The Darkness From Below
Part V
(Opening Theme-"One Winged Angel" from Final Fantasy 7)

    Cecil was dazzled by the amazing sights that lay around him.  Lush foliage 
of all shapes and colors covered the landscape for miles around; far off into 
the distance, high, sloping purple mountains arched upward towards the sky 
before gently rolling back down to Earth.  The path below him was paved in 
solid gold, and it gleamed in the bright sunlight.  When he looked down to 
marvel at the golden road, he noticed that he was encased in an armor that 
seemed to made of pure white light.  Curious, he tapped the tip of one gauntleted 
finger against his chest.  It made a light dulcent ringing sound, like glass.  
If it was light, it was very solid light.  
    Just then, something behind him gimmered at the very edge of his periphereal 
vision.  He gasped in surprise and wonder as he saw two white, feathered wings 
spreading out from his shoulders.  Hesitantly, he tried to stretch the one to 
his right, and found he was able to do so as easily as though he had been born 
with them.  He tried the other one, and found it equally responsive.  After 
stretching them a few times, he decided to wait until he got his bearings before 
he took flight.  He began to walk down the path.
    After a time which Cecil was unable to account for, he came to a wide circle 
in the path.  Several smaller paths stemmed from this one; some were gold, like 
the one he was on; others were silver, red, or even white.  A disturbingly large 
number were solid black, which inexplicably caused a shiver to run up his spine.  
In the center of the circle was a huge glowing jade statue of a dragon, wings 
outstretched.  In each hand he held a globe; the one on the left seemed almost to 
glow with light, while the one on the right contained a darkness so thick it 
seemed to almost drain the light around it.  Cecil paused, enraptured by the sight 
of this fantastic sculpture.  Suddenly, he heard a voice …
    "Cecil…" 
    Cecil's eyes widened.  "KluYa … father …?"
    "Yes, Cecil.  You must listen to me, there is not much time."
    While his father was speaking, Cecil noticed that the statue of the dragon 
pulsed slightly when KluYa spoke.  Needing a point of reference to speak to, Cecil 
turned to that.  "What must you tell me, father?  Is it about Oni?"
    "Yes, my son.  I must tell you of this monster …"
    "Millions of years ago, in a place known as Hell, a creature of pure evil 
known as the Malebolgia created a being called Oni to be the embodiment of the 
Deadly Sin of Wrath.  The Malebolgia then infused him with vast amounts of his 
own energy, gave him flesh that could be made like steel, and created the greatest 
warrior of their realm.
    "For millennia, Oni battled the forces of Good in world after world, conquering 
thousands of them to expland Hell's territories.  That is what he is hoping to do to 
this Earth.  However, hope is not lost.  You are that hope, Cecil."
    "I …" Cecil whispered.  "But … why have I been chosen?"
    "You defeated a demon once, when you destroyed Zeromus.  If anyone can stop 
Oni's rampage … you can."
    "But how?  We've battled twice already, and both times he tore us apart … I've 
already lost four friends to that monster!" He paused. "What about Rydia?  Why did 
she turn from us?"
    "I haven't, Cecil," a feminine voice suddenly cried from behind him.  He turned, 
and it was Rydia, once again dressed in her green sorceress' robes.  She walked up 
to him, and embraced him warmly.
    "Rydia …" Cecil stammered.  "What …"
    "It's me, Cecil.  The real me.  When Oni captured me … he tore my soul out of 
my body, and possessed it with a demon called Lynxar." She shook her head in fury. 
"What that thing's forced my body to do …"
    She shook her head again.  "Never mind.  You must stop Oni from getting the rest 
of the Crystals.  If he is able to bring the eight of them together, he will become 
a God, and none of us will be able to stop him."
    "I will, Rydia.  For you … and for all the others he's slain.  He'll not have 
this world."
    Rydia smiled up at him … and then began to blur.  Cecil cried out, trying to 
catch hold of her and make her stay, but his hands passed through her like mist.  
The world around him was changing … darkening.  The lush foilage of the surrounding 
area either withered and died, or mutated into vicious, semi-sentient things with 
thorns and teeth.  The paths that split from the central circle became black and 
covered in weblike cracks.  Looking behind him, Cecil saw that the once-golden path 
he had come down was also rapidly decaying, and was spreading towards the circle.  
From all sides the darkness invaded the circle, turning everything black as night.  
He quickly leaped up, almost unconsciously taking flight to escape the wave of 
darkness.  It quickly surrounded the jade dragon, and soon overwhelmed the 
glistening green material, turning it into a brittle, coal-like substance.  When 
it reached the two balls in the dragon's hands, they both exploded.  The darkness 
covered everything; and suddenly, the upper body of the dragon suddenly exploded 
outward, pelting him with brittle, but hard, chunks of rock.  When he looked back 
at where the dragon had been, he saw Oni's upper body had replaced the dragon's. 
Oni's flesh was glowing the deep red of blood, eyes burning white-hot as energy 
crackled out from either side.  He spread his wings to their full width, and his 
eyes suddenly flared as bright as supernovas, as his hellish energies tore at 
Cecil's very core …
    And then, with a strangled cry, he awoke.

******************

    The Demon Army stormed a bloody path to Castle Baron, not bothering to go 
quickly, instead savoring the destruction of this lush, beautiful earth.  After 
landing at the southwestern tip of the continent, they went by land.  The Pit 
Fiends reveled in burning the forests with their fiery swords, as well as raping 
any unfortunate maidens that happened to be in their path.  The Skaarj, and Oni 
himself, only stood by and watched as the Fiends engaged in their corrupt 
pleasures; they would gain their own satisfaction once the battle was met.
    The Army was now coming up the northern end of the peninsula that they had 
landed upon, and had spotted a small fishing village along the shoreline.  
Naturally, the Pit Fiends immediately insisted upon stopping to take the 
beautiful young maidens that lived there, as well as butchering any of the men 
who tried to interfere.  The Berserkers were, by now, growing quite bored with 
the constant stops to rape and destroy, so Oni ordered them to train amongst 
themselves for the upcoming battle.  They fell to it with much greater enthusiasm 
than they had displayed thus far, and Oni left to find something of interest.  
Rydia followed him, unspeaking as ever.
    While he walked through the village, a particularly brave (or foolish) man 
opened fire on him with an archaic powder-gun.  The bullet ricocheted harmlessly 
off his skin, of course; to one who had survived nuclear strikes, a small ball 
of metal was nothing.  He stopped, and looked over at the man, who was desperately 
trying to reload.  He was an old man, with a straggly white hair, and a puffy 
white beard.  His hands shook with age and fear, as he desperately attempted to 
pour gunpowder into the musket-like firearm. 
    Oni's eyes flashed red.  Once.  The old man suddenly exploded into flames, his 
flesh cooking on his ancient bones.  He screamed in a high, reedy voice as he 
stumbled about, desperately seeking a way to escape the burning.  The smell of 
burning human flesh filled the air, and Oni was about to turn back and order his 
troops to leave, when a large dog rushed out of the house and charged him, barking 
furiously.  Oni merely looked down at the animal, a smile slowly making its way 
across his face.  He held out the orb the Malebolgia had given him, pushing a 
small button on the side of it as he did so.  It immediately lit up with crimson 
energy, which surged through it momentarily before shooting out and consuming the 
dog.  
    It yelped in pain as the bright red energy surrounded it, and it began to 
stumble about.  Its teeth began to grow in length and sharpness, and within its 
face, a frightening fission was occuring.  The two sides of the dog's face began 
to stretch apart, each becoming a separate head.  As the two continued to split 
apart, a third emerged below the first two.  As the three heads continued to become 
separate, a massive, circular, saw-toothed maw appeared in the apex, and belched out 
a gout of fire.  Long, curved spines grew from either shoulder, and as the 
transformation completed itself, it grew a hundredfold in size and weight, until it 
stood as tall as Oni himself. The beast's three heads looked back and forth for prey, 
then spotted Oni, still holding the mutating device.  Growling and drooling heavily, 
it made its way over to the demon, who merely looked up at it, unconcerned.  The 
mutation walked up to him almost until Oni was looking directly into that huge 
center maw … and then performed a clumsy bow, crouching down on its front feet 
and turning its three heads downward.  Oni, it seemed, had created a new pet.
    Smiling slightly, Oni turned, slipping the orb back into his pouch as he did so, 
and began to walk over to the town square, where the Skaarj were mock-battling and 
the Pit Fiends were sating themselves upon the few maidens who had managed to 
survive the first series of rapings.  The dog followed close behind Oni, and looked 
upon his new master lovingly as he ordered his army to finish up and move out.

******************

    Cecil stood at the top of the highest tower in Baron, looking out upon the land 
that he had once served loyally, and now ruled.  The tranquil forests were normally 
full of life, birds chattering ceaselessly; however, all was quiet this night.  It 
was almost as though the wildlife that sensed the coming battle, and had evacuated 
before they could be caught in the middle.  
    As he looked off into the distance, he noted that the battle was not far off, at 
that … from this high vantage point, he was able to see the clouds of smoke rising 
from the west.  When the wind blew from that direction, he could smell the stench of 
burning, and the rotting smell of death.  Death coming for them all.  
    Taking his eyes off the oncoming death to the west, he looked down upon the 
amassed forces of Eblan, Baron, Toroia, Damcyan, and what was left of the 
Underworlders, camped out in the surrounding town.  Several small campfires dotted 
the town, and morale was generally fairly high, considering what they were facing.  
Some of the soldiers gathered around the fires were even chanting old war songs as 
they readied themselves for the battle that would be upon them within a day's time.
    He heard footsteps from behind him, and turned.  Cid was making his way up the 
stairs, and emerged from the opening near the middle.  He nodded at the paladin 
amiably, and Cecil returned it, smiling slightly at his old friend.  He turned 
back to the horizon, looking out at the ever-increasing cloud of smoke.  Cid came 
up beside him, and for awhile looked out on the horizon with his friend.
    Cid was the first to speak.  "You think they have a chance?"
    Cecil bowed his head.  "I pray that they do.  My scouts tell me that one of 
those beasts are the equal of twenty of our men, and they are growing by the 
minute." He shook his head. "It doesn't matter if we have a chance or not.  We 
*must* stop them.  Otherwise, there will be no world left to save."
    A short silence passed.  Then, Cid put his hand upon his friend's shoulder. 
"Don't lose hope yet.  You know that secret weapon I was tellin' you about …?"
    Cecil looked up.  Excitement glimmered in his eyes.  "You mean … Weapon 
is finished?"

******************

    Oni, in his human form, crouched behind a wall of thorn bushes, looking out 
upon the clearing.  He had left his army in Rydia's hands, and had moved ahead of 
them alone.  From here, he could see the armies of this Earth assembled, huddled 
around campfires.  Some sang, some drank, and others simply sat with thoughtful 
looks on their faces, perhaps wondering if they would live to see the sunrise.  
    Oni watched, and waited.  Eventually, he saw a guard, clad in the crimson 
armor of Baron, walk over to where he lay just out of sight.  He walked up close 
enough that Oni could have reached out and touched him if he so chose.  Then he 
heard a zipper being undone, and he saw his chance.  
    Darting forward with the silent speed of an adder, he reached out and grabbed 
the soldier by the throat while his drowsy mind was still concentrating on relieving 
himself.  Oni's hand slammed into the guard's windpipe hard enough to decalibrate 
his voice box, preventing him from crying out.  Then, seizing him by the shoulders, 
he yanked the man into the bushes.  Oni slammed him into the ground, took his 
head in his hands, and snapped the man's neck like a twig.  He twitched once, then 
died.
    Quickly removing his own chainmail, he began to remove the guard's armor.  
Coincidentally, the guard happened to have roughly the same height and build 
as Oni's human form, and as such, four minutes later, Oni walked out of the 
thorn bushes clan in the crimson colors of Baron.  At his side was clasped a 
shortsword, which was only for appearances; he would not need it.  Nonchalantly, 
he walked through the abandoned town, most of the soldiers not even affording 
him a glance.  After all, few had seen Oni's human form in this world, and most 
of those had only had a fleeting glance. 
    Oni walked up to the guard at the door, who was looking rather bored with 
his job and anxious about the coming battle.  He nodded as Oni walked by, offering 
no resistance whatsoever.  With virtually no effort whatsoever, he was in the 
castle proper.
    It took Oni some time to search the entire castle for Cecil and Rosa-the 
two beings he sensed were being empowered by some other force.  Finally, he 
came into a large hallway, with a huge double-door at the end of it.  On either 
side was a guard clad in heavy plate armor, each with a strange-looking weapon 
strapped to their backs.  At each guard's side there was a sheathed longsword 
made of the same material the Crystal sword had been forged from.  There was 
also a third standing in between the two double-doors, whom Oni immediately 
recognized from his last battle as Yang.  It was this third that stepped 
forward as Oni made it clear where he was headed.
    "Halt, there!  What're you doing here, soldier?"
    Oni walked right up to him, looking at the Karate Master evenly.  Then he 
grinned, revealing a row of teeth that were far too sharp.  His eyes flashed 
blood-red, as he clenched a single fist at his side.  Blood-red energy began 
to crackle around it.  Yang's eyes widened in surprise and fear as he realised 
who it was …
    "This," Oni snarled, ramming his chi-engorged fist into Yang's chest.  
The energy exploded-as did Yang's chest-and sent him crashing into the double-
doors, breaking them open as well as knocking down most of the wall.  The 
resulting explosion, as well as outflying bone fragments from Yang's rib cage, 
also killed the two other guards.  No doubt their fellows would soon be coming 
to investigate the explosion, but Oni didn't think he would need much time.
    As the dust rose from the collapsed wall, Oni moved forward quickly, eyes 
glowing infrared in order to allow him to see more efficiently.  As a result, 
he saw Cecil and Rosa before they were able to see him.  As he stepped into 
the light, he shed his human form, exploding out of the metal armor as his mass 
tripled and his wings burst out.  He smiled at his two nemeses, relishing their 
shocked looks as they desperately grabbed their weapons.  
    "Oni," the two whispered.
    Oni continued to grin at them, as he summoned his massive battle-axe.  "Good 
to see you remember me.  Because after this night, you will not be around to 
remember anything … ever again …"
    Cecil took a fighting-stance, and Rosa's pearl-white aura flared around her.  
"It is not us who will die this night, demon," Cecil growled.  
    Oni raised his axe.  "Then let the game begin …"

******************

    It began with a half-asleep soldier from Damcyan, who staggered out into the 
woods in order to vomit up his dinner of ale and dragon curry.  The revels of the 
soldiers were cut short as the soldier's horrified screams and the sound of 
tearing flesh rang through the air.  The soldiers leapt to their feet, grabbing 
for their Razorjacks and trying to look in all directions at once.  As the alarm 
sounded, the generals ordered them into defensive positions around the castle 
entrances, and they prepared for the battle of their lives.
    The charge came two hours from midnight, led by a massive, three-headed dog 
that exhaled fire from its four mouths.  The soldiers fired the White-enchanted 
disks into its hide, where they sunk into its flesh and stayed, causing it to 
roar in pain and rage.  Then, it kept coming, engulfing the soldiers with flames 
that burned them from the inside out.  Behind the monster came twelve-feet-tall 
reddish demons laced with unholy muscle, and wielding swords of pure fire.  The 
cannon shells bounced off of these Pit Fiends' rock-hard flesh as they advanced 
deliberately, waving their swords and roaring thunderously.  A luckily-placed 
Razorjack blade sliced into one of their throats, causing it to crash to the 
ground, convulsing and clawing at its throat as black blood gushed out.  The 
others, however, paid no mind to their fallen companion's thrashings, and 
continued to advance ever closer to the troops …
    SHAKKOOOMMM!!!!
    A massive explosion suddenly erupted in the middle of the approaching Pit 
Fiends, obliterating three of them.  One slightly less unlucky demon's arm was 
promptly blown off, black acidic blood spraying in a jet all around it.  The 
demons roared angrily at the airships that were soaring towards them, firing 
missles that had only recently been perfected by Cid and his engineers.  Their 
roars of anger turned into ones of triumph, however, when a Roc, mutated into a 
dozen times its already gargantuan size, bulleted into the airships from the west, 
shreading the wood of the airships with its razor-sharp beak and talons.  The 
remaining airships had to turn their attentions to the monster in their midst, 
leaving the troops below without ground support.
    The Hellhound, bleeding from a hundred wounds, was a mere ten feet from the 
brigades surrounding the castle entrance before a line of explosives, placed by 
the Dwarves that had survived Oni's massacre, detonated under it.  The Hellhound 
had been halfway over the line when it went off, and the explosion cut the monster 
in half.  Its central mouth gave one last blast of flame, and then fell.  As the 
explosives died down, the soldiers, with a mighty war cry, drove across the trench 
and into the midst of the Pit Fiends, slashing with their silver blades at the 
shins and knees of the demons, attempting to reduce the creatures to their size.  
The Fiends bellowed and slashed at them with their swords of fire, but the soldiers 
were fighting for their very Earth, and threw themselves relentlessly at the Fiends.  
    Then, from behind the advancing soldiers, the Skaarj attacked.  While the Pit 
Fiends had led a frontal attack, the Skaarj had come from behind, and began to 
slice into the ranks with their deadly blades and silent speed.  The battle for 
Earth's future had begun.

******************

   Oni swung his massive battle-axe at Cecil's head, meaning to decapitate the 
paladin cleanly.  Cecil barely managed to duck, as Rosa blasted Oni with her 
White spell.  The demon barely saw it coming, and was able to erect an black wall 
of energy that deflected the brunt of it, though some of the holy energy managed 
to seep through and jab hot daggers into his flesh.  Cecil moved forward, slashing 
with the holy blade Excalibur, only to have Oni meet his stroke with the blades of 
his axe.
    Oni then surged forward, swinging his left fist into the side of Cecil's head.  
The paladin staggered back, momentarily stunned.  Oni drew back his axe, fully 
intending to split the hero in half …
    "HOLY SPEAR!!!"
    Oni turned in time to see a huge beam of white light suddenly shoot from Rosa's 
outstretched palms, slicing through Oni's shield easily and slamming into Oni's side.  
He roared in agony, and when he clutched his side, he felt only a large, wet hole 
that the attack had blown in him.  He looked up at Rosa, unbelieving of the power 
she was able to wield.  When he looked at her, her aura was almost blinding … 
almost as though it was the Enemy of All Evil Himself …
    Cecil saw his chance, and swung hard at Oni's bent back.  The Excalibur burst 
into blinding white fire as it sliced through the air, and into Oni's shoulder.  
He bellowed in pain, the sound of it causing the very walls of the castle to tremble.  
Such pain … such horrible, blinding PAIN …
    "NO!!!" Oni screamed in negation, yanking at all the power that was his to 
command.  Black light covered him, and the Excalibur flew from the hole it had 
sliced in his back, sending Cecil, who was still holding it, against the wall.  
The large hole slowly began to fill again, but with agonizing pain and slowness.  
Eyes burning white-hot with rage, he sent a massive blast of hellish energy at the 
angellic Rosa.  The heroine was barely able to respond with a blast of her own, 
which caused the blast to explode before it hit her, reducing the brunt of the 
blow.  Nonetheless, the explosion threw her across the room and into the stone 
wall-three feet to the left, and she would have flown out of the window.
    Oni crackled with energy, holding his blood-covered hands to either side of 
his face.  The power of the five crystals began to flow around him, his hair 
standing on end.  His muscles bulged with the energy he was summoning; he had 
had quite enough of this world, and intended to annihilate this entire castle, 
not caring if his own allies were destroyed in the explosion.  After all, once 
he had the eight crystals, and destroyed the Malebolgia, the quintillions of souls 
Hell contained would all be his to command.  
    His eyes blazed with the heat and energy of a supernova, as he gritted his 
teeth for his Ultimate Attack.  "THOUSAND … HELL'S …"
    "Oh, shut up already!" a voice from behind him yelled.  Suddenly, an hurricane-
force wind slammed into him from that direction, sending him crashing brutally 
into the wall.  All of this served to shatter his concentration, allowing the 
energy to seep back into his stores as well as the crystals.  Straining his 
muscles, he turned into the face of the wind, and stared at what had attacked 
him.
    A huge robot, made of black and chrome metal, stood before him.  It was 
roughly humanoid, and though it had a squatty shape, it towered over Oni as 
he towered over most humans.  One arm ended in a clawed hand, the other in a 
large cannon.  But what most astonished him were the crystals.  The sky-blue 
Wind Crystal sat was embedded in the right arm; the reddish-brown Earth Crystal 
was held on the right; and on the "head", blazing with reddish-orange flames, 
was the Crystal of Fire.
    "Cid!" Cecil cried.  
    "Hello, bastard," Cid growled, advancing on the demon, still pressing him 
against the wall with the Wind Crystal.  "I want you to meet my greatest 
masterpiece.  I call it … WEAPON!"
    A huge fireball suddenly shot from the Fire Crystal, flying towards the 
pinned demon.  It slammed into the demon's massive chest and exploded, sending 
Oni through the foot-thick stone walls and outside the castle.  He landed in 
a blistering fireball, and crashed into the ground with bone-shaking force … 
but got up.  Cid maneuvered the Weapon over to the hole in the wall, and then 
turned its visors to Cecil.
    "Take care of Rosa, Cecil," he said.  "I'm going to take care of this 
sonuvabitch."
    Boosters suddenly erupted in the massive mecha's feet, and he flew down to 
where the would-be destroyer of the world awaited …
    
******************

    Kain rushed through the bowels of Baron castle, attempting to ignore the 
shaking of the castle that the battle around and above it was causing.  He had 
been visiting Edge in the infirmary when the alarm had sounded; the dragoon had 
been forced to sedate him before he could join his compatriots.  Despite Edge's 
pleas to the contrary, he was still sorely wounded, and would most likely be 
torn to shreds if he attempted to fight now.
    Suddenly, a dark figure dropped down from the ceiling, and into his path.  
Kain jumped back, grabbing his lance from its place on his back and preparing to 
thrust it into the intruder's heart.
    "Do you really want to do that, dearie?" a dark, seductive voice said.  
Something about it made the dragoon pause … and when the figure looked up at 
him, he realised it was Rydia.
    "You," he growled.
    Rydia smiled, and strode confidently up to him, paying no mind to the lance 
in his hand.  He could have run the demon-possessed girl through at any time … but 
somehow, he couldn't bring himself to do it.  She pressed her shapely, armored body 
against his, and looked deep into his eyes.
    "Kain … I know how you felt about Rosa … how you still feel," Rydia whispered, 
pressing her shapely breasts against him; despite the disgust of the demonic flesh 
pressed against him, he could feel himself growing excited.  And something about her 
voice … so dark … so seductive …
    "I can give you what she never could, Kain …" she cooed into his ear, her 
arms hugging his broad shoulders through the dragon-skin armor.  "I can 
pleasure you in more pays than her tiny little mind could ever comprehend.  I'll 
never judge you … never do anything to you that you wouldn't want to me to … and 
all I ask is that you join me …"
    Kain was torn … he knew that this was a demon's promise, a sale's pitch for 
his soul … and yet another part of him, the part that he had thought dead at the 
top of Mount Ordeals, was demanding that he take her right here, to throw off his 
morals as he threw off his armor, to drive himself deep into the girls' body … 
after all, what had Cecil and Rosa done for him?  What, except cause him unbearable 
anguish?
    With a strangled cry, he reached forth with one hand, and flung her away from 
him.  At the same time, he brought up his lance, and with one brutal thrust, slammed 
it into Rydia's heart.  
    The girl let out an unholy shriek of pain, as the White lance exploded her 
dark heart and boiled her internal organ in a soup of blood.  Blood gushed out 
of the wound, and dribbled out from the sides of her mouth.  She looked at Kain, 
and for a second he thought he'd seen a fragment of the true Rydia, looking at 
him with a combination of love and gratitude … and then, it fell to the ground.  
The body uttered a final shriek, and then crumpled, the skin blackening and 
drawing taut over the bones.  A green, gassy substance came out from the 
corpse, and began to move slowly towards the dragoon.  Without thinking, 
he thrust the lance at it.  It exploded into white fire, and seemed to shriek 
in rage and pain.  It slowly floated down to the ground, and then seeped into 
it, disappearing.
    Kain stood silent for a few seconds, allowing his torn psyche to recover 
from what he had almost done.  As he stood, he felt a great black weight lift 
from his shoulders, and suddenly he remembered everything.  The darkness he had 
failed to defeat at Mount Ordeals, the darkness that he feared would once again 
consume him, had finally been destroyed.  He looked down upon his dragoon armor, 
and saw that it now glowed purest white.  Taking up his lance, and stepping 
gingerly around the husk of his old friend, he ran to join the battle for the 
Earth.

******************

    The massive mecha wrapped its hand around Oni's neck, whirled in half-circle, 
and hurled him against the ground in a vicious chokeslam.  Oni bared his teeth in 
pain, and grabbed the fist in both hands.  His eyes flashed a bright red, and 
crimson lightning surged from his hands and into the mecha.  From inside the 
robotic shell, Cid yelped in surprise, and drew back a step, releasing the demon 
from its vicelike grip.  Oni immediately leapt up to a crouch, and glared burning 
daggers at his opponent.
    "Time to die," he growled, and surged forward in a massive burst of speed.  
Before Cid could react, he ripped at the metal with his claws, tearing deep 
trenches into the armor.  He ripped again, this time coming closer to piercing 
the shell that covered it.  As Oni was drawing back for another vicious slash, 
however, the Wind Crystal suddenly lit up with sky-blue light, and that invisible 
hand hit him full-force in the chest and lifted him high into the air.  Oni 
flapped his wings, trying to fight the hurricane-force wind, but the Crystal 
continued to blow him upwards.  Finally, Oni stopped fighting it, and suddenly 
blasted straight up into the sky.  Cid stared after him, astonished and wary of 
what the demon would do next.
    Oni bulleted into the sky, breaking first the sound barrier, then Mach 2, and 
finally Mach 3.  The air began to grow much thinner, and the sky became darker as 
he pierced the ionosphere.  On he continued, higher and higher, until he felt the 
cold, airless vacuum of space surrounding him.  The stars glittered at him, icily 
beautiful.  He ignored them.  Turning back to the planet that spun calmly below 
him, Oni once again drew upon all the power he could muster.  Soundless lightning 
crackled all around him, as a hellish blood-red power aura flared around him.  
It grew brighter and larger as it pulsed, until it was visible from the Earth he 
was orbiting.  Then, checking one last time to make sure his trajectory was correct, 
he rammed his body downward towards the Earth, using the power of the Crystals as 
well as gravity to build up as much energy as possible.
    Faster and faster he fell, as red lightning crackled and burst around him.  He 
soon was nothing more than a brightly-glowing blur; an observer might have mistook
him for a meteor entering the planet's atmosphere.  Part of his energy was devoted 
to protecting his body from the massive forces that were trying to tear it apart in 
re-entry; the rest were devoted to building his kinetic energy to the point where it 
would shatter Weapon into a billion metallic shards.  In seconds, he broke through 
the cloud cover, and Cid barely had enough time to open his eyes in shock before the 
demonic fireball slammed into the ground, barely two feet away from him.
    *****KRAKA-TOOOOMMMMMM!!!*****
    The shockwave alone sent the mecha flying more than a hundred feet; the explosion 
itself tore off both of its legs, and permanently damaged its cannon.  In addition, 
the mecha's automatic light-shields were overloaded, rendering them completely black.  
The impact had made a twenty-foot wide crater, and from this, emerged an entirely 
unscathed Oni.
    Knowing that the mecha was permanently crippled, Oni decided to savor the 
moment, and took his time advancing upon his fallen foe.  Cid, who finally had 
managed to render his visors semi-transparent again, pointed his still-good hand 
at the advancing demon, and the Earth Crystal flashed into light.  The rock around 
Oni suddenly burst to life, surprising the demon and encasing him in a cocoon of 
limestone.  The barrier lasted all of two seconds, when Oni's chi-charged fist 
slammed through it.  Grabbing either side of the hole his fist had made, he tore 
the cocoon open, causing it to fall around him.  His eyes glowed a deep crimson, 
and his fanged mouth wore an amused grin.  
    Inside the robotic shell, Cid cursed loudly, and pushed some more controls.  
The Fire Crystal burst into violent life, and a three huge fireballs launched 
themselves at Oni.  Almost casually, he slapped the fireballs to either side, 
where they exploded harmlessly around him.  He continued to stalk his prey, 
eyes glowing a deeper and deeper red.  Cid then attempted to use the Wind 
crystal to blow him away again, but Oni simply sneered as the winds parted three 
feet in front of him, blowing to either side and not affecting him in the least.  
He didn't even pause this time, but continued his relentless advance.  The mecha 
began to try to scramble away, but soon realized that that particular course of 
action was not likely to succeed.  Instead, he turned to face the oncoming enemy, 
and fired up all three crystals for the Weapon's greatest strike …
    "PILLAR OF LIGHT!"
    The three crystals flared to life, sending out blinding rays of light in all 
directions.  Their energy began to collect in the center of the three, forming a 
large multi-colored ball of crackling energy.  Red, orange, and blue all swirled 
around each other, building in size and magnitude.  The demon finally paused in 
his pace, and looked somewhat less certainly at the fallen mecha before him.  
The ball suddenly blasted forward, slamming into the ground directly between 
Oni's legs.  A huge column of elemental energy encased the demon, and Oni 
screamed in pain as the energy tore at him from all sides.  He thrashed within 
the cylinder, roaring as the power assaulted his senses with overwhelming agony.  
    Overcome with pain and fury, Oni summoned an enormous energy pulse of his 
own.  It shattered the column of light, freeing Oni from its power.  The 
demon's flesh still smoked from where the energy had blasted at his skin; only 
the insane toughness that the Malebolgia had given him in creation prevented him 
from being disintegrated by the attack.  Snarling, he charged at the falled mecha, 
whose energy stores were now almost completely spent.  He reached the massive 
construction, and sunk the claws of his right hand into its cracked and badly 
damaged armor.  Lifting the 10-ton construction with one hand, ignoring the 
pathetic flailings of the robotic arms as they desperately tried to stop him, 
he allowed the insane flames of hatred and fury run wild through his blood.  As 
his rage grew and grew, so did the power that was flowing into his fist.  Veins 
began to pop out of his muscles, and his eyes glowed so brightly they obscured 
his snarling face.  Finally, he unleashed all of his hatred and rage in his final, 
ultimate attack …
    "THOUSAND ... HELL'S ... FURY!!!"
    As devestating as the attack had been before, the demon's unholy rage and his 
mastery of the crystals increased it a hundredfold.  Cid didn't even have time to 
scream, or register the pain; his body was instantly vaporized by the channeled 
force of a million atomic bombs going off all at once.  Needless to say, the 
malfunctioning remains of the robotic shell he was inside of was also atomized by 
the blast, as was most of the surrounding area.  When the smoke cleared, Oni stood, 
unharmed, in the middle of yet another crater … with the last three crystals 
floating in the air around him.  
    "At last …" Oni whispered, feeling almost as though he would explode as the 
power of the three crystals flooded his body, recharging his stores, healing his 
wounds, and finally pushing his power levels over the edge.  He could feel his 
power stretching over the entire cosmos; he felt everything; he WAS everything.  
At long last … Oni had become a God.
    "NO!!!" a female voice screamed from behind him.  Oni turned casually, 
unafraid.  Rosa and Cecil stood before him, each glowing with an intense white 
aura that fed and increased the other's.  Oni felt not the slightest bit of fear 
at the pair; what could they do to one who was as far beyond them as they were 
beyond a cockroach?
    "Your bloody reign ends here, demon," Cecil said coldly.  "For Rydia … for 
Edward … for Palom and Porom … for Yang …"
    "For all those living on the Earth …" Rosa added.
    "We shall destroy you!" the two lovers finished together.  An intense beam 
of white light shot out from their combined auras, flashing towards him.  The 
beam shot towards the demon … and then stopped, negated by a massive wall of 
black fire that suddenly surrounded him on all sides.  He sneered up at them.
    "Fools … you couldn't stop me when I was mortal, and you won't stop me now.  
Your lives are over."  With a snap of his fingers, two columns of air-tight 
crystal appeared around the two heroes, freezing them forever in eternal 
expressions of outrage.  Sneering, Oni turned, and bulleted off to the Tower 
of Bab-Il.  The day of his destiny had finally arrived …

To Be Continued …