"Good lord…"

Even the brave Odin couldn't bear to say anything besides that. The power was so strong that even one unable to sense could literally feel it radiating off of the new creature. The espers stared in fear. Their bodies were frozen in utter terror. The thing didn't even look mortal anymore, but like a psychotic, hellish beast. Bahamut found himself paralyzed as well, staring at the creature in terror. However, it did not last long.

Abruptly, Bahamut unfurled his wings and practically threw Palad away from him. He snapped around and yelled to both him and the others. "Get out of here! All of you get as far away as you can! Odin, call Slepnir, take Palad, and run!"

"Foolish esper…"

The voice was so deep and powerful now that it seemed to permeate one's being. The strength was so massive that it quelled any hope inside anyone, as well as any bravery or mobility. No, they could not run…they could only stare in terror as the new beast killed each one of them slowly.

Bahamut himself was nearly frozen as Griever lightly touched down behind him. The monster barely touched the ground, but even its presence made the ground shake and wind whip around the esper. He turned around, only to see the massive tower of evil energy looking down on him. Its sharp teeth gleamed as it grinned at him. Bahamut couldn't move. He only gaped and looked at it.

"It's all your fault, Bahamut." The thing mocked in its new penetrating voice. "You ruined it. You as good as killed your family. I warned you that the humans would make you weak. You weren't even willing to sacrifice one to save your family and the rest of their stupid race. That is why you will never be my equal. And now, your failure will be the death of you and this world."

Bahamut didn't answer. No one moved. The monster laughed again.

"Why don't you yell at your little friends to run again? Let's see how far they get before I kill them, eh? Why don't you try charging that Megapyrin again? I'll wait the full five minutes this time. Or have you any other secret technique or power? No?" Silence was the answer. The monstrous head shook. "Pity. I was going to try and see how high my power could go, but this will now be too easy."

With that, Bahamut found himself suddenly seized by the neck. None of the espers saw the movement. They just suddenly saw their brother in the grasp of the monster. Griever's huge black hand crushed around Bahamut's throat, and he hoisted the esper into the air and held him there, throttling him and glaring up at him. Now Bahamut came to life, reaching up and clutching for his throat. But he was helpless against the new power.

"Goodbye, Bahamut."

With that, the thing smashed him in the face. No one saw exactly what happened. Bahamut himself barely felt the horrible power grinding into his body and seeming to most certainly break every bone in his skull. Immediately, his nervous connections went dead, and he felt nothing and saw nothing. His body, like a thunderbolt, was thrown into the sky, right up into the hole in the clouds and into the sunlight, which at last beat down on the battlefield. It took only seconds for Bahamut's body to be thrown that distance and into the sky. But then, he was gone. He vanished into thin air.

The espers, transfixed with horror, could only stare on in shock. Bahamut couldn't have survived such a blow. Even if he could have, he was now headed for the orbit of the Planet. Griever knew that there was no air around there, and that the pressure and cold became fatal. That was its intention. Of course, there was always the chance Bahamut survived…but if he did then it would only be to return to see all else dead before Griever took its time killing him. The last hope had vanished. The espers were frozen again in terror, seeing their chances of victory fade into the sky. Nothing could save them now.

Grinning wickedly, the monster looked down to the espers. "Who's next?"

Empty…

Everything's empty…

I can't see anything…hear anything… It's like I'm in nothing…that I am nothing…

Did Griever destroy the world? Or am I gone?

I'm dead… I can't feel anything… I can't focus on anything… I can't do anything… It's over… I'm returning to the Planet… Returning to the Planet? Is that what happens when I die?

Yes, Bahamut.

What? Who's there?

You know who.

No I don't.

Yes you do. You remember me. You remember me…before all else.

What?

What is the first thing you remember?

…Well…waking up next to Wyvern…

What woke you?

…I never thought of that before…

Why are you Bahamut?

What?

Why are you Bahamut?

…I…I don't know…I just always called myself that…

Why did you call yourself that?

Because…because that voice called me that.

Yes.

…You…you were that voice.

Yes.

Who are you?

I'm your mother.

My mother? But my mother…is the Planet.

I am she.

But…but that's not possible…I've never heard you before.

No, but you were reaching that point. You may have not heard me, but I have not ceased talking to you. From the moment you were born, I placed my message in your mind. I waited for you to…learn to read it…so to speak. And you have come far. You have learned much. Yet there is so much more you have yet to learn. You did not even know how to talk to me, although I was always talking to you. But that ends. Now, today, in this stage between life and death, you hear me.

…

You have indeed learned much, Bahamut. Now…you must learn the rest.

The rest?

There is more to you than power. There is more to all of us. You've done so much, but you understand so little. I meant for you to learn everything slowly, but now there is no time. You must learn it all now…

Learn what?

Learn your true purpose.

What purpose?

…To gain the true nature of the Omniapex…

Griever stared at the victims before him. Palad had run to Starlet and jumped in her arms, but she could do little to protect him. None of them could. The beast was coming closer.

"Who wants to die first?" The thing asked. "Any brave people? Anyone wanting to buy their sibling a few more moments of life? How about you, Odin? I still remember your little attack from earlier. Feel free to do it again, if you can. Or you, Starlet…Ashura…whatever name you give yourself? Want me to crush you like the little six-legged bug you turn into? Come on…this is a rare opportunity. It's not every day one gets to feel the unparalleled power of the god of the Planet."

The group didn't move. They only stared on. An impulse told Odin to fight, but he knew it was futile. Calling Slepnir was futile. Wyvern looked ready to fight, but it would be suicide, plain and simple. The others were frozen. They couldn't move or help. They were all doomed, and there was nothing they could do but wait for the end from this horror.

Suddenly, a single voice called out.

"You are no god."

The others turned and looked up to the source of the voice. Griever likewise was surprised, and turned to look at it. The monster's massive jaw nearly dropped.

"Impossible…"

Bahamut was lowering from the sky. What more, he didn't look broken in the least. His old injuries were still there, but he no longer noticed them. His arms were crossed and his face looked still and cold. What more…the group noticed that somehow, he wasn't using his wings. He was hovering down just as Griever could. He continued to lower himself, until he was only a few dozen feet from the ground. There, he halted and glared down at Griever. His look was hard and unyielding. But there was something else that the espers noticed. He looked no stronger, and no other power was sensed…and yet Bahamut was different. He looked older…much older. His eyes…they beamed with the same vigor and wisdom that Jadea's had. He seemed to have matured a thousand years in a matter of seconds.

Griever spun around, growling in fury. "You little speck…" It hissed. "You don't know when to die, do you? If I were you, I would have fled a thousand miles away if you had managed to trick me into thinking you were dead. As it is, your stupidity has just earned you a slower death."

Bahamut simply looked down in response, unchanging and still cold. However, after a moment, he looked up to his siblings. "Don't be afraid of it." He simply stated. Griever reacted to this, because his tone of voice made it look as if the monster suddenly was unimportant. "I know much more now. I'm not sure how it happened…and I can barely remember it. But somehow, the state between life and death from Griever's blow put me in contact with the Planet. And now…I know the truth at last."

The espers looked puzzled at this, and Leviathan was surprised that Bahamut so easily snubbed Griever when he looked no stronger. But the thing snarled in response. "Fool! You regard me so little? Did you forget how easily I smacked you aside like the puny worm you are!"

Bahamut returned his gaze to Griever at this. He looked it right in the eye. Despite all of Griever's power, Bahamut's eyes now had their own power…and they were a hundredtimes more confident and controlled than Griever's. The thing actually snapped back a bit at this, before Bahamut spoke.

"I know all about you now, Griever." Bahamut calmly went on. "I know everything about you. You call yourself a god all you want. But I always wondered that if it was true, how come the life force of the Planet was able to make you? You're not much of a god if you're a child of the Planet. Now I know the truth. You're not a god…you're an esper."

The other espers were taken aback by this, shocked to hear the news. But that was nothing compared to Griever. The monstrous thing looked like it had been choked, how it stopped and reacted to that. It quickly regained its composure, however, calming down again. But it had already telegraphed the implication. It was visibly more uneasy when it resumed speaking.

"Heh…more nonsense from the miserable child. You know nothing."

"On the contrary, I now know everything you know." Bahamut continued calmly. "I know how to reproduce, about the Lifestream, the Cetra race, the legendary Sorcerea-Ceatrae, and most of all…" Here, Bahamut smiled a little. "I know my Omniapex."

The espers reacted to this more strongly. Hope fled into them again, even as they were bathed in Griever's power. However, the monster merely sneered. "Feh. You're still nothing to me, Bahamut. Come down here and I'll show you."

But Bahamut ignored the thing, and continued. "I know all about you. You are an esper. You were the first one of us that was born."

The thing fumed at this, not wanting to hear it. "Shut your foolish mouth, little nothing!"

Bahamut calmly continued. "The Planet intended for there to be seven of us all along. It planned to give us all incredible power and wisdom. But it was afraid…afraid that we'd use its power for evil…like you did. So it locked the power within us all to discover only with time, to grow as normal creatures and slowly learn how to use it…after we had learned to love others."

The thing was vehement now. "I said SILENCE!"

Immediately, Griever took off and sailed straight for Bahamut. The sky cracked and thunder raged, and the sky grew dark again. Bahamut didn't move. He calmly hovered there, and watched Griever come at it. The monster thundered closer and closer, and finally reached Bahamut. It opened its giant mouth as it did so. A burning, blinding light was within, so strong that even though it was facing away from the espers, they had to look away and shield themselves. A moment after, a massive beam of energy, a giant Mort-kelvin, erupted from its mouth point blank in Bahamut's face. But the moment it did…the espers detected a small blur…and Bahamut reappeared right behind Griever. He didn't look tired or strained in the least. Griever spun around in shock, seeing that Bahamut was now behind him. It gaped and slowly turned, at a loss for words at the moment. The espers were stunned into silence, amazed at what their brother had done. Bahamut showed no tiredness and looked no worse for having dodged…even as the beam shot a few miles away before hitting the ground, and turning the sky red with a terrific explosion. He merely waited as the deafening boom suddenly erupted, and cast rocks and heat all over the battlefield. He never flinched, though the other espers dove for cover. At length, the power did die down, and Bahamut calmly continued.

"But if we were all young, we needed a caretaker. So the Planet appointed you as the sole esper to be born fully grown and with full knowledge. It made you powerful, but it also split you into three parts, and isolated the other two within your Wisdom form. It hoped that this form alone would keep you from ever doing evil, but that you'd only be governed by kindness. But it was wrong."

Griever snarled, and shot forward to swing at Bahamut with its massive fist. Bahamut calmly bent over, dodging the blow easily. It swung its foot at him next, but Bahamut merely righted himself in mid-air and dodged it. The thing, furious, began to unload a series of punches and kicks at Bahamut, struggling to hit him at least once. But Bahamut, without ever turning around, easily dodged each and every blow. Griever never hit anything but air. At last, the monster gave up and growled in fury, backing up to rethink its strategy. Bahamut, now free, continued.

"You learned of the Crystal. You also learned of the humans. You saw that the humans were growing quickly to their new civilization, that they were learning to become stronger. You feared they'd one day become stronger than you…that the espers would be subservient to them one day. So you murdered them. You laid waste to all their cities and scattered all signs of technology. You obtained the Crystal, and used it to set up stations of yourself all over the Planet, to look for humans everywhere. You removed it from Ultima Nexus, and as a result the world was plunged into this sunless darkness. You tapped into the dark side of the Crystal, and you used it to make the Four Fiends of the Elements. Yet when that was all done, you weren't satisfied. Beginning to learn your potential, you began to hunger for more power. You grew mad with the strength your body and the Crystal gave you. So you set yourself up as this deity. You kept humans around simply so they could venerate you, while you tortured them and made sure they couldn't advance even to the point of going to bed not hungry. In the end, you craved their worship, and you wanted more and more.

"But now, that's coming to an end. I've talked with the Planet, and it knows what you're thinking. You plan to destroy it as well so you can be free of it. Because of that, you pushed it to the point of revealing to me my Omniapex. That's not all, however. I told you that it wanted us to learn to love." Here, Bahamut cracked a smile, and turned around in mid-air to face Griever. "Your attempts to kill Palad, and our sacrifices to save him,made the Planet realize we had learned to love others more than power or ourselves. So it gave me the power. So now, Griever…you are the one who made the fatal mistake."

Griever didn't move. It hovered their in the sky and said nothing. The espers looked to it, and so did Bahamut. Silence reigned. In the end, however…the monster laughed…a dark, deep, cheerless laugh. Even now, it made everyone's blood run cold.

"Well, well, well…Bahamut…" The thing hissed. "You do seem to know a lot now…at least on one side. You're right. The Planet did make me to be one of you simple, pathetic espers. But I've long since gone beyond that. The Crystal has chosen me. The powers that be have chosen me. I rule all now, and I'll be damned if I let you or your miserable mother stop me.Gaia is nothing to me. All it has ever done is tried to keep me from reaching my full potential. It encouraged the growth of a species that craves destruction…and would one day place you and your family under an everlasting yoke. I tried to spare you all that…and this is how you reward me. You allign yourself with my true enemy…the damned Planet that has neither power to save itself or others. You think you have power? Very well…let's put it to the test!"

Immediately, the winds picked up. The ground shook. The fires around Griever burned. It brought its full power out to bear again, and then shot forward. Bahamut's head was suddenly snapped to one side as Griever's fist tore across it. His look went to shock and surprise. But Griever wasn't done. It reared back, and kicked Bahamut powerfully in the stomach, doubling him over. It then spun around, and smashed its foot against the side of Bahamut's head, not only snapping him to one side but sending him flying away through the sky. Griever quickly picked up its own speed, and shot after him. Within moments, it had caught up to Bahamut's flying body, and with a powerful kick knocked him upward into the sky. The beast quickly shot up overhead and placed itself in Bahamut's path. After doing so, it raised its hand to the sky. A burning red light of a different color gathered around its fist, as if its hand really was on fire. As it did…a hole suddenly appeared in the sky. That was the only way to describe it. A great black hole opened in the sky and quickly expanded. There was nothing inside but blackness. That…and what appeared to be stars. It was as if space had been opened. However, the hole kept widening until it was as big as Griever itself. When that happened, the thing swung its hand down. Immediately, a sizzling, fiery meteor shot out of the hole and onto the battlefield. The massive rock shot downward, billowing smoke all the way, until it struck Bahamut. Immediately, both the meteor and Bahamut were cast to the ground…and moments later they impacted.A blinding explosion erupted. Griever itself had to guard itself from the blast. A massive mushroom-shaped cloud of vapor went into the sky. Rocks were blown up but atomized long before landing. A deafening roar went out throughout a hundred-mile radius.

The heat, power, and noise began to die down at last. The vapor left somewhat more slowly. But even as it was fading only a little, it was obvious that a massive, blackened crater was now in the ground. Dirt and rocks were thrown up all around it. Griever unshielded itself, and looked down with glee. It balled its hands into fists and laughed in maddened joy. "Ha-hah! You stupid fool! I told you that I was a god! You were never anything to me! Now you're nothing! Come back from that!"

Griever reveled in joy for a few moments more. However, it abruptly froze, and its face turned to surprise. The other espers, slowly picking themselves up and digging their way out from the dust, began to rise as well, and also gaped. There was indeed a great black crater in the ground. But standing right in the center of it, looking unchanged except for a bloodier forehead, was the stoic Bahamut. He stood calmly, looking up from the ground at Griever. The thing could only gape in shock.

Abruptly, however, Bahamut opened his mouth again. It too gleamed with burning light of blinding nature, although it was much more fiery. Moments later, a Pyrin erupted from his mouth, and shot straight at Griever in the sky. The thing reacted in surprise for a moment, before sneering. The sky grew dark around it again, and the air thundered. As the Pyrin reached the thing, it swung its fist down to smash into it. Immediately, as it swung around and struck it, the Pyrin went off. Griever soon screamed inhumanly. It had destroyed it, but the burning power soon ate away at the flesh and skin on the knuckles. It burned down into the bone. What more, the vibrational impact penetrated the thing's body, sending a numbing feeling throughout it. Griever sneered in rage…and as such was barely able to see Bahamut's body fly through the smoke of the blast and hit the thing in the face with his knee. Griever's body went flying backward hard as blood splurted from its nose. Its whole frame was thrown backward through the sky. Bahamut, not letting up, quickly shot after it.

But as it went back, abruptly it looked up and saw Bahamut coming. Glaring at him with red eyes, Griever raised a hand and aimed it at Bahamut. Immediately, huge ice crystals grew out of its fingers, and fired at the esper. Bahamut halted immediately, and soon found himself twisting his body in a crazy position to avoid the razor-sharp projectiles. Nevertheless, one still tore through his shoulder, cutting a bloody wound into it. And using the distraction, Griever shot forward and jabbed its elbow right into Bahamut's face. The esper snapped back, and soon doubled over as Griever followed up with a stomach pound. The thing brought both fists back, and prepared to bring them down in a crushing blow. But just as it did, Bahamut surprisingly recovered. He nimbly dodged out of the way, spun around, and then drove his own fist forward deep into Griever's side, sinking it in. The beast roared and spluttered blood.

Infuriated, Griever's power swelled again, and it swung its fist at Bahamut's head. Bahamut quickly dropped to avoid the hit, and then swung his tail up to counter. Griever quickly dropped under this, and shot forward to make a cutting motion with one arm against Bahamut. Bahamut quickly swung backward, narrowly dodging the blow in response, then darted back forward in an attempt to hit Griever with his crest. Griever quickly crossed its arms before it, and the blow was blocked by the crossing gesture. Griever tried to answer with a kick of its own, but Bahamut recovered and quickly shot back. At last, both at once dove forward to hit each other in the face. But both of them moved perfectly, and after a moment…both of them smashed each other in the face at the same time. Both of their bodies went flying to the ground, while the resulting shockwave rippled out to spread a huge crater in the ground, and to shake more stones into pebbles. Both bodies landed hard, and slid along the ground, throwing up more dirt and debris as they did so.

Both soonwere ontheir feet, however, and immediately shot to each other again. They met right in the center of the first crater, smashing their arms together for both had tried to block the other. They held for a moment, before both shot their arms out and grabbed each other's hands. Then they pushed against one another. As they did, the power of Griever and even Bahamut now flared up. The wind whipped terribly. The sky grew blacker, making it hard to see save for the flame around Griever. The crater deepened and widened, growing larger from the force that the two brought up between them. They both continued to push, but failed to make any headwind. But the more they pushed, the more the ground shook, and the more violent what was left of the mountain became.

Finally, the two parted. They shot back a few feet, then shot forward to renew their assault. Bahamut landed first, spinning around as he shot forward to smack Griever with a backhand that sent the thing crashing back against the ground to dig up another trench. But as Bahamut was following up, Griever abruptly got to its feet and kicked right as Bahamut arrived, launching the esper into the air. Griever quickly shot up after it, and soon it drove its own head smashing into Bahamut's stomach, bearing its full impact behind it. But Bahamut was still going. Even as he bent around the blow, he shot out his hands and seized Griever's shoulders. Abruptly, he somersaulted himself off of the giant creature and used the momentum to throw Griever over his shoulders and to the ground. Not trusting that he had enough power in it, Bahamut opened his mouth and shot out a Pyron at the thing as it fell. Unfortunately, Griever managed to right itself, looked at the coming attack, and opened its hand to sent out a Magnavolt to the attack. Its power immediately obliterated the Pyron attack, and it followed up with a Gigavolt attack right at Bahamut. The huge bolt connected with the esper, and immediately Bahamut was enveloped in electricity. He arched and cried out in pain, before the power let up, and he limply fell to the ground.

Bahamut landed only moments later, and Griever quickly went after him. The thing dove down with both feet out, intending to smash Bahamut's head into the ground. However, Bahamut sprung to life at just the right moment. He quickly rolled out of the way, and then went up slightly to swing his leg around in a tripping fashion. His own leg connected with Griever's, and the huge monster went backward before falling down and hitting the ground. Bahamut quickly rose to renew the assault, to dive on top of the fallen Griever and give more pain. But just as he did, Griever's head snapped up, and it fired another Mort-Kelvin point-blank at Bahamut. Bahamut put out an open palm to stop it. Unfortunately, the effect was much as his own attack's had been earlier. The eruption in his palm singed his flesh and burnt into his bones. Griever quickly got up as well, and uppercutted the esper into the sky.

Itshot after Bahamut, but yet again the esper recovered, and crossed his arms in front of himself to block as he went shootingupward. The two soon were tumbling in the air, spinning around each other throwing one punch after another in an attempt to hit the other. They rose higher and higher, causingthe clouds to rumble from their power. At last, as the hapless espers below watched, they parted and then shot forward to each other again. Soon, they both went flying away from each other again, as both hit at the same time and sent another shockwave tearing through the sky.

The two quicklyrecovered and were at each other again. Bahamut was again first, jabbing Griever right in the face. The monster retorted by uppercutting Bahamut hard. But Bahamut was ready this time, and merely spun in mid-air to counter with a tail slap of his own to Griever. The monster was snapped back, but, enraged, quickly recovered and dove forward to smash its head into Bahamut's, sending the esper again flying to the ground. Again, Griever went after him. It opened its mouth and fired off Deen rings again at the esper as it closed, trying to put on more pain. Bahamut saw this, and quickly shifted one way and the other to avoid being hit. The rings instead hit the ground, where they rocked the countryside and exhumed the mountain in terrific blasts. Griever at last reached Bahamut, and proceded to punch him across the face three times. But after that, while they were still sailing to the ground, Bahamut abruptly shot out, seized Griever's shoulders, and drove his head forward in a smashing motion into his forehead. Griever snapped back and was stunned, and Bahamut quickly spun around in mid-air again to hit Griever with another tail slap…sending the thing flying back down into the ground. Meanwhile, Bahamut halted himself and looked at his damage. Moments later, Griever smashed into the ground much as Bahamut had been expected to. Yet the thing only tumbled once before springing back to life and headed back to the esper.

In another instant, Bahamut's face snapped again as another fist struck it. But he recovered and bounced back to smack Griever in the face as well. Roaring angrily, the thing drove its hand forward with talons outstretched to kill Bahamut, but the esper merely dodged to one side, then answered back with his own backhand. Griever quickly ducked, and tried to respond with another uppercut. But Bahamut merely moved back, and again the hand hit nothing. Bahamut then dropped in mid-air and tried to do a sweeping kick to the thing's legs. But the thing rose over it, and then brought its heel down in an ax-kick move to Bahamut's head. Quickly, Bahamut brought up his arms and blocked against the blow, then threw it up in order to make Griever flip over. But the monster was ready. No sooner had it flipped over then it struck out with its own tail. It lacked the power, but it still was thin and sliced into Bahamut's face. Bahamut's head flew up, exposing himself. Griever took the opportunity to dive forward and smash Bahamut in the throat. The esper doubled over and grasped for it, and was helpless to do anything as Griever drove a foot forward and connected straight with Bahamut's face, sending the whole esper flying backward.

Griever, smiling wickedly, immediately held its hand in the air again. As before, the dark hole appeared in the sky. As before, it grew to Bahamut's size, and soon Griever's hand exploded into flame. It watched Bahamut and judged the distance as he flew away. Finally, seeing it was at the right moment, it brought its hand down. But at that second…Bahamut suddenly sprung back to life. The esper righted himself in mid-air, held open its mouth, and fired another Pyron away from Griever. The force of this blast sent Bahamut flying back right at the monster, who, to its shock, was unable to react. But soon Bahamut was there, and smashed both legs into the thing's head. It was stunned from this blow, giving Bahamut the time to seize it by the tail and swing it around. After doing one full revolution, it flung the monster forward…right into the path of the incoming flaming meteor. The timing was perfect. The meteor connected, and soon Griever was sent crashing to the ground. Moments later, it touched down…and another earth-shattering explosion went out. Again the world was rocked violently, and another huge mushroom cloud was sent flying up. Heat flooded over everything.

However, the smoke and heat had barely died down before a black shape shot out of the vapor, and sailed right for Bahamut. Moments later, a flying fist connected with the jaw of the esper, sending his head flying back. But it didn't send him flying. Griever followed up with a hook to the stomach, which made Bahamut come back down again. However, as it aimed for a head hit, Bahamut raised up an arm and blocked it. Soon, Bahamut dodged another hook by ducking, then shifted to one side to avoid a sweeping kick. The thing sent off another powerful series of blows, but Bahamut twisted just barely to miss all of them, although one did tear his cheek. Finally, after ducking under another uppercut, Bahamut shoved his fist forward and pounded Griever in the stomach. The thing doubled over, and Bahamut followed off by sending a blinding series of five punches into its face. That done, he added six more by crossing his fists against Griever's face, smashing the thing one way and the other. Finally, he brought his hands together and brought down a fist hard on Griever's head, sending it flying down headfirst to the ground. As it did, Bahamut fired off another Pyron for it. The fireballs met up with it as it was landing, and right on the moment of impact, the huge fiery explosion tore up the ground as well. More chaos and fire resulted, as the thing was smashed deep into the ground.

At last, as the fires and latest bit of smoke settled, Bahamut moved to one side of the field and touched down. His body was covered with cuts. A few bones were broken. One side of his face was swollen and a terrible gash was on his jaw. But other than that, he was not breathing hard, and looked more than ready for more. The smoke cleared in front of him further, and finally revealed Griever. The monstrous beast looked little better. A huge gash was on its brow. Half of its face was also beaten in. Burns and abbrasions covered it from head to toe. But most of all…the thing looked tired. Sweat steaked its black skin. It panted and wheezed as it stood there, struggling to get its breath. The energy around it seemed dimmer, and even the fire in its eyes had subsided somewhat. Blood dripped from its mouth, nose, and ears, and it spat out spittle and blood from its dry mouth. Its body looked overstrained, and it barely seemed to be keeping its arms up at the ready. It was quivering with the signs of exhaustion.

"Curse…curse you…" The monster wheezed. "Damn…you! You are not better than me! You will die! I swear…I swear it!"

Bahamut's expression hadn't changed. It was still stoic and cold, and he didn't answer right away. Finally, he did speak. His tone was tired, as if he was explaining something to a stubborn child.

"Griever…it's over."

The thing looked up in puzzlement at this. "What…did you say?"

"This fight is finished." Bahamut simply replied. "You're too blinded by anger to realize it, but at this point it's obvious that I'm going to win."

The monster snarled. "Overconfident…little pest…! We'll see what you say when I start dismembering you…"

Bahamut frowned. "You're the fool. Open your eyes. Your body was never meant to endure such power. It's not tolerating the strain. You've reached your limit and burned yourself out. You're losing strength fast. In a few more minutes, you won't even be able to stand."

Griever snarled and fumed at this. But it didn't utter anymore death threats. It knew, much as it hated to admit it, that Bahamut was right. And that knowledge only drove it more insane than before. Madness and fury ran through its mind. It was filled with a greater bloodlust than ever to destroy Bahamut…the puny little esper it had raised and was now dictating to it. It couldn't stand it. It hated Bahamut more than anything at the moment.

"I was going to kill you for what you did to Phoenix and everyone else." Bahamut went on. "But it doesn't really matter anymore. Your power will never be the equivilent of mine again. So just surrender. I'll let you live if you do. Maybe you'll be able to learn to love others as we did."

That was the last straw. Griever had lived far too long as the ruler of the world to tolerate this. The smallest little weaklings were now talking to it as if it was nothing. It was insulting it, slapping it across the face by this gesture. In Griever's mind, Bahamut was nothing more than an overconfident, laughing monster, looking down on Griever and teasing it, mocking it with its words while boasting of its own strength. And above that all, the Planet lurked…laughing at all of Griever's plans…all of what it had done…and saying that everything would in the end come to nothing. All of them were against the beast. All of them were working against it and laughing it down, wanting to make it weak and pathetic and as far away from its old self as possible. It was all an insult to it. And that knowledge Griever could not endure…would not endure… It glared at Bahamut wickedly, the fire in its eyes gleaming, and its voice like doom and ice.

"…I'll see you all in hell first before I give in to you, weakling."

With that, Griever immediately leapt away from Bahamut as far as it could. It sailed backward clear half a mile with one easy leap. It also shot up into the sky, and waited until it was a good position from the ground. It breathed heavy for a moment, glaring at Bahamut. Then, it closed its red eyes, brought its hands together in front of it, and bared its teeth. Immediately, the sky grew blacker than before. But the thunder ceased. The wind died down into nothing. The quaking stilled. Everything became quietas death… Not even a breeze went by, and all noise coming from the espers below, looking around curiously, and Bahamut on the ground seemed to be the loudest noises in the world.

Bahamut instantly recognized this…and his face turned to surprise.

"Griever, no! Don't do it!" He yelled.

But the thing wouldn't listen. It merely focused and grunted…as winds began to whip around it, and seep into the center of its palms.

"Dear God…"

The other espers turned and looked to Leviathan at that. The serpent was frozen in terror, staring up and looking at Bahamut and Griever. Over the past few moments, they had nearly begun to rejoice. It looked as if things were finally looking up and victory was possible. Wyvern was a bit melancholy, seeming to regret he didn't reach his own Omniapex. But no one cared. Victory against the strongest enemy ever was possible. Only now, Leviathan's look of terror distracted them.

"What now?" Odin shot back.

"I'm reading Bahamut's mind…" Leviathan replied breathlessly. "The amount of knowledge he has now…it's unbelievable. But he also recognized what Griever is doing. It's performing its own Omniapex: the Shockwave Pulsar."

"What does it do?" Starlet asked.

"It will create a center of gravity so strong it will collapse in on itself." Leviathan replied. "But that's not all. It will suck everything else into it too…including us and the Planet."

The espers turned white.

"It will compress us all into nothingness…and then explode, destroying anything that had a chance of survival."

Wyvern's eyes were wide, but he scowled in response. "You must see it wrong. It would kill itself if it did this!"

"It will kill itself." Leviathan darkly answered. "But it doesn't care…it just wants to make sure Bahamut doesn't win."

The espers were silent at that. They looked up to the sky, and began to feel wind blowing from them toward Griever. Fear was upon them, and hopelessness had returned.

"…Now what?"

Bahamut hesitated for a moment. He wasn't sure exactly what to do next. However, time was running out. Griever couldn't make this attack in an instant, but he was running out of time. At last, only one solution came to mind…but Bahamut had no idea if it would work.

Thank God there's sunlight here.

Only one thing left to do…

Bahamut immediately took off. He flew himself through the sky toward Griever, but didn't close the distance. Instead, he came right to the narrow part of the world where there sun was still shining down. There he stopped, and allowed his body to be fully bathed in the light. Immediately, Bahamut used his power to keep himself in the sky, and unfurled his wings fully while flying. He spread them out into the light as far as they could go, and held them there. Then, he too opened his mouth slightly and held it in front of him.

Over at Griever, the wind picked up. It now was strong enough to blow dust around. And it all gathered right into the space between its hands. The air began to grow cold around the monster, but it still came. Nothing happened yet, but the thing stiffened and continued to pull, as the wind grew steadily larger.

Bahamut focused and continued to hold. As he did, the sunlight continued to beat down on his wings. It did nothing for a moment. But then…the wings slowly began to light up. A soft glow began to appear on them as well, as if the sun was affecting them or going into them. Bahamut felt this come and kept holding, all while keeping his mouth open. Slowly, the glowing picked up more and more, continuing to build within the wings of the esper.

At Griever, the wind was now becoming strong. The dust clouds made distinct movements toward the space between the hands, and the sky began to rumble with thunder again. It grew colder, and pebbles began to raise and be drawn into the space. But as they reached a point in the center, they abruptly vanished. They seemed to simply wink out of existance. The sky grew darker, and the winds continued to build.

Bahamut kept focusing. As he did, the air began to grow charged around him. Power began to flow into it. A cloud of yellow energy began to form around the wings. It grew brighter and brighter as time went on, and became clearer as well. It began to become like a solar fire. The burning made a noise, and the energy coming off of it continued to build. It was visibly strong and growing stronger.

The wind now grew into a storm like power. It blasted around Bahamut too, and whipped his energy left and right. It began to pull up large rocks now, and the clouds overhead began to change and swirl as well. A sound of great combining and crushing emitted as the rocks were drawn into the space in Griever's hands. The air grew colder and darker yet…until only Griever's own red eyes and flame gleamed on in it. But still it grew. It began to look as if the light itself was beginning to swirl into the space between. And as it did…a small black orb, about the size of a speck of dust, formed in the center…

Bahamut strained and groaned, continuing to build power. The flames on his wings burst forth more than ever, showing off their new might. As the power grew, more wind was brought around himself as well. The ground beneath began to rumble, and soon began to shake more and more. The growing power pushed down on it, and a crater began to be pressed into the earth. Bahamut still built it up, straining and pushing as hard as he could. Still his wings grew brighter. The air began to crackle around him. The cloud turned different colors, and his wings shimmered more than ever.

The situation grew worse at Griever's. The ground began to be lifted up in huge chunks now. Sounds of crashing and destruction came from the black dot as rocks were literally warped and twisted before being sucked in. Light was being drawn into it now, as well as wind. The clouds swirled and raged, and then came down in a great funnel shaped cloud to be drawn into the dot as well. A crater was also being made at Griever's feet from the force being sucked into the orb. And the orb itself kept growing, reaching the size of a fist now while still enlarging. Black energy crackled around it.

The air now sizzling and charged, Bahamut stopped absorbing. Instead, the yellow aura was suddenly drawn inward to his wings, and sank into them. Once it was all inside and only the glowing wings remained, that energy too vanished. It seeped into Bahamut's main body, and went away into nothing. Only the ground continued to quake and the wind continued to whip. The power hadn't vanished at all. Bahamut opened his mouth wider at that. Immediately, a great piercing cry sounded through the sky. It was as if the sky was breaking. As it did, a new ball of fire formed. It began to grow right in front of Bahamut's face rather than in his throat. And as it did…it gleamed bigger and brighter than ever before. It was like a flame from the sun itself. The light would have blinded all, had not Griever's attack been absorbing the light.

Griever's own orb grew, reaching the side of its head. It crackled with darkness, and it showed nothing but a black, empty void within. One could see nothing there, nothing except the pieces of land being drawn into it and being crushed into oblivion. A storm was around him now, smashing everything and sucking it all into the emptiness of the orb. The air was ice cold now. It looked as if Griever was barely holding onto it. But hold it the creature did, and it glared hatefully at Bahamut.

The espers grabbed onto any secure piece of ground they could find and held on. Starlet pressed down on Palad to keep him down. It felt as if their bodies would be sucked into the vortex that Griever made. But even as they held, they felt their hair on the verge of bursting into flame from Bahamut's attack. The ground shook violently from his power. Both fighters were barely holding onto their attacks. It was almost a nightmare. No matter who won, it seemed as if the world was doomed from the aftermath. But the espers held on and waited as the powers grew and grew.

But then, at last, it was time to attack.

"SOL-PYRIN!"

"SHOCKWAVE PULSAR!"

With that, the two attacks went shooting at each other. Griever's didn't have much to it. It was just the single black orb shooting forward. It left a trail in its wake, however, as the air, light, and ground was ripped up and drawn into it. But as for Bahamut, there was much more. The small ball of light immediately erupted into a fiery, blazing comet of pure sun energy. It thundered forward at the attack as if it were apiece of the sun itself. It blazed a massive trail behind it, bathing Bahamut in flame that burned with all the colors of the rainbow, swirling in a mass if deadly, destructive energy. In front of it all, the single orb burned on and shot forward.

"FOOL!" Griever screamed…for the sound of the burning sky and the tearing up storm was so deafening now that none could hear anything. It seemed as if the world was breaking, and that all was dying. "There isn't an attack in the world that won't be absorbed! Prepare to DIE!"

The two attacks at that moment hit each other. Immediately, a tremendous cloud of energy erupted from both. Light and sun energy flew everywhere from the Sol-pyrin. The Shockwave Pulsar immediately erupted into deadly dark energy. Both of them threw it everywhere. The feelings of ice and heat tore apart the battlefield. Unable to watch, the espers ducked and hid themselves. Until now, the Sol-pyrin had shot right for Griever. But now, it was suddenly halted. It could not overcome this obstacle. It burned and sizzled, but both forces only moved slighly in either direction. Both continued to pour off more energy as they burned into each other.

Griever laughed insanely. "You're just feeding it! This is all over! You're DEAD!"

The two attacks fought more and more against each other, neither one breaking up. It looked like a standoff, and silently all prayed as to which one would give up first. The power continued to rage and burn, forcing back in either direction. Then, at long last, it happened…

The Sol-pyrin suddenly advanced slowly, and its own orb passed through the Shockwave Pulsar and bathed it in flame. After passing, it kept moving slowly for a moment, but then the black orb shrank and disappeared.

The Shockwave Pulsar was totally blown away…and the Sol-pyrin still had power to keep going.

Griever's mad glee instantly turned into flabbergasted horror. It couldn't fathom it. But now, the ground and sky were no longer being torn apart by the Shockwave Pulsar. Instead, everything was being blasted one way and the other by the Sol-pyrin. Heat and light returned to Griever…and the heat was burning hotter than the warmest day and the light was growing more blinding than the sun. The light washed over Griever, and illuminated its black body. It highlighted it as it gaped in terror and anguish, staring at the Sol-pyrin coming closer and closer. At last, it opened its mouth and roared…but the whole sky was already filled with the roar of the Sol-pyrin. It was drowned out into nothing, and Griever could do nothing as the attack hit it.

Immediately, an explosion went off that was so strong that Bahamut was ripped out of the sky. A massive, multi-colored blast filled the air, and filled the vision of all for miles and miles around. The huge new mushroom cloud erupted into the sky in its prism colors, filling the air with light and glory and overwhelming power for all to see. The black clouds were blown away, pouring more sunlight onto the ground. But even that light was now dim compared to the burning blast of the Sol-pyrin. Three separate shockwaves rang out from all three tiers of the mushroom cloud. A crater was blasted in the ground that was so large that it swallowed up the other craters. Everything was blasted into atoms, and again the espers were torn off their positions and thrown farther away. It was all Starlet could do to protect Palad.

The blast lasted a full minute before dying down. The ground shook violently, and whatever wasn't a black crater was now exhumed and upheaved. The espers, lying another two-hundred feet away, began to dig themselves out again from buried rocks and piles of rubble. Wyvern was out first, pushing his way free and slowly rising to his feet out of the pile of debris. While the others struggled to get up, he looked and saw that Bahamut was near. Right now, he was crouched not a hundred feet in front of him. However, as the wind died and the vapor faded, he rose once again to his feet. Then he readily took off and went to the sky. Leviathan and Odin soon emerged, and stared in surprise too. Leviathan's biggest surprise was that, unlike the Megapyrin, Bahamut's power didn't seem to have decreased one degree. All the power had come from the sun. But the group continued to look up, waiting for signs of something.

Finally, the smoke did clear…but it revealed a very unusual sight.

Griever was there…but no longer in one piece. The three forms, burnt, blackened, and bloody, were hovering there instead. The Wisdom form's hair and clothes were gone. The Courage form was missing half of his armor, and his sword had melted. The horn had been snapped off of the Power form now, and its torso was covered with third degree burns. Griever…or Crusader…no longer had room to be mad now. They were too busy staring at their bodies, overwhelmed at what Bahamut had just done to them. Bahamut himself flew upward, and calmly stared at them without any change in expression.

"It…they returned to their fourth form…" Ogopogo murmured.

"What does that mean?" Starlet added as she brought Palad forward.

"It means that Griever is finished." Odin simply responded. "And Bahamut is definitely the strongest one on the Planet."

To be continued...