Booya! Its the part we've all been waiting for, the final battle between Jenova and Squall 
and Cloud! 

	Part 9: The last part was relatively short and to the point. Squall and Seifer set out to steal 
Laguna's airship and rescue Rinoa, but were thwarted when Laguna, Cloud, and Tifa were waiting 
for the pair's arrival. Then, to everyone's surprise, Kura and Syric also tagged along. At that point, 
Syric was finally revealed to be the legendary GF Greiver, consigned to mortal form for two 
hundred years for being corrupted by an evil Sorceress two hundred years ago.
	At the same time, the Galbadians, quite angry with Caraway's murder, discovered where 
Jenova's lair was and bombed the hell out of it with missiles.
	Those missiles hit while Rinoa was attempting to escape from Jenova's clutches. And the 
others descended upon the lair, but their Ragnorok was shot down by Jenova and plowed into the 
castle, and at the same time Rinoa, fleeing from enemy soldiers, stumbled into a room containing 
an iron golem.
	Things are getting interesting...

	Chapter 33: Vendettas
	"Everyone okay?" Cloud asked after the Dragoon had finished its extremely rough 
landing, plowing right through many of the castle's walls and cutting an impressive swath of 
destruction.
	"Ouch," Laguna muttered, and his remark was echoed elsewhere by the other five 
inhabitants of the cockpit. After a few moments, they concluded that there were no serious injuries 
among them, just a few scrapes and bruises.
	"We should be moving now," Syric said, fingering his lance. "The longer we wait, the 
more time they'll have to react."
	"Right," Squall said, a dangerous intensity in his voice. "Let's go."
	The Dragoon's entry ramp lowered and the seven companions descended into a large, 
open courtyard dominated by a central fountain. Two large double-doors, one to the left, another 
to the right, presented the only exits. Squall, the only member of the group that had ever entered 
Ultimecia's castle, remembered this place.
	"I think we're on the west side of the central courtyard," he said. Squall pointed to the 
right. "Those doors should lead to the ballroom, and those," he pointed to the left, "should lead to 
the chapel."
	"Which way do we go?" Cloud asked. 
	"If the general layout is the same, then the chapel route should lead to the inner sanctum 
of the castle, probably where Jenova is. The ballroom, however, should lead to the front of the 
castle, which in turn will lead to the dungeon, where they're probably keeping Rinoa." Without 
another word, Squall started heading for the ballroom. The others cautiously followed him.
	Above them, hovering unnoticed, a black-cloaked figure waited.

	The huge golem looked down towards Rinoa, and, without a word, it raised its spiked 
club to smash the intruder. Rinoa responded by loosing a bolt of white energy, which struck the 
golem right in the chest. It stumbled back for a moment, then advanced again, club up and ready. 
Rinoa froze up in shock and didn't move until right before the club came down. She dodged aside 
at the last second, and the club smashed down next to her, shattering a large section of the floor.
	Rinoa quickly backed away from the huge machine and hurled a barrage of ice shards at 
it. The blades of ice struck the construct's metal chest and dug in deeply, but the machine didn't 
seem to notice as it plodded on.
	'What is this thing?' Rinoa thought to herself as she backed away from it. A huge metal 
machine of death, impervious to all her attacks.
	That reminded her of another foe she had faced, when she and her friends had fought 
Ultimecia. It was a giant, armored monster very similar to this one, nearly indestructable, except 
for one spell that had been its weakness.
	Rinoa pointed her hand in the machine's direction and cast Demi. 
	The golem stopped suddenly, as a huge amount of its strength was sapped away by the 
spell. Rinoa followed up with several more Demi's, and finally, the mechanized monster was on 
its knees, barely able to hold up the clubs in its hands. Rinoa loosed a final lightning bolt, which 
blew the golem off its feet and to the floor, where it lay very still. 
	Rinoa paused to catch her breath, and glanced around the room, trying to get  her 
bearings. She suddenly remembered this place: the ballroom! That meant that the only double-
door she could go out of (the other one was trapped by her earlier) would lead deeper into the lair. 
Not where she had wanted to go.
	Still, it was the only place she could go, and she didn't want to be trapped in this room if 
Jenova's soldiers were to come charging in. She headed for the other exit when she heard the 
sound of fighting beyond the door.
	Unnoticed from the balcony above, a robed figure waited patiently.
	
	Squall heard the discharge of magic from the ballroom, and immediately knew it was 
Rinoa. He broke into a run in that direction, ignoring the calls of his friends behind him. As he 
reached the door, though, there was a sound that Squall did notice.
	A familiar metallic stomping.
	He glanced to the side to see another huge, double-mace weilding iron golem charging 
slowly yet resolutely in his direction. Squall dodged aside to evade the first overhead stroke with 
the mace, which reduced the stone where he'd been standing to powder. Coming behind him, 
though, stepping inside the fall of the mace, was Syric, who loosed a staggering uppercut into the 
machine's belly. It was knocked backwards, off-balance, and an energy bolt from Kura took it off 
it's feet. Squall leaped over the prone golem and kicked in the doors.
	Rinoa, on the other side, was surprised by his sudden, dramatic entry, and reflexively 
loosed an energy bolt at him. Squall deflected the bolt off the blade of Lionheart, also reflexively. 
Then they both became aware of each other.
	"Rinoa!" he shouted.
	"Squall!" she cried.
	They ran to each other and pulled into a tight hug, their tensions and fears flowing away to 
be replaced by relief.
	Then the doors behind them magically slammed shut. Squall and Rinoa looked around in 
confusion, but then they realized what had happened as a familiar cackling laughter filled the 
chamber. 
	Ultimecia slowly descended from the balcony above them.
	"Now, it is time for you to pay, kursed SeeD and pathetic Sorceress..." the evil Sorceress 
began.

	Outside, the iron golem that Kura and Syric had put down began to rise. Cloud, Tifa, 
Laguna, and Seifer ran up to join them, but stopped when they heard another metallic stomping 
behind them. They spun around to see yet another iron golem striding purposefully behind them, 
two huge swords in its hands. It had cut off any easy escape to the Dragoon.
	"This just gets better and better," Seifer muttered. 
	Cloud suddenly rushed forward. The golem responded by chopping down with one of its 
swords, but Cloud jumped back at the last second, then leaped clear over the golem, his innate 
skills and strength increased by the Jenova cells within. As he leaped over the construct's head, 
Cloud chopped downward with his sword, cleaving the golem's head in two. Half of the head fell 
away, but the other half didn't even seem to notice. Cloud landed behind the golem and spun 
around, preparing to deal another blow, when he heard a voice overhead.
	"Impressive," it said, and then Cloud saw a dark blur suddenly drop down at him from 
above. Before he could react, Cloud had been kicked through the chapel doors and into the chapel 
itself. Cloud flipped back onto his feet, Weapon ready, to see Sephiroth stride into the room, his 
huge katana in hand. The doors slammed shut behind him.
	"Now, Cloud, it's just you and me," Sephiroth said with a grin. He raised his weapon up to 
its usual grip, the handle next to his head, and advanced slowly. It was an oversized katana, 
exactly like the Masamune, except that legendary blade had been lost in the North Crater.
	Cloud remembered how he'd slain Sephiroth last time, and he was prepared to do it again.
	Cloud charged forward, his Weapon moving too fast to be anything but a blur as he cut 
and slashed away at Sephiroth with his deadliest attack, Omnislash. But with every cut, thrust, or 
slash, Cloud heard the distinct ring of metal on metal.
	Sephiroth was blocking his attacks.

	
	Squall broke away from Rinoa and charged Ultimecia, gunblade ready. The evil Sorceress 
laughed and pointed a hand at him. Suddenly, Squall was lifted up into the air by Ultimecia's 
telekinetic grip. Then she hurled Squall aside, toward the wall. Taking no futher notice of him, she 
turned her attention to Rinoa. Rinoa launched an energy bolt at her, but Ultimecia caught it on her 
palm and deflected the bolt aside.
	Unnoticed to Ultimecia, Squall had flipped himself over when he had been hurled, 
planting his feet against the wall. He kicked off of the wall and landed on his feet.
	"Foolish girl," Ultimecia said to Rinoa, as if addressing an unruly pupil. "Perhaps you 
don't realize it, but your power is far weaker than it was before. Much of your strength kame from 
the powers passed on to you by Edea, but her powers kame from me. Jenova restored my powers 
to me upon ressurekting me, and after you die, the rest of your strength will bekome mine as 
well!" With the final word, Ultimecia loosed her own bolt, but Rinoa caught most of it in her own 
hands. Ultimecia growled in rage, but then had to duck aside as Rinoa unexpectedly sent the bolt 
back where it came from. Ultimecia then sent a wave of ice shards at Rinoa, spreading them out 
wide to insure she couldn't flee. Rinoa replied by using a more conventional Firaga spell to melt 
the shards before they hit. Ulimecia growled in anger again and began launching a withering 
barrage of lighning bolts. Rinoa deflected and dodged many of them, but one did connect, hurling 
her backward and burning her chest. Ultimecia smirked at Rinoa's pain. The smile vanished at a 
shout to her side.
	"ULTIMECIA!!!" Squall roared. She turned to see him standing there, pointing a hand in 
her direction as if he were casting a spell. She didn't know what he was doing until a massive 
dragon seemed to descend through the ceiling.
	Bahamut looked around, then saw the target that his summoner, Squall, had directed him 
toward. Energy built up in his mouth.
	"Oh, krap," Ultimecia said. She raised her hands toward the GF and began casting a 
banishment spell to temporarily send the GF back to wherever it came from.
	She wasn't fast enough. The dragon GF rained destructive energy upon the Sorceress, 
blasting her backwards. The GF followed up by swooping in and punching with one of its 
incredibly powerful fists. The fist bounced off one of several magical shields that Ultimecia had 
already formed around herself before the battle began. As Bahamut's fist bounced off the shield 
(destroying it in the process), Ultimecia sent a bolt of enegy into the dragon GF. He reeled 
backwards, clutching at his wound, when Ultimecia unleashed a wave of ice shards at the dragon. 
The shards buried deep into the GF's chest, and he roared in pain.
	"That's enough, Bahamut!" Squall shouted, running between the GF's legs and charging 
Ultimecia again. He'd summoned the GF not only because of his strength, but also to keep 
Ultimecia busy while Rinoa was recovering. He knew that the GF was no match against this 
powerful Sorceress, and he didn't want Bahamut to be hurt too badly in the battle. 
	As the dragon GF dissipated, Squall's gunblade slammed into one of Ultimecia's shields. 
Squall pushed down hard on the weapon, and suddenly the shield broke, and the blade plunged a 
few inches deeper, striking another shield. Ultimecia laughed and held up a hand, preparing to 
blast Squall. Squall pulled on the gunblade's trigger repeatedly, the explosions of energy blsting 
through the shield, and then the one below that.
	Then he was hurled backward by another lighning bolt. Ultimecia's cackling laughter 
filled the room.
	Then it was cut short as Rinoa cast one of the spells that Sorceresses hate the most.
	"Dispel!" 
	Ultimecia turned to her in horror as Rinoa's spell disabled all of Ultimecia's defensive 
shields. She immediately began to try to restore her shields, desperately attempting to raise them 
before Squall recovered.
	Again, as with Bahamut, she wasn't fast enough.
	Squall charged again, this time his blade surrounded by ki energy as he unleashed his 
Renzokuken. He struck fast and hard, his gunblade a blur as he slashed, stabbed, and cut a dozen 
seperate and devastating strikes. He ended the attack with a final thrust that pierced Ultimecia's 
heart.
	The evil Sorceress looked at Squall in disbelief before all life fled her eyes Then, the 
Sorceress power within her, lacking a body to contain it, began escaping. Ultimecia's body was 
consumed in the energy release, and the power, seeking a new body, found one in Rinoa.
	Rinoa dropped to her knees as she felt the Sorceress power flow into her body. Even as 
she felt the surge of energy within her, Rinoa felt weakened at the same time, as if the energy had 
a life of its own and sapped her strength to maintain the transfer. Finally, she had absorbed all of 
the energy. Rinoa rose, and then fell into Squall's arms as her knees buckled again. Squall 
supported her for the next few moments, while her strength returned.
	"Is it over now?" she asked. Squall looked to the spot where the evil Sorceress had burned 
away.
	"Yeah. It's over." With Rinoa leaning on Squall, the pair headed for the doors leading 
back to the courtyard.

	"How did you do that?" Cloud asked in shock. Sephiroth laughed. 
	"I won't fall for the same trick twice," he said. He then leaped forward, katana swinging.
	Cloud's Weapon and Sepiroth's oversized katana clashed back and forth, their blades 
darting, weaving, and parrying in a beautiful dance of death. They spent several moments 
clashing, neither gaining an advantage, when Cloud suddenly leaped back. Sephiroth advanced to 
follow him, but Cloud cut his retreat short and darted forward, swinging his blade in a low right to  
high left slash. Sephiroth blocked the blow, but Cloud continued on, driving Sephiroth's katana up 
in the air, then Cloud slammed his right elbow into Sephiroth's chin.
	He fell back from the surprising blow, and Cloud fell on him, his Ultimate Weapon 
slashing viciously, eagerly, for the Weapon itself hungered to kill beasts formed of Jenova's cells. 
Sephiroth blocked two overhead slashes, dodged a wide left to right cut, then turned aside a 
powerful thrust, turning Cloud's Weapon to the left. Cloud rolled with it, going into a full spin and 
slamming his sword back down at Sepiroth with stunning speed.
	Sephiroth blocked the blade, but he felt the incredible strength of both Cloud and the 
Weapon as it nearly jarred his own blade out of his hands. Sephiroth replied by jumping back and 
up, using his Jenova powers to hover in midair. Cloud responded in kind, not wanting to lose his 
momentum and advantage, and used his own innate powers to rise up, right behind his enemy.
	But Sephiroth whirled around, loosing a spinning kick that met Cloud in the face and 
sending him back down into the chapel's floor. Cloud rolled onto his feet, dodging a slash from 
Sephiroth aimed for his head as the evil warrior dropped down behind him. Sephiroth's blade 
gouged a long, deep hole in the chapel's wooden floor, right where Cloud's head had been. Cloud 
countered with a wide cut that caused Sephiroth to hop backwards. Though the blade barely 
missed Sephiroth's chest, the blade cut through his cloak's strings, causing it to fall from his 
shoulders to the floor.
	Sephiroth darted in, his katana cutting high several times, causing Cloud's own Weapon to 
rise up as well. Then Sephiroth suddenly spun away, then crouched as he came back around, his 
blade aimed low for Cloud's knees. Cloud hopped the cut, then ducked as Sepiroth continued the 
spin by rising and swinging his blade at Cloud's neck. Sepiroth still continued the spin, his katana 
now slashing for Cloud's chest. Cloud hopped back, dodging the blow. Sephiroth repeated the 
high spinning slash two more times, then suddenly stopped the spin and swung his katana down in 
a headsplitting chop which Cloud parried. Sephiroth disengaged his blade and swept it across 
from  left to right. Cloud blocked it again, but Sephiroth changed directions and spun around to 
his left, executing a spin-kick that connected with Cloud's chin.
	As Cloud fell back, Sephiroth came at him again with another overhead chop. Cloud 
raised his Weapon to parry, and once again Sephiroth's foot came up and slammed him in the 
chin,  and Sephiroth pushed hard against Cloud's blade at the same time, shoving him back again.
	Then Cloud found himself falling onto an object behind him, and he heard the sudden 
sound of loud, haunting notes overhead. He had fallen onto the chapel's organ. Sephiroth once 
again raised his blade for an overhead chop, but this time Cloud responded by rolling aside. 
Sephiroth's blade slashed own where Cloud had been an instant ago, and it split the huge organ in 
two.
	Cloud rolled around behind Sephiroth and backed away. Sephiroth spun around, weapon 
ready, but realized that Cloud had gotten too far away for him to keep his momentum. 
	"Impressive," Sephiroth said again with a sincere smile on his face. He advanced toward 
Cloud again. They resumed the battle, once again on even footing. But Sephiroth had a cunning 
plan. He swung his katana down in another overhead chop, but that was just to keep Cloud busy 
while Sephiroth leaped up into the air and hovered once again. Again, Cloud pursued. 
	Once again, Sephiroth spun around and loosed another kick intended to knock Cloud to 
the floor. Cloud was wiser this time, and anticipated the kick. He dodged out of the way, pulling 
his head back out of the way of the kick.
	Exactly as Sephiroth wanted.
	Anticipating Cloud's anticipation, Sephiroth had kicked soley to get Cloud into position as 
his katana swooped down, aiming for Cloud's head in a manuvuer too quick for just about anyone  
to evade.
	 Cloud wasn't just anyone.
	He managed to duck under the blow at the last second, and the blade sliced through his 
hair, but not his head. Cloud immediately realized that he stood no chance against Sephiroth in 
mid-air, and he dropped back to the floor. Upon landing, Cloud ran a hand through his cut hair.
	"Hey!" he said angrily. "Don't mess with the hair!" Sephiroth chuckled evily.
	Actually, Cloud's remark had been intended to give him some time to think of a plan. He 
took a quick inventory of his surroundings, and he found an object nearby that he could use.
	"You'll pay for that!" Cloud shouted, inconspiciously hooking his foot under the object. 
Once again, Sephiroth laughed.
	"Come up here, then," he replied. Cloud grinned.
	Cloud suddenly raised his hand and loosed a Fire3 spell upon Sephiroth. Sephiroth was 
surprised and somewhat dissappointed at Cloud's manuvuer. He'd been hoping this would be a 
battle of blades, not magic.
	Sephiroth blocked the Fire3 easily, but the spell was just a diversion, to hide Cloud's leap  
into the air and prevent Sephiroth from seeing the new weapon Cloud had brought into the fray. 
Cloud kicked out in Sephiroth's direction, hurling the object at him, and then kept going up.
	The glare faded, and Sephiroth prepared to reply to Cloud's use of magic when his vision 
was obscured by a black object that fell over his face.
	His cloak.
	He tore the cloak away quickly, but he didn't see Cloud in front of him.
	That was because Cloud was above him, coming down in a devastating overhead slash, 
his Braver technique. Sephiroth saw the descending shadow in time to bring his blade up to block, 
but this wasn't the Masamune he was wielding, and it was no match for Cloud's Ultimate Weapon. 
	Sephiroth's blade shattered under the power behind that attack and he was hurled to the 
floor. Cloud dropped down right in front of him and thrust his Weapon into Sephiroth's stomach, 
then followed up with a lightning-fast series of cuts, thrusts, and slashes as Cloud again loosed his 
Omnislash upon Sephiroth.
	When it was over, Sephiroth stood staring in stunned disbelief, as his body began burning 
away from dozens of places, like the last time Cloud had used the Omnislash on him. But Cloud 
had one last thing to add.
	"Go back to hell, Sephiroth. And stay there!!" As Cloud finished, he executed a spin-kick 
that hurled Sephiroth's burning body into the remains of the broken organ. With a final hoot of 
protest, the organ collapsed on Sephiroth's body.
	It was finally over.
	Then Cloud glanced at the other doorway, the one that Squall said led to the interior of the 
castle, where Jenova resided. Cloud exited through that door.
	No, it wasn't quite over yet.

	Niether was it over outside. Syric ducked a mace swing, replied with a powerful punch, 
then dodged aside as the iron golem he faced smashed its other mace down in an overhead chop. 
As he evaded the golem's slow moving swings, Kura pummeled it with spells.
	On the the other side of the courtyard, Tifa, Laguna and Seifer were doing the same thing. 
Tifa would jab and Seifer would slash, then they both would dance away from the golem's sword 
strikes, while Laguna poured bullets into the golem's body.
	Unfortunately, they couldn't keep up with this strategy, because while the good guys 
would quickly tire, the golems would not. Seifer and Tifa, realizing this, had already developed 
and implemented a plan. They focused their quick, precise gunblade and fist strikes on one area of 
the body. It was paying off, as they saw that they had almost tapped and scratched a small hole in 
the golem's armor. It was too small for a good strike with a gunblade, punch, or kick, but not too 
small for a grenade.
	"Laguna! Get a grenade ready!" Tifa shouted. Laguna saw the hole, and understood. He 
ceased firing and slipped a grenade from his belt, and waited for their signal. The golem did not 
comprehend that Laguna's actions represented a threat. It didn't even have any mind to speak of. It 
did what it was programmed to, and ignored Laguna.
	Seifer and Tifa finally finished the hole. "Now!" Seifer shouted, and both fighters rolled 
to the side, giving Laguna a perfect opening. The hole was to small for a good throw, so Laguna 
leaped forward, inside the golem's range, and quickly shoved the grenade into the hole. He leaped 
back, almost getting hit by one of the golem's swords in the process, and began counting down.
	"Three...two...one..." Then a gout of flame blew out of the golem's belly, and chunks of its 
armor and slagged machinery flew everywhere. The golem, destroyed from within, was now just a 
big metal shell. It fell over with a resounding clang, and then fell apart.
 	The mace-weilding golem swung and smashed, but couldn't hit Syric. In fact, as it swung 
its maces, Syric actually managed to manuver the golem so that Kura would be able to destroy one 
of the maces with a pair of well-placed energy blasts.
	Suddenly Syric stepped forward, thrusting his lance into the golem's chest and punching 
with his free hand, while at the same time, Kura cast Triple on herself.
	But Syric had underestimated the golem. The reason why its swings were so slow was 
because the golem's weapons were immensely heavy.
	The iron golem's free hand swung across, slamming Syric in the side of his head. He 
stumbled backward, letting go of his lance, which remained implanted in the golem's chest, and 
the golem batted him aside. As Syric flew out of the way, the golem was pounded repeatedly as 
Kura sent a trio of Ultimas at it. The golem now considered Kura to be its next target, and it began 
to advance towards her.
	A trio of Ultimas met it, and the golem was pushed backwards for an instant. Then it 
advanced again, mace at the ready. 
	Another trio of Ultimas struck it, shoving it backwards, and then it resumed with its slow, 
purposeful plodding. It raised its mace again.
	Then Syric reappeared, grabbing its upraised hand and pulling backwards, wrenching the 
golem around. As it spun, the golem's empty hand balled into a fist and swung around, slamming 
the mortal GF right in the face and hurling him into a wall.
	"SYRIC!!" Kura screamed, and began loosing Ultima after Ultima on the emotionless 
machine that had so casually struck her closest friend. The golem was knocked backward as blast 
after blast of magical energy slammed it. It didn't understand how this human could have so 
greatly increased her power and casting speed. The golem didn't understand the power of anger, of 
rage. It tried to advance, but the magical blasts kept pushing it back, evaporating armor plating 
and the critical components within.
	With one final blast of energy, Kura hurled the golem back into the wall, causing the wall 
to collapse on the mangled machine's remains.
	Kura let out an exhausted sigh and dropped to her knees. Seifer, seeing her fall, rushed 
over to her side and supported her.
	"Take cover!" Tifa suddenly shouted. Seifer looked in her direction, not understanding.
	Then he, along with everyone else, was hurled off his feet by a shockwave as the Dragoon 
exploded in a spectacular fireball.

	Squall quickly sheilded Rinoa with his body as the floor began shuddering and huge 
chunks of the ballroom's ceiling began falling. All around them, they could hear the sound of 
massive explosions.
	"Missiles," Squall muttered aloud, remembering the second wave of Galbadian missles 
that had been streaking in as they landed. There was another wave incoming after this one. 
	Then he was swept aside by a shockwave that ripped through the wall from the direction 
of the courtyard. As he flew through the air, Squall lost his grip on Rinoa. Then he slammed into 
the wall and dropped to the ground. Squall sat up to see Rinoa lying slumped on the ground 
nearby.
	"Rinoa!" he shouted, moving over to her side. He rolled her over on her back, and saw 
that her eyes were closed. Squall quickly removed one of his gloves and put his hand over Rinoa's 
mouth. He felt her warm breath on his hand and breathed a sigh of relief.
	Squall quickly scooped her unconcious form up into his arms, and then began walking 
toward the doors leading to the courtyard. Then he realized that the doors, and a large part of the 
wall, no longer existed, having been blown away in the explosion.
	Then Squall realized the source of that explosion. The Dragoon was now little more than 
slagged metal and fused wiring, its graceful, flowing draconic form twisted and shattered by the 
missile that had struck it.
	Squall ran out into the courtyard, to see Kura lying unconcious on the ground next to 
Seifer, who was still concious. Though apparently dazed, he seemed uninjured. The same held true 
for Tifa, who had seen the incoming missile and instinctively taken cover after shouting a warning 
to her comrades. Beyond them Squall saw Syric rise from a mound of what appeared to be gravel, 
but had to have once been a wall.
	Then Squall saw Laguna lying near the remains of the fountain that had once dominated 
this courtyard, now just a damp pile of rubble. He was clutching his left thigh, and Squall could 
see a large, sharp piece of metal lodged in it. Squall hurried over to his side and gently set Rinoa 
down. Then Squall saw several more metal shards, much smaller, buried in Laguna's left flank and 
shoulder. He was obviously in pain.
	"Dad, are you okay?" Squall asked with concern.
	"Uuugh...yeah...I'm alright..." Laguna managed to say with a grimace.
	'Like hell...' Squall thought. Instead, he asked, "Can you walk?"
	Laguna managed to stand up and take a few steps, though he was obviously favoring his 
left leg.
	"Yeah...doubt I'll be in any marathons anytime soon, though...." Laguna held up his 
machine gun in his right hand and grinned. "But I'm still more than able to fight."
	Satisfied that his father was okay, Squall moved over to Seifer. 
	"How is she?" Squall asked.
	"She's alive, but out cold," Seifer replied as Syric approached.
	"Are you okay?" Squall asked the towering crimson lion.
	"Nothing serious. I can continue fighting." Syric's gaze turned down to Kura's unconcious 
form. "As long as Kura is safe," he added. Squall glanced over to Tifa, who was looking in the 
direction of the ruined chapel, and then realized that Cloud was nowhere to be seen.
	"Where's Cloud?" Squall asked her.
	"Sephiroth surprised us," Tifa replied. "Cloud was knocked into that chapel, but he's not 
in there anymore."
	"But Sephiroth didn't come out," Squall said. "Cloud must have defeated him."
	"Then where is he?" Tifa asked. Then both of their gazes fell upon the small doorway 
leading out of the chapel and deeper into Jenova's lair.
	"Must have gone after Jenova," Squall guessed.
	"Then we should, too," Seifer said grimly. Then he glanced back at Kura, and then to 
Rinoa. "But we can't leave Kura and Rinoa..."
	"I'll watch them," Laguna said with a grimace as he limped up to join them. "With my 
injuries, I'd just be a burden on you. Cloud might even finish of Jenova while you guys are waiting 
for me!"
	"Okay then," Squall said. He turned to Seifer, Syric, and Tifa. "Are you ready?"
	Tifa clenched her fists, and she and Syric nodded. Seifer swept his gunblade back and 
forth rapidly, then held it out vertically before him in his personal signature move.
	"Always," Seifer replied with a grin and a deadly look in his eye. With that, the four 
warriors charged into the chapel and through the door leading into Jenova's inner sanctum.

	"Yo! How much longer?!" Barret demanded, tapping his foot impatiently. 
	"About six more minutes!" Cid replied, briefly stopping his stream of curse-and-insult-
laden orders he was spitting at his crew. Cid was also very impatient.
	"Six?! That means that we'll get there only two minutes before those last %$@#in' 
missiles hit!" Barret complained.
	"Yeah, well, this bucket of bolts is moving as fast as it can!" Cid shot back. "We've got 
the best equipment money can buy, and that's not counting the stuff I've customized! This is the 
fastest ship in the world!"
	Zell, who was standing behind them, nodded. He'd spent a lot of the trip (and the previous 
one as well) wandering around the unusual airship and checking out the equipment.
	"Really, this ship is amazing!" he said. "The technology is way below ours, but its faster 
than even the Ragnorok!"
	"Exactly my point!" Cid said. "I've turned this ship into the fastest flying piece of scrap 
metal in the world!"
	"Wonder how much faster it would be with our technology?" Zell wondered out loud. Cid 
heard that and turned to regard Zell.
	"Hey, you've got a point!" Cid paused for a moment to think. "I got an idea. Whaddya say 
that after this is over, we make a trade? Your technology for the Highwind, and my expertise for 
your ships?"
	"Hey, that's a good idea!" Zell said. "Except we don't own the Ragnoroks, except for the 
original one that went down a few days ago. You'd have to talk to Laguna about that. But he'll 
probably agree."
	"Good! A fair trade, and we both benefit!" With that, Cid spun around and resumed his 
usual shouts of orders and curses at his crew. 

	Chapter 34: Final Confrontation
	Cloud entered the foul, disgusting hive of Jenova's lair. He had never seen anything like 
this before, an entire structure formed entirely from living tissue. The very structure was alive, and 
the hot, humid air reeked of foulness, evil, and corruption. This was Jenova's lair, her sanctum, her 
home. A totally alien place.
	And yet, at the same time, it seemed familiar to him. Cloud knew it had to be the Jenova 
cells within his body, the inhuman part of him. That part of him was familiar with this type of 
vileness.
	And to Cloud's surprise, that part of him hated it as much as his human part, if not more 
because of its familiarity. Cloud finally realized that his Jenova aspect was truly a part of him 
now, entirely under his own control.
	Before he could begin to ponder this, however, Cloud felt a powerful throbbing from his 
Weapon, as the sword also sensed something familiar. Something it wanted to utterly annihilate 
from the universe.
	Jenova descended from the shadows among the high ceiling and settled down on the 
pedastal in the center of the hive. As she approached, Cloud's Weapon began throbbing even 
more, and Cloud felt an immense urge to leap at the evil, alien creature, the being of absolute 
chaos, pain, and destruction, and slash her apart.
	Jenova had an immense, bloated, snakelike, thirty-five foot long body, which ended in a 
long, slender neck topped by the inhuman head that signified her in her true form. Four massive 
tentacles sprouted from around where her torso would be if she was humanoid, and dozens of 
much smaller tentacles sprouted from her sides and back.
	Jenova seemed to consider Cloud for a moment. 
	"So, the puppet seems to think it has a free will?" she asked, contempt in her telepathic 
voice. She burst out with a cackling laughter that grated on Cloud's ears. Then the laughter ended 
with a sudden telepathic shout of "FOOL!!!", and Cloud was stunned for a brief instant, as if the 
word had been suddenly shouted into his ear by a megaphone, except a hundred times more 
painful.
	In that instant, a stunning blast of psionic energy, as solid, tangible, and painful as a 
wrecking ball, slammed Cloud and flung him through the air. He landed near a ledge, and glanced 
over the edge to see the ocean, many hundreds of feet below. Cloud had landed near where one of 
the Galbadian missiles had blown out the floor of the hive.
	Then Cloud was rising, held in a solid telekinetic grip by Jenova. He rose about twenty 
feet in the air, and then began moving out over the hole. Cloud knew Jenova intended to drop him, 
and out in the open sea, thousands of miles from any land, Cloud would not last long. He had to 
stop that somehow.
	"Wait!" he called. Jenova, believing her grip on Cloud to be quite secure, paused. "I want 
to know something before I die!"
	Jenova considered it for a moment, then chuckled evily. 
	"What?" she asked.
	"How did you survive? We killed your central body. How can you be alive now?"
	Jenova's grating laughter clawed at Cloud's ears again.
	"You truly did kill me 5,000 years ago," Jenova began. "You see, I cannot become part of 
the Lifestream, because I am not from it." When Jenova spoke of the Lifesteam, her voice was full 
of contempt. "So when I died, my spirit was dissipated and spread throughout the universe. I was 
dead, never to return." Jenova laughed again. "I truly have to thank Ultimecia. She initiated Time 
Compression. When Time Compression occured, all physical laws were seemingly forgotten, and 
I could reform myself."
	"Then what about Meteor?" Cloud asked, as much to stall as to satisfy his curiosity.
	"Another lovely aspect of Time Compression," Jenova said, actually glad that she could 
explain such things to Cloud. Like all other villains, Jenova had a massive ego. "When Holy and 
the Lifestream destroyed Meteor, the Black Materia itself was destroyed, for it wasn't natural. It 
was a weapon, created by a rouge group of Cetra with goals very similar to Sephiroth's. During 
Time Compression, I created a newer, more powerful version of Meteor, capable of destroying 
not only planets, but entire stars." Jenova laughed again.
	Cloud knew he was running out of time. Jenova was unaware of it, but Cloud had used his 
own Jenova powers to weaken Jenova's grip on him, and he needed to keep her distracted for only 
a few more moments.
	"Then why did you come to this time period?" Cloud asked. 
	"Ultimecia," Jenova replied.  "When Ultimecia died, she died in this time period. As she 
was dying, Ultimecia's anger, rage, and hate attracted my reborn attention. She effectively bought 
me here."
	"Well, that's too bad," Cloud said with a grin. He had broken Jenova's hold, and was now 
hovering through his own powers. "She's dead, as is Sephiroth."
	Jenova replied by laughing again. "I will simply ressurect them again. As long as I live, 
they can be killed hundreds of times, and I will keep bringing them back from the dead." Jenova 
cocked her head to the side. "Speaking of which, you're about to die yourself. Goodbye, my 
puppet." Even as she spoke, Cloud saw Tifa, Squall, Seifer, and Syric come barreling into the 
room. Jenova was so focused on him that she hadn't even noticed the quartet's entry. 
	Suddenly, Cloud moved forward, away from the hole and back onto the ledge. Jenova 
screeched in outrage when she realized that Cloud had broken her hold.
	That screech transformed into a cry of pain as Squall and Seifer buried their gunblades 
into Jenova's flesh, Syric's lange dug in deeply, and Tifa loosed a barrage of punches and kicks at 
dizzying speeds.
	Then Cloud leaped up and forward, thrusting his Weapon into Jenova's chest. She 
screeched again, equally in rage and anger. Her four central tentacles struck, one knocking Squall 
and Seifer aside. Another swept in at Syric, who promptly deflected it in his free hand. A third, 
aiming for Tifa, was dodged by a graceful backflip. As she landed, Tifa resumed her relentless 
barrage of fists and feet. 
	The fourth arced for Cloud, who easily cut it in two. The part that was severed burned 
away almost instantly, and the wound was also burning quickly as well. 
	Jenova reacted by rearing up and then loosing a barrage of blue energy bolts at her 
attackers. Cloud caught several bolts on his Weapon, while Tifa, Syric, and Squall dodged other 
incoming blows. Seifer wasn't so lucky. He twisted aside, barely dodging a bolt, but was then 
struck by another in the side. He was hurled backward, blasting through several of the disgusting 
spawning mounds, and finally came to rest on the far side of the room, where he slumped, 
unconcious.
	Then Jenova swung her huge, snake-like body around, hurling Cloud, Squall, and Tifa 
backwards using her tail. Syric, with his immense, supernatural strength, managed to stop the spin 
of her body, and even as Cloud, Tifa, and Squall watched, he began to increase in size.
	Syric's huge muscles bulged, and his body expanded as he grew and transformed, 
throwing off his mortal body and resuming his true form as the GF Griever. His body began 
glowing and the ground shuddered, rays of light shooting off. Finally, the glow subsided, and 
Griever towered over his friends, matching Jenova in sheer size.
	"So, Griever has returned," Jenova said. "I will so enjoy destroying you."
	"It ends now, Jenova," Griever said, and there was no mistaking the finality in his tone. 
His huge, paw-like hands balled into fists and he struck, one of his fists flashing out in a lightning-
fast strike, slamming Jenova in the chest. Jenova was shoved backwards, and she responded with a 
barrage of blue energy bolts. Greiver roared in pain, and then slammed Jenova with his other fist. 
Again, Jenova repied with a barrage of blue energy bolts.
	Squall, Cloud, and Tifa rushed up to join Griever in battle, but Jenova saw them coming 
and countered their charge. All around the charging warriors, dozens of huge stone spikes began 
lancing out of the ground, some straight up, others thrusting at diagnol angles. At the same time, 
Jenova dropped more stone spikes from the ceiling. The trio found themselves dodging left and 
right, twisting and turning to evade the stone spears. 
	Meanwhile, Griever powered up and loosed a shockwave of white energy that blasted 
Jenova backwards. Jenova replied with a stream of black flames that forced the rapidly advancing 
Griever back. She then slithered forward, one of her remaining tentacles shooting out and 
wrapping around Griever's neck, strangling him. The other two tentacles rained alternate blows on 
Greiver's head. At the same time, her dozens of smaller tentacles continiously waved in the air, 
pummeling his body with red bolts emmitted from their tips or sending bolts in the general 
direction of Griever's human friends, adding to the already large number of hazards they had to 
deal with.
	Suddenly, Cloud broke free of the assault of stone spears and energy bolts by leaping into 
the air and hovering. He immediately moved forward, over the danger zone, and swooped in at 
Jenova. Jenova saw him coming, obviously, and one of her free tentacles shot towards him. The 
tentacle wrapped around his waist, but Cloud quickly severed the tentacle. He then followed up by 
cutting the tentacle wrapped around Greiver's neck. The giant lion stepped back, but then Jenova 
sent a concentrated barrage of energy bolts at him and knocked him down. She then turned to 
Cloud.
	Squall and Tifa, meanwhile, had still been dodging the stone spears. However, the assault 
suddenly ended when Cloud severed Jenova's tentacles. The pair quickly charged forward and 
entered the fray.
	Jenova sent out another stream of the black fire, forcing Squall back. Tifa, however, 
slipped under the flames and resumed hammering away at Jenova's body. At the same time, Cloud 
buried his Weapon into Jenova's chest once again, right next to his first thrust. Now Jenova had 
two gaping, burning holes in her chest. Jenova reared back and howled in agony, giving Squall an 
opening. He leaped forward, Lionheart tearing through Jenova's flesh in another Renzokuken 
attack. Jenova again howled in agony as Cloud's blade sank into her body again. Her body 
snapped around, her tail slamming Tifa and hurling her away. Jenova knew she was losing. She 
knew that once again she would be destroyed, her spirit dissipated.
	Jenova was filled with rage, and the energy began building up. If she was to die, then she 
would take them with her!
	"Squall! She's gonna self-destruct!!" Cloud warned.
	"How do we stop her?!" Squall asked.
	"Kill her! Quickly!"
	Even as he spoke, Cloud was preparing to unleash his Omnislash. Squall had reached the 
end of his Rezokuken, but he felt his own energy building. He charged forward, gunblade slashing 
upward, knocking Jenova into the air. Then, in mid-air, Cloud loosed Omnislash, while Squall 
continued chopping away in the devastating Lionheart, his ultimate, last resort attack.
	Their blades were a blur, flashing back and forth, up and down, often hitting 
simultaniously on opposite sides or cutting and stabbing the same spot consecutively. Black ooze, 
Jenova's blood, flew everywhere as the two warriors loosed unrelenting combo attacks that 
brought the word 'blender' to mind.
	Finally, what was left of Jenova fell to the ground. The rest of her was scattered widely 
around the vicinity, all of it burning away, turning to dust.
	Squall and Cloud stood panting, leaning heavily on their weapons. They looked at 
Jenova's torn, burned carcass for a moment, and were stunned when it began twitching. Jenova, 
amazingly, was somehow still alive.
	Squall raised his gunblade defensively, but Cloud held him back.
	"She's mine," Cloud said. Squall hesitated, then he nodded. He spun around and headed 
off to check on their friends. Cloud strode over to Jenova, who had raised her head to cast a hate-
filled glare upon Cloud. Cloud replied with a glare of his own as he looked down at this hideous 
beast that had brought so much pain and suffering.
	"You may have won here," she taunted, "but will suffer in the end! Others of my kind will 
come, and you will die!"
	"Then let them come," Cloud replied. "I'll be happy to rid the universe of more your 
scum." Cloud didn't give Jenova the chance to reply to his statement. His Weapon dove down, 
splitting Jenova's skull for the instant it took his Weapon to burn her away. Then, the evil, hideous 
beast was nothing more than dust.
	Cloud turned to see Squall helping a dazed-looking Seifer up to his feet. Tifa was also up, 
with only a couple of minor bruises. She seemed a bit angry that she had been unable to join them 
in their final barrage of attacks. Greiver had reverted back to his mortal Syric form, and he limped 
over to them, using his lance to help support himself.
	"Everyone okay?" Cloud asked. He got affirmatives from his friends, and then the five 
victorious warriors left the remains of Jenova's hive behind them.

	Chapter 35: Going Home
	They walked out into the courtyard. Seifer had mostly recovered, and he was just too 
proud to accept Squall's help. As they approached, they saw the courtyard light up and dust and 
small pebbles begin flying as the massive airship Highwind landed in the courtyard opposite of 
where the Dragoon's remains were resting. Even before it had completely settled into place, a rope 
ladder rolled out and Barret clambered down.
	"Yo! Move ya asses! We got more of those damned missiles comin' in!" he roared. 
	Squall, Cloud, and the others needed little encouragement. Being reminded of the last 
wave of missiles washed all weariness away from them, and they moved quickly. They rapidly 
loaded Rinoa and Kura up into the Highwind and helped Laguna get aboard as well before 
boarding the airship as well. The ship quickly rose and left the remains of Jenova's castle beneath 
them. Even as the airship climbed higher, they could see the white contrails of more missiles 
coming in.
	The Highwind moved away quickly, and as they put the castle behind them, there was a 
flash on the horizon as the missiles finished off Jenova's lair.
	It was finally over.

	End of Part 9

	Booya! (I love that word.) That's it! All that's left now is the Epilogue. But trust me, that's 
not the end of either Squall's or Cloud's adventures! I've still got plenty of ideas coming up in 
future fanfics!
	Though I do have a problem...There's going to be a party in the Epilogue, with all of the 
characters from FF7 and FF8 attending, but I honestly have no ideas! (well, okay, I have a few, 
but not many.) I'm open to suggestions.
	If you hava suggestion, comment, or an insult about how strange my screen name is, e-
mail me at Peptuck3@aol.com.