The Foreword:

This story is set at the start of the "good" ending in Breath of Fire II. Have you ever wondered what was going through Ryu's head when he was about to turn into a dragon, and his friends were begging him not to? Well, here it is. Oh yeah, by the way-- consider the entire Breath of Fire II game as the first part of the story.

"Ryu, why!? Why do you have to become a dragon? We've already won!," Katt cried, her large eyes filled with shock and grief. "You can't be serious! You. . . you can't leave us! We need you! I need you!"

Nina, unable to choke back her sobs, fell to her knees and gazed up at Ryu imploringly. "It's not fair! Please, think it over! I can't stand losing another person so important to me!"

"Ryu, buddy!" Bow grabbed Ryu by the shoulders, his voice ringing with desperation. "You don't have to do this. There has to be a better way to seal the Gates! This. . . this can't be the way it ends!"

"I'm sorry," Ryu said softly. "But there is no other way. This is my destiny. I wish it didn't have to be this way. I hope that someday you will forgive me."

Then, Ryu closed his eyes and began the final stage of the transformation. "Good-- "

"Bye?" Something was wrong. Bow's hands had abruptly gone cold and stiff.

When Ryu opened his eyes, he saw that Bow's teary face was inches from his own; behind the ranger, Nina knelt with a tragic expression on her face, and Katt looked like she didn't know whether to burst into tears or to beat Ryu up so he couldn't become a dragon. None of them were moving. At all. When Ryu backed out of Boy's reach, his friend's hands continued to grasp at the empty air. His eyes remained fixed on the spot that Ryu had vacated, as did those of Katt and Nina-- they were all as still and silent as statues. As a matter of fact, nothing was moving. The air had become utterly calm, the grass looked as stiff and immobile as cast iron, and even the birds and butterflies were frozen in position.

"Wha. . . what's going on!?"

Dragon God: "I believe that I can answer that, Ryu. It is I, the Dragon God!"

Ryu looked around for the disembodied voice. "Yeah, I recognize your voice from all the save points. Where are you?

Dragon God: "I will be the narrator of this story. I won't be manifesting physically, because the author doesn't want to have to describe what I look like."

"Oh. Well, what's going on? It looks like time is standing still. It's almost as if--"

Dragon God: "Ryu, would you really turn into a dragon, and leave all of your friends behind?"

Ryu scratched his head, puzzled at the question. "Well, I don't want to, but I know that I must. Otherwise, there will be nothing to block Death Evans' power."

Dragon God: "Ah, but what if Bow is right? What if there IS someone else who can block Death Evans' power? After all, Katt has a point: your friends need you, Ryu. In fact, the world needs you-- and not as a big, sleeping dragon, either. Let someone else seal Death Evans away. Someone who WANTS to do it, for your sake."

But Ryu shook his head firmly. "There's no way I can pass off the responsibility to someone else. I am the destined child, and, in the words of an American president that a medieval-type hero like me wouldn't actually know about, 'The buck stops here.' "

Dragon God: "Oh, REALLY. And what about Katt and Nina, in no particular order?"

Ryu winced, but he couldn't place the burden of his destiny on another. If the situation was reversed, either Nina and Katt would willingly give up their own lives-- they had proved that during the Anfini test. "This is my destiny, and I must face it. Someday, they will understand that. . ."

Dragon God: "Well, there's an interesting way of getting yourself out of the messy love triangle. Not that it will do them any good."

"Hey! I didn't--"

Dragon God: "Okay, that was below the belt. But do you really want to leave them?"

Ryu glanced again at his frozen, grief-stricken companions, and sighed sadly. "I don't want to leave any of my friends behind. It will be painful for all of us. But the truth is, they can take care of the world themselves, and they can carry on without me. And yes, that goes for Katt and Nina, too.

Dragon God: "Ah-HAH! So, you think your friends can do without you, huh? Well, now we can get around to the main point of the story, and the reason that I have frozen time to talk to you like this! Ryu, we're going to a hypothetical parallel universe where you were never born, so that you can see just how well your companions would have done without you in their lives. And when we come back, you'll understand how much they truly need you. Ryu, you're about to learn that it's a wonderful life!"

And then there was the sound like the roaring of a hundred hungry dragons, and Ryu was sucked into an alternate timeline by the Dragon God's vast power, leaving only his feeble protest to die on the still air:

"But NBC will sue us!"

The next thing Ryu knew, he was standing alone in a putrid-smelling alley, in the middle of the night. The gloom was filled with the sounds of distant screams and tortured moans. . .

"Dragon God, where are we? What is this place?"

Dragon God: "This is one of the classier sections of the hideous slum once known as Hometown. Without a destined child to counter Death Evans' power, the waves of evil energy radiating from the St. Eva's Church in this city turned the entire place into a disgusting hellhole. Now, watch this. . ."

Suddenly, a terrified man shot out of the shadows, looking behind him as if he was being pursued. Which wasn't a very smart move on his part, since he ran straight into the brick wall that blocked the alley's other end.

"Oh, no. . . No!" The man whimpered pathetically, scrabbling at the bricks as if he was hoping to find a secret passage. Finally, the man turned and cowered back into the darkness and the garbage, shaking in abject fear. Finally, Ryu recognized his face.

"Kilgore?"

Then, a voice rang out into the night. It sounded oddly familiar, but Ryu just couldn't place it: "Too bad, rich boy. It looks like you've met a. . . DEAD END! GWAHAHAHA!"

"No! Please, spare me! Or at least lay off the corny jokes!," Kilgore screamed, cringing amongst the ordure that lined the alley floor.

Ryu's sword hissed out of its sheath. "Don't worry, Kilgore. I'll protect you!"

Dragon God: "You don't exist in this time line, remember? Sorry, Ryu, but you can't interfere."

As if to prove the Dragon God's point, a crossbow bolt cut through the darkness, passed harmlessly through Ryu, and impaled the wretched Kilgore. Kilgore screamed, and died a horribly depressing death.

"No!," Ryu screamed.

"Yes!," the voice screamed.

And then, a smirking, evil-looking thug stepped out of the darkness and into the dim light, crossbow still in hand. It was. . . it was. . . IT WAS. . . Bow! Ryu had barely recognized his friend's voice, because it was so twisted with uncharacteristic malice.

"Gwahahaha!," Bow chuckled evilly. "Another mission accomplished. And Trout owes me 2000 zenny! Life just doesn't get any better than this." So saying, the assassin began searching his victim's body for any spare change.

Ryu spun about to face the direction that the Dragon God's voice had come from. "What is this!? My buddy Bow is. . . an ASSASSIN! How could Bow have become a killer for hire!?"

Dragon God: "You see, Ryu, Bow was always a rather greedy and conniving sort. When you first met him, you recall, he was starting along the path of becoming a professional thief. In your own world you taught him a basic respect for morality, but even then he still got into trouble from time to time. In this world, Bow never even tried to reform, because you weren't there to reign him in. . . his greed and sneakiness grew ever greater. He became a thief, first, and later an assassin. Assassins get paid more, you see. This is the path Bow may well have chosen if you had not become his buddy. . ."

Meanwhile, Bow had pulled the bloody crossbow bolt from Kilgore's body, and was gazing at it admiringly:

"No way!," Ryu shouted. "Okay, so maybe Bow would have been a thief, but he NEVER had it in him to be an assassin! Bow was always kind and peaceful. Not like this bloodthirsty ghoul!"

Dragon God: "True enough: Bow would never have become a murderer on his own accord. This is the influence of Death Evans working upon him. Without a destined child to oppose it, Death Evans' power is warping the minds of mortals, and making them more like demons every day. St. Eva's God has fed off of Bow's greed and cunning, and changed them to hatred and evil. Of course, that still makes it your fault for not being born."

"Ah, I love the smell of blood of blood in the evening," Bow soliloquized, sniffing the bloody bolt as if it was a rose.

Ryu had turned an alarming shade of green. "I think I'm gonna barf."

Dragon God: "Don't you dare! You'll ruin the ambiance of Heart-Wrenching Depression I'm trying to create!"

"The only thing I like more than the sight of blood," Bow continued, "is the taste of blood." He began to lick the blood off of the bolt.

Ryu barfed.

Dragon God: "D'oh! Well, there went the Heart-Wrenching Depression. I guess I'll have to settle for Dark Moody Undertones from now on. Anyway, let's move to the next Horrifying Scene."

"Urk," Ryu agreed.

The boom, the roar, the shift of time and place, etc. Ryu, still a little queasy, found himself in another dark, disgusting alley way, still during the night. This time, though, there were less people getting killed and more pathetic drunks lying around.

"Where are we now? Who will we see this time?"

Dragon God: "We're in a nameless little shit town, the kind of place that isn't even on the map. And as for who we'll see, well, just look over there."

It was difficult to recognize Rand, but not impossible. The once colossal warrior was still a vast, hulking form. But, his bulk was now fat, and not muscle. Rand's toga hung in filthy tatters that were even more squalid that the rags by the rest of the bums around him. He looked awful: bleary eyed, feeble, and completely drunk. Even now he was swilling down some cheap whiskey, and a large number of empty bottles surrounded him. His deep bass voice was the same as ever, albeit raised in drunken song:

The other drunks applauded after every other word.

"Oh, no." Ryu whispered dismally. "What happened to Rand?"

Dragon God: "After the incident with Katt in the Coliseum, Rand beat the hell out of Augus and quit his job there. But without you and your friends to watch out for, and without the Ruins to repair, Rand had nothing to do and nowhere to go. He felt that he could never return to his home, and he found no other work that he was good at. He tried to set up trade as a carpenter for a while, but he couldn't compete with the real pros at Capitan.

"Without you and your quest, without a job, a home, or any friends, Rand had no real reason to live. Now all he does is curl into a ball and roll around for spare change, and he blows it all on cheap booze. Lovely singing voice, though."

Ryu wiped at the tears streaming down his cheeks. "Poor Rand. I never realized how important that we were to him. He was like a father to all of us, or at least a big brother that you always knew you could depend on. But now, he never met us at all, and-- Oh, no!"

Dragon God: "What?"

"I knew that I recognized that song he was singing. It's from an episode of the Simpsons! Now we're going to be sued by Matt Groening and NBC!"

Dragon God: "GWAHAHAHA! Matt Groening would never dare call attention to that episode by suing us; the whole thing was an unlicensed spoof of Disney's Mary Poppins! If he tries to sue us, he'll only be sued himself. Although, in retrospect, that 'D'oh!' remark sort of worries me. . ."

"Let's go on to the next Horrifying Scene, just to be on the safe side."

Dragon God: "Okay. Let's check on Katt, next."

Now, Ryu found himself in the daylight. . . standing in the middle of a grave yard.

"Oh, no, Katt!" Ryu began frantically searching for his friend's grave. "Without me to save her life, she must have been killed by that poisoned needle at the Coliseum."

Dragon God: "Well, actually, Katt's still alive."

Ryu straightened up, hardly daring to hope. "She's alive!"

Dragon God: "Don't get too excited now! Katt just wasn't fated to die that dead. Or at least, not to stay dead-- she was brought back to life by the power of Ray, St. Eva's Priest."

"Ray. . . he was a good man."

Dragon God: "Yes, he was. But before you think too highly of St. Eva, you may want to look behind you."

Ryu spun around, and saw her: "Katt! You're all right!" His woran friend looked as healthy and cheerful as ever, and was even whistling a merry tune as she dragged a small cart behind her.

"Wait a minute. . . whistling? Who whistles when they visit a cemetery?"

This was Ryu's first clue that something was horribly wrong. He began to study her face more carefully, and was shocked by what he saw. He had thought he recognized her usual, carefree happiness. Now he realized that her expression held more of the savage glee that he had seen in Bow's face while the assassin gloated over his fallen prey. Katt's eyes were shining with an eerie, fanatical zeal-- and the tune she was whistling sounded awfully familiar. Hadn't he heard it in a church somewhere?

As Ryu watched, Katt began placing the cart's cargo onto the ground: tombstones. She then set to work pounding them into the earth one by one, giggling wickedly all the while.

"That's definitely not the same Katt I know," Ryu announced grimly. "But what made her change?"

Dragon God: "Look at what she's wearing, Ryu. That will give you a clue.

Ryu looked Katt over once again, and froze in horror. "She's wearing PANTS! Dear God, they must have brainwashed her!"

Dragon God: "Yes, the pants are a bad sign, but I meant that you should look at what she's wearing around her neck."

Ryu looked at Katt a third time. "That medallion. What. . ." Ryu broke off, and then continued in a hollow voice. "She's become a follower of St. Eva's Church."

"There, that's five more Unbelievers dead," Katt proclaimed proudly. "That makes my score two thousand, seven hundred and eighty three, total, including women and counting children as half a point. I've set a new record!"

Dragon God: "Actually, she's killed three thousand, two hundred and twenty five 'enemies of the Church.' She never was very good at math. Then again, the Church doesn't need her services as an accountant-- she is a Warrior of the Faith."

Ryu shook his head in disbelief. "I don't understand. Why would Katt become a servant of Habaruku?"

Dragon God: "Before she met you, Ryu, Katt was never defeated in battle. Ever. Fighting and winning was all that she cared about. She regarded everyone as potential enemies with their own agendas, until your kindness proved to her that she was wrong. Through your friendship, she came to love. . . other things besides fighting. With your other companions, and your noble quest, she had something worthwhile to fight for.

"But because you were never born here, her entire life has revolved around combat, no matter what the cause. Since Ray brought her back to life, she felt that she owed something to the St. Eva's Church, and she offered them her services. She was a great warrior, and far too naive to understand the truth about St. Eva's God-- in short, she was exactly the kind of minion that Habaruku wanted. Soon, Death Evans devoured her heart, and she came to think nothing of slaughtering innocents in the name of the Church. She is Death Evans' pawn now, and nothing more."

Katt, meanwhile, had broken into an impromptu hymn to St. Eva:

She obviously wasn't sure of all of the words in the song, but she made up for that fact by singing the ones that she did now extremely loudly.

"Oh, Katt," Ryu sighed, "You've become everything you always hated. You're cruel, vicious, insane-- exactly the kind of person that the Katt I know loves to beat up. Also, you can't sing worth a damn."

Dragon God: "Well, she's no Rand, at any rate, but then few of us are. Hmmm, 'Away in a gutter, flat on his face. . .' How does he do it?"

"This is too awful. Let's just go to the next Horrifying Scene."

Dragon God: "Well, okay, but the next one might be even more awful. . ."

Next, they were in a damp, dank cave, lit only by a few feeble torches. Several thugs were forcing a ragged, winged man to kneel in front of a fat man on a throne. The fat man learned down at the unfortunate Windian with an evil leer.

"That's Joker. . . of course he's still alive in this world. And we must be deep inside Mt. Rocko."

Dragon God: "That's right. And look, Ryu-- that 'unfortunate Windian' is King Kenny. In this world, the Joker gang became so strong that they have conquered almost the entire Windian nation."

"Ho ho ho ho!," the Joker laughed, sounding (and sort of looking) like a demented Santa Claus. "Well, King Kenny, it seems that I have managed to take you captive at long last. Ho ho ho ho ho!"

"I know that, you fat idiot. I'm right here," the plucky Windian growled. Despite his dire circumstances, the noble King had obviously not lost his great courage and pride. "What is it you want from me, grotesque one?"

Joker pulled at his long, villainous mustache and leered even more evilly than ever. "Your kingdom has been overrun already, old man. . . but your people have taken to the hills, and they continue to fight my men. I want you to implore them to surrender to me! As their King, they will listen to you. And after all, if they don't surrender, they will all be killed, won't they? Tell them to surrender, and I will spare your miserable life as well!"

The old King merely lifted his chin with regal dignity. "Better extinction than life as your slaves-- Windia will fight on to the bitter end!"

"Then, DIE!"

At Joker's words, a slim, shadowy figure standing by the bandit's throne stretched out a hand, and the noble King Kenny was swallowed in a burst of white-hot flame.

"Oh my God!," Ryu screamed, "They killed KENNY!"

Dragon God: "YOU BASTARDS!"

"Well, that's just great," Ryu sighed. "There's lawsuit number three, and we're barely halfway done with the story."

Dragon God: "It sure was worth it, though. Anyway, look and see exactly who killed the King."

At this point, Ryu didn't even have to look; he already knew who he would see. Nonetheless, he could not deny the pang of grief when he turned and saw his fears confirmed. Nina had killed her own father.

The winged princess was still tall and slender, and her golden hair and black wings were as beautiful as ever. But, Nina was no longer a beautiful woman. Her face was bruised and scarred, and dark circles surrounded her eyes. More disturbing by far, though, was the fact that those eyes showed no emotion whatsoever. They were dull and listless, and utterly devoid of any hope for the future. She looked, not only like she was more dead than alive, but like she was an undead automaton.

"Very, very well done, Nina my pretty," Joker drooled. "You never liked him anyway, did you? Here, come sit on your master's knee. We'll make out for a while, to celebrate."

"Ugh. . ." Ryu grabbed at his chest, certain that he would die from the pain as Nina moved listlessly to obey. "You were right, this IS even more awful than the last scene."

Dragon God: "I'm sorry you have to see this, Ryu. But, without you around, and with Katt busy becoming a murdering zealot, there was noone to rescue Mina from the Joker gang, and Nina had no choice but to swear to be his slave. He used her, Ryu-- first until she wished that she was dead, and then until she ceased to wish for anything at all. Her will has been completely broken, and she no longer has any purpose to obey Joker's orders. She does not understand that Joker is destroying her own family. If she did understand, she wouldn't care. She no longer remembers Mina-- who, by the way, is dead."

"Joker killed Mina, too!?" Despite his horror at this revelation, Ryu still couldn't tear his eyes away from the sickening tableau of Nina and Joker. Even the thugs looked a little queasy.

Dragon God: "Well, it wasn't really his fault: Mina choked to death on a fish bone. Anyway, you see, the destiny of Nina's black wings has come true. She has brought ruin on the royal family, and all of Windia, by serving Joker as a sorceress. But remember this, Ryu: Nina's dark destiny became a reality because she lost the will to fight against it. Because of that, and nothing else! On your own world, she gained the courage to face her fears and defeat them, and she has vowed not to let this destiny come to be. But here, the will to fight has been taken away from her! Oh, the inhuman cruelty of that man! Oh, Oh, the good that Nina would have accomplished! Oh, Oh, Oh, the--"

"If we don't get out of here soon, I'm going to throw up again," Ryu gagged.

Dragon God: "Yikes!"

Next, they were in a dimly lit room.

Dragon God: "I hope you didn't get sick because of all the 'Oh's in my soliloquy."

"No, I just couldn't stand watching that slimly toad groping at. . . Ah, speaking of slimy toads, what the hell is that rubbing against my leg!?"

Dragon God: "Sorry. I'll turn up the lights a little. . ."

Now Ryu could see that he was wedged in the middle of a tightly packed crowd, which seemed to be entirely made up of exceptionally fat and ugly Frog Clan women. They were gathered around a small, dingy stage. In fact, the entire room was small and dingy.

"Where are we now? Sima Fort?"

Dragon God: "Yup. To be specific, we're at the lowest, slimiest, most disgusting dive in the entire Sima Fort area."

"But what are we doing here?":

Dragon God: "We're here to watch Sten, er, 'perform.' You see, Ryu, because Sten never met you, he never rediscovered his own courage. He continued to run from his past, living the life of a wandering entertainer, but his heart wasn't ever really in it. After a while, his show just plain stunk. He slowly convinced himself that, because he was a coward, he deserved to be a failure. So, he became more and more pathetic until he hit rock bottom. . . hard. Now he's the lowest of the low. Watch this-- but not too closely!"

At those words, the shabby curtain opened, and a hard-used, listless looking Sten stepped out, wearing what seemed to be a body suit made out of banana skins. The fat Frog women cheered and hooted wildly.

"Peel, baby! Peel!"

And so Sten did, bumping and grinding, making obscene pelvic thrusts while hurling the banana peels one by one into the eager crowd.

Ryu screamed in utter horror: "Noooooo! Please, Dragon God, have mercy! I can't stand watching Sten demean himself like this! Get us out of here before he. . . shows something!"

Dragon God: "Ugh! Well, too late now."

"Now I know I'm gonna throw up again," Ryu declared.

And so he did.

Dragon God: *Sigh. . .*

Sometime later, after Ryu finally recovered, he looked up to find himself in a dense forest. "No where are-- WHAT THE HELL IS THAT!?"

He discovered that he was face-to-face with a colossal, hideous skeleton, its jaws spread wide as if to devour him whole. Fortunately, it wasn't the walking, moving, undead kind of skeleton, but it was still pretty unnerving.

"Dragon God, what is-- was -- this awful, disgusting abomination?"

Dragon God: "It was Prince Ekaru Hoppe de pe Jean. The real Jean, that is."

"Oops, sorry, Jean," Ryu apologized inanely. "I didn't recognize you. I. . . I guess you spent the rest of your life as the giant monster that Nimufu turned you into, without me and the others here to save you. But how did he die, Dragon God?"

Dragon God: "The mark on his forehead will tell you who killed him. . ."

Ryu inspected the thick skull up close, and discovered a claw-shaped dent which he knew all too well. "So, Katt killed him."

Dragon God: "Right. She bashed in his brains with her dreaded Meow Staff. But, this was actually one of the few good deeds that she's done lately."

"'Good' deed!? What do you mean?"

Dragon God: "With no one to rescue him from Nimufu's curse, Jean eventually lost his mind, and he became a monster in soul as well as body. In part, Death Evans' influence is to blame for that. At any rate, Jean the beast devoured everyone who passed through this forest to Sima Fort or back. No one was safe-- he could even eat a big Farm-Clan like Rand in one gulp. Eventually, the St. Eva's Church sent Katt to kill him. Not out of the goodness of Habaruku's heart, of course, but because Jean had developed a special fondness for devouring priests of St. Eva. Apparently, they taste a lot like cockroaches. . ."

Ryu wiped a fond tear from his eye. "Good old Jean. He was a connoisseur to the end!"

Dragon God: "That he certainly was. He would dip them in the pond scum for seasoning, and perhaps eat a few nuns as a side dish-- but I digress. Let's move on."

Now they were in the middle of a grassy field, surrounded with wildflowers and a sparse scattering of trees. Ryu could just make out the city of Tunland to the north. The air was still and quiet, and the entire area seemed permeated with a profound sense of grief. Even the bright flowers were cheerless, as if they had been strewn upon the grave of a loved one.

Dragon God: "Look down, Ryu. What do you see?"

"These flowers. . . there's something familiar about them. Wait a minute. . ." Ryu picked a flower and held it up to his inquiring gaze. Its long green stem and pink bulb looked a lot like. . . Spar! Ryu dropped the flower in sudden horror.

"Wha, what do these flowers mean!?"

Dragon God: "These flowers, Ryu, are all that remain of Spar in this world. Since you weren't there to rescue him, Spar was eaten by the demon at the carnival. These flowers, which grew from his. . . ah. . . remains, are all that marks his final resting place. What's more, the "Monster vegetarian show" was so successful that the manager expanded it to other clans. Now there's the "Windian poultry show," the "Sima Fort gourmet cuisine show," and even the Dog Clan show, entitled "Monster bites dog." Death Evans' influence is so strong that noone is even protesting the slaughter-- and the crowds are really eating the show up, ha ha!"

"How can you joke about something this awful! You just told me that Spar was eaten and crapped out by a demon! There's nothing funny about that. Well, nothing very funny."

Dragon God: "I'm sorry. I guess that pun was in. . . poor taste! Hee hee!"

Ryu rolled his eyes in disgust. "Corny jokes and toilet humor aside, how could Spar have died? After all, he had that trap door to escape through, didn't he?"

Dragon God: "Yes, but you forget Spar's empathetic link to nature. He was monitoring the situation in the world's forests, and waiting for a brave band of heroes to arise and fight the demon. But, since you were never born, no heroes appeared, and Death Evans is devouring the lives of all the forests in the world. As the trees withered away, so did Spar's will to live. When no hero was forthcoming, Spar realized that the situation was hopeless. His logical, rational mind told him that any resistance was doomed from the start-- so, he simply allowed himself to be eaten, and spared himself the agony of seeing the world waste away. But the real tragedy, Ryu, is that Spar never had the chance to learn about human feelings. While traveling with you and your companions, he would have learned about friendship, love, loss, and many other things. Because he never met you, Spar died having felt only one emotion in his life: despair."

"I'm starting to feel pretty desperate myself."

Dragon God: "Hot damn! Now I know that the Horrifying Scenes are working. But we still have one more to go. . ."

Ryu now stood in another graveyard, albeit a somewhat smaller and less impressive one than the cemetery for Katt's victims. A small, weathered tombstone stood directly in front of him. Dreading what he would find, Ryu brushed aside the weeds that choked it. . .

"'Here lies Suzy. A farmer ate her. . .' Oh, no! Mina's pet! Why did this have to happen? WHY!?" Ryu raised his tear-stained face and screamed his grief to the uncaring sky.

Dragon God: "Geez, calm down, Ryu-- it's just a pig! Look at the grave behind that one."

Ryu shakily cleared the dust off of the second, somewhat larger tombstone, and read the faded inscription. "'Here lies Bleu, a.k.a. Deis. She died trying to kill our God, the dried up old bi. . . um, woman.' Oh, no! I don't understand-- Bleu's name is Deis?"

Dragon God: "Uh-huh. Pay attention to the end credits and you'll see. But don't you wonder why she died?"

"Oh, yeah. That too."

Dragon God: "You see, Ryu, because you were--"

Ryu rolled his eyes. "I know, I know already! I was never born!"

Dragon God: "Well, anyway, without you, Bleu had no other destined heroes to fight by her side, and especially no destined child. So, she had to fight the St. Eva's Church all by herself. She would never admit it, of course, but do to her long slumber Bleu's powers were greatly weakened. She did her best to relearn the old spells she forgot, and went up against Habaruku alone. But, when push came to shove, her magic just didn't make the cut. Habaruku killed her and buried her here as a warning to others who might oppose him. How Suzy ended up here is another story-- but it's not a very interesting one, so we'll skip it."

Ryu, suddenly overcome with weakness, dropped to his knees. "I. . . I can't believe this! My friends, gone. . . one way or another, Death Evans has destroyed them all. Not even the legendary Bleu escaped. . ."

And as the destined child sobbed his heart out, a curtain of utter darkness descended over him, exactly like the dotted line after this sentence.

"Hey, who turned out the lights!? Where are we?"

Dragon God: "Well, Ryu, the Horrifying Scenes are over, and now we're floating in Limbo. So, what do you think about the world without you in it? It sure does suck, doesn't it?"

"Can I. . . ask you some questions?"

Dragon God: "Yes, but only if the answers will make you even more depressed."

"What happened to my sister, Yua?"

Dragon God: "She was killed by that wimpy monster, because you weren't there to hold it off long enough for Ganer to arrive and rescue her."

"But what happened to Ganer, and my mother?"

Dragon God: "Death Evans devoured both of their life forces, and they withered away to nothing. Also, your mother's death allowed Habaruku to open the Sealed Gates and release even more of Death Evans' power into the world."

"And Jean's sister, Petape?"

Dragon God: "Discretely assassinated after she denounced that demon impostor. It was one of Bow's jobs, actually."

"What about Niro, the old man from ruins?"

Dragon God: "Eaten by the roaches."

"What about Claris, and Tiga? Are they still--"

Dragon God: "Dead? Boy, are they ever! They were both--"

"AAAARRRRRGGHH!" Ryu felt like his heart would burst from the pain. "That's enough! I give up! I couldn't possibly be any more depressed!"

Dragon God: "That's the spirit, Ryu! So, how do you feel about your life now?

"I wish I was dead!"

Dragon God: "Hmm, well, that's not exactly what I was going for. See, Ryu, all that nasty stuff only happened because you were never born, right?"

"Yeah. So?"

Dragon God: "Well, you were born, Ryu."

Ryu's face lit up at that realization. "Hey, that's right! I was born! So, none of that stuff ever really happened, did it?"

Dragon God: "No, it didn't. Bow and Katt aren't killers, Rand's not a drunk, Nina was never Joker's slave, and all of them are alive and well. Yes, Mina still sacrificed her humanity. Yes, Tiga and Claris are dead. But, the lives of countless others were saved-- thanks to you, Ryu. You're one hell of a guy! If it wasn't for you the world would belong to Death Evans, and your friends would all be in a pretty bad way.

"Can't you see how greatly you touched their lives? You mean a lot to them, Ryu, and there is still so much that you can accomplish together. Would you really throw all of that away by needlessly sacrificing yourself?"

Ryu raked a hand through his long, blue hair, and sighed quietly. "No, I wouldn't. You're right, Dragon God, my friends need me. I can't just abandon them. If there's another way to seal the Gates, I'll take it."

Dragon God: "And there IS another way. Which just about takes us back to where we began."

"But. . ."

Dragon God: "But what?"

"But my friends are heroes in their own right. They're strong, and capable. They wouldn't really all fall apart just because I was gone, would they?"

Dragon God: "Probably not. But now you're not going to take that risk, are you."

"No."

Dragon God: "You see? Your problem, Ryu, is that you're too damned selfless. That's why I had to show you how much you mean to your friends-- for your sake, as well as theirs. I know that you never wanted to leave them. Now you know that it is your duty to stay."

"Thank you, Dragon God. For everything. Now, can you send me back home?"

Dragon God: "Actually, Ryu, you had the power to return to your home and friends this entire time! All you have to do is to click the heels of your combat boots together and say, 'There's no place like home, there's no place like home. . . .'"

"You've got your plots crossed, Dragon God. That's from the wrong damn movie!"

Dragon God: "Well, I couldn't remember how It's a Wonderful Life ended. So sue me, already."

"I'll leave that up to the owners of The Wizard of Oz," Ryu muttered. Then, the ranger began clicking the heels of his boots together: "There's no place like home, there's no place like home, there's no place like home. . ."

And, the scene shifted for one final time. . .

"There's no place like home. . . no place. . . like home. . . there's. . ." Suddenly, Ryu became aware of a familiar pair of hands resting on his shoulders. He opened his eyes to see a very confused-looking Bow staring at him. Katt and Nina were there, too, their expressions now puzzled as well as grief stricken. Ryu himself could have wept with joy.

Bow cleared his throat and spoke, eyeing Ryu warily. "Um, that's right, buddy. There is no place like home. So let's forget about this turning into a dragon thing and go home, okay?"

Nina picked herself up off the ground and hurried over to feel Ryu's forehead. "Ryu, do you have a fever or something? Are you. . . feeling okay?"

Katt dashed to Ryu's other side and yanked his head around to stare him in the face. Typically, her questions were a bit more blunt. "Ryu, have you gone nuts or what? And are you going to come home with us, or will I have to beat your brains in?"

Ryu merely grabbed them all in an impromptu group hug. "Yes, Bow, I'll forget about guarding these Gates as a dragon. No, Nina, I don't have a fever, and yes, I've never felt better in my life. No, Katt, I am as sane as ever, and don't worry, I'll come home peacefully."

Nina wrapped her arms and wings more tightly around him. "Oh, I'm so glad! I was afraid that. . . but what made you change your mind?"

"Yeah, Ryu, why the sudden change of heart? Tell us, tell us!" Katt caught him in a friendly headlock.

Bow was enthusiastically pounding Ryu on the back. "That was pretty abrupt, buddy. One minute you're turning into a dragon, and the next you're acting like Dorothy. Don't tell me that you had a dream and that me and Nina and Katt were in it!"

"Urk. . . can't breath. . . can't think. . . oxygen supply to brain . . ."

"Oops, sorry Ryu." Katt released her grip, and Ryu's friends stepped back for a moment to allow him to speak.

"Well, actually, I did have a dream, sort of," Ryu began as soon as he'd caught his breath. "Or an epiphany, or whatever you want to call it. But suffice to say, it may have been only a few seconds for you, but for me it was eleven action-packed pages. And now I've come to realize just how much you all mean to me. For better or worse (but mostly for better), our destiny lies together. We're a team-- all of us, including our friends back at Township. Oddly enough, I've never felt closer to them than I do now. . ."

Ryu took a deep breath, gesturing dramatically towards the Gates. "That's why I-- no, why we-- will find another way to seal the Gates. We will search diligently, no matter how many long, hard months and years of constant, grueling--"

"INCOMING!", Bow shrieked, pointing at the sky behind Ryu.

The destined child spun around. "What the!?"

It was Township, cruising in for a landing! As Ryu and his three companions began to freak out, Ganer's voice suddenly boomed through the air.

"That's right, Ryu! Someone does need to guard these Gates. . . but I do not recall raising you to hurt your friends. And there is a better way!"

Ryu frantically waved his arms in a ridiculous attempt at signaling for Ganer to stop. "Father, what are you doing!? You're gonna crash into the--"

Ryu could only bow his head in homage. "Thank you. . . dad. But what about your life? You just got it back, such a short time ago. Would you really give it up. . . for me?"

Nina plucked tentatively at Ryu's sleeve. "Ryu, this is really kind of your father, but he's coming in pretty fast. Don't you think we should, well, run?"

"Oh, yeah, good point, Nina. Come on, everyone, let's--"

NEEEEEEEEEEEEKAAABOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOM!

The foursome had barely run a dozen steps when Township crashed into the Mountain of Gate with, well, a terrible crash. The force of the blast knocked them all off of their feet, and they ended up in a tangled heap among the tall grass. They lay there for several minutes, dazed. Bow began trying to extricate himself from the bottom of the pileup, but he had little success because both Nina and Katt were extremely reluctant to let go of Ryu (for some reason).

"Oh, ouch," Katt managed. "Geez, what a shock that was!" She gingerly rubbed at her ears. "And it was so loud that my ears are still ringing. It's like those Namanda bell ringers have set up shop in my head!"

"You know, in Windia," Nina began, "they say that every time a bell rings, and angel gets his--"

"Nima, could you moof your wiggs? Your fedders are geddig ub by nose."

"Oh, I'm sorry, Bow. I. . ." Nina abruptly spied her soiled feathers. "Oh, ick!"

Ryu smiled, utterly contented. He was tangled up with two of his dearest friends in the world, and sitting on top of another, and still more were awaiting him in Township (which was now conveniently close at hand). Ryu knew that all of them still had a long way to go together. Yes, there were still a few complications in their lives, and no doubt there would be other difficulties to come. But working together, they would resolve those problems, too. So, the future looked bright indeed.

"Yes," Ryu said aloud, "it really is a wonderful life!"

The above story is the sacred truth, as vouchsafed to be in a vision sent by the Dragon God himself (no, really!). Of course, all of the characters in this story belong to Capcom, as does Breath of Fire. The rights to It's a wonderful life! belong to NBC. "The Simpsons," etc., belong to Matt Groening, I think. "South Park" and The Wizard of Oz belongs to whoever owns "South Park" and whoever owns The Wizard of Oz, respectively. I'm pretty sure that if you represent any of these people you cannot sue me for writing this wonderful story. If you think otherwise, well, uh, take it to Ladon (the Dragon God), cuz he made me do it!

Gentle reader, you may have noticed that while I have referred to the Ryu-Nina-Katt love triangle, I never said which of the two Ryu chose. This is because, quite simply, Ryu never did choose either Katt or Nina during the course of the game. They're both still mooning over him at the very end. The whole game, in fact, basically leaves the choice between Katt and Nina to the player's personal opinion, a fact which drives me nuts. Nonetheless, I have far too much respect for you, dear reader, to force my own opinion upon you, despite the fact that this is my fanfic, so whatever I saw goes. My awesome power as the author of this tale gives me great responsi--

Dragon God: "Ryu chose KATT! MWAHAHAHAHA!"

Hey! I though we agreed we weren't going to tell them!?

Dragon God: "I changed my mind. With all those Nina supporters out there, SOMEONE has to stand up for the truth!"

Oh, what the hell. Anyway, that's how it was: Ryu married Katt. (Yeah, poor Nina, but she got over it. After all, it was the power of ALL their friendship that beat Death Evans, right? Right!)