World 8-4, One Life Left [Open]

[king-of-koopas.livejournal.com]

With the help of Minion #1 Tavros, Bowser found his way to the Sensoriums and wasted no time recreating huge swaths of the Mushroom Kingdom, cycling through various locales as fast as he could. After wasting copious amounts of time going HOLY CRAP THIS IS AMAZING GWAHAHAHAHA, the Koopa King calmed down enough to remember that he had a duel with a certain book Overlord('s minions) to think about. Bowser decided to go with a flat platform of rock inexplicably floating above a sea of lava, deep beneath the earth- his favored battlefield, back when he'd stolen those 120 stars and sealed everyone in those paintings (just... you know, without the bombs that Mario had thrown him into).

And then it was time to warm up. Bowser cracked his knuckles...

A few minutes later, the Koopa King skidded backwards on all fours, his clawed feet leaving deep gashes in the rock as he braced himself. A split-second later, Bowser catapulted forward with a roar, swinging at his opponent with enough force to smash boulders- and only found air as the unassuming, somewhat chubby mustachioed man in overalls jumped out of the way with impossible speed. Grim-faced, the plumber flicked his wrist, flinging three fireballs before he even touched the ground.

Bowser shielded himself against the first two with his forearms. With a laugh, the hulking dragon turtle straightened up and contemptuously swatted away the last one- "ARGH!!"- before immediately regretting it because OH GOD that stings. Frantically waving his injured hand to cool it down, Bowser snapped his fingers with his GOOD hand. "Goombas! To me!!"

"GOO-RAH!" A horde of squat fungoids dashed toward the plumber just as Bowser fell back, but the human turned on a dime and jumped onto the first Goomba, stomping it flat and catapulting himself onto the next one. In fact, the plumber's feet never touched the ground as he worked his way through the horde, right toward Bowser-

- and the Koopa King immediately sent a stream of fire in Mario's direction. The battle was once again joined.

Comments

[allnaturalseed.livejournal.com]

So Cagalli had decided to check out the Sensoriums; rather than just walking into them and trying it out herself, she figured it would be a good idea to, you know, see how other people used it.

Great idea when she walked in on... on... what? A dragon and a fat dude shooting fire and... mushrooms? She started off just staring, and watching Bowser fail.

[king-of-koopas.livejournal.com]

And failing he certainly is. The fat dude vaulted straight up over the flames, and up and over Bowser HIMSELF- even though that probably isn't actually humanly possible- to land right behind the Koopa King.

"Son of a-" Before a suddenly frantic, cursing Bowser can even turn around, the plumber latched onto the dragon-turtle's tail, digs his heels in, and began spinning, lifting the heavyset Bowser straight up off his feet- even though, once again, that probably isn't humanly possible. Faster and faster they went, until-

"So long, big Bowser!"

- the plumber let go, sending the wailing Koopa King hurtling right at Cagalli.

Jumping out of the way's seeming like a really, really good idea.

[allnaturalseed.livejournal.com]

For a short, stubby little man, the guy with the 'stache could move. He picked up the dragon! It made her wonder if his world ran on the same physics as Allenby's, if not even more ridiculous. She watched, impressed, until there were a few tons of Koopa flying at her!

Cagalli yelped in surprise as she threw herself out of the way, landing in a (crappy) roll and ending up in a crouch. "Jeez..."

[king-of-koopas.livejournal.com]

The impact of Bowser's landing cracked the rock beneath him and caused the whole platform to wobble precariously; stuck in a face-up position, the Koopa King couldn't help but groan. What the heck went wrong? That plumber took him down even WITHOUT the proximity mines that used to be on the side of the platform!!

Slowly, painfully, Bowser got to his feet with a growl, slamming a fist against the ground in frustration on the way up- and spotted Cagalli. "What do you think YOU'RE looking at?" he snarled, clearly in a foul mood.

[allnaturalseed.livejournal.com]

Cagalli decided to stay in a crouch as the platform wobbled, determined not to fall off, and didn't stand until it seemed stable. She turned to the dragon - wait... the dragon thing was the crew member using the Sensorium? Really, she couldn't help but stare at the angry Koopa.

At least until he yelled at her. "H-hey! I just came in here to check the thing out when you were already using it."

[supersonicracer.livejournal.com]

Sonic's curiosity got the better of him. He just HAD to see what the Sensoriums were all about and he made his way to one of the rooms. Imagine his surprise when he found a match between Bowser and Mario going on. He couldn't help but wonder who was real and who wasn't. Or perhaps they both were real or they were both fake!

"Never thought I'd see this day...!" Sonic said, propping himself by the door.

[king-of-koopas.livejournal.com]

The plumber's last jump sent him flying over the flames, right towards Bowser's head- but the Koopa King hunkered down at the last moment, bringing his spiked shell to bear. The human twisted at the last moment to avoid getting impaled and kicked off from a non-spiked area to gain some distance-

- which was just what Bowser was waiting for. "Gotcha!" He stomped the ground with a clawed foot and a triple-stack of cannons popped right out from the rock. With a triumphant roar, Bowser fired them three man-sized bullets (with angry faces) straight at Mario.

The Koopa King took this moment to send an irritated glare at Sonic. "Huh? What're you talking about?"

[supersonicracer.livejournal.com]

"Not everyday a guy in suspenders fights a dragon!" Sonic said. "Then again, who am I to talk? I deal with a scientist with an ego problem all the time!" His face did turn into one of impressiveness a moment later. "Though I have to admit, for someone like that guy, he's pretty agile. Not as agile as yours truly, of course!"

[king-of-koopas.livejournal.com]

"Annoying is what he is!" Bowser growls. "If he didn't jump like this all the time, I'd totally-"

And then that boast registers in the Koopa King's brain, causing him to take another look at Sonic. Bowser's eyebrows hit the roof. "What, are you telling me you're a jumper, too? You're a blue rat!"

Meanwhile, the plumber's managed to stomp out two out of three Bullet Bills and is... wrassling with the third?

[supersonicracer.livejournal.com]

"Hedgehog." Sonic corrected. "And of course I'm a jumper. And a spinner, and a runner and..." Sonic's continuing boast stopped as he watched the plumber wrassle with the Bullet Bill.

"...is he wrestling a giant bullet?"

[badassfreakingoverlord]

"Well, I can't argue with the choice of decor," the book commented from the hands of its minion. "Needs a castle, though."

[king-of-koopas.livejournal.com]

"No," Bowser growled, not looking at Zetta as he swiped at- and missed- the plumber again. "Every time I let fatso here anywhere NEAR my castle, something gets destroyed! Do you have any idea how bad the property damage has gotten over the years!?"

After a few more misses, Bowser finally managed to headbutt Mario, sending the plumber sprawling. The Koopa King dismissed the simulation and turned to face the Overlord, arms crossed. "Whatever. So did you bring those poor schmucks, or what?"

[hit-girl-mindy.livejournal.com]

Oh, the poor shmucks were on their way. Hit Girl had only paused to smack her face with water, and did the same with Riffnut. They were both coming back from Kang's, and while she had not had anywhere near the amount of ale as Ruffnut, she'd had a little, and that was enough to at least keep her buzzed.

Which was why, when she saw who was before her, she paused, blinking, then turned to Ruffnutt.

"Ok, this must be some fucked up stuff. I could swear I'm looking at King Koopa talking with the Overlord."

[ruffntumblenut.livejournal.com]

"What's a Koopa?" Ruffnut asked adjusting the tilt of her helmet. She then glanced up at the massive reptile king and blinked slowly pointing at him and turning to the overlord "Dragon?" She asked dismissing Bowser immediately.

[badassfreakingoverlord]

"There they are," Zetta said with a smug cock of the spine in the direction of the girls. "Apprentice Ruffnut and Student Hit Girl."

The pride in his voice is serious, legitimate, and earned. Mock the first two if you want, but the third should give pause.

I don't think he will, but in case it comes up, your feelings on canon puncture?

[hack-rat.livejournal.com]

Alex had noticed Bowser at the meet and greet (he was actually rather hard to miss), and had stayed far far away.

But upon walking in on what look like one of many final battles, and seeing those goomba, he couldn't help himself. He knew he just had to try. Just once. Bowser was distracted by his arch nemesis anyway.

He ran up to the nearest one and jumped, landing right on top of it. It squished down like a deflating balloon and then pop! Alex was propelled upwards, and then landed ever so gracefully on his rear-end after a bit of stumbling. Really, he was no Mario. He was laughing though. It had been just as fun as he had expected.

I'm fine with it! ... t-though it'll probably just swell Bowser's ego to dangerous levels.

[king-of-koopas.livejournal.com]

While he WAS distracted, the laughter did catch his attention, and he turned to glare at Alex. "Hey! Get your filthy boots off my minions!!" Bowser snapped, smoke still trailing from his mouth. "Or are you telling me you wanna fight, too?"

Oh, dear.

[hack-rat.livejournal.com]

Alex scrambled backwards, as white as a ghost. He figured now would not be a good time to point out that he was wearing sneakers, not boots. "N-n-no, n-no interest in f-fighting you, s-sir. N-none at all. I-I'm s-sorry, i-it just l-looked like f-fun. T-they're j-just sensorium c-c-constructs, after all, r-right?"

>D

[king-of-koopas.livejournal.com]

Alex's words were doing a pretty good job of mollifying the irate Koopa... until that last bit, which served as an EXTREMELY unpleasant reminder that he kind of didn't HAVE minions anymore. Veins bulged out on Bowser's forehead as he roared. "IT'S THE PRINCIPLE OF THE MATTER!! They're still my minions, and I DON'T like random jerks stomping on them!!"

The Koopa King turned away with a snarl, clenching and unclenching his fists. He had to remind himself that Stacy probably wouldn't appreciate him reducing crew members to unpleasant stains on the floor.

I am now sad I left my n64 at college for the break.

[hack-rat.livejournal.com]

Alex... squeaked. It was rather undignified, but he was also on the ground, all but actually grovelling. "O-of c-c-course! I-it w-won't h-happen a-again, sir, I-I p-promise."

Alex was not very keen on the idea of being reduced to an unpleasant stain, even if he did wonder if Bowser's fire breath would only light his butt on fire.

[curiousredsoul]

The sounds of something of a conflict had drawn Celena's attention to Sensorium as she had been passing by, having little planned for the day she had wandered quietly in. Making sure to draw no attention to herself as she took perch on any raised area away from the platform within gliding distance, or stood herself off to the side of the platform that seemed to make up the area if none proved available. It could be almost surprising how a dragon like Celena could go unnoticed when she wished.

She watched the large crewmember that she had little doubt had set up this simulation, she had noticed him with the other arrivals though she had not the chance to talk with him herself. Nevertheless she watched the melee with some amusement, a dragon turtle against a seemingly unarmed human who could throw fireballs. A curious choice of minions though, she would admit.

[king-of-koopas.livejournal.com]

"Gotcha!!" Bowser finally connected with a swipe of his claws, sending the plumber tumbling away. Before the Koopa King could finish the job, Mario suddenly pulled out a winged cap, held out his arms, and-

- started flying, circling around the arena like some sort of rotund, mustachioed bird. "How the heck many items do you HAVE!?" Bowser roared, stomping a foot in childish frustration. He quickly cast about the arena for SOMETHING to use before simply snapping his fingers. "Paratroopas! Lakitus! Take him down! I WHERE THE HECK DID YOU COME FROM!?"

That last part was due to Bowser finally spotting Celena.

[curiousredsoul]

A winged cap that allowed one to fly, now that was interesting. Celena watched on as the unseeming little red plumber began to fly about the room with arms outstretched, she had to admit, it was an amusing sight.

Her attention brought back to the dragon-turtle or whatever he might be as he began to look about the arena and issue orders to what she assumed were his subordinates or minions. She knew she wouldn't be too hard to spot and had decided to go without illusions after all it could be quite interesting to talk with this one.

She couldn't help but chuckle as he finally did notice her, nodding towards the doorway that led to and from the Sensorium, "noticed the door open when I was wandering past and decided to come have a look, I didn't wish to distract you from it though so just set myself over here,"

[king-of-koopas.livejournal.com]

"You're some kinda big... lizard thing that I've never seen before!" Bowser shot back. "You're distracting no matter WHAT you do!"

The Koopa King settled down with a shrug, though. It never hurts to have an audience. "So you're gonna sit back and enjoy the show, huh? Gwahahaha!" He spat another barrage of flame at the jumping plumber, much faster than the little dinky fireballs the human could shoot back.

[curiousredsoul]

Celena couldn't help but chuckle, he was rather amusing "Dragon actually, and what might you be?" she set herself back on her haunches, "I shall endeavor not to distract you too much,"

"I think I shall have to, quite a show indeed," She replied with a dip of her head as she settled in to watch the battle with interest, taking note of the other's abilities.