In this chapter, our heroes are going to attempt to navigate the temple. At the end is Cosmic Yoshi. He's got a special treat for them. There are also Toads that like to use Poison Mushrooms. Our heroes need to take care not to get poisoned.
And yes, the temple will have traps. I'm sure you've seen a temple filled with booby-traps before.
Chapter 7: Temple Trek
Fortunately for our heroes, there were several torches inside the temple. Mario didn't bring a flashlight though it wouldn't be too surprising if Luigi had brought one.
However, the Cosmic Army had set up a base of operations inside.
Inside the temple were several Chain Chomps. They were not man's best friend, let alone Mario's.
Personally Mario considered Yoshi to be his best friend.
"Chomp chomp!" exclaimed the Chain Chomp.
"Mamamia..." murmured Luigi.
"I am not Chain Chomp meat!" shouted Speedster T. Did he really look that delicious?
It was times like this when Mario wished he wasn't chubby. His chubbiness didn't exactly impede his athleticism though.
However, these Chain Chomps weren't actually chained. Perhaps they were able to tell friend from foe. The rest of the Cosmic Army seemed to be able to do so...though admittedly Cosmic Toads didn't look that different from normal ones.
It seemed that these Chain Chomps were part of the Cosmic Army, and were being used to guard the temple.
As such, the gang would need to take care of them.
One of them lunged towards Mario.
However, he hammered it away.
The Chain Chomp growled at him.
Another barked at Luigi.
He backed away.
"Easy, boy...' said Luigi.
Not wanting Luigi to become a chew toy, Peach whacked it with a frying pan, and it dissolved into blue liquid.
Yoshi launched an egg at another Chain Chomp. Strangely enough, he had as big of an appetite as they did.
There were also more Cosmic Yoshis and Cosmic Birdos. Unfortunately, the Chain Chomps had alerted them of the heroes' presence and they had come running.
"You're not reaching our leader!" shouted one of the Cosmic Yoshis.
"You're no match for him, anyway!" exclaimed one of the Cosmic Birdos.
A Cosmic Birdo shot an egg at Peach.
However, she blocked it with her parasol.
It hit a Cosmic Yoshi and he burst into blue liquid.
The Cosmic Birdo felt embarrassed by the occurrence.
For some strange reason, their leader's name was also Cosmic Yoshi.
It was kind of confusing.
On that subject, they got the feeling that their leader was close.
Perhaps if they continued to explore the temple, they could reach him. If they defeated the leader, chances are it would be the end of the invasion.
However, it was apparent that the temple was booby-trapped.
Possibly, Cosmic Yoshi had designed these traps to ward off intruders.
It was possible the Yoshis made them, but as they were peaceful, the traps they designed probably wouldn't actually hurt people.
Fortunately for Speedster T, it wasn't exactly hard for him to outrun a speeding boulder.
"Mamamia!" shouted Luigi as several arrows shot through the walls.
These arrows weren't poisonous, luckily. But they would still be painful if they were pierced by them.
Perhaps timing was important.
Alternatively, they could try using a Starman. Chances are it would last long enough for them to get past the arrows.
However, they didn't find Starmen very often.
Speedster T spin dashed past the arrows and pulled a lever.
The arrows stopped coming out from the walls.
However, there were spikes up ahead. Every now and then they would emerge from the floor.
This looked like a job for Princess Peach.
"Be-a careful, princess!" warned Mario. Toadsworth would flip if anything happened to her.
Peach used her parasol to float across the spikes and get to the lever.
She pulled the lever and the spikes stopped appearing.
Up ahead were more Cosmic Toads.
However, they were wearing purple caps.
One of them let out a small chuckle.
That particular Toad tossed a Poison Mushroom at Mario.
"Eek!" shouted Mario as he was poisoned.
His face turned purple.
"Oh no..." said Peach.
Fortunately, Luigi gave him a Refreshing Herb to cure him. Typically they were used to cure people that had fallen victim to Poison Mushrooms.
Unlike the Koopa Troopas, it actually seemed that the Cosmic Army had thought about using poison mushrooms against Mario.
These Toads were known as the Toxic Toads.
However, for some strange reason, they couldn't seem to poison Alcoholic Koopa.
They found this to be disappointing.
He retaliated by whacking them with bottles, causing them to burst into a familiar blue liquid.
Cosmic Yoshi was waiting for them at the end of the temple. It seemed that he had been waiting for them this entire time.
At the end of the temple was an enormous Yoshi statue.
"So, this is one of the Cosmic Generals that is attacking my kingdom..." noted Peach.
Yoshi noted this Yoshi looked a lot like him. However, he was red in color, and was more evil-looking. He also had sharp teeth in his mouth. His boots were black instead of the brown boots that Yoshi typically wore. And yes, even though he was an animal, Yoshi wore footwear. On his arm was a mark of a comet, signifying his allegiance to the Cosmic Princesses.
He was nothing in power compared to the trio, but he was still a powerful opponent in his own right.
"It looks like we've had the honor of meeting. You know, you're starting to annoy the Cosmic Princesses." noted Cosmic Yoshi.
Hopefully he could take care of them so that they wouldn't experience further interference.
"We'll stop you!" exclaimed Peach.
"Why don't I show you what the Cosmic Generals can do..." stated Cosmic Yoshi.
He was the weakest of the Cosmic Generals...but he wasn't going to admit that to them.
He didn't want people to think that he was weak. He might have been the weakest of the Cosmic Generals but his minions still admired his power.
Yoshi pressed his hand against the ground and summoned Tap Tap the Golden.
Our heroes got ready to fight...except for Alcoholic Koopa.
"It's a singing cactus!" exclaimed the Alcoholic Koopa.
The Tap Tap looked at Alcoholic Koopa confused. Since was he a plant? And since when did he sing?
They weren't even in a desert.
Perhaps he shouldn't question the drunk's logic.
Given the spikes that were on him, jumping on him was a no go.
It wasn't likely that Speedster T could spin dash into him either.
They would need to find a different way to defeat him.
Tap Tap attempted to step on Yoshi.
He moved out of the way.
Yoshi then launched an egg at Tap Tap.
The big smile on his face briefly changed into a frown.
"Ow!" shouted Tap Tap.
It looked as if the heroes had found a way to injure him. It would be a good idea to try attacking the nose again.
Perhaps his big red nose was his weak point. It didn't seem to be covered with spikes like the rest of him.
Maybe he should focus his efforts on defending his nose.
Tap Tap began to hop around.
Our heroes attempted to avoid him.
Luigi was stepped on.
"Ow!" exclaimed Luigi, who was flattened momentarily.
He then began to roll around. It seemed appropriate considering that he was shaped like a ball...though nobody would dare try to play a game of catch with him.
"Ouch!" shouted Peach. Those spikes were as sharp as they looked.
"Hahahaha!" laughed Tap Tap the Golden.
Luigi whacked him on the nose.
"Grr..." said the cosmic Tap Tap.
Tap Tap got angry, and launched spikes at them.
Quickly, they ducked for cover.
Rosalina launched Star Bits at Tap Tap, making him dizzy.
Yoshi shot one last egg at the spiky giant.
Hopefully his aim was good enough.
The egg seemed to fly in slow motion.
Our heroes watched to see if it would reach its target.
Fortunately, Yoshi managed to hit Tap Tap in his weak spot, much to their relief.
The spiky minion gasped in shock, and then exploded into cosmic liquid.
Cosmic Yoshi clenched his fist in frustration. It seemed that Tap Tap wasn't enough for the job.
He considered fighting the heroes himself, but at this point, his army had already suffered heavy losses. He would like to show the heroes what he was really capable of, but perhaps that could wait another day.
It looked as if the army had failed to conquer Yoshi's Island.
He was going to have to retreat, and take what was left of his army with him.
Perhaps they should look for a different location to invade.
"You win this round! But this is only a minor setback! Our supreme overlords are preparing another meteorite as we speak! So long, you pests!" shouted Cosmic evil Yoshi sprouted wings and flew away.
He went back to his spaceship and flew off back to Planet Cosmos.
The rest of his minions accompanied him.
They considered chasing him, but they were already worn out from their fight with the Cosmic Tap Tap. Besides, Yoshi's Island was safe for the time being.
"I wonder if there's booze inside this treasure chest?" asked Alcoholic Koopa.
However, there was not...though the treasure chest wasn't booby-trapped.
"Aw, man!" exclaimed the Koopa.
Instead, there was a golden Yoshi idol.
"This will look great in the Mushroom Kingdom National History Museum." noted Peach. It was lucky that Alcoholic Koopa had been there with them or they might not have found it.
Luckily, it didn't seem likely he would come back soon. He needed to regather his forces if he wanted to launch another attack.
The Yoshis began to celebrate.
Of course, Alcoholic Koopa was drinking all the alcoholic beverages at the party. And yes, for some strange reason, even though Yoshis didn't drink, there were alcoholic beverages at the party.
Perhaps the Yoshi who was hosting the party didn't think things through...or maybe he did, considering Alcoholic Koopa was one of the guests.
Unsurprisingly, the party was in honor of the heroes that had saved the island.
"Look at him chug..." said Mario.
"I'm glad-a we managed to save Yoshi's Island." noted Luigi. Things were already starting to become peaceful again, like it was before the Cosmic Army had shown up and started attacking its residents.
"Yeah...but the Cosmic Generals seem pretty tough. Can we handle them?" asked Speedster T. If they kept fight against the cosmic invaders, chances are they would encounter another one of the generals.
Hopefully if they managed to defeat one of them they would strike a mighty blow against the Cosmic Army.
The Yoshis continued to party.
However, Yoshi's Island was being monitored this whole time.
It had been an exciting show, but the ending was disappointing for the princesses.
They watched as the Yoshis celebrated their victory.
"It seems the invasion of Yoshi's Island didn't go as planned." noted Cosmic Rosalina.
"I'm starting to see why Bowser always loses to Mario..." answered Cosmic Daisy. They liked to think of themselves as being more competent villains than he was. Besides, they thought bigger.
Cosmic Yoshi had been forced to retreat.
"I'm sorry, mistress...the invasion was a failure." apologized Cosmic Yoshi. It looked as if the Yoshis would go back to their peaceful lives, eating fruit and laying eggs.
It was a sickening thought. But there wasn't anything that he could do about it now.
"I guess we won't be able to use Yoshi's Island as a vacation spot..." noted Cosmic Peach. Although, perhaps they could use Isle Delfino.
No matter. They would continue their plans.
This time, they would attack the arid section of the Mushroom Kingdom. Though the desert wasn't exactly rich with water, there were Toads living there.
They launched a meteorite in the outskirts of Wild East Village.
Minions began to sprout from it.
For some strange reason, they were wearing cowboy hats. Others were dressed in Arabian clothing. It seemed that they were dressed for the occasion.
The glowing meteorite was quickly noticed.
"Didn't something like this happen on Yoshi's Island?" questioned one of the Toads.
Perhaps history was repeating themselves.
Maybe it would be best if they barricaded their houses.
This time, Cosmic Speedster T would be the commander of the invasion. Hopefully he would be able to succeed where Cosmic Yoshi had failed.
They considered making Cosmic Donkey Kong the commander of the invasion, but he didn't seem to want to go anywhere that didn't have bananas. Never mind the fact that he had an entire hoard of bananas on his home planet.
Why was he a general? Because he eliminated his competition using his brute strength. He wasn't the smartest general around, but he could hold his own in a fight if necessary.
Yoshi was ecstatic that they managed to save Yoshi's Island.
Everyone was grateful for their help.
Once again, the Mario Brothers have proved themselves to be heroes.
And of course, so had the Koopa who needed to drink a bit less.
However, their work wasn't done yet by a long shot.
Not long after the Yoshis had finished their celebration, they received a distress call from the mayor of Wild East Town.
"Looks like the Cosmic Army is up to no good again." noted Peach.
"When are they ever up to anything good?" questioned Rosalina.
Speedster T. shrugged.
It seemed that there were "hooligans" attacking the town.
One of them had seen a Toad...but he moved so fast, he could blink and he would lose track of him.
Because of that, the other Toads weren't sure he existed. However, the attack seemed to be organized, so it was plausible that they had a leader.
"I was-a under the impression that it would be Wild West Town or something..." noted Mario. Did they happen to play piano there? Luigi had met a ghost that liked to play piano once...who unfortunately decided to attack him.
"Times have changed." answered Rosalina.
Well, hopefully they could get the outlaws sorted out. Under normal circumstances they would send the criminals to jail...but since they were planet looters they would have to take more drastic measures.
Well, it looked as if they were going on another adventure.
This time they would be heading to the desert.
"Is there a tavern in the town?" asked Alcoholic Koopa.
"There probably is." answered Rosalina.
"Oh boy!" cheered the Koopa.
The heroes sped off towards the Wild Desert.
I guess this is the end of the Yoshi's Island Arc. But the princesses are not going to give up this easily. They're simply going to change targets. And of course, they haven't seen the last of Cosmic Yoshi. The Cosmic Generals are made of tougher stuff than the mooks, that's for sure.
And yes, I figured I would make Tap Tap's nose his weak spot. Our heroes didn't need to use the same strategy Yoshi did when he fought the silver Tap-Tap.
Oh, and I I think I'll feature Isle Delfino at some point in this fanfic. It seems as good of an idea as any. Rest assured Mario won't be framed this time. But someone else will.