A/N: Just a short note about Giga Bowser: I'm not the first author who's worked him/it into a non-Super Smash Bros. story and taken much liberty with his origins. However, as SSB isn't Mario, but a crossover series about trophies that come to life and duke it out, I feel no obligation to uphold its canonicity. But enough of my fanatical ranting, and on with the story!
Chapter 19: Appetite
It started out as a peaceful trip: just Mario, Luigi, Peach and Daisy, with Toad piloting their little yacht. They had been worried that they would run into the bad weather that had ravaged Channel K the day before, but when the morning of their cruise arrived, it was bright and sunny. They left early in the morning after bidding Toadsworth and King Toadstool farewell, and by lunchtime they were in the heart of the archipelago.
They were cruising by Sogapalag Island when things went wrong. Daisy was absentmindedly watching the impressive yet dull cliffs ringing the isle when she saw a mysterious flash of light, and an echoing explosion. The boat wasn't very close to the island, and the others were too busy chatting as they prepared lunch to hear anything, but Daisy now had her full attention on the island. She could see something burning, and wondered what it was, or what was happening. Suddenly there were more flashes of light, and Daisy couldn't stay silent any more. "Hey guys! There's something going on on that island!"
"What do you mean?" asked Peach, but as she saw the flashing lights on the islands she got her answer.
"I think it's a fight!" said Daisy.
"Ooh, maybe we should get outta here," shivered Luigi.
"Oh no! We have to-a-stop it!" cried Mario heroically.
"But what if it's pirates?" yelped Luigi.
"What if it's someone innocent getting attacked?" interjected Peach. "We can't just turn our backs."
"Oh yeah! Toad! Take us to the-a-island!"
"If you say-so!" chirped the faithful retainer. The fighting on the island had stopped, but as the boat neared the island the vacationers caught a glimpse of an eerie black… thing. And what looked like someone leaping from higher up the cliff, and suddenly a horrible shrieking filled the air.
Peach was instantly reminded of Bowselta's cry in the dungeons, mere days ago – no, less than that. "Faster Toad!" she gasped. The boat ripped forward through the water; the last thing the group saw above them was a horrible black blob. The yacht pitched in the rough waters, threatening to smash into the cliff or the rocks at its base, but Mario paid the danger no heed as he leapt from the craft and onto the rock wall.
He jumped between tiny ledges and protrusions in the cliff, followed closely by Luigi, Daisy and Peach. Toad was forced to stay behind and keep the boat afloat, in case his friends found the need for a quick getaway, which, as a grotesque roar filled the air, Toad figured would happen quite soon.
-x-
The sight that met the humans as they reached the plateau would forever stick in their minds. Bowser was there, shrouded in a black cloak, carrying a golden staff tipped with a glowing green gem, and with a Magikoopa floating at his shoulder (if they didn't know Kamek was dead, they would have sworn it was him). But what was truly shocking was the monster that stood in the middle of the ledge. It looked like Bowser, but was three or four times as large, darker in colour, and ugly beyond belief.
"What the- who are you?" demanded 'Bowser'.
"It's-a-me! Mario!" responded the plumber automatically.
"Why'd he have to ask?" muttered Luigi suspiciously.
Just then, Daisy and Peach appeared. The latter stared at 'Bowser' and the monster, but the sight at the other end of the plateau made her cry out. "The Koopalings!"
"Peach!" croaked Ludwig, he and the others didn't look good. They were with some other Dragon-Koopas Peach had never seen before, one of which looked like a living skeleton. There was fear in all of their eyes.
"What-" Peach's question was cut short as Daisy shouted in fear. The Mushroom Princess whipped around to see the monster charging right at her and her friends.
"Oh noooo!" cried Mario, lunging towards the beast, whipping out a Fire Flower as he went. Luigi swallowed a Super Mushroom and charged up his Thunderbrand as one of the monster's hands came towards him. The plumbers sprang in a whirlwind of fire and electricity, but in a flash, Mario was sent flying, and Luigi was lifted up into the air by the creature.
"Whaaa!" he cried, shocking the monster with his Thunderbrand even as his Mushroom powers seeped out of him. The beast roared and flung Luigi into the air. The green plumber fell, flailing his arms uselessly as Giga Bowser's jaws filled his field of vision.
"Luigi!" screeched Daisy as her boyfriend was swallowed by the monstrosity.
"Oh my!" gasped Peach, standing in total shock (just like the Koopalings and their friends) as Daisy rushed the beast.
"Oh nooooo!" screamed Mario, making a run at King Morton Koopa, but he was forcibly made airborne once more, this time by Kamek.
Daisy jumped up at her opponent, filling the airs with flower petals. But they did the Sarasaland Princess no good as Giga Bowser swiped them away, freezing her with the attack. It then turned and blasted Mario with fire, singeing the plumber and sending him careening to the ground, where it pinned him with a massive foot.
It turned back and ducked its head, smashing the ice block with its fangs and gulping down the princess that was inside. It swung its head towards Mario, but before it could eat its next victim the air was filled with bombs. Having come to her senses, Peach decided to (grudgingly) take a page from Wario and Waluigi's book and employ one of her rarely used and most hated magical defenses. But to her horror, the bombs didn't do much to the monster, just make it mad.
It roared and Peach hoped it would charge, forgetting about Mario and giving him another chance to attack. But it was apparently smarter than that, and even as Mario set its foot ablaze with his Firebrand, Giga Bowser's drooling snout made a final approach. Peach screamed as it took Mario's head and ripped him from under the foot. It flipped its skull, and the plumber screamed as his body spun between the jaws before following Luigi and Daisy to a gruesome fate.
Peach couldn't believe what was happening. She shot a fleeting glance over her shoulder to discover the Koopalings frozen in fear and horror, before glaring at 'Bowser'. "What are you doing?"
"Feeding my son," growled Morton. "He's got a big appetite." With that, Giga Bowser charged again, but Peach was faster. She dived past the gaping jaws and ran between the thing's legs, she flung a frying pan at Kamek, and as he whacked it away with a spell she blasted him with a bomb. Morton's eyes widened as Peach pulled out another bomb, but before she could throw it, a massive hand seized her from behind. The bomb slid from her fingers as Princess Peach Toadstool was plunged headfirst down Giga Bowser's throat.
-x-
The Koopalings, Bowser, Bowselta, Luke and Alexis were frozen in shock as Peach's final scream echoed off the cliffs. Once more, the air became filled with Morton's deranged laughter.
"Fools! At least you got a preview of your own fate!" Morton cackled as Giga Bowser turned and blasted the unseen ship at the foot of the cliff. The deadly explosion echoed around the island's exterior as the monster faced its next victims. With a roar, it charged, belching a monstrous flame at the group. As the fire rushed towards him, Prince Bowser felt a determination in him he never felt before: he had come too far for it to end like this.
He spat his own flame towards the oncoming inferno; by normal standards it was big, but compared to the Giga's it was puny. But a split second later, his was joined by Luke and Alexis' attacks, and then by Ludwig and Lemmy's (the other Koopalings weren't old enough to manage anything greater than single fireballs). The streams of fire met in mid air, deflecting the other flare. But Giga Bowser, still exhaling its fire, was closing the distance between it and its prey once more, and soon it would be all over.
"Oh no you don't!" cried a voice from on-high, as Kammy dived past the lip of the Island's rock wall, sending a triad of spinning shapes into the flames, ending the stalemate with an explosion.
Kamek gasped in horror as Giga Bowser turned its attention to Kammy, narrowly missing her with another stream of flames. He turned to Morton pleadingly. "Stop it! That's my sister!"
"NO ONE DISOBEYS ME!" roared Morton, smacking his oldest friend and Chief Advisor away. Kamek's eyes were wide as he barely avoided falling of his broom. He stared at Morton for a second, overwhelmed by the betrayal, but as another roar shook the plateau, the old Magikoopa steeled himself and shot forward. Kammy had been doing okay, but she had to get in close to land any attacks, and the fancy maneuvering was not the aging witch's her forte at all. With a cry she was knocked from her broom, and screamed as she fell towards Giga Bowser's yawning mouth.
She never reached it. Kamek grabbed her arm, yanking her up and out of harm's way.
"Kamek?" she gasped. "What's going on?"
"No time to explain," he said, trying to swing her up behind him on the broom. Giga Bowser had been kept busy by a barrage of fireballs from the Dragon-Koopas below, but managed to send another blast of its own fire skyward.
"No!" cried Kamek, seeing the attack coming and trying in vain to fly away, but the strain of holding Kammy was too much, and the flames engulfed the two Magikoopas. They fell towards the ground, being scooped up by the monster on the way and eaten alive, just like the last people who tired to stop Morton's creation.
This time, the Giga immediately went after the Dragon-Koopas, but when they tried to counter, its flame barreled right through their attacks. The ground shattered, sending the group flying backwards into the cliff.
"It absorbs the power of whatever it eats!" cried Alexis, pushing herself up from the floor.
"We are so dead," moaned Luke, as the group watched the beast stomp towards them.
Then, for the second time that day, fire rained down from the heavens, this time clipping Giga Bowser in the face, making it rear up in anger. The Koopalings and their companions looked up to see two figures sliding down the nearly vertical cliff to their left. With a final spring, Queen Bowselta Koopa skidded to a halt, her back to her children and her snarling face towards the monster. King Bowser thudded down beside her, but his expression immediately turned to that of horrified alarm. "Holy shit! What is that thing!"
Across the ledge, King Morton chuckled. "Well, well, well, I'm surprised to see you here so soon."
Bowselta blinked. "Is that-"
"King Morton Koopa!" crowed the villain. "I followed your little brats through the Magic Mirror – back to their world from my own."
"But- how? …Wha?" Bowser was utterly confused.
"Morton's trying to kill us!" exclaimed Ludwig.
"That thing just ate Kammy and Kamek and the Marios!" cried Morton Jr.
"And Mama Peach!" added Bowser Jr.
"Oh, and Daisy too," continued Morton.
"And he killed Mom," breathed Prince Bowser.
King Bowser stared at his alternate self, before looking at Luke and Alexis and back to King Morton. "What the hell's going on!"
"Don't worry," sneered the other King of the Koopas. "You won't be confused for long." On cue, Giga Bowser roared and charged.
Queen Bowselta and her husband shot more fireballs at the beast, and the alternate reality Koopa siblings followed suit.
"Our only hope's to destroy Giga Bowser!" cried Alexis.
"Excuse me?" gasped the befuddled King Bowser.
"Not you, it!" Alexis pointed at the Giga with her wand, making the best of it by sending a crackling spell at the creature.
"It's what he named that thing," elaborated Iggy.
"Who cares? We can't stop something like that!" cried Luke in despair as Giga Bowser was barely beaten back by the Koopa King and Queen's next bursts of fire.
"Don't be so negative!" protested Lemmy.
"I'm with him," whined Junior. "It ate Mario, what chance do we have?"
"Especially if it consumed his power," added Wendy.
"And the other humans', and Kammy's and Kamek's," continued Morton Jr.
"If vee just stand around and give up, vee'll certainly die! Is zat vat you vant?" snapped Ludwig, tearing his eyes off the barrage of fire, thunder and magic the adult Dragon Koopas (except Bowselta Parakay) were currently using to hold off Giga Bowser.
"Ludwig's right, we have ta fight!" roared Roy.
"No!" Bowselta Koopa whirled around. "You are NOT going up against that thing."
"But you need us!" insisted Ludwig.
"No we don't, it's six against one as it is," began Bowselta.
"Five to one, actually," admitted her alternate self, holding out her de-clawed fingers. "I'm afraid Morton made sure I'd be no use as a fighter years ago."
Queen Bowselta stared at her woebegone doppelganger in horror when Alexis turned around. "We can't hold him off like this!"
"Then we'll fight tooth and claw!" announced Queen Bowselta, looking back her fellow combatants. They still had their backs to her as they continued to try and hold off the Giga, but they listened all the same. "We'll go in close, and overwhelm it. It can't aim at all of us."
"But we'll get eaten!" exclaimed Luke.
"It's better than getting barbecued staying here!" roared Prince Bowser. "What do we have to lose? This way we can lure it away from them too." He looked over his shoulder at this, making eye contact with his Bowselta.
"Great! Then let's GO!" King Bowser broke away from the line, charging towards the monster that bore his name. The other four fighters followed and before the Giga knew what was going on, it was surrounded by angry Dragon-Koopas. The Bowsers circled around the outside, blasting the monster with thunder and fire. Alexis and Luke took each other's hands and spun themselves around, leaving a trail of holograms in their wake, which flooded onto Giga Bowser. The originals jumped up too, Luke scratching and biting, and Alexis racking the burning tips of her and Ludwig's wands across the thing's skin.
Bowselta's attack was similar to the twins', as she jumped up and slashed at the beast with her sword, splashing its black blood over her arms and body. The beast roared and swung its arms at its assailants, trying to knock them off. The first real blow came when it kicked out and sent Luke tumbling across the plateau towards the edge. He dug in his claws and got to his feet. "Why's it always the cute, funny guy that gets it?" he moaned to no one in particular as he ran back to the action.
Prince Bowser got clipped with an ice-slash, but Alexis melted him with a spell before the Giga could scoop him up. "Thanks!" he called.
"You owe me one!" she responded, narrowly avoiding a swipe of her own, but getting snatched up by the other hand. She screamed as the monster flipped her into its mouth, saved only by the fact that she was too large to swallow in one gulp like the rest. Instead its teeth sunk into Alexis' torso as she howled in pain.
"No!" cried Prince Bowser. As much as he loathed his sister at times, he also loved her, and jumped up to save her, blasting the monster's head with fire and smashing his shell into its throat. The dual attack startled the creature, and Alexis fell from its jaws, hitting the ground with a thud. "Lexie!" cried Bowser, using a long-lost childhood nickname as he dropped to his knees over his bleeding sister.
"Ugh, don't… call... 'Lexie'…" she moaned.
"Thank Koopa!" gasped Prince Bowser, before spitting onto his hands and running them over her worst wounds.
"Hey!" she was suddenly wide-awake and smacking her brother. "Perv!"
"Spit's liquid-bandages!" he responded.
"I'll lick my own – look out!" Alexis snatched one of her wands from the dirt, sending a spell over her brother's shoulder and blasting the giant foot that would have crushed them both otherwise. The Giga roared and staggered backwards, nearly squashing Luke instead. "Now you owe me double!"
"But I saved you just now!"
"I wouldn't've been nabbed if I hadn't saved you first: all you did was make up for your mistake!" Alexis was furious as she picked up the second wand and ran after Giga Bowser, doing a pirouette as she went to surround herself with holograms, hoping they would keep her from being grabbed again.
Prince Bowser was a mix of anger at her childish behavior, and fear at how close she had come to death. He got up and returned to the fight.
-x-
Watching from the side-lines, the battle was pandemonium to the Koopalings and Bowselta Parakay. They couldn't understand how the Giga was keeping track of its opponents, but it seemed one step ahead of them at every turn. It would turn around when someone tried to jump up from behind, it would always target the real Alexis or Luke amidst a sea of clones, it would always kick and swipe at the right time. True, the Dragon-Koopas were dealing lots of damage, but they were taking nearly as much.
"How is it so good?" asked Bowselta rhetorically.
The Koopalings winced as King Bowser sustained a nasty blow from the monster's tail. "They'll never win at this rate," said Wendy.
"Did you see Alexis's close-call? It's only a matter of time before someone's not so lucky," said Junior darkly.
"Oh, that's a lovely thing to say! Just lovely!" spat Wendy.
"You started it!"
"Enough! Zat's not helping anyvone!" bellowed Ludwig.
"It's not like we can help!" exclaimed Iggy in frustration.
"Why won't she let you fight?" asked Bowselta.
"She's afraid for our safety," scoffed Roy.
The cripple shook her head. "She's partially right. You'd probably not last long out there."
"Oh yeah? Why do you say that?" challenged Junior.
"Because we're bite-sized!" grinned Morton.
"How can you treat this as a joke?" gasped Wendy.
"I'm not – it's the truth. Giga Bowser'd scarf us down and have even more power to kill the rest!"
"Now who's being morbid?" leered Junior.
Larry and Lemmy stood apart from the others. Larry was intently watching the Giga for some sort of clue about how it fought so well. Lemmy just wanted away from his siblings' infighting. His morose gaze drifted to King Morton, who stood away from the violence, unmolested. With his Magikoopa body-guard gone, Morton didn't want anyone to come near his person, and at the beginning of the battle, Giga Bowser did everything it could to block anyone who tried to branch off and go after its maker. Soon Bowselta Koopa had cried "forget Morton!" and the others obeyed.
Even the Koopalings obeyed, and were too busy fighting with each other or watching their parents fight for their lives to pay Morton any heed. But Lemmy thought it was a bit odd how he was moving his arms and staff as he watched the fight. It was like a bad cheer, or like Roy when he watched boxing and mimed along with the TV. Except, as Morton dipped and swung the staff, Lemmy realized he wasn't copying Giga Bowser – the monster was copying him.
"It's Morton!" he gasped, Larry looked at him, and then at King Morton. He watched as the sorcerer appeared to mutter something, and how Giga Bowser instantly turned around and lashed at Bowselta, who had been poised to jump up onto his back from behind.
"You're right," said Larry.
"Guys!" cried Lemmy, hurrying back to the others. "I know what's going on!"
-x-
With a yelp, King Bowser felt a set of gargantuan toes nail him in the stomach. He fell back and just had time to see cavernous, bloody holes in his belly before a massive hand slammed down onto him and lifted him mercilessly into the air. He shot a blast of fire at the Giga's face, but it countered with its own, singing the King of the Koopas. It would have bitten off his head there and then if Bowselta had not used the fire as cover to leap to her mate's rescue. With a grunt, she swung her sword, completely chopping off the fingers holding Bowser captive.
The King hit the ground, surrounded by the severed digits, which promptly turned to seething black goo right in his face. He struggled to push himself up and away from the mire but Giga Bowser's foot came down fast and hard on the Dragon-Koopa's back, and slammed him back into the granite ground. The monster didn't even care about the spikes sticking its foot as it swatted at Bowselta in rage. She dodged the bloody hand, but the other set of claws raked her side, sending her careening into the ground. She tumbled over, looking down to see her leg had been slashed open: the skin and scales hung ragged as the muscles quivered in plain sight, blood pouring down onto the rocks.
Like Prince Bowser, Bowselta slathered her hand in spit, smoothing the severed skin back over the open wound, hoping it wouldn't be too large to self-coagulate before long. The gash continued up her body, but she had no time to do more than a patch job as she turned her attention back to Giga Bowser. The Koopa siblings had kept it too distracted to finish off the fallen king and queen, but it still had Bowser pinned belly-down and unable to manage a single counter-attack. Bowselta moved to get up, but the injured leg gave out beneath her, stinging even more as she landed with her body pushing it into the gravel and dust.
Her movement alerted Giga Bowser and it smacked Luke away nonchalantly, glaring down at the queen and preparing to blast her with fire. With no time to lose, she reached over her shoulder, her hand closing around a handle in her Hammerspace. She flung the dagger immediately, sending it spinning end-over-end – right into Giga Bowser's right eye.
It roared in pain and King Bowser used the opportunity to wrench himself free of its foot. He scrambled away on all fours, before turning and sending a blast of electricity at the Giga, forcing it back even more. Now it was Luke's turn: with a crazed war-cry, he let lose a flurry of Hammers, pelting Giga Bowser with the projectiles.
"Good idea!" called Prince Bowser, copying his brother's move. Alexis didn't inherit the ability of enhanced Hammerspace, so she let loose with a flurry of blinding and painful spells instead. The Giga roared and flailed, not noticing as King Bowser flung Bowselta into the air until it was too late. The sword that once belonged to Queen Churcha Katrooka was driven deep into Giga Bowser's chest: the entire blade disappeared – only the hilt, held firmly in Bowselta's grip remained clear. The monstrosity gave an unearthly roar as Bowselta fell away, dragging the weapon with her.
Her leg crumbled upon her landing, but both Bowsers were at her side, hoisting her up and racing after Luke and Alexis, back to the Koopalings and the other Bowselta as Giga Bowser crashed to the ground behind them. They reached the group and turned, grinning with bloodthirsty satisfaction and panting with exhaustion as they saw the beast dying in a puddle of (mostly) black blood.
Then Morton started laughing. "Idiots, you think you'll get away so easily?" He raised his staff high in the air, setting it aglow. Instantly, both Morton and Giga Bowser were surrounded in an eerie black aura. The blood was seeping back from the rocks, and the monster was starting to stir.
"No!" breathed Queen Bowselta.
"It can't be!" gasped Alexis.
"How can this happen?" wailed Luke.
"He's healing it, right?" asked King Bowser.
"Yes," nodded Ludwig. "Lemmy and Larry figured it out: Morton and Giga Bowser are linked. Zat's vhy you vere having such a difficult time trying to trick it: it had a guiding hand."
"So the chaos of the fight wasn't so detrimental to its game," continued Morton Jr.
"And it makes sense that he can use the connection to do other stuff – like, healing Giga Bowser," finished Wendy.
"Can we stop calling it that?" grunted King Bowser.
"Yeah, honestly," winced the prince of the same name.
"Don't be babies!" snapped Bowselta Koopa. "Anyway, it looks like we'll have to go after Morton if we want to win."
"But the freak of nature stopped us whenever we tried before, remember? There's no way we can handle both!" said Luke.
"Let us deal vit Morton," announced Ludwig.
"What?" gasped Bowselta. "I though I made it clear: no fighting."
"No fightin' Giga Bowser," growled Roy, ignoring his fathers' winces. "You guys're half-dead already, and we ain't gonna sit around while dat psycho finishes ya off."
Bowselta shot an anxious look over her shoulder to make sure Morton and Giga Bowser were still preoccupied with healing before continuing. "No, I won't let you put yourselves in danger."
"We're already in danger!" beseeched Junior.
"Once Morton's done with you, he'll come after us," added Lemmy.
"Then use the time we buy you to get away from here. We sent a messenger to get the Koopa Cruiser and the other troops as soon as we heard the sounds of battle here," explained Bowselta.
"We're not gonna run!" asserted Iggy.
"No way! No how!" chorused Morton.
"You vant to save us from harm, Muzzer, but it's too late for you to stop it, zee veel's already in motion." Bowselta looked at Ludwig. His black eye had healed in the night, but his face still bore the shadowy bruises. She turned her gaze to the other Koopalings, meeting the same look of grim determination.
"Aw man!" exclaimed Luke as Giga Bowser broke free of the black aura and turned towards the group with a roar.
"His power's diverted to the Giga," added Larry. "He just hit Kamek before, remember? That's the worst he can do to us, really – more bruises…"
"Even so…" Bowselta recognized she was fighting a losing battle. She didn't even look up as the Bowsers, Luke and Alexis ran to meet Giga Bowser's latest charge. "Distracting Morton won't be enough. We'll defeat Giga Bowser again, but it'll just get back up. It's hopeless."
"You sound like Luke," intoned Bowselta Parakay, stepping forward. "It's true, we can only stop this fight by killing Morton, not the Giga. Your kids told me he was killed when his castle collapsed in this dimension…"
"Yes…" Queen Bowselta didn't know where… she was going with this.
"There are loose rocks up there," the misfortunate Dragon-Koopa spoke without looking up, lest Morton was watching the conversation and guessed what she was planning. "I'm sure that if the Koopalings get Morton in position, I can dislodge some and crush him."
The plan was good – seeing as it was coming from herself, Bowselta wasn't surprised – but the Queen of the Koopas was still apprehensive. "I dunno-"
"Look, if you don't let them do this, we're all going to die," snapped Parakay. "I've been locked up for over fifteen years, I've been tortured out of my mind for days on end. The only thing that got me through it was Bowser, and I know what these kids are feeling – being forced to sit on their hands and do nothing while the people they love risk it all for them. Morton did this to me-" Bowselta pointed at the jagged scar on her face, and drew her hand down to indicate her entire mutilated body. "-don't let him do it again, because I assure you, he will."
Queen Bowselta Koopa looked away from the mirror, contemplating the bloody sword in her hand. She didn't know it was the reason why her counterpart had suffered so much, but it still meant a lot to her. "Fine," she looked up, at Parakay, and then at her kids. "Don't let us down. And for Koopa's sake, don't get yourselves killed!"