Disclaimer: I don't own the Final Fantasy characters.

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The blast was so great, that the after effects were endless. It shook the Cosmo Canyon and opened a path to the lucrative Ancient Forest. We could've gotten there on Thowra, Shane and Meg, but decided to chase Ultimate first. The Ancient Forest was an ancient and exciting place to be. It was said to hold a few cool items and fun puzzles to play. It would be hard to get through when moving in large groups, so we divided ourselves evenly and split to get through several places. But the disgusting part of the forest was that we needed to catch bugs and frogs to feed and use when crossing through several parts.

The thought of it was icky, but what have we got to loose? Each group managed to gather at least 3 bugs and frogs each, enough to get through the obstacles we were assigned to. When we left the magical Ancient Forest, we didn't leave empty handed. There we found Cid's Scimitar, Cloud's Apocalypse sword, the Tupon summoning materia, a Minerva band armlet and a Slash-all materia. Overall, the forest was nice to visit, but we wouldn't want to live there. Luckily we didn't have Rufus with us, or he'd be complaining like crazy and driving us 'nuts'. Once that was over, we had to prepare for the main event... entering the crater. We never wasted any precious time and lived the night to the fullest.

Thinking the night may be the last, Jacques kissed me passionately and never wanted to let go. Under the Highwind, Tifa and Cloud had a conversation. It wasn't long as Vincent came by and he wanted some private time with Tifa. As soon as Cloud left them, they were smooching endlessly and slept in each other's arms. Naz and Yuffie were together on the deck. Cid and Cait Sith were making sure the Highwind was in good shape, Red was staring into the horizon thinking of his heroic parents and wondering if we'll live through this. Cloud and Aerith were of course 'busy' and didn't want to be parted for the moment, this would be the last night before the Final encounter. They wanted to relish their last moments together, in fact so did everyone else. Sadly Rufus was left without anyone, and got rather jealous when he saw Speed and I together.

Falcon was helping Barret keep the weapons in right order and really didn't pay attention to what the 'couples' were doing. It seems the next morning when Vincent and Tifa arrived at the bridge, she was very embarrassed as Cid and a few others revealed that they saw her and Vincent having their 'private' time. She turned bright red, but lucky for her, Vincent held her and he too, was quite embarrassed. We laughed at them in a teasing way, but not for long as we didn't want to humiliate them more. But before we stopped laughing the two love birds joined in., as there wasn't really anything to be embarrassed about. They're in love, so what?

The Highwind was parked just at the entrance of the Crater. The entrance resembled a spiral staircase, only there were no stairs but rocky and steep paths. As expected, the place was swarming with monsters. It was a good thing, that Falcon and Barret examined and repaired the weapons the night before. The monsters were great and full of fight. The even had skills we could use to fight the final battle. The crater was deep and dark. We emerged through a rocky doorway and found no other way down than climbing. For me and my companions, we flew down and guided them on the way down. For a place for a last battle, there were many treasures laid out for us.

We split in opposite directions to retrieve them all. The next area was called the Right route. It had so many twists and turns some of us became dizzy just walking down. The monsters that roamed here were the Death Dealers, Dragon Zombies, Molbors, Parasites and Pollensalitas. All had valuable skills that the enemy-skill materias could use and we encountered all. It was a coincidence as when they attacked; they used the skills and fell when we used the skills against them. The next areas were the Left/Up route and Left/Down route. In the Left/Up route, the enemies may look small and harmless, but could really pack a mean punch. Ouch... anyone who underestimates them is in for a big surprise.

Again we were divided into groups and were to meet at the Left/Down route near the Lifestream falls. At the Left/Down route, the enemies here were ugly and annoying. As we crossed their paths one too many times we easily got bored of fighting them. In the Lifestream falls, Celest and Lynn found a Super Enemy-All materia. As they found it, Cloud allowed them to keep it. Too bad there was only one of the materia and two of them. Then I remembered mine and Naz's skill.

"Lynn, could I see the materia?" I asked her. She passed it to me and I called Naz over.

"Let's do it one last time, lil' bro." I said to him.

He nodded and in our hands the materia glowed brightly and a few seconds later, there were two materias instead of one.

"There you go; at least both of you have awesome power." I smiled. They thanked us.

We were more than happy to make it for them. The Left/Down route led to the Final Confrontation area. The area was swarming with Dragon Zombies, Iron Giants and Ahrimans. In the area, the road to Sephiroth was spirally and godly. Before taking a step into the point of no return, we forced faith into ourselves and Cloud split us for the last time. He said it would be easier to hit the enemy.

"Well, this is it, no turning back now. Have faith in yourselves as in the darkest moments faith and heart are our lights." He looked around at us and all we could do was listen to his advice. It was for the best and may be the last.

It wasn't long before we had to encounter the first boss. He was invincible and wore us out but Cloud's words kept our guards up. Quote Phil from Disney's Hercules "No, no, no, Giving up is for rookies." WE weren't rookies and we won't be defeated.

The boss may wear us out, but that doesn't mean that we couldn't do the same. Cloud, Aerith, Cid, Barret and Sam had cast four summoning spells at once, which were Leviathan, Bahamut Zero, Alexander and Knights of the Round. These were either level 4 or mastered. The impact had him slowed down and shrunk him to dust. The next was the big cheese, Sephiroth. He indeed was one with the Lifestream and one with his mother Jenova. Kujah and Evil Ansem were with him too. That made it harder for us to reach him. From what I remember, they were the most powerful bosses in their realms, but not as powerful or power crazed as Sephiroth. It was strange for them to appear only now and not before we had to battle with Mr. Misunderstood.

We were worn out when we had to battle him. Cloud and Vincent didn't want to show how weak we were and charged at them, Barret sent a series of gunshots at Sephiroth covering the two. Not wanting to be left behind, Falcon and I showered them with elemental arrows and bolts. Aerith protected all of us with Planet Protector and Red cast Reflect magic on us to enable the attacks which were sent to us, given back with love.

Sam used his most powerful limit break "Aftershock" which did some damage and paralyzed the trio for a limited time. Lynn even sent Chocobo/Mog on them which increased the penalization effect. Kujah and Evil Ansem were a piece of cake, but Sephiroth was another story.

The two vanished as soon as we sent limit breaks on them repeatedly. After their deafening screams, they deteriorated and vanished.

"This cannot be, I'm the most powerful and superior being cannot be outwitted by mere mortals!" He screamed.

While the attacks rained on him, my out world comrades corrected him; "Correction, we aren't mortals!" together we cried and sent many deathblows on him. He screamed once more, but it was more deafening than before. A strong force overwhelmed the battle ground and he disappeared, but did we win?

The walls were caving in and we needed to get out right away. But something happened to Cloud, he had vanished into thin air. "CLOUD....!" Aerith shouted and refused to leave without him.

"Then I'll stay with you kak, I can fly us out of here when he returns" I told her. She smiled while the others scrambled out and started to pray.

"Where am I?" Cloud asked himself.

He was falling through a stream of air. Where was he going he didn't know? There were spirals of colors and wind. At the end of the tunnel was none other than...

"Sephiroth..!" Cloud heard himself shout.

He looked different. He was half naked and where his feet were, there were four wings spread out and he floated in the air. He even had his right hand replaced with a dark wing. Behind him were rings and he wasn't going let him go without a fight. He was crazed by the fact that he was all powerful, but what he had lost long ago was... a heart. Sephiroth used many deadly attacks on Cloud and somehow he managed to survive. He even managed to stay focused, though he was tired. His case was somewhat like Dyne but his is worse. Ever since the incident in Nibelheim, he had never been himself and his soul when he died only focused on one thing, the Promised Land.

"You will never find it, as it is entirely out of your reach!" Cloud shouted when he used Knights of the Round and his final limit break, Omnislash. But Sephiroth was still 'standing'. He gave it his all this time and his Omnislash did triple the damage and Sephiroth screamed once again for the last time.

It proves that being a god isn't everything as there may be others to overthrow you. He became one with the air and was so fine that he couldn't be seen. Cloud was left alone in the darkness. The mission was a success and the world would be at peace, at last. Suddenly, glittering green light circled around him and a hand reached out to him.

He reached for it and slowly, the face and body were unclouded to reveal Aerith, his angel, reaching out to him. We needed to escape as the walls were caving in. He grabbed hold of her and I helped Aerith steady herself while pulling Cloud up. Above, the others made it to the Highwind and Cid was forcing the engine to start but it was stubborn for a moment. It didn't start until someone kicked the controls. They shouted for us to hurry and wanted to send us a ladder, but there wasn't any need to as I could fly them out.

"Hang on folks, we're in for a rough ride," I said sarcastically.

The two lovers didn't like the sound of it but they had no choice but to hang on tight. As the whole Crater was caving in, I had a hard time dodging the large chunks of rock and getting through thin spaces as I had passengers with me. When we caught up to the Highwind, I crash landed as it wasn't an easy job getting through tight areas and dodging humongous chunks of rock. From the bridge we watched helplessly as the Meteor got closer to Earth. Even if we succeeded in defeating Sephiroth, we still never found a way to stop the Meteor from colliding into the Earth. Everyone on the Planet watched helplessly as the End came near.

But... when we thought and felt that all hope was lost, streaks of green lights sprouted from the Earth and multiplied by the dozen. It seems that Aerith's act to get in touch with the Planet worked and the green streaks were from the Lifestream. It was Holy. We watched as more and more of the tornadoes of green emerged from the Earth and became one to eliminate the Meteor and saving the much loved Planet. The sight of it was magnificent. As one, the bundle of gleaming green light devoured the Meteor and making way for a bright new dawn.

The Meteor was no more and the Planet was saved. All on board the Highwind rejoiced as we have saved the Planet. All over, whether they were humans or beasts, they shared our joy. For short, our mission to save the Planet had succeeded and from dwelling in darkness all this while, we made way for a bright sunny day. Finally after so long, the Planet was at peace. All resources had returned to normal, and instead of smoke and dust, all was clean and clear. But even though it was a glorious moment to be shared, the use of my comrades and I have somewhat come to an end. Sooner or later, Wakka, Squall and Lulu will call and send us back home, to where we belong.

(End of Chapter 3)

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