A figure in the tattered remains of a black bodysuit and a short leather jacket knocked back a small bottle and drained it, chugging deeply. The bottle clattered to the floor, empty. A holstered plasma pistol hung limply at the figure's loose gunbelt,
"Look, Alex, why don't you tell me one more time why you think she's the person we're looking for?"
"You saw her cast that spell! She's clearly more powerful than I am, or even Tara - "
The SFMA cadet pulled up short as Rain glared into her eyes, furious. "Do NOT mention her name. I never want to hear that name again. Do I make myself quite clear?"
Alex sighed. "She's in another universe now. You can't keep obsessing over the fact that we were all betrayed."
Rain brushed her off casually. "What were you saying before we got into this?"
The blonde shook her head in defeat. "She's the woman Patch sent us here to get. She's Kira Highwind!"
"Kira?" Rain said in disbelief. "Her name's Kyrina, and she's supposed to be a lot older. According to this..." He tapped the cool metal surface of the handheld computer, "...isn't she supposed to be about the same age as Patch?"
"Younger." Durandal's now-tinny voice rang from the speakers. "Zero-Seven operative Kira Solarion Highwind, age 26, skilled in various forms of elemental magic and espionage tactics. Considered to be highly dangerous by the Imperial militia. No other data."
"So?" Alex said. "I mean, nobody fully understands what the heck traveling between universes does to you, anyways. Maybe some sort of time-shift..."
Rain showed her the back of his right hand. "This was all it did to me." The design of the triangle within the circle is burned black against his skin, clearly visible. "And look at her! She's supposed to be this power-heavy mage character! And she's... a drunk!"
Kira waved drunkenly. "Thass' me." Her russet eyes were glazed and unfocused.
"Okay." Rain said after a moment's pause. "Supposing she is the one. What do we do now?"
f i n a l f a n t a s y : r e a l i t y
FINAL FANTASY REALITY
an angelhawk studios production
original concept by redshadow
written by chaosrayne
disk two: thr3e: c0mp1ic4t3d
A universe away...
A blue-coated Imperial guard, flanked by two red-armored Imperial troopers, scanned the MEDUSA assembly line, checking everything was proceeding as planned. It was for the most part, a line of workers and techs sweating as they assembled the machines of war. The MEDUSA were not high-maintenance, unlike the Chaos type of mecha used by the Rebel force that had formerly existed upon this particular world. Most MEDUSA could go for years without checks, and moreover, they could be fitted with basic programmable droid brains where human pilots were considered more expensive.
However, these MEDUSA in particular had one weakness - they were not completed. Red eyes in draconian heads were dim, armor plating was only half fitted, weapons lay discarded around the decks.
Renaku smiled grimly as he looked on the MEDUSA (Type Alpha, basic armored infantry assault variation, if one wanted to be precise) knowing all of it to be useless instead the Key to the Reality Engine was uncovered. And all of the blame for this lay on one person.
"Lord Renaku, please, give me another chance!"
Pitiful. Catherine had failed - the first time by letting Lieutenant Patch Randall escape with the Key, and the second time by allowing the awoken Key to use the Engine to travel out of their grasp. Not to mention that Lieutenant Patch had also managed to escape yet again.
Renaku's grip tightened on the hilt of his katana. Fools. The whole lot of them. Where were the MEDUSA to be used if the gateway to a whole new world could not be controlled?
A new world. An entire new universe to control and conquer. Renaku's mind whirled with the possibilities. But for now... this scum had to be dealt with. Looking at Catherine much like the same way anyone else would look at a particularly unpleasant strain of vermin, he kicked out with a booted foot, nailing her in the jaw.
She went down, a thin trickle of blood running from her mouth. Kneeling on the floor, she reached out to him one last time... hoping against hope, knowing that there was none...
Renaku let his sword slide out of his scabbard in one clean motion and with a sound of metal on metal. Charging his weapon with dark energy, he lifted it above her head, ready to end her worthless life.
Then the assembly line (and a sizeable half of the assembly factory) went straight up.
The Rebel traitor wobbled, losing his balance, and was knocked down. His sword fell from his grasp and clattered to the floor, skidding metres to land underneath some machine of unknown origin.
Patch smiled, gently caressing the detonator he had just jammed. "Not a bad night's work."
"It's not over." Tara gestured to one mecha that had somehow been activated and was just turning towards them. It was only half-finished, however. Wires sprouted where sheets of titanium composite armor should have been.
Patch rubbed his chin, and cradled his plasma rifle, a new addition since he had been deprived of his old shotgun. "Take care of it, see what else we can salvage. Topside in fifteen minutes? I still got three more charges to set off."
Tara nodded, and ducked behind the nearest available cover as the scattered Imperial guards rallied and a hail of blue plasma energy filled the air. "Leave me one, will you?"
"No prob." The big man grunted as he caught sight of Renaku's familiar face, now clad in the black and red armor of the Imperial BlackOp Elite. "I have some real personal stuff to get back to."
He took off, as Tara worked her way from behind cover and let rip with a powered-up Fire spell. She couldn't get them all, but she could damn well try.
An Imperial guard screamed as he was engulfed in flame, running around and adding to the chaos. Tara took advantage of the reprieve of plasma flying towards her to get in close and personal, diving forward, sliding along the floor to come in a low sweeping kick that sent her up and one of the enemy troopers down. An elbow strike to his face that smashed in his visor ensured he stayed down.
Before his head had bounced once from the impact of hitting the floor the professional assassin was already off him and moving, an Ice spell from one hand and a Bolt in the other, troopers freezing or twitching where they stood respectively.
The activated MEDUSA screeched and lunged forward, a loose piece of machinery rattling from where it had been disengaged before in the still incomplete mecha.
Tara didn't flinch, leaping up and somersaulting over the rush, letting the MEDUSA accidentally crush two of the red-armored Imperial guards in its headlong rush. Landing in a crouch on its back, she spied the emergency release handles on the back of the thing, and pulled hard.
Explosive bolts hissed and blew, sending the back cockpit hatch up and out, Tara going with it, using it like a skateboard to flip around in midair, grind off the now defunct assembly line, and jump off the hatch to land a flying kick on a poor unsuspecting Imperial Guard.
Landing beside him, the assassin dropped a small, beeping device into his pocket, grabbed him in a roll, and flung him into the MEDUSA.
It was then revealed that the small, beeping device that Tara had placed in the guard's pocket was none other than a CP-54 high explosive armor-piercing antipersonnel fragmentation grenade.
Guard and MEDUSA both went boom, Tara already moving on out of the facility, long gone.
Patch was having his own little happy time. Dropping on a normal everyday raid on a MEDUSA factory and finding his very own traitor to exact his perfectly justified revenge on was fun.
Renaku was not pleased to see the hulking form of Patch, however. Seeing the Rebel trooper's winning smile and the plasma rifle in his hands was the perfect end to a not nearly so perfect life.
"Long time no see." Patch rumbled. "How you been? Seen any enemies, killed any old friends lately?"
"A few." Renaku replied gamely, while thinking that this was the worst possible time to be caught without his sword. "You?"
"Same here... burned a few o' my own bridges... I guess you have been busy." Patch said airily. "You know, I thought it would be a lot less pleasurable seeing you this helpless. So, I said... let me give you a shot. Just one."
"Really?" Renaku said, keeping his cool. "You'd be that generous?"
Patch tossed his plasma rifle away, ejecting the plasma core and tossing it somewhere behind him, where it erupted in a small flare of unstable blue energy. "A fair fight. You an' me. C'mon, take your best shot, you fuckin' traitor, 'cause its the only one you ever gonna get."
Renaku moved.
A gauntleted fist, fast as lightning sunk below Patch's guard and buried itself into his midsection, but the big man did no so much as move.
"Body armor." Patch grinned. "Remember the O7 classic issue? Though I daresay you've swapped it for your fancy new BlackOp getup."
Not even bothering to reply, Renaku let his other arm fly, a punch aimed straight at his enemy's face. There was a sharp crack, and Patch's head shifted ever so slightly.
The traitor wrung his hand. The jaw was almost as bad as the body armor!
"You're gonna pay for that, you fucker." Patch murmured as he twisted his body up into a kick that Renaku easily dodged, moving his body backwards and away from the force of the blow.
"You think so?" Renaku smiled. Hand-to-hand unarmed combat was not something he excelled in, but he always had an advantage... His left hand brushed across a switch on his right gauntlet...
...and his fist came to life, crackling with electricity. Blue energy flaring, he waited for Patch to attack again. This time, he caught the punch in a pincer grip, using the force of the blow to catch the attacker off guard.
The last remaining O7 trooper grimaced as electricity shot up his spine, transferred through the caught punch. Desperately, he tried to wring his hand free of the iron grip, but Renaku held tight, not letting go.
Smoking and twitching, Patch fell to the ground, cursing bloody murder.
"It is inevitable. Why do you resist?" Renaku smiled, retrieved his sword, and lunged, preparing to finish the remnant of the O7 once and for all.
A shadow shifted around him and konked him in the back of the head. Unceremoniously, he fell on his face.
Catherine was behind him, Magnum cocked and ready from where the butt of the gun had been used to knock him forward. Patch grinned.
"You really should... make more trustworthy friends..." Patch said, gritting his teeth, willing his body to move.
"Shell!" Renaku screamed, and the bullet was deflected ever-so-slightly by the magical field, only clipping his hair. He rolled and came up, sword glistening hilt-to-blade with glowing green materia. "You have really pissed me OFF!" A simple Float spell allowed him to move up and above the chaos, hanging in midair, almost an ethereal figure.
Patch regained control of his body and dived for cover, just as the traitor let fly. "Fury of mother earth, tremble and explode! QUAKE!!!"
The ground exploded in a storm of debris and rock, as Catherine was thrown upwards by the force of the spell. Patch yelled in surprise as the floor beneath him cracked and shifted, a network of fissures forming in the formerly solid ground. Most of the Imperial troopers and workers that had been here before had had the sense to run like hell after that explosion, and now that Renaku had regained his sword, Patch was about to do likewise.
"Come ON!" He yelled to Catherine, who winced as debris scored her arms and legs. "We gotta get out of here!"
Catherine didn't even look at him. "Rebel scum... you suggest I'd join you? You are more of an idiot than I'd thought. I did this because I cannot stand..." She gestured at Renaku, floating in midair. "...that asshole being my superior."
Patch didn't miss a beat, plasma rifle blazing in a useless gesture at the floating Renaku. As expected, the plasma bolts were reflected. "You know... attacking your superior can be seen as an act of treason!" He yelled over the whining zap of a plasma discharge. "They'll kill you!"
That was all he got out before a sizeable piece of rock slammed against Catherine's head, and she went down.
Patch went through exactly 0.6 seconds of indecision.
Then muttering another curse, he ignored the smart thing and did the right thing. Dashing over to where she lay, he picked her up, black cloak and all, and ran.
Too bad Renaku caught sight of movement. His head turned, a hand raised, and the floor erupted around Patch as he ran. But the brave O7 trooper struggled on bravely, running flat out, jumping over a rock, a piece of MEDUSA or a dead body when the need arose, Catherine slung in a fireman's carry over his left shoulder.
He made it out just as he heard a prolonged scream of fury and the door disappeared in a swirl of magical flame.
Tara was waiting for him in the shadow of a tree, only pausing to give Patch an angry look. "What did you bring HER for?" She muttered, gesturing at Catherine.
Patch didn't answer. "Let's just get out of here. We got what we came for; the factory is pretty much trashed already."
Five minutes later, a safe distance away, Tara beckoned to Patch. "May I?"
"Be my guest." Patch muttered, handing her a small cylindrical device with a series of switched along its side.
Tara smiled, closed her eyes, and jammed three switches.
The rest of the facility became a rapidly expanding cloud of superheated gas, setting alight a few of the trees around the blast radius.
"Not bad."
"Did we get him?" Tara asked. There was no need to ask who she was referring to.
"I sure as hell hope so."
Renaku floated above the damage, wreathed in flame.
Oh, they would so PAY for all of this. Materia in his sword glowed strongly as he opened a portal to the Imperial Citadel. This was getting out of hand.
I sighed.
"I suppose... all we have to do now is get back to the Reality Window that we came through and get back to the universe we were in."
"Not that easy." Alex muttered. "Look."
As I watched, the snow piled higher and higher, until it was on the verge of obscuring my view out the dirty window. White blotted out the unseemly cracks in the landscape, the fallen skyscrapers, the demolished city blocks.
Russia was a dead city. Nothing lived openly in it now, except the Anima, who were as numerous as rats, and several hundred times as dangerous.
"Want a drink? You look like you need one." Eric, face still smeared with the black ichor that passed for blood among the Anima, passed me a small bottle of the sort that Kyrina had been drinking from. "You look like hell."
"Feel like it too." I joked, gladly taking the bottle. Well, I suppose it couldn't hurt.
I took a swig and coughed. The stuff felt like liquid fire streaming down my throat!
Eric laughed raucously. "Good shit, huh? Vodka. Heard the Ancients used to brew this in massive amounts and sell it for profit."
"Really?" I mutter, eyes watering from the strength of the stuff.
"Yep." Eric tapped his baseball bat against his left shoulder. "Surprised it don't eat through th' bottle."
I tapped Alex on the shoulder, offering her the small bottle, but she shakes her head. Kyrina is laid out on the stool, asleep.
"I give up." Alex sighed. "We're not going anywhere until the snow stops. Durandal, wake me in two, three hours?" That having been said, she laid herself out, curling up by the flickering flames and getting comfortable.
"Affirmative, Alex." Durandal replied. "Sleep is such a valuable commodity among mortals..."
"And why shouldn't it be?" I blurt out, hiccuping from the effects of the alcohol. "It'a relief to know we still have human faults. At least it shows we're still human."
Durandal does not answer for a long moment. "...I cannot sleep. Does this mean I'm not human?"
"No." Despite myself, I chuckle. "I have the same problem a lot of times."
Eric looks at me strangely, so I ask why. He has been showing a curious amount of interest in us, so I feel suspicious. After all, I had let a spy infiltrate into the core of our little group through my own trust.
"Dunno..." He replied, faking an interest in his bat. "It's just... how the hell did you get all this stuff?"
"What stuff?" I ask, beginning to have serious doubts.
"Look, you have plasma power cores in your weapon. You have a voice-activated computer. That girl..." Here he gestured at the sleeping Alex "... even has materia! I dunno, but all those items are pretty rare. I haven't seen any plasma power cores around the scavenger heaps in what, years?"
I freeze, thinking of what excuse to give him, but he continues, oblivious.
"I mean... look at Ky's knife. She's the only one with annyfink like it." He took another thoughtful swig from the bottle. "And you two come here... and you recognize it straightway. That girl.... she says it wuz a trooper knife, or summat."
I shake my head. "I assure you, there is nothing weird going on..."
"Damn right there is." Eric continues. "Troopers are... whass the word... military infantry. Now there's no military force been here for years. Where the hell did these weapons come from? And good quality too." To prove his point, with practiced fingers he slips Kyrina's knife from its sheath and drives it with little effort straight through a metal support strut.
"Diamond finish. Ultralight alloy." He concludes, eyes glazed with the effects of the alcohol, but words still for the most part clear.
I brush my dark hair out of my eyes. "That doesn't prove anything."
"Yeah, it does." Evidently he has been paying attention to more things than I thought. "Kyrina... she's not from 'round here."
Around this point I started paying close attention.
"Me and a kid called Jak... we were out in th' Waste, hunting for food an' weapons... when we see this light... this light from the sky..." The scavenger's eyes clouded with the memory. "We foun' Kyrina in a crater... memory loss... dunno who she was and where she come from."
I nodded. If the Engine had been used before the Key had been activated... surely something would have gone wrong... memory loss, time shift differences... extreme in this case, as she had grown years younger, and had lost all memory of who and what she was.
Then, with a shock, I realized it too. The trip through the Engine and through other realities had changed me, anyway. Not in any largely noticeable way, but still... would I have known how to assemble a Chaos mecha back at the old SFMA? Mecha didn't even exist in our universe.
"She say her name begins with a K... and she like... saved me and Jak from becomin' Anima food. Jak died on the way back, though..."
I nodded, feeling suddenly weary. "'Night, Eric."
"...Whass... what I'm tryin' to say... izzat, mebbe you an' Ky come from the same place! Isssn't it?"
I drifted into unconciousness, dreaming of stars again.