Chapter 15

A powerful rumble pierced the air as the Candy Castle creaked, shuddered, and collapsed in a heap of frosting and breadcrumbs. From the rubble emerged the most enormous, fearsome thing Mario and his companions had ever seen. Half Koopa King, half Cy-bug, and one hundred percent terrifying, the creature threw back its horned head and let out an earsplitting roar.

"YOU!" Mario yelled with all the wind he could muster at Bowser's new Cy-bug form, which hovered in the air directly in front of him.

"Well, well, well… looks like we got ourselves a little BUG bait!" roared Bowser, whose head, arms, and torso sat atop the lower body of a Cy-bug. "Did you chumps really think a little heat would be enough to finish ME off?! Well, THINK AGAIN!"

Cy-Bowser now hovered in the air above Ralph, tantalizingly out of reach of his massive fists.

"Ralph old pal, I owe you one," chuckled Cy-Bowser. "I never expected you to actually show up to witness my takeover of the arcade… and yet, here you are! I gotta say, this is not how I envisioned becoming the most powerful glitch in the arcade," he said as he glanced downward, taking in his new form, "but no matter! I'm back and better than ever, and my master plan is almost complete! And I could never have done it without you!"

"BOWSER!" yelled an irate Ralph, hopping up and down and flailing his huge hands. "Get down here and say that to my fist!"

Cy-Bowser laughed- a metallic, monstrous laugh that was even more cacophonous and horrible than his usual laughter.

"Much obliged, my good Ralph, but I do believe I'll pass," Cy-Bowser sneered. "After all, it wouldn't be a fair fight for you, now that the power to bend the fabric of this game is MINE! And hey, Mario, look what else I got!"

Mario gasped as Cy-Bowser, now looking him square in the eye, revealed the contents of his outstretched hand. Trapped in its clutches, with a look of naked terror about her face, was the princess of his kingdom.

"MARIOOO! HELP ME!" she screamed, as Cy-Bowser laughed horribly again.

"PEACH!" shrieked Mario, but she was well out of his reach. Cy-Bowser flew off for Waffle Cone Mountain, and wheeled around to address the eight heroes one last time.

"Not even Nintendo can defy me now, you meddlesome fools. Your game as you know it is OVER. I'd love to stick around and chat some more, but it's about time I headed outta here, to once and for all complete my master plan! Next stop- Bowser's Castle!"

With that, Cy-Bowser flew off at high speed. His laughter and Peach's cries of "MARIO!" could still be heard even as he shrank to a tiny dot on the horizon.

Ralph continued watching him. "He can't mean it," he said to himself. "He knows better than to mess with the program like that! He can't be serious."

"Too bad he doesn't seem to know better than to try and kill one of his fellow bad guys," said Calhoun as she joined him on the edge of the castle walls.

The heroes gathered in a clearing by the wrecked castle to once again contemplate their next move. Ralph and Luigi seemed as if they were about to go chasing Bowser down.

"We've-a gotta stop him!" shouted Luigi. "He's-a got Peach, and who knows-a what he could do next? We gotta stop-a him before-a it happens!"

"You mean me," said Ralph. "It's personal now. No one stops him but me!"

"That would not be wise," advised Rosalina. "His ambition has corrupted him. His power now rivals that of the very code of this world itself. Unless he is reverted to his normal form, I fear he may be unstoppable."

"D-does this mean w-we're all g-gonna d-die?" stammered Candlehead.

"I cannot say," Rosalina answered her, "but it is clear to me that, for the time being, we lack a means of stopping him."

"Jiminy jaminy…" Felix said dejectedly. "Mario won't be happy to hear this…"

"Hey, where is Mario?" Vanellope asked. The other heroes looked among themselves and instantly wondered the same thing.

They found him soon enough. Mario was kneeling beside the rubble of the castle, with his back to the heroes and his face hidden beneath his hands.

Tentatively, Vanellope approached him. "Mario...?" she asked him as she placed a hand on his shoulder.

Mario looked up at the young girl, and his bright blue eyes glistened with tears. They flowed down his cheeks and streaked all the way across his large nose.

He looked away from her. "This is all my fault…" he whispered.

"It's okay, Mario," Vanellope told him. "This isn't your fault. I never should have trusted Bowser in the first place. I let him get the best of me. It's my fault, Mario, it's-"

"NO!" Mario shouted, with a sudden rage that made the other heroes jump. "This-a is MY fault! I brought Bowser here! I wasn't quick enough-a to stop him! And now he's-a finally going to win…" Mario sank to his knees and sat in solitude for the longest time.

"I should've been-a given your friend's-a job," he said after a long silence, pointing at Ralph. "I'm-a the real wrecker here. I wrecked-a your kart, your home, and now the balance of-a the world itself." His face fell in his hands, and he became silent again.

This time, Vanellope broke the silence. "I'm sorry, Mario…" she said softly as she knelt beside him. She knew she was to blame for all this just as much as Mario was. Once more she felt the tears coming, but she made no attempt to conceal them. A lone tear ran down her face and landed on the stone floor at Mario's feet.

In an instant, Mario began to rise into the air. A bright blue light surrounded him.

"MARIO! W-what's-a happening?!" Luigi shrieked.

As she watched Mario levitate, Vanellope suddenly remembered Bowser's words. Those who possess the glitch can transfer it to others…

"My powers!" Vanellope yelled. "Hey Mario, I just gave you my powers!"

Mario landed on the ground again and examined his fist, which gave off an intense blue glow. "Yes… YES! YAHOO!" Mario cried with joy. "I can-a FEEL the power!"

Mario stared off towards Waffle Cone Mountain. "Okay, guys," he told the others. "I messed up this-a world, and now I'm-a setting things right. I have-a to face him alone."

"Alone?!" said Vanellope, dumbfounded. "What, do ya got fudge for brains? You're only as strong as he is by yourself. Against two of us, he doesn't stand a chance!"

"Super!" exclaimed Mario. "But… how are we going to catch him in time?"

"Yeah, how?" asked Ralph. "And, uh… where are Felix and Candlehead?"

His question was answered for him as Candlehead pulled up in front of the ruined castle in her Ice Screamer. Behind her, Felix emerged from behind the wheel of Vanellope's newly repaired Candy Kart. "All fixed up and ready for more action!" he said, beaming.

This was it. The fate of the arcade rested in Mario's gloved hands.

"Well, Vanellope?" Mario asked her, smiling. "You ready for one last-a race?"