We all stared silently at the skeletal turtle dragon, the wind picking up as the seconds ticked on. Those of us with hair had it whip behind us, the words from the undead koopa ringing in our heads. I let out a quiet whimper, and the adults carefully shuffled me and the other kids behind them in a weak form of protection. Jenny, Ralph and Galacta were at the front of the group, glaring Dry Bowser down.
"I know Bowser", Ralph snarled, balling his fist as tightly as he could. "You aren't him, so I don't get why you call yourself that, you living fossil."
Dry Bowser laughed, sending a chill up my spine. "But I am him. In the game I was introduced in, I am the result of Super Mario sending his eternal rival into the same pool of lava. Only that one time melted the flesh from his body, the koopa king clawing for freedom. But he couldn't escape, and I was the result."
Most of the others, especially those who knew Bowser, looked faint at the image that formed. "You're horrible…" Majima growled, trying to keep himself from getting sick.
"But it's the truth!" Dry Bowser flailed his wand around dangerously, and as it sparked most of us flinched. "I was just second fiddle to my living counterpart, to the point I was just relegated as his clone when we played sports or raced. I was always in his shadow, despite being a massive reason as to why King Koopa didn't fade into obscurity!"
Merida scoffed. "Sounds like you just have a wee' bit too big of an ego there, Dry Skin. You ain't all that important. If you were, Caleb would have told us by now!"
The dragon gave me a flat look, and shifted his skull so he could smirk. "Please. That boy is much too terrified to say a thing. Plus, he knows I'm not to be trifled with. One thing you should know about us skeletons…
"WE CAN'T BE KILLED." The clouds became pitch black, only the glowing blue flames from Dry's eyes and mouth giving off any light as he spoke those dreadful words. I saw the adults all tense, but they didn't back down.
"Sure you are", Star said in a snarky tone. She peered around Maria, shooting the skeleton a glare. "If you hadn't noticed, we've got guys on our side who're way stronger than you. So if you make a move, you're done."
Dry Bowser chuckled sinisterly. "You say that, yet this world has made me just as dangerous." He lifted his wand, and it sparkled with energy. "This wand has given me all I need, such as building a duplicate… what do you call it? TARDIS?"
He gestured at the red TARDIS look-alike, and I shivered.
"Okay, but how did you know about this?" The Doctor asked. "I've never seen you at all. And even if you were from another universe, how did you know about the TARDIS?"
A villainous look flashed over Dry's face. "I was dumped off in a time that knew all about you, Doctor. A place that was so defenceless it was almost too easy to extract all the information I needed."
The Doctor's face shifted from a determined glare to horror. "Who? Who did you find?"
"The Face Of Boe", the skeleton said casually as he examined his claws. "He knew I wasn't supposed to be there, and I would be more than willing to mess with time by killing him before he could tell you his last secret. So he spilled and squealed like a coward, and I learned all that I needed."
The Doctor suddenly washed over in pure rage and stomped over to Dry. "You have no right to mess with the people I love! You don't-" He completely froze when Dry aimed his wand right at him.
"I can take away all your regenerating powers, Doctor", Dry said flatly. "And with my own TARDIS, I can go and kill each and every past incarnation of you one by one. So you'll step back, and shut up."
The Doctor remained frozen for a moment, then silently did as he was told. But he never took his fury-filled eyes off the skeleton.
"Good boy… Now, you're all probably wondering what's my end goal in all of this." The skeleton gave us a hard look, but we all remained silent. "Well, I want to do something Bowser could never do. WIN. So I'm going to rip your universe apart bit by bit, timeline by timeline. Throw some Daleks in when you're dealing with Rose saving her dad. Send Weeping Angels out to attack your future self while he's dealing with emoji robots."
Dry Bowser roared with laughter, the action shaking his body. "I can do whatever I want! And I'll do it before any of you even have a chance to say BAD WOLF. I'll rip open singularities till the whole universe is begging for mercy. Then, and only then, will I be happy." He turned, heading back towards his own TARDIS. "But this has wasted my time enough. I have much more important things to do." He started to walk away.
Which only set most of the group off in a furious frenzy. "AH FUCKING HELL NO!" Majima roared.
"YOU DON'T GET TO WALK AWAY AFTER THAT, DRY SKIN!" Merida screamed.
"YOU'RE JUST A COWARD IF YOU'RE RUNNING OFF!" Manolo yelled.
"YOU'RE NOT GOING ANYWHERE!" Blossom cried. She and her sisters shot forward right at the skeleton, but he was clearly prepared for that. In the blink of an eye, he spun back around and blasted a spell from his want, which sent the trio of superheroes hurtling into the TARDIS, instantly knocked unconscious.
"THAT'S IT!" Ralph barked. He charged forward with most of the others, but Dry simply took a deep breath and had a blast of blue flame erupt from his mouth. Jenny and Galacta shielded the others, but the force of the continuous stream of fire blasted them both away. Flowey yelped and barely dodged as the rest of us all dove out of the way.
Still spitting fire, Dry aimed his blast at the ground, igniting a wall of flame that cut us off from him.
"Till we meet again, you pathetic stains!" Dry finally entered his own TARDIS, and the red box sounded off and took off.
But before it completely vanished, it dropped an absolutely massive Bob-Omb, which was purple in colour, right onto the platform.
My eyes bugged out as the sparks from the fire wall ignited the living bomb's fuse.
"EVERYONE IN THE TARDIS NOW!" I screamed. No one argued as we all rushed into our Time Machine, taking off just as the fuse reached its end.
I screamed in terror as the blast sent the TARDIS flying further away, the whole bizarre structure utterly decimated by the massive blast. The whole thing collapsed, floor after floor, wall after wall, as more explosions rang out. Just when I thought it couldn't get any worse, the whole thing erupted with one more explosion so large and powerful it shattered the island.
I slammed the door shut when Who finally warped us out of there.
My back pressed against the closed door, I slid down to the floor and took a sharp breath. Amy, Barranco Maple and Gladius were by my side instantly as everyone else had a very loud and frantic conversation at the main console.
"Doc, this is crazy", Steve started. "Please tell me you know where we can find a super weapon that can help us out with this. Please?"
Doctor Who shook his head. "If it did, it's be too dangerous to steal and use against Dry Bowser. His wand… I don't…" He let out a shaky breath and leaned against the console. "No one has ever talked to me like that. The look he gave me told me he was serious, so if I cross a line… it's all over."
"Well I'm not taking this shit sitting down!" Majima barked. "We didn't come this far to have our asses kicked by a walking fossil."
"I'm with Majima", Star added in equal determination. "We've been jumping universes like it's been nothing, and we beat Galacta and Flowey! I feel like we are more than prepared for a little fire breathing turtle who's got an ego too big for that skull of his."
Manolo nodded. "We can't give up now. Not ever." He shared a look with his wife. "No retreat?"
"No surrender!" Maria cheered, pulling her sword out and aiming it high.
"Well, we need a plan", Rory stated. He turned to Who. "Do you have any idea where we could go?"
The Doctor was silent for a moment. "I'll need to think if it's safe, but I do have an idea." He flashed his ever calming confident grin.
I didn't share that enthusiasm, however. Amy was able to coax me back to my feet, but otherwise I was still shaken. Maple had his roots wrapped tightly around my shoulder, nuzzling the side of my head, but still I barely reacted.
Amy and Gladius shared a look, and Mrs.Pond took my hand. She began to lead me away from the central room, passing a quick glance and nod at her husband, and he followed us down a hall into the library. Amy set me down in a chair, and both the husband and wife combo sat across from me.
Maple carefully brushed his whip along my cheek, and I finally snapped out of my state of shock. "I- wha? What happened? I…" I shook my head. "I blacked out there for a moment."
"You seemed in shock, and weren't responding", Gladius explained.
"You had this thousand yard stare", Amy continued, "So I thought you just needed some peace and quiet."
I blinked at her, then smiled ever so slightly. "Thanks. I… This is what I needed. Everything Dry Bowser said… seeing he was why I was bleeding… it kinda made me shut down."
Rory pursed his lips. "What's his deal, anyway? I get being jealous, but how does this prove he's better than… his living self. It's not like he can show him."
"I believe it's just the idea", Gladius inquired. "He's so set on being better, Dry Bowser doesn't care if Bowser is there to see. He just wants something this extreme on his resume, so to say."
Rory's face twisted in discomfort. "That doesn't really make our situation any better, but then you Gladius."
Amy lightly smacked his shoulder. "Save the wise guy act after we deal with this." She faced me again. "So… what do you know about… Dry Bowser?"
I shrugged, jostling Maple a bit. "He's Dry Bowser. Undead version of Bowser, like other undead enemies he's invincible outside of very specific scenarios, and he has a wand that can allow him to do so much."
"That's the base level stuff", Gladius said. "But is there anything else we should know?"
I was silent for a moment, then perked up. "He was a secret boss in one of the turn-based RPG's. And in that game, he could be defeated!"
"Then that's our way to beat him", Amy said. "We have to beat him like the… RPG. It'll be dangerous, but it's the best we got."
"That's the thing", I interjected. "Dry Bowser in that game is, like, the highest level enemy. You can only fight him when you've done a boss rush of all the other game's bosses. And in that rush, they're all higher levels than when you first see them. Dry, in that game, is the secret super boss."
Rory cleared his throat nervously. "Even so… it's the best we got. Plus, we outnumber him. So while he might be scary, we can corner him."
I felt the tension that's been gripping my heart since the encounter slowly disappeared from my system. I gave the Ponds a smile, and they smiled back. Gladius looked over at the door, and I followed his gaze as Ruby and Iris entered the room.
"The Doctor wants us all together", the rag doll girl said. "We're at this super safe place, apparently, and he wants us to meet a friend of his."
Iris focused her worried eye on me. "Plus, we were all worried when you guys went off. Is everything okay?"
I nodded and stood up. "I'm all good, girls. Just needed some space, that's all." I walked over to them and smiled. "Let's go see this oh-so important someone The Doc wanted us to meet."
Ruby nodded, and ran ahead, myself following behind close.
~X~
"Everyone, this is Captain Jack Harkness. A very good friend of mine."
The Doctor had just introduced us all to his friend as all of us followed the two men through the halls of the facility, Torchwood. We took in the sights of the halls as the two men talked.
The other man rolled his eyes, and flashed us a smile. "It's nice to meet all of you. The Doc has helped me with my fair share of snags, so it's only right to help you guys out."
"Seriously, Jack, this means a lot." I said, walking up to his other side, Gladius hovering above me.
"Don't mention it. Dealing with stuff across time is my specialty."
"So… you're totally chill with the fact that there's a psychopathic fire-breathing turtle dragon travelling through time causing absolute chaos?" Marco said in disbelief. When we originally told Jack what was happening, he seemed eerily calm about things.
"Oh, no, I'm terrified", Jack admitted, "I'm just good at masking my fear. I guess who I am just helps ease that fear."
Everyone shot him a questioning look. "Bloody 'ell, if you say 'Because I'm handsome' I'm going to slap you." Merida spat.
"Nope. Although that would be a great reason." Jack's grin fell when he saw the withering glare the Dun Broch princess was giving him. "But the actual reason is because I can't die. Shoot me, toss me off a cliff, drive a sword through my heart. I'll just bounce back."
Amy and Rory shared a look, then gave The Doctor a flat look. "How do you keep finding these people?"
Who looked back and shot them his own flat look. "Shush. We're lucky I was even able to find Jack. With everything that's going on, it was nearly impossible to track him down."
Ralph looked at Jack inquisitively. "You can time travel too?"
Who rolled his eyes as Jack smugly grinned. "Vortex manipulation. This bad boy", he flashed us the device on his wrist, "lets me hop around whenever I want. Or, it used to."
"I didn't want you messing things up, especially after you chased after me to the end of the universe." The Doctor said firmly. I smiled lightly as we finally entered the main room of the facility. The TARDIS was transported here when we arrived, and there were a bunch of people doing… whatever. Looking at screens, walking around with odd looking equipment, or just lazing around.
"Quite the set up you got here, Jack", I said in an impressed tone.
"It is impressive, but unless it can or can't help us it won't matter", Galacta stated bluntly. "I'm going to see if anything here may help us for our eventual confrontation." He took off and disappeared behind some boxes that lined the right side of the room. Izzy, Majima, Barranco and Dave all ran after him, determined looks across their faces.
As we all broke off, myself and Gladius sticking with Who, the Ponds and Jack, and everything seemed chill. It was a calm few moments, but I knew it was a calm few moments before a tornado that was EF-5 on the Fujita Scale. That, and the fact it could hit at any moment, kept my senses super aware and my mind constantly on edge. While my friends all tried to reassure me, they clearly were in the same mindset.
As the minutes shifted to hours, I began to feel more tense by the moment. The rain outside was getting heavier. It pounded on the windows and the steel roof, thunder ringing through my ears every so often.
All of it only made me even more on edge.
Time kept ticking one, however, no sign of anything bad happening anywhere. It was very unnerving, and based on how frazzled and impatient my friends were getting, this was exactly what Dry Bowser wanted. We were a mess emotionally and mentally, so it allowed us to be more caught off guard.
But all of that came to a screeching halt when the facility's alarm started blaring, snapping all of us out of our funks.
"Something got in", I heard one of the staff mumble. I gulped, and ran over to join the closest members of my group. Luckily, it happened to be Star and Marco, and with that wand I felt a lot more safer. Gladius hovered over me protectively, looking around as if the danger was right next to us.
"What do you think could be coming, Caleb?" Star whispered to me as the four of us carefully made our way to the rest of the group.
"With this place, who knows…" I mumbled back. "All manner of hostile life forms have come, tried and failed to take over this planet. So I'm in the dark."
"Well, hopefully it's nothing too bad", Marco said in a shaky voice. "We've got enough on our plates already, so dealing with an invasion alongside Dry Bowser is way too much."
I nodded, only to freeze when a sound hit my ears. Slowly turning to the entrance of the room, I heard marching.
A collective march that only meant one thing.
"Cybermen", I breathed out fearfully.
"Those walking rust buckets?" Star asked. While we were waiting here, I had explained to my friends The Doctor's most formidable foes.
"I can recognise that marching from anywhere." I pointed at the door, and Star aimed her wand at it. Marco shuffled me behind him, and he took on a battle ready pose next to his best friend.
The marching grew louder and louder by the second, and many Torchwood soldiers took cover behind some desks and boxes, guns aimed at the door.
After a few more moments, the double doors were blasted off their hinges, a cloud of smoke covering the intruders. But just barely through it, I saw familiar silhouettes. But they weren't Cybermen.
The realisation made my blood run cold.
The smoke cleared…
And before us stood an army…
With helmets…
Shells…
And metal skin.
It was Cybermen.
Cybermen Hammer and Boomerang Bros.
"Open fire!" One of the soldiers roared.
I shrieked as Torchwood opened fire on the intruders, the CyberKoopas counter attacking by lobbing hammers and boomerangs.
Marco panicked and dragged me away from the oncoming projectiles as they sliced and smashed through the soldiers' cover. Star ducked and dodged, as did some of the troops.
Others weren't so lucky, and were slaughtered.
Gladius was playing defensively, batting away the dangerous attacks whenever they neared the Mewman princess. While most flew off and exploded against the wall behind the CyberKoopas, some flew back and destroyed the hostile intruders.
"Get out of here!" Gladius roared back at us. "I can take these hits. None of you can. Get back to the others now!"
Star nodded, and she ran forward past me and Marco. Diaz grabbed my hand and led me away, fire erupting around us as the CyberKoopas continued their onslaught, flooding into the room.
"I saw Jenny and Steve head this way!" Star barked amongst the chaos. Marco nodded, and she led us around some crates…
Only for an explosion to rip apart a nearby wall.
The three of us looked over, and in horror we watched Daleks flood from the new opening. Only thing was… these weren't normal Daleks.
Larger domes…
More grey blue in colour…
Oh god, Goomba Daleks. Bone Goomba Daleks.
I fucking hate all of this.
"Run!" I cried, taking off from all the danger. Problem: I had no idea where I was going. CyberKoopas and Goombaleks were everywhere, slaughtering the soldiers of Torchwood mercilessly while other staff made their escape. I ran, ducking under hammers and laser blasts as they flew through the air.
"CALEB!" I heard Iris cry out. Snapping my gaze towards her voice, I saw her frantically gesturing at me to follow as everyone headed into the TARDIS, Jenny and Galacta playing defence outside.
My brain kicked into overdrive, I dashed over to my friends just as Gladius, Star and Marco joined us. As I climbed on board the Time Machine, Jack pushed past and rushed back into the madness.
"Jack, what're you doing?!" Jenny screamed.
"Buying you guys some time!" He called back. "Stop Dry Bowser! Save everyone!"
I nodded, grabbed my friends' arms and pulled them both inside. I slammed the door closed as more explosions ringed out.
"Doctor, get us out of here now!" Galacta roared.
"On it!" Who worked as fast as he could, and we were soon off. Once all the sound outside ceased, we all collectively breathed a sigh of relief.
"Okay… I don't know if it's you guys making me soft, or I actually have a heart", Flowey spoke up amongst our heavy breathing, "But that was actually messed up." He looked at The Doctor. "And you deal with this on the daily?"
The Doctor morbidly nodded. "It's… hard. But this… this is nothing like I've seen." A dark look passed over his face. "He is going to regret this."
"I'm with you on that, Doc", Majima smirked, although his eye burned with that rage I've seen before. "He's set himself so high, that knocking him down will be so fun. That fucking jackass will pay."
I gulped, but nodded. As did everyone else.
"But right now, we need to find a place to recoup and prepare." Gladius faced Who. "Do you have any other places that are safe?"
He nodded. "I've got a few places in mind. Hopefully we get some breathing room…"
~X~
We could not. Time and space was breaking by the second, and we were all frantic. No matter where we went, any place we visited, it would be in one of three scenarios: Peaceful until we showed up and Dry Bowser's monstrous fusions showed up; Already in the process of being ruined by said fusions; or completely corrupted by intersecting timelines, like where Dry Bowser first made his presence known.
It was utter chaos. And it didn't help that we were being tossed and turned whenever we travelled through time. Dry Bowser would always be there, ramming us till we fell into random points of time, and had to scramble to escape his ever growing army.
It was such a disaster.
"This is getting ridiculous!" Ralph shouted as we fled another place overrun with Dry's violent fusions. We ended up encountering Boos fused with Weeping Angels, the combo proving perfect yet oh-so horrid.
I whimpered as I clutched onto Maria for support, Maple and Gladius never leaving our side since this whole ordeal started.
"Well what the hell are we supposed to do?!" Steve cried out. "Everywhere we go, there's danger. Dry Bowser is always there, as if to taunt us!" He clutched the sides of his head, a crazed look in his eyes.
"Steve, you need to calm down!" Barranco spat. "Us Rabbids never would give in so easily. We're stubborn, but that's why we're so strong."
"Minions too!" Dave affirmed. "We can't give up. Not now. We just need to figure out a way to corner Dry Bowser."
"How about we mess with his TARDIS?" Izzy suggested in a strained voice. She was having a really hard time with this. "If we do something to it, then he'll be a sitting duck!"
The Doctor lifted his head, and Amy and Rory shared a hopeful look. "That could work, Izzy…" Who said quietly. "And if his TARDIS is a perfect replica as mine… Then they're connected in some way."
There was a violent shake.
"Whatever that was, keep it off us till I can figure something out!"
Jenny, Galacta and The Powerpuff Girls all nodded and rushed outside into space, and as I peeked through the open door, I squeaked in fear.
It was a full out war, the original Daleks with several ships locked into combat with the Goombaleks. The fusion's ships looked like Lakitu clouds, complete with firing off spiked balls red in colour.
"Guys!" I called out, leaning out the door. "Be careful!" The nodded or saluted back, and I was pulled back in by a very overprotective Maria.
"When I get my hands on his bony butt", the wooden woman snarled through clenched teeth as she gazed outside. "I am going to turn him into ash."
I sighed, leaning into her embrace. Looking outside again, my eyes bugged out as I saw the red TARDIS coming right at us, fireballs spinning around it. The red TARDIS stopped spinning, but kept approaching as a blood red cannon exited the door and started firing Bullet Bills of the same colour.
"DOC, MOVE!" I cried out.
Zomboss, who was luckily able to see the door, gasped and pulled a lever on the console. The TARDIS shifted out of the way, but the cannon wouldn't let up, firing Bill after Bill relentlessly.
"Close that door, now!" The zombie barked.
I nodded and wiggled out of Maria's embrace, rushing over to seal the double doors. But as I looked towards the other Time Machine, I froze as I saw Dry Bowser from behind the cannon.
He was glaring at me with an egotistical smirk, the fire in his eyes glowing a bright blue.
I glared right back, and slammed the door shut.
But as soon as I did, the TARDIS shook violently, making me trip and slam my head against the wall.
And like that, I was out like a light.
~X~
This was such a fun chapter to write. Mainly because of Dry Bowser's speech at the beginning, and the fusion of Doctor Who aliens and Super Mario enemies. Especially the CyberKoopas (under the metal armour are Dry Bones, so it fits Dry Bowser's undead theme, which is the consistency all the fusions follow).
Seriously, when I said I was looking forward to this arc, I meant it. And if you feel like these chapters are a bit shorter than chapter 55… That chapter was over 23k words, cut me some slack! I can take this easy (although the next chapter and 59 will be longer, don't worry).
But, regardless, I hope you love this chapter, and are looking forward to the next one.
Up next: As the TARDIS is battered from all sides and death seems imminent, Caleb comes up with a crazy idea that gives the gang their much needed breathing room…
~Caleb~