A burst of flame shot right out of Bowser's mouth, hurling straight towards us. We both jumped away in opposite directions, avoiding the hole. We slid towards the edges of the ship. Bowser then darted towards Mario. Every step he took pounded the wooden floor. Mario tried shooting his fireball at Bowser's face, but he covered his face with his arm. I tried hurling some too, but he blocked it with his shell. The fireballs were like sparks to him.
Bowser jumped towards Mario, arms out, ready to sink his claws into him, but Mario was nimble. He ducked, jumped back, and slid past the incoming slashes. He then jumped and gave Bowser an uppercut to the jaw, sending both of them to the air. To make distance, Mario kicked him with both legs back to the other side of the hole. Bowser was able to get back up, but he did have a hard time getting back up after landing on his spiked shill. He regained his composure, more furious than ever.
"Luigi! I have a plan!"
I was thinking the same thing. Bowser's front looks like his only weakness, so it's time we exposed it together.
One battle cry later, we both charged straight to the enemy. As Mario ran around the sides, I jumped straight across the hole. I dodge Bowser's fireball midair as I landed across. Mario threw punches and kicks at his chest, while I stayed at a distance by shooting fire wherever my brother wasn't attacking. Unfortunately, Bowser seemed to be trained for this instance, blocking my flames with his back and slashing at Mario to force his distance.
I needed to help my brother recuperate. I used the ship's walls to perform my special horizontal jump, shooting myself like a missile towards Bowser's face. I hit him…straight on his jaw. Seeing him take damage made my confidence resurge.
Looks like we do have a chance. But now, Bowser looked even angrier and roared an ear-bursting roar. The fight wasn't over yet, but I knew how this was going to end. I was that confident now, and it seemed Mario was just as sure.
"Alright, let's go again!" Mario said.
The battle continued. It was like a chess match, taking turns making moves. Punch, kick, slash, dodge, counterattack, jump, and fire. We each landed hits and took hits, but nothing was effective to end the battle. We were all getting weary, ready for the moment to strike the final blow.
After all this fighting, I think we'll reach a stalemate. "Luigi, get close to Bowser and fire at close range!"
Close range? What kind of plan is this? Doesn't he see the claws on that thing? But it was a plan, and right now, I wanted to end this before I collapse of exhaustion. As Mario ran towards Bowser, he started punching and clawing at him, which gave me a target at Bowser's face. I came close, shooting at his head. Bowser looked quite tired of this trick. He shielded the fireballs with his arms and tried to turn his shell towards me.
" Keep on him!" Mario shouted. So, I did, running in the same direction Bowser was turning.
In fury, Bowser started shooting at me. I dodged as much as I could, but one of them hit me right in my chest, sending me soaring backwards, right into the hole. I quickly grabbed a plank that was barely connected to the floor we were on. I struggled to get back up, but I saw Bowser running towards me, wanting to give me the final strike.
But then, he tripped, falling right on his stomach. I was perplexed, but I took no time to climb back up. Suddenly Bowser was sliding on the wooden floor, what seemed to be all on his own. That was more perplexing. But I saw Mario grabbing and swinging him by the tail.
The tail, of course. That's his other weakness. I was glad Mario figured it out. Mario kept on swinging, faster and faster, until Bowser stopped dragging on the floor and started suspending in air.
I turned towards King Koopa, seeing if he was going to do something. But he didn't. He just stood there with his usual grimacing face. It looked sadder and angrier, like he was disappointed.
Mario kept swinging faster until he reached the edge of the hole. Finally, with one more swing, he threw Bowser directly into the air. He broke the top deck, soared upward, hit one of the ship's propellers, then crashed back down through the top deck, landing back on the engine floor.
He just laid there. Did we just defeat King Koopa's son? Mario was out of breath as he put his hands on his knees. My knees fell to the floor.
"No…no…I can't lose…not to you plumbers!" Bowser was getting back up, groaning in pain and in embarrassment.
Mario's righteous fury came through all his weariness. "It's over Bowser. You lost. Now turn this ship around and call off your army before we throw you and your dad out."
"Father?" Bowser looked at King Koopa. He looked like he wanted to know what his father had to say. But all King Koopa did…was turn his back and walked away.
Bowser's eye grew in shock and in sadness. He reached out his hand. "Father, wait!" At this point, both of them knew he failed. His sad face turned to anger. He looked right toward us. His pupils shrank to the size of dots.
"Mario…You…You." He started breathing in. His mouth turned a glowing orange and yellow, getting bigger and bigger…Just like the "star" Mario Jr. saw. He was charging a fire blast to end it all.
"Look out!" Mario shout.