"Mr. President, hear the latest reports on Viridian from our spies." The younger messenger handed the papers to the black haired man on the desk. The president rubbed his forehead. "Thank you. That will be all." "Something on your mind?" the messenger asked. "Oh nothing. Nothing at all." replied the president. "Sir, I know it's been awkward for you. Wasn't twenty years ago that you and your aides were Viridian soldiers that fought against Crystal Tokyo. Yet know you are now our leader and now sending spies to the land of your birth?" "It is something that needs to be done," the president said, heaving a great sigh. "Not that any of us have any against our own people, or the people of Crystal Tokyo," replied his left hand aide, a man with long black hair, and coke-bottle glasses. The president nodded. "True." "We did what was necessary," said the right hand aide, another young man with black hair, except his yellow bandana was tied on his forehead. "I understand," answered the messenger. "So I shall leave you gentlemen?" The right hand aide nodded, making a gesture to leave. The president sighed, and so started to look over the paper. ===================================== Magictech Productions Presents... An Anime/Videogame Fusion... Final Fantasy : The Animation Featuring characters from Slayers, Sailor Moon, Digimon, Pokemon, Ranma... In a retelling of the eighth game of Squaresoft's Final Fantasy series... ===================================== Chapter 1: Starting the Fantasy ===================================== Crack! Crack! Lightning struck the earth, signling the start of the approaching rain storm. He didn't care. He had a 'training' session. No... not a 'training' session. A duel. "What's the matter blond? Afraid to draw your weapon?" He looked at his opponent, who had just taunted him. "Not even," the blond replied, drawing his own blade. As he did so, a flash of images flashed through him. A red hair girl. A towering black haired girl in an outfit... that couldn't be describe. But he knew the outfit stood out. Shaking his head he faced his opponent who had started taunting again. "It's your move," he said, a fierce look in his eyes coming to the fore. "Don't need to remind me," the blond smirked as he charged with his blade ready. Blades clashed, sparks emitting from the blows. Steel met steel as they rang out with heavy clangs, not the ringing sound of light metal, but the heavy clunk of killing edges. Swing! Clash! Swing! Clash! The two were soon in a duel, where neither one was advancing or backing. Each blow and counterblow was met with precision, and the blond or his opponent gave ground. A quick slash cut into the cloth of one of the combatants, a similar mark appearing on the one who cut the clothing of the other. The blond frowned. It had gotten to far already. Both of them had drawn blood. His hesitation caused him dearly as his opponents blade actually struck his face, right above the nose a bit. A feeling of rage filled him as he brought up his sword in a cutting arc, the weapon cutting into the others face. ===================================== The blond stirred. The red haired nursed assigned to him shook her head. 'Such senseless violence. But it is the sign of the times I suppose,' she thought. "So, how is our blond swordsman doing?" interrupt a voice. The nurse turned around to see the doctor. "Oh... he's doing fine, despite the cuts he received. Though I believe he's going to be scarred for life, Dr. Ono." Dr. Tofu Ono shook his head, sighing. "It would either be him or Zangulus." Walking over, he noted that the regenerator had done its work, and the scar was still prominant on his forehead. Zangulus was treated earlier on, but Gourry was still asleep. A shame. The scar didn't fit him at all, but was luckily covered by his bangs. "Ow..... aye..." Gourry stirred, as he managed to gain consciousness. "Ano...." He blinked a few times. "What happened?" "There there take it easy..." the nurse said, motioning him to lay down. "Joy... do you know who his instructor is?" asked the doctor. "I think it's Hikari Yagami." Joy went over to the phone and dialed a number. A couple of rings and Joy said, "Hello, Hikari? Yes, it's Joy. Please come down and fetch one of your students. Yes, it is him. I see. Thank you." She hung up. "Hikari is on her way." Gourry's eyes weren't on either Nurse Joy or Dr. Ono. His eyes were starting at the window, where a tall girl walked past it. Her hair was a shimmering pink color, about the same length as hers. She was dressed in a deep red dress and white skirt that seemed to not clash with her pink hair and red eyes. She looked at him, smiled, and walked away. He swore he heard her whisper, "So... we meet again Gourry..." when she looked at him. Who was she? Did she really say that, or was it his imagination? If not, then how did she know him? "So... our blond swordmans finally in here. I knew it be either you or Zangulus," a new voice spoke. Gourry groaned from the bed. "My forehead hurts." With a tapping of boots on the ground, a girl, about eighteen or nineteen years of age, walked into view. Her hair was brown, and held up with a clip. She wore the typical instructors uniform, and a coiled black whip was hung at her side. Hikari folded her arms. "Gourry, Gourry, Gourry," she said, shaking her head. "All right. I'll take it from here." With that Dr. Ono and Nurse Joy left the premise. "Come on now," Hikari motioned. "Today is the field exam." Gourry hauled himself out of the bed, grabbing his sword. Strapping it onto his belt, he trudged out, following his instructor. ===================================== The pair traversed the long hallways. Gourry was oddly silent, a rarity for the usually chattery, yet slightly vapid swordsman. Hikari looked at him as she asked, "Something on your mind?" "Um.... I have no headache, so that means I have nothing on my mind, right?" answered the blond swordman. Hikari shook her head. "I mean, are you thinking? About your fight with Zangulus?" she pressed. "Um... I suppose so," Gourry answered. "He didn't have to cheat, or even slice at my arms." Gourry sighed. "I'm surprised he didn't use Howling Cross on you," Hikari mused as she remembered the first time Zangulus had demonstrated that paticular attack. Fortunately, it was non-lethal when he did it first, but it was rather disorienting. "Well... that would obviously say to any observers, 'HEY, SCREW TRAINING! YOU DIE NOW!" Gourry blinked at the sarcasm in his instructors voice. "I suppose so." "Come on... the rest of the class is probably already there. You don't want them to egg you for causing their teacher to be late?" Hikari reminded. Gourry shook his head wildly, remembering the Yagami Groupies. With that the pair strode onto one of the many classrooms of the Seyruun Garden. ===================================== "Now now now... settle down. Please, you are acting like the kids you were when you entered Garden!" Hikari sighed to herself as she tried to maintain some sort of order back into her class. Gourry sighed as he shot a relatively weak Fire spell into the high roof, silencing everyone with the show of pyrotechnics. He inwardly cursed since that was his last Fire. He was a pretty good swordsman, but not too good with his magic management. He alwaysed seemed not to have enough on hand, as he relied on sword combat then magic. Gourry mentally reminded himself to go to the Training Center and Draw some magic. Then, another thought popped into his mind. AFTER he put them to sleep. A hand went to the small scar where he had gotten the snot kicked out of him when he had forgotten to put a monster to sleep to draw from it. "Now then... now that I have your attention..." Gourry snapped to attention as Hikari began the announcements. "Yes, the rumors are correct. This afternoon will be the final exam for SeeD candidates. Only those who passed the written portion will be allowed to go. Those who didn't will remain in Hinako-san's study hall." Many of the students shifted uncomfortably at the annoucement of the study hall. Gourry just sat, staring blankly at the wall. 'Ooh, chalk,' he thought for a moment before trying to get back into focus. "And Zangulus?" "Yes, instructor?" "When you train with another person..." Hikari began. "Don't injure them. Yeah, yeah," he droned. Hikari sighed. "Maybe I should let Hinako-san have you. But unfortunately for the rest of us, I know you will be participating in the exam." Some of the classmates snickered before seeing the annoyed expression on the teen's face. "Class dismissed." With that the students began to get up and walk out of the room. "Gourry? I need to see you?" Gourry sat up in his chair. "Me?" he asked, pointing to himself. Hikari nodded. "Yes you. And just you." Another set of the students glared at him, for a different reason all together. Gourry stood up, and then paused. "Can I get something first?" he asked. "Go ahead." Gourry nodded as he attempted to log onto his terminal. "Ano...." Gourry blinked, as he tried to log on. "Is this thing working?" HIkari sighed as she wandered over, leaning over his shoulder. "Press the ON button first, and then type in your log in." "Oh... I knew I forgot something!" With that he was able to log on. For a moment he looked at the screen... and paused. "Now where are those GF thingys...." Hikari muttered something under her breath as she stood up. "Try to read the tutoral section first and then Junction, okay?" Patting him on the head, she wandered off towards the trio, also known as her Fan Club. Gourry scanned the page, felt his head spin and pressed the Auto-Tutoral button. In an instant, a girl, dressed in white with blue hair appeared before him. "Hi," she said happily. "I'm the Emergancy Holographic Tutor. Call me Mercury." "Um... ok..." Gourry said, as he sat down to listen to the tutorial. ===================================== 'That fool Gourry,' Zangulus thought. 'He thinks he can best me and ruin my romantic dream?' "Looks like the boss is pondering again," James remarked. He was a violet haired teen, dressed in a white shirt and jeans. "Looks like that he's still ticked off by that scar," went Jessie. She was dressed like sames, and she had long red hair. "Bah.. that scar isn't nuthin'!" ranted another voice. "Just look at me!" James turned to the voice. "Why Meowth.... what happened to you?" "Looks like he can't tame that weird black cat all," Jessie giggled. The Guardian Force Feline glared balefully at his partners. "Shaddup," he growled. "Or I'll use Pay Day on you. Or better yet, I'll just un-junction myself from youse and leave you without no junction!" "You wouldn't?! Without you... were would we, the disipline committee be?" Jessie began. "If you left us... our group would be down to a measly three!" added James. "We are the disiplince committee, punishing students day and night!" "Surrender to our authority, or prepare for a long legal fight!" Zangulus loomed over them. "And what's wrong with just THREE?" he demanded. The three started kowtowing to them. "We're sorry boss!" "Sorry! Then why are you down here groveling at my feet when there are students to reign in?" Zangulus pointed to the trio. "You should be worrying about the troublemakers, not me!" James uprighted himself. "Very sorry boss, lost our composure." Jessie and the Meowth Guardian Force was STILL grovelling. "Well then... why don't you..." He took a deep breath. "GET BACK TO WORK AND HUNT THOSE THAT NEED DISCIPLINE!" "Yes sir!" The three bolted off as Zangulus sighed, burying his face in his hand. "And it makes me wonder how in the world they have five GF's and I don't have any." ===================================== "So... you do now understand?" a quite annoyed Mercury hologram asked. "Um, I think I do now," Gourry said, scratching his head. "May I have my GFs now?" he asked the hologram. The Mercury hologram sighed. "Fine." With that two cards ejected from the terminal. The cards were named "Zapdos" and "Ice Pixie" respectively. "Finally... finally.... oh thank you thank you thank you..." Gourry thanked the blue haired hologram. "Thank you? Just get going!" The computer demanded. Gourry quickly pocketed the GF's and trotted down to where Hikari was enduring the prattle of her fan club. "Um... Yagami-sensei, I got my GFs now. Are you going to speak with me now?" "Yes, and it's about time." The instructor glared at the Yagami groupies to tell them to get going. They quickly ran off as she turned to him. "You haven't taken the fire cave test, right?" "Ummm...." Gourry put his finger on his chin. "Fire cave test......" He shook his head. "Nope, can't say I have." "It's a prequisite for all SeeD candidates to take," Yagami said sternly. "Tell you what. I'll meet you at the front entrance in about a half hour, and we'll take it then. Sound fine?" Gourry nodded. And with that Hikari left for the enterance. "Well... time to hit the dorms and grab my stuff," he said to myself. Gourry trudged out of the room, only to suddenly meet the floor as a dark haired girl crashed into him at full tilt. "Ugh," he remarked wittily on the ground. "Gomen-nasai!" the black haired girl apoligized. "S'okay," Gourry muttered from the ground. "Sorry. I was kinda in a hurry. I wanted be on time fore homeroom." The black haired girl looked around. "Hey, did you just come from that class?" Gourry nodded. "Well, yeah. It's been over for at least two hours." The girl sweatdropped. "Oh MAN! Daddy is going to KILL ME!" Gourry sweatdropped. "Daddy?" The girl nodded. "Hai. You see... I just came here from the Sairaag Garden, but I have to come here to Seyruun to take the exam. The last thing I need is to disappoint Daddy!" "I see...." Gourry made a motion to move off but she then grasped his arm. "Can you show me around?" she asked. "Oro?" Gourry asked, blinking. "What... can't you a little time off to show a cute girl like me what this garden is like?" The black haired girl gave Gourry the puppy eyes look. "Um..." Gourry thought hard, which was something he resolved to do more often. "I think there is a directory downstairs." "Great!" And with that, he was forcibly hauled towards the elevator. ===================================== Hikari sighed as she waited for Gourry at the enterance to the Seyruun Garden. "A gil for your thoughts, Kari?" a voice asked. Hikari looked down and saw that her 'pet' had followed her. "With my thoughts, I think you would mor then a gil, Tailmon." Hikari looked down and saw that her 'pet' had followed her. "With my thoughts, I think you would need more then a gil, Tailmon." Tailmon just sighed as she shook her head. "What is it this time?" Hikari sighed. "Just Zangulus and Gourry. Despite all the promise they show..." "They can't seem to get along, can they?" Tailmon said, folding her short arms. "Oh well." "Well... there's that.... but then... there's Gourry... he's just impossible in some ways," Hikari added. "Do you how hard it is to go up there in front of the class and teach to my hearts content?" "Being the youngest Instructor in Garden does present a problem with being respected," Tailmon pointed out. "I'm sure people respect you, it's just that being so young, it's hard for them to do so." "I guess so..." Hikari turned to Tailmon. "Thank you." "For what?" "For being you, and for being here for me." "That's what GF's are for," Tailmon replied with a smile. "Now c'mon, lets Junction. He'll be here in a bit." Hikari nodded as the pair glowed a soft pink, Tailmon seemingly melting into Hikari. ===================================== "Ano... what do you mean they're out again?!" asked an upset Zangulus. The cafeteria worker sweated. "I'm sorry, but that young man over there just insisted he had to have the remaining hot dogs we had." The trio behind Zangulus tensed as he pounded his fist. "Um... should we find him for you, boss?" asked a nervous James. "No, I know who it is..." His expression twisted into a fiendish grin. "It was Fem-boy." "Fem-boy... oh... him again... how dare he insult my figure last time!" fumed Jessie. "Last time?" went a clueless James and Meowth. "RAGE!" In a flash, the pair were face down, imbedded within the floor. "Owie! Like, what did we do to you, you know?" groaned James. "It's what you didn't do, that's what you did! How dare you forget!" screamed an irate Jessie. "Meowth," Meowth groaned from the floor. "That wench had to nerve to compare his girl form with my body, and then to say that I'm FLAT CHESTED!" the red haired discipline committee member growled. "I've been dying for some payback." "That's Jessie for you, always vain," Meowth grumbled. WHAM! "I heard that! Now are you going to stay here or help me get Fem-boy?" she said to the twiching mass. Zangulus just groaned. "This is getting stupid." With that he left the counter. "Looks like I'll have to take care of Fem-boy myself." ===================================== "So... understand where to go now in Garden?" Gourry asked, hoping to leave and join up with Yagami-sensei. "Yes, I do believe so. Thanks!" The girl then sped off as Gourry shook his head. The girl mostly wasted his time with him. Now there was no time to head back to the dorm to get his stuff. Instructor always preferred her students to be on time. Sighing he headed for the outside, where he knew Hikari would be waiting. ===================================== "There you are. Have you taken care of everything you needed to do?" asked Hikari. "Well, yeah, I'm as ready as I'll ever be," Gourry said, adjusting the sword at his side. "Well then, we'll now be heading to the Fire Cave of Cinnibar. Your test awaits there," Hikari explained, getting her whip ready. "Um... ok." Gourry scratched his head. "So are you going to lead now or what?" "It is all up to you. I'm just your support, Gourry," Hikari said. "Have you junctioned yet?" Gourry nodded. "I just wish I have a few spells to go with my GFs. I ran out in the classroom." "We'll fight a few monsters along the way so you can draw some magic. Not too much, we don't have much time until the SeeD exam." "Hai." With that, they headed of to the Fire Cave of Cinnabar. As the pair walked along, Hikari stole a glance at him. "So, any thoughts about this exam?" "I really don't think much. I just know I have to do it and I will do it," answered Gourry. "Quite an outlook you have there," Yagami remarked with a smile. "It's the only outlook I have," Gourry answered. "There is only one in my life that I know well... my sword." "Anything else that you would have liked to persue?" His instructor asked. "Ummm.... ummmm...." "Are you going to think hard and long on this one, Mr. Gourry Gabriev?" "Maybe," was the reply. "Oy..." Hikari muttered. "Nevermind then. Let's just get to the cave." ===================================== "Instructor Yagami, we have been expecting you," the figure in front of the cave enterance said. "Is this the student that has to take the Fire Cave test?" "Yes." She let Gourry pass as he saluted in the traditional SeeD style. "Gourry Gabriev, Student Number 226474." "Confirmed," the other instructor said. "How much time will you take? Ranging between 10 and 40 minutes." "Ten is plenty," Gourry replied firmly. Yagami sweatdropped. "Ten minutes... are you sure about that?" Unless Gourry had been holding back the whole time, she didn't think Gourry would complete this in ten minutes. "As my friend Dias would say, 'Ten Seconds.'," Gourry said with a smile. The pair blinked at the mention of Dias, one of the best SeeDs out there. It was surprising that the air headed blonde would have met him. "Well... then... I'll notify Blaine from inside the cave of your choice," went the other instructor as he picked up a cell phone. After a moment, the instructor put down the phone. "Your time limit starts as soon as you get within the cave. Good luck, and don't get killed." "I expect not to get a scratch at all," Gourry replied, as he entered the cave, with Hikari towing behind. "Confident, isn't he?" remarked one of the instructors. ===================================== Hikari just watched as she saw Gourry displayed unremarkable skill with the sword. With mere swipes every monster in this cave that literally fell to pieces. "You know... umm... the boys often choke on this test a lot when I come with them.... I think," Hikari commented, noting that Gourry hasn't stopped for one bit. "Well, I'm not like anyone else," Gourry remarked offhandedly as he backhanded a Bomb which fell to the ground, dead from the impact. "I guess I was right. You and Zangulus are in a class of your own. You both have amazing strength and potential." "I said that I'm not like anyone else. And hopefully I'm not anything like Zangulus." HIkari nodded as she built up power, and unleashed a blast of energy from her eyes. "We're almost there, and with plenty of time to spare." She looked at Gourry. "You're not going to choke now, are you?" "Uh uh. No way. Not going to choke," he asnwered in his usual manner. "Good." There was a man standing before the large pit of flames. He was almost bald, wearing the clothing of a hippie. Strangely enough, he wasn't sweating at all. "So... you're the one going to take the Cave test right?" asked the guy. Gourry blinked. "What's a hippie doing here?" "That's Blaine, one of our instructors who watches over the GF's here," Hikari said. "And he's a hippie too?" Gourry asked. Both instructors sweatdropped. "Um, no," Blaine said, coughing into his hand. "Are you ready?" "Of course. Why wouldn't I be?" "Well then." Raising a whistle to his lips, he blew into it. With an eruption of flames, a humanoid creature leapt out of the pit. "Prepare yourselves," he growled, but stopped as light flared around Gourry. "Too late. Diamond Dust!" With that he faded, and a female figure replaced him. "Ok boys, hell is definately going to freeze over today!" she declared. Extending her arm, she turned her wrist upwards, snapping her fingers. Suddenly, ice exploded outwards in a tremendous flash. Ice beganto crystallize in the cavern, turning what once a very hot spot on the Earth into a freezer. "Hehehehe.... ooops. Looks like I over did it." With that the female figure faded. Meramon sweatdropped. "Um, right. I suppose I can't fight now, so I'll join you." With that he turned to a card, which Gourry soon pocketed. "Wow... that was fast." He looked around. "Umm... where's the hippie?" "I think it got too cold for him." Hikari smiled. "Lets go." With that the instructor and student left the frozen cavern. "Hey... what about me? I'm frozen here!" a weak voice called out, but the two didn't pay heed to it. "Oh drat." ===================================== Authors notes (Shaun) : Long since I've thought about Final Fantasy, especially the beautiful graphics of eight, nine and ten. Then, my co-author said, "I would think it would make a good anime." I thought, "Why the hell not?" From this, an interesting brainstorming event was then heard, thundering at about 322344352.65324 decibals overhead. But we worked like mad on this story. Then there was the problem of matching up characters. There's such an abundance of charecters that I thought it to be almost impossible at times. But we have the hotshot martial artist, the loner, the sorceress, etc. Warchild suggested that the main cast should be Slayers focused, much like most of our fanfics tend to become. I thought, "Sure." But if this series was supposed to be anime oriented, then we'd need to alter the casting call a bit. Thus, a lot of the charecters were brought in from different animes like Ranma, Digimon, etc. Well, I figured, some charecters deserved some featurings. I'm not sure how we're going to work Duel Monsters into this series but I'm giving it my best shot. Author's notes(WarChild): This fic to me, is a revival of an old fic that I myself was doing, back in the heyday that I was crazy with Final Fantasy VIII and Pokemon fan fiction. Hence, I was hoping to write a fic where the characters of Pokemon filled the main roles of FF8 with other anime characters filling the roles of the minor cast members of FF8. So to me.... this is a total redone from scatch type of thing, where I don't even have Ash and Misty doing the lead roles of Squall and Rinoa. But that doesn't mean I'll try to find a way to plug them back in. At least I'm keeping Team Rocket as the army for the bad guy. Just wait till you see who I have for Edea. Well... that's another insane fic from the duo of MagicTech Crossover series. Don't know when we'll update. But we will update someday.