Chapter 26: King, Father... Demon

We resume our tale, the scene within Bowser's subconscious.

"Help... me..."

The King of Koopas words merely echoed back at him, followed by a deep, cold, voice, speaking in a soothing tone.

"There is no one else who will answer your pleas. I am the only one who can help you."

The voice was one which Bowser knew well, one whose words alone made his blood boil.

"Go to Hell!"

The royal Koopa's roar echoed throughout his subconscious, its intensity reflective of his rising anger. Bowser had never allowed himself to be at another's mercy, and he considered Mario to be the hated, yet respected, exception. Now, though, the father within him was steadily losing the willpower to resist the voice and its offer. Before he could stop himself, he heard the simple question escape his mind.

"Where are my children?"

With the most assuring of tones, the ominous voice answered readily.

"Release all restraints. We shall find your dear sons, and beloved daughter. All that is needed is more power…"

Bowser felt the dark entity swell up around him, engulfing him in its warm, deceitful embrace.

"I have… to protect them… As their father, it's my… responsibility…"

The scene shifts from Bowser's subconscious, returning us to Yoshi's Island.

Just as the transformed Ryu's flames threatened to completely engulf Ronin, a sudden gale of wind blasted directly upward into the dragon's fire, scattering the flames in all directions. The gale continued upward, knocking back the already exhausted Forbidden Dragon, leaving it momentarily dazed. Sonic slowed to a screeching halt between Ronin and the powerful beast, ending his signature Sonic Wind attack.

"Just so everyone's clear-I'm here to help, but that DOESN'T mean I'm paying for this!"

Ronin rubbed his temple exasperatedly, clearly not amused by the blue hedgehog's comment. Meanwhile, the rest of the island's population felt themselves growing restless, many having to be restrained from rushing out of the safety of the barrier created by the elders.

"This is absurd! Why should we just sit here, cowering while outsiders, one who only hours ago was one of our captors, the other one who we've never met, meddle in our affairs?!"

Many similar questions and protests resonated within the haven of the island's mountains. The elders did not respond, they seemed transfixed on something that was visible to only them. All three had broken out in a cold sweat, and all had the same expression of sheer terror etched upon their faces. Many Yoshis tried to break them free of their apparent trance, but they simply were too horrified to take notice. Outside of the self-made haven, the body of the fallen Obelisk Bowser stirred, a dark cloud engulfing its massive body. The darkness billowed and swelled, rising like a thick smoke from the transformed King of Koopas. A powerful force shook the island, and the dark veil dissipated, revealing a far more demonic creature than had been in its place moments ago. The being had only changed slightly in regards of its physical traits. Its horns had lengthened even further, curved even more into a loop, pointed out over the creatures face, similar to a bull. Its eyes emanated a cold, chilling aura, void of pupils, filled only with a pulsating shade of violet. But by far the most significant change was its ability to speak, and thick black smoke rose from its nostrils as its deep, powerful voice resonated for miles.

"Yesss… Finally, I am fully victorious over this idiotic host. I have complete reign over my power… At last, the weakling mortals of this pitiful planet shall know the true meaning of carnage, met at the hands of Obelisk."

The unholy monstrosity averted its eyes towards the weakened Forbidden Dragon, an eerily sadistic smile growing on its visage. Refusing to be outmatched, the transformed Ryu attempted to blast the creature with its flames. Faster than any would have anticipated for a creature of such size, the monster smashed its fist into the dragons chest, sending it flying through the air, crashing onto the shore of the island. The black dragon stubbornly tried to lift itself, before collapsing down again, utterly exhausted.

"Hmph. Truly pitiful. I shall exterminate the rest of your cowering kin before I eliminate you."

The beast's words sent an overwhelming wave of paralyzing fear amongst the Islands population hidden amid the mountains. The demon shifted its weight as if to charge toward the terrified Yoshis, but was halted by Sonic and Ronin, the hedgehog having rammed up into the monsters chin while the enigmatic warrior managed to temporarily relieve it of balance with a mighty blow to its left leg. The beast stumbled back slightly, but only smiled as it easily righted itself.

"Hrn.. A strong duo, considering you are but mortals. Very well, I've awaited this day for years trapped within this unworthy vessel, I can wait a short while longer before beginning my true rampage unto the world."

Sonic felt doubts fester in the back of his mind, refusing to give in to exhaustion from fighting through the entire night.

'Damn, this guy is serious. I dunno who this dude in the cloak is, but I doubt that his help will stop this thing. I'm aching all over, not sleeping all night is starting to catch up to me, and I've still got cramps on my cramps from sitting around all day in that stupid cell.'

The blue hedgehog winced slightly, but gave no other indication that he was in pain, rushing toward his huge opponent without hesitation. As what was to be quite a short-lived battle began, Ryu's young friend had managed to sneak out of the safety provided by the barrier and hurry to the exhausted Forbidden Dragon unnoticed. The young Yoshi, although trembling with fear, looked straight into the red eyes of his transformed friend, pleading him to get up.

Once more, the scene changes, showing us again Ryu's subconscious.

"Ronin?"

Ryu called after the cloaked samurai, feeling lost in the darkness that surrounded him.

"Where is everyone?"

Suddenly, a gash of light appeared in the darkness, showing Ryu the world through the Forbidden Dragon's eyes. Ryu looked confusedly at the young dragon Yoshi before him, his eyes slowly wandering toward the mountains, and the slightly dazed black Yoshi was bombarded with flashbacks of when his father had transformed into the Forbidden Dragon years ago. He was shown horrifying visions of Koopas and Yoshis alike fleeing with terror, most soaked in blood of friends and family. He saw his battered father after having been stopped and having reverted to his usual self, he was forced to feel the shame and guilt his father felt at having committed such horrid deeds. It was then that Obelisk grew bored of his fight with Sonic and Ronin, and charged past them, raising his enormous fist to crash down against the mountains.

"NO! I-I DON'T WANT THIS! I DON'T WANT MORE DEATH! I WANT IT TO STOP! SSSSTOOOOPPPP!"

We return to the conscious world, where panic has overtaken the island's populace as they race, fight and trample one another to save themselves and loved ones.

The transformed Ryu, suddenly overtaken by the desire to cease the destruction, leapt into the air, grasping Obelisk's fists from behind, roaring powerfully as he heaved the demon back away from the mountains. The Forbidden Dragon had vanished, only its huge body remained. Ryu twisted around, lurching forward over his screaming kin below him, bracing his outstretched neck to hold up the rockslide which had resulted from Obelisk's assault on the mountains. Behind him, the enraged demon roared angrily, billows of smoke rising from its nostrils.

"ALRIGHT, MORTAL! CLEARLY YOU WISH TO BE WITH YOUR COWARDLY BROTHERS AND SISTERS! I SHALL GRANT YOU YOUR WISH, PITIFUL MORTAL! YOU AND YOUR KIN SHALL BE TOGETHER ETERNALLY IN THE FIREY DEPTHS OF HELL!"

With that, Obelisk unleashed a stream of flames many times more powerful than any mustered by its previous incarnation, its heat significantly greater. Shutting his eyes tightly, Ryu unfolded his massive wings, pressing them tightly against the mountains, acting as a living shield against the flames. The blaze struck the noble, transformed Yoshi, his cries of excruciating pain drowned out by the burning of his own flesh. Time seemed to slow to a crawl, the pain continued for what felt like an eternity before the demonic beast finally ceased the stream of flames to catch its breath. The scales of Ryu's back had been completely incinerated, his bare, charred flesh leaving large trails of smoke and steam billowing off his back and wings. Ryu, despite his vision being blurred from the excessive pain, managed to open his eyes briefly, confirming that the Yoshis had managed to escape before crashing his powerful neck up through the boulders which had piled over him, his jaws open as if to roar in defiant victory, but no sound came out. Slowly, Ryu's huge body began to shrink, his clawed fingers returning to normal, his talons retreating back into his feet. His neck retracted to its normal length, his beaklike snout reverting back to its round shape. His wings shrank back their usual size, his tail lost its arrowhead tip and retreated back to its normal length. The mark of his burned flesh decreased in size, the smoke and steam thinning slowly. His eyes lost their crimson hue, his pupils materializing gradually. Struggling to make even the slightest sound, Ryu's eyes rolled back in his head, his eyes white, the pain proving too much to maintain consciousness. Slowly, the charred warrior collapsed to the ground, made a few short, shallow breaths, then lay motionless…