FFVII: Round Two ("Disk One")

by Ultima Thomas

Heeey..e.e; This is my friends fic and hes not smart enough to upload it in public. XD So reeead! Its based after Final Fantasy VII

2. Disk Two

[Disk Two]

Robert placed the Remedy soaked cloth on the blue-haired girl's forehead, standing slowly from his seat at the side of her bed. He turned…began to step towards the door of the ship's infirmary.

"…Stop."

He turned to face the azure-haired girl. Her voice was soft…pleasant.

"…You can talk?" Robert asked, bewildered.

"…I can now…I got the…data…from you. I can walk, too. And use weapons…I understand your predicament…and I was hoping I could help," she murmured, her green eyes looking to Robert.

"Sure! I mean…okay. My name is Robert Arcane, and yours?"

"…They call me…"

[Cai]

"Cai. I…I'll help you, but on one condition…you have to help me, too," she softly whispered.

"…What can I do to help you, Cai?" Robert asked, stepping towards her again.

"…I can read minds…but…there's one thing I can't do. I can't find my family…and I'm not sure who I really am…it's…hard to explain, but…I need to know that there's people in the world who actually care…you know…care that I'm alive…"

"…I'll help you. But for now…just stay here…we're going to launch an assault on Ruby WEAPON…to keep it from destroying a place called the Gold Saucer," Robert insured her with a nod.

"…I know. And I want to come with you. So…give me a weapon," Cai grinned.

"Hmm…this should do it!" Rik exclaimed, holding up items which looked like halves of eggs—cut from the top to the bottom—that together would look like a full metal egg, but much larger. A single blaster barrel stuck from the narrow front of each one, and several openings had metal panels over them, where other devices could be put. "I call them…the Capsules!"

"…I still say yer copying offa my ol' gun arm, kid," the fifty-some-year-old Barret Wallace muttered, looking at the robotic hand that replaced his gun some odd years back.

Cai took the Capsule weapons from Rik, sliding them on over her hands. She found that, despite the size, the insides were quite flexible, and allowed for movement of her wrist in any direction. She grasped the handles that were under the Capsules, her thumbs finding the small triggers on the ends. Cai also noted that if she were to hold her fingers straight they'd be visible up to the knuckles from above.

"…I like these…thank you, Miss Rik," Cai murmured, smiling to Robert.

"Gah. Call me Rik, damnit!" Rik exclaimed, standing from her seat at the makeshift workstation on the Airship's bridge.

"So…Robert…who's going with you to stop Ruby WEAPON?" Charlie asked, a hopeful grin on his face.

"…Raptor, of course. We have to drop down in the Andromeda, right?" Robert looked to Rik.

"…Er…Heh…um…you see…I don't…want you…crashing the Andromeda…" Rik stammered, laughing lightly.

"…So you're going with Robert, Rik?" Caity Sith pondered, scratching her furry head.

"No! You are, silly!" Rik laughed, pushing Caity lightly off of her Moogle.

"Wha'!? Me!? I'm just a kitty! I can't! Nooo! No way, Jose! I'm staying right here and drinking tea with Mr. Highwind!" Caity shouted, quivering behind her Moogle.

"I built a new Special Attack for yaaah…" Rik persuaded, holding up a Jack-In-The-Box.

"…So when do we leave?" Caity asked, looking to Robert as Moogle took the Jack-In-The-Box. Moogle put it into the back storage space of itself.

"When'll we be ready…?" Robert asked, looking to Rik.

"Hmm…it'll take about thirty minutes on full power to get there…but that's the measurement to the Gold Saucer from where we are…I'd say about twenty minutes…so you should leave the ship in…fifteen. 'Kay?" Rik rambled. Robert just smiled and nodded—Cai giggled. "Damnit, this is serious! …I sure hope you can destroy the thing. AVALANCHE was much stronger than you three when they tried, and they ended up retreating—it was too strong."

Robert nodded slightly…this could get them all killed. "Right…a plan. Hmm…"

"Yah! Look what I found!" Anikken yelled, running out from a hallway towards the bridge, the Venus Gospel lying on the ground behind him. In his hand he held a red materia. "Hades, hombres! Ha HAH!"

"…What?" Cai asked, raising a light blue eyebrow as she looked to the red Materia in his hand. She looked down at herself…a red orb of Materia hanging from a necklace she wore.

"…Er…Hades. It's a piece of Materia my mom found, so it's rightfully mine. Ha HAH!" Anikken said with a smirk, hopping up to Robert, Cai, Caity Sith, Rik, and Charlie.

"…Well, it's mine now," Robert told him as he snatched it from his hands. "I've heard about this. We'll need it."

"…Oh…eh…just so you know…it sort of…ah…evolved…" Anikken said with a slight cough.

"…What's your point? Anyways…hmm…while Cai, Caity, and myself try to stop Ruby…" Robert began, pointing to Anikken, "You should take Raptor and Ian and try to steal us a submarine from Junon. If I'm correct, Shinra will still be in control of the Underwater Reactor, which has the subs, and they'll probably have some power over Junon and Junon Harbor…so…yeah. Charlie, go with them and help them make a plan."

Charlie nodded, walking out of the room with Anikken as Robert put the Neo-Hades Materia in Cai's right Capsule.

"Now…for our plan…Rik, do you know what the old Hades was able to do?" Robert looked to his blonde-haired friend.

"Er…cause changes in the enemies status?" Rik blinked a few times, her eyes looking out through the front view-port as she talked.

"Exactly. This just might be able to freeze Ruby WEAPON for a while, or even poison it. If it's poisoned, we can retreat and it'll weaken over time, right?"

"The thing doesn't get poisoned…" Mr. Wallace said grumpily, walking towards them.

"…Okay…" Robert said, looking up to Mr. Wallace.

"I say you take this. Just incase," the veteran said, tossing Cai a piece of Exit materia.

"…Right-o. So, anyways…" Robert tried to continue with the planning.

"And this," Mr. Wallace continued, tossing Robert a red Materia. "Bahamut HELL…it uses an attack called Abyss Flare…powerful as hell, if yah ask me."

"…Thank you Mr. Wallace…" Caity muttered.

"Oh! And here!" he tossed Caity a magic Materia. "Comet! It's a great spell."

"Damnit, Mr. Wallace, these #$%&ing three and I are trying to devise a plan!" Rik shouted, causing Barret to stumble back.

"Heh…oh yeah…" he murmured, slowly slinking out from the bridge to find Marlene.

"Yeah…so…we take Andromeda down and run to Ruby WEAPON…and…then what?"

"…I think you should jump out just to hold him back and give Cai and myself more time," Caity Sith suggested.

"Yeah!" Cai giggled.

"…Alright. So I've hopped out to stop it…Cai and Caity are landing…you're taking Anikken, Ian, and Raptor to Junon…" Robert thought aloud.

"No, I'm gonna take Anikken, Ian, and Raptor to Junon. All Rik's gotta do is drop 'em off at Rocket Town! I'll take 'em in the Highwind II, then Rik can come back and back you all up!" Cid Highwind announced with a smirk.

"How?" Robert asked, turning around.

"…There's weapons on this Airship, genius. Lots o' 'em." Cid explained, still smirking.

"…Ah…Alright then," Robert said with a nod.

"So Robert, Caity…go get your weapons…all three of you, get all the Materia you'll need, the armor, the accessories, whatever. Just get it. We'll be in range in five minutes," Rik commanded.

Robert led Caity and Cai from the bridge and to the storage room. They went down the corridor, through the ship, until they reached the large door. Opening it, Robert stepped in, the other two following him. He grabbed a chain-mail vest, pulling it on as he clipped his sabre's sheath to the left side of his belt. He grabbed the Monolith, which was still sheathed, and connected the sheath to his right shoulder-plate and belt. He looked at the assortment of sabres and drew the newest one, which Ian had bought for him at Kalm Town on their way to the palace. Its pommel was a churning reddish-orange, and Ian had insisted he call it the Flame Sabre.

He sheathed the Flame Sabre at its sheath, then looked to Caity Sith, who was helping Moogle put it's gloves on. Cai was now wearing golden shoulder-plates, which she had attached with the long cords to the opposite sides of her belt, meaning the right shoulder-plate was connected to the left side of her belt and visa versa.

"Are we ready to go?" Robert asked, looking from Caity to Cai.

"Wait!" Caity exclaimed, hopping off of Moogle and grabbing her HypnoCrown and putting it on. "Accessorize!" she giggled, bouncing back onto Moogle.

She then tossed Cai a Fire Ring and handed a white cape to Robert. Robert put the white cape on, the cloak covering most of Monolith. "And…hmm…" Caity began…then she leapt onto a shelf and tossed Fire Armlets to Robert, Cai, and Moogle and put two on herself. She leapt back down to Moogle. "That should do it!" Caity said, delighted, as Robert, Cai, and Moogle put their Fire Armlets on, Cai's hard to see due to her Capsules.

"…We're done, right, Caity?" Cai asked, hoping Caity answered "yes".

"Yah! Lets get to the Andromeda!" Caity Sith exclaimed, playing a note on her flute that caused Moogle to run towards the lower hatch, which was just below the bridge. Moogle leapt into the storage compartment—fitting only because Cai helped stuff him in after sitting in the back seat. Robert climbed into the front and Caity stood on his knees, her right paw opening at a hinge and hanging down, a small plug-like tool extending from her arm.

"Ready, kiddos?" Mr. Highwind asked, standing next to the closed hatch.

"…Yeah…" Robert said as Caity plugged herself in. Mr. Highwind flipped the switch, the hatch dropping open.

"Disengaging," Caity murmured, her eyes beginning to glow as she powered up the airplane. The 'release' button began to glow. Robert looked up to the clamp holding the plane's top wing, waiting for the drop. …Nothing happened.

"…No release! Damnit!" Robert exclaimed, looking over the side of the airplane and to the open hatch. Ruby WEAPON was coming into view not so far below, the behemoth standing over forty-feet-tall. Robert's eyes flashed to Mr. Highwind's. "…What else do you have?"

"…A prototype jet-pack-ish thing that Rik made…but I—,"

"Give it to me," Robert growled, leaping from his seat as Caity removed her plug from the outlet.

"…Fine…" Cid sighed, pulling a fairly large, rectangular metal jetpack from the drop-area's storage room. It was painted black with five rocket engines on it. Three pointed down and two pointed out. He helped slide the straps over Robert's shoulders, admiring his daughter's abilities as an inventor. He stepped in front of Robert, tightening the buckle around his waist. The bulky machine went over his Monolith and cape, two items that would be no real use now. "Right. Look at this," Cid muttered, pulling the control stick from behind and handing it to Robert, the metal cylinder connected to the pack by a metal cord. "Notice that if you let go of it, it'll stay in the same place. This button's for going forward…" Cid pointed at the trigger-like button on the front of the vertical tube, "This is for going up," Cid pointed at a button on the top. "And finally…this locks the buttons down." Cid pointed to a switch that was below Robert's shortest finger.

"…I'm heading down," Robert said with a look to Caity and Cai.

"Right. We'll get these two down as soon as possible," Cid pointed to Cai and Caity.

"Stop with the pointing, damnit!" Robert said with a laugh, turning and running towards the hatch. He leapt, posing as though it was a dive, plummeting headfirst towards the ground…

"…Wait a second…I forgot to tell him how to reverse the direction of the propulsion…" Mr. Highwind realized, scratching at his light beard.

His eyes flashed blue-green as he neared the sand, the towering WEAPON stepping slowly on a course to intercept him. The Monolith was unsheathed from beneath the jet pack with only a bit of strain to remove it. Robert held it straight down, pointing him to the ground. The blade sunk into the sand and he pushed from the hilt, spinning forward and landing with a bend of his knees. He grabbed the Monolith in his right hand and held the control stick in his left. Applying force to the top button and pulling the trigger-button tightly, Robert switched on the lock and rocketed forward and up, towards the WEAPON that headed towards him. His left hand moved to hold the hilt of the sabre…he brought the Monolith back over his head, the blade just missing the rockets.

The WEAPON's fierce golden eyes looked at the warrior propelling towards it. It let out a roar, raising its massive arms up. Robert drew his sabre, holding either sword out to his sides. He flew up towards the WEAPON's torso as it slammed its claws into the ground. Robert's feet hit the red monster's chest and Robert strained, both against the sun and against the force of the rockets at his back. He gave the WEAPON a slash with each sword, creating two thin lines against the monster's hard armor.

Robert looked upwards. The WEAPON was looking at him. The sabre flew towards Robert's shoulders, down below the pack, and out from under the metal jet pack, returning to its earlier position, still in Robert's hand, straps severed. The jet pack shot upwards, smashing straight into Ruby WEAPON's face as Robert kicked off from the WEAPON's middle, falling down to the ground. He landed lightly in the sand, holding both of his swords defensively. The WEAPON's head had been pushed backwards. It slowly lowered it down to glare at Robert, opening its mouth to fire a blue ball of electric energy. Robert nimbly dodged to the right, still gazing at the towering red beast in front of him, Ruby's hard armor "wings" creating a demon-like appearance of the shadow cast behind it.

"You're a puppet!" Robert yelled up at it as two of it's claw ends shot up from the ground behind Robert, sending sand flying at Robert's back. Robert raised his sabre into the air—sheathing the Monolith as the red Bahamut HELL Materia began to pulsate. Robert was ripped from the air, disappearing as the ground on which he had stood began to rumble. Suddenly, a blast of molten lava crashed through the baked sand, shooting into the air and exploding, sending a shower of red flames into the ground. At the top of it's rising point a black and red dragon hovered.

The words [Abyss Flare] appeared in Robert's mind—looking on, impervious to the dragon above him or the destruction around him. Ruby WEAPON's claw-tips swung at the Bahamut dragon as it opened its mouth, vampire-like fangs standing out, each ten inches long. A booming roar shot from Bahamut HELL's mouth, coming close to the strength of Ruby's call.

Bahamut HELL's head lowered again as it flapped its large wings, its head lining up with the middle of Ruby WEAPON's torso. It's mouth opened a bit wider as a ball of black light began to grow between its jaws, becoming larger as HELL's eyes pulsated red. Suddenly, the ball of energy was fired, pushed forward as HELL let out a column of magma from its mouth, the energy and lava hitting Ruby's chest, a crater beginning to grow in the hard armor, sinking about four inches deep and a foot wide before both the energy and lava stopped and HELL dropped back into the hole, the ground sealing behind it.

Robert reappeared; sabre still out and red materia glowing before Ruby could retaliate. Robert vanished again, a vortex taking his place.

The words [Light Flare] flickered through Robert's mind.

The small red dragon, Red Bahamut, rolled from the vortex in the form of a little ball, springing up and spreading out to visualize the true dragon it was…it let out a squeak and a little light at Ruby WEAPON, the WEAPON with a puzzled look across it's monstrous features, claw-tips still flicking about, hands deep in the ground, feet planted firmly in the sand.

A booming roar echoed from Red Bahamut, though not as loud as the previous roars, and shot a baseball-sized ball of energy from its mouth—straight at Ruby WEAPON.

The WEAPON, thinking nothing of it, looked for where Robert went. The energy ball hit it straight in its new crater, sending a small crack through its armor. Red Bahamut flapped back to its vortex, dropping into it—the vortex closing behind it. Robert reappeared, leaping up at Ruby as he did so. He let out a battle call, grabbing a plate of Ruby's armor and pulling himself up to Ruby WEAPON's torso. In a fit of courage, Robert slammed his Flame Sabre straight into the crack in Ruby's torso armor, pushing against it, the metal blade sliding slowly and strenuously through—all the way up to the hilt. Robert snickered lightly, holding onto the sabre's hilt as he unsheathed his Monolith sword, Ruby's dark blue blood dripping down its torso slowly, six-inch-wide drops sliding down one at a time at slow intervals.

Robert brought the Monolith back, ready to try and slam it into the crack—to rip off part of Ruby's hard armor-like shell.

Ruby's right claw-tip slammed straight through Robert's middle. The Mystic's eyes blinked slightly as blood dribbled from the corner of his mouth, the long, gray claw-tip sticking out the front. Robert was pulled away from Ruby, spiked upon the claw, blood trickling down to the sand. The Monolith fell from his hands…

"Good luck!" Rik shouted into the intercom to her friends back at Rocket Town, who were now loading into the Highwind II.

The Midnight Revenge took off over the mountains, engines working overtime to get to Robert's aid.

"Well…we're all alone on the bridge right now…Caity and Cai are down below…what do you wanna do? Hmm?" Charlie asked with an innocent grin, standing next to Rik at the controls.

"You're getting a 'Rik Pack' on. You're getting your ass down there to help Robert!" Rik giggled. Charlie flicked the brim of her hat.

"Why me?"

"Because Caity can't fit one," Rik told him matter-of-factly.

"…Damnit!" Charlie shouted, running down to the lower hatch to get prepared.

"Caity! Come up here! The weapons need to be manned! Cai and Charlie are dropping down!"

His eyes watched the sky, the sun burning down over him. The claw-tip was sucked downwards—his back hit the ground harshly. The claw ripped back into the ground, leaving a gaping hole through his chest and clothing. Ruby WEAPON brought its claws up from the sand and began to lumber forward slowly, still heading towards the Gold Saucer, passing over Robert.

Robert's gloved hand fell onto the hilt of Monolith. His eyes began to cloud over, a pool of blood growing around him, staining the sand.

…Anikken…

…Rik...

…Raptor…

…Charlie…

…Caity Sith…

…Ian…

…Cai…

…The people at the Gold Saucer who were unaware of the oncoming threat…

…They were depending on him to hold back this beast…

"I…I can't let them all down!" Robert roared, pushing himself up into a sitting position. He grasped the Monolith's hilt weakly…pulled it next to him…pushing down on it, shoving himself into a standing position. He closed his eyes, concentrating as he lifted Monolith above his head. "I have to destroy you!"

He took towards the towering WEAPON at a quick run, blood dripping down his back and hitting the ground, boots thudding against the sand. He pushed from a dune, flying upwards…his blue-green eyes flashed as he swung down with Monolith, slicing a long line down Ruby WEAPON's back. The beast turned, swinging its right hand. The large claw smashed into Robert, knocking him back through the air…

Ruby's yellow eyes began to glow as it used its Ultima magic. Green mist sprung up around the two—one human, one WEAPON. Ruby brought its two claws together, the green mist flying towards Robert…

Ruby WEAPON turned once more, satisfied that the warrior was dead. Instead, he was standing in front of the WEAPON, sword held tightly in his hands, flanked by a black haired boy and a blue haired girl—Charlie and Cai. Cai let her jet pack drop off of her as she ran towards the Gold Saucer…stopping and pointing both Capsules towards Ruby WEAPON. Charlie launched up into the air, propelled forward…he kicked at Ruby's chest, dropping his own jet pack off after it's use—his hands grasped Robert's sabre's hilt. He pushed off, flipping back down to Robert.

"…You owe me two…" Charlie murmured, handing Robert the sabre.

"…Lets get this party started!" Robert yelled out, suddenly illuminated on all sides by the red aura. He sheathed his Monolith and leapt towards Ruby WEAPON, knuckles white as they gripped the sabre's leather bound hilt…

The trio stood on the streets of Junon, the Highwind II hovering not too far above with a single long rope trailing down from it.

"We'll contact you when we get the submarine!" Anikken yelled upwards, now brandishing the Lesath II.

Ian, Anikken, and Raptor ran down the street, looking from side to side. The citizens had run into their homes at the sight of the huge airship, and the three were left alone as they ran into an enclosed tunnel, following along it until they reached an elevator. Anikken hit the button.

"…So what's our plan?" Ian asked, watching the elevator door.

"…Er…we just…run down there…and…get in the submarine…and take it…" Anikken blinked.

"…Brilliant plan, O wise leader…" Raptor growled, leaping into the elevator as the door slid open. Ian and Anikken stepped in, Ian pressing the "UWR" button.

The doors slid shut and the elevator dropped downwards. Reaching the bottom, it opened, the three leaving. "Yep…this place is different than when my parents described it…" Ian muttered, looking around the room. It was all one big round room—the sides completely glass. Outside, in the dark waters, Anikken could see many fish, sea mammals, and…

"…Emerald WEAPON!" Anikken shouted, pointing at the window. The large creature was propelling through the water around the room. Anikken looked to the center of the room, where a big pulsating reactor core was. Around it, glass tubes from floor to ceiling, pumping Mako upwards.

"Right…for the submarines…" Raptor murmured, ignoring the WEAPON for the time being. The red beast looked about before spotting an area of open floor, where five submarines were docked.

"Lets take the black one!" Ian giggled, running towards it.

"Yeah, it'll match all of Rik's other vehicles…" Anikken muttered, running after her.

Ian suddenly stopped. From the other side of the dock, a tall bald man stepped slowly, a thin smile across his face.

"Ah…so you must be those new SOLDIERs, eh? Well, I am Gerald Krackon," his eyes scanned over the three.

"Wrong, bastard! We're HEROs! We oppose the Shinra, let alone all who stand in our way!" Raptor growled, taking a defensive stance.

"…Smooth move, Raptor…" Anikken muttered as the man's smile turned to a frown.

"Very well then…PEGASUS! TAKE CARE OF THEM!" Krackon yelled, grinning. From around the submarine dock, a robotic Pegasus even larger than the one at the museum. Anikken's eyes widened—the Pegasus had guns sticking from every place possible, mainly its wings and front legs, as well as its forehead. It also had the similar back cannon, and it had two thin claws at either side of the cannon, which looked like they would extend and grab a victim.

"…Ian! Raptor! You get the Pegasus! I'm gonna get rid of this guy!" Anikken commanded. The trio leapt into action, weapons gleaming in the light of the reactor core…

"[Arcane Hatred]!" Robert yelled, spinning through the air. His gleaming sabre flew downwards, sideways, upwards, landing six slashes across the crater in Ruby WEAPON. Robert's feet hit the torso, his eyes looking upwards and locking with that of Ruby WEAPON. He slammed his sabre into Ruby WEAPON's upper chest, above the crater. He kicked off, pulling his sabre out of Ruby and flipping to the ground.

A barrage of golden laser blasts flew from the ends of Cai's Capsules, smashing into the wounds on Ruby WEAPON's chest plate. The WEAPON sunk its claws into the ground, the claw-ends springing up between Cai and the two men. Cai began to fire at the two gray tentacle-like claws, keeping just out of their range.

Robert stepped back to Charlie. "So…what do we do?" he asked, blocking a blast of fire from Ruby with his Fire Armlet.

"What can we do? It's almost reached the Gold Saucer. We'll just have to hold it off as long as possible," Charlie growled, letting out a yelp as a blast of fire hit him. He threw his flaming shirt off, grasping his new axe tighter. The axe had a large blade on one side and a smaller blade on the other, the single weapon heavy enough to make Charlie use it with both hands.

"Gah…we can't just stand here and take turns. We've got to lay siege to the bastard!" Robert said, leaping forward, followed closely by Charlie. He slashed at the space between the WEAPON's foot claws, Charlie slashing at the other foot, the leathery skin hardly protected by the armor. Ruby's foot swung out, smashing into Charlie and knocking him towards the claw-tips. Charlie's heels hit the ground and he rolled backwards, leaping to his feet and running away from the claw-tips as they swung at him.

"WE HAVE TO DESTROY IT NOW!" Charlie yelled, leaping up and slamming his large axe blade into the WEAPON's thigh. He fell over its leg, landing behind hit. He growled, holding his axe normally once more.

A blast of blue energy from Ruby hit Cai, sending her lurching forward, dazed. She came within range of the claw-tips, the two gray tentacles slashing at her, draining her magic energy as well as her regular energy. Her eyes flashed green, looking up at Ruby.

"[Hellish-copter]!" She yelled, her Capsule's came together with her hands, the barrels of her lasers sliding into the single Capsule. From the top came a long pole, two propellers attached to the top. The bladed propellers sprung out to either side, now making her look like a helicopter. She slid her right hand from the Capsule and raised her left into the air. The propellers started up.

Cai lifted up—way up. She held her right hand in front of her, pointed at Ruby. A green ball of energy formed, growing to the size of a bowling ball. She launched it at the WEAPON.

The giant red beast shuddered from the impact, leaning backwards slowly but staying standing. The Midnight Revenge came into view behind it as Cai dropped to the ground, her aura gone. Her Capsule's reverted to normal…

"Caity…fire!" Rik yelled with a grin as she pushed the control stick away from her, the Midnight Revenge plummeting downwards…

White blasts of energy shot from the many beam cannons on the hull of the Midnight Revenge. The shots slammed straight and true into Ruby WEAPON's back, sending the WEAPON stumbling forward, supported only by its claw-tips. Robert and Charlie grinned, now standing on either side of Cai by the strained claw-tips. The blades of Monolith and Charlie's 'Vengeance' axe swung through the air, severing the claw-tips off at the lowest points.

"We…we will prevail!" Robert yelled running towards the Ruby WEAPON as it lurched forward, its severed claw-tips unable to hold it up during Rik's onslaught. The Midnight Revenge passed overhead, ceasing fire as it sped towards the Gold Saucer, ready for a loop-around.

Charlie and Robert leapt into the air simultaneously, Cai on the ground below them sending shots off at the Ruby WEAPON's torso as it plummeted towards the ground. The neck passed by the two—axe and sword swung downwards through the air. Twin "cracking" sounds echoed through the desert. Robert and Charlie both landed on top of a dune, feet sinking into the sand as they turned.

Ruby WEAPON smashed into the ground, head bouncing off and landing by Cai. Yellow eyes fixed on her. The head let out a large roar, arms slowly pushing the body up. Green mist rose up, clumping together and slamming into Charlie. The black-haired warrior fell off from the dune, illuminated in a flash of green.

"Charlie!" Robert yelled, looking down. The warrior rose up slowly, red flickering around him. With energy borne of fury, he leapt forward, clearing the far distance to Ruby. He stood in front of the body, the headless red behemoth struggling to keep upright—its legs useless at the time being.

"[Devastator]!" he yelled, hurling himself at the torso and slashing an "X" with the Vengeance. "[Courage]!" he followed up the [Devastator] by kicking off from the WEAPON's torso, pushing upwards as though the air was a hard floor. He hung in the air above Ruby WEAPON for a moment, bringing the axe back over his head. He plummeted down, slicing downwards with the blade, straight through the front of the WEAPON, leaving a deep crevice in the scarred surface. He hit the ground…

"[Rain Of Blades]!" he yelled, using the last of his energy to run towards Ruby WEAPON and leap upward again, spinning his axe around him. He suddenly let go of it, the blade flying upwards into the air…he hit the ground harshly, falling down—red aura of fury still around him.

The axe blade dropped down, slicing straight through the WEAPON's body. The whole body began to glow from under the armor, light flowing out from the crevices. It collapsed forward, the head roaring. The armor began to disintegrate, becoming crimson energy. It began to drift towards the Monolith, growing in size as all of Ruby disintegrated, save its head.

The energy suddenly shot to the right, into the gleaming crimson blade of Robby's Goliath sword.

"…So…you must be Arcane…you are my clone…" Robby snickered, sheathing his Goliath sword, which had by then absorbed all of Ruby WEAPON's energy.

"You! You're my clone!" Robert shouted, sheathing Monolith and drawing his sabre.

"…You're the clone of my power, boy. And my power shall soon be greater once I take away something the Earth can't live with out! As much as I'd like to kill you now, I have bigger plans. Goodbye," Robby snickered as he disappeared in a flash of light.

"…He seems like a 'fun' guy…" Charlie muttered in a monotone voice. A roar from Ruby WEAPON's head was silenced as Cai blasted it away, leaving a crater in the sand. A rose with petals of light brown grew up from the ground where the sand-crater was. Charlie carefully pulled it out of the ground, avoiding the thorns.

"…Good job…guys…" Robert murmured before stumbling forward, the wound in his chest causing pain to shoot through his whole body.

"…We need to get you to the ship!" Cai yelled, running towards him…

Anikken stopped suddenly, just in front of Gerald.

"…If you cut me at all…you'll be arrested and given the death sentence," the man said, holding up a pair of handcuffs. Anikken dropped the Lesath, holding out his hands.

"Go ahead…cuff me," Anikken murmured. Just as Gerald was about to, Anikken's foot caught the man in the crotch. The tall man leaned forward in pain, which left him open for a knee in the face. Anikken smirked as the man fell backwards, the teen grabbing his Lesath…he hurled it through Gerald's middle…

Ian dodged a round of blasts from the Pegasus, clipping her fans to her belt—they were useless to this power. She pointed her hand at the Pegasus…a bolt of lightning flew at the metal beast, cracking against it's hull. Blast after blast of energy flew at Ian as she ran, Raptor appearing by her heels.

"This…thing…is…wearing…me…out…!" Ian whimpered, still running as the Pegasus shot. A blast collided with her back. She skidded to a stop.

"That's it! First you make me run like hell and then you hit me! It's on now!" she yelled, red energy glowing around her. She leapt at the Pegasus…hit the ground.

"[Lightning Kick]!" she yelled. Her foot kicked out extremely fast at the Pegasus, connecting with its front six times. "[Spinning Bird Kick]!" Ian flipped up…and came down, landing in a handstand. Her legs dropped into a split, left behind her and right pointed towards the Pegasus. She pushed into the air, legs spinning like a helicopter. She shot towards the Pegasus, connecting four kicks on its hull before dropping back onto her hands and bouncing into a standing position. The red aura faded away.

"At times like this…I should roar…but man, this thing freaks me out!" Raptor said, firing a bolt of lighting at the Pegasus. It shuddered under the impact before loosing another barrage of laser fire, which Ian and Raptor dodged as Anikken ran under the robot. He sliced upwards with his Lesath, through the underside of the Pegasus.

"I! Want! A! Submarine!" he yelled, slicing through the slash he already made and slicing at the parts inside. The guns pointed at Ian. …Smoke drifted from the many barrels, blue electricity fizzling out over the guns, then the body. "Get in a submarine! Quick!" Anikken yelled, running towards the black one. He pulled open the hatch on top, hopping in, and was followed by Ian and Raptor. He slammed the hatch shut, closing it as the Pegasus exploded, sending debris everywhere.

Anikken made his way to the front of the submarine, where the controls were. Inside sat a quivering captain.

"…Get out…" Anikken muttered. The captain did so, closing and locking the hatch behind him. Anikken started up the submarine.

"…You know how to run this thing, Anikken?" Raptor asked, hopping into one of the eight seats that lined the sides of the cockpit—four on each side. He sat in the front right one, while Ian sat in the front left. They buckled up, and Anikken dropped into the control seat, buckling in.

"Should I?" Anikken asked. The submarine dove down into the water. Anikken kicked in the propellers and the sub' headed away from the underwater reactor.

A message came over the communication system. "Number 04, where the hell are you going?"

Anikken flipped on the communication system to send a message. "#$%& You." He turned it off.

"…Well…we've got company…" Raptor muttered, looking out through the side porthole, which was sealed with two thick layers of glass. Four other submarines were in pursuit of them.

"…Right…now…we should try to destroy them, aye?" Ian muttered, looking at Anikken.

"That's right, stinky, we should…" Anikken laughed as he turned the submarine towards the enemies…

The captain ran towards the elevator. It didn't open fast enough. Cracks in the glass caused by debris sent the glass falling inward, and the ocean flooded in…

Four torpedoes shot from the submarine, smashing into a red submarine and causing it to explode.

"Damnit…the sub' has to reload!" Raptor shouted. "Anikken! Plow through them!"

Anikken did as he was told, and the black submarine shot between a blue and green submarine. A white submarine was in pursuit.

"We've gotta shake him off…hmm…any rocks?" Ian asked, looking out the porthole.

"Nope, but we've got a secret WEAPON!" Anikken smirked as the submarine propelled towards Emerald WEAPON.

"Anikken! Are you crazy!?" Raptor exclaimed, clawing at the air frantically.

"At times…" Anikken brought the submarine straight down, below Emerald WEAPON. The white submarine, not turning in time, shot straight towards it. Emerald WEAPON's mouth opened slowly, wicked, cruel teeth exposed. It bit into the front of the submarine, causing the other end to drift a while, crewmembers suffocating, before the rest of the submarine was shot into dust by one of Emerald WEAPON's lasers.

"Two more to go…and the missiles have been re-loaded…" Anikken reported, turning the submarine again. He almost piloted it straight into a pylon. He pulled the ship up.

"Now why the hell would those be in the sea?" Ian pondered aloud.

"…To blow us up with the bombs on top!" Raptor shouted. Anikken pulled back on the stick even more, the submarine propelling upside-down for a moment before Anikken rolled the ship to its correct position.

They headed towards the blue submarine, the green heading around the pylon to come up behind the black submarine. The blue submarine fired its torpedoes, the missiles shooting towards the HEROs submarine. The black submarine pulled up and the torpedoes hit the green instead…as it passed the blue, the black dropped a mine. The blue ran right into it, causing an explosion that sent the submarine rocking.

"Hah! We beat 'em! Lets take our new ship home, Captain Anikken!" Raptor snickered, batting at his tail with his claws.

"…Don't ever call me Captain," Anikken muttered as his PHS rang. He picked it up. "Yellow? Hey Charlie!"

"Yeah…we got rid of Ruby WEAPON…I healed up pretty easily…but Robert's sort of…taking it slow. But he'll be conscious within an hour. How are you guys? You need help?" Charlie asked.

"Nah…we're fine…we just need to know where we can meet with you guys," Anikken replied coolly.

"How about near the Gold Saucer? There's a cove near the grasslands surrounding the desert."

"You know what our next mission is after Robert wakes up, right, Charlie?" Anikken asked, looking to Ian, then to Raptor.

"Destroy the other WEAPONs?" Charlie yawned, leaning against Rik's seat. Her gloved hand grasped his free hand.

"No, damnit! We're going to the Gold Saucer to have some fun!" Anikken laughed, stretching.

"Heh! Now you're talking! We'll be waiting at the cove," Charlie hung up, sitting down next to Rik's chair.

Cai yawned lightly, resting her head against the side of Robert's bed. She snuggled her back into her chair and folded her arms below her head. She looked at him. "You are one strange soldier, Robert Arcane…yet…you saved my life…and…you decided to help me even though you didn't know me…yes…you're one strange soldier, Robert Arcane…"

"Thank you, and enjoy your time here at the Gold Saucer!" the smiling girl at the gate said. The group of eight nodded and they stepped into the Station.

Rik grabbed Charlie's arm, dragging him towards the Vac-Shaft for the Round Square.

"Gondola!" Rik exclaimed as they fell through the shaft.

"…That poor boy…" Raptor muttered as Robert was grabbed from behind and pulled into the Vac-Shaft for the newest Square, the Restaurant Square. He landed on his feet in front of the person holding him. She let go and stepped in front of him, and Robert smiled, seeing it was Cai.

"I've read your mind before, Robert, and I'd like to try some of this 'food'…" Cai trailed off. Robert suddenly realized that not only had he eaten since after the Crimson Palace had lifted into the air, but Cai had never eaten.

"Good idea! Let's eat," Robert said with a grin, "…Ruby WEAPON left me with an empty stomach, so to speak…"

Cai giggled, realizing the joke—Ruby WEAPON had skewered him through his middle, of course.

The host came up to them, "Table for two? Right this way," he said, leading them to a small, circular table by a window. Cai and Robert sat in chairs facing each other.

"…Er…this place is nice…" Robert said softly, looking down at the tablecloth.

Cai picked up her napkin, laying it in her lap. "Yeah…it is. You know…you don't have to fight all the time…you could…just…leave the fighting to Charlie…or someone…"

"…No. I have to fight. Maybe you don't understand—,"

"I do understand, Robert. I've read your mind, silly. I know that you're a kind person and you fight to find a purpose. Why don't you start by finding a purpose to—,"

"May I take your orders?" the waitress asked, jumping into their conversation.

"I'll have a—,"

"Two orders of lasagna, please," Cai politely answered, laying her hands in her lap. Robert looked at her inquisitively as the waitress left. "I've read your mind, remember?"

Rik leaned out of the window of the Gondola to get a better look at the Gold Saucer, Charlie grinning from the seat beside hers.

"Of course, you can get in trouble for doing that…" Charlie warned her.

"Of course, I'm having fun," Rik replied, sliding back in.

"Of course, you've had too many sodas…" Charlie muttered in response.

"Yeah…well…Robert and I decided that I'm gonna be part of the team that tries to kick Emerald WEAPON's ass…me and Anikken and him…"

"Not me?" Charlie asked, putting his right arm around her. She yawned lightly.

"Nope. He says you almost died from that Ultima magic. He also said that your weapon would weigh too much underwater. That'd slow you down," Rik leaned her head against his arm, taking her hat off and setting it between their legs.

"So I just hang around on the shore and wonder if you're dead…?" Charlie complained.

"Nope! You and Ian and Raptor and Caity and Cai will wait inside our new submarine, so if any of us get injured you can pick us up and replace us while the rest of you heal us up. There are six Depth-suits in the submarine, incase you didn't know," Rik drummed against her knees with her fingertips.

"So, wanna go to the restaurant?" Charlie asked as the Gondola ride neared its end.

"Nope."

"Wanna go back to the Midnight Revenge and eat fried chicken while watching television?"

"Yep."

Rik and Charlie kissed as the Gondola made its complete stop… Even from the next car back, they could hear Anikken and Ian…

"GET THE @#$& off of MY side of the Gondola!"

"That's my side!"

"Which side is yours? You're too big for me to figure that out!"

"Gah! It's baby fat!"

"Baby fat my ass."

"Hey! Look! Here's the line! YOU crossed the line! See the line? You crossed it!"

"No, you just redrew the line!"

"I did not!"

"You did too! The line used to be on this side of the cushion!"

"…Oh yeah…well…you suck!"

"No, you suck!"

"Hah! I bet I could score better than you at the Speed Square, mama's boy!"

"You're on, stinky!"

Red lasers flew through the air as the Speed Square's coaster flew over the tracks.

Ian fired a blast at a cactus, then at a Blue Plane, shooting them into smithereens. The coaster zoomed over the tracks, and Anikken held the trigger, charging his blaster up while Ian shot quick shots at a Jet Plane, causing it to disappear.

"You're gonna lose, Kisaragi!" Ian shouted, shooting at a Yellow Boulder, not quick enough, though, the roller coaster shot past it. Ian changed her shots to hit a bunch of balloons, which she took out five of.

As they neared the end, a large UFO began hovering towards them. Anikken leveled his laser at it. He fired a huge ball of red energy at the UFO, causing it to explode, a shower of confetti falling over both Ian and Anikken. The coaster pulled into the main area of the Speed Square.

"And the winner is…number two!" the man at the prize booth announced, pointing at Anikken as he and Ian hopped out from the roller coaster. The prizeman tossed Anikken a stuffed Chocobo.

"…Uh…here Ian," Anikken muttered, handing her the Chocobo as they made their way to the Vac-Shaft to return to the Station.

"Thanks Anikken!" Ian said with a smile, hugging the Chocobo close to her. "It's so cuuuute!"

They stepped into the Vac-Shaft and were sucked upwards, landing in the Station.

"Hey Anikken?"

"What?"

"…Thanks."

"Yeah, well…I only gave it to you so it wouldn't change into a Jenova monster while I had it! You attract that crap worse than you attract flies!"

Cai held a white cone in her hand, biting at the pink cotton candy it held atop it. She was walking close to Robert, who was flanked by Raptor and Caity, both of which had bruises from fighting in the Battle Square.

"I had a fun time, Robert," she murmured before taking another small bite of the cotton candy.

"I'm glad, Cai," Robert replied, looking up at the night sky as they walked along the grassy plains surrounding North Corel towards the Midnight Revenge.

"And, Caity, next time…don't try to get to the eighth challenger," Raptor growled.

"Same to you, Rappy-ter," Caity snickered, hopping up and down atop Moogle.

"Stop calling me that!" Raptor yelled, tackling Caity off from her Moogle.

"Lets do this again sometime, Robert…"

Anikken, Ian, Charlie, and Rik sat in the lounge near the back of the Midnight Revenge, watching re-runs of 'SOLDIER: First Class'.

"God damn Shinra air waves…" Rik muttered, throwing a chicken bone at the TV screen as the main SOLDIER said a corny joke.

"Who watches this crap? Besides us, that is…" Anikken trailed off.

"That Cassidy Shinra bitch, I'll bet," Charlie sighed. He looked to his sister, who was nibbling at a drumstick of fried chicken as Robert, Raptor, Cai, and Caity Sith bounded into the room.

"…Lets prepare," Robert commanded. The team rose to their feet. "…But first, we need some sleep."

Robert yawned as he stepped out from the small quarters he shared with Anikken. There were a total of five rooms total on the airship, and Robert used the one closest to the bridge. He made his way down the hallway and up the stairs and smiled as he saw the seven other members of HERO ready and equipped with weapons, armor, and materia.

"Glad you could make it, Robert," Anikken said with a smirk, leaning against the controls a mechanic would use.

"…Yeah," Raptor and Caity agreed, in the technician 'pit' near the back of the bridge, a group of six steps separating them from the others.

"So, Robert, should we head down to 'our' submarine?" Rik asked, standing at the controls, Charlie at her side.

"Yeah. Lets go!" Robert exclaimed. Before he finished, Rik had sent the ship forward and up, up into the air, causing Robert to slid backwards and hit the back wall. Cai smirked at him from her position near Anikken and Ian.

"…We're all doomed, you realize…" Anikken muttered lightly, kicking at the metal floor.

The eight warriors stepped across the grass, to the cove at which the submarine had been docked. Long ago, AVALANCHE had used the same cove to dock their submarine. That was before they gave it to Vincent Valentine. The last they saw of the gunman was on that day ten years ago, Rik had told Robert during their flight.

Robert pulled open the top hatch of the submarine, helping Ian, Anikken, Rik, Charlie, Caity Sith, Raptor, and Cai in before hopping in and closing it behind him. He turned the lock, sealing it tight.

"Right, so, who gets which Depth-suit?" Charlie asked, opening the tiny sliding door of the submarines small closet. Inside, six dark-gray Depth-suits were hung, helmets on shelves above them.

"I'll take this one," Robert said, pulling the heavy suit off a hook and opening its seal. He pulled his sword sheaths off from his belt and chain mail. He then stepped in, finding that it was only slightly oversized. He sealed it up to his neck, practicing a few deft movements with his arms and legs to find that it was very easy to move in the fairly thin suit. Anikken helped Robert slide the oxygen tank's pack over his shoulders, and Cai clipped it on in Robert's front. Cai then put the cord of the oxygen mask over his head, the metal triangular appendage covering his mouth, nose, and jaw tightly, a tube heading from it's front to the top of the oxygen tank. Charlie slid the matching helmet on over his head and clipped it to the Depth-suit, making sure it was sealed tight, including the space between the oxygen mask and the helmet. Robert's eyes showed a slight sign of happiness behind the transparent faceplate. He flipped on the communication system on his helmet, broadcasting not only out loud, but also to the communicator on the submarine, as the rest of the team suited up Rik and Anikken.

"We don't have to win…we just have to kick Emerald WEAPON's Emerald ASS!" he yelled with a laugh as he picked up his swords. "But before we do that, we've got to find it…so Caity, take the controls."

The three warriors stood illuminated in the light penetrating the dark ocean depths. They stood at ready in the submarine's airlock, waiting for the time that they would be let out by Caity Sith and into the battle with Emerald WEAPON.

"Are you three ready?" came Caity's feline voice in their helmets.

Rik gripped her spear in her covered hands tighter. "I'm ready."

Anikken was holding his Lesath in the melee weapon position. "Me too."

Robert held both of his swords, Monolith in his left and the sabre in his right. He shook his head slightly under the helmet. "I'm ready as I'll ever be…it's impossible to be truly ready when you're facing a monstrosity big enough to eat a submarine whole if it wanted to…so…I'm ready as I can be…and ever will be."

"Good, 'cause out you go!" Caity laughed, and to the three's shock, the airlock's hatch flew open, the cold water rushing in. The trio kicked out from the airlock, rushing towards the monster they could only hope to try and defeat.

It's huge green legs hung above the ocean floor, the beast stopping, sensing the three attackers. It turned its bulk in their direction, firing off a blast of laser from its huge mouth.

Anikken spun so that the laser blast flew just over his chest. He spun again, hitting the sand-covered ocean floor at the same time that his friends did.

"Er…eh…I guess this would be a bad time to mention this, but…" Charlie stammered over the communication link, "You have about twenty minutes worth of air…so…eh…in eighteen minutes, we're picking you up, no matter what."

"Damnit!" Robert shouted into the intercom. "That isn't enough time!" He pushed off from the ocean floor, pushing himself forward through the water with his feet. He came level with the open mouth of Emerald WEAPON. The sabre blade flew down, sliding into its mouth between two of its sharp teeth. The creature howled in pain, a boom that send Robert back through the water as the beast's wing-lasers opened up, the two closest to the center yellow, the two to the outside a bright blue.

The creature shot a laser from the right blue pod at Rik. The girl sidestepped, sending a cloud of sand along her trail. Both she and Anikken kicked off to join Robert.

"We need a plan!" Rik shouted through the com-unit.

"…Or a summon spell," Robert laughed. The trio disappeared.

A blast of lava shot up from the ground, rising with it a black and red dragon. Despite the water, the lava still sent fire showering downwards. The lava sunk back into the hole in the ground, but Bahamut HELL still flew in the water, looking at the Emerald WEAPON.

The words [Abyss Flare] ripped through the minds of the three…

Bahamut HELL opened its mouth, revealing its long, vampire-like fangs, each ten-inches in length. The dragon let out a large roar through the water before it began to grow a ball of black light between its jaws. HELL's eyes pulsated red, the ball growing even larger. HELL fired the energy ball, pushing it forward with a pillar of magma from its open mouth. The blasts flew into the tender inside of Emerald WEAPON's mouth before Bahamut HELL dropped down into its hole in the ground, the earth sealing up behind it.

The trio reappeared, hovering in the water.

"Rik! You and Anikken get around behind it! Try to do a lot of damage! I'll handle the front side!" Robert shouted over the communications. He kicked forward, slashing across Emerald WEAPON's middle, leaving a long line. Emerald's armor wasn't as hard as Ruby WEAPON's, due to the amount of sunlight Ruby's had that hardened it, and the fact Emerald WEAPON was constantly soaking in water. The WEAPON roared, launching out a barrage of fireballs at Robert.

Robert then realized the power this creature possessed. It could maintain fire within water—just like Bahamut HELL. Robert dove low, the fireballs charring the back of his suit. He pushed up again, shooting towards the WEAPONs open mouth. Bringing his sabre over his right shoulder, he jammed the Monolith's blade into the roof of the WEAPONs mouth, following it up with a slash down into its jaw with the sabre.

"I'll destroy all of you WEAPONs! And then I'll destroy that clone!"

"The hell? The back hatch is opening! Charlie! Make sure we're sealed in!" Caity shouted, frantically slamming her paws against the controls.

"…Holy crap…" Charlie muttered from behind her.

He looked through the small window in the inner airlock door. Inside stood a man, dressed in a Depth-suit with the proper breathing material, wielding two swords. The outer door flew open and the man was sucked out into the murky ocean depths.

"…Caity…I'm going out there…" Charlie muttered, looking to Caity, Raptor, Cai, and Ian.

Rik grabbed a hold of the back of Emerald WEAPON, holding the Gemini with the same hand that grasped the plate as her free hand moved to the tool belt she had insisted on bringing along. It came back up with a silver cylinder.

"Come on, Anikken, get me an opening," she called into the communication unit.

Anikken Kisaragi kicked up to where she was, slashing several times into the back plating of Emerald WEAPON, creating a two-inch-deep groove. Rik pushed the cylinder in, then concentrating on the ice materia in her Gemini.

The cylinder was suddenly held in tight against the armor with a mound of ice. "This'll help Robert…and us," Rik muttered, grabbing Anikken and letting go of the WEAPONs back, kicking off and dragging the boy along behind her.

"Of course…it'll probably turn around…" Anikken muttered grimly.

"How much time, Rik?" Robert called out, sidestepping a blast from a blue wing-pod.

"We have fourteen minutes before we get the hell out of here and get new oxygen tanks," Rik told him from the other side of the green WEAPON.

A snicker sounded in his helmet…Robert instinctively turned around, the Depth-suit covered being in his vision, holding both Mystic sword and Masamune in his Depth-suit gloved hands.

"Hello, Clone. It seems we have the same interests, so how about we destroy the planet's Emerald WEAPON and take the power for ourselves?" Robby snickered, utilizing the same communication system. "And while you're at it, pay attention to that monster behind you."

Robert turned around quickly, looking up at Emerald WEAPON. A laser blast shot towards his face. It smashed into the glass of the helmet, causing it to shatter, shards slicing across Robert's face. Despite the pain of the salty water against his cuts, Robert pulled off the helmet…it floated down and away from the two. Without the communication system, he couldn't warn his friends…bubbles spurted from the front of his mask with his slow breaths.

Robert knew that at any time Robby could call all of the WEAPONs to one place and destroy anything…or use all of his control on Emerald WEAPON to his advantage—to double-team Robert. Robert turned to face his clone again as Robby embedded half of his Goliath sword's blade in the sand, and Robert did likewise with Monolith.

Robby pulled his helmet off, violet hair drifting behind him. He held his Masamune in front of him.

Robert kicked forward, sabre colliding with Masamune, guards pressed to one another, the original and clone's hands not far apart. They both knew their challenge…

The Emerald WEAPON turned to face Rik and Anikken, laser orbs beginning to glow. A smirk crossed Rik's face under her helmet. A blast of fire grew as the cylinder—a bomb—exploded in Emerald WEAPON's back. The WEAPON shot forward a small bit, fragments of its armor shooting away from it.

"Let's go, Rik!" Anikken shouted, leaping at the WEAPON, swinging his Lesath into its front.

Rik followed, shoving the blades of the Gemini against the piece of its front near the part Anikken attacked. She shoved hard against the armor, aided suddenly by a figure in a Depth-suit behind her.

"Hey there, need a hand?" Charlie's voice chirped over the intercom. Rik smiled slowly as Emerald WEAPON roared.

Robby's foot flew up, kicking Robert backwards. Their blades parted, and Robby dove to slash across Robert's chest. The red-haired original landed on his feet in the sand, their blades clashing again.

Blue-green eyes locked with those of the same color…Robert growled, bubbles flying from his mouthpiece. He pushed hard against his sabre, pushing Robby back. Robby sidestepped to the left, pulling his Masamune away suddenly, causing Robert to stumble forward. The silver blade of the Masamune was pushed down towards Robert's back as the Mystic fell…

"Robert…" Cai whispered quietly, staring out one of the side portholes as Caity brought the submarine in a circle around the Emerald WEAPON…

Charlie's axe thudded into the armor of Emerald WEAPON. Rik and Anikken had kicked off, and Charlie did likewise, Emerald shooting itself with lasers meant for the three.

"Charlie! We can beat it!" Rik yelled, kicking forward again and slashing at the beast.

"Rik…we can't. We aren't doing much damage…and in seven minutes, you're going back to that submarine, you hear me?" Charlie replied, kicking forward as well and sinking a blow into the WEAPON's front. The plate of armor just below its mouth was scarred with the blows of their weapons.

"Gah…hey…where's Robert?" Anikken asked, keeping back away from the WEAPON, watching to see if it would fire at them…

"…Hey Robert?" Rik asked into the communication system.

"…Should I go check it out?" Anikken asked, still looking up at the WEAPON's mouth and wings.

"No, you're needed here. I'm sure Robert's okay."

The Masamune blade cut through Robert's oxygen tube. As Robert gasped, he took in a mouthful of water. His hands rose to his mouth, ripping the mouthpiece away from his face. He pushed off the oxygen tank, air shooting from the stubble of the tube still connected to it. Pushing himself up, he looked to Robby. The Masamune deflected three frantic slashes—a cruel look was apparent in Robby's eyes.

His movements slowed…Robert's face began to turn a faint blue. His eyes clouded over, and with a final futile swipe, he collapsed into the sand next to the two Mystic weapons…

[Begin FMV]

Robert floated through space, away from the Planet and into the pleasant warmth of the sun. He wasn't that far from the star, but it wasn't frying him. Suddenly, in front of him, Janus and Emanuel appeared, standing shoulder to shoulder.

Janus: The Mystic not only uses the Planet, but they can manipulate the Planet as well.

Emanuel: This magic is intensified by the swords…the one who wields it has to be incredibly strong to control it…but sometimes they're strong enough to manipulate the power of the swords and the Planet despite distance from either…

Janus: Like the triangular cloud you just happened to notice, pointing you towards your Monolith sword, which just happened to 'appear' on top of Mount Nibel.

Emanuel: It's no coincidence.

Janus: But beware; your clone wields the same power. He's just as strong as you, if not much more.

Emanuel: Which is why you have to stop him…or this…

The dream Emanuel spread his arms out wide.

Emanuel: This will all be his. It'll all be the Goliath's…but to do that, he must absorb the power of the WEAPONs, to make his sword stronger, so he can manipulate more than the Planet…

A translucent image of Robby grew behind Emanuel and Janus.

Janus: …He's awakening not only the WEAPONs of our Planet…but…

Janus' voice drifted off.

Emanuel: Brother! You must fight!

[End FMV]

Robert's eyes snapped open.

In a flurry, the boy was on his feet, sheathing his sabre and pulling Monolith from the ground. He yelled, bubbles of air which he had not breathed flying from his mouth. The Monolith began to glow.

The WEAPON's back spike twitched at the sudden growth of power behind it. It pulled back the covering in the back of its mouth, shooting a blast of blue energy at one of its attackers.

"Two minutes…it has to die…it has—," Anikken was cut off by the WEAPONs laser attack, colliding with his chest and knocking him backwards, past the submarine.

Kicking the robotic cat out of the way, Ian sat at the controls, glaring at the front view-port. She flipped the propellers in the back to the maximum speed, pulling the control stick in the direction Anikken went.

"That WEAPON is one bitch," Ian growled, nearing the drifting teen.

"…Takes one to know one…" Caity muttered, brushing dust from her fur.

The Monolith's blade shone extremely brightly.

Around Robert, the water was shoved back in a pillar leading up to the surface. Still yelling, the water shoved back even further, past Robby, past the huge WEAPON, past the other members of HERO. The water finally stopped just behind the submarine, which was scooping Anikken into its airlock. The Emerald WEAPON's feet slammed into the ground. It turned towards Robert.

Robert's eyes flashed toward it.

"[Arcane Terror]!"

Rik ripped off her helmet and mouthpiece, scaling up the top of Emerald WEAPON as it opened its mouth toward Robert. It pulled back the covering of its mouth orb, the orb glowing in preparation for laser fire. The Gemini blades slammed into the orb. The WEAPON let out a booming roar into the air, sending Rik falling—luckily into Charlie's arms.

The glowing blade of the Monolith was sheathed at Robert's back, hatred in his eyes. He ran towards the Emerald WEAPON, red energy streaking behind him as he leapt up into the air, gliding towards the WEAPON as he drew his sabre.

He slashed upward, knocking the WEAPON up off of the ground and into the air. His feet hit the damp ocean floor and he kicked off into the air again. He flew upwards, leveling with the WEAPON…

His eyes flashed red.

In a flurry of wrist movements, Robert cut ten gashes across the armored front of the Emerald WEAPON. He shot up a bit higher than the green WEAPON, bringing the sabre back over his head. Suddenly, Robert shot downwards, slashing down with the sabre as he did. His plummeted to the sand…and his feet hit, digging into the wet ground. The WEAPON dropped down just in front of him…and fell into two halves, each falling to either the left or right. Robert's aura faded.

Light shot from the WEAPON…flooding into Robby's Goliath sword. As the light beamed out, the WEAPON's remains disintegrated. After a period of ten seconds, the WEAPON was gone, leaving a dark green harp in its place. Robert turned to face his clone.

"You should give up now, Arcane," Robby growled, picking up both of his swords.

"As long as there's a battle to be fought, I'll be a part of it. I'll never give up. Heed my word—you will be destroyed, Robby," Robert snarled back, sheathing his sabre, the Monolith still glowing.

"We'll see, won't we?" Robby laughed as he disappeared from sight. Rik picked up the harp carefully.

"…HEROs…lets get to the shore…I can't hold the water back for long…"

"There's no time for breaks…" Charlie muttered, standing on the shore of the beach, facing the ocean, along with the rest of the HEROs. "No time to lollygag at the Gold Saucer…no time to visit family…or friends…no time for joy rides around the world in an airship…we have to do what's necessary to save our Planet…"

"…We have to destroy the final WEAPON…er…one of the final WEAPONs…" Rik murmured, leaning on her Gemini.

"Where is it? Where's Ultimate WEAPON?" Ian asked, digging a small hole in the sand with her feet.

"It's by Junon…at least…that's where it was when most of our parents were avoiding it…a lake near Junon…" Raptor yawned, sitting in Cai's lap. Cai leaned back in the sand.

"Well, what are we waiting for? Let's go!" Anikken shouted, growing impatient as they watched the rising tide.

"…Yeah, Anikken…let's go…" Robert said with a nod.

"For the Planet!" Cai cheered with a grin.

"…For us…" Robert added, standing from his seat on the sand.

"For the future, for the present, for us, for the Planet, for the sake of corndogs, yeah, yeah, lets just get our asses out there and kill Ultimate WEAPON!" Caity exclaimed with a grin, flipping into a handstand atop Moogle.

"And lets hope we don't get killed along the way," Charlie muttered grimly.

Three forms dropped from the bottom hatch of the Midnight Revenge, diving towards the Ultimate WEAPON.

Robert Arcane.

Raptor.

Ian Strife.

They shot towards the still WEAPON.

Robert let out a noise that was part roar part laugh as he sliced through part of the WEAPON's wing with his sabre, traveling down past it. The trio landed hard on their feet on the edge of the small crater. The WEAPON roared—it's red eyes fixing on Robert.

Robert noted that this WEAPON was smaller than the two they fought before it. It swooped down, slashing at Robert with its front claws as its two pairs of hind legs smashed in front of them. Robert leapt back, nearly falling off of the edge of the crater. Ian grabbed the front of his shirt, pulling him forward.

"Alright…you guys know the plan!" Robert shouted, leaping headlong towards Ultimate WEAPON. His feet smashed into its stomach, and the beast flapped its wings to push itself forward, keeping it from falling back into the water. Robert slammed the sabre up to its hilt in the WEAPON's front. He then quickly kicked off, falling backwards with the blood-soaked blade and landing on his rear. The WEAPON roared, flapping its wings at getting itself into the air. Robert rolled onto his feet.

"Jump!" he yelled. Raptor and Ian to either side of him, the three leapt up, towards the WEAPON. Robert swung his sabre, Ian slashed with her fans, and Raptor clawed with his…claws. The three fell past the WEAPON, landing with a splash in the water. The WEAPON, scraped up by their weapons, retreated, flying off in the direction of Midgar.

"Cold, cold, cold…" Ian whimpered, quickly pulling out of the water and onto the rocks, followed by Raptor and Robert as she gazed at the waterfall close by.

"Well…phase one is complete…let's get to the Andromeda—and Ian, for your sake, I hope you can pilot that thing well," Raptor snickered as they began to climb up the edge of the lake's crater.

Anikken, Cai, and Caity stood on the deck of the Midnight Revenge as the ship neared the Ultimate WEAPON.

"Hang on!" Rik's voice shouted out from the speakers. The three grabbed the railing as the ship rammed the WEAPON in the side. The ship was a bit larger than the beast, but the WEAPON stopped flying as the Midnight Revenge switched to hover. The WEAPON snarled at the three warriors (and their Moogle) on the deck of the ship.

Anikken hurled his Lesath, the blade swinging out and clipping the tip of Ultimate WEAPON's left wing before flying back into Anikken's hands. Cai brought her Capsule-covered hands up, firing rapid blasts of laser at the WEAPON's head as Caity shot a ball of fire from her armlets at the WEAPON's slashed chest. Anikken snickered.

"Piece of cake," he laughed before he was caught in the chest by a ball of energy from Ultimate WEAPON. Cai was keeping up the barrage of laser fire as Anikken slowly stood, illuminated by the red aura of a special attack.

"You've asked for it…[Circular Saw]!" Anikken shouted. He held the Lesath to his left, though it was in his right hand. The metal weapon began to glow just as Anikken threw it. It traveled horizontally, growing larger as it shot towards the WEAPON. The huge blade slashed off the WEAPON's left back leg before returning to its normal shape, flying back into Anikken's hand.

The WEAPON roared, dropping down from the view of the Midnight Revenge.

The WEAPON launched a ball of energy at Ian as she leapt from the Andromeda. She stopped in midair after being hit, red anger surrounding her.

"I was waiting for this…[Lightning Kick]!" Ian shot upwards, her foot kicking out rapidly, snapping across Ultimate WEAPON's head four times. She spun so that her head was pointed downwards. "[Spinning Bird Kick]!" she shouted, her legs spinning like the propellers of a helicopter, smashing into the WEAPON.

"And for my finale…ta-da! [Snap Kick]!" Ian giggled. Her right foot shot upwards so fast that it left a blur. It smashed into Ultimate WEAPON's neck. She pulled it out as the WEAPON dropped towards the ground…and fell along behind it. The Andromeda dropped down—in Robert's control—and swooped under Ian. The sixteen-year-old landed upside-down in the passengers seat.

"Ugh…thanks…Robert," she muttered as the Andromeda and Midnight Revenge set a course to follow Ultimate WEAPON to Nibelheim.

"[Rusty Chainsaw]!" Cai shouted, pushing her Capsules together. The gun barrels sunk in, and a chainsaw blade shot outwards. It turned off, spinning, ready to cut as Cai leapt up onto the railing. She brought the chainsaw back behind her head. Green energy suddenly surrounded the blade, almost to the same effect as Robert's [Arcane Inferno] skill. She slashed downwards with the energy bladed chainsaw, slicing through its left wing, shearing it off completely. The now-flightless WEAPON stopped in the air, the Midnight Revenge passing over it. It flapped its only wing, shooting downwards towards Cosmo Canyon.

"No! Robert, we have to stop it!" Raptor yelled.

"…That's impossible, Raptor. We'd need some kind of…explosion…!" Robert suddenly grinned towards Ian. Catching his drift, Ian snickered, and pushed the controls of the Andromeda towards a collision with the WEAPON.

"Raptor, Robert, bail out. I'll make sure it'll hit before hopping out myself," Ian commanded. The two HEROs did as they were bidden, and without looking, they leapt from the plane, towards the forests below.

Ian kicked in the thrusters. By the time she jumped out, she'd be hitting the rock ground. She shrugged it off—at least the people of Cosmo Canyon would be saved. She sighed lightly, looking at the red rock below her. She pushed out of her seat and fell over the edge.

With a crack, the Andromeda struck the Ultimate WEAPON. A moment of silence filled the air as Ian dropped. In a futile effort of attack, five orbs of black energy were fired at Ian. Then came the explosion. It rocked through the air, smashing away half of the WEAPON as scraps of metal from the Andromeda shot away from the collision. Knocked only slightly off course was enough, Ian knew. The energy smashed into her…and exploded out. She hit the ground hard on her back…and the Ultimate WEAPON smashed into the rock a mere hundred yards from Cosmo Canyon. An Ultima materia shot through the air…came down, hitting the palm of Ian's hand. The Midnight Revenge came in to land as Robert and Raptor scampered down the hillside to check on the health of their friend. A shadowed form rushed in the opposite direction, towards the crater Ultimate WEAPON created in the ground.

After an Elixir, Ian felt better than ever, which was apparent as she sat around the small campfire with her friends. She was wrapped within a blanket, a mug of hot chocolate in her hands.

"Nice thinking, Ian, but next time…could you please crash someone else's plane?" Rik asked her friend, feeding bits of wood into the fire.

"Yeah, yeah…well…look at what I got!" Ian snickered, holding up the Ultima materia. Robert and Anikken gasped. Meanwhile, none of the HEROs noticed that Cai was staring up at the sky.

"…Well, we know what the least difficult of the WEAPONs is now…" Caity murmured.

"I still don't know what we're going to do about the Jenova WEAPON-ish thing…" Anikken sighed.

"…Isn't there supposed to be a full moon tonight?" Cai asked with a yawn.

"Yeah, there is a full moon…why?" Charlie questioned, looking to the azure-haired girl.

"…Then what's that?" Cai pondered, pointing upwards. Ian dropped her hot chocolate with a scream.

Silhouetted in front of the white moon was a huge shadow, making only parts of the light visible.

"…I've got it!" Robert shouted aloud, standing up slowly.

"…Got what?" Rik asked, still amazed by the thing in front of the moon.

"That thing…it isn't on the Planet…it's…in space," Robert growled, still staring up at it.

"WHAT?" Ian shouted, throwing off the blanket.

"…I understand it all now. If you'll shut up, I'll explain. When we defeated Ruby WEAPON…my clone, Robby, was there. He told us that he was taking away something the Earth couldn't live without…" Robert began, his fingers brushing against the hilt of his sabre.

"The Lifestream!" Raptor said with a nod. Robert shook his head.

"That's what I thought at first. Then I realized that Robby knew that would kill him as well. No…he wants energy and power, he doesn't really want to kill the Planet…yet. I understand it all now! When I passed out from lack of oxygen in the ocean…I dreamed. And in my dream…I was close to the Sun. And I could see Robby. Don't you get it? What kind of outer space object has that much energy? Which one would have a WEAPON that big? Which one is the Planet not able to live without!? The Sun!" Robert muttered, realizing the truth.

"…That's impossible! You can't take the Sun's energy, sword or no sword! It's too far away, and it would overload you!" Raptor shook his head. "You're wrong, Robert."

"No, I'm not. That's why Robby is also absorbing the energy of the WEAPONs. He needs it to take the Sun's power. …And I don't think my brother was right—Robby isn't strong enough to manipulate the WEAPONs—other than Jenova. Otherwise, he'd just be able to call them to him and kill them himself. No, we were his pawns. He didn't order them…he influenced them. His WEAPON influenced them. He's going to take the Sun, and it's our fault! We supplied him the energy!" Robert shouted, closing his eyes in anger.

"…Then he must have had the Jenova WEAPON signal that WEAPON…" Ian whispered, slowly standing as well.

"Exactly…" Robert said with a nod of agreement to her.

"Well…that shows it…we have to stop him…" Anikken murmured.

"And Shinra. And those two WEAPONs…" Rik trailed off.

"…Right then. We're splitting up. Get whatever you need—that is, if you're going to join us at all. I don't want to force any of you into this—it was my mistake. But, Rik, tell your dad we'll need his rocket…and space-suits," Robert snarled out orders. The HEROs all stood, giving nods of recognition.

"We'll meet at Rocket Town, then. I think it should be in three days…that'll give us enough time. Knowing strategy, that thing is going to fire something big to destroy Jenova WEAPON and Robby—something that might destroy our whole Planet. But…damnit, this is just like a book I read when I was a kid!" Anikken shouted.

"Continue, Anikken," Robert said, looking to his friend.

"It was mythology. They called the Beast From Space—the Eternal WEAPON…and, luckily for the people who wrote it, their Spirits scared it off. I think that might be true…but not the scaring off. I think that the WEAPON must have been guarding this Solar System…like it's territory. Anyhow, the farther it gets from the Sun, the lower its power should be. So it'll take a tiny while to gather enough energy to destroy the imposters. But that should be enough time to get weapons and get up there," Anikken explained, balancing the Lesath by the tip of a blade on his finger.

"Good plan, Anikken. …For the rest of you…I don't know you all that well…so I can't ask for much…but…it's somewhat my fault that Robby is around…so I'm going up there for sure. I guess in three days it'll be our day of reckoning. Meet me in Rocket Town if you want to save our Planet. …If not, I understand." Robert nodded. "Now go…three days is a very short time!"

Shimmering steel glowed under the lights of Fort Condor. A gloved hand grasped a leather-bound hilt, wrist spinning. The blade swung deftly through the air. Robert had the Ultima Sabre.

"Jeez, boy, you should have told me you were from the Arcane family!" Karam laughed out, "That sword belonged to your ancestors…though it wasn't part of the Arcane family until your grandfather gave it to us."

"…Hmm. Well, thank you Karam. And, heed my word, I will destroy the Shinra Power Corporation," Robert said with a grin, sheathing his new sabre, feeling the power flowing through it and into him.

"I know you will, sonny-boy, I know you will. Anyhow…have a dandy time freeing the people of Midgar!" Karam shouted to Robert as the red-haired teen disappeared down the ladder. "He'll probably poke his eyes out…"

Anikken surveyed the small house in Wutai he had shared with his mother in days long passed. He spun his new Lesath—The Thorn, a weapon made from his mother's old Conformer and gleaming silver—upon his finger. He had always known about his mother's secret materia safe. Even as a child, he remembered that his mother had told him about the fact that Cloud Strife had given her almost all of the materia AVALANCHE had received over their journey after the battle against Sephiroth, in accordance to a contract his mother had him sign onboard the original Highwind.

"Ready Anikken?" Ian asked from behind him. She had just arrived with Rik in the Midnight Revenge. In her hands she held two fans, near-semi-circle blades attached to handles like those of saws. The fans were white and had serrated fringes on the top, which altogether looked like a group of feathers. "Heh, the Angel Feathers. Robert found them a while back…he's on the Midnight Revenge. Well…got what you need, Anikken?"

"Yeah…hey, I know about Rik and Charlie, but what about Cai and Caity? What do they have?" Anikken asked Ian.

"Oh…Cai has gold-plated Capsules designed by Mr. Wallace and Rik…and you'll see what Caity has!" Ian snickered. Anikken just raised an eyebrow.

"Right…"

The new Moogle was seven feet tall and constructed out of metal. Green-lit eye slits glowed even in the light of the Rocket Town's afternoon. Much like the Capsule design, Moogle now had large egg-shaped items over where its hands would be. Five metal "fingers" stuck out of each, but the team knew they were retractable for guns to take their places. Caity Sith stood within a small "cockpit" just below Moogle's metal head, a diamond view-port in front of her, revealing her to her friends. She looked quite comfortable, seated in a chair with her hands in control pods.

Speaking of new weapons, Rik held in her hand a new Gemini—one with three blades instead of two, arranged like a triangle, though the blades were spaced, causing Rik to call it the "Triple Assault". Rik was wearing a new hat as well, a dark green one. Charlie stood next to her, wielding a double-headed axe that was completely black, with a four-foot-long staff attached to the metal blade. He had earlier informed the HEROs that he had named it "Hellraiser".

Raptor was wearing a black-feathered headdress, appointed to him by his father in Cosmo Canyon. He wore it with pride, as well as the midnight-blue claws he wore over his paws. They were each larger than the previous claws, and were sharper as well. He called them the "Slayer Claws", which he demonstrated by cleanly slicing a monster into several pieces.

Robert stepped into the town, towards the Highwind Deluxe. His eyes widened slightly, though not at the swords he brandished.

"…They all came," he whispered to himself. Speeding up into a run, he reached them in no time. "You…you all came!"

"What, and miss all the fun? Besides, this makes for a good time to get away from—," Ian began.

"Hey, kids!" Cloud Strife yelled out. Followed by Barret Wallace, Tifa Strife, and Nanaki.

"…Dad?" Charlie yelled, his jaw dropping a bit.

"Heh…we all decided it would be a prime time to reunite…after all, our kids are in danger, eh? Well…a few of our kids, at least…" Tifa explained, looking to Barret Wallace, then to Robert, Cai, Caity, and Anikken. Anikken sighed sadly—Robert had never helped him free his mother from Midgar.

Cid Highwind chose that time to step forward, pushing a cart. On it were seven space suits and seven skin-tight under-suits. They were custom made, ready to fit the wearer whose name was printed on it. Even Raptor had a suit made to fit him.

"Well, kids, I guess now is a good time to wish you good luck…get ready, because we don't have much @&#%ing time, you know?" Cid muttered. The children took their under-suits from the cart and headed towards the Highwind residence.

"Shouldn't we try to stop them?" Tifa asked, her face showing concern.

"Tifa, you have to remember, these kids are…well…they're as bad as we used to be. They won't take no for an answer—they're determined. Especially that Robert Arcane fellow…he's lead them to victory against the WEAPONs! We couldn't even beat the Planet's WEAPONs!" Cid exclaimed. He sighed.

"…I presume the strength they possess is either hereditary…or an absolute mystery…" said a voice none of the former members of AVALANCE had heard for ten years. Vincent Valentine came dropping down from the sky, landing lightly on the ground. He was no longer wearing his red cloak or mask, his black hair traveling down his back and becoming virtually invisible against the black outfit he wore. He held his Death Penalty in his claw.

"Vincent!" Tifa yelled with a laugh.

The HEROs stepped out from the Highwind's house. Seven of them—since Caity didn't need one—were clad in their under-suits. All of them had paired off—Rik next to Charlie, Robert next to Cai, Anikken next to Ian, and Raptor standing in front of Moogle and Caity.

"We're ready, Mr. Highwind," Charlie told his girlfriend's father with a slight nod to the pilot.

"Alright then…I wish you all good luck—be warned, being in space makes you queasy…" Cid explained softly, leaning against one of the pillars holding the Highwind Deluxe up.

"I guess I speak for all of us…" Cloud Strife began, "In saying…get your asses up there before Shinra steals your glory!"

"We have to make it up there…to outer space…" Raptor growled. "So, taking Mr. Strife's advice: lets go."

"What we've done is bullshit compared to what we have to do," Robert commented. His eyes drifted upwards—he could see the WEAPON clearly in the sky. How the hell was it so big? Suddenly, his eyes narrowed—the Gelnika 2. "…And I suppose we'll have to get up there even sooner than you thought, Mr. Strife."

"Damn those Shinra!" Cloud Strife shouted, his hands balling up into fists.

"…I'm sorry to say this…" Charlie murmured, looking to the former members of AVALANCHE, "…But you have to go…you won't be any help to us here without your weapons…even you, Mr. Valentine…you're all…too old for this job. Let us handle it, okay?"

"The hell we—," Barret began, silenced by a glare from Tifa.

"…Do your best…" Tifa whispered, embracing both Ian and Charlie in a hug.

"Rik…get these people suited up and into the air…I'll get rid of the Shinra…" Robert commanded.

"Let us come with you, kid," Nanaki growled.

Robert shook his head, "No offense…but I don't need you. I'll do it on my own and then I'll meet you all in the sky!" Robert yelled as he ran towards the landing site of the Gelnika 2.

He pulled the gleaming blade of the Ultima Sabre from its sheath. Before him stood the occupants of the Gelnika 2—Saphie, Merri, and a man he couldn't identify.

"…Who the hell are you?" Robert asked, pointing the blade of his sword at the Shinra employee.

"I am Jeremy Star," the man said with a slight smirk, spinning a rifle upon his finger.

"He's supposed to be in charge of Urban Development…" Saphie began.

"Urban Development my ass!" Merri giggled, cracking her whip, the end nearly snapping across Robert's nose.

"Put down your weapon and maybe I'll get a nice prison cell for you. But we need that spaceship so we can go to our space-station," Jeremy yawned.

"…I don't think so…" Robert muttered, his eyes fixed upon his three opponents.

"Be warned, Mr. Star," Merri murmured.

"He's good…" Saphie finished.

"I'll bet I can take him out with one shot," Jeremy boasted, pointing his guns end at Robert's chest.

"I think I can hold you off for five minutes…" Robert said with a glare.

"In thirty seconds you'll be dead," Jeremy yelled.

"You underestimate me!" Robert shouted, running headlong into Jeremy. He smashed his knee into the man's chest, causing him to release his gun, sending it up into the air. Robert hooked the gun by its trigger guard…Jeremy hit the ground on his back, Robert standing on him. Robert spun the gun down so that the tip of its business end was placed against Jeremy's sternum. A twist set the trigger off.

"…I really hate this guy…" Saphie muttered glumly.

"So do I, Saphie…" Merri whimpered.

Robert turned to face them as the rocket sent lots of smoke upwards in its preparation for liftoff.

"Fine! Fine! We surrender, okay?" Saphie growled, crossing her arms over her chest.

"…What?" Robert asked, raising an eyebrow.

"Yeah, we're gonna join you!" Merri snickered.

"…Join me?" Robert questioned confusedly.

Saphie smirked, "Yes, and you're our new partner."

"…I invited you to join me?" Robert asked, still confused.

"Look, we'll get you up to that space ship, okay? Will that prove we're on your side?" Merri tried to bargain.

"…What?"

Clad in a space suit, Robert was lifted upwards as the Highwind Deluxe began its liftoff. Cai stood by an open hatch, and with the help of the two former-Turks, Robert managed to get inside.

"Hey Arcane! We'll be with the geezers down there!" Merri yelled to him as the rocket began its rise upwards.

"See yah!" Saphie snickered just before Robert closed the hatch, making sure it was sealed shut.

"…I don't get it…" Robert muttered, looking to Cai.

Janus sighed, peering out the window his quarters possessed. The stars shone brightly from the space-stations position, and he could clearly see the shuttle heading up towards them. He turned slowly towards Robby, who stood behind him with the Masamune drawn.

"I won't betray my brother," Janus growled. "But then again…you are him…"

"I'm glad you see my way of thinking…" Robby replied. Janus tossed a small pouch at him, and the sinister clone grabbed it, ripping it open to remove a lock of blue hair. "Perfect…"

Rik yawned, bringing a mug to her lips. Luckily, the cockpit maintained gravity. She took a long sip of the strong coffee, staring out through the front view-port.

She heard a noise behind her, and she turned, seeing Cai. Cai was wearing a short black dress and white gloves.

"Hey," Rik murmured. "Weren't you asleep?"

Cai nodded, her red eyes glowing. …Red eyes? It occurred to Rik that Cai's hair was a shade darker as well.

"…You're…" Rik began, silenced into unconsciousness with a blow to her head.

"Kay," the other said, taking a clump of Rik's hair in her hand and cutting off an inch of it with a short blade. She took a small baggy out of her boot, dropping the hair into it before sliding the baggy down the V-neck of her dress. A thin smile crossed her lips as she took a step through the gravity doors and into the cabin.

Kay saw her counterpart, nestled in a corner with the young man who closely resembled her master, the powerful Robby. She ignored those two for the moment, taking hair samples from the black haired siblings, then from the red-furred beast. When she reached the boy with the crew cut, she saw to her shock that his hair was too short for an adequate sample.

Instead of leaving him be, she took a small syringe from its place strapped to her thigh and slid it into his upper arm, draining a bit of the boy's blood.

She didn't bother with the shutdown cat and Moogle, as they weren't real beings, and moved to the two sleeping in the corner. Instincts thrived in her blood as she looked at the red-haired one, and she knelt down to kiss him with a passion, her red lips pressed to his.

She backed away, looking at the two. Her blood boiled, and she wanted Cai out of the picture, so she could replace her. So she could be the one this man loved. But that was against orders. She stepped back, silent in the room of low gravity. She slid the dress up to her waist, lifting up off the floor to do her work. She removed two small ring-sized objects from their place sewn in at the hem.

Cai whimpered lightly in her sleep, and Kay pulled at one of the glowing blue rings until it was eight-inches in diameter. She slid it over Cai's head and let go of it at her neck, the hoop closing to exactly fit the girl. Cai didn't wake, and Kay repeated the process on Robert, kissing him yet again.

She had the same yearning again, and felt herself warming up inside, but she removed another item from around the hem of her dress—one of the hoops with two chains trailing from it. She connected the ends of the chains to their two collars, and slid the hoop over her wrist, letting it close like a bracelet. She closed her eyes, commanding them to wake up.

They did, their eyes opening in silence. Kay had control. She pulled her dress back down on her thighs.

The two temporary slaves rose to their feet, and Kay let them out through the hatch, and into the airlock. She pushed open the door, leading right into the little pod she had arrived from.

Anikken woke up suddenly, the light pain of his arm apparent now.

"…Gah…damn…" He muttered, looking about for bandages. "Wait…Robert has them…" He pushed off of the floor, turning to face the sleeping Robert.

Only Robert wasn't there. Cai wasn't either.

"How did I know shit like this would happen…?" Anikken asked himself. He slammed his foot down on the ground. "Wake up, sleepy-heads, Robert and Cai are gone!"

Rik closed her eyes, concentrating on her Triple Assault. She brought the red aura up around herself.

"[Polaris]!" she shouted from inside her spacesuit, leaping out through the hatch, a rope connected to the Highwind Deluxe trailing behind her from the butt of the Triple Assault. She leapt up, high above the rocket and the space station. She hurled her spear downwards, her hand sliding loosely around the rope as she did so. The spear shot downwards, sinking halfway into the hull of the space station's cargo bay. She pulled herself along the rope, knowing Anikken, Ian, Charlie, Raptor, and Caity were following behind her. She brought herself up against the hull, turning to see the rest of HERO.

Anikken nodded to her, and she removed a tiny severing saw from her belt. She began to saw with the energy blade against the hull, cutting out a large oval, slowly but surely.

Before she finished, however, the oval she was cutting was slammed out, towards them, knocking Rik backwards and into Charlie, the mini-saw flying off into space. The two lovebirds drifted back, towards their rocket—and towards the Planet, the blues, whites, and greens looking beautiful from this distance, as Midgar was currently pointed toward the Sun.

Rik grasped the rope in her hands, and Charlie grabbed her foot, keeping them from drifting away.

In the doorway stood Damien, clad in a navy blue Shinra Spacesuit, flanked by two Silver Shields.

"Give it up now! Lord Robby wishes to see you all!" Damien shouted through the common intercom channel.

"Lord Robby…?" Anikken asked, raising an eyebrow under his helmet.

"Yes, the Almighty Robby wishes to have a conference regarding your abilities!"

"Wait…the Almighty Robby?" Anikken questioned.

"Damnit! Master Robby wishes to—," Damien began to yell.

"Make up your mind, you crazy asshole! Is he Lord Robby, the Almighty Robby, or Master Robby?" Anikken contemplated with a laugh.

"You're gonna pay! I'll send you to Hell!" Damien growled.

The HEROs drew their weapons, prompting Damien to draw a crystal axe.

"We received upgrades, mother #$%&ers!" Damien said with a laugh.

Still reeling from the blow, Rik pulled herself up the rope, Charlie coming along behind her.

Charlie was illuminated by a red aura.

[Devastator], [Courage], [Rain of Blades], his axe completed the skills, slashing into the Silver Shield to Damien's left.

"[Hero's Sacrifice]!" Charlie then shouted, turning the axe to him and slamming the blade in. Green light illuminated from the blade, swirling around all of the six present members of HERO, even himself. He floated, fully healed.

"Be prepared, kids, we have one of those too!" Damien shouted, as he and his two Silver Shields were surrounded by the red aura.

"[Demolition Derby]!" all three called, flying towards the HEROs, slashing with the various weapons they possessed.

Rik's eyes flashed a brighter blue as her own aura grew about her.

"[Soul Spike]!" she cried beneath her helmet, grabbing Damien by the collar and tossing him up high above, trailing along after him. Gliding up just above being level with him, she threw her Triple Assault like a throwing knife, the three blades driving into Damien's chest through the spacesuit, knocking him down and into the hull of the ship, Rik dropping down along with him, her aura dispersed.

Rik pulled the spear from the man as air hissed from the holes in his suit. The Silver Shield that Charlie had attacked had long-since died from lack of air, his body kicked away by Ian.

Rik pressed the spacesuit's boot to the bloody rips in Damien's suit, holding the air in.

"Where are my friends?" she growled at him.

"Hah…wouldn't you like to know…?" he asked, his face turning a light blue.

Rik pulled her foot away, letting him drift toward Ian. In a fury, her aura grew, as her brother's and best friend's had.

Ian's foot flew like a chainsaw in her [Lightning Kick] before she spun them around like a helicopter in her [Spinning Bird Kick]. Ian then followed it up with a [Snap Kick], her foot moving as a blur and slamming into Damien's head.

"[Double Kick]!" Ian growled, finishing up by tucking her legs up against her stomach and kicking out—one at a time—into Damien's stomach, sending him flying towards Moogle. Under Caity's control, the metal beast swung out a fist, punching Damien into the stars.

All eyes turned to the second Silver Shield.

"Er…um…em…er…they're…they're in the Space-Station, sector K6.1! Just…just…just let me go! Please!" the Silver Shield whimpered, quickly pulling off a rectangular microchip from the outer part of his Shinra spacesuit. "Here, take my keycard—it'll let open almost every door in the station."

Anikken took it, clenching a fist around it.

"There are very few of us Shinra SOLDIERs on the station—mainly scientists like Dr. Furre," the Silver Shield continued.

"Furre? Who's he?" Rik questioned.

"A top-notch scientist—he brought Miss Shinra back into animation," was the response of the soldier, a calmer man now that he knew he wouldn't be killed.

"And where is his office?" Charlie asked as he checked the air supply of his suit.

"His laboratory? Sector M35.2, right below Janus Arcane's quarters—it's at the top of the station."

"…So…in relation to us…its on the other side?" Rik asked, raising a blonde eyebrow under her helmet.

"Yes…" the Shield replied with a slight nod.

"D'you have a map?" Ian questioned, growing impatient in the cold of space.

"Yes—as a matter of fact, I do," said the Shield with a smile. He pulled a square object from his belt. It was an inch high and four inches in length and width, with a small green orb stuck halfway into the center. "You just have to tap the orb once to turn it on and once to turn it off. It's like a global positioning system."

Rik took the machine from the Shield as Charlie retrieved the slowly floating body of the other Shield, removing the keycard and map from the corpse, quickly handing the map to Anikken and the keycard to Rik.

"…There are four escape pods on that rocket over there—take one down to Earth. If you decide to come back here and attack us, we'll show no mercy," Rik growled at the Shield. The man nodded vigorously and headed down the rope to the rocket.

"Now what?" Ian asked, looking at the assembled HEROs.

"We get Robert and Cai," Anikken replied.

"And find Furre," Rik added.

"Rik—we should split into two groups. The first group led by you, the second led by me. You find Furre; I'll get Robert and Cai. Who are you gonna take?" Anikken asked as he began to float into the cargo bay, followed slowly by the others.

"Charlie and Ian," Rik told him. Anikken laughed lightly. "What's so funny?" Rik demanded.

"The obvious group—Rik, Charlie, and Ian." Anikken said with a shrug.

"…Right…well, we have to seal this hole so we can take off our suits," Rik replied matter-of-factly.

"Alright then…" Caity said from inside the metal Moogle. She brought Moogle over to a large metal crate, ripping off a side as though it were paper, the crate's contents—Chocobo greens—floating out, as Caity brought the metal over to the hole. In no time, Rik had patched it up with her tools.

Anikken pulled off his helmet, dropping it to the floor. He suddenly gagged, picking up the helmet and quickly putting it back on.

"No air…" he wheezed into the intercom, as Ian was snickering.

Rik walked up to a switch on the wall, flipping it in the other direction. A hiss could be heard as air filtered in through the vents. Anikken then removed his helmet again.

"Ah…" he sighed with a smile, beginning to remove the rest of the suit as the others did likewise.

Soon they were all wearing their under-suits, weapons hung from belts, clipped to belts, or sheathed.

"Shit! I can't believe I forgot!" Rik shouted out.

"…Forgot what?" Charlie asked, sliding an arm around her shoulders.

"I forgot that…well…Cai was on the ship…or I guess it wasn't her…she knocked me out. Then, when we woke up, her and Robert were gone. What if Cai is working for Shinra? What if they're tricking us?" Rik questioned.

"…Who cares? Lets just follow our plans," Anikken replied with a flippant shrug.

"Yeah…I guess you're right…lets go," Rik proclaimed with a light smile.

Anikken slashed into a guard with his ultimate Lesath—the Thorn, and then kicked the guard into a wall, where he slumped down into a crumpled heap.

"I hate those guys," he said as he waved the keycard in front of a door's lock, following the blinking red arrow guiding him, which was set up on the holographic map that shone from the orb. He spun the Thorn about on his fingertip as he, Caity, and Raptor wandered through the dark corridors.

"Strange…you'd think there would be more guards…" Raptor growled cautiously.

"That's a death wish, Raptor," Caity snickered.

The party continued to walk, lead by Anikken.

"Oh yeah…I forgot—the guard said there weren't many soldiers here, remember?" Anikken realized as the map began to "beep".

"…We're here…?" he asked, looking at a solid metal door.

"Allow me," Caity said with a grin, letting Moogle slam its fist through the door.

"Convenient…" Raptor murmured.

"Very," Anikken agreed.

Anikken and Raptor slid through the hole before Caity made it larger for Moogle and herself.

In the center of the room, in a cylindrical containment unit, both in a comatose state in each other's arms, were Robert and Cai. And surrounding them…tanks containing clones. Anikken and Raptor both gasped in shock, seeing clones of themselves as well as clones of Rik, Charlie, and Ian. Anikken took in the fact that weapons almost exactly like those possessed by the HEROs were covering the far wall.

The eyes of the clones snapped open.

"This kind of thing never happens to Rik and her friends…" Anikken muttered.

Rik, Charlie, and Ian burst into the laboratory of Dr. Furre. He wasn't facing them—instead, he was facing a wall.

"Dr. Furre!" Rik shouted, leaping over a lab table and standing behind him. Ian and Charlie followed.

"…Yes?" the doctor asked, turning around. "Oh…you three insolent fools."

"…Do you know us?" Charlie asked, drawing the Hellraiser.

"Know you? I created you!" Furre yelled triumphantly.

"The hell you talkin' about?" Ian questioned.

"Oh…so you're the insolent originals…very well then…I suppose Sir Robby would like me to destroy you…"

"Damnit! You must be related the that Hojo freak our parents fought!" Charlie exclaimed in conclusion.

"Hahaha, so you're a Strife, eh? No, I'm not related to Hojo," Furre responded. "I am the son of Tseng, former leader of the Turks."

"…Tseng? But our parents said that Tseng was dead," Rik said with a blink.

"Not before he screwed my mother, Elena Prismal!" Furre laughed.

"You're crazy…" Ian murmured.

"You're right," came the doctors' response. With that he picked up a syringe and stabbed the needle into his arm, pushing in a dark blue liquid.

"What the hell are you doing?" Charlie asked the mad scientist.

"Becoming my dark side!" Furre said, suddenly growing larger, a lizard-like tail springing from the seat of his pants as scales rippled across his skin, turning him into a giant lizard-like creature, fangs dripping and breath putrid.

"This kind of thing never happens to Anikken and his friends…" Rik muttered.

Charlie leapt at the beast, only to be smacked aside and into a desk.

Rik drew her Triple Assault, vaulting over the beast and landing behind it. But instead of her planned attack, Furre slammed his tail into her, winding her and sending her sprawling on the ground. Drawing her Angel Feathers, Ian ducked a slash from Furre's right claw, slicing into his wrist.

Rik stood up shakily, suddenly determined as her aura sprung up around her. She slammed the blades of her spear into Furre's back.

"[Soul Smash]!" she yelled leaping up, holding Furre skewered above her…they smashed through the ceiling and into the giant, dome-shaped quarters belonging to Janus of the Turks, who—startled—leapt back away as Rik spun around in mid-air so that Furre was pointed down before slamming him back through the floor and onto the floor of his laboratory.

Rik pulled her Triple Assault from his back before back flipping behind a table. Furre knocked the table aside, hitting Ian in the process.

Ian stood up, her aura flowing too. She leapt at Furre, getting his attention with a "[Lightning Kick]!", her foot flying like mad before she used her [Spinning Bird Kick], spiraling and kicking Furre's chest.

"[Snap Kick]!" she yelled, her foot a blur as it shot up and into Furre's side. She then leapt into the air, tucking her feet to her chest for a [Double Kick], kicking out one foot at a time into Furre's head. She landed, her aura still burning.

"[Flip Kick]!" she screamed, leaping into the air and doing multiple flips, her right leg stuck out, foot cracking against Furre's reptilian neck many times.

Ian collapsed to the floor, now extremely tired. Charlie slid in front of the raging Furre on the soles of his shoes, slashing a bloody streak across Furre's chest with Hellraiser.

Furre batted him away easily, sending him colliding into Ian and the both of them into a wall.

"You okay, sis'?" Charlie asked his sister as Rik stood up behind Furre, ready to attack.

"I will be…" Ian replied. She then punched Charlie in the jaw.

"Ow! What the hell was that for?" Charlie demanded, realizing suddenly that his aura had appeared. "You kick ass, Ian!"

Charlie leapt at Furre, launching a [Devastator], cutting two slashes into Furre's middle. He then leapt into the air and came down, bringing Hellraiser down vertically into Furre's front with a [Courage] attack. He then used the [Rain of Blades], leaping up and spinning the axe around, letting go of it and dropping onto his feet, the axe falling down and slicing through Furre's front and out his back, where Charlie scrambled to grab it before using the sacrificial skill [Hero's Sacrifice], in which he stabbed himself with Hellraiser, suddenly coming back to life as beams of light circled the other team members, including himself, who were healed immediately.

Charlie squinted his eyes, looking at Furre. "[Heaven's Fury]!" he shouted, rushing at Furre and slashing several damaging times with his axe, leaving white streaks of light in the air the blade 'tore' through. The reptilian fell as Charlie's aura disappeared, both exhausted—Furre dying.

Furre became human slowly, and the three HEROs approached him, putting their weapons back into place on their belts and backs.

"There is no way…to stop…the clones…" he murmured.

"I wanna know what you have to do with Cassidy Shinra," Rik demanded, stepping on Furre's chest.

"That…she will have to…tell you…" Furre snickered with his last breath of life before falling limp, no doubt at the gates of Hell.

Rik's PHS rang. She picked it up, receiving the call. "…Yellow?" she asked. "That doesn't sound good…we'll be there as soon as we can!" she exclaimed, hanging up.

"Clones…that's what he was talking about! We have to help Anikken—they're awakening!" Rik ordered, turning and dashing out through the door.

Janus, the leader of the Turks, dropped down through the hole that Rik created in the ceiling.

"And now comes the time to explain the truth to my brother," he whispered to himself, un-holstering his handgun.

"Caity! Can you get them out of there?" Anikken yelled to his companion, pressing the palm of his hand to the glass.

"I'm not sure…I could break the glass, but they could be hooked up to life support systems. On the other hand, I could deactivate it and hope they reanimate," replied Caity as she lifted the hood from her cockpit in Moogle, leaping out and hitting the floor on her back paws.

Out of breath, Rik, Charlie, and Ian darted in, only to lean against the wall for air.

"Nice arrival time, Rik. I'm impressed," Anikken said with a snicker. Rik shot him a glare, wheezing.

"Hmm…I think I can turn off each component one at a time and wake them up," Caity murmured to no one in particular, opening up the control panel and beginning to flip switches. Robert and Cai woke up suddenly and Caity drained the tank's green liquid. She kept flipping switches though, reanimating the two thoroughly, and adding air to the tank before de-pressurizing, drying the two off, and opening it.

Robert and Cai tumbled out, still in each other's arms.

"Hey…how's it going?" Anikken asked with a smirk, leaning over the two.

"I've had better times fighting WEAPONs," Cai yawned.

"Oh shit…" Caity murmured. The HEROs looked to her. "This is the main control…"

The five other tanks opened.

At the same precise moment, Robby and Kay floated in through a wall, and Janus stepped into the room, gun in hand.

"Well isn't this a reunion…" Robby chuckled, holding both of his swords. "Anickan, Ey-un, Rabder, Chahley, Rek—come to me! Accept your weapons and your titles!"

The five newly released clones took their weapons from the walls before stumbling towards Robby on never-before-used feet.

The clones and their originals faced each other, with Caity Sith and Janus standing off to the side.

"Hmm…Robert…" Janus began, pacing between the two lines, "There are things you must know…about us…about all Mystics…about our changing world…"

A thin smile crossed Robby's face.

"As you should know, brother…Mystics can form their world…they can form for good…or for bad…" Janus' eyes slowly turned towards Robby, then back to Robert. "Your nemesis…Robby…already knows how to do this…while you've only been able to feel it in times of great need…"

"That's right. Why, I've controlled your whole existence since I was…created…" Robby said with a snicker, stepping towards Robert.

"…Wh-What?" Robert stammered, holding his ground.

"How do you think you—you, the inferior—defeated the WEAPONs? I merely made you a pawn in this celestial game of chess. I had to influence them—I couldn't influence and destroy at the same time, or the piece of my mind that was in theirs would be destroyed, killing me. So I pressed the urge to kill them into your mind.

"Now, as for these clones…while you were merely my pawn, your allies were true. They were strong. You are weak, Robert. You will never succeed in killing me, or the Sun's WEAPON. You will be destroyed here. You will be destroyed tonight. Of course, I envy you for your determination, and for your friendship with these people. So I will give these friends of yours an opportunity to live. This will insure that only the best are with me. My clones will battle with your friends—the survivors will join me! The losers will be dead, along with you, Arcane."

"…I'm not going to disagree with you…or object…if my friends are to join you, well…I guess I might end up having to hurt them, too…"

Anikken hopped up to Robert's right side, Cai stepping up to his left.

"We aren't gonna even consider joining you, ass!" Anikken yelled, holding his Thorn in its melee position.

"…I'll never leave Robert…" Cai murmured, taking Robert's right hand.

Rik, Charlie, and Ian looked to one another, and with Rik and Charlie joining hands, they walked up with the rest of the HEROs, standing just behind Anikken.

"Neither will we. We're going to help Robert even if it costs us our death," Charlie announced to the line of clones.

"Which it hopefully won't," Ian added, holding her fans and ready to attack.

Rik nodded lightly, removing her hat and pointing her spear towards Robby. "I swear on my hat that I won't give in to your dark promises, Robby."

Raptor slowly padded up to Cai, standing at her side. "It would be a disgrace to Cosmo Canyon if I fought my clone, only to be on the losing side. I'm with Robert."

Caity walked up slowly, Moogle following her.

"I know you don't have any sort of copy of me—," she began, interrupted by Robby's laugh.

"Oh, we do," he said through his laughter. A robotic duo slammed in through a wall, astonished scientists in the next room watching it. It looked almost as Caity and Moogle used to, with the cat on top of the Moogle. But this time, Caity was gold-plated and Moogle was silver-plated, and instead of them being two separate beings, this copy of Caity was buried up to its middle in the top of Moogle's head, between its ears, with her tail swishing out from the back of the mechanical beast's head. A chain-mail cape hung from the copy of Caity's back, and large metal wings extended from the back of the copy of Moogle. "We call it Caity Sith 2 Prototype Model Y56 with Moogle Extension…or Catsup for short." The robot joined Robby's line.

"…As I was saying…even though you now do have a copy of me, I will fight alongside these humans—and Raptor—because without them I would be just a robot. They treated me like one of them…I'll never leave their sides!"

"That's incredibly touching. But even though you do not wish to fight us, you must. For if you don't, I'll see to it that your families are killed one by one…"

"You forget, Robby…that though we have other families…us HEROs are like a family. We stand up for one another…that will be your downfall! Because while your clones may look like us, they will never act like us! They will never feel any sort of emotions towards one another. They will never be your family!" Raptor growled.

"We'll see, won't we?" Robby snickered. He held his hands out to either side of himself with his arms stretched out as far as possible, a light gleaming in his eyes. A bright flash of light emanated from him—the seventeen individuals, the HEROs, the clones, and Janus were out of the room in which the clones were held and inside the ballroom of Crimson Palace.

Excluding Robert and Cai, the HEROs were looking about frantically.

"What the hell?" Anikken shouted.

"Huh?" questioned Rik.

And so on.

"Crimson Palace…so we're back here…" Robert murmured, looking to Robby, the grinning clone.

Janus turned to face Robert. "Don't be fooled. The Crimson Palace is connected to this…or…that station. So it wasn't much of a move. The only thing Robby was displaying is his ability to alter his world. That's a general term…he can also transport things, and—,"

Robert's brother was silenced as Robby darted towards him, leaping up and drawing the Masamune, swinging it down and into Janus' back—through his heart and out through his front.

Janus' eyes squinted for a moment, glazing over as he leaned forward slowly, held up by the blade. Robby yanked it out, blood covering the end.

Janus fell to the floor, hitting with a soft thud. Blood trickled slowly out of him as Robby sneered at Robert.

"Mystics…can…alter their reality…alter your reality…brother…!" Janus softly uttered…his eyes closed slowly…

"You…killed him…why?" Robert stammered, furious.

"Oh, I had planned to all along. It seemed like a convenient time," came the reply of the clone as he wiped the blood off onto Janus' shirt.

"…Damn you!" Robert yelled…

[Begin FMV]

Robert scrambled towards Robby, unsheathing his Ultima Sabre as he did so. He leaned back, sliding across the floor on the soles of his shoes. Robby held his Masamune defensively. The two blades collided with a loud clang.

[End FMV]

Robby and Robert stood still in a test of strength, the blades of their swords pressed together as they pushed with all of their might.

The HEROs and their duplicates were entranced.

"Damn you! Attack!" Robby yelled. The clones glared at the originals, eyes flashing red as they charged forward.

Raptor leapt over Rabder as it ran towards him, turning to chase after the beast. Rabder spun and skidded to a halt, holding his ground. Raptor rammed his clone into the side, knocking him over. Raptor then pounced for the deathblow, but instead was grabbed by Rabder as they were sent into a roll.

Anikken ducked under a throw of a weaker Lesath by his clone, Anickan, before leaping forward and colliding with the clone before Anickan had a chance to catch the Lesath.

Ian was kicked in the side by her clone Ey-un and sent into a wall. She fell to her knees, but quickly somersaulted forward and past her clone, slashing at Ey-un's ankles as she went with one of her Angel Feathers. She pushed up into a standing position, quickly slicing across her clone's back.

Cai had pressed herself into a corner of the ballroom and was firing on rapid-fire at her clone, which was darting behind crystal pillars. Cai held down on the trigger for a moment, launching a more condensed shot at the pillar her clone was hiding behind. Kay leapt behind another pillar as the previous one exploded in shards of crystal.

Charlie's Hellraiser sunk into the wall as he swung at his faster clone. The clone swung downwards at him, but Charlie pulled the Hellraiser from the wall in time, the axe blades slamming into each other and Charlie's stronger axe sending Chahley's flying across the room. Chahley ran after it with Charlie in hot pursuit.

Rek stabbed her single bladed spear into Rik's shoulder.

"Argh!" Rik yelled, her aura of fury bursting out around her. "[Heavy Metal]!" she shouted, leaping up into the air so that her feet were level with Rek's head. Rik dropped down, slamming her Triple Assault into Rek's shoulders and head numerous times, slashing with it as she did so. Rek let out a low gurgle and dropped to the floor.

"No! One of the clones!" Robby yelled in anger, pushing harder with the Masamune. Robert just snickered, pushing equally hard against his sabre.

Caity and Moogle hopped out of the way as Catsup charged at them, its fists swinging. Caity targeted Catsup's back, and let a shot out from the right hand of her Moogle, smashing into Catsup's chain-mail cape and damaging the cat half of Catsup. Catsup stopped, turned, and dived into Moogle, knocking them backwards. Caity growled and threw the cockpit open, her aura around her as she leapt at Catsup.

Charlie hurled his axe at his clone; the axes handle slamming into the clone's crotch, causing the clone to fall over in agony. Charlie laughed and picked up his axe as he focused on a piece of materia inside of it. A [Fire] spell caused Chahley to burst into flames.

Cai was hit by a shot from Kay. Her eyes narrowed as she felt her aura growing. But Kay kept on firing. Cai's felt the shots all the way to her bones as she did her best to dodge the impossible-to-dodge shots. She felt another aura burst around her. "How could it be…possible?" she asked herself as another aura grew. She narrowed her eyes. "Who care's how it's possible? [Healing Heart]!" Cai shouted, using her never-before-used low-level skill. From deep inside of her, energy was released, flowing into her allies, as well as back into herself. She could feel her wounds being cured, as well as the wounds of the HEROs. And she still had her two auras, a scarlet one closest around her and one of crimson spread out far.

Caity used her [Scratch] technique on Catsup, slicing into its metal body with her razor sharp claws.

"[Welcomed Aura]!" Cai shouted, feeling her smaller aura diminish as it spread out across the ballroom and into Rik, Charlie, Raptor, Robert, Caity, and Anikken.

Rik felt her aura, using it to charge at Catsup and use [Heavy Metal] as Caity used [Scratch] on it, causing the machine to be surrounded by sparks and explode. Caity grinned at Rik and climbed back into Moogle.

Anikken focused his eyes ok Anickan, charging the energy of his new aura into his Thorn. "[Mega Slash]!" he shouted, the Thorn immersed in white energy. Using it in its melee form, he ran up to Anickan and slashed down and to the right and down and to the left, leaving white energy streaks behind the multi-bladed shuriken as he did so. Anickan fell on one knee and Charlie ran up alongside Anikken, using his aura for…

"[Heaven's Fury]!" Charlie shouted, slashing into Anickan several times with his Hellraiser, the force of the blows knocking Anickan into a wall, leaving a deep crater where the clone was embedded.

"[Pulse of Power]!" Cai shouted, using her final aura to concentrate on her capsules. She brought them together, the two guns being replaced by one large cannon. She closed her eyes, forcing energy into the combined Capsules as she charged up a large amount of the weapons' energies.

She released the shot, a giant ball of energy shooting out. Over four feet in diameter, it slammed into Kay, incinerating her.

Raptor called upon his shifting technique and his aura to become [Holy Raptor], fur becoming snow white and large angel-like wings spreading from his back, a halo forming over his head. Raptor leapt at Rabder, slashing and biting like mad with the Holy Raptor's [Angel's Revenge] combo' attack before leaping back, fur glowing white as he powered up his [Bane of the Heaven's] attack, suddenly leaping through Rabder, much like Rik's old [Hyper Drive] skill.

Raptor reverted back to normal, his foe gone.

Having just used her [Lightning Kick], [Spinning Bird Kick], [Snap Kick], and [Double Kick], Ian used her [Flip Kick] yet again, flipping through the air with her foot stuck out. Ian quickly used her [Nutcracker Kick], delivering a final blow against Ey-un as she tucked her leg up against her chest and kicked out can-can style against Ey-un's hips as she hopped from one foot to the other, who then crumpled into a heap on the floor.

All seven of the clones faded away, their bodies each becoming a small sheet of crystal with the headings [Zodiac Brave], [Cetra Shoot-Out], [Judgment From Above], [Flash Kick], [Carnage Raptor], and [Pinwheel Blaze]. Each picked up the sheet left by their clone, all but Caity, whose clone left nothing. The seven walked slowly towards Robert, who was still in the standoff with Robby, Robert's aura flowing.

Robert suddenly leapt back, sheathing his sabre and unsheathing Monolith. He let his aura loose.

"[Arcane Rage]!" he shouted, leaping at Robby. He plowed Robby backwards with each slash, as he slashed upwards, then downwards, then left, then right, then at each diagonal before stabbing straight into the clone and twisting his wrist, the Monolith's blade turning and letting loose a shriek of pain from Robby.

Robert held his blade still even as Robby began to fade away into a transparent form.

"…Maybe…I was…wrong about…you…" Robby whispered, then suddenly laughed, leaping back off of the blade. "But maybe you were wrong about me! I'm not defeated yet!"

Robby began to drift towards a giant window overlooking the Planet. Robert pursued him, stopping when Robby stopped at the windows edge.

"I'll be at the Northern Crater, regaining my strength. Have fun with that WEAPON, Robert. If you think this was me at my strongest, you're wrong. I can be stronger. Much, much stronger! I will enjoy watching you quiver with fear as I use my own special skills against you. The parents of your friends had it easy when they fought Sephiroth…when they fought me. He…I…we were holding back. We were merely conserving our strength for when Meteor hit, so we would be absorbed into the Lifestream. But I don't want the Lifestream. I'm not as foolish as we used to be. I want power. Absolute power. Don't you forget that, Robert. And don't forget that fate is governing us now. Fate dealt me a winning hand, but that very destiny will destroy you. For I am destiny. I choose who lives, I choose who dies. Nothing will ever stop me. Not you, not that WEAPON, not Holy, not the Lifestream, not the whole damn planet, not your friends. I am invincible. I am unstoppable. I am Robby," the clone said with a laugh. "I'll be seeing you soon."

With that, Robby, the clone of Robert Arcane, became an orb of light, drifting through the window and towards the Planet. Anikken, Rik, Charlie, Caity, Raptor, Ian, and Cai walked up towards Robert.

"Is he dead…? Did you defeat him…?" Cai asked, watching the Planet from far above.

"…I don't know…" Robert answered truthfully, sheathing the Monolith. "I don't think that's the last of him…"

"Uh…are we forgetting our purpose here?" Anikken asked, looking at the HEROs as they watched the Planet. The seven others turned to him. "Most likely behind us at the moment is the giant Eternal WEAPON. We didn't come up here to goof around. We have to do our duty."

Charlie nodded, "Yeah…lets go…"

A voice came from the back of the ballroom. "So I hear that you're here to destroy the WEAPON?"

The HEROs turned around to face a woman in her early twenties…

"Admiral Leela Drayson. I'd like to thank you for ridding that monstrosity from our facility, though it came at the price of death for my dear friend Janus. But if you're going to fight that WEAPON, I'll give you the materials you'll need—armor, spacecraft, suits with extra air tanks…anything that will save lives."

Rik raised an eyebrow. "And you're from the Shinra?"

"Hahaha! That's a good one. No, I am the daughter of Captain Marcus Drayson, former leader of the Royal Arcane Air-Force. My father flew the lead aircraft in service of Lett Arcane, the leader of the Mystics at the time…"

"…Tell me…what happened to Lett Arcane…? What happened to my father…?" Robert asked, walking closer to her as the HEROs stayed behind, unsure.

"…My memory is a little foggy…wait a minute—I think I have it on file!" Leela exclaimed as she pulled out a small device not unlike the holographic map, turning it on…

[Begin FMV]

A man in royal garb and with dark red hair walked towards his wife, who held a baby in her arms while two other children were playing with toy airplanes—one of the two barely above infancy while the other a toddler. The man had a large Mystic sword sheathed at his back—the Goliath.

Man: Love, I must be setting off to oversee the construction of New Mideel with those Strife and Highwind fellows.

Woman: But Lett…our Robert has recently been born…if the growth of his mind is like that of our eldest children, what if he thinks he be fatherless?

Lett: It will be all right, Andrea. I won't be gone long.

Andrea: Lett…please…I sense something disturbing about this trip…something wrong…

Lett: Andrea—I doubt anything will go wrong.

[End FMV]

Robert looked at the ground.

"…His airship, carrying himself and my father, crashed," Leela told him, looking at the ground as well.

"…Listen…god damnit…okay—we're gonna go after that WEAPON…could you try and revive my brother?" Robert asked her.

"Sorry, but it's impossible. The Masamune is evil—it negates all healing properties, much like your brothers old ammunition," Leela said, looking back towards Robert.

"…Alright…" Robert murmured.

"…So when will the stuff be ready?" Rik interjected.

"It already is—I took the liberty of preparing it while you fought with those copies," Leela replied with a slight smile, "Oh, and we fixed up that old one you're cub friend was using…"

"Well then…lets go…" Robert sighed.

They stood in the control room of a spaceship the size of the Midnight Revenge as it veered away from the Shinra Space-Station and The Crimson Palace. Robert's eyes were closed, though he was facing the front view-port of the craft.

"Robert…?" Rik called. Robert's eyes opened. "…Th-there it is…"

Robert looked out the view-port to see a monstrous form in front of the ship. Its length was about three-fourths of the Moon's diameter.

"We're about a half-mile away, Robert," Leela murmured. Robert didn't seem surprised, though he said nothing.

[Begin FMV]

The giant WEAPON was in the shape of a long serpent, with a dragon-like head larger than the ship. Two huge wings stretched out from a bit below the head, looking almost skeletal. The WEAPON's bone-white body was easy to spot in the distant light of the Sun, and large, three-fingered claws hung down on long arms. As the spaceship drew closer, the giant sheets of white plating moved, the beast still preparing its giant bombardment of energy on the Planet.

Huge gold eyes flashed, and the spaceship drawing near the WEAPON suddenly stopped, frozen in place.

[End FMV]

"…Well…this is it…" Robert murmured, pulling on his helmet as the others did likewise.

"…I'll get you all when you're finished—or when you call for me…"

The HEROs stepped into the airlock, the ship only about 50 yards away from the closest part of the beast.

The eight warriors—Robert, Cai, Raptor, Rik, Charlie, Anikken, Ian, and Caity—leapt out through the outer airlock and into space as the ship flew back and out of range of attack.

Eternal WEAPON felt the challengers' arrival, turning its ancient neck to face them, glaring at them with eyes larger than all eight combined.

It opened its mouth, giant fangs able to be seen now. A giant orb at the top of its mouth was glowing—charging energy. But an amazingly tiny orb on the bottom of its mouth suddenly let out a small ray of energy—a continual ray, which flew towards the eight beings.

Robert saw this fairly large beam of energy shooting towards them and yelled out "Move!"

Rik, Cai, Raptor, Anikken, Ian, Caity, and himself shot out in almost every direction with the thrusters on their new Shinra spacesuits. Charlie remained still in awe.

The giant beam—extremely tiny to the Eternal WEAPON—about fifty feet in diameter shot down at the lone HERO.

"CHARLIE!" Rik and Ian both yelled.

Charlie suddenly began to move, kicking his legs wildly though the air, incoherent…

[Begin FMV]

The shot collided with the son of Cloud and Tifa Strife, the giant golden beam slamming into him and continuing backwards—out into space—before the WEAPON ceased its fire. Charlie was still floating there, though glowing bright gold.

Rik: He's all right…

Ian: Yeah…

Charlie's body—suit and weapon with it—suddenly became a bright golden shape, which soon broke off into particles the size of peas before fizzling out.

[End FMV]

"NO!" Rik shrieked, flying towards Charlie with her thrusters, closely followed by Ian.

"I'm sorry to sound cynical…" Anikken whispered into the radio, "But…we have to destroy that WEAPON…we have to…"

"Shut the #$%& up, Anikken!" Rik and Ian screamed back at him.

"Robert…I…we…we can't fight…we…not without Charlie…" Rik sobbed.

Robert knew that Anikken was right—they did have to kill the WEAPON…but if Rik and Ian weren't going to fight, and Charlie was gone…

"Leela…we need to be picked up…now…" Robert sighed into the intercom. Rik and Ian were still sobbing—they had given up being strong. They were huddled close together.

"Robert…" Cai whispered through a one-way transmission, "I can fix this…I can prevent it from happening…"

Robert switched into the transmission with Cai. "How?"

"…Time…the time continuum…I think I can break through it…and send someone through time…to stop this from happening…" Cai responded.

"…Alright…we can try that when we get back to the station…" Robert replied.

Rik and Ian were lying on a bench, asleep yet hugging tightly, their faces stained with tears.

"…I didn't think this would happen…" Robert murmured.

"None of us expected it…" Anikken replied glumly.

"Robert…! Bring your friends and come up here!" Leela yelled from the space station's bridge, which was a stairway away.

Robert, Anikken, and Cai ran up the stairs while Caity and Raptor stayed behind with Ian and Rik.

The trio joined Leela in the central room at the top of the station. A giant screen in front of them displayed the view in front of the station, showing the Eternal WEAPON silhouetted against the black of space. It reared its head back, energy glowing from inside its opening mouth.

"…Shit…" was the last thing Anikken said before…

[Begin FMV]

The Eternal WEAPON brought its head level with the Planet. With its mouth wide open, it let out a giant howl, sending a huge beam of light, as large as the WEAPON's open mouth. The golden light shot at the Planet, through the clouds.

The living and free members of AVALANCHE stood in Rocket Town, all six—as Yuffie was still in Midgar and the old Cait Sith had been shut down—staring up at the sky as the huge light ripped through the clouds, smashing into the Planet with a giant explosion, sending waves of destruction throughout the ground, the whole Planet shaking from the impact as though it was giant earthquake, sending people falling to the ground as the ripples of the shot spread out, the WEAPON still firing down at the Planet.

Up in space, the WEAPON kept shooting as the Planet began to glow bright gold. The shot dove straight through the Planet's crust, then its mantle, followed by the outer core, and finally…

The core exploded, the Planet blasting apart. The Lifestream began to glow from inside the core before suddenly disappearing.

[End FMV]

The people onboard the space station were thrown off of their feet as the shockwaves of the Planet's destruction flew through space and collided with the station. The station was battered continually with the small rocks and debris that the beam of destruction had left behind. Robert, Cai, and Anikken managed to get to their feet as the other HEROs ran up onto the bridge.

"What…happened?" Rik asked as she tried to fight off the tears that kept pouring.

"The Planet…is gone…" Cai whispered, tears pouring down her face as well.

"…Cai…you were telling me that you could send someone backwards through time, to save Charlie…that would prevent all this from happening…" Robert murmured, his voice thick with sadness.

"I…I can…" Cai said with a nod. "But…I can't send myself…it would kill me if I tried to transport my own spirit and guide it…"

"But you could send one of us…" Robert continued for her. Cai nodded.

"One other thing, though…the time continuum would be unsettled if no one accepted that beam. Time would just work against us, as well as destiny—the WEAPON would probably fire again. I think it fired to test our strength…to see if we could handle it. Someone had to die today…fate chose Charlie. We can work against fate, though, if someone takes his place and accepts that shot," Cai explained

"I'll go. That'll keep you all out of danger," Caity offered.

"I'm sorry, Caity…but you don't have a spirit to send…" Cai sighed.

"Then…one of us can go…" Rik offered, pointing to herself, Ian, Robert, Anikken, and Raptor.

"But not either of us, Rik…" Ian realized, "My brother would do the same to save us…and then we'd do that to save him…and it would never end…"

"Yes…that's right…only the person I send back will remember what happened…no one else will know…"

Ian looked to Anikken, her eyes still wet with tears.

"Uh-uh, I ain't gonna go. Sorry if I seem like a coward or an ass, but that's what I am—a coward and an ass. I'm a thief, not a hero," Anikken replied grimly.

"Damn you, Anikken," Ian growled.

"Leave Anikken alone, Ian…he was honest towards you. You shouldn't be the one who chooses who dies," Raptor growled.

"…Raptor?" Rik asked.

"I'm sorry, but I can't…I'm afraid…if you recall, to my society I'm still a cub…I'm not strong enough for something like that…" Raptor said solemnly. Rik nodded understandingly.

"…Robert…will you go?" Rik and Ian both asked, looking to Robert, their eyes welling up with tears…

[Please Insert Disk Three]