^.^ It's GREAT to be back :D And you'll all be happy to see that it's a LONG Chapter! Well I'm gonna keep it brief ON with CHAPTER 23!

As soon as the sun came up Yoshi had been revitalized, with a great sense of determination. He observantly scanned to make sure he hadn't overlooked Shelly's steps. He had left Birdo at home, as for once she had Finally gotten a decent amount of sleep. As his house disappeared from sight Yoshi suddenly noticed that something wasn't right about the landscape. As Yoshi looked around a strange sight suddenly caught his attention. To the right of him were a few bushes the flowers in front of them were withered.

"Flowers don't wither this early in the season…."

Curious Yoshi knelt down and took one of the withering plants in his hand.

"This ISN'T a natural occurrence….."

As Yoshi stared more closely at the plants, something caught his full attention. Behind the bushes were footprints. Yoshi stared closely at them, they were obviously Yoshi footprints and they were too small to be an adults'. Yoshi's heart leapt.

"SHELLY!"

Yoshi gave a gasp of overwhelmed relief. These were unmistakably Shelly's footprints. Yoshi overtaken with excitement jumped over the bushes to get a closer look at the footprints. FINALLY after weeks of searching he had FINALLY found some clue as to the whereabouts of his daughter. However within seconds of staring at the footprints Yoshi felt a cold sensation flow through his body, he gulped as he stared at the sight before him. At first his daughter's footprints started at where Yoshi had stood, as if she too had seen the wither flowers and had stopped to look at them. However as Yoshi investigated further the footprints had suddenly turned unsteady, at which one point what seemed to be skid or drag marks marked the ground. Yoshi felt overwhelming fear as it was obvious that Shelly had been forcibly taken. Yoshi looked around for any other obvious footprints to identify the possible offenders. However a familiar voice caught his attention. Yoshi suddenly jumped as Birdo came running towards him.

"Yoshi, a messenger has just come from the Mushroom Kingdom. It's Mario, he wants us to come back to the Mushroom Kingdom, he said it was urgent!" Birdo gasped. Yoshi felt his heart stop for a second, what could it possibly be?

An hour later Yoshi and Birdo hastily arrived back at the Mushroom Kingdom. Rushing into town they finally caught sight of their Friends. After a brief discussion Mario had explained to Yoshi and Birdo, the occurrence that had transpired while they had been gone.

"Several days ago we received word about artifacts from the Star Temple going missing" Mario explained. Yoshi turned to Birdo. Everyone was aware of the importance of Star Temple in fact the ONLY ones to have ever been there had been Mario Luigi and Yoshi himself, but that had been to stop the destruction of the World. Only the chosen were permitted to enter, so not just any petty crook would be able to obtain such important items. "As it turns out the Star guards have just uncovered that said artifacts in the Temple are fakes…." Yoshi and Birdo jumped.

"The Star guards have become certain that the Artifacts had been stolen long before…" Peach finished.

"What kind of Artifacts did they steal?" Birdo asked, shocked at the situation. You'd have to be Mad, Evil or BOTH to Dare steal from the Star Temple. At this question Mario and the others frowned at Yoshi and Birdo.

"According to them…it was some sort of prophecy…" Mario answered.

"A Prophecy…..?"

"And along with that Prophecy an item that is said to have the power to….Steal the Essence of Being…."

"! Essence of Being….."

"What kind of prophecy?" Birdo asked. Mario's face had become serious.

"The possible destruction of the World…" Yoshi and Birdo jumped.

"Destruction of the World…"

"They didn't give us much detail than that, only the Star Gate has heard the prophecy in it's entirety…but as all of us know the Star Gate is in No luxury to come tell us…" Mario finished. Just as Yoshi was about to speak, the Friends were suddenly silenced by a faint noise.

"P….Parry…Parry…"

Everyone suddenly turned to see Koop.

"P…Parry…." he whimpered wincing his head turning to his left.

"Koop….he…he's waking up" Peach whispered her voice returning. All the adults hastily surrounded the young KoopaTroopa's bed. To all their relief Koop's eyes suddenly twitched. Slowly his eyes opened, immediately he recognized the figures standing around him.

"Parry" he whispered his eyes full of anxiety. "Wh….where's Parry" he choked panicked, attempting to sit himself up. However the pain in his body, along with Peach's urgent movement to stop him, caused him to lie back down with a grimace.

"She's right here Honey" Peach whispered in a reassuring soothing voice. Koop quickly turned to his left to see his sister laying in the bed next to him. His face fell as he saw his sister struggling to breathe, he even caught a glance of Dash.

"Are they gonna be alright…..?" Koop whispered his voice trembling. At first none of the Adults replied. "Will….they?" Koop asked again, this time more desperate, his voice almost cracking. Peach finally decided to be the one to speak.

"All 3 of you were badly hurt Koop…..The Doctor said you all had fallen into a coma…." she told him gently, knowing the fact itself would probably terrify the young KoopaTroopa. Koop gulped as he turned to his sister.

"H-How long have I been unconscious?" he whispered his voice trembling.

"Almost a week, Koop….." Peach told him gently. Koop's entire body jerked.

"Wha…What about our Parents?" he asked urgently. All 6 Adults gave sympathetic glances.

"They already know Koop, they'll be back soon" Peach answered. For a moment Koop didn't say anything.

"My Parents….are mad at me….aren't they…" he finally whispered, glancing again at his sister, his eyes suddenly filling with tears.

"No Koop, they'll be relieved to see that you're alright" Peach answered immediately. Koop's eyes began to sting.

"But…Parry isn't….I was suppose to…." Koop started when suddenly…..

"Big….Brother…."

Came a faint whisper, Koop suddenly turned to see his sister. Parry winced in pain, but slowly her eyes began to open. She gave a faint breath, then slowly turned towards Koop.

"Did we stop them….Big Brother?" she whispered with pleading eyes. Koop's eyes watered again but then widened as if in shock.

"No…Parry….we didn't" he whispered as if ashamed. Parry quickly turned to her left to see Dash laying on the bed next to her.

"We were NO match…."

Everyone jumped when they realized that Dash had just spoken, a bit of joy rushed through all 6 Adults' bodies as finally all 3 children were awake.

"Is everyone else okay?" Parry suddenly asked. "What about Mommy and Daddy?" Koop and Dash both gave slight sighs.

"They'll be back soon Parry" Peach answered. Koop suddenly made a great effort to sit himself up.

"Did anyone catch those Thugs?" he asked quickly. Sadness plagued every Adults' face.

"Can any of you tell us, what the people who attack you all looked like?" Peach asked.

"We couldn't really see facial features they looked like shadows….." Koop answered shaking his head.

"But the Leader, his laugh…" Dash suddenly chimed in. All 3 children suddenly shivered.

"It was SOoooo creepy…." Parry whispered shuddering. Koop shuddered as well in agreement. "Almost like a witch laughing…." Parry finished shivering again. At that moment all 6 Adults froze.

"A Laugh like a Witch?"

A shiver also spread through the Adults. Mario suddenly gave his attention to the Children.

"Did the Leader of them say anything specifically to any of you?" he quickly asked the urgency in his voice apparent. All 3 children thought for a moment.

"…..Not to the 3 of us….Except when we attempted to fight back…." Koop answered unsure.

"He seemed more interested in talking to Ilario, Angela and Azalea….." Dash finished. Mario, Luigi, Peach and Daisy turned to each other.

"He talked as if he knew us…..he knew ALL our names, how old we were, who our Parents were EVERYTHING!" Parry said the fear in her voice apparent. Koop, Parry and Dash all glanced at each other fear shivered down their spines. All 6 Adults turned to each other in fear, they had a foreboding on who the person was…but they didn't want to believe it, NOT after so many years had past and NO sign of them….

"How did the Leader attack?" Mario suddenly asked. All 3 children looked at the 6 Adults.

"Some kind of Magic Staff….he even used what looked like a broom a few times too….." Dash slowly answered. All 6 Adults felt their hearts stop, their worst fear had been realized only ONE being had that appearance and THOSE kind of RUTHLESS attacks…..and EVEN worse the person in which he worked under.

"KAMEK"

All 6 Adults said out loud.

"Bowser is back….." Mario suddenly said out loud. Yoshi and Birdo shuddered in fact EVERYONE shuddered. Koop, Parry and Dash stared shocked. Bowser was behind this? The Villain they had been told Never to mention for years Despite NEVER being heard from for many years, was the one behind this. Yoshi suddenly jumped, WHY hadn't he thought of this sooner.

"THAT'S how he managed to steal from Star Temple" All the Adults turned to him. "He's one of the Star Children, THAT'S why he was permitted into the Star Temple!" Everyone was shocked. Why HAD that thought slipped all of their minds? Despite their fear and even anger, Peach slowly turned to the 3 children.

"You 3 did a GREAT job" she whispered. "We'll inform your Parents that you're ALL awake…"

"Can't we help?" Parry asked meekly. Peach smiled at the 3 children.

"You've helped a lot, you can help us by getting some rest. Your Parents will be RELIEVED to see that you all are alright." She finished giving another warm smile to the children.

As Mario and the other Adults left the room.

"How are we suppose to find Bowser? His Castle has been vacant for all these YEARS!" Luigi suddenly asked, still shocked that Bowser had been the one behind this treachery all along.

"He must have moved to another location, so we wouldn't have suspected that it was him…" Mario suddenly growled.

"What about Star Temple?" Peach suddenly suggested. "Maybe the Star Gate will have some information about where Bowser can be…."

"And we can even ask about that Prophecy" Daisy chimed in. Everyone nodded in agreement.

"But how are Daisy and I suppose to get in?" Birdo suddenly asked. "We aren't one of the 7 Star Children. Yoshi turned to his Wife.

"That is only to gain ENTRY INTO Star Temple" he replied. "Star Gate is the one who decides who can enter and he is the one we need to speak to about the Prophecy" Everyone nodded in agreement. Mario suddenly called for one of the Toad Guards.

"Inform Surge, Lilli, Phoenix and Karrie that their Children have regained consciousness and also have Toadsworth come to see us as well" The Toad Guard nodded.

"Yes King Mario" Ten minutes went by and Toadsworth met up with the Adults.

"Toadsworth, Koop, Parry and Dash have just informed us of the culprits" Peach started, Toadsworth looked relieved.

"They have regained consciousness!" he gasped. Peach smiled at him and nodded. "Oh Thank Goodness" he whispered.

"We are going to make our way to Star Temple, can you call Professor E. Gadd over so he can transport us there?" Peach finished. Toadsworth looked nervous.

"Star Temple…have you perhaps discovered who the culprit is?" he asked slowly. Peach nodded slowly at him.

"We're afraid Bowser has been behind this all along" Mario answered, knowing the news would come as quite a shock to the elderly Toad.

"BOWSER!" Toadsworth gasped indeed shocked. "But he hasn't been heard from in all these Years!" Peach nodded.

"Yes, we know Toadsworth but it is vital that we get to Star Temple as soon as possible, can you please alert the Professor?" Peach replied rather urgently.

"Yes, yes My Dear I will see to it right away…." Toadsworth said out of breath.

WELL looks like our Heroes have FINALLY discovered WHO was behind Ilario, Angela and Azalea's kidnapping, along with a little help from Dash, Koop and Parry :D YES! Looks like Dash, Koop and Parry are finally awake ^.^ I even mentioned their Parents ^^; Also in regards to Star Temple...The whole "having to be a Star Child to enter" is something I added, anyone who has played Mario and Luigi Partners in Time will know that, only those with Pure Hearts can enter...not just restricted to Star Children, but I decided to change it a bit along with the mention that Yoshi has been to Star Temple as well (which technically Game Wise Yoshi hasn't, But a LOT could happen in 16+ years) Well I hope you all enjoyed Chapter 23 SEE YA ALL NEXT TIME! THANKS EVERYONE! Don't forget to review and vote for your Favorite Character :D