Chapter 16: Jason's Metamorphosis
By Craxton
Fifteen seconds ago, A Lunarian foot soldier charged into a relatively
nondescript corridor in the Crystal Palace. Now that soldier lay on the
ground, gruesomely burned, unrecognizably mangled, and very, very dead.
The last thing he had seen before his mercifully swift end was a flaming
titan of a man floating along the corridor, wrecking everything in his
path. Had the soldier, by some miracle, survived the fist made of solid
magma that slammed him into the wall with a kiloton of force, he would
have seen the mad god pick up his body and ask it where the people who
escaped were. He would have seen the Sun God throw his corpse aside again
when it gave no answer. He would have seen the Sun God seethe in rage for
a few moments before chancing a glance at a nearby video monitor. He
would have watched in interest as the Sun God saw the display of three
lifeforms in the tunnels of Old Lunaria. He would have gazed in
astonishment as the Sun God flared up his flaming body and charged
off along the tunnel. He would have perhaps even seen the Sun God melt
and burn straight through the walls in his path and fly off to the west.
He would have then had the nagging sensation that, somehow, someway, his
leader was in big trouble.
Fortunately, the soldier was dead.
======
The Lunarian Tunnels had a reputation for being mazelike. The massive
underground city of Old Lunaria was no exception. They twisted and turned
and twisted again until they left you frustrated, lost, and disoriented.
In the city's heyday, you could at least ask someone for directions, which
would leave you feeling stupid as well, but at least get you to your
destination. But that time was long, long past, and the abandoned city
was now nearly impossible to navigate.
"Is it just me," Craxton said, breaking radio silence, "or have we traveled
down this same corridor about five times in the past two hours?"
"It's you." Spoony responded. "But I don't blame you. These tunnels tend to
look alike. Especially after several hours of constant trekking."
Craxton nodded to himself. "Copy that." A pause. "Do people still come down
here?"
"Occasionally. Thrill seekers, explorers..." FuSoYa said. With a grin, he
continued, "Young red-blooded Lunarians out to scare spoony bards out of
their minds."
"DON'T start, Fu! I was this far away from beating the crap out of you after
you and your friends pulled that little stunt." Spoony replied, in similar
humor.
"Hey, we were kids, Spoony. Besides, it's not like you didn't forget to bring
a 3-D compass. Then you could have found your way to the surface no problem."
"I *DID* bring a 3-D compass. One of your fellow delinquents snatched it from
my backpack that night, remember?"
Craxton just shook his head and grinned as the two continued their good-
natured arguing. He had very little idea of how to operate a Gear, and
that, added to the Overlord's short, stubby legs, had left him at the
back of the pack. Spoony was ahead and a few steps to his right, and
FuSoYa lead the pack. Craxton felt like a fish out of water. He'd be
much happier flying ahead of the others, or even riding on top of one
of their gears. But if they ran into any active robots, they'd need the
extra protection these gears provided. So Craxton went along, and tried
to keep the gear moving without accidentally blasting his friends. Since
they were conversing, Craxton was the first to hear a bleeping noise
alerting him to a large splotch of slowly spreading red on one of his
sensor displays. "Hey guys," he said, "Sensors picking up... something
going on in the upper tunnels."
The caravan halted, and Spoony cut in. "Copy that. It looks like a...
fusion energy explosion or something."
"One of the old power plants going critical?" FuSoYa asked.
"I don't think so. Plasmic content is pretty high. Let's keep going. I'll
run a full scan on it. Give me a few minutes."
"Copy that." They continued along the tunnel. While Spoony was scanning,
FuSoYa decided to find out something that had been bugging him. "Craxton?"
"Yeah?"
FuSoYa hesitated, trying to choose his words carefully. "Well... I don't
mean to sound rude or anything, but... ahhhhh... when I first got a good
look at you, I thought... well..."
"Where did he get a body like that?" Craxton chuckled, not waiting for a
response. "Yeah, I get that a lot. Some people have told me I look like a
demon or something, but it's not like that. See, my lineage is... well,
pretty complicated, actually, but there are apparently quite a few dragons
in there. Including Slipgate and Bahamut."
FuSoYa stopped suddenly. So did Spoony. "You have a dragon's blood in your
veins?"
"Yeah. Something wrong?" Craxton asked, confused.
There was a pause. "No." FuSoYa said. "No, nothing. Nothing at all." His
voice said otherwise, but Craxton decided the old Lunarian would share his
knowledge when he was good and ready.
The trio continued moving forward. "So, your father is Slipgate?" Fu
said.
"Yeah, he was. Emphasis on 'was.'"
"I'm sorry. Is he dead?"
"To me, yeah. Do you have any idea what that giant back at the hanger
was?"
There was another pause before FuSoYa answered. "Yes, I have an idea. I
didn't think of it back there, but, having had time to consider it... I
think the Mysidian prophecy is coming to pass."
Craxton's eyes went wide. "The Prophecy of the Armegeddon?"
"The same. You know it?"
"No, but I know a bit about it. It was one of a lot of things Slipgate
tried to..."
"Can the chatter, guys." Spoony cut in abruptly. "I've identified the
source of that explosion we detected. It's him. The Sun God. And he's
headed straight for us."
======
Duke Highwind weaved through the crowd, pushing people aside and trying to
find his agent. The arrival of the warriors complicated his plan somewhat.
Not a significant threat, but enough to merit a small fail-safe. He had
hoped to avoid giving his underlings more power than they had to have, but
even with this new weapon, Tifa would be no match for the combined power of
Murgorath's Black Crystal Scepter and the Demon Lance.
He scanned the crowd ahead, found no sign of her, and cursed under his
breath. Where was she? He toyed with the idea of levitating, but that
would attract too much attention. He didn't want to play his full hand
yet...
"Of course." he thought. "Try to pick out her most distinguishing feature."
He scanned the crowd again, and soon zeroed in on the best-recognized pair
of breasts in the Final Fantasy universe.
A minute or so later, Tifa felt someone tap on her shoulder and turned
around. Seeing Duke Kain, she flashed him a warm, yet refreshingly evil
smile. Strange how a soulless, though highly advanced, clone could project
the impression of such emotion, not to mention the impression of trying to
cover it with something more pleasant. He wondered why Mr.X had created
her. An evil consort, perhaps? A "Black Widow" assassin?
Well, it didn't matter now. Science wasn't his cup of tea anyway. He was a
general, and Tifa Lockheart was the soldier that would prove her worth
today.
"You have the Psi-Crystal, Miss Lockheart?" He asked her. She nodded, and
pulled a largish doedecahedronal crystal out of her cleavage. "Excellent."
he said. "There's been a small complication, though. Several of the warriors
we were warned about are present. They're armed, and may offer resistance."
Tifa frowned in disappointment. "So we're calling the attack off?"
He shook his head. "No. Simply modifying it somewhat. Proceed as planned,
but set the crystal to automatic once you reach the teleportation phase.
Then battle anyone who resists its influence. You don't have to destroy
them - though that would be nice - just hold them off until the tele-
portation is complete. Take this." From a largish pouch on his side, the
Duke withdrew a small martial artist's glove. It looked exactly like a
Premium Heart, except for one thing - instead of purplish, it was blood
red. "It's a Bloody Heart." the Duke continued. "I trust you know how to
use it?" Tifa nodded and slipped her new toy onto her fighting hand. Duke
Kain gave a sininster smile. "Do not fail me, Miss Lockheart." A small tele-
portation spell, and he was gone.
Tifa smiled again. This was going to be fun.
======
Jason felt himself floating in a void. Was he dead? No, he couldn't be
dead. A Master of Medieval Weapons died bravely in battle, not from
fainting at a Chocobo race. Still... he could have had a seizure of some
kind. No, impossible. What could have brought a seizure on? He didn't
even HAVE any illnesses that caused seizures, bobspammit! Besides, he
didn't feel dead. Not like he had any experience being dead.
Abruptly he sensed a dim light, and realized his eyes were closed. He
opened them, and almost immediately closed them again. The light was so
bright. Slowly, shielding his eyes, he opened them again, letting his
eyes get used to the light before looking straight at it. Finally, he
could make out the source. It was a small, diamond-shaped jewel that
shined silvery-grey. Beneath it, he could make out an outline of a small
figure, her hands held over her head and cupped around the crystal.
Relm.
As he watched, she lowered her arms, bringing the crystal slowly down,
until she held it in front of her heart. She lifted her head, and looked
into Jason's eyes, a saddened expression on her face. "I failed my
mission." she said. "Now the burden must fall to you."
Swiftly she thrust her hands forward and shoved the crystal into Jason's
chest. He almost cried out in pain and shock, but stopped suddenly. It
didn't hurt. In fact, it felt... pleasantly warm. The crystal burrowed
into his heart, and slowly the light was obscured by Jason's body. Just
before it faded entirely, he saw Relm shed a single tear, and she spoke.
"I'm sorry."
Then the void returned.
======
"Is he okay?"
Greg looked up at his concerned comrade. "Well, his pulse is still good,
and he's still breathing. God only knows if his brain still functions. I
know a little... uhhhh... emergency resuscitation technique, but I'm not
real keen on using it on a man..."
Slipgate sighed. "You've got a one track mind, you know that, Greg? We
better find him a healer."
"Probably wouldn't do much good, O Slippery-gated one."
Slipgate reminded himself to kick Greg's ass for giving him that title
later. "Why the hell not?"
"A trained warrior falls unconscious in the middle of a town, with no
fanfare whatsoever? That's either poison or a plot device, and we'd have
noticed poison by now."
There was a brief pause, as if Slipgate could not believe what he just
heard. "Greg, is a side effect of GFS a tendency to break the forth
wall?"
Greg shrugged guiltily. "Well... not so much break it as... just...
kinda... ignore it occasionally."
Omatu walked up, holding some betting stubs and munching on a burger.
"Hey guys. Whatcha up to?"
"Playing doctor." Greg said. Slipgate almost smacked Greg across the
back of the head, but restrained himself. "Where's Animeg?" Greg
continued. "Feeding the Chocobos." said Slipgate. "Why?"
"Omatu," said Greg "go get her. With any luck, she might be willing to
try and resucitate Jason."
This time Slipgate did slap him.
Suddenly a high-pitched whining tone cut through the air. Greg covered
his ears quickly. "Now what?" he said. Slipgate was also covering his
ears, but Omatu just stared blankly into space. "Omatu?" Greg said.
"Omatu, are you okay?"
Abruptly Omatu fell to the ground, unconscious. At the same moment, so
did almost everyone in the square. "What the hell?" Slipgate said. Greg
got to his feet and looked around. Only a few people were still standing,
and they looked like they would collapse soon. Over by the stables he
spotted Small Girl and Goldman on the ground with hotdogs in their hands.
'Heh.' he thought. 'Hot dogs in their hands...' The Chocobos were going
berserk over the noise and starting to tear up the stalls. SG hurried to
drag Goldman to safety. Over by the starting line was Tifa, holding a
crystal that seemed to be the source of the noise.
It was Greg who first saw the martial artist. As he pondered her reasons
for disrupting the festivities, one reg, more resilient to the sonic
assault then the others, threw a small shuriken at her just before falling
to the ground. Tifa caught the projectile but it cut rather deep into her
hand. Stifling a yelp of pain, she pulled the star out and threw it to the
ground. Greg's eyes widened in horror. The discarded star was covered not
with blood, but with a greenish substance. A Clone.
"Shit." he said. "Slipgate, take care of these two." Before Slipgate
could object, Greg rushed off to the starting line.
He had hoped to surprise her, but that wasn't going to happen. She saw him
coming and dispatched a Bolt3 spell to take care of him. It missed, but not
by much. While Greg was dazed from the near-miss, Tifa fiddled with the
crystal, and it promptly stopped whining and started pulsing with light.
As it glowed, the unconscious crowd began vanishing into thin air, person
by person. "Go home, hero." she sneered. "These people will soon be slaves
in the army of Duke Highwind, and there's nothing you can do about it."
"We'll see about that." Greg drew his sword and prepared for battle.
======
After Relm left, there was void for... how long? Seconds, hours, who
could say? Slowly another vision took place, a long series of scenes
blending one into another.
Jason saw the moon, coalescing into existance around a dangerous-looking
ball of fire. A cry of rage as the stone formed around the furious
flames. And then, silence, and an uneasy peace.
He saw the surface of the moon, and a few haggard humanoid forms eeking
out an existance among the rocks and dirt of the lunar surface.
He saw one of the humanoids, seperated from his kin, wandering through the
wastelands, until something caught his eye - a small crystal hanging in
the air, glowing silver. The curious stranger advanced on it, inspected it,
enthralled by its strange light, and finally touched it, grasped it, held
it in his hand... and some part of him awakened. His body seemed to glow
silvery-grey in concert with the crystal.
He saw the same creatures, again, but this time different, learning to
harness technology, moving from the stone to the axe to the spear to the
sword to the mind.
He saw their civilization expand, grow, evolve, until finally it spread
throughout the entire moon.
He saw the Lunarian civilization at its peak, massive cities built into
the underground caverns, technologies such as the world had never seen
before married to ancient magicks, ships that could fly beyond the Lunar
atmosphere, machines that could think.
Then he saw terror. A colossal mistake - the machines going berserk,
destroying everything that moved. Two families escaped - one escaping in
a starship to the Usenet planet, the other fleeing to the citadel that
held the Eight Crystals. One man trying to shut down the machines, and
succeeding - but at the cost of his life.
He saw the escaping starship, crashing down to the earth, damaging itself
beyond repair - but the passengers survived. They had been Innocents, but
they had been cast from Eden. Now they had a second chance, on the blue
planet. But it would not be easy.
He saw the crystals, up on the moon, shedding their silver light silently.
He saw the moon, in the planet's sky, shedding the same light.
He saw a young Lunarian, down on the earth, his grey eyes turned up at
the moon and dimly shining.
======
Back in the real world, Greg was still engaged in battle with the Tifa
clone. Tifa had taken to the air, levitating several feet above the ground,
with the crystal floating beside her. She threw a trio of Bolt spells at
Greg, but they were easily blocked. He pondered how to get her to sink to
his level, and after a few minutes hit on a solution. Spotting a large lamp
post behind Tifa, he fired off a Demi3 spell. Tifa laughed at the apparently
misfired attack, but stopped laughing when the vortex affixed itself to the
big pole and began to suck. Tifa couldn't resist the gravity and she went
down.
"Ha!" Greg exclaimed as she hit the ground. "Your skilled hands are no
match for my massive phallic symbol!" He grasped his sword with both
hands and aimed for Tifa's tits. "FREUDIAN BLADE BLASTER!" he called,
and a thick stream of hot, white energy shot from his weapon. The shot
caught her in the face and she was knocked back into a food stand. Greg
charged in to finish her off but she backflipped out of the way. The two
got close and an old-fashioned slugfest ensued. Unfortunately for Tifa,
Greg's sword gave him a longer range and she was slowly pushed back until
she was against the wall. Smiling viciously, he drew back for the final
thrust.
But Tifa had a secret weapon. Reaching down into her shorts, she grabbed
the edges of her tanktop and quickly yanked the top up and over her head.
Greg's jaw dropped as he stared, mesmerized by Tifa's incredible talent.
Before he could recover from her diversion she rushed in with a stomach
punch, followed by a swift knee to a certain already-swelling area. Greg
stumbled backwards and doubled over in pain.
"Idiot." she taunted. "Any martial artist worth her salts knows how to
hit an opponents' key nerve centers." Activating the Bloody Heart, she
began charging her ultimate attack. Greg regained his senses just in
time to see her launch it. "BLOODY HELL!" she called, and the ki-powered
punch slammed Greg square in the chest. He was knocked clear across the
square, smashed into the starting gate, and fell to the ground, unmoving.
Gregory "GFox" Cook was down for the count.
Putting her top back on, she cast a gaze around the square. The Psi-Crystal
had already teleported half the crowd back to base, and the ones who were
left were in no condition to fight.
Well, except one. Slipgate, after trying several times to wake Jason, had
seen her put Greg down and apparently decided to get in on the action. Fine,
she thought. This was good exercise.
======
Meanwhile, Jason's visions continued, but they took on a somewhat different
angle. The refugees from the destruction of Old Lunaria became silver-colored
flames.
The flames divided, or rather, spread, igniting new blazes in an abstract
darkness. The total light they created was greater, but each flame was
smaller then its parent.
Jason noticed the moon above. At first it glowed orange-red, as if the fire
trapped in it ages ago was trying to get out. But as the flames grew more
numerous, the light cast by the moon changed as it grew more and more
silvery, edging toward a sparkling silver grey.
After several iterations, the total light in the area was three times as
great as when there had been only a few large flames, and new flames were
constantly coming into existance.
But then one of the first flames ceased to exist. It just went out - perhaps
from an unfelt gust of wind, or maybe it just exhausted its fuel. When it
was snuffed, the total light in the room was dimmed considerably.
One by one the first flames died, and with each death, the moon's light
dimmed a little more, moved a little more toward red.
Jason realized now that these flames were the bloodline of the Innocents
that escaped Lunaria, and married and bred with humans on the Usenet
planet. Somehow, the Lunarians had been holding the furious fire captive
within the moon. And if they died off, the red flames would escape.
Then, from the lowest and most humanlike eschelon of the Innocents, an
unlikely savior stepped forward. A young woman - a girl, actually,
willing to take the burden of the entire race on to her shoulders.
Relm.
Figures appeared behind the flames, and at their will, the flames
themselves flew forward, flying toward Relm. They struck her, and
at first Jason thought she would die, but no - she absorbed them,
calling their power within, joining it to her own.
Abruptly Relm herself began to glow from the power, her flame flaring
brighter then any since the ancient days, brighter even then the first
Innocents.
Then the young artist took the raw energy she'd been handed, and from it,
created a second skin, a guardian of the Moon, a warrior for the Lunarian
race, and she created it in the form of a hero of Lunarian legend.
And then, once again, there was Relm, and the flame. The power became
dormant - not active, but still there.
The other figures, the ones that had had flames before, faded back into
the darkness from whence they came. They were still there, but they no
longer had their flames. And so they were no longer the Innocents, and
with their flames dead, they took the name of Ash.
And then there was only Relm, the sole light in the darkness. She walked,
alone, standing against the oppressive dark, the Last of the Innocents.
She walked, slowly but surely, following the Moon. Following the Moon to
her destiny.
But then something went wrong. Horribly, horribly wrong.
_No..._
A man dressed in black robes suddenly appeared in her path, and with a
quick swipe of a black sword, nearly cut her in two.
_NO!_
She stumbled backwards, and fell.
_I have to stop this..._
As she fell, she looked back over her shoulder...
_Relm!_
'Jason...'
_No, please..._
'I'm sorry, Jason...'
_Not again!_
'I failed...'
_I won't let this happen again!_
'You must...'
_Relm, no..._
'carry on for me...'
_Don't leave me now!_
'please...'
_No, don't..._
'Jason...'
_No..._
'Jason...'
_NO!_
'...I forgive you...'
The lifeless corpse hit the ground.
_NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!!!!!_
======
Jason found himself back where he started. Floating in the void, with Relm
floating before him. He turned away, unable to look at her for shame. She
gently reached out, touched his cheek, and moved his gaze into the path of
hers. There was silence for a long time.
It was Relm who spoke first. "I was given a mission. The Innocents knew a
bit of the Mysidian Prophecy, and they knew the Moon Avatar would die
shortly before AGFF would be destroyed. The Moon Avatar was the one who's
flame was strongest. By giving me the sum total of their power, they hoped
I would be able to succeed the Avatar." She sighed. "They should have known
better. Prophecy can never be thwarted. But their power is not lost." She
removed the small memento ring from her right hand, and her fiery silver
aura was extinguished. But the ring started glowing just as brightly. With
her left hand, she held it out to him.
Timidly, Jason stretched out his left hand, and the ring dropped into it.
"You don't have the lineage to become the Moon Avatar, Jason. But my power
was great. In your hands... maybe it can be used for good in the coming
conflict. Then, my sacrifice... the sacrifice of the Innocents... will not
be in vain."
A pause. "I give my power to you, Jason. Put on the ring, and claim it."
He shook his head. "I can't. I don't deserve this."
"You have to. You're the only one that can."
"What about Kim? What about FuSoYa? What about..."
"They have destinies of their own, Jason. This destiny... is yours."
There was another pause. "Why me? Of all the people in the world, why
choose me? I hated you."
Relm smiled at him. "No, you didn't. If you did, you wouldn't have come
to save me."
Silence.
"Put the ring on, Jason."
Slowly, timidly, as if it might punish him for all his sins, he held the
ring up, looked at it, inspecting every inch of it, then, slowly, slowly,
slipped it on to his right ring finger.
A surge of energy hit him like a thunderbolt.
The flame flared to life again, but this time it wasn't Relm's... it was
his. The power was his.
======
Suddenly, he was back in the real world. Startled by the suddenness of his
return, he looked around in a frenzy before calming down. He then took a
moment to appraise the situation. He was half-sitting, half-lying on the
ground, having recently been unconscious but now wide awake. He was in the
middle of a large crowd that had apparently been knocked out. He spotted
Greg, banged up and unconscious, lying by the starting gates. A crystal was
floating in the sky, emitting waves of energy. Sounds of battle could be
heard nearby. Tracking them he saw an enraged Slipgate locked in combat with
Tifa Lockheart. Slipgate slashed a shimmering sword at her. She jumped back,
but the blade grazed her cheek. It bled green. A clone. Tifa turned to
Slipgate. "You cut my face..." He moved in quickly, hoping to finish her,
but she ducked under his guard and nailed him with a punch to the stomach.
"YOU CUT MY FACE!!!" Slipgate staggered back from the pain. "You BASTARD!!"
Tifa shouted. "Now you're in for it!" Charging a red limit aura, she cut
loose. "SEVEN-HIT BREAK!"
Oh boy. That combo would put Slipgate down, hard. He was finished unless
Jason did something. Reaching for his broadsword, he prepared to charge into
the fray... but stopped. He glanced down at his broadsword. He didn't need
this. No, not when he had the power of the Lunarians. He looked at his
memento ring. It glowed brightly. Yes, he had all the power he needed right
here. He knew the power, its scope, shape, and purpose. And now he would make
use of it! Giving a silent thanks to Relm and the Lost Innocents, he raised
the ring above his head.
"ASH STAR POWER! MAKE-UP!"
The Ring glowed with power, and then four tendrils of silver flame emerged
from it and wrapped themselves around Jason, circling his body again, and
again, until they covered him and inundated him with their power. Then the
fire exploded outwards, to reveal Jason... but not Jason. He had been
transformed into a slim-figured young woman wearing a silver-grey sailor
fuku, complete with the requisite boots, gloves, choker, earrings, and a
tiara with a grey stone in the center. Behind him was a silver katana
blade, floating in midair and spinning in a circle. It floated around
Jason's left side, where she caught it, spun it 360 degrees, and finished
the sequence with an impressive combat-ready pose.
Meanwhile Tifa, somehow oblivious to all this, had just finished her combo,
and Slipgate now lay sprawled on the ground and barely conscious. "You should
have known better than to hit a woman, Lord Slipgate. Now you're finished!"
She raised a hand to charge a Bolt3 spell. "See you in hell!"
"Stop right there, sleezebag!"
"Huh?" Tifa looked up to see the transformed Jason standing meters away,
holding a short katana in a Sephiroth-style pose. "Who the hell are you?"
"I am Sailor Ash!" Sailor Ash then went into an impressive but somehow
corny swordsmanship routine resembling someone battling an invisible
opponent. "By the power of the ancient Lunarians, I fight for love and
justice, to right wrongs and triumph over all evil. And in the name of
Lunaria, I WILL PUNISH YOU!!" On the final word, she leveled the katana
blade at Tifa.
Tifa blinked.
Then she burst out laughing. "You're kidding, right? You think I'm going to
let a rip-off of some two-bit anime series with a little katana beat me? Ha!
Punish this!" With that, she tossed the charged Bolt3 spell at Sailor Ash.
======
Three Gears tromped along the corridor at top speed. FuSoYa guided the
party through the twists and turns, Spoony scanned the area ahead, and
Craxton... well, he had his hands full just keeping up.
"Well, guys..." Spoony said. "I've got good news and bad news. The good
news is, there appears to be a docking bay just a few kilometers up this
tunnel."
"And the bad news?" said Fu.
"We're not gonna reach it before the Sun God catches us."
"Okay, then." said Craxton. He brought his gear to a halt, and turned it
around. "We make a stand."
"Are you nuts?!?! This guy will..."
FuSoYa cut him off. "We don't have a choice, Spork. If he catches us, we're
done for anyway. Besides, he's still weak. We may have a chance."
There wasn't time for any more talk as the Sun God suddenly crashed through
the tunnel's ceiling.
"Ah." he said condascendingly. "So there you are. I've been looking for..."
The obligatory villainous monologue was cut off as Spoony unleashed a
barrage of laser fire from his gun-arms. The Sun God shrugged them off
like so many mosquitos and used a flame blast to blow Spoony's right arm
off. "As I was saying..." This time it was Fu who cut him off with a trio
of missiles, which he blocked. Irked, the Sun God decided to scrap the
dramatic soliloque and go straight to the part where he annihilated them.
He threw a wave of flame at the Overlord's head, and Craxton barely managed
to make the gear duck in time. FuSoYa gathered energy into his body,
amplified it through the Materia-coated blade in his gear's hand, and
launched a Freeze spell. The Sun God blocked the attack, but the extreme
cold dampened his flame and he shrunk to a size of nine feet. Taking the
initiative, Craxton rushed in and slashed a claw at him. He scored a hit,
but the claw melted on contact. Then the Sun God knocked him back with a
vicious backfist. Craxton struggled to get his Gear back into an upright
position while Spoony popped a pair of missile launchers out of the
Defiler's shoulders and fired. The Sun God blocked, and roared in
aggravation. Then he punched the ground and unleashed a massive fire
wave along the ground, melting the legs of all three Gears to unusable
stumps.
"Screw this!" Craxton said. "We need magic!" He popped the Overlord's
canopy, leaped out on to the still-hot ground, and drew the Crystal
KnightSword. Cackling, the Sun God threw a fireball at him. The warrior
caught it with his Runic power and tossed it right back. This surprised
the Sun God, but did not harm him.
"He's right." Fu said. "We're sitting ducks now. Get out. We'll have to
fight on foot." The two clamored out of their gears while Craxton closed
the gap between him and the Sun God and attacked him, managing to land a
few blows. The Sun God conjured up a flaming sword in his right hand and
fought back.
"ICE2 BLADE!" Craxton called, and the energy of a powerful magic filled
his sword. When the Sun God's sword next flashed past, Craxton blocked
it. Time and again the blades clashed against each other. Craxton was a
masterful fighter, but the Sun God was strong. For five minutes the
battle raged. FuSoYa tried to ready a spell, then realized it was very
likely that he'd hit Craxton instead of his target. Reaching for the
Lunarian blade at his side, he prepared to join the battle, but Spoony
blocked his path. "No." he said. "You can't endanger yourself, FuSoYa."
"What?! You expect me to just leave him out there?"
"You heard what that woman said, Fu! You're the last hope of saving the
moon. And the Usenet planet. If you get yourself killed, all is lost."
"I won't stand back like a coward and let..."
"This is not the time to be foolhardy, FuSoYa! You're not strong enough to
face him yet. Remember, discretion is the better part of valor."
"So what? We just leave him there to fight alone? He can't take the Sun God
either."
"Hang on, Fu. I've got an idea."
Spoony took out his harp and began to softly strum the chords. FuSoYa was
about to ridicule the idea of him attempting to fight a god with a bard's
weapon, but stopped short. Spoony was playing a song, a song which vaguely
resembled a battle tune.
Craxton and the Sun God were caught in a weapon lock, with each putting all
their physical strength into pushing each other over. Craxton was slowly
losing - he was no match for a God's strength. His knees bent, and were
about to buckle. It was clear that the Sun God had won. But then, something
odd happened. Craxton stopped weakening. In fact, he started to grow stronger.
The Sun God, suprised at the influx of strength into his opponent, doubled
the power he put into the lock. But Craxton stood firm. Then slowly, slowly,
he started to push the Sun God back, straightening his own body until he was
standing firmly again. FuSoYa marveled at this, then realized Spoony must be
playing a Hero Song - raising Craxton's virtual level geometrically.
Finally, with a furious yell and a blast of cold air, Craxton broke the lock,
knocking the Sun God to the ground. But that wasn't all. A silvery aura
suddenly flared into existance around him, as if he was standing in a dim,
grey flame. Spoony was shocked out of his song - it had never had that effect
before. Craxton half panted, half growled, collecting energy for a devastating
attack. The Sun God stumbled to his feet, just as...
"OMNISLAAAAAAAAAASSSSSHHHHHH!!!"
Craxton cut lose with a furious series of powerful blows, each one leaving a
"wound" of ice crystals across the Sun God's body. Finishing the attack with
a powerful jumping slash, he jumped back to see what he had done.
The flash generated by the final slash caused FuSoYa and Spoony to shield
their eyes. With Spoony's spell broken, the silver-grey aura died down and
Craxton, exhausted, fell to his hands and knees. Spoony cast his gaze across
the corridor and recoiled in fright. The Sun God had shrunk to the size of a
normal man, his flames were considerably less powerful, and he was barely
walking, but he was still alive. And he was advancing toward Craxton with
pure rage in his eyes.
Craxton tried to stagger to his feet as the malignant diety advanced toward
him. Using his sword as a crutch, he managed to stand shakily and raise his
sword to meet any assault that may come. The Sun God formed a ball of fire in
his hand, drew back, and...
"FREEZE!!!"
The Sun God looked up to see FuSoYa pointing at him, willing dozens of tiny
light blue energy spheres to attack the Sun God.
"No! I WILL *NOT* BE DEFEATED! I AM THE SUN GOOOOooooooooooooo...."
There was another flash of light and cold, and when the flash subsided,
there, in the middle of the corridor, was the Sun God. Frozen stiff.
Craxton shakily got to his feet again, and advanced toward the statue.
"Craxton?" FuSoYa called. "Are you alright?"
"I... will be, in... just a... minute."
He advanced slowly until he was within two steps of the villanous diety,
then stopped, gripped his sword firmly in both hands, and...
"BRAVER SLASH!"
The force of the attack shattered the statue into a hundred pieces, each
of which silently melted and evaporated, leaving no sign of the Sun God.
======
Then she burst out laughing. "You're kidding, right? You think I'm going to
let a rip-off of some two-bit anime series with a little katana beat me? Ha!
Punish this!" With that, she tossed the charged Bolt3 spell at Sailor Ash.
Sailor Ash nimbly leaped aside, causing the blast to impact in a candyfloss
stand a few meters away. Tifa raised an eyebrow. "Not bad. Let's see if you
can dodge this one. FIRE3!" A large fireball hurtled toward Sailor Ash, but
she leapt over it, somersaulted in the air, and hit the ground unscathed. "My
turn." said Ash. "ASH SILVER FIREBALL..." As she called her attack, she held
her katana horizontally out in front of her, and ran her left hand across the
blunt edge of it, gathering its power. Finished, she formed a silver flame in
her left hand and drew it back. "...BLAST!!!" With the last word,she tossed
the fireball at her opponent. Tifa laughed and jumped aside, only to discover
that the fireball homed in on her. BOOM!! It exploded at point-blank range,
throwing Tifa for a loop.
Tifa regained her bearings in time to see Sailor Ash charging at her with
her weapon poised to strike. "MATRA MAGIC!!" Tifa called, and missiles
popped seemingly out of nowhere to fly forward toward Sailor Ash. She
dodged nimbly back and forth, avoiding each missile as it impacted where
she was a moment before. Once she had closed the distance, she leaped high
into the air and came down upon Tifa with a Spincut. Tifa was thrown off
guard by the fact that Sailor Ash had so effectively dodged her attack, and
barely managed a leap backwards to avoid her counterattack.
'So she likes to play rough, huh?' thought Tifa. 'Fine, then.' Drawing her
fist back, Tifa gathered the ki for her ultimate move. "BLOODY HELL!" she
called. Tifa lunged toward her opponent with the furious ki-powered blow.
But Ash was even more agile then she had thought. She dodged to Tifa's right,
and at the same time swung her katana toward her own right. The blow rocketed
past her, and her katana impacted the Bloody Heart, shattering it. Ash then
spun around and brought the hilt of her blade crashing into Tifa's back. The
martial artist fell to the ground, stunned and effectively disarmed. 'Okay,'
thought Ash, 'Time to finish this.'
Sailor Ash raised her katana above her head and it glowed fiercely as she
bent it into a V-shape. She held the new blade aloft, then slashed it back
and forth in front of her, then started spinning and twilrling it like a
gymnast playing with a streamer. Finally, she cast a determined gaze at her
opponent, drew back, and...
"ASH BOOMERANG BLADE, FLY!"
She threw the weapon at Tifa, who turned just in time to scream. The blade
cut her in two diagonally. She doubled over from the obviously fatal wound.
Then she looked up at Sailor Ash and smiled. "Don't think you've won, Sailor
Brat. You've defeated me, but I'm not the only one in the service of Duke
Kain. There are others even stronger then me, and they will destroy you!" She
laughed maniacally as the blade cut through her again on the return to it's
thrower, then she disintegrated into a pile of green dust. With its user gone,
the Psi-Crystal self destructed.
Sailor Ash caught the blade by its hilt and it quickly returned to its
straight form.
======
With the Psi-Crystal gone, the remains of the crowd started to wake groggily.
Ash went over to check on Greg, and found him slowly coming around. "Greg?"
she asked. "Greg, are you okay?" Greg slowly opened his eyes, wincing in pain
as he registered his various injuries. Finally his eyes focused on Sailor Ash.
He blinked, looked her up and down, then said, "Who are you and how can I get
into your bed tonight?" Sailor Ash rolled her eyes. "You'll be fine. Come on,
can you stand?"
Next she went over to Slipgate, who was also recovering from unconsciousness.
"Slipgate, you okay?" Slipgate looked at his savior, then almost did a double
take. "J... Jason?" She smiled. "Yeah, kinda, I guess." She looked at her
outfit, and something seemed to register with her for the first time. "Guess
the Memento Ring turned out to be even more special then you thought." she
smiled in a lopsided manner. "Never thought it would turn me into... uhhhh..."
She put her hand to her head and grimaced in pain. "What?" asked Slipgate.
"Are you injured?"
"I don't think so." was Sailor Ash's response. She stood a bit shakily. "At
least, I wasn't injured in the fight with Tifa. And I... urgh..." She
stumbled. "Jason, are you..." Slipgate didn't get to finish his question
because, right in the middle of it, Sailor Ash was consumed in a bright
silver blaze. When the blaze faded, he was once again Jason, Master of
Medieval Weapons. He fell to the ground, unconscious. His Memento Ring
sparkled slightly with an inner light. Slipgate sighed. "Here we go
again."
======
"So let me get this straight..." Craxton said. "This Sun God is imprisoned
inside the Moon, his powers kept at bay by an avatar of the Moon God."
"Who recently died." said Spoony.
"Right. Now there's only one being who has the lineage necessary to take
his place - FuSoYa. And unless he can pick up the mantle of Avatar and
re-establish this seal soon, then..."
"The Moon will explode, releasing the Sun God from his imprisonment, and
leaving him free to carry out his plan of destroying the world." FuSoYa
finished.
The trio was on a primitive but functional cargo ship, headed home to
AGFF. The moon hung in the sky outside heavily, looking very menacing
in light of the current developments. They were in what appeared to be
a small living area, Spoony and Fu sitting at a table, Craxton standing
by a large window. The ship was on autopilot - it needed pilot guidance
only during lift-off and touchdown.
"Okay, then..." Craxton said. "First question: If the Sun God is imprisoned
inside the Moon, who did we just vaporize back there?"
"An avatar of sorts. When the Sun God detected the correct time was
approaching, he broke off a piece of his flames and sent it to the
surface in his likeness, to prepare the way for his rebirth. In one
sense, it was him, in another sense it was just a small shell, a
fragment of his true power. Like a puppet, almost."
"Okay, then." Craxton pondered this for a second. "Question two: How do
we get the Moon God to put his power into FuSoYa?"
"I don't know." Fu replied.
"You don't know?! What do you mean, you don't know?!"
"I mean I don't know. Period. When the Moon God decides it is time, he
will tell me how."
Craxton sighed and leaned back against the wall. "Spiffy."
"Okay..." said Spoony. "My turn. We've got several days until we get back
to AGFF. During that time we should be able to tap into the news channels
and find out what's been going on down there. But when we reach home, what
do we do?"
"Bahamut told me to seek the Sword of Darkness." Craxton said, noting that
FuSoYa raised an eyebrow briefly before putting his normal face back on. "I
don't think that's its real name, though... more of a symbolic title."
"What makes you say that?"
"Well..." Craxton drew his sword. "In a painting at Bahamut's lair, I
saw it paired with this weapon, which Bahamut called the Sword of Light.
Yet I know it as the Crystal KnightSword."
His companions nodded. "Okay." said Spoony. "Did he tell you where to
find it?"
"No, but he told me Mr. X had it before he died, which means it's
probably in the hands of someone in the organization now."
"Which means we'll most likely be looking for their headquarters."
"Right."
"Okay, then." FuSoYa said. "Any more questions?" Both his companions shook
their heads no. Craxton yawned. "If you don't mind, I'm going to try and get
some sleep." he said. He sheathed his sword, said good night, and walked out
of the room.
A short walk down the corridor brought him to one of the sleeping quarters.
He walked in, locked the door behind him, and collapsed on the bed, the full
strain of the day's toils finally catching up with him. He reached for the
lights and turned them off, then settled down to sleep. He had hardly fallen
asleep when he awoke again to the feel of someone lightly stroking his hair.
He opened his eyes, and in the dim darkness of the room, beheld his beloved.
"Celes." She smiled at him. "Hello, Craxton."
He sighed, but not resentfully. "Another dream?"
She nodded softly. Gently, he took the hand that was stroking his hair,
placed it on his cheek, and nuzzled it. "It's so lonely for me without
you, beloved."
"I know, love, I know. But you must be strong. You have a destiny to
fulfill."
"A destiny?"
"Yes."
"What destiny?"
"I can't tell you anything about it, I'm afraid. But you will learn more of
it as you go along." Before he could respond, she continued. "Craxton, in a
few days you will touch down in AGFF, and must seek the Sword of Darkness.
Only with its power, and that of your own sword, can you fulfill your destiny.
But..." she smiled and shifted her body, "But, that is for your waking hours.
Right now, you have a chance to relax. I suggest you take it." Slowly, she
moved her body over his, and kissed him deeply. "It may be the last chance
you get for a while." Nothing more was said between them until morning drew
near.
======
Back in the living area, Spoony sighed and looked at FuSoYa. "Well?"
FuSoYa also sighed. "I had my doubts, initially, but what he told us, if it
is truthful, confirms it."
Spoony nodded. "He's genetically at least half dragon, grandson of Bahamut, he
has the Sword of Light, and Bahamut told him to seek the Sword of Darkness.
No question about it. Craxton is the Dragonson. The 'One to be born of a
dragon...'"
"I know the prophecy, Spork."
"Right. Sorry, got a bit carried away there." A pause. "Should we tell him?"
FuSoYa shook his head. "No. We have no idea how he'll react. Neither of us
know him well enough. For now, let's just let events take their course. He'll
know his destiny when the time is right."
"Gotcha." Spoony said. There was a pause. "One thing it doesn't explain,
though - that weird aura that ignited around him back there. What do you
make of that?"
FuSoYa shrugged. "I don't know. The prophecy doesn't mention any such
thing."
"Hmm. Strange." said Spoony. He shrugged. "Maybe it was just our eyes or
something." There was a brief silence, then Spoony yawned. "Well, I
think Craxton had the right idea. I'm turning in for the night. You?"
"In a minute." FuSoYa said. Getting up, he walked over to the window. "I
want to just... look the moon over once. See if I can make out what's
going on."
"Okay. See you in the morning. 'Night."
"Good night." Spoony left. FuSoYa stood by the window, staring out at his
homeworld. He had a strange feeling that he'd never be back.
