And now, the exciting beginning of "The Rising Tide of Angus Murdoc."

 "Really. You mean any of us could DIE at a moment's notice?" Cid said incredulously.

 "Yep. We need some sort of approach to get rid of this madman. I say we get together and form some sort of a counterattack. Let's go to Cosmo Canyon." Cloud turned around, and stared out the Highwind's cockpit.

 "Really. Angus Murdoc has been terrorizing EVERYONE. We have to stop him. I have an idea. Unless we find him, we're not going to get anywhere." Red XIII noted. The rest of the group nodded. "So far, he's been attacking in no specific pattern. We've been unable to trace him to where he is." Red XIII added.

 "We're never going to find him! What's the use of trying?" Cid moaned, in his usual manner. All of a sudden, Shadow stepped up.

 "I think it is a worthwhile proposition. We never live in peace long enough." Shadow commentated. The others looked at him with an odd look. Surely enough, Cloud stepped forward.

 "Shadow is right. We have to fight back." The group split up, and went their own ways in Cosmo Canyon. Ramza went to the inner canyon to look at a piece of history. She walked the caves, careful of whatever fate had tempted her. Eventually, she reached the end, and an old stone figure was perched atop a cliff. She climbed the cliff and came to the stone figure. It was Red XIII's father. He was frozen in stone by the poisonous arrows the Gi tribe attacked him with. She reached a hand forward and touched him.

 "Why is it, that all good things come to an end? That peace is not long lived? That we have fought for so much, yet always lose it?"
She asked aloud. She sat down and perched herself on the cliff. She looked into the stars, and then looked at the canyon. Something had caught her eye when she glanced down there, and began to go look for whatever that was. She eventually got to it, and found a round, cylindrical object, that had some sort of gem sticking from the top, and a switch on the side. It also had some sort of ring on it, so Ramza attached it to her belt and continued on. Ramza eventually returned to the group's meeting place, at Bugenhagen's observatory. She sat on the sofa, playing with what she had found. Shadow walked by, and saw what she had in her hand. He stood a few feet away, studying what she had in her hand.

 "I wonder what this does." She put her thumb on the switch, and moved her hand to flick it. Shadow's eyes grew wide, as a purple beam of light shot through the cylindrical object and went right through his abdomen as it extruded to full length. He screamed in pain, and Ramza looked in shock and disbelief. Her hands quickly dropped what now appeared to be a weapon and clasped over her mouth. The deadman's switch in the weapon cut the energy off, and the weapon clicked to silence on the ground. Shadow fell, and slumped, his limbs limp. Ramza ran over and checked him, he wasn't breathing, and where his heart should be beating, there was no beat.

 "Ohmigod, ohmigod, ohmigod..." Ramza was starting to sweat, and her face darted from side to side, as if to see someone to help her. She picked up his body quickly, and got it out of the observatory.

 "Help! Help! A doctor! Someone!" Ramza had Shadow over her shoulder in a fireman's carry, and tried to find help. She remembered something about a full cure materia in Cosmo Canyon. She set Shadow down, and ran to where it was supposed to be. She picked it up, and set it in the slot in the weapon she found. After she returned to Shadow, words began flowing from her mouth, and beams of light and sparkling stars began floating around his body, and they converged on to Shadow in a flash of light. After it was over, she looked, and found the hole still in his body, bleeding, and he still had no breathing or pulse. Ramza was now very afraid. She again picked Shadow into a fireman's carry, and brought him out of Cosmo Canyon.

 "Shadow helped before. He needs this." She dug a hole in the ground, and buried Shadow's body. She made a crude wooden cross from two boards. She stuck the cross in the front, and began to replace the dug up earth. After a half an hour, it was all done, and Ramza took a step back. She looked down, and saw the weapon attached to her belt. She unhooked it, and studied it. She held it in front of her, and flicked the switch. The purple beam again extruded to full length, and a low hum emitted from it. She took her other hand on it, and began to wave it around. She cocked it up, and jumped at a stalagmite that stuck up from the ground. She ran the weapon through it at a 45 degree angle, and it sliced right through it. The weapon made a clean cut through the rock, and the free half fell to the ground.

 "Now what is this called?" Ramza thought to herself, and returned to Cosmo Canyon, and Bugen's observatory. She found the rest of the group there, and her entrance seemed to have surprised the group.

 "Ramza? Where did Shadow go?" Elena asked as she turned her head. Ramza didn't answer. Red XIII saw the weapon attached to her belt.

 "Ramza, let me see that." She unhooked the weapon from her belt, and inquisitive eyes were on her hand as she passed it to Red XIII. "Where did you find this?"

 "I... found it... in the cave. The cave to your father." Red XIII examined it, and gave it back to Ramza.

 "Turn it on," he motioned to her. She stepped back, and pressed the switch. Everyone flew back as the glowing purple blade extended.

 "Holy crap! What the hell is that thing?" Cid exclaimed, as his trademark cigarette fell from his mouth.

 "I don't know what it's called." Ramza said in reply.

 "Ahem.. that's a lightsaber. It is an ancient weapon the Gi used, and is very powerful," Red XIII explained. Ramza waved it around, and extinguished it after a while. Cloud walked over and took the lightsaber from Ramza's hands. He ignited it, and suddenly felt no
sense of control. It wavered from direction to direction. He turned it off, fearing he would hurt someone or destroy something. He handed it back to Ramza.

 "I don't know about this.. I have no control over it!" Ramza ignited it, and she had no problem controlling it.

 "Wow! That's cool!" Nate walked over and motioned Ramza to let him see. She gave it to him, and he did the same as Cloud, unable to control the elegant weapon.

 "I guess only Ramza can use the lightsaber for some reason," Red XIII said. Ramza extinguished the saber, and looked at the seven little slots on it. Three pairs were linked, and one was separated. There were four materia in the slots, Manipulate, Steal, the Full Cure she found, and a Speed Plus in the separated slot. She figured they would be useful, and left them there.

 "Anyway, Murdoc needs to be found. I suggest we go now." Red XIII said. The group walked out, and onto the Highwind.

 The man known as Angus Murdoc sat in an office. It was a certain person's office. It was very spacious, and had monitors on a swiveling wall. He had his henchmen position cameras around the world, and he had a close eye on Avalanche.

 "No one can stop ME now!" He watched the group leave Cosmo Canyon. He saw the tall, blonde haired woman with something new in her hand. It had some sort of gem on it, Murdoc didn't know what it was. He decided it was too dangerous to be in existence. The Highwind took off, and when Murdoc decided it was at the right spot, took out his cellular phone, and pressed a button.

 "I have a bad feeling..." Ramza thought aloud. She was standing on one half of the bridge of the Highwind, while the others were all on the other side trying to find Murdoc. Suddenly, a rumbling, then an explosion riddled the cabin.

 "Whoa!" Ramza fell on her face, and looked up. She saw the bridge crack in half, then another explosion was heard, and then a scream. The scream came from someone she hoped it wasn't from: Elena. A fiery ball of death flew from where Elena was standing. Ramza ran over, and the fire died down, and saw nothing where Elena was supposed to be standing.

 "...No!!!" She broke down on the bridge next to her mother's deathbed. The bridge now was tearing apart. Cid and the others were
rushing around. Soon, the bridge and the Highwind tore in half; the group on one side, Ramza on the other.

 "Ramza!!!!" Nate yelled, as the blast knocked Ramza unconscious. The other half of the Highwind went one direction, the other half
falling towards the ground. The half that held Ramza plummeted, and smashed into the ground.

 Murdoc grinned with glee.

 The disembodied half of the Highwind lay smoldering. There was a body in it; it twitched feebly. It was covered in soot, and was hurt badly. The body got up, and coughed loudly. Ramza did not have a good day. She stumbled around, and found the place where something in the Highwind had gone wrong and killed Elena. She found black ash, nothing else. Ramza managed to crawl out of the wreck. When she did, she broke down on the ground and cried. That was all she did. She got up, and took her lightsaber from her belt. She utilized the Full Cure materia to heal herself up. The shimmering rays and stars healed her up, and she felt the need for sleep. She slumped on the grass, sleeping soundly.

 Ramza awoke, and looked at her watch for the time. She slept for a few hours. She felt refreshed, after the Full Cure spell had healed her up. She found some sort of cellular phone next to her, and picked it up. She slipped it into her shirt pocket, and got up. She examined the area. Grass, grass, and more grass. There were mountains in the horizon. She began to run, run like she never ran before. Eventually she got to the mountains. She went to a cliff, and looked at it; tears in her eyes. She took the lightsaber, and lit it. She held it high, over her head. Ramza ran back, and jumped off the cliff. The lightsaber attached to her hand, facing down towards the ground. Ramza's body hit the ground.

 Many hours passed. Ramza's lifeless body sat on the ground. But it was not where it had landed. It was somewhere else. It was in a town. Her body twitched, moved. Her eyes opened to a cloudy sky. She could not move. Her lightsaber was attached to her belt. Someone had saved her after sadness and anger made her attempt to commit suicide. She felt the ability to move return to her limbs, and she sat up. She looked, and saw the streets of Junon before her.

 "Junon! Reeve is here! He can help!" She got up, and slowly worked her way to the top of the Junon governmental building.

Author's Notes

 A very riveting chapter indeed! I was away in the Adirondacks for a canoe trip. I needed to take a break, and I got to get away and get some ideas. Yes, Ramza's lightsaber is derived from Star Wars. I think she needed a new sort of weapon, rather than her fists to attack people. G'night.