Final Fantasy 7 1/2: Magic Planet A Final Fantasy 7/Beast Wars crossover fanfic written by Stella Quetzacotl First created: Aug 19, 2002 Last modified: Sep 19, 2002 ~~~~~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 8 A green-eyed man, sporting a spiky hairdo and toting a huge sword, stepped into the clearing just as Marli and Dinobot left it. He circled the defunct stasis pod, nudged it with his foot, and tapped his chin thoughtfully. Finally he shook his head and held a hand over the pod. "Life Two," he intoned. An exchange of white light later, a whole and healthy stasis pod lay where the broken one had been. The machine beeped, whirred, then spoke, to the apparent disinterest of its savior. "Scanners activated. Searching for suitable life-form. Scanning... scanning..." An antenna probe poked up from the pod and shed yellow light in twin sheets about the landscape. The spike-headed man let the light wash over him without blinking. "Suitable life-form found. Replicating now." Deep whirs and gurgles sounded from the inside, sounds that meant Something Big was happening inside. The man waited, still. The stasis pod opened with a hiss of warm steam. A dark, sinuous shape flowed from out of its place of birth, emerged from the steam, and twined about Cloud Strife's legs without actually touching him. The act was not one of pet-worship or even affection, just exploration. It was a Guard Hound, its fur just slightly bluer and its body just slightly bigger than was normal for the species. The Hound flowed about the clearing like a shadow, finally stood atop a downed tree and addressed Cloud directly, in a gentle male voice that nevertheless held undertones of a growl. "Friend or foe?" he asked. "Friend," Cloud answered, "for all I don't expect you to believe me." "I do believe you," the Hound answered thoughtfully. "I believe I owe you my life." Now Cloud smiled. It was a slow smile, given as if he was out of practice. "If your culture believes in life-debts, then you don't owe me anything. If not, however, I need to ask a favor of you that would cancel that debt." The Hound opened his mouth, then frowned. "I - I don't remember anything of life-debts. I do not remember *anything* of my former life. I know that I am a Maximal, but beyond that - " He shook his head. "It matters little. Ask, friend." "There is a town not far from here, the home of some friends of mine," Cloud began. "I am reasonably certain that this town is about to come under siege. I am going there to help defend it, but... I have learned not to trust my own power these days." Cloud smiled again, bitterly - this variety of smile came quicker. "Your species - your adopted species, that is, if I understand correctly - is renowned for its strength and ferocity. Will you come with me, and help defend North Corel?" The Hound-Maximal leaped from the fallen tree to land in front of Cloud in one butter-smooth movement. "I will," he said gravely, "but do not count this as the favor I owe you. I am a Maximal - " here his voice turned fierce - "and my duty is to defend all in need. This much I do remember." His head tentacle lashed. "Thank you," Cloud said quietly. "Follow me - we'll be there in a few minutes." He began to run, and the Hound-Maximal ran with him, their long strides more like leaps that ate up the distance between them and North Corel. "My name is Cloud," Cloud said to his companion at one point, almost as an afterthought. "Do you have a name?" "My name," the Guard Hound answered, like Cloud not the least bit winded, "is Tigatron." Before even coming within sight of her hometown, Marli smelled smoke. At the first scent of it, Marli shuddered as if physically struck. Tightening her grip on the spine blade at the base of Dinobot's neck, she rasped, "You smell that?" "I smell many things, human," her mount answered, a bit snootily. "You will have to be more specific." "Smoke," Marli snapped, not in the mood for verbal swordplay. Dinobot growled. "Of course. Your olfactory sense must be very weak if you only now detect it. Fire," he added solicitously, "is the preferred method for eradicating local villages among Predacons." Marli felt sick. She hunkered down, careful of Dinobot's spine blades, and tried not to think of her friends perishing in flames. Noting her silence, Dinobot added, "At the pace we are traveling, I must predict that we will arrive at your settlement before the damage becomes extensive. Optimus Primal will no doubt already be in combat with the Predacons. I do not know how he will fare - he will be outnumbered." "No he won't," Marli said grimly. "My dad and the rest will be there." Dinobot snorted. "If *your* performance is any indication, I strongly doubt your sire will be of much help." Indignation began to replace despair in Marli's chest. Smiling grimly, she indulged it. "Oh, trust me," she said, "I'm a raw beginner. You haven't seen anything 'til you've seen my dad use Materia." Dinobot snorted again, plainly illustrating what he thought of *that*. Marli contented herself with the thought that Dinobot would eat his words once he witnessed her father in action. Now they had cleared the forest, and were within visual range of the town. Sure enough, smoke and the red light from flames were rising ominously over the shale roofs of North Corel, and in spite of herself Marli shuddered. Then another light, yellow-green, added itself to the mix, and a great blue-green serpent's head rose from the walls. It opened its great mouth and let out a hissing scream. Dinobot stopped dead. "What... is *that*?!" "That," Marli said smugly, "is no doubt my father's work. It's Leviathan, a summoned monster. In a minute, he'll - there he goes." As the two watched, a great wave of clear seawater rose up from behind the great serpent, a tsunami where such a wave had no right to be, and engulfed the town, then disappeared as suddenly as it had come. Leviathan screamed once more and disappeared itself. "Pretty impressive, huh?" Marli said smugly. Dinobot rolled his head to catch his passenger with one eye. "It does not occur to you that that... unnatural wave possibly damaged your settlement as much as any of the Predacon's attacks?" "You obviously know very little of combat magic," Marli answered primly. "Laz *told* you that Cetra wisdom can tell the difference between an enemy and an ally, and attack magic like that only hurts *enemies*. The worst North Corel will suffer from that is the carpets'll all smell like saltwater for a few days." She thought. "Come to think of it, Dad probably just did that to put out the fires." She grinned. "Now come on. Let's go already." Dinobot bared his teeth, then flicked his tail around the girl's leg and dumped her into the dirt. "You can walk from here," he told her coldly, and ran off. Once she was over her initial shock and annoyance, Marli laughed. "'Ey, Chopperface!" Rattrap called mock-jovially as Dinobot arrived at the fire-damaged gate. "What kept you?" "Where's Marli?" Traveller asked pointedly. Dinobot ignored Rattrap as he answered, "She is coming. What is our status?" "We shouldn't have worried," Traveller smiled. "Optimus and the humans are doing quite well. I don't think Megatron expected this much opposition from the humans. Most of them are using those magic things." "Materia," Marli supplied from behind them, huffing. She was sweaty and breathless from her run. "Pardon me." She plodded wearily through the gate - her walk suggesting she was suffering from a side- stitch - and into the embattled town. As she walked, Marli noted the positions of the townsfolk battling the attacking Predacons. With only one exception, the humans were surrounding each Pred from safe places on rooftops or behind walls, ganging up on them with low-level combat spells. Marli noticed Linda in particular, near the path leading to the Gold Saucer trolley, screaming epithets and hurling Fire spells at the hapless Head Hunter- Predacon, who was ineffectually attempting to shield himself from the magic blows. The only real exception to this was the Under Lizard, Megatron. He and Optimus were engaged in a one-on-one brawl, and no one was interfering. A series of booms reminded Marli of the real danger - the flyers. Terrorsaur and Waspinator were dropping odd black spheres into buildings and watchtowers. When they hit, fire flared up, sending humans screaming for cover. Grimacing, Marli wedged herself into a doorjamb and checked her personal Barrier. It had long since run out. "Barrier!" she shouted. As the shield slapped into place around here, Marli felt her head go light and the bottom drop out of her stomach. [Too much,] she thought, steadying herself on the doorjamb. [And there I was lecturing Laz.] She clenched her teeth against the impulse to throw up. [Better go find Dad. He always has lots of Ethers handy.] Although finding her father would subject Marli to another lecture, even that was preferable to just sitting here with no way to participate in this battle. Marli looked around, saw no immediate danger, and staggered from the safety of the doorjamb. It didn't take long to find Barret - he was roaring loudly and profanely as always, facing down the Stinger-Predacon called Tarantulas all by himself. Behind him were a couple of wounded watchmen and a brown-haired little boy. As Marli came closer, Barret roared "Bolt Two!" and Tarantulus threw himself backwards to avoid getting fried by a crash of yellow lightning. The Predacon advanced again, firing as he came. His bullets mostly bounced off of the human's Barrier protection and Barret reached for his Materia again. He stopped, looked sick, then shoved his hand into a pouch belted to his waist where he kept his Ethers and Potions. Marli watched hungrily as his great fist brought forth - nothing. It was empty. Marli spat a string of curses worthy of her father as the Tarantulus sped up his advance, realizing he was in no more danger from Barret's spells. Enraged, Marli thrust her staff forward and yelled "Demi!" before remembering that she was out of magic. The Demi sphere hit Tarantulus in the side of the head, spinning him around, as Marli dropped to her knees with her ears roaring. "Marlene!" Barret yelled. "What're you - " With an angry scream Tarantulus lunged at the kneeling girl. "Oh no you don't, ugly!" he shouted furiously, and let loose with a salvo of bullets from his gun-arm. Tarantulus stopped, growled, and lashed out with his two left forearms. Barret went sprawling to the ground and Tarantulus followed up with a vicious kick to the small of the back. Marli blinked the black spots from her vision and got weakly to her feet, using her staff for support. Wobbly, she raised her staff and began to advance on the Predacon, knowing all the while that it would do her no good. A terrifying roar cut the air, and a black shape streaked into the fray, bowling Tarantulus over. Surprised, Marli almost didn't register when a spiky-haired man with a big sword followed him onto the scene. As the newcomer knelt by Barret's side, she could hear her father's voice saying, "Hot damn - when'd you get here, Cloud?" That broke through her paralysis. "Uncle Cloud!" she cried joyfully. "Hey there, Marlene," Cloud grinned, pulling her father to his feet. "You're getting to be just as much a trouble magnet as your dad." His face snapped serious. "By the way, when I say 'now', jump to the left." He waited a beat. "Now." Marli threw herself to the left and Waspinator blew through where she'd been, planting his stinger missiles into the ground. "Thanks," she said, attempting to get up. Somehow her legs got tangled up in themselves and she fell back heavily. "Girl, what'd you do to yerself?" Barret snapped, coming forward. "Used too much magic," Marli said weakly. "Sorry 'bout this." An unfamiliar voice called from some distance away, "Cloud, that's one down." "Thank you," Cloud answered, nodding to someone Marli couldn't see. "Friend of yours?" Barret asked, kneeling by his daughter's side. Cloud shrugged. "He says he's a Maximal named Tigatron. You have him to thank that the other guy - the one attacking you - is now in a semi-coherent heap." "*Another* Maximal?" Barret muttered. "Damn, they're multiplyin'." Marli giggled, then rolled over, pushed herself to a kneeling position, and tossed her cookies. Barret helped his daughter to a nearby house, sat her down against the wall, and straightened. "Don't go nowhere," he said gently. "I'm gonna see if I can find some Ethers. Unless you got some, Spike," he added, turning to Cloud. Cloud shook his head. "Potions, no Ethers." "Give the kid a Potion. Then do me a favor and look out for her, all right? I'll be right back. And Marlene - " Barret turned back to his daughter, and this time his face was stern - "don't go off fightin', hear? You stay here and watch Uncle Cloud." Marli nodded, eyes wide. After Cloud's Potion, Marli felt much better, but still a bit dizzy from the loss of magic. She was more than content to sit and watch Cloud as he worked his Materia. Barret had once described the younger man as 'a Materia master - damn his luck!' but Marli had never really understood what he meant until now. Awed, she watched as Cloud engulfed himself in a near-constant flare of Mako yellow-green, casting one spell after another. Some spells she'd never even heard of - Break, Tornado, Shield - and others, like Fire, he cast at its third level, which she'd never seen before. It was a display of pyrotechnics that would have made any fireworks manufacturer chug gasoline. Presently the sounds of battle ceased, as did Cloud's show of magic force. A Guard Hound appeared from seemingly out of nowhere, making Marli jump, but when Cloud greeted it casually she realized that this must be the new Maximal, Tigatron. "How did you fare, Cloud?" Tigatron asked, waving his head tentacle slowly. "I gave them a run for their money," Cloud said casually, hoisting his sword behind his back. "And yourself?" The Guard Hound flashed ivory teeth. "I taught them to fear my prowess in beast mode. Perhaps, when next we meet, I shall have to try robot mode. The other Maximals I met seemed to fare well enough." Marli blinked as something occurred to her. "Excuse me - Tigatron? Are you - did you come from the stasis pod that landed in the forest north of here?" Tigatron turned the full force of his gaze on Marli. She fidgeted, a little embarrassed under those piercing eyes. "I believe so," the Guard Hound said politely, head tentacle swishing. "Were you there at my landing?" "Well - we witnessed it, but from some distance away. We were there when Waspinator - " Marli started to say 'killed you' but then shut her mouth on the words, as this obviously wasn't the case. Tigatron smiled again, this time gently. "I was indeed dead inside that pod," he explained. "It was Cloud who brought me back to life." "Then we owe you a debt of gratitude, Cloud," came a voice from the right. Marli looked up to see Optimus, in beast mode and favoring an injured flank, coming up the cobblestone street. His cloven hooves made an awful racket on the stones. Tigatron roused himself. "Cloud, this is Optimus Primal, the Maximals' leader. We met on the battlefield. Optimus, Cloud Strife." "An honor," Cloud said gallantly, holding out a hand. Optimus took it. "Pleasure's all mine." He glanced around. "I see you're a little worse for wear, Marli," he said jovially. "Traveller tells me you and Laz were at the stasis pod when we got there." For all his tone was still jovial, there was a hint of disapproval there. Marli ducked her head. "We wanted to tell you when we figured out that the stasis pod wasn't going to land where you thought it would, but they weren't letting anyone out to talk to you," she said, "and I don't have a communicator. What else were we supposed to do?" Optimus quirked an eyebrow. "How did you know where we expected the pod to land?" Marli hesitated. "Well, you were evacuating people. Where else were you expecting it to land?" "How did you know it was a stasis pod we were evacuating for?" Optimus countered. [Busted,] Marli thought, hanging her head. "You'll have to talk to Laz about that." [No fair I get in trouble and he doesn't,] she excused herself. Optimus fought the urge to laugh outright, but couldn't keep a grin from his features. "Well, it wasn't exactly *wrong*, but you took an awful risk." Marli gave a frustrated exhalation. "I'm already going to get a dressing-down from Dad," she told the Doorbull, a little angrily. "Do you *have* to add to it?" Optimus waved his hands in an 'I surrender' gesture. "Hey, I've said my piece. But - thank you, for helping." Marli smiled. "Next time," she promised, "I'll try to be a little more useful." Stomping heralded Barret's reentry onto the scene. "Ain't gonna be a 'next time', if I got anything to say about it," he told Marli angrily. "You know how nearly you got yerself killed?" In his fist was an Ether, which he waved like a bludgeon. Marli rubbed her forehead with the heel of her hand. "Aw, Dad..." The final damage total from the Predacons' attack was five dead, twenty-one wounded, twelve buildings with fire damage and three with collapsed walls. Among the wounded was Laz's instructor Clay, Eli Samuels, and both of Barret's lieutenants, Tom Hensen and Freddie James. Also wounded was Linda's father and older brother, which made Marli use caution when approaching her later on that day. She was sitting on the steps of the meeting hall, fidgeting with her bracelet, when Marli completed her punishment duty of helping tend the hospitalized and emerged across the street from her. Steeling herself, Marli crossed the road and sat down beside her friend. "How's my dad?" Linda asked, her voice holding no inflection. Marli traced the seam of her jacket with a finger. "He'll be okay. He won't be able to sit up for a few days, and it'll be a week before he can walk, but he'll heal." Linda didn't look at Marli. "He won't like that." "I know." Marli felt sure that if she stared at Linda hard enough, the blonde would look back. "But he's better off than he thinks he is. No bleeding, no cracks in his skull." "He was lucky." Now Linda's voice was starting to show emotion. Anger, irritation - Marli couldn't decide, but it was something along those lines. And it was better than nothing. They sat in silence for a few minutes before Marli said abruptly, "They're talking about evacuating North Corel." "Who?" Linda was definitely showing signs of anger. "Your dad?" "No - well, not at first. It was Elder Roberts who suggested it. She said that if the Predacons attacked once, they might do it again, and maybe when we were unprepared. We were lucky the Maximals and Cloud were there, she said - it might've gone badly otherwise." Linda stood, eyes blazing. "And we'd have you to thank for that, wouldn't we?" She turned on her heel and began to stalk away. For a few minutes, Marli was so shocked she couldn't move. "Wait a minute!" she yelled, launching herself off the steps and catching up to Linda. "You think this is *my* fault?" "The aliens wouldn't have known we existed if it wasn't for you and Laz," Linda snapped, still walking. "What, you think they wouldn't have *noticed* we were here?" "They wouldn't have *cared*," Linda shot back. "They would have had their little war out away from us, and we wouldn't have known anything about it. No one would have gotten hurt. But no, *you* had to be adventurous!" The last word was a shout that echoed off the limestone-Mythril buildings. Marli planted herself in Linda's path. "That's crazy," she protested. "From what I hear, the Predacons would probably have taken their shots at us anyway - for sport if nothing else. They don't see us as *people*, Linda, not the way the Maximals do. And anyway," she added, as Linda managed to get past her, "it's not like I called them up and said, 'hey, wanna attack our town?' They did this because *they* wanted to, not because of anything *I* did." To be honest, Marli was repeating things Cloud and Traveller had told her, that morning. Linda snorted. "Keep telling yourself that and maybe you'll believe it." She whirled. "My dad is hurt because of you! Five people are dead because of you! Can't you understand that?" "I never hurt *anyone*, Linda," Marli insisted. "Are you so petty that you just need to blame me for everything, regardless of whether it's my fault or not?" Linda pressed her lips together, eyes blazing with fury. "Forget you." She walked off, and this time Marli let her go. "Poor child. She knows so much, and none of it can possibly help her." Marli jumped. "Mr. Clay?" The monk smiled. He had a tourniquet on his arm, but otherwise seemed in the peak of health. "Clay will do." He nodded after Linda's disappearing form. "Do not worry about young Linda. She is mercurial - her anger will subside, and if you are willing to forgive her, then your friendship will be restored." "How do you know?" Marli forced the question to come out calmly, rather than rudely. Linda's ugliness to her made Marli feel ugly, too. "Her mother was one of my pupils, and Linda is much like her." Clay smiled beatifically. "In any case, I know people if I know nothing else. Linda is in pain, and she seeks to attack what causes it. The Predacons are not on hand, and - " he smiled, "you were." Marli sighed. "I don't know if I can forgive Linda. I don't know if I can even face her again." She turned to face the old monk. "Do - do other people blame me, like Linda does?" "I do not." "Yeah, but, you're - " Marli searched for a word that didn't sound patronizing. A soft chuckle. "Perhaps, in their own minds, some people have chosen you as a blame object, but few will admit it. Although Barret Wallace does not lead here, he still commands much respect. That respect is an umbrella over your head, Marli." Marli felt her voice go hard as she replied. "I'd rather be rained on. If people aren't going to respect me for me, then they might as well just go ahead and hate me." She turned away. "In my head, I know it wasn't my fault, but..." "Your heart says otherwise," Clay said gently. Helplessly, Marli nodded. Clay bent eye to eye with her, standing nearly double, and put a heavy, warm hand on her shoulder. He smelled of woodsmoke and cinnamon, and his breath was like the sweet herb they made Ethers with. "Sometimes our hearts deceive us, Marli," he said quietly. "Our minds, our hearts, our knowledge and instincts - all are fallible. Fortunately, there are other sources of truth." He smiled, then straightened and disappeared into the lengthening shadows. Marli stood where he left her for a long time. Next chapter... North Corel is abandoned, Optimus *gets* a pep talk instead of *giving* one for once, and Megatron does what he does best. Just your average day in the lives of our heroes.