Chapter 10

Gorroh and Helga gazed together at that night's lucious full moon while standing by each other right in front of their ship's railing, on its course to the Clattagin Woods. Things were quite peaceful.

"Dear," said Helga, "it's quite the lovely night, wouldn't you say so?"

"Indeed it is, my sweet petunia," he replied. "It's nights like these that remind me of the time we first met."

"Ah, yes," she purred as she edged in closer to him. "The time you kidnapped me from that one Toad creature."

"I know. It was such an experience." He let that hang in the air followed by the sound of the water flowing beneath them and all around them under that dark canvass.

Finally, she asked, "Speaking of kidnappings, dear, when exactly will we be getting to the Clattagin Woods?"

"In a moment, dear, in a moment. These things take time, you know. We can't very well be snatching babies when we have no fortress to bring them back to, now can we?"

"I suppose not," she replied. They stood still and let time drift slowly as they drifted across the sea towards the destination at a seemingly equal rate. Then she said to him, "Well, dear, I'm going to go check on our son. Do you mind?"

"Not at all, darling. I'll meet you back in our room. Does that sound good?"

"It's great, honey," she agreed. At that, they sauntered away from each other so they could reach their designated rooms.

Uneventfully, she walked across the wooden floor of the deck, past some of the doors, and finally she reached the one her son was in. She extended a claw and knocked.

"If you anudduh wunnadose mean guys wit da needles, beat it!"

"It's all right, Bowser, honey. It's Mommy," she elicited.

"Oh. Come on in!" he said. She then twisted the knob, pressed forward, and came in, as instructed. This room had two beds in it, both of them mostly white complete with the plain covers and the ordinary bars. Her youthful offspring, Bowser, was in one of them with an icepack resting on his head and a pair of bandages overlapping each other on his snout, forming an X shape. Other than that, he was in good condition.

"How's Mommy's little baby?" she asked sweetly as she walked up to him, knelt down beside him, and kissed him on the cheek.

"Good," he said, with his mother resting her head on her folded arms, which she had lay down on the bed close to him. This caused the buoyant surface to smush downward in a slightly different direction. Her eyes were focused on him as she started talking.

"So, is there anything I can get for you? Something to eat? Something to drink? A bedtime story?"

"Oh! Bedtime story! BEDTIME STORY!" Bowser bounced up and down in excitement at the suggestion, causing the pack of ice on his head to flop around.

Helga hurriedly tried to calm him down and get the icepack back atop its rightful spot. "Okay, okay, darling. Which one would you like to hear? The one about the beanstalk? The one about the pirate ship? The one about the Super-Happy Tree?"

Bowser heard something that struck his interest. "The Happy-Slappy what?" he asked.

"The Super-Happy Tree," she corrected. "Would you like to hear about that one, dear?"

"Ooh! Ooh! Yes! I wanna hear it! I wanna hear it!" he bounced some more.

"Okay," she said, reaching over his lap to pick the pack back up and place it back on his head. "Let's see, where to start..." she contemplated. "Oh, yes.

"Once upon a time, there was an island. No one was on this island, except for an egg with green spots on it. One day, it hatched, all on its own, and out came a strange but cute lizard-like creature. He looked around and asked, 'Where is everybody?' It didn't take him long to realize that he was all alone.

"So he decided to go on a journey in search of someone. He searched high..." She made legs out of her two pointing fingers and used them to walk across Bowser's icepack. His eyes shifted upward curiously to observe. "And he searched low..." She then playfully let them scuttle across his stomach. He jolted a little, being tickled like that.

"Did he find someone?" he asked.

"No, dear. He did not. However, he did find some-THING the next day. He noticed how his stomach kept making noises at him. Luckily, that was when his nose picked up a heavenly scent. An IRRESISTABLE scent. And you know what he found?"

"What?"

"Fruit. Sweet, delicious fruit. There was a whole horde of it in the tree right in front of him. Somehow, he was drawn to this food. As he approached it, he couldn't help but throw out his long, sticky, frog-like tongue at it, grab it with it, and swallow it. It was yummy."

...Fwog-like tongue?

"After eating that one, he soon found another one. He ate that one, too. Then another, and another and another. Soon enough, the tree was free of all of its fruit. But then he felt something. Something nice. 'What is this I'm feeling?' he asked himself. He soon found out he wasn't lonely anymore. He was happy.

"The next day, he continued his journey. Then he found a piece of fruit. But it wasn't in a tree like the other ones were. It was just sitting there, on the ground. He munched it up anyway.

"After that, he walked a little more, and he found ANOTHER one. He ate that, too, and after walking a little more, you know what he found next?"

Catching on, he guessed, "More fruit?"

"Exactly. In fact, he found a whole trail of fruit. But where was it all leading him? He wasn't sure, but he followed anyway, eating all the way. So he kept following and eating, following and eating, following and eating, until finally he bumped into someone."

Bowser gasped.

"He couldn't believe it, either! After following that trail, he finally found someone. Not just anyone, as a matter of fact; a special someone. This someone looked a lot like him, but it was a girl.

"He asked her, 'Are you a someone?'

"And she said, 'Yes. My name is Nisha.'

"He said, 'My name is Yoshi'.

Bowser had a puzzled look smeared across his face. His turned his head towards her and said, "... Yoshi?"

"Yes, dear; Yoshi.

"They became fast friends. They did everything together from gathering fruit to having races with one another. They grew up together. And one day, Yoshi realized something else: He wasn't just happy anymore; he was super-happy.

"They even had a million kids together. Pretty soon, they, too, were all grown up, and Yoshi and Nisha had grown old.

"One day, they were on a hill together on their little island, watching the sun set and their thousands of children. They were proud. Yoshi said to her, 'Nisha, I'm ready to go now.'

"She said, 'So am I.' And the two of them kissed each other."

Bowser screwed up his face and stuck out his tongue. "Bleagh!"

Helga laughed. She continued the story. "As they were kissing, they slowly faded away into thin air. But then you know what happened?"

"What, Mama?" Bowser asked.

"Then something sprouted right out of the ground from where they were just standing. It was a baby tree! So even though Yoshi and Nisha were gone, that tree and their children were still there. In Heaven, Yoshi and Nisha watched over them both. They made sure the tree would get its sunshine and their children would get their fruit. As the days went by, the trew grew, and so did their children. Eventually, the tree became full grown and their children started having children of their own. And it went on like this...

"So had it not have been for Yoshi and Nisha's efforts, Yoshi's Island would not be here today. Had it not have been for the fruit, their children would not have been happy. But had it not have been for their tree, they would not have been SUPER-happy. For this tree gave them fruit like none other. Some even would come and see the tree everyday to get some of it. The tree could also talk and give the children advice.

"And so the Yoshis are still alive today, enjoying themselves with their fruit and their beloved Super-Happy Tree, that watches over them with Yoshi and Nisha. The End."

With her story done, she then began leaning Bowser back and tucking him in for the night, being careful to make sure that icepack stayed on his head.

As her hands were busy straightening out the covers, Bowser turned to her. "Mama?" he asked.

"Yes, dear?" she said once she was finished with the sheets and looking at him in the eye

"Is the Super-Happy Twee weal?"

"Yes, dear, it's real."

Bowser scrunched his eyebrows in contemplation. "Does it weally make all dhose Yoshis Super-Happy?"

"Yes, dear, it does."

Bowser thought some more. "What would happen if it disappeared?"

Helga was standing at this point. "I'm not sure, dear. They would be really sad, I guess."

Bowser laid back in silence for a second. Then he said, "Okay, Mama."

"Goodnight, Bowser." She bent down, kissed him on the cheek again, and walked towards the door.

"Goodnight, Mama."

She turned out the light, turned the doorknob, and walked back into the night. The moonlight shined on Bowser's face for the split second while it was open, and then it was gone. He lay there on his back, in that white bed, in the dark, with that icepack behind his head, and with his eyes open...

William was in Dr. Kamenstein's laboratory having a look around while everyone else, including his mother, his sister, the stork, and those two creepy babies were enjoying themselves at the dinner table in the kitchen. The duo of Wario and Waluigi were in their high chairs, eating their semi-liquid dinners out of their bowls in unison. They were... spoonfeeding themselves.

Marilyn and Tessa probably should have been eating their machine-induced steaks, but they couldn't help but give these two tykes a good stare.

Storko was in his oversized cage again, pecking at his seeds. Finally, he noticed the women weren't touching their meals. "Is something the matter?" he asked.

"Um, no, uh," stuttered the mother. She let her fork twirl around in midair above her plate nervously. "It's just... um..."

"How can those babies feed themselves without getting all messy?" Tessa interjected. "I mean, they don't even look that old and..."

"Oh," said Storko. He shifted his feet a little so he'd be facing their direction in his cage. "Well, I'm not sure, myself, actually, but I DO know these boys were created by my master, Dr. Kamenstein, and you know how perfect he likes to make everything."

"So... they're fast bloomers?" said Marilyn, still not being able to get her eyes off the brothers.

"Mm, you could say that," Storko said.

The family continued eating in peace, and William kept looking around the doctor's lab. All kinds of strange things were present: warped-looking glass containers, tubes with little turtle shells floating around in their green liquid, and this one metal thing on the counter that looked as though someone had just stuck a big corkscrew into some lead pipes. He couldn't help but notice some blueprints lieing around. He walked up to the counter where they lay, and placed his hands down on either side so they'd flatten out.

"Hmm," he said curiously. "Perfect hearing, perfect sight, perfect smelling?" He let his eyes scan the other odd markings of these weird pictures. "What IS this?" He tried looking at it some more, tried allowing his brain more time to analyze the newfound data, but something even more interesting called for his attention... quite literally.

He bolted his head into an upright position and started turning it this way and that. "??? Who said that?"

In the kitchen, the dinner was going relatively peacefully until Wario put his spoon down, grabbed a handful of his mashed peas with his right hand, and used his left to reach across from his high chair over to his brother's and tap him on the shoulder. Waluigi immediately ceased his activity of consumption to turn his head to the right and see what was up. Then SPLAT! Wario heaved the gunk right into his eyes.

Waluigi screeched as his little hands flew up to his face so he could wipe the stuff from his eyes. He then looked at his sibling and growled. Wario was blowing a raspberry at him with his fingers waving at him beside his ears, mockingly. Then Waluigi got his own handful of ammo, and chaos ensued.

This didn't seem to spell good news for the other attendants, unfortunately. "Oh, my," said Marilyn, worriedly, her hands going to her mouth in worry. She was about to get out of her seat, but-

"Oh, no no, madam, I've got it," said Storko. He hopped out of his gigantic cage so he could resolve this little foodfight...

Yes, boy, come here. Come and give your old Annie a hand, hm?

William was confused. He was wandering around this stranger's laboratory, hearing two different voices at once. One of them was beckoning him forward, and the other was saying, "Now, now, boys, none of that." He was trying to strain his ears for the beckoning one, but it wasn't like he could hear it. It was all in his head. He stood in the middle of the lab between two of these counters, still shifting his head left and right looking for the source of the "voice".

"Where are you?" he asked out loud.

Here... Over here...

"Where?" He pressed forward, still not too sure of himself.

The box, dear.

"The box?" he said. His eyes were darting here, there, and everywhere, looking for the smallest shred of a hint for what this voice could possibly be talking about.

The MUSIC box, dear.

"The MUSIC box?" This was just getting more and more confusing. He practically wasn't thinking anymore at that point, letting himself go where ever his legs would take him.

On the shelf, dear.

"The SHELF?" he repeated again. Finally, he saw something that seemed to satisfy his needs somewhat. He saw over there, lined up next to where one of the counters ended, a big, old, metal shelf. However, this music box the voice was speaking of wasn't the only thing it had in stock. There were toolboxes, piles of wires, bottles of glue, and so on. He advanced towards it.

Yes, that's it, dear. Come a bit closer...

His hands were digging through all the cardboard boxes, past all the spray bottles, and he almost knocked over a case of the doctor's test tubes, which would not have ended pleasently. He STILL couldn't find that music box.

Dear...

He stopped sifting. "Yes?"

It is brown...

He started to keep his eyes peeled for something brown.

It has a big question mark on it...

Didn't he just see something like that a second ago?

It's on the middle shelf...

His eyes started scanning once more.

It's on the right...

He moved his eyes until...

"WILLIAM!"

He jolted. Reality had come back with a vengeance. His mother was calling. "YEAH, MOM?" he called back.

"IT'S TIME FOR BED, HONEY," she said.

"OKAY, MOM, JUST A SECOND!" He took a look at what the voice was talking about. Indeed, right there, as he had been told, was a small, treasure chest-like box with a big white question mark on the front and a crank sticking out of its side.

Don't worry about me, boy. Go. Do as she says. We'll meet again...

William sat there staring at the box for a second. Then he got up and ran out of the lab, leaving it behind.

Helga found Gorroh in their personal room like they'd agreed she would. He was at his desk again writing some of his memoirs. "...But then something fell right out of the sky and plopped onto his head. It was a brick... A brick with a note attached!"

"Hmm..." Gorroh munched away some more at the top of his pen. He was at another loss. His mood brightened, though, as soon as his lovely wife stepped into the picture. She walked into the room, closed the door, and his attention was stolen. He looked up from his work so he could greet her once more. "Hello, Helga. How's our son doing?"

"Oh, he's just as feisty as ever. I just told him a bedtime story," she summarized as she sauntered over to sit down on the edge of their bed.

"Ah. Which one?" he inquired.

"The one about the Super-Happy Tree."

"Ah. THAT one." He nodded his head, remembering it perfectly well. "Did he enjoy it?"

"I think he did," she said, looking around at her surroundings. There was a lamp here, a table of liquor there, a painting in the other direction, and of course her husband. "So how are the memoirs coming along?"

"They're going all right. Although, I'm afraid I may have writer's block again." He turned to look at his work for a second there.

"Where are you now?" she asked, leaning forward from her seat on the bed.

"Well, I've just come back from telling you about the villainess' hideout, and now I've been hit on the head with a brick with a note attached to it."

"Hmm. Who's the brick from?"

"I don't know. Is it the Goomba? The Terrapin? The Magikoopa?"

"Definitely the Magikooopa," she suggested.

"Ah, yes. YES!" With an exciting left finger wagging in the air, he returned to his work and started scribbling some more. "Perfect!" He put his pen down and turned to her again. "You are excellent at lying, Helga, my dear, you really are!"

"I know." She gave him a big, toothy grin. They got up out of their seats, walked to each other, embraced, and starting smooching again. A few seconds afterwards, they pulled away, but still stood, holding hands.

"Speaking of Magikoopas, dear, Kamek was just telling me something earlier today."

"Yes?" She tilted her head in curiosity.

"Well, he said he just had another one of his visions. He said we'll probably have to take care of a few apes in addition to a few babies."

"Hmm... Now why would he have a premonition like that?"

"I don't know, dear, but I don't question his visions."

"I guess not..." They massaged one another in each other's arms for a little while longer. While resting her chin on his right shoulder, she asked him, "So... How much longer now?"

He grinned. "Probably not long..."

He didn't know how right he was. As the ship was drifting harmlessly across the sea, beneath the full moon's light, they were drawing even closer to their destination. It was coming up on the horizon. A lone island was slowly creeping into view; one covered in trees: The Clattagin Woods...

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