| GCB Fanfics: The Fanfiction Project |
August 20th, 2003"Bowser, Aeris and Cloud: The Rescue"Part VIII: "Shell Games" August 20th, 7:35 AM The Doom Ship The seventh guest slowly stalked down the corridor of the Doom Ship, surreptitiously avoiding the light. He walked at a steady pace over the planks, neither unnecessarily slowing himself nor drawing attention to himself. His footfalls were so light one might have assumed he was hovering in the air. He kept his senses open and alert, spying as far in advance as he could to warn him of another's approach. The uninvited guest aboard the airship stopped abruptly when the corridor split into two. Here, his quarry began to separate. Cloud's party must have taken one route, and Bowser doubtlessly had his own means of navigating his own ship. And those he followed were likely still clearing the way. That which he sought might be found down either road, and once he committed to one, he was likely stuck with it. The left passage was littered with empty shells. The corpses of fallen turtle warriors. If they were really important, some of them might have even had names. The majority of the shells looked like they had suffered heavy collisions, some from the sides, and some from above. One lone Koopa shell was even resting in the next room, several yards away from the rest. It was Mario's handiwork. The remaining Koopas were sprawled around the sides, turtle shells cleaved into multiple pieces, evidence of Cloud's signature move. A quick look down the right passage told a slightly different story. The room was ridiculously warm, and it soon became evident why. The floor gave way to an expanse of lava bridged by moving platforms. Out of all of Bowser's abilities, his talent at defying the laws of physics seemed to be the one most frequently and annoyingly employed. The back wall was badly singed in an erratic pattern, and the platforms themselves were covered in skid marks. A few icicles that were quickly turning to water were attached to the ceiling... the evidence suggested Samus and Sonic had passed through successfully. Getting across the room by itself should not have been that difficult for anyone in Cloud's party-there must have been a significant fight here as well. The man Bowser had referred to as the "straggler" paused to consider the implications of his discoveries. There was no rush for time for this one. He would simply make the correct decision. From the looks of things, the left passage had been more heavily guarded, but the right would pose more of a challenge to pass through quickly. Given an equal amount of time, any party would make more progress down the left route than the right one, and ironically, might be more likely to pursue the more heavily defended route. But trying to think a step ahead of Bowser was beyond pointless. There was quite often little reasoning behind self-indulgence in the Koopa King's logic. Both passages would have some logical endpoint, and Bowser would have a reason for building both. The uninvited guest continued his course along the right path, bridging the lava in a series of careful jumps until his feet met solid ground again. The vast majority of Bowser's traps and obstacles depended upon the element of surprise. Once robbed of that, the turtle's machinations could be undone with a minimum of effort. He knew better than to rush. He would bring the matter to its conclusion, and there would be no stopping him. ---- 7:15 A.M. "Sure is hot in here," Sonic grumbled. "Really?" Samus chuckled. "I hadn't noticed. You should really think about getting suited up with some decent temperature regulators." "Bleck. Machines." Sonic shuddered momentarily, then shrugged in the direction of Samus. "No offense." "None taken. Next time I see MegaMan though, I'll let him know how you feel." "Whatever." Sonic had come out of his sprint long enough to let Samus catch up with him. Ordinarily, that might not have stopped him in and of itself, but he had also run out of track to run on. Sonic and Samus were overlooking a sea of lava. Small fireballs occasionally leaped out of the molten wasteland, only to fall back into the liquid flames. The surface was largely still, occasionally bubbling up due to the heat and pressure. It was actually quite soothing, if you looked at it from the right perspective-namely, Bowser's. "It's going to be a little tricky getting across, but we can do it." Samus pointed off into the distance. "See those ledges? What you're going to have to do is..." And at this point, Samus's voice began to be drowned out by a near volcanic eruption. A wave began to build up out of the previously passive sea of lava, and a straight column of fire burst forth from its crest. A flurry of fireballs began streaking towards them, accompanied by flying Goombas, winged fish, and even the occasional cloud riding turtle with glasses. "Ok, now this is just freaking weird!" Sonic yelled over the growing commotion. Samus nodded grimly and adjusted her arm cannon. "Just make a break for it, take out as much as you can that's not on fire. I'll go for the fireballs." Sonic backed up, startled. "Wait, what do you want me to do?" "GOO!" Sonic took a running dive into the air, managing to catch a moving platform at the end of its circuit. The blue blur began skipping and jumping from ledge to ledge, skidding around corners and leaping into the air to bash into whatever baddies were there. With each one he hit, there was a satisfying pop, and he moved on to the next one. The air above him became filled with icey blasts, freezing enemies in their tracks and forcing them to drop into the pits of flame below. Samus kept her back against the wall, targeting as rapidly as she could but shooting on pure instinct more often than not. The flames seemed to keep replenishing as she froze them in place, but she kept taking out as many as she could. By skill, or by sheer attrition, they were going to get through this. Granted a momentary reprieve after Sonic dived into a cluster of levitating fish, Samus leaped onto a platform, quickly a shooting a straight energy blast to disintegrate a flaming enemy above Sonic's head, singing her ally's fur in the process. The hedgehog yelled at her in irritation. "Take it easy there, sis! I'll have you know this is a natural fur coat!" The remaining group of enemies took advantage of her exposed position to circle around the two of them, preparing to dive in for a finishing round. Samus let loose a charged ice blast straight up into the air, and leaped from the wall to the next platform, firing as fast as she could while Sonic kept recklessly diving into their thickest clumps. It was mind-bogglingly intense. And soon, it was over. Bowser's minions had all vanished into the lava again. Only the room and their own selves bore the scars of the battle which had taken place. Sonic rubbed one hand along his back, checking for burnt fur. "Guess they just ran out." Samus couldn't quite believe it herself, but nodded. "Yeah." She leaped into the air, clearing the remainder of the room in a series of jet propelled jumps. Sonic snorted, and dove across the platforms separating him from the other side in a slightly less direct fashion. The hedgehog gave Samus a brief high five, but began walking down the corridor again. "Yeah, fighting back there did bring back some unpleasant memories." "Really," Samus commented with a little amusement. "I'm a little hurt that you didn't enjoy our match. It's still one of the best I've had here." "Yeah... I know. But it just wasn't fair!" Sonic abruptly halted and glared at Samus. "You kept on coming, like some kind of machine! I gave it everything I had, and it just wasn't enough! I... I should have won." "And here I was afraid you were going to complain that you got beaten by a girl." Samus tried to smile at Sonic, but still felt a little awkward all of a sudden... she wasn't used to any of the fighters opening up like this, particularly about their own weaknesses. Snake or any of the men would never have exposed themselves like this. She decided to try a different tact with Sonic then she was used to. "Listen, Sonic... you're a good fighter. To tell the truth, for a while during the match, I thought you might beat me. But you gave it all you had too soon, and wore yourself out too fast. You have to exercise self control as well as speed. And it's no use obsessing over what happened a year ago... it's in the past, you've learned from it, it would be better if we both just forgot about it." Sonic picked himself up and shrugged again. "Yeah, I guess you're right." Samus was about to continue speaking, but Sonic began running down the passage again, calling after her, "Come on! Let's get going!" Samus smiled wryly. Some things never change. ---- 7:15 A.M. Mario's enthusiasm for his search was only matched by his ignorance of his environment. The plumber skipped along happily while Cloud re-inspected his blueprints, no more wiser than he as to what was going on. Cloud had expected more of a maze, more obstacles-more of anything. Instead their journey was leading them through a series of empty rooms. Portraits of Bowser grinned at them from the sides, and the only sounds they could detect were the echoes of their own footfalls. "Something's not right about all this." Cloud murmured uneasily. "Eh, probably. But who-a cares!" Mario leaped forward into the next room, arriving at a small raised platform, with long corridors extending in all four directions. Each of them looked identical to the passage they had just come from... Cloud quickly pulled out his sword and scratched the ground behind him so they could have a reference point. Cloud joined Mario at the center of his room and pulled out his outdated map. "Hmm, this could work out. The right passage looks like it will probably lead us closer to Aeris. Unless you have any better ideas, we'll try to inspect that one." But Mario was no longer paying attention. His ear was to the ground, and his eyes were closed. Cloud looked at him uneasily. "Is someone coming?" He was soon able to answer his own question. A steady clomp... clomp... clomp... of Koopa Troopas could be heard from all directions. Cloud spun around in a circle, and could see large numbers of Koopa Troopas filing out of the "empty" rooms they just passed, and all converging upon the center where they stood. The four groups were made up of ground Koopa Troopas in a rainbow of shell colors, flying Paratroopas, teenage mutant ninja koopas, and a line of Magikoopas brought up the rear for each group. Apparently this is what Bowser considered an army. Cloud had seen far better during his days in SOLDIER... but this wasn't going to be easy, nevertheless. Cloud backed up until he could feel Mario's pudgy form pressing against him. His eyes scanned the passageways... the troops were approaching from all sides at the same pace. This was not good. "So what do you usually do in this kind of situation?" "Eh, I like-a to charge them first." Mario somehow pulled a cape out of his overalls. "Don't-a worry, it'll be a piece of pasta!" Mario looked ready to dive into one of the groups, but Cloud put a hand upon his shoulder. "Wait." "I'll-a be fine!" "Trust me. You have to stand down. Just wait." The four groups paused a short ways in front of the platform, apparently expecting Mario or Cloud to make the first move. Cloud just stared them down. Finally, one of the flanks of Koopa Troopas began dive bombing forward, and that kicked off the rest of the line. The other groups soon followed suit, surrounding the two allies and advancing quickly upon their position. Magikoopas readied their wands, and the ground troops raised their fists, preparing for the inevitable confrontation. "All right." Cloud unsheathed his sword in one slick motion. "Just stay on the center of the platform, and don't make your move until I tell you too." "Okey dokey, Cloud, whatever you say." Mario replied nervously. "Thanks Mario." The first blast of spells began flying through the air over their heads, and the paratroopas were within striking range. It was now or never. Cloud raised the sword above his head and called out a single word. "Omnislash!" The battle hardened mercenary leapt into the air, slicing his sword through the air at every conceivable angle, centering his attacks around the center of the platform. At this close range, he couldn't fail to hit something. The air was soon filled with sliced Koopa shells, and the troops began to stumble back in the face of the one-man onslaught. Cloud took a final leap over a line of ground troops, and made a lateral slice through a line of Magikoopas, watching blue robes drop to the ground in satisfaction. He turned around quickly and yelled where he hoped Mario still was. "NOW!" The plumber glided above the littered Koopa shells on the ground, bouncing on the remaining flying troopas in series. The hero of the mushroom kingdom grabbed the last shell and hit the ground with it, tossing it into the array of Bowser's minions from the back. The panicked turtles bumped into each other, and tripped over their fallen comrades, and retreating towards the center platform. Despite their obvious advantage in numbers, at the moment, it felt like they were surrounded. Cloud prevented the retreat of a group of Magikoopas with a single swipe of his sword, and Mario circled around the platform, bouncing from shell to shell, until he slammed into the ground with his cape, forcing the remaining troopas up into the air again. With their forces disorganized and demoralized, the two of them were able to make short work of the survivors. Mario punted another shell down a hallway where a group of troopas were trying to sneak away, taking them down like bowling pins. Cloud in turn kept up a heavy offensive, and before too long, the room was just as still as it had been before the koopa army sprung its trap. "Not bad... not bad at all." Cloud said, panting. He began stumbling towards one of the corridors. "Come on, let's get going." ---- Bowser had the best view of the proceedings, but this still failed to please him. The intruders were going through his forces like so much fodder. A glance at the display on the wall made it evident that his troops were rapidly diminishing in size. Cloud and his friends were chewing through his lines of defense. He hadn't been kidding himself that badly, he knew they wouldn't hold for long. It just would have been nice to see something go right for a change. "Bah. Good help is so hard to find these days..." Bowser watched with detachment as Samus and Sonic engaged a pack of hammer brothers. Sonic was running circles around the armored Koopas, forcing them to waste their ammunition-and Samus was easily picking them off one by one. Sonic skidded into a 180 and sped backwards as he reached the wall. Bowser could tell by the expression on the hedgehog's face that he was snickering. Kids these days... they don't have any respect. A charged shot through the ranks of the hammer brothers left a lone hammer bro backed up against a wall, holding his hammers in front of his face in a protective pose. Sonic simply leaped onto him from above, snatching his hammers and knocking him to the ground. "There's never anything good on any more..." Bowser quickly changed the channel. Cloud and Mario were having slightly less luck dealing with a pair of fire brothers. Mario looked like he was having a hard time keeping up with the flaming attacks, flashing his cape left and right to deflect the balls of fire. Cloud was standing behind Mario's defensive shield, mumbling to himself... but Bowser could already see where this was going. Cloud signaled Mario, and the plumber leapt backwards to allow Cloud to shoot a huge crystal of ice at the fire brothers, freezing them into place. His two rivals simply let the fire brothers chill out, frozen into their positions with their mouths open while they inspected the room. Apparently they didn't even feel like finishing them off. If Bowser had been a lesser turtle, such as any of his seven offspring were, he might have cried. As it was, he simply schemed. He knew that his defenses would break down eventually... all this meant was that he would have to move his timetable up a few hours. Cloud and his friends were all rushing into a trap... it didn't really matter how long they took to get there. In the end, he couldn't have asked for it to be any better. One thing still bothered him though. The final visitor to his ship had been remarkably lax about making any appearances. Since his arrival... he might as well have been a wraith. The other arrivals all left a steady trail of destruction in their wake making it easy to pinpoint their whereabouts. But of this one, there was no sign. It was more than a little unusual that he would wait around so long before engaging his target... but Bowser would have to deal with whatever the warrior had planned. And if he tried anything... Bowser could handle him. He could handle anything. All the pieces on the board were his to play, and they were already lining themselves up to be knocked down. ---- "Actually, I kind of like it. Very modern art." "It's-a no Mona Lisa, but I could-a use one of these in-a my pad." The frozen ice sculpture of the recently extinguished fire brothers was meeting rave reviews by both Cloud and Mario. Given their mutual lack of affinity for art of any kind, it was somewhat of a rarity for them to be able to appreciate the finer points of the end result of one of their fights. But Cloud quickly turned his attention to other matters. "Something's not right about all this." Cloud pointed at the window on the side wall. Sunlight was shining on through, illuminating the floor. "That means we're facing south right now, that light's coming from the east." "Okey Dokey." Mario started nonchalantly heading down the hallway, but Cloud grabbed his shirt and pulled him back. "Listen to me. When we started out, that light was coming from the left wall. We've turned left and right since then... so it switched sides somehow." Mario scratched his head and stroked his moustache thoughtfully. "Are you-a saying we're going north now?" "No. What I'm trying to say is... augh." Cloud turned around and started heading for the previous room. "We got turned around somehow, and I don't think the airship could have turned that sharply without us feeling it. Something's not right about this. We're doing just what Bowser wants us to do, and that's enough to make me think it's a trap." Mario scampered after Cloud, and after a bit of a hike, they returned to the center of the four hallways. Cloud looked around the room, and spotted the marking he had made earlier to their left. "Let's just go back where we came from, get our bearings." But the trip down that corridor didn't lead where Cloud had expected either. A pair of boomerang brothers greeted his arrival with dual whirling projectiles. Cloud hit the deck and barely missed getting his head bashed in. He winced as the boomerangs began their return path. "Mario? Could you get that for me?" But Mario was already in the air with his cape, gliding over Cloud and spin-jumping both of the boomerang brothers into oblivion. This corridor was nearly identical to the other one... a long passageway which looked like it soon twisted around a corner. Cloud shook his head, and grabbed Mario's arm again. "Come on, this can't be right. We're going back." Cloud began whispering to Mario as they passed the a row of Bowser portraits for the fifth time. "It has to be this next room that's the problem-I bet it's rotating somehow and we don't know it. We just have to rush through somehow." From the center platform, he directed Mario straight again, down another identical hallways. The plumber gave him a quizzical glance. "You-a sure you don't-a want to just-a try them in the right order?" "NOW Mario! Run!" Cloud began sprinting back towards the center of the room and dashed down a passageway to the left. Mario began running after Cloud, more than a little confused. The whole room began to creak and grind, and Mario began to realize what Cloud had been talking about. It felt like the whole room was rotating... only much faster now. Mario ran as fast as he could, but only in time to see Cloud slip into a disappearing passageway down the corridor. Mario sighed as the room creaked to a halt. Hopefully Cloud would get wherever he wanted to go by himself... he might as well check out one of the other passages. ---- "I gotta admit, it's nice seeing those things directed at someone else for a change." Sonic called out to Samus, as she mowed down a group of flying turtles aimlessly flying about. With the skies clear, Sonic dashed up a ramp, soaring over a heap of what appeared to be football players. The hedgehog skidded around and zipped under them and between their legs, stealing a football from the farthest one and vanishing to the other end of the room. "Come on, slowpokes!" Sonic tossed the ball up into the air and caught it again. "You looking for this?" The charging chucks grunted and all began heaving in Sonic's direction. The hedgehog stood there calmly, leaning back against the wall and tossing the football up into the air at random intervals. The teamless football players were soon met full on by a wave of blaster fire. After a steady salvo of energy blasts from Samus, the minions became only a memory and a stain. Samus shook her head at Sonic, who was still twirling the football around. "Don't you ever get tired of that?" "Seeing you fry these slowpokes or playing with this football?" "... Yes." "Nope." "Didn't think so." Samus continued leading Sonic through the maze of hallways, stopping briefly to consult her visor, and occasionally even backtracking to try to stay on course. When Sonic asked her what she was doing, she usually gave a non committal answer, or explained that she was trying to reach Aeris. Sonic didn't much mind letting her choose where they went... so long as he got to take the lead in the battles, he was happy. It wasn't until she felt they were nearing their goal that she chose to take him aside and actually explain what was going on. They were in front of another giant pit of lava... the one bridged by floating red platforms that slid back and forth, leading up to a ledge on the other side of the pit. "If I'm correct, Aeris should be roughly on the other side of that pit." "Ok." Sonic began shuffling his feet along the ground, getting ready to race forward. "Let's get going then!" "Not so fast..." Samus did a thermal scan of the area. "There's something not quite right about all this. The room seems mostly empty-Bowser doesn't seem as likely to leave something this valuable unguarded." "Maybe he didn't think we'd make it this far." "Maybe. But still... I think I should go across first. If anything goes wrong, I'll have a better chance of escaping from any traps he might have in place." Before Sonic had a chance to object, Samus took a running leap and landed squarely on top of one of the reddish platforms. She adjusted her footing slightly, but nodded in satisfaction. "It seems safe enough, you can probably come along." Samus readied her charge beam in anticipation as the platform began to rise, taking her to the next target. "Wooaah! WOOAH! Samus, Blargg!" Samus turned around to stare at her temporary partner. "Excuse me?" "BLAARRGH! It's a Blargg! Get out of the way!" Sonic dove onto the platform and slammed into Samus, forcing her up into the air. As she turned around to yell at Sonic, Samus realized what she had missed. The platform hadn't been rising to take her anywhere. It had been rising because it sensed her presence. It was a living, breathing thing. She quickly spun into the air and made a jet-propelled leap away from a pair of snapping jaws. The monster roared at her, and dived under the water again, just as Sonic slipped away and grabbed onto the edge of the platform at the front of the room. Samus stayed airborne, but the whole sea became alive with fire breathing monsters. Samus fired a quick charged blast downward and took another jet-propelled jump to the other side of the room. By the time she landed on the other side, the whole room was deathly quiet again... all the monsters had sunk back into the lava, and Sonic and herself were the only visible inhabitants in the area. Sonic waved at her from across the pit. "So, how do you want me to get over there?" "Not sure you can. Aeris should be right around the corner, I'll be back as soon as I can." And with that, the bounty hunter disappeared out of sight. "Ok..." Sonic called out nervously. "Just don't... take too long." ---- On the surface, it appeared simple enough. All Cloud had to do was cross a boiling pit of lava while avoiding spurts of flame, leap over and through a series of spinning flaming rods, and keep himself from being scorched by the random blasts of heat. Well, maybe it wasn't so simple. He'd be lucky if he could make it to the other side without his sword turning to molten sledge, let alone with his physical being intact. The room was a mix between a gauntlet and an inferno. He might be able to make it through, but all it took was one false step to end his new career as a hero. It didn't help that the passage to get there had taken him forever. He must have covered the entire perimeter of the ship to get there... and the whole hallway had been abandoned, like he wasn't even supposed to come down that road. There was no way he could turn back now. The logical endpoint for it all was a metallic cage that he could just barely see the ends of. Cloud knew this couldn't have been where Aeris was held before... but Bowser wasn't above moving her around at a moment's notice. This could very well be it, the end to all his searches. The room had a certain deadly clockwork to it. The platforms all rose and fell in synchronization with the bursts of flame coming from the walls. The spinning rods would sometimes halt long enough to be conceivably used as stepping stones, and with the right sequences of actions... he just might make it through. Mario would probably have figured this all out already in his subconscious and just leapt into action. He didn't have the advantage of the plumber's experience or agility. He just had an ironclad determination that not even the flames could melt. Cloud spotted his opening as the first lift reached its low point. Not trusting himself to ponder the impossible situation any longer, he leaped onto it, and made a second quick jump away as a jet of flame engulfed the first platform. The platform continued its inevitable ascent upwards into another waiting burst of flame... but this one died down just before Cloud reached it, and he time to jump onto a spinning rod, and was surprised to find his feet stable. For once, luck was on his side. Cloud felt mildly giddy... as if he was actually invincible. The mercenary made a quick series of jumps, barely looking at where his feet were taking him... and found himself on a narrow platform in front of the cage. He couldn't believe had made it. Looking back, he wasn't sure he could repeat the performance to be back down. Even from this close range, the cage seemed completely dark. The bars were wide enough to squeeze through... Cloud took a deep breath and leaped inside of it. And then, everything changed. The room around him seemed to have all the chaotic energy sucked out of it. The light from the outside dimmed as the walls of his prison grew more distinct and the cage became illuminated. Cloud gasped as the platform he had come from just seemed to fade away... the room outside seemed to grow devoid of any color. Cloud reached over and grabbed the bars... and watched helplessly as the metal rods gradually slowed down and slipped into the lava. The lifts all reached the nadir of their circuits and sank into the red pool below. Despite the fact that he could see the lava pit bubbling beneath him... he suddenly felt like he was freezing. The whole room seemed to warp around the bars that contained him. He was trapped. There was no way back... all his bridges had just been burned behind him. Bowser had set him up. Nothing he had done had accomplished anything... it had all just been to get him stuck here. Cloud let his hand grow limp around his sword, as it clanged uselessly to the base of the cage. An unbearable wave of depression swept over him, draining him of the will to go on. There was no point in continuing. Nothing he could do would make a difference anyway... so why bother trying? Aeris... he had done everything he could to save her. But now she was stuck. It just wasn't fair. A snickering face began to appear on the back wall. "About time you got here!" "You..." Cloud felt a small stirring of hatred within him. Bowser's visage became illuminated on a screen on the wall opposite his cage. "Just what do you want?" "You. Oh, no, wait, I guess already have you! Gwa ha ha ha!" Bowser chortled at Cloud, sticking his tongue out at the helpless mercenary. "Well well. So nice of you to bring all your friends. I never thought I'd be playing host to half the tournament. I hope you enjoy my hospitality... Aeris certainly has." "You monster..." Cloud forced himself to stand up and glare at his nemesis. "What have you done with her?" "Don't worry, she's better off than you right now. Although you got here a little early... sorry if I can't feed you for a while." Bowser sneered at him again. "I'll be showing up for OUR match a little later... so if you'll just stick around, I'll figure out what to do with you after that. Make yourself at home." The image faded away with a blip. Cloud fell down to his knees and buried his face in his hands. How could this be happening? What was wrong with him? The seconds stretched by into minutes... the minutes into hours or worse. With nothing to do anymore, time seemed to stand still. Cloud was left with nothing but the privacy of his own mind... and the chance to reflect upon everything that had let to this point. ---- Mario scurried down the hall Cloud had just run from. He was not particularly hurt at being left behind by Cloud-after all, it was his fight, not Mario's. Mario just couldn't resist a chance to go for an adventure. The battles in the tournament had been fun and all, but this is more of what being a superhero plumber was all about. The boomerangs littering the floor made it perfectly clear which passageway he had arrived at. Mario scoped out the end of the hallway this time... and was both awed and horrified but what he found. Bowser's kitchen was filled with pastries and sweets, all doubtlessly pilfered from the cafeteria. The refrigerator in particular was leaking out a particularly delectable scent of mizithra cheese... Mario felt his mouth watering. If he stayed too much longer, he might never leave. The plumber mustered up every ounce of willpower he had, and dragged himself away. "Curse you Koopa!! Curse you!" Mario covered his mouth momentarily, embarrassed by his near slip into profanity. This was no time to lose control. He had another corridor to check out. Yeah, that was it. The finely sculpted fire brothers were beginning to lose a bit of their shape... water was dripping down from their dually frozen forms. Mario quickly ran past them, not wanting to risk another encounter. The corridor did seem more promising. Up to a point. Specifically, up to the point when the floor gave way to a pit. Mario quickly flapped open his cape and glided down to the ground. He might as well have slammed into it. The base of the pit proved too high to jump out of, and too narrow to be able to fly out to escape. It might as well have been designed to keep him stuck there. As a matter of fact, it probably was. Mario kicked himself for not surrendering to temptation and just staying in the kitchen. This was simply ridiculous. The top of the pit was just out of jumping range... but a few running leaps did nothing to change his assessment. He was stuck. But, on the bright side, it was as good of a place as any to take a nap. ---- Sonic paced in front of the lava pit impatiently. Samus was taking way too long. Did she want to grab that Koopa's emerald without him? Most likely. "Samus!!!" No response. "Argh. I'll meet you around!" Sonic began running backwards and returned to one of the forks in the road they had already passed. There was a slightly crooked path that looked like it would lead upwards... maybe that would take him around to where Samus had gotten to. Sonic began sprinting down the path. The track was smooth and had decent traction for once. He was able to get up to an impressive speed within his first several seconds of racing along the new corridor. Sonic kept accelerating upwards, gaining speed and momentum with incredible ease. This was marvelous. His whole body felt charged, and tireless. He felt like he could run forever. Too bad that wasn't the case... after all, it's not like there could ever be such a thing as a never ending staircase or something like that. ---- The view around the corner didn't look good. There was a large assortment of every flavor of Koopa's henchmen Samus had seen already, and some more besides. Going off of the makeshift map she was compiling, she was on the other side of the wall where they had found Aeris. Which meant that Aeris's cell had to be somewhere around here. The guards were centered around a single room it appeared... the door was wide open, but the troops surrounding provided ample enough protection. With Sonic's help, she might have been able to distract them, or divide their forces long enough to be effective. But trying to engage them all at once... there was just no way. So, Samus did what great heroes throughout history have been known to do in similar situations. She ran. Backing up the entrance of the room, Samus took a running start, engaging her speed boosters. If Sonic had been able to see her at that particular moment, he might have been jealous. The bounty hunter was rapidly turning into a blue blur of her own. Startled hammer brothers dived out of her way as she made a beeline for the door to the cell. Others were simply trampled or forced out of the way. Samus had one critical advantage to her speed that Sonic did not. She also doubled as a human battering ram. Koopas were knocked askew as she raced towards her destination, and had she had the time to check, she would have noticed more than a few smeared Goombas. The final set of troops in front of the door sidestepped out of her way, as if to welcome her inside. It was most unusual... but she didn't hesitate to enter. She could see the frail form of Aeris, propped up into a chair. Samus slowed herself down from her frantic speed dash just in time to hear the door slam shut behind her. Well that wasn't very nice... And the news didn't get any better as she went along. A giant rag doll dressed up in Aeris's clothes was sitting in the chair, with a goofy bead smile on her face, and a note attached to her chest: I'm sorry, but our princess is in this castle! She's just somewhere else. Gwa ha ha ha! "Wonderful" Samus commented dryly to herself. She reached for the door handle to let herself out... but there was none. A little frustrated, she pushed her considerable weight against the door, but was unable to get it to budge an inch. She thought she could hear some of Bowser's forces snickering on the other side. Her brow furrowed, and she began charging a beam of energy. "Let's see how they handle this..." No sooner had she released her finger from the trigger than she realized her mistake. Samus dove for the ground as the beam ricocheted off of the reflective surface of the door, colliding into the wall behind her, where it safely dissipated. Samus did a quick scan of the room... but was already all too aware of the inevitability of what she was about to find. The walls were all titanium alloy, with the exception of the door. The only way out was the peephole she had made in the back of the cell... and that was essentially useless now, for obvious reasons. On a whim, she looked through it... but there was no one on the other side. The whole hallway was deserted. As far as traps go, this one had been sprung quite effectively. She could only count on her companions to get her out of this one. Otherwise, she had a long wait in store for her. ---- And that was all of it that Cloud could remember. Judging by the total absence of his companions, Bowser must have snagged them as well. He was trapped here, left without a glimmer of hope in the darkened room. Bowser had half of the contestants in the tournament inside his ship... his little stunt with Aeris might cripple the tournament. Bowser, Aeris, and the four of them all cooped up in this mess... Cloud froze momentarily as he realized the implications of his last statement. He felt the haze of depression left momentarily as his mind began to focus. There were 14 contestants left in the tournament. Half of that meant seven. Bowser said he had seven contestants in the ship... counting himself and his three friends, Bowser, and Aeris, that was only six. That meant there was one unaccounted for. Cloud felt his blood run cold as his mind began to consider the possibilities. There was only one person he could think of who already had an interest in the proceedings here. Sephiroth. If Bowser had him as an advisor, Sephiroth would likely end this with all of their deaths. Cloud reached out with his mind, trying to sense his eternal nemesis. The connection they shared had been severed with Sephiroth's death, but Cloud knew to his own regret that the two of them still bore some link to each other... whether for good or for evil, their destinies would always be coupled with one another. But he could sense nothing. If Sephiroth was there, he was cloaking his power quite well. That left only one other possibility. Cloud felt a small ray of hope began to pierce the darkness within him. Could there still be a chance? ---- Bowser chortled over the four members of Cloud's party, all stuck in their own respective traps. They would keep him amused for quite a while. It was a pity he had to shut away Aeris like he did, but the girl would get over it. And this was too perfect a scheme to allow for the possibility that one of them might actually find her. "Yep. You done good Bowser. Not bad at all." Bowser set in a course for the arena. He had a match to get to, even if Cloud was going to miss his appointment. Bowser heard a set of light footsteps behind him. He chuckled to himself. "It's about time you got here. Look at this..." And then he felt a cold pressure on the back of his neck. Someone was sticking something metallic against him. Oddly enough, what surprised him most about this was not the event itself, but its particulars: the metal object was neither sharp, nor elongated as far as he could tell. It wasn't the hilt of a sword... instead it felt like a small round cylinder was resting against him... almost like the barrel of a gun. Bowser dared turning his head slightly to make eye contact with the man who dared to confront him in his own lair. "Sephir... Snake? What are you doing here?" "Game over Koopa. You can give up now, and walk away quietly, or we can do this the hard way." Snake kept the pistol trained on Bowser's head, his eyes never wavering. His face was devoid of expression. "Bwa... WHAT? How did you get here?" "I took my time. You've got quite the fortress here. But tracking a giant turtle isn't exactly the most challenging assignment I've ever taken on." Bowser whirled around to face him, snarling at the secret agent. Snake kept his composure, glancing at the switches and video screens present as he kept his gun firmly trained upon Bowser. "So this is the control room. Where everything goes down. You'll understand if I have to ask you to leave." "And you'll understand if I refuse." "Maybe I should rephrase that..." Snake cocked his gun and brushed his finger over the trigger. "Gwa ha ha ha!" Bowser couldn't help but laugh at the ignorance of the human. "You think I could have ever gotten to be king of the koopas if I couldn't take so much as a single bullet?" "I've got a lot more than one bullet here, Bowser. I'm a patient man." Bowser pointed at the various video screens threateningly. "Don't forget, I've got all your friends trapped here. You try anything, I can kill them all." "Then do it. Their lives mean nothing to me. I'm here for Aeris." Bowser felt his jaw hang wide open. "You can't be serious? What kind of monster are you?" "Look who's talking." Snake tilted the angle of his gun a bit lower, towards Bowser's chest. "I can't stop you from doing whatever you want with these four. They made their own mistakes. Just give me the girl, and we can both go on our merry ways." Bowser reached one hand closer to a switch on his dashboard. "You're bluffing." "No, you are." Bowser's hand grew closer and closer to the switch as Snake tightened his finger on the trigger. The Koopa King closed his eyes and began to pull... "But of course, if you do that, there will be certain other consequences." Bowser opened his eyes. "Such as?" "You'll go down with them. I may not be able to stop you from killing them, but I can make sure that none of us will see another match if you try anything. I've got two sets of remote mines planted around the aircraft. I have the engines littered with mines, set to go off in half an hour, no matter what we do. That should be enough to incinerate the whole ship when it goes off. The other set is at the rear of your airship, and I can trigger it if anything goes wrong." Bowser gaped at the man. "Are you nuts? Do you really want to kill us all?" "I have nothing to lose here, Bowser. You, on the other hand, appear to. The choice is yours for whether or not we all live." Snake pulled a remote out of his jacket with his free hand, and pointed it at Bowser. "It's up to you. I'd suggest you think fast." The King of the Koopas began to laugh, rubbing his eyes with his giant clawed hands. Snake backed up a step and leveled his gun, but the Bowser kept chortling to himself. "You almost had me fooled for a minute there, Snake. You'd make a halfway decent reptile. But really now." Bowser gestured with one hand. "Enough games. We both know you're bluffing here. Just give me the remote and I'll release your friends. We both know that's what you really want. If you don't, I'll just take them out myself, starting with... I don't know..." Bowser looked over at Snake, carefully gauging his reaction. "This girl, Samus." Bowser rested his fingers over a knob. "Boy, wonder how she'd like me turning up the heat in there. How much do you think she can take?" Bowser began slowly twisting the knob counterclockwise. The remote bounced onto the control panel in front of him. "Leave her alone. Just let them go, then we'll talk business." Bowser swiped the remote and chortled again. "So easily manipulated... I didn't even have to get my claws dirty." Bowser sneered at Snake. "And now, I'd appreciate it if you would please get off my ship." Bowser flinched momentarily as he heard a gunshot blast and saw a telltale trail of smoke waft through the air. He quickly looked his scaly form over... but saw nothing. Bowser laughed at Snake again. "Gwa ha ha... you missed!" "Wrong." It seemed like everyone was missing today. Neither of the contestants who were actually supposed to be fighting had shown up yet, and the contestants booth seemed curiously empty. Crono glanced around at what was left of his fellow fighters... they all seemed a little irritated to be left out of the loop, with one exception. Link was totally expressionless, staring up into the sky. Crono turned to follow his gaze, and spotted what looked like a giant bird gradually approaching the arena. But as it grew closer... it seemed like it wasn't a bird at all, but a giant airship. It was a little more primitive than the Epoch, certainly, but a decent mode of transportation. Crono wondered who out of all the fighters missing might be using such a ship. There was one other thing about it that caught his attention. It looked like it on a course heading straight for the arena. Crono began to turn away, to ask one of the other fighters if they had any ideas what was going on, when he heard Link speak. "Watch." Link said in a harsh tone. "Watch. It is all coming to an end." The hero of Hyrule began to chuckle lightly. Crono ignored his discomfort, and glanced up at the airship again. What was Link so excited about? And then Crono saw... the stern of the ship had been engulfed in an explosion. The whole ship began to swerve, and rock from side to side unsteadily. Its tail was on fire. ---- Moments after the first explosion rocked the airship, in another part of Bowser's magnum opus, an insignificant change was registered as a number incremented in value on a readout. There were now eight guests on board the Doom Ship. Next Entry Back |