Chapter 10 - Giga Bowser

Shifting her grip on the sword, Lin shifted to a sideways stance, her shield out front and sword held high. Opening her menu she was able to see what she currently had equipped, a bit sad that her inventory was barren other than what she currently wore, but just having the menu available unlike before gave her a moment to consider how to take down Bowser.

Unlike from Lin’s perspective time hadn’t stopped moving for the Koopa King. He saw the super crown power up take effect and a split second later stood a much more appealing form. The elfen boy was gone and in his place was a busty woman that resembled Princess Peach as if she was dressed for combat. He let out a bellowing laugh, he seemed so feeble before and didn’t expect anything different now. Bending his legs and compressing his muscles he shot forward to swipe at her with a clawed hand, expecting to cut into her and sending the weak fool to the ground.

Time had resumed for Lin when she closed the menu, a small smirk crossing her lips as she watched her foe charge forward. They had fought before and while she wasn’t exactly in the same condition… or gender when they had battled in Brawl in the past it was enough to not be surprised by his sudden burst of speed. As the clawed hand came crashing down towards her, she waited for the perfect moment. Bringing her shield up, not just meeting the blow but slapping it aside she felt her champion power come to life. The world slowed by a fraction, with a flurry counter. Bringing her sword around she cut into the beast over and over again, the reverberation from connecting with the hard shell causing her hand to start to go numb. When the flurry rush passed, she took a deep breath as she dropped to the ground and rolled ninety degrees, just in time to evade a burst of flame that even from this distance could feel the heat.

Jumping back to her feet, Lin brought the master sword up across the back of Bowser's leg, causing the over ten-foot monster to shift forward and stagger to the ground. ‘Down but not out.’ Lin thought, as she looked to some of the blocks in the air and wished she had a bow to slow time once more. With that option out she held her blade out, back and to the side, feeling the power gather to release a spin attack.

Taking a few tentative steps forward to make sure Bowser was in her strike range she tried to be cautious. The monster of a man still wasn’t moving and that made the hairs on the back of her neck stand up. It felt like a trap, but she also couldn’t just let Bowser control the pace of the battle, not here in his own territory. When she still didn’t see him move, she released her strongest attack, but instead of cutting into him she found Bowser withdrawing into his spiked shell and spinning in place. Blade met shell, the power from Lin’s spin attack meeting the strength of Bowser’s rotation bringing them both to a stop before both were flung back a few feet.

Feeling jarred and a bit dazed, Bowser blinked as he came out of his shell. The sword strikes had taken a toll on his body and left knicks in his shell. He had underestimated this girl, a problem he often had with heroes, but he was far from done. Bowser’s cut leg throbbed, but it still had plenty of strength for him to leap up into the air and come crashing down. Bricks shattered beneath him as he smashed into the ground, missing his mark by inches. Tossing his head up he let out a roar loud enough to shake his domain. “I'm done with this!” His frustration practically boiling his blood when he felt another blow to his side when he missed the mark with his drop attack. He was not going to repeat himself till he broke through the floor of his castle and plummet like what had happened many years ago in a battle against the plumber, nor was he going to let this… this… girl grab him by the tail.

With so many battles against boss type monsters under Lin’s belt she was expecting the phase of the battle to shift as Bowser changed tactics, but she wasn’t expecting him to physically change. The beast in front of her grew from just over ten feet tall to sixteen feet, with his horns and spikes becoming much more prominent. While Bowser’s teeth had only grown in proportion with his size, they looked much more intimidating as he bellowed loud enough to daze her and leave a ringing in her ears. Swallowing hard at the monster that dwarfed her, she had a feeling that Bowser could get even larger if he wished. “You don’t scare me!” Lin yelled, still feeling a bit deaf. She was scared, but courage wasn’t about not being afraid, it was about what you did when you were scared.

Not being afraid sounded ridiculous, he wasn’t just Bowser King of the Koopa’s he was Giga Bowser and had seen the expression on her face change to one full of fright. It had filled him with pride that this would be hero dared stand up to him and then realized what they were in for. She was so small, so fragile compared to him and her sword looked more like a toothpick than a weapon at the moment. Not even considering his hubris could be a problem Bowser let loose a jet of flame large enough to fill half the chamber. The flame spewed from his mouth long enough that he ran out of breath, expecting for his troubles to be gone. Instead, the blonde girl was further from him and holding up a very charred metal shield that looked to be hot enough that it could have come directly from a forge.

The shield kept the flames directly off Lin, the heat was unbearable as the world around her changed completely to fire when Bowser attacked. The flame, like himself was much larger, it felt like she was walking around **** Mountain with no protection. Lin took a few steps back, wanting to get away, find something to hide behind, but she knew there was nothing. Sweat dropped from her brow, the shield being the only thing keeping her from **** and after a few moments she wasn’t even sure it would be able to keep her safe as it got hotter and hotter. To the point that it was absorbing enough heat that the metal shield was burning her. It wasn’t just the shield, but the very air itself was making her lungs feel like they were on fire and here she was without even a piece of food in her inventory to hold it at bay. ‘Hold on… hold on… he can’t keep this up forever!’ She told herself as her body trembled.

Then suddenly the flames sputtered out, the oppressive heat started to subside, but with it gone and the shield still red hot it became a liability. Lowering her arm she looked up at the sixteen-foot tall koopa as she took one heavy breath after another, her chest heaving as she tried to catch her breath. Flinging her arm to the side, Lin cast her shield off letting it clatter to the stone floor so it would stop burning into her arm. It was like the attack itself drained her endurance, leaving her feeling drained, but that was still much better than being dead.

The defiant look on the girl that should be gone from his side made Bowser see red. Taking a few stomping steps forward he swiped down at her with an opened clawed hand only to feel a sharp pain in the center of his palm. “OWWW!”

Lin didn’t have the energy to dodge, so she attacked. Holding her blade in both hands she thrust it forward into the large hand that looked large enough to crush her chest, let alone the claws. That was when she felt the point of her blade slice into and despite her poor predicament, she felt a surge of hope. She wanted to pull the blade free and start another flurry of attacks, but without any endurance she found her hands too weak to even hold onto the blade as Bowser yanked his monstrous hand back, the copy of the master sword still stuck in it. As it came free, so did that spike of hope.

Shaking his hand in the air Bowser gritted his teeth, seeing the weapon stuck in pace he plucked it from his flesh as he would a splinter and tossed the sword to the side. “No shield, no sword, the only thing you have now is defeat!” With no great wind-up Giga Bowser reached down to the blonde to pluck her up like she was a feeble child. Flipping the girl in the air he held both hands to the side and brought them back in to crush her.

Flung into the air Lin brought up her menu, her inventory screen once more so she had a moment to think. ‘No weapons, no items… think Lin… think.’ The feminine version of her name felt right, even if she knew it wasn’t accurate, it wasn’t real. It was the work of the crown power up. It had made him into her and along with it a fraction of his old power. The power he had before that puff ball monster had swapped his profile with Princess Peach’s. ‘Why couldn’t I have gotten a star power up?!’ She asked and pleaded as if it would allow her to reverse time and change the past.

Lin the heroine of the wild didn’t have a plan on how to get out of this situation, but still, she didn’t regret coming back to fight Bowser. She wasn’t done fighting, but hoped when the world went black, she would be back at the entrance to the castle, or in that cage. Instead of moving on to nothing like that little wizard said would happen without a profile. Closing the menu, she twisted as she fell through the air, kicking both feet out and raising her arms as the massive hands came smashing into it. The **** move was enough to keep her from being turned into something 2D, but not by a great deal. Bowser’s hands pressed in harder and harder, her elbows and knees buckling under his strength and power.

Giga Bowser’s muscles bulged and strained as he pressed his palms further and further together. This wasn’t the extent of his power but seeing that defiant look gone from the girl pleased him in a way he couldn’t describe. Breaking someone’s will was always something he enjoyed and just one of the reasons he captured Princess Peach. Glancing away from the girl in his hands that very much reminded him of his Peach, his gaze fell upon the pink glowing profile. Making him wonder if he could use Kamek’s magic with it as he continued to crush the pest that was pretending to be the woman he had grown to love in his own way.