Tim Fortune

Presents

A FINAL FANTASY

CHAPTER I
Summons

Rain steadily beat down on all sides as she ran, ducking into alleyway after alleyway, desperately trying to avoid him.

She didn't have any clue as to where she was, for this city of tall skyscrapers was incredibly unfamiliar to her. Where she was from, the tallest buildings were merely towers, but the buildings here looked like they could dwarf even the most massive one.

Luckily, the tall buildings allowed her brief escapes from her pursuer. Whoever he was, he was completely relentless in his drive. He moved silently, his breath never above a slow, calm intake. It was if he wasn't human at all.

Sure, she had a way to easily shake him off or so she thought. She didn't know who this man, if he could even be called that, was. And she didn't know where she was. For all she knew, she would lead him right to her by doing that. For now, it was better to move on foot. She had been evading him for the better part of three hours in a downpour; she could continue to do so.

She felt just like she did before her memories returned about a year earlier. Confused and disoriented, she had to rely on the friends she had met. But now, they were nowhere to be found. Maybe she shouldn't have refused their request when they came to her door. Maybe she should have gone with them, but who would take care of the children if she did? That great beast who threatened the town she now raised its orphans in often came without warning. If she wasn't there to protect them, who else would? She had real responsibilities now. She wasn't like him, who left his kingdom in order to go on their adventure. She hadn't thought much or really cared at all when she first met him, but after a year of being directly responsible for the lives of others, she did feel a little anger towards him. Not that much though, for he was, at heart, a very good man, albeit with his fair share of quirks, but a good man who showed many admirable traits over the course of their adventure.

Ducking into another alleyway, she dived inside a dumpster. She didn't plan on staying for long, just long enough to catch her breath. She had to continue to evade him. He single mindedly moved after her, always in a slow, steady rhythm. Every time she thought she lost him and could calm down, she would see a flash of bright steel and hear his calm, near methodical footsteps drawing near. At that point, it would be time to run again.

She knew that she couldn't run forever. Maybe if her friends were there, then she might've had a chance. But they weren't. She was alone in a strange land, with a very determined enemy drawing fast behind her.

She had just about caught her breath when she heard those slow footsteps stepping into the alley. While there was minimal room for her inside the dumpster, as well as the horrendous smell, she tucked herself in there anyway. She didn't know what this man wanted with her, but she was almost sure that it wasn't anything pleasant. No one who ever sought her out ever had anything planned that treated her like a human being, instead of some tool that had incredible use. Maybe that was another reason why she refused to go along with her friends when they stopped by. Yes, she had the children to take of, but what did they really need her for? They were all proficient in Magic by that point. In fact, she was redundant. They already had a better trained spellcaster with them. Why else would they need her unless it was for the sheer fire power she possessed? Of course, that probably wasn't true. When she manifested her true powers, they searched all over the world just to make sure that she was alright. She knew that they actually cared for her, but, hey. Old habits die hard.

Careful to keep her breathing at a minimum, in order to not be detected as well as avoid breathing in the terrible smell coming from her hiding place, she stayed perfectly still inside it, waiting for her pursuer to leave. She knew that he'd probably catch up to her at some point in the future, but for now, she just wanted to stay clear.

She had gotten a good look at him shortly after their chase began. He was unusually tall and slender, with a well muscled chest that he apparently liked to show off, as he had half his shirt open underneath his long leather coat. He had hair of the purest silver, which he kept long, allowing it fall behind his back. It seemed that this guy loved to keep everything about him exceptionally long, with his coat, his hair and to top it all off, his four foot katana. But if ones eyes weren't immediately drawn to his sword, they went instead to his face. Unbelievably handsome in every way conceivable, some of it was off set by his eyes. They loomed out his face, practically burning everything in their path. They barely looked human. They resembled the eyes of a cat more, with their near slited pupils instead a goldish iris. Of course, she stopped staring as soon as he lifted his katana up to bring it down on her. A well timed Blizzara spell allowed her to escape, but if he ever caught up to her again, she doubted that she'd get that lucky again.

Still as a statue, she curled herself into a ball. From the way he carried himself, he struck her as a soldier of sorts. From her time in serving the Empire, she knew full well the discipline that went into being one.

This is it she thought, as she clamped her eyes shut and waited for him to look inside the dumpster and find her hiding place. If he was looking in here, he must've saw her run in and given how ruthlessly he had been chasing her, he would be incredibly thorough in his search. It looked like her running was at an end.

She waited for him to lift the lid and claim his prize, but to her surprise he never did. Through a tiny slit between the can and the lid, she peered out. The rain continued to fall around him as he looked quickly around the area. He moved closer to the dumpster, to the point where he was standing right next to it. Her eyes shot up in surprise, but she quickly stifled herself as not to make any noise and to change her breathing pattern. But all he did was move it slightly to look behind it. As there was obviously no one there, he moved away.

Taking one last look around the alley, he slung his massive sword across his shoulder and slowly walked out. After waiting a while to make sure that he was truly gone, she carefully climbed out her improvised hiding spot. She couldn't believe how lucky she got back there. She was sure that she would be caught then and there. Thankfully, he didn't think to look inside the dumpster. But once again, she couldn't count on getting that lucky again. It was time to start running again.

Sticking her head out of the alleyway, she checked to see if the coast was clear. The rain still beat steadily down and it obscured her vision slightly, but she was relieved to find him nowhere in sight. For now at least.

When she ran out of the alleyway, she went in the direction that she had already came. It was nothing more than misdirection on her part, as she thought that he would keep moving forward, as she probably wasn't where he had already been. Unless, he thought to double back as well. Oh well, she would have to deal with that if it came up, but until then, she would have to run.

The city was unfamiliar to her, but at a glance, people could probably tell that she wasn't from there. A little on the short side, her outfit consisted of a red sleeveless dress that ended above the knee with a pair of pants that were a slightly darker red. A gold sash was tied along her waist, in which she had kept the various weapons she had used throughout her previous adventure. To this modern city, her style of dress made her look like a medieval reject. Luckily, her hair, while odd, still didn't make her stand out here. Strange as it was, her natural hair color was a shade of teal that leaned a little more on the green side than it did the blue side. Some people thought that she dyed it, but her hair really was that color. It did make a striking contrast when she stood next to the only other female in the group, a blonde, but when the group consisted of a king, a monk, a thief (sorry, treasure hunter), a samurai, a ninja, a feral child, a pictomancer, a mage and a suicidal gambler, with said blonde being a former high ranking Imperial general, well, hair color is the last thing that could call attention to this group.

The rain abated slightly, so hopefully that would mean that more people would fill the streets, thus giving her better cover, but it didn't really matter. She just needed to get some distance between him and her. While she was sure that she had shaken him off for the time being, as he had moved in another direction, she still was looking over her shoulder as she ran just to make sure.

Doing so may not have been that smart a thing to do, because as soon as she had gotten a considerable distance away from the alleyway and as she was looking behind her, she ended up crashing into a man who was just standing on the sidewalk, looking at the sky, as the moderate rain fell on him.

He was wearing a dark blue tank top with what looked like a metal shoulder pad on his right shoulder, while he had baggy pants of the same color that were tucked into boots with metal plates on the toes. It was a lucky thing that she hadn't hit him coming from the opposite direction, for strapped onto his back was a massive sword. He had blonde hair which was kept spiked, with a rather prominent one jutting out right above his forehead.

"Ow." She said rubbing her head. It took her awhile to realize exactly what she had bumped into, but the moment she did, her face was flushed with color.

"Oh! I'm so sorry!" she said.

"It's alright." He replied and he held out one of his hands to help her up. Taking it, she got back on her feet.

"I'm really sorry." she said "I just didn't see where I was going and then…"

"It's okay. Really." The man responded with a smile "You don't have to go out of your way to make excuses. Things like this happen, that's all."

"Glad you're so understanding." she said.

"Yeah." He said and he continued to look at the sky. She took notice of this.

"I take it you're not from here either?" she asked.

"Huh?"

"You've got that look of almost complete incomprehension on your face."

"Yeah probably." he shrugged "This town isn't much different from where I come from, but something just feels off."

"It sure isn't Mobliz I'll tell you that." she said.

The man cocked his head to one side and looked right at her.

"What?" she replied when she saw him looking at her.

"Mobliz? That town hasn't existed in…" he paused as he couldn't even believe what he was about to say "3000 years…"

"What? 3000 years?" she exclaimed "No! No! I was just there! Sure, it was a little worse for wear, what with the near apocalypse and all, but it was there! I had a house where I looked after the children and…"

"I just can't believe that." The man interrupted "Not only has Mobliz not existed for 3000 years, but, the continent it was on was abandoned not long after."

She couldn't believe her ears. What was he saying? She knew that it was around. She had been there. The land was of course, scarred and wrecked, but people still lived there, barely eking out a living, but still living there nonetheless.

"You're wrong." She said, almost a little too defensively.

"No, I think I'm right." He answered "Here, come with me. I'll prove it to you."

He walked up the street a bit with her in tow. For the moment, she had largely forgotten that she was being chased after, but a sense of danger still lingered in the back of her mind.

They came up to a newspaper holder.

"See right there. Read the date." He said pointing it at.

"XXXX XX, XXXX." she said reading it out.

"That's right. It's XXX…" he cut himself off midsentence "Wait! XXXX? That can't be right! If that's true then that means…2000 years…"

She remained silent after reading the date. She didn't shout or make any motion like he did. She knew. Only, it really meant that she wasn't the 3000 years in the future like he said.

Instead, she had somehow been flung 5000 years into the future.

"2000 years?" the man continued to exclaim "What? I thought the lack of anything marked Shinra was odd, but I thought I was just in a rare corner that Shinra hadn't touched!"

"Shinra?" she asked, a little bit confused.

"Shinra Electric Power Company. That's just the name though. In actuality, they pretty much run the world."

"Sounds like the Empire." she said.

"Probably. Although I don't think your 'Empire' went around pretending to just be another business."

"Of course not. It was evil and imperialistic. Thankfully, I was able to get away and join the Returners, a little rebel group."

"Sounds like AVALANCHE." he said and then added under his breath "Sort of like me too."

"What was that?" she said.

"Nothing." The two looked at each other for a while as they tried to take in their current situation. It seemed that both of them were plucked out of not only familiar places, but their own time as well and were brought to this strange place.

Eventually, their stare down was broken, as the girl began rapidly looking behind her.

"Expecting someone?" the man said with a slight smile, but it was dropped when he noticed the look of fear on her face "What's going on?"

"I don't know!" she said "When I found myself here, I was suddenly being hunted by some strange man in a long coat with a giant sword."

Strange man in a long coat with a giant sword? Could it be? He thought. Did that mean that he was here too?

"Could you describe what this man who was chasing you looked like?" he asked.

She told him everything that she had seen. The black coat, the silver hair, the massive sword. After each description, the man nodded.

"Yes, it's him alright. No doubt about it."

"You know that man?" she asked, growing a little more afraid.

"Unfortunately yes." He replied "I used to look up to him, but now…after what he did, and what he ultimately plans to do…he's a dead man." The man's face grew incredibly serious, but within his eyes, there was a twinge of sadness, as if a painful memory was re-surfacing.

"So you know what he wants with me?" she exclaimed.

He shook his head. "Not a clue. Last I checked I didn't think capturing some green haired girl from the past was a part of his plan. But whatever the reason, I think you should stick with me. I know full well what he's capable of…and I don't want a repeat of what happened."

"You'd do that for me? Even though you barely know me?" she said, her face lightening up a little.

"Of course. Besides, you kind of remind me of…" he stopped and turned away. Taking a breath, he turned back around and said "Her."

"Well, then. I might as well introduce myself." She said. "I'm Terra. Terra Branford.

Looking right at her, he simply said "Cloud Strife."

VIVIIVIIIVIVIIVIIIVIVIIVIIIVIVIIVIIIVIVIIVIIIVIVIIVIIIVIVIIVIIIVIVIIVIIIVIVIIVIII

Though the darkened rain drenched streets of town, the two them walked, each keeping a close eye out for the man that had been after the girl, who was known as Terra. The man, who said that his name was Cloud, was making sure to protect her. He didn't know what their pursuer wanted with her, but it couldn't possibly be for anything good.

He knew full well who this man was and what he hoped to achieve. He hoped that he could destroy the world and remake it with him as its ultimate god, nothing short but the fevered dream of a madman.

Of course, he had every right to be insane. Constant betrayals and losses, furthered by finding out what his true purpose on the planet, as well as his real origins, were. It would be enough to drive anyone to the point of madness. How many would attempt to do what he wished to on the other hand…

"What can you tell me about this man?" Terra said looking up at Cloud.

Cloud shrugged. "Not much. He used to be the elite SOLDIER for Shinra until he went insane and tried to kill everyone."

"That sounds way too familiar." She said under her breath.

"What was that?"

"Oh!" she exclaimed "I was just thinking about how that sounds awfully similar to this one hateful, hateful man that I knew in the Empire. He was pretty much the same."
"Wow." Smiled Cloud "How much more similarities can there be?"

"Yeah, it's odd." Replied Terra "We're separated by what? 3000 years? A whole other continent? And yet, things played out almost exactly the same."

"It has been said that history does repeat itself." A voice said from above them. Looking up, they saw what they had been running from sitting on the roof of a building. The black coat, the silver hair, the long sword. They had been caught.

"RUN!" Cloud shouted to Terra as he drew his sword from his back and held it out in front of him, but all she did was stand there with a determined look on her face.

"I've been running for the past three hours." She said, holding her hands out in front of her "If I'm to be captured here so be it. But I'm not going without a fight."

"Brave words girl." The man said jumping down from the ledge, doing a backflip as he did "I admire that." Looking over, he took notice of Cloud.

"Ah, Cloud." He said, a smile crossing his face "I didn't expect you to be here. In fact, she said nothing of the sort. But, so long as you're here…"

"Just try Sephiroth." Cloud said through clenched teeth.

Sephiroth just laughed.

"You've got spirit, I'll give you that. But really, there are easier ways to commit suicide. Just give me the girl and I'll be on my way."
"Like Hell!" shouted Terra and holding her hand up she shouted "FIRAGA!"

A gigantic ball of fire emerged from her hand and she flung it at her pursuer. As calm as ever, he merely lifted up his sword and like a baseball player, hit the fireball out of the way. Both Terra and Cloud ducked when it flew their way.

"Brava." Sephiroth said tucking his sword underneath his arm and clapping his gloved hands "I can almost see why she wants you so badly. I guess I'll just have to use a little less restraint than I was going to. But as for you Cloud…" An even sicker smile than before crossed his face "Give my regards to Aerith."

Cloud rushed forward with his sword, but Sephiroth, faster than Cloud or Terra could see, pulled his from out under his arm and effortlessly blocked it.

"Did I touch a nerve there?" said Sephiroth "So sorry."

The two parried back and forth, while Terra shot spells at him. But Sephiroth was always too quick. Whenever Terra threw a spell his way, he blocked it, but always moved fast enough to counter any strike Cloud sent his way. And all the while, he remained perfectly calm.

"This is getting a bit boring." He said, blocking another one of Cloud's strikes and hurling him backwards "Come on girl. You're coming…"

But he was interrupted by maniacal laughter than seemed to come from all sides. It was a laugh that sent a slight chill to the core of Cloud. Never before had he heard such a laugh. Maybe from Hojo, but never to this degree. He looked all around for the source of it, but instead noticed Sephiroth standing there with his face in the palm of his free hand.

"No, no. Why? I had them!" he muttered "Why? Why did you have to come?"

"Man, what's he ranting about?" Cloud said looking over his shoulder towards Terra "I mean, what could have him…Terra? Terra?!"

While Cloud had wondered where the laugh had came from and Sephiroth had merely expressed annoyance, as if he knew it's source, Terra just went stark white with an expression of absolute terror.

"He's here." She said, but it came out as nothing louder than a whisper "He's here."

"Who's here?" Cloud said. Sephiroth hadn't even terrified her that much and he had spent the past few hours chasing her around the town with the intent to capture her. Who could be providing the laughter that scared Terra so much.

"We know you're here!" Sephiroth shouted to the sky "You might as well show yourself!"

"Oh, Seth." A voice said from the shadows between buildings "Why so serious?"

From an alleyway, a man stepped out. While Terra, Cloud, and Sephiroth could have easily blended into the crowd, this man most certainly could not, nor did it look like he particularly cared. He wore a bright green shirt underneath a red and yellow striped vest, with brightly colored knickers that were bunched at the knee. He wore stockings with one leg being red and the other green. While they ended in plain leather boots, it still was rather garish. Around his neck was a frilled red and yellow collar, underneath which flew a bright red cape. With the dull surroundings of the town, as well as the dark muted colors of the group, he was easily the most colorful thing around. And it didn't just extend to his clothes. While he had a pretty average looking face, it still stood out because he had slathered it with white make-up. And that was just as a base. Around his eyes were red designs that looked almost like flames, while the area around his lips were a brighter red than the eyes. His long blonde hair was slicked back, showing a rather high forehead, while a bright yellow feather stuck out from the back of his head. His eyes showed both a mixture of scary intelligence and outright insanity. And it was all made even more creepy by the massive smile on his face.

"Is there a reason you decided to grace us with your presence?" Sephiroth said, incredibly annoyed by the newcomer.

"Oh come on Seth." He said going closer to him "You looked like you needed some help."

"I was just about to end this." Said Sephiroth through gritted teeth.

"And mayhap you were." He replied "At least against this little insect here." He pointed towards Cloud.

"Wha?" he said. Who was this guy? Sephiroth was normally inflappable and uncaring towards everyone, but this man seemed to irritate him beyond all belief with his mere presence. Not to mention that he had Terra frozen in fear.

"Yes, I can see that you'd have no trouble at all against, what was your name again? Oh, yes Mr. Strife here. But that little tykebomb would have proven something else entirely."

"I. Can. Handle. It." Said Sephiroth, who seemed to be barely containing any rage he felt. This was definitely a side of the Super SOLDIER that Cloud had never seen before. Never had Sephiroth ever been so angry at…anyone. Not even Hojo, who Sephiroth hated above anyone else.

"And you were doing a smash up job before I arrived."

"You're just lucky she needs you alive as well." Sephiroth replied "Otherwise…" He pulled his fingers across his neck in a slashing motion.

"Like you even could." Answered the Stranger "Anyways, we can argue more when we get back. Until then…"

With a twirl of his fingers, Cloud found himself ensnared in an invisible rope. He couldn't move a single muscle on his body and the tightness caused him to drop his sword.

"Much better." Smiled the man, who like a puppeteer, began throwing Cloud into the sides of buildings.

"Show off." Scoffed Sephiroth, who walked over to Terra, who was still frozen in fear. Lifting his sword above his head, he added "And now my dear…"

"Hey Seth, you gotta try this!" the man shouted, interrupting Sephiroth.

"Oh, goddammit Kefka!" he turned around and shouted at the insane clown "Can't you see that I'm…"

But once again, he didn't get a chance to finish what he was about to say, for behind him, he heard the click of a gun. Turning around, he saw that it was a gun that had been pointing at him, but a sword. At least the blade of one. Instead of the normal hilt of a sword, this blade was attached to what looked like the handle and chambers of a revolver.

Holding this weapon was a teenager. He was wearing a dark bombers jacket with a fur collar over a plain white t-shirt with a lion shaped pendant over it. Long brown hair fell over his eyes, which were focused intensely on Sephiroth. Diagonally across his nose was a scar, one that was relatively fresh.

"Stop whatever it is that you're doing." He said as all eyes turned to him.

TO BE CONTINUED…

A/N: Yeah, I wanted to try my hand at writing this series, mainly because over the summer I have gotten really into the games.

The idea for this came from a piece of Dissida artwork that featured Cloud, Squall, and Terra and I just ran with the idea.

I'm using XXXX for a date just to show that while there is one, I'm not naming it, because it's never specified what year it is in the games, at least not that I'm aware of.

More will come shortly. Plus, for any long time readers, I'm taking a break from Cognito. It kind of taxed me creatively, even though I had the entire storyline plotted out a year ago, I just need a break from it. Besides, 22 chapters over the course of a year is pretty damn good.

So, read and enjoy this and I'll be back with another chapter if the feedback is good.

The Magnificent Tim Fortune 8/18/09 2:16 PM