FRACTURED FANTASIES – A fanfic that spans across the Final Fantasy Universe
Created by Brandon Cash
Disclaimer: See first chapter.
INTERMISSION #1: The Temporal Jumper's Guide to Surviving the Final Fantasy Universe
Space. The final frontier. It is very big, very much filled with loads and loads of stars and planets, and very, very quiet (except when it isn't).
It is also the place where temporal warps tended to spit out their passengers when they initially reached their destinations, which usually meant that somehow those who used these inter-dimensional tunnels gained Batman's acquired immunity to the nasty side-effects of explosive decompression.
This experience was not wholly unfamiliar to Brandon; he had to jump to other planets and timelines before in his previous adventures, but regardless of where he went, he often was concerned on the grounds that he wouldn't see his home for a while. However, no matter how many times he had traveled through these tunnels, he would usually end up getting knocked out to some extent and wouldn't wake up until a little bit after his body exited the warp and he was drifting out into space.
Indeed, the thing spat Brandon out in orbit around a blue planet below, and it would take a little bit before he came to. Just your usual day on the job. This time though, he'd come across something expected.
As he regained consciousness, he woke to the glaring blaze of the sun. He shielded his eyes from the blinding rays before his body tumbled a bit and he faced towards the planet.
"Great. Stuck miles above an uncharted planet in orbit and absolutely no way to return to my world. And just when I was thinking my life was winding down for once..." Brandon muttered in annoyance.
Brandon shouldn't have been complaining. A couple of months off of his heroics was more than enough time to settle down for a bit and relax while he still could. Being forced into adventure, going in blind with no help at all wasn't at all an unusual occurrence at this point.
Fortunately for him, fortune seemed to be smiling down upon him as he drifted closer and closer to the planet. A small book just a bit bigger than the palm of his hand floated by him. It was almost completely white, with a black symbol in the shape of a crystal on its cover. Brandon reached out and tried to grab it, but missed it. He tried to move around to the best of his ability, awkwardly flailing about before nudging forward a bit. The book still was out of reach.
After a few bit attempts to try and fail to grasp the book, he eventually managed to get a hold of it. On its spine it read The Temporal Jumper's Guide to Surviving the Final Fantasy Universe. There was no author name or anything. The title wasn't even on its front.
"What in the world kind of book is this...?" Brandon questioned. He opened the book to find out that the supposed pages weren't pages at all. They were just to give the false impression that it was a full book. What he found was a screen that displayed...something. As he opened it, the guide seemed to activate and began speaking.
Initializing...
Temporal Jumper's Guide to Surviving the Final Fantasy Universe, The
v. 1.03
Foreword
The Guide and What It Is
The Temporal Jumper's Guide to Surviving the Final Fantasy Universe is one of the world's most well known guides, and a truly remarkable knockoff of that other guide everyone knows about (though how remarkable a knockoff is depends on the person). This book is more well known than more known than The Tale of a Fleeting Mover, better selling than One Hundred and One More Things To NEVER Do With a Bomb, and probably less controversial than Terrifus Holstead's trilogy of meta-expository criticism guides Where Square-Enix Went Wrong, Some of Motomu Toriyama's Even Bigger Mistakes After The Fact and Who is This Toriyama Idiot Anyway?
The guide has become one of the most successful guides since the downfall of the Encyclopedia Dramaticus for a few reasons. The first is that unlike all of those other stuffy guides, this one can't be altered for a cheap joke or two. Another is that its a fair deal cheaper than most other guides these days. Finally, this guide has the words 'DON'T PANIC' written on the back in large, bold and colorful lettering.
Brandon looked on the back of the book really quick and saw that, indeed, the back cover of the book had the words on it, really colorful as well compared to the rest of the black and white void it was. He then turned the book back to its screen and saw that it was continuing its little spiel, except not on itself anymore.
Introductions, Introductions...
The One That Started It All: Final Fantasy I
We all know the typical story of heroes. A band of people go off to destroy an all-powerful evil...and that's about it, really. This game never got a whole lot more complex than that, but it did have its share of twist and turns. The whole story behind this game is that back then, Square was sort of in the hole, and then-company president Hironobu Sakaguchi decided this would be his last game he'd ever create if this one failed. When it was released in December 1987...well, you know the rest.
The game turned out to be such a big hit that more games would be created in its stead, but unlike certain molds of media following direct continuations of the same story, Final Fantasy almost never had any stories connect to each other through sequels, and were often self-contained stories that carved their own identities...well, most of the time, anyways. Regardless of how they were changed and what they did differently, the games all have their enormous share of fans...and an equally enormous amount of detractors.
Brandon seemed to take the information pretty well, despite drifting through space and approaching the planet faster and faster...
Brandon looked up from the guide for a moment and saw that he was beginning to pick up velocity towards the planet. Brandon was beginning to feel the heat of planetary entry. It wouldn't be long before Brandon would start burning on the way in.
"Oh boy. Just like old times. I'd better be ready for a serious crash landing." Brandon said, pulling his goggles over his face. Soon, he started to really burn up, yet he never disintegrated as he fell. The landmasses began to become visible as he raced towards the surface below.
Finally, Brandon saw the ground. He soon landed with an extremely loud boom, leaving behind a good sized crater in his wake. The nearby town stirred from the impact, not sure what happened or who this person was.
An old man came by to inspect the crater. He wore royal robes and other sort of bits of jewelry. It was clear that this man was the king of...wherever Brandon landed. Reactions ranged primarily into the shock and confusion area, as bystanders gather around.
"Who in Cosmos' name is that?" "He just came from the sky!" "What an explosion!" "How did he survive that?!"
The king walked down into the crater with a couple of guards, the gathering crowd graciously stepping aside and letting him pass. He reached its center and examined the young man. There were some injuries on him, but aside from that, he still looked to be intact.
"By Cosmos...it's not a meteor, but a child! Or...at least he appears to be a child." the king said.
"Sir, what if he's one of them? The Warriors of Light?" one of his guards asked.
"Silence, Regal. We can't jump straight to conclusions just yet. Get him up and bring him inside. We must nurse him back to health," the king said.
Thus would begin the very first game of the series: Final Fantasy.
END OF INTERMISSION 1
A/N: First intermission's over now. We are now about to get into the game itself. Stay tuned for the start of Chapter I!
