Chapter 49: Lionheart

The chamber was open to the black night sky, a wide area surrounded by high walls. A quartet of columns, ornate golden structures, rose up in a square around the center of the chamber, holding up an equally ornate golden halo engraved with dozens of images.

Squall saw none of it, instead focusing on the center of the room, where a single tall column rose, widening at its top to reveal a throne of gold and satin, set with numerous statues and engraved images, along with a pair of torches, a mirror image of the throne Edea had ridden on a lifetime ago. But Squall did not see the throne., but rather saw what sat on the throne itself.

Perched there, reclining back, was Ultimecia.

Her beauty was surprising, as was her apparent tendency to flaunt it. An elegant, open carmine robe wrapped around her body, but it did little to hide that which was not meant to be shown. Her slender body was covered in paint of various colors, blues, greens, and blacks, in stripes running along her skin. Her face, narrow and delicate, was possessed of an elegant beauty, also covered with the same body paint.

But while someone like Quistis or Rinoa's beauty was a thing to be admired and cherished, pure and un sullied, this creature's beauty was little more than a façade over a demon in human shape. While outwardly she seemed sensual and attractive, it was her eyes that betrayed her. Ultimecia's eyes were yellow orbs burning like a hellish inferno, with black pits beyond them, like the darkest reaches of hell itself. Those eyes projected madness and malice, pure, unfettered evil in a very basic and true form.

Ultimecia was a mockery of humanity itself.

There was a long period of silence as the SeeDs and Rinoa entered the chamber, weapons in hand. They sized up their nemesis, who did the same to them as they spread out slowly, scanning the room for other threats and preparing themselves to battle the future Sorceress.

"SeeD," Ultimecia hissed after nearly a minute of staring down at her opponents.

"SeeD," she repeated quietly, her whispered voice dark, promising pain and malice. She waved a hand in the air, as if slapping away an annoying fly.

"Seed, SeeD, SeeD!" she continued, and sat forward, brows knotting in anger and contempt. "Swarming across generations like locusts! Interfering where you had best leave alone! Vile, insolent, children!"

"Gotta admit, she'd dead on with that," Irvine commented quietly. He was apparently unheard by the ranting Ultimecia.

"It ends here, at this moment!" she continued. "The universe is on the verge of that ever-elusive state of temporal compression, and you dare to interfere? Your punishment will be death beyond death." She speared each of the SeeDs with her blazing gaze.

"I will recreate existence!" she roared. "And you will be my slaves for a new eternity! Kneel before your new god!" She stood up, raising her hands, and Squall struck.

A low-powered spell exploded in Ultimecia's face as a punctuation mark to her last sentence, and the SeeD commander dashed forward. He did not leap into the air to engage Ultimecia atop her throne - Zell, from the sounds of things, was doing that himself - but instead went under the throne, toward the column that was supporting it. Lionheart flashed out in a quick and powerful cleave, the edge shearing straight through the stone column and out the other side.

With a powerful groan, Ultimecia's throne toppled over, literally chopped down like a tree. The Sorceress on top of the throne toppled over, her eyes wide in shock, and widening even further as Zell, flying through the air in one of his typically suicidal charges, planted an airborne hook into the Sorceress' chin. She spun around, Zell roaring in triumph-

And Zell went straight down into the stone floor below as the Sorceress came around, backhanding Zell with incredible, supernatural force. Ultimecia touched down on the floor lightly, almost as if she had hopped down instead of falling, and the throne toppled down behind her a split-second later, crashing to the floor and sending a shudder through the tower.

Ultimecia had barely recovered from the drop when magic lanced out at her from three separate sources, potent blasts of fire, ice, and electricity that struck her in rapid succession. The magic seemed to almost wash over the Sorceress without harming her, but she had to raise a hand an instant later as Irvine fired his rifle. A fast-moving armor-piercing round almost gutted the Sorceress, but shattered against her palm as she created an energy shield before her to deflect the attack.

A figure moved behind Ultimecia, and she raised a hand unflinchingly. Squall, Lionheart arcing overhead for a skull-splitting slash, went flying over Ultimecia at her gesture, arcing above her and crashing down right on top of Zell as the brawler was standing up. Both SeeDs were crushed down into the floor, and a second gesture from Ultimecia sent both warriors flying across the chamber, past Irvine, to crash into a wall. Cracks spider-webbed out from the impact as both dropped to the floor.

Selphie broke off from the battle to rush to her wounded comrades, but Quistis and Rinoa countered Ultimecia's attack with another magical barrage. Quistis loosed bolts of light from her eyes that were stopped almost casually by the Sorceress' extended palm, while she had to work a bit harder to fend off a powerful series of magical attacks from Rinoa, who unleashed her potent Sorceress powers upon their enemy. Magic seared off Ultimecia's body, scorching the ruined throne behind her, as Rinoa pounded away.

However, while Rinoa's attack was impressive, it was Irvine who snuck in an attack that meant something. Distracted by Rinoa, Ultimecia was almost too late to spot Irvine fire another armor-piercing round, the shot flying for her gut. Acting fast, the Sorceress snapped her hands over her gut and formed an energy shield. The round shattered against her barrier, but not without doubling the Sorceress over from the force behind the impact and forcing her to take a step back. She looked up a few moments later, eyes narrowing with anger and wrath.

Rinoa and Quistis redoubled their efforts, launching a third barrage of withering magic that would have decimated a platoon of normal soldiers, but Ultimecia deflected the magic with a single gesture and responded with an off-hand telekinetic sweep that knocked both the SeeD and the Sorceress off their feet. Her eyes, however, never left Irvine's spearing his gaze with their hellish fires and promising pain and death for the sharpshooter. Irvine began to raise his rifle, but as he looked into those soulless pits, he began to see what a true monster Ultimecia was.

Irvine hesitated, and for the first time in a long time, he began to feel fear. He took an involuntary step back as Ultimecia raised her hands, spreading them out wide. There was a tiny flash in the air beside her head, and a single narrow blade of metal, two feet long, appeared next to her left hand. There was another flash, and then a third, and then a fourth, and then eight, and then sixteen, as the demon Sorceress summoned more blades. The air quickly filled around her with dozens of the metallic edges.

Irvine took another step back, knowing hat she was going to do. But those eyes, gateways into hell, kept him rooted to the spot. His rifle began to tremble slightly as Ultimecia twirled her hands in the air, and then a smile devoid of joy or humor appeared on her face.

"Irvine, move!" came a shout, and Irvine looked back, to see Squall rising, rushing forward, Selphie beside him and Zell right behind them as well. The order sent a jolt through the sharpshooter, and his legs twitched, starting to send him to the side.

He stopped, then, blinking, and felt a thousand needles of pain shooting through his body. He took a step forward, and found his lungs would not take in air. He was confused, until he tried to look down. A slicing pain went through his neck as he moved his head, and it was then that he saw what had happened.

From his throat to his thighs, Irvine was impaled with the dozens of blades Ultimecia had created. He turned, looking back at his comrades, mouth opening to say something to them, but nothing came out as blood poured down his body.

Irvine Kinneas, sharpshooter, self-appointed ladies' man, and SeeD from Galbadia Garden, dropped to his knees, and then fell onto his back, eyes open wide with the shock and disbelief of the moment. The last thing he saw before darkness claimed him was the moon, shining above with a pale white light, almost soothing.

The last thing he heard was his name being screamed.


Selphie dropped down beside Irvine, who lay still, in a pool of his own spreading blood. Crimson washed over her knees as she looked down at him in horror, her hands opening and closing as tears started to run down her face. The tiny Seed lowered her head, almost starting to sob.

But she didn't cry or break down. One second she was shocked and grieving, the next, she was rising, spinning toward Ultimecia, and pointing both rods of her nunchaku at the Sorceress.

"Die!" she screamed, a tone that shocked her comrades. Ultimecia was unperturbed by Selphie's fury-filled cry, but her smirk shifted to confusion and surprise an instant later as white light gathered in the air before her. The Sorceress' eyes suddenly went wide as she realized what Selphie was doing, but before a defensive barrier could be raised, the white light peaked in blinding intensity, and exploded in a rapidly expanding green shockwave of annihilation that swept over Ultimecia. The other Seeds were blinded by the flash, and as the light faded, Ultimecia was staggering back, her own expression filled with rage and shock. Steam rose from her body, and her clothes seemed badly burned by the raw magical fury Selphie had launched.

"Ultima magic?" she hissed. "Well-armed you whelps are."

"I said die!" Selphie responded, and began to summon up another forbidden magic spell.

"I insist," Ultimecia replied, and flicked a finger at Selphie. An iron strand of metal shot out of nowhere and wrapped around her throat, cutting off the small SeeD's concentration, not to mention her breathing. "That you proceed me!" Ultimecia flicked her hand to the side, raising Selphie up by the throat with the iron wire. The evil demonic Sorceress then staggered back as the four remaining warriors around her pummeled her with a barrage of spells while she was distracted. Ultimecia was rocked back several steps, almost dropping Selphie, and then had to shift her concentration to Zell and Squall as the two fighters came in. more magic blasted Ultimecia as Quistis and Rinoa covered their comrades, but Ultimecia was only slightly distracted as she stopped Zell dead in his tracks with a gesture. The brawler went flying into one of the stone columns, cracking it, and a flick from Ultimecia's fingers brought Selphie down in front of her, in Squall's path as he was slinging Lionheart.

The SeeD Commander froze in place, his gunblade almost slashing into Selphie's back, and Ultimecia laughed at him before unleashing a torrent of fire that lifted him up and hurled him away. Selphie, grasping at the strand around her throat, was then shifted into line with Quistis and Rinoa, pausing them in their magical attacks.

Suddenly, Ultimecia's head was rocked back as Selphie abandoned the unbreakable metal around her throat and lashed out with her nunchaku. The iron bar bounced off the Sorceress' forehead, and she snarled in fury. The metal wire slackened for an instant, an a telekinetic shove from Ultimecia hurled Selphie back hard into one of the walls with incredible force. She bounced off, crying out in agony as her backbone was shattered by the impossible impact, and then screamed as Ultimecia sent out a torrent of flame that wrapped around Selphie, followed by a stream of raw destructive energy that pressed her back into the wall.

Quistis and Rinoa poured countering spells upon Ultimecia in an effort to save their comrade, crying out for Selphie even as she screamed in pain, but it was Squall who broke Ultimecia's concentration as he came in like a whirling dervish, Lionheart chopping down hard at her face. She spun on him and caught the blade on an energy shield, but was amazed as Squall pulled the trigger on his weapon, shattering the barrier and cutting down, blade missing Ultimecia by a hair. She launched him back again with a bolt of lightning, and the SeeD Commander crashed hard to the floor twenty feet away.

Quistis and Rinoa had rushed to Selphie's side as she had fallen from the wall. The tiny SeeD was horribly burned by the attack, and Quistis began to cast a healing spell when Rinoa stopped her. The Sorceress looked to Quistis, and shook her head. Quistis was about to protest, when she saw that Selphie's body was too still to simply be unconscious.

"Oh, Hyne, Selphie . . . ." Quistis whispered, dropping a hand to the small SeeD's burned forehead.

Zell Dincht rose from his spot where he'd impacted the stone column, and saw clearly what had transpired. Ultimecia was smiling with obvious pleasure at the pain she had caused, and Quistis and Rinoa were crouched over Selphie's still form, but not using spells to heal her.

The brawler looked to Ultimecia, then back to Irvine's bloody, impaled corpse, and then to Selphie's burned body. His face locked in raw fury as he turned back to Ultimecia, that bitch who had killed two of his friends within a matter of minutes, and pulled all that raw anger into himself. Raw fury shot through his body and mind, giving Zell all the power he needed to avenge his friends.

Ultimecia never saw the first hit. One second she was reveling in the slaughter, the next, she was on her knees, staggered by a shockingly powerful punch from Zell. The brawler grabbed her by her hair and pulled her up, before kneeing Ultimecia in the stomach. She doubled over, shocked and confused and hurting as Zell uppercutted her in the chin, sending Ultimecia flying backward. The brawler was right behind, leaping up after her.

Zell unleashed his fury at that instant, focusing it into himself, and time slowed for the brawler as he neared Ultimecia in midair. His feet lashed out I rapid succession as he neared her, impacting Ultimecia's face and torso with stone-shattering strikes. Zell struck with nearly a dozen kicks in midair before spinning around, a foot rising high up in an axe kick that smashed Ultimecia back and down, actually hurling her into the remnants of her throne and shattering the massive stone structure. The crushed rocks and masonry collapsed upon Ultimecia's body as Zell hit the ground, and the brawler punched a fist into the floor beneath his feet, cracking it.

"Yeah!" Zell shouted in fury. "Die, bitch!"

Silence filled the battlefield for several moments as Zell stared at the rock pile, which refused to move or shift. Squall walked up beside Zell as the brawler stared at the stones, unmoving, daring Ultimecia to have survived the assault.

Nothing happened, and squall let out a slight sigh, knowing that the battle had ended, but at a tremendous cost to their team. He looked back toward Irvine's still form,a nd then to Selphie's, as Quistis and Rinoa stood, both of them shaken. He kenw theyw ere trying to hide the fact that their comrades' deaths had hit them hard, but that sooner or later,t he anguish would come out . . . .

"Fuck. No."

Squall looked back to Zell, who was staring at the rock pile intently, and then a sound assaulted his ears.

A stone shifted, and another followed suit, clattering down the pile of ruined stone.

"She's still alive!" squall warned, and the stone pile exploded. Ultimecia's battered form rose from the ruins, bruised and damaged, but more than reayd to continue the battle. Zell stood as well, face locked in rage, and Quistis and Rinoa rushed up beside them, preparing to finish this war.

"That hurt," Ultimecia hissed, wiping blood from her mouth with the back of her sleeve. She smiled as she did so, and spread her arms out wide.

"You believe my power is limited solely to my own arts?" she asked a second later. "I wield more than just Sorcery. You think you are the only ones who use Guardian Forces?"

"Dammit," Zell hissed. "That's how she survived . . . ."

"My Guardian is far stronger than those pathetic motes of power you wield," Ultimecia continued. "Allow me to show you the most powerful Guardian Force of all time." Ultimecia swept her hands forward, and a glowing white orb of light emerged from the air before her, and rapidly expanded, launching rays of white energy that struck all around the throne room. The SeeDs fell back, Rinoa putting up defensive barriers around her allies, averting some of the destructive powers. Stone cracked and was rent around them, blasting away into the sky, and when the light cleared, the throne room had been decimated, reduced to a single tall platform which the SeeDs stood upon.

A tremendous roar filled the air, and the Seeds looked up at the creature Ultimecia had called. Squall felt his knees go weak as he saw it.

"By Hyne," he whispered.

It towered fifteen feet in the air, its skin jet black, excepting a cross of white across its chest. White wings tipped with red claws extended from its back, and a white mane ran down the back of its head, beneath a blood-red crest. Its face was shaped like a lion's, with golden eyes that were twisted in viciousness and raw hunger, and a tail, long and whip-like, flew about as it hovered in the air before them.

"Squall, what is that thing?" Rinoa asked.

"Its . . . ." Squall swallowed, shocked to see the creature he knew so well. "It's the ultimate Guardian Force.

"Griever."

"Griever?" Rinoa asked, and her hand went to the rings around her neck, touching Squall's, fingertips brushing across the engraved image of a crouching lion.

Griever sized up the quartet of surviving warriors before it, and floated silently for several moments. Then, without warning, the massive Guardian Force suddenly swooped forward, letting out an earth-shaking roar that deafened the humans facing it, and launched a wave of raw energy.

Squall accepted the brunt of the attack, still shocked and awed by Griever's appearance, and was hurled back. The others took their share of the damage as well, but quickly countered with a withering stream of powerful magic that bull's-eyed Griever in its chest. The massive GF was rocked back a few feet, and responded to the assault with a mocking laugh that shook the humans' bones. Rinoa quickly silence that laughter with a powerful blast, unleashing the same potent "ultima" spell that Selphie had used before. The brilliant green flash of destructive energy washed over Griever and sent the Guardian Force reeling, its skin smoking from the blast. Griever narrowed its eyes at Rinoa promising swift and painful wrath with its gaze, and then crossed its massive, burly arms.

Quistis was helping Squall stand up when Zell shouted a warning. The two SeeDs whirled toward Griever as it closed its shining eyes, and white orbs of energy swept around the quartet, and the warriors felt themselves rising up into the air, spinning and twisting as Griever unleashed the most potent power in its arsenal at Ultimecia's bidding.

Reality was ripped around the Seeds and Rinoa, and they entered a swirling vortex of white, with a single glowing core at the center, resonating with intense strobing silver lights. Rinoa shouted something, and began to create defensive barriers around her comrades, when the silver lights intensified and the orb exploded in a tremendous stream of expanding energy that engulfed the humans. The warriors screamed and cried out as the energy passed right through them, burning and searing their bodies with raw destructive power.

Squall momentarily blacked out, and when he came to, he was lying face-down, his skin and body blazing with burning pains. He turned his head, and saw Rinoa beside him, groaning as she lay rolled up in a fetal position. He saw Quistis beyond her, barely moving, trying to regain her senses.

Squall heard feet scraping along the ground beside him, and saw Zell step past, his body smoking, skin burnt all over, clothing charred by the devastating attack. His blonde hair was missing in patches, but despite all the damage, his eyes burned with raw determination.

"Griever!" Ultimecia ordered from wherever she was observing the battle. "Again! Finish those worthless children in my name!" Griever slowly nodded and began to cross its arms again, when Zell spat on the ground, blood accompanying his saliva.

"Fuck. No." the brawler snarled. He suddenly burst forward, rushing across the stone platform, and leapt high into the air, screaming a incoherent battle cry as he flew. Griever opened its eyes in time to see Zell's fist smash into its face, rocking the guardian Force's head back. Zell reached forward and grabbed the spirit's crest and held on tightly as he pounded away, roaring in fury, each impact accompanied by a shouted word.

"You! Will! Not! Hurt! Them! Again! Bitch!"

Griever thundered I n pain as the last punch hit, and its head snapped back at an angle that would have been lethal for a human. Zell reared back for another punch, and the fist dove in.

Griever snapped its head forward, and as Zell's fist dove in, it shot the head upward and closed its jaw around Zell's wrist. Its teeth crunched in and the Guardian Force twisted, and Zell screamed in pain. Griever turned its head and casually spat out a bloody mess that thudded on the ground before the other humans below. Squall narrowed his eyes as he saw what the object was.

Zell's hand had been hacked off at the wrist.

The brawler clutched his severed limb to his chest as blood poured out, and raised a foot for a kick to Griever's face, when the Guardian Force reached up and grabbed the brawler with both hands. It yanked him off its face like he was a mere child, and turned. Clutching Zell in one hand, it looked out beyond the castle and raised that arm.

"Zell!" Squall shouted, standing up, his body exploding in pain. Griever pumped its arm forward, and Zell was launched from its hand and out over the castle, dropping beyond it toward the ocean below. The brawler shouted in defiance as he was hurled, and dropped out of sight beneath the level of the castle. The SeeD Commander watched Zell fall, and turned toward Griever as the Guardian Force turned in his direction, a bloody smile on its lips.

"Hyne, no," Quistis said, her eyes rooted to the spot where Zell had disappeared. "That height . . . There's no way he . . . ."She turned at the sound of Squall launching another barrage of magic, firing off flaring bolts of flame at Griever, which seemed to do little more than amuse the Guardian Force. Almost casually, it flicked a paw toward the enraged Squall and took him off his feet with another blast of magic.

"Finish him, Griever!" Ultimecia urged from the distance. "Tear out the heart of SeeD!" the Guardian Force roared an acknowledgement and moved toward Squall, hovering near the fallen SeeD and raising its arms, energy forming before its hands. White light shone from Griever's arms, and it swept them down, toward Squall, unleashing a torrent of killing magic at the SeeD. Squall looked up, seeing death rippling down from on high.

And then a figure leapt in the way, screaming his name, stepping into the path of the magic, crossing her arms before her to absorb the impact of the magic.

"No!" Squall screamed, rising to his feet. "Quistis!"

Energy washed over her, boring Into Quistis' body as she protected Squall from harm. Her form began to dissolve into the white light as it played over her body, and she spared Squall one last pained look, managing a smile. Squall dove forward, reaching out to her, and then the light consumed her.

Quistis vanished from existence under Griever's assault. The magical barrage continued on, colliding with Squall and searing his already burning skin, and hurled him away. He impacted the ground and rolled almost to the far edge, dizzy and dazed and still shocked and appalled by Griever's raw power and fury.

"Hyne damn you!" sounded another furious shout, from Rinoa. She was standing, her body badly burned, much like Zell's had been, but her eyes burned with ferocious rage.

Golden light washed over the battlefield, illuminating the entire remainder of the tower and casting a new sun over the ruined future world. The light was centered at Rinoa's back a sthe golden angel wings emerged, shining with pure Sorceress power. White light ran down her finger and into her palms, and she unleashed her furious wrath, the anger and rage lancing out from her hands and ripping into Griever. Light swept through the Guardian Force, blasting and tearing it at the same time, ripping pieces from its body in Rinoa's divine Sorceress wrath.

The light shone for several seconds before subsiding, and Rinoa hovered in the air, her wings holding her aloft, her eyes glimmering with white rays of divine essence. Griever, its skin horribly burned and magical energy flowing out from its body, seemed terribly wounded, but the beast did not show any pain. It turned its eyes on Rinoa, mirroring her wrath in its expression. Rinoa followed up with a second barrage of Sorceress power, destruction in its purest essence tearing into Griever, rocking the Guardian Force back.

The light faded a second time, and this time Griever retaliated, crossing its arms and laughing, a bone-chilling sound of raw power. Rinoa's eyes widened and she began to cast a defensive spell when a white orb of magic surrounded her and swept her into the gray-white maelstrom once more.


Squall stood, his body burning all over. His jacket was shredded and charred, and his shirt and pants were in tatters, portions of them flaking off from the incredibly raw fires of griever. He clutched Lionheart tightly in his hands, grimacing at the pain and bringing a new round of searing fires throughout his face.

Griever towered before Squall, casting its shadow over his body. It clutched something in its hands, and echoed its laughter from before as it dropped the object in front of Squall. He looked down at it, and his gunblade dropped from his fingers, and he dropped to his knees.

Rinoa lay still, her eyes closed, her body burned and clothes ignited. Her chest did not move, and Squall felt only the warmth of the heat from Griever's furious magical assault on her skin as he touched her face. His eyes widened as he felt her body, and Squall knew the truth. He whispered her name, and warmth, that from his own tears, ran down his charred face.

Griever had murdered Rinoa.

"What now, SeeD?" Ultimecia asked Squall. "What can you do against my power? Nothing, not even your Sorceress slut could harm my ultimate servant. Crawl before my power and despair!" Squall stopped, her words echoing in his mind, and the beginnings of grief were replaced by a rage that saw a beginning but not an end.

Squall looked up, facing Griever, and reached up, wiping the tears from his eyes with one burned hand, while the other reached down and grasped his gunblade. Sadness was swept away as vengeance took hold in his gaze, and the SeeD stood, locking eyes with Griever. The Guardian Force's smile wavered as it began to realize something was different.

Lionheart rose, and Squall opened his mouth. What emerged was a raw scream of rage and fury, of complete and utter hatred, loud enough to resound in every hall of the castle and make even the invincible Griever flinch.

What followed that roar made Griever more than flinch. Squall simply appeared on Griever's chest, feet planted to its torso, and stabbed his gunblade into the Guardian Force's throat. He ripped it up and cleaved down, splitting the GF's head, and slashed across, bisecting it neatly before chopping twice more, roaring in fury and hatred. He kicked off the Guardian Force and landed back on the platform, and allowed his rage to fully consume him, focusing it into his blade.

Raw destruction surrounded Squall Leonhart's gunblade, shining with all the colors of the sun, and extended upward as he held the weapon high. Squall poured all his anger and fury and pain and hatred and vengeance into that focused wave of annihilation that reached high into the sky, extending beyond the castle and even further, grasping at the heavens above.

Squall unleashed another roar of fury, and swept his gunblade down, all of the power of his emotions rushing down in a wave of apocalyptic fury that literally split the sky and cut down into Griever, before going further, chopping down through Ultimecia's castle and slicing the entire structure in half.

Griever hovered in the air for a moment, its expression one of complete shock and confusion, before its body literally split apart, chopped in half down the middle from head to groin. Binding magical energies spread between the two parts of its body as it fell, portions breaking off and dissolving into the air. Squall watched the thing die, his vengeance far from sated, and felt the rumbles as Ultimecia's castle fell apart. Whatever was holding it in the air had been compromised, as the castle began to drift toward the ocean below.

Chains snapped, and segments of the castle broke off and plunged into the ocean, and the main portion of the castle and its island began to follow. The tip of the island dipped below the waves.

But then the castle seemed to dissolve, breaking down into a million pieces, which themselves shattered and whirled away. The ocean below followed suit, as did the blackened landscape beyond, everything breaking down and shattering and whirling away into a spreading void of darkness.


The pain was gone. All of his injuries seemed to have simply vanished. He looked down on himself, seeing his clothing fully restored, undamaged and unblemished. His skin was clear and undamaged, his hair still long and brown. Everything was as it had been before he'd even set out on this mission. But there was something inherently wrong in the place that he stood in, and that was the fact there was nothing there.

Darkness surrounded Squall, and empty void of shadow and space extending all around him. He looked about, seeking Ultimecia, still enraged and furious, but he saw nothing but an empty void. He drew his gunblade, growling as he looked for a target, something, anything to kill. It took Squall a few moments to realize that the gunblade in his hands was heavy, the solid reinforced steel of the Revolver, not the light, perfect edge of Lionheart. Just as he came to realize this, there was movement and light within the void.

Squall whirled, raising the weapon, and stood still as he took in the figure that was materializing in the void. He shook his head, trying to come to grips with what he saw.

It was almost impossible to describe it. The figure was distinctly feminine, but where is face should have been there was only a glowing light. Its arms were long and spindly, with long, sharp claws, and it featured a wide red cloak-like lower body that seemed to reach out to encompass the entire void. Other features seemed to be lost in the insanity of the strange figure as it stretched its arms out, grasping at the void, and as it did so, tiny motes of light, thousands of them, seemed to flow from the emptiness and into the thing's cloak.

The hell? Squall thought, though he quickly suspected what it was he was dealing with. He narrowed his eyes, and looked around into the void, and understood then that he was too late. A voice started to waft up from all around him, soft and soothing, far different from the harsh, screeching cries of the Ultimecia that had murdered his comrades.

"I am Ultimecia," the voice whispered. "Time has come to its end."

"What do you mean?" Squall answered back into the void, facing the monstrosity.

"Time has finally compressed," Ultimecia answered. "All existence is denied. Everything has been gathered into this place, and now it will become a part of me." Ultimecia paused, and squall could feel pleasure and ecstasy emanating from all around him. "Glorious . . . ."

"What about me?" Squall demanded, clenching his gunblade tightly.

"You remain because of your will," Ultimecia replied. "You and yours were the only humans who survived temporal compression. Of them, only you lived. Thus, only two remain in this place, and that is us." Ultimecia reached out toward Squall with a hand, clawed fingers reaching for him.

"Your essence is all that remains of existence, and until it has become part of me, compression will not be complete."

"Then fuck you," Squall snarled. "You should have killed me if I was going to get in your way."

"You are defiant," Ultimecia answered. "You resist. You were not always this way, were you? I see it in your past-"

Squall lashed out suddenly, without warning, perhaps feeling violated at the notion of Ultimecia seeing his past, seeing parts that even he had never experienced. He leapt forward, at Ultimecia, and chopped down hard with his gunblade. The weapon seared through Ultimecia's maddening form, but seemed to have no effect. Squall attacked a second time, and then a third, his gunblade hacking furiously, but did no damage whatsoever to the thing. Squall felt a powerful force pushing him back, and he hurtled away into the void for a short distance before righting himself.

"You do not understand," Ultimecia stated. "In this world, no physical body exists. You are nothing but a projection of yourself in this place."

"A battle of wills, then?" Squall answered.

"Yes," Ultimecia replied, and Squall suddenly felt a tug on his existence, as if Ultimecia was trying to pull his soul in. He fought back ferociously, holding on to himself.

"Your will is strong," Ultimecia said, her soothing voice full of respect. "It is no wonder you survived when all the others died-"

"Fuck you!" Squall screamed, and he leapt forward again, slashing with all his might, screaming in rage. His assault had no effect, his blade seeming to pass right through Ultimecia. She repelled him once more, and Squall felt the pull on his mind and soul strengthen.

"Stubborn," she stated. "Why is that you fight? What is this? Your sensations . . . Your emotions . . . Your words . . . What is it that drives you on? You cannot harm me. Even with your fury and your will and your thirst for vengeance, you cannot hope to damage me in this place. I am Ultimecia, and I am time. I am the new Hyne."

"Nothing but a demon," Squall answered, gritting his teeth as he felt his mind being pulled harder. Ultimecia was tearing at his soul, trying to pull it in toward her, to end the last thing preventing her from recreating existence.

"Why do you persist, Squall?" she asked, and he flinched at her use of his name. "what is the reason for this? Your stubborn determination is but a fantasy. it's the last fantasy of this world. Why do you persist in prolonging his final fantasy? There is no reason. You will not succeed. You anger and will alone cannot stop me here. Once you have submitted, nothing else will be able to draw upon time as I will be able to, and it will all be over." Ultimecia paused, and her voice laughed.

"Or rather, it will all begin anew, in my image."

Squall held on, pulling back against Ultimecia's grasping hold against his mind. It took several moment for her words to sink in as he fought, but then, two phrases resounded clearly in his mind. His will was not enough, and Ultimecia wasn't the only one who could draw upon time.

Squall felt the tugging, pulling him in, demanding he submit to her will, but he refused, focusing his mind, and screaming in rage and denial. Ultimecia's grip slacked for a moment, and Squall took that instant to reach out. His mind extended outward, performing the same basic Drawing that he did to pull in magic, but on a much larger scale.

Motes of light drifting toward Ultimecia shifted, and some of them pulled away from her attraction, and drifted toward Squall. He clenched his fists, drawing upon that power, felling the emotions sweeping through him. He was not pulling time itself into his body, however.

Squall had a singular objective and a select concept that he was pulling in. His mind was focused on pulling in the moments of rage and fury and desperation and grief from all across time, grasping these moments of anguish and pain, pulling them into himself. Every mote of light that touched him sent the emotions swelling to new heights, and Squall felt the power ripping through him as he pulled them in.

He saw a wounded Galbadian soldier cradling the head of a dead comrade, crying out his name. He saw a formation of medieval-clad soldiers rushing in rage at a far greater number of foes. He saw the lunar Cry through the eyes of a child of Centra, horrified as the maelstrom descended. He saw grieving families over the graves of their children, infuriated men fighting one another tooth and nail, anger and rage and fury from millions of people from all across time, pulling itself into his mind. He grasped at the power, pulling it in, solidifying it, feeling the emotions and feeding off them.

The rage hit its limit, a tremendous source of power that threatened to utterly annihilate Squall if he didn't release it.

But he did unleash that power.

The soul of Squall Leonhart became the vessel of the ultimate force of raw fury and emotion, literally drawn from all across time, the sheer destructive power focused into his metaphysical gunblade as he dove forward. The rage drove him on, and he smashed into Ultimecia, his gunblade whirling and chopping, slashing and beating, Squall screaming over and over again as he unleashed all that fury from the breadth of time itself. All the rage that had existed or would ever exist bore into Ultimecia, shattering the creature that was absorbing time, breaking it and severing it, ripping it apart at its very core.

The void shuddered, and time began to rip itself apart, pouring out from Ultimecia even as Squall continued his mad assault. Her body, her soul itself began to fragment under the almighty annihilation Squall was bringing, and searing lights flashed out of her body as Squall tore away.

Then, there was a final flash of white light that filled the void, and everything and every when detonated, blasting out from Ultimecia's body.

Squall, even as he landed the last blow and struck Ultimecia down, was hurled away as time restored itself, swept away into the void that was rapidly refilling, cast across the endless breadth of time.



A/N: Its time for a long hearty "Holy crap". I have done it. It is done. The final battle has passed. Nirvana has been obtained. Life is complete. All that remains is the ending. Phew. Man, I'm tired.

I had a lot of fun with this chapter. The battle with Ultimecia was like the Edea battles on steroids, just this long, intense uber battle against what is essentially an almost invincible and incredibly powerful enemy. That raw power was shown with how Squall's comrades died constantly all around him.

So, there you have it. Chapter complete, and with some nifty Limits tossed in as well. Just for reference, Zell used Different Beat, Griever used Shockwave Pulsar, and Squall used Blasting Zone and Lionheart, respectively.

The final use of Lionheart was envisioned from the very beginning. By about the fourth or fifth chapter I had the basics for Lionheart in my head, that Squall would take advantage of time compression to pull all the anger and hatred from across time and put it to use in the be-all, end-all Limit.

On a side note, I did leave out the Ultimecia-Griever fusion, as that seemed kind of hard for me to fit into the battle itself. Not to mention Ultimecia-Griever looks totally freaky. XD

And now, for the Final Battle Shout-Outs!

Solid Shark: Hope you enjoyed my rendition!

Deathdragon66: Psh. I kept getting torn up by pulsar Shockwave. May be part of the reason it had such a big impact in this chapter . . . .

Shiftyness: Again, I hope you liked this chapter! I try my hardest to capture the characters and add some of my flavor to them as well.

DBZ Fanfiction Queen: Hellsing reference was the "Eat AP bitch!" line, which was a reference to when Seras was kicking ass in the second to last episode, where she shouted "Eat Halconnen, bitch."

Tiamat did use Dark Flare. What do you think he blew up the tower with? And I know he was created from a Guardian force, but I wanted to make him more "mortal" so that Bahamut would really tear him up.

Chris Ganale: Nah, the sword assault was just the standard Renzokuken, followed by Fated Circle. Lionheart was used here. XD

Dragoon Swordsman: Well, yeah, there's that too. XD

Daniel Wesley Rydell: You have no idea how angry the waiters get at my restaurant when they have bad tips. They match Squall in lethality. XD

Ma-Chan1: I'm actually seriously looking forward to writing that ending myself. It shouldn't take too long, its not too much to actually write, and its some of the best parts of the game!

JadeAlmasy: Well, not stupid as much as really annoying and forcing you to wander all over the castle looking for things to kill.

OniRazz: Actually a Soul Caliber reference, specifically to one of Kilik's attacks. "Midnight Carnival" was another option, though, for the chapter title.

Kimahrigirl: Heh, I put this on out pretty fast. Hope you liked it!

Rikke Leonhart: oh, heavens no, not Omega! I'm going to go run and hide at the mention of his name.

Prodigy: Darn it, don't die before I can finish this:P

Akira Stridder: Yeah, I'm kind of sad it has to end too. I'm getting sniffles just thinking about it.

Icedragon6171: oh, I hate puzzles. With a passion. I ignore them whenever possible.

Anime Obsessed Fan: He didn't actually use Lionheart in that battle; that was just Renzokuken plus Fated Circle. And I'm going with insane, along with a healthy bit of surreal thoughts due to her absorbing time.

Kaiser: Selphie always makes me smile when I write her. Of course, here she was a little bit angrier than bouncy-happy.

That everybody? Great! Now, to get back to Resident Evil 4.

Till the epilogue, people!