al709382@campus.ccm.itesm.mx

		The Caller's Plight, by Jorge Pratt

			Part III, section E


+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++


Dreams of despair

	An ominous drone filled the corridors as the four crept --
or flew-- hidden in the shadows.  As cautious as possible, 
Phaeron lead the Esper-girls through the small corridor. These 
three could easily fly wihout being discovered, but the phoenix 
had to move slowly lest the clank of his boots against the floor 
reveal their presence. But Black Omen was _huge_, the windows 
showed it was already nighttime and they still hadn't found a 
trace of their friends.
	As they moved on, Akane couldn't help but think about what 
she had seen back at the tunnel. Ranma had been devastated by 
what Kefka did, and she had seen it. She was sure he felt 
something special for her, after all she wasn't _that_ blind to 
his emotions. She would readily shout to tell him she was all 
right, to show him there was nothing to worry about. But now, 
she knew Ranma was probably depressed beyond belief. At least, 
that is what she would feel if she ever lost him...
	She shook her head, cursing herself. Why did she have to 
forbid herself from seeing the truth? The truth that... that she 
cared for him too? Why had she been so damn stubborn as to 
avoid telling him, but nevertheless venting out her repressed 
feelings whenever some other girl did as much as _come near_ 
Ranma? Right now, she would jump at the chance to tell him 
everything, to laugh at him since he would probably be shocked. 
But there was no chance of that now. And there wouldn't be 
unless she found him soon. According to what Phaeron had said, 
after Kefka had used his magic to turn everyone into Espers, 
Ranma and the others' life would be drained to increase Kefka's 
power. First they would be turned to Magicite, then the lord of 
magic would simply suck the stones' power until they were 
exhausted. She would never forgive herself if she let her fianc� 
be turned into a small rock and killed by a madman.
	Slowly facing forward to the gold fairy in front of her, 
Akane thought about Ranko's reaction when the redhead had 
thought Coldfire had killed her. When they saw each other in the 
citadel's corridors, Ranko nearly dissolved in tears of joy, 
discovering Akane was fine. She couldn't even begin to imagine 
what Ranko would have done if she had been truly murdered, but 
it was probably the same thing Ranma tried to do. Sighing sadly, 
Akane reached out and gently touched Ranko's small head with her 
index. She turned back instantly, "Oneechan? What...?"
	Akane looked at her for a few instants, "No-nothing, Ranko-
chan... I... I just..."
	Ranko understood her feelings, "I know, Akane. Believe me, 
if oniisan were here I'd tell him everything's fine. I know what it 
feels like to lose somebody, or when somebody loses _you_..." she 
slowly turned to look at Phaeron. "I... I don't think I should tell 
you this, but now..." she took a deep breath, "You... I mean, 
oniisan l--"
	"I-It's okay, Ranko-chan. I know you want to make me feel 
better, but this is something your brother and I have to work 
out. It's like you said, so please, don't say it. If I never get 
the chance to hear him say it it will be all my stupid fault..." 
she whimpered slightly, "If he chooses Ukyou... or someone else, 
I'll have to live with that, since I am too stupid to admit it..."
	Ranko gulped, staring at her widely. Was Akane... was Akane 
admitting her feelings for Ranma? She had never seen her so sad 
before, except maybe when she thought Ranko had died. But why? 
And specially, why _now_? Would it always have to take a great 
tragedy for the two fools to admit they loved each other? 
Sighing, Ranko flew over to Akane and sat on her shoulder, 
noticing she was starting to cry, "It's okay, oneechan, it's 
okay..." she said soothingly. "You'll see, it'll all turn out just 
fine..." and she thought to herself, "and I'll kill oniisan if he 
doesn't say he loves you when we get back."
	Akane smiled sadly, "I hope you're right... Thank you, Ranko-
chan," she brought a hand to her shoulder, delicately taking 
Ranko's tiny hand with her fingers. The gold fairy stroked 
Akane's hand with her own, trying to calm her down. "I 
understand, oneechan," she thought, "Remember that I also 
thought once that you had died. But one thing's for sure..." she 
clenched a fist, "If that bastard hurts oniisan,  I swear I'll pay 
him back for every one of your tears."
	"I'm getting sleepy," Yuannyan said, holding back a yawn. 
"Don't you think we should stop? I mean, what if somebody spots 
us and we're too tired to fight?"
	"Maybe you're right," Phaeron said, looking around. They 
were in a very small corridor now. Actually, it was more like a 
transparent pipe, which snaked around Black Omen. In fact, by 
looking upwards they could see the hole in the Wall, and the 
stars beyond. Akane couldn't fly in it anymore, she and Phaeron 
had to hunch over while walking. "Alright, this place seems safe 
enough," Phaeron turned to them. They had reached the end of 
the pipe, and crates were stacked against it from the outside, 
letting the light from the room into the pipe. As silent as 
possible, he summoned an armblade and sliced a hole through a 
crate. What a coincidence, the crate had several of the items 
they had been carrying throughout their journey. This meant they 
were probably close to the detention area, as the captured 
items were placed here. Grateful, Phaeron took out a pair of 
blankets and a few packs of food. He didn't notice Coldfire 
nodded to himself and walked away, hoisting the knapsack over 
his shoulders.
	"Here you go," he handed Akane a blanket and some food. 
The quartet sat down on the pipe. Given their size, the twins 
didn't need much to satisfy their appetite, although Ranko ate 
as if she were in normal size. She obviously felt dizzy and 
bellyaching a few moments later. Yuannyan giggled at her bloated 
sister.
	"I hope nothing happens while we're asleep," Akane said, 
looking sadly at the blanket.
	"Don't worry, I'll stay awake just in case," both Phaeron 
and Ranko said, then blinked and turned to each other.
	"No, it's not that," Akane corrected, "I hope Ranma is okay."
	"If it helps you to know..." Phaeron said, "You probably 
noticed Esper World's nights aren't as long as Earth's, which 
means you won't have to wait long. But still, I'll wake you up 
before dawn. And don't worry, we'll find them."
	"Alright," Akane said, carefully laying down so she wouldn't 
hurt her delicate wings. Yuannyan fluttered next to her, 
stretching as she yawned. Waving goodnight at Ranko and Phaeron, 
she flew beneath the blanket and next to Akane, also careful not 
to hurt her even more fragile wings.
	"Poor oneechan..." Ranko looked at her. "She's fast asleep. 
She must be very worried about oniisan." Sighing, she sat down 
next to Phaeron. He smiled at her and cut a square foot of the 
blanket, covering her with it. She turned red despite her golden 
glow.
	"So, what'll we do tomorrow?" she asked.
	Phaeron shook his head, "I don't have the slightest idea. I 
just hope Dysithal was defeated by Siegfried. Otherwise, I don't 
even want to think about what'll happen if he finds you in that 
vulnerable shape..."
	"Vulnerable?" she smirked at his comment. He playfully 
tipped her over with a slight push. "Why you..." she flew over to 
his face, bonking him. "Oww..." she rubbed her stomach.
	"Still hurts? C'mon, I'll help you," he cupped his hands. 
Ranko hesitated a bit before sitting on his palms, but almost 
immediately felt the warmth of Cure 2 spreading over her. She 
smiled at the pleasant sensation.
	"Hmm..." she sighed, looking up through the pipe and into the 
stars. "You think we'll ever get out of this alive?"
	Phaeron sat back against the pipe, his movement knocking 
her off balance and making her lean against him, "A little 
pesimistic, aren't we? It's not like you to talk that way."
	"Yeah, I know. It's just that I don't feel to cheerful after 
seeing oneechan like that. I know we'll beat Kefka, but, well, I'm 
worried that maybe not _all_ of us live through that."
	"If you're thinking about me using Ultima..."
	Ranko shook her head, "That's not what I meant. I know for 
sure oniisan will be all right, and Herb can hold his own... but 
for example, what about guys like Lime and Mint? Or Ucchan? They 
haven't fought this kind of enemies before." She turned to Akane 
and Yuannyan, "Oneechan is really improving, but what if... Or 
Yuan-chan...?"
	"You're worrying over nothing," Phaeron messed up her hair 
with his finger, "It's very nice of you to worry about our 
friends, but remember, we Espers are with you a hundred percent. 
I know you'll hate me for saying this, but I'll never let anyone 
hurt you. If by some reason somebody does, he'll regret it." He 
smirked, "During the time we've been here, I've felt like I'm 
responsible for all of you. I wonder why, I only dragged you here 
when I ran off like that. But being your friend, it's still my 
duty to take care of you all." He looked up towards the stars, 
"It is true that we're facing enemies that can destroy solar 
systems by thinking it. Kefka has already done that, Lavos gains 
more and more power from each planet he ravages, and Dysithal... 
well, let's not talk about him. But the problem with those three 
is that they are corrupt. They could have used their power for 
the cause of Light, but they turned dark. And _that_ is their 
weakness. They know nothing of true honor, valor, or hope. They 
are devoted only to spreading fear, chaos and despair, which 
makes them lose the true strength that _we_ have." He looked 
down, and smiled. Ranko was kneeling in his hand, turned to him. 
She crossed her arms, smirking, "And what's that strength?" She 
stood and flew to his face, then lied face-down on top of his 
head, resting her head in her arms.
	"It's the same story as always," he said, "This kind of 
people is usually very intelligent, but they're not wise. They're 
not wise because they are so focused on their goals that they 
overlook the little things --or the little people. Most often, 
it's the little people who do the great feats, as they are the 
seeds of hope. Just as a tree sprouts from a tiny seedling, the 
true victory is born from small sparks of faith, sparks that 
become roaring flames. And then hope is born.
	"But there is another reason why these idiots are certain 
to lose," he continued, "Look at the Four Fiends: apart, they may 
be strong, but can be defeated. Together, they're nearly 
invincible. That's because they know about the strength that 
unity can bring. They fight together, and are good at it. It is 
difficult to face people who have strong bonds joining them. But 
megalomaniacs such as Kefka care for only one thing: themselves. 
They may join other people temporarily, to reach their own 
goals, but as soon as they reach power they get rid of their 
accomplices, since sharing their might is the last thing on their 
minds. Kefka is bringing Lavos here, but would destroy him as 
soon as he had enough power. He also joined Dysithal, because 
he knew he could receive all the power he wanted by assisting a 
fallen angel. Also, Dysithal helps Kefka because he needs the 
drive his mad hunger gives him. But I wonder what would happen 
between those two if they won.
	"But we're different. We have friends, and our cause is a 
strong one. They may have the power of dark, but we have hope, 
and friendship. That's where our strength lies. Not determination, 
not skills. But our hope. As long as we are together, and never 
give up, we have more than just 'a chance.' We have to remember 
that." He paused for a moment, surprised that she had remained 
silent. "Ranko-chan?"
	"Hmm..." Ranko snored as she slept. Phaeron would have 
facefaulted if she weren't on his head.
	"Stupid," he said to himself, carefully reaching upwards and 
taking her in his hands. He smiled silently at her form, as her 
sleep made her slowly flap her wings very slightly. He took his 
cloth pouch, taking out its contents, and very carefully put her 
in it, as if it were a sleeping bag. Putting the pouch's strap 
around his neck, the fairy resting on his chest, he lied down and 
looked into the stars.

			*	*	*

	It was cold.
	But not only outside, even in her heart the cold would not 
go away. It surrounded her, stabbed her, penetrated her spirit 
and tore it apart. It seemed her mind would be rent by the pain, 
yet no matter how much she tried to avoid it the image repeated 
itself over in her mind. It was like a still frame, and in a 
dramatic grayscale, yet.  But she could still see it. Kefka's 
grin, piercing her soul, as his hand severed the head of one of 
her best friends. Yes, she could see it very clearly. The delight 
on his face only increased her anger. The red eyes, looking at 
her as if to strip her of her soul. She felt defenseless, 
powerless, before that frozen picture. But the nightmare wouldn't 
stop there. All of a sudden, the madman broke off from the still 
frame and strode towards her relentlessly. She tried to escape, 
to flee from the evil, but despite her strongest efforts her 
legs were like stone, paralized in fear. He stretched out a hand, 
squeezing her neck. She gasped, panted. With all her might she 
punched his gut --but it was useless. She turned away, wishing 
to have never come to this diabolical world. She pulled herself. 
And ran. She ran through the darkness. The void in her path was 
colder than what enveloped her in reality, but she wouldn't stop. 
Her bare feet hit the ethereal ground hard, she didn't want to 
turn back. Then there was the wind. A wind that forced her back, 
and tore her clothes when she continued onwards. The cold 
increased. She lifted her arms, defending her face from the 
shearing wind. The force stopped her, she had to turn away. 
Looking back, she saw the light. It was full of peace and calm, 
but it was also cold and deadly. It was the Truth, and she saw 
Akane inside it. She spoke, stretching her arms towards her as 
in embrace. She spoke, and invited her to accept it. She was 
dead, she said, Kefka had killed her. If she kept running from the 
Truth she would only hurt herself. But she could never escape 
the Truth. She could deny the fact that Akane had died, but that 
would bring harm only to her soul. But she wouldn't listen. She 
continued to run, away from the light, away from Akane, away 
from the truth. The wind became unbearable. The hands of despair 
stretched from the wind, slashing at her with their pitiless 
nails. She stopped, and she screamed. She screamed as her entire 
body was torn away by the hands. And she screamed as she 
disappeared, for she would have to face the real world, and 
leave her beloved fantasy. A fantasy of a perfect life, with all 
her friends around her, and with her beloved by her side. But 
this fantasy was final.
	Ukyou woke up completely drenched. Her throat was sore 
from all the screams her mouth released during the dream. She 
opened her eyes widely, looking rapidly in all directions. From 
the way her eyes moved, it would seem they wanted to escape 
their sockets. She panted, her heart beating like a drum. Trying 
to calm down, she closed her eyes and mouth, breathing slowly. 
She disgusted herself for acting like a baby. Wincing as her 
displeasure increased, she sensed a wet cold in her thighs. She 
hadn't... no, she _couldn't_ have... But wait a minute. That cold 
wasn't just felt in her legs, but her arms and face also. Opening 
her eyes, she nearly suffered a heart attack: she was 
completely submerged in water. She shut her mouth and 
desperately tried to rise above the liquid, but several cables 
and sensors were attached to her, pinning her. She couldn't hold 
out any longer. She clawed the walls of the capsule, kicking down 
at the same time. Her slim arms threw fists with enough strength 
to tear open the hood of a car, but the capsule's glass 
resisted perfectly. She would drown. And her lungs had to act. 
Not even Ukyou Kuonji could keep her breath any second longer. 
As the liquid penetrated her respiratory system, she hurriedly 
prepared herself, and closed her eyes. And waited. And waited a 
little longer. And a little longer. And was left waiting, for she 
didn't drown. But how? Her lungs were filled with water, right? 
Or maybe it wasn't water. Opening her eyes, she realized this 
liquid was not water. She didn't know how, but this substance was 
so saturated with oxygen her pulmonary alveoli were perfectly 
capable of acquiring the precious gas. She could breathe easily 
inside the liquid. It was _weird_, breathing a liquid instead of 
air. No wonder she had felt cold inside, since the liquid cooled 
her lungs as she breathed it. Confused at first, she slowly 
accepted this situation, and took in a deep breath of fresh 
liquid.
	Opening her eyes again, she looked at herself. She blinked, 
why was she so _small_...? It seemed she had been turned to her 
Esper body, which was like a delicate sylph with white hair. But 
there were many tubes and pipes connected to her, keeping her 
suspended in the middle of the transparent capsule. Looking up, 
she was nearly blinded by the strong light, cold white. For some 
reason, she felt weaker by being beneath the light. She shook 
her head, trying to shake off the dizziness.
	Looking out through the capsule's wall she noticed she was 
in a large room. There were five other cylindrical capsules, like 
hers, inside it. Each had a thick base and top, made of 
electronic equipment, plus a control panel on the base. There 
seemed to be no doors in the rectangular room, and her capsule 
was placed in one of the corners. Looking towards the near end 
wall, she noticed a large panel, with many monitors and levers.
	Turning back to the capsules, she gasped when she 
recognized the figures inside it. An unconscious Unicorn, which 
barely fit in the capsule. The white phoenix was also knocked 
out, unlike the grizzly bear with a patterned yellow bandanna who 
pounded the capsule ferouciously. Next to Ryouga's capsule, was 
another unconscious half-Esper, a small silver wolf named Mint. 
But in the opposite corner of the room, conscious yet unmoving, 
there was a Centaur.
	"Ranchan!" Ukyou tried to say, blurting out a small stream 
of bubbles instead. Floating in the liquid, Ranma remained 
completely static, although a small current spun him very slowly. 
When he had spun enough for her to see him, Ukyou looked sadly 
at him. There was no telling how he felt after what happened, as 
his face showed null emotion. She felt sorry for him, but a small 
fraction of her mind reminded her there would be no more rivals 
between her and Ranma. She was disgusted with herself once 
more, how could she even _think_ about that? Even if it were 
true, she would never even try to take advantage of this 
situation. In fact, she would have to help him convey this pain. 
She frowned for an instant, if that Shampoo dared use the 
situation in her favor, she would kill her.
	Ukyou turned away, she didn't want to see Ranma like that 
anymore. But she then saw something else that she didn't want 
to see: a dark figure, slipping out of a shadowed corner and 
carrying a familiar-looking knapsack. She swam to the capsule's 
wall, scowling at Coldfire with a hatred of proportions she had 
never felt.
	He suddenly noticed her, and slumped down as he knew why 
she scowled at him. Trying to remain hidden, Coldfire scanned the 
room and saw the other people, then reached into the knapsack 
and selectively took out several items: a spatula, a spring-
autumn halberd, the Illumina Blade, Jihad's Scimitar, an umbrella, 
Full Moon and steel bomerang, and Murasame. Then he took out 
the Mirage Vest, the True Knight, and all the relics and armor 
these people had been carrying. Taking the items, he placed them 
in Ryouga's pack, next to Ukyou's capsule. She blinked, what was 
he doing? Afterwards, Coldfire looked around and stuck something 
on her capsule's control panel, a piece of... clay? Just a piece 
of white clay--
	"Yaah!" Ukyou scampered upwards as Coldfire put a small 
detonator in the plastique. She looked at him, confused. "Why?" 
she mouthed.
	He put his finger on his mouth, shushing her, and smirked. 
"Don't tell them," he mouthed.  He hoisted the knapsack and 
melded with the shadow once more, disappearing from the room 
completely. Waiting for the explosive to go off, Ukyou thought 
about what she had just seen. Coldfire was helping them. The 
same Coldfire that had betrayed them. But why?
	"Whoa!" she thought when the explosion tilted her capsule, 
tipping it over. She quickly got up on all fours, spewing out the 
liquid from her lungs. Coughing, she dragged her battered body, 
although the cables hampered her movements. Blindly pressing a 
button on the control panel, she felt a sudden release of the 
suction cups that adhered the tubes to her body. Scampering out 
of the capsule, the first thing she did was grab her clothing, 
which Coldfire had also left. It was a _little_ too big for her, 
but she didn't mind. She quickly put her bandolier on her and 
grabbed her spatula tightly, a glint in her eyes. Turning back to 
the capsules, she saw the rest had been awakened by the blast, 
and kept signaling for her to release them. Only Ranma remained 
looking blankly into space. Hitting each switch individually would 
take too long, Ukyou decided to deactivate the main switch 
altogether. Lightly running towards it, she used her spatula to 
reach up and press a button. The tubes were disconnected from 
her friends. But in order to release them, she would have to 
pull down a lever. Her spatula was useless, how would she pull 
the lever with it? She bounced up and down, vainly trying to 
reach the lever. A lightbulb appeared over her head as an idea 
occurred to her. Using her Water magic, she created a small 
ladder of ice to reach the lever. Climbing up, she grabbed it and 
stood on it, bouncing on top of it. Finally, it budged. She fell 
to the floor, but didn't mind. The capsules were opening before 
her. With a loud splash, the liquid inside them was vacated to 
the outside, washing the people out of the capsule at the same 
time. They all coughed up the liquid from their systems, 
untangling themselves from the tubes and cables.
	"That... that was revolting..." Crystallus said, shaking the 
liquid off his feathers. "Good work, Ukyou."
	"B-But how did you escape?" Mint-wolf asked, blinking.
	Ukyou looked back to the shadows, "I, uh, never mind that. 
Right now we have to find the others."
	Ryouga pronounced his quotable quote, "Where are we?"
	"Hmm," Crystallus looked around, "From the looks of things 
it would appear we're in a Magicite factory. They must have been 
trying to turn us into Magicite."
	"Then that would mean..." Ukyou started.
	"That the others are in danger!" Terion finished, clearing 
his head. He quickly morphed to human shape, retrieving the 
Illumina, and tried to find a way out of the chamber.
	"Wait," Ryouga said grimly, "Nnnn..." he crossed his paws, 
shedding a powerful green aura, "Shishi hoko-dan!" he blasted 
towards the end wall. The blast scorched a hole through it, and 
through every structure it met, until fizzling at the Black Wall. 
Several alarms became active, laser cannons came alive inside 
the room.
	"This is pointless," Crystallus simply blasted every cannon 
or camera with Light magic shots. A robotic squadron came in 
through the opening --they were no match for the frozen wind 
Ukyou sent them. "That's right," Crystallus said, "Since you have 
become Espers, your magic is more powerful, plus you have your 
own Esper-body abilities."
	"Then let's test those abilities against that bastard," 
Ryouga hoisted his backpack, narrowing his eyes. "We have to find 
the others first," Terion said, thinking about Andellia. "But what 
will we do once we find--" Mint was cut short. A few more 
cannons appeared on the walls, blasting out immediately. They all 
escaped through the opening immediately, except one.
	"Ranchan!" Ukyou cried as she noticed he was still in the 
room. She quickly turned around and ran back, but was stopped 
as a loud shout, followed by a blast of fire, came out through 
the opening. "R-Ranchan...?"
	"I'll tell you what we're gonna do," a Centaur slowly strode 
out of the room, his aura of fire sizzling. "We're gonna find the 
others, and then we'll send that bastard to hell!" brandishing 
Murasame, Ranma stepped out into the corridor.

			*	*	*

	"Aiyaa!" a black panther roared as her capsule was tipped 
over by the plastic explosive. Reacting like Ukyou, Shampoo got 
up on all fours and spat out the remnants of the liquid, then 
tore off the tubes and pounced for the lever, using her weight 
to bring it down. She turned back to see the rest of the 
capsules releasing their contents. Only Lime could wriggle out of 
the cylinder easily, as the Nightmare, Kirin and Pegasus' bodies 
were too large and too entangled in the mess of tubes. Mousse 
was also trapped by the cables, but he simply pecked them to 
dust. But they were all conscious now, albeit Esper-shaped. Lime, 
a humanoid bengal tiger, simply punched Mousse's capsule, 
shattering it. The chromatic stork finally managed to fly out of 
it.
	"I've had enough!" the Nightmare neighed. "Ultima!" The 
expanding field spread from her body, sending glass shards in all 
directions. The Pegasus had to put up a shield to protect the 
others. Shaking off the cables, Mireillia turned back to human 
shape and sliced Nadir and Andellia's capsules, freeing them. They 
also changed back to human form. As everyone retrieved their 
items, Shampoo considered telling them about Coldfire, but 
decided against it.
	"What do _we_ do?" Mousse said, putting the Spectacle 
Frame on his face and taking all the weapons his wings could 
carry. Sure, the Espers and Lime could move about and use their 
weapons normally, but he and Shampoo could not.
	"I can help you with that," Andellia summoned her staff, and 
aimed it at them. A flat, wide beam of silver was all they needed 
to become human again. Lime preferred his current state, though, 
as his strength was increased a tenfold.
	"I'm going to murder that maniac," Nadir said, scowling.
	"For the first time in years, I agree," Mireillia summoned 
her AtmaWeapon. "For what Kefka and Dysithal did, there is no 
forgiveness." Walking over to a wall, Nadir aimed a round-headed 
arrow at it. Releasing the shot, the arrow exploded and brought 
down quite a chunk of the structure. Ignoring the alarms and 
cannons completely, the group ran out through the opening and 
into the dark corridor beyond.

			*	*	*

	"Luminaire!" Ranko lifted her arms, letting the magic carry 
her upwards. The gargoyles were blasted in all directions, the 
Light-Lightning blast had been bolstered considerably by her 
state.
	"How does it feel when _you're_ the one who's being 
ambushed, huh?!" Akane smashed Mjollnir into a red skeleton, 
which turned to dust after her angry strike. The patrol guards 
never expected this: they were simply heading for the Magicite 
factory sector, looking for the escaped warriors, when all of a 
sudden a flaming bird knocked everyone off their feet and a 
crazy short-haired girl fell on top of them with a massive 
hammer-drop that shook the entire corridor. And the two fairies 
weren't that vulnerable either, with one tossing lightning bolts 
like mad and the other capturing the Red skeletons' bones in 
silver shields so they couldn't reform.
	"Stop at once!" a Red Shadow burst into the corridor. But 
the gargoyles were all knocked out anyway, the skeleton warriors 
crushed to dust. The Shadow sweated visibly when Akane scowled 
at him, "You demons did that to Ranma! I won't ever forgive you!" 
she darted towards the Shadow, closing her eyes. The Sun Corona 
flashed brightly, blinding the monster. "Kyaa!" Akane tripped it 
and came down with an elbow-drop, then grabbed the Shadow's neck 
and tossed it into a wall.
	"Whoa, oneechan...!" Ranko stared at her, impressed.
	"Hah," she brushed her hair, standing over the unconscious 
Shadow. "I guess I got a little upset."
	"A little, yeah..." Phaeron morphed back to human and 
examined all the monsters that her anger defeated, making the 
corridor look like Furinkan's front yard.
	"Hilass... Hilass, tebne..." a communicator on a gargoyle's 
belt began to speak. Phaeron picked it up and listened.
	"What is it?" Ranko asked.
	"Wait a sec... I'll translate for you." He spoke a few Esper 
words, responding to the radio.
	"Espers la usdaine lahen ter!"
	"The Espers and humans try to escape."
	"They escaped?" the girls turned to each other, hopeful.
	"Estur histe!"
	"Find them." He replied, "Tebne estur issot?" he turned to 
them, "'Where are they?' I asked."
	"Ciot usdaine, estur lahen kran Mammon Siater de lond. Fa 
kan Mammon Siater fiastase!"
	"Stupid humans, they escaped to Mammon Machine's room. The 
Machine's power will kill them" He asked again, "Aris ciot issot, 
tebne Mammon Siater de lond issot?" "I'm stupid, where is the 
Machine's room?"
	The radio nearly short circuited in fury, "Ciot Liss Dith! 
Mammon de lond dicir a-simm issot! Kran Orle Meat de a-simm!"
	Phaeron smirked, "'Stupid Red Shadow,' he said. 'Mammon's 
room is up at the _top_. At Black Omen's top." He spoke into the 
communicator, "Te, ariacte, ciotse!" he tossed the radio which 
virtually exploded with shouts. "What did you tell him?" Ranko 
asked, seeing the red-hot device.
	"Oh, just, 'So, thanks, moron.' Let's go, we're still far from 
the top and the Mammon Machine _is_ dangerous! If it managed to 
drain an entire Lavos' power, think what it could do to the 
others!" he lead the dash through the corridors once more.
	"But at least they escaped," Akane thought. "Ranma, hold 
on."

			*	*	*

	"Ah, what a sight," Kefka said, standing before the Mammon 
Machine. It resembled a huge mechanical octopus, but with organic 
components. T-shaped, and colored light-brown, and there was a 
hunch over its middle, which had a large green orb, like an all-
seeing eye. Several tentacle-like tendrils sprouted from its 
bottom, reaching down into the well that the machine floated 
over. A powerful column of light rose from the well, lighting the 
Mammon machine ominously. Where the light came from, who knows. 
But over the Machine, floating as well, was the Dark Orb. Several 
of the tendrils were connected to it, trying to drain some of 
its own power.
	But these weren't the only "attractives" in the room. The 
chamber, unlike the rest of Black Omen, resembled a throne room. 
It had leaden-blue tiles, perfectly polished, and a wide red 
carpet lead from the door to the well of the Mammon machine, 
then split in two and surrounded it. Also surrounding the well, 
there were four demonic sculptures, each one holding a 
glimmering orb over its head. To the sides of the large chamber 
were wide windows, which let in the light of noon and gave the 
room the atmosphere of a cathedral. Kefka smiled at the sight 
once more, and put his hands behind his back. Leisurely walking 
around the Mammon Machine, he grinned wickedly at his prisoner. 
In the far wall of the chamber, opposite to the door and hidden 
behind the draining apparatus, was a golden Long, unconscious 
inside a giant Magicite containment tank. The Mammon Machine was 
also connected to Herb, slowly draining his power. With this 
device draining the dragon prince, it wouldn't take as long to 
turn him into Magicite as the factory at the bottom of Black 
Omen. Where those capsules would have turned their contents 
into stone after a few days, this machine would need only a few 
more hours, say, by nightfall. Kefka smiled in delight. He didn't 
know where did this guy get all that energy, but he would 
certainly be nothing more than a morsel to the machine.
	"Master Kefka!" a Red Shadow burst into the room.
	"_What_ is it?" he asked, not turning to see him. The 
Shadow gulped when it heard the annoyed tone of its master, it 
wasn't wise to interrupt him. "Let me guess," Kefka said, "The 
Espers and the humans escaped, right?"
	"Y-Yes, master."
	"Any word from Dysithal yet?"
	"N-no, master. Lord Dysithal has not appeared since he 
went down to Adder's Mouth."
	"Defeated by a puny human, no doubt," Kefka smiled to 
himself, "No matter, I already have all what I need to accomplish 
my goals. Dysithal was a fool by letting himself be lured into 
going down there. Siegfried was never the kind to give up. Guess 
they better change it from 'Adder's Mouth' to 'Dysithal Ravine'..." 
he cackled. He spoke again, "Where are Tiamat and the Fiends?"
	"Awaiting your call as always, master."
	"Then send them out. I want them to hunt down and destroy 
those kids. But tell the Fiends to stay together. Let's see the 
Espers escape _that_."
	The Shadow paused for a moment, not sure how to express 
this, "Oh, and , Master..."
	"_Now_ what is it?"
	"The people that Lord Dysithal tried to destroy..."
	"What about them?" Kefka listened with aroused interest.
	"They're also here. And they are taking down some of our 
best forces."
	"Who are they?"
	"It's Phoenix, master, and there are two Star-spirits and a 
Light Princess with him."
	"You mean a big bird, two insects and a fairy queen? Then 
just send Doom to meet them. Now go." Kefka knew that Doom had 
been one of the goddesses that originally created the Espers. 
They wouldn't stand a chance against her.
	The Shadow sighed in relief. Kefka hadn't destroyed it after 
all. Walking over to a communiations panel, it spread the word 
through the portable radios possessed by the guards. It was 
just walking out of the chamber when Kefka spoke.
	"Stop. Turn around."
	Puzzled, the Red Shadow turned around... and was completely 
evaporated when Kefka glared at it. It wasn't a ki blast, nor a 
Fire magic attack, not even "heat sight." No, Kefka simply looked 
at the Shadow and it was utterly destroyed.
	"Never, _ever_, disturb me while I'm in this chamber," he 
said, suddenly disappearing into the ether.

			*	*	*

	A group of six, lead by a raging Centaur, left a wake of 
destruction as it progressed through Black Omen. A gargoyle 
pounced from above. Ranma simply sliced it with Murasame. A 
griffon dive-bombed towards them. He blasted it with his own 
Shishi hoko-dan. A wraith sprung up in front of him, he pushed 
forward and a blast of wind tore it apart. Even Ryouga kept his 
distance from Ranma at this point. He had never seen him so 
angry.
	At the same time, at the other end of the fortress, one 
could hear constant arguing as Mireillia and Nadir tried to 
decide who would lead. The other people were bored, as any 
enemy that tried to attack was idly blasted away by a stray 
shot from the argument.
	Finally, the other four people were running to the Mammon 
machine, following Ranma's path. It wasn't hard, it seemed a 
tornado had passed through the corridors (literally.) Besides, 
with Ranma having taken out most of the guards in the sector, 
they didn't have a single encounter, until...
	A Red Shadow appeared in front of them. But even before 
Akane could strike, it held an object over its head, "Foolish 
beings, you will never overcome this! Now, face the great Doom!"
	"Doom?!" Phaeron thought. Doom had been the Goddess that 
destroyed the kingdom where he had lived in the World of 
Balance, and enemy of Poltergeist, the Goddess that turned him 
into a Phoenix. He immediately stood before the girls, defending. 
His golden aura appeared immediately, he wielded his staff 
menacingly.
	The Shadow smirked devilishly as it unwrapped the object. 
It was a box with the title "D O O M , for Windows 95." Everyone 
facefaulted as Akane bashed the Red Shadow.
	Somewhere, Kefka shouted in frustration.

	"Ranchan, calm down!" Ukyou clung to him as he continued 
fighting blindly. They weren't facing simple gargoyles or skeleton 
warriors now, it was a detachment of industrial-strength Red 
Shadows what they had encountered.
	"Earth Crush!" Ryouga threw a massive stone slab at the 
enemies, who blasted it to rubble. Using the distraction, Mint 
held Jihad's Scimitar in his jaws and dashed towards the Shadows, 
slicing them as the sword left a trail of fire. 
	"Delta Sword!" Terion slashed with Illumina's special 
techniques, tearing through the floor and through a few Shadows.  
At the same time, Crystallus spread his wings and nailed a few 
more into the wall with his feathers. Ryouga reached up and 
flung a volley of bandannas at the pinned Shadows, but they 
joined in a large crystal shield that deflected the attack. But 
Illumina wasn't stopped. Nothing can defend from the Blade of 
Light.
	"Ranchan, snap out of it!" Ukyou climbed on his shoulders 
and slapped him. He kept on mercilessly skewering or horse-
kicking the enemies that were foolish enough to come close. 
"Ranchan, I know it hurts but you can't let them beat you!" he 
grabbed a Red Shadow and stood on his hindlegs, smashing his 
front hooves on its gut over 800 times, and then came down, 
crushing the already-unconscious enemy against the floor. 
"Ranchan, listen! You're not like Kefka! You have honor, and you 
won't let him get the best of you, right?!" he cornered a 
gargoyle that happened to be passing by. The demon scowled at 
him and released his strongest blast. 
	Ukyou had to drop down to his back to defend from the 
beam. It lit up the entire room, the other fighters turned and 
gasped when it engulfed Ranma completely. Finally, the light 
receded. Confident, the gargoyle smirked. The fool had probably 
turned to ashes.
	"Think again," Ranma said, his hands crossed over his chest 
as they held a massive ball of light, remnant from the blast. He 
simply tossed it aside, blasting another hole in Black Omen. With 
a poweful punch he knocked out the gargoyle, then pulled it 
upwards over his head. A blade of solid wind formed around his 
other hand.
	"You bastards... You killed Akane..." his eyes were 
completely blank, his voice monotonous. "You are murderers..."
	"But you're not, Ranchan!" Ukyou pounded his shoulders, 
"Ranchan..." she cursed herself, this was the only way, "Stellar 
Crystals!" she touched his back, freezing his shoulders and arms.
	"Ucchan, stay out of this," his Fire magic melted the ice 
instantly.
	"Ranma, don't do this!" Ryouga said, "For Akane-san!"
	"Akane..." Ranma scowled, rearing back his bladed hand.
	"Stop!" a beam of silver light hit his arm, forcing him to 
release the gargoyle. Almost immediately, an arrow flew his way, 
ensnaring him in a net.
	"Nadir, stay outta this!" Ranma bellowed, struggling in the 
net. The group turned to where the arrow had come. Nadir put 
the bow back on his shoulder, as the others ran towards Ranma.
	"Terion!" the pegasus and unicorn embraced each other, 
relieved. Finally, the two groups were together once more.
	"Ranchan, you are not like this," Ukyou said, "You're not a 
murderer like these jerks. If you let yourself sink to their 
level, we've already lost."
	"She's right," Ryouga said, "You know how I felt towards 
Akane-san and R--" he shut himself up, he had almost said that, 
"But I fight, I will never stop fighting this pain. It won't 
conquer me, so don't let it conquer _you_."
	"Just because you forgot Akane doesn't mean I can!" Ranma 
finally sliced the net with Murasame.
	"I didn't forget her. It will always hurt. But I won't stain 
her memory just because I want to avenge her!"
	"B-but he killed her! I can't let him get away with it!"
	"And we won't," Mireillia said, "None of them will get away 
with it. But we are the Light Warriors. If I have learned 
something from you and your sister is that life is a precious 
thing. We are here to _defend_ life before all things, not take 
it."
	"What would Akane and your sisters think if they saw you 
like this?" Andellia asked. "I don't think either of them would like 
to see a berserk fighter avenge them by killing everyone in his 
way, do you?" Ranma was taken aback, he hadn't considered that.
	"I...understand..." he looked downwards, dropping his arms. He 
wiped his face with his hand, as if trying to cover his shame 
for what he had done. Somehow, he could swear he could hear 
Akane's voice, in one of those rare occasions when she playfully 
called him "baka."
	"I _am_ a baka," he thought. "Akane, for you, I will defeat 
them. But I'll beat them clean, just like always." He lifted his 
face again. Shampoo and Ukyou took his hands. "Okay. For her. For 
my sisters. For my friends." He looked forward. Before them was 
the door to the Mammon Machine.
	"For Akane!" he called out, "Moko Takabishya!" he shot out a 
gigantic bolt that filled the corridor, making even the Espers 
stare on awe. The door was effectively demolished.
	"Akane-san! Ranko-san!" Ryouga charged in after him.
	"Ranchan, wait!" Ukyou clung to his back. "Ranma!" Shampoo 
also followed. Mousse went in after her. Lime laughed at Mint's 
condition before the Musk warriors entered the room.
	"Quite an emotional lot, aren't they?" Crystallus smirked.
	"Sometimes I wish I were a human," Mireillia said. "Let's go!"
	As the troop stormed into the chamber of the Mammon 
Machine, at the apex of Black Omen, Ranma lifted Murasame into 
the air, "Akane, this one's for YOU!!"
	

Elemental Havoc

	"Er..." Ranma sweated visibly. There was _nobody else_ in 
the room.
	"What a waste of a dramatic entrance," Mireillia shook her 
head. "Well, that's that. Since we're here, might as well figure 
out how to use that machine against Lavos..."
	"Uh, Mireillia..." Nadir pointed upwards, protecting his eyes. 
She looked up, squinting and turning away as the Dark Orb 
blinded her and every Esper in the room. "Great," she said, "As 
long as we're here, our Esper power is going to diminish."
	"Oh..." a female voice came from one of the statues.
	"So..." a male voice followed.
	"What Kryptonite is to Superman..." another female voice 
said.
	"The Dark Orb is to Espers...!" the final, male voice said. 
The party prepared itself as they recognized the voices of the 
Four Fiends, all around them.
	"Of course..." Terion looked at the four statues. Two of 
them were gargoyles, the others were female demons. The 
gargoyles came to life, one turning blue and the other brown. 
The orb of the first glowed, a tiny whirlwind forming inside it. 
The other's orb became transparent, showing the ball of dirt 
within. With a blast of wind, the two gargoyles became humans, 
their orbs disappeared and became robes.
	At the same time, the two female demons also changed. One 
turned green and the other crimson. The orb held by the first 
became a hollow sphere of ice, a small amount of water in it. 
The other orb glowed gold, and a flame burst inside. The statues 
also took real life, the stone turning to flesh as the orbs 
became tunics. The other two figures helped them descend from 
their pedestals. Looking forward, the Four Fiends covered 
themselves with their white robes.
	"Welcome to your grave, creatures," Eoris said.
	"You won't escape now," Sharian followed.
	"This is our domain," Geriot added.
	"And you're our prey," Falia smirked.
	"It's not as if we wanted to escape," Nadir readied his bow. 
"We've got unfinished business with you."
	"That's our line," Eoris smirked. "Now, brothers, let's end 
this war once and for all." He spread his arms, his robe becoming 
colored. "Blue Shadow of Air!"
	"Green Shadow of Water!" Sharian reared back in a fighting 
stance.
	"Brown Shadow of Earth!" Geriot assumed a "horse-riding" 
position.
	"Crimson Shadow of Fire!" Falia lifted her hands.
	"White Ranger!" a weird guy in a white outfit and gold 
helmet said. Everyone stared at him. Out of reflex, Falia charred 
him. Everyone else cheered at her. "Eh..." the weird guy stared 
forward. "Oops, wrong show." He vanished back to his own series.
	"Piercing Arrows!" Mireillia immediately shot out. The Fiends 
scattered, the Dark Orb's power caused the shafts to be slower.
	"Stupid!" Eoris yelled, "Void Wave!" he pushed forward. The 
party was blown away into a wall by a crushing wind.
	"Uh..." Terion struggled to hold Illumina before him. 
"Thundering Shear!" he summoned. The Fiends barely avoided the 
erratic movement of the blades, making Eoris lose his 
concentration and release the party.
	"Wind Shears!" Ranma sliced towards Geriot. The Earth fiend 
put up a thick stone barrier, halting the attack, but Shampoo 
just used the Dragoon Boots to leap over the wall and came 
down on top of him with a drop-slash with Brunhilde's sword. 
Geriot punched her away.
	"Shampoo!" Mousse flung a hail of weapons towards Geriot, 
ensnaring him. "Ergh!" he pulled, but slipped as Sharian froze the 
floor beneath him. Having him pinned, she came down on him with 
an ice sword. He drove it away with a wind blast, rolling to the 
side.
	"You're pretty good!" Falia easily manipulated Mireillia's 
fire blasts, "But also foolish!" she bent the Single Hoof and 
bounced it back at the Nightmare.
	"Darkness Meld!" she barely escaped through her own shadow.
	"Shishi hoko-dan!" Ryouga blasted out towards Geriot, but 
Eoris pushed the beam away. Nadir shot out a fork-headed arrow 
towards him, pinning his robe to the wall. Just as Lime was 
about to punch him out, Geriot rammed into him instead.
	"There's a way to deal with Elemantals," Mireillia said, 
"Opposite strikes!" she shot out a sizzling blast of fire at 
Sharian. The Water Fiend's ice shield was melted, and she was 
nearly evaporated herself.
	"Of course!" Ryouga halted Eoris' blasts with an Earth wall, 
then pushed forward with the barrier and crushed him against a 
wall. Eoris' essence just blew out from it and reformed itself.
	"Rainstorm!" Ukyou summoned. A large cloud appeared over 
Falia, threatening to put her out with its water.
	"Oh, so that's what you think?" Falia smirked, "FireStorm!" 
she lifted her hands. A giant blaze filled the entire room.
	"Hey, watch it!" Sharian smirked at her sister.
	"Oww..." Ranma stood up, burned. "Why you..."
	"Let's use our full power, all right?" Falia turned to her 
siblings. They all nodded devilishly.
	"Oh, great," Crystallus rose from his ashes, "With the Dark 
Orb weakening us..."
	"Shampoo have idea!" the Amazon leapt up, "Moon Shield!" she 
encased the Orb in a Silver shield. Its effect on Espers 
decreased critically.
	"Heh," Mireillia smirked, "It's time for the real fight. Rising 
Shadow Bolt!" she punched Falia with her flying uppercut. Enraged, 
she delivered a large blast of fire. "Ultima!" Mireillia shouted, 
smashing Falia against a wall.
	"Tsunami Sweep!" Sharian washed Mireillia away from her 
sister, then froze Nadir before he could release the arrow. 
Geriot strode towards him, rearing back his fist. Lime punched 
him aside. Furious, Geriot punched him back. Lime was nearly 
knocked out, but he still had enough strength to punch the 
ground with both fists. All of Black Omen shook at the attack.
	"Why, thanks!" Sharian and the Fiends reformed themselves 
as the other fighters lost their footing. "Eoris, go!"
	"Particle Drop!" the Fiend lifted his arms, suddenly turning 
dark as in a negative film. All of the dust particles suspended 
in the air became a solid ball that smashed Lime into 
unconsciousness. "Darkstar Fire!" Falia spread her arms.
	Suddenly the entire upper half of Black Omen was engulfed 
in a swelling ball of purple flames. Even the black willows and 
treants looked up from the Phantom Forest. The Train's 
passengers looked out the windows, intrigued. Someone would 
surely join them after that.
	"What the..." the twins looked around, once Akane had 
released them from the defensive hug.
	"That voice..." Phaeron relaxed his crystal dome. "They're 
fighting the Four Fiends!!" Shocked, the group dashed for the 
elevator, headed for the final room.
	"Agh..." Mireillia barely managed to stand up. Most other 
warriors were still on the floor, miraculously conscious, while 
even the ice cube that encased Nadir was melted. The fiends 
were no worse for wear. "That does it!!" she summoned her magic, 
"Shadow-Fire combination attack! Ruby Gaze!" she looked towards 
Geriot. A great red laser spread from her entire body, smashing 
into the Earth Fiend and knocking him against the wall. 
"Strobodash!" she ran from Falia's flame blasts, leaving a wake of 
ghostly images in her wake. "Rising Shadow Bolt!" she finally hit 
the Fire demon.
	"Why you..." Sharian scowled at her. "Needle Stacks!" she 
summoned upwards. Nadir shot an explosive arrow just below 
Mireillia, blowing her away as a myriad of ice needles sprouted 
beneath her. Standing, Nadir smashed his palms on the floor, 
"Lightning!" His antlers began shooting out small bolts of 
electricity. Geriot was unhurt, Falia absorbed a little more 
energy. It was Eoris and Sharian who smirked.
	"Stupid Esper!" Eoris found himself filled with electricity, 
"Dry Wind!" he shot out a gust with crackling sparks inside it.
	[Note: it is a scientific fact that dry weather is often 
attractive to spontaneous lightning.]
	"Yaah!" Ranma received the attack with Murasame, struggling 
against the wind as several hundred volts surged through him. 
Slashing, he dispersed the blast and lunged for Eoris.
	"If that's your game, so be it!" Eoris joined his palms, 
shaping a sword of solid air. The Blue Shadow and Centaur were 
locked in swordfight.
	"Shocking Tide!" Sharian and Geriot pressed the floor. A 
great amount of lightning-charged water sprouted from her, while 
his shaking of the floor caused a wave that hit all of the 
warriors but Ranma. Falia became a huge fireball that knocked 
down everyone who tried to jump away.
	"I've had enough!" Ryouga glared at Falia, then jumped up 
and blocked her with his umbrella. "I have you!" he pushed the 
umbrella's frame, reversing it and trapping the fireball. Coming 
down like an anvil, he slammed the fireball into the floor.
	"Idiot human!" Falia turned to a human and swam out of the 
water. "A fiend cannot be hurt by his siblings' attack! Sea of 
Blood!" She dissolved in the water, turning it into a flaming red 
liquid.
	"Cleanse!" Ukyou managed to lift her spatula, her tiny body 
emmanating a white aura that turned the oil into crystalline 
water. Crystallus immediately spoke to her through telepathy, 
"Right, got it. Water magic technique! Whale Song!"  her spatula 
began vibrating, humming loudly as the water surged around her, 
forming a perfect shield against any Fire or Water attack. 
Scowling, Sharian aimed her hands at the shield. "Oceanic 
Pressure!" she yelled, forcing the barrier backwards and nearly 
crushing everyone inside it.
	"Esper of Unicorn, listen!" Illumina said. Terion and Andellia 
nodded when they received the message that followed.
	"Let's go!" Andellia lifted her staff. "Light magic special 
attack, part one! Star Lode!" an unmeasurable amount of glimmers 
shot out from her staff, barraging the three available Fiends. 
Geriot was the first to fall, as Falia once more absorbed the 
energy and Sharian slipped away from it.
	"Light magic special technique, part two!" Terion leapt into 
the air, "Lodestar!" Illumina shimmered like the Polaris star as 
he delivered an overhead chop towards Geriot. The Earth Fiend 
turned himself to a stone golem, but his right arm was severed 
nonetheless.
	"FOOL!!" Geriot grabbed Terion's ankle with his other hand 
and swung him around, smashing his head against the Mammon 
Machine. He was knocked out, the contraption tilted to a side 
and pushing it out of its well.
	"Ah!" Mint stared in shock. Recovering, Lime also looked 
forward. "MASTER HERB?!"
	"Master!" Lime dashed for the capsule, his Earth magic 
surrounding his fist as he readied to shatter the glass.
	"That's what you think!" Sharian encased him in a solid block 
of ice. Not even Mint's Jihad Scimitar could break it despite its 
Fire magic.
	"He will not be turned to Magicite!" Crystallus bellowed, 
"Release!" as during the battle at Star-Peak, his eyes began 
emitting concentrical waves of blue. The containment tank 
shattered, then broke completely. Herb was beginning to awake 
when an ice blade shot towards his neck.
	"No!" Mint flung himself in the way, brandishing the Scimitar 
before him in his canine jaws. The sword destroyed the ice blade 
completely, Mint landed and dashed for Sharian. "Ice Cage!" she 
simply aimed towards him and he was encased between icy 
stalactites that fell from the ceiling.
	"So, I see you like double techs!" Falia smirked, "Sister, 
let's show them!" Falia and Sharian joined hands, then reached 
upwards, "Garnet Hailstorm!" A cloud appeared over the room. With 
the roar of thunder, the cloud released a rain of red gem 
shards. Mireillia put up a shield to defend, but upon contact the 
shards exploded in a blaze of fire. Even Ranma and Eoris ceased 
their clash when they were blasted away.
	"Here's something you won't defend against," Falia scowled, 
and leapt onto Geriot shoulders, "Lord Dysithal, give us your 
might!" they chanted.
	"Oh, no, you won't!" Ranma got to his feet, "Ucchan, water!" 
"Right!" she understood his intentions.
	"Hellfire Retribution!!!"
	"Heaven's Deluge!"
	Just as Geriot put his hand on the floor, Ukyou sent a 
wave towards him. His Earth magic could only make ripples in the 
water. But as Falia herself enlarged her fiery robe, Ranma sent 
out a gale wind that pressed her back, also summoning the water 
upwards and extinguishing her robe completely.
	"Eeek! Hentai!" she eeked as she hid behind a dazed Geriot, 
covering herself with another robe.
	"Well done!" Eoris smirked, "But let's see you stop the Eye 
of the Hurricane!" he spread his arms, creating a massive 
whirlwind. When it touched the water, it became a typhoon that 
sent everyone flying except the Fiends, the frozen Lime and the 
still-dizzy Herb.
	"Idiot!" Ranma smirked, "You like hurricanes, eh?" he rode 
the air currents, summoning his aura. "Sis, this one's for you," 
he thought, closing his eyes. "Hiryuu shoten-ha revised!" he 
punched downwards with both fists.
	"Hiryuu... Kami Kaze Kourin-dan!!"
	Ranma's Flying Dragon God-wind Bomb carried him downwards, 
as his body was engulfed in a small descending tornado of pure 
energy. The Fiend of Air was struck by the attack, with Ranma's 
glowing fists embedded into his chest. Almost immediately, Ranma 
used the wind to rise again, away from the demon.
	"Yeaaarrrghh!!" Eoris was then betrayed by his wind and was 
torn to pieces, as his own typhoon's currents were overriden 
when Ranma's blast took full effect.
	"EORIIIIS!!" Sharian stared in shock at the small shreds of 
blue that slowly floated down to the floor, as the hurricane 
receded and died. "You... You will be punished!" she scowled at 
Ranma.
	"Now we're even," he scowled back.
	"Not quite!" Eoris' voice was heard once more, "As long as 
there is _air_, I will live on!" Ranma was pulled by an unbearable 
force into the column of light that sprouted from the Machine's 
well.
	"Ranchan, grab this!" Ukyou tried to reach him with her 
spatula, but it was too late. The Centaur and Murasame had been 
pulled into the well of light. Ukyou and Shampoo stared at it in 
terror. "Ranmaaaa!" the Amazon cried, Ukyou still tried to reach 
down with her weapon. "You..!" Shampoo glared at the Fiends. "If 
husband dead, Shampoo KILL YOU!!!"
	"That's right," Sharian turned to her siblings, nodding, "If 
you use too much shampoo, it can irritate your skin and the 
blood vessels can burst, killing you."
	Shampoo glared at her, popping a few veins in her forehead, 
"And for that, too, Shampoo kill!" she leapt upwards, brandishing 
Brunhilde's sword and letting the Dragoon Boots carry her into 
the ceiling. "Great-grandmother going to be proud," she thought. 
"Shampoo can make new techniques too!" she recoiled off the 
ceiling, thrusting the sword, "Silver Star!" she shouted, 
surrounding herself with Silver magic and gaining a speed as 
great as the Comet Flare's.
	"Stupid wench!" Sharian put up an ice shield... and stared 
agape as Hippolyte's belt glowed, letting Shampoo phase through 
the shield and hit her gut with the sword.
	"Amazon always keep promise," Shampoo glared at Sharian, 
their eyes meeting as the Fiend stood still, with the sword 
inside her.
	"You _are_ stupid!" Falia blasted Shampoo away with a gush 
of flames. Sharian laughed and put her hand on the injury, 
healing herself. "You should know we cannot be hurt by physical 
means!"
	"Shampoo no hurt physically..." she smirked mischievously, 
recovering from the fire. Sharian removed her hand from the 
injury. Instead of human flesh, the spot she had "healed" had 
been turned to water, somehow staying in place. "Aaah!" the 
Fiends stared, "How did you...?!"
	"That's it," Mireillia thought, "She channelled her Silver 
magic into the sword. When it passed through Sharian, the magic 
spread from it and into her body, preventing her from 
regenerating!" She reared back, forming an idea, "We may win this 
yet!"
	"That was a foolish gesture," Geriot finally regrew his lost 
arm and became human once more. "Even if you force us to 
assume our Elemental shape, we would only become stronger. 
Falia, Sharian, we must avenge lord Dysithal and our brother!"
	"Right!" they said, joining hands with him. Closing their 
eyes, they became surrounded by their respective Elemental 
auras as they rose into the air.
	"Ak!" the Espers saw the Triple Tech coming. Mousse sent a 
chain towards Geriot, pulling him down, while Lime broke free of 
the ice cube. Terion slashed at the Fiends with Delta Blade, 
while Nadir shot forked arrows to split apart the siblings.
	"Too late!" they chanted, hovering around. "Last Elemental 
Strike! The Three Stars of Devastation!"
	"No, you won't!" nanoseconds before the Fiends' strongest 
blast spread from their bodies, Mireillia spread her arms, "CHAOS 
INFERNO!"
	"Everyone, over here!" the Espers protected the humans and 
dizzy dragon within a 2m-thick shield as the room was filled by a 
blast of white fire, which clashed against the Stars of 
Devastation and forced them back, then cancelled them and 
smashed the Fiends against the walls.
	"Bitch!" Falia scowled at her, sending a crimson beam from 
her eyes and basting Mireillia out the window. Nadir stared in 
shock as his former fianc�e was completely blown away, pushed 
by the unceasing ray until she smashed into the Dead Wall, over 
ten miles away.
	"Now, for the finish..." the fiends scowled at the remaining 
fighters. The fight was not looking good: no Mireillia, no Esper 
leader. No Ranma, no human leader. And the strongest fighters 
were still lost, trying to find the Machine's room.
	"You're dead, humans!" Geriot dashed towards them, his 
hands becoming diamond.
	"Insolent... demon..." Mireillia shook her head. Her entire 
body ached, she could barely notice she was embedded in a 
crater on the side of the Wall. It was a miracle she had had 
enough time to put up an aura shield to defend herself from the 
impact, otherwise all her equipment would have been lost. 
Scowling, she pulled herself out of the crater, sitting on its 
edge to clear her mind. Staring agape at the blinding lights 
coming from the top of Black Omen, she reared back and shot out 
of the crater, flying at top speed towards the room. Slowly, her 
red aura covered her. Then gold. Pure light. Her body itself 
became energy. All her body shed a white light while her hair 
was blazing red. It was the Limitless Wild Nightmare, and this 
was her true power.
	"Nadir," she calmly called through the telepathic link they 
had always shared.
	"Mireillia! You're alright!" he could barely contain his smile.
	"Never mind. Tell the others to mount the strongest shield 
of their life."
	"What... What'll you do?"
	Mireillia took a deep breath before answering. She could 
already see the Mammon Machine. The room was one mile away. One 
kilometer. A hundred meters. Fifty. Ten. Five. And she shouted.
	"I'M GOING FULL POWER!!"
	

Assault on Black Omen

	It was over one thousand years ago, when the war between 
the Three Goddesses came to an end. Chaos had been banished to 
the first Esper World, many other Espers, like Phoenix and Kirin, 
had been turned to Magicite. But finally, it all ended. The 
Goddesses let the Espers go. But there was one condition: never 
again would the mystic creatures use their great power 
recklessly, lest the world become a wasteland once more. Thus, 
all the Espers, even those encased in Magicite, joined together 
in the Oath of Ragnarok: by this law, no Esper would ever again 
use its full power against other being.
	To uphold such treaty, a wondrous sword was forged, named 
after this oath. The Esper Sword of Ragnarok was then sealed 
into Magicite, when the remaining Espers infused their powers 
into it. It is because of this that the sword contains the true 
Ultima --the version that sacrifices its user's life.
	Since then, all Espers have abode by the Oath of Ragnarok, 
regardless of their situation or moral alignment. Only one case 
of Esper's Ragnarok has been registered ever since, resulting in 
the destruction of the third moon of Esper World, Briandor.
	But there are times when the Oath is invalid. Times when 
reason cannot resolve conflict. Times when only an Esper's 
maximum strength can end an unnecessary battle. For the Oath 
was made to save lives, and yet sometimes the Oath must be 
broken in order to preserve life.
	This is one of such times.
	"Fiends!" Mireillia broke through the remnants of the window. 
The Espers and humans stared at her glowing figure in 
amazement. "You monsters are not going to cause more strife!" 
she pointed accusingly at the three Fiends. Outside, four 
spheres of dark blue energy surrounded the Black Omen: three 
were in a triangular formation around the base, the last one 
was over the top. "First, you take away my fianc�, whom I _did_ 
love, almost as much as I ever loved Nadir!" the Kirin stared at 
her wide-eyed. He couldn't believe that Mireillia could still love 
him more than she did Phaeron!
	"But your masters were not content with that!" Mireillia 
scowled, even though her eyes were glowing white as well. The 
four giant balls of energy spread beams to join with each other, 
forming a "wire-frame" tetrahedron. The balls at its corners grew 
slightly. "Your 'lord Dysithal' took away a dear friend fo mine, 
_and_ her sister! The road towards becoming her friend was 
painful, and your master just dealt a grisly death to her!" the 
wire-frame tetrahedron began spinning on a vertical axis, with 
Black Omen inside it. A gigantic (well, maybe a ki-sphere as large 
as the Ceres asteroid isn't _that_ big...) ball of energy formed 
over the peak of the Dead Wall, covering the opening.
	"But it didn't end there!" Mireillia blasted the Fiends 
before they attacked, stalling. "Kefka dared take the life of an 
innocent human! Just a young girl! I was becoming her friend as 
well, and now I've lost the chance!" she lifted her arms. Geriot 
turned all his body to diamond and stood up, preparing himself.
	"What the..." Ranko looked out through one of the windows in 
Black Omen's corridors. "Phaeron-kun, you ever seen that?" she 
pointed at the tetrahedron.
	"Oh my God..." he stared at it. "Mireillia's going all out!" He 
called for Akane and Yuannyan, morphing into the Phoenix, "Quick, 
get beneath my wings! This will be very, _very_ rough!" Akane 
opened her hands, taking the two fairies in them, and slipped 
beneath Phoenix' outspread wings. He dropped flat, like an 
ostrich defending its nest, and created a crystal dome over 
himself.
	"We might not survive the war against Kefka and the 
Lavos..." Mireillia joined her wrists over her head, palms aiming 
upwards. "But _you_ won't survive _us_!" she threw her hands 
downward. Geriot dashed towards a wall.
	"NIGHTSTAR'S SHADOW-MATTER JET!" Mireillia summoned. The 
ball of power over the Dead Wall shot out a jet of purple 
energy, which hit the top of the tetrahedron and filled it with 
its power. Suddenly, the energy surged back to the giant sphere 
and a single, wide beam of power was shot back down through the 
opening and right towards Black Omen. Geriot finally hit a wall -
-his momentum, together with his mass and magic, pushed the 
entire fortress away from the blast. But not all of the fortress 
escaped. The beam hit _next_ to the Machine's room and blasted a 
giant hole as it travelled down through Black Omen, then crashed 
out through the base and into Adder's Mouth, and continued 
onwards until it came out the other side of the planet. blasting 
into a black hole and destroying it. A chunk of the fortress 
exploded after the impact, the engines began to malfunction.
	Mireillia stood up, her body back to normal. Geriot scowled 
at her, he had broken his right shoulder after hitting the wall. 
Nadir swallowed hard. He had never seen her so upset.
	"Stupid Esper..." Falia scowled at her. "How many Shadow-
Matter Jets can you throw? Our own power is unlimited thanks to 
the Mammon Ma--"
	She was interrupted as a giant spiked ball, a spatula, an 
umbrella, a bonbori  and about a dozen ki-blasts smashed the 
machine into tiny metallic shards. Ryouga and Lime effortlessly 
pushed the remnants of the Mammon machine through the window, 
letting it fall out of Black Omen and into Adder's Mouth. The 
Fiends sweated visibly.
	"Thanks for the tip," Ukyou smirked.
	"You stupid pyromaniac!" Sharian bonked Falia's head, "You 
just _had_ to say it, didn't you?!"
	"Heh," Ryouga cracked his furry knuckles, "Now it's our 
turn."
	"Attack!" Mireillia drew out the AtmaWeapon, as the fighters 
rushed towards the three Fiends.

			*	*	*

	White hot. All around him, everything was white hot. Ranma 
shook his head, still dizzy from the energy surge. He looked 
around, squinting to avoid being blinded. He was surprised at his 
surroundings: he was trapped inside a neverending well, filled 
with white light. It seemed this was the source of energy for 
the Mammon Machine. The well was about five meters wide, and 
stretched vertically until becoming lost in the distance. But 
somehow, he seemed to be floating inside it. There was no soild 
ground to stand on, but by just thinking it he could move to 
wherever he wanted. So, he started galloping upwards, towards 
the exit. It was then that a razor-sharp arc of wind stopped 
him.
	"Going somewhere?" Eoris asked, "standing" in front of him.
	"Why you... You won't give up, will you?" Ranma grasped 
Murasame tightly.
	Eoris smirked, "Like you, I'm too stubborn to know when I'm 
beat. Besides, it's pretty dramatic for the two leaders to have 
a climatic battle."
	Ranma rolled his eyes, "Yeah, whatever. I still have a score 
to settle with Kefka and I won't let you stop me!" he assumed a 
fighting stance.
	"As you wish," Eoris stood back, "This will be the end of 
our battle. And you shall experience my full power!" he threw off 
his robe. Ranma gasped at the sight of the Fiend's true form: a 
muscular, asexual humanoid, glowing pale blue. It lacked face and 
hair, almost like an artistic mannequin. A white sword appeared 
on its hand, while Eoris' devilish face appeared over the figure 
like a ghost.
	"You don't scare me, you jerk!" Ranma dashed towards him 
and slashed with Murasame. Eoris blocked with his own sword, 
then slashed upwards and tore off Ranma's katana from his hands. 
Defending, Ranma leapt upwards and planted his four hooves on 
Eoris' head, bouncing away and recovering his sword. "Yaah!" he 
sent out a wave of Wind Shears. Eoris dissipated most with his 
own magic, then spread his limbs and blew Ranma away with a 
powerful hurricane. Ranma struggled against the force, then split 
it with his sword and sent out a wave of Fire magic. Eoris had 
to slash at the fire with his sword, leaving himself wide open.
	"Wind-Fire magic, White Touch attack!" Ranma flung Murasame 
upwards. The sword came down in front of him. "Flying Dragon's 
Fire Horn!" he White Touched the sword's hilt, blasting it towards 
Eoris and surrounding it with fire, using his other hand to send 
a Wind magic-assisted horizontal Dragon.
	"Yow!" Eoris stared at the Hiryuu shoten-ha flamb� that 
sped towards him, an atom-sharp blade mounted on its front. 
Mounting a solid-air shield, Eoris leapt away from Murasame, but 
was still slammed against the side of the well by the fiery 
tornado. Ranma dashed after his punch, recovering his sword and 
sheathing it behind him. Leaping upwards, he prepared for the 
last blow.
	"Moko Takabishya!" he joined his hands.
	"Fool!" Eoris ethereal smirk appeared, then he twisted to 
avoid a 5m-wide bolt that sizzled beside him. While Ranma 
recovered from the attack, Eoris flipped and caught the 
Centaur's head between his legs, smashing him against the well. 
"You.." he grabbed Ranma's head with his hands and smashed it on 
his knee, "...are just..." he threw Ranma upwards and received him 
with a Wind magic uppercut, "...a stupid..." he took out his sword 
and slashed Ranma's side as he came down from the uppercut, 
"...Esper wannabe..." he blasted Ranma away with a ki shot, "...and 
you will never..." he grabbed Ranma from behind and backdropped 
him into a solid-air platform. "...defeat ME!!" he punched Ranma's 
gut, sending him flying upwards and crashing down on another 
platform of Eoris' creation. With the demonic sneer looming in 
the air above him, the humanoid figure retrieved his sword once 
more. Lying on the platform, Ranma weakly tried to take his 
Murasame, but Eoris kicked it away.
	"Why do you resist?" Eoris asked, "Don't you desire to be 
joined with your fianc�e again? Don't you want to see her once 
more? I'm simply helping you reach her." He smashed his foot on 
Ranma's neck, forcing him down. "Don't worry. You'll see her soon."
	Ranma was too weak to reply. His limbs felt incredibly 
heavy, his lungs could barely continue functioning. Yet he could 
think clearly. And right now, as a strange cold began to envelop 
him, he could only think of one person.
	"Akane..." he managed to say.

			*	*	*

	"Atchoo!"
	"You okay?" Phaeron turned back to her.
	"Uh-huh," she nodded. "But I feel strange," she thought, 
noticing how all of a sudden she was becoming worried about 
something, and it was a deathly worry. She looked around, trying 
to find the source of her apprehension. "What's wrong?" Ranko 
noticed her state and flew over to her.
	"I don't know..." she sighed. "Ranma, please be alright," she 
thought, not noticing her Sun Corona was emitting a strong light, 
"No matter what happens, I believe in you."

			*	*	*

	Ranma opened his eyes, incredulous. Was that Akane's voice? 
Was he so weak he could hear her spirit talking to him?
	"I believe in you..."
	There it was again! Blinking, Ranma focused his eyes on the 
apparition before him: Akane, surrounded by an intense golden 
light. If he had known of the Corona's telepathic abilities he 
would have reacted very differently.
	"Akane!" he thought, his eyes widening. "It _is_ you!"
	"I believe in you..." the Sun Corona repeated her phrase 
again.
	"Akane... I can't let you down... I _won't_ let you down! 
You've made me stronger, you've always been there for me! I 
couldn't stop that bastard, but this time, no mater what happens, 
I will not give up!!"
	Eoris suddenly felt something squirming beneath his foot. 
Ranma was putting his hands beneath him, pushing himself upwards. 
"So, you still have some strength left, eh? Then I better end 
this now!" he brandished his sword, its tip aiming downwards and 
for Ranma's chest. "Die!"
	"Wind magic!" Ranma desperately reached out with his hand, 
an unbelievable current of air stretching from him.
	The Murasame flew straight and fast.
	"Agh!" Eoris was suddenly stopped, the katana embedded deep 
in his chest.
	"Wind Slash!" Ranma raised his right arm with a sword-hand 
and sliced towards Eoris' weapon, hitting its flat side.
	"What?!" no sooner had the Fiend removed the blade from his 
body that he saw his own sword being shattered into a thousand 
pieces by Ranma's slicing hand. "You fool--"
	"White Touch!" Ranma put his palms on Eoris' feet and sent 
him flying into a wall. Finally, he stood up. He was a little worn 
out, but right now he was running on his feelings for Akane 
alone. With that much power behind him, not even the word 
"unstoppable" could describe him. This was it, no more breathers, 
no more second chances. Whatever he tried to do would be his 
last spurt, and it _had_ to count!
	"Ranma..." the Corona transmitted Akane's thoughts to him 
once more.
	"Akane, I'm glad I had the chance to meet you. I'll probably 
see you soon... But I have to beat this creep first!" he saw 
Eoris coming straight for him, the Fiend summoning his greatest 
strength also. "Wait a sec. Didn't he say that if there's _air_, 
he can come back?" he snapped his fingers, that's it!
	"Ultimate Wind-Shadow Elemental Magic!" Eoris became 
surrounded by a dark hurricane.
	"Not a chance, bud!" Ranma lifted his arms, his aura 
surrounding him with a golden tornado, "Instant final attack! Wild 
Centaur Vacuum Hold!!"
	Suddenly Ranma's tornado imploded, pulling Eoris' magic with 
it and nullifying it. The face over Eoris' body was pulled also, 
torn apart by the wind. The Fiend struggled, but he wouldn't 
resist long.
	"White Touch, Moko Takabishya revised!" Ranma shouted. His 
own vacuum would crush him unless he could escape, "Rising Tiger 
Flash!" he aimed his palms downwards. The force, coupled with the 
Vacuum Hold, caught Eoris at last and tore him to pieces. Just 
as the Fiend's inner energy exploded, a blast of power, capable 
of demolishing a small moon, left Ranma's hands and pushed him 
upwards.
	"Aaakaaaneeee!!" he closed his eyes, as the explosion rose 
after him and swallowed him whole.

	"You can truly hold your own," Geriot said, punching Ryouga 
away, "But you're still no match for us!"
	"Think again!" Ryouga aimed his paws at him, "Earth magic, 
Roaring Lion instant attack! Shishi hoko Ryusei-dan!" A _big_ ball 
of glowing dirt formed between his paws, the Roaring Lion Meteor 
Bullet growled loudly by itself. In a flash of light, the sizzling 
earth was shot out towards Geriot, smashing him into Black Wall 
and _through_ it. The Earth Fiend stared as the cursed rock 
buried him, eliminating his own magic and dispersing his stone-
like body into simple gravel.
	"No!" the other two Fiends stared at Ryouga, "That's it!"
	"Exactly," Ukyou said, "That's it for you! Instant special 
technique, Glacier Tongue!" she slammed her spatula on the 
ground, spreading her Water magic.
	"Wah!" Falia stared in shock as the huge flow of ice 
trapped her. "I cannot be slain!" she pulled herself from the ice, 
but was kicked hard by Shampoo, who sliced the Fire robe 
afterwards. Trying to escape, Falia turned herself to fire, while 
Sharian repelled the fighters with another tsunami. "You have 
lost already!" Ukyou lifted her spatula again. The raging water 
turned back and surged upwards. Andellia and Crystallus' entire 
bodies glowed bright white as they changed the Fiend's water 
into Holy water. Falia was extinguished completely.
	"Ah..." Sharian saw how her own water finished her sister. "I 
don't care for anything! You will now die!" she summoned an ice 
sword and darted towards the party...
	"Yaah!" she winced as bolts of lighting hit her from every 
angle, while Shampoo and Mireillia used their weapons to turn her 
body to water. The lightning became stronger, the tremendous 
voltage began to separate the atoms in the water. With a 
gurgling cry, Sharian was split apart.
	"That was for Yuannyan," a human Herb said grimly, relaxing 
his hand from throwing the lightning. The oxygen and hydrogen 
simply mixed with the air, harmless.
	"It's over," Crystallus said, "The Four Fiends have been 
defeated. But now the greatest enemy must be faced."
	"Ranchan..." Ukyou thought, looking towards the well. "Hmm?" 
she looked around, as the chamber began shaking madly.
	"Haaa!" an equine figure was blasted out of the well, 
followed by a gush of flames. Ranma blinked, he was completely 
blackened to a crisp.
	"Ranchan!" "Ranma!" Ukyou and Shampoo clung to him.
	"Akane... I did it..." Ranma thought, "Now, I'll get Kefka, for 
you."
	"Let's go," Mireillia said, looking out the window. "Night is 
falling, which means that the Lavos will arrive here shortly. We 
haven't much time."
	"But where will we go?" Mousse looked around, "This is the 
last room."
	"Great," Nadir said, "We'll have to look for Kefka all over 
this fortress..."
	Suddenly the sound of someone runing towards the room was 
heard. But before the steps reached the door, a blast of ki 
came from the well, drowning the sound of the door being opened.
	"I... will not... die..." Eoris' battered form dragged itself out 
of the well, "...without bringing you along!!" with his last 
strength, he sent out a massive arc of vacuum towards Ranma. 
He was still too weak, he wouldn't avoid it.
	"Oniisan!"
	"Ranma!" he then felt himself being pushed.
	A dead calm filled the room, as Ranma tried to reorganize 
himself. Confused, he felt a pair of slim, caring arms around him. 
He looked forward, and tears immediately filled his eyes.
	"AKANE!"
	He couldn't wait any longer to embrace her tightly, smiling 
as broadly as his face allowed. Akane replied in the same 
manner, burying her head in his shoulder. Very slowly, they stood 
up, never releasing each other, although Ranma's Centaur height 
surpassed Akane's by much. Silently, Andellia aimed her staff at 
them, turning both people back to human shape.
	All the people in the room came to their senses, realizing 
who had just come in through the door. Mireillia clung to Phaeron 
like glue, although Nadir didn't mind anymore, since he shook 
Phaeron's hand in relief. Shampoo and Ukyou, despite their 
rivality towards Akane, felt incredibly relieved as well. Herb 
waited patiently as Andellia turned Yuannyan and Ranko back to 
human shape before he hurriedly hugged his fianc�e. For a 
moment, Ryouga glared at Ranma for hugging Akane, but slowly, a 
broad smile appeared on his face. He was just glad she was 
alright. But he fainted in happiness when Ranko walked over to 
him.
	Ranma and Akane stayed like that for over a minute, 
relieving the sorrow. Finally, after an endless moment, they 
removed their faces from the other's shoulder and looked into 
each other's eyes.
	"You... you baka tomboy..." Ranma said.
	"Stupid pervert..." Akane was on the verge of tears.
	"Hey, forgetting someone?" Ranko called. Ranma's smile 
increased even more, he hurriedly rushed to his sister and 
hugged both her and Akane at the same time. Masamune winced as 
she was crushed by his hug.
	"You're alive... You're alive...!" Ranma was flooding the room 
by now, much like Soun.
	"Aigh... We... are... but... don't... crush... us..." Ranko gasped 
out. Still smiling, Ranma released the girls, "You really take 
after Mom," Ranko stretched her arms, smirking at him. But it 
only lasted a second, for Nadir immediately glomped onto the 
redhead and Akane. They just punted him into the wall, as always.
	"What happened?" Mireillia asked, still latching onto 
Phaeron.
	"Siegfried saved us," he said, "He faced Dysithal and bought 
us time to escape."
	"And you were in this fortress all the time?" Ranma asked. 
"What the heck took you so long?!"
	"We were looking for you!" Akane defended.
	"You could have found us _before_ we started fighting!"
	"And _you_ could have stayed in one place, you jerk!" 
	"Who's a jerk, you uncute tomboy?!"
	"I'll _never_, NEVER understand those two..." Ranko shook 
her head. But at last, the group was whole once more. Andellia 
was turning everyone back to their original shape, while 
Yuannyan and Phaeron healed the others' injuries, waking up 
Ryouga in the process.
	"Yes, we're together," Crystallus said, "Now we're ready for 
the last battle."
	"Oh, are you?" everyone looked upwards as Kefka's cackle 
resounded in the room. "You may have defeated the Four Fiends, 
but I'm very different from them!" The well of light erupted once 
more. The column of white became dark and eventually black, a 
pyramid of energy appeared inside it, about eight meters above 
them. A small glimmer formed within the pyramid. With a white 
blaze, the glimmer became Kefka.
	"So, what have we here?" he looked down at them. "You're 
all back together. Banded against me. Oo, I'm so afraid."
	"This is the end, you madman," Phaeron challenged, "You'll 
regret having done all that to our world."
	"And for tricking us..." Ranma added, "you're going to pay."
	"I don't really think so," Kefka smirked, "Right, Tiamat?"
	"Right, master," Tiamat said as she rose from the well. She 
set down on the floor, in front of the party, smirking evilly. 
Before even the Espers could react, her eyes flashed and a 
strange crystalline material spread through the floor, trapping 
everyone's legs inside it. Crystallus tried to peck it away, but 
even his crystal beak was unable to do anything.
	"Why you..." Ranma reached for the Murasame, but Kefka's 
glare paralyzed him instantly.
	"We must end this now..." Kefka smirked, "Coldfire, come over 
here!"
	On cue, a ball of blue fire appeared in front of Kefka. The 
fire then became white energy, which took the shape of a large 
bird. When his light faded, Coldfire shrieked like an eagle, 
spreading the magnificent wings of the Gray Phoenix.
	"You..." Phaeron scowled at him.
	"You bastard..." Ranko followed.
	Coldfire sighed. But he couldn't reveal his emotions, not 
now. He had almost ruined the plan when he saw Akane was 
alright. But this was all for the better. Kefka's plans were 
crumbling to bits. It was time to deal the final blow.
	"You never understood me, Phaeron. That is a mistake," he 
said. "A mistake that won't be repeated after this." He spread 
his wings once more, charging his aura. Phaeron was so upset he 
didn't notice Coldfire's aura was not purple, but white. Ranko did 
notice, and blinked in bewilderment. Demons were unable of 
shedding light auras.
	"Just dispose of them quickly," Kefka turned away, 
dismissively. "Tiamat and I have to take care of more important 
business..."
	"Very well..." Coldfire's eyes narrowed, "I shall carry out a 
duty I should have attended to the very moment I was reborn..." 
A platform formed beneath him. He landed, closing his wings.
	"Why?"
	The question took him completely by surprise. He bobbed his 
head towards Ranko, blinking.
	"Answer me, dammit!" she clenched her fist, "Why did you 
have to betray us? Why did you wait until _we_ were friends?! 
You could've killed me when you came back!"
	Coldfire felt miserable. But he deserved it, or so he 
thought, for putting them all through that hell. He would 
definitely have to spend days apologizing after this.
	"Why, you ask?" Kefka said, "Because Coldfire is like me," 
he turned back with a sneer on his face, "Have you forgotten 
that he's the Esper that gave me my power? You should have 
known not to trust him so easily. But you people are always so 
willing to see the good in others that you overlooked that small 
detail. You're like children, gullible and naive. That's why you're 
so easily fooled. If there's one thing I have learned from 
humanity, is that there is only one irrefutable fact about it: 
that the only truth lies in deceit. Deceit is the only thing 
that's constant, and it is only true that it's found 
everywhere..." he smirked at Ranma and Akane, "Even when you 
claim affection, you're only deceiving yourselves. But now you 
will be saved from that deception called life. Coldfire, destroy 
them."
	Coldfire turned back to Ranko and Phaeron, "Sorry, guys, 
but he's right. The only _truth_ lies within _DECEIT_." He winked. 
Ranko gasped as she understood, although the others were still 
too angry at him to catch his message.
	"Now..." Coldfire clenched his wings. "Havoc Wing!"
	He spun madly in all directions, becoming a glowing ball of 
energy. All of a sudden, dozens upon dozens of metallic feathers 
were shot out... and they all hit Kefka.
	"Wak!" he fell from the impacts, stumbling to the base of 
his pyramid. "What the hell are you--"
	Before he could even finish, Coldfire became human, darted 
towards him and penetrated the pyramid. With a quick motion, he 
drew out Kefka's own dagger and stabbed the lord of magic right 
in the chest.
	"For your information..." he said coldly as Kefka stared at 
him in disbelief, "I didn't give you my power... You stole it from 
me."
	"Master!" Tiamat blasted Coldfire away, scowling at him with 
her glowing eyes. Coldfire was trapped as well in the crystalline 
substance.
	"C-Coldfire... you..." Phaeron stared at him.
	"I repeat, you never understood me," he replied, "I never 
betrayed you. I never would, especially after what has happened 
these last three months."
	"You stupid, two-faced traitor!" Kefka bellowed, easily 
brushing off the feathers and dagger. As he did, the adamant 
body armor he wore beneath his clothes was revealed. "Look what 
you've done! Now _I_ shall dispose of them personally!"
	"Master, let me take care of the humans for you..." Tiamat 
hissed, while her mental power encased the Espers in unbreakable 
spheres and organized the fighters in two groups, the humans to 
the left and Espers to the right.
	"All right, have fun," Kefka smirked again, "I will now take 
care of the Espers... Behold, the Light of Judgement!"
	"No!" Ranko tried to reach for Phaeron as a blinding blast 
descended upon the mystical creatures. She and the humans could 
only watch silently as every Esper screamed in pain, until three 
of the voices ceased suddenly. Ranko felt her heart stop, 
Phaeron had been one of those. Then Andellia and Terion fell. 
Nadir tried to defend Mireillia, but he was brought down also. 
The Nightmare resisted for the longest time, but then, she 
dropped to the ground.
	"Phaeron-kun!" Ranko tried to reach the pile of ashes 
beside her, but her feet were still caught in the substance. The 
three phoeni had been burnt completely, the other Espers were 
lying motionless on the ground. The Light of Judgement broke 
Ranma's paralysis, he stared confused at the Espers. The others 
were still frozen in terror, as this was Ranko's turn to feel the 
dreaded cold spread inside her, for her eyes couldn't turn away 
from the ashes that used to be Phaeron.
	"NO!" she fell to the ground, reaching out.
	"Aww, too bad," Kefka cackled at her, "Don't worry, this will 
end for all of you shortly."
	"Exactly," Tiamat said, floating over the humans. An eerie 
aura surrounded her, it seemed to growl by itself. For a moment, 
they couldn't believe their eyes: the aura was slowly taking the 
shape of a five-headed dragon, with each head colored 
differently: white, blue, red, green, and black. Each head moved 
by itself, as Tiamat smirked.
	Ranko was completely oblivious to this. Despite her shock, 
her mind was still racing through her memories, trying to 
remember how to use the Merton spell that Crystallus had taught 
her. After all, Merton was fire, and how does a Phoenix come 
back to life?
	"I am always eager to please my love..." Tiamat said calmly, 
creating a wide ball of electricity in each hand.
	"Too bad you can't!" Akane flung Mjollnir towards her, 
knocking her off balance and making her lose her concentration.
	"Don't worry, Tiamat," Kefka said, aiming a hand at Akane, 
"I'll help you..." he spread his fingers.
	"Wings of the Paladin!"
	Suddenly the entire fortress shook, making Kefka lose his 
mark and shoot the wall instead. Tiamat immediately darted for 
the window, her eyes narrowing.
	"Dazer Bolt!" Another impact shook Black Omen.
	"What the hell?!" Kefka turned to the window for a split-
second.
	"Merton!" Ranko took the chance to fire off a gush of 
flames towards the three piles of ashes.
	"Darts of Jinn!" a volley of fireballs entered the room 
through the window, blasting Tiamat away and burning Kefka's 
face.
	"Who dares?!" he looked out the window...
	Black Omen.
	Silence.
	And the longest two seconds in Esper World's history.
	A pair of fireballs shot towards the dark fortress. Several 
dozen missiles pierced its outer defenses. History was about to 
be made.
	"Meteo!" inside a fighter spaceship, a tall man in dark 
armor lifted his hands, sending a barrage of flaming rocks that 
fell from the sky. The Lunarian fighter-pilots cheered at Golbez' 
attack.
	"Magenta Tritons, attack!!" riding a Blue Dragon's back, 
Arianne Lochmer� brandished Crimson Wind over her head. Listar 
sent out another Dazer Bolt barrage.
	"Chaos Wing!" Maduin's Esper attack surrounded Black Omen, 
bringing down many of its aerial defenses.
	"Comet Flare!" Syrtis Palidor crashed into a gargoyle, 
knocking it out of the sky.
	"Flare!" Locke Cole shot out from the deck of the Falcon 
airship.
	Everybody in Black Omen stared silently at the vast aerial 
army gathered around the fortress, flying towards it with 
weapons blazing. Speed and power ruled among these Sky Warriors 
as they all, in perfect coordination, deployed a massive air-to-
air strike.
	"It's... our friends!" Akane said, "They _did_ come!"
	"They must have passed through the hole at the top of the 
mountain!" Yuannyan said.
	"Chromatic Dragons from Sapphire Giants!" Listar called, an 
entire army of winged dragons flying behind him, "Let Tiamat and 
Kefka see our power!"
	"For Rysta, for Akane!" Arianne turned to the Tritons that 
rode the dragons, "Lavos' defeat will soon arrive!"
	"Lunarians, this is our battle!" from his XYZ-Wing fighter, 
Golbez summoned the rest of the Lunar SpaceForce.
	"Kefka, this is your end!" Locke and Celes joined hands as 
Setzer directed the Falcon straight towards Black Omen.
	"Esper Forces, we must defend our friends!" Maduin and Ifrit 
flew alongside the Falcon, rallying Syrtis, Phantom, Starlet and 
Shoat.
	"I wasn't invited, but I'M still the Master of War!" Spekkio 
hurled bolts of energy in all directions.
	"Fools, fools!" Kefka shook his head, sweating in 
nervousness. "I can still dispose of the humans! Light of 
Judgement!"
	"Earth Wall!" Akane had barely managed to take out the 
Golem Magicite. A steam-powered robot appeared in front of the 
party, protecting them from the blast with massive hands that 
sprouted from the ground. Golem then disappeared, although the 
hands still defended the humans.
	"I will not be stopped!" Kefka bellowed. "Tiamat! Take all our 
air forces and destroy the Returners, the Espers, the Dragons, 
Tritons and Lunarians! Destroy them ALL!!"
	Frightened at her master's anger, Tiamat quickly obeyed and 
flew out the window. The Army of Five Races found itself staring 
into the ten eyes of a gigantic (three hundred feet from snout 
to tail, five hundred in wingspan) five-headed dragon. Tiamat's 
breath attacks began to fill the entire valley of Cat's Eye. With 
a myriad of gargoyles, demons and griffons darting out of Black 
Omen, the greatest dogfight ever experienced in Esper World was 
soon to begin.
	"You have lost, Kefka!"
	"Phaeron-kun!" Ranko smiled broadly as she heard his voice. 
Coldfire and Crystallus used their feathers to destroy the 
crystalline substance on the floor, and the white phoenix 
immediately covered her with his Crystal Armor shape. "Now, 
follow my instructions!" he said.
	"Right!" she stood up, "Life 2!" she lifted her arms. A 
golden light surrounded the other Espers, as tiny cherubs flew 
over them and released golden powder. "X-Cure!" she aimed her 
palms at the slowly-recovering Espers. They felt immediately 
healed back to full strength.
	"It's over!" Phaeron shouted. The Espers and humans all 
reared back, calling their auras and retrieving their weapons.
	"We've got you!" the Espers leapt towards Kefka. "X-Zone!" 
they chanted, opening a dimensional rift.
	"How can it be over, when it has only just begun!" Kefka 
smirked, "And your death has only commenced!" he lifted his hand, 
enlarging the pyramid.
	"Oh, no, you won't!" Ranko clung to Phaeron's leg as the rift 
closed around Kefka, the Espers and the redhead.
	Complete darkness enveloped the humans as the floor gave 
away beneath them, a trapdoor opening. They were chilled to the 
bone as a wicked voice came from all angles, "NoW yoU dIe!" 
	It was the voice of the TriTier-Bosch.


Esper's Ragnarok

	"Insolent creatures!" Tiamat's five heads said. "You cannot 
defeat us!" Each head attacked a different race: the blue sent 
lightning towards the Espers, the red spat a cone of fire at the 
Returners, the green exhaled a cloud of poison gas at the 
Dragons, the white delivered a blast of ice at the Lunarians, 
while the Black spewed acid at the Tritons.
	"We can't hold out much longer!" a green dragon turned to 
Listar, "We need help!"
	"And help you shall receive..." Seraphim's voice came to them 
as a giant rift opened before them. A blast of red energy was 
shot out, and another. Seven heads came out of the rift. Tiamat 
scowled at this opponent. With eight loud growls, the Yamata no 
Orochi came out of the rift.
	"It's... It's the Hydra!" Maduin stared at it widely.
	"The what?" Arianne asked.
	"The Hydra is a mystical creature, born in Esper World," 
Ifrit explained. "It was banished to Earth over three hundred 
years ago, but now it's back!"
	As the Army of Five Races continued the assault on Black 
Omen, Yamata no Orochi and Tiamat glared at each other, as if 
analizing their weaknesses. Suddenly, as they both roared, the 
magical dragon and legendary serpent dashed for each other...

			*	*	*

	"Oh, my God..." Ranma and Herb were the only ones capable 
of speaking before the... the monstrosity in front of them. 
Hideous was the only word that could describe it, along with 
revolting, grotesque, demonic, hellish...
	From a quick look, one could vaguely discern it was divided 
into three main tiers:
	The bottom tier was utterly demonic. It seemed like the 
gigantic torso of a titan, with bulging muscles and glistening 
gray skin. Its hands were huge, they would easily hold the Esper 
Titan. Its face was dark gray, with red membranes protruding 
from its scalp. It had white, small eyes, and an angry expression. 
The stump where the torso ended continued into a series of 
very large tubes and protrusions. The tubes lead upwards, into 
the next tier.
	The words mentioned above, revolting and grotesque, apply 
here. The middle tier was a mess of flesh, even more gruesome 
than the Desperor beast that Ukyou and Ryouga had faced 
before. But there were roughly four smaller creatures embedded 
in the flesh. One was a giant goat's head, with pale blue skin 
and sharp horns. Sitting above it there ws the shape of a man 
as large as Titan, with leaden-blue skin, mottled with yellow and 
gray spots. Like Kefka, it had blond hair that was pulled into a 
ponytail. Behind this "man" was a dark mechanical contraption, 
with several holes, tubes and openings. And finally, in the rear, 
was another humanoid creature, with pale skin and also 
ponytailed blond hair. And from the middle of the tier, another 
set of organic tubes and pipes led to the top tier.
	The third level was more like a hellspawned altar. There 
was a leaned-back throne on it, and behind the throne was a 
wind-organ's set of pipes. Sitting at the throne was a blue-
skinned man (and yes, he also had blond hair in a ponytail.) And 
behind him, hovering in front of the pipes, was the limbless 
torso of a beautiful maiden, covered by a blue cloth and 
surrounded by golden glimmers, as if she were a mockery of a 
saint.
	"We ARe ThE stRongEst BeAst ThAt masTer keFka cReaTed..." 
the multiple creatures that composed TriTier-Bosch said. "NoW 
beHolD..."
	"Gargant!" the goliath at the bottom said.
	"Northern Soul!" the goat's head followed.
	"Stalker!" the blue man on top of the goat's head said.
	"Central Punishing Unit... CPU..." the contraption's electronic 
voice said.
	"Caster," the man at the rear of the middle tier created a 
magic sphere in his hand.
	"Lord..." the man at the top said, aloof.
	"...and Mistress..." the maiden spoke.
	"AnD BehOld YouR deAThs..." the TriTier-Bosch said. With a 
blast of wind, the party was split in three. Ryouga, Lime, Mint, 
Shampoo, Mousse and Ukyou were trapped by Gargant. Yuannyan 
and Herb were forced to face the Middle Tier. Ranma and Akane 
gulped when they were left alone in front of Lord and Mistress. 
Suddenly, every tier was separated from the other by an endless 
platform of darkness. The tubes that connected each tier just 
faded in it, while the humans found this darkness solid enough to 
allow them to stand. Strange, glowing clouds of silver formed in 
the distance, all around and in all three tiers. This was Kefka's 
greatest creation, surpassing the Fiends and surpassing anything 
that the party had ever faced before. Shadows surrounded the 
beast, but no kind of light would hurt it. For this was the 
Demon, and its face was the face of Hell.

			*	*	*

	It wasn't the explosions, nor the blinding lights. It was the 
_sound_ what awoke her. A sound, like a hollow drone, like an 
unmeasurable amount of water surging through a narrow pipe. She 
opened her eyes, coughing. The air was heavy, almost crackling 
with ki.
	"Are you okay?" the Crystal Armor asked. Still not aware of 
her surroundings, Ranko coughed again and nodded. "You know, you 
are very lucky I was covering you when you followed Phaeron 
through the X-Zone rift," Crystallus said, "Otherwise you would 
have been vaporized instantly."
	"Vaporized...?" Ranko blinked, and finally looked around. 
Wherever she was, it sure wasn't Kansas... nor Esper World, for 
that matter. She seemed to be lying down on a small asteroid, 
hurtling through space. But outer-space isn't colored navy-blue, 
and it doesn't have an endless quantity of asteroids in it. This 
was the Outer Plane. An extra dimension, a void that instead of 
black was dark blue. Many clouds of bright energy travelled 
above and below, as if shaping a ceiling and a floor, and they 
moved at a tremendous speed. In the distance, there was a 
bright star --the nucleus of the Outer Plane. In this place, 
there were no physical boundaries other than time. How else 
would she explain the ease with which she breathed?
	Looking forward, she realized why Crystallus had said she 
would have been vaporized: all the Espers, in their mystic 
shapes, were confronting Kefka. And they were all going full-
power. No wonder the wind was filled with ki, and come to think 
of it there was magic in the air --in more ways than one.
	"Phaeron-kun, wait up!" she called, leaping onto another 
asteroid and making her way towards the Phoenix.
	"So, a visitor!" Kefka shot out a giant bolt of energy 
towards her. Phaeron froze in shock, but she just closed the 
armor's wings and used them as a shield.
	"Wak!" the wings shielded her from the blast, all right, but 
the force still sent her flying _into_ several asteroids. Both 
Ranko and the Crystal Armor saw stars spinning around them when 
a large asteroid finally stopped them.
	"Why, you...!" Phaeron spread his wings, sending out a hail 
of fireballs at Kefka, who just batted them away. Meanwhile, 
Coldfire snuck up behind him and delivered another Havoc Wing 
hailstorm. Kefka defended with a Silver shield, then spread his 
arms and blew everyone away with a blast of Ultima.

			*	*	*

	The Yamata no Orochi and Tiamat circled each other, 
snarling. From time to time, Tiamat's heads would snort a small 
cloud of smoke, while the Orochi growled slightly. Both creatures 
narrowed their many eyes, smirking.

			*	*	*

	"Yaah!" Ryouga jumpkicked Gargant's head, then stood on his 
shoulder and received Mousse and Mint's chains, ensnaring the 
monster's arms.
	"Stupid!" Gargant easily broke the chains, then slammed his 
right fist on the ground. Everyone was knocked off balance, but 
as the other fist raced towards them, Lime quickly stood up and 
caught it, using both hands to lift the fist over his head.
	"Smash this, will ya!" Ukyou swung her spatula, sending a 
storm of ice shards at Gargant's chest. They all embedded in the 
flesh, but he just laughed them off. He did the same for 
Shampoo's sword and Ryouga's Full Moon. The group gulped, was 
this monster impervious to their attacks?

			*	*	*

	"Hito ryuuzan-ha!" Herb sliced the air before him, sending 
out a load of razor-ki blades. Caster neutralized them with 
Shadow magic blasts, while Northern Soul tried to encase 
Yuannyan in a block of ice. She White Touched the ice away, then 
leapt up and came down on Stalker with a ki-charged kick. He 
punched her away, enraging Herb.
	"Dragon Spirit Extreme!" he shouted, turning into a dragon-
shaped bolt of lightning and shooting out the rebounding blasts 
towards both Northern Soul and Stalker.
	"Diffuser," CPU computed. Six red spheres appeared around 
Herb and Yuannyan, small laser beams being transmitted from 
sphere to sphere and draining the fighters' energy. Northern 
Soul finally spotted an opening.
	"Southern Cross!" three blasts of frozen energy came down 
on both of them.

			*	*	*

	"Weak Wind!" Lord stretched his hand, not even bothering to 
rise from his throne.
	"Hiryuu shoten-ha!" Ranma easily cancelled out the dark 
tornado with his own hurricane.
	"Meteo!" Lord lifted his hands. A rain of fiery rocks came 
down from the ether. Ranma stood in front of Akane and defended 
her with Moko Takabishya-Amaguriken combinations.
	"If you keep that up, you'll be worn out," Mistress cackled. 
She was right, that technique alone had left Ranma very tired, 
after all, sending over three hundred ki blasts per second is 
not something you do every other day.

			*	*	*

	The Lavos increased its speed, with the Lightbird Phoenix 
still close behind it. The beast's terrifying scream resounded 
within it as its eyes spotted Esper World. The Lavos Spawn 
screamed along, for it was ready to live by itself.

			*	*	*

	"It's no good!" Terion said, sending out a bolt of lighting 
that was easily diverted. "We can't get through his defenses!"
	"There must be something he can't block..." Mireillia said, 
"Of course! Ranko, use the Crystal!"
	"Wah!" Coldfire panicked, "No, don't!!"
	Too late. Ranko had already retrieved the Seraphic Crystal 
and was aiming it straight at Kefka. A broad beam of light 
detached from the artifact and hit his head, making him disappear 
in a flash of power.
	"That... was _it_?" she blinked, surprised that Kefka would 
be defeated so easily.
	"Idiot!" Coldfire smacked Mireillia's head with his wing, "Look 
what you've done!"
	All of Outer Plane shuddered at the loud cackle. Small bits 
of energy detached from the clouds above and below, gathering in 
a single pyramid of darkness. The pyramid flashed, becoming a 
large ball of power. Three stones, Magicite rocks, detached from 
the ball and spun around it. The Espers attacked, but nothing 
would stop the transformation. The loud clang of rending metal 
was heard from the sphere.
	"Life... death... Hope... despair... The Universe is ruled by 
opposites..." Kefka's voice was heard.
	"Why must it be like this? Why can't there be an end to 
this conflict...?
	"But this war now ends. The balance will be no more... And I 
shall bring destruction to it all!!!"
	The sphere disappeared. The Espers and Ranko swallowed 
hard at the sight of Kefka. He had become a giant, nearly five 
stories tall. His skin was violet, glistening. His cape had 
disappeared, although the rest of his clothing became covered 
with hundreds of small silver needles. His eyes, while still red, 
glowed like bright beacons of death, blinding anyone who looked 
at them. But there was a reason for his transformation. On his 
back, growing below his shoulders, were two pairs of giant 
metallic wings. They were razor-edged, with blade-like feathers. 
When Kefka spread his wings, it seemed they would engulf all of 
the Outer Plane.
	Kefka cackled once more, "Imbeciles! You have now given me 
even more power than I used to have, more than what _you_ can 
endure! Now face your destiny!"
	He clenched his fist. At his command, thousands of 
asteroids joined together to form a massive body of earth. The 
rock fused, becoming a planet as large as Mars thanks to Kefka's 
magic. He easily stood on it.
	"Fallen One!" Kefka lifted his hands. Golden glimmers came 
from above, hitting every single warrior. Out of reflex, Ranko 
lifted her arm, defending. The Wall Ring glowed brightly as it 
deflected the attack. However, the other Espers were weakened 
tremendously, they were forced to land on the planet Kefka 
created.
	"Train!" Kefka pushed forward. A field of spreading blue 
light came from behind him, a yellow triangle detaching from his 
hands.
	"Wak!" the Crystal armor stared at the triangle,"Wall Ring! 
Wall Ring!!"
	Obeying immediately, Ranko used the Ring to defend herself 
from the blast. Only she escaped, for the weak Espers were 
caught completely. The magic triangle afflicted them with every 
possible physical seizure, turning them all blind, deaf, mute, and 
draining them further at the same time. Quick to act, Terion 
stood on his hind legs, "Heal Horn!" he chanted, as his horn's 
power relieved him of the impairments. But his magic wouldn't 
heal the other Espers. Despite his weakness, he made a break 
towards Ranko. She immediately released Cure 4 towards him, but 
stared in shock as Kefka lifted his massive foot to squash a 
helpless Phoenix.
	"Moko Takabishya!" she blasted out, hitting Kefka squarely 
in the gut and sending him staggering backwards slightly. He 
cackled again, "So, a little human girl tries to do what six 
Espers failed at? How amusing!" he sent out a large fireball at 
her. Terion quickly galloped beneath her and she rode on his 
back, escaping from the attack. Another blast forced Terion to 
run from Kefka, Ranko gripping his mane tightly.
	"Yes!" Kefka snickered, "Run, little baby, run while you can! 
But you can never escape death! You can never escape _ME_!"

			*	*	*

	Gargant punched Ryouga and Lime away with the same fist. 
With the other, he slammed the ground and sent a shockwave of 
energy speeding towards Ukyou, blowing her away. Then he spread 
his arms and caused a strong wind, disrupting Shampoo's leaping 
slash and sending Mint's chains back at him, and then swatted 
Mousse's spiked ball aside.
	"Keiran Ken!" Mousse retaliated with his eggbombs, tossing 
them at Gargant's eyes. "Reverse Polarity!" the creature chanted, 
sending the eggs back at Mousse. Ryouga's bandannas made them 
go off in midair, while Mint used the explosion as a smokescreen 
and leapt at Gargant's head while his arms became blurred, 
"Rouga Ryuusei-dan!"
	The fourteen knives were shot from his hands and they all 
embedded in Gargant's face. Seeing him grimace, the Musk warrior 
took the chance to leap with Jihad's Scimitar over his head.
	"You've made a great mistake..." Gargant scowled at him. His 
blank eyes became dark red. "Now, be filled with Dread!"
	As soon as Mint looked into Gargant's eyes, the Dread spell 
froze him in mid-leap. The wolf-boy then felt an indescribable 
cold spread over his rigid body. He heard the scream of terror 
from some of his companions, but suddenly his ears were useless. 
The last thing he could see before turning to stone was the 
Shishi hoko-dan, at its maximum capacity.

			*	*	*

	"Gravity Bomb," CPU processed. A gray ball was shot 
towards Herb, rendering him unable to fly. Yuannyan avoided 
Stalker's punch and White Touched the arm away, using the force 
to leap up and drop-kick him. Unnoticed, Caster, finished his 
spell, "Flare Star!" he commanded, opening a rift in space and 
letting a star's fire pass through it. Yuannyan and Herb joined 
in an aura shield, then he shot out a wave of Hito Ryuuzan-ha 
arcs, opening wide gashes in the middle tier's surface.
	"You shall pay for that!" Northern Soul said, "DoomTusk!" a 
lance materialized over Herb. He closed the Zephyr cape and 
became invisible, avoiding the blow. Caster took the opportunity 
to blast him with a lightning bolt, as his invisible state 
attracted magic like a magnet.
	"Herb-chan!" Yuannyan was distracted from avoiding Stalker's 
blows, which resulted in her flying into the ground. "Yuannyan!" 
Herb became visible again and quickly dashed for her, defending 
her from a second punch with his own ki blasts. Smirking, 
Northern Soul summoned the DoomTusk once more. Herb could 
barely cover himself and Yuannyan with the Zephyr cape. Still 
invisible, he carried her in his arms, trying to command the 
Lightning magic mentally and successfully electrocuting CPU. The 
contraption glowed, using the newly-received power to send a 
wave of electricity all around itself.

			*	*	*

	The Orochi and Tiamat growled, oblivious to the aerial 
battle around them. Midnight was close. The creatures snarled, 
releasing a blast of energy...

			*	*	*

	"Kyaa!" Akane smashed Mjollnir into Lord's staff, knocking it 
away, while Ranma delivered a round of Chestnut Fists to his 
face. Smirking, Mistress simply called, "Pearl Wind." Her consort 
was healed completely.
	"It is useless for you to resist!" Lord said, sending 
another Weak Wind tornado towards Ranma. "It would be better for 
the lot of you to accept the end quietly!"
	"We didn't die facing Dysithal and we're sure as heck won't 
die facing you!" Ranma and Akane both kicked Lord's gut.
	"But you won't die..." Mistress smirked, "You shall simply be 
cast to the Netherworld! Northern Cross!"
	"What?" Akane thought. There is no such thing as a 
Northern Cross. But this thought caused her to be open for half 
a second. Suddenly, everything around them became bright blue. A 
white sphere shot from Mistress' eyes and towards Akane, 
followed by a hail of ice shards.
	Ranma didn't even need the True Knight puppet, he 
immediately dashed for Akane and pushed her aside, shielding her 
with his own body.	
	His mouth opened widely in a silent scream.
	"Ouch..." Akane rubbed her rear, sitting up, "R-Ranma...?" she 
opened her eyes.
	Her heart stopped. Her mind went blank. Life as she knew it 
had ceased.
	Ranma had been completely turned to an ice sculpture.
	Akane couldn't believe her eyes. She quickly closed them, 
shaking her head. This was an illusion. Yes, it _had_ to be. 
Please, let it be a dream. But as she opened them again, the 
truth hit her. Ranma's body was ice. She could even see through 
him. And this was no Doppleganger. Her fianc� was still standing 
before her, locked forever in the defending posture. Even now, 
his final act had been to save Akane's life.
	"If I were you, I would start dating other people," Mistress 
snickered, "Why, your fianc� is so predictable he's transparent..." 
both she and Lord laughed.
	"N-No..." Akane fell to her knees, staring blankly into the 
ice. She remembered what she had seen yesterday, when it was 
Ranma who had believed _her_ dead. Well, whatever thoughts she 
had about how she would feel if she lost him were completely 
surpassed by the real thing. Nothing she had experienced before 
could compare to this. Her eyes became flooded, her chest 
burned tremendously. It seemed her heart wanted to stop. 
Entering shock, she could do nothing but stare silently at the 
sculpture. Her mouth was suddenly very dry, her face was red 
from the tears. She started trembling uncontrollably. For some 
reason, several images flashed through her mind...
	Her running into Ranma in the bathroom... The battle against 
Pantyhose Taro, in the cliff... Ranma saving her from the Hiryuu 
shoten-ha... Ranma "declaring" love for her during the Martial 
Arts Cheerleading Contest... Defending her from Kirin and Toma... 
Defending her honor from Herb... Selflessly luring the Orochi away 
from her... The fight over the Battle Dougi... Herself, giving him 
the money to go back to Jusenkyo... Ranma saving her from 
Overlord...
	All the times when Ranma saved her resurfaced in her mind. 
Over and over, they were repeated. And Akane Tendo cried, for 
she couldn't save _him_. And she cried, for her world was 
shattered.
	She felt cold.
	The cold embrace of utter despair.


Strength of Heart

	Ranko felt a chill travel down her spine. Her entire body 
was assaulted by a sudden cold, although she couldn't tell what 
it was. She would have to worry about that later, right now 
Kefka was quickly gaining on them.
	"We gotta go back!" she yelled, "Phaeron-kun and the others 
are still back there!"
	"I know, I know!" Terion replied, cursing himself for leaving 
Andellia and his sister behind, "But maybe we can keep Kefka 
away from them long enough for the spell to wear off!"
	"I wouldn't count on that," Kefka said, "Because you shall 
die soon! Hyperdrive!"
	He stretched his hand, a ring of balls surrounding it. 
Suddenly all of the energy spheres joined and were shot out 
towards the trio, becoming ten meters wide.
	Ranko opened her hands to absorb the blast, "Gray 
Toouuouuou...!!!" she was nearly electrocuted by the energy 
overload. Crystallus was also burned to a crisp.
	"Are you crazy?!" Terion yelled, "Whatever you do, never 
try to absorb Kefka's power or it will consume you!"
	"Th-th-tha-a-annk-ks-ss f-fo-o-r-r th-th-e t-tip..." she 
sputtered out, her hair standing out in all directions. 
Crystallus' pieces were still sizzling.
	Kefka cackled out of hilarity, "Why, you humans are really 
stupid. What will you try next, freeze the Sun?" He paused for a 
second, "Now there's a thought... Frozen Space!" he aimed his 
hands at them. A perfect sphere of ice encased the trio, 
instantly chilling them to the bone. Drawing out his silver 
dagger, now as large as a cyprus, he stomped towards them, 
ready to break them to pieces.
	"Twin Luminaire!" Ranko, Terion and Crystallus joined their 
magic to create a giant, hemispherical blast of electricity 
around them, driving Kefka away. The energy produced sufficient 
heat to melt the ice around them. Terion managed to escape from 
Kefka's dagger at the last second.
	"Or maybe not!" Kefka didn't bother to take his weapon out 
of the earth, he simply punched the ground and caused an 8.1 on 
the Richter scale. Terion was shaken off balance, and Ranko was 
knocked off him. Before either could react, Kefka grabbed Terion 
and tossed him upwards, and when the unicorn came down, Kefka 
punched him away. Hard. The comatose Esper was embedded deep 
into one of the larger asteroids.
	"Ak!" Ranko leapt out of Kefka's stomping foot, then dashed 
away from the real Havoc Wing (add to it the fact that these 
were ten-meter-long steel feathers.) She stood still for a 
moment. Kefka immediately sent another Hyperdrive ball at her. 
She rolled beneath the blast, feeling its heat, and ended up 
beneath an open Kefka.
	"Hiryuu Shoten-ha!" her uppercut summoned the heat to 
bolster her technique. The intense tornado hit Kefka's gut... like 
a soft breeze. Cackling, he easily blocked it with his open palm, 
then he pushed down and crushed Ranko with her own wind.
	"Impossible..." she said, digging herself out of the crater.
	"With me, nothing's impossible!" Kefka cackled, "Crystal 
Shatter!"
	"Not again..." Crystallus groaned as Kefka's magic made him 
vibrate off Ranko's body. The Crystal Armor fell to the ground, 
unconscious.
	"White Touch!" Ranko used both palms, trying to push Kefka's 
monstruous hand away. Her aura began rising to gold, even her 
hair was beginning to flow upwards, but her force was no match 
for Kefka's. Smirking, he used his other hand to brutally push 
her away, into an asteroid. Even before she could dig herself 
out of it, Kefka kicked a small hill towards her, crashing into 
her asteroid and budging her loose. As she fell, Kefka closed his 
wings and charged an aura of darkness.
	"Disaster Wings!" he spread them again, creating a black 
wind. Dozens of ghostly skulls flew towards her, boosted by the 
current. Ranko was surrounded completely by the speeding skulls.
	"Damn..." she weakly brought her arm upwards, defending. The 
Wall Ring flashed, surrounding her with a wide blue shield. The 
skulls were deflected completely. A few hit the asteroids around 
her, turning them to dust. She managed to land on the ground, 
but almost immediately Kefka grabbed an asteroid that flew by 
and tossed it straight towards her. With her weakness, she 
barely managed to leap away, landing on her belly. At the same 
time, a large piece of rock shrapnel from the impact fell on her 
back.
	"Ugh!" she winced as she fell to the ground, pinned by the 
rock. She tried to heave up, but the constant attacks were 
beginning to take their toll on her. Kefka easily punted her into 
another asteroid.
	"I've played enough with you..." Kefka stopped grinning and 
took the flying rock, pulling Ranko's arm to detach her from it. 
She could barely keep her eyes open, much less retaliate. Her 
kicks were like a fly's touch to Kefka. "Now, what should I do 
with you..." he said. Ever since he saw her come in through the 
X-Zone portal, he had decided to eliminate her first. He had 
studied the past, and, for some reason, it seemed that the 
great Destroyers were always defeated by mere humans rather 
than magic creatures. By destroying her first, he would solve 
the problem, leaving only a group of crippled Espers for him to 
deal with.
	"Of course..." he smiled, seeing how she was dangling limply 
from his hand. With a flick of the wrist, he whipped her upwards, 
making her land on his open palm. She tried to stand up, but 
Kefka instantly clenched his hand, squashing her. A terrible fire 
spread within her, burning her entrails. She opened her eyes and 
mouth widely, gasping for air and discovering that her lungs did 
not want to function. Despite her state, she still tried to White 
Touch the hand, but she only succeeded in weakening herself 
further. The fire became more intense, as her organs were 
pressed against each other, slowly crushing her heart. Every one 
of its beats made her chest swell terribly from within, to a 
point where Ranko herself could sense it beginning to slow down.
	Crack.
	She idly felt her ribs and limbs fracturing. Everything went 
red before her eyes, although at this point her brain payed null 
attention to what she saw. She couldn't even feel the pain in 
her nearly-broken arms and legs, for her ribs had now more 
freedom to crush her lungs even further. 
	Kefka smirked. Crushing her would end up in a disgusting 
red mess in his hand if he continued. Besides, in this position 
she was as fragile as a pile of dust. Grinning in delight, Kefka 
used his other hand to point at Ranko's head with his index. The 
redhead's eyes rolled upwards to see his massive finger touch 
her forehead. Just one slight push, and her head would come 
right off.
	But Ranko remained oblivious to it, for the fire became 
unbearable, and everything around her was turning black.

			*	*	*

	"Dragon Spirit Extreme!" Herb tossed Yuannyan upwards and 
attacked with his lightning speed, catching his fianc�e on her 
way down. Northern Soul fired another S. Cross at him, but the 
effects of the Gravity Bomb had worn off and he easily flew out 
of the way. Cursing, Herb set Yuannyan down and used both hands 
to fire a massive bolt of pure light towards the middle tier. 
Caster immediately put up a magic barrier, but it only diverted 
the blast. CPU exploded in a large fireball when the blast hit it. 
The remaining three creatures bellowed in pain.
	"You shall pay for that!" Stalker shouted. "Ten Hits!"
	For a brief period, Stalker was able to detach from the 
main body and attack Herb savagely. Each of the Ten Hits was 
nearly three times stronger than his own ki blasts, the dragon 
prince couldn't avoid a single one. But those had been nine. The 
final punch was aimed at Yuannyan.
	"Stop!" Herb bellowed, tearing off the Zephyr cape and 
blasting it towards her. The cape fell on Yuannyan, turning her 
invisible instantly. Herb crashed into Stalker, diverting the 
punch, and blasted him into Northern Soul. The beastly man was 
knocked out, but the goat seemed angrier than ever.
	"DoomTusk!!" Northern Soul created nearly a dozen wicked 
lances over Herb, hitting him frm every direction.
	"Yua..." was the last sound Herb could make before the 
DoomTusk turned him into a mindless zombie.

			*	*	*

	"Taka zume-ken!" Mousse dropped on top of Gargant, slamming 
his talon-armed shoes into his face. Furious, the monster 
punched him aside with so much strength even the Spectacle 
Frame was torn off his face. "Dread!" Gargant then scolwed at 
him.
	"Wha..." Mousse rubbed his head, everything blurry around 
him. Garagant pressed on, but Mousse couldn't look into his eyes. 
The spell never affected him.
	"Stellar Crystals!" Ukyou saw the opening, freezing 
Gargant's eyes. He cried out in pain, an unearthly sound that 
for once didn't frighten the party. Instead, there was now a 
chance at winning!
	"Foolish creatures!" Gargant lifted his hands, "You cannot 
blind me!" he opened his palms, terrifying the group: there was a 
large eye on each palm, a penetrating, cold eye. The eyes even 
blinked.
	"You're the fool!" while Gargant gloated, Ryouga sent a 
flurry of bandannas at the eyes. But the monster simply clenched 
his fists and crushed him into the ground.
	"Quake!" the punch caused the ground to tear open beneath 
them. Shampoo managed to leap away at the last second, but the 
others were too slow. They fell into the crevice, hanging on as 
tight as they could to its wall.

			*	*	*

	Lord and Mistress grinned at the two frozen figures before 
them, one turned to ice, the other paralyzed in fright and 
despair. Akane was just beginning to face the reality that 
surrounded her, her mind was desperately trying to hold onto 
the real world. Maybe Ranma had been turned to ice, but she 
wouldn't give up! He had sacrificed himself to save her, and she 
would not let the sacrifice be in vain!
	"You bastards!" Akane suddenly grasped Mjollnir and dashed 
towards Mistress, stomping Lord's nose in the process. Smirking, 
Mistress simply closed her eyes peacefully and the stone hammer 
was blown backwards, taking Akane with it. She screamed as her 
weapon fell towards Ranma. With all her might, she pulled the 
hammer in midflight and threw it straight into the ground.
	"Solar Eclipse!" she shouted as soon as she landed. But her 
enemies took the magic balls and laughed them off.
	"Stupid woman," Lord said, sneering, "No magic can ever 
affect us."
	Akane sweated nervously. How would she attack them, if 
magic was useless and she couldn't even get close enough to 
attack physically? For a moment, she wished she had continued 
her lessons with Phaeron, but, in her state, even sending a 
simple ki-punch was as easy as breathing in outer space.
	"Now, join your fianc�..." Lord smirked, "And accept your 
death through the Calmness..."
	A myriad of blue beams came down from above, shaping a 
cylinder around Akane. No matter what she tried to do, she 
couldn't escape the Death spell. She could only think of Ranma, 
of how they would soon be joined.
	The frozen mantle of death came upon her.

			*	*	*

	"AAAAGGGHHH!!"
	Suddenly Kefka winced in tremendous pain. He reflexively 
relaxed his hands and dropped Ranko. A spherical aura shield 
surrounded her as she fell, the ball was filled with the 
strongest Cure magic that he could produce.
	"I will kill you!" somehow, Ranko's final gasps had reached 
the deaf ears of one Fire Phoenix. The enraged Esper was digging 
his steel claws into Kefka's back, and for the first time the 
lord of magic was actually wounded. Judging from how deeply 
Phaeron was digging his claws, he might as well be holding onto 
Kefka's ribcage.
	And indeed he was, for he used that hold to fly upwards 
and pull Kefka, then, using every bit of Esper might in his avian 
body, Phaeron came down and smashed Kefka against the planet. 
Glancing at the aura sphere for a brief second, he acknowledged 
how Ranko was quickly healing. With a glint in his eyes, still 
holding onto Kefka, Phaeron reared his head backwards.
	"Diamond Beak!" he shouted, pecking Kefka's back with a 
speed greater than the Chestnut Fist's. The fiend cried out in 
pain as red specks began forming all along his back. Seeing him 
weakened, Phaeron finally released him and flew as fast as he 
could towards Ranko.
	"Ugh..." she fluttered her eyes open, trying to endure the 
pain as her organs returned to their proper places.
	"That bastard..." Phaeron said, entering the shield and 
turning human, then taking her in his arms to speed up the 
healing process. "How dare he attack you just like that..."
	"Pha... Phae..." she coughed out, seeing him. He shushed her, 
"Don't speak yet. You're too weak."
	She smiled briefly, "I'm... not... weak... you... jerk..."
	He smiled back. But then he saw the rest of the Espers 
flying towards them, now that the Train spell had worn off. And 
the Nightmare was _quite_ pissed...
	Kefka was just standing up when another impact knocked him 
back down. "Thou art a fool!" Mireillia hissed, slamming her 
hooves on his wounded back, "To touch Mireillia is a mistake, but 
to _cripple_ the Nightmare is an offense I shan't forgive!!"
	Standing on him, she became human and used her mental 
power to lift the titan on the ground, flip him, and slam him 
back down. She didn't notice Kefka was grinning all throughout 
this exchange. Furious beyond belief, Mireillia charged her hand 
with a _big_ ki blade.
	"No, Mireillia, stop!" Phaeron called out.
	"Nightmare Pendulum!" Mireillia finally got to use her attack 
as she sliced Kefka's windpipe. But he easily regenerated, then 
delivered a powerful backhand to knock her aside into a faraway 
mountain.
	"Thou art dead!" they heard her angry threat from fifty-
four miles away. "Nightstar's Shadow-Matter Jet!"
	"Uh-oh..." Andellia said as she rescued her fianc� from the 
asteroid.
	Kefka opened his palms to receive the Nightmare's ultimate 
attack. It was hard, but with effort he managed to resist the 
blow and shape all of its power into a large energy ball.
	"Espers are stronger than I remember," he smirked, "But I 
have improved also! Behold..." the three captive Magicite stones 
appeared behind him in a triangle formation. They spun around, 
until the Zeromus magicite was on top. "Witness the cosmic power 
of..." he lifted his hands, releasing the energy, "BIG BANG!"
	"Yow!" Phaeron doubled the power of his shield and held 
Ranko tightly, protecting her as all of the Outer Plane became 
filled with unmeasurable energy. Lightning crashed from the 
clouds above into those below, cracking the navy-blue space and 
blinding those who resisted the attack. Most of the asteroids in 
Outer Plane were disintegrated, even Kefka's makeshift planet 
cracked under the heavy explosion.
	"Wow..." Terion said, as the Big Bang awoke him. He landed 
and turned human, along with the rest of the Espers. Crystallus 
shook his head, reforming his bird shape. Kefka waited no longer. 
The Magicite stones spun again, the Exdeath on top. "Power of 
Mu!" Kefka joined his hands over his gut. Suddenly _everything_ 
was pulled into the purple ball in his hands, tearing down the 
energy clouds and even pulling a few bits from Outer Plane's 
core. Mountains and hills from the planet were pulled into the 
void, as the Espers desperately tried to escape the vacuum.
	"We've got to stop this!" Nadir took out his bow and landed, 
letting the Mu pull him, "Arrow of the Ten Suns !" he released a 
glowing missile towards the Exdeath Magicite. Every Esper used 
its magic to save the arrow from Mu's pull. With the greatest 
precision, the Arrow of the Ten Suns destroyed the Exdeath 
Magicite, releasing the spirit within.
	"Now _that_ was stupid," Kefka smirked, "Exdeath wants to 
destroy the Universe as much as I do!"
	"Then we'll stop him now!" Andellia and Terion said. 
"Lodestar and Star Lode!"
	A ghostly image formed behind Kefka, but no sooner had he 
opened his eyes that Exdeath was barraged by the thousand 
energy blasts from Star Lode, then he was slashed to oblivion 
by the Illumina Blade. Taking the chance, Terion drove Illumina 
towards Kefka, but he just flew out of the way, making the 
sword destroy an asteroid instead. But this caused hm to 
disperse his Mu, the attack was over.
	"Now, Zeromus!" Nadir shot another arrow at the Magicites, 
shattering the stone. When a grotesque creature sprouted from 
it, it was immediately cast back to the void by Phaeron and 
Ranko's ki-blasts.
	"Touch master Chaos and you're dead," Mireillia and Terion 
suddenly appeared next to Nadir, glaring as he readied the third 
arrow.
	"Oh, I forgot!" Kefka cackled, "You're trying to save Chaos!" 
he suddenly grasped the final Magicite, crushing it to dust with 
tremendous ease.
	"NO!" Mireillia stared in shock. "Thou art DEAD! DEAD!!" hre 
body became energy as she flew towards Kefka and punched him 
across the face, then flew down and smashed her feet into his 
gut.
	"...so, you remember how to do them?" Phaeron asked. Ranko 
nodded, and they both leapt down to the planet. The redhead 
kneeled on his shoulders, as he dashed towards Kefka.
	"Stupid insect!" he swatted Mireillia away, perfectly open to 
the attack.
	"Now!" still running, Phaeron crouched and delivered a 
double uppercut that grazed the ground. His force was so great 
that he created a vacuum, pulling a large mound of earth before 
him.
	"Earth Void!" Ranko aimed her White Touch hands at the 
rising mound, pushing it and turning it into a snake-like limb of 
earth that flew towards Kefka and knocked him down. Not wasting 
a second, Phaeron leapt upwards, with Ranko still on his back. 
Like trapeze acrobats, they held hands and he flung her with 
great force towards the madman's gut.
	"Hawk-Dive Shooting-star Kick!" she yelled, hitting Kefka 
while Phaeron came on top of him with a double-fisted punch. 
They bounced away immediately, begining to run around the 
colossus.
	"Pests!" Kefka stood up and aimed down, shooting out a 
Hyperdrive fireball. The ground was ablaze, but the duo still ran 
around  in a helix. Phaeron was suddenly surrounded by an 
intense aura of fire, while Ranko tried to keep as cool as 
possible. Their running, along with their temperature difference, 
began creating a powerful wind current.
	"This is it!" Ranko shouted.
	"The strongest technique we developed while training in 
China!" Phaeron followed.
	"Hiryuu..." they both stopped, rearing back.
	"Honoo...!" Phaeron lifted his hands, flaring in a blast of 
flames.
	"...KAZE!!" Ranko punched upwards.
	Kefka found himself staring down at a gigantic red dragon, 
made of pure fire, that rose from an explosion on the ground 
and hit him across the gut, the chest and the face, sending him 
flying upwards. The Flying Dragon Flame Wind continued onward, 
destroying a great amount of asteroids as it pushed Kefka 
upwards. The Espers gulped at the sight.
	"So, how's it feel, huh?" Ranko looked upwards, scowling as 
she recalled the pain from before. Tired, she knelt down on the 
fifteen meter-wide, seven meter-deep crater made by the Hiryu 
Honoo-kaze.
	"Actually, it was kind of warm!" Kefka cackled as he 
descended on top of them, crushing the pair with a massive 
asteroid he held in his hands. They never saw it coming.
	"Phaeron!" Mireillia yelled.
	"WhiteBird!" a vertical blast of light was shot out of the 
asteroid. Phaeron and Ranko easily leapt out, avoiding Kefka's 
Havoc Wing.
	"Stupid kids! You should not have angered me!" Kefka 
scowled at them. Suddenly both of them winced in pain, they 
started to fade out of existence. Quickly, Nadir sent out a 
silver arow at Kefka. But as soon as he fired it, the arrow 
melted thanks to the maniac's magic. The same thing happened to 
Mireillia's Graedus dirk. Ranko and Phaeron were barely visible, 
they had nearly become ghosts.
	"_Now_ it's over," Kefka scowled at the rest of the Espers.
	"Exactly..." a female voice said, startling Kefka.
	"It's over..." another female said.
	"But not for them..." the last feminine voice said.
	"But for you, instead!" a strong male voice finished.
	"What...?!" Kefka suddenly started to feel his power being 
drained.
	"For this is the end of the madness, and the Five 
Guardians will stop you!" Four beams of white appeared around 
Kefka. Despite their proximity to death, Phaeron and Ranko 
opened their eyes widely.
	"Remember, never lose hope!" Seraphim said as she 
materialized along with Uriel, Etheldred and Bryna. The four 
angels spread their wings, blinding Kefka with their Light. The 
party immediately came back to full strength, smiling at their 
saviors.
	"This is a battle for all of life," Seraphim said.
	"We must _defend_ this life..." Bryna followed.
	"_Fighting_, with all our might," Etheldred added.
	"Opposing the evil wrought by you!" Uriel pointed at Kefka 
with his sword.
	Kefka cackled, the madman wasn't even afraid of the angels. 
"But you cannot fight _me_. I'm not a demon. Besides, angels are 
not allowed to fight, right?"
	"We are now..." Etheldred smirked.
	"But our battle is not with you," Uriel said.
	"You're only the smallest threat to life around here," 
Seraphim mocked, although she spoke the truth.
	"We're here to defend against a greater evil..." Bryna said, 
"The evil of Lavos!"
	Kefka grinned, "Then go ahead. Try to stop him from 
devouring the two planets. But you know only the Black Orb can 
defeat it. You will be destroyed by its power if you use it, 
unless Lavos eats you!" he fired a blast at the four angels, who 
flew to the sides to avoid it.
	"But we're also here to help our friends," Seraphim smiled, 
"In a way nobody has ever seen before..." she winked at Ranko 
and Phaeron. Somehow, they understood perfectly, and swallowed 
hard. "Are... Are you ready...?" Phaeron asked. Ranko shuddered 
before nodding.
	The four angels stopped over the duo, protecting them from 
Kefka with their Light. They gulped again, and reflexively joined 
hands. Closing their eyes, they let the angels cover them with 
their warm auras.
	"Through Faith and Hope..." Seraphim joined her palms, 
praying.
	"The Protector will come..." Bryna took her shield.
	"Wielding a Noble Strength..." Etheldred spread her arms.
	"Through Fire, the Guardian will revive..." Uriel aimed his 
sword upwards.
	Ranko was shaking uncontrollably from the tension, Phaeron 
tightened the grip on her hand to calm her down.
	"Now, in time of need," Seraphim continued, "We ask of you 
for this: Break your shackles, rise from the earth. Regain your 
freedom, shed the disguise..." she turned down to the pair, 
signaling.
	"Here goes..." Ranko said under her breath.
	"Don't worry, it'll be okay," Phaeron replied, then he spoke 
aloud as they continued the chant...
	"Passed through the Fire..."
	"Witnessed the Light..."
	The angels smiled and lifted their hands.
	"Cordis Fortitudo, the curse is broken. You can arise!"

			*	*	*

	"Hah!" Ukyou thrust her spatula into the ground, using it 
as a step to rise from the crevice. Flipping the rest upwards 
like okonomiyaki, she used her spatula to help the others climb 
out. Gargant's hand-eyes glared, but then the ice began to melt 
off his real eyes. Smirking, he grasped Mousse and glared at him, 
"Dread!" But Mousse still didn't have glasses. Gargant shouted in 
frustration.
	"Gotcha!" Ukyou leapt at him with her spatula at the ready. 
But he ducked, she hit the tubes behind him instead. Ukyou 
couldn't have made a better mistake.
	"Gyaaa!!" Gargant writhed in pain as the tubes that 
connected him to the next tier were frozen and shattered. He 
even opened his palms widely, giving Ryouga an idea. He quickly 
turned to Lime and shared the thought. "He turned my best 
friend to stone..." the tiger-boy growled, looking at Mint. "I'll be 
damned if I don't help you do it."
	"Then let's go!" Ryouga leapt at Gargant, Lime following him. 
The monster slapped his hands on them, trying to squash them. 
Using their tremendous strength, Ryouga and Lime pried the 
hands away, then each grabbed a wrist and pinned it to the 
ground.
	"Dread!" Gargant scowled at them. "You're finished!"
	"No, _you_ are!" Ryouga contested as he twisted the wrist 
and forced the hand open, imitated by Lime. For one frozen 
second, Gargant's eyes stared right into the eyes on his hands.
	"Agh!" he bellowed as he began to turn to stone. Slowly, but 
unstoppably, the beast known as Gargant became a gigantic stone 
statue.
	"It over?" Shampoo asked.
	"Not yet," Ryouga neared the statue, cracking his knuckles. 
Lime growled as he grabbed one of the statue's arms.
	"Bakusai Tenketsu!" Ryouga yelled as he leapt towards 
Gargant's chest and jabbed his index into it. At the same time, 
Lime ripped off the arm and smashed it against the ground, 
pulverizing it. "Take cover!" Mousse took a wok from hyperspace 
and protected the girls from the explosion that turned Gargant 
into tiny pieces of rock shrapnel.
	"Wha..." another stone statue came to life as Mint suddenly 
returned to normal.
	"We gotta find the others," Ukyou said, looking upwards.

			*	*	*

	Yuannyan woke up, shaking her head. She looked down at 
herself, checking for injuries... and nearly cried out in shock at 
discovering she wasn't there. No wait, she _was_ there, but the 
Zephyr cape was covering her. Making use of her invisibility, she 
looked around, wondering what had happened.
	"Herb-chan!" she thought, seeing him standing motionless 
before the middle tier. Stalker lay unconscious in front of him, 
but Northern Soul and Caster were still quite alive. In fact, 
they were _speaking_ to him...
	"Find her," Northern Soul commanded, "Find that girl and 
destroy her."
	"Yes," was the simple answer. Yuannyan froze in fright when 
Herb turned around, for his skin was dark gray. She immediately 
removed the cape, calling him.
	"Hito ryuuzan-ha!" Herb shot out his ki blades at her, 
barely missing her. Yuannyan couldn't believe what was happening. 
She dodged her continuous assaults, desperately calling for him. 
But he didn't answer. He had lost all his will, and would obey 
Northern Soul only.
	"Herb-chan, listen!" Yuannyan called, "Stop! Please! They're 
not your masters!"
	"I shall carry out my duty," he replied, "I was so 
commanded."
	"But you can't...! Stop!" she hated to do it, but she had to 
White Touch him away. An idea ocurred to her.
	"Ryuusei Hisho!" he flew back towards her. She leapt 
upwards to avoid the shots, then planted both palms on his back.
	"Herb-chan..." she whispered, "I love you... GRAY TOUCH!"
	A sudden flash of light surrounded the couple as Yuannyan 
absorbed the negative ki inside Herb. Very slowly, her skin began 
to lose color at the same rate at which Herb's became pink. When 
it ended, Yuannyan screamed a last time before all of the 
DoomTusk's power penetrated her, while Herb returned to normal.
	"What the..." he looked at his hands, "What happened to me?" 
He looked around, confused. His eyes opened widely upon finding 
his beloved, very gray, lying on the ground.
	"Yuannyan!" he cried, holding her carefully in his arms.
	"Love... y..." she managed to say before falling in coma.
	"No!" he shouted, caressing her hair. "You!" he scolwed at 
Northern Soul, "You have done this to us! You will die!"
	"I don't think so... Southern Cross!" the beast sent the 
blast at him. Herb rushed forward, "Ki ryuu tou!" he easily 
dispersed the frozen energy with his ki-knife. "Art of the 
Lightning Blade!" he commanded, his knife becoming twice as long 
thanks to his Lightning magic. Flying upwards, he destroyed 
another DoomTusk barrage and came down on Northern Soul, 
embedding his hand deep into the flesh. In a swift motion, he 
took out his hand and waved towards Caster, sending out an 
obscene number of ki blades at him.
	"It... is not... over..." Northern Soul and Caster joined in a 
final attack. "Delta Hit!"
	A red triangle was suddenly shot out of the middle tier, 
speeding towards Herb. Scowling, the Musk prince created an aura 
shield to stop it, then blasted the triangle back at the tier. 
Northern Soul and Caster stared wide-eyed as their own blast 
hit them, instantly turning them to stone.
	"Ryuusei Hishoooooooo!" Herb darted towards the stone and 
delivered more than two rebounding shots. About five dozen ki 
blasts hit the floor and smashed into the stone, causing it to 
crumble to dust.
	"Yuannyan!" Herb flew back to her, his heart speeding up as 
he noticed how the DoomTusk's spell was being broken. It seemed 
to take forever, but her skin gradually turned back to normal. 
When her eyes fluttered open, she smiled weakly at her fianc�.

			*	*	*

	Kefka and the Espers were blinded. The place where Ranko 
and Phaeron were standing suddenly flared in an intense light. 
The four angels above spread their wings to the maximum, 
singing. And, at last, a being of light came from below.
	The last of the Five Guardians, imprisoned 1500 years ago, 
was now fully awake.
	It was Cordis Fortitudo Angelum Femina.
	

End of section 3E