BREAKING THE MIRROR
Disclaimer – I don't own any of the FF8 characters etc, but I do however own some original characters that are going to be included in this story, and the imagination I have to give them life. Hope you like it…
Also huge thanks to Michael Kenny for letting me use a technique he invented (will use it in due time! Oh, and read his fics. Top notch!)
Chapter 14 – Selphie Vs Mirror
'Death does not necessarily mean failure'
(The Tower of Deling City – Floor 19)
President Gilned watches Selphie, the girl in the yellow dress, fly for Mirror. He feels the tower shake slightly.
"Man, she's got some power for her size." He mutters to the presence next to him.
"They all have. This should be good, even I have never truly seen Selphie fight at her maximum."
(Floor 13)
Selphie flies for him, her flail boomerangs through the air. Mirror grits his teeth and flicks out his own flail. The two Strange Visions wrap around each other. Selphie mutters something as Mirror goes to run into her. Her blue Protect shield flashes as he bounces off it, unraveling his own Strange Vision for hers.
Selphie snarls and flies in the air, spinning around at high speeds, shinobou outstretched. Mirror dives backward, just barely able to flip his own up as they clatter into each other. Selphie barely touches the ground before going for him. Mirror is caught off balance as Selphie flicks her weapon out and takes Mirror off his feet. He winces slightly as he hits the floor, but dives out the way to avoid having his skull caved in. He swings his own out. Although she has a Protect shield on, Selphie goes spinning to the side and bashes into the wall. She runs to the left as Mirror's shinobou clatters into the wall. He is aware of only a scream as a Firaga spell screams at him. Using his speed, he dives out the way as it smashes into the wall. The wall almost melts away, but a steel surface remains under what was there.
Mirror eyes open as he sees Selphie charge up another spell. He is a bit flustered as he sees the normally happy-go-lucky girl in the sunshine dress snarl the most evil look at him, before firing another spell. Firing up a Shell spell, he lets it thunder into him. He is further flustered as it slams into him at quite a velocity and with some amount of strength. This moment of surprise almost causes him to drop his Shell. He quickly comes to and beats off the Firaga.
Fuck me, she's strong! How in the hell did she get this power? I mean-
He is cut off as, through the smoke, she charges him. Selphie will not let up. Thoughts of hatred race through her mind. She is focused, determined, but she is also slightly fearful. She knows he is good, and this is what made her decide to go head in, full on. It seems to be working so far.
Selphie twirls her Strange Vision in her left hand. Stopping, she addresses him. She smiles sweetly. Mirror looks oddly at her.
"Mirror, would you like to know something?"
"What? Cut to the point. I got things to do."
"You know how you know all of our techniques?"
Mirror snorts. "So?"
"You really don't know shit." She continues to smile at him. He shakes his head.
"Yeah, sure, whatever, prove it then. You DO realize I am only toying with you?"
Selphie closes her eyes briefly. "I know, but now, I think this will give you a reality check."
Mirrors eyes narrow as Selphie mutters something.
"Triple."
The others watch from the other side of the glass wall. Irvine whistles.
"Shit, she's improved! Man, I don't think Mirror knows what's hitting him."
Seifer shakes his head. "He's toying with her, you just heard. But now I think it's going to heat up."
"What is she doing?" whispers Zell.
Selphie continues to twirl her shinobou in her left hand. Suddenly her right hand is ablaze with fire.
"What? More Fire spells? I can stop that easily you know" he smirks.
"Not this kind of Fire spell" she smirks back at him. Mirrors face is one of brief shock as she moves her fiery hand into her spinning shinobou. She mutters something and it fires into her weapon. But instead of burning it, the speed of the spin from the weapon causes it to split, and the Fire fragments go straight for Mirror. Mirror flings out his hands as they bounce off his Shell. He grits his teeth as she runs around him, circling him. With the Triple spell aiding her, she is able to fire multiple Fires at him, which multiply even more when fired from her weapon. Mirror clutches his fists together and intensifies his Shell as Fire rains on him from all angles. Selphie takes this opportunity to cast Shell on herself. Casting Scan on him, she notices that he has forgotten to cast Protect. Selphie uses this and rams into him, foot first. Using a long kick similar to Zell to bash into his stomach. Mirror gasps as the wind is knocked out of him. He hits the floor with a thud and rolls backwards. Selphie screams again and casts one of the strongest Flare spells in her arsenal: it rams into the ground just in front of the rolling backwards Mirror, but that is enough as the red magic envelopes him. Mirror himself screams as the spell engulfs him, throwing his hands up. A huge bang emanates from the room. The glass wall doesn't even budge, as the others look on, slack-jawed, at Selphies fight. Even Squall has his eyebrows raised at Selphies quick thinking.
"I taught her that one!" smirks Zell. "She always did like to learn martial arts one day, so I said I would show her."
The others look on as the smoke clears. They see Selphie dance round the room, bobbing on her toes and still twirling the Strange Vision.
Mirror fires some kind of blast at Selphie that she has not seen before. But with animal-like instinct, she jumps up in the air and spins her weapon around her. The blast bounces off her flail and crashes into the farthest wall. A hole appears there. Rain from outside starts to come in, along with wind. Smoke envelops the room once more.
Mirror suddenly flies out of nowhere and launches a barrage of attacks at her with his own shinobou: they both move at high speeds as Selphie, still with an angry, evil look on her face, blocks all of his attacks, twirling her shinobou in front of her, figure of eight style. Mirror flies backwards, and grabs the other Strange Vision. Selphie stops and watches him. Her face says no emotion, but a droplet of fear enters her. It took her years to master the shinobou: hell, she was still learning with this version. The one thing about the Strange Vision was it was a bit unpredictable. It was almost as if it had a personality of its own. It knew if you were not good with it, it would not be good with you. How in the hell could he handle two Strange Visions?
Her thoughts are answered as he twirls both, expertly. Acting as if he has used this weapon from the day he was born. Blood trickles from his nose.
"Like I said, this is the last fight you ever take part in."
He goes for her. Selphie elongates her own weapon and begins to use it to block most of his attacks. Some get through, but her Protect holds strong. He smiles as he suddenly throws one of them away. Leaping backwards, still grinning, he calls out to her.
"Oh, Selphie! Look at what I can do!"
Selphie looks at him, panting, the last barrage took its toll on her. She cannot cast Cura yet, or Regen, as Shell is still in place. Her eyes widen as he begins to twirl his Strange Vision in his left hand. He mutters one word.
"Triple."
"You gotta be kidding me," she says, as Mirrors right hand ignites with Fire. He slowly begins to move his hand towards his weapon.
But…how? She thinks. She backs up and recasts Shell, gritting her teeth and clenching her fists. I only just mastered that move a few weeks ago!
"Oh, I think you will need it stronger than that, little girl," Says Mirror mockingly. "You see, you used Fire, I will use, this!" he yells, as the Fire spell in his hand suddenly triples in size. Selphie looks on in horror as Mirror utters the word she was going to say, but he adds more on the end.
"Firaga. Goodbye, Selphie Tilmett."
He launches the Firaga into his weapon. Like Selphies, it does not melt, nor does it break, the Firaga spell rips into it and separates, and all as one charge for her. She flings her fists up as they smash into her, the heat is unbearable as it washes over her. She sees Mirror casting another two spells and then starts to run. Selphie has her arms extended at either side of her. She spins around on the spot watching as he casts a further 3 Firagas, using the same method. Her Shell spell begins to waver. Suddenly the Firaga dies out. Her Shell spell wobbles, and is almost gone.
"Die!" screams Mirror as, to Selphies horror, he launches a Flare spell at her, not in the normal way. He uses his shinobou to bat it at her like a baseball. Selphie screams as it rams into her Shell, her spell breaks as it smashes through it. She thinks nothing and sees nothing, as suddenly she ignites with power, instead of Fire…
"Selphie!" Screams Irvine as the Flare spell ignites and flashes, the others close their eyes as it booms out, the force of the spell hitting the glass wall. It spreads over the wall like butter over toast. Then dies down.
What they see, causes their mouths to open wide, even Squall opens his mouth in shock.
But their shock is nothing compared to Mirrors.
Selphie crackles with power, her normally bouncy hair is flowing around her. Her eyes glow a brighter green than they usually do. Yellow lightning crackles around her. Her face snarls as she walks towards him. He readies his weapon.
"Triple Flare" he yells, as they lance out of his hand. He launches the last two at the same time. Selphie herself screams and uses her shinobou, twirling it round her head like a helicopter, to bat the first out the way. The next two simply fly past her, blowing holes in the wall. Mirror barely has time to react as Selphie wallops her Strange Vision into his Protect shield that he just cast. The last time she did that, it barely moved him, but this time he goes flying into the glass wall. Ramming into it at quite a force. Energy crackles round her. She looks up at Squall. Squall nods in understanding as Selphie mouths two words to herself.
"Do Over."
"What's she doing?" yells Zell, as Selphie leaps backwards, dodging the various Firaga and now Thundaga spells that Mirror is launching at her. Squall answers solemnly. His voice sends chills down their spines.
"She can't beat him, so she is going to use her last card. And she knows this."
Irvine grabs him. "What do you mean, she can't beat him! Look at him! She's pounding him out there!"
Squall merely shakes his head. "She is giving him a rough time, but he isn't really going at it yet, all he needs is to find his balance. Because Selphie has been going non-stop at him, he has barely had time to get himself together. But when he does, this fight is over."
Irvine looks at the fight, as Selphie, still crackling, mouths 'Do Over' again and again. Mirror tears after her, but she is fast enough to keep him at bay.
"What's she going to do?" he asks him.
"She is going to try to do The End."
Seifer looks at him hastily "You're kidding! She'll kill us all!"
Squall looks at the ground. "Also herself, because she can't control it, even if she casts something else, it will still kill her. You know what happened when she used it against Omega."
Seifer thinks. He had heard this story from Selphie herself. She had died when she used The End, but not before Rinoa had teleported them all out of there first. Then Rinoa went back and was able to revive her before her bodily functions really shut down.
Irvine looks through the glass at Selphie, still muttering 'Do Over.'
"She's slowing down," he says.
Selphie runs rings round Mirror, keeping him occupied.
'Wall', 'Haste', 'Shell'…
Mirrors Triple seems to be lasting incredibly long, as he launches attack after attack at her. He seems to have an infinite supply of magic. She only knew people that could do that were people who used B…
Suddenly a Flare spell smashes into the wall next to her. 'Cura', 'Curaga', 'Shell', 'Barrier', 'Rapture', 'Ultima X 2'…
She realizes she cannot hold on much longer, as another Flare spell is launched. This time, it smashes into her, she is sent sprawling to the floor, at the feet of Squall and co, separated by the glass wall. Mirror runs at her.
Irvine crouches down and looks into her eyes, she looks up at him and words something to him as a single tear runs down her cheek. Irvine feels his heart break, as she nods at him. Squall and the others grab Irvine as she climbs to her feet, and spins round. Irvine understands what she is about to do, and calls for the others to cast the strongest Shell they have. Irvine is the only one who knows what she said. As she gets up and faces him, facing the inevitable.
She never managed to get The End, so she will settle for hurting him at best.
Her energy crackles around her, blowing Mirror off his feet. He gets up as the Limit Break is activated. He stands there, unsure what to do. He casts Regen, Shell and Protect as Selphie, blood from her face mixing with her tears, utters her final words. As the power from this will kill her, and there is nothing she can do about it.
"Ultima, X 2."
Mirror reads the words on her mouth, and screams as he clutches his fists together. The Regen is already healing him, but not at its full potential, thanks to the Shell. He sees her smile slightly as she vanishes.
A huge white and yellow glow appears over his head, he crouches and throws his arms up. The spell presses down on him, and as soon as it touches, it explodes over him. The huge green mushroom cloud bangs into him. Screaming for all he was worth, the Ultima rips into his Shields, but they hold, despite the savage beating they are receiving. This Ultima he is up against is the strongest he has ever seen.
He collapses as the explosion vanishes. There is nothing but black smoke around him. He staggers to his feet as another Ultima begins to appear. This one, he wasn't sure if he was going to survive this…
A figure appears in front of him and crouches down in front of him, throwing their arms out in front of them in a wide arc. A huge blue-orange shield appears in front of him, engulfing them both, the Ultima spell explodes, as the figure crouches slightly more. Mirror looks up at the figure through half-closed eyes. They seem to be having no trouble with it. As it explodes and engulfs them, they use one hand to hold the spell off, while using their other hand to flick something at Mirror. Mirror suddenly feels his shields break. Looking up in horror, he sees Prophecy standing there, the Ultima spell gone. Thick black smoke engulfs them. Prophecy gets right in his face.
"One down, 4 to go." they say, and upon saying this, throws a spell over him, washing him in warmth. Prophecy disappears.
Mirror suddenly feels amazingly strong. As if he had never fought. The smoke clears. Looking round, he sees the glass wall, and the horrified looks on Squall and his friends faces. He smiles at them and looks at the floor a few feet in front of them.
Selphie lies there, lying flat on her back. Walking up to her, he realizes that she is quite dead.
He looks up sharply as Irvine snarls at him, rage bursting through him, using his voice to make this clear.
"You're dead Mirror! You are DEAD!" he screams.
Mirror laughs, as he realizes what Prophecy had done. Even though he did not like them, he was impressed.
"Then you know where to go," he says, pointing upwards. He walks away towards the end of the room. Irvine watches as he presses a stud in the wall. Two doors open. A lift is behind it. He smirks at Irvine as the lift doors close.
"Bastard! I'll KILL HIM!" Screams Irvine, bashing the glass. Squall and Seifer grab him and pin him to the wall. Irvine struggles against them. He then tries to cast Full-Life on Selphie, but the spell dies as it touches the glass wall.
"Look! We know! But we have to get going!" shouts Seifer. Irvine stops, and closes his eyes, breathing heavily, he runs to the lift and bashes it. The doors open and he runs into Quistis.
"Ouch! Steady!"
"Sorry Quistis! This… I've…" he sobs loudly as the others go in, unable to say or do anything to comfort him. Quistis was about to ask what was wrong, when she realizes Selphie was not there. Squall is last to go, but he hears something before he gets in.
No matter what happens, keep going.
He wonders where it came from as the lift doors close, leaving the room in absolute silence.
No noise is heard, save for the wind and rain coming in from the holes in the wall.
Even that goes quiet for a brief moment, as the lights in the floor suddenly blink out.
(Selphie fans don't get too pissed at me! Craig)