With Big Shells and Wings

Summary: Sometimes the ending you want isn't the ending you get.

Fall

A/N: Wow…it's been over four years since I've started this story, and now it's finally coming to an end. It's strange really; I didn't expect the story to get this far or serious. Or dark. Guess it just shows how much I've changed since I first started the fanfic. Anyway, I just wanna thank everyone who stuck around from start to finish and is a really big fan of the story. After all, many of you are part of the reason why I decided to keep the story going. So here it is…the last chapter of With Big Shells and Wings. Enjoy!

It was all going to end soon. All Trowzer needed to do now was make his way into Bowser's room and the final battle would begin. The giant behemoth was miraculously still alive, in large part thanks to his white magikoopas and a tremendous amount of healing shrooms. Luckily, those who had been turned into stone were fine as well. The koopa wizards who were still alive found a way to nullify Basilisx's spell. Those who hadn't been killed or severely incapacitated were up and moving about now. Like Trowzer, they received the proper remedies and had their wounds patched up so they would be ready for combat in case there were any more surprises. Of course, even though everyone was patched up, some of the survivors weren't happy with their current predicament. Barry was sitting on the floor and breathing heavily as his brother wrapped gauze around his abdomen.

"Can't believe you (censored) shot me."

"Shut up, Barry. It was an accident."

"An accident that you caused, Harry!"

"You should be lucky, bro. I didn't hit any organs and you didn't lose too much blood."

"But you (censored) shot me! You know what it feels like to get shot by your own brother?!"

Harry blinked. "Yeah. You shot me in the butt by 'accident' last year. Remember?"

Barry paused for a long time. "No…" he lied.

Harry smirked. "Guess we're even now."

Elsewhere, Mel, Drazzik, and Shannon were all sitting down near the staircase, watching Trowzer from afar. The giant koopa was panting heavily and catching his breath as he scarfed down as many shrooms as he could. Mel and Drazzik were busy massaging their heads with bags of ice while Shannon had a bloody handkerchief pressed against his snout. Drazzik was staring at Trowzer, clearly wondering what state of mind the giant beast was in.

"You're worried about him," said Mel.

Drazzik huffed. "Of course I'm worried. You and I both know how Trowzer is; we both know what he's capable of. I just fear that he'll push himself too hard with Bowser and they'll both end up getting killed."

Shannon snickered and wiped more blood from his broken snout. "Good. Then maybe someone else could be the leader of this army."

Mel and Drazzik turned and stared at Shannon before blinking. "What does that mean?"

Shannon shrugged. "I'm just sayin'."

"You're just sayin'. Exactly what are you saying?" asked Mel.

Shannon chuckled. "Oh, come on, guys! Don't tell me you never daydreamt about what it would be like to bask in all the glory, to have all the wealth, to have all these soldiers in front of you chant your name after you've conquered the world and have given them everything they've asked for!"

"Of course we have. But that's just not who we are. We don't have the skills or mentality to rule this entire army," said Mel.

"Pah! You two both know that Trowzer is gonna lead us all straight to Hell! You saw what he did to Larry back there! Do you seriously think he's fit to rule?"

Mel abruptly changed the subject. "How's your snout doing?"

"Whuh?" Shannon removed his handkerchief and rubbed his nose. It still hurt, but the blood stopped dripping from the nostrils. "Oh, I guess it's fine. It stopped bleeding—AAAAAAUUUGH!"

Mel reached forward and yanked Shannon by the snout before pinching down on the nostrils. The dark koopa started to pant and whimper as Mel stood up and looked Shannon in the eyes, his emotionless, crimson orbs delving into Shannon's mind.

"Trowzer is our leader. That's how it was before, that's how it is now, and that's how it's gonna be once Bowser's dead. No one here is going to take his place, especially not some smug little git like you. If I hear you speaking this way again, I won't just break your nose again. I'll slice it off. Do you understand?"

Shannon panted and whimpered. "Yes, yes! Just let me go!"

Mel let go of Shannon's snout and shoved him against a wall. Seconds later, his nose began to bleed again, which forced the dark koopa to press his handkerchief against his nostrils. Elsewhere, Croco had finished patching up his wound and noticed Green and Black sitting by themselves near one of the Bowser pedestals. The crocodile was finally past his bouts of nausea and was back to his cocky self. Knowing that Green and Black could be valuable assets, he slowly approached the two ninjakoopas and sat down beside them.

"Aww, what's wrong? Having trouble making friends?"

Black didn't even look up at Croco. Green took the ice bag off his head and huffed. "Shut up, Croco. We're not in the (censored) mood right now."

Croco snickered. "Relax…I didn't come here to taunt you."

"Then why are you here? We don't want to be friends with you; we don't care about you."

Croco blinked. "Ouch. That hurt. Really, it did."

"We don't need any of sarcasm, Croco! We get enough (censored) from bitch-boy as it is, so just tell us what you want or (censored) off!"

"The same thing you want: to be freed from this madness."

Black looked up from the floor. "What?"

"What if I told you that I could…make Trowzer go away?"

Black and Green's eyes grew wide. "…Kill him?" whispered Green.

Croco put his hands up and backed away. "Whoa, whoa! I have no idea what you're talking about! The only reason why I came up to you guys was to tell you that I could make Trowzer go away. Y'know, I could, uh, convince him to go to Pinna Park and bait him into riding the Ferris Wheel. And, you know, perhaps he could have a little 'accident' and fall off. Or maybe we could go to Ricco Harbor, and he'd 'accidentally' fall off the ship we're riding and sleep with the fishes…if you catch my drift."

Croco winked at Green and Black and grinned.

"…Why are you telling us this?"

"You know, I'm not much of a big talker. …Well, strike that; I am. However, I like to listen to those around me, watch how people act, hear what they say and why. And from what I can tell, it seems like you guys don't wanna be here and that you're suffering."

"But why do you care?" asked Black.

Croco laughed. "I don't! But that doesn't mean you two can't be useful to me in the future! You see…the three of us are just alike. We were so close to getting away from this hellhole when someone or something (censored) it up for us. I was right at the damn door when one of my bandits ruined everything and forced me to join Trowzer's side. But don't worry…stick with me and we might just get out of this mess alive."

Black and Green looked at each other before looking over at Croco again. "So what's the plan?"

Croco stood up and began to walk away. "What plan?"

"Don't you have a plan on…you know…making Trowzer go away?" asked Green quietly.

"Why would Trowzer be going away?"

Croco winked at Green and Black before he snickered and left. He was playing dumb; he couldn't talk about such treachery with so many of Trowzer's men around. But Green and Black did feel a bit more comfortable. Maybe they couldn't trust Croco, but at least they had someone who hated Trowzer as much as they did and wanted to get rid of him. Unfortunately, they were gonna have to wait a little longer; they couldn't leave Red behind or put his life in jeopardy. Elsewhere, the large blue-shelled koopa was finally done resting and healing himself with shrooms. He still had scars and bruises around his body, but he didn't care. All that mattered was seeking out his victory as soon as possible. Trowzer grinned widely and headed over to the long staircase, panting and giggling as he started to walk up the stairs. He stopped at the sixth step before turning around and addressing his troops one last time.

"THE TIME IS NOW! WE HAVE SPENT TOO MUCH TIME AND SHED TOO MUCH BLOOD FOR US TO SIT AROUND AND HOPE THAT BOWSER COMES TO US! HE'S SITTING UP THERE ON HIS THRONE RIGHT NOW, WAITING FOR ME TO KILL HIM! SO LET'S GET UP THERE AND FINISH THIS FIGHT!"

The soldiers who weren't badly injured cheered and shouted with joy, raising their fists or guns in the air triumphantly. Certain individuals like Green and Croco and a few of the troops who used to work for Bowser remained silent. They scowled or looked away from Trowzer as everyone else cheered his name. Trowzer laughed heartily before he turned around and began to walk upstairs, his troops following him from behind.

Bowser was still sitting there, waiting patiently. There was no one in the chamber except him; everyone else was gone. The giant red-haired koopa heard someone banging on the giant double-doors several yards in front of him and sighed. It was strange; Bowser seemed calm despite everything that had happened to him over the past several days. He stared at the double-doors as they shook each time Trowzer rammed his body into them. Finally, Trowzer shouted and kicked the doors open, revealing himself and his entire army. Trowzer stepped inside the chamber and slowly began to walk forward with a massive grin on his face.

"Well, well, well…we're finally here brother! We're finally at the end of our journey!"

Bowser didn't say anything or even growl. He just blinked and continued to stare at his half-brother.

"Oh, nothing to say brother? No sappy comeback; no incessant roaring or screaming? You're just gonna sit on your throne with that stoic look on your face?"

"…Say that again."

Trowzer snickered as he got closer and closer to Bowser. His soldiers began to fill the chamber, but all of them were taking positions near the walls and giving Trowzer as much space as possible. They knew he wanted to do this by himself and that they shouldn't get in the way.

"I said, you're just gonna sit on your throne—"

"Stop!" said Bowser, raising his left hand.

Trowzer blinked and raised an eyebrow. Bowser finally got off his throne and began to approach Trowzer.

"You see that?" asked Bowser, pointing to his throne. "You see that throne right there? That's mine. That is MY throne! This is MY castle! You're not gonna take any of this away from me, you understand?!"

Trowzer scoffed. "Oh, please brother. I can take whatever I want."

Bowser growled gutturally. Bowser and Trowzer were only a few feet away from each other now.

"You might've been smart enough to plan this whole siege by yourself, but you're not strong enough to defeat me on your own!"

Trowzer laughed and shook his head. "You seriously think I planned everything perfectly? I lost way too many men tonight! I didn't expect an army led by you to be able to kill so many of my troops—I even caught you when you were unprepared. And that last guy you sent after us, Basilisx? Do you seriously think I wanted to run into him? No, not everything that happened tonight was planned at all. Things just…weighed in my favor, not yours."

Bowser made a fist with his right hand and snarled as Trowzer laughed evilly. "Not this time, Trowzer. You may have taken over this castle and killed most of my troops—"

"You think that's all?! I've done everything you've ever dreamed of doing and more, Bowser! I was the one who found the Mario Bros.! I was the one who led them here and defeated them! I was the one who managed to plot a takeover right under your fat snout! I'm the one who's successfully reached every goal I've set out for myself so far! I'm the one who took on four of your top lieutenants and killed them all single-handedly! My God, I…I defeated Basilisx, Bowser! Where the hell did you even find a koopatrol like that?!"

Trowzer sighed heavily. "I've done all these things and more, and yet you still think you can kill me? Hmph! Larry thought the same thing, the foolish little brat. Look how well that turned out."

Bowser suddenly frowned and looked at Trowzer with wide eyes. When Trowzer saw the look of horror in his brother's eyes, he grinned maliciously and attacked him with more words.

"Oh my…oh dear, no one's told you yet, have they? Hehehe, Larry's dead."

Bowser thought about jumping on top of Trowzer and tearing his throat out with his teeth. Instead, his heart sank and Bowser was overwhelmed with sadness. Trowzer snickered and started to circle his half-brother slowly.

"Yep! I killed him. Pretty messy too. He and a few of your lieutenants all tried to stop me inside one of your chambers. But he wasn't strong enough. I must admit though, that twerp had a big pair of balls dangling in-between his legs. It was so simple, Bowser. All I wanted was for your son to get on his knees and beg for his life. He wouldn't do it. He was too proud, too courageous. So you wanna know what I did? I tortured him to death! I beat him, bashed his head against the wall, broke all the fingers on his left hand, crushed his eyeball with my thumb!"

Trowzer inhaled sharply and let out a satisfying growl. "It was all so thrilling, brother! You should've been there; the screams alone would've sent shivers down your spine!"

Bowser thought about doing something, anything to shut Trowzer's mouth. But he simply fell to his knees and started to breathe heavily. He looked at the floor and whined, his vision blurry as tears filled his eyeballs. Now two of his sons were dead, and there were still three other unaccounted for. Trowzer giggled and ruffled Bowser's hair.

"Come on, Bowser, get up. Attack me. This…this is pathetic. I really thought you'd give me some sort of challenge? You're just gonna stay on your knees and let me kill you?"

Bowser didn't give an answer. He just whined again and shook his head as a tear came out of both eyes and rolled down his face. Trowzer sighed with boredom and shook his head.

"Oh well. I really was hoping for a big showdown before this story ended. Alas, I suppose one can't always get what they want. Tell you what though: I'll let you decide on how I should kill you! Do you want me to snap your neck or shoot you in the face?"

Trowzer stared at Bowser, watching as his half-brother breathed heavily and growled to himself. Bowser thought about bawling and letting Trowzer carry out the deed, but then his mind snapped. All the anger and hatred he had accumulated over the past decades was beginning to flare up. All those times he lost to the Mario Bros., all those times his brother Trowzer teased and fought him, all those times he had been verbally humiliated and rejected by Princess Peach—it was all too much. And now, his other son was dead, and Trowzer was standing in front of him bragging about it. Enough was enough. He wasn't going to take it anymore. Not from Mario, not from Peach, not from his own soldiers, and especially not from Trowzer. This was all gonna end. Right now.

"Hmm? Should I break your neck or shoot—"

Trowzer shouted when Bowser roared and tackled him like a tiger. The slobbering beast snarled and roared as he viciously clawed at Trowzer's face. Trowzer was virtually defenseless and couldn't find a way to kick Bowser off of him. Suddenly, Bowser opened his mouth wide and snarled as he prepared to bite down on Trowzer's neck. The blue-shelled behemoth tried to shove Bowser's face back, but he couldn't without having his fingers bitten off. At the last possible second, Trowzer jerked his head sideways, and Bowser bit down on Trowzer's left cheek instead. He screamed violently as Bowser's razor-sharp teeth dug into the skin and flesh. Bowser could taste salty blood in his mouth. He snarled and bit down even harder, determined to harm Trowzer in any way he could. After much screaming, Trowzer clawed at Bowser's head and finally kicked the beast off of him. Everyone gasped as they saw Trowzer stand up. He was gasping and swearing; his left cheek was red and swollen and showed off the meat that Bowser's failed to bite off. Bowser spat the part of the cheek he ripped out in Trowzer's face, his mouth laden with blood. Trowzer suddenly snarled and growled as slobber began to fall out his own mouth. He was doing exactly what Drazzik told him not to do: reverting back to his feral, merciless form.

"You're gonna pay for that, you fucking piece of shit!" he roared.

And that's how it all started. The two massive beasts snarled and charged towards each other, ready to tackle their opponent to the floor. Trowzer was on the receiving end again though. Bowser tackled him to the floor, ready to bash his head in. Unfortunately, Trowzer used his legs and arms to flip Bowser right over his body. Bowser grunted and rolled around on the floor for a moment before Trowzer immediately rolled onto his torso and got up. He sprinted over to Bowser just as the koopa king stood back up. Bowser's vision went blurry when Trowzer punched him in the left eye, and then the right one. Overcome with his feral regression, Trowzer snarled eerily and opened his mouth wide. He lunged for Bowser and bit down on his big snout, determined to bite it right off. Bowser shouted and tried to shake Trowzer off, but it didn't work at first. So he took his right hand, extended his claws, and dragged them against Trowzer's face. The giant lizard opened his mouth and shouted; the giant claw wounds Basilisx gave Trowzer earlier were reopened and bleeding. Bowser showed no mercy. He charged for his brother again and relentlessly began to bash him in the face.

Trowzer kept grunting as he was forced backwards with each punch. Each punch felt like he was getting struck with a hammer. Trowzer snarled when Bowser punched him in the midriff before shouting when Bowser's stomped on his right foot (which was still sore thanks to Basilisx stabbing him there). Then Bowser punched Trowzer in the throat and almost damaged his trachea in the process. Before Bowser could do any more damage, Trowzer grabbed an oncoming fist and growled at his half-brother. Then he veered his head backwards and headbutted Bowser in the nose. Bowser shouted and took a few steps back, which allowed Trowzer to gain the upper hand. Some of Trowzer's troops were grinning or staring at the fight closely, eager to see their leader finally trounce his rival. But those who used to work for Bowser had straight faces and were secretly hoping that Trowzer would lose. After Trowzer had punched Bowser in the face six times, Bowser opened his mouth wide. Trowzer grunted when Bowser bit down on his wrist. He almost felt like Bowser would bite his entire hand off; Trowzer could already see blood oozing out around his wrist. Any deeper and Bowser's teeth would cut to the veins, probably the bone itself.

Having no other option, Trowzer took his left thumb and planted it against Bowser's right eye. Bowser still didn't let go. He didn't care if his half-brother destroyed his right eye. If he took his right hand in the process that was perfectly fine with him. Trowzer breathed heavily and gritted his teeth as Bowser's jaw tightened more and more. Blood continued to drip to the floor and trickle down Trowzer's arm. Trowzer shut his eyes and let out a frustrated growl, knowing that crushing Bowser's eye wouldn't work. Having no alternative, Trowzer opened his mouth, preparing to exhale fire breath in Bowser's face. Bowser finally let go of Trowzer's wrist and rolled out the way to avoid the oncoming flames. When Trowzer finished, he snarled with frustration and saw that Bowser's teeth almost went down to the bone. Fueled by adrenaline and endorphins, Trowzer ignored the pain and kept fighting. The two brothers charged towards each other, ready for another tackling. When the giant koopas were only a few feet away, Trowzer put his plan into action. He quickly side-stepped Bowser and simultaneously snarled and swiped at his left leg with his claws. Bowser shouted and tripped as the serrated claws broke the skin and left nasty marks on his leg.

Trowzer didn't waste time. He quickly jerked himself around and sprinted to Bowser again just as he started to get up. Trowzer leaped into the air and performed his Trowzer Bomb move before Bowser could dodge it. Bowser shouted as he was pinned to the floor beneath Trowzer's massive rump. Trowzer got off his half-brother and snarled as he grabbed him by his tail. Bowser's eyes grew wide, and he found himself snarling and screaming as Trowzer began to spin him around and around. It was humiliating; Bowser felt like Mario was the one spinning him around. All he needed was to place bombs in the corner of the room and this would be no different than when Mario was fighting him in the Dark World. After spinning Bowser a good ten or fifteen times, Trowzer roared and finally let him go. A couple of Trowzer's troops quickly sprinted to the left or right when they saw Bowser's body coming their way. The massive koopa slammed into the wall headfirst, causing debris and mortar to come crashing down on top of him. But Bowser wasn't giving up that easily. The giant beast slowly lifted and shook his head, and then shouted when Trowzer snatched him by the hair and began to pull him towards a pedestal.

Trowzer planted the back of Bowser's head against the corner of a stone pedestal. He held onto his throat with his left hand and made a fist with his right one. Then Trowzer started to punch him over and over again in the face. Bowser could feel the corner of the pedestal slowly puncturing the back of his head with each punch. He knew he was in danger; a normal koopa could easily die just from falling and cracking his or her skull on the corner of something hard. What Trowzer was doing could easily kill him in seconds or give him brain damage. After the seventh punch, Bowser felt something wet dripping from the back of his head and knew this had to end. He jerked his head to the right, causing Trowzer to inadvertently punch the corner of the pedestal. He felt an unbearable amount of pain in his hand and fingers and feared that one of them might be broken. Trowzer hollered in pain and grabbed his right hand with his left one. Bowser quickly got up and wrapped his arms around his half-brother. He headbutted him three times before tossing Trowzer upwards. Then he retreated into his shell and spun around, damaging Trowzer with his spikes once he came back down.

Trowzer grunted and groaned as he tried to get up. His body was all cut up now from Bowser performing his infamous Whirling Fortress move. But the blue-shelled monster finally got to his feet, just in time for Bowser to punch him so hard that his body was launched several feet away. Trowzer panted; he had landed on the back of his shell. He quickly rolled to the left and right before he finally got on his torso. Then he stood up and faced Bowser, just in time to see him charging forward. Trowzer grunted as Bowser slammed into his stomach headfirst like a battering ram, which sent the giant koopa into the wall. Once again, several troops moved out the way as Trowzer was thrown into the wall shell-first, leaving a huge crater in the foundation. Trowzer moaned and tried to move, but Bowser was already upon him. The red-haired koopa king snarled and mercilessly punched Trowzer over and over again all over his body. It didn't matter if he punched him in the snout, eye, chin, throat, stomach—all Bowser cared about was harming his brother as brutally as he possibly could. The koopa king was abusing Trowzer so much that his knuckles were becoming red and almost bleeding.

Bowser snarled and grabbed Trowzer's face with his left hand. He dug two of his claws into Trowzer's forehead and growled as he moved them down very slowly. Bowser was scratching Trowzer so hard that blood was already oozing out of his face and creating a revolting scratching sound. Trowzer screamed as Bowser ran his claws down his face; the wounds were already starting to sting and burn. Bowser suddenly changed his pace and violently ran his claws all the way to Trowzer's snout, leaving two vicious red scars on his face. Fed up with Trowzer's screaming, Bowser punched Trowzer in the solar plexus. Trowzer's eyes grew wide, and he slowly fell forward and landed face-down on the floor. Bowser didn't show any mercy. He snarled and kicked Trowzer in the head before grabbing him by the hair and standing him up. Then Bowser wrapped his arms around his brother again before he performed his Flying Slam move. Several of Trowzer's troops gasped when they saw Bowser leap high into the air, spinning around and still clutching onto Trowzer. Then they both hit the ground, with Trowzer pinned underneath Bowser's immense bulk. Trowzer started to cough and hack; the fight was slowly turning in Bowser's favor.

Bowser growled and got off Trowzer, who immediately stood up and lunged at Bowser. Bowser shouted when Trowzer opened his mouth and bit him on the snout. Bowser, luckily, managed to shove Trowzer away before he did too much damage. Unfortunately, he couldn't avoid Trowzer's next attack. Trowzer inhaled deeply and exhaled a colossal amount of flames at his half-brother. Bowser could only retreat into his shell in order to minimize the damage, but he could still feel the hot flames blowing all over his shell. When Trowzer was only blowing out smoke, he coughed a few times and stopped attacking. That's when Bowser emerged from his shell and started to punch Trowzer again. Only this time, Trowzer parried his attacks. The first time Bowser tried to punch him, Trowzer grabbed Bowser's arm and punched him in the throat. Bowser gagged and coughed before he tried to punch Trowzer again. The same thing happened; Trowzer sidled out the way and punched Bowser in the throat again. The third time proved to be a huge mistake. Trowzer knew what was about to happen, so he dodged the punch altogether and grabbed Bowser's face with his right hand. Then Trowzer ran three claws down Bowser's face, and the giant beast started to scream horribly.

Bowser couldn't see out his left eye. He felt blood dripping down his face and knew something was gushing and oozing out of his eye socket. One of Trowzer's claws went over his left eye and sliced the cornea, quite possibly the lens itself, in half. He couldn't see out that eye anymore. Bowser collapsed onto his shell, whining and screaming as more blood gushed out of his eye socket. Trowzer didn't give Bowser a chance to recover. He leaped on top of Bowser and snarled as he began to punch him across the face repeatedly. Bowser could only see part of Trowzer, but he felt every blow he took to the head. He was punched in the temple, the forehead, the snout—all over the place. Suddenly, Trowzer put his hands together and made one giant fist. He roared vociferously before smashing both hands down on Bowser's snout, breaking it and causing it to bleed. Bowser started to cough up blood, which he used to his advantage. Bowser already knew Trowzer would try to damage his other eye, so he quickly spat blood in Trowzer's face. The blue-shelled koopa shouted and got up, panting as he quickly rubbed the blood from his eyes. While he was distracted, Bowser got up and wearily dragged his feet across the floor. He jumped into the air and grabbed onto a long chain-link dangling from the ceiling. Due to Bowser's immense girth, the chain-link snapped out of socket with ease.

Just when Trowzer got the blood out his eyes, he found himself being smacked across the face with heavy metal chains. Trowzer shouted when the chains were smacked against his forehead. Moments later, Bowser shouted and smashed them against Trowzer's skull. Panting, Trowzer tried to grab the chains, but he wound up getting hit in his left fist with them. And as if karma came down and bit Trowzer right on the tail, Bowser swung the chains at Trowzer's eyes. Trowzer shrieked and fell to the floor. His left eye had been damaged. It was starting to turn red; Trowzer noticed he was having a very hard time seeing out of both eyes. Trowzer swore twice and covered his left eye with his hand before Bowser smacked him in the right knee with the chains. He knew this wasn't fair, whipping Trowzer so easily with a pair of chains. But if Trowzer was gonna fight dirty by maiming his eye, then there was no reason why Bowser shouldn't fight dirty either. Bowser kicked Trowzer onto his torso before he got on top of his shell and pinned him down. Bowser was still filled with adrenaline; it was the only way to explain why he was still capable of doing so much damage with a mutilated eyeball.

Bowser placed some of the chains against Trowzer's eyes and mouth. Trowzer could taste the rusty metal in his mouth and groaned in a muffled voice. Bowser growled and started to pull on the chains, thus tightening them so he could crush the chains into Trowzer's face. Trowzer screamed and shouted, clawing at the floor as he felt the chains grinding into his skin. Bowser growled and moved the chains a little, desperate to crush them into Trowzer's eyes. Any tighter and Trowzer's eyeballs would be crushed. Seeing no other option, Trowzer roared and violently jerked his body upwards. The sudden movement caused Bowser to let go of the chains with one hand just long enough for Trowzer to remove them from his eyes and mouth. He panted and started to get up, but Bowser wasn't giving up that easily. His chains still in hand, Bowser ran behind Trowzer and wrapped the chains around his neck. Trowzer shouted and gagged, coughing as he felt his airway tightening. He coughed twice before Bowser roared and violently tugged on the chains. Trowzer's troops watched in horror as Bowser began to choke Trowzer to death. Their glorious leader gagged and coughed over and over as the chains were tightened. He grabbed the chains and tugged on them, but it did no good. All he could do was stand there.

Trowzer thought it was all over right then and there, but he forced himself to fight back. Trowzer tried to elbow Bowser, but it didn't work. He kept jerking himself around so Trowzer missed. Trowzer was starting to feel lightheaded; he needed to end this fast. Using as much strength as he could muster, Trowzer ran backwards and pushed Bowser back as well. Both of them crashed into a pedestal, and Trowzer immediately began to bash the back of his head against Bowser's face. Bowser held on for a long as he could, but after the fifth time, he let go of the chains. Trowzer took a deep breath and landed on all fours. He coughed violently and shook his head before taking a few more deep breaths. A huge red mark was left on his neck; Trowzer grunted and massaged his throat. Bowser, meanwhile, took a few steps to the right before throwing up all over the floor. Several soldiers grimaced when they saw the yellowish-green bile soar out of Bowser's mouth and splash on the floor. Bowser coughed and wiped his mouth clean before collapsing to his knees. Both brothers were exhausted from the intense combat and were ready to give up.

Trowzer was still coughing when Bowser slowly got up and lazily walked over to Trowzer. He grabbed him by the back of the head before pinning him down to the floor again. Bowser breathed heavily as he lifted Trowzer's head and suddenly slammed his face into the floor. He took a deep breath and slammed his face against the floor again. Trowzer let out a muffled groan and felt his snout becoming sore. Bowser lifted his head and smashed it into the floor some more. He repeated this process over and over again until Trowzer's face was bloody and Bowser was too tired to do anything else. He slowly slouched over and collapsed on his shell as he started to breathe heavily. His wounds were eating away at him. Less adrenaline was pumping into his veins. The pain and exhaustion was beginning to kick in. Trowzer sluggishly crawled forward before he coughed and turned around. Bowser was lying right there, looking like a wounded rabbit that a fox had been chasing all day. Trowzer slowly got to his feet and grinned widely. Now was the perfect time to go for the kill. Slobbering at the mouth again, Trowzer did exactly what Bowser did when the fight began and pounced on him.

Bowser tried to fight off Trowzer, but he was too weak to do much of anything. He tried to wiggle his way to freedom; he tried to push Trowzer's face backwards. But he wasn't strong enough. Trowzer opened his mouth wide and bit down on Bowser's neck. The koopa king screamed and hollered, thrashing his legs around as blood gushed out of his neck and filled Trowzer's mouth. The giant koopa pulled tightly, his teeth tearing away at the skin and flesh. And then, finally, with a repulsive tearing sound, a huge chunk of flesh was ripped away from Bowser's throat. Blood sprayed in all directions and started to create a small puddle on the floor. Trowzer spat out the flesh he removed before he got off of Bowser and grinned. Bowser stayed on the floor, writhing around in agony, knowing that this might be the end for him. And yet, he told himself to get up. He told himself that he still might have a chance. So Bowser stopped screaming and inhaled sharply and took deep breaths. He grunted and whined as he rolled onto his torso and then finally got to his feet. Bowser took a few raspy breaths and stared at his half-brother through his good eye.

Bowser started to take a few steps forward, but then he felt those wet fluids on his head again. Bowser placed his right hand on the back of his head and exhaled. He looked at his hand and noticed it was covered in blood. Bowser and Trowzer were equally as strong, but Trowzer had better tactics. He knew how sensitive the back of the head was; that's why he made sure he planted Bowser's head against the corner of the pedestal. This entire time he had been losing blood, and now it put him at a severe disadvantage. Bowser exhaled and grabbed the gaping bite wound on his neck. Blood was still gushing out of it. Bowser could feel the crimson slithering down his arms and dripping into his shell. Even if by some miracle he managed to kill Trowzer, it was too late for him. The damage had been done. One of his arteries had been ruptured beyond repair. Bowser was going to die. But he still pressed on. He dragged his feet across the floor, longing to take his brother to the grave with him. But Trowzer kept backing away, snickering as he watched his brother struggle. Bowser's determination wasn't enough. He closed his eyes for a while before opening them and letting out a long, raspy sigh. Then he slowly fell forward, collapsing on the floor like a falling tree.

No one said anything. No one cheered or clapped or shouted out Trowzer's name with joy. They didn't want to jinx it. Everyone stayed silent and stared at the fallen koopa king. He was breathing in a raspy tone as blood continued to gush out the side of his neck. Trowzer didn't make a move. He stared at his wounded half-brother, wondering if Bowser would muster the strength to stand up. He didn't. After thirty seconds, one of Trowzer's soldiers became impatient. Trowzer heard something clatter on the floor and looked down. Someone tossed a handgun at his feet. Trowzer looked to his right and saw Shannon grinning and nodding his head. The giant behemoth looked around the chamber and could see that other troops were murmuring and nodding their heads or grinning. They all wanted him to finish Bowser. Trowzer grunted as he bent over and picked up the handgun. He pointed it at Bowser's face, but just before he fired, Trowzer lowered the gun and huffed.

"This isn't fair. I…you still deserve a chance, brother."

Bowser flicked his eye at Trowzer and saw him put the gun on the floor. Then Trowzer sat down nonchalantly.

"Come on, brother. The gun's right here. All you have to do is crawl over here and get it."

Bowser knew Trowzer was taunting him again, but he didn't care. The mortally wounded Bowser kept breathing in a raspy tone and coughing as he stared at the gun. Bowser couldn't even get to his knees. All he could do was drag his body across the floor, as though someone had sawed off his legs. Bowser started to pant as he got closer and closer to the gun. It was only a few feet away from him.

"That's it, Bowser…just a little further."

Bowser was fading in and out. He was losing too much blood. Luckily, Bowser finally reached the handgun. He panted as he wrapped his hand around it and started to pick it up. Bowser didn't even get the chance to point it at Trowzer before the blue-shelled monster grabbed the gun and tossed it aside. Bowser let out a soft whining noise and lowered his head and hand. Trowzer stood up and limped over to the gun. Even though he won the fight, Bowser gave him a good beating; he was on the verge of passing out again. Bowser panted and slowly shifted his body around so he could face Trowzer. Somehow, Bowser put his hands on the floor and grunted as he began to lift himself up. He managed to get on his knees, but when Bowser tried to stand, he almost fell back down. So Bowser just stayed on his knees, breathing quietly as he watched Trowzer twirl the handgun with a nasty grin on his face. Then he finally stopped and pointed it right at Bowser's forehead.

"Any last words, Bowser?"

Bowser hadn't felt this hopeless before. He let out a tiny whimper and actually looked like he was about to burst out in tears. Trowzer looked at Bowser's right eye and could see that it was watery. He looked like a helpless wounded doe about to be torn apart by wolves.

"You stole it…you stole everything from me…"

Bowser let out another whimpering sound again, knowing there was no way he could get out of this alive.

"I was supposed to be the villain…"

Trowzer snickered. "My dear brother…you stopped being the villain the moment I showed up."

Trowzer didn't hesitate. He squeezed the trigger and fired. Bowser's eyes grew wide as the bullet quickly zoomed through the air and was aimed right for his forehead. It was all a lie, the whole rumor that your life flashes before your eyes. Bowser didn't have any visions or memories. He couldn't remember all the good times or all the bad times. Nothing flooded his mind. All he could see was the bullet in front of him. Time seemed to slow to a crawl; Bowser could see the bullet slowly moving towards him. He tried to move or dodge it, but unfortunately, time slowed down for him too. There was nothing he could do but stare at the bullet coming towards him. He slowly opened his mouth and tried to jerk his head to the side, but it was all futile. The bullet finally hit him, and everything went dark. Bowser managed to let out one last scream before his body pitched backwards and he fell to the floor with a loud thud. Trowzer stood still and breathed heavily as he clutched the pistol tightly. He watched as steam slowly rose out the barrel before he lowered his gun and grinned.

Nearly all the troops rushed forward and approached Trowzer and Bowser. Trowzer dragged his feet across the floor and looked down at Bowser. He had been shot right in-between the eyes. Blood was pouring out the wound and Bowser's body wasn't even twitching. Some of Trowzer's troops began murmuring to themselves or laughed, mocking Bowser's name. Bowser's turncoat troops shut their eyes or turned their heads, refusing to look at Bowser's body. Trowzer exhaled and tossed the handgun aside.

"No…I'm not taking any chances this time."

Trowzer bent over and grunted with much effort as he picked up Trowzer's body and lifted it over his head. Everyone gasped and backed away as Trowzer ran towards the nearest window he could find. Then Trowzer roared and tossed Bowser's giant body at the window shell first. Bowser's body shattered the window into thousands of tiny shards. He was thrown outside the castle. Bowser's corpse eventually began to descend very quickly, heading towards the ground that was thousands of feet below. Everything that he had worked for, everything that he had built and planned was all gone. The infamous koopa king had been defeated, and now his body was making its way towards a fiery doom. Rivers of lava flowed all around Bowser's domain, and his body was about to plunge into one of them. Trowzer limped his way to the broken window and looked outside. He could see the small speck that was Bowser's cadaver heading for the lava below. Even if, by some miracle, Bowser did not land in the lava and hit the ground, it didn't matter. He had been shot in the head, and the fall would kill him even if he wasn't already dead. Trowzer stared at Bowser's falling body before he stepped away from the broken window and sat on the floor with a hefty sigh.

"I did it," he said quietly. "…I killed him."

Trowzer just sat where he was and started to chuckle to himself as his army began to congratulate him. But Trowzer seemed to ignore their voices. All he could hear were his own demented laughs…

Roy was sitting on a hill miles away from Bowser's castle. The rest of the army was continuing their retreat, but Roy couldn't pry himself away from the beautiful building. Junior noticed that Roy was sitting alone and approached him slowly.

"Let's go, Roy. There's nothing else we can do…"

Roy shook his head slowly. "He took it all, Junior. He took everything away from us…"

Junior put a hand on Roy's right shoulder and exhaled. "I know."

Roy made his left hand into a fist and let out a frustrated sigh that sounded like a sob.

"He's gonna pay…I (censored) swear, that animal is gonna pay. For Iggy, for Larry…everything. One day…Trowzer's going to pay!"

Junior lowered his head and blinked. "Today's not that day, Roy."

Roy unclenched his fist and sobbed for real this time, trying his hardest not to cry again. "I know…and that's the problem. He got everything he ever wanted! And we can't even…"

Junior's eyes became watery. "I know, Roy. I know it's not fair. …But that's just how it is."

Roy sobbed again before he stood up and hugged his brother tightly. It was rare for Roy to do such a thing, but Junior didn't tease him for it or mock his niceness. He just wrapped his arms around Roy as a tear rolled down his face. The brothers embraced for a moment before Roy sniffled and let go of Junior.

"C'mon, let's go…Wendy and the others are waiting."

Roy and Junior looked at the place they used to call their home one last time. Then they turned their heads and began to walk away from the castle, knowing that the war had been lost.

Kooper, Geno, and the other Yoshi rebels were thrown into a large pit, their hands still tied together. Kooper slowly shifted around and sat down against the pit's wall. Some of the rebels swore at Marcus and the other commandos who threw them into the pit, but Kooper, Geno, and a few other rebels kept their mouths.

"I swear, I'm gonna get outta here! You just wait and (censored) see!" shouted a red Yoshi.

"Yeah, yeah, you've been saying that since last night," said Dominic.

Dominic grabbed the giant bamboo grate that was used as a door for the pit and slammed it down. There was no need to lock it; a few commandos kept their eyes on the pit at all times. Anyone who tried to escape would promptly be shot on sight. In fact, a few Yoshis had tried to escape, and they were all shot in the head. Two of their bodies were still resting in the pit as a warning for all the other rebels who thought about escaping. The red Yoshi kept swearing and shouting out Dominic's name, obviously too hell-bent on killing the shady koopa.

"Just shut up already. It's not gonna do any good," said a white Yoshi.

"(Censored) you. I'm not giving up that easily!"

A few of the rebels in the pit sighed and ignored the red Yoshi as he kept shouting. Geno glanced over at Tallard and saw him sitting down, looking the same way Kooper did. Both of them had lost hope over everything; they weren't even trying to think about escaping from the pit. At least, not right now.

"Tallard—"

"Don't talk to me," the orange Yoshi snapped.

Geno sat against the wall again and huffed. Then he blinked and looked at Kooper. The blue-shelled koopa was actually moving now, but he was letting out tiny moans and growls, his eyes red and seemingly feral.

"Kooper?"

Kooper snarled at the doll in response. He didn't want to be bothered either.

"I know it's…Kooper, you have to believe that—"

"No…stop, Geno. Stop. It won't get better."

"Don't you remember what Hooktail said? She-she's coming back, Kooper, with other dragons to help us."

"No, she's not. I don't care if she does. That bitch probably backstabbed us just like Blaze did…don't you think it's odd that she conveniently left before all this happened?"

"That doesn't mean—"

"Geno…shut up. I actually had hope, you know. I thought this would work. I thought we could be heroes without the Mario Bros. coddling us and guiding the way. But after I saw that kid get his brains blown out…I knew that we screwed up. I knew that these koopas would do anything, kill anyone to get what they want. If a twelve-year-old Yoshi can't survive on this island, then what does that mean for us? How long before we end up having our brains blown out too?"

Kooper took a deep breath and shook his head. "I don't care anymore. I don't care if we get rescued. I don't care if we die. All I want to do is make that bastard who shot Ned pay. I don't care if I end up dying in the process. I'm going to kill Marcus, Geno…if it's the last thing I do."

Geno blinked and stopped talking for a long time. When he noticed that Kooper looked like he was about to cry again, Geno opened his mouth and prepared to say something.

"Leave me alone…" said Kooper quietly.

Geno shut his mouth. Maybe there really was nothing they could do—not now anyway. All they could do was sit and wait and hope that Hooktail would return sooner than later. Even then, neither of the heroes was really optimistic. Even if Hooktail showed up in the next five minutes with thirty dragons, the damage had been done. Hundreds of Yoshis—possibly thousands—were dead, and Geno and Kooper had lost a part of themselves they couldn't get back.

Maybe Kooper was right. Maybe there was no hope left for them…

Somewhere beyond Fahr Outpost, a koopaling was lying face-down in the slow. A heavy blizzard had been going on for hours and snow was slowly beginning to bury the koopaling. Ludwig's attempts at finding Fahr Outpost or any form of civilization had failed. He managed to find a cave to sleep in and was lucky enough to build his own fire, but other than that, he hadn't yielded any results. And now he was lying on the ground, unconscious or dead from exhaustion. As the wind howled and the snow fell, a couple of frost piranhas and ice puffs spotted Ludwig's body and began to approach it. One of the ice puffs grinned and floated over to the koopaling, ready to freeze his body completely. The ice puff took a deep breath and prepared to blow its frosty breath on Ludwig. Suddenly, someone or something unleashed a powerful fire attack on the ice puffs and the frost piranhas simultaneously. The fire attack only burned the ice puffs and frost piranhas; Ludwig himself wasn't damaged or hurt by any of the flames. The frosty creatures quickly fled from Ludwig's body and the mysterious creature that cast the fire attack.

The dark figure stepped towards Ludwig's body and looked down at the snow-covered body. It growled gutturally before it bent down and picked up Ludwig's body. Given the creature's burly figure, it had no trouble hauling Ludwig over its shoulder. The creature growled deeply again before it started to walk away, still carrying Ludwig's body over the shoulder…

Lemmy and Morton hadn't said anything for a while. Eventually, Lemmy stopped crying hysterically long enough to tell Morton what happened, at which point both of them started sobbing. There was hugging, sobbing, swearing, then more hugging and banging fists on the kart with frustration. Once all their tears were shed and both brothers had vented all their anger, they hopped into the kart and Morton started to drive away. But they didn't say a thing to each other. At some point though, Morton pulled over to the side of the road and turned off the engine. He took a deep breath and shut his eyes slowly before Lemmy blinked. He didn't pressure Morton to start the kart back up; he knew they needed some time to think.

"…What are we doing?"

Lemmy didn't give a sarcastic reply, even though part of him wanted to. "Saving our brother before it's too late."

"Are we? We've just been driving around getting our asses handed to us for reasons we still don't even fully know yet. We almost died today, Lemmy. That doesn't bother you even a little bit?"

"Of course it does. But we managed to pull through, right?"

"Larry didn't…"

Lemmy looked down and blinked. "No…no, he didn't. But we weren't there, so we don't—"

"Exactly, Lemmy! We weren't there! We were out on the streets on some wild goose chains and we haven't yielded any results! I banged up my body and you broke your leg! That's the only thing we've accomplished!"

"You're forgetting that we know where Ludwig is now, Morton."

"We don't even know how to get there! We don't even know if he's still alive! What if we find Ludwig and he's already—"

"Shut up."

Morton, surprisingly, shut his mouth and took a deep breath.

"You sound like you're blaming me for what happened at the castle."

"We could've been there, Lemmy…we could've helped Larry. We could've fought by his side. But now he's dead, and our empire is pretty much finished. But not everyone's dead. Wendy and Roy and Junior are all still alive and well. Don't you think we should find them first and then go look for Ludwig?"

Lemmy shook his head. "No. It's like you said, Morton: they're alive and well. They're doing fine. Their morale might be shattered, but they've still alive, and that's all that matters. We don't know anything about Ludwig. He's probably being tortured to death as we speak. If we waste all our time trying to regroup with Junior and the others, by the time we finally decide to look for Ludwig, it'll be too late."

"I'm not saying we shouldn't look for him. It's just…do you really wanna waste more time searching for one koopaling instead of three, despite the fact Ludwig may be dead already?"

Lemmy paused for a very long time before relaxing his shoulders and exhaling for a moment. He nodded slowly and gave Morton a simple reply.

"Yeah."

The brothers stared at each other briefly before Morton huffed and started the engine back up.

"I just hope you're right on this."

"I am. Ludwig's still alive. And we're going to find him."

Morton still believed in the back of his head that Ludwig was probably lying on the ground with a bullet in his skull, but he didn't say anything. Morton drove back onto the road, and the koopalings resumed their quest to find Ludwig.

Trowzer wasn't fully healed yet, but after the long fight, some of his troops did supply him with a few healing items for him to eat. The koopa still had the scars and bruises all over his body; part of his cheek was still missing; two giant scars ran down his face. But he didn't care. All that mattered to him was the throne sitting a few feet away from him. Most of his soldiers stood against the wall, watching Trowzer as though he was about to be knighted. Some of his chief lieutenants, such as Shannon and Drazzik, were standing beside the throne and waiting for their ruler to sit upon it.

"Your throne awaits you, King Trowzer!" said Shannon.

Trowzer let out a small laugh. "King you say?"

The blue-shelled behemoth didn't wait any longer. He slowly began to walk towards the throne, not even wincing at the stinging sensation he felt around his body. He didn't limp or slow down; the reptile just walked like any normal koopa would. When he finally reached the glorious throne, he turned around and planted his rear end on the seat. The throne wasn't too hard or soft, too wide or narrow. It was the perfect size for someone of Trowzer's girth. The giant koopa sighed deeply before he looked around the chamber again. This was actually happening. This was actually real. All those dreams he had of this very moment had finally come true. Bowser had been defeated, and now he had taken over his empire and was free to take over the world. Trowzer took a few deep breaths and grasped the sides of the throne he was resting his arms on. Trowzer let out a tiny, happy moan as a smile spread across his face. He almost felt like crying tears of joy. He never felt this accomplished or joyful in his entire life. Trowzer let out a tiny giggle and started talking to himself.

"I did it! I beat him! It's…all of this…it's all mine now! IT'S FINALLY MINE!"

Certain soldiers like Shelly, Green, and Black turned their heads away from Trowzer in disgust. Croco just stared at the beast, grinning like the rest of the soldiers. He had to act just like everyone else so no one would suspect what he was really up to. Trowzer finally broke out into a maniacal fit of laughter as he took in all the joy and pleasure of achieving such a challenging milestone. He was now King Trowzer, the cruelest and most cold-hearted beast in all the lands.

"I'VE WON! MWAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAAAAAAAA !"

Trowzer's demented laughs echoed throughout the chamber, throughout the rest of the castle. The monster just sat on his new throne, laughing like a madman, knowing that he was the new evil that would soon plague the Mushroom Kingdom…

TO BE CONTINUED…