Destiny Smasher

BRoomer
BRoomer
Joined
Jan 10, 2002
Messages
2,298
Location
Searching for my own way of the ninja.
;)

SUBPLOT?

Pfh. :p Yea, right.

I'm very glad you noticed, as I try to make it obvious in a strange subtle way...

But it is by NO means a 'story within a story.'

Oh NONONONOnononono...

Need I say 'No' again?

This is merely PART of the 'Yoshi' story. Sheesh, the Yoshi/Tarts romance (which, of course, becomes more complex later on) is more like a subplot of a subplot's subplot...or...something. Geez, if you think THAT is somethin', you'll be havin' a convulsion by Chapter 40 when there's about 50 characters I'm focusing on in different places. The Yoshi plot is such a piece that, in reality, isn't as important as it seems at first. Sure, it will be later ON, but it just sorta...well, you'll see.

It's fun, I'll add that, and introduces some important characters like Tenochtitlan.

~*~*~*~*~*

Chapter 12- The Orb's Secrets...
"Marvelous! That was just perfect! The use of a Parasol really saved him, big time, didn't it?"
"Right you are, Larry. Fooling Fox into using his Fire Fox ability right off the platform was a good card played, too. What did you think of it, Ness?"
The short, big-headed boy smiled and he borrowed the mike from the Gobon announcer, Jim.
His beady eyes were excited and eager, and his funny voice spoke as she straightened his cap a bit on his huge noggin.
"Oh, it was great. Fox didn't look like he was trying today, though. He really should stop jumping into his moves like that, and think them out first. And Marth's really been practicing up, so I'm not surprised at all. If ya ask me, I think all he needs to do at this point is keep his calm about him, and try not to leave himself open for attack to much."
"Well, thanks a lot, Ness. You're up next, aren't you?"
"Yep! Wish me luck!"
"Sure thing, kid!"
As Ness merrily trodded out, Larry and Jim faced the camera once more.
"And there you have it, folks," Jim declared. "Fox gets sent with his tail between his legs by Marth in round one. We've got a good matchup coming next- Ness is about to duke it out with one of our substitutes- Wario! This should be good. How can Wario stand up to the big leagues? We'll find out in just a few minutes! See ya then!"
~*~*~*~*~*
Pain. Oh, why did it have to hurt so much? The pain seeped across her like a flood, consuming her very essence. How it hurt. Seeing him depressed, exhausted...The wary look about him. The bads underneath his eyes, despite the time of day. And she felt he must not've slept nearly as soundly as she had that past night.
Knots formed within her guts, her face twisted with a saddening look of regret and worry. She even let out a bit of moan blended with a whimper, but just soft enough so as her companions didn't hear it.
Now he was angry with her, and he wasn't in the mood to hear an apology. How she wanted to go and comfort him- to apologize, to let him know that things would turn out all right. To give him a big hug, whether it be one of friendship or one of romance- she didn't care in the least. But while upset about her friends irritable state, she was at the same time afraid to confront him. What if she only agitated him further?
She decided to wait it out and hope for the best. They would find the next shard soon, she knew it.
The light available decreased slowly, as the day wore on, and the trees grew thicker. Their stomachs were almost at the point of growling, but Yoshi refused to stop and eat. He was intent on finding the next one by sunset. It HAD to be somehwere around here, he could feel it.
"Guys!! Wake up, you idiots!" Fireball's voice broke through their thoughts.
He pointed his arms out at a crowd of Fuzzies. Fuzzies were basically balls of black, bristly fur with big mouths and insane eyes that seemed to wobble around. They were quite quick, and bounced around like psychopaths, sucking energy from whatever they found.
Fireball drew his Flame Pistol, and gleefully started nailing a Fuzzy with its burning bullets.
Yoshi let him have his fun, and summoned out his new Elemental Orb, ready to try it out. He tried to concentrate on his foes, and the Orb he held in his fat palm flashed memories into his mind of magical abilties he had seen this creature previously use. Confused, he snapped back into reality as he thought of one called, 'Dark Orb.' The Black Koopa Brother had used this ability on them earlier that day. He stared down the enemy line, slowly pulled back his arm, and let it fly with precision, so that it smacked into one of the Fuzzies, right above the eyes.
Upon contact, the Fuzzy was paralyzed briefly as a small sliver of black fluid drained out of the creature at the very point where the Orb had struck. It was as if it were bleeding black blood, in a way. The liquid seeped through the air in a flash, jumping right into the glass-like Orb. After this action was performed, the Fuzzy's eyes came into focus, and the ball flew back to Yoshi's face like a blur, his hand dashing up to catch it in a reflex.
But now, sloshing around at the bottom of the glass container, there was a small portion of pure black liquid. And Yoshi could feel it. It was the essence of a Dark Orb spell. Yoshi stared at it in amazement as Tarts used Shock to dissipate one of the three Fuzzies. The other two both lunged at Fireball, chewing on his leg and arm. he pushed them off savagely, tossing his limbs around.
Then he pointed his Pistol at the Fuzzy he had popped just a few moments before and pegged it again. It was felled, and Yoshi lifted the Orb into the air as high as his arm would reach. He closed his eyes, and his mind was cleared except for one thought- a dark ball of pure black energy whizzing through the air. Within the course of a second's time, his eyes had shot open, his palm had stretched out toward the last remaining Fuzzy, and the sliver of black fluid had disintegrated, changing into a pitch black sphere of darkness, about as big as Yoshi's head, which found its way into the Fuzzy's face. Despite the fact that the Fuzzy was resistant to Dark magic, being a Dark type itself, it vanished from the single blow.
Yoshi let out a deep breath and made his newly found item travel back to its proper place in his pack.
Fireball and Tarts gave eachother impressed expressions, while Yoshi instantly began walking onward again, pressing deeper into the woods.
"...o_O...Uhh...Wow..." Fireballed murmured, quickly picking up his pace. "That was...pretty nifty there, Yosh..."
"Yea," Tarts added in a quiet tone. "That was pretty cool..."
But Yoshi's serious face, not even bothering to turn back at the moment, briskly replied, "Whatever. Big whoop. Let's just keep on goin', all right?"
~*~*~*~*~*
"Wow...I'm tellin' ya, Jim, it just doesn't get much better than this," said Larry, enthused.
"You're darn right, Larry...So, Luigi, what say you?"
The skinny man with the green hat smiled, scratched his thick, dark mustache, and answered.
"Well, uh...I'd have to say that Wario put up a pretty good fight and all...But Ness really socked it to 'im after the first thirty seconds. I mean, I'm not blaming him- he's a newbie and all. But he needs some more practice, for sure. Like when he kept blowing out his Fire Flower at Ness' little...absorby...forcefield...thing...Bad move. He had Ness racked up to over a hundred damage, too! Melee's not all about brawn- it's about brains, too."
"And there you have it, folks. Commentary from the Green Machine himself! Well, go get 'em, Brother!" Larry cheered as the younger Mario Brother exited the room.
"Well, well! It seems that Ness' huge head helped prevail over Wario's big build! Let's see how out next fight develops. It's Mario versus Pikachu! Which of these big contenders will be kicked out first? We'll find out, after this commercial break!"
~~~~~~~~~~
"It's getting louder," Tarts voice shrieked, trembling.
The three creatures were arranged in a tight circle, their backs toward eachother, their eyes darting around the trees and shadows around them.
It boomed out again, loud and eerie. It was a laugh. A strange snicker. Then again, it was just barely past snickering. The leaves on the ground fluttered up into the air in increments of a few seconds. The trees wobbled, the ground quaked, and growls and grunts echoed through the woods.
A sudden roar of fury burst through their ears, and Tarts let out a shrill scream, diving at Yoshi instinctivly, then throwing herself off in a quick moment of embarrassment. Yoshi himself didn't mind at the moment. He was quite freaked out himself.
Fireball was trying his best to hold back his fright, and doing a half- decent job at it, too.
"We should go and find out what the **** is goin' on..." he announced boldly.
Yoshi, beginning to get over his shock, nodded and replied, "Yea. Good idea. Come on." He grabbed Tarts by the hand and firmly pulled her onward, nodding his head to Fireball to follow.
Tarts let her friend guide her onward, puzzled for a moment as to why his pace wasn't quite so quick.
His eyes were closed tight, and his nostrils were flaring, sucking in air rapidly. A Yoshi's nose knows.
She felt more relieved with her hand in his, no matter for what reason it might be. The way he was holding it was tight, and strict, but yet warm and protective at the same time.
Rushing through the forest, bounding over fallen logs and stones, the three of them cut into a brisk walking pace, the noise growing louder and louder.
Tarts sniffed the rushing with some difficulty, and she picked up a scent she knew she had smelt just earlier.
It was Koopa Troopa scent. But...Different. Altered slightly, but definately recognizable. Then, she remembered that Merluvee had fortold TWO great battles- not one. Her throat dried up, her gut tied itself in knots, and her hand squeezed back Yoshi's as hard as it could. Whatever this was, it had to be HUGE.
The bushes and shrubs began to dissipate, crushed and smashed. The rumbling grew more intense, the noises louder, and the smell of blood thick in the air. As they continued, the rate of trees still standing decreased, and they had difficulty meandering around or over the felled plants. Splotches of blood trickled over some spots of ground and dripped over some leaves of battered plants. This second battle, it seemed, had already begun.
~~~~~~~~~~
 

Destiny Smasher

BRoomer
BRoomer
Joined
Jan 10, 2002
Messages
2,298
Location
Searching for my own way of the ninja.
Sorry to nail ya with another update so quickly, but I won't have the time later, I don't think, so here it is early.

~*~*~*~*~*

Chapter 13- Pandamonium

"Hoho! I must say, Larry, I think you placed your bet wisely this time around..."

"Never doubted it for a second, Jim. I'm tellin' ya, he's comin' back with a vengeance this time around. Let's hear from Roy this time, shall we?"

A spiky-headed teen with flashy clothes and pieces of armor grinned cockily at the cameras, his free hand on his hilt.

"Psh. That was nothing! So what?"

"What? I'll tell you what! He was able to turn Pikachu's comeback move against him! Just as Pika had things going his way, he got shoved off by a decent Smash attack. Nothing too big, but enough to send him flying," Larry pointed out.

"Yea, Roy," Jim jumped in. "But as Pika was using Quick Attack to jump back up, Mario jumped up into the air and used his Cape at JUST the right second, sending Pika's second dash AWAY from the arena, and he plummeted! Brilliant! I'm a little impressed. I'll admit, I wasn't too hopeful for him this time around. Last tournament he was kinda slackin' but he just proved me otherwise!"

Roy rolled his eyes and huffed.

"Yea. Whoopdy doo. Well, I guess everybody likes Mario, then huh? Ha! I'll show you guys! You watch- once I get my chance in there with him, he's goin' DOWN. Got it?"

With that, the microphone was dropped onto the table casually, and Roy strutted out of the room.

"Whoa-HO! Looks like SOMEBODY'S got some issues, eh?"

"Whoo! You said it, Jim! I've never seen peacock feathers so bright! But will his threat be carried out?"

"Well, the next battle will decide whether it gets a chance. It's a dance of blades next- Roy on Link! Stay tuned!"

~~~~~~~~~~

Tarts' free hand creeped over Yoshi's, this time her fear true and evident. But this was by no means the type of hand-holding one would think. This was serious. Whatever was making this racket had to be nearby, and, much to their dismay, the Yoshi teens knew they had to confront it.

Another slam, much louder than the others, crashed through their eardrums, and they all jumped to their senses.

"Uhh...OK, then. We'll go. On the count of three." Yoshi cleared his throat.

"One..." He felt a large drop of sweat run down the back of his neck in the humid air.

"Two..." Tarts grimaced, her eyes radiating fear.

Within the next second, they all cried out in surprise and terror as a humongous, shiny red object came hurtling through the air at them, tumbling over trees until it was in a roll. It was a giant Troopa!!

Screaming, the three of them dashed for all their legs were worth to their sides. Panting like dogs, they spun around to gaze in utter shock as the figure finally slowed down, coming to a thumping stop against a tree, its body leaning upside down on it. Glasses to match his enormous eyes slid off of his head, landing in the dirt lightly, revealing his crazed eyeballs. But their attention wasn't focused on his face.

With a gasp, Yoshi pointed out to his fat hand. It struggled to grip the shimmering object within it, but his exhuasted body let it drop into the soft soil. It was a glimmering Eggshell piece! They'd found it!

At first, they began to pounce toward it like pirahanas on fresh meat, but Yoshi skidded to a halt, holding out his arms to block the progress of his pals.

"What is it?" Tarts squeaked quietly, trying to listen, as she noticed that Yoshi's head was cocked, his expression alert.

Yoshi sniffed the air some more, and glanced at this fiery red turtle's body. It was bruised all over his face, arms, and legs, and various scratches lined his stomach. His shell was against the tree, his skull on the ground, his legs pitched up into the air.

"Someone had to beat him up, right...?" Yoshi mumbled warily.

Tarts' eyes shot open with another phase of shock. "Oh..." She felt a little foolish, with all honesty.

Fireball whimpered. "Aw, ****...Just perfect," he grumbled.

"Shouldn't we get it before this...whatever...comes?" Tarts suggested.

Yoshi stared at her and shook his head. "Are you crazy? Whoever it is, they-"

Once again, their bodies jolted from reflex, their nerves almost shot at this point, as a roar erupted from the direction that the Troopa had come flying from. Quickly following the roar, a creature of equal size came smashing his way through the forest at what he had battered moments earlier.

"NOT DONE YET?!!" his booming voice growled out as he ripped through the air at a decenmt speed for his size and body.

As he closed in on his foe, the large Troopa's streaking black shell became visible to the Yoshies, as he lunged at the red one's gut, smashing into it and bouncing off fiercely, landing on his own stomach roughly, a screaming bang shaking the woods.

With a wheeze, the wounded Troopa passed out completely, his body sliding over to its side, colliding with the ground.

Although dying to leave, the Yoshies just couldn't move. They were paralyzed by both fright and wonder.

The Troopa goliath with the shell as black as midnight stepped solemnly to his felled opponent and laughed a growling chuckle.

His palm dove to the dirt and grasped the beaming piece of Shell, gently lifting it up to his grinning face.

The three spectators gasped in awe as the shape of the crazed Koopa Troopa slowly faded away, his body becoming invisible to the average eyes.

Realization struck Yoshi like lightning from Tarts' hands, which had quickly found their way back to his own after their narrow escape.

As he jumped from the thought he'd produced, Tarts let her arms fall back to her sides.

"It makes sense!" he murmured, just loud enough for his friends to hear it, but not the Troopa.

Tarts stared at him, perplexed, while Fireball's gaze was fixed on the spot that the Troopa had previously occupied.

"What does?" she whispered, her voice trembling.

"Remember back in the field? That big red thing we couldn't find?" he mumbled to Tarts, his face dire.

Tarts nodded frowning in thought.

"Well, he must've had the Eggshell, and now that THAT guy does, he can vanish! Do you think...-?"

Tarts gasped, her palm shooting to her mouth, her eyes wide.

"That piece can make you invisible?"

Yoshi nodded seriously.

"Exactly!"

"So...Now what?"

Yoshi froze at that question, fumbling for an answer.

"Errr..."

For the third time in two minutes, their nerves were scrambled as another roar erupted through the air, only this time, it was toward THEM.

Their faces drained of all emotion but fear, the three novice adventurers trembled before this unseen foe like leaves rustling in the wind.

"WHO ARE YOU?!" it demanded fiercely.

"We...We're..." Yoshi's throat was dry and paralyzed.

A tear of pure fright dripped down Tarts face as she clutched his hand again, slowly stepping away from where the voice emitted. But she suddenly realized that Yoshi wasn'nt following her lead.

He was frozen before this creature, but not in fear. His eyes were solid and now unwavering. His arms were rigid at his sides, his fists balled up tightly. He was digging inside himself to find the eternal courage that rested there.

He remembered something Mario had said once to him, his memory flashing.

~*~*~*~*~*

"Hehe...You really think that, Yosh?" he'd murmured, rubbing the back of his neck.

After he let it fall slowly, he concluded his thought.

"Yoshi...Courage is not having no fear. Courage...is being able to act while you are afraid..."

~*~*~*~*~*

As that memory escaped his direct thoughts, he did something that almost scared Tarts, her concerned face glaring at him.

He smirked.

"We are a group of Yoshina Yoshies, sent by King Raptalcon to retrieve something that has been stolen from us."

The voice was quiet for a moment or two, a raspy breathing the only sound in the air.

"...That so?" it growled out, amused, not quite as loud as it had been up until now.

Yoshi nodded, his smirk remaining.

"Yea...And who are you?"

Yoshi's eyes poppoed open, but returned to their solemn state as the Troopa before them became visible.

"The name's Pandamonium, kid..." it answered gruffly.

"This here yours?" his big hand lifted up to reveal the Eggshell fragment.

Yoshi's heart skipped a beat. Perhaps he was on their side!

"Yes, that's ours. Could I ask that you please give it back?"

The black-backed creature closed his eyes and shook his head slowly, a sigh escaping him.

"Agh...Well, if it wasn't for the fact that it was capable of such power..I WOULD. But...Unfortunately, I fought to get this thing myself, and my policy says that if you want it- you're gonna have to earn it. I worked my *** off for this thing. You want it? Well, then you can take it- if you CAN."

Yoshi's heart sunk back to where it had been.

He wasn't going to let it go easily. But Yoshi could see it, he could smell it...This guy was good, at heart. He wasn't bent on taking over the world, or something like that. He was just...different...And Yoshi gave him respect for that alone.

He swallowed, wettening his windpipe, and replied, "All right. Fair enough."

Tarts and Fireball gasped, while the Troopa smiled, his eyes half closed.

"Really? Hm." He nodded. "I like your style, kid. Fine, then. Show me what ya got."

With that, Yoshi returned his exact grin and lifted his arm into the humid air. His wooden mallet met its owner, and Fireball's hand became occupied by his Flame Pistol.

Tarts rubbed the pointed jewel of her Zap Ring as if for good luck, and took a deep breath. Yoshi was in control. They could do this. She trusted him.

The second struggle in one day began with a bang. And Yoshi had come prepared. He lifted his palm vertically to his face and stared at it calmly. The Elemental Orb appeared there in a poof of rainbow dust, and it was halfway full of magical Essences. Throughout their travels in the forest, he's made sure to snatch the Essences of anything they'd come against.

But as he drew his new toy, so did Pandamonium. The Eggshell piece. And with it, he attained his unseen form. This was shaping up to be interesting.

~*~*~*~*~*

*jams to Paper Mario 2 battle theme*
 

ZeekeXIV

Smash Journeyman
Joined
Apr 26, 2004
Messages
229
Location
On the Edge
Awww... a cliffhanger...

Great update(s) today. Wario lost in THIRTY seconds. I found that hilarious. Such a shame...

Oh yeah, I'm sure you noticed the format of chapter 12. Kinda hard to read, but I enjoyed it nonetheless.

See ya next update.
 

Destiny Smasher

BRoomer
BRoomer
Joined
Jan 10, 2002
Messages
2,298
Location
Searching for my own way of the ninja.
Yea, sorry for the delay- Memorial Day weekend and all that.

I don't have time this minute to fix this stupid thing, soo...either wait until later on or read it now, I guess...
~*~*~*~*~*

Chapter 14- Trial of Fear

The air thickened with the smell of sweat and fear. They all were tense and nervous as the atmosphere weighed down on them. It remained quiet for a few moments, as eyes exchanged glances amidst half destroyed trees and few standing shrubs.

Yoshi and Pandemonium both seemed to be awaiting their foe's next move, although Yoshi could not even see his foe. After a few moments of this, that felt like an hour, Fireball broke it all.

He fired off his Flame Pistol, and the embers of its relatively weak blast scattered in the air, across the Troopa's invisible face.
Just because they couldn't SEE him didn't mean they couldn't hit him.

Yoshi tossed his Orb into the air lightly, and it hovered to his side for a brief moment before he had made his decision.

A sliver of yellow came sliding out of the orb, and it splashed itself onto Yoshi's outward palm. He tried to ease the attack with quiet will, but it didn't work- he wasn't quite experienced yet. So he called forth to Nature to help him a bit.

"Sunbeam!"

Then, like a flash, his hand glowed a bright yellow, and he aimed it directly in front of him. But then the ground began to shake- Pandemonium was on the move, ready to strike. Yoshi's hand flung around this way and that and he hastily decided where to land his hit. Instinct led him to his left, slightly, and he let a laser of light fly off of his palm. Luckily, it made a high pinging sound as it collided with Pandemonium's gut.

But the Troopa was by no means flinching.
Yoshi felt his body get rocked to the side, and he hit the dirt hard.
Tarts' face welled up with worry, but she knew that this was no time to whimper. She'd been practicing a new magical spell, and she decided it was a good time to use it.

Her strong will created a cloud of pink sparkles and lines that flew forth from her fingertips and encircled Yoshi's body. It was Heal, a very simple skill that helped relieve slight damage.

Yoshi crawled back up to his feet, having difficulty, with the ground around him quaking from the giant turtle.

Fireball was ready with a trick up his sleeve. His Scorch ability. This skill damaged his foe slightly, but the key to it was it easily burned his foes, and burns weren't good.

He punched his fist through the air, and a small stream of flames shot out into the air, fizzing from his fingers. It spread out as it contacted its target, who growled in pain.

Yoshi decided to try out his good old Egg Smash skill, but his small explosion missed his enemy completely. Ready for another blow, Pandemonium came into view. He was casting a spell, which seemed to drain away his invisibility.

"Peligroso..." he growled out gruffly, a tower of black smoke rising from the ground around him. The sight of a bright red burn on his left arm became clear, and it looked like it stung quite bad.
His gargantuan body began to tremble as he shut his eyes and tensed his arm muscles.

"Crap..." Yoshi mumbled, jumping backward.

Tarts was preparing for her next move, but before she could pull it off, an enormous cloud of black powder filled the air all around them, drifting slowly on the wind toward them.

Tarts' eyes squinted shut, and she coughed and sputtered as hard as she could, leaning over to force the junk out of her lungs. She suddenly felt her insides liquidize further, though not literally. She felt the present fear magnify and consume her, far more than it was a minute before. Her body began to shake with fright, and she clutched herself with her slender arms.

Trembling like a candle's flame in the wind, Tarts tried her best to cast another spell. This time, she aimed a Shock at the still visible Troopa, and it made contact with ease. But it didn't have the full force to it that it could have, as she was engulfed in fear.

Yoshi frowned at his opponent, and summoned a Strawberry from his backpack as Pandemonium concentrated on returning to his ghost-like form. Fireball was readying his hands for another

Flame, and while he lobbed it forth, Yoshi tossed the Strawberry to his friend. She caught it with some difficulty, and swallowed it down. Strawberries, at least the kind grown on Stellon, could cure all kinds of ailments, and as it slid down her throat, she could already feel her frightfulness vanishing as fast as it had come.

Then, Yoshi reached his arm behind him to grab the Elemental Orb, which had been floating beside him this whole time. he whipped it to her as well, and she knew what he wanted her to do.

She stared into it in awe, letting it teach her, in a way. It radiated its knowledge into her brain like lightning itself, and she grasped it tightly to her chest, shutting her eyes just as firmly.

A small portion of pinkish liquid jumped out and dripped itself onto Tarts' head, seeming to be absorbed by her.
She let the Orb go, and it swiftly dashed though the air back to Yoshi's side, his green hand snatching it well.

Her graceful arms twirled around a bit through the air as she brought out the Essence's power. It was a Spark Orb, a decently powerful Electric strike.

Lines of lightning built up on her thin arms, jolting around as electricity's unpredictable nature let it do. Then, it a flash of neon pink, it flew to her joined fingers to form a giant, shining ball of pink, with small bolts whizzing around its surface. This force of energy smashed through the air, homing in on its target with its magical magnetism.

The blast was kind of large and seemed to hurt the Troopa effectively, light and heat shooting out from the blow, like fireworks.

Too bad Yoshi had only managed to collect one Spark Orb Essence by that time.

Pandemonium was sent to his knees by the crashing wave, but quickly stumbled back up, the only thing being seen was the leaves and dirt where he stood being kicked about.

In a rage, his sucked himself into his tough, sleek shell, and began to maneuver himself in a spinning fashion. His body began to create a small whirlwind, and the three Yoshies fully knew what that meant when performed by a Troopa. He was getting ready to spin around like a maniac. This meant big trouble, for sure. A huge Koopa Troopa that was INVISIBLE, zipping around like a pinball.

But there wasn't much Yoshi could do except await the move. He wasn't strong enough to stop a giant turtle like this. They would have to wait for his momentum to die down and hope for the best.

"Watch out, guys!!" he called to his friends, who were both a decent distance from him.

"NO ****!!" Fireball snapped back, half in frustration, half in worry.

With a 'whooshing' sound, the shell was off, whizzing around at a speed that was not slow enough so they could relatively detect his path, but fast enough so they couldn't quiet tell where he was going.

A tree behind them came hurtling down with a crack, then a five-foot tall rock to their right was smashed into pieces, as if it were planted with a bomb.

Yoshi ran toward the direction that the newly broken tree was in, while Tarts took off for the smashed stone.

Fireball, confused, dodged to his left, but his body felt a sharp and sudden snap of incredible pain as the revolving shell collided into him at high speed, twirling his body into the air roughly. He landed with a cry on the dirt, and Tarts gasped out in surprise.
A second later, another tree behind where Fireball had stood was sent careening to the soil, and the whirling sound slowed to a halt.

Yoshi growled in the general direction of the tree, and dashed toward Fireball's felled body.

He was out like a light, but Yoshi had the perfect remedy for it.

"Tarts, nail him with Light," Yoshi muttered to her, as she was standing right beside him at the moment. He quickly whipped the Elemental Orb to her, and she nodded briskly, trotting over to where she was sure the Troopa stood.

Yoshi spread out his hand before him, and a big, heart shaped fruit materialized there. It was known as a 'Super Happy Fruit,' for its ability to fill one to the brim with energy. But Yoshi liked to call it a 'Life Fruit,' because he'd been taught of its ability to revive the wounded.

He tossed it at Fireball, and as it struck his smooth, sweaty red skin, it burst into tiny fleshy pieces, each one sinking into Fireball like a sponge absorbing water.

The energy from the fruit brought Fireball straight to his senses, and he rose with a jolt, a little thrown off.

"Get up," Yoshi mumbled quickly, yanking his arm with force.
While this was going on, Tarts was putting all of her heart into sending some Light at Pandemonium.

She grasped the Orb as tight as she could in her left hand, and held her right hand out gracefully.

She shut her eyes and felt the Orb's presence pulsing within her. It was if it was telling her how to use it. She sifted through all the colorful clutter, and found just the thing. It was a 'Piercing Ray' Essence, and Tarts was a little familiar with this one. It was designed to home in on a Dark type creature, and drill on their weakness to the Light attribute effectively.

The Orb shimmered with a flash of yellow in her palm, and some glowing fluid shaded saffron flowed out and trickled down her arm.

It wove around her appendage like a worm, and once it found its place at her palm, it transformed itself into a small dagger of pure Light energy. Tarts opened her eyelids slowly and confidently, scanned her surroundings, and pulled her arm back. The Black Troopa was still recovering from his previous attack, and was in no condition to dodge the beaming blade that came hurtling at him.

The knife plunged into Pandemonium's back, straight through his shell. Intense pain shot through his body as the Light energy filtered itself through his nerves with labor.
Yoshi and Fireball had both risen in time to see the bright flash of the contact bring Pandemonium into view, as the Eggshell piece slipped from his hands.

At first, Yoshi thought of diving for it, but when he saw Pandemonium roar in anger and swipe his claws blindly behind him, shoving his body back from the blows, he reconsidered his decision.

Fireball whipped out his trusty Pistol, ready to fire, as Pandemonium bowed to snatch up his treasure. Just before the creature was able to return to his special state, Fireball aimed with care, and sent a couple small flames straight into his arm, where a severe burn had appeared earlier.
Their foe sucked in air from the damage he'd sustained thus far as his image vanished yet again.

Yoshi's mind was racing with adrenaline, and he suddenly got a grand idea.

"Tarts!" he cried to her, as she started to dash backward, away from the now unseen turtle.

"Yea?" she responded, spinning her head around.

"I've got an idea! Get ready to use your Shock!" he told her, running up to his friend as Fireball carefully paced away from where the Troopa giant had stood. The ground was shaking as he stepped around, and Yoshi hurriedly explained.

"OK," he huffed out, "Listen. Tarts, aim your Shock at me, OK?"
Tarts shot him a very perplexed glance, but he snapped, "Just do it!"

She knew she could trust him, but she was still confused. Letting the Elemental Orb fly back to its owner's back, she whipped a Shock at her green friend.

Yoshi was ready for it. In the second it took for the ball of pink, pulsing electricity to reach him, he sucked in a deep breath, pulled back his fists behind him, and blew out as hard as he could. Much to Tarts' amazement, small seeds came flowing out of his mouth like a machine gun, and as it passed through the ball of lightning, each seed became a bullet of pink.

Yoshi had performed 'Seed Storm,' a spell that summoned watermelon seeds at will to be propelled at the foe. The unique combination that was created sent a flurry of seeds whirling in electric energy at Pandemonium. Each one blasted into his chest roughly, coursing lightning through him. This created a bright web of pink in the air as all the seeds employed their magic into his invisible body.

With merely a grunt now, Pandemonium's body gave way. With a pitter, the Shell piece clattered to the ground, and with a bang, the goliath turtle collapsed with a fierce crash, trembling the woods once again.

The three Yoshies stood, staring in awe, their jaws agape.
Yoshi, still a bit overwhelmed, began to step toward his shimmering reward.

Just as he reached it, he turned back to glance at his companions for back up.

They both smiled back to him, one smile craved and half-insane, the other consoling and tender.

He nodded his green head and went to pick it up. His body was jolted with surprise as the felled creature smiled and mumbled, "Nice one, kid...You got spunk. Don't let it get to your head."

Yoshi's body jumped with a brief moment of terror, but as he saw Pandemonium slowly crawling to his knees, he felt much better.
"That was some stuff there, little man," he complimented, his voice a bit gruffer than it was before.

"You earned that thing. I have a feeling you have better intentions with it than that other creep did..." He rubbed his aching forehead as he spoke.

"...Who was that guy, anyway?" Yoshi mumbled out, his hand inches from the treasure he had sought.

"Gah...That dope was Kent C. He's a real piece o' work. Greedy idiot uses his size to push other people around and take their stuff. **** idiot needs his skull punched in- think I came close. Anyway...Agh...I can gather you kids are in a hurry..." He let out a deep and exhausted sigh. "I need a break, anyway."

"I could guess so," Yoshi remarked, his fear melting away.
"Well...Good fight and crap. I'll be seeing ya around. If you ever want to take me on someday again, you know where I'll be. Just give me some time to practice up, all right?"

Yoshi laughed, smiling back to his friends, who were slowly making their way to him.

"I think we'll do fine," he added.

"Good...That's real good," Pandemonium muttered, standing up very slowly, tending to his wounds with his hands.

"Uh...We'll be seeing you...Mr. Pande-...uh...Yea..." Tarts mumbled, still shot from her duel.

"Pandemonium," he corrected her with a grunt.

"Yea. Fun beatin' the snot outta ya," Fireball 'comforted' him.

"Hehe...Yea. You watch yourself, red-face. With that attitude, you're gonna get it set straight one of these days, too. And you'll be no better 'n that Kent moron..."

At that, Fireball rolled his eyes and shook his head.
"Yea, whatever," he mumbled.

"Anyway, let's get the **** outta here, Yosh..."

Yoshi nodded, and bent to grasp the Gold between his fingers.
The glowing, radiant piece drove another odd Warp Pipe forth from the dirt, rumbling around as it rose.

Pande would have asked what was going on, but his head was throbbing far too much.

Glaring at the pipe with much more self esteem than this day had held thus far, Yoshi smiled a proud smile. The Gold, shining metal before him glimmered back his own grin in reflection.

He was ready to charge on through the looking glass, no matter where it led. The day was relatively young- the sun was still in the sky, and his friends were still awaiting aid.
Where WOULD the looking glass lead...?

Time would tell, as time is the keeper of all knowledge.
 

ZeekeXIV

Smash Journeyman
Joined
Apr 26, 2004
Messages
229
Location
On the Edge
Great chapter today! Seed storm is the ultimate attack! No one can avoid the volley of hundreds of renegade watermelon seeds!

Yeah, this chapter was a little hard to follow because of the format. I'll be back later on to re-read it when you get a chance to fix it up.
 

Destiny Smasher

BRoomer
BRoomer
Joined
Jan 10, 2002
Messages
2,298
Location
Searching for my own way of the ninja.
Yea, that attack was obviously inspired by Yoshi's Island...

But, eh...A million watermelon seeds don't mean crap if they don't HURT you...

Anyway...Here's 15 and all that.

~*~*~*~*~*

Chapter 15- Keeping the Good Karma

"Haha...I KNEW it, Jim..."

"Well, of course! You never want to brag in Melee, because braggarts get snuffed out easily..."

"Link has really been working at it, hasn't he? I think he has what it takes to win this one, too."

"Can't disagree. Roy got his blade fed to him on a silver plate!"

"That's what you get for being too cocky," a sweet yet firm voice came from their side.

"Roy shouldn't have been so full of himself," she continued, brushing away a loose strand of her thick, chocolate hair from her beady eyes.

"Psh. He's just an idiot, is all," a slightly higher, yet more aggressive tone sounded from his twin sister's side.

"He's allowed to be cocky. He's just gotta have the walk to back up the talk, is all." His hair was in a bowl cut, and was smooth and shiny. The girl to his right frowned at him.

"Yea, you're KING cocky, aren't you?" she mumbled.

"At least I can fight!" he protested arrogantly.

"Yea, but you need ME!"

"Do NOT!"

"Wanna bet?"

"OK, then!!" Larry's voice interrupted their quarrel. It was then that they realized they were both on TV.

"It looks like we have a little sibling rivalry going, hm?" he said in a sly voice.

"You two little Ice Climbers better sort that out before you go in the arena."

"Yea. You're supposed to be aiming your mallets at an opponent, not eachother," Jim agreed with a smile.

"Oh, don't worry," Nana said with a grin. "That's about the only place we DON'T argue..."

"Yea..." Popo grumbled out.

"Good luck to you two, then," Jim bid them. "You might need it at the rate this competition is going..."

"Thank you!" Nana said sweetly, waving farewell as she urged her brother to follow her.

"Watch us kick some butt," Popo said with a smirk.

As the two ten-year olds left to fetch their classic parkas for combat, Larry and Jim were left snickering.

"Well, we'll have to wait a while to see how those two make out, because Princess Daisy is going to challenge Princess Peach tonight, and that's coming up!"

~~~~~~~~~~

"Ho ho...That was certainly something."

"Indeed. The Princess of Sarasaland against the Princess of the Mushroom Kingdom...Very nice."

"Eh...That was nothin'...Women can't fight worth crap anyway..." muttered a deep voice from behind them.

The two announcers gave eachother amused glances, and turned to face their guest speaker.

"Oh...Is that so, Falco?" Jim questioned slyly.

Falco smirked.

"Yea, that's right. Women can't fight. They weren't designed for it. They were meant for all that gay crap, like house cleaning, vacuuming, washing dishes, blah..." He gagged a bit and shook his head.

Larry shot him a very cunning smile. A smile that challenged him.

"Oh...Well, if you really think so...You'd better not say anything like that to any of the girls around here."

Falco burst out a laugh.

"What if I did? What're they gonna do?" he demanded, snickering.

Larry straightened his tie a bit, and grasped his mike firmly.

"You hear that, folks? Lombardi here says that girls shouldn't be in Melee tournaments..."

"...And we all know that he's basically jinxed himself now..." Jim said with a chuckle.

"WHAT?" Falco rose from his seat.

"Bullcrap! You'll see! I'll show ya! Sheesh...Lookit me, I'm Princess ZELDA!" he fluttered his eyelids, waved his hands and spoke in a 'prissy' type voice. "And I'm about to get my butt kicked!!"

Jim and Larry once again exchanged glances, but now they were confused ones.

"Errmm...Right...Well, then, Falco," Jim began. "You're up next against the Ice Climbers. That means you'll be taking on the youngest girl of the Melee League, Nana."

"Psh. Yea, well, ya notice she needs her brother to help her...?"

Larry laughed, quite hard.

"Oh...NOW he's done it..."

"You're tellin' me, Jim. He's just asking for it! At the rate he's going, I can almost promise that Nana will be the one to KO him! And she usually fights as the sidekick!"

Falco shook his head roughly and huffed.

"Bah. Whose frickin' idea was it to televise this? You're really lucky...."

Larry definitely pondered calling security for a moment from the look Falco gave him. The humanoid bird flew from the room in a fit, and the two announcers let the air stay dead for a few moments.

Out of nowhere, they both cleared their throats roughly, and continued with their duties.

"Well, then...I suppose we shall see if THIS loud mouth lives up to his threats, eh?"

"Indeed, Larry...I'm starting to worry if some of these guys need therapy...Little Link takes on Bowser next! So keep your TV's on this channel!"

~~~~~~~~~~

A shriek of pure pain echoed throughout the small field, scaring any nearby woodland creatures.

It was followed by a flurry of snickers and a volley of insults.

"WHY DID YOU DO THAT?!" the screaming voice whimpered.

"I dunno. It was tempting. I mean, your big fat toes are nice and out in the open, so I just...couldn't resist..."

Tarts face steamed and she clenched her teeth viciously.

"I can't resist kicking you between the legs right now," she hissed between her grit teeth, her eyes watery.

"Bring it!" Fireball called back, slapping his chest.

Yoshi's eyelids were twitching angrily, and he finally spat out, "GUYS!" without even looking.

The two glared at eachother as Yoshi continued his pace. Tarts was a glare that was kind of hurt, while Fireball's was rubbing in the fact that he'd just gotten her in 'trouble.' Not that he cared about himself.

"And Fireball," Yoshi added, "That was really low, stomping on her feet like that."

Tarts smirked back at him now in a vengeful way.

"Well...If she wasn't wearing sandals, then-"

"Fireball, just shut up and keep walking," Tarts growled at him, dashing to catch up with her green pal.

He huffed, rolled his eyes, and proceeded.

They were hiking through a bright, light green field of grass. It was flat, and not too big, either. Their next destination was clearly visible off in the distance. An odd cave that covered a section of the Mango River. It was strange in the fact that the river flowed right through it, created a mystical, half-flooded cavern within. The top of the structure, simply called, 'Aqua Cave,' had holes dotting it that let light reflect off of the rushing water within.

They'd arrived back in Yoshina, coming out of a new Golden Pipe that had formed itself in the basements of the castle, right next to the previous one.

The King seemed far too busy to pay them much heed, but they gave their new Eggshell piece to Yoshi's mother, and they left promptly. Yoshi was really aiming to get a lot done today.

Tarts was already exhausted from the day, and it was only about two in the afternoon. Already they'd had two tiring conflicts, and Yoshi certainly wasn't aiming to slow down. But she pressed on, without stopping. Not really for him, but for her friends that were still missing.

She'd give anything to see them all again. Unfortunately, all she could really give was her support to Yoshi at the current moment to keep leading them on.

Head over heels, loop the loop, over the moon, across the rainbow, on Cloud Nine, however you wanted to phrase it, that's how she felt. It wasn't easy hiding it, though, that was for sure.

"-then we're gonna check things out in there," Yoshi concluded, pointing to the cave, which was mere minutes away.

"Why the **** are we goin' in there?!" Fireball demanded.

Yoshi shook his head slowly and answered, "Because there's bound to be SOMETHING in there. I've got a gut feeling."

Fireball grimaced.

"Eck...Not one of THOSE again," he mumbled. Ever since this journey had begun, Fireball dared not to question the powers of Yoshi's instincts.

~~~~~~~~~~

"Poor little guy. Looks like the younger version of Hyrule's Champion didn't fare so well tonight. The King of the Koopas managed to prevail!"

"Yes...I hate to admit it, but I believe Bowser earned that win," came a soft, high voice of a teenage princess.

"What do you think Bowser did that really gave him the edge, Zelda?" asked Larry, scratching his chin.

Zelda folded her hands out before her, stretching her arms down and letting them hang gracefully.

"Hm...Bowser had a greater will to win, but...He fought not with brute force, but something more. He fought with his heart."

"...? Really?"

"Oh, yes. I can tell. I believe he isn't fighting for the sake of violence, but something more. I think he's trying to prove something to someone."

"Hm. Interesting. Well, Zelda, I hate to disagree, but mere hope will not win this tournament. I myself hope that you have more in your arsenal than that."

She smiled sweetly. "Well, of course I do. The will to win is not all you need. But without it, you cannot wish to win at all. Bowser harnessed his will into physical force, and that contributed to his victory. That and the timed throw of a Bob-Omb, I suppose."

~~~~~~~~~~

Tarts let out a whimper, her teeth chattering slightly.

"My feet are freezing!" she cried out shakily.

"When are we gonna get out of this cold, wet, slimy place?!"

Fireball laughed at her as he gingerly hopped from one flat lying stone to the next, traversing over the river, which was getting progressively louder the farther they traveled outward to sea with it.

The caves had a decent amount of light in them, seeping from the many holes in the ceiling, as if beams breaking thunder clouds. But the air was foggy, and the cave was moist and bitter cold.

Yoshi was standing beside her, sighing as Fireball jumped along the rocks, not being careful. He was going to fall and hurt himself, for sure.

"Don't worry," Yoshi told her, briskly rubbing her shivering back. "We'll be out soon. All we've really found so far are stupid little Cheep-Cheeps, anyway."

"Who're YOU callin' stupid?" one sneered, poking its head out from the slowly rushing water.

Tarts growled and fried it with a Shock, and it warily floated downstream.

Yoshi smiled humorously, and eased her onward to the edge of the enormous, relatively smooth and flattened rock they were on. Her toes were bare and soaked as she leaned over the water. It wasn't really that deep, but she was in no mood to get her whole body drenched in this place.

She reached out her foot dizzily toward a smaller rock, which started a row of little stepping stones across the river. She really didn't feel like doing this, but Yoshi's caring hand on her back pushed her on, and she landed successfully.

"There ya go!" he said, his mood much brighter than it had been. He'd been hiking out in the humid, bright sun all day, and it felt good to be in this cool, moist place.

As Tarts moved onto the next stone, Yoshi laughed. "See? You can do it, ya big baby!"

Tarts let out a smile as she proceeded to hop along the rocks, and she began to feel more confident about herself. This wasn't so bad. She should stop worrying about things and start acting like herself, not a big whiner.

As they finally hopped up onto a section of stone that spanned the width of the caves, they saw Fireball standing still, staring downward. His back was to them, and he was holding something in front of his face.

The water's rushing was getting quicker as they moved down the river, and the water was currently gushing under them. The stone beneath their feet connected directly with the rocks inland, and it created a small portion of stone tubing beneath it, where the river swiftly ran through. Up ahead, it was visible again, and another bunch of smaller stones were spread across the glistening water.

"...? Fireball? What is it?" Tarts questioned, feeling much better, a tone of joy about her.

Fireball slowly turned around, his face grim and pale.

He stuck out his right palm, and within it he grasped a pair of black, soaked sunglasses. They weren't your average pair, though. On the legs that wrapped around ones face, two thin strips of white cloth were wrapped tightly, one on each side. Each of these strips of cloth had the word, 'TUBULAR' inscribed on them.

Tarts gasped in surprise, while Yoshi snatched them hurriedly from his friends hold, his eyes serious and wide. As he stared into their black surface, he could see his own face glaring back in shock at him.

These were his friend's. The friend of his who was appropriately named 'Surfer'. His real name was 'Surf,' which he also went by, but he had become so much of a surfing buff, even acquiring the accent and attitude, that everyone called him Surfer instead.

"This means..." Yoshi mumbled.

"He was here," Fireball finished nervously.

They all stared at eachother for a moment, the both of them perplexed. What had happened to him? How had he wound up here? And, of course, where was he now?

Yoshi clutched the pair of glasses with fierce determination as he muttered, "C'mon," and stormed onward through the beams of light and the splashing torrents. The water gnawed at his flesh fiercely as he stomped right through the liquid cold.

He slapped the shades upon his face, and they glistened hotly within the freezing, foggy air. He wasn't intent on stopping anytime soon.

~*~*~*~*~*

Ahhh...

Yes, we're getting a little ways in this...Diddly squat NOWHERE, of course...But stilll...

I mean, I'm up to Chapter 40 now, and the War hasn't even officially STARTED yet...

At this rate, it won't be until, like, Chapter 100 when teh War starts picking up...Which is, oh...About 1/3 through the fic or so...^_^

Sick, I love it.
 

ZeekeXIV

Smash Journeyman
Joined
Apr 26, 2004
Messages
229
Location
On the Edge
God, 100 chapters will only be 1/3 of the way through the fic? This is gonna be an epic! I'm gonna be reading this well after I graduate from college! Well, maybe it won't take THAT long...

Anyway, another grand chapter. Even though Falco is one of my favorite characters, I can't stand him in this fic. So so cocky... I hope Nana murders him; all by her lonesome!
 

Destiny Smasher

BRoomer
BRoomer
Joined
Jan 10, 2002
Messages
2,298
Location
Searching for my own way of the ninja.
Yea, Falco's a bit cocky...

~*~*~*~*~*

Chapter 16- TUBULAR

Tarts stood behind the two of them, still as a statue. Her eyes were soft and glistened like a lake in the moonlight. Her right palm wrapped itself around her left arm, which sagged down her side. She rubbed her arm a bit, her almost numb body not quite awake. The waters of the Lluvia River sped on by at a decent pace within the caverns, and Yoshi knew one of their lost comrades was lost in here.

She watched in worry as Yoshi splashed through the cold, rushing liquid roughly. His motions were fierce and unyielding, and Tarts could feel determination seeping out of him from his excess. And for that moment, as she had done numerous times that day, she let out a shaky sigh, closing her eyes slowly.

She was jolted in alarm as a loud splash crashed through her eardrums. Her eyes popped open as she felt some drops of water slap her smooth, pink skin in the dimly lit cavern.

Her arms flew out in surprise, and she remembered what was going on in a flash of realization as Fireball's head came jumping out of the freezing water, dripping wet.

"WHOO!! HOLY CRAP!!" he cried through chattering teeth.
"Sh-Should NOT have done that!"

Tarts, for some reason, was feeling better now- better than she'd felt all day. She let out a small giggle and began pacing carefully to the edge. There wasn't really any stone here to step on, so she had no choice but to brave the deep waters. From the looks of things, the level would crawl up to about her waist.

But she was feeling a bit more daring. She'd been through two difficult fights today, and still had a lot more to go through. She took in a deep breath and jumped in, water cascading through the air.

"SH**!!" Fireball growled out as the extra water landed on his already shivering body.

After about a second or two, Tarts' face came soaring upward, breaking the surface wildly. Her eyes were wide and frigid, her teeth clenched, and her body was struggling around to move forward through the icey waters.

As she pressed onward, not quite as daring as she had been, Fireball let out a grin. His mouth opened to spit out a remark, like 'Hehe...Cold, huh?' However, he changed his mind as his eyes wandered ahead to see Yoshi's body surging through the liquid like a machine, and he decided that now was not the time.

~*~*~*~*~*

"BAHAHA!!! WHOOO!!!"

Chuckles and chortles could be heard from the two friends, and they were almost rolling around in humor. After about ten seconds or so, they finally collected themselves.

"Ohhhhh, man...There's irony for ya, eh, Larry?"

"You SAID it, Jim! It just doesn't get much better than this, does it?"

"Nope, nope. Can't say it does."

Their guest added in in her soft, high, and caring tone.

"Hm, hm. Well, that's what Falco deserves for being so arrogant." She nodded her head slowly.

"So true, Miss Toadstool, so true," Jim agreed.

"I've told you, call me Peach, please," she insisted with a smile.

"OK, OK...What would you have to say about his combat skills?" Jim asked.
"Well..." Peach tapped her chin with a gloved hand. "He ignored Nana altogether, and that proved to be a mistake. She must've heard about what he'd said before the match, because she fought more fiercely than her brother did in that one."

Larry straightened his tie as he spoke next.

"Yep, yep. She fought quite well with Popo, as she had promised us. I swear, I'm surprised those two manage to live together, but...when it comes to fighting, they really can pull through!"

"Haha...Well, we'll get a chance to see a pretty interesting fight up next, viewers on at home. Samus Aran takes on Luigi Mario, coming up!"

~*~*~*~*~*

Everything was fuzzy and unclear. The world was a blur, as were the sounds around her. As her eyes tried to make everything come into focus, she began to comprehend what was going on.

"Hey! Hey!" A warm hand was gentley tapping at her cheeck rapidly to try to awaken her.

"She OK, man?" came a voice she'd come to get aggrevated at.

"Yea, yea...She's fine," another responded. It was HIM. She could NEVER get aggrevated by THIS voice. She could listen to it forever and ever.

"...Mmm...Yoshi...?" her mouth mumbled in a groan. Then, quite suddenly, she sputtered and coughed violently, spitting up water all over herself.

"Whoa, whoa!" Yoshi's voice came, and she felt his gentle hands rotate her body around so she splashed water on the cold, stone floor.
"Aw, geez," he mumbled in worry.

"I'm sorry, Fireball," he said to his side slowly.
"I didn't mean to-"

"'S allright, man. It's fine, don't worry," he assured, smiling.

"Tarts? Tarts, you awake?" Yoshi questioned, bending down to her level and masaging her shoulder sympathetically.

She groggily blinked and her head wobbled. In a daze, she turned around and sat, her short tail flopping to the side.

Fireball, even, seemed concerned.

As he rubbed her chest slowly, his sympatheticness seemed to melt away as he said, tossing his arms, "Psh! Oh, you'll live!"

Yoshi shot him a furious frown, but he quickly realized that Fireball was just trying to lighten the mood a bit.

Tarts' eyes finally opened fully, and she forced a smile, though her chest and head still felt congested.

"Oww..." she murmured lowly.

"'Ow' is an understatement," Yoshi said shakily, but much relieved.

"Geez, we were afraid you were drowning or something..."
She felt a sudden shock as it all swept back. She'd been struggling in the deep, icey-feeling water to catch up, only to tire herself out, and start feeling faint.

She gasped, and her hand slapped her mouth as she did so.

"Oh...I...Wow...Wh-What happened?" she spat out, talking behind her palm.

"Well...Fireball was still behind, I was kinda...rushing," Yoshi's eyes wandered a bit, and he rubbed the back of his neck. "Anyway, he heard you crying out, and he called me. We managed to get you to the next solid ground. You sure you're allright?" His voice was comforting and pleading.

"I'm OK. Really. I just think I need a little while to rest..."

"Of course," Yoshi agreed, nodding quickly.

Tarts sucked in a deep breath of relief, and her hand rubbed her chest a bit more. But then, it paused. Something was missing...In desperation, her hand began to fumble around her neck, but...It was gone! The necklace Queen Eaglesia had given to her was gone!

"Oh!" Yoshi realized what she was fussing about just before she said a word.
"Yea, your necklace fell off, but don't worry. We got it." Yoshi said with a smile. Tarts returned it with a blushed half-grin.

Fireball huffed. "Yea," he said in a sarcastic tone. "He's the one who was all over you, making sure you were OK. He had me go dive down to get your crap for ya. I had to get your necklace, AND both of your dumb @$$ sandals, too!"

Tarts' face lit up with gratitude, and she answered his grumblings with a deep and honest, "Thank you..."

He was taken back by her friendliness, and replied, a little shaken, "Yea...No problem..."

As Yoshi told Fireball to slip her footwear on, she protested.
"I'm fine, I'm fine. I can put on my own shoes, thank you..." There was a hint of independence and firmness about the way she said it, as if she didn't like these boys being her caregivers. She appreciated it, indeed, but she was alive, well, and capable.

"Um...OK," Fireball mumbled, letting her sandals flop to the wet, rough floor by by large feet. Her bare feet were fleshy and soft, like most Yoshies. They had three pudgy toes, and no nails on the ends. Only some Yoshies grew finger nails and toe nails. These were usually those of the poison element.
Yoshi scanned around closeby to find Tarts' most valuable posession at the time, snatched it, and slowly reached out his arm. She blinked rapidly as her arm stretched out to receive it, and she noticed that the 'Zap Ring' she had been wearing all day was still firm on her finger.

Yoshi's hand pressed the stringed jewel into her open palm strongly and with a passion. She accepted it gratefully and flung it around her neck.
"Allright, then," Yoshi started. "We'll break for a few, but then we've gotta take off. Surfer might be lost somewhere nearby. I don't know about you, but I sure wouldn't want to be lost in this place alone." Tarts felt her heart wince again as she saw the pain in his eyes as his trembling hands slowly placed Surfer's sunglasses over them.

"Are you sure you can see in those?" she asked worriedly, her eyes sharing the same pain that his felt. It was pretty dark in here, afterall.

Yoshi smiled at her warmly and answered, "Tarts, I don't need to see. I can FEEL."

He rubbed her giant nose affectionately, and she returned the gesture in a playful manner.

"Ehhhh," Fireball whimpered in annoyance. "Come on, come on. I mean, the least ya could do is not leave me out, huh?" In response, the both of them lunged their hands at his nose, and he cried out jokingly, stumbling back. After landing on his rear and getting over the moment of humor, he stated, "We gotta go, allright?"

Yoshi's eyes lost that moment of playfulness and retained their usual solemn glow.

"Yea, yea," he muttered, standing up. His eyes glanced up ahead. He couldn't tell whether this cave was getting darker or brighter, but he knew they had to press on.

He removed the shades for a moment, and his finger dwelled upon the small piece of tape wrapped around one of the sides that read in permanent marker, 'TUBULAR.' He could feel that his friend was near.

~*~*~*~*~*

"Wow! That was just a stunning battle! I swear, it just doesn't get much better than this, now does it?"

"No way, Jim! NO-WAY."

"Yea, they both were amazing," came an impressed voice. "I haven't seen either of them fight so well. Hope I don't have to go against that Luigi anytime soon. He's takin' names, isn't he?"

"That's right, Link. He really did well. Poor Samus. I've heard she was really going for a win this time, too. But a tournament can only have one victor. And the only way to get higher up is to crush those weaker than you. Luigi just proved to be stronger today, is all."

"No KIDDING," Link muttered, still in awe.

Larry added in his own comments: "Oh, geez. That fight was fast, furious, and the competition was HOT! Those two were really pushing it, but like you said, Jim- there can only be one winner. I wonder how Luigi will fare from here on out? I have no doubts in my mind, that's for sure."

"The way he executed his Green Missle at just the right moment when Samus was recovering- marvelous!" Jim cried.

"Oh, and the way Samus precisely aimed her Grappling Hook to save her skin a little later- that was skill! These edges are narrow!" Larry put in.

Link laughed. "When Samus fired a fully-charged Power Beam, and Luigi ran right toward it, only to bounce it off his sheild- that move took GUTS."

"Mm hm...It appears that in round one alone, we've seen some nice fighting. Hehe...You don't wanna miss this, folks. Imagine what the finals will be like? Next, the Psychic Machine Mewtwo will duke it out with our newcoming substitute- the epic duo, Banjo and Kazooie! How will the bear-bird combo match up against the cat creature?"

~*~*~*~*~*
 

MewtwoMaster2002

ミュウツーマスター2002
Joined
Dec 19, 2002
Messages
6,148
Location
Japan
3DS FC
2922-0496-2962
Great update. I hope Mewtwo wins the next round in the Tournament. Oh and Yoshi and his friends are getting closer to Surfer. Will they find anything on the way? I'll just wait instead of going to FF.net.
 
Top Bottom