Cosmic Wars Omega: The Multiversal War across the Infinite Frontier

by Darth Necron

In the aftermath of the Secret Wars a path to the Multiverse was formed. Decedents of legendary warriors Ben Auro and Doug Fitter, Michael Auro and Astra Fitter, now must unite the likes of Rachet & Clank, Sam Porter, MegaMan Volnutt, 2B, Mark "Invincible" Greyson, Tanjiro Kamado, and the other last hero's of the universe to stop the Negaverse from conquering all other universes.

62. Chapter 314:The Lost and the Damned

Chapter 314: The Spirits Within The Lost and the Damned.

Once more thanks to assistance with their allies from the alliance the group composed of many universe's made their way to the Temple of the Ancients. Because they did not want to alert their enemies, they arrived a bit outside where the Temple was supposed to be.

Hunkeberg guided them to a contact of theirs, and they met at the outskirts of Bone Village. While Ezan, Daigo, and the others had their reservations, there contact was real as they were met by a tall young man with shaggy silver hair and gray eyes.

He had horns on his face, and his attire consisted of a white dress shirt with ruffled sleeve cuffs, black pants with a gray belt, a long white cravat and brown boots. When out and about, he will also don a yellow embroidered jacket which has the crest of House Haliaetus upon its back. He kept the scabbard for his great-sword strapped to his back with a brown belt along with a traveling bag.

The man saw his comrade and smirked." I knew you would not let the likes of those demons get you Hunkeberg. I'm Leon Strohl da Haliaetus, and it's a pleasure to work with you."

"Likewise" Ezan uttered flatly." Apologies but there is no time for pleasantries. What's the situation?"

"Of course. The woman Cissnei is going ahead to confront her former comrades the Turks to distract them so you can get there easier. I had my doubts at first but she aided us and others despite being from another world so, I think she can be trusted. But she's not sure if others aside from her former comrades will give her as much time as she needs."

"Don't worry Leon, they understand the situation."

A blond man walked out of the trees. He had long blond hair with a full fringe and a distinctive single bang on his head and is tied in a low ponytail and brown eyes. shoulders, elbows, forearms, hands, legs, and feet are plated in a cyan armor.

The shoulder protectors have an oval hole on the inside of a thick, black fabric. His elbow protectors are worn outside of the black garment, along with his arm and hand protectors worn over leather gloves.

The black fabric has an appliqué of a white bull's head on the chest. The legs are supported by a leather strapped girdle with a gold buckle holding groin and thigh suspenders, worn over white leather pants. The lower leg and feet protectors are worn over brown boots. He saw everyone looked wary before he smirked." Sorry, I'm Ramza Beoulve I'm from Ivalice, though I'm not sure you all know what that is."

"I do." Ezan answered." And you have are thanks for risking so much Ramza."

"No problem. The Beoulve name stands for truth and justice! It is not a tool to be used for selfish gain! House Beoulve cannot now turn on its purpose and fight for the interests of a corrupt Crown and self-serving aristocracy no matter what name or symbol they use!"

"Agreed, so then let's not waste time." Ezan uttered as he used his Sharingan 's power to look far distances to see the target range. To his shock he saw many men, and a blond woman in likewise black suits approaching a wide space, with Kefka flying above them, before he nudged Aeris." The temple was above ground right dear? I see a wide space, but no temple."

Aeris raised an eyebrow before she rubbed her head." Maybe they got it wrong and went to the wrong space? It was really hard to miss, it's a giant pyramid and all."

"Well, maybe in this world its underground or your right and they went to the wrong spot. Either way, let's move out."

Leon nodded before he looked at Ramza." Tell the others to get ready to fight."

"Right." Razma replied." Hope your group is ready Garr." He was talking to a humanoid wolf who just shrugged." Time to see if those guys from House Kesling really are ready to put their money where their mouth is but let's go."

They prepared to do just that, and as they did those Ezan saw were approaching the center of the center of the alter. The one in the front was a young man with a slim build, tan skin, straight, long black hair, and dark brown eyes.

He had a tilak and was wearing the standard Turks uniform consisting of a dark suit. As he looked the woman next to him in the same outfit, a young woman with a slender physique, fair skin, brown eyes, and neck-length blonde hair styled in an inverted bob walked up and sighed." Are you sure this is the place Tseng?"

Kefka snickered before spitting out." You better…I already got sand in my boots and I'll turn you to sand if it was for nothing!"

The blond woman took out a customized pink and silver gun adorned with flower details, rhinestones, and other embellishments and pointed it at Kefka." Hey watch it clown! I don't care if the President put you on this mission on one talks like that to Tseng!"

"Aw…your adorable!" Kefka threw out in a mocking tone." What to see a magic trick for bratty girls?"

"There is no need to be brash Elena." Tseng replied as he took out a white sphere." The Keystone is reacting to this place. We will bring out the temple, and see the true Promised Land."

As he went to put the Keystone in the alter before him another woman's voice cut in with," I know that's what you were told would happen Tseng, but you have to stop because it will only lead you all to seeing your deaths!"

Tseng widened his eyes and swerved around to see that the person who spoke this was another woman who appeared behind him. She was in the same Turk uniform, and was a young woman with a slim and athletic figure, fair skin, wavy shoulder-length red hair, and golden brown eyes. Tseng blinked a few moments before uttering a cold," What do you think you're doing…Cissnei?"

"Trying to stop you all form making a mistake that will get you all killed."

The man next to Tseng, a young man with a lean build, fair skin, turquoise eyes, and two red scar-shaped markings on his face, that had unkempt, spiky hair dyed a fiery red and had a baton in his hand spat on the ground before spitting out a bitter," This for real Cisseni? You don't leave for years then come back right when we are at the moment of truth hear!"

"Sorry Reno, but this I can't look away any longer."

The man next to Reno, a bald man with shades on his face just took a deep breath." You just could never get over Zach, eh? That was not ideal, but bad luck is just part of are kind of life."

"Its more then just Zach…its because they are going to do what they did to Zach to you all! Please…stop this…we are not just pawns for Shinra to throw away!"

Tseng saw his former comrade's solemn eyes and sighed." It's cute that your concerned but your just unable to see the bigger picture. That's why I'm in charge, and agents that got cold feet never understood the chain of command."

"Maybe, but I brought someone who did…right Verdot?"

The Turks were shocked to see a middle-aged man with brunette hair. He has a scar on his left cheek and one of his arms is a prosthetic. Reno saw him walk up before his jaw dropped." Wait…that's old man Verdot? But I thought he was dead!"

"Then you never understood how a Turk truly acted Reno…and it seems none of you do."

Tseng snickered before uttering," You knew the arrangement Verdot…you never showed your face again and you and your child could live in peace. I thought you were smarted then that."

"And you're not smart enough to realize that I answered Ceisseni's call Tseng. Rufus has lost his mind trusting these monsters…they will kill us all. Don't help them dig are graves any further."

Tseng sighed before he shrugged." Sorry Verdot, you raised me too well. I'm a company man, to the end. And you were both naïve to think you two alone could stop us from, huh?"

Everyone saw a flash of light before Cloud, Ezan, and the rest of the group ran in before Cisseni sighed." Who said we came alone? And this was just some of the back up!"

Cloud took out his sword and spat out," Its over!"

Kefka laughed before his eyes glowed." Ahh, the smell of inexperience! I see a poser! Toying with your prey is fun, so let the show be,"

Before he could even start, Bahamut showed how disgusted he was by charging at Kefka and tackling him out of the area. Reno saw Bahamut fly away with a screaming Kefka and raised an eyebrow." Hey…summoning before the fight starts? That's cheating!"

Ezan took out his blade before uttering a sharp," This is no game. No reward is worth a price you won't live to cash in. Don't be a fool and see reality."

Tseng looked around before he shrugged." I see the report about hidden branches of Avalanche coming out of the woodwork was not an exaggeration. But, because of the state of things Shinra also expanded its ranks recently. Its time for all the new intern Turks to prove there worth. Uthros!"

From the left of the forest a purple octopus with a mass of tentacles and large, bulging red eyes burst out of the trees to land besides the Turks. He sported a row of sharp fangs that made him appear to be smirking before he hissed out," Gree-hee-hee…Look at all the babes! Your all up a creek without a paddle!"

Tsung then cleared his throat before then saying," Zorn and Thorn!"

Two midgets with pale faces in jester outfits, one red, and one blue hopped out of the trees and both yelled out," The time has come, the time is now!"

As they danced around Tsung then yelled out," Ba'Gamnan!"

A green skinned lizard man, one of the bangaa race jumped out of the trees and smashed the ground with his ring like blade and licked his lips." The whole affair has the smell of money. I may have to whet my beak a little."

Tsung then uttered," Magissa!"

A woman with short green hair has short green hair and wore a purple leotard, purple nails, gray and gold boots and a green cape with a hunting bow walked up before she smirked." I thought we would be able to collect wind drakes but looks like we will find something even more valuable!"

Tsung shrugged before next yelling out," Goldor!"

A knight in solid gold armor walked up before he laughed." You will all make great gold statues!"

Tsung cleared his throat before shrugging." Dycedarg Beoulve!"

A man with short auburn hair styled in a fringe on front with the edge split into two sides, brown eyes and a full beard walked out next. He wore a black and gray robe with white spiral designs on the sleeves, golden folded sleeves with white linings and a white fuku collar, covering a golden turtleneck; a red and yellow lined belt runs to his waist, and completes the outfit with red gloves and brown boots.

Ramza saw the man and gasped in shock." Brother…you really sided with these monsters?"

The man that seemed to be Ramaza's brother just grit his teeth in response." Why are you siding with the enemy brother? Fools! Why won't you obey? Why do you defy me? The powerful must rule the powerless ones! It's our duty! It's the right way to use our power! Why can't you understand!?" and " 'Justice'? I'm embarrassed to think you even said that! You think such pretty ideals can govern the people!?"

Tsung shrugged before throwing out a flat," We will soon find out. Meanwhile, next. Leblanc… Logos… Ormi!"

A woman walked out of the trees behind the Turks. She had a round face with purple eyes and short, blonde hair. She wore a pinkish-purple robe that exposed her chest ,showing the tattoo of the Leblanc Syndicate's logo, and her right thigh.

The robe had a high, curved tasseled collar and long sleeves reminiscent of a Japanese furisode kimono, the cuffs separated from the ends of the sleeves by white criss-crossed material. She wears thigh-high stockings of the same color and purple ankle boots. Her attire was decorated in blue and white triangular and swirl patterns. She wields a red-and-silver fan in her right hand.

At her sides was a tall thin man with guns and a fat bulky man with a massive shield. The woman looked around before she smirked." See boys? We are going to rack in a lot more then spheres if you stick to the plan!"

Tsung then shrugged and next yelled out," Qun'mi Tru'e!"

A woman in Militesi armor with brown boots, gray overalls and brown gloves. She wears a breastplate, pauldrons, and high collar. Her main identifying feature was her helmet, shaped like a tiger's head that sports a feline mask.

She had a whip of lighting crackle around her hand before uttering," Is this the best the Dominion has to offer? No matter how much changes…on my honor as the Secundus l'Cie of the White Tiger Crystal, I will see the mission through!"

As Reno and Rude gave each other looks Tsung sighed." Baigan!"

A man with short blond hair in a knight outfit came out before he cracked his neck." Shinra's whishes are Baron's wishes! Observe their wonderful power!"

He transformed into a humanoid snake with snake hands before Elena winced. Tsung cracked his neck before uttering," Snow Villiers!"

A man with straight, layered, shoulder-length hair and a short beard that was wearing a formal black suit walked out of some trees, freezing them as he did.

Aeris saw him before she widened her eyes." Hey Ezan that's Lighting's old friend Ice Cube right?"

Ezan saw Snow glare at them before he cleared his throat." His name was Snow dear, even if Kira sliced him into ice cubes before he vaporized him."

"Oh right…sorry."

Snow formed a large ax of ice before he looked grimly at everyone." No one is gonna stop me, you hear? If I have to fight the savior, then I will!"

"We will see." Tsung flatly retorted."Next, Sleipnir Harbard!"

A man with neck-length silver hair, braided on his right side appeared out of the trees next.

He wore a white shirt with tassels and ribbons, and long black gloves. In his battle armor, he wore silver-colored suit of armor with a helmet.

Clive saw the new arrival and winced." I remember you, you were the Waloeder advisor for Barnabas!"

" I am Sleipnir of House Harbard. And you will yield. Or not... As long as you don't hold way or another Lord Barnabas will be advenged!"

Ezan rolled his eyes before retorting with," Trust me...that fool was not worth avenging."

As Slephir seethed with rage Tsung cleared his throat."Next…Seifer…Rajin…Fujin!

Ezan widened his eyes as saw his former captain's old rival, or at least a version of him from another universe walk up.

He had short blond hair, blue-green eyes, and a scar across his forehead and nose received from Squall as retaliation during a duel. He wore a blue vest with a cross design lined in white, a gray coat with an emblem resembling the symbol of the Cross of Saint James on the sleeves, black gloves and boots and a silver chain with a tag. The coat hem eventually frays.

Ezan saw Seifer smirk before he widened his eyes." What…does that mean Squall is here to?"

Seifer raised an eyebrow before he uttered," You know that loser? Well then you can join him!"

"Damn it…do you even understand what this is Seifer?"

"Hell yah…a chance to be what I deserve to be! The way I see it, as long as you come out of the battle alive, you're one step closer to your dream. Right Rajin…Fujin?"

A black man with a bo staff and a woman in a blue outfit with a eye-patch over her eye walked up before Rajin smirked." This is our path to glory yah know? And anyone in are way is just going to get the beat down they have coming to them right Fujin?"

The woman took out a large shuriken before yelling out," RAGE!"

Tsung then looked around and uttered," Borghen? Bah, I knew he wound run."

As the other Turks nodded a older male voice cut in with," Wait I'm just getting ready to crush these maggots!" Tsung looked up to see a short and chubby with a red nose and hair, and a squat face.

Owing to his implied noble heritage, he wore fancy clothes: striped trousers, a cape, a red tunic with medals, gold gloves, and an oversized trifoil cap.

Borghen was trying to push a bolder off a platform before he grunted out," Yah all think you can ruin my big chance? I'll crush you before you even."

Before he could try his attempt the platform he was on shattered, causing him to scream as he fell just in time for the bolder he wanted to hurl to fall on his chest. As he screamed in pain and reached out to Elena the female Turk winced." You get what you deserve for thinking that was going to work."

Borghen coughed up blood before uttering," I'll be waiting for you all in hell! Urngah!"

Tsung saw Borghen die from his own failed trap before he sighed." Well…that's why this is the try outs."

Cloud narrowed his eyes before uttering," I don't care how many freaks you Turks draft to help you, we are stopping Shinra and Sephiroth no matter what happens because that's all that matters!"

Before his many new enemies could fight yet another new voice cut in with," Are you sure that's what you want boy? Are you sure that you're not defying your own fate?"

Everyone was shocked to see Glenn suddenly appeared out of a portal of darkness. Ezan looked in confusion before uttering," Of course they would just throw in Organization XIII now to. No matter how many of you join hear…you will all be leaving soon enough."

The man with the beard snickered before he put out a mocking," No need to be like that. I'm hear to set things right really. See I have some family business to take care of."

Cloud narrowed his eyes before shrugging." Well you come to the wrong place for that!"

"Oh, I don't know about that Cloud."

"Huh? How do you know me?"

"How do you not know about me? Heh, Claudia really was so damn petty."

Cloud's eyes widened before throwing out an alarmed," How the hell do you know my mother?"

"She really never told you a damn thing about your father eh boy?"

"She…she just told me that she liked to travel and he came and went like the wind."

"Or a P0-type SOLDIER was on Nibelheim and thought he made it clear he was just looking for one hell of a night. I'm Glenn Lodbrok Cloud, and I am your father!"

Cloud's eyes widened as he grasped his head." No…that's not true…that's impossible!"

"Search your feelings kid…you know its true!"

"NO!"

Ezan saw Cloud scream before his eye twitched." Seriously…now some random thug is Cloud's father!?"

Aeris rubbed her head before eyeing Glenn carefully." I don't know how much is different in this universe but are Cloud never bothered finding his father."

Glenn took out a hammer before he swung it across his shoulder." Yah well fate's being fixed to how it should be. Cloud, you been struggling for so long but its time you accept what you are supposed to be, at my side!"

Tifa saw Cloud's confusion before she winced." Don't just trust this guy's word Cloud! One way or another this is all a trap!"

Ezan was about to move before suddenly a new voice cut in with an eerily cheerful," Oh its not a trap, it's a show Kupo! The ultimate show to highlight the ultimate glory of the Infinite Victory and Conquest Corporation!"

Everyone was caught off guard as they saw Zoth suddenly appear out of the ground. The purple moogle did a small dance before Reno raised an eyebrow." I thought they burned down all the crazy Gold Saucer stuff so what the hell is this?"

Daigo widened his eyes before uttering," Hey…he almost sounds like Moz…are old buddy!"

Ezan saw Zoth laugh before he grit his teeth." Careful…Mike told me about him. He's some variation of Moz that serves Sieg. But Mike told me Bowser and Dedede took him out."

"Oh that's a laugh Kupo!" Zoth threw out." No one that has Mr. V-Day's favor can be killed that easy! Look at all you still acting like you can change anything. How about just sing before the end and be true to your heart to what you know is the only thing that's going to happen? When you walk away, you don't hear me say

"Please, oh baby, don't go"

Simple and clean

Is the way that you're making me feel tonight

It's hard to let it go, Kupo!"

Daigo had veins form on his head before growling out," This is reminding me of the time me, Moz, Ben, and the rest of Squad 7 all tried Karaoke that one night, for all the wrong reasons! Stop talking like Moz…you monster!"

"I'm not your inferior knockoff, I'm from the superior brand kupo! You're just the idiots who don't know the show's over!"

"ITS NOT OVER YET DAMN IT! Digisoul charge! Warp Digivole too! Shinryudramon!"

As Daigo quickly transformed into his Mega level Royal Knight state he powered up as Zoth laughed." Oh you really think power on that level matters Kupo? Your even dumber than we thought!"

"I'm just getting started! Giga Drill Breaker!"

He burst at the moogle and hit him right out of the area. Glenn wiped some dust off his coat before he had a wild look in his eye." It's a big show today, but it is to celebrate the new world. C'mon on Cloud, you wanted to find your family right? Its time you embrace your true family!"

He widened his hands before the dark aura before three men appeared out of the shadows. They were all wearing black leather clothing that consisted of a long coat, boots, and trousers.

The man behind Glenn had shoulder-length silver hair that partially covered his face and green cat-like eyes and wielded a Souba, a katana with two parallel blades.

To the left of Glenn was a leaner man with longer hair, and had a Velvet Nightmare handgun in his hand. To the right was a bulkier man with sliver haired that was styled short and slightly spiky with thin sideburns. On his hand was the Dual Hound gauntlet.

Ezan saw the three all look manically at everyone before he winced." Wait, those are all the " Sephiroth Larvas, Loz, Kadaj and Yazoo!"

Azure gave a clear change on seeing that. He let out a small gasp, his teeth clenching as his pupils shrank a little. Ragnar, until now, had mostly been focused on Glenn. Specifically how his face reminded him of someone he had seen before. Yet at this point, noticing additional clones had joined the fray—to say nothing of the spike in the Planet's voices on their arrival—he noticed his change.

"It's alright… You're not like them."

Azure was quiet a moment, but then composed himself. "You're wrong, Mr. Vice." He exhaled as he opened a palm and held it to one side. "They're just like how I used to be."

Ragnar said no more, only coldly turned back to them. In a flourish of flame, Ragnarok was out and between him and them.

Kadaj got into a fighting stance before uttering," You think your all more worthy of mother's love then us? It doesn't matter who she picks. You're all going to meet the same end!"

"Quite right boys!" Glenn uttered madly." It's the time of truth, so let's get started!"

He grasped the keystone from Tsung and slammed it into the alter. The area started to shake before cubes suddenly burst out of the ground. Aeris saw this and looked annoyed before spitting out," Oh come on now they are cubes!? "

Ezan saw the cubes were all glowing before he uttered," Everyone prepare to, huh?"

A light flashed across his face, and when Ezan could see again, he saw he was on a floating platform. He looked around and saw strands of green energy like the life stream flying around like pillars before he grit his teeth." I thought the temple was just a giant maze and a clock puzzle?"

He heard a chuckle before he turned around and saw that Seifer was the only person near him before the Gunblade user shrugged." I don't know man, life throws you curve balls so just got to roll with it! But now let's get back to you being a pall of Squalls!"

Ezan had his aura erupt before he uttered a sharp," You have no idea how out classed you are, this is your only chance to surrender with all your limbs intact."

"Don't think you can look down on me! This is the scene where you swear your undying hatred for me!"

"You're not even worth my hatred."

"That so? I fought hard enough to get this!"

Ezan was caught off guard to see Seifer slam a gold coin into his head, and become consumed with gold armor. The former member of Squall's Squad in the Enji saw Seifer form his own aura before he grasped his blade tightly." So, you became an IV &C Gold Ranked Ignister? That won't be enough."

"We will find out, but you should know my team has way more knights on the field than yours!"

Ezan looked around and saw that others were in the wide Temple on various platforms preparing to confront the enemies in their way before he shrugged." Its quality, not quantity. No matter how sadistic a game you're all playing, it won't break us!"

"Oh trying to be a romantic eh? Bring it!"

Ezan attacked Seifer in the blink of an eye, but with his power up Seifer was able to parry the strike.

---

As Ezan prepared to show this version of his former captain's rival just what he thought of him, others were just as fed up with the enemy in front of him, and that would be Bahamut.

As we turn back to that fight the mad clown just rebounded from Bahamut's sudden blow, and as he coughed a bit Bahamut flew before Kefka, but simply stood there-arms crossed, wings unfurled, and showing nothing but an iron jaw. Kefka snickered in response. "Oh ho! Look what we have here? My, you're a big one, aren't you?"

Bahamut said nothing for a few moments before Kefka widened his eyes." What's this? Oh, shock! Could it be? Do I actually see an esper before me? Will wonders never cease! And here I thought I had killed every last one of you! Well, now my old magicite collection feels incomplete. I'm almost humiliated. And let me guess. By that sour frown on your face that you're here to teach me a lesson for killing the rest of your kind, hmm?"

As Bahamut still was motionless Kefka rubbed his head." : Wait...those purplish-blue scales...that lizard-y expression...that dinosauric look on your face... Why, I know you! You're the magicite that old Death Gaze had stuck between his back teeth! Aren't you supposed to be dead?"

After another burst of his mad cackles he licked his lips." Now this IS a treat! Not only do I get to kill one last esper, it's one of the ones I missed the first time around! Heh, but is that your name or are you a Summon, a Eidolon, a Guardian Force, a Aeon, a Astral, a Eikon, or even one of those" Pokemon"? Oh...but I suppose that's rather rotten luck for you, isn't it? Knowing you were so pathetic you were already dead before you even got the chance to go three rounds against me? Vwee-hee-hee! I don't suppose this makes you want to rethink picking a fight, does it?

Perfect! As much fun as it would be to kill you running in terror, I won't get to see the look of pain and misery on your face that way. This'll be just like old times! Care to share any last words, or proud boasts, or idiotic sentiments, or anything else you want on your tombstone before we get started? Heh…can you even talk beast?"

Bahamut answered by opening his mouth and firing a Flare right at Kefka, who doesn't move an inch as he absorbed it immediately. Bahamut raised an eyebrow as Kefka shook his finger at him mockingly." Oh, so sorry! I forgot to mention that little part! All of your precious magical powers? Useless against the god of magic. And while it'd be fun enough to watch your tiny brain keep trying that gesture again..."

"He performs the Diffuser spell on the area while Bahamut looks about, showing only the slightest hint of confusion."

There we go! Now all those annoying little powers of yours are gone. Hee-hee-hee! I'm guessing you'll be just as boring and wimpy as the rest of the espers were when I killed them at this point, but why not? I'll let you take a swing or two before I end this. Who knows? If you're really lucky, you might actually force me to dodge and not just simply-"

Kefka is cut off as Bahamut gives him such a tail swipe that he knocks him straight out of the sky and sends him careening backward, smashing through three different hills of rock and letting out a stream of curses all the way before he finally flattens on the ground. He got up, shaking his head cartoony style, before he took to the air again."

" Well now, that's certainly new! Hee-hee-hee! This might be fun after all!"

He flew out of the way before Bahamut could dive on him again and the two get into it. They traded several blows with Bahamut going purely on physical and Kefka using magic, but neither landed a definitive hit and Kefka just laughed more as he enjoyed it. Eventually, Bahamut tried a Sun Flare, but it was useless as the Flare was, causing Kefka to snicker." Phew! So you can still do magic even now, huh? That was a big one too! Here...have one of mine!"

"He responded with the Forsaken spell laughing madly all the way. Bahamut had to struggle just to block it, and eventually evaded right out of the way only to catch a Meteor spell that knocked him to the ground, causing the pale man to clap his hands."

That was entertaining, but I think I'll like you much better mounted on top of my fireplace! Thanks for playing!"

While Bahamut was still on the ground, he performs his move to turn him into magicite. However, it did absolutely nothing as Bahamut picked himself up again, causing Kefka to raise a eyebrow."

Huh...that's a bit odd. Usually that's the most efficient way to clean up an esper...maybe I should have brought that Pokeball thing with me."

"I haven't been an esper for a very long time." The dragon uttered sharply, causing Kefka to smirk." Oh, he can talk after all! Can you say 'I'm about to be a fried lizard'?

Kefka started to charge Ultima. Bahamut answered by shooting up to him and slashing him, only for him to vanish. Kefka reappeared, laughing madly as he kept charging, and Bahamut cut through more of him only for each one to keep vanishing and reappearing, causing his target to widen his eyes." Sorry, but too slow! ...And too weak, too stupid, too ugly, too everything, really. Just as useless and dense as that little goodie two-shoes! And just as dead!"

He let out his Ultima attack, which admittedly hurts Bahamut and threatens to blast him away. He ended up having to counter with a Megapyrin to push it off of him and keep it from rending his wings but it still knocked him into the sky. When the light clears, he looks out again only to see Kefka's gone once more." I'm...right...he-ere!

He laughed again as he appeared behind Bahamut and hit him with Heartless Angel spell before he could react to drain his energy. Bahamut looked genuinely shocked at what happened while the skies begin to turn dark over him and Kefka before the insane agent of the IV wagged his finger." Uh oh! Look at that! One more hit and you're nothing but a fossil, dino!"

The sky started to thunder as Kefka made a dramatic gesture." Fly for it, lizard! Or you'll be extra-crispy!"

Lightning shot from the sky in massive bolts one after another to try and hit Bahamut. Quickly, he turned and flew for it and, in spite of the magnitude of the lightning bolts, dodged each one. Kefka laughed joyfully at first, but eventually starts to scowl. "Feh. Don't you know it's no fun unless you actually get hit by one?

The lightning immediately doubled in intensity and size, and started coming out more and more until the whole sky is lighting up. Bahamut kept dodging at first but eventually took straight into the air and into the clouds as they lighted up as thunderheads. Finally, the lightning died down, and there's nothing but silence, causing the mad mage to look around." Ugh...how annoying. Can't even see.

He swept the clouds out of the sky with a hand gesture to leave it bright and sunny, but also revealed Bahamut up in the heavens. His wings were spread wide and he's basking in the sun. He frowned as he flew to his opponent." Phooey...on the edge of death and rather than scurrying away like a rat you're working on your tan."

He readied a judgment bolt in his hand as the ground around him started to shake." But if that's how you want to go out..."

He immediately zoomed in behind him and struck him with the bolt right in the back, grinning all the way...only to have Bahamut barely flinch before he snapped around and smashed his crest into Kefka's own head. He reacted in pain again as he shot back from the impact and rubed the bridge of his nose."Hee-hee...still have some fight left in you? How wonderful! Even if it is a little...annoying..."

"You seem to understand now that espers can put up far more of a fight when they're on an even field." Bahamut sharply replied. Kefka took a moment to recover more before he started laughing again." You're really going to start moan about 'playing fair'? What a whiner. I have some bad news for you, 'H.R. Puffinstuf'. This little dance we've been doing you think is a fight was over the moment is began. Even when I was still human I was more than enough to kill every last one of your kind. In record time, too! Now? I'm the god of magic itself!

I'm truly all powerful! There's nothing stronger than me! Definitely not some prehistoric iguana who died before I could even take a whack at him! I'm the source of your power and then some! I haven't even bothered going all out on you yet!"

Bahamut took a moment to rotate his neck and cracked his clawed knuckles." Neither have I. And I think I'm getting tired of listening to you.

"Oh, so gonna bring out your "big" guns and finish me with this next move?

"'Finish'? This is where I'm going to begin."

Kefka burst out laughing once again, but Bahamut flexed and suddenly moved in a blur. Kefka was cut off and went flying back with an awkward noise-struck but not knowing how or why. All he saw was a gleaming X across his chest, which quickly cools and regenerated. Actually puzzled, he looked back at Bahamut and saw him hovering there holding some metal contraption in a claw, which he regards only a moment before he crushed it."Wow...you're fast for being so big!"

"That's the end of that.

"Eh? What was that?"

" You will be dead very soon. Once I feel I am ready to kill you.

Kefka blinked, then burst out in a chorus of mocking laughter all over again. However, he only got a few out when Bahamut shoot another Flare...right down his throat. His laughter aborted in a mixture of surprise and pain as he gagged before Bahamut growled."I told you I'm tired of listening to you. Especially your annoying laugh.

Kefka coughed until he regenerated before managing a smile again." Ok...so you've got more than one surprise up your sleeves or scales or whatever... Not exactly sure why that got through, but I always thought the best way to deal with an unwanted surprise is an unwanted homicide!"

The mad jester fired another "light of judgment" that Bahamut evaded, then took into the air and rained down Meteors on him. He raised above Bahamut as he dodged, until he's higher than him and prepared a Trine spell.

Bahamut saw him and ran right at him. Kefka smirked back, until Bahamut shifted position at the last moment and struck the air. Suddenly, he appeared out of thin air, struck hard and aborting his spell, while the original vanished, causing Kefka to have a hard time looking amused." So lizards can learn after all..."

"My eyes can see the heat from your body." Bahamut retorted." My nostrils have your scent. I've even memorized the sound of your particular muscle fibers contracting. You won't catch me off guard again, clown doll."

Kefka looked cartoonishly surprised, then broke into a grin." Vwee-hee-hee! That's it? You finally come up with an insult and the best you can think of is 'clown doll'? You really must have been living under a rock! GUAH!"

He tried to laugh again only to get another Flare down his throat, this one hurting more than before Bahamut narrowed his eyes." Let me be explicit about this...stop laughing." Now a little angry, Kefka attacks again, but Bahamut keeps dodging no matter how strong or fast he gets and rising higher and higher into the atmosphere.

Eventually, showing a little frustration, Kefka used Forsaken again and caught Bahamut in the wave, seeming to hurt him again, before Bahamut counters with a charged Sun Flare that pushes him through the attack and makes him smash his crest into Kefka's head again, knocking him back and senseless. As Kefka coughed the dragon declared," You aren't the first self-proclaimed god I knocked out of the heavens!"

Bahamut flew behind him and drove himself into his back so hard and fast the two almost look like falling stars before Kefka is slammed into the ground hard enough to beat into it, with such impact that his distorted mouth spits out blood. Bahamut gets off of him and into the air, and he rises only stiffly and wiping for his mouth. He soon saw the blood on it, and a manic light flashes through his eyes." Heh...heh-heh...you know...the last time some idiot thought it was a good idea to show me my own blood...it didn't end well for their planet or about three billion precious little lives...

"It will this time. And this isn't the end. I'm nowhere near finished with you."

"You wretched...ugly...smelly...stupid...scaly...nasty-pompous-annoying-sickening-"

Another Flare to the throat. Bahamut scowled." I thought I told you to be quiet."

Finally looking angry, Kefka launched at Bahamut and tried to attack him again. This time, Bahamut's eyes suddenly glowed as bright and red as the flares in his throat as he dodged, then slapped Kefka aside. Kefka cried out this time, and on stopping himself saw that his arm was smoldering. Red-hot lines that won't fade were etched into his skin. He saw sort of writing before he blinked in confusion." What...?"

"It's in my language. It means 'Yura'."

Kefka got angry at it, for it only keeps burning and causing him visible pain and won't regenerate. He tried to attack Bahamut again with Hyperdrive. He managed to draw a slice of blood through his scales, but also got hit again...and cried out as he saw another etching is on his opposite shoulder."

"'Nidhogg'." Bahamut plainly declared before the follow up was another attempt at a strike, but tail swiped into the ground. On picking himself up, Kefka glared at his back in pain."'Titania'. Are the names foreign to you? They shouldn't be. They're the names of the first three espers you turned into magicite.

" Kefka sneered before he hissed out, "You don't think I actually bother to learn the names of the pebbles in my 'rock collection', do you?!"

" You will whether you want to or not, because those wounds are from my own power of the sun. What I learned was it's something the humans call 'nuclear fusion'. They won't heal no matter how fast you regenerate...and they won't stop burning you no matter how much power you have."

Kefka had veins form on his forehead, before suddenly his smile returns, twisted and manic." Is that what this is all about, 'Mushu'?! Getting back at me? (Manages to squeeze out another mocking laugh) You're as stupid and pathetic and sickening as all the others! Thinking anything in your miserable little life means anything! Even if you could kill me, who cares?

I already killed all of the other espers! And if I hadn't, that worthless old Geshthal would have! And if not him, then that doddering old Cid! And if not them, then someone else! You were already nothing but oversized action figures for the Warring Triad back in the War of the Magi! In the end, everything you ever were and are is meaningless! You're no better than the rest of the little bugs that have gone extinct over the years! Worse...you're not even a bug worth crushing for the IV !"

" I've lived thousands of years longer than you. Do you honestly believe I haven't realized that?"

"Huh...?"

" Deep down inside it infuriates me...even, dare I say, fills me with anger. Perhaps even hate. But it doesn't change the truth. Humans are greater than us. Their short lives combined with their ingenuity and desire to grow is something our immortal ones can never hope to emulate. They were always destined to be our masters in the end. I can either stick my head in the sand and do my best to stall the inevitable as my miscreated sibling did, or I can accept it. Are you truly arrogant enough, clown doll, to think that truth is what this is all about?"

" What did you-"

"Bahamut was in front of Kefka in the blink of an eye and knocked him skyward."

" 'The god of magic'? I have slain gods!"

While he's still airborne, he shoot up and hit him harder and higher."

" I have dwelt among them as a peer and their king! I have witnessed their birth and death!

"Another blow, thundering through the sky and knocking out two of Kefka's teeth."

" I have borne witness to the humans powerful enough to write their final chapter in history! And while I may accept that to be true, I will not let that final chapter have so much as a footnote written by you!"

Bahamut exhaled a Megapyrin to blast Kefka out of the sky. He doesn't go all the way to the ground this time, but he did yell in anger and misery. Looking over his body, he had new markings for every time Bahamut had hit him. His body was smoking and he's contorted in pain. Yet that only made him look more wrathful and hateful. He actually begins to claw at his own body and smack it." Grah! Stupid, worthless magi! Useless body! What is the matter with you?! Absorb him! Heal me!"

Bahamut's shadow descends behind him before the dragon growled again." You still don't understand, do you? Just how worthless of a human you really are.

Kefka let out a twitch. He slowly turned around." What...did you SAY?!

Bahamut's giant clawed fist shoot out and wrapped around Kefka's face and head, so that only one maddened eyeball was showing while his mouth was muffled by his hand." You. Are. Worthless."

Bahamut took him down to the ground and started flying along it, raking Kefka's body against it tearing up rocks and wings alike." The talent you prided yourself on was nothing you mastered but clockwork stitched into your body!"

He stopped, and tossed him into the sky, and tail slammed him back into the ground for another crater." The magic you thought made you powerful was nothing you learned but siphoned from the blood of my kind!"

Still seizing Kefka, now bleeding from several spots, Bahamut tossed him into the sky again only to lash out and grasped his leg." The power you claimed was yours as a god's was nothing you possessed but robbed from the corpses of espers and mages!"

He slammed him into the ground by the leg, this time breaking bones. His mouth opens wide and heats up." There is nothing!

A huge Flare to Kefka's backside, making him spasm as a pillar of flame erupted on his back." Nothing!"

Another Flare.

"NOTHING!"

Another Flare.

"Special, great, or powerful about you! Any worth or value you ever had was given to you by humans or stolen from espers! THAT is why you are now, and always will be, nothing more than a clown doll! The lives of the espers you murdered to gain your power may have been meaningless to you, but even now I can hear each and every one of their souls crying out for your blood from within you! And if you won't even have the decency to remember their names, then I'll make sure all who look on your wretched corpse knows them long after you're dead!"

Bahamut flung Kefka into the sky and started a savage beating. Kefka was little more than a rag doll as Bahamut's tail, his claws, his teeth, and flare attack after flare attack rip into him. Each one marks him with another name of an esper. Blood and occasionally body parts fly everywhere. At first, Kefka regenerates from the wounds that aren't the names. But the regeneration begins to slow down. After enough time, it begins to fade entirely.

At last, Kefka was left slowly writhing, almost totally disfigured by the gleaming names of the espers covering almost every inch of his skin, all six of his wings ripped off, and lying in a hole. It seems like his godhood is "fading" as he started to shrink and his skin regains its original tone as he was so agonized he could barely move or speak" Wh...why...? How...could you...use magic...against me...?" You always thought there was more to you than there ever really was.

You've thought you were so powerful and god-like for so long you forgot you started as what the humans called a 'magitek knight'. I may not understand the technology but I know human anatomy, and my senses can hear when something isn't right inside. That first slash I made removed a key part of your augmentation.

Kefka's eyes widen a little; remembering the device in Bahamut's hand earlier that he crushed." The only reason you absorbed the Warring Triad...the only reason you ever gained your power to begin with...was because of that.

The moment I destroyed it, your power started going down and kept going down. I only had to let you exhaust yourself enough afterward to start striking back. You were a clown doll before. Now you're a broken one. A toy whose only remaining trick is it won't stop making the same annoying laugh.

With all his remaining strength, Kefka leaned himself up and started to smile. He struggled to laugh, but doesn't have much power left for it." I hate you... I hate hate you... I hate hate hate you... I'll still...still see you writhe... I'll still hear you scream...!

He raised his hand and performed one final spell: the incantation for poison. He did not get it done before Bahamut gives him a light slap that nevertheless sends him crashing back to the ground." No. You won't."

Kefka needed a moment to focus again in the midst of all of his agony. In spite of that, he spoke frantically from the ground." Go on... Try it... Finish me in a blast of your...whatever... Send me to oblivion... I already...showed the world...how pointless it is... I made continents die... I turned the planet into a rotting carcass... I killed the rest of your kind... Everyone knows...what it all amounts to now... And they'll never...ever...forget-"

He's silenced as Bahamut extended his clawed fist and wrapped it around his throat enough to choke him. Bahamut hauled him from the ground and looked in his eye." You're wrong. All of the life bloomed again. All of the trees and grass grew back. Every last drop of water you befouled became clean. Even my own kind live on. Maybe not all of them...maybe not in their original form...but we remain. The world still knows us. But it knows nothing of you. I told you...not so much as a footnote in the history books will be penned by you. You and your madness aren't even a memory."

Kefka started to strain, on realizing he can't breathe. Bahamut looks closer." And you haven't earned the right to die in a blaze of glory.

Kefka struggled and writhed as much as he could, realizing what's happening, but Bahamut calmly stood there and kept choking him. He grew more violent for a moment, but realizes it was futile.

Instead, he struggled to grin and let out one last maddened laugh...but Bahamut had denied him that. Try as he might, he could get enough air to let out a single chuckle. All he manages is silence. Finally, he went limp.

Bahamut kept waiting until he feels his heart stop. Then he simply opens his hand and lets the fully human Kefka fall to the ground in a dead heap." My kin...rest in peace. He died at the hand of one of us."

He took a deep breath and realized the Temple of the Ancients had formed while he was killing Kefka.

Before he could react a magical symbol appeared beneath him before a cold voice uttered. "Congrats, you can feel accomplished as you perish dragon. Stigma."

Black flames burst out to consume Bahamut before he could reply, causing a city's block worth of tree's to be burnt to ash in moments. While Bahamut emerged from the flames with some burns, he saw Sephiroth casually walk out of the flames like the time he burnt down Cloud's hometown years ago.

The one-winged angel saw the dragon's fury before he let out a cold smirk. "Oh, don't think I thought that was to kill you, that was just my introduction. Though as I say that, I feel like we met before.

At least, one of my lesser self's across the Multiverse did. Rejoice. You killing Kefka made me decide to deal with you before Cloud or the others. But it would be best to brace yourself. If a lesser me killed you, all you have awaiting you is despair."

Bahamut flexed just for a moment, making sure his wounds from the flames healed, before he fully focused on Sephiroth. In spite of his bold appearance, on the inside he was sweating.

That took more power than I thought it would. I might have died if he had thought to block out the sun… Now I face him. And it looks like I won't be able to bluff my way around him either. Well…so be it.

Flexing his wings and churning flesh flame in his throat, Bahamut squared himself fully against him. "That 'lesser you' was slain and stayed dead. I, on the other hand, returned to life stronger than before. It will take more than fear of death to bring me despair. Don't think of yourself as being so much of a better man than the clown doll was. You too were a mistake and a blemish on your world, who owes his existence to greedy, deranged, weak men. I'm beginning to think that's all any of you 'employees' for the IV &C are."

Sephiroth closed his eyes. "Well, you clearly are more than most of the Bahamuts I've seen, King of Dragons. But you have no right to judge me. You think I'm the monster, when you have no idea what you really are? Those with clouded eyes…seen nothing but shadows. All born are bound to fate…and destiny comes. You can deny me easily enough, but can you deny your true desire? I give you a gift for your struggle…enlightenment."

Sephiroth raised his hand before a tornado of Whisper's formed around him.

A snarl. "I have no use nor patience for illusions, spawn of Jenova!"

Cracking his jaws open wide, he discharged a fiery blast into the tornado. But to his shock, it not only passed through, but the whispers swirled around him, and broke off into fragments. They combined, and formed various other Bahamuts.

One had muscles and armor thicker even than his own, with scales that looked ornamental, red eyes, a red gem in its chest, and a halo-like ring spinning over its back—the one the people of Spira would have known as the Dark Aeon Heretic Bahamut.

Another…a colossal one…was draped in its own scales like they were long clothing and its crest was like an elaborate headdress, and its mouth was full of human-like teeth and jaw structure while its claws were long and spindly—the same Bahamut SIN that had been made as a parody of him by Kadaj and Jenova on his homeworld.

The third didn't even look like it was true flesh and blood, but composed of clockwork and black metal. Almost more like it was a war machine, a suit of combat armor, or even a drone of a kind.

It was marked with three circular symbols in some unknown language Bahamut couldn't understand, but he cared little for that. He was more focused on how he detected a twisted human soul coming from it along with the same power he had encountered in the Oblivion Stone—the Eidolon Chaos Bahamut.

The next one wasn't so much a dragon as a towering, imposing, majestic, and yet cold and indifferent-looking draconian warrior. His wings and scales seemed to be composed of swords rather than anything natural, and a god-like aura that dimmed Bahamut's own at his best radiated from this Bahamut, the Draconian.

The final Bahamut, the Dreadwyrm elder primal, was the lankiest of all, but too bore a series of cascading, wing-like blades for wings, spear-like tips lining its tail, and gazing out underneath a bladed crown with blue eyes. Oddly enough, the one felt the most familiar to Bahamut and yet…different in some way. "Wrong", so to speak…or perhaps "unripe".

It mattered little to him. A low growl echoed through Bahamut's throat as he glanced about at each one, curling his claws into fists. "Why am I not surprised, self-proclaimed 'god'? All of your so-called power and, as always, you cower behind mere clones."

Sephiroth closed his eyes. "Oh, these are hardly mere clones. These are the whispers of your counterparts across the Multiverse. As much as I pride my skills with the blade, I seen very clearly how sometimes a strike on the mind hurts far worst then any stab or slice. Time to face your demons, King of Dragons."

With a wave the Whisper Bahamuts all attacked their target. The "grandiose" one was nearest and reached him first. Its eyes enlarged, glaring at him with a hollow stare as its flattened mouth cracked open wide to speak in a voice both booming and empty. "Pain…suffering…regret…hate…death… I'm tired… We're tired… We want it to end!"

It swung a fist for him. Bahamut snarled and seized it, opening his mouth to counter—only for the Heretic Bahamut to jab him with a more human-like punch hard enough to snap his head back. A trickle of blood went from his nostrils as his head recoiled—his eyes widening from having sustained such a hit—before it raised its rear claw for a harder blow and smashed him in the stomach.

The dragon flew back but stabilized himself. He quickly tried to ready a counter, only for Bahamut SIN to move in first. It struck him not with claw or fist or crest, but with wing of all things. And in spite of the unusual blow, Bahamut still felt as if he had been smashed alongside the head with a cosmic bat and sent spiraling over himself through the sky.

He never got the chance to right himself, though. The monstrous dragon flew after him and, while much slower, caught him while he was flailing and enveloped his body with its huge arms—shocking the dragon that he was "dwarfed" by a bigger version of him.

It spoke nothing but spat out a roar that sounded hateful more than savage, and quickly pitched around to try and drive him into the ground. Much to Bahamut's surprise, he couldn't escape its grip.

Even when he grit his own teeth and tightened his own muscles. Finally, as the impact neared, he reared his head back and drove his crest into the lower, human-like jaw of the thing. It barely had an effect, but it was enough to stun the mindless beast enough for the grip to loosen. He quickly slid free…

Only to cry out as he felt a hot pain slash along his backside—the result of the razor-sharp claw of Chaos Bahamut immediately diving in. He spun around only for another claw to flash out, this time raking along his face and slicing right through one of his eyes.

Bahamut bellowed in pain and anger, and quickly recoiled and clutched for his face. Trying to buy time to let the regeneration fix it, he flew back…

"You're wasting your time being here," a human-like voice, as if it was on a loudspeaker, came from Chaos Bahamut. "Tens…hundreds…thousands of you already tried and failed to save their worlds. Your pain and suffering can't save them. Your strength is worthless!"

Magic that wasn't some sort of breath assault but more like shadows emitted from the mech-like form and struck his body; ruining his ability to recover. He snarled again as he felt what seemed like a mixture of Diablos' darkness and the fusion in his own power ravage his body, before Chaos Bahamut opened his jaws at last and unleashed a wall of intense fire so hot and piercing that even his own armored body felt it sink into him and burn. Gritting his teeth through it, he finally opened his mouth for a Sol-pyrin…

A blow like a mixture of a sword strike as well as a club slashed across him, sending out yet another thunderclap and this time fully smashing his body head-first into the ground.

While it freed him from the flames, his head was drug along and embedded in dirt—which was rather painful for him as the blow that had hit him had cut deeply along his face. Enough to sever his own masseteric muscles. The resulting hit had filled the wound with dirt and debris and made it agonize.

Bahamut groggily pulled his face from the ground, now sporting a gaping, gushing wound that was taking too long for his tastes to seal, and through dazzled eyes turned and saw the Draconian towering over him.

"So much of your eternal life…wasted on ugly, worthless, sinful creatures. Instead of sentencing them to the fires and ashes they deserved, you let them endure to spread more evil. Pathetic creature…"

Bahamut inhaled once, glaring at the humanoid, before his tail flashed against the ground and struck it. He used that force to send his body skyward and sailed over the Draconian. His rear claw unfurled and he readied to slash at him…

No such luck. A Megaflare not from him but from the final one struck him, and he could feel it sear deep into his flesh before bursting. Left smoking and charred, he bellowed a cry of anguish as he was once more sent flying into the skies.

The final Bahamut, jaws still smoldering from its own attack, cried out. "It's useless! You failed yesterday, you failed today, and you failed tomorrow! It's been an eternity and you're still not strong enough! And the world keeps dying along with the Light Warriors! Again…and again…and again!"

He barely managed to turn his head back before Heretic Bahamut pierced him with another beam-like Megaflare to his back. It sent him cascading toward Bahamut SIN, who struck him with two more thunderous blows from both of his legs. He managed to evade the third, trailing blood and his body showing accumulated damage by now, only for Chaos Bahamut to fly in his face and unleash another flurry of bladed strikes across his chest before giving him a vertical kick to knock him skyward. He spread his wings and halted himself, arching his head down and finally snapping out a trio of Flares.

However, the Chaos Bahamut seemed to transform into a plane-like entity and zoomed out of the way, while his own attack had to abort as the Draconian rushed at him to impale him with his sword. He clawed out for the humanoid only to be intercepted by his own bladed fist—lacerating his claws and leaving him stunned long enough for the fifth Bahamut to lash out his tail like a whip. The spear-like ridges flayed another amount of scales and skin from him and again knocked him senseless.

He pressed Bahamut hard, but the non Whisper dragon Bahamut spat out," You all may have your tricks, but I don't run out of options that easily! Supra-Velo!"

"Supra what? GUAH!"

A new wave of red energy surged around the King of Dragons before he was able to suddenly over power his counter part and hit him back.

Sephiroth saw Bahamut hit the others in rapid succession thanks to the sudden speed increase of his Supra-Velo spell before he looked amused and got into a fighting stance. "You can resist to your last breath, but you can't defy destiny. I want you to beg for forgiveness. Kneel…before I make you kneel."

He prepared to attack till he saw a flash of light and deflected an energy blast. He looked down to the source as the light from the shot dimmed, and saw just in time as Dael lowered her gun and glared at him murderously with her eternal blue eyes.

"I found my way out of the Temple of the Ancients a bit before the others, but that's fine by me." She tapped her gun against her chest, before aiming it again at him. "I'm more than ready to choke out your last drink of spiritual energy all by myself, if need be."

Her anger just made Sephiroth look amused. "Is that so? It's amusing that you think you're in the position to do anything about it. But so be it, it's time for the rose to wilt then."

He prepared to strike till Dael made him pause as radiant light erupted from her body. When it dimmed down, she had changed. What small power had been radiating from her before was now like a candle compared to a bonfire, and her form now more closely resembled Aeris' own as she was clad from head to toe in a mixture of white, silver, and iridescent armor.

The handgun was now a far larger "celestial cannon" mounted against one of her limbs while her simple sword seemed to be a "goddess variant" of the ancient Save the Queen blade. Vents that emitted burning blue energy made her hover in the air, while her head and face were now obscured behind a disk-like helmet. Burning blue lights as piercing as stars emitted where the eyes had been.

"Say hello to your favorite 'victim', Sephiroth," a resonating, powerful, and somewhat mechanical voice sounded from the helmet. "You know. The one you thought you'd murder with a meteorite so you could suck the blood from her wound like an overgrown tick? I'm no longer a helpless child for you to abuse or a cow for you to milk. You call yourself chosen by the Planet?" She scowled. "The fact you were tainting her veins for so long makes the Planet want to vomit."

Sephiroth had his dark aura erupt again with enough force to cause the ground around him to crack. "You think such armor can save you? That's enough. Cut…vanish."

In a flash he unleashed his Octoslash attack, only for Eden to instantly bring her sword up to bear just as quickly and easily parry each strike.

The two blades locked at the end, with Eden's armored body quickly leveling both arms against her blade. "Did I mention the fact I too had a 'stint' as a super-soldier?"

Sephiroth saw she was pushing Masamune back before he narrowed his eyes. "You're a worthy soldier, but while you may truly be a god…even that won't stop me. Burn to nothing."

He opened his palm and unleashed a Shadow Flare at Eden at point blank range from his free hand. While she was pushed back and consumed in the explosion, she caught Sephiroth off guard by raising her gun and firing off a gleaming, iridescent bullet right back from within the vapors before the explosion faded. While he slashed at the attack, the end result was a flip of their respective situations—the projectile igniting and consuming him in an explosion instead.

"You'll have to fight harder than that!"

Apparently he took that to heart, because no sooner had her own smoke died down than Sephiroth came flying out from the remains of her blast to try and slash her. She struck back with her own blade only for his image to vanish.

Many afterimages of Sephiroth came out all at once a moment later, causing the blue lights within Eden's helmet to blaze and an audible gasp come from the headpiece. After only a moment's hesitation she slashed outward at one in particular; thinking it to be the genuine article.

Unfortunately, it burst into a barrage of Whispers…while the true Sephiroth appeared in the distance to snaps his fingers to emit a thin, short-ranged surge of dark energy at her. She tried to strike it back only for the projectile to become dozens of spheres of dark energy that circled around her.

After spinning around her, they barraged her form all sides, and kept coming at her. While the barrage did not do critical damage, it kept her immobilized as her target burst up and dove down from above and came down, trying to stab her in the iconic hell's gate attack that killed Aeris in the Forgotten Capital.

But before he could reach his target, a holy arrow hit the shoulder holding his blade.

As he was forced off course, Aeris emerged, already in her Goddess Minerva armor.

Aeris pointed her weapon at the man who killed her before uttering a steely, "You're not doing that to anyone again. I'm sick of running away from you. The nightmare ends today. Sorry to steal your thunder Dael but, I have to do this. I have to end it this time on my terms."

Eden was left still for a moment, realizing just how narrowly she had escaped death. Yet it lasted only for a second before she again straightened herself and readied her blade. One could almost hear the smirk on her voice. "I think I can deal with it. After all, why should just one scion of the Planet get to hog all the glory of sending this bastard to Hell when we both deserve a piece of him?"

As Aeris gave a thumbs up Sephiroth ripped the holy arrow out of his shoulder and snickered. "You can try…but the harder you try; the more despair will consume you. But it's too late for laments."

Sephiroth had the ground rip up to summon a barrage of meteors to escalate his attack on the two holy women.

As he did Bahamut's Supra-Velo spell wore off and the moment he slowed down he was slammed into the ground yet again.

He managed to yank himself back to his feet and out of the way as Bahamut SIN's claw came smashing down where he had been, but he had little time to catch his breath as Chaos Bahamut and the Draconian doggedly went after him slashing all the way.

He had to keep backpedaling, especially since they were targeting his wings in an attempt to cripple him to set up another attack. His body was already raked with injuries, and it hardly mattered that he was regenerating from them when newer ones kept being added.

This isn't good… They aren't shadows—they're variants of me. Each one is just as strong and resilient. I'd have a hard enough time killing just one. Against five, I can't-

Even the momentary thought was a moment too long, he discovered, as the smallest Bahamut fired another Megaflare at him while he was pinned down by the melee attackers. There was no time or space to dodge, so he was left with only one alternative. Gritting his teeth, he crossed himself; intending to withstand it and get blasted clear of the others…

That was the wrong move, because it left him wide open for Heretic Bahamut's own fully charged version to strike him instead. Unable to hold back any longer, Bahamut let out a true bellow of pain from the impact. Bracing himself only meant he now was taking it full force rather than "rolling" with it.

When it was done, Bahamut's wings were tattered and his back was peeling and bloody. Unable to stand, he pitched forward to his knees before he managed to plant his hands to stop him from falling. Knowing he couldn't stay there, he craned his neck and struggled to rise, but it was no use. He couldn't move any faster. His throat began to gleam as he tried to summon another breath attack, but it needed more time.

And Chaos Bahamut was already coming down on him. Claws were naked and he could tell his foe was zeroing in on his neck.

"Oblivion is the fate of all things."

The claws reared back. Bahamut snarled as he struggled to get the attack out, even knowing it was hopeless but refusing to give in…

Claws flashed. Blood erupted in a fountain. A dragon went motionless.

And…to Bahamut's surprise…Chaos Bahamut's body fell to the ground along with his severed head in a lifeless heap.

The other Whisper Bahamuts froze along with him in a mixture of astonishment and puzzlement. As a result of them quieting down, they were able to hear the sound of wings slowly beating as yet another draconian form descended from the sky and gently alit.

One similar in form to Bahamut but with darker scales that seemed dipped in shadows rather than light. As soon as it halted, it looked down on the headless body of Chaos Bahamut. The husk seemed to be returning to the gleaming, churning, Whisper miasma it had been before, but before that the pieces of metal that composed it shed like a lizard's skin and revealed a headless human body underneath it.

"Feh…useless trash puppet. Some miserable stinking human cosplaying as a real dragon. Why am I not surprised?"

Bahamut recognized the voice. With the heat of the flare still in his throat, he looked up in alarm.

Tiamat, the one once known as Wyvern, turned his head slightly behind him. "It looks like you still have a stinking pathetic side to you, Bahamut. Losing to yourself, of all things? Pitiful."

"Tiamat…how…are you…? How did you get here…?"

"Don't know; don't care," he retorted as he reached down and scooped up the shell that had been Chaos Bahamut's head, now leaking copious amounts of miasma. "All I know is that means I finally get the chance to kill you." Flashing his teeth malevolently, he glared out at the remaining Whispers. "Try to make it a bit more fun for me than this one was, dragon whelps! I don't want this flavor watered down!"

Yet as Tiamat spoke, the miasma that oozed from the helmet didn't fade away. On the contrary, it began to sink into his outstretched limb—seeping in through the scales. Bahamut noticed this. And a moment later, he noticed even more. A change in power…

"Although, heh, now that I've gotten to it, it's making me feel better than I thought it would… Kind of…juiced, even. A little like my old self… Who'd think killing a bargain brand Bahamut would be so therapeutic?"

Bahamut's eyes narrowed, but he suddenly snapped out of it on realizing he was only seeing three of the Whisper Bahamuts. Quickly he reached out with his senses and noticed the fourth. It was behind both of them. He wheeled about, and saw that this one was taking aim at Tiamat's backside and readying his own Megapyren.

Seizing his chance, Bahamut cracked his mouth open wide and discharged a single small Pyro attack straight against the ground. Minor as it was, it was enough to send him rocketing in the sky right at the smaller Bahamut.

As Tiamat snapped around in alarm at the sound, he saw his brother's body sail for his intended attacker. This one saw Bahamut sailing for him, throat still gleaming brightly and radiantly.

He tried to react but he was too late. As Bahamut reached him, he cracked his jaws open wide and discharged a Sun Flare right into his opponent's own open jaws.

A massive explosion later, and all that was left of that Bahamut's head was a smoldering, gleaming stump. Its wings shattered into bits as it fell to the ground—leaking more miasma all the way.

Tiamat snorted on seeing he had been saved, but Bahamut ignored him. He noticed the same thing that happened before. The miasma leaked from the remains of the Whisper and streamed toward him. On making contact with his body, it seeped into his scales and sank into his flesh.

The feeling was undeniable. It was as if a second lifetime of power and immortality was injected into his veins. His head was instantly clear and his remaining injuries closed up and regrew with speed he no longer thought he was capable of. Any stamina loss or fatigue was gone. He was back at full. Better than full. With one deep breath, he flexed his muscles—feeling more godlike than he had since he sacrificed his Neo form.

The Whispers wasted no more time. Bahamut SIN cracked his mouth open wide and spread his wings—soon sending flare-like projectiles at both dragons in a rain of fire. Not only that, but Heretic Bahamut dove forward and tackled himself into Tiamat while the Draconian—deploying two swords now—rushed at Bahamut in a flurry of slashes.

It no longer mattered. Bahamut's head had never been clearer, and the Draconian might as well have been moving in slow motion now. With ease and fluidity, he dodged every last swipe aimed for him no matter how fast they came. And he no longer needed to run, either. After a few slashes, he dodged under one aimed for his neck only to drive his claws out for a weakness in the Draconian's armor. Not only did it hit the weakness perfectly, but his hand went all the way in to his wrist; puncturing a wound deep in his side that fountained out blood.

The Draconian gagged, but nevertheless tried to slash with his opposite arm. This time, Bahamut seized his wrist and performed a light twist. Bones breaking echoed out along with metal armor snapping as his sword fell uselessly from his grip.

Tiamat was another breed entirely. Heretic Bahamut's tackle only pushed him back about fifty yards before he simply planted his feet and laughed mockingly. Then Tiamat swiped his elbow around and smashed it down on his back. The halo was dented and snapped in two before its owner was slammed into the ground.

Heretic Bahamut sprang back up and swung for his legs, only for Tiamat to easily and nimbly leap over it before lashing out with a clawed foot that knocked him aside and left a gouge across his head that ripped out an eyeball.

The lumbering Whisper rolled back to his feet, sprang up, and began to claw at Tiamat—only for him to simply stand there grinning as the claws dinged off of his scales and blunted themselves. Once bored enough, Tiamat seized him by the face, yanked his claw wound up to his lips, and sent a Flare into it that blew away most of his muscles and jaw.

Bahamut SIN kept firing, for all the good it did. The opponents were moving too fast to be stopped now. Eventually, both siblings made their final move. Bahamut lashed out with his tail hard enough to knock half of the wings from the Draconian, and with the blades clear he quickly flew up behind him, wrapped his arms around his neck, and gave a squeeze hard enough to snap it before ripping his head off all together.

Tiamat was more brutal. As his opponent was staggered, bleeding, and sans-armor, he gave him a blow or two to leave him stunned and helpless before shooting forward, clamping his jaws about his neck, and brutally ripping out his head and spine together. Just as before, fountains of miasma poured out from their remains and were drawn into them. When it struck them, their previous power again seemed like nothing compared to the surges they felt. Like they were fighting with their hands tied behind their back and on empty stomachs until then.

With that done, both took to the sky and faced their gigantic opponent. Bahamut SIN bellowed in challenge to both of them, but Bahamut merely regarded him coldly while Tiamat lit up in sadistic delight. Both charged forward as one, and while the giant held out hands to intercept them and let out streams of fire to beat them back, this time they simply shrugged off each and every blow.

They made contact with its claws and shattered them—proceeding to burst right through both limbs peeling them like bananas. On making contact with the body, they both exploded into the torso—leaving nothing but smoldering, smoking craters in their wake. Bahamut SIN let out a death gurgle before he too sank to the ground, billowing the rest of the smoke from the initial tempest and sending it streaming into either dragon.

When all was said and done, the two were left hovering in midair. Bahamut was left looking at himself while Tiamat was practically ecstatic with delight. "Oh, did that feel good. I feel like I could eat a billion Grievers! Even that EVOLUTION form didn't make me feel so alive! Have I grown so fat and soft I forgot how great battle was?!"

Bahamut was grimmer as he stared at his body. "No, you haven't. The vapor those things were made out of. When we killed them, we took it into ourselves. More power…power I thought I had once dreamed of possessing…maybe even more…"

"A man could get used to this Multiverse thing," Tiamat snickered as he crossed his own arms. "This day is turning out better all the time. At this rate, I'll be ready to take the heads of those IV bastards myself in no time. But first things first."

He looked down below, spotting Sephiroth. His eyes lit up with violence and power, before he smirked and casual gestured toward him. "Say Bahamut? Don't you think me devouring the flesh of the man who killed you would finally be the proof we need to settle which of us is stronger? What do you say we find out?"

Bahamut looked down at him, his own face growing cold. "For once, I agree with you." Taking a deep breath, he barked down at the man. "If that was your attempt to kill me, Sephiroth, then I regret to inform you it backfired miserably. You're about to find that I'm a worse opponent than last time. Much worse."

The two soon descended, alighting on the ground on opposite sides of Eden and Aeris. Sephiroth saw he was surrounded before he closed his eyes. "Well…I admit this was not what I expected."

Aeris saw Tiamat and widened her eyes. "Wait so that dark clone of Bahamut in that Zeromus' lair was your brother? Wow…that's a lot more than I expected."

Tiamat's grin evaporated as he flicked his eyes in Aeris' direction with a flash of anger. "I am not 'just a clone', woman. I'm the greatest esper that ever lived. Insult me again and I'll rip-"

"Tiamat."

The dragon went silent, stiffening on hearing Eden speak out in a voice like a stern mother scolding a child.

"Even if this woman wasn't bearing the Aspect of Minerva, she deserves your respect and you will give it to her."

Tiamat said no more; just turned his eyes away with an incoherent mutter. Aeris let out an uneasy giggle. "Sorry about that sir Tiamat…Multiverse stuff is tricky."

"Just know that my brother is on our side for right now, which is fortunate for us," Bahamut explained as he kept his eyes on Sephiroth. "We would have made a powerful enemy, but I doubt even the IV &C could break his pride. I'll explain the rest in a moment—after we've destroyed Sephiroth."

Tiamat's grin returned as he cracked his jaw. "Feel privileged, you androgynous fleshling. I grew bored crushing you ape-like ants millennia ago. The fact that you'll die at my hand is a rare honor."

Sephiroth took a deep breath. "You're resourceful, I'll give you that. But it's still futile. All of you put together are nothing compared to the true power that rules over all. But don't be afraid; it's not death, it's a homecoming. Tell me, is what you're all feeling now even real? For all your pride you're just as much a puppet as Cloud."

Bahamut's uncrossed his arms and extended his claws. "You disappoint me. I thought influencing others to act in your place was a mark of your weakness. But to try and use the same mind games you used on Cloud Strife on me? Now I can't decide if you're a fool or a coward. Either way, your effort is wasted."

The sliver-haired man looked even more amused. "That superiority is what makes it all the more amusing, but I'll force you to awaken from the lie. Then your despair will engulf you, consume you and you will burn the world around you, like I did when I learned the truth about myself."

Sephiroth took out a black orb, and Aeris gasped in shock. "What…he has the black materia already?"

"Foolish Cetra…I'm not just going through the motions of my past, I'm expanding on it. This Black Materia…is the key to the fusion of all its counterparts across the Multiverse. Thus…it's a keystone which grants access to the true counterpart hidden between the worlds. At last…the time has come, for the reunion. And if you're under the impression I'm talking about Cloud, this time I'm not.

"Bahamut, it's time for the true reunion for you and your brother, with your true destiny. You should know I can kill you all, but I think he has the right."

For the first time, Bahamut's look wavered. "What are you…?"

Tiamat sneered. "Too much hot air for my tastes, human." His claws flashed. "Let me puncture you to let out the rest!"

If there was any look on Eden's face, she didn't show it. She simply fired up her jets to attack again as Tiamat's own wings flapped to attack. Yet before either of them could stop him, a wall of light came up to inmoblize the four.

As they were all paralized in the sudden crystal projetions of raw light energy, the source of the magic, Lady Nil warped behind Sephiroth and glared at the One Winged Angel." You and Kefka are both playing around to much Sephiroth, we have a timetable to maintain. Finish them before they can move."

Sephiroth shrugged, but suddenly a large sword flung through the cube of light and shattered it. Nil winced as she saw Jack was the source. The man who in another universe was the rival of Grand Master Myers had his blade return to him before he glared at the woman. " Nil…you are hear after all! No matter how many monsters and lackeys you have guarding you its not going to be enough! Oh, and your hear to Sophia? Good we can avenge Ash, Neon, and Jed together!"

Tiamat saw Jack was talking to him and was to disgusted at what he heard to think of the proper response right away.

But before he could yell at the human, Nil looked down at Jack with contempt before she smirked." I'm impressed you made it this far Agent Jack Garland. And I see you clearly brought friends this time. Jack…you cannot fathom the setbacks we occurred thanks to your recklessness…your chaos.

You were the best agent in Station 19, and now look at you. You will regret giving up being a regulator to side with the rebel scum."

"You think I would ever forgive you after messing with my mind for so long Nil!?"

"Ugh...memory is the cornerstone of emotions. Allow them to overwhelm you and it won't be long till it warps you into something unspeakable, and it did. You and all the others corrupted by chaos are no longer premited in are future."

"You arrogent cunt!" Jack snarled with fury." Want to play god? I won't let you! I'll rip that power away from you and make it my own to shut this down for good! I'll swallow you whole and even all your damn fiend lackies will bend to me as their lord! You think your so above everyone else but your even more blind then the" Scum" you look down on. Your never going to be able to cast off the " shackles" of the old world when you kept flushing your darkness into Corneria and the rest of the worlds you played with! I'm keeping my promise to burn your precious Lufina to the ground!"

As Sephiroth snickered Nil grasped her hand tightly."

Only someone so simple minded could think such upsurd emotions could defy reality like that. Chaos, unpredictable, uncontroable, while are power grows by the day. Are plans are to make this multiverse worth something profitable from the ruins of its current structure. And you're about to see I'm not one to lose heart so easily. I and my co workers hear will expel the wicked, unprofitable powers you love so well, the darkness, the chaos, the mystical- and guide this lost cosmos toward the glory the Lufenia envisioned.

After all…darkness only exists to be banished by light. Would you not agree?"

Jack spat on the ground before barking out," And you think you all are the " light?" Get your head out of your ass!"

"If you disagree…then perhaps this will convince you." She took out a crystal, and Jack's eyes widened as he saw it." You brought a Dimensional Matrix hear?"

"You remember eh? Then you know that this crystal functions differently than yours. It can bind time, space, and matter. Through dimensional rifts we can call forth phenomena from countless universe….or erase them from existence. Here is are…demonstration. Now you beings arrogant enough to call themselves gods."

She hurled her Dimesional Matrix into the sky just as Sephiroth also had the Black Materia fly up along side it.

The two combined and releasing an energy wave in the process that soon radiated throughout the not only the horizon but also into the heavens.

After a few moments it caused the crack into the sky to explode, revealing a hole in the fabric of reality itself.

Only moments later a roar was heard before Aeris winced.

"Wait…is he like, trying to summon some super Jenova or something? That's…not Sieg is it?"

"I…I don't know," Eden admitted, her voice lowering. "Yet it's definitely powerful… More…more powerful than anything I've ever felt before… Even more than Mianyl…" She swallowed. "But…why does it feel…like I've felt it before…?"

Bahamut and Tiamat, however, had a far worse reaction. Bahamut stared wide-eyed at the rift, silent and motionless, as thoughts raced through his head. What…what is this…? Just the sound of that voice…and everything in my body feels like it's turning to ice water. A moment ago I felt possibly greater than Bahamut ZERO. Now my strength…my resolve…it fails me… Is this…another of his tricks? Or…?

Tiamat himself grit his jaws for a moment, then looked down at his own body. He saw his own claws shaking. "Im-impossible… Not even gods can make me feel…fear…"

She and the others heard another roar, before something gigantic and golden finally parted the rift and began to descend. Yet it was not Sieg, although that hardly seemed to matter. It was instead something the size of an entire mountain if not bigger. A mass of titanic golden coils came down from on high—radiating so much energy that waves of heat could be felt even from a distance. Each one was ridged and clawed in multiple places—the mark of a more loong dragon than a wyvern. So tall and mighty that it commanded all the awe and majesty of the heavens themselves.

Each hooked talon on its claws was larger than Bahamut and Tiamat themselves. Each click of its scales sent an echoing note over the landscape. And when its head finally emerged, the mere force of the breath from its maw swept the entire jungle canopy below. Its face was long, tapered, and twisted in an elongated jaw filled with cruel teeth. Four serpentine whiskers flashed from around its nostrils—both of which burned with gleaming heat. Its eight eyes were like glimmering spheres, with six pivoting around and two of them focused below.

It did not land, which was just as well, for it was so gigantic it seemed like it would have sunk the whole island. It simply hovered there, towering in its shining might. And Bahamut, as much as he hated it, found himself rooted to the spot. For all the might and glory this draconic creature radiated, which would have been fearsome enough, something about it innately wouldn't let him move.

The one who did end up bold enough to react was Eden. While she now looked like a gnat compared to the thing, she was bold enough to brandish her sword and ready her weapon.

One of the massive eyes turned to her. A single claw on a single limb raised and swung down.

An explosion went off, snapping Bahamut and Tiamat out of it as they saw it come from Eden herself. It was no minor eruption, either. It was her own celestial cannon igniting in a blast of radiant energy as it was destroyed.

The Guardian Force fell to one knee, gasping and shocked, but soon got a second horror when she saw her own severed, charred, and smoldering arm lying on the ground alongside her. Gasping, she turned and looked to where her gun arm had been and saw only a blackened, twisted stump.

"WEAK…" the voice of the beast muttered, filled with disdain and loathing. " ALWAYS WEAK…ALWAYS DISGUSTINGLY, WORTHLESLY WEAK…"

Bahamut hardly noticed. In a snap, he was at Eden's side and crouching next to her. She couldn't hold it back. She let out a sharp cry from the agony, dropping her sword and grasping the limb with her freed arm.

"Mother!" He began to reach for her wound.

"Don't…it's…it's..." She hissed through strained teeth as she struggled to brush him off. "I…I can heal… Just…focus on…that thing…"

He didn't seem entirely convinced, but at that point Tiamat extended his own wings and forced himself to bare his teeth at the draconic monster. "And who or what are you?"

Another eye turned, and another claw flexed.

Tiamat let out a sharp cry as he was snapped off of his feet like he was no more than chaff in the wind. As he was cast to the ground, Bahamut looked and was aghast to see a great burning wound across his chest that had easily rent his scales and much of the flesh beneath.

Even as strong as we've become, this monster did that?!

"AS IF THE SEED HAD ANY RIGHT TO DEMAND ANSWER FROM THE SOWER." A loud scoff echoed through the sky.

"WHY WAS I BROUGHT HERE!? I SEE NOTHING BUT THE SAME! CRUDE…MISRABLE…PATHETIC…ULGY LITTLE HALF-MITES CLAMING THEY ARE WHEN THEY WILL ALWAYS BE NAUGHT…THEY IRRITATE ME…THEY SICKEN ME. DEATH IS MORE THEN ANY OF THEM DESERVE!

With that, the beast unfurled the end of its long coils just enough to extend its tail—which it swept out at the land mass below. To everyone's horror, it easily sliced out a roughly two-kilometer square section and flung it out into the middle of the ocean as if it had done no more than kick a pebble.

Tiamat, though still in pain, slowly began to rise again as his chest closed up. Eden, gritting her own teeth beneath her helm, began to force her energy into slowly producing new muscles, sinews, and bone as she reached out, grasped her sword, and used it as a crutch to rise. "Are you…one of those IV &C echelons from the Negaverse?"

A growl that would have curdled milk echoed through the sky. "I NEED NO ORGANZATION. I NEED NO ALLIES. I NEED NOTHING. I AM SHINRYU. THERE IS NONE OTHER THEN ME. THERE IS NOTHING BUT ME."

Bahamut, taking a moment to steel his own resolve in spite of how weak it felt, rose and faced the towering monster. "You're a dragon… Another Bahamut?"

What sounded like a curse erupted so loud from the jaws of Shinryu that even Bahamut was forced to cringe and cover his ears in pain.

" FOOLISH WRYMLING. MAGGOT OFFSPRING. WEAK…WEAL, WEAK, WEAK…A MERE IMAGE…A MERE SHADOW OF ME…DARES TO LIKEN ME TO HIM?

In spite of the force in the monster's words, the group was more concerned with what he said. "Offspring? Shadow of you?"

"I WAS BORN BEFORE TIME. I AGED BEFORE LIFE AND DEATH BEGAN. I EXISTED BEFORE SENTIENCE GAVE RISE TO THE MULTIVERSE. BY MY PERFECT MIGHT, MY UNDYING GLORY, AND MY PEERLESS STRENTH, I CROSSED ALL WORLDS IN MY UNIVERSE AND IN BILLIONS UPON BILLIONS OF OTHERS.

FOR A BILLION LIFETIMES I CROSSED THE SEAS OF THE SAME STARS ON A DIFFERENT OCEANS. AND IN THE END, ALL WERE THE SAME. WEAK. FRAIL. PITFUL. WORTHLESS. THERE WERE NONE LIKE ME. NONE BESIDES ME. I ALONE WAS STRONG. I ALONE EXISTED ACROSS ALL UNIVERSES AS WORTHY OF EVER HAVING BEEN GRANTED LIFE.

AND SO, TIRED AND ILL FROM THE STRENCH OF HOLLOW, POINTLESS CREATURES, I WENT TO WORLDS YET TO BE BORN. I VISTED THEIR CRYSTALS AND TOUCHED THEM WITH MY ESSENCE, SO THAT THEY MIGHT GIVE RISE SOMETHING WORTHY OF LIFE.

THOSE WHO COULD PURGE THE WEAK. THOSE THAT COULD KILL THE WORTHLESS. THOSE WHO COULD INHERIT POWER. WHO EXISTED ONLY TO HAVE STRENTH AND TO BECOME STRONGER. TO CONSUME ALL TO GROW STRONGER YET. TO SLAY ALL TO BE THE GREATEST.

TO BE WORTHY OF THE TITLE OF OFFSPRING OF SHINRYU: BAHAMUT!"

The moment he said that word, Bahamut looked like he had been stabbed through the heart. Eden wheeled to him in an instant, the surprise and concern clear even without seeing her face. But he didn't react. The fire in his throat and his eyes died. Her serpentine pupils shrank into slits.

Tiamat himself was aghast. He stared for several seconds, before he snapped toward Sephiroth. "If this was your idea of an extremely poor joke, human, I am not laughing…"

Nil snickered before she crossed her arms." Now you see how much of a pretender you" Gods" all are? In any case, I despise the term anyway. So Jack Garland, here's what is going to happen next. Shinryu will crush you and wipe all traces of chaos from this Gan Knot Universe. For that is his nature, to consume the universes which fall back decayed. That was his purpose given from the World Forger himself.

In the earliest days of existence, before the Multiverse became reality, a spark of potential created matter and anti-matter. After that, two siblings tasked with monitoring creation came to be. Along with them, though, came a third being known as the World Forger.

Unlike the others, it was set to watch over creations that would exist in the future. The World Forger made its home in the Forge of Worlds, a hidden place inside the sea of possibility that would later be renamed the Negaverse, the Dark shadow of the Multiverse.

For eons, he created universes based on the hopes and fears of every living thing. While the most stable universes became part of the main Multiverse, The Forger would dispatch its dragon to destroy the unstable worlds so their energy could return to the Forge and be used anew. The name of that dragon was Shinryu! He was the " prototype" before the Fuginauts were given there task to monitor the Multiverse. But, Mr-V Day unsealed him and made a pact with him.

Yes...the IV&C would fight over worlds and Shinryu would be offered them, process that came to be referred to as purification, and in exchange Shinryu would absorb the memories and expended strength of the fallen warriors to grow stronger.

Dragons across all time, space, and universes are nothing more than the descendants of their one true father—Shinryu, the god of all dragons. Compared to him, all other great wyrms are little more than true worms. Neither you nor your brother were ever unique or natural. You're abominations. Miscreations. Taints to your world's Crystal."

Sephiroth smirked before he pointed his blade at his opponents. ""How does it feel, Bahamut? To learn you were something that never should have been? That you're—what was it you called me again—a mistake? A blemish?"

Bahamut said nothing. He could say nothing as he stood there quivering.

Eden spun to Sephiroth, glaring at him. Both her good arm and her regenerating one were tightening in anger.

Tiamat inhaled and exhaled several times, fuming, before letting out a half-snarl, half-laugh. "Ridiculous…insulting! You expect me to believe for one moment that the only reason Bahamut and I are here is so some overgrown golden space eel got lonely and wanted to literally 'make friends'?!"

Nil smirked cruelly. "Hardly."

Shinryu gave out another roar that shook the planet before descending." I NEED NO ONE. I NEED NOTHING. I AM SHINRYU, AND SHINRYU IS MORE THEN ENOUGH." The beast boomed.

Tiamat spat. "Then why?! Start making some sense!"

"He told you, didn't he? He's the sower…and you're simply seed." Nil explained flatly."

"Wha…?"

"The dragon " planesgorger larva" are born. They grow more powerful and violent. They ascend until they have a 'Bahamut' that represents the pinnacle of their race. When that day finally happens, and they can grow no stronger, Shinryu returns and consumes his offspring."

Bahamut turned to Sephiroth and Nil as well as both him and Tiamat seemed to pale.

Sephiroth shrugged. "Then Shinryu gets his initial investment of power back with interest. He becomes all the stronger, and then seeks a new planet to repeat the cycle. It's not all that different from Mother, wouldn't you agree?"

"No…" Bahamut exhaled.

Eden wheeled back to Shinryu. "You give birth to children only to raise them like…like crops? To eat your own sons and daughters?!"

"THE WEAK HAVE NO PURPOES THAN TO FEED THE STRONG. THEY EITHER DO SO, OR THEY HAVE NO REASON TO HAVE EVER BEEN BORN. I AM STRONG! ALL IFE EITHER EIXSTS TO SATAITE ME, OR IT DOES NOT EXIST AT ALL."

Bahamut slowly turned back, but his head was hanging now. His mouth was ajar. Tiamat was left in a mixture of shock and rage, apoplectic and unable to speak or act. Eden turned to them, seeing them acting like this, and shouted out. "That's not true! You're my sons! I love you!"

"Do you, now?" Sephiroth coolly answered. "Tell me, oh great 'scion of the Planet'…have you ever wondered why you gave birth to Griever at full power and might? Why it was so much stronger and mightier than its siblings? Was it because they truly needed a caretaker? Was it because you really feared that the meager remains of humanity were a threat to them?

"Or was it because your very essence knew what they were? What did you say before? A taint to the Planet? That just as you spawned the WEAPONs to kill those like me, you spawned Griever to kill them?"

Eden was struck dumb by that. "I…that can't…"

"So you see, Bahamut…you were actually inferior to Cloud all along. At least my puppets have purpose. They even enjoy the love of Mother for a short time. But you? You never had the love of a mother or any parent ever since they day you were conceived. Your only purpose has been to fill Shinryu's belly. So, 'God of Dragons', 'King of the Espers'…where's that pride of yours? Where's your determination and boasting? Was it as hollow and meaningless as your entire life has been?"

"Enough!"

Tiamat's mad, almost wild scream, was punctuated with a whip of his tail to the ground that shattered rock. He flashed his teeth as smoke and flames poured from his jaws and he glared at Shinryu. "I've heard enough from that wretched human! We'll show you just how inferior your so-called 'dragon god' is compared to us by tearing him to pieces in front of you!"

"USELESS WYRMLING," Shinryu sneered again. "I HAVE CONSUMED HUNDREDS OF THOUSANDS OF MY PLANESGORGER'S OVER THE COURSE OF THE EONS. SOME WEPT…SOME FLED…SOME FOUGHT…AND SOME MADE EMPTY WORDS AS YOU DO. ALL DIED IN THE END. YOU AND YOUR TWIN ARE THE WEAKEST YET, FOR YOU HAD THE GREATEST POTENTIAL OF ALL OF MY SEED AND YET YOU WASTED IT ON WORTHLESS BONDS WITH PIDDING CREATURES. YOUR FEEBLE LIVES ARE REPUGNANT TO ME! I'LL EASE MY DISGUST BY DEVOURING YOU BOTH NOW."

"And I'll rip out all eight of your eyes so I can piss in each hole left behind! Come on, Bahamut!"

The dragon was quiet and still for a short moment longer. He closed his eyes. He took a deep breath, and finally raised his head and aimed at Shinryu.

"Bahamut…" Eden called out softly. "It's not true…it can't be…"

He didn't look back or even acknowledge her. He merely had a tired, weary, and empty look on his face as he readied for battle.

Aeris blinked in shock before she moaned in dismay. "Something tells me we are not going to resolve this family drama with a hug."

"PUNY, WORTHLESS WEAKNESS…" I TIRE OF THE SOUND OF WEAKNESS. I TIRE OF THE LOOK OF WEAKNESS. I TIRE OF SHARING LIFE WITH WEAKNESS. YOU ARE LESS THEN NOTHING. I'LL DEVOUR YOUR FLESH AND RID EXISTENCE OF YOUR USELESSNESS. YOU CANNOT HURT ME. YOU CANNOT KILL ME. I AM SHINRYU AND I AM GREATER THEN ALL!"

Authors Notes: Well we got another crazy chapter today so lets get started. Garr is from Eiyuden Chronicle: Hundred Heroes.

Leon Strohl da Haliaetus is from Metaphor: ReFantazio

Borghen is from Final Fantasy 2.

Goldar is from Final Fantasy 3

Baigan is from Final Fantasy 4

Magissa and Shinryu are from Final Fantasy 5

Uthros is from Final Fantasy 6

Seifer Almasy, Rajin and Fujin are from Final Fantasy 8

Zorn and Thron are from Final Fantasy 9

Leblanc… Logos… Ormi is all from Final Fantasy X 2

Ba'Gamnan is from Final Fantasy 12

Snow Villers is the version from Final Fantasy 13 Lighting Returns

Qun'mi Tru'e is from Final Fantasy Type Zero

Sleipnir Harbard is from Final Fantasy 16, one of the few humanoid boss fights in the whole game.

Ramza Beoulve and his brother are from Final Fantasy Tactics.

Reno, Rude, Elena, and Tsung are of course all from Final Fantasy 7.

Loz, Kadaj and Yazoo are from Final Fantasy 7 Advent Children

Verdot is from Final Fantasy 7 Before Crises as the leader of the Turks before Tsung.

Lastly, this version of Tiamat is also from Sky's Servant stores.

Now for the family drama. Glenn MIGHT not be Cloud's father but, there's enough stuff to indicate its possible, they sure are throwing him around a lot in Rebirth for some reason to make him seem like a big deal so, if he ends up not being Cloud's father whenever the next part of the FF7 remake comes out, chalk this up to Sephiroth just messing with Cloud more lol.

As for Shinryu, this was Sky's idea to expand his Bahamut's character so hope you like how it unfolds. In essence a few things are common with his relationship with Cid in Dissida, but Cid is replaced with Sieg and a few things are diffrent to say the least.

Thanks for the reviews like always, hope you like what you see to leave more and till then till next time.