In this chapter, our heroes are going to explore the jungle in search of the meteorite. However, there are going to be foes. And yes, some of them will be Shy Guys with spears. There will also be Piranha Plants since I figured that would be appropriate for the jungle levels. I will admit that our heroes have already defeated Petey Piranha though.

There will also be Fuzzies. They seem to be common in Yoshi games so why not? Personally I like using Mario enemies that the audience are familiar with.

Chapter 6: Jungle Journey

As the heroes navigated the jungle, the Mario Brothers noted that it would be helpful if there was a map of some kind. It seemed that the Yoshi Temple was hidden.

For now, they decided to use Rosalina's tracking device to hunt down the nearest meteorite.

Some Spear Guys appeared as the heroes explored the jungle. Given their presence, the meteorite wasn't too far from them.

"What's this? It seems we have some wannabe heroes who wants to destroy the meteorite...I don't think we should let them do that, wouldn't you say?" questioned one of the Spear Guys.

The other Spear Guys nodded. They were going to keep that meteorite safe. Cosmic Yoshi was counting on them. Besides, they didn't want him to snack on them. Cosmic Yoshi was capable of eating other Cosmic Clones to increase his strength, so they had to make sure they stayed on their good side.

One of them poked Mario with a spear.

"You're not invading our turf, plumber!" exclaimed the Spear Guy attacking him.

"Ow!" exclaimed Mario, clutching his arm. That spear was pointy.

Luckily, they hadn't coated their spears with poison. Perhaps none of the fruits found in Yoshi's Island were poisonous. It made sense considering how peaceful it was.

Mario hammered the Spear Guy away.

Some of them opted for tossing their spears instead of attacking up close.

Luigi quickly hid behind the trees.

Fortunately, the Spear Guys couldn't find him.

One of the Spear Guys scratched his head.

"Where did that green plumber go?" asked the Spear Guy. He could have sworn that he was there just a few seconds ago.

He was happy to be out of the line of fire, to say the very least.

However, Luigi tripped and his hammer was launched into the sky in the process. Sometimes he could be really clumsy.

"Whoa!" exclaimed the green plumber.

It ended up striking the Spear Guy.

He dissolved into a familiar blue liquid.

Strangely enough, he left his mask and his spear behind.

The other Spear Guys wondered what had happened.

This gave Luigi an idea. Maybe he should try ambushing the Spear Guys. That way they wouldn't know what had hit them, which left him less often for retaliation.

Meanwhile, Yoshi ended up being caught in a net.

"Help!" exclaimed Yoshi.

The Spear Guys cheered. They had managed to capture one of the heroes!

Well, now it was time to deal with them.

They then proceeded to start poking Yoshi with their spears.

Luigi realized that now would be a good time to make his move. Yoshi needed his help. After all, he did rescue him once back when he was a baby.

He began to attack the Spear Guys.

"What's going on?" asked the Spear Guys. Unfortunately, they couldn't fight an opponent that they couldn't see too well. Too bad that they didn't have heat vision.

Eventually, Luigi defeated all the Shy Guys.

Luigi then released Yoshi from the net.

"Thanks!" exclaimed Yoshi. He wasn't sure how he was going to get out of the mess the Spear Guys had put him in.

There were Piranha Plants in the jungle as well. It wasn't surprising considering they were in a jungle. Things were normally peaceful in the jungles surrounding Yoshi's Island, but still.

It seemed that they hadn't seen the last of the Piranha Plants following the defeat of Petey Piranha...or rather a cosmic version of him.

"Ow!" exclaimed Alcoholic Koopa as he was bitten by one. Why did they have to have such sharp teeth?

He whacked the Piranha Plant with his bottle of beer, knocking his front teeth out.

"Ow! My teeth!" exclaimed the Piranha Plant.

Now that Alcoholic Koopa thought of it, perhaps he should consider getting a protective shell like the other Koopa Troopas. Granted, the Mario Brothers had actually found a way to use those shells to their advantage, but still.

However, there weren't only normal Piranha Plants this time around. There were also Elasto-Piranhas. Mario and Luigi seemed to recall battling them with their baby counterparts.

It seemed their foes were gradually getting stronger as they continued to battle the Cosmic Army. Perhaps they were starting to see the heroes as a threat to them.

Speedster T was impressed how far they could stretch.

They preferred to launch fireballs from above.

One of them hit Luigi.

"Ouch! Hot hot hot!" exclaimed Luigi.

Yoshi quickly gulped up some water from a nearby pond and used it to put out Luigi.

"Thank you!" shouted the plumber. It seemed that Yoshi was grateful for Luigi's help earlier.

However, though the heroes couldn't jump on them (at least, not while they were outstretched), they could still hammer their pipes.

This caused them to lose their balance.

Fuzzies began to descend from the trees.

"They're sending Fuzzies now?" asked Luigi. Now that he thought of it, Yoshis had a tendency to face Fuzzies as WELL as Shy Guys...in the early Yoshi games anyway.

"Myork!" exclaimed one of the Fuzzies as he descended. They were capable of making webbing, though they didn't utilize it in combat.

"It looks like the enemies are calling in reinforcements..." noted Speedster T.

He got ready to defend.

Yoshi knew from experience that it was a bad idea to try eating the Fuzzies. Strangely enough, back in the early days of Mario gaming, Fuzzies looked a lot different.

Chances are if he tried that he would get dizzy. Hopefully his friends wouldn't try that.

However, he could still fire eggs at them without any consequences. So he decided to try tossing eggs at them. Their small size meant hitting them was harder than it could have been, but it was still coming in handy.

The heroes would have to be careful approaching the Fuzzies, however. They had the ability to drain their health, adding it to their own and keeping them healthy. They were rather weak individually, but they compensated with strength in numbers.

One of them was draining Peach.

"She tastes like peaches...why doesn't that surprise me..." said one of the Fuzzies as he sucked Peach dry.

"That's my health! Stop that!" demanded Peach.

Peach whacked the Fuzzy away, sending him flying a few feet.

"Ow!" shouted the Fuzzy. Unfortunately, draining his enemy's health left him open to retaliation.

Another Fuzzy tried draining Alcoholic Koopa, but this only served to make him drunk.

"Am I not the only alcoholic here?" questioned the Koopa.

Yoshi tossed an egg at the Fuzzies and they were knocked over like bowling pins.

"Why do I feel like a turkey?" asked one of the Fuzzies that had collapsed on the ground. It wasn't Thanksgiving.

The Fuzzies also had a tendency for kleptomania, just like their mushroom counterparts (as well as the Bandits). They eyed the heroes carefully, eager to see if there was anything valuable that they could steal from them.

Considering that the Cosmic Army's goal was to plunder the planet of its resources, that made sense.

One of the Fuzzies attempted to steal Alcoholic Koopa's shell, only to realize he wasn't wearing a shell.

"Oh man!" exclaimed the Fuzzy. So much for pilfering his prized possession. Why wasn't he wearing a shell, anyway? Most Koopas seemed to have one.

He could try stealing his alcoholic beverages, but Alcoholic Koopa was glaring at him. It was making him feel uncomfortable.

He decided to steal Mario's hat instead. And no, he wasn't stealing it because he was a fan of his. He just liked to loot his foes.

The Fuzzy went up to Mario and swiped his hat.

"Oh a-no!" exclaimed Mario. His hat was special.

"Haha!" laughed the Fuzzy, wearing the hat on his head.

Unfortunately, whenever Mario's hat was stolen, bad things had a tendency to happen to him. It was as if he had shattered a mirror or something.

Shortly afterwards, a coconut fell on his head.

"Ow!" exclaimed Mario, rubbing his forehead.

A few seconds later, he stepped on a thorn bush.

"Mamamia!" shouted the plumber, clutching his foot.

He then tripped over a rock.

"Oof!" exclaimed Mario, falling on his face.

Luigi realized he was going to have to get his brother's hat back. Otherwise he was going to continue suffering misfortunes.

He whacked the Fuzzy that had stolen Mario's hat, making it burst into blue liquid.

Aftewards, he tossed the hat towards Mario.

"Mario, catch!" shouted Luigi.

For some strange reason, the hat landed right on his head.

"Woohoo!" exclaimed Mario. Now he wouldn't suffer from such miserable luck. At this rate he was going to shrink from all the damage he was taking.

Some Snifits appeared and began to shoot at them.

Perhaps they had chosen the jungle as their battleground due to the hiding spots they could use. If they were in a wide open space, they would have a harder time avoiding being spotted.

"I wonder why some Shy Guys choose to wear those nozzles..." questioned Speedster T. Were the normal masks not good enough for them?

Granted, they were useful for firing projectiles at their opponents. He was fast enough to dodge the bullets, but still.

Fortunately, Peach could defend herself using the parasol.

She proceeded to whack the attacking Snifits with her frying pan.

Speedster T decided to spin dash into them.

"Why do I feel like exclaiming "You're too slow?" questioned Speedster T to himself.

Pom Pom suddenly appeared as they approached the meteorite. Clearly Cosmic Yoshi didn't want them to reach the temple.

A wide grin was on her face.

"Hahaha!" laughed the female Koopa.

The heroes stood their ground.

"First Boom Boom, and now this?" questioned Speedster T.

"Oh look. A female Koopa who isn't Wendy." noted Peach. Now that she thought of it, wasn't there also Kammy Koopa? She didn't seem to appear much though.

Speedster T wondered if Pom Pom was Boom Boom's sister or something. They certainly looked similar.

Now that he thought of it, he seemed to recall the strategy guide claiming that.

The cosmic Pom Pom started by throwing a shuriken at the Mario Brothers.

The duo were reminded of a Ninji...though Pom Pom was a more dangerous fighter than the Ninjis were. Otherwise she probably wouldn't be located at the end of a level.

"Cosmic Yoshi wants you gone...like the dinosaurs!" exclaimed Pom Pom.

"I'm not gone..." said Yoshi. For some strange reason he wasn't part of a fossil exhibit.

Mario leapt on Pom Pom's head.

"Ow!" exclaimed the female Koopa.

In retaliation, she went into her shell and began to spin around.

Peach was hit.

"Ooh!" exclaimed Peach.

After she stopped counterattacking, Pom Pom then summoned a copy of herself.

"Which one's real?" asked Speedster T.

Luigi shrugged.

Alcoholic Koopa tossed a bottle of beer at Pom Pom...but it turned out to be the clone.

The clone vanished in a burst of white smoke.

The real Pom Pom threw a shuriken at him in retaliation.

"Ow!" exclaimed Alcoholic Koopa, rubbing his cheek.

Fortunately, Peach happened to know healing magic. It had come in pretty useful when she went adventuring with the heroes. Mario and his friends still had to rescue her from Booster, but that was not to say she wasn't a valuable party member. They probably wouldn't have made it without their healing spells.

She quickly began to heal Alcoholic Koopa.

"Thank you, you magical fairy..." noted Alcoholic Koopa.

"I was under the impression that you would recognize me. Your former employer kidnaps me all the time..." questioned Peach.

"Huh?" asked the Koopa. He had been in it simply for the booze. He reconsidered when he realized how good being a hero felt.

Peach whacked Pom Pom with her frying pan.

Pom Pom once again began to spin around the arena.

Quickly, our heroes scattered to avoid her shell.

She then summoned two clones this time.

Surely there was a way to tell them apart.

Peach noticed that two of the clones had pigtails while only one had a ponytail.

She decided to attack the one with the ponytail.

"Aww, you got me!" exclaimed Pom Pom.

Pom Pom burst into blue dust.

Rosalina destroyed the meteorite with a Star Bit.

The Cosmic Minions disappeared, as usual.

"So much for Yoshi hunting..." remarked one of the Spear Guys as he faded away.

"I got taken out by the fuzz!" exclaimed a Fuzzy.

Shortly afterwards, a pathway to the temple appeared.

"That's rather convenient, don't you think?" asked Peach.

Rosalina nodded. That was rather convenient. Now they could track down Cosmic Yoshi.

Unsurprisingly, the pathway to the temple was decorated with Yoshi statues.

However, though they had reached their destination, they still had to watch out for Cosmic Yoshi. Perhaps if they defeated enough members of the Cosmic Army, they could force him to retreat back to his home planet.

"Everyone ready?" asked Rosalina.

The heroes nodded.

"Then let's get going." said the princess.

"Can I drink some beer first?" asked Alcoholic Koopa.

"Why did I know that you were going to ask that?" inquired Rosalina.

Deep inside the temple, Cosmic Yoshi monitored the heroes.

Unfortunately, due to the heroes destroying the meteorites that he had created, he was running out of soldiers. At this rate he was going to have to call off the invasion. He would need to deal with the heroes quickly before he ran out of troops.

Fortunately, there were traps in the temple he could use against them.

It seemed that they were getting close to him. Personally he didn't think that they were a serious threat to the Cosmic Army, but it did seem they knew something about combat.

They had managed to reach the temple.

No matter. If they reached him, he would introduce them to a friend of his.

They had faced Shy Guys before...but could they handle HIM?

He would like to see them try to fight him.

Well, it looks like our heroes will be going to the temple next. Cosmic Yoshi is waiting for them. However, he won't be fighting the heroes directly...not yet at least. He doesn't think that the heroes are worth his time. Besides, the heroes have depleted much of his army.

Maybe I'll feature the Coconutters from Partners in Time. Then again, perhaps they don't actually exist in the present. Mario and Luigi have only encountered them during their time travel escapades.

And yes, the last boss for Yoshi's Island will be a Shy Guy. It seemed appropriate considering how many Shy Guys the Yoshis seem to encounter.

You think there's treasure located in the temple? Knowing the Yoshis it's probably fruit...