Junon was officially a war zone.

Officers, and now some civilians (out of bravery or, more likely, panic), fired whatever weapons they could at the monsters assaulting the city. Six of them attempted to stave off the charges of the three-headed beast in one corner, only to get broken by him as he charged a moment later. Another ten took cover behind barriers as the purple one generated cyclones to tear apart their barricades. The remaining lines broke up front as the incoming army entered and immediately split up, razing every building and structure in their path. It was only because they were attempting to level everything that they were moving so slowly. The thunder bird screeched as twelve needles hit it, but somehow it stayed aloft and continued to futily blast the Gigantuar with lightning. The Tonberry King gave the fire monster a body slam into a car, yet the beast, although slowing, forced himself back to his feet to tackle the green creature again. At least three blocks were filling with people stricken by some illness generated by the train circling the sky, all of its residents collapsing and beginning to emit bloody vomit. Vincent and Yuffie were struggling to keep the two minotaurs occupied as they threw huge chunks of buildings and roadway at them, and were being forced back by the constant assault. Ice walls continued to materialize out of nowhere periodically (likely courtesy of the ice monster) to save a few people in the path of weaponry or fire blasts, but the volume was overwhelming.

Reno took this all in as gravel and burnt roadway flew up in the air, forcing him to close his eyes as he dove behind a ruined dumpster. Elena gave a similar shriek as she did the same next to him. Yet despite all of this, the two continued to work in concert with their respective RPGs. They had brought these weapons along but had kept them hidden until the opportune moment…and, to Reno, now definitely qualified. Even as he grit his teeth to weather the latest blast, he shook out debris from the top of the nozzle as he loaded an explosive round into the head.

Elena had already managed it, and turned to him. "How did we get dragged into this, again?"

"It's not so bad!" Reno shouted back to her over the din. "Not as painful as fights one and four with Cloud's boys… Not as loud as the invasion of the Northern Continent… Not as stressful as the fight with Aleron… Definitely not as fun as those Sephiroth larvae in Midgar…"

Reno was cut off as a needle pierced straight through the dumpster, shooting in between the two Turks before embedding itself in the street. Both of them froze and looked to it in surprise momentarily, before looking back to each other. Reno gave a shrug.

"I'd tie it for most potentially abruptly lethal, though."

The two paused a moment longer, but then finished loading. Once that was done, without counting, they both held for two more seconds before springing up from their hiding place, turning, and taking aim at the monstrous Cactuar. Reno and Elena were managing to hold at the front though most people were breaking at this point. The enemy army was nearly to them, and the Gigantuar still held sway over the area around it. But then again, when paid to do a job, Turks were supposed to take the most extreme risks. It took them only a moment to zero in on the Gigantuar's body and fire off their respective weapons.

Despite how awkward one might think these weapons were, in the hands of the Turks, they could be practical surgeons even on a moving platform with them. They sailed straight and true, timed perfectly to avoid the lightning bird's latest pass and head straight for the main body of the larger creature. They were also coming from appropriate alternate angles, meant so that if the beast tried to dodge one, it would only drive itself head on into the other. And from this range, there was no room to dart to either side. The mustached Cactuar did turn its body so that its two large holes for eyes did spot the two shots incoming, but at that point they were only yards away, and it was too late…

Or at least, it should have been.

Both Elena and Reno soon got a surprise as the large creature quite easily showed off that it was as agile as the smaller ones by swishing its body around in a circle at incredible speeds, easily spinning in such a way to just dodge both weapons. The rockets sailed harmlessly by before their gas fizzled out, and they collapsed to fall somewhere among the cliff rocks leading into town. Not only that, but as soon as both shots had been dodged, the Gigantuar proceeded to orientate its body fully toward the two Turks again, and shifted its arms to aim at them…

"…Sh't." Reno grumbled.

"Run!" Elena, far more to the point, cried.

Knowing now that the dumpster wasn't a good enough barrier, both Turks got up and bolted. Luckily for them, they weren't dumb enough to pick a barricade in a place where they could be cut off. There was a brick and mortar pillar of one of the buildings nearby, and they made for it. They had no time to take the rest of their rockets with them, and without them they saw no reason to bring along their launchers. They tossed those aside to make more speed as they dashed to the pillar. Unfortunately, it was only big enough for one. Reno reached it first, spun around, and placed his back against it. Without waiting for "clearance", he reached out, seized Elena, and nearly yanked her in front of him, putting his arms around her body and pulling her in close to make her less of a target. Moments later, and needles roared by either side of the column, giving the ruined, cracked streets and pavement around them an appearance like a silver grass lawn. Reno merely kept his head back and endured.

A few seconds later, and the firepower cut off as the Gigantuar resumed going after its avian foe. Reno continued to hold and keep his head back. Mentally, however, he was counting down from three seconds. And sure enough, on the third second, he began to feel fists pushing against him.

"You can let me go now!"

Grinning, Reno looked down to see Elena, quite red in the face and not liking this position, pounding on his chest as hard as she could from such short range. He released her a moment later, not necessarily out of an end of amusement but from the fact that Elena wasn't playfully hitting. She was causing him some genuine pain. At any rate, as soon as they broke off, she immediately went for her gun. Reno quickly snapped out his prod as well, but at the same time dove into his jacket for his phone and emerged with it a moment later. After hitting a speed-dial button, he quickly placed it to his head, adjusting it only for loud volume as the chaos continued to unfold.

Moments later, he got an answer.

"Yeah?"

"Rude, pull yourself and Krystea back. We can't hold them here." Reno immediately answered. "We aren't even slowing them down. Get yourself to the second-"

Reno was cut off again and yanked the phone away from his head to turn and shield himself. Elena did the same as a red rocket from one of the basic troops proceeded to annihilate the dumpster they had used as a shield a moment ago. Now, bits of sharp debris tore at their clothing and struck them painfully as their remaining ammunition was detonated by the heat. They were nearly blown off of their feet as a result, thrown forward by the blast. Elena was forced down to all fours. Reno staggered and winced, but managed to stay standing. His ears continued to ring as he continued into the phone.

"…Make that the third fallback point."

Slamming the phone shut and putting it away, Reno prepared for more battle.


Rex watched as his hands slowly pushed down on the ring of Adamantite and pressed it into a locking place around the cylinder of Lunarite. It clicked into place soon afterward, in the slight grooves that he had carved into it. He quickly took up another ring, and began to do the same with it. It soon locked in as well, at a slightly higher position. He went for a third, knowing now that he would repeat the process until he had connected all seven rings…

When, abruptly, he felt the power leave his limbs. It was a stunning feeling. Suddenly, his arms fell, and the partially constructed Magical Lamp was nearly dropped on the table. He almost fell completely on his face, like a puppet cut from his strings, as it was, and it was only because he snapped to quickly that he managed to keep from doing so. It took only moments to realize that Leviathan had broken his control. Puzzled, the youth looked into the air, as if Leviathan was somehow floating overhead.

"What's wrong?"

…It has begun.

Rex blinked. "What do you mean?"

Diablos. Perhaps he's moving faster than we thought. Maybe our actions in his base forced his hand. At any rate, he's not waiting any longer. He's attacking full force. I can sense every esper under his command has moved. He himself is fast coming. The humans and the three of us that remain will not be able to stop him or save the last Cetra from his grasp.

Rex felt a wave of fear ripple through him at that. However, his anxiety lasted only a moment. He held up the partially finished Magical Lamp. "But we have this. We can stop him, right?"

Getting close enough to use that will mean little if the rest of his forces are not similarly dealt with. In addition, in the time it takes me to ferry you there, the battle will be over and the city where they fight will be razed to the ground.

The youth grimaced a bit at that.

…You know now what to do to finish it. Do so and then make for the coast as fast as you can.

Rex's eyes widened. "Wh…what?"

I can make far greater speed when I don't have to worry about keeping a passenger alive. I'm headed for that city to aid in the battle. I'll send Carbuncle back to warp you there with the Magical Lamp. He can do so much faster than I. Hurry.

"But…but wait! Leviathan!"

There was no response, nor a sense of a presence waiting for him in his mind. Rex didn't have to keep calling out to realize what had happened. Leviathan had already left him, and here he was behind in the cave with the remaining pieces of the lamp.

The geologist frowned and groaned. He didn't want to have to do this. He kept having the feeling something would be screwed up by his actions. True enough, it seemed simple to finish now, but he still had the feeling he'd somehow botch it. Maybe he'd slip and dent something. Maybe he'd get dirt in it or something. He was nervous enough about this when Leviathan was at his side.

But then again…he had wanted to help out and be more than just a useless bystander. And the esper had believed in him being able to finish this on his own. At this point, he reasoned they all had to work together to try and stop Diablos from carrying out his plans. He could only resign himself in the end at this point. There was no one left to argue with.

Exhaling and trying to mimic the steadiness of Leviathan's own control, although his fingers and hands were quivering at this point, Rex turned back to the lamp and began to fasten the third metal circle around it.


The Griffin continued to pepper Vincent's opponent although it seemed to have no true effect. His skin was as hard as rock, it appeared. He couldn't tell if he was actually seeing tiny fragments of it erupt from bullet impacts, or if he was merely seeing his bullets turning into sparks as he moved away and kept firing. However, even if it wasn't doing any true damage, it still had its usefulness. The large minotaur was foolish and egotistical. He stood still and puffed out his chest as Vincent fired, turning his head to the sky and bellowing in laughter.

"PUNY HUMAN! YOU CAN'T HURT ME WITH YOUR PITIFUL LITTLE ROCK LAUNCHER, NO MATTER HOW MANY TIMES YOU FIRE IT!"

The giant didn't realize that each time that he paused to laugh, he gave Vincent a moment to move away from him. And with his opponent's slower speed, keeping up with Vincent was a challenge already. He wasn't realizing that he was giving Vincent a greater advantage at the moment as he backed up down the narrow alley he found himself caught in…

Unfortunately, the big one wasn't alone.

A moment later, and Vincent began to hear the walls of the buildings on either side of the alley begin to groan and grumble. His red eyes flashed to the side only for a moment, to confirm what he believed was happening with his peripheral vision. Sure enough, he saw fractures appearing along the stone and mortar, rapidly chasing up the sides. Without a second's further hesitation, Vincent crouched and leapt back as fast and as hard as he could.

He barely cleared it. He was just in time to catch a smaller object fall alongside him and flash out a piece of shining metal before he got out of the path of destruction. An instant later, and the walls of either building separated from the sides of their main structures and folded down over the alley below, leaning over and collapsing on the road below. An avalanche of bricks and cement rained down on where he was a second earlier, and would have most certainly pinned, if not crushed, him if he had remained there.

Vincent was forced to break off his gunfire as he landed, and turned his head away as he kept backing up, getting away from the cloud of dust arising in the wake of the attack. The big one might have been a blockhead, but the smaller one was quite intelligent and skilled. Despite how loud and telegraphing that an attack like that should have been, he had only caught it at the last minute, and had nearly been crushed by it. What more, it was unlikely that the attack was even intended for him. It was likely to be used against the smaller monster's own opponent, but had been co-opted to hit them both at the last minute…

As if on cue, thinking of the smaller monster's opponent made Vincent conscious of the sound of dry coughing over the noise of the battle. He didn't bother turning his head to the side to realize that Yuffie was the one he had seen shoot by him. Now she was doubled over slightly with her hand to her face, hacking in the wake of the dust and smoke that had just come out. She was trying to handle the smaller minotaur, but she wasn't having much luck. Her speed should have ran rings around him, but the little one seemed to be well adjusted to his weakness in terms of lack of mobility and compensated.

At any rate, a swishing sound cut through the dust cloud before them a moment later, and the shuriken came rushing out from the gloom and back toward Yuffie. That was what she had flung a moment ago, and now she managed to look up from coughing to catch it. She quickly backed up as she kept clearing her throat, getting ready to attack once again. However, Vincent wasted less time. He paused only to empty his mostly exhausted magazine and load in a fresh one. That done, he aimed at the dust cloud quickly and opened fire once again.

Yuffie snapped over at that, wondering why he was attacking again already, but Vincent didn't explain. He continued to back up and kept firing, and soon she saw the answer. Like her own weapon, soon pieces of brick and stone began to shoot forth from the smoke. However, the pounding bullets of the Griffin ripped each one apart as it came close, many before they could even leave the slowly descending smoke, and, as a result, spreading more of the dirt and dust around to create a thicker screen. Vincent kept firing as he backed up past Yuffie's position, and began to move faster as he continued. Yuffie herself hesitated a bit longer, looking back to Vincent as he passed, and then back into the clouds, narrowing her eyes to try and see if the espers were up…

She didn't wait long. Abruptly, a massive shadow tore through the gloom as the large one charged forward, his whole body taking up most of the alley. Thrashing about his horns and roaring angrily, he charged down like an angry bull. Yuffie let out a yelp and turned to run after Vincent as he emptied the last of his bullets, then turned and did the same. Luckily for them, this particular alley was open on both ends.

Of course, that did little to alleviate their problem. Regular weapons weren't even leaving a dent in the hides of some of these creatures. Those that were hurt weren't taking too much pain. And there was so much confusion that there was no time to try to find and implement stronger weapons. The demon himself had not yet appeared. It was reasonable to assume that things wouldn't hit their worst until he got there. But they had to be down to half of their forces or less. They weren't getting any victories, even with the other two…maybe three…espers helping them out. At this point, they could use any miracles that might arrive.

I hope I'm not buying as much time as I can for nothing…


The city was beginning to burn. One of the humans' huge structures groaned, and then began to collapse, burying several districts of their abominable, lifeless habitat in chemical-laden dust of their own making. Their gargoyles were everywhere now, killing all stragglers or hard-to-reach human snipers. Their armies were flooding the streets. Pandemona was ripping apart a large portion of the city with his cyclones while Cerberus was burning a street with his weapons. Everywhere there were only sounds of humans dying. There was no escape from it. One at this point could only try and go where it was at a minimum. The only way to avoid it all together was to leave the town through the south entrance, but soon Sacred and Minotaur would seal that off as well. Then there would be nothing. Half of the city was a war zone. The other half was getting assorted creatures and waiting for the battle to engulf them next. What few humans hadn't turned to flee and die like ants squirming from a drowned hole were holing up in their homes or praying and being foolishly brave as they took positions in their alleys. A few survivors from the front were turning up as well, trying to take new positions there to keep fighting. But it was useless. There weren't enough weapons with sufficient power to stop them all. Diablos himself had yet to appear with his coven, and he had yet to implement his most destructive force of all.

That meant, if she was to act, the time was now.

It hadn't been hard to stay in the shadows. Although she lacked the ability to shapeshift, her voice was enough to make all who heard it think she was nothing more than the fairest maiden in the world, enough for all of them to give their lives to make sure she wasn't seen or followed. And it hadn't taken long either to isolate some of the people she was looking for. They would do nicely, based on her research…

She watched them now like mice in a maze. Here, the buildings in the city grew thick and flushed against the cliff face, which had been made erect and overlain with metal. She was on a relatively small one, only about two stories. Yet she was surrounded by much higher buildings. Few gargoyles could see them, and neither could the Doomtrain. Here, she was as secluded and safe as the quarry she had tailed.

Two of the targets Diablos had specified, those "Turks", had broken off from the main fighters. Maybe it was cowardice or some larger plan. In either case, Siren did not care. All she did care was that they were almost clear of the current zone of battle when a pack of guard hounds had run into them. Both had broken off in opposite directions. The bald one with dark lenses ran one way, and the fair-haired one ran the other. Strange…but the second reminded her of one of the other Cetra… Could it have been…?

At any rate, Siren, though possessing some sensory ability, was unable to keep tabs on her in the midst of the rest of these maggots. There were too many other energy signatures. She only managed to keep tabs on the bald one, but it was no matter. Half of the guard hounds went after him, and he defeated them all with just his fists. Most impressive for a monkey. However, it had taken some time and distance, and before he had been able to he had gotten far separated from his comrade. Now, he was wandering this dark portion of the city, secluded from anyone who might help him…be they on the side of the humans or the espers.

She watched him now as a spider watches a fly drift into her web. Gazing down from the top of the building and eyeing him with a cruel, twisted smile. Her violet eyes flashed as she gazed at him, thinking up numerous chants that would perfectly entice him. She was casual, and reclined her mostly naked body as her feathery hair slowly swished in the air silently. She saw him. He ran around a corner, and then pitched and began to run toward the junction in front of her. He kept his fists out and breathed heavy, but he had his mind on combat still, and he no doubt intended to continue to fight once he got to where he was going.

However, at this point, Siren realized now was as good a time as any to act. Silently, her legs uncrossed and her hair folded back as she began to tuck her legs under to rise up.

She was surprised at the result. Despite how silent she thought she was, the man immediately froze in his tracks. Amazing. The human actually picked up on her? At any rate, she didn't stop. She got her legs underneath her and began to rise next, coming to her full height. The man stayed immobile, looking ahead, but no doubt realizing she was there now. He wouldn't have double checked if he was uncertain. No…he was trying to plan his next move.

Finally, he made one. In a flash, his gloved hand raised and went into his suitcoat…

Siren started her latest song with a laugh, mocking the action. Her first lyrics scolded him in her native language. Even so, before the spell fully took hold over him, he had manage to pull out the weapon…some sort of explosive device. What more, he had managed to set it, for as she asserted her command over him, he deactivated it again. Quite impressive indeed. He'd make a nice pawn. But that could wait a moment… As she continued to lay out her basic trance, letting him know who was the fairest in the world and his absolute master, she slowly stepped over to the edge and then leapt off. Her feathery hair spread out and caught the air, letting her fall to the ground gently. She landed without a noise right next to him, and he immediately turned to obediently face her.

Once that was done, she drew herself to full height. She looked through his dark lenses with her own purple eyes, smiling cruelly the whole time, and finally sang to him the crucial question…the answer to everything.

Who is the final Cetra?

He resisted. That, obviously, was very secret information. But that only made Siren grin wider as she made her tone more seductive and deep. She enjoyed breaking them. It stimulated her when they offered resistance. It took forever to break three of them earlier completely, but Diablos' alteration of their bodies to give them more primitive minds helped immensely. Here, she had no such luxury. Instead, she stretched out her fair, taloned hand and gently ran it along his cheek and over his head and chin, leaning in close and singing more slowly and personally. Then, the question came again.

Who is the final Cetra?

He resisted a bit longer, but then it came.

"…Krystea Anne Valentine."

Siren nearly broke off her chant. She couldn't believe it. Her memory recalled the priority targets, and she realized that was one of the Turks. In fact…she was almost positive that it was the one who had split off from this man. Fate is ironic. If she had only focused on her, she would have her already. Then her job would have been that much simpler. At any rate, that mattered little. All that did matter now was that she knew who Diablos needed…that she alone possessed that knowledge…

…And that she would make sure that he would never get it.

Where?

"She's meeting me at a rendezvous point less than a quarter mile from here. The pier landing for Dock 34."

Perfect. He knew where to go. His dark lenses hid the effects of her spell from the world. And this man was a trained killer as well as a friend. It was almost too good to be true. Everything was falling in place for her. A new song began to rise in her throat. One far more passionate and strong. One full of lust and hate. One that would tell him to go there…wait for Krystea to come to him…wait for her to be in front of him…then to deliver a single, powerful blow to the proper vulnerable spot…

"Actually…that will be all, Siren."

The violet in Siren's eyes vanished as her pupils shrank, her corneas almost turning her eyes white. Terror unlike any she had ever experienced rippled through her body. Yet there was no time for fear. No time to cringe. No time to think about the consequences or consider alternatives. Instead, she quickly thought of only the strongest song she could possibly manage, one that would penetrate into the most flinty heart to find something to entice. She couldn't wait. While still bringing it to her lips, she spun around in a flash to give the demon behind her the most powerful, moving incantation she could utter…

Instead, she felt an impact against her skull, followed by blinding white smoke, thick and opaque, filling her vision. Despite that, she inhaled and got the breath to blow out her first, powerful, entrancing note. Yet as she exhaled…pain and horror alike struck her. The white mist filled her lungs and clung to it…immediately drying them out. In moments, her throat was rendered bone dry. Her numerous vocal cords were turned into pieces of dried sinew. She tried to sing, but only a raspy croak emerged. Panic filled her. Quickly, she tried to swallow…but it was no good. She had been totally dried out. She clutched at her throat and struggled to make any sound…to synthesize an enchantment. Nothing.

Siren stumbled past her motionless pawn and away from the fast-receeding white mist.

In her wake…the pale, putrid, rotten remnants of the face of a blond man emerged, with eyes like a serpent's and long teeth coming from an overly-large grin. Diablos.

"Because the spell of Silence is White Magic, not one of my many constituents ever had a firm grasp on it…but these things the humans call 'Mute Bombs'…such wonderful items…" He cooed as he walked toward her. "They still need them. After all, you must speak to use materia. That means that cutting off one's voice is still a viable market."

Siren tried to stumble back more, but Diablos was taller and strode longer and faster. He was there first. He reached her and let out a slow exhale as he came to a halt. The coldness exuding off of him froze her in her place. The darkness made her fear grow…crippling her. Her hands continued to clutch for her throat…but not for long. Diablos extended his own clawed hand, covered with wet, rotting flesh, and grabbed one. It felt colder than ice, burning to the touch, as he pulled it off from her neck and down toward her chest, placing his own taloned hand in between her large breasts before resting it there. Her yellow eyes flashed.

"Oh, Siren…" He slowly exhaled…voice full of cold dangerousness. "Did you honestly think that I would give you power over half of my army…and would trust you completely?"

Siren could only stare back in terror…before a cold stabbing pain shot into her chest. Immediately, it pierced her heart, making her rigid and filling her with dark thoughts. Rejection by mother… Pain at the hands of Magitek Researchers… All the thoughts of loneliness and agony she had ever experienced began to fill her mind and heart and be amplified a thousand-fold. Her vision began to give way as she felt herself sinking into inky blackness. Sounds became distant, and all other memories and senses dulled in the light, or rather dark, of what was happening to her. She was only able to let out a ragged breath before she looked down to her chest. Black gunk had been placed there, and was already burrowing into her. The rest of it was quickly spreading across the rest of her body, covering her with it as it had covered the human Shelke. Unable to move…barely able to breathe…she collapsed as it continued to swallow her alive.

Diablos regarded it dully, as he held up his own head and continued.

"For a few brief moments from time to time…I did actually think of making you my queen… Your potential mixed with modern day communications…you could cover this world in chaos. However…you just proved to me the reason why I was wise never to fully trust any of you. In your case, it was because you were simply too powerful. I couldn't rely on you to remain under me forever…not with that much capability…

"More importantly, however, is the one thing you all have in common. Light, dark, good, evil…it doesn't matter what you want to call yourselves. You're espers…and you meddle. That's what you've always done. The best way to get any use out of you is to use you as weapons…just like you were back in the War of the Magi. But once your time is fulfilled…it's best to simply dispose of you afterward. You always end up coming back to be a thorn in the side of all my incarnations and souls when I leave you to your own devices. Even you allowed yourself to be the pawn of humans when the time came…for the sake of ruining people like Kefka…or the Demon…"

By now, the black material had covered Siren…and was beginning to sink in and form new shapes and contours as Siren started to slow in struggling…

Diablos let out a chuckle.

"But seriously…a world ruled by espers? Please. You never ruled this world. It's been your fate to be myths and observers. But even if such a thing was possible…then it's equally ludicrous to try and establish you now. Powerful as you are, you're relics. You've been succeeded by humans in every possible way. It's like trying to create a world ruled by dinosaurs or amphibians. You're extinct…inferior. Your own rulers realized that a long time ago. What they didn't realize is that so many of you had taken up human traits of jealousy, envy, hatred, and revenge. That's what made you and the rest of my soon-to-be obsolete tools so useful. From centuries past, you refused to conform to your role of just fading into history. That's why you so easily and quickly came to my side. That's why I was able to use you all with so little effort. Anything for your narrow, dark visions of revenge… Hate, as you can see, serves as the 'rudder' of mankind. Leon learned that the hard way. Zemus taught that to Golbez and Kain Highwind just as X-Death taught that to humanity. Garland taught his pawn Kuja that lesson well when dealing with shallow people such as the Queen of Alexandria. And you, of all people, should have known it. You need only manipulate the darkness in one's heart and they will be your eternal, faithful slave."

Diablos lowered himself to his knees here as Siren's new bodysuit began to take the shape of scales and flesh, much as it had on Shelke. However, the head was completely covered now…almost hooded…save for what appeared to be black tendrils anchored around her exposed mouth. It was as if the entire suit was a restraint for everything save that now, and was designed to direct it. He leaned up to her face so that his own rotting one was near hers.

"You see…there were much better candidates in terms of power to revive. But in terms of utility…which ones could be used for, say…a week or so…and then destroyed and used to fuel my own power…the ones I chose were perfect. You were never anything more than scaffolds…pawns with which to incapacitate the enemy long enough to build my true army. I don't really need your voice anymore. My new force of soldiers has had their intelligence and temperament properly altered to conform to their new bodies. They follow only the will of the greatest of dark sorcerers. Yet as you can see…" He grinned wider here. "You have one final act of utility to give me. And I do appreciate you giving me the name of the one I sought."

His pupils narrowed as he tapped his talons against the hardening torso.

"You see, Siren…with people like you and my respective entities…it's all about dominion. Take the world for yourself. But now that I've become aware and have the hindsight of the thousands that make me up…I realize this world isn't worth keeping." His voice lowered. "I dream of a world where poison clouds blow through necropolises filled to the brim with zombies and the undead. I imagine abominations dancing around flames of magma and bathing in oceans filled with sludge and rot. I delight at the thought of rotten trees swallowing up foul, unnamed creatures while this world lurches through space as the greatest undead of all…spreading the message to the ends of the universe of the totality and inevitability of death as it consumes all life."

The tendrils finished tightening, anchoring into Siren's flesh and turning her skin pure white. It looked as if she was nothing more than an inhuman mouth now in a mess of darkness…a nightmarish and abominable sight. It seemed to emerge from the darkness of her bodysuit like a thing from another dimension. Her body went still now…as the suit fully engrained in her flesh and heart and rendered her rigid with feelings of death and coldness. Diablos smiled at this, pleased with his work, as he extended a talon and ran it along her suited cheek.

"Tell me, Siren…does it feel good to know what kind of world you and your associates have truly been working for?"

The mouth closed. A swallow went down the throat. The Mute Bomb was wearing off at this point. The suit was making sure to get rid of its effects. Furthermore, it was making very sure to let its new victim know that the slightest act against Diablos or his will would result in feeling crushing terror and misery the likes of which she had never known, amplified a hundred-fold.

Yet somehow, she did manage a faint, yet harsh sound, from her throat.

"…I'm going…to kill you."

Diablos grinned and sneered, showing his teeth.

"You fool. I've completed you. I've enabled you to fulfill the only purpose something spawned from pure evil like yourself could ever have…to bring misery and death. Your destiny is to be a creature of wickedness and hate, to eventually die, and then to feed entities like me or the Void. Out of all the creatures in this world, you, first and foremost, should have recognized me as your god. Don't you know how much you've already fed me throughout the ages through the sound of your deadly voice? How much your first death fueled me? We're closer than a king and queen, Siren…we're practically the same."

Siren's lips stiffened, but offered no other resistance.

Diablos himself was finished. He rose up from the body and stood to his full height. The bald man continued to wait for instruction. As soon as he was up, however, Siren immediately started to move as well. She rose only slightly, before arching forward. She offered some resistance at this point…but she only cried out in pain as a result before sounding like she was being choked. She gave more fight than the human, but ultimately it was impossible to resist, just as Diablos said it was. In the end, she came forward and dropped into a kneel before him. She tried to get out of it, but merely strained and struggled in place.

"Now you have one final duty to perform, Siren." Diablos announced. "I want every last man, woman, and child in this entire city to tear it to the ground finding Krystea Anne Valentine, and then to bring her to me. And if you happen to get to her first, make my job easier by telling her that she is now my slave and willing human sacrifice. But both you and everyone else will give your lives to ensure she is not hurt. I need her alive to join the rest of her kin and gain power over this entire world. Now go."

Siren continued to stiffly resist, but in the end she barely even paused as her body rose from the ground and turned. Without another word of refusal, she began to rise into the air in levitation. The suit was enhancing those powers, after all. Once she had gotten to a good enough height, clearing the surrounding buildings, she turned and moved off. A moment later, and Diablos cracked a new smile as he heard her begin to sing once again. The bald man heard it as well, and immediately turned to do as commanded. Diablos himself watched for a moment in satisfaction, before turning away.

Time to deliver the final blow.


Am I asleep? Why?

There was no answer to that question. No one offered one, of course, and there was none within either for Cloud Strife to look to. As far as his memory went, it was nothing. A large black block, as if something had literally gone into his mind and cut out the past few days. The only thing he could clearly remember vividly was seeing Aerith getting swallowed alive on the television. After that, the memories were less intense… As he concentrated, he slowly began to remember that he had gone home…was making a plan to get revenge… After that, it was too distant. It was a few days ago at this point, after all. Yet soon after that point, he only knew a black block. It lasted a few days, but it was nothingness. Black paint had been spread over his memories, blocking them out all together. Now, he only remembered this. Had he been knocked out? Had someone jumped him?

His blue eyes cracked and looked out. He wasn't in pain or that dizzy, and so he quickly recognized what was in front of him. It was rather unexpected…the Midgar Ruins. Piles of junk were everywhere, although it appeared that some of them had been wrecked or knocked over. Something was distinctly familiar about them, but he couldn't make out what initially. It was light out, but not from sunlight. Some sort of radiant white glow from behind him was bathing everything around it in radiance. And it was definitely outside. He knew that much from the wind blowing by. It felt almost like a storm…but the air seemed dry and dead, not charged at all. There was a bit of a chill on it as it came…

And when it came, Cloud realized it. His skin was uncovered. He looked down and over his body, and was surprised to see he wore nothing. The only thing he did have was some loose, smooth, white cloth stretched over his middle, concealing his private parts. It was so white and fresh looking…it was hard to believe that it could have been so clean from being around this junkyard. He himself was a bit dirty, and mottled with dried sweat from considerable exertion. He didn't feel tired now, but he had to have been straining himself for some time. He was perched on a raised portion of the ruins of the city, where some of the concrete still stood up from the rest of the former road.

It didn't take him long to see he wasn't alone. To his side, he saw two more familiar faces…Tifa and Barret. He was stunned. What were they doing there? Like him, they had only a white sheet to cover their nakedness with. Barret himself was even missing his gun-arm. Only the barest bit of modifications of where his gun or artificial hand would go was present on his stump of a right hand. Both of them were asleep…but not for much longer. Tifa was already stirring as she did in the morning when she was about to arise. Barret was beginning to grumble and swear as he also came too.

Cloud looked slightly behind them…and his suspicions were confirmed. This place was familiar. It was at the foot of the Baptismal Garden. However, things had changed. To his surprise, a radiant light was shining forth from within, filling each window and the open doorway. It was glorious and pure. It was so bright that it was casting its glow over the entire area, turning everything white and dark in its rays, and yet Cloud found he could look into it and feel only a sense of peace; no pain or desire to shrink back at all. Yet whatever it was, he realized at once that it wasn't normal. The garden never had something like that before. It seemed otherworldly…unreal… He almost wondered…had he gone into a new realm? Was this the light of Heaven in mortal form beckoning him on?

"Well, you three are waking up, it looks like. But I think you'll still have to miss the party."

Cloud's head turned to the side. It wasn't quick. Something about him didn't want to look away from the white light. Yet when he did finally manage to turn, he found a strange sight meeting him. Perched on the ground just a few feet away was some sort of fluffy, green, cat/rabbit creature with long ears and a red ruby resting on its forehead above two black button eyes. It looked comical or cartoonish, almost…and Cloud stared at it in puzzlement. Had this thing spoken to him?

Apparently it had, for the black eyes seemed to crease a second later.

"Let me guess…you've never seen an esper before either."

Cloud was a man rarely surprised, but even he nearly leaned back. He saw no mouth move, but the sound had undeniably come from the green creature. "What the…? You can talk? What are you?"

The creature seemed to sigh at that, rolling his eyes. "I told you once already…I'm an esper. You humans never do listen…"

The man could only blink in confusion in response. "Esper…? Like Ragnar's always going on about? Like what he found up north? You're not…" Memories were beginning to flood back into Cloud's mind, but they were distant and fragmented, as if he hadn't thought of them in a while. It made him confused. "What…what's going on? How are you talking? Why are we here? Why are we nude? Where's Ragnar?"

In response, the green esper put a teddy-bear-like paw to its forehead, seeming to roll its button eyes.

"Ugh…you guys are so far behind at this point I'd spend all day explaining…" He grumbled. "Even summing up will be a problem. Bottom line is, there's a battle going on for the future of the Planet right now." He snorted and shrugged. "What else is new, right? Big bad guy tearing up one of your cities. Lots of minions. Bottom line is, you guys need to stay put right here. There isn't much you can do right now, especially unarmed and without any clothes. And don't head back to Edge, either. Not yet. Town is going to be a mess for quite a while yet. Hopefully there's no lasting damage."

"Huh? What are you talking about?" Cloud answered. "What's happening? Who are you anyway?"

"Sorry, no time for any more explanations." The creature answered. "Lord Leviathan already contacted me with an important errand. I'll have to explain everything else later. Just stay put and try not to do what you humans always do and let your curiosity lead you into trouble. Either everything will be fine or we all die. So why worry? Later."

Everything the creature said was either confusing or distressing, and so Cloud was far from done talking to him. But it appeared he wouldn't get another chance. Almost immediately after saying that last word, a ring of light formed around the small green creature. Seconds later, rays of energy appeared to come up from the ground within that ring and shoot by him. As they tore past, the creature twisted and stretched out, conforming to each ray of energy. It seemed to meld into them and be carried by them, shooting out of reality and into the light as it ascended into the heavens. Yet the light itself vanished just as quickly as it came too, and as a result the creature soon disappeared as well. The ring faded as soon as the light was gone, and Cloud soon found himself staring at nothing.

"Wait!" He tried to yell, defiantly holding out a hand to the now empty space in the air, as if the creature was still lingering there. However, he touched nothing. It was already gone. He was left only with the light and the weird air in front of the Baptismal Garden. Cloud grit his teeth in frustration and let his hand fall.

"Damnit! What the hell is going on?"

"…I was just about to ask the same thing."

Cloud turned his head in response to the sound of the familiar voice. He saw Tifa now fully awake and looking rather stupefied as she lay on the ground, pressing the white sheet around her nakedness and looking about in confusion. She seemed to be more embarrassed at the fact that she was exposed around two males than Cloud was about his own lack of clothing, but she too was utterly dumbfounded at where she found herself.

However, that was little compared to the irritation of the man next to her.

"Son of a… Where the hell are my clothes and what the hell happened to Marlene?"


The girl felt like asking the question: "Alright Denzel, now what?" However, she held her tongue. Now wasn't a time to be scolding anyone, not where they were.

It had taken some work and maneuvering, especially to do so without being seen, but the two had managed to make it off the window and down the raised area of the open tunnel toward the middle. Luckily, there was lots of rock refuse, tool remnants, and even old train parts there to act as cover. It was just a matter of finding which was the closest that offered the most cover, and make their way down and toward that bizarre pyramid. The strange "monks" or "priests" of that area soon helped them out in the regard of giving forth an unworldly chant. It was in a horrible language spoke in horrible voices, and it nearly made both young people cringe. However, it also provided cover for their own noise as they made their way down. What more, the strange temple appeared to be giving off some sort of hum of its own, creating more noise pollution to mark their descent. The purple lights tended to mask their color presence as well, enabling them to move without sticking out, even in this area. As a result, the first part of the journey wasn't that hard.

But now, they had reached a trouble spot. They had managed to make it to the nearest train car to the temple itself and ducked inside an open door. From within, they were able to watch from outside the long-broken windows while remaining concealed in shadows. But they were still, unfortunately, about 100 yards from the opening into the pyramid. In between them were no less than twenty followers if they went in a straight line. None of them looked terribly strong or powerful, but there were too many of them for just those two to fight off. Plus, for half of the distance they would be in the open, able to be seen coming from a long way away. Then there was the fact that they were still known. After hiding in this spot for a few minutes, they began to see patrols of monster guards coming by, perhaps just guarding the area…perhaps looking for them. They weren't constantly out, but they did complicate things.

And so, the two teens sat in the darkness, continuing to feeling the horrible sensations coming from the pyramid, and yet still trying to figure out how to get any closer. Marlene had long since given up, and just looked at it casually now and frequently to Denzel. However, he was still focused, staring at that pyramid as if it would project the answer of how to get to it at any second.

As time ticked by, Marlene finally did turn to Denzel again and whispered a question.

"Any ideas?"

"Just one…" Denzel answered. "I can see they have chains supporting a large slab in front of the temple. It must be like a door or something. If we cut the chains going in, we could lock them out."

Marlene frowned. "And seal ourselves in. I don't see any other openings, Denzel. We'd be trapped. Besides, that doesn't get us around them."

"Well, there's no way we can break through them…so we'll have to distract them somehow." Denzel answered. He turned to her. "Are you sure you can't use any spells?"

Marlene sighed. "I already told you. I only do them randomly."

Denzel sighed and looked around a bit more. His eyes eventually focused out the back window and behind them slightly. "Then that's the only thing I can think of." He remarked.

Marlene looked where he was, and saw what had caught his attention. One of the train cars was hunched over at a sharp angle behind them, looking on the brink of falling over, toward the side of the temple. The ground of it was rather flat, but there was a slope toward the temple side that might serve as something for gravity to work against if it moved that way.

"I'm going to try and flip that train car." Denzel explained.

The girl looked incredulous. "Huh?"

"It's about to fall already." Denzel responded. "If I can get it to topple, it will roll toward the temple. It'll be big and loud, and it might distract them enough to break up. Once that happens, you can run in."

"But what about you?"

"I can spring out from behind and run in while they're looking at the car." Denzel answered.

"That's nuts!"

Denzel looked to her with a frown. "You got any better ideas?"

"No, but at least my one idea isn't stupid!" Marlene shot back, nearly raising her voice. "You'll never be able to flip something that big! Even if you do, it might not roll! Even if it rolls, what if they only turn around? They might not move anywhere! And then we have to split up and I have to leave you behind?"

The boy simply sighed and drew up his weapon. He began to move to the door. "So we have to take some risks. What else is new?"

Marlene shot out and tried to grab him. "Wait!"

However, Denzel seemed to expect this. Moving a bit faster, he quickly twisted down and out of her grip and rushed to the doorway. Marlene got up to try and go after him, but by that point he was already passing through the door. Wincing, she quickly leaned back before the noise or activity could alert anyone. As for Denzel, he quickly turned to the side and pressed himself against the side of the train car, vanishing from view. Marlene was left fuming, but unable to do anything else. Forgetting about the strange pyramid, she instead focused outside and watched to see where Denzel would turn up. She paused only to look behind her again and make sure none of those monster monks were watching.

What followed was about half a minute of their grim chanting. Now alone, it was unsettling Marlene more than ever. Even being in this dark space was now nerve wracking. She didn't feel safe here. It felt more like she was already at their mercy, sitting in their domain…darkness. Like something would spring out of the shadows at her at any moment. Needless to say, it was a relief for her when she did finally catch Denzel again, emerging into the view of one of the windows. He was pressed low to the ground, almost sprawled out on it, and making his way slowly between track lanes for the other train car. He didn't seem to be mindful of anything else. Marlene bit her lip on seeing him, and turned her head back to the monks. None of them turned to look. They were too preoccupied with their own chanting. With that in mind, she turned and kept watching him.

It seemed to take an eternity for Denzel to crawl over to the other car. Marlene kept imagining the tone of their infernal chant changing, as if to signal that one of them had spotted the boy. However, no one ceased or turned to look at him. He was free until he reached the safety of the other car. It was open, much as Marlene's was, but Denzel didn't hide inside. Instead, as soon as he had fallen behind the shadow of the old vehicle, he rose to his full height and stood behind it. Once there, he looked it over a moment, apparently deciding how to best approach this new problem.

Eventually, he leaned forward and began to push against the side. As Marlene expected…nothing. He locked in his feet and grunted, but it was to little avail. Next he turned his body around and tried to put his back against it and push. Other than starting to grind his feet into the gravel, he had no success. It only made sense to Marlene. After all, that thing was too heavy to get pushed off just be Denzel's little force. Even when Denzel attempted to draw his own sword and use it as a pry bar, it did no good. She frowned and nearly called out to him to give it up and come back. Instead, she tried to motion as best as she could through the windows, which couldn't have been much considering how dark it was inside. This wasn't going to work, and she expected him to give up soon…

So she was a bit surprised when he did nothing of the sort, and instead took up his sword again, walked around the edge, and then vanished into the open side.

Again, Marlene had to struggle not to yell, "What are you doing?" At any rate, he had disappeared, and Marlene was left watching and waiting to see what would happen next. She couldn't see that well into the other car in the darkness. She made out a shape moving around, but that was all. After a few moments, it seemed to be at the highest tier in the car, and then began to move around some more. A bit to her confusion, it appeared to go back and forth in a rhythmic fashion. She frowned again, wondering what he was doing in there…

But not long after, she began to see what. To her surprise, the train car was quivering. It was slight at first, but it soon began to pick up momentum. And as it continued to grow, Marlene realized it wasn't a quiver…it was a rocking motion. To her surprise, the car was beginning to rock to the left and right slightly. Only then did she realize what was going on, and it shocked her. Denzel was running from one side to the other, making the car wobble. However, he was still in it. If it started to roll over when he was still trying to move it…

This had gone on long enough. Marlene didn't care for how long it would take, she wanted to get out of this car, run over to the other vehicle, and stop him before he either killed himself or caused so much noise from this that it alerted the monks. She was focused on him at the moment, but she didn't fully realize that Denzel was causing a lot of squeaking and grinding from his movements. In fact, the rear cloaked monsters were pausing in their chanting as it went on, and turned to look behind them.

But before they could do anything or Marlene could try anything else…Denzel's movements crossed a threshold. The car's rock toward its leaning side went too far. The vehicle stiffened, groaned, and whined sharply and loudly enough to break off the chanting all together, causing everyone to turn and look to it. Then…it slowly started to tip forward. It picked up speed quickly as gravity took over, and within a few moments it was falling to the side. It landed…and, just as Denzel had hoped, it continued to go, and toppled into a roll. Marlene shrieked aloud at the sight, knowing what was happening inside…but her voice vanished as the sound of the rolling car replaced it. The vehicle came off of its spot and was soon rolling down, toward the front of the temple.

Not knowing how bad it would get and panicking, the monster monks immediately broke and scattered. Shrieks of alarm went out as they announced that a potential attack had occurred. The ones who were in danger of actually being hit spread in either direction, clearing out from the front of the temple and thinning its number considerably. Marlene continued to wince and fear as she saw it roll again and again, fearing that Denzel was being battered into unconsciousness or worse. And yet, in spite of all that, she remembered what he had said…what this was intended for. She turned and looked, and saw that the priests and monks had thinned out so much that there were no more than five in between her and the entrance to the bleak pyramid now. And all of them were focused on the train car. Stupid and reckless as this was…she realized Denzel's diversion would be for nothing if she didn't move. She balled her hands into fists and hesitated a second longer.

Denzel…if you get out of this alive, I'm going to kill you…

The girl then took off through the door, snapped around the side, and bolted for the front of the pyramid as fast as she could.

It was almost too late. The train car was nearly to the front, and all of the followers had already parted that were going to do so. It was falling into an indentation in front of the temple. It toppled a bit longer until it got in, but once it tried to keep rolling afterward, the uphill slope on the other side kept it from doing so. It turned up to it, but quickly lost momentum and came to a stop. After doing so, it groaned and creaked and rolled back the way it had come, where it turned to its side and came to a stop. Even after doing so, however, the followers continued to be scattered. Some were rushing over to where it came from, looking for signs of attackers. Others were scattered everywhere, still surprised by the sudden attack. Yet what this all meant for Marlene is that she had a free opening for the first twenty yards of that run as she barreled straight for the temple.

However, as she neared about 75 yards from the front, others began to notice her. They didn't react in any other way except orientating their bodies toward her position and hissing. Marlene paled, but continued to run. Her fists tightened further. She had no other protection at the moment, without her gun. She had trained a bit in hand-to-hand with Tifa, but she wasn't nearly as good as her yet. Now was hardly a time to be worrying about it though. She continued to barrel straight for the entrance as the nearest cloaked figure stepped in front of her. To her unease, she saw tentacles rising from the arm folds in its cloak, and saw as its hood rose that it had long, sharp teeth. Yet she swallowed back her fear. She let her anxiety push her power instead, and kept barreling full speed. She used that speed as momentum when she yanked back a fist and hooked it forward as she ran by.

The hit was true as its smashed into its jaw, having enough force to snap its head to the side. Apparently, these ones weren't built to stand up to punishment. Its arms went flaccid as its body went to one side, and the girl kept running forward. Unfortunately, there were no longer just three in here way. More were filling in quickly. She tore past one as it tried to grab her, and she spun away from another just ahead on her way that attempted to seize her body. But more were pressing in nearer. There were still too many close by to avoid all together… Soon she wouldn't be able to break through them…

But at that point, an ear-piercing squeal rang out. The monks in her way turned from her and focused instead toward the train. Marlene herself slowed and turned to look. She was just in time to see a bleeding cloaked figure stagger away from the entrance. Dizzy and battered looking…Denzel was rising out from the opening. He was barely keeping his footing, but his blade was stained with blood. And although he could only jog for now, he began to charge right for the entrance as well.

Seeing him as the greater threat, or maybe just stunned by his appearance, the crowd of worshippers hesitated or made for him. As a result, Marlene was able to turn forward, deck another monster in front of her, and then push forward and keep going. A few snapped back to her as she ran, but she was soon getting out of the thick of them and pushing by. A few of their slimy appendages tried to touch her, but she kept yanking and was able to free herself.

She passed into fifty yards and was nearly at the threshold of the path leading up to the temple. One of the three hissed and ran right in front of her, tentacles waving. She panicked for a moment…but then remembered her moves. Slowing down, she let him come to her. He swiped. Duck. She came back with an uppercut, powerful and knocking its jaws together. Another blow to the stomach, and he doubled over. Marlene finished by driving her fist down on the back of its head, causing it to falter and allowing her to run past.

The next one seized her with tentacles again, this time lashing around her arms hard. It brought in its snarling face to bite at her. Again, she stiffened, but at the last moment managed to bring up her knee. She didn't go for the obvious spot, not knowing if the creature had it, but instead went for what she believed was the solar plexus. Apparently, it was vulnerable, for the thing gagged and loosened its grip. It didn't release it all together, but it was enough to let her arms go to reach up and seize it by the hood. The last one was moving in at this point, and she gave it a greeting by holding on tight to her current opponent's head, swinging him around, and flinging him head first into the head of the other one. Their skulls connected with a sickening smack, and the resulting pain released her completely and made them falter. She quickly disengaged and kept running. Now, nothing stood between her and the opening.

However, Marlene only ran through the first two sets of horrible, awkward, demon beasts leering over her when she stopped and turned back. She forgot about Denzel. And when she turned around, sure enough, she found he had run into trouble. He didn't have surprise or his full wits about him. A mass of the worshippers was gathering around his body. He had managed to almost make it to the threshold of the outer court, but now he was being swarmed by them. Marlene couldn't even see him anymore. She was clear…but he'd be torn apart…

The girl hesitated. She couldn't leave him, but even if she could fight through that crowd and grab him, she doubted that she could summon another escape spell. Instead, she quickly looked for something else. It didn't take long. Her eyes looked to one of the large, monstrous statues. It had stone wings and limbs spread out wide, but the pedestal it was on was small. It seemed to be precariously balanced there…even more so than the train car. She looked back down, and saw that if it was to fall, it would knock over its partner, which would in turn land on the followers just ahead…

Immediately, Marlene broke off from the path and ran to the side. A moment later, she planted her hands on the pedestal as high as she could with sufficient force and started to push. It was unsettling just to touch the ghastly thing, but it was all she had. Pushing didn't work after a moment, and so instead she backed up and began to charge forward, jump, and kick it. It was hardly a focused move, and its wasn't something Tifa had taught her. But it did begin to make it wobble. As the followers continued to swarm Denzel, she did so again and again, gradually making it wobble more. Praying that it wouldn't wobble the opposite way, she kicked it one more time as hard as she could, trying to time it while it was leaning toward Denzel's location…

The statue tipped…and didn't wobble back. Instead, the sounds of fractures and groaning began to ring out as the statue started to topple further, the center of gravity beginning to yank it away from its moorings. It soon started to pick up speed and crack further, and, thankfully, it was falling in the right direction. As bits of rock and dust started to spit out, Marlene backed up, turned, and watched. The statue responded by spilling forward and landing on the next one, immediately making it groan and twist off of its moorings as well. Soon it fell off too, and toppled in the same direction. Only here, the only thing beneath it was the crowd of worshippers. Marlene made one final prayer, hoping Denzel wasn't in that midst, as it came crashing down. A few of them turned, but it was too late by then.

The statue landed hard, immediately fracturing itself into a hundred pieces. Black dust rose as it broke and spread itself over the area, burying a score of the worshipers in its wreckage. A few on the sides had turned and run for it, but those who had been in its path were not so lucky. Near the middle, they were likely seriously injured or dead. Only the ones on the edge were spared, merely pinned under bits of debris and rubble. All around it paused, however, and Marlene waited a moment to see what would come next.

It didn't take long. Another creature shrieked inhumanly and spun away, clutching its middle, as Denzel, still hobbling and looking rather beaten, charged out from the ground and made his way forward as fast as he could. The way was clear now, and before the worshipers could begin to follow or snap after him, he was already to the threshold and passing through it. Soon he was headed straight for Marlene as they gave chase. But for now, all Marlene really cared about was that he was free.

Denzel motioned her on, and the girl didn't stick around any longer. She turned and bolted as well, making straight for the main entrance. She could hardly believe it. It seemed as if they were being herded into the truly deadly place rather than escaping the monstrous cultists. She could hear it humming louder and feel the energy radiating from it as she drew nearer. It actually made her slow although she was in the home stretch and being pursued by much more real danger. Something nearly arrested her limbs as she kept running. However, she forced her body to keep moving. There was nowhere else at this point, after all.

She was still well ahead of the worshippers when she finally crossed the threshold. Immediately, the air seemed ten degrees cooler and stagnant. It was almost stifling to Marlene, nearly seeming to rip the air from her lungs. A strong part of her wanted to turn and get back out of there, but she stood her ground. Instead, she turned and looked back outside, motioning inward eagerly.

The enemy was hot on Denzel's heels, but thanks to the various diversions and his own moves, even his hobbling gait was enough to keep them from closing the distance. Soon he was nearing the opening. But as he got close to it, and forced himself through grit teeth to start getting into a running motion, he pulled down his sword again. As he ran by and passed one of the turning wheels holding the slab door up, he proceeded to slice through it.

Marlene's eyes widened. "Denzel, no!"

But it was too late. His sword shifted position to the other side and went out again, severing the other chain. Almost immediately, a grumble sounded as the overhead gears and pulleys that kept the slab suspended began to run out, letting the massive slab fall. Marlene had no choice but to scowl at Denzel's recklessness and duck her body inside. The slab continued to sink, picking up momentum fast, as her friend ran forward. The worshipers soon began to slow down and halt, realizing they weren't going to make it, or if they tried they'd be flattened by the falling stone.

As a result, Denzel had nothing to worry about as he charged the last few feet. Despite the falling slab, it was up high, and still coming down when he finally reached the threshold. The youth ignored his pain entirely, dashed forward a few last feet, and then leapt forward and lunged for the ground. His body connected with the black stone pavement just short, but he immediately went into a roll to clear the rest of the way as the slab finished coming.

A large thud shook the entire pyramid and echoed throughout the entire chamber as the covering landed, separating the worshippers from the two intruders, and leaving them only to fume and hiss outside their master's precious domain.


To be continued...