This is an ending of a story that doesn't exist.
Disclaimer: You know what this is, don't you? Okay, I do not own anything, alright?
FINAL BATTLE
By
Ghost
Cloud could already hear the screams. All those heroes and heroines that died to protected the universe. And he was in the middle of it. He wished that their deaths wouldn't be for nothing.
Except him Pikachu and Ash were in the room. They would protect the Heart of Light at all cost. The sound of screaming became louder as the combined forces of Evil chopped or blasted its way through the defence of Good. Cloud could do nothing but stand there. He was the leader, the Grand General, the one The Heart had put all it's trust in and whoever wanted to get to it had to go straight trough him. He turned to the table with the map.
"So," he said to himself. "Mario and his boys are fighting them on the plains to the east while Megaman is leading the battle in the southern mountains." He looked at Ash. "Are you sure that your friends got the pokemon in position on time?"
"Positive," Ash said and studied the map. "I'm not sure what can have gone wrong. Maybe they're simply too many?"
Suddenly Tifa and Aeris came into the room. Aeris was leaning on Tifas shoulder and blood dripped from a small wound in her forehead.
"Seal the door!" Tifa shouted.
Ash and Pikachu did so and Cloud helped Tifa with Aeris.
"We are loosing, aren't we?" Cloud said.
"We are." Aeris answered.
"Cait Sith and Barret are already dead," Tifa said. "And last time a saw Cid and Yuffi they were fighting of about a thousand bad guys, trapped in a corner. I don't know were Red XIII or Vincent are."
"What about my friends?" Ash said.
"Brock is dead, torn apart by those zombies from Resident Evil II, but I think Misty got away," Aeris said. "I don't know about the others. The pokemons are everywhere and seems to attack everything that moves."
Cloud sighted and again wondered why he was the chosen one when there was more powerful and suiting heroes like Megaman or Mario.
"What about you?" he asked. "Are you alright?"
"I'm fine," Aeris said and tried to get up. "We don't have much time!"
"She is right," Tifa said. "He is coming!
"Who?" Cloud asked.
Suddenly the door exploded, throwing Ash and Pikachu against a wall. Through the flames and the smoke a tall and dark figure came, a figure with long, silver hair and a huge sword in his hand.
"Sephiroth…" Cloud whispered.
Pikachu ran forward and faced Sephiroth.
"Pika! Pika pika-ika-ika-achu! (Aha! Die, dark and sinister man!)" he said and used his Thunder Shock attack, but the electric energies only shrugged Sephiroth.
"Vermin!" Sephiroth proclaimed and stabbed Pikachu in the back. The pokemon died immediately.
"Pikachu!" Ash screamed. "Nooooo!"
Ash leaped forward to protect his fallen friend, but Sephiroths blade decapitated him before he knew what had happened.
"Mwahahahahahahaha!!!" Sephiroth laughed.
Aeris stood up.
"You murderer!" she shouted. "You monster! You killed them all!"
Aeris attacked Sephiroth with her staff, but the mighty villain simply ran the Masamune through her chest. The girl starred in misbelieve at the sword and the blood that poured out of the wound. She fell.
"Aeris!" Tifa screamed.
"No!" Cloud shouted.
Cloud and Tifa caught Aeris, but they could see that the wound was fatal.
"Wow, déjà vu!" Aeris said and tried to smile while coughing up blood. "It feels like I have experienced this before, somehow."
"You're going to be alright!" Tifa said and tears fell from her cheek. "You're going to be just fine!"
"Bullshit," Aeris whispered as her face turned pale as snow. "Take… take care of Cloud for me, Tifa…"
And then Aeris gave up, her body became lifeless as her soul vanished from it, and she was dead. Tifa looked up with her eyes full off tears. Sephiroth had not moved a muscle; he just stood there and watched.
"You…" Tifa began with tears running from her eyes. She screamed at the top off her lungs and rushed towards him. She punched him as hard as she could, kicking him, trying to break his bones and take his life as he had taken Aeris's, but he was to fast. Suddenly Sephiroth pierced her stomach and Tifa gasped, falling to the floor. Cloud wanted to run and help her, but stood frozen as a statue. Tifa tried to stoop the bloodflow with her hands and looked in horror as Sephiroth raised his blood-covered sword.
"For you, there is nothing but death!" he said. But just as he was about to let the sword fall, something pummelled him in the back. He almost fell over Tifa, and discovered that it was Red XIII that had tackled him.
"You stupid beast!" he said and threw Red into the wall. "You can't defeat me alone!"
"But at least I can try," Red XIII said and got up. "And that's what it's all about!"
"Touching," Sephiroth said. "But now you shall die!"
"You are forgetting something, Snowyhair," a male voice shouted. "He isn't exactly alone!"
Into the room rushed Cid and Yuffi. Yuffi looked a bit scratched, but was certainly alive. Cid had a cut wound over the left eye and seemed to have pain in the right leg, but he still held on to his spear.
Sephiroth gave up a quiet snarl and started to move towards them. When he engaged them Red XIII attacked him from behind and then the battle was a fact.
Suddenly, Cloud was able to move again, and he immediately ran over to Tifa and pulled her away from the fighters.
"How are you?" he asked. God, he knew he wouldn't stand loosing them both!
"Better than Aeris," Tifa responded. "I might even survive. To bad we are not going to make it, Cloud. I have always wanted to tell you how much I…"
"No," he said. Not to her, but to the rest of the world. "No!! NO!!!"
He stood up and looked at the four fighters in the other end of the room. "STOP!!!"
Surprisingly enough, they did, even Sephiroth.
"This all ends here, Sephiroth!" Cloud shouted. "No more blood, no more death! Only you and me!"
"And me," Red XIII said.
"Me too," Cid said and twirled his spear.
"Me three," Yuffi said coldly.
"No!" Cloud said. "Do not interfere! This is between me and him!"
Red XIII snarled like an angry lion, and Yuffi looked at Cid. The old pilot just smiled and turned around.
"What?" Yuffi shouted. "But… Sephiroth is going to kill him!"
"Perhaps," Cid said. "But I think we would be to more trouble then use to him in this fight. If he is to die, it's something he has to do by himself."
Yuffi looked like she wanted to disagree, but just nodded and followed him out the corridor to fight of the villains that had made it that far. After a short and angry look at Sephiroth and Cloud Red XIII also left the room..
"You heroes are so incredibly touching!" Sephiroth said. "Well, I guess this is it, Cloud. The final battle to the death, Good versus Evil. Truly, this is the final battle, the final fantasy for two old fighters such as our selves."
"It is," Cloud said and drew his sword. It was not his usual Buster Sword, but the Ragnarok. The powerful sword vibrated in his hand. Sephiroth looked at the dark blade a short while, and then said: "You do know that chances are great that I will kill you?"
"Yes," Cloud agreed. "But as Red said, it does not matter if I win or lose, as long as I try."
Sephiroth smiled. "Then try, Hero. Try!"
The blades met in the air.
Cloud could almost not see Sephiroths sword, it seemed to be everywhere. He had barely the time to parry the vicious attacks and could not do anything but defend himself, as if he was fighting a storm or a waterfall. He retreated towards Tifa, but Sephiroth followed him as a shadow. Cloud tried to attack from below, but Sephiroth parried it if they where only playing. He smiled and attacked once again. Cloud was filled with rage. So that's the way it's going to be? Well, he wouldn't die like Aeris. Instead he circled around his enemy, well aware that he left Sephiroth with Tifa. He didn't think that his foe would kill the girl until he had finished off Cloud, and he was right, Sephiroth didn't even look at Tifa. Cloud started parrying again and he lost sense of how long the fight went on. His arms started to ache and he could smell smoke in the air. Something was burning. Suddenly he felt pain in his arm and found that Sephiroth had managed to cut him. He gained new strength and started to fight more offensive. He attacked, parried, riposted and fought on pure instinct. Sephiroth started to look concerned. Cloud finally realised that it was an even fight. He's courage grew and suddenly his sword made a small wound on Sephiroths thigh.
"You are getting rusty, old friend," he said, and held the sword in a challenging position.
Sephiroth attacked again, even faster. His rage blazed in his eyes and finally he gathered his last strength in a single blow, and the Ragnarok flew from Clouds hand. Sephiroth held the Masamune with the tip towards Clouds throat.
"You have been a worthy opponent, Cloud," he said while catching his breath. "But in the end, I win, and you die."
He screamed and the sword came flying.
"Don't bet on it," Cloud said. The fight had tired Sephiroth out and he was now slower then usually. Cloud took a single steep forwards and grabbed the Masamunes long handle. He then dodged the cut and twisted the sword out of Sephiroth hands. Before he had understood what just happened, Sephiroth found that his own blade had been run through his body.
"Good always wins," Cloud said. "In the end."
Sephiroth shook his head. "No!" he screamed and started running. The sword was pulled out of him, and he jumped over Tifa and headed up the stairs, towards the room where The Heart of Light was. The light of Good shined down on him, and when he had made it half the way he screamed and fell back. He rolled down the stairs and tried to crawl away from them. Then he exploded in white flames and was incinerated in a matter off seconds.
Cloud threw the sword away and ran over to Tifa.
"I didn't think you could defeat him," Tifa said with a weak, powerless voice.
"Neither did he," Cloud answered and held her gently in his arms. "That's why he lost."
Suddenly Cid ran into the room.
"Cloud!" he said and smiled. "You made it! Where is old Seph?"
"There," Cloud said and nodded at the man-shaped pile of ashes.
"Good God!" Cid said.
"What is happening out there?" Cloud asked.
"We are winning!" Cid said. "The entire place is on fire and most of the walls are torn down, but we are driving them away."
"What about Red XIII and Yuffi?"
"They are leading the counter offensive right now!"
"You hear that?" Cloud said to Tifa. "Everything is going to be fine."
Tifa smiled. "No it wont. I've lost to much blood, Cloud, I'm not going to..."
"Shhhh," Cloud hushed. "You are going to make it, trust me."
He picked her up and carried he up the stairs. The last thing Cid saw of them was Cloud disappearing in the white light of The Heart with the dying girl in his arms. It looked as if he was carrying her up to Heaven. It was beautiful.
Cid felt a tear fall from his chin, and then he shook his head and grabbed the spear. There was work to be done, and if he knew Yuffi and Red right, he would have to hurry if there would be any bad guys left for him.
Tifa woke up and climbed out of her bed. She dressed carefully and sneaked out, not to disturb Red XIII. He had been guarding her ever since they had put her in that bed, and was now asleep beside it. She met Yuffi in the hall outside. The black patch that covered the place where her right eye once sat gave Tifa a feeling of respect for the young warrior.
"You shouldn't be up yet," Yuffi said.
"I'm fine, Yuffi," Tifa said, and tried not to think of the low pain in her stomach. "And I need some fresh air."
"Let her go, Yuff," Red said, who came out from Tifas room. "She is not as quiet as she ought to be, but I think she could use a little walk."
"Whatever you say, sweetie," Yuffi said and suddenly her only eye glittered of affection. She reached down and scratched him behind the ear.
"Hey!" Red shouted. "I told you not to call me that!"
Tifa smiled. Apparently Red had saved Yuffis life during the inferno of the last battle, and now she was determined to make it up to him, in her own way. She was probably driving him crazy by now.
When she came outside she recognised the place as the castle of Ardyngate. On the courtyard she saw Cid. The flyer was sitting on one of the huge rocks that had been catapulted into the castle during the siege earlier on. He gazed at the sky and the new, white scar in his face seemed to glow in the sunlight.
"Hey, Cid!" she shouted when she came closer. Cid turned his eyes from the sky and looked at her.
"Hi, kid," he said. "I see you're up walking now?"
"Yes, I feel allot better."
"Good," he said and nodded. He took a deep breath of the fresh morning air. "My God! I can't believe we actually won! And such a fine day it is, perfect for some flying!"
"Yes, isn't it wonderful," Tifa said, but then her face became grey of sorrow. "Have you buried… the dead?"
The pilot nodded. "Most of the bodies perished in the flames, but we managed to get our guys out in time. You were lucky to be unconscious. It was really messy. We buried Barret and Cait Sith in the hill near the mountain, the one with the oak. We thought they would have liked it there.
"And what about Aeris?" Tifa asked and struggled to keep the tears away.
Cid shook his head. "I don't know. I think Cloud took her body and buried it somewhere, but I don't know where, and I am not asking."
"Where is he?" Tifa asked.
"The mountain," Cid said and pointed with his thumb. "But take it easy, we've struggled hard too keep you alive, you know."
She nodded and left him where he was, looking at his beloved sky.
She walked over to the mountain and only stopped when she encountered two fresh graves. The gravestones were large and made of granite but not decorated or in any way special. With tears in hear eyes she read the inscriptions:
BARRET WALLACE
DIED DEFENDING THE UNIVERSE FROM EVIL
HERO FOREVER
CAIT SITH
DIED DEFENDING THE UNIVERSE FROM EVIL
HERO FOREVER
"It was close that my name would stand there," she whispered. "I will never forget you guys, ever."
She walked on, up the mountain and there, at the top, she saw Cloud. He was standing with his back to her, looking out at the landscape and the blue sea. He was unarmed and even seemed relaxed for the first time in what Tifa thought were ages.
"I'm glad to see that you're up," he said whiteout looking at her.
"Thanks," she said. "And thanks for saving my life and all."
He turned around and smiled. "I told you things would be just fine."
"What did you do with Aeris?" she asked gently, but with a serious tone.
"She is sleeping in a safe place now," Cloud said and sighted. "Her name shall never be forgotten, I promise you that."
She walked over to him and he gently laid his arm around her shoulder.
"Do you think we really won?" she asked. "Do you think Evil is gone now?"
"I don't know," he answered. "Maybe they're gone, or maybe they will return for another round later. The Heart said something about an Opposite Evil; maybe there is a Heart of Darkness out there. But right now, Tifa, I don't care."
"Me neither," she said. She put her arm around his waist and leaned her head against his shoulder. A fresh breeze flew in from the sea and made her brown hair dance behind her. "Me neither."