Disclaimer: The Final Fantasy series belongs to Square Enix. Big Time Rush belongs to Nickelodeon TV and Music Corp.


::Big Time Final Fantasy::

-Ep.5: Big Time Destiny-


Previously on Big Time Final Fantasy,

GRRRRAAAAAAH! YYYYAAAAAHH! AAAAAAHHHH!

The guys turned their attention back to the fal'Cie. The Destrudo finally all charged up shot off from the fal'Cie's shoulders and were heading straight for its targets.

"IT'S COMING RIGHT FOR US!" Logan cried.

The guys barely jumped out of the way, when the Destrudo rained down on the falling ship and the fallen allies like meteor shower. The airship erupted into a billowing fireball, knocking the clouds apart. The remaining pieces of the ship finally made their descent to several plains and plateaus. There were no bodies in sight following the pieces. It was as though the explosion had taken out everyone, even the fal'Cie.

xXx

Faint rays of light seeped down through the narrow rifts of a dimmed cave, showering the shallow chamber with its warmth and reflecting vibrant light to its crystallized walls and floor. Kendall blinked and squinted, the stream of light kissing his blond face in awakening. He slowly sat up and stared at his surroundings. There was no clouds around him, and he didn't feel the wind blowing its chilliness through his skin anymore. The ship's skydeck was gone. Heck everything was gone—the ship, the monsters, the freaky pope who changed his appearance into a terrifying monument of metallic beast—!

…even his friends were gone!

"Guys?" he called out before finally noticing he was alone. Kendall quickly straightened up to his feet and quickly glanced about at his surroundings his eyes searching frantically for his buds, "guys?" he called out again, this time louder. But the response was an echo.

He turned around, twirled sideways, did a 360, still searching and scanning his horizon. But no sign of James, Carlos or Logan. "Guys? Hey guys, where are you? This isn't funny y'know?" he called out again, "James?"

xXx

"Carlos?" cried out James from another section of the cave very similar to where Kendall was, but wider and with a trail leading further into the cave. James wandered through, shouting for his friends and looking very tense, "C'mon buddy! Where are you?"

xXx

Carlos was also in another section of the cave. He sneaked his head through a narrow crevasse of crystal walls that lead down deeper to a dark dimmed empty space, "Hello?" he shouted, only to get an echo, "Logan? You there pal?"

No response. He pulled away and stared back at his surroundings of crystal walls, looking very lost and panicky.

xXx

"HEEEEY!" Logan shouted with all his might, as he stood before a mountain of crystal walls climbing upwards to more mountains of crystals and sprawling valleys, "KENDAAAALL!" he shouted again, getting out of breath. He didn't know why but he was getting tired of all that shouting. And obviously there was no response. Just an echo, but no other responses.

xXx

Back to where Kendall was, the young knight searched his pocket and pulled out a very familiar, yet very precious item: the Lute. This was the very same Lute that was entrusted to him by Jo. No. Princess Sarah.

Of course he had a good excuse for stumbling on the name. The fair maiden of Cornelia was the spitting image of his girlfriend Jo back at the Palm Woods Hotel in Hollywood, California. Jo was everything to him; and she and him had gone through so much and have gotten so far he wondered how he would've made it without her.

He stared at the Lute briefly remembering blowing a couple of tune from it at the last clinging moments before the airship exploded into pieces by the monster-morphing pope Dysley (aka Barthandelus), and before he knew it, he was here in this Crystal Cave—he checked himself for injury—without a scratch.

…but where was James, Carlos or Logan? Where was the rest of the crew: the Magick Sisters, Jack and Ryuji?

Kendall continued to look around until he spotted a shadowy figure making its way down the hall. He followed until he saw the figure stopping in front of a wall. The figure looked around before stepping inside the wall like it was an open door for it. Kendall's jaws went down at the sight, "Whoa... he walked right through that wall!"

Staring questionably at the wall, he crossed his arms and rubbed his chin. "Maybe I should go through that wall too and follow him… nah, that would be dangerous… but what's danger when you're trying to save the world? Danger is everywhere, so no excuses! I'm going in."

Kendall stepped into the wall, and reemerged into a Modern Maze. The maze was concealed with red-colored cave walls dimmed with the faintest of light. He looked around, seeing nothing at his surrounding, but a floating ball of light right in front of him, waiting to be discovered.

"What is this place?" he muttered before facing the floating ball, "And what is that?"

xXx

At that same moment, James, Carlos, and Logan all found themselves in front of the floating ball of light as well. Curious, they approached the strange light seeping from it.

"Such a thing of beauty…" Carlos pondered.

xXx

"Must be magic." Logan wondered.

xXx

"Incredible." James was in awe.

xXx

The three friends, still apart from each other, were in different section of the Modern Maze where they all came across the same bright floating light waiting for them. They reached their hand to touch it, but then it glow bright in reaction. They jumped.

xXx

Welcome to the Labyrinth of Time. I am the Light of Time.

xXx

"Light of Time?" Kendall repeated.

xXx

Those who seek to traverse my halls must first provide me with an offering. In exchange for the power you sacrifice, I offer you the precious gift of time.

xXx

"An offering?" James repeated, unwilling to take such task.

xXx

"I guess that thing wants me to give up something." Logan thought.

xXx

Carlos looked at his hands, then quickly with an idea in mind, pulled out from his weapons' belt his Shurikens and battle knives.

"Here." He said to the Light of Time, holding his weapons toward it, "I am offering you my weapons… but this..." he pointed at his helm on his head, "...this ain't goin' nowhere."

There was a brief silence and Carlos suddenly felt guilty; as if he just disrespected the light of time.

"Sorry..." he grinned, pulled out his helmet and placed it before the Light of Time with the rest of his weapons, "I… guess you need it too…?"

xXx

Logan handed over his book, "I am offering you my magic." He sounded a bit hesitant, "All of them."

xXx

James stared at his gils and items he carried with him in his pouches. He then stared at his lucky comb and mirror. Hesitant, he offered all of them to the Light of Time, "A little sacrifice won't hurt." He mumbled, "…or it did already?"

xXx

Kendall pulled out his sword and offered it to the Light of Time, "Here is my sword as an offering."

By magic, the sword vanished from Kendall's hands and he jumped in surprise.

Very well, be on your way.

The light vanished in a bright light, and overwhelmed the entire chamber. Kendall opened his eyes once the bright light faded and he found himself in a darkened chamber with no torch lights and arctic wind.

xXx

-Somewhere…-

Jack tossed and turned on his side, reminiscing flying beams, a shaking airship, and the frantic screams of his comrades. The image was all blurry and the entire sight was violently in tremor. Finally he let out a sharp gasp and his eyes flew open. He quickly rose up, gasping for air and looking around. He was under a sea of trees. Tropical trees of all kinds, ranging from palms trees to exotic and colored flowers. He could hear birds nearby and could see smokes emitting into the sky from a distance.

"Wh-what?" he blinked, "Wh-where am I?"

He spotted a body not far from his left side. He identified the body belonging to a girl. He recognized the body! It was Aria!

"Oh my god…" He shot up to his feet and ran up to Aria, "Aria!" he shouted, sliding right next to her and raised her body up, enough to have her petite head to his strong arm, "Aria? Hey, yo!" he quickly but gently smacked her cheek to wake her up, "Wake up! C'mon girl, wake up!"

Aria groaned, slowly fluttering her eyes up. Jack let out a huge sigh of relief, "Oh thank goodness you're awake."

"Wh-what happen… what happened…?" Aria groaned.

Before Jack could respond, he heard a frantic cry. "OHMYGOSH, ARIA!"

It was Valerie. Valerie ran up to Jack and Aria's sides in sheer fear. "What happened?" she asked.

"Valerie!" Jack said, his eyes meeting the black mage, "She was unconscious. We crashed."

Valerie nodded, "Really badly even." She added, "I thought I'd lost you guys! I was freaking out!"

"Really? I thought I'd lost you!" Jack exclaimed.

"Uhh… wh…where's…" Aria tried to sit up, but her head was drumming and shaking into a violent vertigo spin, "Where's… the others…?"

"We'll find them." Jack replied. "Rest assured."

"Oh… gosh…" Aria held her throbbing head, squinting, "…what if something terrible happened to…"

"HEY!" Jack snapped, "Nothing happened to them, all right? Don't think that. I didn't sacrifice 17 months of no foods just to lose these four guys at the last minute!"

"I thought it was 2 weeks." Valerie blinked.

"If I don't get any grumbs now, it'll be two months two weeks too late!"

"Ok, ok…" Aria managed to sat up comfortably, "We'll find some foods." She then glared at Jack, "Apparently you haven't eaten anything descent since you were a guest on the ship." She then stared at the debris of the ship, "…or the ship we used to operate…"

"But first we need to find everyone else on board." Valerie said, "Fate and Ryuji aren't with us. Tina and Chocolate went with Matoya, Reina and Axel should be with Lightning, and the four Warriors of Light are nowhere to be found! Where could they be on this huge island?"

xXx

The Big Time Rush guys have been separated. But each one of the boys has a sidequest across the Labyrinth of Time (LoT). Check out each of their adventures in this episode.

Kendall – LoT: Original Chaos

Kendall briefly looked around and across the darkened chamber with no torch lights and arctic wind. It was so cold, it almost felt like winter. Kendall wrapped his arms around his chest and grazed for some little warmth. He could feel the cold wind escaping his mouth every time he breathed.

"Jeez, this place is cold…"

He turned to his right and noticed a stone tablet and saw writings carved on it.

"A tomb?" he already turned nervous, "Who died?"

Curious, he stepped forward and leaned over to the tablet.

"Here you will be tasked by an enigmatic lord to grant a special request. Tribes of dragon will loom in your way and you must slay a certain tribe…" he gulped, "…based on one's request. Be careful not to slay the wrong tribe. Should you slay the wrong tribe, confess unto him… within."

He then noticed more writings magically carving below the tablet. It says, "You got five minutes."

GRAAAAOOOOWWWL…

A hissing beastly cry rented the air. Kendall jumped. He glanced back. He saw nothing.

GRAAAAOOOOWWWL…

Another cry rented the air again. This time it sounded like it was coming from behind him. He turned around and saw a monstrous white apparition looming behind him from a distance. It was 200 feet of weight, scaly wings, claws and spines. Its eyes were flashing gold and it looked rather heavy, as if it was carrying something on its back. The creature approached and the ground started to shake violently. The thing on its back quickly got revealed by the faintest light and Kendall could see it was wearing a red velvet cape, similar to a royal coat.

Kendall picked up paces and run. The dragon extended its wings and took off from the ground, its massive shadow casted over Kendall and closed in on him. Kendall screamed, "AAAAH!"

The dragon zoomed right past him just as he ducked to the ground. The dragon was so close that it seemed it would brush against him. The dragon went on, its sharp frightening hiss faded away into the farthest chamber he could see. Kendall stared at the departing dragon until it was gone.

He quickly got up, brushed away the dusts on him, and gazed, "I have to slay THAT?"

xXx

James's Sidequest - LoT: Modern Maze

James stared at his new surroundings seconds after he gave up his lucky comb and mirror, and gils. He was on a large castle bridge made of stone walls and green lichens splattered across like work of art. The bridge was suspended in high altitude, with the clouds appearing so close to his face and the cold howling wind surrounding the long winding bridge like a shivering blanket. He noticed the bridge was stretching both directions as far as his eyes could see.

He then ran to a wall and looked below the bridge. He gasped at an endless-foot drop to nowhere—oblivion.

"Okay…" he gulped, "WHERE THE HECK AM I?"

BeEp! BeEp!

He whirled around at the distant robotic sound nearby. "What was that?"

BeEp! BeEp!

He ran down the bridge and saw an opening to his right. He peeked in to another room from within the big bridge. The room was large and spacious and there were a lot of pillars scattered across. He stepped curiously into the room, his footsteps echoed all around.

"Huh! I could have sworn I heard some—!" he stopped once he noticed a large stone tablet besides him. He stepped in front of the stone and saw writings carved on the stone.

"Is that a tomb?" he leaned in to the tablet and read, "Here you will find eight pits and eight stones. Use them wisely and the path shall unfold before you. If you push a stone into a tight space, you may not be able to free it, so use with caution. Should you come to an impasse, speak unto the automaton… within."

He then noticed more writings magically carving below the tablet. It says, "You got five minutes."

He raised an eyebrow, "Okay, five minutes to do what?" he turned around, "I don't know what you're talking ab—!"

The room was now populated with robots, buzzing across the chamber like it was a party. The robots looked like Wall-E and ROB clones. The Wall-E's eyes, instead of having pupils looked like like television screens and they appeared cleaner and well-polished. The ROB were in onyx black colors. And they were bigger, about 5 feet.

He also noticed the walls had holes—about eight holes of them across from where the entrance was, which was now gone. James quickly realized he was trapped. He looked around, still staring at the robots with that panic look on his face and…

"…aaaaaaaaawwwwwwww…" He whimpered.

The robots stopped buzzing around, whirled around and stared right at him with their monitor-like eyes. He froze up.

xXx

Carlos's Sidequest - LoT: Medieval Dungeon

It took Carlos a while to notice that he was inside a large labyrinth. Everywhere he went, he only saw dead ends, or long winding corridors leading to dead ends.

"Guys?" he called out, only to get an echo.

"Guys?" he called out again, still running down the shallow hall leading to yet another long winding direction, "Hey, where are you?"

Still no answer, but his echo. He sighed in defeat, "…where am I? Ohh…why did I sacrifice my weapons and my helmet to that weird talking light?"

Whoosssh…!

A cold breeze zoomed past Carlos. Carlos alertly turned around to where the breeze came from and saw yet another long winding road. He was curious about that road, but he was skeptical at the same time. He's been to so many halls like this already and kept going to a dead end that he felt this was no brainer… a dead end also.

But then again, it was another road he's yet to visit. He remained skeptical.

Whoosssh…! A shadowy figure got spotted at the far end of the road. He jumped at the sight.

"A ghost?"

He ran down the hall, now fully determined there was something new there and NOT a dead end. He reached the end of the hall and saw a spacious empty chamber. There was nothing in sight. Nothing but another long winding road to the far right of the chamber… and a stone tablet right next to him, he noticed. He read the tablet.

"Study the forms that pass and answer the questions posed. Should you answer correctly, the path shall unfold before you. Should you answer mistakenly, speak unto he… within."

He then noticed more writings magically carving below the tablet. He paused, squinting at the new writings, "You got five minutes."

"Spirits who haunt this dungeon…" a booming voice startled Carlos from behind, "…materialize in the northeast."

Carlos saw an enigmatic figure wearing a dark cloak. He cautiously approached the figure. Up close he was dark-skinned or African American as he would recognize one of the races back home. The figure had piercing gray eyes and a scruffy look. The figure's face was staring, quietly, in silence…

"Did you…?" he tried to speak but the figure spun on his heels to stare over his northeast direction and without looking at Carlos he said, "Watch them well."

Carlos followed the figure's gaze and before him, a row of white flames appeared across the chamber, creating a narrow pathway. Carlos jumped, "Gh-ghost…!" he quickly hid behind the cloaked figure.

"Do not be frightened." The figure reassured, though he didn't even bother to smile or show any sign of reassurance on his face. Carlos cautiously peeked over the figure's shoulder and watched.

And before the duo, ghostly figures started materializing out of nowhere and marched down the narrow pathway. First he saw a dragon; then the dragon vanished to the other side of the chamber. Then following the dragon, it was a beaver; then it was a mermaid, then an animated broom, then Matoya who stopped briefly to wink at Carlos. Carlos cringed.

"Ok…" he then smiled, "I see what you mean by not being frightened. They're not so bad…"

More figures appeared to march down the pathway. There was a princess in white cloak, a pirate, an armored skeleton, a horse, couple more mermaids, some more beavers, moogles, a knight on a warhorse with a massive lance, a dwarf, an elf, even a massive dog that left out traces of flames behind it with every step… Carlos couldn't be more impressed.

"Coool!"

xXx

Logan – LoT: Primeval Pit

Shriiiieeeek…!

Logan could hear the shrieking scream of a nearby wyvern renting the air. He could also see it, making circles just above him. He whimpered in fear.

Shriiiieeeek…!

The wyvern charged at Logan. Logan ducked, dodging the swooping beast. The wyvern attacked again, and Logan quickly rolled out of the way to a stone tablet nearby. He hid behind it. The only form of safety he could find, in a cave that was extremely hot like the hottest day in L.A, but worse. He was on top of a mountain, overlooking a sea of lava. The wyvern continued making circles and hissing bloody murder.

"Why on Earth did I even sacrificed my magic?"

Shriiiieeeek! The wyvern flew higher, away from Logan. It was then that Logan noticed the writings on the stone tablet.

"Follow the path spread before you as a narrow bridge…" he glanced in front of him to see a bridge of marble stones hovering just above the sea of lava. Logan gulped, "…the light speck shall guide you to your true path. Should you fall unto the sea of lava…" he glanced again at the boiling sea of lava over the horizon, "…speak unto he within."

He squinted, "Why would I speak to he if I'm scorched to death? And who's he?"

He then noticed more writings magically carving below the tablet. It says, "You got five minutes."

"What?" Logan freaked.

Shrrriiieeek...!

He watched the wyvern swerving above him, then looked at the bridge he's supposed to cross again. The marble stones that made up the bridge looked weak for his weight. Either that or they looked like flying weight scales that could fall off any second should he dare step on them. He then examined the distance of the bridge. It expanded over endless distance that there were no ends. And there were ravines of a sea of lava under 100 feet below.

He quivered again as he slowly approached the bridge whilst monitoring the wyvern, hoping not to make a harsh step that could upset the creature into charging him again.

"Ohhh...kay." he gulped. "Five minutes." he then smiled faintly, "I can do five minutes."

He placed a foot on a stone and it immediately crumbled into the lava sea. He screamed and quickly pulled away from the ravine before he could lose his balance. He fell backward and quickly shuffled back to the tablet.

Shhhhrrrrriiiiek...!

The wyvern made it's descend toward Logan. Logan screamed again, quickly jumped onto his feet and jumped over another floating brick that was part of the fragile bridge. Without hesitation he ran down the bridge, with every step collapsing behind and the wyvern giving chase.

"I SWEAR I WILL NEVER LET JAMES AND CARLOS TOUCH ANOTHER BOOK AGAAAAAIN!" Logan screamed as he was running for his life through the weakened bridge.

xXx

Break

So it seems that Big Time Rush and Final Fantasy also have something in common in reality. If that's so the case, then here's a little BTFF Trivia for y'all.

- This Big Time Rush actress has also taken a main role in Final Fantasy X and Final Fantasy X-2. Can you name this actress and the FF character she played?

The answer after the next break.

Break

xXx

-Somewhere…-

"Girls?" Jack called out to the girls twenty feet away from him, "Come look at this!"

Aria and Valerie quickly followed him. They reached an exit of the sea of trees and noticed a vast space of white sands and a beach. It was beautiful. But what was most striking about the place was the sky. The high clouds appeared to be leaning very close to the water and the sands, giving them reflections of sparkles of light. It was as if the sky was falling but was stopped somehow by time suspended.

"A Purvama?" Aria said.

Valerie looked at her, "Purvama?"

"A floating land." Aria explained, "In this case, a floating island."

Jack scoffed, chuckling, "Floating Island? That's ridiculous."

"Oh yeah?" Aria then noticed a broken worn-out signboard with a parchment piece of paper tagged to it from the other side of the beach, "Check out the sign!" she pointed and the trio went to the sign and read, "Isshu, Jewel of the Skysea."

Jack's eyes shot up.

"And that's no regular skysea!" Aria went on, "This is a Purvama from the land of Lemurés. Adjacent to the World of Ivalice."

"We're in Ivalice?" Valerie gasped.

Aria shook her head, "Not really. Ivalice is just below us. We're in Lemurés. A sky continent legendary for its abundance in treasures and populated by sky pirates due to such theory." She sighed, shaking her head again, "The explosion might have sent us to another realm in the Final Fantasy. We could be anywhere! So does everyone else!"

"Even the guys?"

"Even the guys."

Valerie and Jack sighed exasperatedly. This was not the type of news they wanted to hear.

"Damn that pope!" Jack screamed, "I swear if I ever find that son of a bull, I'm gonna… grr…" Jack suddenly felt his anger surging through his veins and overwhelming his system. With a ferocious roar, he pulled out his dark sword and descended it on the signboard, shattering it into pieces. The girls jumped, frightened.

"Jack!" Valerie cried out, but Jack continued to smash the signboard with his sword, "Jack, stop it!" she grabbed Jack's arms before he could deliver another crushing blow on the broken board again, "Stop it, please! Taking your anger out on a board is not gonna bring everyone back!"

Jack stopped and turned to Valerie.

"Please, calm down!" she begged again.

"Calm down…?" Jack's angry face suddenly relaxed, "…oh! Sorry Val." He quickly put away his blade and smiled, "I didn't mean to. I was just… y'know… …"

Valerie and Aria simply stared at Jack.

"…yeah." He quickly smiled, "Hey, can we find our ship? I saw some smoke not far from the island. It could be anywhere here! Yeah, let's do that!" he quickly took off in a hurry.

Aria and Valerie stared at each other bewildered.

"Did you see that?" Aria asked her friend.

Valerie nodded, "I'm beginning to worry about him, Aria."

Aria sighed, "You and me both, sister."

xXx

Kendall – LoT: Original Chaos

Kendall slowly crossed a corridor and slowly looked around with caution. He was armed with a stick, the only weapon to defend himself. He was now realizing what a big fat mistake he did to sacrifice his sword.

He slowly turned to the front and came face-to-face with a cloaked figure. He jumped.

The cloaked figure looked rather pale and skinny—skinny as in 70- pounds—back bended and large eyes fixated into Kendall's green eyes.

"You're looking to slaaaaay a dragon?"

Kendall's eyes looked around its corner, before facing the cloaked figure again, "…yes. I'm here to slaaaaay a dragon."

"Saaaaaaay no more." The cloaked figure smiled, "I shall provide you the dragon you need to slaaaaaaay…"

"Can you please not talk like that? It's creepy."

The cloaked figure didn't listen, "Of no-horned, large-tailed, massive-winged dragons, of a white skin color as shiny as ivory. You are to slaaaaaay… six."

Kendall's eyes wide, "What? Six? I have to slay SIX?"

"Good luck." The figure vanished.

"Wait! What about a sword?" he waved his stick around, "I can't slaaaaaay six dragons with a STICK!"

GRAAAAOOOOWWWL…

The hissing cry rented the air again. Kendall jumped and once again glanced back but saw nothing. He angrily stomped, "What kind of a sick game is this?"

Kendall ran down the corridor and stopped at a large section of the cave. He turned around and saw the cloaked figure. But that one looked different. That figure was heavier than the one he saw earlier and about 5'6'' in height.

He approached the figure, "Hey, you! Excuse me."

The figure turned to his attention.

"Yeah, hi. I'm sorry, but I'm looking for a dragon to slay. Well, actually six dragons to…!"

Two white wings pulled out from the figure's back. Kendall jumped. The wings wrapped around the figure then quickly released the figure to reveal something other than the figure: the frightening White Dragon! The one with the red cloak. Kendall stepped back in shock.

"YOU WISH TO SLAY MY KIND?" the Dragon spoke, before eyeballing the stick Kendall carried, "WITH A STICK?" He then let out a ferocious laugh, "DON'T MAKE ME LAUGH!"

The Dragon stepped his foot hard on the ground, and Kendall lost his balance. The dragon closed in on Kendall, its nostril breath enveloping him in a hot gas, "I CAN TURN YOU INTO A SQUISHY WORM." The dragon mustered a smile, "HEY, GET IT? SQUISHY WORM?"

Kendall swung his stick at the Dragon, but the Dragon grabbed it with its massive teeth, pulled the stick off Kendall's hand and spat it away. The Dragon then closed in on Kendall until its nostril was caressing Kendall's cheek. Kendall whimpered.

xXx

Logan– LoT: Primeval Pit

One final leap landed Logan back to solid ground of yet another mountain. He turned around and quickly ducked just as the chasing wyvern swooped past him. The beast was so close enough to even touch him, but didn't and only left a strong breeze instead and casted his shadow over to the young man. The shadow vanished, giving Logan a sense that it was safe to look again.

So he did and watched the creature, still flying into the skies and turning into a speck of a black crow into the blood-red, lava-gas-infected skies. The creature didn't notice its prey and didn't even bother to search for him again, so it went along flying and disappearing with its hissing cry.

Logan quickly stood up, let out a shaken sigh, watching the wyvern till it was no more, and he was alone.

"I almost died!" he recalled the dreary experience. He then glanced at his surroundings and what he saw didn't make him feel any better. He saw the sea of lava over the horizon and another set of ravines, more mountains, and most recognizable he saw the stone tablet. He was back again at the starting point.

He glared at the tablet, "And I'm still seeing you?"

60 seconds remaining... he could hear the celestial voice of the Light of Time ringing in his mind. At first, hearing the voice made him think he was going crazy, but it took him a moment to figure out what was going on. The Light of Time was keeping tabs on how long he had to complete this mission before whatever unspeakable thing would've happen to him after time's up.

He let out a hopeless sigh, "Ohh... where am I going to find that speck of light?"

He turned his head to the side and caught another frail bridge of marble stones over the sea of lava. He never noticed it before. The one he kept seeing was the one in front of him, not besides. Curious he stepped forward the bridge and then he stopped, dead-on, staring at that speck of light he was searching high and low for, "...the light...?"

The light speck was prancing and hovering above one of the marble stones, then tauntingly hovered before him. His eyes moved, watching the light's movement, surprised, marveled, and distracted at the same time.

And then the light zoomed out of sight, crossing over the new bridge.

"Hey, wait!" He shouted, his hand tucked to the direction the light went as if trying to stop it. Without a second, he jumped on one of the marble stones of the bridge and rand in full pursuit of the light. But the light was so far away, swerving and turning to new road of the bridge that its distance was straining to Logan's eyes. Logan ran faster, no longer paying attention to the crumbling bridge behind him; he was dead-on focus on the light. There was no way he was gonna lose it just after he found it.

As he ran he took quickl-lightning speed glances around and he no longer saw the ravines or the series of mountains, but unsteadly stones, rocks floating on lava, both flat and disproportional, and then soon he saw nothing else around him but a vast ocean of the bubbling skin-scorching liquid fire.

The light was still flying and, attempting to fade out from Logan, was heading straight into a new ravine; and Logan saw a vast valley over it, with a large hole to the farthest corner leading to a new cave. Logan smiled widely and cheered, "The exit! It's the exit! I'M GONNA MAKE IT!"

xXx

Carlos – LoT: Medieval Dungeon

More and more spirits kept parading across the chamber and Carlos couldn't help but enjoy it! It was like watching a parade. A parade of ghosts!

... And he wasn't even scared!

Finally the parade ended just as the last mermaid went through the other side and the flames that made the celestial road vanished.

"Man... That was entertaining!" Carlos said, facing the enigmatic man again, "Can we see it again?"

"No."

Carlos stopped smiling.

"Before we start, a simple question: why were you born?"

Carlos stared, puzzled. The enigmatic man said nothing more.

"err... is that a rhetorical question?"

"Moving on." the enigmatic man barked.

Carlos was now confuzzled.

"How many spirits did you see in total?" the man quickly went on, not letting Carlos the chance to at least think of the answer, "Which rank did the pirate came as? How many beavers have you spotted? Was the fairy in 7th or 14th position? Does anyone know if any of these creatures live underwater? If so, which one?"

"Whoa-whoa-whoa-whoa-whoa!" Carlos interrupted, "Why're you asking all these questions?"

"You must answer all the questions before proceeding, just as the tablet spoke." the enigmatic man pointed at the stone tablet Carlos read earlier.

"Wait...? This?" he pointed at the tablet.

"How many brooms did you see?" the man asked him without a smile. And once again, Carlos was confuzzled.

"Okay…" he quickly said, turned around and started counting his fingers while trying to remember the souls' parade, "One broom came right after a beaver and then before…" he frowned at the next picture, "…Matoya…" he went on, "…and then the next broom came in before the… pirate?"

"Mhn!" the figure scoffed. Carlos turned around, alerted. The figure shook his head, not saying anything.

"Ohh… YOU KNOW I'M NOT GOOD AT MATH!"

"How many brooms did you see?" The man asked him again. Still no smile or look of disappointment. Just blank stare.

Carlos frustratingly scratched his head. He then barked out, "Three?"

"You have chosen…" the cloaked face paused briefly, "…wisely."

Carlos looked stunned; "I did?" he smiled.

"Very well, next question." The cloaked figure said.

Carlos stopped smiling.

xXx

James – LoT: Modern Maze

The robots couldn't stop staring right at James with their monitor-like eyes. James cautiously stepped forward. He too didn't remove his gaze off the creepy robots. They just showed up out of nowhere when the room was empty earlier. Must have been magic, he thought as he slipping past them and headed toward the pillars.

BeEp-BeEp!

He froze; a wave of heat and shock took over him and he couldn't move. The robots were gonna finish him! He was done for!

But then he noticed one of the robots moving to another direction, and before long all the robots started moving about again, minding their own technical business. He breathed a heavy sigh of relief, "Oh, thank goodness… phew."

He proceeded to where the pillars were and noticed scattered stones all around. They were the size of a heavy cube-shaped table. He knocked on it and it resounded to its sound. A metal stone. He frowned at the remaining stones scattered across the room, then at their respective holes over to the far wall where the busy robots were zigzagging. He then looked back at the stones.

"I'm supposed to push THAT?" James pointed at the large stone, "AND THESE?" he wavered his arms over the other stones. "HOW AM I SUPPOSED TO PUSH—!"

He then threw a kick on a stone and it flew into the air, sky-high. The stone vanished for a second, then it came back down and shattered into pieces like an expensive China plate. The stone was very light.

"Oh."

All the robots turned back to his directions, their monitor-like eyes turning red. James stuttered back. Now he really angered them, he thought.

One of the robots came charging at him and glared. James' face was reflecting its robotic eyes like it was a video screen.

"BeEP! BeEp! lAUNCHiN' SyTEM ReSTORe?"

"Errrrrr…" James glanced back at the other robots who were also staring, as if awaiting a response from him. Cautiously he said, "…No?"

Oohh… The robot looked down on the ground. So did the other robots. James could sense the disappointment in the groups and confirmed it when they solemnly turned around, and started rolling back to their usual technical business.

"Wait, wait, wait!" he stopped, "I meant yes. Yes. Launch your System Restore. Yeah." He then mimicked, "lAUNCHiN' SyTEM ReSTORe."

"OOOOHHH!" The robots clapped their claws together in thunderous applause and together they raised their arms up to the skies. James looked up and watch another metal box coming toward him. He jumped out of the way and it landed in a massive thud. The landing rocked the bridge and forced the robots and James to jump.

"SyTEM ReSTORe cOmPlETE."

"YEAAAAAAAH!" The robots cheered and clapped their claws together again. James nervously mimicked them. "Okay, so what do I…" he paused, noticing one of the holes to the far corner of the wall, and then back at the metal square-shaped stones again. Once again he was on track. "Ohh! Okay! Sweet!"

He pushed one of the metal boxes that just showed up, quickly passing by the robots that were watching quietly. He reached the hole and pushed the metal box into the hole. With a clicking sound, the metal box glowed red.

"YEEEAAAAH!" He shook a fist into the air.

2 minutes remaining... He heard the Light of Time speak into the air. Motivated he quickly went for another stone and pushed again to one of the holes. He was close to reach it when another robot came out of the blue and kicked at the box with its wheel-like feet, sending it flying. James watched the box vanishing into the sky, then came back down and shattered into pieces again.

"HEY!" James snapped at the robot.

"BeEP! BeEp! lAUNCHiN' SyTEM ReSTORe?"

"Yeah, you owe me a metal box, buddy!"

And once again, the robots wavered their arms to make another metal box appeared. James went for the box and before he knew it, the robots went after the box, kicking it out of the way, frustrating James even more.

"BeEP! BeEp! lAUNCHiN' SyTEM ReSTORe?"

"Yeah?" James exasperatedly said, and once again they summoned another metal stone. It didn't took long for James to realize that the robots were all going after each metal stone he was moving down to their respectable hole. He decided to take action. He kicked the stone, and then he started dodging and swerving the blocking robots out of the way and managed to kick one, two, three to six more metal stones into their holes. The puzzle was now turning into a Soccer game of one human against all robot races. A part of James wanted to enjoy this game, but another part of him got too focus on not wasting anymore time.

"Guys, I know this is fun! But really, I gotta move these boxes so that I can move on!" he eventually pleaded.

1 minute remaining...

"WHAT?" he shouted, stopping midway to the next hole.

Before he knew it, one of the robots took a metal box from him and kicked it high. "HEEEY!" he shouted.

xXx

Break

Think you know…

- This Big Time Rush actress that has also taken a main role in Final Fantasy X and Final Fantasy X-2. And the FF character she played?

It's Tara Strong!

The Biology teacher Ms. Collins from Big Time Rush; happens to be Yuna's spunky Al Bhed friend Rikku in FFX and FFX-2. She also appeared in Kingdom Hearts 2 too!

Break

xXx

-Isshu-

The trio hiked up to a stepped hill of high tropical flowers, stones, and narrow streams, which were leftover from the last rain that recently occurred before they ended up here. Pushing them out of the way, they slowly trailed up while at the same time, watched their every step to avoid slipping.

Jack pushed off two heavy palm bushes and they revealed behind the Big Time Airship—demolished, and reduced to a 2-passenger flier.

"There it is!" Jack said.

"Oh my gosh." Valerie stared at the totaled airship.

"That Barthandelus fellow really did a number on the ship." Aria said, "I hope everyone's okay."

Jack said nothing. He got suddenly silent.

"Helloo?" Valerie shouted, her echoing wail caused the trees to rustle and they watched birds flying away at the same time. Valerie continued to shout, "Is anybody here?"

There was no response. Valerie tried again, "Helloooo?"

"There's no one here, Val." Aria confirmed, "We've searched every nooks and crannies of this island."

"But how can we get out of this island?" Valerie asked before noticing Jack climbing over the broken ship.

"Jaack! What are you doing?"

Aria turned to watch Jack taking the pilot seat, "Jack!" she gasped.

The girls quickly went to him, standing at the ship's side. Jack questionably returned their gazes, "What?"

"That thing is broken!" Aria exclaimed.

"Broken?" Valerie argued, "But Aria, what if that thing can still fly?"

"That's what I intent to find out."

"What?" the girls shouted before jumping into the broken airship. Aria quickly took the second seat and Valerie stood behind her comrades. Jack continued to manipulate the ship's button to see which was working.

"Jack, please don't." Aria begged.

"Wh—I'm sorry, Aria. But when my friends are missing and in trouble, I don't just sit by." Jack explained.

"But that's recklessness what you're doing!" Valerie said.

"No. That's courage." Jack calmly replied with a smug, "I'm motivated. It's part of virtue. Pssht. Duh!" he went on manipulating the buttons again.

Aria and Valerie continued to beg an ignorant Jack, but with a slam of his hand to the control panel, light glimmered to a full glow, illuminating all the buttons and the broken ship twitched and slowly tumbled, revived as if after a long sleep. The trio felt the ship raising up and slowly hovering over the ground. Aria quickly grabbed her seat belt, Valerie knowing there were no seat for her, wrapped her arms around Aria's seat and held on tight for support, and Jack cheerfully pumped his fists in the air.

"WHOOHOO! I DID IT! I REVIVED OUR BABY!" Jack cheered before facing the girls, "Now how about a smooch from yours truly?"

"Ugh…" Aria cringed in disgust. Valerie only rose her eyebrows and shifted back.

The ship suddenly let out a loud clank in the back and it violently rumbled. Valerie held on tightly to Aria's seat and Jack and Aria held their balance tightly in their seats.

"Uhh... G...guys...Wh-what's ha-a-appeni-i-i-i-ng…?" Valerie cried out through the ship's rumbling.

Red light flickered again, overwhelming the ship; and the warning siren got twice as loud.

"The ship's getting out of control!" Jack yelped.

"I TOLD YOU NOT TO DO ANYTHING?" Aria barked.

"AND I TOLD YOU TO LET ME BE MOTIVATED!" Jack yelped.

"WHY ARE YOU SCREAMING AT ME FOR?"

" 'CUZ YOU'RE SCREAMING AT ME, GIRL!"

"THEN STOP SCREAMING AT ME!"

"GUYS, CAN WE STOP SCREAMING OUR THROATS OUT AT EACH OTHER AND START—!"

BOOOOM! The ship shot up into the high skies. The trio watched the skysea island disappearing from underneath them, into a speck of sand and soon, clouds of mists and atmosphere overwhelmed their surroundings.

"—SCREAMING?" Valerie barked her last sentence.

"UWWWAAAHAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA!"

The ship stopped midway off the world's atmosphere and started making its descent. It was now heading straight for yet another floating island. The gang screamed in tears. Jack suddenly realizing he didn't have his seatbelt quickly went for it. He then went for the pilot stick and tried to control the ship.

"It's not working!"

"We're gonna crash!" Aria screamed.

"I DON'T WANNA DIE!" Valerie wailed.

"UWWWAAAHAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA!"

xXx

Logan – LoT: Primeval Pit

"The exit! It's the exit! I'M GONNA MAKE IT!" Logan cheered just when he spotted a new valley over the sea of lava and a cave to the farthest corner. He had his eyes still set on the flying light and thanks to it—and not to its ridiculous speed—he was going to get out of that freaky cave!

But just as he closed in, the sea of boiling lava exploded in front of him, spilling and scattering everywhere, and like a leaping whale, came out a great serpent—a snake about the size of the tallest skyscraper he could remember and just as massive, blocking his road and knocking off the bridge that was in front of him. Its eyes were wide and fierce like a wild cat on a prowl and its teeth were so sharp they could cut through metal. Its green skin was like a mosaic of dead moths, wet weeds and lichens, and some gooey fungus-like mucus discharge.

A ferocious roar spat out of his jaws, and Logan quickly put the brakes on his running heels, the color on his face gone, staring dead frightened at the creature. The moment of shock was cut off by yet another startling revelation when the stone he was standing on crumbled beneath his feet and he saw himself plunging into the sea of lava. The snake's head charged head-on toward him.

Logan raised his arms up and quickly descended them onto the snake's head, and with a great leap, he was now over the snake's head and was running down its slithering body like it was a great bridge. He didn't lose sight of the fluttering light at the distance and his focus. But he could sense the snake had turned its head toward him and was charging at him from behind. He continued to run without looking back at the horror closing in, and like a warrior on a war-like battlefield, he let out a battle charge cry as he was closing in to the valley, "UWWWWAAAAAAH!"

The lava serpent hissed, charged again with its teeth, and Logan jumped at that split-second. The snake ended up biting its slithering abs and plunged back into the lava sea.

Logan landed, rolling onto the valley's safe ground and quickly stood onto his knees. He turned to watch the serpent wrestling with itself and roaring in agonizing pain, until it sunk into the lava sea.

30 seconds remaining... He heard the Light of Time speak.

"YEEES!" He shot up to his feet and pumped his fists in the air, "WHOO! I've never felt so ALIVE!"

Now fully determined he pointed up, "Now, to rescue my people!" and took off into the cave's opening, once again without looking back.

xXx

James – LoT: Modern Maze

James has managed to get seven of the stones into their holes. The last one became a doozy, as more and more robots continued piling on him, desperately trying to get the stone off him. He struggled with them.

"Come on guys! I gotta… get that ball… into the dang… HOLE!" he shot the metal stone to the hole, but a Wall-E robot shattered it with a punch.

"COME ON!"

30 seconds remaining...

"AAAAUUUGH!" he turned away, frustrated and close to ripping his hair off. The robots cheered, "BEEP! BEEP! BEEP! BEEP! eee-eee-eee-eee-eee-eee-eee BEEP! BEEP! BEEP! BEEP! eee-eee-eee-eee-eee-eee-eee."

"BeEP! BeEp! lAUNCHiN' SyTEM ReSTORe! SyTEM ReSTORe cOmPlETE."

The last metal box reappeared in front of James. James cringed, staring at his reflection on the metal box. The time was gonna be up very soon, and he began to fear the worst. What calamity was gonna fall on him?

He then stopped. He never noticed his reflection on the metal box before. It was clearer than his lucky…!

An idea quickly formed in his head. His frown suddenly turned to a smile.

"Hey!"

The robots heard James and turned around. They saw him approaching. Their monitor-like eyes were envisioning him strutting forward like a hot supermodel with an open shirt exposing his rock-hard abs. A slow-motion effect and a sultry music played in the background [I believe in miracles... you sexy thing, by hot chocolate] and his hair and shirt danced to an imaginative blowing wind. He then did 'the face'.

"Ohhhhhh…" the robots mumbled cocking their heads on one side.

James swung a leg.

Beeeeep!

The robots snapped back to reality once they heard James cheering out loud and pumping his fists in the air. "YEEEEEAAAAAH!"

They looked behind them and there they saw it: the last metal box plugged into its hole. James continued to dance and prance around, and close in on the robots till he got face-to-face with them, "In your faces, Robotik-Spheroes! In your faaace!" he laughed.

The robots stared at each other and then back at James clueless, like 'what just happened?'

"Man, who knew robots were female?" he smiled widely, "I did! YEES!"

Time's Up! The Light of Time said and the skies suddenly glowed red, overwhelming the bridge and the mists started coming out from above.

"Oh, snaps! The exit!" James turned around and saw a new exit opened up before him. He was now free.

He triumphantly pumped his fist again and faced the robots once more, "Next time we meet, I'll get your numbers, 'kay? Thank you!" and then he was off. The robots still looked clueless.

xXx

Kendall – LoT: Original Chaos

The Dragon's nostrils were still glued to Kendall. With a couple of whiff, his massive head slowly moved away from the warrior, to Kendall's surprise.

"YOU SMELL KINDA… COURAGEOUS." The Dragon said.

Kendall grinned a bit, "…well I am kinda courage—"

"…BUT YOU ALSO SMELL STUPID." The Dragon said hotly, interrupting, "YOU KNOW YOU'RE TO SLAY A DRAGON AND YOU BRING A STICK TO THE BATTLEFIELD?"

"HEY, I had to sacrifice a sword to the Light of Time, okay?" Kendall said defensively.

"LIGHT OF TIME HUH?" The Dragon licked its teeth, "WELL, DOESN'T MATTER. I DON'T LIKE STUPID PEOPLE. SO HERE'S THE DEAL. THE KIND OF DRAGON YOU'RE LOOKING FOR? THERE'S ONLY ONE KIND: ME."

Kendall raised an eyebrow.

"THAT CLOAKED FIGURE LIED TO YOU. AND I CANNOT BE SLAIN."

Kendall furrowed his brow, "What do you mean you can't be slain?"

"I'M A KIND OF DRAGON CHOSEN BY DESTINY. AND SO YOU ARE, CHOSEN BY DESTINY." The Dragon went on, "AND I'M NOT THE KIND OF DRAGON FROM THIS FINAL FANTASY. AND SO YOU ARE NOT FROM THIS FINAL FANTASY."

"Really?" Kendall smiled, "You're not from around here?"

"NOW THAT'S HOT, RIGHT?"

Now Kendall was surprised. To hear a dragon say 'Hot' was a shocker.

"YEAH, THAT'S RIGHT, I SAID HOT." The Dragon said as if he read his mind, "AND NOT THE HOT LIKE TEMPERATURE HOT. HOT AS IN REAL HOT. NOW HERE'S MY DEAL NOW. I'LL LET YOU GO."

Kendall straightened, surprised by the Dragon's deal. The Dragon moved his head to his left, "IF YOU GO DOWN THIS ROAD, STRAIGHT TO THE FINAL CORRIDOR TO YOUR RIGHT, YOU'LL SEE A PORTAL." The Dragon faced Kendall again, "THAT PORTAL SHALL TAKE YOU TO THE EXIT. YOU HAVE 30 SECONDS REMAINING BEFORE TIME RUNS OUT."

"Really?" Kendall smiled, "Oh my gosh, thank you Sir Dragon! Thank you so much!"

He took off running to the direction the Dragon pointed him.

"AND BE CAREFUL, KENDALL." The Dragon said. Kendall stopped, "NOT EVERYTHING IS WHAT IT SEEMS." The Dragon winked before vanishing in a fade-out mode.

Kendall shook his head, rubbed his eyes and stared again to see the White Dragon with the royal coat was really gone. Was he a ghost? He felt real to him. He just stood there, trying to figure out what just happened, what the Dragon meant by not everything is what it seems, and how did he knew his name when he didn't even get to know the Dragon's name?

And if that wasn't creepy enough, the Dragon said Hot! Only cool people say hot! Not Dragons! Could the Dragon be a cool person? Not from the Final Fantasy but from back home?

He quickly shook his head, banishing the thought to focus on the exit the Dragon left him, beat the time, and find his friends, "The guys!" He took off.

xXx

Carlos - LoT: Medieval Dungeon

There was silence between Carlos and the cloaked man. The cloaked face was still an expressionless tight face. It was as if his face never alternated based on emotions. And that got Carlos way nervous than before.

Carlos furrowed his brow, unaware of his next answer, "is it… seven?"

The cloaked face said nothing.

Carlos waited.

"You have chosen…" he paused briefly.

Carlos leaned in suspense.

"…wisely."

Carlos smiled broadly and threw a fist in the air, "YEEES!"

"Very well, be on your way."

Carlos grabbed the cloaked man's hand and shook it, "Thank you! Thank you SOOO much! I could just HUG you!"

The cloaked man's face was still a stone.

"No?" Carlos said, "OKAY!" he turned around, and still jumping up and down in celebration scampered off, "WHOO-HOO!"

"Mhn!" was all the cloaked man could utter.

Carlos was halfway down the long winding road when he stopped celebrating.

30 seconds remaining... He heard the Light of Time speak, and he didn't have much time. There was no exit in sight, and he just realized he forgot to ask the cloaked man where it was actually.

"Hey, sir!" he turned around, "I forgot! Can you—!"

The cloaked figure was gone. He blinked. "…sir?"

YAP!

Carlos jumped. He noticed a fluffy small dog at his feet. The dog was a half-shaggy, half-bichon, with the cutest puppy-dog eyes buried underneath all the shaggy white fur. Its tongue was out, panting and smiling at Carlos.

Carlos leaned in close to the dog, squinting, "A dog?" he looked around before facing the puppy again, "In the middle of a labyrinth?"

YAP!

Carlos jumped again.

The dog stepped in front of Carlos and began whimpering. It made circles around his feet, and then stood on its hind eyes to continue panting and smiling and whimpering and barking and wagging its tail. Carlos still stared.

"Awww…" he squealed, "…I can't leave you alone! You're too CUTE! Come here, little guy!"

The dog jumped onto Carlos's arms. Carlos then did a quick check on the dog, "…or girl." He corrected himself.

YAP!

"Hey, you wanna travel with me for a while?" he asked the dog, "I think I should call you—!"

Both Carlos and the dog vanished in light.

xXx

And thus, the Four Warriors of Light finally reunite… soon…

-Crystal Shrine-

Logan reappeared back into the crystallized place he started up in. Then James, then Kendall, and finally Carlos with the dog. But once again, they didn't see each other as they were in different section of the Crystal Shrine.

But together, they did saw standing before them a Crystal Stasis. A sculpted Crystal monumental figure. And it resembled that of a beautiful young girl with just one long pigtail hair on one side.

The dog barked at the sight of the Crystal Stasis.

You have made it, Warriors of Light. You are indeed worthy of your task… They heard a young lady's voice from the Stasis.

"Light of Time…?" Kendall said.

"…as a girl statue?" the guys said together. They suddenly looked around; as if they just heard each other say it out loud in echoes. And together they said…

"James? Carlos? Logan?"

"Kendall? Carlos? Logan?"

"Kendall? James? Logan?"

"Kendall? James? Carlos?"

"Guys? Where are you?" Kendall called out.

"I think we're on the other side of a cave!" Logan replied, his voice ringing in the air as if a spirit talking to James, Kendall and Carlos's ears.

"Other side?" James responded, his voice also vibrating to their ears, "I'm looking around, and I don't see you!"

"Are you guys ghosts too?" Carlos inquired, trying to make sure they were really in the room, but they weren't.

"No, Carlos. We're not!" Logan replied, "…but I hate to admit it, it sounds like we are."

"I bet it's that crystal lady's trick!" James pointed out the Crystal Stasis he and his comrades were facing, "She's putting us into that trouble!"

"Crystal lady? Or that freaky pope?" Carlos asked.

"That pope's not gonna hurt us again guys. Trust me." Kendall replied.

"But what about the others?" Logan asked, "…what about you guys? I can't even see you!"

"You think?" James and Carlos said together.

Kendall faced the Crystal Stasis, "Okay lady. Or Light of Time or whatever your name is, can you please, please, PLLEAASE, take us outta here? I need to see my friends and they need to see me too!"

"Ditto!" they said together.

I, Serah Farron, Light of Time, shall grant your wishes, for as long as you stay true to your path. Do you promise to stay true to your true path?

"We do!" the guys said together.

The Crystal Stasis glimmered, her crystal body began to fade and the guys' body started to shimmer in light as well. The bright light reflected on the crystal walls and overwhelmed the entire chamber. Finally with the light gone…

…Kendall, James, Carlos and Logan materialized together over the labyrinth's edge, which was a two-way road gapped apart by a large bottomless pit. They were in front of each other, facing each other, and finally reunited.

"GUYS! IT'S YOU!" Kendall exclaimed and together they cheered and hugged.

[Final Fantasy victory fanfare + BTR 'Famous' victory fanfare]

"We did it!" James exclaimed.

"I can't believe we're all here again!" Logan added.

"Safe and—whoa!" Kendall noticed the stowaway dog in Carlos's arms. James and Logan startled at their newest guest as well. "Carlos, what is that?"

"It's a dog!" Carlos said full of smiles, "Isn't she cute?"

The dog cooed. The guys stared at the creature that was 'puppy-dog-eyeing' them.

"I found her in this labyrinth!" Carlos added.

"Cute?" James blinked, "What if that dog's a monster?"

"GAAASP!" Carlos covered the dog's ears, shocked by James's statement. "Don't call her a monster. She's harmless!"

"A harmless dog wandering through the Labyrinth of Time?" Kendall pointed out, "Now that's called suspicious to me."

"True that." Logan agreed.

"Well it doesn't matter." Carlos said, " 'cause she's not gonna hurt us. Right, Carly?"

The guys blinked, shocked, "Carly?"

The dog barked in reply.

"You named a dog Carly?" James joked and the guys chortled on cue trying to hold back their laughter. Carlos felt provoked, "Hey, that's not funny!"

"No, but Carly is!"

And the guys started laughing out loud. HAAAA! HA! HA! HA! HA! HA!

Carlos then noticed the dog was getting restless at the mockery of its name. She started barking excessively. "Uhh… guys?" he said.

But the guys continued to laugh. HAAAA! HA! HA! HA! HA! HA!The laughter turned deafening.

"Guys stop it. The dog's getting annoyed… guys?"

HAAAA! HA! HA! HA! HA! HA!

"Guys, that's not funny!"

Before they knew it, the growling dog left Carlos's grasp and leapt onto James' face. James screamed and the guys panicked as the dog was trying to claw James's face off and James was trying to pull him off.

"AAAAHHH! GETITOFFMAHFACE! GETITOFFMAHFACE! GETITOFFMAHFACE!" James was screaming.

"Dude, we're trying! Just stay still!" Kendall shouted.

"Told you not to anger the dog, but nooo…" Carlos reminded him.

"CAN YOU GLOAT LATER?" James barked, "MY FACE IS IN DANGEEER!"

The guys continued to fight each other over the clawing dog that was gripped on James's face. Finally James snatched it from his face and tossed it far down into the massive pit in front of them. The guys gasped, horrified by what James just did. James froze up!

"CARLY!" Carlos screamed.

"DUDE!" Logan screamed at James, completely panicking, "You threw a dog down a pit! A DOG!"

"You outta your mind, man?" Kendall yelled.

"You killed her!" Carlos exclaimed.

"Wh-I'm sorry, all right?" James exclaimed, "But that thing almost ripped my facial skin off! Would you imagine this face…" he does the face again, "…being a meat face instead of a hot face?" He then froze up again, "Oh god…" he quickly pulled out a pocket mirror, flipped it open and quickly checked his face for any damages. His face was fine, "Ohh, thank goodness!"

"Just—!" Kendall stopped, cleared his throat and grinned, "…can we at least find out if the dog's okay?"

"How could it?" Logan reasoned, "It fell like ninety feet down a pit! Only way it could survive it was if it was a monster."

And right on cue, the ground started shaking violently like a sudden earthquake, and the guys almost lost their balance. They quickly gripped onto the wall of the cave to stay in balance.

"Uhh... G...guys...Wh-what's ha-a-appeni-i-i-i-ng…?" Carlos exclaimed through the rumbling.

The guys watched in horror a nightmare rising from the pit's depth. Massive claws gripped onto the pit's edge and a head rose from the pit. The head's full body soon followed. It was the dog. The same dog. But now twice as large as a Behemoth with none of its fluffy white fur, but a jet-black body of battered flesh with wounded scars all over, like a zombie with an enchanted aura of eldritch ensorcelment. Its eyes no longer puppy-like; they were lava-glowing, to bring terror to anyone staring at them. The fangs were jutted from its upper jaw like arrested magma and were as large as the spikiest rocks and as sharp as double-edged swords. Its horns were twice its size and resembled that of a beetle.

The creature landed right in front of the terrified guys and growled ferociously.

"It's a NIGHTMAAARE!" Kendall screamed.

"UWWWAAAHAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA!" The guys took off running. The creature followed in the chase.

"If that's not the dog then what the hell is THAT?" James screamed.

"Hell exactly! That's a Hellhound!" Logan said, "A demon from Hell no doubt, designed to chase its quarry down to the very gates of Hell!"

"Can we not talk about Hell you guys, and get the HELL OUTTA HERE!" Kendall screamed and the guys took off running for their lives. The Hellhound still hot on their trail grew grotesque wings (yes, wings!) from its back and started batting them violently. Before the guys knew it, they were being chased by a flying Hellhound.

"UWWWAAAHAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA!"

They turned down a corner of the cave and slipped behind a wall. The Hellhound zoomed right past by them. They took notice of the Chaos insignia on the creature's forehead. Judging by that, they knew immediately who they were dealing with.

"A Chaos Demon!" Logan whimpered.

"I thought we were safe from Chaos." James whimpered.

"Apparently not." Carlos said.

"We gotta beat it out of here guys!" Kendall said, "Before it comes back to feast on us!"

Carlos spotted something and pointed, "There!"

It was an old train, tucked between a narrow crevasse, as if it was trying to go right through that hole but had failed and ended up stuck here. And for a long period of time too, for its paint color, texture and shape looked all worn out and had broken headlights and graffiti spray paint to give its fading color some shades at least.

"We can hide there!" Carlos proposed.

"Great! Let's go!" James shouted and everyone went for the broken train. Carlos tried shifting the door open but it wouldn't budge. James quickly lend a hand, and so did Logan. Before Kendall could join in, the cave's air got pierced by the hellhound's cry. The guys watched the monster gliding freely above them, circling like a predator ready to strike on its prey. Kendall gasped, "Quick! Open it!"

"We're…ngh… trying!" the guys cried out together, still pulling at the lever, trying to slide the door open.

"It's stuck!" Logan exclaimed.

Kendall quickly joined in, and they pulled as hard as they could. All of their Crystals suddenly shone brightly and finally the train door clicked and it shifted open.

"We did it!" James exhaled.

"No, the Crystals did." Kendall replied exhaustingly.

"Yeah, but still…" Logan added.

"Oh no! It's coming right for us!" Carlos panicked just as the flying hellhound finally made its descent toward its preys. GRAAAAWWL!

"QUICK! Get inside!" Logan barked and everyone got inside and closed the train door shut, seconds before the Hellhound could crash in through, only to make huge dent of its head on the door. The monster continued hammering down through the door, trying to break in. The guys screamed.

xXx

-Matoya's Cave-

"Okay." Tina folded her arms across her chest, "What did you wanted to see me about that was so important, you couldn't have talked about it on the phone? Or the guys' phones since it's the only thing they possess that helps me talk to you from a distance."

"Oh-ho! Aren't you a funny one child." Matoya gloated, before pacing back over to her Crystal Ball, "I wanted to tell you about the Prophecy… another Prophecy."

"Another Prophecy?" Tina asked the witch, "What prophecy?"

The witch turned to face Tina, her buggy Crystal Eye fixated on the young White Wizard. "Never heard of the Prophecy child?" Matoya retorted, "About the Thirteenth Crystal? The Prophecy of Darkness?"

"I'll know about the Thirteenth Crystal and the Prophecy of Darkness if you could just tell me what are they're about already." Tina retorted back, "I'm not getting any younger you know?"

Matoya glared. Her eyes flashed back down a corner and then right back at Tina again and right on cue one of her brooms swooped in and gave Tina a good knock on the forehead.

"OW!" Tina backed away, rubbing her sore head, "Why did you do that for?"

"For being such a stubborn child!" Matoya hotly said, "The Prophecy of Light and Darkness have been spoken for a hundred years since Cosmos and Chaos began their conflict, and you dare question my powers? And my age?"

"I dare question the way you've been treating your fellow apprentice!" Tina said, "…And besides I just wanted to know what Prophecy you're talking about? Not smack me on the head with a broom!"

"That Prophecy…" Matoya barked, before pausing, "came to me last night…"

"Really?"

"Just listen to this, child." Matoya faced a wall, waved a hand over it and scriptures in another language came to light; each scripted letter shining as bright as the sun, "It is written… in here… by Lukhan's Prophecy: 'That as Darkness veils the World, Four Warriors of Light Shall Come', right?"

"Yes, yes." Tina nodded frantically, "And each on their hands were clutched a Crystal. Crystals of Light. Embodiment of holy power that can finish the Ultimate Darkness, bringing forth the end of one world, and the beginning of another… yes. The guys are aware of the Prophecy now. As I am."

"Yes… but now this Prophecy… the Prophecy of Darkness…" Matoya shook her head, "I'm afraid it's coming to a chilling reality. Behold it…" she waved her hand over the wall again and more lit scriptures materialized. "… in fear."

Tina approached the wall and carefully read the Prophecy. The Prophecy of Darkness. She was appalled by what she uncovered.

"As long as the Four Warriors of Light still shine, The Worlds, Old and New, are… doomed to fail?"

Tina then faced Matoya, mixed emotion of anger and confusion flooded her face. She glanced back and forth at the floating Scriptures then at Matoya.

"What kind of sick joke is this?" she barked.

"You call a Prophecy a sick joke?" Matoya raised her singed eyebrow.

"You're saying that ALL Worlds, even new ones, across the Final Fantasy Universe will die if the guys are still alive?"

"Not just the Universe. ALL universes." Matoya revealed, "And I'm not saying it. It's the Prophecy."

"PROPHECY BE DAMNED!" Tina barked, "You're the one who assigned me to look after the guys, teach them magic and the art of fighting, making them sure that they fulfill on their mission to help the Heroes of Cosmos defeat Chaos once and for all and end the War of the Gods, and now…" she was breathing shallowly, "…and now you're saying that there's no hope for the universe if they're still here? And if they're gone, there's no hope for THEM!"

"Can I say something?"

"No!" Tina vehemently said, "We have nothing… NOTHING else to say, teacher. I'm still keeping my promise, and that is to protect the guys… even if it kills me." She then started walking out, "Come on Chocolate; let's go."

"Don't believe me? That's fine!" Matoya barked, "But if I was you, and I was searching for some proof…"

Tina paused. Matoya went on. "…I would get them. Three omens you need to watch out for, young lady. Three! Shall I spit them out for ya?"

Tina turned around to face the witch again. Reluctantly, she opened her mouth to speak, but Matoya spoke first.

"Save it. I'll tell you. An innocent puppy will turn feral… they will then encounter the Phantom Train… and last and certainly not least… each one of them will bear the Mark of the l'Cie."

There was an uneasy pause. Matoya then waved her hands over her Crystal and the two wizards spied on the guys, inside the broken train. Tina's eyes widened.

"Oh, would you look at that…" Matoya gloated, "It's happening already… the Prophecy of Darkness. They've boarded the Phantom Train. It won't be a matter of time till it takes them to their Final Destination. I won't be surprise if they escape the train… alive."

The witch cackled evilly and thunder roared in response. Tina stood there, the color on her face quickly drained at the sight of the guys in trouble. She spun on her heels and darted off the cave. Chocolate followed.

xXx

"Can you make it work?" James asked Logan who was trying to manipulate the train's control panel into ignition but to no avail.

"I can't make it work!" Logan exclaimed, "This train has been dead for I don't know how long?"

"What about your magic?" Carlos proposed.

Logan shook his head, "…I sacrificed my magic back in the labyrinth. I don't know if it's even coming back."

The hellhound continued slamming on the door, trying to break through and continued to scream bloody murder. Kendall was behind the door, trying to keep it at bay. He shouted, "…you gotta do something man!"

"Uhh…" Logan quivered.

Suddenly a noise was heard, as if a gear had shifted. And before he knew it, he felt the train slowly moving its pace. Everyone looked around, feeling the train moving as well. They slowly looked at each other.

"…how did you do that?" James blinked.

"…I didn't do anything." Logan said.

"It's moving by itself?" Carlos panicked, "…aw man. We boarded a Phantom Train!"

"A Phantom Train?" the guys made a disbelieving face, "Really?"

"Oh don't believe me all you want!" Carlos barked, "Just admit that this train hasn't been operated by anyone in years! Even the conductor of this train DIED!" he pointed his shaken finger at a skeleton with a conductor cap lying at a corner of the room. The guys stared, already freaking out inside.

MOOOAAAANS…. OOAAN… OOAAN… OOAAN… OOAAN… OOAAN… OOAAN…

Panic struck the guys' faces. Their heart rate elevated, they were sweating under the pits, and they suddenly felt claustrophobic. The train picked up paces and started going full-speed, its ghostly laugh still renting the ceiling and an organ version of the Final Fantasy VI Boss Battle Theme played through the speakers.

"UWWWAAAHAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA!"


Next time on Big Time Final Fantasy

-A run for their lives led the boys onboard a dark train…

"If we don't get out of this freaky train, we're ALL gonna die!" James shouted.

And they are not alone…

"Welcome guests, to our domain." A dark voice spoke from the speakers of the train. The guys looked around in panic.

"Do not be frightened, for we promise this ride to be the ride of your life… MuAh! Ah! Ah! Ah! Ah!"

Find out on our next Big Time Final Fantasy episode

-~Big Time Phantom Train~


Author's Note: Go to "www . box . net / shared / jyxr3dmryq" for a sneak peek at the upcoming fanfic Super Smash Bros. 3D.

And Rhodes's wanted me to let you guys know about his latest Big Time crossover fanfic: Big Time Uprising. I think we all know where that Uprising comes from. And it looks gooooood. Go to his profile to check it out.

And only one more episode till Big Time Ivalice. Check out my twitter in these coming days for snippets at this three part chapter event.