"Something on your mind, Yoshi?" Dr. Hoshi asked as they were still traveling down a road, with the next racecourse still undetermined.
"Yeah... just having nice flashbacks to my childhood... or what seems like it, anyway," Yoshi responded to the doc as a flashback took place, with it being the main content of this chapter.
Yoshi sat on the porch outside of his house and curiously tore open the letter he has got in the mail. It wasn't often that messages arrived from so far away as to be brought in by carrier pterodactyl, and he was eager to find out what it contained.
Hopefully something to liven things up, Yoshi thought to himself. Things had been all too quiet since Yoshi's best friends, Peppy Ankylosaurus and Birdo Birdosaurus, had arrived on their summer break, distracting the Yoshisauruses from their usual wanderlust as the peaceful villagers did its best to keep the guests entertained. Yoshi tugged out the note impatiently and started to read. "Dear Yoshi," It began. "Help!"
Yoshi made a weird face, but then he smiled. Huh. Now this sounds promising, he decided. It turned out that the message was actually from Peppy Ankylosaurus's younger brother, Heppy 'Heppermoneytonic' Ankylosaurus- and the young, purple Ankylosaurus had found himself in quite a bit of trouble which, for once, wasn't even his fault. Yoshi frowned. Then, once he'd carefully read the note through a couple of times, he sat back and gnawed thoughtfully on a finger as he gazed out through the early morning tropical island mist. He'd been asked for his help, so his intentions to zip off as soon as possible were never in doubt. The question that preoccupied him now was whether or not he should draft in some extra help, just in case...
After all, this giant gorilla, presumably named 'King Kong', that Heppy had mentioned didn't sound like a monster to be taken lightly. Eventually, Yoshi decided that his friends Peppy and Birdo would still enjoy the adventure even if it turned out that their services weren't needed, so the young green Yoshisaurus dug out a pencil stub from the mess of his house and hopped back into his seat, whistling for Yoshidactyles - his own makeshift carrier Pterodactyls - as Yoshi began to scribble out a couple of messages of his own.
A few short hours later and Yoshi was on the first leg of his journey, running off at high speed toward the fringes of the tropical jungles that lie ahead of the Yoshi Village. A couple of Yoshisaurus lurking behind a boulder watched him go suspiciously. "Hey - where you think he going?" Asked Boshi, a blue, cool, sunglass-wearing Yoshisaurus that had a strong attitude and a knack for running. His buddy, Moshi, who was Boshi's younger, orange brother who wore no sunglasses and had a much more calmer attitude but the same knack for running, frowned.
"Why?" Moshi asked.
"What if he is going to fetch Tyrannoyoshies to chase after us?" Boshi said to his younger brother. Moshi thought about this, and suddenly realized what Boshi was about to suggest.
"No way. I not going," Moshi said, and turned and bolted back towards the Yoshi Village.
Boshi scoffed and rolled his eyes. "Hopeless," Boshi snorted to himself. "I go after him, then," Boshi bellowed after his cowardly younger brother. "You go tell the other Yoshisauruses - see what they think of that, huh?"
And with that, Boshi lumbered off through the trees in the wake of the distant speck that was Yoshi, grumpily swatting aside vines and vicious Piranha Plants as he went.
"That actually explains a lot," Toadette stated in shock.
"Who is this King Kong guy?" Sonic The Hedgehog asked while running along. "More importantly, who's Boshi?"
"I think the better question is why did you specify some Yoshi guy named Moshi," Dry Bowser added as he eyed the green dinosaur specifically.
"Well, uh... there's a good reason." Yoshi blurted as he rubbed the back of his head with his right hand. "Speaking of good reason, now would be a good reason to bring up some racing action."
"Oh finally." Master Hand stated as he moved his fingertips about, with Yoshi starting up another flashback.
As all of the Yoshisaurus townspeople got on the sidewalks of the newly-furbished, dirt-paved roads of the Yoshi Village, Master Hand teleported right on the side of the starting line, where all 8 of the Yoshi Kart racers - Yoshi the First, Peppy Ankylosaurus, Birdo the Birdosaurus, Boshi the Yoshisaurus, Heppy Ankylosaurus, Zirdo the Birdosaurus, Shelia the Stegosaurus, and Bronto the Brontosaurus - have gathered, preparing for their race.
"Hello to you all, ladies and gentlemen, boys and girls!" Master Hand cheerfully announces to the pedestrians as they cheer loudly. "And welcome to the first race of the Yoshi Kart Grand Prix!"
A large crowd of pedestrians is gathered around the racecourse and there are several food stands set up all over the entire Yoshi Village.
Shelia looked around, astonished. "Wow. There's quite a crowd here!" She exclaimed in joy.
Birdo murmured, also looking around. "Yeah, and it's so noisy, too..." She murmured.
"All right, ladies and gentlemen," Master Hand starts, pointing at the racers, "These are the racers. Yoshi the First, Peppy Ankylosaurus, Birdo the Birdosaurus, Boshi the Yoshisaurus, Heppy Ankylosaurus, Zirdo the Birdosaurus, Shelia the Stegosaurus, and finally, Bronto the Brontosaurus!" The audience cheers loudly as Master Hand turns his attention back to the crowds of excited dinosaurs. "Now, as for the racecourse status for this race. As you can see, this course is a simple-looking oval. It may look very easy, but there are some obstacles you have to be aware of. For example, as you approach the first big curve, you will run into a field a hot spring pools! Falling into one isn't a problem, as the waters are of perfect temperature and are great for your health! It can heal all kinds of ailments!"
Zirdo's eyes gleamed. "Oooh...that sounds fun!' She squealed.
Birdo smiled, looking at Shelia. "What say we go take a dip there after the race?"
Shelia nodded, a smile on her face. "Of course! I heard that those springs have good services."
Boshi sighed. "Can we please just have more information on the racecourse now? I want to race."
"Me too," Bronto agreed, giving Boshi a competive glare. Boshi did the exact same, giving Bronto the most competive glare he can offer.
Master Hand cleared his throat, before starting again. "All right, now moving on to the Yoshi Village racecourse once more. "After going through the curve, you will come across a rocky and bumpy field. When you get to the second curve, you'll have to drive through a small, moss-covered tunnel that leads all the way back to here, the starting line, which is also the finish line!" The pedestrians on the sides cheer as Master Hand finishes, "Yoshi Kart racers, be sure to do your best, and do not take the Yoshi Village too easy, just because it is the first place where you are racing to save Dinosaur Land and defeat the tyrant King Kong!"
"Can we get on with the race now?" Heppy impatiently asks, in a rather bit annoyed tone.
Master Hand growls at Heppy. "But I am not done talking yet. You must know the basic rules for this race first, so don't get cocky," He snarled.
Heppy groaned. "Then get on with it, already!" He shouts back.
Master Hand mutters to himself, and then he continues, "Very well, then. The first 3 racers will get 10, 7, and 5 points respectfully. The 1st racer will get a Star for his or her effort, while the following racers, from 4th to 8th place, will recieve points from 4 to 0 respectfully. And with that, let the race officially begin!" He hovers above the finish line, and the Yoshi Kart racers prepare to take off as the pedestrians cheer loudly.
"Get ready...GO!" Master Hand booms, as all of the 8 Yoshi Kart racers speed off on the racecourse, leaving a pile of dust behind them on the dirt-paved road, with the pedestrians cheering loudly.
"And there off!" Master Hand announces, "All 8 of the Yoshi Kart racers have zoomed off, and are proceeding on the Yoshi Village racecourse as we speak!" He points at the starting line. "Once they pass the starting/finish line for the rd time, the winner WILL recieve a very SPECIAL prize! Let's go check on them now!"
On the actual racecourse, all of the 8 racing dinosaurs zoom on the straight, dirt-paved road. They come across the first curve, where several hot springs are located.
Yoshi does a powerslide on the right, managing to avoid 2 of the hot springs, but winds up falling into one after using the speed boost from the powerslide. He curses as he watches the other Yoshi Kart racers pass by him, leaving the green dinosaur to having wait in the hot springs. A Lakitu then appears and takes Yoshi out of the hot spring.
"Phew!" Yoshi says, reliefed, and smiling at Lakitu. "Thanks for that, Lakitu."
Lakitu nodded, smiling. "Don't worry about me, but you better hurry if you want to win."
Yoshi noded, and he slammed his foot on the pedal, reediming himself to catch up.
Birdo grabs two rocket missiles. She aims them at Shelia, who is ahead of her. Taking several precautions, Birdo fires one of the missiles at Shelia.
Shelia turns around in time to see the incoming missile, and she throws a mine behind her. The missile explodes within contact with the mine, leaving Shelia to cheer.
Birdo, however, is not disappointed that her first rocket missile missed. She still had the other missile, and thus, released it shortly afterwards.
Unfortunately, Shelia didn't have any items to use behind her, so she turned to the left in hopes of avoiding the missile. She avoided the missle, and sighed of relief, when she fell into one of the hot springs.
Feeling more confident, Birdo cheers to herself as she passes Shelia, who waits for Lakitu to pick her back up.
Zirdo is having a hard time in her ands as she tries to aoid Bronto. Bronto, being heavier than Zirdo, attempts to push her aside by ramming his heavy, blue kart into Zirdo's lighter, green kart. Zirdo pushes back, but sadly, cannot muster herself away from Bronto's kart. Bronto only grins while Zirdo struggles, failing as she tries to move away from Bronto.
As the racers approach another straight path, Boshi uses this moment to sabatoge the racecourse. He throws two mines behind him cackling as he zoomed off.
Heppy Ankylosaurus and Peppy Ankylosaurus were right on Boshi's tail, and they both grabbed two rocket zoomers, which they used to catch up to Boshi. However, Heppy saved his for later, for he knew that they could help later on. He watched his older, yellow brother, Peppy, zoom away, desperate to stop Boshi.
"Boshi! You're not going to win this race so easily!" Peppy shouts, ramming his yellow kart into Boshi.
Boshi yelps, and he growls at Peppy. "Oh yeah? Have some of THIS, Ankylosaurus breath!" He grabbed a bubble, and released it right into Peppy, trapping the yellow Ankylosaurus in the bubble.
"WHAT THE HECK!?" Peppy exclaimed, as he watched Boshi zoom away and Heppy passing by. "LET ME OUT!" He started pounding at the bubble, but not having any luck.
Boshi and Heppy both approach he next curve, where the bumpy rumps are. A tiny tunnel that is carved in the mountain can be visible.
Boshi manages to drive perfectly in the rocky field, aoiding rocks and going through the bumpy rumps. However, he is unfortunate to crash into a HUGE rock shortly after jumping up in the air and landing back down from a large bump. Heppy zooms by, still holding onto his precious rocket booster, when he picks up another, which he still plans using on for much later.
Back in the straight path, Birdo fires another rocket missile at Bronto, but misses yet again. Birdo growls and slams her fist on her pink kart. 'All right, that's it! If missiles won't help, then I'll have to deal with a more defensive tactic..." She grabbed a rocket booster, and used it to zoom in front of Bronto and Zirdo.
Bronto was still ramming into Zirdo, noticing that her lighter kart could not take the pressure anymore. Zirdo moaned, for she tried her best, but wasn't able to pull off the mighty weight of Bronto's heavier kart.
With a scream and a shout, Zirdo went spinning around in her green Kart, crashing into one of the rocks in the upcoming curve.
Bronto smirked, having taken care of Zirdo. But what he didn't realise was that Birdo released oil from the back of her pink kart, which made Bronto's blue kart slipping, and eveuntally, crashing into the ground, after spinning off the bump.
Birdo laughed, having dealt with Bronto. She grabbed two mines and released them behind her. Upcoming to her right was Yoshi, who was using rocket boosters to boost up his speed.
"Yoshi?" Birdo exclaimed, surprised, "What are you doing here?"
Yoshi grinned. "Hey, I'm here to win a race, not gawk at the other racers."
Birdo smirked, taking out a rocket missile. "Well...sorry to do this, Yoshi, but even though we're friends, I'm not letting you pass!" She slowed down, allowing Yoshi to go up ahea,d and then the pink, feminine Birdosaurus released the rocket missile.
Yoshi turned around, and his jaw dropped. He wasn't aware that Birdo allowed him to pass, just to be blasted by a rocket missile. Too late to react, Yoshi screamed as his green, more compact kart went bouncing up and down from the explosion of the missile, landing on the under part of the bump.
Birdo laughed, passing Yoshi as she released oil behind her.
Yoshi growled, having tobe forced to push out his kart from nder the bump as Shelia the Stegosaurus, Bronto the Brontosaurus, and a recovered Zirdo the Birdosaurus all passed him. Hopping into is kart, Yoshi took out a rocket booster and used it, propelling his kart to catch up with the passing racers. He eventually passed Peppy, whom was STILL trapped in the bubble from earlier.
Peppy had enough. He wasn't going to get out just by screaming or pounding the bubble. Instead, he used his own ability, Ankylosaurus Jolt, to electrofy and burst the bubble into nothing. He slammed his foot on the pedal, taking no chances of what the consequences would be as he desperately sped on the dirt-paved road to catch up with the others.
Master Hand has watched Heppy Ankylosaurus pass the finish line first, with all the other 7 Yoshi Kart racers - in order: Boshi the Yoshisaurus, Birdo the Birdosaurus, Shelia the Stegosaurus, Bronto the Brontosaurus, Zirdo the Birdosaurus, Yoshi the First, and Peppy Ankylosaurus - pass the finish line and drive down on the straight, dirt-paved road.
"And now all of the 8 Yoshi Kart racers are on Lap 2!" Master Hand announces, hearing the pedestrians on the sides cheer loudly, "Only 1 more lap remains before the racers are in the 3rd and final lap!"
The pedestrians cheer loudly as they watch the Yoshi Kart racers zoom off on the straight, dirt-paved road.
Back in the Yoshi Village racecourse, the race itself was getting more hectic as the 8 Yoshi Kart racers were trying to obtain 1st, 2nd, and 3rd places.
Master Hand cleared his throat, and started to announce the race status loud and clear so that the pedestrians could hear. "Ladies and Gentlemen, Heppy Ankylosaurus is still in 1st place! But Boshi and Birdo are right behind the purple Ankylosaurus, as well as Shelia the Stegosaurus, Bronto the Brontosaurus, and Zirdo the Birdosaurus. Ironically, Yoshi the First and Peppy Ankylosaurus are behind the other racers, and they better pick up the slack if they want to win."
"Move over, Heppy!" Boshi shouts, ramming into Heppy, "1st place is mine!"
"Heh! No way!" Heppy retorted, pushing his kart back into Boshi. "If anyone's going to get 1st place, it's gonna be me!"
"That's what you think!" Shouted Birdo as she used a rocket booster to pass by Boshi and Heppy. Birdo drove carefully around the hot springs, but sadly, a mine leftover from the last lap was ahead of her, and Birdo collided into it, and fell into a hot spring that was right in front of her.
Boshi and Heppy zoomed off, leaving the soaked Birdo waiting to be rescued by Lakitu.
Shelia and Bronto are having their own war, as they fire items at each other and leave items behind as they navigate through the hot springs. Shelia fires 2 rocket missiles at Bronto, but the blue Brontosaurus counters by throwing 2 mines behind him. Shelia dodges, and the yellow Stegosaurus then grabs a pack of bubbles. Saving it for later, Shelia attempts to overcome Bronto by pushing him on the right side, toward the hot spring. Bronto, however, being the stronger of the two dinosaurs, manages to push Shelia off of him, and he veers to the left, allowing Shelia to fall into the upcoming hot spring.
Zirdo watches this, and she uses a rocket booster to zoom by Shelia and approach Bronto. Bronto, however, turns around and releases oil behind his blue, heavy kart. Zirdo screams as her light, green kart goes spinning, and she crashes into the side of the mountain wall.
Yoshi the First sees this, and he zooms by Zirdo, as well as Peppy Ankylosaurus and a recently rescued Shelia.
Zirdo starts to slam her foot on the brake, but isn't having very good luck. "C'mon, c'mon!" She says to herself, trying to back-up out of the mountain.
Shelia starts to approach Yoshi and Peppy, ready to zoom right past them. She uses another rocket booster, and then, after passing both Yoshi and Peppy, she makes a sharp powerslide onto the straight dirt-paved path, and releases the bubbles she was previously holding.
Yoshi sighed, as he and Peppy made right turns on the straight dirt-paved path. "Great. We're never going to catch up to the leaders if we keep going at this pace!"
Peppy chuckled. "Problem solved." He grabbed a blue, winged spiny shell from an item box. "Just throw this baby, and you're garunteed to make it to the top!"
Yoshi titled his head. "How?" The green Yoshisaurus curiously asked.
Peppy smirked. "Watch and learn, Yoshi boy," The yellow Ankylosaurus said. He turned around and released the blue, winged spiny shell in front of him, passing several of the racers in front and heading straight for the leader - Heppy Ankylosaurus.
Heppy Ankylosaurus turns on the other curve, seeing the rocks he and the others had encountered in the previous lap. However, he doesn't know that a blue, winged spiny shell is about to ruin his chance to succeeding.
"So, you want some of this huh?" Boshi taunts, as he releases several missiles at Birdo.
Birdo only laughed as she swerved her pink kart to avoid the missiles. "You're going to have to do better than that, Boshi!"
Boshi gritted his teeth. "Very well, then!" The blue Yoshisaurus shouted back, adjusting his sunglasses. He grabbed a mine and threw it behind his blue kart, ahead of Birdo's path.
Birdo screamed, and she made a sharp left turn to avoid the mine, scraping the left side of her pink kart completely in the progress.
Heppy watched this occur as he passed the finish line once more, and has made it into the 3rd and final lap. Boshi immediately followed.
"And both Heppy Ankylosaurus and Boshi the Yoshisaurus have made it into the 3rd and final lap of the Yoshi Village race, ladies and gentlemen!" Master Hand announced, the pedestrians on the sidelines cheering as the magical, floating glove continued, "Birdo the Birdosaurus is right behind the leaders, with Shelia the Stegosaurus, Bronto the Brontosaurus, Yoshi the First, and Peppy Ankylosaurus behind her! And it seems that poor Zirdo is behind." He cleared his throat once more. "Well, ladies and gentlemen, it's been a great race, and things are starting to loo-"
Before he could finish, the blue, winged spiny shell Peppy had thrown earlier zoomed right past the hand and the pedestrians, heading straight for Heppy and exploding into him, sending the purple Ankylosaurus and his purple kart into the air, and crashing back down, now behind Boshi and Birdo.
"OH!" Master Hand shouted in surprise, "Seems as if Heppy was knocked into the air by the infamous spiny shell! He better shape up if he wants to retain his lead!"
As Master Hand had announced, Heppy got his purple kart back in action, and he grabbed a third rocket booster, which he combined with the 2 rocket boosters he already had, to zoom off at a TREMENDOUS speed, passing even Birdo and Boshi as he approached the hot springs again.
Zirdo was still stuck on the left side of the mountain, the grass cutting down her green kart's acceleration speed. "C'mon...c'mon! Why isn't it STILL working!?" Zirdo exclaimed, as Heppy zoomed right past her.
Master Hand watched in excitement, and he then announced, "Ladies and Gentlemen, Heppy Ankylosaurus has retained his lead! But still, he has the obstacles to worry about. What will happen on the racecourse as the racers start becoming more and more competive? Find out!" He said, as the Yoshi Village racecourse panned into the background.
"...and that's all I can remember." Yoshi capped off with a shrug as he let Dr. Hoshi drive.
"So... what happened afterwards?" Petey Piranha asked while getting close to Yoshi.
Yoshi shrugged meekly in response. "The world may never know..."
"Dude, you can't just leave your story on a cliffhanger!" Silver The Hedgehog exclaimed as he was in dismay at Yoshi not bothering to finish up his story.
"Trust me, with the way this fanfic is, nothing will get finished." Yoshi pointed out, as they kept driving to God who knows where.