Final Fantasy: Rise of Despair
My apologies for the delay, I just had to make sure this fight would be the best one yet, and now the wait is over…
When we last left off, the battle with the Colonels finally came to an end. When Kate confronted Ize, Ize chose to commit suicide, leaving his and Kate's history ambiguous. Laura finally had victory over Cious, however a mistake on Laura's part led Kyle to save her life and sacrifice himself to eliminate Cious. Finally, Heidi defeated Mali after an intense one on one battle, in which Mali finally died in peace, understanding her feelings for Marshal Agon. Now Harris is the only one left that must defeat Marshal Agon, is he up to the challenge, of defeating such a powerful adversary?
Disclaimer: I do not own Final Fantasy: Tactics Advance, I do own the characters and plot.
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Marshal Agon
Harris and Agon were in the center of the room furiously exchanging blades with each other. The sound of metal clashing together ran through the air with each strike, sparks flew with each clash, and they both grew more determined with each spark. Finally the two jumped back from each other.
"Yes… you'll be a much more worthy opponent than the other Racemasters." Agon said.
"You speak as if they aren't even remotely a threat to you." Harris said. The two once again walked along the circle, facing each other.
"It is not that the Racemasters are not a threat, it is simply because I would outmatch them in single combat." Agon said matter-of-factly.
"Hmph… well let's both hope I'm a better adversary for you then." Harris said.
"Let's." Agon said.
"Mighty Guard!" Harris cast a spell on himself to bolster his defense and resistance.
"Black Stimulant." Agon said emotionlessly as a black aura covered him briefly before it disappeared.
"Dragon Force!" Harris covered himself with a yellow, dragon-shaped aura before it disappeared. "Have at thee!" Harris shouted as he charged.
"Hmph." Agon charged for Harris as well. The two met near the center and clashed blades yet again. Both of them were far more furious than before. Harris and Agon swung high and low, left and right in an attempt to overpower the other. Dodging and blocking and countering in an endless chain of attacks from the two of them. Harris and Agon then jumped away from each other and landed on the walls of the room. The two then rocketed towards each other, slashing their weapons at each other before landing on another wall and then rocketing back and forth at each other.
"HA!"
CLANG
"RA!"
SHING
Their blades would echo through the room each time they passed each other. Finally the two of them collided with each other above the middle of the room and continued to fight each other in mid-air. The second before they landed on ground they kicked off of each other and landed near the outside of the center circle. The two of them stared at each other. Both of them had numerous cuts and scratches on their bodies.
"Air blast!" Harris broke the brief silence with two spin kicks that sent arcs of wind towards Agon.
"Hm." Agon swung his sword and sent arcs of dark mana that cut through the air blast attacks and continued on towards Harris. Harris deflected the arcs of mana as Agon began thrusting his sword rapidly, sending sharp tipped blasts of dark mana at Harris.
"Grrr…" Harris began swinging his swords furiously to deflect the blasts of mana, although he was valiantly standing his ground, he was simply unable to deflect every single blast and was struck by a blast of mana every now and then. The next thing he knew, Agon was standing right behind him ready to thrust his sword through Harris' back. "Saint cross!" Harris blew Agon back with a ring of holy mana.
"Impressive." Agon said. "Black Snake." Agon streaked the tip of his sword against the ground and sent a wave of dark mana that moved towards Harris. Harris jumped in to the air to avoid it while throwing several kunai at Agon. Agon dodged to the side while aiming his palm at Harris. "Black blast."
"Air render!" Harris threw his forward and intercepted the black blast attack while gathering his mana for a spell. "Blizzaja!" Instantly, a humongous pillar of ice covered Agon. "…" Harris landed and kept his eye on the pillar.
crack
crackle
"!!!" Harris leaped backwards as the pillar of ice shattered, with Agon swinging his sword rapidly and sending numerous arcs of dark mana at Harris. Harris bounded across the room to avoid the arcs. "Faster!" Harris threw a swift kunai knife at Agon and struck him in the shoulder with it. Harris then zoomed in with a fist drawn back. "GOBLIN PUNCH!!!"
"Black hand." Agon performed a palm thrust with a hand glowing dark purple in color. The black hand met with goblin punch, and a massive explosion ensued.
KABOOM
The two were sent flying in to opposite walls, leaving massive cracks in the walls. The two paused to catch their breath a moment, they let the sweat run down their faces over their bleeding cuts as they met eye to eye. "You are a most formidable opponent." Agon said.
"As are you." Harris said. They both prepped their weapons, and took their stances. They waited for but one second before lunging towards each other. The two met near the center of the room again and began clashing their weapons with each other briefly. Harris performed a sweep kick at the same time Agon performed a jumping spin kick, both of them missing each other. Harris followed up his sweep kick by jumping in to the air, and raising a flaming foot above his head.
"…" Agon jumped back as Harris' foot struck the ground and created a massive explosion of flame. Harris tossed his swords high in to the air while as he began spinning around and around.
"Wild throw!" Harris began tossing kunai after kunai at Agon. Agon avoided the succession of kunai knives by running around the room along the wall. Agon sheathed his sword and kept his emotionless eyes on Harris as he kept avoiding the several kunai thrown at him. Agon leaped off of the wall and over Harris' head, avoiding Harris' twirling swords as they began to come down.
"Black tendrils." Agon created a tendril from each of his ten fingers and sent them towards Harris. Harris stopped spinning only for the tendrils to wrap around his arms. The two briefly pulled against each other when the sound of blades twirling through the air reached Harris' ears.
"!!!" Harris looked up and noticed that his swords were about to land on top of him. Thinking quickly, Harris yanked as hard as he could on the tendrils, throwing Agon off balance and allowing some slack on the tendrils. Harris then jumped in to the air, did a barrel spin and kicked both of his swords towards Agon. Agon dispelled the tendrils and barrel flipped in a manner that allowed him to narrowly avoid both blades as he reached for his own sword.
"RAH!" Agon used the momentum from the barrel flip and sent a massive arc of mana towards Harris while sending two other small arcs.
"Earth jujutsu! Earth veil!" Harris created three small but thick walls of earth in front of him. All three of them were obliterated once the arcs collided with the walls of rock, dispelling themselves as well. Next thing Agon knew a thick cloud of metal powder was around him. Agon spun around and intercepted an attack from Harris mere inches away from his head. Agon then leaped far back away from where Harris was and stood for a moment.
"…" Agon suddenly disappeared from where he stood in a blur.
"Faster!" Harris followed suit with his own attack. For a brief moment, it was quiet.
CLANG
But soon the sound of metal clashing together began ringing from everywhere in the room as both warriors appeared and disappeared in the blink of an eye, each time taking a swing at each other with their swords.
"HAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA!!!"
"HAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA!!!"
BOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOMMMMMMM
The next clash of their blades created a massive wave of energy that dispelled all of the metal powder around them. The two jumped away from each other to catch their breaths. "Sensor…" Harris said as he focused his vision using his mana.
"Eyes of the forbidden…" Agon muttered as his purple eyes turned a black color with red pupils. The two again charged each other, but when they met near the center their blades never met with each other. Both of them were taking high-speed slashes with their swords while avoiding their swings at the same time. Both of them seemingly trapped in a deadly waltz of attacking and dodging, knowing that one misstep would be their last.
"He's predicting my moves as fast as I'm predicting his." Harris thought as he took ten slashes, all of which missed, while dodging the next volley of slashes from Agon.
"…good… this is how I hoped it would be." Agon thought before spinning away from several more slashes and then lunging back in for an attack.
Meanwhile…
"How… did this massive hole get in the courtyard?" Casey asked as he observed a massive hole in the courtyard of the castle.
"It was my opponents fault." Matt said as he climbed out of the hole.
"You never could keep things neat could you?" Casey asked.
"Hey, I can still see dust from where the coliseum should be. You wouldn't have anything to do with that would you? Hmmmmm?" Matt asked.
"Um… well…" Casey tried to say.
"I swear you two would have destroyed my school if I wasn't there." Cole sighed as he walked on the scene a little shakily.
"What happened to you?" Casey asked.
"I battled at the court." Cole said.
"Okay, enough said." Matt replied. "Say where's Heidi? Or Harris for that matter."
"I'm… right here." Heidi said. She walked on towards the hole, carrying the body of General Mali in her arms.
"Hey, nice going. You beat that witch." Casey said.
"Was there ever any doubt? She is one of us." Matt said.
"Don't call her a witch." Heidi said softly.
"… what happened during the battle?" Cole said.
"… She fought honorably… and with a purpose she believed in with all her heart… she deserves some respect in death if nothing else." Heidi said. The other three exchanged glances, but after that, they all smiled and nodded their heads. "Thank you." Heidi said with a smile. "But where's Harris?"
"I think…" Matt started when all four of them stopped and looked towards Marshal Agon's tower suddenly. "Do any of you guys feel that?" Matt asked.
"No Matt, we never learned how to sense mana." Casey said sarcastically.
"Harris. I'm going to go see what's going on." Heidi said.
"Alright, leave the body with me and I'll hide it from the others so we can explain it to them later." Cole said. Heidi handed him the body, he set it on the ground and held his glowing hands over it. "I'll catch up later."
"Okay." All three of them said as they made their way for the tower.
Meanwhile…
"Black bolt!"
"Thundaja!"
Agon attempted to strike Harris with enormous black lightning bolts while Harris attempted to strike Agon with enormous yellow lightning bolts. Both of them raised their swords and let the lightning strike their swords. The two then used their mana to redirect the lightning harmlessly through their bodies and towards their free hands. Harris redirected Agon's spell at Agon while Agon did the same simultaneously. The two massive blasts of lightning and tried to overpower each other for a brief moment before…
BOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOMMMMMMMMMMMMMM
"BEATDOWN!!!" Harris shouted.
"RRRRRRRRRAAAAAAAAHHHHHH!!!" Agon's sword became covered in black mana as his sword met with Harris' blades.
BOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMM
The two stood at the center of the room barely withstanding this massive surge of energy as the floor and walls around them began to crack from the surge of energy these two were exerting. Both of their ponytails fell apart and allowed their long hair to fall on their shoulders. Harris' eyes now glowed with a renewed determination to win, and Agon's eyes for the first time, had the same deadly look.
CLANG
SHING
CHINK
BOOOOOOOOOOOOOMMMMM
The two were now furiously swinging their swords at each other trying to overpower each other. Suddenly a few black soldiers left on guard duty flooded in to the room. "The Marshal needs our assistance! Prepare to lend assistance men!"
"NO!!!" Agon's voice shouted in anger. Agon and Harris' blades were now locked, and they were pushing against each other.
"W…what?"
"This is my battle! Stand down! That's an order!" Agon shouted.
"Um… you heard the Marshal men, do not interfere." The soldier said.
"Damn… I've never even seen anyone match the Marshal like this…" One soldier said in awe.
"Rush!!!" Harris shoved Agon all the way across the room until he hit a wall. "Twister!" Harris then cast a twister spell, forming light purple wind around Agon.
"Black tornado!" Agon spun his sword above his head that created a dark purple whirlwind that cancelled out the twister. "Black gale!" Agon then absorbed the dark mana in to his sword and spun his sword in front of him, sending a spiraling blast of dark mana towards Harris.
"ARGH!" Harris shouted as the storm of mana threw him against the wall. "Defense…" Harris braced himself a bit, then slowly drew as mana kunai as he could hold in both hands. "SONIC BOOM!!!" Harris threw all of the knives at Agon, a massive sonic sound resonating through the air as they flew.
"AAAAAAAAHHH!!!" The soldiers shouted as they covered their ears.
"Black wall!" Agon formed a wall of dark mana in front of him, it stopped the kunai, but it didn't completely soften the explosion of sound. "Grrrr…"
"Secret art…" Harris began forming a really long string of hand signs. "SOIL VEIL!!!" Harris caused stalagmites to erupt from the ground randomly across the room.
"WE'RE GOING TO DIE IF WE KEEP WATCHING THIS!!!" One soldier shouted.
"What makes you say that?" Another asked.
"WILD TORNADO!!!" While the stalagmites erupted all over the room, a massive tornado formed in the center of it.
"AAAAAAAAAAAAAAARRRRRRRRRRRRRRGGGGGGGGGHHHHHH!!!" The soldiers shouted as the blades of wind tore them to shreds.
"Grrrrrrrr…" Agon managed to fight the wind and was slashing his way through stalagmites as they rose up around him. Agon hopped lightly as a stalagmite erupted underneath him, with him balancing on it perfectly. Agon used the force from the stalagmite to propel himself further through the air where Harris was leaping towards him.
"YAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA!!!"
"RAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHH!!!"
Meanwhile…
Heidi, Matt, and Casey were briskly walking up the spiral staircase. "How bad do you think it is up there?" Matt asked.
RUMBLE
"Whoa!" Even those three had a hard time keeping their balance as the tower shook violently.
"Pretty bad." Cole said.
"Whoa! When did you get here?" Casey asked.
"I teleported, Mali's body is hidden." Cole said.
"I'm worried about Harris, come on." Heidi said as she picked up the pace.
"…" The other three stayed silent as they made their way up the stairs.
Meanwhile…
"Gah!" Agon managed to knock one of Harris' swords out of his hands and sent it flying until it embed itself in one of the many cracks across the room. Harris grabbed his remaining sword with both of his hands and fought Agon with one sword for as long as possible before Agon knocked that sword towards the other one.
"RAH!" Agon began thrusting and slashing his sword in rapid succession, striking Harris violently while Harris was nearly defenseless to defend himself.
"Fire wall!" Harris spun around and formed a brief dome of fire that expelled Agon and knocked him off balance. "Fire rush!" Harris then formed flames around his arms and legs and pushed Agon backwards. "Fire blast!" Harris shot a blast of flame from his legs that Agon dispelled. "Fire render!" Harris threw a large fireball that Agon also blocked. "Fire fist!" Harris then shot a small fireball at Agon's feet that exploded and knocked him off balance again. "BLAZING BEATDOWN!!!" Harris thrust two searing fists at Agon and…
KAAAAAAAAAAAAAAABOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOMMMMM
"GAH!" Agon was sent flying across the room, giving Harris time to retrieve his swords. Their eyes met for a brief moment before they charged at each other. "DARK BLADE!!!" Agon's blade nearly exploded with black mana as he charged at Harris.
"DIVINE BLADE!!!" Harris' glowing white sword met with Agon's sword and…
BOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMM
"Heh… heh…" Harris breathed heavily. Never in his life had he fought so evenly with an opponent.
"You… are the… strongest warrior… I've ever battled…" Agon said emotionlessly, his face now back to its usual lack of expression.
"… You believe what you're fighting for… don't you?" Harris asked.
"Yes…" Agon said. "What is right and what is wrong is meaningless to me. I merely follow my master, and I shall protect him… with my last breath." Agon said as his sword began to radiate with mana.
"And… I… cannot afford to lose." Harris said as he dropped one of his swords on the ground. "Breath of life…"
"Dying breath…"
"Light my blade and sing within light…"
"Light my blade and sing in shadow…"
"ULTIMA BLADE!!!"
"OMEGA BLADE!!!"
Harris' sword became covered by the same light purple mana, while Agon's became covered in the darker colored mana. The two charged at each other yet again and swung their swords at each other with all of their might.
Meanwhile…
"I think we're nearly at the top." Casey said.
BOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMM
"I'm not sure that's a good thing at this point." Matt said.
"Harris…" Heidi said.
"Quickly." Cole said.
Meanwhile…
Both Harris and Agon were lying on the floor, both of them exhausted. The bandages around Harris' left arm were unraveled, revealing his scarred arm, and the armored glove around Agon's right hand fell apart, revealing his pale hand.
"Three things in this world that I want…" Agon said.
"…" Harris slowly got up as Agon began to speak.
"To serve my master… to grow stronger… and the third…" Agon said as he got on his feet.
"The third?" Harris asked.
"…" Agon looked Harris in the eyes, he then stood up and spoke. "My third desire, is that my death be at the hands of a warrior worthy of me!" Agon declared.
"!!!"
"Do not mistake my wish. I do not have a wish to die, that is merely how I would like to die." Agon said. "I've told you my third desire, this means I believe you are that warrior… are you?" Agon asked.
"We will find out… once we finish this." Harris said. "The exchange of techniques stops here, this time only one of us walks away."
"Indeed…" Agon said. "Dying breath, gather your strength before me to show thy might to thy foe and sing in shadow…" Agon chanted.
"Breath of life, gather your strength before me to show thy might to thy foe and sing within light…" Harris chanted. "ULTIMA!!!" Harris shouted.
"OMEGA!!!" Agon shouted. Harris held the light purple orb in his left hand, while Agon held his darker colored orb in his right hand. The two walked towards each other, and thrust their hands at each other. When the two orbs met, they pulsated and glowed violently for a moment, but then a dome of mana surrounded the two of them, half of it light purple, and half of it dark purple.
"HARRIS!!!" Heidi shouted as the four Racemasters walked in just in time to see this spectacle.
"My word…" Cole said in awe.
"A battle between the spells of ultima and omega…" Matt gasped. Inside the dome of mana, Harris and Agon were using even more of their mana to try and overpower each other, however the sheer power of this dome of mana would occasionally release a blast of mana that punched through the tower walls.
"HARRIS!!!" Heidi shouted again as the tower began to crumble.
"SNAP!!! WE'VE GOT TO GO!!!" Matt yelled.
"WHOA!!!" Casey narrowly ducked under a blast of mana. "You're right… Heidi come on!"
"We have to go!" Cole shouted. Heidi seemed hesitant at first, but she turned around and ran down the stairs.
"Harris… you can do it." She said.
"Grrrrrrrrrrrr…" Harris groaned.
"Grrrrrrrrrrrr…" Agon groaned as well. The dome of mana was growing more and more unstable, and more and more dangerous to be around as the tower started collapsing in on itself. "You were… a worthy opponent." Agon said. "Thank you."
"You fought honorably Agon… for that you have my respect." Harris said.
KAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAABOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMM
CRUMBLE
RUMBLE
BOOM
"Oh my…" Matt said as the tower collapsed.
"It's over…" Cole said.
"Harris…" Heidi ran for the ruins of the tower and started shoving away rubble. "Harris!!!"
"Please let him be safe…" Casey said.
"RAH!!!" Suddenly Harris burst from the rubble, covered in cuts, bruises, sweat, and blood. He was breathing heavily, and standing over Agon's body.
"HARRIS!!!" Heidi ran over and stood by Harris' side. "Are you alright?" She asked.
"We must… make sure… he's properly buried…" Harris said while looking at Agon. The other three got closer and observed Agon's body. Strangest thing of all, his face, was fixed in a smile.
"Sure thing bud." Matt said.
"Well done Harris." Cole said softly.
"Whew… We… all need to heal quickly…" Harris said as Casey handed him his swords.
"That's right…" Heidi said.
"The final battle… is upon us friends." Casey said solemnly.
"And this final battle… will decide the fate of Ivalice." Harris said, a hardened look on his face.
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Let me know if the wait was worth it, and be patient for the up and coming final battle. And then after that, the end of the story!