Chapter 26 Bink vs Pom Pom

Bink looked ready to tear Pom Pom and Wendy to ribbons, but Pom Pom wasn't scared. She couldn't afford to be, she didn't want to be. Gripping her ninja star, she stared Bink down. He stared back, gritting his teeth like a hungry lion.

"RAWWR!" Bink roared. The entire cavern shook thanks to that sound. Clearly, he was doing it to intimidate her. And again, she wasn't going to be scared. She might've been severely beaten by this Kong before, but she wasn't going to let that stop her from fighting him.

So, she hurled her ninja star. It hit him in the ribcage, pushing him back. Pom Pom ran toward him and got into her shell, moving around at breakneck speed. Bink tried to slam his hand into her, but she was too fast. He chased after her, and she soon realized that she was heading toward a wall. Normally that would be a detriment, but Pom Pom realized she could use this to her advantage. She sped toward the wall, came out of her shell at the last possible moment, kicked herself off the wall, and went flying toward Bink. With a mighty "HYAHH!" she punched Bink in the jaw. His head went flying off, scraping against the floor as it did. Not wasting any time, Pom Pom bounced on his head. She reasoned that, if she did enough damage to his skull, that would impair him. She pounced on it, tuning out everything else.

Which, unfortunately, was a mistake. Bink's body grabbed her by the rim of her shell and hurled her across the cavern. She screamed as her back came in contact wit a pile of treasure. It HURT, more than Pom Pom could've possibly predicted. Groaning, she tried not to let the pain get the better of her. Sure, she was still recovering from the last fight with Bink, and sure, these new injuries weren't doing her any favors, but still. She would come out on top.

"Greckar Morbose." Wendy chanted an incantation, holding the magikoopa wand in front of her while she had her eyes closed. The gemstone glowed with a blue light. It was a little dim, but it was definitely there, and it filled Pom Pom with hope.

It didn't seem to do the same thing for Bink. Gawking as he reattached his head, he charged at Wendy. He probably realized what she was trying to do, which meant that Pom Pom had to protect the princess. That was something she would definitely do. She would defend Wendy with her life. She would defend her friend with her life.

She rose to her feet and charged at Bink again. Bink made a grab at her when she was close enough, but she was prepared for this. She ducked down, sliding across the floor in between Bink's legs. She aimed a fist toward his pelvis and another fist at his right leg. He flew up into the air upon impact, letting out a little shriek. Pom Pom felt immensely satisfied when he landed on the floor, even more so when she saw his left leg snap in two. THAT was insanely good; there was no way that he could possibly reattach that. Now, Pom Pom had some sort of advantage. Now she had the upper hand.

"Blinkus Morco," Wendy continued chanting. The glow on the wand grew brighter and brighter. "Deeder Mushi…"

Pom Pom rose to her feet. Bink, clearly confused and distraught, let out a little whimper as he stared down at his ruined limb. Pom Pom admittedly felt bad for him, especially so when she considered his history. But she couldn't let that distract her. This was a fight, this was a battle. One person had to emerge victorious here, and Pom Pom was going to do everything in her power to ensure that it was her.

"HYAHH!" Pom Pom dove at Bink, landing on top of him and punching him in the face. Now sure, this might not have been the smartest move seeing how Pom Pom had seen firsthand how strong Bink could be, but still. She landed on him and started punching his face. Her fists colliding with bone felt EXTREMELY unpleasant, but again, she wasn't going to let that stop her. Punch after punch she aimed at Bink's face, gritting her teeth and sweating due to how much effort she was exerting. Before she could aim one especially good punch at Bink's nose, he pushed her off of him. She landed back-first on the ground, which felt HORRIBLE! Landing on the treasure had been agonizing, but landing on solid stone was so much worse. Not only did the impact cause pain, but it felt as though Pom Pom had scraped herself. Whimpering, she shakily rose to her feet…

Only for Bink to pounce on her, just like she had done to him. And continuing the pattern of copying her moves, Bink began punching HER in the face. Solid bony knuckles hit her cheeks, her jaw, her eyes, and her nose. She shrieked as this happened. Bink clearly put as much force into the punches as possible, creating an experience that was not for the faint of heart. Or anybody really.

And it got worse. After a little bit, Bink stopped punching her and grabbed her by the shoulders. He shook her, making her slam her head against the floor repeatedly. She gasped, the pain doubling with each time she hit the floor. POUND POUND POUND! Her vision blacked out every few seconds. It was a miracle that she managed to retain consciousness.

"AAH!" Mostly acting on instinct, she kicked Bink in the pelvis, making him let go of her and go flying back. This was pretty good, but considering that Pom Pom felt like she had cracked her skull and gotten a serious concussion, it hardly even mattered. Gasping for breath, she rose to her feet. When she put her hand on the back of her head, it hurt. How was it not bleeding?

"GRAWW!" Bink charged at her once again. Wobbly and desperately, Pom Pom jumped out of the way. She only barely managed to avoid him grabbing her, which wasn't as advantageous as one might think due to Bink getting angry. Growling, he charged at her again. He thankfully didn't grab her this time, instead opting to aim multiple punches at her. She used her arms as a shield, at least hoping that she could avoid any more injuries to the face. Unfortunately, this series of punches alerted Pom Pom to another problem. Her energy was draining FAST. She felt tired; she wanted to black out and collapse to the floor. It was such a tantalizing temptation, and having to fight against it was excruciating. Pom Pom's breaths came out shallow and short as Bink continued aiming punches.

"Goro morax. Mimi Punble…" Wendy still chanted. The light was overpowering now, filling the entire cavern. The wand itself looked like a bright shining star. Wendy still had her eyes closed though, and still held onto the wand as tightly as possible. The spell was almost complete, that Pom Pom was sure of. She probably should feel relieved about this, but… well…

"GRRG!" Bink stopped aiming punches at Pom Pom and charged at Wendy, not letting the fact that he was missing a limb impact him. If he interrupted the spell, if he managed to break Wendy's concentration and injure her, then that would be it. It would be over, and Wendy and Pom Pom would essentially be dead.

Knowing she had to keep fighting despite her injuries, Pom Pom worked fast to think of a plan (at least, as fast as she could while battling a concussion). She spotted her ninja star not to far away from her. Scrambling, she snatched it off the floor and aimed it at Bink's head. It hit him mere seconds before he reached Wendy, slicing his head off. He stopped charging at Wendy. He tried to grab his head, but his missing leg ended up catching up with him. He collapsed to the floor. Wendy, not missing a beat, still continued chanting as if nothing had happened.

Pom Pom smiled at this, but knew she shouldn't celebrate too soon. At some point, Bink would get his head back in place. So, she had to act fast. She had to do something big. It didn't necessarily have to be spectacular. All she had to do was aim one more attack at Bink in order to let Wendy finally finish the spell. Thankfully, Pom Pom had just the attack.

Sucking in a breath, she went into her shell and rose into the air. She zoomed over to Bink, and when she got to him, she slammed herself down on top of his corpse. She heard Bink gasp, a good sign to be sure. She decided to continue, rising into the air again. She smashed him, ramming down into his skeleton. It was a good attack to use, but it was also exhausting. Pom Pom's stamina was giving out quickly. It was only willpower and adrenaline that allowed her to continue this grueling practice, which meant that when they ran out…

Come on, Wendy, she pleaded in her head. Please... finish that... spell...

Thankfully, Pom Pom's hopes were not in vain. "Merkle… Deedier… Morphi… ABLAZE!" Wendy opened her eyes, which Pom Pom noticed were glowing with a blue light just as strong as the light from the wand. Right as Pom Pom got out of the way, she pointed the wand at Bink. A stream the size of a tsunami shot toward Bink, filling not just this part of the cavern, but the entirety of Bink's hideout. Wendy gritted her teeth and dug her foot into the ground as she held onto the wand. The light hurt to look at, but as she got out of her shell, Pom Pom couldn't turn away from it. She couldn't wipe the grin off her face either.

"GRAW!" Bink's scream as the light engulfed his form was… it was actually painful. It wasn't painful in the physical sense, oh no. It hurt Pom Pom's soul and made her feel extremely bad for this Kong. Sure, some might say that was a ludicrous emotion to feel considering she was close to passing out because of him, but still. Bink's very life force was being snatched away from him. Pom Pom didn't know if the process of that happening was physically painful for the skeletal ape, but the scream was enough to convince her. Bink sounded so weak, so fragile, so scared.

Thankfully, his suffering eventually came to an end. The blue light cleared from the room, leaving just Wendy and Pom Pom. The princess stood in place, trying to catch her breath. Pom Pom, still in pain, grunted and hobbled over to her. It was a slow hobble, slower than would it should be. Pom Pom's back was sore and her face hurt in multiple different places. The adrenaline was clearly wearing off now that the fight was officially over. Letting out a pained grunt with each step she took, Pom Pom eventually reached Wendy.

"Wendy… we did it."

"Yeah." Wendy directed her eyes toward Bink's corpse. Pom Pom did the same thing, staring at the now inanimate bones. It was such a sobering sight, and on some level it was also sad. Sure, Bink had been put out of his misery after so long, and sure, this whole thing was definitely for the best. But… still. Bink was gone. The life he lived was officially over. He was dead. Not undead, he was actually dead.

"Oh man," Wendy said with a furrowed brow. "I really can't believe this."

"I can't…" Pom Pom didn't even get the chance to finish her sentence. The pain was overpowering, overwhelming. She put her hand to her head. "Ohh…" Her vision going black, she collapsed to the ground. She only barely heard Wendy gasping.

"Pom Pom!" Her voice was watery and distorted. "Pom Pom!"