A splash of water drowned out his senses briefly before he felt the eternal sea embrace him once more.  This time however he was feeling it.  As wondrous as a pool was, the cool brisk seawater brought something deeper out in Koopin.  It felt so pure to him, so soft within the waves.  The tides of Yoshi's island were calm, perfect to explore the deeper darker realms of the sea.  Koopin always had a sense of adventure in him, ever since he was a child.  The sea only further encouraged it.
He was cautious about mountains yes, and he took to deserts with a natural-born stride, but the sea was different.  He embraced it wholeheartedly the moment he set foot within.  His feet kicked without boots, pushing his arms out as he travelled deeper beneath the waves.  Sometimes he would close his eyes and imagine it carrying him without any help, letting his arms fall to his sides as he spun gently within the waters.  Not all koopas took to the sea, which to Koopin was as inconceivable as someone refusing to breathe the air.
He opened his eyes after a few moments of drifting before swimming further down, his strong lungs giving him no fear as he watched the creatures of the sea float by without a care.  He kept near the shore, to avoid the more dangerous creatures further out to sea.  Bloopers were the most frequent of sea creatures, along with cheep cheeps merrily flapping their fins by him.  He smiled at one particular blooper, who swam with three smaller baby bloopers behind it.
Letting himself fall towards the ocean floor, he drifted along the seabed to see Sidesteppers scuttle along the sand, pinchy little crabs in red and blue who crawled their way up to shore.  Koopin soon followed them, reminding himself that he should surface soon.  The pure-white light of the sun above beamed down its heavenly rays upon the ocean floor, which Koopin tried to weave through on his way up.  His shell glinted like an emerald within the rays of light.  Soon he surfaced, breaking the water with a happy breath of air.

	"There you are!" said James nearby.  "Your ten minutes was almost up, I was getting a bit worried about you."
	"Hehehe, sorry.  I told you I could do it, ten minutes under water!"
	"Well now I believe you."
Koopin slowly walked out of the sea, trudging his feet through the sand as it scrunched beneath his chubby toes.  James was basking in the rays of the sun while on a towel he had brought, smiling at seeing his sea-soaked lover.
	"Heheh...you look pretty sexy all wet."
	"Really?"
	"Mmhmm...still, ten minutes?  Really?  Are all koopas that good with holding their breath?"
	"Well...not ALL of them no, how about you?"
	"Ehhh, never tried, I never got much of a chance to do any swimming so..."
	"You really should!  It's wonderful to be in the sea...all around you is water, the sun's rays down from above, little creatures and big beasts swimming around you in their own little lives..."
	"...man you really love the sea."
Koopin giggled and blushed before FG said:
	"Why didn't you become a sailor?"
	"Cuz they travel all the time."
	".......and...so do you."
	"Yeah but I mean they rarely ever come HOME, and I'd like to have a place I can live to call home.  Sailors live on their ships for half the year, I can't do that.  I mean I love travelling but not enough to stay away from my house half the year or more."
	"Heh, fair enough."
The two soon left the waves of the beach and headed back towards the yoshi village.  Koopin also had another reason to try and relax with a good long swim, for today was the day he was to face off against Yoshitaka.  He was incredibly nervous, and despite James' reassurance that he was able to handle a guy big enough with the right moves, he was genuinely terrified.  It didn't help matters when his father insisted on coming along to watch Koopin's battle.
The afternoon beach began to calm down, as a circle of battle was made in the centre of the village.  Yoshis gathered round with excitement, both young and old as they waited with their food, enjoying a hearty lunch of mangos and watermelons, with some yoshis setting up drums to accompany the match with.  Klair had decided not to attend, for as much as she trusted her son's ability, she was extremely reluctant to see him get hurt.  Shelldon however was excited as hell, sitting beside James.
	"I can't BELIEVE Yoshitaka's here!" said Shelldon.  "I never imagined me or my son would ever meet him!  And now Koopin has to face off against him!?  This is going to be fantastic."
	"Aren't you worried at all?" asked James.
	"Of course not!  Koopin's gotten stronger and Yoshitaka's a responsible professional.  He'd never do anything that would TRULY harm Koopin, I know that and so does my son."

With that reassurance in mind, the raptor felt better about what would occur, as the two combatants came forth at last.  The yoshis of the village cheered kindly for both of them, but their support was clearly with their island celebrity.  Yoshitaka wore nothing but his black-and-red shorts, sand scrunched between his thick green toes.
Doing a slow turn however while waving to his home crowd, revealed a magnificent black tattoo that spanned across his entire back like a map, creeping towards the shoulders.  Neither Shelldon nor FG could make out what it was, but Koopin recognised it as representing the history of Yoshi's Island itself.  A weaving pathway through jungles and mountains, with eight small yoshi-like figures carrying an even smaller child-like figure upon their backs.  They appeared to be travelling towards the sky itself, centred upon Yoshitaka's neck.
Koopin had only his shell and boots, along with his new sparring gloves which were coloured green.  He was thankful to have gone up in rank in the time between McGoombus and going on a cruise.  It gave him what little confidence he now had for this upcoming challenge.  As the cheering of the yoshi crowd died down, as well as Shelldon and FG cheering on for Koopin, Yoshitaka explained the rules:
	"Now let's be clear here kiddo.  You work on your rules, I work on mine.  That means I got one special condition fer this fight."
	"Um...yes, sir?"
	"You know how island wrestling works, right?  If I fall down on my knees or fall completely flat on the floor, then I'm out.  I know that's not how I do it in the ring, but this is my home turf, that's the rules."
	"U-uhm...okay."
	"But YOU are not a wrestler.  So let's make this fair, that rule don't apply to you.  All you gotta do to win, is to just knock me down.  If ya manage to completely pulverise me, then hey, congrats, bonus points to you.  But...if you can get me onto my knees, that's good too.  Got it?"
	"Right."
	"Alright!  Then let's get it on!  Come at me bro!"
With this boast and a clap of his hands the battle began, as the drums began to rattle away from all around Koopin, making his knees quiver as he went into stance.  Right foot back, both fists forward, he aligned his balance appropriately before Yoshitaka went into his own battle stance.  With one palm facing towards the sky slowly crossing past his chest, he slammed one foot down to send a tremor across the beach.  The drums followed, with one or two yoshis ululating into a battle song.

Koopin dared not approach, struggling to hold himself together as he watched Yoshitaka stride forwards like a colossus.  His legs were the size of tree trunks, far more muscular than his arms were.  The concept of trying to knock him down was even more of a dream than before, as he watched the yoshi giant swing his first punch.  Koopin dodged towards it, ducking beneath to try and punch the side of his waist.  It was like hitting a frozen slab of beef, thick and weighty with no damage done at all.
Yoshitaka simply turned and batted him away with a bitchslap, making Koopin stumble backwards.  It was a light blow, but it still shook him up, which James could clearly see.  Koopin tried once more, the yoshi striding slowly without a care even when the koopa charged forwards.  He was about to slap down on Koopin's head, when the koopa dodged to try and kick out the back of Yoshitaka's knee.  It was as if he had slapped the wrestler with a paper fan, who merely stood and chuckled before kicking softly backwards into Koopin.
He tumbled backwards from the blow which, while wasn't particularly painful, was forceful enough to vibrate his shell as he rolled off of the sand.  James was near enough to call out:
	"DON'T LET HIM SCARE YA!"
	"H-huh?!"
	"HE'S TOYING WITH YOU," added Shelldon.  "HE WON'T WASTE HIS ENERGY, TAKE YOUR CHANCE AND GET SOME HITS IN!"
The motivation from his own father inspired him further as he ran hastily forwards.  But the yoshi had a way to counter the oncoming charge, bringing out his mighty hands and clapping them together.  It was like a miniature shockwave, the force sending out a flurry of sand to blind Koopin and make him stumble, hastily running around Yoshitaka to dodge any potential blows.
	"Oh jeez!" said Shelldon.  "I forgot about the Tidal Clap!"
	"So did Koopin!" said FG.  "What's he gonna do now?!"
What Koopin was going to do now was to rub the sand from his eyes just in time to see Yoshitaka swing a slow warning haymaker towards his face, which Koopin just barely dodged.  It did however knock the top of his head slightly, making him slightly falter off-balance before he stepped into a stance and surged forwards.  This time he tried to elbow Yoshitaka's waist, slamming it hard.  It was much more effective, in that it caused the yoshi to actually wince.

The wrestler responded with a sudden double-knife chop downwards, straight onto Koopin's shoulders as he cried and buckled down onto his knees, right in position for a knee thrust to the face.  Falling backwards and sore all over his upper area, he shook himself back into fighting and resisted the urge to back off.  Standing before Yoshitaka, he watched his foe ready a tremendous clothesline punch, slamming forwards as Koopin dodge-rolled out of the way.
Yoshitaka was bent down low enough in his swing that Koopin was able to do a rising knee-thrust straight into the solar plexus, making the yoshi grunt louder than before as he quickly tried to grab the koopa.  Koopin's arm was caught, and his whole body was pulled hard against Yoshitaka's heaving white-green chest.  The koopa shook with panic as he knew exactly what was going to happen, as the yoshi turned him upside down to prepare throwing him head first into the sand.  Koopin responded by holding onto the chest, and kicking both legs like a mule straight into the face.
	"HAH!" said Shelldon to FG, "I knew it!  Yoshitaka tried to do the Lakitu Piledriver before and the same thing happened to him!  THAT'S IT KOOPIN, REMEMBER THE FIGHTS ON TV!"
Koopin's double-kick had stunned Yoshitaka enough that he was able to escape his grip, rolling onto the beach and spinning into his shell with the momentum.  He spun straight towards Yoshitaka, who was still stunned enough to take a strong blow to the knee.  He shivered, but he wasn't falling anytime soon, as he responded with a ferocious move.  He kicked Koopin up with his foot like a ball, before slamming both his fists together onto Koopin's shell to knock him hard onto the beach.  Koopin's shriek of surprised pain wounded James bitterly.

But Koopin wasn't out yet either, crawling out of his shell meekly while clutching his shellbelly, just in time to see Yoshitaka grab his arms and slam the back of his shell against his knee.  Koopin cried out even louder when he felt the telltale KRAKK.  The backbreaker move had further damaged the shell's integrity, and James could see the damage clear when Koopin weakly stumbled back onto the beach.  A thick crack across the right side of Koopin's shell.
	"Holy shit," said FG, "is he gonna be okay?!"
	"Long as his shell doesn't completely break," said Shelldon, "he'll be fine.  It's our natural armour, and that's what it does!"
As the young koopa struggled to contain the growing pain in his body, Yoshitaka readied himself for a bullcharge, pounding across the sand with furious footsteps that shook the ground.  Koopin struggled to dodge out the way, but the yoshi was getting serious now.  As he ran past Koopin, he looked back and shot out his long yoshi tongue straight at the koopa's arm.  Koopin yelped as he was pulled hard towards his foe, and Yoshitaka readily slammed a clothesline straight into Koopin's beak.
	"NO!" cried Shelldon, "Not the Yoshi Whip!"
Koopin was still hanging onto Yoshitaka's tongue, and squirmed as he tried to get it off him before anymore damage.  But Koopin wasn't close enough to the yoshi's face to punch him away, until Shelldon cried out:
	"KOOPIN, USE WHITE MIST!"
	"U-UH!?"
	"COME ON SON, THIS FIGHT'S GETTING DIRTY AND THE REF'S NOT LOOKING!"
	"What's white mist?!" asked FG discreetly.
	"You spit in his eyes, it'll make him pull back."
	"...KOOPIN, DO IT, WHITE MIST THE SHIT OUTTA HIM!
Koopin wouldn't even consider doing such a dirty move, regardless of his training.  But being swung around by the yoshi tongue like a tetherball only to receive another clothesline punch made him change his mind swiftly.  Despite being dazed from the blows to his head, he struggled before finally hawking up some spit straight into Yoshitaka's eye.  The yoshi was surprised, pulling his tongue back as he recoiled with disgust.  But it got Koopin within range to punch hard across the nose, using a small haymaker punch before slamming his elbow straight into the skull.

Yoshitaka dropped Koopin from his tongue as he stumbled back with both grimace and pain, wiping the spit from his eyes.  Koopin expected him to be furious, but instead he grinned.  
That only made him even more terrifying.  The koopa readied himself for another charge, the yoshi now swinging his fists brutally with a one-two punch, before slamming both fists down to try and hit Koopin again.  This was a pace the young Toad-Kwon-Do student was more used to.
Dodging the heavy swings, he ducked in and made his own one-two punch, finishing with a brutal knee thrust straight into the yoshi's abdomen.  A groan of pain was his reward as Yoshitaka nearly bent over, and he readied another kick which Koopin now knew to avoid.  Dodging around to one side, he cried out with a furious combo of four punches, two spinning kicks and a violent backfist right into the lower waist.  Yoshitaka heaved with the urge to stay on his feet, shooting his tongue out underneath his arm.
Koopin tried to dodge, but the tongue was too dexterous, as he leapt backwards to behind the yoshi only to feel the tongue wrap around his leg.  He wasn't going to go through this again, as he grabbed onto Yoshitaka's back hard and scrabbled up in a panic.  Leaping onto the wrestler's head, he slammed both fists from opposite sides straight on Yoshitaka's cheeks, sending painful reverberations through his skull.  Dazing him slightly, he grabbed at Yoshitaka's mouth and pulled him backwards like the reins of a horse.  The crowd went wild for such bravado, as Yoshitaka stumbled violently backwards in surprise.
	"WHOOO KOOPIN!" roared FG, "RIDE 'IM GOOD COWBOY, RIDE 'IM!"
	"COME ON SON!" cried out Shelldon, "THIS IS YOUR CHANCE!  SHOW 'EM THE SANDSTORM SNAPMARE!"

Koopin heard his father loud and clear, and a wild grin came to his eyes.  Riding the beastly wrestler who struggled to grab with either his tongue or his hands, Koopin readied himself for a daring stunt.  Him and his father had always made little ideas for wrestling moves in the past, always a few harmless sparring sessions when they were younger.  Now he had a chance to use one of them for real.
He grabbed Yoshitaka's head hard in a three-quarter facelock, striding near the green mountain shoulder and wrapping his arm under the chin with the other over the head.  He leapt off of Yoshitaka's shoulder and stomped onto the beach in front of him, using the traction of the sand to throw his opponent forwards, almost like a judo throw.  In his mind, it would have worked, roaring out as he threw the yoshi hard in front of him, the gravity completely off-balance for him.
Unfortunately, Yoshitaka was a far better wrestler with years of experience in handling throws.  The moment he felt his weight throw forwards, he lunged forwards in turn, falling with the throw and planting his hands square onto the sand.  Kicking his legs into the air, he did a powerful handspring in front of Koopin, slamming his feet onto the beach before swiftly turning to grab Koopin hard in the confusion.
Koopin squealed and squirmed, panicking at his ambitious plan falling apart, the yoshi breathing on him as he murmured hoarsely with exertion.
	"Not bad...but can ya handle this?"
Yoshitaka soon threw Koopin onto his shoulders, carrying him like a fireman would slung over his back, as he grinned with a devious smile.  Shelldon panicked at what would come next.  So did everyone else but FG.
	"Oh no, no no no no!"
	"Wh-what what?!" said FG.
	"It's...the Island Tsunami."
	"Wh-what the hell's that?!"
	"...Koopin's gonna lose."
Shelldon's face turned pale as he watched Koopin's face reflect his own, the younger koopa screaming with fear as Yoshitaka spread his legs into a stance.  The yoshi leapt, somersaulting half-backwards as his head directly faced downwards.  He raised his hands upwards, or downwards in this case, ready to recover as he went into a violent handstand, squashing the koopa beneath his shouldered weight.  Koopin was soon crushed between thick green muscle and soft gritty sand, screeching as his shell cracked further.
Squeezed into his shell, the bruising on his body turned even worse, as Yoshitaka shoved off of the ground with a handspring backwards, using the momentum to scrape his feet across the sands in order to stop and balance.  Koopin laid on the sandy beach, whimpering with a hot tight pain in his body as he gasped harshly.  The crowd turned silent, the drums starting to die out as they watched him struggle to stand.

Koopin tried to get on his knees, but the moment he raised his chest, his voice turned into a muted yelp before falling back onto the sand.  They knew he wasn't going to continue the fight.  James and Shelldon rushed to his side the moment they confirmed the fight was over.
	"KOOPIN!"
	"Koopin!"
Yoshitaka stayed around, not celebrating his victory out of concern for his young opponent.  James and Shelldon slowly uplifted Koopin between them, his shell cracked as he breathed shakily with agonising breaths.  Local medical professionals were on hand, having attended the fight from the beginning and being experienced with such injuries.  Koopin was soon taken to their hut, his father and his boyfriend staying outside.
Inside the hut, as he was laid down on a table to be examined and healed up, Koopin started to weep.  Not from the pain, but from his own loss.  He could have accepted losing against Lee, but not against an opponent of his own, not even against Yoshitaka.  He believed that he had the strength and the wit to prove himself.  To prove that he was strong and capable of protecting himself.  Now, all that remained in tatters.  He could feel James' presence outside.  He thought he could feel shame.
In truth, James was merely struggling to contain his anger, shaking with fury in his fists.  Eventually, the island doctor asked that the two leave for some privacy, and that while Koopin would recover, it would be best to give him time alone.  Shelldon agreed, asking James:
	"Come with me."
The raptor, desperate to find something else to do and to not let out his violent rage, obeyed without reason.  The two headed across the beach towards a more lonely-looking region, farther from the maddening crowd around Yoshitaka.  The two stared out to sea for a while, watching the sun turn evermore orange as it slowly sank into the sea.  The sky was just starting to lose its bluish tint.
	"He wanted to do this," said Shelldon without turning his head.  "I know you are angry, and I know you are protective of him."
	"I...I can't stand this," said FG.
	"Why?"
	"I should protect him.  Dammit, I know this was his fight, I know that he knew he was gonna take a few hits but...everytime I see someone hurt him I just wanna fucking KILL something!"
	"You don't think I know the feeling?"
Shelldon turned at last, his eyes completely neutral with a great restraint.
	"How do you think I feel?  I just watched a mountain of a wrestler, one that I idolise, absolutely crush my son in a fight.  You don't think I want to sock him in the jaw?"
	"I wanna do a lot more than just punch him."
	"Koopin wanted this.  He knew he was going to take this risk, and he had to know that he was not gonna come out of every fight clean.  Now I love my son.  Dearly.  I would do anything for him.  But I also respect him.  I know that I can't wrap him up in bubblewrap for the rest of his life just because I'm scared that he'll get hurt.  And you have to learn that lesson too."
	"I-i know that Shelldon!  But I don't wanna do NOTHING either!  I wanna do something, I wanna fix this for him, I wanna-"
	"Then let him heal and let him learn.  Why do we fall James?"
	"...huh?"
	"Why do we fall?"
	"...because...the fuck are you saying?"
	"We fall, so we can learn to pick ourselves up."
James struggled not to smirk as he became conflicted with his frustration, resulting in a curious strained chuckle.
	"...hehe...that's from a movie isn't it?  I saw that Black Knight movie two months ago with Koopin, come on."
	"Hahaha, yes.  But that doesn't make it not true.  You've had times when you fell down hard, and yet you're still here, standing strong right?  Now it's Koopin's turn."
	"I know I know...hhhh...god dammit."

He clapped his hands to his face and breathed deep in order to contain himself.  Shelldon waited silently until FG asked him:
	"How did you learn to let go?"
	"Hmm?"
	"Let go of Koopin I mean.  You're his dad, you don't wanna see him get hurt, so how did you learn to let him go and have his own life, travelling the world and climbing up mountains and shit?"
	"The moment I realised he wasn't a child, I knew that he had to live his own life.  He could have stayed with us, and I would have been fine with it.  But, like me, he left home and went to make his own life.  But I am still a part of his life, as is Klair.  Just as he would do anything for us, and allow us to roam free, we must do the same for him too.  That's what a family is all about.  Love someone enough to let them walk free, but also trust someone enough to let them come back."
	"...I wouldn't know."
	"I know.  I hope that the time you spend here with Koopin can help you with that.  Come on, let's head back to the ship."
	"But, what about Koopin?"
	"The doctor'll tell me tomorrow on how he's doing, we're still docked here for another day.  He'll recover, Koopin's a sturdy boy, climbing enough mountains and walking through jungles, you'd be surprised how much he can take.  That and he's a koopa."
	"Heheh...yeah.  I guess you're right."
James walked back to the ship with Shelldon, who decided not to tell Klair everything about how the fight went, other than the fact that Koopin lost and he was recovering from a few scrapes and bruises, nothing major.  But the day was about to get just a little bit worse for FG, when he would return to his cabin.  Feeling rather tired from walking all day, he took the elevator down to his floor.  The perky muzak from a speaker above was annoying, yet also infectious enough to make him tap his foot.  Much to his initial pleasure, the elevator suddenly shorted out.
	"Wha-huh?!  ...thank god for that."
The lift's lights had gone off, leaving him in half-darkness with the music gone off.  He looked around wondering what the cause could be, but decided not to resort to calling maintenance yet for a few minutes.  And in those few minutes, something crashed down from the top of the lift carriage, clanging down onto the floor.  He could barely see what it was until the lights turned back on, along with the music.

A giant rusted pair of scissors now laid upon the floor, cold and naked without their scabbard beneath an open maintenance door in the roof of the carriage.  James pinned himself against the wall with fear and shock, panic rising in his chest at an insane rate as he whispered:
	"Wh-wh-wh-wha...hhha...h-h-h-h-the fuck are YOU doing here?!  N-no, no god dammit no."
He collapsed against the wall as he felt a violent twitch in his heart, shrieking as he clutched his chest.  A deep pulsating urge came from within his body, as darkness slowly consumed the small elevator walls.  The scissors started to bleed a blackening puddle, creeping out towards him as he cried out:
	"NO!  STAY AWAY!  NO!  A-AAAAGH!  GO AWAY!  FUCKING LEAVE ME ALONE!"
Falling to the floor, the furious agony inside his heart made it feel as if his chest was going to burst, struggling to contain his screams no matter how hard they forced through his throat.  Writhing and clutching his heart, his shrieks became strangled, tears trickling from his eyes which began to black out.  He was coming.  The music mocked him with its soulless joy, continuing to creep into his mind along with the darkness within.  He was choking back tears of anguish.
	"N-NO!  NOOOOO!  GET OUT OF MY FUCKING HEAD!"
Eventually he had managed to struggle back onto his feet, scraping at the mahogany walls of the lift before snarling with both pain and fury at the tinny speaker above him.  He needed to stop the pain.  He wanted it to stop.  He wanted to destroy, to make it stop.
	"I...SAID...LEAVE!  ME!  ALONE!"
He ripped his hand into the speaker, shoving his claws through the soft receptor and shrieking from the violent shock he received from the inside.  Its design had safeguarded it to prevent any truly dangerous shocks, to the normal person.  But FG's nanos ignited with a violent pain all over his body, making him spasm uncontrollably for a few seconds before falling back onto the floor.
But the physical anguish of a hotwiring circuit through his brain had stopped the darkness somehow, which suddenly receded back to wherever it came from by being so surprised at such destructive agony.  James lay twitching on the floor of the elevator, propped up halfway against the wall as he resisted the electric surge poorly.  Soon as he felt the last tingle ride out of his body, he slowly got up, grabbing the scissors instinctively.
The door opened out on his floor, as the raptor cautiously checked to see if anyone was nearby.  The coast was clear.  The speaker was destroyed but he didn't care, stumbling back painfully to his cabin in order to stow away the scissors somewhere.  Stuffing it into his assigned cupboard where all his clothes were, he breathed heavily before speaking to the scissors.
	"Okay...I dunno why the fuck you're here, or what you want.  But this...is MY fucking vacation.  I'm here, with someone I love, and if you try and mess that up, I will fucking destroy you.  The only reason I kept you with me is because I need a weapon, that's it.  End of story.  You wanna stay with me, fine, but you fucking stay here.  Alright?"
The scissors said nothing back to him.  But he knew that they were listening.  Or so he hoped.
	"...I'm talking to a giant pair of fucking scissors, jesus christ James the fuck is wrong with you.  ...whatever, I got more to worry about than some...evil piece of shit like you."
Slamming his cupboard closed, he decided to go to sleep, especially after such a violent episode.  Then he remembered where Koopin now was.  His heart sank as he desperately wished for tomorrow to come.