Final Fantasy VI 1/2 - the

                                              Adventures of  Wedge

						by Andrew Wong

 

        Chapter One - Narshe

 



    A cold, dry wind blew across the barren wasteland that was the country of

    Narshe.  Past the mines it blew, howling and sending a shudder through the

    miners toiling there.  Lancing through the town, the wind disrupted the

    usual calm and warmth of Narshe, leaving a chill in the inhabitants that

    would not soon be dispelled.  The wind howled out into the tundra, where it

    spent its fury impotently on three steel-bound figures looming silently

    over the oblivious town.  

 

    The first spoke:  "There's the town..."

      

    "Hard to believe an Esper's been found intact there, 1000 years after the

    War of the Magi,"  the second replied. 

 

    "Think it's still alive, Wedge?" 

 

    "Probably, Vicks... judging from the urgency of our orders.  We'll approach

    from the east.  Move out!"  With that, the two armored Magitek soldiers

    began the assault on the town, with the third figure trailing silently

    behind...

 

    *****

 

    "Vicks!  Flank the Whelk on the left, I'll take the right!  You, girl, fire

    your missiles straight up the middle.  And remember - don't hit it when it

    pulls its head in!"  Wedge veered off to the right, launching massive bolts

    of flame from his TekArmor and burning one eye completely off its stalk.

    Screaming in agony, the Whelk thrashed and lurched toward Wedge - only to

    have its head frozen in place by a high - velocity stream of  liquid

    nitrogen.  Vicks, having moved into the Whelk's blind spot, kept the freeze

    on the Whelk, reducing its agility and slowing it down.  Seeing itself in

    major trouble, the Whelk attempted to retreat into its shell, but its

    movements were impeded by the cold.  Its one good eye swiveled around,

    looking for a means of escape - but the Whelk's last vision was of a

    missile disappearing down its gaping, frozen throat, and behind it a mass

    of neon green hair.

 

    "Good fight.  Is everyone all right?"  Wedge looked up from the inspection

    of his Magitek armor and nodded.  

 

    "It got me a bit on the first pass, and I'm a bit scorched from the

    backlash, but I'll be fine.  Are you and the girl all right?"  Vicks waved

    the question away, but looked uneasily at the third Magitek soldier.  She

    had not even dismounted from her armor after the battle.

 

    "I've heard of dedication, but that Slave Crown on her head..." Vicks

    shuddered.  "This must be one of Kefka's twisted plots.  General Leo would

    never have done something like this, not for control of the world."

 

    Wedge shook his head.  "It's not for us to question, I suppose.  We only

    have to obey.  But my private opinion?  I'm with you."  He stood up and

    began to climb back into his armor.  "Shall we proceed?"

 

    *****

 

    "So this is the frozen Esper,"  muttered Wedge.  The three soldiers circled

    around the massive block of ice, prison to a powerful being from long ago.  

 

    "Don't get too close... we don't want to wake it up until R&D gets here -

    whaaa??"  Vicks jerked backward, his TekArmor backing off in response to

    his flinch.  

 

    The Esper had begun to shimmer inside its ice crystal, an eerie sapphire

    glow suffusing the cavern.  Without thinking, Wedge and Vicks assumed

    battle formation.  The girl, however, had other plans...

 

    "Hey you!  Girl!  Get back, that's dangerous!"  Oblivious to Vicks' shouts,

    the slender figure atop the Magitek armor advanced on the glowing Esper.

    As she neared the Esper, she also began to shine with a reciprocal light.

 

    "Damn, that brat is gonna get us all fried!  Hey... wait... do you know

    something we don't?  Where's that light coming from?!  UWAAAA!!!"  The

    world exploded into a wall of fiery white light and Wedge knew nothing

    more.  

 

 

 

 

    Chapter 2 - Midgar

 

    "Unghhh..."  Wedge sat up.  "Where am I?"  Looking around, he saw himself

    in a large building.  A pale green glow all around him reminded him of...

 

    "Damn!  The Esper!  Vicks, where are you?"  Wedge leapt up and looked

    around wildly.  His Magitek armor was right beside him, apparently

    undamaged, but he was just as apparently no longer in Narshe.  After

    checking his armor out and remounting, he decided to reconnoiter a bit.

 

    "Vicks... wherever you are, I hope you're all right."  Wedge seemed to be

    in the main room of a power plant of some sort - pipes ran haphazardly

    along the walls to plunge into vats of steaming liquid, from which the

    green glow emanated.  Here and there chains dangled from the ceiling, some

    unadorned, some supporting crates or more of the pipes.  He grunted.

 

    "Could be worse... at least I'm still in civilization.  Perhaps I got

    knocked out and Vicks took me to the Imperial Magitek Research facility -

    I've always wanted to see the inside of that.  Wait, but he wouldn't have

    just left me lying on the ground here.   I think I'd better find out where

    I really am."  He looked for a door or other exit, but none was

    forthcoming.  All possible exits were blocked by encoded doors.  He

    shrugged unconcernedly.  "That's what Magitek armor's for, anyway.  ICE

    BEAM!"  He fired a blast of supercold nitrogen at one of the doors,

    freezing it solid - and making it extremely brittle.  Crouching behind his

    controls, he set his TekArmor on RUN and smashed through the door - right

    into the middle of a guardroom.

 

    "What the hell is that thing!"  shouted a guardsman.

     

    "Don't know, but we'd better take it out or Heidegger will have our rear

    ends for breakfast!" 

 

    There were six guards, well trained by the looks of it.   They formed up

    into battle formation immediately, despite having been taken by surprise.

    "FIRE BEAM!" Two corpses fell to the floor, immolated.  Wedge smiled.  Was

    this the best they could do?  Bullets spanged harmlessly off the Magitek

    armor as the remaining soldiers knocked the table over to provide some

    cover.  It was a futile effort, though; one kick from the 

TekArmor's mighty foot gear splintered the table and sent the guards

scattering.  

    

    "It's no good!  Call for reinforcements!"  One of the guards ran out the

    door as Wedge sent 50,000 volts of electricity through the remaining three

    fighters with a Bolt Beam.  Surveying the ruins of the guardroom, Wedge

    frowned.  These were definitely not Imperial troops - they wore blue

    uniforms, not brown or green.  Examining one of the bodies, he found a

    strange insignia that read "ShinRa."  "ShinRa?  What's that?"  Wedge

    pondered.  "And these fools mentioned someone named 'Heidegger.'  I've

    never heard of anyone in the Empire named

Heidegger." 

 

    "Never heard of Heidegger, eh?  And not of ShinRa either?"  The voice,

    rough and arrogant, came from the door.  Wedge looked up.  A man stood in

    the entryway.  He had red hair, long at the bangs, and wore a black leather

    jacket.  He also carried a rod with a knob at its end.  "Where have you

    been for the past ten years, the center of the earth?"

 

    "Who are you?  Where am I?" Wedge advanced menacingly on him.  The other

    man looked up at him, undaunted.  "Tell me, or else!"

 

    The man sneered.  "Hah!  It'll take more than a hunk of metal an an

    armor-bound moron to stop one of the Turks.  The name's Reno.  You're in

    Mako Reactor #1, and you're also in deep trouble. "  He extended his rod

    towards Wedge, knob-first.  "Are you gonna come quietly, or do I play with

    you for a while?"

 

    Wedge stared in disbelief.  This young sap needed to be taught a lesson.

    No one could withstand the power of a fully armored Magitek soldier of the

    Empire.  "Bring it on, chump.  Let's see what you've got.  BOLT BEAM!"  A

    blast of lightning lanced out of the armor, impacting on the Turk's rod and

    sending him flying backwards.  "That'll show you to laugh at the might of

    an Imperial Magitek solder."

 

    Incredibly, the man stood up.  He dusted himself off.  "I think it'll be me

    having the last laugh, jerk.  Electromag rod!"  Sprinting towards Wedge, he

    jabbed his stick at Wedge- and sent a return discharge into the 

TekArmor.  All of Wedge's  systems went critical, and he flung himself out of

the armor before it shut down completely.  

 

    "Damn you!  Now you'll pay!"  Wedge drew his sword and charged Reno.

    "GRUDGE!"  The other man dodged, but not before Wedge's slash laid him open

    from chin to eye.  

 

    Reno dabbed at his face wonderingly. He looked at his blood, and smeared it

    between thumb and forefinger.  "Enough of this foolishness.  My orders are

    to bring you and your armor in - intact.  Pyramid!"  An incadescent spark

    flew from Reno's stick, engulfing Wedge and blinding him momentarily.  When

    he could see once more, he was surrounded by a glowing pyramid of energy.

 

    "Let me out, damn you!  You can't hold me here!  I'm a soldier of the

    Empire!  Just wait until Kefka hears of this!  He'll bring the full

    strength of the Empire to bear on you!  You're doomed!  Hahaha!!"  Reno

    shook his head and smirked as he walked away from the hapless Wedge.

 

 

    Chapter 3 - ShinRa

 

    "Hee ehe hee!  Well well well... and what do we have here, specimen 26?"

    Wedge glared balefully at the chuckling scientist outside his glass prison.

 

    "The name's WEDGE.  I'm not a specimen.  I'm an Imperial Magitek soldier.

    Release me, and give me back my armor."  It was a useless statement, Wedge

    knew.  He'd only been uttering it for the last six hours, after they

    transported him, still under Reno's pyramid, to the 67th floor of a massive

    building called the ShinRa Building.  He'd been poked and prodded, and had

    all sorts of unpleasant instruments stuck in various parts of his body.

    Finally, just when he thought they would never leave off the experiments,

    he had been brought to this chamber.  "What do you want with me."

 

    "Ehee hee heh.  Well, you are a very interesting case study, specimen 26.

    You show up from INSIDE a mako reactor, using technology we've never seen.

    You wipe out an entire squad of guards, and actually give Reno a hard time

    before he apprehends you.  Somehow, you also appear to be resistant to BOTH

    mako and JENOVA cells.  Your body instantly rejected both when we injected

    you with them."  

 

    Wedge felt waves of revulsion seep through him.  "You injected me with

    WHAT?"

 

    The man ignored him.  "No ordinary human is resistant to BOTH.  So, where

    did you come from?  What ARE you?"

 

    "I told you.  I am a Magitek soldier from the Empire.  My hometown is

    Vector. I don't know anything about this... this mako or JENOVA or whatever

    else you have going on here.  All I know is I want out, I want my armor

    back, and I want to return to the Empire."  Wedge sighed.  The man didn't

    seem to be paying any attention to him at all." 

 

    "The next step, I think , is to subject him to genetic testing, I believe.

    Yes, yes, of course.  And, definitely, I must see his reactions to the

    other specimens...  What?  What is it?"  An orderly had run up to him,

    waving a sheaf of paper.

 

    "Professor Hojo!  Here are the latest reports you requested, sir.  I'll get

    back to work now, sir!"  Casting a quick, pitying glance at Wedge, the

    orderly disappeared into an adjoining room.

 

    "Interesting... very, very interesting.  Do you know what these reports

    say?  No, of course you don't.  You, specimen 26, don't belong to this

    universe.  Your quantum structure is constantly in flux, allowing you to

    interact with this universe but not allowing it to tamper with you.   In

    short, you can fight, eat, breathe, go to the bathroom, anything normal you

    want in this continuum.  But you can't be killed or altered in any way.

    Fascinating!"  He flipped through to the next sheet.  "Your armor, however,

    doesn't have the same resistance, for some reason.  Ah, I see.  The life

    force in you struggles against the life force of this world, but your

    armor, having no life energy of its own, can be damaged, broken...

    disassembled.  Hm, looks like ShinRa Weapons Development is having a field

    day."

 

    Wedge lunged against the glass.  "What!!  You bastards are dismantling my

    armor?!"

 

    Hojo peered at him.  "I'd say more like 'already dismantled.'  The Weapons

    R&D already has plans for four or five new weapons, ranging from mechanized

    guards to heavy weapons systems, all based on your... What do you call it?"

 

    "Damn you, Hojo.  Damn you all to HELL!"  Wedge slumped against the glass,

    groaning, as Hojo walked gleefully away, muttering "Mako resistance... I

    wonder how far that extends?  Perhaps a total immersion in mako..."

 

    *****

 

    Wedge stood, trussed and bound, on a catwalk over a vast pit back in Mako

    Reactor #1.  Two guards flanked him, ready to toss him over the edge at

    Hojo's command.  Below him, a lake of a viscous green liquid seethed and

    frothed.  Well behind him, Hojo himself stood, with an abundance of lackeys

    flurrying about, taking notes and generally making themselves look busy.

 

    "So that's mako..." Wedge said.

 

    "Indeed, yes!" replied Hojo.  "And you're about to witness firsthand the

    effects of massive mako poisoning.  It will be interesting to see which

    prevails - that mako resistance of yours or the sheer amount of mako in

    this reactor.  Guards, put him in!"  The guards grabbed hold of the

    struggling Wedge's arms and started to lift him over the railing.

 

    "Damned Hojo!  Pollutin' the Planet with all your experiments!  First the

    Reactor, now this!"  This came from a huge man on the far side of the mako

    well.  He appeared totally normal, except that where his right hand did not

    exist.  In its place sprouted a grafted - on gatling gun.  "It stops NOW!"

    He raised his gun - arm and riddled one of the guards holding Wedge with

    bullets.  He collapsed, and the other guard, suddenly overbalanced, dropped

    Wedge back onto the catwalk.  A man and a woman appeared from behind the

    man with the gun-arm and shot the second guard in the thigh.  He yelled in

    pain, holding his crippled leg.  Wedge swept the guard's other leg out from

    under him using his bound legs, and the guard fell into the mako pit,

    screaming the entire way.  

 

    The big man continued to fire, spraying bullets all the way across the

    well.  Hojo's flunkies fled, scattering papers in their haste.  Hojo

    himself stood, shocked.  "You!  Do you know what you've done!  You've

    ruined the experiment!"

 

    "Damn right I have! Jessie, Biggs!  Get that guy off the catwalk!  Hojo's

    mine!"   The three started across the catwalk, as Hojo slowly retreated,

    unsure whether to attempt to retrieve his precious specimen or run for his

    life.  Deciding on the latter course, he snarled and hurled a capsule from

    his pocket to the ground in front of the big man.  

 

    "Barret, look out!" screamed the woman.  The capsule broke open - and two

    monsters appeared from nothingness.  

 

    "Jessie!  Cut that guy loose an' give him a weapon!  Biggs, gimme a hand!"

    The man ran forward to join Barret, while Jessie cut frantically at Wedge's

    bonds with her knife.  After a frantic few seconds, the bonds parted and

    Wedge scrambled to his feet.  

 

    "Here, take this!"  Jessie tossed him her knife and drew another from

    behind her belt.  She ran off to support Biggs and Barret, who were

    hard-pressed by the two monsters.  Wedge jogged painfully over, carrying

    the knife.  These people... trusted him.  They didn't even know him.  Why?  

 

    "GRUDGE!"  One monster fell, eviscerated by Wedge's knife.  With one threat

    eliminated, the Barret and his compatriots easily felled the second, with

    Barret bashing the monster's "head" in with his gun - arm.  The three

    turned to face Wedge.

 

    "Nice work, man!  You're pretty good.  What's your name?"  asked Biggs.  

 

    "I'm... Wedge.  Why did you guys help me?  Why did you trust me?"  Wedge

    looked from one figure to another.  "How did you know that they weren't

    just executing me for some crime or something?"

 

      Barret looked at him in disbelief.  "That's Hojo, you know?  He don't do

      ANYTHING except as an experiment.  And anybody who ShinRa don't like, we

      like, see?  So we thought we would do ya a favor and get you out of that

      bind. "

 

    Wedge stared at him.  "Who are you guys?"

 

    "We're AVALANCHE.  ShinRa is suckin' the life outta the Planet with these

    mako reactors.  We were actually here to blow this reactor up, but seein'

    as you were here, we decided to rescue you instead.  We'd better get outta

    here now, before more guards come.  We'll have to blow the reactor another

    time.  Jessie!  Get us outta here!"  Jessie ran back the way they had come,

    with Biggs trailing.  Barret picked up Wedge and slung him over one

    shoulder.

 

    "Sorry, pal, but this is the fastest way to go.  Here we go!"  And Barret

    followed the other two out just as the alarms began to sound.

 

 

    Chapter 4 - AVALANCHE

    

    Wedge patted his bulging stomach.  Tifa fed him too well sometimes, he

    thought, but it was most definitely worth it.  Sighing, he went back to his

    room to rest and reminisce.  He noticed a ShinRa uniform on the wall of his

    room - his costume for his first mission.  He kept it, for remembrance.  

 

    It was almost half a year now since he had joined AVALANCHE.  They had

    immediately seen the use for a trained warrior such as himself.  And he,

    bearing no love for ShinRa, eagerly accepted their job offer.  Time and

    again he had proven himself a capable commando and fighter.  His first

    mission upon joining AVALANCHE had been the destruction of the lab

    containing his disassembled Magitek armor.  It certainly had been a wrench,

    seeing his beloved armor lying in pieces strewn across over twenty tables.

    It was even more painful as he planted plastic explosives on each of the

    tables and the main power grid, and he felt his heart break when he pushed

    the button that set them off.  But that was better than knowing that the

    ShinRa goons had his Tekarmor and were gleaning secrets out of it that they

    could use against AVALANCHE - against him.  They still had gotten plans and

    blueprints of the armor's physical structure, and they had already

    implemented several prototypes.  The bile rose in Wedge's stomach.  He had

    faced several of these prototypes on later missions - they were weaker than

    the mighty Magitek armor, but still had some of its strength. 

 

    Wedge shook his head.  No, not now.  He wasn't going to worry about this

    now, and spoil that wonderful dinner that Tifa had cooked for them.  As he

    thought of her, she burst into the barroom, followed by a spiky-haired

    blond kid with the biggest sword he had ever seen in his life across his

    back.

 

    "Hey, guys!  Look who I found!  This is my old friend Cloud.  We were

    children together..."  Tifa glanced at Cloud for an instant, and Wedge read

    something... different about that look.  "I thought we might give him a

    job.  He needs some money, and we need help.  He's got good fighting

    skills, you know.  He used to be in SOLDIER."

 

    "SOLDIER?  A ShinRa creep!"  Barret snarled at Cloud, who met his glare

    coolly.  "We don't want none of their kind workin' for us!"  He moved

    threateningly toward Cloud, who didn't back down one inch.

 

    "I have no love for ShinRa either.  They... messed with... me.  But that

    ain't the reason I'm here.  I need the money.  If you can pay me, I'll work

    for you.  If not, I'm outta here."  Cloud turned around and started for the

    door.  Tifa grabbed at Barret's arm.

 

    "Barret, come on!  We can use him!  And you can trust him, I'll lay my life

    on that one."  She gazed up at Barret, pleading.  "Please."

 

    Barret harrumphed and snorted.  "All right... ALL RIGHT!  You, SOLDIER boy,

    we'll hire you.  One job.  Then we'll go our separate ways.  And if you do

    ANYTHING, before, during, or after the mission to betray us to ShinRa, I'll

    personally rip your lungs out and use them for bagpipes."  

 

    Cloud looked at him calmly.  "Two thousand gil."

 

    Barret glared at him balefully.  "Huh?"

 

    "Two thousand gil.  That's how much you're gonna pay me to do this job of

    yours.  You can take it or leave it. "

 

    "Why you little ---!  That's highway robbery!  I could buy half a dozen

    mercenaries with that much money!"

 

    "That's right.  But you're buying ME.  So you're gonna pay me what I'm

    worth.  Deal?"

 

    Barret looked on the verge of tearing him apart them and there, and might

    have, if not for Tifa.  She quickly interposed herself between them,

    addressing first one then the other.   "Deal, Cloud.  Barret, it's a deal."

    Barret glared at her, then at Cloud.  

 

    "FINE!"  he growled.  "But let me tell you this, sucker:  our next target's

    Mako Reactor #1.  You'd better have the guts to go up against ShinRa's best

    to pull this one off.  We're startin' the meetin'.  Everybody get down

    here!"  He stomped off, riding the concealed elevator down to the meeting

    room.  Wedge followed.  Mako Reactor #1...

 

 

    *****

 

    Young Cloud proved to be even better than he claimed, even with his

    reclusive, mercenary ways.  Defeating squad after squad of ShinRa troops

    singlehandedly, and destroying ShinRa's Guard Scorpion with Barret's help,

    he planted the bomb that ultimately blew the reactor.  Wedge had requested

    rearguard duty, so as not to be haunted by memories of that terrible place.

    He got them all out before the explosion occured, singing himself somewhat

    in the process.  The mission had been a complete success - ShinRa hurt, and

    nobody from AVALANCHE lost.  

 

    On the return to the bar, Wedge expected Cloud to collect his money and

    leave.  Not so:  after talking with Tifa for a while, he decided to remain

    with the group.  Wedge tried talking to him, but he was mainly aloof and

    unresponsive.  Wedge shrugged.  No matter, as long as he was hurting the

    ShinRa, he was a friend.  Wedge jumped down to the meeting room, noting

    that he if he wasn't careful he would soon get stuck in the hole.  He'd

    have to lose some weight.

 

    "The target is the #5 Mako reactor,"  Barret announced.  He eyed Wedge.

    "Wedge, go get on the train with Jessie.  You guys are goin' first to make

    sure nothin' goes wrong.  Move!"  Wedge scrambled out the door, following

    the much fleeter Jessie.

 

    "Wedge, you're going to have to lose some weight!"  Jessie yelled back at

    the puffing Wedge, her lips curving in a smile.  "Soon you won't be able to

    use that famous 'Grudge' attack of yours anymore - it'll be a miracle if

    you can 'Budge'! "  Laughing merrily, Jessie hopped onto the train.

    Several seconds later, Wedge collapsed onto the floor of the train,

    wheezing, as the train pulled away from the station.  

 

    "I'm...  not fat... just... tired.  I didn't sleep well last night."

 

    "Sure, and I'm the owner of the Gold Saucer.  Calm down, Wedge, and let's

    get to work."  Jessie went over to the main train computer to input the

    fake IDs that everyone would use, while Wedge disabled the visual recorders

    all along the car.  They should now be undetected by any sensors the ShinRa

    could employ.

 

    "Done!  And I see you're done over there, too, Jessie.  Looks like your

    speed extends to more than running."  Wedge heaved a sigh and sat down,

    waiting for Barret and the others.

 

    No more than half an hour later, all of the team was assembled once again.

    Wedge went to watch Jessie activate the IDs for each person.  All of a

    sudden, though, the alarms went off.  Wedge, surprised, looked around - had

    he missed a camera?  Next to him, Jessie swore.

 

    "Damn!  It's that ID I made for Cloud... I tried to make it extra special,

    but it looks like it backfired on me.  We've gotta get out of here!  Come

    on, everybody!"

 

    Wedge, sprinting at top speed through the cars, finally made it to the

    front car, where he donned his disguise.  "It's all right, Jessie," he said

    to the despondent girl.  "We'll get through this one ok.  Don't worry

    yourself about it."  She flashed him a quick smile before leaping out of

    the car.  Barret, Tifa, and Cloud followed, and then it was his turn.  

 

    "Oof!"  Wedge strained - but the door had jammed a few inches closed and he

    was having a tight fit through the opening.  He was stuck - and if a pole

    or something should flash by...

 

    "Oof!"  This time, he found himself rolling on the floor of the train

    tracks.  Wedge rubbed his behind.  Biggs was no slouch when it came to

    kicking, it seemed.  He checked himself and then entered the reactor,

    scouting ahead for the proper path.  Almost at once he stumbled into two

    guards.  They looked at him, surprised.  Then they burst out laughing.  

 

    "Hey, fat boy!  How'd you get in here?  You look like Palmer's twin brother

    - but uglier!  HAhahaahaa-----ulk!"  One guard fell, clutching a throat

    through which he would never laugh again.  The other guard caught Wedge in

    a full nelson and began to press down.  If he didn't stop soon, Wedge's

    neck would snap...  But Wedge dived forward in a somersault, landing on the

    other guard and knocking the wind out of him - an old trick from his Empire

    days.  The guard tried to stand, but fell to the ground for good as Wedge's

    knife found his carotid artery.

 

    "Don't call me fat, pigf---er."  Wedge wiped his knife on the guard's tunic

    and sheathed it, wondering all the time why he had said that.  He continued

    on, reaching a room with several ladders and pipes.  Crawling down pipe, he

    saw a direct route to the reactor - except that it was swarming with

    strange monsters.  He decided that that wasn't the way to go, and explored

    the second pipe.  This route seemed to be a back door to the reactor - and

    much less strongly guarded.  Just as he returned to the other room, Barret

    and his group came down one of the other ladders.

 

    "Hey guys - this is the way to the reactor.  Good luck, I'll see you back

    at the base!"  Barret acknowledged with a curt nod, Cloud not even that.

    Tifa smiled at him, and entered the pipe.  What a wonderful girl.  Wedge

    took off, heading out of the reactor and back to Tifa's bar.  

 

    *****   

 

 Wedge sat with his hands behind his head and his feet propped up on the table.

 It had been over an hour since the ground had quaked beneath him, signalling

 the demise of yet another mako reactor.  They should have been back by now.

 Wedge let his feet drop to the floor, and stood up.  He'd give them ten more

 minutes, and then...  That "and then" was never realized, as Barret and Tifa

 burst into the bar.  Tifa's face was streaked and dirty, as if she had been

 crying.

 

    "Cloud's gone."  Tifa spoke brokenly, and Jessie came over and put her arm

    around her comfortingly.  "We took out a robot soldier... but it blew up

    the catwalk that Cloud was on and he was hanging on to the edge and I

    couldn't reach him and...."  She burst suddenly into sobs, shuddering with

    the force of her sorrow.  Wedge felt his eyes tear.

 

    "Aw, don' worry about him, Tifa.  He's a tough cracker.  I would bet he's

    probably off somewhere kickin' more ShinRa butt as we talk.  An' speakin'

    of talking..."  Barret glared at everyone.   "We learned that some nut

    called Don Corny or something knows sumthin about why we were caught just

    now.  We need to... talk... to him.  You guys understand me?"  Everyone

    nodded.  "Now I needs someon' to go in and talk to him.  But we gotta do it

    real quiet, hear?  Who's gonna take this one?"

 

    Wedge stood.  "Any ShinRa flunky that rats on us is gonna find my knife

    tickling his tonsils.  I'll go."

 

    "No."  This was Tifa.  "Thank you for trying to protect me, Barret, but..."

    She looked at Wedge.  "The only one us who can go is... me."  Wedge started

    to protest, but Tifa stopped him.  "No... we passed through Wall Market on

    our way back from the No. 5 reactor.  Corneo is looking around for girls...

    pretty ones.  Wedge might be able to get as far as Corneo's mansion, but

    the thugs Corneo has hired would stop him cold, good as he is.  And I'm

    sorry Jessie, yes you are attractive enough to get in, but frankly you

    wouldn't know the right questions to ask him to get him to talk.  Your

    talents lie in electronics."  Jessie shook her head sadly and smiled in

    agreement.  "So... when do I go?"  

 

 

    *****

 

    Wedge stood clenching his fists.  The carriage.... no, the CAGE had come

    not two minutes earlier.  Tifa, looking absolutely stunning in a blue

    dress, had willingly stepped in, and Wedge could do nothing to ensure her

    safety.  He knew she could take care of herself, but he still would have

    felt safer if someone had at least gone along for the ride.  She had even

    refused a discreet escort - the driver wouldn't have seen him following

    along behind.  However, his fears for Tifa were soon driven from his mind

    by an even greater danger.

 

    "They're hitting the support beam!"  Barret ran up to Wedge and the other

    two.  "They're gonna blow it and flatten everybody just ta git to us!

    We've gotta stop 'em.  Let's go!"  Barret pounded off, followed by Jessie,

    Biggs, and Wedge.  

 

    The situation was very bad.  A ShinRa assault chopper was about to land on

    the top of the support structure, where the destruct controls were.  Ground

    troops and airborne rangers were both securing the tower, and there were a

    lot of them.  Barret roared.

 

    "Get 'em!"

 

    The four charged the tower.  Barret tore apart the ranks on the ground

    singlehandedly, his gun spitting flaming death.  He looked over his

    shoulder at Wedge.  

 

    "Hey, speed demon!  Stay down here an' keep those goons from sending

    reinforcements after us."  Barret churned up the stairs leading to the top,

    bowling troopers over the railing in the process.  Wedge unsheathed his

    knife.  It glinted in the artificial light of the support beam as another

    squad of troopers advanced on the stairway, intending to catch the

    AVALANCHE members in a pincer.

 

    "Come on, you ShinRa bastards.  Face me.  Learn how inferior you are, even

    to an ex - Imperial Magitek soldier.  GRUDGE!"

 

    *****

 

    The battle was growing fierce.  Wedge had been pushed back two flights of

    stairs already.  While not wounded as yet - his alienness to this universe

    still held, even after all this time - he was exhausted.  Two of his knives

    had broken and been discarded already, and he was working on a third.

    Biggs and Jessie both held key points above him, fending off aerial

    assaults.  And Barret, now having to support his gun - arm with his other

    arm, had already heavily damaged several ShinRa choppers, forcing them to

    withdraw.  But new ones always came, bearing fresh soldiers.  One landed

    near the base of the support, disgorging another attack group.  And two

    fighters still remained from the group before that.  And further off in the

    distance, more figures approached.... wait.  Those looked like...

 

    "TIFA!"  Wedge yelled.  "They're hitting the support!"  Neatly hamstringing

    one of the two remaining attackers as he lunged too far forward, Wedge

    dodged another swipe from the second.  Kicking the injured and screaming

    man from the stair, he blocked a thrust from the other trooper and buried

    his knife in his eye.  Unfortunately, some hidden flaw in the metal caused

    the blade to snap clean off at the hilt.  Seeing the lone defender thus

    disarmed, the next wave of ShinRa troops rushed Wedge.  Tifa and the

    others, running quickly, could not quite prevent Wedge from being bodily

    lifted and tossed off the second flight of stairs.

 

    "Oh my gosh... Wedge..."  Tifa came up.  Wedge tried to say he was all

    right, that he just had the wind knocked out of him, but the words would

    not come.  "Aeris, will you stay with him?  Keep him safe..."  And with

    that, Tifa and Cloud ran off to help Barret.   Aeris smiled down at him,

    and started to comfort him.

 

    "I... I'm all right, Aeris.  Let me up.  Go get Marlene - she's far more

    important than me now."  Wedge tried to sit up.

 

    Aeris frowned.  "You don't look so hot.  Are you sure?"

 

    Wedge nodded, first uncertainly, then more decisively.  "Yes... yes.  Go

    get her and take her to safety, Aeris.   And thank you."  Aeris looked at

    him uncertainly, then dashed off to find Marlene.  Wedge looked around.

    The battle seemed to have had passed him by; Tifa and Cloud had joined

    Barret and were fighting a lone figure atop the tower.  Painfully, he got

    to his feet and looked about for a weapon.  He took up a sword from a

    fallen ShinRa soldier, and as an afterthought, took his armor to better

    confuse the enemy.  He had just started back towards the support structure

    when a massive detonation shook the ground beneath him.  He heard a

    creaking above him... and looked up.  The support had cracked, and the

    Sector 7 plate was unsupported.  He saw Barret, Tifa and Cloud escape on a

    hook and line out of Sector 7, and was glad they were safe.  He looked back

    up at the plate, which was becoming more and more unstable.  

 

    "Hojo, now we find out if you're right."

 

        Chapter 5 - the End of Time

 

    "huhwha?  Whaa..t?  Where... am I?"  Wedge sat up with a start.  He had

    been lying facedown on ... cobblestones?  But Sector 7 was paved...

 

    "snort... zzz...  hm.. hm?  Ha!  Ah, I see you've awakened," a voice

    mumbled sleepily behind him.  Wedge pivoted quickly, sword in hand.  A lone

    figure, clad all in brown, holding a cane and wearing a dark bowler hat,

    stood against a lamppost in the middle of... nowhere.  Everywhere Wedge

    looked, a small cobbled area was enclosed by a rail fence, outside of which

    nothing existed.  "Well, well!  Another visitor... that makes two!  My,

    this place certainly is becoming busy now."

 

    "Who are you, old man?  And how did I get here?"  Wedge did not lower his

    sword.  The last time he had awoken in a strange place...

 

    "Well, this is the End of Time.  All roads through time lead here, finally.

    I am the Keeper of this place.  Think of me as your guide through time.  As

    for how you got here, it is because I surmise that you are lost."  The Old

    Man yawned.  "I note that you do not have the same temporal structure as

    the rest of us from this universe.  Perhaps you have been... displaced?"

 

    "Temporal structure?  Hojo!  You, old man!"  Wedge moved and put his blade

    against the Old Man's throat.  "Wait, you're not Hojo.  Who ARE you, and

    what the HELL does all this temporal / quantum BS mean?"  Wedge let the

    sword fall.  "I wish I'd never gone on the mission for that Esper..."

 

    "An Esper?!"  The Old Man actually began to show some interest.  "You've

    heard of them?"

   

    "Yeah, what's it to you?  That's what got me into this mess in the first

    place."

 

    "Tell me more."

 

    So Wedge related the entire story of his adventures to date to the Old Man.

    He listened quietly and did not interrupt, watching Wedge intently with his

    bright eyes.

 

    "Hum!  Well, you're definitely not lying to me - I can tell that by your

    posture and your voice.  But what a story!  Well, I think I may be able to

    help you with your little dilemma.  You see that door behind me?"  The Old

    Man indicated a door in the railing.  "There is... someone... in there I

    think you'd like to meet.  Go on, now.  I'll still be here after you're all

    done with him."  And with that, the Old Man promptly went back to sleep.

    Wedge stared at him for several moments more, then shrugged and resolutely

    went over and opened the door.

 

    A little ball of fuzz with eyes stared at him.  Wedge stared back.  "Uh...

    hello?"

 

    "What?  Whatcha lookin at, young'un?"  Wedge started.  This voice, deep and

    powerful, resonated from within the ball of fuzz.  "Why'd the Old Man send

    you in here?"

 

    "He said I might be able to find out something of why I'm here.  You see,

    it all began when this Esper..." 

 

    "Hah!  What?  Did I hear correctly?  Did you say.... ESPER?"  The little

    fuzzball bounced up to him and looked at him with beady little eyes.  "Now

    that's I word I haven't heard in a while."  He bounded back to the center

    of the room.  "I, my dear friend, am also an Esper.  Name's Spekkio."

 

    Wedge felt his jaw drop.  "You?  An Esper?  But... really?  Can you send me

    home?"  But Spekkio shook his head.  

 

    "No, kid, I can't.  Only the Esper who sent you here can restore you... and

    that's not likely to happen, seeing as he's not here.  What I can do,

    though, is equip YOU with magic so that you can try to live a little easier

    in this strange world of ours.  How would ya like that, son?"

 

    "Me?  A Magitek Knight?  Wow!"  Wedge grinned.  "Sure, lay it on me, baby!"

    He spread his arms.

 

    "Let's see... according to what I can see of you... you are...  strange."

    Spekkio frowned.  "I cannot see your ability, nor can I give you magic!

    This is extremely frustrating.  Who sent you here, boy?"

 

    Wedge groaned in disappointment.  "I'm not sure.  The Esper we found was

    frozen in a block of ice.  It seemed like a large bird... green, blue, and

    red..."

 

    Spekkio nodded.  "That would be Tritoch.  You do know why we're all

    scattered all over the place, right?"

 

    Wedge shook his head.

 

    "Well, it's like this, see.  After the War of the Magi, the Espers split

    into two factions.  One wanted to seal themselves away in a dimension

    adjoining the one they were currently in.  That way, if humans ever learned

    peace and love, they could return and coexist once more."

 

    "The Esper World and the Sealed Gate.  Right, right."

 

    "The other faction wanted to leave that plane of existence entirely, so

    there would be no recurrence of the debacle of the War of the Magi.  And so

    they split off and traveled to different universes completely, draining

    much of their power to accomplish such a momentous task.  I was one of

    those left with some power.  Several others who I've heard have also had

    some power left over were Jenova and Asura - althought I also hear that one

    misused her power and the other locked her power away in fickleness."

 

    "Jenova.."  Wedge mused.  "That name sound somewhat familiar, but I can't

    place it.  I don't know the other.  Go on."

 

    "Yeah, keep yer pants on.  Anyway, I and several others came here.  We

    thought it would be a good place to live - but imagine our surprise when

    humans turned up again.  Not having enough power left to leave, we split up

    and went into hiding.  One of us burrowed deep under the earth to try to

    replenish his lost power, I stayed here to become the Master of War, and

    the third, the weakest of us, took to roaming the earth for his own

    amusement."

 

     "Great," Wedge sighed.  "And how is any of this going to help me?"

 

    "Well, I'm the Master of War, ain't I?  Get off your fat lazy butt and

    let's spar!"  Wedge groaned.  Imperial Boot Camp all over again...

 

    *****

 

    "All right, kid, show me something new.  I've been workin ya for quite a

    while now.  You've gotta have learned something new besides that old Grudge

    attack of yours."  Spekkio had grown as they fought, and now he was a

    massive blue horned monster that seemed more appropriate to the voice

    booming from within him.  

 

    "So, you want to see something all right, old man?"  Wedge grinned.  It was

    his way of poking fun at Spekkio for always calling him "kid."  "Perhaps I

    can't cast magic, but I think I've picked up a trick or two from you."

    Gathering all of his fighting spirit , Wedge channeled it into his sword

    and flung the blade at Spekkio.

  

    Spekkio laughed and caught the blade - then yelped as the sword burned his

    fingers.  "Ouch!  Hey, not bad.  At least it's an improvement from when you

    were just giving me a massage with this bread knife of yours."  Spekkio

    went back to the center of the arena and sat down, signaling the end of

    another practice session.  At the End of Time no one got hungry or tired,

    so sleeping was reserved for boredom.  

 

    "You know, kid, if we were measuring time here, I think we'd say you'd been

    here for about three months now.  And you're looking a good sight better

    than you did when you got here."  That was true; all of Tifa's cooking had

    been sweated and worked away by Spekkio's intense training.  "I'd love to

    keep you here for a while longer, kid, but I think it's time you got out of

    this place and on with your life.  The skills you've picked up here will

    serve you well in Guardia Kingdom.  Go talk to the Old Man about it.  And

    anytime you want more training, come back and we'll spar!"

 

    Wedge stood up and grinned.  "Thanks, Spekkio.  It's been fun."  He walked

    to the door and opened it.

 

    "Hey, kid, wait.  This is for you.  You've been a good student.  I may not

    be able to give you magic, but I'll give you the next best thing."  Spekkio

    tossed him a small green stone.  "That temporal resistance you have... it

    doesn't work against magic.  You've never faced a magic user, so it's never

    bothered you before.  But now... take it.  You'll need it."

 

    Wedge turned it over in his hands.  "What is this? Materia?"

 

    "Not in the sense you know it.  This is your fighting spirit, distilled by

    me out of you during all that time of training, given form and substance by

    my magic.  You know that move you just pulled on me?  This stone will

    amplify your ability to learn and execute techniques like that.  Keep it

    with you.  It will also help you build resistance to magic forces.

    However, there is a downside to this:  you must experience and survive

    low-level magic attacks first, and then build up from there.  Well, good

    luck kid.  You may need it."  The door shut.

 

    "I see Spekkio has trained you well.  Now it's time for you to end your

    journey.  You see that beautiful column of light?"  The Old Man gestured at

    a gleaming pillar of brightness extending into infinity.  "Step into that,

    and it will take you where you need to go.  Spekkio told you about the

    other Espers in this world, did he not?  I am sending you to the third of

    them, the one known as Norstein Bekkler.  With him, you will find rest from

    your travels.  To return here, anytime, simply return to the place where

    you find yourself when you exit the column.   Best of luck!"  And again,

    the Old Man fell asleep immediately.

 

    "Wait!  But what will I find at the end?"  Wedge asked.  It was no use, the

    Old Man would not reawaken.  With some trepidation Wedge approached the

    column of light.  He stepped in.

 

 

        Chapter 6 - Guardia

 

    Wedge blinked the purple afterimage from his eyes.  He stood in what

    appeared to be an outhouse - long unused and long unemptied, by the looks

    and smell.  Holding his breath, Wedge stepped outside to get his bearings.

    He was in a large forest, with a path visible through the trees.  Stepping

    onto the path, he was immediately accosted by a bird wearing a bell around

    its neck.

 

    "What is this, a joke?"  Wedge pulled out his sword and slashed at the

    bird.  But it dodged and flew upwards, ringing its bell madly.  Several

    large insects crawled out from the bushes.  Wedge cut and thrust at them,

    but only managed to hit one of the bugs.  The creature shook the blow off

    as if it were nothing.  "Will nothing kill these things?"  The bird, high

    above, began ringing its bell again, this time piercingly.  The sound was

    penetrating Wedge's mind, driving him insane....

 

    All of a sudden his mind cleared.   Wedge shook his head, wondering at the

    abrupt change.  Then he smiled, and pulled out the green stone that Spekkio

    had given him.  It was glowing faintly.  "Spekkio... thanks.  I'll remember

    your teachings."  Bringing all of his internal energy together, he focused

    it on the sword and released it.  The sword seemed to catch fire, radiating

    Wedge's strength from its blade.  Yelling wildly, Wedge attacked.  The

    powered-up sword sliced effortlessly through the thick carapace of the

    insects, and within seconds all of them had perished.  The bird, panicking,

    tried to flee, but Wedge flung his sword after the bird with the last of

    his energy and neatly bisected the animal.   

 

    "Hah.  Looks like that little gemstone came in handy sooner than I thought.

    Well, no use hanging aroung here; let's see where this road leads."  The

    road led him out of the forest, and Wedge soon saw balloons and pennants in

    the distance.  "Hmm... looks like a party.  And where there's a party,

    there's people.  Maybe one of them will know where Norstein Bekkler is."

    He continued on, now with a destination in mind.

 

    Upon entering the festival, Wedge saw that he was actually in the middle of

    a small town.  The celebrations made it seem much larger than it really

    was.  People were bustling about, with workmen putting up banners and tents

    and performers practicing their acts.  Wedge stopped one of the workmen.

    "Hey, neighbor.  What is all this?"  The man looked at him as if he were

    insane.  

    

    "Where have you been, on the moon for the last year?  This is Guardia's

    Millenial Fair.  Now if you'll excuse me..."  With that, the man strode

    off, vanishing into one of the tents.  Wedge snorted.  "That didn't help me

    much."  A small boy holding a balloon skipped across Wedge's path.  "Hey,

    kid!"  The boy turned around.  "Do you know who Norstein Bekkler is?"

 

    The boy nodded.

 

    "Well?  Where can I find him?  Where does he live?"

 

    The boy pointed to a lone tent across from all the hustle and bustle.  Then

    he ran off.

 

    "So... the Esper is there.  Let's go meet him."  Wedge walked over and

    entered the tent.  A ghostly chuckle greeted him.

 

    "Hee hee hee!  I'm sorry, but this attraction is not yet open.  You'll have

    to wait...  hey, hold on.  Did Spekkio send you?  Yeah, he must have.  He

    told me no one else would wear such funny looking clothing."  Wedge glanced

    down at the ShinRa uniform.  Funny looking?  "Anyway, you're here to take a

    break from all your gallivanting around, aren't you.  Well, how about

    working for me in my booth at this Millenial Fair?  It's easy work, and

    I'll pay you well.  I'll also bring you up to speed on some of the customs

    and culture of this area.  How about it?"

 

    Wedge shook his head.  "That's all?  I thought I was going to get some kind

    of closure here.  Thanks, but no thanks.  I've got better things to...."

    He trailed off as a man entered the tent, wearing something that Wedge

    thought he'd never see again... an old Imperial uniform.  

 

    "V... Vicks?  What... how... did you get here?"  Wedge was astonished.

 

    The other man shook his head.  "It's quite a long story.  Perhaps I'll tell

    you while we work.  You DID accept his job offer, didn't you."  He looked

    pointedly at Wedge.

 

    "Uh.. yeah..  sure, I'll take the job.  Wait a minute, you're working for

    him too? "  

 

    Vicks nodded.  "Yeah, when I arrived here, Norstein found me and took me

    into his employ.  He's taught me a few tricks of magic, and I seem to be

    doing very well in that area.  Strangely, though, I've lost all ability to

    fight with a sword.  I tried about a month after I got here, and I almost

    cut my arm off.  Norstein can't explain it at all."

 

    "Well, I may be able to clear up some of it myself.  You see, I met this

    guy named Spekkio, and he told me that I can't use magic... but maybe I

    should start at the beginning."  Wedge clapped an arm around Vicks, and the

    two walked out of the tent, one talking, the other listening.  Norstein

    watched them go, his permanent smile genuine for once.  

 

    "Hee hee hee... Spekkio, we've done well, for once."

 

Fin

 

    Perhaps I'll write a sequel to this... look for it, if I ever have time.