Chapter 38

"Thank you! Have a nice day!"

Christopher's wife smiled and waved as her latest customer, a young woman, walked out of the door of her husband's store with a new book in her arms. Once the woman was gone, the shop's temporary owner could start relaxing again. Everything in Gana Village had been relaxing ever since the defeat of the evil clowns.

Christopher's wife leaned her elbow against the counter and held her head up with her upraised hand. She frowned a bit. The evil clowns may have disappeared, but that was all they did. At first the female shop owner figured she could take conciliation in the fact that, should the clowns return, their Dr. Kamenstein could come and save them, but these thoughts were removed from her head once she realized he couldn't always be there for them. He did, after all, have two young boys of his to find. This probably meant that, when the time came, Gana Village was going to have to fend for itself and only for itself...

The wife and mother jolted out of her daze. She was hearing some yelling and screaming voices outside. One of them was from the woman that had stopped by, who was sounding fearful. The other was sounding slightly annoyed.

"AUGHH! GET THOSE THINGS AWAY FROM ME!"

"Would you boys knock it off?! Geez, I can't take you anywhere!"

A few yells later (and even a few barks), the commotion had quieted down. Once the
door to the store opened, its owner could catch a glimpse of a young woman backing away from a bunch of Chain Chomps tied to a pole, each of them jumping around and gnashing their teeth. The person walking through the door was none other than their owner, a red Pianta woman in an orange bikini top.

"Chain Chomps!" she said, as she approached the other woman. "They're not easy to raise, I tell ya."

"Good morning, Chainabel Lee," the poet's wife stated. "How's your sister doing?"

"Well, you know, same old stuff. Listen, I was wondering if you had any books on the Orokon."

"Excuse me?"

"The Orokon. You know, a group of people rumored to be living in the center of the planet. They say they know everything, including what they don't know. Maybe they know how to get Chain Chomps to take their insulin, you know?"

"Hmm..." Christopher's wife looked around beneath the counter for a few seconds. She came back up with a book in her hands entitled "Legend of the Orokon". "Will this do?" she asked.

"Oh, that'll be perfect." Chainabel Lee took the book and handed over a few coins in payment. The red Pianta woman began to flip through the pages of her newly bought item. "You know, maybe your husband'll find the Orokon. They say there's a secret passageway leading to them somewhere in Gulpit Tunnel."

"R...really?"

"Well, maybe. Listen, I'd like to sit and chat, but I got some important business to attend to. Raising Chain Chomps is no walk in the park, you know!"

"All right. Have a nice day, then!" Before long, the woman was alone again. She propped her head up and started thinking some more.

Maybe the Orokon know where our children went, she thought.

Meanwhile, Chainabel Lee was in the process of freeing her pet Chain Chomps from the pole. So hard to raise, she thought, and she began walking her three vicious pets down the street of Gana Village. I wonder how my sister does it...

One more left...

Yazzee looked around. He was in the middle of Pianta Village, the section of Isle Delfino that was populated by Piantas and giant mushrooms. Lucky for him, it was also populated by a red Pianta woman whose three Chain Chomplets had gone nuts, or rather encased in flames of fury. He looked around for the third one. Surprisingly, he found it rather close to where he was supposed to take it: the village's local hot spring.

The yellow Yoshi grabbed a nearby water barrel. He aimed it and fired it. SPLOOSH! It landed directly on the little Chain Chomp's head. It cooled the creature down, returning its color from a fiery red to a cold black. Yazzee pumped his right arm victoriously. He ran up to the small beast, grabbed it by its chain tail, and began pulling. Once he had it pulled back far enough and had it aimed at what was evidently the right spot, he let go. CHING! CHING! CHING! The impact shot the metal thing forward and caused it to bounce around between two different walls like a pinball. Yazzee then heard a FWOOSH and a whining sound. He ran up to the hot springs and saw three gray chain tails sticking out of the small body of water. The yellow Yo'ster smiled to himself.

Mission accomplished, he thought.

Then a red Pianta woman ran up from behind and threw her arms around the reptile. It nearly knocked the wind out of him. "Oh, thank you, thank you, THANK YOU! You saved my babies! I have to repay you. Come with me!"

The ecstatic woman began to practically drag the ill-fated Yo'ster across the assorted dirt roads of Pianta Village. Much to his surprise, she had led him to somewhere behind one of the town's palm trees. Lying in wait for them there was a box, very similar to the one the yellow man had encountered in Noki Bay, only this one was magenta and white rather than indigo and white. "Ooh!" he elicited excitedly.

"I don't really know what this is," the Chain Chomp-oriented woman began, "but something tells me it's valuable. I want you to have it."

"Thank you!" Yazzee obliged. The two of him and the Pianta woman said goodbye. Then the Yo'ster could return to minding this new box before him. He turned to SPOWT. "So, what is this thing?" he asked it.

"That is the Jet Nozzle. Attach this to me, and you will be able to fly. You will also be able to carry up to twelve people at a time."

"WOW...!"

At this point, the red Pianta woman was staring at her three Chain Chomplets and how they were all lying face down in the steamy spring water. She shook her head. "Chainabel Lee, how do you do it?" she wondered aloud to herself. The red woman snapped out of her thoughts once she heard something big and loud ripping its way through the sky. She looked up and saw what it was: a gold mine with a pair of metallic wings. "What in the world?!"

Yazzee laughed to himself as he looked down upon Pianta Village. All of the colorful little Piantas there were looking up and pointing to him in amazement. He felt they had every right to do so. Whatever the Submarine Nozzle was, it was nothing compared to this. Yazzee thought of how increasingly lucky he had been ever since he found SPOWT as he flew through the sky. Yazzee smiled to himself as the wind whipped his face. It suddenly bore a look of great seriousness.

That's right, he thought. I should be heading back. Maybe those carrots have returned. The airborne Yoshi silently bid farewell to Pianta Village and all of its awestricken inhabitants as he began to fly his way over the mountains of Isle Delfino. I'll wait for them at Delfino Plaza. Most likely, they'll turn up there once they do...

Carro, Boscis, and King Carrot were outside again. Behind them and in the middle of these woods just off the coast of Isle Delfino was their camouflaged base, Half Moon. The three of them had gotten their things together and were busy looking at the strange building.

"Boss," Carro stated, "you're sure we can go now?"

"Why not?" King Carrot rasped. "Boscis is back to normal. The base is all fixed up. We tied up ALL the loose ends. All we need now is to show that Yoshi who's the boss."

Carro nodded. "You're right, Boss."

"All right, boys... Let's get outta here..."

The three carrots began to hover through the woods and drift further away from their secret base. Little did they know that they had missed two rather vital spots on it: two out of place-looking holes on the side that were shaped like Melon Bugs...

Deep inside Blifit's lair, Sackle and Crookie were still trapped inside of a strange cylinder of ice. However, they wouldn't be so for long. With a little help from their new friend, Crania, they had succeeded in digging quite the sizeable hole out of one of this cylinder's walls. Sackle had been using a philips head screwdriver, Crookie, a pair of wire cutters, and Crania, a wrench. All three of them had done an admirable job of transforming the one chunk missing from their wall into a potential escape route.

Currently, Sackle was hacking away at the ice and scraping off flakes of frosty dust as much as ever. Crookie, on the other hand, was doing it at a noticeably slower rate. Sackle sneered at him.

"Come on, Crookie, what's the hold up? Can't you go any faster than that?"

"Aw, come on, Boss. We've been at it non-stop! Can't we take a break?"

"You can take a break," the blue-capped thief grumbled, "but I'm gonna stay here and show you how a REAL man goes about things!"

Crookie wiped sweat from his brow as he put down his cutters and stepped away from the hole. Crania did the same thing. "I'll be taking a break, too, Boss," she said.

Sackle snorted. "Lazy bums..."

Moments after making himself comfortable on the stone ground, Crookie found a cherry-flavored snowcone in front of his face. He looked into the face of the person holding it. He gladly took the frozen delicacy from her. "Aw, thanks," he said.

"No problem." Crania sat down as Crookie did and began to munch on a snowcone of her own. She glanced at Sackle, who was still relentlessly stabbing his screwdriver into the hole in the wall. "Is he always like this?" she asked.

"Yeah, but..." Crookie took a bite of his diminutive meal, "you get used to it."

"How did you two first meet, anyway?"

"Well... I'm actually from Thornton, the city of roses. It's in Mario Land somewhere. I had a job there, you know. I worked for a man named Mac Rozone. Rumor had it, he was the richest man there, aside from the king and queen, of course. He was a superhero. He'd do all kinds of incredible things, from beating up bad guys to getting things for people... for money.

"He had a nice, big, fancy mansion. It came with a cafetaria, a museum, and a resort. He had all these servants and butlers that'd do stuff for him. He even had a bunch of robot ants. I... was his janitor.

"Countless times, I swept the hallways, dusted the furniture, and cleaned the swimming pool. Occasionally, me and a friend of mine, Croof, would sneak into the kitchen and snag some snacks. Other times, we'd just hide somewhere and smoke cigarettes.

"Sounds like my kind of place, right? Sounds like Mac just had it all, right? Sure, I got to spend a lot of my time in this bigshot place, but the guy was like a communist. He'd never give anyone any raises no matter what. In fact, this one time, a storm hit. All of the lights went out. Worse than that, everything that was remotely electronic in the house stopped working, even the ants. Everyone panicked. I was the only one who was able to find the right wires, push the right buttons, and get everything going again. It wasn't just Croof who was amazed; I won EVERYONE'S respect. I was their hero! Did Mac give me a raise? No. Did he give me a promotion? No. He just gave me a pat on the back and told me to keep up the good work. Pah!

"Croof was more sympathetic to me than anyone. He said that if there was anyone out there who deserved more than we did, it was us... and, by golly, we were gonna get it.

"He had a plan. He said we were going to kill two birds with one stone. We were going to make life start being easier for us, and give Mac what was coming to him. He said there was a better rich guy in the Beanbean Kingdom named Boddle. He liked to collect dolls, but he was still a great guy. All me and Croof had to do was get past Mac somehow.

"We decided to take one of his Volit Ants, one of his giant robot ants that could fly. Croof said Mac had so many of them, he wouldn't notice if one went missing, and if he did, it served him right. The only problem was, Croof was mechanically impaired. Fortunately, he had ME around. People always said I had a way with technology...

"Anyway, we decided to strike once night fell. Not only was everyone asleep by then; Mac had gone, off to a meeting with the king and queen, who wanted him to get something for them, and he hadn't come home yet.

"Once the time was right, we snuck into his big, fancy garage, found the Volit Ant we wanted, and hopped in. I got the pilot seat, Croof got the co-pilot seat. We strapped ourselves in and got ready for takeoff. I pushed the button, and we were off! It was amazing. All six of the thing's huge legs were scuttling back and forth. We were zooming out of the place at what must have been- I don't know- 100 MPH, or something. I'm tellin' ya, it was amazing.

"Then came the BEST part: we were flying! It was flapping its wings and everything. We were out of there and into the sky before we even knew it. We could taste the Beanbean Kingdom already..."

Crookie sighed. Crania looked at him a bit worriedly. "Then what happened?" she asked.

"Well... We didn't make it. It turned out Mac just had to show up right in the nick of time. Seeing how one of his precious Volit Ants was being stolen, he got a whole bunch of his other ants together- the ones with cannons on their heads- and BAM! We were shot down.

"Well, I survived the crash, but Croof wasn't so lucky. There was blood coming out of his mouth and everything. I tried shaking him and telling him to snap out of it, but it was no use. Mac told me to get my butt out there. He told me he had a feeling it was me. He told me he never liked me anyway and that all I did was cause trouble. He also told me that... getting the Kreer Sphere, or whatever... wasn't going to be easy and that he may as well get some practice done.

"He told me to say my prayers. I prayed for someone to come and help me. ANYONE." Crookie laughed. "You know what happened next? This hole opens up in midair right next to me and POOF! HE pops out." Crookie gestured to the blue-capped thief who was still chiseling away at the hole. "I'm confused. EVERYONE'S confused. Even him. He turns to me and says, What's going on? Where am I?

"I tell him, What does it matter?! They're gonna kill me! You gotta save me!

"He tells me, All right, but it'll cost ya. Then he whips out a bunch of knives and starts cutting up all those ants. Man, you should've seen it. Those guys didn't stand a chance! But, for some reason, once they were all down and Mac Rozone turned to him and said You've still got me, he said Not this again, grabbed me by my collar roots, and dragged me over to some of Mac's cannons. We jumped in them, and we were off. That wasn't so great.

"Later, we're far away from Mac, and Sackle tells me he's met that guy before. It turns out he and Blifit once tried to get this one doll from him and..." Crookie shook his head and waved his hand. "Well... That's another story.

"Anyway, he tells me, to repay him, I'll have to become his new partner. I said I wasn't too sure about it. He told me he wasn't facing Boddle alone. Then I perked up and agreed to his terms.

"We got to the guy's place via one of the giant snot bubbles of Mario Land's hippo statue. Did you know you can ride those things? Anyway, once we got there, Sackle told the guy what happened before he materialized in Thornton. To put it shortly, throughout the War of the Shy Gang, he and Blifit had been chasing down these two witches, and now he had no idea where they had gone to. Boddle told him not to worry since, last he checked, they were on their way to Yoshi's Island. He told us that all we had to do was find them and get the doll from them, and he'd pay us 5,000,000,000 coins for it."

Crania whistled. "That's a lot of money... for one doll?"

"Oh, yeah. We'd do ANYTHING for that kind of money..." Crookie had finished consuming his snowcone. He began licking away at the red juice that was still swimming around in its cardboard container. He smacked his lips and continued. "Well, we've been together ever since. Getting to Yoshi's Island wasn't easy. Leaving it wasn't easy." Crookie laughed and whistled, almost while imitating Crania. "Let's just say we don't have a single clue where the doll is now. It could be on top of some mountain somewhere, for all we care."

Crookie began looking into his empty cone with one eye as though it were a telescope. Crania started nodding. The instant she did so, the two of them heard a loud FOOMF. They turned their heads to the left and saw Sackle slide out of the hole in the wall as though it were playground equipment. "Hey, you mugs, what are you doing just sitting around for? I completed the hole! Let's get out of here!"

Crookie and Crania said "All right" and tossed their snowcones aside. Crania picked up her toolbox. She put away her wrench as well as her screwdriver and her wire cutters as Sackle and Crookie handed them to her. Then they filed into the hole and jumped out of it from the other side, one by one. It was revealed their icy cylinder of a prison had been in one of the many circular, stone rooms the underground cave's numerous passages branched out to. Crookie and Crania looked around, but Sackle just looked straight ahead, straight at the only doorway leading out of this room. He gestured to the others.

"Well, come on," he said. "The surface awaits!" The thief's two partners nodded and took after him as he started running through the cave. Their oddysey through the maze-like underground lair of the once sane Blifit had begun...

"A mountain?!"

"Yes, sir, but not just any mountain..."

Tito was back in the main circular room. The same purple alien that had informed him of it earlier when the ship had landed amidst a world of brass was telling him of their new location.

"According to this," the alien minion said, gesturing to his computer screen, "we are in the center of the Ring of Dheos. Lord knows what could happen here."

"And I'm not gonna risk it," Tito grumbled with a furled brow. He stepped back and gave an exasperated sigh. "Wart! Katana!" The frog and the silver man immediately showed up behind him. The purple captain turned around with his hands folded behind his back. "Gather 100 of our best men. I want you to start heading for Delfino Plaza. On the side of Corona Mountain there, there's a portal that will take you to the moon. In order to get out of this place as soon as possible, we'll need four stones to replace the ones taken from us..." The brutal alien winced as he reflected back upon the previous occurrences. He got himself back together and continued with the instructions. "A Moon Rock, a Rag Rock, a Special Rock, and a Rainbow Rock; get one of each of those, then head straight back. I'm not sure for how much longer we can keep Smithy waiting..."

Wart and Katana gave their captain a "Yes sir", and started heading out the door. Tito watched them go, a stern look on his face.

Conquering this planet, he thought, will be no easy task...

Up on top of the mountain of Belome Rock somewhere, a certain four-eyed, dog-like creature was busy lying on his back, happily looking up at the clouds. He was being very absentminded and carefree.

"Oh, they're so fluffy today," he mused to himself. He extended one of his bear-like arms and began to point at certain locations in the sky. "That one looks like a flower," he said, "and that one looks like a hamster!" Next, the man pointed to a cloud that looked as though it had a long, canine nose and some pointy ears. "And that one... looks just like that one nice lady I met earlier..." The resident of Belome Rock breathed a sigh. "I feel," he started, "like everything's been going all right ever since I met her... Her and her friends. I feel like they're really going to help us out, that everything's gonna be okay from now on." The peaceful creature closed his eyes in a very laidback manner. "I feel like I could just lay down, just like this, forever..."

"You'd like that? 'Cause I can give it to you. Hee hee hee!"

The guardian of Belome Rock jerked his head up. Much to his surprise, he had another visitor. This one had his arms folded. He and the guardian of this mountain bore a rather strong resemblance to each other. The one with blue marks on his face looked alarmed. "Wh-Who are you?"

Belome smirked. "Can't you tell? I'm you! But that's impossible, isn't it? We very well can't be having TWO Belomes, now can we? One of us has got to go, and, here's a hint: it's not gonna be me."

The threatened one cursed to himself. He should have known that the minute he let his guard down, something like this would happen. Normally, he'd just back into a corner somewhere and hope all went well, but this time, it wasn't going to be like that. The real Belome figured that, if those people he met earlier could stand up to jerks like this, so could he.

He got up off the ground with his fists by his side. He stared down the fake Belome. "Listen," he said, "you'd best leave here at once. I don't want to have to do anything to you."

The fake Belome just laughed. "Are you really that tough? I don't think you are. Allow me to prove it. GET 'IM, BOYS!" The unwanted guest swung an arm forward, and the real Belome was shocked by what happened next. A whole army of countless bug-like things spilled out from behind the fake Belome and began to surround the real one. The real Belome looked around at all of them and the axes in their hands. He was confused and a bit scared, but he couldn't let it end here.

The real Belome scowled, raised his fists, and rushed into the fray. This instantly got the battle going. Everywhere, punches were being thrown and axes were being swung. The real Belome kept twisting and turning like crazy, trying as hard as he could to get in as many hits as possible. He punched, he kicked, he slapped Shoguns' heads in with his huge tongue... He'd even send blobs of saliva flying at them, if not blue laser beams from above. He was able to fell a good few of the bugs this way. Unfortunately, the Shoguns had a few tricks of their own. They were biting him, clawing at him, and hacking away at him with their axes. More and more bloody gashes were starting to show up on him, but the real Belome refused to give in. He continued to fight and impede on these monsters' actions.

The real Belome fought as though the fate of the world rested on the outcome of this battle. He punched, kicked, dodged, and pulled out his tricks on these beasts. His will was as unstoppable as a flood, yet, the more he fought, the harder it got to do so. Gradually, the real Belome began to feel as though he were moving through a swamp. The fake Belome just smirked at him as he realized what was going on: instead of attacking him, the Shoguns were latching onto him. They had shackled his legs and were going for his arms. In their desperation, they were even latching onto each other, weighing down the helpless Belome even more. He gritted his teeth and struggled to break free from their grasp, but it was no use.

In time, the gremlins had him on his back. He was unable to do much more than grimace and make his fists tremble. The fake Belome slowly walked up to him. "I've got you right where I want you, my little hors o'doeuvre," he chided.

"What are you going to do?!" the real Belome rasped.

"Well... I'd eat you, but that'd be like eating me, and that'd be a bit too weird for my tastes, so..."

The fake Belome whipped out a sharp object. The real Belome recognized it as the knife the leader of the Cutchyas had earlier. How had he gotten it?

"By the way," the fake Belome continued, "you DO know what voodoo dolls are for, don't you?" The real Belome stopped squirming for one second. He cocked an eyebrow at his enemy. The fake one ignored him. "Well... Goodbye." SHUNK! The fake Belome jammed the knife right into his chest. For one split second, the real one was utterly confused by this, but then he started feeling an indescribable pain in his chest. It felt like there was a fire burning him to ashes from the inside out. His heart had been punctured.

Everything was turning red for the real Belome as these few events suddenly started to make everything fall into place. He finally realized why he felt as though he were being gunned down by a barrage of some strange energy some time ago. Th-That's why, he thought darkly, it hurt... so much...

The real Belome's eyes rolled up into his head. His eyelids fluttered and closed. They stayed that way.

The Shoguns that had submissed him had gotten off of him, allowing his body to flop onto the ground. The fake Belome pulled the knife out of his chest. There was no blood on it. "Well, now that that's taken care of..." He tossed the blade aside and faced his subjects. "All right, boys, take him away!" The Shoguns all saluted their master and began to roll the real Belome's lifeless body to the edge of the mountain. The fake Belome watched for one second and turned away. He started walking around slowly, gazing at the blue sky. "Hee hee hee!" he laughed. "This is great! I've got a bunch of loyal servants, I'm as healthy as a horse... In fact, I can't die... I've got a place of my own now, and there's a whole world out there full of tasty food I haven't tried yet!" Belome spread his arms out wide and raised his voice. "Truly, this is my lucky day! HA HA HA HA HA HA HA!"

The fake Belome's laughter echoed throughout the mountains as the real Belome's bloody body tumbled down the side of it, never to make it to the top again. A new Belome had taken his place, unaware of how he had just made Belome Rock even worse...

Somewhere in the Clover Kingdom was a mass collection of trees. Walking through it was a set of four people consisting of Xoshi, Davey, White Rose, and Leif. Soon, they'd be able to get out of the shade of the leaves and back into the sunlight.

"We're almost there," Leif stated. He was the first to emerge from the forest. He stood defiantly on a dirt path and waited for his other three companions to exit it as well. When Xoshi walked out of it, he was sweeping dust off of him. White Rose was pulling twigs off of his sleeves, and Davey was getting some leaves out of his hair.

"So, uh, Leif, where's this?" the boy asked.

"Steen Stream," said the Viking as everyone began looking at the town before them. Leif was starting to walk towards it slowly. "A place that embraces the fighting spirit and-" The Marinotropolan suddenly stopped walking, just when the others started following him again. The huge, hairy man knelt down and started scanning the dirt-covered ground, almost as though he had lost a contact lens.

"Sir Leif, is everything all right?" White Rose asked.

"It's... fine," the Viking replied. He waved his hand in the direction of the village. "You all go on ahead. I'll catch up to you."

Xoshi, Davey, and White Rose nodded to their fourth party member and began to do as he said. "What do you think his problem was?" Davey asked.

"I can't say," White Rose responded, "but I'm not one to meddle in others' affairs." The trio walked on. Once they reached the arch of Steen Stream's opening bridge, they were greeted by one of its little Steens.

"Welcome to Steen Stream!" he said. "We seldom get visitors here, but if there's anything we could do for you, just ask."

"Well," White Rose said, cathing a bit of deja vu, "we're looking for a dog-like being who may have passed through here earlier with a slew of ants. Can you help us with this?"

The Steen nodded. "I know who you're talking about. This guy came by here earlier. He just muttered something about a bunch of people being too small to eat, and he headed for that mountain over there." The Steen pointed to the humungous rock in the distance with moss all over it. "If you're gonna climb that thing, be careful. The Steenix might get you."

Davey looked perplexed. "The Steenix?" he asked.

"It's a giant bird with four wings. We don't quite understand it ourselves. It only started living here a few days ago. All we know is that it's very dangerous."

Davey scratched his chin. "A bird, huh?"

"Yes. Anyway, is there anything else I can do for you?"

"That'll be all, thank you," White Rose answered. "Good day."

The Steen nodded. Xoshi, Davey, and White Rose walked past him and started navigating their ways through this river-based town. Meanwhile, Leif was still examining the spot of ground he had stumbled upon previously for whatever reason. The Viking gave it one good, long stare with one eye open as though it were a jewel. He withdrew an index finger and wiped some dust off of it. He placed it beneath his nostrils and took in its scent. He closed his eyes and thought hard.

Two witches have been here recently, he concluded. One of them, a summoner of Wigglers. The other, a shape shifter. Their intentions, I do not know... but perhaps now is not the time for such things...

The Viking blew the dust off of his finger. He got off the ground and started walking towards Steen Stream. Once he arrived there, like his teammates did, he was greeted by a lone Steen. "If there's anything we could do for you, just ask."

"My friends were just here a moment ago, were they not? They were a brown Yoshi, a swordsman, and a young boy. Could you point me in their direction, please?"

The Steen did as he was asked. "They're headed for Belome Rock. Just watch out for the Steenix."

"Thank you," the Viking quipped. "Oh, and one other thing," he added. "Out of curiosity... have two witches been here recently?"

"Huh? Oh, yeah. There was. There was this crazy one named Larva and this shadowy one named Annabyss. Why do you ask?"

"Nothing," Leif stated. "I just have a feeling I may have business with them sooner or later."

"Oh, okay."

The fish man and the Steen said goodbye to each other. Leif started thinking to himself again as he began to make his way through this village. Larva and Annabyss, he speculated, if the Star Spirits so wish it... I will kill you...

Two purple space aliens were on the spaceship somewhere. They were in the exercise room along with a whole bunch of other aliens wearing the same silver and white uniforms as them. Both were in front of a pair of punching bags swaying gently as they hung from the ceiling. One of the aliens was short and stubby. The other was huge, muscular, hulking, and with messy, dark purple hair. The huge one said, "Duh, watch this, Tapoleon." The little one watched as his training partner started spinning his right arm around. Once he was done getting it ready, he threw the punch. WHAM! The blow was so heavy, it broke the punching bag in half, sending bits of styrofoam flying everywhere. Some of the aliens complained as the stuff started raining on them. The humungous, Neanderthal-like alien watched in triumph as the remaining half of the punching bag swung back and forth in the air. "See that?" said the ogre. "I'm strong, huh?"

The smaller alien waved a hand to belittle the feat of strength. "Pish-tosh, Toonga. In order to be a true warrior of the galaxy, you're going to need a lot more than brute strength..." The dwarfish alien began to dance back and forth as he looked at the remaining punching bag from different angles. "You need strategy and tactics." The tiny alien pulled out a notepad and began scribbling down something while occasionally glancing up at his target. "You need to get to know your enemy." The alien reached up and started picking at the plastic coating from the underside of the punching bag. "And when he's least suspecting it..."

Toonga looked around. Tapoleon had enigmatically disappeared. He reappeared once he poked his head out from behind a machine that a different purple alien was building up his arms with. The miniscule alien suddenly leapt through the air like a panther. "ATTTAAACCKK!!!" He latched onto the swaying punching bag and started sinking his teeth into it.

Toonga looked at him as though he were crazy. "That's stupid. Why don't you just kill it?"

"Ha gung ger wugga mumph ger," Tapoleon replied.

Toonga didn't get a word of that. He would have started thinking up a translation in his head had a certain other purple space alien not have run up to the duo. It was the messenger that was always telling Tito things. Upon seeing his arrival, Tapoleon took his mouth off the punching bag and hopped down, wiping his mouth on his sleeve.

"Ah, Tobi," the little alien said. "What brings you here?"

The alien named Tobi gave a salute. "Wart and Katana request your immediate presence. They want you and a few others to accompany them on a mission to the moon."

Toonga put on a simple-minded grin. "Duh, I guess that makes us pretty special, huh, Tapoleon?"

"Yes, quite. Well then, shall we be going now?" Tapoleon replied.

"Duh, okay!" With that, the two aliens left the room. In a moment, Tobi did as well. He ran off in a different direction, having many more aliens to catch up with...

In another room, a muscular purple space alien wearing one of the higher ranking, striped uniforms was standing in front of a table with an empty can on it. The room had a futuristic-looking bed built into the wall as well as some shelves. There was some odd-looking pieces of furniture, too, but the alien in it definitely wasn't relaxing. His eyes were closed and he looked to be concentrating heavily.

A true sharpshooter is aware of his surroundings at all times, the alien thought. The buzzing of the lights... The humming of electricity... Even pure silence... If even the slightest little detail goes unnoticed, it could be deadly... The alien strummed his fingers against the weapon holstered on his right hip. For a true sharpshooter... has no competition. In one instant, the alien pulled out his laser pistol, and fired. TSEWW! The can behind him flew off the table. It clattered to the ground with a round, steaming hole in it. Without even turning around to witness his handiwork, the alien raised the gun to his lips and blew. A true sharpshooter must be deadlier than anything...

Wart was standing in the doorway. What mattered to him was not how this alien managed to put a hole in a can he wasn't even facing let alone looking at, but something else. The giant frog cleared his throat to grab the purple alien's attention. This it did, but the alien didn't look at him.

"You want something, Wart?"

"WE HAVE WORK TO DO."

The purple alien slowly opened his eyes and looked at the overgrown amphibian. "Really..."

In front of one of the elevators of the ship was a frog wearing the same uniform as that of the alien that Wart was talking to. He was looking very frustrated. He bore a scowl on his face and he was tapping his foot.

"COME ON, YOU STUPID THING," he grumbled. At some point, impatience got the best of him, and he started stabbing the button next to the elevator with his finger repeatedly. "COME ON, COME ON, COME ON..."

At some point, the elevator finally got down to business. It made a ding sound and the doors slid open.

"FINALLY!" the frog practically yelled. Once the doors were open, though, he lost it, for he could clearly see the cables sticking out of the top of the miniature room inside this thing. The elevator had only made it halfway up.

The frog grabbed a hold of the top of the faulty elevator and pulled hard. In the next second, with a small explosion of metal fragments flying everywhere, the amphibian had the entire box of an elevator and its snapped cables in his upraised arms. He was screaming in a very primal fashion. He stopped once he heard a meek "Ahem" behind him. He turned around and yelled.

"WHAT?!"

It was Tobi. The unfortunate alien was looking very intimidated. "U-Um," he stammered.

"WHAT DO YOU WANT?! SPIT IT OUT! DON'T MAKE ME USE THIS!"

"Um, um, um..."

In the hallway that Tito had intoxicated himself in on an earlier occasion was the same frog that was there at the time. With a bottle of something strong in one hand, he was trying to do the same thing all over again. All the while, he was singing some nonsensical tune. "STARSHINE, YOU ARE MY STARSHINE. YOU'RE LIKE A DOUGHNUT THAT WON'T PAY ITS TAXES."

The frog raised the bottle to his lips again. Before the next drop of his controversial beverage could land on his tongue, the bottle inexplicably disappeared.

"DARCIE, COME BACK! YOU KNOW I'D NEVER HURT YA..."

"STILL YOUR TONGUE, WARTINI," a different frog said. It was Wart. A bottle of some questionable liquid was in his left hand. "WE HAVE AN IMPORTANT ASSIGNMENT FOR YOU."

"IT'S NOT IMPORTED; IT'S LOCAL. WHY WOULD I DRINK ANYTHING ELSE?!..."

In the cafetaria of the spaceship, numerous assorted space aliens were sitting down at various tables, eating stuff. Two of them consisted of two high-ranking, silver aliens: one with a big, white mustache and one with a purple hood.

"I don't care what anyone says," said the mustachioed one, "Smithy is way better than Tito. Always was, always will be."

"You got that right," said the purple-hooded alien. They continued eating for a few seconds more. Then Katana walked up from behind them.

"Slicer Cloaker and Dicer Domino," he said, "the two of you are to join me and Wart on a mission to the moon. We'll all meet at the exit in about an hour." Katana looked around. Whatever it was he was seeking out, he couldn't find it. "Say, where's Baton?"

"Didn't you hear?" Domino piped up. "That purple Yoshi killed him. They say he got him with a water spell in the gut."

Katana began to scratch his chin. "Ah, yes. What a way to go," he mused. "In any case, I expect you to be prepared. Can you promise me that?"

"Sure thing," Cloaker and Domino said in unison.

"Good." Katana turned and left, leaving the other two silver aliens to finish their meal. He had about a dozen more aliens to round up, as did Wart and Tobi. It went on like this for quite a while. Eventually, their efforts paid off. Exactly 100 aliens had gathered in the big room with the ramp in it. They had gotten into three rows of 33: one of purple aliens, one of silver ones, and one of frogs. The purples were led by Trigg, the alien with the laser pistol. Tobi, Toonga, and Tapoleon were right behind him. The silvers were led by Katana. Cloaker and Domino were right behind him. The frogs were led by Welt, the one who destroyed the elevator. Wartini was right behind him. No bottle of any substance was with him. He looked annoyed.

Wart was walking up and down the hall, examining the rows of soldiers he had. After a while, he finally stopped and faced them, getting a speech going. "LISTEN UP," he called out. "THESE PAST FEW DAYS, THE GODDESS OF LUCK MAY HAVE BEEN TURNING A BLIND EYE TOWARDS US. WE MAY HAVE BEEN SHOT OUT OF THE SKY, WE MAY HAVE BEEN SUCKED INTO ANOTHER DIMENSION, AND WE MAY HAVE GOTTEN OUR REACTOR STONES TAKEN AWAY FROM US... BUT NONE OF THAT MATTERS BECAUSE WE ARE BETTER THAN ANY GOD! ANY OBSTACLE THAT GETS IN OUR WAY, WE WILL OVERCOME IT. ANY ENEMY THAT DARES STAND BEFORE US, WE WILL STRIKE IT DOWN. WE KNOW NO FEAR, WE KNOW NO DEFEAT. ONLY VICTORY AWAITS US. WE MUST SET FORTH ONTO THIS PLANET'S SOIL. WE MUST TAKE OUR TRAVELS TO THE FURTHEST REACHES OF THE SKY, FOR THE KEY TO DOMINATING THIS WORLD RESTS THERE, AND ONLY WE MAY LAY OUR HANDS ON IT..." Wart threw his fist up into the air. "FOR WE ARE THE GONNIC GANG, THE SCOURGE OF THE GALAXY!"

An ear-splitting cheer burst forth from the aliens. Wart had succeeded greatly in boosting their morale. The ramp lowered as the enormous frog turned around and swung one arm forward, signaling for the others to follow him. In the back of the room, Tito and one other, Wrench, watched as these people all marched down the ramp and onto the dusty ground of the vast, barren field within the Ring of Dheos.

"Do you think they'll really be okay, sir?" Wrench asked.

"Why not?" Tito scoffed. "I didn't make him my right-hand for nothing, you know." The two aliens continued to watch as the last of the marching soldiers walked off the ramp, thus allowing it to lift its way back into the ship. "Besides," Tito went on, "he and I are evenly matched..."

Two Yoshis were seeing off three others. This scene was taking place at the same one where they got to bid farewell to Raphael. This time, though, the ones that were leaving were Yoshi, Fyooshi, and Glishy. The ones that were saying goodbye to them were Ebony and Ivory.

"My brothers, are you truly sure you wish to do this?" Ivory said.

Fyooshi nodded. "I'm sure. It's the only way I'll really be able to figure all of this out."

"It's a dangerous world out there," Ebony added. "You might have to slit a few throats. You sure you won't be needing our help?"

"Trust me, Yoshi and Glishy are all the help I'll need on this journey. Besides, ever since the Melon Bug incident, I've been meaning to hone my skills. Plus, someone needs to stay behind and defend the village. I think you guys are perfect for the job."

Ivory gave a nod. "You speak the truth, my friend."

Fyooshi smiled. "All right then," he said. "Well, see ya."

The five Yoshis waved to each other as they went their separate ways. Ebony and Ivory returned to the village and Yoshi, Fyooshi, and Glishy headed into the Jade Jungle. Their quest to find Raphael had begun.

On the way there, Glishy began to think to himself while keeping one eye on his magenta-colored friend. That funny guy, he thought. Already he's starting to sound like a leader...

At this point, the aliens had gotten their ways across the field within the Ring of Dheos and reached the actual mountain itself. The entire group of extraterrestrials had commenced climbing up the colossal thing. To pass the time, Katana was telling Wart a story of his.

"...which was one of the roughest battles I've ever had to win," he finished. He looked to the giant amphibian as the two of them continued to crawl their ways up this gigantic wall of nature. "How about you, Wart? Any anecdotes you'd like to share back?"

Wart immediately leapt into it. "IT HAPPENED ONE YEAR AGO. WE WERE STILL GETTING STRONG PEOPLE TO HYPNOTIZE. ONE PLACE WE STOPPED BY WAS A CITY OF VEGETABLE PEOPLE. WE LANDED AND ATTACKED. TOMATOES AND GIANT EARS OF CORN FOUGHT BACK, BUT THEY WEREN'T ALONE. OTHERS OF OTHER RACES WERE THERE AS WELL, THOUGH I CAN'T SAY WHY. TRIGG FOUGHT AN 8-BIT AND I FOUGHT A CARROT WITH A RED CROWN. I MUST ADMIT, HE WAS A FORMIDABLE OPPONENT, BUT NOT FORMIDABLE ENOUGH. I DID QUICK WORK OF HIM ONCE I LASHED MY TONGUE OUT AT HIM AND SWALLOWED HIM. ONE OTHER CARROT RAN UP, CALLING OUT HIS NAME. HAD I HAVE BEEN GIVEN THE CHANCE, I'D HAVE DONE THE SAME TO HIM.

"ALAS, IT WAS TIME TO LEAVE. WE FLED TO THE SHIP AND TOOK OFF, TAKING WITH US A NEW SET OF MINIONS. INEXPLICABLY, A STRANGE EXPLOSION OCCURRED IN THE CITY ONCE WE DID, ITS CAUSES UKNOWN. I'D LIKE TO SAY IT WAS A TRIUMPH ON OUR PART, BUT I FELL GRAVELY ILL IN SHORT TIME. WHEN THE SHIP'S DOCTORS EXAMINED ME, THEY SAID I SHOULDN'T HAVE EATEN THAT CARROT. IT TOOK ME DAYS TO RECOVER. A BATTLE FOUGHT HARD, AND WON HARD."

"Hmm," Katana hummed. "You know, I think I may recall having heard of something like that happening."

"INDEED."

The two high-ranking aliens probably would have talked a bit more, but when the silver one looked up and caught sight of something rather interesting, he couldn't let it go. "Wart," he said, "what is that on the top of the mountain?"

"A TEMPLE, MOST LIKELY," the frog replied. "WE WON'T TRULY KNOW UNTIL WE GET THERE."

"But of course..." Thus the aliens continued to reach for the top of this natural phenomenon, knowing full well that something of interest was definitely awaiting them there...

Xoshi, Davey, and White Rose were ascending the moss-covered mountain of Belome Rock, although they were doing so without Leif. However, they were sure of the fact he'd catch up in time, so they had other things on their minds. Davey started a conversation with White Rose.

"You should know, I find all this ironic," the boy said.

"Why is that, Sir Davey?" the white knight replied.

"Ever since he was a child, Chogun's had this fear of dogs. Years later, a dog turns out to be his only hope, and a dog takes it away from him." The young boy scoffed.

"A fear of dogs, hm?"

"Yes. He told me about it once. It happened one time in his hometown, a village in Grass Land. He was into treasure hunting then, and he still is now. One day, though, it got the best of him. He heard there was a treasure chest buried in the middle of the town's local field of weeds. His neighbors tried warning him. They tried telling him it was the backyard of the local psycho, but he went there anyway. Sure enough, the instant he made it there, he was attacked. The territorial guy unleashed his mob of rottweilers on the poor kid. They started ripping him apart. He still has the scars from it.

"Lucky for him, he was saved. Now, mind you, not even he's sure about this part himself, but he says it was thanks to a man with gossamer wings coming out of his back, some weird armor that made him look like a giant ant, and an axe. Once he led him to safety, he told him, Some things, you just gotta be ready for. When Chogun asked him who he was, he simply said, A man who just doesn't like to see people suffer, and he flew away. Chogun never saw him again."

"Interesting tale," White Rose mused.

"Yeah. You can see why he keeps saying he's afraid of dogs. Also, you can see where he got the idea of wearing the armor and the axe." Davey paused and scratched the back of his head as he climbed. "I guess you could say it's also pretty ironic that both he and his enemies have become what saved his life."

White Rose looked quizzical. "Ants?"

"Yeah, it's a long story. You see, this green thing came out of the sky one day..."

It had taken a while for him to do so, but Leif was finally able to reach the top of the first part of the mountain. "Oi," he sighed. "Such labor..." The Viking looked up to see how much further he had to go. Once he did so, he spotted three specks up there that looked faintly like his partners. "Aha..." The Marinotropolan would have called out to them, but surprise cut him off. He could suddenly see that the three of his comrades had a severe amount of trouble on their hands. What appeared to be some sort of giant, green bird had shown up out of nowhere and commenced firing white lasers at them from its eyes. The Viking saw some explosions erupt near his friends and he began to scramble up the mountain even further. He hoped and prayed for the safety of his companions...

"What in the world is that thing?!" Xoshi yelled, staring at the giant bird circling them overhead.

"The Steenix, no doubt," White Rose responded, as he struggled to reach for his sword and cling to the mountain at the same time. "Perhaps we can..."

"Wait!" Davey yelled. Xoshi and White Rose immediately halted their actions and looked at the boy. He glanced back at them in return, then looked at the bird, straight in the eye. His two friends stared at him in astonishment over what he was doing: Davey was puckering his lips and making an extremely strange, almost haunting noise come out of them. What surprised Xoshi and White Rose even further is that this got the humungous bird to stop circling them and start looking right back at Davey.

"What the...?" Xoshi uttered.

"Strange things in this world," White Rose mumbled. The two of them watched as Davey and this monstrous bird started taking turns making unusual noises at each other. After a while of this, Davey could finally cease this uncommon activity and start explaining things to his companions.

"It's just barely sentient," he said. "I was able to make out that it kind of recognizes you, Xoshi."

Xoshi looked perplexed. He couldn't think of any other birds he knew besides Storko, and this most certainly wasn't him.

"It also says there are intruders on its mountain." In the next instant, the tremendous bird had swooped down beneath the mountainclimbing trio. All three of them looked down upon it, but Davey was the first to release his hold of the mountain, leap off, and land right on the fowl's back. Xoshi's jaw dropped at the sight of this and White Rose merely became wide-eyed. "I promised it we'd help it get rid of its intruders if it helped us reach the top of this mountain," the boy called. "You guys comin'?"

Xoshi and White Rose looked at each other. They looked at the overgrown bird's back, decided to take a chance, and leapt off. In seconds, the feathered beast had three passengers on its back. The brown Yoshi and the white knight watched as Davey started exchanging more strange sounds with their new method of transportation. Once it was over, the fowl took a dive. The three people on its back held on tight.

So he can communicate with birds, Xoshi thought. You weren't lying when they said they weren't ordinary people.

I know...

Leif continued to scramble his way up the mountain. He was completely incapable of getting it out of his head that his friends were in danger. Xoshi, Davey, White Rose, he thought, hold on. Just hold-

The Viking suddenly heard an unwordly screech from behind him. He turned his head around to see that, of all things, it was his friends, and they were riding that bird that was attacking them earlier. "What in-"

"Leif!" Xoshi called out. "It's okay! Just hop on!"

White Rose noticed how the mace-wielding man had a reaction that was very similar to his before he decided to do such a thing. In due time, though, he did it, and all four people were on the bird's back. Xoshi noticed how the Viking was just as amazed by all this as he was. The Yo'ster laughed a bit and floated his eyes upward in thought.

I wonder what the other four guys are capable of, he pondered. Regardless, the four of him and his friends continued to ride their ways to the peak of Belome Rock on the back of the Steenix...

Meanwhile, in two different parts of Isle Delfino, two parties were headed for the same destination: one of them, a Yoshi with a machine strapped to his back; and the other, a three-some of some devious carrots. Both of their leaders were having thoughts of pure determination running through their heads.

King Carrot, the yellow Yo'ster thought, I'll beat you and make Yo'ster Isle proud...

I'll make you pay for last time's humiliation, thought the boss of the carrots. I'll show you that I'm more than any gambler can handle...

With their proud internal declarations out of the way, both gamblers continued their journeys, thinking of little else than the showdown that was just around the corner...

Belome was enjoying himself on the top of his new abode. Like a bunch of cheerleaders, a few of his Shogun servants had gotten themselves into a certain arrangement. Their master was sitting atop them like the makeshift throne they had become. The others were marching around in front of him with their axes upraised like the mindless drones that they were. Belome watched them in satisfaction and sighed.

"This is great," he said to himself. "I've got all these servants, and I've got this huge place all to myself. I feel like a king! And pretty soon I'll be EATING like a king, too. Hee hee hee!"

Belome tilted his head back and closed his eyes dreamily. Unfortunately for him, his state of bliss was interrupted by a loud, unwordly, demonic shriek. He jolted and snapped his eyes open. Directly above him, he could see there was a humungous, green bird circling around in the sky. The peckish dog rubbed his hands together.

"What'd I tell ya..." The canine fixed his gaze upon the aerial monster and raised his arms. He was about to cast a spell on this new enemy, but three things suddenly leapt off of it. Belome watched as three blurs landed on the ground right in front of him. When they stood up, they revealed themselves to be the Yoshi, the knight, and the Viking he met earlier. Belome was infuriated. "YOU!" he yelled, pointing at them accusingly. "How many times do you have to keep-" The dog stopped himself mid-sentence and started looking around. "Say, where'd that one little guy go, anyway? Not that it matters..." Belome pointed at his three adversaries again with one hand and turned his other into a shaking fist. "SHOGUNS! ATTAAACCKK!"

The army of Shoguns behind their master's trio of intruders stopped marching, saluted him, and ran to their three new opponents. Almost in perfect synchronization, White Rose and Leif pulled out their wands, and Xoshi made claw shapes out of his fingers. When the army of Shoguns leapt upon them, Belome's jaw nearly hit the floor. All he saw was a humungous explosion of red, gold, and green lights. The Shoguns went flying from the scene like pieces of popcorn, all of them with assorted injuries. They had been burned, decapitated, and torn from their limbs. When it started raining dead bodies, Belome half expected to see three people standing in the middle of it all in stylish poses, but no one was there. Belome was confused.

"Wh... Where'd they-"

WHAM!!! Belome felt as though three big, heavy rhinos had just slammed into him from behind. He sprawled across the moss-covered ground for about one second, and then landed on his back. Xoshi and White Rose were pinning his legs to the ground, and Leif was pinning his arms to the ground.

"What the-"

"NOW, DAVEY!!!" Xoshi yelled.

Then the foul dog saw it. The enormous bird that had zoomed by earlier was flying overhead again. It dropped one more person. It was Davey. His fists were clenched and he had his feet aimed right for the canine's gut.

Belome began squirming and thrashing about with all his might, but Xoshi, White Rose, and Leif kept him pinned down. "NOOO!" he screamed. "DON'T TELL ME YOU'RE GOING TO-"

WHAM! The blow hit. Davey's feet connected with the giant voodoo doll's stomach. They sunk into it as though it were quicksand. The dog could have sworn his lungs had just caved in. Davey leapt off of his gullet and landed on the ground. "Give him some space," the boy ordered. "He's gonna blow!"

Xoshi and the others didn't hesitate for one second to obey. Practically instantaneously, the three of them jumped away from the beast. Once they did that, the unlawful being shakily got up off the ground, clutching at his sides and groaning. "Ugh... You... Why..." Xoshi, Davey, White Rose, and Leif watched in disgust as a large bump moved its way up the trembling creature's stomach, up his throat, and into his puffed out cheeks. Belome tried keeping it inside his mouth with his hands, but it was futile. At last, when he couldn't take it anymore, BLLAURRPHH! He spat out something huge and covered in some kind of sticky, green slime. Davey's eyes broadened as he recognized this thing as his friend.

"CHAAAK!" he yelled as he ran up to his friend. "You're okay! Oh, thank god!"

"Th-That... was the worst... thing... that ever... happened to me," Chogun wheezed. "Complete... nightmare..."

"Well, don't worry, Chak," Davey reassured as he pulled out his Time Wand. "I'll see to it that-"

The boy stopped once he saw his friend put up a three-fingered hand. "N... No..." he rasped. Chogun took a few more deep breaths, acting as though he hadn't done so in years. The bug man put his hand down and pulled out his own wand, although he was holding it rather unsteadily. "It's time... to finish this..."

Davey stared at his fellow treasure hunter for one second. Then he nodded. He took a step back, putting some more distance between him and his friend. Once he glanced at Xoshi, White Rose, and Leif, they immediately caught on, nodded, and did the same thing as him. This resulted in a crude ring shape between Belome and Chogun. The trecherous one of the two was struggling pretty hard to breathe himself.

"Heh... And just what do you think you're doing?!" the dog gloated. "Are you... gonna fry me? Grill me? You gonna send me to the moon?!"

Chogun gripped his slimy hand tightly around the metallic body of his wand. "Of course not," he growled. He started feeling a huge amount of sacred energy flowing throughout his body. He squeezed it down his arm and into the wand that his hand was clutching. Its tip began to glow and Chogun's fist began to quake, but not from fatigue this time. Chogun took a deep breath and spun around with the wand pointed at his enemy. "I'M SENDING YOU TO THE ABYSS!!!"

Belome's pupils shrank significantly. The tip of Chogun's wand became blindingly bright. What burst forth from it struck the hazardous dog like a train and incinerated every last inch of his body in a way that made the earlier assault from Davey's wand seem like a popgun. Xoshi, Chogun, Davey, White Rose, and Leif watched as a ridiculously huge, fat laser of white light erupted from the Energy Wand, plowed into the beastly dog, and whited out everything, save for the shadows behind them. Once Chogun dimmed the spell down and he started panting heavily from having done it, it was revealed that Belome was no longer standing there. However, the sound of rocks falling over the side of the mountain was to be heard. Once this was heard by the few remaining Shoguns of the scene, the ones that had been their master's throne but a second ago, their eyes widened and they promptly got back on their feet, ran to where their leader had supposedly fallen, and jumped down it. They were almost like lemmings...

Xoshi, Davey, White Rose, and Leif ran up to Chogun once he put his hands on his knees out of utter tiredness. They tried putting their hands on him, but, the minute they did that, they backed away, being unable to believe what kind of a nasty substance they had just touched. Only Davey dared to do it again. He put his hand on the back of his companion and started talking to him. "Well, Chak," he said, "you did it. You overcame your fear of dogs and you gave him what was coming to him."

"Yeah," Chogun breathed, "I guess I did. But... I'm still a bug..."

Xoshi...

The brown Yoshi got the next message from Beel. He cleared his throat to get Chogun and Davey to turn their heads towards him. "Um, if you guys are looking for some way to return yourselves to normal," he said, "you could always just come with us on our journey. You know, it's only been a few days now, and already we've seen some pretty crazy things. From what I can tell, things are only going to start getting even more wild from here on out. Who knows...? Maybe we'll stumble upon a cure along the way."

Chogun and Davey's eyes lit up. They jerked their heads towards each other. "Do you thi-"

"Yes, Chak, yes. In fact, I don't think we could ask for a better opportunity." Davey turned his head towards Xoshi again. "We accept."

Xoshi smiled, White Rose nodded, and Leif tapped the air in front of him with his fist. "All right then," the brown Yo'ster said. "Shall we be heading back?"

"Sure thing," Davey replied. "Just one second..." The shrunken man placed his mouth between his two hands and made another really strange noise with his lips. Moments after he did so, the Steenix was back in the sky. It flew up to where its five new friends were and began to float its way down. The quintet backed away from it with wind smacking them in their faces as though this were a giant helicopter they had on their hands. Chogun watched this colossal bird and whistled.

"Dave, you got a big one this time!" he praised.

"Ah, it's nothing," the boy said. Once the Steenix settled down, the five people walked up to it with Davey in the lead. He looked into its eyes and started exchanging comments with it in that bird language. Once that was done, the humungous bird lowered its head and Davey walked on top of it like a platform.

"What'd you say?" Leif asked.

"I told him we were grateful and that we couldn't have done it without him. He said he was the one that should be thanking us. Then I asked him to take us back to Silicon. He said he'd gladly do so."

Xoshi, White Rose, and Leif were very approving of this, but Chogun was a little confused. "Silicon?" he asked.

"I'll explain on the way," said his partner. After that, the other four people walked on the Steenix's head, down his neck, and onto his back, just as Davey had. Once all five people started hanging on tight, the giant bird started flapping its wings again. Before long, it was in the sky, soaring its way back to everyone's favorite village. This had been a glorious day for all six of them...

Way down on the ground, however, things proved to not be too glorious for everyone. Being laid down and attended to by a bunch of Shoguns in the middle of the woods next to Belome Rock was Belome himself. He was covered in bruises and burns, and he was looking spitefully up into the sky, although his view of it was slightly obscured by the overhanging leaves. He saw a huge, green bird go by and he snorted in resentment. "Okay then," he growled. "If I can't have Belome Rock... then I'll just find some other place to conquer. Just you wait..."

Memories kept going through Fyooshi's head as the three of him, Yoshi, and Glishy journeyed through the Jade Jungle. He kept thinking about which places were the ones where he was doing certain things on a certain night. He ran from the aliens here, he saw Naji get taken away by them there... Once that thought crossed Fyooshi's mind, it made him a bit sad. It had been a good few days now, and he still had no clues whatsoever on the whereabouts of either of his two friends. Was he ever going to find them? The only answer he got to this was from his own lack of knowledge.

"As you may already know by now, this is the Jade Jungle," Glishy said to his green companion. "When we were being ruled over by Ren, this whole place was off limits. However, even had it not have been off limits, nobody would have entered it. This place tends to be rather dangerous anyway."

Yoshi nodded. It went on like this for a little while as the three of them marched on. Eventually, they found themselves wandering around a rather large opening in the middle of these woods. Fyooshi noticed how the center of this opening had a humungous gash in the middle of it. It was probably a good few yards deep. It seemed only the magenta-colored Yoshi could tell the origin of such a thing. It kind of haunted him. However, that was nothing compared to the next discovery he made.

"They say that, around here somewhere, there's a secret entrance the underground civilization of Jla... Fyooshi, what's wrong?"

Fyooshi wasn't walking anymore. He was just standing there, looking around nervously. His gaze was unblinking, his breath was very short, and he was almost trembling. Yoshi and Glishy were very disturbed by the sight. Fyooshi kept jerking his head left and right for reasons that weren't very clear. Fyooshi himself, though, only had a vague idea of what exactly he was doing. If he didn't know any better, he could see bits of green gunk lying around on the ground here and there. Flies kept landing on a few of them and flying away. In one direction, the cowardly Yo'ster could see a rotting shoe. In another, he could see a saddle. In the woods over there...

Fyooshi suddenly ran off, much to the confusion of Yoshi and Glishy. The two Yoshis looked at each other and began to give chase. However, they were only able to cover a few feet. They stopped dead in their tracks once they heard a huge, bloodcurdling scream. It made the two Yoshis feel as though two knives had just been jammed into them. They started running even harder. What they eventually found was not a pretty sight. It was Fyooshi kneeling down on the ground with something green, messy, and covered in flies and dirt in his arms. That thing was none other than Noshi's severed head.

Yoshi and Glishy gasped. Fyooshi just started crying. "No...shi... You... I..." His words were far from audible. They were being drowned out by his chokes and the moisture streaming from his eyes and his nostrils. Finally, he gave up trying to say something, and just burst into tears.

Yoshi watched this uncomfortably. He didn't know whose head Fyooshi was holding, nor did he really know the language he was speaking in, but he could tell that this was a man lamenting over the death of his friend. Glishy slowly put an arm around the green reptile's shoulders.

"That... was Noshi," he said. "He was a good friend of Fyooshi... He died an unjust death..."

The aliens had made it to the top of the Ring of Dheos. Up there, they found a huge stone structure. It didn't have any walls, but, judging by the mystical-looking columns that were holding it up, it probably served some religious purposes. At the end of it that was facing the inside of the ring was a ten-foot-tall statue of some strange-looking, vampire-like creature. He looked pretty important. At his feet was a basin that was built into the floor. Whatever it was all this was supposed to mean, it went right over the heads of the aliens investigating it.

The others were looking around and observing this and that, but Wart and Katana were just standing near the exit, watching everyone. "It's a temple," the silver alien said as he raised his palm in front of him. "That's it."

Wart nodded. "ALL RIGHT, EVERYONE, THAT'S ENOUGH FOR NOW. LET'S MOVE IT!"

The huge frog got a loud "YES SIR!" from his subordinates in response. In a moment, the aliens had gotten themselves back together and to continuing the odyssey. As they marched on and began to descend the mountain, Wart thought to himself.

EACH PLANET HAS ITS SECRETS... AND SECRETS ARE NOT ALLOWED TO BE KNOWN BY EVERYONE... ESPECIALLY TO INTRUDERS...

Fyooshi was sitting sadly on a tree stump somewhere in the woods. He had left Yoshi and Glishy back at where the scene where the burial took place: right next to that of Ramona the Raven. Together, they had managed to gather up what few pieces of Noshi they could find and provide a proper funeral for him. If Glishy was just explaining more and more things about Noshi to the other one, Fyooshi was fine with it. At this moment, all of their thoughts were with Noshi.

Fyooshi thought about all the times they spent together. When the five of them and Naji, Blushi, and Glishy got to ride Dino Splash for the first time. When he and Noshi got into a big argument about who was spreading rumors about who. When Ebony and Ivory came to the island, seeking a place to get some memories from. When the four of them got drunk and hungover only to get scolded by Naji's father the next day for it. When they had to say goodbye to Naji as he set off on Dino Splash to war. When Naji made his triumphant return and how they threw a welcome back party for him. When Noshi got up and sang a song for him, albeit very poorly.

When Kamek attacked. When Naji's father got killed. When Raphael got taken away. When Ren took over. When the foul Raven made each of them do something humiliating for his amusement. When Naji was forced to kill Blushi right in front of everyone.

Last, but not least, when the three of him, Noshi, and Naji ventured into the woods and had such a hideous encounter with a bunch of space aliens. That was the last time he ever saw the man. Blushi was already gone, and now Fyooshi had to find out about this. He could only hope his friend died the same way Blushi did: in battle. He also hoped that Naji, wherever he was, wasn't going to have to go through the same thing.

When Blushi went, it hurt Naji the most out of all of them. Fyooshi could only imagine what he was going through. Now that Noshi was gone, the magenta Yoshi felt he could finally come to an understanding of that.

The five friends had done a lot of things together. Any happiness, any sadness, any anger that occurred, they all shared it together. They were a team. Unfortunately for Fyooshi and the others, those days were over. His friends seemed to be disappearing one by one, and new responsibilities were starting to weigh him down. Fyooshi was glad he was going to see someone about all this, for he had no clue what to do.

Suddenly, Fyooshi perked his head up. Something in the woods was hopping towards him. Once it was right in front of him, Fyooshi could tell what it was: a white Cheep Cheep with a beret, a paintbrush, a paint palette, and splotches all over his body. Fyooshi blinked his damp eyes at him.

"Hola, mi amigo!" the fish said. "Pablo Picarpso, at your service. I was just wondering if you'd like to have your skin painted a new color. Perhaps I can be of service?"

Fyooshi just gawked at him. "Ya... You can do that?"

"Si!"

Fyooshi propped his head against one hand in thought. "Hmm..."

Back in front of the two graves, Glishy was continuing to lecture Yoshi on something. "It's a simple method of burying your loved ones, but effective nonetheless. In fact, some say it was the Yoshis that first developed this method..."

Again, Yoshi nodded. Glishy was about to go on with his explanations, but he stopped once he heard something from behind him. He turned around and found that it was a Yoshi of a certain green color that was slightly darker than usual. Glishy got the chills for a second, thinking it was Noshi come back from the dead, but then he saw the feathers on top of this Yo'ster's head as well as the colors of his wrists, and it became a bit more clear to him.

"Fyooshi?!" the Yoshi translator asked. "Is that you? What happened?"

"Well," Fyooshi started, "I met this fish who said he could paint my skin a new color."

"Well, he didn't do a good job of it," Glishy remarked. "He didn't get your wrists."

Fyooshi looked at his unpainted wrists. Their magenta color contrasted greatly with the rest of him. They were almost like a pair of wristbands. Fyooshi rubbed one of them sheepishly. "Well," he started, "something suddenly came up, and he couldn't finish. I like it, though..."

"Hmm," Glishy said. "So, uh, why green?"

"I was thinking of Noshi at the time, so..."

Glishy finished it for him. "So now you're the new Noshi?"

Fyooshi scratched the back of his head. "Well... You could say that," he replied, somewhat bashfully. His next answer was more in depth, though. "You see... Noshi was our leader... Well, okay, he wasn't the leader of the whole village, but you know what I mean. Now that he's gone, we've got to preserve his memory. Now that he's gone... I'm the new leader." The once magenta-colored Yoshi sighed and held out his hands. "I'm just doing what I gotta do."

Glishy nodded. "You're a good guy, Fyooshi," he said. "You're a little weird... but you're a good guy."

Fyooshi scratched the back of his head again. "Yeah..."

Thus, the three Yoshis continued to bask in the memories their friend had left behind. It would be a while until they decided Noshi was going to find it okay for them to go on with their journey to see Raphael. Wherever the green Yoshi was, they could tell he was hoping for the best for them, a comforting thought to say the least...

Elsewhere in the woods, a certain white fish was being pestered by a purple one. It was a female fish.

"Pablo! I've been looking all over for you. Have you any idea how worried our little Sashimi and I were about you?! Now I find you painting people's skin?! What is it with you?!"

"Honey, it puts bread on the table! AY! Not so rough, mi estimada esposa..."

Jade Jungle had become an emotional place for everyone...

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