Prologue

This tale begins one day on an island inhabited by dinosaurs called yoshis. Many yoshi herds lived on the island in peace and harmony. Some herds lived in the forest. Others preferred the mountains. A few even took up residence near the beach. This story is about one of these coastal herds.

One spring day, an odd creature wearing a cloak visited this herd. Yoshis are a friendly and carefree species and they welcomed it with open arms. After all, they had done the same to a human that landed on the island in the past and it was now their leader and best friend.

However, the creature betrayed the yoshi herd. Using a magic spell, it turned the yoshis into eggs and scattered them across the world of Plit. Only a few yoshis survived the sudden attack. One of them immediately ran to the home of their leader to tell him about the terrible disaster.

Meanwhile, the leader of the yoshi herd and hero of this story was doing some cleaning at his house, completely unaware that he would soon embark on a grand adventure.

Chapter I: The Eggsellent Adventure Begins

It was a beautiful day in Toad Town. It was the beginning of spring and the residents decided to do a little cleaning around their houses. At the home of the Super Mario Bros., Mario was bringing out his collection of garden gnomes while Luigi washed the windows.

"Nice day out, isn't it?" Mario sighed contently.

"Sure is," Luigi replied. "Perfect time to clean up this place."

"Where do you think I should put this?" Mario asked as he picked up a Goomba gnome. It wore a red elf hat and had a silly grin on its face. "Near the bush maybe?"

"Better not. The warp pipe to Yoshi's Island is in there, remember?"

"Oh sure."

"Hmm. I wonder how the yoshis are doing," Luigi said thoughtfully. "The snow sorta kept them away."

"Why not visit them right now? I can take care of everything here."

"Well. Alright."

Before Luigi had the chance to climb into the warp pipe, one of his yoshi friends popped out of it. It was none other than Purpley, who was known to have a bit of a crush on Luigi. Normally she would be all over him, but she was in a state of panic this time.

"Luigi! The herd!" she began.

"The herd? What's wrong with it?" asked Luigi.

Purpley sobbed and tugged on Luigi's arm. "Something's wrong! Th-they're all gone!"

"I'd better go check this out. You stay here and take care of the cleaning."

"Sure thing," Mario chuckled as he placed a Shy Guy gnome near the mailbox.

Luigi and Purpley went into the warp pipe and were immediately transported to Purpley's home on Yoshi's Island. Luigi didn't understand what was wrong though. Everything seemed normal here.

"So what's the matter, Purpley? Were you playing Hide-and-Seek?"

"No..." Purpley continued to cry. "We were all on the beach and suddenly..." she trailed off.

Luigi honestly had no idea what was going on. He pet Purpley a few times in an attempt to calm her down, then both of them walked to the beach to try to figure out what the problem was.

"It happened right here," Purpley said, not crying so hard now. "Everyone was turned into eggs and...then..."

While Purpley was talking, Luigi noticed some movement near a clump of rocks. He went over to investigate and found Pinky trembling with fear.

"Pinky? What happened here?"

"Oh! Luigi!" Pinky shouted, feeling a little relieved. "I'm so glad you're here! Something terrible has happened!"

"So I've heard. But what exactly?"

"It happened so fast. Most of the herd was turned into eggs and then they went away.

Purpley pointed toward the ocean. "I saw some go that way."

"Huhhh...?" Luigi groaned and thought for a moment. "So are you two the only ones here? Or are there others?"

"You know, I think I saw the kids run for Blacky's cave," Pinky said hopefully.

The three decided that it would be best to head over there. When they arrived, Luigi went inside. He quickly found Yosheta hiding in a corner and crying. Oshi was there as well and he didn't look particularly happy about having visitors.

"Who do you think you are?!" the orange yoshi shouted angrily. "Don't try turning me into an egg! I'm gonna beat you up like-"

"Whoa there, Oshi! It's just me, Luigi!"

"Oh. Sorry, Luigi," Oshi apologized. "I was just protecting Yosheta. I thought you were that fat thing that turned us into eggs."

"I see," Luigi said as he rubbed his chin. "I'd better look into this. For the time being, I suppose I'll get you guys to safety at my house. Then we can talk."

The yoshis happily agreed and followed Luigi back to the warp pipe.

Meanwhile, Mario was finished setting up his lawn gnomes and was now fixing a broken step on the porch when Luigi arrived with four yoshis in tow.

"So what's up?" Mario asked Luigi.

"I'm not quite sure yet," the yoshi leader said with a frown. "Something about the herd being turned into eggs...or something. I'm gonna try to calm these guys down and see if they can tell me any more."

After enjoying a quick lunch, Luigi sat the yoshis down in his bedroom and tried to get them to explain what happened.

"Well, this one frog thing came to us one day," Pinky began.

"Actually, I thought he looked more like a-" Purpley objected.

"No, it was definitely a frog," Oshi interrupted.

"Whatever it was, it sure was fat," Yosheta added.

"A fat frog thing, huh?" said Luigi. "You getting this, Mario?"

Mario was sitting at the desk and jotting down notes. "Got it. What color was it?"

"Green!" all the yoshis shouted.

"Anything else about this guy that we should know?" Luigi asked. "Did he wear anything or have markings of any kind?"

Unfortunately, the yoshis all talked at once and each said something different. One mentioned that the culprit wore something around his neck. Another said that it had something pointy on his head. Yet another claimed that it wore something on his back. One also pointed out that it had a white belly. Mario struggled to write all of this down. It was difficult to understand what all four yoshis were trying to say.

Luigi continued with the questions. "Okay. Now about what happened to everyone. You say they were turned into eggs?"

"Yes," Purpley said sadly. "Then they kinda got sent all over the place."

"I have no idea where they went," Oshi shrugged.

Luigi closed his eyes and folded his arms. "I see," he mused. "I suppose that the obvious thing to do is go look for them."

"Probably," said Mario. "But I suggest that you get started in the morning."

"Yeah. I guess you're right."

That night, while Luigi and the yoshis slept, Mario was doing a little work at the desk. Combining what the yoshis said with a few ideas of his own, he drew a collection of police sketches. He would show them to the yoshis in the morning and see if any of them were resembled the enemy.

The next day, Luigi was the first to get out of bed. He worried about the herd throughout the entire night and got little sleep as a result. He went into the kitchen to enjoy a cup of coffee and waited for everyone else to wake up.

"Mornin', bro," Mario said as he entered the kitchen. "You're up early."

Luigi yawned. "Rough night."

"Oh. That's too bad. Maybe you'll feel better after having some pancakes."

Mario set a pile of papers down on the kitchen table. They were the police sketches that he did last night. Then he began to make breakfast. But Luigi wasn't very interested in pictures or pancakes. The only thing on his mind was getting his yoshi friends back.

"What to do..." Luigi said gloomily.

"Hey, you guys," Mario said when the yoshis came into the kitchen. "I need you to look at the pictures sitting on the table. Tell me if any of them look like the guy that started this mess."

The yoshis looked at the drawings carefully. Most of them looked like frogs. A few looked like fat yoshis. Two even looked like large Koopa Troopas.

"This one!" Purpley shouted and picked up one that was near the bottom of the stack. "This looks almost exactly like him!"

Mario, Luigi, and the other yoshis crowded around to have a look. This drawing depicted a pudgy frog that wore a crown, a necklace, and a robe. It also had a white belly. Also, unlike most of the pictures, the subject in this one did not wear shoes.

"It does look like him," said Pinky. "His nose is a little bigger. That's all."

"He looks familiar," Luigi added. "Is that based on anyone, Mario?"

"I think..." Mario thought for a moment. "It was one of Bowser's underlings. Or the thing that kidnapped Daisy once."

Mario took the drawing, folded it, and tucked away in his overalls pocket. Then he and the others ate the pancakes.

"So how do we get everyone back?" Oshi asked.

"I'm not really sure," said Luigi. "My guess is to round up all the eggs. But I have no idea where to start looking."

"True," Mario agreed. "They might not even be on Yoshi's Island. If that's the case, we have a lot of ground to cover."

"Dang. How are we gonna do this?"

Perhaps it is merely a coincidence, but the telephone started to ring.

"Argh. I'll get this," Luigi muttered, picking up the phone. "Hello?"

"Durrr... You're a stupidhead," Waluigi's voice crackled over the line. "Don't take my work 'cause I know where you live and I'll eat your babies..."

"Hello, Waluigi," Luigi said while trying to stifle a laugh.

"Gah! Who'd you call now?!" Wario's voice boomed. "Is that you, Mario?"

"Luigi, actually."

"Don't mind my stupid brother. He got into my Chuckola Cola again."

Luigi grinned and shook his head as he heard a thump on Wario's end.

"You idiot!" Wario continued. "I thought I told you to stay out of there! Now go warm up the Wario Car! I want to use my new ship and get out of this dump already! Dang it. I missed the receiver..." The phone on Wario's end clicked, ending the call.

"Who was that?" Mario asked.

"Oh, just Waluigi being dumb again. Wario mentioned that he got a new ship though."

Something about that sentence got Mario's attention. "Hmm... Is that so? Call him back and give it to me. I have an idea."

Luigi shrugged and picked up the phone again. He dialed Wario's number, then handed it to Mario.

"It's a bit of a stretch," Mario commented as the phone rang on Wario's end. "But I might be able to pull this off."

"Yo," Wario answered.

"Hey, Wario. I heard you got yourself a new ship."

"Yeah? What's it to you?"

"Planned on going somewhere?"

"Who cares?!" Wario snapped. "Lemme guess. You wanna come along for the ride, huh? What makes you think you can just invite yourself to my-"

"Shut up and listen for a sec, will you? Luigi's yoshi herd got attacked by something yesterday and we need to-"

"Hold the boat! You want my ship for a rescue mission, eh?"

"Well, since you put it that way... Yes. I sorta need it for me, Luigi and four yoshis."

"Ho ho! Four yoshis? This is gonna cost you, buddy."

"I don't care. What do you want?"

"In a case like this, you have to say..." Wario paused for a moment. "It."

"You must be joking! No!"

"I demand you say it!"

"Absolutely not!"

"If you don't, your brother and his little dinosaur friends are going to stay right where they are."

"Okay. Fine," Mario sighed, feeling defeated. "Warios rule and Marios drool."

"I can't heeeeear you." Wario teased.

"Warios rule and Marios drool! Is that good enough for you?!"

Wario laughed heartily. "I knew you'd cooperate. Yeah. Waluigi and I will be there in awhile to grab you guys. Smell ya later!"

Mario hung up the phone. "Well, I got us a ride, but it cost me some of my dignity."

"Had you say that stupid line again, didn't he?"

"Yeah. Well, I suppose we'd better pack some supplies in the meantime."

The brothers go into the bedroom and make their preparations. Luigi packed mushrooms, syrups, a flashlight and some money. Mario packed a change of clothing for himself and Luigi, a CD player and some CDs, a pair of binoculars and his police sketches.

"Bringing a good weapon in case anything happens?" Mario asked Luigi.

Luigi nodded and held up the hammer he got in the Beanbean Kingdom.

"Good call."

"I'm bringing this too," Luigi said, holding up a universal phone. "E. Gadd finished making it the other day and wanted me to test it."

"Ah. Communication. Great idea!" Mario exclaimed as he looked for his Mailbox SP.

Shortly after the brothers had made their preparations, a car horn was heard outside. It was Wario.

"Looks like it's time to go," Luigi said sternly.