Final Fantasy 7 1/2: Magic Planet
A Final Fantasy 7/Beast Wars crossover fanfic written by Stella 
Quetzacotl
First created: Sep 25, 2001
Last modified: Sep 25, 2001

~~~~~Legal Stuff~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
This is a work of fiction written for entertainment purposes only.  All
FFVII characters are the sole property of Squaresoft.  All Beast Wars
characters are the sole property of Hasbro.  All other characters are 
the sole property of the author.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

~~~~~Setting~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
This is a TOTAL rehash of the Beast Wars saga, in which the group lands
on the FF7 planet (what would you call it, anyway?) instead of Earth.  
They'll take different beast modes, but I'll keep the same names for 
convenience.  The time is twelve years after the FF7 saga; Marlene is 
sixteen years old.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

~~~~~Text Conventions~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
[This is a character thought]
*This is emphasized text*

Chapter 5
	Marli stopped pacing momentarily to gather her thoughts.  "So 
then it was just Cloud and Sephiroth, face-to-face at long last.   All 
that was left was for Cloud to get in one good strike on Sephiroth, and
that's what he did - he used his Omnislash, his ultimate move, his 
Ultima Weapon flashing in the light of Sephiroth's magic.  Sixteen 
times he attacked, and when it was over Sephiroth was standing in a 
puddle of his own blood.  He had just enough time to look aghast at 
Cloud, the man he'd controlled for so long, before his body dissolved 
into red-white light that swirled away into the darkness."
	She surveyed her audience.  Laz, who'd heard the story before, 
had fallen asleep in one corner of the Maximals' control room.  
Forgivable, Marli supposed - he was only twelve, after all, and had had
a busy day.  Optimus was listening with the analytical air of a 
psychiatrist, and Marli didn't meet his eyes as often as perhaps she 
should as their glinting redness made her nervous somehow.  Cheetor and
Traveller were both riveted, their respectively yellow and green eyes 
tracking her every motion.  Dinobot and Rattrap were on opposite ends 
of the room, feigning disintrest - Dinobot did a better job of acting 
bored, Marli noted - and shooting glares at each other across the room 
whenever Marli paused.  Rhinox was behind her, working at the console, 
but Marli could sense his interest as well.  He stopped moving every 
time she entered a really interesting part.
	[All in all,] Marli decided, [I'm not doing too badly.]
	She continued.  "As Sephiroth's remains dissolved into nothing,
the floor under Cloud began to glow, then to sprout tendrils and 
fireflies of green light.  The Lifestream was unfettered by Sephiroth's
presence once again, and Holy was free to stop Meteor.  As the light 
danced around Cloud's body in a glad celebratory display, he saw a 
vision of Aeris reaching out to him.  As Cloud reached up to meet her, 
the light of the Lifestream vanished abruptly, leaving Cloud on an 
island rock in the middle of a Mako lake bent on swallowing him up."
	 "With Sephiroth's death, the cave no longer had its integrity 
and it began to collapse.  Tifa tried to reach Cloud, but a falling 
boulder knocked her off the ledge and it was Cloud who had to come to 
her rescue.  He leaped across the disintegrating floor and grabbed Tifa
as she fell, then they both climbed up to where the others waited.  
They were safe - at least for a few minutes - but the cave entrance was
already blocked and it was only a matter of time before the fallen 
ceiling and Holy's movement did them in.
	"Just then, with a huge rumbling crash, the Highwind plowed 
through the cave's ceiling to come to rest next to them.  Captain Cid's
luck had won out once again - or maybe just the Highwind's crew had 
seen their distress and taken it upon themselves to help out.  Whatever
the case, the group boarded the airship just as Holy exploded from the 
Crater.  It should be noted," Marli added, "that it was around this 
time that Laz was being born.  He's an Armageddon baby, which is part 
of the reason why he's so important to our town."
	"The Highwind was swept up in the blue energy wave of Holy, and
as it tumbled, rattling the occupants like peas in a tin can, the 
mighty force peeled the engines off like the wings off a fly.  But the 
Highwind wasn't finished yet - Cid latched onto the ladder in the crew 
pit, pulled a lever labeled 'Emergency' which this certainly was - and 
the group blasted off in their brand-new jet.  Zoom!" Marli sliced her 
hand through the air, pantomiming the escaping plane.  Cheetor sucked 
in his breath and Optimus nodded approvingly.  
	Marli smiled.  "This was the part I saw.  I was in in a town 
called Kalm at the time, some distance from Midgar, but I was close 
enough to see Meteor hovering over the city like a condemnation if I 
looked out my bedroom window.  'Course, I didn't understand much of 
what I was seeing at the time, being as how I was only four, but I did 
know that I was seeing something bad.  You only had to look at it once 
to know - it was a bloody red, its glow seeping into the atmosphere 
around it, with angry blue lighting and red tendrils of tornadoes 
reaching into the city below.  I had nightmares for weeks.
	"Anyway, that night I was sitting at the kitchen table, having 
my glass of milk before bed, when I heard a voice - or I thought I did.
Or a footstep, or a sigh, but the net effect was I knew Aeris, the 
flower lady, was near.  It's like that with people you know - they walk
into a room and you instinctively know they're there, just because you 
know their scent or sound or aura.  Call it whatever you want.  I ran 
to the window and opened it, and the first thing I saw was red light - 
Meteor was closer than ever, just above Midgar, ready for the final 
plunge.  I heard rumbling and knew that the upper plate of Midgar was 
being destroyed.
	"Then came the blue light - Holy.  I knew what it was, because 
my dad had told me what he was looking for and I knew he'd succeeded.  
Holy swept between Meteor and Midgar, creating a swirling barrier of 
light over the city just as Meteor dropped into it.  The red light was 
replaced by blue, and I had to look away for a moment.  When I could 
look again, Meteor seemed to have stalled and Holy had taken on a 
reddish cast.  Flames - or what looked like them - sprouted from 
Meteor's point of contact with Holy, sweeping up its sides so that the 
whole thing looked like a jack-o-lantern.  Meteor started to drop 
again."
	Marli lowered her head.  "It was too late for Holy, it turned 
out.  Meteor was coming and it was close enough to corrupt Holy so that
it had the opposite effect - instead of destroying Meteor, Holy was 
helping it along.  Sephiroth was dead, but his plan had succeeded - 
he'd stalled Holy long enough to let Meteor wound the Planet.  And this
wound would be mortal."
	Marli let silence settle over the control room.  "As the 
horizon began to glow like dawn in light green, I felt Aeris's nearness
again - like she'd just walked into the room," Marli said slowly.  "And
I knew what was coming.  From all over the Planet, the Lifestream was 
bubbling to the surface, flowing to Midgar and to Holy.  To me it 
looked like huge woven cords of green light snaking their way across 
the Planet's surface, trailing tiny fireflies in their wake.  As they 
passed their glow was like daylight.
	"As they approached Midgar, the tendrils of Lifestream reared 
up to weave with the air and clouds, and each other, until it was as a 
network that they met with Holy and flowed into it, pushing back 
Meteor's corruptive red light.  The Lifestream pulsed once and there 
was a flash of white radiance like a supernova, so bright I had to look
away again.  
	"When I was able to see again, Meteor was gone."
	"Whoa," Cheetor breathed as Marli bowed her head, indicating 
'the end'.  "Ultra-gear story."
	Marli grinned at him as she slumped into a chair, suddenly 
tired beyond belief.  "It's what happened.  It's the story you need to 
know if you want to understand anything about the planet."
	"And all this happened twelve of your years ago?"  Optimus 
asked. 
	"Yep."
	"Amazing."  Optimus sat back.  "Your father sounds like one 
incredible person."
	Marli nodded, her smile fading.  "I have to get back to him 
soon.  He's probably worried sick about me."
	"All right."  Optimus stood and transformed to beast mode.  
"Dinobot, come with me.  We're going to take these two back to their 
town."
	Dinobot grimaced, but transformed obediently.  "Babysitting is 
no fit job for a Predacon warrior," he grumbled to himself, not so 
softly that Marli couldn't hear.

	"The quickest way back is through this cave," Laz told Optimus,
"but there's a lot of real dangerous monsters that live in there.  Wind
Wing, Madouge, Hell Rider.  It's safer if you take the high road - " he
pointed to a dirt trail that wound along the mountainside - "and 
there's not that much more travel time."  He shifted from foot to foot,
obviously as sore from the long hike as Marli was, but neither asked to
ride and Optimus didn't offer.
	Optimus looked from one road to another musingly.  "Are you 
sure you can find your way back through the caverns?" he asked.
	"Oh yeah," Laz answered confidently, "I do it all the time.  
This whole mountain range is honeycombed with cave systems, and this 
one leads straight to North Corel."
	Marli cocked an eyebrow at Laz.  "You know, we're not supposed 
to go into the caverns..."
	"I know," the boy answered, "but how else am I supposed to 
study cave-dweller monsters?"
	"We have a library," Marli reminded him.  "There's that huge 
monster encyclopedia we got a few years back."
	"I read it already.  It didn't tell me anything I didn't 
already know."
	Optimus looked at Dinobot for input.  The Predacon tossed his 
head.  "If the caverns are quicker, let us choose that way."  He didn't
say, "The sooner we get to the town, the sooner we are rid of the 
humans," but Marli understood.
	Optimus nodded.  "I'm not too keen on fighting off the local 
fauna right now, but I agree with you.  I'd like to be back at the base
before sunset."
	Marli reached back to finger her staff.  "All right.  Lead on."

	Marli tossed another Madouge over her shoulder with a deft 
twist of her staff.  "Hyah!"  As the pink puffy monster scampered away 
into the darkness, Marli swiped sweat from her brow and glanced up.  
Laz, mercifully, was behind a thick stalagmite, pointedly not trying to
catch one of the monsters to study, and his dark gray eyes tracked 
Optimus and Dinobot as they fought their own troops of Madouges.  Both 
were still in beast mode, the caverns of North Corel being too high in 
Mako for them to claim their robot modes safely.  Optimus kicked away 
the last of his opponents, who raced squealing into side caverns and 
crevices, just as Dinobot lashed his tail and bowled over his own 
opponents like ninepins.  They retreated just as hastily.
	"Well, that was fun," Marli commented sourly as she, Laz, and 
the Maximals regrouped.  "I don't get it though, Madouges normally 
don't travel in groups.  They're supposed to be solitary."
	"Autumn is mating season for Madouges," Laz explained 
authoratively.  "That was probably a bachelor pack.  They can get quite
large."
	"You could have mentioned it was mating season."  Marli was in 
no mood to be reasonable.
	"I did say they were dangerous."
	"It's all right," Optimus broke in, "no harm done.  By the 
way," he addressed Marli, "I'm not familiar with the mineral content of
these caverns.  What do you know about it?"
	Marli ran a hand over the smooth rainbow-cast rock in the 
cavern walls.  "This is a limestone mountain range, but there's so much
Mako down here that most of the rock's been converted to Mythril over 
the centuries.  Especially around the caverns - if you drill down far 
enough you can find true limestone, but limestone-based Mythril is so 
dense that it's not worth the effort."
	Laz started down the cavern tunnel and Optimus followed.  
"Mythril?"
	Marli trotted to catch up.  "Don't they have Mythril where you 
come from?"  Optimus cocked an eyebrow at her and she sighed.  "Guess 
not.  Mythril's rock touched by Mako - it's basically a mineral that 
acts like a strong metal.  It's very common, especially in the 
mountains, because Mako sources come from underground.  A lot of people
make their living by mining Mythril, although it's only a secondary 
industry in my town."
	"What's it used for?"  Optimus skirted a stalagmite formation.
	Marli climbed over it.  "Depends on its base.  Limestone-based 
Mythril like this isn't easily forged, so mostly it's used for house 
building or tool-making.  Sandstone- and shale-based Mythril from 
places like Cosmo Canyon and Gogonga are used for jewelry - like this." 
She pulled her pendant from her jacket and held it up for the Doorbull 
to examine, then dropped it back under her shirt.  "The best Mythril is
volcanic-rock-based Mythril - obsidian, basalt, rhyolite, that sort of 
thing.  It's easy to forge and doesn't break easily, so we use it to 
make things like armor and weapons."
	"Interesting."  Optimus glanced back.  Dinobot was still 
following, looking somewhat sullen.  "Does Mako affect any material it 
touches?"
	"I think so.  I can't think of anything it doesn't affect.  
Mako touches water and it becomes a recovery spring.  Mako touches 
stone and it becomes Mythril.  Mako touches earth and it becomes ultra-
fertile.  Of course, not all Mako interactions are positive, you know,"
Marli added.  "Mako tends to break apart organic matter, for one thing.
That's why it's poisonous to living things, or at least animals and 
humans.  Plants don't seem to have a problem with it."
	"Has anyone ever found the chemical composition of Mako?" asked
Optimus.
	"No.  We can't - nothing can hold Mako.  Most people theorize 
it's a form of carbon, though, some sort of radioactive isotope."  
Marli shrugged.  "I'm not much of a geologist, so I don't know."
	Bored with the science lecture, Dinobot pulled past Optimus to 
catch up with Laz.  "Boy," he growled quietly.
	Laz jumped.  "Y-yessir?"
	[Sir?  Humph,] thought Dinobot.  "When you cast your shield 
magic," he said, choking out the last word, "you said that it affects 
all allies, did you not?"
	"Um, yessir, I did."
	"Then why," Dinobot hissed, "was I affected?  I was still in 
combat with Optimus Primal at the time."
	Laz blinked.  "I don't know.  Maybe you were meant to be an 
ally."  Dinobot blinked at him, and Laz swallowed.  "Fated, or 
destined, if you believe in that sort of thing.  Magic is the physical 
manifestation of the wisdom of our ancestors, the Cetra, and it doesn't
lie."
	"Mmm."  Dinobot looked away.
	Optimus had the very distinct impression that he was not 
supposed to have heard that conversation.  But he did anyway, and 
smiled.

	"Mr. Wallace, sir!"
	Barret looked up.  "See 'em?" he asked hopefully.
	"Yes sir - but - " The watchman looked flustered.  "You better 
take a look at this."
	Barret climbed the watchtower with more grunting and cursing 
than was really neccessary and took the binoculars from the young 
watchman.  The current man-on-duty was really barely more than a kid, 
fresh out of Eli Samuels's academy.  "Now lessee what's got you all 
tied up in a knot," Barret said, roughly but not unkindly.  He looked 
through the binoculars and scanned the landscape.  "I don't see any - 
wait a minute!"
	There were four figures coming down the mountainside near the 
eastern edge of North Corel, emerging from the cavern entrance that 
Barret very specifically remembered telling Marli not to go near.  He 
could see Marli's chestnut hair, her silver-gray staff,  her green 
windbreaker, but for a couple of seconds his mind refused to connect 
the apparition with his daughter.  Lazarus Townsend, the town charity 
case, was with her, seemingly leading the way down the mountainside.  
The leader in Barret saw the wisdom in this and approved - Laz was the 
most experienced mountaineer Barret knew, even if he did break town 
rules to get that way.  And with the two kids - 
	Barret caught his breath.  Monsters.
	He'd fought both species before.  Doorbulls could be found on 
the eastern continent, on the peninsula where the Temple of the 
Ancients had once stood.  They were tough creatures, capable of taking 
a lot of punishment.  Vlakoradoses, however, could only be found on the
southern shore of the northern continent, around Bone Village.  They 
were vicious creatures and extremely well-equipped fighters.  Both were
dangerous, both were creatures Barret didn't want to see anywhere near 
his daughter.
	He cursed fluently.  "Go call Hensen and James for backup.  
Have 'em meet me at the city gate."  He went to climb down the 
watchtower.  "Marlene, you better have a good excuse fer this," he 
muttered.

	Optimus slowed as three big, burly-looking humans appeared at 
the town gate.  "Um..."
	"Hi, Dad!" Marli waved a greeting.  Optimus looked at the girl 
in surprise as she ran to greet the man in the center.
	Unable to stop himself, Barret opened his arms to his daughter.
"Marlene, where were you?" he asked, embracing her.  "I was worried 
sick about you!"
	"I know, I'm sorry," Marli answered, burying her face in his 
chest.  "I meant to be back by the time school started, but Laz and me 
were attacked, and we kind of got caught in the middle of a battle..."
	"A battle?"  Barret jerked back.  "With who?  Or what?" he 
added, eyeing the Doorbull and Vlakorados.  "And who're your friends?"
	"Maybe I should explain."  Optimus stepped forwards, hands 
forward and open in a 'let's be friends' gesture.  Barret stiffened and
the other two drew back.
	"It's okay, Dad," Marli said to Barret's shirt.  "They're the 
good guys.  They helped me."
	Barret sighed.  "All right, let's hear it.  Can't be any 
crazier 'n what I've already been through."

	"And after Marli was through telling her story, we took her and
Laz home," Optimus finished.  "That's pretty much it."  He shifted his 
weight, hooves threshing the grass underneath.
	"Maximals, eh?"  Barret sat back, thinking.
	James paced back and forth.  "Well, I don't buy it," he 
declared.  "Alien robots who turn into monsters?  Some stolen museum 
piece?  It all sounds like one of those fanfiction things my kids like 
so much."
	Dinobot bared his teeth, just a little.  "It is true, all of 
it.  I suggest you take heed.  The Predacons will not fail to target 
this dwelling eventually."
	"That a threat?" James demanded.
	"Shu'up, James."  Barret shot his subordinate a glare.  "These 
Predacon guys.  How strong are they?"
	"Very strong," Optimus answered grimly.  "Dangerous, cunning, 
treacherous.  If you want to make contact with them, to see for 
yourself, then I don't blame you, but I must advise against it."  He 
stood.  "I have to go, but I'll be in touch when I have more 
information about the Predacons.  Are there any other towns around 
here?"
	"A couple," Barret said evenly.  "I kin warn 'em."
	"Thank you."  Optimus stepped back and said, "Optimus, 
maximize!"  He morphed as unobtrusively and noiselessly as he could, 
but even so Barret jerked in surprise and the other two yelped and 
tried to hide behind each other.  Marli and Laz were the only humans 
that did not react noticeably.
	Optimus reached into a small compartment on his person and drew
out three small metal disks with two buttons and a readout on the 
front.  "These communicators will help us keep in contact with you,"  
Optimus said, handing them to Barret.  
	Barret took them cautiously.  "How they work?"
	"The top button turns it on.  The bottom button you hold down 
while you talk."  Optimus reverted back to beast mode, eliciting two 
more yelps from Hensen and James.  "It was nice to meet you.  Take 
care."  He wheeled and galloped away toward the east, the Vlakorados 
Dinobot following in his wake.
	Barret fingered the communicators.  "Hot damn.  Things just got
a lot more interestin' around here."  He put his arm around Marli's 
shoulders, and reached out his other arm to include Laz the same way.  
"C'mon, you two.  The elders gotta hear about this, and I want your 
input t' be in the meetin'."
	"Does that mean I'm not in trouble?" Marli asked hopefully.
	"Hell yeah, yer in trouble!"
	"Aww..."

	Optimus plopped to a sitting position with a sigh.  "What do 
you think, old friend?"
	Rhinox looked up at the stars, big dark eyes blinking slowly.  
"Didn't quite know what t' make of that story," he answered.  "But 
there's somethin' special about those kids, no doubt about it."  His 
feet shuffled in the dust.  "The energy that flared up around 'em, when
they did their whaddyacallit, magic - it's the same kind that's 
creatin' the energy fields in th' atmosphere."
	"There's a heck of a lot of mysteries on this planet, that's 
for sure," Optimus sighed.  "The humans are the least of it.  I just 
hope they can escape the Predacons' notice long enough for us to 
capture Megatron."
	"That your plan?  Capture this Megatron guy?"
	Optimus nodded.  "According to Dinobot, the other Predacons 
won't be much of a threat without their leader.  Megatron is the key to
this whole thing."
	"Ya think Megatron knows about the properties of that stuff 
Marli mentioned - Mako?"
	"I hope he doesn't, old friend," Optimus said darkly.  "I 
shudder to think what he might do with it."

Next chapter...
Craziness abounds with the arrival of the first stasis pod!  The first-
but by no means the last...