Black Ring growled as the Yoshi swiped at him, hoping to catch him off-guard as they butted heads. The magical being was too quick, however, and backed up, making his opponent lose balance and stumble.
“You’re fighting a hopeless battle,” Black Ring scoffed. “I suggest you know when you’re beaten.”
“Not until you give me that ring!” The blue dinosaur snapped back. This made Black Ring a little uneasy. As far as he knew, Yoshis were usually very calm and peaceful. This rough individual, who had wandered into his blackened territory, seemed desperate for a fight.
“Why do you want it? You have no idea what it’s even for!” Black Ring stomped toward the Yoshi, who jumped to the side and kicked at Black Ring’s legs.
“I know where the gem came from--My crown.” The Yoshi snarled as Black Ring stumbled.
Black Ring turned to stare at the Yoshi, a bit confused, but then paused. If he focused a little bit, he could just about sense it...
“So you’re not just a Yoshi.” He growled, taking a few careful steps forward.
“Glad to see you finally caught on.” The possessed dinosaur chuckled. “I’d tell you my name, but you’re not going to stick around long enough to use it.”
When Black Ring’s eyes widened in confusion, the Yoshi stepped back a few paces. He took a slow breath, closing his eyes, then focused all of his power.
Almost immediately, a bright light flashed around his form. The light increased in intensity, soon shooting out sparks in various directions.
Black Ring roared with pain as the energy jolted through his body. He had never experienced anything like this.
Losing balance from the shock, he tumbled and landed on his back, weakly floundering as he tried to roll over and get up again.
His energy wouldn’t allow it, however. The shock from the ghostly being had been too much. Before Black Ring could do anything, his physical form fell apart, becoming nothing but a thick black mist. The ring that was on one of his thick claws dropped to the grassy ground with a quiet noise.
As Black Ring was defeated, the effects of his magic began to reverse. The area, previous sapped of color, began to regain it, revealing that it was late at night at the edge of the forest.
Black Ring was not the only one who had taken damage in the blast, however. Chrome, his physical body not strong enough to withstand the power going through it, stumbled forward, panting and shaking with exhaustion.
Behind him, just a few feet away, was the form of King Boo. The ghost’s efforts had been enough to sever their connection, rendering Chrome free of the king’s control.
“Drat...” King Boo muttered. He hadn’t expected such a reaction from his attack, and was a bit too rattled to get up from the ground. He tried to regain his energy quickly, but his thoughts were interrupted by Chrome stomping over.
The Yoshi stood over the king, holding the ring up in one of his hands. King Boo, desperate to get a piece of his crown back, leaped for it, only to be knocked back down by the Yoshi.
“Oh no, you don’t!” Chrome spat. “Like I’m just gonna give you a bit of your power back.”
“Stupid mortal,” King Boo growled, getting just a bit fed up with the Yoshi. He had had to push through the dinosaur’s angry struggles as they traveled, searching high and low for the three children. “You will hand over that ring, or I-”
King Boo’s threat was cut off as a bolt of pink light landed between the pair, making them jump back from each other. As the two turned to see who the newcomer was, they were both stunned.
“Children!” King Boo cried, his eyes widening. There they were. He just had to--
Another bold of light from the strange creature made him stop in his tracks. He had been about to rush over and attempt to break them out of the bubbled, but apparently the newcomer had other ideas.
“I’m not going to ask again.” They snapped, more light appearing around their fingertips.
“You’re another of those weird things!” Chrome managed. “First the green guy, then the black one... And now you.”
“Ah, yes, I remember you.” The creature said with a bit of a giggle. “You fought with these troublemakers to defeat Green Bracelet. Too bad Olive wasn’t much of an improvement. But this time I’ve combined with Red Bangle to make Rose!”
“Let them go!” King Boo snarled, looking ready to charge again. Rose shot him a steely look, as if challenging him, and narrowed their eyes when he backed down. He was desperate, but not foolish.
King Boo looked hopelessly at the bubbles, trying to convey some sort of message to the children, when something made him freeze: Ribboon was not with them.
“Where’s Ribboon?” He asked. A second late, he realized he probably shouldn’t have said anything. Trouboole’s complexion paled and Rose widened their eyes in surprise before turning around to see for themself.
“What in the...” They growled when they saw the gaping hole in Trouboole’s bubble. It should have been impenetrable! How could some tiny little ghost break through so easily?
Trouboole avoided Rose’s eyes, looking more and more scared by the second. If he had anything to do with Ribboon’s escape, he wasn’t talking.
King Boo and Chrome took their chance while the creature was distracted: The pair charged at them.
However, the creature seemed to forget their rage for a brief moment and whirled around, making the other two stumble. With a wave of their hand, both King Boo and Chrome were trapped in their own bubbles, rendering them helpless.
Rose noticed a brief glimmer of something fall to the ground under Chrome’s bubble, and they hurried over to examine it. They growled softly when they realized it was Black Ring’s ring, all that remained of him now.
“Should we go after the one that escaped?” They asked themself, apparently having a conversation between their two halves.
“No,” They replied almost instantly. “It is a waste of energy.”
