Part 14

Zidane's not quite as smooth as he'd like to think he is. He's still young and all, though.



Feels like I'm going to get sucked into the sky...
Let's go inside, Vivi.







Maybe she'll reward me with a kiss or two if I try hard enough.

Oh, Zidane.



AIRSHIP NOISES

What is it? Something wrong?
It's Vivi...
Vivi?



Wow, they're alive, and they're moving around! So the mages built in the village bring back the new ones?



Vivi!









No...





...they don't even...



I tried...again and again...but...they won't even turn around.



I need to go upstairs for a little bit. I gotta turn the ship around before it reaches the castle.
......



Keep an eye on Vivi, okay?

So Vivi just met probably the first people in his life that actually resemble him and they refuse to acknowledge him. And they're ferrying lifeless copies of themselves for possibly military reasons, which he found out after being kidnapped in a remote village, and that's after escaping from monster-filled ice caverns and evil forests resulting from being chased during a play viewing he had to watch illegally because he was sold a fake ticket.

This is a pretty bummer week for poor Vivi.





Nobody's in good spirits, it seems. Let's look at random objects.



It looks like a treasure chest, but it's actually a part of the ship.



Lindblum is the only place that sells Mist engines. They must be using the same engine they bought years ago.



Dagger must be wondering why the hell Zidane thinks out loud all the damn time. Hell, this game even uses parentheses around dialogue to represent whispering or thoughts. But no, Zidane is compelled to narrate each and every fucking thought that comes to his head.



The Black Mages here aren't so stupid at least.



Did the boss and the others escape safely...? I'm sure the boss would tell me that it's none of my business!



Up here we find Steiner being Steiner.



I cannot believe the ship took off without the princess! What will I say to Queen Brahne...?



That is because the ship's crew...





Why, you...! Where is the princess!?
In the engine room.
She is on the ship!?



All is well, now. This ship is returning to the castle.





Steiner's still Steiner. Let's commence with the hijacking.





AIRSHIP NOISES



However...the princess would have been left behind without the thief's aid.



But that was because the crew wouldn't listen! I must run a background check on them. Ah, yes. It is my duty as a knight!

Poor oblivious Steiner. I'm pretty sure he's been told multiple times that Dagger willingly went with her kidnappers and he's still too dense to let that sink into his thick skull.





This FMV's also pretty short so I won't bother posting a video for it. It's an airship making a U-turn.





Also our next foe.







Y-You insolent fool! Turn the ship around!





I will have your head for that!



So, Zidane's tail? He can actually hang off it. Neat.



But they didn't respond to anything until now...





Please wait while I take this fool into custody and turn the ship around.











No...!





Are you okay!?
So, No. 2 was defeated by a small child! You are no match against my power!



This is Black Waltz No. 3. This is the third Black Waltz and the first Black Waltz No. 3.



So, those Black Mages that ignored us earlier? Apparently they do have situational awareness, and a preservation instict to boot.



Get out of my way! Do you dare to fight a Black Waltz?







https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ykZRUS0RbdI









As Black Waltz No. 3 suggested, things go poorly for the non-waltz mages.





All Vivi can do is watch in horror...







...as many of his kin fall lifelessly to the earth below.



Yeah...really not a good week for Vivi.











Master Vivi, I shall assist you!





Y-Yes?
We'll take care of the Black Waltz. You steer the ship. Things are gonna get even more dangerous from here on. It's not too late to turn back.



I'll be with you either way! But try not to crash the ship!







You fool. Do I look like some lowly black mage soldier?
Even if they weren't your allies, what you did was reprehensible!



Ah, the princess's bodyguards have gathered! How very convenient!
Answer me!
It wouldn't do you any good if I answered, since you're all going to die! Kwahahaha!







Now it's time to face off against Black Waltz No. 3. Remember how Vivi just went into a flying rage after everything that just happened? That surge of emotions going through him?



He starts the battle in Trance, and rightly so. Might as well make use of it while Zidane's goes stealing. You see, Black Waltz No. 3 is the first boss with three steal slots. His semi-rare steal has only a 1/16 chance of being snagged, so we might as well hunker down awhile as-



Oh. I stole them in the very first attempt. Welp!

Silver Gloves, heavy gloves for Steiner, reduce ice damage by half and teach Undead Killer, which does more damage to undead, probably one of the more useless abilities honestly because mages can wreck undead anyway, especially white mages who generally have little else to do during battle. I think you can buy these at the next shopping opportunity, so it doesn't seem to be worth the effort to go for this. But hey, it's a freebie so.



Oh, right, the boss. This guy likes his -ra spells.



They hurt a good bit. He starts off using them single-target.



His common steal is another Steepled Hat, and his uncommon steal is a Linen Cuirass, heavy armor for Steiner which teaches Cover. Cover is of course the ability that lets the user take damage from physical attacks in place of characters with low HP, in this case 1/6 their Max HP. And unlike Zidane, Steiner's equal-opportunity in taking hits because he's that honorable.







Eventually, No. 3 will go up in the air. This changes his single-target spells to multi-target, which is kind of annoying to heal since you're stuck with Potions but the reduced damage makes it not so terrible.





Oh, and Black Waltz No. 3 counts as Aerial, which means he's susceptible to Bird Killer.





Vivi's Trance will soften him up a good bit to start with, so with his magic and Steiner's physicals No. 3 should go down soon enough.

AIRSHIP NOISES



I exist only to kill!



Nice killing there, chump.



I think that was the last one.
How do you know!? Are you...!?





A waltz is a dance performed in triple time, or three beats per measure. Thus it makes sense there's only three of the damn things, and it makes sense for Zidane with his theater background to know this while Steiner's clueless about it because it has nothing to do with rescuing princesses. I'm no expert myself and it was probably this game that somehow led me to learn this initially.







Vivi needs all the pick-me-ups he can get.









All defeated!
Betrayed us, Steiner did! It is all his fault!



Unstable, the ship becomes! Don't let go of the steering wheel!
No. 3 is coming back!
True is it!? Hurray!



It's broken!!!
Made its magic too powerful, we did!
There's nothing we can do now!







Uh, great plan, guys.





-----

AIRSHIP NOISES



Yes!
South Gate is a huge gate built exclusively for airships, but...maneuvering through it could be tricky. Do you want me to do it, Dagger?
I want to do it on my own...
Alright... We don't have clearance. They might close the gate on us. It should be okay, though. Security was totally lax when I came through here on the theater ship.





Assuming I remember correctly, Dagger is the third Final Fantasy character to hold the rank of Captain after Cecil and Faris. She earns the rank despite never having flown an airship before nor having any military experience whatsoever. This is one of the game's biggest weaknesses.





Princess! Please turn the ship around!



He might crash into us!
Dagger, Rusty's right! It's headed straight for us!



Don't be ridiculous! What if the gate closes on us!?
There's no way we can outmaneuver him in this cargo ship! We'll slide in before the gate closes and shut him out! That's our only chance!



Dagger, stay on course no matter what!
Okay!



https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Kahtby9PctM







So the fraudulent Captain Dagger is charged with trying to evade a crazed magician using a dinky cargo ship despite having no flight experience.



Zidane is understandably concerned with this matter of affairs.



Vivi meanwhile is too burned out from the week of mindfucks to really give a shit anymore.







At least until this jerkwad cuts us off. We've got plenty of room and all!







Vivi's had enough of this shit and just nukes him because fuck yet another boss battle with this guy.



Then Vivi decides to take a nap.







Zidane rushes in to grab Vivi before he joins the other mages in being debris.





And is so clumsy in doing so he almost throws Vivi off the airship itself. You can kind of see Vivi's pants and shoes in that last shot.





Meanwhile, No. 3 has caught up and is about to-



...blow himself up because he electrocuted his own ship.



Zidane cannot comprehend the stupidity of such a situation, as you may imagine.







Even Black Waltz No. 3 is all, "...Wait, what the fuck did I just-"





And everything turns out alright! Sure, why not.

Next time, Captain Dagger is arrested for driving without her airship license. There may or may not be mutinies involved.