Vincent Unleashed, Part 23 (New World)

Part Twenty-Three – Apotheosis

As the Highwind neared the summit of Mount Nibel, Cloud walked among his comrades. As he passed by each one, he handed them two items.

The first was a ShinRa Pharmaceuticals product, a methamphetamine derivative that was standard issue for ShinRa shock troops. The Hyper allowed the shock troops to reach Limits more easily, making the ShinRa shock squads a force to be feared. It was a Hyper-induced frenzy that figured prominently in the final battle of the Wutai War.

The second item was a small vial of translucent liquid. The liquid contained within the vial was bubbling, like a hyperactive bottle-full of Rufus Cola. When the imbiber drank the Speed Drink, his reaction time and quickness doubled.

After he had handed off the last of the items, he turned back to his companions. “I want you to take the Hyper and wash it down with the Speed Drink, before you jump off the airship. We don’t know how quickly we will be in a fight, and I want to make sure that we are ready.”

He turned to Yuffie. “Are you ready with Typoon?” Yuffie nodded. “Good.” He turned back to the others. “Typoon will carry us down to Lord Chaos. He is willing to take the risk that Chaos will end his existence, if we promise to defeat Vincent’s former Limit.”

“Each of you, keep your hand on your ripcord. If Typoon is noticed, he will let go and try to draw Chaos’ attention away from us. At that point, it will be necessary for us to regulate our descent.” He smiled at his friends. “This will be a cakewalk, compared to the drop on Midgar.”

Cloud continued. “We know that Chaos is going to try and break the Barrier. What effect that will have on the Planet is uncertain, but we do know that he believes it will grant him enough power to seize control of the entire world. According to Grennek, the Barrier is tied into the power of the Summon Materia. This means that breaking the Barrier could either free or destroy the Mako-twisted. We can’t let that happen, while the threat of reinvasion from Nessos exists.”

“That means that we have to hit Chaos hard and fast. I want to try and clear an opportunity for Grennek to use the Counter Null. Once he’s used it, we hit Chaos with every Summon we can throw at him. If you don’t have Summons, use support magic and items to keep the rest of us going.”

Cloud looked at his companions. “I want you to know that I am proud to have you as my friends and allies. If we just keep fighting, we cannot help but succeed!”

One by one, AVALANCHE used their items and leapt from the Highwind. They were all gathered up by Typoon. The weird Mako-twisted creature from the Ancient Forest bore them speedily downwards.

* * * * * *

Chaos stood before the Keystone. The amethyst-hued Materia was an irregular shard of crystal that thrust out of the rock underneath the former Mako reactor. He grinned. At last…

He placed one hand upon the crystal and called upon some of the elemental attacks in his arsenal. First, he used the Diamond Dust and then Hellfire. Following after that, he unleashed the might of the Judgment Bolt, and then called upon the power of the Tidal Wave. Finally, he unleashed the Mega Flare. In turn, he focused all of the puissant energies brought into existence from each attack upon the crystal.

The crystal shrunk slightly when frozen, and then rapidly expanded under the brunt of the subsequent heating attack. Microfissures formed, and the crystalline lattice was weakened. The electricity of the Judgment Bolt changed the charge of the molecules that formed the crystal – reducing its cohesiveness. Water from the Tidal Wave rushed into the fissures and widened them imperceptibly. The Mega Flare intensified the damage done to the Keystone, making the cracks visible to the naked eye.

Chaos brought the Chaos Saber down in an overhand chop that would have made Odin proud. The sword met the weakened crystal in a brief battle for which would give way first. In the end, hell-forged steel won out over crystallized Mako.

The Keystone exploded, hurling shards skyward, as AVALANCHE descended into the Nibel reactor. Amethyst and lavender bolts of energy arced away from the ruined site, streaking towards the Barrier.

* * * * * *

In seconds, the bolts of energy traveled the distance that separated Mount Nibel from the Barrier, striking it from north and south in rapid succession. As each bolt stuck, it clung, until the energy contained within was discharged. Each discharge was the equivalent of the Tera Flare in power.

With each strike, the Barrier glowed more and more fiercely. It went through the visible spectrum, flaring into brilliance, until it glowed in a blinding ultraviolet that extended well past the range of normal vision. Scores of seabirds were cooked on the spot by the hellish radiation pouring forth from the Barrier.

Finally the Barrier could not contain the energies it held. It exploded, in a concussion loud enough to be heard from Icicle Village in the North to ruined Mideel in the south.

* * * * * *

Cloud rolled as his body struck the cavern floor. In all of his trips into Mount Nibel and the Mako reactor, he had never seen a cavern like this one. The walls and ceiling of the cavern were bleached a brilliant violet hue, excluding where Lord Chaos had blasted through the ceiling – the aperture through which AVALANCHE had descended.

He looked around him and saw that his companions had all landed safely. Typoon had been with us until that massive Materia exploded. I hope that Typoon is okay…

Cloud shook his head to clear the extraneous worries from his mind. There was no time to worry about the fate of a single Mako-twisted one. Chaos had noticed them.

“Welcome, AVALANCHE,” Chaos boomed. His demonic visage was split by a wide smile. Lord Chaos’ smile faltered and slowly slipped from his face, however. Cloud turned and gaped in amazement.

Forms began to materialize inside of the cavern. Chillingly beautiful Shiva and hot-tempered Ifrit. The powerful Titan, flanked by the Galian and the Hellmasker. Righteous Ramuh, standing upon the mechanical shoulders of the Holy Wanzer, Alexander. Kjata, trumpeting a cry of relief after millennia of imprisonment. Hades and his bubbling black cauldron. More and more appeared in the huge cavern, as Cloud and his companions came to a stunned realization. The Mako-twisted had been freed!

Behind and above the massed might of the Mako-twisted, four massive forms appeared, filling the sky above the cavern. The gigantic sentient fortress known simply as Atma hulked in the sky, training its turrets upon Lord Chaos, as the triple avatars of Lord Bahamut screamed their rage to the skies.

At the forefront of the Mako-twisted army, Lord Odin dismounted from Sleipnir. He cracked his knuckles and gazed at Lord Chaos in naked hatred. His voice boomed at the last of Vincent’s avatars, “Chaos! You will pay for your crimes!”

Chaos laughed. “Fool! Bow before your master!”

Odin drew the Zantetsuken. “We will not concede your suzerainty. Like these humans, we will oppose you.”

Chaos snarled, “Very well. You can die alongside the humans you love so much!” The Mako-twisted lord unleashed the force of his magic, scattering human, Mako-twisted, Frogman, and Kyrrawlen alike.

As the members of AVALANCHE and the many Mako-twisted shrugged off the effects of Chaos’ spell, behind Lord Chaos, Typoon returned to view. The massive elemental tried to suck Chaos into its gaping jaws. Hurricane winds blasted into the treacherous master of Magic.

Chaos was staggered by the attack. He started to slide backwards towards the gigantic elemental. Inch by tortuous inch, Chaos slid, while his opponents recovered from his attack. Seeing his inability to shrug off Typoon’s pull, Chaos whirled and leapt at the Mako-twisted being. As he flew towards Typoon, Chaos whipped out the Chaos Saber.

Typoon was unable to react in time, as Chaos flew point-first towards the creature’s gullet. The Chaos Saber pierced flesh, sucked in by Typoon’s own breath. Chaos drove the blade deeper into the Mako-twisted thing’s flesh. Coursing bolts of midnight-black energy leapt from Chaos into the enemy that sought to devour him.

The black energy swept through Typoon, covering it in a crackling aura of night. When the aura had covered Typoon’s entire form, Typoon felt the disintegrative forces it commanded being unleashed upon itself. Cell by cell, Typoon’s flesh disintegrated.

Typoon’s sacrifice was not in vain, however, as a horde of attackers swarmed upon Chaos. Wave after wave of elemental attack struck, punctuated by physical blows from the members of AVALANCHE as each of them reached low-level Limit Breaks. Maiji summoned a two-dimensional reflection of Lord Chaos to join the fray, covering the slow and steady approach of Grennek.

Chaos stood equal to the task of repulsing the hordes that threatened to overwhelm him. For each attack that struck, Chaos launched a counter. Ramuh fell, his staff shattered, and eldritch energies coruscating through his being. A sweep from the Chaos Saber decapitated the Seeker, and its body collapsed into the void it contained within. Hades’ Black Cauldron was shattered, and the Lord of the Underworld was laid on top of the enchanted remains. Barret’s gun-arm was severed, spitting fire into his allies briefly before dying out. Nanaki fell, blasted into unconsciousness by the errant rounds from the Missing Score. Maiji’s duplicate was cleft in two by a single powerful chop from the Chaos Saber, and the resulting backlash felled the raven-haired artist.

Grennek finally reached Chaos’ side. The elderly Sahugin raised the Wizard Bracelet containing the Counter Null over his head, as he activated the golden Materia.

Chaos felt his power diminished. At that moment, Cloud struck with his Deathblow attack, leaching energy and vitality from his enemy. To Chaos’ surprise, he was no longer capable of counterattacking each enemy as they struck. In fury, he snaked a hand forth and grabbed Grennek. Chaos lifted the elder high, and then threw him across the cavern. When the Sahugin struck the far wall, his shell shattered, and his bones were crushed by the impact. Dead instantly, Grennek’s last thought was a hope that the Frogmen be judged worthy to stand alongside mankind in the aftermath of this battle.

Cait Sith cried aloud, “No more!” The robotic moogle charged Chaos, bringing him to the cavern floor with a bone-jarring tackle. Looking upwards, Cait Sith shouted to Atma, the Ki-Rin, and Bahamut’s avatars. “Hit him now! I will hold him as long as I can!”

The crackling energies of the Tera Flare, Mega Flare, and Giga Flare mingled with the beams of energy that ravened forth from Atma’s cannons. When the combined beam of energy struck, the concussion was strong enough to knock back the members of AVALANCHE who were nearby. Under the bombardment of such hellish energies, Cait Sith’s form glowed incandescent, as did Lord Chaos’.

Feedback from the damage being dealt to Cait Sith surged back through the control instrumentation worn by Reeve. It was too much to bear, and the President’s heart suffered a massive attack while his brain insisted that every cell of his being was transforming to plasma. By the time his heart stopped, Reeve was already dead.

When the beams winked out of existence, there was nothing left of the moogle or Lord Chaos.

* * * * * *

Odin and Cloud stood together. The other Mako-twisted had left, heading to the mountain’s summit, where they would survey the world that they had returned to. The members of AVALANCHE were gathering their wounded, and trying to deal with the enormity of what had happened.

“What lies beyond the Barrier, Odin?” Cloud felt himself consumed with curiosity to know why Chaos had insisted on breaking the Barrier.

“The rest of the world.”

“What?” Cloud couldn’t believe what he had just heard. “The rest of the world?”

“When the Cetra sealed us away, they found it necessary to confine us in a small portion of the world, to preserve the remainder. If any of us escaped, the Cetra knew we would be powerful enough to be a grave risk. In order to ensure we would remain under control, they focused the power of the Lifestream into a small portion of the world. This gave them the magical resources to effectively oppose us.”

“So they crafted the Barrier to provide power to oppose the Mako-twisted?”

“In part. They knew they had failed to capture Lord Chaos. So long as the Lifestream was concentrated, one of the Cetra could use its power when Chaos made his eventual play for power.”

Cloud nodded. “But they did not count on the arrival of Jenova.”

“And Chaos was patient.” Odin’s voice was sad. “Once, he was one of our greatest, before he betrayed us.”

“And now, he is gone, leaving us a new world to explore.” Cloud smiled.

Odin nodded briefly. He placed his fingers to his mouth and whistled. As Sleipnir swooped downwards to his side, the Mako-twisted lord looked at Cloud. “We still have business, Cloud Strife. You are one of us and, sooner or later, you will need to join us.”

Cloud blurted, “I’m one of you?”

The Mako-twisted Lord swung up into the saddle of his eight-legged steed. “That is a tale for another day, brother. Farewell, until the time comes.” The flying steed took off, bearing Odin to the others atop Mount Nibel.

Cloud watched the Mako-twisted depart, and sighed. It was time to pick up the pieces.

End of Part Twenty-Three

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