It rained calamity all around the top of Cosmos Peak. The clandestine battle left much of the mountain torn and jagged, and became more as it drew to a climactic close. The great monstrosity that straddled the mountaintop huffed loudly from the exertions of the struggle, but still he remained aglow with innate fury as he stared down at his bothersome foe. Despite the power surge of the absorbed Grand Stars, Bowser had become winded from the drawn-out battle and had lost patience. Behind him, the maelstrom formed by his unrestrained cosmic power continued to spin and draw in loose bits of the mountain, its suction having grown more wild as the battle progressed.
Even with all the chaos going on around him, Mario held his ground and looked hard at his long-time, now-gargantuan foe. With the fate of the Mushroom Kingdom and the support of all his friends riding on his squat shoulders, he wasn't going to back down.
The great tyrant Koopa hefted himself into a formidable stance and glared fiercely at the pint-sized plumber, then roared out, "YOU'VE ANNOYED ME LONG ENOUGH, MARIO! I'M DONE PLAYING AROUND; IT'S SQUASHING TIME!"
As the massive Koopa raised a boulder-sized fist to carry out his intent, a small yellow ball with feet zipped out from behind Mario and took up position over his signature hat. Over the constant shriek of the nearby cosmic storm, the little star sprite shouted, "Do it now, Mario! Use the Magna Star, while he's weakened!"
Mario nodded at Starlow's prompt, then reached deep into his overalls. With a quick pull he brought out the coveted Magna Star and raised it high over his head, the raw crimson of its energy radiating outward. A surge of its power fired an energy wave, shaking everything around it and even causing Bowser to halt his strike. The vibrations had a noticeable effect on the swirling space maelstrom, causing it to spiral and shudder more violently.
The Magna Star rose out of the plumber's grasp before letting off another energy wave. This latest burst was aimed directly at the maelstrom, and it resulted in the vortex's sudden unraveling. Before Bowser could say or do anything, his precious maelstrom entered a new phase of suction, pulling its own outer wisps into a newly-formed black hole. Being close as he was, Bowser's gargantuan girth got caught into the incredible suction and felt himself being pulled off the mountain. The Koopa King leaned forward desperately to maintain balance, but the pull was too great, and with a surprised roar and a flailing of limbs he was sucked into the heart of his own creation along with much of the mountain. As his head plunged into darkness, a massive thundercrack brought immediate silence.
It was a heavy low rumble he noticed first, just as darkness gave way to gray beneath him. Amidst boulders and cloud vapor, Bowser found himself plummeting beneath and away from an overcast sky. He had no volition to speak, instead only staring up at the dark hole that closed and disappeared a hundred feet overhead. The relative silence and loftiness of his freefall gave him a confused sense of tranquility, but that swiftly ended the moment he hit the ground.
A vast dust cloud rose up from his landing, but not much else. The sounds of him and the boulders hitting the ground came off as deep thumps, which ceased completely when the last boulder impacted. Lying for a few moments more, Bowser hefted himself back onto his massive feet and shook off dirt before looking around. Through the fading dust cloud he beheld nothing but barren, cracked wastes for endless miles all around, with no breaks in the oppressing clouds overhead either.
Bowser grumbled deeply as he turned around, seeing the same thing everywhere he turned. There were tilted, jagged ruins here and there, but they were so weathered they were hardly recognizable to the koopa's gigantic perspective. With no immediate destination in sight, Bowser huffed loudly and muttered to himself just as loudly.
"Where'd that idiot land me? Looks nothing like anywhere in or around the Mushroom Kingdom… Grahh, that Mario's gonna get such a stomping for getting me lost like this. And grumbling's not gonna get me anywhere. Guess I'll just head out until I see something familiar. But… which way do I go?"
He scanned the vast wastes again for any overlooked landmark, some indication of familiar territory. Turning around completely, he stopped his search and gave a "Huh?" at the sight before him. A good portion of the clouds had become a striking black against the surrounding grey, much like an oncoming lightning storm. But there were no flashes of light, nor sounds of thunder. It did appear to be coming closer, though.
"That can't be good. Wait… what's in there?"
He looked more closely at the area below the dark clouds, where for some reason it appeared thickest. The clouds seemed to be billowing, bulging outward as though pulling along the clouds above. Then a deep thump filled the air, followed by another. A steady rhythm of sound, coming from the approaching cloud wall. As Bowser squinted at the anomaly, he pulled back upon seeing two beads of light from within the coal blackness. A chill quickly went down his spine as the cloud mass took on a very solid shape, with two thick clawed arms and a blunt snout jutting out from the vapors. Eventually the cloud cover gave way and the koopa saw the mass for what it truly was: a towering reptile, spine rife with jagged spikes and with a very thick neck leading down to a long tail that dragged behind its heavy footsteps.
The creature seemed entirely engulfed in shadow despite having stepped out from the clouds, the only parts of its surface discernible being the creature's teeth, claws, and large piercing eyes, which appeared focused on the koopa as it steadily approached him. Seeing the beast for what it is, though, gave Bowser back his feeling of certainty.
"Hrn, some big lizard. A bit on the chunky side, heheh."
An especially deep stomp announced the creature's halt as it took a bold stance only a few hundred yards from Bowser. It sniffed the air, not taking its eyes off Bowser, before hunching forward and letting out a screeching roar. It was the sort of call Bowser knew all too well.
"Oh, ya wanna rumble? Heh, okay, tubby." The koopa pounded a fist into his palm before raising his dukes. "I'm down for some trouble."
The creature let off another roar before breaking into a stomping sprint at the koopa. In response, Bowser spread out his legs and braced himself as the hundreds of yards separating the two quickly dwindled. Soon there was impact, but Bowser managed to grasp the lizard's claws and held his ground with a resounding thud. The hulking assailant tried to push back, but the koopa kept it at bay with relative ease, grinning the whole time. Then with a forceful shove Bowser pushed the creature back, and as it stumbled back unbalanced he followed up with a massive fist straight into the creature's thick chest. The beast stumbled more from this, but soon caught itself and lunged back at Bowser with a screech.
Bowser threw up his arms upon contact, throwing aside the creature's own limbs and leaving it exposed to another heavy punch to the shoulder. That latest blow sent the beast reeling around, stomping off to the side in an effort to keep itself balanced. Bowser gave a throaty laugh at the sight.
"That all you got?"
The creature slowly turned around at Bowser's jest, but in a split second it put on some extra speed and weight into swinging around its great tail. Bowser was a bit quicker, however, as he raised up both his great palms to catch the tail in front of him. With his opponent struggling to pull away from this abrupt turn, the koopa obliged by shoving the tail into the creature's spiny back, forcing it into another graceless stumble that brought it down onto a knee. It recovered with surprising quickness, though, and reared around to go at Bowser with its claws. Again, Bowser knocked aside the coming claws and slammed his head forward into the beast's snout, conking it into a momentary daze.
The koopa capitalized on this by sending a hard left jab into the creature's side, then a one-two punch into its chest that brought it down to a knee once more. Finally, a devastating downward strike onto the creature's head sent it crumbling back onto the ground, a low dust veil rising up from the impact. Bowser smirked and patted his claws as the dust settled.
"Had too much of a bad day as is, but I really needed that. You should get in better shape next time, heh."
As Bowser prepared to turn and leave, a low groaning caught his attention. From the barren earth the creature lifted itself up, head kept low as it arduously brought its feet under its knees. Bowser only sneered at seeing his opponent struggle just to stand.
"Still want some more?" he gloated as his foe got back on both its feet, body still hunched over. "Guess you oughta learn when to stay down!"
A flying fist punctuated Bowser's statement, but a muffled slapping of flesh ended his good mood right away. One of the creature's claws had shot up to meet Bowser's fist, stopping it and holding it away from its head. Bowser didn't see the thing's arm move, but he simply gritted his teeth and pushed his fist against the obstruction. This met with surprising resistance, though, leaving the koopa's arm to shudder as it remained in place.
Suddenly he felt the opposing claws grip around his fist, steadily squeezing with growing pressure. As Bowser tried to grasp what was going on, the creature finally raised its head and faced Bowser directly. Soul-piercing eyes met Bowser's own, and the koopa felt his mind go numb. As the pressure of the claw grew tighter, the lips of the beast pulled back to bare its sharp teeth in a low, deadly snarl. Then, complete silence.
InEvItAbLe
The next sound was of tearing flesh and bone as the creature snapped Bowser's arm forcefully up at a hideous angle. What followed was neither yell nor bellow nor roar, but a scream of sheer agony and terror. Before Bowser could do something more than look and wail at his torn limb, the creature lunged forward and latched its razor teeth into the base of the koopa's neck and shoulder. Bowser's scream instantly became a gurgled cry as waves of crimson shot outward upon the gray surroundings, drenching the dry earth with Bowser's life essence. The creature kept gnawing deeper into the sensitive muscle, then yanked back with a good chunk of turtle meat in its mouth.
The most Bowser could do with his freedom was stumble and fall back onto his shell, whimpering incoherently as he reached up with his one good arm to feel the gaping hole in his neck. He barely managed to bring his dripping claws before his eyes, whose vision began to quaver and dim from the heavy blood loss. With his mind reeling into a stupor and the world around him becoming even grayer, Bowser looked to the monster that stood before him.
His own blood dripped from the beast's mouth, coating much of its front in gore. The piercing eyes had taken on a radiant, frenzied hue that made it the one persisting light in Bowser's fading vision, until a new light appeared behind the creature: smoky blue, and getting brighter. This new light then appeared within the monster's maw, and from it came a blast of flame that overtook Bowser in an instant. As the flames cooked away the koopa, filling his remaining senses with searing pain and heat, his mind and sight finally, mercifully, gave in to gentle darkness. Cold, endless.
InEsCaPaBlE
His eyelids fluttered open as he awoke with a start, only to be followed by a groan as his senses returned to him. He found himself lying flat on his back, not in a wasteland but on a very large, plush bed in the center of a stony chamber. His bedroom. Also, most of his limbs were either bandaged or covered in plaster, with one of his legs being hung up in a sling. No doubt the source of his aches. Beside the bed, a short withered crone with glasses and purple robe grinned with satisfaction.
"Ah, Your Wretchedness, you've regained consciousness. Most splendid."
The sound of Kammy's voice was something of a reassurance, but heavy thoughts smoldered in Bowser's mind. With a grumble he asked, "What… what happened?"
"That star Mario pulled out caused the cosmic storm to unravel, which did a number on you, as you can see. More banged up than usual, I'd say. You've been unconscious for two days."
"Two days?" Vague recollections of desolation, grayness, burning, and the beast floated around as his mind refocused, battling a lingering sense of unrealness. Oblivious to his conflict, Kammy chewed on.
"Certainly not the worst tumble you had. Not by a long shot. You turned out better than after that scuffle with the Dark Star, I say. That odious plumber has to do a whole lot worse to put you down for long… Um, is something the matter, Your Cruelness?"
One vivid memory rang loud in his thoughts: the tearing, the indescribable pain. Gingerly, he brought over his right arm and to look at it. Bandaged up, but still whole and intact. He flexed his claws. Barely any soreness.
"Lord Bowser?"
His underling's query brought him back to the present, and he turned to Kammy briefly. "Huh? Oh, yeah." Just as quickly, he looked back to his arm and watched his flexing digits again. "No sweat…"
Satisfied by this, Kammy gave a nod and began to waddle out. "I'll just head down to the kitchens and have the cooks ready a proper supper. Let them know the royal appetite is up and running again, kwehehehe."
The shriveled koopa cackled her way out of the bedroom and down the spacious hall, leaving Bowser to silence and his own troubled thoughts. Had it really been a dream? Exactly what was that thing he saw, and why now of all times? There were no immediate answers, but he could at least take solidarity in one sobering realization:
That had been close. More so than any other time. Maybe… I should take it more easy next time. Or, probably… be a lot more careful.
A mild shudder went through him upon finishing that thought, but he put it aside as he gave himself to his convalescence. For the time being at least, he can rest comfortably and be served on claw and foot by his subjects. With that in mind, he let out a sigh and dug his head more comfortably into his overstuffed pillows, taking in the silence and continuing to flex his claws. Can't go getting a cramp now, can we?