Luigi is not in this game.

Chapter Nine

Andres laid on the hard ground. It rumbled beneath him as Bowser approached him with heavy steps. His determination was gone, hope was gone, everything was gone. He had to complete this without his mother. He stood to his feet, facing the giant boss.
"You'll pay." He growled. Andres prepared for Bowser's first attack. He watched as he jumped into the air and slammed his feet down, massive shock waves rippling toward Andres. He jumped over them easily, sprinting towards Bowser at the same time. He tried to reach for his tail, but Bowser was faster at keeping it away. He paused and coughed out a breath of fire. Andres's heart skipped a beat as he narrowly avoided the blow. He knew that it was a perfect time to grab onto Bowser's tail. He reached his backside and pulled his tail, spinning and spinning until he aligned a bomb in his sight. He threw the koopa across the map, but narrowly missed the bomb.
Bowser stood to his feet and sent more shock waves to Andres, but he wasn't able to avoid it in time. One slammed him backward onto the ground, shooting pain through his entire body. Bowser was stomping towards him, ready to use his sharp claws and slash into the tiny human. Andres wobbled to his feet, tears in his eyes. The pain lingered as he had nothing to heal it. He was forced to push through it to dodge the massive hand raining down on him. He twisted away and reached for Bowser's tail. He latched on and almost immediately threw him into a bomb. His muscles were strained and weak, but he was forced to stay in this level unless he died.
Andres shuddered at the thought of dying, again. I gotta finish this, and quickly. Bowser became angrier. He sprinted towards Andres, barely giving him time to recover. He jumped out of the way and Bowser whipped his head around in frustration. He spewed many fireballs onto the platform, one that split into more and more until they disappeared. Andres knew that some of the fire dissolved into coins that could keep his health up.
Andres spun around Bowser once again now that he was occupied with spitting fireballs. He reached for his tail, but it was too late. Bowser spun around and smashed his giant paw into Andres, sending him flying near the edge. The koopa gloated and laughed as he sauntered over to the boy, now very low on health. One more hit and he was dead.
Andres's vision blurred, nearly blinding him. He struggled to his knees. His body was shaking in retaliation. He looked down at his hand and noticed blood trickling into it. His nose was bleeding. Give up. A voice in his head said. Just give up.
"I can't!" He shouted out loud. Andres stood on his feet and slipped out of the way of Bowser. He latched onto his tail, grateful that they were so close to the edge of the map. He was very close to another bomb. He dropped the monster onto it and got blown backward. As he stood, the ground started to rumble. Andres watched as chunks of the platform shattered and fell into the void below. His heart nearly pounded out of his chest as he dove for the center. Unfortunately, he had stood there too long, just barely grabbing onto the ledge of the newly formed platform. He tried to heave himself up, but the rumbling ground made him lose his grip, and he tumbled into the pitch-black void. Once again, he felt the air tearing away at his skin as he lost another life.
Laying outside the pipe, Andres and his newly restored body stood up against the wind. He grabbed the extra life that hid behind a pillar nearby and tucked it in his pocket. He glanced over to where he saw Lacey last, slipping off the edge and swallowed by the void. But nothing came, only a numbness surrounding him as he jumped back through the pipe.
Andres didn't wait for Bowser to finish his spiel when he bolted forward toward him. He launched himself behind Bowser and immediately grabbed his tail. He swung him around and flung him into a bomb, first try. A burning fire blazed in his chest, a newly found anger pushing him forward. He sprinted over to Bowser who was still trying to get to his feet, and once he did he immediately spat a fireball that landed directly on Andres. His flesh boiled and his clothes became torn. His knees buckled and he sank to the ground. He gritted his teeth as the fire finally died out, just the pain lingering behind.
Bowser slammed his feet into the ground, sending shockwaves through the air. Andres jumped over them desperately as he got closer, but he was too weak. The shockwave stung and pushed him back to the ground. Bowser slammed his paw against Andres, throwing him out like a piece of trash.
Andres found himself back at the top of the pipe with one less life. A new routine began. Take the extra life, jump in the pipe, fight as hard as he can, die, respawn, extra life, die, respawn... over and over again. He was losing hope. He was getting sick and tired of death greeting him as if they'd never met before. He got sick of spinning around Bowser until he grabbed his tail, spinning to throw him, his head spinning in confusion and pain. Everything flooded over him all at once then completely drained out when he died. How long could he go like this until he decided to stop getting the extra lives? How long could he go on before finally jumping off the edge into the void behind his mother to discover what's on the other side?
The thought left his head as soon as he released Bowser from his grasp and threw him onto a bomb for the second time that round. One more! One more time! Maybe he could make it after all. The ground gave away, but Andres was already in the center of the platform. With such little space to fight, Andres had an even harder time trying to grab Bowser. He was thrown to the side as he misstepped around Bowser and gave him the opportunity to hit Andres. He had gotten used to the constant pain, it was his default state at that point. He jumped to his feet, spitting out drops of blood.
"Haven't given up yet?" Bowser growled. Andres froze in shock. He speaks? That's not his dialogue. Anger rose in his throat like hot acid.
"This is all your fault!" Andres shouted as he bolted to Bowser. The two were about to hit head-on until Andres side flipped over Bowser. "It's your fault my mother is dead!" He landed on Bowser's back and held on to one of the spikes protruding from his shell. "It's your fault we've had to suffer so much!" He started to tug at the spike, harder and harder. He heard a crack. Bowser bellowed and tried to bat him away, but his paws wouldn't reach his back. Andres pulled and pulled until a loud snap rang through the air.
Bowser howled in pain and swung around to face Andres, who was now holding the spike in his hand. He reeled his paw back, but Andres leaped into the air and plunged the spike into Bowser's neck. A star shot from Bowser and into the air. Andres twisted into the air and pushed off the spike with his feet and reached for the star. The growling had stopped as Bowser lay on the ground, bleeding. Andres latched his hands onto the star that eventually shone so bright that he had to squeeze his eyes shut.