Author's note: Thanks for the reviews Gry22. In response to your reviews, I will do the first of "Sailor Moon's Ice Age Adventure" at some point, and the part you mentioned with Cloud and Sailor Moon's first meeting in "Sailor Moon Frontier-Season 7(storyline of KH1)" is what I had in mind for years and that scene will appear in a flash-back in the next story "Kingdom Hearts: Echoes of Night".
Until then, let's continue onward!
I don't own Kingdom Hearts, Final Fantasy VII, Final Fantasy Type-0, Sailor Moon or Pokemon. I do own Arien, though.
Chapter 13: The Return.
Continuing from the Previous Chapter...
"...No! It can't be!" Reno gapped in horror.
"Fuhito!?" Rosalind and the other former Turks exclaimed in horror.
Fuhito smirked evilly. "Heh heh heh heh heh. So, Turks. We meet once again. It's been far too long."
"Yeah, I'd rather you'd just stay dead, Fuhito!" Shears hissed angrily, standing in front of Felicia to keep her out of the now former-dead man's sight.
(~Evil's Plot*Xehanort: The Early Years-KH:DDD*~)
"Ah, Shears. I see that you too had been revived. Or more correctly, reborn as well." Fuhito's smirk only grew at Shears' reaction, before fading into a deep scowling frown as he continued. "Yet things are the same as ever, but now only worse due to the Planet having become separated into what is known today, because of disgusting humans such as yourselves causing it to happen!"
"You tried to destroy the world with Zirconiade! How is that any different from what happened 5,000 years ago?" Arien snapped.
Fuhito scoffed, "As I had been trying to tell you fools. I was doing it because the Planet ordered me to do so, for it's sake. Even that old fool Bugenhagen refused to see the truth and he knew more of the world's history than any other at the time."
"Geez, even after 8,000 years of being dead and you're still bat-creak crazy." Reno remarked in vague disbelief and annoyance. Did this guy really have to hold a grudge even while he was dead and hadn't been reborn like most of them had?
"This is what happens when humans seek to protect their own kind; they bring about destruction all of the Universe. Though a couple by the power of the Gods did do one good thing at least; to ensure my resurrection long enough to finish what I started 8,000 years ago." Fuhito continued, ignoring Reno's commentary.
"The rebirth of the Turks who stopped Zirconiade." Aulstyne commented.
"Oh, no. Not the rebirth of the Turks." Fuhito corrected with a chuckle, turning his eyes to the Militas Ultra. "The two obvious things that ensured my return...one is the return of our dear Elfe's memory when Xehanort secretly implanted the recovered and regenerated piece of the Support Materia as, while impossible even for a man like him, he knows of the future despite he is no longer with us."
"Xehanort did WHAT!?" Shears shouted, as he, the weakened Felicia and all of the Turks, former Turks and Rufus held horrified expressions.
"...Xehanort...was there that day too?" Veld asked in disbelief and anger.
Felicia blinked, wincing as she remembered; During the chaos in Deling City she'd been approached...by an elderly man with terrifying golden eyes. It was still vague, but...he grabbed her...and then shoved something in her hand that made her scream in pain before she finally passed out.
"How could he do something like this?" Elena whispered in horror. To think that this Xehanort had caused so much problems without anyone even realizing it was just...pure horrible and evil.
"I do know that the say that the dead watch over the living, but you seriously saw the whole thing for the last 8,000 years, and this Xehanort creep-guy did all this just to kill us? I don't even know Xehanort!" Reno shuddered at the thought. "He sounds just as worse as what Hojo tried to do."
(~End Evil's Plot*Xehanort: The Early Years*~)
"Ah, but the second reason for my revival...is you, Marshal Cid Aulstyne of Milites, the Rursan Arbiter chosen by Gala." Fuhito continued, grinning evilly.
"What!?" Aulstyne exclaimed while Qator gasped, and everyone else blinked in even more horror and confusion.
"Who's Gala?" St. Andrew asked in confusion.
"I've heard about him." Cissnei spoke up in deep concerned thoughts. "In myth as I learned in the Orphanage, Gala is one of the deities created by un-named Gods of two certain worlds, with different versions of something powerful and dangerous. That's the only information I know of. But I've never heard of this Rursan Arbiter before."
(~The Key of Darkness-KH:BBS~)
Fuhito cackled which grew louder until he proclaimed, "Oh, yes. While both are not connected, it is due to Aulstyne's rebirth into this world, the connections of Gala, Felicia's memories, and believe it or not, what little remains of Zirconiade's power within me...enabled my return to complete Zirconiade once more! All that is needed now to return Zirconaide is the pieces of the Materia offered to it along with my life combined with it, and bring forth an artifical version of Kingdom Hearts to locate the true Kingdom Hearts!"
"ANOTHER way to complete Zirconiade!?" Arien screamed out in shock.
"An artifical Kingdom Hearts?" Rosalind gasped.
"The real Kingdom Hearts fell into darkness where it sleeps. As a fail-safe if they wish for it's power, there are ways to create Kingdom Hearts of ones own; smaller version that are still hearts of the hearts of many worlds." Fuhito grinned.
He then shoved Rufus forward as the President stumbled and Tseng and Elena hurried over to catch him before Fuhito had any other ideas. The resurrected man then smirked evilly as his body began to become covered in darkness which began to grow larger as everyone watched on in horror and shock while Aulstyne stood there, stunned by the fact that he was one of the reasons for Fuhito's return...though he then realized that if Felicia had not regained her memories, none of this would've happened.
"What the hell is going on!?" Reno exclaimed in horrified awe.
"The little bit of power within me is enough to bring forth my Materia, to at least gather the pieces from the wielders!" Fuhito declared, as a blast of energy surged out and forcing everyone to try and keep their balance as the power like a gust of wind was unleashed.
Just then, lights began to shine within Qator's pockets and to his and everyone else's horror and Fuhito's delight, two of the Support Materia emerged and then flew straight to the former dead man's hands. On top of everything else, Felicia began to scream in agony and just as Shears, the Turks and the former Turks were about to see what was wrong, electricity sparked around the woman's form and she floated up into the air, forcing them back despite Veld's protests.
"FELICIA!" Veld screamed out in horror.
"ELFE!" Shears shouted, and without thinking, he reached over to try and get to her, but was hit by the electricity as he screamed in agony, but he kept on trying. The others tried to reach her, but the force was too strong.
While still fighting the enemy outside, Ace's group felt a jolt before the Support Materia emerged from Cinque's pockets and flew into the air before right into the room where their new allies and two enemies were within.
"The Materia!" Deuce exclaimed in horror.
"...It's starting; our allies failed to stop Aulstyne from summoning Zirconiade!" Queen exclaimed in worry and horrified realization.
"...No! It's not over yet!" Rem cried out, then screamed as the entire room began to shake.
Mickey had just finished defeating the enemies when he felt the most painful jolt of strong energy hit him, and when he looked to see what was happening, from the window close by as he tried to find another route to reach Rosalind and the Turks, the sky began to glow bright red like blood forming. Instantly he knew that the Summoning was starting.
"Oh no! T-the monster's about to form!" He exclaimed in horror. He then hurried down the corridor to try and find a way, only to stop when suddenly three large Behemoth monsters formed from the Darkness, blocking his path. They roared in a terrifying way at him, but the King wasn't afraid.
Their appearances caused parts of the walls crumble and creating holes leading outside. Realizing that he wouldn't make it in time, Mickey squeezed his eyes shut before opening them again and stood ready to fight, his Keyblade in hand.
'Rosalind...you gotta stop Zirconiade before it's completed! The rest is up to you!' He thought to himself, before he began to fight the monsters.
"All that's left is retrieve the Materia from that woman's body, and I make my way to Zirconiade, offering my life...because the fifth and final piece...is within me!" Fuhito declared, as Cinque's piece appeared in his hand under his command.
"This is...this is just like what happened 8,000 years ago!" Rosalind gasped in horror at the sight. This is a repeat of what happened as the ground shook, as she, her sister and everyone else struggled to keep their balance.
Shears continued to struggle to pull Felica out of the barrier of electricity, when Fuhito turned to him and simply summoned his gun before taking careful aim and by the time everyone else noticed...it was too late.
A Gunshot fired and Shears gasped when it hit him right in the back, close to his heart. He then fell to the ground, bleeding heavily as Rosalind's group gasped in horror and shock while the young woman screamed out the man's name.
"He was always in the way. Only caring for Elfe." Fuhito calmly stated with no sympathy at all. "And so comes the end to this woman's usefulness. I shall liberate the Materia from her body."
The electricity died and Felicia plopped unceremoniously back down on the asphalt. He heard her groan in pain but she was obviously too ill to move. Fuhito began to approach her body when Rosalind, glaring hard, and ignoring everyone else's protests, dashed forward and pushed the older woman out of the way and Elena, with quick thinking, aimed quickly and fired at Fuhito's arm where he hissed in pain and the pieces of the imcomplete Materia flew out of his hands even though it began to fly away and smashing through a window and into the air where the sky become a dark red, forming and creating a path which smashed through the wall of the room, forcing everyone to back away even further, leaving a gapping hole and a distoration formed like another dimensional rift.
It then returned as everyone watched in surprise and shock when the pieces of the Materia formed and Felicia's body began to float again, covered in blue light and forcing Rosalind back. It was then they realized that, combined with another piece emerging from a stunned Fuhito's body that the piece in Felicia's body was doing the same, glowing in a violet light before joining the other three pieces. Everyone was forced to shield their eyes when the five pieces then formed into one, before floating towards the evil Scientist who held it in his hand.
"Yes...at long last! All that is left is to take this Materia to Zirconiade, and this time, no one will stop me!" Fuhito declared. He grabbed the materia out of the air and as everyone watched in shock and surprise, he raced towards the pathway that was created and leaped into the portal.
(~End The Key of Darkness~)
"Stop!" Rosalind shouted.
"Get back here, you bastard!" St. Andrew shouted angrily.
"...This is what we feared...!" Aulstyne growled furiously as everyone turned their attention to him and Qator who had brought out their weapons. "This is all your fault! The only way to end this is your deaths and for me to take on Zirconiade!"
He and Qator both aimed their guns squarely at Rosalind, but Reno(after he and Rude set Veld down) and Tseng both quickly summoned a Barrier Spell from their Materia's to reflect the shots.
"Like hell we're gonna let ya!" Reno growled deeply.
"Rosalind! You and everyone else stop Zirconiade! Leave Aulstyne to the three of us!" Tseng ordered while keeping his eye on Qator who glared back.
"I'm staying too!" Elena called out, after she and Rude made sure the still bleeding Shears, the weakened but still alive Felicia, the exhausted Veld and Rufus were safely secured. She turned to her older sister and told her, "You'd better stop Zirconiade and come back alive, Sis. 'Cause if you die, I'll never forgive you!"
Rosalind hesitated, but she knew that her former superior and her younger sister were right. If they didn't stop Fuhito from giving the Materia to Zirconiade, then the Realm of Light is doomed before they knew it. So she nodded.
"Yes, sir!" Rosalind replied to Tseng, before turning to Elena and added, "I'll do my best to come back."
She turned to the remaining former Turks-Cissnei, Arien, Jake, St. Andrew, Rafe, Alana, Patrick, Balto, and Freya who all nodded. They all then leaped into the portal while Tseng, Reno, Rude and Elena stood firmly to face against the furious duo before them, ready for one of the biggest battles of their lives.
"You will regret in ever being reborn!" Aulstyne growled angrily.
"Do we look like we care?" Reno growled back, flicking his wrist to extend his EMR. "This would've been avoided if you guys hadn't gone and listened to that Xehanort guy!"
"If anyone's to blame for all of this, it's you!" Rude added, standing in stance, clutching his fists tightly.
Elena held out her gun, pointing it at the two men, and hissed, "I may be a rookie right now, and clumsy, but this is for what you did to my sister!"
"This is where you will die, Tseng, by my hand! I've been waiting for six years for this day!" Qator growled. The Wutaiian Turk glared at him calmly, standing ready for battle.
(~L'Oscurità dell'Ignoto-KH:DDD~)
"We will not lose here. We will throw away our fears." Tseng began, repeating what Veld had told him long, long ago. Both in this life and in their previous lives. "My Turks and I will take pride in our hands once more...!"
"Because we're the Turks!" The four Turks declared in unison.
Aulstyne responded by rushing forward for the full scale attack. Reno and Rude both leaped out of the way before the redhead charged with a growl, attempting to whack the older man hard. he blocked her gunshots with his weapon which reflected from the blade. He then opened fired himself but Reno used a Barrier spell to protect himself while Rude made to punch Aulstyne who ducked and dodged the attack and made to slice him with the Gunblade. The taller Turk stumbled back to avoid it before Reno charged up his EMR and blasted a bolt of Lightning at the Militas Ultra Leader, catching him off guard while he was distracted, but Aulstyne leaped out of the way to avoid both Turks' attacks.
Aulstyne then thrusts his gunblade, only managing to hit the ground as the blade scraped it slightly while Reno and Rude dodged out of the way before the two charged again. Reno blocked Aulstyne's Gunblade with the EMR and grinned, sparking Electricity to full power which surged onto the Gunblade and successfully charging into the enemy's body as he grunted in pain while Rude used this chance to headbutt the older man without getting electrocute himself and Reno then kicked him in the stomach. To their shock, Aulstyne growled as he seemingly recovered from this attack and charged forward, punching Reno in the chest and Rude in the stomach, sending both younger men flying back as they hit the ground hard painfully. Grunting and using Curaga on themselves, the two Partners forced themselves to roll out of the way when Aulstyne charged forward in incredible speed that he narrowly missed in slicing them both single handedly.
Tseng in the meantime flared up a Fire Spell from his Fire Materia at Qator who jumped out of the way before charing forward to attack the Turk Leader who somersaulted out of the way, causing the Militas Second in Command's Sword smash into the ground. The Wutaiian Turk casted Lightning but his enemy jumped again to avoid it, only to encounter Elena who fired gunshots at him which he blocked with his sword. He then charged at her, but she cartwheeled out of the way and landed a kick in his stomach before he grabbed her leg and thrust her into the air. She screamed while landing hard onto the ground as Tseng screamed out her name in shock. The Turk Leader then hissed angrily before casting Comet on Qator who leaped and dodged out of the way for most parts as he made his way to the Former Second in Command who was forced to cast Barrier to block the man's sword which reflected back towards him.
But Qator waited until the Barrier faded to strike again, but Tseng was ready for it this time. The latter leaped out of the way and used Thundaga this time which hit the mark. His opponent yelled out in pain while Elena, after using a Potion on herself to restore her health, used this distraction to her advantage as she casts Blizzard despite not having much training with Materia, but apparently her skills from her past-life made up for it. The Ice Block materalized over the enemy's head and hit him, making him slightly dazed. It allowed Tseng, who was relieved that the young rookie was alright, to fire several shots at Qator who was shot in the arm and leg, but the eye-patched man grunted and leaped out of the way to avoid more shots despite bleeding.
He then set up his own Materia Gaunlet on his wrist with part of machinery and to the two Turks shock, flared up a series of Purple Fireballs, forcing Tseng to push Elena out of the way while he attempted to conjour attacked with his own Fire Spells. Both attacks collided but one of Qator's still managed to hit the Wutaiian who screamed and was left weakened. Elena, furious, fired at Qator who charged forward again and dodged and blocked her attacks and attempted to hit her with hand-to-hand combat. She ducked and kicked him in the stomach while tossing one of her remaining potions to her Superior who struggled to his feet, but upon seeing the potion and Elena getting hit and knocked down, he knew that this battle had to end and he wasn't going to surrender this time. He jugged down the healing liquid before charging himself, punching Qator right in the face and sending him back and away from Elena.
Aulstyne then sped forward with a yell to stab Reno who narrowly avoided it before he dropped low and dodge-rolled to the side to avoid in being stabbed or sliced when the Commander, or Leader or Marshal or whatever he was thrusts his Gunblade down at him again and firing shots at him despite the redhead and from the looks of things his friends becoming exhausted, but they were not going to give up. They were Turks. They can win this, and they were going to end the lives of Aulstyne and Qator once and for all. Despite his Mana running low, Reno used his EMR to cast Blizzard which Aulstyne dodged easily, but Rude caught the man off-guard by punching him hard in the back and doing so again in the chest. This allowed Reno to kick Aulstyne in the legs which made him go down and fall flat on his face.
Yet he stood up quickly and readied his weapon to thrust at the Turks again, but Reno with his speed smacked him hard with his EMR and Rude followed a mere half a second later and the two men successfully made him fly backwards while Aulstyne yelled in alarm before crashing onto the ground hard. By the time the man recovered to pick up his Gunblade, he saw too late as Reno and Rude had quickly approached and stood on both sides of the Militas Ultra Leader. Rude brought his gloved fist onto the floor beneath him while at the same time Reno loose with a fantastic arc of lightning that shot from his weapon and encased Aulstyne. He was caught by the simultaneous attacks. His body jerked as it was seized, caught in an electrified landslide as he screamed in pure agony at the combined attacks done by the unstoppable Team of Reno and Rude of the Turks.
Qator glanced back as he saw what was happening and was horrified to see his superior attacked by Reno and Rude, only to have Tseng and Elena, who healed up again despite running out of potions and Mana. The two Turks charged and punched and kicked the Second in Command in the stomach and face which sent him back as well once again. Despite the injuries, he glared heatedly at them with hatred and made to slash at them again in such speed, but Tseng and Elena dodge-rolled out of the way and the two Gun-wielding Turks quickly reclipped their remaining Ammo and fired at the man's sides of his waist despite being even more exhausted themselves. This causes Qator to gasp in agonized pain, making him drop his sword that clattered onto the ground.
Even despite this, Qator flared up another set of Purple Fireballs on both sides, forcing Tseng and Elena to leap out of the way to avoid these attacks which damaged the room even more, creating clouds of dust flying everywhere. Left with no other choice even as Qator refused to back down, Elena fired the last of her two shots while Tseng, even with his mana almost completely dry, casted one last Comet Spell that rained down onto Qator while Reno and Rude used their back up guns to fire shots right through Aulstyne's chest when the other two Turks realized that despite being severely weakened, he was still refusing to give up as well. All four attacks both engulfed Qator and sent Aulstyne to the floor, both men now bleeding heavily and the last of their strenghs due to being shot in their chests began to fade away.
(~End L'Oscurità dell'Ignoto~)
The two groups of Turks approached their opponents slowly and with caution until they realized, with surprisingly heavy hearts, that both Aulstyne and Qator were far too weak to even move.
"How...inconvinent." Qator whispered dyingly, before his sole eye slid closed and his head went limp onto the ground. He didn't move.
"...Why...? Why do...why do you...follow the Gods' will?" Aulstyne weakly asked, as his strength was fading away ever so quickly.
Tseng sighed, shaking his head. "It is not the will of the Gods. We do because as Turks, we accomplish our mission. Things are not the same as they were in our previous lives. No one sought to use Kingdom Hearts. Except for Xehanort, obviously. None of us know why we were reborn, except maybe for one special person who can accomplish more than we can."
"...Who...is this person?" The dying Militas Ultra Leader asked.
"Sailor Moon." Elena answered this time, after a moment of thought. "She helped Cloud Strife to defeat Sephiroth, and she time-travelled into our past without us even knowing."
"Sailor Moon may be young, and none of us are certain if she is born yet or not, but she has many friends she made with her heart. Sailor Moon is the future of all life, and while she may not be here, and Rosalind will defeat Zirconiade once more, if there's one young woman who can drive away the Darkness, alongside Mickey Mouse, it's her." Tseng continued.
Aulstyne panting, progress the words, and even as his vision began to go dark, he breathed his last breath as he muttered for the final time, "...I see...Sailor Moon is the one...chosen by the Gods..."
His eyes then closed and he went limp. He never rose again. Tseng sighed at the demise of the two men who lead an Organization that terrorized ShinRa for six years, causing all the fighting and destruction...
Because of Xehanort's goal for Kingdom Hearts.
"Tseng! 'Lena!" Reno's voice brought the two of them back into reality. While Elena turned first and gasped before hurrying over to Reno and Rude who both now knelt beside Rufus, the still exhausted but awake Veld, and the now awake Felicia who was holding Shears in her arms. When Tseng spun around, his breath got caught in his throat as saw how pale Shears was despite his Turks doing everything they could to keep the Second in Command of Highground alive, it was becoming clear that nothing can save the man now.
His injuries done by Fuhito was too great.
"Shears?" Felicia muttered, holding the dying man in her arms. How could it come to this...again!? Everything she and her Second in Command had gone through, for most of their lives since they were children...creating Highground to defeat Militas Ultra to get their revenge...and having made a promise long ago to find new lives once that goal had reached...she couldn't lose him...not now!
"Elfe...Felicia..." Shears breathed, which sounded rasped and forced. He didn't have much longer to live. "Doesn't look like...I'll be around to keep...that promise we made..."
"...That's the first time you called me by my real name..." Felicia smiled tearfully despite losing one of the most important people of her life. "But you can't die now...! You just can't!"
(~Sudden Parting-DIRGE OF CERBERUS FINAL FANTASY VII~)
"Last time...Fuhito killed me...I couldn't see you for the last time...at least now...I got that chance..." Shears smiled weakly. He turned his gaze to the Turks and Rufus who were horrified and surrowed that he was dying. "...Take care of her, will you?"
"Hey, whoa! You can't go dyin' on us, man!" Reno cried out, trying hard not to break down in tears. To think that Shears was an enemy when he just wanted for the best of the world by destroying the Mako Reactors, and hated Fuhito for his actions. To think that Reno himself and Rude fought this guy in their previous lives. Now having been reborn, Shears and Felicia helped them to fight Militas Ultra for the past six years. They'd been allies.
Veld, struggling to hold back his emotions, sighed and nodded. "I...I wanted to thank you, Shears. For taking care of my daughter for me. I wish there'd been a way to repay you."
"Nah...No need to, old man. Sorry for messing up 8,000 years ago..." Shears smiled.
"Shears...you and Highground had saved our lives for six years, aided us to fight our enemy. I am deeply sorry...for all of this." Rufus muttered, and for the first time the Turks had seen him, he was...distrughted and guilt-ridden.
"Guess that makes us even. Liked you better than Fuhito." Shears chuckled weakly.
"We'll ensure Felicia will be safe." Tseng informed him sorrowfully.
Shears nodded his thanks, weakly turning his gaze to Felicia who by now had tears leaking from her eyes. He slowly reached up and gently cupped her right cheek in his hand, and she held it, gazing in his eyes.
"Felicia...I'm really happy...to have been with you...I...should have told you a long time ago..." Shears coughed badly, blood dripping from his lips. He managed to gaze up at his leader and close friend for the last time, muttering just as his strength gave way. "...I love you."
Then, it happened. His eyes closed, and his body went limp, with a smile on his face. His chest no longer rose or fell. Shears had surcummbed to his injuries.
"Shears?...SHEARS!" Felicia screamed out in agonized sorrow, until the cold truth dawned into the Highground leader, her father, the Turks and the President. She croaked a sob before hugging Shear's lifeless body and cried onto his chest over the loss.
Veld lowered his gazed in guilt and sorrow. Tseng did the same, moisture of tears stinging his eyes as his heart ached for the loss. Rufus in the similar fashion as he closed his eyes for the loss of a brave and couragous man who died saving the one he cared most. Elena was crying, burying her face in her hands.
Reno was speechless, horrified and sorrowed and angry, all mixed in together. The redhead was on his hands and knees, punching the ground hard as he let out an agonized and frustrated scream, tears falling freely from his eyes and the droplets landing on the floor. Rude stood there, but he grunted in the similar feeling his best friend had. (~End Sudden Parting~)
As the group continued to surround the lifeless body of Shears, the doors were thrown open and Ace, Machina, Rem, Cater, Cinque, Deuce, Trey, Jack, King, Queen, Sice, Seven, Eight and Nine barged in before skidding to a stop and froze in shock, horror and quickly sorrow as they saw what had happened. The girls of the group covered their mouths covering their heart-broken gasps as the same realization hit them hard.
While Aulstyne and Qator were now dead...so was Shears.
"What...what happened?" King demanded as he and the rest of the group approached, and Tseng, Rufus and Veld managed to sadly gaze at them while Reno, Elena, and Felicia were still crying their hearts out and Rude remained silent.
"...Fuhito...he has been revived." Tseng began and explained briefly of what happened, concluding with sorrow even though he tried to school it, but even he wasn't immune to the loss of a friend. "Shears sacrificed himself to save Felicia, and died of his injuries. We couldn't do...anything to save him."
This was enough for Class Zero to get the picture, and while the boys felt their hearts ache, with Machina holding back the urge to scream himself, the girls all began to sob and cry.
Knowing there was more work to be done, Rufus sighed, before standing up and gave out his next orders. "Reno, Rude...Go and help Rosalind and the rest of the Turks if possible. Tseng, Elena, you and Class Zero take Veld and his daughter to the General Hospital, and I will go with you."
Forcing themselves to force back their sorrows as the knew that despite the former Turks having gone ahead to stop Zirconiade, they knew that the President was right. So doing as they told, and Veld, weakened, gently coxed his daughter that it was time to leave, Felicia sighed before nodding, and gave Shears a gentle kiss on his cold forehead before lying him down on the ground.
Tseng and Elena helped Veld and Felicia to stand, as most of Class Zero helped and Trey volunteered to carry Shears' body for a funeral later. Reno, forcing himself to stop crying, stood up and sighed, before gazing at Rude and nodded. The two partners then hurried to race towards aiding the Former Turks while everyone else began to leave the building to return to Edge.
Fuhito's return ensured the re-Summoning of Zirconiade and he left to give the newly formed Materia to complete it.
Thus Rosalind led the former Turks to confront the biggest challenge they've ever encountered since 8,000 years ago. The summon capable of burning the planet asunder, capable to seek out Kingdom Hearts and destroy the Realm of Light, Zirconiaide, had been summoned using an incomplete Materia; it returned to the Realm of Light incomplete.
But most of the world and the rest of the Realm went about their lives, completely unaware of the danger they faced, apart from Earth which was facing the dangers of the Negaverse.
At the very same time as this Crisis, Sailor Moon fights against evil and would soon be joined by her four Guardians who would also awaken their true powers as Sailor Scouts.
The Turks had succeeded in rescuing both Veld and Felicia. Father and daughter were reunited once more. But Shears died in saving Felicia.
Tseng, Reno, Rude and Elena had fought and finally put an end to Cid Aulstyne and Qator Bashar, but the fight is far from over.
If Zirconiaide was made whole, it would be impossible to defeat it. It was left to the Turks to destroy the four pillars of energy giving Zirconiaide its form and destroy the summon beast itself before Fuhito reached his objective once more.
There was so very little time left.
The Final Battle was in the horizon.
January 28th [3:20 PM]-Year-1996.
Zirconiade Dimensional Pathway-Midgar Ruins.
(~Sacred Distance-KH:DDD~)
Rosalind, Balto, Patrick, Alana, Arien, St. Andrew, Rafe, Freya, Jake, and Cissnei all stepped through the portal only to remember that like in the last battle against Zirconiade 8,000 years ago, there were four paths to take, and Fuhito could have gone down any one of them. After deciding who should go where, they decided to split up into groups. Rosalind went with Freya and St. Andrew to the forward path. Arien, Rafe and Jake took the one on the right, Balto and Cissnei took the one on the left, and Alana and Patrick took the last one as the Former Turks split up into the Dimensional Maze, hoping that their memories will help them succeed as they had done before.
It was an incredible place; The path hung suspended in the air, surrounded by a green mist that reminded him eerily of mako fog, and as they got further in, they discovered it was paved with giant blocks of stone. Bright lights glittered out of the mist like stars, though none of them had no idea of their origin.
Rosalind, Freya and St. Andrew then spotted what looked like a ring of light on the path. They didn't think anything of it at first, except once they had passed through it, they found themselves transported to the center of a platform with four other lighted circles on it. They ended up losing a bit of time trying to figure out how the things worked before eventually landing on a path that seemed to go deeper in.
Soon they started getting the feeling and remembering that they were headed in the right direction. Mainly because strange creatures were appearing on the path which they recognized as part of this place and Zirconiade. The three Turks took them out in a combination of Gun, Shotgun and EMR with near effortless teamwork, just as they always had been when they used to be Turks. But they fought only one and went to avoid the rest as Time wasn't on their side right now.
It was after the path began to get a little more linear that Rosalind got a call from one of the other teams. It seemed none of the others were having any luck finding Fuhito yet but that they had found a way out of the maze and were waiting for them on the other end.
'We have to hurry. If we don't, Fuhito could very well succeed in summoning Zirconiade to full power this time.' Rosalind thought to herself. They can do this; she knew that they will. Because they done so before in their previous lives.
(~End Sacred Distance-KH:DDD~)
They traveled further along the path, trying to hurry without barreling into anything dangerous when up ahead they saw something none of them wanted to see. Familiar monsters that they knew more than most.
(~Deep Drop-KH:DDD~)
"Oh, come on! You gotta be kidding me!" St. Andrew growled angrily.
"Ugh, I forgot Behemoths were here too!" Freya grumbled.
Rosalind stood firm, her gun and everything she had with her ready as she told her two comrades and friends, "We must take them down! Be ready!"
Freya and St. Andrew both nodded and readied themselves to fight. It was just in time as one of the hulking beasts looked up and spotted them. It crouched down like it was ready to pounce and then rushed them. Freya let loose with a shotgun shell and then moved to get out of the way as St. Andrew sped forward.
Rosalind fired several shots at the Behemoth that attempted to claw her before she dodge-rolled out of the way to avoid the tail that was about to crush her. She quickly used that time to reclip her gun before returning to the fight. The Monster roared before stomping forward and made to take a bite but the female Turk dodge-rolled and slid undeneath it, firing several shots into where she knew the heart was before rolling out from it. When more came, she switched to the use of her Materia, casting Comet which rained down at the Behemoth who fell to the ground almost instantly.
St. Andrew whacked the Behemoth he was facing, the sparks of electricity seeped into the monster's body as the beast roared before slashing at him with it's claws to send him back flying. The redhead jumped back before unleashing a powerful Lightining combined with his EMR to shock the life out of the beast, dodge-rolling out of the way to avoid it's tail. He then crazily jumped onto it's back and landed on top of it, and despite the Behemoth trying to shake him off, he thrusts his weapon into it's neck and set his weapon to full blast, shocking the living hell out of it until he dropped. He cringed at being zapped slightly himself, but it was worth it.
Freya took the right and charged, going after the monster's foreleg and then cutting a gash along it's right flank with a knife she carried with her as a back-up. She ducked, just in time to evade the monster's tail as she then fired several more gunshots near the front of the monster. Once the tail had gone the other direction, Freya went for her opponent's legs crippling it as tendons before unleashing Firaga at it's head and finished it off with a powerful blast of a Thundaga Materia she installed into her rifle.
But no sooner had the three former Turks taken down their enemies and used only a couple of drops of their Curaga since they wanted to save them for Zirconiade, just as they were about to continue down the path, two more Behamoths lumbered into sight on the path behind them. Rosalind was about to fight them when Freya and St. Andrew stopped her and stood in fighting stances.
"Go on ahead of us! We'll take care of these guys!" Freya told her.
"But-!" Rosalind gasped, quickly fearing that her friends will die and...given the last time, Shears won't be there to save them.
St. Andrew however grinned and gave her a thumbs up, "No prob', Rosie. Just leave this to us! You go and kick Fuhito's butt into next Tuesday and then some!"
Despite wanting to stay and help them, Rosalind forced herself to admit that they were right. So after telling them to be careful and be safe, she turned and raced down the path to find Fuhito on her own, fully determined not to let him get away with this. While Freya and St. Andrew shared a glance with grinning nods and then turned their attention back to the two monsters, ready for another round.
(~End Deep Drop~)
January 28th [4:03 PM]-Year-1996.
Rosalind had been traveling on this particular path for quite a while when she looked up ahead, and, given her memories, expected the King Behemoth. She was surprised that there was nothing but perhaps this time she'd been lucky. Still, she checked her surroundings quickly before racing forward to finish what she came here to do and started noticing the lights getting brighter and the mist began to spill eerily onto the edges. It was there she finally found and recognized the insane mad-man brought back to life, holding the Materia in his hand.
"At last. Soon the world will be reborn. Zirconiade will bring forth Kingdom Hearts and restore the Planet into it's original, lushful glory, free of the parasites who sought to destroy it." Fuhito was saying to himself.
Wasting no time and remembering the last time, she silently but quickly took aim and just as Fuhito was about to rise the Materia, she fired directly at it. It was a perfect hit as Fuhito shouted in surprise when the gunshot went right through the Materia and ultimately shattering it into tiny pieces beyond repair and ultimately destroying it for good.
"This is as far as you go, Fuhito!" Rosalind shouted, keeping her aim at the evil Scientist.
Hearing her voice, Fuhito turned around and glared angrily at the woman who once again just foiled his plans, having made the effort to actually destroy the only key to fully complete Zirconiade.
"You again? It seems I have been dead far too long, because I had forgotten how insufferable and meddlesome you can be." The dark haired man hissed. "Again and again you and your pitiful Turks stand in my way, defying the Planet and preventing it's rebirth and healing process. The Lifestream no longer flows; in it's place is just Hearts; both of species such as you and Heart Fragments in all other Worlds."
"Quiet!" Rosalind snapped. "You think the Planet chose you to save it, but the reality is that it didn't! You brought yourself into an illusion because your heart is too clouded with seeing that not all humans are evil or cruel. Yes, we do regret in using the Lifestream and Mako in the Reactors, but that's all in the past. No one knows what really caused the War to split the world apart, but they recovered and began anew with new lives, some of us reborn to see it and very likely to protect them."
She paused for a moment before continuing, "ShinRa no longer uses Mako when it was rebuild. We focus on clean energy and making sure to be careful with it while ensuring people and all of the world doesn't make the same mistake twice. We work for the future, not to live in the past! But you can't seem to let go of that, Fuhito! I will stop you if it's the last thing I do!"
(~L'Eminenza Oscura I-KH:DDD~)
Fuhito remained silent before raising his hand and shot an energy blast in Rosalind's direction. She quickly summoned Barrier to block it as there wasn't much time to move out the way, but she did grunt and hiss as she was pushed back a little before the attack stopped. She glared up at Fuhito who's frown deepened.
"So you have grown in strength, no longer needing that fool Shears' like the last time." He remarked, before scoffing. "No matter. With or without the Materia, I will destroy you, I will bring forth and complete Zirconiade...I WILL RETURN THE PLANET TO IT'S FORMER STATE!"
He brought out his gun, ready to fight while his body was covere in darkness, but Rosalind was unafraid. She wasn't going to surrender to this mad-man. She will defeat him and Zirconaide just as she and her allies and friends had done 8,000 years ago. The former Turk cartwheeled out of the way when Fuhito opened fired at her before returning the shot, but to her shock he began to levitate in the air before moving around and shot out another beam at her, making the young woman continue to try and dodge it as quickly as possible. She then chasted Lightning at him but he simply hovered out of the way to avoid her attacks before firing at her again.
Rosalind rolled out of the way before casting Firaga at Fuhito's direction, following up with Blizzard while Fuhito attempted to simply block both magical elements. But she came up with another idea and Summoned Wateraga from her Water Materia, sending out a large wave of Water into his direction which soaked him from above which caught him by surprise. But even as he slumped to the ground, he hissed before blocking Rosalind's martial arts skills in a speed that almost matched Sephiroth's, kicking her into the stomach and she was sent flying and screaming. But with unusual strength as her determination to take him down made her flip in mid-air and land safely on the ground in a crouch which surprised even herself. Maybe it was due to the presense of the Mist, she couldn't tell, but decided to worry about that later.
Fuhito shot at her again and she rolled to avoid a bullet that was probably aimed at her heart. She returned the favor and hitting him in the arm, but he then blasted a dark beam at her, forcing Rosalind to dodge-roll out of the way again and continued to do so when he followed her lead in very major attempts to finish her off once and for all. She then summoned Comet to counter attack which blocked most of her opponent's attacks and some actually managed to hit him in the chest, sending him back as he shouted in agony, but it only his anger grow. He charged forward as his arms into that of scythes to slash at her. Rosalind fired at his arms again before being forced to avoid his attacks until she found another opening and dodge-rolled behind him just as he went over her and then thrust her arm and elbow into his back.
He stumbled forward before spinning around and made to slice Rosalind in half, but she jumped back quickly and was foced to continue before shooting him again, but he blocked the gunshots with his arms that reflected her attacks, making her cast Comet in the last second to stop him from spilling her blood. Fuhito was screaming in agony as his scythe arms reverted back to normal which allowed the young woman to cast Firaga and Lightning at at him again to distract him even further. Quickly reclipping her gun, Rosalind was about to shoot him when Fuhito caught her by surprise and sped forward before punching her in the chest, sending her flying backwards screaming and she landed roughly on the ground, almost losing her weapon in the process.
Hissing in agony, Rosalind had to use Curaga on herself and rolled out of the way before Fuhito could attack her again and with her Mana at it's peak, she had to settle for her hand-to-hand combat and her weapon until Fuhito is defeated. She then remembered something she almost forgot until now as she wished she could at least freeze him in time or something; something she found the storage and actually stolen from the Militas Ultra HQ before she and Mickey separated. Nodding to herself and leaping back to avoid Fuhito's beams again, she casted another Spell which this time froze her opponent in place. This allowed her to attack by punching and kicking him after using a Stop Spell before jumping back once more and while her enemy frailed by the attacks in pain, she took aim straight at Fuhito's chest right at where his heart was...
She opened fired before the man had a chance to recover. Fuhito gasped before falling to the Flagstones, his blood flowing freely from his chest as some of it hit the ground.
(~End L'Eminenza Oscura I~)
Rosalind held her gun and kept her aim at Fuhito, who's body not only bleed in blood, but also darkness forming around it, opening a Corridor beneath him as he was, unknowingly to the former Turk, subcumiming to the Darkness he let himself become attacted to.
"...Your existence...is as significant as a...scrap of trash." Fuhito breathed weakly, his gaze just to what was above him. "
"Fuhito. You're responsible for all this. For putting my comrades-my friends through so much pain 8,000 years ago and you tried to do it again! Felicia, Shears, me, my sister, ShinRa, the world, and Kingdom Hearts! You didn't deserve to be reborn, and I know now why: because the world didn't want you to! Go back to the deepest depths of hell where you belong!" Rosalind told him firmly, even though she felt a bit sorry for him, but he had caused so much pain. She would never forgive him for any of it.
"Hmph...My heart...will enter the Realm of Darkness. My soul...will return to the deepest depths of Hell as you say..." Fuhito hissed in his dying breath. "You may have defeated Zirconiade before, you will not do so again...! Even if you can, Turk, Kingdom Hearts...it will return. Light will one day expire, and not even...not even the foolish child chosen by a dead Goddess will stop the dark hearts of two Gods to control everything."
Hissing as he began to fade away and sink deeper into the darkness, Fuhito concluded in pure hatred, "As long as they and Xehanort exist...Someday...Someday...I will return!"
At the final exclaimation, Fuhito completely disappeared into the dark hole which then vanished and faded away, leaving Fuhito to sink into the Realm of Darkness as he has been destroyed for the second time in 8,000 years. Rosalind approached the spot where the now once again dead AVALANCHE leader was just moments ago. She couldn't believe that he still held that belief he'd been chosen to do the world's bidding and was now even more delusional. Perhaps it was the darkness that was causing people to lose their minds, focusing on gaining Kingdom Hearts in many ways.
She then shook her head and remembered she had a job to do; Rosalind managed to destroy the Materia for good, but knew, even with it gone, Zirconiade will not be easy to fight against; it was a terrible monster she fought long ago, she will have to face it again with everything she got.
'Elena...I promise I will what I can to come back alive.' Rosalind thought to herself, thinking of her only sister. Even if she didn't come back...at least Elena would be safe. So would Reno and everyone else, and her heart began to ache as she wondered and feared if the other Former Turks were gone. Either way, she had to keep moving forward.
To stop Zirconiade once and for all.
Zirconiade: The summon capable of sundering the Realm of Light in a sea of flame, ruin and then Darkness.
The Turks had come to the most dangerous point in their journey. They split up into four teams and were making their way to Zirconiade. However, in the viciousness of the battles they faced on their way, most of their fates left unknown.
Rosalind feared her allies had been lost, but she continued onward to defeat the beast as she had done in her previous life. She knows it will not be easy, and knows that she may not come out alive...
But she is set on her path. The young woman will not turn back.
All that remained now is either Victory or Oblivion.
January 28th [4:44 PM]-Year-1996.
Rosalind continued onward as she fought more enemies along the way, including Zirconguards which weren't as powerful as they had been before. She guessed that it was either Zirconiade wasn't that powerful yet or maybe she'd gotten stronger, or maybe it's because the Lifestream wasn't here anymore. She couldn't tell.
After she healed herself while careful on her remaining supplies and remembering there was no signal here, the young woman continued on.
"...If Zirconiade is here, it must be very close." She said to herself. Though if she had to admit it to herself, she was terrified. Terrified of facing the monster that haunted her in her sleep.
She walked a little further, even as the mist began to get to her, but the former Turk knew that it meant she was getting close. She forced her fear down, because Rosalind knew, one way or another, she had to do this. For the sake of everyone, when the pressure stopped and she paused in her steps to catch her breath.
Gasping, she felt the ground tremble, and Rosalind focused on keeping her balance when the green mists around her began to swirl making it as though she was in a maelstrom. She looked up and saw in the distance, a strange dark being, towering into this place and her eyes widened in fear, awe and familiarity.
It's upper half had the form of a man with multiple arms, almost spiderlike in their slenderness. A pair of huge halo-like rings adorned its back with several strange objects hanging off of them, and atop the man's shoulders like a pair of huge wings, stood a pair of gigantic circular blades. The lower half of the summon reminded him of an inverted flower, though under the petals, he could see several sharp looking objects hanging off the underbelly like a set of meat hooks.
There was no mistaking of it. Rosalind has just approached her most powerful foe.
"...Zirconiade."
Rosalind has reached the beast that threatens to destroy all.
Her ultimate Final Battle against Zirconiade was about take place.
A/N: Sorry to cut this chapter short, but I wanted to make the final battle into one page and not make the next chapter which will be the last one before the Epilogue and Secret Ending too short. We're almost there!
See you in the final chapter!