Chapter 6
Xoshi was having the dream again. Once again, he was there, in a cave, with some Viking-guy. They were about to perform their next incantation.

While Xoshi was sleeping away in his hammock, he was unaware that two enemies were watching him from the bushes. "Oh, good! He's asleep!"

"Do we strike now, boss?"

"Yes. We'll do just that!" Out of those bushes emerged two thieves: One of them was wearing a blue hat while the other one trailing behind him was wearing a yellow hat. They tip-toed their ways on over to underneath Xoshi's hut. It was times like these that made the island's residents regret the fact that they were so lenient on thieves, what with their open doors, and all.

They made it to behind Xoshi's bookshelf where their prize lied in wait. They each got to one side of the trunk. "Alright, Crookie, on three, we give this thing a push! One... Two... Three! Hungghhrrghff... Ugh! There!" With a few drops of perspiration, they had done it. The trapdoor was exposed, theirs for the taking. "Great. Now, Crookie, hand over the crowbar."

"With pleasure!" said his sidekick. The yellow one named Crookie whipped down his sack of goodies then began to rummage around until he found the jimmy he was looking for. "Here ya go, boss!"

"Thanks, Crookie. Here we go! Urgh, umph, ooooofff, rrg, ugh, uh, gumph! URGGHH!" He was trying with all his might to break the contraption free, but to no avail. "Rrrrgg-GAH!" He let go and fell backwards with the crowbar still sticking out of the floor at an angle. "This is gonna be tougher than I thought," said the blue-capped boss. "Crookie! Don't just stand there; give me a hand with this thing!"

"Uh, we could just try the handle there, boss," stammered his right-hand man.

"Great thinking, Crookie! Now you know why I always run the show!" said his boss, taking all the credit.

"But, but-" he tried saying, but-

-Whump! "Got it! Oh, man, there it is!" At this point, Xoshi was reaching the pinnacle of his big dream. He was tossing and turning as his subconscious made things uncomfortable for him. "What's his problem?" asked the blue one.

"Hm. Maybe it bothers him that we're breaking into his house at night?"

"Don't be ridiculous. Let's get this thing out of here."

"Righ-toh, boss!" They were about to top off their job, but suddenly, the spotlight was on them.

"Cripes! Coppuhs! We've been had!" his boss was panicking. But his subordinate was busy correcting him by pointing at that one sparkly thing that had just entered the "room".

"No, boss! It's a sparkler! They must be celebrating Independence Day a little early this year, or something," said the yellow one. The "sparkler" was staggering around above their heads as though it was just coming back from an extra fulfilling night at the pub.

"If they are, then they're celebrating a little late! What is that thing? What's it doing??" The light suddenly stopped in midair, then fell down right on top of Xoshi as though it was tripped or knocked unconscious. "CRIPES! It'll wake him! We gotta-" he was saying. But at that point, Xoshi was, once again, at the part when the voice inside his head said, "Brace yourself". The sparkly thing had entered his mind. About a split second after it had disappeared into his head, his eyelids flew open and he was up with a start.

"AAAAAUUUUGGGHHH!" Xoshi screamed, snapping into an upright position. While he was doing that, the thieves had scampered off back into their bush. It seemed as though all three of them had been scared out of their wits. While Xoshi was over there, panting heavily, the other two were in the bush sweating off their worries.

"Boss," said Crookie. "That guy scares me."

"Bite the bullet, you wimp. Let's see what he does," said the boss.

The dream coming a second time was freaky enough for Xoshi. He had to have a foreign soul invading his head? He looked around a little, still looking pretty nervous. Finally, he screamed, "WHO ARE YOU?! WHAT ARE YOU DOING INSIDE MY HEAD??!"

Xoshi, Xoshi, Xoshi, calm down. Please. I can explain, he was "hearing" it say. It didn't calm him any.

"HOW CAN I CALM DOWN?! HOW DO YOU KNOW MY NAME?!?" he shouted.

Please! Get a hold of yourself! You're drawing a crowd! That last part may not have been true, but he sure was disturbing the neighbors.

Xoshi started breathing at a slower pace in his attempt at calming down. Finally, he said, "Who are you, and what are you doing inside my head??"

Xoshi, you mustn't "talk to yourself", either. People can still hear you. It's just us two.

Xoshi caught on and started "talking" to the spirit telepathically. Who are you, what are you doing inside my head?? he asked for the third time. The two thieves, of course, weren't able to hear any of the "unspoken" parts of the conversation. They reached one conclusion:

"That guy's gone psycho!" said the boss. "Let's am-scray!"

"But, boss, what about what we came here for??" his sidekick pleaded.

"We'll get it later. Come on!"

"Gwugh!" Crookie grunted. He was just grabbed at the collar by his boss. Before he knew it, he was being brutally dragged through the woods at a quick pace.

Xoshi's friends, Pinky, Oshi, and Pish, were at the "door". They were worried sick. "Xoshi, what's the matter??" Pish was saying.

"Yeah, you're making all kinds of noise; you scared us half to death!" they were saying.

Tell them it was the burglars, said the spirit.

"What??" said Xoshi, out loud. His friends misinterpretted this, though.

"I said, 'what's the matter?'" repeated Pish. They were all looking quite expectant. Normally, they would have been sleeping at this hour, but there was this, plus the fact that the adrenaline was keeping them alert.

While you were sleeping, there was a pair of burglars robbing your house. Tell them it was them, the spirit explained.

"It," Xoshi started. He wasn't too sure of himself. "I- I was- My house, it was being invaded by a pair of burglars," Xoshi stammered.

"Really?" said Pinky. "That's terrible. But what were you saying when you were yelling something about your head?"

Tell them you said "house", not "head", said the spirit.

"I- I was telling them- I was yelling at them to get out of my house. No, I was yelling at them, what were they doing in my house. Yes, what were they doing in my house," he said.

"You said, 'House,'?" said Oshi. "It sounded more like, 'Head.'"

Tell them you didn't exactly have your head on straight, what with suddenly being robbed in the middle of the night, and all, said the spirit.

"I didn't exactly have my head on straight. It was just so sudden. One second, I was sleeping, having a nightmare, then those burgers- I mean, burglars come in and- I just didn't know what I was saying. Didn't know," said Xoshi.

"Well," said Pish. "I'm very sorry to hear that you were robbed. We'd be more than happy to stand guard while you-"

"-No, no, that's okay. I'll be fine on my own, on my own," Xoshi said, interrupting and stammering at the same time.

"Alright, then. We were just worried about you, that's all," said Pinky.

"Good night," said Oshi as the three of them began to walk off.

"Don't let the bed-bugs bite," said Pinky. Although, this was one of those moments when it was hard to tell whether or not he was joking.

"Yes. Good night, guys. Thank you for your concern. And... Thanks," said Xoshi.

"Good night," said Pish. The two of Xoshi and his new visitor waited a little while before picking the "conversation" back up. They had to make sure the patrons were gone.

Okay, okay, okay, thought Xoshi. No more scenes. Please: Tell me, at once, who you are, and what on Plit you are doing inside of my head.

Xoshi, my most sincerest apologies for what happened these past few minutes, said the spirit. At last, I shall grace you with an explanation...

I am a Star Warrior, the spirit began. I come from Star Haven. You may know it also as Star Road, Star Street, and/or the Space Zone.

Yes, yes. That rings a bell, thought Xoshi.

As you may also be well aware of, it is the place where wishes are granted.

Yes, I know that, too.

Well, it is also the place where major crises become talked over. The Seven Star Spirits sent me. A little while ago, they were talking about something, but, to date, noone can really say exactly what it was they were saying. Not even the esteemed Nay-Charr was sure. They did agree on one thing though: Something bad was eventually going to happen, and they needed the help of me, plus seven other people to prevent it from happening.

Xoshi, you were not meant to be one of them, but I'm getting a little ahead of myself.

...Go on, thought Xoshi.

Anyway, I got elected for this job because I know exactly who we'll be needing.

Funny how you're using the word, "we".

I'll get to that. See, before they sent me down here, they created, right before me, a set of seven magic wands. Each of them was granted the powers of one of the Seven Star Spirits. There was a plant-elemental one, an ice-elemental one, an air-elemental, a fire-elemental, a water, a time, and a neutral.

How interesting.

Quite. Each of the seven people "we'll" be recruiting will get one of these wands to combat the evil.

Hey, what about me??

You won't be needing a wand; my star-elemental powers should be more than enough for you.

Whoa, I get star-elemental powers?? Why not light, or lighting, or earth, or-

That's just how I am! Sorry! ...Anyway, they said I'd be getting these wands as soon as I made it to Shooting Star Summit.

Whoa, hold up; we're going to Shooting Star Summit?! I can't be going there; I've got a free trip to Isle Delfino to attend to!

Ugh, yes, yes, I know. I'm getting to that.

And stop reading my mind! I didn't ask for you to be here in the first place! For some reason, Xoshi was getting mad.

I'm sorry, I'm sorry. Please listen: They gave me this mission against evil, they sent me down, but... the Star Warrior hesitated.

But WHAT? snapped Xoshi.

Well, it's like this: Since I'm a Star Warrior, on my own, I have a heart, a mind, a soul, an array of powers, but no body.

Ah, I see; so you had to borrow mine.

Not exactly. See, in reality, I am this... Glowing, sparkling thing that just floats around. That's it. And, believe me, this isn't the first time anything remotely close to this has ever happened.

Yeah, I think I can find others of my kind in the Nut House.

Xoshi, I'm begging you: PLEASE LISTEN.

Alright, alright. I'm sorry. It's just that... THIS IS NUTS!!

Please, calm down. I'm getting near the end.

Yes, yes; excuse me. Please continue (I've really got to relax; starting... Now. Ugh...).

Alright... ANYWAY, without further ado, I would like to finish my story.

There have been occasions before, the Star Warrior continued. When a "thing" like me has had to come down here and solve some problems. Our kind has always had problems with being disembodied. So we would have to borrow some forms. Dolls have always been most convenient. We would float down, examine this and that, and enter. Entering has always been an arduous task, since it has always involved blinding light. Anyway, we would bring the dolls to life. They would become "life-sized", and we would take it from there, armed with our star powers. And our awkward names...

Out of curiosity, what IS your name? asked Xoshi.

It's hard to pronounce. So...

I'll call you "Starko"?

What? No. Please.

Heh heh. Sorry, I was just making fun of my friend, "Storko".

On second thought... Call me "Beel".

Because that was the doll you were aiming for, anyway?

Wha-

-Turns out I can read your mind, too!

I would really appreciate it if you wouldn't do that. It should be mutual.

Agreed. From now on, we don't go reading each other's minds.

Yes, indeed. Well, as you already know, I missed. But it wasn't entirely my fault! You see, as I was coming down, there was this giant Frisbee thing, and for some reason, just coming within even a few meters of it made me feel... Dizzy. I tried getting myself inside the doll, but alas, it didn't work.

So lemme get this straight, Xoshi began. Those star people up there are all-seeing and all-knowing, right?

Right.

So, they decided to take a little break from granting people's wishes since they saw something worse was coming.

Correct.

So they sent you, but since that Frisbee got in the way, you wound up possessing me rather than the doll.

Yes.

And now our mission is to go out there and find Shooting Star Summit where we'll get these wands for these other people to accompany us, because they're the only ones that will be able to do so?

Right.

Well, here's what I don't get. I know you're inside my head, and all, but couldn't you have just gotten out of there by now?

Ugh... No, I couldn't have. Once a Star Warrior has gotten into a body, it can't leave until approximately six months have gone by.

SIX MONTHS?! I'll be insane by then! And what about my free trip to Isle Delfino?!

For now, we'll just have to go along with it. I'll think of something...

Alright (geez, what a night...).

At that, the mental conversation ended, and Xoshi then commenced trying to get back to sleep...

 

♠♣♥♦

 

Over at Lava Lava Island, other Yoshies were having troubles of their own trying to get to sleep.

"Did you see that??"

"What was that thing??"

"It looked like some kind of meteorite or something."

"Maybe we should go and check it out?"

"I dunno. Ren'll get mad if we do."

"Forget Ren! We gotta do something!"

"Alright, alright. We'll go."

Three Yoshies set out into the Jade Jungle to figure out what it was. The one who was the first, fourth, and sixth person to speak was a Yoshi of a deep green hue. The one who was the second, fifth, and seventh, was a magenta wearing a couple of feathers to add to his attire. The third one to speak was a purple Yoshi wearing a pair of sunglasses and a blanket, not unlike Jeila. Like Boshi, his feet, too, were exposed due to his lack of shoes. The moon and the stars were out, but most creatures weren't since this was the night. They just kept going forwards towards the direction that the column of spoke was coming from.

"Man," said the magenta one. "This place sure gets creepy at night."

"Everything gets creepy at night," said the purple one.

"Ah, come on, guys. Pull yourselves together! Besides: What can a little darkness do to us, anyway?" The green one said that.

"I'm okay," said the purple one. "It's Fyooshi here who needs to calm down."

"I just don't think this is a very good idea!" whined the magenta one, named Fyooshi.

"Yeah, well, Ren's ideas weren't exactly ones I would call too bright, either," said the green one. "At least we're doing this one out of our own free will."

"In that case, why did I have to come along?!" said Fyooshi.

"You didn't have to," said the green one. "In fact, you can go on home if you want."

Fyooshi turned around to face the direction from whence they came. He saw something rattling around in the bushes. "YIPE! On second thought, I think I'll stay," he said.

"Stay standing there, or come with us?" said the purple one.

"Er, come with you! Yeah." At that, the three of them were officially going in together. A few steps later, they were within hearing range. They could hear the voices going off behind those bushes.

"Quick! We gotta hide," said the green one. They dived into some conveniently located shrubbery, then, one by one, they poked their oval-shaped eyes out, like a trio of cartoon characters. It was clear which pair of optical receptors belonged to who. The green one had his eyelids lowered in a serious, intent fashion, Fyooshi's eyes were flinging off drops of sweat, and the purple one had his to hide behind those shades. Beyond, they could see the strange people wandering about.

"What's the report?"

"SEVERE DAMAGE TO THE RIGHT SIDE, SIR. THE GYROPCOPTIC STABILIZER HAS BEEN WIPED OUT, AND ONE OF THE PRISONERS HAS ESCAPED." Both voices were found frightening by all three of the Yo'sters, Fyooshi especially.

"Ugh. This just keeps going from bad to worse. One second, we're on the winning streak, the next, we're scraping ourselves off of our own shoes. Wonderful. Who was the prisoner?"

"THE ONE NAMED RAPHAEL, SIR."

"FANTASTIC!" bellowed the purple space alien. "Just think, Wart; someday, my name will be known well for undergoing the greatest intergalactic mishap in history. Great."

"IT WASN'T YOUR FAULT, SIR. THE DAMAGE WE SUFFERED FROM THOSE MISSILE ATTACKS REALLY WERE IMPOSSIBLE."

"Well, obviously something should have been possible, otherwise it would not have happened!" The alien blew off even more steam. He breathed in heavily a few times, then got a hold of himself. "Form a search party," he ordered to the big, green frog. "I'll stay here minding the rest of the crew while they handle the repairs. Clear?"

"YES, SIR, VERY CLEAR."

"Good. You are dismissed," he saluted.

"Naji," said the green one to the purple one. "Who are those guys?!"

"I was more concerned about what they're supposed to be," said Naji. "But it doesn't look good."

"Didn't the name 'Raphael' seem a little familiar to you guys?" said Fyooshi.

"Hmm," the green one hummed. Just then, they heard another sound from the bushes. A small creature, covered in black feathers jumped out at them. "AAAHHHH!" they screamed in unison. Foolishly, they managed to grab the attentions of the newcomers.

"What was that?" they heard the captain say.

"We've been sighted, Sir," said one of his silver subordinates.

"Kill them," he said coldly. With a "Yes, Sir," the silver one formed a mob of other silvers. Ten of them, each with their own weapon of choice, started running towards the bushes over there where they heard the screams.

"Hee hee hee hee hee hee hee!" the Yoshies heard the black thing say. "Boy, Noshi, you and your friends are just far too easy! Later days!" At that, it scurried away, its feet seeming to never leave the ground.

"Wait, wasn't that-" the green one, Noshi, started. But then-

-WHAM! He was hit in the side of the head by something blunt. The aliens were upon them. "NOSHI!" screamed Fyooshi. But Naji grabbed him by the arm and started dragging him off in an extemporaneous sprint.

"Just run, Fyooshi," said Naji. Bofore he knew it, Fyooshi was frantically jumping over various green-colored obstacles. Whenever he dared to look back, he would find that those silver freaks were trying just as hard to keep up.

"We're just going to leave him?!" said Fyooshi, then running independently without Naji grabbing him.

"Don't think about that. Just run," said Naji. He, himself, could get a little scary at times. One of the aliens had what looked like a trident. Another had a laser gun, another had a ball-and-chain, another had a dagger, another had some kind of spear, but the head was made out of what looked like a yellow light. Another one was arming himself with a pair of sais. Another had a boomerang, another one had a hammer, and another one had some kind of sword. The one that felled Noshi was wielding some kind of metal club. Oh, yes; they were one dangerous bunch worth escaping from.

As they ran, various chlorophyll-oriented life-forms were being destroyed. Some by the laser gun, some by that vicious ball-and-chain, others by the sword. Eventually, the one with the sais came down upon Naji, tackling him, and resulting in a heap of arms and legs tumbling around with eachother on the harsh ground.

"NAJI!" screamed Fyooshi, stopping to look back. That was not in the least one of Naji's intentions, though.

"JUST GO!" roared Naji. Reluctantly, the magenta Yoshi sped off as fast as he could, being careful not to slow down or turn around. Five of the aliens chased after him, leaving Naji to deal with the ones with the sais, the dagger, the spear, the club, and the sword.

Meanwhile, Noshi was still lying down on the hard/soft ground. Slowly, he came to with a ringing pain in the side of his head. He tried getting up, clutching at the damaged spot with one of his hands. "Grruuugghh," he groaned. "Holy shlamoly, that hurt like all get out." Before he knew it, though, there was gun pointed at the space between his eyes.

"Rest in pieces, infidel," growled the captain. A gauge started to fill up in red, yellow, then green as he squeezed the trigger. Not surprisingly, it was knocked out of his hands by some kind of small cannonball that was shot out of nowhere. "AARGH!" he let out as it flew out and fired a spiraling laser to nowhere in particular. Enraged, the captain turned around to face his new enemy. It was a Snifit, just standing there, huffing and puffing as his snout was steaming from the blast it gave off.

"I'm warning you!" said the hooded, red figure. "One step closer and I'll-"

"-And you'll what, you filthy cretin?!?" yelled the captain, as he advanced towards his new target. "You're supposed to be in your tube... Being mesmerized!"

"Yeah, well, I didn't like the tube. Plus, I-"

-SMACK! The alien swatted him aside with one of his muscular arms after bending down a little in order to do so. He straightened himself out once more, then turned back around to face Noshi. "Now where was I? Ah, yes. You, my f-"

-TSSEEEWWWW! A spiraled laser, like before, was fired. This time, it was aimed specifically for the captain's head. Thinking quickly, he snapped his head to one side, then let the laser go past him to take down the unfortunate tree, adjacent to it. It lit itself on fire.

"How dare you touch my things," said the alien, now heading back towards Noshi. "Why, you don't even know what you're doing! Here, let me show you," he tried making a grab for the gun that Noshi was then holding, but Noshi jumped back and fired again. This time, his aim was false. It attacked another tree. "What are you doing, simpleton? Trying to set the whole forest alight? Now give that back before you kill us all!" Once again, he was striding his way towards the Yo'ster.

"NEVER!" Noshi shouted. He started running as soon as the captain started picking up the pace. Meanwhile, the Snifit from before was lying in some bushes massaging a few of his wounds.

"Geez," he moaned, getting up. "This just isn't going to be easy..."

While Noshi and the Snifit were taking care of the captain, Fyooshi was still struggling to throw the aliens off. Nothing seemed to work. With every twist and turn he made throughout the jungle, no matter what, his chasers were still hot on pursuit.

"Ugh, this just keeps going from bad to worse. What do I do?" He took taking them back to the village into consideration, but then again, it was better that he died alone rather than letting the whole town go down with him. He just kept on running...

Naji was doing surprisingly well on his own. Even though it was five against one, Naji was holding his own pretty well. He wouldn't go without a fight.

"Want some of this?" he taunted. He spread out his arms, made a two-dimensional golden star materialize before him for a split second, then shouted, "DARK STAR!" and the spell came crashing down upon the head of the one who tackled him earlier, the one with the sais. Well, he was down for the count, but the others were still acting as an annoyance. The others, with the dagger, the spear, the club, and the sword, were beginning to close in on him. "Alright, wise guys." This time, he made the symbol of a flame, then shouted, "MEGA DRAIN!" and fried the one with the dagger. Having been set on fire, the man dropped his weapon and started hopping about. Naji was just about to cast another spell, but the one with the spear started charging him. For some reason, he was pulled back by the one with a sword.

"WHAT ARE YOU DOING?!?" he roared.

"Don't kill him. He's strong. The captain will want him," responded the one with the sword. He got a snort for a reply and the fight continued. Naji was busy dodging the blows of the one with the club. Finally, he managed to materialize a laser of piercing, white water, which was going so fast, it made a clean hole in his gut. He looked down in horror as it began to cease being so neat.

"Mother of Mercy..." he moaned, then collapsed on the ground to bleed freely. Then he just had two more to deal with...

Noshi put up a good chase scene around their wrecked ship, his feet carrying him as fast as they could. His enemy had longer legs, though, which just added to the difficulty of the situation.

"FOOL! STOP RUNNING!" he yelled again. The Yoshi only looked back for a split-second to respond. Then, for some reason, he jumped, then continued running. "What in-" he managed to get out, but suddenly tripped over something and came crashing down, face first. "GWAUGH!" he grunted. The Snifit had regained his senses and was back on the battlefield. His maneuver was one that involved simply him crouching down, then letting the foe trip over him. Noshi caught on once more, then headed back on over to deal the finishing blow. He stopped just a few feet before the captain's head, held the gun in both hands and pointed.

"Rest in peace, infrared... Siddle... Boy... Guy," Noshi stammered. That didn't sound as threatening as he hoped. The Snifit, on his feet, just looked at him, then to the ground shaking his head. Noshi wasted no more time. He squeezed the trigger, but...

...Nothing came out. It was out of juice! "Darn it!" yelled the Yoshi as he tossed it to the ground. Probably not a smart move. The alien was still conscious and he got up a little to swing another arm out. Noshi wasn't fast enough. He slipped beneath the man's beefy arm and crashed down upon the ground. Then he got up and stretched his limbs.

"See, I knew you weren't so tough," he said. He picked up the gun and stepped a few paces backwards. He was going to perform some kind of wrestling move. Just when he started jogging was when the Snifit pulled himself together once more and fired another cannonball. This time, it was aimed at one of temples.

THWOK! It got him right where the Snifit wanted it to. Since this took him by surprise, the alien's balance was thrown off and it ruined his sprint. He staggered a little clutching the side of his head, then turned back around to face the other opponent once more. "You conniving INGRATES! When will you give up?!" He started running towards the Snifit again. The fight just kept going back and forth, back and forth.

The Snifit just stood there for about another split-second just to say, "I think you're the one who doesn't know when to give up!" Then he started running again...

Fyooshi, himself, was also getting some good exercise from the dire ordeal. For the past few minutes, he had been wasting his time steering his enemies into another direction. He didn't know where he was going, but he did know that he did not want them in the village. So he kept running.

Things would occasionally get complicated for him whenever the one with the gun would fire, or whenever the chain-ball man swung, or when the landscape would throw another tall tree for his face to run into out of misfortune. He just kept on running until-

-WHUMP! He collided with something big, soft, black... And feathery. Fyooshi fell backwards onto his tail, then snapped his head up to lay eyes on this new obstacle. It was some kind of bird with these warm eyes...

"Quickly!" it said to him. "Climb onto my back; I know what to do." Fyooshi, for some reason, complied and climbed onto his back as told. The silver aliens were just about to come around the corner for another few seconds of chasing when the big bird flexed its feet, then sent itself flying way high up into the sky with Fyooshi clinging to it for dear life. They had disappeared.

"Cripes!" said the one with the laser gun. "Where'd he go?!" The five of them were all looking around in a befuddled manner.

The one with the ball-and-chain muttered something foul beneath his breath. "Forget it," he said to the others. "Let's just head on back. The captain will understand..." Solemnly, they turned around, then started walking off in the direction that they came from. Little did they know that there was a little, black figure on the premises. Once again, it hopped out of the bushes, then it did a little victory dance.

"Hee hee hee hee hee hee hee!" it cackled again. "I'm a genius; a sheer GENIUS! Ka-faw haw haww! See how they run. I can do all that, and a bag of chips, too! Ka-fwee hee HEE!" It sped off to commit more mischief, or who-knows-what...

High up, Fyooshi and the big, black bird were hiding away amongst the burly limbs of the trees. The bird was staring calmly down below, but Fyooshi had a few breaths to catch up with.

"HUHH-heee-HUHH-heee-HUHH-heee," he gasped desperately. He took a quick gulp to drown out the parchedness that his throat gained from such an occurance. Finally, he got himself together and said, "You don't know... How grateful I am... Mister Bird..."

"Please," said his enormous savior. "Call me Raphael..."

Meanwhile, Naji was still struggling to duke it out with his two adversaries. None of his spells seemed to be working! But then, suddenly, the one with the spear lunged out at him, then using the blunt end to it due to the orders of his comrade, and realization struck Naji: He was thinking too complicatedly! With that in mind, he lashed out his long, sticky, frog-like tongue at the foe's weapon, snatched it instantaneously away from his grasp, then watched with satisfaction with the spear somehow in his mouth as his enemy fiddled around with his hands a little in midair as soon as he noticed he had been disarmed. Naji, keeping things moving (and quickly at that), spat the spear back out into the palm of his right hand, then readied the thing the best he could in spite of its newfound slipperiness from his mouth. He held it tight, aimed, closed one eye for accuracy, then let 'er fly!

SHUNKK! It went right through his gut, and the fallen one came tumbling down as things started to get dark. Even though he was dead, his hands still clutched at the spear in his gut as though there might have been a point in trying to get it out. Then it was just Naji and the one with the sword.

"The name's Cutlass," said the man. "And I'll be winning this fight."

"On the contrary," taunted Naji again, always being the tough one...

The Snifit was having nowhere near as easy of a time as his sort-of ally, Noshi, was when it came to trying to outrun the overgrown brute. His legs were considerably much shorter and it didn't even look as though he had much time until the giant came crashing down with the edge of his elbow out for a crushing blow. The Snifit kept up the pace, then, suddenly, the purple man leapt into the air with that elbow out. It was like a guillotine to him, moments away from severing his head. The 8-Bit cringed in preparation for the impact. But it didn't come. Instead, his unseen ears caught a WHUMP and he reopened his eyes to see what had happened. His savior was none other than Noshi who miraculously managed to extend his tongue out long enough to wrap it around their opponent's strong legs. That was what sent him to the ground, once more. "YOU FETID... PILE OF... FECES!!" The captain paused between each word for emphasis. But Noshi was beginning to wish he hadn't have done this. The alien grabbed a firm hold of the Yo'ster's tongue, or at least he tried to, considering the fact it was so slimy. "I'll... Make you... PAY!" Noshi wasn't ready to hear anymore. With another flick of the tongue, in a flash, the monster was in his overtly stretchy mouth, and he swallowed with much difficulty. But no egg came out the other end.

"Oh," the merciless steel jaws of terror clamped down upon his throat in realization upon what he had just done; or rather, at what wasn't done. "No. PLEASE no," he pleaded weakly. His stomach wasn't going easy on him in the least and, before he knew it, he was dead.

SPLLOYYCHTTT! The Yoshi had indeed suffered a terrible fate. He was spontaneously combusted from the inside out. Green reptilian guts was flung everywhere. Some of it even landed on the Snifit. "Oh, no," he breathed. "Oh, no, no, no, no, noooo..." he wailed over the loss of what was really more of a stranger than a friend, but still...

In Noshi's place stood an enraged Extra-Terrestrial captain. He breathed heavily for the sweet oxygen his lungs so needed after undergoing such a cramped operation within the bowels of his former nemesis. He was looking more menacing then more than ever, what with all that slime coating his body and dripping off of him in obese droplets of ooze.

"THIS... Is why... I AM THE CAPTAIN," he got out. "I... DON'T... DIE." Wiping the muck from his eyes, he started stomping his way on over to the Snifit's direction. He took no chances; the battle was over; they lost. He got up and sprinted as fast as he could into the woods.

"OH, NO YOU DON'T!!" the captain called after him. Both of them were going as fast as they possibly could. Soon, they were back within the thick vicinities of the jungle's woods. The Snifit didn't dare look back, even though the alien was obviously coming upon him at a faster rate than ever. Doom looked inevitable to him. But then...

...POOF! He was gone, but not with any added smoke for special effects, or anything. He was just plain gone! Blinded by rage, the captain didn't take any notice of this until after he went face first into the tree that was, a few seconds ago, just before the Snifit. WHUNKK! It did a number on those nostril slits he called a "nose". He stepped back in a daze, rubbing desperately at the sore spot which was starting to leak some dark purple ooze: His blood.

"RRRrrrggg..." he growled in frustration. "Rrrrggg... RrrrrrrrrRRRRRRRRRRRGGGG!!" His fury just kept escalating and escalating. "AAAARRRRGGGHHH!!" With a single punch, he knocked that tree over. It splintered just a little below where he struck it, it wobbled a little, then it came crashing down. There was a short hiss as the leaves adjusted to the blow they took. Then the captain remained standing where he was, breathing in and out, in and out.

Where did he go?!...

While the group of silvers were walking back, a short conversation occurred between the five of them.

The one with the laser gun was saying, "Man, the captain was right: We really are breaking the intergalactic record for numbers of mishaps happening in a row."

"Eh, it could be worse," said the one with the ball-and-chain. "Afterall, we could be walking around here in the middle of a-"

-Not surprisingly, he inadvertently made his own prophecy come true. CRACK! BOOOMM! It started to rain down upon them; heavily.

"Of a rainstorm," finished the one with the ball-and-chain. The other ones groaned out of just pure annoyance and defeat. Shadowy figures were approaching.

"Oh, hey it's..."

The rain only added to the situation's hopelessness on that island, just about everywhere. Naji and Cutlass's eyesights were only getting worse, especially Naji's. Plus, this was just all like some kind of cruel way to top off the captain's bad day. He sulked his way on back to the ship, covered in cuts, bruises, Yoshi guts, leaves, twigs, and now it was coming down on him. Why him?

Actually, rain can be a double-edged sword. This time, both sides were dealing the blows. He would have looked at it from the perspective concerning the fact that this was all like some kind of free bath, and a solution for the problem regarding those burning trees. Yes, the rain was indeed being a double-edged sword.

The fight between Naji and Cutlass was getting pretty close to its end. Naji kept trying to upraise juts of earth to knock over his opponent, but the heavy downpour and Cutlass's skilled swordsmanship was obstructing his concentration.

"Alright, 'Cuttsie', let's see how you handle this one," Naji made some kind of purple symbol, but whatever it was, it didn't last since his bare feet slipped on the newly-found wetness and fell on his back. WHAM! "ACKK!" he screeched. He wasn't quick enough, though. That was when Cutlass slammed his foot down on top of his chest, pinning him to the ground. Naji let out an "Ooff!" as the wind was knocked out of him. Cutlass leaned in closer.

"I told you I'd win," he said, spitefully. Naji snarled at him. Cutlass grabbed a hold of the Yo'ster's head, then brought the hilt of his sword slamming down on top of it. WHAM! It knocked him out cold. "There, now," Cutlass said, getting up, letting the soaking rain almost provide a spooky feel for the character as it dripped off of his long, white hair. "Let's get you to the captain." He bent down, placed his hands beneath his victim, then hoisted him up and slung him around his shoulders like a scarf made from a dead animal. He walked on back to the ship...

"How goes it, Commander Wart?"

They bumped into that one search party that the captain made earlier. It was composed of the big frog, plus four others of his race. "NOT VERY SUCCESSFUL, I'M AFRAID," he said to him, the one with with the chain-ball. "ALL WE MANAGED TO FIND WERE A FEW FEATHERS, BUT THE PRISONER REMAINS UNFOUND." Wart relinquished a handful of the black feathers. "AND THE CHASEES...?" he asked.

The chain-ball man let out a sigh. "They got away. We're returning to the ship to tell the captain," he said.

"HOW UNFORTUNATE," said the over-sized amphibian. "COME; WE SHALL HEAD ON BACK TOGETHER."

"Yes, Commander." And so, the group of ten turned around and headed their ways on off to from whence they came...

Still unknown to them, Fyooshi and Raphael were up there in the trees. "They're looking for me," said the bird.

"Why?" asked Fyooshi.

"I escaped from their spaceship," the bird answered.

"Whoa, spaceship?! So they really are aliens!"

"Yes, and their intentions are not the best." Raphael picked himself up from their spot. "Come. I shall show you around. It's been quite a while since I was last here..." At that, the two of them hopped off, journeying high up in the branches of the trees...

"Captain!" called Cutlass, once they were back in that one opening. "You look terrible!"

He did indeed, since the rain was still coming down upon them. "Yes, I know," he responded. "I had quite a bout with the green one and the Snifit."

"So, it wasn't just that Raphael guy that escaped," he said.

"No. It wasn't." Just then, the captain's other ten minions returned. "WELL?!" he yelled over to them.

"NO LUCK," said Wart, always being faithful.

"Blast," muttered the captain. His attention was suddenly stolen by Cutlass, though.

"Oh, Captain, I did get the purple one, though." He slung down the unconscious Naji. The captain stared a bit at their new prisoner. "He's really strong. He knows magic."

"Ahhh," the captain let out with great satisfaction. "At least someone's been doing things right, lately." He extended his right arm and used its hand to rest on Cutlass's shoulder. "Cutlass, I'm giving you a promotion," he said. The silver alien was wide-eyed.

"You mean it, Captain??" he asked incredulously.

"Yes, Cutlass, I mean it." He turned to the ten others. "Give him a hand, men." They applauded, as told, but some of their enthusiasm was killed by the fact that none of them were promoted. Well, Wart couldn't go any higher, but still...

They made their ways inside their wrecked ship, then in a diagonal angle from the impact. It was almost like a funhouse. The purple ones were inside, working away at repairs. "Where were you?!" The captain yelled to them. They stopped their activities to turn and face him. They were each a little ashamed, even though they didn't exactly know why. "Didn't you see the trouble I was having with those idiots outside?!..."

Meanwhile, the Snifit was busy going down some sort of super-slippery slide, or a tunnel. He would have found it amusing had it had not have been the very ground that disappeared before his feet a few seconds ago, hence making him vanish, end the battle, and send him into an even more hysterical mood than before. The tunnel twisted and turned a little with him screaming the whole time.

"AAAAAAAAHHHHHHH-OOFF! As soon as it started, it stopped. He was then inside a really big underground cavern. It was most definitely populated since he could see various structures and machines going about, all of them made mostly of wood. The place was inhabited by mole people, of course. One of them was wearing a bonnet and an apron. It came over to him.

"Oh, my, you poor, little thing. We have got to do something about that tunnel!"

 

♠♣♥♦

 

Back at Yo'ster Isle, Xoshi still couldn't get himself to sleep. He was too busy thinking about the past events. Where did he go wrong? Not once in the past few weeks, or more, did he get to sit down and relax after so much trouble. No, he didn't do anything wrong. Or perhaps that wasn't the way to put it. He made the conclusion that it all started when that baby fell from the sky with that map. Because of him, he's been too busy living out each and everyone of his days extra unsure of what's to come. Like the rain, fate, to him, has always been a double-edged sword. Did it finally turn his back on him, or was it even there to begin with? Such thoughts swarming about his skull weren't exactly lulling him back to sleep. To top it all off, he had a cursed doll to watch over which he already knew was being coveted by at least two criminals. Why did everyone want that thing? What's it supposed to be, anyway? And why, oh why was he the one of all people to get possessed by a Star Warrior? And what about that one trip to Isle Delfino? It was just too much.

Beel? he asked the Star Warrior.

Yes? it said to him.

I can't get to sleep.

That's perfectly understandable.

I know. I just... he started. I just can't stop thinking about how DOZENS of things can happen when your back's turned...