The reports of my death have been greatly exaggerated.

Yes, I'm still here. And I still have a bunch of chapters ready to go. But I have been delayed for a little while. The good news is (well...maybe it's bad news if you didn't like the movie) is now I have Advent Children and so I can correct the upcoming part of the story that is FFVII.

I'll admit, I did get a little disheartened. After having the chapters where Terra and Bahamut became engaged, I thought some people would be shocked or angry at me for doing it. The dead silence kind of confused me. And I have fallen off the wagon a little. But, I'm back again, and the story goes on.


Bahamut had no love of coffee or strong drinks in the morning. Hence, he found himself with relatively nothing to do other than sit in a chair in the lobby of the inn. There wasn't much going on that morning to stimulate him either. The innkeeper was tending to some duties at the counter, and one of the maids was sweeping the floor. But other than that, there was little to look at except for the roaring fireplace. The esper drummed his fingers against the tabletop and looked to the clock on the wall. It had been thirty minutes now, and still no sign of Terra.

The esper was, of course, back in human form. He didn't plan to return to his esper form until he was busting down Nireevyou's door. And right now, he found himself sitting in the front lobby of the town of Maranda. It was a much larger, nicer, and more beautiful town than Tzen, although it was still fairly on the small side. It was snow-covered here as well, and moving around was still a cold and miserable business. However, the weather was easing up a little now. Pretty soon, the first warm breezes of spring would come into the area and begin to work away at winter. Bahamut and Terra had arrived in Maranda three days ago, and had done little since then. Well…Bahamut hadn't, at least. Terra had been running around again.

First, she tried going to a local house to try and find one of her old accomplices. However, both he and the woman who lived there had departed close to a year ago now for Doma Castle, an area that was being rebuilt very slowly after the Collapse. With that turning up empty, Terra did as she said and wrote letters out to her other friends. She didn't write to all of them. Bahamut was too impatient to wait for all of them to gather back together, so she had to settle for just a few who could respond quickly. In truth, getting them all would take close to a month. One was on a distant, remote island, one lived in the middle of a savage wilderness, and one was somewhere in a frozen mountain chain that was lethal during winter. And those were just three. So she sent out the message for these and waited patiently… Terra was now out checking to see if any message had come back.

The esper had spent most of the past three days waiting here. He was beginning to regret agreeing to this. He was eager to get underway while his enemy would be affected by the element of surprise. The longer he waited, the sooner that he could wage a counterattack. Yet still he held his tongue. He could do little anyway, until Terra decided to lead him to Zozo. Before then, he'd never find his way.

At last, Bahamut caught the sound of the door opening. A small bell attached to it rang as it came open. The esper turned, and saw Terra come in. She quickly turned to the esper, and then ran across the hall toward him. He looked her over a moment, and saw that she was holding two papers in one hand, and had them raised as she ran forward. On seeing this, Bahamut already had a good idea of what had happened. She had come back empty handed the two days before. Was this good news, then?

"Well?" He called out to her.

"They got our message." Terra responded with some enthusiasm. "They wrote us replies. They came in early this morning." After finishing saying this, she stood right before the esper. She extended her hand to him and held the papers out. "Here."

The esper slowly reached out and took the papers from Terra's hand. They were simple and curled, from having been tied around a pigeon's leg. However, they were also much different. As he turned around and looked at them, he realized that one was made of good stationary and written in elegant handwriting. The other, the one on the bottom, was far cruder and made of much lower quality paper. The writing was far more blotted and reckless. At any rate, Bahamut ignored the second for the time being. He smoothed out the first and began to read it.

Dearest Terra,

Bahamut felt himself stiffen when he read that.

Long have I waited to hear word from you. I have thought about you often both night and day, and feared that you might be alone and abandoned to some danger out on the wild. The thought of seeing you or your children hurt brings nameless fears to my heart. I weep at the thought of any horror befalling you. Words cannot express the longing I feel for your pain in the wake of this tragedy.

The esper felt his jaw tightening. Who was this creep? He sounded like some sort of poetic fop…and he didn't like how he was appealing to his fiancée. Men, whether old or young, human or esper…could all become slaves to a little ill-founded jealousy.

As king of this realm, I have many pressing duties that demand my attention. However, rest assured, as always, my primary responsibilities are to the welfare of those dearest to me and to the protection of my realm. There is no workload or beaurucratic duty that will keep me from joining your side. On reading your letter, I immediately ordered my castle to make for South Figaro, so that I could commission a ship with which to arrive at Zozo's shore without delay. Do not fear, forI will be there shortly, and I look forward to gazing on your loveliness once again.

Love,

Edgar Roni Figaro

P.S. The little shrimp is coming too. You know how he loves getting his hands dirty.

Bahamut now had a rather sour look on his face. He turned to Terra with a dark look. The woman, in response, rolled her eyes and sighed. She crossed her arms, shook her head, and reached over to take the message out of Bahamut's hands.

"I didn't tell him about you just yet." Terra tiredly explained. "I wasn't sure whether to tell the truth or the story we've been telling the kids. He thinks I'm still available. And he's a totally shameless flirt. He hits on every girl he meets. He nearly hit on a ten year old girl in our group…"

The esper still frowned. "I hope he's a better fighter than a romantic. He sounds like an imbecile to me…"

"He's really a brilliant engineer." Terra reassured. "And his twin brother is coming along too. He's one of the strongest men in the world…if not the strongest. I honestly don't know who would win in a fight between him and Cyan…"

Bahamut didn't answer. He just hoped that this next message would instill more confidence in him. He raised this message up next to read, but it took him a bit longer. It wasn't nearly as clearly and cleanly written as the first.

Boy, Terra…you sure know when to cut it close, as always. We were just about ready to try again. Celes finished healing from her surgery, and in about a week, if we were successful, I would have had to say no. Or, at least, she would have had to stay behind. But, luckily, we're still good for right now. She may not have the edge she used to have, but she can still whoop my butt good in a fight. Just don't count on her using her Runic technique. Not that it matters anymore, though…

I'll find a way to get a boat from here, and then I'll be headed to Zozo as soon as possible. I have my ways of getting around, so we'll probably be there in no time. We may already be there by the time you get this. I hope to see you soon. Take care of yourself until we meet up.

Bahamut looked over this a moment. Well…at least this one seemed friendly. The language confused him somewhat, however. He didn't know what all of these things meant. He turned back to Terra and held the letter out to her. "What was he talking about when he started this message?"

Terra reached out to take the note…but hesitated when Bahamut said that. She swallowed a moment, but then took the note from his hand and began to put it away. She bowed her head a little and sighed. "…There were three generals in the Empire: Leo, Kefka, and Celes. The first one never believed in using magical power or technology to win wars. The other two, however…weren't really…'human'. They were both genetically engineered humans who were made into magitek cyborgs while still children. That was why Kefka bore magical power despite lacking magicite. However, though he was engineered to be more powerful…they hadn't perfected the augmenting process with him. It drove him crazy. They perfected it by the time they operated on Celes, however."

The esper raised an eyebrow to this. "So…this Celes was a general of the Empire?"

Terra slowly sighed. "I thought you'd be upset about this…" She murmured aloud. "Please believe me when I tell you she's a good person. We've never been especially close, but both of us know the author of this letter well and we've talked frequently about each other. She did some bad things for the Empire, but she didn't know it until it was too late. She and General Leo were both used by the Empire in the end, and the Emperor ended up betraying them both. When she did realize the true nature of what she was doing, she tried to stop it. She was in the middle of an invasion of South Figaro when she defected and tried to disobey orders to call it off. She was arrested in the end…and eventually she found our way into our ranks. She was the one who got us back together after the Collapse.

"Anyway, the thing is after magical power vanished, her cybernetic components shut down. Her body was starting to reject them, and she got very sick. She's undergone a series of operations to have them removed. Luckily, the researcher who did them is still around, and he was able to reverse most of it. She's a normal woman now. However, she was waiting for her wounds to heal so that she could attempt to have a child with her husband… It looks like they were just about to do it when they got my message."

Terra looked up to Bahamut at that. She saw that the esper was still staring at her. She sighed again.

"I swear…neither she, nor any of us, knew that she had gotten her power from esper energy."

The esper stared back a moment longer. However, in the end, he gave a nod. "Alright. I trust you, Terra. If you say that is so, then I'll believe it."

Terra nodded back in response. She then folded up the messages and put them away in her coat pocket. After doing that, she looked back up and sighed.

"Well…they're all coming. I guess that means we don't have to stay here any more. We should probably get going toward Zozo."

Bahamut stared back a moment, but then gave a ready nod. "Yes. The sooner this is over and done with, the better."

"Then let's eat some breakfast first." Terra responded. "Then we'll rent some chocobos and get over to Zozo. It will still take two days even on them. By the time we get there, everyone else should have arrived."


Bahamut and Terra soon left Maranda behind. Now on the backs of chocobos, they made their way along the peninsula west. It was a long, lonely ride. Most of the creatures in the area were savage, however, and Bahamut wanted to conserve all of his strength for when they got there. After all…he didn't know what to expect. It had been a while since he had done this sort of thing. He hadn't actually gone into an enemy's lair for some time. Usually he just observed. This was an interesting experience indeed…and it made him nervous. He was actually about to go into battle for the first time in centuries. And there was always a risk involved in things like this. And even if he couldn't fear for himself…there would be others with him, ones far more vulnerable and mortal. This was enough to upset him for certain…

The esper tried to focus on the battle to come over the two days. He had to keep himself ready. It had been a while since he had been in battle, but now he had to make sure to strike and strike hard. He couldn't afford to make any mistakes as he used to in the past. He had to clear his mind of all doubt and confusion and attack. The only thing that mattered was eliminating his foes. Nothing else did. He forgot about his bonds to other espers or ancient creatures. That didn't matter anymore. They had thrown off their worth for pity when they embarked on this demented quest, and there was no way to still the anger that they now felt. They had to either surrender or die, or they would hurt more innocent people…perhaps even kill them. And he couldn't let them become strong enough to do worse than what they had done to his home.

As described, there was no one on the roads now. Maranda had issued some warnings about traveling on this path, but Bahamut had seen that none of the populace even considered traveling this road anymore. It was far too dangerous. That left it fairly open to him and Terra, and without attracting notice. He kept scanning the whole time, looking for signs of any enemy coming to stop them. He saw none, and he saw no sign of any high energy readings for scouts. That could be good or bad. There could be spies watching them, and they were simply too low energy to be worthy of Bahamut's notice. He hadn't the time to search each one individually. They came to the end of the first peninsula and began to go north after that a short distance before they went down to rest. Their night was uneventful, and nothing came to try and stop them. The next morning, they were up bright and early and continued. They crossed the rest of the peninsula and reached Jidoor. They didn't bother going there, but turned northeast soon after, now on the mainland. As they did, Bahamut noticed that mountains began to loom in the distance. They were all dark, tall, and forboding, especially in winter. A grim cloud seemed to be around them, and they looked sharp and daggerlike as they scraped the winter sky. Even Great Bahamut found himself unsettled by them… They headed straight for them for a few miles, but once they reached the foot they turned again, and began to go around the dark giants, making their way slowly around and to the north.

The dark cloud didn't let up as they continued to go around. Bahamut felt uneasy again as they went on, fearing what was coming. Eventually, they managed to round the mountain chain enough to be going fully north, and that is the direction they went in now. For a few more hours, they passed alongside the mountain range and headed further north. When they did, Bahamut began to grow conscious that the mountain chain seemed to dip inward up ahead, making a small enclave within the mountains. Within that, Terra explained, was there Zozo was, cut off from the rest of the world. It was darker back there…and the sky began to grow more dreary as they continued onward. But by then, night fell, and they were forced to rest again to be fresh and alert the next morning. Bahamut was nervous about this. He suspected they could be attacked during the night. Fortunately, they weren't…but rather than sit easy with the great esper it only made him more suspicious…

At last, morning came on the next day. It was hard to see at first. It was still dark out, and it looked as if rain wasn't far off by now. Terra muttered at this, saying that it always rained whenever they went to Zozo. The esper wasn't too fond of it either, but he and Terra nevertheless gathered their things together and moved out once again on their rides. This time, as they went north, and began to move perpendicular to the great enclave, they actually moved away from the dark mountains and more to the fields that surrounded the area. As they continued to come that way, Bahamut looked to his left and saw the opening in the mountains become more and more clear. He began to detect some sort of building structure up the side of one mountain…but most of it was still hidden, far away, and shrouded with darkness. It was an unsettling sight. Everything was covered with fog, and had such a dark and gothic look to it that one would think they were looking at the dwelling of an old vampire or something. Even he felt a chill as he looked at it. He didn't scan it yet…but he already had a bad feeling.

"There they are."

That sound from Terra got Bahamut's attention. He turned back around and looked away from the dark sight to the field before him. There, perched around a fault that had burst forth during the Collapse, were a pair of tents. One was far shabbier and dirtier than the other, but they were both in good shape. One bore a spear head as a standard over it, while the other had some sort of mock iron crown on the top of it. Apparently, Terra's friends enjoyed decorating their dwellings. The woman explained that they always did this on the field so they knew who was who. She herself would put a red ribbon over the top of her tents. They were distant at first. However, as the two came closer, the tents opened, and out came four individuals. They turned and faced the two as they continued to come, and Bahamut saw smiles spread on their faces at seeing the half esper. At last, the chocobos came right into the midst of this camp, and were pulled to a halt. Bahamut and Terra both dismounted, and faced the group that had awaited them.

The esper looked them over to get an initial impression. One of them was a somewhat lanky, lithe man, dressed only in loose clothing despite how late in the year it was. He had the same light shirt and vest combination that Bahamut had first worn. His hair was mostly tied back by a bandanna. Close to him was a woman who looked no older than Terra. She was somewhat strange looking. Her features were tight and flawless, and her skin seemed to be pale almost to the point of whiteness. Her shimmering blond hair was without the slightest imperfection, and she was dressed in light, close-to-the-body plate armor with a white cape/coat over it. Most of all…Bahamut noticed that her exposed skin was crisscrossed with very old and deep scars. Next there was a person who had all the nice attire, clean features, and straight tied back hair of a very rich nobleman. He carried himself with a proper air and a pleasant expression, but also reminded Bahamut of some fictional romantic. He bore a much thicker cape/coat…and this one shifted slowly, as if a great many things were beneath it. Finally, there was the last. Although he had the same face and height as the other, the similarities ended there. On smelling the air, Bahamut immediately realized they were twins, but vastly different. The last was far more rugged, and he was built up with close to a hundred pounds of muscle. His clothing was also very loose and nearly ripped by his huge body.

The four didn't hesitate long. The first stepped forward the moment that Terra dismounted, and greeted her with a smile. "You finally made it."

Terra smiled back as she stepped forward, and the two of them embraced. Bahamut knew it was a gesture between two old friends…but having never been in love before he felt jealousy burn in his stomach for a moment. Yet he didn't have to worry about that long. Terra soon broke from the man, and turned and embraced the woman. After that…Bahamut grit his teeth as he saw the romantic gracefully bow and nearly kiss Terra's hand, before she pulled it out of his grasp and shook his hand instead. Finally, she moved to the last, and gave him a hug, seeming to shock the third man a bit…before she too was mildly crushed under his massive body. But after the greetings were over, the others slowly began to turn to Bahamut. When they did…they stared at him in some puzzlement.

"And who is this…?" The third man addressed, looking over Bahamut suspiciously.

Terra reacted to that. She paused a moment, wondering how to best do this. In the end, she slightly turned behind her and gestured to him. "This is B…um…er…"

"Tumahab." Bahamut answered, nearly snapping at the third man, who continued to earn his distrust. "Her fi-"

However, before Bahamut could finish that, Terra quickly elbowed him. It shut him up in a hurry, for it had enough power even to stun his body. However, he looked down in puzzlement at Terra at that. The woman didn't bother turning around…but he soon began to realize why she had done that, and had to admit she was right. None of these people had heard from Terra in a year. No doubt, to suddenly announce when they saw a strange man with her and that she was marrying him would cause some confusion and bewilderment. They could get to this later.

"He's been helping out at Mobliz for close to a year now." Terra continued. "He's great with the kids. And he's a good fighter. He's come to help us."

The four continued to eye this man suspiciously for a moment. This seemed unusual to them. True, they didn't know what Terra had been doing for quite a while…but to see someone strange suddenly with her, who obviously had her trust, was a bit of a stretch. In the end, the first man swallowed, and then began to walk up to him. Once he was in range, he managed a smile and extended a hand to him.

"Well…hello there, Mr. Tumahab. I'm Locke. Locke Cole."

Bahamut hesitated a moment. However, this one was amiable enough. He was a bit distrustful of strange characters, but luckily an esper like him could easily smell and sense true intentions, and saw that this man had pure ones. That was a bit surprising to him, considering how Terra had told him something about him. However, he extended his own hand and shook. Locke, nevertheless, soon grimaced…for even as a human Bahamut's grip was like iron.

"Hello. Terra has told me about you. You're the thief, correct?"

In response, the man immediately turned red. His face became angry, and he turned to Terra with an almost pouting look. "You told him I was a thief!" He outburst at her, causing the woman to innocently shrug. "How many times do I have to tell everyone! I'm a treasure hunter!"

"Ex-treasure hunter." The woman behind him suddenly spoke up, beginning to walk forward toward him. When she did, Locke paled a little, and extruded his hand from Bahamut. Meanwhile, the woman slid in behind Locke and formed a teasing smile. She put a hand on his shoulder and leaned in close to his ear to speak in a near whisper. "Unless you haven't been out on trading trips all those times you tell me you have to leave for a few days."

Locke grinned sheepishly, and scratched the back of his head. He began to sweat. "Um…yeah. That's it. Keep forgetting…heh."

Bahamut looked to this woman now…and struggled not to lose his pleasant expression. He reminded himself again that if Terra said she was alright, she was alright. After all, he had been distrustful of the half esper at first as well.

"…General Celes, I presume?"

The woman stiffened at that. Her own smile faded, and Bahamut detected the apprehension at that title. "…I stopped being a general some time ago, Mr. Tumahab." She answered back with an expressionless look. "And the nation I operated under is no more. My name is Celes Cole."

Bahamut saw that he had struck a raw nerve with that, and the reaction of the woman was so strong and restrained that he himself was taken a bit aback. And so, he resumed his smile and gave a nod. "My apologies. So…" He looked from Locke to Celes real quickly. "You two are married?"

"Yes." Celes flatly answered, her own look still rather hard and expressionless. Bahamut didn't show it, but he swallowed within. Great. He was already creating bad blood between the group members. In all fairness, he hadn't tried to be very accepting first though. He had to watch that a bit more. His smile faltered a bit, and he decided to look away and turn to the next member. That was unfortunate, however…for this is the one who held the far majority of his apprehension and distrust.

At any rate, this man gave a more masculine, less grand bow to Tumahab. "I am Edgar, King of Figaro." He stated simply, not filling it with any more fluff or dialogue as he had with Terra. In fact, he now acted mostly like just a normal person. Obviously, it seemed like he was saving most of his patter for the ladies.

Bahamut looked back to him a moment. "A king? Well…shouldn't you be taking care of your subjects right now, like a responsible ruler?"

Terra turned and gave a frown to Bahamut at that. However, that was nothing compared to how the big guy reacted. Suddenly, he stepped forward and put himself in between Bahamut and his twin. He glared at him darkly, and actually shoved him a little in the chest.

"Hey…if you have a problem with my big brother, you've got one with me."

There's an ironic statement if I've ever heard one. Bahamut thought, as he saw how massive this one was compared to his twin. However, the king, a bit unsettled at first, nevertheless reached out and placed his hand on his twin's shoulder. The bigger one bristled a bit longer, turning back to him, and then back to Bahamut. But finally, with a dark look, he moved to one side. With that done, Edgar stepped forward again.

"I think I can best take care of my subjects by personally handling the potential threat, rather than sit in a comfortable throne and order my army to die for me. Wouldn't you agree?"

Bahamut was forced to pause at that. In truth…he had just played a pot calling the kettle black. After all, he always preferred to deal with things personally rather than send other espers out to do them when he was king. And now, he earned a dark look from Terra, and an additional elbow in the side. The esper frowned a bit. He was quickly burning bridges before he had a chance to even build them. He had to relax a bit more before he earned the chagrin of the entire assembly.

With that done, Bahamut turned to the last man. He crossed his arms and gave him a glare, not bothering to extend any greetings at the moment. He didn't even offer his name. In the end, however, Edgar gestured to him and announced him. "This is my twin brother, Sabin."

Bahamut was about to throw out a comment asking if a few seconds of birth differences led Edgar to become the rich, elegant noble before him while Sabin was the hard-skinned, impoverished looking "second born". However, he decided against it. Obviously, Sabin loved his brother, and if he threw out another comment like that he might be forced to take a human's punch in the mouth. And so, he merely turned to the man and gave a short nod. It wasn't returned. Grimacing a bit, Bahamut turned away and back to Terra.

The woman sighed a bit herself, not liking how they were getting off on the wrong foot. However, she looked back to everyone again. "So…" Locke suddenly announced. "What exactly are we dealing with here? You said something along the lines of monsters actually organizing."

"That sounds almost like stuff out of the fairy tales I heard as a kid." Edgar added. "I mean…with monsters actually being intelligent enough to get together and organize. Usually, we only run into dim-witted beasts…with a few exceptions. Then again…considering what we've been through with the espers, I suppose we should be ready to believe in anything."

"I assure you, these creatures are organized." Bahamut replied, his own voice growing serious. "In ages past, espers interbred with many other species at times, producing bloodlines that possessed intelligence. There were also many foul experiments done through the ages that produced beings of similar nature. As of late, the world has grown very inhospitable for them, what with humanity nearly dominating everything on Gaia. However, they have found a leader who will organize them…and is now directing their collective hatred of humanity toward war. If left unchecked, they will eventually wage war."

The others stared back at Bahamut at this, a bit distrusting of how strange this sounded, but at the same time unable to shake the seriousness of the esper's voice. Sabin tightened his arms and glared at him a bit. "And how do you happen to know all of this?" He finally asked. "What makes you so special? I've never even seen you before, and I've been to every town in the world."

Bahamut was untroubled by this statement. "It doesn't matter how I know. What matters is how you are going to deal with it. Suffice to say, Terra knows how I know this, and she trusts me, just as I trust you without fully knowing all of you based on what she has said. However, this next part I know because Ireceived it from one of my attackers. They are being led by an esper."

Now, the four others did react in surprise, backing up a bit and gaping at Bahamut.

"An esper?" Celes echoed.

"That can't be possible." Edgar added. "When we destroyed the three statues…"

"I don't want to go into detail about why it does not matter that they were destroyed, but again, the long and short is that because this esper was still alive, he did not disappear. There is much about the nature of magic and energy flow involved in this, and the distinctness from the Planet's energy and the soul, both of which humanity has little concept of."

Locke raised an eyebrow to this. "And you do, I'm guessing?"

"I do." Bahamut simply answered.

"Yet…you aren't willing to share any of this with us?" Celes added.

"I only told you so that you would be ready." Bahamut responded. "This is a creature more dangerous than any common monster, and it will still have the ability to use magical powers, unlike the rest of you. That could cause some problems. This thing should not turn into magicite once it is dead, so you don't have to worry about anyone else taking its powers for themselves. But killing it will still be a problem, and it won't be easy."

The group hesitated at that. They stared at Bahamut uneasily. They were all still very distrustful of him. This didn't seem to make sense. Who was this strange man? Why did Terra trust him? And how did he know all of these things? If he was a researcher on espers, he should have been in Vector. They had all the scientists, and even Engineer Cid's theories had been incorrect about most of esper knowledge. Furthermore…after seeing what had happened to all of the shards of magicite, it was ridiculous to believe that any esper still lived. None of them believed that part, and were only made more apprehensive when Bahamut refused to elaborate on it. If it was just Bahamut, they might have turned and left. But because Terra was here, and because she trusted him, they admitted that had to count for something. Still…none of them trusted Bahamut that much, and began to question Terra's trust in him. They would be watching them… Yet in the end, they caved in.

"Well…alright then." Locke finally answered with a shrug. "I'll be game for this."

"Me too." Celes answered.

"It'd be too rude of me to neglect to assist a lady." Edgar added…making Bahamut growl under his breath.

"And I guess that counts me in too." Sabin finally added, although grudgingly. "Let's get in there and kick his ass."

At this, however, Edgar suddenly made a halting gesture. "Hold on one moment first. This is a chance to test out a function on one of my inventions."

With that, the king drew back his coat and reached down inside it. Bahamut watched him, but was able to see little beneath it. However, a moment later, Edgar came back out wielding some sort of strange machine with a few lenses on it. Taking this device, he immediately raised it up to his head and began to fasten it alongside it. The esper looked at this in puzzlement, not having much of a concept or love for human devices. However, even if he didn't, he would have been confused at the level of sophistication that Edgar's inventions displayed. The others looked to him in intrigue as well.

"Isn't that your old Debilitator device?" Terra asked.

"Debilitator?" Bahamut asked in genuine puzzlement.

"It is." Edgar returned as he took a long cable from this device and fastened it to his waist, which appeared to connect to another device. "I've just added some extra features to it. I always enjoyed using the ability to scan my opponents when we could use magic, and sense I lost it I've been trying to get it back. To that end, I've perfected this device. It will enable me to see how strong an opponent is before we encounter it. I also thought it might be interesting to see how good we are after all this time."

Edgar finished plugging this cable into the other device, and adjusted a few switches. After he did, a sort of whining sound emitted from the machine, causing Bahamut to recoil. Was it going to explode? Or was it alive? Neither was true, of course. A few lights turned on around the edges of the machine, and the lens that was now positioned over one of Edgar's eyes began to contract and expand. It amazed the esper, who leaned in again and gazed at it in intrigue. Edgar began to look around the others for a moment. In the end, he turned his head to Celes first. She leapt back a bit, thinking that Edgar was going to shoot her with some strange device. However, he simply pressed a button on the side of his device instead.

"Alright…Celes, you're at 3,002."

The female warrior looked back at him a moment and blinked. "3,002? 3,002 what?"

"Oh, those are just the energy units that I've set up." The king responded. "For reference, the typical adult male has about 100."

"Oh, really?" Celes asked in pleasant surprise, seeing how much higher she was than a typical person. With that, she struck a little pose, showing off her pride with herself, as she did from time to time at events like this.

"How strong are you, big brother?" Sabin asked after a moment.

"Well…let's find out." He answered, reaching up to his head and slowly and carefully removing the device. Very carefully, he went over and placed it on Sabin's own head, a bit to the confusion of the bigger man. Once it was there, he shifted it so that the lens was over his own eye, and he stayed close to keep from ripping it off by the cable.

"Whoa…everything's green in one eye…"

"That's just the lens. Now, just look right at me…"

"Uh-huh…"

"And reach up and press that button."

"This one…?"

"No! That one!"

"Oh, ok."

Sabin finally pressed the right button after making Edgar sweat a moment. His younger brother wasn't nearly so mechanically inclined. After a moment, he looked a bit puzzled. "Hey…there's a number over here…"

"Yes, what's it say?"

"2,889."

Celes was a bit surprised. "What? You're that close to me?"

Edgar quickly began to remove the device from Sabin's head, not wishing to push his luck. "Well…you're not the cyborg you used to be, Celes. If you still had the magitek power, you'd be a lot stronger than how you are now. And the magicite helped us all to get radically stronger."

The ex-general still frowned a bit at this, having lost her reason to boast so easily. After that, Edgar reattached the device on his head, and turned around to look to Locke. "Alright, your turn, Locke."

The thief developed a smug smile, drew his dagger, and made a bit of a dangerous pose. Edgar once again pressed the button. After he did…he quickly stifled a snicker. He struggled not to laugh as he read the value.

"…1,438."

Locke's face immediately fell and turned bright red. Both Sabin and Edgar had to put their hands to their mouths and struggle not to laugh. Celes herself tried to suppress a smile, seeing as that meant that she was over twice as strong as her husband. Slowly, Locke put his dagger back in his pocket and began to look smaller as he turned around in place.

After a few moments, they recovered. Edgar looked back up again. "Alright…your turn, Terra."

The woman reacted a bit to that. "Me? Well…alright."

Edgar soon focused the lens on her yet. The button was once again pressed, and the machine reacted. When it finished, Edgar's eyes expanded slightly in a look of being impressed.

"Not bad…3,460."

The others turned and looked to that as well, surprised to see that Terra had the highest rating among them all so far. They expected Celes to be able to outdo her at least. Since Terra had "become human", they thought that her strength would be much lower. Evidently, they were wrong. Terra herself blushed a bit. Bahamut looked at her, and cracked a knowing smile. The truth was, she still did have her powers, including her magical ones. What more, when she turned into an esper, there was no telling how high that little device would go.

"That's pretty good, Terra." Locke mentioned. "You must have still been practicing."

"Well…not really…" Terra managed to half-mumble in reply.

"Alright…now for the big one." Edgar finally stated. He turned away from Terra and focused on his "little" brother. Once there, Sabin flexed and showed off his own strength for a moment in one of his own poses. Edgar pressed the button again. It took the machine longer than anyone before in order to calculate the true value. In the end, Edgar looked pleasantly amazed.

"And…the winner is…Sabin at 4,024."

The muscle-bound man grinned a bit and chuckled at his own rating. "Maybe I've been overdoing it a bit… Though I know Terra could still give me a run for my money if I'm just that high."

"…And what about me?"

Everyone paused at that, and turned to who had spoken. Standing their simply…but having a bit of his own ego stoked by this exchange…was Bahamut. He looked perfectly innocent and calm, but did look to them with some anticipation. Terra hesitated a moment, wondering what was going to come from this. The others had their looks of some apprehension return toward the strange man.

"I'd like to see my level of power as well." Bahamut simply stated.

The group paused a bit longer. However, in the end, it seemed simple enough. Edgar at last gave a shrug. "Alright…" He answered, before turning to him, focusing him in the lens, and pressing the button.

A few moments of silence went by. During that time, the device continued to beep and register. Everyone stood and waited. Edgar himself was calm looking at first…but then he began to look confused. He grew progressively more so as time went on. His mouth began to slacken as he stared at the number on his machine. Sabin, not understanding it wasn't finished, finally took a step forward and called out. "So what is he at, already?"

"6,000…and rising…" Edgar slowly responded.

Now, it was everyone else's turn to react. He was already stronger than Sabin. They turned and looked to Bahamut, who simply stood there very calmly in response. He scratched the side of his face but continued to stand and wait. As he did, Edgar continued to gape at the machine…which only continued to beep.

"Passing 7,000…8,000…9,000…" He hesitated, and then truly sounded shocked. "10,000…! I thought it was physically impossible for a human to break that barrier…"

Bahamut merely breathed on his knuckles and rubbed them against his chest. By now, everyone but Terra was considerable shocked at Bahamut's level of power. They began to actually back away from him, staring at him in mixtures of surprise and fear that something could be that strong. Yet Edgar only continued to read off numbers.

"12,000…13,000…14,000…"

Terra began to sweat a little herself now, fearing that this would only upset the others. Edgar began to fiddle with his device, trying to see if it was broken. The others stared uneasily at Bahamut. By now, he could beat them all single-handedly. However, he didn't look at all surprised by these numbers, and continued to stand as they continued to ascend.

"18,000…19,000…20,000…!"

"Brother…are you sure you're reading that right?" Sabin asked, sounding totally disbelieving.

Yet still there was silence as Bahamut's massive power was revealed. It lasted a bit longer. But then, at long last, the machine stopped running. Edgar put a hand up to it. It was hot now. Any more, and it might have overheated. However, he was nearly apoplectic at the rating he saw. He might want to deny it like the others, but unlike the others he knew his machine was reading right. He built it, after all. Swallowing a bit, he read the final value.

"…23,565."

The others were stunned into silence. They had a good grasp of each other's abilities, and they knew that their own powers had to be comparible to the numbers that Edgar had given them. But to see this new stranger at such a high level… It astonished them all. Who was this person anyway? How could he attain such a level of strength, and yet have never made himself known until now? Bahamut himself stood calmly throughout all of this. When he saw the others staring at him, he merely gave them a shrug.

"Well…I do get a lot of exercise. And I don't smoke."

The others stared at him blankly in response.

Seeing a need to put an end to this, Terra immediately stepped forward. "Alright now…that's enough of that. We need to get going. Let's move out into Zozo."

She turned and immediately made to go that way. Bahamut soon turned and followed after her. The others continued to hold back. Now, they had a new reason to be nervous about this new individual. There was little doubt in Edgar's mind that this was something nonhuman. As he had said before, every theory confirmed that a human body wasn't capable, under its own power, of breaking a rating of 9,999. If that was correct…then what did that make this new person? Who was he anyway? And why was Terra warming up to him so much? What had been going on in the past year?

None of them knew. They only felt even more earnest to keep an eye on Bahamut now. With that in mind, they slowly began to walk after them.


The old spell of bad luck seemed to hold true for them. It was raining again when they entered Zozo.

Bahamut had felt more chills as he passed into the ring of mountains. It was very forboding…and cold. An icy wind kept whipping past them. It was uncomfortable even for him, and most of his group huddled in their own capes and cloaks. Only Sabin seemed to be able to weather it. There was nothing growing around here. No trees, no grass…no plants of any kind. Only the cracked, ruined plain greeted them as they made their way onward. There were no sentries or people either. Just ruined wagons that had long since been pillaged, and a few hastily painted messages warning away anyone. However, those had been there since prior to the Collapse. Zozo was never a place anyone willingly went. The sky continued to grow darker and darker as they passed into the cold mountains, almost seeming to turn the place into night. Bahamut wasn't sure if it was time for the sun to go down yet, but it didn't seem to matter much.

It still stayed above freezing, which was somewhat of a mixed blessing. If it hadn't…when the rain started to fall, it might have come in easy-to-brush-off flakes. Instead, soon it swelled from a drizzle to a downpour, and freezing cold rain drummed down on all of them. Even Sabin took out a battered rag of a cloak to put over his head at that point, and Bahamut was glad for his own wide hat. Mist rose up from their mouths into the wet, cold, virtual night as they marched on deeper into this silent, lifeless valley. Mountains began to enclose them on all sides, looming tall and dark in the already bleak environment. It sucked the enthusiasm and joy out of anyone who came into this place optimistically. Bahamut was nearly disgusted by it as he sloshed through mud. What manner of dark city was this? What sort of hive of filth and wickedness could this sort of place hold? Had someone once built it with good in mind? Or was it always this grim?

At last, the group began to pass into the main streets of Zozo, navigating their way in between a small rocky channel. Bahamut looked up despite the cold rain to see how it was. The mountains hugged the town tight on every side, and a mist from them hovered low over it, plunging the town into a perpetual night as well as this horrible rainstorm. With little room to spread out, most of the town was built up instead. Huge buildings, stretching up for hundreds of feet, went into the sky everywhere, crowded around smaller, stone covered streets. Many of the streets were in ruins now, but at one time all of them had been paved, and had railings on the sides along with pavement there. That appeared to be for walkways. Old pictures and advertisements, rotted with age of countless years and in languages that Bahamut couldn't understand, hung from every street. To be honest…this city looked advanced to the esper. More advanced than any basic human city he had seen until now. It incorporated architecture that was beyond the common homes and houses he saw everywhere he went. The question was, how come it was rotting away here like an ages old ruin? Perhaps this town was yet another relic from the War of the Magi…

"I don't like this." Celes suddenly remarked, as they began to walk into the midst of these great skyscraping buildings.

Bahamut gave a shrug. "It is dreary, but at least we haven't run into anything yet."

"That's just it." Locke responded. "Until now, we haven't been able to set foot in Zozo without being attacked by no less than six muggers. Where is everyone?"

Bahamut didn't answer that. After all…there were only bad answers that seemed likely possibilities. Instead, he turned and continued to walk onward. They all did so, although they looked around a bit more at the buildings and streets, for any signs of life or spies…all the while growing a bit more uneasy about this entire setup…

"Heh heh heh…well, look who's still alive."

Bahamut immediately turned and snapped his head upward to the sound of that voice. It was coming from over them, most likely from one of the buildings. In another moment, he would have focused on it. But then, he turned back, for he noticed that the others had frozen on hearing it. What more…dark looks began to come over their faces as they stood there, and somewhat tired expressions…

"What's wrong?" He addressed.

"We know that laugh…" Terra darkly answered, almost sounding a little tired.

With that, the six of them turned up to the voice. Now, they did focus on the source of it. Bahamut himself frowned a bit. Curling halfway over a railing, gnashing gigantic, slime-dripping teeth, and looking to be the perfect picture of cruelty and maliciousness, was a fat, purple octopus. Of course, it couldn't be a true octopus. They couldn't run around on land like this. It had to be some descent from an esper-like creature. At any rate, its huge eyes flashed with wickedness, and it menacingly tightened its huge tentacles around the railing as it stared down at them.

"I could say the same for you, Slimeball." Sabin shot back to the octopus creature.

"Why did you decide to go solo?" Locke called up to the thing, seeing it was alone. "Did Chupon get as annoyed with you as we did?"

The octopus grit his teeth at that, seeming to be rather irritated with them for the insults. "It's not like I need his help to squeeze your guts out and use them for shortening…but suffice to say after Lord Nireevyou busted us out of the Colosseum, he decided to mouth off one day to the big man. And by the way…" Here, he grinned wide again. "You'd all do very well to be scared of a guy who smacks away Mr. Chupon's sneezes, and then comes forward to turn him inside out…literally."

Bahamut wasn't at all intimidated by this. The ugly creature above him seemed to be a meaningless braggart. However…he noticed that the others changed at that. They all stiffened in response to this, and seemed a bit surprised at what he had said. On seeing this, Bahamut turned down to Terra. "What is he talking about?" He asked her quietly.

"Chupon was Ultros'…his...fighting partner. We fought with him a lot before the Colosseum was destroyed. No matter how strong we became…we could never beat him, because he would always blow his opponent away with his sneeze attack before one could get close to defeating him. I didn't think anything could kill him because of that…"

The esper frowned a bit at this. However…he was also a bit intrigued. He had never heard of such an attack before…save in one individual. There was this one esper he knew of right before he departed Gaia…who seemed to do a similar move when he got tired of fighting. But that one's name hadn't been Chupon… At any rate, he shrugged it off for now. It was irrelevant. His main concern now was focusing on this "Ultros" character.

"How about you get down here?" Sabin challenged. "I still owe you for the Lete River and the Airship. And without you're little buddy here to help you, you're all mine."

"Heh. And without your magic, and your ability to use fire against me," Ultros sneered in response. "You're all just a six course meal. Luckily for all of you, I'm feeling a bit full this evening, and so I think I'll just introduce my friends."

Edgar raised an eyebrow at that. "…Friends?"

Bahamut, however, called out to the creature. "We have no interest in you or any other creature here, save for your Lord Nireevyou. Bring him out here."

"Oh? Who have we here?" Ultros remarked on hearing this, turning his attention to the new arrival. "New meat, it looks like. Though with all that white hair, he looks a little stringy for me. Well, ol' geezer, I'm afraid that's not how it works. Lord Nireevyou is a very busy man, so he's arranged for his lead guardians, the strongest of all his fighters, to handle all personal calls. Now me? I'm naturally the best out of them all. But let me introduce the others…"

With that, one of the windows of the building was suddenly kicked in. The group turned their attention to that, and soon saw a figure leap out and stand on the awning. He was an ugly, pudgy creature, dressed in clothing far too tight for it. His whole body was bright red, and his face had so much fat his eyes were nearly squished. He was bald save for a single tuft of hair that stuck out at the top, and his body was covered with belts that had small oddly shaped devices in them. His fat face smiled as he posed in victory.

"Duke of demolition, Manzan…"

Another window broke after that, on another building, prompting the group to turn and look to see the new sight. This time, it was a tall, lanky creature. Its arms and legs were both longer than its torso, and its fingers appeared to have more joints than normal in them. His nose was long and curved, and his head appeared to be bent back in a similar curve. His body was some putrid yellow, although mottled with black blotches that appeared to be old burns and scars. He reached into his sides with a smile and pulled out a pair of giant boomerangs, which would take a normal person their whole body to handle, but took him only one hand apiece.

"Lord of long-range, Platno…"

Yet another entrance was signified with breaking glass, and out popped yet another figure. This one was huge. Yet all of his muscles were rounded, almost as if he was made out of a multitude of balls rather than actual muscles. They connected well enough, however, and as he grinned and flexed he made them bulge. He was easily the largest of all, and didn't appear to have any clothes on that would possibly fit his gigantic body. He cracked his massive, ball-composed fists and grinned out of a great circular jaw at his foes below. His whole body was a bright orange color.

"Sultan of smash, Anaranda…"

Finally, the glass broke two floors underneath Ultros. Making the grandest entrance, sweeping a cape around himself and looking both proud and debonair as he stepped out, was the last. He looked fairly humanoid shape as opposed to the others, although he was much taller. His neck was thicker, seeming to extend directly from his head down into his shoulders. He had long hair that was combed so that half of it covered his face, and he dressed himself in elegant clothing as he drew himself up before the others. His look was smug and confident, and his skin was a bright violet.

"And last but not least… Prince of pain, Chile!"

The five warriors looked down on the six. For a moment, there was silence as they stared at each other, and the softly falling rain was the only sound anyone heard. Bahamut reached out and scanned each of these individuals. As indicated by their order, they ascended in strength stepwise, with the red one being a pushover, and the octopus being the strongest. Of course, that was all relative. Bahamut realized he could take them all on at once. This wouldn't be a problem…just a delay.

Terra drew Atma Weapon and ignited it. Celes soon joined her with her own glorious blade, which actually caught Bahamut's eye for a moment. On looking to it, he saw it was none other than Ragnarok. He chuckled inwardly at the thought. So…the legendary blade of the espers had found its way back into the hands of those who fought with him now. How interesting… Locke drew his own blade, which, unknown to Bahamut, was no weak matter either. It was the Gradeus, the strongest knife in the world, made of a metal so refined the knowledge had been lost with the War of the Magi, and now had no equal. Sabin adjusted a pair of claws over his hands that looked like modified tiger fangs to Bahamut, but he looked to use some different attack besides them… Finally, Edgar reached into his coat again, and pulled out a tremendous device. It looked to Bahamut like some sort of crossbow…but it was so heavily modified he couldn't tell what it was. The king leveled it against his gaze and aimed for the nearest target, however. With this done, Bahamut turned back to them and cracked his neck.

"I'm afraid, Mr. Ultros, that you are still outnumbered." He simply said to him. "I strongly suggest you surrender, before you make us angry."

Ultros snorted at him. "We have a regular egomaniac here, boys." He announced to the surrounding monsters. They all grinned and snickered in response. He flashed his eyes menacingly at Bahamut…and the esper didn't like that stare. It was a look of confidence…like one that happened when a trap was going to be sprung. Immediately, he began to scan the surrounding area…

"You see…I thought the same thing, old man. That's why I called a few more friends."

Bahamut picked up on the signal too late…as a new surprise occurred.

Abruptly, every remaining pain of glass was broken as a new monster burst through it and onto the awning. The roofs were filled with creatures who began to run down the sides, jumping from one window to another. The fire escapes were filled as the creatures ran down them. Doors were broken open, revealing floods of them as they came out. They poured down the alleys, turning the corners and coming out to meet the group. They came from everywhere, every possible direction that one could come from. Soon, they surrounded them above and below on every side. They formed a ring around them, with hundreds more behind filling the streets and brandishing their weapons. They hung from rails and howled at them. If that wasn't enough…three great Gigases came out, tall and hulking with muscle, and proceeded to roll gigantic boulders back the way they had come from. Within moments, they had successfully blocked off the way back out again. Now, they were surrounded. No less than a thousand monsters now surrounded them all on every side, each one of them itching to slice their foes to pieces.

"Now you all play nice." Ultros addressed them all. As he did, the four other warriors gave them one last confident smile before simply turning and walking back through the holes they had made, leaving this behind. As for the octopus, he too headed over to a new doorway. On seeing this, the others, besides Bahamut, recognized this as the entrance to Mt. Zozo. He strolled up to it, opened the doorway, and began to go through. "And bring me some doggie bags from each of them. I'll be hungry by then." With that, he shut the door behind him, leaving the six and the monsters behind.

Sabin cursed and turned his attention below. Locke did the same as he began to wave his dagger. Edgar groaned and turned his crossbow to the crowds around him. Celes likewise began to grow nervous and sweaty as she held her sword up. Terra forced herself to show nothing as she prepared her own weapon.

As for Bahamut…he merely looked once around himself, and then shrugged.

"Alright everyone…I give you one chance to surrender."

A wave of hot, foul breath greeted the esper as they all roared in response, blasting them all with deafening noise. After that…they immediately began to charge forward, swinging their weapons in dangerous arcs.

Bahamut cracked a grin. "Have it your way."


To be continued...