A Yoshi's Stolen Heart

Chapter 4: Trials of the Koopa King

Past the spiked bridge and moat of lava, the front gate to Bowser's Castle awaited. Despite the long journey to get here, no warm welcome was given to the four as they approached the enormous wooden doors. Instead, they found them shut tightly, not just barring them from entry, but a pink-shelled Koopa girl dressed like a Hammer Bro. as well.

"C'mon, open up already! I know you can hear me in there! Open the gate so I can give those Hammer Bros. a piece of my mind!" she yelled, banging profusely on the door to little result.

"What's her deal?" asked Tiny, scratching his head at the odd situation.

"I dunno. Let's ask her and find out," responded Yosher, approaching the pink Koopa and tapping her shell to get her attention.

"What do you want? Can't you see I'm trying to get in so I can teach those no-good Hammer Bros. a lesson?" she exclaimed.

"Why are you so mad at them? You kinda look like one yourself, other than the fact that you're a girl," asked Barry. The Koopa girl wasn't amused.

"That's the problem! They said I couldn't join because I'm a girl! I'm perfectly capable, but they told me that there were no Hammer Sisters and kicked me out here!" she responded, not showing any signs of calming down.

"I mean, I've never heard of a female Hammer Bro. either, but I guess you do have the look down," said Tiny, causing her to grumble.

"My name's Kerrie. What are you all doing here, anyway? This place is pretty dangerous," she asked.

"I'm Yosher, and this is Tiny, Barry, and Harold. We're trying to get my gem back from the Koopa kid that stole it," explained Yosher.

"Well, none of us are getting in with the doors closed like that," responded Kerrie, clearly frustrated with the situation. That was, until Barry pointed out a convenient crack in the wall just beside the front gate. With a cheerful smile on his face, the Bomb Boo closed his eyes and blasted the wall wide open, disappearing into a puff of black smoke.

"Is... is he okay?" asked Kerrie, having never seen the Boo explode before. Then, right before her eyes, Barry popped back into existence, as safe and as happy as ever. Now that the crack was blown open, the four were free to enter, but not without Kerrie having something to say.

"Hold it! If you guys are going in, then I'm coming too! I'm not gonna let those Hammer Bros. get away with treating me like some frilly flower!" she exclaimed, following the four into the castle as the party's fifth member.

Inside the castle, the five were met with a litany of hallways. The gray-bricked interior almost seemed intentionally maze-like, as if to ward off potential intruders. As the five wandered through the labyrinthian castle, Harold took out a notepad and started jotting things down.

"Are you keeping track of where we've been?" asked Yosher, looking over the Spike's shoulder to see what he was writing.

"No, I'm writing notes on how to be more royal. Look, I wrote 'make castle confusing so the commoners can never find you,'" he explained. Shrugging, Yosher continued to keep an eye out for any clues as to where his jewel's thief was. With all of the gray bricks, gray Thwomps, and gray statues of the castle's ruler, the whole place was beginning to seem rather monochrome. That was until he spotted something out-of-the-ordinary. When the Yoshi got a better look, he saw that it was a scared-looking Magikoopa girl in robes of soft purple.

"Hey, you're not supposed to be here..." she stuttered, nervously pointing her wand at the party. Before she could continue to ineffectually threaten Yosher and his friends, Kerrie ran up to the girl and began sizing her up.