Both Yoshi and Belle were locked up in a room. They were strapped to two chairs with crystos infused with the straps, making it so they couldn't break out. They yelled and struggled, but they couldn't escape. They just sat there, exhausted.
"Hey, Yoshi, do you perhaps have a messed up face?"
"What makes you say that?"
"Well, I'm just putting 2 and 2 together. If you do, I could help. I'm not only great with clothing but also with makeup. If you wanted, I could... help your face."
Yoshi couldn't help but laugh a little. "Thanks, Belle. You know, Alice is a bit of a tsundere to you, but you seem like a genuinely cool person."
"Thanks. You ain't too bad yourself, bro. When we get out of here, I wouldn't mind being friends. We could grab some ice cream on the trip back home."
"Sounds good to me." Yoshi said, smiling under his mask.
Suddenly, Star walked into the room. Both Yoshi and Belle dawned serious expressions. Star looked down on them with a friendly smile on his face.
"What do you want?" Yoshi asked aggressively.
"Relax you two. It's not like I'm here to pry information from you two. I'm just here to hurt you."
"What are you gonna do to us?" Belle asked nervously.
Star snapped his fingers and both Yoshi's mother and Seiko came into the room, grotesque and anomalous.
"As you know, my name is Star. Even amongst keepers, I'm special. Keepers always have only one active skill. However, I'm the only one to ever have more than 1. I have 3, and one of these allows me to control anomalies."
"W-What are you gonna do to them?"
"It's not what am I gonna do to them. The question you should ask is what are they gonna do to you."
It had been 2 months since Yoshi and Belle had disappeared. Back at the Skyfall Dance Adacemy, Alice was reading the manga series Yoshi bought months back. She was on the last issue of it.
She began to get paranoid again. Alice knew there were some missions that took months or even years, but the two had been gone for a very, very long time. They hadn't contacted her either, which only made Alice worry even more.
She had already asked Willow for permission to look for them, but she kept on refusing. Why? Because she didn't want Alice near Yoshi. She wanted to keep the two apart. Willow was confident Yoshi would come back eventually. If Alice were to go on the mission against Willow's will, she could be expelled or even killed because she would have defied the direct orders of a higher-up.
Alice was heading out to her usual painting spot to relax her mind, but as she stepped out, she saw a sight that both horrified and shocked her. On the ground was a laid-out Yoshi. His legs were deformed, his left arm was missing, he was covered in deep scars, his skin was covered in boils, and he was passed out.
Later that day, Yoshi woke up on a hospital bed. His vision was blurry. A burning, sharp pain shot through his whole body. He felt a weight like the entire galaxy was crushing him. Sounds distorted into echoes with the beeping of a monitor and the murmur of voices. He tried to move, but his limbs shouted in protest.
His memories began to flood and he instantly began to have a panic attack. His heart started beating faster and faster and both his hearing started to echo. Alice, who was by his side in his bed, grabbed his hand lovely, trying to calm him down. But all it did was make him scream and fall off the bed.
He began to cower in the corner, grabbing his head and rambling to himself. Alice remembered when she did the same and Yoshi comforted her. She walked over to him and tried to slowly grab him. But anytime she'd get close, Yoshi yelled at her to stay away. It was like he didn't even recognize her. Then, Alice saw it. He didn't recognize her. He was blind. Yoshi's limb trembled uncontrollably, each ragged breath making the pain worse and worse.
Alice tightly held Yoshi, her voice trembling as she whispered, "I'm right here, Yoshi. You're safe now. I promise I won't let anyone hurt you again. Can you feel me?... Can you hear me?" She pressed her forehead against his, hoping to give him some comfort, but the pain in his eyes only made her heart ache even more. "Alice's heart broke seeing Yoshi so scared. She could barely recognize the strong, gentle person he used to be. "I won't leave you," she firmly said. "We'll get through this together, sweetie."
Alice grabbed him and hugged him. Her soft and warm fur gave Yoshi comfort. Her fluffy body drowned Yoshi in comfort and her soft, gentle embraces made him cry even more. Yoshi was able to recognize her scent, body, and warmth. He grabbed her back, and his breathing and heart rate began to slowly go down.
"Yoshi, sweetie, what happened? Your arm is..."
"A-A-Alice. D-D-Did you forget a-about m-me?"
"What, of course not! I tried to come find you guys, but Willow wouldn't let me... Wait, Yoshi, where is Belle?"
"..."
"Y-Yoshi... answer me... What happened to Belle?! Answer me!"
Yoshi couldn't answer. All he did was cry again.
Alice hugged him again. "Oh, sweetheart, I'm sorry. I-I didn't mean to say it like that. I didn't mean to yell. Don't cry. Please, don't cry. Just... take your time."
"I'm not in another an illusion, am I? A-Are you really here, Alice?"
"Yes, I'm here, my love."
"S-Star, don't fuck with me! Stop using her against me! Just KILL ME ALREADY!!!"
Alice didn't know what to say. She couldn't say anything. Yoshi wouldn't tell her anything. All she could gather was Belle was missing and something awful happened to Yoshi. He was broken: physically, mentally, and emotionally. All she wanted to do was help him, but she didn't know what to help with.
"I had magma poured into my eyes! I'll never be able to see Alice again! Damn you! Damn it all! Kill me, kill me, KILL ME!!! Please! End it, I beg you!"
Alice began to think of what she could do that she was really her. What happened between her and Yoshi that would make her believe she was really there? Then, it hit her. She grabbed his head and hugged him into her chest while stroking the back of his head. It was the same gesture Yoshi made to her when she experienced trauma from her first mission. Yoshi's eyes widened.
"It's ok, sweetie. I'm here for you. Remember, if we see something that makes us hurt, we can talk about it to each other."
Yoshi realized he was no longer in Star's dungeon being tortured endlessly. He really was in the safe space of Alice's embrace.
"What happened, sweetie? Tell me."
Yoshi recounts... everything.