Final Fantasy;"Synergy"-The Final Chapters
Written by Darren "The Edge" Shier.

The End......

Chapter Sixteen;
"Final Armageddon"

Vega dodged their attacks,then swung the blade around and
gutted Squall..no,damn,it was only Cloud.
Cloud tried stabbing into Vega,no luck.Cloud flew back into
the air and postioned himself,ready for the next attack.
Squall and Vega exchanged blows as their gunblades clashed.
Squall knew that Vega liked to play dirty,so that when Vega
went to trip him,he was ready to catch Vega off guard and
swing Griever up into his chest.
If it was anyone else,Squall would have won by now.
He was the better warrior out of all them,but it was that damn
Synergy keeping Vega alive.

Vega was'ent prepared when Cloud levitated off his feet,flew 
into him,and began repeatedly driving home kick after kick
to his upper body.Cloud returned to his feet and drew his 
Buster sword.He swung the sword across Vega,then up him,
down again,at a vertical angle,a horizontal,a diagonal,and
finally a dazzling spin right into Vega.It had been his
limit break-Omnislash,the one that had brought down Sephiroth.

Cloud skidded to a halt,and glanced up.Vega was still there.
A million un-healing slashes all over his body,but still
alive.Impossible.Even Squall was amazed that anyone could 
have survived it.Cloud looked on in disbelief "....what the fu-"

"SO NOW YOU USE JENOVA,CLOUD?!?YOU DO NOT DESERVE THIS POWER!!"
his voice returned to normal."My brother once made you use your
Jenova powers to convince you that you were'nt human.Because
his Jenova was stronger,he was able to dominate yours....
Guess what,Cloud?So can i!"

Cloud collapsed to the ground,his Jenova strength disabled.
Squall tried to help him up."Whats happening?"
"He's removing my Jenova powers so that i wont fight him."
"I will"

Before Cloud could do anything,Squall had picked up Griever
and charged at Vega.Vega did'nt even bother to use his
gunblade.
He merely drew back a massive fist and plowed it into Squall.
Squall was thrown back and landed beside Cloud.
"You want to fight..."said Cloud,getting to his feet."Fight
me"

Vega was enraged that this insolent insect was still daring
to challenge him.Lets see how well he fights without any
Jenova-strength.

Cloud rushed at Vega,but instead of defending himself,he grabbed
him by the throat.Cloud struggled,trying to break free.
"Well,well.My brothers killer.Sephiroth must have been really
weak if he could'nt defeat you."
Why had'nt he thought of this before?Cloud was just a human with
Jenova cells in his body.Simply remove key components of the 
Jenova and he'd be weak.It was too good to be true.

"Give Aeris my regards" said Vega,throwing Cloud over the edge
of the platform.
Squall managed to slide to the edge and grab Cloud's arm in the
nick of time."Your other hand!Give it to me,i cant defeat him
without you!"
Squall saw Cloud look up at him.He was smiling."Vega thinks
his powers in dominant over me"he explained."He's wrong.
Its the other way around.I influenced his mind and had him
remove my Jenova powers,breaking the Synergy.Now i need an
injury i cant regenerate from.Please,let me go."
Squall was a soldier.He was trained to kill,which he had 
done.Too many times.He also knew that in every war there
were always casualties.And he knew when to respect the wishes
of a fallen comrade.Cloud had known from the start that for
Vega to die,he had to too.

Squall nodded slowly,Cloud shot him a look that said "Thank
You",and Squall released his grip.Cloud fell silently to
the rocks below....

This sombre moment was interrupted by Vega's twisted laugh.
Just wait,pal,thought Squall,gauging the distance Cloud
had to fall.One-one thousand,Two-one thousand-
Vega stopped laughing,then screamed in surprise and agony.
He was bleeding out."WHAT'S HAPPENING  TO MEEEEEEEEEE!!!!"
He screamed.
Squall drew Griever."The Synergy is broken.The Jenova in your 
bodies is dead."
Vega looked up,the event-horizon had stopped moving.There was
no Jenova standing on the pedastal for the spell to work.
"Welcome to the wonderful world of mortality,motherfucker."
said Squall."But you won't be staying long."

"I'm gonna cut your fucking heart out,Squall!!" Vega screamed 
and charged at Squall,his sinister gunblade
drawn.Griever clashed with Jenova,the two gunblade's 
firing round after round,clashing ever faster,sparks flying,
until they both drew back and swung at the same time.
The two gunblades connected and shattered.

They stood there,clutching bladeless handles.
Vega threw his aside and ran at Squall.Squall ducked down
on his hand,bringing his two feet up to give a series of
hefty kicks to vega's midsection,following it up with a headbutt
and repeated punches to Vega's face and ribs.
This was no limit-break.This was the strength of the wronged.
He could feel them all,guiding his fists.
For Rinoa.
For Zell.
For Quistis.
For Selphie.
For Irvine.
For Cloud.
By the end,Vega was battered and bloody,hanging off the 
edge of the platform,the event-horizon a few feet from him.
Squall was holding him there,waiting for last words.
"I'll see you in hell,Squall."
"You'll have to wait in a line.You're not the first."
Squall swung Vega by the arm and into the event-horizon,
where he was devoured and vapourised.
Squall resisted saying a smart-quip,as the hero usually
does,because that would have made him a murderer,like Vega...

Chapter Seventeen;
"Knocking On Heavens Door"

Squall climbed down and looked around.
There was Cloud.Not moving.
He hopped down and ran over to where Cloud lay.
"....Cloud...?"
He had serious injuries all over.Trickles of blood ran from
his forehead and the corner of his mouth.
He was still breathing.Barely.
He opened his eyes a fraction.
"....did we....do it?..."
"Vega's dead.There's no more Jenova."
"....thank...thank god..."
"What happens now?"
"...the...universe...will...regenerate without...Jenova..."
"What does that mean?"
"..events that happened...outside the...lifestream...will..
..not have occured."
"I dont understand."
"....you..will...."
"I want to thank you for your help."
"....you reminded me of me....the way....i used to be...."
Squall listened to everything the dying Cloud had to say.
"....you reminded me how it felt.....to be young...again...
...do yourself a favor....dont always be cold....and distant...
...once in a while...open your heart...."
"I will"
"....its getting dark....i cant really...hear you...anymore..."
"I'll remember you."said Squall.
Cloud attempted one last smile.
"....i've had many....adventures....but....Death is the last
great adventure...into the unknown....
.....my god...."
"What it is it?"
"....i can see her...she's beautiful...."
Then Cloud said no more...

Squall picked up Cloud's body and looked up.The night sky had
returned.The Universe had snapped back into place like a coiled spring.
There was a glow of green,and Squall was engulfed in a LifeStream
conduit...

Squall placed the last rock over the grave and laid the buster
sword over it,as a marker of who lay there.
He stood up and looked around.The rocks here were a red colour.
Apparently the locals of this world called this place Cosmo Canyon.
Squall had the feeling he was being watched.
He looked,and saw a girl who looked a little like Quistis in a pink
dress and red jacket looking at him.
Squall was about to say something,when he heard the hollow moaning.
It began as one,then was followed by millions.
"What is that?"he said,above the noise.
The girl in pink smiled sadly.
"That is the sound of the planets of the universe.They feel sorrow.
Their greatest hero is dead."
"I did'nt know him for very long"said Squall."But i knew him long
enough to know that here lies a good man.We'll never see his like
again."
"No."said the girl."There IS another."
She reached out and touched his forehead.
"You,Squall Leonhart.You are the LionHeart.You are the universe's
choice.Your adventure is just beginning...."

He was about to ask her what she was talking about,when she vanished,
and he was enveloped by one last LifeStream conduit....

Chapter Eighteen;
"My Final Heaven"

Squall stepped through the conduit and back out into an alien world.
Where was he now?

Ragnarok flew over the trees,all scanners activated.Everyone on the 
bridge was talking,exept Rinoa.She was depressed,and stared out the
window at nothing in particular.Squall was supposed to have met Zell
for sparring three days ago,but never showed up.It was just like
when he'd ran off to Winhill.Now he was missing again,and they were
looking for him....again.
She sighed,and her eyes caught a green light.She looked.
No...it could'nt be....
The others had no time to react as she ran to the co-pilot station,
pressed a multitude of buttons and ran down to the loading dock...

Squall stared,dumbstruck.Ragnarok?
That meant this was his world,but how?
Cloud had said that events that happened outside the LifeStream that
dealt with Jenova would be erased....
Of course!Thats why Clouds world was the same,but the last few days
had never happened here.
He looked under his shirt.There was no wound-no scar.
Vega had never existed here.
He looked in his hand.He was holding Griever,blade intact.

Squall ran to the top of a hill.He removed his jacket and began to 
swing it around,trying to get Ragnarok's attention.
The gigantic ship hovered 10 feet above him,and a hatch on the underside
opened.A girl in blue stood there.
She was alive!They all were!

Rinoa looked down at Squall.
"Hey."she said.
"Hey."he greeted.
She smiled when she saw a huge smile appear on his face.
Squall was laughing in joy!Squall!
He held out his arms,and she lept down into them.
They overbalanced and began to roll down the hill,hugging,laughing,
kissing,and just being happy that they were with one another.
They did'nt want the future.They did'nt want the Present to stand
still.They just wanted to be right here,with each other....


Cloud stared into the sunlight and blinked.Tifa was ahead of him,
still running and laughing.He was going to have to run now to
catch up.But right now he stopped and looked around.
This was the fields of Nibelheim.They were a long way from the
town.Both he and Tifa were going to get in a lot of trouble.
Who cares?
He took off,running after her,his panted breath mixing with laughter.
Tifa ran on,all the time laughing.
Cloud was gaining on her,perhaps he'd catch up to her before
she made it to the wishing well on top of the hill.

Who knows?Maybe this time,she'd even let him catch her?.....




               "Fading Lights"-
               Phil Collins,Tony Banks,Mike Rutherford

Another time,it might have been so different
If only we could do it all again
But now,its just another fading memory
Out of focus
Though the outline still remains

Far away,away,fading distant lights
leaving us all behind
lost in a changing world
and you know that these are the days of our lives
so remember

Like the story that we wish was never ending
We know sometime we must reach the final page
still,we carry on just pretending
that there'll always be another day to go

Another chance hello,another goodbye
and so many things we'll never see again
days of life that seemed so unimportant
seem to matter and to count much later on

Far away,away,fading distant lights
leaving us all behind
lost in a changing world
and you know that these are the days of our lives
remember...