The Figaro Brothers

by Casey Gilman

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A Reintroduction	The Figaro Brothers	The Treasure Hunters	Tales of the Thamasans
The Lone Ninja	The Adventures of Terra	Figaro, Vol. 2	Treasure, Vol. 2
Thamasans, Vol. 2	Ninja, Vol. 2	Terra, Vol. 2	Figaro, Vol. 3
Treasure, Vol. 3	Thamasans, Vol. 3	Ninja, Vol. 3	Terra, Vol. 3
Figaro, Vol. 4
The Final Chapters: Mechanical Magic
Magic, Vol. 1	Magic, Vol. 2	Magic, Vol. 3	Magic, Vol. 4
Magic, Vol. 5

A Futile Fight

Three card-shaped blades flew through the air, hitting a robed soldier in the chest. As the soldier dropped, a barrage of arrows ended the lives of five more soldiers. Setzer and Edgar were facing off against a small army, composed of the Cult of Kefka. The odds were overwhelming, but they fought bravely.

"Nice hit!" Edgar told Setzer.

"You too!" was Setzer's reply.

One soldier charged at Edgar, who clubbed him in the head with his AutoCrossbow.

"We may have a chance at winning this, yet!" declared Edgar.

"Yeah," said Setzer, who was dodging the sword strokes of a soldier,"But we'd have a better chance if Sabin were here!"

"Hopefully he'll come back and help us!" cried Edgar.

* * *

Sabin had reached the wreck of the Falcon. He stopped and looked back. He couldn't see Setzer or his brother. All he could see was a white and gray mass.

"The army must've caught up to them," Sabin said to himself,"I knew we shouldn't have tried to run away!"

Sabin turned around, and began sprinting back towards the army.

* * *

"I don't know how much longer we can hold out!" cried Edgar.

"Me neither!" exclaimed Setzer,"I'm running out of cards!"

They were getting tired, and the army was relentless.

Though he was still near the back of the battle, Ovid saw much of what was happening.

'Why do those fools even bother?' he thought to himself.

The tired duo were no longer back far enough to throw cards, and shoot arrows. Setzer was using his fists, and Edgar was using his AutoCrossbow as a club. They were not doing very well.

"I can't go on anymore," Edgar was panting.

Just then, a long white beam tore through the army, knocking people back, and taking the lives of them. The cult army was reduced by half.

"It's Sabin!" cried Setzer.

"It's about time!" cried Edgar.

The fact that they might actually win this battle, cause Edgar and Setzer to gain a second wind.

"Blast it!" exclaimed Ovid,"I'll fix them!"

He turned around, and ran back toward Zozo. Edgar, Sabin, and Setzer still did not realize that he was there.

Back in the battle, Sabin was slicing left and right with his dragon claw.

"I knew that running away was the wrong thing to do!" he cried.

Edgar and Setzer were once again using the AutoCrossbow, and throwing blades.

* * *

Ovid rushed into a small, rundown building in Zozo.

'This was a great place to hide supplies!' he thought.

He moved a floorboard and pulled out five spheres, about the size of basketballs.

'And down for the propelling device,' he thought.

He moved a sliding panel in the wall, revealing a secret compartment. He pulled out a large tube, similar to a bazooka. He dropped it, and the black spheres, into a wheeled cart, and began pushing it out of the building.

"They were fools for taking us on!" he cried, as he hurried out of town.

* * *

The army was almost defeated, but about twenty of them still remained.

"I think we're going to pull this off!" exclaimed Setzer.

"Of course we are!" cried Sabin in reply,"We're Returners, remember?"

Just then, an object screamed over their heads. Part of one of the surrounding mountains exploded. Debris, ranging from pebbles to boulders, flew through the air, crashing on the battle ground below. The fighting immediately stopped, and everyone looked around, puzzled.

"What was THAT?!" Setzer was shocked.

"I have no idea!" cried Edgar.

"It came from that direction!" Sabin pointed toward Zozo, behind the remainder of the army. Everyone turned around, and saw Ovid. He had the tube on his shoulder, and the cart was to his right.

"Was he leading the attack?" asked Edgar.

"I don't know," answered Sabin,"But he's created one heck of a device!"

"What a weapon!" cried one of the white and gray robed men.

"Surely we will triumph!" declared another,"Our master is a genius to invent such a thing!"

"Surrender now!" demanded Ovid,"or pay the price!"

"We'll never surrender to you, you ugly little maggot!" cried Sabin.

"Have it your way!" Ovid grinned.

He loaded another sphere into the tube. He aimed in the general direction of the three heroes, but made sure he wasn't pointed directly at Edgar. He had been ordered to take Edgar as a prisoner, but Sabin and Setzer were expendable.

Ovid pressed a big red button, and ejected the sphere.

"Incoming!" yelled Setzer, as everyone scattered, including the cult.

The sphere impacted on the ground. Pieces of dirt and soil became airborne, and everyone was flung to the ground.

Sabin looked up, and saw an enormous crater in the ground. He saw that his brother, and Setzer were on the ground, but they were still alive. He noticed that there were only about ten cult members still alive. After looking at all the bodies on the ground, about two hundred fifty, he realized that the death toll of this battle had been very high.

"You need to work on your aim!" cried Edgar, as he and everyone else stood up.

"I won't miss again!" cried Ovid. He loaded, and shot another one through the air. The three Returners were all within twenty feet of each other, making it easy for one blast to hit them all.

This blast hit much closer than the last one. The explosion also seemed to be much bigger. The was a brilliant flash, as Setzer, Edgar, and Sabin were hurled into the air. Setzer landed on his back, and was instantly unconscious. Edgar landed on his right arm, and he heard it snap like a twig. Then he quickly lost consciousness. Sabin landed somewhat skillfully on his feet, and wasn't as badly hurt as his two companions. The ten cult members were fairly untouched this time.

"What an explosion!" cried Ovid, who was almost close enough to be affected by it himself, "That had to be an accident, but it was a fortunate one!"

Ovid saw, about twenty-five feet before him, an injured man with a shredded brown coat. He rushed over to where Setzer had been flung, and stopped.

"So help me," said Sabin,"If you've killed either of them..."

"You'll do what?!" exclaimed Ovid.

There was a brief silence.

"This one may be dead already," Ovid looked down at Setzer,"But I can guarantee it, if you down surrender!"

"Alright," said Sabin,"You win."

Four cult members approached him, and stripped him of his weapons. They began to lead him toward Zozo. Three more carried Edgar, and another three carried Setzer, in the same direction. Ovid followed.

"And this is only the first triumph of our great cult!" cried Ovid.

* * *

Edgar awoke, hours later, in a strange, dark room. It looked like a cavern, except for the fact that the walls seemed to be made of metal. There was a dim candle lit on a table beside him. He noticed that he was strapped to a chair.

'A waste of material,' thought Edgar,'I'm too weak to get out even if I had someone leading me.'

The young king also noticed that his right arm was in a cast, and that there were a few small bandages on his face.

'I must've broken it,' he realized.

"You are finally awake," said a voice from the shadows.

"Who are you?" asked Edgar.

"I am the leader of this great cult," replied the evil voice.

He stepped out of the shadows, and into the light.

Due to his weakened state, and the shock of the sight before him, Edgar could hardly speak.

"K-K-K-Kefka!" he exclaimed.