Chapter I - Sunrise, Sunset
Yoshi woke up from his bed one late summer morning with a yawn. He took his light covers off and stepped towards his bedroom window. Yoshi's bedroom was at the back of his house, and his window oversaw his small backyard. The backyard had little in it, a coconut tree in the upper right corner, rich green grass only to be cut off by mesh fences with bamboo poles on the left and right, leading into neighboring yards. Compared to others, Yoshi's backyard was simple, but he was happy with it, nonetheless.
After gawking at the morning sky and his healthy backyard, Yoshi proceeded through his bedroom, past his living room, and into his kitchen. He looked towards his fridge, a tall box crafted from bamboo and wicker designed to look like a tropical fridge. Yoshi opened the door and looked at the bottom. At the bottom in a small chamber that occupied the bottom of the "fridge" were several Snowman Dolls sitting in piles of ice, giving off cool air. The cool air went through the grates above the Dolls and preserved the food in the fridge. Yoshi looked around the fridge and came across a plate with a few slices of melon on it. Smacking his lips, Yoshi took the food out from fridge, proceeded to his living room, couch and ate his delicious fruit.
Afterwards, Yoshi decided to walk outside to his front deck and watch the ocean for a few minutes. It beat watching the TV any day, Yoshi thought, sitting down on his deck chair and observing the waves splashing against the sandy beaches just across the dirt road to Yoshi's house. He was lucky to have a house that overlooked the ocean, Yoshi believed, as only so many people in Yoshiburg were able to get hold of such property. He continued watching the ocean for almost another hour when he saw the papergirl approaching his porch with a newspaper in her hand.
"Here's your newspaper, Mr. Yoshi," the papergirl said with a shy smirk on her face. She obviously had a thing for Yoshi, but he was too oblivious to notice. Besides, the age difference was too great; Yoshi was 20, the papergirl was 12.
"Thank you very much," Yoshi said happily, taking the newspaper from the girl and patting her on the head. The girl walked away prancing while Yoshi took the paper inside. He took the plastic off, undid the rubber band, and opened the paper. Apparently, last night, there had been an attack in the square of the town as the Fire Flower Depot was set ablaze by an explosive. Nobody was injured or killed, and the culprit had been successfully captured. He was a shady Yoshi who went by the name of Joey Mezzoshi, who was often accused of Black Market activities in the Yoshi metropolis of New Scottsford. He was put on trial and although he hadn't been given a jail sentence due to a lack of evidence and a slick lawyer, he was banished from Yoshiburg, never to return. If he did return, the authorities had been granted permission to lock him up.
A shame, Yoshi thought, I can't believe that people would go so far to obtain their goals as to vandalize an innocent person's property. Why must bad things like this happen? Yoshi was happy knowing he lived in the Yoshi Islands, as statistics showed it was the safest of all the nations and had the least amount of crime, ot surprising, as the main inhabitants, Yoshis, were a peaceful species and weren't really fighters… most weren't, anyway. Yoshis had always been a bit primitive, but they had become more advanced over the years; most Yoshi's had electricity, as well as a few electronics, such as TVs, a toaster, maybe a computer. Of course, they were limited and fairly expensive in Yoshiburg. Yoshi technology was greatest in the city over on Metro Island, New Scottsford, where everyone had vast electronics and appliances were the most advanced of the Yoshi Islands. It left behind no traces of past Yoshi life, but rather a newer, modern life. While many Yoshis embraced it, many were also against it, as most electronic technology is forbidden on the two islands of Lavalava Island and Yo'ster Isle. The Yoshis there lived the classic primitive life that they had always lived.
The island Yoshiburg was on, Yoshi Island (the main island and largest of the islands), was a cross between primitive and modern, and many were happy with that, as Yoshiburg takes up over a quarter of the Island. Houses here were always crafted from a mix of bamboo and stone for a tropical, yet modern look. Padded dirt roads and torch lamps made the town look even more beautiful. It was a great place to live and Yoshi was very proud to live in such a good town. There were other Yoshi towns, like Palm Tree Manor and Beachside Village, that were technologically crossed between those two properties as well (more or less).
Yoshi decided to try to take his mind
off of the crime by reading some other stories, as well as the comics.
They helped, and Yoshi was once again cheerful enough to go outside. He
locked the door to his house and began walking into the town square, home
of all the commercial stores and restaurants. He was there all day, eating
and window-shopping and whatnot, having fun, in general. He also inspected
the Fire Flower Depot, which was now indeed a burnt rubble structure now.
Hope
the owner's insured, Yoshi thought as he continued his business. Yoshi
was exhausted when he got back home at late sunset. He looked at the clock:
8 o'clock, pretty early for bed, but he was too tired to care. Yoshi rested
on his pillows and quickly went to sleep. However, it was unforeseen that
he would be awakened only a few hours later by an abrupt force that would
force the green dino on a dark adventure of chaos and greed that he would
have to deal with…
Chapter II - The Man with the Golden Bob-omb
A few hours had passed; it was around 10 PM outside Yoshiburg, near Mt. Eggheart (the largest non-volcanic mountain on the Islands). At the base of the mountain were two figures; one was a dark blue Yoshi wearing a black-and-white-striped shirt with a black trench coat, black cargo pants, and a ski cap on his head. The other was an orange Nomadimouse with brown hair and a thin goatee. Next to the mouse and against the mountain wall were several crates that were labeled on the side as "Explosives - Use Caution". The blue Yoshi was Joey Mezzoshi, but what was he up to? And whom was he talking to?
"So how did it work?" the mouse asked Joey.
"It worked like you said it would; like a charm!" Joey responded, making a motion with his hands indicating his approval.
"Good to know, my friend…" the mouse said. "But I hear you got yourself booted from the town."
"You hit the nail right where it hurts, and now I need my revenge on that sorry town. I'm gonna need more of those bombs, and you're my main man!" Joey commented.
"Good to see you, my best customer, think so highly of me. So tell me, how much you need?"
"About as many as there are in those crates over there."
"That much? It'll cost you."
"No problem," Joey said, taking out a briefcase and opening it, revealing it to be full of golden coins and bills.
The dealer chuckled pleasantly at the money. "I see your other business is paying off nicely, and you know what? I'll toss this baby in at no cost!" The dealer took out a golden Bob-omb with a black skull face. The skull had angry eyes and sharp teeth. "This baby is guaranteed to scare the life out of anyone. Here, let me show you." The dealer proceeded to wind up the Bob-omb. Joey quickly grew frightened, realizing the dealer's stupid mistake.
"You stupid cannoli! What wrong with you?!" he yelled at the dealer, who now realized his mistake of activating the explosive.
"Oh, shoot..." The dealer shoved the bomb in Mezzoshi's arms and ran off. "Don't worry, I'll be back to pick up the money, which ought to be covered in your remains after that thing blows!"
"Say what?!" Mezzoshi yelled, tossing the bomb away from him. "Forget about it, I'm outta here!" Joey ran off, not knowing that he had accidentally tossed the bomb next to the crates full of explosives. The bomb quickly exploded, creating a loud blast that not only blew apart the side of the mountain, but also triggered an avalanche and a fire in the small tropical woods that surrounded the mountain. Needless to say, chaos was brewing as the fire began to spread and move towards Yoshiburg.
Yoshi was abruptly awoken by the blast. He looked at his clock, it was almost 11 as he jumped out of bed and looked out the window. Although his vision was blocked by many of the residents' homes and trees, he noticed a glowing in the far distance near the mountain, as well the scent of smoke, and even an unusual rumbling sound alongside some crashes. What was going on? Whatever it was, it was too far away for Yoshi to walk to. Perhaps he could find out about it tomorrow? He leapt on his bed and fell back asleep a half hour later; he heard a lot of commotion that kept him up. After awhile, it settled down. Yoshi would hear about it tomorrow, after a full night's rest, seeing as how the trouble was too far away to do anything to him or his house.
The next morning, Yoshi got out of bed earlier than usual. He ate breakfast and watched a few cartoons on his television, waiting for Good Morning, Yoshiburg to come on. After an hour, he tuned to channel 6 for the morning news. Maybe he would find out something about last night? He tuned in and watched as the two hosts began talking about menial issues and laughing about it. Yoshi continued watching until they finally mentioned last night. Apparently, there was an explosion caused by a powerful Bob-omb near Mt. Eggheart that triggered an avalanche, destroying a portion of the jungles surrounding the mountain and even getting to a few houses. The explosion also triggered a fire, destroying even more of the jungles and a house or two. The fires were put out, but unfortunately four people had died and a few more were injured.
Six houses were destroyed in the process, as well - if not from the avalanche, then by the fire. Cameras indicated the houses that were covered in stone or reduced to smoldering rubble as well as those that had suffered from the disasters. It was horrible, as they proceeded to interview several nearby residents who were lucky to not have their homes damaged, as well as a few injured folk who had suffered minor injuries. Needless to say, many of the injured folk who had their homes destroyed were upset about losing their house. One person even cried because he lacked homeowner's insurance and couldn't pay for the repairs out of his pocket. A sad sight it was, indeed.
"This is believed to be the revenge played out by the ever-shady Joseph Mezzoshi after his banishment from Yoshiburg," the newsman said, "and it looks like he got us but good, sadly."
Yoshi sighed and walked outside after
turning off his television, thinking about this awful event. I didn't
think he would do something this extreme, but I guess that's life: getting
more violent everyday. He sat down on his deck for a few minutes until
he noticed a group of Koopa Troopas walking past his house, and he recognized
one of them by his mustache and explorer's hat. It was Professor Kolorado.
What was he doing here? Yoshi walked over towards the group, in hopes of
obtaining some possible answers about why Kolorado would be here; most
likely something about treasure, no doubt.
Chapter III - Discoveries
"Treasure, dear boy, treasure!" Kolorado exclaimed after being asked by Yoshi as to why he was here.
Typical, Yoshi thought, I should've known. After all, according to all the magazines that mentioned this Koopa archaeologist, they all mentioned him usually being in some foreign town for artifacts or ancient treasure. Of course, Yoshi still couldn't understand. After all, Yoshi Island was a very developed area in most places, and chances of there being any missing artifacts like an ancient relic or ruins seemed incredibly low on this island. He asked again, this time mentioning that little tidbit about how developed Yoshi Island was.
"Dear boy, don't be daft," Kolorado said. "You know of that explosion from last night. It could mean treasure!"
Typical, Yoshi thought. When it came to Kolorado, any signs of abnormality meant a sign of treasure. Needless to say, his instincts are wrong 98% of the time. Nonetheless, Kolorado continues to insist upon them and continue making efforts at finding treasure. Apparently, the archaeologist believed that the explosion blew open some sort of hidden cave in the mountain, containing not only an ancient civilization, but treasure and relics, as well. It seemed rather stupid, but not in Kolorado's mind, as he truly believed this.
"Okay," Yoshi said, kind of shocked by Kolorado's seemingly unusual brain patterns, "would you mind if I came with you? I'd like to check out this site, as well." Yoshi then decided to joke about this "treasure" and commented, "I'd like to see this treasure and stuff before it gets popular and crowded in museums." Some of the Koopas chuckled at this, knowing of Kolorado's theories, but it didn't seem Kolorado himself caught the sarcasm in Yoshi's comment. He accepted his offer, and soon the group proceeded through town and to the site of the chaos.
They arrived at the scene after twenty minutes. It was a mess, as dead trees either lay on the ground, beaten from the stone and rubble of the avalanche and explosion, or were burnt to a blackened crisp from the fire that had occurred. The lush green grass that once grew here was gone and replaced by barren fields of stones, dirt, and dead plants. The mountain had a large piece of its base missing, and it seemed shorter now, what with the avalanche eroding the mountainside. Kolorado and his team took out shovels and brushes as they were preparing to search for this treasure the Koopa archaeologist spoke of often.
Yoshi didn't join them, as instead he decided to roam around the area, hoping to catch some more of what was left behind by news teams. As the young dinosaur wandered about, he saw countless people walking around. Some were just there to observe everything, while others were victims whose houses were destroyed with nowhere else to go. Yoshi frowned at some of the injured folk; he couldn't help but feel sorry for them, as their homes had been lost due to the anger of some criminal. In fact, he almost felt like crying, but he held his tears. There was nothing he could do to help except donate to some charity, which was bound to start up considering multiple houses were wrecked, as well as one owner crying about how he had no insurance. Who knows? He might start the charity if no one else did, but Yoshi doubted that; the citizens here were close and would be more than willing to help their "brethren", as the Yoshiburg mayor put it.
As he inspected the rubble, Yoshi looked at the massive hole in the mountain's base. Whatever had blown the mountain up was something of the nastiest caliber; much more than your ordinary explosive, no doubt. Yoshi walked up closer to the mountain's indentation. As he did, he noticed a huge rock slab wedged into the mountainside. Now what's this? Yoshi wondered. Is that rock crammed into the mountainside itself or what? He examined the rock and, upon closer inspection, noticed several holes along the rock inside the mountain. Yoshi moved his hand over these holes. He felt air, meaning this rock wasn't just crammed into the mountain; it was wedged into an entrance, a cave entrance, to be exact. Yoshi chuckled lightly and thought back to Kolorado.
"Treasure?" Yoshi said quietly, peering into one of these holes. It was dark inside, but the dinosaur could spot a silhouette of something inside. But what? Yoshi thought, trying to push and tug the rock from its entrance with no luck at all. Once again he thought back to the crazed archaeologist, remembering he had come with multiple scouts. Perhaps their combined strength would pry this rock from its surface? Yoshi hurried back to Kolorado and his team, saying something about how he might have found the treasure that batty Koopa had come here looking for.
Kolorado was brushing off black dust from a rock when one of his men tapped him on the shoulder, pointing towards a green character approaching them. An excited green character, to be exact; Kolorado chuckled lightly. The dear boy has found treasure, he thought, he could tell by the look in the character's eyes. Yoshi approached one of the assistants and said something to him, Kolorado couldn't hear and didn't know how to read lips. The Koopa staggered across the rocky surface over to the two who seemed excited about something. When Kolorado reached them, all he did was ask where the treasure was.
"How did you know I found treasure?" Yoshi said, kind of amazed.
"Dear boy," Kolorado said, "I have been in this business for a long time now. I know when someone has the look of treasure in his or her eyes, and you, sir, have that look. So where's this treasure?"
"Well… it's over here. And bring your assistants; we'll need them," Yoshi said, walking towards the cave. Kolorado signaled his men and rallied them up for the cave the Yoshi had spoke of. Upon their arrival Yoshi pointed at the wedged rock and peered into the holes, still noticing an inanimate silhouette inside the darkness. Kolorado peered into the holes, also spotting this figure. He leapt up and down, thrilled at how this "might be treasure", as he would put it. He and the green dino attempted to pull the rock from its resting place, but still with no luck. Kolorado signaled his men to approach the rock and help out.
Yoshi felt thrilled about this. Maybe it was because he hadn't been on an adventure in some time, or that he'd just been resting up for these past few months, with each bland so-so day building up his need for a thrill, regardless of how tiring or poor it was. Together, Yoshi and the Koopas tugged at the rock. At first, there was no motion, but soon Kolorado felt wiggling as the rock was starting to budge. The assistants grabbed sticks to help pry the rock out, while Yoshi and Kolorado continued to tug. After several unsuccessful pulls, the rock tilted outward and fell with a thud. They'd done it! The passage was revealed!
The team looked inside, suddenly turning mystified by the silhouette as it became revealed. It was in fact a warp pipe, a badly rusted warp pipe with a supply of moss and slime lining it. Clearly this pipe hadn't been used in a long time...