Chapter 4

Sora took the Highwind in for a masterful landing on Radiant Gardens…the realm that had once prospered under Ansem the Wise. It had been restored greatly since the last visit…

Sora and his friends marveled at the restored beauty of the place as they walked over to Merlin's house. Yuffie, who'd been sitting outside, saw them.

"Hey guys!" She shouted, running over to them. "How've you been? It's been ages!"

"We've been fine, Yuffie. Is Leon in?" Sora asked.

"Yeah…go on in." She said.

Leon got up as Sora entered, shaking his hand.

"Good to see you, Sora. Did the King send you?" He asked. Sora nodded, and saw a strange blond man sitting at the table.

"Who's that?" He asked.

"Oh, him? That's our newest member." The man got up, and with surprising speed, appeared in front of Sora. He had blue eyes, gold hair, and, as Sora saw, a long, fuzzy tail.

"Name's Zidane. Nice to meetcha." He said amiably, shaking Sora's hand. "I've heard a lot about you."

"Cool…so what's going on?" Sora asked.

"Bad things…the Heartless have multiplied…" Suddenly an alarm went off.

"Damn! An attack…we'll have to talk later!" Leon said. Everyone quickly rushed to the valley.

The place was filled with heartless…more than the time Malificent had made her final bid for control of the world.

A figure suddenly descended from the sky, wielding an enormous sword. Sora's eyes widened in recognition.

"Cloud!" The hero turned, and flashed a thumbs-up at Sora.

Sora and his friends joined in the fight. A Darkside loomed out of the mass. Sora struggled towards it, but suddenly a blur sprang into the air, colliding with the Heartless's face. Its head exploded into black rags, and the body dissolved. Zidane landed, two daggers in hand. Sora was impressed.

As they fought, Leon, Cloud, and Zidane came back-to back. Leon suddenly realized the Heartless were fighting strangely…

"We're being…herded…Cloud! They're trying to isolate Sora!" He shouted.

"We don't have a choice! He has to handle himself!" Cloud grunted.

However, as they reached a great opening in the valley, the Heartless simply receded to fill in all areas of escape.

"I don't like this…" Zidane said, looking around.

"Only Natural, I suppose…this was hardly a subtle trap…" A voice rang across the valley.

Cloud tensed.

"SEPHIROTH!" The man in question appeared before them.

"Hello, Cloud." He said, smirking.

"How are you controlling Heartless?" Cloud growled.

"I could tell you…but where's the fun in that?" Sephiroth said, suddenly swinging his sword. Cloud and the others dodged.

"Bad move, Sephiroth…Sora might have to be on his own a while, but how long do you think you'll last against all three of us!" Cloud shouted.

The battle was fierce, and ranged everywhere. Cloud finally lunged at Sephiroth, who parried his attack and kicked him away. He was narrowly able to knock aside Leon's attack, when suddenly Zidane jumped over their heads, landing behind Sephiroth.

The One Winged Angel cried out in pain as Zidane slashed his back to ribbons with his daggers. Flying up in the air, he traced a figure eight of light.

"SIN HARVEST!" He shouted, striking them with the evil magic. He then descended, chopping at all three. To his surprise, they blocked. Cloud began to laugh, despite his labored breathing.

"You…idiot…Now…you're going DOWN!" He ran forward.

"OMNISLASH!" He shouted, striking at Sephiroth again and again. Sephiroth was able to land on his feet, clutching his side. Suddenly Squall ran headlong at him.

"RENZOKUKEN!" He shouted, hitting Sephiroth with five explosive slashes.

"LIONHEART!" Sephiroth was struck again and again with Squall's sword, landing at last on his neck.

"Argh…" He suddenly saw Zidane glow a brilliant White. With a wave of his hand, legions of Heartless began to charge.

"GRAND LEATHAL!" Zidane's attack released a wide blast of brilliant lights. It not only destroyed the Heartless, but also converged on Sephiroth for an explosion that shook the valley.

"Megalixer…" Leon said, distributing the item. Cloud picked up his sword.

"Let's finish him off." Suddenly, several bells appeared over Sephiroth's head, and green light closed his wounds.

"Curaga!" Leon gasped.

"ULTIMA!" Zidane's head snapped up.

"Leon! Cloud! RUN!" He shouted, jumping to the side.

The valley was suddenly alight with magical blasts. Cloud and Leon both fell to the ground. Zidane had taken cover beneath a rock hanging, and got up.

A man in a white trenchcoat walked down. He had long white hair in a small ponytail, and wore some black armor underneath his coat. He smiled.

"Hello, Zidane."

"You…" Zidane said, falling to his knees. The man looked over at the groggy Sephiroth.

"Just had to take all three on your own, didn't you? What the hell would you do if I wasn't around to save your ass?" He sniffed. Sephiroth glared at him.

"How are you still alive?" Zidane asked, a strange, haunted expression on his face. It suddenly turned to anger. "Where is she?" He growled. The man looked confused.

"Who?" Zidane drew his daggers and charged.

"WHERE IS DAGGER!" He roared. The man in white drew a pair of daggers similar to Zidane's, gracefully dodging Zidane's attacks. He finally cut him on the cheek.

"Look for your pals on your own time, Zidane. I'm just here to warn you to stay out of my way if you know what's good for you."

"Stop right there!" Sora shouted, jumping into the valley, flanked by Riku and Kairi. The man looked at them.

"Lay off, kid." He said, snapping his fingers immediately, everyone but Zidane and Sephiroth was hit by the man in white's Stopga spell, frozen in time.

"There's a lot that's about to happen, Zidane. You should stay out of it…or I can't guarantee your safety.

And with that, he snapped his fingers and was gone. Sora was released, and ran over to Zidane.

"Are you all right? Who was that?" Zidane looked at the ground, fists clenching.

"That was my brother…Kuja."