Chapter 7: Ultimate End

Cloud remembered that Aeris said something about weakening Zael and Raimuz right before she disappeared.

"Remember Zael and Raimuz can be weakened with the power of the or . . ."

"The orb!" thought Cloud

Zael and Raimuz's mental attack had Cloud on his knees, but with his last bit of strength he pulled out the orb that he had retrieved from Enix tower.

"This has to do something" thought Cloud as he tried to focus on the orb.

The orb began to glow and Cloud could feel a power inside of it. The orb glowed brighter and then surged with energy. The energy shot out of the orb like a shockwave and shattered the red haze in the air like a glass. Zael and Raimuz no longer had a hold on any of the heroes' minds.

"What is this!?"

Raimuz was surprised that his power had weakened a bit.

"These insects have proven to be much more resourceful than we thought. No matter. We've still enough power to crush them like the bugs they are" said Zael.

The entire group of heroes recovered and started to stand up.

"I felt like my head was in a vice" said Ken as he rubbed his head.

"They can no longer attack our minds" said Cloud.

"True, but we can still attack your bodies" laughed Zael.

Zael and Raimuz began to float high into the air until they hovered several feet above the heroes.

"Raimuz, let us combine our powers"

Zael and Raimuz slowly became transparent and began to merge with each other. Once they merged into a single body they started to shine like the sun.

"Oh no, this is bad ya?" said Wakka under his breath.

The heroes stood in amazement as Zael/Raimuz's body began to grow. Their body grew to a titanic size and towered over the treetops of the island. Finally Zael/Raimuz stopped shining and revealed what looked like a new being. This being was a titan that was heavily clad in black armor from head to toe. Only its face could be seen. Its skin was purple and its eyes were white just like Zael and Raimuz. It wore a helmet that had a large green jewel in the middle of it.

"We are one. Your destruction is imminent. Proceed on your way to oblivion" Zael/Raimuz's voice sounded like both Zael and Raimuz were speaking at the same time.

Zael/Raimuz raised his humongous right hand and a large ball of green energy began to grow in his hand.

"Everyone scatter!" yelled Chun Li.

Everyone ran away as Zael/Raimuz hurled the large ball of green energy toward them. They got out of the way just as the ball struck the ground and exploded which left a big hole. The impact of that attack left a few of the heroes shaken.

"What are we supposed to do?" asked Cammy

"What the hell do you mean?!? We kick that things ass that's what we do!" yelled Cid.

Cid as always acted first and asked questions later.

"Yeah, let's do it" Yuffie ran off behind him.

"Commando Squad move out!" yelled Captain Commando

The Captain, Sho, Jennety and Hoover ran to attack Zael/Raimuz and soon all of the heroes ran at him.

"They are so eager to die? Ha ha ha" laughed Zael/Raimuz

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Cid made it to Zael/Raimuz first and began to attack his left leg with his spear.

"You bring me all the way here for some kind of cosmic joke?" shouted Cid.

Cid struck Zael/Raimuz's ankle with his spear but to he could not penetrate it.

"Save some for me old man!"

Yuffie ran up and hurled her weapon. It struck the armor but didn't do any damage.

"Zael/Raimuz looked down at Cid and Yuffie.

"Do you need something to keep you busy?" said Zael/Raimuz as he waved his left hand.

Suddenly several monsters began to come out of the ground.

"Uh oh" said Yuffie as one of the beasts burst from the ground and landed in front of her.

They were reptilian monsters that stood on their hind legs. They were tall and their arms were very long. Their snakelike tongues were exposed as they hissed. Many of them sprouted from the ground near Cid and Yuffie. The one that landed near Yuffie opened its mouth and showed its fangs. It then lunged at Yuffie with its claws extended.

"HADOKEN!"

a blue ball of energy streaked by and hit the monster before it reached Yuffie. Yuffie looked around to see Sakura standing there. They looked at each other for a moment then smiled and went on to fight the monsters.

Yuffie hurled her weapon and sliced off the heads of two reptile monsters. More and more began to sprout from the ground and rush them. Sakura ducked as a monster swiped at her neck. She did an uppercut to the chin and then a kick to the midsection that sent the beast flying back into some other monsters. The monsters kept coming though. It seemed that as fast as they dispatched them the more they came. Yuffie and Sakura had their backs together and were surrounded by the monsters.

"The name's Yuffie by the way"

"I'm Sakura. Wish we could have met under better circumstances."

The monsters tried to merge for the kill but were taken out by several others.

"Yahh!" yelled Hayato as he leapt into the crowd of beasts.

Hayato sliced off the hand of one beast as it tried to attack him. It hissed in pain and Hayato stabbed it through the heart.

"You girls need help?" said Maki

She struck a monster in its face with her tonfa and then hit it with a roundhouse kick. Another beast ran at her and she ran at it. She evaded the vertical slash of the monsters claws and backhanded it in the face with her tonfa. Guy and Zell showed up and began taking out many beasts themselves.

"You can't have a party without Zell!"

Zell jump kicked one of the monsters and back kicked another as it tried to sneak up on him. Guy swept the feet right from under one of the monsters as it approached him. The lizard hit the ground and Guy stomped on its head crushing it. Zell and Guy looked at each other.

"Not bad for a beginner" said Zell.

They both laughed and ran to go help their friends.

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Cid was pinned down by monsters too. No matter how many he killed they just kept coming. One lunged at Cid and he plunged his spear deep into its chest. Two of them tried to attack him from behind.

"Fire 3"

Cid's Fire spell exploded and burnt them to a crisp. A few more monsters crowded around Cid. Wakka ran up and hurled his blitzball. It ricocheted of several of their heads and knocked them out.

"Boo Yah!" yelled Wakka.

"Hey that's my line" said Selphie.

"Sorry"

Selphie and Quistis joined the fray and held many of the monsters at bay. Quistis lashed her whip around one of the monsters neck. While it was choking she hit it with a Thundaga spell. Selphie struck two monsters across the face with her nunchaku and blew them both away with an Aero spell. Rikku came and stunned a few with a smoke bomb. While they were incapacitated she mixed two grenades together and created the flash flood item.

"This will clean you guys up a bit."

A surge of water knocked back the group of reptiles.

Zangief showed up and grabbed one of the monsters tails.

"You will feel the might of Zangief"

He threw the lizard into another group of monsters and knocked them down like bowling pins.

"Save a few for us man" said Kou

Kou, Sion and Volt wanted a piece of the action.

"Hey guys its field goal time!" shouted Kou.

Kou kicked a monster and knocked it back into Volt. Volt grabbed the monster by the back of its neck and lifted it up in the air. He then slammed its head into the ground and held it there.

"Sion you're up" said Volt.

Sion ran full speed at the beast and kicked it as hard as he could in its head. The monster flew like a football and landed several feet away.

"It's good!" yelled Kou.

In the distance Cloud yelled to everyone that was fighting the monsters.

"Guy's look out!"

They all looked up and saw Zael/Raimuz about to drop another large ball of energy on them. They all ran and scattered as fast as they could. Zael/Raimuz dropped the energy bomb and it exploded near his feet. The heroes got out of the way but the bomb killed all of the remaining monsters.

~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Many others tried to attack the upper portions of Zael/Raimuz. Strider had teleported to Zael/Raimuz's shoulder. From there he threw several shurikens at its face. The tiny weapons didn't seem to hurt the giant at all. Rinoa started her angel wings limit break. Angel wings sprouted from her back and she flew into the air with Morrigan.

"Here this will help us. Haste!"

Rinoa cast a haste spell on both of them that increased their speed.

"Wow this feels great! Thanks!"

Morrigan and Rinoa were able to fly faster than ever. They zoomed in closer to Zael/Raimuz's face and attacked.

"SHADOW BLADE!"

Morrigans fist took on a shadowy aura as she struck Zael/Raimuz. Rinoa flew past and cast Flare into its face. Zael/Raimuz watched as they buzzed around its face like two flies.

"Insects!" said Zael/Raimuz as they flew in front of its face again.

Zael/Raimuz opened its mouth very wide and began to inhale. It then blew out a huge beam of green energy from its mouth. Rinoa and Morrigan separated and dodged the beam of energy.

"Phew, somebody needs a breath mint!" said Morrigan.

Morrigan didn't see the large hand coming to down to swat her.

"Look out!" yelled Rinoa.

Morrigan saw the humongous hand and dodged at the last minute. The wind the hand produced blew Morrigan hard and caused her to fall from the sky. She plummeted very fast and couldn't stop her self. Dante saw her falling and ran out to her. As she approached he leapt high into the air and grabbed her. When they landed Morrigan looked at Dante wrapped her arms around his neck.

"Oh Dante, you're so sweet!"

She tried to kiss him but that was interrupted by another beam attack by Zael/Raimuz. Dante leapt into the air while holding Morrigan to dodge the attack. Dante set Morrigan down and they ran back toward another group. Rinoa stopped her attack and Strider teleported off the shoulder and began attacking the left leg.

"Cloud didn't your friend Aeris give some sort of hint on how to beat it?" asked Dante.

"Cloud, you saw Aeris?" asked Tifa.

"Yeah she was in the temple. She gave us a hint but I couldn't really make it out" said Cloud.

Cloud thought about what Aeris said before she vanished

". . . use . . . the . . . Knigh . . ."

"Knights of the Round!" yelled Cloud as he finally figured out what she meant.

"What are you talking about?" asked Guile.

"Ok listen, we need to distract it. Keep its attention away from me. I need some time to concentrate. We need a group to continue to attack its feet. Then we need everyone with a powerful projectile attack to aim for its head."

The group around Cloud understood the plan and went to carry it out.

~ ~ ~ ~ ~

"Come we'll attack the right leg" said Guile.

Guile, Dante, Aya, Jill, Squall, Seifer, Cammy, and Tifa ran to the right leg where Captain Commando and the Commando Squad were already fighting.

Captain Commando punched at Zael/Raimuz ankle. Sho, Jennety, and Hoover were there also attacking to the best of their ability but they couldn't do any damage.

"This isn't doing anything" said Jennety as he slashed at the large foot with his knives.

Hoover fired his guns at the knees.

"Yeah, but what can we do?"

"We have to keep him distracted until Cloud can pull off an attack." said Guile as he ran up.

"What are those people over their doing?" asked Captain Commando.

Captain pointed to another group of people that stood off to the side.

"Anyone with powerful projectile attacks are going to attack from there" said Cammy

Captain Commando looked at his squad then spoke.

"We have a powerful attack"

"Ok well go over there and wait for the signal" said Tifa.

The Commando Squad ran toward the other group. Guile and the others tried their best to keep Zael/Raimuz distracted.

Jill pulled out her Beretta and shot at the leg. Her bullets looked no stronger than pebbles as they bounced off the plate armor.

"I hope this idea works" said Jill.

"It will, just trust Cloud" said Tifa as she punched the leg with all of her might.

Seifer and Squall slashed at the heel with their gun blades.

"I wish these guy's would shrink down to normal size and fight like real men!" shouted Seifer.

"You'd probably still lose" thought Squall.

Aya concentrated and shot a large beam of parasite energy at the knees.

"Look out!" yelled Cammy.

A blast of energy was headed strait for Aya. Cammy ran and tackled Aya which knocked her out of the way just in the knick of time.

"Thank you" said Aya.

"No problem" said Cammy.

"I think we got its attention" said Guile while he kicked the large foot once more.

Dante was nearby slashing at the foot as well

"I think you're right" said Dante

Zael/Raimuz had indeed noticed the groups that attacked its feet and prepared a much larger attack on them. Cid, Yuffie, Sakura and the other group of heroes continued to attack his left leg as well. Guile yelled to them to fall back.

"Everyone fall back. I think it's mad!"

Zael/Raimuz held both of its hands up and formed a massive ball of green energy. It then hurled it down to its feet. The heroes attacking both legs scrambled to get to safety. The impact of the energy ball shook the ground as it impacted and left a large crater.

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

"I think that's the distraction we were looking for. Now aim for its head!" shouted Ryu.

Ryu and the others had projectile attacks that could reach Zael/Raimuz's head. They decided to execute them all at the same time to really hurt it.

Ryu, Ken, and Chun Li were close to each other.

"Let's do it!" said Ken.

All three of them got into their fighting stances. They concentrated hard and focused their energy to summon a large amount of Ki.

"HAAA . . . DOO . . .KEN!" shouted Ken and Ryu.

"KIKOKEN!" yelled Chun Li.

Irvine, Vincent and B.B. Hood stood close to each other and aimed their guns at Zael/Raimuz's head. Irvine let Vincent borrow a round of pulse ammo to maximize his damage and B.B. Hood held her rocket launcher.

"Chew on this purple pansy!" B.B let out a psychotic laugh as she fired a rocket

Irvine and Vincent shot their pulse ammo simultaneously.

Barret, X, and Red XIII prepared their attack next.

"Now or never boys" said Barret as he shot a huge beam of plasma.

X did the same and fired off his buster gun. Red did his Ultimate Limit Break.

"Cosmo Memory!"

A huge flaming ball appeared in front of red. It swirled and grew large then streaked across the sky. The Commando Squad had to work together to do their attack. Captain Commando stood in the middle of them and raised his hands high above his head. The other Commandos gathered around him and placed their hands on his.

"CAPTAIN SWORD!"

A huge beam of energy shot from the Captain's hands directly into the sky. The amount of energy was so intense that he needed his friends to help him hold it steady. The Commando's then tilted the Captain sword toward Zael/Raimuz face.

Huge amounts of energy streaked across the sky seeking their target. It looked like the projectile attacks had blended into one single massive beam of energy. Zael/Raimuz did not see this attack coming toward him until the last moment because he was distracted by the attacks on his feet. The massive blast of energy struck the center of Zael/Raimuz's helmet and shattered the Green gem that was in the middle of it.

-AAAARRRGHHH-

This was the first time Zael/Raimuz seemed to be hurt. It was weakened so now it was Clouds turn to finish it. Cloud was ready to cast Knights of the Round which was the most powerful summon magic in the Square Universe. It took a lot of time and energy to cast but the others had bought him enough time. Blue energy swirled around Cloud as he called these mighty and legendary warriors to aid him.

"This is the end for you! Ultimate End!"

The entire area went pitch black. It looked like everything had disappeared. The grass, trees, and the temple seemed to vanish. There was only darkness

"What is this?" asked Sakura.

Yuffie covered her face in fear.

"I get scared every time I see this"

Suddenly a large knight appeared in the sky and lunged at Zael/Raimuz. It struck it with its sword and sliced of most of its armor. It vanished and new a knight appeared in its place. Several giant knights appeared from the darkness and hit Zael/Raimuz. Some had swords while a few brandished axes. Some even used magic that bombarded Zael/Raimuz with fire and ice.

The other heroes stood and watched this in awe.

"If they weren't on our side I'd be terrified, ya?" said Wakka.

Twelve Knights of the round brutally attacked Zael/Raimuz, but their was still one more left. Suddenly a knight wearing a crown and a red cape appeared and even towered above Zael/Raimuz.

"A king?" asked Chun Li

The king unsheathed his broad sword and held it high above his head. The sword shone with a brilliance that hurt the eyes of everyone watching.

"This can't be . . . mere mortals . . . don't . . . have . . . this power . . ."

These were Zael's and Raimuz's last words before the king sliced them in two. Zael and Raimuz's single body began to shine with a white brilliance. Everything shook and the body exploded sending a shockwave of light in all directions. The darkness faded and everything returned to normal. Zael and Raimuz were destroyed and all that was left were forty heroes.

Cloud slumped over and knelt down to the ground. The spell had taking a lot out of him. The crowd ran over to him to see if he was ok.

"Cloud, are you ok?"

Tifa went over and hugged him.

"We did it. Everything is ok just like you said" said Tifa.

"Yeah" said Cloud.

(*End Chapter 7. Just one more chapter to go people)