Standard Disclaimer: I don't own Yoshi, I don't own the enemies, blah blah blah.

Chapter Seven

The Dark Side Of Navre Bay

(Excerpt from Iceoshi's diary)

Well, we've had a good breakfast and are ready to enter the bay. Surprising how we're up this early, considering Windoshi's antics last light. You'd wonder how old he was.

The scenery around here is…for lack of a better word…beautiful. The sudden change from darkness to sunrise was quite odd to watch. Back in City Of Yosh the rising sun always seemed to bend around Mt. Vewaque. Not the case here. I thought I saw a whale earlier, but Flamoshi said it was probably just a Shark Chomp. I didn't think they could survive this far inland, but Navre Bay is pretty big.

I'm a little nervous about this whole adventure thing. It does seem like a standard video game so far, but you never know what could happen. And in a video game, you can't die. This is for real.

The Ten were about to disembark on their boat towards the center of Navre Bay. The night before, Timoshi had Google'd some underwater maps and had found a reasonably sized and complex underwater cave. Using zoom and sonar functions, he had printed out and laminated an accurate map of the cavern.

"Right ho, let's move it out!" Flamoshi unroped the boat from the dock.

Earthoshi looked at the map. "We need to row westward for ten minutes and then we'll be about above the entrance."

Fifteen minutes later, the Ten were floating beside the mouth of the cave. However, a huge slab of metal blocked it.

"What's up here?" blurted Shockoshi. "It looks like someone installed a garage door here or something."

Poisoshi tapped the metal wall. The sound reverberated.

"Maybe it's an airlock," said Iceoshi.

"Why?" Healthoshi scratched her head. "There's no reason for anyone to live here."

Watoshi fiddled with some cracks in the rock beside the door. Eventually, she found one that the Water Key fit in. With some effort because of the water's pressure, she clicked the cobalt into the crack.

With a deafening groan, the door opened to its full distance.

"Cool." Windoshi swam in, followed by the others.

The room they were in was lined with metal. The only other door was on the other side of the room, and the one they came in from closed.

"Aha." Emoshi made for a button. "It is an airlock."

Once all the water was pumped out (and Windoshi had fun with the currents), the ten headed through the door. The room beyond was squareish in shape and had a door on each side. The left door was open, the right door was locked, and the middle door was more like a stone slab. It had no visible means of access. A metal ring was hung from the rock ceiling.

The Yoshis started walking towards the open door. Suddenly, Watoshi stopped moving.

Emoshi noticed. "Uh, what's wrong?"

"I thought I heard a low voice saying something," the blue Yoshi said. "Something like 'ooo-ahh'."

"Whatever." Shockoshi waved his hand. "It's probably just Earthoshi's belly or something."

"Hmm…"

The room through the left door was deep and full of water. Unfortunately, the water was full of Nibblers. The only other door was underwater. Using the map, Timoshi announced that the door was two stories down.

"Stupid Nibs," Flamoshi said. "Can't they go away and attack some school of fish or something?"

"Ooh! Idea!" Windoshi pulled out a pack of bacon.

Iceoshi stared. "Where'd you get that?"

"Part of my secret snack stash. But that's besides the point." The green Yoshi threw the bacon towards a corner of the room. "Chow time!"

Within seconds, the Nibblers were all fighting for possession of the meat.

"Go! Go! Go!" Healthoshi leaped into the water, the others following.

Upon arrival at the door, the Yoshis found it was jammed.

"Crap!" Poisoshi groaned. "Looks like that bacon was an appetizer!"

"Back off!" Flamoshi swam above the door. He stuck his tongue under the crack and used the Reel to start winding. With creaks and groans, the door opened to half point. All the Yoshis swam through the door as it slammed shut behind them.

The map indicated that this room was dead-end triangular. It was full of nothing but water. However, a low mumbling interrupted the Nibbler-free peace.

"boooooo-pahhhhh…boooooo-pahhhhh…"

"There's the voice I heard," said Watoshi.

Without warning, something dropped from the ceiling: a white squid.

"BLOOOOOOPER!"

"Ack!" Healthoshi leapt back in alarm. "Stupid seafood!"

The Blooper started wrapping its tentacles around the Yoshis.

"Oy!" Windoshi took a few swipes at the tendril. "Get yer own reel!"

Earthoshi started bashing his nose against his tentacle. It jiggled a little, but that was all.

Shockoshi took a more direct approach. Arms still free, he took hold of the tentacle and gave it a yank. It broke right off and dissipated.

"Hah!" he called. "Not so tough now, are we?"

Instantly, he was covered in a thick layer of ink. Unable to see, he swam straight into a wall.

Meanwhile, the other Yoshis were all caught up. Timoshi had an arm free, but it was holding the Guide.

"Bloopers are big, white, nasty squid that like to spray people with thick ink. They invariably appear in singles (unless they reproduce in battle) and usually spray ink as an attack. A sub-species called Gooper Blooper has longer tentacles that can snap right off. Bloopers are otherwise pretty bland, although how they float in the air is a mystery."

"What was that reproduction bit?" Poisoshi looked somewhat anxious.

"Says they can reproduce in battle. Why?"

"'Cause I think it is!"

Ten Blooper Babies, newly arrived and needing some nourishment, started attaching themselves to the Yoshis.

"Ick!" Iceoshi began swatting.

"Heh heh heh."

Everyone (including Shockoshi, who had cleaned his face by now) looked over at Windoshi. He had an arm free, and in it was an empty can clearly labeled "Carbonated Beverage". A few similar cans, all empty, were floating freely around.

"I think I see where this is going…" Emoshi tried to hide her face.

In a humungous burp, all the Bloopers were knocked flat against the wall, the Yoshis free.

"How'd you do that?" Flamoshi was incredulous.

"Would you believe I practice ten minutes a day?"

"No."

"So what do we do with them?" Watoshi indicated the Bloopers, starting to recover from the sonic shock.

Earthoshi noticed a switch on the bottom of the room. He swam over to it and gave it a whack.

The switch did two things. First, it gave Earthoshi a key. Second, a massive hole opened in the wall.

"We've got a key!"

"Great," said Poisoshi. "Now let's blow this joint before we find out who the bigger fish is!"

"How? The Nibblers are still back there!"

"I know!" Windoshi produced a package of hamburger meat. "Open the door a bit, I'll chuck this under, wait a second, then break for it!"

A low metallic clamping was heard from the tunnel.

Back in the center room (which had somehow flooded halfway), the Yoshis had time to rest.

"I don't want to know what-all was coming in the Blooper room," said Watoshi to Timoshi, about to speak.

Timoshi shrugged. "Okay, if that's what you want." He placed a bookmark labeled "Halloween Stories" on the "Shark Chomp" entry.

Flamoshi was looking at the ceiling where the metal ring was hanging. He turned to the others. "You think I should reel that in, or what?"

"Go ahead." Healthoshi was relaxing. "What bad could happen?"

"A lot, since you just talked about it." Poisoshi had arms crossed as usual.

The ring easily pulled out of the ceiling. Once it did, the rock slab in front of the center door fell down.

"Easy." The Yoshis went in the door, revealing a long room. A ramp put them above water level, where they walked to find a massive crevasse. Inside the crevasse was water, but full of Nibblers. There was no way out of the crevasse. On the other side, there was an unlocked door and two wooden poles.

"So much for your 'easy'," Earthoshi sighed.

Timoshi took a few mental measurements. "If we tried to use the Reel to get across, we would fall into the water before the rope tightens."

"Looks like the locked door for us," said Emoshi.

The room behind the locked door was very strange. It was circular, made of pure metal, and was apparently attached to the cave through another exit as an "add-on".

"Weird." Shockoshi looked around. "It looks like an escape pod or something."

Suddenly, the room started to shake. The water was all pumped out and a metal door closed over the stone door.

"I think your 'escape pod' is launching," said Iceoshi.

The room stopped shaking and a Yoshi figure appeared on the other side of the room.

"What's a Yoshi doing in a place like this?" wondered Flamoshi. Out loud, he called to the new arrival. "Hello over there! How is it?"

The Yoshi, whose back was facing the group, turned its head. It turned fully and started walking towards the group.

"He seems friendly."

"Two things with that statement," interrupted Windoshi. "First, we don't know its gender. Second, we don't know if it wants to be our friend, or it wants to bash the stuffing out of us."

As the stranger got closer, it became apparent that it was metal. Not metal as in colour, but as in construction.

"Uh oh. Robotic Yoshi here, folks…" Healthoshi backed off a little.

The machine got closer. It stopped about ten meters away from the group. It did seem friendly, with a smile on its robotic face and all. It spoke in an unintelligible garble.

The Yoshis stood confused.

"Pardon me, R2-D2," said Shockoshi, "but we're English-speakers here."

More robotic babble. Then text floated across its eyeballs.

Flamoshi started reading. "I…am…about…to…use…Avada…Kedavra. What?"

Earthoshi froze. "Did it really say 'Avada Kedavra'?"

"I think so. Is that bad?"

"It is if you've got a magic wand in your hands."

"Avada Kedavra?" Timoshi got a quick fix in the Guide. "Also known as…the Killing Curse. Meaning: 'What I see is destroyed'."

The machine's eyes glowed red.

"I don't know about you," said Windoshi, "but I don't think we want to get in this guy's sensorsight!"