The clock turned to 5:00.

A device clicked on over the heads of the girls. They looked up in fear, and saw that the lights within the chambers were starting to increase in intensity. The machine was still running although its operator and the Chimera were dead. And in five minutes, it would finish the man's work. The girls looked out in fear, and saw that Vincent and Zola were both down. There was no one left to turn off the machine. Did that mean it was all for nothing? That they were stuck here until the machine finished its work?

However, because the chamber was sound proof, neither Krystea nor Aerith heard what was happening. At that moment, the sound of ripping metal went through the chamber. One of the entrances was shut, but it was being opened. A pair of swords had come forward and jammed into the doorway. They both twisted either way, and began to pry the metal doors open. One was like a red flame. The other was broader, but strong and formidable. As the metal continued to rip, the strength of the two beyond finished putting a hole into the doorway, and then pushed it open further until a gap was forming between them. Once it was man sized, the swords were retracted, and the two men responsible pushed through and into the room.

Ragnar and Cloud both spread out on the catwalk, and aimed their swords at the ready. They searched the area for a moment. They saw the ruined stone body, the blood covering the metal floor, the dead creatures, and the giant machine in the middle running. Ragnar also turned and saw that there were unexpected guests here. Vincent, clothed in only black pants and a holster, was slumped against one of the devices. Not only that, but Zola was here, and in his basilisk form. He looked in bad shape too, but the fight appeared to be over.

"Looks like we got here a bit too late." Ragnar remarked.

"Hardly…so long as that machine is running." Cloud answered, pointing to the device that had Krystea and Aerith trapped within it. It took him only a moment to recognize them, and to make the connection that this was the device that Horus had spoken of. Ragnar turned and looked at it as well, and realized what was about to happen. He turned back to the floor afterward, and looked to the console. Only now did he notice a digital clock, and it was counting down.

Ragnar swallowed, and put his sword away. Cloud, on his part, left it out. He turned to the ex-mercenary. "You turn off the machine. I'll go check on the others."

Cloud didn't argue, because this was the task he wanted. He immediately took off down the catwalk and ran to the console as fast as he could. As for Ragnar, he made his way for the middle of the floor, in particular the fallen Zola. As he ran there, the girls turned and finally saw them, and immediately yelled out to them in case they didn't realize what was happening. But neither could hear.

Zola was writhing on the ground now. His scales were slowly pulling back into his flesh, his tail was shedding, and his limbs were beginning to grow mammalian again. He was turning back into a human, but it was taking him longer than usual, almost as if doing so was a strain to him. While his face was still compressing, Ragnar reached his side. He immediately dropped down next to him.

"Zola!" Ragnar called out.

The basilisk grunted as its face crushed, but then managed to crack its eyes open as they began to go from reptilian to circular. He weakly looked up to Ragnar. "Is it…dead?" He slowly croaked.

Ragnar was confused at this. He looked up again for a moment, but then remembered. Zola was a basilisk. He turned his victims into stone. And now, he realized that the damage he was seeing around him wasn't from a ceiling or foundation. What he saw were cracked fragments of what had to be his last opponent. Ragnar swallowed uncomfortably at the thought, but turned back down to the creature and nodded.

"There's nothing here but you and Vincent." Ragnar answered.

Zola groaned, and tried to rise while his peg teeth were still becoming more complex. "You've…got to stop…his machine, before…"

"Don't worry. Cloud's on it." Ragnar answered, putting a hand on the transforming creature to push it back down. "You don't look too good…so just rest easy a moment."

Cloud himself reached the console a moment later. As he rounded the side and looked down on the area, he saw a mass of controls and several screens describing the protocol that was occurring. He also happened to notice the mass of blood and tissues that had been discarded behind it. On looking down, he realized that some serious trouble had to have occurred over here.

However…he might have been a bit more wary if he had been here a few minutes ago…which would have led him to realize that a body was missing.

The ex-mercenary only paid this notice for a moment before walking in front of the console. His eyes began to dart around it, looking for an abort button of some kind. His eyes ran over the displays and readouts before he finally got down to the keyboard. After that, he began to look for some sort of escape or cancel button…

"Well, well…the failure made it too."

Cloud suddenly snapped his head up. That voice came from right behind him. And despite how distorted and inhuman it sounded…the language was all too familiar. He spun around to see what it was…

He was just in time to see the wire mesh on the rim of the area suddenly burst open…and a long, fleshy, seemingly skinless pink limb shoot up from it. A hand full of extended, multiple jointed fingers and tipped with dagger-length claws shot out and slammed into his face with incredible force, ripping him off of his feet and sending him flying over the top of the console and back into the main area.

The time turned to 4:00. The lights were definitely getting brighter in the cylinders now. As the humming grew louder yet, a sound of sparking began to occur within the machine.

Ragnar snapped his head up, and was just in time to see Cloud's body finish flying through the air and slam down about ten feet away from him. The ex-mercenary's face was tight with pain, but he groaned and began to get to his feet. As he did, Ragnar heard the sound of more ripping metal, coming from near the console. He wheeled his head around to it, and quickly began to get to his feet, leaving Zola alone for the time being. He began to reach behind to draw his sword…but slowed down in the process. Soon, most of his attention was focused on the monster that was appearing before him…

Two very long arms slowly reached over the edge of the console. Each one had hands that were decked with twenty-four inch fingers that terminated in long, blade like nails. They seemed to dig into the console as they pulled the owner of the body over. The thing was very thin. Ragnar wasn't sure…but it looked almost as if it had no skin. Either that, or the skin was so thin that he could see its pink flesh and purple veins and nerves underneath. The only article of clothing that was on the arms was a metal band encircling one of its wrists.

Slowly, a body was pulled up along with it…at least, what Ragnar assumed was a body. The legs were as long and lanky as the arms, attached to a smaller, beady torso that appeared to easily show the organs and bones underneath. The rib cage looked almost like a piece of exoskeleton on the thing. It made the thing look like some sort of twisted spider. The head was attached via sections of what looked like enlarged, segmented vertebrae, thicker than a normal human neck would be. Then…there was the face.

The eyes were large and multicolored, filled with malice and insanity. They were bigger than normal eyes, expanding into the twisted skull of the beast. Its nose was gone. Instead, it had a large mouth which seemed to be missing a lot of teeth…but the ones left were large and misshapen. Its black hair was splayed out over its hideous grimace, seeming to grow longer and greasier as they looked at it. And like a giant, hideous insect, it crawled forward on its long legs, carrying most of its body suspended far above the ground.

Cloud grit his teeth, and began to get back to his feet. Once he did, he showed no fear but drew his blade. "What the hell are you?" He called out to the thing.

The thing's already large mouth seemed to get wider in a grin. "…I don't know anymore. I'm full of too many bits and pieces… All I do know is my experiment…and that I won't let anything stop it."

With that…the hideous creature raised its arm up, extended its claws, and then brought them down in front of it.

Within an instant…it had sliced apart and ruined the entire set of controls on the console.

Both men and both women gaped at what it had done. The console soon was sizzling and popping, and bursting out with sparks and debris. The thing removed its claws, slicing through a few final wires as it did. Though they couldn't see it all, they knew what it had done. Yet the clock was still ticking down. Now…there was no way to stop it from carrying itself out.

Cloud continued to glare at it. "You bastard…" He seethed.

Ragnar himself hesitated a moment longer, but then recovered. He too formed a tough expression, and drew his own blade out again. Both men now stood at the ready to fight the creature.

The thing crouched for a moment, hissed, and then suddenly leapt off of the console and toward the two of them like some sort of alien frog. As it leapt into the air, it stretched out claws on both its arms and feet, and threatened to land and bury them in either man. Seeing this, Ragnar and Cloud quickly dodged out of the way opposite from each other, letting the thing touch down harmlessly a moment later. However, it wasted no time. Grinning wickedly and turning its head to either opponent, it suddenly lashed out with claws at either one of them. Both Ragnar and Cloud quickly intercepted with their own blades, and locked against its claws. After that, however, they found themselves surprised by the strength of the thing. It was rather powerful, and soon both of them were having to plant their feet and force their strength into it in order to keep it from overpowering them. For a few moments, both clashed against the hideous beast, neither side moving.

But then, the thing snapped out with some sort of laugh, and raised one of its long legs to give Ragnar a kick in the stomach. The youth doubled over and let out a rush of air as he was collapsed around the limb and sent flying backward. The monster didn't look to see him land. Instead, it wheeled around to Cloud and sneered. It yanked its claw off of him, but only so that it could advance and begin to slash both of its long sets of claws at him. Cloud quickly twisted his blade around and parried each strike, but he was forced to move back as he did so. The thing kept advancing and swiping at him, pushing him away from the center and toward the edge of the chamber.

Cloud noticed this, and reacted by shoving the thing's claws away and trying to slice at it himself. Unfortunately, with its long limbs, it was able to keep its body well out of range, and counter just as quickly. Cloud couldn't even force it back. As he stood his ground and swiped wildly at it, the thing merely laughed at his attempts to hit it as it easily dodged out of the way of each blow…

That was, before it suddenly felt a hot pain rake across its back. At this, it smile vanished, replaced by a horrible cry and a look of agony. Furiously, it swung its head around and sneered at what had done it. A bit to its surprise, Ragnar was back on his feet again, and had already come up and sliced at the thing again. The creature, as if this pest was only a waste of its time, merely sneered annoyingly, and then shot out its rear leg to smash Ragnar in the face and send him flying again.

The thing turned back to who it considered the real challenge…but was too slow again. Cloud used the distraction opportunity to advance and give it another slash. The thing pulled away, but it was too slow to avoid the back of its hand getting cut. Hissing in anger again, it shot out its other large hand and seized Cloud, wrapping its long, knife-like fingers around his arms and body so that it could pin his limbs to his side. Cloud managed to wiggle one appendage free, but it wasn't the one holding his sword. Because of that, the thing grinned, thinking it had the advantage, and yanked Cloud off the ground. It intended to bring him to his mouth to do some real damage…

But Cloud wasn't done. He glared at the thing a moment longer, but then reached around and seized the handle to Horizon. Yanking it out, he gave the creature another slice, this time across its wrist. Screeching in pain, and fountaining out pinkish blood, the thing released Cloud and recoiled its limb in agony. The ex-mercenary was dropped to the ground, but he was still on his feet. Immediately, he dashed forward and began to slash at the thing.

The creature turned to him and hissed again, but now it was recovered. It backed up and twisted its body to avoid Cloud's initial slashes as easily as it had done so before. In the end, it grinned again, and then squatted again and leapt just as Cloud rushed forward with a thrust to try and run it through. The ex-mercenary cursed as his sword hit only air, and looked up to the hideous monstrosity. It sailed backward through the air and landed about thirty feet away from Cloud a few moments later, still grinning in delight. Cloud glared back at it a moment…his own peripheral vision already seeing something. But he stayed focused on it, trying to look like he cared only about it, like he was the only one to worry about…

Unfortunately, the creature wasn't going to fall for the same trick twice. Just as Ragnar came up from behind to stab it through the back, the creature crouched and leapt again, letting Ragnarok cut only the air. It sounded out another hideous laugh as it sailed up and through the air and toward the walls of the facility. It soared right over the pit and landed on the metal conduits. Immediately, it spread its arms and legs out, and latched into the metal with its claws. After doing so, it twisted its hideous head over to them and grinned, continuing to chuckle and beginning to scurry along the wall like a spider.

Ragnar, his own face tight with anger, wiped a wad of blood from his mouth from the last blow and began to move over to it. He couldn't reach it from where it was, but he moved toward it and Cloud none the less. "Get down here, you big coward!" He yelled out at it. "If you think we're such a joke, why don't you come down and try and finish us?"

Cloud was glaring at the creature as well as he heard it chuckle, and then continue to scurry. It turned its body up and its head facing downward toward them. However, there it stayed. From that point it merely grinned and held its ground. The ex-mercenary clenched his jaw in anger. He saw Ragnar come forward, still wielding his sword and looking furious at the thing. But when he did, Cloud shot out an arm and planted it on his shoulder. When Ragnar felt this, he froze and turned back.

"We don't have time for this monster." Cloud informed him, keeping his eyes on the creature. "This is just what it wants…for us to waste time trying to kill it, so that the countdown will finish."

Ragnar's look of anger evaporated at that, as he remembered what was happening. After hearing this, he turned his head back to the console. Smoking and smoldering as it was, it was still operating, and so was the countdown. Now…it was closing down to only 3:00. The lights in the chambers were glowing brighter, and were continuing to build in intensity. The humming was getting louder, and Ragnar could see some sparks beginning to emit from below the machine.

"What do we do?" He finally asked as he turned back to Cloud.

"Keep it busy." Cloud answered, and immediately turned and ran for the machine.

Ragnar frowned a bit at that idea. He was still feeling sick and dizzy. His muscles were ebbing a bit even now. And he was still reeling a bit from the previous blows. However…he decided to make do. In the end, he whirled back around to the creature, and made ready to fight.

Now only faced with one foe, the creature seemed to be happy. It crouched a moment longer…but then suddenly leapt off of the wall and lunged at Ragnar. The youth, stunned by the speed and power of this move, could only jump back before it landed on him. Immediately, it attacked with more ferocity, dashing forward and slashing left and right, mimicking the attack it had done on Cloud but far more intense. Caught off guard, Ragnar stumbled back and only haphazardly guarded himself. Despite his skill, he still needed further experience, and he was not accustomed to fighting a creature of such speed and power. What more, he was already wiped out from earlier battles.

The creature finally recoiled back, and then snapped forward again, this time going for the throat. Ragnar paled, but managed to get enough of his bearings to swing himself to one side, letting the creature sail harmlessly past him. As its side presented itself, Ragnar attempted a slash at it. However, he was once again too drained, and it made his reaction too slow. The creature was able to recoil and pull itself in, letting the weapon sail harmlessly by. It retaliated by swinging its own limb out, and Ragnar, disorientated as he was, barely saw it and swung himself back in time to miss the limb taking part of his face off. Pressing the advantage, the beast turned and began to slash at the off balance Ragnar again, forcing him back.

As Ragnar struggled with the creature, Cloud arrived at Aerith's cylinder. She yelled something to him, but he couldn't hear it. Realizing that they were soundproof, Cloud raised his hand and told her to back away. The Cetra did so, and Cloud quickly slammed Horizon back into Event. With that done, he reared back, summoned his strength to its maximum, and then brought his blade around to smash full force into the wall of the cylinder.

A bone-jarring recoil resulted. Cloud, strong as he was, nevertheless felt a horrible painful jolt tear through his limbs as his sword went flying off of the cylinder. Despite the atom edge, he had still been unable to break it. Wincing, he looked to the cylinder again, and was surprised to see that not even a scratch was in it. The cylinder had stood up to the full force of his blow. At the very least, it should have cut into it… Gritting his teeth, Cloud quickly yanked back and began to swing again, disregarding the pain to keep pounding away at it.

The creature darted at Ragnar with its claws coming down, forcing the youth to leap back. A moment later, however, it swung out its other arm while he was still jumping backward. This caught the young general off balance as he twisted to avoid the slash, and he spilled backward and fell onto his back. As he did, his arms went flying, and Ragnarok fell from his grasp to his side. As it clattered to the ground, Ragnar turned and darted to grab it. But the thing was too fast. It reached down and quickly swiped its claw, knocking it farther away from Ragnar, and then used its other claw to try and stab him. The youth was forced to quickly roll in the opposite direction to keep from being impaled. The claws of the beast easily embedded into the floor, and pulled out again a moment later. Ragnar soon found himself rolling from side to side, trying to avoid the creature as it stabbed at him. Although it perched its body right over him and repeatedly swung at his head and torso, he couldn't counter strike it with any kicks due to how long its limbs were.

However, after a few moments of dodging like this, Ragnar finally lashed out. Much as it was getting harder to think and fight, he twisted over to his side to avoid one set of talons, and then kicked out with his foot as hard as he could into the thing's ankle. It seemed to strike true…for he felt the bones snift underneath his focused blow. The thing immediately faltered, and nearly collapsed on top of him. It let out a cry of pain, and as it was stunned, Ragnar used the moment to pull himself out from under it and quickly get to his feet.

The youth turned to see where his blade had fallen. It had slid pretty far, but it had come to a rest on the side of the metal platform, just where the mesh cup began. He immediately took off for it, hoping that the mutant would stay stunned until he reached it. It took a few moments, but soon he was right on top of it. He quickly dove to grab it…

But in mid-lunge…he suddenly felt a powerful grip lace around his torso. It immediately crushed inward, becoming as hard and painful as iron. He was twisted around, and put back in the face of the hideous monster. But that was only for a moment, before his body went flying backward and away from it again for a few moments, and then slammed back first into a metal wall.

Pain rocked through Ragnar, but with a wince and groan he managed to get his bearings and look about himself. He soon saw that the creature still had him. It was perched like some hideous gargoyle on the lip of the mesh ring. It had Ragnar out now, holding him with one arm and shoving him against the metal wall. He had him pinned there hard. However, the true threat was beneath him. Ragnar saw that he was now over the part of the pit that was a fall to oblivion. Indeed, he could only see darkness below him, not the bottom. The creature was more than pinning him...it was holding him over a death drop.

He looked back up to it, and watched as it grinned wickedly at him.

"You stupid boy…" It managed to hiss in an audible format. "What are you even doing here? This is none of your concern… Do you know how many meddlers like you I've killed? All three of me?"

Ragnar gave no answer…just wracked his brain for a way out of this.

Cloud was wracking his own brain for a solution. The humming was so loud now that he couldn't hear anything else. Sparks of electricity were starting to snake up, and the light in the cylinders was so bright that he could only make out an outline of Krystea and Aerith now. Realizing how hopeless it was, he removed his sword from the glass. He was panting and tired now, but he had only managed to make a few slight abrasions on the tube. It would take hours to break through it like this. It was no good. He had to do something different.

Cloud turned his head down, and looked around the area a bit again, looking for another vulnerable spot. After a moment, he believed he saw one. These cylinders on the sides had to be connected to the one in the middle somehow. Power lines had be strung between them if nothing else. Perhaps he couldn't open the cylinders, but he could still disable them.

With that in mind, the ex-mercenary hefted his weapon and moved his body in between the main cylinder and the current one. He placed himself directly over the space between them, and looked down at the metal floor. There was machinery running down there, but nothing much else that was evident. He reasoned it had to be under the metal floor. Glaring at it, he brought his sword back and up, and tightened his grip again. He would break through here… Focusing his strength to maximum again, Cloud swung down and began to cut.

For a split second…he was overjoyed. It worked. The glass was strong, but the metal was vulnerable. His sword cut right into it, and began to slash across…

However, that was where his joy terminated. Abruptly…a blindingly agonizing pain shot through every cell of his body. Every fiber of his being turned to flame, and he opened his mouth to bellow in agony, and to spew out a giant bolt of electricity. His entire body was burning blue from the power of the energy that now coursed through him. If his brain hadn't been totally overloaded and been losing some three million brain cells at the moment…he would have smelled his own flesh burning.

The sound of the tremendous electrical feedback caused the mutant and its prey alike to turn and looked back to the source. Ragnar gasped in horror, seeing Cloud being electrocuted with what looked like enough energy to power Edge. The villainous creature, on its part, merely cracked a grin and laughed at the sight.

Cloud would have been burned alive by the feedback…had not fate stepped in. The power of the electricity was too much for him and the sword. Abruptly…the blade was flung off wildly from the power line, casting it free. Cloud, though lacking sensory ability, had his hand locked around it to the last, and so his body too was flung away, clinging to it like a missile. He was thrown a good twenty feet away before he was cast to the ground, and there he lay as he smoldered and smoked. He moved no more.

"Cloud!" Ragnar called out in terror.

In response to this, the hideous creature turned around and grinned its large, mostly-toothless mouth at the young general. "You both are morons…thinking that for a moment you would be smarter than me." It hissed in twisted glee. "The plexiglass of the cylinders is being held together by an electric current as well as being realigned and reinforced. The cables that connect it to the main machine are electrified with enough voltage to turn a whale into a fritter. And the design will work even without controls. Those cylinders will never open until the three emerge as one being." The creature raised one of its long, sharp hands, and gestured behind it. Ragnar looked up, and back to the console. To his growing fear, he saw that the clock was turning to 2:00.

"What now, little boy?" The thing mocked. "Do I slice you into pieces now? Or do I let you live until you can watch the girl you loved die to give birth to my masterpiece, and then drop you to your doom?"

Ragnar's teeth clenched. He actually found himself reaching down and seizing the thing's arm, and digging his own nails into it as he grabbed it. Foul blood poured forth as a result, but did little to stun the creature or even make it react. He was angry…but he was also stuck. The last bit of time was ticking away, and still there was no way to stop this.

Well…that wasn't entirely accurate. Ragnar's vision was mostly filled with the hideous monster in front of him, but he could see well enough around him to spy one last hope… However, he was still stuck here. He couldn't get away from this thing. He would have to be free to inact it. Zola was slowly rising, but he couldn't fight anymore. He was barely able to revert back into a human. Cloud was down for the count. Vincent was still motionless… Nothing was there. In the end, the youth turned back to glare hatefully at the creature.

He didn't realize that with the creature filling his vision, that there was a lot of the battlefield he didn't see…and didn't realize was with the presence of new people...

"Go to hell." He snapped at the thing.

The creature grinned wider, and raised its other arm at that. "Good. You made the decision I wanted…"

The thing once more extended its claws, and brought its arm back as it aimed them down. It was preparing to slice right into the youth, skewering him all the way through. Ragnar yanked at its arm, but other than that could only watch as it purposely took its time, dragging out the fateful moment…

However, before it could drive it forward…Ragnar watched some sort of brown blur seem to come up and tear by its wrist. The blur landed on the wire mesh a moment later, but Ragnar didn't look to it right away. Instead, he looked up to the mutant, who turned to the blur as well in confusion, and at its wrist. Ragnar noticed that the metal band that had been around its arm had been suddenly sliced into smaller pieces, and now it fell off and clattered to the ground.

"Eh?" The creature inquiried…before giving out a horrible yell.

Ragnar snapped his head back around and looked to the source, and saw it rising from behind the monster. A great twisted man/bear was rising behind it, and had just raked its back with its claws. Its massive nails now dripped with pink and purple blood. However, that might have just sealed Ragnar's fate instead of saving him. In pain, the monster released its grip on the youth. Off balance, with nothing to grab onto or anchor himself with, Ragnar immediately began to fall down into the abyss below…

But that was before another white blur shot down and seized him with powerful limbs by the shoulders. With a snap like a parachute, Ragnar was yanked up and halted in mid-fall, and then began to be hauled back upward. The youth, shocked at how he had nearly been saved from annihilation, looked up in puzzlement to see what had happened.

He was more than a bit surprised to see that the one who had seized him was Horus.

"You…?"

"Don't think this means I care anything for you." Horus answered as she grunted and strained to lift him. Strong as she was, she was still weak, and her body wasn't meant to keep more than herself aloft. However, she managed to drag him over the lip and began to carry him further onto the platform as she lowered him down. "This is about Hoeng. He sold us out…murdered our friends…treated us like garbage. Now we're going to kill him."

On hearing this, Ragnar's eyes widened. "Hoeng? You mean…that thing is-"

Ragnar was cut off as Horus felt she had taken him in far enough inland, and proceeded to drop him a bit roughly onto the metal platform. He landed with some pain on his rear, not expecting the sudden drop and not having his legs ready. As he fell to the ground, Horus swept around and began to take off toward the monster again. Ragnar himself took a moment to wince and recover, but then looked up to see what was taking place.

It was a clash of monsters. The four manimals that were left, Horus, Scion, Malcolm and his little brother, were all assaulting the monster as one. It was Malcolm's little brother that had darted forward and sliced the metal band from the thing's wrist. Once he had done that, they had begun the attack. The smaller man/bear was staying back, but Malcolm had his claws outstretched and was madly clawing at it, slicing him up as much as possible. The thing had its long arms and legs up and out, batting him away as best as it could, but only really succeeding in keeping him at arm's length. Yet that wasn't all. The creature was also being swarmed by a dozen small, hideous creatures that looked like tiny versions of Scion, each one of them with a hooked sucker mouth that was attaching to the monster and spilling its blood. Finally, Horus was moving in, and began to dart down and slash at its eyes, covering its ugly face with lacerations.

At first glance, it appeared that the mutant was overwhelmed. Yet that wasn't the case. Ragnar saw copious amounts of blood being shed…but he also saw wounds sealing up on it almost as soon as they were torn open. It wasn't slowing down. This must have been the reason why it recovered so quickly from what Ragnar thought was a breaking of its ankle. It had to be able to regenerate in some way. What more, the thing was getting smarter again already. It had wildly batted away at them at first, but now it was moving more smoothly and quickly again, and was darting away from the blows of Malcolm and Horus. As it did so, it was sinking its talons one by one into the creatures that were attached to it, ripping them off one at a time. It wouldn't be long before it would retaliate even more strongly. This would only serve as a diversion.

This was Ragnar's chance.

Ignoring the creatures for the moment, he ran back to the cylinders instead. To his disappointment, the others were still out of it. Zola was still dragging himself forward. He looked like he was trying to look up to Ragnar, but he couldn't do anything yet. He could barely drag his sword behind him. However, for now he wasn't necessary. He couldn't do anything other than try the same mistake (hopefully not a fatal one) that Cloud had made.

Soon Ragnar arrived at the device. By now, the lights were glowing so brightly he could barely see within them. But these two he ignored for now. Instead, he ran to a device that had fallen nearby...a shotgun. Ragnar quickly went to this and snatched it off the ground. After doing so, he turned and ran over to the slash that Cloud had started…

Unfortunately, the monster seemed to notice this. Despite how twisted and savage it was, it still had enough brains left in it to realize what Ragnar was about to do. Furious at the thought of its twisted experiment being canceled, the creature savagely began to tear off more of the creatures, tearing into them as it did so. Scion was unable to keep up with the loss of his offspring. Not only that…but the monster began to stagger forward, moving toward Ragnar. As it did, Malcolm leapt in to stop him…only to be angrily backhanded away by the furious creature.

However, for all of its efforts, it couldn't get free before Ragnar reached the location. Once he was standing over it, he looked to the weapon in his hands uneasily. He didn't like using these things. He barely knew how to use a gun over a sword. But in the end, he knew he had no choice. He cocked it once, and then aimed it down into the metal tear. A moment later, he pulled the trigger.

The heavy recoil nearly snapped Ragnar off his feet. He wasn't expecting that kind of power, and his arms jerked wildly around from the impact. However, he recovered quickly, and looked back down to the hole. He saw it had worked. It was wider. Quickly, he took aim again, braced himself as best he could, swallowed back the ringing in his ears, cocked, and fired. He pumped and fired again and again after that, discharging one shell after another into the tear. Each one sent another shower of sparks and metal flying up from the "wound". However, not getting the desired effect, he kept pumping and shooting…

Finally, a tremendous snap went out. Part of the cables severed, the machine rushed to compensate by putting all of its energy through the remaining ones. They were burned out in instants, unable to cope with the current. The whirring suddenly began to slow down and sputter. The lights in the cylinder flickered on and off from their blinding bright state. Then…an enormous boom resounded from in the machine as the overworked systems cracked and broke. A fountain of black smoke pour from out of it.

The light failed one more time, and the cylinder went completely dead. The machinery underneath slowed down and stopped completely. As the light faded, Aerith, cringing and covering herself against the stabs of Cloud and the sparks of metal and debris, slowly looked up from what had happened, and saw what was going on. Her cylinder was dead. The door was still shut, but she was no longer in danger.

Ragnar couldn't help but feel a grin spread across his face. He had done it. Though his arms were throbbing and his head rang with a loud whine, he had stopped it. At least…he thought he did. But then he began to realize that the other cylinders were still on. Not only that, but they hadn't shown any signs of failure. Seeing this, the youth began to lose his enthusiasm again. He turned back to the console…and saw that he had less than a minute and a half left, and it was still counting down.

Could Ragnar see the console display from this angle, he would have noted the following.

CRITICAL SYSTEM ERROR

CYLINDER A OFF LINE

PROTOCOL WILL BE ADJUSTED AS FOLLOWS

REAGENTS

Cylinder B: Subject B – 1.00

Cylinder C: Subject C – 1.00

RESULTS

Cylinder D: Subject BC – 1.00

- Subject B – 0.50

- Subject C – 0.50

TIME TO FUSION: 01:24

Ragnar spun around back to Aerith. The woman was up now, and pounding on her cylinder again. But it was as hopeless to open now as before. In the end, she looked up to Ragnar and mouthed something. Looking at it, Ragnar saw the message loud and clear.

Save her.

Ragnar hesitated. He realized that Aerith didn't know the truth yet. Hoeng hadn't told her. She didn't know that she was just her clone, not her sister. However, Ragnar nevertheless couldn't let this slide. He saw the terror in Aerith's eyes. He saw how scared she was for her…how much she loved her. At that moment, it didn't matter to Ragnar whether she was a clone or not. She mattered to Aerith, and that made all the difference. He had to try and save Krystea as well.

Ragnar turned and gave a look behind him to the monster. To his growing horror, it was finishing ripping off the last of the smaller creatures. The little man/bear was next to the older one, seeming to be lowering himself over his body and trying to help him. One look revealed that Hoeng had smacked him aside. Horus was now the only opponent left, and she was frantically clawing at his face. He was dodging it well, however…and after a few moments more of doing so, he hissed, reached up, and seized her around the leg. She gave out another sonic cry before the thing yanked her out of the air and slammed her against the ground as hard as it could manage. Then…the worst thing of all happened, the bleeding, twisted creature looked up and glared at Ragnar with murderous intent…and then began to move toward him as fast as he could stride.

Turning a bit pale, Ragnar spun around and quickly ran forward. He made his way around the central cylinder and to the space between Krystea and the central one. At least…he figured it was Krystea's. He might have gotten mixed up… However, it shouldn't have mattered. So long as it was taken out, only one person would teleport and go through. It would work just like a real teleporter…wouldn't it?

The youth hoped so, for this should have been his final action. The thing was closing quickly. Once in position, Ragnar quickly cocked the barrel, aimed it down at the space, braced himself, and pulled the trigger.

Click.

Until this day, Ragnar had never realized the full impact that a single, quiet, mundane sound could have. That changed, however…as a new wave of horror swept over him. Though he felt stupid for trying this later, he cocked and fired again, with the same shallow click being the only result. He was out of ammunition. He couldn't sever the connection.

Ragnar didn't have time to consider going to Vincent quickly and checking him for ammunition. That seemed moot after a moment…when the creature was on him. Seizing him by the leg, the thing yanked him off from where he was, twisted him around in midair, and then slammed him down on the ground farther away from the cylinders, and back first. As Ragnar cried out in misery, he was glad for once that he was wearing his official uniform and not battle armor. The seemingly "vestigal" cape that he wore provided some cushion, so that he merely felt his bones get bruised instead of broken as he was brought down against the floor. After all…he wasn't nearly as durable as Cloud or Vincent…

Moments later, hot pain slashed by his neck as the razor-sharp-nail-bearing hand of the creature slammed down, catching his neck in a V of fingers, and anchoring him to the ground by stabbing into the metal and clamping them there.

Ragnar nearly grasped for the talons, but stopped midway. They were so sharp, doing so would likely only cut him. Now…the foul creature leered over him, flashing its sharp remaining teeth, and exhaling its foul breath over him. More than ever now, it looked like a gruesome demon. Ragnar could hardly believe this thing was Hoeng now. It was too twisted and evil…and inhuman.

"You ruined my experiment, child…" It sneered. "Now I'll only have a bastardized version of my true masterpiece. But since you think it is such a horrible thing to begin with…then perhaps I should let you watch this before I cut your head off… Or maybe…I could kill the one you disconnected first…"

Ragnar glared at the creature a moment, breathing hard. He looked up and behind him. He could just barely see the counter from this side. The clock now read that only a single minute was left. He could no longer see Krystea in her tube when he looked back. Time was running out…not only for them but for him as well. If he didn't pull off something soon, they'd all be dead… He wracked his brains, trying to find a solution…as he stared back up into the thing's huge, menacing eyes…

1:00.

Then…he finally acted. He still had the gun, and even though it lacked ammo it was his only weapon. In what was mostly a panic move, he did the only thing he could. He raised the shotgun off of the ground and jammed the end of the barrel as hard as he could into the eye of the beast.

By now, its eyes were as large as tennis balls. Because of this, the wide end of the shotgun, when pushed with enough force, jammed itself into a bludgeon that punctured the cornea and allowed the metal to push into the interior. Humour flowed out, multi-colored and vile, from the wound, and Ragnar felt some of the foul substance drip on him…

However, he got good results. The creature knew Ragnar was out of ammunition and hadn't considered the gun a threat. But now…one of its eyes was punched out by it. Crying out in ear-splitting agony, it pulled itself back and cupped its one good hand left over its bad eye. The other arm stayed on Ragnar, however. The thing writhed, but because its nails were pinned into the ground it anchored itself. He was still trapped.

Ragnar didn't stay that way long, however. Now that the creature was stunned, he quickly brought the shotgun up and began to smash it down repeatedly on the end of the two digits that had his neck in a vice. It took a few strokes, but the monster was powerless to react thanks to the pain in its eye. Ragnar kept pounding against the knuckles…until he finally heard one crack. The thing screeched again, but Ragnar winced and kept going, turning to the other knuckle next and smashing it as well. After doing so, Ragnar threw the gun away to one side, reached out, grabbed the broken fingers, which cut his hands and neck a bit doing so, and yanked them out from the ground.

The youth was free, and immediately spun around and onto his belly. The creature itself writhed in pain a few moments more, giving him a few precious seconds. He looked up to where he was. To his relief, he saw that Ragnarok was only about fifteen feet away from him. He quickly began to dash for it on all fours.

0:50.

Ragnar went maybe five feet before a vise-like grip encircled his ankle, digging blades into his flesh and spilling his blood. The youth arched his back and gave a cry of pain, before wheeling around to see the cause. The monster was still bleeding, but apparently it had lashed out with its one good hand when Ragnar tried to move away. He had almost been out of range before the creature had seized him. Now…he was stuck.

The youth grit his teeth and struggled to shake free. But it was no good. The creature's grip was slippery from the blood and fluid of its eye, but it still held on. It took all of Ragnar's own struggling in order to keep himself from being pulled any closer to the beast. Its broken hand was grasping its bleeding eye, but that was slowing down while the bones were reconnecting. In a few moments, it would be clear again, and ready to once again grasp for him. After that there would be no escape…

Ragnar looked back ahead, and futily reached out for Ragnarok. It was still far out of his grasp, and he got nowhere for his efforts. He spent the rest of his strength trying to pull himself farther forward. But that was no good either. The creature was beginning to pull him slowly back. It began to pull it injured hand away from its face, revealing a scabbed, hideous wound, but one that quickly began to smooth out and heal again. Its broken hand was finishing, and beginning to reach out for him…

0:40.

Ragnar cursed mentally. He was trapped, helpless before his beast. Krystea was going to meet a fate worse than death. And then this thing would kill them all. And here he was…unable to do anything about it…

In his frustration, he closed his eyes and screamed mentally to the abyss.

Where are you when I need you, you damn voice in my head!

His grip nearly slipped, bringing him back to the monster, when he stiffened in surprise to, of all things, an answer.

I've always been here for you, Ragnar. I never went away.

The youth's eyes widened, and he gaped in front of him, as if the person would suddenly appear. His pause made him get dragged back a foot. The monster, in response, reached up with its other claw and began to clamp it around Ragnar's leg to drag him further back. But Ragnar didn't notice this. He thought only of the voice.

You…can hear me?

I hear everything you say and think, Ragnar.

…Then why aren't you helping me?

You can only hear me now, when you are faced with purity of your own thoughts and emotions. When you are focused intensely on me. And I do not help because I see only you. I do not know what befalls you.

There's a monster about to kill me! Ragnar screamed back mentally as he felt nails sink into his other leg and drag him back further.

Then I give my power to you again. Channel it through Ragnarok once more.

I can't! It's out of my grip!

The sword was made for you, Ragnar. It knows its master. Call to it.

Ragnar looked up again at this, snapping out of his daze. Much as this had unveiled, and much as it had intrigued him to the idea of this voice within him…he could not think of what it was. He could only focus on surviving. The monster was raising its claws to his back, no doubt to dig in and dismember him. He could feel its fingers begin to fall. But as he did, he looked up to the sword. There it was, lying there plainly on the ground, shimmering its fiery light.

Ragnar stared at it only a second…and then reached his hand out again, aiming for it. His palm opened in a wide grasp. After that…he closed his eyes. Something once again was inside him, directing him to do this. It told him to be focused…to separate himself from all other emotion and distraction. For the young man, this normally would have been impossible. But he felt a force within him aiding his efforts…calming him down even now…clearing his mind of all other troubles and hindrances. It made him go away from all of this…even his own senses and feelings. All around him became quiet and clear.

It was there that Ragnar knew he had to speak.

Come to me.

Ragnar didn't know what had happened. He couldn't remember much. It felt like being unconscious or asleep. But somehow…his senses returned. His environment returned…as the creature behind him began to break the skin and insert its nails into him. He wasn't sure what had happened…but he knew it somehow had to work…because now he suddenly felt a presence in his hand. He looked down, and there it was. His open palm had closed around the hilt. Ragnarok was back in his grip.

Ragnar wasted no time. He still felt an inner focus…a clarity within him. It seemed as if his own spirit was flowing through him like water. And when he felt a new rush flow into him…he was still clear and controlled enough to make that flow through his arms and hand and into the sword. Immediately, the blade ignited into flame.

In a snap, Ragnar twisted around and rolled onto his back. He twisted his legs as he did so, and he ripped the talons of the creature out of his back in the process. But despite his pain, he stayed focused. And as he rolled back onto his spine, he looked out and saw that the creature was stunned too. Its hand was hovering over the floor, where it had been ready to jam into Ragnar a moment earlier. Ragnar wasn't sure if it was because the thing had seen his blade return into his hand, or if it hadn't expected the move, or if it was because it had seen the sword turn into flame. But for whatever reason, Ragnar didn't care. He merely seized the opportunity. In a flash, he rolled himself up and brought his sword of fire down on the hand of the creature. On connecting, the sword sliced straight through and sent chips of bone and flesh spewing forth from it like molten fragments.

0:30.

Ragnar dragged himself away from the creature when it released him a moment later, and tried to get to his feet. However, he wasn't the only one to shrink away. The thing also screeched in a tone so loud Ragnar's ears rang. It flailed about as it spilled onto its back, throwing its legs around like some sort of dying insect. In particular, it thrashed about the injured hand, smashing it on the ground and throwing it into the air. It wasn't fountaining blood…but another injury had happened to it. The flesh was roasting around the wound. Part of the skin had lit aflame, and was burning more of its body. One of its fingers was enwrapped in fire.

The youth was finally a safe distance away, and once there he quickly got to his feet. He aimed his sword in front of him, still blazing with fire. The creature before him continued to writhe as it struggled to smash its own hand into putting it out. Eventually, it succeeded. As it groaned and whimpered, it slowly rolled onto its three remaining limbs, holding out the injured one weakly. The fires were out, but Ragnar knew the creature was still feeling agony from internal burns. He looked to its wound, and watched as a roasted finger fell from its body. The rest of it was a charred, smoldering wound that still glowed.

Yet Ragnar realized something else too. The wound wasn't healing. The thing stayed injured. And as he looked at its hideous face lamenting over the injury, he realized that this was what truly upset it. Ragnar's fire had catorized the wound on inflicting it, preventing regeneration. The thing was genuinely wounded now. And the young general realized suddenly that he could kill it.

The thing snapped around to the youth, gritting its remaining teeth. It began to foam in rage, and its recovering eyes blazed violence and hatred. But Ragnar didn't react with disgust or fear anymore. He glared back just as coldly, and swung his blade around in an arc. A graceful circle of flame was cut in the air before evening out and returning to his grasp. After that, he held it with both hands, and glared at the creature challengingly.

The thing hissed…and then lunged forward again. Ragnar shot after it, intending to meet it. As the two nearly reached one another, the monster swung out with one of its arms. Ragnar quickly ducked underneath this, but before he could dive in to counterattack the creature brought its other arm down over his head. Quickly, he yanked back to avoid it slashing him. Still not letting up, the creature slashed again with its first arm. This time, Ragnar twisted and spun inward to avoid the motion, but also positioned himself right next to the arm. Once there, he quickly brought his sword up and brought it down on the creature's limb.

As expected, another spurt of flame and burning flesh went out as Ragnar's sword removed one of the creature's limbs from the monster's body. The horrible pink skinless appendage fell to the ground, its fingers curling in like a dead spider. Unfortunately, though the blow landed, it came at a price. The creature had been expecting this somewhat…and he driven forth its other limb in a stabbing motion. Although Ragnar's own wound managed to make it deflect its blow somewhat, he still felt the sharp nails of the thing suddenly plunge into his forearm. The youth and the creature alike cried out in pain.

0:20.

Ragnar pulled his body back, quickly bringing himself off of the nails of the beast, despite how painful it was and how much faster it caused his blood to flow. As the pain traveled through his body, he hoped that it hadn't stabbed the brachial artery… At any rate, he soon had more things to worry about. The thing didn't allow the pain to stymie its attacks long. Soon, it was hulking forward again, swinging its bloody claws in front of it wildly. Ragnar quickly raised his sword up as best as he could with an injured arm and tried to counter. However, the thing knew he was trying to do this. As such, it displayed its intelligence again by slashing at him only in such a manner as to threaten him with its claws and force him back, but not staying around long enough to be cut by the sword. As it did this, it kept advancing, and Ragnar was forced to move back to avoid being cut.

The youth realized what it was doing. It was trying to shove him back into the pit. That way it could kill him even if it couldn't stab him. With its long reach, it was able to keep him far from his body. Even if he charged at it, it could still use its stump of an arm to hold him back long enough to keep him from finishing it before it killed him first. This was a problem…and he was running out of time to do something about it. Already, he found himself stepping up on the mesh portion of the floor…

The youth was pushed up a bit higher on the mesh portion, but then the creature stopped slashing wildly at him. Ragnar continued to hold his weapon at the ready, but managed a glance behind him to see his position. He was in a bad spot. If the thing lunged at him once more, that would be it. He would spill backward and fall into the abyss. When he looked back to the thing, apparently that was what it was thinking. It was holding back now, but it was beginning to squat, looking ready to dive at him just enough to make him shoot backward the precious distance he needed to fall in… Ragnar had to act before it did. But from this distance…there was only one move he could make. He hoped it worked. It was a big gamble…

As the creature reared back and prepared to lunge, Ragnar suddenly shifted his sword into one arm. He brought it back, and then snapped it forward in an arc. To the sudden surprise of the monster, Ragnar had turned his sword in a spinning projectile. Despite its size, he had thrown it at him with one arm…and now it was cutting a deadly, flaming arc toward his body…

0:10.

Ragnar looked eagerly at this, seeing the thing caught off guard. If it could only be surprised for just a moment…that would be it. The sword's aim was true, despite Ragnar's inexperience. If only it would hold still a moment longer…

But then, his hopes were dashed again. The thing called off its leap, and quickly twisted its body as hard as it could to one side…

0:09.

The blade sank in a moment later, slashing a great flaming cut through its right side. Flames erupted from the wound. Blood burned and roasted as it flowed from the side of the thing, and more fragments of burning flesh fell out. The creature bellowed in agony, and faltered again as another flaming wound was torn through it. This was the worst yet, nearly crippling to it. It was only because it was already in pain and tiring that it didn't thrash about in agony.

However, as it cringed on itself…Ragnar saw it still wasn't enough. The thing was wounded badly…but it still lived.

0:08.

The thing hissed and struggled to regain its balance and bearings. Ragnar looked up, and saw that his blade was arcing back beyond it and falling to the ground. His weapon was now well on the other side of the beast, and the thing itself began to recover. He couldn't finish it off. He was now helpless to either be thrown in the pit of sliced into shreds.

Unless…

0:07.

As the creature managed to stand from its mind-numbing agony and straighten again, it looked up with red, furious eyes at the one who had done this to it. Its vision was clouded by its madness, pain, and rage…but it slowly managed to focus on him despite the sensations of burning and bleeding filling its brain. It was so mad at this point, so consumed by its primal anger…that it hardly noticed that the youth was neither panting nor fearful…but was standing straight and tall, with his arms calmly at his sides, and his eyes closed.

0:06.

The beast staggered, but managed to get to its feet again. Hissing and snarling all the way, it raised its arm and brandished its claws. It gave out another deafening roar. It wanted the youth to be terrified of it in his final moment…to see that he had nothing left, and that he was going to kill him in the worst way. He was unarmed and helpless now. And yet…the youth merely stayed calm and straight. He didn't even open his eyes. Enraged…the thing extended its claws in front of it and squatted again…

0:05.

Still screaming, the thing leapt and lunged right at Ragnar. It was so fixated on spilling his blood…that it didn't notice the sword behind it. It had fallen to the ground by now and was coming to a rest. But at that moment, the sword suddenly seemed to become a vague outline. It was as if it went from something physical to a sword-shape made out of light and fire. And after doing so, within the blink of an eye…the light suddenly melted away and became a single ray. It didn't stay there, but shot with incredible speed through the air and straight toward one of Ragnar's limp hands at his side. Once there, it quickly condensed and formed once more, and as the creature was still in mid-lunge it turned solid once again into the sword of fire it had been before.

Here, Ragnar's eyes opened…and saw the horrible creature with arms outstretched diving for him. His own face cold and focused…the youth swung his sword up right as its head came into range…

0:04.

In what seemed as slow motion to Ragnar…his sword of fire sliced into the chin beneath the thing's head…and rapidly cut through the rest of it, tearing a line of flame up through its entire face all the way up to the top of its skull, where it erupted again. Flaming brains, bone, and blood spilled out from it, as the fire that traced a serrated line through its skull now traveled to the rest of the flesh, and ignited it as well.

The thing didn't even have time to form a look of surprise before fire began to incinerate its features. It immediately began to falter…but it was still aiming for Ragnar. Its body was still lunging at him in its final moment. Ragnar himself was drained, tired, and injured. His sickness was making his head pound, and he was losing the clarity he had briefly managed to regain for his moment of triumph. Yet somehow, he had enough bearings to quickly leap forward as well…

0:03.

Moments later, Ragnar's feet just barely cleared the burning skull of the monster as it smacked against the ground. Immediately…its body's inertia made it continue to slide forward across the mesh. The youth, on his part, touched down on the creature's torn, partially enflamed back, and began to run along it. He quickly dashed over the rest of the beast, running across it as it came forward, and touched down on the mesh on the opposite side. He continued to run forward until he reached the metal. After that, he turned around and looked to the monster.

It slid a bit forward for a few moments more, sending its flaming head and its arms over the side of the lip. But there…it came to a halt. The inertia died, and the weight of its body kept it still. There it rested, its upper body dangling over the abyss, and the rest of its dead body sprawled out on the ground. Both of the last wounds quickly began to expand, covering its body with more flame. It moved no more. It was gone.

0:02.

Ragnar's mind filled with only a few milliseconds of joy as he realized he had done it. He had killed the monster. But as he panted and began to feel his adrenaline ease back, and as the sword he wielded began to turn back into steel once more…his memory returned. He had beaten the thing…but the experiment was still going. A look from his peripheral vision showed that he had a mere two seconds left.

The youth's reflexes were quick…but only managed to buy him enough time to spin around to see the hopelessness of his situation. There was now thirty feet between him and the space between the nearest cylinder, the one that contained a pile of flesh that Ragnar could only assume was Jenova material. He couldn't even will his muscles to begin to run there in time. And even if he could…it was hopeless. He'd die trying to cut through the line. The floor between him revealed the others, and showed similar hopelessness. The creatures were only moaning at this point. Cloud was beginning to writhe again, seeming to come out of it…but it was too late. And as for Zola…

Zola…?

0:01.

He wasn't where he had been a moment earlier. Ragnar saw blood, however, and saw that it made a trail up to the cylinders. Then he saw where he was. The creature had returned to his feet, and he dragged his sword up with him. And now…he was poised between the Jenova cylinder and the central one.

His sword was over his head, and ready to come down.

If Ragnar had been able to send a signal to his brain to cry out for him to stop, it wouldn't have mattered. Zola would have continued anyway. The basilisk had been out, but he had watched all of this. He had watched Cloud attempt to cut through the line, only to be electrocuted. He had seen Ragnar run out of ammunition saving Aerith from the machine. But there was still another person there to be saved. He hadn't managed to drag himself that far, but he had gotten here. And now…he prayed that stopping this cylinder wouldn't do anything to the woman. This was the last move he could make.

Bahamut… You killed yourself for this species time and time again…

I hope you were right…

The basilisk brought his sword down.

0:00.

The chamber was suddenly filled with a sonic humming far louder and stronger that it had been until now. It was like a massive dynamo had suddenly erupted. And with it…bolts of electricity snaked out everywhere from all of the active cylinders, shooting off of the top and connecting with the nearest pieces of metal. The sound became deafening, and even Aerith cringed and covered her ears as it sounded. At the same time, the industrial lights dimmed…and a new light, a giant, white, radiant blast came from the active cylinders. Everything around them turned to shadow as the blinding glare within them went out.

But somewhere, in the midst of all of this…the sword of Zola plunged deep into the machine and into the line.

---

To be continued...