| GCB Fanfics: The Fanfiction Project |
August 20th, 2003"Bowser vs Cloud: Long Live the King"The crowd’s murmurs were far from hushed. The chattering of gossip that was perfectly obvious to everyone could be heard throughout the stadium. There at the center were the two contestants, 2 hours late, but still there. However, at one end of the arena was the doom ship, which was now just smoldering wreckage. Bowser looked longingly towards the flaming corpse of his precious air castle. “Well, Bowser,” Cloud said to Bowser’s spiky back. “It’s time. You’re going to pay for what you did to Aeris.” Bowser still just stared at the ruins of the Doom Ship, and then began to chuckle. After a few moments of that he burst out into an outright laughter and spun around towards Cloud, “Gwahohoho, if by you’re, you mean I’m, and by Aeris, you mean Doom Ship, then yes, you’re gonna pay for what you did to Aeris,” Bowser retorted. Cloud looked at Bowser who was still chortling smugly at his insult, and thought for a few moments. “That doesn’t make any sense,” he finally concluded. “Gah....errr....wah....RAAAH!!!! You’re gonna pay for that too,” Bowser shouted at him. “Enough talk!. Come on, turtle. Let’s go,” Cloud said, spinning the Buster Sword over his head and then resting it on his back. “Yeah, let’s go hair spray, ” Bowser said, cracking his knuckles, and chuckling. He reached into his shell, and pulled out a blue stone. He began tossing it up and down in the air, smiling at his opponent. He looked over the crowd, they were all on their feet cheering. Yeah, thought Bowser. They like the destruction, well I guess I’ll have to give the fans more of what they want. He turned around preparing another witty taunt for his opponent, but never got it out. Cloud had already closed half the distance between him and his oversized opponent. Bowser didn’t have enough time to react, the last thing he saw before Cloud had closed in on him was a blue shimmer in the air next to him. He realized the Chaos Emerald was loose, he tried to reach up for it but he was far too late. Cloud flipped the sword to its broadside, and took a baseball swing. With a satisfying cling, the Chaos Emerald flew across the stadium. Cloud and Bowser both watched as the blue speck landed on the tiles and rolled up against the wall on the other side of the field. Bowser stood gawking in that general direction, more surprised by his own carelessness than the outcome. He heard a faint chuckle from next to him, followed by a cynical voice, “So, what’s plan B?” Bowser growled, “Don’t worry, I’ve always got a plan, kid.” He took a clumsy but powerful backhanded swing at Cloud. The spiky haired warrior jumped back, easily avoiding the blow. “Gwahahaha, fool!!!” yelled Bowser, also leaping back. He dug his hands into the stone ground, and pulled up. A large chunk of the stone floor came with his hands. He tossed it next to him, and quickly pulled another chunk out of the floor also flinging it into a pile by his side. He did it about four more times until there were 6 boulders in the pile beside him. Cloud crouched low to the ground preparing to move. Annoying jeers came from Bowser, but Cloud was too experienced to let them get to him. Bowser picked up one of the large chunks of rock, and hurled it at Cloud. One by one the boulders were hurled at Cloud. A quick snort from the blonde warrior was the only respect they warranted. The first one, was directed directly were Cloud was standing, a great show of accuracy from the Koopa King, but a quick jump moved him out of harms way. The second boulder crashed into the ground in front of the first one, missing Cloud completely. Then the last four came in quick succesion. Cloud hopped to the left avoiding the first one and then quickly rolled forward to avoid the second. The third of the final four was coming right at him now, he flipped forwards, planting his free hand on the oncoming boulder, and landing gracefully. He looked up into the air to see the fourth already speeding toward him, the Soldier smirked and waited for the final boulder. It flew down through the air toward Cloud, aiming to crush his bones into dust, but right before it reached him, a quick flash of gray cleaved the rock in two. The two halves flew past Cloud harmlessly. Cloud perched the Buster sword on his back, and looked over at Bowser. “Is that it, that’s your plan? I don’t see why Mario made such a big deal about you.” Grrr.... thought Bowser. I need that stupid Emerald to beat this punk, but it’s on his side. The only thing that’s on my side is my wrecked doom ship. The massive doom ship had broken through the force barriers and landed on the field. It’s nose has dug into the ground and acted as an anchor keeping the rest of the doom ship up in the air. Suddenly Bowser had a revelation, Wait, if I could get into the armory....ho ho ho....Christmas would come early this year....Gwahohoho. But once again the expert warrior took advantage of Bowser’s inner monologue, and attacked. The startled Koopa barely had enough time to get off a counter attack. A quick fireball flew out of his mouth, streaking along the ground, leaving a singed path along the way. Cloud saw the attack coming from a mile away, and leapt over it. He flew through the air, and landed squarely on Bowser’s head. He squated down and leapt off, pushing the Koopa King’s head down. Bowser stumbled, trying to regain his balance as Cloud landed neatly behind him, and chuckled. “You caused us a lot of trouble up on the doom ship, Bowser. I see you really need all those traps and troops to be effective. Because you aren’t a good enough to do it yourself.” Bowser’s armored skin couldn’t stop that remark from cutting him. It was a concept he had never heard of before in his life, him, the King of the Koopa’s, being soft, and weak. Yet, since he had been here it had seem to have become the general consensus. “Rawr!!!! I’ll show you who’s weak!” roared Bowser, spinning around at Cloud and unleashing a fireball. Cloud shrugged and leaped over it easily, but Bowser was ready for him this time, and fired a blast of fire at him in the air. Cloud whipped out the Buster Sword and swatted the fireball down to the ground, proceeding to land on the Koopa King’s head once more. Cloud leapt off again, and began to laugh, “You’re really bad at this Bowser.” Bowser roared and charged, more recklessly this time, at the Soldier. Who proceeded to kickboard off his skull again. --- Sonic, Aeris, Samus, Mario, and Snake had taken seats next to Crono on the side of the arena. “Whew,” said Aeris. “It looks like everything is going to be alright.” “Yes-a, Bowser is a worthy opponent-a, but-a Cloud, is-a much better,” Mario chimed in happily. “Yeah, that overgrown turtle’s all talk, no game. Even if he does win, I’ll just take him out next round,” boasted Sonic, he turned to Snake, Samus, and Crono, who didn’t seem as enthralled about the way the match was turning out. “Yo! What’s up with you guys? Cloud’s whooping this punk’s butt. You should be stoked.” “Well, he’s winning right now...” said Samus. “But...?” Sonic asked, impatiently. Samus didn’t respond immediately, so Snake took the liberty. “The force barriers are still down,” Snake said dryly, then he motioned at Crono. “This kid was much stronger than his second round opponent, but then that depraved lunatic brought the crowd into it, that evens things up. If Bowser were to start attacking the audience, Cloud’s advantage would be gone.” “We don’t have to worry about that,” said Aeris calmly. Snake glared over at Aeris, “And why not, this guy has already shown he’s not above any means to win. I think if he realizes the force barriers are still down, he’ll attack the crowd, and then your friend out there might have a little trouble bringing that overgrown lizard down.” Aeris closed her eyes and smiled knowingly, “We don’t have to worry about that,” she repeated. “He won’t hurt anyone.” --- Bowser was getting enraged. Cloud was playing with him, he needed to make him pay for it. He had gradually been moving closer to the doom ship, and was now close enough that if he could divert Cloud’s attention he could get in, without getting attacked by Cloud. He just needed a diversion now. It wouldn’t be easy though, while Cloud was joking around right now, he was too experienced to be tricked easily. He looked around trying to find something. His eyes fell on the girl, he had spent so much time and effort capturing, only to have her freed by her friends. He grew angry just looking at her, and then she smiled at him. His anger boiled to rage immediately, she was smiling at him. After everything he had done to her, everything he had done to her friends, all the days trapped in a 10 by 10 cell, with barely enough food for sustenance, she was smiling at him. He growled, and out of sheer rage and spite, fired a fireball directly at her. When Bowser fired the shot at Aeris he hadn’t realized how much of an effective distraction it would prove to be. So when Cloud leapt towards the fireball to prevent it from hitting Aeris, he was a little surprised, but he snapped back to his old self and charged toward his ship. Cloud was in midair preparing to knock the fire ball out of existence before it could hurt Aeris. He looked back to see Bowser running toward the ship, Damn! thought Cloud. He’d take a shot at Aeris just to get a distraction? I’d better end this now before he gets too serious. He caught up with the fireball and quickly extinguished it with a quick slash of his sword. He landed and then followed Bowser back into the ruptured bowels of the Doom Ship. --- Snake looked over at Aeris, “Still think Bowser isn’t ready to hurt innocents?” Aeris looked over at Snake still smiling, “I didn’t say he was a good person, but deep down he knew that a fireball that weak wouldn’t have hurt me anyway. If he had really been trying to hurt me he could’ve fired a much larger fireball. I think subconsciously he just did that because he knew Cloud would go after it. I promise you, Bowser doesn’t want to hurt anyone.” “Hmph, we’ll see,” muttered Snake. --- Bowser leapt up the hall of the doom ship, jumping from doorway to doorway, since the doom ship had been repositioned vertically, it was a little more difficult going to where he needed to go. He finally reached the place he needed to go, and dashed along the wall of corridor leading to the armory. Cloud was following Bowser pretty closely, he was much faster than the overweight Koopa, so he had closed the distance on him quickly. He saw Bowser jump through the door of a room down the hall from him. He removed the Buster Sword from its home on his back and quietly followed after Bowser. He took a step or two into the room, still on his guard. There was no light in the room, so Cloud cast a quick fire spell in his hand to light the room. Upon seeing the rooms contents, he immediately traded the fire spell for a traditional light spell. The entire room was filled to the very brim, with black sphere’s with a blue top, and a piece of thread sticking out. It didn’t take Cloud too long to figure out that he was in the presence of damn near 1000 bombs. I’m glad Snake didn’t find this room, Cloud thought to himself. Suddenly he heard a loud thud from behind him, he whilred around to see Bowser less than 3 feet away, even Cloud wasn’t fast enough to get up a defense. A powerful right hook sent Cloud straight through the wall of the doom ship. He grabbed onto the edge as he passed, and hung off the side of the doom ship, about 30 feet up into the air. Bowser came over and laid a large foot on Clouds hand. He tossed a bob-omb up and down in his hand. “Well Cloud, how’s it going?” Bowser asked cooly, “Hanging in there? Gwahohohoho!” Cloud rolled his eyes, “Go ahead and kick me off. I’ve fallen from much higher than this.” Bowser shook his head, “Cloud, Cloud, Cloud, if I was gonna kick you off I would’ve done it already. I’m just making sure you stick around, for the show.” “What do you mean?” snapped Cloud getting a little annoyed. “You see, I just remembered, I put the armory at a key structural point on my doom ship, meaning if it goes, the entire ship would snap in half.” Cloud had been preparing to jump up into the room and clobber Bowser, but decided to hear out Bowser’s plot. “What do you mean?” asked Cloud again. “Well,” replied Bowser, now grinning down at Cloud, “This ship is good and stuck now, but it’s just leaning a little bit towards the crowd don’t you think?” Cloud looked up to see that it was. “If it were to snap in half, the top half would fall right into the crowd, and that wouldn’t be good, now would it? Especially with the force barriers down.” Cloud looked around, the people in the seats, couldn’t hear what Bowser was saying, and had no idea how much danger they were now in. He had to stop Bowser. Bowser tapped the bob-omb, and it began to flash red. “Not much time left, Cloud. Are you gonna give up?” The bob-omb began to flash red, faster and faster, at the last second Bowser tossed it off the ship trading for another one. “Oooo, that was close, that one almost exploded on the ship, that would’ve been horrible, all those innocent people....Bwahahahaha.” He tossed the next one off the ship, watching it explode behind Cloud. “That’s two strikes, Cloud, whatcha gonna do, give up or let those people die?” He picked up a new one and activated it. “How about neither!” yelled Cloud. He pulled up as hard as he could propelling him up, he slashed out with the Buster Sword trying to knock the bob-omb out of Bowser’s hands. Bowser reacted a little more quickly than Cloud had expected, and while he connected with it, he launched it back into the room full of bob-ombs. “Oh no,” gasped Cloud, freezing in place. Bowser didn’t freeze though, with a quick growl he jumped after the bob-omb, pouncing on it. He picked it up and spun around to Cloud, “Merry Christmas!” roared Bowser chucking the bob-omb into Cloud’s stomach. Cloud flew out of the ship, and dropped towards the ground. The bob-omb exploded about 10 feet above the ground, rocketing Cloud into the stone surface below. The hit took a lot out of the Soldier, but he picked himself off the ground, still rubbing his head. He heard a small clang behind him, and turned around to see a flashing red bob-omb, his body was a little slow to respond, and as a result caught the majority of the blast. He flew forward a few feet to land directly under the hole in the wall of the doom ship. He rolled over, still trying to catch his breath, only to see about 10 flashing bob-ombs fall out of the hole towards Cloud. He didn’t give his body any more rest, he kipped up and rolled out of the way. The shockwave of the blast still pushed him back to the ground. He pushed up instantly and spun around expecting more bob-ombs to be coming his way, but there were none. That’s weird, thought Cloud. He had me on the run. Why would he give up now? He ran around the side of the doom ship, back to the other half of the field, to see Bowser about 2/3 of the way to Chaos Emerald on the other side of the field. Bowser charged along the field, he had done it, he had trapped Cloud back there. He spun around to see Cloud running as fast as he could to catch up with him, but he could see he wouldn’t make it. Once Bowser got a hold of that jewel, he wouldn’t need to outsmart the Soldier anymore, “Not that that’s too tough...gwahohoho,” Bowser smirked to himself. Finally it was in range, he jumped through the air, and landed behind it, facing toward Cloud. He wanted to see that young punks face when he picked up the emerald. He wasn’t given the gift of a look of fear or worry, but rather annoyance. He growled and snatched it up off the ground. “Well, Cloud. What now?” Bowser asked. “How about you activate that thing and we find out,” replied Cloud, dropping into his fighting stance. “Let’s,” replied Bowser, as he clutched the small blue Jewel. Inside Bowser’s claw the power of the emerald activated. A wave of blue washed out from the crystal and immersed Bowser’s hand. The blue glove wove itself up Bowser’s powerful arm and crested out over his shoulder. It flowed down to his feet, and across to his other arm, until his entire body was covered with a dim blue glow. He clenched and released his fists several time, attempting to re-gauge the power now at his immediate disposal. He stretched his shoulders attempting to relieve the stress the massive power boost had caused. Finally he smiled and arched his back, and let loose a mighty roar. A blue sphere of power expanded from his body, creating a small crater where he stood. “Yeah, that feels pretty good, what’s the matter Cloud? You’re looking a little...blue. GWAHAHAHAHAHA!!!!!” roared Bowser with laughter. “You’re all talk Bowser,” retorted Cloud. “You rely on cheap tricks, and underhanded attacks. You can’t beat me in a straight fight, and you know it.” “That’s where you’re wrong, punk. With the power of this jewel here, I’m gonna whoop you from here to Star Road,” Bowser shot back. “You’re all talk, Bowser,” Cloud reiterated. “And you’re not even good at that, come on, turtle, let’s go.” “Yeah, let’s go, hair spray.” Bowser decided it was his turn to go on the offensive. He dug his paws deep into the ground, and leapt forward at an incredible speed. Even Cloud was caught off guard by the dramatic increase of the Koopa King’s speed. With equally impressive speed and even more impressive power, Bowser launched a powerful fist directly at Cloud’s skull. Cloud had been caught of guard, but had still been on guard, so they canceled out, letting Cloud barely move his head out of the way, as the yellow fist flew by with the momentum of a truck. Cloud threw his sword above his head, as he had an open shot at Bowser’s back. Right before he could bring the sword down though, the drag from the punch caught him, and flung him back. He maintained his balance and landed in a defensive stance. Bowser stood upright, everyone knew Bowser was massive, but he always slouched forward and bent his knees, so when he stood to his full height it was pretty impressive. “Heheheh, this is better than I remember, it must be something about you it doesn’t like.” Bowser chuckled. Cloud wasn’t listening, he was chewing himself out, God Damn It Cloud! How did you let him get the crystal. You could’ve finished it at any time, and he’d be in his own god damn dimension by now, but no, you had to toy with him, and he got a hold of his Chaos Emerald and now he’s strong. What’s the matter Cloud, too much for you? another voice other than his pierced his head. Cloud cringed as the voice brought with it, pain. Is this all that the great Cloud Strife is capable of? Jumping on a turtle’s head for amusement, then unable to even defend himself when his enemy gains power? Cloud was about to respond when a burst of pain far worse than the last one exploded inside his head. Well, Cloud. Is this how you plan to die, at the hands of a bumbling idiot? The pain became more intense, and Cloud fell to his knees, clutching his head. Bowser walked up cautiously to the fallen Soldier. He was curious as to what the hell he was doing, and decided to ask, “What the hell are you doing?” He received no response, Cloud continued to writhe in agony, clutching his head as if it would explode if he removed his hands. Cloud didn’t respond because he couldn’t hear, the pain was so bad his senses of sight, smell, taste, and hearing had all gone, he could only feel, feel the pain erupting inside his skull. Well, Cloud? the voice asked more forcibly now. Is this really the extent of the power of the man that defeated me so long ago, is it? Cloud choked through the pain, aloud because he couldn’t think over the pain, “Get out of my head, Sephiroth.” The word was barely audible, but Bowser was close enough to hear it. “SEPHIROTH!!!!” he roared. He whirled around to the players section to stare down the son of Jenova. “You, stop it now. This is MY fight, I don’t need any, ANY of your help.” Cloud let out another gasp of pain, signaling that Sephiroth had made it worse. “This isn’t your fight, punk! Butt out, or I’ll butt you out.” Cloud continued to grasp his head in agony. “That’s it!” roared Bowser. He took a deep breath, leaning way back. Then he flung his head forward releasing an enormous fireball directly at the Soldier Commander. The fireball flew through the air, it was easily ten times the size of the one Aeris had received. It careened over the baracade directly into where Sephiroth was sitting, and exploded. Fortunately, the contestants had been sitting as far away from Sephiroth as was possible, and the fans had given him a large halo too, so no one else was hurt. Cloud collapsed to the ground and began breathing deeply, signifying Sephiroth had let his hold of him go. As the dust cleared, Sephiroth was still sitting there, in the same position, a few sparks were still sparking off an invisible sphere surrounding him but about a 20 foot radius outside of the invisible sphere had been vaporized. He smiled at Bowser, not at all fazed. “I’ll deal with you later,” Bowser said under his breath. He looked down at Cloud who was still lying on the ground. “You,” he said. Cloud looked up at the towering behemoth, with blue lining. He was completely at his mercy, “What?” said Cloud defiantly. Bowser curled his lips up, and then held one hand up and said, “You’ve got four minutes to recover.” Cloud looked up at Bowser, “Why? What are you up to?” Cloud interrogated. Bowser shot back at him, “Because I don’t need any help to beat the likes of you. But, if you really want to die, I’d be happy to oblige,” Bowser said pulling his fist back. Cloud looked up from his knee’s into Bowser’s smoldering red eyes. He grunted, and then fell back on his butt, indicating he was taking the rest. Bowser walked away and sat down, his spiked back resting up against the wall. He folded his arms and closed his eyes. Cloud looked over at him, something wasn’t right. Why would Bowser spare him when he had a chance to finish him right there? It wouldn’t have taken more than one shot, after the crushing mental attack from Sephiroth. Yet here he was, giving Cloud time to rest up. He would’ve expected that from Mario or Crono or Sonic, but from Bowser, it just didn’t make any sense. Villains didn’t have any honor, Bowser had already shown that he wasn’t putting anything below himself. He was threatening to attack the crowd if Cloud didn’t quit, he had kidnapped Aeris to try and force Cloud into a forfeit. But for some reason, he wouldn’t take an easy kill, handed to him on a silver platter, it just didn’t make sense. It wasn’t the villainous thing to do. His thoughts were interrupted as Bowser’s eyes flashed open. The giant got up, and walked across the field, stopping about 10 feet in front of Cloud. “Time’s up, punk.” Cloud leaned back and kipped up to his feet, “Come on, Bowser. Let’s go.” “Yeah, let’s go, Cloud.” Bowser smashed his fist into his palm, and squeezed. The bone chilling pops rang throughout the stadium. Cloud spun the Buster sword around over his head, and slashed down, stopping the sword in front of him. The two stared at each other for a few moments, and then as if an invisible gong had sounded, both leapt forward at the same time. Cloud lunged in and let loose a powerful horizontal strike, aimed at Bowser’s head. The Koopa King expertly dropped to the ground, allowing the enormous blade to pass over his shell. Cloud read the motion perfectly, and allowed the sword to continue its circular path, except this time dropping it down allowing the blade to glide a foot above the ground. Bowser flinched as he saw the oncoming blade, he couldn’t dodge it in time, but then the blue aura surrounding his body flared out, and he felt a new level of speed and power. He jumped up off the ground, the blade of the Buster Sword missing him by less than an inch. He flew up into the air, above Cloud. Cloud was still reeling from the missed attack as Bowser started coming back to the ground. He brought the sword back into his ready position, and looked up to see two yellow scaly feet plummeting towards him. He lunged forward, hitting the ground and rolling. Bowser crashed into the ground behind him, the force crushed through the stone foundation leaving a crater in its place. He spun around to face Cloud again. “Well, it appears you’re a bit better than I thought Cloud, but still you can’t keep up with the Koopa King,” he said, driving his thumb into his chest. “I’m not fighting you, I’m fighting you’re emerald, and you know what I’m not impressed,” Cloud retorted. “Gwaaar!!! Come here and say that again,” Bowser roared. “OK,” said Cloud, charging forward. Bowser lunged forward with a powerful jab, but Cloud ducked under it. His body gleamed with energy as he unleashed an attack that broke the limits of normal attacks, “Climhazard!” He yelled. He doubled up the grip on his sword and slashed up with all his strength. Bowser hadn’t been expecting such a powerful attack with so much speed, and couldn’t get up a good defense in time. The sword impacted his scaled skin just below the navel. The skin was almost armor though, so the impact that would’ve sliced a lesser foe in half, simply threw Bowser up into the air. He flipped over in the air, and landed stomach first on the ground, a dozen feet away. He lied there for a second, and then smashed both his palms into the ground, each one creating their own mini crater, and pushed himself back up onto his feet. He looked down at his stomach, there was a fairly large cut leading all the way up to his chest. A red liquid was slowly oozing out of it. He ran his finger along the cut collecting a sample of the red liquid at the end of his finger. He brought it up to his mouth, his reptilian tongue slithered out of his mouth taking a taste of it. The salty taste echoed in his mouth, and it angered him. He clenched his fist and glared over at Cloud, “You’ll pay for that.” Cloud was about to respond, but the giant Koopa was in no mood for idle conversations...anymore. He had already charged forward at Cloud. A powerful right hook fell short as Cloud leapt backwards, once again the wind force of the punch pushed Cloud backwards. He planted his feet into the ground as he slid back and then jumped up bringing his sword down towards the top of Bowser’s head. Bowser threw up his arm, letting the sword contact the spiked wrist band, deflecting the blow. Cloud bounced up a little off balance from the recoil. He looked down as Bowser sent a powerful fist flying towards the floating warrior. He flipped himself in the air over the oncoming blow, letting the wind created by the punch, fling him back out of harms way. He twirled through the air and landed with his back turned to where Bowser had been standing. He turned around, but nothing was there. Cloud looked around, for the enormous Koopa. “Damn it,” said Cloud out loud, “He didn’t just disappear into thin air.” No sooner had he said that than he heard a ‘vwoom’ sound from behind him. He spun around, to see a yellow belly with a cut down the middle. What he didn’t see was the yellow fist coming from the side. It crashed into his shoulder, and sent him skidding along the ground until he finally crashed into the wall on the other side of the field. He grunted in pain as he forced himself off the ground, and looked over at Bowser. Who smiled and waved, before vanishing again. Cloud got up to the ground and began running along the side of the wall, as long as he was against the wall, Bowser would have fewer angles to get at him from. The ‘vwoom’ sound happened again. He quickly turned around, to see if Bowser was there, but he wasn’t. It took him about half a second to figure out what that meant. Without even looking he lunged forward, barely evading Bowser smashing into the ground from his airborne re-spawn. He hit the ground and rolled forward and planted his feet. He jumped backwards and took a swing at Bowser. Bowser dodged the first shot by going under it, and the next one by lunging back, but then Cloud leapt into the air with another downward slash. Bowser tried to put up his wrist band to block it, but Cloud diverted the blow at the last second, sending the blade into Bowser’s forearm. Bowser roared as the sword cut through scale and flesh. Bowser lashed out with his other claw, contacting Cloud in the side and sending him across the field again. The red liquid seeped out of the wound on Bowser’s forearm he clenched the wound with his other hand to try and slow the flow. Cloud picked himself off the ground again, they both had taken some serious hits, but it was clear that this new Bowser could take more than Cloud could. Going blow for blow was a sure way of losing, he had to end it. He knew which technique he needed to use, but he needed to make sure it hit. Bowser finished nursing the wound on his arm, and looked over at Cloud. That little punk had done too much damage, but it was clear Bowser’s powerful fists had taken their fair share from Cloud’s stamina. He was probably thinking about ending it, and Bowser knew which technique he was going to use, and he’d make sure it didn’t hit. Bowser concentrated his energy to his teleport skill again. He felt his body begin to pixelate and disappear into the air. He traveled through the air, as millions of little pieces of Bowser, carefully picking the spot to reappear. Cloud was on the ground looking and listening for any sign of the Koopa King. Bowser decided another airborne attack would be ideal. He moved the millions of pieces of himself over Cloud, and reappeared. Cloud was looking around in about 180 degrees, but he knew that Bowser wouldn’t be coming from there, he’d either come from behind him or above him. So when he heard the ‘vwoom’ he didn’t waste any time. He lunged forward, twisting his body in the air. Bowser was still falling to the ground, and was pretty much vulnurable. Cloud pointed the tip of his sword at the falling behemoth and yelled out the words, “BLADE BEAM!” Cloud’s sword covered in white light from the handle up to the tip, where it coalesced into a sphere of energy. Then from the sphere a beam blasted out of the sword crashing directly into Bowser’s chest. Bowser flew through the air, flipping over and landing on his stomach. He skidded across the ground, tearing it up and leaving a miniature canyon from where he hit the ground to where he landed. The Koopa King slowly got up, holding his chest, and coughing up the red liquid that came from the cuts on his chest and arms. He was phased. Under his breath, Cloud muttered, “It’s time to end this.” Cloud kipped off the ground, and brought his sword in front of him, in his ready stance. He prepared to unleash his ultimate technique upon Bowser, the Omnislash. One powerful downward slash, that when it connected, unleashed a hail of slashes that no opponent, not even Sephiroth could withstand. He focused his mental energy into his sword, and then charged toward the phased Bowser. Bowser wasn’t doing too well, that last hit had really hurt him. He was pretty much out of it now, he looked over at Cloud. He was preparing his final technique. He had seen in the replays from last year, and in his matches from this year. He had promised himself, that he would not be done in by the same technique as everyone else, but he didn’t have the strength left to stop it. He looked on helplessly as Cloud began to charge in towards him. Suddenly voices began to flow through his mind. Oh, Bowser...we both know you couldn’t hurt me. Aeris’s words rung through his head. He reasoned with himself, I just needed her alive, I was fully prepared to kill her and all her friends. The voice changed to Cloud. You caused us a lot of trouble up on the doom ship, Bowser. I see you really need all those traps and troops to be effective. Because you aren’t a good enough to do it yourself. He roared at the voices in his head with his own thoughts, That’s a lie, I’m Bowser, King of the Koopa’s. I have the strength to beat anybody. The voice finally changed to Sephiroth’s, So have fun Bowser...Because evil’s out of your league. Bowser felt the voice hurt him inside, That’s....that’s a lie! Bowser thought to himself. I’m Bowser I’m the most evil person in the entire Mushroom Kingdom, and I’m evil here too. He began to shake his head vigorously, trying to shake the voices that mocked him so out. Then one final image crossed his mind, the image of Aeris smiling at him. --- Cloud was closing in, Heh, looks like he’s having some mental issues, thought Cloud as he moved in. He began to charge the sword with energy. The sword began to glow a bright white. The energy began to emanate off the sword, like waves cascading off the shore back to the ocean. He finally put all his energy into the sword and leapt up into the air, one word escaped his lips, “OMNISLASH!!!” --- The image of Aeris was the last straw. He stopped thinking to himself and said aloud, “I’ll show her, I’ll show everyone, that I, Bowser, am more than you think.” Bowser hunched down to the ground and gathered his strength. The blue aura surrounding Bowser swelled, and swelled, growing to over twice it’s normal size. The word “Omnislash” pierced his concentration. He looked up to see Cloud flying down from the sky, and bringing a sword brimming with energy down with him. Finally the aura exploded, filling the entire arena with a blue glow. “I’LL SHOW YOU!!!” roared Bowser. He swung both hands from his side in a perfect arc meeting in a clap over his head, stopping the Buster Sword in its tracks. Cloud gasped as the Buster Sword stopped in the air. No one had ever stopped the Omnislash, ever, how had Bowser? He added energy to the attack, he could still finish this. He pushed downward on the sword, putting every last ounce of energy into the attack. Bowser matched every last ounce of power Cloud put into the slash. Finally he began to put more, the Buster Sword began to move sideways. Cloud gasped as he felt himself being overpowered by the enormous tortise. He tried as hard as he could to push through the block, but he couldn’t he was too...weak. Finally, it happened, a deafening clang was heard across the stadium. Cloud returned to the ground, his hands still firmly wrapped around the edge of the Buster Sword’s handle, but sandwiched between Bowser’s hands, was the blade of the Buster Sword. Cloud collapsed to his knee’s as he looked at the broken shaft of the Buster Sword in disbelief. Bowser sighed, as the blue aura died down to a blue outline, and looked down at Cloud with a look of grim satisfaction, he tossed the blade of the Buster Sword down, sticking it there blade first next to Cloud. The King of the Koopas began to chuckle. “Well Cloud, I’ve got some good news and some bad news. Which do you want to hear first?” Bowser asked smirking at Cloud. “Bad,” Cloud choked out, looking up in contempt at Bowser. “I’m going to kill you now, and win this fight,” Bowser stated. “Well, what’s the good news?” asked Cloud, apathetically. “I just saved a bunch of money by switching my doom ship insurance to Geico......GWAHAAHAHHAHAHAA!!!!!” Bowser roared in laughter. Cloud groaned, but watched as Bowser walked into the middle of the ring, a few feet away from Cloud, then crouched, and leaped into the air. Bowser rocketed into the air. His increased powers only serving to increase the incredible height which he obtained. He looked around at his surroundings, the stadium was a mere speck below him. He smiled and then began his decent. His body began to create an aura of fire as he flew down to the ground. Cloud looked up to see the all-to familiar sight of a great ball of fire, looming in the sky, but he knew, nothing could keep this one from coming down to earth, and it was coming for him. Suddenly, a voice penetrated the deathly silence of waiting. Champion of Power the voice said. Cloud looked around, everything had frozen, the audience had all stopped midsentence, he looked up in the air, and even Bowser had stopped in the air. He asked out loud, “Who are you?” I am the godess Din, the power that shaped the earth for Hyrule to grow on, I am the power that gives birth to peace and to destruction. I am the power that lies in your right hand. Cloud looked down at the back of his hand, the triangle with three triangles in it had appeared again, the one on the top was glowing now. Champion of Power, you’re time to leave this dimension is not now. He responded, “I know that, but...I was unable to beat him, I had many chances, but I’m too immature, I was too unprepared, he defeated me, he broke my sword. It is not your broken sword that ails you, it is your broken spirit. “What?” Cloud asked of the voice. All will be revealed in time, Champion of Power, but you must not falter, you must persist. Suddenly everything started moving again. He looked around at the audience, and then back up to Bowser, who was careening through the air back towards him. He conjured his strength, and leapt backwards. Just avoiding Bowser as he crashed into the ground. The shockwave flew through the air, actually impacting Cloud and knocking him across the field. The impact, crushed the ground, as Bowser sunk 10 feet into the ground, leaving a crater with a radius of about 30 feet in the center. Bowser walked out of the crater, and up to Cloud. “Still alive? Sheesh...you’re harder to kill than that stupid, spaghetti stuffing, plumber over there.” He said motioning to Mario. “No matter, I’ll just kill you now,” he said bringing back an enormous fist, for the KO punch. Bowser’s fist floated in the air, with the potential to end Cloud’s participation in the contest for this year. He took the time to taunt his opponent, “Well Cloud, any last words?” He received no response, Cloud was still clutching his stomach, the shockwave had been very powerful. Bowser taunted him again, “Come on, Cloud don’t you have a witty come back, a clever response, do you, punk?!?!?!” Bowser yelled in Cloud’s face. Still Cloud didn’t respond. “Fine then, die in silence!!!!” he roared, and rocketed his fist towards Cloud’s head. A loud creak rang throughout the stadium. Cloud looked into Bowser’s fist which had stopped an inch away from his face. It then pulled back. Cloud looked around the stadium wondering what had made the sound, apparently Bowser wanted to know to as he was looking as well. Cloud couldn’t find anything, no one in the audience could make that kind of noise, and none of the contestants would’ve. He was fairly sure Bowser didn’t make it, and he knew that he didn’t, that just left... Cloud and Bowser came to the same conclusion at the same time, “THE DOOM SHIP!!!!!” they both yelled simultaneously. Cloud jumped up off the ground, ignoring the pain blistering through his entire body, and charged over to the doom ship. Crap, I’m not gonna make it in time Cloud realized. It’s that stupid overgrown lizards fault, he’s... he stopped his thought as he turned around to see Bowser chasing after him, not focusing on Cloud but rather the doom ship. What is he doing... once again his thoughts were interrupted. This time by a loud creak, followed by a deafening snap. Cloud stopped in his tracks still 100 feet away from the doom ship, and watched in horror as the top half of the doom ship snapped off, and fell towards the crowd. Cloud and Bowser both looked on as it fell down, and crashed sending up an enormous plume of dust. Cloud collapsed to his knees, and leaned over on his arms, it was all over, he couldn’t continue after letting all those people die, he shouldn’t be allowed to, Crono had sacrificed himself to protect the crowd, but Cloud had not. He looked over at the person who had caused all of this, but to his surprise did not find someone snickering in an evil delight. He saw a somber, concerned, and above all guilt-ridden, opponent. He could’ve sworn he heard the words, “What have I done?” But then his own guilt caught him again, “I...I failed...I failed to protect them,” he said, nearly in tears. “I can’t continue, I don’t deserve to.” He began to announce his forfeit to Bowser. Then a voice rang through his head, Your time in this dimension is not yet over, Champion of Power. “Why, why should I be allowed to carry this power, when I can’t even use it to protect others?” Cloud asked aloud, Bowser looked over at him curiously. Because, no one has been harmed. The voice responded. “What?!?!?!” yelled Cloud looking up. He looked over towards the cloud of dust, as it began to settle, sparks of blue became visible. And soon, a wall of blue electricity was clear, blocking the crowd from harm. “The force barriers,” announced Cloud, triumphantly. “They reactivated.” Yes, Champion of Power, the innocent have been saved, but not by your hand, by fate. Next time fate may sway in the orientation of destruction. “I see that now, from now on I won’t let fate control anything, I will win and I will protect my friends with my own hands and my own strength, and I will leave nothing to chance,” Cloud told the spirit rising to his feet. Your sword is still broken, Champion of Power, but I see your spirit has been repaired, I shall bequeath my full power unto thee. The emblem on the back of Cloud’s right hand began to glow gold. The gold shone over the entire stadium, beating back the blue glow coming from Bowser. As Bowser watched the transformation, he felt the emerald began to quake inside his shell, “So that’s what you don’t like about him, eh?” Bowser said under his breath. “Well, me and you have the power to stop them, let’s do it.” The blue glow that had emanated off of Bowser’s body began to swell again, attempting to match the golden glow of Cloud. Cloud turned towards Bowser, his face no longer a face of scorn and contempt, but of serentity and tranquility. “Bowser, you are not the evil villain you make yourself out to be, but your power is too dangerous for me to ignore, I shall finish this match right now, by the power of this emblem,” he said holding up his right hand to show the Triforce of Power’s glow. Bowser squinted at the blinding glow, but regained his composure, “I think you’re wrong,” he said as he reached back and grabbed the Blue Chaos Emerald out of his shell. “I will use this power to show everyone, that I the King of the Koopa’s, am not weak.” Cloud closed his eyes and smiled, basking in the warm golden glow, he felt all the muscles in his body relax, and all the clouds in his mind go away. He felt...at peace. He held up his hand the Triforce still shining it’s light through the blue storm of energy, and beckoned Bowser to attack him. Bowser roared and lunged forward at Cloud, firing a cannonade of a punch at the young blonde warrior. Cloud sidestepped it easily, calmly watching it pass in front of his face. He looked up at Bowser, signaling that his previous effort wouldn’t be enough. Bowser growled and then whirled around with his tail, aiming to take the Soldier’s feet out from under him. Cloud leapt up into the air, soaring through the air like an eagle, and landing behind Bowser. Grrrr... thought Bowser He’s gotten fast, but I still have a few tricks up my sleeve, or...um...err...shell. He charged forward at Cloud, who awaited him with no form of weapon or shield, but about ten feet away from him Bowser slid to a halt, and unleashed a blast of blue fire from his mouth. The fire scorched the very air, as it blasted across the stone field towards Cloud. Cloud held up one hand, allowing the fire to contact it. Bowser looked on as the blue fire blast made a direct hit, and swirled all around Cloud. He stopped the flow, and looked at the burnt path that led to Cloud who was still surrounded by smoke. Then the smoke cleared to reveal Cloud standing there holding out one hand, completely unscathed. Bowser roared and charged in with another powerful punch. He lunged forward punching with all of his might, trying to smite the golden warrior. Then he felt his punch stop, as if he had punched a solid brick wall, well a solid wall made out of something that he couldn’t break through. He opened his eyes to see one hand from Cloud holding Bowser’s fist in place. “What?...How?...Raaaah!!!!!” Bowser roared sending another punch towards Cloud, this time it met no resistance as Cloud ducked under it and rushed in driving his fist into Bowser’s stomach. Bowser felt his feet leave the stadium floor as the punch drilled it’s way into his abdomen. He felt all the air leave his lungs, then he felt himself crash down to the floor. Bowser coughed up some more of the red liquid that he hadn’t seen in forever, but he’d seen plenty of in this match. “How...are you so strong?” asked Bowser, between coughs. “I’m strong because my goal is not selfish, it is for my friends,” Cloud responded as he walked behind Bowser and grabbed his tail. He began to spin around, Bowser felt his body lift off the ground, and begin to rotate, it was a distinctly unpleasant familiarity. Cloud began to spin around faster and faster, ignoring the numerous tips Mario was shouting from the sidelines. Soon his spinning at two full turns every second, at that point, he let go of Bowser’s tail, sending him flying straight into the force barriers. Bowser crashed into the barrier, the impact hurt a lot, but then the blue sparks of electricity surged through his body, electrocuting him, or close to it. Finally, it rocketed him back the way he came, he flew through the air, and landed on his back right in front of Cloud. The blue glow left his body. He laid there helplessly, his spikes sticking into the ground preventing any type of flipping over and fighting. He watched as Cloud walked over to him, the golden glow gone from his body as well. “I had the power, but you still beat me, how? How did you beat a powerful evil force like me?” “You are powerful Bowser, I see that now,” Cloud explained, “But you’re not evil.” He turned around and began to walk away towards the entrance, leaving Bowser to fall victim to unconsciousness. Bowser felt his consciousness fading, looking at Cloud walking away in victory. His power, his emerald, it hadn’t been enough. Everything he ever had was never enough, he saw it now. His disappointment was at its peak as he passed out and all he could say was, “Fungah.....foiled.....again.” Aftermath: Cloud vs. Bowser Nostalgia A victorious Cloud trudged back to his locker room, dragging the heavy blade of his sword with one hand, the hilt held limply in the other. The buster sword rang, resonating with the raucous cheering of the fans that had just witnessed his third victory. He stared at the emblem on the back of his hand as its glow faded. I ought to be even happier than them. I just rid this place of the… thing… that has been making my life miserable for weeks. But Cloud couldn’t shake the feeling that, even with Bowser out of his life, Aeris safe, and her wish granted, nothing had changed. The Koopa king had been a thorn in everyone’s side and, whatever Sephiroth was plotting, the defeat of his most staunch ally was surely a major blow to Cloud’s longtime nemesis. Most important to Cloud, far more than the fate of Sephiroth, Bowser, or this world, was the safety of his dearest friend. She is my light, and now I have her back. Aeris… what’s wrong with me? He slammed the door behind him, reducing the roar of the crowd to a whisper. Bruises from countless brutish punches ached with every move Cloud made. The fighter sat down heavily on a bench, his head in his hands and his eyes closed. With an idle thought about needing to have it fixed, he let the broken pieces of his weapon clatter to the floor. The fight had taken a lot out of him. Cloud forced himself to lift his head, to get ready to go find Aeris. Surely she was looking for him, to congratulate him right now. Without warning, the swordsman was plunged into pitch blackness. The lights had been turned out in the locker room, and only the faint glow of the outside light outlining the doorway could be seen. Another trap! Cloud sprang to his feet, reaching over his shoulder instinctively to draw a sword that wasn’t there. Even if it had been, he would have been too late. He felt the intruder come out of the darkness from behind him, wrapping arms around his body. A familiar voice whispered in his ear, “Guess who!” Cloud thumped down on the bench again, sighing with heartfelt relief. The intruder still hugged him, but now from the front so that he could return her embrace. “That wasn’t funny, Aeris,” he mumbled, breaking the mood. She stood up and went to turn on the lights. “Sorry.” The flower girl smiled, and it was as quickly forgotten. Cloud rubbed his eyes in the bright light. He felt refreshed, and it couldn’t have been just another spell of Aeris’ doing. “I knew you’d win today,” she said, beaming with pride, “And that’s why I’m here. Now it’s my turn to kidnap you!” She smiled mischievously. The mercenary didn’t get it, but shrugged in compliance. Aeris grabbed his hand and led him out a side door into the summer sunset in her ever-energetic way. The two found themselves on the hillside, well away from the retreating crowds exiting the stadium. “I expect Mario and Sonic were on their way down to find you, and I knew you wouldn’t want to deal with them right now,” Cloud’s self-proclaimed captor explained. The swordsman didn’t have anything against the pair—couldn’t, even if he once had, after how much they had done for him in the past days—but Aeris was absolutely right. I didn’t think she could understand. How could something still be wrong? It’s probably me, as usual. Cloud looked down at his pink-clad companion, her dress seeming to burn with an inner fire as the sun sank below the tree line, and struggled to express himself. “Thank you… for everything. When you were gone… I didn’t know what to do. You’ve always been there to show me the way. You’ve done so much for me. More than I can ever do for you… more than anyone could.” Aeris looked back at him deeply, comprehending the books that could be written for every word he had said. He was talking about more than just Bowser’s kidnapping. He was thinking of the past, of course. He still had trouble talking about it. “Fighting dragons, rescuing fair maidens,” Cloud continued, although Aeris knew it was about more than their recent trials with Bowser. “I muddled through it, but it’s not anything I’m cut out for. I’m not some fantasy hero.” “I don’t want to be repaid, Cloud. Anyone in my position would have done the same.” I doubt I could have… Cloud may not have known what he felt indebted to the flower girl for, but she did. It wasn’t doing her part in saving the planet, or even saving his life. It was the companionship, the true friendship, that the she had shown him ever since they first met. “But I would like you to do one favor for me.” She had that faraway expression on her face again, serious and almost sad. “Please?” “Of course.” “Never give up on yourself.” It was then that he realized what had been haunting him. In just seven short days, one of them would have to leave. A week, at most, before Aeris was taken from him yet again. And again, it could be forever. She’s right. I would have given up. Link would have hit me like a freight train. The expression reminded him instantly of another he was coming to understand all too well again. There’s no gettin’ off this train I’m on… “I won’t.” Cloud’s face hardened briefly in determination as Aeris’ softened even more. “You are my light. I can’t let you down.” The two embraced in a fierce hug, desperate and defiant. A teary-eyed Aeris spoke in hushed tones into Cloud’s shoulder. “It looks like this time, I can’t promise I’ll be back when it’s all over.” She pulled away and looked up, the fading light catching the tear traces on her cheeks and making them shine. She faked a smile. “Come on, let’s not worry about this tonight. We should be happy now that we’re together again!” Cloud was only half listening as he followed her off down the hill, hand in hand. Her comment kept running through his head. ”This time, I can’t promise I’ll be back when it’s all over.” You will have been there all along. --- All good things must come to an end. The last dozen days had been some of the most interesting of Bowser's life. He had managed to capture and outwit several of the fighters scrambling to find Aeris, but only to have his plans unwrought at the last minute by Sephiroth's betrayal. The swordsman had used him, played him for a sucker. It was obvious Sephiroth would have loved to see him go down with his ship if that would have meant killing Cloud, or any of his allies. So he had refused to let Sephiroth interfere in his match with Cloud. Being evil and villainous was one thing. Trying to mess with another guy's fight... now that's just not cool. The medical ward had propped together several cots to support Bowser's bulky frame. The turtle took some small pleasure in the fact that his spiky form was probably piercing through the beds he was lying on. Nevertheless, it was most irritating to be fussed over and healed by a bunch of humans. It was hard to be scary when one was nearly comatose. This must have been how Yoshi felt when I sent him in here. Bowser had to snicker at the memory of that one. As one of the healers stopped by to check up on him, Bowser took a deep breath and flipped himself forward, sending the hospital beds awry. One was still impaled upon a spike in his back. Shaking it loose onto the ground, Bowser elbowed and shouldered his way through the crowd of healers, nurses, and even a few fanboys dressed up as Koopas. Bowser wasn't sure whether to mock them, thank them, or try to recruit them. "EVERYBODY MOVE!!!" His unwelcome entourage began to scramble to make a path for him. Bowser stepped out into the light, blinking. It was all over. He'd lost. It wasn't like the experience was anything new to him. It just would have been nice to come out on top for once. Watching the "good guys" win all the time was a little boring. At least he'd kicked those runts Yoshi and Ness out of the tournament. All in all, he was still 2 to 1. It was only when Bowser began to stretch himself out that he realized he still had the chaos emerald clenched in his right paw. Cloud had obviously not taken his prize. Bowser stared at it blankly for a second, mesmerized by its blue glow. It was so powerful... but it hadn't been enough. Before too long however, another indistinct blue shape began to appear out of the corner of Bowser's eye. A blue blur was streaking through the grass towards him. Bowser knew better than to hope this was another fan. Sonic stopped briefly in front of him, smirking at the enormous reptile. "Hey, Gargantuan Green. I believe you have something I've been looking for." Bowser folded his arms and rolled his eyes. Having seven bratty kids still hadn't been enough to make him capable of getting along with a little punk like Sonic. "The shell's not for sale." "Nah, I don't want your Koopa Codpiece... but you've got a little something I could use..." Sonic's eyes darted over to the emerald and made a break for it in the middle of his sentence. Bowser quickly lifted his arms up, but Sonic kept going, running between Bowser's legs and turning sharply around, dashing into the air to try to grab it out of Bowser's hands. Bowser angrily swatted at the hedgehog. Sonic skidded onto the ground, and began running circles around the Koopa King. Bowser groaned again. I hate it when they do that. Bowser began breathing snorts of flame out, trying to catch Sonic before he could make his move. But the hedgehog darted between his legs again and grabbed his tail. Bowser slammed onto his back, trying to pin the hedgehog beneath him. Sonic wriggled out from underneath the Koopa, and grabbed at the emerald with both hands. Bowser clutched onto his prize as hard as he could. That little ingrate wasn't going to steal the one treasure he'd won here. "You know what they say Koopa..." Sonic panted, trying to pull away the emerald from the prostate Bowser. "You can't take it with you!" Bowser snarled, showing his massive fangs to the hedgehog. "I'll give it my best shot. You've been messing up my plans since the beginning, you little pipsqueak." "Yeah, well..." Sonic tensed his muscles, yanking as hard as he could. Bowser responded by freeing one hand from the emerald, and taking a clawed swipe at the hedgehog. Sonic yelped in pain, but kept talking. "If I don't get the emerald, you'd better believe someone else will. Sephiroth has already got his eye on it. I mean, do you want to see Cloud lose or not?" Bowser stopped struggling momentarily and began to pick himself up, glaring suspiciously at the hedgehog. "Just what do you mean?" Sonic looked around nervously, and began to whisper back to Bowser. "I mean, if I can get all seven of these emeralds, I'll be way more powerful than him. Cloud wouldn't even have a chance. He's a good guy and all... and I'm not supposed to use them... but listen... I mean, I don’t think the emeralds can leave here anyway, and wouldn't you rather leave them with someone who could take out that Clod?" Bowser still didn't quite buy Sonic's rationale. He'd been able to move large quantities of troops and raw materials through the portals without any problem... he didn't see why the emeralds should be any different. But Sonic might have a point about taking out Cloud, if he could have his revenge with a little outside help... But while Bowser had been scratching his head, Sonic had taken the opportunity to make a dive for the emerald, and run out of sight. Bowser turned around and starting yelling at the blue miscreant. "Why you little.... HOW DARE YOU DEFY THE KING OF THE... I mean, that's right, take it! Go beat up Clod! That's a good hedgehog! Don't forget to write!" Bowser sighed again, as the hedgehog had already disappeared from view. That settled it. This party had gone on long enough, it was time to make his exit. One the way back to the portal, he ran another old adversary. Mario was leaning against the open portal doors, leaning back against the wall next to the swirling vortex of supernatural forces. Bowser was suddenly struck by the temptation to kick Mario through. But before he could do anything, the pudgy plumber had walked up to him, and patted him on the back. "It's-a been a pleasure as always, Koopa." Bowser shook his head. "The pleasure was all yours, plumber." "Nah, you don't-a have to be that way. I was impressed. You had some good fortresses this time. And you-a did a good job out there- Cloud's tough. I should know. He's even-a looking stronger this year." Mario suddenly chuckled to himself. "You should have-a seen your face when that second bomb went off... BOOM!" The plumber waved his hands around in an exaggerated motion, and put a shocked expression on his face in a parody of Bowser's visage. Bowser rolled his eyes at Mario's gaping mouth. "No, you've got it all wrong, it was more like this..." Bowser let his mouth hang open, and then suddenly breathed a wave of fire straight in front of him. Mario was forced to hang onto his hat, as the flames threatened to blow him over. But when it subsided, Mario was back on his feet, laughing again. "Well, it was a lot of fun, thanks for playing." Bowser sighed, and began to look at Mario with a condescending expression. "You know Mario, as a former member of the Koopa Troop, I'm disappointed in you." Mario's mirthful expression suddenly faded, and then it was his turn to roll his eyes. "Oh geez, not this again." "Don't give me that. You joined up with me, remember? Recruited yourself into my army? I don't recall asking you for help. I saved your butt plenty of times out there. You relied on my leadership, and I was the one to save us all back when we were together. You remember that?" Mario scratched his brown mat of hair. "Actually, no." "Fungah! So we got my castle back, and taught that creep Smithy a lesson. We were getting along great. Peach invited me to her birthday party. I was the star of the show. You and me hung out and beat up what was left of smithy's goons. AND YOU REMEMBER WHAT HAPPENED THEN???" "Um, you kidnapped the princess again?" "ARGH! You had to go picking a fight with me! Messing around in my domain! Apparently it's not enough that you ruined my childhood, messed up my family life, but I take the princess out for one little trip in her own castle, and you freak out and start fighting with my minions! Do you have any idea how much trouble I took setting up that castle? And for what, Mario, so you could eat a freaking CAKE???" "Well, you-a did technically start it. She didn't ask you to go kidnapping her again..." "I'M A BIG EVIL REPTILE, MARIO!! Big evil reptiles kidnap princesses!! Haven't you read your fairy tales? It's just something we do." Bowser folded his arms and began to sulk. "I don't want to talk about it." Mario stepped a little closer to Bowser, and patted him on one armored shoulder. "Aw, it's ok, Bowser." Bowser glared at him. "Do you have something to say, EX-minion?" Mario chuckled again. "I don't-a know what I'd do without you, Bowser. Tell-a you what, next time, maybe I'll-a even let you win for a little while. And hey, if you ever want to hang out in my pad, we could-a play a little prank on Luigi." Bowser felt tears welling up in his eyes. "Do you really mean it?" "Sure thing, buddy." "Aw... turtle hug!" Bowser enveloped Mario in his scaly arms, nearly crushing the life out of the heroic plumber. The moment was only partially ruined by the presence of Sonic. "Wow, that has to be the second ***est thing I've ever seen." Bowser turned to look at Sonic, and released Mario from his choke hold. "Ah, Mario, I'd like to introduce you to the newest member of the Koopa Troop. I've given Sonic here my emerald." Sonic looked at them both with a puzzled expression. Mario was mouthing the words, "That's right Bowser." "Um, ok, whatever you guys say." Bowser nodded smugly, and turned back to Mario. "This little guy's going to take care of Cloud for me. Keep an eye on him, he's new to the whole minion thing. And now, I must leave for far more interesting and entertaining pursuits than watching you dopes squabble in an arena." Bowser plodded towards the portal, and stretched one hand through the vortex of energies. He paused for a moment, then pulled back a startled goomba flier, wiggling around in the air. "Gwa ha ha! I should have been a magician." Bowser tossed the goomba to one side, and waved at his two former enemies. "Farewell! Who's the baddest turtle of all? Bowser! Who never loses, only chooses to take a fall... Bowser! Who's going to shove Cloud through a wall... Bowser!" As the turtle's voice faded away, Sonic was left gaping at the portal, and Mario was left smiling. "He's an unusual one, that's-a for sure." Next Entry Back |