Please note this is a continuing saga and second part of a 3 book trilogy.
The first book, Final Fantasy Infusion, leads up to the events which occur
in this fic, and can be found on the website here at Fanfiction.net. Please
read or skim over the final chapters of that fiction before beginning this
to gain full understanding of the events. Thank you.
FINAL FANTASY IMPACT
Book I - Departure
Chapter 1: An Unsettling Vision
Space . . . Its cold reaches out to those that would want to touch it. It tells all yet has boundless secrets . . .
The beating drums in Cosmo Canyon were the heartbeat of the planet. On any given day, dozens of chants could be heard echoing through the caves that lined its walls, calling to ancient ancestors and praising the Earth for its teachings. The eternal candle of Cosmo Canyon continued to burn brightly, its flames arching upward with little fuel below it to ignite it. The campfire would always be there, guiding those from far away to enter its city and learn of what the world had to teach. Built on the highest point of Cosmo Canyon, a huge telescope gazes towards the wonders of space, Bugenhagen's final testament to advancing his people's understanding of the universe. But that wasn't all it was for. Over the years, millions of pieces of information were collected and joined together to produce a magnificent exhibit of the world outside our planet. This . . . is where it all begins.
Nanaki flipped the switch on the wall to enter his observatory. He listened to the gears clink with great delight as the lift carried him up to the planetarium. Nanaki had done this countless times before, but the process still carried an air of wonder and amazement about it. He was enlightened by his grandfather's invention, a galaxy not just full of wisdom, but of mystery as well. It was a near perfect model of the solar system, constantly being updated by scientific journals from astronomers and followers of the Planet's teaching in Cosmo Canyon. The sparse glittering of stars and orbiting celestial bodies surrounded his whole existence, making the Ancient feel as though he stood at the nucleus of the universe himself. However, he hadn't come up to see just the planets this time.
The fiery red canine gazed blankly at all the huge materia that cluttered ground level of the room. There was a yellow one, symbolic of honor and might, a red one, representing the flames of courage and valor, the green one, a symbol of everything beautiful and mysterious in life, and finally the bluish-purple gem, Bahamut Zero. It shone dully with the coldness of space and the darkness that exists everywhere in the universe. No light would ever come from it, but in a fleeting look, Nanaki saw it glimmer. He approached the materia with a puzzled look.
"What?" He growled curiously, walking even closer to it and tilting his head from side to side to inspect it. The sparkle was growing evidently brighter and Red drew even closer. He dared to venture closer still and then he realized his fault . . .
"Oh damn!" he howled. It was only a reflection.
Nanaki quickly jerked his head upwards and saw a blinding light spread out from a point in deep space. The satellite monitoring that part of the galaxy beamed back real time data, incorporating it into the set up of the observatory. In no time it enveloped the entire room with its widespread glory and overtook the Sun's rays. The brave, lion-like dog put his belly on the ground and covered his eyes with his right paw out of reflex. The light subsided briefly after he had done so and he soon got back up. Nanaki's jaw dropped as he raised his head towards the source of the explosion.
"A Supernova!" Nanaki deduced, "No . . . wait a second . . . it can't be!"
The model of the solar system depicted endless undulating light waves coming form this cosmic event, its sudden existence sending ripples throughout the entire galaxy. Nanaki was entranced as the waves of matter echoed harmlessly into the recesses of space, bouncing off of celestial bodies and creating a beautiful dance of light going back and forth in every direction. The waves of light started to filter out and then vanished just as quickly as they had appeared. Red was about to leave when he saw streaks of white light cycling back to their starting point. Rays of light and matter around the area began to disappear, and the satellite returned zero data. It could only mean one thing . . . a black hole had appeared and it was pulling everything around it into it, including light.
All of this excitement had left Red in a stupor and completely unaware of his situation. The lights in the observatory flickered on for a couple seconds and then ceased altogether. Sparks flew from the wall and the rotation of the planets grinded to a halt, perfectly aligned with each other and the sun. A sign? Who knows . . . that was all he needed to get him going. Red XIII clumsily ran down the steps of Cosmo Canyon, slipping as he rounded the corners and then pushing his body to run as fast as it could carry him.
"Where is he going in such a hurry?" a nosy little boy wondered as he saw Nanaki from his kitchen window on the ground level. His mom walked by the door to the kitchen and saw that he had stopped washing.
"You'll be going to your room with no desert if you don't do the dishes!" the boy's mother retorted. With a scowl on his face, the boy grumbled into the suds in the sink and continued to wash.
Red was on a mission. He had to speak to Cid.
Rocket Town, one hour later . . .
Shera was hard at work finishing a cabin for Cid's newest toy, his new Spaceship. The captain walked up to Shera as she wrote some notes down on her pad of paper, glancing over her shoulder to see what she was doing before turning to catch the metal skin gleam under the Sun's rays.
"What do you think we should call it?" He asked as his eyes looked over the shiny green hull, wiping oil and grease into a rag. He walked up to one of the massive engines and patted it down, his baby sounding like it was purring as the empty cylinders rumbled lightly.
She noticed his boyish behavior, smiling and pushing the glasses up on her nose before blandly replying, "Whatever you want dear."
Cid thought for a moment, his hand scratching a three day old beard. When that didn't produce any results, he took out a calming cigarette and looked to the sky for an answer. Cupping his hand over his lighter to block out the wind, the captain sucked on the butt of the cigarette until it glowed bright orange. As he took his first puff, Shera looked at him and scoffed. She really wished that he would stop, it was such an unhealthy habit and all her clothes were starting to smell like burnt tobacco and the countless other chemicals put into it. But for once he was actually thinking something through, and she liked it. His goggles started to get fogged up from smoke as he puffed harder in order to draw in more inspiration.
"I got it!" He yelled as he clasped his hands together, "I'm gonna call her the Aeris. Its only right considering I have high hopes for this ship, kinda how Aeris had prayed for the planet before she died."
"Whatever you want," Shera repeated as she scratched something down on her clipboard and modified the cabin dimensions. She'd be sure that the first test flight would go off without a hitch this time. Third time is a charm they say . . .
The vessel was almost complete. Cid started this whole project by adding onto the escape plane that he had flown after Holy destroyed his magnificent work of art, The Highwind. The only components he REALLY needed were the rockets, and those were pretty hard to come by after the collapse of nearly every major company that relied on Mako. But he could always rely on good ole Shinra to come through in a pinch. After its financial collapse, Shinra was willing to do anything in order to make money, including liquidating its entire Space Division department. Without the leadership of Rufus or any other big names, the Board of Directors of the company was too weak and spineless to refuse Cid's price for the parts he needed. It also helped to know the new President of Shinra, Reeve. Although they were initially charging 1 million gil apiece for the booster rockets, Cid used his vast influence and connections to lower the price. They had once taken everything away from him, so it was only fair that now he was getting them back where it hurt them the most, their pockets. He bought seven for under 5 million gil and they were even kind enough to have them deliver each directly to Rocket Town via one of their remaining Gelinka flying fortresses. It was chump change for one of the heroes that saved the world from Meteor. Countless victories over bandits and winnings from the Gold Saucer had produced gillionares out of each of them, and what they spent it on was to their own discretion.
Cid grabbed a blowtorch and a visor helmet as he walked by the tool rack, starting to whistle happily. Whistling was a new habit he had picked up that allowed him to lower his stress levels considerably instead of cursing. Shera had sort of blown up on him one day, and he hadn't cussed in front of her since. It comes in very handy for a pilot where things can and usually DO go wrong. Cid then went up to a ladder and climbed up to the place of current construction. He used his cigarette to ignite the blowtorch and climbed to the top of the ladder, making it easier for him rather than using a spark prong. He then proceeded to pull down his helmet and start welding.
The ladder shook.
"Shera, will you watch where you're walking dammit!!" Cid exclaimed. The ladder shook again and Cid dropped his blowtorch to the ground below. He had lost his composure now.
"GOD DAMN IT!!" Cid lifted his helmet and looked down. He was surprised to see a wagging tail greeting him.
Somewhere off in the distance Shera answered, "What dear?"
"Nothing!" he quickly recovered, "Oh. Sorry Red, I didn't know it was you. What's up?" Cid asked him.
Nanaki's expression suddenly became solemn and stern, "We need to talk."
Vicinity of Black Hole
Jagged parts of the moon and Meteor floated everywhere since the catastrophic impact over a month ago. The majority of their mass either burnt up in the planet's atmosphere or was caught in the Sun's gravitational pull, the small pieces being vaporized into atoms when they got close enough to the intense heat. Only a few chunks of rock had escaped these constant variables of destruction, and they were drifting like a wandering soul, aimlessly tumbling deep into space. But now, a third possible means of destruction viable. They would be crushed into nothingness inside the Black Hole. More powerful than any sun, and capable of sucking all matter into its core, black holes come about after the death of gigantic stars. Their cores are so dense that it creates boundless energy. However, this energy can not be tapped. Its purpose is meant for only one thing, destruction. Nothing composed of any type of matter can escape its pull, even light. Black Holes bend entire galaxies to its might . . .
Rocket Town
"So, I was wondering if the ship was ready to fly yet." Red pestered Cid again, getting vague answers since he arrived.
"Sure she can fly, but I haven't had the chance to test her out yet. The first test flight wasn't scheduled for another week or so." Cid answered, sounding unsure.
"I have to investigate this phenomena right away Cid," Red continued, "I have suspicions about its properties, and since it's so close to our solar system, it could post a threat to us in the future. It's a once in a lifetime chance . . . these things were only thought of as being theoretically possible, but the recent events show that it does exist! I also don't know how long it will last either, and a discovery such as this shouldn't go undocumented! "
"Well . . . if you feel so strongly about this black hole thingy, go assemble a team for this mission of yours. I'll see what I can do. By the time you get everyone prepared to leave I will have her ready to fly. I could even have it done by the day after tomorrow if ya want but-" Cid told Red, quickly being interrupted by the dog's answer.
"Great! Thanks buddy!" Red replied happily, trotting off towards the Inn.
Shera came into the cabin of the ship with a puzzled look on her face, "Ciddddd? What did you tell him?"
The captain coughed and looked down at the ground, scratching the back of his head, "Um . . . well . . . you see it's like this," he raised his finger to her, asking for a minute of time. After turning on the megaphone outside the ship with some nasty feedback, he began an announcement, "Yo you punks! Everybody's working late tonight, you hear me? We gotta be ready to launch in two days!!"
"What!?" Shera screamed in shock.
"We're launching tomorrow damn it!" Cid yelled back. Shera's eyes narrowed and she gave him a VERY dirty look. The pilot of the ship just picked up a wrench and went into the fuselage, whistling all the way there.
As Nanaki walked into the Rocket Town Inn, he passed by a few technicians, hearing some of them swear at the captain under their breath. Cid had just told them they would be working overtime tonight.
Outer Space
Blackness . . . The only sign of life is in the burning stars millions of miles apart from each other. A sudden loss of light from some of the stars signals the passing of terrestrial debris. It got increasingly thicker and merged together near the mouth of the black hole. Its pull had beckoned everything in the solar system to adventure near its boundaries, and the debris from the moon and meteor had answered the call. Small rocks floating near the Black hole were crushed instantly into space dust, which in turn were smothered until the substance was ripped into separate molecules. The bigger chunks were ripped apart bit by bit as they reached this cosmic singularity, until they were nothing more than crushed atomic particles. These were the only remains of the great battle that had occurred more than six months ago. Everything else was kept in the memories of those that had fought in it.
A gigantic part of the moon floated reluctantly towards the hole, spinning much slower than all the others. It was more than just a lifeless rock. This object carried a passenger that once possessed a great power at will. Now, he was bonded to its fate, to go wherever it led him. A tattered body of a man once known as the tyrant Sephiroth lay half-buried in stone and dust beneath its surface. He was dead for good, no amount of power able to save him from the final leg of his voyage, but his twisted, haughty grin still lay on his lips. Comets and small meteorites traveling at high-speed had torn through his exposed limbs as they were caught by the gravity of the black hole, ripping off his right arm and leg. His torso was also gone, burned through when meteor smacked into his exposed flesh. Call it a body if you will, but what it resembled was more like am empty shell.
The gravity licked feverishly at Sephiroth's carcass as the rock passed closer to the epicenter of the black hole. A cracked black materia became dislodged from his gear and zoomed out in front of him, into the middle of the black hole. It refused to be crushed, emanating its will outward as it sped closer and closer towards the center. It was swallowed up and sent through the spiraling vortex, completely intact. At the instant the evil materia passed through, it changed the entire composition of the black hole, negating the crushing power at its core. Sephiroth's rock followed soon afterwards, crumbling away at the edges on its way to becoming ultimately demolished as it passed through the heart of the black hole.
Nibelheim, next morning
Cloud sat dazed in his old house, looking out the window toward the misty mountains of his childhood. Memories, both sad and good had found him when he returned to this accursed town again. Shinra had given up its façade of ownership and had abandoned Nibelheim, leaving it to the monsters in the caves and wanderers. This ghost town fit the likes of Vincent more than Cloud. It was a town of sorrow and regret of things that might have been. Vincent relished at the fact that it was quiet now and had been catching up on some long deserved sleep in the dilapidated mansion. Cloud, on the other hand, only sulked as he stared up to the high ceiling at his remodeled house. He had too much time on his hands since the end of dimension compression and did nothing but sleep and dwell on the past. He thought of Sephiroth and Aeris all the time, and about how things could have ended up differently. It had all been too traumatic for him, the responsibility and the expectations he had to live up to then. It had finally caught up to Cloud and changed him into a sort of hermit, despising all outside contact.
Soon after everyone's return, he had thought of Tifa as someone he could be with for the rest of his life . . . but dark memories ate away at their fragile bonds and Cloud grew distant from the only person in the world to love him. Barret and Yuffie had made routine visits, bringing food and gifts which were usually forgotten the next day, but even now things were growing quieter. Lately his emotions were getting the better of him, almost reaching to the point where they were way out of control. He lashed out at those that loved him and became emotionally unavailable to people that wanted to help. His friends had given up hope, and were one by one not trying to get him to change for the better. He had assigned himself to his fate . . . and was wasting away. Aeris . . . he had wanted to stay with her, to be with her . . . not to leave her side again. But she was ripped coldly out of his world a second time, just as painfully as before.
Cloud heard a knock at his door. He buried his face in a pillow, unwilling to socialize with anyone.
"Cloud? You here?" Cid's voice rang out as he looked through the windows of the small one-story house.
Cloud remained silent. He didn't want to be bothered.
"Cloud!" Cid yelled louder, growing impatient, "Get off your ass and come outside! Dontchya wanna go see Aeris?"
Cloud raised his head attentively at the mention of that name. "What?!" he replied in a curious tone, his voice cracking as thought he had merely just woke up.
"You wanna see my finished spaceship Aeris?" Cid continued, "I'm putting the final touches on her this evening!"
All Cloud managed was a lackluster "Sure," to Cid. He stood up and put on his pants and shoes. After he gathered what he needed for his short journey, he went out the door and saw the Captain waiting for him.
"Nice to see you again little buddy. Nanaki is waking up Vincent as we speak..." Cid informed Cloud, patting him on the shoulder and shutting the door behind them. The captain wrapped his arm around Cloud's neck and jerked him forward playfully, "Come on buddy, some fresh air will do you good. We'll get to see the others too!" They waited a few minutes, straggling in front of the dreary mansion before Cid spoke up again, "What's taking him so long?"
'And I bet you thought that I was grumpy when I woke up . . .' Cloud thought, smirking.
Other side of Black hole
The Black Materia shot out of the vortex on the other side of the black hole like a bullet from a rail-gun and was headed straight for a peaceful little planet. The tiny piece of materia flew like deranged comet, blasting through asteroids and other rocks that were in its path as it made its descent. It swirled around the orbit of this new place before the planet's gravity sucked it in. It approached in a streak of red light, burning its way through the atmosphere and crashing into the middle of a small lake in a lush region of the planet. The water flash boiled as soon as it hit, creating a massive fish kill and sending their dead bodies to float on the surface. Animals from all around the lake took flight when it shook the ground, startling them like nothing else ever had. In five minutes the water completely evaporated and a small pillar of steam was all that remained of thousands of gallons of water. A deep crater had formed from the impact around the torn shoreline, slowly flashing dark purple into the morning sky.
Some of the more curious animals had returned and were sniffing around this weird stone that had fallen from the heavens. Amongst them was a little boy in his mid teens. Diminutive in size and greenish in skin color, he was the only one that dared to walk toward the steaming gem, thoughtfully pushing away the skittish animals that were in his way. The stone blinked from a distance for a second or two just enough to get the boy's attention and then ceased. Curious, the wild boy crawled into the crater, his tunic waving in the wind as he reached down to retrieve the stone. He bent over and picked the rock up to examine it, finding it strangely cool to the touch.
"OOAaaoooooo!!" the boy wailed, "Gau find shiny thing!!"
FINAL FANTASY IMPACT
Book I - Departure
Chapter 1: An Unsettling Vision
Space . . . Its cold reaches out to those that would want to touch it. It tells all yet has boundless secrets . . .
The beating drums in Cosmo Canyon were the heartbeat of the planet. On any given day, dozens of chants could be heard echoing through the caves that lined its walls, calling to ancient ancestors and praising the Earth for its teachings. The eternal candle of Cosmo Canyon continued to burn brightly, its flames arching upward with little fuel below it to ignite it. The campfire would always be there, guiding those from far away to enter its city and learn of what the world had to teach. Built on the highest point of Cosmo Canyon, a huge telescope gazes towards the wonders of space, Bugenhagen's final testament to advancing his people's understanding of the universe. But that wasn't all it was for. Over the years, millions of pieces of information were collected and joined together to produce a magnificent exhibit of the world outside our planet. This . . . is where it all begins.
Nanaki flipped the switch on the wall to enter his observatory. He listened to the gears clink with great delight as the lift carried him up to the planetarium. Nanaki had done this countless times before, but the process still carried an air of wonder and amazement about it. He was enlightened by his grandfather's invention, a galaxy not just full of wisdom, but of mystery as well. It was a near perfect model of the solar system, constantly being updated by scientific journals from astronomers and followers of the Planet's teaching in Cosmo Canyon. The sparse glittering of stars and orbiting celestial bodies surrounded his whole existence, making the Ancient feel as though he stood at the nucleus of the universe himself. However, he hadn't come up to see just the planets this time.
The fiery red canine gazed blankly at all the huge materia that cluttered ground level of the room. There was a yellow one, symbolic of honor and might, a red one, representing the flames of courage and valor, the green one, a symbol of everything beautiful and mysterious in life, and finally the bluish-purple gem, Bahamut Zero. It shone dully with the coldness of space and the darkness that exists everywhere in the universe. No light would ever come from it, but in a fleeting look, Nanaki saw it glimmer. He approached the materia with a puzzled look.
"What?" He growled curiously, walking even closer to it and tilting his head from side to side to inspect it. The sparkle was growing evidently brighter and Red drew even closer. He dared to venture closer still and then he realized his fault . . .
"Oh damn!" he howled. It was only a reflection.
Nanaki quickly jerked his head upwards and saw a blinding light spread out from a point in deep space. The satellite monitoring that part of the galaxy beamed back real time data, incorporating it into the set up of the observatory. In no time it enveloped the entire room with its widespread glory and overtook the Sun's rays. The brave, lion-like dog put his belly on the ground and covered his eyes with his right paw out of reflex. The light subsided briefly after he had done so and he soon got back up. Nanaki's jaw dropped as he raised his head towards the source of the explosion.
"A Supernova!" Nanaki deduced, "No . . . wait a second . . . it can't be!"
The model of the solar system depicted endless undulating light waves coming form this cosmic event, its sudden existence sending ripples throughout the entire galaxy. Nanaki was entranced as the waves of matter echoed harmlessly into the recesses of space, bouncing off of celestial bodies and creating a beautiful dance of light going back and forth in every direction. The waves of light started to filter out and then vanished just as quickly as they had appeared. Red was about to leave when he saw streaks of white light cycling back to their starting point. Rays of light and matter around the area began to disappear, and the satellite returned zero data. It could only mean one thing . . . a black hole had appeared and it was pulling everything around it into it, including light.
All of this excitement had left Red in a stupor and completely unaware of his situation. The lights in the observatory flickered on for a couple seconds and then ceased altogether. Sparks flew from the wall and the rotation of the planets grinded to a halt, perfectly aligned with each other and the sun. A sign? Who knows . . . that was all he needed to get him going. Red XIII clumsily ran down the steps of Cosmo Canyon, slipping as he rounded the corners and then pushing his body to run as fast as it could carry him.
"Where is he going in such a hurry?" a nosy little boy wondered as he saw Nanaki from his kitchen window on the ground level. His mom walked by the door to the kitchen and saw that he had stopped washing.
"You'll be going to your room with no desert if you don't do the dishes!" the boy's mother retorted. With a scowl on his face, the boy grumbled into the suds in the sink and continued to wash.
Red was on a mission. He had to speak to Cid.
Rocket Town, one hour later . . .
Shera was hard at work finishing a cabin for Cid's newest toy, his new Spaceship. The captain walked up to Shera as she wrote some notes down on her pad of paper, glancing over her shoulder to see what she was doing before turning to catch the metal skin gleam under the Sun's rays.
"What do you think we should call it?" He asked as his eyes looked over the shiny green hull, wiping oil and grease into a rag. He walked up to one of the massive engines and patted it down, his baby sounding like it was purring as the empty cylinders rumbled lightly.
She noticed his boyish behavior, smiling and pushing the glasses up on her nose before blandly replying, "Whatever you want dear."
Cid thought for a moment, his hand scratching a three day old beard. When that didn't produce any results, he took out a calming cigarette and looked to the sky for an answer. Cupping his hand over his lighter to block out the wind, the captain sucked on the butt of the cigarette until it glowed bright orange. As he took his first puff, Shera looked at him and scoffed. She really wished that he would stop, it was such an unhealthy habit and all her clothes were starting to smell like burnt tobacco and the countless other chemicals put into it. But for once he was actually thinking something through, and she liked it. His goggles started to get fogged up from smoke as he puffed harder in order to draw in more inspiration.
"I got it!" He yelled as he clasped his hands together, "I'm gonna call her the Aeris. Its only right considering I have high hopes for this ship, kinda how Aeris had prayed for the planet before she died."
"Whatever you want," Shera repeated as she scratched something down on her clipboard and modified the cabin dimensions. She'd be sure that the first test flight would go off without a hitch this time. Third time is a charm they say . . .
The vessel was almost complete. Cid started this whole project by adding onto the escape plane that he had flown after Holy destroyed his magnificent work of art, The Highwind. The only components he REALLY needed were the rockets, and those were pretty hard to come by after the collapse of nearly every major company that relied on Mako. But he could always rely on good ole Shinra to come through in a pinch. After its financial collapse, Shinra was willing to do anything in order to make money, including liquidating its entire Space Division department. Without the leadership of Rufus or any other big names, the Board of Directors of the company was too weak and spineless to refuse Cid's price for the parts he needed. It also helped to know the new President of Shinra, Reeve. Although they were initially charging 1 million gil apiece for the booster rockets, Cid used his vast influence and connections to lower the price. They had once taken everything away from him, so it was only fair that now he was getting them back where it hurt them the most, their pockets. He bought seven for under 5 million gil and they were even kind enough to have them deliver each directly to Rocket Town via one of their remaining Gelinka flying fortresses. It was chump change for one of the heroes that saved the world from Meteor. Countless victories over bandits and winnings from the Gold Saucer had produced gillionares out of each of them, and what they spent it on was to their own discretion.
Cid grabbed a blowtorch and a visor helmet as he walked by the tool rack, starting to whistle happily. Whistling was a new habit he had picked up that allowed him to lower his stress levels considerably instead of cursing. Shera had sort of blown up on him one day, and he hadn't cussed in front of her since. It comes in very handy for a pilot where things can and usually DO go wrong. Cid then went up to a ladder and climbed up to the place of current construction. He used his cigarette to ignite the blowtorch and climbed to the top of the ladder, making it easier for him rather than using a spark prong. He then proceeded to pull down his helmet and start welding.
The ladder shook.
"Shera, will you watch where you're walking dammit!!" Cid exclaimed. The ladder shook again and Cid dropped his blowtorch to the ground below. He had lost his composure now.
"GOD DAMN IT!!" Cid lifted his helmet and looked down. He was surprised to see a wagging tail greeting him.
Somewhere off in the distance Shera answered, "What dear?"
"Nothing!" he quickly recovered, "Oh. Sorry Red, I didn't know it was you. What's up?" Cid asked him.
Nanaki's expression suddenly became solemn and stern, "We need to talk."
Vicinity of Black Hole
Jagged parts of the moon and Meteor floated everywhere since the catastrophic impact over a month ago. The majority of their mass either burnt up in the planet's atmosphere or was caught in the Sun's gravitational pull, the small pieces being vaporized into atoms when they got close enough to the intense heat. Only a few chunks of rock had escaped these constant variables of destruction, and they were drifting like a wandering soul, aimlessly tumbling deep into space. But now, a third possible means of destruction viable. They would be crushed into nothingness inside the Black Hole. More powerful than any sun, and capable of sucking all matter into its core, black holes come about after the death of gigantic stars. Their cores are so dense that it creates boundless energy. However, this energy can not be tapped. Its purpose is meant for only one thing, destruction. Nothing composed of any type of matter can escape its pull, even light. Black Holes bend entire galaxies to its might . . .
Rocket Town
"So, I was wondering if the ship was ready to fly yet." Red pestered Cid again, getting vague answers since he arrived.
"Sure she can fly, but I haven't had the chance to test her out yet. The first test flight wasn't scheduled for another week or so." Cid answered, sounding unsure.
"I have to investigate this phenomena right away Cid," Red continued, "I have suspicions about its properties, and since it's so close to our solar system, it could post a threat to us in the future. It's a once in a lifetime chance . . . these things were only thought of as being theoretically possible, but the recent events show that it does exist! I also don't know how long it will last either, and a discovery such as this shouldn't go undocumented! "
"Well . . . if you feel so strongly about this black hole thingy, go assemble a team for this mission of yours. I'll see what I can do. By the time you get everyone prepared to leave I will have her ready to fly. I could even have it done by the day after tomorrow if ya want but-" Cid told Red, quickly being interrupted by the dog's answer.
"Great! Thanks buddy!" Red replied happily, trotting off towards the Inn.
Shera came into the cabin of the ship with a puzzled look on her face, "Ciddddd? What did you tell him?"
The captain coughed and looked down at the ground, scratching the back of his head, "Um . . . well . . . you see it's like this," he raised his finger to her, asking for a minute of time. After turning on the megaphone outside the ship with some nasty feedback, he began an announcement, "Yo you punks! Everybody's working late tonight, you hear me? We gotta be ready to launch in two days!!"
"What!?" Shera screamed in shock.
"We're launching tomorrow damn it!" Cid yelled back. Shera's eyes narrowed and she gave him a VERY dirty look. The pilot of the ship just picked up a wrench and went into the fuselage, whistling all the way there.
As Nanaki walked into the Rocket Town Inn, he passed by a few technicians, hearing some of them swear at the captain under their breath. Cid had just told them they would be working overtime tonight.
Outer Space
Blackness . . . The only sign of life is in the burning stars millions of miles apart from each other. A sudden loss of light from some of the stars signals the passing of terrestrial debris. It got increasingly thicker and merged together near the mouth of the black hole. Its pull had beckoned everything in the solar system to adventure near its boundaries, and the debris from the moon and meteor had answered the call. Small rocks floating near the Black hole were crushed instantly into space dust, which in turn were smothered until the substance was ripped into separate molecules. The bigger chunks were ripped apart bit by bit as they reached this cosmic singularity, until they were nothing more than crushed atomic particles. These were the only remains of the great battle that had occurred more than six months ago. Everything else was kept in the memories of those that had fought in it.
A gigantic part of the moon floated reluctantly towards the hole, spinning much slower than all the others. It was more than just a lifeless rock. This object carried a passenger that once possessed a great power at will. Now, he was bonded to its fate, to go wherever it led him. A tattered body of a man once known as the tyrant Sephiroth lay half-buried in stone and dust beneath its surface. He was dead for good, no amount of power able to save him from the final leg of his voyage, but his twisted, haughty grin still lay on his lips. Comets and small meteorites traveling at high-speed had torn through his exposed limbs as they were caught by the gravity of the black hole, ripping off his right arm and leg. His torso was also gone, burned through when meteor smacked into his exposed flesh. Call it a body if you will, but what it resembled was more like am empty shell.
The gravity licked feverishly at Sephiroth's carcass as the rock passed closer to the epicenter of the black hole. A cracked black materia became dislodged from his gear and zoomed out in front of him, into the middle of the black hole. It refused to be crushed, emanating its will outward as it sped closer and closer towards the center. It was swallowed up and sent through the spiraling vortex, completely intact. At the instant the evil materia passed through, it changed the entire composition of the black hole, negating the crushing power at its core. Sephiroth's rock followed soon afterwards, crumbling away at the edges on its way to becoming ultimately demolished as it passed through the heart of the black hole.
Nibelheim, next morning
Cloud sat dazed in his old house, looking out the window toward the misty mountains of his childhood. Memories, both sad and good had found him when he returned to this accursed town again. Shinra had given up its façade of ownership and had abandoned Nibelheim, leaving it to the monsters in the caves and wanderers. This ghost town fit the likes of Vincent more than Cloud. It was a town of sorrow and regret of things that might have been. Vincent relished at the fact that it was quiet now and had been catching up on some long deserved sleep in the dilapidated mansion. Cloud, on the other hand, only sulked as he stared up to the high ceiling at his remodeled house. He had too much time on his hands since the end of dimension compression and did nothing but sleep and dwell on the past. He thought of Sephiroth and Aeris all the time, and about how things could have ended up differently. It had all been too traumatic for him, the responsibility and the expectations he had to live up to then. It had finally caught up to Cloud and changed him into a sort of hermit, despising all outside contact.
Soon after everyone's return, he had thought of Tifa as someone he could be with for the rest of his life . . . but dark memories ate away at their fragile bonds and Cloud grew distant from the only person in the world to love him. Barret and Yuffie had made routine visits, bringing food and gifts which were usually forgotten the next day, but even now things were growing quieter. Lately his emotions were getting the better of him, almost reaching to the point where they were way out of control. He lashed out at those that loved him and became emotionally unavailable to people that wanted to help. His friends had given up hope, and were one by one not trying to get him to change for the better. He had assigned himself to his fate . . . and was wasting away. Aeris . . . he had wanted to stay with her, to be with her . . . not to leave her side again. But she was ripped coldly out of his world a second time, just as painfully as before.
Cloud heard a knock at his door. He buried his face in a pillow, unwilling to socialize with anyone.
"Cloud? You here?" Cid's voice rang out as he looked through the windows of the small one-story house.
Cloud remained silent. He didn't want to be bothered.
"Cloud!" Cid yelled louder, growing impatient, "Get off your ass and come outside! Dontchya wanna go see Aeris?"
Cloud raised his head attentively at the mention of that name. "What?!" he replied in a curious tone, his voice cracking as thought he had merely just woke up.
"You wanna see my finished spaceship Aeris?" Cid continued, "I'm putting the final touches on her this evening!"
All Cloud managed was a lackluster "Sure," to Cid. He stood up and put on his pants and shoes. After he gathered what he needed for his short journey, he went out the door and saw the Captain waiting for him.
"Nice to see you again little buddy. Nanaki is waking up Vincent as we speak..." Cid informed Cloud, patting him on the shoulder and shutting the door behind them. The captain wrapped his arm around Cloud's neck and jerked him forward playfully, "Come on buddy, some fresh air will do you good. We'll get to see the others too!" They waited a few minutes, straggling in front of the dreary mansion before Cid spoke up again, "What's taking him so long?"
'And I bet you thought that I was grumpy when I woke up . . .' Cloud thought, smirking.
Other side of Black hole
The Black Materia shot out of the vortex on the other side of the black hole like a bullet from a rail-gun and was headed straight for a peaceful little planet. The tiny piece of materia flew like deranged comet, blasting through asteroids and other rocks that were in its path as it made its descent. It swirled around the orbit of this new place before the planet's gravity sucked it in. It approached in a streak of red light, burning its way through the atmosphere and crashing into the middle of a small lake in a lush region of the planet. The water flash boiled as soon as it hit, creating a massive fish kill and sending their dead bodies to float on the surface. Animals from all around the lake took flight when it shook the ground, startling them like nothing else ever had. In five minutes the water completely evaporated and a small pillar of steam was all that remained of thousands of gallons of water. A deep crater had formed from the impact around the torn shoreline, slowly flashing dark purple into the morning sky.
Some of the more curious animals had returned and were sniffing around this weird stone that had fallen from the heavens. Amongst them was a little boy in his mid teens. Diminutive in size and greenish in skin color, he was the only one that dared to walk toward the steaming gem, thoughtfully pushing away the skittish animals that were in his way. The stone blinked from a distance for a second or two just enough to get the boy's attention and then ceased. Curious, the wild boy crawled into the crater, his tunic waving in the wind as he reached down to retrieve the stone. He bent over and picked the rock up to examine it, finding it strangely cool to the touch.
"OOAaaoooooo!!" the boy wailed, "Gau find shiny thing!!"