Is Sephiroth bashing bad? It's hard to tell. It's fun to write, that's for sure. He's too strong not to be beaten up occasionally. And what better way than by 5 of his Chaos teammates?

Not sure where this one came from to be honest. Prepare for some random fighting and possibly some angst. Why am I writing this author note? I don't know. Possibly because I'm in fanfic-mode. Why, I have no idea. My lack of internet is possibly driving me insane. If I do put this up on , I will leave this here for the amusement of those who can be bothered to read it. Lols to you. 8D

--------

Parts of worlds, ripped and torn and meshed together by a Greater Power. All fragments, these places, none of them true or real, faces of a diamond that made up the fake-place that the gods had called their warriors to.

They called it the Temple of Chaos. That was the place His warriors gathered whilst Hers stayed well away, venturing out only when they sought something. The Chaos Temple was large, a long throne room lined with pillars, a mighty chair sitting upon a pedestal at one end. The ceiling was in place for perhaps half the room but it made no difference; there was no weather in this world. Above, there was no sky, only a swirling void of black and purple mixed, like the colour of petroleum when it's spilt on the tarmac.

The room was not as empty as it perhaps should have been at this time. Chaos had been quite clear; he wanted the pawns of Cosmos destroyed. A simple enough request for those chosen by the God of Discord. But one remained, leaning against one of the towering, crumbling pillars as though in stubborn defiance of the God's words.

It was more than that, however, something further then simple defiance. Cold green eyes stared at the throne as if considering its worth. What was the point of them being here beyond that of Chaos' wishes? Why would he fight here? For Cloud, perhaps. Always needing a prompt or guide, he was the only one that could supply it for the blonde. Despair; so perfect as inspiration. So perfect as a gift.

A cold smile curled at the corner of his lips, yet still no emotion showed in those softly glowing eyes. After a moment, he unfolded his arms, the beads that hung from his wrist clicking softly as he moved, accompanied by the creak of his leather garments. He flexed his fingers after a moment and walked towards the throne, boots tapping and echoing as he made his way there, stopping at the bottom of the steps that led up to that mighty chair.

The smile had faded to unreadable neutrality that seemed to suit his face. Silver hair hung limp from the lack of wind. There was never a breath of air in this temple, never a stirring of the breezes. Sephiroth was still as he watched that altar. How strange, it had seemed to him, that the Emperor had taken that chair during their last little... meeting. And yet, had he expected anything less from that arrogant fool? Most definitely not. The Emperor was the one to watch out for. He had met Sephiroth's eyes and the silver haired SOLDIER had felt nothing but suspicion seeping from the other man, suspicion at everyone and everything around him.

There was quiet for a long time, and no movement, before a voice broke the silence.

"Sephiroth. You disobey Chaos?"

The silver haired one did not turn as the female voice spoke, recognising the owner of the voice immediately. He sensed her directly behind him, perhaps a dozen paces back. And others, too, but who he could not place until their moved or spoke their own piece.

"Disobey? Perhaps the wrong word, Ultimecia."

He smirked, looking over his shoulder at her. The woman was indeed standing back from him, her black wings held half out, casually, arms folded across her ample chest and revealing gown.

"I never choose the wrong words." She gestured with a black, clawed hand. "You have been rather... against Chaos's plans since we were brought here." She looked somewhat annoyed and the SOLDIER finally turned to face her fully, standing relaxed but keeping his green eyes firmly locked on the woman's own gaze.

"I think you'll find that I am, and will always be, more than a pawn of a God. Any God. And that includes Chaos." Sephiroth shrugged lightly, shoulder armour scraping; metal on metal. "Perhaps you should be asking yourself what your purpose here is."

The woman opened her mouth to reply but another spoke. Heeled boots on the cold ground now as an elegant figure in gold and purple swept past Ultimecia, stopping within sword's reach of Sephiroth. The Emperor regarded the SOLDIER with a smugness Sephiroth had come to dislike in the man and, coupled with his cold arrogance, it did nothing but make that dislike grow.

"Your purpose, our purpose. One and the same, I should hope. But if your purpose wavers, my dear Sephiroth, I'm afraid you are no longer of use of Chaos." The Emperor's eyes told a different tale. One of removing an obstacle. One of ulterior motives. Sephiroth did not react. His expression remained neutral and this seemed to infuriate the Emperor further.

From the corner of his eyes, Sephiroth could make out the others that had gathered here. Kuja. Well, he had perhaps expected that, if it came to side selection. Kuja's obvious distaste for the SOLDIER had been evident to him from the beginning. Sephiroth's eyes flicked across briefly to the other side of the room. Exdeath. Another he had expected. A mindless creature, that one. Doubtless he would simply be happy to have a chance at destroying something else. And lastly, the fifth one that now faced him; Kefka. A insane smile plastered onto that face of his. Sephiroth let his eyes drift back to the Emperor who stood so close before him.

"My purpose does not waver. It never has. From the start, I have known my purpose. However, if you do not believe my purpose coincides with your own... that is up to you." Sephiroth raised his left hand after a moment and called Masamune, clamping his fingers tight around the leather-bound hilt. The Emperor did not move. Ultimecia and the others visibly tensed but Sephiroth only noted this from the corner of his eyes. His main target was the golden clothed man before him.

The SOLDIER rested the tip of Masamune on the floor to one side of the Emperor, the end of the blade just falling in line with the man's toes. For a moment, the Emperor glanced down at Masamune before looking up at Sephiroth.

"Fool."

He began drawing the sigil as he spoke the word, a thunder crest swiftly sketched into the ground with the intent of trapping the SOLDIER within its depths. Sephiroth threw himself to one side as soon as the Emperor's staff touched the floor, watching the trap appear where his feet would have been but seconds before. He lunged for the Emperor then, Masamune at such a stance that it would be easy to plunge the sword into his opponent's chest.

Another sword blocked him. Exdeath loomed on the other side of the Emperor, silent and faceless, deflecting Masamune away. The Emperor laughed. Sephiroth hopped back lightly, assessing the situation. The Emperor, Ultimecia, Exdeath, Kuja and Kefka. Poor odds, to be sure, but what choice did he have but to defend himself and take out as many as possible? Were his skills not at least equal to all those around him? In the few seconds he had, he made a simple analysis. The Emperor was behind this, simple. Ultimecia would be his key back up. Exdeath was there for pure enjoyment, as was Kefka, most likely. Kuja simply did not like him. A weak spot in the team, perhaps? Kuja was possibly the weakest out of them also, when not in his Trance state. Kefka was deadly at range but pathetic close up, as was Ultimecia. The Emperor was weak physically whilst Exdeath was no tactician. As those few seconds ended, Sephiroth smirked and leapt, straight towards Kuja.

It was an unexpected choice of target to his enemies. Perhaps they thought he would let his emotions rule over his judgement. No such luck with the ex SOLDIER. His mind was even keener then the edge of Masamune and his choice of target reflected this. He landed behind Kuja, turning to go on the offensive. The others were moving in to join in the fighting but too many in one space... a challenge at the best of times, especially when they were most definitely not the best team players in the arena. Sephiroth wasted no time. His signature technique, the Octaslash, would be more than enough to take out Kuja. The first strike hit it's mark, leaving a long line of red from shoulder to waist on Kuja who stumbled back from the blow, trying to bring his hands up to cast in response. The second hit caused an identical slash, on the opposite side of Kuja's torso.

The third never hit as Sephiroth felt rapidly increasing tension in the air. He threw himself backwards but was a fraction of a second too late as a Thundaga lightning bolt struck him, sending a wave of pain through his body and causing him to pause for the briefest of seconds. Exdeath took advantage of this and slammed a heavy shoulder into the SOLDIER, throwing him through a pillar to strike the wall behind it. He was still for a moment before freeing himself and dropping to the floor lightly, quickly assessing the damage. Nothing too serious. Possibly a broken rib.

Exdeath was laughing, Kefka was laughing. Sephiroth focused his eyes on the clown. The source of that Thundaga no doubt. The silver haired man ran the opposite way to the clown, using the wall as if it were the floor for a few moments and dodging a meta-physical axe thrown his way by Ultimecia. He made to go for Kuja again. The man in question was mopping blood from his chest, floating a few feet off the floor and grimacing at the damage to his flesh. Sephiroth went for him, and then quickly turned towards the clown, who perched in the very centre of the room, floating in the air as if nothing could touch him. Ultimecia was charging an energy attack which missed by bare inches. Sephiroth felt the power of it as it skimmed past his back, hitting the wall ineffectively behind him. Kefka was unawares and by the time he noticed Sephiroth's approach, he had only just begun to cast. Hurling a fireball at close range, Sephiroth took the hit to his shoulder, it heating the metal of his shoulder guards so they burned his flesh, but was otherwise useless. The clown's eyes widened as Sephiroth swiped with his sword, the impact from the hit sending the clown sprawling to the floor with a yowl of pain.

Landing once more on the ground, Sephiroth turned to find the Emperor smirking just out of reach... and all of the space between them filled with mines. The ex-SOLDIER narrowed his eyes. The Emperor raised his staff, drawing another sigil, this time one of light.

"Suffer!" He hissed, eyes gleaming. Sephiroth had to chose; mines or missiles. He chose neither. He pulled Masamune in a wide arc towards the Emperor, another technique he valued; Godspeed. Blades of air materialised at the end of the blade and with them appearing so close to their target, the Emperor had no chance to evade. The sweep took out mines as well as the Emperor. Overall, Sephiroth felt this was going well.

This split second of uncharacteristic cockiness was his undoing, for now. Exdeath appeared from nowhere, teleporting directly behind Sephiroth and hitting him with the force of a steam train. It sent the SOLDIER face-first into a wall, through several mines. He had no time to recover as a half dozen arrows of darkness began raining from the sky.

"Knight's Arrows, Sephiroth. Hardly suitable for a common soldier." Ultimecia drawled, laughing softly at her own joke. Sephiroth on the other hand paid her little heed, focusing on avoiding the deadly shower. He avoided all six, somehow, focusing on getting out of the way over all else. Exdeath had once again crushed some part of his skeleton and simply holding Masamune was causing his ribs to pain him. As he parried Exdeath yet again, he felt a sharp and sudden pain in his side. He parried Exdeath and moved back with force, landing heavily and putting a glove to the pain. Blood sat wetly on his leather fingertips, surrounding the hilt of some weapon. He pulled it free sharply, gasping as he did so. It appeared to be made of a pure, azure crystal. An axe, the edges sharp and giving the small weapon great power. He threw it away from himself and it promptly vanished. Every movement hurt now, every little thing sending shockwave of pain through his ribs and up and down his spine.

Sephiroth roughly dodged an explosion to his left then a series of Firaga fireballs thrown by Kefka, causing him to stumble slightly. He jumped as Exdeath swiped at his legs, twisting in the air as an axe was thrown where his head would have been but seconds before.

"Getting tired?" The Emperor's voice, calling up to him. Sephiroth allowed the distraction and looked down. The Emperor had once again set his little traps up below, including a fresh Thunder Crest, exactly where Sephiroth had been planning to land. So, once more he was forced to twist to the side, landing with a stumble as his ribs jarred and the wound from the axe tore slightly. Ultimecia landed next to the Emperor, extending her wings fully. Kefka had clambered to his feet also, approaching Sephiroth from the opposing side to Ultimecia and the Emperor. Exdeath was laughing, to the right of the Emperor, filling the gap in the slowly shrinking circle with ease. Kuja was hovering above the mines laid by the Emperor.

Completely encircled, Sephiroth dropped into a defensive stance with Masamune, grimacing slightly in pain. A last stand perhaps? Straight up was unprotected after all. The SOLDIER called deep inside himself, to that hidden power. A wave of energy seemed to shoot through his form, his eyes glowing brighter and flashing suddenly as a black wing sprouted from his shoulder blade. He pushed off from the floor with force, wing spread, and loose black feathers floating in the air around him. There was a short pause then the five below him went after him. Exdeath first, teleporting to appear directly above him, sword pulled back and ready to attack. Ultimecia launched herself to Sephiroth's left, her wings spread, Kuja flanking his right. Any other man would have perhaps given in at this point. But Sephiroth pushed his wing wide and continued directly upwards, his right hand also closing around the hilt of Masamune now as he lunged for Exdeath. His attack struck, hitting the armoured one in the gap between his chest armour and his arm plates, the blade sinking in a good few inches before Sephiroth wrenched it free in a slashing motion. Exdeath roared and fell, dropping before Sephiroth like a stone. Ultimecia and Kuja seemed to be on the same wavelength as both went for his back, Kuja with a burst of energy and Ultimecia with more of her Knight's Arrows.

Several arrows pierced his wing and Sephiroth winced, very slightly as he suddenly dropped to avoid the energy burst. A fireball, accompanied by Kefka's laughter, scorched his wing as he moved, burning feathers twisting and coiling in the air. The swordsman twisted to parry an axe thrown by Ultimecia, only to fall straight into one of the Emperor's mines. He hit the floor hard enough to crack the marble, leaving a miniature crater underneath him. Masamune clattered away where his grip has slipped, blood seeping from his body in a dozen places from cuts. He was now fairly certain he would not be able to fly again for now.

The Emperor loomed over him, followed by Ultimecia and Kuja.

"Allow me to clip your wing, Fallen one." Kuja sneered, calling fire to existence. The Emperor and Ultimecia stepped back as the fire fell into place. Sephiroth made no sound, simply letting his wing take the beating then fade and vanish from his back as if it had never been, a surge of blinding pain washing over his prone body.

"Run, run, run!" Kefka's hysterical voice now. Sephiroth rolled to his chest and went to push himself up, only to feel Exdeath's boot slam into his back and firmly press him back into the floor, jarring his entire frame. He gritted his teeth in pain and frustration. They most certainly hadn't been good odds at the start but he had felt he had had a chance. Exdeath kept his ample weight firmly on Sephiroth's spine as the Emperor began to draw a sigil. Thunder Crest again, it seemed. Just as the sigil was finished, Exdeath's oppressive weight vanished and Sephiroth pushed himself to his hands and knees, only to be caught by the trap. Electricity lanced through his body, fraying every nerve ending he had, before he found himself laying on his front again, unable to move save for his twitching fingers.

"Well," Kuja said, wiping blood from his still bleeding chest wounds. "That was far more troublesome then I had expected."

"I did say not to take Sephiroth lightly, did I not?" Ultimecia responded coolly, standing at Sephiroth's head. She crouched after a moment, running a clawed finger down his cheek, leaving a long scratch, before tilting his chin so he was forced to look up into her eyes. Exdeath's boot slammed down into his back again and he cringed. "Killing you would be unfortunate. It would perhaps be most beneficial to you, and to us, if you were to simply surrender."

Sephiroth did not reply with those claws so close to his throat. With her free hand she gently moved his hair from his face, and then went to touch the wound at his side from her well thrown azure axe. Her touch was cold against his skin, his coat having been ripped from the attack.

"Answer me." She commanded. Sephiroth said nothing. He heard the sound of the Emperor moving away, identifying him by his lighter footsteps, towards the throne.

"Answer me." Ultimecia repeated, pressing her claws softly into the wound. Sephiroth did not move nor make a sound, his eyes cold and expressionless.

"Answer me!" She said for the third time, suddenly stabbing her claws into the wound, deep enough so the tips of her fingers were hidden. Sephiroth smirked through the pain, will power winning over natural reactions.

"As you wish." Beaten, by all means, but not stupid. He felt the surging, throbbing pain subside as Ultimecia withdrew her claws, one hand still under his chin as she licked at her other hand, blood running down her wrist.

"Good." She stated before pulling away and straightening. The Emperor now spoke in a drawl from where he now perched on the throne.

"Kuja, Kefka, go and clean yourselves up. Blood hardly suits the more powerful team in this conflict of Harmony and Discord." He laughed softly. "A few cure spells should do it." There was a short silence. "Ultimecia, Exdeath? How do you fair?"

"I am fine. A little saddened that our dispute is over, but fine." Ultimecia responded first.

"I am wounded, Emperor, but not disabled. I will take this filth to spend some time with Golbez. Traitors deserve each other's company." Exdeath rumbled. There was a scraping sound of metal on metal as Exdeath reached down and seized Sephiroth roughly by his hair, hauling him up a little before switching his grip to the SOLDIER's neck. Sephiroth let him do as he pleased. Golbez? They had given him the same treatment? Hardly fair considering Golbez's emotional ties to Cecil. It wasn't as though Sephiroth had been quite so sparing to Cloud.

Exdeath hauled the unmoving man towards the Temple door, letting his feet drag behind him and keeping a firm grip on both the man's neck and one shoulder.

The Emperor and Ultimecia shared a short burst of laughter as Exdeath moved Sephiroth from the Temple of Chaos to another facet of this strange world all together.

------

Oh wow. It turned into a chapter. This means there will be further chapters. Aren't you lucky bunnies? Oh. Well. You will be if I actually post this up. I hope I do. Sitting here with no internet (CURSE YOUR UNIVERSITY NETWORK) kinda makes me doubtful.

Well, if I do post this up. Read it. AND REVIEW. Even if it's just like ... a score out of 5 or something! Or one word!! SANK YOO! *bow*