Chapter 14:
Aerith sat in the back of the Diamond Taxi cab flanked by Koops on the right and Yoshi Kid on the left while Admiral Bobbery sat in a center slot in the front between Dribble and Spitz. Looking outside, she saw Mario flying next to the cab, flanked by Watt. Looking to her left, she saw Lady Bow and Flurrie flying in formation with the cab. On the way back to the cab, Mario and the others had briefed her on the current situation. They did not know how Sephiroth had been revived or how he had gotten onto Hylia, with Aerith surmising that a piece of him must have been on one of the rockets that had been launched almost five hundred years ago, after his final battle, and defeat at the hands of Cloud Strife and the members of Avalanche. When she had learned that Mario had faced off against Sephiroth in a one-on-one fight back on Hylia and had won, even with some help and luck, she had been amazed. Mario did not look like someone who could face down and beat a First-class SOLDIER, much less Sephiroth, even one that was weakened. She then felt that it should not have surprised her that much, though, since he and Luigi had managed to beat Sephiroth at the ruins of Midgar. She was more concerned about how Sephiroth had allied with Bowser, another denizen from Mario's world, and had created a group of SOLDIER Koopas. From what she had heard of them, the SOLDIER Koopas did not seem to be as powerful as SOLDIERs had been during Shinra's reign over the world but that may well have been because they were new to their powers.
Aerith looked around and almost chuckled as she considered the group she had now allied herself with. They did not look like fighters or warriors so she had been greatly surprised when Dribble and Spitz had told them the stories about Mario's previous adventures, as well as the adventures of his companions. The more she learned about Mario and his friends, the more she was able to see how he was able to beat Sephiroth. Still, she was glad that he had a great deal of support, for she wanted to have all the help she could get when they went to face Sephiroth at Northern Cave. Mario had given her an Earth, Poison, and Comet Materia for the quest. She was surprised that Mario and the others had given her all of their Materia, but she figured that since they were from off world that they would not be able to use it, at least not like she or anyone from Gaia could. She then fingered inside her pockets to make certain that she also had Holy on hand, for if Sephiroth somehow did manage to summon Meteor once more, Holy would be the only thing that could stop it.
The greatest surprise, though, for Aerith was finding that there was a human that was an off-worlder. While she had not pressed him on the issue, she was also curious about his own world and the first records of human activity on that world or if there were any signs of prehistoric human activity. She then shook her head absently and her attention soon returned to the task at hand. She could ask those questions later. Right now, she had to prepare for the fight against Sephiroth, which would be made harder now since she only had offensive Materia and she did not know if any of Mario's healing items would work for her. After all, he and his companions could not use Materia that she knew of.
Eventually, her reverie was broken by one of the companions. "Miss Gainsborough," she heard Koops begin, prompting her to turn to her right.
"Please, just Aerith," she answered with a friendly chuckle and smile.
"Aerith," Koops said. "Why is it that Sephiroth is in the North Crater? He wants to join with he Lifestream, right?"
Aerith nodded.
"So why didn't he just stay in it once he jumped into it in Midgar?"
"Because there wasn't enough spirit energy gathered there," Aerith answered. "The Lifestream is vast and if he wanted to take over the entire Lifestream, it would take time if he simply jumped down the shaft of the nearest Mako reactor or into a Mako pit inside of a cave. He would have to spread himself across virtually the entire planet, which would cause him to diffuse into the Lifestream, itself. He doesn't want to become part of it. He wants to be in control of it. He wants to control the entirety of the Lifestream. The only way he can do that is to merge with the Lifestream where there is a huge gathering of spirit energy. And since the Lifestream spans the entire planet, the only way the Lifestream will gather in massive quantities, quantities large enough for Sephiroth to be able to take control of it in a relatively short period of time, is if a wound is inflicted to the planet. If a crater, like North Crater, is formed due to an impact, the Lifestream will gather in order to heal the Planet and hopefully make that area habitable."
"Oh," Koops said.
"So, how would Sephiroth go about causing a gathering of the Lifestream to a single place?" Admiral Bobbery inquired.
"His best chance would have been to summon Meteor using the Black Materia," Aerith answered. "However, the Black Materia was destroyed subsequent to the summoning of Meteor five hundred years ago. Without that, there is no way for him to summon Meteor."
"So he's stuck and won't be able to merge with the Lifestream?" Yoshi Kid asked hopefully.
"Hopefully," Aerith answered. "However, I would not count on that being the case. He managed to take control of a large part of the Lifestream after Meteorfall, though the Lifestream had come to help Holy stop Meteor in that event, which was how Sephiroth managed to get so much control in the first place. But even then, it took a year for him to fully manifest his control and infect people with Geostigma."
"Would there be any other ways he could inflict a significant enough wound to the planet to force the Lifestream to gather in order to heal it?" Koops asked.
"I can't think of any off the top of my head, but I would not put it past him to find a way," Aerith answered. "Sephiroth is very resourceful and very intelligent. If anyone could do it, it would be him."
With that dark thought, the others were quiet as the Diamond Taxi made its way towards the North Crater. Each one took stock of themselves and their inventories to make sure that they had everything they would need to fight Sephiroth, for they felt that even in a weakened state, he would still be incredibly dangerous.
Meanwhile, in Northern Cave, Sephiroth scanned the entire area for any sign of the Black Materia. There was no way it should have been destroyed in the summoning of Meteor. The White Materia had remained intact with the summoning of Holy, so there should have been no issue with the Black Materia and Meteor. He grimaced. He could not focus on what he did not have. Instead, he needed to focus on his options, which were not looking good at the moment. He could hope that there was a second Black Materia somewhere, but that was unlikely considering what happened with the first one. There was also the prospect of creating a sufficient wound to the planet via other means, but that would be difficult considering how the flow of the Lifestream made Mako reactors unable to function. He could try to use Supernova repeatedly but that would be taxing and there would be no guarantee that it would be enough. After all, he had used it twice in Midgar against Mario and the Lifestream did not gather beneath the city.
He sighed. There seemed to be no good options until a passing thought about the Starship Mario crossed his mind. The moment his mind turned to the Starship Mario, a grin twisted his lips. Perhaps if he could not summon a meteor, he could use what was already in orbit to make one. While the Starship Mario was far smaller than the original Meteor that he had summoned half a millennium ago, at sufficient speeds, it would be enough to create a wound large enough to force the Lifestream to gather to heal it, or even better, cause another battle between Holy and an approaching threat that would force the Lifestream to assist Holy in stopping it. All he needed to do now was to get the Starship Mario to play the role of Meteor. And to do that, he would need Bowser's help.
Closing his eyes, he telepathically reached out to his pawn, Bowser. Bowser, send your forces to Starship Mario and set its course for North Crater.
Meanwhile, over on the Eastern Continent, Bowser and what was left of his forces emerged from the Mythril Mine. Magikoopas flew ahead in order to summon the others to them so they could increase the distance between them and Luigi's party. They were in the middle of a grassy field when Bowser received Sephiroth's call.
Bowser, send your forces to Starship Mario and set its course for North Crater.
"What?!" Bowser roared in answer. "Are you nuts? That ship might not survive reentry and it's our only way home!"
Bowser could feel Sephiroth grimace. That was something he had not considered. While Mario and his allies had the Diamond Taxi for transport, Bowser currently only had some Magikoopas. In addition, that portal was the only way for Sephiroth's master plan to come to fruition… that was unless he got something else to fill in for the Starship Mario. Unfortunately, there was nothing on Gaia that would be sufficient to fill in for the Starship Mario. However, Bowser may have had something.
Do you still have access to any star dreadnoughts or super-massive airships?
"Not that I can call in quickly, why?"
Because I need a large ship or structure in order to take over the Lifestream and give you access to something that will allow you to take Materia back to Hylia and have it be usable as well. If I can't use a dreadnought or airship, I'll have to make do with the Starship Mario.
"What would you do with the ship?" came the Koopa King's next question.
That is for me to know. I just need a large ship of some sort. And it must be large, like the size of the Starship Mario at the very least.
Bowser grumbled but he had a feeling that he had little choice in the matter. Sephiroth needed a large airship for something and he had a feeling that helping Sephiroth would also help in accomplishing his own goals as well. However, he could not afford to lose the Starship Mario since that was their only ticket back to Hylia. He then turned to Kamek and the Magikoopas.
"If you were to get onboard the Starship Mario, would you be able to cast a spell to keep that portal open even should the Starship Mario be destroyed?" the Koopa King bellowed in question.
"Probably not," Kamek answered. "However, we could separate the portal generator from the ship to keep it open for a while."
"How long?" Bowser asked.
"I don't know," Kamek answered. "Hours… maybe a day or two at the most. If we got some Power Stars or their equivalents, we could probably keep it open for longer."
"We managed to get some Power Moons during a visit to the Metro Kingdom," a SOLDIER Magikoopa suggested. "It's only a handful but if they have similar powers to Power Stars, they might be enough to keep that portal open if we manage to get the generator off that ship."
"There's also the potential Grand Star that the Starship Mario may be using for power. If we manage to get one of them, we might be able to use that to get back to Hylia even should the ship be destroyed or unable to fly," Kamek added.
"Alright, now we're in business!" the Koopa King exclaimed. They just might have been able to do this. "Sephiroth, we may be able to help you. Stand by for further updates."
I will, the former SOLDIER answered in his all too familiar dark tone.
Bowser then turned to his forces and said, "Tell me you brought some of those moons with you."
The SOLDIER Magikoopa who had made the suggestion pulled one out and replied, "Right here, my king. I've got the rest as well. As long as we program Hylia into the computer, once we get that generator, we should be able to use it even if we have to turn it off for a time to conserve power. And barring that, we may still manage to get a Grand Star from the Starship Mario if all else fails. The portals created by the starship create ruptures in space-time so if we get a Grand Star, we could open a previously closed portal."
"Good," Bowser answered. "Now here's the plan: you, another SOLDIER Magikoopa, along with two SOLDIER Koopatrols and two SOLDIER Koopas are gonna attack the Starship Mario and get that generator. If worse comes to worst and you can't even get a Grand Star or if it doesn't have one, get a signal out to our forces in my kingdom to hire out Diamond Taxi again and get some space-capable taxis to pick us up. The last thing we want is to be stranded here."
"Right," the SOLDIER Magikoopa and the rest of the new assault party answered.
Kamek then gave the assault party some Materia to assist them in the assault. Before they vanished, though, Bowser gave them one final instruction. "Make sure that before you go up there, you buff yourselves up with magical spells," he directed. "Mario and Luigi might not be up there, but their allies will be, and they'll be tough. If you encounter them, kill them if possible, but make sure you set that ship's course for North Crater and get that Grand Star."
"Yes, sir," the group responded in unison.
Once they were ready, the Koopa assault force vanished from sight. Once they had disappeared, Bowser and his remaining forces continued making their way across the grassy plains, hoping to evade Luigi and his forces at least until Sephiroth had accomplished his objective and was helping them accomplish theirs. A part of him noticed that Junon was in the west and had a Mako reactor. If Sephiroth managed to take over the Lifestream and change the currents of the Lifestream to make Mako reactors usable once more, the reactor in Junon would help them gather Mako to take back to Hylia. In addition, it would be a good place for them to hide or at least engage Luigi and his forces on their terms using any civilians as shields if worst came to worst. With no further hesitation, Bowser and the remainder of his party made their way west towards Junon, hoping to avoid detection by Luigi and his party.
Back on the Northern Continent, Mario and his party made their approach to North Crater. The massive crater was within sight and some of the party members had to suppress a gasp at the sight and size of the crater. Mario, however, merely steeled his gaze upon the crater, knowing that Sephiroth was down in the center of the crater, and prepared for what he hoped would be the final part in the fight of his life.
As they approached the crater, Dribble banked the taxi downward towards the crater. The rest of the party followed suit with Mario and Watt being on the lookout for any potential enemies that may try to ambush them or launch an attack. Lady Bow and Flurrie were more worried about what may come out of the crater to face them. Lady Bow extended her ghostly senses to see if she could sense anything coming towards them. So far, though, there was nothing coming at them, which surprised her.
"You see or sense anything?" Mario called out to her.
"No," Lady Bow answered, not hiding her surprise. "And that concerns me more than if we would be seeing an army of monsters coming our way."
Mario agreed. He did not expect Sephiroth to have no protection in the crater, but if indeed he did not, he would be thankful for any advantage he could get. Aerith looked out the window and saw nothing coming towards them either. Good, Sephiroth did not have any support among any monsters or wildlife here yet, and likely would not unless he managed to merge with the Lifestream. The five centuries of peace had been kind to the Planet, and given them a chance to face Sephiroth without worrying about being drained from other battles.
"Keep your senses open," Mario told the spirits. "If anything changes alert us immediately. Dribble, Spitz, if your taxi has any weapons, I'd ready them now and drop off the rest of us the party at the edge of the crater and stay there until either further instructions or the situation changes. You're our only ticket out of here. If anything happens above ground, though, alert us immediately."
"You got it," Dribble answered.
The taxi descended until it reached the edge of the crater. Once it touched down next to the crater's edge, the rear doors opened and the passengers disembarked from the taxi. The last to step out was Aerith Gainsborough. Not long after, Mario touched down near the party and went to the back of the taxicab. There, he got out some items, mostly Thunder Rages, Shooting Stars, and Ice Storms and distributed them among the party members. He also gave Aerith some attack items as well so she could be more versatile in her offensive abilities should the situation call for it. He also gave each party member one Jelly Ultra so they would not be without the ability to heal since there was virtually no chance of them lasting through the fight unscathed. Once the party was ready, the group descended into the crater, eager to finish the fight against Sephiroth once and for all.
Meanwhile, up on the Starship Mario, Goombario and Ms. Mowz were watching over the two parties from the computer screens on the control deck. Goombario focused on Mario's party while Ms. Mowz focused on Luigi's party. Luigi had reported that he had lost sight of Bowser and his party but that they were still continuing their pursuit, studying the map to see where Bowser could try to either lay low or gain some supplies for a potential extended stay. Mario, on the other hand, had reported the acquisition of a new party member in Aerith Gainsborough and was on their way to North Crater to hopefully deal with Sephiroth once and for all.
While the parties were focusing on their assignments, both Goombario and Ms. Mowz decided to try to gain access to any information about the history of Sephiroth that may have been on Gaia's equivalent of the internet, assuming it had anything remotely like the internet. They hoped that it would offer insight to Sephiroth's plans and potentially give them a way to stop him should worst come to worst. Once they managed to access some information on Sephiroth, they gleaned that he had summoned a large meteor to crash into the surface of Gaia in order to wound the planet so that the Lifestream would congregate around the wound in order to heal it, thus allowing him to take over the Lifestream. When reading that, they grew concerned because at last report, Sephiroth had jumped into a pit that led directly into the Lifestream. They had wondered why he would need to do anything like that since he would have already been in the Lifestream. It was only when Mario had relayed what Aerith told him about Sephiroth, the planet, and the Lifestream that they understood why Sephiroth still needed a meteor or some other large object to crash into the planet in order for him to be able to take over the Lifestream in a timely manner. Also, there was also the potential of the Lifestream's equivalent of antibodies for Sephiroth to deal with if he tried to take the long path to taking over said Lifestream.
After a while, Goombario went back to the engine room to do a routine check to make certain that everything was continuing to run smoothly while Ms. Mowz focused on the two parties. Both parties continued to give steady updates and to report in to let them know that everything was okay. Upon entering the engine room he made his standard checks to make sure that everything was running smoothly. So far, everything was running fine. The Power Stars and Grand Stars were functioning normally and did not seem to be under any strain. Glass domes that contained some power-ups as souvenirs lined the floor underneath a round object that looked like a beacon of some sort. Nothing seemed to be out of the ordinary there, either. Finally, the Goomba checked the chests in the corner of the room to make certain that they had everything they would need. He also wanted to get some power-ups and items to take to the wheel so they could send them down to Mario and/or Luigi at a moment's notice.
Going over to one of the chests, he pulled out a Shooting Star, Thunder Rage, Fire Flower, and an Ice Storm and stuffed them in his pockets. He also grabbed an additional Thunder Rage and a Zess Dynamite to give to Ms. Mowz on the chance they would need to send down an arsenal to either plumber. Once he was finished, he proceeded to exit the engine room.
However, while Goombario was in the engine room to do his routine checks, the Koopa assault party teleported onto the Starship Mario. They appeared on the underside of the ship in close formation. They quickly scanned the area to see if they had been spotted. Seeing no one in sight, the lead SOLDIER Magikoopa laid out his plan.
Looking over at his partner, he said, "You and Koopos," indicating a SOLDIER Koopatrol, "go into the engine room and get that Grand Star. Since the ship is powered by Power Stars, with the Grand Star keeping that portal open, it should not cause a catastrophic failure in the ship's systems as of yet. Still, it'll likely close down that portal so make certain you send our message back to Kevin and the others back home before you get that star and close the portal." He then looked back at the others and continued, "The rest of you are with me. We're gonna find and eliminate anyone who's still left on this ship that isn't us. Once that's done, we'll await further orders from either Bowser or Sephiroth."
"Yes, sir," the SOLDIER Koopas responded in unison, a little too loudly for the lead SOLDIER Magikoopa's comfort, causing him to cringe. The last thing they needed was to be discovered and allow any of Mario's allies to get the drop on them or be able to prepare for their arrival.
With that, the other SOLDIER Magikoopa and Koopos made their way towards the engine room. They walked along the surface of the ship to the ship's cap where they found a small door on in the middle of said cap, being as quiet as possible so as to avoid anyone detecting them prematurely.
As they approached the door, though, they caught sight of Goombario emerging from the engine room. The two Koopas proceeded to hide behind the ship's nose. Despite their orders, Koopos was tempted to go try and kill Goombario right now, especially since he had the help of a Magikoopa and they outnumbered the Goomba two-to-one. He was about to jump out to ambush the Goomba when the Magikoopa gripped his arm and pulled him back.
"Our orders are to get that Grand Star, not take on any crew," the Magikoopa admonished.
"But he's alone and with our enhancements, we can beat a Goomba, even one who has combat experience like Goombario," Koopos countered.
"We can't take the risk that he'll raise an alarm and alert whoever else is on this ship, or worse, call in more help," the Magikoopa countered sagely.
The Koopatrol gave a grunt but could not fault the logic of his partner. He then gave a nod and stayed in cover until Goombario was out of sight. Once he was out of sight, they mad their way to the door. Taking one last check to ensure that they had not been spotted, they then made their way into the engine room in order to get the Grand Star and, hopefully, help Sephiroth with his mission.
Meanwhile, the rest of the party searched the ship for any remaining allies of Mario. During the battle outside of Midgar, survivors had noted that both Goombario and Ms. Mowz had not been seen during the fighting despite the fact that both had been present in the assault on Princess Peach's Castle, so there was no way they would miss out on joining Mario in his pursuit of Sephiroth, especially since the rest of their allies from their respective past adventures had joined in the pursuit. So far, though, the ship appeared to be deserted but that meant little to them. The others could either be hiding or be on the bridge, which was where they were going to search next. Each Koopa gripped their Materia piece so as to prepare for the battle to come since they wanted to have every advantage when they engaged Mario's allies.
The group made their way to the bridge with the lead Magikoopa at the front. Unlike with the secondary Magikoopa and Koopos, this party did not bother with stealth. They figured that with their Materia as well as their enhancements and current combat experience, they would be able to take on any allies of the Mario Brothers that were present. The only issue would be if either of the Mario Brothers came back to the ship to reinforce them.
On their way to the bridge, though, they encountered Goombario, who was, himself, making his way back to the bridge. As he was making his way back to the bridge, though, he thought he heard something and turned around for a brief second, managing to catch sight of the four Koopas that were attempting to ambush him.
"Ms. Mowz, get down here, Bowser's forces are on the ship!" he called up in warning, seeing that he was outnumbered four-to-one and figuring that he would have no chance against such odds without backup.
The Koopas said nothing as they immediately went on the offensive against Goombario. They immediately cast Bio on Goombario, a purple drop appearing over his head and then dripping down on him. However, it proved to be ineffective due to Goombario wearing a Feeling Fine P badge, which protected him from status effects. The Goomba, however, did not make the same mistake when fighting the SOLDIER Koopas. The first thing he did was grab the Shooting Star from his pocket, intending to use it to take out the SOLDIER Koopas as quickly as possible.
The SOLDIER Koopas were not caught off guard, though, and one of the SOLDIER Koopa Troopas immediately went to cast Quake to shake the ship and hopefully throw Goombario off balance. The ground immediately began to shake, making it hard for Goombario to both keep his footing and use the Shooting Star. The Koopas, however, had no problem keeping their footing despite the effects of the spell. In order to keep himself from falling to the ground, he stooped down but could not focus enough to both keep his footing and use the Shooting Star. In addition, this opened him up to attack from the rest of the Koopa assault force.
The other SOLDIER Koopa Troopa and the SOLDIER Koopatrol ducked into their shells and rocketed towards Goombario. The Goomba, being preoccupied with keeping his footing was slow to react but he did see the two coming, far faster than previous SOLDIER Koopas or SOLDIER Koopatrols had in the past. The Goomba was, however, able to jump out of the way of the two onrushing Koopas, but he did sail straight into a four polygonal blast from the SOLDIER Magikoopa. The blast struck him in the lower right section of his body. The Goomba gave a grunt as he took the hit and was sent flying, thankful that he had not suffered a direct hit from the blast since if he had, he may very well have been killed or grievously injured. He crashed into the ground a few feet away, giving off another grunt and stifling a scream, as he did his best to rise to face the threat coming towards him. The SOLDIER Magikoopa went to finish off the injured Goomba but as he leveled his wand at Goombario, he was struck from behind by Ms. Mowz, which caused the SOLDIER Magikoopa to give off a grunt as the force of the impact staggered him and caused his aim to go off course as he fired the four polygonal blast. The blast sailed to Goombario's right and flew off harmlessly into the distance.
Ms. Mowz, not wanting the SOLDIER Koopas to be able to attack or finish off Goombario, immediately raised a Thunder Rage over her head to deploy the attack item. Bolts of lightning proceeded to rain down from the sky, causing the SOLDIER Magikoopa to cast a defensive spell over himself and the others so they could weather the storm, suffering only minor damage. However, this gave Ms. Mowz the chance to toss a Super Shroom to Goombario, who took it and immediately ate it. The moment he ate the mushroom, his wound vanished and he was fully healed. That was when he unleashed his counterattack on the Koopas.
Goombario raised his Shooting Star over his head and the Shooting Star vanished as it began to rain stars down upon the SOLDIER Koopas. The SOLDIER Koopas put their enhancements to good use as they dodged and weaved around most of the stars. Some managed to find their mark but the increased defenses of the SOLDIER Koopas minimized the damage, much of which was healed as the Magikoopa raised his wand and cast a healing spell on the rest of his party. Goombario grimaced at the scene as he realized that the Magikoopa's healing magic would make this a long battle.
"We've gotta take out that Magikoopa," he told Ms. Mowz, causing the Squeek to nod in agreement, "Otherwise, we won't make any headway against the others."
"Do you want me to call up Mario or Luigi and the others?" Ms. Mowz asked, thinking that with the enhancements of the Koopas that a four-on-two battle was going to be an uphill fight.
"Not yet," Goombario answered. "We don't want to take Luigi away from the pursuit of Bowser and there's no way we'll want to take anyone away from the pursuit of Sephiroth. Besides, if there are four SOLDIER Koopas here, that means that there will be fewer for Luigi to deal with down on the planet."
Ms. Mowz nodded but she was still skeptical. While they did have several other attack items, they had the feeling that they would not be all that useful against the SOLDIER Koopas. And these SOLDIER Koopas seemed to be far more used to their powers than the ones that had attacked Star Haven back on Hylia. Still, knowing that their only real chance was to finish them off in a ranged battle, the two friends proceeded to use everything they had.
Goombario tossed a Zess Dynamite to Ms. Mowz as he drew out an Ice Storm. This caused the SOLDIER Koopas to go on guard and spread out so as to not be in a confined space for when the Ice Storm activated. The SOLDIER Magikoopa raised his wand and immediately formed several illusory copies of himself and his allies, hoping to confuse the allies. Goombario, though, hoped that since the Ice Storm had a wide area of effect, that the illusions would not come into play. Sure enough, the frigid wind buffeted the Koopas, both illusory and real, but it inflicted minimal damage to them since both the Jenova and Mako enhancements boosted their defenses as well as the spell cast by the SOLDIER Magikoopa and the Ice Storm also failed to freeze any of the SOLDIER Koopas, allowing them to counterattack, which they were about to until they saw Ms. Mowz pull out the Zess Dynamite.
After pulling out the Zess Dynamite, Ms. Mowz immediately armed it and went to toss it over to the Koopas, hoping to finish them off with one major blow, or at least inflict significant damage on them. However, a SOLDIER Koopa Troopa, seeing her plan, cast Quake on her and Goombario. The ground shook from the spell, causing them to both lose their footing. This caused Ms. Mowz to drop the Zess Dynamite. It rolled along the ground as the seconds ticked away before it detonated. Once the ground stopped shaking, both Ms. Mowz and Goombario fled the Zess Dynamite as it was too close to detonation for them to pick it up and toss it at the Koopas without them being caught in the blast, too. The allies were a safe distance away from the bomb when it detonated but it also failed to inflict any damage to the Koopas, either.
Things were beginning to look desperate for Goombario and Ms. Mowz as the battle drew on. Checking his inventory, Goombario saw that he only had the Fire Flower and two Thunder Rages. He gave one of the remaining Thunder Rages over to Ms. Mowz but he knew that it would be a tough hill to climb since they were no match for the SOLDIER Koopas physically, especially since they were outnumbered, and their attack items, even combined would likely not be enough to finish off the four SOLDIER Koopas facing them down.
"So, do we call Luigi and his party now?" Ms. Mowz asked.
Peering out from the cover they had hidden behind, Goombario saw the Magikoopa cast another healing spell on his party. Drat, he thought. If that Magikoopa keeps healing them, this'll be a long battle, and one we won't win. He was beginning to wish that Luigi, or at least some of the more offensively potent party members were here. He felt that any of the other party members would be able to give these Koopas more of a fight, especially magically inclined allies like Vivian. Looking over at Ms. Mowz, then back at the Koopa assault force and considering her question, the Goomba eventually nodded and answered, "Yeah. If Luigi hasn't caught sight of Bowser, then call him back here. With his help and the rest of his party, we should be able to beat these guys."
"Then let's get to the bridge and send down a bunch of Power Stars or Grand Stars to call him back," Ms. Mowz exclaimed.
Goombario nodded and the two proceeded to make their way to the bridge. As they did so, the four Koopas scanned for them, the Magikoopa summoning a broomstick so he could get a lay of the ship with the others waiting for him to give any indication on where the two allies of Mario went. The Magikoopa scanned the ship but found it difficult to locate his quarry. Still, he knew what had to be done. He then told the others to continue their mission. He looked down at the two SOLDIER Koopa Troopas and directed, "Okay, you two go to the bridge and get this ship flying towards that North Crater Sephiroth wants us to crash this ship to." He then turned to the SOLDIER Koopatrol and said, "You're with me. We've gotta find those two friends of Mario and finish them off before they can summon reinforcements."
"Right," the force answered in unison. With that, they each went on their separate assignments, the Koopa Troopas making sure to get their Materia ready in case they came across Goombario and Ms. Mowz.
Meanwhile, Goombario and Ms. Mowz made their way up to the ship's bridge so they could call Luigi, being careful to avoid detection by the SOLDIER Koopas. Once they arrived, Goombario took out his Fire Flower and Thunder Rage and told Ms. Mowz, "I'll hold off any Koopas that arrive. You just call Luigi now. And hope he actually lost Bowser," the Goomba added under his breath.
Ms. Mowz did as directed and she went over to a station that had the satellite smartphones that they had been using to keep in contact with Mario and the others. Picking one up, the Squeek dialed Luigi's number and she waited. It rang a couple of times before she heard the plumber's voice at the other end of the line.
"What's up?" Luigi asked. "Is everything okay?"
"No," Ms. Mowz answered bluntly. "Bowser's sent an assault force to the ship to take it back. I also get the impression that the want to use the ship to help Sephiroth do something. How are you doing? Have you caught up to Bowser?"
"No," Luigi answered. "We lost him after he went through the swamp and the Mythril Mine. We have no real idea where he is right now since he could be in any number of places."
"Well we need your help so anyone you can send up to help would be greatly appreciated. We'll send down a Power Star or Grand Star to bring you up."
"Bring us all up," Luigi answered. "Since Bowser's in the wind, the best thing we can do right now is to regroup with Mario and assist him in dealing with Sephiroth once we take back control of Starship Mario."
"Got it," Ms. Mowz answered. "Sending down some Power Stars now." She wanted to keep the Grand Stars in reserve in case she needed to use them to open another portal, or close one should they manage to cut through the spell placed on the portal's controls. With that, Ms. Mowz sent down eight Power Stars to Luigi and his party. The eight stars descended from the bottom of the ship and rocketed down to Gaia's surface.
The moment Ms. Mowz sent down the stars, though, the two SOLDIER Koopa Troopas who had been tasked with taking control of the ship arrived on the bridge. They were not surprised to see Mario's allies already on the bridge, figuring that this was where they would retreat to after the previous battle. One of the SOLDIER Koopa Troopas took out a communicator and activated it, yelling, "Everyone, Mario's partners are on the ship's bridge!"
"Got it," they heard the answers in reply. However, while he was talking, Goombario raised the Thunder Rage over his head just as the other SOLDIER Koopa was launching himself towards Ms. Mowz, neither of them thinking to use the Materia they had on them. Ms. Mowz deftly dodged the charging Koopa Troopa while Goombario's Thunder Rage went off and rained down lightning on the SOLDIER Koopa Troopas. The SOLDIER Koopa Troopas grunted as they endured the assault but it was not enough to kill them. Meanwhile, Ms. Mowz went to deploy her own Thunder Rage. Again, lightning rained down on the SOLDIER Koopa Troopas. This attack, though, combined with the previous one, as well as the fact that these Koopa Troopas were not being supported by the Magikoopa, was sufficient to finally take them down. The SOLDIER Koopa Troopas were reduced to charred skeletons as lightning arced across their bodies from the two Thunder Rage attacks, the one two punch being too much for even their own increased defenses to handle. However, this small victory for Goombario and Ms. Mowz would not be without cost, for they were not reduced only to Goombario's Fire Flower for any type of ranged attack. And trouble was about to find them as the SOLDIER Magikoopa and SOLDIER Koopatrol arrived just in time to witness the two SOLDIER Koopa Troopas being destroyed by the Thunder Rage attacks.
The two Koopas grimaced at the sight but were not too bothered by the fall of the Koopa Troopas. They were merely rank and file troops anyway and not expected to do all that much damage to Mario's forces. They, on the other hand, were the elites of the Koopa Troop and had been enhanced by Jenova cells and Mako energy. They would be far more difficult to deal with.
Not wanting to waste time, the Magikoopa immediately pointed his wand at the two allies and unleashed a series of four polygonal blasts at the two. Goombario and Ms. Mowz went evasive, managing to avoid the strikes but they knew that it would not be long before the SOLDIER Magikoopa would eventually get lucky. As such, Goombario took out his Fire Flower and deployed it, planting it on the ground, causing it to instantly sprout and unleash a barrage of fireballs on the SOLDIER Magikoopa and the SOLDIER Koopatrol. The SOLDIER Magikoopa raised a shield over himself and his partner and the fireballs splashed against the shield, causing it to flare an iridescent blue as it strained to hold back the attack. As the SOLDIER Magikoopa focused more energy into his shield, though, he did not notice Goombario launching himself into the air to initiate an attack. The Goomba landed on the Magikoopa's head, which dazed him for a few seconds and caused him to fall off his broomstick.
At the exact same time, Ms. Mowz rushed towards the Koopatrol and slapped him in the head with a special slap that was known for being effective even if the enemy wore strong armor and was naturally durable. The SOLDIER Koopatrol felt the attack but it did not inflict nearly enough damage to stagger or defeat the Koopatrol. And things were about to get worse for Ms. Mowz and Goombario.
Not too far away, the Koopatrol Koopos and the Magikoopa who were tasked with getting the Grand Star emerged from the engine room, their mission completed successfully. The Magikoopa came out with the Grand Star, the star vanishing as he stuffed it inside his robes, the star easily retreating into the Magikoopa's robes despite it being bigger than both the Magikoopa and Koopatrol combined. The moment they emerged from the engine room, though, they heard the sounds of battle up on the bridge. The Magikoopa, having gotten the Grand Star, did not want to engage any of Mario's allies on the off chance that he might lose the star, but Koopos had no such compunctions as he went to charge towards the bridge. The Magikoopa disagreed with his partner.
"What are you doing? We need to secure this Grand Star!" he called over to the Koopatrol.
"Then leave and take it back to Bowser," Koopos retorted. "I'm going to engage Mario's allies and hopefully defeat them here and now."
The SOLDIER Magikoopa gritted his teeth but he knew there was no stopping Koopos. He did not want to leave Koopos but he knew that getting that star to Bowser was more important than taking down some of Mario's weaker allies. Still, if he could stay back and lend some support, it could turn the tide and allow them to weaken Mario's forces without suffering too many casualties in return. It would only be a small victory for now, but he would take what he could get. As such, he then rushed after Koopos in order to assist his forces in dealing with Mario's allies onboard the ship.
Back on the bridge, Goombario and Ms. Mowz were having a difficult time dealing with the SOLDIER Magikoopa and SOLDIER Koopatrol as they initiated their counterattack. The Magikoopa boosted the defenses of the Koopatrol while the Koopatrol used Quake on the heroes. The ground violently shook and the heroes attempted to maintain their balance but to little avail. To make matters worse, Koopos had arrived on the scene and promptly charged both Goombario and Ms. Mowz, managing to strike them both in the center of mass and send them flying through the air. The two crashed into the ground several feet away, dazed and struggling to rise.
The SOLDIER Magikoopa leader was about to finish off the two allies when a bolt of lightning struck him and all but fried him to a crisp. Electricity arced across his body and he convulsed before falling to the ground, unconscious. If he was not dead from the lightning bolt, his fate was certain when Luigi arrived on the scene and landed on the Magikoopa's head, crushing him beneath his boots, a fate that had befallen so many other Koopas during their near endless conflicts with the Super Mario Brothers. The Magikoopa partner of Koopos could only grimace at the sight as Luigi arrived on the scene, quickly being followed by the rest of his party: Kooper, Bombette, Parakarry, Sushie, Lakilester, Goombella, Vivian, and finally Nanaki, who had been riding the star carrying Vivian. He gritted his teeth in rage as Goombario and Ms. Mowz's reinforcements arrived on the scene. The tide had turned once again.
Luigi took stock of the situation as he scanned the area. Glancing back at Goombella and Parakarry, he surreptitiously told them to administer Ultra Shrooms to Goombario and Ms. Mowz. The two immediately went to render aid while Luigi stared down the remaining members of the Koopa assault force, electricity crackling around his fingertips, the hero ready to unleash another Thunderhand lightning bolt should it be needed.
As for the Koopas, they knew that things had taken a turn for the worst. The Magikoopa had gasped as he watched the assault force's leader had been taken out by Luigi's Thunderhand lightning attack. Facing down a couple of Mario's allies was one thing. Taking on the younger but no less powerful of the Super Mario Brothers was something else entirely, especially when he was being supported by a group of allies, including that leonine native of Gaia. Even worse was the fact that the headdress being worn by that native seemed to have some Materia adorning it now. He could only seethe. There was no way for them to beat Luigi and his party, plus the crew of the Starship Mario. Still, he did have that Grand Star and that was important for now.
The Magikoopa considered his options. He could try to bring Bowser and the rest of his forces up to the ship and fight Luigi and the allies, but that would be a long shot at best, especially considering how the similar battle outside of Midgar had ended, especially when there had been far more support Koopas in the battle. He could also flee with the Grand Star. Looking outside the ship, he saw that the portal to Hylia was still open, meaning that the Starship Mario's crew did not know of the missing Grand Star just yet. Still, while he would have wanted to take hold of the ship, not only for Bowser's plan but Sephiroth's as well, he knew that getting the Grand Star to Bowser would be an acceptable consolation prize. The losses, however, would still be significant. Either way, though, the choice was clear.
"All Koopa forces, retreat now," he called to the others in a loud, clear voice. The two Koopatrols looked back at him in astonishment.
"What? We're just gonna abandon the mission? Sephiroth needs this ship!"
"We can't beat Luigi, much less his allies and that Gaian native. We've suffered enough losses. We leave now."
"No!" Koopos declared. "We've got Materia and our enhancements and Sephiroth needs this ship! We're gonna finish this one way or the other!"
The Magikoopa could scarcely believe what Koopos was saying. There was no point to staying here…unless it was to keep Luigi and the others bottled up on the ship while he got away with the Grand Star and gave it to Bowser to help his king accomplish his own plan, and in doing so, help Sephiroth spread himself across the cosmos. In the end, he did not push the issue any further.
"Fine," the Magikoopa said in a defeated tone. "Have it your way." And with that, the Magikoopa vanished from the ship.
As for the two remaining Koopatrols, they would not go down without a fight. Readying their Poison Materia, they attempted to cast Bio on Luigi, knowing that his cape would allow him to avoid Quake, only for him to manage to avoid the glob of poison forming above his head. Wasting no time, Vivian twirled her fingers and cast Fiery Jinx on the party, with Lakilester unleashing a surge of Spiny eggs onto the Koopatrols. Fire erupted from inside the armor of the Koopatrols and set them ablaze. Any other enemy would have been incinerated but the SOLDIER Koopatrols kept going, still being able to fight, even with the bombardment of Spiny eggs accosting them.
Seeing that they were making little headway with Bio, they changed tactics and went to cast Quake, knowing that it would not affect Luigi but that it could affect several of his other allies, and if they managed to take down an ally or two so much the better. The ground shook once more, prompting the ground-bound allies to struggle to maintain their footing while the flight capable allies took to the sky, including Luigi. The airborne allies soon finished off the SOLDIER Koopatrols with Luigi firing off another Thunderhand lightning bolt at Koopos while Parakarry ducked into his shell and rocketed towards the head of the other Koopatrol. The bolt of lightning struck Koopos squarely in the head and electricity arced across his body and armor, the metallic armor drawing the lightning to him like a lightning rod. The unfortunate Koopa inside was reduced to a charred skeleton within seconds. His partner fared no better as Parakarry scored a direct hit on the Koopatrol's head, knocking him to the ground and at the very least rendering him unconscious. Nanaki made certain of his fate as he rushed in and raked his claws across the fallen Koopatrol's face, ending his threat once and for all.
Once the fighting was over, Luigi told the rest of his party, "Split up into groups of two and examine the ship to make sure there aren't any stragglers. If you find anything report it immediately. I'll be up here coordinating with Mario and trying to find out what the Koopas wanted with the ship."
"Isn't it obvious?" Goombella blurted. "They wanted to take the ship back because this is their only ticket home and to reinforcements."
Luigi considered Goombella's conclusion but he had a feeling that there was more to the invasion than met the eye and he shook his head. While getting the ship back would be important for getting them back to Hylia, the way the Koopas had chosen their words in their final exchange made him think that they were hiding something. "I doubt that was all there was to it," the plumber concluded. "They wanted more." Thinking on the events a bit more, he soon added, "Make sure to check the engine room. Besides the bridge, that's the only place where one can gain access to the ship's controls."
"Roger," the others answered.
With that, the rest of the party went to check the ship while he, Goombario, Ms. Mowz, and Nanaki stayed on the bridge. Looking over at Goombario and Ms. Mowz, he told them, "You two try to use the scanners to see if we can track down that Magikoopa. If we can he may lead us to Bowser."
"Got it," the duo answered.
Pouring over the sensors, the two allies input a series of commands into the computer, trying to have sensors lock on to any energy spikes on the planet. Unfortunately, it was proving to be more difficult than imagined, for the sensors were picking up spikes form Materia usage, coal power plants, and other sources of energy. There was no way to identify which one may have been the Magikoopa reappearing. And even if they did find it, there was no way to know if the Magikoopa reappeared close to Bowser, and if he did not, then it would be a guessing game as to where he went even if they did track down where he reappeared.
Luigi assisted them in looking over the reports and the spikes. He also went over to the communications console and kept his satellite phone activated in case Mario called in with an update or a request for reinforcements or supplies. A part of him was glad that he was back up on Starship Mario. While he did not want to abandon the pursuit of Bowser, he also did not want their forces to be split the way they had been before. He felt as if presenting a united front against Sephiroth gave them a better chance of victory over the silver-haired fighter. And once they dealt with Sephiroth, then they could focus their attention on Bowser.
After a few minutes, the parties returned to the bridge to make their reports. The first to report was Goombella. "So far, we found no trace of any other Koopas onboard the ship. It appears to be clean but Kooper thinks there may be a problem."
"What is it?" Luigi asked.
Kooper then stepped forward and answered, "When Bombette and I went into the engine room to check on everything, we notice that there were only five Grand Stars in the holding containers. Did you ever remove any of them before Bowser took the ship over?"
"No," Luigi answered, shaking his heard. "We never removed any of them. We just kept the Stars in their container to power the ship and keep it in orbit."
"Only one was missing?" Goombella asked.
Kooper nodded.
"That's odd," Goombella said thoughtfully. "You'd think they'd want to get more. And besides, why take the Grand Stars if it's the ship they wanted?"
"Maybe they wanted to take the Star in case they couldn't use the ship," Vivian suggested. "If they lost the ship, they'd be stranded on Gaia. With the Grand Star, though, they may be able to open a portal even if we manage to close this one."
"Speaking of which," Goombario began, heading towards the portal's controls. "I think we should close this one for the time being," he suggested. "The last thing we need is for Bowser to get some reinforcements from back home."
"Good idea," Luigi stated. He then went over to the control panel to the right of the wheel, where the portal controls would usually be. He input a series of commands and this time the portal controls came up properly. Either the spell used to keep the portal controls from being accessed had worn off or the Magikoopa who had cast it was a casualty of any one of the previous battles. Inputting a new series of commands, he cut off power to the portal that led back to Hylia while keeping the coordinates for both the portal and Hylia in the computer should they need to open it quickly again. Once he had input the series of commands, the portal in the distance flickered for a few seconds. It then began to shrink at an accelerated rate and after a few seconds, it had vanished in its entirety. Once the portal had closed, the group then focused on the next task at hand: finding Bowser.
Luigi went over to the sensor console and suppressed a grin as he input a new series of commands. The others went over to him and wondered what he was doing, with Nanaki, who was not familiar with the ship, its technology, or history, giving voice to their question, "What are you doing?"
"That Magikoopa taking a Grand Star may be a blessing in disguise," the plumber answered. "While these sensors may not be powerful enough to track down a specific Magikoopa, they can track down a Grand Star. All I need to do is tell the computer to track down any Grand Star energy signatures and there," he said with satisfaction as a red dot appeared on the map of Gaia. The dot appeared on the Eastern Continent west of a mountain range and not too far away from the coast. Looking over at Nanaki, Luigi asked, "Are there any cities near that location that he may enter?"
"Just one," the leonine creature answered. "Junon. Five hundred years ago, it was a major submarine and military base for the Shinra Corporation. Now, it's simply a tourist attraction but they still have things like airships and helicopter rides. There's also a Mako reactor there, but with the current flow of the Lifestream, it is non-functional and has since been converted into a museum."
"Is there anything Bowser could use in Junon?" Luigi asked.
"There are some pieces of technology like the aforementioned helicopters but I don't see how that would help Bowser or his minions," Nanaki answered. "However, things would change if the flow of the Lifestream allowed that Mako reactor to become functional once more. In addition, while crime is not common at the moment, it is not unheard of, especially in cities like Junon. Junon is not without crime and there is a jail that is not uninhabited. If Bowser were to try to create more SOLDIERs that would be loyal to him, that would be the first place he would go. He may even try more experiments with them since they would not be his own people."
"Then we've gotta stop him," Luigi concluded. Looking back at the rest of the party, he told them, "Everyone, get all the weapons, items, badges, etcetera you'll need for this. We want to go in fully equipped against Bowser and his minions. Once you're ready report back here."
"Right," the others answered in unison. Then as one, they went to the engine room to stock up on supplies and items for the battle that was about to come.