Chapter 16:
Back outside North Crater, Luigi and his party made their way over to the downed Starship Mario, hoping to salvage what they could from the wreck since they knew they would need everything they had at their disposal if they were to face down Sephiroth now that the former SOLDIER had joined with the Lifestream. Mario, however, went back down to Aerith to check on her since he had a feeling that Holy had probably taken a lot out of her. When he reached the half-Cetra woman, though, he was quick to note that instead of looking defeated, she had a fierce determination in her eyes. That look gave the plumber hope that they were not defeated yet. When the plumber landed, the half-Cetra rushed over to him.
"I felt it," she told him in a somber tone, though her eyes did not show any signs of defeat or despair. "Sephiroth has joined with the Lifestream. He's going to be more difficult to beat than ever before. However, we're not finished yet."
Mario's ears perked up at her statement. "What do you mean?"
"There's still a chance to stop Sephiroth," she explained. "While the best chance to stop him was to kill him before he could merge with the Lifestream, even if he manage to merge with it, it will take time for him to gain full control of it. And even then, there's still a chance to stop him."
"What do we have to do?"
"Call your Dribble Taxi over and take us to Midgar," she instructed. "There, I might be able to use my Limit Break Great Gospel to cure the Lifestream of Jenova and possibly vanquish Sephiroth."
"Why didn't you use the Great Gospel while you were inside the Lifestream?" Mario queried.
"There's no guarantee that it would work," came Aerith's answer. "The only reason I think it may work right now is because Great Gospel managed to cure Geostigma, which was an infection due to having Jenova cells, after Sephiroth was beaten during the Geostigma crisis."
"But if this works, Sephiroth will be dead without us having to go into the Lifestream, itself, to fight him?"
"Possibly," Aerith answered. "And even if Sephiroth isn't killed, we will still have cured the Lifestream of any Jenova infection and there's a real chance that the Lifestream, itself, may reject Sephiroth. At the very least, though, he'll be weakened since his own Jenova cells will have been destroyed."
"Why go all the way to Midgar, though?" came the plumber's next question.
"Because Midgar had a number of defunct Mako reactors, which means that there will be holes in the ground that will grant us direct access to the Lifestream, possibly the closest access to it besides a Mako cave or an abnormal welling at the surface," Aerith answered.
Seeing no better options at the moment, Mario looked over and to Dribble and Spitz and whistled and waved his hand to get Dribble and Spitz's attention. The duo heard his whistle and immediately went over to him. "What's up?" Dribble asked.
"Take us to Midgar as quickly as possible," the plumber answered. "We may still be able to salvage this situation and even beat Sephiroth if all goes well. I'm going to inform Luigi of the situation."
The others waited as Mario got out his satellite phone and dialed Luigi's number. After a couple of rings, the younger Mario Brother was heard on the other end of the line, answering, "Yes? What is it big bro?"
"Luigi, there may still be a chance for us to salvage this situation and even beat Sephiroth," Mario answered. "Aerith wishes to go to Midgar to use her Limit Break Great Gospel to try to cure the Lifestream of Sephiroth's Jenova infection. She did something similar to those in the material world with Jenova infections in the past. Best-case scenario, Sephiroth is destroyed as well. Worst case scenario, if this works, is that Sephiroth will still be weakened or possibly be fighting multiple enemies since he'll be dealing with both us and the newly cured Lifestream. Where are you right now?""
"I'm at the Starship Mario right now to salvage as many of our items as possible," Luigi answered. "Will you need us for this?"
Mario then looked over at Aerith and asked, "How much help will you need for your plan?"
"Technically none," Aerith answered. "It's just that if Sephiroth has some control of the Lifestream, he'll almost certainly use it to start mutating some animals into monsters or even recreate his so-called remnants to provide some support. There is also Bowser and his Koopas to worry about, too. Since Sephiroth will have control of the Lifestream, and they will have both Jenova cells and Mako, which is crystallized Lifestream, in them, they'll be far more susceptible to his influence, assuming he doesn't already have outright control of them. Still, it should take some time for monsters to start appearing, to say nothing of his remnants. If we hurry, we should be fine."
Mario then spoke back into the phone, "Not much. My party and I should be enough. You go salvage those supplies. If this doesn't work, we'll need everything we can get to have a chance at beating him."
It was then that Eldstar appeared before Mario and added, "Mario, this plan does not have a high probability of success. If it does, indeed, fail, you will need to train in order to use the power of the Stars, not just to increase your own strength and abilities, but also to be able to use the Stars to survive inside the Lifestream."
Mario nodded in acknowledgment. He then spoke into the phone and added, "Luigi, you might also want to start training in the use of those Stars. If this doesn't work, we'll need their power not just to beat Sephiroth, but also to survive inside the Lifestream where we'll be fighting him."
"Got it," the younger Mario Brother acknowledged.
Mario then hung up the phone. He then turned back to Eldstar and asked, "Is there anything else you can tell me that could help increase the chances of this plan working?"
"Only that if this plan fails or does not work as well as could, it might not just be because of Sephiroth's strength or the nature of the Lifestream," the Star Spirit answered. "Still, this is our best shot at the moment. You must hurry, for Aerith's supposition about monsters is not far off and the longer he is inside the Lifestream and the more control he has over it, the more control he will have over its own defenses and potential weapons that it can send forth."
"The Weapons," Aerith said distantly, remembering that the Lifestream had sent out giant monsters called Weapons after Sephiroth had summoned Meteor during the Meteorfall Crisis.
"What are they?" Mario asked.
"Giant monsters of enormous strength and power," Aerith answered. "I hope I managed to send them all away before leaving the Lifestream, fearing that something like this would happen, but if not, we will be facing off against some very powerful monsters, some of who were every bit as powerful as Sephiroth with a couple of them being even stronger."
"Oh," Mario answered. While he was not all that scared of the potential of facing the Weapons, the plumber having faced giant monsters in battle before, he was no fool and did not want to face down more enemies than he needed to.
With the discussions and planning having come to an end, Mario, his party, and Aerith headed over to the Dribble Taxi and entered, with Lady Bow, Flurrie, and Watt staying outside to follow the taxi by air so the others would have a place to sit. Once they had boarded the taxi, the car accelerated along the ground before taking off into the sky and heading back to Midgar.
Meanwhile, over at the outskirts of Junon, Bowser, his children and Kamek were within sight of the sprawling city. As they approached, Kamek drew out a guidebook and turned the page to the Junon section of it, wanting to know more about the city before entering it. As he studied the city, he noticed that there was a small town next to it referred to as Under Junon. It was also said that the massive airport had been built over Under Junon and blocked the sunlight from reaching the smaller town. These trivial facts did not interest the Magikoopa, though. The only thing that interested him and the others at the moment was the Mako reactor. Checking the book, he found that Junon had a massive underwater reactor that was also connected to a submarine base. Bowser soon noticed his chief sorcerer was studying the guidebook and went over to him.
"Hey Kamek, anything special noted in that guidebook?" the Koopa King asked.
"Possibly," Kamek answered. "The Mako reactor is underwater and is connected to a submarine base. While if we get it reactivated, it will be possible for us to get a large supply of Lifestream slash Mako, getting it up to the surface, much less into orbit or back home, will be far more difficult."
"So why not just use our Grand Star to open a portal back to Hylia inside the reactor?" Ludwig asked, looking over Kamek's shoulder at the information inside the book.
"Because without a computer of some sort, we won't be able to open a portal to a precise location unless said portal already exists or existed not too long ago," Kamek answered. "As such, we should have no problem opening a portal back to Hylia with this Grand Star if we simply reopen the portal that initially brought us here."
"So let's do it," Bowser exclaimed. "We should have no problem getting a sub and taking our Mako back up to the surface."
"But what about getting it up into orbit?" Kamek challenged.
"That's what the downed Starship Mario will be for," Bowser answered. "But let's not get ahead of ourselves. Right now, we need to focus on getting enough Mako for us to create our own Lifestream back on Hylia so we can use and create some Materia for my troops."
"Right," his children responded in unison.
As the group headed into the city, Bowser was beginning to realize that he actually knew the answer to a lot of the questions that had been asked by his children, as well as the answers to questions that he normally would have had. He did not dwell on this too deeply, though. He was just happy that circumstances were turning in his favor and that despite the losses he had suffered on this trip to Gaia, that the final outcome was looking more and more promising. And while a part of him wanted to be with Sephiroth at the moment, he knew that his place was in Junon, getting to that underwater reactor and reactivating its so as to draw in some Mako to create a new Lifestream on Hylia.
Before entering the city, though, Kamek took Bowser and the others aside for a moment and told them, "Before we enter the city, we should disguise ourselves so we don't draw too much attention. Mario and his friends may be preoccupied with Sephiroth at the moment but if they realize we're up to something in Junon, it won't be long before they send a party after us. And considering the outcome of our last battle against Mario and friends, I'd rather avoid any unnecessary combat against them at the moment."
Bowser and the others nodded vigorously in agreement, something that surprised Kamek and even began to trouble a part of him. While he had expected Bowser to eventually accept the need to enter the city using disguises, he had not expected Bowser to agree to it so quickly, or so vigorously, especially when he said the reason was in order to avoid being detected by Mario and his allies. Still, he did not dwell on this unexpected occurrence for long since they had a lot of work ahead of them, and not really all that much time in order to accomplish it.
With that, Kamek swished his wand and cast an illusion spell over Bowser and his children. A beam of light emerged from his wand and washed over the group and once it went out, instead of nine large Koopas standing before the chief sorcerer of the Koopa Kingdom, nine humans stood, though Bowser was easily recognizable by his large build and fiery red hair. Once the illusion was complete, Bowser and the others looked themselves over.
"Hmm, not bad," the Koopa King mused. "But I'll still be glad when I can shed this illusion." He then turned to Kamek and asked, "Anything else that guidebook says about the Mako reactor like how to get to it or if it's even a point of interest?"
"It does," Kamek answered. "The Mako reactor is, indeed, a tourist attraction, though it is currently closed due to maintenance so we shouldn't encounter anyone and it may even be some time before anyone notices that the reactor is even active."
"Assuming it's still able to be activated," Morton muttered.
"It should be," Kamek said, checking the guidebook. "It says here that they've done nothing to the reactor in the last five hundred years. The only issue should be the flow of the Lifestream. If it isn't flowing down the correct path, the Mako reactors won't be able to draw in any of the Lifestream."
"But it's over five hundred years old," Morton countered.
"That's the part that concerns me, too," Ludwig added.
"I wouldn't be too concerned about that," Bowser assured his children. "Don't ask me why, but I've got a good feeling that everything's gonna be just fine. All we need to do is get down to that reactor and reactivate it, and maybe use some magic to fix parts of it if necessary."
That was enough to assuage any doubts in the Koopalings and Bowser Jr. Once they were ready, the group headed on over to the elevator that would take them up to Junon, proper, so they could access the underwater reactor.
Meanwhile, in the Dribble Taxi, Aerith sat in silence as the taxi made its way over to Midgar. The ride would not take too long but Aerith still sat anxiously, wanting to arrive at Midgar as quickly as possible, for she did not want to waste any time, for even seconds were precious if she were to stop Sephiroth from taking over the Lifestream in its entirety. She could only hope that there were not any monsters in or near the Midgar ruins.
Looking over at Mario, she could see that the plumber was also anxious. Mario still sat silently but he was just as anxious as everyone else was. He was also not as confident that Aerith's plan was going to work as everyone else seemed to be and he was doing his best to come up with contingencies. So far, though, nothing seemed to have any real hope of success aside from Aerith's plan. Still, Aerith knew more about the Lifestream than anyone else in the cab.
"Hey Aerith," Mario began, looking over at her and jostling her out of her reverie. "What other options do we have if this plan doesn't work? Can Sephiroth still be beaten if this plan fails?"
It took a while for Aerith to answer, for she did not really know if it would be possible to beat Sephiroth if this plan failed. More importantly, she did not even know for certain that this plan would work. Eventually, she answered, "I don't know. The last time Sephiroth got this close, he was highly difficult to beat and only lost to Cloud because Cloud used his Limit Break. And that does not include the true final fight between the two where Sephiroth did not have the power of the Lifestream but was stronger than he had been before. Still, our only real chance is that since only a relatively small portion of the Lifestream came to aid Holy in holding back the falling ship, it will take time for Sephiroth to take full control of the Lifestream. Still, he should have more than enough control to utilize a variety of Summons or monsters that may form due to Mako poisoning."
Mario nodded in acknowledgement and the group continued to sit in silence. As for the other passengers, they were mostly checking on their remaining battle items and thinking about how they would approach another battle against Sephiroth, or what sort of monsters they may be forced to fight if he managed to take control of any monsters while they were busy reaching Midgar.
As expected, it did not take much longer for the taxi to reach Midgar. Once they reached Midgar, Aerith closed her eyes extended her senses, using her connection to the Lifestream to try to ascertain just how much of an influence Sephiroth had over it. She could feel that the former SOLDIER had a significant amount of control over the energy of the Lifestream, itself, at least in the northern part of the world, which did extend to Midgar and some ways south. However, she could feel that he was still busy spreading himself out enough to gain control over the rest of it. And the Lifestream was not going down without a fight. As expected, the Lifestream had already sent out the Weapons before Sephiroth could gain control of them. The only issue would be that since the Weapons were deployed without orders, they would fight anyone who happened to engage them in battle or pick a fight with them. For a fleeting moment, she considered broaching the subject of trying to find some of the Weapons and recruit them to their side but she thought better of it. The Weapons were strong, with both Ruby and Emerald Weapon being stronger than Sephiroth had been before his final battle against Cloud and Avalanche.
Mario looked over and saw Aerith deep in meditation and waited for her to open her eyes before getting an update. Once she did, though, he asked, "Anything we should know?"
"Sephiroth doesn't have complete control of the Lifestream yet but we have to hurry. It won't take long for him to get it and once he does, that's when we'll start noticing changes."
"To what?" Koops asked.
"Everything," the half-Cetra woman answered. "The environment will change, the flow of the Lifestream, weather, etcetera. There will also likely be a lot more monsters appearing as well."
"So we'll have to be ready for battle," Yoshi Kid said in eager anticipation.
Aerith nodded. She then gripped her Materia and prepared for her mission. It was not long before the taxi entered what was left of the Midgar. Looking out the window, she could see the aftermath of the battle Mario and Luigi had had against the former SOLDIER firsthand. Significant portions of the city seemed to have completely vanished, almost as if they had suffered direct hits from Meteor. She figured that Sephiroth had used Supernova in his battle against Mario and Luigi. She looked over at the plumber and gained even more respect for him. She was soon jostled from her reverie as Dribble went back to alert the party that they had entered Midgar.
"Hey everyone, get ready back there," the party heard Dribble alert them. "We've just entered Midgar. Is there anyplace in particular you want us to set down, miss?"
"Set us down near any of the formerly intact Mako reactors," Aerith directed, looking over the seat and out the windshield. She scanned the remains of the city to search for any Mako reactors that were intact enough for them to have a pathway to the Lifestream. Mario also looked out the window and soon found the very Mako reactor where he and Luigi had concluded their last battle against the former SOLDIER.
"There," Mario called out, pointing down at one of the Mako reactors.
"Where?" Dribble and Spitz asked in unison, looking out the windshield and windows and also checking their scanners.
"There," Mario answered, pointing at the Mako reactor below, which could barely be recognized as such due to the growing along its exterior. Still, Mario recognized it all too well. "That's where we fought Sephiroth before and where he jumped into the Lifestream. That's probably the best place for Aerith to try out her plan."
"Got it," the duo responded as they banked the cab down towards the Mako reactor. The cab landed several hundred meters away from the reactor and drove the necessary distance to the external entrance to the reactor before coming to a stop. Once the cab came to a stop, the doors opened and the party stepped out of the cab.
Once the party had exited the cab, Mario turned to the cabbies and told them, "Keep the engine warm. We don't intend to be here for too long. We'll contact you if things change. Also, I know this job is taking a lot longer than you expected but don't worry. We'll make sure it's worth it."
"Don't worry about it," Spitz told Mario. "We know that things are bad with this Sephiroth and Bowser. Just stop this Sephiroth guy ASAP."
"We will," Mario assured him. With that, the party went over to the Mako reactor and walked through the open entrance.
The interior of the Mako reactor was pitch black, prompting Mario to hold out his hand and generate a fireball using his Firebrand technique. Aerith raised her eyebrows at the sight, having suspected that Mario required the flower in his other hand to use fire techniques. Another thing she noticed was that the reactor was quiet. There was nothing here, not even the sound of insects scurrying across the floor, or even the sound of the structure settling. Still, despite the silence, or possibly because of it, everyone in the party save for Mario and Aerith were on edge.
Using the light from Mario's Firebrand, they followed the walkway that led to a ladder that took them down to another walkway. As they went down the ladder, the party looked down and saw large empty pools and storage areas that Mario suspected had once contained immense amounts of Mako. Once they reached the lower walkway, they followed it until they came to a ladder that led to a series of gray pipes. Carefully making their way down the ladder and across the pipes, they eventually reached a final ladder that led down to another walkway that was the lowest part of the reactor and would have taken them to the core. It was here where they finally found some natural light and color, a turquoise glow being given off from below.
Looking down over the edge of the walkway, the party found a massive pool of Mako flowing beneath them not too far from the surface.
"This wasn't here before," Mario noted, glancing at Aerith, knowing that this welling of the Lifestream was likely unnatural.
"Then we don't have any time to waste," Aerith answered, nodding, figuring that Sephiroth was likely the cause of the welling of the Lifestream, though hoping that it was the Lifestream, itself, doing its best to allow her plan the greatest chance of success.
She went close to the railing of the walkway and looked down into the river of Mako. She then looked up at the ceiling of the reactor and then closed her eyes and folded her hands in prayer. The moment she did so, she executed her Limit Break, Great Gospel, and it began to rain despite the fact that the party was indoors. Mario and his companions glanced at each other quizzically, wondering what was going on. As the rain continued to fall, though, the party began to feel rejuvenated, as if they had each eaten a Jelly Ultra and had gotten a good night's sleep. After a few moments, each party member nearly reveled in the rain as it continued. Mario glanced down into the river of Mako to see if it was giving off any reaction to the rain. So far, though, there seemed to be no change in the Mako, though the plumber did not know how any changes to the Lifestream would manifest. He then turned to Aerith, who was still praying, though he could tell that she seemed to be straining, almost as if she were fighting something, or someone.
"Aerith, are you alright?" he asked as he could see her begin to sweat and breathe heavily.
The half-Cetra woman gave no answer as she continued to struggle. The rest of the party members soon noticed that something was not right, despite the fact that the rain was continuing to fall.
"What's wrong?" Lady Bow asked as she could sense the half-Cetra woman struggling as she used her Limit Break. "Is there anything we can do to help?"
"No," they heard Aerith call out as she thrust out her hand, still breathing heavily. "I have to do this on my own. This is my ultimate Limit Break. It's just that there is so much of the Lifestream that has been infected by Sephiroth."
But even then, it was clear that things were not going as she had anticipated. This was more than Sephiroth's infection being greater than imagined. To the party, given what they were seeing, there was a question as to whether or not the healing rain was having any effect at all.
The group continued to stand by and wait as Aerith continued using Great Gospel, though it was clear that she was rapidly reaching her true limit. The others looked over the edge to see if there was any change in the river of Mako below but they could see nothing, though they would be the first to admit that they would have likely been oblivious to any changes in the Lifestream short of it directly changing color, something they figured would not be necessary if Sephiroth had direct control over it.
After a while, though, the rains gradually began to decrease. The steady stream of rain became a light shower, then a drizzle, and eventually, vanished altogether. Once the rains had stopped, Aerith slumped to the ground, exhausted and breathing heavily, a look of defeat etched on her face. The party immediately rushed over to her to see if she needed any help. When they reached her, they saw that she was not injured, merely tired. She then slumped over in defeat.
"I…failed," she managed to get out in between deep breaths.
"What happened?" Mario asked. "Were you not close enough? Did he resist?"
"No," Aerith answered. "The whole plan was doomed from the beginning. He's immune to this version of Great Gospel."
"What do you mean by immune?" Koops asked.
"He was immune to the effects of Great Gospel," Aerith said again. She then tried to explain it in terms they would understand, though Mario had a feeling he knew where this was going. "Despite the Calamity from the Skies, what you know as Jenova, having a definite physical form when it appeared, the truth was that Jenova was actually a virus that infected a host, usually a sentient one if it could find one, and would use that being to carry out its desires: mainly to infect and destroy all life on a planet and then use that planet, or a piece of it, to travel the cosmos searching for other planets where it can start the process over again.
"Five hundred years ago, at the end of the Geostigma crisis, I used Great Gospel to cure Geostigma, a disease caused by Jenova cells. Jenova, being a virus, however, mutates and adapts to problems, and it was something I should have planned for, especially since it was Jenova taken over by Sephiroth that I wiped out during that crisis."
"Meaning?" Yoshi Kid asked.
"Meaning that Sephiroth, who now has completely subsumed the will of Jenova and whose cells have all of the abilities that Jenova cells have, has adapted to the version of Great Gospel that I used to cure Geostigma five centuries ago."
"So is there anything we can do?" Admiral Bobbery asked.
"Yes," Aerith answered. "There is still a chance, though it is a slim one. And there may be other issue should any remnants of Jenova, or rather Sephiroth, survive this." She then took a breath before continuing, "I have to find another version of Great Gospel to use against Sephiroth. I initially learned the version I know from a tome I got from a weapon seller in Gongaga on the planet's Western Continent but that was five hundred years ago."
"You think you could find another variant of Great Gospel there?" Mario asked.
"It's highly unlikely that it would still be there," Aerith answered. "Still, it's better than nothing and there may still be a chance that someone there may know something."
Mario and the others agreed. They were about to depart when they felt the entire structure shake. Watt looked down at the river of Mako and noticed it begin to rise. "Uh, guys, we need to get out of here, right now!" Watt warned as she began to rush in the direction the group had come from.
It took the others a moment to realize what was happening before Mario looked down and saw the river of Mako rising. "The Mako level's rising!" he cried out to the others.
That was all that was needed to get the others to retrace their steps back to the Mako reactor's exit as quickly as possible. Mario stayed back to make sure that Aerith was not left behind, allowing the rest of his party to go forward.
"Bow, you and Flurrie get out of here as quickly as possible and tell Dribble and Spitz to ready their cab," Mario directed. "Yoshi, you can run fast, so you carry Admiral Bobbery. Koops' spin should allow him to keep up, too. I'll carry Aerith out of here. We'll be able to get out one way or the other."
The others nodded, with Admiral Bobbery jumping onto Yoshi Kid's back, while Lady Bow and Flurrie led the way, with Koops spinning after them. While the party members retraced their steps, Mario rose into the air and grabbed Aerith's hands. He then lifted her into the air and proceeded to make his way to a hole in the ceiling that had been blasted into it during his previous battle against Sephiroth. Flying up to the ceiling, he lifted Aerith through and kept rising until he was safely away from the reactor.
Once he was safely away, he flew over to the reactor's entrance to await the arrival of the rest of the party. It did not take long for the rest of the party to arrive. Bow was the first to emerge from the reactor, followed closely by Flurrie. Following them was Watt, with Yoshi Kid and Admiral Bobbery coming hot on their heels. The final party member to emerge was Koops. Once the party had safely emerged from the reactor, they rushed over to the Dribble Taxi, whose doors were already open. The ground-bound allies rushed into the taxi while the aerial allies just kept flying as fast as they could away from the reactor. The moment the last one was in, they slammed the door closed and the taxi took off just as the Lifestream erupted from the reactor, seemingly consuming it, and flowed down the sides, rushing towards the area that the taxi had inhabited mere moments earlier. Once they were safely away, Bow, Flurrie, and Watt formed up on the cab. The party looked down at the reactor, or now, the lake of Lifestream that had consumed it and were thankful that they had not been enveloped by it, Aerith more than anyone since she knew the effects of Mako poisoning since Cloud had suffered Mako poisoning twice. Either way, with nothing left to do in Midgar.
"I take it things didn't go well?" Spitz asked, looking back at the passengers.
"It could be better, but it could also be worse," Mario answered. "As you can see, Great Gospel wasn't able to cure the Lifestream but we may have another option. Aerith believes that the reason her plan didn't work was because Sephiroth had adapted to it like a virus or bacteria mutating and becoming resistant to antibiotics or vaccines."
"I hope that another tome containing Great Gospel may have a variant that Sephiroth has not seen or had a chance to adapt to yet," Aerith added.
"Where do you think this tome is?" Dribble asked, figuring that the answer would be their next destination.
"I don't know for sure," Aerith answered. "But we can start our search at the Weapon Seller's house in the Gongaga Area, just east of the town of Gongaga. The house is located in the eastern-most portion of the area. It is surrounded by beaches so it should not be hard to find. If we're lucky, the tome will be there, but I wouldn't bet any money on it."
"So, the Gongaga Area it is," Dribble and Spitz confirmed.
Aerith and Mario nodded. "I'll also call Luigi to inform him of the situation and see how many supplies he was able to salvage from the ship."
As he went to make the call, the taxi continued on its course to the Gongaga Area. As for the rest of the party, they proceeded to get as much rest as possible, knowing they would need it since they did not know what would be waiting for them in the Gongaga Area.
Meanwhile, over at the crash site of the Starship Mario, Luigi and the others were gathering the supplies they could into boxes, chests and even their pockets. Luigi was thankful that he had a Strange Sack with him that magically allowed him to hold a great number of items, for his pockets were currently bursting with super-power items that he knew would be needed for the eventual fight against Sephiroth and any allies the silver-haired fighter may have gained in the meantime.
He had just put down a small chest containing a Life Shroom and a Jelly Ultra when he heard his satellite phone ring. Getting out the phone, he answered it, saying, "Hi big bro, what's up? Did the plan succeed?"
"No," he heard Mario answer on the other side of the line. "However, we may have another chance. Aerith thinks that another variant of Great Gospel might be able to cure the Lifestream of Sephiroth and his infection. We're hoping to find a lead in the Gongaga Area. If it's alright with you, though, I'd like to talk to Nanaki. Maybe he's heard something that can help us."
"Sure," Luigi answered. He then turned to Nanaki and called, "Hey Nanaki, Mario wants to talk with you. It's about a potential second plan to get rid of Sephiroth and his infection of the Lifestream."
Nanaki immediately stopped what he was doing and went over to Luigi. Luigi held the phone to the quadruped's ear and the creature said, "I'm here. What's the situation and how can we help?"
"Aerith's initial plan failed," Mario began. "However, she theorizes that it was because Sephiroth had already adapted to the version of Great Gospel that she used to cure Geostigma."
"That makes sense," Nanaki interjected. "Especially if Jenova was a virus and Sephiroth is using his own cells similarly to Jenova."
"Well, Aerith thinks that another variant of Great Gospel might actually be able to cure the Lifestream of its Jenova, slash, Sephiroth infection."
"That could work," Nanaki said with a note of anticipation in his voice. "Do you have any idea where another Great Gospel tome might be?"
"Actually, that's why I wanted to talk with you," Mario answered. "We were hoping that you might have some insights to that. So far, we're going to start our search at the Weapon Seller's house where Aerith got her last Great Gospel tome. If you know something, though, we could make a beeline to any location you could think of and possibly save us a trip."
Nanaki paused for a moment as he thought back to any strange news that may have popped up that could have helped with Mario's quest. He could not think of anything, though. "I can't think of anything at the moment. If anything comes to me, though, I'll let you know."
"Thanks," Mario answered and Luigi then took the phone back.
"Hey bro, is there anything we can do to help in the meantime?"
"Just get the supplies you can to a safe location that we can set up as a base of operations," Mario answered. "Given that the Lifestream welled up from underneath Midgar and all but consumed one of the Mako reactors there, I could easily see it doing the same with you near North Crater."
"Okay big bro, thanks for the alert," Luigi answered as he hung up the phone. Nanaki then came over to talk to him.
"I couldn't help but overhear what Mario said on the phone," the leonine creature told Luigi. "I think I might be able to help in finding a safe area. Assuming Kalm is off limits due to its proximity to Midgar, I would actually suggest either Fort Condor or Cosmo Canyon. Granted Cosmo Canyon is on the Western Continent and Fort Condor is on the Eastern Continent, closer to Midgar and Junon, where Bowser was headed, but Cosmo Canyon is my home and you'll find safety there. In addition, there's no Mako reactor in Cosmo Canyon so it's not as likely that we'd run the risk of Mako flooding the town. In addition, we have a large amount of Mako there that we salvaged from the Geostigma Crisis and our final battle against Sephiroth. Aerith and I would be able to use it against Sephiroth and any allies he may either find or create."
"Sounds like a plan," Luigi answered. "The only problem will be getting there since the ship is down and the Dribble Taxi is our only current means of transport."
Nanaki gave a sigh as Luigi slumped over, deciding to take a breather until Goombario came rushing over to him. "Hey Luigi," the Goomba called. When he arrived, he stopped for a moment to catch his breath.
"What is it?" the plumber asked.
"Luigi, we've gone over everything with starship and we found that the Launch Star was still functional," Goombario explained eagerly. "We can use it to get to Mario, go to Junon, or anywhere else we may need to go to try to stop Sephiroth. Also, how did the plan go?"
"Starting with the plan, they didn't manage to cure the Lifestream of Sephiroth's infection," Luigi answered. "However, they do have a promising lead on something that might be able to help them do that. Mario wants us to take the supplies we can to a safe location. How's the computer and can it still pinpoint locations on the planet for the Launch Star to launch us to?"
"Yeah," Goombario answered excitedly. "Where do you want us to go?"
"Right now, we'll go to Cosmo Canyon to establish a base and a storage area for our supplies. It's not near a Mako reactor so it's not as likely to get overrun by Mako welling to the surface. Anything else on the ship work?"
"No," Goombario replied, shaking his head. "That attack totally destroyed the engines and the ventral part of the ship really was really crumpled and smeared due to the impact. Without magic, I don't think this ship will ever fly again."
"What about its Power Stars and Grand Stars?"
"We still have those," Goombario answered. "And they should allow us to make return trips to and from the crashed ship," he added.
"Then let's get started taking the supplies to Cosmo Canyon and setting up our makeshift base," Luigi declared. And he went over to pick up the chest he had just set down in order to take it to Cosmo Canyon.