Onward, to battle!

Chapter 16: King

Zion made the first move. He charged at Bowser, his blades glowing with power. Despite his size, Bowser was quite nimble, and was able to dodge Zion's strikes. After one of his missed attacks, Bowser swiped at Zion with his claws. Zion reacted quickly to block with his other blade. Much to his astonishment, the blades met Bowser's claws with a loud hiss. He adjusted his blade and swung.

Bowser grimaced and took a large jump back. The blades had been unable to pierce his claws, but it did hurt his hands. Bowser looked at his injured hand. It burned a bit, but the cut itself was shallow. He looked towards his opponent and gave a mocking "Come on" gesture.

While not falling for the taunt, Zion still headed towards Bowser, turning off his left blade to begin firing pot shots towards the Koopa King. Bowser blocked his face, but decided to simply tank through the shots as Zion made his approach. Once close enough, Zion reactivated the blade on his left arm and swung both blades. However, Bowser not only retreated inside his shell, but spun at an incredible rate of speed, crashing into Zion. He was hit multiple times by the spinning behemoth before getting knocked away

Zion was forever grateful he had his suit. 'That attack would have torn me to shreds otherwise.'

Suit integrity 70%

'Not good, I can't afford to screw this up.'

Bowser, having finished spinning, came out of his shell, and began to attack from a distance with some sizable fireballs. Zion dodged them while returning fire, and trying to close the distance between them. Eventually, Zion got close enough to strike, but unlike last time he tried something different: he propelled himself into the air with his suit. Bowser hadn't expected the maneuver and was caught off guard, allowing Zion to strike him unimpeded. As Zion flew over him, the blades both cut into Bowser's face, causing him to roar with fury.

Zion spun in midair, facing Bowser as he landed. A second later, Bowser turned to Zion and-

"RRAAHHH!"

Unleashed a torrent of fire unlike anything Zion had ever seen. He tried to dodge to the side, but the width of the blast was too wide. Thus, Zion was quickly engulfed in the flames. Thinking quickly, he flew into the air to escape the inferno.

Unfortunately for him, it seemed Bowser had anticipated such an action and jumped into the air at Zion, who was surprised he could jump so high. Bowser's fist came down towards Zion who prepared to block with his blades. When Bowser's fist went into the blades, Zion could feel it bite into the kings flesh. However, Bowser simply powered through it, pushing forward with inhuman strength until Zions arms couldn't withstand the force. Zions arms collapsed onto his body, and Bowser's fist sent him crashing into the deck of the ship.

Zion felt a ringing in his ears from the collision, but did his best to shake it off. He was slow to return to his feet, but it seemed Bowser was letting him, as he was instead examining his injured fist.

Suit integrity 52%

"Shit…you pack one hell of a punch. No wonder they put you in charge."

Bowser gave a short laugh while smirking, "I am the King for a reason. But I must say, you're putting up more of a fight than I expected. How about joining me instead of fighting? You can be my personal bodyguard, and I can reward you with whatever you wish. What do you say?"

Zion got back into a fighting position, "No thanks."

Bowser's smirk went away, "Well then…RRAAHHH!" He blew another torrent of fire towards Zion.

As Zion prepared to dodge, a transparent shield appeared a bit in front of him, protecting him from the blast. He looked behind him to see,

"Rosalina?! What are you doing here?!"

She was slowly walking up to him, her wand pointed to the shield currently protecting him.

"I managed to form a shield around the beacon to stop the flow of energy. It's a bit of a risk, but it will hold. I'm here now to help you defend our home," Zion would love to have protested, but knew there was no point. Not only because Rosalina wouldn't budge, but because the flames from Bowser had subsided, revealing Rosalina to him.

"Hmm? What's this? Trying to team up against me?" Bowser asked questioningly.

Rosalina responded, "I don't know what you want with this power, but we won't let you have it. Release whatever power you've drained already, and leave."

Bowser readied himself, "I refuse." He then roared and jumped into the air. As he landed near the two, they noticed a sort of Shockwave coming at them. They both took to the air, but went in separate directions, Rosalina on Bowser's left, Zion his right. Being unsure who to aim for, Bowser simply waited.

Zion fired blasts from his suit, while Rosalina pointed her want at Bowser and fired star bits. Both agitated him, but neither did any significant damage. Rosalina aimed her wand at Bowser's tail, attempting to manipulate it with magic. She magically tugged at the tail, causing Bowser to slide backwards against his will. Zion seized the moment and flew at Bowser, blades at the ready.

He aimed for the neck, he wanted this monster dead. He swung down, but surprisingly, even while being dragged by his tail, Bowser was able to lunge forward and grab Zions wrists, just far back enough to avoid touching the blades.

Bowser squeezed hard. Zions suit was throwing up multiple warning signs that showed Bowsers strength was starting to severely damage the suit.

"Zion!" Rosalina began to fly towards them, but Bowser turned and blew fire, forcing her to shield herself.

Zion brought him feet up, pressing them against Bowser's shoulders in an attempt to escape his grasp. As he pushed, Bowser tightened his grip.

"All power to thrusters!" Zion yelled a voice command to his suit. The thrusters engaged, firing right into Bowser, who finally let go, while also ceasing his fiery assault. Bowser began rubbing his shoulders as Zion and Rosalina regrouped.

"How are you doing?" Zion asked.

"I'm OK," she replied, "I'm more worried about you. You've been fighting longer."

Zion didn't like what he saw.

Suit integrity 37%

Wrist areas badly damaged

Weapon systems damaged, functioning at 60% capacity.

"I'm fine, but the suit took a beating. We need to end this now," Zion admitted. Rosalina nodded while grunting in agreement.

"I'll follow your lead. You have more experience with this after all."

Bowser had apparently finished what he was doing, as he began to attack with multiple fireballs towards the two.

"Can you deflect his shots?!" Zion yelled.

"I can try!" Was Rosalina's reply.

She aimed at one of the fireballs and focused. It took some effort, but the fireball reversed course and headed back at the King of Koopas. He clearly wasn't expecting it, as he was dazed from the shot.

"Try and hold him or slow him down!" Zion yelled. Rosalina was quick to aim her wand directly at Bowser, who glowed a faint light blue.

Zion jumped into the air, and propelled himself towards Bowser. He was going for an all or nothing attack.

"All energy to blades, override code Sigma Zero Four!" The blades fired up with power, as Zion aimed for the kill. At his shout, Bowser came out of his stupor and was struggling to break free from Rosalina's magical grip. He cast a quick glance at her before his eyes returned to the descending knight.

The next moment would forever be etched into Zion's memory.

He heard an explosion. At the same time, the glow around Bowser dissipated.

Zion swung, but Bowser dodged.

In an instant, Bowser swung his fist into Zions head, causing Zion to collapse.

His head was ringing from the blow, but he forced himself onto his hands and knees. He turned his head to look at Rosalina.

She was face first on the ground. The back of her dress had been burned and scorched. The damage extended onto her actual back, looking very burned and bloodied.

"Rosa-GAH!" he couldn't finish as Bowser's foot forced him back onto the deck of the ship.

"Whew, that was a close one. Thanks for the save, Junior!" Bowser shouted.

"No problem Papa! When I noticed the energy drain had stopped, I came to check on you. I watched from a distance and waited for the right time to stab them in the back, just like you taught me!" Zion turned his head just enough to see what looked like a smaller version of Bowser in some sort of hovercraft with a smile on it.

"Well, it's not exactly what I had I meant, but beggars can't be choosers in this case. Now then…" Bowser took his foot off of Zion, but then picked him up by the neck. "What should I do with you?" He asked menacingly.

"Papa, make him stop whatever is blocking the energy drain!" Junior shouted.

"No, I heard them talking. The woman did something to halt the drain. We need her to fix it. Wake her up and bring her over."

"Got it!" A claw-like arm came out of the mouth of the machine, grabbing Rosalina and restraining her. "Hey, wake up lady!" He slapped her a few times to wake her up.

Rosalina was groggy, but when she saw the state they were in, she was fully alert in an instant.

"Zion!" She yelled instinctively.

"Alright woman, here's the deal. You get rid of whatever you did to stop the drain, or I start ripping into your armored friend here."

"Fuck you! Don't do it Rosalina!" Zion yelled defiantly.

While still holding Zion by the neck, Bowser stabbed into his chest with his claws. His armor was thick, but Zion could feel the tips of the claws digging into his flesh. He grit his teeth as he tried not to scream. This didn't stop Rosalina from screaming in horror. His helmet's indicator flashed red with a notification.

Core damaged

Power failure immi-

All notifications vanished from view, leaving only Bowser in his line of sight. Bowser squeezed and pulled his claws out, taking a large chunk of Zions suit with it. In doing so, the power star that had once been housed in Zions suit also fell out. Bowser reached down to pick it up.

"So that's how you managed to keep up with me. A pesky little star. Powerful, but not enough to stop me." He turned his head to face Rosalina. "So what do you say Lady? Care to comply with my demands?"

Rosalina was frozen in shock, before she could reply, Zion began punching Bowsers arm in an attempt to break free.

Bowser threw him to the ground, and stomped on his left arm. While it may have been a robotic prosthetic, Zion could still feel it. "That's enough of you!" Bowser pressed with all his might into Zion's arm. His arm was shattered.

He screamed, a bloody primal scream. Rosalina, understandably, was screaming and sobbing in turn.

"STOP IT! PLEASE, STOP! I'LL LOWER THE SHIELD, JUST LET HIM GO! PLEASE!"

Bowser moved his foot to Zion's left leg, and stared at Rosalina, "Do it. Now."

Rosalina, her face wet with tears, closed her eyes. She had to focus, Zion's life was in danger. Focus…focus…

"It is done. Now please, let him go…" it was taking Rosalina every ounce of strength to maintain her composure. She wanted to scream, kick, do something. But she couldn't, and wouldn't endanger her lover.

Bowser looked at his son, "Junior?"

Bowser Junior looked at a screen in his vehicle. The numbers were rising. "Draining has resumed in full force. It should be done in minutes."

Bowser laughed, "Very good." He removed himself from Zion, and kicked him over to Rosalina, he wasn't gentle. He then began to walk towards a set of stairs on the ship.

"What should we do with them Papa? Want to hold them hostage?"

Rosalina grit her teeth.

Bowser waved his arm, "Nah, they're not Princess Peach. We've already got enough to do without worrying about two defeated hostages. Besides," he turned to look at Rosalina again, the look on his face said it all, "They'll know what happens if they dare to try fighting me again." He continued to walk away.

Bowser Junior shrugged, and pressed a button that released Rosalina, who stumbled as she landed. The second she regained her balance she ran straight to Zion, quickly kneeling next to him.

"Zion, talk to me, please talk to me," She cried desperately.

"Rosa-lina…" He managed to talk, even with his throat burning from everything. "I…failed…"

Rosalina looked around desperately for her wand, "Where is it, where is it, where is it?...there!" She ran to grab her wand before returning to Zion.

"Rosalina, my arm, it hurts!" Zion was grabbing the stump where his left arm used to be.

Rosalina lied on top of him, wrapping her arms around him, "I've got you baby, I've got you. I'm getting us home, I'm getting us home." The two of them began to glow as she flew them off the ship and away from Bowser's fleet.

Zion remained limp in her arms. Rosalina held him both physically and magically.

"I'm getting us home. I'm getting us home. I'm getting us home," She kept repeating the words. Whether she was saying them for Zion or herself was unknown, even to herself.

Eventually they were far enough away that there was no visible sign of Bowser's army.

The only reminders of Bowser were the physical wounds on both bodies, and the mental anguish they had both suffered.

Well, our heroes lost. This fight has been etched into my brain from the get go of this story. Sure, I love Zion, but I never planned for him to beat Bowser. A good soldier he may be, but Bowser stands on another level. I know canonically it's vaguely explained that the observatory just randomly stops and loses power, then Bowser swoops in and picks up the pieces, but I think having him actually attack works better for this story.