It's another Norco Fanction!! That is, a fiction by Norco.
I own nothing, except for my computer, the clothes on my person, and my sanity. 
Sometimes not even that...
norco@fantasysquare.com

End of Battle; Start of War - Chapter 7 (Epilogue)

  "Are you sure you want to do this, then," Cloud said to Yuffie, trying not to 
sound too much like the overgrown parent he felt like.
  "I'm sure, can we get on with it, please?" Yuffie pleaded of him, her face 
rivited ahead. They were standing at the Junon beach, just near their pilfered 
submarine. In silence, all eight of them stepped into the vehicle, with Cait 
Sith closing the door behind him. Again, in silence, the vessel launched, and 
sank slowly beneath the surface.

  Elsewhere, in the ocean, a creature floated. It was not aware, but semi-aware, 
enough to accomplish its task. Its task was to protect the Planet from the 
incursions of the filth. Its job was to cleanse. This it knew. It did not know 
about right or wrong. It knew to defend itself, and to defend the planet.

  The Emerald Weapon seemed even more massive than he'd remembered it. The giant 
creature lazily roamed the oceans, killing anything in the water it could find. 
And now, as it turned towards the tiny submarine, Cloud began to feel the 
unpleasant stirrings of real fear. There's no backing out now, he thought. 
Nodding to Yuffie and Barret, the three strapped on their underwater materia, a 
curious materia that allowed them to breathe underwater. They stepped into the 
airlock, and, after depressing the switch, were swept out into the cold waters.

  Breathing underwater was a strange experience, Cloud reflected, as he jetted 
away from the submarine, towards the humongous weapon floating ahead. He 
swallowed, unsure of the wisdom of haveing invaded it's sanctum like this. The 
submarine move ahead, launching several small missiles at the creature, and then 
speeding off in the new direction. Concentrating on his materia, Cloud sent a 
small group of meteorites slamming through the surface of the water into the 
Weapon. It was knocked back, the water supporting it's huge mass. Out of the 
corner, he saw Yuffie's weapon burst into a stream of light, which slammed into 
the weapon, causing it to stumble. He realised that this was the secret 
technique that her father had taught her when they had fought. The creature 
opened its maw, and a spectacular beam of light shot out, a glancing blow to the 
submarine knocking it out of business. This was now up to the three of them. 
Suddenly, the water around him dissappeared. The Emerald Weapon had created a 
large pocket of air, underneath the ocean. It growled, and several jewel-like 
facets appeared on it's shoulders.

  A small beam of blue light shot out, catching Barret off guard, sending him 
flying.
  "Barret!" Cloud cried out, and at that moment, the creature slamming hard into 
Yuffie, sending her flying, her body lifeless before it even hit the ground. It 
was at that precise moment in time that he knew what had to be done. 

  In every movie that he'd seen, the hero of the story always faces a point of 
resolution. Evil beats them back so far, the hero knows what has to be done, and 
unleashes something that killed or destroyed the Evil. Cloud now understood what 
that meant. Concentrating on the scarlet Materia, he dodged another blast from 
the weapon. After what seemed like ages, he was ready. Swinging his sword onto 
his back, he clapped his wrists together, and cast the spell. Only one thought 
crossed his mind:
  "I hope this works, or we're finished"

  All the water from the surface to the floor of the ocean simply disappeared, 
Cloud, Barret, Yuffie and the submarine with it. The Emerald Weapon was at the 
bottom of the now empty sea, writhing in what appeared to be equal parts anger 
and agony. It opened its maw, sending the massive beam shooting towards Cloud 
and the others. Someone screamed. The beam was getting closer, and suddenly 
disappeared from view. A large, ax shaped piece of metal blocked it. The ax was 
almost as big as a small mountain. The weilder of the ax was bigger. The Knight 
stood there, glaring the creature. A portal opened just near him, and other 
knights streamed through. And then, they struck.

  Cloud had seen some pretty distrubing things in his time, but nothing as 
disturbing as the death of the Emerald Weapon. Barret had revived Yuffie, and 
her face was as white as a sheet. The knights slashed at the creature, again and 
again, using deadly magics that Cloud had no name for. The creature responded by 
blasting one of the knights into nothingness. This caused the knights to step up 
their attack, the creature's limbs and appendages were hanging or missing, those 
that were there were disjointed, mangled, charred pieces of flesh. It screamed, 
an unnerving, ear peircing shreik. Yuffie clapped her hands over her ears, in a 
vain attempt to shut out the noise. A faint "damn, man" could be heard from 
Barret. Vincent and Cloud were the only ones who watched the attack. The Emerald 
Weapon screamed again, and again, unable to attack no more, as the knights 
performed their deadly task. 

  After what seemed like hours, the creature stumbled, fell, and disappeared. 
The knights retreated to the portals from which they came, and the water 
returned to where it was before. All was calm once again. 
  "So that's Knights of Round, huh?" Barret asked, his voice husky. Cloud didn't 
answer. Great, he thought bitterly, That's another nightmare to add to the list. 
They trooped into the Highwind. Cloud looked up at the sky. He knew that Jenova 
was going to return sometime. This was the end of the Battle, but the start of 
the war.

THE END!!