It's time for chapter 11. Today will be the big battle between Bowser and DK where Bowser proves he is no monster (inside or out) but he is to be feared for his power. The battle of the bulging bruisers is about to commence. Sorry it took so long for the next chapter. Studies have taken up alot of my time. But I should be back on a regular basis for a while.

He said he didn't care.

"I think he's the one who made the Giga Bowser." someone whispered

He looked like he didn't care.

"Do you think he'll go all Giga Bowser?" someone else whispered

He tried to make himself believe he didn't care.

"Maybe he should get kicked out. He might go crazy or something." someone else whispered

Oh...but did he ever care, a lot more than he'd ever be willing to admit. But he ignored that feeling, along with what everyone was say about him. He knew, he wasn't stupid; they were rumors. He knew full well their sting. He was known to spread a few himself. Like the rumor that Mario had a contagious rash in a place below the overalls. Or the one about Yoshi sneaking into people's houses and stealing their pillows so he could make a pillow shrine of Birdo. Or even the one where Peach spent the night with him in his castle and they did...stuff. Peach still hadn't forgiven him for that one. But this is beside the point. Bowser was now walking the halls of the mansion, coming closer and closer to the door that would take him to the arena he was to do battle on. His mind raced on his upcoming battle. Not because of who he was battle, he could care less. It was how he was going to battle. He knew that he had to fight a certain way so to gain back his lost respect. He knew if he went all out and crushed DK without any mercy he would only be confirming all the things said about him. He wanted respect, not fear, but undeniable respect from the other Smashers. He was to be seen as a formidable fighter, a fighter with reverence. In other words he was not to be taken lightly. He was almost at the door when...

"Hey Bowser!" came a chipper voice

Bowser didn't turn, he simply looked at the door.

"Bowser hey!" came the same chipper voice

He knew who it was and he didn't want to talk.

"Bowser, yoo hoo!" came the voice, never wavering

Wouldn't want any one to see him conversing with the Smasher that was hurt the most during the Giga Bowser-incident.

"Behind you!" the voice cheered

He would not talk.

"Bowser!"

He would not talk.

"Bowser!"

He would not talk.

"BOWSER!" the voice yelled, slightly irritated but still chipper as ever

HE WOULD NOT TALK! Then he sighed. The hell with it.

"What is it Yoshi?" Bowser asked, turning to the little green dinosaur

There was a bandage on Yoshi's head. It looked a little worn, like it had been on for a while, parts tearing and whatnot.

"Hey Bowser. Guess ya didn't hear me or something. Were you thinking about something?"

"No." Bowser replied with a monotonously

"Oh...are you going deaf?"

"No." he said with the same tone

"Oh...so you're going to fight DK today?" Yoshi asked

"Yep." Bowser replied

"Oh...well...okay..." Yoshi replied, seemingly looking for words

"Well if you're done talking then I need to be going." Bowser told him

"Okay...but..."

"But what?" Bowser asked

"You're a Smasher..." Yoshi began

"Yes? I'm glad you remind me." Bowser replied, pondering, with a little sarcasm

"And since you are one then that means you're not evil, right?" Yoshi asked, not being deterred

"I guess so." Bowser replied

It was true. Though you could be bad, you couldn't be evil and join expect to join the Smashers. (A little rule made by the Master Hand so that nobody could plot behind his back).

"Well then, I guess you could say we're friends, right?" Yoshi asked

"Well I wouldn't go that far..." then he saw the hope in Yoshi's eyes and his heart sunk "But we are allies." he replied, and Yoshi perked back up

"Cool!" Yoshi cheered

While Yoshi did a little victory celebration Bowser rolled his eyes and began to turn back to the door.

"Wait Bowser! One more thing." came Yoshi

"What now?" Bowser asked, annoyed

"I want us to become friends one day. So...good luck with your battle today!" Yoshi said, running down the hall while waving goodbye

Bowser was stupefied and touched, mostly stupefied. What was that little hardheaded green bean trying to say? That he wasn't scared of him? That it wasn't Bowser fault that he was in that condition? That Bowser wasn't as cold hearted as everyone made him out to be? Or was Yoshi off the deep end.

"Why do I have to have a heart?" he asked the air

He got no reply.

"I'm so gonna regret this...Yoshi!" came Bowser

Yoshi was just at the end of the hall about to turn when he heard Bowser. Turning around Yoshi looked down the hall at Bowser who seemed to want to say something.

"Yeah!" Yoshi yelled back

"I want...(I can't believe I'm saying this) to be...friends...too." he replied, groping for words

If you were to put Yoshi in a lighthouse his smile would have lit up the foggiest bay.

"I'm glad."

"Yeah, yeah." Bowser replied in a 'so, so' manner

"Well see ya Bowser!" Yoshi replied happily

And with that Yoshi turned the corner and was gone. Then a smile dared to form on Bowser face, but he showed it who was the boss with a scowl. Turning back to the door he mumbled before entering...

"I must be going soft."

Then he walked inside.

"The Smashers are getting restless 'brother'." came the Master Hand

Though they were of the same descent, the Master Hand was still very reluctant at calling the Crazy Hand brother. Not merely for the fact that the twitching glove had some...mental problems, but because behind the apparent insanity the Crazy Hand was devilishly crafty. Even though his craziness was his own, the Crazy Hand always had a better hand than the Master Hand (pun so very much intended). It was that reason that the Master Hand wondered exactly how the Crazy Hand freed him from the void of Final Destination. The only thing the Master Hand remembered was floating in a see of nothing, then a strange light appearing and the Crazy Hand pulling him toward that light. Next thing he knew, he was free. The Master Hand wondered, "If it was that easy...how come he wasn't able to free himself? The Crazy Hand must have known something that the Master Hand did not. And that bit of information troubled the Master Hand to no end. How much did the Crazy Hand know? Was the Crazy Hand more powerful than himself? And if so, why was he following the Master Hand? If he wanted he could take over. What was his deal? But the Master Hand knew he'd never get an answer from the Crazy Hand. Every time he asked the Crazy Hand, the mad glove would go off randomly and forget what they were talking about. So there was no point in asking him now. Right now he simply wanted to know what the Crazy Hand was planning for the immanent future. The Giga Bowser plan had failed, one that Crazy Hand had thought up himself. Now that the Smashers knew about it the Master Hand knew they would not take it likely. He was just surprised they hadn't broken any of the tournament rules and decided to deal with this themselves. They were more honorable then he would give them credit for.

"I know I know. The whole Giga Bowser thing was a bomb...but I could beat them no prob." replied the Crazy Hand confidently

"Do you not mean we?" the Master Hand questioned

"Well you did get beat the last time...and now's theirs more of them, so..." the Crazy Hand began

"Do not worry. I am more than prepare for the Smashers this time around. But most likely after this little event they will want to challenge us, which means they will go against your Wire Frames."

"Yeah, and mine won't be beat, unlike your polygons."

"They were incomplete. I did not have much time to copy the fighting style of the Smashers in the first tournament." the Master Hand defended

"Excuses, excuses."

"Well then 'brother' will your Wire Frames fair any better."

"Hell yeah!" he triumphed loudly

"Yes...do you mind elaborating?"

"Hell no!" he yelled

If the Master Hand had eyes they would have rolled.

"Look, you'll see 'em when you see 'em. Okay?"

The Master Hand sighed; this was getting pointless.

"Fine."

"So, who's fighting today?" asked the Crazy Hand

"Bowser and DK." the Master Hand replied

"Oh..." the Crazy Hand turned, obviously discontent with the answer

"What is the problem?" the Master Hand asked

"Nothing! NOTHING AT ALL!" the Crazy Hand replied, very quickly

Then without another word he took off, mumbling something about his 'plans' and 'stupid Bowser' and 'I like potatoes'.

If the Master Hand had a head he would have shook it in disdain. He knew the Crazy Hand was hiding something...among other more mental things. He wanted to know what he was hiding and was determined to find out.

As the two combatants stood on the wobbly logs that made up the arena in Kongo Jungle the falls below them roared as water spilled over the edge and plummeted down to the basin. Strangely the waterfall seemed a little more turbulent than usual. But that wasn't on the minds of the two Smashers at the moment. All they could think about was how they were going to smash one another. They both stood, staring intensively at one another, though you could clearly see that each was expressing a different attitude toward the other. Bowser seemed to be spacing out, his normal defiant/cocky demeanor gone from his face. He saw DK, but he didn't really see him. His mind was on other things. Alternatively DK's face was contorted with anger and disgust. Normally DK did not like Bowser. He knew he was a Smasher, so he was an ally, but that was it. DK thought of Bowser as a rival to his superior strength, and a downright bad creature. Now not to say he didn't do some of the same things that Bowser had done in his own past. But, to DK, Bowser was far too cocky for his own good. But now, after the whole Giga-Bowser incident DK had a whole knew hatred for Bowser. And DK took it upon himself to pound the smug dino/turtle into oblivion. Finally, after one last thunderous splash the announcer began to the countdown to battle.

"3..." he began, though time seemed to slow, making a mere three seconds seem like an eternity

Bowser, who at the time was spacing out, came back to reality and gave DK a look. Not a smug look, just a look. DK didn't know what Bowser had meant by the look. Though it strangely resembled curiosity. Shaking that from his mind DK readied himself to take Bowser down.

"2..."

All of DK's muscle's tensed up, ready to lunge the minute the announcer said go. He flexed them somewhat as their bulging strength became more and more evident. Bowser just continued to stare, his body never tensing or for that fact, reading itself for battle. He looked calm, relaxed, a show of placidity on his face. It was as if he was watching his favorite television show and was vegetating.

"1..."

DK couldn't wait. He clenched his mighty paw, ready to launch a furious punch at Bowser the moment battle started. His eyes narrowed, as the only thing he saw was Bowser standing right in front of him. Nothing could stop him from turning Bowser into a leather purse, nothing. Well maybe a truckload's supply of bananas, but since there weren't any around...nothing could stop him. Bowser just scratched his nose and yawned. Was he really bored? DK nearly flipped. Did he think of him as an unworthy opponent? If DK had any inhibitions on crushing Bowser before, they were all out the window now.

"GO!" the announcer rang

DK lunged into action, his fist already drawn back and then fired toward Bowser with all the strength that he could muster at the moment. Bowser saw the overpowering fist coming and with a blank stare he put his enormous clawed hand in front of his face and caught the raging fist of the primate. The force exerted by the punching flowed effortlessly through Bowser body and cleared the arena floor of any water that had settle on the logs. DK was pissed...to say the least. Bowser wasn't even half trying and he stopped his punch with ease. DK's left hand came around but, like the former it was stopped, dead cold by Bowser right hand. Now the two were caught in a deadlock. DK was trying his hardest to push Bowser back, while Bowser was merely trying to stay his ground, his face contorting slightly against the strain. In spite of this Bowser seemed to be strangely relaxed over the current situation. But his relaxed mood enraged the simian even more, thinking that Bowser was simply mocking him or toying with him. That was when Bowser failed to realize that DK's feet were still very dangerous. DK arched his spine back, kicked up his feet and sent both into the belly of the beast (pun not intended). Bowser felt a sudden release of air as he lost his grip on DK's hands and fell back. As he sputtered on the ground DK gave no inclination of letting the turtle recover. Two giant palms came down and pounded what little air was left in Bowser's lungs. Bowser bounced as his body was thrown around like a rag-doll by DK's attack that jiggled the wooden structure they were currently residing on. After what felt like hours of being beaten around like a dirty rug Bowser some how or other slipped free from the assault and rolled away to safety. A swift punch to the jaw caught DK off guard, forcing him back toward the edge. Luckily he righted himself before going over, avoiding defeat. DK charged the fire-breathing turtle with the full intent of knocking him off the rickety support of logs and over the waterfall, but Bowser reacted quicker. Lunging his giant claw out he took hold of DK and pulled him close. Nearly letting his primal urges kick in he stopped, only inches from put DK's head into his gaping mouth. He looked at DK who was slightly dazed and knew this was not the way. Deciding to end this a different way he flung the ape to the top log platform of the stage, watching as the entire arena shifted due to all the weight change. DK was more than confused than hurt. He was expecting sharp teeth to dig into is fur and skin. But Bowser merely stopped, started, and then tossed him aside like an old gum wrapper. It was embarrassing and enraging. DK beat his chest wildly as he let his temper get to him. He wildly swung at Bowser but the Koopa King simply blocked the attack and rolled to the side.

"ROAR!" came DK as he let his feral side take hold and thrashed at Bowser wildly.

However in Bowser's calm state the turtle easily sidestepped DK's wild attacks or blocking them effortlessly. This only proved to further enraged the primate as DK held his arms up high and tried to bring them down on the Koopa King. Bowser could have blocked the incoming attack, but it was so obvious. It hung in the air much longer than it need to so instead Bowser rolled to the side. That decision however proved to be an erroneous as the force of the blow caved the logs in that held the two combatants. DK's rage almost instantly dissapated as the arena slowly fell apart. Splintered logs and ropes cascaded over the waterfall to plummet to the basin below. Water tore through the small opening causing a complete rip in the middle of the arena, separating the two Smashers. With its obstruction weakened the built up water further up the river sped forth and lunged at the two combatants as if it were a monster preparing to strike. The two Smashers could only look up in horror as columns of water came crashing down, literally ripping apart the arena, casting wood and Smasher alike over the edge. As DK was pulled underwater by the impressive force the last thing he saw before he blanked out was a clawed hand grabbing his large paw.

All right readers, a cliffhanger for you. And don't worry, the next chapter will come much sooner. Please Review.