This is a Star Fox/ Final Fantasy crossover.

Star Fox and all related characters and locations are copyright (c)
1991, 1993, 1998 by Nintendo of America, Inc. Used without permission.

Final Fantasy and all related characters and locations are copyright (c)
1997 by Square Electronic Arts, L.L.C. Used without permission.

Darius Starfire, Admiral Blath, and Zeras, as well as the story plot,
are copyright (c) 1998 by Joel L. Morgan. You may use my chars in your
story as long as you E-MAIL ME FIRST AND CREDIT ME IN YOUR STORIES!!!
The address is WOLFHOUND21@webtv.net.

WARNING: this story may contain mild language.

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           &nb sp;  STARFOX: WORLDS APART
           &nb sp;           &nbs p;   CHAPTER 3

"SAY WHAT!"

Fox sat bolt upright and stared directly at Tifa, his green eyes showing
a glimmer of hope.

"Yeah, " Tifa answered, surprised by his sudden outburst. "I think we
can help. Cloud, did you bring our Materia?"

"Yeah, but I've gotta go find it.", Cloud answered.

"Materia?, " Fox inquired, "What's that?"

"I'll explain it to you while Cloud looks for it. Materia is condensed
Mako energy."

"Mako?", Fox questioned again, still not believing. But, he was willing
to grasp at any straw.

"Mako energy is the lifeblood of our planet," Tifa explained. "When we
use Materia, we connect ourselves to the planet, which in turn allows us
to use its powers. The power of the Ancients..."

"The...Ancients?"

"Remind me to have RedXIII explain it to you in more detail, at a better
time.",Tifa said to Fox. "Cloud, have you found it yet?"

"Hold on a sec...yeah, here it is. Which ones do you need?"

"The strongest curative magics and summons we have.", Tifa replied,
bluntly. She knew that time was of the essence.

"OK." He pulled two green stones, one red one, and one yellow. "I've got
the Restore and Fullcure Materia, the Enemy Skill Materia with a couple
healing ones, and.. " He chuckled, in spite of the tension, at the irony
of the final stone he gave her,"...Phoenix. But, Tifa, I'm not sure that
they will work on this world."

"We have to try it, Cloud." Tifa looked back over at Fara, still lying
motionless on the hospital bed. She and Fox reminded her so much of
herself and Cloud not too long ago. "For Fara's sake, we have to try."

"Well, then. Here goes." He held the first green stone and closed his
eyes. "Cure."

Nothing happened.

He tried another spell,"Cure two."

Nothing.

"Cure three."

Again, nothing hapened. He then took the other green stone. "Fullcure.",
he spoke

Still, nothing happened and he could feel his own despair growing. He
took the yellow stone in the hopes that one of the skills he'd picked up
in battle would help.

"White Wind!"

Nothing happened.

"Angel Whisper!"

Still, nothing.

He had gone through every curative spell he could think of. Now only the
red summon stone remained to try.If it didn't work...

But Fox had already seen the light of hope that Cloud had offered him,
and it steadfastly refused to be extinguished. "Cloud, I know that it
sounds crazy, but...let me try."

Cloud was surprised. "Fox, you don't know how..."

"Cloud, I'd walk through the fires of hell itself just to save her."

Cloud, against that logic, could only watch as Fox took the Materia
crystal from him. Instantly, the knowledge for the summon spell came
into his mind. "So this is the power that Tifa was talking about.", Fox
thought to himself.

Then he closed his eyes and spoke the words of the spell. "Great fire
bird of life, give me your power...PHOENIX FLAME!"

Suddenly, Fox vanished.  Where he stood, a drop of pure magical fire hit
the ground. Suddenly, a huge bird made of fire appeared, wings folded.
It spread its wings and a soft light began to fill the room. Then, the
light faded and Fox reappeared.

For long moments, no one in the room uttered a sound. Fox began to lower
his head, thinking that he'd failed her...

Suddenly, the blip on the brainwave indicator began to move more
rapidly, For the first time in two days, Fara Phoenix opened her eyes.
"Uhh... Fox...what...what happened?"

"Fara, you're alright!", Fox exclaimed, overjoyed. He ran over to
embrace her, and he didn't let go for a long time. For him, two days
without her seemed like an eternity.

Finally, Fara managed to recover enough strength to reply."Yeah, I'm
alright, though I've got a KILLER headache." Then she looked around the
room. "Who are all these guys? They look...different."

Red XIII was talking to Cloud. "I think that it was the way Fox's
natural spirit energy interacted  with that of the planet. That's why
your magic wasn't working-you're not attuned to THIS planet."

Fara whispered to Fox, perplexed, "Magic? Spirit energy? Fox, just WHO
are these people?"

Fox fumbled for an explanation, then he simply answered, "These are the
people who saved your life...the ones that brought you back..." Then he
embraced her again. "Fara, I thought...that...I wouldn't...that
you...were..." He was too overwhelmed by emotion to continue.

Cloud and his friends turned to leave to give the two lovers a little
time alone. "Wait..." Fox suddenly said. "I...I owe you so much. Thank
you, Cloud. You've given me back my reason for living.  If there's
anything in my power that I can do to repay that debt, I'll gladly do
it. And, besides, there are a few things I want to know about. What's
going on?"

Fara added, "Yeah, I'm kinda lost here myself."

Cloud laughed. "Well, I suppose that I could explain why we're here.
There is a huge fireball called Meteor headed for your world."

Fox said, "OK, but there's more I want to know. About the Ancients. Who
or what were they?"

"A long time ago, a race calling themselves the Cetra, or 'Ancients' in
our language, roamed the worlds of our galaxy. Some grew tired of
wandering and stayed on Earth, our homeworld.They gradually disappeared
until only one was left..." Here, Cloud stopped to regain his composure.

Unbeknownst to everyone, Darius had walked into the room. He waked over
to RedXIII.

"Hello. ", Red XIII said to him, then, noticing his pendant, asked,"
That is a most interesting pendant you wear. May I see it?"

"Sure. There's an inscription on the back that I can't read though. Hey,
you don't suppose...I mean, you are pretty smart and seem to know a
lot..do you know what it means?"

" I am honored, Darius. Maybe I can read it. Let's take a look. shall
we?"

Darius handed him the pendant. Red XIII turned it over to look at the
inscription. He pored over the strange characters for a few moments.
then, he recognized them--and realized they shouldn't have existed here.
He let out a yelp of surprise.

"Nanaki, "Cloud asked, using RedXIII's true name, which he rarely did
except when something troubled his comrade,"what is it?'

"It...it can't be possible.", Red XIII stammered.

"What?" , Cloud retorted.

"These letters...they're...Ancients' writing..."

"WHAT!", Cloud shouted, now just as surprised as his friend.

"If that's true, then the Ancients DID settle on another planet, and..."

"And Aeris wasn't the last." Cloud completed Red XIII's statement.  This
was becoming very strange, indeed. But, it could mean a new hope--for
both their worlds.

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           &nb sp;         -END OF CHAPTER 3-