Final Fantasy 7 1/2 - Magic Planet Author's Notes First created 11/19/02 Last modified 11/19/02 Chapters 1 - 4 I admit it - the vast majority of the Beast Warriors' dialogue here is ripped straight from the pilot episode. At the time I was thinking, hey, how much would the Beastie's parts change at this point anyway? Now, of course, I'm kicking myself for such an obvious cop-out. One of these days I'm gonna go back and rewrite those parts so I can actually give myself credit for them. On the other hand, I'm happy with the way I integrated all the new elements from the FFVII universe into the Beast Wars. This also introduces a concept that will be a major wrench later on - namely, the kids' magic reserves are severely limited. I imagine that most normal people can only cast a few low- level spells before needing a recharge, and can increase their capacity only by a great deal of practice and development. Chapter 5 Finally, the good stuff - all original dialogue! Wait - the story Marli's telling is stuff taken straight from the game. Darnit! *Still* copping out! But did you catch that bit about destiny between Laz and Dinobot? Deep stuff. Chapter 6 Megatron finally gets some spotlight, the poor ego-driven saurian. Hey, a couple paragraphs at the beginning and end is better than nothing. Anyway, now we get to see a few social dynamics in North Corel (Linda is a conglomerate of several girls I knew in middle school, by the way, and I hate her guts), and of course the inevitable stasis pod. Interaction between humans and Maximals will continue to play a big part in this story, and I like the way this turned out. Sets a good precedent. Cooperation, folks! Chapter 7 Traveller gets some shine time here. I'm trying to keep her from being a Mary Sue character... which is what she is, or rather a reworking of a Mary Sue to make her less Mary Sue-ish. Let me know if it works. Anyway, we got another example of humans and Maximals fighting side-by- side, although Marli and Laz don't figure in as much. Terrorsaur-vs- Dinobot is pretty good, and I think I gave ol' Featherless more of a personality than he is given in the show. Not *much* of one... but still... The part at the end, when Marli faces off against Rattrap, is an important personality-development scene for both Marli and Traveller. Chapter 8 Cloud-sama and Tigatron-sama! Do they not make the best team? Marli and Dinobot might be just as formidable if they could stop sniping at each other. Chopperface is just going to have to learn some respect for us flesh types. That's a topic for another day, though. We also see here how much Marli's lack of MP limits her. Don't worry, it will be less and less of a liability as time goes on. However, I do introduce something else here. I'll explain it in RPG terms - if you try to cast a spell you don't have the MP for, the magic takes a certain amount of HP instead to provide power for the spell. Severe 'draining' like this is, of course, harmful or fatal, so most people don't even have Materia with high-level spells on them. Scary, ne? We also see here exactly why I hate Linda so much. The self-righteous rhymes-with-witch - I'll bring her back eventually just to serve her up some humble pie. Also, Clay does his wiseman routine - I'll give him a personality later. Chapter 9 North Corel bites the dust! Those stupid Predacons. To this day I have no idea how Barret allowed himself to be convinced to let Marli go to Cape Njord with Cloud. Eh, it's been twelve years, maybe he's forgiven himself for leaving Marli alone all that time he was off saving the world. Anyway, I like the idea of Barret gallivanting around the globe on Chocobo-back, going from town to town combating the Predheads. I also explore something new here - Optimus's self-doubt. I never saw much of this in the show, but I've read fics featuring Banana Boy as a young, insecure recruit that affected my thinking more than those fics that make him act like a clone of Optimus Prime. I also like making him kinda the 'underdog' in the Megatron-vs-Optimus dynamic. Usually Megs is the one who is consistantly weaker (by a small margin). This way the outcome isn't so certain once they do face off. Lastly, we begin to say a blooming friendship between Traveller and Marli. Hey, it had to happen - they both need female companionship and Airazor hasn't been born yet. Chapter 10 More insecurity from Primal. Kinda. Don't worry, he'll get more confident in the next chapter. But in the meantime, he hides it well, don't he? He's also establishing a rapport with Cloud. I'll do more with this later, once the Preds are sent home with their tails between their legs. The Mako sickness that Cloud falls under is another example of my messing around with the FF7 universe. In The Gospel According to Stella, Tifa didn't cure the disease when she exorcised Cloud's demons - she just sent it into remission. Now the sickness, plus residual effects from the experiments Hojo performed on Cloud, are taking their toll on Cloud's body. Remember the 'I've learned not to trust my own power' comment in Chapter 8? Bingo. Cloud will be using magic less and less as time goes on, allowing the Maximals and the younger humans to come to the fore. Speaking of which, Tarantulas-vs- Marli was strange to write. I established way back in chapter 2 that Tarantulas was the stronger of the two, and Marli couldn't have had that much chance to improve. Now it's coming back to haunt me. Darn laws of physics. Fortunately, I do know how I'm going to resolve it. Chapter 11 I told ya, I told ya! Optimus and Marli both kick major butt, do they not? So very heroic... I actually had Marli's and Laz's Limit Breaks worked out before I started writing, and you'll get to see all of them before the fic is through. Not much else to say... the good guys win, yay! is about it. I'm going to be shifting my focus to new faces in the next chapter, so be ready.