Authors Note: Well everyone, it's finally that time. We're gonna get this old wagon train back on track. Let's just see how everything will turn out. Also, you might wanna go back and re-read everything, because I've made a few changes that explain a couple of things. And, because I wanted to freshen the fic up a bit.

Disclaimer: I own nothing but the plot and Travis. If you should ever wish to use him, do not hesitate to ask.

Ch. 12

Travis and Mario slowly entered the vast halls of Bowsers horrid fortress.

"Hey Travis, I think it's time we split up. Are you sure you can handle Bowser?" Mario asked in concern.

Travis merely nodded. "I gotta make things right, Mario. This is between me and him now. You go find Peach and… uh… handle your business." Travis said as he winked at Mario.

Mario chuckled a bit. You can only be embarrassed by innuendoes for so long before they become funny.

And so, the cousins shook hands and went their separate ways. As Travis began to venture further into the fortress, he felt for something in his coat. Finding the item he was looking for, he sighed with relief.

"Good. I'll never leave home without that." Travis said as he continued on.

Mario heard what Travis had said and wondered just what he had that was so important. But in the end, he shrugged it off and kept going.

Bowser sat upon his throne and chuckled in self-assurance.

"Yes… It won't be long now. As soon as the Mushroom Kingdom surrenders, I'll be one step closer to world domination."

Kamek nodded his head in sinister approval.

"Yes, my lord. Soon, we will have all we desire."

A look of confused rage came over Bowser.

"We? What is this we you speak of?" Bowser said as he wrapped his huge hand around Kameks neck. "I shall be the one who will have everything. You are nothing but an insignificant worm amongst my ranks. And as far as I am concerned, you have outlived your usefulness."

Bowser then squeezed Kameks neck until it snapped. He then dropped the lifeless body to the ground and turned to his guards, who had stepped back in fear of their tyrannical leader.

"Well, what are you two fucking worms staring at? Clean this mess up! And let this serve as an example of what happens to those who think they shall have any part of what rightfully belongs to me!" Bowser bellowed as he sat back upon his throne.

The guards trembled in fear as they did what they were told.

"Yes… soon this world shall tremble beneath my iron fist."

Bowsers psychotic musings were interrupted, however, when a lowly soldier burst into the room.

"My Liege, we have intruders!" The soldier cried through ragged breaths.

"Intruders? Then deal with them you stupid pile of excrement!" Bowser commanded as he shrugged off the soldier's worried comment.

But the shaking follower continued.

"But sir, it's Mario!"

Bowsers eyes went wide at that.

"MARIO?!" Impossible! He's DEAD! I killed him!"

Bowser stormed out of the throne room, nearly killing the koopa soldier as he knocked him out of the way. He headed down to the dungeons to collect his victim. Not knowing what lay in wait for him.

Mario was sweating heavily. It wasn't so much his injuries giving him problems as much as it was his weight.

"Mama mia. I gotta cut back on the pasta. Or at least work out more."

He had just fought off an entire battalion of Bowsers finest, and had finally reached the dungeon. He slowly opened the door, lest anyone be waiting on the other side to jump him. But to his surprise, there was no one there. No one, of course, except for a shivering princess in a ripped racing suit.

"Peach! Oh my gosh… are you ok?!"

Peach looked up with wide eyes as her hero -once again- came to her rescue.

Mario wrapped his hands around the bars of Peach's cell and pulled with all his might, but to his dismay, he couldn't open the door.

"Mario, it's no use… Bowser swallowed the key. You'll have to pry the bars open with something. Either that, or blow it open." Peach said as she stood up.

Mario stopped and thought for a second. Then he got a brilliant idea.

"I know! I'll use my fire-power to melt the bars!"

Mario brought his hands together. And in an instant, fire began to accumulate within his grasp. He let the flame gather heat, and then brought it up to the bars so that they would melt.

"Mario?"

"Yes Peach?" He said looking up at her.

Peach looked deep into Mario's eyes, smiled, and said:

"Thank you for loving me."

Mario merely smiled and replied.

"Thank you for letting me."

Suddenly there was a snap, and the gate slowly swung open. Mario rushed in and took his love into his arms.

Peach held tightly onto Mario. It was the first time in what seemed like forever she had felt safe. She realized that now was her chance. It was finally time. It was time for all the desire, all the wanting, all the needing, to just disappear into a mist of overwhelming pleasure and love. She looked up at Mario. And as her eyes met his, she felt a feeling that she had never felt before.

Mario gazed deeply into Peach's eyes. Those baby blues had been looking back at him for as long as he could remember. But now it was different. Now they could finally have what they had wanted all along. Each other.

They moved in for a kiss. A meeting of lips that was, indeed, long overdue. But before their lips could meet, the ground shook beneath them as dust and pebbles fell from the stone ceiling above them. Then, as soon as the rumbling stopped, it started again, this time, preceded by a deafening explosion. Mario and Peach clung to each other as they moved to the window to see exactly what all the commotion was, only to be greeted by the wonderful sight of the newly modernized Mushroom Kingdom Royal Armed Forces (M.K.R.A.F.). Both were just as astounded and confused as the other.

"Erm, Peach? Since when do we have an army?"

"Beats me. I thought we just had a castle guard." The confused princess replied as she scratched her head.

"Well, either way, we need to get out before they level this place! C'mon!"

At that, Mario scooped up Peach (bridal style) and cut out running for the exit.

Daisy, Luigi, Toad, and Toadsworth were at the front of the large army of relatively well-equipped soldiers.

"Good Heavens, it's been ages since I last scrambled the troops! I had forgotten that we had a military." Toadsworth said as he wiped the sweat from his brow.

"I didn't even know it existed in the first place!" Luigi replied. He was rather impressed when Toad came back with this! He just expected a rabble of gaurds!

The army closed in on the poorly guarded fortress of the no longer so frightening Koopa Troop.

"The place looks deserted." Daisy stated in a rather hushed tone.

"Well, we should level the place all the same!" Toad exclaimed in a fury. "This place has brought us nothing but misery and hardship!"

"Toad is right. We need to end this now. Otherwise, Bowser will just keep coming back to finish what he started all those years ago." Luigi agreed.

"Well, shall I give the orders?" Toadsworth asked.

Daisy thought for a second. She knew that by initiating the attack, they were putting Mario, Peach, and possibly Travis, in danger. However, they needed to at least destroy Bowsers clown copters so he couldn't escape. Finally, she came to a decision.

"Do it." She said in an aggressive tone.

Toadsworth raised his cane into the air.

"ARMS AT THE READY!"

Slowly but surely the soldiers rolled large cannons to the front lines. When they were in position, the general gave the signal.

"ARMS READY, COMMANDER!"

Toadsworth took another long breath.

"FIND YOUR MARKS…. AAAAAND… FIRE!"

Cannon fire rang throughout the lands as the military personnel lit the cannons and let the ordinance fly, destroying everything it came in contact with.

Luigi felt an odd sense of pride swelling in his chest. He usually did not condone this sort of thing, but it was so satisfying to finally see…

"Wait… what is that?" Luigi exclaimed over the noise.

"CEASE FIRE!"

Toadsworths voice boomed as everything came to a screeching halt. Everyone waited for the dust to clear. For in the distance, were two figures. A man, and a woman.

Bowser walked into the Great Hall. About midway through, the ground started shaking causing dust and debris to fall from the stone ceiling.

"Son of a whorish goomba… What the Hell was that? Bowser exclaimed as he regained his balance.

Suddenly, one by one, the lights flickered out in the large room.

"Shit, they must be setting off bombs out there! Damn Koopas. They knocked out the power!"

Luckily, there was an old chandelier adorned with torches hanging low from the ceiling. Bowser took a breath and lit the torches.

"There. Better. Rustic, and outdated… but at least I can see." Bowser said as he looked around. There were dark shadows all over the now dimly lit room. He couldn't even see his way to the door.

"Thank the good Lord for fire, eh Bowser?"

The dark lord suddenly became intimidated.

"Who…Who said that? Where are you? Show yourself!" He exclaimed as his red eyes scanned the room.

"What's wrong Bowser? Not afraid of the dark… are you?"

Bowser became very angry with the taunts coming from the unknown voice.

"I am Bowser, you good for nothing fuckin' scum! Show your God-damned face!"

Suddenly, a dark figure with a chain from one of the chandeliers came up behind Bowser, threw the chain over his neck, and with all their might, began to strangle him with it.

Bowser gasped and choked for air. He had never been more afraid in all of his long years of living. To think that someone had gotten the drop on him, and now he was being strangled to death? He couldn't go out this way.

He finally got down to where he could get some footing. When he had some traction, he backed his assailant into the hard stone wall, causing them to lose their grip. Bowser then reached behind him, grabbed the culprit, and threw them across the room into the other wall. The figure fell to the ground limp, and unconscious. Bowser moved over to the hooded figure and removed their cloak, only to find a platinum blonde in a cosmic blue dress.

"HA! You stupid space bitch! Did you really think that you could bring an end to the Great King, Bowser!?Mwuahahahahahahahahaha! Preposterous!"

Bowser turned to leave, only to be met by the hard hitting heel of a brown cowboy boot. Bowser, disoriented by the force of the blow, staggered back and hit the wall with enough force to leave a large imprint.

"WHAT? No….. HOW!? I KILLED YOU!"

"Bowser, you son of a bitch. This is where it ends you sick bastard." Travis said as he raised his fists.

Bowser merely laughed as he staggered to his feet.

"You think… that YOU can beat ME!? C'MON YOU FUCK!"

Travis ran over to Bowser and swung his fist upwards with all his strength. He made contact with Bowsers jaw. Then, using the momentum from his run, drove his knee into Bowsers gut.

Big mistake.

As an unwanted side effect, Bowser belched flame all over Travis, causing him to stagger back. Travis patted out the flames as best he could, and avoided some very nasty burns. But not before completely scorching his suit. Before he could react, however, Bowser came up behind him and slammed him into the wall. But when Bowser bent over to pick him up, Travis found some loose stone and slammed it against Bowsers temple. Bowser staggered back, and Travis took the chance to throw in a series of kicks. The heals on his cowboy boots dealt some serious damage to Bowsers face, but in the end, to no avail.

On the last kick, Bowser grabbed Travis' leg, swung him around and over and into the ground. Bowser repeated this several times, Travis absolutely powerless to stop him. Then Bowser swung him around three times before letting Travis fly into the nearest wall. There he lay… unable to get to his feet.

Bowser slowly walked towards him.

"It's over you fucking hick. No more games." Bowser said as he closed the distance. "I may have faltered on my main plans because of you and Mario, but I'll just regroup again! It won't take long for me to rebuild my Koopa Troop. And when I return, I will level that shitty kingdom, ONCE AND FOR FUCKIN" ALL!"

Bowser took a deep breath, getting ready to unleash his fury on the helpless Travis. When all of a sudden, Rosalina jumped him once again. This time, she had a rock and began smashing him in the face with it. But in the end, Bowsers brute strength overcame her and he brushed her away like a meddlesome fly. Now his attention was turned on her.

"And as for you, space slut, I'll slit you're throat from one end to the other, and hang your organs on my wall!"

Bowser raised his claw to strike her down. But at the last minute, Bowser heard a deafening bang, followed by an intense pain in his hand. He brought it down to find a fresh, bleeding, burning hole in his massive claw.

"Hey Bowser…"

The Koopa King turned around to see Travis holding a polished nickel plated, custom engraved, Ruger Service Six .357 Magnum with pearl grips.

"Oh my God…" Bowser said as he fell to his knees.

"Kingdoms will tumble. Like Gibraltar they crumble. For they are only made of clay."

Travis slowly walked up to the now lowly koopa, took his gun, and pressed it against Bowsers temple.

"And only by the Will of God, are any allowed to stay."

"No….no, no, no….please… don't kill me…. Please!" Bowser begged through his sobs.

"Why shouldn't I Bowser?! After all you've done?! All the lives you've destroyed?! YOU DON'T DESERVE TO LIVE!"

Bowser only sobbed even louder.

"Please, Travis… please! I'll change… I'll never do evil again, I promise! Just please give me another chance!"

"WE'VE GIVEN YOU THE PAST 35 YEARS BOWSER!" Travis said as he slapped Bowser across the face with his pistol. "WHY SHOULD I LET YOU LIVE?!"

Bowser merely continued to sob. Travis was right. What reason did he have to let him live?

Mario, Peach, Luigi, and Daisy had made their way back into the Keeps Great Hall. When they saw exactly what was happening, they were dumb-founded.

"Jesus, Travis what are you doing?! Where'd you get that gun?" Mario asked, afraid to come any closer.

"Mario, NOT NOW!" Travis bellowed.

"Travis… you don't have to do this… we've destroyed everything… let him go…" Daisy said, trying to interject.

"NO! If we let him go, he'll just come back and do it all again!"

"No… no I won't… I…" Bowser started.

Travis slapped Bowser with his pistol again.

"SHUT UP!" Travis yelled as he pulled back the hammer of the gun, readying the next magnum round.

"Travis… no…"

Peach walked up to Travis and put her hand on his shoulder.

"Travis… you know this isn't right. Put the gun down. Bowser's finished. Look at him."

Travis looked down at the lowly Koopa. Bowser was a pathetic sight indeed. His face was black and blue, both eyes were bleeding, his nose was shattered, and he was missing six teeth. A more pathetic sight Travis had never seen.

"You're right." Travis said as he slowly let down the hammer of the gun and slid it back into the shoulder holster hidden under his coat. "If I kill him… then who's the monster?"

Travis took Bowser by the hand (the un-injured one) and helped him up off the ground.

"The Bible says turn the other cheek, after all." Rosalina said as Luigi and Daisy helped her up.

Then, all of a sudden, the ceiling began to fall in around them, trapping them inside!

"Oh Crap! The roofs caving in! We need to get outta here!" Bowser said as they ran towards the door. But it was too late. The exit was blocked by a huge stone. And try as they might, they couldn't get out the way.

"We're trapped, what do we do?" Mario asked as the whole keep began to fall in around them.

Then, a miracle occurred. A tiny opening in the ceiling. Travis was the first to spot it

"Look, an openin'! We can get out there! Hurry!" He said as they ran towards it. It was just out of reach. But if they worked together, they could make it out.

"Bowser, we need to send him up first. He can haul everyone else out behind him as we hand 'em up, Mario!" Travis said as he started helping Bowser up.

"Great idea!" Mario said as he helped, as well.

Bowser was just able to get up through the whole. And when he did, he turned around and let a hand down to help.

Luigi went first (to help Bowser) then Rosy, Daisy, and Peach. But by the time it got down to just Travis and Mario, they were running out of time.

"Travis, go I'll help you!" Mario said.

"NO Mario, you go, I can make it ok." Travis protested.

"But Travis, the walls!"

Just then a large part of the wall began to fall in around them, this was their last chance.

"JUST GET UP THERE MARIO!" You're not tall enough to make it on your own! I am!" Travis said as he grabbed Mario by the straps of his overalls. "NOW GIT'!"

Travis literally threw Mario up high enough for Bowser to catch his hand.

The walls started tumbling down. Travis jumped as high as he could. But to no avail. As everyone looked down to see, he muttered one final word.

"Goodbye…"

Then, the walls fell all around and on top of him, burying him under several feet of rubble.

The only thing you could hear after the smoke and dust settled was the sounds of sobbing and wailing from those who knew him best. The only thing left of him was his fire-scorched fedora, and his shiny nickel-plated revolver.

"TRAVIS, NOOOO!" Rosalina cried.

"Oh my God… no…" Mario said as he sadly clutched a sobbing Peach.

"It couldn't have happened to a nicer person." Daisy said through her tears as she held a crying Luigi.

"It shouldn't have been him…" Bowser began. "It should have been me… I should have been the one to die…" Bowser said, a tear coming to his bloodshot eyes.

"Bowser, no one could have known this would happen. Don't be so hard on yourself." Mario said as, for the first time, he tried to console Bowser.

Bowser clutched his fists in sorrow filled rage. But then slowly let his grip fade as his head hung low.

"Hey guys?"

Everyone turned to look at Bowser.

"…Thank you for having mercy on me. Now that I see how great you guys are, I'm gonna really turn over a new leaf. No more evil." The once evil koopa king stated proudly. "It's the least I can do to honour Travis' memory."

"MARIO? LUIGI? MISS DAISY? PRINCESS PEACH? TRAVIS? Are any of you still alive? PLEASE ANSWER ME!"

Everyone heard Toadsworths voice through the rubble. Mario got up and set a stone over the place where Travis was buried so as to mark it so that they could find it later to bring him back for a proper funeral and burial.

"Guys, we need to find Toadsworth and tell him what's happened." Mario said as he helped Peach up.

"You guys go. I'm sure they aren't ready to see me yet. Besides, I wanna sit here and think for a while." Bowser said as he sat down.

Rosalina wiped her tears from her face. She wanted to stay with her love for as long as she could. But Mario mad a good point. They needed to find the others so they could get Travis' body back to the Mushroom Kingdom for a proper burial. So, reluctantly, she got up, with the help of Bowser, and walked away with the rest of the group.

Bowser stayed behind. Thinking about all that had happened. All he had done. And how he could atone for all of the wrong he had done.

'The least I could do is get Travis' body out of this hole.' Bowser thought as he started to dig.

Authors Note: Well, I knew it wouldn't be pretty. But it's not over yet. We still got a chapter or two left. I'll begin workin' on them shortly. Review! Send me your ideas! You know I appreciate 'em. Good to be back! See ya next time.

The Preacherman.