Chapter 56: Nintendo Switch Part 3

"LAAAAAAAND HOOOOOO!"

Ashley's voice reverberated through the broomstick/ship thingy (I think I'll call it the broomship), waking Toon Link from his nap. The airship was now functioning as a regular ship, and it was docked on a sandy shore.

"We finally made it?" Toon Link asked, stretching his back. "Finally."

"Aye. Feast yer eyes on… Jurassic Park. I mean, Yoshi's Island." Ashley took off her pirate hat and eye patch, reverting back to normal Ashley. "Same difference really. I mean, with the whole dinosaur thing… Anyways, we should hop off. I forgot to recharge the magic of my broomstick. Its magical essence will run off soon. When that happens…"

Ashley was cut short as the broomship instantly transformed from "ship" to "broom", causing Toon Link and Ashley to fall hundreds of feet into the water.

"...then that happens." Ashley said, brushing water off her face.

"Yeah, I figured." Toon Link said, wringing out his hat. He looked around. The island was beautiful. The water was a clear blue, and palm trees were strewn everywhere. Various colorful plants dotted the land. But there was no yoshi in sight. "Wow, this place is awesome. Where are the all of the Yoshi's?"

"Hopefully not here. We do not want to be spotted by them. C'mom, we gotta get to the Yoshi museum, stealthily." She said. "Just follow my lead."

Toon Link followed Ashley through a jungle. By the time it got dark Toon Link could make out a large village. There were somewhat primitive looking house-sized huts scattered about the village, which Toon Link thought was strange considering he could see a functional TV inside one of them. Maybe it was an aesthetic choice.

The pair crouched beneath a grassy plant. "Ok, we're reaching our destination. Now, remember, we cannot be seen by the Yoshi's, got it?"

"Yeah, I got it. But why?"

"Shhh!" Ashley pulled Toon Link down as an orange yoshi casually walked by.

When the coast was clear, Ashley led Toon Link to the next safe hiding spot, repeating this process multiple times. Eventually, Toon Link could see an enormous hut that was made of stone rather than sticks and leaves, like its smaller counterparts. A concrete sign stood in front of the entrance with some exotic symbols engraved in it.

"That sign says 'The Amazing and Snuggly Museum of Yoshi!' That's our destination."

In that moment, Toon Link knew what was going down. "Wait, we're going to rob this museum for its Yoshaur fossil?"

Ashley nodded. "Yep. It's fine, they can always find another one. This is the fifteenth time I've stolen from them. I'm kind of infamous here."

"That's illegal!" Toon Link scoffed. "And why did I have to be brought along if you've done this before?"

"They always tighten security over the weekend, and since we need this fossil ASAP, I can't really postpone it until Monday, so I need your skills to pull this off. And...it's just nice to have company for a change."

"Oh…"

"But enough about that. Let's keep moving."

Toon Link kept following her, trying to justify the crime he was about to commit to himself. "Well, I can't leave Ashley alone here to fend for herself. That's not very Hero-like. But neither is stealing… but I steal all the time! Yeah, I break people's pots to get their rupees… oh gods, I'm a criminal! But it's for the greater good, and…"

Yeah, I would keep typing up his inner monologue, but it's kinda meaningless at this point.

They made it to the back of the museum without alerting anybody.

Ashley pointed to a vent near the ground. "Normally I would just climb in through the vent right here. It's a little noisy, but if I time it right I won't alert any of the patrollers. But since security is tighter, that won't be possible this time. So we'll have to get in from the top."

Toon Link used his hookshot to get the two of them on top of the museum. Using her magic wand as one of those fancy laser pens you see in every spy movie, she cut a hole through the roof, exposing a very small room filled with cleaning supplies. There was a broom in the corner and multiple bottles of soap on the shelves.

"Wow, I find it admirable that the Yoshi's can be so interested in something that we take for granted every day. And I like the minimalistic approach to room size."

"Link-"

"Toon Link."

"That's a broom closet."

Toon Link burrowed his brow and took a closer look inside. "Ah."

"Alright, are you ready?" Ashley said, smiling widely at him.

Toon Link was still debating whether to do this in his head, but looking at Ashley smiling made his decision clear. "Yeah. Let's do this."

Meanwhile, back at Smash City…

"Yeah! Captain Falcon! The manliest team is NOT just a dream!"

"You realize that he and Jigglypuff switched bodies, right? So you're fighting with Jigglypuff, who's in Captain Falcon's body."

"Nooooo! Jigglypuff? You've got to be kidding me!"

"Oh, Roy! My fire breath and his fire blade will pierce the heavens!"

Mario (in Link's body) was walking with Peach to the bulletin board, where the postings for partners for the 2v2 competition were.

Peach held his hand and skipped along, humming. Ever since they switched bodies, Peach has been a lot more affectionate to Mario. They actually kissed multiple times last night. It was awesome. When they went out for dinner she also wanted to take lots of pictures, to "remember this moment."

He had no idea why this she was like this all of a sudden. None.

Anyways, when they arrived to the bulletin board, Link (in Mario's body) and Corrina were there, looking for their names.

"Hey, I'm paired with Bayonetta!" Corrina exclaimed. "This is gonna be very interesting."

Link (in Mario's body) gasped. "Woah woah woah… I got paired with WHO?"

"Who'd you get-a paired with?" Mario (in Link's body) asked.

"I got paired with… you."

Mario (in Link's body) gasped. Usually, they would both be ecstatic at the idea of being paired with one another. They'd be almost guaranteed to win. But since both of them are in each other's body…

"But that's not-a fair! Shouldn't there be some-a rule against two smashers who aren't in their-a usual bodies not being put together? There's no way we can-a win!"

"Apparently there's no such rule. The random team generator has spoken, and its decision is final."

Mario (in Link's body) sighed. "Well, we can't just-a give up. There's still a way we can win this."

"What do you mean?"

"The competition is in-a two days. If we train each other really hard, and I mean-a REALLY hard, we can-a learn how each other's bodies work."

"Hey, you're right! We can still do this!"

"Yeah! Let's go train-a right now!"

Mario and Link raced off towards the training grounds, pumping their fists in the air and whooping.

Corrina and Peach watched them as they paraded down the street.

"They're goners."

"Yep."

-Back at Yoshi's Island-

Ashley and Toon Link had made it down to the second floor of the three floor museum. The third floor wasn't too hard to get through, although there was an instance where Toon Link accidentally knocked over a painting and was almost caught, only to be saved by hiding inside a sarcophagus. Their plan, for the most part, was for Toon Link to use his Wind Waker to create a draft that would cause a distant plant or painting to move, which would lure the yoshi guards away long enough for them to sneak through.

As the duo walked down the stairs to the second floor, Ashley stopped suddenly.

"Shhh." Ashley said, putting a finger over Toon Link's lips. "Listen."

Toon Link could barely make out hushed voices from around the corner.

"Where is it?"

"Hmm… it should be on the first floor.

"Great! Let's get it and get out. We need this."

The boyish voices sounded familiar to Toon Link, but he couldn't quite put his finger on who it belonged to.

"Psst." Toon Link whispered to Ashley. "Looks like we aren't the only people robbing this place tonight"

"Yeah." Ashley said, thinking to herself. "Seems like they're amateurs though, since they won't shut up. As long as we stay quiet, we should be able to keep an eye on them without being spotted by them or the guards."

"I wonder what they're after."

"Doesn't matter." Ashley said. "Come on, let's go."

They slipped from cover to cover, hiding behind pillars, inside plants, and even among statues of themselves in the "Exotic" section. Toon Link wanted to read the plaque that had his description, but they were gone too fast.

At the same time they kept an eye on the other intruders. Toon Link tried his best to see who they were, but they stayed in the shadows and were just far away enough so that Toon Link couldn't see their clothes clearly.

Eventually, they made it to the first floor. Unlike the second and third floor, whose ceiling stood only ten or eleven feet above Toon Link's head, the first floor stood several dozen feet above his head. Also, instead of being multiple small rooms, the first floor was one giant room. Paintings larger than football fields were strewn across the walls. They depicted various things, such as the founder of Yoshi's Island first touching down on the island and stuff like that. Full scale dinosaurs were displayed everywhere. All of the lights were off, except for one right in the middle of the gigantic room, shining on a pedestal showing off a small rock.

"Let me guess… that thing in the center is what we're looking for." Toon Link asked.

"Duh. It wouldn't be interesting for the readers if it was just some random piece in some random corner we were after, would it?"

"True." Toon Link nodded. "Hey, wait. We've been following these two for a while. You don't think they're after the same thing?"

"Of course they aren't."

"But it would be more interesting for the reader if they were, right?"

"...dang it, you're right. Stay here." Ashley bolted for the two shadowy figures, who were almost at the pedestal. She deftly slipped in and out of cover, going much faster now that time was limited. The shadowy figures noticed her approaching and started moving faster, and less cautiously, as well.

She made great time, but the yoshi guards could tell something was up. Toon Link needed to distract them soon or else they'd be found out. He quickly took out a bomb, activated it, and put it inside a planter, where it hopefully wouldn't do too much damage to these priceless artifacts. He then ran and dived into a dinosaur display, hiding behind a foot. Out of the corner is his eye he spotted Ashley, who was hiding inside a trash can. A yoshi guard was approaching about to open the trash can, which would reveal her.

BOOOOOOOOOOOOM!

The sound reverberated throughout the room. Immediately, the guards started making a beeline for the source. Toon Link waited for them to pass and then sprinted towards the pedestal, where Ashley was fighting over the fossil with none other than Blue with Red watching.

"What are you guys doing here?" Toon Link asked.

"I could ask you the same thing!" Blue retorted, tugging at the fossil.

"We need that fossil."

"Well, so do we." Red said. "It's very important to us."

"Let go!" Ashley grunted. "We need this to save the world!"

"She's pretty strong for such a small girl." Red said. "Or maybe you're just weak."

Blue glared at him. "Whose side are you- OWWWW!"

Blue released the fossil instinctively as Ashley dug her teeth into his hand. "You little squirt!"

Ashley stuck out her tongue and lifted the Fossil above her head! "Aha! We got the Yoshaur fossil!"

"Yoshi!"

Toon Link turned around. A yoshi guard stood behind him, a superscope aimed at his head. A dozen more emerged out of nowhere, completely surrounding the hero, witch, and Pokémon trainers. The four of them raised their hands into the air.

"Hello, authorities…" Red said, opening up his palms in a diplomatic fashion. "I assure you we have a perfectly valid reason for stealing this fossil here."

"Yoshi yoshi!" A yoshi guard readied his weapon.

"I don't think they can understand you." Blue said.

"Yes, I'm aware." Red snapped.

Toon Link turned to Ashley. "What should we do?"

Ashley shuffled slightly. "On the count of three, I want you all to cover your noses and hold your breath. Got it?" The three of them nodded.

"One, two…" Ashley took a deep breath, and in one quick motion, she threw a deep purple potion that was hidden within her dress onto the ground. "Three!"

It exploded, creating a gigantic purple cloud that instantly inhabited a twenty feet radius. Toon Link covered his nose and looked around. All of the guards had fallen asleep. Ashley ran for the exit and motioned for him, Red, and Blue to follow.

They ran out the back exit and ran for a solid five minutes before stopping.

"That- that was… close." Toon Link said between deep breathes. "Thank goodness you had that potion on you."

Ashley was leaning against a tree, gasping for air. "That… that was a last resort. It requires a ton of magical energy. Pair that with the five minutes of running we did afterwards to get a safe distance away…" she tried standing up, but fell. Thankfully, Red caught her.

"Woah, you should rest." He said, laying her back down against the tree. She nodded appreciatively and closed her eyes. "And while you do, we can discuss this whole fossil kerfuffle."

"What kind of loser uses the word 'kerfuffle'?" Blue asked sarcastically.

"The kind of loser who's the Pokémon champion."

"Shut up!"

"Alright, guys." Toon Link said, pushing the two hotheaded trainers away from each other. "You two are just like a married couple."

"So, why do you guys want this thing?" Toon Link said, holding the Yoshaur fossil.

"Well… we want to use it to resurrect to Yoshaur dinosaur." Red said. "We think that the Yoshi's used to be a Pokémon, and using this fossil to resurrect its ancestor with the Pokémon Fossil machine would give us the answer."

"And plus." Blue said, smiling. "If it is a Pokémon, I'd have the only one in existence!"

"On Monday's, Wednesday's, and Friday's." Red added. "I would have him Tuesday's, Thursday's, and during the weekend."

"Well, Ashley accidentally switched the bodies of the twelve original smashers with each other." Toon Link said. "We need that to make a potion to reverse the effects."

"Gosh, that sounds serious…" Red said dejectedly. "I guess that trumps our reason."

"Wait, you're just gonna give up the fossil that easily?" Blue exclaimed. "We've wanted this for years!"

"Well, I could help you guys get another one after we fix this whole mess." Toon Link said. "It's the least I could do."

Red gleamed at him. "Really? Thanks!"

Blue scoffed. "Fine. But you better get us one ASAP."

"I promise."

"Now… which way is home?" Red asked, looking around.

"..."

"..."

"Hmm, her Ashley?" Toon Link tapped Ashley's shoulder, only to find out that she had dozed off.

"It'd be rude to wake her up. And besides, it's the middle of the night. I guess sleeping here wouldn't be too bad." Red said, setting his backpack down. Blue and Toon Link followed suit. He summoned a Pokémon to create a fire for them.

"So… anybody got any good campfire stories?"

Meanwhile, at the training grounds…

"No, no, no!" Mario (in Link's body) said. "Fire is supposed to come out of your hands! Not from… there."

Link (in Mario's body) chuckled. "Haha, whoops. Let me try again." He concentrated, took a deep breath, and thrust his hand out. A huge fire column instantly erupted from his feet, causing him to blast into the sky.

"AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHhhhhhhhh…" Link (in Mario's body) yelled as he flew away into the sunset.

Mario (in Link's body) face palmed. "This is gonna be a loooooong training session."

To be continued

A/N: Kept you waiting, huh? Thanks for whoever has the patience to wait for these updates! This story has truthfully fallen pretty low on my priority list, but not because I don't enjoy writing it anymore. I just have been busy with having just graduated and getting ready for the next part of my life:college! Oh, and video games are very time consuming ;). Anyways, updates will still continue indefinitely! I plan on giving this story a true ending, even if it takes a while. Thanks for sticking with this story, guys :)

Also, I decided to just state whose body each character is in the whole time. I think it makes it just a little less confusing.

Until next chapter!