A Friend in the Undead: Tv Tropes: Nightmare Fuel
Oh, look! A Yoshi fanfiction! Aww… And it's even referencing Yoshi's Woolly Wo- Huh? This one talks about… Spooky Yoshi? The one with the strange eyes?... There… can't be any nightmarish moments in this at least, right? Oh…
Chapter 1:
· As is per typical Halloween-style story, nothing really scary happens at the beginning. All we're shown here is the typical happy celebrating of the Yoshis to include our protagonist, Kaleb, as they get ready for a party called Fruit Fest. However, Kaleb stays behind since he feels like he hasn't collected enough fruits for the Yoshis to eat. Even the others feel uneasy about leaving him behind, even though he insists that they do so. This case of Adult Fear is a situation that's all too real in this world as much as in the story. Kaleb is basically staying behind in a dangerous place where monsters of any kind could harm him.
o Which leads us to…
Chapter 2:
· The first shot of this chapter depicts a boy- no- a delinquent of the HIGHEST ORDER. The story describes his appearance as average, but when it gets to what's INSIDE… Oh, goodness…
o He is basically a brat who hates all things that people of blind hatred assume to be "sunshine and rainbows." In his terms, this means the Yoshis. Ever since he's heard of their existence, he's despised them. Whether it's because of jealousy or just because "he loves to ruin people's days" is yet unknown, but it's already highly unsettling.
o Apparently, his aggressive mind was left unchecked at an age of 5 YEARS OLD. WHAT HAPPENED?!
· So, what does he plan to do? He wants the Yoshis to go EXTINCT. Which begs the question, how does he plan to make this a REALITY?
· He's wearing a belt laced with vials of POISON. This (probably) 11-year old child, a person that should be innocent at such an age, is walking around with KILLING LIQUID.
· Remember how Kaleb opted to stay behind to collect more fruit in the forest? HE'S STILL THERE AS THE BOY IS PROWLING THROUGH LIKE A PREDATOR as the story itself would describe it. He's unlucky enough to be the boy's first (and thankfully last) victim, as what happens next shows us JUST how heartless the little scum is.
· The assault scene, FULL STOP. The brat pins down the poor dino, and without hesitation, force-feeds him one of the vials of his poison. Kaleb then suffers the effects almost instantly, turning pale and feeling pain all over, and WHAT does the guy do in return?! He chucks Kaleb into a pile of leaves which he buries him in, making sure that he can't be found, even stomping Kaleb's hand when he attempts to get out of the foliage. The last words in this chapter are Kaleb's pleas for help…
Chapter 3
· The fact that Kaleb's hero Olly is in a race against time to save him before it's too late. It's a situation that is again all too real in this world where many victims of physical attack are raced to hospitals. Olly's parents emphasizing the matter in the next chapter only adds more fuel to the fire.
Chapter 4
· When Olly's scanners detect how much poison is in Kaleb's body, the majority of it has been tainted. How many times does the author want to remind us how little time there is to save Kaleb? That's not even the worst part of this chapter…
· When Olly gives Kaleb the antidote to the poison, Kaleb returns to normal and all seems to be well. Then, they start to head back upstairs so that they can formulate a plan to save the other Yoshis, knowing well that the villain is still out there somewhere. However, Olly's feelings of triumph and hope are immediately quashed when he hears the sound of crashing at the bottom of the stairs. He turns around, and he sees that Kaleb is back to the brink of death…
Chapter 5
· Kaleb's transformation, or rather, the fact that Olly was forced to watch it occur. No one at any point has seen a Yoshi suddenly turn green or anything of the like in some areas after death. He can only assume that Kaleb's body is now just a decaying shell. His suspicions are especially driven after Kaleb's eyes are revealed to be a blank-colored black.
o The last fact mentioned also implies that for a moment or so, Kaleb WAS actually and fully dead by technical means.
· The raid on Olly's house. It seems as if the unnamed villain's family has been told where Kaleb was taken to, and any thoughts that the parents and their other son are innocent are struck down upon their introduction sequence. They just barge in and demand answers from Olly's parents like they're the police or something. Then, when Olly comes upstairs and defends his family, he exposes them all for the frauds they are by revealing the poison. At that moment, Kaleb, who has woken up in his new state, gets upstairs just in time to see what's going on. Frightened, and rightfully so, he hides behind the door, yet as he does so, the enemy family abducts Olly's family and takes them away. Kaleb had to watch all of this unfold.
· From the other Yoshis' perspective, Kaleb's disappearance. He's gone, and like the true family they are, they think it's their fault. They're basically experiencing the most excruciating phases of the adult fear that something terrible has happened to their friend and brother after trying to believe that he is okay.
· From Kaleb's perspective, seeing what he has become after death. Heck, even finding out that he is undead. In a matter of a few hours, he's gone from a very eccentric Yoshi to a very depressed and panicking Yoshi who doesn't know what to do now that he's a "freak." His entire world is crumbling away, and his personality and demeanor are changing for the worse. Thank GOODNESS the others found him in time.
o Even after the events of the main story, he still has to relive this horrible moment over and over again.
Chapter 6
· Kaleb's outburst on Yoshi certainly counts. If you think about it, the undead dinosaur basically looks like he's about to attack Yoshi for trying to cheer him up, and it won't be pretty. What would have happened if Kaleb wasn't a Yoshi and his heart wasn't as pure as his friend's?
o The reason that Yoshi is terrified in this scene? It is because of the reason listed in chapter five, mainly that his friend has changed in personality. He could care less that his looks have changed, as he is still Kaleb to the rest of them. However, this too appears to be a fading possibility, as the Kaleb that he knows is still in there seems to also be dying as a traumatic effect of the transformation.
o Oh, yeah… Since Kaleb has emotionally color-coded eyes too now, they're blazing red right at this moment.
Chapter 7
· As the Yoshis trek through the dark forest, there's just that loom of suspense throughout the entire chapter, none of them nor the audience knowing who will strike and when.
o On a side note, when the magical blasts that come out of nowhere nearly hit them, Kaleb again takes responsibility and runs off. Once again, we're treated to the realism of being afraid of oneself.
· When the Yoshis are captured by Kamek and Bowser, it REALLY looks like this is it for them this time. The author has noted sometimes that this takes place after the German Yoshi's Story comic, the one where the black Yoshi (named Parker in this story) comes to save them. Since he too is captured this time and Kaleb has run off, it really looks like the end for them.
Chapter 8
· Though this and essentially every other instance of Kaleb's display of power are a crowning moment of awesome, Kaleb basically shows the Koopa Troop and its leaders what happens if you threaten his friends. They are all swallowed by darkness, scared straight to the point that they faint, vaporized by poison, crushed by rocks, and as a grand finale, banished into a black hole dimension where they are ALL, Bowser and Kamek included, seemingly killed off. Kaleb decided to spare them and respawn them all at their castle, well… because he's a Yoshi. But imagine that… That he had the power to just END them all in less than a few minutes… It's a good thing such powers fell into the hands of him, huh?
o In the following chapter, Kaleb looks like he's about to punish some Shy Guys in the same manner again, and they look horrified. Who cares if he'll let them live? Surely, the process must've been a nightmare in itself.
Chapter 11
· Kamek's attack on Craft Island, especially through Kaleb's eyes. Suddenly, his and the other Yoshi's special powers are nullified without apparent rhyme or reason, though Kaleb is able to detect Kamek's presence using the last bit of energy he has. Then, he's forced to watch as all of his friends, one by one, are unraveled into pieces before he himself joins them.
o Though he was going to be hit by the magic anyways, the way that it went down was that he took the blow for another Yoshi nearby. This only bought the latter a few seconds. Kamek even notes this.
o When Kaleb is saved, he reveals that despite being split into pieces, he and the other victims were still ALIVE throughout it all. Keep in mind that Kamek's original purpose was to use their bodies to construct a new castle for Bowser… Yeah.
o The fact that Kamek was basically finishing what the unnamed antagonist started. If he had gotten Yoshi and Mikey, the Yoshis really WOULD have gone extinct.
Chapter 12
· Also tying in with tearjerker, Kaleb's inner fears get to be seen by the audience. Imagine being afraid of being rejected for your appearance… Oh, wait. That feeling exists in this world…
· Whatever happened to Olly and his family? Are they still alive? Or did the other family…?