His mouth was full.

The dark blue yoshi’s belly was splayed out against stonework floor, squirming about. A stubby yellow tail and green boots wriggled in panic just outside his drooling jaws. Those remnants of the third Koopa Troopa vanished behind slurping yoshi jaws, and were swallowed without care. The shell-less trio of Koopa Troopas were all compacted into the sated yoshi belly, Dark Blue letting out a small belch that coughed up a red boot. He rubbed into the malleable folds of his bloated tummy, and sighed happily.

It was a good distraction from the journey he was on.

Dark Blue had found himself in the midst of a fortress. One he was quite familiar with! Even after all this time, there were still packs of Koopa Troopas about it. And the squirming reptiles filled the yoshi up as much as they always did, the yoshi swaying his tail that stuck out behind him, sliding back and forth along the ground. He allowed himself a brief rest after his large meal, needing every calorie the squirming, whining creatures in his belly would provide. It’d been nearly two weeks since that fateful day at the beach, and he was hopelessly lost. It was pure chance that he wound up back at the fortress, and he was happy to have found it: In addition to the copious amount of food, he knew just how high the fortress reached to the heavens. And from there, the dark blue yoshi hoped to gain his bearings, and find out where he had to go in order to make it back home, and warn the others. He hadn’t meant to gorge himself, but the three minions were just sleeping there, and it’d been a day since he last ate. A yoshi couldn’t turn down such an opportunity, and 30 minutes later, the yoshi had a nice full belly, already starting to churn and burble beneath his scales.

It took a bit of effort, but he did manage to heft himself up onto his own booted feet. The yoshi let his swaying, gurgling belly settle, ignoring the occasional appearing outline of a claw or head, and began waddling up the nearest stairwell, leaving two green shells and one red behind. His knees often pressed up against his roiling stomach, but the yoshi could handle it. It wasn’t his first rather large meal, after all! He perspired from the simple act of climbing the stairs, but he didn’t care, the yoshi always willing to make sacrifices for such a large, delicious meal. Muffled whines managed to emanate from his belly now and then, especially as the gurgling churns grew more intense. Yoshi ignored them all, though, happily digesting away the hapless minions who would become nothing more than yoshi pudge in a few hours’ time. Quicker, if the yoshi kept moving, which he intended to do.

Upward higher and higher the yoshi climbed, reaching the occasional floor, thankfully abandoned. The puzzles had been solved and it seemed the remaining forces all occupied the bottom floor only. The only sounds were coming from the sloshing, sagging yoshi stomach, which had already become still, save from the vibrations caused by the acts of digestion occurring within. Yoshi licked his lips, almost wishing he’d saved a Troopa for his trip, but that would’ve been too much of a hassle. He kept his tail aloft somewhat, for balance, as he waddled along to the next stairway. He came to one in short order, one that was wrapped upward along one of the fortress’ tall towers. The dark blue yoshi caught a glimpse out the window, and sighed at the sight. He was rather high up, but this view was useless, facing out to sea. He needed a 360 degree view of the island to catch his bearings properly. Only then would he be able to properly find a way out of the area, and back to home.

He was hoping, of course, that he wasn’t the only survivor of the bunch of chubby yoshies that had been duped into a doomed buffet so long ago. But, the yoshi nodded resolutely as he began climbing the next set of stairs, tail upward and swaying to help counterbalance his heavy tummy sloshing about. Though he was among the bravest, being the one to venture in to the many dangerous castles and other spooky spots on their previous adventure, the others weren’t without courage or tenacity. Yoshi was sure they’d all be partying on the beach again when this was over, and whoever it was that tried to have all the yoshies devoured, end up nothing but yoshi fat themselves! Dark Blue chuckled at the thought, even licking his lips at envisioning various foes struggling all the way down his gullet.

He was the yoshi responsible for taking out some of their strongest magically-enhanced foes, after all. Him and Yellow, of course, wherever she happened to be. The stair-climbing yoshi paused a moment to ponder exactly where the others had ended up. He’d wound up where he was now by coincidence, of course, but he’d hoped to have run into at least one other by this point. Did they really split themselves up this much? It was certainly a chaotic night, but their fleeing was at least in the same direction, wasn’t it? Where were all the others?

Could they have been ensnared by the gang of predators someone rallied together to take them out? No, he thought, shaking his head and resuming his trek up the stairs. Yoshies seldom succumbed to the many monsters of the island, being the cleverest species inhabiting it after all. That’s probably what made them so easy to rally together, he thought grimly, reaching the top and waddling down another long hallway. The yoshi gulped at the thought of an alliance being formed against the yoshies. Most weren’t intelligent enough to attempt such a thing.

Maybe this was a subject to bring up with the various tribes once he returned home. His attention was brought back to his current situation, however, when he came across yet another set of stairs. He stood there and panted for a moment, wiping sweat from his brow, listening to his overstuffed tummy churn a bit. Dark Blue was beginning to regret having stuffed himself, forgetting just how high this tower climbed. The Koopa Troopas were much softer now, gurgling away diligently in the gut. Despite these regrets, though, if another wandered in his path, the yoshi would have no qualms in snatching them up for dessert. It was just the yoshi way!

Progress was slowed as the day wore on and the dark blue yoshi climbed higher. His belly softened and sagged all the while, digestion having fully run its course by the time he got to what he figured had to be the final staircase. He was grateful, too, as the soft, jiggling bellyfat was much easier to carry than three squirming reptiles, and the energy he’d gotten from them helped him take things one step at a time without stopping for a nap. He made it to the top, feeling a cool breeze when he breached the top of the tower, the yoshi basking in the cool freshness for a moment. Only a moment, though, as he had a task to complete now that he was finally at the top. He could sit and rest near the edge of the tower, and see where exactly he was, and where he needed to go.

At first, the yoshi thought that the long journey was for nothing. It was quite cloudy all the way up here at the top of this very tall fortress, and since it grazed the clouds it initially made things hard to see. But as the clouds flowed around, they eventually parted so that he could in fact see all the way down. Yoshi, sitting back on his now-cushier rump, scooted back a bit when he saw just how high up he was. That was not a fall he was going to risk! Besides, he realized immediately where he had to go, based on a quick glance downward: Lucky he made the journey up, as he was going to keep going the wrong direction! He made a mental note of where to go once leaving the fortress gate, and stood to leave, swinging and stretching his tail in the process.

Yoshi turned to head for the exit when a noise caught his attention. Was that a croak? He spun, belly sloshing via inertia and swinging about a bit behind the motion. Dark Blue had to step forward and squint to see through the murky clouds, and could just barely make something out, silhouetted, a couple hundred feet away near the edge of the other connected tower. Two creatures were there, one squat and bearing something with a flipper, yoshi thought. The other stood taller and was bent down at the first. Was that one kneeling? Yoshi tried to parse out exactly what was going on, when the first creature raised whatever it was, twirling it over both their heads, before pointing the business end of it at the kneeling creature.

Yoshi gasped aloud when something shot forth from the item! A very familiar sound and sight filled the air, a bright pair of colors flowing from what yoshi now knew to be a magic wand! He heard the sparkling magic titter and saw it envelope the second creature. The wand-wielding creature seemed to leap away, out of sight, leaving the second creature alone, who stood and… grew. From that growth, its features became far more apparent: A hooked-looking beak, stubby tail, legs ending in soft round boots. Yoshi knew exactly who that creature was now. He’d eaten three others just like him just hours ago, after all! His belly burbled quietly as he thought once more about the Koopa Troopas… This one, however, would be no grab and gulp! Yoshi, in fact, gulped when the enlarged Koopa Troopa turned to face him – clearly able to see him through the mist!

The dark blue yoshi had a feeling he knew this particular one, having dueled him in the past. A key clue was that this enlarged Koopa Troopa was missing a shell! The bulkiness in the cloudy shadows made that apparent. The grinning magic-enhanced creature stepped out of the mists and into view, not wearing a single thing save for the trademark boots, which scaled to match his new size. It hunched over slightly, as if it still bore the shell’s weight. He leered at the fat yoshi, who stared back defiantly. 

Hookbill the Koopa, shell or no shell, had been reborn. Although not quite as he once was. He was only about twice the size of the plump dark blue yoshi, not nearly as big as he was when they first tangled, though he looked as wide as ever. His eyes glared not at Yoshi’s, but the expanded soft belly the well-fed dinosaur sported. It didn’t take a genius to figure out what he’d been dining on, within the fortress. Hookbill spoke with a growl, declaring those would be the last Koopa Troopas any yoshi would ever devour. He, like the one that made him big again, would never be subjected to the hunger of the plague of the island. 

Dark Blue blinked, and growled back, ready for another fight. In the back of his mind he wondered – who was it that had the wand then? Something the yoshies obviously snacked on during their previous journey, but that was a long list to parse through! He shook his head and ignored that thought for now. He could find out later, once he dispelled the magic from Hookbill, and had himself a Koopa Troopa dessert! The enlarged Koopa Troopa stared back, saying once he’d taken care of the fattened yoshi, he could get himself a new shell, one big enough for his new body.

Yoshi charged with as much gusto his fatter self could carry. Hookbill stomped forward, each fall of the boot almost making Dark Blue stumble, but a swaying tail helped him keep balance. Hookbill’s own larger stub of a tail swayed in anticipation as he deliberately kept his pace slow. Yoshi knew this fight would be a cinch: The deadliest part of any Koopa Troopa was their impressive shells. This one was without their weapon! What could a big stumbling reptile do, other than eventually become yoshi food? The yoshi atop that fortress even had the gall to openly lick his lips, but Hookbill didn’t back down.

The yoshi steadied himself, widening his stance and flicking his tail. All he had to do was time a jump and slam down on the unprotected Koopa Troopa, and victory would be his. Hookbill’s lumbering charge sped up, the stomps sending quivers through the fortress. Yoshi looked, and leaped, carrying himself up into the air. Hookbill grinned and sped up more, reaching up for the leaping yoshi! Dark Blue gasped when a big Koopa Troopa paw clenched around one of his legs. He tried to break free or flutter to safety but Hookbill had a vice-like grip on the limb. The big Koopa Troopa brought Yoshi back down and pounded him into the stone, yoshi losing his breath as his wobbly belly did nothing to protect him. Hookbill grinned and simply stood there, waiting for the winded yoshi to recover. The dark blue yoshi groaned and struggled to his feet, growling. Though he was starting to grow apprehensive: Without the shell, Hookbill was much faster than his shelled self ever hoped to be! He was bigger, too. Plus, the yoshi himself wasn’t moving nearly as fast, what with his added weight.

The yoshi realized at that moment that he could not win this fight. All flights of fancy about enjoying more Koopa Troopa munchies vanished. Instead, his only option was to escape.

Yoshi leered up at the looming Hookbill, and made to jump again, attempting to fool the overgrown turtle. But then he stopped himself and turned on a dime, fleeing for the entrance! He didn’t look back even to see if his little ruse fooled Hookbill, simply dashing and panting as fast as his stubby legs would take him. His heart raced when he felt the booming steps getting closer as he neared the trap door. 100 feet away. 50. 20! He’d just reached it when something grabbed him by his thick yoshi tail, Dark Blue gasping as he was ripped away from freedom and left dangling, with his nose scraping the stone.

Hookbill laughed and hauled the fat yoshi over the edge of the tower. Yoshi’s voice caught in his throat as he stared at the long way down. No yoshi could survive such a fall, and he knew it. Dark Blue began to fight and reach for the sides of the tower, but Hookbill yanked him back in before the yoshi could reach. The yoshi let out another cry as he was unceremoniously dropped to the stone floor once again, and the Koopa Troopa fell to all fours, chest against the blubbery yoshi belly. From there, Hookbill muttered about how it was time for the tables to turn, for the many minions scattered throughout the island to dine on those who predated on them for so long.

Time for Hookbill the Koopa the devour the fat, defeated yoshi before him.

Dark Blue cried out in fright when the Koopa Troopa tongue lolled out of the mouth and sloppily pressed into his stomach. The slimy thick thing squeezed Yoshi uncomfortably, pockets of fat sloshing outward. The tongue slid right up Yoshi’s neck and across his face, leaving him an oozing, dripping mess of saliva. Hookbill remained on paws and knees, licking the prone yoshi again and again, slowly, deliberately, as his belly began to growl. Yoshi could even see the stubby Koopa Troopa tail swaying in appreciation for his flavor, in anticipation of the feast the giant reptile was about to enjoy.

Hookbill sat up and smirked, seeing the desperate yoshi trying to squirm away. He snagged a leg once again and hefted Dark Blue up by it, leaving the plump yoshi belly and stubby limbs and tail to dangle and flick about in meager protest. The yoshi’s eyes went from angry to pleading, begging, the squeaky voice uttering out pleads not to be eaten. He said sorry again and again for devouring so many Koopa Troopas and more over the years, Yoshi even clasping his paws together in a begging pose.

Too bad, Hookbill indicated with a shrug. Yoshies were doomed, and nothing could be done about it. He leaned against the edge of the tower and sighed, knowing that getting a new shell from the one that made him big again would prove harder once he was done digesting the fattened blue yoshi in his paw. Dark Blue whined aloud at that utterance and squirmed, but the grip on his leg was absolute and unyielding. The writhing yoshi who’d made a career out of defeating big tough bosses was now at the mercy of one, and his only release from that grip would be when he was sandwiched between jaws and being swallowed down into a hot, unyielding stomach.

Yoshi’s squeals not to be eaten grew louder when his obese body was hefted up near the lounging Hookbill’s head, his snout brushing against the belly he would soon be swelling with his own tubby form. He stared in terror as the jaws split open to reveal a yawning, cavernous maw, tongue flowing out in a lazy dangle to catch the dangling dinosaur. With his newfound strength, Hookbill was able to hold the plump begging yoshi there near his open mouth for quite a while! But he was hungry, and wanted to enjoy his own sweet revenge against the one who tore his original shell asunder. Hookbill kept his eyes opened, focused right on the yoshi, with a grin at the edges of his mouth, as he casually used his other paw to guide the begging yoshi by the chin in between his beak-shaped maw. Yoshi’s petulant whining ceased when his head was shoveled across a slobber-coated tongue, bulbous nose pressing right up against the back of the throat. His eyes bulged wide, shivering like mad at the prospect of getting eaten alive.

And he would never find out who it was that riled this Koopa Troopa up, turned him big again, and taught him to seek revenge on the yoshies.

Dark Blue’s last cry not to be eaten was swiftly cut off when Hookbill casually clamped his mouth closed around the yoshi’s chest. Dark Blue’s flailing arms had the deep misfortune of getting trapped within, with naught but a single paw seen flexing and un-flexing desperately near drooling lips. It was slurped in without fanfare, Hookbill noisily slurping about and enjoying his dinosaur dinner. He let go of the leg and had to use both paws to keep the fat yoshi hefted up, each one pressed into the soft, squishy belly of the doomed dino. Yoshi’s muffled cries fell on deaf ears, when Hookbill unceremoniously gulped down his head in a thick, profound GLRP! That head bulged out the Koopa Troopa neck, then chest, when a secondary ULK devoured the slobber-covered chest and forced the big yoshi tummy to squish up against clenched jaws. Yoshi legs flailed as a big tail flicked back and forth, the equally-squishy yoshi rear’s fatty folds  jiggling away from all that inertia. Hookbill chuckled around his meal, and flicked his head to swallow again, a yoshi stomach starting to pinch inward to the salivating maw. GLP!

Drool freely dripped down the working jaws of the Koopa Troopa, pattering against the stonework of the fortress. Hookbill kept both paws mashed up against Yoshi’s stomach, though they gradually worked backwards to the hefty thighs and protruding rump as more and more of the fat was packed away. ULRP. GLK…. GULP! Yoshi wailed in his journey down the tight, unyielding walls of the gullet, squashed tighter than he’d ever been in his life and soaked in slobber. His stomach sprawled through the constantly-working jaws, sloshed about and tasted and enjoyed by the ravenous Koopa Troopa, whose tail, settled between splayed legs, swayed indifferently. Hookbill managed those stubby fat legs inward – boots and all – squashing them into Dark Blue’s belly as he crunched his jaws down harshly, causing a fresh cry from the doomed yoshi within. The many bulges comprising the half-eaten dino were quite apparent in the large Koopa Troopa body, starting to gather up in the belly when Dark Blue’s wincing head was squelched into the stomach noisily. The yellow-scaled stomach began to bulge immediately on the next swallow, when Yoshi’s booted feet and upper belly were squashed down the throat without any hint of remorse. Hookbill was finally able to lower his paws, leaving the plump, jostling yoshi butt and thick writhing tail to dangle from his mouth freely. The dark blue yoshi was almost completely consumed by Hookbill the Koopa, and there was nothing he could do about it!

Hookbill’s mouth worked pleasantly around the doughy yoshi flesh, slowly but surely working more of the white underside inward. Yoshi whined aloud when the spikes on his back glided harmlessly against the stomach walls, his head splashing in and out of inert stomach fluids as a thick ULRK devoured more of his tightly-compacted stomach. His tail stuck out horizontally now, the tip writhing every direction and occasionally tapping against the growing belly of the Koopa Troopa. Hookbill gobbled the rest of Yoshi’s tail inward, the wriggling fat thing disappearing in a flash of dark blue and white. Hookbill’s cheeks bulged pleasantly with Yoshi’s rear and tail all dancing about his tongue, several more swallows having finally defeated the very noticeable belly. That curved giant bulge down his neck and chest was already making his belly bigger as more small gulps devoured Dark Blue. The yoshi let out a cry that could just barely be heard, as the stomach itself was still growling quietly, when his face was mashed into his own bellyfat. Hookbill rubbed over his protruding belly some and, with a last taste of Yoshi, clenched his eyes shut and GLURK’d the rest of the fat yoshi down in one heavy swallow. The swollen bulge of the yoshi, particularly that jostling, protesting belly bulge, sank rapidly down those yellow scales until a prominent SLORSH forced that Koopa Troopa tummy outward considerably, it sagging over splayed legs. Hookbill licked over his lips and let out a very content sigh, his paws steadily working into the sides of his very large, squashy gut playfully and reveling in the revenge he’d just taken. A Koopa Troopa could definitely get used to squirming yoshi meals such as this one!

The dark blue yoshi was crammed tightly in the dark squishy stomach. The big round rotund softness the grown Koopa Troopa sported shook and jostled about, thanks to the struggling yoshi’s protests. But thick, gooey stomach fluids were quick to pour all over and around the devoured dino, leaving Hookbill free to rub his big claws around his belly. He sat against the stone wall for several minutes, basking in his victory, before eventually rising onto his two booted feet. He was used to extra weight on his back, but not his front, and nearly tumbled forward. He was saved only by his big soft belly squashing to the stonework, the yoshi within uttering a gurgling cry of despair. Hookbill let out a small belch at that and chuckled, righting himself up and casually walking to the trap door that let back down into the tower. He wasn’t going to get a free lift from Prince Froggy like he had previously, so a nice long stroll through the soon-to-be-renowned Koopa Troopa Castle with a belly full of squirming, digesting yoshi. It took a bit of effort for him to squeeze through the entrance to the stairwell, but he just managed, Dark Blue squished to his limit as the belly walls scrunched in from all sides, and rubbed more acids all about him. Hookbill let the belly flop down and side to side as he waddled carefully down the stairs, back into the fortress properly.

It would take several hours for Hookbill to make it to the bottom, partially due to how long the trip was, but mostly because he was taking his sweet time, exploring all the rooms, playing with his churning gut, and enjoying every second of it. Prince Froggy, who’d left the scene on a Lakitu cloud not long after Hookbill had defeated and devoured the dark blue yoshi, smirked at the thought of the last moments of the seventh of eight yoshies. That thought brought him to the last survivor. The one he’d explicitly saved for last. The one that he, personally, would take care of.

The yellow yoshi had no idea what was in store for her! Prince Froggy pet over the orb end of the magic wand that had brought him so much revenge – justice – to himself and the many minions that suffered. He licked his lips solemnly in anticipation for the encounter that was to come. Without another spot spared to the dark blue yoshi whose hours were numbered, Prince Froggy steered his conjured cloud away from the fortress, off to where the final surviving Yoshi had wound up.

Headed towards his final act of revenge.