Chapter 11
The Isle Delfino-bound Yo'sters were each in their quarters, snoozing peacefully away. In one room, Yazzee got to have one bed while Boshi got to have the other. But for some reason, the other room was completely empty. Two Yo'sters weren't present.

Xoshi moped by the ship's railing with his head drooped down, resting on his folded arms, leaning against it. He was gazing at what was almost his reflection in the water. His face was constantly warping itself as the ship sailed on, disrupting the waviness of the sea even further. He elicited a low-spirited sigh.

Man, this sucks, he thought to the Star Warrior in his head. I'm a million miles from home, some burglars are surely robbing the dickens out of it, and here I am being dragged off to some island where there's surely more creepy guys like the ones taking us there. Also, I thought I saw two big, fat rats running around earlier. What in the world is going on?!

I'm quite sure your house is safe from burglars at the moment, Xoshi, was what he got as a response.

Yeah... If you say so, Beel...

In a vain attempt at relieving himself somewhat of the fatigue that was weighing him down, Xoshi looked up from his arms, shook his head with his eyes clenched shut, then opened them up so he could have a good look at the full moon that night...

Meanwhile, the ever so mischievous Sackle and Crookie were busy fixing up something devious down in the hold of the ship. There, they hid, behind some of those stacked crates. No-one seemed to be at that maze of wooden boxes besides them, so finally Sackle poked his head out to have a look around. No-one at 9:00, no-one at 3:00... The coast was clear.

"Alright, Crookie, we're all set. Let's move out!" he hissed to his apprentice.

"Oh, goodie!" Crookie said excitedly. The two of them hopped out from behind the crates and landed right in front of them in defiant stances, simultaneously, in a very dramatic manner.

"Now let's go looking for that switch!" Sackle said.

 

♠♣♥♦

 

Unbeknownst to them, a little man on some type of hover bike was speeding towards that very boat, causing curtains of white water to go flying in its wake.

"Hmmm..." he hummed in his quirky voice as he looked at the blinking yellow light on a little device he held in the palm of his hand. "They can't be too far away now..."

With that in mind, he continued skimming the surface of the water on his bike, making the distance between him and the boat a little shorter each passing second...

 

♠♣♥♦

 

The storage room was not in the same condition it was in before Sackle and Crookie's little expedition. What originally formed neat stacks of various wooden crates, each of them with all the lines matching each other in rhythm, was then a bunch of not so neatly arranged stacks, complete with boxes coming out at crooked angles pointing in different directions, some of them even being in danger of toppling over. Sackle was sitting down on the floor with the upper half of his small body leaning against one of these unorganized columns. His apprentice was in a similar position a little to the right across from him.

"I can't believe this," Sackle grumbled. "We spent all this time looking for it, and we still haven't found a single clue."

"Yeah," Crookie puffed. "All we found is this worthless blue thing." To show what he was talking about, he somehow whipped out from behind him a large, dome-shaped object that was rimmed with a shiny, yellow metal at the bottom, but the bulk of it was indeed blue. Inside of it was a white exclamation mark that was busy rotating. As soon as he laid eyes upon it, Sackle jolted upright from his seating position, pointed his line of vision towards it, then sent his fists to his face to squeak out any fogginess that could have been causing this illusion. Looking at it again after that, he concluded it was no trick, and his mood brightened.

He jumped back onto his feet and said, "Crookie, you big dope! You found the switch!!"

Crookie was slapped in the face with what he couldn't determine was an insult or a praising. "I- I- I did??" he stammered, still holding the device atop his palm as though it were a pie.

"Of course not, idiot! Now give it here so we can get that Beel doll and out of this place!!"

Crookie handed it over as instructed, or rather he let Sackle snatch it from his fingers as his boss walked over to him. Crookie still had that dumbfounded look on his face. He asked, "Uh, 'Beel,' Boss?"

"Yeah, 'Beel.' It's short for 'Belome.' Got a problem widdat?!" he snapped.

"Um, uh, no, Boss."

Sackle placed the blue dome on the floor before him. He stood square in front of it. "Good. Now down to business. Crookie, jimmy."

"Okay, Boss!" This time, he really did hand it over. The blue-capped leader gladly accepted it.

"Thanks!" He raised it up into the air with both hands. He moved his arms in a circle out of anticipation. "It's show time!..."

Up on the deck, Yoshi had joined Xoshi in his insomnia. He walked up to him while Xoshi still had his head resting on top of his folded arms against the railing.

"Hey, Xoshi. Still not shoving off to bed, huh?"

"Yeah, you could say that," Xoshi mumbled. He let loose another sigh.

Yoshi's eyes scrunched up. "You seem kind of down. Something the matter?"

Xoshi lifted himself up. "Ummm..." he hesitated. "Uhhh..." First his right hand scratched his head, then he swept it down across his neck and let it plop down beside his waist. He used the index finger of his left to scratch his nose. His hands stood still a moment, then finally they went up in front of him, both of them pointing, almost as though to show how big something was. His eyes squinted. "What if," he started. "You just had a long day, and I mean a REALLY long day."

"Yes?"

"You come home, you plop down onto your bed, and before you know it, you're asleep. You didn't know you were asleep, until something woke you up from this crazy dream..."

Xoshi... What are you doing?

Just trust me on this one, okay?

"What if this something just happened to be this... Space alien from the moon, or something, and he told you you had to... Go and find seven people before the world comes to an end? What would you do?"

Yoshi just looked at him. "I would save it."

Xoshi stared back with his jaw hanging open. "But..." Xoshi tried saying. Several different riddles and contradictions were whirling in his head at the moment, but not a single one of them was coming out of his mouth. "But..."

"Hey..." Yoshi mused, looking up. Xoshi stopped trying to find words. "Speaking of the moon... Since when is it round?"

"What??" Xoshi blurted. His neck and his eyes swiveled until the moon was in the dead center of the sky. Indeed, it wasn't C-shaped anymore, like it was supposed to be; it was round. "Holy- It IS round!! How could I have missed that? What's going on?!"

"I'LL tell you what's going on..."

The two Yo'sters jerked themselves around and locked faces with the source of this new voice...

BOINK! Sackle struck. The jimmy bounced off the switch's jelly-like surface and the exclamation mark inside suddenly halted. As soon as that happened, the entire ship began to shake...

Yoshi and Xoshi could feel this, too. The one who just spoke to them was the Yoshi captain.

"ACK! What the-" the two of them squealed, but the third person remained calm. As soon as the shaking started, it stopped. The ship didn't seem to have taken any damage in any visible way.

"YOU!!" Xoshi outburst, pointing at the creepy guy. "Tell us what's going on!! Now!!"

He just blinked at him a little. "I will..."

Below, a few of the crates had just fallen to the floor after the incident. However, the slamming noises they made weren't necessary in order to awaken two other Yoshies.

"Oh, for crying out loud!! What now?!" Boshi grumped.

"It's Santa! Quick, Boshi! Let's go to him!..."

Fortunately, the two thieves were unharmed.

"BOSS!!" Crookie flipped after feeling the quake. "What in the world did you just do??"

"ME?! You were the one that was just standing there, Crookie. All I did was hit the-"

"YOU TWO!" They immediately stopped bickering and turned their heads in the direction of the hallway. Jax was standing there with an angry look on his face. "What do you think you're doing?!"

"Uh-oh," said Crookie.

"Busted," said Sackle...

Above, the strange Yoshi was busy gazing at the moon. Slowly, he closed his eyes, and started breathing harshly. Innnnnn, ooouuut. Innnnnn, ooouuut. Yoshi and Xoshi just gawked.

"You..." he began. "Didn't win a free trip to Isle Delfino. This was a trap..."

"WHAT?!" Yoshi freaked.

"I KNEW IT!!" Xoshi raged with his fists shaking in the air...

During this, Jax was starting to speed-walk towards his enemies. With drops of cold sweat flinging off his forehead, Crookie was standing there, aggressively turning his head back and forth. Finally...

"GWUGH!!" Sackle had done it again. He was dragging him across the floor with a death-grip on his collar roots. He was headed for the ladder.

"You big dummy!! Move it!!"

"Alright, alright!!" He scrambled back on his feet and started following closely behind his superior. Behind, Jax was picking up the pace.

"Stowaways!! Get back here!!" he shouted, going off into a sprint.

Further back, Yazzee and Boshi had just emerged from their rooms to notice the little man chasing after a big, round, white object ascending the ladder.

"See, Boshi? I told you it was him! He's got the bag, the hat, and everything!" Yazzee was bouncing up and down excitedly.

"Would you shut up about Santa?! Come on, you, something's up," Boshi demanded.

"Okay!" Yazzee said, giving his blue friend a salute. Boshi raised his eyebrow at him. Then they made a break for the ladder...

The Yoshi captain stood breathing heavily some more. Innnnnn, ooouuut. Innnnnn, ooouuut. "We're... Trying to get something," he continued. "Something you wouldn't understand..."

Both Yoshi and Xoshi stood with their fists clenched and a burning jelly squiggling throughout their bones causing them to jitter and sweat at the same time. They stared at him intensely as though hoping they'd be able to incinerate a few steaming holes in him just by doing so.

"In order to get it, we needed a few things..." He started stepping towards them ever so slowly. They never broke their gazes. "A few suckers..." he waved his arm in front of them. He stopped. "The moon..." He pointed to it in its round glory in the sky. "And..."

BAM! Sackle and Crookie burst through the door and onto the deck. Startled, Yoshi and Xoshi tore their eyes off their nemesis for a second just to see the two thieves run past them towards the tip of the ship.

"What the-" Xoshi uttered.

"Come on! Come on!" Sackle urged.

"I'm going, I'm going!" Crookie responded.

BAM! Jax ran onto the deck, and some attention was stolen again. Jax was panting heavily. He was right behind his captain when suddenly the ship started to rock again.

RRRRUUUUMMMMBBBBLLLLLLLL... It was fiercer this time. Yoshi and Xoshi nearly fell to their tails, but Jax, Sackle, and Crookie were definitely the ones that tripped and fell flat on their faces. Still, the freaky Yoshi remained without budging.

When it was over, he continued without interruption. "And..." Yoshi and Xoshi were starting to pant heavily themselves. The other three were trying to pick themselves back up. "Some help..."

Yazzee and Boshi felt the shift as well. "There it goes again!! What gives?!" Boshi growled.

"Look!" Yazzee said. He pointed to the trapdoor in front of them. At that moment, it looked more like a square of blue light shining before their very eyes. The longer they stared at it, the brighter it got.

"Pretty, huh, Boshi?" Yazzee said.

"I got a baaaad feeling about this..." Boshi moaned...

While those two were dealing with problems of their own, the sinister Yoshi couldn't help but notice his subordinate struggling so he extended a hand towards him. Seeing it, Jax grabbed it and soon after was back on his feet.

"Thank you, Sir," he said, but all Yoshi and Xoshi could hear was, "Blah blah blah."

Sackle and Crookie were back in action as well. "Let's get moving!" Sackle demanded.

"Right, B-" That was as far as he got. Something else came up that caused everyone to freeze in their tracks.

...oooooooooOOOOOOOOOooo...oooOOOOOOoooOOOooo...

An eerie groaning. The schematic Yo'ster extended his arm and used it to direct all eyes to the door the other three had just run out of. Yoshi and Xoshi watched in anger and terror, while Jax and his scaled companion watched in patience. Sackle and Crookie just listened. Yazzee and Boshi just stood there.

At first, nothing was happening. Then FWWWWOOOOOOOOOOOOOSSSHHHH!!! The trapdoor flew off. A swirling mass of various pale colors, each of them glowing and twisting around one another, spiraled out of the trapdoor, up the ladder, out the other door, swam into the air, then scattered into seven individual pieces. Sackle, Crookie, Yoshi, and Xoshi all had their heads spinning. They weren't quite sure what to look at. The mysterious forms seemed to be gone for one second. Finally, they returned. They spread out so they could surround each of the six people on board. At last, they could be seen. This was a group of seven, glowing individuals: A Para Troopa, a lady pirate, a woman in spandex, a female Yoshi, a dame in a green night dress, a Big Boo, and a regular-sized Boo with a blue tongue hanging out of his mouth and a ruby red crown on top of his head.

This odd bunch stood floating in the air facing the other six. The crowned one spoke up in a jagged voice: "Well done, boys," he said in English. The two untrustworthy guys that brought the victims here turned to him and nodded. "So..." he said to the rest of them. "Shall we feast?"

"RUN!!!" Sackle screamed. Yoshi and Xoshi didn't need an interpreter to tell what he just said. All four of them tried turning around and jumping overboard, but there was nothing they could do. In the blink of an eye, it seemed, none of them could do what they wanted to do.

"NO!! What the- Let me go!! Boss, HELP!!" they each said. The female Yoshi had taken a hold of Xoshi, the spandex woman got Yoshi, the pirate woman got Sackle, and the woman in green got Crookie.

All seven of the ghostly figures just chuckled mischievously. Then they started to get down to business. The Yoshish one walked towards Xoshi, Jax towards Yoshi, the crowned one towards Sackle, and the Big Boo one towards Crookie. Each of them were licking their lips hungrily. The Para Troopa was still floating in the air watching.

While struggling, the spirit in Xoshi's head was saying, Xoshi, my powers...

WHAT?! What about your powers?!

Use them.

I don't know how!!

Rrg...

"And now..." said the one in front of Xoshi. "To get that something..."

Then both he and his little partner closed their eyes and started that heavy breathing again...

Innnnnn, ooouuut. Innnnnn, ooouuut...

Underneath the deck, Yazzee and Boshi had been in awe of the spectacle that just took place.

"Wh- Wh- What on Plit was that?!?" Boshi stuttered. The trapdoor they were standing in front of was then open and the square that was glowing earlier was cast aside. Some unusual steam was spiraling up from it.

"The Seven Ghosts of Christmas?" Yazzee suggested.

Boshi tossed his head back, made claws out of his hands, and let them squirm in front of him. He wanted to strangle his yellow friend, but couldn't.

"What?" Yazzee inquired.

"Just... Just shut up. Let's go!" he got out.

"Okay!" Yazzee responded. Finally, the two of them commenced scrambling up the ladder. Once they took their turns making it out of that door and onto the deck, indeed something strange could be seen by them.

"Boshi?" Yazzee asked nervously.

"What's going on?!" Boshi fumed.

Not only did they see that four people (including their friends) were being held in restraint by what appeared to be a quartet of ghost girls, but also that they were being confronted by four other guys, two of which seemed to be growing larger.

All four of the captured ones were too horrified to continue struggling. Jax and the Yoshi captain were performing a very unsettling action in unison. With their eyes closed and their mouths inhaling and exhaling like mad, they were gradually becoming more and more muscular, not to mention hairier and taller. Their hands and feet were replaced by clawed paws, their knees reversed directions, their faces bulged into long snouts with rows of fangs, and long, pointy ears were sprouting on top of their heads. At last, the transformation was complete. Together, they formed two things: A werewolf, and a wereyoshi.

The two of them sent their eyes open. Both Yoshi and Xoshi jolted. Those eyes were glowing yellow.

"Now..." the Wereyoshi growled in a very different voice. "Say goodbye!!!"

"NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!"

"OH, NO, YOU DON'T!!!"

Before any of the ghastly villains could get to ridding their victims of any chances they might have had of ever being able to see the light of day again, they had to turn their heads around and see two blurs, one yellow, one blue, plow their ways into the ring.

WHAM! SHWACK! With a ground pound, Boshi had managed to flatten the werewolf in front of Yoshi into a furry pancake, and Yazzee managed to send the wereyoshi sprawling with a blow from his fuzzy dice. Taking advantage of the befuddlement that fell over their captors, Xoshi, Yoshi, Crookie, and Sackle were able to kick, punch, bite, and even stab their ways to freedom. While the remaining seven enemies were busy trying to take in the confusion, the six victims were in the act of forming a ring of their own inside where the fiends previously were.

"There's only one way, out of this, Crookie," Sackle said, drawing eight knives out of nowhere.

"I gotcha, Boss!" said his apprentice, cracking his knuckles and getting into a fighting stance.

"Yazzee! Boshi! Thank goodness!!" Xoshi blurted.

"How did you get him with those things?" Yoshi asked Yazzee.

"Heh heh. Loaded dice!" he said, holding up his odd weapon of choice. They almost seemed to sparkle.

"Enough chat. Let's get 'em!!" Boshi yelled.

"RIGHT!" they each said at the same time.

"So it comes to this..." the crowned boo said. The other ghosts were back on track and were ready to face the trial ahead of them. "ATTAAAAAACCK!!!"

At that, the two sides clashed in a fury of tongues, knives, biting, licking, swooping, swinging, slashing, slapping, and slinging. Xoshi and the Yoshi ghost flew at each other, as did Yoshi with the spandex woman, Yazzee with the Big Boo, Boshi with the crowned Boo, Sackle with the pirate, and Crookie with the damsel. The Para Troopa, however, just got out his bow and started firing arrows wherever it seemed appropriate.

Xoshi tried kicking off the bout with his tongue lashing out at the Yoshi girl's neck. However, that ghostly tail of hers was a natural advantage, so it was an attack she was easily able to dodge. Flustered, Xoshi tried again and again to ensnare her with it, but it was no use. As if this wasn't frustrating enough, DOYNG! An arrow had materialized right in front of him. Ticked, but still keeping his head, Xoshi plucked it from the ground and continued the fight...

Yoshi was having similar results. The spandex lady didn't attack much, but still she was as elusive as all get out. It was like trying to punch a snake that would swerve right and left, left and right no matter which fist he used. If only he had something to turn into an egg and fire at her...

The air was rippling in front of Yazzee's face. Whatever this attack was, he didn't want to find out what would happen if he got hit with it. He quickly ducked and let the mysterious force fly overboard and disappear into the night. Then he got up for his retaliation. With his dice whirling like a flail, he charged the foe. Fortunately, the Big Boo wasn't quick enough this time, and so he ended up getting smacked in the face. WHACK! A dark grey mark appeared on the ghoul's cheek. He rubbed it angrily as Yazzee stood a bit away with his lengthy Yoshi tongue flopping around on the deck, his feet dancing, and his hands waving in a taunt. The Boo gathered his wits and sent another ripple cutting through the air towards him...

Boshi was having a jumping contest with himself. He kept leaping into the sky, flipping, and coming down hard with his rear end slamming aggressively onto the ground. His crowned opponent actually seemed to not be having much ease with this. He kept tumbling through the air, grunting foully out of aggravation. Finally, he rolled right beneath the blue Yoshi's line of fire before he came down again. When Boshi was on his feet again, he looked around, but didn't see the enemy. Then WHACK! The Boo socked him hard in the back of the skull. Boshi plummeted to his big nose in anguish. He could hear the ghost cackling with glee. Man, that guy was getting annoying...

CLANG! Sackle had just barely rolled to his right out of the way of the pirate's sword. Irritated, she yanked it out of the ground, raised it up into the air, and prepared for another swing. Sackle was a quick one, though. ZING! He threw one of his knives her way forcing her to cancel her attack and swipe it away to defend herself. ZING! ZING! ZING! He had her furiously batting the things away. Things were looking up for Sackle. But then DOYNG! An arrow nearly plugged itself into his head from above. Sackle looked up and saw that spiteful Para Troopa slinging arrows here and there. He would have done something about it had (CLANG!) he not have had bigger matters at hand. He dodged another blow...

Crookie leapt towards his prey, ready to tear her apart. But FOOMF! Something soft suddenly showed up for him to smack into and bounce back to the deck. The green dame had her parasol ready, so the little thief was in for more than he bargained for. She winked at him, and beckoned him forward with her index finger, pointing upward and making a swimming movement towards her. Crookie twisted his body around with his fists clenched to get himself re-warmed up before he could resort to more drastic measures. At that, he began running towards her, while she began floating towards him, weapon in hand...

Xoshi was just about to unleash a special technique when suddenly the female Yoshi had vanished. Twisting his head this way and that, he couldn't find her. Something pink started rising through the floor behind him and it was too late. She lashed out her tongue, wrapped it around Xoshi's ankle, and he was clawing at the ground in confusion, being dragged somewhere before he even knew what hit him. He yanked his head in the other direction to see that the pink head of his enemy was sticking out of the ground, using her tongue to slide him towards her. Without another moment to lose, Xoshi spat out something blindingly fast at the long, red appendage. He could hear a blood curdling scream. Swiftly, his ankle was freed, and he could stand again. The Yoshi girl was in full form above the ground again, but with her tongue bound to the deck thanks to a piercing arrow. At first, Xoshi felt triumphant seeing her struggle with this new dilemma, but then something swept over him. Wasn't it against his policy to hurt girls? His thinking was interrupted by three more arrows that nearly hit him. His annoyance was interrupted by something slamming into him and pinning him to the ground. He could also feel his air being cut off. The Yoshi girl was back with a vengeance. She had him squirming, complete with her damaged tongue constricting his neck. At this point, he was at a loss...

Arrows kept falling all around Yoshi. It was becoming quite the distraction for his concentration. He looked onward and saw his spandex wearing opponent whip out a staff with what looked like the golden statue of a Boo atop it. She twirled it around, then started soaring towards him. Yoshi got his creative juices pumping speedily, and so before she knew it, she was being pelted in the face by a barrage of eggs, each of them exploding messily and getting all over her and her outfit. The arrows had served him well. This had put her over the edge, though, and so she started firing white fireballs from the mouth of her staff. Now Yoshi was in a severe pickle...

The Big Boo tried once again to send a ripple slicing at his nemesis, but Yazzee was too quick for him. He rolled out of the way again, flipped into the air, and came crashing down on him with his weapon flailing insanely. The Big Boo tried scattering, but that didn't help. WHAM!! Yazzee had him against the ground and was in the middle of mercilessly hacking off bits of his pale face with his loaded dice. The apparition was howling in agony. Yazzee was convinced this match was his. POW!! Something hard slammed him in the face and he went sprawling. He was lying on his back, aching, and seeing double. Two menacing looking figures approached him...

Boshi rubbed the back of his head with a grim look on his face. The kingly specter was still taunting him, tongue waving, and all. Boshi would have proceeded with another attempt at a ground pound, had (DOYNG!) an arrow not have landed beside him. Without wasting a second, he licked it up, squeezed out an egg, readied it, aimed, and fired. The royal ghoul only had time to lift one eye open before (SPLAT!) it got him in the face. Wiping the yolk from his eyes, he could see the blue, shades wearing Yoshi punch the air above him, victoriously. Deciding not to waste anymore time, the infuriated Boo suddenly shot his fin-like arms out like rubber and placed the Yo'ster's head between them. Boshi suddenly had to turn his head to see what was going on to his left and his right. In front of him, he saw the Boo grinning once more before everything instantly went black. THUD...

Had Sackle the time, he probably would have praised this woman for her skills in combat, but he had knives to throw and blows to dodge. That, and the arrows. With every swipe, she managed to get him to jump back another step. The edge of the boat was getting closer and more likely to send him falling overboard. Looking behind himself and in front of himself to avoid such things didn't lighten his mood. DOYNG! Another arrow came between the two fighters. She hesitated a little, but still she brought her sword up for another swing. When she saw a moody Sackle put his hand up, she seized her attacks for a second. Sackle looked up, closed one eye, readied a knife, swung it in his arm, then at the right time sent it piercing through the sky like a bullet.

The Para Troopa remained in the air, maintaining his factory-like pattern of taking another arrow from his sack, sticking it in his bow, aiming, firing, and repeating. He had the green Yoshi next on his list. Then SHLUCK!!! Suddenly everything was red and his left eye was burning with incomparable rage as though someone had just jammed a flamethrower into it and let the incineration run wild. Losing consciousness, he let his wings stop flapping, and down he fell.

Xoshi was almost to unconsciousness. Everything was getting grey. He was close to throwing in the towel, when suddenly an unidentified projectile dropped from above like a bomb and knocked his female opponent hard on the head instead. The Para Troopa's knocked out, bleeding body plopped aside, and the girl's tongue shot back into her mouth like a roll of measuring tape. She flopped back, too, and slipped into darkness. Xoshi got up and started breathing like crazy, trying desperately to get that feeling in his blood again. Soon, he found himself looking around, noticing that his three friends and his two allies weren't doing so hot. Boshi was down, but the other two were in slightly less trouble. However, they were still in trouble, nonetheless. Similarly, Yazzee was down, but not out, whereas Yoshi was busy dodging white fireballs like his life depended on it (which it pretty much did). But wait; was that the werewolf that had Yazzee pinned to the ground? He concluded that the reinforcements had come. But something was puzzling him. The blue guy was attacking the pirate lady, and the yellow guy was attacking the parasol lady. WHAM!! He didn't get the opportunity to contemplate it any further...

With that blasted Para Troopa out of the way, Sackle could finally get on with the battle. He placed a knife between each finger, making his trademark clawed fist out of each hand, and blocked each of the pirate's moves with his vicious slashing. Pretty soon, she was the one about to fall off, but that didn't matter. In an instant, she was up in the air, thanks to her ghostly tail, leaving him looking up in hatred. She made a fist, clenched so hard it not only made her body start to shake, but also to start glowing red. Sackle deduced the bad news this seemed to bode, and in a flash (SHING!!!) she had him arching his back struggling to use all eight knives to prevent the blade from inching any further towards his face. It started to sweat profusely as he felt his entire body start to quiver. He looked around, but couldn't see any sources of help anywhere...

FWOOOSSHHH!! Yoshi's tail had been hit! This woman was better than he thought. Almost instinctively, he voluntarily plopped down to the ground and started flipping himself around in order to douse the flame. Once he got it turned into a steaming pillar and nothing more, a gold Boo was shoved in his face and he was forced to stay put. The spandex woman had a sure grip on that staff and a sly smile on her face. Yoshi gulped...

Crookie charged onward, and the woman in green thrust her parasol forward. Crookie saw this one coming, so at the last minute, he made an uppercut to her weapon and sent it flying. Now she was unarmed, and the burglar was ready to annihilate with his bare hands. He arched his eyebrows at her helpless facial expression, leapt into the air with his fists in position and... THUD. The woman saw that her opponent had just been knocked out by the king. He stretched his limbs back into place, tipped his crown, let her bow her head in thanks, and floated into the sky.

Similarly, the wereyoshi was also back in action and had Xoshi pinned to the ground. With spit gushing onto his face, he heard him snarl, "Nowhere to run now, foolish Yoshi..."

Seeing that all six of the victims were either down or about to be, the crowned one spoke out. "Enough!!" They all cranked their heads toward him. "Playtime's over. Let's give 'em what they want!!!" The ghastly villains cheered and immediately began to switch tactics...

Simultaneously, Xoshi, Yoshi, Yazzee, and Sackle could see that their opponents were starting to breathe in very slowly, but very softly. Boshi and Crookie would have been able to as well were they not out of commission.

Goodbye, my friends...

Oh, fanny-flaps...

So this is how it ends...

Yoshi, Yazzee, and Sackle thought those things morbidly as they could feel their bodies start to get lighter and hear the king's wild laughter. Xoshi, however...

Goodbye, Jeila...

Xoshi...

What?!?

My powers...

I DON'T... Huh?

Suddenly, the crowned Boo stopped cackling. At the same time, the ghouls also stopped the odd breathing. Something was coming, and it was a doozy...

They could all hear it: A sound like a motor very slowly approaching them. They listened intently...

......vvvvvvvVVVVVVVRRRRROOOOOMMMMMMMMMMM!!!

FWWOOOSHHH!! In the blink of an eye, a little man in a white lab coat on a hover bike with something strapped to his back flew into the air, turned to the side, and screeched his vehicle to a halt. He jumped down, and all eyes were on him.

"Peekaboo! I found you!" With that, he pulled some type of tube out of nowhere, switched it on, and let the air start sucking in. The first to get caught in its vortex was the werewolf that was attacking Yazzee. Jax tried pulling even his fur out of the vacuum's web, but it was futile. His feet were lifted off the ground, and his entire body was sent spiraling towards that funnel. Just like that, he was swallowed by this strange little man's strange little device. "Who's next?" he chirped.

"RUN!!!" the king screamed. Once again, Yoshi, Xoshi, Yazzee, and Sackle were on their feet running around like mad. This time, it was even worse since they had a bunch of ghosts swirling around them making things extra confusing. The man was running around too, gradually sucking up one guy after another.

In the process, the man took note of how each of them had their unique ways of screaming. One said, "FOOLISH YOSHIES!! I'LL GET YOU FOR THIS!!" Another said, "SHIVER ME TIMBERS!!" The crowned one said, "NOOO!! WE NEED THOSE SOULS!! WE NEED THEEEMMM!!!" The living ones had other matters to attend to, however.

"Come on, you, let's get outta here," Sackle said, hoisting up his partner and slinging him over his shoulder.

Yoshi was doing the same with an unconscious Boshi. An excited Yoshi and Yazzee were beside him, being urgent.

"Come on!! That guy's gonna kill us!!" Yazzee freaked.

"I know. Let's go!" said Yoshi after putting his blue buddy onto his saddle. Just when they were about to start running like crazy again...

"Ho ho ho. What makes you think I'm going to kill you?"

All three Yo'sters with their knocked-out friend froze. Come to think of it, all that running and screaming had died down significantly. Besides some dust clouds dissipating into the air, it was just the seven of them, including the man with the vacuum who was but a few feet away from them. Upon closer inspection, this was a man with an overtly shiny face thanks to some make-up, a big nose, red bow tie, buck teeth, and a full head of brown hair that was sticking up like a fire. He had put away the tube, which was an extension of the device on his back: A red vacuum cleaner.

"Y- You're not gonna kill us?" Yazzee stammered.

"You speak Yoshish??" Xoshi said.

"Heheheh. I speak many languages," he chuckled.

The three guys couldn't stop staring at him. "Are you- Who are you? Why did you save us?" they all asked.

"Now, now, now, one at a time, please, one at a time," the man babbled with his hands waving. The Yoshies shut up. "Okay. You." He pointed to Xoshi.

"Okay. Um, who are you?" he asked.

The man let out a soft laugh. "Why, I am Proffessor Elvin Oya-maa Gadd, but everyone just calls me Prof. E. Gadd. Ho ho ho. I live in the Mushroom Kingdom and am a professional apparitionist. In other words: I study ghosts, a field I find quite interesting, I must say. Why, I've been studying them for as long as I can remember. Hee hee. Anyway, enough about me. May I have you kind gentlemen's names, hm?"

After the long explanation, Yoshi could finally get to the introductions. "I'm Yoshi, this is Xoshi, and this is Yazzee," he gestured. "And this-" He pointed to the comatose body on his back. "-Is our friend, Boshi. As you can see, he had a pretty rough time of it while those ghosts were out. It's a good thing you came along. We would have bought it for sure!"

"You're quite welcome, friends," he said. The others nodded. Then they heard a SPLASH. Their heads turned towards the front of the boat where they heard it. "Hm. Looks like some of us got a little shy, huh? That's too bad. I was looking forward to meeting them." He was referring to Sackle who apparently had just voluntarily jumped off the ship with Crookie.

"Aww," Xoshi slouched. "I wanted to thank them for helping us..."

"Don't fret, now. It happens. I'm sure we'll get the chance to meet again someday."

"Okay," Xoshi subtly agreed.

"Now- Yoshi was it?" Yoshi nodded. "Anyway, Yoshi, Sir, I do believe you had a question, yes?"

"Yes, Professor. I wanted to know why you saved us."

"Ah, yes. Actually, I was just on a ghost hunt. I was on my hover bike, over there-" He pointed to the vehicle behind him. "When suddenly I started getting a signal from this boat."

"A signal?" Yoshi inquired.

"Yes. This little gadget of mine gives me signals whenever ghosts are nearby." He got a device out of his pocket that had a video screen, a few buttons, and a blinking blue light on top. They got to have a little look at it, and then he put it away. "Anyway, as soon as I got the signal, I headed on over. As you can see, when I got here, I got this little baby going-" He pointed to his vacuum. "And started sucking up the spooky little devils. That's what it's built for, you know. Ho ho ho. To be honest, mainly, I sucked 'em all up for the sake of science. Still, I partially did it because those ghosts are all a bunch of no-good-nicks, and, one way or another, I can't stand seeing 'em pester around some innocent people like you folks."

"Once again, thanks!" Yoshi said.

"No problem, friends. Now... Yazzee... Did you have a question?"

"I sure did!" Yazzee bounced. "Are you sure you're not-" -SHA-BLUB. They all heard one very odd noise, and were pretty confused to say the least. "What was that??" Yazzee said.

"Oh. That was just this old thing, here. It can only hold so many ghosts, you know. Not one of my better models, as you can see." The professor was speaking of that vacuum cleaner on his back.

"You made it?" Xoshi asked.

"Ohohoho. I've made lots of things!" the man boasted.

"Out of curiosity," Yoshi started. "How many ghosts exactly can that thing hold?"

SHA-BLUB. "Eight."

Yoshi and Xoshi seemed to suddenly turn pale. "Uhhh..." said Xoshi. "Weren't there... You know... Nine of those guys?"

SHA-BLUB. "Perhaps," said the professor.

"Uhhh..." Yoshi hesitated. "What happens if it's got too much in it?"

SHA-BLUB. "It explodes."

"Uhhh..." Xoshi panicked. "What... Should we do then?"

SHA-BLUB. "Leave it here and head for the hills, I guess."

"Okay, let's do that," Yoshi suggested, drops of sweat flying off his scalp.

The professor was unstrapping his backpack-like machine, when suddenly he had to be interrupted. "WAIT!" Yazzee blurted. The professor looked at him while the other two started to shuffle their feet nervously. "You still didn't answer my question!"

By now, Gadd had the device set down and had taken a step away from it. SHA-BLUB, it jolted. "Alright, but make it quick," he stated.

"Are you sure you're not Santa Claus?"

THUD. Yoshi and Xoshi had fallen flat on their faces once again. The force of this caused a certain blue individual to suddenly awaken and jump off of the green Yo'ster's back. All eyes turned to him once he started jerking himself here and there with his fists up.

"ALRIGHT, NOW YOU'VE ASKED FOR IT!! WHO WANTS SOME?!" All he got for a response was some awkward gawking. "HEY!!" He looked at them. "WHAT'S GOING ON HERE?! WHERE'D ALL THOSE FREAKS GO?! WHO ARE YOU?!" He stepped in front of E. Gadd and pointed to him.

"No time to explain! We gotta get out of here... Fast!" Yoshi rushed.

"Say, wha?" Boshi uttered. The others were practically dancing out of pure nervousness, save for Yazzee, maybe.

"Well?" he asked the ghost scientist. "Are you?"

"Is he what?" Boshi asked.

"RRRG!!" Yoshi fumed. "Look: We have to-"

-Shaaaaaaaaaaa...

They all froze.

"What's that thing?" Boshi pointed.

"NEVERMIND!! RU-"

-BBBOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOMMMMM!!!

Yoshi's sentence was cut off and everyone's screaming was cut on. The boat was demolished by a gigantic flower of exploding fire, which rocketed 14 different figures far, far, far up into the sky. The higher they went, the further they spread out. The further they spread out, the quieter their screams sounded to probably two people that somehow managed to escape such a disaster way ahead of time.

"AAAAAAAAUUUUUUUUgggggggghhhhhhh..."

At that point, they could no longer be seen or heard. Still, the swimming continued.

"Heh heh heh," chortled Sackle. “Looks like those punks got what was coming to them, eh, Crookie?”

His companion was on his back, and therefore couldn’t say much besides, “Uhhh....”

“Heh heh... Hoyyyy...” As the criminal swam onward, he couldn’t help but shake one thing from his mind: “Man... I really hope Beel survived that...”

Nevertheless, he continued his arduous task. All the while coming ever so much closer to the only bit of land in sight: Isle Delfino...