Revenge-Seeking Renegade (A Jumpchain renegade story, Currently in Pokemon Legends Arceus) Crossover (2024)

It was the fourteenth of August when they finally set off for Kefka's tower. The Falcon was fast but this flight was still taking hours.

During this time, Setzer broke out all of the rare items they'd gathered from around the world. Everything had been in preparation for this day.

All of the magic users, including Joshua, were handed a small circlet each. These had been bought a while ago as they amplified the wearer's magic while also providing decent defence against shots to the head.

Joshua was also given a diamond-studded vest that would protect him from harm and a stud earing that would amplify his magic. Lastly they gave him a small shield with a lightning symbol on the front, meant to protect against a variety of elements.

After everyone was equipped, a variety of consumable items were passed around. X-Potions were common but the mages also got several varieties of Ethers. Everyone also carried Phoenix downs, even though almost everyone knew revival spells at this point. Echo Herbs and similar status cures were then handed out where needed. The herbs would be very important as Casters could heal most afflictions if they weren't silent.

With all that set up, everyone just rested. The final battle was coming after all.

Attacking the tower from the ground wasn't reasonable so instead they planned to fly the Falcon in and land on the side of the tower where there was an opening.

As the Falcon flew into place Edgar called out to rally everyone.

"It's time to break into Kefka's domain!"

Celes nodded but looked distracted so Setzer glanced back towards her and asked "What's wrong?"

Celes was silent for a moment before answering.

"Correct me if I'm mistaken, but the statues- which we will need to destroy to stop Kefka- are also what gives the Espers the magical energy they need to survive?"

Edgar paused too and looked at her "Well?"

"I'm not sure, but…"

Strago answered for her though "The Espers, and likely magic too, will disappear from this world."

Locke looked back at Terra. She seemed not to be listening but she must have heard.

Joshua nodded slowly. Terra was half-esper after all. It's possible that doing this would kill her. At the very least it would kill any Esper that had managed to survive this long.

"I'm fine." Terra said, looking back at them all, "This is for a peaceful world after all."

…She was content with it. Content with the fact she may have to die and break the promise she made to the children in order to create a peaceful world for them.

Setzer looked at the tower as they approached.

"There are three entry points, we should send teams into all three of them to ensure at least one of them gets to Kefka."

Celes agreed and they began planning.

Team one was Edgar, Celes, Mog, Umaro (the yeti) and Setzer

Team two was Sabin, Terra, Locke, Gogo (the mime) and Gau

Team three was Cyan, Relm, Strago, Shadow and Joshua.

While Setzer was part of Team one, he needed to deploy last so the airship could keep its pilot. Thus, team two was the first one to get started exploring Kefka's tower.

They prayed for their safety. Terra had even gone in first, hopefully she'd get through this all alive.

Setzer dropped team three off at the east opening and they began their climb from there.

Cyan and Shadow led the way through the meandering tunnels and the ruins of Vector. This tower had been made out of the area around that city after all.

They saw familiar chunks of the Magitech factory from when they'd infiltrated it.They even saw a familiar monster, a massive hulking beast that looked like what they'd fought when they had escaped the factory.

Well, "They", Josha was the only member of this team that had been there.

"Joshua, with me!" Strago yelled

""Grand Delta!""

As they cast, they blasted the monster away. It took a few more spells to defeat it but they were victorious in the end.

They took a small break after that to recover their strength.

"Shadow- no, Clyde-" Strago began. Shadow shook his head forcefully though.

"That isn't my name, not anymore."

"F…" Relm hesitated "Father. I heard you left because you wanted us to be safe."

Shadow hesitated before finally nodding "I did. There was always a chance my past would catch up with me if I stayed. I refused to put you through that after your mother had died."

Strago snorted at that "You left a girl who had just lost her mother, leaving her an orphan if not for the other villagers and I."

Shadow took a moment and then nodded "I did, it's why even if the threats from my past were destroyed in the cataclysm, I still wouldn't deserve the name Clyde anymore."

Relm clenched her teeth.

"But… if you vanished again after you came back, it would just hurt all over again."

Shadow just looked away after that.

The team finished resting and continued to explore. They found a staircase down and followed it into another ruined section of the Magitech factory. As they followed it though, they broke back out to the exterior of the tower. They were much higher up now after their wanderings.

As they climbed, they even caught sight of team one.

"Celes!"

She turned and saw them before nodding. They were all safe so far, it seemed to say.

When they eventually found another opening, it led into what looked like the Vector palace. Joshua remembered this place too.

He remembered the Emperor's tricks. How he claimed to want peace while he was just looking for an opening to steal the power of the remaining Espers.

Within one of the rooms they found a dragon's nest. As they stepped inside though, they heard a roar as the Skull Dragon flew in through a small hole in the wall and stood ready to protect its horde.

The final of the eight legendary dragons stood before them. It was skeletal but its wings still apparently gave it the ability to fly. It could also tunnel through the surface of the tower as the team began casting spells at it.

"Holy!" Relm and Joshua called as Cyan rushed in with his sword.

The strange thing was the skeletal dragon wasn't actually undead. Joshua tested it with a quick cast of Cure. It was a magical dragon, not something that has returned from the grave.

Or at least, it didn't return from the grave. When they defeated it, mana rushed in from the surrounding area and the Dragon lurched back up. As long as it had the mana to regenerate, this battle couldn't end.

Everyone switched over to spells that damaged the target's mana.

"Rasp!"
"Osmose!"

The small that drained a target's MP was useless against undead but again, this dragon wasn't undead. Maybe that was why he looked like this? He was trying to trick people into thinking it wasn't worth it to drain away his mana.

After a few minutes more, the dragon collapsed.

Before them, something strange manifested. A stone tablet and a piece of magicite.

"I am Crusader." It spoke in their minds "I was long ago sealed with the Legendary Dragons. With their defeat, use me as you will to protect this world."

Relm took possession of the magicite and they continued on up the tower. They must surely be at least at the halfway point by now, right?

As they walked through a room taken from the factory, they saw team two on another catwalk.

"Hey Everyone!" Sabin called when he saw them "How's it going?"

"Good!" Cyan called back.

Joshua nodded "We've beaten the last of the legendary dragons and freed another Magicite!"

Terra smiled "Good. That means there's only one more threat."

Both teams continued down their separate paths but the paths were close to each other. They were standing on what used to be the outside of Vector palace now. Team one showed up as well and together they made there way through a tricky puzzle involving switches before each branching off to fight another challenge themselves.

These challenges were the warring Triad themselves, before Joshua's team was one of the three statues. The Demon's grimace worsened as it broke free from its stone prison and the fight began.

Holy spells flew around and Strago clapped his hands together "Mighty Guard!"

Joshua was surprised for a moment as he cast another Holy.

"Where were you hiding that old man?"

Strago grinned "I found it during the last few days. One of the monsters on the Veldt knew it when we split up to look for Gau."

Joshua made a mental note of its spell formula as the fight with the demon continued. It unleashed powerful ice magic that Strago worked hard to protect them from as Joshua and Relm cast Holy repeatedly.

Finally the fiend roared and started glowing. Joshua knew what that sort of shine looked like by now.

"It's got a reflect!"

Shadow jumped in to attack the fiend directly but his attacks went straight through the monster. It was also projecting its illusion around to mislead them all.

Joshua and Relm worked together to use Ultima but it was tiring to cast it so many times. Cyan though stood back, closed his eyes and seemed to be meditating.

"Cyan?!" Joshua asked worriedly. The man didn't respond so Joshua was worried this was some attack of the fiends.

He kept casting though as Strago unleashed a White wind to keep everyone healthy.

Finally, Cyan was ready. His eyes opened with a snap as he raised his katana overhead.

"Oblivion!"

One perfect slice. It hit through the illusion and struck at the heart of the already weakened fiend.

The fiend collapsed and the statue that it had been born from was destroyed. An ancient god- no. The mightiest of Espers, one of those that magic flowed from to fuel this world, fell.

It brought something back to Joshua. He remembered that he'd fought a godlike being before along with his monsters.

…No, they were called Pokemon.

They'd felled a god before.

They were near the very top of the tower. They reunited with the rest of the team just before the pinnacle.

All fifteen of them, the fifteen heroes who would save the world.

The warring triad had fallen but Kefka still remained. He had taken the power of the gods and was currently the source of all mana in the world.

Killing him would bring an end to this long journey at last. Joshua's anger burned bright. The once crystalline flame, tempered by weeks forced to watch Kefka's human cruelty had been refined from this long journey into a perfectly clear motivation.

"It's time."

Celes nodded at Joshua's words.

Terra smiled at those around her "Come on then, let's end this now."

They headed up to the pinnacle.

View: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-yqdYCmpF_I

Kefka awaited them there. He was still in human form but all of them could sense the mana rippling off his body. It wasn't unlimited, his supply from the triad had been severed. Given a few decades it would run out.

The world didn't have decades though, Kefka would destroy the world entirely long before he lost his power.

That meant they had to kill him, here and now.

"I knew you'd make it here so I've prepared some suitable entertainment for you!" He called to them. "I've tapped into ultimate power- observe!"

With a flick of his wrist he levitated all of the heroes into the air and flew them around.

"Such magnificent power, you're all insects to me! I will exterminate everyone! Everything!"

He crashed all of them to the ground but as they staggered up to their feet, Celes spoke.

"No matter what, people will keep rebuilding the things you take from them!"

Kefka turned away to look over the world before noting "Then I'll destroy those too? Why do people rebuild things they know are going to be destroyed? Why do people cling to life when they know they can't live forever?"

As he was looking away, the heroes advanced, climbing up the stone around him ready to fight.

"It's not the result of one's life that's important!" Terra noted when she was in position "It's the day-to-day concerns, the personal victories, the celebration of life and love!"

Kefka sent her flying at that but Locke caught her and Celes caught him, the three of them recovered and got everyone safe again.

Strago spoke next "It's simply enough if people can experience the joy that each day can bring!"

Kefka looked over them all, arranged and ready to fight him.

"And have you found this 'joy' anywhere in this nearly dead world of ours?"

"YES!" Everyone yelled at once.

"I've learned what love is!" Terra continued.

"I've learned to celebrate life and living!" Lock added

Cyan held his fist to his heart "My family lives on inside me!"

"I know what friendship and family are." Shadow noted quietly.

Strago and Relm nodded.

"I have a special granddaughter!"

"And I have a brave grandpa who'll stand by me through all of this. And I have my father who's returned at last!"

Edgar and Sabin then took over.

"I can still build my kingdom that guarantees freedom and dignity!"

"I have come to experience anew the love of my brother!"

Setzer nodded "I have my friend's airship and the love she left me!"

Mog joined in "No matter what, I'll still have the friends around me now, kupo." and Umaro roared in agreement.

Gau and Gogo spoke at once "My friends here! I care for them!"

Joshua looked up "I don't remember them clearly, but I know I have my monsters and the people around here to rely on. I'm not alone!"

Celes was the last "I've met someone who can accept me for what I am."

And then… Kefka chuckled.

View: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Sxe71i8Hegg

"You're all sickening. You sound like chapters from a self-help book. Friends and hope. Family and stupid love. All of it! It's pointless! Prepare yourselves! For my next trick: I'll make all of you disappear!"

He raised his hands and the light of judgement shot across the ruined world below!

"Kefka, stop!" Celes called out "You don't know what you're doing!"

"No, I simply don't care what I'm doing." Kefka corrected in a sickeningly sweet voice before he grew serious again "I command the greatest power in the universe! You are all helpless before me!"

The pinnacle rose higher, carrying Kefka with it. At the same time though, the tower rose up in other ways, lifting the heroes to his height too.

"I will destroy everything... I will create a monument to non-existence!" Kefka yelled.

Terra yelled out "Life will go on! There will always be people, and dreams!"

"No! I will hunt them down. I will destroy it all! Destroy! Destroy! Destroy!" Kefka yelled madly, laughing all the same.

Locke continued for Terra "We will not allow you to harm another living thing."

"Hee, hee, hee!! But what fun is destruction if no 'precious' lives are lost!" Kefka continued in his mocking tone.

"It's over Kefka!" Joshua demanded, pointing his sparkblade at Kefka's heart "It's time for your judgement!"

View: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cZ9uBpJd_RQ

Kefka yelled and the tower shifted. Magic taking the form of monsters from his own mind- Kefka's nightmares manafest.

"Then judge me if you can, I'll see you all turned to dust on the wind!"

The nightmares were a new form of the warring triad, Kefka's divinity made real. And that meant they could attack it!

"Team one!" Edgar called "With me, we'll defeat this first fiend!"

First was a demonic being. Team one brought their best against it.

As Mog danced water rushed across the battlefield. Umaro roared and attacked the face of the demon.

Celes was standing back a bit, casting Libra to analyse the enemy.

Setzer cast Death and managed to instantly destroy one of the arms while Edgar began hacking away at the demons face with a chainsaw alongside Umaro.

As the demon burned and was breaking apart, it got in one more lucky hit and knocked Mog away. Team one rallied to keep the little moogle safe while team two moved on to fight the next tier of Kefka's divine tower.

View: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WdCONwKC2vA

There were four targets on this tier and team two split them between themselves.

Terra and Gogo targeted part of the statue that casted magic. They silenced it and then repeatedly cast Ultima. Rather Terra cast Ultima in her Esper form and Gogo mimicked her.

Sabin took on the blue statue that was punching and lashing about rapidly. His Raging Fist matched the statues 10-hit combo blow for blow. He was exhausted at the end of it though.

Gau fought the tiger head statue. He drove himself into a frenzy like a stray cat and rushed at the head as it tried to cast high level magic. The tiger bit him at a strange necromantic pathogen was put into his body that meant healing hurt him. Gau managed a finishing blow on the tiger head before retreating with Sabin.

Locke was the last and he took on the machinery around and between the statues. He cut into it with his knife and tried to sever important things. Locke then had an idea and found that the machinery was vulnerable to doom.

The collection of statues, a monument to Kefka's vanity and his disrespect for all things, crumbled apart as Gau and Sabin got healing from the first team. It was time for the third team to move in though.

View: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Tkyb-DqcLzE

This phase just had two statues. A maiden and a wounded messiah. Kefka's god complex made real and solid.

The messiah was casting dangerous magic so it was the first target. Not that it was enough as the lady released white wind that was mending the wounds of the wounded messiah.

Joshua rushed in with Relm.

"Ultima!" With the two of them together, they blasted the statue away and turned their attention to the messiah.

Cyan hacked away at it with his bushido techniques, Strago cast Grand Delta and Shadow threw a collection of weapons at the statue. Relm and Joshua joined in too and assisted taking it down with non-elemental magic. Or in Joshua's case just stabbing the statue multiple times with his sparkblade.

When it fell though, a great blast of magic came out of it It looked to be aiming for Relm so basically everyone jumped in the way to try and intercept it. Cyan and Shadow were the ones to actually catch the attack though.

Their hearts stopped. Brain activity ceased instantly.

"Damn it!" Joshua yelled, falling back with the rest of team one "Arise!"

They would recover from this, the brain wasn't damaged by weeks passing. Even instant death could be cured as long as no time was wasted. The power of phoenix burned and revived the Only mostly dead while teams one and two stepped forward.

From the sky Kefka descended in a divine form.

This was his everything. The god called Kefka. No, the man called Kefka.

He really was just a man. He was like those magical spirits back in his cult's tower. Raw power investing a living host. He was in a way even less of a god than the warring triad had been.

That said, he was stronger than that unknown god that Joshua had faced before.

"Life." Kefka noted "Dreams, Hope. Where'd they come from? And where are they headed...?"

The man reflected on his mad journey for a moment. For that one crystal moment, he saw his entire life flash before his eyes.

From his start in the army, to his experiments to make him a magitek knight, to his deeds to become a god.

"These things... I am going to destroy!"

"Heartless Angel!"

Kefka's ultimate spell washed across the party, blasting them to near-death in a single blow.

Locke was ready though. He had used Phoenix long enough. Not just phoenix, he had trained with every healing Magicite the team had obtained in those few short days.

"Curaga!"

That single spell washed across them all, healing the damage from Heartless Angel.

The fight began in earnest, everyone taking their best shots at Kefka.

Celes unleashed an Ultima that was quickly mimicked by Gogo, it destroyed some of Kefka's cloak.

That wasn't as minor a wound as it looked. Kefka's being was all one thing now, destroying his cape was the same as destroying his body in a way.

Kefka unleashed more spells to silence the two of them but as they used Echo Herbs, Terra took over. She returned to her Esper form and dualcasted Ultima and Flare. The wave of power struck Kefka and for what might be the first time since he became a god, Kefka began to worry.

"The end draws near." he murmured before lifting his hand. He was preparing to use a supremely powerful attack.

Setzer threw up a shell barrier to reduce the damage as Kefka pointed at them.

"Forsaken!"

Power washed over all of them again, Setzer's barrier being the only reason they lived.

Umaro struck at Kefka but the Godlike being replied in turn with an incredibly fast blitz of physical attack that knocked the Yeti out of the fight.

Edgar threw out all of his tools. He attacked with a maelstrom of attacks during a window when Kefka was distracted charging Forsaken again.

Said spell washed over them again and Locke continued to heal everyone as team three returned to the fight.

Shadow and Cyan would live.

Relm and Kefka clashed, Ultima against Ultima and Strago destroyed a meteor Kefka threw with Grand Delta.

And then came the final blow.

Joshua sprinted along the ground and leaped from pillar to pillar. His sparkblade shone in the sunlight and traced the single path.

It was the same ability that Locke had, so long ago now, used to free him from the slave crown.

Billions of possibilities collapsed. The branches where Kefka escaped were cut, the branches where this attack didn't inflict mortal wounds were cut.

All of it.

Joshua lit a metaphysical beacon with his power for this one small moment.

And with the offered opening, he cut into Kefka and struck what could have been called his "Heart."

Kefka didn't react. He didn't make any sort of dramatic speeches. He just… died.

Kefka's tower began breaking up without its master holding it together.

"There's no time to lose!" Setzer yelled "The airship is just ahead of us!"

Celes nodded and turned to leave "Come on everyone! We'll have to work together for this!"

She paused when she saw Terra collapsed on the ground in her Esper form. She rushed over to Terra's side. As she did so though, the Magicite everyone was carrying was whisked into the air by an unseen force.

"The magicite!" Edgar realised "Magic is disappearing from this world!"

Above them, the magicite shattered into thousands of fragments.

"The espers no longer exist in this world!" Edgar continued.

Celes turned back to Terra who still wasn't moving.

"You mean Terra too?"

As she spoke, Terra forced herself up.

"Come on." She pleaded "I can lead you out… with the last of my strength."

The next few minutes didn't feel quite real to Joshua. They helped everyone up and rushed after Terra down the tower.

The machinery was starting to break down and everyone had to work together to figure out the right way to go. Sabin had recovered enough to stop the fall of a large piece of the tower and throw it aside before it would have crushed them.

Umaro forced open a sealed door and Mog pulled switches out of the reach of the rest of them.

When two switches needed to be pressed at the same time, Celes and Gogo were able to act perfectly together due to Gogo's mimicry. Gau with his beast-like moves was able to find a shortcut down the outside of the tower.

Locke saved Celes' life and outright promised to keep her safe. Ah. That had been what Celes had mentioned earlier.

As they ran, they came upon the ruined esper testing facility. There had actually been one Magicite that hadn't left yet: Maduin, Terra's father. He managed to say a few words to her before he vanished. He told her that her human side could survive if she was strongly attached to someone or something.

She smiled sadly and told him that yes, she had something like that. In response, Maduin only said one thing.

"I'm proud of all you've done."

The magicite stuck around just a bit longer, its glow slowly fading as they continued.

Strago's cape got stuck in some machinery after that. Relm and Shadow cut him free quickly and continued to carry him.

As they got near the end, it looked like Shadow was going to leave but he stopped when Relm looked at him. With a sigh, he followed along behind her. Joshua heard him talking under his breath.

"Baram. I'm going to stop running. I'm going to begin all over again…"

Finally they all got to the airship. Working together, everyone was able to get a rope as the tower fell away beneath them.

On the ship, Terra took off and began leading the airship away from the tower. She was looking for a path to avoid being crushed by bits of the falling tower.

How did she still have the power to fly? Her father's light was flickering out, he was using the last of his strength to keep her going.

Finally it flickered out though and Terra was pulled back to the airship just before she reverted to human form.

Terra thanked Setzer for making sure she got caught and Setzer smiled.

"Didn't I say this was the world's fastest ship? Of course it could catch you."

Joshua shrugged with a sigh "I'll be honest, I thought this ship was Magitek so I expected it to fall when this was all done."

Setzer laughed "No, good old steam. Sure, there was a Magitek boiler for the water but the steam we have will last until we land. Then I can just get a new boiler."

And so they flew across the waves. The world was saved.

Joshua's memory started clearing up as the Falcon flew.

They dropped Terra off in Mobliz before immediately turning the airship around to go to Nikeah to get a new Boiler for the Falcon.

No one there really believed the world was saved yet. Not really. They had lived under Kefka for a year after all.

Instead of continuing to follow them though, Gogo left here.

"Thanks for allowing me to come with you." They said "But now you're done saving the world, I have to find some new people to mimic."

Once the boiler had been replaced, they flew to Thamasa. The locals there had already noticed the loss of magic. None of them minded though. Not really. The war was over at long last.

Magic being gone also meant that monsters wouldn't have magic anymore. The world was safer now because of that.

Relm, Shadow and Strago got off here as the airship flew up again. Everyone had promised to come to Relm's birthday so it likely wouldn't be too much longer before they saw one another again.

Gau was the next to be dropped off in Narshe. He was far more in-tune with humanity these days so he actually said goodbye fairly normally.

Locke and Celes decided that they wanted to be dropped off in South Figaro, it was where they'd met after all. It was as good a place to start their new adventure together.

Sabin and Edgar left at the same time, they'd make the rest of the trip to Figaro Castle on foot.

As the friends he made left, Joshua's memories began to return fully. He remembered his home and his journey in the world of Pokemon.

As Mog and Umaro were dropped off at Narshe, he remembered the day his world had ended.

Other than Setzer, Joshua was the last on the ship. They'd dropped Cyan off in Jidoor and now was just a question of what Joshua wanted to do now.

This trip around the world to drop everyone off had taken a few days and in that time, Joshua had considered. He'd also given back most of his equipment. It did belong to Setzer after all.

"So," Setzer asked "Where do you want to go?"

View: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Qi_xzAu7wJI

"Albrook."

Joshua was dropped off in the late evening. This had been the town where he'd awoken in this World of Ruin. That said, calling it that wasn't really fair anymore. This was the World Rebuilding. Given them a few centuries and everything would be back to normal.

Until then though…

On the morning of the 20th of August, Joshua made his way north out of town. He probably should have found a way to apologise.

He wouldn't be going to Relm's birthday party after all.

Joshua's memories were entirely back by the point he got to the ruins of Kefka's tower. There was just one thing he needed to get and it would likely have been kept in Vector before the cataclysm.

He found it after a day's search.

His lunchbox. That magical box that creates food for him every day. Leaving this world without reclaiming this would have been a mistake.

And yes, he was leaving. No choice really.

He may have done something good in saving this world but in return it had been a year where he'd done next to nothing to help his own world. He needed to make up for lost time.

He had magic now, though he couldn't use it in this world without mana. That gave him another source of power at least. What did he need now?

A method to allow him to carry more things. Something like the bags from Harry Potter that could contain an endless amount of stuff. It would ensure he wouldn't lose his things anymore. His Pokemon would be safe from interference and you couldn't separate him from his Lunchbox.

He had a backpack with a similar effect that he found in the world of Pokemon, but it wasn't enough. He wanted endless storage, not just a small amount extra. Besides, that bag was full of emergency food for his Pokemon.

There were other places you could get things like that though. He considered the concept as he stuck his sparkblade into a notch in the air. Through the hole he cut, the endless infinities of the world between shone madly.

…Well then.

"Goodbye."

As he said that, he stepped through the gap and sealed it behind him.

As this is the end of a world, I'm really encouraging people to chat about it. What was good, what was bad? What should I keep in mind going forward? And yes, what jump do you want to see next?