Chapter Fourteen:

Stricken

Slade didn't wince.

The hilt of my sword was pressed against his body; the rest of the sword went through him and out his back. Slade reared back his hand and punched me square in the jaw. I flew back off of him, releasing my grip on my weapon lodged inside his body. I duck and rolled onto the ground, but the momentum was so great that I stood up and fell back down. I rolled onto my side and watched as Slade pulled the mighty blade out of him, leaving behind no wound of any sort. He held the sword in his hands and then broke it in half. My eyes widened as Slade threw the two separated pieces aside and approached.

Within one foot of me, a sonic blast slammed into his side, knocking the sum of all fears yards away from me.

"Booyah," Cyborg said.

He dragged himself over and helped lift me back to my feet. Before I could open my mouth Cloud wrapped his arm around my neck for a sleeper hold. A large bolt of lightning slammed into Cyborg, knocking him off of his feet and rendering him dazed. Sephiroth jumped-kicked Starfire in the throat; she fell and flipped over onto her stomach. I thrust my shoulders back into Cloud taking my feet off the ground. I planted them on his chest with all the strength I could muster. He stumbled back and fell down while I slipped my foot behind Cloud's legs and pulled. Cloud fell backwards with me on top of him; I brought my elbow down onto his diaphragm. He released his grip allowing me to push off of him quickly.

Cyborg was stepped forth and aimed his sonic cannon at Cloud's skull. Cloud looked up wearily.

"Fuck off," Cyborg said.

Cloud's head was blown clean off his shoulders with a mighty blast from Cyborg's cannon. His body jerked and went limp; a growing puddle of blood began to form rapidly. Sephiroth slammed his shoulder into Cyborg and knocked him into a crevice. Sephiroth quickly turned his daunting attention to me and grabbed me by my throat. I was lifted off of the ground and thrown a few yards away. I hit the ground sideways and fell off the side of a small cliff. I rolled down the hill like that of a runaway log on a mountainside, tossing and tumbling like a rag doll. When I finally landed with a thud I rolled over slowly; it felt as if every bone in my aching body was broken. I slowly looked up to see Robin slumped up against one of the chasm walls. He was beaten severely and wounded. He took a deep breath and whispered, "Raven…"

I crawled over and reached out, "Robin…!"

"Slade… summoned…"

"Summoned what?"

"…" Robin was silent for a moment. His head bobbed backwards towards the sky, through the pouring green energy that seeped through every crack and opening.

He hissed, "Meteor."

I fell backwards but managed to prop myself up.

"What?"

"Raven… Kill Slade…" Robin said before falling over.

I checked his pulse: he was still alive, barely. I used what little power I had left to cure him to the best of my abilities. I would need Restore materia, fast. Terra was screaming from above; I looked up and witnessed Blackfire chucking her into the distance overhead. Starfire came up behind her sister and clubbed her with both of her hands. Blackfire sailed downward and into the cliff where I was launched from. Like me, she bounced and rolled down the hill before crashing onto her shoulder blades and flopping onto her back. Her eyes remained shut and she started groaning. Starfire was about to descend when Sephiroth's foot came out of nowhere and slammed into her stomach.

Starfire let out a hoarse yelp before her silver-haired attacker elbowed her in the face. She spun around and collapsed onto the ground. Sephiroth looked down below and produced his Masamune. The second the blade came upright Cyborg speared him from behind. The two flew onto another nearby plateau and began to commence their close-quarters combat. I needed to get back to the top and figure out how to stop the Meteor, and Slade.

I scrambled back up the hill, sliding back down every few strides and pushing debris past me. When I got to the top, I fell to my knees and tried to catch my breath. Slade was directly in front of me.

"You just don't know when to quit, do you?" Slade sighed. He began to circle me, saying, "I am far superior than your father, Raven. I am a GOD."

Ariel's voice broke his attention: "Fuck you!"

Slade gasped as she jump kicked him, her steel-toed boot denting his mask and nearly knocking it off. Slade slid on the ground before slowing to a halt. Ariel lifted me up, asking, "Are you alright dear?"

"I could be better," I muttered.

She smiled and slipped the hilt of the Masamune into my hand.

"Thought you could use this," she said. "Cure three!"

Bright blue energy droplets surrounded my body and filled my lungs. My wounds healed instantaneously and my strength was replenished. Slade pulled himself up and popped his muscles back into place.

He sliced the air with his hand before him, yelling "Let me pull myself together!"

A dozen of Slade's robot clones tore up from the ground behind him. Ariel stood behind me and whispered in my ear, "Let me handle his toys. You let him have it. Know that God is on your side."

I nodded and swung my Masamune around.

The battle of my lifetime began.

The clones parted from behind their owner and surrounded Ariel.

I faced Slade.

"See you on the battlefield," he said coyly.

The world around us dissolved.

I felt my body being shot through a tube like those found at the bank teller window. Around me, Lifestream, matter, particles, mere existence shot by me at amazing speeds. I could feel no wind nor could I hear any noise.

I looked ahead.

Slade was standing on a smooth surface of some sort. However, the entire area around us was void like that of a black hole. In his right hand was his Masamune. In his left was his mask. I narrowed my eyes as I made my landing, my sword in hand.

"This is how it ends," Slade said. He dropped his mask onto the invisible ground.

"Indeed," I said, bringing up my sword.

Slade's silver lined black hair was perspired; his eye was weary. The other side of his face was empty, fitting perfectly with our arena. I ripped my leotard in half, exposing my stomach and middle of my back. I tore off my sleeves and dropped them onto the ground. Slade started to run towards me. I took the defense and blocked his first forward strike. Sparks flew from our blades upon contact. We exchanged parries until I swept him off his feet. He landed with his palms and pushed himself acrobatically back flipped into a standing position.

"You're going to have to do better than that," Slade commented.

I arched my gaze, and retorted, "Shut up and fight."

We clashed again, hard.

With each strike Slade tried I blocked, and vice versa. I don't know how long our battle lasted… minutes, hours; wherever it was time was nonexistent. The upturn of the battle came when I caught him off guard and sliced off his right arm. Slade looked at me with a surprised look on his face; his gray eye beginning to water.

"You've think you've won, don't you?" He asked timidly.

I sliced his legs.

The defeated man fell to his knees as blood escaped from his body. I grabbed his collar and got in close up in his face.

I whispered, "Go to Hell."

With that, I released. Slade looked at me with a blank expression for a second before he began to cough violently. Suddenly he started to scream in extreme agony. He grabbed his chest.

Slade started to scream through gnarls, "You… it didn't work… it didn't work…!"

Blood started to come out of his other orifices as his heart attack brought on by FOXDIE took effect.

"No… it's not supposed… to end like this…"

Slade fell onto his face, sunny side up.

His last word before dying was, "Jenova…"

No sooner had he taken his last breath I awakened where I once stood facing Slade. Before me, Ariel and a limping Robin stood.

"Welcome back," Ariel said solemnly.

I sat upright on the cold, dirt ground and observed my surroundings.

I blinked, "What happened…?"

"I destroyed Slade's clones and Sephiroth. We found Jenova's body and eliminated that threat also. The WEAPONS should disappear with that being done."

"What about METEOR?" I asked as I pulled myself to a standing position.

Ariel and Robin lowered their gaze and turned towards the calamity in the skies above.

I looked up, "Wait… where's Starfire?"

"She's gone, Raven," Cyborg said from behind me. "She's gone to stop Meteor before it hits."

I spun around, "Are you fucking insane? How does she expect to stop that thing all by herself?"

"She's got the White materia," Ariel said. "She's going to sacrifice herself."

My jaw dropped, "What?"

I tore through the two and screamed as loudly as I could, "STARFIRE…!"

I kept screaming her name until I thought my lungs would bleed dry. There was silence before the soft explosion in the night sky. I looked up through my tears to see the ominous threat known as Meteor, big enough to send this world into another ice age, be blown into bits and dissolve. The whole atmosphere lit up and died down almost instantly. I screamed with all the strength I could muster and began to beat the ground. I slashed at inanimate rock formations and cursed every deity I knew. What friends were present stood and watched as I lost control.

Slade was right.

I thought I had won.