Chapter 9:
Kamek worked on his spell, magically scanning the cosmos for any sign of the planet that was Sephiroth's homeworld. In the blink of an eye, he saw the planets in Hylia's solar system, along with planets of neighboring solar systems. Feeling that it was more likely than not that Sephiroth was from relatively close by, no more than a hundred light years or so, he narrowed his gaze to the small portion of the galaxy that held Hylia. Narrowing his gaze on the local cluster of stars, he scanned for any planets that had strange energy signatures. While he was familiar with Hylia's unique magic, he felt as if the planet that Sephiroth was searching for was even more unique and that there was no way he could miss it. Eventually, he felt something that was quite unique, and very powerful. He strongly suspected that this planet was the one that Sephiroth was looking for, but he wanted to be certain.
"Sephiroth," he called. "I think I may have found the planet you're looking for but I need to be certain. Can you come over to me so we can link our minds?"
Sephiroth suppressed a groan of impatience but he could understand Kamek's trepidation and need to be certain. He knew that the Koopas likely did not know the ins and outs of the Starship Mario and he wanted to reach Gaia on the first jump. Going over to Kamek, he knelt besides the Magikoopa. The Magikoopa then cast another spell while using his wand to keep the first spell active and he was able to link his mind with that of Sephiroth. Once their minds were linked, he was able to see what the Magikoopa saw. He grinned as he saw several worlds that could be habitable and possibly had sentient life, perfect worlds for him to spread his influence. Still, they were not Gaia. It was not until he saw the world that Kamek was interested in that he grinned. And grin he did, for Kamek's supposition was, indeed, correct. That was Gaia.
"That's it," Sephiroth confirmed. "That's Gaia. Take us there immediately."
"Understood," Kamek answered. Bowser watched the exchange and began to grow a little concerned at how casually Sephiroth was commanding Kamek, as well as the Magikoopa's willingness to obey. Still, he knew that this was the best chance he and the Koopa Kingdom had of getting rid of Mario and becoming a power that could challenge the world once more. As such, he would let Sephiroth bark orders for the time being. Once the silver-haired human's usefulness had ended, he would end him.
With that, Kamek and Sephiroth stood on the metal plate as Kamek input the coordinates for Gaia. Once the coordinates were put into the computer, Sephiroth took the wheel and pushed down on the pad, causing the ship to lurch forward and begin to make its way towards the portal. As the ship began to move, though, an alert soon came in over Bowser's wand.
"King Bowser, Mario and his friends have been detected and they're approaching fast!" he heard the frantic voice of a Magikoopa stationed onboard his airship.
"Hold him off!" Bowser roared in retort. "We're almost through the portal."
"Understood, my lord," the Magikoopa answered before the Koopa King cut off the line.
Bowser then looked over to the rest of the Koopas assembled before him and told them, "If Mario and his allies make it past the airship and onto the ship, you have full authorization to use whatever methods are needed to kill him."
"Yes sir," the Koopas answered eagerly, especially the SOLDIER Koopas. The group then prepared themselves for the prospect of facing down Mario. None of them noticed Sephiroth gripping his spear and almost smiling in anticipation. He knew that the outcome of his next battle with Mario would be quite different from the first.
Not too far away, Mario and his allies were making their way towards the Starship Mario. As they approached, they were quick to spot the airship flying close to the starship along with several figures onboard the starship, itself. Mario quickly spotted what looked to be a human onboard the ship. While he was still far away, he could make out the human's silver hair, informing him that Sephiroth had, indeed, taken over the Starship Mario. That was not the only thing he and the others noticed, though.
"Hey Mario, look," Parakarry called, pointing at the Mario head-shaped ship.
The party looked ahead and saw the portal form in front of the ship, as well as the ship accelerate towards it. "Let's go, everyone!" Mario called. "We have to get onboard that ship!"
"We hear ya," Lakilester answered.
The group proceeded to accelerate towards the ship, only to be stopped as the airship interposed itself between the allies and the ship. To make matters worse, many Magikoopas also appeared in front of the airship forming a screen between the ship and Mario and his allies.
"Darn," Parakarry seethed. "This'll be tougher than we thought."
"Then let's even things out a bit," Vivian responded as she appeared in front of Mario and the others. Wasting no time, she twirled her finger and initiated a Fiery Jinx. Almost immediately, the robes of the Magikoopas burst into flames, forcing the Magikoopas to either discard the robes or burn. Most of the Magikoopas managed to discard their robes but a few were unable to do so and they suffered several burns. In addition, the airship promptly exploded as the Fiery Jinx caused the fuel tank to catch fire and combust. Debris and shrapnel were propelled from the center of the explosion and the mangled, flaming hull of what had once been an airship fell to the ground, where it crashed and crumpled even more until it was nothing more than a deformed mess of metal, wood, and glass.
Mario and the others took advantage of the airship's destruction and rushed towards the Starship Mario, but the Magikoopas had other ideas, along with several flying Koopa units that had managed to abandon the doomed airship. Several Koopa Paratroopas wore helmet cannons and began firing on Mario and the allies, as did several flying Spinies. The plumber and his allies grimaced at the sight and began to go evasive.
Sephiroth and Bowser turned to see the battle unfolding not too far away, the Koopa King cringing as another airship was lost. He could not afford to keep losing airships, even if this one had been one of the older models and, thus, not as big a loss as some others would have been. Still, he was less than thrilled.
"Looks like we'll have to engage," the Koopa King grumbled as he prepared to head over to a Clown Car that the Koopas had brought onto the Starship Mario.
"No," Sephiroth said calmly.
"What?" Bowser roared. "Mario and the others are about to power their way through our defenses and board the ship!"
"Tell your airborne defenses to target the plumber and that purple shadow spirit," Sephiroth directed. "If you can keep her from using that combustion spell, you forces should last long enough to force Mario to the ground. I can deal with any of the other forces that get through."
"But what about my men?" Bowser asked worriedly. He had already lost too many forces in this war. He did not want to simply throw away more troops.
"Their sacrifice will not be in vain, King Bowser," the silver-haired fighter answered, "and if all goes well, they may even be able to take down some of Mario's allies."
"Okay," Bowser answered waveringly, still unconvinced that this was the best course of action, but he was desperate to give his army a chance to become strong enough to get rid of Mario and his allies once and for all. As such, he was willing to take this risk, especially since his own soldiers seemed to have no problem engaging Mario, despite the plumber's track record against them. With that, he activated his wand and spoke into it, contacting the Magikoopas in the group. "Okay, troops, listen to me," he began. "Target Mario and that Shadow Siren now! You've gotta keep her from using that Fire spell and you have to ground Mario any way you can."
The lead Magikoopa looked back at the ship, which was beginning to make its way towards the portal, and then back at Mario. Seeing that it would be difficult to deal with Mario and all of his allies, his courage was beginning to falter. Still, he knew that he had a job to do. As such, he eventually answered, "Understood, King Bowser." He then relayed the orders to the others, commanding, "Okay everyone; listen to me. Our primary target is Mario and Vivian. We have to ground Mario and make certain that Vivian can't use that Fiery Jinx again. Bowser and that new fighter can deal with any of the other flying enemies that manage to get through."
The rest of the Koopas responded affirmatively and proceeded to carry out their king's orders. Wasting no time, they proceeded to target Mario and Vivian and unleashed a withering barrage of cannon and magical fire at them, with the Spinies their weight to the fire shooting spikes at the plumber and his allies as well. Mario and the others immediately went evasive, making themselves as difficult to hit as possible. As he was maneuvering around the withering volume of fire, he took several potshots at the Koopas with his Fire Flower, hoping to force them to go evasive and give him and his allies some breathing room and possibly enough time to make a run for Starship Mario. Surprisingly, the plumber managed to score a few hits on the Koopas, managing to take down two of the cannon-wearing Koopa Paratroopas and one of the Magikoopas.
Lakilester also added his weight to Mario's fire by unleashing a stream of Spiny Eggs at the Koopas. The withering barrage forced the Magikoopas to go evasive, with one of them not going evasive enough as the rear of his broomstick was struck by several eggs and snapped off. The unfortunate Magikoopa, not knowing any levitation spells, fell to his demise hundreds of feet below as the destroyed broomstick careened into a cannon-wearing Koopa Paratroopa. Mario and Lakilester could only smile as they saw a hole opening in the Koopa lines. Vivian, Bow, Flurrie, and Parakarry quickly charged towards the remaining to distract them and further open the hole for Mario and everyone else, Parakarry carrying both Ms. Mowz and Goombella close to the Magikoopas so they could attack and keep them occupied. Ms. Mowz jumped from Parakarry and landed on a Magikoopa's broomstick and slapped the Magikoopa in the head, dazing him and causing him to fall off the broomstick. She quickly grabbed the broomstick and attempted to turn it towards the Starship Mario so she could aid in the attack.
Mario took advantage of the distraction, and rocketed his way towards the Starship Mario. However, he would soon meet up with more resistance as several Koopas on the starship were armed with Missile Bill launchers. Scarlet missiles erupted from the launchers and homed in on Mario and Lakilester. The Lakitu intercepted some of the missiles with a barrage of Spiny Eggs, but there were too many for the barrage to stop. Many of the missiles exploded into clouds of shrapnel and flame but some still made it through the defensive barrage to target the plumber, surprisingly leaving the Lakitu alone. Mario juked and jived, managing to avoid most of the missiles, and even shoot down a couple with some well-aimed fireballs, but one of the missiles managed to strike his cape and explode. The cape absorbed the explosion and Mario suffered no damage but the cape was no longer open and Mario was no longer able to fly, merely float down to the ground.
Lakilester, seeing Mario falling, went to try to lift him back up, but Mario shook his head and told him, "No, go for the ship. Try to slow it down or disable it. I'll be up there shortly."
"Got it," the Lakitu responded as he turned to charge towards the ship, along with Vivian, Parakarry, Ms. Mowz, and Goombella, the latter two jumping down into Lakilester's cloud.
Flurrie used her Gale Force winds to blow the group towards the Starship Mario, hoping that the increased speed would make them too fast for the ship's new defenses to take them down. Vivian decided to make certain, though, by using Fiery Jinx to destroy the Missile Bill launchers and the other cannons that were being placed all around the ship. He had also hoped that it would either disable the ship or outright destroy it, but the engines and the engine room must have been shielded from magic since the jinx had no effect on it. Looking ahead, the group could also see the silver-haired fighter they knew to be Sephiroth and several other Koopas onboard.
Sephiroth saw the group coming and grimaced. On the way to the Starship Mario, he had heard Bowser speak of Mario's allies, telling him of their talents and abilities in battle. He was particularly concerned about going against the Shadow Siren Vivian since her Fiery Jinx could set anything on fire. He had almost grinned when he saw that her Fiery Jinx had failed to damage the Starship Mario. Still, he knew that her spell would be dangerous for him and the rest of the Koopas on the starship, so he had to take precautions and keep her from using it a second time, especially since the cannons that had been mounted on the ship had not escaped destruction. He grabbed his spear and prepared to engage the Shadow Siren and the others, hoping to defeat them before Mario reentered the fray, for he knew the threat that the plumber posed while he was still away from Gaia.
Parakarry was the first to arrive at the starship. He zoomed past the Magikoopas, Koopatrols, and even Bowser, and made a beeline straight for Sephiroth, rightly viewing the silver-haired fighter as the primary threat. Tucking into his shell, he proceeded to barrel straight towards the former SOLDIER as fast as his wings could take him. His threat assessment of Sephiroth was soon proven correct as the former SOLDIER quickly thrust his spear towards Parakarry, catching him in the shell, the spear biting into the shell but not managing to fully pierce it. Still, the impact was sufficient to stun the Koopa Paratroopa and he quickly emerged from his shell dazed. Sephiroth was about to finish off Parakarry when Goombella and Bombette entered the fray. Bombette lit her fuse and rushed towards the silver-haired human, hoping to detonate in his face. As soon as she arrived, though, Sephiroth performed a kick and sent her flying, causing the Bob-omb to detonate a few meters away, allowing Sephiroth to avoid taking damage from Bombette's detonation. He then promptly thrust the spear into Goombella. The spear bit through her skin and pierced her heart. Sephiroth then withdrew the spear and kicked her towards the edge of the ship, though a pink heart rose from her and the wound promptly closed and the Goomba was revived, indicating the use of a Life Shroom. Lakilester quickly intercepted Goombella and got her onto his cloud. He quickly did the same for Bombette, who was lying on the ground, clearly dazed by the attack but thankfully not dead.
Soon, it would be Vivian's turn to attack. Seeing that it would be suicide to get close, she called over to Lakilester, "Lakilester, get everyone else out of range. It's suicide to engage him up close."
Lakilester nodded and fell back as Vivian raised her index finger and twirled it, focusing the entirety of her Fiery Jinx on him. A fiery explosion erupted where Sephiroth had been a small fraction of a second ago. However, the former SOLDIER had vanished from where he had been standing and reappeared right in front of Vivian. With a single kick, he sent her flying before she could duck back into the shadows. The force of the kick was sufficient to send her flying off the ship and out of its gravity well. Lakilester promptly unleashed a swarm of Spiny Eggs on Sephiroth, only for the former SOLIDIER to bat them away with his spear, his motions seemingly too fast for the allies to track.
Bowser and the other Koopas could only watch in awe of how easily Sephiroth was handling Mario's allies. Kamek figured that he must have gotten stronger since his fight against Mario. He and the others could only begin to imagine what the Jenova and Mako enhancements would do for them once they got to Gaia. And he also had a feeling that Sephiroth would get stronger once he reached his homeworld as well.
As it was, though, the ship was beginning to accelerate towards the portal. Despite a part of him wanting to cut off Mario from his allies, he also did not want Mario to be able to track them to Gaia, either. As such, he decided that he had to cut the heroes off from the ship until it reached the portal. Kamek and the other Magikoopas, the combined their powers to form an opaque blue energy shield around the Starship Mario, preventing the allies from being able to access the ship. Vivian attempted to use a Fiery Jinx on the ship to disable it, or possibly injure the Magikoopas forming the shield but her spell did not have the power to pierce the shield and the explosion of fire erupted outside of it. Kamek could only grin as the ship accelerated away from the group. It only took a few more seconds for the ship to enter the portal and vanish from the face of Hylia.
Meanwhile on the ground, Mario had gently floated down from near the upper atmosphere after taking the hit from the Missile Bill while his cape had been open. Once he had landed, he wasted no time running in a straight line so he could build up speed so he could fly up into the sky to rejoin the fight. As soon as he was running fast enough, he rocketed into the air as if he had been shot out of a cannon. When he reached the upper atmosphere, and the rest of his allies, though, the Starship Mario was passing through the portal and before he could get close enough to reach it, it vanished from the face of Hylia.
The plumber scowled and gave a grunt of annoyance. Sephiroth had escaped and there would be little chance of finding him. As he gazed at the portal, he expected it to vanish in a few seconds so as to cut off anyone from following them to Gaia. However, as the seconds passed, nothing happened. The swirling green portal was still there. He waited a little longer but still, the portal did not vanish. A part of him wanted to charge through the portal to intercept Sephiroth before he could make planetfall but another part of him cautioned him against making such a rash move since it was likely that the ship was stationed in outer space. It was not long before the other allies formed up on him, wondering what to do.
"So, what now?" Parakarry asked.
"We have to follow them before that portal closes," Vivian insisted.
"That won't do any good," Flurrie countered. "Chances are that the ship will be stationed in outer space. Spirits like us may be okay, but it'll be a different story for any quote unquote living person," she said, curling her fingers to indicate quotation marks.
"What if we spirits went to face Sephiroth together," Lady Bow suggested.
"We'll never last against Sephiroth," Vivian answered. "He's fast enough to avoid a Fiery Jinx and treated me, Goombella, Bombette, Parakarry, and Lakilester like garbage. All of us will be needed if we're to face him down and have any chance of winning."
"And there will be those other SOLDIER Koopatrols and Magikoopas to worry about too," Koops added.
"We may have a chance," Mario eventually stated, "of both intercepting them safely as well as facing down Sephiroth."
"What is it?" Koops and Goombella asked in unison.
Mario then got out a cell phone and dialed a number. After a few seconds, he said, "Hey Luigi, did you manage to contact Dribble and Spitz of Diamond Taxi?" He waited a few seconds for the reply. Once the reply was heard, he exclaimed, "Excellent, tell them to meet us at Shooting Star Summit. We'll be there soon. Sephiroth got away but the portal's still open so if we get a ship or even a spacesuit, we'll be able to follow him. Also, tell Peach and the others that any help they can give will be greatly appreciated." He hoped that the allies protecting Peach would come with him. He loathed leaving Peach relatively unprotected, but Sephiroth was too powerful to risk playing it safe. "While I hope to intercept Sephiroth before he makes planetfall, I have to guess that we'll have to face him on his home turf." He waited another few seconds for Luigi's reply before finishing, "Thanks bro. We'll be there shortly. Oh, and bring as many items as you can, possibly even Power Stars. We'll need everything we've got if we're going to beat Sephiroth."
With that, Luigi hung up the phone and looked back to the others to inform them of the situation, though the others likely got the gist of what was said. Still, some were confused.
"Dribble and Sptitz?" Lady Bow asked.
"Diamond Taxi?" Lakilester echoed.
"Dribble and Spitz work as cabbies for a taxi service called Diamond Taxi," Mario explained. "Their taxi has been modified to be able to fly in outer space. It even has an FTL drive. With luck, we can use it to reach Sephiroth and stop him from gaining back his full strength. I had Luigi tell them to meet us at Shooting Star Summit ASAP so we need to get going. Also, take the time you need to get as many healing and attack items as you can carry. This is Sephiroth we're dealing with, and some of you now have firsthand experience against him so you know the danger he poses."
The others nodded in agreement. With that, Mario proceeded to fly towards Shooting Star Summit so he could meet the cabbies and his brother, with the others going following him.
Meanwhile, on the Starship Mario, Bowser watched as the ship sailed through the portal, a grin still etched on his face. He had heard of how powerful Sephiroth had been, but he had no idea that the former soldier could manhandle a group of Mario's allies with such contemptuous ease. Kamek's face had also split into a grin, as had the faces of the other Koopas. The times of the Koopas getting annihilated by the Mario Brothers on a routine basis were about to come to an end. Even the SOLDIER Koopatrols and Magikoopas were smiling at how the battle had gone.
As for Sephiroth, though, his face remained blank, not giving away any of his thoughts or feelings. He had been less than satisfied at how he had performed in the fight, despite the fact that to the casual observer, he had mauled his enemies, which he had. He could tell that he was still nowhere close to full strength and that it was probably a good thing that the Koopas had managed to shoot down Mario, for he did not know how well he would have fared against the allies if Mario had been fighting alongside them. Still, it would not be long before the ship arrived at its destination, for he could already feel the energy emanating from Gaia.
As it was, after a few seconds, the portal's opening became visible and the image of a blue and green world filled the view of the opening. After a few more seconds, the ship Mario-faced ship emerged from the portal and found itself in orbit over the lush, green world.
"Alright," Bowser said eagerly. He then looked over to Sephiroth and noticed that the former SOLDIER was not giving any instructions. The former SOLDIER was just standing there.
"Hey, Hylia to Sephiroth, you still in there? What's going on?"
"I'm trying to remember where any Mako reactors and Shinra buildings would be so we can get some Mako and possibly some Jenova cells."
"Shinra?" Bowser asked, not knowing what the silver-haired human meant.
Sephiroth searched his memory for the name Shinra, wondering why it came to mind. Eventually, he had an answer "Shinra was a corporation that built Mako reactors to harvest the Mako energy from the planet," he explained. "I also believe that they could also be one of the few location that may hold any Jenova cells that may still be present on this world."
He then looked over at one of the SOLDIER Koopatrols and told him, "You, get down to the engine room and see if there are any sensor displays. Scan for any unusual strong energy readings. That could be our landing spot."
"Yes, King Bowser," the SOLDIER Koopatrol answered as he proceeded to make his way down to the engine room to see if there were any sensor consoles.
As the Koopatrol was leaving, Bowser could not help but notice that Sephiroth was giving a slight smile. "What is it?" the Koopa King asked.
"I'm finally home," Sephiroth answered. "I managed to outlive Cloud Strife and have returned to reclaim this world as my own. And more importantly, I can feel myself getting stronger and stronger with every passing moment. And with my proximity to Gaia, I can now feel my magic flowing through me once more, ready to use."
Bowser did not know whom this Cloud Strife was that Sephiroth was referring to, and did not care, but he began to grow concerned as Sephiroth's eyes widen with almost glee. "Hey, you're still gonna give us these enhancements and the Materia, right?" he asked.
"Of course," Sephiroth answered evenly, indicating no deception on his part. After all, it did not matter what happened with Bowser. He was where he needed to be and he could feel himself gaining strength with each passing moment. "And what you do with those enhancements is not my concern."
His answer only slightly reassured the Koopa King. Suddenly, Bowser was beginning to wonder if Kevin might have had a point about trusting Sephiroth. Sephiroth had taken Mario to the brink in a weakened state. He began to suspect that if he or any of the others double-crossed the silver-haired fighter, they would lose, badly. He quickly drove the thought out of his mind. Kevin had always been cautious, especially when it came to his safety. This was his best chance to finally gain the necessary power to beat Mario. He did not care about Sephiroth. All he cared about was beating Mario, conquering the Mushroom Kingdom, and marrying Peach. And good news would soon come to him, for the SOLDIER Koopatrol was rushing towards the two of them to give his report.
"King Bowser, Master Sephiroth," the SOLDIER Koopatrol began, bowing. "There were sensor consoles in the engine room, and they've given us some strong energy readings on all three main continents. The strongest readings are coming from an area on the northern continent, but there are still strong readings on the eastern and western continents as well, with more energy readings coming from various islands. The second strongest reading, is coming from an area on the eastern continent."
"Any signs of cities or technology?" Bowser asked.
"Yes," the SOLDIER Koopatrol answered. "There are technologically advanced cities and towns located all over the planet. Scans indicate that the tech level of these cities is roughly analogous to our own, with some minor advancements in some areas."
"Send the information to the screen here," Sephiroth told the SOLDIER Koopatrol.
"Yes, sir," the Koopatrol answered.
With that, Sephiroth looked over at a screen that had a two-dimensional display of Gaia on it. Identifying the continents and the areas on it, he referenced the locations of strong energy readings. After a short while, he said, "We'll go land near the ruins of Midgar," he said, pointing to a point on the map where there was only a small town, not a major city. "That was the capital of the world when I was last here. There should still be some Mako deposits there that can be used to enhance you. If memory serves, there could also be some Jenova cells in hibernation as well."
"You sure?" Bowser asked, noticing the lack of indications of a major city in that area.
"Positive," Sephiroth answered. "It was once site to the largest of Shinra's Mako reactors. If there's any place in the world where there could also be some Jenova cells as well, it would be there."
"Okay," Bowser answered, not all that convinced, though he readily admitted to himself that he was on an alien world, one that Sephiroth undoubtedly knew better than he did. As such, he did not push the issue further.
"Now all we have to do is get down to the planet's surface," Sephiroth stated, looking around and not seeing anything that looked to be a hangar of any kind. "Does this ship have any auxiliary craft?"
Bowser raised his eyebrows, suddenly realizing that Sephiroth had a point. Aside from taking the Starship Mario into the atmosphere, there was no way down to the planet. While this was no real problem for Sephiroth, it would be a problem for Bowser since the Clown Car present could only fit one Koopa his size and there were only a few Magikoopas were present and they would still need to land on the planet before they could teleport someone to the ground with any precision or safety. Bowser looked at the others and asked, "Well, are there any other craft we can use?"
"No," the SOLDIER Koopatrol answered. "However, we did find a Launch Star, so we may be able to use that to land on the planet from orbit."
"Great," Bowser answered sarcastically. "But how would we get back up?" he then roared in question.
"There are airships and even orbit-achieving rocket ships on Gaia, assuming they have not regressed technologically, which all scans indicate they have not," Sephiroth suggested. "But if worse comes to worst, your Magikoopas could still teleport you back to the ship. It won't matter to me, though. I've come back home and I have no intention of leaving. Once I'm finished enhancing you and giving you detailed instructions on how to enhance yourselves, we will be able to go our separate ways."
"Okay," Bowser answered, satisfied. "Get that Launch Star out here so we can start landing on that planet. We've got a lot of Koopas to enhance, and that's before we even get to enhancing the rest of the army."
"Yes, master," the SOLDIER Koopatrol answered. As he went off to activate the Launch Star, Sephiroth could only grin. All of his plans were beginning to come to fruition.
While the SOLDIER Koopatrol was getting the Launch Star, Bowser noticed that the portal that led from Hylia to Gaia had not closed. The Koopa King turned to Sephiroth and said, "Hey, you do know that the portal that leads here isn't closed, right?"
"Yes," Sephiroth responded.
"May I ask why you didn't close the portal? Mario and his allies may follow us here."
"I hope they do," Sephiroth answered. "And you should too. Here on Gaia, they'll be on my homeworld and they will be away from their bases of support while I will be at home on this planet. It will be the easiest for us to set up ambushes and take them down piece by piece until Mario and all of his allies are dead."
Bowser could see the logic in that and had nothing further to say. After a few more moments, the Launch Star, a large star with a round, open center that could fit over a person like a hula-hoop, appeared on the ship's bridge, hovering over a raised platform.
"We got it," he heard the SOLDIER Koopatrol call.
Wasting no time, Bowser cried, "Okay everyone, let's get going!" He then turned to one of the SOLDIER Magikoopas and told him, "You remain here. I'll contact you as to when we are ready to be teleported back to the ship."
"Yes, master," the Magikoopa answered. The Magikoopa then swished his wand and cast a spell over Bowser and the rest of the force, minus Sephiroth, who had no intention of returning to the starship, that would allow him to summon them back to the ship once they had received their enhancements.
With that, Bowser, Sephiroth and the rest of the Koopas made their way over to the Launch Star. Sephiroth was the first to go. Before entering the star's center, Sephiroth turned to Bowser and asked, "How does this work?"
"You jump into the center of the star and spin around. It will then launch you to your desired destination."
Sephiroth nodded and proceeded to jump into the center of the star. Spinning around, the star then spun him a little faster and then launched him into the air. The silver-haired human was quickly maneuvered so he was pointing down towards the eastern continent, trusting that the star would take him to his desired destination. Still, even if they were a ways off, it did not really matter to him all that much. All he needed was to get to the Lifestream and he could begin to take it over once more, and possibly even recover his full power and ability. He was quickly followed by Bowser and the rest of the Koopas that had crewed the Starship Mario, save for the one SOLDIER Magikoopa whose job it was to bring Bowser and the others back once the Koopa King had given the word that it was time to return. One by one, they jumped into the center of the star, and were launched off of the ship, and down to the surface of Gaia.
Meanwhile, back in the Mushroom Kingdom, Mario and his allies arrived at Shooting Star Summit to see that Luigi and a taxi were already present, as were Princess Peach, Toad, Toadsworth, Sushie, Yoshi Kid, and Goombario, along with Donkey Kong, Diddy Kong. Good, everyone was present. He knew that he would need everybody in order to face off against Sephiroth. He then took stock of his inventory. He was fully stocked with healing items as well as some area effect attack items, wanting to have as many options for use against Sephiroth as he could at his disposal. He also took along some Super Power items, knowing that he would need his super-powers against Sephiroth. A quick glance behind him informed him that the rest of his friends were doing the same. They all knew the threat Sephiroth posed and wanted to make sure that they were fully loaded and prepared for when they took on the former SOLDIER.
When he arrived, Luigi looked up and waved at him. He nodded and landed next to his brother, followed closely by the rest of his party. When he did so, he took stock of the taxi as well as the two cabbies Dribble, a large anthropomorphic bulldog and Spitz, a yellow bipedal cat.
"I take it Luigi has informed you two of the situation," Mario began.
The two cabbies nodded. "Yeah," Spitz answered. "You want us to take you through a portal to a world so you can face off against some scary guy called Sephiroth."
"Note that all we need from you is to get us there and possibly back should the worst happen. However, make certain that you two don't get involved in the fighting," Mario admonished. "Not only are you our only ticket home, we also don't want there to be any Jenova hitchhikers, either."
"What's this Jenova thing you're worried about?" Dribble asked.
That was when Eldstar appeared before the party. "Jenova is an ancient life-form that can alter its shape and even its DNA to look like anyone or anything it has come into contact with or has absorbed. Its will has been subsumed by Sephiroth, but Sephiroth seems to be carrying out its mandate to spread itself across the cosmos so I doubt it's resisting him. If anything, it's probably helping him." Eldstar then turned to Mario and told him, "The Star Spirits and I are coming with you, too. And you should also bring along the Crystal Stars from your adventures in Rogueport. You will need every ounce of power you can get, and every weapon at your disposal, when fighting Sephiroth."
"And take these Power Stars with you as well," Princess Peach volunteered, handing Mario over two hundred and forty Power Stars. Mario accepted them but before he did anything else, he told her, "Princess, I think you should remain here along with Donkey Kong and Diddy Kong."
"Are you sure that's wise given the threat Sephiroth poses?" Peach asked. "You'll need all the help you can get."
"The Mushroom Kingdom needs its leader right now," Mario answered. "And you'll also want some bodyguards should the Koopas launch an attack while we're away. Donkey Kong and Diddy Kong should be good for that."
"But what about Sephiroth?" Donkey Kong and Diddy Kong asked in unison.
"You need to stay here not only to protect Peach and the Mushroom Kingdom, but should we fail or Sephiroth have a backup plan, you could be the only remaining line of defense against him."
"I'll contact the other nations and inform them about Sephiroth, assuming they don't already know," Peach declared. "Should the fight somehow come back to this world, we'll need to be ready."
Mario, Luigi, and the others nodded in agreement. That was sufficient to assuage the Kongs' concerns. Mario then turned to Luigi and gave him one hundred and twenty of the stars. "You can also use the Stars to increase your own physical capabilities," Eldstar added. "It's mostly been passively done in the past with you, but if you focus and train, you will be able to use the power of the stars to their fullest extent. When you do this, you'll become significantly stronger than you were before and should be able to close the gap with Sephiroth physically should he regain his full power, which is not unlikely given the recent events."
"Excellent. How do we use them?" the plumbers asked in unison.
"Just focus," Eldstar told them. "And don't worry. You can practice it a bit during the ride to Gaia. You'll notice the effects of the Star Power the moment you start drawing on the power of the stars directly. Also, just so you know, you can only use the energy of one hundred stars at any given time, though in times of emergency, you can drain the power of any number of stars to supercharge yourselves, though it will take a considerable amount of time for the stars to recharge their energy should they be completely drained so if you do this too much, you could be left in a weakened state, relatively speaking, once the stars' power runs out. Take care when using the stars' power."
"Thanks for the heads up," the plumbers said. Mario then looked over at his allies, and then back at Eldstar and asked, "What about the others? Can they use the Stars' power, too?"
"They can to a small degree," Eldstar answered. "But it won't have nearly the effect on them that it will on you and your brother. You and Luigi are Star Children, meaning that you can use the full power of the Stars. Just be alert. Sephiroth has a great deal of experience with his power and strength and, as you saw in your previous battles against the enhanced Magikoopas and Koopatrols, going into a battle with enhanced powers without training is deadly. Before facing off against Sephiroth, you should take some time to get accustomed to your new strength, should he give you the chance."
"Got it," Mario answered. He then turned to the rest of his allies and asked, "So, are you all ready to go? Do you guys have all the items you'll need?"
The group nodded and even showed Mario some of the attack items they were carrying. "Excellent. Get ready, everyone. We're going into the battle of our lives."
The others nodded and formed up around Mario and Luigi. Donkey Kong and Diddy Kong then looked back at Mario and told him, "Don't worry. We'll hold down the fort while you're off kicking Sephiroth's butt."
"Thanks guys," Mario answered. With that, Mario and Luigi filed into the taxi, followed by the rest of his allies, Vivian taking many of them into the shadows so they would all fit into the taxi.
Once they were onboard, Dribble and Spitz looked back at them and told them, "Okay everyone; fasten your seatbelts. We're takin' off now." And with that, the taxi rocketed into the sky, and headed towards the portal.
Meanwhile, over on Gaia, Sephiroth, Bowser, and the rest of the party landed on the surface of Gaia. Sephiroth was the first to land, touching down gently and with barely a sound. Bowser was next, though he landed with a loud thud that shook the ground around him, though Sephiroth felt virtually nothing. Next came Bowser's children and following them were the unaugmented Magikoopas and Koopatrols. Finally, the sole SOLDIER Magikoopa, the two remaining SOLDIER Koopatrols, and four SOLDIER Koopa Troopas landed.
Looking around him, Sephiroth noticed the that landscape was lush and green, a far cry from the urban Midgar of what may well have been over five hundred years ago. The only indication that Midgar had once been industrialized was the fact that there were some metal buildings that were overgrown with vegetation, almost certainly the Mako reactors. The former SOLDIER almost scowled. This was not what he had expected. He had expected there to be some cities or at least some towns surrounding the area. He also began to wonder if the world was as advanced as he had expected. If not, then there could be some issues since he could not sense any Jenova cells in the area. He closed his eyes to try to sense if there were any Jenova cells remaining on the world at all. So far, though, he could sense none, prompting him to scowl. Bowser also looked out over the landscape and was less than impressed.
"So Sephiroth, uh, where are these Mako reactors you were talking about? Where are the Jenova cells? Where are the cities?" the Koopa King demanded, his voice rising in volume with each question.
"Not here, apparently," Sephiroth answered evenly, though the Koopa King was beginning to wear on his nerves.
Almost immediately after his response, memories began to come back to the surface of his memory, and not only memories, but also knowledge. He gave a sound that was between a sigh and a grunt and he looked down at the ground. Bowser soon noticed that something seemed to be troubling the former SOLDIER.
"Hey, you alright?" the Koopa King asked.
Sephiroth did not give an immediate response. The memories and knowledge was of things he should not have necessarily known. He could feel the power of the planet coursing through him. He held up his hand and began to produce a flame around it, the beginnings of a casting a Firaga, something that should not have been possible without Materia. Still, there were too many blanks in his mind.
"Did we land in the right area?" he soon heard one of the SOLDIER Koopatrols ask.
"Good question," Kamek answered, gazing out over the landscape. He drew out his wand and activated it, establishing a link with the SOLDIER Magikoopa onboard the Starship Mario. "Kamix, do you read me?"
"Loud and clear," came the reply.
"Confirm that we're just outside of Midgar. I don't see anything resembling a town, much less a city."
"Checking now," Kamix answered. After a few moments, he continued, "Yeah, you're just outside of this Midgar. And scanners are still showing a large concentration of energy there. You should be close to a Mako goldmine."
"Well we're not seeing anything," Bowser roared, going over to Kamek and grabbing the wand.
"Perhaps we should scout the area," Sephiroth suggested. "Have your Magikoopas split up and scan the area and, hopefully, we will be able to come across a nearby Mako spring or even some Mako or Materia that was left over from the reactors before they were destroyed."
"And failing that, what then?"
"Then we will go to Mount Nibel," the former SOLDIER answered. "But there should still be some small remaining traces of Mako here since there were a number of reactors located here in the past and Mako would be poisonous to touch if people or animals were not strong enough."
"Hey, we found something!" one of the Magikoopas called.
Bowser and Sephiroth went over to the source of the sound and saw a Magikoopa using his wand to levitate some turquoise liquid. Sephiroth went over to it and examined it before giving a satisfied grin. "That's Mako," he confirmed.
Bowser gave a grin. "Now all we need are the Jenova cells," he said.
"That won't be a problem," Sephiroth told him.
"What do you mean?" Bowser asked.
"I have plenty of Jenova cells inside of me," Sephiroth answered. "Jenova spread itself from a single host like a virus so the cells have already been dividing inside of me so as long as we have the necessary Mako, we can begin the process of creating more SOLDIERs."
Bowser was less than pleased. He grabbed Sephiroth and roared, "You led us to this planet and you had the cells we needed from the beginning?"
"I may have the cells, but it takes more than Jenova cells to make a SOLDIER," Sephiroth answered cooly. "It also takes Mako, something that I don't have in unlimited quantities. This planet, on the other hand, has more than enough Mako for your purposes. However, I fear that a complication has arisen."
"What 'complication'?" the Koopa King roared.
"When I landed on this planet, I began to recover some memories. While I can see now that Korry was completely successful in reviving me physically, I was not revived correctly, mentally. And there are still gaps in my memory and knowledge, though I do fear that there may be a complication for the completion of your own goals here, after the Jenova and Mako infusion, of course."
"But you can still make us SOLDIER Koopas?"
"Yes," the former SOLDIER answered. "But until I know more, I can't say you'll be able to do accomplish the second part of your goals that I promised."
"What do you mean?"
"I don't know if Materia will work properly on your world," Sephiroth answered. "I just have a feeling, for now. If one of your Magikoopas could complete the process, or do it properly, I might be able to give you more information."
"Korry was not known to be all that good at necromancy," Kamek stated plainly. "I could scan you and see if things are as they should be."
"Then do so," Sephiroth told him.
"Wait," the SOLDIER Magikoopa called. "I've been enhanced with Jenova cells and Mako and have not had any signs of rejection. I am also skilled in necromancy, far more so than Korry. Since Sephiroth has undergone the same procedure, I could do the scan and also perform the necessary procedure to fully repair or restore Sephiroth's memory since I'll have a better idea on how the Jenova cells and Mako may have affected him."
"Do it," Bowser said, wasting no time in giving the order.
Kamek looked at him questioningly. The chief Magikoopa was less than pleased at being implied to not be able to do as good a job as a subordinate Magikoopa. Still, an order from Bowser was an order from his King. As such, he raised no objection.
The SOLDIER Magikoopa then began the procedure to scan Sephiroth and find out where Korry went wrong and then, fix it. The process took only a few seconds and the Magikoopa gave a soft chuckle. "He must have been a fool if he overlooked this simple issue."
"What issue?" Sephiroth asked.
"He didn't add a max level memory charm to the spell, merely going for a low-level one," the SOLDIER Magikoopa answered. "This'll be an easy fix, though you may feel some disorientation once the memories and knowledge come flooding back into your mind."
"Do it," Sephiroth told him.
The Magikoopa then swished his wand and chanted in an unfamiliar language before taking out a small coin and touching to the former SOLDIER's head. He then wished his wand and a beam of energy struck the crystal and soon engulfed the human. The blinding light caused Bowser and the others to look away. After a few seconds, the light faded and everyone looked back at Sephiroth, who no longer had the coin on his head. The former SOLDIER opened his eyes and looked back at the SOLDIER Magikoopa.
"Well, how do you feel?" the Magikoopa asked.
Sephiroth closed his eyes and thought back to his history and what he knew, both of himself as well as the planet. He then opened his eyes and looked back at the Magikoopa and answered, "I feel fine. I am finally whole." He then paused before adding, "And I remember everything."
"Great!" Bowser exclaimed. "Now, let's get down to business. I want these Jenova and Mako enhancements now, and get us some Materia for use back home while you're at it."
"The first can be done without too much difficulty," he started. He then looked at the Koopa King sternly before adding, "However, the Materia is not going to be what you want it to be, at least not back on your world."
Bowser's eyes went wide with shock and anger. "What?" he bellowed. "What do you mean?"
"Materia is crystallized Mako," Sephiroth explained. "It can be synthesized when Mako reactors take Mako and compress it to generate energy. There are natural Mako springs that also produce natural Materia, which may or may not be more powerful than synthesized Materia, but the issue is more complicated than that. Mako consists of this planet's Lifestream in liquid form. The Lifestream contains the essence of Gaia. It has the sum of all of the knowledge, emotions, and memories of everyone and everything that has ever lived on the planet. Materia allows the user access to the knowledge and power of the Lifestream and to channel that power, allowing it to manifest as 'magic', for lack of a better term. However, what would happen if one tried to use Materia away from the planet, and the source of that knowledge, is unknown. One might still be able to use some of its power since Materia is merely crystallized Mako, or rather, crystallized Lifestream. But chances are that the power would be greatly reduced so as to be no more useful than the other weapons or items that you already have access to. Also, one more thing," the former SOLDIER added. "In order to use Materia, you have to use your mind waves to trigger a shock in order to use a Materia's power. This weakens the user's mind and if used frequently, will tax the user's stamina."
"Okay, so don't overuse Materia," Bowser noted. "But what would happen if I took some Materia back to Hylia?"
"As I already said, I don't know for certain," Sephiroth answered. "Best-case scenario, there is no change. Worst-case scenario, it won't work at all. My personal belief is that it will still be useful, but it will be greatly weakened. For example, a Thundaga spell will merely be as powerful as a Thunder spell."
"Okay," Bowser stated. He didn't know what Thundaga was exactly, but he suspected that it was a powerful lightning spell, given how Sephiroth compared it to Thunder, and one that would be useful in battle. He then turned to the silver-haired human and continued, "But first thing's first; we have to get enhanced with the Jenova cells and Mako. What do you need in order to do that?"
"Not much," Sephiroth answered. "I could theoretically do it right here, right now, but I would prefer to do it inside a medical facility. Still, a makeshift field tent would suffice if you have one."
Bowser turned to Kamek, who looked back at his king and answered, "I can summon a tent immediately."
"Do it," Bowser commanded.
Kamek nodded and promptly raised his wand. With a single swish, he pointed over to a bare patch of land a dozen meters away and a large tent appeared on the patch of land. Inside the tent were a series of tables with some medical equipment and scanners. Sephiroth could only grin as Bowser exclaimed, "Alright, let's get this done."
"I'm ready when you are," Sephiroth told the Koopa King. With that, Bowser, his children, Kamek, Sephiroth, and the others filed into the tent, the Koopas eager to be enhanced, none of them noticing, or caring about, Sephiroth's grin.
Meanwhile, deep inside the planet, Lifestream, Gaia's consciousness went on full alert as soon as Sephiroth and Bowser had landed on the planet. It was not familiar with Bowser and the other Koopas at all and, thus, did not know whether or not they were threats to it. However, it was very aware of Sephiroth and the threat he posed. It soon concluded that the other beings that had landed with Sephiroth were either allies or under the control of the former SOLDIER. And one soul that had joined with the Lifestream more than five hundred years ago was stirring at the sensing of Sephiroth. All she needed to do was prepare her ultimate spell to destroy the last of Jenova before it infected the Lifestream once more. The only problem would be how it would defeat Sephiroth.