Chapter 21:
Back in Wutai, three hours had passed since the arrival of the final ninja team and the end of the field round of the Ninja Tournament. Mario, Aerith, and their teams had been resting and relaxing, even taking the time to wash up before the next round of the tournament began. Once the three hours were up, the shogun entered the main assembly room along with his four honor guards. The shogun took his place in the center of the room and soon began his speech.
"Again, congratulations on passing the field round of the Ninja Tournament," the shogun proclaimed. "You have shown yourselves to be able to work well together in difficult circumstances and have outlasted the other teams in the tournament. Now comes the round that will separate the jōnin from the chūnins among you. This round is a battle round where two ninjas will battle each other in a match. The last winner among you will be crowned a jōnin and will get the chance to battle my four honor guards and, eventually, me, for the grand prize: a Great Gospel tome. As you know, Great Gospel was a Limit Break technique used by the legendary Aerith Gainsborough shortly before her death at the hands of Sephiroth. She later used it from beyond the grave to cure the world of Geostigma. This has tremendous collector's value and is, indeed, the grand prize of the tournament. The prize for just winning the battle round of the tournament will be a two-piece set of armor consisting of an Escort Guard and a Minerva Band, which I must say isn't too shabby. The rules for the match are simple: you are the loser if you give up, land outside of the ring, stay down for ten counts, or if you unfortunately kill your opponent."
"What?" one of the ninjas blurted. "What's this about no killing? There was no such rule in the last round and there were reports of a ninja team even having died in the last round!"
Mario and Aerith wondered if the ninja was mentioning the ninja team that the Sephiroth clones had impersonated or if they were mentioning the Sephiroth clones, themselves. The shogun gave no reaction to the ninja's outburst and merely continued, "You will also be allowed to use any and all weapons you have on you as well as any weapons, items, or Materia you may have gained during the field round that don't violate the no killing rule. Do note that in the event of a tie, both fighters will be eliminated from the tournament. Winning is the only way you move on."
He then paused for a second before proclaiming, "Okay everyone, those are the rules. Let the matches begin! The selection process will go as follows. You will reach into a box and draw out randomly numbered balls. You will then be placed on a bracket. Since only five teams made it to the pagoda on time, we're one fighter short. To that end, the fighter who selects the fifteen ball will count as having won his match and will automatically move on to the next round of battles."
He then nodded to his honor guards, one of who produced a box that had a small hole on the top. "Okay then, it's time for the selection process to begin."
One by one, the participants went up to draw balls from the box. Mario drew the 1-ball, while Aerith drew the 8-ball. As for party members, Lady Bow drew the 6-ball, Ms. Mowz drew the 9-ball, Vivian drew the 4-ball, and Goombella drew the 11-ball. Once the others had drawn their balls, the shogun and honor guards directed the attention of the participants to a large high-definition television mounted on the wall. Numbers one through eight were all on one side of the bracket, while 9 through fifteen were on the other.
"This is the tournament bracket," the shogun explained. "The winner, and jōnin will then move on to face on of my honor guards on this floor. He or she will move up the floors, facing my honor guards in the process, until they come to face me. If you beat me, you get the grand prize. All rules from the battle round also apply to the bonus battles. Good luck."
With that, the floor in the center of the room withdrew and a square stone mound rose from the floor. "One of my honor guards will be the referee for the matches and there will be no time limit," the shogun declared. "Do note that they will also be studying the opponents as well. After all, they may end up facing one of you guys. Let the battles begin!" the shogun proclaimed as a bell then rung.
Mario, having drawn the 1-ball, proceeded to make his way to the ring. On the other side was a ninja from one of the teams that Mario did not recognize, and would not have even if the ninja had taken off his hood. The ninja drew his sword and pointed it at Mario, arrogantly declaring, "You're goin' down tubby."
Mario gave no response as he studied the sword and could see two Materia slots in it filled with green Magic Materia. He gave a stern and focused expression as he waited for the honor guard to start the match. He wanted to end this fight as quickly as possible before the ninja could get to use his Magic Materia against him and risk weakening him for later fights. He also did not ready his hammer, not only not wanting to risk killing his opponent, but the hammer would be pretty unwieldy against a fast, nimble opponent like a ninja. A part of him considered using the power of the stars to increase his strength in order to train himself more in the use of said power but he decided against it. He wanted to fight fairly in this tournament, especially since killing was strictly forbidden in this phase of the tournament.
The bell rang and the plumber charged the ninja far faster than anyone, especially the ninja had expected. Mario arrived at the ninja and threw a punch at the ninja's torso, which the ninja was unable to avoid. The punch scored a direct hit on the ninja and forced him backwards a few feet. The ninja retaliated by thrusting his sword towards Mario. To the plumber, the thrust was only moderately quick, though everyone else had trouble tracking it, and he had no problem avoiding it. Even without the power of the stars coursing through him, Mario could feel himself remembering his own martial arts training and was able to read the opposing ninja's movements.
The ninja now attempted to slash Mario, going for the plumber's head in a seeming attempt to decapitate him. Mario, however, had no problem ducking under the slash and he retaliated by performing a side kick that sent the ninja staggering backwards. The ninja, desperate to try to beat the plumber, charged the plumber again, but as the ninja went to thrust his sword at Mario once more, the plumber sidestepped it and grabbed the ninja's wrist. Spinning him around a few times, he then threw the ninja away from him. The ninja sailed through the air far more than he expected, or wanted; too far, in fact, for the ninja was tossed clear out of the ring. The ninja landed on the ground with a thud and slid a few feet before coming to a stop, groaning but otherwise still okay. Still, it was enough to end the match.
"That's it," the referee declared. "The match is over. Chūnin Mario will move on!"
The others cheered Mario's win as Mario nodded towards the audience before turning to the referee and bowing. Once he was done, he went over to check on the other ninja, who had gotten up and seemed fine. The ninja did not want anything to do with him and Mario did not press the issue. He merely went back to a seat close to his party and watched the upcoming fights as he waited for the next round.
Next up were Vivian and another ninja. When their numbers flashed on the screen, the two went to the ring. After a few moments, the bell rung, indicating the start of the next match. That match ended almost as quickly as it had started, for Vivian began the fight by casting Fiery Jinx on her opponent. The opposing ninja's robes immediately burst into flames, forcing the ninja to do his best to discard them before getting burned. As he did so, though, Vivian rushed him and pushed him towards the edge. The ninja, being too busy trying to get out of his burning robes, offered the Shadow Spirit no resistance as she pushed him over the edge and out of the ring, promptly ending the fight, the fires being extinguished the moment the ninja hit the ground.
"That's it!" the referee declared. "The fight is over and Chūnin Vivian wins! She will move on to the next round!"
The others cheered Vivian's victory as she waved to the audience after bowing to the referee. She then stepped down from the ring and went to join Mario, whom she anticipated being her next opponent if the bracket did not reset after the current round of matches.
The next match was a ninja versus Lady Bow. The Boo looked over at the ninja and gave him a sweet smile, confident that she was going to win this fight. The two combatants stepped into the ring and waited for the bell to sound, the ninja grinning as he saw the Boo. While he did not know what Bow was, he viewed her as weak. She was very eager to prove him wrong.
"Combatants ready?" the two heard the referee shout.
They both nodded. With that, the bell rang, indicating the start of the fight.
The ninja opened combat by drawing his sword and attempting to use Thundara, the second level Lightning elemental spell. Bow went intangible and invisible before the spell was cast, allowing her to avoid it entirely as well as sneak up on the ninja. The ninja, however, was not going to just roll over for her, though. He quickly began to jump around, trying to make himself as difficult a target to hit as possible. However, Bow was able to track him and had already drawn her fan for when he landed. As soon as he stopped to try to ascertain where she was, she reappeared right behind him and smacked him repeatedly with her fan in the head. The hits were not strong enough to be fatal or even knock him unconscious. However, they did daze him and allow her to push him towards the edge of the ring, where another barrage of smacks was sufficient to cause him to back up a few feet, and accidentally step outside of the ring.
The ninja fell to the floor with a thud and grunted as he it the ground. The moment he hit the ground, the bell rang, indicating the end of the fight.
"That's it!" the referee declared. "The fight is over and Chūnin Bow is the winner!"
The rest of the crowd cheered Bow's victory as she bowed before the referee and then floated over back to Mario, where she floated over a seat. Next, she proceeded focus on the stage to watch the next fight.
Checking the screen, the next fight was found to be between a ninja and Aerith Gainsborough. Aerith and the ninja both went into the ring and bowed before the referee as they arrived.
"Combatants ready?" the referee asked.
They both nodded. After they nodded, the bell rung, indicating the start of the next battle. Aerith drew her staff and waited for the ninja to make his first move, knowing that she could cast magic faster than anyone here given her experience with it. The ninja, having a feeling that Aerith was a lot more powerful than she looked drew his sword and went to play to his strength: close combat. He charged her, moving far faster than most would have anticipated, and went to stab her, only for the half-Cetra woman to move her staff and intercept his blade, pushing it to the side. She then swung her staff at the ninja, but he was able to avoid her attack and back away before he started a new attack.
He charged Aerith again, slashing and stabbing at the woman but she either managed to avoid the attacks or parry them with her staff. Mario and his teammates looked on and were pleasantly surprised at her skills with the staff. The ninja was also surprised at her skill and backed off a bit to consider his next course of action, feeling that engaging her in a magic battle would be an instant loss. Still, he was not out of the fight yet.
His next attack came in the form of a shuriken barrage. Tossing a series of small, plastic shuriken at Aerith, he forced Aerith to try to dodge them or use her staff to bat them away. While she was distracted, he went to charge her once more, using the speed boost from his own Speed Plus Materia to close the distance and attack before she could react, or so he thought. Aerith, however, had also been equipped with a Speed Plus Materia, which was how she was able to so easily avoid the shuriken barrage and back up close to the ring's edge. She intercepted his thrust, pushing it to the side, and then spun around and struck him in the back. The force of her strike, plus an additional push, was all that was needed to push the ninja out of the ring and win the match.
"That's it! The match is over!" the referee declared. "Aeris is the winner!"
Aerith bowed before the referee before heading back to Mario and the others. As she took her seat, Mario looked over to her and asked, "Aeris?"
"I came up with it as we arrived here," she answered. "It's close enough to my real name to cause me to turn if someone called me by it. While Sephiroth may know our plans, I thought it best not to use my real name since it isn't exactly a common name and if the media or anyone else discovered who I was, it would draw a great deal of attention to us. And since time is of the essence, the last thing we need to be is distracted by any outside circumstances."
Mario nodded in agreement. The group then sat back to watch the next match, knowing what the outcome would be despite the fight not yet having been fought.
Checking the screen, the next match consisted of Ms. Mowz facing off against a regular ninja. Both the Squeek and her opponent entered the ring and bowed before the referee and then turned to face one another.
"Combatants ready?" the referee called.
They both nodded. The bell then rung and the battle began. The ninja, realizing that Ms. Mowz's small size would make her difficult to hit in a fight, decided to play the ranged game and began the fight by drawing his sword and casting Blizzara on Ms. Mowz. As the spell was being cast, though, Ms. Mowz went evasive and managed to avoid being buffeted by the winds. A large icicle began to form where she had had once been and continued to grow as she charged the ninja. The icicle exploded into numerous shards as she arrived, well away from the icicle, and she slapped the ninja repeatedly in the head. The slaps, however, did little damage, only managing to force the ninja back a few feet.
The ninja quickly recovered and retaliated by going to cast Fira on Ms. Mowz. The Squeek was close to the ninja, though, and could not help but notice that its casting was not instantaneous. The already short distance between her and the ninja was all she needed in order to be able to attack before the spell could be cast. She rushed the ninja and slapped him in the head again, using her speed to great effect. The slaps knocked him back several more feet, bringing him precariously close to the edge.
Ms. Mowz proceeded to help him make his way over the edge by rushing him and slapping him several more times before he could think to cast a spell. The force of the slaps was enough to push him to the edge. The ninja nearly stepped over the edge but managed to catch himself before falling. Ms. Mowz made his fate certain, though as she jumped into him, knocking him over the edge, the Squeek jumping off of his body to land back on the stage before he hit the floor. With the ring out, the fight was over and another ally of Mario had made it to the next round.
"That's it!" the referee declared. "The match is over! Chūnin Mowz has won!"
Ms. Mowz bowed towards the referee before stepping down from the ring and heading over to a seat near Mario. As she returned, Mario could not help but notice Ms. Mowz's grin. She was thrilled about the win, as well as the fact that the whole group was winning their matches and going forward to the next round of fights.
The group then looked over at the screen as Goombella's number came up, as did that of a ninja. The Goomba made her way to the ring, along with her opponent and bowed before the referee before taking her place on her side of the ring. Looking across at her opponent, she could tell even through his hood that he was nervous. Still, she did not lower her guard. Ninjas were masters of deception and even if most of these ninjas were merely playing ninja, rather than actual ninjas, she would not risk underestimating him on the chance that he really was a ninja.
"Combatants ready?" the referee called.
With no objections, the bell rang and the fight began. Goombella began the fight by charging towards the ninja. The ninja, seeing that magic did not work so well for the previous combatant that had faced off against these strange new monsters decided to play to his strengths and drew his sword and went to engage Goombella in a physical fight, incorrectly that the Goomba would not be able to engage him effectively in a fight without arms. His assertion was soon proven wrong as Goombella launched herself into his chest with tremendous speed, too fast for him to react. She barreled into his chest and sent him flying through the air. The ninja landed on the ground with a thud and a grunt several meters away and he gave a gasp at the Goomba's power and speed. He suddenly realized that this was going to be a more difficult fight than he had anticipated.
The ninja quickly rose to face this unexpected challenge and held his sword out in front of him, maneuvering himself so as to not allow Goombella to close the distance between him and her too quickly. He wanted to be able to react to her next attack and counter it effectively. Indeed, if he timed things right, and Goombella was foolish, he could potentially get her to ring herself out.
Goombella was thinking along those same lines, though, and she quickly moved towards him in a serpentine fashion. While her movements were relatively predictable, she kept enough distance between herself and her opponent that the ninja did not think that it would be safe enough for him to launch an attack on her. She continued to study the ninja as he held out his sword. She knew that she had to time her next attack perfectly or she would run the risk of impaling herself on his sword.
The ninja, for his part, grinned. He had Goombella right where he wanted her. With no warning, he flicked his free hand and then several shuriken appeared in his hand. He then tossed them at Goombella, forcing her to use her hard hat to intercept them so they would not inflict any damage. She then grinned, for she suddenly realized that with her hard hat, she could use the shuriken as a screen for her next attack. All she had to do was goad him into using his shuriken again.
To that end, Goombella unsteadily backed away a few steps, feigning that the shuriken had inflicted some damage to her. Sure enough, the ninja, thinking that he had found the Goomba's weakness, flicked his wrist again and drew several more shuriken. As he went to toss them, Goombella launched herself at him. The shuriken formed a screen that prevented the ninja from seeing Goombella's attack effectively and while the shuriken scored several hits on her hat, they inflicted no real damage to her.
For her part, the Goomba barreled into the ninja's chest and sent him staggering backwards several feet, knocking the wind out of him. Taking advantage of the ninja's staggered state, Goombella barreled into his chest again, sending him closer and closer to the edge. With one more bonk into his chest, Goombella sent the ninja over the edge and out of the ring, where he landed with a thud and grunt.
"That's it!" the referee declared. "The match is over! Chūnin Goombella moves on!"
The crowd cheered as Goombella smiled and then turned to the referee and bowed to him. She then left the ring and went to rejoin Mario and the rest of the party. After taking her seat, the group went to watch the next match passively since none of them were going to participate in it.
Sure enough, it was not long before the screen came up showing the numbers of the final two combatants, a duo of ninjas that looked like they had been on different teams given the different markings on their robes. The two ninjas went up to the ring and bowed before the referee before taking their positions on either side of the ring.
"Combatants ready?" the referee called.
Both combatants then assumed fighters' stances. Then, when the bell rang, the battle began. Both combatants drew their swords and charged towards each other, slashing and stabbing at each other, seemingly heedless of the fact that killing was forbidden.
Mario and the others watched the battle carefully. As she watched more closely, Goombella realized that one of the ninjas that was fighting was the one that had complained about the no killing rule in this round of the tournament. Fortunately, though, that ninja was beaten as his opponent used the flat of his sword to strike him in the side, staggering him. A side kick then sent him staggering backwards a bit more. The other ninja then rushed the stricken ninja and buried his shoulder into his opponent's torso, ending the fight as the force of the attack sent the other ninja flying out of the ring.
"That's it!" the referee declared. "Chūnin Leo moves on!"
Leo then bowed before the referee before leaving the ring. After he left the ring, the shogun stood up and looked at everyone before proclaiming, "Congratulations on everyone who has moved on to the next round of the battle round of this tournament. Now, without any further ado, let the next round begin!"
The next round of battles began with Mario being pitted up against Vivian. Having seen the brackets, they were not surprised to see that they were the next to fight. They both went up onto the ring and bowed before the referee before turning to each other and bowing to each other. Vivian knew that while at least she had a chance against the four honor guards and the shogun for the chance to get the Great Gospel tome, Mario had the best chance of all of them to beating the challenges. As such, she had no intention of risking injury to him.
"Combatants ready?" the referee asked.
Both Mario and Vivian nodded, with the plumber assuming a fighter's stance. Vivian, on the other hand, was about to raise her hand to concede the match when Mario called out, "Wait!" It was clear that he did not want her to concede.
Vivian's eyes went wide with shock. "What are you doing? You're the one with the best chance of all of us of getting the grand prize. We can't risk you getting hurt in the early rounds."
"I'm going to be battling Sephiroth in the near future, an opponent that greatly outclasses me in speed. I can use the power of the stars to compensate but I need training for that. To that end, I want to train against your Fiery Jinx. I need to reliably be able to avoid it if I want to have a chance of keeping up with Sephiroth, especially since he's now inside the Lifestream and is stronger than ever before."
Vivian gave a sigh and answered, "I understand." She paused before raising her finger and telling Mario, "Get ready."
Mario prepared himself by drawing upon the power of the stars. As he did so, he could feel the power coursing through his body. Looking over at Vivian and mentally preparing himself for battle, he could see the world around him slow down. He watched as Vivian slowly, by his perspective, twirl her finger. The moment the twirl ended, he saw a flame begin to slowly erupt near millimeters away from his chest. Moving to his side, he managed to avoid the fire as it came into existence and began to expand almost as if a bomb had gone off where he had once been. He evaded the Fiery Jinx as it erupted into existence and was promptly extinguished as it burned the air around it. His evasion attempt, however, brought him precariously close to the edge, though, and he found that when he tried to stop, it was difficult to do so. As such, he scaled back on the use of his star power until he had better control of it. Vivian, however, did not stop there and would not let him scale back the use of his star power.
She twirled her finger again, and again, and again, and again, forcing the plumber to keep going evasive. Mario silently thanked the Shadow Spirit as he evaded the constant barrage of Fiery Jinx and she kept up the pressure, interspersing a Shade Fist punch every now and then to keep him honest. After all, Sephiroth would not constantly use the same attack time after time unless it worked and Mario could not adapt to it.
The mock battle continued and as it drew on, Mario could feel his body getting accustomed to the star power and the boosts it gave to his speed, strength, and ability. He suspected that the star power boosts were similar to the boosts granted by the Jenova and Mako enhancements given the Koopas. As he continued to evade Vivian's Fiery Jinxes more easily, the Shadow Spirit could see that he was adapting to his newfound power and paused her attacks for a moment.
"Are you good now?" she called out to him in question.
Mario nodded. "I'm good."
Vivian then smiled and raised her hand, conceding the match to Mario.
"That's it!" the referee declared. "Chūnin Mario moves on!"
Mario then bowed to Vivian and then to referee. After that, both Mario and Vivian stepped down from the ring and made their way back to their seats. As they did so, the shogun took note of Mario and realized that Mario did not just have a lot of allies in this tournament, but that he was a powerful opponent that would likely beat him and his honor guards in anything close to a fair fight.
Checking the screen, the next fight coming up was between Lady Bow and Aerith, two teammates from the field round. The duo then rose from their seats and proceeded to make their way over to the ring. Once they arrived, they bowed before referee and then to each other.
"Combatants ready?" the referee called.
The bell the rung and the fight began, or would have if Lady Bow had not raised her arm in concession to Aerith.
"What?" Aerith blurted.
"You're my teammate," Lady Bow answered. "Besides, we all know that Mario is the one with the best shot of getting what we need."
Aerith could not disagree with the Boo's assessment of the situation and did nothing further to challenge the concession.
"Okay, the battle's over! Chūnin Aeris advances!" the referee declared.
Aerith and Bow bowed before the referee before stepping out of the ring and returning to their seats. As they did so, Mario had a feeling that Aerith would likely concede in their next match unless she wanted to use it for training purposes. Either way, he did not think much of it as he focused on his only real objective: getting that Great Gospel tome.
Looking over at the screen, the next fight coming up was Ms. Mowz versus Goombella. When their numbers came up, the two rose and proceeded to make their way to the ring. They entered the ring and took their positions on opposite sides of the ring. They bowed to the referee and then to each other before assuming fighters' stances.
"Combatants ready?" the referee called.
The two gave no objections and merely nodded. A bell then rang, signaling the start of the fight. The two combatants and friends looked at each other for a second before both nodded and reassumed their fighter's stances.
"Don't hold anything back Goombella. I need this for training," Ms. Mowz declared.
"Same here," Goombella answered. "So you don't hold back either."
Ms. Mowz nodded and with that, the two began their battle. They charged each other and performed numerous physical attacks against each other, none of them inflicting any damage since the other either blocked, parried, or dodged them. While both Goombella and Ms. Mowz had access to battle items, neither of them wanted to use them against the other since this was basically a training match. If either of them reached Mario, they would not fight the plumber unless he demanded it or they had a simple training match against him.
The fight drew on for a couple of minutes with neither side making any headway against the other. Ms. Mowz's slaps were parried or dodged by Goombella, who could not land a Headbonk on Ms. Mowz at all, the Squeek being to nimble for the Goomba to land a solid hit. Still, the fight continued and eventually, the combatants were beginning to tire and started landing some blows. Ms. Mowz managed to connect with a slap while Goombella finally managed to hit with a Headbonk. Neither attack did that much damage to the other but it was enough for them. They both paused for a second before nodding, silently agreeing to make this a points match.
"Best of three?" Goombella queried.
"You're on," Ms. Mowz answered confidently.
The score was one to one. Both combatants then charged each other again and proceeded to engage anew. Ms. Mowz attempted to slap Goombella while Goombella attempted to land another Headbonk on the Squeek. They both managed to parry or avoid each other's attacks and the two made little headway on the other. Still, the others could not help but notice both combatants smiling. This was not a serious fight, but a training session.
After a few more minutes of fighting, Ms. Mowz finally landed another slap on Goombella, bringing the score to two-to-one. That only lasted for a few more seconds, though, as Goombella managed to land a Headbonk on the Squeek, tying up the match once more. The match would only last a few more seconds, though, as Ms. Mowz attempted to hit Goombella as she went to retreat from the bonk and land. However, Goombella anticipated this tactic and, instead, landed on Ms. Mowz's arm, springing off of it and Headbonking Ms. Mowz to give her the three points she needed to win this sparring match.
Once Goombella scored the final hit, both fighters stopped and smiled, returning to the center of the ring. They bowed before each other before Ms. Mowz raised her hand, signaling her concession.
"That's it!" the referee declared. "Chūnin Goombella moves on."
Both Goombella and Ms. Mowz then bowed once more to the referee before leaving the ring and returning to Mario. The shogun watched the group and realized that despite being skilled fighters in their own right, the group seemed to be led by Mario, and that Mario was in a league of his own.
The screen soon flashed two more numbers, each belonging to a normal ninja. The two ninjas rose and went to the ring. When they arrived, they bowed to each other and then to the referee.
"Combatants ready?" the referee called.
When they both nodded, the bell rang and the fight began. They both drew their swords and charged at each other, hoping to finish the fight quickly. They slashed and stabbed at each other, with both of them seemingly be even. However, one of them gave way, or seemed to give way, backing up towards the edge of the ring. Then, as the more aggressive ninja charged towards the retreating ninja, the retreating ninja quickly dodged to the side and swiped his sword, hitting the other ninja in the back with the flat of his blade, inflicting no injury, but managing to push him out of the ring.
"That's it!" the referee declared. "Chūnin Aleph moves on!"
Aleph bowed before the referee before looking out at the remaining combatants and realizing that he was going to have his work cut out for him, even though he was going to be fighting Goombella, rather than Mario or Aerith.
As Aleph left the ring, the shogun stood up once more and proclaimed, "Once again, congratulations on reaching the semi-final match. May all four of you fight well and fight clean. And most of all, fight with all your heart, give any viewers something to cheer for and fight to get the coveted rank of Jōnin! And now, let the next round begin!"
The semi-final round began with Mario facing off against Aerith Gainsborough. Both entered the ring and bowed before each other and then towards the referee before assuming fighters' stances before each other, despite the fact that Aerith had no intention of fighting Mario seriously.
"Combatants ready?" the referee called.
Both Mario and Aerith nodded. The bell then rang and the first semi-final fight began. Mario looked across at Aerith, asking her what she wanted to do. A part of Aerith wanted to train against Mario but figured that it would be best for him to conserve his strength for the later matches, in case Goombella lost to Aleph and she wanted Mario to be fresh for his matches against the shogun's honor guards and the shogun, himself. As such, Aerith slung the staff over her shoulder and raised her hand in concession. Mario then nodded and they both bowed before the referee.
"Understood," the referee stated. "This fight is concluded. Chūnin Mario moves on."
Mario and Aerith both gave the referee one final bow before stepping down from the ring and returning to their seats. Before sitting down, though, Mario went over to Goombella and wished her luck in her next match.
"Thanks, Mario," Goombella answered. She then focused on the ninja she would be facing.
The next match of the semi-final was set and the numbers of Goombella and Aleph appeared on the screen. That prompted them to stand and make their way to the ring. They both entered the ring and made their way to their respective corners, bowing to each other before bowing to the referee.
"Combatants ready?" the referee called once more.
Both Goombella and Aleph nodded. The bell then rang, indicating the second match of the semi-finals. The match began and Aleph drew his sword and backed away towards the corner, Goombella approaching him cautiously since she had watched his previous fight against Leo and realized that he was trying to goad her to get too close to the edge so he could easily ring her out. She had no problem with this as she felt that he was doing her work for her. She knew the risks in allowing him to set up his plan, but she also felt that this was the best way for someone like her to fight an armed opponent without using her own battle items.
Once he was close to the edge, Aleph stopped and held out his hand, motioning for Goombella to charge him. The Goomba seemingly took the bait and crouched down, as if she was about to launch herself into a Headbonk into his chest, which he planned to sidestep and allow her to sail out of the ring. Sure enough, she did spring towards him but instead of aiming for his chest, she aimed for the ground right in front of him. She landed in front of him, leaving herself open to attack, or so it seemed.
Aleph took the bait and went to thrust his sword down towards her, hoping to knock her out or at least daze her with a single hit. Goombella had anticipated this, though, and she quickly sidestepped his attack to her right and aimed her next Headbonk towards his chest, which would hopefully knock him out of the ring. She launched herself into the Headbonk and managed to score a direct hit on Aleph's torso. The force of the impact forced Aleph back several steps and precariously close to the edge. On his last step, he did not feel any ground behind him and he struggled to keep his balance. All it took was one for Headbonk for Goombella to finish the fight. Her last Headbonk hit Aleph in the chest and knocked him out of the ring, where the opposing ninja landed with a thud and a grunt.
"That's it!" the referee declared. "The match is over. Chūnin Goombella moves on!"
Goombella then bowed before the referee before stepping down from the ring and rejoining Mario and her other friends. She looked over at Mario and resolved that no matter what he asked, she would do her best to avoid fighting him since he was the best one to face the shogun and his honor guards for the chance to win the Great Gospel tome. It was then that the shogun rose again.
"Congratulations to the finalists," he began. "Now comes the final match for the test to become Jōnin and have a chance at obtaining a Great Gospel tome. Good luck to you both. Let the last match of this round of the tournament begin!"
Mario and Goombella then approached the ring. They entered the ring and bowed to each other before bowing to the referee, who turned out to be the shogun, himself. They each stared at each other, though Mario suspected that Goombella did not want to fight him and even if she did, they both knew what the outcome of such a match would be.
"Combatants ready?" the shogun asked.
They both nodded and a bell immediately rang, signaling the start of the final match. After the bell rang, Goombella stepped forward and bowed before the plumber before bowing towards the shogun, conceding the match to Mario. The shogun did not give a reaction, merely nodding.
"The match is over," the shogun declared. "Mario has won the match, the round, and has obtained the rank of Jōnin." The crown then cheered Mario's victory, with Aerith and the rest of his friends beaming. Still, Mario was not complacent and knew that the real final challenge was about to begin: his battle against the shogun and his honor guards for the Great Gospel tome.
The Shogun turned to Mario and continued, "Congratulations Jōnin Mario. As the victor of this round of the tournament, you gain the treasures: the Escort Guard and Minerva Band. However, you have yet to win the true final fight in this tournament. Given your record, though, I have decided on a few changes in the final battle for the grand prize.
"Since you have shown yourself to be strong enough as to treat every other ninja in this round as a joke, you'll be facing all four of my honor guards at once before finally facing me. The rules of these two rounds are the same as before. You are the loser if you give up, land outside of the ring, stay down for ten counts, lose consciousness, or if you kill any of your opponents. In addition, you may use any battle items, healing items, and weapons currently on your person. There will be no pause before your fight against the honor guards and your later battle against me. It will be one right after the other so you won't get a chance to heal or switch weapons in between the matches unless they are already on your person. I can't make this too easy for you Jōnin Mario. Also, should anyone be disarmed, the weapon they once had may be used by their opponent or opponents. Now, let's see what you've really got Jōnin Mario. It's time for your battle against my honor guards to begin!"
Mario nodded and waited for the honor guards to enter the ring so the fight for the Great Gospel tome could begin. He took the short time for the honor guards to enter to surreptitiously place two badges on his Ultra Hammer, one of them being a Mega Quake and the other being a Feeling Fine badge since he felt that the ninjas would almost certainly try to use status ailments against him and he wanted an attack that could deal with multiple opponents while being difficult to evade. He considered using the power of the stars to end this match pretty quickly, but he refrained from it. The stars that he had already used had not fully regained their power yet and he wanted to conserve his star power for his fight against Sephiroth, especially since he knew that he would need all the stars he had to be at full power once they went to fight him.
The honor guards soon stepped into the ring and each drew their katanas and held them out in front of them. Mario could see two green Materia pieces in slots linked with blue Materia pieces on their hilts, indicating that they were using Magic Materia that was being supported Support Materia. Mario hoped that the honor guards did not see him surreptitiously add the badges to his hammer because if they did and they guessed correctly what they could do, he could potentially be in for a more difficult fight than he imagined.
The bell soon rang, indicating the start of the fight. The four honor guards quickly split apart and proceeded to do their best to surround Mario, being careful not to close the distance between themselves and the plumber, knowing that getting into a physical fight with him would be suicide. Mario, for his part, went evasive and readied his hammer, hoping to get close to one of the honor guards and knock him out of the ring with one strike. The nearest honor guard, however, had other ideas as he proceeded to unleash a blast of Thundara at the plumber. Lightning rained down onto the plumber, forcing him to endure the attack. The attack, while it did manage to inflict some damage, was far from fatal, though, and the Feeling Fine badge did its job preventing him from becoming paralyzed. Still, he did not want to take many more hits like that, especially since he was also going to be fighting the shogun once this match had ended. Looking at the other honor guards, he could tell that they were preparing their own attacks as well. He considered starting to use his star power to increase his stats, but he decided against it. The Thundara attack had not inflicted enough damage to be debilitating, even without his star power. And with the Mega Quake badge, he knew he could still win this fight without taking any more damage.
Back down in the crowd, Mario's friends winced as he took the hit, the first real hit he had taken during the entire tournament. While they knew that he had access to healing items, they also knew that the honor guards would not give him time to use them. Goombella had noticed pretty quickly that Mario was not using star power in this fight. Despite the early lead the honor guards seemed to be off to, Goombella and Mario's other friends were not too concerned. He had faced harder opponents than this even before Sephiroth had come to Hylia. He could win this fight. They simply sat back and waited for the eventual outcome to be known.
As for Mario, not wanting to rely on his star power, Star Spirit or Crystal Star powers if he could avoid it, he proceeded to begin his counteroffensive. He started by slamming his hammer into the ground, not too far away from the guard that had used Thundara on him. Seismic waves spread out from the point of impact as Mario had slammed it hard enough into the ground to use Mega Quake. The ground shook, causing the honor guards to lose their balance on the now uneven ground. Pieces of stone fell from the edges of the ring as the honor guards continued to struggle to maintain their footing.
Mario, however, had no problems keeping his footing, though, and he simply rushed towards the guard that was closest to the edge of the ring. Reaching the guard, he proceeded to slam his hammer into the guard's chest, which did look to be protected by samurai armor. The strike, while not close to being fatal, was strong enough to cause the honor guard to stumble backwards, with the combination of it and the shaking floor being enough for him to lose his footing and fall to the ground. Mario quickly grabbed the honor guard's legs and began to swing him around. As he did so, the ground stopped shaking and the others were able to regain their footing and continue the fight, though they quickly saw Mario gaining hold of their comrade. The plumber continued to spin the guard around, the plumber quickly catching sight of the other guards regaining their footing. He then proceeded to let the honor guard go.
The honor guard went sailing over the edge of the ring but before he could hit, one of his comrades cast Aeroga, attempting to create a sheet of wind that could be used to keep him from falling. Unfortunately, though, Mario saw what he was planning and rushed over to the honor guard and rammed him with his shoulder while he was in the process of casting the spell. The impact interrupted the spell's casting and caused the resulting wind blast to go off course and instead of creating a sheet of wind that the honor guard could use to keep from hitting the ground, the spell scored a direct hit on the guard, sending him flying into the wall, where he crashed with a thud, leaving a human-shaped indent on it, with the guard then sliding down the wall and to the ground, resulting in him being rung out with the ring of a bell. A medic quickly went over to the guard to make sure that he was not dead or severely injured, though the rising and falling of his chest indicated that he was still living. Upon checking him further, the medic found that the honor guard was in no danger of dying or suffering any permanent injury, allowing the ring out to stand. One guard was down, leaving three to go.
Mario quickly turned to face the three remaining guards, the one who had cast Aeroga seething at the plumber at how his spell had instead all but assured his comrade's defeat. The remaining honor guards immediately went on the offensive against Mario, preparing to cast a variety of spells on the plumber. Mario countered by slamming his hammer into the ground once more, using Mega Quake to shake the ground and hopefully interrupt their spellcasting. Seismic waves spread out from the point of impact and washed over everything, including the three remaining honor guards. The waves washing over them caused them great discomfort but Mario made certain that the attack was not going to be fatal. It did mess with their equilibrium, though, and they fell to the ground, one of the honor guards dropping his sword in the process.
Mario took advantage of their vulnerable position and went over to grab the nearest honor guard and grab his legs. Spinning him around, he proceeded to then toss him out of the ring, the honor guard flying through the air until he crashed into the ground with a thud and a groan. The medics immediately went over to him to make certain that he was still alive and not grievously injured. Seeing that the greatest injury the honor guard suffered was to his pride, the medic gave the thumbs up, indicating that he was okay.
The other two honor guards, realizing that Mario's hammer was a very dangerous weapon, but one that was apparently not designed for dueling, decided to engage Mario in close combat, despite the fact that the plumber had shown himself to be no slouch in close combat, either. They hoped that their superior numbers would make the difference.
The remaining honor guards quickly rose and drew their swords. Seeing no other paths to victory, they charged the plumber before he could slam his hammer into the ground once more and create another earthquake. Unfortunately, for the honor guards, Mario went over and picked up the sword of one of the defeated honor guards and held it up in front of him. While the Materia equipped to the sword did the plumber no good, the sword would still make fighting the two remaining guards much easier.
When the guards reached Mario, they performed a series of slashes and stabs at the plumber but the plumber was able to either parry or dodge each of the attacks. Eventually one of the honor guards went to slash the hero, only for Mario to raise his sword to intercept the guard's. A loud clang rang out as the two swords clashed. With the guard's sword out of position, Mario performed a side kick that connected with the honor guard's sternum. The kick sent the guard staggering backwards. As he staggered backwards, though, he tossed a series of shuriken at Mario, only for the plumber to deflect them with his sword. Mario then lowered his shoulder and barreled into the honor guard, knocking the wind out of him.
Knowing that the final honor guard was rushing towards him, he grabbed his opponent and spun him around, managing to swing him into the other honor guard. The two collided and their momentum forced them backwards. Seeing his chance, Mario rushed them once more, pushing them closer to the edge of the ring. The guards did their best to recover from their impact but Mario was too quick and shoved them out of the ring before they could counterattack.
With the two honor guards being forced from the ring, the medic went over to check on their conditions. When he was sure that they were uninjured, save for their pride, he looked back at the shogun and nodded.
"That's it!" the shogun declared. "Mario is the winner!"
Mario's friends cheered as Mario bowed before the shogun and then towards his friends. He considered putting the sword down since the hammer was his best weapon and had a lot of options given that he had the Mega Quake and Feeling Fine badges equipped to it but it was mainly a battlefield weapon rather than a dueling weapon. As such, he took off the Feeling Fine badge and pinned it to his shirt along with a Defend Plus badge to increase his defenses. Soon, he saw the shogun turn to him and give a confident smile.
"I must say, you've done well Mario. You have passed every test so far with honors. However, before you get the grand prize, you still have one final test before gaining the grand prize. You must defeat me in battle!" the shogun declared proudly as he drew his sword and stepped forward. Mario could see four linked slots on the hilt of his blade filled with Magic Materia and Support Materia. "Don't think this will be as easy as the other fights were, Jōnin Mario. I am the shogun, after all."
Mario grabbed the sword he had used against the honor guards and bowed to the shogun. "The rules are the same as before," the shogun stated. "I trust you know them by now."
Mario nodded.
"Then let the final battle begin!"
With that declaration, the shogun charged towards Mario, holding his sword out in front of him. Mario held up his sword to intercept the shogun's attack. A loud clang rang out as the two swords clashed. The shogun quickly withdrew his sword and went to stab Mario. The plumber sidestepped the thrust and went to slash at the shogun's side, forcing the shogun to raise his sword to intercept the plumber's slash. The two sides continued attacking and counterattacking, doing their best to catch the other with a strike or at least force the other towards one of the edges, but both combatants protected against that and were merely circling around in generally the same area, with neither of them getting anywhere close to the edge. For Mario, this was no problem since he was accustomed to fighting extended battles for extended periods of time with little or no rest. The same could not be said for the shogun, but the shogun was no slouch, either. He did not seem to be tiring at all and was even grinning as the battle continued.
The battle drew on for quite a while with neither combatant managing to gain and advantage over the other, though none of them had broken out their special attacks just yet. Eventually, though, the shogun slipped and overextended himself as he made a thrust towards Mario. The plumber saw the thrust coming and managed to sidestep it but instead of trying to slash at the shogun's side with the flat of his blade, the plumber lowered himself and swept his feet out in front of him, managing to catch the shogun in the legs. The shogun tumbled to the ground with a thud but managed to roll and rise to his feet before turning to face Mario once more. Now, though, there was distance between the two of them, allowing for them to use their ranged attacks.
Mario did not want to use any attack items, Star Spirits or Crystal Star powers in this fight so he did the only thing he could as he saw the shogun beginning to cast an elemental spell. He reached behind him and grabbed his hammer. Before he could slam it into the ground, though, the shogun went to cast Firaga. Pillars of fire erupted around him and lashed out towards Mario. The plumber, however, had another option as he grabbed a Hammer Suit and proceeded to put it on, the suit instantly appearing on him. Ducking into his suit, he endured the Firaga pillars as they converged on him. While inside the shell, he as all but impervious to fire attacks so he was content to let the spell run its course and while he strongly suspected the shogun had other spells besides Firaga at his disposal, the increased defenses of the Hammer Suit would help him endure them.
Eventually, the spell ran its course and the flames dispersed. Once the flames dispersed, Mario emerged from the suit's shell unscathed. The shogun's eyes went wide at the scene. While he had not expected his Firaga spell to kill Mario, he had expected it to at the very least inflict significant damage to the plumber.
"But how?" he almost gasped. He then grimaced and realized that he would have to use other attacks to finish off the plumber. The plumber would make it difficult, though, as he tossed a barrage of hammers at the shogun. The hammers arced through the air and descended towards the shogun far faster than he expected and he was forced to go evasive. Mario continued to follow him and toss more hammers, forcing the shogun to use his hammer to deflect the hammers, but they were heavy and when he went to deflect one, his sword was oftentimes knocked out of position, forcing him to go evasive again. Unfortunately, this allowed Mario to rush him and bury his shoulder into the shogun's abdomen and drive him towards the edge of the ring.
The shogun countered by casting Thundara, knowing that he did not have the time to cast Thundaga on Mario. As he was casting the spell, though, Mario ducked into his shell, allowing the lightning to strike him. As the lightning struck his shell, electricity arced over it and Mario could feel some tingling but the electric attack's power was greatly blunted by him ducking into his shell. After the attack ceased, Mario emerged from his shell and tossed a hammer into the chest of the shogun. The impact caused the shogun to stagger backwards precariously close to the edge. However, he was able to recover before he stepped over the edge and went to cast Blizzaga on Mario, hoping that Mario's shell would not be effective in preventing Mario from being frozen. His supposition would have been correct had the spell managed to score a direct hit on the plumber. However, Mario went evasive and the spell only managed a glancing blow that the Hammer Suit protected the plumber from.
The plumber retaliated by tossing another series of hammers at the shogun and the area around him, pinning him in place, forcing him to use his sword to parry and deflect any hammers that would have hit him. He managed to deflect a few of them but each hammer was heavy enough to knock the sword off course and the shogun had to grip the sword tightly to prevent the hammers from knocking it out of his hands. This distraction allowed Mario to charge the shogun, the plumber continuing to toss hammers at his opponent and lower his shoulder and barrel into the shogun, forcing him from the ground and knocking him over the edge. The shogun fell to the ground with a thud and gave a grunt as he hit.
"That's it!" the shogun's honor guards declared as one from outside the ring. "Jōnin Mario has defeated the shogun and has won the grand prize!"
Aerith and Mario's friends cheered as the plumber was declared the winner of the match, and of the entire tournament. Even the other competitors that had stayed to see the outcome of the tournament cheered at the plumber's victory. Back on the floor, the shogun rose and got back into the ring. When he got back up into the ring, he went over to Mario and smiled.
"Congratulations Jōnin Mario," he began. "You have passed every test offered in this tournament with flying colors and have won every battle you participated in with more ease than I would have thought possible for any one individual save for one of the legendary members of Avalanche from five hundred years ago. You should be proud."
"Thank you sir," Mario answered, bowing before the shogun.
The shogun then snapped his fingers and one of the honor guards immediately went into a back room behind the ring. After a few moments, the honor guard emerged with a large box. He stepped into the ring and presented Mario with the box, opening it for the plumber. Inside the box were a large book and sack of what looked to be money, which surprised him since he thought the grand prize was merely the Great Gospel tome.
"Money too?" Mario asked, not refusing the prize but not certain that he should take it.
"You won every battle you participated in," the shogun answered. "The bag of ten thousand gil is a secret bonus prize for your historic performance in the Ninja Tournament."
Mario then bowed and accepted both the Great Gospel tome and the ten thousand gil. Remembering his promise to Nanaki, he was actually happy to have also won some money from the tournament.
"Let's hear it four our tournament winner!" the shogun proclaimed at the top of his voice.
Everyone present then cheered and applauded Mario as he bowed before the audience before stepping down from the ring and rejoining his friends. As he rejoined the others, his party members went over and all congratulated him on his victory. The last to arrive was Aerith, who smiled and said, "Congratulations on your win and thank you."
Mario smiled in return and handed the Great Gospel tome to her, saying, "I think you have more use for this than I do."
She accepted it and held it close to her chest. The group then looked around to see if there was anything else they needed to do for courtesy's sake. When they saw the other remaining tournament participants withdrawing from the pagoda and the shogun and his honor guards retreating into a back room, they decided that it was time for them to leave as well.
The group departed the pagoda and made their way into town, following a marked path through the woods. While a part of them were still on guard since they did not expect Sephiroth to stop hunting them so quickly since they had just gotten the Great Gospel tome, as well as great deal of Materia, they were relieved that they did not have to look over their shoulders for any attacks by opposing ninjas. As such, their trek back to Wutai Village was much more relaxed than they were accustomed to in the village.
Once they reached the village, Mario took out his phone and dialed Dribble and Spitz. After a few rings, he got an answer.
"Hey Mario," he heard Spitz answer on the other end of the line. What's up?"
"We got the tome and are ready for pickup," Mario answered.
"Hold on, then. Luigi and the others just got finished their stay at the Gold Saucer too and we've got them onboard. We'll swing by to pick you guys up shortly."
"Thank Spitz," Mario answered before hanging up the phone. Once he hung up the phone, the party proceeded to find a lodge to rest and relax for the time it would take for Dribble and Spitz to pick them up. During that time, Aerith took the opportunity to begin studying the Great Gospel tome they had won. She knew that the sooner she learned the variant of the Limit Break, the sooner they would be able to challenge and hopefully defeat Sephiroth.
Meanwhile, back at the pagoda, the shogun and his honor guards watched Mario and the others leave. The shogun could not get over how easily Mario had passed the challenges. He was also curious as to what his companions were since they did not resemble any creatures known to have existed on Gaia. In addition, he also thought that he had recognized the human woman with him. He was also not alone in that thought. Once of his honor guards soon came up to him and whispered into his ear.
"Master Cado, do you think that that woman with Mario was Aerith Gainsborough?" the guard asked.
"The thought has crossed my mind," the shogun answered. "She does look just like the Aerith statue on the mountain."
"If she is Aerith, then what does that mean?"
"It means that things must be pretty bad if she had been granted a new lease on life," Cado answered.
"But what could be so bad that the Planet would resurrect her?" the guard asked.
"What indeed?" was the shogun's only answer.