"Wow… look at all these new plants," Koopie said casually as the group continued to walk through the jungle of Lavalava Island. "They're all so colorful and varied… I know we've only been walking for a dozen yards, but are you sure we didn't somehow wander onto a different island?"

"Actually, we have," Rachel replied. "Er, wait, that might not have happened yet… nevermind!"

"It's okay, Koopie, you're definitely not the first person to be mystified by the ecology on this island," Goommaria said as she ducked under a large purple flower. "I've heard about all sorts of stuff over the years, but even I have no idea what some of these plants are!"

"That's because the flora on this island is always changing, my dear," Kokorado said merrily, jotting down sketches and notes in a small journal as she jumped from stone to stone along the path. "You can thank the titular Mt. Lavalava for that. Not only is this island isolated from most of the rest of the world, but the lava flows constantly, scorching large sections of the rainforest. No plant can become dominant for too long, as the selective pressures are constantly changing. Combine that with the steady stream of nutrients that the volcano provides, and essentially you have the perfect Yikk dish for experimenting with plant life."

"Wow… that sure is a great way to say this place has a lot of gross weeds," Bow said, slapping a vine away from her face.

"Bark bark!" Chompy walked over to a particularly pretty-looking golden flower and leaned down to grab it with her teeth to keep as a souvenir.

"Up up up! Not so fast!" Kolorado rushed to stand in front of the Chain Chomp. "I'm sorry, but I'm afraid it's for the best if we disrupt the ecosystem as little as possible. You never know what damage picking even one flower might do, so please do your best just to look."

"Bark, bark…" Chompy looked disappointed, but relented and continued searching for the missing Yoshi kids.

"Well, Sushie here is a native of the island, so she has to know what's safe to touch and what's not, right?" Bombette pointed out. "I mean, she did help us out with those Hurt Plants."

"That's right, dear!" the motherly woman replied. "Although I'm more familiar with what's found by riverbanks, I can do my best to tell you anything you might want to know!"

"Awesome!" Bombette came to a stop next to what looked like a thornbush that was decorated with strange red flowers with white spots on them. "Can you tell me what this thing is? It looks a little strange, and I swear I keep seeing it out of the corner of my eye."

"Hmm… that's odd… I can't say that I've seen anything quite like that one before," Sushie admitted. "Though, it does look a lot like-"

"Gaaaaah!"

Before Sushie could finish her sentence, she was cut off by the piercing scream of a child.

"Help!" it called out. "Someone, anyone! I… I'm sick of this game!"

"Oh dear! Sounds like we'll have to stop and smell the flowers later; we have work to do!" Sushi said determinedly, taking off in the direction of the cry and not noticing the flowers she was just looking at sink mysteriously into the ground.

"Hello? Yoshi kid? Where are you?" Koopie called out as the group fanned out as fast as they could. "This isn't good… any sign of her yet, girls?"

"No, nothing yet!" Bombette answered, picking up a large rock to check underneath. "Hey, where are you, kid? We can't find you anywhere!"

"I… I don't know!" the kid answered, terrified but honest. "It's so dark in here, I can't even tell which way is up and which way is down! H-help!"

"Dammit… the voice is too echoey for some reason; I can't tell where it's coming from," Goommaria swore under her breath.

"Well, we did our best," Nita said as she took a seat onto a small stump. "I say we dress a pineapple up in her clothes and hope no one notices she's not really back at the village."

"Oh hush, you! We can't give up hope yet!" Sushie said angrily. "Now, we just have to think about where she could possibly be… think think think!" The fish girl slapped her own face with her palms a few times to try and get the gears inside turning, but they remained stubbornly rusted still. "Rachel, do you have any idea where to find her?"

"Huh? Where to find her? You mean that didn't happen last week?" the Raven girl asked idly atop a nearby palm tree. "If that's the case, we should be able to find her over… I forget."

"You forgot, huh? That sure is useful," Bow said sarcastically underneath the tree's shade. "Maybe next time you should just eat some birdseed and save yourself the trouble."

"I'm sorry, but the place just wasn't that memorable, you know?" Rachel replied. "I mean, it was so dark, and damp, and grey… if you've seen one cave, you've seen them all!"

"A cave?" Sushie's slaps finally stopped. "Yes, of course! A cave! That's why we can't find her, her voice is being dispersed by a cave! Quick everyone, search for anything that might resemble a tunnel or a cave entrance! Even a small hole in the ground might be the key to finding her."

"Hmm…" Mario looked at the ground closely and noticed that the erosion in the soil led in two different directions. One was back toward the river they just came from, but the other was to an area slightly lower in the jungle. Following his instincts and experience in finding water damage, Mario pushed through the thick green bushes in the lower area and found a medium-sized cave entrance hidden behind it.

"Help! A-are you still there out there? I need h-help!" Mario heard the voice shout from the cave's black maw.

"Hey everyone, I think I found it!" Mario shouted, to which his party quickly gathered to stare into the cave behind him. "Uh… did anyone happen to bring a flashlight of any kind?"

"Of course. Koopas are always prepared for emergencies, you know," Koopie replied, her arms disappearing into her shell for a few moments before coming back out with a flashlight. She then turned it on and shined it into the cave for just a few moments before the light began to flicker and go out. "Oh, shoot… does anyone have any batteries?"

"I'm afraid the only batteries I have use lemon juice to create a charge, dear," Kolorado replied as the others shook their heads. "Does anyone else have anything we could use to light the way?"

"Of course, I always keep an emergency flashlight on me," Nita volunteered.

"That's great!" Mario smiled, but that quickly faded when he realized that the Shy Gal hadn't taken said flashlight out. "Well? Aren't you going to give it to us?"

"What? Heck no, that's for emergencies only," Nita replied.

"But this IS an emergency!" Bombette shouted. "That kid is in danger!"

"Yeah, but what if the sun were to go out all of a sudden? I can't risk that," Nita explained. "Sorry, but you're just going to have to use something else. Have you considered using those pineapples as matches?"

"Augh, we don't have time for this!" Bow rolled her eyes and floated to the cave entrance. "I'm a Boo, so I actually see better in the dark. Just follow behind me, and we'll find the brat that way."

"Bark bark!" Chompy ran to the cave entrance as well, her own sensitive eyes sparkling in the sunlight.

"Well, you guys have fun in there. I'll be out here, where at least I can see any monsters that try to see me coming." Nita walked over to a nearby stump and promptly sat herself down.

"..." Koopie sat down next to Nita and placed a hand on her shoulder. "You go on ahead Mario, I'll help keep Nita company while you're gone."

"Okay. I promise, we'll be back as soon as we can," Mario assured them. And with that, he followed behind Bow and Chompy into the dark, damp depths of the cave.

"So… what's the matter?" Koopie asked her Shy Gal pal as Mario and the others disappeared into the cave.

"What are you talking about? I'm fine," Nita insisted, sitting down on a large, moss-covered rock. "You know I don't like the dark, and it's not like another person bumbling around in the cave would have made much of a difference."

"Yes, it would have made a difference; you would have been there, and they would have liked being with you," Koopie pointed out. "I mean, we are your friends now, aren't we?"

"Yeah, I guess so…" Nita rubbed the back of her head bashfully. "Though I'm still not sure how much good I'd be."

Koopie sighed and sat down next to Nita. "Look, I know you took a big hit to your confidence after General Gal stripped you of your title, but you can't let yourself keep getting bogged down like this. How are you going to get back on your feet if you keep acting like this?" Koopie could see Nita's eyes look away through her mask. "Well… I can't make you believe in yourself, I guess, but… if it means anything… I believe in you!"

Koopie then pulled the Shy Gal into a tight hug, which was made slightly awkward by her turtle shell covering her back, but she didn't let that stop her. She just kept hugging Nita and waiting to see if she'd reciprocate or push back, and eventually… she felt her arms embrace hers.

"Yeah… I guess being a downer like this just makes me even more worthless, huh?" Nita asked her, enjoying the feeling of the Koopa woman's warmth for a few moments before leaping up off her makeshift seat. "You know what? I don't care if it's dark or scary in there! I'm going to go in anyway, and help my new… f-friends!"

"Yes! Good job!" Koopie clapped her hands together enthusiastically. "Now, let's go in before they get too- eh?" The Koopa stopped as she thought she heard a branch breaking somewhere behind her. "Wait… what was that?"

"Wow… so Boos really can glow in the dark," Sushie observed as she followed the faint shimmer of Bow's skin and green hair. "I always assumed that was just an exaggeration."

"Of course we do, there's hardly any point in baring your fangs at someone if they can't see it, you know," Bow answered, annoyed.

"Yeah, those fangs of yours are pretty effective, aren't they?" Rachel chuckled nostalgically, as if remembering the antics of an old friend. "Why, I remember one time when you accidentally-"

"Ssssh! Hold on a second!" Goommaria interrupted. "I think I hear something…"

"Sniff sniff… w-where is everyone?" the voice of a sad little girl whispered in the dark. "I don't care about winning anymore… I just want to go home!"

"Hmm… I think I can tell where it's coming from." Bow flew carefully around a corner of the cave and spotted a young Yoshi girl with yellow skin huddled up into a ball, softly crying to herself. "Ah, perfect, there you are!"

"Eh?" The Yoshi girl opened her eyes and the first thing she saw was Bow's sharp teeth and glowing semi-transparent skin in the darkness, her eerie emerald eyes staring directly into her soul as the Boo reached out to grab her arm. "Gaaaaah! Help! Someone help me! I don't want to get eaten by a monster!"

"Ah, so that was a thing that was about to happen again," said Rachel. "My bad… I have to say, this was a lot funnier in retrospect."

"Get away from her this instant, you're scaring the poor thing half to death!" Sushie wasted no time in pushing Bow out of the way and taking the scared dino-girl into her arms. "There there, everything's alright. There's no reason to be scared… you're safe now."

"S-Sushie?" The Yoshi girl stifled "A-are you sure?"

"Yes, of course; I'd never lie to my sweet baby girl!" The Cheep then picked the Yoshi up and cradled the girl in her arms as she began to sing. Mario couldn't understand the lyrics, but the soft and soothing melody was something they could all understand, and it even gave him flashbacks to his own mother caring for him when he was young. Eventually, the Yoshi's breathing calmed down and the crying stopped, leaving only the sound of Sushie's voice echoing through the cave.

"There.. Do you feel better now, sweetie?" asked Sushie.

"Y-yeah… though, I could probably use a snack," the Yoshi answered.

"Hahah! Of course! You can have as many snacks as you want when we get you back home!" Sushie kissed the girl on the forehead and turned around. "Now, let's get going, shall we?"

Mario and his friends all let out a sigh of relief and began following their tracks back toward the bright mouth of the cave. Bow still needed to be at least a little bit in the front so they could see, but she made sure not to get too close to the kid again this time.

"Tch… dumb brat…" Bow grumbled to herself. "If I actually wanted to scare you, you wouldn't feel safe again…"

"Alright, we're all back outside again, safe and sound!" Sushie said happily as they stepped back out into the light. "You can open your eyes again, now."

"H-huh?" The young girl's eyes fluttered open. "M-my eyes weren't shut! They were open the whole time, b-because I'm brave like that!"

"Right, of course you are!" Sushie patted the girl on the head and put her back onto the ground. "But maybe the next time you feel like being 'brave', you should think about the possibility that something like this might happen again; and how I might not be there to save you when that happens~"

"Y-yes, ma'am! I promise, I won't forget!" the Yoshi said hastily.

"Wow; the classic 'pretending to be sweet while actually threatening you' routine," said Goommaria. "Classic… my abuela did that with me all the time."

"Yes, yes, very good; we'll escort you back to your village as soon as possible, but I'm afraid most of us will have to keep going to find the rest of your friends," Kolorado interjected. "Perhaps Koopie could serve as your guide back home?"

"Hey… wait a second…" Bombette's long ponytail whipped through the air behind her as her head scanned the jungle. "Where is Koopie? Or Nita, for that matter? Weren't they sitting out here just a minute ago?"

"Yeah, they were…" Mario scratched his head under his hat. "Do you think they had to go to the bathroom or something?"

"Maybe… it has been a little while." Goommaria scratched her chin.

"Say, is it just me, or have the bushes around here suddenly gotten a lot… thicker since we were last here?" Bow asked curiously.

"Huh? Bushes?" Sushie suddenly felt the small scales on her cheeks stand on end. "Wait, those aren't bushes! It's an-"

"Ambush!" the bushes suddenly shouted before seemingly uprooting themselves and tossing themselves at Mario and his friends. The group all scrambled to dodge the incoming blows of leaves and twigs, everything too much of a flurry to tell what was actually going on. Eventually, though, they managed to step back into the mouth of the cave and finally got a good look at their attackers.

Their attackers, it turned out, were a group of strange women with piercing red eyes. They seemed to be completely naked, but somehow, they each had clouds of leaves hovering above their upper chests and their groins, keeping them decent. They also had deviously sharp teeth that would have given even Bow and Chompy a run for their money, and skin that was almost wood-like in its dark brown tone.

"M. Bushes, to be more precise," One of the three bush girls announced as the other two snickered beside her. "And I must say, you have all fallen into our little trap just perfectly! If it wasn't for your little friend blowing our cover a moment earlier, you would all be eating mulch right now!"

"Ah, I've heard of these women before," Kolorado said, seemingly unperturbed by nearly having her clock cleaned a moment earlier. "M. Bushes… women who have communed with plants for so long that they've almost become one with them. Though, rather than making them more serene or contemplative, they usually use their abilities to pull pranks and rob people blind."

"Yes ma'am, you've got us pegged down to a tree," an M. Bush replied, trying to mock Kolorado's posh accent and somehow coming across as Southern instead. "And it seems to me that you have all sorts of baubles and doo-dads that would be very valuable on this island. Why, I bet some tribes would give us a whole house just for the buttons on your overalls there! Among… other things we could take from you~"

"Ah, such is the life on an island that gets basically no trade," Kolorado mused. "But I'm afraid we cannot be giving you anything, buttons or otherwise! We have a child that we need to return home as soon as possible; not to mention, we have missing friends that likely need our help."

"Oh, I wouldn't worry about your friends too much; they've comfortable where they're at," the bush girl replied ominously. "And as for the kid… just forget about her! She can survive out here on her own, and besides… you can always just make more with us!"

"I, uh, don't think we're going to be negotiating our way out of this one…" Goommaria said under her breath.

"S-Sushie? I'm scared… w-what's going to happen?" the Yoshi girl, still in the nanny's arms, asked.

"Shh, there there, it's going to be alright… we're not going to let anything happen to you," Sushie whispered, running her fingers through the girl's hair.

"Yeah, totally, we get out of this little scrape without so much of a scratch," Rachel added.

"R-really?" The Yoshi kid looked over at the Raven. "You mean, you've already seen this?"

"Yeah, of course!" she replied with a previously unheard level of confidence. "I wouldn't make up something like that. You have my word!"

"Blah, blah, blah… that's all very sweet and all, but every stakeout has to come to an end eventually, you know," one of the bush girls interrupted. "So are you going to give up, or are you going to have to make us do a little… hedge trimming?"

"As if! Like we'd ever give in to bullies like you!" Bombette declared, her fuse lighting. "Bring it on! Let's see how you can handle yourselves when you're not fighting like cowards!"

"Well, if you insist…" The three bush girls all shrugged as the leaves on the forest floor began to levitate up into the air. "But don't think we've lost the element of surprise just yet!"

The leaves then shot themselves at the group at lightning speed, creating what could only be described as a blinding flurry of green chlorophyll. The leaves were going so fast that it was almost like being trapped in a tornado, and they found themselves even more blind than they were in the cave.

"Ack!" Mario shielded his eyes with one hand while the other reached for his hammer. "Everyone, stick together! They're trying to get us to panic, but if we stay here. they won't be able to pick us off!"

"You mean, just sit here like rats in a trap? Augh…" Bow took out her fan and began swatting away as many of the leaves as she could. "If this gets us killed, I hope they don't put my grave next to yours."

"What's the matter, mainlanders? Feeling a little skittish?" one of the girls teased through leaves. "It's okay to be scared… after all, you're all out of your league! Alone and afraid… right now, the only hope you might have is to get back to your village for help… but there's no way you'd get back in time!"

"Gnngh…" Goommaria winced and felt the urge to flee, but Mario's hand on her shoulder kept her steady and her nerves calm. The situation was tense, but they still weren't attacking yet - and she knew that meant that all they needed was an opening and they'd be able to turn the tables.

In the end, that opportunity came to none other than Chompy, whose keen eyes could pierce through the mist of leaves enough to spot the bush girls inching forward. Sensing that this could be her only chance, she carefully curled up her tail behind her like a spring until the M. Bushes were only a few feet away… before pouncing on them like a wolf hunting its prey.

One of the M. Bushes saw the Chain Chomp coming fast enough to dodge out of the way, but the other wound up being tackled to the ground. She tried to resist for a few moments, but that quickly stopped when she looked up and saw just how many sharp teeth were staring back at her.

"Uh oh… that's not according to plan," one of the other two said a few feet away, the leaves in the air starting to thin. "But that's okay! Because we still have lots of surpr-"

"Surprise!" Bombette shouted just before leaping at the Mono who was just speaking. Again, she managed to dodge out of the way of the actual blow, but what she wasn't counting on was the shockwave that came after. She was not only blown right off her feet, but her leaves were blown off her body as well, leaving her completely naked as they flew away in the breeze. That left just one of the M. Bushes standing, and she looked around nervously as the rest of Mario's group surrounded her.

"I, uh… think it would be best if I were to… do a reverse ambush now." Turning on her heel, she tried to turn and run, but she found herself face-to-face with a woman with glowing green skin, glowing red eyes, and fangs that looked like they could bite her face off. "Gaaaah!?"

"Gaahahaha!" Bow laughed maniacally as the M. Bush fell backwards onto the ground. "Now that… is how I mean to scare someone."

"Wow… so cool!" the Yoshi kid said with sparkles in her eyes. "You actually did it! You managed to beat all of them!"

"Hey, it was nothing; this is just what we do!" Gommaria said as confidently as she could. "Though, I don't think we're done with these girls quite yet."

"Yeah! What about our friends?" Bombette picked up the closest M. Bush by her throat and pulled back her fist. "You better tell us where our buds are right now, or you're going to find out what ten tons of TNT feels like on your nose!"

"Gaah!" The bush girl struggled and kicked her feet helplessly in the air. "They're fine, they're fine! Really! We just gagged them and tied them to a tree a few yards that way, I swear!"

Bombette turned her head toward Mario, who nodded in response and went to go check in the area the Mono had pointed to. Sure enough, they found what appeared to be the remnants of some makeshift vine ropes around a tree, clearly cut rather recently.

"H-huh?" The M. Bush blinked in confusion. "They were just there a moment ago! You have to believe me!"

Chompy got up off the M. Bush she was pinning and bounded over to the remnants of the vines, sniffing the ground curiously until she found some fresh tracks leading off into the distance. "Bark bark!"

"Well, given the traces of sugar around the tree, I'd say your Shy friend was definitely here," Kolorado added, kneeling to inspect the trunk. "But that just leaves the question of where they've run off to."

"Maybe it was more M. Bushes?" Goommaria suggested. "They could have taken them off somewhere else to use as hostages."

"Maybe… but then there hardly would have been a point in tying them to a tree if they had companions, would there?" Kolorado pointed out. "And if they had freed themselves, then they surely would have re-emerged by now."

"Well… as much as I hate to admit it, there are plenty of groups of Mono on this island who could have taken them," said Sushie.

"Grr… fine." Bombette released her hold on the bush girl she was holding in her hand. "You're free to go for now… but if we ever catch you messing with us, our friends, OR the Yoshi kids again… you're going to regret it. Vy ponimayete?"

The M. Bush in front of her sweated and swallowed loudly. "Y-yes, ma'am! I promise, you won't ever hear from us again!"

With that, the bush girls hastily gathered up all their leaves and ran into the jungle, disappearing into the thick green underbrush.

"Okay… so how are we going to handle this, Mario?" Bow asked, floating back into the safety of the shade. "We need to find our friends before they get too far, but we also have to get this kid home before we're attacked all over again."

"Hmm, that's a good question." Mario closed his eyes and scratched his mustache. "I think it'd be best if just one of us escorted the kid back to the village. We'll need as many people out here with us to try and find everyone else who's missing, but there shouldn't be too many surprises on the way back."

"Alright… then I suppose I'll be the one to escort the little one ba-" Sushie began to say, only to be interrupted by an unexpected source.

"No! I want to go with Bow!" The Yoshi girl in Sushie's arms declared. "She's so cool! There's no way the bad guys will attack if she's with me!"

"You… want to be with me?" Bow began to blush brightly, but quickly took out her fan to hide behind it. "Well, I do suppose I can use my invisibility to avoid being seen… but I expect you to be on your best behavior! That means no crying this time!"

"Teehee! Don't worry, I promise!" The Yoshi replied.

Sushie smiled softly and handed the little girl over to her Boo companion. "Okay. If you get lost, just be sure to follow the smell of fruit, and you'll be back at the village in no time. Just promise you'll keep her safe, okay?"

"You have my word," Bow replied solemnly. And with that, she disappeared even faster than the M. Bushes had, literally fading out of existence.

"Now, let's go get our friends back, right now!" Mario declared confidently. "We might not know who took them, but the longer we wait around here, the harder it will be to find them! So let's not waste a second more!"

"Yeah! What he said!" Goommaria said with a shout and jump. 'Now that's the Mario I've heard stories about!"

"Chompy, do you still have their scent?" Mario asked his dark-skinned friend.

"Hmm…" The Chain Chomp sniffed the ground and sat up smiling, her chain tail wagging and thrashing the green foliage behind her. "Bark bark!"

"Then start following it, and don't stop until we've got them!" Mario ordered.

"Bark bark!" Compy saluted with her tail and took off running, her bright white cloak leading the way as they went in search of the lost Koopie and Nita.

"Ooooh…" Koppie groaned, her head throbbing as she regained consciousness. The last of what she could remember, she and Nita were gagged and bound to a tree by strange bush women, there was a strange smell, and then… nothing. "What happened… where am I?" she mumbled into her leafy gag. It was hard for her to move her head, but eventually she was able to crane it over to see that she was lying on the jungle ground next to Nita. It was hard to tell if she was awake too with her mask still on, but she could somehow sense the Shy Gal's quiet resentment. She then turned her head a bit more and saw two women standing above them; one with red skin and white hair, and the other with yellow skin and red hair, both wearing what appeared to be dresses made out of giant flower petals that matched their hair. Upon a closer look, though, Koopie realized that the word 'standing' might not have fit the two, as their green, vine-like feet were connected directly to the ground.

"Wow, I can't believe that we actually got that lucky," the plant girl with the red skin said with a wide, toothy smile. "I mean, here we were, tailing those guys trying to come up with a good attack plan, only for two of them to get tied up for us by someone else!"

"I know, right? Makes me wonder exactly how lucky we're going to get," her comrade said as she grabbed a partly-rotting berry off a nearby bush and tossed it into her mouth.

"Hey, who knows; with Bowsa and the Star Rod on our side, almost anything is possible," the first replied. "Still, the fact that Mario and his mates are here certainly isn't a good thing. I don't want the boss to lose; do you have any idea how hard it is to get a job as an ex-minion?"

"Hey, don't worry about it; everything's already set in motion. Even if they tried to stop us, there's no stopping the boss from taking over the island now." the other said. "So just sit back and soak up a few more rays before we finish taking them back to base, and then we'll-"

The plant girl was interrupted by a sudden rustling from the berry bush that the yellow plant girl had just eaten from.

"Ah! Guess I spoke too soon!" the red one said as her casual demeanor instantly fell away to a cold military discipline. "Alert! Alert! Reveal yourself at once, spy, or prepare to be immediately mulched!"

"Eeep!" A soft, young voice squealed from somewhere inside the bushes."P-please don't hurt me! O-or tell the others where I'm hiding… I really want to win this time!"

"Huh… well, would you lookie here; we caught ourselves a little shrimp of a sheila!" Relaxing, the yellow plant girl reached into the bush and pulled out a Yoshi kid with tan skin and dark brown hair out by her collar. "What are you doing out here all alone? Don't you know it's dangerous out here in the brush?"

"I-I was just trying to play… hide and seek!" she hastily explained, tears welling in her eyes. "I wasn't trying to spy on you, I swear! I-if you put me back, I won't tell anyone about your evil plans! Cross my tongue, and hope to fly!"

"Oh, you won't be telling anyone alright… but that's because you'll be too busy having fun with us!" The yellow plant girl turned to her red friend and began to wind up her arm like she was pitching a rugby ball. "Hey, go long!"

"Yaaaah!" The Yoshi kid screamed in terror as she flew through the air, fully expecting to come plummeting straight to the ground. But, to her surprise, the other plant girl's legs somehow grew several feet in an instant, allowing her to catch the little girl with ease in mid-air.

"Nice throw, mate!" the red one said, her sharp smile sending shivers down the Yoshi's spine. "Now it's your turn! Let's see how fast you can react to this!"

'Oh no! Putrid Piranhas!' Koopie thought in a panic as she watched the whole thing unfold. 'They must have used their fumes to knock us out! We have to do something before that poor kid gets hurt!' Using her feet to rotate herself along the ground, Koopie began to kick at Nita's legs. "Hey! Nita!" she mumbled through her gag. "Quick, while they're distracted! We have to- ow!'

"Hey, I'm awake you know," the Shy Gal mumbled after kicking the turtle back. "You don't have to be rough!"

"S-sorry," the redhead apologized. "So… how do we get out of this one? Should we try to cut our bonds, or create a distraction, or maybe we can get help from…" Koopie trailed off as she realized that Nita wasn't paying attention to her. "What's wrong? You're not feeling down again, are you?"

"No, I'm fine, really," Nita insisted. "I just… wore out my failing muscle. I have to let it rest before I go and fail some more."

"Don't be like that… the best part of failure is that you get to try again, after all!" Inching along the ground like a heavy, shell-wearing worm, Koopie forced herself on top of the Shy Gal and tried to give the best hug that she could without any arms. "There there, it's okay…"

The two just lay there together for a few moments, trying to find peace together over the sound of the screaming kid in the background. Koopie hummed a song and Nita thought back to what it felt like to be invincible and helpful.

"So… are you feeling better now?" Koopie asked.

"Yeah… I think so." Nita took a deep breath and sat up, breaking out of her bonds and removing her gag with ease. "Now, let's show these Putrid girls what happens when they mess with our friends!"

"Huh? Did you hear something?" The red Putrid Piranha plant glanced behind her just in time for a red blur to suddenly collide with her side. She would have gone flying off into the sky, but her feet being literally rooted to the ground managed to save her. "Gah! What the hell? Who let you go?"

"That's the wrong question." Nita cracked her neck, which sounded strangely like a squeaky toy. "The right question… is how you're going to get out of this without all your petals plucked?"

"Hmmph! Hmmph! Hmmph!" Koopie crawled into view behind Nita and mumbled. "And I'm here too!"

"Oh, so you're a wise Gal, huh?" Spiky vines formed around the Putrid Pirhanna's fists like boxing gloves. "Well then, let's see if you're still smart after you get a load of this!"

Nita readied herself for a charge, but it never came. Instead, the Piranha disappeared into the ground, leaving her seemingly alone and confused. The instant the piranha began to pop up again, though, Nita did a quick jump into the air and brought her leg down hard onto the woman's skull, bruising it.

"Yow!" In pain, but not deterred, the Putrid Piranha went in for another attack, throwing punches left and right and forcing the Gal to dodge constantly and back away. Driven on by the overhead sun, the Piranha Plant was relentless, but she couldn't land a solid blow no matter how hard she tried, and her friend was too busy restraining the Yoshi kid to help.

"Fuckin' cunt… why won't you… stay still!?" the red-skinned girl swore. "You can't keep running forever!"

"Yeah, probably not," Nita replied, putting all of her dodgeball experience to good use. "But I also know that we're making quite a bit of noise fighting like this, so all I have to do is hold out a little bit longer and-"

This time it was Nita's turn to be cut off as another fist made of vines surged forward - but this time, the vines came out of the ground and blindsided her. Before she could even realize what happened, she was knocked off her feet and sent flying through the greenery of the forest and into the trunk of a tree in the distance.

"Heh… got her!" The Putrid Piranha smiled wickedly and used the new vine hand to pat herself on the back. "Now, let's go tie her up and get out of… here…"

The Putrid Piranha turned around and trailed off as she spotted the large group of people, led by a certain red plumber and a Chain Chomp, that had wandered into the clearing.

"Excuse me! What on earth is going on here?" Sushie asked furiously.

"Oh, uh… we were just, uh… playing a game!" the yellow Putrid Piranha answered. "It's part tag, part hide-and-seek, part baseball! I wouldn't expect a mainlander to underst-"

"Help!" the tan Yoshi kid interjected, finally struggling free enough to shout something. "They were throwing me around in the air like I was a toy!"

"What!? Ooooh…!" Sushie's face reddened as she became so enraged that sweat began steaming off her skin.

"Uh oh," Rachel spoke up. "I was hoping that this wasn't going to happen until next week. If you're squeamish, I think you might want to look away."

"H-hey, take it easy, sheila! We didn't mean anything by it!" the red plant girl said, putting up her hands. "Sheila? Sheila? Ah, aaaaaaaaaaah!"

One solid thrashing later, and the two Putrid Piranha plants laid beaten and bruised on the ground, while the Yoshi kid was safe in her nanny's arms once again.

"Oh, are you okay, dear? Those mean women didn't hurt you did they?" Sushie asked as she hugged the young dinosaur to her chest.

"I'm okay, but… that was really scary." The Yoshi sniffled and wiped away her tears. "I don't want to go out of the village alone ever again! Not as long as I live!"

"Hmm… not sure why, but I think I've heard her say that a few times before…" said Rachel.

"Well, all's well that ends well, in my book," said Kolorado as she finally freed Koopie from her bonds. "But whatever happened to that Shy Gal fellow? She's not still hurt out in the jungle, is she?"

"No, I'm fine," Nita replied from right behind Kolorado, causing the researcher to jump.

"Great northern iceberg!" Kolorado shouted. "My apologies, I didn't see you there. Say, wasn't your jumper red earlier?"

"Hmm?" Nita looked down at her hoodie and saw that it had turned a light green in color. "Oh; it must have gotten stained from the vine punch, and all the plants that I fell through. I'm sure it will come out in the wash."

"Wow, you took a hit like that and you barely even noticed how much damage you took? Impressive," praised Bombette.

"Yes… she really did a great job out there." Koopie hugged her Shy Gal friend once more, causing her to blush straight through her mask.

"Alright, I think that's probably enough celebrating for now," Goommaria spoke up. "Mario, what's the plan from here?"

"That's easy. Bombette and Kolorado, you two trace our path back to town and make sure the Yoshi kid gets back safe," Mario replied. "Me and everyone else will keep searching for the last kid. If we're lucky, they won't be too far away."

"Yes sir!" Bombette smiled and took the kid from Sushie's arms. "Alright, kid. Behave, and I promise you'll be back home snacking on fruit in no time!"

"Yes, very good! And I can tell you both about the local foliage on the way back!" Kolorado grabbed a fallen leaf off the jungle floor and followed behind the blonde bombshell. "Now this specimen is a fine example of the fruitificus genus…"

"Well, at least she'll get a good nap on the way back," Sushie said under her breath before turning toward Rachel. "So, do you have any idea where we might find the last missing kid? Er, or maybe where we have already found her?"

"Hmm… no, I don't think so. I'm pretty sure I'd remember something as big as that happening," Rachel replied. "Like that time Goommaria lost the lottery by one number."

"Wait… I bought a lottery ticket before." The Goomba hastily ran up to the raven. "Do you happen to remember what the winning number was!?"

"Uh… I think it might have started with a two… or a three…" the Raven replied.

"Ooooof course… dias mia!" Goommaria stomped her foot in frustration.

"Well, if she can't help us using her powers, maybe she can at least fly above us?" Koopie suggested. "That way, she can try to spot some sign of her… or at least, see any big dangers before they come to us."

"Sure, I can do that." Rachel began flapping her arms and slowly ascended up into the air. "I'll let you know if there's anything worth talking about."

"Perfect… now, as for our prisoners…" Mario turned back to where the defeated Putrid Piranha plants laid and found that they had disappeared without a trace. "... Mama mia! Where did they run off to?"

"Aw, shoot… they can travel at superspeed through the soil, so they could be miles away by now!" Goommaria swore as everyone looked around.

"You don't think they could have gone after Bombette and Kolorado, do you?" asked Koopie.

"No. After what they went through, they're probably just licking their wounds somewhere," Sushie said determinedly. "But let's forget about them for now, we've wasted enough time here already! One of my babies still needs my help, and I won't rest until we find her!"

The Cheep woman then dashed into the forest, eyes peeled for even so much as a twig out of place.

"H-hey, wait for us! Geeze… her zeal is admirable, but it's still tiring," Gommaria groaned out as she ran alongside Koopie. "Say, Koopie, those girls didn't take anything from you or Nita, did they? You do have most of our supplies in that shell, after all…"

"Actually, I don't think those girls were bandits like the others," the turtle replied. "In fact, from what they talked about… I think they might have actually been working for Bowsa."

"Wait, what!?" Goommaria stumbled so hard in surprise that she nearly landed on her face, but she was lucky enough to use her mushroom cap to bounce back to her feet. "What exactly did they say?"

"I see…" Goommaria said to herself as the group stopped in a small clearing to rest. "So they want to use Bowsa's help to take over the whole island for themselves… as far as evil plans go, that's pretty basic. I'm also not sure how they plan to pull that off, since this island is so densely forested and full of varied tribes that you'd need an entire army to try and secure it - and even then, it probably wouldn't work."

"Oh, who cares about their silly plans? None of it will matter if we don't find that last kid!" Sushie said panickedly. "Oh, we've been searching for a while now and we haven't even so much as gotten a whiff of her!" Chompy nodded solemnly in agreement. "Oooh… where are you! Please, just give us a sign, anything!"

"Hey!" Rachel suddenly interjected from up above. "What are we yelling about?"

"The Yoshi kid, of course!" Sushie replied angrily. "Oh, can't you remember anything for more than five minutes?"

"Oh… do you mean that Yoshi kid over there?" Rachel raised one of the talons on her feet and pointed south. Everyone hastily turned in that direction and, sure enough, they spotted a young girl with purple skin sitting on top of a palm tree on the beach, snoring peacefully as she napped the afternoon away.

"There she is!" Sushie ran out onto the beach and struck the tree with her fist, causing the kid to fall perfectly into her arms. "Oh, thank goodness you're okay!"

"Mmmmaaaah!" The Yoshi kid yawned and opened her eyes casually. "Oh! Hey, Ms. Sushie! How are you doing?"

"How am I doing!? I was worried sick about you!" the fish girl replied. "We'd been searching for you and your friends all day! We managed to find the others, but you were so hard to find that we were getting close to giving up hope!"

"Wait, so you mean that I was the last one you found?" the Yoshi asked. "Sweet! That means that I won the game of hide-in-seek! In your face, girls! Ha ha ha!"

"Is that seriously all you have to say for yourself?" asked Mario. "You could have gotten lost, seriously hurt, or worse out there in the jungle!"

"Well, yeah, but I didn't," the kid pointed out. "If anything, this showed me that the forest is a lot more safe than I ever thought it was."

"Is that really the only thing you learned from all this?" Rachel asked as she landed.

"Yeah, that and rules are for suckers!" The Yoshi stuck out her long tongue mockingly before turning around and running back to her hometown, using the shoreline to guide her.

"Well… at least she's safe." Sushie let out a long sigh of relief. "Thank you, Mario, for all your help in this search. Without you, I don't think we ever would have found them all."

"Hey, don't mention it, I'm just happy we could help you out," Mario assured her. "Now, let's go make sure she makes it back safely, okay?"

"Right, of course!" Sushie smiled and together they all followed the purple Yoshi kid all the way back to the village, where they were greeted by a whole herd of cheering, crying Yoshis."

"Oh, you're back! And you finally returned the last little one!" Chieftess Bessie greeted boisterously. "Fantastic! Clearly, you are all friends to the Yoshi people!"

"I'm not sure if 'friend' is exactly the word I would use, but I do agree that you definitely owe us," Bow said as she, Kolorado, and Bombette rejoined their party. "So I hope you're ready to cash in that favor straight away."

"Of course! Anything you desire, we promise we will give it to you," Bessie replied.

"Well, as we tried to explain to you earlier, we need a way to reach the caves on Mt. Lavalava safely," Kolorado explained, stepping forward. "Unfortunately, there is a rather large lava flow blocking our path, and we need assistance to get around it somehow."

"Hmm… it pains me that you are still on such a dangerous quest, but at this point I know that nothing could dissuade you adventurers. Please, wait here." Bessie left the area for a few minutes and returned from a hut carrying what looked like a large green statue of a bird.

"Here, you may borrow one of our most sacred possessions; the Jade Raven," Bessie said, handing it to Kolorado. "Use it to call upon the leader of the Ravens, Raphael, at her temple in the jungle. If anyone can get you into the mountain, it will be her."

"Thank you, chieftess, I promise we will take good care of it," Kolorado said, bowing. "I suppose this is where we must give our goodbyes to Rachel and Sushie though, isn't it? I must say, it was quite fun having you both along for the ride, and we'll certainly miss you both."

"Actually… I don't think this has to be the end for us," Sushie countered, stepping closer to Mario. "It's clear to me that the kids that live here aren't going to be safe as long as Bowsa and her baddies are out running around! Plus, I can tell just by looking at you all that you don't have even a single good swimmer in your group. Let me go with you, and I promise there won't be a river we can't ford!"

"Yeah, and I can help too!" Rachel said with a soft smile as she landed on top of Sushie's head. "I know my view of time isn't always… helpful… but when it is, we can use it to know what the bad girls are going to do before they even realize that they're going to do it!"

"Uh, dear, as much as I'd love to go on this adventure with you, one of us is going to have to stay behind," Sushie said, looking up at the bird girl. "Without a nanny to help keep the Yoshi kiddos in line, who knows what kind of trouble they could get into?"

"Huh… looks like you have to decide which new partner you want yet again, Mario," Goommaria said, perfectly summarizing the situation. "So, which is it going to be? Sushie the Cheep Cheep or Rachel the Raven?"

A/N: Hey guys, it's me. Sorry I took so long, but at least I was able to publish this before the New Year. Now you'll have more time to make your decision! The choice this time is between Sushie the Cheep Cheep and Rachel the Raven. I decided on the latter when I realized it'd be kinda weird to make her a Yoshi since Miniyoshi would already be in the next story, so I made the 2nd choice a Raven since I figured you don't see too many of those in fan works. So on the one hand, she's got the typical leg strength you'd see in a Raven, and on the other, she has semi-reliable fortune-telling powers.

Just as a reminder, for Fanfic Dot Net, I won't be taking reviews as votes. Instead, I'll do it by poll on my user profile. But if you'd like to say who you'd prefer in a review, feel free to do so. Take care!

*Bad End #1*

"Well, if you insist…" The three bush girls all shrugged as the leaves on the forest floor began to levitate up into the air. "But don't think we've lost the element of surprise just yet!"

The leaves then shot themselves at the group at lightning speed, creating what could only be described as a blinding flurry of green chlorophyll. The leaves were going so fast that it was almost like being trapped in a tornado, and they found themselves even more blind than they were in the cave.

"Gah! Ew, I think I got one in my mouth!" Bombette complained, spitting out chunks of leaves. "That's it; I'm not going to just sit here and take it! I'm going to take the fight to them!"

"Wait, Bombette! Don't!" Mario shouted, but by then it was too late. Her fuse had been lit and she was charging toward where she thought the M. Bushes were, only to be easily tripped in her semi-blind state and covered by an avalanche of leaves.

"No! Bombette!" Goommaria rushed to help her friend, but she swiftly found herself meeting a very similar fate. "Pfft, no! Get off! I don't want to rake any leaves!"

"Yes, well, I do believe that this is the perfect time to run away in screaming terror. After me." Kolorado volunteered. "Ahem… aieeeeee!"

"Wait! Stop running!" Mario said desperately, but to no avail - all of his friends were all sprinting away into the storm of leaves as fast as they could. "You're just doing what they want you- ah!"

The leaves seemed to all be going directly for Mario's face now, blocking out his vision faster than he could block or throw them away.

"Heheh… looks like we managed to get ourselves a guy for once; how lovely~" the voice of one of the bush girls said through the flurry. "Should we finish robbing the rest of these suckers blind, or should we just focus on him?"

"Hey; suckers change like seasons, but guys are rarer than diamonds," said the other M. Bush. "Let's forget these losers and take our new man home, shall we?"

"Home?!" The third bush girl laughed maniacally. "Alright, let's do it! Let's introduce him to where he'll be living from now on… forever~"

Mario tried to keep fighting, but the leaves just kept coming. It wasn't long until he was completely buried and then… everything went dark.

"Gasp!" Mario suddenly shot up from where he was lying, gasping for breath as he thought he was still at the cave entrance ambush. However, when he looked around, there wasn't any sign of his friends, or the cave, or the forest for that matter. Instead, there just seemed to be leaves… lots and lots of leaves in every direction, forming some sort of ever-shifting tunnel around him. "What the… where is this?"

"Isn't it obvious? A voice said behind Mario, causing him to jump in surprise. "It's home!"

"Gah!" Mario turned around and instantly recognized the three M. Bushes who had kidnapped him. "You! What did you do with my friends? And what do you mean this place is 'home'?"

"Don't worry, we didn't do anything to your friends… other than attack them, of course," one of them answered. "And as to 'home'... well, this is our home; the House of Leaves! It's where every M. Bush lives; and where you live now, too!"

"What!? But I can't live here! I have a kingdom to save!" Mario pointed out. "Let me out of here right now, or else!"

"Hmm…" The M. Bush in the middle tapped her chin a few times. "Okay!"

"I mean it! I won't hold back even if you're-," Mario paused and shook his head. "Wait, what?"

"I said it's okay, moustache man," she reiterated. "You're free to leave whenever you want! All you have to do is reach the exit over there!"

Mario turned around and spotted the door at the far end of the hallway that the M. Bush was pointing to.

"Uh… okay. That was easier than I thought it would be. Thanks." Mario waved the trio goodbye and began walking down the hall toward the door. He expected to get there in only a few moments, but he soon grew suspicious of how the door didn't seem to be getting any closer. So, he increased his pace but even after a few minutes of walking he didn't seem to be making any progress. His walk soon evolved into a jog, the jog into a run, and the run into a sprint, and yet by the time he finally stopped panting and exhausted, he still wasn't any closer to achieving his goal.

"Wow, giving up on us already?" a familiar voice asked behind Mario. "And here I was hoping you'd at least make it a few inches."

"Gah!" Once again, Mario turned around and saw the three M. Bushes standing right behind him, exactly the same distance away as when he started. "What… what did you do? Is the floor moving under my feet, or is the hallway extending? Or…"

"Heheh, I don't know what you're talking about~" the Bush girl on the right said. "But if you can't make it to that door for some reason, there are other exits here in the house."

"And… where would those be?" Mario asked suspiciously.

"Teehee… you'll have to find those on your own~" The lead M. Bush stuck out her tongue before she and her friends disappeared down the door behind them. Mario sighed in irritation but, without any other viable options in front of him, he decided to follow behind them anyway. On the other side, Mario found himself in what could only be described as a surrealist painting. There were seemingly endless winding stairways, some on the walls and some on the ceiling, furniture like tables and chairs strewn about with no rhyme or reason, and it all seemed to stretch eternally in every direction.

"This… this can't be real…" Mario gasped as he stepped forward, his head spinning from the impossible sights in front of him.

"Hurry up~" one of the M. Bushes called out from somewhere within the maze. "You want to get back to your friends soon, don't you? Then you better get going!"

Mario grunted and pulled his hat hard onto his head to help reorient himself and began exploring through the strange 'home'. The leaves that seemed to coat this place crunched lightly under his feet with each step he took, serving as his only companion as he explored deeper into its nonsensical rooms. The plumber comforted himself in the fact that at least he was making some sort of progress now, but part of him couldn't help but wonder if that was just an illusion. Despite how varied the place seemed to be, the repeating furniture and the overall disorienting feel of the place made it impossible for Mario to figure out exactly how far he'd gone,

But, eventually, he was able to find something that he knew for certain he hadn't seen before; a bright red door.

"Finally!" Mario exclaimed as he pulled the handle. "Please, please be an exit to the out-mph"!

The instant Mario opened the door, the M. Bush who was waiting on the other side descended upon him, pulling him into a kiss and pulling him into the room before he could react.

"Mmm, congratulations, big guy! You found my room!" She congratulated as the leaves she had on in place of clothing fell away, revealing her perfectly smooth, nude body to her eyes. She swiftly jumped up into the air and wrapped her naked legs around Mario's waist, using her own momentum to pull him further into the room and eventually forcing him onto a small, white bed.

"Bwah!" Mario gasped as he was finally able to push the woman away, freeing his lips to breathe freely. "H-hey, get off me! I wasn't looking for your room, I was trying to get to the exit!"

"And you've done a great job looking so far, but you must be oh so tired~" the M. Bush teased as she pinned him to the bed and began stripping him of his clothes. Mario tried to fight back, but it was immediately obvious that she was right; from all his wandering and the running from earlier, he was completely exhausted. That combined with the woman's enhanced Mono strength meant that there was nothing he could do to push her off.

"So, just do yourself a favor and lie back and relax… I promise that I'll take care of everything for you!" The M. Bush giggled and pulled off Mario's overalls and underwear, revealing his flaccid dick, which she immediately began to play with. "Oooh, such a lovely little twig that you've got here! I hope you don't mind if I play with it for a while, do you?"

Without waiting for an answer, the girl began to rub her hands gently along his shaft, stroking it steadily to full hardness as she rubbed her sex against his stomach. "Mmm, nice and long; just how I like it!" She leaned down and gave Mario's dick a long kiss. "Hope you don't mind if I just… dig in!"

"Ah!" The M. Bush didn't wait for an answer, instead shoved it straight into her throat, causing Mario to gasp. Completely merciless, she began to bob her head up and down, forcing his sensitive shaft into her throat while her tongue swirled around his tip every opportunity it could. She eagerly swallowed down every single drop of precum she could, and her delicate fingers worked tirelessly to squeeze out even more by massaging his base. All the while, she kept grinding her hips back and forth, creating a small puddle of arousal on Mario's stomach and inundating his nose with the smell of her pussy.

"Mmm, tasty, tasty! Your cock really is top of the line! And I have to say, your bush here isn't half-bad either," the M. Bush teased, a finger playing with the curls of Mario's pubic hair. "It's going to make the perfect cushion for what's coming next!"

"Please… just let me go," Mario begged as the girl turned around, her perfect brown ass cheeks shining beautifully in the pale, omnipresent light of the room. "I need to get back to my friends."

"Heh, silly human; we're your friends now! And I promise you, you're not going to have a single boring day when you're living with us!" The M. Bush then lifted her hips up in the air and used her hand to line Mario's shaft up with her lower lips. She was already sopping wet, so there was almost no resistance as she plunged her hips back down and forced his dick down to the hilt. "Aaaah! Finally! You have no idea how long it's been since I got my hands on a free dick! The fact that you're ours really does make it feel so much better!"

Not giving Mario any time to adjust, the M. Bush began to bounce herself up and down on Mario's groin, her inner walls hungrily squeezing around his length with each thrust. The sensation of her fucking him was already too intense for his tired mind to handle, and he found himself gripping the bedsheets lying underneath him to try and brace himself.

"Oh? Am I already too much for you to handle? Heh, that's cute!" The M. Bush bit the corner of her lower lip and ground her hips from side to side, forcing the tip of his dick around the warmest parts of her pussy around her womb. "They say that girls like us bring a whole new meaning to the term 'bushwhacked', and I can see you're learning that firsthand!"

She then placed her hands onto Mario's chest and used them as leverage to start bouncing her hips even faster, sending drops of femcum flying from her snatch and onto his sack below. Her pace just kept increasing as well, refusing to back down even as Mario began to groan in pleasurable agony. If anything, the way he was reacting so helplessly seemed to drive her to move her body even more relentlessly.

"Ooooh, this is the best! I actually get to live what every one of my kind dreams about every day!" The bush woman was moaning wildly now, her hand groping her right tit hard and forcing her ecstasy even higher. "I got to ambush a cute guy, pin him down… and make him mine! And your dick feels so amazing, too! Fuck! My kids are going to be the envy of their school for being the product of a great hunt like this! Aaaah!"

Though it shamed Mario to admit it, the talk of her bearing his children was what ultimately sent him over the edge, blowing his load into her waiting cunt and filling it to the brim with his white seed. The two moaned in unison together as his orgasm seemed to stretch out for eternity, blurring both their minds as their worlds became nothing but pleasure. And then, just as soon as it began, they were both forced to return to the real world, where Mario was still trapped inside an impossible location, and the M. Bush had a fresh new load of cum stuffed into her womb.

"Aaahh… thanks, human! I needed that!" Giggling, the M. Bush hopped off Mario's body and summoned some leaves to 'clothe' herself, though Mario could still see his seed dripping down her legs. "And you know what? Since you were such a good sport about this, how about I give you a hint that will help you get out of the house! Doesn't that sound nice?"

"I'll take what I can get at this point," Mario said tiredly as he sat up in the bed.

"That's the spirit!" the M. Bush cheered. "Now, if you want to get to an exit that you can use, all you have to do is get to the top of the house, and you'll be home-free!"

"Well… I don't know if I can trust you, but I guess that's the best lead I have right now…" Mario looked around for his clothes, but noticed that they had somehow disappeared from the room. "What the… hey! What happened to my stuff!?"

"Huh? Stuff? Hehehe… are you sure you even brought stuff into the room?" The M. Bush laughed to herself and held open the door that led back outside. "Have fun out there, human! I look forward to seeing you again~"

Mario huffed but decided that fighting with her about it wasn't worth his time or energy; he needed to save all that for finding a way out.

Fortunately, whatever strange alternate dimension he found himself in had good temperature control, so he was neither too cold nor too hot even while naked as he kept wandering the halls and rooms.

Remembering what the M. Bush had told him, Mario kept an eye out for staircases and took them whenever he had the chance to. It strained his legs to climb so many, but he noticed that the floors didn't seem to repeat themselves quite as much when exploring vertically. For the first time since he got there, he began to feel like he was making progress.

And that's when the second girl showed up.

"Hello!" The M. Bush shouted as she popped up upside-down in front of Mario's face. "Whatcha' doing?"

"Gah!? Mario recoiled in shock and looked up at the leaf-clad woman. "H-how are you walking on the ceiling?"

"Huh? That's funny; I was just about to ask you the same thing!" she replied just before Mario fell to the ground like a sack of lasagna.

"Ow! Oooh, my aching head…" Mario groaned, rubbing his cap. "Wait… does that mean I was going down this whole time, or… ah! Thinking about it just made the headache even worse!"

"Aww, that's too bad! It must really suck being so confused all the time." The M. Bush patted Mario on the head and helped him to his feet. "Say… I happen to know a great way to get rid of headaches if you're interested~"

"Thanks, but no thanks." Mario pushed the girl aside and kept going, trying to figure out which way was the 'up' that led to the real exit.

"Hey! Don't just ignore me!" The woman behind him said as she grabbed his arm. "That takes the fun out of everything!"

"Well, I'm not here to have fun," Mario pointed out. "In fact, I'd much rather not be here at all if possible, so if you could please just leave me alone, that would be perfect."

"Hmph!" The girl crossed her arms, angry, but she didn't follow Mario down the halls. The plumber let out a sigh of relief, but that was quickly cut short when he turned a corner and found the same M. Bush staring back at him.

"Huh? What the-" he stammered, glancing back behind him.

"So, you came crawling back to me after all, huh? I figured you couldn't resist me for long~" she said with a mischievous smile.

"Gnngh…" Mario turned around and ran back the way he came, only to find himself face-to-face with the same bush girl once again. Still determined, he decided to run straight past her and go around the next corner, only for the whole situation to repeat itself again, and then again, and then again…

"So… have you had enough running yet?" The M. Bush asked, checking her nails as she leaned against a wall. Mario's only response was to pant and nearly keel-over from pure exhaustion, only avoiding falling over by bracing his hands on his knees. "Look… maybe we can help each other out, here. You want to get out of this place, I want to get my brains fucked out… why don't we do a bit of 'you scratch my back, I scratch yours'?"

"And… how exactly are you supposed to help me out?" Mario asked, standing up straight again. "Give me directions?"

"Yep!" Without warning, the M. Bush jumped onto Mario's body and wrapped her legs and arms around his torso, locking her in place like a reverse backpack. "You go the ways I tell you to while I ride your pipe down there, and you'll be at the exit in no time at all!"

"I… suppose I don't have a real choice in this, do I?" Mario asked, groaning as he felt his cock harden and press up against the underside of the bush girl's sex.

"Nope~" The M. Bushed reached one hand down underneath her and guided Mario's cock into his sex while her bare, medium-sized breasts pressed hard against his chest. "Aaaah! Perfect! Now, go back the way you came and turn right."

Mario grunted but did as she said, walking along the leaf-covered floor and causing the girl to bounce on his shaft with every step he took. Naturally, this caused the girl to moan quite shamelessly, but Mario did his best to keep his composure even with her wet, tight hole constricting around him.

"Yes, that's it… now right, big boy~" she instructed, her breath hot and steamy against her chest. "Now right… left… forward… left, then forward… left, left! No, that wasn't a direction, that's just where my g-spot is!"

"C-can you please concentrate?" Mario begged as his cock twitched deep inside her. "You're supposed to be helping me… remember?"

"Helping… and having fun!" she replied, grinding her hips from side to side playfully. "Don't worry, we're making plenty of progress… though, if you want to go faster, I certainly wouldn't stop you!"

Mario sighed in annoyance but increased his pace anyway, now fast-walking through the halls of the house. A small line of drool dripped out of the corner of the M. Bush's mouth as she did so, clearly enjoying the new pace. Her pussy seemed to like it as well, and was now leaking so much that Mario was starting to leave a small trail of her juices behind him.

"Right… you say that you hate this, but you have to admit that this… left… is a dream come true… right?" The M. Bush asked, now deliberately rubbing her tits against his chest. "Here, you don't have to worry about your friends, or the world, or any evil queens… you can just run around and have fun with us! Isn't that paradise?"

"More like… a prison…" Mario countered, but even as he said that, he couldn't help but savor the feeling of his tip against her round cervix.

"If it was a prison, would you really feel this hot? Would your dick really be this big, or throb this much? Would the thought of cumming deep inside me really turn you on that much?" she whispered, her sensual voice just barely audible over the sound of crunching leaves.

"S-shut up… that's a natural reaction, nothing else," Mario tried to insist.

"Heh, so you're not denying that you want to finish inside me then!" the M. Bush exclaimed. "Don't worry, I don't mind that one bit. You can pump me full as much as you want! Now, turn left…"

The two kept going like this for a few minutes, seemingly making no progress toward anything other than their mutual orgasms. But then, just when Mario felt his hope starting to fade and his cum starting to boil, he turned around one more corner and saw that he was somehow back in the main surreal area of the house again. There he was greeted by the comforting sight of stairs and the even more relieving sight; a door at the top of one of them.

"Yes! Finally!" Tossing the girl to the side, Mario began sprinting up the stairs as quickly as his tired legs could carry him.

"Hey! I wasn't done with that yet!" the M. Bush shouted, angrily rubbing at her clit as she watched Mario's moist dick wave in the air as he ran. The plumber just ignored her cries and finished running to the door, at which point he grabbed the doorknob… and felt his feet leave the floor underneath him.

At first, it felt like there was a force through the door pushing him so hard that he couldn't keep his feet on the ground, but he soon realized that the force was actually gravity, and that the door he was staring at in front of him was now on the 'ceiling' from his perspective. Naturally, with his entire weight being held up by one metal knob, he couldn't keep his grip for long and began to fall through a seemingly endless hole.

"Waaaaaah!" his voice echoed through the house of leaves before his fall was finally broken by, of course, a giant pile of leaves. Fortunately for him, it was more than soft enough to cushion the fall, but he did end up nearly buried by them as a result. "Augh… mama mia… can't anything in this place ever make sense?"

"And what, exactly, is so confusing?" A naked M. Bush asked as she stuck her head out of the pile of leaves next to Mario. "You were supposed to follow her instructions, but you didn't."

"You were supposed to fuck her brains out, but you didn't" said another M. Bush as she popped out of the leaf pile as well.

"You were very, very naughty," said a third as Mario looked around and saw what seemed like an endless sea of smiling Mono faces staring back at him. "But don't worry… we'll forgive you. Just as long as you have a nice, fun roll in the leaves… with all of us…"

"Wait… no… get away!" Mario tried to back away from the girls, but there was nowhere to go. Soon, their soft hands were on his body from every angle, sensually rubbing him from head to toe with extra care being taken with his groin. "I… I need to get out!"

"Heheh, silly human… men never leave the House of Leaves," one of the girls said as Mario was pulled underneath the surface of the leaf pool, now subject to a thousand kisses and the feeling of a dozen pussies rubbing different parts of his body. "But I promise, by the time we're done with you, you won't ever want to leave!"

After that, Mario spent the rest of his days awash in ecstasy, forced to live his days surrounded by leaves and pussy. Sometimes, he'd get lucky enough to get away for a few moments to himself, but those would always be short-lived as the bush girls always had another ambush waiting for him no matter where he went. Eventually, he gave up wondering what was happening in the outside world altogether, and he became nothing but a toy for the M. Bushes to play with. By the time he really did find the exit, he no longer had the will to open it - just the desire to find another girl for him to dump his cum into.

The End.

*Bad End #2*

The Putrid Piranha turned around and trailed off as she spotted the large group of people, led by a certain red plumber and a Chain Chomp that had wandered into the clearing.

"Excuse me! What on earth is going on here?" Sushie asked furiously.

"Oh, uh… we were just, uh… playing a game!" the yellow Putrid Piranha answered. "It's part tag, part hide-and-seek, part baseball! I wouldn't expect a mainlander to underst-"

"Help!" the tan Yoshi kid interjected, finally struggling free enough to shout something. "They were throwing me around in the air like I was a toy!"

"What!? Ooooh…!" Sushie's face reddened as she became so enraged that sweat began steaming off her skin.

"Uh… time to make a tactical retreat!" the yellow-skinned woman replied hastily. "Here, catch!"

"Hey, what are you- wah, waaaaaah!" The Yoshi girl screamed at the top of her lungs as the Putrid Piranha lifted her up in the air and tossed her as hard as she could into the forest.

"My baby!?" Without thinking, Sushie took off running into the forest after the child. "Don't worry, dear! I'm coming for you!"

"Great distraction," the red Putrid Piranha said as she suddenly appeared out of the ground behind Mario. "Now, let's take what we can and get out of here!"

"H-hey, what are you-mph!" Before Mario could finish his sentence, he was wrapped up in green vines and pulled deep underground, his body feeling the same strange sensations he did when traveling through a warp pipe.

"Hey! You leave him alone!" Bombette ordered, trying to dig Mario back up with her bare hands. However, she didn't get very far before the yellow putrid-piranha popped out the ground where she was digging and gave her the exact same treatment. "Mmmph! Let me go right n-mmmmph!"

"Oh no!" Koopie gasped as the bombshell disappeared as well. "They're gone! Where did they go?"

"I don't know!" Goommaria shouted as the group looked around. "They can't make it very far while carrying someone, but there's so much foliage around it's impossible to tell where they popped up! Ooooh, this isn't good! This isn't good! Mario, where are you!?"

"Phew… that was a close one, wasn't it?" the red Putrid Piranha said as she popped out of the ground about 100 yards away from where she kidnapped Mario, the plumber still trapped in her tendrils. "Did you see the way that crazy fish looked at us? I'm surprised we got out of that without any broken stems."

"Yeah, tell me about it," her yellow partner said as she popped up with Bombette. "Well, we might not have the same two prisoners that we thought we'd have, but we still managed to get away with two of them. Should we take them back to the boss now?"

"Hmm… actually, that might not be the best idea," said the first Piranha Plant. "I mean, think about it; how many times does capturing a hero just lead to them breaking out or getting rescued right next to something super important for them to steal or destroy."

"That's actually a pretty good point… but you know the boss will be furious with us if we don't take them in," the yellow woman countered.

"Only if she finds out," the red one said, another twisted smile forming on her lips. "But, if we were to, say, disappear with the biggest threat to her rule, my guess is that she won't even bother to come looking for us."

"Strewth! I like the sound of that," said the yellow. "Then let's get these two back to our swags and roll up nice and tight with them, shall we?"

"Let's~" her partner said devilishly. Both Mario and Bombette shouted into their vine gags in protest, but they were promptly ignored and pulled back into the earth with the Putrid Pirhanas as they traveled. They had to pop back up to the surface every twenty feet or so, but eventually they managed to reach what looked like two massive, house-sized flowers in the middle of the forest - one red, and one yellow. They were stunningly beautiful with silky petals that shimmered like moonlight, but their grace was somewhat diminished by the fact that everything within a ten foot radius of them seemed to be either rotten or dying.

"Alright, here we are! Home sweet home!" the red woman said as one of the leaves on the red flower lowered to form a bridge inside. "Have fun with your biccy in there, cuz!"

"And you have fun with your stiffy!" her friend shouted, the vines that formed her legs finally uprooting and forming feet so she could walk inside her yellow flower. "See you next bloom!"

"Hmmph, mmmmph!" Bombette could only struggle and whine as she was pulled into the flower and the petals closed around them, sealing them inside. To her surprise, it wasn't dark inside at all, but instead they were both bathed in an eerie yellow light as the sun from the outside passed through the petals of the flower. It also smelled incredible too, the hair heavy with a thick sweet smell that only the most beautiful flowers seemed to make. "Pwah! Y-you better not think you can get away from this, you freak! I'll find a way to get out of here!"

"Heh, that's very cute, but I'm afraid that won't be possible," the yellow woman informed the Bombette as she attached herself to the center of the flower and long, silken tendrils began to appear up out of the floor. "You might have had a chance if I were to leave you by your lonesome, but I promise that I won't be taking my eyes off you~"

"W-wait, what are you planning on doing with those? Kyaaah!" Bombette let out a scream so loud it could even be heard outside the flower as the tentacles descended upon her body and tore her dress, underwear, and all her other clothes to shreds within an instant. "Hey! Do you have any idea how expensive that thing was? I had to get it imported and every-mph!"

Once again, the blonde bombshell found herself gagged by one of the woman's vines, only this time it didn't just stop at plugging up her mouth. Instead, it pressed further into her mouth and forced her tongue down against its floor, unwillingly lubricating it with her saliva as it went. Bombette resisted, of course, trying to force her mouth closed and keep the appendage out, but it just responded by pulling back out a little and then forcing its way back inside twice as forcefully.

At the same time, the Putrid Piranha began to play with the rest of Bombette's body, her hands rubbing up and down her naked side and her long tongue playing with the girl's navel. At the same time, even more tendrils reached out to grope her large breasts and rub against her sex.

"My, my, you're quite wet down there, girlie~ Don't you know that it's bad to overwater flowers?" the Piranha plant said as the tip of one of her tendrils wiggled against Bombette's clit and lower lips. "Lucky for you, Piranha plants like us are made of tougher stuff. We can survive in just about any environment… but I promise to keep things nice and safe in here for you~"

"Pwa! B-bite me, you miserable little-glllk!" Bombette's mouth was free for only a few moments before the tendril was back inside her mouth, this time forcing its way all the way past her mouth and into her throat.

"Oh, I'm sorry; what was that, sheila? You're going to have to speak up," the Putrid Piranha said, but of course she could only reply with loud swallows and gags as the smooth vine began to fuck her throat. "Huh? You want me to go even deeper? Well, why didn't you just say so?"

Bombette felt herself gag even harder as the tendril began to force its way inside her mouth even harder, causing her throat to bulge obscenely. It was so overwhelming for the poor Bob-Omb that she barely even noticed the Piranha Plant spread her legs wide and line up two more tendrils with both her lower holes. That all changed the moment they began to press inside, though, and she struggled desperately for a few moments to keep them out before they finally popped inside.

"Aaaah! Yes! This feels amazing!" the Putrid Piranha moaned, groping her own body now as the tentacles began to ravage her prey. "Nothing beats putting my roots inside some nice, fertile soil, and absolutely ruining it! Yes, we're going to have lots of fun together, I can already tell!"

With that, the Putrid Piranha gripped Bombette's shoulders and began to truly fuck her, her tendrils showing no mercy as she plunged in and out of every hole. The tendrils became slick in a mixture of saliva and arousal as they kept worming their way inside, pushing the blonde's body to its very limits.

"Gmmmph, mmmph!" Bombette moaned impotently as she felt the tendril in her pussy ram against her cervix. This whole situation was very uncomfortable for her to say the least, but as much as she hated to admit it, there was an undeniable pleasure there as well. The way the plant woman caressed her body, plunged her pussy, and wiggled inside her seemed perfectly planned to make her go insane. Before long, her gasps of desperation were joined by moans of pleasure, though she hoped the tendril in her mouth did enough to muffle those.

"Heheh, looks like someone is starting to have a good time!" The Piranha plant chuckled and licked the side of Bombette's face. "That's good; considering you're my new roommate, we better get along. Here, have a reward for being such a good girl!"

Bombette didn't even have time to ask what she meant by that before she saw large bulges moving through the tendrils raping her towards her holes. She tried once again uselessly to throw them off, but ultimately there was nothing she could do to stop them from reaching her. When they finally did, the first thing she noticed was a sudden feeling of fullness as something warm, sticky, and gooey began to fill every part of her body. Then, she finally noticed the taste - it was sweet and syrupy, very similar to honey but not quite. There was quite a lot of it in her mouth too, forcing her cheeks to bulge for a few moments before she desperately began to swallow it all down. For a moment she was afraid she might actually drown, but fortunately it did eventually peter out and the tentacle was removed from her mouth, allowing her to breath freely once more

"Cough… what… the hell was that stuff?" Bombette asked, wiping her chin free of the strange yellow fluid.

"My nectar; do you like it? My flower here spends all day making it, so I would hate to find out it isn't to your tastes," the Piranha Plant replied. "Especially since it's going to be all that you'll be eating from now on."

"A-all I'll be eating!?" Bombette gasped. "You sicko! You can't keep me here for-mmph!"

"Oh? You want a second helping, shiela?" the Piranha Plant asked, shoving another tentacle deep into her throat. "Well, go on then! Eat up!"

Over in the other flower, things weren't going much better for Mario. There, the red-skinned Piranha Plant had swiftly removed his clothes and wasted no time in shoving his dick inside her. Now he was sitting in the middle of the flower, his arms and legs restrained by vines, as the beautiful carnivorous plant bounced up and down in his lap.

"Ah! Ah! Ah! Oh fuck! That's it! Pound my fuckin' cunt, you animal!" the white-haired woman moaned shamelessly as she kept slamming her hips into Mario's groin. "This really is my lucky day! To think, I'm the first Putrid Piranha in my bunch to get her very own root rat! Oh, if the others knew about this, they'd be so jealous that their heads would fall off!"

"Gah! Ah! Oh God!" Mario couldn't help but moan as well, as the woman's walls were clamping down around him so tightly with each thrust that it nearly overwhelmed him. She wasn't quite as warm inside as some of Mario's mammalian teammates, but the folds of her flower had a strange smoothness to them that seemed to egg him on to thrust deeper even when he didn't want to. "My… friends will find us eventually, you know! You won't… be able to keep this up forever!"

"Hahaha! Oh, is that what you think? I guess you've never been to one of our flowers before, have you?" With an evil look in her eye, the Putrid Piranha leaned forward and began thrusting her hips twice as fast. "Then let me let you in on a little secret. You see, Putrid Piranha Plant flowers like this are only visible on the surface when they're in bloom, when we go out to find mates to make seeds. And when we bring our mates back, they go back underground for us to have fun until the next blooming season."

"A-and… how often do they bloom?" Mario asked nervously.

"Eheh…" The woman leaned down to whisper into Mario's ear. "Once every six years~"

"What!?" Mario's eyes widened and he began to struggle twice as hard as before, though that just seemed to drive his dick even deeper inside her. "L-let me go! I can't stay here for six whole years! I have things I have to do!"

"Don't worry, I'll make sure you're well-fed, well-cleaned, and well-fucked for your whole time here! And I won't even charge you rent, either!" she replied, hugging herself hard to Mario and forcing her tits against his chest. "Plus, it will give you plenty of time to help raise our little seedlings when they start to grow! Won't that be amazing?"

"No! H-have to get away!" Mario grunted, but he could already feel the flower starting to sink into the earth. In just a few moments, he knew that he'd be sealed down there with the ravenous Mono for the foreseeable future, and there was nothing he could do about it. "The world… needs me!"

The red-tinted world slowly grew darker and darker despite Mario's words, however, and in the end the only thing that he got out of his struggles was one of the most powerful orgasms of his life as the light finally disappeared.

"Ah! Oh my fucky stars! Now that's what I call a torrential rain!" the Piranha girl gasped as she felt her womb suddenly filled with his hot seed. A moment later and the room once again filled with an eerie red light, but this time it was clearly made by the plant's petals rather than the outside sun. "I hope you're not out of sap yet, though, because we still have a lot of quality time for us to enjoy! So pucker up and get ready for some more!"

After that, Mario and Bombette would spend the next six years of their lives with their new poisonous wives, forced to fuck day-in and day out for their amusement. They spent the first few months still hoping beyond hope they'd find a way out, but eventually they gave up and settled into a routine - eat, fuck, sleep, though not always in that orter, and often with extra fucks added at unexpected moments. By the time the whole six years had passed and they were finally allowed to see the light of day again, they were both so different that they hardly recognized each other; Bombette with even rounder, fatter breasts and with unusually pale skin, and with Mario with an eternally-tired look in his eyes as he was surrounded by a dozen jabbering, curious Piranha Plant children.

"Hey… Mario, was it?" Bombette said softly, her legs trembling a little as she walked over toward Mario, both now wearing clothes made from the petals of their respective flowers. "Long time, no see. For a while there, I was starting to get worried that she might have eaten you over there."

"No… but sometimes it did feel like that," Mario replied as his children let their roots out into the soil for the first time and began popping in and out of the dark black soil. "How much… did she use you?"

"Oh, at least… eight or nine times a day, I think, but it was hard to tell what a day was down there," Bombette answered. "Eventually, I was able to count by the amount of orgasms I'd had, though."

"Same… she was absolutely relentless in there. Things got even worse when her stomach started to swell, but I did get a few breaks after each kid was born." Feeling an onset of dizziness, Mario reached out to grab Bombette's shoulder to steady himself.

"Kyaaa!" Bombette shivered and her nipples hardened so hard they were visible through her yellow dress. "C-careful! I'm sensitive, like… everywhere."

"My bad…" Mario apologized, removing his hand. "Say… is it just me… or did there used to be a forest on this island?"

"Huh… you know, it's funny…" Bombette replied, looking over at the ash-laden wasteland surrounding them. "I can't remember for some reason…"

"Hey dad! Petetunia is going to try and drink a whole river over there! Come watch!" One of Mario's Puny Putrids said as she tugged at his arm.

"Be right there, dear… see you later, Bombette," Mario said as he was dragged away.

"Heh, now that's what I call a vacation," the woman who kidnapped Bombette said as she met up with her old friend nearby. "Still, as much fun as I had, it's a shame I didn't actually get to breed like you did."

"Hey, don't worry; I can let you borrow my root for a bit if you want," her red-skinned partner replied. "No going into your flower, though; he still has at least a dozen more buds to give me."

"Heh, you've got yourself a deal~"

The End.