Cross-Generational

[Atticus the Fallen]

Midgar was in ruins... most of its inhabitants taking refuge in the outlying fields via tents or cottages, the rest hiding amongst the twisted iron of the destroyed slums. This was a place of hopelessness after meteorfall, even with all the restoration projects in place. Shinra was attempting to save face by heading up this effort, but it was not doing much. The fact of the matter was that people here were heartbroken...

The perfect place to begin an assault.

From the darkness stepped the caretaker to the Heartless, a former black mage with all the unstable madness of an entire world of evil hiding just below his cap, seen through by points of glowing light that observed the wretches far below as he stood on the presipice of some jutting metal ironwork high above the slums. He turned his head ever-so-slightly to the side, as if waiting for someone to follow.

"Your assignment will be a simple one, though I suspect you will enjoy it at least by a small margin..." he muttered, his voice echoing in all the shadows around him. He pointed a clawed hand downward to the world before them, a world known simply as Gaia.

"Ravage these lands to your heart's content. Make use of as many of my brood as you desire... Just do not wantonly kill if you can help it... My family is quite hungry..."

[kefka]

***From A Dark Alliance, in The World that Never Was***

[glow=yellow,2,300]Stepping from the Black Corridor, Kefka surveyed the lands below, noting happily that this truly was his playground.

"Now, now. 'If you can help it' seems kind of redundant, don't you think?" He leaned in close, his head tilted and his face boasting a wide grin. Then he looked down on the heaps of junk they stood upon and bit his lip. "They've already begun laying down the foundation of my return! Kwee-hee-hee! Oh, I do so love it when people pile rubbish in one great mound! Mass destruction is simply the best thing since kicking small children off cliffs..."

Kefka then cocked his head forward and made a dramatic leap off their post and glided through the air like a bird on drugs. "Destroy, destroy, destroy!!!" he cried, crunching up into a ball and then releasing a large amount of energy from his body. In all directions bolts of lightning came streaking from within, and when they reached solid material his own shadows materialized.

Like a ring master, he conducted his servants to cause all sorts of chaos, watching in glee as they headed off. While they were at that, he turned back to Atticus.

"If you don't wish to become a part of this structure by mere force of hilarity, I'd suggest you make like a second's thought of consideration and...disappear! Kwee-hee-hee!" He then set about to working his magic on the wreckage, firing bolts of electricity and wild fire at random.[/glow]

[Atticus the Fallen]

Kefka was... a wild card at best. He already was a manic, dark soul, with the gleeful energy of a child turned loose on a world of playthings. However, for him to be of any use to Atticus, he needed to FEEL something. Darkness takes root in the heart by way of emotion, eating away at the things that make one look outward onto the world and ask "why". Kefka did nothing of the sort. He merely destroyed at will, causing mayhem and destruction where ever he went. But even this could be a valuable tool.

You see, the people here were mostly on the edge of broken hearts as is, from tragedy after tragedy befalling them. First it was the oppression of Shinra, then the calamity, then the geostigma, and more recently Shinra's leftovers in the form of Deepground. Now, some psycho was loose and ravaging them still further? Well... it would not be difficult to believe that some of them would fall into despair and terror, seeking answers from any force able to give them some relief to their horror. And then, Atticus' kind would welcome them into their family... discard their useless shells and make them one with the Heartless...

That was his role, after all. He cared for his family, tended to them, grew their numbers and ensured their future. So a few people had to die along the way... As long as they're not Heartless, it doesn't matter. So, ravage onward, Kefka... and when the time comes that you find yourself unable to fight back, open your heart to the world of possibilities just beyond the scope of your emotional understanding... We'll accept you too.

Shaking his head, Atticus focused on Kefka's demand that he simply leave. A little bow of the head would be all he would offer in response. Kefka was doing his job, the heartless were doing theirs. He himself had bigger fish to fry, more powerful hearts that needed cultivating before they could blossom into even MORE powerful heartless. A turn on the spot, and Atticus the Fallen was gone, leaving behind a Midgar in chaos and an all-too-happy clown enjoying the spoils...

[kefka]

[glow=yellow,2,300]"Let's start this mad party once again!" cried Kefka, dancing in place in the sky. The rubble below him soon began twisting, creaking and molding upward. Other rubbish he could see in the distance soon began its journey to meld with the tower he was constructing. While at that, the Heartless ravaged the poor citizens of Midgar, ripping out a heart here, another there. Some took weapons and did their best to oppose this onslaught, but it came to no avail.

Kefka's laughter echoed throughout the city and when his tower was finished after some time he descended upon the region where people were scattering.

He grabbed a small child as it tried toddling past, and lifted it carlessly off the ground. He brought its face close to his and shouted "boo!". The little one merely shivered in horror, wetting itself before Kefka sent him to Oblivion.

"Wa-ha-ha-ha-ha! Kwee-hee-hee! Fresh MEAT! BURN, BURN, BURN!!!"

He threw the lifeless body into a pile of filth to the side and proceeded to run off into the midst of the chaos, to survey his handiwork firsthand.[/glow]

[Cloud]

*Breeeet* *Breeet*

The cell phone rang, but was never answered. He couldn't remember the last time he picked up the phone to talk. He always just listened to the messages as they came. This one was from Tifa, over at Seventh Heaven. Probably just another delivery request, even if part of him already knew that was too much to hope for. The spikey-haired exShinra Grunt lifted the phone to his ear and listened to the news he already had a feeling he knew.

"Cloud!" came Tifa's voice over the receiver, "Something's going on in Midgar. People are panicking all over. I think there are people getting hurt! Please help them!"

His hand fell lightly to his side, turning the phone off before pocketing it and revving up the engine of Fenrir, his custom Shinra MK-III model motorbike. Slipping his sunglasses on, Cloud took off like a rocket towards the nuisance, ripping apart rocky terrain as he left the mountainous areas and into the plains surrounding the ruined city.

It wouldn't take him long on the faster-than-lightning vehicle. In mere moments he was skidding to a hault just inside the wave of mayhem. His eyes widened behind his sunglasses a little, reacting to the sight before him. "Heartless!" he gasped, kicking open the sword compartment of his bike to grab his trust buster sword. Leaping off his bike, he brought his sword down and through a strange jesterlike heartless just as it was about to attack a mother and child. "Go! Now!" he said, running forward to begin dealing with another group.

The heartless weren't too bad. He'd dealt with others like them before, in Radiant Garden. Granted he had Leon and the others on his side then, but he'd have to do his best here on his own. The blade swung this way and that in graceful movements that closely resembled some kind of high-energy techno rave, sometimes splitting into two equally deadly curves of blade to handle large groups and sometimes combined into a single point of shining death for a single heartless in the way as he moved forward towards his ultimate goal, the madman at the center of the mayhem.

Leaping up, Cloud swirled his sword above his head and rushed downward in a meteorlike strike at a single point of ground, the resulting shock of his landing taking out a few Heartless around him. He stood slowly, holding his buster at the ready as he faced off with the clown himself.

"It's over. Call off your friends," Cloud said calmly, glowing mako eyes glaring at the lunatic before him.

[kefka]

[glow=yellow,2,300]"And that shall teach you to run with your intestines hanging outside of your belly!" cried Kefka, stomping the last bit of life out of a woman at his feet and crushing her chest. When he heard the motorcycle he looked to see what the commotion was about. And when he saw Cloud, sword poised at his body, Kefka couldn't suppres a snort.

"Well, well! If it isn't a porcupine trained with shrapnel! Ooh, I'm gonna have fun with you!" He took a dramatic noble pose, snapped his fingers and took a fighting stance the moment six Heartless who took his image appeared all around him.

"There's no difference whether or not this is 'over', spiky! What matters is that you die! Why? Who cares, just fry!!! Kwee-hee-hee!" Kefka's body began glowing with a radiant golden hue, and his eyes glinted with the magitek infusion running through his veins.[/glow]

[Cloud]

This guy was a nutcase. That much was obvious. However, the more he kept this loony focused on him, the longer others had to get to a safe distance. He had no other option but to keep the clown distracted for a while at least. To that end, Cloud gripped his sword a bit tighter, ignoring the insults in favor of taking more direct action.

His speed was uncanny. Crouching lightly, he LAUNCHED himself at Kefka, swiping harshly with pinpoint accuracy honed from years of fighting monsters and men alike. The Heartless might become a problem if they get involved, but that remained to be seen. If he had to, he might even find a way to use them AGAINST the cackling madman.

Cloud wouldn't stay still for very long. By the time he had finished a swipe, he was already retreating to safe distance, adopting a stab-and-run method for the time being, at least until he was sure what he was up against. Right now, he could only guess this guy was loaded with materia, based on that weird tickling sensation at the back of his neck reacting to some kind of magical energy. He'd have to rob this guy of his advantage if he specialized in long-range, stay close and use his sword techniques, but only if Kefka proved to be a sit back and shoot kind of killer.

The big challenge was getting past the heartless if that was the case...

[kefka]

[glow=yellow,2,300]As Cloud began his assault, Kefka's eyes brightened, and his toothy grin became visible. He cracked his neck and clapped his hands twice; the dancing Heartless surrounding him awoke from their charm and began wiggling around them in a larger circle. Kefka, on the other hand, was now in battle, and began running around, hopping, back-flipping and leaping out of the way of Cloud's strikes.

"You're not really the Think-And-Strike kinda kid, ARE you, Spiky? Ooh-wa-ha-ha!" He took to the sky and rose a couple yards above his opponent, raised his hands, charged up an attack and fired a ball of lightning about half his size downward.

"This might come as a SHOCK to you, but I'm the type to play with my food! Er--you get my drift...Heartless, get him! Triad, I HATE, HATE, HATE opposition!!! Hurry up and die! Die, Die, Die! Firaga!"[/glow]

[The Heartless Army]

The heartless all twitched out of their stupor. Each began to dance about in a bad imitation of the clown they imitated. They began to rush forward, attempting to hinder the fighter's motions while Kefka dealt the REAL damage.

Not that they weren't nasty pieces of work on their own. Each one chose at random a different kind of magic, including fire, blizzard, and lightning. Their magics would slam into each other's, causing explosions with various effects such as freezing the ground or leaving a burning circle. They were as much a danger to the TERRAIN as they were to Cloud!

On top of randomly filling the battlefield with crazy magic, they would twitch this way and that, leaping forward and conducting strange melee attacks that mostly involved flailing their limbs at the man. If nothing else, they would do at least a LITTLE damage...

[Cloud]

Cloud grunted lightly, his teeth gritting as he prepared another assault to counter the madman's attacks. However, just as he was about to go on the offensive, he was attacked from the side by a double-wammy of fire and ice, knocking him to his left. He growled a bit, getting up just in time to take a bolt of lightning to the back. He was getting badly beaten, but there was an upside...

He was reaching his limits. Another attack from one of the heartless and BAM! He was good to go. Swiping his sword in a wide circle above him to push the heartless away a bit, he slammed it downward to blast them away with a hit of his Blade Beam. Then, he took aim at Kefka.

Bringing the Buster Sword up, he rocketed forward, THROUGH the magic being cast by the clown, instantly dispelling it before closing in on HIM. If Braver made contact, he'd be able to put the hurt on Kefka to at bare minimum MATCH the injuries he had sustained. To make a long story short, Cloud was proving why he was a force to be reckoned with.

[kefka]

[glow=yellow,2,300]Kefka laughed jovially as his Heartless pummeled Cloud for a bit. Kefka had taken to firing off several attacks of his own down at more terrified citizens during this. But when he saw Cloud breaking through his enchantment, Kefka's laugh stopped.

"Porcupines can NOT fly," Kefka cried, racing higher into the air, attempting to back away from the young man. "Taste lead, 'cause it's hammering time!" He held out his hand and a morningstar appeared out of a sparkling shadow. He began flailing about with it miserably and carelessly in front of him, hoping to block Cloud's attack.

At the same time, however, Kefka also decided to add a little extra punch; he set the morningstar on fire, and animated a ball of frost in his other hand.

"If there's ever a time you'll be needing IcyHot, I think this is it! Wa-ha-ha-ha!" He tossed the sphere down and charged forward with the flailing, flaming weapon, cackling so hard he was crying.

"Welcome to my barbeque!!!"[/glow]

[Cloud]

The Braver attack fell short of the mark, but that didn't mean he couldn't move into the final phase of his limit break anyway. Cloud began to swing the sword in rapid succession, in a more accurate mirror image of the clown's flailing. The result was that the bolt of ice was knocked away and the sword locked with the mace, fire and energy crackling together as the two hung suspended in the air temporarily, light crackling around them.

"What are you?" Cloud muttered calmly into Kefka's face, eyes locked onto the crazed man's glowing orbs. He broke free of the lock, landing not far from where he began, holding the sword at the ready once more. He gripped the hilt as he watched Kefka's next moves carefully. He'd have to be smart about his actions from here on out...

[kefka]

[glow=yellow,2,300]When Cloud's sword met the flaming blade, Kefka had to admit he was impressed, since he didn't strike beings from other worlds to be as powerful as those blasted Returners.

When Cloud reached the ground, Kefka sat in mid-air, his legs crossed and his chin resting on his fist. "What am I? I am your God! Kwee-hee-hee!" He then danced back into a crazed fighting position once more and raised a hand, his pointer finger blazing with a crackling white energy. He rose up higher and higher, until he was about level with the surface of the Midgar tower he'd created.

"Behold! Witness my destructive powers and bow! LIGHT OF JUDGEMENT!" He finished his charge and threw down his arm, and a large beam of white materialized and began its devastating journey to the earth below.

"I shall destroy all of your precious hopes and dreams; I will destroy EVERYTHING!" He then snickered, and used his other hand to clutch his stomach. "In good time, that is! Now burn!"[/glow]

[Cloud]

Sometimes, Cloud hated how impulsive he could sometimes be. You see, when he spotted the attack on its way, he could sense that if it hit the ground, that'd be the end of everything. He hadn't felt something so powerful sense... Meteor. He gasped, then ran forward to the point where the blast would make contact, and held up his buster. This... was going to hurt.

Light cascaded downward, hitting the blade at full power. The metal held, but barely, sending surges of energy into Cloud's arms and draining him of his health RAPIDLY. The ground below him was cracking under the weight of the attack, his feet sinking lower and lower. All around him in a wide circle, the ground was beginning to burn from close proximity to the blast, killing even the Heartless that were standing nearby. "AAAGGGHHHH!!!" Cloud yelled out, attempting to fight back the energy with fury. He had to do something. FAST.

Using the last of the strength in his arms, Cloud began to tilt the sword, using the reflective surface to the best of his abilities. He growled angrily as he fought for every inch he could muster. The sound was drowning out his roar as he pointed the beam away from the earth.

There was, however, a snag in the plan. While Cloud did intend to hit the new Kefka Tower looming over the two combatants, he did NOT intend for the beam to RIP through the structure, taking out a large portion of the Midgar ruins in the process, destroying entire buildings and dropping what little bit of the disk that remained on the skeletons of the slums. One of the still-functioning mako reactors was ruptured, exploding with all the sound and fury of a natural disaster, which started a chain reaction in the other underground Mako reserves, effectively blowing up every inch of Midgar's corpse. The mayhem was remarkable, the destruction unstoppable, and the damages unbelievable. Years of work attempting to rebuild was gone in an instant. It was as if Meteorfall had happened all over again... three times in a row.

But, the planet at large was saved, and all who were in the slums had already evacuated. In the end, Cloud had succeeded. He fell to his knees, using the Buster Sword as a crutch to lean against as he breathed deeply. He was in bad shape, smoke rising from his shoulders as well as the scorched earth around him. He slowly stood, shakily at first before finding his footing and lifting the sword weakly upward.

"ENOUGH!" he yelled, glaring upward. "Your toys are broken... Leave or you're next!"

[kefka]

[glow=yellow,2,300]Kefka's smile faded almost instantly and he cried out in rage.

"NO!!!" he shouted over the roaring flames, the rumbling of the falling structures, and the cries of the saved.

Kefka darkened, and his makeup was running. He glared down, his eyes aflame with fury.

"You...I, there's...I HATE YOU! HATE, HATE, HATE, HATE! YOU!" He clenched his fists together and performed what could only be called a child's fit.

"YOU WILL BE SORRY! I shall show you! GRAAH!!!"

He curled into a little ball again and then released, exploding in a burst of streamers, sparklers and lightning, ultimately disappearing at the end. Only an omnipresent warning echoed throughout the burning lands.

"Tricks, cheats; how unfair! Until next we meet, let's see how well you fare!"

And he was gone, but a swarm of Heartless were summoned in his stead, surrounding Cloud.[/glow]

***Off to Port Royal***