Flamy led us to the pharmacy room, where, on a bed, lied a blue yoshi. Its body looked beaten up with several bruises covering its skin. Its nose was broken, and its leg. I had no words for this sight, he must've sacrificed a lot to just get here.

The yoshi's eyes lit up as it saw us and he looked like he got very relieved and happy.

''(Are you... Blue Flame)?'' It asked.

''I am,'' Ludwig said and sat down on the bed next to him. ''And who might you be?''

''(I'm Yammy)...'' He answered.

''Okay, Yammy, my colleague said that you wanted to talk to me?''

He nodded. ''(Yoshi's Island will soon be destroyed, along with the two star-children that inhabit it)...''

I flinched a tiny bit. ''What? How?''

''(I was captured and forced into Bowser's army. While I was there I heard about the plans Bowser had to take over Yoshi's Island. Apparently, he's going to use all of his captured and brainwashed yoshis to find it).''

''I should've known...'' Ludwig muttered. ''That bastard. To have the nerve to use yoshis against their own kind and destroy their home. But I'm afraid that it will be difficult to get to the island. The ocean borders are filled with guards.''

''(Oh, but I know of a way)!'' Yammy happily said.

Suddenly the doctor came in, I had never met him before but now that I saw him I realized that it was Toadbert. The smart toad, blue mushroom head with white spots, foggy glasses, everybody knew him if they'd ever visited Princess Peach's castle in the past. But now he was here, healing injured people.

''Hello Yammy, how are you feeling? Have the painkillers kicked in yet?'' He asked.

''(Yeah).'' Yammy said and gave him a relieved smile.

''So, you know a secret way to Yoshi's Island?!'' Ludwig interrupted, impatient to hear the answer.

''(Yes! But it's not completely risk-free. First, you'll have to go the Koopa Cape's underwater tunnels, then swim through Dolphin Shoals and then, finally, you'll have to just travel across the ocean while slightly going left of the north star).''

''Wow, that's going to be tough.'' Ludwig groaned in annoyance.

''What about it?'' I asked. ''Are Koopa Cape and Dolphin Shoals filled with dangers or something?''

''Well, you probably wouldn't know since you've been living in Mushroom City for four years,'' Ludwig said. ''Those waters have been filled with different chemicals from all of Bowser's weapon factories nearby. The cute and cuddly dolphins that once lived there either died or turned into some kind of giant nightmarish hell-beasts.''

I shuddered at the thought. ''Okay, now I understand why you don't want to go there.''

''(Many yoshis, like myself, went through there to get to the Mushroom Kingdom. But only a handful of us got through since we didn't expect the dolphins to try to eat us).'' Yammy explained.

''At least you're safe now,'' Ludwig said and started to walk away. ''I'm going to talk to Toadsworth about this. Thank you so much for sharing this information.''

He left us alone in the pharmacy room, I had a question on my mind and decided to ask since now was the chance to do it.

''How did you escape Bowser's army?'' I asked. Thinking about it, it wasn't very easy to do, but Yammy somehow pulled it off.

''(I and five other yoshis tried... I was the only one who succeeded... There were guards everywhere, constantly throwing hammers, fireballs and even Bob-ombs at us).'' He turned to lie on his side, facing me. ''(Those yoshis were my best friends)...''

''I'm so sorry...'' I said. ''I wish I had my wand so I could fix this mess.''

''(Don't feel sorry, miss. It was not your fault).''

I patted him on his head. He started purring like a cat, I didn't actually know that yoshis actually could do that. 

''So, have you met Yoshi?'' I asked.

Yammy's expression dropped into a sad frown. ''(I have).''

This made me confused. ''What's wrong?''

''(He... When Mario disappeared, he and the other yoshis fled to his home island again. But on the way... something happened)...''

''Like what?'' I asked, afraid, but at the same time intrigued of what he would reveal.

''(Bowser's son attacked them, he had followed them in his clown car and surprised them. Yoshi started battling with him to ensure that the others would escape without being followed by Junior).'' I could see the sadness in his eyes as he let out a sad sigh. ''(Junior used a spell that Kamek had taught him. But he didn't know how to control it yet. It made a bright light shine between them and... they both went blind and got very sick from it).''

''Wait, that's why Junior never goes out?'' I asked surprised. I knew that Junior was never outside of his father's castle. But nobody ever said he was blind and sick. Apparently, it was because the little brat became too greedy with his magic abilities.

''(Yeah... after that, Birdo came and helped Yoshi to escape while Junior was left behind).''

''So... Yoshi is blind... and sick?''

''(Correct).'' Yammy nodded. ''(His sickness has gotten worse every year)...''

So now, suddenly, Yoshi wasn't an option either... we were running out of star-children! Luigi is way too depressed and scared, Yoshi is blind and sick, Wario refuses and Peach and Mario are dead! Now we had to hope that there wasn't anything wrong with Donkey Kong or else we wouldn't know what to do!

As I exited the pharmacy room, I saw Waluigi and Polari walking around looking for me. I told them about Yammy and our current situation. They seemed very unsure about going to Yoshi's Island and told me that they wouldn't let me wander off by myself on another mission again.

_____________________________________

*Ludwig's POV*

''It's a good blueprint, Toadsworth, but... we don't have the money for all of the materials needed,'' I explained as I laid down the blueprints on his desk again. ''We can barely afford decent food anymore.''

''Well, if you want to swim in that disgusting water and get eaten alive by those ''dolphins'' then be my guest.''

''That wasn't what I meant,'' I said frustrated. ''I just mean that unless we win the lottery or something, then we wouldn't be able to build these submarines in time, and both of the star-children inhabiting that island, along with hundreds of yoshis and birdos, would get killed.''

''I have no other safe way to get us there, Blue.'' Toadsworth sighed sadly. ''I don't want neither Yoshi or Donkey Kong to die but... I might have to say that-''

''Don't you dare say anything,'' I growled angrily. ''People believe in us, Toadsworth. They believe that we're the ones who will find the new hero and make this world better. If we just decide to give up and let two star-children die then people will think of us as a false hope.'' I sighed while rubbing my eyes sleepily. ''And the future people who are born during this time will not even have any memory of what this kingdom once was. They will never know what the sunlight was like because when they look up they only see dark clouds in the sky, filled with tears of the kingdom's residents.''

Toadsworth rested his head on the desk. ''I'm sorry, Blue. I'm no magikoopa that can fix everything. We need to find a way to get money fast if you want this to work.''

I leaned back in my chair, staring up at the ceiling as I tried to find a solution to our money problem. Not long after, a thought hit me and I quickly looked back at Toadsworth again. 

''Wario!'' I exclaimed.

''Wario?'' He questioned me. ''He doesn't want to help us, we've tried talking to him before. Lots of times!''

''But that was before we had his brother on our side!'' I said with a slightly evil grin. ''He knows Wario more than anyone, maybe he knows something that could make him change his mind?''

Toadsworth started grinning as well. ''Blue, for being an eleven-year-old child you sure are smarter than most adults.''

Suddenly, the door behind us opened up. Flamy came inside with a bunch of papers in her arms. I could see that her eyes were slightly watery, her expression told me that something bad had happened.

''Flamy?'' Toadsworth asked. ''What has happened?''

She walked up to our desk and put the papers down. ''New reports of Bowser's captives.'' She said in a trembling voice, trying to fight back the urge to cry.

This made me extremely nervous and I could tell that Toadsworth was as well. I picked the papers up and started reading through. A lot of our spies had been captured, some that were captured last week had been executed. Then I reached the line that was the cause of Flamy being so sad.

Kai Koops

Info: Wanted dead by Bowser's army. Serves as lead assassin for the resistance.

Relatives: Hayden Koops (father, deceased), Enya Koops (mother, deceased), Flamy Koops (sister, alive).

Condition: Deceased, murdered by Corporal Paraplonk along with the rest of his group.

Oh, no. Not good, not good at all. Kai couldn't be dead, he couldn't! We can't afford to lose him!

I looked up at Flamy, who was seconds away from bursting into tears. I put the papers down on the desk who was then taken by Toadsworth so he could read as well. I rose from my chair and gave her a tight hug. That was her breaking point. She buried her face in my shoulder and cried her eyes out.

''I'm so sorry, Flamy,'' I said and patted her on her red shell.

''I loved him so much!'' She cried.

I looked over her shoulder towards Toadsworth. ''Call for a meeting, I want everyone to be in the meeting hall within half an hour.''

Toadsworth nodded. ''Yes sir.''