Final Fantasy;Synergy. Chapters 10,11 & 12. Written by Darren "The Edge" Shier A dark day... Chapter Ten; "The End Of A World" This world was very different to any of the others. It was one of the furthest outlying worlds in the universe. This was,in fact,the most distant inhabited planet in the whole universe.It was the last planet the Cetra had settled, but it had been a bit unintentional. Millions of years in this planets past,a Cetra refugee ship had crashed here,after being attacked by Jenova,who just happened to be passing through this part of space. After the crash,the surviving Cetra awoke to find themselves stranded on a primative world,inhabited by primates,wooly mammoths and sabre-tooth tigers.All the chocobos had been killed in the crash,so there was no way to populate this world with them. They would have to make do with the Deer and Horses that had evolved on this world. This world was cold,they had crashed in what was undoubtedly an ice-age.To survive,they had to build a fire,and find caves to live in.A few weeks after arriving,they were attacked. The natural species of this world,whose intelligence and technology were extremely primitive,had feared the Cetra from the moment of their arrival. They had longer arms and a thicker skull.They were the Neanderthals,and even though the Cetra only fought to defend themselves,they were no match for the newcomers,who soon de-volved into humans... Doctor Dan Jackson scraped away the last of the dust off the arrow-head.Yes!This WAS what they were looking for.This was one of the greatest finds in human paleontology.An arrow-head would have been easily overlooked,but he'd gone with his instincts,and un-earthed a whole forearm and now,a skull!! Doctor Carter Samuels crouched next to him. "Wow!"he said breathlessly."Look at the forehead,definately homo-sapiens.You're gonna be famous,i'm talkin Nobel prize here. With this one and the Neanderthals,we finally have absolutely conclusive proof there were direct battles fought between Neanderthal and Homo-sapiens.Proof even we wiped them out?" Jackson grinned."I'll make sure to credit you in my book." "The hell with the book,when Discovery-Channel give you your own show,remember how i always wanted to be on TV."laughed Samuels. "Hey man,i'm goin for a Coke,could you finish this for me?I REALLY need to take a break." "Sure" Jackson strode down the hilltop to the trailers.He opened the cooler and dug out a coke.Before opening,he closed his eyes, ran the can across his forehead and gasped,relieved by the sudden flash of coldness. Man,he was sweltering in this damn African heat... Heat?Where did the heat go?He opened his eyes,and was stunned. It was nightime!He glanced at his watch.A Rolex,set to African time. How the hell was it midnight at 1:36a.m.?! He heard noises,a multitude of roars and shrieks from far off.The animals were getting pretty freaked.So were some of the natives. They were running in no particular direction,shouting all sorts of things in Swahili. Damn,these people got pretty freaked out by a simple eclipse. Thats what it had to be,an eclipse. He glanced up at the sky. There was no sun. There was no moon. There were'nt even any stars. What the hell? Then he heard the rumbling. His gaze lowered to the ground,and he watched terrified,as the horizon in front of him exploded into a billion pieces which each vapourised.This was the last thing he ever saw as the the...it,whatever it was tore apart the Earth. The collapsing universe continued to recede,and there was nothing left of the world that believed it was the only one with life... Chapter Eleven; "Dark Truths" "Who are you?"Squall was the first to speak. "My name is Cloud Strife."he explained."I'm from a world very far from here.I'm here to stop a man called Vega from destroying the universe" "Do that a lot in your line of work?"joked Irvine.Nobody laughed. "You ARE from another world,are'nt you?" said Rinoa as she took it in. "I am.But i'm a human,just like you." "Yeah,well,your sample aint exactly corroberating evidence"stated Zell. "The stuff inside me is Jenova.Its a very evil substance, but i can control it so that it doesnt control me.But there's someone here,on this world who has Jenova and is using his powers to destroy this world and all others." "How can we be sure you're telling the truth?"demanded Quistis. "I know the power of Jenova"Cloud explained "It almost destroyed my world and devoured every soul in existance.Now its happening again...." Squall nodded to Rinoa.She nodded back,then stepped up to Cloud. Doctor Kadowaki began to explain;"Mister Strife,this girl is a Sorceress.She's going to link with your mind to determine if what you're saying is true.You'll feel no pain.Do you understand?" "Yes" responded Cloud. Rinoa placed her hands on Clouds temples,then began to import knowledge from his mind into her own. She saw it all.The night at the well,the sacking of Nibelheim, Sephiroth,Jenova,Shin-Ra,SOLDIER,the death of Aeris, Meteor,Holy,the LifeStream,everything. She backed away,terrified. "He's telling the truth!Vega and Jenova,they're gonna kill us all!We have to stop them!" Fear dominated her voice. "Oh gods,Squall" panicked Selphie "I saw Vega by the lift earlier.He was doing something,maybe planting a bomb!" Squall waved his finger between Selphie and Irvine. "You and you,go to where Selphie saw him.Find out if he put something in the liftshaft." Irvine and Selphie promptly dashed for the lift. Squall stepped over and activated the communication system. "Squall to SeeDs Makon and Zarax"he began. "Go ahead,Squall"came Makons voice. "According to the locaters,Vega Palzar is in your section of the Garden.Place him under detention.Approach with caution,check your GF,he is dangerous.Repeat,approach with caution." "Understood" Makon and Zarax stood in the 1f hall,looking around for Vega. All of a sudden,he appeared around the corner,carrying his gunblade over his shoulder.He was grinning slyly. "Drop the gunblade,Vega" ordered Zarax. Vega looked at her."Why?" "Just drop it,and come with us"demanded Makon. "Sorry"grinned Vega "Places to go,people to kill,you know how it is." Before they could react,Vega had raised his hand,and the two SeeDs ignited and incinerated. He ignored their screams and stepped over their still-burning ashes. And continued his progress to the infirmary... Chapter Twelve; "Fallen Angel" Irvine and Selphie skidded to a halt in front of the panel on the 2f. Irvine jiggled the metal plate. No luck. "He must have sealed it,DAMN!" Selphie whipped out her shinobou and with one fell swoop removed the plate. "Thanks" Irvine ducked his head into the section and examined the problem. "Ohhhhhh-boy...." "Irvine to Squall; I got some bad news,some good news and some real bad news" Squall sighed.Why could'nt Irvine ever just use the facts? "What is it?" "The bad news is;yep,there is a bomb.The good news is i was first in my class of `explosives; improvised creation,arming and disarming` at Galbadia Garden. The real bad news is that i've never seen this type before,but i know its got enough incinerex plastic explosive to level the whole building and kill everyone inside." "Do what you can to disarm it"ordered Squall. "Great,you know me and preassure" "-ATTENTION SeeDS,YOU ARE LISTENING TO VEGA ON THE AIR.ALL KILLING, ALL THE TIME.OH,KINNEAS,I'D BE VERY CAREFUL IF I WAS YOU.THAT BOMB HAS A PROXIMITY SENSOR. THE SECOND I LEAVE THIS GARDEN,IT GOES OFF.HAVE FUN-" "How the hell did he override the communication system?" demanded Quistis. "I dont know"stated Squall. "He's heading for the infirmary!"reported Zell. "Arm yourselves!Check your GF's and Junction everything!"ordered Squall. Cloud got to his feet and picked up his sword."If he's using Jenova, you wont be able to kill him.You'd have to kill both of us together."he announced. "Oh how true that is" came Vega's voice as he walked through the wall. "Well,well.The motley crew.Three SeeDs, a Sorceress...and my mother and brothers killer." Cloud did'nt bother with any smart remarks,just charged right at Vega's mid-section in a sort of rugby-tackle,pushing him right through the wall. He drew his sword and began slashing into Vega again and again... Irvine stared at the mess of wires in front of him. "Do you know what to do?"asked Selphie. "I'm not gonna worry you by saying`not really`"he replied. He tried to remember the basics.Red wire,Blue wire...which did which again? He took out the micro-shears,and began to cut... The SeeDs watched as the wounds Cloud caused on Vega began to appear on himself before re-generating. "Such is the power of Jenova"stated Vega,before flinging Cloud into the wall. He got to his feet,and began to advance on the SeeDs. Zell reached out in his mind,calling a name... ...Ifrit... He felt the answer,and felt his body being pushed out this dimension as Ifrit took his place in this reality. The fire-beast looked at his target,then Cloud.Then back to Vega. "JENOVA!!THE GUARDIAN FORCES HAVE AIDED THE HUMANS IN DESTROYING YOU BEFORE!! SEPHIROTH SLEW MANY GUARDIAN FORCES IN THE FINAL BATTLE!!THEY WILL BE AVENGED!!!" Ifrit concentrated a blast of fire at Vega. It had no effect. Vega simply waved his hands about,and the GF was encased in ice,which shattered,disintegrating him. Zell returned to his home-reality,his power gone. "Now stand down!" Vega roared."I can kill any of your GF's,making all your magic and Junctions null.You're powerless." Reluctantly,the group stood down. No-one expected to see Vega lifted off his feet by an invisible force and slammed between the walls. Everyone looked at Rinoa.Her hand was outstreched. "Some of us do not require GF's for magic!" she stated. Vega cut off her astral hold,and fell to the floor. He immediatly fired blast after blast of Ultima at her,which knocked her back into Squalls arms. "Rinoa,dont do this"he pleaded."Dont fight Vega,he's too powerful!" "I have to"she replied."I cant let him destroy the Garden." She got to her feet,cast a protective shield around the others,and faced down Vega.He glared at her. "A Sorceress.I always wanted to kill the Sorceress.Its my duty,as a part of SeeD.Looks like i'll finally get my chance" Rinoa levitated off her feet,a pair of golden angel-wings extending behind her.She concentrated and fired a beam of pure white energy at Vega. He countermanded this by firing an equally powerful beam of dark energy right at her. The two beams met and devoured each other. Then Squall noticed something terrible. Vega's beam was winning,and before he could warn her,the dark rays engulfed Rinoa.She screamed in agony. Cloud rose and looked at the events in front of him. Vega was enjoying making Rinoa feel pain."Long Live The Sorceress" he said grimly,and made a crushing movement with his fist. There was a sickening loud "CRUNCH" sound from inside Rinoa,followed by a series of painful snaps.He then dropped her to the ground. "NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!!"screamed Squall. "YOU SON OF A BITCH!"roared Cloud,charging into Vega,drawing his sword and fighting him again. Rinoa fell back into Squalls arms.He kneeled and rested her on the ground. Doctor Kadowaki rushed forward with the medi-scanner. "Whats happing to her?WHATS HAPPENING TO HER?!!?" he shouted. "Multiple fractures,massive internal bleeding,brain haemorrages,multiple organ failure-"the doc reported."Almost like she was in a car-wreck?" "...how her mother died..."said Quistis in horror. "Squall?Where are you?I cant see you,i'm blind!"she said,terrified. "Im here,im here"he tried to sooth her"Oh please gods,dont die!why is she blind?!" "Massive bleeding in her brain,i-i dont think there's anything we can do..."said the doc. "NO!NO! I wont accept that!"shouted Squall"She's a Sorceress!She CAN'T die!" It was true.You could'nt actually kill a Sorceress.They'd only defeated Adel and Ultimecia by getting them at their weakest points.But Rinoa was in her prime. He looked at her eyes.The pupils were barely there,and her whites were a deep crimson. Her blood was everywhere, on the floor,in her hair,on her clothes,on HIS clothes. "...Squall,...i..dont..want..to die..." "You're not gonna die,i wont let you."he looked up at the doctor. "Tell her she wont die.TELL HER!" Kadowaki looked at him.She was'nt going to promise something not true. "...i...love you...Squall..." "No,dont go on me please no-" he held her head close to his. "...Squall,..i..i'm scared........" The medi-scanner let out a high-pitched beeping sound. "...She's gone."said Kadowaki. "NO!"shouted Squall,in complete denial. He began to pump Rinoa's chest,massaging her heart.He bent over,pinched her nose and blew into her mouth,filling her lungs.He went back to her heart, oblivious to the noise of the medi-scanner,not listening to Kadowaki. "She's GONE,Squall,there was nothing you could do.".Squall continued to give her C.P.R. "Brain death has occured,you cant save her.". He continued,refusing to accept it.He did'nt stop until Quistis placed her hand on his shoulder. "Squall,she's gone.Stop this."she pleaded. He looked up,and she saw the pain in his eyes.Half of him had died with Rinoa. Irvine was making good progress with the bomb.Better than he'd hoped. "How long is left?"asked Selphie. "`Bout twenty minutes."he reported. "How long before you disarm it?" "`Bout two" He grinned,Selphie relaxed.They were gonna make it.They were gonna be okay... Vega fended off each of Clouds attacks perfectly,before stopping and cocking his head to the side."Whoops,time to go.My father needs me. Feel free to follow me Cloud, its not like there's any chance of you dying. I'd suggest you take the Ragnarok,its parked at the 1f entrance.Dont forget to remind these people to die.Bye!" Before Cloud could say a thing,a LifeStream conduit opened behind Vega and swallowed him up. Irvine stared at the bomb in horror."What the hell??NO,I DID'NT TOUCH ANYTHING!!" Selphie stuck her head in and looked at the bomb. The timer was winding down at an incredible speed. "The proximity sensor must have gone off!"she realised. "Quick,cut the-".She stopped.Irvine was looking at her. His eyes said it all.There was no way to dis-arm the bomb.Vega had wanted them to go through all that for nothing,so he could torture them. Their eyes locked,and they both realised they were going to die. Irvine pulled her close,Selphie threw her arms around him,her eyes full of tears. They kissed,and the bomb detonated. Those who were'nt instantly incinerated or crushed by debris were blown off their feet by the force of the blast.Those who were'nt killed by the blast were when the explosion set off the Gardens power relays.People were sent flying into walls or had walls fall on top of them... In the infirmary,Kadowaki had pronounced Zell dead moments before she herself was crushed by falling support structures. Cloud was alive,as was Quistis.Squall was trying to clear the wreckage away from Rinoa's body. Cloud shouted to Quistis;"The place is collapsing!We have to escape!" Quistis nodded."Lets get to the Ragnarok!" They made their way across,shifting through the rubble. Quistis tried to pull Squall up by the shoulders. "We cant stay Squall!We have to get to the ship!" Squall had his hands on Rinoa's pale face.Quistis could have sworn there were tears in his eyes.He would'nt cry! Maybe it was just the smoke... She glanced down at Rinoa,even in death she was beautiful. "Lets go,Squall..." "We cant just leave her here!"he implored,then Cloud stepped over,hooked his arms under Squalls shoulders and forcibly wrestled him out of the hallway,despite his shouts of protest. In the end,Quistis had to hit him in the back of the head to keep him quiet. "Sorry..." Cloud carried Squall over his shoulders into the main hall.Quistis led the way. The once idyllic Garden was now a broken,beaten shell of its former glory.The water was flooding the place,and cables were dangling from the roof.There were hundreds of bodies sticking out from the rubble.The lift-pillar was completely vapourised,and the roof-structure was beginning to collapse.Also,the garden was beginning to sink into the sea. They ran out to the entrance,which was at a curious angle,thanks to the sinking. And there was Ragnarok, hovering a few feet in the air. As they approached,the side air-lock hissed open,and Cloud hoisted Squall up into it. Then he pulled himself in. Just as the Garden succombed to the sea,Quistis lept up to grab a support rung. Cloud reached out his hand to for her to grab. Then they heard the rumbling,and glanced up. The event horizon of the collapsing universe was bearing down on Squalls world. Quistis immediatly opened an exterior control panel, entered her access code,and began feeding commands into the computer.Ragnarok started to rise. Cloud shouted down at her;"Give me your hand!" "I'm programming the navi-calc to take you into orbit!" she shouted."After that,its up to you to get the seven hells out of here!" "You're not gonna make it!"shouted Cloud. "YOU are!" she exclaimed,sealing the hatch as the ship blasted off.She could'nt possibly keep her grip and fell,down to the sea below... Cloud picked up Squall,and ran to the bridge.He threw Squall into the closest possible chair and he sat in the pilot seat. As the ship screamed out of the atmosphere,Cloud looked at the controls.It seemed that the previous pilot had left in his authorisation code. What a fluke!! Cloud slammed down the button that said`Maximum Velocity` and was forced back by the G-forces. Squall regained consciouness and looked out the window. Just quick enough to see his world shatter into a billion splinters...