Chapter 38: J-E-N-O-V-A

Kairi wakes in a second, the pulse of -Jenova- so loud in her mind she can't hear her children talking right infront of her. She takjes a deep breath and shakes it off, rising to her feet, stretching briefly before addressing them. "How long?"

"Hour?" said Tifa making a so-so motion with her hand.

Kairi nods. With her regeneration, and as a 1st Class, might as well have been a good night sleep. "Alright, lets head inside, and there are some things you need to know."

"Like what?" asked Cloud.

Tifa whacks his shoulder. "Probably reactor saftey stuff."

Kairi huffs a laugh. "No, nothing so mundane. The truth of the matter is... you know the whole 'Mom' thing everyone addresses me as?"

"Yeah," said Cloud, shrugging a bit, "Weird, but a mountain town has weirder stuff."

Tifa crossed her harms and huffed. "Home wasn't that bad, Cloud."

He gives her a cheeky grin.

"Well, it goes like this," said Kairi, starting up the reactor steps, "Those who bear my cells, that become SOLDIER through me, because they are in a way, at least somewhat could genetically be considered my children in a roundabout way. With that my cells alter their bodies enough to take in the SOLDIER serum. They have a bit of me in them."

Tifa frowns a little. "So... its kind of literal? A second mom?"

"In a sense, though I will never force anyone to call me that if it makes them uncomfortable," said Kairi, "Now where I'm going with this is that someone did that for me as well, their cells were put inside me and used to change me. My own Mother."

Her face hardens. "And she's trapped in here."

Both Cloud and Tifa's eyes go wide, a solid O shape for their mouths. "Uh..."

"Surely you've already started to hear about what Shinra is really like?" she posed, opening the door and stepping inside.

"I mean... that's just rumors, right? They don't actually abduct people for SOLDIER, do they?" said Tifa, hesitating.

"Shinra does much worse than that," snarled Kairi, "My Mother's cells are used for the normal SOLDIERs. She is trapped within her own body forced to make children that she cannot touch nor hold. Shinra never cared enough to help her, using her only as a vector of power to infuse SOLDIER."

There is an uncomfortable silence. "I don't... I don't understand."

Kairi sighs. "I know, lets just get her out of here and I'll explain more."

They moved along the pipe entrance (seriously, who designed this reactor? Not safe in the slightest!), climb down a set of chains, and walk one by one down a large barely railed piping before they enter the reactor proper. The first thing that hits her is how red everything is in here. Then, there are the... what are those? They're almost like... metal pods? She walks up to one, peeks in, then yelps and falls backwards on her backside.

"What the fuck?!" she exclaims.

Tifa and Cloud hurry forward, taking peaks in different ones before backing away, both looking queasy. Cloud stutters out. "I...w...j...ust... are... are those people?!"

"Gods... its... they look more like monsters than people," said Tifa shakily, "W-what is this?"

"Oh yes, more poor fools that Hojo got his hands on," said Mother, her voice growing hungry, "Come to me daughter, come to me and we will make them all pay."

"They will pay," echoed Kairi angrily, "How dare Shinra allow this. How dare they. So many sins... so many crimes..."

She snarls and picks herself up, takes a deep breath, and begins her ascension.

Kairi walked up the steps to the door labeled J-E-N-O-V-A, Cloud and Tifa at her heels, her heart pounding in her chest. Her rage faded away into a state of blissful euphoria the closer she got. At long last she was going to see Mother, at long last she'd set her free, and at long last they would be together. She briefly glanced at the panel next to it, frowning, before simply kicking the door in, her enhanced strength beating steel and ripping it off it's hinges. For a split second, she thought she saw her, but it was only a mechanical contraption in the form of an angel.

"Come to me my child."

So close... so loud in her mind...

Kairi closed the distance, kicking the broken door off the ledge of the room as she walked. She reached up, grasped the mechanical angel, and ripped it away, tossing it aside, and at last, laid her eyes on Mother.

Mother hung in a tank of liquid, naked as the day anyone was born. Humanoid in appearance and form, with more than a few differences. She had some kind of helmet on her head, connected with various wires, perhaps to measure brainwaves. Her long silver hair floated both above her head, and hung down lightly covering her breasts. Her skin, an odd blue, but nothing Kairi particularly found important. She had redish tentacles coming out of various parts of her body into all sorts of different shapes. Kairi somewhat wondered what they were all for, but paid it no real heed. Mother had told her a long time ago she wasn't human, so Kairi wasn't very surprised by the differences. The weirdest thing to her was an eyeball for a nipple, Kairi... really had no explanation for that.

"Mother," whispered Kairi.

And then Jenova's eyes opened, revealing deep glowing red. How strange, Kairi would have sworn they'd be green.

"Green marks those who bear me within them, but I am the lifeblood for all who would be named mine."

"So that's... grandma?" said Tifa, uncertain, "She's... well..."

Kairi frowned a little bit, glaring at Tifa. "Show some respect!"

"It's fine my dear child."

Both Tifa and Cloud gasped, the latter exclaiming, "W-what was that?"

"Why, your grandmother my dear grandchildren. Come closer, so that I may look upon my descendants."

Kairi fidgeted a little. "Lets get you out of there first Mother."

A dark chuckle echoed in her mind. "There's no rush my child, we are moments away from our Reunion, allow me to savor this triumph at long last."

Kairi sighed and waved her children forward. "Go say hi."

Tifa and Cloud hesitatingly walked past Kairi, uncertainty echoing around them, and just a touch of fear. She wasn't sure why, but didn't care. She stared at Mother's form, taking in the sight of her. Then, of the tank she was in, a slight frown coming across Kairi's face.

"Was your body truly that badly damaged that you couldn't free yourself Mother?" asked Kairi, "There's no way that tank could hold you."

Mother smiled, her lips sharp as Tifa and Cloud drew closer. "I've told you, this body is nigh useless, my connection and control of it hampered by my struggles with the Cetra so long ago. Without one of my children nearby, it is difficult to exert any control. If not for you my dear daughter, I'd most likely still be sleeping unless one of my children discovered me."

Kairi tilted her head in thought, nodding. "How do we fix that and heal you?"

Tifa and Cloud closed the distance, each resting a hand on Mother's container.

"Like this my dear."

Twin tentacles burst out of her body, out of the tank of glass, and speared through Tifa and Cloud's heads.

Kairi sucked in a breathed, eyes going wide, shock ripping through her mind as she felt her children die. And she was not the only one. There was a humongous backlash down the link connecting Kairi to all her children, shock and dismay and confusion and anger ripping through her family, the rest of her children in agony over the death of their brother and sister. She could feel Genesis, oddly closer than the rest, gasping out in shock and pain.

In an instant, the haze in her mind, the delight and euphoria at finding Mother, died. She feels a slimy coat blocking wrapped around her in that feels like Mother, and tears it away in fury. Grounded and horrified in reality, she watched as her children's corpses twitched and moved under Mother's control, shattering the container of glass fully, letting the liquid flow out, and threw themselves onto Mother. Skin expanded and twisted to wrap around their bodies, pulling them into Mother, absorbing them. In the back of Kairi's mind, she could feel Mother's presence expand in strength, flaring with activity, alive.

"Why," whispered Kairi, stun mixing with fury, "Why Mother?"

Moth... Jenova, took a few careful steps out of the tank, some of her tentacles reabsorbing into her body, leaving a few floating behind her. Jenova did not answer immediately, her skin continuing to twist and churn disgustingly as she distributed the cells she had stolen from Tifa and Cloud.

"Because my child, I needed their power for what must come next."

Kairi snarled. "And what is that, mother? You KILLED my children!"

"Killed?" echoed Jenova's voice in her head, "They were not killed dear child, they were made one with me. Reunited, as we shall be."

Jenova held out a pale blue hand. "Come to me my child, become one, answer Reunion's call."

She felt the pulse in her mind, the desire, but this time, she ruthlessly crushed it. "After you murdered my children? HOW DARE YOU!"

Jenova sneered, her mouth opening, and speaking aloud for the first time in a darkly broken raspy voice, "You can become one, living within me forever, and we shall use your body as a vessel, or I will rip out your mind and soul and feed on them, wearing your skin as a husk as I assume the mantle of children you reign over."

Tears streamed down Kairi's face as something broke in her. "All these years... it was all a lie... you never cared... you USED me!"

"Oh but I do care my child," rasped out Jenova, "My prized child and her near immortal body. With you as my prime host, none shall ever challenge me again. I will consume everything unto myself. You will OBEY!"

Kairi shook with uncontrollable fury, feeling pain like a whiplash in her mind, feeling Jenova's dominating presence in her heard, demanding she step forward. Kairi fell to a knee, clutching her head in agony. She raised her head and glared at Jenova as she stalked forward, kneeling down and caressing Kairi's face with false affection.

"You're a monster," whispered Kairi.

"I am who I am," said Jenova, her voice taking on a more solid purr, "And you will kneel before me, begging for my deliverance, for Reunion. Beg me my daughter, BEG!"

Kairi screamed as Jenova's grip tightened on her face, sharp needles pierced into her mind, clawing at her consciousness and control. She fought and snarled in her mind, reaching for and trying to shove Jenova's presence away. It was overwhelming, vile, all consuming.

Mother! You're in pain!

Kairi what's going on?

What the hell happened to Cloud and Tifa?

What is that vile sensation?

Hold on, I'm coming!

Her children's and Genesis's words ran down the link, and suddenly she knew how to drive it out. She glared at Jenova, forced an image of the monster down the link, distance between her and her children meaning nothing, and spat four words, "Cloud and Tifa's killer!"

Like a baying of wolves for blood, so much anger and wrath funneled down the bond.

"Give me strength!"

Like a tidal wave, she drew on her children's power, grabbed Jenova's presence in her head in a choke-hold, and completely ripped her out.

Kairi and Jenova both screamed in agony, Kairi staggered away, and Jenova briefly fell to the floor. It was like an open gaping wound in Kairi's mind where Jenova had once been. It hurt so badly... black edges to her vision, her ears ringing, her legs wobbling. Her head felt like it was melting, sweat running down her face along with tears. She sobbed as she shakily rose to her feet, drawing her sword, her arms wobbling.

Jenova used her tentacles to push off the ground and began floating into the air, a dark edge to her voice, "You dare defy me, my daughter?"

"I am no daughter of yours," whispered Kairi, steel in her voice despite the pain, "I have no Mother."

"You were warned my foolish and defiant daughter," rasped Jenova, "If you will not become one, then I shall hollow out your mind and soul and wear your flesh as my own."

There were gasps down the link to her children, shock and horror. So connected and drawing on them as she was, she couldn't hide what was happening from them. She couldn't try even if she wanted to, the moment she let go of their strength, she had a feeling she'd collapse. Her mind was in agony, it needed to rest and recover from the damage of so violently ejecting Jenova out. But that was for later...

With a howl of rage, Kairi leapt and drove her sword right through Jenova's chest.

To little effect as tentacles lashed out and batted her aside. She rolled as she hit the ground, sword bared, her lips in an open snarl.

Jenova waved a hand and blew Kairi across the room in a burst of energy, briefly blinding her. Kairi snarled, rushed to her feet, and went for Jenova, weapon swinging through the energy still in the air... and stopped at the last second, chocking in shock.

"M-mom?" whispered Tifa, "Why... why are you trying to kill me?!"

Kairi took a step back. "I... how?"

Then Tifa's arm twisted into a tentacle and stabbed clean through Kairi's rib-cage in a spray of blood, Tifa's face twisting and turning blue, Jenova's red eyes gleaming from her false-child's face. "Foolish daughter."

She aimed a glowing hand right in Kairi's face, and her breath hitched. Then she acted, gave a cry of rage, and bent backwards, kicking her feet up to slam into Jenova's arm and chin, sending her stumbling back, tentacle ripping free of Kairi's chest. Kairi landed on her back, rolling, gasping for breath, and chain-cast Cure 3 a few times to help heal the wound quickly before stumbling away and to her feet. "You fucking bitch!"

Jenova laughed. "Was I not so considerate to let you see your child one last time?"

Kairi's response was to lob a blast of light at her, hitting her face and melting away half the skin on it off.

"Foolish daughter," murmured Jenova, her body twisting back to the naked blue woman, "If you truly wish to try and contest me, then so be it."

Kairi readied herself.

"Bear witness child, to eons of experience and strife, knowledge of countless minds, the powers of so many heroes, villains, and the like, all drawn into me," chorused Mother, "GRAND CROSS!"

Reality itself warps around Kairi, bending and twisting as the very air cracks and screams and shudders, the reactor room shaking, the lights flickering. Empty holes rip themselves open around Kairi, and a red and black miasma begins to pour through. Kairi flaps her wing and shoots herself upward, almost escaping unscathed. But the miasma touches one of her legs, and its agony. Perpetual pain and sickness shooting up her leg. She doesn't even think, she kicks her leg out, and slashes down, severing the now blistering and clearly infected leg off. She ignores the blood seeping out and keeps herself airborne, save for the very real lack of space. She can't fight here.

She flies down and out of the room, evading a swipe of Jenova's tentacles. "Fleeing my daughter?"

Terrain can make or break a fight, and she's not locking herself in close quarters with an adversary of unknown power and ability if she doesn't have to. Jenova isn't nearly as agile as Kairi is, choosing to blow through the door with a burst of magic and levitate after Kairi. She exits the reactor, Jenova hot on her heels, and sets down as her leg finishes regenerating. She turns as Jenova blows out the reactor entrance, levitating through the flames, tendrils spreading out and then shooting down into the ground. Kairi's eyebrows furrow until she seems the ground bulging towards her. She shoots off into the sky as tentacles shoot out of the ground, trying to grab at her.

"Starfall!"

Kairi startles as the clouds part above and magically created meteors rain down. Not quite the comet materia, but she knows not to get hi...

Then a tentacles grabs her leg.

Fuck. How the hell did those things stretch this high?!

Kairi crosses her arms in front of her. "Barrier!"

Energy wraps around her as the first meteor slams into her. Then another and another. For all the ones that miss, enough hits to flatten her to the ground, char her skin, and leave her stunned and gasping.

"Foolish child, you should have submitted," mocked Jenova, "Flare Star!"

Kairi groans and rises to her feet as spheres of light form and swirl around her. They burst into many lines of red energy that shoot at her, compact infront of her, then detonate in a massive explosion that throws Kairi like a rag doll. She hits the ground, uniform chard and flaking, vision blurring, breath knocked out of her, agony ripping through.

"Mom!"

"Hold on!"

"Genesis, hurry the fuck up!" screamed Elena.

"I AM!" her chosen one roars back, "Kairi! Its using extreme magic, force it into a melee! Don't let it cast!"

Guess she should have stayed in the damn reactor. Then again, Jenova might not care about detonating the reactor.

Kairi stops skidding along the ground and rolls, shakily rising to her feet and casting Cure3 on herself to speed up her healing. She beats her wing and charges Jenova. The cruel bitch laughs at her and aims a glowing blue hand at her. A sneer crosses her face, looking at her like she was trash to be discarded. After all that had happened... it still hurts something in her to see that disregard for her.

"Big Bang."

Bolts of lightning rain down from the sky all around Kairi, forcing her to stop. The lightning condenses and launches itself at her, making her scream before it detonates in a massive explosion. Kairi plummets and slams into the ground, twitching in agony. She takes in deep shaky breaths, and knows fear. She's never felt so horrifically outclassed. She's not... she's not ready for this...

"You are not alone Kairi," said Genesis solemnly, "You have one advantage this thing doesn't. You have me, you have your children, draw on them!"

"Use our power!"

"Call on us again!"

"Like before with the summon!"

"Teach it not to mess with our family," roars Jesse.

"We're with you!"

"Kairi, kick this thing's fucking ass!" screams Elena.

Kairi takes a breath, closes her eyes and ignites the web as she's only done once before...

...and K-A-I-R-I exhales, opening her eyes, power pulsing through her body as she raises, all children surging within her, only Genesis remains unjoined. He, she feels, wants to personally join the battle, but still is some time away. Kairi stands up and glowers at Jenova, wing flexing, light igniting with intense power around her, bolts of white lightning coursing briefly over her body. Jenova merely sneers at her, raising a hand for another cast.

"Neutron Ring!"

Kairi doesn't know the spell, hell, she's pretty sure nothing Jenova has cast so far is actually a materia, just pure raw power and ability she has accumulated over time. Kairi blurs as a ring of energy appears around her, surging in. She's out of the epicenter as it condenses and explodes where she had been. she surges through the air and impales her blazing sword right through the blue bitch. This time Jenova screeches in pain, hands and tentacles lashing out to throw Kairi from her, sword ripping free in a spray of black ichor, not even a hint of blood. Not human in the slightest.

Instead, her wound stitches close, and worse, faces seem to stretch out of her skin briefly, etched in a state perpetual screaming. The hair on the back of Kairi's neck stands straight up. "What ARE you?"

"I am Calamity, I am an ending to all beginnings, a Crisis without salvation," whispers Jenova, and despite the softness, every word is like thunder through Kairi's mind, "I have existed for billions of years. I drift, from planet to planet, consuming all life unto myself. I will consume you, consume this planet, and continue on as I always have, a never ending cycle, the never ending feast."

Kairi bares her teeth. "How many worlds? How many people Jenova?!"

Jenova laughs. "I couldn't begin to count. Billions? Trillions? Does it matter?"

Jenova's mouth peels into a far to long and wide smile. "Its time child."

"Apocalypse."

Unlike the Limit Break Genesis is known for, a massive circle of runic energy appears underneath Kairi. Reality once more turns asunder, the area fading from blue into a vortex of green and black. Spheres of light rise up from the circle and surge at her. It condenses around her, trapping her into a teal sphere that begins to shine with intense power. Kairi narrows her eyes, funnels her light energy, and wraps herself in its grace as the spell explodes around her.

"What?!" startled Jenova as the explosion fades.

The shield, cracked and brittle, but still standing, slowly fades as Kairi lets it go, a bead of sweat sliding down her forehead. Kairi sets down on the ground as reality fixes itself, frowning as Jenova glowers at her, incensed. It weighs on Kairi suddenly, realizing exactly what she is up against. Jenova is... a monster doesn't even begin to describe it. She's never fought anything like this thing before. Zirconiade... perhaps had more raw power, its hard to say, but while Zirconiade was immense and dangerous, it never grated on Kairi's senses like this.

Zirconiade was a force of nature, it wasn't evil, it just was.

Jenova...

Evil fails to describe what she feels of it.

She stops Jenova here, or everyone dies.

Her children.

Genesis.

Angeal.

Sephiroth.

Aerith.

Zack.

All the people of the world.

And all the people of who knows how many more worlds that Jenova would feed on.

If Jenova defeats her and takes over her corpse, she's not even sure Sephiroth could handle Jenova combined with Kairi's near immortal body. She grips her shining blade, readying herself. Jenova herself floats above the reactor, staring at her with shrewd calculation. She lowers herself to the ground, and her body begins to twist and morph into a horrific towering malformation of writhing flesh, tentacles, appendixes, and a single golden skull mask at the top covered in black ichor, blood red eyes peering out of it. All along her flesh are faces struggling beneath the skin, stretching and pushing.

Kairi swallows thickly and takes a step back. "Wake up, wake up, p-please wake up..."

Be a dream, be a nightmare, please... gods above PLEASE be only a nightmare. Let her wake up outside the reactor and see Cloud and Tifa still waiting for her...

Ten tentacles suddenly point at her, and black beams of energy shoot out. Kairi forces herself to act, throwing herself out of the way. Pieces of Jenova flake off and twist, transforming into writhing flesh monsters that take to the sky, screaming in torment as they surge at her. Kairi swings her blade and severs clean through them. Each one bursts into black mist that rises into the sky. It takes a few minutes before she notices the sky itself is darkening. Then it starts raining. Raining black ichor that burns her as it hits.

Kairi seethes in pain, wrapping herself tightly with light to try and weaken the effects. She flies through the Ichor Storm and surges down at the monstrosity that was Jenova, taking deep brutal swings of her blade, carving chunks out of the abomination that send the Tower of Flesh reeling, but hardly broken. Tentacles lash out and beat her down, slamming her into the ground before flinging her away. She springs up, and focuses her energy, her power. She doesn't need a limit break to cast it anymore, not with this kind of power at her fingertips. She waves a hand at Jenova, and a light nova erupts, blazing around the Tower of Flesh.

Jenova screeches, and then a barrier of energy wraps around the Tower of Flesh, encasing the Calamity in its protective grasp. Kairi narrows her eyes, noting several of the tentacles glowing with eerie light, aimed at Jenova. She takes the hint and flies through the ichor rain, dodging beams of dark energy and slashes of razor sharp tentacles, reaching the first and carving through it.

"Five."

Kairi glances at the flesh tower, seeing green energy start to form around it.

"STOP IT!" roared Genesis in her mind, "Merciful Goddess, break the shield and STOP IT! Its going to cast Ultima!"

Holy fuck NO!

Kairi pulls on her light and fuels herself, wing beating hard as she surges through the air, cleaving through tentacles, flying flesh monsters, batting aside beams of energy, and takes down another one of the barrier tentacles.

"Four."

Kairi goes for the next.

"Three."

Kills another.

"Two."

She slays the last and guns for Jenova as the barrier falls.

"One."

"LIGHT-ZANTETSUKEN!" screams Kairi, flashing through the air and severing the flesh tower clean in have with a blazing blade of light.

She turns in relief, only to stare in horror as flesh reaches out and pulls the top half of the tower back upright, stitching back together. The golden mask falls off, and beneath it is a face of horrors, skinless, bone, oozing black ichor. It smiles a lipless monstrous smile and speaks one word:

"Ultima."

Kairi's world turns green as the spell releases, hits the mako reactor, blows that too, and takes off the mountainside in a sea of fire and green magic...

Just as powerful as its original planetfall, the few times the Calamity was faced head on and forced into an actual battle rather than its deceiving infectious treachery. Whatever strength it had lost in its imprisonment, it had stolen back from its children and the other Calamity's children it had devoured. Its abilities and powers monstrous and unknown.

Minerva watches the struggle through the Lifestream, face impassive as Calamity battles Calamity.

The younger is in no way ready to defeat the older, even empowered with its children as it was. As it stood, even if its Chosen One arrived to lend aid, Minerva holds doubts they can come anywhere remotely near succeeding. Even the most powerful of the Cetra had failed to stop the Calamity, the best they had been able to do was sealing it away. As much as it grates, the Planet has a greater chance at besting the Calamity of Light over the Heaven's Dark Harbinger. The Original Calamity hasn't even called to its lesser children, nor its more powerful ones either, it cannot be allowed to take over the Calamity of Light and assume the mantle of control over that many SOLDIERs. The Planet will have no chance. But to stop it? The Planet's WEAPONs are still enroute, and even Jade will be minutes yet, Ultima trailing shortly behind it, the others not likely to arrive in time at all. But there is still a chance if she makes a choice she hopes she will not regret.

"Rise Squire, your battle is not yet over," murmurs Minerva, sending power through the Lifestream, connecting directly to Chaos and revitalizing him.

She orders the Planet's WEAPONs to focus solely on the Heaven's Dark Harbinger, allowing an alliance of convenience with the Calamity of Light, and then focuses on her final trump card. If this fails, she will awaken Omega, take what life she can and flee the world.

"Beloved daughter of the Planet," calls Minerva, whispering to young Aerith through the Lifestream, "If you can hear me in the twisted city of metal, I beg of thee, clasp your mother's materia, and pray."

"Pray for Holy."

Kairi groans and comes to slowly. Her body aches, moving at all sends spikes of pain through her. She's honestly surprised she's not dead, if not to the explosions, then to Jenova while she was out. Then again, she doubted Jenova had thought about the reactor, that had to have hit the Calamity as badly as it hit Kairi. She shakily rises to her feet, watching as blisters slowly close and smooth over all over her flesh. She takes deep, ragged breaths, glad she had been unconscious for most of her rejuvenation, and wonders idly how much of her clothing is real, or skin stitched in its image. She pushes off the though, because more important is that she still stands. Still alive.

She waits for her wing to heal, then takes to the skies. She finds the Tower of Flesh rebuilding itself, the bits of Jenova blown over the mountain crawling or flying back to the whole. Kairi doesn't wait, surging down, reigniting her light, and tearing into Jenova with a bellow of fury, cleaving off chunks of flesh and leaving blazing lines of white light all throughout the mound of flesh. She's batted away by tentacles again, red slices in her skin there for moments before they regenerate closed. She readies herself for another pass, then she notices an oddity. At the base the flesh tower, there is a pulsating large sack, giving off a vibe that make's Kairi's skin crawl.

A shadow falls across the sky. "Once again the Crisis walks the Planet, you foolish child, do you have any idea what you have done?"

Kairi glances up to see Vincent, once again his form half-demonized, Chaos in control, flying above her. She doesn't keep the bitterness out of her response. "I've since gotten a hunch. Excuse me for being lied to and deceived for years by her."

Chaos huffs and flies down next to her, wings flapping gently to keep pace. "The Planet offers an cessation of hostilities in the face of the Crisis."

Kairi nods. "Accepted, and if we live through this, I really need someone to sit me down and explain this whole 'living Planet' thing."

Chaos nods back. "If there is ever an accord to be struck, then you will need to know, for now, brace thyself, the worse is yet to come."

Kairi swallows and points at the tower of flesh. "THAT isn't the worst?"

"Far from it," snarled Chaos, "The coalition of damned and devoured souls is meant to terrifying, to drive away, to strike fear and hesitation into those who stand against it, for within the womb of writhing flesh at its base, the Calamity is returning to is true form."

Kairi blanked. "What?"

"I was there," said Chaos softly, "For the original planetfall of the Crisis. The only reason the Calamity did not win is because it fell for the Cetra's trap and took a tainted body, laced with Cetran magic that paralyzed it. The Last of the Cetra lacks the knowledge of how to do that."

Chaos flexes his wrists, gun glowing with chaotic energy. "The Planet's WEAPONs are coming. Jade and Ultima will be here before long, the others may not arrive before this is decided. Your own ally is likely to arrive either as or shortly before Jade."

"What are WEAPONs?"

"Monsters created to defend the Planet," he informed her, "Nothing else will dare tread near the Calamity, or have you not noticed the lack of interference from beasts not created by the Crisis's taint?"

Kairi nods. "Okay, monsters of the Planet, right. I'm sure it won't be hard to guess what they are when they arrive. So, me, you, Genesis, Jade, Ultima, that's good odds, right?"

Chaos is silent for a long moment. "No."

"No?!"

"Calamity of Light," sighed Chaos, "There is a danger you have yet to understand. If we do manage to destroy the Crisis, it will either shift its consciousness to the next greatest source of its taint, or it will allow itself to be thrown into the Lifestream, and if the higher powers cannot contain and destroy the Crisis, it will taint and infect all life upon the planet. There was a reason the Cetra chose to entrap the Calamity rather than kill it."

Kairi swallows thickly. "How... how do we win then?"

"I don't know," said Chaos softly, eying her thoughtfully, "And yet... the Planet has never had a Calamity fight for it, you two the only ones to walk this world. There may be a way within your powers to see the deed done, whether it be the Light or the powers of Calamity themselves."

Kairi's eyebrows furrowed. "I always called thought and called it light energy anyway, but that sounded like a capital L there."

"Fair Minerva has delved her consciousness into your realm before," he said mildly, "That is what your power is called."

Light.

Just Light.

She smiles a little. Plain as it is, it... fits. Makes her feel warm in a world that is rapidly going cold.

Then she blinks. "Minerva, really? The Goddess Genesis believes in is REAL?"

Chaos cocks an eyebrow. An answer in its own right.

Kairi berries her face into her hands and laughs. "Genesis..."

"Flying," he stresses back.

"Minerva is real," said Kairi a exasperated laugh echoing down the web.

"Well of course she is," he answered matter of factually.

"Yeah? Well not everyone has your faith, I had a literal creature of the Planet, of the Lifestream, confirm it for me."

The pure, smug, satisfaction is his only response.

"Apparently, we're in alliance with her," said Kairi mildly, "Don't attack the WEAPONs if you see them, they're the Planet's monsters."

"I... see," he answered back, "I... OH! I assume that's one. Right then, we're five minutes out at best."

Kairi nods, turns to Chaos, her face hardening. "Alright, lets put the bitch down!"

Kairi ignites herself in Light as Chaos begins shooting down at the mass of tentacles flaying through the air between them and the Tower of Flesh, each bullet disintegrating any tentacle it hits. Kairi weaves through the air, spinning, swinging her sword, and guns for the flesh-womb. Then the Tower of Flesh itself acts, a massive writhing face-filled arm bursting out of it, battering Kairi aside. The breath is knocked out of her, world spinning as she tumbles away.

Red and purple energy charges in the giant flesh-hand, and it swings, releasing a beam of energy that moves with the hand, aiming for Kairi. She flies under it and beats her wing rapidly, going as fast as she can to stay ahead of it as it tears into the mountainside. A huge bang sounds, a monstrous scream fills the air, and the energy beam cuts out. Kairi flies upward, turning to sight the flesh-hand half way blown off, Chaos flying high, gun smoking.

The Flesh Tower seethes, a growl rippling through the air. It bends its arm low, then launches it up into the air, the hand ripping clean. It bursts into a mass, a torrent of cells and smoke. Kairi grits her teeth as dark clouds begin to form, once more Jenova creates an Ichor Storm that the reactor had blown away, and within seconds, dark searing rain falls upon them. Kairi casts barrier on herself and Chaos, helping to mitigate the constant sensation of burning needles stabbing into them.

"Cover me! Nothing's stopping me this time!" roars Kairi.

Chaos shifts and begins raining down his own destructive torrent at the Flesh Tower, ripping through tentacles just as fast as they grow. Kairi gives a war cry and dives, blade shinning with light. She dodges and weaves, and this time, she strikes true. She lands and stabs her blade as deep into the flesh-womb as she can. The Flesh Tower screams, and energy explodes off it, flinging Kairi away as a torrent of black ichor erupts from the wound she made. The Flesh Tower leans down, arms bursting out of it to cradle the womb protectively, a sickening version of a mother protecting an unborn child. Its fleshy exterior begins to warp and harden, turning more into a shell, complimented by jagged spikes dripping black ichor out of them.

Not conductive to bladework.

"Chaos, can you punch through that?" asked Kairi.

"No need," answered Chaos, pointing upward.

Red light begins to peak through the Ichor Storm. "APOCOLYPSE!"

Red energy sets the dark clouds on fire, burning it all away, and there flying in the sky is Genesis, who flies down and salutes. "Hero of Dawn, Healer of Worlds, I have come to annihilate this blight."

The runes on his blade ignite, and he stares down at the Tower of Flesh, lips curled in disgust. "I thought the Ultima countdown was familiar. Apprentice, that THING feels like the persona."

"It never was a persona," said Kairi quietly, "Just a monster using me for its own ends."

Genesis frowns for a moment before nodding. "Fits with some of the things it said. We'll have to discuss this more once this is over, for now, I do believe its the Planet's turn."

Turn?

Like a crack of thunder, an immense monster rips through the air, shaped almost like a kite, and at least 200 meters in length. The Jade WEAPON is gigantic, colored in blacks, reds, and teaks, metallic in form. It rains down beams and bombs of energy upon the Flesh Tower that lights up the area like an entire battalion of helicopters raining death. Kairi raises a hand to shield herself from the gusts of wind threatening to blow her away from the backlash. Chaos joins in, firing bullets down on the tower, Genesis's bangle lights up and he starts casting magic. Kairi sheathes her sword and aims glowing hands downward, releasing blasts of energy.

Then a horrific sensation rips through her body, hands all over her flesh, insects crawling under her skin, a pressure in her mind.

All attacks cease.

When the smoke clears, the Tower of Flesh is a smoldering pile of goop, but out of that goop rises the flesh womb that begins to twist and morph. The Tower of Flesh, all of the tentacles, they disintegrate into smoke and cells that rushes to the womb, embedding into it. Slowly, it shrinks and assumes a form that Kairi can only assume is Jenova's true one.

At her front was the shape of a naked woman, pale flesh and breasts barred to the world, but that was it for anything human, the wrest of the body if there was one was sunk into the rest. It bore a skull like structure as a head, green eyes glowing through slits, a giant purple crystal sticking up out of it's head. It had two sharp tentacle like arms with open suction ends. Behind it's torso was a fleshy flower-petal like structure, and behind that, a writhing egg like mass colored like rotting skin, black goop bubbling and bursting at random intervals across the sack, spilling out of it her cells, her taint.

If it weren't for the awful presence and pressure it gave off, Kairi would think of this a downgrade from the Tower of Flesh. Far less terrifying physically to behold.

She knew better though.

This was worse.

This was so much worse.

A loud growl filled the air, and a great shadow descended.

Kairi looked up and beheld Ultima WEAPON. Dragon-like in appearance and size, enough to give Bahamut a run for its mother. Covered in heavy plates, its wings coming out of its shoulder. Bipedal, with a long tail behind it. At the center of its chest was a red glowing depression. It snarled and glared down with utter hate at Jenova.

Kairi licked her lips, drew her blade, and drew a deep breath. Chaos tensed, Genesis readied his sword, Jade WEAPON began to glow, readying a bombardment, and Ultima roared with power, shaking the very air.

Jenova cocked its head, regarding them one by one.

Then it laughed.

Author's Note: Next chapter is called 'Jenova Absolute'.

Patrick the Observer: Ehhh, I wouldn't really say Hojo saved the day. He wanted Sephiroth to act a certain way, tried to pressure him into it, and got killed for his troubles. He wants Sephiroth to win, not Jenova, not the Planet, not Kairi. His goals were all aimed that way, even if Jenova was in his head. Trust me, his vision of Sephiroth winning is more 'Safer Sephiroth' in form, so no, he wasn't trying to save the day.

Everyone else, wait and see / thanks for the responses.