Fight!

Mario rushed forward, unleashing a barrage of his bouncing fireballs. Most hit their mark, but to Bowser they were little more than a minor annoyance. After falling into pools of lava so many times, his skin was practically immune to fire.

The Koopa King roared and unleashed his own arsenal of fireballs. Mario jumped and ducked, dodging expertly - but eventually one grazed his leg. "Argg!!" Mario shouted in pain as he lost the power of his fire power. He was at a loss of what to do - his only other form of direct attack was stomping on enemies... and that definitely wouldn't work on Bowser. Desperately, he looked around for something - anything that could help him. As he glanced to the side, he missed the next fireball zooming towards him. As it made impact, he immediately shrunk to half his size, converting back to normal everyday Mario. The next hit would spell his demise. To add insult to injury, Mario glanced up to see Peach on the balcony waving and cheering. "Yay! Go Bowser!!" she shouted.

Mario jumped back, hiding behind a large boulder. "Ha ha!" Laughed Bowser. "That's right, hide like the puny rat you are! Not that it will do you any good!" Bowser leapt and landed with a crash behind Mario, shaking the earth and freezing the plumber in his tracks.

"I could end you right now!" Bowser shouted. "But Peach has kindly asked me to spare your life. Now get out of here and never come back! Oh, and go knowing that Peach is mine, and you will never have a chance! Bwa ha ha!!"

Defeated, Mario quickly ran back down the path away from the castle. Did Peach really want to be with Bowser? And could Mario do anything about it? Perhaps he should just go back to Earth and return to plumbing. Or maybe he can gather some allies and try to fight Bowser again. Maybe with Yoshi, Luigi, Toad, and a bit of luck they can sneak in and catch Bowser by surprise.

Meanwhile Bowser returned triumphantly to his castle. He had finally defeated Mario and the Princess was his! It was time to celebrate!