Bowsette: A New Life
Chapter 64
Final Battle Between Rivals
With Bowsette at his side, Mario had little trouble clearing the rest of the floor of the remnants. There was no door on that floor, so the duo went up the stairs and cleared out the next floor, and the next, and the next… Remnant Goombas and Koopa Troopas were of no real threat to the two of them. Which was just as well, the two could use a breather after the effort they put in to get there.
5 floors up, the two finally found a way in. A large red door, standard to Bowsette's castles, was all that stood between them and the castle interior. "Ready?" Bowsette asked, they both guessed this is where the real trouble would start. Mario nodded, and so Bowsette opened the door while Mario waited to fight off anything that might come for them.
Fortunately, there was no attack, and the duo entered. Inside was the typical décor for Bowsette's castles, cold stone brick walls and a long, blue carpet lining the floor, with the Bowsette statues with torches in their mouths lining the walls being the only decoration. The area was eerily quiet and empty, not a single enemy to be found and a door at the end of the hall, but Bowsette and Mario kept an eye out for any traps as they progressed.
Beyond the door was a similar yet much wider hallway. As they opened the door at the end and stepped inside, the door slammed shut behind them and locked. The flames on the Bowsette statues simultaneously snuffed out, plunging the duo into blackness. "Oh, so it's this old setup huh?" Bowsette mockingly said. "Next the fires will come back on, and then nasties will jump us." Mario silently agreed and readied himself.
As soon as Bowsette finished speaking, the flames in the Bowsette statues came on, one after another, slowly illuminating the hallway… and the two dark figures standing on the opposite side of the room between them and the door. Remnant Mario and Bowser opened their glowing pink eyes and stared down their opposites.
"Told you." Bowsette said smugly. 'Kill him. Destroy him. Get him out your way for good! Then you can conquer the' the Remnant Bowser was speaking in Bowsette's head, but she wasn't paying any attention. "Shut up already will you?" Bowsette rolled her eyes. "That might have worked a long time ago, but not now." Mario and Bowsette slowly walked forward to meet their copies. Like mirror images, the Remnants also approached.
Bowsette couldn't hear what the Remnant Mario was saying to Mario, but whatever it was the clinching of his fists showed Bowsette it was riling the plumber up. Mario was moving to rush forward and engage his other self when Bowsette grabbed him by the overalls and hoisted him up. "Ah ah ah! Remember what happened last time you two fought?"
Bowsette pulled Mario up to whisper. "You two will just fight forever, and as much as I hate to admit it, I don't think I could beat that fake of mine either, he's bigger and heavier than I am, plus I don't have my shell and he does. Then it'll be you against both of them, and that's where we'll lose." Bowsette turned to look at the Remnant Bowser before continuing. "I've got a better idea… Plumber Ball." Bowsette smirked.
Mario got the hint and tucked himself up into a ball moments before Bowsette threw him at the Remnant Bowser. The Remnants gaped in surprise only to have the Bowser Remnant take Mario's fists directly to his face and go staggering back. With a roar, Bowsette herself rushed at the Remnant Mario.
***
**Cue Super Mario Galaxy 2 OST Final Bowser Battle Theme**
As he was flying through the air Mario positioned himself from a ball to a corkscrew and hit the Remnant Bowser square in the jaw with his fists, forcing it back. Mario rebounded off the turtle dragon monster and landed on his feet. For only a moment, Mario hesitated. He realized he had fought and defeated Bowsette in his memory countless times, but all but the last of those fights never actually happened. It was actually Bowser he had fought before. For that reason, Mario knew he was able to win, but the tactics he used to use, or rather thought he had used, against Bowsette might not be as effective.
There wasn't time to plan though. While this ran through Mario's head, Remnant Bowser regained his footing, rubbed his jaw where Mario had hit him and laughed sinisterly. If this was the real Bowser, he would taunt Mario right now, but this Bowser didn't bother since Mario wouldn't be able to hear him anyway. Instead, Remnant Bowser charged forward, building up fire in his mouth.
Mario shook himself out of his musings and focused. At the very least he had to hold this one off until Bowsette could beat Mario's fake. Mario waited for the Remnant to fire a stream of fireballs and leapt between them, just avoiding being singed. Mario countered with his own fireballs, which the Remnant easily batted aside with a laugh. However, those were just a distraction. Mario fired a few other fireballs and used the smoke they caused as they hit the ground as cover as he leapt over the Remnant and struck him in the back of the head. Mario landed on and scrambled down the Remnant's shell before it shoved itself onto its back to try to squash him.
That was a mistake on the Remnant's part. With Mario easily avoiding it, the spikes on the shell rammed through the ground and left it briefly stuck into place. Mario took the opportunity to leap up over the creature's head and ground pounded directly into its face.
The creature roared and, to Mario's surprise, grabbed him by the leg blindly and threw him away. It managed to pull itself up off its back as Mario leapt off the wall and got back on his feet.
***
Bowsette took one look at this mockery of Mario and couldn't help but feel rage at the sight. In all their years battling Bowser had hated Mario with a passion… but despite the animosity he held there was always this begrudging respect underneath it all. Mario's drive, determination, and strength was always something Bowser could find admirable, even as Mario annoyed him by foiling his plans again and again. However, his kindness, selflessness, and heroism always got on Bowser's nerves, even the few times they were on the same side.
Now though, as someone who benefited from it in recent weeks Bowsette could come to appreciate that heroic side of the plumber. Then there was… this thing that wore his face. The look of eternal rage on the Remnant Mario's face as it sought to destroy the Mushroom Kingdom and her own and replace it with more of its own kind. All in a fruitless bid to bring the world back to how it used to be. This creature didn't have a shred of the nobility that the actual Mario had, and it infuriated the Koopa woman.
All this ran through Bowsette's mind in a second as she ran at the Remnant, her horns down ready to gorge the thing on impact. Naturally, Remnant Mario leapt over Bowsette and let her pass him. "Not gonna make it easy I see!" Bowsette grinned. She was going to enjoy this, probably for the last time. "BAWAAAA! HA! HA! HA!" Bowsette fired fireball after fireball at the Remnant, which it easily avoided. A smack to Bowsette's face from a thrown hammer followed as it rushed at her. "Ouch!" Bowsette dodged a punch, the fake stopping for a moment only to grab his hammer.
The Remnant resumed the assault, but… "Hmm…" Bowsette noticed she was having too easy of a time avoiding the Remnant's attacks. It avoided her own fire and claw swipes well enough, but with its punches, hammer blows, and fireballs it was moving a step slow. "What's wrong fake?" The Remnant just managed to dodge a swipe of Bowsette's claws, so close the fake's overalls were sliced. "Lost your nerve?!" Bowsette growled.
Bowsette leaped back to get some distance between them and smirked. "Heh, I can see why. Look at him." She pointed to her left, to where the Remnant Bowser and the actual Mario were still fighting on the other side of the room. Mario was getting his fair share of strikes in and was wearing the Koopa King Remnant down. However, the fight was far from over, and it wouldn't take much on Mario's end for him to lose. In fact, just then the Remnant Bowser sent Mario flying with a punch.
Probably expecting a trick, the Remnant Mario didn't take his eyes off Bowsette. However, curiosity got the better of it and the Remnant Mario stole a quick look at where Bowsette was pointing, just as Mario was being hit. Mario got up and quickly shook off the blow before throwing himself back into the fray.
"You see that? THAT is the real Mario." Bowsette said smugly. "Whatever part of him you might still have, it's not even close to enough." Bowsette rushed forward and swiped at the fake who dodged. "He has determination! He has drive! He never gives up!" Bowsette continued to swipe and kick at the thing in a rage. "HE would NEVER… ugh!" Bowsette took a punch to the face. "never hurt someone innocent to accomplish his goals!" Something about that caused the Remnant Mario to hesitate for a second, and Bowsette took the opportunity to give the fake a kick to the chest. The Remnant went flying and impacted the door the enemies had been guarding. "He's everything YOU aren't. He's a hero. As much as it irritated me, Mario would always fight for what's right. That's why you're not doing so well. You know you aren't the good guy here, don't ya?"
The fake stood on his feet, with Bowsette ready to continue the fight. However, instead of charging at Bowsette, the Remnant Mario turned and ran through the door. "You're too cowardly for the real Mario too." Bowsette smirked, it might have been a fake and she might not have taken it out, but a win against Mario was a win.
On that note, Bowsette turned to help Mario fight the Remnant Bowser only to find she need not bother. The Remnant was on the floor, with an exhausted and a bit wounded but triumphant Mario standing over him. The Remnant Bowser was still trying to move, he had always been stubborn. Bowsette watched as Mario walked around the turtle dragon mockery of Bowsette's former self.
Bowsette winced as she saw Mario grab the Remnant Bowser by the tail. Bowsette knew what was coming next, she'd been on the receiving end as Bowser several times. Mario began to twirl the Remnant around, faster and faster. "So-a long King Bowser!" Mario yelled as he let go. The Remnant Bowser was flung into the wall not far from Bowsette, slamming into it hard enough for the room to shake.
Bowsette walked up to the Remnant and stared at it with an unreadable expression on her face. It lay there on its stomach with its eyes closed, the injuries it was sporting as bad as Bowser's had been at the end of his many fights with the plumber, maybe worse. Seeing herself in this sorry Bowsette took a moment to think back on all those years of… well, losing time and time again for the sake of trying to marry a woman that would never have loved Bowser anyway. Bowser had been pathetic, Bowsette could admit that now.
As the Remnant Bowser's eyes slowly opened, Bowsette's expression changed. Her face was resolute as she raised her foot. The creature just managed to look up at the woman before she slammed her foot down as hard as she could. Bowsette's heel stabbed right into the Remnant Bowser's forehead, shattering the skull and going straight into its brain.
The creature was dead before it could even cry out in pain from the impact. Bowsette had a mildly irritated expression on her face, like she had just squashed a bug.
A poof of pink dust marked the end of all that remained of the Great Koopa King Bowser.