Chapter 11:
Meanwhile, back near the ruins of Midgar, Mario and Luigi's allies engaged the Koopas in the fight of their lives, doing their best to keep Bowser and the others from supporting Sephiroth against Mario and Luigi. For their part, Bowser and his subordinates seemed to have no problem letting Mario and Luigi deal with Sephiroth, which made the brothers' allies' job both easier and harder: easier in that they did not have to worry about the Koopas helping Mario against Sephiroth, but harder in the fact that they now had to deal with a small army of Goombas, Koopas, Magikoopas, and Hammer Bros., all of who had been enhanced with Jenova cells and Mako infusions while also having to deal with Bowser and eight of his children. To say that they were outnumbered and outgunned was an understatement.
The Goombas began the charge against the heroes, eager to test out their enhancements as they rushed towards Goombella, the de facto leader of the allies while Mario and Luigi dealt with Sephiroth. This did not please Bowser in the slightest.
"Hey wait!" he bellowed. "What are you doing? Get back in line! My kids and I are lead in this fight!"
"We can take 'em!" one of the Goombas called back as they, much to their surprise, and delight, closed the distance between the front lines and the allies much faster than they had expected and went to launch Headbonk attacks on the allies.
"No," Kamek called in counter. "If you fight, you'll need hit and run, not suicide!"
Sure enough, Kamek's call was prophetic, for despite the Goombas' enhancements, the allies were not caught unawares and had already suspected that they had taken the Jenova and Mako enhancements. In addition, since the Goombas had taken to the air, it would be easy for the allies to predict their trajectories and initiate counterattacks. As such, the allies all moved almost as one to avoid the initial charge, causing the Goombas to bash their heads into the ground, though their enhancements made it so they did not suffer any injury from the failed attacks, though a few were still dazed and all of them had to take a split second to reorient towards the allies. That split second was all the allies needed to counter them and launch their own attacks. Sure enough, despite the enhancements they had received, the Goombas were still no match for the allies and they were all beaten as the heroes, slapped, slammed, Headbonked, and rammed into them. Within moments, almost the entire Goomba force was out of the fight, either injured too badly to continue or dead.
Bowser seethed at the waste of manpower against Mario's allies. Still, he had a line of Koopa Troopas, along with the Magikoopas and Hammer Bros. to back up he and his kids. Still, he was beginning to suspect that this would be a tougher fight than he initially imagined.
"Okay now," he bellowed, focusing on the Koopa Troopas since he figured that they would be the most eager to test out their new enhancements, "I'm taking the lead along with my kids. You're backup. Make hit and run attacks if you think you can get away clean. Until we get some Materia for you guys, I don't want you being the main assault force against them since they still have magic and you're restricted to close range attack."
"Roger," the Koopas answered in unison.
With that, Bowser and his children began their attacks on Mario's allies. Taking a deep breath, the Koopa King opened with a massive stream of flame, focusing it towards Goombella, Koops, and Flurrie. The trio quickly scattered, forcing the Koopa King to focus his attack on one of them, the massive turtle choosing to target Koops due to him being a Koopa. The smaller Koopa ducked into his shell and skid across the ground, doing a good job making him as difficult to hit as possible. Bowser swept his flames to try to follow the Koopa, but Koops was too evasive for the Koopa King to score a hit on. Still, he was not the only member of Koopa Royalty present. The Koopalings and Bowser Jr. soon also entered the fray, with Bowser Jr. joining his father in targeting Koops while the others divided their attention among the other allies.
Ludwig jumped high into the air, towards the allies while the others hung back, the eldest of the Koopalings firing magical blasts around the allies to confine them to a small space so that when he landed, they would feel the effects of his Ground Pound. Sure enough, when he landed, the ground began to shake, causing the ground-bound allies to lose their footing and struggle to stay standing. This opened them up to attack by the other Koopalings as they readied their wands in order to cast polygonal blasts of magic. However, neither Ludwig, nor the other Koopalings accounted for the allies that were not bound to the ground, such as Lady Bow, Watt, Lakilester, Flurrie, or Vivian. As such, while they went to target the stricken allies, the aerial allies initiated attacks of their own. Flurrie unleashed a massive gust of wind towards the Koopalings, knowing that while it would not cause them to be blown away, they would have to focus on keeping their footing while the others could launch attacks of their own. And attack they did.
Lady Bow appeared right in front of Ludwig as he was about to blast Goombella with a 4-polygonal blast of magic and smacked him with her fan right in the face. While the smack did not inflict much damage to the Koopaling, it was annoying and it did manage to score several paper cuts on his cheeks and across his nose, which hurt far more than they should have considering the lack of actual damage given by the attack. That pain, however, fueled the Koopaling's anger and he lashed out at Lady Bow with a multitude of magical blasts and attempts at physical attacks, giving her his undivided attention at the expense of everyone else. Lady Bow, however, gave a devilish grin as she merely vanished and made herself intangible. The blasts of magic flew through her and inflicted no damage at all. And to make matters worse, a couple of the blasts managed to score a hit on a SOLDIER Koopa that had been trying to line up for a Shell Toss at Koops, something that only further fueled the Koopaling's rage. And the other Koopalings were not doing much better.
The ground-bound allies recovered pretty quickly from Ludwig's Ground Pound and soon entered the fight in earnest. Kooper rocketed towards Roy Koopa at maximum speed, something that caught the Koopaling off guard and managed to barrel into him, forcing him back a few feet. However, while the strike did hurt and did inflict some damage, it did far less than Kooper had hoped for since before the enhancements, it would have knocked the wind out of the Koopaling. Roy countered by unleashing a stream of magical blasts towards the blue-shelled Koopa. However, Kooper was moving too fast for the Koopaling to reliably track and he managed to scoot out of the way of the incoming magical blasts, causing Roy to grimace. He was expecting his first battle with the Jenova and Mako enhancements to be more momentous than this battle was quickly turning out to be. About the only thing he could right now was that he had greater defense and likely endurance than before. It was still difficult for him to track small, fast-moving targets, like the young Koopa Troopa right in front of him.
The other Koopalings were having similar problems to Roy. Wendy attempted to fire a barrage of rings at Vivian, wanting to take out the former Shadow Siren as quickly as possible so she would not have to have her endurance against a Fiery Jinx put to the test. In response, the Shadow Spirit simply hid in the shadows while Wendy unleashed more rings towards the shadow that now darkened the ground where Vivian had been, hoping that the rings would fade into the shadows and strike Vivian. They did not, however, and she could feel that she was blowing through her magical reserves pretty quickly, though she did seem to have more of them than before, for she was not yet feeling any fatigue or loss of magical strength. Still, it was not getting her closer to striking Vivian and she would have more issues to contend with when Sushie unleashed a Water Gun on her. The blast of water caught her completely off guard and by the time she noticed it, while she was able to begin to move out of the way, the blast of water was too close, and moved too fast for her to avoid and she took a direct hit to the face. She was forced backwards a few feet and was dazed by the force of the water, though she suffered no real damage from the attack.
Iggy, Morton, and Larry soon came to support their sister and unleashed a series of magical blasts towards Sushie. Sushie, however, was not without support of her own as Parakarry and Lakilester soon swooped in and unleashed assaults of their own on the Koopalings. Parakarry had already ducked into his shell and rocketed into Wendy's head, dazing her and nearly knocking her unconscious. She fell to the ground with more of a thud than she would have wished and remained there, trying to clear the newly formed cobwebs in her head. Lakilester quickly banked towards Sushie and gathered her into his cloud while simultaneously tossing down a Spiny Egg onto the head of Morton Koopa Jr. The egg struck the enhanced Koopaling in the head and dazed him for a few moments, causing him to stagger backwards.
Iggy and Larry were the last to attack, unleashing a series of magical blasts at the two flying Mario allies, only to see that their speed and maneuverability in the air made them difficult to hit at best. Sushie and Lakilester then took him out of the fight as the Lakitu unleashed a Spiny Surge towards the Koopaling while Sushie fired a Water Gun shot from her mouth. The two attacks found their mark, with some of the Spiny Eggs from the barrage also hitting Wendy, Morton, Iggy, and Larry in the process. Larry was soon sent reeling as Bombette rushed towards him and exploded, the force of the explosion sending him staggering backwards, and right onto a field of time bombs that had been set by Admiral Bobbery mere moments before. The moment the Koopaling stepped onto the first time bomb, it detonated, with its detonation setting off the other time bombs. Previously, the power and number of explosions would have been sufficient to kill the Koopaling, but here, they merely knocked him down and dazed him, albeit managing to take him out of the fight for the time being. The only Koopaling, besides Bowser Jr. who was currently with his father now was Lemmy, who was engaging Watt.
Lemmy's battle with Watt was going about as well as could be expected for someone with no training going up against a strong but also experienced enemy. Lemmy attempted to hit Watt with a series of balls while he balanced himself on his own ball, which made him faster and more unpredictable on the ground. The problem came from the fact that since he had never taken fighting Mario or the other enemies of the Koopa Kingdom seriously, he was woefully unprepared for what the enhancements would do to his body and perceptions, even more so than the other Koopalings. He rocketed towards Watt far faster than either he, or the Li'l Sparky, herself, had expected. Watt, having fought with Mario in the past and having trained since her first adventure with the plumber, instinctually moved out of Lemmy's way and was able to avoid his rush. Lemmy, not having really trained for battle, simply kept rolling along and took a moment to slow down so he could track his own movements since everything was looking like a blur to him. This was an unfortunate mistake on his part since the Li'l Sparky had already calculated his trajectory and unleashed a powerful lightning bolt at the Koopaling. The bolt of lightning struck Lemmy right in the chest and knocked him off his ball and to the ground, stunning him.
Not too far away, Wendy, who was having her own issues with Vivian as she took a direct hit to the head from a Shade Fist, looked around and saw that Lemmy, Roy, Iggy, Morton, and Larry were already beaten and Ludwig was having troubles of his own against Lady Bow. She also saw her father and Bowser Jr. barely holding their own against Koops, Goombella, Flurrie, and Yoshi Kid, with Mario's allies seemingly beginning to take control of that fight. She realized that she had to do something fast. To that end, she decided that she needed to call in the reinforcements.
"Everyone, let's go!" she called to the Koopa force behind her. "We need your help now! Mark your targets and engage!"
"Roger," the Koopas cried out in unison as the grinned, eager to join the fight and finally test out their new enhancements. Wendy, however, could only hope that they fared better against Mario's allies than she and her siblings did.
Back at Bowser, the Koopa King and his youngest son had their hands full against Goombella, Koops, Flurrie, and Yoshi Kid. The two of them did their best to burn the allies alive with their flames, which they could feel had been enhanced by the Jenova and Mako treatments. Still, the power of their flames would not matter if they could not hit their targets, and the allies were making themselves very difficult targets for the two Koopas to hit. Goombella rode Yoshi Kid for the extra mobility as the two of them dashed out of the way of Bowser's flame breath. For a second, Yoshi Kid considered engaging the massive Koopa but as he began to make a move towards Bowser, he could feel Goombella shake in the negative. As such, he backed away a bit, putting more space between him and the Koopa King. Still, he did not like fighting an evasive battle.
"We won't beat him just by running away," he told Goombella.
"I know," she assured him, her voice calm and collected. "But we can tire him out and go to town on him when he's weaker. It'll be just like when we faced those Magikoopas and Koopatrols in Star Haven."
"They were tough," Yoshi Kid cautioned.
"Yes," Goombella agreed, nodding. "But they were also unaccustomed to their new powers. And from how Bowser's been fighting, I get the impression that the same thing is going on with him, too. We can use that to our advantage and strike when he's too tired to mount an effective defense."
"Assuming we don't get fried in the process or he gets accustomed to his powers before we tire him out."
Goombella could only nod, but so far, her plan was working. Bowser was wasting energy against them. Taking a quick glance around the battlefield, she saw that the other allies were at the very least fighting evenly with Bowser's other children and the Koopas present. Looking ahead, she saw Bowser duck into his shell and begin to spin around. Knowing that he would launch himself sooner than usual, she warned Yoshi Kid, "Watch out!"
Without having to respond, Yoshi Kid ducked to the side before Bowser launched himself at the young Yoshi's position. By the time the Koopa King had launched himself, Yoshi Kid was out of his path and he drastically overshot his target. The Koopa King's momentum carried him far away from Yoshi Kid and he was slow to stop, almost as if he was having trouble tracking his own movements. This caused Goombella to grin.
"And that's way I chose restraint," she whispered to Yoshi Kid. "Let Bowser wear himself out and when he opens himself up to attack trying to prepare one of his own, that's when we'll strike."
"Got it," Yoshi Kid answered, grinning, realizing the wisdom of Goombella's battle plan. And with that, the fight against the Koopa King continued.
Not far away from the Koopa King, his youngest son was engaging Koops and Flurrie. The two were having far more immediate success against Bowser Jr. than Goombella and Yoshi Kid were in making headway against Bowser, mainly due to the fact that despite the enhancements, Bowser Jr. was still weaker than Bowser and vulnerable to physical attacks that Koops and Flurrie could launch while the Koopa King was far more resistant to the physical strikes that Goombella and Yoshi Kid could launch at this time.
Koops ducked into his shell and rocketed forward towards Bowser Jr. Bowser Jr., however, was faster and had better senses than before and he was able to evade the attack, though as he rocketed away from the Koops's Shell Toss, he found it difficult to keep track of his surroundings when he was moving, which proved unfortunate for him as she rocketed right into a body slam performed by Flurrie. The slam knocked him off his feet and to the ground with a thud.
The young Koopa Prince quickly ducked into his shell and began to rocket towards Flurrie. Unfortunately, since Flurrie could fly, all she had to do was ascend a few feet to allow the Koopa Prince to pass right under her, the spikes on his shell preventing her from simply body slamming him as he passed by. Still, her position made it so it was all but impossible for Bowser Jr. to engage her without exposing himself to attack. As such, he chose to pursue Koops.
Koops, for his part, was not oblivious to Bowser Jr.'s plans. Knowing that he was the only viable target, he decided to play tag with Bowser Jr., allowing the Koopa Prince to be "it". Bowser Jr. did his best to chase down Koops and the smaller Koopa ducked into his shell and rocketed away from the Koopa Prince but found himself having more trouble doing so than he had initially believed he would. While he was clearly faster than Koops, the smaller Koopa was far more nimble and also smarter. As soon as the Koopa Prince would near Koops, he would immediately perform a tight turn and rocket in another direction. Bowser Jr. was slow to react, despite, or perhaps because of, his Jenova and Mako enhancements and was never able to get close to Koops before the young Koopa would change directions and accelerate away. Bowser Jr. growled as he constantly closed in on Koops, only for the younger and weaker Koopa to change direction and rocket away.
Eventually, Bowser Jr. had enough and he emerged from his shell in order to launch a fire attack on Koops. Rearing back and drawing in air, he then exhaled a barrage of fireballs towards the smaller Koopa. Koops, for his part, went evasive and managed to avoid the barrage of fireballs. Unfortunately, this left Bowser Jr. a sitting duck against Flurrie, who dropped down from above, and right onto his head. The Koopa Prince fell to the ground and moaned as he struggled to rise, the hit dazing him and likely giving him a concussion.
Bowser Jr.'s father quickly saw what had happened to his favorite son and he quickly stopped focusing on Yoshi Kid and Goombella and turned his attention towards Flurrie and Koops, most notably Flurrie. Ducking into his shell, he propelled himself towards the Wind Spirit like a rocket, only to see her rise into the air. Unfortunately, he still had not grown accustomed to his powers and he quickly barreled into his son, practically flattening the Koopa Prince and merely causing Bowser to become further enraged. As soon as he moved from his son, the flattened form of Bowser Jr. could only groan, indicating that he was still alive, but it was clear that he was out of the fight. With Bowser Jr. out of the fight for the time being, the four allies formed a line in front of the Koopa King, ready to do battle with him. And Bowser was eager to oblige.
Meanwhile, near the outskirts of the ruined Midgar and not too far away from the Koopa melee, Sephiroth was finding the Super Mario Brothers to be more difficult to deal with than he had imagined. While he knew that Mario was strong and it was likely that the plumber's brother would have similar strength, he had expected both his return to Gaia and the return of his full previous strength to be sufficient to allow him to take on Mario and Luigi. The duo, however, was proving to be tougher than he had expected. While the Marios were not making any headway against him in the numerous clashes between hammer and sword, he was making no headway against them, either, which was trying his patience.
The latest clash between sword and hammer had availed the silver-haired fighter little as the force of the impact had stopped his sword cold, and while he had stopped their hammer blows as well, it did little good as the fight was going nowhere. He attempted to stab at Mario, only for the plumber to avoid it by taking flight using his Cape power. This allowed Luigi, however, to take a swing at the distracted Sephiroth, forcing the former SOLDIER to raise his sword in order to intercept Luigi's Ultra Hammer. This gave Mario an opening to unleash a fireball barrage from his Fire Flower, which he promptly did.
Sephiroth, seeing the fireballs coming in, quickly disengaged from Luigi and turned his attention towards the oncoming torrent of flame. With a single swipe of his sword, he managed to either bat or blow most of the fireballs away as a wave erupted from his sword, streaking towards the flying plumber. Mario banked to his right and avoided the energy wave. Luigi, not wanting to get into a one-on-one close combat fight with Sephiroth tossed hammers at the former SOLDIER from his endless supply that was generated from his Hammer Suit. Remembering that the hammers tossed from the suit were heavy, Sephiroth went evasive, not wanting to test his endurance against such an attack, especially when the hammers came at him far faster than he had expected. The few that he was forced to deflect with swings of Masamune were, indeed, heavy and it forced him to put actual power into the swings in order to deflect them. However, while Luigi attempted to pelt him with hammers, Mario was succeeding in pelting him with fireballs. While the fireball barrage was not going to kill him any time soon, he knew that he could not take them indefinitely, for while they were mere beestings to him at the moment, a thousand or more "beestings" could prove quite debilitating, if not fatal. Worse, though, was the fact that the hits hurt enough to distract him, slow him down, and cause him to lower his defense, which allowed Luigi to score a direct hit on him as the plumber charged him with his Ultra Hammer drawn. The swing struck Sephiroth in the head and stunned him, causing him to slump forward. This gave Mario the opportunity to charge him and connect with an Ultra Hammer smash of his own. The second smash struck Sephiroth in the head as well, causing him to lose balance and stagger forward. The two then swung once more and smashed their hammers into his body on an up swing. The force of the blows launched Sephiroth into the air, which fortunately allowed him a chance to recover for a split second before the Mario Brothers continued with their ranged attack, unleashing a barrage of fireballs and hammers at the former SOLDIER.
Sephiroth took the pounding like a champ, though, and was still ready to fight, though he was not foolish enough to try to reenter a close-range fight, despite his advantages against them individually, especially since it was a two-on-one situation and they still had ranged attacks to use against him while closing the gap that could open him up to further hammer attacks. However, since he had returned to Gaia and had been fully restored by Kamek, he now had access to his magic. And he was about to show the Marios just how dangerous he really was.
"Wall," he almost growled as he readied his sword.
The moment he uttered that single word, a shimmering barrier formed over his body. The Marios could tell that Sephiroth had just cast a shield over himself and decided to test the limits of that shield right away. They immediately unleashed another barrage of fireballs and hammers on Sephiroth. However, this time, the ranged attacks had a far lesser effect than they had before, to the point where Sephiroth barely felt the fireballs hitting him at all and the hammers were merely thumps against his skin. Now it was time for him to go on the offensive.
Charging towards Luigi, he thrust his sword at the younger Mario Brother, only for the plumber to duck into his shell barely in the nick of time. The sword struck the shell but could not pierce the hardened suit of the shell, barely even scratching it. Sephiroth did not let up, though, constantly slashing and stabbing at the shell, hoping that repeated strikes would break its defenses, all while Mario pelted him with fireballs. While the fireballs were not inflicting much damage due to Wall, he knew that Wall's effects were limited and under constant assault by Mario. The former SOLDIER grimaced. He did not want to have to use offensive magic to defeat the Mario Brothers, but for him, time was of the essence and he did not want to spend time dawdling in one place for too long. As such, he soon went of the offensive once more.
Looking up at Mario, he powered a Shadow Flare, wanting to end this fight as quickly as possible without having to resort to his Limit Break. Several flaming orbs appeared around the former SOLDIER and with a single swing of his sword, he sent them towards Mario. This forced Mario to go evasive and he banked to the right, hoping to evade them. However, the orbs banked with him and were homing in on him. This left Sephiroth free to deal with Luigi, or so he thought. Mario had other ideas, though. Seeing the former SOLDIER charging towards his younger brother, Mario charged straight towards the silver-haired fighter, the flaming orbs trailing behind him and closing fast. As if sensing the elder Mario Brother coming, Sephiroth turned to thrust his sword at Mario and catch him. However, Mario had other plans as he immediately drew out a Hammer Suit and transformed into Hammer Mario and ducking into the shell a fraction of a second before Sephiroth's Masamune struck him. A split second later, the orbs of Shadow Flare struck Mario's Hammer Suit shell but inflicted no damage, much to the surprise of Sephiroth, especially since Shadow Flare technically did not have an element associated with it. However, while Sephiroth was distracted facing Mario, Luigi was free to attack with another volley of hammers. The former SOLDIER took the blows, which were beginning to wear down his Wall shield. With each blow, he could feel Wall's power decreasing. Eventually, it collapsed entirely.
Once Wall collapsed, the Marios charged Sephiroth once more, their hammers drawn, hoping that their Hammer Suits would be able to protect them from whatever Sephiroth could unleash on them. They swung their hammers at Sephiroth, who moved like a blur to the side, before thrusting his sword forward, managing to catch Mario in the chest. The sword bit into the suit but failed to either penetrate it, or cause the power-up to disappear. Sephiroth withdrew his sword for an instant before thrusting it again at Mario. Again, the sword inflicted only slight damage to the suit, not nearly enough for it to disappear. Despite not inflicting any real damage to Mario, the former SOLDIER could only grin. This was his forte. He was a swordsman and he was finally to play to his strengths against the Mario Brothers. He continued to thrust his sword at Mario but failed to inflict sufficient damage to cause the plumber's Hammer Suit to disappear. This also left him open to another barrage of hammers from Luigi. The hammers arced towards him but he was managed to catch sight of them soon enough to move to evade them. Maneuvering around them, he charged towards Luigi to try to take him down, only for a hammer from Mario to score a hit on him. Without Wall to cushion the blow, the hammer strike was able to inflict noticeable damage and cause the former SOLDIER, to stumble. A subsequent volley of hammers forced Sephiroth back a few steps with each successful hit and the damage was beginning to mount on the silver-haired fighter. Still, he was not out of the fight yet, and he could feel a new wave of power coming over him. He grinned. This was what he had been waiting for. It was time for him to show Mario and Luigi his true power, and end this fight once and for all.
"Wall," Sephiroth muttered under his breath, hoping that the Marios would not hear it until they had launched their next attack. Sure enough, just as the barrier was cast around him, the plumbers unleashed another barrage of hammers at the former SOLDIER. Just as before while he had been under the effects of Wall, the hammers inflicted negligible damage and he was able to act without interference. This was when Sephiroth unleashed his true might.
Using the memories of mathematical equations he had learned during his education by the Shinra Electric Power Company to concentrate, he focused his energy as he soon narrowed his gaze upon the Mario Brothers. It was then that orbs of flame that were hotter than the sun appeared around Sephiroth and began to orbit him, waiting for him to direct them towards their targets. The heat emanating from them was felt even by the Marios despite the fact that they were standing at least ten yards away from the former SOLDIER. Despite the orbs looking a lot like the orbs that were generated by Sephiroth's Shadow Flare, the Marios had a feeling that this was a different spell altogether. They were also concerned that even the shells of their Hammer Suits might not be enough to protect them from this spell. They immediately tossed a barrage of hammers at Sephiroth, but the orbs of flame orbiting him intercepted the hammers, forming a makeshift shield around the silver-haired fighter and melting the hammers into slag almost immediately upon contact.
"Now it ends," he stated as he unleashed his Supernova Limit Break upon the Mario Brothers.
Almost immediately, the orbs of flame rocketed towards the Marios, far faster than even Shadow Flare had. They barely managed to dodge the volley or orbs as they charged towards Sephiroth once more, tossing hammers his way. The former SOLDIER grinned and casually sidestepped the hammers but backed away from the Marios still, indicating that the orbs were homing in on the plumbers and that should they collide with their target, that the blast radius would be significant.
Sephiroth retreated into the ruins of Midgar proper as the Marios continued their assault. Sephiroth retaliated by casting Break, an Earth elemental spell that caused the ground to rise and try to swallow the Marios. The brothers both went even more evasive as they tried to keep themselves from being swallowed by the spell. Mario was tempted to use his Cape Feather to turn him into Cape Mario and fly above Break, but with Supernova barreling down on them, he wanted the extra defense afforded by the Hammer Suit since if he could not avoid Supernova, he did not want to lose his only flying power-up. As such, he simply kept going evasive as the tidal wave of earth try to crash down upon him. Fleeing the spell, he hoped to not only avoid it, but also use it as a shield against the Supernova orbs. While he was able to avoid the crashing of the earthen tsunami, it did nothing to stop the Supernova Limit Break. Seeing that he would not likely be able to avoid the attack, he curled up into his Hammer Suit's shell, as did Luigi, who was almost fifty yards away and had the rest of the Supernova orbs barreling down on him. Once the duo curled into their shells, they slid on the ground, allowing their momentum to carry them forwards, and hoping that it would allow for them to not suffer the full effects of a direct hit. As soon as the orbs reached them and made contact with the brothers, they exploded, and engulfed the entire area, and almost half of Midgar's ruins, in an explosion of flame that was hotter than the sun. Sephiroth backed off and looked away, not wanting himself to get blinded by the light.
All around the area, both Bowser's forces and Mario's allies saw the incredible flash and power of Sephiroth's Supernova. Bowser, beginning to gain some of the knowledge that the Jenova cells would grant him, realized that the Supernova attack was far more powerful than the explosion inside of Midgar would indicate. While the explosion was similar in scale to a relatively small nuclear weapon, the actual power was closer to a continental destroyer, or worse. A part of him grinned. If this was the type of power that the Jenova and Mako enhancements could give him, his children, and the rest of his forces, then they would be completely unstoppable, even if some of Mario's otherworldly friends showed up to fight him. And if Mario and Luigi were caught in that attack, they would be dead. Goombella and Mario's other allies could only gasp at the power that had been unleashed by Sephiroth, for they knew that an explosion like that could only have been performed by Sephiroth.
Not too far away, Nanaki witnessed the Supernova explosion off in the distance and his eyes went wide with horror. He instantly recognized it as the same spell that Sephiroth had used against Cloud and friends during Meteorfall. Back then, he and the others had barely survived it. And that was when Sephiroth had been using much of his power to hold back Holy.
"Oh no," he muttered in dread as he saw the explosion, hoping against hope that it was not what he dreaded. "It can't be."
Hoping that his cubs obeyed his orders to stay back, he charged towards Midgar's ruins, many of which were now probably completely vaporized by the explosion. As he did so, he prayed, "Please don't have this mean Sephiroth is somehow back." But should the worst have happened, he mentally prepared himself for the fight of his life.
Back in Midgar, Sephiroth looked on from the top of one of the ruined Mako reactors now overgrown with vegetation. He could not suppress a grin as he examined the scene. For the first time ever since his return, he felt whole and had been able to give his all in a battle. He had not expected the Marios to be as challenging as they were once he had recovered his full strength but it really did not matter now. There was no way the Marios could have survived an attack like that, especially if Masamune was managing to bite into their suits even a little bit, right?
As the explosion dissipated, he narrowed his gaze on the epicenter of the explosions, hoping and expecting to find either charred skeletons or at the very least the dead bodies of the Super Mario Brothers. Much to his shock, though, he did find the Super Mario Brothers in the centers of the two explosions. However, they were not dead; far from it. While their Hammer Suits had vanished, likely being destroyed in the explosions, and their clothes were still smoking and covered with soot, both Mario and Luigi stood in the center of the crater that had been formed by the two explosions. Their movements and the appearance of capes on them both indicating that they were alive and at the very least well enough to continue the fight.
"Damn," Sephiroth swore in shock as his eyes went wide at the scene before him. How could they have survived a Limit Break like that? And what was worse was that he could feel his own magical reserves beginning to wane while Mario had a Fire Flower and his cape added to his mobility. This was going to be a long fight, and Sephiroth dreaded that he did not have the time for a protracted battle against Mario and Luigi, even if he could win it, which was at best, uncertain at the moment, for there was the concern that Mario's other allies could join him at any moment. And not only that, but also, this fight was almost certainly going to draw the attention of any nearby denizens and possibly military forces of Gaia. He needed this fight to be over quickly.
Back in the crater, Mario and Luigi rushed to the other to check on each other to make certain that they were okay. "You okay Luigi?" Mario asked as he saw smoke and steam still rising from Luigi's burnt overalls.
"I'm good, big bro," he assured Mario. "You?"
"I'm fine for now," Mario answered. "But we won't be if Sephiroth does that spell again."
"Then let's keep him from doing so," Luigi answered as he went to grip a Power Star to use its power. Mario, however, raised his hand and shook his head.
"Not yet," the older brother cautioned. "We still have our superpowers, attack items, the Star Spirit Powers and the Crystal Star Powers. I don't want to drain energy from the Power Stars just yet, especially since we're not accustomed to using that energy yet. We don't want to make the same mistake the SOLDIER Magikoopas and Koopatrols made."
Luigi nodded and put away the Power Star, though he readied the Crystal Stars to call upon their power should it be needed, though he wanted to try something else first. Electricity crackled around his fingers as he looked over to Mario and grinned. Mario, immediately realizing what Luigi was planning, gave a thumbs up in approval and had a flame appear in his left hand while he gripped his Fire Flower in the right. They were not out of this fight, not by a long shot. However, neither was Sephiroth.
The Marios went on the offensive, Mario unleashing a new volley of fireballs. This time, though, the balls were larger and were significantly more powerful than before. Sephiroth was unconcerned and he raised his sword and proceeded to effortlessly bat each of the fireballs away. However, Luigi soon launched his own attack, which consisted of a single bolt of lightning erupting from his hand. The lightning bolt caught Sephiroth off guard and struck him directly in the chest. The former SOLDIER gave a grunt as electricity arced across his body. This lowered his guard, allowing Mario to pelt him with more fireballs. The silver-haired fighter grunted with each strike as he could feel the damage mounting and while this was helping him to build up more energy for another Supernova, he did not want to use that technique again unless he had no other choice, especially since he was not certain that it would kill the Marios.
Eventually, Sephiroth curled himself into a ball, trying to concentrate enough to raise Wall around himself once more. "Wall," he grunted with effort as he endured the Marios' assault. Fortunately, he was able to raise Wall over himself and blunt the damage inflicted by the fireball barrage and lightning bolts unleashed by Luigi's Thunderhand, allowing him to attack them with Shadow Flare. More shadowy fireballs erupted from the former SOLDIER and homed in on Luigi since he was seen as the more dangerous opponent at the moment with his ability to use lightning, which he could not dodge. This forced Luigi to abandon his attack and go evasive as the Shadow Flare orbs homed in on him. This allowed Sephiroth to focus his attention on Mario while Luigi was occupied with his Shadow Flare spell. Wasting no time, he proceeded to unleash a Pale Horse attack on Mario. Blue energy balls erupted from his hands and lashed out at the plumber. Mario quickly took to the sky to evade them, only for Sephiroth to continue the offensive with another Pale Horse. Mario opened his cape to try to dive to avoid it but he took a direct hit to the cape, causing it to open and the plumber to float down to the ground. However, this made his trajectory easy for Sephiroth to calculate and he proceeded to prepare to unleash a Shadow Flare to either take down the plumber or at the very least, de-power him so he would be easier to deal with. Luigi interrupted those plans, though, with a well timed Thunderhand lightning bolt striking the former SOLDIER in the chest and causing electricity to arc over his body again, prompting the shadowy flaming orbs to vanish.
Sephiroth quickly recovered from the lightning bolt but grimaced as he saw the plumbers unite in front of him. This fight was lasting far longer than expected and was getting noisier by the second. Even though he was currently in the middle of a ruined Midgar, there was no way that the people of Gaia did not notice his Supernova attack, or the fact that a large portion of the ruins of Midgar was now ashes with a lot more of it now on fire. Deciding that he needed to do more to deal with both enemies, he proceeded to cast Deen on Mario and Luigi just as the duo proceeded to open their capes to fly at him. Several blasts of magic lashed out at the plumbers and managed to strike them while their capes were open. Banking so that the attacks would strike their capes, they managed to avoid taking significant damage, but neither plumber wanted to have to take another hit like that and they were forced to float to the ground, rendering them vulnerable to further attack from Sephiroth.
As the plumbers hit the ground, Sephiroth unleashed Break spell on Luigi. The plumber attempted to go evasive, but was caught by the ground rising up around him and engulfing him. With a single motion of his hand, the stone shattered and Luigi emerged from the spell without his cape and his face and clothing being marred by dirt and scratches, indicating that Break had inflicted damage even through the defense of Luigi's power-up. The former SOLDIER soon went to try to finish Luigi off as electricity crackled in his hands, the silver-haired fighter preparing to launch a Thundaga lightning bolt at the younger Mario Brother. Mario, however, had other ideas as he unleashed a barrage of fire on Sephiroth, forcing the former SOLDIER to turn his attention towards him, allowing Luigi to take out a Vanish Cap and Wing Cap so he could charge towards Sephiroth. Sephiroth retaliated against Mario's fire by performing Firaga but using it to summon a series of fire pillars, which absorbed Mario's fireballs. Then, with a single swipe of his sword, he sent the pillars flying towards Mario. Mario went evasive and dodged the pillars of flame but could not relax for a moment, for soon, Sephiroth cast Blizzaga on them. Frigid winds and snow rocketed towards the plumber but failed to inflict enough damage to cause his cape to disappear. Sephiroth was not too concerned, though. He had Mario on the defensive and he was gaining his second wind. Even better was the fact that his magical reserves were not nearly as low as he had believed earlier. He knew that if he could keep the pressure on Mario and Luigi that he would soon emerge victorious. That was when he noticed that only Mario was fighting him. Where was Luigi?
His question would unknowingly be answered as he felt a tremendous weight slam into his abdomen. Pain exploded from the point of impact and he keeled over, only to take a massive blow to the head. He gave a short grunt with the second impact and staggered backwards, barely able to think to cast Wall before another blow came upon him. This one was cushioned by Wall, but if he took too many more hits like the last three, the damage would add up. In actuality, it already was as he began to struggle to think clearly. That was when the power of the Vanish Cap disappeared and Luigi Mario was visible before the former SOLDIER, with Mario quickly joining him, his cape tattered but still intact enough to allow the plumber to fly. Once Mario joined Luigi, though, he drew out a blue Ice Flower and became Ice Mario, the plumber putting away his Fire Flower and drew out his Ultra Hammer. He then tossed Luigi a Super Leaf and the younger Mario Brother became Raccoon Luigi.
Sephiroth grinned as the plumbers formed up against him. Despite the damage, the cobwebs were fading and he held up his sword, ready to intercept the plumbers. The two heroes charged towards Sephiroth, ready to strike. Mario struck first, attempting to smash Sephiroth in the head with his hammer. The former SOLDIER sidestepped the strike, though, and quickly saw the younger plumber attack with a tail swipe from his raccoon tail. Sephiroth reached out and caught Luigi's tail and proceeded to raise him into the air and spin him around a bit before flinging him towards Mario. Before Luigi could hit his brother, though, he wagged his tail and arrested his momentum, hovering a few feet off the ground. The two charged Sephiroth again, only for the former SOLDIER to casually evade their repeated strikes and smashes.
Luigi, seeing that he was having a difficult time tagging Sephiroth, slung it behind his back and charged towards the silver-haired fighter, powering up his Thunderhand, hoping to inflict some electrical damage on Sephiroth or shock him if he tried to use his sword against him and decided to use his tail as his secondary means of attack. Even with the improved mobility and attack plan, Sephiroth still evaded all of Luigi's attacks, while also avoiding all of Mario's hammer smashes. Both plumbers unleashed attack after attack, working in tandem with each other, only for the faster and even more agile Sephiroth to constantly evade them. Then, as Luigi went to sweep his tail at Sephiroth's legs in order to knock the silver-haired fighter off his feet, Sephiroth stabbed his sword into the ground, catching Luigi's tail and pinning it to the ground as his Masamune pierced the tail as well as the ground. Even though the tail was now a part of Luigi's body due to the Raccoon power-up, he did not feel any pain from the stab. He did feel pain as Sephiroth delivered a strong kick to his sternum and sent the plumber flying several feet away, minus his tail.
Mario quickly tried to assist Luigi and attack Sephiroth in order to keep him from focusing on his brother when Sephiroth pulled out his sword as easily as if he were lifting a piece of paper from the ground and thrust it towards Mario, catching him in the chest. Mario's Ice power-up vanished. Sephiroth could only grin. He had them now. And not only that, but he was finally feeling like himself in this fight. This was his power. The Marios may have been powerful on their world, but here, he was supreme. Here, he had no equal. Still, he was growing tired of this fight and he sought to finish off Mario and Luigi now so he could continue on his quest to take over Gaia's Lifestream.
Mario grimaced as he backed away for a moment, thinking back to his fight against Sephiroth in Star Haven. The former SOLDIER had been faster than him there, too. Only now, it seemed like he was toying with the two of them. He knew that he had to do something fast since they were beginning to tire out and Mario was running through super-powers. Looking over to Luigi, he could tell that Luigi was thinking the same thing.
Luigi surreptitiously drew out a Power Star, silently asking Mario if now was the time to use that power. Mario still shook his head, not wanting to use a power he was not familiar with, despite how the fight had turned and how badly things looked to be turning for them. Without the Power Stars, though, the only options the plumbers had were their remaining super-powers, which were not going to do much to Sephiroth since he could evade their physical attacks and likely endure any normal fireball or ice ball barrages, along with the Star Spirit powers and the Crystal Star powers. Mario's expression grew stern as he looked at Luigi and nodded. It was time to use their Star Spirit and Crystal Star powers against Sephiroth and hope that it would be enough against the former SOLDIER.
First, Mario began by folding his hands in prayer as he silently called out to the Star Spirits. Almost instantly, the Star Spirit Skolar appeared over Mario, prompting Sephiroth's eyes to go wide. Viewing them as Mario's reinforcements, he proceeded to cast Thundaga on the plumber, hoping that it would stop the attack. A lightning bolt rained down from the sky despite the fact that it was sunny out, and scored a direct hit on Mario. Whereas a normal person would have been electrocuted, Mario managed to endure the attack, though he gave a grunt and fell to one knee. Still, it was not enough to stop Skolar from unleashing Star Storm on the former SOLDIER. A barrage of stars rained down from the sky all around the former SOLDIER. Sephiroth did his best to try to evade the attack but there were too many for him to avoid, even when he swung his sword to try to deflect them. Worse than that was the fact that the stars hurt. Their hits hurt a lot. Each star hit harder than any of Mario's fireballs and even harder than Luigi's Thunderhand lightning bolts. To make matters worse, even the Firaga pillars that he erected over himself to try to blunt the attack failed to stop the attack.
Eventually, the Star Storm barrage ended and Sephiroth went to try to finish off Mario before the plumber could use the attack again, or worse, use another, more powerful, attack. However, this time, he was attacked by Luigi using another star power. This one seemed to come from a star made of crystal, but it was no less powerful. If anything, it was even stronger than the previous power. The star would simply spin around Sephiroth far faster than he could track and every time it orbited him, it was as if reality in that area shattered, inflicting severe damage to the silver-haired fighter. He immediately cast Wall over himself to try to blunt the attack but his defensive spell had no effect on the attack. The star kept orbiting the former SOLDIER and with each orbit, managed to inflict more damage to Sephiroth. Eventually, the star vanished but the damage had been done. After two of those attacks, the former SOLDIER was now breathing heavily, his trench coat was now in tatters and his face was marred by several cuts. The tide had turned once again. Still, there was hope, for given the damage he had sustained, he was once more able to use his Limit Break.
"It ends here, Marios," he called to the plumbers as he readied to cast Supernova once more on his adversaries. Almost immediately, several flaming orbs surrounded the former SOLDIER. Mario and Luigi, seeing that Sephiroth was about to use Supernova once more, looked at each other and nodded, something that Sephiroth failed to notice. Once all of the orbs had formed and were orbiting him, he launched them at the Mario Brothers, hoping to score direct hits on them. They were without their super-powers and he felt as if their Star powers would not help them against something like Supernova. Surprisingly for the silver-haired fighter, though, Mario and Luigi stood still and their expressions did not show much concern. Mario merely grabbed two stars and tossed one over to Luigi. Almost immediately, and long before the Supernova orbs struck them, the plumbers were engulfed in a golden sparkling glow as energy sparkles were being emitted from them. A few seconds later, though, the orbs struck the plumbers and exploded, engulfing the entire area in ever expanding flames. Sephiroth retreated to another ruined Mako reactor not too far away as another section of ruins was completely incinerated. He grinned as he watched the explosion, believing that this time, the Mario Brothers would finally be beaten.
After a while, the explosion dissipated and Sephiroth expected to see nothing but ash remain. Much to his shock, the Marios remained standing, the golden glow still surrounding them. His eyes went wide with shock and rage.
"What the? How?" he asked incredulously. Indeed, how could this have happened again? At least the Hammer Suits had vanished when enduring his last Supernova and the Marios looked to have taken some serious damage from it. This time, though, they had emerged from his Limit Break completely unscathed. He then grimaced as he focused on the plumbers once more as they began to rush towards his new location. The battle had changed once more. Only this time, he felt as if he was out of Supernovas. He would have to win this fight the old-fashioned way. And while any other time, that would have exhilarated him, this time was different. The Marios had survived far too much. This time, he was beginning to feel an emotion that he had probably never really felt before. He was beginning to feel fear. He was no longer certain that he would defeat the Marios if this battle lasted much longer.
Just outside of Midgar, Goombella and the rest of Mario's allies were engaging Bowser and his forces in battle since the various individual battles had now coalesced into a massive showdown between the two sides. Bowser's forces were holding their own since the Magikoopas had gotten the idea to boost their allies' defenses so that the allies would have to use their stronger powers to defeat them and, thus, they could win through attrition.
Bowser led the way, unleashing a stream of flame over the allies, who had formed up to present a united front against the Koopas. The remaining Koopalings also fired blasts from their wands at the heroes, seeing that the heroes presenting a united front against them also made it easier to hit them with attacks, especially since the allies were busy avoiding getting flash-fried by Bowser's flame breath. Koops immediately raised a Shell Shield over Goombella, Yoshi Kid, and Admiral Bobbery while Vivian pulled Sushie and Watt into the shadows while the rest of the allies held hands with Lady Bow and she made them intangible, allowing the flames and attacks to pass over them harmlessly. However, as the heroes emerged from the shadows, cover, and regained their tangibility, it was clear that the fighting was wearing on them, for each of them was breathing heavily, having used up a lot of energy and magic in dealing with the Koopa forces arrayed against them. And even with the losses the Koopas had sustained so far, the allies were still outnumbered over two-to-one, with many of the remaining Koopas being SOLDIER Magikoopas, SOLDIER Hammer Bros., and SOLDIER Koopatrols.
Bowser and the remaining Koopalings noticed that their enemies were beginning to tire and he grinned. "We've got 'em on the ropes," Bowser called. "Let's finish it up here."
"Right," the Koopas responded in unison as they readied another volley of magical blasts and hammers and prepared to hammer the allies. However, as they were about to attack, a newcomer appeared on a hill not too far away.
On that hill not too far away, Nanaki had been charging towards Midgar when he noticed the battle on the field below. While the signs of the battle were nothing like a full-fledged battle between two SOLDIER-level opponents, he could tell even at this distance that there was something off about the Koopas. As such, he was diverted towards the battle down below and as he approached, he was better able to make out the forms of the combatants. He could see the Koopas launching attacks on Goombella and the other allies while the allies that had ranged attacks countered. Several SOLDIER Goombas erupted into flames and were quickly reduced to ashes, though Vivian soon sustained a barrage of magical blasts and took significant damage from them. As the Magikoopas were about to finish her off, a Thunder Rage erupted across the battlefield, frying several of the Magikoopas. Others were able to teleport out of the Thunder Rage's area of influence. Mere moments later, several Hammer Bros. approached the injured Shadow Spirit, each being supported by two Koopa Troopas. Vivian could only grimace as she prepared to cast her final Fiery Jinx and hope that it would be enough to take down the Koopas before they finished her off.
However, before they could launch their attacks, the red leonine form of Nanaki appeared in front of them, protecting the stricken Shadow Spirit.
"You reek of Mako," Nanaki growled. "We haven't had any incidents of Mako poisoning or Makonoids in centuries."
"We're not Makonoids," one of the Hammer Bros. answered cockily. "We're SOLDIER Koopas!" the Hammer Bro. proudly declared.
Nanaki's eyes went wide at the declaration. "SOLDIER?" the leonine beast stammered. He had not heard that term used like that in a long time. "As in the Shinra organization SOLDIER?"
The Hammer Bro did not know what the creature was talking about, nor did he care. "Look beast," he began. "Don't butt into our battle. We've finally got the chance to take down Mario and his friends. And with Sephiroth dealin' with Mario and Luigi, we're gonna finish off his friends and end this fight once and for all."
"Sephiroth?" Nanaki almost gasped. He then sighed with resignation. Everything he had feared upon seeing those explosions in Midgar had come to pass. Sephiroth had somehow managed to come back to life; and this time, he had allies.
Meanwhile, the lull was giving Goombella a chance to toss some healing items to the others. She tossed Vivian a Jelly Ultra, which the Shadow Spirit graciously accepted and promptly ate. Immediately upon eating it, Vivian could feel herself being rejuvenated and she prepared to rejoin the fight.
The Hammer Bro had had enough of Nanaki's interference and proceeded to toss two hammers at the leonine creature. Nanaki, however, was much faster than the Hammer Bro expected and quickly evaded the hammers. He then rushed the Hammer Bro and raked his claws across the Hammer Bro's face, shredding it and killing the Hammer Bro. This was all the others needed to focus their attention on Nanaki and ignore Mario's allies. The Hammer Bros all tossed hammers towards him while the Koopas ducked into their shells and rocketed towards him while the Magikoopas stayed back to support Bowser and his children while they went to fight Mario's allies. Nanaki dodged the first barrage of hammers and charged towards the Hammer Bros, raking his claws across their faces and killing them. He also managed to avoid the attacks from the Koopas, dodging most of them while batting the others away. He also pounced on some of the Koopas, stopping them in their tracks. He then batted them towards other Koopas, managing to take them out of the fight as well. After the first volley of attacks, the surviving Koopas and Hammer Bros. retreated a bit to take stock of their situation, not expecting to face a newcomer so powerful.
Meanwhile, Bowser, his children, and their Magikoopa support were having trouble of their own against Goobmella and the allies. Since Vivian had been rejuvenated by the Jelly Ultra, her first move was to utilize a Fiery Jinx. While some of the Magikoopas were able to teleport out of their robes just as they erupted into flames, the Koopalings and Bowser were not so lucky. Their shells promptly erupted into flames and they were forced to dive to the ground to try to smother the flames. This gave Admiral Bobbery an opening to toss a series of time bombs at them. In their effort to extinguish the flames around them, they rolled right over the bombs, which promptly detonated in their faces. Lesser Koopas would have been killed but Bowser and his family members endured though they still suffered significant damage from the explosions. This was compounded by Lakilester unleashing a barrage of Spiny Eggs on them while Kooper, Koops, and Parakarry ducked into their shells and barreled into the Koopas, scoring direct hits on Wendy, Ludwig, and Bowser. To make matters even worse, Yoshi Kid lashed out with his tongue and managed to grab Larry, swallowing the Koopaling. He then launched the young Koopaling at Bowser, the Koopaling barreling into his father at high speed, knocking Bowser back even farther and inflicting even more damage to the Koopa King. Goombella could only watch and smile. They had Bowser on the ropes and that leonine newcomer was making a mess of the SOLDIER Koopas and Hammer Bros. not too far away. The tide had turned in their favor and if they could stop Bowser here, they would soon be able to join Mario and Luigi in fighting Sephiroth and, hopefully, finally take down the former SOLDIER once and for all.
Not too far away, the surviving Hammer Bros. and Koopas, of which there were less than a dozen, took a few steps back as Nanaki took down two more Koopas that had been attacking him and a Hammer Bro. The others, seeing that the battle was untenable, decided to risk Bowser's wrath at fleeing, rather than certain death against Nanaki and proceeded to turn and flee the battle. As they fled, the Hammer Bros. readied some hammers to try to ward the leonine creature away should he pursue them. However, as they fled, Nanaki did something they did not expect. Instead of pursuing them to finish them off, he promptly turned towards the Midgar ruins and ran into the ruined city at full gallop. They stopped for a second and could see that he was headed towards one of the Mako reactors. Using their enhanced sight, they could see Mario and Luigi fighting Sephiroth, with Sephiroth seemingly having trouble against the Mario Brothers. They could scarcely believe the sight as the source of their enhancements was in the fight of his life against two plumbers. A part of them felt the urge to rush after Nanaki and try to stop him or, failing that, at least join Sephiroth in battle against Mario, but a greater part of them said that that would be suicide and accomplish nothing. As such, they simply stood by and watched as Nanaki charged into the ruins of Midgar and towards the reactor where the Marios were fighting Sephiroth.
Over at the Mako reactor, Sephiroth was gasping for air as he endured another barrage of Star Storm from Mario. Just as before, Wall was useless against the attack and he could feel the damage mounting. He tried to steady himself but was too dazed from the attack to properly react to the Marios charging them with their hammers. Mario brought his hammer down towards Sephiroth, forcing the former SOLDIER to dodge the hammer, for the silver-haired fighter's grip on his sword was too loose for him to reliably be able to block such an attack. However, while he dodged Mario's swing, he ended up moving right into a swing from Luigi, which connected with his head.
The impact caused Sephiroth to lurch forward, stunned, allowing Mario to come over and follow up with a swing of his own, which connected with his chin and sent the former SOLDIER flying several feet into the air. Sephiroth landed on his back and slid across the roof of the reactor as he cast Firaga around him, trying to incinerate the plumbers. Mario and Luigi managed to stop themselves before running into the flame pillars and went evasive as Sephiroth sent the pillars of flame rocketing towards them. The plumbers deftly dodged the attack and Mario responded with a barrage of fireballs while Luigi retaliated with a Thunderhand lightning bolt of his own. The attacks struck Sephiroth and he could feel himself taking significant damage from them. He then attempted to cast Firaga again to protect himself from the plumbers while he could take stock of himself but as he was casting the attack, another barrage of fireballs and a lightning bolt crashed into him, causing the spell to explode around him and destroy the roof of the reactor, causing Sephiroth to lose his footing and fall through the roof.
Inside the Mako reactor, fell through the open space inside the now inert reactor until he hit a section of piping with a thud and a grunt. He looked up as Mario and Luigi descended through the hole, the red-clad plumber now wearing a cape once more. He turned his head and around at the reactor's interior, trying to see if there was any place he could go inside where he could gain an advantage against the plumbers. As he did so, though, he seethed. How could it have come to this? How could he be taken this far to the brink by two plumbers? Only Cloud and his friends had proven to be as problematic; and in the last fight, it had taken thirteen summons and numerous Limit Breaks to beat him. Yet here he was, seemingly laid low by a duo of plumbers. He slowly rose as he could feel the effects of the battle taking their toll on his body. Indeed, he felt a wet sensation emanating from the back of his head. Reaching to his head with his fingers, he touched his head and withdrew his fingers to examine them, promptly seeing that they were covered with blood. His eyes went wide with shock. That last barrage of attacks and the fall must have inflicted more damage than he had thought.
Mario and Luigi landed a few dozen meters away and instantly launched another volley of fireballs and lightning bolts at the former SOLDIER. Sephiroth raised Wall over himself once more, managing to blunt the effects of the attacks, but it could not negate them entirely; and to make matters worse, he could feel himself running low on magic and the damage was building up too fast. To make matters worse, he soon saw a Crystal Star rise from Luigi's pocket and rocket towards him. His eyes went wide as he saw the star orbit around him at high speed. Lashing out with his sword, he attempted to stab it and knock it off course. The Crystal Star was too fast and too small, though, and he failed to strike it before it completed its orbit, and reality around him seemed to shatter. The Star kept orbiting him and shattering reality with each orbit, inflicting more and more damage on the already battered former SOLDIER. Eventually, the star vanished from Sephiroth's sight. Still, it was of little consolation for Sephiroth, for he could feel his stamina waning. To make matters worse, it was not long before the Marios were joined by a new ally.
Coming down a stairwell and a stepping out onto the pipe ledge was Nanaki, the leonine creature that Sephiroth remembered from the Meteorfall Crisis. Mario and Luigi looked back and saw the creature approaching and for a moment, readied themselves for another fight. However, when they saw that Nanaki was not making any hostile actions, they relaxed a bit and focused back on the former SOLDIER, who was breathing heavily and struggling to stay upright. Nanaki. Nanaki looked at the plumbers and could scarcely believe that these two people could fight evenly against Sephiroth. He looked across the ledge and caught sight of the former SOLDIER, who was unsteady on his feet, something that shocked Nanaki. He had never seen Sephiroth in this condition before. Still, he knew that despite his apparent injuries, Sephiroth was still a dangerous opponent. It was not long before he spoke.
"How have you returned after all this time?"
Sephiroth gave no answer but merely grimaced at the sight of Mario and Luigi, who were readying their attack once more. Sephiroth attempted to fire off a Quaga spell on the group but was stopped mid-spell as Mario unleashed a fireball barrage on him while Luigi fired off another Thunderhand lightning bolt. The attacks struck Sephiroth and sent him staggering backwards. Nanaki then charged and added his own weight to the offensive. Sephiroth attempted to intercept the leonine creature but was too slow, the mounting damage compromising his fighting ability too much. Nanaki lashed out with his claws, slashing and biting the former SOLDIER repeatedly, not letting up at all. Mario and Luigi soon joined in, drawing their Ultra Hammers.
After a few more attacks, Sephiroth finally managed to launch a Thundaga attack to force Nanaki back a few feet but only inflicted moderate damage to him. Still, it was enough. As he neared the ledge, he looked down into the pit where the reactor used to draw Mako from the planet into the reactor. The flow of the Lifestream had since changed, rendering the reactor useless but the hole leading down to the Lifestream was still open and the turquoise glow of the Lifestream still permeated the surrounding area. Seeing Nanaki and the Mario Brothers charging once more, he knew that he could not afford to face them any more. Even if by some miracle he had managed to defeat them, he would never survive against Mario's allies; and he could sense that Bowser and his forces had all but lost to them already. Seeing no other options, he jumped into the pit, falling down the reactor shaft just as he had done at another reactor so long ago.
Mario and Luigi rushed towards the edge, ready to follow the former SOLDIER, but Nanaki called over to them, warning them, "Wait, don't follow him!"
Mario and Luigi turned back to the leonine creature quizzically. "What do you mean?" Mario asked. "We have to stop him now!"
"He's jumped into the Lifestream," Nanaki answered. "There's no way anyone can follow him safely."
"But…" Mario countered.
"I've seen what the Lifestream can do to someone who's carried away by it," Nanaki answered. "One of the strongest men I knew was rendered catatonic by it. There's no telling what it might do to you."
"He's right," came the voice of Eldstar as the Star Spirit appeared before the Marios and Nanaki. "It would be especially dangerous for you since you have no connection to Gaia."
"So what should we do?" Mario asked.
"Go out and help your friends against the other Mako-enhanced creatures," Nanaki answered. "At least you'll be able to deal with Sephiroth's allies and deny him any support."
Seeing no better alternatives, Mario and Luigi quickly turned and followed Nanaki outside of the Mako reactor.
Back outside the Mako reactor, Goombella and the rest of the allies were continuing the fight against Bowser's forces. While Bowser had fallen back after Nanaki's appearance, he and the rest of the surviving Koopas had found their second wind and were on the attack once more. This time, Bowser and his children led the offensive on Goombella and the others with the Magikoopas using their magic to support them. The Magikoopas swished their wands and used their magic to increase the defense of the other Koopas. As Bowser felt the sensation of his attack and defense power increase, he was beginning to wonder why it took so long for the Koopas to do this in the first place. Either way, though, this was just what he and the others needed to feel comfortable going on the offensive.
He opened the fight anew with a stream of flame in the direction of the Goombella as she directed the others to scatter. Koops formed up on her, though, and used a Shell Shield to protect both him and the Goomba from the flames. Bowser would have growled had he not already been exhaling his flame at full power, the Koopa King wanting to get rid of that bothersome Goomba and Koopa Troopa. Still, the flames, while hit, were not penetrating the Shell Shield or melting it. Inside the shell, though, both Goombella and Koops were feeling the heat and were sweating profusely. They each prayed that Bowser would run out of breath soon so they could remove the shell and not overheat from the increase in temperatures. Eventually, their prayer was answered and Bowser's breath ran out. Koops then removed the Shell Shield and the two faced down the Koopa King, each of them panting heavily and sweating profusely. The Koopa King could only grin. He finally had them. Still, just as he was preparing to charge the heroes with his kids, a strange sensation came over him, one that he could not immediately identify, but one that he felt foretold a bad omen. He could not help but shake the feeling that there was a good chance that he had just lost this fight.
As for the other allies, they had problems of their own as the second wind the other Koopas got was being put to good use. Vivian attempted to use her Fiery Jinx again, and managed to incinerate two Koopa Troopas and burn a Hammer Brother but the Magikoopas managed to blunt the spell by casting healing spells over the rest of the party, including the Koopalings and the Hammer Brother that was burned. The others also attempted to attack but found their normal attacks being blunted by the increased defenses that the Magikoopas had granted the rest of the Koopas.
Admiral Bobbery's Time Bombs were being shot out of the air as he tossed them by both Hammer Brothers and Magikoopas while Flurrie's wind was proving ineffective in being able to blow back their enemies. Both Kooper and Parakarry ducked into their shells and rocketed towards the Koopas, only to inflict minor damage to the buffed up Hammer Brothers and Koopalings, who were forming a line in front of the rest of the remaining forces. While Yoshi Kid was able to swallow a Koopa Troopa that had gotten out of line and rocketed towards the allies and toss it at a Hammer Brother, finally taking it down with help from an attack by both Lady Bow and a Water Gun from Sushie. Still, the tide had turned once again and it seemingly greatly favored Bowser and the Koopas, for fatigue was setting in for the heroes. Soon, however, the tide would turn once more.
Just as Bowser and his remaining forces were going to push their advantage, Mario, Luigi, and Nanaki appeared on a hill. Despite the fight they had just gone through against Sephiroth, the Mario Brothers looked to be fully rejuvenated and ready for another fight. It was now that Bowser began to realize that the feeling he had had mere moments ago was the feeling that Mario and Luigi, along with their new friend, must have somehow defeated Sephiroth. While he did not know if the former SOLDIER was dead or had merely retreated, he was beginning to feel that this fight had just turned once more and that victory was now out of reach. The Koopa King went to take stock of the situation. Almost all of the SOLDIER Goombas were already dead. His SOLDIER Koopa force and Hammer Bro force had been greatly reduced in number to the point that he only had his original SOLDIER Magikoopas and Koopatrols along with the original four SOLDIER Koopas that had accompanied him and four, now two with the deaths of two Hammer Brothers who had fallen to a combination attack launched by Watt, Sushie, Vivian, and Lakilester. His chances of victory were looking grim, especially since Sephiroth had either retreated or had been killed. While a part of him raged at Mario and his allies and felt like he had to stay and fight to the bitter end, he knew that there was no reason to do so. In the end, Bowser knew what he had to do.
"All surviving Koopas," he bellowed before taking a strained breath. "Retreat at once."
The others looked at him, their faces aghast at what he was commanding.
"But Master," one of the Magikoopas countered.
"No," Bowser bellowed, cutting him off. "It's over. Sephiroth is either dead or at least defeated for the time being and the Marios look relatively fresh. We're still unaccustomed to our new powers and we've suffered the casualties to prove it. Our forces are wrecked. Retreat at once. You know what to do."
The Magikoopa eventually nodded and swished his wand. A blinding flash of light was emitted by the wand, forcing the Mario Brothers, their allies, and Nanaki to look away for several seconds. Once the light faded, the Koopas had vanished from the scene, leaving only the Mario Brothers and their friends. The battle was over.
Meanwhile, deep inside the Lifestream, Aerith Gainsborough sensed the arrival of Sephiroth inside the Lifestream, itself. She had not expected him to return to the Lifestream so directly this soon. The feeling she had gotten was that Sephiroth was going to try to recreate Meteorfall once more and, thus, merge with the entirety of the Lifestream all at once. Extending her senses throughout the stream, she also felt that Sephiroth was far from his strongest. In fact, he was seriously injured. Her entire being flashed with the realization that Sephiroth had not come into the Lifestream because he planned to, but because it was a last, desperate act of a worn down and beaten soul. She had no time to lose. She immediately went about searching the Lifestream for where Sephiroth had entered, hoping to intercept him and stop him before he had a chance to recover, and end his threat once and for all.