"Yoshi?"

Everyone turned to face the dinosaur… but it wasn't the familiar green they knew. This one was purple.

"It's a Yoshi!" Peach exclaimed.

"Boy howdy. Where'd we end up?" Daisy asked, surprised.

"Yoshi's Island," the Mario Bros. spoke in unison.

"I wasn't aware such a place existed," Blumiere commented.

"For good reason… this is the best kept secret of the Mushroom Kingdom. We'd appreciate it if you kept it that way," Mario spoke lowly.

The Yoshi looked at Mario.

"Yoshi! Yoshi! Yoshi! Perem-hah!" they squealed.

"Wait, what?" Mario asked.

"Yoshi yoshi!" The Yoshi seemed excited.

"Oh… thanks. It's nice to be back."

Everyone but Luigi looked at each other and shrugged.

Another Yoshi appeared, but this one was light blue in color.

"Yosh? Yoshi?" It asked Luigi.

"Yep, it's us."

"Yoshi! Perem-hah! Yo-Yoshi!"

"That's not necessary…" Luigi tried to reason, but to no avail. Both Yoshis ran off.

"Well, I guess we're getting the welcome crew," Mario said.

"What in tarnation?! This don't make any sense!" Daisy exclaimed.

Luigi placated her. "We should tell them Bro."

"I know." Mario gestured. "This is where Luigi and I were raised. The stork accidently dropped us here and the Yoshis took us in and cared for use until we were about… what, twelve?"

"Thirteen, Bro."

"Ah. Our mother found us. She had been searching for that entire time, along with our father, unfortunately. The Yoshis had taken care of us until then, but they somehow knew that mom was, well, our mom, and told us to go with her. We went back to the Mushroom Kingdom, where we still live today. Our house is so remote because it reminds us of this place. The Yoshis had sworn to protect us until our dying days, and since we were raised by them, we speak their language. But seriously. Keep this place under your hats. How many people do you know who'd want to try fried Yoshi egg?" Mario frowned.

"Too many!" Daisy grimaced.

"What did they say?" Peach tried to move off the gruesome topic.

Luigi shrugged helplessly. "He's getting the rest of the tribe. A green Yoshi named, well, Yoshi is the only one that travels outside of this island. It's believed he was or is a descendent of the one who raised us. We haven't seen him for awhile though."

"Yoshi yosh-yoshi yoshi-i."

"Yoshi!" Peach exclaimed, the familiar green dinosaur… dragon… turtle… hybrid walking into view, followed by many, many more Yoshis of all colors of the rainbow and beyond.

"Whoa…" Timpani whispered in awe. "They've been kept a secret all these years…"

"Yoshi says 'that's because you haven't been looking'," Luigi muttered to the rest of the group.

"We've been a bit busy," Mario defended.

"Yosh-yoshi-yo. Perem-yosh-yo-shi-i-yo. I perem."

"'I've noticed. Come. The chief wants to see you again before you head off,'" Luigi said.

"All of us or just you?" Bowser asked.

"If he wants to see us, he's seeing all of us. He can deal with that; he probably knows what's happening already," Mario said, "But let's not make him wait."

As the group started walking within the entourage of Yoshis, Luigi began talking with his brother. "He probably already knows, considering what Yoshi said."

"This… is not going to be a pleasant event, is it?" Mario asked rhetorically.

Luigi shrugged. "We'll find out."

They eventually made it back to a large network of caves. The largest was the first one you'd walk into, and apparently, where they were going.

A Yoshi slightly larger than average and the color of storm clouds stood before them. A daisy crown rested on his crest, showing his rank. Mario and Luigi kneeled. Princess Peach, Daisy, and Timpani curtsied, while Blumiere and Bowser bowed.

"Yo-yoshi-shi-i. Perem-shi-yo-o-i."

"Thank you." Luigi stood next to the rest of group and muttered to them, "He said I could translate for the new faces. Mario will speak, for the most part."

"Yoshi yoshi!" The Yoshi seemed to laugh.

"Welcome back," Luigi translated.

"It's nice to be back," Mario repeated.

"Yoshi-i-i-shi-o-yosh-o-i?"

"What is happening to the world?" Luigi spoke.

Mario began to explain the long story of what they had learned.

"We just now came from Rogueport. We currently have only two Stars."

The Yoshi laughed. "I-yo-yosh-yoshi-yo. Perem-hah- shi-o-shi-i-sh-o!"

Luigi blinked. "You already have many at your disposal. You only need three more."

Mario stated the confusion the rest of the group was feeling. "How do you know? And what other Stars?"

"Shi-shi-o-yosh-yo-yoshi?"

"The… Star Lady? Oh! Bro, he means Rosalina!" Luigi informed his brother.

"But she uses the Stars to power her observatory…
"Yoshi yoshi yoshi-i-i-i-yosh hah-perem-shi-o?"

"If the universe is dead, what good is the observatory?"

"Fair point," Mario agreed before turning to his brother. "How many did we get there?"

"Shi-o-i-yo."

Luigi's eyes widened. "According to the chief, two hundred forty-two."

Mario choked on air.

"Wow… you were really busy up there, weren't you?" Daisy commented.

"Yoshi-shi-yosh-ii-hah! Yoshi-po-i?"

"That reminds me! Who are they?"

"These are our friends, chief. They've been working with us to get the Power Stars. These are Princess Peach, Princess Daisy, Lord Bowser, Count Blumiere and his wife, Lady Timpani," Mario introduced.

Luigi spoke over the Yoshi this time. "Good to meet you all, friends of Mario and Luigi! I am chief Rain-shi. I must apologize if I have scared any of you, but it has been years since any of us other than Yoshi have seen the two. Welcome to Yoshi's Island."

"Thank you, chief." Timpani inclined her head. "This island is beautiful!"

"Indeed," Blumiere agreed.

"I am glad you find our island pleasant. But please, keep the location a secret… too many people would come here and do things I dare not speak of. You all, of course, are welcome to come here, though you may wish to come with one of these two the first few times, as Yoshis tend not to trust new faces… but pleasantries is not the only reason I invited you here."

"Oh?"

"I hate to ask, as I am aware of what has occurred, at least partially… but there is a Boo that is terrorizing the new mothers… no Yoshi is allowed near the grounds. But you are not Yoshis. Could you help them please?"

Mario and Luigi bowed. "We'd be happy to."

"Again with the twin synch thing. Are you two absolutely sure you're not twins?" Bowser asked suspiciously.

"Yes. I'm about one year older," Mario said. He motioned for the group to follow him out of the cave and into another.

"Sure, sure…"

Daisy rolled her eyes. "What was that whole 'no Yoshis allowed' thing all about?" she inquired as they walked on.

"It's a protective measure from a few chiefs' rulings before this one," Luigi explained, "There was about… I think it was six male Yoshis on the island total. Breeding selection was non-existent and they knew it and took advantage of it for a long time… all Yoshis can produce eggs, but only females will have baby Yoshis inside. The males would come through and destroy some of the eggs. Eventually, the females found this cave networking and suck out the most remote one to lay their eggs in safely. This eventually led into the Egg Revolt and those males being dealt with. How they were is lost to history, but I don't imagine it pleasant. Yoshis can be brutal when they feel betrayed. But the rule still remains: no male Yoshis allowed into the Egg Grounds. Mario and I are allowed in, however; as the chief said, we aren't Yoshis. We usually ran around and helped them when we were here. Gathered food, water, comfy leaves, the like."

Mario nodded. "The thing about the Egg Grounds is that there's only one entrance leading to it but many leading out. That's why it was so difficult for those Yoshis to make it to them; the females protected the place. The Under Where hath no fury like an angry mama Yoshi."

All of them shivered. They had seen an annoyed Yoshi before, but a downright pissed one was scary in thought alone.

As they entered the grounds, the whole group gasped in awe. It was a virtual paradise for the Yoshis: a meadow filled with soft pastel flowers growing from the large amount of sunlight let in through an open roof covered by a thin layer of leaves. Vines with fruit grew around the edges of the area, plenty of food for both the new mothers and young Yoshis alike. Speaking of the inhabitants, there were many of all different colors. It was near impossible to tell a female Yoshi from a male Yoshi, so it looked like the cave but with a different background.

"Yosh-yo?" A white Yoshi asked.

"Hello," and here Mario said a name no one but Luigi knew could even be pronounced before continuing, "the chief sent us to take care of the Boo."

The Yoshi's face darkened. "Shi-yo-yo." The female pointed in the direction of the exit that would lead them to the Boo's lair. "Yoshi-yoshi-yosh-i-i-i-so-shi."

"Thank you," Luigi said. The Yoshi nodded and went on her way while the group went the way she had pointed.

"What did she say?" Bowser asked.

"Be careful; large," Luigi elaborated, but his face was confused. "She never said what was large though."

"We're just going to have to find out then," Peach said.

Mario led the way, Luigi keeping pace. Peach and Daisy followed them with Blumiere and Timpani right behind them. Bowser took up the rear.

No one spoke in the eerie cavern. The light from the Egg Grounds reached far, but even that couldn't change the atmosphere. The cave got colder as it went on.

Timpani started shivering, unused to the cold. Even during the cold spell in the Flower Kingdom, she had remained mostly indoors and had bundled up when she went outside.

Blumiere took off his galactic cape and wrapped it around his wife's shoulders, returning her smile in the slowly dimming cave.

"Eee hee hee hee! What do we have here?" a voice echoed from nowhere.

The whole group cast glances around. Bowser was the one who spotted it.

"Above! Move!" He grabbed Blumiere and Timpani and jumped back, just as the Mario Bros. did the same with the Princesses.

The giant Boo landed where they once were. And when I say giant, believe me: this thing was bigger than the Atomic Boo, about twice its size.

"Eee hee hee hee hee! Poor little mortals… afraid of lil old me?" The Boo dashed toward Mario and Daisy, who leapt to different sides to dodge.

"Oh, and not just any mortals! The ones raised by Yoshis! Do you know how delicious those eggs were?" the Boo laughed. It made a grab for Luigi and caught him, but even Luigi wasn't concerned.

"Oh, look! It's Mr. Gullible! How was our mansion?"

Luigi just grinned evilly. "Big mistake."

"Oh?"

"I'm feeling lucky." Luigi launched himself forward, headfirst, toward the Boo at point-blank range. The Boo was knocked flat on its back and let go of Luigi, who dusted himself off.

The others moved in now. Bowser breathed fire on it while Timpani fired homing shots. Peach threw vegetables, but an occasional boom marked the Bob-Ombs that she'd occasionally pluck.

Daisy kept hitting golf balls towards them, occasionally shouting "Four!" as she launched her mega-sized ball.

Mario and Luigi both ate fire flowers and launched fireballs towards it while Blumiere made ice crystals and launched them at high speeds with his magic.

All the attacks hit the Boo hard, but it wasn't going down without a fight. It swung its arm out, hitting the person closest, who happened to be Timpani. She went rolling for a few feet, but she got up slowly, some new scratches on her face.

"Perem-hah!" The white Yoshi from earlier threw an egg at the Boo, drawing its attention away from the injured shooter. The group redoubled their attacks with the Yoshi throwing eggs, but the Boo was clever. It went after Timpani, ignoring all the shots from everyone else and knocked her away again into a wall. The Fire Flowers had run out just a few seconds ago, leaving the Count as the only one with a range long enough to get the Boo, but it moved too quickly for him to react. Blumiere could only watch as his wife slammed against the wall and slumped to the ground, the glow on her mecha arm fading.

The Boo laughed maniacally, not noticing the look of utter rage on Blumiere's face. "Eee hee hee hee hee! One down, seven more to go!"

The Boo prepared to bring its arm down on Timpani. It never got the chance.

"Yosh-i-i-i-yosh!"

"Hit the deck!" Mario translated, covering Peach with one of his arms and bringing her down with him. He held onto her and onto his cap with his other arm, watching. Luigi did the same with Daisy and Bowser copied the actions with the Yoshi. Blumiere ignored the words.

All this happened within the span of a brief handful of seconds, just in time for a harsh wind blew through.

Blumiere shouted in his strange language before switching back to the one everyone understood. "Grow!"

The earth obeyed. Vines and roots erupted out of the ground and encased the Boo within their grasps. Small leaves grew over top.

The Yoshi moved to get up, but Bowser kept his arm in place as he saw Timpani give him a tired warning look.

Again, Blumiere shouted in his language. A volatile wind blew through, and with a snap, the plant matter blazed in a raging inferno. As quickly as it had begun, it stopped. Blumiere collapsed forward as the dust from the winds cleared, falling flat on his face.

Mario looked at where the Boo was and only saw an Invisible Sheet. He looked towards Blumiere and started out of shock. The white Yoshi carried an exhausted but conscious Timpani to her husband.

Everyone else mimicked Mario's reaction to Blumiere.

Gone was the humanoid form they had been so used to seeing him in. Now he looked more like the Count Bleck the original heroes had first seen all that time ago. His face contorted as they watched, but he did not awaken.

"Yoshi-yosh-shi-i-yosh-perem," the white Yoshi said, knocking them out of their stupor. Luigi started translating again.

"Let's get somewhere safe." Luigi picked up the light-weight Count before following the Yoshi back to the Egg Grounds.

"Ow," Timpani muttered as the Yoshi gently lowered her onto the ground. "I think this is how… you felt when you… were smashed against that… wall…" she panted. "Where…Where's Blumiere?"

Daisy gestured a little ways away. "Under that tree. He seems to burn easily and I don't think we have aloe," she tried to joke.

Timpani smiled a bit at her friend's attempt. "Eh, it would… be funny to see him… baked again…" She looked over and frowned when she saw him. "Of course he… overexerted him… self with that…"

"With what?" Bowser asked genuinely.

"His human… form is only a spell… a glamour spell… it changes appearances… it's hard to explain… he'd do better… I'll get him to tell you… later… right now, sleep…" the Lady closed her eyes and sighed, shifting small amounts to get comfortable on the flowers in the Egg Grounds.

Peach searched her bag, but the Yoshi grabbed her arm, handing her an egg.

"Are you sure?"

The Yoshi nodded, and Peach opened the egg. She gently woke up Timpani before pouring the contents down her throat, making sure she swallowed before letting her sleep once more.

"I wish I had something for Blumiere…" Peach lamented.

"What about a mushroom?" Luigi asked.

"He's allergic to the darn things," Daisy puffed.

Mario blinked but pushed on. "What about a Jelly Ultra or a piece of the candies, Princess Peach?"

Peach shook her head. "I don't dare give him a piece of caramel… I fear he may fall asleep while chewing and choke."

"He also gets pretty whack whenever my girl here gives him healing items. Heck, even watered down herbal remedies screwed him up for a bit!" Daisy exclaimed.

"So, here's to hoping he gets better because we really don't have anything to help him." Bowser plopped down. The Yoshi followed suit, curling up and watching everyone. The Mario Bros. and princesses joined them on the ground. It was peaceful, for the most part. Cries of young Yoshis and female Yoshis echoed around a bit and soothed their injured friends, the tenseness in their muscles fading.

Mario and Luigi seemed at peace as well, sort of whistling under their breaths to a familiar melody.

But it didn't last long.

"Oh ho ho ho ho! So now you are as tired as a slug after a marathon! Such lovely pickings…" Dimentio's voice sounded.

No one even reacted.

"Hello?! I'm talking to you!"

The white Yoshi's eyes blinked slowly.

The demented jester finally appeared, fuming.

"I am speaking!" he shouted. An egg hit him in the head, courtesy of the Yoshi, who started jabbering.

All of the group finally seemed to take in their surroundings and jumped. As soon as they saw the look on the Yoshi's face, they all ran near Blumiere, who was still slumbering under the tree. Bowser gently picked up Timpani on the way before placing her next to her husband.

Dimentio completely ignored the Yoshi. "Are the heroes tired? Ah ha ha ha ha! A little thing like that nearly knocked you all out? Ah ha ha ha ha ha!"

His gloating didn't last long.

"Perem-hah!" the white Yoshi shouted. All the mother Yoshis came to her call. Not even Dimentio could make enough copies to counter them all.

"Yosh…i!" All drew eggs and launched them at Dimentio. He tried to avoid them, but there were just too many. But the Yoshis weren't done.

"Perem-hah!" the white one from earlier shouted. One by one, each of the Yoshi's began ground-pounding Dimentio.

"Ow ow ow! Get off me, you stupid lizards!" Not even his happy-go-crazy attitude could withstand the onslaught of Yoshis.

"The Under Where… hath no fury like… an angry mama Yoshi, right?" Timpani panted to her friends, awoken by the noise.

The group nodded, watching. Eventually, Dimentio was forced to teleport away without a word. The white Yoshi turned to the group and struck a proud pose.

"Thank you." Mario, Luigi, and Bowser bowed while Peach and Daisy curtseyed.

"Yoshi-shi-i-yo-hah-so-perem. Shi-shi-shi. Yoshi," the white female spoke.

"No, thank you. Return to my mate, he has something for you," Luigi muttered, translating for the others.

The group did just that, Bowser carrying a half-awake Timpani and Luigi slinging the count over his back. As they entered the caves, cheers were heard, but they quickly died down, noticing the states of the heroes.

"What's this? Are you injured? How can we help? Was it that Boo? Oh, I'm so sorry, hatchlings…" Luigi interpreted the frantic voice of the Yoshi chief.

"We'll be fine, chief. We took some hard hits, but Timpani got the worst of it. She'll be okay, though. Top hat there is just tired," Mario explained.

The Yoshi chief bowed his head. "We are in your debt, young heroes. Take this with you." He pulled a Power Star from somewhere on his person. "I would've given it to you earlier, had I had it at that time. The foragers recently found it. If you need a place to stay, your old tree house is still there. We did basic maintenance on it, so it should be fine for a few nights, at least."

"Thank you for your generosity."

The Yoshi's head tilted and said something Luigi didn't translate. Here's what he said:

"What did he do to you two to make you forget that you will always be our children?"

The Mario Brother's faces went dark. Not a word was spoken as they left, the grey Yoshi watching them sadly.

"Yoshi," he said after they had left, "what have we missed?"

The green lizard sighed. "Too much. They've grown now."

"For better or for worse?"

"Time will tell, Rain-shi. Time will tell."

Meanwhile, the group had successfully made it to the aging tree house. There was enough room for all of them to sleep, luckily. They placed Blumiere and Timpani on one of the beds while the princesses shared the other. Mario and Luigi slept on the sofa while Bowser claimed the last seat, a recliner that was a little too small for him but would do for a few nights.

And so the heroes fell asleep, more questions than answers in their minds.

A/N: Lame fight be lame. I just really wanted overprotective Blumiere, okay? And besides, magic has a variety of stances it can take, considering no one can use it in real life, and since Blumiere is our only trained magician… well. This is supposed to be centric on Blumiere and Timpani.

And will Yoshi join our heroes? Eh, probably. Haven't given it much thought yet, but what's a Mario game without at least a mention of Yoshi?

Also, the fight scene with Dimentio was originally totally different. But as was said, hell hath no fury like an angry mama Yoshi. And Dimentio threatened Mario and Luigi, who are basically the Yoshi's eternal children. So…. Reasons.

Also, the whole pissed off Luigi "I'm feeling lucky" thing? In Smash Bros Brawl and SSB4 (as far as I'm aware, at least), there's a 1-in-10 chance Luigi's side special will land a super-powered strike…

Hopefully the next chapter will be better, and I can finally stop saying there are more questions than answers.

Disclaimer: I own nothing but my own ideas.

(Current Length: 47 pages and 17,068 words in MS Word.)