I gazed back towards the dark and barren land which was Dark Land, home of Bowser's Castle. I was disgusted at the sight, wishing never to see it again, wishing that I had never seen it. I knew deep down, though, that this was not the last time I'd go there. That thought saddened me as I turned around and headed out towards the unknown that was the Mushroom Kingdom.

This place was rather different from the gloomy world behind me, the scenery was a mix of greens and oranges, mostly from the flora in the area. Creatures that I have never laid eyes upon roamed in the area, ranging from flying insects to big plants that had large jaws and sharp teeth. I took a mental note not to get close to those green, cylindrical objects called pipes too quickly, not to end up as plant food. This was hard though, as my mind strayed away all the time, remembering all that happened in Bowser's Castle...

All the Koopa Troopas had fled off now, all that was left were those five Magikoopas. I dared not budge from my place outside the main hall, I needed to stay there in order to get back to Kiiroshi as fast as I could when the time was right. I looked at the situation, those five fiends were on their brooms, staying out of range of any yoshi's reach, and since there were no objects that the others could swallow up, they could not make any eggs to throw at those turtles. My fellow comrades tried their best to find a way to defeat those koopas, but to no avail, as long as the Magikoopas stayed up there, the others had no chance. Some yoshis tried to get the main door opened, but it had been locked tight, much to their dismay. The Magikoopas grinned to one another, then one help up something in his hands to show all the yoshis below him, it was the key! The yoshis knew that they had no choice now, if they were to escape from this horrible place, they needed to defeat those koopas. One of the Magikoopas spoke up then.

"You dinos thought you could run away from here without fail and get away with it? You were wrong," said the same Magikoopa who enslaved us back on our island with a horrible laugh.

I began to shake violently, I sent the others to their doom and there was nothing I could do about it, I was afraid of what would happen next. I couldn't move from my spot, I only shook in my shoes. I felt powerless, unable to help them in their hour of need, I felt utterly useless.

"Now you'll all go back and keep working. I know that there won't be any objections," stated that same Magikoopa with an evil grin.

With this, every yoshi began to yell and protest against it, some with a ferocity I had never witnessed in my entire life. That Magikoopa kept grinning though, even with the rebelling hoard of yoshis below ... it was troubling. It looked at its four companions and they all nodded in unison.

"Seems like you all won't go back willingly," it screeched.

With that, that same Magikoopa lifted his wand, then a blinding blue light flashed across the main hall. I was afraid, I didn't know what to expect, what fate would befall my comrades. Soon enough, the blinding light vanished and the scene revealed itself to me. That's odd, nothing seemed to have happened. I was tense all of a sudden, the others inside were also pretty confused to find out that nothing happened at all, this was very odd. I reviewed the situation, and I came to a conclusion, before anything bad would happen to my fellow yoshis, I have to help them out. I briefly looked back towards the hallway behind me, noticing in the corner that Kiiroshi was still there, looking in my direction, a worried look across his face, which I could barely see because of him being in a dark corner. I gestured to him that I was sorry and I needed to go help them out, and to my relief he gestured back to me showing that it was all right. He knew that I needed to try something to help them, and the risks it implied of leaving him undefended, but he showed me to go anyway. I did hesitate though, I didn't want Kiiroshi to get in trouble also, I felt torn apart, but we both knew that I needed to aid the others right now. I gathered all my courage up, and sprung out of behind the corner and ran towards the main hall.

Ugh... That didn't feel good, I said to myself when I was thrown backwards towards the halls I was in, I was literally confused. I slowly got back up to my feet, shaking my head to clear it up a bit from my fall. I went towards the main hall slowly this time, feeling the air ahead of me with my hand. Just a few paces from the halls, not even in the main hall yet, my hands hit something. I was dumbstruck, I could feel something was blocking my way, yet I could not see it. I was getting desperate, I needed to get in there, and fast. I started pounding on the invisible obstacle ahead of me, unsure of the usefulness of actually hitting it. It did not seem to affect it at all. While I attempted to enter, I got a glimpse of what was happening inside.

Inside the main hall, some yoshis were desperately trying to stop our foes, while others that were too scared to help grouped up in small packs together, holding their heads down in fear. The five Magikoopas started to chant in some weird language, I needed to act fast. I pounded my obstacle as hard as I could, hoping to break through, but to no avail. The Magikoopas' wands started to glow a menacing red, it was frightening. At that point the five stopped chanting, giving each other one quick glance, and cast their spell in unison. As yet another blinding flash appeared inside the main hall, tears started to roll down my nose, I knew this would end up being horrible for the others, and there was nothing I could do.

The light faded away, and I watched on, the others weren't moving anymore. They just stood there, not one saying a word or muttering a sound. I decided that standing in the entrance of the main hall was not a good idea, so I went back to peek behind the corner. Finally, a Magikoopa spoke up.

"Now, get back over there and work! There's still lots to do!" he screeched.

The others didn't say a word, they just turned towards the hallways and walked away, a few of them coming here. I hid behind the same corner, and when the first yoshi appeared, I grabbed him and tried to talk to him. The yoshi just stood there, not responding, not showing any sign of life whatsoever, and just stared emptily in front of itself. I promptly shook the yoshi hard, but to no avail. This was horrible, the other yoshis had their personalities, their spunk, their everything taken from them. The yoshi I had taken had already left and was probably on his way to work on the castle again. This was unbearable, I couldn't believe this was actually happening. I decided that the best thing to do right now was to head back and help Kiiroshi, I vowed to myself that he would not suffer the same fate.

When I got back, Kiiroshi was still sitting down, and he was happy to see I was fine. I quickly explained what had happened, and his happiness suddenly faded away. I knew that the longer we stayed here, the more chances that we get captured again were high, so I started to approach Kiiroshi and try to pick him up, though a yelling stopped me in my tracks: "There he is!"

I tried to hide in the darkness with Kiiroshi, but it was too late, as I feared, I had been spotted, and as soon as they yelled that, about three Koopa Troopas were in front of me, blocking my exits, Kiiroshi and I were pinned down. I took a defensive stance in front of Kiiroshi, I won't let anything by me. The closest Koopa Troopa approached, so I let my tongue do the talking, yet the Koopa Troopa dodged it and backed off in fear of being swallowed. Out of the darkness behind them, that Magikoopa that captured us the other day appeared.

"You know, you did pretty good at hiding, but you do realize that it was easy to figure out that some were missing, you're the only light blue of in the lot!" it laughed evilly.

I winced at the comment, how dense of me not to have thought about that, of course with the only light blue yoshi missing they'd be searching, but I retorted, "Yeah! But I won't let you passed me! You won't do to Kiiroshi what you did to the others!"

The Magikoopa seemed annoyed, "Argh! You're yoshi talk is really getting on my nerves, speak right imbecile! He then raised his wand, and cast a spell.

I felt weird, that's the first time someone cast a spell on me, but I don't seem any different, so I continued, "What was... that... for...? I was dumbstruck, I spoke differently, it was overwhelming.

It grinned, "There, know I understand! Now, get ready for a world of hurt for trying to hide!"

I gulped, this was bad. I frantically looked around, no exits. I looked back, Kiiroshi was on the ground and couldn't move without help. I turned around and faced my foe, I won't shy away from this bout. We faced off for a short while, none of us actually moving, just glaring at each other, waiting to see the opponents move. Then, a roar was heard, and he floor started shaking slightly, something big was approaching, and the Magikoopa moved aside. I was not anxious to see what was coming, and when it arrived, I knew I was in trouble. I looked at my new foe, and even though I had never seen him, I know all too well that this had to be Bowser. He was massive, he was imposing, and most of all, he looks menacing. I took a few steps back, taken away by the size of my new opponent, but he didn't come forward from where he had stopped, he started talking.

"A Magikoopa told me what had happened to your friends, are you scared that that will happen to you too" he growled and grinned menacingly.

I was frightened by him, and doubt started to fill my mind that I'd be able to save Kiiroshi, but thinking about my duty that I swore to protect him no matter the outcome helped me, and I stood firm and replied, "You not going to hurt us, no way am I stepping down!

Bowser grinned even more, and added, "Well, I'll let you not suffer your friends' fates, but you'll need to do something for me! You see, there's this princess that keeps getting out of my clutches, and since they're most probably expecting me to go kidnap her again, you'll do it for me!" he laughed evilly at this.

I was taken away by this, me, work for him? And kidnap someone? That's unheard of! I won't allow it, "You think I'll really do that?!" I told him.

"You don't seem to realize that you don't have a choice, unless you want your friend back there to end up working like the others!"

He had a point there, if I didn't go along with it, our future was pretty much forced labour. I gulped, and glanced back at Kiiroshi, I couldn't let that happen to him. I.. had to comply. "So be it, I'll do it." I said rather ashamed, I didn't want to do this at all, but I had no choice.

Kiiroshi was taken away to the dungeon level, where Bowser assured to me that he'll be well taken care of if I do my task right. He then went over the details, I was to go to the Mushroom Kingdom, get to see the princess and make sure I got to talk to hear alone, the rest was up to his troops. I felt bad, maybe I wasn't the one kidnapping her per say, but I was part of the plot to do so, it felt awful knowing that I'd help the likes of him. After everything was told, I was set out with two Koopa Troopas as guides until we'd reach the edge of Bowser's lands.

So, here I was, in a new place I didn't know, and for mission to kidnap the princess of this kingdom. I had to do it though, if I could only figure out a way to help everyone at once too, I'd be happy. Though as I try to figure this out, I walk with my heart torn for what I'm about to do.

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