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 16 – Zell Vs Mirror
'A weapon doesn't make the man.'
(The Tower Of Deling City – Floor 15)
The lift pings as it stops at floor 15. Squall and the others disembark. Seifer motions for them to stand flatly against the wall, as the lights come on. Seifer immediately recognizes this room.
It is unlike the others. A single window is to their left in the wall. The rain and lightning flashes outside angrily. The rest of the room looks like the innards of a black cube. Totally square, save for a part at the back, which is raised. A glass window is above it, as if it is an observation platform. Seifer recognizes this as the place where he first saw Mirror.
Zell is to fight next he thinks. Indeed this is verified as Mirror appears, pulling on a pair of Ergheiz gloves.
"Zell, you're next. Come here," he says darkly.
Zell narrows his eyes and begins to move. Squall grabs his arm.
"Wait" he whispers, "let's charge him together, that way the glass won't have a chance to spring up on us."
Zell nods, but suddenly the glass wall does shoot up. Zells hand is almost chopped off had he not moved it. The glass wall moves forward, pushing Zell into the room.
"Nice try Squall, but I was ready for that one since the start." Mirror looks at him smugly. Seifer spits on the glass. Quistis watches with a frown on her face.
Zell looks at Mirror, as he bobs up and down on his feet briefly. Slamming his fist into his other palm and back, cracking his neck roughly. Zell smirks and copies him.
"Time to finish what we started in the garden, boy" says Mirror, going for him without hesitation. Zell is ready and dives out the way. Mirror changes direction midair and throws a punch. Zell wheels round and catches it in his left palm. Closing his hand over it, he sharply grabs Mirrors arm and jerks it into him, raising his knee. Mirror reacts faster than Zell thought and grabs Zells knee. Quickly disengaging his hand from Zells left palm, he punches Zell in the gut. Zell winces and falls to the ground intentionally, taking Mirror with him. Mirror loses his balance and falls with him. Zell yells loudly and throws Mirror away with his right leg. Mirror careens backwards and slams into the glass wall upside-down. He hits the wall with quite a force and a crack appears. He barely has time to register as Zell is upon him. Fists rain down on him as Mirror, pinned against the glass wall, takes the barrage. His teeth are gritted as he attempts to block Zells attacks. He blocks the majority of them, but a couple hits home; one gets him in the stomach. He doubles up, only to be smashed in the face by Zells knees. He winces loudly and feels his nose break. Not looking where he is going, he ducks down as he hears Zells fist boom into the glass wall. Shards of glass fall on him as he places his own hands on the glass. Using his hands as a springboard, he smashes both feet into Zells ribs. A snap is heard and Zell finds himself flying across the room, thudding on the floor heavily. He shakes the cobwebs from him and gets up quickly. Mirror stands at the other end. Blood trickles from his nose and mouth. No longer smiling, he begins to walk forward slightly.
Squall again observes the hole made in the glass. Looks like magic can't harm it, but physicals can. Hmmm…
He is distracted as Zell and Mirror fly at each other. They seem to be fighting in mid-air for a brief spell as they rain blows on each other. Their legs and arms are blurs as they block and throw: grab and free: punch and kick. Both hit the ground on their feet and continue the fight. Their fists colliding with each other in various degrees of strength and velocity. Their legs too play a part, also going in the same direction, velocity and strength as their fists. Zell runs backwards as Mirror moves at him. Zell dives up and runs up the wall, spinning in mid air and kicking Mirror savagely in the side of the head. But again, Mirror displays speed unknown and manages to get an arm up to block. It still does damage though as he is sent cartwheeling backwards. Landing on his feet, Mirror charges. He is practically horizontal as he smashes a left into Zell. Zell crosses his arms over his face to stop the blow. Falling to the floor in one swift movement, he kicks upwards with both his legs; they connect in Mirrors ribs and he flies so high up he hits the ceiling. Zell flips to his feet in one swift movement and dives up after him.
Mirror slams into the ceiling and begins to fall. He sees Zell coming and curls into a ball. He actually begins spinning in mid-air, speeding up with each spin.
Zell looks wide eyed and stops, dropping down to the floor, but he barely touches the ground as Mirror flies into him, still spinning in a ball. Zell smashes into the wall, and is crushed further as Mirror rams into him. Mirror flips backward and lands on his feet upright. As soon as his feet touch, he is upon Zell, but Zell quickly comes to, and the exchange of blows as before is continued. The room seems to shake as they collide and exchange blows. This time Zell is pushing forward.
Squall sees blood pouring out of Zells temple, but Zell is unabashed by it. They both move across the floor at speed, hitting the glass wall again. This time they are facing side-on to the observers. Seifer whistles and Quistis gasps as Zell screams and goes faster. Mirror yells too and also picks up pace. Zell then backs into the glass wall, blocking Mirrors attacks. A couple of times he doesn't; he merely dodges them. Squall somehow manages to read what Zell is doing, as Mirrors fists collide with the glass wall, more cracks appear. At one point Mirrors fist almost goes through the wall, sticking into the glass. Zell, with animal-like instinct, smashes his arm up and breaks Mirrors right arm. Mirror screams in pain and wallops Zell with his left fist with a force unknown, lightning crackles round it at it drives into Zells skull. The force is so powerful that Squall and the others hair stands on end. Zells head caves through the glass, and he falls to the floor, unconscious. Mirror yanks his arm out with another scream and hits the floor, clutching his broken arm. He stammers as he tries to say a healing spell. But he is distracted as a huge boom emanates from the glass wall. He looks up in horror as a huge chunk of glass falls off the glass wall: Seifers gunblade cutting the glass out. The hole is big enough for a man to get through. Mirror realizes this as Squall suddenly steps over Zell and goes for him, anger flashing in his eyes. Mirror dives to the left, but barely has time to react as Seifer torpedoes at him. Eyes wide open, he kicks Seifer, causing him to fall to the floor. Rolling backwards, he bowls over Squall. Quickly flipping up, he runs for the end lift. He barely makes it in time, as Squall is right behind him. The lift doors band closed, but not before Squalls gunblade puts a hole in the door. The point almost pierces his chest. Mirror quickly grabs a small circular object, presses a button and throws it through the hole. He then slumps into a corner, bleeding profusely and holding his broken arm…
Squall skewers the door and yanks his gunblade out. He looks down at the small circular object on the floor. A dynamite-bomb. A timer set for 1 minute is ticking down. Wasting no time, he races back to the others.
"Quick! Get him to the lift! A bomb is about to go off!"
Seifer hauls Zell over his shoulder, but as the lift pings open, the blast engulfs them all. Quistis throws out their arms to shield them, but the blast blows them all off their feet. Zells body hits the ground, the blast causing Seifer to drop him. Seifer and Squall tumble into the lift. The doors suddenly jam closed, but the lift does not move. Smoke billows all around them.
"Quistis! Quistis!" yells Seifer. Quistis voice carries through the doors.
"I'm fine! How are you?"
"We're OK, what about Zell?"
"He's OK, he's out cold though" she says quickly.
"We'll try to get these doors open-," says Squall, but is cut off by Quistis voice.
"No Squall, Go! I'll stay here and tend to Zell, I can douse the fires with my Aqua Breath and heal us both. Besides…" she coughs, smoke seeps through the door. "If I'm not there, I won't fight Mirror, and that means you two can!"
Squall exchanges looks with Seifer: he nods and yells, "Got it! Take care!" He looks at the wall, pulling out his gunblade, he says to Squall. "Stand back. I'm sick of this thing dictating where we've to go."
He swings his gunblade down and smashes the metal panel off the lift wall. All the buttons glare at him.
"Where to?"
Squall looks and presses Floor 17. Seifer looks at him curiously.
"If one of us were to fight him last, as it was meant to be, then this would be one of the floors, plus the smoke is getting dense in here."
Seifer nods as the lift takes off, the smoke clears out. There is nothing but absolute silence.
"Hey, you hear that?" asks Seifer; his face lined with concern.
"Hear what?"
"That's the thing, nothing. Everything went…quiet there, even the lift."
Squall nods. "That's the least of our worries. We need to get going."
The lift pings open. The room is in total darkness. Again, the lift refuses to budge. Squall and Seifer step out.
"Don't move any further, until we know what's in here," mutters Seifer. Squall nods quietly, but Seifer appears to know anyway. The darkness envelops them. They can barely see each other; the only light in the room is from the lift. Suddenly the doors close and the room plunges into total darkness.
"Could use some light in here" whispers Squall. Seifer grunts.
"Yeah, ah fuck it, to hell with this cautious shit, let's light up the room." Squall somehow sees Seifer raise his hand. It begins to glow softly, as the Fire illuminates the room. Suddenly a thud is heard, shaking the room. Both of them wheel round. Squall looks on in horror as the Fire spell in Seifers hand suddenly flickers out. The only thing he sees before it goes black is a huge black something smashing into Seifer. Seifer screams and the thuds grow, as if something is running. Suddenly a huge crash is heard. Squall watches in horror as part of the wall caves in as Seifer is thrown through it, his speed causing the wall to crumble into dust, a huge snap emanating from Seifers body. He screams, blood flying from his mouth as he disappears from view. Squall goes to run, but stops, wondering and looking round, in case the enemy is still in the room. A noise is heard, a rushing sound, then silence, save for the rain outside. Not caring what may be in the room, he races to the hole in the wall. Looking out it and down, he sees Seifer, lying in a pool of blood on the rampway joining the tower and the Presidential palace, about 5 floors down. It is a good 30-40 feet down. Squall can tell that Seifer did not survive the fall.
He jerks back in as the lights come on. There is no one in the room, except Mirror. He stands there fully healed. No injuries from the fight with Zell appear on him.
What in the hell! Squalls mind screams. Mirror laughs at him. Squall, snarling, stands upright, drawing Lionheart. Mirror stops laughing, narrowing his eyes at him.
"You're the only one left Squall. And before you say it, Quistis has already been dealt with, as is Zell. As is Seifer, he makes a fine pavement, by the way." He laughs some more. Squall charges him, but suddenly another glass wall shoots up. This time Squall has the majority of the room. Mirror smirks and goes to the lift.
"Time to give you what you want Squall." He says solemnly, not a trace of mocking or mirth is in his voice. His face is set in a serious tone. Squall spits at him.
"Your blood, Mirror, I will kill you."
Mirrors eyes narrow. Pointing above him with one hand.
"Floor 18, go there Squall. Nothing will happen to you, until you get there. Then you will get your fight with me. Take your time. I shall be waiting."
He steps into the lift and disappears.
Squall stands there; the room is silent, save again for the rain and lighting outside. He closes his eyes, and thinks. Thoughts of hate and hope fill him. Thoughts of fear, desperation, death, life, love, sorrow. All these emotions and many more flood him one by one.
He looks at the lift. One floor up, was the cause of all his hurt. True, President Gilned was to blame also, but he did not cause half as much damage as Mirror has. Mirror has tore everything away from him. His home, his friends, his love. The only thing he could possibly take now is his life.
And he was going to make sure that Mirror was going to try to take that the hardest way possible.
He opens his eyes, then closes them again. One thought at a time enters his mind. Each one fueling him, urging him to end this.
He thinks of Garden, and the students and staff who died. Over 100 people.
He thinks of Rinoa, and what happened to her. He thinks of a white pillar of light engulfing him.
He thinks of Selphie, who gave her life to try to at least hurt Mirror, to give the others a fighting chance.
He thinks of Irvine, who also practically sacrificed his life so the others could get through the glass wall.
He thinks of Zell and Quistis, both apparently killed by Mirror.
He thinks of Seifer, of his dying face and blood-curdling scream as he fell to his death.
He thinks nothing after Seifer, walking up to the lift and bashing the button. It opens creakily. Pressing floor 18, he lets the doors close, and the lift goes up. He so easily could have gone back down to the other floors, to check on Zell and Quistis. But part of him believed Mirror. As everything he has said he has backed up.
The lift stops. Squall steps out into a fully lit room. This room is massive; it must be at least 15feet high. Mirror stands at the other end. Both his gunblades crossed over his back. He does not take his eyes off Squall. Squall also refuses to drop his gaze, boring his eyes into Mirror. Nothing enters his mind as he looks at him. Mirrors hair sways slightly.
"It is time, Squall Leonhart. You know what is going to happen."
Squall says nothing. He slowly, deliberately, unsheathes Lionheart. Mirror carries on.
"This is your last fight. None of your friends could beat me. You yourself, have fought me twice before this, and lost. There is such a thing a third time unlucky you know."
Squall rests his gunblade against his leg and takes off his jacket. He throws it into a corner of the room. Mirror backs up and presses a button on the wall. Like in Selphie and Irvine's fights, parts of the wall flips round. Various Gunblade line the walls.
"Give my regards to the others and to those who will be joining you, when you see them in the afterlife, Squall" he says. He reaches behind him and draws out Lionheart, its silver glints in the light. Reaching out with his other hand, he slowly draws out Hyperion, its gold surface throwing light particles over the room.
Squalls eyes never leave Mirrors. Mirror flicks his hair back.
"Goodbye, Squall, may the best man win."
Squall remains silent and flies for him. Mirror dives in the air and charges Squall.
Squalls battle had begun.
(All reviews welcome thanks. Craig)