The Tear of Worlds

[Redneck Messiah]

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K E F K A

The Psycho Clown

It was done! That old bag, Ghestal, had finally been taken care of. The pesky children of the Returners were sent running like the dogs they are with their tails between their legs. And here! Atop the floating continent was Kefka! The perpetrator of it all! He had killed the old man! He had taken down the Returners! And now the statues of the triad were being drained of their power. Kefka was becoming a god!

.:~ A Few Moments Ago ...~:.

Stabbed? "You b***h!" His own blood. He was bleeding. It wasn't that she had hurt him. But, the fact that he was a god! His reaction was one of shock. But that soon turned to rage. And in his rage his power was fueled by the insanity of the man! Kefka moved to stand between the three statues of the Waring Triad. Ghestal flinging warnings at him. Telling him to not do this. That there are other ways. "You only fear for your life, Old Man. And for good reason!"

Looking at one of the statues, he yells in a torrent of rage and demand, "Show me your power. Show me what you can do! Bend to my will!!" And in that moment, the three had no choice. Kefka was too powerful of a foe. They could not withstand his indomitable will. A pure arc of power shot from the combined statues and struck Ghestal square in the chest. The impact flung the human body like a rag doll in the hands of a giant! "Incredible!"

At this point the insanity of the man was overwhelming. But his desire for even more power put all else to shame. With his arms stretched outward, Celes now running in fear of her life as she tried to escape the inevitable, all you could hear over the maniacal laughter of Kefka were the wailing souls of the Waring Triad. It had been done.

In the midst of all that was happening, He had closed his eyes to take in the power of the Triad. Unbeknownst to him was that there was something greater than even himself at play this time. Something that ripped the very fabric of reality and sent him into the depths of the unknown.

.:~ Gaia; The Tear in Reality ... ~:.

When he opened his eyes, what he saw was nearly as shocking to him as finding out he could still bleed. But not in a way that enraged him. It was in a way that truly frightened him. He could feel the power of the Triad still coursing through his body. He had taken from them something that could never be returned. But what had they done? Fore, in his mind he was sure it had to have been the Triad. And then, the rage followed.

"Where have you sent me?! What is this place?!" It didn't even feel like home. There was something odd about this place. He could clearly see for miles and miles about as he was atop a rather large mountain. It was certainly nowhere he had ever been. And it was big. The land seemed to stretch on for as far as they eye could see. "You will pay for this!"

And they would. Seething, as it were, he moved to the edge of the small plain and looked out. There was a blessing in disguise, but at this point he was too blinded by his own rage to see it. This was a new land. And that meant that it was fresh to conquer.  

[Redneck Messiah]

.:~ Biggs & Wedge (FFVI) ~:.
.:~ Biggs & Wedge (FFVIII) ~:.

"Sir ..." The fleeting dream. They had done it. They had found the esper encased in a block of what looked like ice. It seemed this magitec knight would come in useful after all. "Sir?" But something had happened. Why was Wedge so far away? What was going on? "Sir." He sounded so distant. "SIR!"

Biggs' eyes flew open from the momentary dream and he was right back in the action. His hands found the controls of the magitek armor with an instinctive speed. But as soon as he had gathered himself he realized something truly was wrong. No longer were they in the Narche mines. Hell, they weren't even in Narche. The ground was covered in grass, not snow. The air smelled fresh, not industrialized. No. Wherever this was, it certainly was not Narche.

"Report!"

In his own magitek armor, Wedge knuckled his forehead in the standard imperial salute. "The Esper did ... something, Sir. We appear to be on top of a mountain. I passed out, the same as you, but woke up a few minutes ago. Upon surveying the surroundings, we seem to be in a different zone all together. The weather is different. However, Sir. There are two things to take note of. One, being the large monument behind you. And the second is the large occurrence in the sky."

With his last words Wedge looked up and pointed. Biggs's eyes followed his finger and grew wide when they saw what he could only describe as some form of powerful magic at work. He had no sense for the stuff and relied on Wedge to make the most of that crap. But he knew that whatever it was t couldn't be good.

He looked behind him to see what the monument looked like. It wasn't anything he had ever seen in his years of service. This land, wherever they were, was truly foreign. He was busy looking around when he heard Wedge shout, "Sir!" Upon looking over at the man, he saw that his soldier in arms was pointing up, again. Following the finger, as before, he almost fell out of his armor when the large disturbance in the air began to shift. It pulsed slightly and then it stopped.

Both of them were too busy looking up that they neglected to look down. If they had, they would have noticed that two more bodies were now unconscious on the ground. "What in the bloody hell is going on, Wedge?!" As if the other soldier would have an answer. When there was none, he only looked at the man. He was a professional soldier, but that didn't mean he wasn't allowed to be scared. And right now he was truly terrified.

About that time the soldier on the ground, decked in red, started to stir. Being that he was outfitted in metal plating along his upper torso, he made a little noise. Biggs, hearing this, looked over his shoulder and without hesitation shouted, "To arms!" Wedge followed the order as any well trained officer of the Imperial Army would.

When the other Biggs came too, he had two sets of guns, mounted on magitek armor, pointed at him. He didn't even try to resist. To do so would to be folly. So he asked only one question. "What do you want?"

It was then that the original Biggs replied. "You are a prisoner of the Imperial Army. What is your name and rank, Soldier?!" Which was met with a confused look from the Biggs in red. He held his hands up to indicate he was not going to be aggressive and slowly stood. His answer was measured and deliberate. "I am Lieutenant Biggs of the Galbadian Army. I've never heard of an Imperial Army. Where do you hail from?"

At that point the original Biggs had a confused look on his face. He, likewise, had never heard of this Galbadian Army. The coincidence that they had the same name was simply that. He let it go almost immediately. IT wasn't until the second officer on the ground began to stir that things got interesting. As soon as he moved, the other Biggs said to the man, "Wedge. No rash movements."

When the other man answered with a nod, it was the original Wedge who spoke up. "Sir. I think we should put out weapons down, and talk. This is odd." Biggs replied with bedazzled look and said in reply, "I agree, Wedge. This is certainly odd."  

[Redneck Messiah]

.:~ Biggs & Wedge (FFVI) ~:.
.:~ Biggs & Wedge (FFVIII) ~:.

"What are the odds? How can they both have our names?" The question was more to himself than to anyone else. But the answer he got was from the other Biggs. "Not good. Not good at all. Tell me, Biggs? What were you doing before you came to be here?"The red Biggs could only assume that they had similar names. The whole situation was quite perplexing. But not something that was impossible.

As for Wedge, he was looking at the other Wedge and they were having sort of a standoffish staring contest. It could have gone on for days, had they both not noticed the newcomer in the distance. Almost simultaneously they called for their commanders. That was met with a swift turn as all four men were now looking at the beautiful woman.

It was the original Biggs who spoke first. In a voice of command, he said loudly, "Halt! Who goes there?" It wasn't a threat. It wasn't a show of power. It was simply a soldier being a soldier.  

[Redneck Messiah]

.:~ Biggs & Wedge (FFVI) ~:.
.:~ Biggs & Wedge (FFVIII) ~:.

An explanation was a good thing. And it offered everyone a chance to really figure out what was going on. "Stand down, Wedge." To which the lanky man replied with a curt, "Yes, Sir." At that point the original Biggs looked to the other Biggs in red and said as he was climbing out of his magitek armor, "It would seem that in my haste I mistook you for the enemy. With that said, I till do not know anything of this Galbadian Army, but I do know that we are not at war. As such, you are no longer my prisoner. And nice name."

The last bit was said with a smirk, but it was received with a nod and a salute. The Original Biggs then went on to add, "I am Officer Biggs and this is Officer Wedge of the Imperial army. Well met, Sir." "Well met, Biggs. This woman seems to know of our predicament. I think we should hear her out."

The Biggs' nodded to each other and moved to intercept the woman. As the original moved past his Wedge, he asked the man, "What do you make of her, Wedge?" The soldier replied with a scrutinizing look and one word. "Esper." When he said the word, the red Biggs only looked on in questioning. He had no idea what an esper was. Hell, he had no idea that the other Biggs and Wedge couldn't use any magic. He thought it was just something anyone could draw from a source.

When all four men were standing there waiting, the original Biggs, who had asserted himself as the leader of this makeshift group, asked the woman. "What exactly has happened to us?"  

[Redneck Messiah]

.:~ Biggs & Wedge (FFVI) ~:.
.:~ Biggs & Wedge (FFVIII) ~:.

Wedge's eyes squinted at the mention of Terra. His mind was racing with possibilities but all of that was still somehow on the back burner when he said, "Sir?" The original Biggs put his hand up to silence his partner in crime. For a moment he simply thought. He then nodded to the woman. Smiled, and said, "Please, give us a moment."

Motioning for the other three men to follow, he moved away towards the two sets of armor. When he was sure they were far enough away to not be heard, he lowered his voice. "So we are from different worlds. There's a good possibility that we are each others counterparts from those worlds. So all formalities aside, let's get to work, gentlemen. Wedge and I both hold rank of Sergeant." The wedge in blue finally spoke up with a smile on his face. "Lieutenant Wedge." With the Biggs in red replying with, "Major Biggs."

The original Biggs and Wedge saluted the other two men, being as to how they were officers. Biggs said, "You got lead, Major." With a nod the Biggs in blue (Henceforth who will be called Major) took over operations.

"You know the woman they speak of?" Biggs answered with a curt nod and Major continued. "Report." "We were on a mission into Narche to recover an Esper from the mines. When we found the Esper we were somehow transported here, Sir." "Simple enough. This armor, Magitek, she called it. It looks formidable." "It is, Sir. Designed, and maintained by Lord Kefka under the direction of Emperor Gestalt." And these Espers? What are they?" "Beings of magic, Sir."

They spent a good ten minutes questioning each other and figuring out what they could about themselves. Turns out they weren't much different. When they were done, Major stepped forward and nodded to the woman. "I am Major Biggs and this is Lieutenant Wedge of the Galbadian Army. Alsong with Sergeant Biggs and Wedge of the Imperial Army. As to answer your question, yes. That is this Magitek armor you speak of. However, we would like any assistance you can offer."

Talking with friend, or foe, was often like playing cards. You have to know when to hold them, and when to fold them ...