Final Fantasy - All Series Fan Fiction ❯ Final Fantasy Saga ❯ Duel - The Finale ( Chapter 4 )

Final Fantasy Saga

Chapter IV: Duel - The Finale

Ark's eyes opened slowly as he looked around, feeling a throbbing ache in his entire body. He was on the floor of the gym, splinters and debris all over the ground from the explosion on the roof. He'd hurt himself pretty badly in the fall, and wasn't even sure if he could manage to stand. It felt as if every fiber of him was clouded and shadowed, held down by forces he couldn't even manage to struggle against. However, just as Ark was nearing closing his eyes again to give up, he heard a voice.

"Ark!"

Who was it?

"Ark? Are you okay?"

Eliza!

Struggling to his feet, Ark looked around a bit more. Cloud was standing on one of the beams near the ceiling of the gym, he had likely caught it while falling. So Ark was at an obvious loss, his body being far more injured as things stood, but he had a feeling Cloud wasn't without some hurt as well. Ark's clothing was torn up a bit from the splinters, but not very badly, and some blood of his had stained it a bit. Grabbing his sword and picking it up, Ark looked up towards where he had fallen in and yelled to Eliza, "I'm here! I'm fine!"

Cloud jumped down, landing on the ground a little ways from Ark, and turned to face him, saying with a smile, "Will you surrender now? I doubt you even have the strength to attack with your sword, let alone wield it with the skill needed to beat me."

"This fight is just getting started," Ark responded, lifting his blade high into the air, "And just because I'm losing, that doesn't mean I'm going to lose!"

"Fine then, show me what you're made of, Ark d'Speare!" Cloud declared with vigorous strength, running towards Ark with a once again surprising amount of speed.

Ark had to figure out a way to turn the tables on Cloud. Had he not fallen, Ark would actually be able to win using the shockwaves from their swords colliding, but with his injured state Ark would not last as long as Cloud in a match of endurance. Neither of their eyes wandered, because each knew that the other would make a move at the very moment they blinked. It was yet another standstill, but Ark knew that Cloud would make the first move this time. If Ark made the first move, and failed, then the fight was over. His only hope was to make a completely successful counterattack, and then to make sure he did enough damage with it that it evened the playing field. Ark felt more adrenaline in this one moment than he'd experienced for a very long time, the tension making sweat slowly trickle down Ark's face.

Then, it happened, as fast as lightning and with as much force as a hurricane, Cloud made his move. Leaping into the air, the blond haired warrior brought his sword down towards Ark in a vertical slash, much faster than Ark had thought was possible. Struggling to keep the blow from being fatal, Ark brought his sword up as hard as he could, and their blades once again collided. The force created a second shock wave, but Ark found this even more disastrous than the first. Since Cloud was in the air, the shock wave only affected Ark, and to top it off it sent Cloud bounding backwards and landing on his feet. Ark fell to his knees, dropping his sword, and looked in blurred vision at his opponent. Everything was growing darker, Ark could feel the strength fading from his body as the ground and dust parted, soaring through the air from the shock wave of their blades colliding.

"You're good, Ark, but you can't defeat me," Cloud began to slowly walk closer, "With my next attack, I'll end this. I'll end you. Surrender before you get injured beyond repair."

Was this it? Would this be the end?

"You're going to win. Don't even think otherwise, and it'll just happen."

Eliza was right. Ark stood up again, grasping his sword in his hands, he was going to win! Nothing Cloud said could change that, Ark was the one who would claim victory on this day. Everything was determined by willpower, it was not a mere fantasy, this was how the world truly worked. Ark had a stronger will than Cloud, so he would find a way, no matter how impossible things seemed. Though Cloud was fighting with strength, skill, and strategy, he had a weakness. Everyone had weaknesses. Ark just had to find his and exploit it, using that one vice to defeat Cloud. What could it be? What did Ark have that Cloud didn't?

"Now you can see my Limit Break," Cloud stopped walking closer, and took a fighting stance. "Prepare yourself, Ark. This is the end." Cloud then began to run towards Ark, pulling his sword back to make a slash, "Giga Reign!"

"Unbeatable!" Ark used his own Limit, and dropped his sword. Then punching Cloud's sword, as hard as he possibly could, with his left hand. The impact shattered the bones in Ark's hand, causing Ark to cry out in pain, but it did exactly what he wanted it to do. The force from Cloud's Limit Break, which was a powerful slash focused entirely by Cloud's every last bit of strength, collided with the invincible barrier of Unbeatable and destroyed Cloud's sword. As the blade fell to pieces, Ark smirked and leapt back. "Now you have no weapon, and I still have my right hand."

"Amazing," Cloud looked over the half of his sword that was left, "You would actually sacrifice your own health to win. Your own personal suffering. No wonder Zell called you beyond comprehension." Twirling the handle of the sword, Cloud shook his head, "I'm now at the disadvantage, but you're horribly injured. Even if you're able to fight still, and my weapon is destroyed, do you really have the strength to keep going?"

"Worry about your own strength, and I'll worry about mine," Ark responded eagerly, pointing his right fist at Cloud, "Time for the last stage of our battle!"

Dashing towards Cloud, Ark drove his fist into the blond swordsman's face, putting every ounce of power he could into the attack. This sent Ark's foe soaring through the air and slamming into the wall of the gym. Bouncing off the wall and then falling to the ground, Cloud seemed to be down. Ark let himself smile, and began to walk closer to the seemingly unconscious warrior, wanting to be sure he had won. Zell had been able to take quite the beating, and Cloud was much stronger, so Ark was pretty sure it was going to take more than a single punch to truly defeat him. Surely enough, after a few moments, Cloud got to his feet and glared straight at Ark. Picking up the handle to his broken sword, Cloud made his attack. Swinging the half of a sword he still had at Ark, Cloud slashed and slashed as fast as he could manage. Ark managed to avoid most of the attempts, but finally began to find his injuries catching up to him.

Ark had taken a major beating up to this point, and if he wanted to last longer than Cloud he was going to have to come forward with attack after attack after attack, leaving his enemy with no time at all to react. Otherwise, Cloud would still have the upper hand, as his injuries were pretty minor. Ark had to flatten Cloud, and he had to do it now before the swordsman caught him.

Beginning to counter Cloud's slashes, Ark punched the foe in the stomach and then in the face, his right hand growing more and more limp from sheer exhaustion. Ark could tell that his blows were having less effect with each moment, but that the effects they'd had were catching up to Cloud as well. Although he wasn't as injured, Cloud had taken the blast from the initial shockwave, several punches, and the encumbrance of attacking with such a heavy weapon, his endurance had a limit just as much as Ark's did. Ark noticed that Cloud had stopped attacking now, and was on the defensive, so he made his attack. Punching and punching, kicking and kicking, and even head butting, Ark began to slam into Cloud with everything he could muster. His body ached, his bones throbbed, and he could feel both his blood and Cloud's blood on him. The adrenaline from the fight was starting to make Ark wear thin, and his sweat was sending a shiver of pain to him from his cuts. This was true, bloody battle.

* * * * * * *

Laguna sighed as he was told of the current fight going on at the gym. Quistis seemed genuinely worried, but something seemed out of the ordinary to him about this entire situation. When he'd gone to deal with Setzer's club, several important records had been stolen. Then another large fight in such close proximity to that incident? It seemed as if someone were trying to lure Laguna there for some reason, but to what purpose? He could only imagine that it was part of some elaborate plot Rufus had come up with. This was the most activity Rufus' movement had shown since the tensions began, which lead Laguna to believe that it was only a matter of time before he would have to face Rufus personally. He sat in his office, at his desk, with Quistis looking over the desk at Laguna, as he contemplated these things.

Quistis frowned, her arms crossed at her chest, "What do you want to do about this? We can't have the students beat each other to death!"

"You go and deal with it," Laguna stood up and took a moment to think, "I would do it, but I think this is a ploy from Rufus to get me there. I'm going to stay here and wait to see what he does."

"Rufus?" Quistis took a moment to think, "I can't believe it, you're right. But I thought you promised me the students wouldn't get involved in this?"

"I said I wouldn't drag them in, but Rufus is the culprit in this situation," explained the principal, "All I can do for the moment is wait, wait and see what Rufus does from here."

* * * * * * *

Ark and Cloud were roughly teen feet away from each other, each one keeping their gaze locked to the other. Their vicious melee had continued for some time now, and Ark was beyond his limit. It would only be a matter of time before he passed out, but he could tell that Cloud was severely injured as well. The two were on the edge, Ark had given his enemy quite the beating since breaking his weapon, and now things seemed to be a bit in his favor. If he could gather enough strength to keep going, Ark was sure that he would come out on top. He could feel his knees shaking under the weight of his body, a testimony to how much energy he and been putting into throwing his body into each and every attack.

"You've done really well," Cloud smiled, closing his eyes, "I never expected you to hurt me this badly."

"That's what you get for underestimating me," explained Ark as he paid extra attention to how his right hand felt. It was the only fist he could hit Cloud with, and Cloud was beginning to catch the attacks from it. If Ark was going to win, he had only one course of action. Although the hand was broken, and the shoulder felt jarred, overall his left arm still had most of its strength left. "It's my turn to say it's over though. Give up, or I'll knock you out with my next attack, Cloud."

"I think you're bluffing," the blond man cracked his knuckles, "I'm only a little more injured than you now, but your stamina is running low. I doubt you have enough energy to go more than one last attack, and I doubt it will have enough force to beat me."

"Then let's go," Ark began to run at Cloud, raising his right fist for a punch. This would be the last time that Cloud Strife ever underestimated Ark. "Unbeatable!" his Limit took effect, and Ark then turned his attack with his right hand into a feint, pulling his fist back and bringing his left hand up into Cloud's jaw in an uppercut. Using Unbeatable to ignore the pain from his left hand, he delivered a blow with surprising resiliency to Cloud's face, knocking him to the ground, and then ran in to hammer his fist into his opponent one final time. Cloud cried out, and then went silent, falling to the ground and not moving anymore.

Ark panted heavily as he looked around the gym. In the fury of his battle, he hadn't noticed that the gym filled up with spectators from outside while he and Cloud fought it out. Near the front the saw Eliza and Gren, and couldn't stop himself from smiling. Walking closer to his friends, Ark then felt the strength of his legs give way, and he fell to the ground. Eliza and Gren ran up to him, Eliza coming down and hugging him close, asking in a slightly panicked tone, "Are you okay Ark?"

"I'm fine," he answered her, "Just exhausted. He was one of the toughest people I've ever faced here."

"It's okay now, everything will work out for the best," Eliza nodded, looking up at Gren for a moment.

"Ark d'Speare?"

It was a woman's voice inquiring, and as Ark looked up a bit he saw Quistis Trepe, Principal Loire's right hand, standing a few feet from the three friends. Her dark blond hair was tied back in its usual style, those jade eyes of hers hidden behind glasses. "That's me," replied Ark, "What do you need?"

"I'm here to give you detention for causing such a mess, and to help get you to the school nurse," Quistis explained. As she did so, however, an eerie silence filled the entire gym.

When Ark looked around again, all of the students were gone now. They walked out slowly and quietly, and were now scattering outside. At the door of the gym was the English and Literature professor, Rufus Shinra. At his side was the last of the group which Ark saw hanging around Cloud and Tifa, Squall Leonhart. Rufus had a sly grin on his face as he began to walk closer to them. Ark could tell immediately that something wasn't right.

"Quistis Trepe," began Rufus, "It's very good to see you. I was sort of hoping that Laguna would be here as well, but I suppose this will work just fine."

"What do you want?" Quistis sighed and looked Rufus right in the eye, "I have no interest in the things going on between you and Laguna, I'm just here to teach."

"Interest or none, you will be taking part in the revolution," Rufus put on a pair of black gloves and sighed, "You'll be coming with me."

"Like hell I will!" snapped Quistis, taking out her whip and beginning to twirl it, "I won't become a hostage so easily."

Raising his right hand, Rufus smirked, "You have little choice, Ms. Trepe." He then cast a surprisingly powerful sleep spell, Quistis falling down unconscious soon thereafter.

"Hey," Gren stepped between Rufus and Quistis, "I don't know what's going on here, but don't think I'm just going to sit idly by and allow you to kidnap her."

"Were I foolish enough to think such, I would have come alone," explained Rufus as he snapped his fingers, which sent Squall bursting into action.

Ark watched as Squall jumped into the air and kicked Gren in the chest, sending him hurdling backwards towards one of the walls. While Squall distracted Gren, Rufus quickly picked Quistis up and made his way towards the door. What could Ark do? He was out of energy from the fight with Cloud, and so no matter how hard he tried nothing came to him, but it looked like Gren couldn't fight Squall and rescue Quistis at the same time. If only Gren had someone to help him, Ark wasn't capable of it.

"I'll be right back, Ark," Eliza said, slowly moving to stand up, no longer cradling Ark, "Gren can't do this alone."

"But, you can't fight, you'll get yourself killed!" Ark groaned as he tried to move, but all he could do is struggle, nothing more, "This isn't a game Eliza!"

Eliza smiled at Ark and nodded, "I got into this school, didn't I?" After saying that, she ran out after Rufus, and Ark found himself both confused and worried.

* * * * * * *

As she ran out of the gymnasium, Eliza looked around to try and figure out where Rufus was heading. It didn't take her long to spot him, and soon she was caught up to the white trench coat clad man. Her hair swayed in the wind as Rufus turned around, she could tell that he sensed her presence behind him. She hadn't done this in a while, but Eliza knew that she had no other choice. She couldn't let Ark put everything on his own shoulders, only to be destroyed by his own limitations. If he felt like he always had to protect her, then Ark would have more trouble following his path forward, and that was the last thing that Eliza wanted to be responsible for.

"Are you going to beg me not to take her now, too?" Rufus asked, sighing with obvious contempt as he asked.

"No," Eliza simply kept her eyes locked with his, not moving a single inch, trying her best not to show any fear, "I'm just going to stop you."

"You are?" he was unable to hold back a chuckle, Eliza only hoped that his overconfidence was a weakness. "How?"

Eliza very slowly raised both of her hands to the sky before she answered, "This." It was a few moments before anything happened. In those few moments, the dark clouds which had gathered over the school seemed to almost tremble with the force of what was coming. Eliza's hands at first seemed to turn into a very soft, bright green. The brightness in the skin soon became a glow which surrounded her fingertips. That glow moved itself down her hands slowly, caressing her, enshrouding her body slowly. As she became enveloped in this light, Eliza focused all of her energy and all of her will on a single figure. A knight in shining armor which would come to her rescue, even in the darkest of times, whose life had always gone to protecting the innocent around him. She envisioned the warrior of the lance, Odin. Then, the glow vanished, and the summon appeared.

Standing tall, Odin seemed about twice Rufus' height, much taller than any human really. He wore bulky silver armor with golden lining, a black cape covering most of it, and his dark red eyes looked down on Rufus without emotion. In his hand was a lance, a golden lance that seemed as bright as the sun and as sacred as the world, which he held with both confidence and pride. Eliza hadn't summoned Odin in a very long time, not since she had discovered her ability to summon him, though she still didn't understand how she could do something like this, but she hoped he proved to be enough to stop Rufus and save Ms. Trepe.

"I had no idea such a power existed," Rufus thought aloud, looking Odin up and down, "Victory won't be mine if I face such a foe, but do you believe me the sort of coward who will turn tail and run?" He threw Quistis right at Odin and drew a shotgun, firing three shots at the large knight. Odin quickly deflected the bullets with his lance and caught Quistis with his free hand, not saying a single word in response.

"It's over, Mr. Shinra," said Eliza calmly, Odin was more then a match for any human and she was beginning to realize it more and more, "Please turn yourself in."

Rufus shook his head and smirked, "I still have a Plan B. Silly girl." He held up what looked like a remote, and hit one of the buttons on it. This caused the bullets, which laid at Odin's feet, to explode, sending the hulking knight through the air. Eliza shrieked as she fell backwards, and Rufus began to walk away. Flames separated Eliza and Odin from their enemy, but she heard Rufus then declare aloud, "As of this moment, my allies and I are beginning our revolution!"

With those words, several people appeared behind Eliza and Odin. She turned to look them over, and saw that these were teachers. Why were teachers fighting amongst each other? What was going on? Two teachers now faced Eliza. Beatrix, one of the Physical Education teachers, stood with her sword drawn. Her curly brown hair covered her face partially, hiding slightly her eye patch. She wore a white dress-like suit, and at her belt was the sheath to her sword. Also with sword drawn was Rosa, the Airship History teacher. Unlike the unusually beautiful Beatrix, Rosa had a dark and almost gritty air to him. He wore black armor with carvings shaped like dragons blended onto it. The two had swords which contrasted their equally different personalities, complimented by their starkly different appearances. Beatrix's sword seemed a lot like the sword Eliza would imagine a great hero to wield, with gold and silver lining a steel blade. However Rosa used a sword more akin to a black knight, the handle and hilt black as the darkest night, with a blade more jagged than straight and crimson instead of silver. They were considered very amazing swordsmen among the teachers, comparable in skill to Sephiroth, but Eliza would have faith in Odin to overcome them. This was going to be an amazing duel that she was about to witness.

* * * * * * *

"This isn't a fair fight yet," Squall threw two short swords to Gren's feet, then continued, "I do not wish to fight an unarmed man."

Gren took one sword in each hand and looked at Squall, "Do you really think that this is right?"

Squall nodded slowly and then explained, "Rufus is the one who is fit to lead. He and Laguna fought to decide who would lead the school, but because of his condition at the time Rufus was incapable of fighting at his utmost level. He should be the principal, not Mr. Loire."

He took a moment to think about the two teachers. Rufus Shinra was a cold and calculating man, a skillful warrior to be sure, but as a leader Gren was certain that he would bring about a much more difficult experience from the school. Laguna was an entirely different man, both carefree and laid back, who made his greatest strives to help students grow into more than they currently were. Rufus would run the school well, but Laguna had an eye for what was right in the ways of the world, it would be much better for the students if he lead. With this conclusion, Gren closed his eyes, "Interesting theory. However, my own personal observation makes me believe you are mistaken. As such I suppose there is no way to avoid this battle."

"Rumor has it that you're the best swordsman in the entire school. I look forward to seeing how you handle a fight with me," Squall pointed his sword towards Gren. Immediately, Gren could see that there was something different about Squall's weapon, it was no ordinary sword. The two didn't waste any time, charging each other and locking swords, their blades colliding with both speed and strength. Squall was quick, and packed a decent amount of power, Gren was pleased. This would be an interesting match.

* * * * * * *

His original plan to use Quistis to lure Laguna into a trap had been stopped by that young woman, but Rufus was far from finished. He'd wanted to hold off on his second plan because it had a large amount of secrecy involved. Not even Rufus was certain of what would happen. All he knew was that Laguna was hiding something, something significant, and that it was in the basement of the Administrations building. The paperwork Rufus had stolen during Ark's fight with Zell was building plans which detailed a massive amount of security in that basement. There were guards, monsters, and even automated machines protecting whatever it was that Laguna kept down there. It was obviously something of supreme importance, and if Rufus could gain possession of it then Laguna would have little choice but to fold.

Making his way closer and closer to the building, Rufus heard the sounds of battle beginning all around him. Setzer and Seymour were leading the soldiers Rufus had rallied to face the other teachers, and Vincent was making sure the students did not get harmed during the battle. With Beatrix and Rosa dealing with that monster the girl had summoned, and now Rufus preparing for the last stage of the plan, there was going to be no stopping this wars fate. Victory would be his.

However, as Rufus found himself near the entrance, an obstacle he had never imagined stood before him. This was, in every way Rufus could conceive it, a perfect opportunity. Between him and his goal, between him and his ultimate victory, stood that which had always been between him and such things. It had been there spiritually before now, and now it stood here literally. Rufus Shinra now stood face to face with Laguna Loire, his nemesis. This was his chance to finally end this battle without a shadow of a doubt, and to claim for himself this school which was the prize of this war.

All Laguna did was smile and say to Rufus, "Hello, old friend."

To Be Continued

Author's Notes: Welcome once again to my little corner! Today, we'll go over some technical facts! Actually, only one technical fact, and then some other stuff, but you know what I mean! Well, actually, you don't, but you will! Have you ever wondered why this story is in the section "Final Fantasy" rather than "Miscellaneous" or "Combination" fanfics? It's rather simple really! Although this is not a "Final Fantasy I" story, it is a general Final Fantasy fiction. As such, it belongs among its own, even if it seems a little out of place.

Next up, do you know who Rosa is? He's the most vague Final Fantasy character to make an appearance thus far in the story, so I'll explain a bit about him! He's the lead character of Final Fantasy 4, a dark knight who eventually finds redemption over the course of the games massive journey. On another note, I'm writing this chapter as I prepare for the upcoming Fall 2003 semester at college. I'm going to be very busy, so I hope I can write enough so as to have a decent pace of chapters coming. Wish me luck everyone! I hope you're enjoying the story! Look forward to more action and excitement in Final Fantasy Saga Chapter 5: Revolution!