Zozo turned into a bloodbath.

As the creatures present attacked, they soon found out that even with superior numbers, the six opponents were far from pushovers. Only a fistful of them were strong enough to even give them trouble. The rest of them soon learned the meaning of pain as they attempted to bring down their foes.

Terra danced freely through their ranks with Atma Weapon, slicing through metal, flesh, and bone alike as she went. She needed merely swirl around and bring her weapon down again and again in order to remove body parts. All weapons were useless against her as she struck down upon her foes, not even needing to bring up any of her magical power or transformation during the exchange.

Celes was much the same way. The woman was far weaker thanher cyborg self, but she was still far from harmless. And with the power of Ragnarok, she was as deadly as Terra. She had to use more skill, but her hardened instincts and battle capabilities made her strong against any assault. She too spinned and dodged, a picture of poetry in motion, as she swung her blade through her enemies. There wasn't a weapon or foe that could stand up to Ragnarok's power, and soon they began to fall in great numbers around her.

Locke probably had the most trouble. Even with the powerful Gradeus, the sheer number of opponents that attacked him made it hard to keep up. Fortunately, he wasn't one of the world's greatest thieves because he was sluggish or sloppy. What he lacked in strength he more than made up in speed, frustrating his opponents and baiting them into stabbing each other. He managed to avoid getting a single mark on him, while leaving many of his own, as he darted about.

Edgar was more constructive. He initially let the army charge him…and on drawing close enough he simply used his flash device to blind the lot of them. After that, he unloaded several clips of arrows from his autocrossbow into the opposition. His own assault took down nearly all of the flying combatants before he shifted tactics. Once that was done, he pulled out a device with a great circular saw on the end, and turned himself into a living spin attack, causing limbs and blood to fly everywhere around him in his chaotic wake.

Sabin flexed the strength he possessed to its limit. It wasn't enough that he slashed, punched, and pounded his opponents away. He began to envoke his own deadly techniques. Abruptly, he moved so fast he turned into a half dozen images of fire, moving so quickly that he smashed into the enemy like fireballs. He next spun around so fast that he seemed to turn the air itself into a blade, and flung these into his enemy as well. It took no time at all for a hundred opponents to be stacked at his feet.

But Bahamut was by far the worst.

He strolled calmly into the masses of bloodthirsty monsters that surrounded him. Each one of them launched themselves at him…only to suddenly be struck dead by a single grievous blow. The enemy kept assaulting, but they dropped like flies once they were in Bahamut's range. He never stopped smiling or lost his calm. The enemy didn't even know how he was doing it. After he killed some seventy of them, they began to grow fearful. Realizing they weren't doing that good…they tried to back off. That was useless too. Suddenly, Bahamut was in their ranks, and within a second had killed ten of them. Then he would disappear and reappear somewhere else, this time killing twenty. The monsters soon went from angry to being scared. They began to shrink away from this one, terrified about what he was doing to them and how easily. They began to feel he was an unnatural demon, not a mortal.

The enemy continued to charge again and again, only to be cut down one after another. They were unable to make any headway on their foes, and soon a circle of destruction was being maintained around them. The six began to use that to their advantage. Rather than staying put and killing them all, they began to back up in the direction that Ultros came from. It took some time to fight their way through the oncoming hoards, but as they continued to kill one after another they began to become less prone to attacking, giving them the room to get to the building. Once they battled their way to the doorway, they entered in, continuing to kill the legions that were awaiting within, and made their way to the stairs. They quickly ascended there, shoving off enemies left and right as they made their way up and to the balcony. Now, the enemies were forced through a bottleneck, and the six quickly finished off all those ahead of them. That left only monsters to attack them from behind, and they stayed back. Without the advantage of numbers, they knew that the first to attack would be the first to die. And Bahamut himself took the rear, the foe which none of them dared engage. The group continued to go up the rest of the escape, until they found themselves on Ultros' level. They then made their way to the door. It no longer was made impassible by rust, but it was locked. Luckily, a single focused Blitz from Sabin knocked it in, and they quickly went through. After doing so, they slammed the door shut again.

"We need to find a way to seal it!" Celes insisted.

The group looked around for a moment, now that they had a reprieve. However, there was nothing to be found. They were definitely on the path to Mt. Zozo, but there was nothing but a rock cave right here. Bahamut leaned against the door to barricade it for the time being, but soon he felt it smashed from the other side. A person like him could hold it without buckling, but he couldn't stay there forever. The others continued to look, trying to find any object that could be used. But with the lock smashed, there was nothing.

"Maybe I could drill out some rock to put it in front of the door…" Edgar suggested.

However, in answer to this, Terra suddenly stepped forward. Her face was hard and focused as she did so. "No…" She slowly answered. "That won't be necessary."

The others looked to Terra after she said this, but she didn't react to them. Instead, she leaned in closely to the door. After doing so, she closed her eyes and folded her hands again. Moments later, all of the other humans in the group leapt back in surprise as they had the first time they saw Terra do this…for a red aura exploded out from her once again as it had that time ago. She focused her energy on the side of the door soon after, and abruptly flames raked across the cracks within it. The heat was so strong that it melted the metal, welding it to the frame. She quickly did it around the edge, and within moments the door was secured. Bahamut leaned off of it at this, and the enemy continued to pound behind. Yet for now, it was a barrier they couldn't overcome.

"That will hold them a little, but we should move out quickly." Bahamut stated.

No one was going anywhere right away, however. As Bahamut and Terra both turned and looked, they found the others staring at them in confusion. Terra herself soon blushed and bowed her head. She was found out again, it seemed. Her secret was out.

"Alright…time out for a second." Locke suddenly interjected. "Now I know there has to be something going on here. Just exactly who are you…and how is Terra still able to do magic?"

Bahamut frowned and muttered under his breath. He was afraid that something like this would happen. In the end, he shook his head. "It's too late now to stop for explanations. We need to move out before the enemy gets any closer."

"I'm kind of with Locke." Celes added, gesturing to the thief. "My components all went dead, and everyone else lost their abilities. I was under the impression that magical power vanished with the espers. Is it because Terra didn't disappear that she retained her power or something?"

"I think I'm going to have to go with the mystery guy on postponing that…" Sabin suddenly spoke up. The others looked to him, and saw that his head was turned behind them toward the exit from the cave. "We've got more company."

The others quickly looked. Sure enough, more foes were coming already. These ones were the giant bear-like creatures that were particular to Mt. Zozo. There were about four of them on their way toward the others. However, just as they reached the entrance to the cave, they framed themselves in the doorway and roared, swiping their claws at them. Sabin didn't let them rage and foam for very long, and didn't look ready to wait for them. He brandished his fangs again and turned his full attention to the creatures.

"What's the matter? Chicken out already?" He called out to them challengingly. "Well too bad, because here I come." Immediately, the martial arts master charged after them.

"Wait a minute, brother!" Edgar called out after him, soon taking off in his footsteps. "Don't you remember what happened at the Lete River?"

"Both of you stop!" Bahamut called out to them, although he didn't run. "It could be a-"

Bahamut's warning was too late. Sabin was already to the opening, and almost out to lay into the bears. Edgar was trailing right behind him. However, as they tooka crucial step on the floor…abruptly it gave way all together. Giving out a mutual yell, the twins suddenly fell through the stone walkway as it crumbled into fragments beneath their feet, collapsing into what was beneath. The remaining members heard an echo as they fell, that continued to last for some time. It was obvious that wherever they fell was not a small pit, but a rather long tunnel. The bears, on seeing this, grinned, and then turned and ran away, safely on their side of the pit.

The esper frowned. "…trap." He finished lamely. He uttered a sigh. "Shall we go after them?"

"Don't worry about Edgar and Sabin." Celes returned. "There's not much in the world that can stand up to them. We should go on ahead."

The others agreed to this after a moment, and the four of them continued. They made their way up to the pit that had formed in the floor. They took a moment to look down, but even Bahamut with his keen vision could see little. Luckily, it wasn't too far to go over. One by one, the group members leapt over the opening and to the opposite side. On doing so, they quickly emerged into the outdoor area.

Bahamut was somewhat pleased on coming out. Here, the cloud cover was faded somewhat. He wasn't sure where they had gone exactly, but they seemed to have ascended above the rain a little. There was a light drizzle, but the sun was beating down overhead already. The clouds must have sank low around Zozo before raining… That was a curious effect. The esper thought again that the city might have held some power in it prior to the War of the Magi. Perhaps that was why Nireevyou had picked it. Ahead of them, there was a trail that went around and up the mountain behind Zozo. It was mostly blank right now. All that lined the rocky peak was grass forming a path. There was a somewhat rickety bridge ahead as well, one that Bahamut would never have dreamed of setting foot on if he couldn't fly, but nothing else. The bears had vanished. Bahamut quickly scanned the area…and frowned at the result. The whole mountain was filled with life. Any number of traps or ambushes could be awaiting them.

Only one way to find out…

The four continued to move along, keeping their weapons out and a wary eye. They looked above and below them, at the other entrances to the passages in the mountains. At any moment, something might spring out and attempt an attack. In particular, Bahamut feared what was overhead. That could launch projectiles or heavy objects down on the people below. Yet nothing came at first. They managed to make it to the rickety bridge without incident, and began to cross.

Bahamut held a moment. "Are you sure this is safe?"

"We've crossed it in fours before." Celes replied. "At least…me, Sabin, Edgar, and Setzer did…"

The esper supposed that would have to do, and went along with them.

The going was pretty well. The bridge creaked too much for Bahamut's taste, and he could look down and see a rather long and jaggedly terminated drop beneath them. It made the great esper a bit nervous. The swaying didn't help. However, it did hold as all four went on. They began to make it across without causing much in the way of trouble, and it seemed to be alright…

"Ha!"

The esper, however, thought too soon. Suddenly, he snapped his head up to the sound of the voice. So did the others. Soon, they saw that shapes were facing the direction they were coming. The group was shocked. They hadn't seen them a moment ago. But now, they seemed to stick out of reality somewhat…as if they were some sort of blur of what was visible. Moments later, however, they all turned a dark brown color, and revealed four, large, hissing lizard bodies. That wasn't all. Bahamut heard a hiss behind him, and turned around. He saw nothing for a moment…before reality shifted again, and formed the outline of four more bodies. Then, they too turned a brown color, and began to slither forward onto the bridge. The esper understood. They were chameleonic creatures. They vanished into their surroundings when they didn't move.

The group began to sweat and looked from side to side. They were blocked on either end now. Bahamut had the back, and Celes had the front. But from their position, they were stuck. They didn't dare risk changing orders on the rickety bridge. Each plank only had enough power to hold one of them. And sudden movements might make it fly apart as well. They were trapped.

"Sssshow'ssss over for you…" The lead chameleon sneered. With that, he began to creep forward along the bridge. The others followed behind him. Bahamut also saw the ones on his side begin to come. Almost immediately, the bridge began to creak and groan uneasily.

Locke frowned and looked to them. "You idiots! If we all get on here, the bridge will collapse and we'll all die!"

"That'ssss your problem." The one on Bahamut's side confidently answered. "We can stick to the cliffssss after we fall. Pity you can't."

The thief sweat at this. Celes drew her sword, but grew nervous as well. Terra did too. The enemy, not caring that the bridge began to shift and buckle, kept coming forward toward them. They grinned confidently, thinking that they had their foes in the bag. All they had to do once all were on was jump up and down. They didn't even have to risk fighting. The group was stuck. They didn't know what to do. Bahamut himself hesitated a moment. But then, at last, he called out in a commanding voice.

"Everyone! Duck!"

The full tone of Bahamut, even in human form, was undeniable. Though fearful and nervous, the three did as they were commanded out of pure frightened instinct and dropped. Even the chameleons, shocked at the sudden call, froze in confusion a moment. And that was all the moment that Bahamut needed. Once the group was down, he pulled back a palm, and with a tremendous thrust drove it forward, aiming just above the chameleons as he did. He did not hit them, but he struck with such power and fury that a column of air was generated. The force shot over the bridge and into the flabbergasted enemy. To their surprise, the force ripped them off of their feet violently and flung them back into the cliff side. They moment they struck it, their bodies hit with such force that they fractured the stone, and crunching sounds went from their bodies. They fell limply down onto the trail, and twitched and bled from their mouths.

Locke and Celes were shocked again. They slowly got to their feet, and stared blankly. Terra was surprised as well. The chameleons behind them were likewise, blinking in amazement at what they had just seen. But that only lasted a moment, before Bahamut spun around and did the same thing to them. Soon, they cried out in terror as their bodies too were flung away and into a nearby rock wall, smashing them as well. As he did, he called out behind him. "Go!"

This voice wasn't as commanding, but it was all the push the group needed. Soon, Terra, Celes, and Locke were back to their feet, and took off down the rest of the bridge. They ran a bit too fast, making it shake dangerously. So much, in fact, that Bahamut refused to risk standing on the fool human device any longer. He quickly chanted an auto-aero spell and made himself levitate just a few millimeters off the top of the bridge. To the casual observer, it looked like he was still standing, but his weight had been taken off of it. Once the last of the chameleons died, he turned and began to run the rest of the way off of the bridge. He soon joined up with the others, and they all exited as one.

The four paused a moment to catch their breath after that nervous exchange. However, the danger had passed. Soon, they straightened up, drew their weapons again, and began to make their way onward once more. They once again looked wary, watching for anymore signs of danger. As for Bahamut, he switched on his heat vision, making sure no other silent assailants were hiding. However, it looked mostly clear. They had a bit of a path to go along, but ahead and beyond it there was another cave entrance, leading onward to the next part of Mt. Zozo. The group continued to stay alert, and watched the ground carefully as they came, mindful of any more traps…

Suddenly, Bahamut snapped his head up, noticing an approaching heat signature. He braced himself for an attack…but there was no need for it. The signature did come, but he didn't bother attacking. Instead, he suddenly ran off the edge of the trail that was overhead, and leapt down below. Moments later, his huge body landed with a resounding "thud", as he squatted on his touch down right in between the group and the doorway. They froze again as he came, and immediately brandished their weapons to this new opponent. Slowly, a bit more slowly than necessary, he leaned himself up and beamed a great smile.

"Hey guys!" Manzan, the new arrival, addressed them in a dopey sounding voice. "Looks like you made it past the first stage of our fortress. But this is as far as you go. Now you have to deal with the first of Lord Nireevyou's elite warriors…" Here, the fat creature struck a pose for victory. "Dean of demolition…Manzan!"

Bahamut snickered, struggling to stifle an outright laugh. Luckily, the fat imbecile was so dumb he didn't even seem to notice. A single punch would be all it would take from him to do this weakling in. Terra and Celes began to brace their weapons for a fight, and looked nervous. Bahamut merely snorted at the sight as he crossed his arms. Calmly, he began to walk forward…

…When he suddenly felt a gloved hand put against his chest. He looked down to see the source, losing his smile, and saw that Locke had been the one who had done it. The thief hadn't turned, but he had his own confident look on his face, putting his palm on his chest. "I'll take care of this." He confidently stated.

Bahamut raised an eyebrow to this. Now this was a different matter. Bahamut could kill this thing easily, but against Locke the creature was far more evenly matched…probably even better. "It's no bother." Bahamut simply answered. "This thing is nothing to me…"

"Well, I got to pull my weight somehow on this trip." Locke simply answered. He turned a bit and grinned to Bahamut afterward. "Besides…if I can't even handle this tub of lard, then I've got no business coming along with the rest of you."

"Hey!" Manzan suddenly protested, beginning to pout in this stream of insults. "What am I over here, chopped liver? I have feelings too!"

Celes looked a bit more concerned, seeming to pick up on the same thing that Bahamut had. She looked to the thief more earnestly. "Are you sure, Locke?"

Locke merely rubbed his nose and then struck one of his old proud stances. He drew his dagger and made it dance a little in his hand, and began to lean into a lunging pose for his fight against the creature. "Just save a little bit of Nireevyou for me. I can't let you guys have all the fun."

Bahamut cracked a grin at this. Pretty cocky for a relatively weak human…but the thief was likable. "Will do. Come on."

With that, the esper began to walk on, moving to go right past Manzan. Terra held a moment, looking back to Locke earnestly, but then turned and followed after. Celes was last. She continued to hold…and finally leaned over and gave the thief a peck on the cheek. She then turned and went after the others. They continued until they were right alongside from Manzan. The creature looked to them, back to Locke, and then back to them again, trying to decide. He began to sweat and grow nervous, wondering if he was making the right decision. In the end, he flustered a bit, and then faced Locke. Bahamut, Terra, and Celes were left free to walk onward. The esper soon vanished into the doorway, followed closely by Terra. Celes went there, but then hesitated long enough to turn and call back.

"Beat the hell out of him, Locke."

With that, she turned and went back with the others, leaving Manzan to huff and puff in indignity again.


Soon, the three had passed through this new opening, and ran into another cave. As they did, they soon began to hear sounds of a scuffle behind them. That lasted only moment…before a loud noise erupted and the ground shook slightly. On hearing that, Celes turned and nearly stopped, looking back to the already distant opening. Unfortunately, there was already nothing there. But Terra likewise grew nervous as she ran onward. Bahamut didn't understand so much, but humanity had perfected knowledge of explosives since he had been gone, and that was the unmistakable sound of a bomb. In the end, Celes had to simply say a prayer to herself and move onward.

As the three passed through the initial rock corridor, they opened into a much larger area. The ceiling got higher, allowing stalactites and stalagmites to grow, and actually breaking in a few places to allow natural light through. However, the ground had dropped out even more. As the three came to the end of the short runway, they saw that it dropped off of the edge and into a deep, dark, uncrossable chasm that filled the entire cavern. This place was the main junction to many other caverns, it seemed. As they entered in, they saw large tunnels within the main cavern, with many other branches weaving through it. These tunnels and pillars of rock had other caves in them, and other bridges rounding them. All in all, it was a rather confusing passage.

The three slowed and halted for a moment as they drew to the edge. Sure enough, there was an old, rotted wood bridge without rails just ahead of them. It was built on top of the few rock pillars protruding from the lethal drop high enough to be used as supports, and it weaved its way throughout the rest of the huge cavern. Terra's friends had been here before. It was a rather confusing set of passages to be sure, and a dangerous place to wander around. But in the end, the three went back into single file and continued to run forward again. Terra took the lead, Celes fell in behind, and Bahamut was in the back.

For a few moments, the group's footsteps thudded along the wooden bridge. This area was less exposed to elements, and it was more stable. It didn't creak nearly so badly. It seemed they were in the clear for a while…

Until, most suddenly, Terra stepped down on one particular plank in front of her. Immediately, to her shock, a much larger panel of flooring collapsed beneath her. For a brief moment, the woman gaped in shock, and began to fall. Celes, fortunately, had great reflexes, or she might have run right into the pit that resulted. She managed to halt, and Bahamut did behind her. He looked ahead in fear for Terra. However, the woman was both strong and quick reacting. Her shock lasted only long enough to make her heart race, before she managed to leap off of the falling platform as hard as she could. Despite physics working against her, it gave enough power for her to leap off of the edge and onto the opposite side. She landed on her feet and wobbled a moment later, but then calmed down. Panting in fear, she turned and looked at the fate that had nearly befallen her.

"Trap doors…" Celes grimly replied.

Bahamut sighed in relief as well that Terra was alright. He too looked to the door, and examined it a moment. "It shouldn't be too hard to avoid. If we keep a sharp eye out, we should see if there are any-"

A hyper twip sound interrupted Bahamut. He turned to the sound, as did the others, and moments later shifted his head to one side just in time to miss an arrow from imbedding itself in his forehead. He frowned and glared across one of the large chasms to the opposite side. There, coming out of the caves and fanning out on the bridges, were bow-carrying monsters. Evidently, they looked to make this journey a bit harder for them. And now, with them standing still for so long, they were aiming at the easy targets.

Bahamut scowled, and turned to Celes and Terra. "Get going."

The two didn't need to be told twice. Terra quickly took off, while Celes bounded over the new pit and ran after her. Bahamut himself easily cleared it, and then began to run. As they went, the esper turned and tried using his technique again. But this time it didn't work. They were too far away. It only succeeded in blasting away at their faces a moment, making them hesitate and recoil. Bahamut tried to do this to keep them occupied, but they still managed to keep firing. The important thing to do now was dodge.

Another pit opened under Terra soon after, but this one she saw and managed to clear. However, after leaping, there was another one almost right after it. This one made her stumble, and she scrambled and nearly fell off of it. Yet in the end, she managed to make the leap to the other side. Celes, however, couldn't clear a pit this large so easily. She managed to leap over the side, but she came short on the other. She ended up falling on the edge, and she reached out her upper torso to grab it. On colliding, she let out a cry, but then struggled to raise herself up again. Terra came back quickly to lift her, and as they did Bahamut continued to throw blasts of air at the enemy to keep them from shooting. He thought of doing a Pyron…but he figured that in this rickety area it would be too much. Besides, he still wanted the element of surprise. Finally, the two girls were up and took off again. Bahamut turned and easily leapt over the wider pit, dodging arrows as he did.

The three were confronted by troubles again and again. Terra had to practically skip to get across these obstacles. Some of the trail was already broken, forcing the group to jump over onto a pinnacle of rock and then leap off just as quickly. Some of those were also sabatoged, and collapsed on touching. Bahamut barely had enough time to get over those. However, the group managed to keep it up, even as the enemy pursued them relentlessly and continued to fire arrow after arrow.

At last, the end of the cave was in sight. As they turned a corner on the bridge, the glow of daylight was framed within an oval opening just ahead. Terra immediately picked up speed, and the others followed suit. The last of the arrows went by, but after that there were no more bridges parallel to their own, and they were unable to fire. It looked like smooth sailing from then on in. Terra leapt over one last pit, and then ran on beyond it the few more feet to solid ground. The others followed behind quickly, with Celes leaping over the same pit…

When, on landing, the woman received a shock. The ground immediately gave way beneath her. Celes gave a yell, but it was too late to move. The ground was dropping too fast…as if something was actually moving it down rather than just falling. Sure enough, as Bahamut ground to a halt in surprise and looked to it, he saw that the platform was staying still while it fell. Celes had dropped into a squat, but it was too late to jump out. Quickly, she vanished down into the darkness.

Bahamut cursed to himself. He should have known something like this might be tried. It was a special trap, one that would only go off after another person had dropped their weight on it. Only on the second run would it actually fall. He now looked down the doubly long pit, and Terra quickly came to the edge as well. She anxiously looked down into the deep chasm, but Celes was already gone. Only darkness greeted them, and the fading echos of her cry.

"Celes!" Terra called out.

"She's already out of range." Bahamut grimly replied. "But I think she's alright…for the moment. This platform looks like it was more of an elevator than a booby trap."

Terra looked back up to the esper at this. "We can't leave her alone."

Bahamut frowned at this and hesitated. In truth, he thought they could. The important thing was getting to Nireevyou and stopping him, hopefully triggering the rest of the enemy to disband and scatter. The woman was strong enough to handle herself. However…there was the fact that those other powerful monsters were there. Even this group couldn't handle them that easily, especially as they grew stronger. The esper hated this delay, and especially hated breaking up…but he figured he'd be the best for this anyway. In the end, he sighed and looked back to Terra.

"Alright. You get her. I'll keep going ahead and plow the way for the rest of you."

Terra hesitated a moment, but in the end she thought this idea was good enough. Bahamut was the strongest among them, and Terra was definitely second with her magical power and transformation ability. In the end, she gave a nod to him. "Ok."

"Be careful." Bahamut warned, leveling a serious look at her.

"I will."

With that, Terra began to take herself over the edge of the bridge. There was a support column nearby, and she made for this to begin letting herself down on, until she was certain she could survive the drop. As she cleared the way, Bahamut looked to her anxiously again. He didn't like how they were all separating…but he figured that the best way to end this would be to end the life of Nireevyou. The rest of the enemy would scatter in terror once that happened. With that thought in mind, he turned away and back to the rest of the path. He quickly leapt over the new pit, and continued to run down the pathway to the outside.


Celes had more than enough time to recover on her trip. The drop was very deep, going well below the normal levels of the cave. It seemed as if she was descending into the heart of the mountain itself. The bridges overhead shrank into threads in her vision, and the columns that were terminating pillars before seemed to rise up into oblivion. The sunlight faded from the ceiling, and all grew dark as she lowered deeper and deeper into the mountain… It became nearly impossible to see anything after a while. However, as she continued to lower…a dark cloud suddenly came out and blotted her vision overhead all together, and plunged her into darkness. The ex-general reacted to this. That meant that she was being sealed off somewhere, and she was now caught in a new chamber.

A red glow just began to enter Celes' vision as the platform below her suddenly surged up. It had come to a halt, and with another cry Celes fell down on it a moment. Surprised, she quickly turned to see what had happened. She was surrounded by rock on three sides now. It had been black darkness before, but she could tell what it truly was now due to the glow of a light ahead of her. That light came from a long rock tunnel that stretched ahead of her. And unlike the natural lit tunnels of Zozo, this one was far darker and subterranean. Numerous torches lining the walls were what provided the illumination here. Celes turned to this hall and stared at it a moment, looking to see signs of any other threat or danger…

Abruptly, she heard a whizzing sound, like a great bumblebee. She saw a blur in front of her face, and on instinct suddenly rolled to one side. It was a good thing too…for a giant cutter suddenly swung through the air and slashed at where she was. It was so powerful, that it raked a giant cut into the stone wall behind her before coming back like a boomerang to its caster. Celes, having now thrown herself to the floor, looked up in shock. Her eyes widened, and sweat sprung from her brow at her narrow brush with death. Quickly, however, she suppressed her fear, and then shot back to her feet. She drew the Ragnarok, and prepared for a fight…

Her eyes soon zeroed in on the cutter. In a perfect arc, it spun back down the corridor and around a bend just ahead. Once it did so, she heard a slapping sound, as if someone had caught it. Right after, a tall, bent, and lanky form rounded the side. On seeing it, Celes remembered it. She also remembered the giant boomerang weapons that the creature had before when she saw it in the main street. He still held one in either hand, and Celes realized that what had nearly taken off her head was one of them. The thing came out fully into the hall, and glared at her sourly.

"Yo." It simply stated, without any emotion or care.

Celes glared at the thing, and began to step off of the platform. "Platno, I assume?"

"Yup." The tall creature replied. "I'll have to be killing you today." To accent this fact, he hoisted up his giant boomerangs.

The ex-general hoistedRagnarok in front of her in response. "You can try." She simply responded. "But I think you're biting off more than you can chew."

"I'm not too worried." Platno simply answered, still not with much emotion. "No one has ever gotten within ten feet of me, let alone close enough to attack me. I'll be able to defeat you without even having to shift my weight."

Celes simply tightened her grip. "Well…I always had a knack for breaking records back in the military. Let's see if I still have it…"


The massive gigas grunted once in surprise…before a powerful fist smashed him right in between the eyes. The hulking monster grunted once again, groaned, and then went crosseyed before stumbling backward and falling onto the ground. It sprawled out immediately, and moved no more.

Sabin dusted his hands off, and Edgar replaced one of his latest tools. Around them, inside the dimly torch-lit corridor they had fallen into, a score of Gigases were piled at their feet. After falling through the trap door, the two of them had been redirected to what looked like some sort of caged cell. It was small work for Edgar to get out using his array of tools, but on escaping the twins discovered that this team of monsters had been waiting for them, heading off their descent down a torch-lit corridor. However, it seemed the creatures had been sorely unprepared for the two of them. It had only taken a few minutes for the both of them to finish them all off. Now, the two were in the clear again.

Edgar began to look around the area soon after replacing his tool. "Well, we're out of that trap. But where are the others? And where are we?"

"I dunno." Sabin answered, hopping on a few bodies of fallen giants to get past them. He landed on the ground a moment later. "But there's only one way we can go right now, so I say let's do it."

Edgar looked to him and frowned. He began to pick his way through the fallen monsters a bit more carefully, but as he did he called out cynically. "Yeah…but let's do it a bit slower this time, shall we? I don't think we want to run into any more traps, especially ones that might end in pits of lava or spikes or who knows what else."

Sabin turned back to him and shrugged. "Hey! We got through there ok, didn't we?"

Edgar sighed as he finished exiting the creatures. He was about to speak again…when he suddenly froze. The sensor array was still on his head, and in a snap he turned his head to one side, toward a bend in the corridor ahead. As he did, he reached up and pressed a button on it. Sabin noticed this, and immediately tensed up as well.

"What's the matter?"

"There's a power coming this way…much stronger than these clowns. I'm reading at least 4,000."

The monk frowned, and immediately turned and prepared himself. Sure enough…they soon got a reaction. The ground slowly began to shudder, and it grew more violent at the form drew closer. At first, the two thought it was another Gigas, but Edgar knew they didn't get this strong. At any rate, the ground continued to shake and shudder louder as the big thing drew nearer…making the twins a bit nervous. Pebbles began to rain from the ceiling, and a cloud of dust began to rise from the ground. Still, the two looked to the corner and waited.

Finally…a giant, rippled, orange hand grasped the edge of the wall. Moments later, a rippled creature, bursting with muscle, rounded the corner. As it did, its giant round jaw grinned at the two. It stomped forward on huge legs and put its whole body in view, and then stood still and menacingly before the twins. It tightened its jaw and cracked its massive knuckles, all the while looking ravenous and cruel. The two brothers were a bit stunned, but stared back and at the ready.

"Looks like you two humans managed to survive the first part of the trap…" Anaranda chortled in a giant, deep voice. "But here's where you die. Now you must face the power of Anaranda."

Sabin looked for a moment, but then snorted and came out of his ready stance. He crossed his arms confidently and glared at the creature. "Hmph…how come I don't feel that scared?"

The monster replied by chuckling darkly and dangerously. "Heh…well, you should." He answered menacingly. "No matter how big you are, you can't kill me. The more you hurt me, the stronger I become. I'm immortal. No matter the opponent…no matter how strong…no matter the injury… I will always come back stronger."

"Well, this should be interesting." Edgar simply answered.

Sabin, however, turned back to him at that. "Hey! Leave him to me. I want to wipe that smile off of his face."

Edgar frowned in response and turned back. "You got all the Gigases. I want to do something for a change. You get to fight all the time. I'm stuck in the castle."

"There's plenty of guys for you later. This one called me out."

"…"

"…"

The twins frowned and stared at each other for a few brief moments after this. However, it wasn't for very long. At the end of a brief pause, Edgar suddenly cracked a smile. He gave a knowing look to Sabin, and the twin immediately understood it.

"Are you thinking what I'm thinking?"

Sabin hesitated at that, and in the end raised one eyebrow. "…You won't be using a double-headed coin again, will you?"

Edgar frowned and groaned once, as if Sabin was dragging up some sort of old story that had no bearing now. "Oh, come on. You know that's back home."

The monk continued to stare back for a moment. He wasn't too sure about this. However, in the end, he slowly sighed. He straightened himself up a bit and crossed his arms. "Alright…do it."

Edgar gave a nod, and reached into his pocket for a coin. During this whole exchange, Anaranda was beginning to grow more irritable and insulted. The twins appeared to be ignoring him, and that only irritated the beast. He began to huff and stomp where he was. Finally, Edgar produced a coin, and immediately got ready to flip it. As he did, he looked out to Sabin with an expecting glare, as if he was waiting for him to say something. He held for a moment as Sabin frowned and watched. But in the end, the monk spat out a word.

"…Heads."

Edgar immediately flipped the coin. It landed a moment later in his palm, and he immediately turned it over and slapped it on the back of his hand. Slowly, he pulled his hand off again, and both twins looked over it. The emblem for Figaro was imprinted on the coin rather than the image of the head of state. It had come up Tails. Sabin frowned again, and Edgar withdrew the coin and replaced it in his pocket. He smiled a bit as he did so, drawing himself up and getting ready for a fight. Sabin huffed and grudgingly moved over to one side, where he leaned against the rock wall and crossed his arms. Edgar began to make for the large orange creature. But after a moment, Sabin suddenly called out.

"Now brother…" He spoke in a slow, challenging voice. "You wouldn't happen to have a double-tailed coin, knowing that I would call heads again if I thought it was a fair toss, would you?"

Edgar did not answer to that…although his mouth twisted down slightly and he looked a bit uneasy as he walked forward.

"You overconfident little twerps." Anaranda sneered. He glared down angrily at Edgar as he walked up to him. His hands balled into fists and he raised them threateningly. "We'll see how tough you are after I'm done with you. I'll pound you both into pudding, and serve you to Lord Nireevyou for dessert this evening."

Not looking that troubled, Edgar drew to a halt before the creature. The monster easily stood over twice as tall as him, and looked far more bloodthirsty and deadly. However, the king wasn't upset. He merely crossed his arms and began to scratch his chin slightly, as if thinking this over.

"Really?" He calmly answered. "Well, I, for one, find something funny about desserts. You can never tell when one will be a bit too much for you."


Locke shifted his weight slightly, and tossed his dagger from one hand to another. Manzan continued to frown, and shifted on his own two feet. He didn't look nearly fast enough to be a match for him in terms of speed, and he was too fat to be that agile. But he was quickly wondering what those things tied around him were for… In the end, however, he looked at him dangerously.

"Your move."

Manzan huffed and seemed to turn redder. However, that was only a moment before he extended a plump arm to his belt, seized one of the round objects, and ripped it off. The moment he did, Locke noticed something. It appeared that the object lost a small part of itself when it was pulled. And after that part was detached, the object began to hiss like it was burning. Not only that, but small sparks began to shoot out from one end of it, and smoke billowed as well. Locke was puzzled by this, but didn't have long to be before the creature lobbed this object right at him. Based solely on instinct, and knowing that this object couldn't be good, he leapt back slightly just as the object landed on the ground where he was a moment earlier.

Immediately, the object exploded into a ball of fire. Dust and rocks were blasted out as an eruption thundered from the ground. Locke gaped in shock, but he couldn't do that long either. He was close enough to the blast to be struck in the face by heat and rocks, and he recoiled in pain. What more, he was still in mid-air from the leapt when it blasted, and the force of the explosion struck him violently, throwing him backward like a piece of driftwood in a storm. Locke cried out for a few moments as the deafening boom rang through his ears. But then, he came down and landed hard on his back. The thief emitted another cry on connecting, and the force dragged him across the ground even further, raking his body along it.

However, as he came to a halt, he suddenly stopped feeling the ground behind his head. The thief groaned, stunned and sore from the eruption. He lay on the ground a moment, before grunting and leaning up. He wiped dirt from his face, and looked to see what had happened. Far in front of him, the smoke from the blast was already fading, and the dust was dying down. However, that eruption was far away from him, accenting how far he had been flung. In fact, he soon paled in terror. He realized the reason he felt nothing behind his head was because his head was now dangling over the edge of the cliff. The blast had nearly thrown him over the side to his doom. The thief swallowed…but not nearly so much as he did when he saw two more of the small objects be flung through the still clearing smoke…headed right for him.

This is going to be harder than a thought… The thief gulped.

Quickly, Locke pulled himself up and threw himself into a forward roll. Just in time too…for the bombs landed and erupted soon after right where he had been. The impact helped push him forward with the roll, and he further used the power to roll up to his feet. Once he was there, he quickly dashed for the creature, ready to slash into it for all he was worth. But Manzan, slow-looking as he was, still had enough speed to pull another bomb and toss it right at him. The thief gulped again, and quickly threw himself in a side roll to just barely avoid another explosion. He still felt the debris and heat from it as he rolled into a squat. Yet, on landing, he sighed and quickly rolled again, for Manzan was already flinging another at him. This one was missed even more narrowly than before. The impact struck him, and nearly pushed him out of his roll when he landed. As it was, he barely managed to come into a squat before another bomb was headed his way. By now, Locke was rolled almost all the way to the rock wall. He had to escape a different way. Quickly, he rose to his feet and leapt backward…but again was a bit too late. Another blast went off, and he felt fire burn his face and pebbles sting his skin as an eruption caught him and flung him back once more.

This time, however, Locke managed to open his eyes as he went sailing, and gaped in fear. The explosion was so close, and he was so near the edge, the eruption had flung his jumping body backward and over the edge of the cliff. Already, the power had died down, and he was falling. Immediately, the thief reached out and struggled to seize the edge of the cliff side. As he fell, one hand grabbed rock, while his other drove the Gradeus into the stone. It held…but both of his arms were yanked painfully as his weight pulled on them. He felt the bones in both pop, and he gave out a cry of anguish. However, he did stop his descent, and now he dangled just over the edge of the cliff. The thief panted from the sudden exertion, and looked up as sweat began to roll off of his brow.

This is much harder than a thought… Locke thought to himself. I got to think of something else…

If Manzan had kept throwing, that would have been the end for him. However, the fat creature seemed to think it might have successfully sent Locke to oblivion with the last blast, and now was looking with confusion at the area in front of him, trying to see if there was any sign of his opponent. Locke used that lull to his advantage. Quickly, he shifted all his weight to the hand holding his dagger, and used his other one to tear off a fist-sized rock from the loose cliff. The nimble man next planted his feet against the cliff side, and quickly found secure locations. Once he did, he inhaled for a moment, focused, and then suddenly lunged up. It wasn't enough to put him over the edge, but it was enough for him to peek over the side. He quickly spotted the approaching Manzan, who reacted in shock to Locke's sudden appearance, took careful aim, and lobbed his rock right in between the thing's eyes.

The stone hit with a sickening crack, and the monster yelled in agony. He grasped his forehead and began to stumble backward in pain. Seeing this, Locke quickly planted his now free hand on the side, and then pulled himself the rest of the way over the edge. He quickly pulled out the Gradeus and got to his feet. Manzan was staggering, reaching for another bomb on his belt while grasping his face. However, he couldn't risk taking one off without immediately throwing it, and so he was forced to hold. The thief used the advantage to barrel straight at him. The monster tried to move back, but he couldn't get away fast enough. Locke was on him in an instant, and slashed out with his blade…

Immediately, the man received a grim surprise. His blade sunk into the creature's pudgy body…and then came out again without breaking the skin. Locke was stunned. He tried slashing again, only to have the same result. The consistency of the creature's flesh was so flabby and rubbery that even a blade as sharp as the Gradeus couldn't leave a mark. The thief hesitated a moment, trying to rethink his strategy. But that was a moment too long. Abruptly, Manzan's hand left his eyes and backhanded Locke. It wasn't the strongest blow in the world, but it swung the man's head to one side, made him stagger, and forced him to stumble back. That was all the distance Manzan needed to look at him with fresh anger, rip off a bomb with his other arm, and fling it at him.

Locke was dizzy from the blow, and couldn't react that quickly. However, his eyes did widen when he saw the bomb headed for him. As it was about to land…he did the only thing he could do. Struggling to straighten himself up, he suddenly lashed out with a foot and kicked the bomb straight into the air. The tactic seemed to work. The bomb didn't go off until it was a good twenty feet into the sky. The resulting blast pushed down on both combatants, but it wasn't that severe. Locke couldn't celebrate his victory long, however. Manzan already had pulled another bomb, and was flinging it at him. The thief groaned, and then did a quick backflip to avoid it.

The fat monster was furious now. He ripped one bomb off after another, and kept a steady stream of them being flung at the thief. Locke, on his part, cut the acrobatics and soon just began to run and leap around the small outcropping to avoid them. Gravel and stone were thrown up everywhere in the wakes of the explosions, and the thief was hard pressed to avoid them. Unfortunately, the fat creature had plenty of bombs to spare. The thief began to worry. The landscape was growing more and more rough and ragged, filling with craters. He couldn't get closer to the cliff without the risk of the blast throwing him off. And he couldn't keep it up on the rough terrain forever… He'd eventually get tripped. He had to think of a way to beat this creature, and soon…

At last, the inevitable happened. As Locke dodged another blast, he suddenly stepped down lower than he calculated. His eyes widened, and he gave out a mild cry of surprise as he found himself stumbling into one of the craters. He struggled to put his hands out in front of him, but soon he fell into the blackened pit face first, completely off of his feet. Manzan saw this, and gave a "hah" in response. Finally, Locke was where he wanted him. He pulled off another bomb, and quickly tossed it into the crater.

Locke was stunned from the impact, and a bit dizzy from all the work. Sweat was stinging his eyes, and he was panting. But still, he managed to get to a squat rather quickly, and looked alert again. To his horror, he was just in time to see the latest bomb bounce once off the ground before rolling right into the crater and between his legs. The thief gulped. His fast acting reflexes immediately calculated what he had to do. It was already too late to dodge. The crater made that impossible anyway to do cleanly. He couldn't hope to avoid all of the blast. And so…he got a crazy idea. It would go down in history as one of the dumbest things he ever did…and yet, he realized, it might give him just enough force to actually be able to drive his blade into his opponent, and it might be the only chance he had to catch him off guard long enough to do it. And so, having little other choice, the thief did it. Aiming himself as much as he could in Manzan's direction, he leapt into the air toward him just as the bomb went off.

The explosion ripped at Locke's legs, burning his clothes, and subjecting them to so much force that they could have been broken. However, despite all that…it was a success. The force of the explosion, while painful and wrenching the thief, also flung his body out of the crater and straight toward Manzan. The fat monster gaped in shock as he saw Locke turned into a living projectile, sailing right for him. Locke was in pain, but somehow he grit his teeth through it, raised his dagger with one hands, and aimed right for Manzan. For a few moments, he sailed straight toward him, leveling his bladeand hoping that it would be enough to finish the creature…hoping that the fat creature would be paralyzed a moment longer…

Then…somehow, the creature swung its body to one side. A weight fell in Locke's heart, and he cursed mentally, as his ballistically launched body was thrown just mere millimeters away from slicing into Manzan's face. The rest of the thief brushed past Manzan as he was thrown by, and then continued on through the air toward the rock wall beyond.

A moment later, Locke landed on the ground roughly. The force was so great he couldn't even roll properly, and his body was flung across the rocks like a rag doll. He was cut and bruised in numerous places as he was thrown, before his limp form crashed into the rock wall of the mountain. It was rather hard despite the loss of speed there, and he gave another cry as he landed. With that, he sprawled out on the ground, and panted and winced. His legs were numb from the blast. His body was sore and beaten. He was exhausted. He couldn't rise immediately. He could only lie there.

As for Manzan, who was also sweating and panting, he turned around and looked to his foe. The fat monster gasped a moment, but then wiped his brow and began to steady himself. He too had a brush with death, and he had barely avoided it that time. But now…he realized that his opponent could do no more. He was right where he wanted him. With that in mind, Manzan managed a victorious smile, and glared at the fallen, panting Locke. The thief could only weakly look back at the moment.

"Just some weak little fat tub of lard, am I?" Manzan sneered. "Well, I showed you, you miserable thief. I'm not the Dean of Demolition for nothing! Now I'm gonna-"

Manzan froze on saying this. While he was speaking, he had been reaching for another bomb. But as he had reached over…he had felt nothing. He was sure another bomb was there, but he didn't feel it. The creature looked puzzled for a moment, and felt for another one. But there was nothing there either. He felt again, and still nothing. In fact, he didn't even feel the belt. The creature, confused, looked down…and saw that all of his bombs were gone. They were no longer on his body, and neither were the belts. All that was there now was his red flesh. Shocked, he looked up to the thief again.

Locke panted a moment longer…but then managed a weak smile. As he did, he lifted his free hand…or, now, formerly free hand. He may have missed Manzan with his dagger, but on brushing by he had managed something else. Now, he revealed that he had all of Manzan's belts, sans each and every remaining bomb on them.

"Well…I'm not considered a master in my line of work for nothing either."

Manzan blinked a moment. He couldn't believe it. His mouth dropped in surprise. However…he noticed something else. All of the bombs were missing from the belts. Where had they gone to?

He received an answer moments later…as he began to hear a loud series of hisses right beneath him. The red color of the monster faded, and turned pale. His face broke out into a cold sweat, and his lip trembled as he looked down to his feet. There were the bombs…each one of them active…and now lying around him in a pile. He looked back up, his eyes growing small in fear, and looked to Locke, who had already twisted and rolled away from him, pressing himself against the wall and putting his back to the creature.

"Oh bother…"

A giant eruption of all of the remaining bombs at once resulted after Manzan uttered his last words. Locke grit his teeth and bit down as searing heat burned more of his clothes, singed his hair, and blasted against him. Rocks hit him from the resulting boom, but he was able to weather these. Still, it was a painful and hot experience. He clutched himself hard as he felt the rush of power and flame come over him. The sound was deafening and hurt his ears, and so much of the cliff side was fractured that a large piece of it broke off and slid down the side of the mountain, creating a larger ruckus and calamity as it did so. The world shaked for a few moments as the blast thundered through the area. But at long last…it did die down. Rocks slowly settled, and the dust cloud slowly began to be driven off by the wind.

Locke groaned, and then rolled his sore, aching body back away from the mountainside. He panted again as he sprawled out on the ground, and looked behind him. There was a giant black crater now, and a great fault line where part of the cliff had broken and rolled into the abyss going down Mt. Zozo. There were also a few flaming fragments lying around. But other than that, there was nothing. The bombs had totally blown Manzan away. The first of Nireevyou's elite warriors was gone.

The thief panted a few more moments, and let his pain subside a little. But then, gritting his teeth, he began to grab onto the side of the rock wall and pull himself to his feet. He managed after a few moments. Somewhat stiffly, he walked away from the wall, crunching the stone ground, and made his way toward the cave opening. He tucked his blade back into his belt as he did so. Once he reached the entrance, he put his hand against it for a moment, just long enough to turn his head behind him.

"…And by the way…that's 'treasure hunter'."


To be continued...