~Mario~



It definitely was Bowser. He'd caught a glimpse of myself as we came to Marrymore too, maybe even before we did. He looked different from the encounter in Peach's palace, but I could tell he was the same, even with a less metallic look. His horns weren't like drills like when I fought him in the castle, and his lower arm was smaller than his upper one, contrary to before. I still knew that it was he, like stated so many times before. I also knew that I would defeat him here, and if not I, Zoshi would. He had talked and gloated so many times before, perhaps he could live up to his bragging. And if all else failed, Luigi could help a little, too. Any way you looked at it, Bowser was going down.

"Bowser!" I shouted at him. He began to walk forward as if he'd just seen me. The colossus stopped several meters away.

"What do you want?" he replied coldly, "I wasn't expecting you. I have to get going, now."

"Give us back Peach!" Luigi yelled, "or prepare for combat!"

Bowser looked at us both oddly. "What are you talking about?" he said, "I haven't seen Peach in months."

"Liar! I saw you take her! You were in her castle right when she disappeared, face the facts!"

Bowser raised an eyebrow like he REALLY didn't know what I was talking about. "I don't know what happened to Peach, okay? Now if you don't move along and out of my sight, things will get violent."

Just then, as if from an overdose of freakish adrenaline, I leapt in the air in a split-second and pulled my fist back, yelling, "Take this, kidnapper!" I brought my fist down at Bowser, but before it collided with his skull he grabbed it with one hand. After swinging me around wildly, he released me from his grasp, sending me flying into the sky, my fall having been broken after smashing into a gargantuan tree trunk. I slid down the trunk's side to the grass painfully. Luigi jumped at Bowser after my attempt, this time trying to kick him, but the repercussion was the same; Luigi was sent flying through the air, landing unfortunately on hard road pavement. After both of our defeats, Zoshi stepped forward, talking to Bowser far away from my position, so I could only dimly hear.

"So," Zoshi said from afar, "those two you beat only seconds ago informed me that I would be facing a formidable foe. You put up a fairly good fight, I'll grant that, so maybe you're this 'formidable foe' I was informed of, but I don't think you're a match for ME."

Man, Zoshi really knew how to ask for a bruisin'. Bowser gritted his teeth, clenching them deep into his gums, saying, "Look, those two twerps must think I did something wrong, probably why you're here. But I didn't do anything, so if you're here to help them, be gone already."

"I only came for a good fight. If you're innocent, you're innocent, but that changes nothing to me. I fight because it is my passion, so either way, we are going to fight."

"Fine," Bowser answered. He positioned himself in his personal fighting stance, and Zoshi followed.

Before Bowser made a move, Zoshi opened his mouth and shot out a huge, half-foot thick tongue that clashed into Bowser's gut. He staggered a little. "You're stronger than Mario and Luigi," Bowser muttered.

Zoshi, having somehow heard the comment, responded, "Yeah, that's why I'm here. Battles are for fighting, not talking, so be quiet so we can continue!"

This time Bowser made his move. He shot a flurry of flames out of his mouth accurately at Zoshi. Zoshi jumped out of the flames' way in time to be burned nominally only. "Is that the best you can do?" thought Zoshi.

Both warriors lunged at each other. I was just now replenishing my strength, band I stood up and walked closer to the battlegrounds to get a better view. The two landed next to each other, and started punching and kicking rapidly. Zoshi landed a kick first, being quicker by natural size, but it had no effect to the giant koopa king. Bowser extended his massive claws and swiped across Zoshi's face after the attack. It injured him badly, obviously, but he didn't show any signs of pain.

They then stopped using physical attacks, seeing as it gained no advantage. Bowser lifted his hand into the air, yelling, "Shell Shower!" Instantly hundreds of pure-energy shells dropped from the sky like bombs. Zoshi shot his tongue in the air to swallow the ones coming straight down at him, but it took too much time to swallow and eventually he was overwhelmed and struck by many. They exploded in a burst of energy when coming in contact with him, magnifying them pain. The shells weren't in a physical form, so it didn't hurt when Zoshi collided with them, just the explosion. "Perhaps you overestimated yourself, little yoshi," Bowser taunted. Zoshi stood up enraged personally, mortified by the 'little' part, obviously taken as an insult.

"If that was the best you can do, this little match is about to take a turn," Zoshi stated boldly. In a swift moment his mouth started to expand, his cheeks becoming wider and wider. Suddenly, after his mouth was completely full of whatever was in it, he opened his mouth and out shot an olive-colored energy ball. It sped at Bowser, who made no motions as to try and dodge it. And he didn't; the koopa king remained in his position, but cupped his hands near his chest after a few still moments. The olive energy ball flew directly into his hands, where Bowser struggled to keep it in his grasp. Finally, the ball stopped in his palm.

Zoshi was in a state of shock, a state I couldn't picture him in until now. Bowser had caught his attack. Before the olive yoshi could react to what had happened, Bowser heaved it back at Zoshi, with greater velocity than the ball had made the original throwing. It exploded upon impact with Zoshi.

But the yoshi was not down for good, at all, in fact. He looked around and thought fiercely, probably running out or he'd already run out of techniques. If I had the gall to offer him a suggestion in front of Bowser I would have told him to throw an egg, any yoshi's specialty. But maybe a battle yoshi like him was different from regular yoshis in more ways than I was aware of. Either way, he did not move or throw an egg.

"Ready to give up?" Bowser said semi-mercifully. Zoshi shook his head, angry with himself for almost losing to Bowser. On the way here, particularly while passing Booster's Tower, I had told Zoshi about koopas. I never mentioned Bowser, because if Zoshi had already defeated the monster once, he wasn't likely to think he was a worthy opponent and would not help us. As it turned out, Zoshi had known about koopas (Except for Bowser) all his life, coincidentally enough it was the reason he became a trainee on Yoshi Battle Island, to fight off attacking koopas. When he was younger was when the koopas had wars with yoshis because the koopas thought that if the yoshis combined their powers they might've overcome the koopas.

After thorough consideration for several minutes, Zoshi shot an olive flame out his mouth. It darted at Bowser with strikingly high speed and the monstrous koopa could only jump in time to not burn himself. I must admit, I had never seen Bowser jump that well, or jump at all, for that matter.

Bowser replied to the fireball with one of his own, purple in color. It was faster and stronger, the perfect mixture, because it easily struck Zoshi with its speed and the power was enough to get him to his knees.

In one last attempt to beat Bowser, before Zoshi fell, he shouted, "Earth Shatter!" Within moments of the summoning, the ground began to crack, then the fissures started shaking, making the earth's plates shudder uncontrollably. Bowser was shaken up as an aftermath, but undaunted. Ultimately, Zoshi fell to the ground, unable to stand, and Bowser was victorious. But, for some weird, twisted reason, he wasn't praising himself.

"Quite a fighter," Bowser commented, breathing uneasily. "Now if you'll excuse me, I have my fortress to reclaim."

Before he started walking again, I confronted him. "If I have to MAKE you surrender Peach, then that's how it's gonna be! Just you and me, Bowser!"

"How could I possibly have captured Peach?! I've been here for over a day!"

"Yeah, right! Luigi and I both saw you attack us in Peach's castle! The only reason you'd attack us is if you had Peach!"

"Don't be absurd. At nighttime on the day before yesterday Techna assaulted me in MY castle and then I was rocketed to here, in Marrymore, by Smithy!"

"Yeah righ—Wait a minute… Did you say 'Smithy'? And Techna? Who's Techna?"

"He's a mechanical clone of me. He was probably the one who attacked you, fool! He looks similar to myself, except for cannons in his mouth that spit fire and spike claws of the backside of his hand!"

I thought over Bowser's evidence. I was skeptical to believe him, considering his fallacious reputation, but he was right in all aspects. When "Bowser" attacked us, he DID have flame-throwers in his mouth and spike on the back of his hand, exactly how Bowser described 'Techna'. Though slightly incredulous, I accepted what Bowser said about his innocence. Bowser spoke of a bit more, just when Zoshi and Luigi joined me again in a group, both apparently revived. Bowser said that he was shot from a balcony on his fortress into Marrymore (Or did he previously mention that? I don't remember) after being attacked by Techna in his own throne room and knocked out by him. He told how Smithy had returned from hell and vowed revenge. I was in shock, the thought of that monster's revival was horrifying After Bowser finished explaining, I told him how 'Techna' had thrown us off the top of Peach's castle after fighting us on a diagonal stairway. Zoshi cut in as I finished telling my story and suggested that maybe the 'mechanical yoshis' that killed off the lot of regular ones were from Smithy. He did specialize in synthetic power, of course. Bowser inquired about all this yoshi talk, and I told him how we'd found Zoshi and he had come along for a good fight, and how Zoshi has told us of the mechanical yoshi that ambushed the inhabitants of Yoshi's Island. Bowser agreed that it was probably Smithy who was causing all this mayhem.

"If he's planning revenge, we best be on our way to stop him," Luigi said, "Bowser, do you want to help us?"

"Of course! The dirty monster took my fortress, remember?"

"Okay," I said, accepting Bowser as a teammate for the time being. "Zoshi, since your 'formidable opponent' match is over, you can go home if you wish."

"No, even a warrior like myself has a sense of justice. Plus, I'm sure there will be plenty of action!" he replied heartily.

"Great! Oh, and Bowser, just out of curiosity, how on earth could you survive a jumbo rocket that took you a hundred miles then dropped you to the ground?!"

"I had a few broken bones and uncountable injuries, but I found this in the woods of Marrymore." Bowser outstretched his hand, revealing a glittering multicolored star. It revived me completely, and, as some know and some do not, when a koopa is revitalized from near-death, he becomes more powerful than ever. It's too bad it's a one-time use thing, or I would give you three some of its powers."

"No thanks either way," Zoshi said, "it's yoshis' honor to keep only earned strength."

"I would have taken it if it were usable once more," Luigi explained.

Same here," I agreed. "So, now that we know all four of us are going together, why don't we head along, shall we? Let's go the way we came."

"No way!" Bowser argued. "Those forests back to her castle going east are impossible to move through! The trees are literally glued together it's so tight! This time we're going west; besides, after a ways, we stop by the puffball's palace—

"Mallow," I corrected.

"Yeah, yeah, Mallow's palace, and he has that cloud bus that we can use to fly there!"

"Whatever's congenial," I said, sighing and rolling my eyes back.

Zoshi, after being silent for a brief time, yelled, "Hey, are we going to go, or are you two going to babble on monotonously? Let's move; I haven't fought anyone in an hour!"

Suddenly I stopped. "Wait a minute," I started, "we never found the key to Peach's castle!"

"You mean this?" Bowser asked, pulling out a hand from behind his back. "I found it in the church halls. Apparently someone dropped it."

"Thanks, for a minute there I was about to forget. Now let's move out!"

And so, after a minute of mentally searching to see where to go, we head on our way, toward Peach's castle.







~Bowser~



It was a short walk in Marrymore before reaching the woods. It was peaceful, a typical day in this serene village. The forest trees stood firm and still, unaltered by the wind. Mario kept saying how happy he was that we were on our way to PEACH'S rescue. Personally, I didn't give a darn about Peach, as long as my fortress was in my full possession again and Smithy and Techna were out of the picture, I was content. But if I didn't help them save that pitiful princess, they wouldn't help me restore my fortress. Dang it, I almost wish Mario wouldn't have recalled the key.

Before we entered the forest, I heard a humming, steamy sound behind me. Mario, the olive yoshi (Was 'Zoshi' his name?), Luigi, and I wheeled around to set sight on Techna. As if by instinct or a sudden urge to fight solo I said, "You three stay right here. I have personal matters to discuss with Techna, and it's going to involve a lot of fire. Keep out of the fray."

"Terminate Bowser," Techna said in his dull mechanical vibrating tone. "Terminate Mario, Luigi. Terminate--- unidentified target. Terminate four. Terminate Bowser is priority. Assess facial missiles."

"Oh no you don't!" I yelled with a heap of courage, bearing my claws and lunging at Techna. He opened his mouth, but instead of two flame-thrower cannons appearing, two missile-holding stands on the bottom of the mouth with missiles standing on them appeared. The two missiles' ends ignited, and they shot off at me. Fortunately I was cold-blooded and it was heat- seeking, so it aimed for Mario and Luigi, who ducked before it struck them, watching the two missiles detonate in the forest. I myself did not look back to I wouldn't miss Techna if he tried to dodge me. Luckily I managed to land a slash in his face before he could recollect himself. It merely moved his head an inch, and he attacked back with his own claws, which cut deep into my right arm.

Nevertheless, I kept standing, and aimed a special magic attack at Techna, generated by saying, "Wild Blast!" Suddenly explosion from no known source appeared everywhere around Techna, eventually subsiding after leaving much smoke. He was hit, but again undaunted.

Techna opened his mouth again, this time revealing one large cannon. All of a sudden a beam of energy shot out of its hole, hitting me directly in my chest. I slumped to the ground after the blast disappeared, clutching myself over the attacked spot.

Then something soft hit my nape. I swerved around to see Mario's arm outstretched and a green mushroom behind me. Realizing what it was in seconds, I gulped the mushroom down and felt revitalized immediately.

I turned back around at Techna; oddly enough he wasn't there. Then something hard hit my head. Mario hadn't thrown it because he couldn't have lifted something that heavy and whatever hit me was not there. Suddenly something sharp scraped me, and then I heard mechanical beeps from an unseen source. My only guess was that Techna had turned his body invisible. Another punch was landed on me, and I decided I had to find a way to see him.

Quickly I yelled, "Wild Blast!" like before. The attack knew, in some mind-reading odd way, where whom you desired to strike was. A little to my left I saw explosions occur, where I aimed a flurry of flames. Knowing that his invisibility powers were useless, Techna retreated from his invisibility state.

But the battle was far from over. Techna seemed infallible, possessing all my unique strengths and more. He could combat anything I could throw at him, he could hover, and he was even bigger than I was.

Then, in less time than a blink takes, I was kicked in the gut. I was unable to detect the blow before it came, so I assumed he went invisible again. But I was disproved when I saw him again, moving around at close to supersonic speed. He stopped inches before me, raising his hand and punching into me with those three super deadly spikes. I crippled to the ground, alive only because it was not a head injury.

Techna jumped up in the air and body slammed me moments later. He was VERY heavy, weighing of twice as much as I did. I had just managed to get up on my hands and feet, but the force made me fall to the dirt again. I knew there was no chance of beating him.





~3rd Person~



Mario, Luigi, and Zoshi watched from a distance in horror as Techna tore out against Bowser. He unleashed barrages of brutal punches, kicks, head- butts, and knee thrusts. Finally, Zoshi decided to take action. "I've had enough," Zoshi started, "this machine disgraces fair play!" Then Zoshi, in a brave manner, put his head straight out like a battering ram. He began running, then within moments impacted Techna. He staggered, but did not fall. Techna, now partially damaged, shot flames out of his twin cannons (In his mouth) at Zoshi, scorching him enough to knock him down. "Never… before… have I been… defeated so easily…!" were the olive yoshi's last words before blacking out.

Enraged, Mario and Luigi pitched in to help. They powered up giant fireballs and started firing away at Techna. He deflected all them, except for a few that struck him but had little effect. But it diverted his attention, giving Bowser and Zoshi the time required to get up again. They assaulted him, all together in a quadrio, and overcame him with red, green, olive, and purple fireballs being shot in every which direction. In the end Techna switched his legs to booster rockets and shot off back toward Bowser's castle, though his mission had failed.

"Well, that just about does it," Luigi said.

"Yes, with teamwork we were able do beat him. Now let's go, we have my castle--- Err, Peach to save." Bowser started walking through the woods, leading the group, and they went on their way. Little did they know what they would encounter on their way.