FSE

Furry search engine

formerly SoFurry search engine

Roy rushed over to where Sher T. now laid, weakly stirring into consciousness as he stared up towards the ceiling of the cargo hold.

"Hey, s'alrigh', you gonna be okay."

"Th-...th-the...the deal-"

"Never mind that, come on we gotta get you-"

"Th-the deal...could have made it...big."

"You really wanna confess this to me, cuz you know ah ain' gonna let you off-"

"He won't. He won't let me."

"Huh? Who?"

"Him. Behind you."

The sound of wings was the last thing he heard before darkness took his vision. Indomitable strength there came swooping from above, slashing his face with something long and silvery crushing against his black scaled skin. Barrelling into the wall violently, he struggled to get up onto his feet to fight whatever creature had hidden itself before claws strangled him by the throat, choking ruthlessly as he struggled with panic at the feel of his feet leaving the floor. Powerful wings flapped with deafening wind against his ears as he tried to keep hold of his spear and shield, desperately thrusting despite the unknown savage moving its body just well enough to evade his attack. An idea came to him as he heated up his shield with blazing nanostrength, hot enough to become scorching but not hot enough to melt it as he slammed the brazen heated shield against the monster's claws, causing it to shriek violently as he fell towards the darker section of the hold.

Yet the shadow grew above him, a towering monolith of evil and destruction as he fell forever into the voided pit. Screams came faintly from all sides of him, the monster above him now opening its eyes to reveal a blinding red light that pierced through his vision. His arms began to wither and fade, crumbling to dust that shrieked past his ears like burning sand. He felt the water shattering his back from the fall, but then he could smell it. Feel it all around him, realising soon it wasn't just water of the sea. Blood. Porous, thick and choking his body like quicksand, slowly consuming his legs as he felt something pull him in. He tried to scream, but something groped at his lips, the taste of red as fingers crawled inside his throat. Severing from the hands that grabbed him, the writhing digits squirmed across his flesh like maggots, scraping. Digging. Burrowing. He saw nothing but the constant blearing inside his head. His armless stumps writhed and flapped uselessly in the bloodied pool as he suffocated, fingers strangling his throat from within slowly reforming into hands that moulded to his skin. He didn't even realise that he had been drowning the entire journey, falling deep into the red abyss. But when he hit the bottom, everything blinked out of existence.

A light shined down before him, centred upon a pedestal of purest white like a baptismal font. The water had gone along with everything else as he stood in the midst of eternal darkness with nothing but a glistening ray of hope as he walked forwards against his will. The water was clear and pristine as he bathed his hands with it, pressing the cold sweet wet fingers against his cheeks. A moment of clarity. He dunked his hands in once more, but the second time he caressed his face, something began to drip. He saw his own flesh decaying, unravelling in his fingers and before he even realised it, his face had changed within the water's reflection now sullied with raw flesh carving itself from his face to reveal what laid underneath. Half of his face was disappearing, his black snout and blue-ringed eyes showing a hooded beast, red glimmering eyes above a masked snout.

"CaN't yOu tAkE a JoKe?"

He had barely the chance to scream before he saw the creature shove its hands out of the font, piercing his eyes deep with claws wrapped round his skull and thumbs shoving deep into his sockets.

There was a knock at the door. Carefully it was opened to reveal Roy standing with a coat and a pair of slacks in the middle of the dead night.

"...ah can't sleep."

James gave a sigh of mutual understanding as he stood aside.

"Come on in."

The utahraptor stepped in with cautious gait, wringing his hands together with eyes bloodshot as he sat down on the Kennidons' sofa. The television was still on, showing two male koopas struggling to speak in the midst of a heavy rain, a dark city landscape with their glossed skin and shells becoming oily from the downpour. Koopin was at the other end of the sofa with gentle smile as James asked:

"You want something to drink?"

"Um...y-yeah, thank you."

The velociraptor headed off to the kitchen behind the couch, putting the kettle on as the koopa went to the closet to grab something. He returned with a thick spare blanket and gently wrapped it over Roy's shoulders, taking his coat off of him first as Charlie looked up at him. He did not bark like usual, for he knew Roy had always come by these usual times, smelling of fear and sadness.

"Was it that dream?" he asked.

"Hmm?"

"That dream...was it the same as last time?"

"...no...it wuz kinda different, started different. But it ended thuh same."

"Oh..."

"Um, s-sorry if ah interrupted anything."

"No no it's fine, you're not bothering, you're never a bother."

"Alrigh'...whut movie is this?"

"It's about two guys who fall in love, twenty years apart but they really like each other. They got a lot in common, they feel able to open up to each other, but there's a big secret they find out that makes their relationship really complicated...you wanna know, or you wanna see this sometime?"

"Uhhh just tell me."

"So, it turns out they're actually father and son, you know, thanks to 'donation banks' and such, and uh...they have no idea what to do with their relationship now with what they know."

"Woah that's uh...pretty messed up, do they uh...do it?"

"Heh, yeah, um...it's, actually pretty explicit, they have to put this movie on pretty late at night, James and me like it cuz the build-up of the relationship is actually really sweet...well, that and the uh-um...the, scenes."

"Haha, that sound lahk FG bein' all thuh perv he is, never thought he'd be all into romances."

"It took him a while. What kinda movies do you like?"

"Usually animated stuff, got more potential to get wilder with their ideas, but also love a good sci-fi, fantasy...basically anything that goes out of this world, ah don't really lahk movies that are grounded in reality lahk spy thrillers an' shit."

"You got a favourite one...in this world at least?"

"Uhh...naw, can't think of any righ' now."

"My favourite is Van Shellsing, I remember every line from that movie."

"Whut's James' favourite?"

"Ravens from the Moon. He gets really emotional over that one."

"Huh, that sound pretty old school, that sum kinda sci-fi flick?"

"It's really old but it's REALLY good, you should totally watch it."

"Ah might just do that sumtime."

Koopin smiled at the larger beast swaddled up in a blanket, struggling to force out the demons from his mind and memories of what transfixed his imagination in the threshold of sleep. It was a situation he had seen before, and one that he knew how to remedy as he put his hand on Roy's shoulder.

"I may not know what you and James go through, or what sort of things you dream about. But I know how to make a raptor feel safe, and I know what problems he can go through. James was like you too."

"Really?"

"Mmhmm, after always having a bad dream he would just lie here in front of the couch, sleeping with the TV on, the static he said helps calm him down, take his mind off things. And I've known that kind of thing for at least four years that I know how to make someone feel safe when in my house."

"Our house."

James said this from behind as he gave Roy a mug brimming with hot cocoa, which said the words "Tasty Boy" on the side of it.

"You're always welcome here Roy, no matter what, so don't ever feel like you're unwelcome with us. No matter how long you live here or wherever your life goes, you always have a home with us."

"......thank you. Both of you."

A feeble smile crept over his black lips as he felt both James and Koopin hug him from behind and from his side, sweeping their arms around his thick-bodied chest. The warmth from both of them was sincere as he pulled his arms close to himself, drinking some of the hot cocoa with a better sense of peace. He felt that every time he came to them his nightmares would disappear sooner than before. It was a ritual they understood, one that James always wanted to help with in both understanding and by a sense of duty, being something of a carer to Roy whereas Koopin simply followed the world teachings of his upbringing. They soon parted their hug as James slowly made his way around to sit between Roy and Koopin.

"Sooooooo...how was the date?"

"Whu-h-huh?"

"You knoooow that date, the one you were talking about to me a few days back at the bar."

"Wait which date was this?" asked Koopin.

"Roy's found himself a cute girl."

"Wh-really, awwwww!"

"W-w-woah ah ain't got a girlfriend!" said Roy defensively.

"We never said a girlfriend," replied James smoothly. "I just said a girl, is she becoming your girlfriend Roy?"

"Whu-no, ah don'-...um...a-a-ah don't know, it's too soon to tell, ahm just havin' fun, we both really lahk each other an' enjoy bein' out an' stuff."

"Sounds just like a girlfriend."

"We're just friends dammit! Besides ah dunno if she even into me that way, don' wanna push it."

"What do you mean, you had a date!"

"Yeah we had a nice dinner, then walked in thuh park an' said goodnight!"

"Wait, she didn't invite you in? You didn't like, get any fun?"

"No?"

"What, oh my god why not?!"

"Ah wuzn't gonna ask, ah don't get in a girl's bed on thuh first date!"

"Pfffffthhhehehehahahaha, oho my god you're such a fucking dork!"

"James!" cried Koopin.

The raptor slapped a hand to his face with giggling tease as he stood up.

"No, no just-no, no I'm sorry but Roy, this is the 35th century, people don't DO this gentlemanly stuff anymore with flowers and chocolates, you meet somebody at a bar and if you hit it off, you're straight back to their place!"

"Not everyone is as eager to get their pants off as you James, also may I remind you it's not the 35th century in THIS world."

"I didn't hear you complain when I took you back home."

"Wait whut?" asked Roy.

"Oh, did I never tell you how me and Koopin first met? Literally what I just said, we met up, got home, then got in bed together."

"You WHUT?! ...Koopin, damn I am surprised at you, ah thought you had a little more respect!"

"I was drunk!" said the koopa panicking. "W-we both were! I got lucky because I normally would never do that, I would NEVER normally just take the first guy I met back home from a bar or club and make love to him."

"Ah sure hope not, that shit's dangerous. Ah mean look whut you ended up with."

"Oh fuck you!" said James cockily. "I have standards, I don't just do it with anyone, I went with Koopin because he's a charming adorable sweet boy who I am happy to spend the rest of my life with."

"Says thuh one who got bent over a barrel with sixteen dudes on a boat ready to pound his ass."

James shut down briefly with a look of shock and cupped his hands over his snout breathing thickly with shame. Koopin said nothing except give a wry smirk that broke into giggling fits.

"Uuuuuugggghhhhhh gawwwwwd Kruz told you didn't he?"

"Yyyyyep, he sure did."

"I'm going to kick his ass next time we meet up."

"It was twenty actually," murmured Koopin.

The brown raptor looked up from his hands with a look of mock indignance, spreading his claws in false outrage.

"WHAT. THE HELL KOOPIN."

"I-I'm sorry I had to correct-"

"This is NOT the time to correct him on my past life!"

"Well I'm sorry that your sex drive is just so difficult for you!"

"We're talking about Roy's girl not me, I'm not the one slow-burning here!"

"Some people like the wait, the patience, it builds up the appetite James."

"It's a woman not a main course!"

"Awww no mommy an' daddy are fightin' again," said Roy teasingly.

"Oh you can just shut it, we're here about you. So this girl...back to you, what's this girl like at least?"

"She's a yoshi. Her name is Yolanda, an' she's got a great personality for me. She's smart, she knows all about machines an' electricity an' how to clean metals, she cleaned up mah guard clothes after ah got soaked."

"Hah, that's pretty nice, she an engineer or something?"

"No but she wanna be, got stuck doin' travel agency jobs, easy stuff to pay bills. She just got a life to her, yanno lahk a zest, makes me feel alive jus' talkin' to her, she's warm, she's excited, she loves to eat, god does she eat, she's not afraid to grab life an' swing with it."

"Sounds like my kinda girl."

"Is she local?" asked Koopin.

"She lives a few streets away from me," replied Roy, "she's awesome. Ah dunno whut it is but, she really makes me feel lahk...lahk I'm normal. You know?"

"I do. You just feel content with her, like your heart just feels able to relax?"

"Yeah, thassit. Ah mean thuh language barrier's not even a problem cuz she's so smart that ahm feelin' lahk thuh big dumb beast next to thuh gorgeous beauty, lahk yanno a tale as old as time?"

"Wait, language barrier?"

"Yeah she's deaf but we got ways around it, mostly cuz she can read lips, an' also type stuff out on her DS but man ah feel stupid guilty."

"Does she know MKSL?"

"Whussat?"

"Mushroom Kingdom Sign Language. You know, with the hands-"

"OH yeah yeah righ' yeah she does, she an' her landlord speak it, ah didn't even think this world had its own sign language."

"Huh...you know...I think-if you wanna try talking to her more, I DO have this book I got that helped, lemme just go get it."

Koopin rushed over to his closet rummaging around to try and find something, whilst Roy kept drinking up his cocoa until finishing it completely. James took the mug back to the kitchen and soon after two minutes had passed, both raptors walked over to see Koopin's belongings laid out rather neatly on the shelves inside the closet within the wall to the right of the bed. Yet somehow he was still struggling to find what he needed. The raptor MacGregor noticed amongst some suits and boxes a few otherworldly artifacts, such as a tome and playing cards with Ivalician scripture that made him chuckle.

"Heeeey ah remember that, Triple Triad!"

"You ever played it?" asked James.

"Ah played sum with Fayne whilst you were away, after him an' Kruz started dating. It's pretty great, ah had lots of fun, we should try up a game sumtime!"

"Ohhh shame I didn't bring any other packs, damn. I just brought some back for Koopin as a souvenir."

"Hmhmhmhm...it's alrigh' FG, ah know you suck, Fayne told me."

"Oh god dammit...any luck in there cutie?"

"I can't find it," replied Koopin. "Where's that big red book, you know the one with the hands on the front?"

"Iiiiii...think I remember seeing it someplace, let me jus-"

"Can you check your closet in case it got put there by mistake?"

"Alrighty."

James went over to his closet which was situated to the left of the bed, clearly not as neat as Koopin's was which came as no surprise to Roy. Cluttered books, various clothes, some small accessories such as a friendship bracelet and a small black stone pendant that Roy recognised smiling as James dug into his collection. Then he noticed one thing shining amongst the bric-a-brac.

"...you...you kept it."

A lone steel horseshoe that he took off the shelf. His fingers rubbed smoothly across the shape of it, feeling now how cold it was.

"You...you actually kept it."

"Ohhh jeez I um...I didn't know if you wanted it back or not so I just......I was gonna ask-"

"No, keep it."

He handed it back to place it on the shelf.

"Reason ah stayed here wuz to move on, not sit in a room full of memories."

"Alright. I understand."

"...is that five-thousand dollars in a stack up there?"

"Yeah but that's kinda useless, it only works in one world, I kinda won it in a competition."

"Whut competition wuz that?"

"The Final Gamer Tournament? Remember, you tried to beat my face in a shopping mall at night?"

"Ohhhhhhh yeaaaaaaaah, awwwwww...that wuz fun, an' then sum weird aliens shot at us."

"Where did you go after that anyway? Also how did you even...know where to spot me?"

"Ah saw you in a cafe when you went out wanderin' at night, we bumped into each other lahk, literally."

"Huh. Well that's neat, nope I still can't find the book here Koopin."

"Darnit," muttered Koopin, "where did I have it last, I know I was reordering stuff a couple of weeks back, where would I have put it? ...information books I put iiiiiiiin-AH, I got it!"

Rushing back over towards the dresser behind the sofa and next to the kitchen doorway, he zoned in upon one particular drawer to pull out finally a medium-sized book showing four different species' hands gesturing with their fingers like compass points.

"The Traveller's Guide to Mushroom Kingdom Sign Language," said Koopin, "fully authorised by the TGA too. This right here is the best reference you'll ever get, it's the same book they use for teaching people in professional schools."

"Seriously?" replied Roy. "And you want-"

"Sure take it, I don't need it as much now, I got this practically memorised over the past several years."

He took it carefully as if holding a family relic, which was when Koopin noticed his large three-fingered claws against his own four yellow digits.

"...oh."

"Whut?"

"Your...your uh, heh, fingers, I forgot that you and James have uh, three of them. Normally MKSL operates on having four fingers...this might be a problem."

"Awww jeez...wait, wait whut about those who don't even got no fingers, lahk goombas an' bob-ombs?"

"They have their own version, using their feet obviously but that's covered in a different book which I don't have."

"Whut they just tap it out lahk morse code?"

"Yes actually. So, you take that book with you tomorrow and uh, lemme know how you get on."

"This'll really help, thanks Koopin. So uh, you all headin' off to bed then?"

"I think probably yeah, you need anything else before bed?"

"Naw ahm good, ahll just put this book next to mah coat that way ahll remember to take it when ah leave tomorrow."

"Alrighty then. Night night Roy."

"Night Koopin. Night FG."

"G'night dude," said James, "hope you sleep a lot better here."

"I always do."

The two smiled to each other as Roy began tucking himself into the sofa like a bed, draping his blanket over him as Koopin turned off the television for the night before retiring to his bedroom with James. Light bulbs were turned off one by one as the house soon plunged itself into darkness, the sounds of rustling sheets as the Kennidons retreated into sleep somehow soothing Roy even greater than usual. The known presence of friends helped calm his troubled heart, as he soon felt another creature also near him. He looked down over the breach of the cushions to see Charlie looking up towards him.

"Ish time to shleep nowsh."

"Heh, ah know...you wanna sleep here next to me?"

"Don't you worriesh uncle Roy, I protect yoush from the bad people."

"Heheheh, is that righ'?"

"Yesh, I protect yoush like I protect my daddiesh, waaaaaah."

"Ni-night Charlie. Thank you, ah feel much safer knowin' you around."

"Goodnightsh, shleep tight."

The chomp simply curled himself into a small ouroboros, his tail chain touching against his right cheek as he slept sweetly next to Roy before the raptor felt himself drift off into dreams once again. That night he slept much better than usual, like always within the Kennidon household as no tales of discontent hounded him in his mind afterwards. Morning soon came as Roy slightly roused from his sleep around 6:30am, with dawn shimmering across his vision and the long window above James and Koopin's bed offered him a wondrous rose-tinted view of their house interior. Charlie still slept, peaceful as always as Roy gently sneaked over towards the shower deciding to grab a quick soak to clean himself before work.

He took no more than six minutes rinsing himself down from head to toe, the shower bigger than the one he had back at his place which offered him more movement to turn with his tail carefully. Doing his best not to knock anything over, his sculpted buttocks glistened with the morning light's reflection from nearby as his tail lifted, sliding a hand over behind him with the soap between his cheeks, over his sheath and peeling back the foreskin-like section to polish off his glans. Muscles of his chest heaved as he arched his back slightly, taking the shower gel for the rest of his body as he oiled up his torso, arms and legs. Ebony like a stone statue of ancient times, he was ignorant of the small audience he had in the form of Koopin and James watching curiously from the bedsheets. Feeling rather lewd at this voyeuristic streak, they both looked at each other briefly in a form of mutual acceptance that this was a terrible thing they were doing, and simply kept watching until Roy was finished before swiftly dropping their heads to the pillow and pretend they were still asleep. Once Roy had his clothes back on, they conveniently awoke with James starting:

"Uuurrrrrrrraaaaaaah...nnnngh shit, oh hey morning Roy."

"Oh, uhh mornin', ah wuz just about to head out."

"Yeah yeah no worries uhhh you...sleep well?"

"Yeah ah did, wuz great. Thanks again, but ah gotta head to work."

"Alrighty, take care."

He headed out the door swiftly snatching his coat without even looking as both Kennidons sat up with a cheeky grin from James.

"I don't think he noticed."

"We really shouldn't do that."

"If we just told him he would be really embarrassed, I mean it's not our fault we just woke up right when he was taking a shower."

"Yeaaah but he's our friend."

"A very handsome friend, according to these."

The raptor pointed down towards their crotches as Koopin blushed heavily. With his hand gently wrapping round the back of the koopa's head, he pulled him to his chest and whispered:

"We got up pretty early so I think...you oughta get me nice and prepped before work."

"Mmmmm and how am I going to do that?"

"Get under the covers and...fix that for me wontcha?"

"You're all pent up from last night aren't you?"

"God yes. Go on."

With his insistence, Koopin slipped down underneath the sheets as he began to kiss James all down his naked belly. Healed scars long since faded could almost barely be traced by his fingers caressing the strong earthy chest, the koopa's tongue gracing his skin with tender smooches and long sweetened licks towards the prize itself brazen at a hefty 7 inches between his thighs. James watched his husband's head disappear completely underneath the bedcovers, as his musk pent up inside beneath the fabric sent Koopin into a slight dizziness of its clean spicy touch to his nostrils. Shuddering with a lustful intoxication, he began to swallow the thick throbbing length as James simply watched the bulge of his head moving up and down with the joyful sensation of his cock being consumed in a wet hot snugness.

"Ohhhhh yeeeesssss...ohhhh Koopin that's a good boy...you like that?"

"Mmmmhhhmmmm...glk...mmmmglk..."

"Ohhh yeah you do, such a cutie taking care of your sexy husband. Mmmph...ohhhh yeah."

His hand slipped over above the sheets to touch faintly on where Koopin's head was, feeling the younger Kennidon bob up then down cautiously entrenched within a small world of hot raptor scents and taste that drowned his senses completely. His own erection was aching, but too far out of James' reach now lower to his feet than anywhere else as he focused only on the one cock for now. Then he felt the raptor's hand press down on his head above the sheets, forcing him to swallow gently every single inch he could.

"M-MMMMPH! GLKH!"

"Shhhhh...that's it Koopin...just swallow it...hhhhh god that's it."

His wedding ring glistened in the light of dawn from his hand keeping the koopa's head pressed down firmly, the shining star within its glass bubble twinkling pleasantly as he loosened his grip to let Koopin slide back up. But every time he went down, he pushed him cautiously encouraging him to deepthroat as he had learned to do so rather expertly over the years they spent together. The raptor became so entranced with love from the sweet sounds of his husband sucking noisily, he almost did not realise the door opening directly in front of them from across the living room as he shoved Koopin to the hilt of his meat.

"Hey uh, ah forgot mah book-"

"WHU-OH, OH um y-yeah really?! Huh I didn't even uh see it!"

"Yeah um, sorry 'bout that."

Roy had briefly come back to pick up his book which laid next to the door where his coat had been, seeing only James in the middle of his bed putting his hands comfortably on his crotch.

"Uhhhhh...where's Koopin?"

"He's outside, just...taking in some fresh air, nice to do in the morning, just to feel the grass beneath your feet and all that."

"An' why are you still in bed?"

"Because I'm lazy. Obviously. No actually I just hurt my leg, feels really sore maybe I slept on it wrong or something."

"You uh...you wan' sum help?"

"Noooo nooo no, you just get off to work and you lemme know how it goes with this uh...this girl, I forgot her name-"

"Yolanda."

"Yolanda riiiight yeah thassit."

"Ahll see whut happens. Thanks, and uh you tell Koopin thanks from me."

"No problem Royyyyy...mm-mmmmmhhhhhh daaaamn this leg jeez."

"You sure you alrigh'?"

"What, you offering me a leg massa-a-a-aage?"

"Heh, no, you got sumbody else for that, anyways ahll see you later."

"Yeah, g'bye Roy, I'll see you!"

The door closed as Koopin came back up for fresh air from the sheets, heaving a deep swallow of what was surely the trace of something hot and sticky that James could tell from his bottom lip slightly covered in clear seed.

"MMMMMMMGLLLKH! GUH! Hhhhhh...ohhhh s-stars that was close."

"Hhhehehehehe, wow it really was, you know you're really good at this."

"That was reaaaaally-oh jeez, I would have been so embarrassed if he found out-"

"And he didn't. Not even when I came."

He cleared the cum from Koopin's lip by a small lick and a gentle peck.

"You even managed to keep it all in your mouth you dirty boy."

"B-barely. Now, it's your turn. You owe me, then I need to get a shower."

"You want me to do it under the covers and see how well you can handle surprise guests?"

"That hopefully is not gonna happen, now you put that smart mouth of yours to use mister Kennidon and get on downstairs."

"Ooohoohooo yes sir."

Without another word he dipped his head into the covers and gave Koopin the same treatment, watching his older husband's head slip under to swallow his most intimate region into a wondrous rich heat.

Roy got back to his apartment in time to greet miss Flo T. just waking up, knowing his need to sleep at his friends' house on certain nights and not questioning his arrival early morn as he gathered his duty clothes and put his new book to one side for later reading. He wondered if there was a way to transfer the book's data to his omni-tool so he could read it at work, not wanting to risk damaging the book on his rounds or even worse manage to lose it.

Every night after work he meticulously read over the book whilst practicing in the bathroom mirror. Like Koopin said, the fact that he had three fingers instead of the standard four made things complicated, and he hoped that he wouldn't accidentally offend Yolanda by the time of their next date. He only memorised the first two chapters, basic greetings and simple answers to try and get into the rhythm of it with the days simply slipping by without incident until the day before Roy's second date with the yoshi. As he stepped out from his place wearing his guard clothes, Flo T. stopped him with a nervous pause.

"Mister......Roy."

"Hmm?"

The toad lady stepped forwards from her door beside the front entrance.

"I...I know you're about to head to work but I need to tell you this. I just want you to know that I think you are a wonderful, kind and very sweet person who I appreciate being here, helping me around the house and such. And I feel......oh stars please forgive me for this."

"Is sumthin' wrong?"

"N-n-no...not...really, just I need to be honest with you. I know that you are a fine young man, and that obviously you want to find someone more close to your age and I noticed that you may have over the past week or so. I...I-i-i please forgive this old foolish heart but just, for one moment or two I nearly thought that I would have become closer to you...in some capacity. But..."

She clasped her hand on his as his eyes widened in realising.

"You don't feel that way about me...don't you?"

"......woah. A-a-ah mean...wow, miss ah never...you really lahk me that much?"

"I do. You're such a sweet person and your honesty is so refreshing I...I-i just-"

"Flo T., please. Ah think you're a wonderful landlady an' a real good friend...but ah don't feel that way about you at all. Ah think you're wonderful but ah don't feel that kind of connection with you."

"I know...I'm sorry, I don't mean to make you feel a-awkward but I had to be honest with myself. That you wouldn't be interested in me."

Her hands shook and she struggled to contain her tears which began to bubble slightly as Roy knelt down and gave her a firm hug. She sniffed sweetly as he wrapped his arms tightly round.

"Ahm sorry. I appreciate your feelings towards me, an' ahm honoured...it's okay."

"It...i-it is?"

"Course it is."

He parted from her still kneeling to look properly at her face.

"You're a really sweet lady, ahm sure if you just got out there you'd be findin' sum lucky guy in no time."

"Oh I...I-i don't know-"

"Take it from me, you'll find someone, ah don't mean sum kinda dating circuit, nuthin' lahk that, just go out an' meet. S'whut happened to me. But you are still mah friend, alrigh' miss Flo T.?"

"Yes...yes of course, th-thank you Roy. Thank you."

She smiled honestly as he departed for work, waving goodbye to her as she felt her heart slightly sink, but at the same time become uplifted without woes and troubles afflicting it. She decided to take him as an inspiration, not an object of affection. With time.

It was a mild warmer-than-usual day, coming after the rain from the night before as MacGregor stood by the town square with Stul T. rubbing his eyes ceaselessly. The start of the shift was always rather strange seeing the quiet streets with shutters opening all around them, stores flipping their signs and none of the usual scents of warm foods coming to them until at least an hour later.

"Bad sleep?" asked Roy.

"Nnnoooo, me an' the wife stayed up a bit to watch the end of Stranger Means."

"Wussat?"

"Ohh it is the BEST show on right now, we got totally hooked into it. So there's this little sleepy town-"

"Uh ohhhhh that's bad news, thuh only tahm anybody ever call a town 'sleepy' is when sumthin' bad's happenin' underneath."

"-and this kid just disappears in the woods after coming back from a friend's house, and there's this OTHER kid who looks kinda weird but she's running away from some pretty shady folks cuz SOMETHING super freaky's happening down at the local department of energy, I mean you HAVE to see it, you like horror stuff?"

"Ehhhh...ahm not too big on that, but you seem pretty into it."

"I won't spoil it, but it is-wow, I mean we're about four episodes in so it is just the best."

"You got any good animated shows on?"

"What, like kids' stuff?"

"Sum of it's pretty good, ah been gettin' into My Mini Moomoos lately."

"Hhhhahahaha, wow really?! I never thought a big guy like you would be such a softie."

"Sumtimes ah lahk to watch sumthin' a li'l nicer, sumthin' sweet, ah can have variety without huuugely complicated plots."

"I understand. Man, worst part of this job is waiting to do something on a case."

"Ah know, this Koopisten guy better give sumthin', we can't even check his house?"

"Nope, you're not allowed to investigate a person's place without their presence, I mean first you gotta have the warrant and that warrant has to be presented to the resident, because anyone could just come in and put something there and the owner can't claim anything about it, gotta make sure that doesn't happen."

"I understand, right to privacy an' whutnot. Well, thuh good thing is, they thought they got all their loose ends tied up so they should all be relaxin', lettin their guard down an' such."

"Unless Sher T. tells them about his secret backup."

"Man ah hope he's okay...ah mean ah know he's one of them but ah really don' wanna have to write him up as deceased."

"Same here big guy."

"You think they might risk comin' down here an' infiltratin' thuh TGA for that backup?"

"He was smart enough to make a backup, and hide pretty much everything about his connections for twelve years so he should be smart enough to not tell them in order to keep himself alive."

"How do we know his full employment at thuh TGA correlates to how long he wuz with this gang?"

"Well, Booratio the uh personnel manager got back to me on something. So, there was a yoshi employee years ago who worked pretty close to Sher T., but he uh...had a premature exit, and by that I mean he was fuzzed out of his head, ran straight through the halls screaming about ravens coming to get him, then leaped off the roof, musta been like fifteen years back."

"WHUT?! ...damn that's messed up, wuz he...did he survive?"

"Well yeah I mean yoshis can do flutterjumps so he leapt his way across the town roofs and it took like six of us to hold him down and take him away. We couldn't get anything out of him, there was nothing conclusive to link him to any operations but he definitely had Fuzzy in his system. So we put him down for illegal drug usage, he did his time and then decided to go back home and just...start a new life."

"When did you find that out?"

"About three days back, I found the report after Booratio told us down at HQ and uh...some of the stuff this yoshi said kinda matches up to uh...what we found on his DS backup."

"Lahk whut?" asked Roy.

"The rule of three. Babbling on about it constantly, said something about the three ravens coming to get him an' swoop him out of existence."

"Did you say ravens? ...lahk, birds with black wings?"

"Yeah you know, live up in trees, go caw caw, yeah that thing."

"...ah wuz attacked by sumthin' with wings on that ship."

"Really?" inquired Stul T.

"It had these claws round mah neck, grabbed me good but ah managed to burn it up an' push it away outta mah face. Actually that's another thing, thuh report from thuh bar, Roy's place...thuh bartender said that thuh guards during a sting operation last year got attacked by shadows with wings."

"So...we got some kinda dude with some pet ravens?"

"Might be. We gonna have to look up on thi-"

RRRRRRRRRRKSSSSSSHHHH

"Whut wuz that?!"

The two guards turned swiftly towards the east at the sound of a collision, tires screeching to a halt to crash hard into something as people began screaming.

"Come on!"

Stul T. wasted no time rushing ahead of Roy with frantic little feet, the raptor taking firm long strides to keep up the pace as the closer they got to the scene, the more panicked the crowd appeared to be that was heading in all directions. Peering above the rows of fungal heads dotting across the street, the raptor saw that the cake shop was under attack, smoke billowing out from the back of it as one toad employee ran out screaming with a pink apron.

"HELP, HEEEELP SOMEONE HELP!"

"Whut's goin' on?!"

"TH-TH-THE SHELLS, THE CANDY SHELLS, THEY JUST HIT THE BACK OF OUR STORE, PLEAE MY MOM AN' DAD ARE IN THERE!"

"Alrigh' you stay here, any other guards come round you tell 'em thuh same thing, we'll stop them."

"HURRY!"

In the rear of the patisserie, which was a very traditional wood-and-stone kitchen, a large wall had been cracked open ruthlessly exposing the back doors of a pastel-coloured truck. Four koopas wearing pink shells were ransacking the place, throwing baking tools onto the floor as they rummaged across every cupboard they could find, whilst one of them kept a fire flower aimed like a pistol at two elderly toads.

"WHERE IS IT?!" shouted the flower-wielder.

"I-i-i don't, wh-what do you-"

"THE RECIPE FUNGUS FACE, WHERE IS IT?!"

"Wha-what recipe?!"

"ARE YOU STUPID?! You know this place has got the best cakes in Toad Town, you give us your recipe, an' we won't bother you no more!"

"I can't give you that! Th-that is my family's recipe, we've had it for over two-hundred years!"

"Then it's about time somebody else took the reins now give us the recipe or I'm gonna flambe your FACE!"

The front of the cake store was a wonderland of delicacies, all of them sweet. Thick luscious creams and multi-tiered fairy cakes, from croquembouches to gateaux with the grace and beauty of a wedding dress. The glass-panelled counter separating the entrance room from the kitchen served only to give a glimpse of the rear in chaos, as Roy and Stul T. made their strategy.

"The back wall is busted out by their van, they're not playing around."

"Who are these guys?"

"The Candy Shell Gang, buncha koopas involved in stealing sugary treats, recipes, prized cakes."

"Sugar smuggling?"

"Oh you got no idea, these guys shift hundreds of coins' worth in sugar alone."

"Wow ah wuz kiddin'...alrigh', whut you wanna do?"

"You go over on top of the roof, hit down on their van and make sure they don't get away, I'll distract them from here."

"You sure you gonna be alright?"

"I got this, don't you worry."

"Alrigh', when you're ready."

Stul T. nodded as he stepped into the front of the store and walked round the counter by its swing-gate. The toad gripped his spear with shield up as he shouted:

"NOBODY MOVE, HANDS UP WHERE I CAN SEE THEM!"

"AWW CHEEZE IT, THE POPO!"

The koopa with the fire flower kept his weapon trained on the old toads, turning his head towards the guard standing in the doorway to the kitchen.

"PUT DOWN THE FLOWER AND GET DOWN ON THE GROUND NOW!"

"Or what?!" shouted the flower-wielder. "There's only one of you buster!"

"The longer this goes on, the worse your sentence'll be! Now this ain't worth it Kream, you can do better than this-"

"I DON'T TRUST NO GUARD! KHOLD, KARAMEL, TAKE THE OLD GEEZERS!"

Two of the koopas grabbed the store owners roughly, the toads panicking and struggling to pull away as they were dragged into the van with Kream now aiming his flower at Stul T.

"G-GET OFF ME, S-SOMEONE HELP!"

"OH STARS!"

Before any of the koopas could reach the van, something crunched onto the roof of it with a powerful slam, surprising them all as the truck jostled from the impact. Kream was distracted briefly enough for Stul T. to swing out his shield hurling it like a discus, before it struck powerfully across his face with a solid crack as he stumbled hard to the floor. But a second koopa had his own weapon, firing back cold blasts of frigid ice at the doorway to cover his friend as a voice cried out above the vehicle:

"YOU'RE UNDER ARREST! LET GO OF THEM NOW, OR ELSE-W-WOAH SHIIIT!

The van suddenly bolted into life revving up its engine fiercely as it shuddered forwards, powerfully jolting Roy's balance off the roof as he staggered and fell, grabbing onto the side as the toads were bundled into the back of the van. The other two koopas ran to the front and hopped in as the truck made its getaway, with Roy realising it was a converted ice cream truck from his view on the side of it. Stul T. was now facing two koopas that stayed behind, one of them armed with a fire plant staggering back onto his feet, whilst the other had an ice flower accompanying.

"You messed with the wrong koopas, mushroom breath."

"Now now let's not get nasty...Kookie, Kream, I know you boys are more sensible than this."

"We are," said Kookie the frost-wielder, "normally we're outta here before you show up."

"Well...you can either come quietly and I'll get your sentence reduced...or we do this the hard way."

Their response was to fire both flowers in a burst of hot and cold, burning across the stone and peeling the wood of the archway as Stul T. took cover behind it. He saw that he had plenty of ammunition in the form of today's treats as both Kookie and Kream flipped over the kitchen table to act as cover.

Fireballs scorched across the doorway and plunging straight into the storefront, freezing macaroons and burning profiteroles as the smell of roasted sugar wafted throughout the place. Grabbing a pack of hard chocolate rectangles, Stul T. hurled them with such devastating accuracy like shurikens whilst their flowers recharged, walloping Kream hard enough that he fell to the floor giving him time to dodge into the kitchen. Grabbing a pot from the wall whilst twirling his spear, he waited for Kookie to fire across the room with ice shards piercing across the stone as Stul T. strafed sharply to avoid the shot. One hit from an ice flower would be enough to render his smaller body frozen and knocked out of action, the toad dodging one ball of ice that went shrieking past his cheek, twisting his body left in a spinning dodge as he turned his body hard before hurling the pot straight towards Kookie. The pot flew past the koopa's head as he ducked fast, whilst Kream managed to stagger back up into firing position.

"WHAT'S WRONG WITH YOU BRO!?" shouted the fire-wielder. "JUST HIT HIM ALREADY!"

"I'M TRYING, THE LITTLE JERK KEEPS MOVING TOO FAST!"

Both koopas began alternating their firing shots, fire and ice bursting across the old large stone kitchen as Stul T. managed to slide beneath a freezing volley, almost limbo himself beneath a fire blast and at one point even dodgeroll a dual-shot leaping forwards like a jungle cat before grabbing a ladle from the sink. The next fireball that came down his direction he swooped with the ladle to catch it in its scoop, hurling the flaming orb straight back towards the koopas as it burst on Kookie's face.

"A-AAAAAAAH, OWWWWWWW MY FACE!"

"WHAT IS YOUR DAMN PROBLEM YOU FUNGUS FREAK?!"

"I'M A FATHER OF THREE KIDS!" shouted Stul T. "YOU DON'T THINK I'VE HANDLED A FOOD FIGHT BEFORE?! YOU TRY SURVIVING BREAKFAST WITH TWO THREE-YEAR-OLDS, WITHOUT A SINGLE STAIN ON YOUR SUIT!"

Kream began firing at Stul T.'s legs to try and hotdance him as a distraction, waiting for his partner to recover from the searing flame that scorched his beak but the guard kept using the ladle to volley back at least half of the fireballs thrown at him, like burning tennis across the kitchen court. Eventually one fireball hit too close to his hand, almost burning his fingers as it struck the handle of his cooking utensil to knock it out from his grip. But with a rolling pin off the wall he snatched and hurled straight towards Kream who dodged incorrectly, feeling the handle scar past his cheek and give a searing burn as he clutched himself gasping. Stul T. spun his weapon and braced himself for a ruthless charge.

Before the koopas even realised it, the guard charged straight into their table cover with spear violently plunging through the wood itself, the long tip piercing between both of them as Stul T. forced the table across the room itself with a horrendous scraping sound. Kookie and Kream panicked slightly as they were forced back in turn, barrelled across as the table legs became a net preventing their escape, until the table clunked hard against a kitchen counter. Trapped between two thick slabs of wood, they struggled and panted feeling the tightness press against their shells as Stul T. pulled out his cuffs and slapped them with expert precision upon both of their hands.

"Table for two," quipped the toad guard, "enjoy your meal sirs...in PRISON!"

"NNNGH...DAMMIT! You ain't gonna stop us, the Candy Shell Gang still got the old geezers, we'll have that recipe either way!"

"Not if my partner's got anything to do with it...and you ain't seen nothing yet."

During the battle of the patisserie, Roy found himself desperately clutching the side of a converted ice cream truck as the remainder of the gang made their getaway through the streets. The vehicle screeched and turned harshly round every corner trying to shake off the raptor, clutching his spear in his teeth with both hands grasping onto the roof even with one of them in his shield-handle. People scattered out of the way, panicking screams and gasps of confusion as the streets winded like yellow brick snakes before them. The turns were too many for Roy to make any progress towards the front, constantly forced to brace himself as he heard the sounds of the elderly toad couple inside shrieking for help.

Eventually they reached the town square where a large fountain stood, the van suddenly turning within a circular radius round and round the plaza with screeching donut tracks behind it. At one point the turn was so sharp he almost feared the van would overturn completely as he lost his grip from one hand, swinging outwards with teeth biting into the wood of the spear. He was thankful that it suppressed his sudden frightful yelp.

"NNNNNNHHH!"

Crunching his fingers tightly around the ice cream truck roof, he blasted a gust of wind from his other free hand downwards in order to bolster himself onto the top of the runaway vehicle. Planting all of his limbs tightly upon the roof's sides, he managed to steady himself as the truck finally steered itself away from the plaza, racing off towards downtown. Unfortunately he had yet another obstacle ahead of him, when the van turned into a rather long small street full of billboards and shopping signs directly ahead of him. Some of the signs would swing allowing him to just take the hit with his shield in front of him, knocking on his head back and front, with one or two of them revolving to slap him three times in a second. Billboards however would not move for time nor raptor as he readied himself to jump.

"WOAH, A-AGH, NNNGH, WHOO, EEEEH, FU-UUCK!"

Hopping over the advertisement hurdles desperately, the momentum of the truck pushed him forwards as he jumped, rolled or even squashed himself flat against the roof of the van to duck with panicked sounds at every new obstacle up ahead. It went on for at least a solid two minutes of one long endless street, with sometimes paper banners too big to jump or duck under as he braced himself with spear.

"HOOOOOOORAAAAAAGH!"

Slicing through the cloth, his spear shone through the sky as he carved it wide open still keeping himself on top of the runaway ice-cream truck, the long street finally behind them as the road opened up once more.

"Hooo...ohhh man, why'd it have to be thuh farmer's market today-WOAH-SHIIIT!"

The van steered violently towards the left causing him to almost lose his balance once again, but Roy purposefully fell hard into the roof with a solid thunk as he decided enough was enough. He lurched over towards the front, leaning over to the driver's side of the vehicle to slide down the window and block her view, seeing three koopas in the front.

"WHA-OH JEEZ!"

"I THOUGHT YOU GOT RID OF HIM!"

"PULL OVER NOW!"

The vehicle started to wobble erratically on the open road in a frantic attempt to shift the raptor off the front, but he raised his right steel fist and pounded violently through the windshield, cracking it sharply but not breaking it completely as the Candy Shells screamed.

"OH SWEET CHEESES!"

"DO SOMETHING KARAMEL!"

One vicious donut turn in the centre of the road was everything the driver could do, her hands clenching fiercely as Roy held on bitterly for dear life, before he managed to punch enough of a hole through the windscreen to drive his spear straight into the driver's seat, locking his shaft deep through the steering wheel and between the koopa's legs. Screams rent through the inside of the truck as Roy started to take control of the wheel, turning his spear sharply to force it one way or the other as he looked behind him. At one point one of his hands slammed across the dashboard hitting the button that caused the ice cream song to start playing. The sound of twinkly sweetness screamed like a siren's warning throughout the Toad Town streets.

"WAI-WAIT AH GOT THIS, NO, NO-SHIIIT LOOK OUT!"

His driving with reverse controls sent the ice cream truck barrelling straight through a grocery stand, dozens of fruit and vegetables spraying across both Roy and the windshield in a vicious rainbow of leaves, juice and pips with a furious-looking shy guy yelling after them.

"MY CABBAGES!"

"SORRY!" shouted Roy.

Both koopa and raptor began to viciously wrest control from each other as the wheel turned frantically right and left, sending the van careening everywhere through the wide open street as none of them noticed they were heading for the harbour docks. It wasn't until one of them tried to lean out of the passenger side to try and punch Roy in the face or at least loosen his grip that they noticed, and only after another minute of the other koopa hitting the raptor repeatedly in the hand and face.

"GET, OFF, YOU, STUPID, LIZARD, I, HATE, YOU-AH-OWW, OWWWWW, MMMMMMM, MMMMMMNNNMHNRFHRHRHRRRRR!"

Roy's solid knockback using his steel hand was enough to crack his beak, clutching his face desperately as a blistering sharp pain seared through his skull. Then it was in that moment of clarity he looked up to see the fast-encroaching sight of the open sea.

"MEEEEL, MEL T-T-TURN LEFT, _TURN LEFT THE OCEAN, THE OCEAN KARAMEL! _"

The raptor also turned to see indeed the docks at the end of the road as both Karamel and Roy made a sudden mutual agreement to turn violently towards the vehicle's left, shrieking down the road as they turned their sharpest corner yet. The sound of dockworkers and citizens shrieking at the vehicle careening almost on two wheels several feet from the edge of the land itself, gave at least three people nearly a heart attack until the van roared off towards the eastern region of the town.

Once they were back on the straight road once again, the battle resumed once again to take control of the wheel as Roy and Karamel fought against each other's strength. The raptor was easily winning but the koopa had two friends on her side to help pull even harder until they saw yet another terrifying obstacle ahead of them. The shopping mall, doors open as shoppers dodged clutching their purchases tightly for dear life. Screeching across the slick linoleum with open storefronts on either side in various colourful displays from pants to shoes to frozen foods, they powered through the food court amidst tables and parasols flying across their vision as one of the koopas grabbed a bottle of mustard to squirt it into Roy's eyes, the raptor blinded as thick yellow condiment splattered all over his face with snarling fury as the van reached the escalators. Ramping with a vicious jittering up onto the downwards side, the wheels revved ruthlessly upon the angular moving staircase for a good minute and a half before finally breaching over the top. Roy soon found the perfect place to stop through his bleary eyes as he slammed his steel fist straight through the windshield and punched the steering wheel straight through the ground, knocking it completely off to send it on a permanent one-way course through the top section of the mall. He waved goodbye to the shocked-looking koopas before clambering over the top swiftly until reaching the back, unhooking the latch with his spear and swinging downwards to grab the elderly couple and dive out of the ice cream van. The Candy Shell Gang frantically screamed as they headed straight towards a mattress store, burrowing through twenty-seven feet of bouncy beds and feather explosions bursting out of the shop windows. Karamel went flying out of the crippled windshield straight into a collapsible bed trapping her like a sandwich, the other two rolling out with dazed spinning heads onto a plush full queen sized bed as Roy stood up clutching both toads fiercely to his sides.

"Looks lahk it's bedtime for bozos over there," he quipped smiling. "You two alrigh'?"

"O-oh, yes," said the wife, "I-um...th-th-thank you!"

"S'no problem."

"That...would be...oh goodness wh-what a day, I-i hope our kitchen is fine."

"Those dang blasted pink-shelled thieves," muttered the husband, "greedy little monsters ever since they were but hatchlings, I oughta tell their parents a good thing or two about MANNERS!"

"We'll tell 'em everything they deserve," replied Roy, "now why don't we all calm down with sum tea an' biscuits, you two go sit down while ah give those punks sumthin' to chew on?"

"OH...yes, most grateful of you, there is a good biscotti place down here."

"I agree!" said the wife. "Let's go...I think I need to remember how to walk for a bit a-after that terrible ride, good grief."

MacGregor helped them towards a cafe to relax and eat, making sure they were fine with no bruises as he went over towards the remnants of the van smoking from the inside of the mattress store. The thieves were soon arrested with a few bruises, but nothing dreadful as other guards came to help bring the whole group down to headquarters. Stul T. regrouped with Roy back at their usual post in the town square, the tire marks from the ice cream truck still remaining upon it as the toad started:

"How'd it go big guy?"

"Mmmm not bad," shrugged Roy, "chase 'em off through thuh streets, down thuh harbour, made a stopover at thuh mall an' gave them sum beddy-bye-byes."

"Neat, I just cleaned up a kitchen and put some fools on the table-DAMMIT!"

"Whut?"

"AWWWW that would have been so perfect, so I pinned those two jerks to the wall by using the table to sorta trap them, I could have totally said 'I do this job to put fools on the table' like that was so perfect!"

"...ah won't tell nobody if you won't."

"Should I write that on the report?"

"No but you can tell your wife you did."

"Mmmmmhmm, yer right! Nice, alrighty so uh, the bakery folks alright?"

"Oh yeah, they're fine, they're gonna give their statements an' we got thuh Candy Shell Gang all wrapped up."

"All in a day's work huh? Now you got a sweet anecdote for your date tomorrow."

"Huh yer right! ...wait...wuz that a pun?"

"It is if you want it to be."

The guards smirked chuckling as they walked off back to HQ to fill out their report. The day after this wild chase would be the day that Roy had his second date with Yolanda, as she came to his apartment building this time holding a box of chocolates. He stepped out of the door and before she could even wave, his hands come to life gesturing with the grace of a newborn fawn.

Hello. My, name-is, R. O. Y.

Yolanda gasped silently, smiling with her own hands suddenly springing to respond.

Oh-my-stars-you-know-MKSL?!

Just. Learning. Save-you-time. Typing.

You-learned-just-for-me? I-don't-mind-typing!

I-want, to-learn. You're-really, nice. Sorry. Bad-at-this.

It's-okay! How-long-you-been-learning?

Five-days. Hard. Three-fingers-make-energy.

Energy?

He flinched slightly at his mistake and corrected with a similar gesture.

Difficult. Three-fingers, make-difficult.

The yoshi smirked suppressing a giggle as she realised, nodding understandably.

Thank-you-for-trying. You're-very-sweet.

She reached up to smooch him on the cheek as he noticed the box of chocolates.

For-me?

No, for-your-landlady.

Cool! I'll-give-to-her.

He pushed the box of chocolates through Flo T.'s letterbox in her door, knowing there was a catch-net on the other side to safely deposit packages as they headed off towards the arcade this time, which remained open until 9pm as they ventured into the wild wondrous world of videogames. Roy barely had the chance to really explore the electronic entertainment of the Mushroom Kingdom, but the maddening blindness of sound and vision amongst the black and purple walls crowded with teenagers, suddenly made him feel very old. The variety of arcade machines came in all sorts of colours, popping out at him with luscious orange, vivid green and surprisingly violent red. Most of the games he noticed were either competitive puzzle games or beat-em-ups but there were one or two shooters even though they used plastic fire-flower models and not rifles.

Yolanda was excited, feeling the hundreds of vibrations rippling through her being from every single corner of the arcade centre as she wrapped her arm around Roy's as he turned to face her asking:

"Ah wuzn't sure if you wanted to go to thuh movies or arcade, yanno? Thought ah would take a safe bet."

The yoshi fished out her DS for his sake and typed:

I love the arcade! Videogames are less cheating than a carnival. Movies I don't go to unless there's a movie I really want to see and it has subtitles.

"Righ', ah thought yanno, sumthin' more engaging, more visual would be your jam, plus you seem to love electronics."

I do indeed, just keep me away from those crane games.

"Hahahaha, alrighty, so whut you wanna play first? We can pool our coins together if we have to."

The yoshi pointed over towards a free spot, seeing one of the shooter games now available as they grasped their fire flower models and put in their coins at the ready. House of Nightmares, as the game was called, involved the two acting as secret agents whilst investigating an old deep and very large mansion where many monsters came to assault them. Even though the monsters were nowhere near as terrifying as some that Roy had seen, Yolanda would yelp and slightly panic every time a freakish monstrosity came bursting through the walls to attack their screens.

Snarling red ghouls, shrieking green mutants with slime tentacles along with the odd water demon that flapped and snaked through the underpassages. He could see some slight resemblances in the inhabitants of the world, but easily kept his cool alongside the much more excitable yoshi who fired haphazardly with giggling squawking fright. A smile kept on her face throughout it however as they found themselves traipsing through the main hall, the servants' quarters, the sewers and lastly dying around stage 4 from a nasty onslaught of winged freaks in the back gardens of the mansion.

"Awwwwwwwwwwww damn...not bad, you're pretty good!"

DID YOU SEE ME BLAST THAT SEWER WORM ON MY LAST LIFE?

"Ah did, that wuz CLUTCH girl! Awww sheeesh, come on let's try sumthin' else."

The next game they tried involved fighting and was called The World Warriors showing a colourful cast of at least one of every single species in the Mushroom Kingdom. Roy chose a kickboxing koopa whilst Yolanda went for a boo that harnessed the power of lightning. Neither of them were very good, the yoshi struggling to try and make some special move work by fiddling with the control stick and desperately half-circling, whilst Roy just kept messing up ranged attack and always kicked from too far away. Eventually they stopped fooling around and crashed into each other with spectral slaps and hard-shelled kick attacks into each other's characters. Sometimes they would surprise each other in their manic button pressing to completely overpower the other, when Yolanda finally figured out her move and sent the boo into a wild psychotic frenzy of thunderous fists, which practically annihilated Roy's koopa.

"WHA-OHHHHHHH! OHHHHHHH SHI-WHUT THUH HELL?!"

"FNHNHAHAHAHHAAAAA!"

Her cackling honked throughout the arcade but was soon lost quickly within the ever-constant noise of pixellated screams and digitized explosions. Through this Roy had noticed that she was much less shy than usual, as well as much more vocal which made him smile. But he managed to ruin her in the third round when, after they had managed to win a round each for the decider, Roy finally managed to build up a quick vicious 5-kick combo that ruthlessly KO'd the boo. She smiled swinging her arms and gently punching Roy's arm happily before pulling up her DS.

That was pretty tight at the end, slugger boy

"Hmhmhaha, no worse than that crazy thundershock you did back in thuh first round, seriously you played this before?!"

I played the previous version, they changed up the controls a bit otherwise I would have destroyed you

"Ohohoooo is that righ'? Well ahm gonna have to see that for mahself. Hey that game looks kinda neat."

He noticed another game off in the corner titled BlokTrix, one that he had seen Koopin play a few times involving falling blocks to make as many complete lines as possible. Yolanda was intrigued and so the two began to play individually from each other to see who would rake the highest score. This turned out to be the one game that they played the longest, as after a few false starts their minds started to quickly comprehend the simplistic puzzle game. But the further on they went as they completed more horizontal lines filled in, the faster the blocks began to fall forcing them to step up the ante and quickly decipher where to plant their next strangely-shaped blocks. Roy and Yolanda found themselves hitting a strange zen the moment they passed 200 lines together, which also brought them a small crowd from behind watching curiously at how well they were doing.

They finally stopped after sixteen solid minutes of non-stop BlokTrix, with Roy finally feeling his mind start to cook at the violently rapid pace of ever falling blocks when he reached around 376 lines. Yolanda was slightly ahead of him almost reaching the next milestone at a good 397, much to the gasping exasperation of the five people watching them at having hit so close. She barely even noticed until turning to face Roy and suddenly becoming incredibly self-aware with a meek little wave as compliments came through.

"Yo girl that was sum SICK blockspinning!"

"Yeah jeez you almost hit the high score on that thing, way to tease us with that ending hahaha."

She smiled politely as Roy pointed her back towards the screen to show they had scored high enough to put in their names with a three-letter limit. Yolanda simply put in YOL whilst Roy put down his own name revealing that they had obtained the fourth and fifth highest ranks on the leaderboards respectively.

"Wouldya look at that, we coulda been famous for a bit."

We should have put our names down as YOL and ROL

"HAH, or maybe ROY and YOY."

"Hhhhahaaaa!"

But soon the fun was over as the arcade would inform everyone it was closing time, the raptor and yoshi heading out to find a burger bar for something thick and greasy to stuff their faces full with. They then made plans for the third date, which Yolanda chose this time to do by finding another restaurant to enjoy some new cuisines. With every new date Roy found himself more convinced of his affections as there came the sixth date, near the end of the month as he decided to do something special besides the usual eating and gaming by arriving at her place with a picnic basket. He also spent every night studying sign language as best as he could, and while he was still nowhere near proficient, Yolanda's smile widened everytime they met to see his hands just a little less stiff and awkward each time as she asked:

Nice-basket.

I-have, new-place, to-explode-you.

Explode?

No, no I meant, show. Show-you. Sorry.

It's-okay, I know-you're-still-learning.

Cool! Where-are-we-going?

Follow-me.

The raptor took her down to the eastern path, making their way out of Toad Town towards the koopa settlements at first. But slowly they began to venture off the beaten paths round the outskirts of a forest. There was a glade beneath a bridge, where a small shining lake flowed underneath the structure, skirting their way around as they traversed deeper into the mushroom kingdom wilds hiking upwards along a hill that went beyond the bridge to the further north. Luckily there were no encounters, with Roy having scoped out this walk in his spare time as they ventured further towards what seemed to be an old fortress. One of several disused remnants of Bowser's army in olden days, he had made certain with Koopin that the place was safe to use and that no one would come to it having no historical value whatsoever. In fact the fortress had rarely even seen battle, acting as more of an outpost. But there was one thing special about it.

Yolanda became slightly nervous at the tall dominating structure where darkness laid within as Roy turned to ask:

"You're not afraid of heights ah hope? Or thuh dark?"

She shook her head but did ask signing:

Where-are-we?

"A perfect spot to eat. Come on."

Flicking on his omni-tool, the world began to glow with sweeping orange across the inside walls as he offered her his hand safely. Yolanda stepped in with unwavering trust as they began climbing upwards, the old granite staircase still taking hold against firm concrete walls. It wasn't a long climb, only around ten minutes and Roy was thankful that Yolanda was not one of those people who hated walking to everyplace. Her boots stomped behind him diligently as they travelled further up, old rooms where guards had once been now stripped bereft of their belongings and furniture until they finally made it to the roof. The air was somewhat cooler than it had been on the ground as they both stood upon the top of the towering fort, its roof the size of a tennis court as he pointed her towards the full view.

It had just gone after sunset, the sky now dark with their twinkling stars across the canvas of space yet they saw something beautiful. The star haven was off in the distance to the north, a wondrous shimmering mountain of amethyst and indigo where shooting stars came down every once so often. To the east, there was an unblemished view of the mountains surrounding the desert and to the south Yolanda saw but a glimpse of the ocean a burning red from the sun's final rays of light. The west was of Toad Town itself, a dozen little lights reflecting the stars themselves as Roy pulled out a blanket from his basket, sweeping it down and inviting her to sit. He pulled out a bottle of juice, a wrapped bowl of fruit salad, a chocolate cake, two thermoses of hot stew and a bag of rolls stuffed with tuna. The yoshi was agasp with a little clap of excitement as she signed:

This-place-is-beautiful! How-did-you-find-it?

Friend, showed-me. You-like-place?

I-love-it! I've-never-seen-Star-Haven-it-looks-like-a-cake-made-of-stars.

You-always-think-cake?

Only-when-I'm-hungry.

She sniggered sweetly as they began to tuck in, Yolanda stuffing herself with three tuna rolls whilst Roy had the two. The thermoses were sipped slowly, hot and thick meaty stew that poured smoothly down their throats as Roy replied:

I, made-it, myself.

Really? You-can-cook?!

A-little. Only-soup.

You're-full-of-surprises. It's-so-peaceful-here. I-feel-like-the-only-person-awake-I've-never-seen-anyplace-like-this-since-I-first-arrived-here. You-still-understand-me?

The raptor replied in sign:

Better-than, before. I-will-learn.

You-can-speak-if-you-want-to.

I-want, to-try. You...inspire-me.

Yolanda blushed, hiding her expression slightly by finishing the rest of her soup in the thermos as she moved on towards the chocolate cake. Beautifully-sculpted with cream and jam fillings alternating within layers inside as they ate together in silence. She watched him in case he spoke again whilst munching away on a thick slice, slurping any smears of cake from her cheeks with her long tongue before she signed:

Thank-you-Roy.

He replied in turn signing:

You, welcome. Can-I-ask, something?

Sure.

If...if, personal, I'm-sorry, don't-answer. Why-you-not, like-your-voice?

The way Roy asked this was cautious, tentative as his fingers became flecked with sweat as Yolanda became rather nervous. She rubbed her arm cautiously and replied:

I-don't-think-it's-very-nice.

Why-not?

I-just-don't.

But, I-love-it.

She blinked with surprise, cocking her head strangely as Roy tried his best.

I-think, you-sound, cute, unique. Honest. I-love-your-laugh, in-arcade, you-laugh-and-sound, happy. Why, nervous-about, voice?

Yolanda took a moment to breathe calmly. She debated between her hands or the DS but before she even knew it her fingers had a mind of their own explaining as simple as she could.

I-feel-it-in-my-throat. It-feels-awful, horrible, people-look-at-me-when-I-speak. I-hate-how-they-look-at-me, like-I-said-something-awful. I-don't-know-what-it-sounds-like-to-them, but-every-time-I-speak, people-either-laugh-at-me...or...or-shun-me. If-they-can't-hear-me, I-can-speak. Because-I-know-nobody-wants-to-hear-me.

I-want. To-hear-you. Do-you-like, how-I-look, at-you?

She was unsure. Her hands wringed tightly as Roy clasped them in his own to calm them, raising her head up to meet her gaze. He wanted to keep her from turning away, to still her words of anxiety and silence her shaking fingers of uncertainty as he spoke.

"Look at my eyes. This is how I've looked at you since thuh day I first saw you. That's never changed, no matter what you said, no matter how many times I hear you laugh."

Honesty came piercing from his brown pupils as she broke into a smile, tears flickering from the corners of her eyes as he asked her softly:

"Can I hear you...say your name? Just once? Ahll do anything in return, you name it, ahll give you it. I just want to hear you speak."

"Why?" she asked in silence.

"Because I...I wanna hear you. Ah will do anything you want in return. Promise. But...if you don't wanna do it, then it's not mah right to make you, I just...wanted to hear."

Yolanda shook slightly, fearing for her dignity and possibly worse as she started to panic from her breathing. He almost thought she was going to throw up or even begin hyperventilating. She closed her eyes fearful of his reaction.

"Y-....y-y...Y-yul...Yuhlandha."

It was a deep voice. Thick, clumsy and uncertain yet Roy could hear a tenderness. A stronger depth within that he wanted to bring out, that bold youthful spirit he had seen from her that faded only ever in these rare moments of self-doubt. He patted her hands to indicate he was still there as she opened her eyes once more with fearful grimace and he was still smiling. It was sincere, not pitying like those she had seen before as he whispered:

"Thank you. Now I know I was right all along."

"What?" she asked voiceless.

"That you're the most beautiful girl I've ever met."

Her cheeks turned red like the sea at sunset, shining from her tears of gasping shock as Yolanda tried to find words to even respond with. She had nothing, thrown completely off-kilter as her lips stuttered a breath that caught in her throat. His hands gently unfurled from hers like the flowering petals of a rose as he felt his own breath struggling to escape in turn. There was a rare moment both of them had never truly felt before until now. Knowing exactly what the other wanted, and knowing that they wanted the same thing as they pressed their lips together.

She tasted warm, sweet like the fruits of her homeland as the bulbous end of her tongue snaked quietly into his mouth, suckling hotly with quivering breaths that would finally escape into each other's throats. In turn he tasted thick, strong and coarse as her hands slipped neatly around the raptor's waist caressing his muscles, stroking her smooth orange-skinned fingers across his pebbly texture. Roy swept his claws gently towards Yolanda's back, sliding up and down the contours of her spine and feeling across the shell-like bump within the centre. His hands reached for the back of her head, as did her own reach his in unison underneath the shimmering stars watching over them. Yolanda pressed herself forwards, her snout thickly against his like rubber as he laid back in understanding feeling her lie on top of him.

No words were said between them as their eyes closed, with Roy clasping her tightly to his body, her pudgy white belly grinding softly against his black hardened midriff. The sensation of her softer looser skin against his toughened scales sent both of them into hot shivering lust as they felt each other's whimpering needs. Roy's deep husky moans collided against Yolanda's feverish panting breaths until finally they parted, gasping with hot webs of saliva traces between their mouths as Roy asked:

"Where do we go from here?"

She only responded by grinding her crotch against his, a deep bestial groan escaping him as he felt a tightening in his pants.

"You...you want to?"

Yolanda nodded, but then decided on a better note as she signed:

Not-here. I-want-you-in-bed-with-me...also-I-have-protection.

"Alright. Let's not do anything we might regret, right?"

They slowly got up and packed their things away, the picnic basket filled with the remnants of plates covered in crumbs along with its blanket as they journeyed back home with excitement filling them as they clasped hands gently all the way to Yolanda's place. When they finally reached her doorstep, he asked once again:

"Do you still...want to?"

Yes.

"Alright."

They stepped into her apartment, the raptor placing his basket to one side as the moment the door was locked she wrapped her arms around him tightly with a hot kiss as she pulled his head down towards her height. Deeply suckling the inside of his cheeks as he moaned shuddering to the point his tail quivered straight, his body was pressed against the door as their lust became unbridled to the point of desperate.

"Hhhhoh god...ohhh god Yolanda...jesus..."

She took him by the hand towards her bed as he kicked off his pants, revealing a throbbing thick erection of a solid 8 inches, black except for the reddish glans at the very tip. Yolanda was admittedly surprised having never seen such a unique body, yet she couldn't help but lick her lips at the wondrous physique he had that made her tremble as she sat up on the sheets. She patted beside her beckoning him to sit, as Roy simply let her guide him within the comforts of her house feeling her push him up against the headboard of the bed. He spread his legs allowing her to come close savouring the scent of his flesh, kissing along the inside of his thighs to get a taste of his clean strengthening musk, before reaching the prize itself. Roy had of course been imagining this sort of scene before, but rarely with a yoshi as her eyes gazed upon his for a moment. He nodded as she slipped her tongue smoothly from her mouth, the bulbous tip slowly licking across his meat on the underside of the shaft as Roy moaned consciously.

"Ohhhhhh...ohhhh god yes..."

Yolanda breathed thickly upon his cock, savouring the odd meaty taste as her tongue slipped neatly along the top of it, slickening droplets of pre now trickling down her tongue. Her hunger became fuelled by it, almost incensed as she gently began to swallow it into her throat. Roy felt his fingers clench against the sheets as he felt his cock become entrenched in solid wet warmth, gasping as the muscles twitched in his thighs on either side of her. Yolanda was incredible, not only was she able to swallow the entire length without even choking, but her tongue felt almost alive inside of her mouth as it coiled and twisted, writhed and suckled, squeezed and tugged him. He almost wondered what its true length was but the yoshi simply closed her eyes and relished the taste, until managing to almost make Roy spurt there and then by a shockingly tight sensation. Her tongue began to stroke him, mimicking a hand squeezing and pleasuring him whilst she continued to swallow and suck as his hands spasmed with teeth-gritting restraint.

"NNNNGH, A-Aaaaaaaah! OHHH, Y-yolanda! NNngh, s-s-stop, stop!"

He carefully patted her on the head to get her attention as she looked up in mid-suck.

"D-don't...wanna go off too soon, you near made me spurt...lemme return the favour first."

She nodded as she released him from her oral massage, revealing her tongue coiled around his cock as it carefully unravelled like the loose wrapping of a present. Soon it was MacGregor's turn as he carefully pushed Yolanda onto her back to spread her legs quietly. The yoshi blushed red revealing her moist quivering lips, a well-hidden vaginal slit that only seemed to reveal itself when in a state of heightened arousal. Roy also could not help but see her soft winking puckered anus as he smirked, moving his head towards her femininity. The first breaths he made upon her vulva sent them into a trembling wilt slightly, as they pulsed in anticipation before he kissed them. He pressed his snout upon them, gently suckling as she stifled her moans by instinct to receive the first taste of a yoshi. It was a taste he had never known from a female, something akin to salted mango juice as close as he could imagine. Then he pushed his tongue in as he felt her clench.

"NNNGH! UHH!"

His nostrils breathed thickly above her slit, digging deep after tasting the first few inches of her walls, swirling his tongue around in a clockwise direction. Sometimes he went the opposite way to tease her, pressing further within as he slurped and flicked his tongue as strongly as he could inside the hot sweet tunnel of her vulva. Soon he reached his limit, as he stuffed his lips fully against hers with his tongue writhing and twisting inside of her with cautious methodical movement trying to find her weakness. He wasn't able to find it, possibly further in than he could reach but he did not falter in his pleasuring of her as he scraped his tongue thicker into the rippling folds.

"A-AAAANNNGH! GUHH! R-r-ruuuuuy!"

Hearing his name within a strangled cry of her voice encouraged him to lash his tongue within, furiously sucking her from within as he ate her deep, savouring her rich thickening juices that began to flow down his throat. She did not take as long as he thought she would when she squealed and lifted up her body with a strained mewl of bliss, splattering his throat with thick yoshi cum. She practically howled almost were it not for her struggling flicker of self-doubt restraining her as Roy pulled back whilst licking his lips clean.

"Hhhhhhh...hhhhhh...ffffuck..."

He stared up towards her heaving breathless face, waiting for her to look at him before asking:

"Ready for thuh last part?"

She nodded, slowly crawling over the bed towards her small set of drawers between the bed and wall where she pulled out a small familiar-looking square packet. Gently opening it, she offered to slide the smooth rubber sheath from inside down the raptor's length, not wanting to risk any tear from his claws as Roy silently thanked this world for having much easier-to-use protection. That or Yolanda had practiced this routine extensively, but he didn't care either way as he slowly laid on top of her, shifting herself to place her head against the pillows. Carefully watching her with gentle eyes to make sure she was alright, he pressed the tip of his meat against her sweltering wet pussy lips, his hands splayed out on either side of her.

"Ready?"

"Yes," she mouthed.

"...I love you."

"......I love you too."

He reached down for a kiss, seeing her reach up towards him for the same as one sweet suckling from each other's tongues simply strengthened their passion as he slowly pushed in. Her face began to change, closing her eyes halfway as she arched her back slightly with a whimpering moan draining out of her, which in turn was responded to by Roy's deepening groan within his chest. The wondrous warmth that consumed his cock was so different to her mouth, one much more intimate and pulsing around his flesh even through the rubber of his condom as he carefully sank in. He wasn't certain how deep yoshis were, but he wanted to savour it. He wanted to savour this moment.

Flexing his thighs he stuffed himself deeper and deeper, with every two inches inciting a gasping wince of pleasure from Yolanda as her brown hair tousled slightly against the pillows in her writhing ecstasy. His hips soon met hers finally as he hilted, easily as he relished the thick heat of her body, whilst she in turn embraced the feeling of fullness inside her, the throbbing veins of Roy's shaft against her pulsating walls. They gazed upon each other, breathless already with half-open mouths as he gently pulled back halfway, before shoving deep inside once more.

"A-AAAIIH!"

"OHhhhh g-god...ohhh...I missed this."

Slowly he began to find his rhythm, the subtle sounds of his body smacking against hers could be heard faintly across the room amidst their mixed vocal cries. Roy's deepening tremble melding with Yolanda's gasping warble, piercing with brief intensity every time he pushed in deep. The more he thrust, the faster he became, and the more he pulled back before sheathing back into her. Her slit began overflowing, staining the sheets beneath them as she trickled her juices like a babbling brook, while Roy's pre simply built up inside of his protection adding even more a slickening heat to his body. He didn't even realise when he started pumping his hips, the bed now creaking beneath their combined weight as he gazed upon her visage. The raptor was pounding so hard that her belly slightly jostled, her hands scrunching up the sheets twisting in her fingers as she cried out in blissful rapture.

"NNNNNH! A-AAAAH RUUUUY! R-RUUUUUYYYY!"

"OH, G-GOD YOLANDA! AAAAAH!"

They could barely control their voices, the beckoning mire of lust and love drowning their senses slowly as he his hips bucked faster, wildly thrashing his tail behind him with bestial groans as he raised his head panting to the ceiling. The wondrous sound of his cock slickening wetly inside her, smacking their thighs against and feeling the sweat unbridled smear across each other's skin. Her walls began to clench, fiercely squeezing and sucking harder to pull him in with every pounding depth he went in, her body timed mutually to his in one brief sexual harmony.

On her second climax, Roy soon followed as her body spasmed within one single movement, crying out with her back arching once more to slather his cock within hot sweet feminine juices, spraying upon his inner thighs as she clenched powerfully tight. The raptor's muscles jolted, his arms tightened up into rigid pillars as he struggled to suppress the orgasmic ecstasy from his throat, a shuddering gasping roar as he filled his sheath safely. Their eyes met amidst the haze of lust, Yolanda's arms up against the headboard with hair matted from sweat, panting her tongue outwards. Roy gulped back his breath, his arms shaking as he felt his strength sap from his body briefly to gently lower himself down on top of her. Carefully he laid beside her, turning her body with him as he slowly pulled out, forcing his mind to work his fingers into three simple words.

I-love-you.

The yoshi smiled, tears of exhaustion mixing slightly with relief and happiness as her hands mirrored his briefly.

I-love-you-too.

Roy gently slipped from the bed to carefully dispose of his sheath in the bathroom, cleaning himself briskly before returning to her bed. She smiled with covers pulled over her, lifting them up towards him to invite the raptor in. Roy had missed this feeling, having a warm body beside him. It wasn't his bed. His bed remained cold and for once he did not mind this fact, when he slipped inside Yolanda's sheets and wrapped an arm around her chest. Her warm breath raced across his skin as their eyes closed.

The next morning, Yolanda woke to find her bed empty. A slight clutch of fear and disappointment gripped her heart until she turned her head towards the bathroom. The door was closed and vaporous steam drifted underneath the door jamb. She pressed her cheek against the door and felt something emanate from within. In the faintest etchings of her mind's ear, she almost thought she could hear his voice singing through the deep vibrations of the walls.

"Look at this stuff, isn't it neat? Wouldn't you think mah collection's complete? Wouldn't you think ahm thuh girrrl, thuh girl who haaaas...everything? Look at this trove, treasures untold, how many wonders can one cavern hoooold? Lookin' around here you'd think, sure...she's got everything. I've got gadgets and gizmos of plenty, I've got whose-its and whats-its galooooore, you want thingamabobs? Ah got twenty. But who caaaaares? No big deeeeeal. I want mooooooooore."

Knock-knock-knock, the door rapped behind him during a brief pause in the song giving him a start slightly as he leaned from the shower to knock back three times. Yolanda smiled with sweet relief as she decided to make some breakfast whilst Roy busied himself in the shower, singing a melody to himself rich in his throat as the acoustics of the shower lifted his heart. He soon found his rhythm back into the song and easily finished up to the last refrain as his voice slightly cracked with a tender emotion.

"When's it my tuuuurn, wouldn't I loooove, love to explore that shore up abooooove? Out oooof, the sea...wish I, could be...part of your...wooooooooooorld."

He stepped out of the shower feeling like a brand new person, wrapping a towel round his waist modestly which gave Yolanda quite the sight as she smiled from the kitchen at her new lover, wearing an apron whilst cooking up some eggs. The smooth-bodied glistening dark scales of the raptor made him resemble some sort of gladiator, the towel almost like some form of toga pulled down as she waved and signed:

Sleep-well?

Yes. You?

So-good. You-have-to-leave-soon?

Work, starts-at-seven.

You-have-time-for-breakfast-then.

Always-time, for-you.

The raptor walked forwards and eased his hands around her waist, gently squeezing her slight pudge and sculpting her softness slightly towards her front before kissing on her neck. Yolanda giggled as he bent his head slightly forwards, the back of her head only reaching his pectorals as he continued to caress her skin with his lips. Reaching up to her cheek, Yolanda turned after a few tender suckles and brought them both into a deep smooch, reaching up on her tiptoes to taste him more fully as she slipped her tongue onto his. He shuddered hotly from the feeling until they parted with Yolanda signing:

You-want-to-meet-up-tonight-after-work?

Yes. Want-to-meet-up, more-often?

I-do. Maybe-the-arcade-again?

Your-turn-to-pick, I-singled-picnic.

You-mean-chose. Not-singled?

Yes. Sorry.

"W-woah!"

He quickly pulled her away from the bubbling pop of the eggs on the kitchen top, smirking bashfully at her as she smiled and simply put the eggs onto a plate. The two ate up their breakfast on the bed, accompanied also by some pears Yolanda had as a morning snack as the sound of the dawn chorus came chirruping through the window faintly. He had enough time to spend at least a half hour with her before needing to change back at his house as he asked:

What-you-do-at-work?

I-never-told-you?

No.

I'm-a-data-analyst. I-turn-boring-numbers-into-stuff-people-can-use.

Sounds-difficult.

It's-very-boring, I-want-to-do-maintenance, but-need-a-good-enough-job-opportunity.

Why-do-this-job?

It's-safe, easy-and-pays-good-money.

Good. Hope-you-find, job-you-like-soon.

Why-did-you-become-a-guard?

Like-helping-people. Keep-people-safe, also-good-at, following-fish.

Fish?!

Rules, following-rules.

"Pfffthhhahaaaaahaaaa."

She smirked cracking up at his clumsy fingers but recomposed herself quickly.

Sorry, that-was-mean-of-me.

It's-okay. I'm-learning.

I-shouldn't-laugh, you're-doing-really-well.

Thank-you. If-I-find, job-offer, I-tell-you-okay?

That-would-be-great, thank-you.

What-kind-of-job?

Electrical-engineering. But-maintenance-also-good-if-it-involves-machines.

Okay.

Soon breakfast was over and Roy headed out of the door, kissing the yoshi on the cheek and waving her goodbye, but not before signing:

See-you-tonight. I-love-you.

Goodbye, I-love-you-too.

Even when she spoke it with her fingers, that same warmth came flooding down his heart as he swept himself out of her door and headed straight back home almost dancing in the morning street. Excitement, wonder and joy filled him as he raced back up towards his home and swiftly dressed up in his guard clothes faster than ever, but not before seeing miss Flo T. coming out of her door as she waved with a hearty grin.

"OH, good morning Roy how are you-EEEP!"

"Good mooooooooorning dearest Flo T.!"

The raptor grabbed her in a waltzing spin briefly turning with her twice throughout the hall as he gripped her hands almost lifting her from the floor.

"G-g-goodness Roy, wh-what's gotten into you?!"

"Just havin' thuh most wondrous day of mah life, thank you, ah hope you're doing well."

"Oh I'm doing very well thank you. I take it your um...date went well?"

"It was absolutely wonderful. But...ah hope you're having a good day too."

"Welllll...actually you're not the only one who had a date."

"Oh?"

The landlady chuckled to herself with a saucy titter as she added:

"Well, some stranger several weeks ago left me a wonderful box of chocolates in my letterbox of all things. You'll never guess who it was."

"A...box of chocolates?"

"He was so WONDERFUL, such a charming koopa, we only met the first time last night after planning some dinner reservations but we had so much in common. We both work in the same business, we both had all our families move far away from us, we both are ECSTATIC about shortbread...hhhhhmmmmmm..."

Her smile reflected his exactly as she clasped his hands and silently squealed.

"I feel as if the stars have blessed us both in showing who we needed to be with."

"Hmhmhm, you know whut ah think thuh same. Ahm glad you found someone, ah hope you have a lotta fun with him."

"Oh absolutely because next week we're going dancing down at Club 64! It's been a while since I've busted a move or two."

"Hoohoohoo damn girl slow down, wanna save thuh best for last am ah righ'?"

"Ohohohhh right you are dear Roy. Well, I shan't delay you, you have a good day at work and I only ask you don't stay too late out at night hmm?"

"Hahahaaa don't wait up miss Flo T., you take care!"

"Goodbye!"

The cheerisome spirit of the middle-aged toad had given Roy even more zest to his day as he jogged all the way up to the guardhouse and refused to stop smiling. His partner on the beat eventually had to ask after enduring at least a half-hour of constant foolish grinning.

"Alright spill, what's got you all so excited?"

"Ah just had a date. Thuh best date ah ever had."

"Awwwww jeez-wait wait hold on."

The toad pulled out a tape measure from his satchel and pretended to draw a measurement of the raptor's beaming teeth.

"Yep, that's more than two centimetres of smile than I saw last time you showed 'em, this girl must be really something else."

"She is Stul T. Ah mean god she is thuh best, ah can't tell you."

"I have a wife Roy, you can tell me. Is it the body, the personality or both?"

"Both, absolutely. More thuh personality, thuh body is just a sweet bonus but ah ain't gonna tell you that."

"Why not?"

"Cuz it's rude, a gentleman should never kiss and tell."

"Hhhhah! Wow you sound like Swee T. when we first met, she was like that too. I almost thought she was a prude but no turns out she just really values privacy."

"Ah understand. How'd you two first meet?"

"High school, we were in sports club together, I was the school champion of discus throwing and she was an up-and-coming track athlete."

"Ah didn't know you were a high-school athlete, so wuz I!"

"Yeah what sport you do?"

"Football, fullback position."

"Heheh, regular chargin' chuck were ya?"

"You know it!"

"So, me an' Swee T. just started hanging out, shared a few treats and the next thing you know we were meeting up every day. Stuck round together until we were twenty-two then we decided to get married."

"Whut made you decide to marry?"

"After our first kid. Wanted to make it more complete a family you know?"

"Yeah...man you must have a perfect life, you got a wife, kids, good job."

"Not gonna lie," said Stul T., "there's very few things I ever really want anymore. I think that's a good thing. Maybe a holiday at most or the next season of a show to come out but that's it. I get to come back to a house that is full of people who care about me. And honestly that's the one thing I never realised I needed until after my daughter was born."

"Awwwww...damn dude that's cute."

"Now don't you tell nobody what I said to you, I got a street rep to maintain."

"Heeheeheeheewhut street rep?!"

"The wise guy who knows all the streets, dig?"

"Ohoho mah god."

With very little occurring through the rest of the week, the day soon came when they could finally approach Koopisten about his potential involvement with Sher T. and Yannis. Stul T. and Roy began to plan out how best to approach the suspect, not wanting to alert the gang into thinking they had been compromised by a direct interrogation. Two days after Koopisten had returned from his vacation, the two knocked on his front door.

"Mister Koopisten?"

The door opened to reveal a koopa in his late 40s.

"Ohhh, hello there sirs, what can I do for you?"

"Sorry to bother you but we just need to make some inquiries, may we come in?"

"Course, come on in. Can I get you a drink?"

"No thanks, we're fine."

The house was rather modest, the central living room being a huge square room with two chairs, a sofa and a standard TV, with kitchen directly in front of them shaped like a hallway having cupboards on either side and a fridge at the very end of it. Bathroom to their left and bedroom to the right, Koopisten closed the door behind them and went to the kitchen to stir a pot of something, slightly shadowed by the lack of light in the windowless kitchen.

"I'm just making myself some food so you boys can sit down, I'll answer your questions."

"Alright," said Stul T., "we're currently doing an investigation into the Candy Shell Gang's activities and, this is just for uh procedure's sake, but your name came up during it."

"Really? That's odd."

"Yeah I mean, it's probably not YOU cuz we do have several Koopistens to follow up with, but yanno since you only just came back from vacation we have to interview you as well."

"By all means, ask away."

"Have you ever contacted or met with the Candy Shell Gang?"

"Nope."

"Where were you on the 14th last month around 9am?"

"I was sleeping in the Shimmering Islands hotel, my company cleared the vacation with me and if you want proof I even kept the ticket."

"That's great, so uh-"

BRRRRRING. The telephone to their left suddenly went rattling like crazy as Koopisten opened a large closet door in the kitchen briefly blocking their view.

"Oh ignore that," he said, "damn solicitors, could you unplug it from my wall for me?"

Stul T. did as he was asked but Roy kept his eyes trained on the doorway until the closet closed again to show Koopisten still silhouetted at the cooker with his pot of food.

"Sorry about that, they always call me this time of day, I just stop answering the phone by now."

"You should make a complaint," inquired Roy, "cold callers are thuh worst, if you get thuh number down we can chase them up."

"I would appreciate that but those vultures never give you the number and they're always private so you can never reply back."

"Ever thought about gettin' one of them new phones with Caller ID?"

"Ahhhh I'm getting old, I can't handle new technology myself. At best I can handle my kitchen."

"Heh, ah understand."

A mutual nod came between the guards as Stul T. stretched his arms.

"Rrrrraaaawelp that's that then, sorry for the hassle sir."

"Oh it's fine, I mean we have to check all the names we hear, you know the old saying, whutsit rule of three?"

Something clattered sharply in the kitchen as Koopisten's hands flinched with a startling panic.

"...you alright sir?"

"Um...y-y-yes sorry I uh nearly spilt...some of my hot food hoho."

"You need any help?" asked Roy.

"No no no you just um, is that all you wanted to ask? I don't want to keep you from your-"

"Oh yeah no ah mean...we do have stuff to do so we'll just get outta your hair an-"

"Actually," added Stul T., "I'm really sorry about this but can I use your bathroom? I drank a lot of coffee today and it's starting to-"

"Um sure sure!" stammered the koopa. "Just on your left there."

"Thank you, sorry about all this I know it's a huge pain."

"Ah warned you man," said Roy, "no more than two cups or else it's gonna go ruin ya-"

"I know I know," added the guard, "couldn't resist that third cup, rule of three."

Vicious clanging came from the kitchen again as Koopisten freaked. Roy had been keeping an eye on his movements noticing how sudden he jerked at the phrase whilst Stul T. went to the bathroom. The raptor carefully stood up asking gently:

"Are you sure you're alright sir? You seem awful jittery."

"Y-yes I'm fine thank you, I keep hitting my um, my knee, this damn cupboard here it's sticky."

"Hmm hmm...you work in finance don't you?"

"Um, yes I do."

"Could you help me on a math problem, ahm kinda terrible at these. Just while mah friend is occupied then ahm out of your hair."

"I...suppose I can."

"This one's been hasslin' me all week, if twelve yards of cloth cost thirty coins, whut would eighteen yards cost at that rate?"

"....that's rather basic isn't it?"

"Ah know but me an' mah maths are pfft, terrible ah mean ah struggle on division."

"It's not a division, it's cross-multiplying. By having three numbers in a sum, you can solve the unknown number through them."

"Alrigh'."

"Twelve costs thirty, split them in half. Six yards costs fifteen. Therefore, adding a third number creates a multiplication table. Six, twelve, eighteen. Fifteen, thirty, forty-five, there's your answer."

"Huh, damn that's pretty smart, that uh process got a name or sumthin'?"

"Yes it's called the Rule of-grhk..."

Roy smiled at the subconscious flinch and cautiously approached the kitchen doorway to block his exit, leaning carefully on the wall as Koopisten turned away from him cautiously.

"Does your boss use that term often?"

"What-who?"

"Your real boss. Thuh one who told you to meet up with Shor T."

Koopisten softly planted his left hand on the counter as his voice became much more dry and clear with purpose.

"I have no idea what you're talking about."

"Ah think you do. Why else would ah have come to you?"

"I don't know anyone called Shor T."

"Really? Cuz thuh shell fragments in thuh chair when you beat his face an' stole his 3DS say otherwise."

"I left no shell fragments anywhere, what are you driving on about?"

"So why have I found scrapings of your shell at his residence?"

"I don't know!"

"Because you're sloppy. That's why you're worried, because you were gonna screw up an' you got a second chance, and you're gonna be next when ah leave and your boss is gonna hire sumbody else to whack you out an' make you disappear on a ship."

"NO ONE IS MAKING ME DISAPPEAR! You're just babbling, you know nothing officer!"

"Ah know you sat in his chair when your boss arranged you to meet him cuz otherwise, rule of three."

"STOP, saying that!"

"Ah know you clonked him over thuh head with a wine bottle-"

"I DIDN'T USE A STUPID BOTTLE I WAS NOWHEAR NEAR SHER T.'S HOUSE!"

"...Sher T.? Huh...ah wuz saying Shor T. thuh whole tahm? Interesting."

Koopisten tightly curled his fists with his left hand slowly moving towards the dial of the cooker.

"I left...nothing in that moron's house, and you are walking down a dead end officer."

"You mean Sher T. just...disappeared on a boat leavin' thuh Toad Town port?"

"If you take one step closer you will regret this. I am warning you now, politely...to leave this house."

"Ah think you should come with me."

"...I think you're fired."

Click.

The second he heard that sound Roy dodged to his left into the bathroom, as fire destroyed the kitchen with one obliterating force, like the blasting of a cannon soon deafening his ears. The house shook with a roaring crescendo as flames poured bilious across the ceiling, forming a drastic cloud of smoke as their entire world became consumed with horrid heat, walls melting slowly with the furniture.

"SHIT WHUT HAPPENED?!"

"WHO CARES WE GOTTA GO!"

Stul T. ran for the door wrapping his hand within his guard clothing to try and open the heated doorknob. Yet no matter how hard he struggled to force it the lock would not break.

"IT'S LOCKED!"

"LEMME AT IT!"

Roy grabbed with his steel first trying to wrench the lock into a splitting tear, almost trying to rip it off the doorframe itself as the smoke began to thicken above them. Roasting chairs and warping floorboards surrounded them as Stul T. turned with a sudden fright.

"ROY, ROY WATCH OUT!"

The toad forcefully shoved his friend out of the way just before the solid impact of a crushing steel door, blown off from the fridge in the kitchen as it formed a sealing barricade that melded with the wooden door. Standing in front of the kitchen entrance however, now wreathed with flames like the gates of hell was a horrifying black shadow, floating above the ground with cold black wings.

"What the HECK IS THAT!?!"

"FIND A WAY OUT, AHLL DEAL WITH THIS THING!"

"BU-"

"JUST DO IT, WE CAN'T STAY HERE!"

Stul T. tried to find something that could break the windows, but the shadow simply shrieked and lashed out a vile black whip towards the guard who blocked steadily with his shield in deflecting it. The thing simply sucked his shield from him and cast it aside before Roy barrel-slammed with a vicious punch to the creature's stomach. It flew backwards gasping above the burning kitchen floor without any feet to touch it, a fiendish almost feminine cackle emanating from its dark faceless hood. Sweeping around the room, it flew towards the TV lifting it up without even touching it to hurl violently towards Roy, the raptor dodging fast to lunge his spear deftly at the shadow in counterattack. It pierced through the creature before shattering into a dozen black wings, shrieking past Roy as a fierce wind fed into the flames around him. Swooping past to behind him, the dark beast lashed out with a whipping tendril to strike across the back of his head and pull his spear away from him.

Roy grabbed tightly for control as he clenched his left shielded fist, shooting out a piercing white volley of ice towards the shadow which recoiled with surprising shock and pain. Through the smoke and flames he saw it was some sort of robe as it lunged straight towards him, swiping with hands glistening like razor sharp claws as he blocked with shield and steel fist. A vicious combo of rapid slashing hits he just managed to block before punching furiously straight into the hooded cowl. But there was no head within, no crunching of his fist against a skull as the hood slipped off to reveal a headless fiend. The sound of a woman's laughter emanated from its body as it grabbed his arm before driving a brutal knee strike into his crotch.

Wheezing harshly as the smoke began to coil thicker into his lungs, he forced his legs to remain standing as the phantom swooped upwards above him to raise its arms and blast a shuddering gust of wind to his left. Fire roared sucking deep the oxygen to explode next to Roy as he fell against the door, the flames thickening all around them as the creature began to conduct the rising inferno. Long black sleeves summoned a burst of flame behind Roy as he dodged rolling forwards, just close enough to drive his spear upwards at the phantom shroud that simply hovered away from him.

Stul T. meanwhile was trying to pick up a small table and threw it sharply at one of the windows, but the glass did not even break. Dull thudding vibrations came with the wooden legs bouncing off as he cried:

"ROY! KHHHHKHAAH-EGHKHH-EGHH, THE GLASS ISN'T BREAKING!"

"WHUT?!"

"IT'S SOME KINDA...HHHHHH! PLEXIGLASS OR SOMETHING!"

"KEEP THIS THING DISTRACTED, AHLL BREAK US OUT!"

The toad's lungs were starting to weaken, struggling to breathe having nowhere near as much capacity as Roy's body did. But he did his best as they swapped over, the toad gripping his spear calmly in both hands despite his vision turning bleary. The phantom cackled again and flung itself down towards him with steel talons from its sleeves, striking against the spear length as Stul T. blocked with riposte. Twirling a half-spin, he smacked both its arms away before swiping fast with the spearhead to try and strike at the phantom's hood, but he also discovered that it had no head to even harm in the first place. The fiend struck once again with a wide thrashing strikes like a berserker, screaming at his face and forcing his hand to push back against its grip on the spear. The two engaged in a brief tug of war until he felt the spectre's grip weaken slightly, twisting the staff to force its grasp into an uncomfortable position of crossing its sleeves over each other as he lifted his feet from the floor and swung his legs underneath. Like a trapeze artist briefly, he forced his weight forwards to send both his feet pounding ferociously hard into the ghostly robe's abdomen.

The cloak suddenly shrieked with a numbing voice, pain shuddering through it briefly in a snarling bitterness as it finally released Stul T.'s spear before violently kicking him straight in his stomach, sending him nearly flying across the room. But before it could attack him any further, the sound of an explosion came bursting out from behind the shadow as Roy obliterated one of the windows.

"ERRRRRRRAAAAAAAGH!"

Shivering nanos filtered through his left hand which briefly became coated in a cool sheen of metallic blue plating, almost resembling an arm cannon as he fired a piercing blue shot of pure plasma-sculpted energy at the window, shattering the hardened protective glass as the smoke desperately rushed to outside. The backdraft that came with it in a sudden belching of flame forced Roy to duck, crawling along the floor towards Stul T.'s wounded gasping body as he grabbed him staggering towards the window. The horrific phantom simply stood in front of the kitchen entrance and raised its arms with one final maddening cackle, the strange female voice echoing throughout the house as MacGregor pulled himself and Stul T. through the broken window, struggling to flee the flames. Once they were a safe distance from any possible explosion, he carefully placed his partner into the recovery position and checked over for any injuries.

"EKH-EKHAAH! HHHHHHH! Ohhhhh...j-jeez wh-what happened?"

"You okay man? We're out, don't you worry."

"I-i was...khaaa! Ohhhh I haven't missed fresh air like this since I went on those scuba lessons."

"No really, are you okay? You kinda took that smoke hard."

"I'll be fine...just...hhhhhh...l-let me breathe a little...I...I saw the weirdest thing."

"Ah think ah saw thuh same thing too."

Roy waited for his friend to recover whilst sitting down by the street, watching the house of Koopisten become wreathed in a towering inferno as smoke rose greatly above the roofs. Citizens of nearby homes came outside in shock and fear at the tremendous flames, and they were thankful that the house was fully detached with enough space separating it from other houses, to not instantly start spreading before the emergency services would arrive shortly. The only thing that went through the guards' minds in that moment, was if they had truly seen some form of ghastly apparition, or if it was by some mad hallucination that they shared in the threat of real danger.