Chapter 19 - The Impossible Battle

I stood deathly still in midair, my eyes completely transfixed upon Kefka himself. This was impossible surely. How could Kefka be here?! And worse than that, I was on my own.

My thoughts turned to anger as I felt the power swelling within his body. It was immense, and I will never to this day forget the fear that broke over my face, eyes, and every other part of me as I tried to regain any sort of bravado that had once been a part of me. But the effort seemed ridiculous to me. The chances of me winning him over in battle were verging on non-existent. But that was when it hit me.they weren't hopeless. Not just yet. And that's when I found my spirit again, and was able to face the fear that burned in front of me like frozen hell-fire.

"Why.why have you come here?" I asked, calming my voice as I looked upon that man.

"What else? To take over your lands. It was rather nice to have an informant amongst your people boy. It saved me a lot of possible grief and time."

At this I was shaken. The idyllic atmosphere that I had lived in for the past two months had been shattered, and the trusting nature of Jamala and indeed Cyrain itself had dissipated before my very eyes in the matter of a moment.

"A spy?!" I spluttered in horror.

"Absolutely." At this Kefka grinned. "Come on kid, you didn't think I was going to have possession of five sixths of the world and not have ANY supporters now, did you? I have many followers who would die for the.cause."

"Cause?!" I roared in pure anger now. "What's your cause?! You delight in the suffering of others! And that's cause enough for me to tear you limb from limb!"

Kefka simply looked at me in amusement.

"Violent little brute, aren't you? Well, I suppose I could entertain you for a little while, but be warned.It'll be the last battle you ever fight."

He kept talking in that superior tone, but I wasn't listening by this point. I was slowly piece by piece gathering my energy within me, slow enough that he wouldn't sense the rise in my strength, but high enough that I could get to my fullest potential in time to fight. If I wasn't at my full power.I'd be done for.

Suddenly I noticed something odd about Kefka. He had a strange device over his right eye, which wasn't like anything I had seen since I had arrived in this world. It was mechanical, a machine strapped over his view on that side. This intrigued me, and Kefka caught on by my staring.

"Ha.you want to know what this is?" He asked loudly, waking me from conscious slumber.

".Yeah, what is that? I've never seen anything like it before."

"This," Kefka replied "Is a device that I can use to detect what strength level you're at. I don't need to sense energy, I can simply turn this on and I will know how powerful you are."

The device was interesting, of that there was no doubt. But more interesting to me was the fact that Kefka didn't believe he needed to sense energy. Did that mean.he couldn't sense it? If so, I had a distinct advantage. I had been using the skill to locate hard to find opponents since I had started fighting in this plain, and as a result it allowed for much quicker movements. I smiled reluctantly. It wasn't much of an advantage really.but against an enemy such as this, every little help was needed.

"Let me see." Kefka said as he turned on the device. At this I had a thought, and I hid my energy beneath the surface as much as I could. Maybe I could hide my power from it.?

"You have a power level of.350.?" And at this, Kefka started to laugh with force and in an extremely annoying tone.

"Do you realise how weak you are in comparison to me? I have a power of 13,000! I'm nearly forty times stronger than you!"

At this I congratulated myself privately. Although he was certainly stronger than I was, there was no way he was that much more powerful. I had been able to hide my energy, and now I had another advantage. In terms of tactics, I had the edge. And now.It was time to dive.

"You know Kefka, there's more to winning than strength. There's strategy as well. And I've learned some pretty impressive strategy since I arrived in this village."

".Arrived.?" Kefka muttered. He had obviously thought that I was a native. "And what is this incredible strategy that you've learned?"

"I learned.how to hide my power!" I roared as I threw my hands over my chest and prepared to release my energy. He would get the message. Oh yes he would.

".WHAT!?" roared Kefka in surprise as he tapped on the device attached to his face. It seemed to be going haywire.and Kefka didn't like it one bit.

".700.1,000.1,300.!" he gasped in amazement as the figure on his machine went upwards. I was about halfway there, and the ground beneath me shook with vigour and fear as I kept powering up to my full level. Massive boulders that lay strewn around the landscape uprooted and almost flew into the air, such was the gravitational pull of my body's power now. And yet, although Kefka was surprised.he didn't fear me. I could see it in his eyes.

"Time.to turn it up a notch!" I screamed as I threw everything I had into gaining my full strength. I could feel the earth shaking with me in unison and as I kept on moving I knew that the battle below us had stopped dead. Now both armies, both Kefka's and our own had stopped, and were watching in terror and addiction what was going on above our heads. It was simply incredulous to them that anyone would have such power, and yet I knew that I could even keep on going. I had the element of surprise upon my hand.but would it be enough.?

With great speed I reached my full power and finally I jumped into my now familiar fighting stance, with my hands in front of me and ready to defend or attack, whichever would be needed first. Kefka looked flustered, but not exactly what I would have called worry. I knew the task that I had at hand. It was daunting, to say the very, very least.

"3,500.wow kid, I have to admit that I'm impressed." announced Kefka as he looked upon me. "I've never known anyone from these parts to have such a high power level."

"That's pretty interesting, saying as I'm not from around here."

At this Kefka looked at me. He was obviously interested in me.but I wasn't in the least bit interested in him. It was time. I smiled as I got ready to strike.

"Kefka, I don't care how strong you may be, it would be a mistake for you to underestimate my true potential. Power can't be gauged fully by that little meter on top of your head you know. And I'm not going to let you get anywhere near Cyrain!"

At this I burst into an almighty aura of power and flew forwards at great speed.

"You're going down RIGHT NOW!" I screamed as I pulled my fist back and threw it into his face with all my power. He reeled backwards and I smiled. But I suddenly was shocked to find that my blow had caused him no damage whatsoever. Kefka simply raised his head and laughed.

"If that's the best you've got you'd better give up now. You can't win."

"Damn you!" I shouted as I kicked out once again, and the move was this time easily blocked by his right arm. I suddenly started to pummel him with all my might and agility but it just wasn't enough. I couldn't get near him at all. With every punch I threw he was able to counter. Every kick had it's own defence. This guy wasn't only strong.he was skilled.

I suddenly warped behind his back and moved to punch him with my doubled fists from behind. My arms flew downwards with immense force and speed, and I could literally feel his clothing upon my hands as I was about to make contact. And then he was gone. As if he had never existed in my own mind.

"He.he vanished!!!" I roared, looking around me in absolute horror. I couldn't even sense his presence. I looked around, up, down and behind me but Kefka was nowhere to be seen. His energy seemed to have simply vanished. And then I felt it. Approaching me from behind with so much speed and power that it simply couldn't be defended again. Kefka's immense body flew into me from behind, and I plummeted to the ground at a speed I never thought possible. All his force had gone into knocking me so far, and I was about to feel such pain as I had never done before.

"No!" I roared as I tried to place my hands out in front of me to cushion the impending impact of the fall. I hit the ground like a cannonball fired towards solid at close blank range, and I almost succumbed to the pain. But not yet. I got to my feet and looked upwards towards my unassailable opponent. I wanted to heal my body, but I knew that if I did he would attack me before I would be able to finish and then I would be done for without questions being asked of my abilities. I had to fight, endure the pain and let go of my energy. I had to call upon everything that was my own. And then something clicked. I cannot describe how it happened, for it was a split second achievement and that was all. But for that split second all my energy and power seemed to fall into place somehow. It multiplied and rose and swelled within me. And within less than a second of my unexplainable burst, I found myself flying straight into the devil's glance.

I could see Kefka above me, and I could see the look on his face. A look that thought I was a fool. But I knew better, and by the time I got behind his back he knew also.

".HUH!?" he screamed in horror as I made it behind his back without his noticing me. His power-reading device suddenly started bleeping, and when he saw the reading his eyes narrowed and twisted into darkness. Fear and loathing, both were apparent in his expression.

"17,000!? How the hell could you be at 17,000!!?"

Kefka never got an answer. I immediately struck with my fist flying into his face, and I could feel his jaw break under the strain that I had presented him with. I then somersaulted and despite a half-hearted attempt to get out of the way I kicked out at Kefka and sent him plummeting to the ground. I could see my troops running for shelter. They had realised that the power that I now possessed was completely unimaginable in comparison to their own and that they could do little to help me. I was delighted to see their departure. It meant that my final attack could be unleashed.

"Kefka.!" I roared as I raised my two hands into the air that both shook and thundered across the valley with the energy that I now immediately possessed. "You're mine!"