Ch 10 – Round 2 – Zell VS Sheran

It was simple, really.

One second, Zell was turning, talking as he turned, slightly tense about the fight.

The next, a big, sweaty palm obscured his view.

Then, there was a feeling, like someone had grabbed his head by a vice and pulled him through a thousand stabbing needles. Then his view cleared, to see the ground coming towards him.

Very quickly. With no hint of slowing down.

He thought as quickly as possible. The first thought was that he was going to die. The second was that he wasn't going to die – he was just going to get really, really hurt.

Badly.

As in, every bone kind of badly.

Then he thought seriously and got to work.

The ground coming toward him at break-neck speed, he threw his hands out and slapped them at the dirt. He span in the air, the push from the ground giving him enough of a boost – to land back on the device!!

He landed on his hands and feet, like a cat, on what would pass as the roof – the paramagical barrier. Most people would think that that would have been a smart thing to do. Instead, as soon as Zell's skin touched the barrier, it burned like fire, and he recoiled, slipping back off the device and hitting the ground at a speed he wasn't prepared for.

At first it was ok – all sense took leave as he hit, bounced, then hit again, coming to a skidding stop. Then they flooded back to him when he became immobile, staring up at the blue sky as the pain washed over him. It felt like most of his skin had been shredded off his body – and he craned his head to take a look.

 A large gash had opened up his chest, travelling down his stomach and ending just above his groin, revealing something pink and ropey. His left leg was bent the wrong way…why was it bent the wrong way?

He shook his head. He was going into shock. He mustn't become woozy…he must focus…he must focus his energies…

He felt the energy waver inside him, flickering like a damp wick on a burnt out candle. His wounds had been extraordinarily severe…he might not have enough power to channel the energy…

No! His mind screamed to him. You must focus, you Chicken wuss, otherwise you'll just prove to everybody how crap you are! To be taken out before the fight even started?! By a cheat, no less?!

He grimaced, gritting his teeth with the effort as he felt the power flicker…and grow. Balling his fists, he grunted the word to activate the energy.

"…Curaga…"

The massive wound on his torso seemed to close up, the organs spilled out sucking themselves back in. His leg moved back to its original shape, the number of cuts, gashes and burns he acquired seeming to close as they were cleaved – sealing themselves suddenly and without warning.

His light head gone, it was replaced with something else.

Fury.

The Galbadian hadn't had the guts to take him on man to man. He hadn't had the guts to be taken out face to face.

And, to top it off, that had been Zell's last Curaga. He would have to do with Cura and Cures for the fight.

Flipping to his feet, he checked his body. Everything was healed over; nothing remained except for bloodstains and torn clothing. His shirt and jacket had been ripped wide open during the tumble, and he ripped them off with a swift pull, his chest beginning to glisten in the desert sun as the heat attacked relentlessly, sweat trickling down his chest. Thankfully, his pants had survived the fall, and he looked up at the surveillance bee hovering above him.

Now that he was on his feet and thinking properly, he could hear the commentary coming in through his ears. Wait a second folks…he's back up! Mr. Dincht, are you alright?

"I'm fine. It seems that I took a tumble through the barrier on the transporter. I'm ok."

That's great! We were a bit worried for a second there – but you do seem alright. Sheran is at the prepared destination. If you wouldn't mind making you're way there…

"I'm way ahead of you." Zell muttered, balling his fists, allowing his power to flow. He muttered a word of magic under his breath, and took off like a rocket, red light streaming behind him.

*          *          *

He passed the transportation device in a few seconds, the circular platform streaming past him in a flash of light. He barely recognised it. He flew past it as if it was nothing – it's speed had nothing on him.

When he got to the designated fight zone, he saw his opponent standing, arms crossed, staring into the mountainous horizon. Zell skidded to a stop just a few feet behind him, the ground mounding up beneath his sneakers as he stopped.

Sheran continued to look at the mountains, turning his head only slightly to acknowledge Zell's arrival. "You're here earlier then I expected." He said quietly, his growling voice disturbingly dull. "I expected you to at least take a few more minutes to get over it." He turned slightly. "I didn't expect you to jump back on, though. You've got astounding reflexes."

"I'll take that as a compliment." Zell growled, taking one hand in the other and cracking his knuckles.

Sheran finally faced Zell, rolling his head on the base of his neck; spine rattling cracks echoing out from it. "So, you've proved you're worth. Let's see if you're all you're cracked up to be."

Zell nodded – before running towards Sheran at breakneck speed, his body a blur as he pummelled the ground before him.

Sheran countered with a fist to the face – which passed straight through!! Zell, still feeling the effects of the Haste magic, had moved so fast his body had created an after image!

Sheran had fallen straight for the trap.

Sheran's body twisted with the missed blow, he looked up to see the real Zell up close and personal. A flash of black tattoo – then Zell smashed his elebow intoi the giants face, a gut-wrenching snap emerging as elbow broke bone.

Sheran staggered back from the attack – and Zell took the opportunity, materialising all around the larger warrior, fists and feet raining down on the Galbadian, his body snapping back and pitching forward as each blow knocked him around like a wind chime in a hurricane, little foot-shaped indents and fist-sized hollows appearing with each blow on his massive body.

Zell finally slowed the assault, suddenly jumping on the spot, his body twisting, everything moving in slow motion – before his body span the full circle, his sneaker  smashing the Galbadian over the chops, causing him to crash to the ground, the attack connecting with such force that Sheran skidded a good ten feet after.

The Galbadian lay there for a second – before lifting his legs and flipping to his feet, a green glow fading around his head. Zell watched as the broken jaw the Galbadian had received suddenly snapped back into its original position. He smiled and rocked his head around on his neck, cracking the kinks out of it like before. The numerous indents he had sustained suddenly popped out, like a balloon that had been blown up. It was like Zell hadn't even scratched his surface.

Zell snarled and advanced.

Sheran saw this – and countered with his own attack, his hands smashing together, palms facing outwards. Fire suddenly flared in the palms, and great gouts of Firaga fly at Zell. His Haste magic still in play, he avoided them easily, flipping and dodging as the flames licked at his heels.

He replied with a Water attack, his outstretched hand blasting a high-pressure stream of water, the liquid quenching the flames around him – as well as smashing Sheran back, the attack hitting him directly in the chest and sending him tumbling.

He fell onto his back, and Zell jumped high, taking advantage of a good opportunity. He came down on the larger man hard and fast, his feet burying themselves in his stomach, Zell smiling evilly as Sheran let out a gasping breath – before his expression turned from surprise to a wicked smile.

Zell's eye went wide as Sheran grabbed him by the feet, pulling him up and off him, before swinging him like a rag doll at the ground, his body smashing into rock and sand. Sheran swung the SeeD like he was a toy, bashing him into rocks and into the ground, Zell trying desperately to grasp to consciousness.

He hadn't thought that he had been this strong, and realised after the third swing at the ground that he would have to change his tactics. As Sheran pulled him back for another swing at the ground, Zell reached down and screamed "Thundara!!", lightening magic lacing down his body and deep-frying the Galbadian, his body twitching as the electricity burned through him, making him drop the SeeD.

Apart from some massive bruises that Zell would get on his palms from desperately fending off the ground, he wasn't any worse for wear. Sheran's body still twitching from the last attack, Zell threw his leg out, tripping the giant and toppling him to the floor.

Back flipping away from the massive Galbadian, Zell ground his feet deep into the ground, searching for friction as he outstretched one hand, grasping the wrist with the other hand for support. From the back of his brain he called the Forbidden magic, the power twisting and burning through him, the very ground beneath him shaking and shattering, the psychic energy needed lifting rocks and boulders into the air. He screamed as the energy welled within him, the yells seeming to add to the attack's power.

Zell's body suddenly became very rigid, and he snarled, before screaming the word of power.

"Flare!!!"

The wave of super-hot energy blasted itself from his hands, his posture almost bending backwards as the gigantic amount of energy kicked his body back at astounding speed, Zell's screams travelling over the sound of the rushing wind around him as every rock and small hill over a five kilometre radius was suddenly flattened.

The giant attack bore down on Sheran, knocking him back and sending him spiralling out into the horizon, his screams drowned out by the sounds of the Flare ripping through the air. Zell, with a supreme effort, lifted him arm up into the air, the attack lifting as the aim changed, until he was aiming at the sky.

The beam of energy flew up into the air and vanished as the magic wore down, and Zell lay on his back, breathing heavily. I did it! I beat him!

He held his breath, however, as he heard the sound of something dropping out of the sky.

Sheran fell, screaming, to the rocky ground, embedding himself in the red lime when he landed, a great puff of dust emitting from the new hole. Zell heard nothing for a second as he craned his head to look at the hole…

…before he heard a cough.

Amazing! This guy must be a real expert if he's able to cast Curaga on himself so fast after a direct Flare attack! Zell thought to himself.

Rolling over and onto his knees, Zell drew some White magic from inside him, the Cura healing most of his newly-acquired wounds. Blinking as the magic finally settled, he ran forward to the hole, to deliver the coup de grace.

Looking down into the hole, he saw nothing except a huge, man shaped indent.

Spinning, Zell saw nothing but a meaty palm – before everything went cold, the Blizaga attack sealing him in a block of ice.

His scream of terror and pain was frozen as his mouth clamped shut, the ice forming around him faster then the time it took him to run from the crash site to the fight destination. He was still alive – just trapped beneath the frozen icicles.

He was amazed he could still see, everything seeming to go quiet inside the oversized crystal, and he looked left and right, wondering where the rushing of blood in his ears had gone.

Then he saw Sheran moved forward outside his prison.

He was freed as quickly as he had been entrapped, Sheran's single punch shattering the big iceblock as if it was styrofoam, Zell flung from the trap as Sheran's fist burrowed through the ice like quicksilver and connected with Zell's stomach, knocking him out and flying. Zell flew backwards, falling to the ground, skipping on it once, before tumbling to a stop.

He looked up shakily to see Sheran, calm as ever, walking slowly towards him.

Come on, Dincht! Suck it up! Move through the pain! You can do better then this! Zell stood on weary feet, drawing some more White energy from inside himself, casting Cura once more. As he felt the majority of his many injuries sustained heal over – but not completely – he watched Sheran. He's cool – and doesn't seem to have a scratch on him. He must be casting Curaga on him almost every time I step back to prepare for another attack. Zell grimaced. Well, I think it's time he shared some of the power.

Setting his feet wide apart, holding his hand out and gripping it with his other, he performed the Draw. Sheran stopped in his tracks, frowning, as a potion on his energy seemed to disappear. He couldn't see the green globes of energy, only seen by the Drawer, fly from his body and become absorbed into Zells.

Zell grinned, standing tall now. Fourteen Curagas – that ought to sustain me until the end of the battle. He quickly cast the powerful White magic on himself, before setting his stance and screaming, the ground around him trembling as his power returned to it's full capacity.

Sheran frowned menacingly, suddenly realising what had happened, and broke into a run, his loping sprint ungraceful but fast.

He tried to pummel into Zell like a linebacker, shoving his shoulder to where Zell was supposed to be – but Zell jumped up high, landing on Sheran's broad shoulders and pushing off once more to swing around and king hit him right in the head, Zell's fists clenched together as the powerful attack smashed right into the back of the Galbadian's head.

Sheran stumbled slightly – and Zell didn't give him an opportunity to heal himself, jumping off his back and reaching out with both hands, firing magic blast after magic blast of Thunder, the puny but fast magic slamming into Sheran's unprotected back, the cracking and snapping of bones and cartilage echoing in Zell's ears, his hands kicking back as the magic launched itself from them, only to be replaced as quickly as it had been formed.

The blasts kept Zell in the air as he threw Thunder after Thunder at the large Galbadian, the attacks seeming to do more and more damage as Sheran stopped moving. Now having been suspended in mid air for over a minute, Zell pulled his hands high above his head, paramagical energy crackling in the air as he pulled energy from the very depths of his soul for his final attack, his mind ablaze with battle, his sight red with the glory of crushing his enemy forever.

The very air around him burst with supernatural power as he drew back breath to utter the word of power – the word that would unleash hell.

He whispered the word, the shock of using such Forbidden magic coming over him just as the last syllable left his mouth.

"Ul..."

"...Ti…"

"…Maaaaaaaa!!"

It was like someone took an ocean of energy and dumped it into Zell's hands. A massive ball of dark light formed in his palms almost instantly, and he threw it at Sheran, a green glow just fading as he looked up –

And paled.

The Ultima Technique slammed into Sheran's back, his screams digging into Zell's soul like rusty hooks as the Technique bore down on him, around him, into him. Zell could see through the dark energy to see Sheran flailing, his arms and legs twisting and turning before simple disintegrating. Sheran's screams reached a new crescendo as the Technique ate away at his body until there was nothing left, the dark matter fading away to nothingness.

Zell blinked as gravity finally took hold, pummelling him to the ground. He landed heavily, his body relaxing with the fall as he landed on his hands and feet, and looked over to where Sheran once lay.

There was nothing left but a pile of ashes.

*          *          *

Zell shook his head, blinking as tears began to form. He hadn't meant to kill Sheran – he had only wanted to defeat him.

I went over the top again, Hyne damn it! Zell's mind screamed, as he fell to his knees, smashing his fist into the hard, rocky ground. I did again, and now there's no coming back for him!

A warm voice entered his mind. You killed him doing what he loved best, human. He died trying to survive. Just as you will, either tomorrow, or on you're death bed. There was no stopping his fate at you're hands.

"And that's supposed to make me feel better, Ifrit?" Zell yelled, smashing his fist into the ground again, a large crack appearing in the red rocks.

No. It was supposed to show you that no matter what you do, you must always survive. If you go around allowing you're enemies to survive, then there will be a good chance that you will be stabbed in the back as you walk from the battlefield.

"What the hell is that supposed to mean?"

It means that, even if you had allowed him to live, he wouldn't have stopped until one of you was dead.

Zell blinked, wide eyed. Of course. These battles aren't about money, or popularity. They're about blood, about death, about showing who's the best. He looked over at the pile of ashes. Now I understand why the assassin wants to fight me. And now I understand why I must defeat him…utterly.

*          *          *

Zell sat next to the ashes until the transportation device arrived to take him and the remains back. He looked up to see some people step off the device: Selphie, concern mixed with happiness, and President Justice, looking defeated.

They both walked over to Zell, stopping a few feet from him. He stood and looked at them, his face grim, his body covered in the numerous cuts and gashes he had received from the backlash from the Ultima attack throwing up debris. Blood oozed from the wounds, but he ignored it, as well as the pain. He had had worse.

Selphie was the first to step forward, placing a gentle hand on his scarred and bloody chest, green light flowing from her hand through his body. He let out a breath, and breathed easier.

President Justice stepped forward, pulling something from beneath his jacket.

An urn.

He scooped the ashes into the urn and turned to Zell, tears forming in his old eyes. "He…he always said he wanted to be cremated…" he said, his voice quiet.

Zell placed a hand on his shoulder and sighed. "For what it's worth, I'm so…"

"Don't worry about it. Even if you had allowed him to live, he would not have been able to live with the shame of losing…he had never lost…not even against the others…" he bowed his head and began to sob, his shoulders heaving as he wept.

Zell guided him onto the transport, before turning and reaching to give Selphie a hand up.

She hesitated, looking up at the blond haired boy with the tattoo on his face, covered in dirt and sweat and blood, reaching out with a helping hand…before taking it, allowing herself to be pulled up gently but firmly.

They all sat down in silence, and, in silence, the device took off.