ACT 6: ULTRAVIOLET
Luigi was explaining to Princess Peach and Toad what had happened overnight.
“They burned your house down?!” Princess Peach cried after Luigi told her the news.
“Yes,” Luigi explained. “It seems like those Darks are-a stepping it up, and now they’re after Mario, Yoshi, and Shine Guy, so they have-a decided to leave the Mushroom City to avoid luring trouble for anyone near them.”
“I see…” said Toad.
“Anyway,” continued Luigi, “I need a place to stay until this is all over and we have time to get our-a house rebuilt. Do you mind if I…”
“Oh, not at all,” said Peach. “Be my guest.”
“Thank you. At least I’ll-a have a place to station myself while the Koopas are attacking so frequently…”
Princess Peach turned to the Royal Mushroom Retainer. “Toad,” she said, “would you kindly show Luigi to his room?”
Toad nodded and motioned Luigi to follow him.
***
At Mushroom City Docks, Mario was buying three boat tickets. The place where Shine Guy had sensed the next Power Gem, the Red Gem, was on a far-out island, in a large volcano.
“Three please?” Mario said to the ticket officer.
“That’ll be ten coins each,” said the ticket officer. Mario paid thirty coins. “Thank you very much. Enjoy your ride!”
Mario handed two tickets to Yoshi and Shine Guy, then they headed for the boat. “So, Mario,” said Yoshi. “This… Lavalava Island… what’s it like?”
“Well,” said Mario, “to make it simple, it’s a lot like your island, but wait and see. You’ll be very surprised.”
“We can expect to see Dark Paratroopa again,” said Shine Guy. “Remember, he has no idea we’re still alive.”
Unfortunately, two dark figures were watching them. One of them was a Koopatrol wearing purple-tinted gear. The second was a Sledge Brother with a purple shell and helmet. “I don’t believe it!” the Koopatrol gasped. “They’re still alive! But we burned their house down! How?!”
“Uh… Maybe they’re ghosts?” the Sledge Brother guessed.
The Koopatrol stared at him. “I wish I could believe that…” he said. “We have to inform Dark Master and Dark Paratroopa.”
“Oh boy…” the Sledge Brother groaned. “They’re not gonna like this…” They teleported away.
Meanwhile, Mario, Yoshi, and Shine Guy were boarding the boat. It was a small steamboat like the one Mario rode to Rogueport in PM2. “Heh. How about that? A cruise,” Yoshi mused. “Ah yes, best vacation ever…”
***
Dark Master simply couldn’t sleep. He was simply too happy, a side Dark Paratroopa didn’t know he had. “BLEHEHEH!” Dark Master laughed. “You’ve done well, Dark Paratroopa! Shine Guy is finally out of our way!”
“Don’t forget, Master!” said Dark Paratroopa. “The Power Gems are now easy for the picking!”
“Paratroopa!” said Dark Paratroopa. “Come up here, and let us saver the moment!” Dark Paratroopa flew up on Dark Master’s shoulder. He lay back. The two took a deep, relaxing breath.
However, their moment was interrupted by a bang on the door. Dark Master and Paratroopa jumped. “NOW what?!” Dark Paratroopa groaned.
“We’ll see in just a second…” Dark Master answered. “ENTER!”
The Koopatrol and Sledge Brother came in. “Ah!” Dark Paratroopa greeted. “You guys! I must say, that was a superb job on the sneak attack!”
“I agree!” said Dark Master.
The Koopatrol and Sledge Brother looked at each other. “They’re in a good mood,” the Sledge Brother whispered. “We’d be crazy to tell them now.”
“It’s no use…” answered the Koopatrol.
Dark Master and Dark Paratroopa were confused as to why their minions were hesitating to speak. “Something wrong?” Dark Master asked.
The Koopatrol took a deep, nervous breath. He did not want to tell them this, but there was no other choice. “Shine Guy is still alive,” he muttered.
Dark Master and Paratroopa looked at each other, then laughed hard. Dark Master’s hard, loud laughing caused the throne room to shake. They laughed so hard that their eyes teared. The Koopatrol and Sledge Brother looked at each other.
“Very funny!” Dark Master laughed. “You nearly had us there! Okay, what is it you really have to say?”
“Shine Guy is alive!”
Dark Master’s and Dark Paratroopa’s humorous looks turned to looks of shock. They looked at each other again.
“…”
“…”
“…”
“…”
“… I’M GONNA MURDER THAT SHY GUY!!!” Dark Paratroopa roared.
Dark Master was surprised. He had never seen him right-hand so ticked off. He was almost speechless, both for the fact that Shine Guy was still alive and that Dark Paratroopa was in such rage. “Um… I appreciate your feeling…” Dark Master said, trying to be positive. “Any ideas?”
“I have an idea, all right!” Dark Paratroopa answered. “Listen!”
He whispered something to Dark Master, who jumped. “Really, Dark Paratroopa,” he said. “I haven’t used her in a while.”
“Master,” replied Dark Paratroopa, “at this point, anything is worth a try! Besides, they won’t stand a chance against her! She’s as big as you, if not bigger!”
Dark Master was somewhat unsure, but agreed.
“Besides!” continued Dark Paratroopa. “Uh… excuse me …” He closed his eyes. After fifteen seconds, he spoke again. “As I was saying, I’ve just sensed the Red Gem, and where I’m going, it would be very fitting for me to bring along my big sweetie! Heh heh heh!”
***
Later that day, at Bowser’s Keep, Lemmy was preparing himself. It was his turn to attack.
“Okay, Lemmy,” said Bowser. “All the previous contestants weren’t so lucky. You think you can do this?”
“What kind of question is that?” said Lemmy. “Of course I can do it! I’m gonna kick major hiney with my attack plan!” Lemmy left the throne room as everyone else besides Bowser rolled their eyes.
“Since Roy’s not here,” said Larry, “I’ll go ahead and say it for ‘im. He won’t stand a chance!”
“I agree,” said Wendy. “Especially since Ludwig and Roy weren’t successful.”
“I know, and they’re the strongest of all of us, though I hate to admit it… Anyway, who do you think has the best chance of winning… besides yourself?”
“Well it definitely won’t be Morton or Junior… Blaze probably could though. Remember, he comes before both of us.”
“Yeah, let’s form a truce until after Blaze does his attack.”
Unknown to them, Lemmy was speaking with three Koopa Troopas. “Okay, you guys,” Lemmy ordered. “You got it in your head what to do?” The Troopas nodded. “Good!” Lemmy said. “Now let’s go! I smell victory!” Lemmy led his three followers to the docking bay.
***
It was noon. The boat was halfway to Lavalava Island. Mario was speaking with the captain. “What time will we be-a reaching Lavalava Island?” Mario asked.
“Ah, we should be there by sundown,” the captain answered. Mario nodded and walked to the front of the ship, where Yoshi was enjoying the fresh, salty air. “Well you seem to be enjoying yourself,” Mario remarked.
Yoshi turned to him. “Well, it’s not really first class…” he replied, “but it works. By the way, I can’t wait to see Lavalava Island.”
“You’ll love it,” said Mario. “It’s too bad we can’t stay there for-a very long. We don’t want to attract any unwanted guests, if you know what I-a mean… Where’s Shine Guy?”
“Oh, he’s resting.”
Shine Guy was asleep on the bed in the small cabin of the boat. Though asleep, he still had his thoughts. The Dark Troop was onto them now. If they didn’t keep moving, they’d by vulnerable, endangering themselves and others around them.
Unknown to them, about two miles behind them, Dark Paratroopa was flying over the ocean, directing his very large comrade, who was walking… through the ocean just below the Paratroopa, with a jet a foamy water and bubbles following him below, indicating where his monstrous-sized comrade was.
***
Luigi was taking a walk around the castle. He didn’t know why, but he decided to pay the captured Koopas a “visit”. He entered the dungeon, descending down a flight of stone stairs. When he reached the bottom, he was “greeted” by the angry faces of the Koopas.
“Well well well…” said the bespectacled Koopaling. “Look who’s here…”
“Hey!” Luigi snapped. “You’re-a lucky the princess is nice enough not to cook your-a gooses.”
“HA!” the burly, pink-shelled Koopaling snorted. “’Course youse know who would’a won dat fight if I hadn’t messed up on da grenade!”
“Pfft!” Luigi huffed. “Right…”
“Roy…” began the large, wild-haired Koopaling, who was sharing a cell with the Yoshi-Koopa hybrid. “You don’t know how to set off a grenade?! I am surprised… sort of…”
“Aw, shut up!” Roy turned to the old Magikoopa and spoke rudely to him. “And YOUSE! Youse got magic, and even YOUSE couldn’t beat ‘im. You’re hopeless, Kamek! Why don’t youse just retire?!”
“I do believe YOU are the one who should shut up!” Kamek retorted.
“Actually, ALL of you need to shut up!” Luigi snapped. Then, two others caught his attention. He walked further down to find two other prisoners: a purple Clubba with orange hair, and a frog creature with a crown, a ruby necklace, and a tan-colored robe. “Heh!” said Luigi. “How long have-a YOU two been down here?”
“Four months!” the Clubba snapped. “And I STILL haven’t got over that fiasco! If I was out right now, I’d take you and—”
“AH SHUT UP, FLUBBA!!!” the frog interrupted.
“LUIGI!!!” someone yelled. Luigi turned to see Toad running in. “Luigi!” Toad said. “This is the last place I expected to find you. Anyway, it’s another Koopa attack! It’s Lemmy Koopa!”
“Ah, so it’s-a Lemmy this time…” said Luigi. “Who’s next?” Luigi hurried out of the dungeon.
“Smash ‘im, Luigi!” Roy cheered. Everyone looked at him. “What?!” Roy said, shrugging. “If I don’t win, I hope NO ONE does!”
***
Luigi took a taxi to the Mushroom City Park. He paid the driver, who then drove away. He entered the park to find several people running away screaming. He advanced further into the park to find a blue-shelled Paratroopa squaring off with a rainbow-headed Koopa. “C’MON!” the rainbow-head taunted. “Is that all you got?!”
“You ain’t seen squat!” the Paratroopa retorted. He retreated into his shell and slammed into the rainbow-head.
“Ah…” said Luigi. “Looks like Parakarry’s-a way ahead of-a me.” Suddenly, another fight caught his attention. He glanced over to see a dark-orange bird with a helmet battling a rainbow-head, exactly like the one Parakarry was fighting.
“Gimme your BEST shot!” the bird yelled. “Ba-KAWK!”
“You bet I will!” the rainbow-head said back. He went into his shell and bounced at the bird, hitting him head on. The bird fell on his back.
Luigi, confused, went over to the bird. “Flapps?” he said. “What’s-a going on here?!”
“You won’t believe it!” Flapps answered. “There’s four of these guys! They look exactly alike, now watch your back! Ba-KAWK!” Luigi whipped around, and he couldn’t believe what he saw. Three Lemmys! The fourth Lemmy was still fighting Parakarry. “What the…” Luigi said.
“Hiya, Luigi!” said one Lemmy.
“Surprised, are ya?!” said another.
“C’mon, Luigi!” said the third. “Shall we duke it out?!”
“Uh… Bring it!” Luigi snapped. “All three of-a you!”
BOSS!!!: Lemmy Koopa x4
One Lemmy jumped at Luigi and tried to punch him. Luigi dodged and punched the Lemmy back, only to get tackled by another Lemmy. Luigi kicked the Lemmy off and jumped back up. Out of the corner of his eye, he noticed the other Lemmy darting at him in his shell. He dodged, causing the shell to slam into the first Lemmy.
Flapps narrowly dodged as the third Lemmy bounced at him in his shell. The Lemmy popped back out and jumped at Flapps, who dodged and swooped at the Lemmy, clawing him hard. Suddenly *poof!* Flapps stared. “A Koopa Troopa?” he said. “That’s odd…”
Parakarry swooped in at the fourth Lemmy, who ducked. The Lemmy jumped up and hit Parakarry on the beak. Parakarry yelled, then went inside his shell and swooped at the Lemmy, slamming him in the stomach hard. The Lemmy stumbled, gasping for air. Angry, he jumped at Parakarry and dragged him to the ground. He began repeatedly punching the Paratroopa on the beak. After taking seven punches, Parakarry kicked him off and shell shot into him. Then *poof*! Parakarry stared blankly, rubbing his nose where the “Lemmy” had hit him. “It’s a Koopa…” Parakarry said.
“Who were you expecting, Donatello?!” the Koopa Troopa said rudely.
“… Who?!”
“Ever watch Ninja Turtles?!”
“… Oh, THAT Donatello. And yeah, I grew up with Ninja Turtles!”
“Omigosh! That show rocks!”
Luigi put up his defense as the remaining two Lemmys surrounded him. “Come on, Lemmy… uh… Lemmys!” said Luigi. “Show me what you got!”
“We’d have to be fools to pass up a request like that!” one Lemmy said to the other, who laughed hard. To Luigi, however, the one laughing seemed to have a deeper-pitched laugh than Lemmy’s actual laugh. Luigi held that thought.
“Hey!” he yelled. “One of you is a fake!”
“We noticed,” said Flapps.
“And if I’m not mistaken, YOU are the fake!” Luigi pointed to the “Lemmy” who had been laughing. “And I can-a prove it!” Luigi punched the fake Lemmy hard in the face. There was a *poof*, and all that remained was a Koopa Troopa. “AHA!” said Luigi. “I got you!”
Lemmy looked around. All three of his fakes were out. “… Uh oh…” he sputtered.
“Tag ‘im, Parakarry!” Luigi said.
Lemmy was suddenly slammed in the side by Parakarry’s flying shell. Lemmy fell over, slightly injured.
“Dang!” Lemmy yelled in frustration. “I really wanted that shiny jewel!”
Luigi jumped. “What?! Shiny jewel?! What are-a you talking about?!”
“Uh… Nothing… Ugh… My ribs hurt…”
“Get ‘em outta here!” said Luigi.
Luigi grabbed the real Lemmy and dragged him away, while Parakarry carried two Koopa Troopas and Flapps carried the last Troopa… well, at least he tried to.
The Lakitu spectator, perched atop a tree, radioed in to Bowser. “Come in, King Koopa,” he said.
Bowser picked up. “Well, how’d Lemmy do?”
“Not so good…” He could again hear the remaining Koopalings laughing and cheering.
“Ah…” said Bowser. “Who will it be…? The suspense is killing me!”
“By the way,” continued the Lakitu, “Lemmy used three fakes of himself. Is that legal?”
“Uh… No, but he didn’t win, so it doesn’t matter… Morton, you’re next tomorrow.”
***
“Shine Guy? Shine Guy, wake up.”
Shine Guy slowly opened his eyes and sat up. Mario was standing over him. “Mario?” he yawned. “What is it?”
“We’re-a there.” Shine Guy sat up and got off the bed. He followed Mario to the bow of the boat, where Yoshi was. It was sunset. Mario went up to Yoshi, who was staring at the island off in the distance. “Yoshi,” said Mario. “Prepare to be amazed!”
“I’m already amazed,” replied Yoshi. “And I haven’t even set foot on the island yet. Say, what’re the Yoshis here like?”
“Very friendly and peaceful, them and the Ravens… Ooh, that reminds me, I think you-a might meet a familiar face!”
Yoshi wasn’t so sure what Mario meant by that, but didn’t worry about it.
Shine Guy was worried. The location of the Red Gem was in a volcano somewhere on the island. Not only that, but he had the feeling they were being followed.
The boat came to a stop at a small dock. Mario, Yoshi, and Shine Guy disembarked, then waved to the captain as a way of saying “thanks”. They left the dock and walked along the beach. Yoshi looked all around. He had never seen or heard of Lavalava Island before.
After walking along the beach, they reached Yoshi Village. Yoshi was taken aback. The village seemed just like his own back on Yoshi’s Island. “It’s… beautiful…” Yoshi remarked.
“Wait until you see the rest of-a the island,” said Mario.
“Now, uh, who’s this guy you said I’d meet?”
“You’ll see, but first I-a want you to meet someone else.”
“Um… Mario?” Shine Guy began.
“Don’t-a worry,” interrupted Mario. “I-a haven’t forgotten about-a the Power Gem.”
They advanced further into the village. Later, they reached a part of the village with several tiny islands on the beach connected by wooden ramps. On the center island was a rather stout Yoshi, green in color, with a feather on his head, standing next to a Raven statue. The three walked up the ramps to the island. The stout Yoshi noticed Mario and turned to him. “Why, Mario!” he greeted. “Long time no see!”
“Likewise, Chief,” Mario replied.
“And who are these?” The Chief asked.
“Chief, this is Yoshi. Yoshi, I would like you-a to meet Chief Yoshi.” Yoshi looked up at the large Yoshi, then shook his hand.
“It is a pleasure to meet you,” said Chief. “Where are you from?”
“Yoshi’s Island,” Yoshi answered.
“Ah, Yoshi’s Island, I’ve heard of it.” Chief then turned his attention to the oddly-colored Shy Guy. He wasn’t so sure if this Shy Guy was good or bad, as most Shy Guys he had seen were enemies. He decided not to jump to conclusions. “And you must be…?”
“I… I am Shine Guy…” the Shyster said, slightly nervous. Chief could see that this Shy Guy was not an enemy at all.
“So, what brings you here?” Chief asked.
“We’re-a searching for a powerful gem,” Mario explained. “It looks something like this.”
Mario took out their first collected Gem, the Yellow Gem, and showed it to Chief, who went wide-eyed. “My…” Chief remarked. “I’ve never seen anything like this…”
“Well, there are-a ten of these, scattered everywhere,” continued Mario. “We must find them all, or the world could be in-a big trouble.”
“I suppose saving the world is on your everyday agenda,” Chief mused. They laughed. Unfortunately, their laugher was cut off by a scream. They all turned to the source of the scream, a pink Yoshi. Several other Yoshis were looking out to sea, where a mysterious, winged figure was approaching.
“Aw great!” Yoshi groaned. “Not now!”
“What?” Chief asked. “What’s going on?”
“My archrival,” Shine Guy said. “He is onto us again!”
They ran to the beach, where the winged figure, a strange Paratroopa, was speaking threateningly to them. “Your island holds something I want!” he yelled. “And I’ll get it even if I have you blow this place up to do so!”
Shine Guy bravely stepped forward. “Dark Paratroopa!” he yelled. “Somehow I knew you would show up sooner or later!”
“Shine Guy!” the Paratroopa yelled back. “You don’t know how surprised I am to see that you’re still alive, but I can fix that!”
“I beg you!” Shine Guy said. “Do not harm these innocent islanders!”
“Sorry! I don’t take requests! Oh Violet, come on out, sweetie!”
“Uh… Shine Guy?” Yoshi asked slowly. “Who’s he talking about?”
“I have not the slightest idea…” Shine Guy replied. He suddenly noticed large bubbles on the surface on the water. “But I believe we are about to find out…” he added, shaking nervously.
Everyone stared down at the bubbles. Something was down under, and coming up. Then they saw it: two huge, yellow eyes, rising out of the water, followed by a huge, round, dark purple nose region, a lighter purple underbelly, two arms with huge hands, claws at the end of each finger, and large feet with long, pointed toenails. The creature rose up until it stood up straight, the top of its head one hundred feet above the ground. With the sunset behind the creature, it was completely shadowed, making it look even more intimidating. It was a huge, fierce-looking Yoshi! It stared down at the mass of smaller ones like it, all huddled together and shaking in fear.
“THAT’S… ONE… BIG… YOSHI!!!” Yoshi yelled.
“Meet Ultraviolet the Yoshi!” Dark Paratroopa snarled, hovering next to the giant Yoshi’s head. “Violet, as I call her for short. Isn’t she beautiful?”
“She’s a… girl?!” Yoshi said, raising a brow.
“Is that not obvious?!” Dark Paratroopa snapped. “Just look at those gorgeous eyes!”
“… I guess I can make out some eyelashes up there…”
Dark Paratroopa stared down at the mass of scared Yoshis. “Now come on!” he bantered. “Is that any way to greet someone? You’ll hurt her feelings!” He turned to the giant Yoshi. “Violet, would you care to show them some manners?”
Violet roared and stomped.
MINIBOSS!!!: Ultraviolet the Yoshi
“RUN AWAY!!!” someone yelled. The Yoshis panicked and ran back to the village.
“I hate to say something discouraging,” said Yoshi, “but maybe we should fall back…”
“I agree…” said Mario.
In the village, a red Yoshi was frantically blowing through a loud horn, which was a sign of trouble. Yoshis ran everywhere, screaming and shrieking. When Mario got there, he ran over to Chief. “Chief!” Mario cried. “Quick! Get all the Yoshis out of the village. We’ll take care of-a the big one!”
“But what can you do to stop that monster?!” Chief asked.
“Uh… We’ll think of-a something!”
Chief nodded. He called out to the panicking Yoshis. “LISTEN!!!” he yelled. Everyone stopped. “EVERYONE OUT OF THE VILLAGE!!!”
The Yoshis headed for the village exit, just as Violet was entering. Unfortunately, one villager, who wasn’t a Yoshi at all but a pink Cheep Cheep, couldn’t move fast enough. She flopped as fast as she could, but could see that she was about to be squashed by Violet’s giant foot! She screamed loudly. Mario spotted the Cheep Cheep and recognized her. “SUSHIE!!!” he cried.
As Violet’s foot was coming down, Yoshi ran under it and scooped up Sushie, just before Violet’s foot slammed onto the ground.
“Thank you,” Sushie said, breathing heavily. She flopped away to the village exit.
“Give it up!” shouted Dark Paratroopa from overhead. “You can’t win!”
“On the contrary!” Mario yelled. “We’ll-a win… somehow…”
“I should like to see you do that! Crush them, Violet!”
Violet roared loudly and tried to squash Mario, who barely dodged. Mario ran between Violet’s legs. Violet bent down and tried and grab Mario, but missed and fell on her head and rolled onto her back. Violet recovered and got back up. She roared at Mario and tried to grab him again. Mario dodged. Yoshi ran across Violet’s path, narrowly missing her foot. Violet went for Yoshi. Yoshi spotted an orange lying on the ground near him. He swallowed the orange, then made an egg. He launched the egg up at Violet, but it bounced off her nose! Violet was unhurt!
“Seriously, an egg?!” Dark Paratroopa laughed. “It takes a lot more than that to bring down my sweetie! Now, Violet, show them what you can REALLY do!”
Violet inhaled, and blew a stream of fire at Yoshi, who narrowly escaped. “HA!” said Yoshi. “I can do that, too! Mario! Gem!”
Mario tossed Yoshi the Orange Gem. Yoshi caught it and held it tightly. It glowed, then he glowed. He grew his wings, then flew up in front of Violet’s face. He blew a wave of fire at Violet. Violet roared, then blew fire at Yoshi, who dodged by inches.
“You may be more powerful,” said Dark Paratroopa, “but you’re still no match for Violet!”
Violet suddenly roared after getting hit from behind by another fireball. She whipped her large head around, hitting Dark Paratroopa by accident. There was Mario, glowing, with wings on his cap. He was using both the Yellow and Purple Gems.
“Ugh…” groaned Dark Paratroopa. “How many times must I tell you? YOU CAN’T WIN!!!”
“Just shut up-a with that!” Mario snapped.
Mario darted at Violet and slammed into her. Violet roared and blew a fireball at Mario, who was hit, but was still okay. Violet swung her arms at Mario, trying to swipe him out of the sky. Mario narrowly missed Violet’s hand, going between her fingers. Yoshi blew another fiery wave at Violet, who roared, then swung at Yoshi, who barely dodged her claws. Violet blew another fireball at Yoshi, who darted straight through it and slammed into the giant Yoshi. She roared again and swung her hand at Yoshi. Yoshi was hit! The impact knocked him straight into Mario, causing them both to fall!
“AHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!!” Dark Paratroopa laughed. “Beautiful, Violet! That was beautiful, like yourself!”
On the ground, Shine Guy had been watching the whole thing unfold. “Oh no! They are down!” he said to himself. “I must help.” He glanced over and spotted a palm tree with coconuts. He thought momentarily, then ran to the palm and started climbing.
“Okay, Violet!” said Dark Paratroopa. “CRUSH THEM!!!” Violet raised her huge foot, preparing to bring it down on Mario and Yoshi.
Shine Guy reached the top of the tree. Once he made it, however, the tree began to bend in the direction opposite Violet. Shine Guy held on tightly. The palm tree suddenly swung back towards Violet, slinging a coconut off. The coconut went sailing through the air before hitting Violet, square in the eye. Violet roared in pain, her hands over her eye.
“WHAT?!” Dark Paratroopa yelled. “Where’d that coconut come from?!”
Violet knew, as she spotted Shine Guy in the tree. She angrily stomped towards the tree, grabbed it, and uprooted it, carrying Shine Guy with it. She held the tree up to her face. She stared at Shine Guy, who was frozen stiff. He felt Violet’s heavily nasal breathing, which sent chills up his spine. Violet held the tree up higher and began shaking it. Several coconuts fell off. Shine Guy held on for dear life, until he could no longer hold on. He fell.
…
He landed. Shine Guy couldn’t believe he was still alive. Then he thought. The fall wasn’t very far, and the ground felt softer than before. He froze. Could he have…? He decided to see for himself. He slowly turned around to see a huge pair of angry, yellow eyes staring back at him. Then, it hit him; he was on Violet’s nose!
“You know what, Violet?” said Dark Paratroopa. “Don’t smash those other two just yet. I want to see him suffer!”
Violet roared, then began viciously shaking her head. Shine Guy, shrieking, held on as Violet tried to sling him off. When Violet finally stopped, Shine Guy was barely clinging on to the end of Violet’s nose. Dark Paratroopa laughed manically. “What’s the matter?” he said coldly to Shine Guy. “You act as though you never saw a pretty face before!”
“And I cannot say I have from this particular angle…” Shine Guy whimpered.
“How rude of you! You could still learn a few manners, but this ends for you now! Violet, it’s lunchtime!”
Violet roared. She flipped Shine Guy high upward, then waited with an open mouth. Shine Guy found himself falling straight towards several rows of sharp teeth! He closed his eyes.
…
Shine Guy opened his eyes, expecting to be in Violet’s stomach, but was shocked to see that he was still in the air… on Yoshi’s back! “Yoshi!” Shine Guy cried happily.
“You didn’t think we’d let our friend die, did you?” Yoshi mused. He turned, then blew a fireball at Violet. Violet roared. Mario, who had also recovered, shot another fireball.
Dark Paratroopa laughed. “I told you!” he yelled. “She’s unbeatable!”
Shine Guy then thought back to when the coconut hit Violet’s eye. That seemed to be the only time she was ever in any real pain. “No no!” said Shine Guy. “Hit her in the eyes!”
“The eyes?!” Yoshi said, raising a brow. “That sounds gross!”
“But it is the only way we can defeat her! Use your combined power!”
“… Combined power?” Mario thought out loud. “Ah! I got it! Yoshi, over here!”
Yoshi flew up to Mario. “What?” he asked.
“Combine your-a power with mine! Aim for the eyes!”
They both stretched out their hands. A large orb of energy began to form. They blasted, hitting Violet in the eyes! Violet roared loudly, in extreme pain!
“NO!!!” cried Dark Paratroopa.
There was a bright light. Everyone was temporarily blinded. When the light faded, Ultraviolet the Yoshi was gone. In her place, however, was a scale-white Yoshi, at normal Yoshi size. She lay motionless on the ground.
“You’re kidding…” Dark Paratroopa said. Too shocked to fight, he teleported away.
Shine Guy stared down at the white Yoshi. “… I do believe I have seen her before…” he said. They landed next to the Yoshi.
Chief Yoshi and the villagers came back to find that the giant Yoshi was nowhere to be found. The villagers were wondering what the bright light was, but quickly turned their attention to the white Yoshi lying on the ground. “Mario?” asked Chief. “What happened… and who is this?”
“This,” said Mario, “was your monster…”
Shine Guy stood over the white Yoshi. After staring at the Yoshi for a few more moments, he recognized the Yoshi. “I… I do not believe it. Sparkle!”
“Huh?” said Yoshi.
“Sparkle Yoshi! I have not seen her in years!”
“Is she… still alive?” Yoshi asked.
“I… do not know…”
“Wait!” said Mario. “She’s-a moving!”
The white Yoshi slowly opened her eyes. She looked around. “Uh… Where am I?” she said. She sat up. Suddenly she noticed something. “I’m… out! Yes, I’m finally out of the Dark Force’s control!”
Suddenly she noticed all the Yoshis standing around her. She stood up. Then she noticed a white Shy Guy walking towards her. “Sparkle?” the Shyster said with tears of joy. “It is me.”
The Yoshi looked down at the Shy Guy. Then her eyes widened. “Shine Guy!” she said.
***
That night, they were sitting around a campfire. “So,” said Mario, “how exactly do you-a know Sparkle?”
“Sparkle lived in our village,” explained Shine Guy. “We two are old friends, but one day she disappeared, and I never saw her again, until now, that is.”
“Well,” began Sparkle, “it happened like this. The Dark Forces kidnapped me one night, while I was asleep. I awoke to find myself in a dungeon cell in the Dark Master’s fortress. I was in there for who-knows-how-long, until one day… My cell was finally opened, but I wasn’t free. They dragged me before Dark Master, who transformed me into the monster I was. I thank you all for freeing me.”
“No problem!” said Yoshi. “That’s our job!”
“We do have a bigger problem on our hands, however,” said Shine Guy. “The ten Power Gems that sealed away the evil treasure in the center of our land have been scattered. Dark Master wishes to use them to unleash the treasure and use it for world domination.”
“Really?!” Sparkle said, shocked. “Have you collected any?”
Mario showed her the three Gems they already had: Yellow, Purple, and Orange. “We have these,” said Shine Guy. “Dark Master has the Cyan and White Gems, and the Red, Brown, Green, Blue, and Pink Gems are still out there. We know for a fact that the Red Gem is on this island.”
“Then shouldn’t we find it before someone else does?”
“We’ll-a need to rest up first,” Mario said. “After all, you really packed a wallop.”
“Oh… Sorry.” Sparkle giggled.
“Come on, guys,” said Yoshi. “The Chief had some beds set up for us.” They all got up and walked away. “By the way, Mario,” continued Yoshi, “you still haven’t told me who this guy is you wanted me to see.”
“You’ll see,” said Mario. “You’ll see…”