Well, here we are folks. Installment no. II in the Oddball Series. A monumental occasion if ever there wasn't one.

Let's do this thang.

Oddball: Escape the Crystal Palace

My name is Oddball. For three months now, I have been a corporal in the Crystal Army, under Commander Dooplex...

The Crystal Army Carrier floated lazily, high in the air and several miles away from Yoshi's Island. A mysterious craft, it consisted of little more than a round platform with a pedestal in the center. On top of this pedestal sat a glowing energy crystal which, when controlled by a skilled enough pilot, not only allowed the platform to fly through the air, but also created a forcefield around the platform, protecting its passengers from harm.

Oddball the Pichu slept on the carrier, lying on his back as the other passengers chatted idley about their upcoming mission. It was a simple one; enter Yoshi Village, and capture all of its inhabitants for the Commander's research, using force if necessary.

All in all, a dozen carriers floated in the air. Everything was ready; the soldiers were prepared both physically and mentally, the pilots were prepared to swing each carrier down to the beach where the soldiers would be disembarking, and... yeah.

The only thing they were waiting for was the word from Oddball to go...

...and he was still asleep.

Some time passed, with soldiers periodically watching the sun as it moved across the sky, checking their magic crystal-watches, or whistling a merry tune, before one soldier finally got the nerve to go and try to wake the corporal.

And it worked. With a gentle push, Oddball woke up, groaning tiredly.

"What, what is it?" He grumbled, wiping the sleep out of his eyes.

"Uh, we're all ready to go, corporal." The soldier answered. "Just waiting for you to make the call..." she continued, awkwardly adjusting her helmet.

"Ah.". Oddball climbed to his feet, rubbing his head. "Thank you for waking me up." He said, turning away from the soldier, then looking back at her. "Miss...?"

"Noki, sir." She answered quickly. Usually appearing as a plain ball of fire with two glowing eyes, Noki the Ember was currently suited up in full body armor, her fiery soul possessing the empty shell. Her two yellow eyes peered out from inside the helmet.

"Thank you, Miss Noki." said Oddball. He turned back away from her, walking to the edge of the carrier platform, looking out at Yoshi's Island. He turned back around and began to speak to everyone, his voice amplified by an enchanted jewel tied around his neck.

"Listen up!" He shouted, his voice filling the air. "Everybody knows our mission here, correct? We're to capture every Yoshi possible, and bring them back to the Crystal Palace unharmed! Are we clear?!"

A chorus of "yup"s and "uh-huh"s rose from the crowd.

"Good!" He continued. "Does everybody have their Capture Gems?" He yelled, holding up a small handful of bright red and white gemstones. Another wave of affirmations told him the answer was yes. "Good! Dooplex has enchanted these gems with a spell that will trap whatever these hit inside them! Try not to miss!" He explained. Turning back to Yoshi's Island, he continued. "There are more than enough Capture Gems for every Yoshi in the village, but it would be best not to waste any!" He said, turning back to his soldiers once again. "Am I clear?!"

Another wave of confirmations.

"Good!" He shouted. "Pilots!" He said, sternly but with less flat-out volume, turning to look at the pilot of the carrier he stood on. "On my signal, we fly in! Got it?!"

Nods from everybody.

"One!

Two!

Three!

Fly!"

Life was good.

Yori sat on the ground as the small ragtag band onstage played a simple and relaxing tune. Oh, how he loved living here. He pitied those Yoshis stuck on the mainland, with nary a beach nor a lovely tropical climate to take to when the the going got tough. He ran a hand through his bright orange mohawk as the band quieted down momentarily before starting again.

Seated next to him were his two best friends in pretty much the whole world, Oddball and Luna. The three of them had practically grown up together, despite the slight age differences.

Oddball sat- well, he was flat-out lying on his back with his hands behind his head. He was a deep purple color, but other than that, there wasn't much that was particularily remarkable about his appearance, save for perhaps his above-average height. He was seated to Yori's right.

On the left was Luna, bright cyan skinned, with a pale lime green saddle and shoes. She was sitting up, her hands on the ground behind her, bobbing her head contentedly to the music. On her neck was a shiny pearl necklace, but again, other than that her appearance was nothing particularily interesting, per se. Save for Yori's bright orange hairstyle, the three of them were, for all intents and purposes, perfectly normal Yoshis.

Well, okay, that wasn't entirely true. Yori was unusual in that unlike most Yoshis his favorite food was the unpopular peppers, mostly shunned for their spicy and bitter taste. Yori loved them though. In fact, when he was young, he ate so many of them that he had built up a natural tolerance for heat, and if he ate enough peppers beforehand, he could even breathe fire. That... probably counts as abnormal, doesn't it? My bad.

But hey, that was the joy of living in Yoshi Village, here on Yoshi's Island. You could make flukes like that, and nobody would hold it against you! It was a laid back place, a happy place.

Unfortunately, that all came to a sudden halt when one of the band members got hit in the forehead with what looked like a tiny red and white gemstone, and was suddenly sucked into the tiny rock.

There was a short pause, and then another gemstone of the same ilk hit another band member.

And then another.

Until finally, the fourth and final band member had been sucked into a tiny gemstone, and the four gems lay on the floor before a pale figure fell from a nearby treetop, landing squarely in the center of the stage and quickly gathering the four tiny gems.

It was a ghostly looking person, with deep, sunken eyes that had glowing yellow pupils. Its whole body looked like it was made of a bedsheet, and it didn't have any visible arms to speak of. On its face was a crooked frown, and it stood on two cartoonish red feet.

In other words, a duplighost.

Suddenly, Yori heard two yelps of surprise and looked left and right to see his friends had suddenly been captured in the tiny gemstones as well. Jumping out of another treetop, another duplighost appeared, this one smiling maliciously and sporting a stylish baseball cap that somehow stayed on despite the fact it was essentially sitting on top of its head. Or body. There wasn't really a neck so they were kinda one and the same.

Yori panicked. Just as the second duplighost threw one of the tiny gemstones right at him, he dove forward, letting it fly past and hit somebody else instead. Grimacing with short-term shock-guilt, Yori ran forward, jumping up onto the stage and then over the duplighost, and running into the jungle just behind the stage.

"Get him! Don't let him get away!" He could hear somebody yell as he clawed through the undergrowth, frantically scraping and clawing to go as far as he could, as fast as he could.

Unfortunately for him, he quickly tired out trying to run through the thick jungle, and opted instead to try and hide himself in the foliage. He could hear footsteps and the sound of leaves being pushed around as he dove deep into the mess of leaves and vines beneath him, desperate to make himself hidden.

A tense moment passed. Sweat poured down his face as he listened to the footsteps of his pursuers get unnervingly close, but ultimately, it seemed he was safe. Time passed, it felt like hours, and he could hear the footsteps getting quieter until they disappeared entirely.

After waiting to make sure the coast was absolutely clear, Yori slowly left his hiding spot in the jungle, and pushed his way to the edge of the trees, where he found himself just outside Yoshi Village, but on the opposite side of where he wanted to be. He knew that, because when he looked up and around from where he stood, still mostly hidden in the plantlife around him, he could see what looked like bubbles with platforms floating inside them, slowly flying away from the island.

Reentering the jungle foliage, Yori made his way back to the stage, and emerged to find his home utterly deserted. An unearthly silence fell over the village, like in the dead of night, only in the middle of the day. The only sound he could hear was the low rustle of the wind passing through the jungle behind him.

Slowly, Yori took to walking through the deserted Yoshi Village, checking each house, until he heard something.

A low humming sound. Following the sound, Yori found himself at the village gates on the other side from where he'd been before, and peeking around the wall, he could see that one platform was still sitting on the beach outside the village. On it was a pedestal, with what looked like a floating, glowing gem above it.

Yori had an idea.

Noki finished her work, and exited the hut into the serene silence of Yoshi Village, her hand full of perfectly used Capture Gems. She couldn't wait to get back to the palace and present Commander Dooplex with her bounty, oh he'd be so happy.

Looking to the sky, Noki saw most of the carriers taking off already. She huffed, realizing that she was pretty slow at her job, even if she did do it well. Counting the carriers she saw in the sky, she realized they had left one behind, presumably for her to use to return to the palace. That was certainly nice of them, she mused.

Then, she heard a sound. A low hum, growing slowly louder. Like...

...a carrier taking off. Surprised, Noki ran forward and turned the corner of the village gates to see a bright red Yoshi with an even brighter orange mohawk, somehow managing to commandeer the piloting crystal! He was stealing her ship!

Noki ran forward as the carrier took off, the lone Yoshi piloting it seemingly oblivious to her presence. By the time she reached the edge of the beach, he was long gone.

"HEY!" She shouted.

"GET BACK HERE!"

But it was no use.

...

"Aw poop."

Chapter 1. Tadaaaaaaaa

Ahem.

Yeah.

Music for your listening pleasure:

Preparing to Invade: Suspense Theme (Mario & Luigi: Superstar Saga)

Relaxing in Yoshi Village: Welcome to Yoshi Village (Paper Mario)

Crisis in Yoshi Village!: Speedy Comet (Super Mario Galaxy)