Final Fantasy - All Series Fan Fiction ❯ Bahamut & the Guardian Forces ❯ New Shadows ( Chapter 8 )

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"Ah, nothing like a nice sunny day at the beach." Glenn yawned. "Ow! Hey!"

A beach ball had just smacked him on the head.

"Come on! Get off your butt you lazy bum!" Ashley waved from where she, Aldrea and Cecil were playing volleyball.

<And that extends to you Bahamut! > Phoenix called. <Glenn's been getting you fat too! >

<Hey! What do you mean by that?! > Bahamut protested. <This is muscle you know! Hey! Glenn! How do I argue with someone if you close your eyes?! Damn, you're impossible! >

That was one of the problems of having two minds in the same body.

"Man, what's your problem?" Glenn muttered. "We kicked the big bad guy's butt, there hasn't been a single monster breach between the worlds for weeks and I'm taking a time out."

<Except that the 'big bad guy's butt' which we kicked wasn't 'THE real big bad guy' at all. > Bahamut reminded him. <That overload in the gate we destroyed would've caused them a few setbacks, but trust me, they'll have the gates running again sometime, and we might have even more attacks. Until at least they get what they want from your world, whoever's pulling the strings that is. >

"Yeah, yeah, this is the third time this week already."

<You're obviously not taking this seriously enough! >

"Hey Glenn, shouldn't Brad be back by now?" Aldrea called, saving Glenn from having to answer.

"He probably lost track of time out swimming again."

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All right, I think I should be heading back. Brad thought, turning around.

<Already? > His partner's voice asked.

"Hey, I can't stay in the water the whole time like you."

Brad was swimming pretty far out from shore. Most of the summertime crowd was in the shallow area, leaving a few adventurous swimmers, windsurfers and kayakers to venture further.

Brad was further away from the other people with just a young boy in a float board nearby. He silently frowned as he swam past the boy, feeling that the child shouldn't be out so far.

The African-American swimmer was considering going back and telling the boy when he suddenly heard a scream, followed by a loud splash.

The boy had fallen into the water and was splashing about, screaming in panic. Instinctively, Brad paddled his free-style as fast as he could.

<Brad, look beneath the water! > Leviathan warned.

Brad didn't understand why until he dove down…and stared in shock. From above, it seemed as if the boy was splashing in panic, but beneath, there was really something wrapped around his leg.

It was a tentacle, which led to a seemingly normal looking octopus. But this creature was much larger, almost the boy's size. A mouth opened at the side of its head, revealing rows of sharp teeth.

It was no creature of this world.

<Brad! What are you doing?! >

"Can't…risk him…seeing…you…" Brad gasped, trying to catch his breath.

Snatching a stick floating in the water, Brad swam towards the Octopus monster and jabbed it in the eye. The creature let out a squeal as it released the boy. Brad grabbed the boy and pulled him to the surface, shoving him onto his floating board.

Brad was suddenly dragged under at the Octopus changed its target, wrapping its tentacles around him instead. Struggling futilely, Brad was dragged deeper and further out. He couldn't scream out anything to Leviathan, but the sea serpent already got the message.

Underwater, out of sight of the bystanders, Brad shifted into Leviathan's body.

"Take that!" Leviathan roared, lashing at the creature with his tail.

The Octopus led loose a cloud of black ink into Leviathan's face, forcing him to shut his eyes. It then took the opportunity to wrap its body and tentacles around Leviathan. For an oversized mollusk, it was surprisingly strong and Leviathan struggled vigorously for those few seconds until he managed to get his head free. Leviathan snapped at a couple of the arms, severing them, before sinking his jaws into the creature's head.

Leviathan ripped and tore it apart, finally killing it. Its body sank to the depths, evaporating in a cloud of magical energy even before it hit the bottom.

By the time he surfaced, he'd returned to Brad's form, who got a loud applause from the crowd as he brought the boy back to shore.

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"Looks like you were a big hero today." Glenn patted his friend on the back.

"I just did what I had to do." Brad blushed slightly.

<No fair, I did most of the work and he got all the credit. > Leviathan muttered.

Brad was driving the group of 5 back after the day's events.

"But really, an Octopus monster?" Cecil asked.

<A small one, but it definitely was. > Leviathan said. <Any bigger and the boy wouldn't have made it. >

"So, this is the end of our time off, I guess." Ashley sighed.

"But does this mean that the gates between the worlds are operational again?" Aldrea asked.

<According to Valefor, yes. > Phoenix replied. <But only the smaller ones, meaning just a few monsters can get through at certain intervals. We took out the big gate back in that battle with Dynaock. >

"But why keep trying to invade Earth?" Glenn wondered. "They got the Aeon's Soul from here back to the GF World. No doubt they want to unleash whatever legendary creatures were sealed away or something, but why keep coming here? I seriously doubt the bad guys want to come back for any stranded comrades."

<They probably need something else from here. > Unicorn suggested. <Something that most likely needs us out of their way. >

"Oh, doesn't just that beat all?" Glenn commented.

Night had fallen and the group was driving on an isolated highway several miles out of town. It was a cloudy night and there wasn't much moonlight to help illuminate the dimly lit roads.

The group fell silent and let Brad concentrate on driving. Glenn was beginning to doze off when a loud bang started him.

There was a long screech as Brad pulled the car to a halt.

"What the hell was that?!" Glenn gasped.

"Damn, I think I've got a flat." Brad muttered.

Everyone else groaned as they piled out and stared at the punctured tire.

"Don't you have a spare?" Cecil asked.

"I left it back home because there wasn't space to fit everyone's beach gear." Brad replied, scratching his head. "Especially the food."

"Hey, it's not my fault Bahamut needs me to eat like a dragon!" Glenn waved his hands. "And my mom wonders why I don't put on weight!"

<Shut up! > Bahamut growled.

"Wonderful, it's getting late and we're on a highway which nobody ever comes by!" Ashley practically screamed.

"We could always fly home." Glenn suggested beaming.

<Hey, what do you think we are? Your personal airplanes?! > Phoenix muttered angrily.

<Oh, you haven't heard to worst of it. > Bahamut cut in. <I haven't told you about the time Glenn had me fly back to his house during his break period because he forgot to bring his… >

"OK! Can we talk about this another time?!" Glenn waved his arms in protest.

"Hey, there are some lights behind us!" Aldrea pointed. "I think it's another car!"

They'd stopped on the higher part of a winding road, allowing the group to make out some lights behind.

"Maybe they'll be able to help us out." Brad said excitedly, reaching for the door handle.

Glenn was in the front seat of Brad's car watching when he thought he saw something. A dark shape dashing across the road.

The other car had apparently seen it too and the driver panicked.

It swerved off course, skidding and crashing through the bars. The highway was located beside a small dirt hill, which the car went down, smashing smaller plants and shrubs out of its way before it came to a halt against a large tree.

"We've got to help them!" Brad decided, dashing down the hill.

"Brad! Wait up!" Aldrea called, jumping out of the car and following him.

Glenn and the others weren't far behind.

"Did you see that?!" Glenn suddenly pointed.

"Where?!" Ashley glanced around.

"There! Look!" Glenn jabbed a finger towards the trees on the other side of the road.

Something in the shadows moved as it dashed away.

"I saw it, come on!" Ashley nodded, giving chase.

Cecil hesitated as Glenn and Ashley dashed off into the forest.

"Valefor?"

< Cusadrehk caasc ysecc... >

"You sense something?" Cecil confirmed. "Where? Valefor, what do I do?!"

<Tuh'd pa yvnyet. >

"Easy for you to say! But I am scared!" Cecil cried, looking around. "Wait, I see it!"

There were a couple of circular shadows, moving on along the ground.

"Summon unleashed!"

Cecil put a hand to her pendant as a pink light emitted from it. The light soon engulfed her entire body and begun to reform into a new shape. Once it was done, Valefor stood in her place, spreading her wings in a ready position.

"Lusa uid yht vekrd!" Valefor growled.

<Yeah, that's the way to tell 'em! > Cecil cheered.

The two shadows stopped moving and also begun to change, revealing their true shapes, which seemed to Cecil like oddly made floating symbols in black. These were Dark Elementals (from FF10), enchanted creatures made out of strong magical energy.

Valefor was immediately blasted by a couple of spells, sending her spinning backwards.

<Ow…think we can do better? >

Valefor didn't have time to respond, flying up to dodge another attack. She clawed at one of the Elementals as she flew, but barely got a response from the thing.

<Valefor, I think they're not affected by your claws! >

"Raarrgghh!" Valefor cried as she was hit by Demi Spell.

The Gravity based magic rapidly sucked away at Valefor's strength and she flopped to the ground. The Elementals thought they'd gained the upper hand and hovered above Valefor, charging up their more powerful spells.

With a final burst of will, Valefor leapt up.

"Energy Ray!"

Firing off a pair of laser beams from her mouth, Valefor struck both Elementals down, shattering them to pieces.

<Could've been worse, huh Valefor? >

The silent flier nodded.

Suddenly, the bushes around them lit up with the glows of dozens of yellow eyes. Both a strange chittering and the clicking of claws could be heard.

<Uh-oh…I think they had a few friends… >

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"Damn, the door's stuck shut!" Brad muttered, pulling on the handle.

The two people in the crashed car were unconscious, but didn't look too badly injured superficially.

"We've got to hurry!" Aldrea warned. "The vehicle might not be safe!"

<I could get it open. > Leviathan suggested.

"And what if they wake up and see you or something?" Brad asked.

<I'll put them to sleep then. > Unicorn replied. <Plus, you'll need me for my healing magic! >

"All right." Aldrea nodded to Brad.

"Summons unleashed!"

Brad's transformation took on the form of water wrapping itself around him while Aldrea's reassembled a white cloak being thrown over her.

Leviathan carefully cut the car's roof open while Unicorn muttered some incantations under her breath.

"There, they'll be out for at least a couple of hours." Unicorn smiled proudly.

Leviathan had just finished tearing the roof off when a loud explosion caused both of them to look up.

"What the?!" Leviathan gaped.

"I think the others are in trouble!" Unicorn said. "You'd better go back and help. I'll finish up taking care of the people here."

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"Damn! Where'd he go?!" Glenn cursed, glancing around.

The forest around them was uneasily still and quiet.

"There! Watch out!" Ashley yelled as the two hit the ground.

"Who…" Glenn stared at the figure standing over them.

It seemed at first like an extremely tall man dressed in a red cloak with a hood that covered his mouth and nose, leaving only his eyes exposed. That was until he threw it back, revealing he had four arms and multi-colored robes beneath. However, he still kept his face covered.

"I am Gilgamesh." He spoke in a deep voice. "Prepare yourself Bahamut…it is our destiny to fight…"

"This…a friend of yours?" Glenn asked nervously.

<Never seen him before in my life. >

Gilgamesh drew a curved, samurai-style sword and charged. Glenn cried out in surprise, but Bahamut took control and shifted into his form.

Bahamut parried the sword with his claws and somersaulted away, landing on all fours. A fiery light shone from behind Gilgamesh as Phoenix raised her wings.

"Phoenix Flame!"

Gilgamesh gracefully vaulted out of the way. Phoenix flew to Bahamut's side and faced their opponent in a long stare down.

Giving Phoenix a small nod of approval, Bahamut charged forward while Phoenix took to the air.

With a screech, Phoenix threw off a series of fireballs. Gilgamesh simply spun his sword and deflected the fireballs into Bahamut, sending the dragon reeling back in pain.

Almost immediately after, Gilgamesh leapt up. Phoenix was caught off guard as the cloaked warrior swung his sword. However, instead of using the sharp end, he turned it to its blunt side and whacked her with that instead, knocking her unconscious.

"NO!" Bahamut roared, pulling himself up.

Gilgamesh suddenly dashed across, leaving a long scar along Bahamut's chest. The dragon clutched it in pain as the blood seeped through his claws. The sword was swung again, this time from behind.

Bahamut only had time to try and duck.

CLANG!

Out of dumb luck, Gilgamesh's sword collided with the 'wheel' on Bahamut's back. Seeing a chance, Bahamut lashed out with his tail, pushing Gilgamesh away.

Gilgamesh gave an annoyed growl before vanishing in a cloud of smoke.

"Gargh…knew that thing was good for something." Bahamut muttered, pulling the damaged wheel off and tossing it aside.

<Yeah, it actually saved you your head. > Glenn agreed. <Through I can't say much for the blood. I don't think you need to add red to the colors on your chest. >

"Will you shut up?! Can't you see I'm in pain here?!" Bahamut growled, wiping a blood-stained claw on a tree.

<Phoenix! She's gone! >

"What?!" Bahamut looked up. "Dammit! He must've taken her!"

<Can you trace them or something? >

Bahamut sniffed at the spot Phoenix had fallen, then at the surrounding area.

"I can smell 'em…"

Shoving his pain out of his mind, Bahamut broke into a sprint, following the scent trail.

The dragon was long gone by the time a pair of bony hands reached out to the tree he'd wiped his blood on. Slowly and carefully, the hands dabbed swabs of the blood and placed them in a glass jar.

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Valefor was being swarmed by the lizards when Leviathan arrived.

These lizard monsters crawled on all fours and had a 'sail' along their backs, similar to some ancient Earth reptiles and Dinosaurs.

"Valefor! Go up!"

Valefor responded, leaping into the sky.

"Tsunami!" Leviathan roared, sending a wave of water which swept the lizards back.

"Energy Ray!" Valefor sent a second blast, blowing up the monster's front line. Magical energy flashed as the bodies of the monsters vanished.

<Great! The road too… > Brad sighed.

"How about discussing this once our lives are NOT on the line?!" Leviathan growled.

Valefor was rather drained and badly scratched up. Leviathan shoved her behind him as he roared, getting into a defensive stance.

"Sonic Flight!"

Like a rocket, something shot out of the sky and into the lizard swarm, creating a blinding explosion.

Both Leviathan and Valefor had to cover their eyes. Once the light faded, all that was left was a large bird with multi colored feathers lying on the road.

He was breathing heavily and took badly injured.

"Palidor?!" Leviathan gasped. "Palidor is that really you?! You're alive?!"

"Leviathan…thank god…" Palidor gasped. "Aeon's Soul…reviving the…legendary beings…"

"We know that part already." Leviathan said. "But who? And why keep coming back to this world if they have what they need?"

Palidor opened his beak to answer, but he suddenly sprang forward and rammed Leviathan down.

"Look out…uuurrgghhhhh!!!" Palidor screamed.

Leviathan saw a long knife had been thrown into his back, piercing him right through.

"NNNOOO!!" Leviathan cried.

He saw the slight movement of the attacker flying off, but was too distraught by his friend's loss to concentrate.

Valefor tried to give chase, but was too exhausted and flopped down onto road instead. All she managed to catch sight of was its bony hands as they shimmered and faded, as if an invisibility spell had been cast over them.

"Palidor! Palidor please!" Leviathan screamed, cradling the fallen bird as best as he could with his serpent-like body.

Palidor looked up for one final time and managed a weak smile. He shook his wing and a crumpled piece of paper fell out.

Then, his eyes closed for the last time. Slowly, his body faded and vanished in a cloud of magical energy, leaving behind a single, rainbow feather.

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Following the scent trail, Bahamut had arrived at an old, abandoned factory.

"Where are you?!" He roared, barging the doors open.

<That's right, proudly announce your arrival. How about wearing a collar with the words 'Please Cut Here' on it too?! >

Bahamut was too annoyed to answer Glenn.

"Phoenix!" He gasped.

The firebird was on an upper level, tied to a wall by metal cables. She was still unconscious, but seemed unhurt.

A soft swoosh came from behind and Bahamut barely managed to dodge the attack. Gilgamesh stood with his sword pointed at Bahamut. The dragon, in turn, snapped into a defensive posture.

At the same time, both charged, sword clashing against claws.

Bahamut ducked a sword swing and gave a low sweep with his tail. Gilgamesh jumped up and kicked Bahamut in the face, sending him rolling backwards. He managed to get to his knees and deflect an overhead strike, sending Gilgamesh's sword flying.

"Ha! How'd you like that?!" Bahamut taunted.

Gilgamesh responded by drawing two new swords out of his cloak.

"Crap…"

Gilgamesh began swinging the swords rapidly, forcing Bahamut of back off, trying desperately to evade the attacks.

"Gargh!" A sword made a cut in Bahamut's right wing as he stumbled back against the wall.

Gilgamesh suddenly jumped away as a fireball hit the spot he'd been standing on.

"Get him now!" Phoenix yelled.

Bahamut was already moving and barged Gilgamesh away.

"Impulse!" Bahamut roared, charging up two balls of dark energy at his hands and two more at his wings. He sent these flying towards Gilgamesh, who easily dodged them.

However, what Bahamut had really intended to hit was the pillars behind Gilgamesh, which sent the second level's machinery crashing down. Gilgamesh tried to run, but was hit by several of the falling pieces.

Finally, he tossed something onto the ground, which created a cloud of smoke. He was gone by the time it cleared out.

<You got him? > Glenn asked.

"No, he retreated. But he's injured, so he won't be bothering us for a while."

"Excuse me boys…" Phoenix called. "But UNTIE ME THIS INSTANT!"

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"Glenn! Ashley! Are you two all right?" Brad asked as the pair returned. "We've been worried!"

"Yeah, I'm fine." Glenn muttered, rubbing his shoulder. "No thanks to Bahamut through."

<Excuse me? Would you like to have tried fighting that sword wielding maniac?! >

The GF's exhaustion and injuries did partially transfer over to their partners, through far less severely than the original. For Glenn, they were just sores and aches at similar places where Bahamut had been hit.

"Gee, looks you guys saw some action here." Ashley muttered, noticing the holes in the road.

"Quite a lot actually." Brad continued.

He went on to relate the battle and the incident about Palidor.

"Damn!" Glenn punched his fist against the side of the car, feeling as angry as Bahamut was.

<He was trying to tell us something. > Leviathan said regrettably. <I'm sorry…I couldn't save him… >

<He'd understand. > Bahamut replied. <But what was on the piece of paper he gave you? >

<It's a text, written in an ancient tongue. However, the words are so smudged I can barely read them. >

"If it's all right with the rest of you, I'll hang on to this and see if Leviathan can make it out in better lighting conditions." Brad suggested.

No one was in a mood to argue.

"How about those people just now?" Glenn queried.

"Thanks to Unicorn, they think they were just a little careless and were lucky to get out with a few small cuts and bruises." Aldrea explained. "They're calling for some help, so if we wait around, we'll be able to get a spare tire once their tow truck arrives."

"Swell, waiting again." Glenn folded his arms and leaned against the car.

An uneasy silence fell over the group.

I hate waiting… Bahamut said to himself.

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Elsewhere…

"So, it was a success then?" A dark, hooded figure asked.

"Yes master." One of Cerberus' heads answered, bowing. "Except…"

There was a loud clang from somewhere else in the building.

"Gilgamesh isn't happy he lost to Bahamut."

"That's expected. His honor has been tainted."

"Humph, what do we need hired help for anyway?" Cerberus asked.

"Fools like him are hard to come by." The hooded figure continued, getting off his 'throne' and leading Cerberus down the hall, into a laboratory. "Bahamut is famous, after all. It's any mercenary's dream to be able to claim to have bested him."

The two continued down the aisle until they came to a large glass cylinder, filled with some odd green liquid. Beside it, a blood-stained glass jar had been discarded.

"Well they're about to receive some serious competition." The hooded figure laughed evilly.

All three of Cerberus' heads gasped and backed away when they saw the glowing red eyes of creature contained within the cylinder.

His master however, laughed and ran a hand across the cylinder. The creature from within thumped on the glass.

"Even now he's eager to be given life." The hooded figure smiled. "Soon, my creation. Soon, you will surpass even the original…"

He leaned closer to the glass, meeting the gaze of the creature.

"Neo Bahamut…"