Final Fantasy VII [3rd Instalment]
Emerald Princess of Vernea
Chapter Twenty-Six
When Red XIII opened his eyes, he found that, somehow, the scenery had changed. He was surrounded by sand on all sides. It was in his fur, his eyes, and when he opened his mouth to call out to his friends it fell into his mouth. The hound coughed and gasped for breath. Where was he? The last thing he remembered was running out onto the deck of the Highwind and seeing his grandfather gazing up at the sky. He remembered running towards Bugenhagen, and then following his gaze… Twisting his body into a direction he believed to be upwards, he began to scrabble furiously.
Finally his head broke through the surface of the sand pile. As air rushed across his nose he inhaled deeply. Once his lungs were full he began to scrabble again, wriggling and writhing until his body follows his head out of the pile. Red XIII shook himself down, shaking off the sand that covered his fur.
A shadow fell over him. The hound looked up and gasped. In the air above him, descending rapidly, was a large metal foot. Without hesitating to think, Red XIII leaped out of the way. The foot slammed into the ground a moment later, flattening the sand pile and sending a cloud of sand swirling into the air.
The impact of the foot's landing caused the ground to quake, and Red XIII lost his footing and slid down another, smaller sand pile. When he finally regained his balance, the hound stood and looked upward.
The sight he saw made him want to bury himself back in the sand. The monstrous foot that almost squashed him like a pancake belonged to Ruby Weapon, the most monstrous creature Red XIII had ever seen. Flashes of light—gunshots, probably—appeared at regular intervals around the monster's face. He saw the airship, too, hovering some distance away.
As he watched, the monster opened its jaws wide. The inside of its mouth glowed, and then a powerful jet of flames suddenly burst out into the air. The flame swept across the sky and headed for the Highwind. Unable to rise or descend in time, Cid locked the forward engines and then turned the airship sharply to the left. In response the Highwind's back end swerved to the right. The stream of flames fired past, so close that the flames almost scorched the rear propellers.
The flames stopped coming, and Ruby Weapon closed its jaws. Through its one remaining eye it saw that it had missed for a third time and roared in rage. The two tall spires sticking out of the sand began to thrash and whip about in all directions. They slammed into the ground, destroying dunes and covering the ground in a thick cloud of sand. Through the smothering haze Red XIII caught a glimpse of something large and silver-white heading his way, and once more he rolled out of the way before he was crushed beneath the thrashing spire.
Ruby Weapon was so outraged by its third failure to destroy the airship that it no longer had any control over the two spires, even though they were a part of its body. The spires moved of their own accord, striking anything that came within reach. They did not seem to make a distinction between the ground or its own body, for the spires even whipped back and struck Ruby Weapon's torso with powerful blows.
Fed up of standing around doing nothing, Red XIII dropped to a crouch and darted across the sand. He leaped as high as he could and landed on the nearest of the two spires. He tried to dig in his claws, but the spire was so smooth that they slid right off. Red XIII dropped back to the sand. He leaped again and this time tried to close his jaws around it, but his teeth too slid straight off. With a growl the hound leapt out of the way again. It was impossible: he could not get a grip on them.
The two spires continued to thrash and flail wildly, still out-of-control. The Highwind was just out of their reach, but those still on Ruby Weapon were not as fortunate. Vincent hurriedly ducked behind the back of Weapon's neck as the tip of one spire came perilously close to its shoulder. It missed, but just barely.
Yuffie was still dangling from Weapon's shoulder, clinging to her shuriken. The other spire then whipped up and struck Ruby Weapon in the side of its arm. The impact shook the shuriken loose, and Yuffie dropped fast towards the sand below. The spire, still moving, gave another sharp crack and struck her as she dropped. The ninja was whipped to the side, heading towards the sand at high speed.
The ninja hit the ground hard. She lost hold of her shuriken as she landed, and the weapon rolled across the sand until it stopped, half-buried. Yuffie, too, rolled across the ground, with a cloud of sand rising around her. She rolled at least fifteen metres before finally coming to a stop not far from where her shuriken lay.
Seeing the young ninja's fall, Red XIII hurried over to her. "Are you all right!" he asked, his eyes worried.
For a moment the ninja did not move, and Red XIII started to fear the worst. Then the ninja twitched, coughed, and shakily climbed to her knees. She coughed again, bringing up the sand that she had swallowed. The hound put a paw on her back and patted her gently. He heard her say something, and he leaned in close to hear.
"Damn it," she muttered under her breath between coughs. "Try that on me, will ya? Just try it again—I promise you'll regret it."
Red XIII sat back on his haunches and sighed heavily. She was all right, it seemed.
The sound of gunshots came from above, and Red XIII raised his head. He could not see Vincent from where they were, but he guessed that the gunman was trying to draw the monster's attention. His thoughts were confirmed when Ruby Weapon turned its head away from the airship and sent another blast of flame over his shoulder. The hound drew a breath; he hoped Vincent was all right.
Yuffie heard the shots too and looked up dazedly. When she saw the flames her mind cleared in a flash. Crying out, she grabbed hold of Red XIII and pulled him to her.
"Red XIII! We need to get out of here now!" she said. "Cloud told us to distract Weapon long enough so that he could free the airship, and then he was going to pummel it with summons! So come on, let's move it already, before we get pummelled, too!"
A shadow fell over them both. Quickly the two pushed away from each other, just as the tip of one of the spires slammed into the sand between them. Yuffie rolled and snatched her shuriken up out of the sand, and then began to run as fast as she could away from the spires. Red XIII ran close behind her, though he still had no idea what was going on.
Vincent meanwhile, was still on Weapon's upper body. He had managed to draw the monster's attention onto him for now, and had even managed to damage the plating of its face after a few well-aimed shots.
Weapon lifted its large shoulders and forward. The sudden movement caught Vincent off-guard and caused him to lose his balance. He tried to grab hold of the ridges of the monster's neck, but they were just out of his reach. With nothing else to hold onto, he fell off Weapon's shoulder and began hurtling towards the ground at speed.
A dark, purplish light swept over him as he fell. The dark light moved up and over his body, growing until it covered him entirely. Inside that light, his body began to grow and twist, forming into the shape of a new creature the others had not seen before.
It was a haunting creature. The aura it gave off was chilling, almost as cold and terrifying as the aura given off by the Weapons. In time, Cloud and the others would learn that there was a horrifying link between this creature and the Weapons, but for now all that was known about it was the creature's name: Chaos.
The creature was still Vincent, and yet it was not Vincent. It had Vincent's face, but the face was pale, almost deathly, and carried a deep malice. Vincent's calm red eyes had been replaced by eyes that were bright yellow and that glowed with an unearthly aura. The gunman's cloak and clothing had gone, replaced by a skin-tight leather outfit that had various pieces of armour attached to it. Two large, leathery wings, frayed at the edges, protruded from Chaos's back. Finally, in Chaos's hand, there was a large, three-barrelled shotgun.
Chaos stretched out his wings. They caught the wind and slowed his descent long before he reached the ground. Using the air current, Chaos swerved away from the ground and darted across the sand away from Weapon. He turned again in midflight, heading back to the sky.
Seeing him flying away, Weapon opened its mouth and unleashed another powerful stream of flames. Chaos turned sharply, moving easily out of the flames' path. The stream continued on past Chaos and would have hit the airship if Cid had not seen them coming and quickly moved the Highwind out of the way.
Cloud shielded his face with his arm as the heat of the flames blew over the airship. The flames made the air hot and made his throat burn. The heat passed, and he caught a glimpse of Chaos as he lowered his arm. Chaos was diving towards Weapon at speed, his gun held out in front of him. The winged beast fired a shot at Weapon. The bullet struck Weapon in the shoulder and tore right through its armour. A large, gaping hole was left in the armour where the bullet struck, oozing more greenish liquid. Weapon craned its head forward and tried to snap at Chaos as he flew by. Chaos, too quick for it, flew swiftly out of the way.
Movement caught his eye, and Cloud glanced over his shoulder. He relaxed when he saw that it was Tifa, coming out to check on him.
"How's it going?" she asked, standing beside him.
Cloud didn't answer her. He turned his eyes back to the battlefield. Chaos was diving again, this time at Weapon's rear. He fired a second shot and hit Weapon's left arm. The plates covering its arm were blasted away by the shot and fell towards the sand. Whatever those bullets were made of, Weapon's armour could not defend against them. Cloud sheathed his sword. It was time to end it.
He looked down at his gauntlet. The Bahamut materia was glowing slightly, radiating a deep red light. Cloud could feel Bahamut's rage, its eagerness, its desire to fight. It could sense a powerful, worthy foe nearby. The dragon longed to break free of its realm and fight this worthy foe.
Tifa followed his gaze. She placed her fingertips lightly over the materia's smooth surface. It glimmered at her touch. The Neo Bahamut materia, lying next to it, also began to glow. It shuddered slightly in its slot, as though trying to call itself out.
"I'm sure they can handle it," she said, answering Cloud's unspoken thoughts.
Cloud clenched his fist. Tifa was right. Bahamut, Neo Bahamut, and the rest of the summons they had gathered on their journey, were also born from the planet just like the Weapons. With the summons at their side, they had the chance to defeat Weapon. Cloud lowered his hand and stepped forward to the edge of the deck. "Tifa," he began, "tell Cid to move the airship away. I don't want the Highwind to get caught up in this."
"Sure." Tifa ran back across the deck. She stopped by the door and looked back at him. She opened her mouth, but then closed it again. This was hardly the time, and she couldn't find the words right then. She would have to wait for another time. Instead she smiled, and then ran back inside the airship.
When she was gone, Cloud turned all his attention back to the battle at hand. During his conversation with Tifa, Chaos had managed to land more hits into Ruby Weapon's armour; its torso was dotted with holes. One of the enormous plates that protected it shoulders had been shot clean off—that now lay broken on the sand below.
Ruby Weapon fired yet another blast of fire as Chaos drew near. Chaos swerved easily out of the way and headed upward. He flew close to the airship. His head turned upward and he saw Cloud standing on the deck, looking down at him. The swordsman caught his yellow-eyed gaze and nodded. Chaos understood Cloud's silent message and sheathed his gun. He turned away from Weapon and dived down toward the sand, searching for Yuffie and Red XIII.
With Chaos out of range, Weapon raised its head. Its one good eye fell on the airship, and directly met Cloud's gaze. A deep, cold shiver ran down Cloud's spine. The fear generated by these Weapons was unreal, almost paralysing. Cloud had heard Cid and the others tell of their encounter with the draconic Weapon back in Mideel, but he had not believed the fear could be so… intense.
Cloud scowled and shook his head vigorously to shake away the fear. Weapon was indeed monstrous and powerful, but it was not entirely invulnerable. The holes in its armour were proof enough of that. And he would drive that point home by using the planet's own power to destroy it: the power of the summons.
Cloud inhaled deeply, and released it in a slow, calming breath. He raised his fist, clenched it tight. The Bahamut materia began to glow as Cloud called upon its power. Pulsing red-white light began to form around his gauntlet and fall in waves down his arm. The materia began to shudder within its slot, as though the materia itself was straining to be released.
The droplets of light slowed until finally they ceased to fall. The light's course then reversed, being drawn upwards around his fist. Cloud waited until all the light had gathered before he thrust out his hand and unleashed all of the pent-up energy.
The light fired like a bullet and whooshed through the air. It moved at immense speed and headed towards Weapon's face. Ruby Weapon sat it coming and moved its head to the side, allowing the light to zip past. The light continued onward, flying through the air. It grew in size, twisting and taking shape. The light flashed brightly and then vanished in an instant, leaving in its wake a monstrous black dragon.
Bahamut: the legendary dragon. People told tales of this great and powerful dragon, said to be the most powerful of the summons created by the planet. Scientists conducting research into the summon materias theorised that there were many different variations of Bahamut. In truth there were many great and powerful dragons that fell into the Bahamut class. The one that Cloud had summoned was thought to be the original version of Bahamut: the two-winged black dragon.
Cloud had in his possession two other types of Bahamut materia. He had Neo Bahamut, the four-winged dragon, positioned ready next to its partner. The newest addition, provided by the Huge Materia, was currently locked up in the supply case they had brought with them onto the airship. This dragon, Bugenhagen said, was known as Bahamut ZERO.
Bahamut ZERO was a dragon with six wings, and was the most powerful of the dragon summons—at least, of those that had been revealed. Bugenhagen had said that he believed there to be other dragon summons that were stronger than Bahamut ZERO, but that their existence had been kept secret 'for the public's safety'. If that were the case, it did not take a genius to figure out who had covered up the existence of these more powerful dragons.
Bahamut spread his large wings. They gave a loud 'snap' as they opened and caught the air. The dragon drew his arms and legs close to his chest and tilted his wings, turning sharply in midflight and speeding back towards Weapon.
Ruby Weapon tried to turn its head, but since its arms were buried in the sand it was not able to turn fully. It caught only a glimpse of the black dragon as he swooped in and slammed its body hard into its back.
The impact caused Weapon to pitch forward, placing all its weight on its arms. Those same arms acted as a counterbalance, taking the full force of the blow and preventing Weapon from being bowled over. That fact seemed to frustrate Bahamut, and so the dragon flapped his wings and pulled back from Weapon. After flying back about fifteen metres the dragon landed on the sand and charged forward. He roared piercingly before clamping his jaws around Weapon's arm and refusing to let go.
Ruby Weapon turned his head and unleashed a thin stream of flames at Bahamut. The flames swept over the dragon's head. Bahamut roared in pain and released his grip, stepping back away from the flames. He shook his head back and forth, trying to shake off the flames.
Once he had finished shaking off the flames, Bahamut dropped his upper body close to the ground and lifted his tail high. Bahamut then swung his body around and slammed his tail into Weapon's side. The armour covering Weapon's back cracked and splintered and small chunks of metal went falling down to the ground below. Despite that, Weapon only seemed more irritated than in pain, and it opened its mouth to shoot another blast of fire.
There was a second bright flash of light, and something large and heavy slammed into Weapon's chest before it could fire.
It was Neo Bahamut, summoned by Cloud to aid his comrade in bringing the monstrous Weapon down. This dragon was much larger and more heavily built than Bahamut, with much of his strength lying in his huge, muscular torso and powerful hind legs. Bahamut relied on his speed and agility to surprise and gain advantage over his prey, but Neo Bahamut preferred to rely on sheer brute force. Aside from his heavier bulk, he was further identified by his thick, mud-red scales and his four large wings that beat in almost perfect unison as the dragon pushed his head and shoulders into Weapon's chest, trying to force it back.
Not even Ruby Weapon could properly brace itself against the blow. Neo Bahamut had slammed into it with all the force that he could muster. As with Bahamut, it was only because Weapon's arms were buried so deep into the sand that the creature wasn't thrown onto its back.
Seeing that he was getting nowhere, Neo Bahamut drew back away from Weapon. His wings—with a wingspan of more than ten metres from wingtip to wingtip—spread wide. Beating his wings, the dragon rose into the air. He soared up to the sky, flying past the Highwind, before he turned and fell into a steep dive at Weapon.
The dragon lifted his body at the last moment, pulling his body back into level flight just over Weapon's head. The dragon kept on moving and flew over the top of Weapon. Reaching out with his feet, the dragon grabbed hold of Weapon's shoulders and held on tight as he flew onward, preparing to rise back into the sky.
Weapon gave a roar and lurched backward, yanked roughly back by Neo Bahamut as he tried to drag the creature off its feet. The dragon's strength was immense, and even though Weapon's arms were still in the sand it was steadily being lifted up off the ground. Bahamut tried to help his draconic comrade by slamming his tail repeatedly against Weapon's arms.
The continuous beating gradually began to weaken Ruby Weapon's hold on the ground. The two spires quit flailing mindlessly and locked into place, pointing straight up into the sky. Suddenly the monster's arms shuddered and then shot swiftly upwards. In turn, the spires sank rapidly into the sand and re-emerged as Weapon's arms came out of the sand. Neo Bahamut roared in triumph and beat his wings harder, ripping Weapon out of the ground and carrying him up into the sky.
It was truly a remarkable sight, as the great dragon dragged Ruby Weapon off the ground and carried it into the sky. Trapped in the dragon's vicelike grip, there was little Ruby Weapon could do to stop the dragon besides dangle.
Only once did Weapon try to break free, striking out at Neo Bahamut with its long, flailing arms. The first slender spire struck the dragon in the thigh and bounced off his thick scales, leaving nothing more than a nick in his hide. As Weapon prepared to strike the dragon's belly with its other arm, Bahamut suddenly dived in and locked his jaws around the monster's wrist, yanking it up. Now both dragons worked together to lift the beast up into the air.
The two dragons carried Weapon up and up, higher than the Highwind, and even higher than the rugged mountains that bordered the Corel Plains. Cloud, Yuffie and Red XIII (carried by Chaos back onto the Highwind before the summoning of Neo Bahamut) watched in wide-eyed fascination, unable to believe the overwhelming power that the Bahamut dragons held.
The dragons carried Weapon higher and higher and then, when they could lift the beast no further… they let go.
Weapon fell from the sky. Its arms trailed uselessly behind it, unable to do anything to stop itself from plummeting to the ground. A loud rumble, much like the roll of thunder, filled the air. Ruby Weapon's good eye flicked towards the ground that was zooming in rapidly.
The sand was rising, swelling upwards as something large and powerful began to make its way out from deep beneath the surface of the planet. Eventually the sand fell away, revealing the being that Red XIII had summoned to help deliver the final touches to this battle with Ruby Weapon: Titan.
Titan stepped out of the sand and looked up. Weapon was descending rapidly, heading straight for him. Titan clenched his enormous fist and swung it upward just as Weapon came within range. There was a loud 'THWACK' as Titan's fist connected with Weapon's head. His fist shattered the armour protecting Weapon's head, and pieces of broken metal fell in all directions. Titan raised his other fist and delivered a second crushing blow to Weapon's torso, sending the beast flying across the sand.
Weapon landed heavily and rolled across the sand. More plates of metal broke away from its body as it rolled over and over. Finally it came to a stop. It lay in the sand, its body twitching.
Overhead, the two dragons circled the skies. As Ruby Weapon started to climb to its feet, the dragons took up positions on either side of the battlefield and prepared to deliver the final blow.
Each dragon opened his mouth. A glow began to form in the reaches of their throats, as the dragons began to draw up on the energy within them to unleash upon Weapon. Their heads quivered as the energy grew stronger, until the very air around them began to waver. When they had finally drawn up enough energy the two dragons roared and unleashed their attacks together.
Two brilliant beams of light burst from the open mouths of the two dragons. Like lasers they fired down towards the ground, so intense and powerful the air practically vibrated with the concentration of energy. One beam zipped past the Highwind and sent it reeling sideways. Those standing on the Highwind's deck almost fell off the airship, and had to hold onto the railing. The two beams continued on past the airship until they struck Weapon with full force.
The explosion that followed was so powerful that it sent a shockwave of hot air and sand hurtling in all directions. It was visible even from the Gold Saucer, where Dio was still watching the battle unfold. It would be discovered later that the shockwave spread out in a radius of at least ten miles, and more powerful than any mako bomb Shinra had developed.
The Highwind was caught up in the blast. It spun out of control as Cid failed to keep a hold on it, and tumbled rapidly towards the ground. The airship was caught by Titan moments before it could hit the ground. Titan held onto the airship until the winds passed and the air became calm once again.
The sand began to settle. Everyone on the Highwind, those in and out, watched in silent anticipation. Even the dragons remained still, their eyes fixed on the sand.
There was movement within the sand. A large shadow rose up out of the raining sand, and for a brief moment everybody's hearts sank in dismay. Weapon stepped out of the sand—it was still standing.
Weapon's body had been severely damaged by the blast. Most of its armour had now broken away, and the flesh that had been left bare was charred and black. Liquid mako was oozing out of the many wounds that had opened up all over its body. The monster opened its mouth to roar, but only a hoarse whisper came out. Its mouth fell open, and more mako seeped out from between its jaws.
Red XIII finally dared to rise to his feet and peered out over the deck. "Is… is it defeated?" he asked. Nobody answered him: their eyes were fixed on Weapon.
As they all watched, tendrils of steam began to slowly rise from Weapon's body. The monster gave another strangled roar before its head fell back and its eye fixed blankly on the overhead sky. The two dragons, seeing that they were no longer needed, glowed white before vanishing into thin air. Titan released the airship, and he too vanished.
The steam rose faster, growing thicker. More tendrils, the same colour as the mako that dripped from its mouth and wounds, also began to rise into the air. Ruby Weapon's broken body began to glow brightly before abruptly vanishing, returning Weapon to the planet from where it was born.
There was a long moment of silence following the demise of Ruby Weapon. Cloud let out a long sigh; behind him, Yuffie dropped to her knees. Though they had fought many difficult battles during the course of their journey—including against the inhuman Jenova—this had been one of the most terrifying. This had been a creature created by the planet itself specifically designed to destroy all threats to the planet.
And yet they had won.
It also proved one thing: the Weapons were not indestructible. It was possible to defeat them, though it would take all the powers the planet had to offer to do it.
Cloud turned from the battlefield and leaned against the rails. His hands were trembling, his heart racing in his chest. They had defeated Weapon. They were strong enough to defeat Weapon. And if they were strong enough to defeat Weapon, then they were strong enough to face their ultimate enemy: Sephiroth.
The swordsman gripped the railings tight, forcing the shaking of his hands to cease. When he was sure he had control of himself again, he pushed himself away from the rails and strode across the deck. Stopping by the door, he looked back over his shoulder.
"Come on," he said coolly, "we've wasted enough time here. Let's get going."
A NOTE FROM THE AUTHORESS
*breathless* Finally… finished it… Man, that was a very tough battle to write, yet I'm surprised I managed to write it in this much detail. I'd only intended this to be a one-chapter battle, yet I managed to fill two whole chapters.
*looks at her notes* Let's see… Aw man, I have another one coming up! WHY DID I DECIDE TO INCLUDE THESE! I'm a sucker for punishment, I really am. XD