Rex somewhat uneasily stepped out to the seashore. The fact of the matter was he still felt a bit intimidated by the espers, especially that he was now alone with one. And he was having a hard time wrapping his head around everything too. He was still trying to understand how he had gotten so mixed up in everything. However, despite that, he was still feeling some relief that he was able to be of some use. Since everyone else had been a pilot or fighter or scientist, he was beginning to feel like some sort of fifth wheel along for the ride. Yet he had spoken up yesterday as soon as he found out that he could be a real help to the situation.

Of course, that still left coming back to the shoreline on his own. As soon as he had talked a little with the big one, Leviathan, he immediately ran back to Wutai on foot to try and get the information he needed. It wasn't easy. Running into town on foot was hardly his forte, especially considering that the bulging metropolis was several miles away. He had gotten totally winded more than once on the trip, and by the time he finally limped his way through the city limits the sun was beginning to come over the horizon. Undaunted, however, he kept on running. He could have gotten one of the hand taxis that was around town, but at the moment he was rather broke himself. He was forced to run the rest of the way toward the nearest university library. He wasn't a member of any of Wutai's schools, but they had internet connections and printers, and he was able to access his own school's geology network as soon as possible.

Rex used the moment to inspect the situation in the world. Kalm was a mess at this point, according to the news reports. Out of town authorities were being called in to try and reestablish order, but they weren't getting very far. Edge was still totally in radio silence, and there were no authorities available to check on that. It made Rex kind of wish the PPA was still around. They might have been able to have some jurisdiction. Yet at the same time, if they had been in Edge when that Siren esper had brainwashed everyone…that might have made the situation worse. There was little to be done, unfortunately, and so he was only able to look at the networks. It took quite a bit of running around, and finally a trip down to a local "check into cash" to get a likely-illegal, high-interest loan on his credit card to get enough money, but he printed off tons of documents that he thought could help out, and then took back off for shore.

The sun was rather high by the time that Rex got back, and he was rather tired, sweaty, and hungry, but he managed to pick his way along the stones as he made his way back down to the seashore. He wasn't sure he was in the right place, but he had to hope for the best as he arrived. The sea was a bit louder now, sending higher waves to the surf. Sea birds were up and out, and fishing ships were visible in the distance. Yet no one else was present as Rex, arms full of papers, moved out onto the sand.

"Mr. Leviathan!" He called out. "I'm back!"

It seemed like a rather stupid thing to do. After all, he wasn't even sure he was within a mile of the original spot he had been too. And even if he was, his voice would hardly carry over the rest of the surf. Nevertheless, he didn't have many other options. As he came to a halt and stared out at the ocean, he called again.

"Mr. Leviathan!"

As he half expected, nothing happened. The sea continued to roll, but he didn't see any huge serpent come out to greet him. He almost let out a sigh and decided to move again, seeing if he should go further along the shore in some direction and try again.

Right before he could take a step, the surface of the ocean broke with a rather loud crash. Rex snapped to the source in a bit of surprise, and watched as the arrow-like head of Leviathan spun over itself and arched toward him, dragging a length of coils out behind it as it came forth from the ocean. Within a few moments, it was hovering next to Rex at a considerable height. It stopped there and fanned out its fins, cracking its mouth open as well as it did so. Rex himself froze once again as the large sea serpent hovered over him, dripping seawater down around it, before tilting its head down and staring at him.

"Yes, Rex?"

The student exhaled sharply, and seemed to gain his composure. "Whoo…uh…hi." He stated. "I'm…still getting a little nervous whenever one of you guys comes close." He hesitated a moment after that, staying quiet.

When he said nothing for a few moments, Leviathan finally raised one of his eye ridges.

"…Do you have something for me, or did you just wish to say 'good morning'?"

The student stiffened and then snapped out of it. "Oh yeah! Right, right!" Immediately, he bent down to the ground and began to put the papers he had printed and accumulated down on it. He started to spread them out with pictures up, clearly in view of Leviathan. He had to place a few rocks on some to keep them from blowing away, but the esper seemed to take the effort in stride. His own pointed head lowered and began to scan over them with his white eyes.

"This is what I managed to find." Rex spoke as he set the things out. He hadn't put them all out before he started to gesture to certain pictures. "Now, I remembered what you had said. You said you needed things called Adamantine and Lunarite. Now, neither of those things are known by those names to humans anymore, but I was able to look up old terms they used to use to describe materials. And I did actually find those two."

Rex indicated to one picture. "When you said Adamantine, I thought you meant Adamant, which is another name for Paleocenic Diamond. It's this incredibly old, superpressurized diamond that could only be made from the dead bodies of this really primitive form of archaebacteria that somehow incorporated titanium ions into their proteins. Even then, a lot of them had to die to leave enough refuse to form it. Anyway, there's lots of collections of this stuff around the planet as relics or heirlooms, all of it made into metallic form…"

"I'm afraid that's not good enough." Leviathan interrupted, as he looked at the picture. The student looked back to him, and saw the esper give something of a nod. "I believe that what you're talking about is what I seek, but getting it inside its refined form of Adamantium is impossible to melt within any short period of time even with extremely hot sources of flame. I need to find it inside its raw form."

Rex hesitated a moment, before picking up his papers and beginning to go over them and set more out. "Well…" He began. "Most of it that's known on Gaia has been forged already. But there is a vein that Isuzu Industries opened up near the Mythril Mines that they were testing for high-stress applications." He frowned. "The only problem is…both the vein and the ore they already dug out is probably under Diablos' control by now…but they did send out a few samples to a Junon branch. How much do you need?"

"Not much. Perhaps only about 2 Leviaths."

Rex looked to him in confusion. "Two what?"

Leviathan groaned a bit to himself. "…I don't know…about…the volume of a boot?"

The student hesitated, but then nodded back. "They should have that."

"Good." The esper answered. "Now, what about the Lunarite?"

Again, Rex looked uncomfortable. "Eh…that might be a problem. First of all, there's three different things that have been called it in the past." Rex looked down and pointed to three separate pictures, all bearing a similar-looking yet noticeably different white pale element. "Which one of these looks like the one?"

The sea serpent looked over the images. His head darted between them. "Hmm…" He answered. "The quality confuses me somewhat…but I'd say almost certainly this one." He tapped one of the pictures.

Rex grit his teeth and grimaced. "I was afraid of that…" He groaned. "That's even rarer. It's only present in small fragments that struck Gaia in a meteor shower thousands of years ago. We'll never find a raw ore of it bigger than a gil slip."

Leviathan closed his eyes and shook his head as he sighed, before looking back to Rex with the same seriousness. "We must find at least as much as of the other. I cannot make the Magical Lamp without it."

The student continued his uneasy appearance. He was hesitant about this next part, but with great reluctance finally cracked his head and rubbed his chin.

"Well…then that means only one more thing. We'll have to…borrow some."

Leviathan raised an eyebrow. "Excuse me?"

"All the large pieces of Lunarite were used in sculptures centuries ago. They're the only sources of large amounts now. If we wanted to get some…we'd have to get it from someone who owns one. But it's really expensive. Priceless, even. There's no way we could ever buy one."

The esper remained serious. "Be that as it may, we still need one. The fate of this world hangs in the balance, and amounts of money will mean nothing to anyone if Diablos has his way."

Rex looked at him a bit, continuing to be uncomfortable. He reached up to the side of his head and scratched before pushing up his glasses on his nose.

"Well…that's why I said…'borrow' some…"

Leviathan's eyes narrowed. "I despise double talk. You mean we'll have to steal some."

Rex gave a shrug. "I'm not that easy about it either, but, you know…my morals and just about everything else have gone kind of nuts ever since I started talking to giant monsters."

The sea serpent sighed. "Unfortunately, you're right. If someone is unwilling to part with it, it's more important that we obtain it in some way than protect their interest. But we'll see what I can do. I wasn't considered one of the wisest of espers for nothing. Where is the nearest place we can go to possibly obtain this artifact?"

"That would be…" Rex began to say, before his face turned puzzled. "Wait, what does it matter? We need a lift from Mack first."

"I don't want to waste a second longer than we have to." Leviathan answered. "We'll go ourselves."

This made the student raise an eyebrow. "Um…we?"

"You know far more about this world than I do." The esper answered. "And since I cannot change into human form, I'll have to act through you."

The student began to sweat and blanched a bit before sighing. "Great… But how are we going to get there? I can't swim or breathe underwater…"

Leviathan paused at that, seeming to be hesitant about telling him the answer to that question. "…You'll find out in a moment. First, where are we going?"

Rex hesitated a bit, but then looked back to his notes and took up a piece of paper. After reading it a bit, he looked back to the esper.

"There's a guy who owns the largest single piece of Lunarite a ways from here in his private collection. We'll have to go to the Gold Saucer and meet this guy named Dio."

"Aw…come on! Not again!"

"I want to pet your ears!"

"You've done it for two hours already! And I can't stand it!"

"Hey, you think you could teach us magic too? It would help against those bad guys."

"Ow! Don't pull it!"

"Grar! I'm a behemoth! And I'm going to eat you!"

"Aw no…hey! Stay away from my tail! Ugh!"

Carbuncle soon took off, turning a corner and vanishing into the next room. Following right on his heels was Samoa, still doing his behemoth impersonation, and Simoa, who was hurt that her latest "fluffy friend" had taken off yet again. Crain looked the sorest of all. Denzel, from where he saw them, had to admit that he had the best thinking. He was sort of tempted to ask the esper himself. After all, couldn't they give powers to humans? At least, that was in Ragnar's old stories…

"…I hope the kids don't kill Carbuncle before we need his help."

Denzel turned back to the living room, and his eyes rested on Azure. He was watching along with his friend as the kids once again began to chase Carbuncle around the house, him griping and yelling the whole way. Apparently, he didn't appreciate being treated as a stuffed animal or a cartoon character. Azure's statement had only been half in jest. The creature had started it when Simoa commented on his cuteness (something he took with pride) before asking to pet him. Now they all demanded his attention, and thanks to his commission he could do little about it.

"Oh, they'll be fine. They're just playing." Marlene answered from her own seat across from the boys. Denzel looked to her, and saw that she seemed calm with all that was going on. "They need to get used to him anyway. And this is getting their minds off of what happened."

Azure furrowed his brow a moment later in response to Carbuncle's screaming. "Did he just say the 'f' word?"

Denzel only grimaced in response to Marlene's reassurances. Babysitting the kids could be quite a problem, and he wasn't that partial to it. It seemed Carbuncle thought like they did, and weren't that happy trying to cope with the kids' boundless energy. And besides…not all of them were reacting that way.

The silent fourth, the one who they still knew little to nothing of, save he was a Geomancer, was coloring away at the kitchen table by himself. He hadn't just refused to play with Carbuncle on seeing him. He almost…seemed unnerved on seeing him…

At any rate, they were being good. They seemed to have calmed down quite a bit after all that happened, and Denzel was grateful for that. And Marlene was right in one sense. It was good to get one's mind off of what was happening. After last night…Denzel had begun to realize just how bad the situation was, and how bad what had happened to his parents really was. He was having a hard time believing it still…but the thought that the next time they ran into each other that they might try and kill him… Even if that wasn't the case, they were slaves of that dark esper now. Not only that, but his fear that Diablos might impress them in his "army". The fear that someone else might kill them just to save themselves… It filled him with emotions that were a mixture of sadness and rage. He was trying his best to focus on the latter of the two emotions.

A clicking was heard from the kitchen. Denzel and the others looked over slightly, and saw that Shera had just hung up the phone. She turned to face the rest of them. Although they were already packed up and ready to go, Denzel, Azure, and Marlene were all seated. Shelke alone was standing against the wall, leaning against it with arms crossed and head up. That was strange. Denzel was getting tired again as it was, but he hadn't seen her sleep since she had woke up in Vincent's room.

"They're heading back to pick us up." Shera explained. "The refueling went quickly."

"We shouldn't stay here regardless." Shelke answered. "They know we're here. They'll send more."

"Where do we go?" Marlene asked.

"Back to the airfield sounds good to me." Denzel answered. "So we can get on the airship as soon as it lands."

"They're probably expecting something like that." Azure answered. "They want us to charge out for the airship as soon as it arrives, then they'll attack. Why don't we go somewhere nearby instead? See if they try to make a move when the Excalibur arrives?"

Shera indicated in a direction, although from inside the house they could see little. "There's a small diner just outside of the main airport. It was built trying to hit the passengers that come through. You can see most of the airfield from there."

"Then let's go." Shelke answered. "They seem to attack us less when we're on the move than when we stop somewhere…"

Given the new shape that the interior of the base was taking, it was little surprise that a loud noise would have a large, resounding echo throughout the chamber. Nevertheless, had there been more people to possess enough free will to realize the gravity of certain moves, they most certainly would have shrank back at the sound of a rather mighty strike ringing out.

As it was, the one nearest Diablos' throne, Siren, shrank a little, and flashed her teeth in annoyance momentarily. When she looked back, she was just in time to see Cerberus smash against the ground and slide away.

"Three heads and you haven't a single brain between them." Diablos' cold voice sneered as he descended his position to follow after the esper. His hand, the flesh now rather pale and somewhat more serrated around the edges, was still balled into a fist. A bit more of the skin had flaked off on striking Cerberus. "You had to banter, didn't you? You could have torn the house in half and grabbed the children, but no… And you dared to come back like this?"

Cerberus let out a bit of a canine whine as he slowly turned his body over and got onto his paws. A moment later, and the heads were slowly lifting back up, but soon after they shrank back as the ears slicked backward on all three heads. Diablos was standing over him now, and he was reacting with fear. However, as he spoke, Siren still detected the anger as well as fear on his voice.

"It wasn't my fault! They had brought back espers! Four of them!"

"Then you should have lived up to your boasting and used your speed against them!" Diablos snapped back. "This army…this fortress…all of our plans…they are nothing compared to the importance of gaining those children!"

"I'm starting to wonder just why you need those children anyway." Siren spoke up from her location. She garnered a look from Diablos in response. She was still unnerved just to look at him, and so, in an attempt to look casual, she turned her eyes to her nails and pretended to study them for some blemish or dirt. "Or why we don't just kill them. Do you really think those two could be a threat? Or give us any resistance in the near future? Or that you can drain any reasonable amounts of energy from them?"

Diablos paused momentarily, but then tilted his head and answered. "…Be that as it may, the history of this world is marked with times in which small problems were left unintended and in the end caused a downfall. You, as an esper, should understand that better than anyone."

Siren crossed her arms and snorted. She said no more. Nevertheless…somehow she felt that answer wasn't entirely accurate…

"At any rate, I won't stand for any further delays." Diablos answered, turning back to Cerberus. However, he didn't focus on him but beyond to the back. After that, a bit to their surprise, he began to walk toward it. "I'll retrieve them myself."

Cerberus and Siren alike looked up at him.

"…Alone?" Cerberus asked.

"You've already failed once. There's no need for you to embarrass yourself further." Diablos retorted without looking back. "Doomtrain will transport me, but other than that I require no one."

"Cerberus has a point." Siren maintained, leaning up and looking after him. "Four espers on one? That's hard except against our lords like Leviathan and Bahamut."

"And you think I am their inferiors in any way?" Diablos nearly sneered back, his voice so cold that both other espers shrank in response. "Besides…" He continued in a calm voice. "I've been feeding off the power of the two Cetra and the ones who have died since we began. I'm far stronger than I was initially at this point. They will be no match for me."

With that, he continued to walk out, until he was vanishing through the darkness in the hallway beyond. Cerberus slowly picked himself up, and Siren stared on. However…both of them were a bit unsettled at what Diablos had just said. He was already stronger than he was before? And now he had this army, this temple, and his power and influence was continuing to expand.

It made them both think…exactly how much longer would they be "necessary"?

Denzel had to admit…those pancakes looked pretty good. He was sure they weren't nearly as good as mom's, but they had to be better than sandwiches and bagels… He almost caught himself inching his fingers toward Crain's plate, moving to steal a cut-up section…

Clink.

The sudden sound accompanied by a hand materializing in front of the youth, setting down a glass with a soft drink in it, caused Denzel to practically leap and snap around. He was just in time to see the waitress set down Azure's refill nearby. Marlene was already sipping away at her refilled iced tea. Out of instinct, he offered a sheepish grin for gratitude. The waitress eyed him a bit strangely, as she hadn't even noted that he was about to stoop to the point of stealing a bite of his kid brother's pancakes. At any rate, she soon turned and walked away.

Denzel turned back to the others and relaxed a bit. They were a rather odd group to crowd into an average diner. Shera and the four kids had taken a table, and they were having their breakfast. As for the four other "older kids" (although Denzel wasn't sure just how old or young Shelke was), they were in a booth nearby like teenagers in a clic. Pressed somewhat against the wall and against Marlene was Carbuncle, not too happy that he had to stay mostly out of sight. Denzel and Azure had opted for soda and Marlene for iced tea. Surprisingly, Shelke had taken coffee…and she hadn't touched hers in fifteen minutes. Denzel began to realize he hadn't seen her eat at all since they met…

What she had been doing was drawing on the back of a child's menu with a pen obtained from the counter. She had been at it for some time, and from the best Denzel could tell she was generating some sort of diagram. In the meantime, he was looking around the diner. There weren't many people in. Aside from the waitress and the cook in the back, there were only a couple of old guys talking about a major sports game, a large airport worker, and a single commuter that looked preoccupied with some sort of PDA. None of them had red eyes, and it didn't look as if they were calling anyone in either. So that gave Denzel some relief. Part of it was likely the daylight as well, however. It was bright and streaming in through the front windows. Until now, most of the bad things had happened in dark situations, at least what happened to him. He almost wondered if that had something to do with how they worked…

"Alright."

Shelke's sudden voice made the boy turn back to the table yet again, as Shelke turned around the diagram and showed it to them. It was a bit odd. He supposed she still unsettled him, but after everything that had happened, all the stories they had swapped, and what else was at stake…he realized he had mellowed out considerably. Then again…maybe it was because of her. He realized that she seemed to be far more cooperative and open now…even if she still had the same monotone voice. At any rate, he cut off this train of thought as she started to speak.

"Deepground is practically labyrinthine in terms of number of passages, turns, and routes. It's generations of old construction added onto and extended time and time again. The destruction from the mako eruption and our own modifications only made it more confusing. That said…there is no corner unaccounted for in the entire complex. Every entrance is known. Every bulkhead, every ventilation duct, every sewer entry…everything. In the past, we were short on manpower to guard all the entrances. By now, Diablos must have more than enough personnel to accomplish the task."

Denzel gave a shrug in response. "So…you know of a secret way in though, right?"

Shelke looked to him plainly. "…Obviously you weren't listening the first time. Every entrance is known. There isn't a hole larger than the size of a fist that isn't logged in the system. Anyone who fully investigated could find and monitor every way in and out."

The youth frowned. Some of his old animosity came back when Shelke answered him so brusquely.

"So how can we get in?" Azure asked in response, staying on task. "Diablos wouldn't even need to use the system. He already has all the knowledge of your leader and the other DeepGround members who died since then."

"That's where there's one flaw we might be able to exploit." Shelke answered. "The entrances are far too numerous for any one person to have complete knowledge of. That's why the database was linked to me in data drive mode and I was able to access them all and monitor them all roughly simultaneously. As a result, I believe I am the only one who actually had knowledge of all of the entrances at the point when Diablos took over Weiss the Immaculate. He may have accessed the system since then, but I don't believe he could have covered them all, especially some of the more hazardous ones."

"I don't like the way you said that…" Denzel answered with a grimace.

Shelke ignored this and indicated a portion of the diagram, which now appeared to be a rough, overhead map of the Midgar area. "If we were dropped by airship, we could get as close as the Train Graveyard in former Sector Five. If at the right spot, we'd only be a sixth of a kilometer from an old emergency safety vent. It will be a tight squeeze for an entire kilometer."

Denzel let out a snort. "Don't worry…Marlene and I have done this sort of thing before…"

Shelke didn't react to that, but kept going. "A connection to the larger sewers is at the end. From there, we move through…" She traced her finger as she did this. "For about four kilometers toward the city center's old water treatment plant. Once we reach that point, we exit again and cut across in an arc for about two hundred meters. If we can make it that far, we'll be at a maintenance service opening. We'll drop down about 300 feet underground in a vertical shaft. We can exit from there into the main of Deepground at a military corridor. If we can somehow make it that far and move another 300 meters along a certain path, we'll be at one of the special service elevators. If the code isn't changed, I will be able to access it to get us to the lab. If it is changed, then I will need one minute and fourteen seconds to hack the system and do the same task. In case you were wondering, anything greater than four seconds, to a DeepGround soldier, is considered an eternity."

The other three only could offer grim looks in response.

"The lab is where I stored my samples." Shelke continued. "The essence should be with them."

"But couldn't have Diablos moved them?" Azure asked. "It doesn't seem like he'd keep them there…"

"More than likely." Shelke answered. "However, I would have no knowledge of where they had been placed. Wherever that point may be is likely closer to Diablos, troops, or one of the other espers, in which case we would not be able to retrieve them anyway. So if we didn't find them there, then we would need to escape at that point anyway without them."

Denzel frowned at that.

"How do we escape?" Marlene asked.

"Oh, that part's easy." Carbuncle suddenly piped up, causing the others to grow rather nervous in response. A talking cat/rabbit/rodent wasn't exactly conventional. They had already garnered plenty of stares from his appearance. Marlene had soon wheeled on him and put a hand over his nigh invisible mouth.

"Sssh! Keep it down!"

"Hey, leggo!" The esper protested, first loud at full volume, which only made Marlene clamp down on him harder. He struggled for a moment beneath it, but in the end finally managed to wriggle his body free. Snorting, he looked back to the others indignantly. "Like I was saying…" He started in a whisper. "Leave it to me. It's easy for me to warp to a place I've been to before. Only problem is range. I can only get us to that Train Graveyard, based on the distances I'm hearing."

"Then they will have to pick us up as soon as possible from there. That means they will likely have to take some hits from anti-aircraft artillery." Shelke responded.

Carbuncle merely scratched his head. "Why do you guys throw around these big words so much? You trying to speak in a code or something?"

"This trip will not be uneventful or quiet by any means." Shelke went on. "Not unless we're unnaturally and impossibly lucky. By now, Diablos must have enough personnel to patrol the Train Graveyard. The military corridor will likely be filled, and 300 meters might as well be 300 kilometers. Every automated security device and soldier will be after us within less than thirty seconds on being spotted and reported. Therefore…killing any soldiers that see us immediately is of utmost importance."

Everyone, even the esper, shifted a bit on hearing that part.

"In addition to regular troops and automated weapons, DeepGround has 'encouraged' the local fauna to breed and mutate to provide natural defenses. No where will they be more prevalent than in the sewers. As for our way in, it too is known. It is simply not guarded due to being too thin for anyone to move through on their knees single file. We will have to practically wriggle through it. Even so, it is coded and filled with four Red Saucer drones. We will have to dispatch them somehow."

"Are you sure this is the easiest way in?" Denzel asked incredulously.

"There is no 'easy' way into DeepGround. But this is the path of least resistance, yes." Shelke answered. "If you don't like it, you can come up with your own plan."

The youth once again frowned, but didn't respond.

"We'll just have to make do." Azure answered for him. He turned his head toward the wall to notice the clock, then looked back. "So…do we have to make a run for the airfield?"

"I think I heard Shera say that they'd be coming right here to pick us up." Marlene added. She gave a shrug soon after. "It's a bit weird, but compared to what's going on…"

"So who will all be going, anyway?" Denzel asked.

"I will, of course." Carbuncle piped up.

"And I have to guide you." Shelke answered. "We should probably leave it at that."

Denzel glared at her. "Excuse me?"

"You and your surrogate brother have some skill, but you lack far too much experience."

"Hey, we saved your ass back at Kalm! How's that for no experience!" Denzel protested.

"Denzel, language!" Marlene protested. "You've been swearing too much lately!"

"I've got a good reason to, don't I?" The boy protested, although he sulked a bit and backed down after saying this.

Azure let out a bit of a sigh. However, as he did so, the glare of the sun suddenly died back from outside of the window nearby. It was so sudden that it got the attention of the others, and they turned to look outside as it took place. Azure himself spoke up a moment later, seeming to get an idea from this.

"Looks like they're here…" He said, reasoning that the change had to be from the airship moving in front of the sun. "Good. I'm getting nervous the longer we're here."

Denzel himself looked up and out in response, expecting to see the frame of the Excalibur descending from the heavens.

Unfortunately…he soon saw something else.

First of all…it continued to get darker. It wasn't just mere shade. The light around the sun seemed to be blotting out, as if a much larger cloud was moving in front of it and getting out the rest of the light. It was starting to get closer to what you would see at evening or night. As a result, they weren't the only ones looking out the window. Soon more people were following suit, including the cook and waitress, who were closer toward the back yet still able to pick up on the change. Yet as Denzel looked past the just exterior and more outside, he began to see something else…

There were clouds gathering outside. But they weren't just off the horizon or small and thin. They were thick and strong…and they seemed to be streaming forward toward the sun itself. They almost appeared to be gathering to form a large blot over it, as if to try and snuff it out from the sky. And they were doing so from all sides, seeming to converge on that point.

By now, everyone in the diner had dropped what they were doing and turned full attention to the outdoors. That included Shera and the kids nearby. All of them, save for the silent one, looked at the sky with growing fear. They knew that this wasn't natural. Denzel himself might not have had much of a background in meteorology, but he knew that this wasn't a regular weather phenomenon either. Something bad had caught up to them…and it was coming soon.

He turned to the others in a flash. "…We need to get out of here."

The other three looked back to him and readily nodded. There wasn't any hesitation. Quickly, Denzel scooted back and stepped out from the booth. The others quickly began to follow, and in moments they were all out, with Carbuncle, seeming to not care anymore whether he drew attention or not, leaping behind. By then, the youth was already headed for his brother…

And that's when it happened.

Every window in the room shattered and the earth shook with enough power to knock down most of the furniture and people in the room as most of the central portion of the diner was annihilated. The sky finished turning completely dark as night as some form of shadow shot down, ripping open the ceiling and the wall to bash its way into the building. Debris was thrown everywhere as the light in the room seemed to grow dim, and all things seemed to grow colder and stiller. But that was hardly noticeable by the group as they were thrown away from the source of the impact, each one of them flung to the ground along with their table and chairs. Denzel himself was thrown by an invisible force down over the body of his younger brother. He managed to avoid crushing him under his own weight, but he did force him down as well. Glass and bits of construction materials blew over their heads as the chaos unfolded. Somewhere in the midst of the din resulting from the terrific damage came the sound of the two old men screaming one final time. The damage had been directed in their area, and on arrival both of them had been crushed by the ceiling as whatever figure on top of it smashed down.

Denzel, though in pain, was getting used to being thrown around by the entrance of large monsters. He pushed himself off of Crain and looked back toward the source of the damage. What he saw seemed to dip within him and drain away at his bravery and confidence…and even feeling the cast off air from it seemed to make his skin numb and fill him with thoughts of darkness and despair. Most of the lights in the room were out now, but what few were left, against the black sky outside, illuminated something unworldly and ghastly.

It initially appeared to just be some sort of multi-angled, twisted, shroud of living darkness, wrapped around some form in the center. It looked to be both a ragged cape as well as some sort of hideous, twisted, winged demon creature. It seemed to have infinite forms and no forms at once as it swirled around. It lasted only a moment, then it seemed to stretch back and part as it seeped back into what looked like two very large, bat-like, and infernal wings that were colored with both night and blood. What began to come out from this shadow was something pale and white, the color of dead…perhaps rotting…flesh. That seemed appropriate, because Denzel soon began to catch a whiff of the scent of rot coming off from it. He could make out what it was supposed to be…at least, he thought he could. It looked like a muscular form of some sort of man with pale silver hair. It wasn't Sephiroth, but it was something large and powerful just the same. And yet…it looked almost as if this body was clothing…clothing for something with red and black scales beneath bulging out at certain points. Based on its shape, it had to be some sort of twisted, hideous demon. It was bursting forth from the flesh in certain points, especially to make horns, claws, and edges of its scales. And everywhere it burst…the flesh was turning black and rotten around the edges. Whatever choice of "clothing" it had made, it was rapidly rotting and falling apart…

The figure was crouched on landing, but quickly rose to full height. And as it did, the wings swept over it and appeared to hook to form some sort of cape. It turned its full attention to the group on the ground, ignoring everyone else in the room. Its eyes were as red as blood too…and even though they didn't focus directly on him, even seeing the gaze look somewhat at him…it filled Denzel with old fears. Memories of being on the street…memories of being manipulated by Jenova…memories of his friend being tortured… It was horrible. It was only because Denzel had a stronger spirit than perhaps even he realized that he was able to shake it off enough to focus harder at the thing…and knew what it was.

"…Diablos."

The thing didn't react. It didn't even look to him. Its focus was totally on two figures who were now completely helpless and immobilized… The twins. Marlene was nearest them, and was also stricken with fear. But she tried to reach out and put her arms on them to protect them as weakly as she could. They themselves weren't even crying. They were just lying as still as death itself, staring back at the monster.

After a bit of a pause…Denzel finally managed to get enough strength to look away from it and to the ground. There, a short distance away, lying along with other discarded, blasted items, was his sword. He reached out for it, though he kept an arm on Crain. Azure himself quickly summoned his weapon. Shelke could do nothing but try to get to her feet, and she did so. Crain himself tightened, but didn't do much else. The mute child remained as still as the others…although, though none of them looked, he alone seemed to be the only one unaffected. Shera herself was trying to think of something to do, although she also couldn't bear to look away from it for a moment. Carbuncle himself was hiding behind everyone else…and although they couldn't hear this or know it, he was calling for the others as quickly as possible.

Diablos turned his whole body toward them. His face was expressionless and grim.

"Talk is cheap." He flatly stated in a voice so cold and stunning that it made all of them slow in their behaviors. "Let's simply be done with this."

With that, he held up a single hand, extended two fingers, split them apart so that one cruel talon was aimed at either twin, and then fired off something. Denzel was barely able to see what it was, but managed to turn his head and pick up on two black orbs coming out. They were almost like projectiles rather than energy attacks. Other than that…he only noted that they were extremely black and dark…even more so than the fiend before them. The orbs both shot through the air at the speed of bullets…and imbedded into the respective chests of both twins.

Instantly, everyone looked to them both. Marlene's eyes went wide in shock as she felt both twins suddenly stiffen in her grasp, spasming for a moment. She looked down to both helplessly for a brief second as they did this…before both went totally limp and lifeless in her grasp. Their eyes shut, and, to her fear as well as everyone else's, their flesh instantly went pale and cold. Their breathing ceased all together. The girl gasped as Denzel himself gaped at what happened. They looked dead…

Marlene did begin to feel for a pulse soon after, but Denzel had already looked away again. Now, he was staring back at Diablos, and his face was tight with anger, overriding his fear. The dark esper didn't seem to be reacting, and had put his hands down and began approaching the twins and the older girl. Denzel fumed, and forgot about Crain for the moment. Instead, his hand clenched his sword hilt and yanked the blade free. He rose to his feet and aimed it in front. Face twisted into a sneer, he immediately took off straight for him. He wasn't alone. By now, Azure himself was on his feet, and with his own sword drawn. He too angled forward and ran for the esper.

In response, Diablos didn't even avert his gaze from his target. He simply raised his hand again, extended his fingers, and appeared to generate what had to be a dozen streaks of black lightning. The writhed and coiled through the air like nightmarish snakes, but they didn't go completely random. Half of them shot for Denzel, and the other half for Azure. The connected against their bodies in various points moments later, while they were still running up to fight.

Immediately, Denzel's eyes opened wide again and his mouth opened to scream. But it was too late. As the black energy penetrated him, it made his entire body go rigid as it overrode his systems with horrible, sharp, biting pain. Yet it wasn't so sharp as to be from some sort of shock. It was almost like a numbing jolt…like what happens when one's nerves are struck, only far worse. And the rigidness wasn't so much from muscles being locked up as something different…as if all of his muscles were frozen from lack of energy…like rigor mortis. The air was sucked out from his lungs, and his heart almost seemed to freeze. For a moment…it was as if he had been rendered dead himself…

Yet that only lasted until the youth passed out. After that, both he and Azure, now the same as him, were violently flung away into the nearest walls. Their force was strong enough to smash whatever objects were in their way, wrenching their own bodies painfully in the process, and then let them fall.

"Leave my brother alone!"

Marlene's fears had been confirmed. She felt nothing when she reached to the necks of either twin. However, her latest horrors were only compounded when not only did she see Denzel and Azure easily beaten, but she looked up and saw that Crain had not taken his easy defeat in stride. Now, the boy was shooting to his feet and looking to fight too. Without so much as a weapon, he was already running toward the still-approaching Diablos.

"Crain, no!" She called out.

Yet it was too late. Again, the monster lashed out with that black lightning. The boy was ripped into the air off of his feet, and soon went as rigid and agonized as the ones before him. Without mercy, Diablos flung him upward, smashing his entire small body against the ceiling before letting it fall.

That was too much. Releasing the children, Marlene quickly began to get to her feet as well. "Stop it!" She yelled at the fiend. "He's just a-"

That was all she got out before Diablos, without warning or pity, aimed his palm at her and unleashed a wave of black, sizzling energy. It struck the girl straight in the chest. She had time to scream this time, before she was thrown back and literally blasted out through the doorway of the diner. Within the span of a few seconds, four of them had been struck down without Diablos so much as batting an eye.

All who were left was Shelke, Shera, and the remaining boy, still stoic and unresponsive. He showed only the slightest bit of reaction to the others being beaten, but for the most part stayed calm. Shera, stricken with panic and with little left to do, rushed over to the remaining boy in an attempt at protection. As for Shelke, she was immobilized. Even seeing him like this reawakened all of her earlier fears, almost reducing her to the same helpless state she was in before. Most of all…seeing him now…she thought of her older sister. She thought of her being in pain…dying…losing herself into black abyss in order to evoke Shiva… Because of that, she was frozen almost until he was on them. Even when she could react, she was far too slow. It was only with great hesitation that she began to rise.

The one hand lowered, and the other hand raised. Out came the black lightning again, and this time…it wrapped around the woman's throat. It immediately made her go limp, but seemed to leave her face mobile, allowing it to transform into a look of genuine emotion…pure fear. As the rest of her body began to go as pale as that of the children, she was yanked off of the ground and into the air. Only here did Diablos pause, and turn to stare at her with his blood-red eyes.

"I gave you the chance of being my human counterpart…then I gave you a chance at life aiding me unwillingly… You spurned both." Diablos growled at her. "Now I'll make the fear within you swell until it crushes the life out of you completely and in the most painful way imaginable…"

Shelke couldn't react. Her body was already rendered limp. She could only glare back helplessly as Diablos began to raise his other hand…

"Hold it, Mildew Man!"

Diablos' crest seemed to shift, as if he was tilting his attention to this. Immediately, his red eyes turned away and looked in front of him, in the last remaining bit of space between him and the twins. His gaze soon looked down, and rested on a small green creature, splayed out with fur raising up on its back and eyes narrowing on him, like some sort of odd feline.

Giving a snort, he lowered his raising hand. Shelke went flying from his grasp and over the counter, far back into the kitchen where the resulting smashing sound must have represented her colliding with something. Both arms lowered, and he turned fully to the creature before him.

"What have we here?" He asked. "A rodent esper?"

Carbuncle's face twisted in indignation as best it could. "The name's Carbuncle! And I'm going to be the one who mops the floor with your ugly face! Not that anyone will know the difference after I'm done with you…"

"Hmph." Diablos answered. "Stand aside, rat. It would be an insult to even expend the fraction of the energy needed to kill you."

"Then how's about saving some for me!"

Diablos' eyes raised slightly, but he didn't turn them. Yet Carbuncle managed to grin somewhere in his mostly expressionless face. Behind him, the rest of the cavalry had arrived. Staring in from the hole that had been blasted into the side of the diner was the other three, each one of them charging up their firepower and getting ready to blast at the monster. Ifrit himself was in the center, arms charging power. He had been the one who had announced the challenge. As for Shiva and Quetzacoatl, they were nearby, gazes locked onto the demon but not letting loose just yet.

"We're all ready to fire on you." Shiva announced.

"I don't think you can take us all together." Quetzacoatl answered.

"So let the kids go before we make you lose a bit more of that flesh overcoat you're wearing." Carbuncle challenged.

Diablos' eyes very slowly went to his socket corners, as if he was looking behind him. However, he never turned, and there was no way he could have seen the foes that had taken their spots behind him. But now, four espers were shining forth their own lights to pierce into his darkness, interrupting the power he was exerting over the area. And each of them was ready to fire at a second's notice. The monster looked into the other corner, but then turned his eyes forward, not looking at Carbuncle but looking straight ahead. He was silent. Only the sounds of energy burning from each of the four made any sound.

Finally…he let out a chuckle.

"…How pathetic."

It happened in a matter of seconds.

Diablos' wings unfurled. They spread out through the surrounding air, making him suddenly seem much larger and more powerful, and extending the power of his darkness to appear and dim all else around him once again. What wasn't seen, however, was the fact that he took off slightly at this, raising his body just a few precious feet off the ground. The wings absorbed everyone's attention. The moment they unfurled, something came from them. Black bits of energy, molded into shapes, much as his previous cloak of darkness had been. This time, however, they separated from him and moved throughout the area, spreading around him and immediately encircling him.

Bats.

Reacting immediately, the three espers behind Diablos fired as Carbuncle threw up his energy shield. A bolt of electricity, a pillar of fire, and a beam of ice all shot forth to strike the fiend from three different angles. But even in the time it took the weapons to come out, the bats continued to issue forth, and in an instant had surrounded Diablos' body in a swarm of the dark beings. The beams connected a second later…but never came within more than a foot of Diablos. They struck the bats instead…and each attack was immediately consumed. They didn't even destroy the black creatures, but instead seemed to have their powers devoured by them, as if sinking into an oblivion of dark matter. And in doing so, the monster generated even more bats, thickening the swarm around him until he was practically lost in a mass of the beings. They continued to hold as the three fired, letting them get out their full power in a vain attempt to hurt him. And they did pour it on. They focused all of the strength they could muster in such a short period of time into hitting him. But for all it did…it was nothing compared to his own power.

Despite their straining, and Ifrit's anger, they were forced to cut off at last. In another moment, they would have fled, trying to get clear for a new attack or at least to make more targets.

That moment never came.

Instantly, the bats froze in midair, shifted shape to go from being creatures into becoming long, cruel, black blades…and shot forth in four different directions, one for each esper.

Again, there was no time to scream. Each esper felt twenty of the black blades strike them at once, with more quickly following. They all went rigid and twisted into agony, but were unable to do anything else. In a flash, each of their lights was swallowed up into the darkness, and they grew as pale and dull as everything else. Their energy was instantly consumed. More blades followed the initial wave, until they were almost covered with the piercing objects. Even Carbuncle, who had thrown up an energy shield…saw it totally negated as the blades passed right through it to pierce him as well. In instants, the blackness was once again the only power in the area.

Diablos let them be pierced for a moment, before letting out another snicker, this one more bored than powerful, and made a cutting motion with his hand. Immediately, the blades yanked out, not leaving any visible physical damage, though letting their victims fall lifelessly to the ground. Now, with no opposition left, save for Shera staring blankly at him while trying to shield the remaining child, Diablos looked back to his original targets. Again, he swished his fingers at them, and as a result, the blades morphed again into bats, came forward, and began to flutter around them instead. Soon, the swarm was gathered around their two limp bodies instead. One by one, they began to alight on the two children. As the swarm continued to churn, their own forms slowly vanished into darkness as well. Once they had completely faded, the swarm lifted and rushed back, splitting in two and running back into Diablos' wings. A few moments later, and they had vanished once again into the blackness of his own skin, and again there was nothing left but Diablos and his wings. However, there was a change now. The twins had vanished into him as well.

The monster swept his wings over his body again and locked into a cape once more.

"Your pitiful, meaningless powers over elements are nothing compared to the powers of millennia of death, hate, and rage." Diablos flatly announced. "You are alive simply so that your hate and anguish against me can grow larger...and thereby create more power for me to consume when I do destroy you. Next time, my powers will be much greater. You will either become my slaves or become my food."

With that, Diablos raised his hand to the ceiling and fired off another wave of energy. Another hole was punched into the diner. This time, everyone in the neighborhood who had begun to gather around the diner, seeing the incidents that were now beginning to occur around it, screamed and ran as the entire roof blew up. As debris was scattered everywhere, the sky above Diablos was completely exposed. Without extending his wings again, he simply raised into the sky, to hover out over it once again. Once he had done so, he waited only a few moments more…before the same shape that had shot past and taken up Cerberus only a few hours ago streaked across the sky again, once again telegraphing its presence with red flames. Diablos vanished into it as it tore by, and soon it too was leaving as well, fading off into the horizon.

As these horrors left, the clouds blotting out the sun seemed to have been released, as if only some sort of cosmic hand had been holding them there before. Now they parted and moved off again, not only dispersing but becoming fainter once more. Soon, most of them began to vanish all together, and light was once again allowed to spill down on the world below. The morning sun soon left its image again, dispersing all of the darkness and gloom that had been left. Everything began to grow livid and vibrant in shape and appearance again.

In a few moments, the only sign that there had ever been anything chaotic there at all was the ruins of the diner, and the forms, both human and non-human, strewn around it. Unlike the rest of the world, they too began to lay deathly still and motionless for a while to come.

It wasn't until ten minutes later, when the Excalibur did begin to close on their location, that they began to awaken again.

"Come on, runt human. On your feet."

Denzel's senses were barely beginning to come back when he felt a rather powerful, vise-like grip seize him by the arm and yank him to his feet. Immediately, what bearings had been restored to him were thrown for a loop, and he dizzily staggered in place, his head swimming and neither his eyes nor his hearing working properly. He felt like he was wandering in some sort of black fog. Yet two large and powerful grips soon planted on his shoulders and held him steady. And after that happened, he slowly felt things come back into focus. In addition, he felt strength slowly flow back into his legs. They locked underneath him as his muscles slowly tightened up.

The youth, still dazzled, managed to look up into the face of the one holding him up. As his eyes cleared…he began to feel heat bearing down on him. It was as if he was next to a bonfire. And the form that began to take shape in front of him was that of large, long, drool covered teeth in a canine mouth. Right above it, fierce fiery eyes glared at him from beneath a flaming mane on bronzed skin.

Snapping out of it, Denzel's senses came back in a flash with the rest of his strength. Instinctively, he leapt back away from the ravenous grimace, tearing himself out from under the grip of its hands. But after he had moved away a short distance, the rest of his memory came back as well. Terrible and ferocious as the face was, which now turned into a look of irritation as it let out a snarl, he realized it wasn't unfamiliar. It was the face of the fire esper.

"Well, hello to you too." It snorted. "Next time I'll just leave you lying on the ground."

"Ugh…don't blame him, Ifrit… I'd do the same thing if I woke up to your face…" Carbuncle's voice groaned tiredly.

Ifrit snapped his head with a growl to the side. Denzel followed it as well, and soon began to get an idea of their surroundings. They were still there in the diner…or what was left of it. Whoever hadn't been killed by Diablos' assault had fled now. The structure looked moments from falling over. The ceiling was gone along with one of the walls. And now, the espers had entered it. They were milling about the remaining people, helping them up. The others were already standing. Most of them looked a bit bruised and bloody. Shelke herself was dabbing at the back of her head with a napkin set that she had found, and it was coming off red. Marlene still seemed to be getting her bearings, and was being steadied by Shiva. But by now, sore as they looked, they were all standing again.

Denzel did notice something else rather quickly. Crain was already up too. And when Denzel had reacted to Ifrit, he turned around to him. The older boy got a look at his face…and saw that it was streaked with tears. Soon after, he took off for him. Before the youth could react, Crain had wrapped his arms around his waist and put his head against his stomach, beginning to cry again. Denzel was struck for a moment with confusion, frozen in response to this sudden act. Yet as his arms slowly and instinctively lowered down on top of the boy…he began to realize that they were indeed missing some people. Two, in particular. He also noticed for the first time that Azure was standing somewhat farther away with his arms crossed and his back to the others, a dark look of failure on his face.

Soon, the boy began to feel the same sensation of fear and sadness flow into him.

He took them…

"Bastard…" Ifrit growled, but not to Carbuncle this time. He had turned away from Denzel and was pacing about among the debris and drywall covering the floor of the ex-diner, brooding and singing it all the way. "Why didn't he just finish us off?"

"Who cares? Just be glad he didn't." Quetzacoatl spoke up from her location. She was perched on the remains of the main diner counter, hunched over Shera, who still looked rather shaken up and frazzled, and the remaining other boy.

"Mmm…" A low moan came from nearby, directing everyone's attention back to the center. Even Azure turned around at this and looked back. The sound came from Marlene, who was rubbing her head and shaking it somewhat. A moment later, however, and her eyes fluttered and opened. She looked out in front of herself again, scanning the area before her.

"…Samoa…Simoa…" She said aloud, before her eyes flew open the rest of the way. She seemed to realize they were gone, and immediately looked up to Shiva with fear in her eyes. "The twins! Where are they?"

That removed all doubt in Denzel's mind. With a grimace, he turned his head down…but in response only found Crain there, still clinging to him and crying. The other espers soon looked down as well, and they too formed appearances of defeat. Azure himself looked away and formed his grim look again. It was only then when Shera, dark as most of them were, turned her head slowly to Marlene and confirmed it.

"…He took them."

Marlene stared at her for a moment as this sunk in. As for the others, they stayed silent, letting the dark fact once again settle on each of them. Denzel himself narrowed his eyes, thinking about his own vain attempt to attack Diablos. Even if his move hadn't been reckless, he realized it wouldn't have mattered. The dark esper had struck him down without expending more than the tiniest amount of effort. He had been totally useless…unable to do a thing to save them…

"…I hate him…"

The voice that said this was unexpectedly young and laced with emotion. Denzel also realized it was very close by. He looked up, and saw that Crain had already pushed off from him. His hands were balled into fists and his head was turned to the ground, where his eyes glared. His cheeks were still stained with tears, but he could tell the boy was enraged.

"Everything bad that's happened is because of him!" He yelled. "He's taken everyone! Mom! Dad! Aunt Aerith! Uncle Ragnar! Samoa! Simoa! I wish he would die! I hate him more than anything else in the world!"

Denzel swallowed back a bit. This scene was all too familiar to him… There had been a time when he was in the same position. And right now, he didn't know what to say. But before anything could come to mind, Crain snapped around and looked to everyone.

"Can't you guys stop him?" He shouted. "Can't you kill him? Uncle Ragnar said you were all supposed be strong and magical! Why can't you stop him then? Why couldn't you stop him from hurting my brothers? Why couldn't you save Samoa and Simoa?"

"Crain…" Marlene began to speak up in response. "Don't…"

"…He's right, you know."

Again, attention was diverted. The espers, who hadn't responded to Crain, and had only looked more downcast in response, now looked up to the new speaker. This time, they found themselves staring at Shiva. Her own arms were crossed as she kept her head down.

"We did fail. That was our chance to stop him and change things, and we didn't. The only answer I can give is that we are not strong enough. Now his plans will come to fruition, because of our inability. We could have ended it right here, and we did not. And there is no true excuse for that. We should have been more prepared or wiser, because there was nothing else standing in his way. No other chances. So indeed...it is our fault."

The room was silent for a moment. Denzel, Marlene, and Shera looked around to the espers momentarily, and saw that they only seemed to grow darker and grimmer, keeping their heads bowed and appearing more depressed all the time. However, Shelke and Azure, surprisingly, only kept their own dark stares out into space. They didn't seem puzzled by this at all. Denzel was confused for a moment…but then slowly began to realize why.

Shera didn't, however, and began to voice in response. "Now, don't blame yourselves…" She began, looking around to all of them. "You tried to fight him as best as you could. You just couldn't stop him. He was too strong. There wasn't anything any of you could have done…"

Unfortunately, Denzel realized that wasn't true now. Perhaps Shera did as well as she trailed off. He had forgotten. There was one option left…one they didn't use. Diablos needed to take the children with him. According to Leviathan, they had to be in a state of "living death". If he killed them, then their spirits would return to the Lifestream, and they'd be useless. They had to be somewhere between living and dead for him to have sole use of their powers.

If they had killed them…then Diablos could have never gotten use of their abilities.

It was a grim and dark thought that Denzel began to realize. It was something that didn't bide with him, and he doubted he had the resolve to carry out himself. But now, he began to realize just what Vincent and Shelke had tried to warn him about. About the price of victory…one that he knew now he himself would not have been willing to pay, regardless of the consequences. Apparently, the espers hadn't been willing to do so either. And now, they may have doomed the world by doing so. This was what Shiva truly meant by being not "strong enough". This was what truly made the espers unhappy now. And now…Denzel didn't know whether to be disappointed in them as well or be happy that they had held back. After all…what had they truly gained by holding back? Anything? What fate would befall them all now? Them and the rest of the world?

"Crain…"

Denzel's words got the boy's attention. He turned back and looked up anxiously into Denzel's eyes. His own were still teary, but they had softened considerably to look back up to his older brother.

"…Don't be mad at them. We're as much to blame as them." He finally said. "…And they did try their best to save them. They really did. We just couldn't do it. If you're going to be mad…you should be mad at me too."

Crain looked back and blinked, obviously not fully understanding this. However, he did see his brother's face growing sad. He did hear the sincerity on his voice. And as a result, he too began to grow troubled. He forgot his earlier anger, and stepped forward. He hugged Denzel again, but this time it wasn't for his own benefit. It was for his.

"…I'm not mad, big brother…I just want you to stop him… I don't want him to take away Marlene, Azure, and you next…"

Feeling and hearing this, Denzel reacted as well. He raised his own arms and placed them on Crain's shoulders. Then, after a moment…his own grip slowly moved around to hug him back. "…No one's going to take me away from you, Crain. I'm your big brother. I'll look out for you. I won't leave you. I promise."

Denzel didn't see this…but Shelke looked away from him abruptly when she heard this. He didn't notice. He focused all on his brother at the moment. The two continued to hug in silence for a short time. None of the others disturbed them. Not even Azure, although he could have come in as well. He only looked up to the both of them, and then sighed and looked down again, once again going into another line of thought. Denzel closed his eyes and just held on for a bit longer, trying to absorb the feeling for the moment…trying to assure him that what he said was true through his own touch.

"Ahem…"

This sound, coming from someone new and from outside the room, made Denzel open his eyes again. He looked up and outside, toward the large hole in the wall. Crain didn't. He continued to hold on for now. Marlene, Shera, and Shelke looked out too, but the others remained in their downcast positions, not seeming to care at the moment. Denzel soon saw who was speaking.

Standing in the former wall was Captain Mack, arms crossed and a bit testy.

"I don't mean to interrupt whatever's going on…but do you guys realize exactly where you are and what time of day it is?"

Denzel blinked and then, for the first time, turned his vision outside and began to look around. He hadn't really done so since the sky first turned black. However, the sun was back full force now. Not only that, but he could see through the hole and the ceiling that the Excalibur was there, landed right in the middle of a parking lot and hovering at the ready. Yet that was rather minor compared to everything else.

No less than two hundred people were gathered around the building at this point. And they had police officers among them. For now, they were standing back, but they were armed and seeming to set up a perimeter. Though none of them had yet stepped forward, it was quite clear that all of them had to very easily be seeing the four espers and the humans inside. Any attempts at secrecy before now were blown away. The press was arriving on the scene and more people were stopping to look all the time. In fact, it had to be solely due to confusion and hesitation that Mack had to have managed to get close enough to them to actually speak to them. The officers must have been too nervous to come forward yet, especially after the earlier incidents in Midgar with Cerberus and Pandemona.

"I hope you guys all like your faces on television, by the way." Mack somewhat grumpily stated. "Because you're going to be on in about ten minutes. What are you all doing standing around here in the first place? Let's get out of here before the cops start shooting!"

"Shove it, human." Ifrit grouchily answered. For once, Shiva wasn't able to give him a cold look in response.

"What's the point?" Carbuncle asked from his own low position, ears sagging and crouched on the ground. "Diablos won. He got the twins. Now he has everyone on the Planet who has Cetra blood in them. We might as well find some rocks to hide under before this world becomes a living Hell…"

The unfortunate facet came back to Denzel, and made his spirits sink again. Indeed…it was fairly moot that he was trying to cheer up his younger brother. What was there to be happy about, after all? They had just lost. Yet in short order in response to what had just been said, Denzel was surprised to find Crain breaking off from him and turning back to the espers.

"Come on, you guys! You can't quit now!" He shouted at them. "You've got to save them! You've got to save my mom and dad and friends! You're the only ones who can help us! You've got to beat that monster and save the world!"

Quetzacoatl gave a sigh from her position. "I'm sorry, Crain…but we can't. Diablos has everyone with Cetra blood. He'll be all-powerful when we see him again. There's nothing we can do now except protect you…"

"Wait!"

This last cry was filled with optimism and hope, a sensation rather foreign to the others at this point. In response, everyone this time, including Shelke and Azure, looked up and over to who had yelled out. They found themselves staring at Marlene, who had suddenly gone livid and hopeful. She looked around to all of them with her eyes wide and enthusiastic.

"We haven't lost yet! Diablos doesn't have everyone with Cetra blood!"

The espers' faces immediately went to confused.

"Huh? He don't?" Ifrit asked.

"Who still remains?" Shiva followed up.

Azure himself, however, suddenly had a light of recognition go off in his own head. Immediately, his own dark look faded, and he smacked his palm against it. "Of course… Why didn't I think of that!"

"What are you talking about?" Denzel asked in response, looking over to him.

He looked back and leveled something of a critical glare at his brother. "Come on Denzel! You know who!"

"Spit it out, already!" Ifrit yelled in increasing irritation.

"Aerith's half-sister!" Marlene called back triumphantly. "Krystea!"

To be continued...