Well, here it is: the main event! This battle is what truly inspired me to write this story. I think it gives fans of all the characters involved (and even my own creations - the Syndicate members) a chance to see the characters kick some serious butt. I hope it doesn't disappoint. Enjoy!
Chapter VII – Apocalyptic Angels
Samus spearheaded the group as they surged forward through the burst door. Iron Man flew in right behind her, followed by Hawkeye and Cloud. Ridley, Kraid, and the rest of the Space Pirates formed a wave behind them, ready to crash with full force against the Syndicate. When she breached the door, however, Samus had to stop, the rest taking positions on her flanks and rear.
The sight in front of her was defiantly one to behold. It was a large and cavernous room with a dome-shaped ceiling stretching hundreds of feet above them. Above them, projected on the ceiling was the backdrop of space, and the cosmic ballet that ensued between the Space Pirate fleet and the Syndicate fleet among the Graveyard. In front of her, however, was the most breath taking sight.
Galactus himself sat on his massive throne. Or last his shattered husk did. The Devourer of Worlds was still intact in all of his glory, but he looked shrunken and lifeless. The eyes were open, but stared into nothingness. On a platform in front of he throne stood Magius.
He was standing in front of a good-sized domed object garbed in robes of crimson and black. Off to Samus' left, she could see Wildfire and Enchantress moving Terra to a containment capsule, which was hooked up to the strange machine that Samus assumed was the Janus. Dr. Doom stood only a few feet from the mystic.
"The Heart," Iron Man whispered beside her as Samus brought her attention again to the Janus. The dome shaped object had a gun mounted on it, which was pointed at Galactus, and below that was the unmistakable golden shine of the Vulcan's Heart.
"Well, don't we make a lovely gathering," Magius said, with his back towards the group. "An intergalactic bounty hunter, a misplaced swordsman, 20th Century heroes, and a legion of Space Pirates. I was told you were dead, Iron Man" Doom scowled behind his mask. He now turned around.
"Give us Terra and the Heart, Magius," Samus said, lowering her gun arm towards him. "And I may let you live."
"Temper, temper, Miss Aran," Magius said. "I wouldn't plan on hurting your precious 'Chosen' or Mr. Stark's precious device," he gestured towards Iron Man mockingly, showing that he knew full well who filled the Iron Man armor.
"I only want to use them," Magius said calmly. "To bring about a new peace among the galaxy."
"By awaking Galactus?" Samus asked. "Some peace."
"You have it all wrong," he said. "I plan on using Galactus to bring about my order. I will use Galactus to destroy any who would fight their petty wars, any who would disrupt the peace and quiet of the Universe. Life is so loud and destructive, the Universe so quiet and peaceful. I plan on restoring the harmony that it once enjoyed."
"By destroying more lives?" Hawkeye bit out.
"Forced peace," Samus said.
"Is there any other kind?" Magius asked. "Only through force of arms can peace truly be achieved. Surly you are not naïve enough to believe otherwise?"
"Where did you go wrong, Magius?" Iron Man asked. "When did you decide that taking lives was acceptable? Was it when you first encountered Galactus," Iron Man paused. "Joseph Aluren."
"That name has no meaning to me!" Magius spat. "Joseph Aluren died with Galactus. I killed him and now stand in his place." His voice settled down. "But as much as I would love to discuss the finer points of what I wish to discuss, I have some business to deal with." Terra was now fully hooked up to the device. She was encased in the capsule and looked like she was sleeping. "And I do not want you to interfere. Wildfire, Doom, destroy them!"
With that, Syndicate soldiers poured out from other areas of the station. Wildfire took up position with other Syndicate soldiers, twirling his gun. A wide, malicious grin lit up his face. Doom stood still as Enchantress and Wrecker moved beside him.
"It ends now," Magius said.
"You're right," Samus said. "It does." And then all hell broke loose.
Samus fired a missile at Magius, but the aged mystic just stood there and watched as the missile veered off course. It crashed into a group of advancing Space Pirates, scattering them.
"Damn it!" Samus grunted. "Iron Man, I am going after Terra, you think you can cover me?"
"Sure thing, Samus," Iron Man replied.
"I'll go as well," Cloud said as shots fired all around them, both friendly and hostile. Cloud deflected one with his sword.
"No," Samus said. "We need you here Cloud. Terra will be fine, trust me."
"Okay," Cloud said reluctantly.
"Good," Samus said as she kicked her speed booster into gear, and space jumped her way up to the platform. Iron Man cleared it of any Syndicate soldiers with a few well-aimed repulser volleys as he flew up beside Samus. Syndicate soldiers then hit Iron Man full on, causing him to recoil a bit from the shock, but the armor suffered minimal damage.
Samus ran forward without checking on Iron Man, blasting Syndicate troops with a combination of missiles and spazer beam shots. The shots from the Syndicate soldiers barely dented her armor.
"Going somewhere," a regal voice said as Samus continued forward. Then a metal clad figure garbed in a green cloak stepped in front of her, his arms crossed. Samus skidded to a halt.
"Dr. Doom, I presume?" Samus said.
"Clever," Doom said with a sarcastic tone. "And you must be the infamous Samus Aran. I have heard many horror stories about you. It shall be an honor to best you in combat."
"I don't have time for this," Samus said. "Move."
"You should do something about that temper, Samus," Doom said as he fired a blast from his gauntlets. It his Samus square in the chest. She grunted and curled up in her morph ball to absorb the shock of hitting the wall, but it still hurt.
She uncurled herself into a ready position and was about to fire when a pair of repulser blasts and the swooping shape of Iron Man swept by and knocked Doom away.
"Samus, go!" Iron Man yelled. "I'll keep Doom occupied."
Samus didn't need to be told twice, and speed over towards Terra. Thanks Tony.
"Meddlesome fool!" Doom yelled as he blasted Iron Man head on. Iron Man reeled back. "How did you survive back there?"
"A little bit of luck," Iron Man said. "Which is more than enough to shut you up."
Samus was about to reach Terra when a missile caught her in the side. She flew sideways into a wall with a grunt. Quickly, she recovered and pointed her gun arm in the direction of the shot. Her eyes widened. In front of her was figure standing there in blue and black armor that was nearly identical to hers. Her breathing intensified, but she kept her gun arm steady on the figure in front of her. The figure stood there, unmoving, their gun arm trained on Samus.
"Samus Aran," a female voice said. "It is an honor to meet you."
"You have a funny way of showing it," Samus bit out.
"Yes," the figure said. "I have trained my whole life to be like you, and now I will prove myself your better. My name is Faith, and I am your superior."
"Prove it, little girl," Samus said with a sneer behind her mask.
"Damn there are a lot of the bastards!" Hawkeye said as he readied another explosive arrow, and unleashed it into a crowd of Syndicate soldiers. Around him, Space Pirates provided support fire. A few Syndicate shots hit home, and a few Space Pirates fell around him.
"That there are," Cloud said as he slashed at one of the stray Syndicate soldiers that decided to close. "I need to get closer to them, you think you can cover me?"
"Sure thing," Hawkeye said. Cloud was about to run off then he stopped. Hawkeye loosed another arrow, that one exploding in another group of Syndicate soldiers. "What's wrong?"
"Change of plans," Cloud said. Hawkeye glanced to where the spiky haired warrior was standing and saw the assassin, Silence ripping apart Space Pirates left and right. Hawkeye just nodded and Cloud closed in.
From beside Hawkeye, Kraid bellowed loudly as he stomped on a group of Syndicate soldiers. The beast's scaly hide was unfazed by the laser volleys that hit it. Ridley flew in and out, switching between ripping up Syndicate soldiers and scorching them with fire. Hawkeye fixed three arrows at once, and fired, taking out three Syndicate soldiers.
A yell from above caught Hawkeye's attention. Wrecker dove down from a platform above them, and landed on Kraid's hulking form. He battered Kraid mercilessly with his fists and crowbar, and Hawkeye could tell the big hulk was feeling it. The archer readied an arrow and fired. The shot caught Wrecker in the shoulder, piercing it. With a grunt, Wrecker fell to the ground.
Wrecker quickly got up then danced around Kraid's feet, whacking them repeatedly. Kraid managed to kick him aside after a few blows, sending the brick flying a few hundred yards back. Kraid moved in to bring his foot down upon Wrecker, but stopped. With a bellow, Kraid moved to a group of Space Pirates, and started moving through them.
"Kraid!" Ridley hissed. "What do you think you're doing?"
Hawkeye looked through a crowd of Space Pirates, and saw his target. He readied an arrow, and fired it at Enchantress. It never landed as a shot blasted it out of the air. Hawkeye turned and saw Wildfire standing there, a mocking grin on his face.
"Forget Kraid right now, Ridley," Hawkeye yelled. "He's under Enchantress' control."
"Damn it!" Ridley hissed.
"I can take her out, but I'll need you to clear out Wildfire for me."
"Done," Ridley hissed as he flew in the direction of he insane gunman. Kraid continued to run through groups of Space Pirates.
Cloud ran up to Silence with a yell. He cut through any stray Syndicate soldiers and deflected a few laser shots with his sword. The assassin, however, turned quicker than Cloud thought as he approached. She ducked his slash, and kicked him hard in the gut. He reeled back, and she twirled her blades around to where all Space Pirate and Syndicate troops cleared the space around them. A duel Cloud thought amusingly. This will be fun.
"This time," Cloud said calmly. Silence just grinned at him. "I will make you talk, even if it is a scream of mercy."
She lunged at him, her blades dancing around him. He parried every blow perfectly. She kicked at him, and Cloud dodged. He used the leverage to push her back a bit, and brought his blade bearing down on her. Silence parried his blow, but Cloud could see the strain of her action. Her face twisted a bit.
Cloud brought his sword back, and quickly slashed in a sweeping arc towards her legs. Silence quickly jumped into the air, and landed a kick in Cloud's face as she did a back flip. She landed perfectly, blades pointed at Cloud. Cloud wiped the blood from his face and smiled. This is getting interesting…
"Face it Iron Man," Doom's voice droned on. "You and your group of miscreants are outclassed here." He fired another shot at Iron Man, who just nimbly dodged. Iron Man returned fire, catching Doom in the chest. He flew back with a grunt.
"Can't you just shut up for one minute?" Iron Man said.
Doom returned fire, catching Iron Man in his right leg. The right boot jet fluctuated a little, leaving Iron Man unbalanced. Damn it! It's still fragile from Wildfire's shot! Doom took advantage of the moment of hesitation, and backed off, firing at Iron Man. Most of he shots connected, and staggered Iron Man.
"This is getting old, Doom," Iron Man said.
"I concur," Doom said.
Wildfire was enjoying this. He laughed as each shot he fired took out a hapless Space Pirate. Around him, Syndicate soldiers took shots for him and provided cover fire. He twirled his gun around and fired. A Space Pirate went down. He spun around on his heel and fired. Another one down. He even fired over his shoulder. Another down.
He grunted as a few shots hit him in the chest. Thankfully his body armor was still holding. This is getting boring he thought as he twirled his gun around, tossed it to his left hand, and shot another of Hawkeye's arrows out of the air. Perhaps I should go after bigger quarry? He turned around and saw Samus and Faith engaged in their struggle. He smiled, and aimed. But a screech from behind diverted his attention.
The beast called Ridley was swooping down at him. Wildfire smiled as he brought his gun around. This will do nicely! He laughed, the untamed hair cascading over his face. Ridley screeched again, and bellowed fire. The flames were bright enough to overload Wildfire's optical implants. He grunted and fired; grimacing, as he knew his shot didn't connect where he wanted it to.
Ridley didn't let the shot to his torso bother him as he continued on his course. The Space Pirate grabbed the gunman, and carried him into the air. Ridley twisted Wildfire's right hand to where he dropped his gun with a cry. He looked into Ridley's eyes, the stone cold eyes. Ridley flashed his teeth in satisfaction as he saw the fear illuminated on Wildfire's face, even reflected in his purple lenses.
"Unlike those heroes from Earth," Ridley sneered. "I have no problems killing those who oppose me. No mercy," Ridley hissed as he took a claw, and slashed Wildfire across the gut, spilling his insides on the battlefield below. He could feel the life pulled away from Wildfire, and he dropped the lifeless body in the middle of a group of Syndicate soldiers. Only then could the sting of the gunman's final shot be felt.
"Good job, Bulb-head," Hawkeye said with a grimace. "A little gory, but good."
He took his shot against Enchantress as Kraid continued to cause chaos and confusion among the Space Pirate ranks. The arrow flew true, and opened up to a net, which entangled Enchantress in its folds. Kraid stopped what he was doing, and saw Wrecker battering down some Space Pirates. The beast bellowed, and Wrecker went wide-eyed. Wrecker went flying back as Kraid's foot kicked him aside.
"Nice work there, Kraid," Hawkeye said to himself. He reached for another arrow and grimaced to himself. I'm runnin' low he thought. Have to conserve 'em.
Around them, the battle raged. Space Pirates and Syndicate soldiers each fired at other. Shots connected, and ranks thinned. Projected in the dome above, the space battle continued. But none of that mattered. To Cloud, the only thing that mattered was the black clad girl in front of him. And to Silence, the only thing that mattered was the spiky-haired warrior in front of her.
Silence and Cloud each stood there, waiting for the other to react. Cloud breathed hard, closed his eyes for a moment and swallowed. Silence just stared intently at him. With a yell, he surged forward, sword swinging. Silence parried the blow, and slashed Cloud in the shoulder. He grimaced slightly as he pulled back, and parried the other sword – which was aimed at piercing his gut.
She stared at him, he stared at her. Neither seemed to want to move again. Then a thud diverted both of their attentions. Wildfire's gutted body landed only a few feet away from them. Silence's eyes widened. Cloud pulled his sword back, and slashed. Silence moved to parry, but Cloud feinted at the last second, and brought his stroke upwards. It cut Silence from waist to shoulder, causing her to fall to the ground; her twin swords sprawling across the battlefield.
Cloud walked up to her, and stood, sword pointed downward. She looked up at him weakly, and opened her mouth as if to speak.
"Mercy," she whispered, and Cloud brought his sword down, impaling her through the chest.
"Given," Cloud said.
"You annoying little bitch!" Samus said as she fired a cluster of five missiles at Faith. The other armored warrior dodged nimbly, returning fire with her plasma beam. Samus rolled up into her morph ball and dodged the shot.
"What?" Faith sneered. "Too much for you, old bag?"
"I am not old!" Samus said as she fired her ice beam at Faith. The shot hit her on the gun arm, freezing it.
"That's it," Faith said. "You're going down." She broke the ice with her fist, and fired a charged up shot at Samus. Samus leapt over her, and fired a plasma shot into Faith's back. She staggered forward.
"You're still green," Samus said. "Go home, little girl." Samus glanced towards Terra, who was still encased in the capsule. She then looked back towards Magius and the Janus. The device was up and working now, Magius working on his preparations. Shots were being deflected all around him.
A missile delivered to her chest brought her attention back to Faith, however. Samus quickly returned fire with a missile of her own. Faith quickly jumped out of the way, and froze Samus to the ground with her ice beam.
"Whose green now," Faith mocked.
Samus just growled as she used her plasma beam to break free of the ice. She rolled into her morph ball again as another missile flew over her. Samus rolled between Faith's legs, and left a bomb there. It blew up, but barely dented Faith's armor.
"That it?" Faith said. "Is that all you have?"
"No," Samus said as she fired a super missile into Faith, sending the armored warrior back. Faith hit the opposing wall with a grunt.
With a growl, Faith got up, and fired missile after missile at Samus. Samus dodged all but the last one, which caught her in the chest. The burst from that one knocked her to the ground. Faith quickly ran up to her, and lowered her gun arm at Samus.
"All to easy," Faith said, breathing hard. A stream of fire caught her in the side, however, and knocked her away, giving Samus enough time to get up.
Damn it Ridley! Samus thought as she saw his leathery shape fly overhead. Now I owe you one! Ridley just sneered as he flew off. Samus noticed he was straining, however, with his flying.
Samus looked towards Faith, who was in a crumpled, smoking mass. The girl groaned, but just sat there. Samus smiled from under her helmet and walked up to Terra. The bounty hunter punched through the container, and Terra's eyes immediately opened.
"It's too late!" Magius' voice came from behind them. "The events are in motion!" The station shook. "Ah, the Heralds awake." Samus and Terra just stared at Magius with concerned glances.
Iron Man flew towards Doom awkwardly on his single boot jet, and caught Doom in a flying tackle. The two went back, crashing into a wall. Doom grunted, and fired at shot at Iron Man. Iron Man flinched, and let go. Doom tried to fly away, but Iron Man caught him in the back with a full repluser blast.
"Retreating already Doom?" Iron Man said. "I'm disappointed with you."
The station shook.
"I have more pressing matters than you, Iron Man," Doom said. "Catch," he said as he tossed a small object towards Iron Man. His eyes widened as the grenade exploded in front of him, and sent Iron Man crashing to the station's floor. He grunted from the impact. His head ached badly.
"This is going to hurt come morning," he groaned.
"This ain't good," Hawkeye said through gritted teeth.
"No," Cloud breathed. The warrior stood, sword drawn, next to Hawkeye. Ridley was perched a few feet away, straining under his wound. Kraid stood behind them with what remained of the Space Pirates.
They were all watching the Syndicate forces pull back as the station shook again. Galactus' from started to glow with a faint aura, and loud rumbling sound could be heard.
"It is working!" Magius' voice boomed over the rumbling. "The Heralds now come to take you!"
"Ah crap," Hawkeye said. "This is really, really bad."
"Why?" Cloud asked.
"Galactus usually recruits some tough cookies for his Heralds. I shudder to think who we're up against this time."
"We've already forced the Syndicate back," Cloud said. "What more can they do to us? We are winning."
"I'm glad someone is optimistic," Ridley hissed. Then they came.
Emerging from the aura surrounding Galactus' husk were two angelic figures wrapped in a brilliant light. Hawkeye squinted in the light, but could not make out the details of their forms. All he could tell is that they both floated on wings.
"Behold the final Heralds of Galactus," Magius said. "May they keep you busy."
"Arrogant bastard," Hawkeye said.
The two angelic forms drifted into view, and Hawkeye could now see both of them fully. One of them was a one-winged angel with long, silver hair. His armor was black, like Cloud's, with one, demonic wing keeping him afloat. The thing that held Hawkeye's attention the most was, however, the sword. It was longer than the angel was tall.
"Sephiroth," Cloud hissed. "He should be dead."
"Old friend?" Hawkeye asked.
"Very," Cloud said. "That one is mine."
"Good, I'll take the one without the scary looking sword," Hawkeye said.
"Oh will you?" The other figure said with a chilling laugh. This one floated on two feathery wings, his muscular torso bare. He had short-cropped blonde hair and stared at the group with wild eyes. "The master commands us to destroy you, so we shall!"
"Go ahead and try, laughing boy!" Hawkeye said.
"The name is Kefka," the second figure said. "And who are you, you gaudy troubadour? The Purple Pansy?"
"Oh that's it!" Hawkeye said as he fired an arrow at Kefka. Kefka laughed as the arrow veered of course and landed into a group of retreating Syndicate soldiers with a large explosion.
"Kefka?" Terra said weakly. "No."
"Don't worry about him," Samus said. "We have other things to worry about now."
"Like me," Magius said, approaching the two. "The Heralds can keep your friends busy, which leaves me free to deal with Terra here."
"Over my dead body," Samus said, lowering her gun arm at Magius.
"Suit yourself," Magius shoved her aside with a stroke from his hands. She crashed into a wall in a clump. "Faith," Magius said. The armored warrior was now up and about. "Put Miss Aran in the machine."
"What?" Terra exclaimed.
"You were but a diversion, little girl," Magius said. "Samus has more power than you." Terra glared at him. "Oh, yes. She was infused with Chozo blood at a very young age, and the Chozo were ripe with mystical energy. It was Samus we needed, not you. And now you have outlived your usefulness. Die." He launched a burst of energy towards Terra.
"No!" She yelled as she set up a shield to repel Magius' magic.
Space Pirates closed in around Sephiroth. The silver haired swordsman knocked some back with a burst of fire, and impaled the rest with his sword. None touched him as he stood there, the bodies of the dead already piling up around him. He drifted to anther group, deflected their laser shots with his sword, and brought his sword down on one Pirate. It ran the whole length of the body and came out the other end. Sephiroth smiled as the other Pirates fell back out of fear.
"You're mine, Sehpiroth," Cloud yelled as he ran up to him, sword drawn. Sephiroth smiled wordlessly, and fired a blast of magical energy at Cloud, knocking him back.
"Ugh," Cloud groaned, as he rubbed his head. He saw Sephiroth float up, and descend next to Cloud. He skewered another unfortunate Space Pirate approaching him from behind. The silver haired warrior then raised his sword, and pointed it downward.
"I will finish you," Sephiroth said. "Like I finished the girl. That way you can always be with her." A screech. "What?" Sephiroth said.
Ridley came flying overhead, and knocked Sephiroth back. Sephiroth took flight with a growl after the Space Pirate. Ridley dove after him, clawing at the armor. Sephiroth parried each blow, and slashed at Ridley. The Space Pirate dodged agily, and countered with a breath of fire to Sephiroth's face.
"Foul wretch," Sephiroth said.
"Big words," Ridley hissed. "For a small man."
Sephiroth's mouth twisted, and he lunged towards Ridley, who flew off to the side. The sword thrust missed Ridley by bare inches. Ridley slashed Sephiroth across the face. Sephiroth just laughed.
He pushed Ridley back, and hit him where Wildfire's earlier shot hit. Ridley grimaced in pain, and Sephiroth brought his long sword around and slashed Ridley across the torso. The Space Pirate fell to the ground in a lump. Sephiroth descended next to him.
Cloud, who could just watch their duel from the ground, now ran up to Sephiroth. The one-winged angel raised his blade to deliver the finishing blow to Ridley, and brought the blade down. Only to find Cloud's sword there instead.
"No magic, no flying," Cloud said. "Only you, me, and our blades."
"If that's how you want to die," Sephiroth said. "Then fair enough."
Kefka was busy having fun. He sent blast after blast of magic into the ranks of the Space Pirates decimating them. He laughed his cold, maniacal laugh with each blast. But now he yearned for greater prey. He laughed as Kraid bellowed and rushed towards Kefka. The large beast connected with the laughing angel's form, and stopped. Kefka held him back with his own strength, laughing maniacally. Kefka smacked Kraid hard enough to send the hulk recoiling.
"You brute!" He laughed. "You think you could stop me? That's rich!"
Kraid bellowed, and swatted at Kefka. This caught Kefka off guard, and the blow connected, sending Kefka away a few feet. Just as the madman recovered, a net arrow enveloped him and brought him to the ground.
"What is this?" He yelled.
"A net arrow, laughing boy," Hawkeye said, walking up to him, an arrow notched.
"You think a mere net could hold me?" His laugh echoed throughout the room. With a burst of energy, Kefka cut his way through the net. Hawkeye quickly fired his arrow, which was knocked out of the way by a burst of magic. Another burst of magic caught Hawkeye in the chest, sending him back.
"Go back to the carnival!" Kefka laughed. "And leave the fighting to the professionals – wherever they are."
Iron Man's head rang as he got up. Who the two-twisted angel figures were, he could only guess. All he knew is that the silver haired one was tangling with Ridley, and Kraid and Hawkeye were working on the other one.
He kicked his boot jets into gear, and went to go check up on the rest of the fighting. His eyes widened as he saw the ensuing duel between Terra and Magius. Samus got her out! He thought with some relief. Galactus' husk was still a husk. Also good. He couldn't see any trace of Doom or any other members of the Syndicate. I guess the rats are leaving a sinking ship. Things could be looking up!
Then he saw Faith finish putting Samus into the capsule that held Terra not too long ago.
"Samus!" He yelled as he dove towards Samus, and the armor clad warrior.
He unleashed a full repulser volley into Faith, knocking her to the ground. She quickly countered with a missile, which hit Tony in the torso. He flew back a bit, and was about to go back in when he saw Hawkeye get blasted by one of the angels. Kraid was moving in, but Iron Man couldn't leave his friend in that position. Samus isn't going anywhere, he thought painfully. Iron Man flew forward.
"And leave the fighting to the professionals – wherever they are," Kefka laughed. Then Iron Man's repulsers hit him in the back.
"Right behind you, clown-face," Iron Man said.
"Oh, another one," Kefka laughed. "And the name's Kefka. What do they call you, Captain Scrapheap?" He laughed again.
"You're worse than Doom," Iron Man groaned as blasted Kefka with his repulsers again. They hit Kefka, who let out a grunt.
"Hey, that hurt!" Kefka said. "Now, the gloves come off!" He laughed.
"Bring it on," Iron Man said.
"Eat Flare Star!" Kefka said as he unleashed a massive amount of energy towards Iron Man.
Iron Man barely dodged the blast, though he could feel the heat of it even through his armor. Not good. If I get hit by one of those, I'm cooked.
"Blast!" Kefka said. "Stand still!"
"I don't think so," Iron Man said.
"Flare Star!" Kefka yelled again. Iron Man braced himself for the attack, but a bright flash interrupted it. Iron Man looked down, and saw Hawkeye up and readying another arrow. He gave a quick salute to Tony, who returned it. Thanks Clint.
He quickly started rerouting his power supplies. I have one shot at this. He thought. But I'm going to need it to take this Kefka down. Kefka recovered himself and laughed.
"You think you can beat me?" Kefka laughed.
"No," Iron Man said as he blasted Kefka full on with his powered up repulsers. The force knocked Kefka to the ground with a loud thud. The madman struggled to get up, his body was bruised, and his wings singed. "I know we can beat you," Iron Man said.
Kraid bellowed as he walked up to Kefka, and stepped on him, despite the twisted angels' screams.
"Thank you for shutting him up, Kraid," Iron Man said. Kraid just bellowed. Now back to Samus he thought.
The swords clashed in a flurry of blows. Cloud and Sephiroth were engaged in a very tense duel. Cloud slashed repeatedly at Sephiroth, who effortlessly parried every blow. Sephiroth then countered, with Cloud parrying blow after blow.
"How long must this continue," Sephiroth said. "Before you realize it is fruitless to win against me and just give up?"
"As long as it takes to beat you – again," Cloud said.
"Have it your way," Sephiroth said as he jumped over Cloud, and stabbed him from behind in the right shoulder. Cloud screamed out in agony, and turned around. He awkwardly switched his sword to his off hand. "Give up." Sephiroth said.
"No," Cloud said as he slashed awkwardly at Sephiroth. The silver haired man easily parried the blow, and kicked Cloud away. He hit the ground with a thud. Cloud's breathing was labored, his sword barely in his grasp.
Sephiroth's footsteps echoed on the station's floor as he walked slowly up to Cloud. He lifted his sword over his head, ready to stab down on the hapless Cloud. Cloud closed his eyes briefly, trying to control his breathing. His hand grasped his sword tighter. Sephiroth now stood over him, a thin smile on his lips. He lifted his sword up.
But Cloud stabbed upwards first. The sword caught Sephiroth in the gut. He went wide-eyed, and sweat beaded down his face. Silver strands of hair covered the Herald's face. The he laughed softly. Cloud just stared as Sephiroth continued to laugh.
Then, Cloud's eyes widened in shock as Sephiroth pulled himself back to where he pulled away from Cloud's sword. He fingered the wound lightly.
"Nice try," Sephiroth said, grasping his sword tighter. Cloud quickly got up, sword at the ready. Sephiroth charged.
Cloud parried his stroke, and spun behind Sephiroth. The silver haired angel quickly turned himself, and parried Cloud's strike. Strike, parry. Strike, parry. Strike, parry, strike, parry. The two warriors were laboring under their wounds, breathing hard, and just stared at each other.
Sephiroth smiled again as he charged forward. Cloud made like he was going to circle around Sephiroth again, but instead slashed Sephiroth across the gut, spun behind him, leapt into the air, and brought his blade crashing down on Sephiroth's skull. He then dislodged the blade from the skull, and did an upward slash similar to the one used to finish off Silence. And then Sephiroth fell to the ground, blood pouring from the fallen body.
"And stay dead," Cloud breathed.
Terra was buckling. Magius was strong. It was taking all she had to stop his magic while he brushed hers off with ease. She fired off another spell; Magius dispersed it with a wave from his hand. He fired off another one of his spells, Terra stood her ground, but the force nearly swept her off of her feet.
"Give it up child," Magius said. "You are weak."
"Why?" Terra asked. "Why did you use my world?"
"Because," Magius said. "It was ripe in magical energy. Energy I could use to revive Galactus. Your Espers were quite valuable."
"They were living beings!" Terra yelled.
"Tell that to Kefka – oh wait, Iron Man just flattened him," Magius said. "I guess there is no one to hear your pleas now, little girl. You and your friends just got in the way. I am just glad that I finished my research before you and that fool Kefka destroyed my research facilities."
"Why did you need them?" Terra pleaded. "Why couldn't you just have left us alone?"
"Because," Magius said. "Galactus would have come again, and maybe destroyed your world. I did what I did to ensure that wouldn't happen again."
"But my world would not have been affected – you brought it here, to this time," Terra said, her reserves buckling.
"Yes, I did. But that was a fluke. I didn't mean for you to get involved. I wanted to return you to your proper place, but complications happened. The Janus would have returned your world to its proper place, but even the best laid plans can go awry."
"Liar," Terra said. "You would have not spared our world."
"You think not?" Magius said with a sneer. "If you think that lowly of my integrity, then your world will be the first test of our new weapon."
"No," Terra said. "No!" She yelled. Then the energy being flung at her no longer mattered. She had to stop Magius. Here and now. Her energy replenished itself, and her will strengthened. She could feel herself growing stronger. Her body transformed itself to a shimmering being of pink energy as she thought of Edgar, Celes, Locke, and the others. Her friends, her family.
"No more worlds will die because of your reckless hate," Terra said. Magius' eyes widened and Terra blasted him fully with a Flare spell. The impact knocked him back next to the Janus. Magius struggled to get up, but the station shook again, and he laughed to himself. Terra was breathing hard, just watching the laughing lump on the ground as she returned to her normal form.
Flying was awkward for Iron Man, who was running only on a quarter power, and one reliable boot jet. But he made his way for Samus. To his dismay, Faith was still guarding her. Doom, Kefka, and now Faith. Where does it end? That is when he saw Terra, now a shimmering pink figure, blast Magius back next to the Janus.
Faith reacted quickly, moving towards her employer's side, and Iron Man took this cue to move in. The station rumbled again. Not good, he thought. He landed a few feet from the containment capsule in a run, and quickly made his way to Samus. Another shudder from the station.
Iron Man quickly blasted the controls to the capsule, and pulled Samus out of it. She barely moved.
"Samus!" Iron Man frantically removed her helmet. She was barely breathing and her eyes were closed.
"Samus, speak to me," Iron Man said.
"Tony," she said weakly, her eyes fluttering open. "What took you so long?" Tony just laughed.
"It's over," Tony said. "The Heralds are down, as is Magius."
"No," Samus said. "It is just beginning."
"She's right, Iron Man," Magius' voice boomed. "For the time of the Awakening is now! Kyliska ta Lekya, the Devorer of Worlds, Galactus himself is now ready to rise!"
"Ah crap," Iron Man said.