Author's Disclaimer: Not only do I not own Nintendo or any of its characters, this story is not wholly mine either. This story is actually based on a series of comics, originally ran in Nintendo Power Magazine, then compiled into a single book: "Super Mario Adventures", written by Kentaro Takekuma and illustrated by Charlie Nozawa. I took those events, re-worked them, and added new scenes to provide Yoshi's point of view.

Criticism welcome. MST's encouraged.

Yoshi's Adventure

I had always been a little different from the other Yoshis. Ever since I was young, I had wanted to do something exciting, something adventurous. Then again, I'm sure you humans are aware of the saying, "Be careful what you wish for; you just might get it."

My name is Berry. This is my story.

It started like any other ordinary day in the village. Everyone was making their rounds and going about their business. I was chatting with some of my friends and just hanging out.

Then came the warning. "BOWSER! IT'S BOWSER! BOWSER'S COMING!"

Needless to say, this sent everyone into a panic. Even with the warning, no one was prepared for what happened next. Bowser's army overran the village and captured whatever Yoshis they happened upon. Once caught, a sorcerer hypnotized them, and unfortunately, they were easily seduced.

Most watched in horror, but after a while, I couldn't take it anymore. I don't even know what I was thinking at the time, except that I had to free them if I could.

"Hey! Big, green and ugly!" I shouted as I ran towards Bowser. "How would you like it if we fought back?"

But I got no further than that. He gestured to the sorcerer, who cast an incantation and zapped me with his wand. Instantly I came to a halt, and I saw nothing but a green-spotted wall in front of me, and all around. He had encased me in an egg.

I didn't want to give up that easily. Not yet. "LET ME OUT OF HERE, YOU OVERGROWN BRUTE!" I beat against the shell, but it was tougher than any surface I knew.

Bowser laughed. "My plan is about to be set in motion! These Yoshis will do just nicely!"

"You have NO IDEA who you're messing with, Bowser! I'll find a way out of here if it's the last thing I do! I'll make you wish you'd never been born!"

All of a sudden, I felt movement. Obviously, Bowser's henchmen were carrying me off to a distant location.

I continued beating against the shell until my fists were sore, and then I sat down and just started crying. I couldn't believe what had just happened. In one fell swoop, everything, everyone I knew was gone; it seemed like I would never see them again, even the ones not captured by Bowser.

I don't know how long it was after they set me down—it must have been hours. After some time, however, I felt movement again. I wondered what was happening. Had Bowser come back for me, or was this someone else?

I heard muffled conversation for a while, and then suddenly, a strange sensation came from the bottom of the egg—it was getting hot!

Just then, the shell began to crack! The heat—it was causing the egg to split open!

A few more cracks, and the shell burst. I jumped out and celebrated, "YES! I'M FREE!"

"WHAT…? IT'S ALIVE!" "IT'S A SOMETHING-ASAURUS!"

I turned and saw two humans in blue overalls. One had a red cap (with an "M" on the front) and shirt, and the other had green (with an "L" on the cap). Both also had very distinct mustaches.

"I don't like the way it's looking at us," said the one in red.

"Our dinner is about to dine on us!" said the green one.

It was true, I was looking at them a bit hungrily. I had been trapped in that egg for quite a while, and we Yoshis were not usually picky eaters.

"This is not what I eggspected!" wailed the one in green.

Puns! That did it—I hated puns! I stepped towards them.

In a few seconds, they were up and running. They were surprisingly fast; I almost had trouble keeping up with them, and we Yoshis are really quick.

After some chasing, the green one stopped running. "Huff, huff… I can't run another step…" he panted.

It was time to see how these guys tasted. I stuck out my long tongue and licked him.

"DON'T EAT ME!" he yelled. "HELP!" And he took off. Couldn't run another step, huh?

"Ptoo!" I don't know if it was just the overalls, but he tasted awful! I began to have second thoughts about eating them.

"Luigi!" called the red one. "Over here!"

Luigi ran over to where the red one was in the bushes and jumped in. "Whew! That was a close one! …wha…?"

It seemed that Luigi had landed right on a Wiggler, which then began walking.

"A KING-SIZED CATERPILLER! YIKES!"

"Hang on, Weege!" yelled the red one. He jumped up and landed square on the head of the Wiggler.

Bad move. Wigglers are easily irritated, and this unquestionably upset it. It turned red and started chasing the two.

This was my chance! Not only would I be able to save the two humans, but the Wiggler would make a great meal! I ran towards them.

Seeing me, the humans halted, frightened. "A centipede sandwich…" "or a dinosaur dinner! We're done for! You've been a good brother, Mario…"

As soon as the Wiggler was in range, I shot out my tongue and attempted to pull it into my mouth. The angered Wiggler resisted, and a fight ensued. Eventually, though, I was able to eat the entire Wiggler.

"Aah! That hit the spot!" I then noticed the humans were gone. I looked around, and saw them trying to tip-toe away. "Hey! You! Wait!" I called.

They turned and panicked. "Don't look now, but…" "He's after us!"

"No! No! It's okay!" I said. "That Wiggler already satiated me. I just wanted to thank you for saving me!"

"Please don't eat me!" they pleaded. "Plumbers taste terrible, you know!"

"I'm not going to eat you!" I told them. "Besides, you're right: you do taste terrible."

"Listen," said Mario. "He sounds kind of friendly."

"Of course I'm friendly! Listen, maybe you can help me. Why don't I take you back to my village?"

"…I think he likes us."

At that point I realized they didn't understand a word I was saying; after all, I was speaking in my native Yoshi language. Unfortunately, while I understood their language, I couldn't speak it myself.

I turned my back and gestured. "Here, hop on my back."

"You want us to hop on?"

At least they understood that. Once they were safely mounted, I took off for the village at top speed.

In almost no time at all, we had arrived at Yoshi Village. Most everyone there greeted me excitedly. "Berry! You're back!" "Welcome back home, Berry!"

"I hope they're not discussing ways to cook us," said Luigi nervously.

"Chill out, Weege," said Mario. I just chuckled.

I noticed someone up ahead, and I recognized him. Maybe he can help, too, I thought, so I pulled the brothers up next to him.

He noticed me and my passengers, and came towards us. "Well, howdy, strangers! Haven't seen you in these parts before."

"Who are you?" asked Mario.

"Why, I'm Friendly Floyd. Need a toothbrush? Lightbulb? Electronic ignition for your car? You name it, I've got it!"

"Sorry, we're not here to shop, Floyd."

Friendly Floyd was a traveling salesman, and very dedicated to his work. Also, he happened to be a good friend of the Yoshis.

"Where is 'here', anyway?" Mario wanted to know.

"This fine little burg is Yoshi Village," Floyd told him. "My pal here, Yoshi, is the chairman of the Dino Chamber of Commerce."

(I still don't know why he kept calling me just "Yoshi", since I'd told him my name so many times.)

Luigi asked, "Why was the D.C. chairman trapped inside an egg?"

"Oh, that's right!" I said. "Floyd, let me tell you something…" I then told him of the events that had transpired earlier, which he then related to the brothers.

They were none too pleased to hear the news. "That Koopa will stop at nothing!" "What a brute!"

"Yesirree, the whole affair's been bad for business," said Floyd. "Say, how about helping me out—I'll give you a great deal, and the merchandise is a-number-one, guaranteed first quality."

"What we need is an interpreter," Mario said.

"Sorry, pal, I can't hang around," Floyd answered. "Time is money, you know. But I might have just the ticket," he said brightly, whipping out a book. "Acme's Yoshi Language Learner, complete with step-by-step instructions. Only 3,000 coins!"

"3,000! What a rip off!"

"Did I say 3,000? Make that 10 coins, since you're friends of Yoshi," Floyd relented.

"That's better," said Mario. "We'll take it!" He gave Floyd the coins, and Floyd handed over the book.

Floyd then packed up his stuff and started to leave. "I've gotta run," he called. "Don't take any wooden coins!" With that, he was gone.

"Let's get started," said Mario, and began looking at the book.

"First, look up how to ask about finding a princess," Luigi suggested.

I wish I could have told them that I could understand them just fine, but it would have been no use.

All of a sudden, Mario blew his top; he flung the book away and shouted, "WAIT 'TIL I GET MY HANDS ON THAT FRIENDLY FLOYD!" Apparently, the book was too hard to understand. I could imagine why, since most of our words do sound very similar to each other to the untrained ear.

Suddenly, there was a commotion; the Yoshis started to gather. It seemed like…

"Look! Someone's coming!"

The crowd seemed to be following what looked like a walking mushroom! He seemed very weak, barely able to stand himself with his staff.

The brothers seemed to know him. "The princess' guard!" They ran toward him just in time to catch him falling. "Are you okay? Speak to us!"

At length, he coughed out, "It's the p-p-princess…"

"Princess! What happened?"

"Bowser's got her!"

Bowser? This was worse than I thought! We now truly had a common enemy.