Chapter 13 - Battle at Bowser's Castle

2BIT & GeneX at the Olympic Winter Games
Chapter 13 - Battle at Bowser's Castle

Notes: Sonic the Hedgehog and related characters are (c) SEGA and Sonic Team. You knew that, right?
Super Mario characters are (c) Nintendo. I'm sure you knew that, too.
GeneX, its related fancharacters, and other original characters in this story are (c) 2BIT (TheGreatGator).

The story thus far:
The Olympic adventure has now reached its final stage! After concluding their adventures at Icepeak, our heroes learned that the cannon leading to the final showdown at Blizland had been wrecked! Luckily, Gator arrived with his green pirate ship and offered to ferry the group to Blizland. Upon arriving, the heroes split up into two groups. Punchy and Jimmy led a group through Eggman's Base, where they faced many foes. Spiny and Alpha were defeated, earning the group a Chaos Emerald. Then, Polar turned on Spacey and Killer Kong, enabling the heroes to reach King Boo, who was guarding a pair of Power Stars. A Dark Star transformed Punchy into Dark Punchy, who defeated King Boo before threatening the heroes! With Rainbow and Illusi's help, Punchy returned to normal, and the group faced off against Metal Sonic and Eggman Nega, who were holding a Chaos Emerald and an Orb, both objects 8BIT had stolen on other islands! The group defeated Eggman Nega and got the treasure, and are now on their way to meet Copter's group. But what dangers have Copter's group been facing?
Now, on to the next chapter!


Copter led the group exploring the castle side of Blizland. In that group was Gemini, Bucky, Crash, Dog, Gator, Allie, Hunter, Black and Rosalina. None of them were used to Bowser's Castles, but fortunately, this one was not full of lava like Bowser's usual castles. In fact, since it still lacked a roof, it was full of snow. The castle was less split into platforms than Eggman's Base, but that wouldn't make exploration much easier. "Are we there yet?" Dog grumbled early in their exploration. "What are you, lazy? We just started!" Copter pointed out. Black rushed ahead of the group to peek into the next room. "We must stay on our toes! Enemies could be anywhere! Except that room, that room looks clear." he said. As the group wandered into the room, the door slammed shut behind them! Allie attempted to reopen the door. "It's locked! We're not going back!" she said. "You're not going forward, either!" said a voice coming from the back wall. "I know who that is..." Gemini groaned. Lospecter flew in through the wall and held out a light blue Chaos Emerald. "Want it?" he said before pulling it back, "Too bad, 'cuz you're not getting it! You've stepped into my trap, suckers!" Suddenly, various Lost Ones surrounded the group! There were slimy losol, ghostly lospirits, bat-like losoars and spider-like lospides! "This room's clear, huh?" Dog growled. Black kicked the ground. "Everyone's a ninja except me..." he whined. Bucky used his electric bolts to cause the Lost Ones to back off slightly. "No sense pointing fingers now! We'll just have to clear the path!" he said. Copter nodded in agreement. "Spread out, guys! And don't let them eat you or slime you or whatever they do! It won't be pretty!" he warned. Dog and Hunter looked particularly worried. "EAT us?" Hunter whimpered. "I knew I shoulda went the other way..." Dog whined. The Lost Ones started attacking the group, and those not used to them were fighting back cautiously. "Fiendish monsters! Taste my blade!" shouted Black, who adapted to battling the monsters more easily than his fellow Zronians. Allie was forced to simply run and hide behind Gator. "They'll have to go through YOU to get me! And you're immortal, so I'm safe!" she reasoned. Gator shook his head. "I don't like slime. I'm gonna go talk to the head ghost in charge!" he said, teleporting away. "GATOR!! You're terrible!" Allie yelled, running for the nearest ally, who happened to be Copter. "Great, I got stuck with the cowards..." he groaned.

Rosalina remained in the center of the room, watching the battle with concern. Bowser's minions were one thing, but the Lost Ones were a type of horror she'd not encountered anywhere in the galaxy. Fortunately, she wouldn't have to face them herself. With a wave of her wand, a Luma emerged in the sky. "Oh! Mama! Some monsters are after Mama!" the Luma cried. In response, dozens more Lumas arrived on the scene. "Leave Mama alone! Bad monsters!" they shouted. The Lumas then rained down on the Lost Ones, creating a great deal of chaos! They might be childlike creatures, but that very purity served to repel the Lost Ones, and provided the heroes fighting them with cover throughout the battle. While this was happening, Gator managed to find his way to Lospecter, as well as Gemini. "You've asked for it, Lospecter! I'll teach you a lesson you'll never forget!" Gemini said. Lospecter laughed at her and threw a card at her. The card exploded once it neared her, knocking her back. "You dopes are finished. You think those goofy star kids will stop us? I'll just summon more Lost Ones and overwhelm them." Lospecter said. Gator walked over to Lospecter with a big grin. "Wait! Don't get close!" Gemini warned. Gator ignored her. "Hi, ghost. Nice weather, isn't it?" he said. Lospecter frowned. "Shoo. Go away. Better yet, have a card." He tossed another explosive card at Gator, which exploded on contact! "Ha! Idiot!" he chuckled. Suddenly, Gator tapped him on the shoulder. "Your card blew up. Can I have a new one?" he asked. Lospecter glanced at him, then back at where his card exploded. "Huh? How in the? Ha ha ha, take this!" he growled, trying to punch Gator in the face. Gator teleported away again, causing Lospecter to tumble in midair. "If I didn't know better, I'd say you were trying to attack me." Gator observed. Lospecter turned around and growled at him. "No one makes a fool out of me! I'll crush you with my whole deck!!" he yelled, preparing to throw all his cards. Gator jumped over to him and fought back with his own spell. "Ka-wazy!" Some small explosions resembling fireworks surrounded Lospecter, making him dizzy! "Whoa... wha... where'd you go...?" he muttered, turning to Gemini. She shrugged and cast a spell at him. "Solare!" A powerful light beam struck Lospecter, sending him crashing to the ground! "Yeow!! You guys are fighting dirty! Take this!" he said, grabbing for the cards he dropped and throwing the first thing he grabbed. It smacked Gator in the head, knocking him down, but Gemini picked it up and smiled. "Thanks for the Chaos Emerald!" she said. Lospecter looked around until he realized what had happened. "Hey, what!? That wasn't right... You stinkin' brats! I'm telling 8BIT on you!" With that, Lospecter flew away, and with him gone, the remaining Lost Ones seemed to panic and flee. Gator jumped up before and began punching the air at random. "Put 'em up! I'll teach you to throw rocks at me! Where'd ya go!?" he yelled. Rosalina chuckled at him. "It's all right, Gator. They've gone." she informed him. Copter let out a weary sigh. "If that's just the beginning, this is gonna be a long day. Let's keep moving!" he said.

News Brief! > Gator’s many powers include teleportation, a magic attack that causes dizziness, and the ability to create two clones of himself. However, he frequently forgets about his abilities, leading him to provide little help in some times of crisis.

The group left the Lumas behind and reached a long hallway. At the back of the hallway was Kamek, who was busy using his wand on blocks to turn them into Koopa Troopas and Goombas. "He can make minions out of blocks?" Crash muttered. "That's just cheating." Bucky snapped. "Him again? If only Wings was here." Dog growled. Kamek glanced down the hall at them and pointed. "Stop 'em, troops! Lord Bowser's preoccupied with Mario and Sonic right now! He can't afford any more meddlers!" he commanded. Dozens of Goombas and Koopas began marching towards the heroes, but they mostly just started laughing at them. "What's so funny?" Rosalina wondered. "Oh, come now! This is too easy!" Hunter said. "All Mario has to do to stop them is jump on them!" Allie added. "So, what's so funny?" Gator asked, causing half the group to groan. Dog ran ahead to challenge the enemies first. "Finally! Something I can fight!" he cheered. The other heroes began following him, but Kamek wasn't through giving orders. "OK, troops! Fire!" he ordered. Suddenly, the Koopas tucked themselves into their shells, and the Goombas kicked the shells towards the heroes! The shells slid down the hall, bouncing off the walls before reaching the heroes and tripping them up! "Yeow!! That smarts! Stupid turtles!" Copter yelled as one of the shells knocked him down. Black ran ahead with his sword. "I'll stop them! Take this!" He swung his sword at an oncoming shell, but missed and was knocked on his rear. "Ooof! Is that all you got?" he growled. Several more shells crashed into him next, leaving him sprawled out on the floor. "Is that... all ya... got..." he moaned. Crash tried charging ahead, but even he was knocked aside by the shells. Dog, however, quickly figured out what to do. He jumped on an oncoming shell, causing it to stop, and then kicked it the other way! "Come on, guys! Think like Mario!" he said. Seeing this, the others started to give it a try. Many of them lacked the proper timing to stop the shells, but Dog, Hunter, Allie, and Rosalina were quite successful. As the shells were sent back to the Goombas, they were helpless to fight back, and pretty soon Kamek's minions were toast! Kamek was knocked around by a couple shells as well before jumping on his broom. "That was a minor setback! I'll be back!" he shouted, flying away. Allie jumped excitedly as Kamek fled. "Now THAT was fun! Wasn't it, guys?" she said, glancing back. Most of the others were on the ground, nursing injuries. "No... not fun..." Gator groaned. "I'll never make fun of Mario again..." Copter grumbled.

News Brief! > Crash the Rhino is Experiment 8, and is the most loyal of all Bucky's creations. He can break almost anything when he gets charging.

The group proceeded deeper into the castle, and soon came across a room that resembled an icy bowling alley. There, they found Conquer Corp waiting for them! Dr. Spizzy, Sable, White, and Ray were all there, so the group readied themselves for a fight. "If it isn't the four stooges! Why don't you just save everyone the trouble and get out of our way now?" Copter asked. Dr. Spizzy shook his head. "No, why don't YOU save US the trouble and SURRENDER! This time you will not escape DR. SPIZZY!" he screamed. White stepped forward. "Quiet, Spizzy. I have a better idea. You heroes want this, don't you?" he said, holding up a red Orb with a symbol resembling fire on it. "Well, well, well! It's the Orb of... uh... Cherries?" Gator guessed. Hunter rolled his eyes. "It's fire, Gator." he said. Black stepped forward and drew his katana. "Freeze, White! Drop the Orb and put your hands in your pockets!" he ordered. White put the Orb in his pocket. "If you want it, let's make this simple. We'll try curling bowling for it." he suggested. "Are you nuts!?" Sable protested. White pointed to Black. "I challenge you!" he declared. Black scratched his head in confusion. "What in the heck is curling?" he asked. Everyone in the group looked at each other questioningly, but it seemed unanimous that no one knew what curling was. "Did he say curly fries? I'll have some!" Gator said. Dr. Spizzy laughed at their ignorance. "Good idea, White! They don't stand a chance!" White nodded. "Don't mind the rules of curling. This is bowling, only with a curling stone. We'll each try a single throw and see who wins!" he said. Black shrugged. "Fine. Bring it on!"

It took little time to prepare for the throw. White was to go first, and Sable and Ray would use the brooms to control the speed of the stone. Spizzy refused to participate, saying it was beneath his genius to push a broom. Instead of bowling pins, ten Goombas were set up at the end of the lane. "Bowser was too cheap to supply his bowling alley with pins. I don't think he cares what his minions have to endure." White explained. While white was preparing his throw, Bucky and Crash were tinkering with their team's curling stone, though no one cared to see what exactly they were doing. White lined up his shot and slid the stone towards the Goombas. Sable and Ray started sweeping with all their might as the stone reached them, and it hit the Goombas with great force! Eight of the Goombas were knocked over by White's stone! "Ha ha! Let's see you top that, Black!" White said smugly. The Goombas repositioned themselves, and it was time for Black's throw. Bucky and Crash manned the brooms. "We can't fail! Not with my master on our side!" Crash said, winking. Black took several moments to line up his shot. "This was a bad idea..." Copter muttered. Black slid his stone, but he'd tossed it so it was spinning to the left! "Ha ha ha ha! You LOSE!" Spizzy laughed. As the stone reached Bucky and Crash, they started sweeping, and Bucky pointed a finger at the stone, sending a jolt of electricity towards it. Somehow, his electricity started controlling the stone, correcting its course and speeding it up! It struck the Goombas in just the right spot, and with just the right force, and all ten fell over! "Strike!! I did it!! Take THAT, White!" Black cheered. Bucky grinned and whispered to Crash. "That magnetic stone was brilliant, but I bet this is far from over..." he said.

He was right. Dr. Spizzy growled furiously as Sable, Ray, and White were sitting around looking defeated. "GET UP, YOU CLOWNS! They obviously CHEATED, and even if they didn't, we're CONQUER CORP! We don't have to follow the rules! WE make our OWN rules!" he shouted. White and Sable stood up immediately. "He's right! Curling was a dumb idea anyway! Let's just crush those losers!" Sable said. "Call in the Henchguys, Ray!" White ordered. Ray got up and saluted. "Yes, sir! Henchguys, CHARGE!" he shouted. In moments, Conquer Corp's Henchguys surrounded the group. "I sensed that they would act like this..." Rosalina said. "No problemo! We got them outnumbered! Abra-ka-clone-da!" Gator said, summoning his two clones. Allie shook her head. "Great, three Gators. We're doomed." she said. Spizzy laughed at her words. "Yes, you're DOOMED! Now, my army of DOOM, show these DOOMED buffoons just how DOOMED they are!" he yelled. Thus, the group was drawn into yet another battle. Luckily, the Henchguys were anything but competent, and while everyone else was dealing with them, Black and Crash teamed up against White. "You foul double-crosser! It's time for YOU to disappear!" Black shouted. "Please. The only thing you can make disappear is your dignity!" White snapped. Crash frowned. "Trash talk is meaningless. Let's fight!" he growled. White replied by firing dark energy from his sword at Crash, which stunned him. "Ah... A magic wielder... Great..." Crash groaned. "Fight me like a real ninja!" Black shouted, attacking White with his sword. White blocked with his own sword and drew a second. "I can handle you both at once! Take this!" As White began dueling Black with one sword, he fired dark energy at Crash with the other, keeping them both occupied. Crash jumped around a bit to avoid the magic. "That does it..." he said, running away. "Hmmm... Too easy..." White grinned, turning the attention of both his swords to Black. Black drew his own second sword to match White. "We knew it would come to this! Time for our epic showdown!" he shouted. However, that showdown did not last long. As they began fighting, Crash came charging towards them, and lived up to his name by tackling White as hard as he could! White tumbled to the floor and screamed dramatically. "Impossible! How could I have been fooled by such a simple ruse?" he groaned. Black and Crash approached him to get the Orb, but he fired more dark energy at them. "This isn't over!" he shouted. Meanwhile, Allie and Gemini had broken away from the group and were challenging Sable. "The cat-gator and the little fox girl? Go on, scram. Don't waste my time!" Sable said. Gemini pointed her wand at Sable. "Abra-ka-blastra!" she said, causing an explosion at Sable's feet! Sable was sent flying upward, but waved her staff in the air to magically balance herself and land on her feet. "Well, looks like I underestimated you. But you call that an explosion? Try this on for size!" she shouted, waving her staff to cast a spell that exploded as it neared Gemini and Allie, engulfing them in its flames! Sable grinned at this, until a snowball came through the smoke and smacked her in the face! When the smoke cleared, Gemini could be seen using her wand to maintain a barrier while Allie was making snowballs! "Not bad for a cat-gator, huh?" Allie chuckled. Sable brushed the snow from her eyes and glared at them. "OK... You're dead!" she yelled.

The Henchguys were being knocked out fast, and so more of the heroes turned their attention to Conquer Corp's commanders. Hunter and Dog teamed up to face Ray, who had begun singing again. "What's this? Two mutts? These fools must be nuts! I'll easily kick their furry little butts!" he sang. Dog and Hunter made disgusted faces. "Stop that singing! I'm warning you!" Dog growled. "Yeah, shut up, Ray!" Hunter added. Ray continued singing. "No way! I sing all day! The only way to avoid my song is for you to run away!" he said. "That does it!" Dog snapped. "Maul him!" Hunter added. The two canines promptly pounced on Ray, knocking him over and leaving him only able to struggle against them. "Hey! Stop! Bad dogs! That's not fair!! Mommy!!!" Ray screamed. Meanwhile, Copter approached Dr. Spizzy, who was busy putting on some type of high tech armor. "Hey, Dr. Dizzy! What say we finish this?" he said. Spizzy looked around before replying to Copter. "Who, me? I'm not DIZZY! I AM DR. SPIZZY! Dizzy isn't even a doctor, he's a lowly professor!" he shouted. Copter shook his head in annoyance. "Whatever. Just shut up and fight!" he said. Dr. Spizzy pressed a button on his armor to turn it on, and began glowing slightly. "BWA HA HA HA HA! You don't stand a chance, now that I've activated my POWER ACCELERATOR OF DOOM!! Prepare to DIE!!" he screamed. Copter ignored his drama and attempted to hit him with a tail whip. However, Spizzy struck him first with his staff, which gave him a powerful electric shock before sending him flying backward! "Whoooooooa!! Geez, he's been taking his vitamins!" Copter groaned as he flew back to Dr. Spizzy. "My Staff of DOOM gets a boost from my Power Accelerator of DOOM as well! Taste my THUNDER!!" Spizzy yelled, sending a bolt of thunder from his staff crashing into Copter! He was stunned by it, but didn't let it deter him from trying to hit Spizzy again. Dr. Spizzy laughed like a madman as he sent thunderbolt after thunderbolt after Copter, who soon backed off. "THUNDER!! THUNDER!! TAKE THUNDER!!! HA HA HA HA HA!!" he yelled. Just then, Bucky arrived on the scene. "Having trouble, Copter? Why don't you leave this to me, son. Hey, crackpot! How about you taste MY thunder?" Spizzy turned to shoot some thunder at Bucky, but the lab rat quickly sidestepped it and fired his own bolts of thunder from his fingertips! The electricity caused Spizzy to shake and jerk about violently until Bucky stopped and allowed him to fall to the floor in a heap! Miraculously, though, he was still alive. "Zzzzz... Th-thunder.... Ha ha... Zzzzzzzt..." Spizzy stammered. By now, the rest of Conquer Corp was either knocked out or being surrounded by the other heroes. "Uh... Um.... That's all, folks!" Ray shouted, running away. Sable nodded in agreement. "I think I... left my... cauldron bubbling..." she said, joining Ray. White ran over and picked up Dr. Spizzy. "This isn't over!" he said, tossing the Orb of Fire away to distract the heroes. "Now I shall vanish into the unknown... As is my way!" White used dark magic to hide himself and Dr. Spizzy as they escaped, and Gator picked up the Orb. "Yay! More treasure!" he cheered. "Hey! That's mine!" said one of his clones. "No, mine!" The other argued. Gator smacked both of his clones and caused them to vanish. "Dumb insubordinate clones!" he said. Rosalina pointed to the next hallway ahead. "Well done everyone, but it's not over yet! We still have to catch up with the other group!" she said.

News Brief! > Conquer Corp's HQ is located on a continent called Tyrnna, a place inhabited by wolfmen and lizardmen. They have recently found competition in an evil organization called Necro Inc.

The group proceeded through a long, empty hallway, and soon arrived at the back of the castle. This room contained a large pit of lava, and a fairly large bridge was extended across it. The bridge was large enough to hold all of the heroes, so they started to cross it, but someone else was approaching from the other side. It was Bowser Jr, and he was accompanied by a pair of helmeted Koopas carrying hammers. Bowser Jr. laughed at them as he reached the middle of the bridge. "Hee hee hee hee! You made it at last! My papa's busy with Mario and Sonic right now, though. So I brought the Hammer Bros. here to keep you company!" he said. Copter glanced around looking for reinforcements across the bridge, but saw nothing. "Really? That's all? No foolin'?" he asked, somewhat relieved. Bowser Jr. stomped the ground. "So? The Hammer Bros. are plenty! They'll clobber you, good!" he shouted. Gator stepped ahead of the group first. "Look at the cute little baby turtle! Goo goo boo boo!" he said to Bowser Jr. The Hammer Bros. stepped forward and pointed their hammers at Gator. "Ha! Your hammers don't scare me!" Gator said, only to get a hammer thrown in his face by one of the bros. The impact left him dizzy, and he dizzily approached the other Hammer Bro. "Yours don't scare me neither..." he said in a dazed voice. The Koopa threw his hammer at Gator, too, hitting him in the head as well. Gator shook his head around and pointed at Bowser Jr. next. "Yours neither..." he muttered. Both Hammer Bros. threw hammers at him simultaneously, and Gator staggered forward another step before falling on his face. "I'll get back to you in a minute..." he mumbled. Hunter ran over and growled at the Hammer Bros. "He didn't even put up a fight! How dare you!" he yelled. Black joined him. "These brothers need a lesson in honor! Let's get them!" he shouted. The Hammer Bros. began tossing hammers without pause, and Hunter and Black received a few hits as they ran to fight the Koopas, but soon Hunter managed to catch one of the hammers and toss it to Black. "Let's see how YOU like it!" he said, tossing the hammer into one of the Bros' faces. It fell backward on its shell, and with only one turtle tossing hammers, Hunter was able to knock the other down just as Gator was standing up again. "Uh... What happened?" he muttered in confusion. Bowser Jr. looked a little worried now that it was up to him. "Oh, boy... That didn't go well... Huh? Ha ha ha! Looks like it bought me just enough time!" he said, pointing to the sky. The heroes looked up to see a familiar airship approach. Rosalina pointed at it seriously. "Look out, everyone! It's Dry Bowser!" she said.

News Brief! > Dog frequently appears in games made by 2BIT, where his jobs range from blocking paths the player isn't supposed to visit yet to running a shop in the secret Code Room.

Dry Bowser jumped down from the airship, and was quickly joined by several Dry Bones. The Hammer Bros. had recovered from being attacked as well. The airship then began to fly away, but not before yet another foe arrived on the scene. "I told you I'd be back!" said Kamek, who hovered over the bridge on his broomstick. Dry Bowser roared at the heroes angrily. "Do you know how expensive it was to repair that airship after you crashed it? Now you're gonna pay!" he yelled. "But you're the one who crashed it." Gemini pointed out. Dry Bowser stomped his foot angrily. "Who cares!?" he growled. Kamek let out a sinister laugh. "You have to go through us anyway... If you want these!" he said, holding up an Orb and a Chaos Emerald. Black shook his fist at Kamek. "Hey, you! Give back that Water Orb! You have no idea what we went through to get it, only to have White steal it!" he shouted. Copter was looking mad, too. "And that's the yellow Chaos Emerald 8BIT stole from us back at Sparkleton!" he growled. Kamek chuckled at them. "You want these? Let's see if you can take 'em from Dry Bowser!" he said, tossing the treasure to the bony Koopa. Rosalina pointed at Dry Bowser. "We defeated him before, and we can do it again." she said. Dog looked up at Kamek and shuddered. "Right... I have a bad feeling about this. I'm gonna stand at the back of this line..." he said. His concerns were well founded, for Kamek had just pulled out his magic wand. "Sounds to me like you want a challenge. So why don't I give you one?" He started cackling as he flew back and forth past Dry Bowser, dropping his rainbow colored magic on him. Bowser Jr, the Hammer Bros. and the Dry Bones ran ahead of Dry Bowser as he started glowing and growing. "Now you're REALLY in for it!" Bowser Jr. chuckled. Dry Bowser grew to a massive size, until his feet barely fit on the bridge! "This bridge sure is strong, isn't it?" Gator said, noting how much weight it was supporting. The heroes backed away slightly as the giant Dry Bowser let out an ear-piercing roar! "OK... Now even I'm worried..." Bucky muttered. Bowser Jr. pointed ahead to command the Koopa minions. "Go get 'em!" he commanded. Copter shrugged and pointed at Dry Bowser. "No one lives forever, anyway! Let's go!!" he shouted.

Dry Bowser slowly started stomping toward the heroes as they began fighting with his Dry Bones minions. Gemini ran ahead of the others and attempted to stop the giant Koopa. "This should be as easy as last time! Miniatina!" she shouted, attempting to shrink Dry Bowser as she had done to Polar before. However, the spell merely bounced off of Dry Bowser and did nothing! "Huh? Miniatina!" she said, trying again. The results were the same. "Wh-what am I doing wrong?" she said, panicked. "Stop throwing sparks at me!" Dry Bowser roared before shooting a giant fireball at Gemini! Acting fast, Black ran over and pulled Gemini away before the fireball could hit her. "It seems your magic will have no effect on him." he told her. Copter had observed this, and looked up at Kamek flying around in the sky overhead. "Maybe someone else's magic will work..." he said, jumping into the air and taking flight. Dry Bowser ignored Copter and continued shooting fireballs at the heroes below, making it impossible for them to fight his minions. As a fireball came crashing towards Gator, he teleported away from it and appeared next to Bowser Jr. "Yikes! Where'd you come from?" the young Koopa yelled. "Well, I came from... Uh... Hm, where WAS I before these Olympic Games, anyways?" Gator replied. "Never mind! Take this!" Bowser Jr. shouted, tossing a Koopa shell at Gator. He teleported away again and appeared behind Dry Bowser. There, he saw a large switch just across the bridge. "Look at the size of that switch. I wonder who hooks those things up...?" he said, lounging around in the safe area behind Dry Bowser. Meanwhile, Copter was trying to catch Kamek, but he kept shooting his magic attacks at him, making things difficult. Still, Copter wouldn't give up. "You pest! Quit following me! Help me out, Dry Bowser!" he shouted. Dry Bowser glared at Copter and attempted to grab him as he flew by. "Stay still! I'm tryin' to squash you!" he growled. With Dry Bowser distracted, most of the heroes started fighting the Dry Bones, but Bucky turned his attention to the sky. "I see... Copter has a plan!" he realized. He then jumped into the air and began emitting sparks from his body, which somehow enabled him to fly. He flew up to Dry Bowser's face and unleashed his thunder at him, causing him to cover his eyes. "Grrrrrrooooar! That's not fair!!" he growled. "Thanks, Bucky!" Copter shouted, taking the opportunity to ram Kamek and grab his wand! "Hey! Give that back!" Kamek shouted as Copter dropped out of the sky. He looked at the wand briefly. "Great... Now how do I use this thing?" he muttered. He decided to take a chance and wave it. "Now, shrink!" A spell shot out of Kamek's wand and struck Dry Bowser, causing him to glow again! "If you just made him grow bigger, I'll kill you!" Dog growled. At first Dry Bowser seemed to grow slightly, but suddenly snapped back down to his original size! "Huh? Aw, nuts..." Dry Bowser groaned.

Kamek began flying around Copter, attempting to get his wand back. "All I have to do is pour more magic on Dry Bowser, and I'll make him so huge he'll crush you all with one stomp!" he shouted. "And all I have to do is stop you!" Copter replied. Meanwhile, Bowser Jr. and Dry Bowser were far from finished. "Hey! Don't think you've won just because Dry Bowser's back to normal!" Bowser Jr. said. "Yeah! I can still beat you punks with one hand tied behind my shell!" he growled. Suddenly, Gator started jumping and waving at someone. "Hey! Punchy! Jimmy! How's it going, guys?" he said. Dry Bowser and Bowser Jr. turned around to see the rest of the heroes, led by Punchy and Jimmy, arriving on the scene! "They don't scare me! I'll roast all of 'em!" Dry Bowser growled. Suddenly, Punchy reached the switch by the edge of the bridge, and Bowser Jr. jumped in panic. "Wait! Don't touch that switch!" he shouted. Punchy glanced at him and grinned. "Don't touch it? Why, what's it do? I'll just have to find out..." he said, jumping on the switch. Everyone suddenly stopped what they were doing and glanced at the other end of the bridge, which had suddenly started falling into the lava! "Smooth move, Punchy..." Copter groaned. Kamek quickly snatched his wand while Copter was distracted and flew over to Bowser Jr. "Let's go, young lord! Quick!" Kamek shouted, picking up Bowser Jr. and flying off. Dry Bowser watched them leaving and panicked. "Hey! What about me?" he yelped. The heroes ran past him, determined to get to the other side of the bridge before it collapsed. "So long, big bones!" Copter yelled as he passed Dry Bowser. The large, bony Koopa tried to run for the other end of the bridge as well, but he was moving too slow. His minions ran around in circles in their panic, and as the last of the heroes made it off the bridge safely, Dry Bowser and his minions dropped into the lava below! "Aaaaaahhh! I hate when this happens! Stay right there and I'll get you in a minute!" Dry Bowser yelled as he sunk into the lava. "Right, we'll do that..." Allie teased. The two reunited teams took a moment to greet each other, but there was no time to waste. "We've got six Chaos Emeralds and five Orbs, so 8BIT must have the last of them." said Copter once they had counted up their treasure. "Well, let's get in there and finish this!" Jimmy suggested. The heroes were all in agreement. "Thus, the true finale was about to begin. They had passed impossible odds, and now our heroes proceeded to the end of the combined castle." the Narrator said. Indeed, it was almost over, but Jacklrankda still awaited, along with 8BIT. The battle may have been further from over than any of them had imagined...

To be continued...

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