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August 20th, 2003"Bowser, Aeris and Cloud: The Rescue"Part VI: "Unexpected Allies" August 17th, 9:35 PM This is some party, Cloud thought bitterly. The "Sweet Sixteen" party he was currently enduring barely had enough guests to make it one. Five of the sixteen remaining fighters were missing; others, like Squall, were keeping to themselves. The rest were mostly chatting quietly, having a drink or two...and trying to ignore Bowser, who had chosen the party to return after a three-day absence. He seemed to be doing his best to make up for the time he'd missed annoying them all. That, or he's just here to get under our skin, Cloud groused, as he watched the reptile pester Mario (Sonic had already left). His presence at the party alone was a slap in the face.... "Just keep ignoring him," Link muttered, looking up briefly from his glass. "I don't think he knows you're here." Cloud sighed and shook his head. "Naah...I'd better just get out of here," he decided, standing up. He had nearly lost it the last time he had seen the Koopa King; he didn't want to be tricked into doing anything drastic. "You should stay outside and try to follow him when he leaves," Crono advised. "Maybe you'll find a clue." The mercenary smirked. "Maybe I will," he said, not mentioning that he had already been planning on doing just that. Crono nodded and wished him luck; Link grunted in agreement. Cloud exchanged terse waves with them as he headed for the door. He was three steps away from it when Bowser finally saw him. "Hey, hey--you made it, Cloud!" he called out. "And here I was thinking you were too busy moping to show up!" The mercenary froze. "...did you have to come here, Bowser?" he growled, as the competitors between the two started to inch out of their path. "Come on, Cloud...give me a break!" Bowser groaned, sounding tired. "I'm just looking for a little time off. Kidnapping people is hard work!" The former SOLDIER looked down, gritting his teeth. As a matter of fact, he had come here for a little time off himself. Since the airship had launched, he and his allies had gotten nowhere. Mario said the ship had to land occasionally, but they had never seen it do so--and even with the plumber's cape, they couldn't catch it in the air. Cloud was starting to feel as though Bowser really had won. He had wanted to get away from all that.... "...forget it. I'm done here," he muttered, turning to leave. "But you just got here! Don't you like us?" Bowser cackled. "You're never gonna get back your girlfriend anyway, so you might as well stay here and have some fun!" For a moment, Cloud stood with his back turned, his hands balled into fists. Then he turned around and started running. "I know what would be fun," he snarled, drawing the Buster Sword. Bowser grinned and shifted on his feet, but his guard--if he was guarding--was laughable at best. Mario was too far away to catch him; Crono wouldn't get past the table in time... Then a light blue beam wrapped around his waist, stopping him short as he leaped forward to strike. "Calm down, Cloud," said Samus from a seat at the bar, holding him in place with the grappling beam. "No need to get yourself disqualified over this *******." Snake, sitting next to her and almost looking startled, mumbled something to her. She replied in a whisper, never taking her eyes off Cloud. Giving her a puzzled look, he slowly cooled down and sheathed his sword. She heaved a small sigh of relief and retracted the beam as Bowser glared at her. "I resent that remark, you little spoilsport!" the Koopa King grumbled. He'd obviously been looking forward to getting Cloud thrown out of the tourney. That CAN'T be all this is about...can it...? "Bowser, don't you think this has gone on long enough?" Samus asked, ignoring his complaint. "You've had your fun...now why don't you give us all some peace, and tell us where Aeris is?" The reptile started to growl...then stopped as he glanced around the room. It was pretty clear that most of the rest of the fighters shared her sentiments. Mario and Mega Man were standing up with crossed arms; Crono and Squall were fingering their sword hilts, ready to pounce. Even Link, who had become so distant as of late, was giving the Koopa King a look of disgust. "Heh. If you people want to know where she is so badly, just ask Clod over here," he snickered, pointing at the mercenary. "He knows exactly where Aeris is. It's just a matter of catching up to her!" And with that, the Koopa King suddenly broke for the back door. Cloud was right behind him, followed by about half of the rest of the crowd. They went outside to find not the Doom Ship, but another twisted vehicle: a large white sphere hovering just off the ground, with the top cut off and a clownish smiley face painted on the side. Bowser was sitting in the middle of it, and it was slowly taking off. Mario jumped in after him and started looking for the controls, but Bowser just laughed. "Oh, give it a rest, plumber," he sneered. "What kind of an evil genius would I be if any idiot could fly this thing?" Abruptly, the genius grabbed Mario by the scruff of his neck and dumped him outside. Before anyone else could react, he had flown a dozen feet into the air. He stopped there, out of reach, for one final cackle to the crowd. Cloud was about to throw a spell at the vehicle--not knowing, or caring, if it was against the rules--when he was startled by none other than Samus, who came racing up from behind him with her helmet back on. "Come on," she said quietly, grabbing his hand. Bewildered, he followed her underneath Bowser's flyer, just managing to skirt the reptile's view. A second later, the copter was on its way back to the Doom Ship...with Samus and Cloud dangling from the propeller. ---- Bowser's flyer was, apparently, stronger than it looked. He didn't seem to notice the weight difference at all as it flew across the landscape at high speeds. Cloud tried to focus his attention on the ground far below him, boringly familiar as it was. It was better than looking up at his precarious perch. He was still hanging from Samus' hand. She, in turn, was hanging from the grappling beam, which was wrapped around a knob on the end of the craft's single propeller. He had already nearly fallen once, when Samus had shortened the beam's length to keep Bowser from discovering them. They would have gladly moved elsewhere, but there was nowhere else to go. Luckily, their journey was over soon enough. In this tiny dimension, the airship didn't have much room to roam; within ten minutes, an unmistakable shadow appeared in the night sky. Seeing the same thing he had, Samus smoothly hoisted Cloud up to eye level. "That's where we're headed?" she asked quietly, turning her head toward the rapidly-increasing shadow. Cloud nodded. "There's cannons at the top...we'll never make it through there," he told her. "We need to find another way in...." They turned back to the ship, looking for a back entrance. Samus soon shook her head in disbelief; it was just as massive as Cloud had remembered it. Luckily, it was also as badly repaired as he remembered--they couldn't find any secret passages, but they did find a convenient hole in the wall before Bowser's final ascent. "Grab onto my back," Samus told him, pulling him behind her. "You'll need a better grip for this one...." Cloud scowled, but followed her instructions, putting his legs around her waist and his arms around her neck. He felt like a monkey, hanging over her like that...and then he felt even more like one, as Samus started swinging back and forth on the "rope." "Uhh...are you sure about--" And then they were off, as she cut off the beam during her third forward swing. The pair flew from the flyer and soared into the night sky. Cloud tried not to sweat as he held on for dear life, keeping his eyes fixed on the Doom Ship. It looked like they were going to come up short...but then Samus fired the grappling beam again, latching onto a cannon high above the rotted wall. A team of three winged Koopa Troopas had just arrived to fix the hole when Samus and Cloud flew through it. The bounty hunter actually crashed into one of them, knocking it unconscious. As she shook her head and recovered, the other two turtles gaped at them, then started to flee. Cloud struck the first one down with a leaping slash; not missing a beat, Samus caught the other one with her grappler, throwing it into the wall. "I take it they were the enemy?" she said as she stood up. "Yeah...but there's a lot more of them, and some worse ones besides. Hopefully they won't be missed," Cloud replied. "Do you know where to go from here?" "I think so," he answered, taking out the blueprint he'd stolen from the haunted mansion. He looked it over for a moment and smiled. They were probably at a bend in the lower level, which was mostly used for supplies; it still had the twisting corridors Bowser seemed so fond of, but almost none of the traps. There were only two ways into or out of it: one, a stairway to the upper deck...and the other, the dungeon, which led up to a miniature fortress a floor above. He started to tell Samus where they should go--but she was already next to him, her hand outstretched. "Could I borrow that for a second...?" she asked. He nodded and gave it to her, then raised his eyebrow as her visor started to glow. She looked at it for a few seconds, then handed it back to him. "Thanks," she said, as the visor's light dimmed. "...did you just copy that entire map to your system?" he asked in disbelief. She nodded. "Might not have gotten it all right, though...Bowser's handwriting isn't exactly a computer screen," she remarked. "So...straight ahead, take the third right?" "Err...yeah," he said, turning the blueprint over and shaking his head. As they walked along the corridors, dodging the occasional bed of spikes or tongue of flame, Cloud's adrenaline started to die down. The questions he had wanted to ask Samus throughout the ride there started to come back to the surface. He had been looking for some more help as of late, but Samus' name was one of the last on his list. She had already proven a powerful ally, however...but why? "Why are you doing this...?" he questioned bluntly, as they moved into a clear hallway. Samus waited a moment before answering. "...I'm not sure," she decided on, eventually. "Maybe because I was the only one that could...or would, at least. Maybe because this has gone on too long, and I don't like to see the bullies win. ...maybe because I was bored, I don't know," she finished with a chuckle. He chuckled back, a bit more grimly. "Well...thanks," he said, "whatever the reason." She simply nodded in response. "So...does that mean this is a one-time thing, or...?" "You've got to be more positive, Cloud," Samus chided. "If that blueprint's right, she's close...very close. We'll get her back tonight." The mercenary scowled. "I've learned the hard way that it's pointless to stay positive where Bowser is concerned," he muttered darkly. "...I see," Samus murmured, taken aback. She paused for a moment, then turned to him abruptly. "Well, there is the little matter of my match in a couple of days...but other than that, I'll help as much as I can." "Thanks," he said again, shaking her hand with a smile. After several more minutes of crossing corridors, they were almost through to the dungeon. Cloud could feel his heartrate increasing in spite of himself; of course, he was also nervously wondering when Bowser would notice his missing troops. Neither feeling, however, prepared him for what lay around the next corner. "...this was not on the map," Samus remarked. They were expecting a straight hallway...and they got two paths, leading left and right. "I don't understand," Cloud mumbled, looking at the map in confusion. It had worked fine up until now, and he couldn't find any other stretch of passages like what they had crossed. Had Bowser realized Cloud had taken the map, and deliberately moved some of the halls around? "So...which way should we try?" his partner asked, her hand on her hip. He looked down at the blueprint again and frowned. If the map was reliable at all--which he had to believe--either path could join back up with another one that led to the dungeon. Heading to the left would mean a considerably longer route...but knowing Bowser, that made it the safest choice by a long shot. "Left," he decided, hoping he knew Bowser. "Yeah...that sounds about right," Samus replied, obviously coming to the same conclusions. They broke into a jog, now, anxious to see if they were right. The first joint between the passages they'd been hoping for wasn't there, but the second one was. They took it eagerly, pleased to find that the corridor they'd transferred into still had the same intersections. They sped up involuntarily as they moved down the paths, looping back around the maze-like halls in the direction of the dungeon. Cloud's heart started beating faster again as they headed toward the third-to-last corner, with only two short halls ahead of them before they reached their goal... ...and then it nearly stopped, as they rounded the corner and found a dead end. "Damnit!!" Cloud exclaimed, a bit louder than he intended to. "He's changed the map...." He almost tore the blueprint apart in frustration, but managed to check himself in time. "Calm down, Cloud," said Samus, for the second time that day. "One of the offshoots of these paths will probably get us there. I can run ahead and check them out--" "No," Cloud interrupted, shaking his head. "The last thing we need to do is get separated in one of Bowser's mazes. We check the closest paths together, then go back to the fork in the road." "All right," she agreed, though she didn't sound too confident in his decision. They turned away from the dead end, resuming their previous jog... ...and then Samus stopped. "Hold still," she announced, turning around slowly. Cloud did the same and stood silently, watching her apparently listening for something. She reached up to her helmet and adjusted a dial near her right ear, then moved toward the back wall. A few seconds later, she nodded. "It's her...." Immediately, Cloud was at her side, his hand on his sword hilt. "She's behind this wall?" he exclaimed, ready to chop it down. "Hang on," Samus cautioned, putting her hand on his shoulder. She moved with him back away from the wall, then looked at it again, her visor briefly glowing a faint white. "She's back there," she announced after a few seconds, "but the cell walls are reinforced with titanium. There is one spot, though.... With that, the bounty hunter walked to the end of the hall again. "Aeris," she said loudly, "move away from the wall." She waited a moment--presumably for Aeris to comply--then fired her blaster, sending a jet of superheated energy at the wooden wall. A small section of it burned away quickly, revealing the metal lining--and a tiny hole poking through it, not more than an inch wide. As Samus backed away and turned down her hearing, Cloud looked into the hole...and found an unforgettable green eye staring back at him. "Cloud...?" "Aeris...." He saw the bottom of her eye cinch upwards, showing off her smile. Then she started to tear up, and he was surprised to feel himself doing the same. He wiped his eyes clear in irritation; she giggled as she watched him, and he couldn't help but grin. "Are you hurt?" he asked anxiously. "No...not physically, anyway," she answered. "Bowser teases me once in a while, but other than that, he just gives me my meals and leaves me alone." "He gives you your meals?" "Don't worry--they're safe," she assured him, laughing a bit. "Pretty bland, but safe." He wasn't sure she could be a good gauge for that at this point...but he had a more pressing question to answer first. "I thought you had the Escape materia on your bangle," he told her. "I do...but I can't use it," she replied, looking to the side. "Why...?" "Because...I've been under a Silence curse for the last ten days," she revealed, closing her eyes. "...what??" Aeris wasn't making sense. Silence spells lasted a few minutes, not ten days. More importantly, if she had been under one, she wouldn't have been able to tell him about it. "This isn't a normal Silence spell," she explained, reading his thoughts. "It targets the mind, not the body. With normal spells, you can still feel your magic--you just can't do anything about it. But I feel as if I have no magic at all...not even my innate skills," she went on, sounding distantly sad. That explained why she hadn't just walked past Bowser on the first day, anyway. "It also seems to be permanent. I doubt anyone will be able to cure the curse but the one who put it on me." Cloud blinked. Cure the curse... Why hadn't he thought of it before? Immediately, he reached for his Heal materia, concentrating on Aeris as he cast Esuna. He saw the curative magic wash over her, giving her a healthy white glow...but when it was over, she just shook her head. "I didn't see who cast the spell," she went on, "but they had very strong magic. There were only three people left back then with that kind of power: Magus...Kefka..." "...and Sephiroth," Cloud finished for her, dismissing the other choices instantly. She nodded, sharing his thoughts. Bowser is working with Sephiroth? No wonder he's been giving us so much trouble.... "Listen, Aeris...we'll get you out of this," he vowed. "I'm not the only one trying to rescue you. Mario and Sonic helped me find you, and Samus brought me here." "Samus...thank you so much," Aeris called, smiling again. Cloud turned to see if the bounty hunter would respond, but she had her back turned, deliberately shutting out the conversation. He turned back to Aeris, looking determined. "Between the four of us, we will get you back. Bowser won't win...and neither will Sephiroth. I promise you that." She smiled and started to tear up again. "Be careful, Cloud," she whispered. Then she moved her face upwards slowly, stopping when he could see her smile. He smiled back automatically; he couldn't believe how much he'd missed it. Then she stuck her finger into the hole. For one brief, insane instant, he thought she was going to poke his eye out. Then his senses returned to him, and he quickly understood. He took his glove off and returned the favor, giving her the human contact she'd been missing for so long. "I'll see you soon," he whispered back, as he heard a faint sniffle. After a moment, he left her, feeling better than he had in ages. Aeris was still trapped, and she had lost her magic...but she was there, and she was safe. He had spent so much time worrying about saving her that he had forgotten who he was trying to save; this one, small reminder made him feel a lot more focused...and a lot less frustrated. "Let's go, Samus," he told his partner. She turned back and gave him a terse nod, then started jogging down the corridor almost immediately. I guess we WERE talking for a while... he mused as he tailed her. The pair flew around the corner and through the first hallway, eager to get back to their mission. The closest offshoot was just after the next bend; they rounded it, heading to their right... ...and almost ran into Bowser, who was now blocking the path. "So...I guess Little Miss Robot brought you up here," the Koopa King rumbled, crossing his arms as Cloud and Samus looked up at him in shock. "I knew you hadn't grown wings yet, soldier boy...." The former SOLDIER frowned in confusion, in spite of himself. But before he could ask what Bowser was talking about, he let out a furious roar. "It was YOU!!" he shouted, pointing at Cloud's map. "I didn't throw that blueprint away--you STOLE it, at the Ghost House! I had to rebuild half this ship from memory because of you!!" "Oh?" Cloud actually snickered. "No wonder the map was all wrong...." "Get out of the way, Bowser," Samus growled. "We've got a 'Princess' to save." The reptile laughed. "Haven't you ever read a fairy tale, Sammy? Before you can save the princess, you've got to beat the dragon!" he sneered, baring his teeth. "Are you trying to get disqualified, idiot?" the bounty hunter snapped. "I am recording this, you know...." "Oh, I never said I was going to fight you." He jerked his thumb over his shoulder. "They, on the other hand...." And with that, Koopa Troopas started pouring into the hallway as he gave a nasty grin. Samus leaped back immediately, beginning a barrage of rifle blasts even before she landed. Cloud picked off the ones she couldn't, slamming them into the walls or just splitting them in half. Bowser started to sweat when they beat back twenty of his troops in half a minute...but the enemies' sheer numbers soon caught up to the heroes. "We've got to...retreat!" Cloud barked, slapping a leaping Troopa from the air. "But--" "I know," he growled. "But there's no telling how many troops Bowser has." "All right," Samus agreed, "but how?" "...you can fly, can't you?" She gave him an odd look. "In a manner of speaking--" "Then here's how." With that, Cloud jumped as high as he could and drove the Buster Sword into the ground. The force of the blow made the walls shake--and the floor crumble, opening a hole to the outside. He then grabbed Samus' hand and jumped, plunging them into the night sky. "...are you out of your mind??" she cried. "Do you even know how I fly?" "You jump again in midair," he called back, matter-of-factly. She was one of last year's quarterfinalists, after all. She paused. "...oh," she mumbled, looking puzzled. "Well, in that case, grab onto my back again...and prepare to be dizzy." Wondering what she meant by that, Cloud inched over to her and latched on. The bounty hunter then lifted her knees and kicked on the jets in her feet...sending she and Cloud spinning end over end in the air. The first "jump" barely slowed them at all, but they were down to a safe landing speed by the fourth one. Samus landed hard on one knee, cringing but looking none the worse for wear. Two seconds later, Cloud fell to the ground, trying not to throw up. ---- Once Cloud had recovered, the two walked back to the Hero's Haunt to find just what they were hoping for: the "party" was over, but Mario and Sonic were waiting there anyway. Cloud and Samus quickly told them what had happened; they were happy Cloud had seen Aeris, and less happy that Bowser's security was up. They also agreed that Sephiroth had probably sealed Aeris' magic--Magus had no reason for it, and Kefka wouldn't have hidden in the shadows. Obviously, tonight wasn't the time to strike. Even if they managed to get back onboard, Bowser would be expecting a sneak attack now. Tomorrow's match was scheduled early; they would take a break to watch it, then make their plans over lunch at the Haunt. Time was running short, Cloud knew...but for the first time in a while, he felt like it might not run out. Next Entry Back |