Prologue
After all those run-ins with the bandits, the red coins, the giant monsters, the mini-games, the crying, the losses and the defeats alike, the journey had finally boiled itself down to what was destined to happen since the beginning of it: It was the fearsome battle between the green one, Yoshi, and the giant one, Bowser. Thanks to the magic of his royal vizier, Kamek, he was big enough to practically take on the whole world. Of course, to the average person, this would have all spelled inevitable doom. But Yoshi was far from average. But Yoshi didn't know this, truly, until this moment had come. Giant Yoshi eggs were the keys to winning this fight, but they definitely would not have been there had it not have been for his seven friends. In the background, away from the real action, the others were working hard to provide Yoshi with the supplies needed for victory. While Yoshi and the baby on his back, Mario, took it at the location pertaining to what little was left of the Koopas' ruined, royal castle, the others were distant enough to be away from the actual action, but not too distant to make a difference. The red one, Rachi, would find the Fat Guy and swallow him. He would use his inner system to transform it instantly into a giant egg for the pink one, Pinky, to take and hold it out for the yellow one, Yazzee, to tie a balloon to. The string would come from the light blue one, Azure, the balloons would come from the blue one, Oshi, and the air would come from the purple one, Pish. It was the brown one, Xoshi, who would work in the background to make sure none of Kamek's toadies could interfere with the raging battle. So Yoshi had plenty of projectiles to defend himself with and offend his opponent with. It eventually narrowed itself down to an even tougher fight involving less ground and more fireballs. Bowser was furious and his mood worsened with each passing second of the bout. Yoshi then noticed yet another giant egg floating up to greet him. He took it, positioned it with his right arm, closed one eye for the extra accuracy, then let 'er fly.

Through the air, the giant spotted Yoshi egg hurled. Unaware of it, for the final time, Bowser just kept charging forward towards his prize. It detonated upon impact into a whole mess of shell and yolk. "YES!!" shouted Yoshi, triumphantly. The beast then stopped his motion to let his final wound take over. With a stunned look of horror and defeat upon his face, he gave off an assortment of flashing, sparkling, flashes of light. The spell was broken.

The others discontinued their organized duties to run up to Yoshi and watch the display together. They could each feel the previous events that had come to pass flash before their eyes. Their heads were filled by memories consisting from the moment the baby fell from the sky, to the first time they met Kamek, to the fight against Raphael, the Raven, right down to the very castle itself. At last, after a round of red, orange, white, green, purple, and blue, the flashes ceased, and the monster disappeared. He reappeared a second later in mid-air, restored to his original size. He crashed down upon the very ground before the nine heroes. He lay there, eyes clenched shut, but twitching. Somehow, he managed to utter out a few last words.

"I'o get you fo dis, you gween donkey, if it's da wast t'ing I do!! Ugh..." at that, he slowly slipped away into a rite of unconsciousness. His vizier, Kamek, had finally returned via his trademark broomstick. A look of horror came across his face once he laid his bespectacled eyes upon the wounded Koopaling. He flew in a little closer for the advantages of everyone.

"Never, in all my life have I ever witnessed such performances of raw tenacity," he spoke. "You, my 'friends', have severely crossed the line. The Koopa Klan does not ever lose. Mark my words, sinister Yo'sters: Each and everyone of you will pay for what you did; for everything you did!! This is completely unforgivable. We will return..." At that, he then grabbed a hold of the little terror's tail and flew off, romantically into the moon-rise. Once again, the sun was already setting. It all ended the same way it began.

"Guys," their leader, Yoshi, spoke up. "None of us could have accomplished this on his own. It was a very long and very arduous task. For that, I shall thank each of you dearly."

For a response, he got a mixture of phrases like, "Oh, it was nothing," "Don't mention it," and, "What else are friends for?" They then stood for a little while to let it all sink in. Then little Mario tapped Yoshi on the shoulder to grab his attention.

"Hm?" he asked. Baby Mario pointed a little off in the next direction. There, hanging by a couple of loose threads from a tree branch, were their rescuees, baby Luigi and the stork from long before. "Oh, my goodness!! I can't believe this! It's them!!" Excitedly, they each hopped and flutter-kicked their ways on over, remaining careful to not fall into any bottomless pits.

It was such a pitiful sight to see them there, all tied up and helpless. They helped them out, though, so then another exchange of comments could have ensued.

"Finally!!" uttered the stork once he was back on his feet. "It was horrible!! Do you realize how long he kept me there?! Oh, poor Luigi must be dreadfully starved! I'm late!! Their parents must be terribly worried."

"So, you were with them this whole time?" said Yoshi.

The stork responded by saying, "Of course. It's a rather long story, you see."

"That's alright; we don't mean to delay your trip any further," said Pish. "You just go on ahead. It was nice working with you."

"Yes, quite," said the stork. Once the two babies were finally reuinited and re-bundled up, he picked them both up with his bill, then turned around, about to take off. But he had something else on him. "There must be some way I could repay the eight of you..."

"How 'bout some money?" suggested Yazzee. The others elbowed him.

"Really, it's not-" Yoshi tried saying, but was interrupted by the stork.

"Nonsense! Why, I've been meaning to get rid of these things for years!!" He then revealed a dusty, but still intact pair of shades. "Go on, take 'em; I don't need 'em. Neither does the doctor, for that matter."

"'Doctor'?" asked Yoshi.

"Yes, Doctor Kamenstein. He lives in Sarasa Land and is currently working on his latest invention: Genetically engineered treasurehunters. He's my boss, and he once stole these from his arch-nemesis, Foreman Spike."

"Really? He's a scientist?" said Rachi. "That's very interesting!"

"I'm more concerned about this Foreman Spike guy," said Oshi. "Tell us: Who was he?"

"Oh, I'm so sorry. I really must be going now. The parents are waiting..."

"At least tell us your name!" said Yoshi.

"It's... I don't really have one. According to my boss, I'm the 'Stork 64'," he said.

"Well, then, we'll just call you 'Storko'!" said Yazzee. "Is that okay with you?"

"Hm, 'Storko'; has a nice ring to it."

"Also, if you ever get time to tell us all about it, we'll be waiting, over there, at Yo'ster Isle." Yoshi pointed to the mass off in the distance.

"'Yo'ster Isle' it is. And now, I shall be off..." But just when he was about to leave once more, they stopped him again.

"Wait!" said Pinky.

"What is it this time?" he asked, beginning to lose his patience.

"Don't we get to say 'good bye' to the babies before you leave?"

"Oohh... Very well. But this'll be our last moment together; for now". He floated back down to fulfill their requests. One by one, they spoke to the babies, even though they were probably obviously too young to comprehend.

"Good bye, little one," said Rachi to Mario. "Ever since I first saw you, I knew you had good taste; red: The color of fire and passion. I know both will serve you well in the future."

"I guess this is good-bye," said Pinky. "We hardly knew eachother, but we had a lot of fun together. Just so you know, we won't ever forget either of the two of you. And that's that."

The yellow one, Yazzee, then spoke up. "You were a great companion. I always loved it whenever you grabbed that star and became 'Powerful Mario'. I know you'll go far."

Yoshi then took his turn. "Well, Mario, I guess this is it. We probably won't be seeing you ever again, but we helped you and your brother, and somehow, you returned the favor... I..." Yoshi couldn't find the right words. It was all just happening too fast. The tears started to form in his eyes as his voice croaked. "I'm sorry; it's just that I'm not used to these goodbyes. It's hard to describe; there's something unseen about you. I wish I knew what it was. Well... So long..."

Azure, being the mute one, could only take the tiny hands of the younger sibling in his own and lean forward to passionately press his fore-head against that of the other. Then he leaned back, patted the little infant's hands, stepped back, and waved. Pish was the next to go. "If only this scene weren't so sad. If only I didn't have a conscience. Young Luigi, you've got your whole life ahead of you. I really shouldn't be delaying you any further. Afterall, your parents need you way more than we do." He stepped back, too. "I wish you only the best of luck when it comes to that-which-has-not-yet-come-to-pass. 'Til we meet again." He then took a bow and let Oshi have his turn.

"I don't know who you are, who your brother is, who your parents are, who or what that stork is, who he's working for, who the arch-nemesis was, or where you came from or where you're going but... It's probably none of my concern. I can see that intelligence of yours just shimmering in your blessed eyes. May they never blind your path."

Finally, Xoshi stepped forward. "Fate; it's quite the unpredictable phenomenon, isn't it? Who'd have thought your brother would have just fallen right out of the sky? I live out each day uncertain of what's to come. But no matter what I do, it will always be there for me. Invisibly and mutually, it will accompany you, too, Luigi. And so will we. But remember: You must always live in the present. For yesterday is unchangable, intangible, and the future continues to become the present with each passing second. May the power of the stars be forever on your soul. I bid thee farewell." At last, the goodbyes were over and "Storko" was off. The eight of them waved until the moment came and they each turned around to slowly make their ways back over to their homeland. That march of theirs was mixed with many emotions: Happiness over the success of their mission, sadness over the departure of their friends, and pensiveness over Kamek's last words.

Fate, thought Xoshi to himself. Fate, indeed...