Final Fantasy Infusion: Final Cut
Introduction: A jump into the unknown, into the inconceivable. People put so much emphasis on what is real, and what isn't, that they forget what is most important. All they can do is think of themselves, of their own miserable lives. They live day to day, only to live day to day. A very sad existence indeed, living only in moments and not for the future. But there is still time to hope, time to dream. It is never too late to open yourself up to new ideas, new possibilities. All it takes is for that person to open their minds, and to realize that anything can happen . . . anything.
Chapter 1: The Apocalypse
Squall winced as the sword pierced his chest. He felt the cold steel inside him, tearing through his skin, chilling his very soul. Blood was dripping down the blade that had just punctured his chest and forming a small puddle on the ground. When it was removed, he could feel years of his life escaping with each passing breath. All Squall could do was fall to his knees in pain, his body was unable to move. Cloud lay fallen, behind the freshly beaten Squall. His blueish-black armor had been fractured and split open in many places. Huge gashes and burn marks polluted his once pure body. An epic battle had taken place not too long ago and two great heroes had fallen. Sephiroth gleefully looked at his trophies. They were unable to stop him, and now he was the solitary soul left alive on the plains of newly created Esthgar. More and more landmarks were appearing during the genesis of this new world. Soon they would be completely merged and all life would be extinguished. Squall was the one chance left to save the world, and now, even he was dying.
Only a month earlier the planet was bustling with life. People led boring but meaningful lives in the cities, on the ocean, and on countless farms. They had just been liberated from a terrible sorceress and life was returning to normal. Before this Armageddon took place, it was a happy world filled with life. The forests were a luscious green and lay far away from the cities, untouched by man. The lakes and oceans were crystal clear and calm, marine-life was abundant . . . the planet was full of beauty wherever you looked. Not anymore. It now lay gray, withered and dying like all of its inhabitants that had been killed by the transformation. The water became polluted, the trees rotted from the inside, and the animals turned on their own.
Sephiroth looked over at Griever, the source of this destruction and death. The demi-god had junctioned the black materia to it increasing its power one hundred fold. The vile beast had the ability to rain meteors anywhere on the planet now, leaving nobody safe. In the beginning of the battle, meteors had descended like fallen angels from heaven, striking down the population without prejudice. Now only the impact craters littered the landscape, making the landscape even more of a dire scenario.
"The dream of being a god is within my grasp," declared Sephiroth, "The planet is now mine to control . . ."
With a sudden surge of hidden energy, Squall staggered to his feet in defiance of the despot's statement. His bloodshot eyes pulsed with anger and stared dead on into Sephiroth's eyes.
"Do you actually think you can do anything with that battered body of yours?" taunted Sephiroth as he drew his Masamune across the ground and into an arc.
Squall said nothing.
"I will put you out of your misery with one swift strike then. Griever, MeteorStorm!" Sephiroth twisted around and ordered the rabid beast. The monster did not move to heed its master's call. Instead, it was frozen with fear at what it saw.
Behind Sephiroth's back, Squall's eyes began to flicker aqua blue. His whole body was tense and shaking and an aura of green and blue could be seen pulsating around him. Squall then released a scream that was more terrifying than Griever's and the aura turned into green and blue flame. Even his eyes gave off a new glow, and to top it off, his hair turned golden yellow. It shot out behind him and flowed wildly as though there was a harsh wind ripping across the battlefield.
"M, Ma, Mako? But Clo-" as Sephiroth stepped backwards in disbelief, he quickly glanced over and saw that Cloud's body had vanished into thin air.
Squall and Cloud had transformed into the ultimate hero, containing both the powers of each one and none of their weaknesses. His body mass had almost doubled in size and his powers had tripled. The hero bent over and picked up the Ultima sword from the ground where it had been stuck. He brought it close to the Lionheart which he still held in his hand, and both swords started to glow. The metals became excited and shone just as brilliantly as the hero. With a flash of light, it became the Heimdall, a sword forged in the Fire Caverns and cooled in the recesses of the Northern Crater. He was ready. The ultimate hero now set his sights on Griever. He calmly raised the sword in front of him between his eyes and said, "Fated Hearts".
A neon blue aura sprung out of the ground around the hero like a geyser and enveloped him totally. He dashed through the life giving liquid and suddenly disappeared, then reappeared in front of Griever in less than a second. Without mercy he started slashing at the monster as hard as he could. Five times, Ten times, Twenty times . . . it just didn't seem to stop. Each blow was delivered to a different part on his foe's body, having a cumulative weakening effect on Griever. The Heimdall started began to glow white-hot from the friction it caused in the air. Thirty times, Forty times . . . Body parts were flying as the sword whistled through the air, Griever's body could no longer take the punishment. With one last finishing blow, a beam of pure energy shot out of the Heimdall high into the air above. It parted the sky as it burst through the clouds and then came back down with a destructive force. It tore through the monster and divided it in two. With that, Griever was no more, just a pile of heated flesh scattered here and there on the ground. The time for revenge was near.
"Are you ready Sephiroth?" The hero announced. His voice seemed to echo as though both heroes were talking in unison.
"If you mean death, then yes. I have always welcomed death. But you must know that I won't go easily, I will only grow stronger in death. My body will reconstruct itself, and we'll do this little dance all over again," Sephiroth claimed.
An eerie silence swept over the battlefield. Only the faint presence of the wind could be heard filling the void between the battlers. The hero stood his ground and held his sword to his right. He waited for Sephiroth to make the first move.
"I didn't think I'd have to use this but given the current circumstances, it seems like I have no other choice. Let us give my new summon a try. But just remember, you brought this on yourself," Sephiroth raised his hands over his head and spread his feet apart. He needed all his power to summon his next surprise. The materia that held it floated out of Sephiroth's grip and situated itself a hundred feet above. After a few seconds of chanting something in the tongue of the ancients, he finally screamed, "Lunatic Weapon arise!"
The ground began to rumble and the hero felt a sudden charge build up in the atmosphere. Lightning was striking the ground near him with increasing frequency and was forcing him to avoid the craters being created by each impact. There was a bright flash in the air from the summon materia that temporarily stunned the hero and caused him to shield his eyes. When he managed to open them again, he jumped back in disgust.
The Lunatic Weapon was a heaving mass of monsters, all rolled into one. When the hero got use to the light around him again, he saw that it was not only monsters, but a conglomeration of all the Guardian forces, Weapons, and summons combined. They writhed in pain having to be connected to each other. It was torturous just to watch them wriggle and move around along the surface of this new abomination. Some beasts couldn't take their predicament and were attacking others close to it. Blood and fluids would occasionally spray out from the Lunatic Weapon, but if a monster died, it was just absorbed into the stronger ones. It was as if Sephiroth controlled the entire planet and its lifeforces. There was no doubt that this thing would do his bidding.
"Are you ready Squall? Or should I call you Cloud?" Sephiroth retorted, twisting his head to one side. "I'm confused, what do you want to be called?"
"Some have called me justice. Some have called me honor. Others have known me as vengeance. But you . . . you will call me, Xanien."
"Very well then, Lunatic Weapon . . . Luna Nova!" Sephiroth started to laugh hysterically after he yelled the name of the attack. The Weapon was reacting to his command and each animal roared out in pain. Their skin melted off to leave only their muscles showing, and then it disappeared back into its materia.
"Shut up you maniac!" Xanien yelled. Obviously, he didn't know what had just happened.
"You won't live through this. I'll make sure you don't." Sephiroth pointed to the sky jokingly as though he were mocking the dead Rinoa. He continued to laugh very hard, his head tilted back so that he could enjoy every heave of his chest.
Xanien's pure mako blood started to boil. How dare Sephiroth treat him like some bully. He was about to run toward Sephiroth, but stopped mid-step because he realized what was meant by the tyrant's taunt. "Oh my god . . ." Xanien looked up to see the moon barreling towards the planet. Chunks of its surface were tearing off as it entered the atmosphere, but the majority of its mass would still hit. It was approaching at a horrible speed and ate up more of the sky with every passing second. Xanien would not survive, and neither could the planet. He was so angry at himself to let this happen. How did he lose track of what was important and let this happen? "Damn it," Xanien hung his head in failure and didn't bother to watch the apocalypse.
The moon hit the planet about 2000 miles away from where the fight had been and achieved the desired results. Xanien looked up and could see a shockwave carrying everything on the planet from water to rock towards him. It was a horrible tsunami that just kept enlarging. Fissures were already reaching the ground below his body and had begun to vent magma and Lifestream through the cracks. It didn't matter to him, and soon nothing would matter. The shockwave was traveling a few thousand miles per hour and completely darkened the world.
Sephiroth was still laughing.
'So this is the end,' Cloud and Squall thought, looking at the crest of the forty mile tall shockwave right above his head. Xanien closed his eyes and awaited the impact, 'any second now.'
Introduction: A jump into the unknown, into the inconceivable. People put so much emphasis on what is real, and what isn't, that they forget what is most important. All they can do is think of themselves, of their own miserable lives. They live day to day, only to live day to day. A very sad existence indeed, living only in moments and not for the future. But there is still time to hope, time to dream. It is never too late to open yourself up to new ideas, new possibilities. All it takes is for that person to open their minds, and to realize that anything can happen . . . anything.
Chapter 1: The Apocalypse
Squall winced as the sword pierced his chest. He felt the cold steel inside him, tearing through his skin, chilling his very soul. Blood was dripping down the blade that had just punctured his chest and forming a small puddle on the ground. When it was removed, he could feel years of his life escaping with each passing breath. All Squall could do was fall to his knees in pain, his body was unable to move. Cloud lay fallen, behind the freshly beaten Squall. His blueish-black armor had been fractured and split open in many places. Huge gashes and burn marks polluted his once pure body. An epic battle had taken place not too long ago and two great heroes had fallen. Sephiroth gleefully looked at his trophies. They were unable to stop him, and now he was the solitary soul left alive on the plains of newly created Esthgar. More and more landmarks were appearing during the genesis of this new world. Soon they would be completely merged and all life would be extinguished. Squall was the one chance left to save the world, and now, even he was dying.
Only a month earlier the planet was bustling with life. People led boring but meaningful lives in the cities, on the ocean, and on countless farms. They had just been liberated from a terrible sorceress and life was returning to normal. Before this Armageddon took place, it was a happy world filled with life. The forests were a luscious green and lay far away from the cities, untouched by man. The lakes and oceans were crystal clear and calm, marine-life was abundant . . . the planet was full of beauty wherever you looked. Not anymore. It now lay gray, withered and dying like all of its inhabitants that had been killed by the transformation. The water became polluted, the trees rotted from the inside, and the animals turned on their own.
Sephiroth looked over at Griever, the source of this destruction and death. The demi-god had junctioned the black materia to it increasing its power one hundred fold. The vile beast had the ability to rain meteors anywhere on the planet now, leaving nobody safe. In the beginning of the battle, meteors had descended like fallen angels from heaven, striking down the population without prejudice. Now only the impact craters littered the landscape, making the landscape even more of a dire scenario.
"The dream of being a god is within my grasp," declared Sephiroth, "The planet is now mine to control . . ."
With a sudden surge of hidden energy, Squall staggered to his feet in defiance of the despot's statement. His bloodshot eyes pulsed with anger and stared dead on into Sephiroth's eyes.
"Do you actually think you can do anything with that battered body of yours?" taunted Sephiroth as he drew his Masamune across the ground and into an arc.
Squall said nothing.
"I will put you out of your misery with one swift strike then. Griever, MeteorStorm!" Sephiroth twisted around and ordered the rabid beast. The monster did not move to heed its master's call. Instead, it was frozen with fear at what it saw.
Behind Sephiroth's back, Squall's eyes began to flicker aqua blue. His whole body was tense and shaking and an aura of green and blue could be seen pulsating around him. Squall then released a scream that was more terrifying than Griever's and the aura turned into green and blue flame. Even his eyes gave off a new glow, and to top it off, his hair turned golden yellow. It shot out behind him and flowed wildly as though there was a harsh wind ripping across the battlefield.
"M, Ma, Mako? But Clo-" as Sephiroth stepped backwards in disbelief, he quickly glanced over and saw that Cloud's body had vanished into thin air.
Squall and Cloud had transformed into the ultimate hero, containing both the powers of each one and none of their weaknesses. His body mass had almost doubled in size and his powers had tripled. The hero bent over and picked up the Ultima sword from the ground where it had been stuck. He brought it close to the Lionheart which he still held in his hand, and both swords started to glow. The metals became excited and shone just as brilliantly as the hero. With a flash of light, it became the Heimdall, a sword forged in the Fire Caverns and cooled in the recesses of the Northern Crater. He was ready. The ultimate hero now set his sights on Griever. He calmly raised the sword in front of him between his eyes and said, "Fated Hearts".
A neon blue aura sprung out of the ground around the hero like a geyser and enveloped him totally. He dashed through the life giving liquid and suddenly disappeared, then reappeared in front of Griever in less than a second. Without mercy he started slashing at the monster as hard as he could. Five times, Ten times, Twenty times . . . it just didn't seem to stop. Each blow was delivered to a different part on his foe's body, having a cumulative weakening effect on Griever. The Heimdall started began to glow white-hot from the friction it caused in the air. Thirty times, Forty times . . . Body parts were flying as the sword whistled through the air, Griever's body could no longer take the punishment. With one last finishing blow, a beam of pure energy shot out of the Heimdall high into the air above. It parted the sky as it burst through the clouds and then came back down with a destructive force. It tore through the monster and divided it in two. With that, Griever was no more, just a pile of heated flesh scattered here and there on the ground. The time for revenge was near.
"Are you ready Sephiroth?" The hero announced. His voice seemed to echo as though both heroes were talking in unison.
"If you mean death, then yes. I have always welcomed death. But you must know that I won't go easily, I will only grow stronger in death. My body will reconstruct itself, and we'll do this little dance all over again," Sephiroth claimed.
An eerie silence swept over the battlefield. Only the faint presence of the wind could be heard filling the void between the battlers. The hero stood his ground and held his sword to his right. He waited for Sephiroth to make the first move.
"I didn't think I'd have to use this but given the current circumstances, it seems like I have no other choice. Let us give my new summon a try. But just remember, you brought this on yourself," Sephiroth raised his hands over his head and spread his feet apart. He needed all his power to summon his next surprise. The materia that held it floated out of Sephiroth's grip and situated itself a hundred feet above. After a few seconds of chanting something in the tongue of the ancients, he finally screamed, "Lunatic Weapon arise!"
The ground began to rumble and the hero felt a sudden charge build up in the atmosphere. Lightning was striking the ground near him with increasing frequency and was forcing him to avoid the craters being created by each impact. There was a bright flash in the air from the summon materia that temporarily stunned the hero and caused him to shield his eyes. When he managed to open them again, he jumped back in disgust.
The Lunatic Weapon was a heaving mass of monsters, all rolled into one. When the hero got use to the light around him again, he saw that it was not only monsters, but a conglomeration of all the Guardian forces, Weapons, and summons combined. They writhed in pain having to be connected to each other. It was torturous just to watch them wriggle and move around along the surface of this new abomination. Some beasts couldn't take their predicament and were attacking others close to it. Blood and fluids would occasionally spray out from the Lunatic Weapon, but if a monster died, it was just absorbed into the stronger ones. It was as if Sephiroth controlled the entire planet and its lifeforces. There was no doubt that this thing would do his bidding.
"Are you ready Squall? Or should I call you Cloud?" Sephiroth retorted, twisting his head to one side. "I'm confused, what do you want to be called?"
"Some have called me justice. Some have called me honor. Others have known me as vengeance. But you . . . you will call me, Xanien."
"Very well then, Lunatic Weapon . . . Luna Nova!" Sephiroth started to laugh hysterically after he yelled the name of the attack. The Weapon was reacting to his command and each animal roared out in pain. Their skin melted off to leave only their muscles showing, and then it disappeared back into its materia.
"Shut up you maniac!" Xanien yelled. Obviously, he didn't know what had just happened.
"You won't live through this. I'll make sure you don't." Sephiroth pointed to the sky jokingly as though he were mocking the dead Rinoa. He continued to laugh very hard, his head tilted back so that he could enjoy every heave of his chest.
Xanien's pure mako blood started to boil. How dare Sephiroth treat him like some bully. He was about to run toward Sephiroth, but stopped mid-step because he realized what was meant by the tyrant's taunt. "Oh my god . . ." Xanien looked up to see the moon barreling towards the planet. Chunks of its surface were tearing off as it entered the atmosphere, but the majority of its mass would still hit. It was approaching at a horrible speed and ate up more of the sky with every passing second. Xanien would not survive, and neither could the planet. He was so angry at himself to let this happen. How did he lose track of what was important and let this happen? "Damn it," Xanien hung his head in failure and didn't bother to watch the apocalypse.
The moon hit the planet about 2000 miles away from where the fight had been and achieved the desired results. Xanien looked up and could see a shockwave carrying everything on the planet from water to rock towards him. It was a horrible tsunami that just kept enlarging. Fissures were already reaching the ground below his body and had begun to vent magma and Lifestream through the cracks. It didn't matter to him, and soon nothing would matter. The shockwave was traveling a few thousand miles per hour and completely darkened the world.
Sephiroth was still laughing.
'So this is the end,' Cloud and Squall thought, looking at the crest of the forty mile tall shockwave right above his head. Xanien closed his eyes and awaited the impact, 'any second now.'