I: Awakening
The huge monster stirred. It had been unconscious for a long time, it could tell. Smaller monsters had moved in, sure that it was dead and would not drive them out.
The monster shook its head and the other creatures all jumped up in shock. Most of them fled immediately. The huge beast shifted again, its head slowly getting clearer. It remembered. It saw in its mind's eye, the lion- like face, and the wings, hovering above the boy with the blade. It remembered the pain when the gunblade struck him the power of the lion- hearted running into him.
Griever!
The lion GF had been with the boy, the winged lion on the gunblade a symbol of the Guardian's power, the power it had succumbed to.
But Griever was with the Sorceress now, imprisoned by her power.
The boy!
The Lion-Hearted!
It remembered, how Eden had been taken from him. It shook with anger. It remembered. An unfortunate Bomb running for the exit caught its attention. It raised a massive claw.
It remembered.
And the claw came down.
***
The claw came down, whistling as the lethal edge cleaved through the air. However it clashed against the blue blade of the Lionheart. There was a slight pause as it contacted the blade and then it snapped off. The T-rexaur roared in pain, and reared back, giving Squall time to fire of a flare spell at it. When the explosions had died down, he promptly attacked it again, slashing with his gunblade. Each hit scored a deep red line down the sides of the monster, and it tried to close its jaws around his head. Its massive fangs rang as they encountered the auto-protect that was around Squall, courtesy of Bahamut, the King of GF's. Still, it did some damage, as the impact with the magical barrier rocked him back.
Squall was tired of playing around now, and casting triple on himself, fired off three demis in quick succession and then cast aura on himself. The beast was severely weakened by the gravity attacks, and as a golden glow came over Squall, he unleashed the Renzokuken, the Lionheart glowing with power. Every strike on the T-rexaur's hide opened up great gaping wounds. He decided that the monster wasn't tough enough for him to have to use the Lionheart finishing move, so he took up the Rough Divide stance, and swept his blade upward as he leapt high, the column of power rising out the ground at the T-rexaur's feet killing it outright.
Squall relaxed, and used a cure spell to heal the light cuts he had gained in the battle. He remembered the first time he had come into the training centre, when he had nearly been killed by a low-level Grat. He smiled at the thought. Nowadays, he could take on a high-level T-rexaur by himself with ease.
He decided it was time to go, and turned towards the entrance to the centre.
***
Ultima weapon sat up. The humans had defeated him, with the aid of those accursed Guardians, the very ones they had been made to oppose, he and his brothers, the Weapons of The Dark Mistress, the sister of Hyne. Those GF's had been their greatest enemies during The Sorceress Wars, when the Dark Mistress had waged war on her sibling, struggling for control of the Earth. Then, it had been GF against Weapon, sorceress against sorceress, man against monster. Now he and his brother Omega were the only remnants of that War, his brothers banished to a place beyond his reach along with his Mistress. Those damned Guardians, with their powers had defeated them. Griever, the Great Lion; Bahamut the King of GF's; Eden, the Sky Angel he had been given the task of guarding before his Mistress vanished for ever. And Odin, whom he himself had ridden against, Ultima Steed against the six- legged Sleipnir, Ultima Blade against the Zantetsuken. And he had been battling with Odin as equals, until Griever lent his strength against him, and he had been defeated and captured.
However, the Dark Mistress had not blamed him, but given him the task of guarding Eden, who she had captured and imprisoned in a machine body to limit her powers. Eden struggled of course, but even the most powerful of GF's could not take on the Mistress single-handed. To ensure that Eden would not be used against her on her return, the Mistress had locked Eden inside Ultima.
The GF had struggled inside him, and he had expended large amounts of his energy to subdue her. He had lived in the underwater base ever since it had been abandoned, awaiting his Mistress' return. Bahamut had later come to join him, at first ready to fight him and free Eden. Ultima had threatened to use his suicide device, though, which would guarantee Eden's destruction as well as his own. Bahamut then simply guarded the base making sure no one of get through to Eden.
Until the boy with the Lion's Heart that is. Those kids had gotten through, forcing Bahamut to aid them, defeating him, the mighty Ultima, and stealing his precious prisoner. Those children threatened all the careful plans laid to enable the Mistress' return. He would have to stop them.
(Author's note: Ultima doesn't know of the events concerning Squall after they left the Deep Sea Research Centre)
He needed to get to Ultimecia, the powerful follower of his mistress, who had been trying open up a pathway to the Mistress' prison. He had no doubt that she had succeeded; she had Omega to aid her, and the captured Griever, who had been unwillingly bound to her will by the combined efforts of the sorceress and Omega. Surely those kids, who had caught Ultima at a time when he was weak from a struggle with Eden, could not defeat the joined power of Omega, Ultimecia and the Lion GF?
And yet, the spirit of Griever had been hovering, invisible to all but Ultima's eye, above the boy with the Lion Heart.
So many questions. He would need to get to Omega. Beside him, the Ultima Steed was still unconscious, so he cast a full-life on it. As it awoke, it growled and nuzzled its master. Ultima patted its head, and picked up his sword.
He turned and smashed a fist through the wall, leaving a gaping hole has he pulled it back out. As the water rushed in, he mounted the Steed, and rode calmly into the ocean.
The huge monster stirred. It had been unconscious for a long time, it could tell. Smaller monsters had moved in, sure that it was dead and would not drive them out.
The monster shook its head and the other creatures all jumped up in shock. Most of them fled immediately. The huge beast shifted again, its head slowly getting clearer. It remembered. It saw in its mind's eye, the lion- like face, and the wings, hovering above the boy with the blade. It remembered the pain when the gunblade struck him the power of the lion- hearted running into him.
Griever!
The lion GF had been with the boy, the winged lion on the gunblade a symbol of the Guardian's power, the power it had succumbed to.
But Griever was with the Sorceress now, imprisoned by her power.
The boy!
The Lion-Hearted!
It remembered, how Eden had been taken from him. It shook with anger. It remembered. An unfortunate Bomb running for the exit caught its attention. It raised a massive claw.
It remembered.
And the claw came down.
***
The claw came down, whistling as the lethal edge cleaved through the air. However it clashed against the blue blade of the Lionheart. There was a slight pause as it contacted the blade and then it snapped off. The T-rexaur roared in pain, and reared back, giving Squall time to fire of a flare spell at it. When the explosions had died down, he promptly attacked it again, slashing with his gunblade. Each hit scored a deep red line down the sides of the monster, and it tried to close its jaws around his head. Its massive fangs rang as they encountered the auto-protect that was around Squall, courtesy of Bahamut, the King of GF's. Still, it did some damage, as the impact with the magical barrier rocked him back.
Squall was tired of playing around now, and casting triple on himself, fired off three demis in quick succession and then cast aura on himself. The beast was severely weakened by the gravity attacks, and as a golden glow came over Squall, he unleashed the Renzokuken, the Lionheart glowing with power. Every strike on the T-rexaur's hide opened up great gaping wounds. He decided that the monster wasn't tough enough for him to have to use the Lionheart finishing move, so he took up the Rough Divide stance, and swept his blade upward as he leapt high, the column of power rising out the ground at the T-rexaur's feet killing it outright.
Squall relaxed, and used a cure spell to heal the light cuts he had gained in the battle. He remembered the first time he had come into the training centre, when he had nearly been killed by a low-level Grat. He smiled at the thought. Nowadays, he could take on a high-level T-rexaur by himself with ease.
He decided it was time to go, and turned towards the entrance to the centre.
***
Ultima weapon sat up. The humans had defeated him, with the aid of those accursed Guardians, the very ones they had been made to oppose, he and his brothers, the Weapons of The Dark Mistress, the sister of Hyne. Those GF's had been their greatest enemies during The Sorceress Wars, when the Dark Mistress had waged war on her sibling, struggling for control of the Earth. Then, it had been GF against Weapon, sorceress against sorceress, man against monster. Now he and his brother Omega were the only remnants of that War, his brothers banished to a place beyond his reach along with his Mistress. Those damned Guardians, with their powers had defeated them. Griever, the Great Lion; Bahamut the King of GF's; Eden, the Sky Angel he had been given the task of guarding before his Mistress vanished for ever. And Odin, whom he himself had ridden against, Ultima Steed against the six- legged Sleipnir, Ultima Blade against the Zantetsuken. And he had been battling with Odin as equals, until Griever lent his strength against him, and he had been defeated and captured.
However, the Dark Mistress had not blamed him, but given him the task of guarding Eden, who she had captured and imprisoned in a machine body to limit her powers. Eden struggled of course, but even the most powerful of GF's could not take on the Mistress single-handed. To ensure that Eden would not be used against her on her return, the Mistress had locked Eden inside Ultima.
The GF had struggled inside him, and he had expended large amounts of his energy to subdue her. He had lived in the underwater base ever since it had been abandoned, awaiting his Mistress' return. Bahamut had later come to join him, at first ready to fight him and free Eden. Ultima had threatened to use his suicide device, though, which would guarantee Eden's destruction as well as his own. Bahamut then simply guarded the base making sure no one of get through to Eden.
Until the boy with the Lion's Heart that is. Those kids had gotten through, forcing Bahamut to aid them, defeating him, the mighty Ultima, and stealing his precious prisoner. Those children threatened all the careful plans laid to enable the Mistress' return. He would have to stop them.
(Author's note: Ultima doesn't know of the events concerning Squall after they left the Deep Sea Research Centre)
He needed to get to Ultimecia, the powerful follower of his mistress, who had been trying open up a pathway to the Mistress' prison. He had no doubt that she had succeeded; she had Omega to aid her, and the captured Griever, who had been unwillingly bound to her will by the combined efforts of the sorceress and Omega. Surely those kids, who had caught Ultima at a time when he was weak from a struggle with Eden, could not defeat the joined power of Omega, Ultimecia and the Lion GF?
And yet, the spirit of Griever had been hovering, invisible to all but Ultima's eye, above the boy with the Lion Heart.
So many questions. He would need to get to Omega. Beside him, the Ultima Steed was still unconscious, so he cast a full-life on it. As it awoke, it growled and nuzzled its master. Ultima patted its head, and picked up his sword.
He turned and smashed a fist through the wall, leaving a gaping hole has he pulled it back out. As the water rushed in, he mounted the Steed, and rode calmly into the ocean.