Silly, isn't it?
	Yes, it's very silly.  But... maybe it happened.  Maybe it was a dream.  Maybe it was true.  Maybe there is something out there that took this group of misfits and sent them on a great quest to restore the balance of reality.... or maybe I'm just insane.
	I like insane.  It's fun.  But what a story....
	Our story.

	"This is your idea of fun?  Do you realize what you've done?!"
	"Oh come on, look, it's funny!  Think of the havoc they're going to cause!"
	"You idiot, you've unbalanced that entire world!  Don't you understand the consequences of this?!  You could damage the planes of reality you nitwit!"  An exasperated sigh followed.  "Now I regret ever letting you come into being."
	"Don't say that, Q.  You know you like me."
	"I did.  Until you did something this stupid.  Finding entertainment is one thing, but this?!"
	"It'll be funny, trust me!  Besides, I know the perfect people to go in and fix everything."
	"Who?"
	And then there was an exchange of mental images and data, as the thoughts of the two beings moved between each other.  "Here."
	"Them?!  You send a bunch of megalomaniacal superbeings to an unprepared world with it's own problems and you want to send in a bunch of 21st Century humans to fix it for you?!"
	"They'd be perfect!  Think of the entertainment!"
	"I don't care about the entertainment, I only care about fixing this mess up before *he* finds out."
	"'He'?  Who?"
	"HIM.  You know who!"
	"Oh, that guy...."
	"Besides, these people will never work.  They won't know what the hell they're doing."
	"I've thought about that.  I'll take two of them to different timeframes.  We'll find one of them some trainers, let him learn some control of the cosmos and such, and the other... we can send him to Spira at an earlier time.  Give him fifteen years or so to get used to the place, to guide the others."
	"Or you and I could fix the problems ourselves, Gamemaster."
	"I thought you wanted to be discreet?  If we go in, those things will fight back.  The entire planet will notice and screw up the way things should go.  But these guys.... we can send them in and nobody will be the wiser."
	"Spira's a delicate place!  You just can't drop humans of that advancement into their world and expect nothing to happen!"
	"Would you rather I send earlier humans, considering how silly they got about their religions?  I mean, seriously, that's stupid.  They're the perfect choices!  They'll never be suspected!"
	"I hate it when you have a point."
	"But I do.  So, let's get started, shall we?"
	"Fine.  But this is still your fault."
	"Yes.... you blame everything on me.  I'm already used to it."

	If there was anything Mark Berger wanted to do, it would be to throttle the idiot who set up Winona State University's CD-burning system.  Those were his thoughts at the moment, reading the glaring error message on the computer screen.  Taking a quick look at his watch, he decided it was time to find Betsy and lunch.
	That was his thought one moment; the next, he was somewhere entirely different.
	The chamber was massive and dimly-lit.  Two figures appeared out of the shadows.  "Huh.... what in the Hell?"  Confused, Mark looked around.  He began to assume he had dozed off all the sudden....
	"No, you're quite awake," a familiar voice remarked.  One of the shadowy figures stepped forward and smiled toward him.
	"What?  John de Lancie?"
	Mark's mystified reply was answered by cackling.  "No, absolutely not.  I simply chose this form because it's the one you most associate with me."
	"Huh?"  A sudden and weird realization dawned on Mark.  "Q?!  Wait a minute, you're a fictional character!"
	"Or so you've believed.  The universe is a very strange place, my poor, misguided human.  Let's just say things aren't as fictional as you think they are."  Q crossed his arms.  "So, Gamemaster, you chose this particular person.  Who else?"
	"Wow, I really must be dreaming."
	"Again, you're not," the Gamemaster replied with a grin.  "You're here, I assure you.  And now... to get your friends."
	And one by one, pillars of light heralded the arrival of others.

	Hundreds of years.  It's been so long since I heard from any of them.
	Looking down from the upper level of the fortress once called Hollow Bastion, a cloaked figure watched as those he once knew appeared in front of Q and the Gamemaster.  Shouting arose as they each reacted with confusion to their being ripped from their everyday lives.  Like he was, so very long ago.
	Five hundred years was a lot of time for a man to think.  To ponder the past, to feel regrets.  And he had gone through it, knowing the stakes, knowing he had to be ready to take upon his shoulders the burden of this great undertaking.  He also knew his choosing wasn't entirely an honor.  It was the deed of a whimsical and annoying deity with an annoyed but still supportive partner deity.  Fortunately those he had spent so long with had let him in on their mutual bungling, and the stakes involved.
	The natural events on Spira had to proceed as laid out, if they did not... all reality could be endangered.  And so those who had been transported there had to be located and removed quickly, or if necessary, killed.
	"What in the living fuck is this?!"
	The bellow echoed through the Central Hall of Hollow Bastion.  The origin was... what was his name again?  Ah yes, Dalton.  Rob Dalton.  His bulky form moved toward Q and the Gamemaster and he thrust a finger toward their faces.  "What kind of joke is this?"
	"It's no joke," Q replied in an indignant tone.  "You see, we have need of you."
	"Huh?  What could you want from us?"  Who was this girl?  Such nice red hair...  I never knew her name, did I?  I only knew her as Sakura.  Yes.  That's right.  She was the Otaku.
	"Oh, nothing major."
	"Exactly."  The Gamemaster nodded with agreement.  "We only need you to travel to a world you previously believed fictional and take out several superpowerful villains I let loose there before they unravel the fabric of all reality."
	 A moment of silence passed.  "Okay, just what is this?  I mean, this is too real to be a dream."  The eldest among the gathered stepped forward.  "Did you drug us out and bring us here for some joke, along with this de Lancie-look alike?"
	Him.  Ah..... the engineer.  What was his name again?  Damn these hundreds of years.  I've spent so long learning to manipulate the cosmos I've forgotten the names of people I used to associate with daily.  Well, that was quite a while ago, but the whole purpose of memory is that you always have it there to recall.
	"This is no dream, Mister Wong, and I assure you, it's not just some joke."  Q grinned widely.  "You know, I took the time to look over your website.  You're a very humorous fellow.  Nasty, but humorous.  I really should bring you to the Enterprise and introduce you to Jean-Luc, I think you'd get along fine with the old codger.... Oh, before I forget."  Q stepped toward Wong with a finger raised.  "Your characterization of me in 'Conquest' was so artistically done, I can never thank you enough.  But, well, I must admit I am a stickler for fair fights, they're so much more entertaining, that if the Galactic Empire invaded the Alpha Quadrant, I'd probably raise Starfleet's firepower up a few notches to even the playing field.  Nothing against you, I'm just like that."
	It was hard to read Mike's face.  A slight dropped jaw, eyes a little widened and with skepticism still alive and well in them.  But before he could do anything else, another voice spoke up.  "Okay, let me get this straight."  A young woman stepped up between Sakura and Mark.  Dark-haired and with a tanned complexion, she was clad in winter clothing with a ponytail at the back of her head.  The figure on the upper floor looked down and considered what he was seeing.  Hmm.... winter clothing, Midwesterner accent, mixed ethnic heritage.... ah, it must be her.  Misty.  "You are a real person, not some invention of Gene Roddenberry.  And you have brought the likes of me here, considering we're just normal everyday people, to go on some wild quest to take down... who?"
	"Kefka.  Saruman.  Maleficent.  Sephiroth.  Exdeath."  Each answer drew confused looks from some of the assembled, and a growing frown on the faces of Mark and Dalton.  "Oh yes, and Darth Maul too."
	Q nudged the Gamemaster with an elbow.  "You forgot Apocalypse."
	"Bah, I'm not perfect," the being replied with a frown.
	"You don't have to remind me of that either, I'm already well aware of it.  I really should have given you a sense of restraint."
	"Would you two please shut the hell up and just get on with it?  Christ."
	And there was more musing from the upper floor.  Hmm.... I never recall seeing him in person.  But the accent... and that posture.  What did he call himself again?  Eagle, and a number, yeah.
	"Yes.  And, you should be honored that we've chosen you," the Gamemaster said to them all.  "Think of it, you are the first humans to leave your world.  Of course, we'll wipe the memory from your mind when it's over, but still..."
	"You can take your honor and shove it up your ass, I have a family back home.  Find someone else."
	"Unfortunately, Mister Wong, they cannot."
	The voice from the upper floor prompted everyone to look up.  The Gamemaster formed a frown on his face while Q's expression remained neutral.  "You just had to show up now, didn't you?"
	"I have waited five hundred years for this moment, you saw to that."  The figure stepped off the edge of the upper floor and hovered in mid-air, coming down.  "And you," he looked toward the assembled, "should consider yourselves lucky.  I, too, was pulled away from my life, but instead of being brought here I had to spend five hundred years training and preparing for the coming task."  He landed softly on the ground.  "It has been so very long since I have heard from any of you.  Allow me to explain."
	"There is nothing fictional in reality.  If it can exist, it does exist.  Thus, we have beings here like Q.  Q, in a moment of boredom, created this being.  The Gamemaster.  Who he would use to find entertainment, and to do so, he gave his new creation an irresistible desire to be continually amused and entertained.  Unfortunately, he gave him no restraint.  And so, the Gamemaster has left all reality in danger."
	"There is a world that some of you may have heard of.  It is called Spira.  And on this world, an immortal being called Yul Yevon has spent the last thousand years constantly calling and recalling a being of monstrous power, Sin.  But he will be vanquished shortly.  It is the natural order of his world."
	"The problem is, the Gamemaster, for entertainment, deposited several beings on the planet that, because of their power, cannot help but interfere with the natural order of the worlds.  If they do so, all reality will feel the effect."
	"This cannot be allowed to happen.  They must be taken prisoner or destroyed.  And for that, the Gamemaster was allowed to choose those who would fix his mistakes.  He chose you."
	"And if we don't want to do it?", one of them asked.  An Englishman....  IDMR?  Drake?  "What then?"
	"Then all existence may be in grave danger.  Would you want to take that risk?"
	"Then find someone else."
	"It cannot be done.  Once you were brought here, there was no turning back.  I apologize."
	"We know who they are," Mark said, "but who are you?"
	"Who am I?"
	The figure pulled off the hood over his head and revealed his face.  His hair and beard had grown gray long before.  "You may remember me simply as 'Steve'," he replied.
	There were some glimpses of recognition on the faces of a few assembled, as they recognized the picture they had seen of this person they had all known online.
	"Steve?"  Misty pointed toward the gray-robed figure.  "As in 'Big' Steve?"
	A grin answered her.  "Yes, that was it.  You must remember, it has been five hundred years since I last touched a computer.  I do not remember everything of those times, just enough to recall some of your faces and names."
	"As you can guess, I, too, was brought here against my will.  And unlike you, I was forced to endure five hundred years alone to prepare for this.  It has not been a pleasant experience, and my anger toward the Gamemaster and his bungling far exceeds your own."  A flash of anger appeared in those dark eyes, and made Mark step back; it seemed far more than just an "appearance".  "But I shall not delay him any longer.  For those of you who do not know each other, allow me to do the introductions."  He surveyed the faces on them all, and by gently feeling their minds with his own, remembered their names.
	From one individual to the next, Stephen laid out the individuals present.  Kate "RocketGirl" Fahr.  Misty "Ryguy" Greene.  Mark "Iceberg" Berger.  Sakura Azhreia.  Marina O'Leary.  Rob Dalton.  Michael Wong.  John "Deathbringer" Webster.  Patrick "Eagle One" Phillips.  Drake "IDMR".  Chris "Goomba" Pepper.  He remembered, with increasing clarity, the good times, the exchanges of friendships through the proxy of telecommunications.
	"Ah, aren't reunions so sad?", the Gamemaster quipped, finally exasperated by the slow solemnity of the proceedings.
	"Shush your insolent mouth," Stephen responded angrily.  "You, of all beings here, have the least right to say anything.  You are responsible for this situation.  And to fix it you have had to drag us from the lives we knew and into a battle that is entirely of your making."
	"Yes.  It'll be fun."
	Q rolled his eyes.  Stephen turned his back to them.  "The two of you may leave.  I will take things over from here."
	"Don't hesitate to call us if you need help," Q said.  "And I'm sure you will."
	Q and the Gamemaster disappeared in twin flashes of light, leaving the assembled alone.  "I have to be dreaming," John muttered.
	"Unfortunately for all of us, you're not."  Stephen stepped to the wall, with his back to the others.  "I have waited for so long to get to this point.  Because, you see, when we finish this task, we all get to go home and we'll never even know what happened to us.  This ordeal will end."
	"How did you last, Steve?"  Mark stepped up toward him.  "To live that long?"
	"I lasted, because I had to.  There was no other alternative."  He drew in a breath.  "I'm sure some of you are now going to ask the question of just how you're going to accomplish this Herculean task placed on your shoulders."
	"Considering the opposition, Stephen, I have to wonder just what good we're going to do."
	"Marina has a point," Drake added.
	"Yes, she does.  Well, I might as well cut to the chase."  Stephen turned around.  "I will give to each of you a weapon, and this weapon will grant you powers and skill consistent with its purpose.  Once you have gotten used to wielding it, your power should grow and match that of your foes."
	"Considering we're being warped to a Final Fantasy world, of all places, I take it we'll get to level up?", Dalton asked.  "And without that silly 'sphere' stuff?"
	"Of course."  Stephen gestured first to Mike.  "Please, come forward."  From within the folds of his light-colored robe, the aged being pulled out an object with a slight curb that looked very familiar to many of the assembled.  "Take it.  It fits you the best."
	Mike grudgingly extended his hand, an agitated expression on his face.  As his fingers gripped the curved object, energy began to surround him.  A bright light emanated from the ground and his formal work clothing began to... to... change.  Trousers and a long-sleeved shirt morphed swiftly into dark garments.  Full-length black trousers and a similarly-black long-sleeved heavy armor came into being.  Black gloves appeared on his hands and a flowing black cape extended from the back of his neck down.  Dark boots finished the outfit.  "I don't believe this...."  Pointing the device he had been handed away, Mike flipped a switch.  The resulting blade of red energy drew astonished stares from all the assembled.  And, in the heads of all, a spectral voice intoned, The path of the Dark Side, to destroy all who kindle the fury of the Dark One, with anger the strongest asset and greatest liability.
	"Holy shit," Misty said in a stunned voice.
	"And now, to move on."  Stephen walked next to Kate, clad in a simple blue T-shirt with a Star Wars logo on the chest and knee-length blue shorts.  "This is for you."  He reached within his robe and pulled out another small device, without the curve on Mike's.  "Take it, Kate."
	"Woh...  What will this do to..."
	"Trust me."
	Kate considered the object again.  Her hand reached for it, and her fingers wrapped around it slowly.  As she pulled it in, light surrounded her.  As the light spread around Kate an invisible line began tracing across her, changing her appearance.  Her right shoulder was now bared, a white sleeveless robe replacing her T-shirt and white trousers replacing her shorts as the line of change moved across her horizontally.  White boots replaced her tennis shoes as well.  Her dark hair went from being free in the back to being braided into a pony-tail.  Her left shoulder became bare and the transition ended.  Again the voice spoke.  The path of the Light Side, to overcome Darkness, unmatched discipline of mind, body, and soul in tune with the energy of the universe.
	"I don't think you're going to make us all Jedi, are you?", Chris asked.
	"No, no I'm not.  Here, Christopher."  Stephen reached into the robe again and pulled out a scythe.  He reached his hand out.  "Here, take it."
	Chris did so.  As his right hand gripped the scythe, a light filled him.  A line of change began to move up from his feet toward his head, changing his simple running shoes into brownish boots.  Violet trousers ended at his waist, where a brown jerkin began.  Leaving his arms bare, and a bit more muscular than they had been before, the line of change created a violet cape at his neck and turned his hair silvery white.  The path of the Magus, to command Death and Darkness with the power of the Reaper.  Looking down at his appearance, Chris looked back up and grinned.  "Um... I'm the Magus?"
	"Well, approximately.  Although I'd say you have a better personality."
	"Steve, a question?"
	He looked back toward Kate, who was swishing her blue lightsaber in the air, getting the feel of it.  "Yes?"
	"What was that voice?  The one that spoke when you gave us the weapons?"
	"A manifestation of the energy within the weapon," came the reply.  "That's also why it transforms your appearance, to meet with its purpose."
	"Oh.  Sounds like a bad plot device."
	"Indeed."  Turning next to Mark, Stephen reached within his robes and pulled out a weapon, a sword, which he gripped by the middle of its scabbard.  He handed the entire thing to Mark, who pulled the shining sword from its protective scabbard.  As he did so light enveloped him and his plain clothing began changing much as the others had.  Dark cloth covered him entirely, aside from his head, ending at his Adam's Apple.  A waist belt held a place for the scabbard to go, and he put it there as the voice returned.  The path of the Ninja, to embrace speed and stealth over strength and fury, graceful and deadly.
	He moved on, now to Patrick.  "I don't get any guns, do I?", Patrick asked.
	"Sorry, old friend, but that would be too obvious on a planet like Spira."  Stephen handed him a lance.  "Take this instead, and live up to the name 'Eagle.'"
	At contact with the spear, Patrick's appearance altered.  His work uniform altered into a green armor plate that left only his shoulders and head bare, with his arms and the other parts of his body covered.  A green helmet shaped like a dragon's head formed over his head.  The path of the Dragoon, to wield the power to master the sky, and to jump through the air like no other.
	"Dalton, take this."
	In street clothes, the stocky New Yorker took from Stephen a large axe.  It reacted by surrounding him with light and replacing his clothes with strong red armor and a sleeveless mail jerkin underneath.  Dalton's arms grew in size and musculature.  The path of the Berserker, to meet strength with greater strength, and ferocity with greater ferocity.
	Moving on to Misty, Stephen handed her a pair of clawed gloves.  As Misty pulled them on her hands, light surrounded her, and her heavy winter clothing was replaced by lighter covering.  A blue jerkin, baring her arms and part of her midriff, with her dark hair pulled up into a pony tail.  White kickboxing shorts, down to her knee, went with steel-spiked black shoes.  The path of the Fighter, to be swift and powerful, with strength of body and discipline of mind, physical perfection.
	"Jeez, could I wear any less?", Misty said with a frown.  "I mean, I'd prefer my gi."
	"You've never played Final Fantasy VII, have you?", Dalton asked.
	"Yeah, so?"
	"Well, look on the bright side.  You're not dressed like Tifa."
	Ignoring the banter, it was now Drake's turn.  Drake stepped back, and gestured instead to Marina.  "Ladies first."
	"If you desire."  Stephen turned to her, and from within pulled out a bow.  "Take this."
	"Archery.  Hmm."  Marina's red hair flew to one side upon her whipping her head to her right, and to Drake.  "Maybe you should have taken this, Drake?  Never mind."  She reached out and took the bow, and looked over its fine wooden surface as the light surrounded her.
	Immediately the sleeping pajamas she had been wearing was rapidly replaced along the vertical axis by ankle-length brown trousers and brown shoes on her previously-bare feet.  A sleeveless green jerkin, with a long-sleeved brown jacket over it, appeared afterward, and a strap was visible, with a quiver of arrows on her back.  The waist-length red hair was left alone, aside from the brown band near the top of her rear head through which it flowed.  A short sword dangled from her waist belt.  The path of the Hunter, to strike down from afar, with unflinching accuracy and swiftness.
	"Your turn, Drake," Marina said, placing the bow on her back.
	The Englishman nodded and stepped before Stephen.  "What do I get?"
	Without a word from the other man, Drake was replied with a bright and shining sword.  "Take this, Drake."
	When his hand touched the hilt, Drake was covered with light.  Clothes were covered by white chain mail and a white steel breastplate.  His hair fell to the back, partially visible under his white helmet.  Chain mail sleeves and a pair of gloves for his hands completed the protection of his limbs.  At the belt, a scabbard lay ready.  The path of the Paladin, to defend the weak and fight the evil, with the power of Light embodied within the Paladin's heart and his blade.
	Stephen turned to the remaining two; Sakura and John.  "Which of you would like to go first?"
	"Ladies first," John said.
	"No, you can go first, DB," Sakura answered.
	John shrugged and stepped forward.  He had a rod thrust into his hands without comment.  The red gemstone on the rod's tip shined and light enveloped him.  A black cloak and robe covered him entirely, a hood hiding his head completely in darkness and his eyes glowing with powerful energies.  The path of the Black Mage, to attack and to destroy with the tremendous power of magic.
	"So, I get to be a Black Mage?"  John grinned.  "Where's my knife?  And I promise, I won't stab anyone."
	"I don't get it," Stephen replied.
	"You... you don't remember 8-bit?"
	"Not at all."
	"You poor bastard."
	Sakura looked at the others and then to Stephen.  "Um, what do I get then?"
	"You?  You, Sakura, get perhaps the most important power of them all."  Stephen brought out a staff, with a white gemstone embedded at the top.  He handed it to Sakura.  A white robe with red trim appeared over her, covering her completely with a hood over her mane of red hair.  "Huh?", she asked as she felt the new power run through her heart and mind.  "What is this?"
	The path of the White Mage, to heal and to protect with the tremendous power of a pure heart and magic.
	"So she's our White Mage?", Mark asked.
	"Yes."
	"But..."  Sakura looked at her robes and the staff she held.  "I'm... Steve, come on, I'm going to be useless!  I can't fight!"
	"Maybe not directly."  Stephen took her hand.  "But within you lies a purity of soul none of the others can claim.  You, alone, can be the wielder of the white magic that will keep you and your friends alive.  You may not be able to fight directly, Sakura, but you can save your friends from harm.  Your magicks can protect them and heal them, as the weapon said.  In some ways, you are the most important member of this team."
	Somehow, that answer did not satisfy her.  Sakura lifted the staff and watched the white gemstone glow with magical light.  John was twirling his rod around, and with a devilish grin, swiveled on his left foot toward the wall and shouted, "Hadoken!"  When nothing happened, he frowned.  "Ah dammit, no...."
	A beam of bright fire erupted from the gemstone and burned into the wall.  "Wow."
	"You should spend some time getting used to your new abilities, but for those of you with magical abilities, you must know that every time your magic is used you will deplete your strength of mind, until such a time as you can restore it.  I can only do so here and now, and I will not always be with you on Spira."
	"Why not?  Aren't you going to show us where to go?"
	"No, Misty, I cannot.  It would cause... complications."  He stepped toward the end of the hall.  "I will give you time to prepare, but we must not delay for too long.  You have this room in which to ready yourselves."  He stepped toward stairs and began to scale them.
	"Wait."  Mark went to follow him.  "Where will you be?"
	"I will be waiting in the library.  Come to me when you are ready."  Without another word, he left.  The others looked among themselves, and began to examine the weapons they had on hand.

	So long to wait.... and now is the time.
	The library of Hollow Bastion was expansive, taking up two floors.  And he could sense the darkness in these walls, the fortress of a fool who had tried to play with Darkness and had gotten swallowed by it.
	And there were still questions.  These were people he knew, people he could consider friends.  And now, he had to do what Q and his lackey had lacked the courage to do, and ask them to endure pain and suffering to accomplish a greater good, to make right a wrong they did not cause.  It was unfair, but as many people had long pointed out, life was unfair.
	Yet, if five hundred years amongst great teachers had taught him anything, it was that there was a purpose for everything.  Perhaps even here.
	"It is strange," he said aloud.  "I had always assumed that we would meet each other face-to-face in a far more familiar territory."
	"The stupidity of this situation boggles my mind."  Mike emerged from shadows by one of the shelves of books.  "They expect people like us to become some kind of uber warriors and subdue beings of that magnitude of power?  And then there's you.... you always struck me as the intelligent type, but you seriously went along with this?"
	"The choice presented to me was not exactly a real choice," Stephen retorted.  "And, I shall say this.  It is better for someone competent and serious to be in the position I occupy, and not individuals like Q and the Gamemaster.  Would you prefer them to have chosen for you what abilities they would use?"  A wry grin crossed his face.  "And you still think you're dreaming?"
	"I have to be.  This doesn't make any sense whatsoever."
	"Oh, it makes sense," Stephen answered, "but only to the senses of a fool like the Gamemaster.  To you and me, however, this is stupidity incarnate.  But we have no choice but to go along with it."
	"And get ourselves killed?  Come on, think!  Despite whatever jokes we may have done online, I'm no Sith Lord.  Marina is no Archer, Kate is no Jedi, and none of us are really these things you've made us."
	"That is why you must learn."  Stephen crossed his arms.  "You don't think I'd have preferred for them to give me people who knew these things?  I'd prefer the likes of Cloud Strife or Sora to deal with these things.  But that's not what I was given; I was given you and the others."
	"Okay, then answer this.  Why won't you be going with us?"
	A momentary pause passed.  "Because it cannot be allowed for now."  He raised a hand to forestall the next question.  "Do not ask any more questions, I have no more answers to give."
	There were footsteps from the corner of a shelf and Sakura emerged from around it.  "The others say they are ready."
	"Then it is time.  We shall speak of this another time, Michael."
	A couple of turns around bookshelves led to the door back to the Main Hall.  The others were standing around each other, looking at their weapons still.  "Are all of you sure you are prepared to go?  This will be the last quiet place you have to assemble for quite some time."
	"We can do nothing more standing around here," Drake said.  "We're as ready as we can be."
	"Which isn't much, of course."  Kate crossed her arms.
	"Then please, arrange yourselves in a circle around me."  Stephen stepped to the center of the room.  The others took up positions around him, forming a circle.  When this was finished he reached out with his right arm and a rod appeared in his hand.  He brought it back toward him and placed his left hand below the right.  His eyes closed and a barrier of light formed around the party.  When his eyes snapped back open, pure white light poured from them.  He raised the staff into the air and brought it back down on the ground.  The Main Hall of Hollow Bastion disappeared entirely, the light of a void around them completely, until the view wavered and they were in a crystal forest of some kind.  The glow finished and they were in a new environment, slightly chillier than the last.  "Welcome to Spira.  This is the forest of Macalania.  To the south lies the Thunder Plains and Guadosalam, to the north, Laka Macalania and the Macalania Temple."  The rod in his hands disappeared and Stephen walked out of the middle of the circle, going between Misty and Kate in one direction.
	"So, where are you going?", Patrick asked.
	"I have other matters to attend to, things that need looking upon.  But I will be back, do not worry."
	"And just how do we find our way around this place?", Kate asked.
	"I would think Mark knows enough about Spira, but... do not worry, these things will attend to themselves."
	"So, when will you be back?"
	Kate's second question prompted Stephen to stop, and turn back.  "All I can say is this.  Expect me when you see me."  Finished, he continued walking away, and disappeared in a flash of light.
	The eleven looked at each other from across the distance of the circle they formed.  "Well, what do we do now?", Dalton asked.
	A loud roar filled the air and a shadow appeared in the center.  A Chimera slammed onto the ground, snarling and howling from its multiple heads.  A ball of fire appeared in one of its hands and it threw it toward Misty.  She had no time to react before the ball slammed into her.  A howl managed to escape her lungs before she was slammed back by the force into a tree and temporarily lost consciousness.
	"Raaaaaaaargh!"  Dalton lifted his axe and raced toward the Chimera.  It swung its snake tail toward him and knocked his feet out from under him.  Dalton tripped over and landed on his back with a loud thud.  The Chimera's lion head roared at him and moved in for a killing strike.
    Drake stepped between them and rammed his shining sword into the Chimera's belly.  It screeched at him and pushed him back, but allowed Dalton enough time to get up.  The Chimera was preparing to charge at them when Patrick came down from mid-air, having jumped near the beginning of the fight.  His lance pointed downwards, Patrick drove it through the Chimera's back and pulled it back out.  Badly injured, the creature twirled and slammed him with a paw.
	A second roar had already heralded the arrival of a second Chimera.  A gush of water from its eagle head bowled over Kate and Mike while they were attempting to attack the first one.  Mark vaulted over the water burst and somersaulted in mid-air, bringing his sword down into the Chimera's lion head.  Fire erupted from John's rod and enveloped the second Chimera's tail, which retaliated immediately with a bolt of lightning that knocked John back.  He stooped for a moment to recover his bearings.  Chris moved between them and swung his scythe in mid-air before the Chimera's snake tail could bite John.  The scythe's enchanted blade sliced through the snake's head easily and severed it.  The Chimera's other heads cried out and twisted around, knocking Mark off before he could perform a killing blow on the lion head.  "Chimera's, already?!", Mark shouted while landing on his knees next to Marina, who put an arrow into the goathead.  "I thought we were supposed to start with the light stuff?"
	"Nothing is ever so easy," his stoic comrade replied as she drew another arrow from the quiver, which immediately replaced it with enchanted power.
	Sakura had been watching, helplessly, cursing the fact that she did not have the power to fight these beasts.  To heal and to protect kept repeating in her mind, until she noticed Misty had not gotten back up.  She raced over to the other girl and knelt beside her.  There was some blood trickling from Misty's mouth.  "Oh no..."  Sakura closed her eyes and stood.  A green-white glow emanated from her staff's gemstone and enveloped Misty.  The blood disappeared and a moment later she got back to her feet.  "Woh, what happened?"
	A loud shout was followed by the sound of Dalton impacting against a tree, thrown into it by the first Chimera.  Sakura ran over to him while Misty stood to her full height and charged toward the first one to rescue Patrick, who was trying to keep its claws away from an unconscious Kate.
	One of the Chimeras screeched and it became obvious why at the sight of crackling lightning.  Not just any lightning, but the type only found at the hand of an enraged Sith.  Mike channeled the anger from his situation and the wound he had received into the lightning and the second Chimera began to falter.  John added to it with a Bio spell, poisoning the Chimera and weakening it.  Mark hopped into the air to avoid a swipe from one of its claws and drove his blade into the lion's head again, this time killing the brain within, and by extension, the entire Chimera.  The mighty beast screeched one final time and collapsed.
	With Dalton on his feet again, the party surrounded the initial Chimera.  An arrow into the eagle head from Marina's bow prevented it from gushing more water toward them.  The beast howled and charged toward Dalton and Sakura.  Sakura knocked Dalton out of the way and let the Chimera slam into her.  It raked out with its claw and drove the sharpened ends into her belly.  Sakura cried out and collapsed without another sound.
	"Hello, Dalton, you're supposed to protect the White Mage of the party," Mark shouted angrily, running toward Sakura's fallen form as the Chimera moved it's lionhead toward her to snap her in half with it's strong jaws.
	A flash of blue instead went through those jaws, and the Chimera dropped back in pain from the sting of Kate's lightsaber.  Bedraggled and in pain, she took another pair of swipes and stepped back into a defensive position.  The Chimera roared and charged at her again.
	Drake and Mark both beat it to the punch and drove their respective swords into its lion and goatheads.  A single swipe of its claw knocked both away.  An arrow from Marina thudded into its shoulder and rendered the arm useless, which mattered little as Mike severed it a moment later with a vortex swing of his saber.  Patrick came down from the air again and drove his spear through the Chimera's back.  Its snake head reached up and bit him in the back of the neck, the fangs penetrating his armor.  Patrick groaned and fell to the side, poisoned.
	"You're late."
	The new voice prompted some turning heads.  On the road now stood a man with red trousers, a red leather vest, and a black jacket.  Dark glasses covered his eyes.  One arm was slung within the fold of the black jacket.  The other arm was holding a very large and nasty looking sword with a sharp edge and a curve at the end before the blade.  The Chimera roared at the newcomer and charged.
	With swift speed he ducked to the right and drove his weapon into the Chimera's belly.  It screeched for a moment as a line of gray appeared at the wound and swiftly encased it.  "Farewell," the man said in a wry tone following the last second of the Chimera's death cry.  The Chimera stood as a strange kind of statue for a moment before it shattered completely.
	Mark blinked for a moment.  "Wow...  Hey, wait a minute.  There's no way in hell you're Auron.  That would be disturbing..."
	"...the natural order of things, yes."  The man stepped toward them and looked at Sakura, who had been turned onto her back by Misty.  Her white robes had grown red.  "It is not too late."  He took out an object from his jacket pocket and threw it on Sakura.  A white glow surrounded her and the blood disappeared entirely.  Her eyes opened.  "Considering you have likely not been given any useful items by our common associates, you should take extra care of Sakura until we get to a shop.  Otherwise, if she goes down, we could all go down."
	"Who are you supposed to be?", John asked.
	"Isilron.  That is all you need to know."  Isilron helped Sakura to her feet.  "You have a team-mate who is in need of care, Sakura."
	She nodded and walked over to Patrick, who was writhing on the ground in pain.  "He has been... poisoned?"
	"Yes.  You know how to heal him."
	Sakura nodded, noticing that it was not a question but a statement being made by the newcomer.  She took his hand and said in a soft voice, "Come on, Eagle, get up.  It's gone."
	He stopped twitching and his breathing eased.  Patrick got to his knees and began to stand.  "Thanks... Sakura."  He looked to Isilron.  "You're?"
	"A friend.  A guide.  Stephen sends his regards."
	"So he sent you to help us?," Mark asked.  "Did he tell you anything about were we're from?"
	"I know where you come from," Isilron answered.  He pointed the way down the path.  "We must go, now.  Sin will be in Macalania Lake, and I think, perhaps one of our quarries as well."
	"Huh?"
	"There are those among our new foes who believe Sin can be turned to their own purpose," Isilron said.  "We must prevent them from interfering with the natural order of things, thus we must be in Macalania's Lake should the person there make his move."
	"So we should trust you, just like that?"  John pointed a finger toward him.
	"Yes, Deathbringer, you should.  I would hope that even after fifteen long years, there is still some trust, from one Fiver to another."  Isilron turned and began walking away, prompting the others to follow.
	"One Fiver..."  John began thinking, but fell in with the others before they left him too far behind.

	The breach in the universal fabric sealed and Stephen and Q looked up.  "Very sloppy," Q said, shaking his head.
	"You should have expected no better," came the agitated reply.  "None of them, none of us, asked to be made to do this, Q.  Your lackey caused it."  Stephen's brow furrowed.  "Where is your misbegotten creation anyway?"
	"Oh, him?  I sent the Gamemaster back to the Continuum, they've got a word or three to say about this whole mess.  Can you believe it, I'm going to be the one who catches hell for it, and I did nothing wrong!"
	"You bear some of the responsibility, Q, do not shirk it."
	"Did you tell them about Sin and how it hunts you?"
	"No, I did not.  It was unimportant for them to know."
	"Hiding things from friends?"
	"No, I'm not hiding anything.  I simply did not inform them, and they did not ask."  Stephen crossed his arms.  "Who is at Macalania?  Apocalypse?"
	"I haven't peeked in yet, but probably.  Are they ready for him?"
	"Let's hope so."

	In the quiet of the ocean, darkness covered all.  From its depths rose one stone, and another, and another, until a citadel had been formed.  Robotic entities and dark creatures roamed around its perimeter, slaughtering any animals that drew too close.
	Within the walls, a maniacal laugh erupted from the throat of the deranged leader of those within the grand meeting hall.  Kefka did not stop for a few moments, until he found a blade pressed against his throat.  "I did not come here for you to laugh," Sephiroth remarked angrily.
	"Nor did I," Darth Maul said in agreement.  "Speak your mind, Kefka."
	Kefka cleared his throat and allowed one last cackle to escape his throat.  He looked out at the assembled: himself, Maul, Sephiroth, and Maleficent.  "I have made a great discovery."
	"And that would be?", Maleficent asked, her yellow eyes training solely on Kefka.
	"Why, I found out who brought us here!"  Kefka looked to the side.  "Come in, come in!"
	From behind a curtain, a single figure emerged.  "Greetings, my sweet things," the Gamemaster remarked, taking several steps toward them.  "I am the Gamemaster, and I come with a warning."
	"What would that be?", Sephiroth asked.
	"My creator has sent people to this planet to stop you.  He let me pick them out, that was so fun, and they intend to kill you or return you to your homeworlds."
	"Let them try," Maleficent cackled.  "My world is gone anyway, and I will not be defeated by upstart humans!"
	"You mean like that brat with the Keyblade?", Sephiroth said in a mocking tone.
	"Silence!"
	"Enough!"  Kefka crossed his arms.  "At least we know, now, to be on our guard."
	"Yes, but, I must ask..."  Maul stood up and looked at the Gamemaster.  "What is in it for him?"
	"Why, entertainment."  The Gamemaster spread his arms out and laughed.  "That is why I exist, to find entertainment for myself.  The coming battle will be most fun to observe, and, I might add, so will your victories.  I grow so tired of good always winning over evil."
	"I see."
	"Well, that is good enough for me," Sephiroth remarked.  "I say we hunt them down and kill them before they find this place."
	"An excellent choice, Sephiroth," Maleficent agreed.  "But why not let them deal with our enemies first?"
	"As in, Apocalypse and Exdeath?"
	"Exactly," Maleficent said.
	Kefka rubbed his chin.  "Gamemaster," he said, expecting to be answered.  When he was not, he noticed the man was gone.  Which was bad, because he had a... favor to ask.
	Which was a moot point, since the Gamemaster already knew of the favor, and intended to arrange for it to be fulfilled... provided the heroes survived long enough.......

	A bitterly cold wind was sweeping down through Macalania Forest, coming from the lake higher into the mountains.  Standing in the lead, Isilron looked back at the assembled party of offworlders.  "Come, it won't be much longer."
	"Don't we have any winter clothing to wear?", Misty asked.
	He continued onward, not looking at the jerkin-clad girl to the rear.  "There is none."
	"Well, we're not exactly dressed for winter travel," she complained.
	Sighing, Isilron stopped and turned.  He looked to John, standing in the middle, and then to a nearby tree.  Without any sign of effort he tore a large tree limb off and tossed it to John, who dropped it as he tried to catch it.  "Here.  Use it as a torch."
	John blinked at Isilron and then looked down at the limb.  He knelt and lifted it with his left hand.  He pointed his right finger toward it and a tongue of flame sparked from the tip of his fingernail.  The stick caught fire.  "This isn't going to take long to completely burn out, you know," John remarked as Isilron immediately continued on.
	"The trees of Macalania are very sturdy.  The fire will burn long enough for us to get to shelter."
	Isilron said nothing more, and left the assembled to their thoughts.  He did find sympathy for them, cast here.  Undoubtedly, little time had passed since they had been torn from their world.  It was likely too much for them to take in.  And so they had to assimilate their surroundings bit by bit.
	Much like he had been forced to do.

	Standing near the end of the party formation, just ahead of Misty and Dalton, Mike and Kate were locked in step together.  Kate, on the right, looked around the forest while rubbing her bare arms with her hands from the cold.  "I don't think I'm used to this yet," she said in the familiar "Drew Barrymore" voice she was known for.
	"You're not the only one.  This entire situation still seems too unreal."
	"So..."  A mischievous grin appeared on Kate's face.  "Considering you're a Sith and I'm a Jedi, doesn't that mean we're supposed to fight?"
	"At a later date, if you want."  The reply was too serious for Kate's taste, and she wisely backed off on speaking with her irate comrade.
	"I'm stuck on a quest with the likes of RocketGirl and Mike Wong," Misty murmured.  "Why don't I just slice my own throat now and save myself a lot of pain and wasted effort?"
	"Be my guest."
	"Oh Mike, you wound me."
	Mike rolled his eyes.  "I am in no mood to joke around."
	"I would agree," Drake said.  "I don't think this is necessarily the right time for joking.  We're strangers in a strange land, here."
	"Doesn't help that I still can't help but feel I'm in a dream."  Kate rubbed the back of her head.  "Do those things have to hurt so?  I hope we don't run into any more of them."
	"Fiends prowl all the roads of Spira," Mark informed her.  "So don't count on your wish coming true."
	"I wonder, what approximate time it is in relation to Yuna's pilgrimage?"  Chris looked up toward Isilron at the front.  "Well?"
	Without stopping, their guide replied, "I saw them go by as I waited for you.  They should right now be at Macalania Temple."
	"Which means they'll be fighting Seymour soon.  Are we going to run into the Wendigo?"
	"Possibly, but it's not the Wendigo I'm worried about."  Isilron suddenly stopped.  "We may run into Yevon priests or acolytes.  Do any of you know the prayer?"
	"Prayer?", Kate asked.
	"I know it," Chris said.  "Mark?"
	"I do too."
	"Then make sure your teammates know it."  Isilron resumed walking.  "To not know the prayer, or not to use it at the appropriate times, would be to cast suspicion on us.  I do not desire to add Yevon to our list of enemies, considering how things are destined to go."
	Mike crossed his arms and maintained the same frown he had worn since they had been ripped from their world.  "What is this Yevon, and why should I care about their prayer?"
	Isilron quickly explained everything about Yevon.  About the forbidding of machina, the control over the majority of the world, and how they secretly violated their own teachings.  This drew a harumph from Mike.  "And so what if we make them enemies?  As far as I'm concerned, their close-mindedness makes them my enemy already."
	"Ah, how I missed that attitude," Isilron said with a slight chuckle.  "I knew you would react in this way.  But remember, we're here to preserve the natural order of the world.  We cannot do anything to interfere with Yevon's fall.  And trust me, they will fall."
	"And none the sooner," Dalton remarked.
	"If you had lived here as long as I have, you would understand that the fall of Yevon is not a good thing.  It might be wrong, but it gives the people direction, it helps them live through the pain and suffering of their lives, the loss given to them by Sin and the fiends."  Isilron adjusted the shades covering his eyes.  "We're almost there.  We should keep moving."
	Silence came again and they began walking along again.  This time Patrick broke the silence among the group, looking over at Chris.  "You know much about this world?"
	"Only what I remember from the game."
	"So, how close are we to civilization?"
	"Aside from one of Rin's Traveling Agencies, we'd have to go backwards to get to Bevelle."
	"Bevelle?", Marina asked from farther back.
	"The largest city on Spira.  The home base for the Yevon clergy."
	There was a nod, and without warning she stopped.  "Did anyone hear that?"
	The party stopped around her.  "I don't hear anything," John said.
	"No, wait."  Isilron raised a hand.  "I hear it too.  It's up ahead."  He pulled his sword up.  "Sounds like a few fiends."
	"More fiends?"
	"Yes, more fiends.  Not Chimeras, either."
	A gurgling sound now became clear to everyone.  They readied their weapons in time to see a group of slurping creatures of some kind approaching.  "Flan."  Isilron lifted the Gorgon Gaze over his shoulder.  "John, this is your department.  Use fire magic on them."
	"Fire... magic.  Okay."
	John lifted his staff and closed his eyes.  When he opened them again, a red glow appeared in them that increased in intensity.  He pointed his open left hand to the flans.  Flames enveloped one without warning, and it made a strange kind of death screech before disintegrating.
	Chris lifted a gloved hand, his long scythe in the other, and dark power emanated from his eyes.  A massive burst of dark energies erupted and enveloped a pair of the creatures, which reacted with pain but did not die.  An arrow from Marina speared one between the eyes, but did not kill it.  Drake found that his sword did not work either.  "They're gel creatures, you can't kill them very easily with physical attacks."  Isilron put his eyes to John.  "Again!"
	A burst of ice appeared below Misty, and swiftly enveloped her.  When it broke, she fell to her knees for a moment, shivering.  Isilron did not have to command Sakura to heal her while a burst of flame from John's hand enveloped the last two Flan and destroyed them.  "God damn that hurt," said Misty as she stood to her feet.  A bright haze surrounded her and the appearance of frostbite on her visible skin disappeared.  "Are we going to run into more of them?"
	"Probably."  Isilron stepped between the puddles of what was left of the Flan.

	"Where is he, Q?!"
	The demand echoed through the fabric of the cosmos and into the continuum of existence inhabited by the beings called the Q.  And one particular being out of these responded with a resonating, and panic-stricken, "I don't know!"
	"You said your creation was being held in the Continuum, now I see that isn't the case.  Why?!"
	"He didn't want to show up?"
	There was a grunt of frustration.  "Q, I'm beginning to get the feeling that you and him arranged for my friends' quest with more in mind than just undoing your creation's damage."
	"I can assure you I haven't.  As for him, he's out of control."
	"Find him then.  I have other matters to attend to."

	"Finally!  Somewhere to rest!"
	Misty's exuberance allowed her to beat Sakura's planned outburst by about half a second when the sight of a building appeared over the hill.
	"Rin always had a knack for leaving his Traveling Agencies in the most opportune places," Isilron said, walking on.  "We will stop for a short while, if you desire it."
	"Do we ever!"
	There was a single person outside of the Agency, a young man tending to a large yellow-feathered bird.  "And that is?", Kate asked.
	"It's a chocobo, RG," Chris said.  "Think of it like a horse.  Just with feathers."
	"And it stinks."
	Responding to Marina's comment, Sakura sniffed the air.  "I don't smell anything."
	"That's because Marina's senses have been enhanced by the enchanted weapon she carries," Isilron remarked as they came over the hill and closed on the door.  "You do not merely gain the basic skills of your class, you also have improved physical capabilities, such as Marina's senses."
	"And you?"
	The older man smirked.  "I get what I've managed to learn while on Spira.  Lucky me."
	The party came within ten feet of the door to the building when the chocobo began chattering loudly, as if it were afraid.  "Uh oh...."  Kate pulled her saber out and ignited it.  "Feel that?"
	"I do."  Mike's saber ignited in his hand as well.
	"Wha?!"  The young man beside the chocobo looked toward their weapons.  "What's going on?"
	"I would recommend you get that thing inside.  Now."  Mike waved him off.  "Wouldn't want you to get hurt."
	He nodded in reply and began pulling the bird through the door.  As he did so Isilron stepped toward glacier.  "Just who are you, anyway?"
	He turned back and faced Misty.  "Huh?"
	She stepped up toward him, checking the claw weapons attached to her hands to make sure they were firmly attached.  "You said you were brought here like we were, fifteen years ago.  And you seem to know us.  Who are you?"
	"That is unimportance, since I'm no longer what I once was anyway."  Isilron pulled his weapon out.  "I think company is...."
	From beyond the glacier top opposite the travel agency, a large figure appeared.  Encased in blue armor and possessing of a grayish skin texture, the massive being stomped down toward the lake.  A prominent "A" was on his belt, with evil red eyes containing black pupils.  "I think," Isilron remarked, "we've found our prey."
	Mark pulled his weapon and stepped up.  "Apocalypse."
	The powerful mutant leapt up into the air and crashed down on the glacier lake, partially shattering the ice.  He paid no heed to the party, stomping down the mountain path.  "He's heading to the Macalania Temple."  Isilron looked back to the others.  "We can't let him get there.  The damage he could do to the natural order is immense."
	"Okay, so just how do you imagine we take down one of the most powerful mutants ever, hmmm?"  Misty clicked her tongue.  "I mean... get serious.  We don't have the benefit of mutant powers either."
	"No, we're just Level 99 Final Fantasy characters," Chris reminded her.  "Well, someone's got to do it."  Chris lifted his arms.  Dark energies swirled about him and he began hovering in mid-air.  With a loud and unnaturally booming voice, he called out, "Hey, Gray Bitch, over here!"
	As he did so, a single energized arrow from Marina's bow pierced the back of Apocalypse's neck.  He howled angrily and turned, pulling the arrow out and crushing it in his grasp.  "What?!  Who dares?!"
	Chris looked back at Marina, who was already stringing another arrow.  "You talk too much," she noted before letting another arrow fly.  This one hit Apocalypse in the chest and plinked off his armor.
	"Foolish insects!  You dare to strike Apocalypse!"  His right arm morphed into a gun.  A bright bolt of yellow energy reached out of it and prompted the entire party to scatter as the beam went by.  As he leapt, two glowing throwing stars materialized in Mark's hand.  He tossed them out in a single swipe of his right arm.  They struck Apocalypse in the forehead, exploding, and knocked him backward a step.
    "Hey, try this on for size!"  John picked himself up to his feet and raised his hands and staff, which began glowing.  "Bolt 2, motha fugga!"  A great lightning bolt came down from the sky and struck Apocalypse directly.  It seemed to do little damage, as the lightning effect clearly wore off and left everyone with the explicit impression that it had done little more than piss off the mutant.  Apocalypse leveled his weapon at John, who only had time to go "Oh shit" before a yellow bolt emerged and struck him, sending him about two meters into the ice behind him before he stopped, unconscious.  Sakura looked over at him and groaned, "Oh great, one down already," going to his aid while the others began the fight.
	Ahead of the others, Kate and Mike raced toward Apocalypse with sabers ready.  His other arm morphed into a shield, which deflected their swipes while the right arm aimed low and fired, melting through the lake and forcing them to jump back.  As they did so, his shield morphed into a large hammerheaded piston that struck them and knocked them both backward.  Dalton and Misty came next, Misty jumping up on Apocalypse's left arm while Dalton ran over the hole created by Apocalypse's previous blast.  His gun arm morphed into wide and flat surface, which he used to sweep them to the side.  "You will all tremble before the might of Apocalypse!"
	Patrick was now airborne and falling rapidly on Apocalypse.  Patrick's spear drove into the back of Apocalypse's neck while he was using a newly-formed shield to block Marina's arrows, plunging deep into flesh and drawing blood.  Apocalypse roared and grabbed Patrick by his neck, tossing him away and causing him to collide with the recovered Mike.  "Hey, fearless leader," Chris looked over at Isilron while charging dark energies in his hands, "maybe you want to get a little involved?"  He sent a blast Apocalypse's way, which the lumbering giant surprisingly dodged.  Kate zoomed by at the fastest speed she could manage and was able to make a small gash in Apocalypse's armor.  He batted her away, and while using a shield to deflect a blow from Dalton, pulled the spear out of his back with his right hand.  He threw it at the approaching Isilron before a hit could be landed with the deadly Gorgon Gaze blade.  It went straight through him, making him growl as he was flung backward by the force.  An arrow impacted the side of Apocalypse's head, hurting him further.  Patrick leap-frogged over him and went to Isilron, who was on the ice.  He reached his hand out and the spear, obediently, pulled out of Isilron and into his grasp.
	Misty slammed into Patrick with great force, having been thrown from Apocalypse as she had tried to clamber up his back to attack his wounded neck.  They went flying over the wounded Isilron as he began to stand.  He in turn was hit by Chris, who was thrown back after attempting to get a cut in with his scythe.  Apocalypse morphed his right arm into a cannon again long enough to take a shot at Marina.  The beam hit her before she could react, throwing her backward and into the wall of ice and rock behind her, taking the air out of her lungs from the force of the impact.
	"You cannot compare to my power!"  Apocalypse began growing before Drake, who with Dalton and Mark was in front of the now-massive mutant.  Their swords and axe cut into his armor, but not fast enough that they could avoid being thrown aside.  Dalton bounced off Kate, knocking her down, and recovered quickly.  He pulled his axe up and moved forward with all the speed his bulk permitted.
    As he did so, a bright burst of energy surrounded him.  From behind, Sakura's arms were raised, her red hair flowing in the icy wind as energy emanated from her hands and staff and pulled Dalton into the air.  In mid-air he dodged a punch from Apocalypse and landed a hammer swipe directly onto Apocalypse's forehead.  Having finally landed a critical blow, Dalton bellowed "ROB SMASH!" as Sakura's levitation magic disappeared and he came down to his feet.
	"You think you're so tough."  Mike stepped forward, his saber turned off and back on his belt.  "Let's see you compare with this!"  His hands glowed with dark energies and bursts of Force lightning issued forth, enveloping Apocalypse.  "We may be 'mere' humans, but our powers are more than enough to hurt you, monster!"
	Apocalypse roared angrily and began forming a gun on his right arm, resisting the Force lightning.  "Pitiful little...."
	Dalton and Misty moved behind Apocalypse.  Misty jumped up on his shoulders and leapt upward, getting onto the back of Apocalypse's neck.  The claws attached to her hands raked deep into his already-wounded flesh and cut more out.  Apocalypse howled from the further wounding before grabbing Misty and tossing her away.  She slammed into Mike and the two of them flew backward, interrupting the torrent of Force lightning that Mike had been channeling into him.
	From behind, Dalton and Drake took on a leg each.  Their weapons cut into armor and finally reached some of the flesh underneath.  As Apocalypse swiped at them, Chris created an explosion of dark energy beneath him that fractured some of the ice and caused Apocalypse to fall over.
	"John!  Now!"  Isilron had gotten back to his feet and was pointing at Apocalypse for John, who was now on his feet again after being healed by Sakura.  "The ice sheet!  Melt it!"
	There was a nod in reply.  "Hey, biggie, let's see how you like some hot foot."  Red energy emanated from John's eyes and, around Apocalypse, great flames appeared within the ice.  The massive mutant got up to move away.  An arrow from Marina's bow caught him in the forehead and stunned him long enough for Mark to fling explosive throwing stars to knock him backward.  More Force lightning came from Mike to keep Apocalypse restrained as the ice began to give way, while a steady rain of arrows from Marina kept him from using one hand, as he needed it for a shield.  Finally he formed a gun with the other and fired at Mike.  The blast deflected off of a shield being generated by Sakura's magic.  She stood beside him as Mike channeled more lightning into keeping Apocalypse where he was.
	The ice gave away.  Apocalypse screeched, "Noooo!" as he fell through.  Dozens of meters of air met him, until finally he hit the ice at the bottom.  He struggled to his feet and realized that he was not alone.
	The thing before him was massive, the size of a small city, but very much alive.  Many insectoid eyes turned to face him, with a tower-like structure on the things' head.  It's mouth opened in a loud screech.  "What....."  Apocalypse stepped backward.  "What is this monstrosity?"
	From above, Isilron saw it through the hole and immediately shouted, "Onto solid ground!  Now!"
	"Why?  What's wrong?", Kate asked.
	"Holy shit!"  Chris had been looking down as well.  "It's Sin!  Let's get the Hell out of here!"
	Mark needed to hear no more, he simply took off, and the others followed as it seemed the reasonable thing to do.  Underneath, Apocalypse formed a shield, as if it could protect him, and shouted, "No!  Get back!  Leave me!"
	Sin screeched again.  Energy gathered at it's mouth, and all Apocalypse could do was run, in vain, as Sin emitted a simply massive pulse of energy.  It enveloped him, and a moment later, he was gone.

	The party had re-entered Macalania Woods before they finally stopped running.  "God, and I was looking forward.... to a rest....", Misty groaned.
	"That thing down there.  I could feel it's presence.  It was simply huge."  Kate looked to Isilron.  "So what is it?"
	"They call it Sin.  It's supposed to represent all of the evils of Mankind, to be Mankind's punishment.  The truth... is not quite what the Yevon clergy claim."
	"Isil'Zha, why did you try to hide it?"
	Isilron looked to John.  "What did you call me?"
	"That's who you are.  I mean, it does fit with the whole sick theme of us SBers fighting for your bog-standard insane omnipotent.  Besides, you did say you were a Fiver?"
	There was a harumph from the older man, who looked down at where Patrick's spear had impaled him, now healed by Sakura's curative magic.  "You're right.  I once went by that.  I adopted the name Isilron when I got here.  Figured it would sound good, let me fit in."
	"Ah.  And did it?"
	A frown crossed his face, and he looked away.  "More than I bargained for."
	There was a short silence.  It was broken by Sakura, who said, "Looks like we finished our first target.  Can we go back to the agency now and rest?"
	"Sorry, but we cannot afford to now," Isilron said.  "By this point the Guado have undoubtedly come to investigate further the battle, and to try and locate Yuna and the others."
	"So where to next, oh fearless leader?", Kate muttered.
	Isilron ignored her sarcasm.  Before he could answer, another voice responded, "Bevelle."
	All heads turned to see a familiar robed and hooded individual standing along the road back to the frozen lake.  "One down," Stephen remarked.  "And six to go."
	"Yeah, but Apocalypse is probably going to be the easiest," Mark said.  "Sure you shouldn't give us more help?  I'm sure your powers would really help us out."
	"I'm afraid that my presence with you would be more of a hindrance than you realize," Stephen replied.  "I cannot stay long.  I merely came... to give you a little direction.  Saruman will be in Bevelle by the time you arrive."
	"And how long will it take for us to get there?"  Chris looked over to Isilron.
	"A few days, depending on how often we stop to rest," Isilron answered.  "By the time we get there, Yuna and her people should already be on their way to the Calm Lands."
	"Which means the place will be a wreck."
	"Of course.  And that's probably why Saruman would go."  Mark crossed his arms.  "He's a bit more sly than the others.  He'd probably try to get power through Maester Mika, after the old bastard is isolated from the others."
	"You had better get going then.  I will check up on you later."  Stephen disappeared without a moment's loss.
	Misty sighed and said, "I think he's starting to like this 'super cosmic sage' thing a bit too much."
	Isilron stepped to the point again.  "You should learn to respect your elders, Misty.  You heard the man.  Let's go."
	There was a groan common among some of the members of the party, but they followed, as it seemed to be the only way to get home.

	The distant sound of the Fayth of Macalania singing the soothing Song of Prayer registered in Stephen's corporeal ears, even as the supranatural energies of the Fayth resonated within him.  Through dimensional ether he could feel the Aeon called Shiva, a being of Ice.  Summoners had to interface with the Fayth, a grueling and exhausting experience, to be able to bring these powerful beings into corporeal existence from their current prison, halfway between life and death.  The Aeons were worshipped by the people of Spira, yet Stephen was among the few who knew the tragic truth; they were not Yevon's followers and beings of light, they were his slaves.
	Sin was gone, it's restful enjoyment of the Song of Prayer disturbed by Apocalypse.  Which was good.  Even now he could feel the monster's presence on this world.  He masked himself from being seen, but it was not always possible, for Sin had been on Spira for so long that it could detect the most minute of alteration in the planet's energy fields.  Stephen reached out into the fourth dimension, into the flow of time.  He found Apocalypse, dead, or at least, a split second before Sin's blast would have reduced him to component atoms.  With a yank he brought Apocalypse forward through time, encasing him in a strong energy field.  The maniacal mutant looked at him.  "What, who, are you?"
	"Me?  I'm the person tasked with cleaning up the mess you and the others leave, or will leave."  Stephen brought a hand.  "Time for you to go home, En Sabah Nur."
	"Home?  But this... this world is ripe for my rule."
	"You would think so, but I think Sin, and others, would object to any attempts by you to take power.  Particularly since it would permanently damage reality as we know it."  A small smile crept on Stephen's face.  "Give my regards to Xavier and his X-Men, Apocalypse."
	"Do not send me...."  Apocalypse's plea vanished with him.  All was quiet again, save for the Song of Prayer.
	Ah, but Sin knew he was here now.  It felt the shift in space-time resulting from Apocalypse's return to his own home world.  It was time to depart.
	Stephen returned to their base of operations, a replica world of Hollow Bastion they had pulled from darkness.  Q was waiting for him.  "Any luck," the former asked, "in finding our wayward acquaintance?"
	"None yet," Q replied.  "But we're working on it."
	"You'd better be.  Because, I have the bad feeling that he's planning something else."

	Space and time folded around the Gamemaster.  The ether of the megaverse dissipated, revealing a 21st century abode.  And a particular individual at a computer, steadily working at a website.
	"Greetings."
	The male turned around in his chair.  "What?"  He looked at the Gamemaster.  "Who the hell are you?!  How did you get in my house?!"
	"Shh...."  Gamemaster put a finger to his lips.  "I am a friend.  I was able to get in your home... because of what I am."  Gamemaster raised a palm and created an orb with it.  He displayed the face of Q.  "This is my creator.  You should know him.  He is called Q."
	The other figure stared at him wide-eyed.  "But.... But.... Q is fictional!"
	"Oh, you would think so.  But I assure you, he's not.  Nothing is fictional.  This is infinity, my fine young friend!  If it can exist, it does exist!"  A wicked smile crosses the Gamemaster's face.  "I have an eye for talent, my young friend.  I am very choosy, very picky, on whom I give my aid to.  You, alone out of trillions upon trillions upon untold trillions of your kind, have managed to grab my attention.  Your devotion to your principles, your unwillingness to accept defeat, are very admirable qualities."
	"What do you want with me?"
	"What do I want with you?  I merely wish to let you achieve your proper potential.  There is a world out there with your name on it, waiting for it's ruler, waiting for someone to conquer it and make it his own.  This is your destiny, I have foreseen it, and I am here to put you on that track."  The Gamemaster leaned over the young man's left shoulder.  "So what do you say, my young friend?"  His pudgy fingers wrapped on the other man's shoulders.  "I can give you power.  I can make you more powerful than you ever imagined possible.  Those who have laughed at you, mocked you, they will soon fear you!  They will drop to their knees and worship you as a God among Men."  He could sense his subject's interest, his raging desire to prove himself superior.  The Gamemaster desired to cackle.  These humans could be so easy to manipulate.  "You can prove your superiority over them once and for all, with nothing to stand in your way."
	The Gamemaster moved to the other shoulder.  "It is there for you to take.  My gift to you, a superior human, a person deserving of powers beyond anything achievable by others."
	Subtly, Gamemaster reached into his charge's mind.  He began to direct him, to amplify the portion that desired power against all caution, all reason.  One final manipulation.  "So, Mister Anderson, what do you have to say to my proposal?"
	Anderson took a hard long look at the Gamemaster.  And then he grinned.
	"I accept."
	"Good.  Now come, my strapping young friend."  The Gamemaster smiled.  "We have a world to conquer.  But first... a pit stop."
	This will be most entertaining, he assured himself.

	With a final thrust of her lightsaber, Kate brought down the Chimera that had stumbled upon the party's path.  She kicked it's large corpse out of the way and looked back to the others.  "Next time," she said with a bit of a pant to her voice, "I expect a little more help."
	Isilron chuckled, and without waiting, began to walk on.  Chris came up behind him and asked, "Say, shouldn't we search the thing for items?"
	"If you desire."
	The Chimera's corpse had disintegrated by this point.  A small red orb, a sphere, was left in it's place.  Mark picked it up and examined it.  "Use it, Mark," Isilron said.  "That one is for power.  I think you know what that means."
	Mark pulled the orb close.  "How do I..."  As he thought of using it, the orb disappeared into his hand.  A brief reddish haze appeared around him, which dissipated quickly.  "I don't feel any stronger."
	"You won't."  Isilron permitted himself a small grin.  "But your target will certainly feel it.  Now let's move.  Time is of the essence."
	As the party continued, a question came from Dalton, near the rear with Marina.  "Shouldn't we have rented a chocobo?"
	"One chocobo for all of us?"
	"Well, the other group seems to get along fine with seven people on one."
	"And there are twelve of us," Isilron reminded him.
	"Well, we could've rented two."
	From beside him, Marina spoke up.  "Rob, we most likely would have needed a third for you alone."
	He looked over at her with a glare, answered by a rather characteristic smirk.
	All of the sudden, Mike and Kate stopped.  Sakura had to quickly stop in her tracks to avoiding hitting Mike.  "Huh?  What's wrong?"
	"You felt it, didn't you?", Mike asked Kate.
	"In the Force.  Very powerful.  Very nasty."
	Isilron crossed his arms.  "So Gamemaster really has gone bad, and he's brought us another playmate.  This makes our mission even more urgent.  We must continue onward."
	But Mike was still busy.  Feeling out through the supranatural medium called the Force by others, sensing this new presence... and realizing who it may be.  "It can't be.... him?!"

	"Apocalypse is defeated."
	The news was delivered by the usually silent Darth Maul.  Maleficent seemed unconcerned.  "What do I care?  He was a weakling anyway.  And he gave them trouble."
	"They will get more powerful," Sephiroth said.  "Their kind always do."
	"Saruman will ally with Mika," Maul continued.  "He seeks his own power.  He rebuffed my offer.  So did the one called Exdeath."
	"Then I say we let these 'heroes' take them down first, yes?"  Maleficent rose to her full height, pulling her dark staff up.  Yellow eyes looked down on her allies.  "That would be the wisest course of action."
	"Absolutely."  The lightness to the voice of Kefka did no justice to the evil which festered within him, the pure sadistic mania.  Adorned in green robe he appraised his fellows from the doorway.  "We let the goody-two-shoes take out our competition..."  He clenched a fist.  "And then we destroy them!"
	"How?", Sephiroth asked.
	"A trap."  Kefka reached from behind the door he was entering from and dragged something into view, his hand gripping a lock of blond hair.  A female cry was heard as a young woman, in modest but, to the others, strange clothing consisting of a long-sleeved blouse and blue jeans, was thrown forward.  Kefka sent a jolt of lightning magic through her, prompting a short scream and then silence as she lapsed into unconsciousness.  "A little gift from our unknown ally.  The sweetie of one of our heroes.  I believe her name," Kefka's grin was evil, "is Betsy.  And that's not all."
	Kefka moved to the left and allowed a dark-clad figure to enter, a cape flowing down his back and a peculiar arrowhead insignia on the clasp holding his cape to his black clothing and the belt buckle for his trousers.  A curved hilt, with no visible sword, hung from his belt.  "A little friend to help us.  Maul, you can show the kid a few pointers."
	"Who is he?", the Sith asked.
	"You can call him..."
	Before Kefka could finish, the newcomer did so for him.
	"Call me DarkStar."

	The night sky of Spira was alight with stars and the twin moons of the sky.  On her back, Sakura stared up at the beautiful sight and drew in a sigh.  Her white robes were good against the cold of the winter, exposing only her head, neck, and hands to the chill of the air.  Her red hair was now disheveled after two days of marching back through Macalania Forest toward it's opening.  Now they camped at the fork in the road, one direction which Isilron had said went to somewhere called "the Thunder Plains", and the other the road to Bevelle.  Sakura did not consider her own angers and fears about how her life had been turned inside out and upside down, she merely considered the glittering jewels of the sky and tried to relax.  "Wow... I can see more stars here than back on Earth."
	"Spira must be closer to their Galactic Core than our Earth is," a voice of irritation remarked from afar.  Standing by a tree, his dark cloak pulled around him to warm him against the cold of Macalania, Mike looked over to her with cold eyes.  She sympathized.  They all did.  Nobody wanted to be here.  This wasn't something for them, they weren't heroes.  But they had been thrust into this place and, to get home, they would have to play the part given to them.
	"How are you holding up?", Sakura asked him.
	"As well as can be expected."  There was a dangerous glow in Mike's eyes.  The powers of the Dark Side swirled within.  "I just want to go home.  I don't give a rat's ass about this primitive hellhole of a world, and it's pack of good religious sheep.  I'd rather let our enemies have their way with them."
	There was a response from near Mike.  "Ah, but what of the Al Bhed?"  Chris pushed a wisp of white hair over his ear and looked over to Mike, his cloak also pulled over his bare arms.
	"The Al Bhed?"
	"You could consider them the Rebellion to Yevon's Empire, Mike," Chris said.  "They believe in free thought and rationality.  They still use machina and have endured great hardship without bowing to the pressure of Yevon."
	"So it's they who I have felt cry out this day."  Mike clenched a fist.  "Ever since coming here I have felt the cries of the world in my mind.  Mothers mourning children slain by Sin or by Man.  The anger of a world, directed against Sin, against what they consider evil.  I never imagined Force power would be quite this profound.  I felt a great amount of death today, all from one place, and great grief as well.  Something tells me that these Al Bhed were brought to heel."
	"That would mean that the Al Bhed Home has been destroyed.  We're right on schedule."
	Without seeming to pay attention to Chris's comment, Mike continued.  "And it made me angry.  Angry to know that these stupid, backward hicks actually manage to rule this world and stifle all advancement.  I want to destroy them all so much..."
	"Yet, if you do so, we can't get home," a second voice remarked.  The high feminine tone indicated the origin as Kate stepped up.  She was obviously uncomfortable, her bare arms and light clothing contrasting greatly to the cloaks that Mike and Chris wore and the heavy robes of Sakura.  "You love your wife and kids too much to let hope of seeing them again be sacrificed to your desire for vengeance."
	"If only there were a way to do both."
	Their conversation stopped.  Nearby was the fire they had readied, with the help of John's magic.  Misty, Marina, and Dalton were the ones closest to it, being of the lightest garb.  Misty's arms were crossed and she was still shivering a little.  "God damn this is too cold.  It's got to be at freezing right now."
	Without a remark, Isilron came up behind her and pulled off his black coat, revealing the sleeveless red vest underneath.  He put it over her.  She pushed it away at first.  "I don't want to slice it up."  She lifted a hand and showed the glint of the three silver claw blades that were fixed to the back of the glove.  "I'd take them off, but I don't want to risk losing them if we get in a fight."
	"You could command the claws to sheathe," Isilron recommended.  "You all have mental contact with your weapons at all times.  Like when Patrick," Isilron pointed to the Dragoon, on guard nearby, "pulled his spear to his hand."
	"Really?"  Misty looked at the hand and concentrated for a moment.  The three claws suddenly retracted into the glove's back.  "Woh...."  She immediately retracted the claws on the other hand pulled the coat over her shoulders and arms.  "But aren't you cold?"
	"Not at all."
	As Isilron moved away, John came in front of him.  He pointed to something hanging from Isilron's neck, a silver pendant with a winged-figure of some kind on it.  "Isil'Zha, what's that?"
	"That," he replied coldly, "is none of your business."
	Mark had stepped up beside John.  "Isn't that the symbol of Yevon?"
	Isilron pushed his way between them and went to the tent.  "I suggest you get some sleep.  I will take the watch after Patrick's."
	After he stepped away, Mark commented, "I wonder what he's so touchy about?"
	"Who knows?"  Marina looked up from the fire.  "He's been here for years.  Who knows what he's had to do to survive?  Considering what I know about this world, I wouldn't be surprised if he's a renegade of some sort himself."
	"Or maybe he's just grouchy because he's been stuck her for so long," Drake remarked from where he had been skinning an animal he had killed.  "Anyone hungry?"
	Misty turned her head away.  "Ewww.... I think I'd rather starve."
	"Don't be so foolish," Marina snapped.  "We survive as we need to.  If that includes eating the local fauna..."
	"Drake, don't eat that," Isilron's voice rang out from the tent.  "It's flesh contains a toxin that can kill you with even a small dose."
	Drake blinked.  "I went to all that trouble to kill this thing and skin it and only now you tell me that it's poisonous?"
	There was no reply.  Not waiting for one, Mark sat at the fire.  "So, who here can't wait to get home?"
	"I can't wait to," Misty grumbled.
	"I don't know."  Marina looked over to Drake as he took a seat beside the fire, eating one of the baked cakes that Isilron had kept as provisions.  "Drake and I have had some thoughts on how to deal with the locals once Yevon is gone.  I might not mind staying at all.  It isn't every day one gets to change an entire society.  Think of the knowledge we could impart to them on industrialization?"
	"One little problem, Marina," Mark said.  "The whole thing about their hating machina."
	"That can be worked around with the help of the Al Bhed."
	"Well then, good luck learning to speak Al Bhed," Mark muttered.  "I, for one, have a wife to get back to, even if Spira is far more exciting than Winona."
	"Missing Betsy already?", asked Marina.
	"Of course.  But it's a good thing that when this is all over, I won't remember a thing, because I'm sure she'd think I was insane."
	"Too bad Gamemaster didn't choose her instead of me," Misty lamented.  "I'd rather be home right now.  In a nice bed with my boy.  Not here in the wilderness with a bunch of people I've never met in person before."
	"Trust me, Misty, I'd take you up on the offer if possible," replied Mark.  "I'd love to have her here, right now."

	Kefka was starting to like DarkStar.
	The young man had, in a short day, endeared himself to Kefka with his maniacal manner and his thirst for power.  He had also provided some interesting... intelligence on Kefka's adversaries on this world.  While he wasn't sure what an "internet" or "web board" was, Kefka was sure it was interesting, and he could feel the hate DarkStar had for the "heroes".
	It was so delicious.
	"So the girl is from your world?"  Kefka directed DarkStar to the door to Betsy's cell.  "Why don't you explain this situation to her?  Do as you wish, I don't care."
	"I merely wish to talk with her."  DarkStar used his telekinesis to open the cell.  "I shall not be long."
	The cell was dimly lit.  DarkStar rectified that by turning on a switch, illuminating the short figure restrained against the wall, either arm suspended by a chain and shackle at a level slightly higher than the shoulder.  A pair of gray eyes looked up at him.  "Can someone finally tell me just what in the hell is going on here?  Please?"
	"Of course.  The others sent me here to do just that," DarkStar replied.  "You and I are of the same world, Miss.... Berger, is it?"
	"Tremaine, actually.  Who are you?  And why am I tied up like this?"  For effect she pulled at the restraints.
	"Oh, those are to make sure you don't try and escape.  We wouldn't want something to happen to you, as this is an island surrounded by rough and fiend-infested seas, and we have some rather... unfriendly tower guards."  DarkStar flexed a hand.  "Unfriendly in that they'd probably gut and partially devour you before we managed to stop them.  And you have so much more use to us alive."
	"And you would be?"
	"I am someone of acquaintance, at least to your husband, or would-be husband.  They call me DarkStar."
	"DarkStar?"  Betsy blinked.  "The Trekkie geek that Mark always laughs at?"
	The dark-garbed man glowered.  "He is one of many who have mocked me, have refused to acknowledge my superiority."
	"Superiority at what?  Bullshitting and being a general nuisance?"
	DarkStar reached a hand out.  A beam of dark energy reached out from his palm and enveloped Betsy, prompting a short cry before it stopped.  "I suggest you remember a few facts," he began sharply.  "First, you are at my mercy.  If you desire to avoid my wrath, keep your mouth shut unless bidden to speak, and speak to me respectfully.  Secondly, if anything, I am your advocate here.  I am the only one of our world who works with Kefka and the others."
	"Kefka?  As in the clownish bad guy from one of the Final Fantasy games."
	"The one and the same.  Sephiroth, Darth Maul, and Maleficent are our other peers."  DarkStar clenched his fist.  "I was brought here to aid them in destroying those sent to kill them.  Perhaps you know them.  They are individuals who have treated me like trash, who have ignored my greatness.  Michael Wong, Rob Dalton, even the one called Iceberg, whom you, I believe, know as Mark.  Each of them will feel my wrath.  They will bow to me and admit my superiority!"
	"Awww.... what's the matter?  Poor silly Trek-geek get flamed a little too hotly over the Internet, so he's gone crazy with power?"  Betsy laughed.  "You really are pathetic, aren't you?"
	"Perhaps you didn't hear me good before.  Let's try this again."  Barely containing his rage, DarkStar sent another bolt of energy through Betsy.  A howl erupted from her throat, growing raw as the energy continued to cycle through her.  He stopped it after about ten seconds.  She sagged and the chains holding her arms up kept her from going down to her knees.  She slowly brought her head back up as DarkStar stepped closer and gripped her chin between his right index finger and thumb.  "I am your superior.  Do as you are told and you will be left alone.  Continue to defy me, and I will make sure you are so battered by the time your dear Mark gets here that you will be ready to ask for death."
	A flash went through her gray eyes, angry and hazed.  "If you had any balls, you'd stop doing your stupid little trick and actually give me a chance to kick your stupid ass.  But since you don't have any balls, there's only one thing I can say.  Bite me, DickStar."
    There was a dark flash inside DarkStar's eyes.  "You dare to speak to me in that tone?!  YOU DARE?!  FEEL MY WRATH!"
	And the energy began to roll through her again.
	When he was done, DarkStar stepped out the door and found Sephiroth waiting for him.  The madman's bright blue eyes gazed at DarkStar, and then inside the cell, where Betsy hung unconscious against the chains.  "You could have killed her."
	"We have magic on our side."  DarkStar chucked a thumb toward the room.  "Go make your skills useful.  Cure her.  I'll come back later to deal with her."
	DarkStar found a sword a quarter of an inch away from his throat, and Sephiroth's hand was at the hilt.  "Little man, I do not take orders from the likes of you," he growled.
	"Gamemaster brought you here and saved you from your enemies, and this is how you repay him?  By trying to impede his chosen?"  DarkStar frowned.  "Ungrateful wretch.  Fine.  Leave the girl unconscious.  She'll wake up eventually."  He clenched a fist, which glowed with dark energies as he did so.  "And I'll be waiting for her."

	It was not yet sunlight when Isilron went about the camp, waking everyone.  Patrick managed to rouse easily, as did some of the others.  Sakura, however, did not wake easily.  When she was finally brought out of her sleep, she made a loud yawn and asked, "Why now?  Why so early?", as she was brought to her feet by Marina.
	Behind Marina and Patrick, Isilron picked up his sword.  "We must make good time.  Saruman is not to be underestimated, and knowledge of him would indicate him capable of manipulating Mika over the crisis now gripping the Yevon Temple."
	Marina moved on and quickly stirred Drake and Misty.  Sakura looked over at Mark, who was muttering in his sleep.  "Hey, get up."
	"No... not true...."
	"Mark.  Get up or I'll... I'll... dammit, what would I cast to make him wake up?"
	Without pause, Isilron gently kicked Mark in the ribs, or at least gently enough to not break anything.  Mark awoke with a start and looked up at Isilron with a disapproving glare.  "That was uncalled for."
	"You were having a dream.  A rather tumultuous one.  And we didn't have time to let you finish it."
	"So, what were you dreaming about?", Sakura asked.  "Home, like the rest of us?"
	"No, something else."  Mark rubbed the back of his head, a mess of reddish-brown hair between each finger.  "I heard a voice crying out to me.  I think it was Betsy, but I don't quite remember."
	"Don't look to me for the psycho-analysis."  Marina leaned down beside John, who was still asleep.  "Okay, Mage, get up."
	"John, up.  Now."
	Isilron's harsh voice prompted a low groan from the sleeping form.  "Sleep!  The Bringer of Death requires sleep if he is to wreak chaos upon Spira."
	"Too bad you're not supposed to wreak chaos upon Spira.  You need merely walk to Bevelle.  And you don't need sleep to walk."  Isilron went to kick him when John looked up.  A pair of yellow lights shined from where the scant light hid his face.  "We have to make time.  Come along."
	"Yes, oh fearless leader," John muttered while rolling off the makeshift mat and onto the firm ground below.  "Nice to know that the rod you got shoved up your ass around here has a built in alarm clock.  I'd hate to think we were lacking modern technology."
	"Hmmph."  Isilron looked to Patrick and Marina.  "We need to pack up and be on our way.  Consider yourselves to be Sergeants, and get them ready."
	"Of course."
	Isilron gave a nod and stepped out.

	From the highest point in Bevelle, Maester Mika looked down at his city and watched in anger as it unraveled.  That damned daughter of Braska had ruined everything... and Seymour had not helped.  He had not been upset to hear Seymour had killed Jyscal, as Jyscal had been far too independent for his own good, but he had underestimated Seymour's hunger for power, and now, the insanity that death had brought him.
	Now Kinoc was dead and Kelk Ronso had returned to Mount Gagazet, making it clear in no uncertain terms that he considered himself no longer a part of the Temple.  Everywhere chaos had gripped the one thing that had kept Spira sustained through the centuries, and it all threatened to tumble.
	A chill went up Mika's spine.  He felt compelled to turn and found himself facing a robed man he had not noticed before, with a cold and unforgiving expression and long snow-white hair, with a beard of similar color that hung down from his chin nearly to his chest.  A white staff was held in one withered hand.  His eyes were large and filled with darkness, and Mika could feel the hunger within this man.  "Who are you?!  What are you doing here?!"
    "I," the man began in a stern voice, "am Saruman the White.  And I have come, Maester Mika, to give you my services."
	"Your services?"
	"Yes.  I shall help you restore order to Yevon, and you," Saruman's hand extended, "will make me your successor, so that I may rule when you can no longer bear your mortal existence, and wish to die fully."
	Energy crackled from Saruman's eyes.  "Make your choice, Maester Mika, and do it now, but if you choose badly, you will suffer the consequences."

	The sounds of battle erupted from the central hall of Kefka's island fortress.  Within the hall, Sephiroth and DarkStar were engaged in battle, a "training session" that was more than it appeared to be considering the ferocity of both attackers.  On the upper level, Darth Maul and Maleficent looked down upon them.  The fearsome sorceress began to walk away steadily, followed by Maul.  "His power grows every moment," Maleficent remarked as they made their way to the dungeon section.
	"Yes.  He feeds on the Dark Side like no other I have seen before.  It is his delusions.  He believes he is now destined for Godhood."  Darth Maul's yellow eyes looked back toward Maleficent.  "No human should be so immersed in the Dark Side so quickly."
	"Perhaps he has been altered?  Our mysterious benefactor could be behind this."  Before the turn to the dungeon was a window to the outside, where sunlight looked down upon the glittering ocean.  In the distance, the mainland could be made out.  "I do not trust the Gamemaster."
	"Neither do I.  But, I think nobody in this castle trusts another."  Maul looked out at the waves, emotionless.  "It is not in our nature.  We all hunger for power, and have only banded together because of the threat to our continued existence on this world."
	"The heroes."  Maleficent turned and began to walk down a flight of stairs to the dungeon area.  A pair of ferocious beasts, Bashirs recovered from Mount Gagazet, stood careful watch, under the complete control of Maleficent.  "We should not be waiting for them.  Better to wipe them out now."
	"I agree, but Kefka, it seems, has other plans.  He wishes for them to destroy Saruman and Exdeath first."
	"But in doing so, they will grow more attuned to the power they have been given.  They will be that much harder for us to kill."
	"Which is where the girl comes in, I think.  She is the beloved of one of the heroes.  Obviously Kefka intends to use that against them."
	"It would work against one, but all of them?  It is foolishness."  Maleficent clasped a hand.  "You and I could remove Kefka, Maul.  Let us overthrow that impudent fool.  We could rule Spira together."
	"You know that such a plot would be impossible."  For the first time in a while, a grin crossed the Sith Lord's face.  "We would betray one another at the first sign of adversity, to gain an advantage in dealing with Kefka.  For now, all of those here will remain under his control, willingly, for he is the most powerful of us."
	"He won't be much longer, not if DarkStar's power continues to grow," Maleficent reminded Maul.  "And DarkStar can be easily manipulated."
	"When the time comes, we shall see, but for now, I think it a better course of action to pretend we never had this conversation."
	"What conversation?"
	"Excellent."  A loud cry came from down the corridor.  "Kefka is with the girl?"
	"She showed some spirit when DarkStar spoke to her.  Kefka did not appreciate that, and wishes to break her down."  Another cry, greater in volume and duration, echoed.  "He can be so boorish.  It does not matter if she submits or not, we should either use her for our purpose or throw her to the fiends at the base of the tower.  Either way, to torment her is a waste of power and time."
	Maul crossed his arms.  "Perhaps, or perhaps not.  I have sensed a power within her, a bond she shares with someone.  On their world, it is of no consequence, but here on Spira, I feel it could be of much greater strength.  Surely that poses a threat?"
	"No great one.  When the time comes, Kefka's plan will go into motion.  If we are fortunate, the heroes will kill him before we annihilate them."  Maleficent turned at the corridor before the actual dungeon wing.  "Let us see how your new apprentice is doing against Sephiroth.  I trust, in due time, we will know what to do about him, and about Kefka."

	The Q Continuum was a place no mortal could truly comprehend, that is, unless someone had the necessary cosmic conscious to see it.  It had taken Stephen four hundred years to achieve that level.  Now, as the long task neared it's end, everything seemed to be going wrong.
The Gamemaster had disappeared, and the Continuum was in an uproar.  Q had been brought before his leaders to answer for his creation's actions.  As he watched the foolish Q try, mostly in vain, to defend himself, Stephen felt through the bands of reality to the world of Spira.  The quest had just begun, and it still irked him that the Gamemaster had forced his friends to play his games.  Q hadn't stopped his creation, Stephen suspected, because he didn't think it'd cause any harm.  It isn't like they could die, Q had complained upon being questioned about his unwitting pawns.  We'll just restore them.
You have forced mortal beings to clean up a mess you and your misbegotten creation created, a bass tone voice rumbled.  That is not our way.
	Gamemaster summoned them!  I tried to convince him to use someone else, but he didn't listen!
	The continued shouting faded into the background.  Stephen remained intent on Spira, sensing the others as they walked toward Bevelle...
	And then he heard the scream.
	It was from a section of the world... an island, artificial.  Kefka and the others were there, but also another presence.  Something dark and growing more powerful every moment, delusional, fanatical... the darkness a tumor.  He probed closer, sensing through the darkness, and found another soul.  Alone, scared, angry.  He sensed her mind, her name....  and his heart grew cold as realization came to him.  Oh no, Gamemaster, what have you done?!
	"I'm having fun, what do you think?"
	The Q stopped their fight.  All attention turned to the Gamemaster, outside the confines of the Continuum.  "You've gone too far," Q cried out.  "You have to stop this."
	"Why?  This is so entertaining!  It's the best show in Reality right now!"
	"You had no right," Stephen growled.  "No right to bring Betsy into this!"
	"I make my own rights.  It made the show more interesting," came the glib response.  "And DarkStar?  That pathetic wretch was so pitifully easy to manipulate.  To believe he thinks I'll give him the powers of a God?  Ha!  But that's what makes the show fun to watch."  The Gamemaster's power began to cover the Continuum.  "I've learned many things, creator.  One of them is about your precious Continuum.  I can't let you interfere with my grand show, so I'm afraid you're going to have to stay here.  Why don't you all just sit back and watch?"
	"Gamemaster!  Stop it!"  Another Q's voice called out.  "You're going to destroy us all!  Reality itself is threatened!"
	"That's the fun part.  Reality won't actually be destroyed, you see, it'll just cut and splice worlds and universes to repair itself.  Which makes the show," Gamemaster cackled, "that much better.  Enjoy!"
	Within a split second the Continuum was sealed off.  The Gamemaster beheld the prison he had created and grinned.  With little warning, he suddenly found himself being pummeled by cosmic energy.  He laughed at his adversary, and declared, "You think you can take me, human?"
	The response from Stephen was simple.  "Thanks to you, I'm more than human now.  Five hundred long years, and for what?  For your entertainment?  No!  I won't allow it!"
	"Aw, temper temper!"  Gamemaster opened the fabric of reality.  "Catch me if you can!"
	Stephen tried for a moment to break the shell over the Continuum, but Gamemaster's work was complete, and it was an impossible task.  He would have to catch the mad trickster.  "Gamemaster!  Get back here!"
	As he took off, something occurred to him.  Betsy was not supposed to be brought into this, it was bad enough his other friends were at risk.  Stephen reached out to try and slip her between universes, just to find his power repulsed by a field around Kefka's citadel.  Gamemaster's work, obviously..
	He had to tell Mark.  It was only right; only fair.  But if he did, Mark would surely get himself killed trying to get to Kefka.  It would have to wait.  Which wasn't right, but what else could be done?

	It had grown less cold since leaving Lake Macalania, and now, on the last day of the journey to Bevelle, it was tolerable.  Isilron continued to walk along in the lead, immediately flanked by Mike and Kate, and the others in the rear with Dalton as the last in line.  "How much farther?"
	"Not much farther, Sakura.  We're almost to the fork in the road."
	"Say, Isil'Zha..."
	"Isilron."  Isilron did not turn back to face John, but merely called out over his shoulder. "Call me Isilron here, nothing else."
	"Oh, um, okay, Isilron... what can we expect in Bevelle?"
	"Something you should rather enjoy, John.  Chaos.  Complete chaos.  Yevon is disintegrating around Mika's ears."
	"And you like it," Kate's voice chimed in.  "I can sense it in you.  You want Yevon to fall."
	"I would think you would too, considering all they represent."
	"Of course we do," Mike said, "but it's something deeper with you.  They did something to you, didn't they?"
	"Something.  Yes.  But that is my own concern."
	As the walking continued, Kate became curious.  Gently she probed Isilron's mind.  Had she been experienced, it would have been easy, but it was a clumsy action, and he stopped.  "Kate, stop it!"
	But it was too late.  Kate found herself in a vision state, prompted by, above all things, their location.  The others disappeared, and Isilron changed in appearance.  Younger, in different garb.  In his arms was a young girl, of about twenty, with long brown hair and a fair complexion.  Her upper garment of green exposed her neck, shoulders, and arms, wrapping around her torso in such a way to display a good, if not entirely stunning, figure.  The same pendant Isilron now wore was hanging from her neck, the Yevon insignia resting on her skin just above the small bit of cleavage that was displayed.  An ankle-length navy blue dress, with an elaborate pattern of green insignia embroidered along the hips and waist, flowed down to her feet, where Kate saw a pair of leather sandals.  Bright blue eyes and a small, broad nose were her dominant facial features, with cheeks and lips of average size.
	Those lips were pushed against Isilron's, their arms around each other and a pleased expression on both of their faces.  A single name came to Kate's lips.  "Salene?"
	She was jolted back into the real world, and was staring right into the cold and darkened eyes of Isilron.  "Don't you ever poke in my mind again!", he said in an angry tone.  "You have no right, no right!"
	"Who was Salene?"
	"None of your business."  Isilron turned away and continued walking.
	It would be another thirty minutes before the crossroad loomed ahead, one direction going to Bevelle and the other to the Calm Lands.  As they came toward it, there was movement ahead.  Isilron stopped and prompted the others to do so as well.  A group of seven came from the direction of Bevelle.  All it took was for the others to see the dark blue dress and white top of the person in front for the identity of the party to be recognized.  "Hey, that's Yuna, isn't it?"
	Chris's question was further answered by the other familiar members of the "hero" party of Spira following her.  At the distance, they were out of earshot, even for Kimhari, but for some reason Auron turned to face the larger party.  The others stopped upon realizing that Auron was not following them.
	"Remember the prayer, should Yuna approach," Isilron whispered under his breath.  He stepped forward as Auron drew closer.  "Sir Auron, an honor."
	There was a look of recognition on Auron's face.  "I believe I have seen you before."
	"Yes.  We met in Luca, while you were Lord Braska's guardian."
	"Ah.  I remember you."  Auron's expression was now one of amusement.  "It seems you and I have something in common then."
	"Sir Auron, is there something wrong?"  Yuna stepped up behind him, with the others following.  Isilron, with crisp precision, performed the prayer at Yuna's approach.
	"Nothing, Yuna, I am merely greeting an old acquaintance."
	"Lady Yuna, an honor to meet you."  Isilron had finished the prayer gesture as Yuna replied with her own, the others doing the same.  At least, so he thought, but as he mentioned, "Standing there, you remind me of your father," he saw a flicker in the eyes of Wakka, who stepped in front of them all.  Wakka's apparent target had come up near Isilron, and the dark garment Isilron saw out of the corner of his vision was enough to tell him who was responsible.
	"Hey, you know she's a Summoner, ya?"
	Mike didn't show any emotion on his face at Wakka's question.  "So I've heard."
	"So, you know, you're supposed to show respect."
	"I give respect for reasons, not because I'm told I'm supposed to."
	Isilron looked over toward the two.  "You'll have to forgive my friend.  He's not in the friendliness of moods currently."  Isilron looked back to Yuna and Auron.  "We were on our way to Bevelle.  We have business there."
	"Bevelle may not be easy to gain access to now," Auron said.  "There have been problems."
	"I see.  Well, we shall certainly try.  The best of luck to you on your Pilgrimage, Lady Yuna."
	Yuna and her party began walking away again.  As they did so, Auron turned back.  "The best of luck to you, Isilron, on your mission.  Spira is relying on you just as much as they are on Yuna."
	"The same to you, Auron.  We are counting on you to vanquish Sin, permanently, the way it should happen."
	Auron acknowledged Isilron's parting statement and walked on.  Mark came up beside Mike and gave him a light nudge in the ribs.  "I know you're not much on pomp and circumstance, or on religious rituals, but when in Rome, y'know..."
	"Do you realize how much I wanted to wipe that condescending look off that idiot's face?", Mike responded.  "Stephen should not have made me a Sith.  The Dark Side..."
	"...is bearable for now," Isilron finished for him.  "We all want to go home, Mike, and that means finishing our job.  We need you to be under control.  And I know that you can do that."
	Through clenched teeth came the reply, "I will try."
	"Then we should hurry.  Before the chaos in Bevelle becomes too great and we cannot enter the city."

	The largest city on Spira was now rife with tension.  In the span of a day, the one person the people loved the most instantly became demonized by the Temple of Yevon.  And the chaos began as a result of the conflict between those who felt Yuna was a traitor, those who believed her innocent of the charges and framed by the Al Bhed, and perhaps even worse for the Temple, those who believed that the Temple was in the wrong on this issue.
	The party had arrived just as the Warrior Monks were planning on closing the doors.  The Monks now did not even remember they had entered, a side effect of the mind tricks Mike and Kate had used on them.  Everywhere in the city there were people in corners speaking in hushed whispers.  Occasionally fights were seen.  After about thirty minutes of making their way through the city, under Isilron's direction, Misty made the comment, "Perhaps we should split up?"
	"I'm not sure that would be advisable," Isilron replied.  "Saruman will be a dangerous enemy, and we are now spies in a foreign land.  There is a safety in numbers."
	"Then we're not very good spies."  Marina exchanged looks with a passer-by, who was staring at the grouped party.  "We're too obvious, especially Drake, Dalton, and Christopher.  We should have at least bought Spiran clothes."
	"Do not be too concerned.  Most of the people here have more to be worried about than strangers in strange clothing."  Isilron led them around a street corner.  The site was rather sad, a handful of bodies piled respectively beside each other, each seeming to have bullet wounds in them.  Isilron stopped the party's forward movement.  Standing over the bodies was a man in heavy robes.  He looked down upon them with saddened eyes.  Mark said, "I wonder how they were killed?"
	"Only the Warrior Monks have rifles.  They were probably violent supporters of Yuna, or perhaps enemies of the Temple.  They do exist here on Spira."
	"More victims of self-righteous priests, I take it."
	"Yes, Mike."  Isilron watched the man begin a slow, intricate dance.  "You recognize this?"
	"The Sending," Chris said a moment before Mark could.
	"What's the Sending?"
	In response to Kate's question, Isilron turned his head.  "On Spira, when a person dies, their spirit must be sent to the Farplane to rest.  If not, they grow bitter and resentful at their death, and in their  desire to live, they become envious and hateful of the living.  Eventually they become fiends, or monsters if you prefer, preying on the living out of that hate."  Without giving a moment for anyone to speak, Isilron quickly added, "I know what's going through some of your minds.  That this is just more religious superstition.  But watch..."
	Isilron's words were followed by small globes of energy beginning to rise out of the bodies of the slain.  Slowly they twirled around the dancer, and disappeared.  The sight brought surprised glances.  In a hushed voice, Mark said, "It's beautiful."
	Isilron did not say anything more.  He turned in another direction and bid the party to continue following him.  "We really should split up."  Marina came up beside him.  "Kate and Mike can communicate with each other telepathically, if you're worried about that.  But this city is too big, and we still have very little idea of where to look."
	This brought Isilron to a stop again.  After thinking for a moment, he nodded in agreement.  "I suppose we should.  You take Kate, Mark, Misty, Drake, and Dalton.  I shall take Mike, Chris, Sakura, John, and Patrick.  I'll take the part of the city nearest the Temple, it is what I have the most familiarity with.  You can take the rest of the city."
	There were nods among the party, at which they split up.

	Mika had become wary of his new ally, but Saruman's wizardry and keen mind were assets he could not afford to lose.  He had spent most of the day delaying Saruman, telling the powerful being anything to keep him occupied.  Mika did not want to let Saruman see the Fayth of Bevelle's Temple, but now Saruman had grown tired of being told of the "illustrious" history of the Temple of Yevon.  The tall wizard rose to his full height, higher than Mika or his guards.  "Maester Mika, while I appreciate the history of your order, I wish to see these 'Fayth', and come to understand how they work.  I do not wish to wait any longer, I believe it is time you showed them to me."
	In surrender, Mika nodded.  "Very well, Saruman."
	"As for Sin, what shall be done with it?"
	"Sin is too powerful without the help of the Final Aeon.  But I believe that Yuna has resumed her Pilgrimage, even though the Temple had declared her and her guardians outlaws.  She could defeat Sin."
	"But Sin will only return later, yes?"
	Mika nodded.  "Yu Yevon will take over the Final Aeon and make it a new Sin in several years."
	Saruman pondered the issue for a moment.  Sin was a potential threat, and Saruman did not like having a being powerful enough to destroy him returning every decade or so.  But at the same time, Sin kept the people of Spira united and under control.  Perhaps he could find a way to harness Sin, to use it to his own devices.  Either way, Saruman first had to understand the Fayth, and the Aeons, before he could be ready.

	The separation of the party had been over twenty minutes ago, and Isilron had led his party into the heart of Bevelle, near the Temple.  The magnificent structures were not quite up to Earth standards in some ways, but certainly contrasted with the dull color and construction of Earth skyscrapers.
	Walking along one of the paths, Isilron looked over to the entrance that would go to the Cloister of Trials and the Chamber of the Fayth.  He seemed lost in memory for a moment.  After a moment, a gloved hand came down on his shoulder.  "Something happened here, didn't it?", Mike asked.
	"Something."
	"What is in there?"
	"A Fayth," Isilron answered.  "A dead soul, forbidden from going to the Farplane, and instead cased within a statue so that it can be used by Summoners to summon Aeons."
	"You mean it is a slave?"
	"For all intents and purposes... yes."  Isilron lowered his head.  "When Yuna realizes her destiny, she will defeat Yu Yevon permanently, and the Fayth will be allowed to rest."
	Mike nodded.  "Hopefully that will be soon."
	"I know you do not want to be here."  Isilron turned to face Mike.  "Neither did I, at first.  But now, I am like a Fayth.  All I desire is rest."
	"I can imagine it was hard on you.  If it's worth anything," Mike's expression softened, if just for a moment, "you've done better than I would have.  I..."  A look of shock and surprise passed over Mike's face.  "What?"
	"What is it?", Isilron asked.
	"I hear a voice.  It wants me to come to it.  It says... it says it will help us."
	"Who?"
	"I don't...."  Mike's eyes turned directly to Isilron.  "It says it is the Fayth of the Temple.  It insists we come."
	"Mike, we cannot."  Isilron pointed around them.  Though there were not many present, the Bevelle Temple was a very vast place, there were onlookers.  "Only Summoners and their guardians are permitted to enter the Cloister of Trials.  If we enter, there will be trouble.  We cannot afford that, not here, not in Bevelle."
	"We have to go," Mike insisted.  "I don't care about what these fools think.  We can plow through them with ease."
	"That's the Dark Side talking," Sakura said, having been silent earlier.  "I don't think Steve will be happy if we slaughter everything we come across."
	"Right now, I'm not very concerned about his opinions.  If he were so concerned, why didn't he do this job himself?  Hell, he could have done it far easier than us."  There was a growing glimmer of anger in Mike's eyes.  "Why us?  If they gave him that much power, why did we have to get tapped for this?  Something isn't right here."
	"I agree with Mike on this one," John chimed in.  "I mean, I've been buds with Steve online and all, but that didn't seem like the same guy.  He was too distant.  Like we weren't worthy of his time."
	"Five hundred years is an astronomical amount of time," Isilron quietly observed.  "Fifteen years changed me from what you knew online."
	"There's still more to this than we've been told," Mike insisted.  "But that's not what matters.  The Fayth wants to see us, or at least me, and I'm going."  With a quick step, Mike went past Isilron and began walking briskly toward the opening to the Cloister.
	"Michael!  What do you think you're doing?!"  Isilron waited in vain for an answer.  Some nearby Spirans had seen the strange interlopers walking into the Cloister, where he had no business, and were already beginning to murmur amongst themselves.  A couple disappeared, likely going to summon Warrior Monks.
	John walked past Isilron.  "I'd think you, more than any of us, would want to get home.  This Fayth may have info for us, it could make the job easier."
	"The job's not going to be any easier if we have a mob of enraged Spirans on our backs," Isilron retorted.
	"Oh well."  John shrugged, and promptly ran off after Mike.
	"So, um, shouldn't we go after them?", Sakura asked.  "I mean, everyone's looking our way anyway, we're going to be in trouble even if we stay out here."
	"She's got a point."
	Isilron grumbled and began walking toward the entrance.  "Yes, we might as well."
	Ignoring the angry shouts of some of the local people, Isilron followed the others into the temple and down the spiral staircase that led to the Cloister of Trials.  They were soon confronted with an energy field of some kind.  Isilron reached for the controls, but before he could deactivate the field a bolt of Force-lightning emerged from Mike's fingertips and fried the emitters creating the field.  "Isilron, I thought the Spirans forbade technology?", he asked.
	"Like you are so fond of noting, Michael, priests become corrupt too.  Yevon is rotten to it's core."  Isilron led them through the path toward the Trials.  "This will take some time to go through."
	They walked across the platform to where a pedestal was placed, with a sphere in it.  Across open air they could see the other side.  "Push the pedestal onto..."
	"There is a simpler way to do this," Sakura said.  She smiled a little and lifted her staff.  After closing her eyes to concentrate she created a haze around the party members, and lifted them off their feet.  "I'm starting to get the hang of this levitation magic."
	With Sakura's magic, the party floated over the distance and landed at the other side.  She lowered her staff.  There was a little sweat on her face and in her hair now from exertion.  But she moved rather quickly despite her apparent fatigue.
	They entered the waiting chamber, where guardians typically stood watch to wait for their charges, and walked toward the heavy slab door that led to the Chamber of the Fayth.  Mike concentrated and pulled the door up.  Isilron was the first to follow him into the Chamber.
	Set under a transparent case was a statue of a massive metallic dragon.  The party entered and a small transparent boy of tanned complexion appeared over the case, hovering in mid-air.  His dark purple robe matched the color of the dragon exactly.  "Offworlders, I need your aid," the Fayth said in the high voice of a young child.  "The one called Saruman has allied with Mika, leader of Yevon, and he seeks to learn the power of the Fayth.  He must never be permitted this."
	"Where is Saruman?" Isilron asked.
	"He is coming here already.  You must protect the Chamber from him.  I can then help you in your quest."
	"So you know who we are and what we're doing here?"
	"Yes.  You have the support of all the Fayth.  Which is why you must stop Saruman.  And for that, I shall aid you..."  The Fayth looked past the others at Sakura.  "When you need me, call for me, and I will be there."  It moved toward her, entering her.  Sakura groaned and collapsed to her knees.  Her eyes drooped close and she fell to the side, unconscious.
	Mike looked up from her to Isilron.  "What just happened?"
	"The Fayth has joined with her," Chris answered for Isilron.  "Does this mean that Sakura is now a Summoner?"
	"Perhaps, though I am not sure how."  Isilron drew his weapon.  "We need to be ready for Saruman.  Let's go."
	Chris picked up Sakura while the others followed Isilron out of the Chamber of the Fayth.  They stepped into the waiting chamber and did not get across it before movement came from the other side.  Mika entered, followed by Saruman and flanked by four monks with rifles.  He stopped suddenly, recoiling at the sight of the party.  His eyes focused on Isilron and he stammered, "No, it... it is not possible!  You are dead!"
	"Mika."  There was a cold, angry tone in Isilron's voice.  He brought his sword onto his shoulder.  "It has been a long time."
	"You were sent!  I saw to it myself!", Mika shouted.
	"Sent?"  Chris looked over at Isilron, having put down Sakura.  "You're dead?"
	"You are one to talk about being dead, Mika," Isilron growled.  "I should have sent you myself, when I had the chance!"
	"Whoever you are, you have made a grievous mistake for standing in my way."  Saruman stepped before Mika.  "I do not know why you are here, but I have urgent business to attend to.  Stand aside."
	"There is no way we are letting you through to the Fayth."  Patrick, John, and Chris readied their weapons.  Patrick pointed his spear tip at Saruman.  "You're going to have to get through us first."
	"You will regret your impudence."
	There was the explicit sound of a lightsaber flashing to life.  Mike stepped up with the others.  "Your funeral, fucker."  As he did so, Mike tapped the telepathic link he had established with Kate, to tell her.

	Marina had led her party into one of the outlying residential areas, finding nothing.  Along the way, very few had spoken, until Kate stopped for a moment.  "I just felt Mike say something," she said.
	"Yes, they've found Sara...."
	A loud scream, in a language other than Spiran (Which was essentially English anyway), came from the next street over.  Drake and Misty were the first to run toward it, and the others followed them closely.
	The next street over had a young woman, with two children of less than ten, huddling together and inching away from about a dozen Spirans armed with swords or, in a couple cases, makeshift weapons.  "Filthy Al Bhed!  You turned Lady Yuna against the Temple!"
	"Get the heathens!"
	Drake jumped between the Al Bhed and the Spirans, sword drawn.  "Good people, I think that's quite enough."
	"Kill the Al Bhed and the heretic!"
	Drake raised his sword, and watched the first attacker's blade shatter uselessly as it slammed into his weapon.  The man stood wide-eyed until Misty punched him in the jaw and knocked him unconscious.  The others got between the Al Bhed and the Spirans.  Mark looked at them and showed, "Run!  Go!!"  He pointed in the other direction, and the woman grabbed the children and ran off with them.  He turned and whipped out a couple stars, which exploded at the ground and knocked back a number of the mob.

	The final guard fell to a slash from Chris's sickle while Mike and Saruman exchanged telekinetic attacks.  John cast a fire spell that enveloped Saruman, but did not hurt the powerful wizard.  Saruman counterattacked with a blast of telekinetic energy that knocked John backward.  He reached up a hand and stopped Patrick from landing on him by knocking him back.  Isilron attempted to get close and was deflected in a similar manner.
	Fighting so many adversaries was finally taking it's toll, and Saruman was knocked backwards by a powerful bolt of Force lightning from Mike.  He quickly recovered, throwing an invisible blast of magic energy at Mike that knocked him away.
	Patrick came down on Saruman just as he moved out of the way, pinning a part of Saruman's white robe to the floor with his lance.  Saruman swept out with his staff and deflected Patrick away.  He raised a magic shield to deflect spells from Chris and John and used his staff to knock away a blow from Isilron.  A sweep of his staff tossed Isilron to the side.
	Again, Mike's Force Lighting struck out at the fallen Istari.  Saruman restored his protective field in time to stop it from striking him.  Mike did not stop his attack, though, and kept it up, his anger at the entire situation, at the planet Spira and at the people who ran it, fueling his power and forcing Saruman on the defensive.
	At that time, John and Chris recovered, and in conjunction, unleashed their most powerful spells.  The energies of Flare and Dark Matter erupted about Saruman, pummeling him.
	Saruman's magic was powerful, but possibly not powerful enough to deflect the combined power of Chris and John's best magic in addition to Mike's powerful attack.  The field he had erected to protect himself from Mike's Force-lightning crackled and wavered under the combined onslaught.
	But when their attacks ceased, Saruman was still standing, though his field was gone.  They could not maintain their power, and would have to rest a critical moment that would let Saruman recover.  
	But he did not get that moment.
	Sakura was now on her feet.  She reached a hand up, and with what strength she had, summoned the one attack that a White Mage could accomplish.
	The powers of the spell Holy slammed Saruman.  It was the final blow, something that his exhausted magic could not counter.  The wizard screamed as he disappeared in white energy and Sakura immediately fell back into unconscious.  Mike and the others dropped to a knee, exhausted.  Isilron looked to where Mika had been hiding, just to see the old Maester had slipped out during the battle.  He growled and put his sword away.  "Patrick, get Sakura.  It's time we got out of here."

	Kate got Mike's telepathic message to meet at the Highbridge while her lightsaber was busy being used to deflect bullets from the rifles of the Warrior Monks.  Fortunately, Marina had gotten her hands on one of them, and was now exhausting the gun's ammunition shooting down the Monks on the rooftops with pinpoint accuracy.
	A couple Monks screamed as Misty carved into their chests with her extended claws, while Drake and Dalton plowed their way through some more, avoiding bullets or taking grazing wounds to get through.  Mark and Kate were using their enhanced response times and reflexes to block the firing of the Monks to the rear of the party.  "This is beginning to look bad," Kate called out.  "And the others are heading to the Bridge!"
	"Then we must too."  Marina fired her last shot and sent a Monk falling to the street.  Instead of reaching for her bow, she took out the pair of long daggers on her waist and charged into the monks ahead of the party, moving quickly to try and evade getting hit.
	At that point, a loud neighing sound filled the air.  The party could hear crackling lightning, and a massive horse with a big horn on it's head charged through the Warrior Monks behind them.  A robed woman was riding on the horse's back.  "What kind of horse is that, Mark?!", Marina shouted.
	"It's Ixion!  An Aeon!"
	The robed woman on Ixion shouted, "Go, now!  I will protect you!  Hurry!"
	"Keep pushing!", Marina ordered.  She sliced through a Monk, bringing her boot up and kicking a second in the chin before stabbing him through the gut.
	Dalton bowled through an entire squad, axe swinging, and finally got to open ground.  From there the party escaped to open street, free to keep running as the Monks tried to fight off the mysterious Summoner and Ixion.

	The party reunited at the Highbridge leading back to Macalania.  "Saruman?", Marina asked.
	"Destroyed."  Isilron looked to Sakura, who seemed very weak.  "Sakura got the kill."
	"Yeah!"  Misty grinned and put an arm around Sakura's shoulders.  "I told you that you would get a peace of the action, didn't I?"
	"You did," Sakura said with a smile.  "But I don't want to have to do that again."
	"There is more."  Chris stood beside Sakura.  "The Fayth of Bevelle called us so that we would be in position to fight Saruman, but more than that, it has linked to Sakura."
	"Linked?  As in, she could summon Bahamut now?"
	"I dunno," Sakura said.  "I wouldn't know how."
	"Yes, it's unfortunate that Sakura hasn't had Summoner training, or this could be valuable," Isilron said.  "Well, no matter, we should continue on.  We should move on to Gagazet.  Stephen told me that's where Exdeath would be heading, drawn to Zanarkand."
	"Then we should hurry," Mark said.  "Crossing the Calm Lands is going to be a bitch."

	A single light from the outside shined on Betsy, unconscious and hanging from the chains holding her arms to the wall.  "Wake up, sweet thing," DarkStar said.  When she did not move, he reached out and channeled a slight jolt of Force lightning into her.  She awoke with a howl.  "When I ask you to do something, I expect it done."  DarkStar stepped into the cell, followed by Maleficent and Kefka.  "When do you want me to make my appearance?"
	"After the heroes get rid of that bothersome Exdeath," Kefka said.
	"Yes.  We will be here, and you can show them the girl if they do not believe you," Maleficent added.  "You wanted proof of her captivity?"
	"I do.  A piece of clothing, or hair, might suffice, but... aaaahhhh... this should work."  DarkStar went to Betsy's hand and pulled off her engagement ring.  "He should identify this rather well."
	"What do you want from me?", Betsy murmured.
	"Screams of excruciating torment," the evil harlequin replied with a cackle.  "But I have business to attend to, so it shall be later.  Good night."  With a flip of his wrist, Kefka cast Sleep and Betsy fell unconscious again.

	The party had marched down into the Calm Lands, and in the distance, Mount Gagazet was visible.  Sakura groaned as they walked up to the Travel Agency on the western edge.  "It's going to take us days to get across."
	"Not if we use Chocobos.  I'll be right back."  Isilron walked to the proprietor of the Agency while the others stood around.  When he returned, he had half a dozen Chocobos with him.  "Wow, you must be made of cash," Mark said.
	"I saved well these past years," Isilron replied.  He hopped onto one.  "These are easy to ride creatures.  I'm not sure if any of you have experience."
	"I do, with horses."  Marina jumped up into the saddle of one of the yellow birds.  "Bipeds, I'm not sure about.  But we can give it a try."
	"Yeah, and who knows?"  Chris jumped onto one.  "Maybe we'll find a use for the skill later on?"
	After mounting the birds, Isilron led them across the Calm Lands at a fast pace.  It only took a few hours to cross over to the bridges leading to Mount Gagazet.  They left the Chocobos there, the birds unwilling to move into the tunnel going to the mountain's base, and continued on foot.
	Snow greeted them at the other side of the tunnel, and a rather pitiful sight of numerous Ronso warriors scattered about, all dead.  "Looks like Seymour's handiwork," Mark said.
	"It is."  Isilron walked up to the lifeless body of Kelk Ronso.  He frowned.  "Though I had much reason to hate you, Kelk, I will give you the respect due a warrior falling in hopeless battle.  You and your people should rest."  Isilron looked to Sakura.  "Do you remember the Sending dance?"
	"Yeah, why?"
	"Because I need you to send them," Isilron said.  "Your use of white magic, and the fact that a Fayth linked to you, gives you the ability.  These Ronso deserve that."
	Sakura nodded.  Lifting her staff, she tried to recall the exact steps.  As she twirled the staff about and circled around, pyreflies came from the dead Ronso and disappeared.  Everyone lowered their heads in respect.
	When she was finished, Isilron moved on under the great stone gateway.  "It's time to scale Mount Gagazet."

	At the ledge where, just some time earlier, Seymour Guado had been defeated again by the traveling party of Yuna daughter of Braska, the party finally found their target.  Standing at the ledge, Exdeath detected the approach of enemies.  "Who are you?"
	"Exterminator service," Dalton joked.  "We're here to send you back to where you came from."
	"And why would I let you do that?"  Exdeath turned, his eyes hidden by the massive metal helmet on his head.  "Here, I shall again seek to restore the Void.  Get out of my way."  Exdeath tossed a glowing white ball, which Dalton did not try to dodge.
	That turned out to be a mistake.  He groaned aloud and collapsed onto the ground.  Slowly his body petrified, turning a dull gray.  Sakura immediately began casting cure magic as John and Mike unleashed their respective powers on Exdeath.  His armor took the blasts of lightning and he tossed the white balls toward them.  They both evaded.
	An arrow struck him in the helmet, nearly breaking through his armor.  Marina quickly fired another arrow at Exdeath, breaking a little into his armor.  Drake and Isilron struck with their swords and Kate with her lightsaber, while Patrick descended toward him.  Exdeath generated a protective field and knocked them away, also preventing a strike from Mike's force lightning.  To put them on the defensive, he unleashed a number of white balls that the party maneuvered to avoid.  Misty somersaulted over a tossed white ball and landed on his neck.  She unsheathed her claws and began cutting away at the helmet.  "Let's see what you look like under that helmet."
	"Get off of me!"  Exdeath tossed a white ball up into the air.  Misty saw it coming and jumped off his back just in time.  The snow was not dense where she landed, and even the spikes in her boots did not stop her from tripping over.  Falling off the ledge, Misty reached up and drove the claws of her right hand into the rock face about twenty feet below.  She began to crawl back up, ignoring the icy bite of the wind on her bare skin.
	Dalton was back up, having exhausted some of Sakura's magic in the process.  He and Isilron advanced on Exdeath and began hacking away at him.  He used his pike to deflect a blow by Dalton, and turned and hit Isilron.  Isilron's carrying bag was sliced off his waist, and it tumbled over and fell off the ledge.  "Damn!", he shouted.
	"There goes our items," Mark grumbled.  "Okay, tin woodsman, let's see how you like this.  I've been thinking of trying out an Overdrive idea."  Mark vaulted himself into the air over Mike, who had to roll to avoid a white ball.  In each hand, he grabbed as many of his stars as he could and tossed them all with his latent skills.  He quickly picked up more and threw them as he landed.  They impacted at almost the same time, knocking Exdeath over close to the ledge.
	Misty pulled herself up over the ledge, rolling onto the snow and getting back to her feet in time to barely miss another white ball.  Patrick advanced on Exdeath, seeking to throw him over the ledge.  Exdeath brought his pike up and their weapons collided.  Exdeath maneuvered Patrick in the way of Marina, causing one of her arrows to hit Patrick instead.  Patrick did not show the pain, but was weakened enough that Exdeath tossed him away.  He generated a white ball to throw at Patrick when Kate moved into position and deflected it with her lightsaber.  She brought the saber down on his shoulder, nearly cutting into the armor.  Mike did the same, moving into range with the others.  Exdeath kicked Kate down and generated another field to force them all away.  Kate was the only one left near him.
	"And now I shall send you to the Void."  Exdeath lifted his pike and prepared to bring it down through Kate's throat, as she lay on her back, helpless before him.
	"Hey, helmet head, head's up!"
	The voice made the villain lift his head.  A screech came from Exdeath as he watched Patrick descend upon him.  Patrick's lance dug into the maniacal being's head and pierced helmet and skull alike.  It plunged through Exdeath's body and came out through the lower back.
	A bright light surrounded Exdeath, and he was gone.
	The other members of the party assembled around him.  "Well done," Isilron said in a quiet tone.
	"Three down, four to go."  Misty sheathed her claws.  "That was some fancy jumping Patrick."
	"Yeah."  Kate sat up.  Patrick extended a hand and brought Kate to her feet.  "You saved my life."
	"You saved me first," Patrick pointed out with a slight grin.  "So where to next, Isilron?"
	"I'm not sure."  Isilron lifted his sword over his shoulder.  "The other four are somewhere on Spira, that is for certain.  But we still need to find out where."
	"I'd think they'd be going to Zanarkand, if they want to interfere with Yuna's quest," Mark said.
	"Zanarkand is on the other side of these mountains?"
	It was then that a sinister voice answered, "Yes, Michael, but that's not where you will be going."
	All heads looked up, in time to see a figure in similar dark outfit to Mike drifting downward.  A lightsaber was hanging from his belt, while his flowing cape flapped in the wind.  Hateful, dark eyes stared at the party.  "I come with a message from Kefka.  The others you hunt are waiting for you, on an isle not far from here."
	Marina put an arrow on her bow, to be prepared.  "And you would be?"
	"My name is Mister Anderson, but I think you know me better..."  The figure grinned.  "As DarkStar."
	No one would know who laughed first.  Dalton, Mike, Mark, and Misty began cackling, and soon a few others joined in.  "Please, Scooter, just go away," Mark said dismissively.  "We've got bigger fish to fry."
	Lightning crackled from DarkStar's eyes.  He raised a hand and force-lightning erupted from it.  Sakura barely managed to re-act in time to erect a magic shield, which kept the lightning from hurting any of the party members.  "Do not belittle me!  I have grown to power you could never imagine!  I...."
	A crackle of lightning lashed out from Mike's raised palm, and enveloped DarkStar.  He screeched and collapsed to his knees.  Dark energy flashed in Mike's eyes, the result of his growing immersion in the Dark Side, as he chuckled and made the remark, "You're not the only one with Sith powers here, idiot."
	"Maybe not..."  DarkStar rose back to his feet, gasping a little.  "But I am not alone.  Kefka and the others wish to settle this issue now.  One final confrontation, rather than drawing this all out."
	"Oh please, do we look as stupid as you?", Marina scoffed.  "It's a trap, and we know it's one.  You should try harder."
	The smile that crossed DarkStar's face sent chills down the spine of Sakura.  "Ah, but we have a good reason for you to come.  If you do not arrive in ten hours, someone that one of you holds very dear will die, and I'm sure Kefka will make it a lingering, agonizing death just for the sheer cruelty of it."  When no immediate answer came, the smile grew.  "I have your attention now.  You're all wondering who it can be.  Is it.... Jason?"  DarkStar looked at Misty, and moved his eyes to Mike.  "Or is it Rebecca?  Maybe one of the boys.  Wait!  Maybe it's Dalton's sister!  Or sweet Sakura's mother!  There are so many possibilities...."
	"We'll fucking kill you," Dalton grumbled.
	"Probably not.  But I tire of this suspense, so let's get to the winning loved one already.  Anyone recognize this?"  DarkStar tossed a small object toward the middle of the party.  Mark's right hand reached out and snatched it.  He looked into his hand, as the others did.  It was a ring, a plain gold band, with a quarter karat stone on it.  "Looks like an engagement ring," Misty said.
	Mark didn't hear her.  His eyes widened and a terrible feeling came to his stomach.  "Where did you get this?", he asked DarkStar in an eerily calm tone.
	"Guess."
	"Where.  Did.  You.  Get.  This?", Mark repeated, each word pronounced succinctly.  As he did so, Marina and Dalton exchanged horrified looks.  They had come to the same realization.
	"I took it off the finger of a lovely young lady.  Blond hair, gray eyes, about five foot eight."  DarkStar smirked.  "She is very... exquisite.  And I can see why you would love her, she's just like you.  Defiant and proud.  She resists us at every turn."
	Mark's voice was now barely a croak, choked with conflicting emotions of horror and rage.  "How?"
	"A friend in a high place.  Someone interested in my rightful ascension to Godhood."
	"You're mad," said Marina.
	"I will be a God before long, and you will be ants before me!  But that is not what is important, not right now.  Still having trouble believing me, Mark?  How about I confirm your worst fears?"
	DarkStar opened his left palm.  A sphere appeared above it, growing until all could see it.  The faces on it were recognizable, the pale face and yellow eyes of Maleficent and the harlequin face of Kefka.  "Speak for your audience, young lady," Maleficent ordered.  "Exactly as we instructed you."
	The vision moved to a single figure, chained to the wall.  Mark's face became a frozen mask of disbelief.  "Don't come!  Mark, stay away!  It's a...."
	DarkStar clenched his fist and snuffed out the image.  "Was that sufficient proof for you?"
	A moment passed before there was an answer.  "I'll fucking kill you."  Suddenly the emotionless posture of Mark turned violent.  He plunged forward, just to be held back by Drake and Dalton.  "Did you touch her?!  I'll fucking kill you if you touched her!  Do you hear me, Anderson?!  You're a dead man!  A FUCKING DEAD MAN!"
	"Harm me and my associates will throw dear little Betsy to the fiends to be an afternoon meal," DarkStar replied coldly.  "You have ten hours to accept our invitation, or she dies."  With that, he rose into the air and soared away.
	Mark strained against Drake and Dalton.  "Let go of me!  I'm going to fucking kill him!"
	"Mark, you can't.  Not if they'll hurt Betsy," Drake reminded him.
	"We'll get her back, man, I promise!", added Dalton.
	"MOTHER FUCKERS!  WHO DID THIS?!  WHO FUCKING DID THIS?!"
	There was a grunt, and the sound of crunching snow.  Heads turned nearby and the party could see Stephen standing nearby, cane in hand.  His hood was down around his neck, and he looked more than a little fatigued.
	Breaking free of Drake and Dalton, Mark raced up to him and caught him off guard with a right hook.  Despite his size, Stephen crumbled into the snow without any apparent resistance.  "How could you let them, Steve?!  You know how much she means to me!  I thought we were friends?!"
	"Mark!"  Sakura reached out and encompassed Stephen in a magic field before Mark could land another punch.
	"We want answers, Stephen."  Marina came up behind Mark.  "We deserve them."
	"And... you will get them."  Slowly he stood to his feet.  Marina was the first to realize that there was something amiss with his posture, the look on his face.
	"Hey, if you're that powerful, how did Mark even manage to land a punch?", Chris asked.
	Isilron came between Marina and Mark, and met Stephen in the eyes.  "Can't you see?  He's not in the best of shape.  Gamemaster?"
	"Yes.  Gamemaster has betrayed us all.  He is the one who took Betsy and gave her to Kefka, and I suspect, he also is responsible for DarkStar and his newfound power."
	"And what is Q going to do about his misbehaving progeny?", Marina asked.
	"Q can do nothing.  The Gamemaster has sealed the entire Continuum off.  They can't escape.  I was fortunate to get out fast enough."
	"But you're here now."  Mark's face was now completely drained of color.  Tears seemed to be forming at the corners of his eyes.  "You've got to get Betsy away from them.  Please."
	"I cannot.  Gamemaster has placed a strange form of seal over Kefka's citadel.  It prevents me from reaching anything inside the citadel."
	"Where is this place?"
	With a though, Stephen created an image of Spira, and the location of the citadel, in the middle of the sea to the east.  Misty said, "We'll never get there in time.  It's in the middle of the ocean."
	"Can't you at least transport us there?"
	"I... can try.  Give me a moment and I can regain enough power to..."
	Suddenly Stephen stopped speaking.  Looking into the distance, he stepped through the party toward the ledge overlooking the side of the mountain.  Everyone turned to look at him.  "What is it?"
	"Run."
	"Huh?"
	Stephen's head whirled about.  "I said run!"
	"What's going...  Oh SHIT!"
	Chris's expletive was a momentous understatement, as Sin came from below the ledge.
	"None of you can face Sin!  You must flee, now!  NOW!"  An energy field formed around Stephen and lifted him into the air.  The party, quite properly, took off running toward the top of Gagazet.
	Scales opened on Sin, and small Sinspawn erupted and raced toward the party.  With Dalton, Drake, and Misty in the front, they began plowing through the creatures even as they broke out of their scale cocoons.
	"Jecht!  Listen to me!  I cannot be the one who frees you!"  An energy blast from Sin was the reply, nearly enveloping Stephen's energy sphere, but not quite breaking through.  "Tidus will free you, but you must be patient!"
	On the ground, Patrick jumped about a hundred yards ahead of the party, slicing a scale in half with his lance as he soared into the air.  As he got to the summit, a shadow loomed overhead.  "What in the hell?"
	"It's the Airship!", Mark shouted.  "Cid's Airship!  They must be on their way to Zanarkand!"
	Running past Drake, who was slicing through a pair of scales, Isilron added, "Patrick, get aboard that airship!  It's our only chance!"
	Patrick nodded, and looked up.  Judging the jump carefully, he vaulted himself in the air.  From between Isilron and Kate, Sakura lifted her staff and a white glow surrounded Patrick.  The levitation magic enhanced his jump to the point that he was able to grip a side of the Airship successfully.  Patrick jumped again, using his arms to vault himself, and ended up on the roof of the Airship.  He raced inside, blowing past surprised Al Bhed as his mind raced.  He felt Kate in his mind.  She was showing him a peculiar third-person view of the shuttle's various rooms.  He realized she must be relaying knowledge from other party members, and followed the directions loyally, until he reached his destination.
	Cid was staring at the screen of Sin and Stephen battling with energy blasts when Patrick stormed onto the Airship's Bridge.  Cid turned around and in an agitated tone demanded, "How in the hell did you get on my ship?!"
	"Luck.  Please, come down!  My friends are in danger."
	"You mean them?"  Cid pointed to a display.  The party was in a circle, with John and Sakura in the middle for protection, surrounded by Sinspawn.
	"Yes!"
	"Well, I don't know who you are, but you're pretty impressive folks, and I'm not going to let Sinspawn carve you up."  Cid looked to the helmsmen and shouted an order in Al Bhed.  A confirmation came and the Airship lowered.
	When it reached the proper altitude, Sakura lifted her staff and the entire party began levitating.  They moved upward, and upward, until reaching a rear bay door opened by the Al Bhed.  Once they were inside, the door closed and the Airship gained altitude again, moving away from the battle at top velocity.
	Isilron and the others stormed onto the bridge.  "I'd ask who you are," Cid said, "but right now I'm a little puzzled.  Who the hell is that guy, and how can he fight Sin?  He doesn't look like a Summoner to me."
	"He isn't.  But he's buying us time to get away.  We need to go to this location."  Isilron stabbed his finger down on the globe in the middle of the bridge, showing the position of Kefka's citadel.
	"And why would I do that?"
	"There is something there.  A threat to this entire world rivaling Sin."  Isilron's eyes narrowed.  "And we have to stop it."
	Cid smirked and crossed his arms.  "You'll understand if I'm skeptical."
	"Not at all," Mike said to him.  "I'd be too if I were in your position."
	"Is that true?"
	"Yes."
	"Cid..."  Mark stepped out in front of Mike and Isilron.  "I know that coming from a stranger, this isn't going to sound convincing, but right now you're the only one who can help us.  If we don't get there in the next ten hours, they're going to kill my wife.  Please...."
	"If you don't trust us, how about this?"  Mike stepped forward.  "Why don't I show you who I am?"  Squinting and trying to concentrate through the tumult of the Dark Side, Mike accessed his Force-telepathic abilities and reached into Cid's mind.  It was not a probe, rather, a download.  Mike showed Cid everything he needed to know, both of their mission, and of their world, and even a bit about Mike himself.
	There was disorientation on Cid's part at first.  "Another world?  I wouldn't believe it if I didn't know it were true," Cid scoffed.  "But I can see where you're coming from, and I'll drop you off.  But that's it.  I have to go help my daughter and my niece, I don't have time to sit around and wait for you."
	"That's all we can ask of you," Isilron said.
	A bright flash filled the screen ahead.  Sin's mouth was open, and a massive blast was coming from it.  Energy met energy as the blast was buffeted from energy coming from Stephen's sphere.  For several seconds, the two forces equaled each other.
	The sphere collapsed, and the blast hit Stephen head on.  A shout of pain echoed in every mind on the Airship, and within a moment, he was streaking through the sky.  Sin moved slowly to give chase.  "Now I see why Stephen didn't directly help us," Chris said.  "Sin's after him."
	"More than Sin," Isilron corrected.  "Jecht.  The same was true with the person stuck in the last Sin.  They sensed him and his powers, and came to him to try and win their freedom.  But Stephen cannot free them, it's against what must be.  So they pursue him relentlessly, doing anything possible to force him into destroying the body of Sin."
	"Well, it looks like we're on our own," Sakura sighed.

	Miles passed by in seconds.  The last coherent memory was the flash of light from Sin, and then the feeling of a complete loss of power....
	The people of Besaid would find Stephen, unconscious, at the end of a 180 yard long ditch created by the strength of his impact against the soft tropical earth of Besaid.

	The airship descended upon Kefka's citadel, with the party on the top of it and waiting.  Cid's voice boomed over a loudspeaker.  "Okay team, here's your drop off!  Good luck!"
	The party jumped off the airship and moved toward the small stretch of terrain that was at the gate.  Sakura's levitation magic ensured that they landed safely, though Dalton made quite an impact at landing.
	As they stepped toward the door, a mass number of monsters and fiends from across Spira converged on them from gates leading to their pens.  The party lifted their weapons and prepared to fight.
	"Leave 'em to us."  Dalton lifted his axe high and charged at the fiends with a hearty "ROB SMASH!"  Misty unsheathed the claws in her gloves with a thought and plunged into battle beside him, kicking and clawing away at the multitude.  Gaining altitude with his limited flight, Chris brought his sickle high and plowed into a pack of wolf-like predators, slicing two in half.  As he moved away, his hand reached out and an explosion of dark energy blew the pack apart, sending them flying away from each other.  Through this hole in the enemy line, the party raced through the door into the citadel.
	Misty and Dalton stood back to back, swinging their clawed fists and axe at the enemy.  "This is going to be fun," Dalton muttered.
	"Oh yeah," Misty agreed with a wry grin.

	Isilron led the party up two flights of stairs until they came to a courtyard-like chamber in the middle.  As they made it to the middle, an ominous figure appeared beside them.
	Darth Maul removed his dark cloak and removed his double-bladed weapon.  "Leave him to us," Kate said to the others, switching on her lightsaber.  Mike did the same, with the red of his weapon matching Maul's closely.  Maul sneered at them and waited patiently.
	The party did not wait for the battle to begin.  Isilron maintained his pace down the length of the courtyard to another flight of stairs.  Behind them, the distinctive sounds of lightsabers crashing echoed in the courtyard.
	Lightsaber battles are a rather precise thing, and actually quite simple to describe.  A flurry of color, the familiar buzz of the sabers and the flash of light from their crashing together.  What requires true description is the maneuver, and Maul was a master of it fighting two very powerful novices.  Mike and Kate found themselves struggling to keep up with his rabid maneuvers, his somersaults, and his occasional use of Force telekinesis.  They were, though, aided by the fact that Maul was somewhat put off by Mike's abilities being that of a Sith, and his willingness to occasionally release force lightning.
	The battle continued and led them away from the courtyard and toward side chambers.  Here were openings to the outside, mostly for the benefit of tossing out misbehaving fiends or, it was planned, to throw prisoners into the sea.  Indeed, the dungeons were nearby.  But they were empty now, and the only sound in the halls were the heavy breathing of the combatants and the crashing and buzzing of their futuristic weapons.
	After some time, Kate thought she was getting a handle on it.  Being the great Star Wars fan she was, she knew all about the lightsaber battles, and worked hard to keep herself from going too short against Maul.
	But Maul was now angry, and his power increased.  He worked Kate up against the wall while Mike was recovering from a Force push.  As her saber crashed against one of the blades, Maul used his Force telekinesis to hit her in the chin.  The stun was disastrous, and Kate did not recover in time before he drove his saber into her belly.  Kate screamed in agony, the horrible sensation of the saber burning in her body, fusing blood vessels and scorching flesh.  She collapsed, twisting on the floor from the pain.
	Before Maul could level a killing blow, an enraged Mike crashed into him and knocked him over into the next chamber.  An opening was in the wall of the empty room, and there they continued their fight.

	A couple of Bashirs got in the party's way as they stormed toward the Hall.  Not waiting, Mark tossed a trio of his explosive stars at their feet.  The blast stunned them long enough for Isilron and Drake to slash through their tough hides.  Mark was now in the lead, with Sakura, as the party dashed into the Hall.
	Standing in the middle of it, with evil yellow eyes appraising the party visually, Maleficent brought up her staff and a bolt of lightning erupted from it.  Mark dodged it and continued running past her.  "You're almost out of time," Maleficent cackled at him, before turning her attention back to the party soon enough to blast Drake away before he could land a bow.  Marina stopped and fired an arrow that hit Maleficent between the eyes.  A normal human would have been killed, but the self-proclaimed mistress of evil was merely stunned for a moment.  "Pathetic wretches!  I shall show you the powers of Darkness as you have never imagined.  Come, and have a taste of Hell!"
	Mark and Sakura didn't stay long enough to watch Maleficent transform into a massive, and dangerous, dragon form.
	Marina immediately placed an arrow into the throat of the massive beast, while Drake lunged toward her belly.  Maleficent twisted her tail around and knocked Drake to the side.  Patrick leapt up to get her from above when fire from her mouth enveloped him.  Losing control from the pain in his body, Patrick landed on the upper floor of the Grand Hall and momentarily collapsed.  Isilron brought up his sword and charged into battle while Marina put another arrow into Maleficent's forehead.
	John, from a distance, cast a powerful ice spell at Maleficent's mouth.  The dragon roared as the magical ice covered it's mouth, blocking it off.  But the ice quickly melted under the intensity of Maleficent's fire.  She generated and tossed a number of fireballs at John, which Drake deflected with his sword.  John cast lightning magic, raining down bolts around her.  Maleficent reacted by twisting her tail around, and before John could move, she had gripped him tightly with the tail and began slamming him about.  Isilron and Drake went after the tail while Marina and Patrick concentrated on fighting Maleficent.

	Stephen awoke in the Crusaders' Lodge of Besaid.  The others who had brought him in were nearby, talking.  He supposed he should thank them, but in his mind, he now sensed the others were fighting in Kefka's Citadel.
	Which meant the Gamemaster had to be attacked now, since he would undoubtedly be enjoying his "show".
	Stephen dematerialized himself from the lodge, leaving behind a note of thanks crafted with his power.  Moving through the ether between universes, he arrived at his destination.
	In the Chapel Hall of Hollow Bastion, Gamemaster was watching via a pillar of green energy as Isilron and some of the others were fighting Maleficent, in dragon form.  He moved through the entrance, slowly, so as to not gain attention.
	Suddenly the Godling was gone.  "Lookie who came to watch the grand finale!", the being's maniacal voice proclaimed, echoing in the Chapel.
	From behind him, a blast of energy threw Stephen across the Chapel.  Gamemaster emerged from the shadows.  "What are you doing back here?"
	"I'm here," Stephen answered as he stood, "to make you take down that seal so I can put a stop to this?"
	"Oh really?  And why would I let you do that?"  Gamemaster threw another blast of energy at him, forcing Stephen to deflect it with his own power.  "Deus ex machina ruin the ending, you know."
	"I don't care about your damned show.  Those are my friends."
	"And what marvelous actors they are!"  Gamemaster pointed to the image and it changed to show Mark and Sakura running up stairs.  "In fact, the final act is about to begin!"

	Storming up the stairs, Mark ignored a growing sense of fatigue.  Days of unending battle and walking were taking their toll, even on a body artificially altered to handle such stresses.  Pure emotion pushed him onward, and into the waiting throne room.  It was stylish, gunmetal gray on the walls, with a high-backed golden throne bearing Kefka.  The robed harlequin maniac cackled gleefully, looking to the tall, silver-haired figure at his right.  "What do you know?  Right on time."  Kefka and Sephiroth looked to their right.  Mark looked in the same direction.
	The side wall of the throne room had been cut out, revealing the outside, where darkness had set in.  A pole had been erected hanging out of the throne room, and suspended on that pole by her wrists was Betsy.  She saw him, and her eyes widened.  "Mark?!"
	"Let her go, Kefka!  This is between us!"
	"Oh, but where's the fun in that?"  Kefka lifted a finger and pointed it to Sakura, who had walked up beside Mark.  Sakura lifted her head up suddenly, causing the hood that covered her red hair, to fall back.  A scream erupted from her as a dark force filled her.  When it was finished, she collapsed to her knees, groaning.  "And no help from your cute little magic user."
	"My magic..."  Sakura looked over at Mark, tears having formed in her eyes from pain.  "I... I can't cast anything.  I...  I'm useless."
	"It's okay.  Just stay there."  Mark unsheathed his katana and stepped into the middle of the throne room.  "What do you want, you fucking maniac?"
	"I was thinking of a bargain.  You want your little girlfriend to live, you have to kill him."  Kefka pointed to Sephiroth.  "But if Sephiroth lands a fatal blow, then I will release the pole, and the girl goes into the sea.  If the rocks don't kill her, there are plenty of hungry sea fiends down there."
	"You fucking psycho...."
	"Nah ah ah, temper temper."  Kefka's left hand curved and a ball of fire appeared.  "Wouldn't want me to accidentally burn that rope holding her, now would you?  Sephiroth, be a good friend and dispose of this trash."
	Sephiroth nodded at Kefka, clearly not enjoying taking orders.  His expression was evil and cold as he pulled his massive blade out of it's scabbard.  Mark brought his weapon up and prompted Sakura to move away.  As he did so, Mark suddenly brought his left hand up and a star flew from it.  Sephiroth knocked it away with his sword and it struck the wall, where it exploded.  It was in that moment that Mark realized it would be wiser to not toss them about.
	Sephiroth was swift in making the thirty yards distance between them.  Mark brought the sword up just in time to deflect the first blow, then the second.  A series of loud clangs were accompanied with sparks as their blades crashed against each other again and again.  Sephiroth soon stopped, and mockingly, motioned for Mark to come after him.  Mark instead settled for a defensive posture, not about to give his enemy what he wanted.  They circled each other for about ten seconds before Mark attempted to swipe.  He misjudged the length of Sephiroth's sword and, while his strike was evaded, was able to stop Sephiroth's sword from slicing across his rib cage.  While slicing through the dark ninja suit, the blade's tip cut out about half an inch of flesh, drawing a grunt from Mark.  He smirked at Sephiroth.  "First blood goes to you."
	Sensing Sephiroth was now a bit overconfident, Mark threw a star.  Sephiroth didn't have time to deflect it, so it struck him directly on the chest.  The magical explosion tossed them both away.  Sephiroth got back to his feet, his eyes glowing angrily.  Hurt pride made Sephiroth growl, and this time he advanced on Mark with blade slashing.  Mark brought the katana up and went on the defensive, allowing Sephiroth to land blade swipe after blade swipe.  He missed once, and Sephiroth's blade touched him again, this time cutting across Mark's belly just above the waist.  It drew blood, although just a surface cut.
	It also left Sephiroth exposed for a brief moment, and Mark was quick to react.  Twirling his sword off Sephiroth's, he cut Sephiroth across the chest at the collar bone.  The cut was deep, something that would have disabled a normal opponent.  As it was, Sephiroth fell back, and seeing his chance, Mark pushed the pain of his wound out of his mind and went on the attack.  Sephiroth struggled to regain his footing as metal met metal and their swords clanged against each other.  Mark sliced low and got a cut through Sephiroth's left thigh, making him howl.  There was a twang of hope in him; he seemed to be winning, but he wouldn't let up now, so he kept it up.  In desperation, Sephiroth kicked out and caught Mark in the shin.  He fell down, allowing Sephiroth to cut him across the left side, cutting off a chunk of cloth and flesh.  Mark cried out and dropped his weapon.  He rolled onto his back to get away from Sephiroth, who was now back on the attack.  Sephiroth struck down with his blade, trying for a fatal strike.  Mark twisted out of the way, but was too slow to prevent the sword from impaling him through the right side, through his ribs and nearly cutting into his lung.  Another cry of pain came from him, too great to merely ignore.  Sephiroth brought his weapon back out and prepared for a fatal blow while Mark tried to move away.
	At Mark's panicked mental command, his sword flew back into his grasp.  He brought it up in time to beat Sephiroth's downward strike.  It caught him through the right side again, this time lower and near his belly.  The pain did not stop Mark's counter-attack, and his sword sliced up through Sephiroth's belly.  Sephiroth's eyes widened that such a severe blow had been delivered.  They pulled their swords out of each other at the same time and Sephiroth fell to one knee.  Mark struggled to stand.  He looked toward the scowling face of Kefka, and then to Betsy.  He grinned weakly at her, drawing a similar grin from her.
	The grin evaporated as quickly as it formed.  "Mark, look out!," she shrieked.
	Before he could react, Sephiroth's sword plunged through his back, slicing through a portion of his spine and through a lung before coming out the other side.  They screamed at the same time and Mark collapsed to his knees.  Behind Mark, Sephiroth stood, completely healed by Kefka.  An evil sneer crossed his face as he walked in front of Mark.
	"Game over, boy," Kefka crowed as Sephiroth's sword went through Mark's heart.  A horrified look came to his face as he collapsed onto his back.  He reached a hand out toward Betsy, and then became still.  Kefka nonchalantly tossed the fireball over to the pole.  It struck the rope directly and burned through it, severing it from the pole.  Betsy cried out and began to plummet to the rocks below.
	Unnoticed the entire time, Sakura had inched her way over to the opening in the wall to try and help Betsy.  Seeing the rope snap, Sakura tried to reach out and grab her by the wrists.  The weight was too much and Sakura was pulled down with her, crying out as she fell over the edge.  The ground raced toward them and Sakura, in her panic, felt something within.
	When you need me, call for me, and I will be there, the Fayth at Bevelle had said.
	So Sakura, using the power she had felt within since leaving Bevelle, reached an arm to the sky and asked for help.
	The clouds thundered and lights appeared in the sky, symbols of arcane power that circled around each other.  A ripple appeared, and from it, a massive metallic dragon of navy blue color plunged downward.  Down, down, past the citadel's roof, past the throne room, and to Sakura and Betsy.  Bahamut took Sakura's hand and began to pull her up just as Betsy's foot came within a foot of the rocks.  They went back up, to the throne room.  The opening was not big enough for Bahamut, so it caused quite a bit of damage as Bahamut plunged through it and into the room.  Kefka and Sephiroth stared at the massive dragon and it roared at them.  A massive blast of light came from it's mouth and smashed into Sephiroth.  He screamed as the blast carried him straight through the wall and out the other side of the building, sending him to a death on the rocks below.
	Kefka jumped out of his throne, and sent a blast of power at Bahamut.  Bahamut took the blast directly, hurting but not going down.  He flew forward and swiped out with his claw, knocking Kefka back and temporarily disorientating him.
	Sakura grunted in pain.  Summoning Aeons didn't require any magical power right off, but she could feel the damage Bahamut had taken, and her weakened body and mind were beginning to falter.  "I... I can't keep this up.... much longer...."
	But Betsy was no longer by Sakura's side.  She had run over to Mark.  She was crying now, feeling no pulse on his neck.  The mental assault of her abduction, DarkStar and Kefka's abuse, and nearly being killed had all taken a toll, and it was finalized by the proof before her that Mark, her husband-to-be, was dead.

	"You realize what a bother this is, don't you?!"  Gamemaster picked Stephen's weakened form up and tossed him against the wall of Hollow Bastion's Chapel Hall.  He grunted at the impact and collapsed to the floor.  "I could be enjoying my show, right now, but instead I have to be here, dealing with you!"  With his own great power, Gamemaster hefted Stephen into the air and tossed him across the Hall again.  Stopping half-way across the Hall, Gamemaster brought up a circle of green light, and a view.  "Aww, lookie..."  Gamemaster looked at Betsy and Mark.  "How sad to see the parting of lovers."
	"No, Mark...."  Stephen picked himself up off the ground.
	"He's very dead, it seems.  The party..."  Gamemaster brought up images of the rest of them.  Kate's twirling form on the ground, a lightsaber hole through her stomach, while Mike fought ferociously just to survive against Maul.  He showed a vision of Dalton, Misty, and Chris fighting the fiends at the gate.  Bloodied, bruised, and battered, they kept swinging.  A wolf jumped upon Misty, slashing her across the back and drawing blood before Chris's sickle cleaved it in two.  Another vision showed Maleficent in dragon form.  With John's limp form wrapped around her tail, she tossed him away and into Drake, with Patrick on her back trying to impale her with his spear.  An swipe of Maleficent's great claw gored Marina and tossed her to the side before she could release an arrow.  She slumped against the wall, her eyes closed and blood pouring from the wounds on her chest and stomach.  "They are doomed.  An excellent showing, but the deck was stacked against them from the start.  That was the attraction of the show, you see.  Take a bunch of laid back, turn-of-the-century Internet geeks and force them to hunt down villains they thought were fiction, while dangling the carrot of going home to keep them going.  Use that hope to see if they would bank against the odds.  The triumph of the human spirit and all that!"  Gamemaster cackled.  "Not that I ever intended to let them go home even if they lived.  No, they would simply be given more villains to fight.  More entertainment for me... that is, until their deaths, and that seems very soon now, doesn't it?"  Gamemaster brought up a vision of Sakura, on her knees, trying to keep Bahamut fighting against Kefka.  "As soon as that dragon goes, the pretty redhead dies.  And the others will join her and poor Mark soon thereafter."  Gamemaster walked up to Stephen.  He grabbed him by the collar of the robe and lifted him up, purposely making himself taller to hold Stephen in mid-air.  "And then there was you.  The patsy.  Five hundred years, and for what?  To say the right things, to goad your friends into participating based on such tenuous lines of friendship.  Oh, you gave them a fighting chance with those cute weapons, but in the end?  It wasn't enough.  Your friends will die.  As for you, well, what can I say?  You shouldn't have held back against Sin, you should have destroyed Sin, the damage to reality be damned.  Because now, Sin's power has weakened you, and you don't even have the power to help your friends any more, much less oppose me."
	"You love... hearing yourself talk."
	"Now, I'm going to toss you into a nice cage with the rest of the Contiuum," Gamemaster grinned, "and then I'm going to enjoy my show.  Well, the end of it.  But Reality is infinite, and there are undoubtedly others I can pick up for future shows.  I mean, when the Megaverse is a big studio set, what can't an inventive writer like myself do?"
	"Gamemaster.... you do talk too much."
	Gamemaster cackled.  "And what makes you say that..."
	"Because you don't even pay attention."
	Gamemaster turned his head, and saw Stephen standing tall on the opposite end of the hall.  He looked back, bewildered, at the object in his hands.
	The faux-Stephen exploded in a blast of magical energy that enveloped Gamemaster.  He was tossed across the chapel to the other side of the cul-de-sac, leaving an indention in the wall.  Although only stunned, it gave Stephen the moment he needed.  He reached out with his mind onto Spira, cutting through Gamemaster's one-way seal....

	Betsy!
	The male voice didn't register in Betsy's mind initially.  She had Mark's head in her arms, crying bitterly.
	Betsy, listen to me!  It is your only hope!
	The voice managed to make an impact now.  Who?
	Who I am is unimportant!  Betsy, look to your left!
	Betsy turned her head left.  On the ground, about ten feet away from Mark, was a single sword, with  blue gem shaped as a runic symbol in the hilt.  More symbols ran down the golden handle, while the double-edged sword showed a brilliant luster in the light.  "That wasn't there before," she whispered to herself.
	Pick it up!
	"I can't use a sword," she muttered.  "I don't know how!"
	You will!  Trust me, Betsy!  Mark is counting on you!
	Still skeptical, Betsy got to her knees and went for the sword.  As she picked it up, Sakura screamed.  Bahamut dissipated in a dark cloud and she collapsed to her knees.  Kefka, battered somewhat from the battle, walked up and grinned.  "Aww, poor girl, did I hurt your little dragon too much?"  Kefka gave her a backhanded slap and knocked Sakura onto her side.  He pulled a sword off the wall and put it to her throat.  "It's all over, girlie.  I win."
	The path of the Runic Knight, to harness magic and energy with the power of one's soul, striking an enemy with magic and with steel.
	The voice boomed across the Throne Room.  Kefka and Sakura both looked in the direction from which it came.  A pillar of light had surrounded Betsy, who was holding the runic sword in her right hand.  A crackle of energy appeared on her right hand, and her form began to change.  Her blouse sleeve was replaced by a white gauntlet, which covered her lower arm and left her upper arm bare to the shoulder joint.  The shape of her arm changed, becoming curved and muscular.  The crackle of energy now appeared on her right leg while moving through the right side of her body.  Armored shoulderguards of white metal appeared.  The blouse and jeans changed, the jeans being replaced by white leggings that went to her knees, with armored greaves on her lower legs.  White boots appeared over her bare feet.  Her blouse turned into green armor plate on both her chest and back, and where it did not cover her one could see a white sleeveless tunic.  Her blond hair suddenly appeared well-combed instead of the disheveled mess it had become over the previous days, flowing down to her shoulders.  The other arm became much like the right arm, and the crackle disappeared at her left fingertips.
	"What in the?"  Kefka snarled.  "What is this?!"  He reached a hand out and tossed a blast of magic lightning at Betsy.  The lightning crackled over her body without seeming to harm her.  Her gray eyes flashed with energy and she brought her left hand up, pointing the palm at Kefka.  A blast of energy erupted from it and slammed into him, throwing him back into his throne and causing it to tip over.
	The move had been so instinctive that Betsy stopped and looked at her palm.  She proceeded to look at herself as best as she could without a mirror.
	Kefka crawled out from behind the throne, enraged.  "That was just a little jolt!"  Kefka growled.  "Have a taste of Flare!"
	A massive blast of red energy covered Betsy.  It was painful, but not as she thought it would be.  It seemed to invigorate her, fill her, as if she were absorbing the energy into her.
	The red energy dissipated.  Betsy had suffered some harm, but a mere fraction of what Kefka expected.  He stared at her in disbelief.  Betsy looked to Sakura and pointed her left palm at her.  Energy flowed out from her into Sakura, though not of the same nature of the blast which had smashed into Kefka.  Sakura did not stand at first.  She gripped her staff, concentrated, and green energy covered her.  "My magic is back," Sakura said in disbelief, healed and now standing up.
	"Bring Mark back."  Betsy looked toward Kefka, who was going for a bigger sword.  "Leave the clown to me."
	Sakura nodded and ran to Mark's side.
	With slow and deliberate steps, Betsy walked toward where Kefka was, on the other side of the throne at a wall display with large claymores.  With an angry cry she sent another blast at him, this one more powerful.  It sliced through the throne like it was non-existent and caught Kefka straight in the chest.  He screamed as he was slammed into the back wall, shattering some of the structure around him.  He fell down and scrambled back to his feet, lifting his sword up as Betsy approached.  She threw a blast toward him again, Kefka creating a defensive field just before the blast hit him.  It washed over the field.  Betsy threw a third blast, weaker, that washed over the field.  "Ah, so there's a weakness," Kefka said with a grin.  "No magic means you're helpless."
	"Actually," Betsy replied with an even wider grin, "it just means I can't Hadoken your ass off.  I can still use this."  She brought the runic sword up and walked toward him.
	Kefka howled and brought the claymore down against Betsy's sword.  The blades clanged.  He drew back to make another attack, and as he did Betsy side-stepped the clumsy blow and used her free hand to grab Kefka by the collar and toss him into the wall again.  He groaned and tried to stand up.  "You... I should have broken you while you were in chains."
	"No, you'd have just pissed me off that much more."  Betsy brought her sword down on Kefka's and shattered it, leaving him without weapons.  "As it is, I'm already pissed off enough that I'm going to make you my personal bitch."  She sheathed her sword and picked him up by the collar.  The first punch was a right hook that knocked out a few teeth and nearly shattered Kefka's jaw.  He would have gone straight down if Betsy's left hand weren't still gripping his collar.  The second punch was straight to his belly.  Kefka grunted painfully and began doubling over.  Betsy's right hand went back to his collar, and with both hands holding him, she struck him between the legs with her right knee, making Kefka squeal.  She twirled and tossed him over her shoulder into the throne, which he laid back against, dazed and in pain.  She pulled her sword back out and came up to Kefka.  She pressed the tip of the blade against his throat.  "That's the thing you have to watch out for when you torture someone.  Some things go around and bite you right back in the ass."
	"You.... you bitch...."
	"Oh, go ahead and call me that fucker."  There was an evil glint in Betsy's eyes as she went on to say, "After all, payback is a bitch!"
	She pushed the blade through his throat.  Blood erupted from the wound, and Kefka's body vanished in a white burst of light.
	Betsy looked at where the body had been, wondering what had happened to it.  After a moment she sheathed the sword in it's scabbard, on her waist, and looked to Sakura.  Standing beside her was Mark, dazed but alive.  Tears came to Betsy's eyes and she ran over to him, each calling the other's name when he saw her coming.  Mark smiled when they came together in a tearful embrace.  The embrace lasted for a moment, and was followed by a joyous kiss.  When it ended, they returned to the embrace.  "Betsy, I was so worried..."  Mark choked back tears.  "I feared they'd done the worst."
	"They didn't, I think.  But, can you tell me exactly what the hell is going on?"
	"Oh, that?"  Mark grinned sheepishly.  "That's.... a very long story.  And I'll tell it to you later, but now, we have friends who need help."

	Gamemaster plowed through the wall into the Great Hall, slamming into the far wall.  Before he could fall, Stephen snatched him with his mind and pulled him close, before letting loose with another blast of pure energy that crackled through the Godling and weakened him.  "You wretched being," Stephen hissed.
	"What's wrong?  Feeling guilty about leading your friends to their deaths?"  Gamemaster cackled and tried to stand.  "Ooh, poor mortal."
	"Shut up."  Stephen pulled Gamemaster up and tossed him to the end of the hall, where the assembly built by the so-called wise man named Ansem once stood.  "You will no longer be allowed to hurt any of us."  Stephen reached out and generated a replica of Ansem's assembly.  He pushed Gamemaster toward the massive Heartless insignia-shaped portal.  "I'll leave you in here until the Q break through your barrier, and can deal with you."
	"You can't hold me forever!", Gamemaster shouted.  "I'll be..."  He disappeared into the darkness and evaporated.  Stephen applied all of his power onto the portal, sealing it shut, leaving Gamemaster stuck in a cube of darkness that would, hopefully, take him a very long time to get out of.

	Isilron hunched over Marina's fallen form, helpless to do anything to bring her back.  Maleficent's loud roar echoed in the air again.  Patrick had again gotten on her back, and was stabbing her repeatedly with his lance, doing great damage.
	Maleficent generated a number of magic fireballs, and directed them all at Patrick.  He was still pulling the lance out of her black scales when they hit at once.  Crying out, Patrick was thrown into the wall by the force of the blast, and knocked unconscious.
	Drake ran up to Isilron.  "Oh no, Marina!"
	"What about John?"
	"Out cold.  I think, but I'm not sure, that Maleficent snapped his neck."
	"This is bad.  I lost all of my medicine fighting Exdeath, and there is no sign of Sakura."
	Through the front entrance came Dalton and Chris.  Chris's cape was in tatters, with a number of wounds on his body.  Dalton was bleeding from a wound on his back, but even worse, he had Misty in his arms, the back of her jerkin torn off and her back bloody and torn.  Chris came to Patrick's aid, flying him out of danger before Maleficent could strike, while Dalton ran up to Isilron and Drake with Misty.  He put her down beside Marina, and it became apparent that her cut up back was not the only wound; her throat was bloodied and torn, and there were indications that one of the creatures at the gate had taken a chunk of flesh out of her belly.  "This isn't fucking happening," Dalton swore.  Tears had come to his eyes, and his despair only grew worse at seeing Marina.  "This is not fucking happening.  We're getting fucking slaughtered!"
	"Where are Kate and Mike?!", Isilron shouted.
	"Mike's off fighting Maul somewhere, but I saw Kate in the courtyard.  Maul got her, she's probably not going to make it."  Dalton picked up his axe and howled.  "God fucking dammit, we shouldn't be doing this, we're not...."
	"We shouldn't be, but we are!", Isilron retorted.  "If you want to live, fight!  And if we can get Sakura here, we can still save them!"
	"Speaking of Sakura..."
	There was movement from the other entryway.  Mark and Sakura came racing out, followed by Betsy.  The three of them whole, and unhurt, revived the shattered hopes of the others.  Mark whipped out a trio of stars and tossed them into Maleficent's leg.  The explosion unsettled her and made the witch-dragon roar.  When she swung her tail at Mark, he jumped to evade, leaving Dalton to slam down on it with his axe.  The rear portion of the tail severed and Maleficent's roar took on a more agonized tone.  She turned her head and a massive plume of green fire came toward Dalton.
	Betsy stepped between them and the fire enveloped her.  It did not burn her as Dalton expected, and she appeared barely phased, though having suffered some pain.  Betsy lifted her left hand and a blast of energy erupted from it, slamming Maleficent in the head.
	Sakura ran over to where Misty and Marina were laying.  "Oh no."
	"Sakura, do your thing," Isilron said before lifting his sword and charging back into the fight.  Sakura sighed and concentrated, incanting the words implanted in her mind to channel her healing powers.
	Chris swooped down and sliced away a chunk of Maleficent's neck, which grew back immediately.  She came up on her two hind legs and swiped at him, knocking Chris down.  She came up to him to stomp him flat, but was forced back by an arrow from Marina, re-awakened and back in the fray.  The arrow planted itself in Maleficent's chest, causing great pain.  She came back down on all fours, and had a leg blasted out from under her by Betsy.  Misty and Dalton climbed up on her back and began hacking away at her scales.  The pain they inflicted caused Maleficent to howl again, but the scales kept growing back.
	"This isn't working," Betsy said to Mark.  "How are we supposed to defeat this dragon bitch anyway?"
	"Well, we don't have a Keyblade," Chris said from the air, "but there's also..."
	"Drake!"  Mark pointed to Maleficent, getting his attention as he helped John stand up.  "Use your sword!  It'll kill her!"
	"Do it now!"
	Drake brought his sword up and lunged for Maleficent.  She pulled in a breath and began breathing fire at him, just to have Betsy jump in front of him and absorb it.  She cried out, the intensity hurting her despite her absorption abilities.  But it gave Drake the opening he needed, and with a triumphant shout, he plunged his sword into Maleficent's belly.  The holy energy of his blade crackled through her, making her seize up.  Now, the wounds being inflicted by the others were not being healed.  Drake pulled his sword back out and plunged it in again, tearing through scales and flesh.  Maleficent struggled to keep herself up as the party continued to hack and tear at her dragon body.  Finally, defeated, Maleficent erupted into white energy and disappeared.
	Now that the battle had ended, the party gathered.  All eyes were on Betsy, and Mark, with a very proud grin, introduced her with, "This is Betsy Tremaine.  Soon to be Berger.  Well, um, these are people I know online," he then explained to her.  "We all kinda got stuck here, given some weapons that gave us powers and abilities, and sent after those villains."
	"So, what is she?", John asked.
	"She reminds me of..."
	"That weird voice when I picked up the sword called me a Runic Knight," Betsy answered.  "Something about fighting with magic and steel.  Since I now feel pretty confident of fighting with this thing," she put a hand on her sheathed sword, "and considering the whole absorbing of fire and spells bit I did, I see how it makes sense."
	"It's good to see the baddies didn't hurt you."  Misty grinned.  "Name's Misty."
	The others introduced themselves, save for Isilron.  He looked down the exit to the courtyard, and said, "We should go find Kate and Michael, and see if they need help dealing with Maul."
	"And what about DickStar?", Betsy asked.  "I have a bit of a score to settle with him."
	"That's what I'm worried about," Isilron answered before stepping onto the staircase down to the courtyard.

	Mike and Maul had been battling for quite some time when Maul, in an uncharacteristic moment, spoke.  "You are strong in the Dark Side for one so inexperienced.  Perhaps you should join me instead?"
	"That would require me to actually give a damn about this stupid world, or to not want to go home."  Mike stopped a swing from Maul and maneuvered to put Maul's back to the opening.  "I have a family to get back to, and I really don't like the Sith, when it comes down to it."
	"But don't you feel that power coursing through you?  The power of the Dark Side is a gift that should not be squandered.  You could use that gift to rule entire nations, entire worlds."  Maul's eyes glinted.  "I could help you."
	"Forget it.  I don't trust you further than I could throw you."
	"You will regret that."  Maul immediately made a flurry of moves that knocked Mike backward.  Mike deflected blow after blow, but Maul was getting through now.  The saber buzzed across Mike's stomach when he didn't deflect fast enough, and three strikes later, Maul's blade pierced Mike's shoulder.  He collapsed, and Maul threw him backwards.  "You will not be going home, Michael Wong.  You will die here, and your family?"  Maul lifted his weapon to impale Mike.  "They shall never see you again."
	Maul had picked the wrong words, as was obvious a moment later.  Mike's rage, pent up after days on Spira away from those he loved, finally exploded and he felt power surge through him.  Reaching his hands out, Mike let loose with everything he had.  A strong pulse of Force Lightning slammed through Maul and sent him flying through the open window to the outside.  The Sith apprentice was silent as he fell to his death, not giving the triumphant but rather tired Mike the benefit of a cry of pain.  Mike stepped up to the window and watched Maul splash to the water below and disappear in the familiar white energy.
	"Excellent work, Michael.  You saved me the trouble!"
	Mike barely brought the saber back up in time to deflect the lightning arcing out from DarkStar's finger tips.  He reached out and retorted with his own lightning, which washed over DarkStar as if it were nothing.  "You think you're so smart," DarkStar began, "but you understand nothing.  Do you not realize the nature of my power?!  I am Darkness!  I cannot be harmed by the Dark Side, for it is mine to command!"  He reached out a hand and sent Mike flying back into the wall with an invisible force.  "Your powers are useless against me.  You might as well use your bare fists."
	"Good idea."  Mike flashed on his lightsaber and pushed at DarkStar with the Force.  DarkStar resisted initially, but it did distract him long enough for Mike to land a successful hit.  The lightsaber sliced through DarkStar's extended right arm at just above the elbow.  DarkStar screamed and collapsed to the floor.  Not taking a chance, Mike put the saber through his other arm, drawing another scream.  "Remind you of anything, like our debates?", Mike chuckled.
	DarkStar roared, and before Mike's startled eyes, his arms regenerated in wisps of dark energy.  He didn't even move them, a simple nod of his forehead and Mike was again thrown back against the wall, this time with enough force to knock the wind out of him.  His lightsaber was knocked out of his hand, and DarkStar contemptuously kicked it out the opening and into the ocean.  He walked up to Mike, bringing him to his feet with telekinesis.  "I am not the same Robert Anderson you faced over the anonymity of the internet.  I am DarkStar, the new God of Mankind."
	"You're also a fucking idiot, and now you're an insane fucking idiot," Mike retorted.  Lightning erupted from his hands and struck DarkStar.  Mike had, wisely, tried to make the lightning more of a physical force instead of the soul-stabbing power of the Dark Side, and it had some effect, making DarkStar fall backward and permitting him to land.  But DarkStar soon recovered.  He grabbed Mike with telekinesis and tossed him in the other direction, away from the opening.
	At this point, the other party members moved into the chamber.  They made a wall, pointing their weapons at DarkStar.  "Okay, Scooter, now your ass is mine," Mark growled.
	Standing beside the opening, DarkStar made an evil laugh at the approach of the party to aid Mike, and lifted his hand.  "I am now a God!", he shouted as he began to form a vortex of yellow energy.  "My power is beyond anything a mere human can manage!"
	"Oh yeah, DickStar?"  Betsy lowered her sword and put up her left hand.  She summoned the last of the energy she had absorbed from the fight with Maleficent.  "Have a taste of this!"  A blast of mana energy erupted from her palm and struck DarkStar, or more precisely, something like a field around him.  The blast dissipated, and DarkStar cackled maniacally.  John followed up by casting Flare, with red energy lashing out from his staff and enveloping DarkStar.  Again, no harm was done.
	Rather, the madman laughed.  "Do you not see?!", DarkStar shouted gleefully.  "You who once mocked me are now nothing but ants before me!  Tiny ants, which I can crush at will!"  He lashed out with dark energy and hit Betsy and Mark, sending both flying backwards with cries of pain.  A second lash of energy smacked Misty and Chris aside.  An arrow from Marina's bow bounced off his chest, resulting in Marina getting tossed into Misty as she tried to get back up.  "I am the Alpha and the Omega!", DarkStar shouted.  "The beginning and the end!  I shall bring enlightenment and truth to a universe of lies!  I shall see all of you crushed before my might, and thrown to the depths of Hell!  And when you have suffered enough torment in the Pit, you shall come crawling to me for your salvation, and in my mercy I shall grant it to you, in the form of eternal enslavement to my will!"  DarkStar emitted a massive wave blast that threw the entire party back.  "With this," DarkStar gestured to the vortex, "I shall send you all into the Abyss!"
	A weak voice suddenly exclaimed, "You're going first!"
	The movement came from the side of DarkStar, a near blur for the battered heroes.  DarkStar screeched when Kate's lightsaber sliced into his side.  It was a lunge instead of a swipe, saving him from being cleaved in two.  "Kate!", Patrick shouted from the distance as the vortex forming behind and below DarkStar became violent.  He cried out and was pulled toward it, falling out of the opening.  As he did so, he grabbed Kate's ankle and pulled her with him.  She gripped the ledge, having screamed from surprise.
	"NO!!!!," DarkStar shouted in fury before his grip on Kate's ankle failed, pulling him into the vortex of his own making.
	Patrick jumped down and gripped Kate by her hand as her hold on the ledge was lost.  The other party members began to hold on to whatever they could find to avoid being drawn in, the vortex growing stronger every second.  Misty grabbed the side of the wall, with claws extended to remain in place, and reached for Patrick with her free hand.  "Let me go, Patrick!", Kate shouted.  "I can close it from the inside!"
	"I won't!  You'll be lost!"
	"If you don't, we're all going in!"
	"Kate, you can't!"
	"I have to!"  Kate's mouth curled into a smile.  "I'm sorry if I've been a pain to you all.  Patrick, all of you, I'm sorry!"
	Kate's hand slipped free from Patrick's and she fell through the vortex.  He tried to reach again for her when Misty's hand grabbed his ankle, holding him down.  "I'm not losing both of you," she cried out.
	"Kate!"  Patrick reached in vain toward the closing vortex.  "KATE!"  He struggled while Misty pulled him up.  "We've got to get..."
	"She's gone, Eagle!"  Misty's arm strained to pull him up.  "She's gone."
	John, Marina, and Chris walked up to the edge.  "Did you hear her apologize?"
	"Yes, Goomba, we all did," John answered.  His fists clenched.  "Saved by RocketGirl, of all people."
	"No matter how much she may have annoyed us, or enraged us, it's good to know she had her heart in the right place."  Mark looked over to where Betsy and Sakura were kneeling beside Mike.  He was half-conscious, the wounds inflicted by Maul and then DarkStar still present.  "You can't cure him?"
	"It's like his Force powers are resisting my cure spells," Sakura said.  "And Betsy can't seem to absorb his energy out."
	A rumbling shook the tower.  "Please tell me this place isn't going to collapse like we were in some cheesy B-Movie!", Dalton shouted.
	"We should probably move to a lower level just to be on the safe side," recommended Marina.
	"That will not be necessary."
	All heads turned to see Stephen appear.  "With the Gamemaster and his underlings defeated, the magic that constructed this place has vanished.  It is collapsing of it's own weight.  Suffice to say, Anderson, Kefka, and Gamemaster were not very good engineers."  Stephen walked up to Mike and kneeled down.  He looked into Mike's eyes and touched his chest.  "The Dark Side has taken it's toll on you.  Go home, Michael, you've done your part."
	Reaching out through time and space, Stephen pulled open the fabric of reality.  White energy moved around Mike.  His Dark Side powers disappeared and his wounds healed.  Finally, he reverted to his original appearance.  Reaching through Mike's mind, Stephen purged it of all knowledge of the adventure, and placed him back at the point at which Q had pulled Mike to Hollow Bastion.  When this task was finished, there was still the pressing matter of the collapsing tower.  "Gather around."  Stephen generated an energy sphere around the party as they came together and lifted them into the air with him.  They went out through the opening in the wall and moved away from the tower as it began to collapse.

	The party was assembled on the Highbridge, observing from afar the celebrations of Sin's final defeat, and the beginning of an eternal Calm.  But they were not completely happy, as they had lost one of their own.
	Stephen opened his eyes.  "I have placed the villains back in their proper places.  All is as it should be."  He looked to Isilron.  "Well, almost all.  Are you ready?"
	"You know I am."
	"The truth, everyone, is that I sent Isil'Zha back home over ten years ago," Stephen revealed.  "And this is why."  He reached out and touched Isilron.  Blue pyreflies suddenly began emanating from Isilron's body.  The others stared at him.  "Isil, sadly, perished at that time."
	"Is this about the girl Kate saw?", Mark asked.
	"Her name was Salene," Isilron said.  "I met her shortly after coming her.  She was an apprentice summoner, and doubtful of whether she should become one or not.  I made the mistake of assuming what I should do, and convinced her to go through with it, though Stephen would later tell me that she was supposed to decide against it.  But it was then that I became attached to Salene, and I followed her, becoming her sole guardian."
	"And then," Misty said, "you fell in love."
	"It's that obvious.  Yes.  Salene and I became lovers shortly after arriving on Besaid."  Isilron looked out at the setting sun beyond the bridge.  "Stephen... told me of my mistake as we came toward Bevelle, on our way to Zanarkand.  That Salene would have to be stopped.  I... was afraid that she would be killed, so instead I tried to convince her to end her Pilgrimage.  She was angry with me, but also confused, as I had always supported her.  Desperate, I revealed to her what I knew of Yevon.  At first she thought I'd gone mad.  But when she went into the Bevelle Temple and saw the machina, she knew I was telling the truth.  And she confronted Mika."  He clenched his fist.  "Mika could not let Salene live after that.  They offered to let her remain alive, as an acolyte, if she denounced me and allowed me to be executed.  But Salene refused, and we were tossed into the Via Purifico."  Isilron let the ones who knew of what he was talking about absorb the news.  "I knew the way out, and we nearly escaped.... but Salene was cut down by a fiend.  They began to devour her before my very eyes.  She screamed at me to get away, but I could not.  I fought my way through them to her, I had to protect her.... but then they took me as well.  I watched as she died, screaming for me to get away.  Even with that agony, all she thought about was me.  I died too, but Stephen would not let me be sent.  I had a mission to accomplish.  So he put a barrier on me to prevent me from being affected by a Sending, and left me to continue my task."
	"And now that the task is complete, old friend, I will let you rest.  But first..."
	Stephen pointed down the bridge to a robed figure walking up.  "Hey, she helped us earlier," Dalton said.
	"That she did."  Stephen crossed his arms.
	The robed figure stepped up to Isilron, and the robe fell from her form.  Isilron stared in disbelief.  "Sa... Salene?"
	"Isilron."  The woman looked not a day over twenty, her aging having been frozen by her natural death.  "It has been very long."
	"How?  They sent a Summoner to Send you."
	"Yes, but they sent Braska.  I approached him as he began the Sending, and pleaded with him that, if he would only let me stay until I found you, I would not reveal anything of my survival.  I told him how desperate I was to be sent with you."  Salene pulled herself up so her face could get closer to Isilron's.  "Now I know why you did what you did, my love.  I feel so blessed to have someone loving me as much as you did."
	"Salene, I would have come for you if I had known..."
	"I know, which is why I stayed hidden.  I was told of your mission, and I decided I wanted to help, even if it was a minor part to play."  Salene put a hand on his cheek.  "But now that is over.  Are you ready to rest, beloved?"
	"I am."
	Stephen turned to Sakura.  "You know what to do."
	Sakura nodded, and stepped forward with her staff held up.  Recalling it from memory, she began the Sending.  Pyreflies came off of the two lovers as they embraced and kissed.  They remained in this pose until they completely disappeared.  Every eye among the party had a tear in it by this point, and Mark and Betsy had their hands together.  "I hope he enjoys his rest," Drake said.  "He's earned it."
	"Yes, he has," Stephen agreed.  "I shall go on to search for Kate.  Prepare yourselves to be sent home."
	Patrick was looking out at the rest of Bevelle from the Highbridge while the others prepared to go home.  He began thinking of Kate, and where she ended up at.  Patrick couldn't help but shake the feeling that this was wrong.  Kate deserved to go home as much as the rest of them.  It wasn't fair to her, and she had sacrificed herself quite nobly to save the others.  "I'm not going back, yet," Patrick said to the others, having come to his decision.  "I want to go with Steve, and find Kate."
	The rest looked at him.  "And why would you do that?"  John crossed his arms.  "Steve can handle it himself."
	"Because I owe it to her.  Why should we get to go home," Patrick looked to each of them, "when she's still out there, stuck somewhere?  She saved us, the least we can do is try and help find her.  Well, that's at least what I want."  Patrick looked past the others at Stephen.  "What do you say?  Will you take me?"
	"I do not see why I would precisely need you, but then again, who knows what the journey will bring?  Besides, if it is your choice to seek out Kate, I will honor it."
	Patrick looked to the others.  "Well, I'm going."
	After a few moments, Dalton spoke up.  "I'll go too."
	"Count me in," Misty added.
	"And me."  Sakura followed them over.
	One by one, the others joined Patrick.  "You are sure you want this?" Stephen asked.  "I do not know how long this could take."
	"Let's go."
	He nodded, and with staff in hand, warped the party off of Spira, and off into the unknown.