"You don't have to watch it," Yoshi replied. "You must admit, though that it's rather-"
"EX-TER-MIN-ATE!" cried the TV, interrupting his sentence.
"Exciting," he finished. Only Yoshi's friends knew it, but he loved sci-fi. His favorite was Doctor Who, and he was showing it to Mario, Luigi, Peach, and Toad for the first time. Except for Toad, they all seemed to enjoy it, aside from the occasional question.
"Those Daleks have been The Doctor's enemies for years," he said. "You're not likely to find anything quite as deadly in the Whoniverse."
"The what?" asked Peach. "Oh, right, the universe of the show. Gotcha. They kind of look like trash cans with plungers."
"So we aren't the only people dangerous with plumbing tools," said Luigi with a smile.
Yoshi sat back contentedly and focused intently on the screen. He had learned in his youth through extraordinary circumstances that he would have a lot of friends who didn't speak his native language, so he had worked to become bilingual for the first time he would meet Mario- at least, the first time Mario knew about. It didn't always work, of course, and there were some times in the past where his grammar had failed him completely, but he was always getting better.
"Well," he said, as the show finished, "What do you think?"
"Needs work," replied Toad. "I'm going to bed."
"He's never been into sci-fi, Yoshi," said Peach. "Don't feel bad. I enjoyed it."
"I liked it too," said Luigi, "Though I found it a tad confusing. He's a real adventurer, that fellow. Always has a friend with him."
"Almost," said Yoshi. "Occasionally he goes alone, but never for long. He needs to have someone with him. He gets pretty dangerous otherwise. How about you, Mario? What did you think?"
"Fantastico," replied Mario with his usual verbosity.
"I'm glad to hear it. Well, guys, it's getting late. We better head home."
"Okay," said Peach. "Next week, same time?"
"Sounds good to me," said Luigi, and Mario nodded assent.
"Great!" Yoshi smiled. "In that case, I'll bring my next set. Well, good-bye!"
As Yoshi walked home he considered how fortunate he was to have friends who would share his interests. That was sometimes a challenge, but it looked like he had struck gold with The Doctor. If he was honest with himself, sometimes he wished he was The Doctor. It would be fun to travel through time and space with friends. Oh sure, it wasn't all rainbows and watermelons, but there was so many opportunities to help people and see new things. Of course, it was all just a TV show.
His reverie took him longer than he thought because when he looked up he saw the door.
"Wow. That was a short walk. Am I really already home?"
He stepped into the door, sat down on the bed, reached for his iPod, and set it to play "I Am The Doctor".
"Time to call it a night," he remarked, laughing at his own pun. "Who knows what tomorrow may bring?"
"Yoshi! Yoshi! Wake up! WAKE UP!" Yoshi awoke to find his friend Red Yoshi shaking him awake.
"For heaven's sake!" he cried. "Time is really starting to go too fast for me. I just fell asleep!"
"Time? How ironic that you would complain about something like time."
"Ironic? How so?"
"My word, is the disguise so complete you can't even see through it?"
"Slow down, Red! What are you talking about? Why are you rummaging through my dresser?"
"Why do you think? Why would a Yoshi even need a dresser?"
"I don't know. It's just always been there."
Red didn't reply, but let out a cry of triumph as he produced a watch from the bottom of the dresser.
"What's that?" asked Yoshi.
"I can't explain. Just open it."
"Red, you're confusing me. Why are you so panicked?"
"Just...open...the...WATCH!"
"Fine!"
Yoshi opened the watch. Suddenly everything around him seemed to change. He began shaking as memories long forgotten came flooding in.
"No! This can't be happening all over again! Make it stop! Red, I told you to never let me see this thing again!"
"I'm sorry," said Red, "but I had no choice. We need The Doctor again!"
Continued later this week.
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