Watching Celes ride off with her boyfriend Cyrill, Edge couldn't help but wonder exactly why he had returned her necklace. "Edge, you're a fool. Celes isn't looking for Rydia. Why would she need her necklace?... Sure, she's a better wizard than I am, and could probably get more use out of it than I... but she's still under Edgar's control... now I cannot use magic anymore..." Edge kicked the desert sand in frustration. Tucker smiled in spite of himself. "Problem, Edge?" "No, Tucker, no problem at all," Edge spat. "I just gave a demon- woman the power to destroy the world for her master, Edgar. My friends are hell-knows-where and Rydia is buried in the sands!" Edge grabbed Tucker by his tunic and glared him straight in the eyes. "WHAT COULD POSSIBLY BE WRONG?" Edge, lost in rage, shook Tucker and tossed him to the ground. Tucker, taken aback by Edge's sudden outburst, stared up at him in disbelief. "Relax, man. Celes said that Rydia was only a mile from here. At least we'll be able to get her... besides, I don't see what you're freaking out over. You friends are all alive, somewhere." Tucker stood up and brushed the sand from his clothes. "Sheesh." Edge was breathing heavily now, trying to calm down. "You're right, Tucker," Edge managed through gritted teeth, "I'm sorry. Too many things have happened to me and my friends for me to handle. There. I admit it. I, Edge, King of Eblan, CAN'T HANDLE HIS PROBLEMS!" Edge shouted to no one in particular. Tucker playfully punched Edge in the shoulder. "There, now don't you feel better?" "Actually, no," Edge answered. "Let's find Rydia." Tucker nodded, and the pair were on their way north. ***** Golbez stared at his derelict starship. "Useless piece of junk, couldn't even survive a little crash... Well, I didn't need it ANYWAY." For the first time in perhaps several hundred years, Golbez breathed in the sweet atmosphere of the Blue Planet. Looking around, Golbez could see a seemingly endless range of tundra. This was the Veldt, though Golbez didn't know it. The sun had begun to set, bathing the plains in a red- orange light. "I suppose I'd better find somewhere to bunk down, since my previous accomodations have been summarily destroyed." Golbez liked to use long words when he was peeved. "But where to begin the search...?" To the south, Golbez saw a small mountain. It was perhaps the only feature that the Veldt had. "It would seem that over there would be ideal for my sleeping comfort." Salvaging what he could from the wreckage, Golbez began his trek toward the mountain. ***** Edge and Tucker had been walking for some time. The pair talked during their trek, Tucker telling Edge about the future, and Edge filling in Tucker about the past. Soon, they reached an oasis, where they stopped to rest. "Here's a good spot." Tucker gestured to the oasis. "Sure, whatever," Edge said nonchalantly. Tucker leaned up against a palm tree and threw his hands behind his head. He then closed his eyes and swiftly fell asleep. /Not me,/ Edge thought. Edge didn't have time for sleep. Edge had more important things on his mind. Silenly, so as not to disturb the slumbering Tucker, Edge padded away from the oasis. Not ten minutes later, he came across a large pit in the sand. The pit was roughtly twenty feet in diameter and roughly ten feet deep. It looked like an upside-down cone, its point at the bottom of the pit. "Curious..." Edge moved closer to the brim of the pit. "This looks like the home of some burrowing animal. The thing must be huge..." Suddenly, the sands in the pit began to sink. Edge scrambled away from the pit's brim. "Oh, no, I'm not falling for that," he said. From within the pit, a huge creature arose. The creature was almost ten feet long. It had six legs and huge, bulbous red eyes. Its entire body was a sandy orange color. From the creature's head sprang huge razor-sharp pincers which could easily rend a man in half. It squealed, and eban lumbering towards Edge. "Easy, big fella... I'm not here to steal your kids or anything," Edge said in a calming voice. He was attempting to bend the creature's will through mind control, a technique that only highly-skilled Ninja could attempt. "Why don't you just go back down to your lair and..." Edge suddenly saw something caught on the creature's mandibles. A scrap of cloth. A green scrap of cloth. Edge shuddered. /No,/ he thought. /There's no way.../ Edge suddenly felt the rushing tide of rage fill his heart. This was a different rage, however. Edge had never felt this angry since Dr. Lugae had turned Edge's parents into monsters. Edge's whole body shook, and in a flash, Murasame and Masamune were in Edge's hands. "So, you'd make a meal of MY GIRLFRIEND, would you?" Edge ran and leapt into the air. "I'll make sure you'll never eat anything again!" Edge flipped in mid-air and dove straight at the monster. Swords extended, he landed on the monster's back. Edge then thrusted both blades into the creature's back, right below its neck. The creature squealed in pain, and reared. Edge withdrew his swords and tumbled to the ground. Angered, the creature thrust its powerful mandibles at Edge. The mandibles found their mark, and tore a gash into Edge's right leg. Blood flowed freely from the wound. Edge grimaced. Edge launched another attack. Blades dancing, he sent Murasame high and Masamune low, cutting in the same direction. The blades caught the creature full in the side, opening a nice tear in the creature's stomach. Green ichor oozed from the wound. The monster squelched. The monster launched its counter-attack. From its back, a barrage of stinging, sharp needled flew. They sailed through the air at an incredible speed, striking Edge multiple times. He staggered back under the assault. Breathing hard with exertion, the dance continued for several minutes, with attacks and counter-attacks, darts and needles, mandibles and blades. Both combatants down to their last, Edge slowly crawled back to his feet. Staggering, Edge withdrew a small object from his tunic. It was small and grey, no larger than a baseball. It was spherical in shape and glowed a faint blue. "Hope this thing still works," Edge thought, "or I'm a goner." Edge hurled the spherical object at the monster. The sphere broke with a clap of sound that sounded almost like thunder. From above, streaks of greenish-blue electricity sizzled all about the creature, striking it across the length of its body. The creature's flesh melted under the intense barrage. With a gasp and a wheeze, the creature fell, naught more than a pile of bones. Edge fell back on his haunches, exhausted. "And I thought those were useless," Edge mused. "I always wondered what Cecil wanted with those Lit-Bolts I stole from those blue dragons..." Edge looked into the pit with sad eyes. "I guess there's only one way to know for sure..." he sighed. With a spring, he dove into the creature's lair, and let the sands carry him down, down... ... into a large tunnel, obviously made by the burrowing of a creature. The tunnel extended for a good distance into the pitch darkness. Edge began to follow the tunnel, groping his way through the blackness. ***** Golbez reached the mountain without incident. There appeared to be a cave within the mountain face. A wisp of smoke rolled from within the cave, drifting into the air outside. "Wonderful," Golbez thought, "I'll have to share. I'm sure they'll love my company, whoever they are." Grumbling, Golbez entered the cave. ***** Edge continued his way through the darkness for several long minutes, taking turns where he thought they were and trying to keep his footing. The walls of the cavern were sticky with some unknown substance, while the floors were covered in a slippery ooze. Suddenly, the mouth of the tunnel opened up, and Edge entered a large cavern. From above, a beam of red-orange light pored into the cavern, barely illuminating it. On the other side of the cavern, several large whitish-grey objects lay, spherical in shape. "Those must have been the creature's eggs," Edge reasoned. Something was in the middle of those eggs. It appeared to be a large mass of webbing of some kind. "And that must be the meal for the kidlings..." Edge gasped. Rushing over, Edge drew the Blade of Black, Masamune. He then began to cut his way through the thick, sticky strands of the webbing. Severing the cocoon open, he could not believe what he saw. There was the unconscious form of his beloved Rydia, curled up in the fetal position inside the cocoon. Gently, Edge picked her up into his arms and carried her away from the eggs. Then he heard a roar, coming from the tunnel behind him. Edge looked around frantically. "Gotta put Rydia somewhere safe... There." Several feet above the floor of the cavern, Edge saw a small recess in the wall. Donning his Catclaw once more, Edge threw Rydia over his shoulder and climbed up to the hole. Gently, Edge lay her down on the rough stone. "At least you'll be fine up here... I hope." Edge smiled at the unconscious form. With a nod, he hopped back down to the cavern floor. As Edge touched down, his legs gave way from under him, and he toppled in a heap. Edge groaned in pain. "Can't let the pain... get to me... Ninja do not... feel..." Another roar filled the cavern, echoing several times. "Oh well," Edge thought. "It's been a good life..." From the tunnel, a ghastly pale green light glowed. The brightness was getting more intense. Whatever was roaring, it was definitely coming Edge's way. Fast. "... and I have no regrets..." The cavern burst into light as the creature reached the mouth of the tunnel. "... except that I didn't tell Rydia..." The creature burst through the mouth of the tunnel, obviously larger than the tunnel itself. Huge chunks of rock and silt sprayed the cavern, partly covering Edge in debris. "... that I love her..." A deafening roar filled the cavern. Standing on its hind legs, the creature stood almost as tall as the cavern itself. It pulsated a pale green light from its body. The creature appeared to be made entirely of bone, and resembled the skeleton of a dragon. All eight of its eye sockets burned a greenish-white flame from within, and from its gaping mouth dripped a brown liquid. Acid. Rising to his feet, Edge withdrew his twin blades. The creature spoke to Edge through telepathy. "Power?" Edge spoke aloud. "What power?" the creature offered. "Ebon Flame?" Edge shook his head. "I see no flame here, except that stuff that you're made of." The zombie dragon gestured toward the eggs that sat quietly across the room. "Born? Dragon, you make no sense. What makes this Fire so special?" "You realize, of course, that I cannot allow that to happen, me being alive and all," Edge said defiantly. Edge's glance darted at the crevasse that housed Rydia's sleeping form. "You can't mean Rydia?" "I won't let you touch Rydia, no matter what you do!" Edge raised his swords in the air, and pointed the tip of Murasame at the beast. "I will defend her life at all costs!" Edge ran at the beast, knowing well the cost of defeat. Edge leapt into the air, swinging wildly with his swords. The full height of his jump barely passed the creature's knees. Edge's swords struck the creature in the thigh, chipping small fragments of bone. The Zombie Dragon fought back. With one huge motion, the creature kicked out at Edge, catching him in mid-air. The force of the kick knocked Edge halfway across the cavern. Edge tumbled and rolled as best he could to avoid taking damage from the fall. With a loud THUMP, Edge slumped to the ground. ***** Golbez stalked into the cave, holding a glowing sphere for light. The cavern branched off into a tunnel, which extended for some distance into the mountain. The smoke followed the tunnel, leaving the cave behind Golbez. Wordlessly, Golbez marched down the length of the tunnel. When he reached the mouth of the tunnel, he could only smile. Gathered around a small campfire, four men sat eating some roast Chocobo. They were talking amongst themselves, laughing and having a good time. Their weapons and equipment appeared to be leaning against the wall several feet from them. By the looks of things, they hadn't been here long. With an air of superiority, Golbez entered the chamber. On Golbez's appearance, the men scrambled to their feet, lunging for their weapons. "Hold!" Golbez commanded in a deep, growling voice. "I am not here to smite your lives." "Oh yeah?" one of the men challenged. "And why ARE you here, then? I suppose you're looking for the AntLion's lair as well, aren't you!" "AntLion's lair? Why would I be looking for the nesting place of some insect?" Another of the men chimed in. "Don't play coy with us. You're after the Flame as well." He shook his fist at Golbez. "Well, we're playing for keeps, buster, and you can't stop us from getting it first!" Golbez let that sink in. The Flame. "I am not here to seek this... Flame. I come from the Red Moon. My ship crashed here on this tundra..." "Veldt." The third man, shorter than the rest, offered. "Veldt?" Golbez asked. "The Veldt. Yes. That is the name of this tundra." "I see," said Golbez. The Veldt. Golbez nodded. "Anyhow, I crashed here on the Veldt..." "Wait a sec," the fourth man rose to his feet, and approached Golbez. "You mean to tell me you have an airship?" "HAD an airship, yes," Golbez growled. "Now, as I was saying..." "Let's go see this... airship..." The first man said. "I don't trust this man at all." The others nodded. Golbez clenched his fist. "There is no need of that," he growled, "If it were in any state of repair, I would not have come here. I only came here for shelter and..." The second man sprang to his feet. "If he has an airship, then he must be rich. Only Setzer had enough dough to build an airship." The others grinned, and retrieved their weapons. The group then approached Golbez. "How MUCH cash do you think it takes to build an airship, fellas?" The first man spoke. Apparently he was the leader, and the one Golbez decided to speak to. "Do you actually think I would be carrying enough money to build an airship? What kind of fool do you think I am?" Golbez was quickly losing his temper. "Don't know," answered the fourth man, "How many kinds are there?" "Enough of this," the second man broke in, "Let's just sack him and get on with it." "There'll be no sacking here," Golbez growled, down to his last thread of calmness, "There's no need..." The leader interrupted, "... of us hiding out here in this cave, waiting to find the entrance to the AntLion's lair if you have enough money to support me and my gang for years!" The leader motioned to his followers. "Get him!" In the blink of an eye, Golbez had his blade in hand. The blade itself was carved out of onyx, and hummed quietly. The hilt was made of obsidian, and melded itself to the hand of its wielder. The sword became a part of its master. This was the SoulSabre. The thieves stopped in their tracks, gasping at the weapon that had been thrust in front of them. "Now," Golbez sneered, "Do you still wish to do battle?" "It's only a sword, men! Do your worst!" The leader egged his company on. "Yeah!" The men shouted in unison. They advanced on Golbez. "You have been warned," Golbez cautioned, and struck out with the SoulSabre. The second thief raised his rapier in defense. SoulSabre mashed its way through the blade of the thief and struck him full in the chest. Suddenly, the blade of the SoulSabre glowed with a violet light, and mist escaped from the eyes and mouth of its victim. The thief shuddered once, and fell, his life force drained. Golbez watched the body fall, then looked up at the others. The others were no more; they screamed, dropped their weapons, and fled past Golbez through the mouth of the tunnel to freedom. The leader stood alone, quivering with fear. "I should run you through for this," Golbez spat, "but that is not my way. Tell me where this lair is, and I'll let you walk out of here with both of your legs." The thief dropped to his knees. "I yield! Keep away from me! Here!" The thief tossed a tube to Golbez. While Golbez was distracted, the thief bolted out of the cave, after his followers. Golbez grinned. "A shame they would not listen..." Golbez looked forlornly at the dead body before him. "There was no other way... I am sorry, thief." Golbez then looked at the tube the thief had given him. It was made of bone, and stoppered with a piece of cork. Golbez pulled the cork free and shook the tube. From within, a piece of parchment fell into Golbez's hands. Golbez scanned the document. He then nodded, rolled up the document and put it back into the tube. "Now, to see this 'Flame'," Golbez mused, and began marching farther into the mountain. ***** The creature advanced on Edge's crumpled form. Edge tried to scramble to his feet, but he just couldn't manage to strength to do so. Sitting, Edge withdrew a throwing device that he had saved from the underground. FullMoon. Edge wielded FullMoon and hurled it at the Zombie Dragon. The FullMoon glowed as it soared through the air, leaving a trail of bright silver light behind it. As it approached the Zombie Dragon, it seemed to scream. The FullMoon blasted its way into the Zombie Dragon's chest, shattering a rib. The FullMoon was said to be blessed with sacred power, and that power had shone through. Edge breahed a sigh of relief. The FullMoon then arced in the air and returned to its thrower. The Zombie Dragon merely flinched. The ground shook, and ripped open beneath Edge. Not having the strength to dodge the attack, Edge fell into the hole that had been created by the Zombie Dragon. The ground then closed about Edge, trapping his arms against his sides and burying him mid-way to his chest. Edge moaned. The dragon reared, and inhaled deeply. Edge knew what was to come next. "Hopefully, enough of my body will be eaten so that noone recognizes me..." Edge hung his head in hopelessness, awaiting the spray of acid that was inevitable. From above, a streak of light flashed. Suddenly, a ball of fire exploded on the beast's chest, knocking it back a step. "Hey, Edge!" A familiar voice called out. "TUCKER!" Edge would have been overjoyed, were he not trapped within the earth. "Get Rydia! She's over there!" Edge nodded his head toward the crevasse that held Rydia. "Shouldn't I worry about you first?" Tucker called. "You're the one in danger!" "DO IT!" Edge bellowed. Tucker pointed his hand into the cavern, and spoke a quiet command. "Extend." From his arm, a steel claw shot into the hole above the cavern where Edge lay paralyzed. It sailed through the air, and latched onto the cavern wall some distance away. Tucker grabbed hold of the wire that hung behind the claw, and swung down into the cavern. "Yee-HAW!" he called, somehow enjoying himself. The beast recovered from the initial shock of Tucker's fireball. It now focused its attention on the man who was swinging into the cavern. The Zombie Dragon unleashed a fury of scalding acid at Tucker. "NO!" Edge shouted. Tucker was oblivious to the scene. Without benefit of being able to dodge, Tucker was easy prey for the stream of acid. It engulfed him and his wire, severing the wire and burning through Tucker's clothing and flesh. Tucker could only scream as the pain of the acid and the pain of his fall to the ground hit home. Tucker lay there, stunned. Edge groaned. "You big goof," Edge said, "You could have at least snuck in..." Tucker recovered quickly, however. Edge was amazed. Tucker stood up, TechSword in hand, ready to do battle. "How... how'd you live through that?!" Edge stammered. "Tell you later," Tucker smiled and blasted another fireball at the Zombie Dragon. "In the meantime, I'll just save your butt." Tucker smiled inwardly as the blast rocked the Zombie Dragon back another step. ***** Golbez followed the directions of the parchment to a tunnel entrance, obviously made by a burrowing creature. Golbez grinned. "Well, down I go..." ***** Tucker and the Zombie Dragon continued their dance, Tucker being pummeled by the beast's great chitinous talons and jaw, and Tucker dealing out explosive fire damage to the Dragon. Neither seemed to be suffering much for the blows. Edge could only watch on in amazement and cheer when it didn't hurt so much. "You're not too bad yourself, there, smiley." Tucker laughed. The Dragon's eight eyes flared brightly, and the flames that burned within left their sockets and began circling Tucker. "What the hell...?" Tucker managed. "Is that it?" The Dragon just stood there, smiling its bony smile. Tucker charged up his Techsword to full power. "This should make short work of these little balls..." The Techsword flared with the power of Fire. Edge tried to shout to Tucker, "NO! That's what he..." but then blacked out for the effort. Tucker swung at the wisps that circled him. He struck one of them, and his sword cut cleanly through it. The wisp glowed briefly, the winked out of existence. What Tucker didn't notice in his frenzy was that the Dragon was reconstructing its body with the energy it was stealing from Tucker's sword. By the time that Tucker had defeated all eight of the wisps, the Dragon had fully recovered from the explosions and was in full fighting condition. Tucker turned to Edge. "Now that's how a real... Edge!" Tucker noticed that Edge had blacked out, and ran over to him. As Tucker ran, the ground below him ripped open. Tucker, caught by surprise, fell into the small abyss. The ground then closed shut about Tucker, sending his sword skittering across the cavern floor. Now Tucker was trapped as well. Tucker yelled, "Wha...!" and was pinned. The Dragon laughed a telepathic laugh. The Dragon advanced on the hapless pair. ***** Golbez followed the tunnel for some time, aided by the light of his sphere. He reached a branch in the tunnel, which reached upwards to the sky. "Interesting," Golbez noted. "Shouldn't the creature who made this hole be here? Seems like a pointless trap otherwise..." Golbez shrugged, and continued his trek down the tunnel. Several minutes later, Golbez reached the mouth of the tunnel. An eerie green glow filled the mouth of the tunnel, dwarfing Golbez's own light source. Golbez put the sphere away, and carefully approached the source of the glow. Golbez was amazed at what he saw. A huge Dragon made entirely of bone stood as tall as the cavern. It loomed over two forms that appeared to be trapped in the living earth itself! Golbez withdrew his SoulSabre. "Now, to begin to amend my past guilt by acting hero." Golbez held his SoulSabre aloft and shouted, "Virus!" A dark green cloud of globules covered the body of the Zombie Dragon. Instantly, it began eating away at the bone's chitinous material, making its way to the bone marrow. The Dragon shuddered. The Dragon turned its form around to stare down at the Dark Knight that was Golbez. "*I* dare." Golbez challenged. "I have come for the Flame, and to save those two forms that would be your meal!" The Dragon reared, and unleashed acidic death on Golbez.