Interlude

Showdown of Fate

It was night in the Coliseum as Cloud walked into the ring. A single black feather fell to the ground and Sephiroth appeared before him.

"Welcome Cloud," Sephiroth said.

"I must kill you," Cloud said. "You are the darkness that plagues me and I cannot allow it to continue."

"It's been a long time since our last battle," Sephiroth smirked. "I've grown stronger in that time and I believe you have too."

"You've seen my power," Cloud told him.

"Oh please! If you mean when you fought the Keybearer I noticed you never even used over half of your power!"

"That's something Sora's not ready for."

"Fight me Strife!" Sephiroth and Cloud both drew their swords. The entire coliseum started to shake and energy sparked to life around them. Sephiroth glowed with blue energy and Cloud with red. Broken rubble and pieces of the ring were rising into the air as the two most powerful warriors were set to strike.

"Whoa!" Leon yelled as he felt the amazing energy. "That feels like Cloud and that Sephiroth guy! How can I feel them from here?"

"I told you before!" Yuffie shouted at him. "Cloud and Sephiroth are on an entire different level that we could never hop to achieve!"

"What can we do?"

"Sit here and pray they don't rip the universe apart," Yuffie lowered her head and Leon sighed.

Cloud and Sephiroth leaped at each other with black wings growing from their backs as they went. Their swords met in a shower of sparks from the force of the blow behind the blade. They both suddenly launched themselves into the air and were soon flying away from each other.

Sephiroth vanished for a second and reappeared behind Cloud and slammed his elbow into Cloud's head and sent him crashing into the ground, the ring destroyed from the great impact. Cloud stood without a scratch and launched at Sephiroth again.

Sephiroth spun in the air to avoid Cloud's first strike and quickly turned around only to receive a boot to the face from Cloud. While Sephiroth was reeling back Cloud planted a powerful punch into Sephiroth's stomach and almost made the powerful warrior fall out of the air.

Blade crashed against blade once again and storm clouds started to gather overhead. A bolt of lightning crashed into the ground not far from them but neither even seemed to notice the brewing storm. Cloud ducked another strike and tore into Sephiroth's side with his Buster Sword.

Sephiroth healed himself and flew away from another of Cloud's attacks. They stared each other down as rain started to pour down. They were soon drenched and both not moving. Cloud's hair fell in front of his eyes and he waited for Sephiroth to make his move.

He wouldn't wait long as Sephiroth flew forward and slashed at Cloud. Cloud brought his sword up and when the two swords met thunder crashed in the background. They stayed in the air in a great stalemate and gazed into each other's eyes. Sephiroth was the first to break away.

The Masamune and the Buster Sword clashed again. Cloud spun around and brought his blade up at an angle that would have taken Sephiroth's head off but Sephiroth disappeared in a flash of light. Cloud stood steady and in a flash his Buster Sword was in a defensive position as Sephiroth reappeared.

After blocking the strike Cloud flew straight up and Sephiroth followed. Slowing down, Cloud spun around incredibly fast and sliced Sephiroth across the arm. Sephiroth didn't bother to heal himself yet and whipped the Masamune around. Cloud blocked the strike but Sephiroth twirled his sword and caught the underside of Cloud's arm.

They healed themselves and were on each other again in a second. Sephiroth ducked under a swipe from Cloud and blasted him in the stomach with his fire spell. Cloud reeled back as Sephiroth created several large meteors.

"Your tricks may work on Sora, but not on me!" Cloud shouted and thrust his hand forward. Bolts of lightning flew from his hand and each bolt struck a meteor, effectively destroying them.

"You never used your most powerful techniques against the Keybearer," Sephiroth swung the Masamune again.

"Neither did you!" Cloud blocked the strike. "Finishing Touch!" Cloud called upon one of his most powerful attacks. A large whirlwind came up from the ground and surrounded Sephiroth, slamming him hard into the ground.

"Fallen Angel!" Sephiroth cried out and held his hands up. What appeared to be an angel with a dark body flew from his hands and slammed into Cloud. Cloud fell to the ground from the powerful attack and the stood face to face once again.

"Meteorain!" Cloud leaped into the air and pointed his Buster Sword at Sephiroth. Some of Cloud's own meteors fell from the sky and crashed into Sephiroth, injuring him greatly.

"Shadow Flare!" Sephiroth launched a powerful blast of black magic into the air and it hit Cloud hard making him fall to the ground once more. "We seem to be equally matched with our techniques."

"Appears that way," Cloud said as he stood on his feet. Sephiroth also got to his feet and thunder crashed in the background followed be a streak of lightning that lit up the night sky.

"They're fighting," Aerith whispered as Yuffie put her arms around her. "I never thought something that terrifying could happen twice."

"I know. I always wished they would never do it again," Yuffie said. Cid stood in the corner of the room with his head down low.

"Tell me Cid, how bad was it the first time?" Leon asked him.

"You know how much power they're using right now?" Cid said quietly and Leon nodded. "My bet is they're using half their real power. They're just warming up."

"What's going on?" Sora wondered. He was sitting awake on the Gummi Ship as they headed for the world of the Heartless. Donald and Goofy were sleeping but a terrible feeling had awoken Sora. "No one is that strong."

"Sephiroth made the first move this time and flew forward at amazing speed. Cloud ducked under his initial strike and then blocked his second. Cloud planted his foot into Sephiroth's stomach but Sephiroth slammed his fist across Cloud's face. Sephiroth jumped back and then brought his sword down again.

"Barrier!" Cloud shouted and the Masamune crashed against an invisible shield. Cloud moved forward and punched Sephiroth across the face twice. Sephiroth was knocked back but then flew straight at Cloud.

"DeBarrier!" Sephiroth waved his hand in front of him and Cloud felt his protection destroyed. Sephiroth performed a powerful spinning kick to Cloud's head and knocked him away. Cloud got back up and placed his hand on his chest.

"Haste!" Cloud felt his speed increase greatly and ran forward so fast no normal person would have been able to see him. But Sephiroth was no normal person and he was able to duck a swipe from the Buster Sword but then Cloud brought his knee up into Sephiroth's face. The spell soon wore off.

"Pale Horse!" Sephiroth shouted and what appeared to be a horse flashed to life and ran toward Cloud.

"Ultima!" Cloud placed both hands forward and a great beam came forth from him. The beam was made of every color imaginable and when the attacks hit each other there was a terrible explosion.

Masamune and Buster Sword met once more in center ring and the two warriors began pushing against each other. Their eyes met and there was a silent meaning behind their stares. They both nodded.

"Then let this be the end!" Sephiroth shouted and they both flew into the air and started to collect energy for their most powerful attacks. Soon Sephiroth was completely surrounded by a blue flame and Cloud by a red flame. A streak of lightning came down from the sky and split in two, hitting both warriors but it only seemed to add to their great powers.

"Hey! What's going on?" Phil shouted as he felt the ground start to shake. He saw Hercules sit upright in bed. "Is it an earthquake?"

"I don't think so Phil," Hercules pointed out the window and they saw the two glowing figures in the sky.

"SUPER NOVA!" Sephiroth launched his hand forward and a great beam fired from his hand as big as the Coliseum itself.

"OMNISLASH!" Cloud shouted back and pointed the Buster Sword as Sephiroth and he fired a beam just as large and just as powerful as Sephiroth's. The two great attacks struggled against each other as Sephiroth and Cloud continued to feed them more power. There was a great crash of thunder and the two attacks started to form a giant sphere of energy in the middle.

Cloud and Sephiroth let out deafening roars of power as they pushed against each other. With a great surge of power the sphere got larger and the entire Coliseum exploded around them.

Finally, the two great attacks formed an even greater explosion that enveloped both Cloud and Sephiroth and shook the entire world. When it was all over a dense mix of smoke, dust, and ash filled the air.

"Not…bad…Cloud," Sephiroth said between heavy breaths.

"It…it won't be…over…until…you're dead," Cloud told him.

"Another…time," Sephiroth chuckled and in a flash, disappeared. Cloud let his head hit the ground and let sleep take him away. He would defeat Sephiroth, it was his vow.

Author's Note- If anybody out there is like me you got really excited about Cloud and Sephiroth's fight in Final Mix and then really disappointed when it last all of 30 seconds. And if you though this fight was intense wait until I write KH2 and you get to see Phil's reaction to it. I can already see it in my head.

Anyway, there's only one big chapter left in the story and it is of course, End of the World. Yes the final battle with Ansem is coming with my next update.

So until then this is the Prince saying, Love and Peace!