Final Fantasy - All Series Fan Fiction ❯ Bahamut & the Guardian Forces ❯ Rival ( Chapter 10 )

[ T - Teen: Not suitable for readers under 13 ]

Final Fantasy and all related trademarks belong to Squaresoft. The story, its original contents and ideas, and any original characters belong to the author and cannot be used or reprinted without the author's permission.

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Rival

By nightdragon0 (nightdragon0@hotmail.com)

Glenn sighed, tossing his book aside and leaning back in his chair.

"Finally, done." He muttered. That was the problem of his assignment solved. However, he still had another one to worry about. "Bahamut?"

He brought up a small mirror and the image of his partner's face appeared in it.

<Humph.>

"Hey, will you just talk to me?!"

<What's there to talk about?!>

"Look, I know you're pissed, but...."

<Pissed?! You have no idea!!!! My own comrades don't even trust me!>

"They did have evidence..."

<Great, you don't trust me either! Tell you what, just leave me alone and I'll go sulk in the back of my mind.>

"Fine, be that way dumb dragon!" Glenn yelled furiously, shoving the mirror away.

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"How are they doing?"

"Glenn's fine Cecil, but I don't think Bahamut is." Ashley replied. "Anything come up with the search?"

It was evening and the pair were walking along a street that led past a series of warehouses.

"Well, Brad and the others can't get anywhere near the site of the building that was recently blown up. The authorities have gone into deeper investigation, classifying it as a terrorist act." Cecil informed her. "On the other hand, there haven't been any more attacks in the past two days, since Bahamut....well, guess you know that part."

"Yeah...." Ashley sighed.

"But he did manage to find out that that office block actually belonged to another computer company. Cantrix or something like that."

"Computer companies...all the attacks have been on computer companies." Ashley remarked. "Doesn't that seem suspicious?"

"That's what Brad thought, but he hasn't been able to find any obvious links."

<I wonder...maybe someone's searching for something...> Phoenix added in. <Almost as if....WATCH OUT!!>

A large dark shape suddenly leapt down towards them. Cecil screamed and closed her eyes. She felt a wave of heat and was thrown back as Phoenix shifted, deflecting the sneak attack.

"GGAARRGHHH!!!" All three of Cerberus' head cried as he flew into a wall.

<Dryhg oui!> Valefor called.

"Sorry, it'll take more than that to sneak up on me." Phoenix taunted.

"I knew that was a bad idea." Cerberus 1 muttered.

"Don't ask me, this wasn't my idea." Cerberus 2 protested.

"Oh, shut up and fight!" Cerberus 3 yelled. "Counter Rockets!"

The three heads unleashed a series of energy beams, which Phoenix flew over and countered by throwing a large fireball.

Cerberus stumbled back and was rammed by Valefor, who'd transformed during the confusion. As the demon dog fell, a large pouch fell from his side.

"No! Not that!! The Master's goanna to have my head for it!!"

"Oh this?" Phoenix grabbed the bag in her talons. "Your generous contribution is much appreciated. Allow us to present you a token of our gratitude. Phoenix Flame!"

"Energy Ray!"

"Oh crap...." Cerberus moaned before he was blown away by the huge blast and sent flying off into the distance. "OW! You'll pay for that!! Someday!! WWWAAAAHHHHH!!!!"

"Haha!" Phoenix and Valefor gave each other high-fives with their wings.

<Erm, nice job on the road.> Cecil sighed.

"Oh yeah, erm, sorry, forgot we can't go round blowing up stuff in this world." Phoenix remembered. "Well, let's just get out of here and see what he was doing."

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"I'm sorry! It wasn't my fault!" Cerberus 3 whimpered. "It was theirs!!"

"What?!" His 'brothers' protested.

"Silence!" The cloaked figure slammed his fists on this throne. "You're just lucky that Magus ZoneSeek managed to obtain enough parts to make up for your loss! However, you've still caused a significant setback in our plans to reopen the Main Gateway!"

"But Master...."

"Get out of my sight!!"

With a squeal, the three-headed dog scurried out of the room. Left alone, the cloaked sorcerer grabbed his staff and rubbed the crystal attached to its head.

"Ah well, I do have my trump card after all, and he's proven to be, quite destructive indeed. Perhaps it's time to let him go after his designated prey after all. And while we're at that, we'll just need to distract Bahamut's group while we retrieve the final components..."

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"Gateway program?" Brad asked over the phone.

"Yes, that's what was written on the CD-ROM I found in the bag. Only other things were a bunch of computer chips." Ashley replied.

"Why would Cerberus be carrying something like that?"

"Beats me, but we definitely do know he's not alone. He's working for someone, possibly along with Gilgamesh and the Minotaur Brothers. We haven't heard from them since the X-Electronics battle."

"Hmmm...Gateway....they were using a gateway, weren't they?" Brad commented. "You remember, don't you?"

"Yeah, but that was a gate to the Other World they tried to open using magical energy from our partners."

"How much about magical energy did they know? They were large scale technological developers, so I'm guessing they had some modern science involved with it too. Specifically...."

"Software? Programs?"

"Exactly. And just maybe, since they were shut down, their software was....what the?!"

"Brad?!" Ashley called, hearing a loud explosion on the other side.

"That was from outside! It's an attack!" Brad hurriedly told her.

"What's going on?! GFs?"

"Call Cecil and make sure Phoenix and Valefor get their butts down here ASAP." Brad ordered. "This just might be what I was suspecting."

"All right, but how about Glenn and Bahamut?"

"Just let him sit this one out. Leviathan doesn't think we should release him till we get this figured out."

"Got it, we'll be there shortly. Take care!"

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Glenn ducked low against the fire escape and watched as Phoenix departed from the roof of Ashley's block.

"Jeez, she sure left in a hurry. Something must be up..." He muttered. Of course, he'd only heard Ashley's side of the phone conversation since he'd been eavesdropping from outside.

"All right, all right. Damn, I can't believe I let you talk me into sneaking into her room like this."

<You're not the one trapped inside an idiot at least!>

"Yeah....hey! What's that supposed to mean?!"

Sighing, Glenn made a quick check to be sure that no one was watching, then jumped up, grabbing the window ledge, and hoisted himself up. The window had been left slightly ajar and he was able to push it open and climb in.

"Let's see..." Glenn popped the CD into the computer. "Hmmm...these look like some programming code, but I don't think I understand."

<Remember, she was talking about it being called Gateway program?>

"X-Electronics was shut down, and Ashley said that...of course!" Glenn moved the mouse and began searching through the folders. "Other companies might have bought over their software!"

<Try searching for the names of those companies that were attacked recently.> Bahamut suggested. <I have a hunch...>

Glenn had the computer perform a search query and immediately, the connection became apparent. The two company buildings that had been attacked in the past few days had bought over a large amount of X-Electronics' research. Several others had much smaller parts, however one more had a reasonably larger share.

"Haikao..." Glenn muttered. "This place is just across town..."

"Bahamut, they told us to stay out of trouble. You can't to a thing in your current state, remember?"

"And what if I say no?"

"Hey, but I didn't say no." Glenn smirked. "Let's..."

He suddenly jerked up as the room door opened.

"Oh, hi Glenn." Ashley's mother smiled. "I didn't hear you come in."

"Yeah, well I have that effect sometimes." Glenn replied casually, scratching the back of his head.

"By the way, where did Ashley go?"

"I think she said she was going to the store or something. But, erm, I don't think I can wait for her to get back. I, sort of have to get going now...yea..."

"That's all right, I'll let her know when she gets back."

Whew, that was close! Glenn thought, removing the CD, placing it in a case and slipping it into his pouch.

"Thanks a lot." He nodded.

"Oh, do you mind Glenn, please close the window for her. I keep telling Ashley to lock it if she's out, but she never listens. Some day, some undesired character is going to climb in through that window and then I'll see how she feels about it."

"Erm, yeah, right." Glenn laughed nervously, sweatdropping.

Oh man...Ashley's gonna kill me when she finds out!

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"This is the place." Glenn remarked, as he hopped off the bus.

<It's way too quite for any battle scene.>

"It's way too quite for anything..." Glenn walked up to the front door. The building was rather dim and the streets around it fairly dark too, owing to a faulty street lamp. "Erm...anyone there?"

Glenn leaned against the door and, much to his surprise, it swung open.

"You were saying?"

<Fine, fine.> Bahamut grumbled.

The nightlights in the main hall were on, but there was no one in the room. Quietly, he tiptoed and peeked behind the front desk. Someone's cup of coffee was on the table, together with a flashlight. Glenn noted that the coffee was still warm, indicating that some security guard had been there recently.

"Hey, I think we should get out of here." Glenn muttered, unnerved. "I don't want to be caught trespassing in..."

<Sshhhh...listen...> Bahamut whispered.

"To what?"

Through confused, Glenn complied. At first, he didn't catch anything....but then, he began to feel it. A very slight vibration. It abruptly stopped for several seconds, then picked up again, continuing in that same pattern.

"You could hear that, Bahamut?"

<No, it was partially you too. You're developing a feel for these things.>

"That doesn't entirely make me feel better, you know?"

<Anyway, I think it's coming from further upstairs. Check it out.>

"All right, but just a quick look, then I'm outta here." Glenn nodded, grabbing the flashlight.

With it, he managed to find his way to the stairwell. Heart pounding, he made it a point to move as silently as possible. While he didn't run into any unfortunate encounters on the stairs, it was what was coming up next that would truly shock him.

Glenn was on the third floor when he heard voices from above.

<The roof.> Bahamut said, noting that the building was only 6 stories high.

The stairs fortunately led all the way up there and Glenn peeked through, before stepping onto the rooftop. It was a wide area with several crates and such stacked about in random places. The sound of footsteps caused him to immediately duck down behind one of the crates for cover.

"So, you've found it." A voice chuckled.

The reply was a low growl that sounded astonishingly familiar.

Glenn spotted a humanoid figure in a cloak standing at the far side of the rooftop. The most prominent feature of him was probably his gloved hands, which floated about in mid air as if his arms were invisible.

"What's that?" Glenn whispered.

"Well, it sort of looks like he's using a computer over there." Glenn peered. "He's talking to someone..."

He crept closer and managed to catch part of the conjuror's conversation.

"There, I have finished transferring the data over to you." The cloaked figure said.

"Excellent work, Magus ZoneSeek." The voice on the other end of the line replied. "Be sure to report back here as soon as possible. The time has come for us to leave this wretched world, for now. When we return, we will finally have the power to crush this world for good."

"Will do, Lord Hades. We will be back shortly." ZoneSeek answered.

The second figure that had been previously shrouded in the shadows now stepped forward, causing both Glenn and Bahamut to stare in shock.

"No way...."

The figure was a dragon.....that was practically a carbon copy of Bahamut. Everything from the facial features down to the body structure and the design of the claws and toes. Only thing different was that he had a primarily red body coloring, with his chest, neck and wings a dark gray. His wings too, were more leathery-looking as opposed to the new, 'feather' patterns (FFX) Bahamut currently had.

<How...how can that be?> Bahamut stuttered.

"Unless you have a long lost twin brother, then that must be a clone. You know, they can do stuff like this using a sample of your blood or something. Like growing a bud from a tree."

<What?! This is an atrocity!!! They pieced out my soul.....to make THIS THING!!!??>

"That's not exactly the way I'd put it, but...."

<They'll pay!! I swear, I'll make them pay!!!!!>

"Are you even listening to me?!" Glenn growled. As he moved, his foot accidentally kicked a loose steel pipe aside.

"What was that? Neo Bahamut, check it out."

"Oh dammit!!" Glenn cured under his breath.

<Don't just stand there, transform into me and...OH F**KING HELL!!!!>

The fact that they couldn't currently do that had just hit the both of them, very hard.

Glenn hurried back to the door leading down to the stairs, only to find it locked from the other side. In horror, he realized there must've been an auto-locking system, which now left him trapped on the rooftop with a dragon hot on his trail...

"Tell me this isn't happening...."

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"GGGaargghhh!!!" Leviathan cried, being slammed to the ground by the Minotaur Brother's combined attack.

Unicorn leapt in front of her fallen comrade and sent a rear-legged kick into the smaller but older Minotaur, knocking him over.

"Bro! Urgh!!"

Taking advantage of Sacred's distraction, Leviathan lashed out with his tail and tripped the brute up.

"Out of the ground, raze all greenery with flame! Firaga!"

"Spell break, turn into an avenging light! Reflect!" Unicorn chanted.

Her protective wall of light was set up just in time to deflect the fire elemental spell from Cerberus, forcing the demon dog to leap away.

"It'll take more than that to stop us!" He taunted.

"Yeah! Come and get some!!" Sacred roared, waving his halberd above his head.

"What do you lot want this time?!" Leviathan demanded. "I don't think randomly blowing up warehouses your style, as questionable as it is."

"If we told you that, it'll just take the fun out of it all." Cerberus laughed.

"Angry spirits of the world strike now! Thundaga!"

"Huh?"

BOOM!!

The next instant, Cerberus found himself splattered against the wall. Phoenix floated down, her flaming feathers glowing, blending perfectly with the numerous fires that already lit the area.

Valefor landed beside her, giving an intimidating growl.

"Ow..." Moaned Cerberus. "Hey, Gilgamesh! Get down here and help out! Gilgamesh?! Dammit, where are you?!"

Meanwhile, perched up above on a rooftop, Gilgamesh surveyed the scene.

"He's not here...." The ninja muttered, disappearing into the shadows with a sigh of disappointment.

His absence gave the heroes a slight advantage in numbers on the battlefield below. Valefor and Unicorn slashed with their claws and horn respectively, forcing the Brothers back as well.

"Yo....I think we have a problem!" Minotaur realized.

"Phoenix Flame!"

"Tsunami!"

The flames of Phoenix's fireballs melded with the spray of water Leviathan shot out, creating a huge blast of hot steam that forced their opponents to cover their faces.

"Energy Blast!!" Valefor followed up by releasing a laser burst from her jaws, sending the trio flying head over heels.

"Not so tough now, are you?" Leviathan snarled.

"What do we do now?" Sacred asked.

"The number one survival strategy...." His brother answered. "RUN AWAY!!!!"

The two immediately bolted, with Cerberus following close behind, spilling out multiple curses as they disappeared into the night.

<Now, that was weird.> Aldrea commented.

"I know, it was like all of a sudden they just showed up and started smashing everything in sight." Unicorn nodded.

"Duu ayco..." Valefor spoke.

<She's right.> Cecil agreed. <That battle was way too easy.>

"Well, you weren't the ones fighting the whole time." Leviathan muttered, rubbing his sore snout with his tail.

<No, she just means....> Ashley stopped short. <I have a bad feeling about this....>

"It's almost like they wanted us to notice them." Phoenix finished.

"Tecdnyldeuh."

"Sorry, Valefor what was that again?"

"Tecdnyldeuh. Dis..."

<Distraction?> Cecil wondered.

Valefor nodded grimly.

<A distraction, but from what?> Brad asked.

"Oh no..." Phoenix gasped. "Ashley, I'm starting to get your bad feeling too...a very bad one indeed."

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Damn!

<You're gonna get us killed!!>

Ignoring his partner's cries, Glenn dashed around the other side of some crates and knelt down. Neo Bahamut moved over to the door and examined the area, sniffing the air around it.

Glenn reached down and grabbed the same steel pipe that had given him away.

Got to hit him in the eyes or something! It's my only chance!!

<Glenn! What the hell are you doing?!>

"Shut up!" He whispered.

Neo Bahamut was moving closer and closer now. Every thump of the dragon's footsteps caused his heart to pound harder and harder. Finally, his opponent was right on the other side of his hiding place. Holding his breath, Glenn saw the shadow of Neo Bahamut's head moving over the crates.

NOW!!

With every ounce of his strength, Glenn thrust his makeshift weapon upwards and was rewarded by a roar of pain. Immediately, he bolted....but much to his dismay, he didn't get very far.

The evil dragon whipped up his tail, literally flipping Glenn over. He'd barely recovered from the shock of his face hitting the floor before he was grabbed by a huge pair of claws and hoisted up into the air.

"Grrrrr...."

"Look what we have here." ZoneSeek chuckled. "Bahamut's human, correct? Care to show yourself?"

<Go to hell!> Bahamut snarled.

"Humph, very well. It's better for us too."

Cringing, Glenn closed his eyes and prepared for the worst.

"Show yourself." A deep voice ordered. "Show yourself, my rival!"

"Huh?!" ZoneSeek stared. "You can talk?!"

"I've waited a long time for this!" Neo Bahamut hissed, squeezing Glenn harder, causing him to scream in pain. "Show yourself and fight me Bahamut!!"

"GGuuarrgghhh!!!"

<I....I....can't....> Bahamut admitted.

"Hmmm....of course." ZoneSeek snapped his fingers. "After the charade we went through to frame him, Bahamut's own comrades must've put a sealing spell on him. Haha, oh the irony! Kill him now!"

"NO."

"WHAT?!"

"Why should I bother listening to you, when you're so weak that you need me to do your dirty work for you?" Neo Bahamut replied, dropping Glenn to the ground.

"How dare you!!!" The mage raised his hands.

In a flash, Neo Bahamut was upon him, grabbing the magician before he had time to cast any spells.

"Release me this instant!!!"

"Dispel the seal on Bahamut..."

"What?!"

"Do I have to repeat myself?!"

"All right! All right!" Now more panicked than angry, ZoneSeek waved his hands and chanted.

Glenn felt a warm sensation flow through his body, and shifted into Bahamut's form.

"Good..." Neo Bahamut grinned. "Now....DIE!!!!"

He opened his jaws and blasted the mage at point blank range. The vanquished ZoneSeek let off a long shriek as his body disintegrated in a sparkle of magical dust.

<What's going on here?> Glenn wondered.

"Don't know, but it looks like we're in for a fight." Bahamut replied. Then, he turned towards his clone. "Am I supposed to be thankful for that?!"

"Believe me, you won't be....after I'm through with you!! RRRRROOOOAAAARRRR!!!!!"

With that, the red dragon charged. Bahamut stepped aside and threw him hard, but his opponent executed a neat flip in mid-air and landed firmly on his feet.

"You! You were the one who attacked all those sites in the past few week!" Bahamut pointed.

"What did you think? Of course it was me!" Neo Bahamut declared in a loud voice. "It was all set up, even leaving one of my scales for them to find."

<That would explain the nearly identical DNA test.> Glenn commented.

"But everything isn't important now....only the fact that we battle!!" Neo Bahamut lunged forward.

Bahamut took his blow, at the same time grabbing onto his shoulders and struggling. His opponent changed his point of focus to Bahamut's neck, grasping both claws around it.

Immediately, Bahamut released his grip and drove both fists into Neo Bahamut's chest. As the red dragon stumbled backwards, Bahamut followed up with a couple more punches and a side-kick. However, his foot was abruptly snatched and pulled down. He rolled across the floor, sprang back up into a standing position and lashed out with his tail.

Neo Bahamut calmly grabbed it, and began swinging Bahamut round in circles.

"AAARRRRGGHHHH!!!!!" Bahamut was flung several roofs away and crashed painfully into a stone structure on another building. "Gurgh! Damn!!! He's strong!"

In a burst of fury, he jumped over a swooping Neo Bahamut and spread his wings, catching an updraft that brought him skywards. Neo Bahamut turned around and came back for another sweep.

The two dragons clashed head-on, smashing their muscular bodies into each other, slashing, snapping and biting with fangs and claws. It was but a few moments of that draconic frenzy before they broke apart.

High up in the midnight sky, the dragons moved to face each other, both simultaneously charging up their most powerful attacks.

"Mega Flare!!"

"Giga Flare!!"

The two beams of energy clashed, exploding into a brilliant burst of light.

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"Gguughh...."

<Urgh....that was hard....> Glenn moaned.

Bahamut was in a daze. He could faintly remember the aerial battle, and crossing his breath attack with Neo Bahamut. Now, he was lying on his chest on some forest floor, bruised, battered and bleeding.

Suddenly, something smashed onto his left shoulder, his shoulder blade giving off a loud snap as it broke. He didn't even have time to scream because his breath was abruptly cut off.

Neo Bahamut was on his back, one foot on Bahamut's left shoulder, a claw around the back of his neck, and his tail pressed down against Bahamut's body.

Through the corner of his eye, Bahamut stared in disbelief at his completely unscratched opponent.

"You lose." Neo Bahamut sneered, squeezing harder and causing Bahamut to choke. "I have surpassed even my original. Now, it is time for you....to die!"

Neo Bahamut released his grasp on Bahamut's neck, then straightened up and began charging up a Giga Flare.

Weakened and in a state of shock, Bahamut could do nothing but drop his head against the floor and close his eyes.

"Glenn...there's something I need to tell you..." He whispered. "If I die..."

"Glenn...I'm...sorry...."

BAM!!

And the rest, as they say, is silence....