Chapter 32 – One way to kill a Black Ogre

    A/N: My gracious reviewer Celeste Spring… you were right! I was being illogical there! Argh!! Why hadn't I thought of that? The moral of the story – never write a chapter when you're sleepy…. *sigh*… But I tried to make some amends below… I hope it does not sound too contrived… hehehe *scratches head in embarrassment.*

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    The spew of molten rock hurtled towards them in lightning speed…….

    And started to lose steam midway through its course, landing a full meter in front of them.

     "HUH?" The three uttered in unison, for they had been preparing themselves to dodge it.

     "Looks like its accuracy isn't too… umm… accurate." Selphie commented, and at the same time felt her body, that had been tensed up in anticipation of being hit, relax a little.

     "Hey… it's nodding off!" Selphie said, pointing at the creature's head.

     "What do you mean it's nodding off?" Irvine spoke in annoyance, thinking that she was just fooling around… and at such an inappropriate time at that.

     "See, there's saliva dripping from the mouth, and it isn't moving at all!"

     "You're right, Sefie!" Irvine said a little apology towards Selphie in his heart for having doubted her.

     "What a weird monster! Fancy sleeping in the middle of a battle!"

     "Was it ever awake in the first place? For one thing, it doesn't attack us at all, only gives a growl here and there when we try to hurt it… well, except for that ONE Magma Breath…" Irvine pondered over the situation, observing the Black Ogre at the same time to look out for any sudden attacks.

     "Sleep walking… you think?" Selphie suggested.

     "If that's the case, then we're wasting precious time talking. We should damage it with magic.

       Meltdown." Nobu said in a low voice, taking care to not awaken the creature up with his voice.

    With the spell cast upon the Black Ogre, its body glowed with a purplish light, signaling its status of zero vitality.

     "WOOHOO! Way to go, Nobu!" Selphie praised the dark-haired boy loudly, making him blush furiously.

     "Shhh! Sefie it'll wake up!" Irvine admonished her soundly, forgetting his own advice at the same time.

     "Sorry!" She stuck out her tongue in embarrassment.

     "Now all we have to do is find its fatal spot."

     "It must be the Achilles Heel… cos it's in a different color." Nobu spoke after some analysis of his available yet limited knowledge of the Black Ogre's physical attributes.

    Just as they were heatedly discussing their attacking plan, another underground creature went up to the Black Ogre and stared at it, puzzled that it wasn't moving.

     "Friggin' Hell! Some idiot forgot to kick the dumbass awake!" It was furious, and delivered a resounding kick at the Black Ogre's leg.

    With a deafening roar, the hulking monster reared its head upon the sky, bellowing its protests for all to hear.

     "The one who awakens me must be prepared to suffer my wrath!" It threatened, and swiped at the Underground Creature with its massive arm.

    The unfortunate creature ended up splattered against the wall of the adjacent building, never to wake up again.

     "Now… let's see… humans eh? This would be a piece of cake……" It snorted in contempt, while they stared in utmost astonishment at its ability to speak their language coherently.

    It only sneered right in their faces, not bothering to explain itself.

    Raising its arms into the air, it hollered at the top of its lungs.

     "HELL'S JUDGEMENT!"

    Darkness was immediately summoned to fall upon the entire battle field. Hordes of menacing-looking bats flew around the Ogre, followed by the imprinting of a red, glowing symbol upon the ground. A gravity-based black vacuum was formed in the center of the space, sucking a major portion of the SeeDs' energy away.
    They fell upon the ground in exhaustion.

     "Hero-war…" Selphie called out weakly, making use of the life-saving item to protect them against any further attacks, and at the same time allowing them to make use of their limit breaks.

    Irvine loaded pulse ammo into his shot-gun.

     "I hope this works." He muttered, and let away a series of the powerful ammunition.

    As each shot hit the monster, it began to show signs of injury, recoiling a little at the impact each time, but not good enough to beat it.

     "Interesting… you're better than I thought. Let's see you beat this!"

    It swept its thick, boulder-like arm across at the SeeDs, but was unable to hit them due to the protection of the Hero-war.

    Enraged, it tried using the Arm Swipe Attack a few more times, only to achieve similar results.

     "You cowards! Fight me without the help of the shield! Have you no honor in you?"

     "None is needed when dealing with creatures such as you!" Selphie retorted feebly, still experiencing the devastating effects of its Hell's Judgment.

     "I've…. got a strategy…" Nobu suggested, his words scattered as he struggled with each faint breath. "Since we're temporarily safe from his attacks, let's discuss."

    They put their heads together for a moment, and started whispering amongst each other.

     "That might work." Irvine nodded his head solemnly.

     "Let's put it into action. Booyaka…" Somehow, that catch phrase of Selphie's did not seem as exuberant as before, a result of her sapped strength.

    The Black Ogre, having been left aside for a moment, was boiling with fury… for it looked to him that they were taking his destructive prowess lightly… and there was nothing that angered it more than being treated lightly.

     "I'll show you to ignore me……" It spat out the line through gritted teeth.

    Raising its arms into the air again, it started to summon the darkness once more.

    As their luck would have it, Nobu's Hero-War effect had already worn off, followed by Irvine's, which exposed them fully to all attacks.

    Mercifully, the enemy's Hell's Judgment would not instantly kill its targets, and should have been used in conjunction with another one to finish off the victim… which left them with exactly one HP, not a lot of difference from their previous state.

    Selphie looked at both of them in panic… and acutely realized that her own protection would wear off soon as well.

    I still have my limit break left… She thought as a glimmer of hope was produced in her mind.

    She ran through her slots for that one spell that would free them from the ominous possibility of approaching death.

     "FULL-CURE!" She cried, holding her Strange Vision above her head to cast the spell.

    Three flashes of warm green light enveloped each of them, fully restoring them to their original state.

     "Phew… I was getting desperate there… that was the best decision you have made all night, Sefie!" Irvine grinned at her.

     "FOCUS!" Nobu shouted to remind the two of their current predicament, sounding very much like a certain grey-haired friend of Seifer's.

    He planted his sword into the ground with both hands, closing his eyes in concentration… an action he would perform whenever casting a spell.

     "AURA!" He shouted, casting the supporting magic upon himself.

     "My turn!" Selphie quipped, rushing up to the Black Ogre and flinging her weapon at it.

    As before, it achieved little effect.

     "Mortal Girl… did you not know that your physical attacks are useless on me? You're asking for it yourself!" It laughed mockingly, and tried to hurt her with its arm.

    However, her reflexes were fast enough to avoid it, and at the same time she started running around the Black Ogre, while flicking her weapon at it, just like an annoying fly.

     "Berserk!" Irvine cast the status ailment upon it, raising its already simmering rage past the boiling point.

    The faster Selphie ran, the more frequent its attempts to get at her.

    Like a spiraling tornado they went round in circles.

    Finally, she stopped, jumping a meter and a half away from the Black Ogre, her heart pounding as if it was going to skip out of her throat.

     "Now I'm going to get you!" The Black Ogre grinned in a sinister way, lunging for the petite girl with its sharply-clawed hands.

    But even before it could move a step closer, its legs wobbled dangerously.

     "What the…?"

    It fumbled over its unstable feet, and fell to the ground with a thump that reverberated through out the whole city, maybe even throughout the entire continent.

    The ground cracked under its massive fall, throwing up a shower of dust at the force of the collision.

    All in Timber thought that they had experienced an Earthquake on the scale of six, as the furniture started shaking with no apparent reason.

    "NOW!" Selphie shouted.

   The Aura-hued Nobu rushed towards the fallen monster with his sword aimed at it.

    For a moment, he was nothing but a blur in their eyes, such was the speed of the small guy.

    And he simply disappeared, or so they thought.

    With a shout, he descended from above their heads, heading for that one particular portion of the Ogre's body.

    The Achille's Heel.

    The sword pierced right through it like a fruit knife through a rotten pear.

    The howl emitted by it was harrowing beyond description… one that could easily awake the dead… that is those that have not already been up and about attacking the cities.

    Bit by bit, its physical body started to disperse into thin air, leaving a small hill of black dust on the ruined ground in its wake.

     "And that…. Is the end of it… ahahhahahahha! What a relief!" Selphie wiped her forehead with the back of her right hand, for she had perspired a lot while running those circles around the hulking monster.

     "There's no time to relax! Look at the numbers of creatures we have to deal with!" Irvine reminded her anxiously.

    Across the whole stretch of the street, their fellow SeeDs and cadets were battling frantically with the increasing amounts of Underground Creatures, which regenerated and cloned themselves as soon as they were beaten down.

      "Yikes! They keep com……..ing!!!"

    Before Selphie could even finish her sentence, a small group of Underground Creatures had already leaped to their sides, surrounding them in a watchful ring like predators upon defenseless prey.

    As if on cue, they pounced upon the three before they could even react.

    Halfway through their flight, numerous shots rang through the air, stopping them dead in their tracks. And none had regenerated, the greatest surprise of all.

    Nobu and Selphie stared at Irvine.

     "It wasn't me!" He raised his eyebrows at them, then pointed ahead of him

     "Never underestimate the effectiveness of silver bullets." The shooter grinned at them, holding one up for them to see. "And look who I brought with me."

     "Thank you for holding them up until now… for they would surely have destroyed Timber if left to run loose upon our streets. My name is Sebastian Bracker… and I am the head of the Timber Forces."

     "Great to see you again, Sir!" A familiar face addressed Irvine.

     "Watts!" Selphie exclaimed. "If you're here, where's Zone?"

     "At your Service, Miss Tilmitt."

     "This is like one big reunion, but we haven't got the luxury of celebrating… cos here they come again!" Irvine pointed out sharply, alerting them to the fact that they were still in battle conditions.

     "Aye aye Sir! Let's get to work!"

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    ~DELING CAMP~

   The telephone rang piercingly, breaking the two lovebirds out of their intimacy.

    Reluctantly, Squall released his wife from his arms and picked up the receiver.

    "May I get Commander Leonhart on the line please?" A breathless voice spoke through the other end, clearly indicating the distress of its owner.

     "This is he speaking. Who's this?"

     "I'm Doug MacKenzie of Squad Timber. Timber is currently under attack by the enemy forces! Commander! Please be on the alert for similar attacks on Deling, Dollet and I'm afraid… Winhill as well, even though it was not under Galbadian Adminstration!"

     "Are you certain, Doug?" Squall gripped the receiver tightly, such that his knuckles turned white from the exertion.

    Not Winhill……

     "Yes, Sir! And this time they have brought with them a five-storey high creature of unknown source! Ms Tilmitt and Mr Kinneas are currently trying to hold them up…. I have to leave now!"

     "Alright… keep me updated if you can, Doug. And good luck."

     "Thank you Sir!" With an abrupt click, the call had ended.

    Squall slammed the receiver back to the original position, and turned to face Rinoa.

     "The enemy has attacked."

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    --DOLLET--

     "Any sign of disturbances?" Nida went up to the thin pig-tailed girl, who was holding a pair of binoculars up to her eyes, trying to monitor any movement that seemed out of the ordinary on the plains.

    They had situated themselves in the foliage directly outside the city, which would be a place that was compulsory to pass through in order to get to Dollet.

    Of course, they had not neglected that it was situated near the shores, and had sent another team to watch over that place as well.

     "None still. I wonder if they're amassing a greater strength of Army. That is the only logical reason I can think of." Yuri replied, taking her eyes away from the binoculars to look at him for a moment.

     "Let me take over, then. You've been straining your eyes for more than three hours now…" Nida said gently, for he was unwilling to let Yuri suffer from even a little discomfort.

     "Don't worry… I'm still fine. If my eyesight gets blurry, you can take over." She smiled sweetly at him, and turned back to watching the plains for creature activity.

    At that very moment, a booming sound echoed throughout the land, scaring the many birds that had been perching on the branches. In a great flutter, the whole forest was filled with the cries of the frightened birds as they flew away in escape of the great noise.

     "What was that?" Yuri gasped, her eyes round in surprise.

     "I wouldn't know… but it came from… that direction…" Nida pointed at the approximate source… Timber.

     "Do you think…?" A sense of forbidding came over her, and try as she wanted to, she could not get rid of it.

     "I really don't know…"

     "LOOK! WHAT'S THAT APPEARING OUT OF NOWHERE?" Someone shouted.

    All eyes fell upon that particular direction.

     "I think… that's the enemy…" In a quivering voice, Yuri stated the obvious.

     "Advance to Dollet! On the double!" Nida yelled at the rest of the Squad, ignoring the sinking feeling that captured his heart.

    This is the first time I have led a squad, and against such a powerful foe… will I be able to make it?

    Hyne… please give me the strength…

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    Yes! The machines are finally finished! I hope it is in time to help Squall defeat those creatures!

    Laguna inspected the machines with an almost proud sense of satisfaction, taking pleasure in the knowledge that he would be playing a major part in his son's aim to save the world.

    Bring 'em on!

     "Laguna! Unidentified forces are gathering outside Esthar, and some are already attacking the citizens! I need your order to counterattack!" Kiros ran into the room in a haste, his voice preceding his physical presence.

     "WHAT?"

     "Hurry!"

     Well, I guess the time to break out the machines has arrived much earlier than I thought.

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     WL: Again, no Q&A due to the lack of space… this chapter is FAR too long in my opinion, (the previous two even more so) but the author wouldn't listen! Anyway, there aren't any questions to answer.

    A/N:

     Hmmm…. Do the paragraphs seem disjointed to you? I hope not… I have tried to make them run more smoothly, but this was the best I could manage. I told you I can't write battle scenes… the first one already took away most of my imagination… how the hell am I going to invent new ways to kill the Black Ogre? Maybe I should first write a fic "A Hundred ways to kill a Black Ogre…." So that there would be some fresh ideas… I'm rambling over there, forgive me.

    My glorious, most wonderful reviewers… I can't seem to thank you enough. Maybe you would be asking why am I constantly criticizing my fic? I know… it gets tiring to read such things chapter after chapter, but if I don't, I am afraid that I would become a conceited, pompous pain-in-the-a** if I let myself float on air by your most flattering reviews… hehehehehehe

    Quistis88 – Your reviews are like Elixirs that revive me to no end after each tired day spent working at my boring-like-hell job. The most probable reason why I can continue to write even though my brain is officially dead after six pm (when I knock off). Thanks hehehe

    Celeste Spring – You bring me back to the ground after an hour of floating with your gentle reminders… last time it used to be Shootin' Star who pointed out my inadequacies in writing, now it is you. I need that to improve, thank you as well.

    Jeangab057 – Getting praised as cool by a cool person is surely one of the best things of writing! Thank you!

    I know there are others, you know who you are… but I risk understating my sincere appreciation of your reviews by writing it all out. Besides, there isn't enough space. So thank you again. ( That's the fifth!)

    Oh oh… on retrospection I can't believe what a nag I am. Let me just end here. See you next chapter…. Soon I hope.