Chapter 20:
Without warning, a barrage of lightning bolts lashed out at Aerith's party and struck each of them squarely in the chest. Given the fact that she was a ghost and had some magical defense, she did not suffer fatal damage. However, the bolts still hurt and she was forced back several feet, stunned but not taken out of the fight. Ms. Mowz suffered worse, though, since she did not have much in the way of magical defenses. A lightning bolt caught her squarely in the chest and electricity arced across her body and she was rendered unconscious, but not killed, from the attack, the rising and falling of her chest indicating that she was still alive. Aerith, having the greatest magical defenses of the group, suffered the least amount of damage from the attack. Still, the bolt of lightning that struck her did inflict damage and cause her to fall to one knee before it ended.
While the party was stricken, a ninja, or what the party thought was a ninja, emerged from cover and drew his sword, intending to finish off Aerith before she could recover. Before the ninja could strike, though, Bow, having recovered from the attack on her, rushed the ninja and smacked him with her fan. The attack did not inflict much damage, but it did manage to knock him away from Aerith, allowing her to recover and stand up and counterattack with a swing of her staff, managing to catch her attacker squarely in the side. The strike forced him back several steps before he recovered and assumed a fighter's stance. His two comrades soon joined him and it was then that Aerith could feel something different about these ninjas. They reeked of Jenova and Mako, something none of the ninjas had during the orientation meeting before the current phase of the tournament had begun, indicating that these were not ninjas, but clones or copies of Sephiroth disguised as ninjas. Before continuing the fight, she cast Arise on Ms. Mowz, reviving the unconscious Squeek at full health. The Squeek promptly rose from the ground and formed up with Aerith and Lady Bow to face down the three ninjas standing before them, though even she could tell that there was something off about the ninjas.
"These aren't ninjas," Aerith informed the rest of the party. "These are likely clones of Sephiroth. They're not likely as strong as he is but don't underestimate them. They are not pushovers."
The others nodded as they prepared themselves for a far more difficult battle than they had anticipated.
The opposing "ninjas" did not drop their disguises and merely drew their swords and grinned underneath their hoods. The party could see two jewels imbedded in the hilts of each sword, indicating that they were equipped with Materia. They knew that they had a physical advantage against Aerith and her party should it come down to a physical fight. However, they also knew that Aerith's magic reserves would make it so that this battle would not be a pushover and that the noise could attract unwanted attention. They knew they had to finish this fight as quickly as possible and preferably engaging the team in close combat. The only issue with that plan would be the Boo, which they knew had to be taken out with magic.
To that end, two of the clones charged towards Aerith and Ms. Mowz while a third stayed back to cover them. Aerith noticed that the third ninja had two Materia pieces imbedded into the hilt of his sword, one of them being the Knights of Round Materia, which was likely not useful now since it looked small enough that it was still considered young, with the second being a piece of Magic Materia. The first thing the third clone did was mutter, "Shield," as a barrier formed over his body. The clone grinned since he would now be immune to any physical attack or elemental magic spell, meaning that he would only be vulnerable to attack items that did not carry an element associated with them, or non-elemental magical spells. Fortunately, for Aerith, though, she still had access to her Comet Materia and had enough magic left to cast either Comet or Cometeor several more times. In addition, while the rest of Ms. Mowz's attack items were elemental in nature, Bow still had a Shooting Star in her arsenal. However, she still went to inform the party of the situation since she saw Ms. Mowz drawing out a Thunder Rage to use against the Sephiroth clones.
"Wait," she cautioned, holding out her hand as she ducked the slash of one of the clones and blocked another. "Shield protects whoever it is cast on from all physical attacks, as well as all elemental spells. Only non-elemental attack items and non-elemental magic will work on that third clone."
"But the other two will still be affected?" Ms. Mowz queried.
Aerith nodded. That was good enough for the Squeek as she immediately activated the Thunder Rage, hoping to inflict some damage on the approaching clones, and hopefully manage to paralyze one of them so it could a three-on-two battle since newer models of the item could potentially paralyze enemies. Lightning rained down upon the Sephiroth clones, striking them in the head with electricity arcing across the bodies of the two clones attacking Aerith. The bolts of lightning did not paralyze them but did manage to inflict moderate damage comparable to what a blast of Thundaga would. And even though the bolts of lightning did not paralyze the clones, they did stun them for long enough for Aerith to retreat so she could form up with Bow and Ms. Mowz and also use her magic.
As for the third Sephiroth clone, though, the lightning struck him but inflicted no damage to him whatsoever, just as Aerith had expected. He shrugged it off and grinned through his hood, though Aerith could almost sense his grin as if he had not been wearing anything over his face and he was in clear sight. He knew that the heroes did not have the power to beat all three of them. Aerith had used a lot of magic earlier to deal with both opposing ninjas as well as the Knights of Round. She had to be running low on magic. For her part, Aerith looked past the other two clones and focused on the one that was hanging back, wanting to finish him off as quickly as possible so he would not be able to cast Shield over the rest of his party and make an already difficult fight all but hopeless.
In order to have the best chance of victory, she directed the others, "Focus on the two clones. I'll deal with the third one."
"But what he casts that Shield spell over one of the others," Ms. Mowz asked, her concern evident, as was the fact that she did not think she could beat a clone of Sephiroth in a physical fight.
"That's what any non-elemental attack items are for," Aerith answered.
"And if that fails?" Bow asked.
"Then hope that someone hears our battle and is willing to help," Aerith answered quietly.
The others nodded as they steeled themselves for the fight ahead. The first went towards Aerith, the half-Cetra being their primary, and only real, target. The half-Cetra woman held up her staff and managed to intercept a slash from one of the clones while sidestepping a stab from another. While the two clones were distracted, Bow and Ms. Mowz joined the fight.
The Boo rushed the clone to Aerith's right and just as the clone had pulled his sword back to thrust it at Aerith's chest, Bow drew out her fan and smacked him in the head. The impact of her smack inflicted more damage than either Bow or the clone had anticipated, since the smack dazed him and caused him to stumble a few steps backwards. Still, smack did not inflict nearly enough damage to the clone for him to consider a retreat and he was quick to recover and chose to focus his attention on the ghost, which was actually what Bow wanted.
As for the other clone, he was launching another assault on Aerith, stabbing and slashing at the woman, keeping Aerith on defense when Ms. Mowz joined the fray. Getting behind the clone, she spun around rapidly, whipping her tail and catching the clone in the legs. Her tail whip caused the clone to lose his footing and fall to the ground. Both Aerith and Ms. Mowz took advantage of the clone's stricken position and unleashed an assault on him, Aerith smashing her staff into his head repeatedly while Ms. Mowz continued to slap him, the hoping that the cumulative damage would be sufficient to finish him off.
As for the third Sephiroth clone, he was watching the battle and studying the strategies and fighting styles of Aerith's party members. So far, they had not launched an attack on him but he was not doing much to attack, either, being content to study them, for any information he gathered here would immediately be relayed back to Sephiroth, giving him a heads up on how Mario's allies fought and what their abilities were. He had not been surprised by Bow's ability to make enemies intangible since Bowser had told them about that ability of hers. He was more surprised at the ghost's attack strength with the fan. While fans were not considered strong weapons on Gaia, the Boo's fan seemed to give her noticeable attack power, far more than her build would have indicated. Still, it seemed like a weapon that was great against unarmored opponents, but could be neutered against even medium armored opponents and outright negated against heavily armored opponents. He almost winced as she hit her opponent with another series of fan smacks.
Looking at Ms. Mowz, he could tell that she was a thief. Bowser had not had much information on her so there was little that Sephiroth had learned about her besides the fact that she was a thief and seemed to have a sultry personality. He did not see any of her sultry personality in this fight, though. He did see a thief, but he also saw someone who could have also been an assassin in another time, in another life. She did not look strong physically but that did not necessarily mean very much for the denizens of Bowser's world. Still, knowing the feelings and experiences of the other clones, he knew that the party members were not as strong as Aerith and that they were no real threat to them. Once their attack items were used up, they would be all but defenseless. Aerith was the real threat. And since the others were not strong enough to really be a threat to them, they could focus solely on her.
To that end, he went to support the others by casting Shield over the clone that was being battered by Aerith and Ms. Mowz. Knowing the status of the clone, he knew that Aerith's assault had inflicted noticeable damage on him, as had the initial Thunder Rage attack, but he was in no real danger of dying so the Shield would not be wasted on him. The moment he cast the spell, an opaque barrier soon formed over the clone and Aerith's staff simply bounced off of the shield, the shield flaring a bright electric blue with each impact. Ms. Mowz's slaps also bounced off of the shield, the Squeek giving a squeak of pain as her hand touched the barrier, shocking her. The third clone quickly cast Shield over himself as well so as to protect him from any reprisal since his own shield had just worn off. Once that was done, he went to cast Shield on the clone fighting Lady Bow as well so the entire team would be protected. Once the Shield was cast over the clone fighting Bow, her fan bounced off of the shield, which flared its bright blue upon taking a hit.
Aerith and the others were forced to fall back and consider their options. With Shield being up on all three clones, they knew that their normal attacks and elemental spells would not be able to do any damage to them. Bow went to try to touch Aerith and Ms. Mowz so they could go intangible and try to time out Shield before going back on the offensive, but the clones they were fighting cast Thundaga and Firaga on the party. Bolts of lightning rained down on Bow, Ms. Mowz, and Aerith and she was forced to use Curaga on both Bow and Ms. Mowz so the assault would not kill them. This, however, meant that she was forced to take both attacks without being able to shield herself. Had her magical defenses not been as strong as they were, she would have died. However, it would take more than a single Thundaga and Firaga to kill her, especially since she was able to avoid the flaming pillars of Firaga and only took damage from the Thundaga. Still, the damage was extensive and she could feel that she was on her last legs. Fortunately, she could feel her limit breaking and she knew that she could cast Great Gospel now to heal herself and her party, as well as make them temporarily invulnerable.
Folding her hands in prayer, she looked up and light began to shine through the canopy of trees and it began to rain. The moment the raindrops fell onto Aerith and the other party members, they could feel the rain washing away all pain and fatigue from the fighting they had been doing. Waves of healing energy washed over them and to Ms. Mowz and Lady Bow, it was as if they had just awakened from a good night's sleep and had a great breakfast. Even more, though, they could feel a shield forming over them. Even more, despite not being of this world, they knew that while the shield was up, they were completely invulnerable to anything the clones of Sephiroth could throw at them. The battle had turned once more.
For their part, the clones of Sephiroth merely grimaced as Aerith used Great Gospel and she and her party were rejuvenated. A part of them was surprised that she would use Great Gospel again and risk the clones managing to discover a secret to it. However, they also could tell that Aerith was getting desperate. She had been using a lot of magic so she needed something that would allow her to replenish her lost magic and also help heal her allies. Either way, it was now a waiting game to see whose shield would fall first. The only problem the clones had was that they were still vulnerable to non-elemental magical attacks and items, something that at the very least Aerith still had.
Lady Bow and Ms. Mowz stayed back as Aerith stepped forward to deal with the Sephiroth clones and do her best to take advantage of her invulnerability before it wore off. She began her assault by casting Cometeor on the clones, knowing that it was likely that the first two would be the ones to take the brunt of the assault. Flaming meteors rained down from the sky and landed among the clones, the first two taking most of the barrage with only a few managing to hit the third clone. The clones grunted with each hit and, indeed, the first clone, the one that had taken a sustained physical assault from Aerith and Ms. Mowz, came out worse for the wear, his robes being all tattered and torn. Aerith could even see streaks of red coming down the exposed part of the clone's face. Having no other real options at the moment, Aerith continued her assault by using Cometeor again. Again, more meteors rained down from the sky and landed among the clones. The other two clones, seeing the attack coming this time, managed to go evasive and were able to limit the damage the sustained from the attack. The first clone, though, was not so lucky.
As if sensing his weakness, the Cometeor barrage seemed to zero in on him more than the other clones. After the first few meteors fell among the second and third clones, only inflicting minimal damage to the two clones, the rest of the meteors focused solely on the first clone. Meteor after meteor scored direct hits on the stricken clone, his Shield barrier being of no use against non-elemental spells.
Seeing that the first clone was on his last legs, Aerith was about to finish him off with another barrage of Cometeor when the unthinkable, for the clones, happened: their shields vanished and they were vulnerable to normal attacks once more. Wasting no time, Aerith and the others converged on the clone and unleashed a blistering physical assault on him with Aerith repeatedly hitting him with her staff while Lady Bow struck her with her fan and Ms. Mowz struck the clone in the back of the head. The combined assault was too much for the clone to take and he eventually fell to the ground. Not giving him time to recover, the group continued their assault until turquoise sparkles began to rise from the body, indicating that the clone had perished. Aerith and the others backed away as the body broke down and was reduced to turquoise sparkles that slowly rose into the air and dispersed after a few seconds. After a few moments had passed, the clone's body was gone, leaving nothing behind, not even the robes or any items or equipment that Aerith had figured they had taken from the ninjas they were impersonating. Still, they would take this victory. One clone was gone with only two remaining.
The two remaining clones gave no reaction as they saw the first clone fall to the combined assault. His loss was an acceptable loss since there were three of them and while Aerith's party now outnumbered them, Aerith was restricted to using magic intensive attack spells like Cometeor to inflict damage should they cast Shield once more, which was the first thing the third clone did. And to make matters worse for Aerith and her party, the invulnerability granted to her by Great Gospel had come to an end and she and her party were vulnerable once more.
The third clone cast Shield over himself once more while the second one stayed behind the third one, not wanting to engage the heroes in a physical fight until he was immune to their attacks since while he was stronger than any of the party members, Aerith's magic could still inflict noticeable damage to them. After the third clone cast Shield over himself, he promptly went to cast Shield over the second clone as Aerith and the others were closing in on them, Aerith wanting to conserve her magic since she knew she was going to be doing the heavy lifting during the remainder of this fight. Aerith reached the second clone and swung her staff at his head the moment Shield was cast over him. The staff bounced off of the shimmering barrier that formed over his body and the half-Cetra woman was forced to back away and make this a ranged battle.
To try to give Aerith some time to catch her breath, and to save her a use of Cometeor, Lady Bow drew out a Shooting Star and raised it over her head. Upon activating it, a barrage of stars rained down from the sky. Since the stars did not have an element associated with them, Shield was useless against them and the stars phased through them and scored direct hits on the two clones, the barrage having comparable power to Cometeor. The clones grimaced from the hits as they inflicted significant damage to them, but the stars were not sufficient to finish off the clones; and they were quick to retaliate.
Knowing that Bow could make Aerith and the others intangible again, the second clone decided to perform a quick cast of Thundaga before she could do so. Bolts of lightning rained down on the party once more, Aerith doing her best to cover Ms. Mowz so the Squeek did not take as many bolts as the other two, knowing that she was more vulnerable to magical attacks than either her or Bow. Still, all three suffered noticeable damage from the attacks and Aerith was forced to cast Curaga on the party twice in order to heal each of them. Looking ahead, she saw that the clones were taking no actions against her, being perfectly content to attack from afar and force her to use up her magic to keep her party alive or even revive someone should they be rendered unconscious or even killed. After all, it seemed as if their magical reserves were far greater than hers so in a battle of attrition, she would lose.
Looking over at Bow and Ms. Mowz, she asked, "Do either of you have any more of those Shooting Stars or any other non-elemental attack items?"
Both Ms. Mowz and Lady Bow shook their heads. "No," Bow answered. "That Shooting Star was my last one."
Aerith grimaced, for she could clearly see the strategy the remaining clones were using. Even without Shield, they were more than a match for any of them physically so they were doing their best to have her use up all of her magical energy, knowing that if they did so, they would have an easy path to victory. To make matters worse, though, she did not know how much magical energy the clones had, assuming they even had any limits and were not constantly being fed magical energy by Sephiroth. Either way, she knew that she would lose a battle of attrition.
She stood in front of Bow and Ms. Mowz as one of the clones cast Thundaga once more. Aerith and the others grimaced as they endured the assault and electricity arced across their bodies. This time, though, Aerith cast Cometeor in response, hoping that the clones were on their last legs and would not last that much longer, considering that the first clone had recently fallen and had not suffered exponentially more damage than the other two, she hoped that the battle would end soon and in their favor.
The meteors rained down on the two remaining clones and they grunted as the meteors scored direct hits on them and exploded, throwing up clouds of dirt and debris. While the clones were obscured by the dust cloud thrown up by the explosions, Aerith took this opportunity to use Cure on Ms. Mowz, Lady Bow, and herself so they would survive any retaliation by the clones. Still, she could feel her magical reserves begin to wane. She would not be able to cast many more Cometeors, or heal herself and/or her allies if the clones cast Thundaga or even managed to score hits with Firaga.
As the dust cleared, Aerith saw that the clones were beginning to look a little ragged from her last Cometeor barrage and their Shield barriers were gone. Still, they were not beaten yet, not by a long shot. The clones retaliated by unleashing a barrage of Firaga pillars at the party, forcing them to go evasive in order to avoid taking damage. This was followed by the second clone casting Thundaga on the party. Fortunately, though, Lady Bow was able to grab Aerith and Ms. Mowz and make them intangible in order to avoid the lightning bolts and Firaga pillars as they converged on the party. Still, despite the fact that the fire was not inflicting any damage on them, the party members could feel the temperature rising and Bow suddenly realized that the air's temperature was rapidly becoming too hot to handle. The party had to suppress grunts and even screams as the temperature continued to increase until the Firaga pillars went out and the air temperature began to cool once more.
Bow and the others breathed a sigh of relief as the pillars of flame went out, allowing the air to slowly cool to the point where they were not in danger of being burned simply by the ambient temperature of the air. Still, the attack had done a number on her and she let go of the two so Aerith could hopefully finish off the clones with her magic before the clones outlasted them. Looking the few feet across their battlefield, though, they could see the clones grinning as if they knew that they had won.
The third clone promptly cast Shield over himself while his partner cast another barrage of Thundaga on the stricken party. The lightning bolts scored direct hits on the party and knocked them to the ground, electricity arcing across their bodies as they fell. The clones grinned as they saw their three opponents go down. They could feel it. Aerith had reached her limits. She cast Curaga on Lady Bow to try to heal the Boo at least so Bow could make them intangible again but as she did so, another barrage of lightning bolts rained down upon the party. The bolts scored more hits on her, Bow, and Ms. Mowz.
After the assault, she looked over at Ms. Mowz and saw her lying still on the ground, the only signs of life from the Squeek being the rising and falling of her chest. Good, at least Ms. Mowz was still alive. Looking at Bow, she saw that the Boo had not taken as much damage as Ms. Mowz and was still floating in the air, but her floating was unsteady, almost as if she was struggling to stay in the air. As for herself, Aerith could feel that she was on her last legs. She only had enough magical energy to cast Raise once, which she did on Ms. Mowz. As Ms. Mowz felt the healing energy wash over her, she slowly and unsteadily rose but knew that they were just staving off the inevitable. Aerith's magical reserves had run out and they had no more non-elemental attack items left, along with no items that would restore her magical energy. Even if Shield wore off of the clones, they were still physically strong enough to defeat the party in a physical fight, despite being outnumbered.
The clones saw the stricken party members and grinned. They had them. This fight was over. However, before they could launch their final assault and finish off Aerith, a barrage of stars rained down upon them from an unknown source and scored direct hits on them. They grunted with each hit and grimaced since Shield was useless, indicating that a non-elemental magical attack or attack item had been used. That narrowed down the list of potential attackers greatly. Turning to their rear, they found Mario standing before them, along with Vivian and Goombella.
The clones were not surprised to see the plumber but they still seethed at his arrival and that of his party. They had come so close to killing Aerith and neutralizing her threat. However, they were not dead yet and they knew that a single casting of Thundaga focused on the half-Cetra woman would be enough to ensure that Sephiroth could never be defeated permanently. However, before they could cast the spell, Goombella held up a Shooting Star and another barrage of stars rained down upon the two clones. This barrage was enough to finish them off, the first half of the barrage knocking them to the ground with the latter half finishing them off. The moment the barrage ended, the clones' bodies began to fade away and turn into turquoise sparkles of energy that floated up for a few seconds before eventually dispersing and vanishing, leaving behind only the two Thunder scrolls they had, along with the Knights of Round Materia as well as the Shield Materia that they had used to such great effecting the battle, which were promptly picked up by Mario and his party.
Once the danger had past, Mario scanned the area for Aerith and, finding her lying on the ground, called out to her as he rushed to help her, "Aerith, are you alright?"
It too ka few moments for the half-Cetra woman to respond but eventually, she was able to croak in answer, "I'll live if that's what you mean." It was clear, though, that she was in no condition to fight should any of the other ninja teams come and attack.
The plumber nodded and immediately administered a Jelly Ultra to her. The moment she ate the Jelly Ultra, she could feel a healing and rejuvenating energy spread throughout her body. She immediately rose and tested gripped her staff, testing her gripping strength and finding that it had returned. What's more, she could feel at much of her magical energy being replenished. Once she was healed, the plumber then went over to Bow and Ms. Mowz and gave them both Jelly Ultras as well. Once they had eaten the jelly mushrooms, both party members were rejuvenated and bounced back up with a newfound spring in their step and floating.
Once the party was rejuvenated, Mario promptly handed Aerith the treasures that were obtained from the enemy "ninjas": one of the Thunder scrolls, keeping the other for his team, the Shield Materia and the red Materia he did not recognize as the Knights of Round Materia.
"Here," he told her. "I think you can use these."
He also handed her the Materia pieces he had obtained during his journey through the mountains and forest since he had no use for it. He also gave her his extra Fire scroll so she would have the complete set. For her part, Aerith handed over her extra Blizzard scroll to Mario so he had a complete set.
"Looks like we both have a complete set," she commented as she put away her scrolls and attached the Materia pieces to her staff that would fit, making certain to put certain Materia pieces in the linked slots so it would be more effective in battle, while putting the other pieces in her pocket. "Come on. We should head over to that pagoda now before any other ninja teams try to accost us."
Mario checked his phone and found that while it was not close to nightfall, it would be a good idea to try to get to the pagoda as quickly as possible so they could move on to the next phase of the tournament. After all, they did not need any more scrolls and he had no use for Materia and, looking over at Aerith, figured that she had all the Materia she could use and store at the moment. Plus, they had plenty of Materia back in Cosmo Canyon. With nothing further to do here, the two teams began their trek to the pagoda on the other side of the forest.
As they made their way through the forest, Aerith regaled Mario with the story of her battle against the Sephiroth clones, letting him know that the ninjas he and his team had finished off had, in fact, been Sephiroth clones and that they had used a powerful Summon called the Knights of Round. Mario had wondered if the Knights of Round were like the Knights of the Round Table and had asked Aerith the same question. Aerith had told him that Ms. Mowz had asked her the same question. Mario then told her of the Earth Legend of King Arthur, his Knights of the Round Table, and of Camelot. After hearing the story, Aerith could see the similarities, at least in appearances, between the Knights of Round and the Knights of the Round Table.
After the conversation with Aerith, Mario silently called upon Eldstar and the Star Spirits to tell them the situation regarding the Sephiroth clones and to tell them to inform him and the others if they sensed the approach of anything or anyone strange. He also asked them if they had sensed anything strange about the planet as a whole.
"Things are changing steadily but it does not feel as if the planet is completely under Sephiroth's control just yet," Eldstar reported. "While we haven't extended our senses very far, it does seem as if Sephiroth is preoccupied with something. Given that he sent clones after us, he does know about our quest to get another Great Gospel tome, and given that he's focused on trying to kill us, I guess that the supposition that it possibly being able to stop him is valid."
"So why not send more?" Lady Bow asked. "Those three clones nearly destroyed our party. If he sent some more, he may get lucky and kill one or more of us, possibly even Mario or Aerith if they got really lucky."
"Probably because Sephiroth either doesn't have full control over the Lifestream or because he's preoccupied with something else?" Skolar answered, appearing from behind Mario.
"But what else would he be preoccupied with?" Goombella asked.
"Bowser," Eldstar, Skolar, and Mario answered in unison. Mario, the Star Spirits and his allies did not like the fact that they had heard nothing of the Koop King or his family but a part of them was thankful that Bowser was keeping quiet. It was allowing them to focus on destroying Sephiroth and present a united front against the former SOLDIER without having to divide their forces against multiple targets.
The group continued to make their way to the pagoda on the other end of the forest, each person in the group keeping their eyes and ears open for any signs of opposing ninja teams trying to ambush them. So far, though, they had not encountered any other ninja teams trying to come after them. Some of the party members wondered if most, if not all, of the other teams had actually been taken out by the Sephiroth clones. Mario and Aerith doubted that since the clones' primary target would likely be Sephiroth and/or Mario and searching for and killing the other ninja teams would not help them in that. All they needed was to disguise themselves as ninjas, meaning that at most, they only needed to take out one team.
The rest of the trip to the pagoda was surprisingly uneventful. They encountered none of the other remaining ninja teams, or the teams that they had taken any extra scrolls from, either. The group figured that the teams were going after easier marks. Either way, the way to the pagoda was clear, and it did not take long for them to spot it in the distance.
The group still kept their guard up as they approached the pagoda. This was a ninja tournament after all and the path that led to the pagoda was the perfect place for an ambush considering it was lined with trees of various heights, allowing for quick hit and run attacks. Still, as the two teams made their way to the pagoda, they walked up to it unmolested in any way.
When they reached the pagoda, they found a duo of samurai guarding the entrance. Looking at the floors above, the group easily spotted several areas where hidden guards could rain fire down on anyone who attempted any unauthorized entry to the pagoda. As they approached, the samurai moved to block the door, holding out their swords.
"Show us your authorization to pass," one of the samurai guards demanded.
The two teams then drew out their scrolls and showed them to the guards, though they did not open them yet. Upon showing the guards the scrolls, the guards stood aside and allowed them to pass but took no further action. The group approached the door and saw the there was an electronic lock on it, something that surprised them. Remembering what the shogun had said during the introduction to this stage of the tournament, though, they felt that they should not have been surprised. They drew out their scrolls and opened them. On the Fire scroll were the numbers 1, 5, and 6; on the Blizzard scroll were 2, 3, and 7; and on the Thunder scroll were 4,8, and 9. Mario went to enter the numbers as they appeared on the scroll, inputting the Fire scroll's numbers first, then the Blizzard scroll's numbers, and finally the Thunder scroll's numbers. Once they did so, the door to the pagoda opened granting them access. With that, the two teams entered the pagoda.
The interior of the pagoda was furnished with luxurious carpets, some tables, and chairs, almost certainly put out for the participants that made it through the current stage of the tournament. There were also paintings on the wall, showing scenes of battle and regal images of various shoguns of the past, as well as pictures of the Avalanche group. In addition, there was a small wall-mounted television in the corner that Mario was quick to notice.
Looking around the inside of the pagoda, Mario, Aerith, and the others saw that they were the first teams to have made it inside, as there were no other teams present, only four samurai and the shogun. The moment the party entered, the shogun and the other samurai stood and nodded towards Mario, Aerith, and their teams, each of who presented their scrolls to show that they had, indeed, gained entry legitimately. The shogun and his guards came over and examined each of the six scrolls before nodding and telling Mario and Aerith, "Alright, you guys pass and have made it on to the next round. Wait here for the rest of the teams and relax. It's still some time before nightfall. There are also refreshments in the kitchen that's through the door to the right."
Mario nodded in acknowledgement and replied, "Thank you, sir."
He and the others then put their scrolls away and sat at a nearby table to wait for the rest of the teams to arrive. As they waited, the group simply sat and took this time to rest and recuperate from their battles during this phase of the tournament, not discounting the possibility that the next phase of the tournament would start right after the last team arrived. They did not speak much but Mario did ask if they could watch some television.
"Sure," the shogun answered. "There are perks for finishing this part of the tournament sooner than the others. These luxuries are just some of them."
"Thanks," Mario answered as he and Aerith went over to the television and turned it on. The program that showed up was a broadcast of the current phase of the Ninja Tournament. While a part of Mario was curious as to who might be showing promise, he knew that the important part was to see what was going on with the planet and if anyone had noticed anything since Sephiroth had merged with the Lifestream. Mario was also concerned about Bowser and wanted to see if there were any suspicious activities going on anywhere else in the world, particularly on the Eastern continent. Knowing Mario's wishes, Aerith turned the channel to a news station that was showing world news.
Mario watched the news program to see if any changes were being noticed in the world. As he continued to watch the program, he noticed that it seemed to focus more on politics and that there seemed to be no strange occurrences in the outside world. There was not even any report of the Lifestream welling up and flooding the ruins of Midgar. The problems regarding politics still seemed to remain, though, if the talking heads on the news programs were any indication.
The shogun and his samurai watched Mario curiously, expecting him and the others to be watching the broadcast of the Ninja Tournament and relishing their success. Still, as the shogun watched the first arrivals, he could not help but feel that Mario was far stronger and more powerful than he looked by his build. They also got the impression that Aerith was stronger than she looked, too, but that Mario was the real power here. With little further to do, the shogun went into a back room with two of the samurai to keep track of the other teams out in the forest while two samurai remained in the main gathering room with Mario, Aerith, and their teams to make sure that everything was on the up and up and that they did not go anywhere that was restricted. For their part, Mario, Aerith, and their teammates stayed in the room, only going into the kitchen for some food or water.
As the rest of the day drew on, and nightfall got closer, Mario and the others waited for the arrival of other teams but for the longest of times, no one else came. They took this time to wash up, get some rest, relax, and prepare for whatever would come in the next phase of the tournament.
Eventually, a couple of hours later, another ninja team entered the pagoda. When they arrived, the shogun and his four samurai, who Mario and Aerith were beginning to suspect were his guards, went to meet them. They went to examine the ninja team's scrolls and seeing that they were legitimate, allowed them entry. The ninja team then went to take their seats not too far away from Mario and his allies.
The allies continued to watch the news, changing the channel as they searched for programs that may give them information on strange occurrences that were going on in the world. So far, though, they found nothing, not even on the national weather stations. The other ninja team then went over to Mario and the others and asked, "Hey, can we check and see what's on the TV?" The plumber could not help but notice a seeming mocking tone in the request, as well as the fact that the ninjas almost seemed to be looking for fight.
Mario did not give them one, though, as he answered, "Sure."
He then rose and let the ninja team watch whatever programs they wanted to watch. He had scanned all the channels and found nothing on any news stations that indicated that anyone in the world was aware of just how close to destruction they may be. With nothing further to do, the group simply waited until nightfall.
Eventually, nightfall came and the current phase of the ninja tournament came to a conclusion with the loud single ring of a bell on the top floor of the pagoda. Two additional teams had arrived at the pagoda, one of them arriving with mere seconds to spare, bringing the total number of teams that had passed the current phase to five. Once the final team had been confirmed to have legitimately passed, the shogun allowed them a few minutes to rest before going on to begin his speech.
"Congratulations on all of you making it through the field phase of the Ninja Tournament," the shogun began. "As you can guess, the field phase was meant to weed out those who could perform missions and deal with opposing forces in the field while working together with their teams from those who could not. As you also realized, forming alliances with other teams was not discouraged and will, indeed, become part of your overall ninja score. As for now, though, I now declare you all chūnin. The next round of the tournament will begin in three hours. Succeeding in that will result in you becoming a jōnin. Until then, get some rest and refreshment. You're going to need them for what's coming next."
With that, the shogun retreated into a back room while the rest of the ninjas took the opportunity to rest and prepare for the next round of the tournament. Mario, Aerith, and their teammates did the same, doing their best to organize their items and Materia pieces so they would have the best chance of victory in the next round.
Meanwhile, over in the Junon undersea reactor, Bowser continued to watch as the Mako reactor drew Mako from the Lifestream into the reactor and having it congeal into a large ball of liquid Lifestream. Bowser and Kamek both looked at it in awe, though for different reasons. Kamek was amazed by the power that was concentrated in that ball. Bowser, however, saw it as a means to create a new Lifestream on Hylia where he would be in control of it and, if all went as he thought it would, be in control of all indigenous life on said planet.
Kamek looked over at the Koopa King and noticed his king studying the ball of Mako. "What is it?" the Magikoopa asked.
Bowser did not give an immediate answer as he continued to study the ball, almost as if he were trying to sense something inside of it. "Hey, Hylia to King Bowser," Kamek called. "You still there?"
That got Bowser's attention. "Uh, yeah. I'm here. What is it?"
"That's what I was asking you," Kamek answered. "What were you doing just now?"
"I was trying to scan the ball to see if it the ball was living yet," Bowser answered. "This will only work properly if the ball is some sort of life and not just energy."
"And?"
"Not yet," Bowser answered. "And it's big enough that it should be alive right now. If not, then either something went wrong or there's still another ingredient that we need for this to work."
"What would that be?" the Magikoopa asked.
"A spark," the Koopa King answered. "A spark that only you can give."
"Me?"
Bowser nodded. "It's similar to the potion my son used to revive me once," the Koopa King explained. "We have the substance right in front of us. The spark is all we need."
"But that Lifestream is infected by Sephiroth," Kamek blurted. "I don't know what will happen if we give it the spark of life or even if my spells would work on something like that."
"It will if you do something for me first," Bowser answered.
"What?"
"Undergo the Mako and Jenova treatment," Bowser answered, gripping the Magikoopa's shoulders eagerly. "It's the missing piece. With that treatment plus your spells, you can bring life to this ball of Mako. It's not all that unlike making a clone."
"But what would the treatment do to me?" Kamek inquired with more than a bit of trepidation, though not for the reason Bowser thought.
"Probably nothing bad," Bowser answered casually. "You're the strongest Magikoopa out there and around the level of my kids, if not physically than at least in magic. Given that weaker Koopas not only survived the procedure but thrived, you should do fine."
Bowser did not answer Kamek's real question, though, which was, in itself, an answer to Kamek's question, which caused him even more trepidation.
"Bowser, are you sure you're alright?" Kamek asked. "You haven't really been yourself lately."
"What do you mean?" Bowser asked.
"I mean you seem to do a lot of things that Sephiroth wants. While I can understand that when our goals align, I've noticed you doing things for him when it might not necessarily help our plans, and often at the cost of almost all of our forces here save for you, me, and your children. I thought we were going to be using him, not being used by him."
"We are," Bowser answered. "The creation of a new Lifestream on Hylia will give us access to Materia use there. With Materia, we'll be able to conquer the whole world and probably many more."
"But Sephiroth is in charge of the Lifestream," Kamek contested. "How do we know that we're not just giving him access to our world and risking making ourselves his slaves?"
"Because I'm the one in charge of this," Bowser answered with a grunt.
Kamek was about to argue the point but he began to feel lethargic and was finding it difficult to concentrate. He tried to form a counterargument, which should have been easy since Bowser was not just being arrogant but did not seem to really care about the loss of his forces on Gaia save for the fact that they had died without killing Mario, Luigi, or any of their allies, something that was out of character for him. He continued to try to form a thought but all he could feel were his eyelids getting heavy.
"Master… what's going…on," he seemed to sigh before falling asleep in front of Bowser.
"Well, that took longer than expected," Bowser commented nonchalantly as Roy and Morton approached the Magikoopa from behind, the heads of their magic wands still glowing.
"What do you want us to do with him?" Roy asked.
"Just keep him still and watch over him," Bowser answered. "We need him to survive this and emerge unharmed."
"Got it," the two Koopalings replied.
They then went to hold Kamek still while Bowser drew out a needle and stuck himself in the arm. Pulling back on the syringe, he drew a sample of blood out of him and then withdrew the needle. He then rolled up Kamek's sleeve and inserted the needle into Kamek's arm and injected his blood, which contained the Mako and Jenova cells from Sephiroth, into Kamek.
"Now, all we need to do is wait," Bowser stated with a victorious tone. "Just keep watch over him," he told his children.
He then went back to the controls and checked them before drawing out his wand and activating it. The face of Ludwig appeared on its head and he told his son, "Ludwig, ready the sub's cargo hold. We're about to load the Mako ball onto it."
"Got it," Ludwig answered. After a moment, his face vanished from the wand's head.
With that, Bowser looked out over at the rest of his children and called, "Okay everyone, get the cranes and loaders ready. We've got a massive ball of Mako to load onto our new sub."
"Roger," the others answered in unison.
The Koopalings then went to work preparing the cranes while Morton and Roy kept watch over Kamek, with Bowser occasionally looking in on Kamek to. He could not afford to lose his chief Magikoopa this far into the mission.