Description[]
Final Fantasy 7 vs Mega Man X. Pushing through the pain of the past, these blonde hero's raise their swords to the sky and challenge each other in this retro grudge match! Who's side are you on, the First Class SOLDIER, or the S-Class Maverick Hunter?
Interlude[]
(Queue Death Battle - Wiz & Boomstick)
Boomstick: They're two of the most iconic swordsmen in video game history, known for taking on dudes way out of their league and always coming out on top anyways.
Wiz: While their pasts may be shrouded in mystery and disaster, they’ll never give up on doing that they can to save the world, standing tall as beacons of hope for all humanity.
Boomstick: Cloud Strife, Midgar’s guardian super-soldier.
Wiz: Zero, Mega Man’s Maverick Hunting Legendary Reploid.
[Note: Crossover games such as Dissida, Mega Man X DiVe, Super Smash Bros, Marvel vs Capcom, Kingdom Hearts, and Teppen, due to many of these presenting non-standard and contradictory information, or just being blatantly non-canon, will be excluded from these analyses.]
Boomstick: He’s Wiz and I’m Boomstick!
Wiz: And it's our job to analyze their weapons, armor, and skills to find out who would win... a Death Battle.
Cloud Strife[]
Wiz: Welcome to the planet Gaia, a world run by the evil Shinra Corporation with a strong connection to the magical Lifestream, home to massive industrial cities. But the hero of this story doesn't begin in the massive city of Midgar, but a small, humble town called Nibelheim. There, a young boy aspired to be a great hero like his idol, Sephiroth, by joining Shinra's SOLDIER Program.
[Note: Continuity from both Final Fantasy 7 and the new Remake continuity will be composited together, as there is little difference in regards to Cloud’s character and capabilities across both games.]
Boomstick: Ladies and gentlemen, meet Cloud Strife! He would leave his home and join the SOLDIER Program, becoming a First Class SOLDIER who went on to fight in several epic battles with his epic giant broadsword, but eventually came to leave SOLDIER and become a Mercenary for hire when he saw how corrupt Shinra as a corporation is when the got his hometown destroyed- Wiz am I laying this on too thick? Should we just cut the bullshit?
Wiz: Yeah, might as well. See, Cloud never actually made the SOLDIER Program. Like, at all. Instead, Cloud became an admittedly still very skilled infantryman and ended up getting regularly partnered up with an actual First Class SOLDIER who he became close friends with, Zack Fair. One fateful day though, Cloud and Zack found themselves back in Cloud’s hometown, only for it to be burned to the ground by Sephiroth himself, who had gone mad from learning the truth of his own twisted existence.
Boomstick: With his mom dead and both Zack and his best friend slash crush Tifa down for the count, Cloud picked up Zack’s mighty Buster Sword and killed Sephiroth himself. But then shit got bad as Cloud and Zack were kidnapped by some cultists working for Shinra for a few years, who experimented on them both and injected Cloud with Mako Energy and Alien DNA from Sephiroth’s space-mommy Jenova, which ended up giving Cloud an insane superhuman physique.
[Note: Cloud’s superhuman abilities granted to him from his experimentation may possibly include Flight, as he is shown flying rather consistently in the Advent Children movie.]
Wiz: This also left Cloud with a severe case of Mako Poisoning, which combined with the vegetative state he was left in after being cryogenically frozen for four long years, left him delirious as Zack effectively carried Cloud on his back for a year trying to get them to the city of Midgar. But Cloud would recover too little too late, as by the time he finally came too…Zack was dead, shot down by Shinra. Wracked with guilt, trauma, and still suffering from Mako Poisoning, on top of his already existing self-esteem issues, Cloud’s fractured psyche suppressed many of his traumatic memories and developed a second personality, inheriting many of Zack’s memories and skills. This, combined with his already existing training he got as an Infantryman and his superhuman stature he got from his time as a lab-rat, makes Cloud a deadly opponent to come up against in battle.
[Note: There are many interpretations of Zack’s final stand, but they all end the same; with him dead and passing the Buster Sword on to Cloud. FF7 Remake shows a splintered second timeline, where Zack survived, but it’s currently unknown how this fits into Remake's overall narrative.]
Boomstick: Cloud’s main weapon of choice is Zack’s Buster Sword, an epic six foot long Broadsword that’s just the coolest damn sword ever seen in gaming! This bad boy has been upgraded by Cloud several times over the years, and he always makes sure to keep his old best buddies sword in tip top shape. It’s also got slots for Materia, little orbs of Mako energy Cloud uses for all sorts of attacks n’ shit, so you better make a good choice with whatever you select. Personally, I go with Firaga and Thundaga.
Wiz: Actually Boomstick, Materia is activated via Brainwaves, not weapon slots, so Cloud can theoretically use any Materia he has on hand at all times. Although, Cloud does eventually gain MASTER Materia, which grants him access to all 21 Magic Spells he can learn all condensed down into a single Materia, including spells like the powerful Flare and Ultima, restoration spells like Curaga, and disruptive spells like Graviga, which let him manipulate Gravity, Stop, which freezes an enemy in time, or Toad…it turns enemies into toads.
Boomstick: He can erect barriers around himself and others, fire comets at peoples, siphon off an enemies HP and MP, and roll the RNG dice to try and afflict instant Death on an enemy. He’s also got Master Command Materia, which can use spells like Sense to give him the one-up on a foe's stats, or Enemy Skill, which can copy a single ability from whoever he’s fighting.
[Note: Cloud cannot inherently resist status effects without specific equipment like the ribbon, which protects him from all status ailments save time manipulation, which he’s seen wearing in Advent Children, making it standard for him.]
Wiz: Materia is understandably very powerful, and Cloud has certainly mastered use of all aspects of them, including Summons. There are several powerful summons in the Final Fantasy series, like Bahamut Fury, a powerful Summon who can annihilate moons and fly across galaxies in seconds. And Cloud put his super soldier abilities to good use fighting alongside Tifa and her new allies against Shinra, the freedom fighter group Avalanche.
Boomstick: But Cloud doesn’t just need Materia to get a leg up in battle. He’s got an encyclopedia's worth of anger issues, and Cloud’s learned how to channel both his rage and Spirit Energy into extremely powerful Limit Break attacks. He can shoot sword-lasers with Blade Beam, paralyze foes with Cross Slash, fire meteors for some reason, or the classic Omnislash, which is so strong it basically ensures victory, especially when he combines it with his strongest sword, the Ultima Weapon.
Wiz: Along the way, Cloud and Avalanche took on many powerful monsters and foes, eventually coming face to face with Sephiroth himself, back from the dead and with a scheme to destroy the world, finally forcing Cloud to accept the truth about his past. While Avalanche did successfully stop Sephiroth’s scheme, Cloud still struggled to accept the weight of his past, eventually exiling himself to the ruins of Midgar while the rest of his friends remained in the new city of Edge. It was only after one final adventure with his friends by his side, and another showdown with Sephiroth, that Cloud was finally able to shatter his limits and start down a road to self-recovery.
Boomstick: And with that newfound sense of self came a new sword, the Fusion Sword! This bad baby is six swords in one, and he can split parts out to dual wield in battle, or perform the awesome Omnislash Version Five! Oh, it’s just the coolest thing I’ve ever seen! He can even store the individual parts in his sick-ass motorcycle, the Fenrir!
Wiz: Mental or physical, Cloud’s overcome any obstacle in front of him, including Sephiroth, which is no small feat given Sephiroth’s own Limit Break is the devastating Supernova.
Boomstick: I’ve got this one Wiz! See, when Supernova is used in FF7, it’s actually transporting you to another dimension where a Supernova destroys our entire solar system, including Pluto, which is important.
Wiz: Boomstick what are you-
Boomstick: So, the distance from the Sun all the way out to Pluto where the explosion reaches is 5,906,380,000 kilometers. Using the Sun, Jupiter, and Pluto as set points to measure distance, I’ve come to find that for the blast to reach that far and destroy all nine planets in its path would require an energy output of 178.8 MegaFoe! And keep in mind, a single Foe is the output of a single regular Supernova. Meaning Cloud took down a guy with a Supernova worth over a MILLION Supernovas!
Wiz: That…was all correct? Boomstick, when the hell did you have the time to calc that?
Boomstick: Silly Wiz, I’ve been saving this one in my back pocket for just the right occasion.
Wiz: …WHAT THE FU-!?
Boomstick: While Wiz has a mental breakdown about me doing his job better than him, it’s worth noting Sephiroth is directly controlling the comet that causes Supernova, and that comment can move over 20 trillion times the speed of light. Don’t fuck with Cloud Strife!
[Note: It’s possible Sephiroth himself is much stronger than Supernova as of Advent Children, where it’s confirmed he was holding back against Cloud, but that would mean Cloud should not fully scale to Sephiroth’s full power, whatever it may be.]
Wiz: (Deep breath). Okay, okay, I’m good. (Ahem). Cloud may be superhuman in nature, but he does still have limits. He has a limited supply of MP to use Materia with, and he does tend to be rather brash and headstrong, sometimes rushing into battle unprepared.
Boomstick: But Cloud just laughs in the face of his flaws, step-by-step overcoming them all as he works to become the hero he always dreamed of being day by day. There will never be anyone who does it quite like Cloud Strife.
Rufus Shinra: “You’re a SOLDIER, aren’t you? Which, of course, would mean that I own you.”
Cloud: “Ex-SOLDIER. I quit.”
Zero[]
Wiz: Imagine, for a second, that you are Doctor Albert Wily, a man who’s genius was unfairly persecuted by the scientific community in favor of Doctor Light’s “safer” and “more revolutionary” robotics work while his work was deemed “too dangerous” for pushing the limits of robots. Despite going on to win many awards, Wily never truly got the fame a man of his caliber deserved, always being one-upped by his former friend. And so, Wily came to what was quite frankly the only logical conclusion; he tried to take over the world.
Boomstick: Unfortunately for ol Doctor Wahwee, one of Doctor Light’s robots kept getting in his way, the Super Fighting Robot Mega Man! And while he tried over, and over, and over again, Wily never did make a robot that was strong enough to beat Mega Man. Though he did come pretty close with Bass, that guy had a bit too much free will to be a truly loyal servant. So Wily went back to the drawing board one final time to take what worked with Bass and improve on it. This was his ultimate creation who would finally for sure beat Mega Man; Zero.
Wiz: There was just one problem. Due to a glitch in his cognitive programming, Zero was violently disobedient, and had to be put in status. Ever the problem solver however, Wily came up with a band-aid solution. By injecting Zero’s stasis pod with an upgraded form of his Roboeza virus, this Maverick Virus would ensure Zero would become the destructive god Wily intended him to be. Sadly though, Wily would not live to see his genius take the world by storm, as he unfortunately passed away before Zero could be finished. A shame too, because Zero would have absolutely for sure beaten Mega Man.
[Note: While it’s unknown if they ever met, former Mega Man series producer Keiji Inafune confirmed Zero did not kill the Classic Era characters, debunking the popular fan-theory suggesting he did during a 2008 Interview.]
Boomstick: You know Wiz, I’m not sure how much you should be idolizing Wily here. But then again, Zero’s fucking awesome! Like any good Mega Man, Zero’s equipped with the mighty Z-Buster, which he uses for rapid fire blasts and the ever reliable Charged Shot! Plus, Zero’s body is super tough, being powered by the Bassnium core that powered Bass. It’s so tough that only a hundred years later were there finally robots able to fight on Zero’s level called Reploids.
Wiz: See, the Maverick Virus stored within Zero’s pod had begun leaking out of it due to a malfunction, infecting other Reploids and turning them into Mavericks. As such, combat Reploids were established in a peacekeeping organization called the Maverick Hunters, who eventually tracked the source of the Virus to Wily’s old, decrepit lair, with Zero finally set free to destroy everything.
Boomstick: That is, until the Maverick Hunters leader Sigma stepped up to take Zero down, freeing Zero from the Virus’s control. With his mind finally clear of his creator’s totally just rage towards the world, Zero ironically chose to join the Maverick Hunters as a defender of humanity and became somewhat of a mentor to Doctor Light’s own final creation; Mega Man X. The two ended up becoming best friends, just in time for Zero to sacrifice himself when Sigma, ironically, went Maverick and tried to take over the world. Man, Zero’s life is just defined by irony isn’t it?
[Note: As a Maverick Hunter, Zero has access to Ride Chasers, high speed hoverbikes made for Reploids. However, multiple Ride Chaser models exist and Zero has been seen using many different ones, and does not have a model designated purely to himself.]
Wiz: It would continue to be, as Wily’s legacy would continue to haunt Zero's life. Despite being content to sacrifice himself so X could keep on fighting, a Reploid named Serges bearing a mysterious resemblance to Wily would rebuild Zero, even giving him advanced armoring and a Beam Saber present in Wily’s old blueprints for Zero. Despite Wil- er, Serges’ best efforts however, Zero remained uncontrollable, and defected back to the side of good to return to work as a Maverick Hunter.
Boomstick: That lightsaber would become Zero’s primary weapon, the Z-Saber. The sick-ass laser sword can deflect projectiles and slice through Maverick ass like a hot thousand degree knife through butter. It is literally straight up a lightsaber. Plus, it’s integrated into Zero’s Variable Ability System, his version of Mega Man’s copy ability. With it, Zero can shoot out sword beams, imbue his blade with various elements of all sorts of various types of attacks, like his iconic Ryuenjin, the flaming sword slash, or this giant lightning tornado!
Wiz: Zero’s Copy Ability also extends to other abilities like his Giga Attacks. By punching the ground Zero can create explosions of plasma with attacks like the Rekkoha, clone himself with the Soul Body, or even stop time with the Dark Hold. Though when Zero’s own power isn’t enough, he’s able to power up with his Black Form, which doubles his attack power and quadruples his speed at the cost of halving his defense. Interestingly enough, this form was actually given to Zero not by Wily, but Doctor Light himself, as at the time Wily had somehow helped Sigma create a stronger Maverick Virus designed to boost Zero’s power at the cost of driving him insane.
[Note: After acquiring the Dark Hold, Zero gained passive resistances to other Time Stops attacks.]
Boomstick: It didn’t work though, so Zero used that power up Light gave him to help beat Sigma’s ass and sacrifice himself to save X, again. Bro was content to finally just die and rest peacefully, but Capcom mandated X6 be made and Zero be included, he instead “hid himself while he repaired himself”.
Wiz: Actually Boomstick, it’s highly implied that Wily, assuming another Reploid form, was the one who rebuilt Zero, as Zero himself later admits to Doctor Light he isn’t actually sure how he survived. Furthermore, in the game’s Japanese script, Zero alludes to his surviving Mega Man X5’s events as akin to X’s own survival, where that game showed Doctor Light being the one to revive X at the end of the conflict.
[Note: While it is technically unconfirmed that Serges and Isoc are Wily, Wily is confirmed to still exist in the X Era, and there is more evidence to support them being Wily than there is against it.]
Boomstick: Right, well, eventually Zero gave up his body to some researchers so they could analyze whatever was in his body that made him immune to the normal Maverick Virus, and they found it, using it to make a cure to the Maverick Virus known as the Mother Cyber Elf! Unfortunately for the world, a madman named Weil who is DEFINITELY not Wily stole both the Mother Elf and Zero’s body to wage war on the world, soooooo Zero got a whole new body to get back in action! …and, timeskip!
[Note: Keiji Inafune confirmed that Weil officially has no relation to Doctor Wily, however, them being one in the same is narratively consistent with the series thusfar and further enhances both the overall story and Zero’s character arc, and will thus be applied for use in this analysis.]
Wiz: A hundred years later, the world was left mostly in ruin from the Elf Wars, and Zero had missed all of it. Locked away for decades in a lab, a rag-tag resistance group led by a scientist named Ciel reawakened him. As it turned out, a copy of X made after X himself disappeared had gone Maverick and turned the last bastion of hope for Humanity and Reploids alike into a tyrannical city-state where Reploids are unjustly persecuted to keep humans happy.
Boomstick: Which X never would’ve supported, so Zero got right on whopping that tyrannical Copy-ass. With his new upgraded body, Zero was just as tough as before, if not tougher because now he’s taking on guys a hundred years more advanced than the Mavericks of yore. While it may no longer have a built in Z-Buster, his Buster Shot functions basically the same way, and his all new Z-Saber has the power to charge up like his Buster for even stronger attacks! Plus, he still retained a lot of his original copied techniques. Plus, he got some new ability chips to enhance his movement, reduce damage, and imbue his weapons with elemental effects. Zero also acquired a whole bunch of new weapons like the Chain Rod, the ultimate fusion between Scorpion’s spear and Indiana Jones’s whip, being able to swing across surfaces and make his enemies Get Over Here.
Wiz: The Triple Rod is a spear that can extend upwards of three times, while the Recoil Rods are twin Tonfa with incredible knockback abilities that Zero can strike with over a thousand times in just a few seconds, and the Shield Boomerang is, well, an energy shield throwable like a Boomerang. He can also steal weapons with the Z-Knuckle, an ability embedded into the palm of his hand-
Boomstick: Or dish out a good ol’ knuckle sandwich!
Wiz: But Zero is not wholly dependent on physical weapons in battle. He also carries around Cyber-Elves, small data creatures that were made from the Mother Elf. These Cyber-Elves have a variety of effects, from boosting Zero’s lifebar and healing his wounds to acting as Sub-Tanks, saving his life from fatal wounds, boosting his defense and speed, attack enemies for him, and somehow transmute them into Mettaurs.
[Note: Cyber-Elves are one use only before they die, but Zero can carry dozens of Cyber-Elves on him at once, including multiple of the same type, including select Cyber-Elves that have the features of multiple types of Cyber-Elves.]
Boomstick: And X! He somehow became a Cyber-Elf too, though Zero never got to use him in battle. But ol ghost-boi X kept guiding Zero during his days in the resistance, helping his buddy until he couldn’t remain in the human world any longer, so X left the task of protecting the world and reestablishing peace once and for all to Zero.
[Note: Zero’s Mettaur Cyber-Elf can also protect Zero from transmutation. Even if Zero doesn’t have any on hand though, Zero has resistant Transmutation on his own in Mega Man X6, and Classic Mega Man and Bass, Zero’s direct predecessors, have as well.]
Wiz: How ironic, that Doctor Light’s final creation would leave his creators dream to the final creation of Doctor Wily, and that Zero would actually face the may who may possibly be his creators final form as the final hurdle to everlasting peace. Not only would Zero face Weil again, but also Omega, his original body given a new mind intent on fulfilling Zero’s original purpose; destruction.
Boomstick: But while Zero’s body may not be the original, his soul certainly was, and that was enough for him to overcome Omega and defeat with the power of his ultimate form, which pushes Zero’s power, speed, and endurance all to it’s limits like his full Maverick Form, but without any cost to his sanity, making it without a doubt Zero’s strongest form!
[Note: Ultimate Form is originally only present in Mega Man Zero 2 on NG+, however the Mega Man Zero Collection & Zero/ZX Legacy Collection both feature the option to use the form in all four Mega Man Zero games by default, so it likely is considered canon.]
Wiz: It’s fairly similar in capabilities to Zero’s original black form, and Zero’s new body definitely upscales from any feats Zero performed in his original body thanks to his defeat of Omega. Zero, in his Black Mode, was able to battle Lumine, a powerful Reploid who had the power to warp dimensional space and create a fully functioning sun that he later destroyed, which would require the yield of a Supernova to perform.
Boomstick: Plus, Zero can dodge lightspeed lasers, while fighting on the moon, and even move so fast that the laser appears frozen in time!
Wiz: Using the distance between the Sun and Earth’s Moon, and accounting for time passed during the events of X8’s limit breaks, Zero must be capable of moving over 18 Billion Times faster than light.
Boomstick: And Zero beat the shit outta his old body when Omega took it over, while Omega was amped by the Mother Elf no less! God, that’s hardcore!
[Note: It’s unknown how much stronger Omega is with the Dark Elf, but he would at minimum be twice as strong as Awakened Zero in X5]
Wiz: Zero’s endured fighting a whole army for a single year, survived crashing into a space colony infected with the Maverick Virus, managed to stalemate X twice and beat his Copy twice, and Omega, whose power was so great he caused rifts in reality to open and could even distort dimensional space!
Boomstick: But when it all came to an end, Zero faced down with definitely not Doctor Wily atop a burning space station herding towards Earth in a final battle for the fate of Humans and Reploids, and Zero cut down his creator to finally end his haunting the world, sacrificing his life one last time in the process and entrusting the world’s future to the person he’d come to trust most, Ciel.
Wiz: How ironic. Zero, Wily’s ultimate tool to destroy the world, would be the one who brought peace for all the world, bringing about X, Ciel, and Doctor Light’s dream of peaceful coexistence between humans and reploids. Born a weapon designed to bring about armageddon, Zero truly was a hero worthy of the title of Mega Man.
Lumine: “Reploids, along with humanity, have irrevocably changed. The nature of their existence has also changed. You are not needed in our new world!”
Zero: “You can babble all you want, but we're not going to let you get away with this!”
Pre-Fight[]
Wiz: Alright the combatants are set and we’ve run the data through all possibilities.
Boomstick: It’s time for a DEATH BATTLE!!
DEATH BATTLE![]
// 22XX - Edge \\
(Queue Mega Man 2: Title Screen Extension)
The scene opens on a normal day in Edge, the city constructed from the ruins of Midgar, with people going about their lives the same as they always did. Constructing new homes for the homeless, transporting goods, and in addition, adjusting to the reploids slowly coming to aid the city’s construction since the fall of Neo Arcadia had left Reploid’s without a solid home to call their own.
One such Reploid inhabiting the city of Edge was Zero, the Legendary Reploid and former Resistance Member, now watching over the world as it slowly regrew into something inhabitable again. The dream that Doctor Light, X, and Ciel all fought so hard for would finally be realized, and he had to admit; as much as he was happy that such a thing would come to fruition, he wasn’t quite sure what he would do with himself once the world was fully reconstructed. Sure, he’d given the idea a little bit of thought before, but with peace so tangibly, visibly close, it had spurred on his thought process yet again.
As the now ex-Maverick Hunter sat on his Ride Chaser parked on the side of the road, taking a sip from the E-Tank he’d brought along to recharge his internal systems and an old-school tune played on the bike’s radio, a call suddenly came in over his coms that interrupted his train of thought.
Zero: It’s me.
Ciel (V.O.): Zero, hey! Sorry sorry we have you stuck on patrol right now, I’m sure it’s the last thing you want to do right now.
Zero: Don’t worry about it Ciel. After everything that’s gone down, this is a nice change of pace. Besides, Axl’s not around for me to pawn it off onto.
Ciel (V.O.): Haha…well, when you get back to base, there’s something I was hoping to ask you about…
Zero: Why wait? Nothing’s happening right now, so I’m all ears.
Ciel: (V.O.): You mean it? Well, I was wondering…
But before Zero could hear the rest of whatever Ciel was going to tell him, a loud “VROOM” caught the attention of his audio receptions, and Zero looked to the side to see a three wheeled motorcycle driving past him at what even he could tell were dangerously illegal speeds, not to mention needlessly reckless.
Zero: Shit. Sorry Ciel, I’m going to have to call you back. I think I just caught some kind of…what did X call reckless humans?
Ciel (V.O.): A daredevil?
Zero: That’s it. We’ll continue this conversation in a minute.
(Queue Final Fantasy 7: Those Who Fight - FamilyJules Remix)
Cutting his com off and hopping onto this bike, Zero quickly revved up the Ride Chaser and raised its front end to mimic a motorcycle’s wheel as he hit the gas and took off after the speeding bike. It only took him a few seconds to reach speeds fast enough to catch up, and when he did Zero saw who was clearly a human with blonde spiky hair wearing mostly black riding on the bike with a large, heavy looking metal sword on his back.
To Zero, this was nobody familiar, but to others he was Cloud Strife, the ex-Shinra hero who had defeated Sephiroth and saved both Midgar and Edge twice over.
Zero: Excuse me! Humans aren’t permitted to drive at such dangerous highspeeds! I’m going to need you to pull over and show me your license!
As Cloud looked back over his left shoulder to look at Zero, the mercenary gave a frustrated sigh as lightning began to spark in his left hand.
Cloud: Get lost.
Raising his left hand, Cloud casted Thunder to fire a bolt of lightning as Zero, although it was an attack that Zero easily dodged as he sped up to keep pace with Cloud, the two driving their bikes up the highway entrance ramps and onto the long stretch of empty highway.
Zero: Fine, have it your way pal.
Reaching down to his waist, Zero drew the Z-Saber and ignited it’s plasma blade, the green triangular Blade glowing brightly as Zero’s ride chaser rapidly approached Cloud’s Fenrir, the Ex-SOLDIER reached back and drew the Buster Sword from his back, and with one hand swung the massive broadsword around to clash against an incoming strike from the Z-Saber. The two blonde bikers kept pace with each other as their eyes locked, and Zero swerved to the side and swung the Z-Saber to again clash it against the Buster Sword.
The wind kicked up along the highway as the two drove into a massive tunnel, and Zero swerved to the right away from Cloud, driving up the side of the tunnel as he swung down and stabbed at Cloud, but the Cloud quickly swung the Buster Sword over his head to counter that attack before hitting the drift on Fenrir and performing a complete, physics defying 360 spin as he stuck the Buster Sword out, hitting Zero as he came back down and sending the Reploid recoiling away from him.
Zero: Ngh- Alright. Let’s play your way then.
Driving ahead of Cloud straight up to the end of the tunnel, Zero quickly hit the breaks on his bike and drifted it to the side as he stuck his foot out to apply more traction and stop himself, Zero looked upwards at the fastly approaching Cloud and took out the Shield Boomerang, holding the energy shield out in front of him as Cloud approached him head on, taking Zero’s challenge Buster Sword first. The two locked eyes as Cloud got closer, and…
CRASH!
The collision sent both fighters flying straight out of the tunnel and over the ramp of the highway, causing them to fall down into a rundown Sector of Midgar. Both hit the ground with a grunt despite being relatively unharmed, Cloud shaking his head as he looked up to see Fenrir banged up and stuck in a hole in the ground, and Zero gasped as he saw his Ride Chaser heavily damaged.
Cloud/Zero: MY BIKE!
(Queue Mega Man X5: X vs Zero)
Zero quickly drew the Buster Shot and took aim, firing a Charged Shot at Cloud that he ducked under and brought the Buster Sword down, Zero retaliating with a quick three slash combo from the Z-Saber to parry the attacks. Quickly leaping to the side with a dash jump, Zero drew the Triple Rod and extended the weapon’s length by three times, thrusting it forwards to take a quick vital shot at Cloud, but the attack was quickly deflected.
Leaping backwards, Zero fired a few quick Buster Shots that Cloud charged through with ease before the Z-Saber came back out, and Zero charged it with lighting as he stabbed the attack forwards, and when Cloud went to block it the surge of electricity shocked him long enough for the attack to send him flying backwards. Zero then quickly let a green swirl of energy surround the Z-Saber, which he fired off as a sword beam that ripped through the air.
LIMIT BREAK: BLADE BEAM!
But Cloud quickly responded by firing his Blade Beam Limit Break out to counter the Haijingeki, the two exploding in a blast of green energy that Zero charged straight through, Cloud managing to react fast enough as the two trades a series of sword swings and slashes against each other while red and gray steaks trailed after them, the fight between the two picking up in high speed before they locked in a blade clash.
Zero: Heh, I didn’t think there was a human alive who could fight a Reploid.
Cloud: Yeah, well, I’m chock full of surprises.
Kicking as Zero’s leg to throw him off balance, Cloud quickly hit him with a Focused Thrust to stagger Zero backwards before drawing the Buster Sword back and delivering three consecutive heavy strikes to Zero, causing him to grunt as he gets pressured backwards. Cloud quickly moved to bring the Buster Sword down through Zero’s skull, but suddenly Zero’s hand shot upwards and grabbed the blade, yanking it forwards as his other hand surged with energy and dealt a fierce strike to Cloud’s gut, causing him to let go of the Buster Sword’s hilt, and Zero gave it a swing for himself.
Cloud: What…? Hey, give that back!
Zero: You want it? Come get it.
Cloud growled slightly as he threw out a Firaga at Zero, who dashed to the side to dodge it as he runs back over to Cloud and hits him a few times with his own weapon before dodging through the bolts of a Thundaga and delivering a meaty hit to the gut on Cloud. As Cloud staggered backwards, he raised a hand and cast Stop on Zero to freeze him in time, but Zero’s initiate resistances let him power through it and hit Cloud with the Buster Sword one more time, sending him hurtling through the air and crashing into the side of Fenrir.
Zero: Ha. I didn’t even need my sword for such an easy fight.
As Zero tossed the Buster Sword away, Cloud scowled slightly as he looked over at Fenrir and gasped when he saw the package he was delivering had gone up in smoke, destroying the object completely.
Cloud: Great. Now Tifa’s gonna kill me.
Opening up Fenrir’s slots, Cloud pulled the components of the Fusion Sword out and assembled it into its complete form before he turned back to Zero with a hardened cold glare.
Cloud: Let’s dance asshole.
Zero: This’ll be over in a Nanosecond.
The two dashed forwards at each other, clashing blades as the Fusion Sword released sparks from it’s collision with the Z-Saber, only for Cloud to bring the Fusion Sword around and crashing down onto the ground as Zero dodged back and summoned the Buster Shot, shooting out a Charged Electric Shot that Cloud countered by firing out Blizzaga, which overpowered the lighting and sent Zero flying backwards. Charging forwards, Cloud did a frontflip and brought the Fusion Sword down overhead, only for Zero to narrowly dodge out of the way and dash jump onto the side of a wall before he started wall jumping between buildings.
Cloud: Oh no you don’t!
(Queue Final Fantasy 7: JENOVA - GaMetal Cover)
Getting a running start to build momentum, Cloud leaped into the air and flew after Zero, catching up with them and clashing their swords against each other as Zero leaped across one building over to a skyscraper, imbuing his Saber with fire to perform a flaming slash with his Ryuenjin technique as he started dashing straight up the side of a building. Cloud, flying ahead, landed above Zero and dashed back down at him, and the two clashed blades in a hefty collision that sent a shockwave outwards.
Running along the building's side, Zero drew the Recoil Rods and charged at Cloud, performing the Thousand Slash Skill to overwhelm Cloud, but the Merc was fast enough to weave through them and stab the tip of his blade against Zero’s chest. As Zero slided backwards along the building's surface, Cloud took out the Hollow Blade from the Fusion Sword and began dual wielding as Zero, clashing his metal blades against the Recoil Rods as Zero ducked under a swipe aimed for his head. Thrusting the Recoil Rod forwards, Zero blasted himself backwards before firing the Chain Rod out into the building, using it to swing around the air and get behind Cloud so he could use the Shippuuga to hit him in the back. As Cloud staggered, he quickly turned back to face Zero and readied himself for a new attack
LIMIT BREAK: CROSS SLASH!
Cloud suddenly performed a series of sword strokes, each hitting Zero with great force as the attack spelled the Kanji for “misfortune”, and the completed Cross Slash suddenly hit Zero with paralysis. Zero let out a grunt of pain as he realized he’d been paralyzed while Cloud leaped away from him and began charging up a Flare. Suddenly, a Cyber-Elf flew outwards and surrounded Zero, curing his paralysis, and Zero activated his Black Armor Form to boost his speed fast enough to get in Cloud’s face and land a hit that caused him to misfire the Flare.
KA-BOOM!!!!
The explosion rocketed the ground, and the building the two were fighting on started to fall, causing them both to stagger slightly, but Cloud pressed on to keep attack Zero as he put the Hollow blade back into the full Fusion Sword, clashing against Zero before being suddenly overpowered by a series of rapid slashes. He spun around as Zero performed an fire-infused raising slash to stagger him, and then switched his Z-Saber infusion to ice and performed a thrusting downwards stab that penetrated Cloud’s chest.
Hitting Zero with the fusion sword to push him away, Cloud quickly turned to run away as the building crashed onto the ground with the sounds of abandoned buildings and cars underneath being crushed and glass shattering, and he focused a Summon Materia out as he rested the Fusion Sword on his back. In a flash of light, Bauhaumut ZERO roared to life as it flew down at Zero, slashing a claw down at Zero that the Maverick Hunter dodged before suddenly using his Giga Attack, Rekkoha, summoning a volley of lasers down from the sky to rip through Bauhaumut Zero’s life before performing a rising slash surrounded by a tornado of lightning to cleave the summon in half and force it to disappear.
Cloud blinked in surprise at how quickly Zero had dispatched of the Summon, but it still gave him a chance to heal up to full with Curaga. Still, that confirmed to Cloud that it was time to drop all limits and end the fight. It was time to finish things.
(Queue Mega Man Zero 4: Falling Down)
Running at Zero head on, Cloud shoulder-slammed him before the two clashed their blades a few times, Zero hitting the ground to shatter part of the building they were standing on and release an outwards explosion of energy that flung Cloud into the air. Zero leaped up after him and the two clashed blades in mid air, the recoil sending them both backwards at Cloud cast a Materia Spell and Zero sent out a Cyber-Elf.
Could: Toad!
Zero: Met!
The two status spells hit the other, and the result shows nothing happening to the other of them. Zero quickly dashed across the air and slashed with the Z-Saber to send Cloud crashing into the ground and quickly dashed down after him, aiming to finish the fight once and for all.
Cloud: Time to send you to hell!
LIMIT BREAK: OMNISLASH VER 5!
Suddenly, Clash shot through the air surrounded by a blue glow and hit Zero with the Fusion Sword, which then split apart into into’s different components. Zero gasped slightly as he looked around and realized he’d been played right into a trap, and Cloud began his assault. Dashing all around the area, Cloud repeatedly switched weapons and slammed each one against Zero, scratching and denting his armor more and more with each attack. All he needed now was the Finishing Touch.
Cloud grabbed the First Tsurugi and flew down at Zero, aiming to impale him through the chest with his sword. He stabbed downwards, shoving the blade through Zero’s gut.
It was over.
…
Zero: You thought you were better than you are.
A fake!
Cloud gasped as the Soul Body double exploded in front of him, blinding Cloud for a second, just long enough for Zero to get behind him and deliver a slash to Cloud’s back. Cloud spun around and blindly slashed at Zero, but Zero leaped back and powered up into his Ultimate Form, his power surging as his Copy Ability System finished installing his newest Giga Attack; the Omnislash.
Zero: LET’S FINISH THIS!
Raising a hand, Zero cast the Dark Hold to completely stop him, freezing Cloud in place as Zero leaped right up to him and began barraging Cloud with omnidirectional attacks at full power before hitting the final one by impaling Cloud through the chest. The time stop ended and Cloud was suddenly hit with all the pain all at once as Zero unleashed his final attack.
Zero: GENMU ZERO!!!
A giant beam of green energy suddenly obliterated Cloud Strife’s insides, causing him to yell out in pain as he spit out blood, his eyes went blank, and he let go of the First Tsurugi. The attack had killed him almost instantly.
Zero ended the attack as he finally fell from the air, rolling through his land and crouching down as Cloud’s lifeless body face planted onto the ground with a hefty thud. Zero stood back up, huffing and puffing as a Cyber Elf came out to heal him, and he raised his hand to activate his com.
Zero: Ciel…it’s me…so, what did you want to ask me about…?
Results[]
(Queue Mega Man Zero: Theme of Zero Koki Remix)
Boomstick: CLOOOOOOUD NOOOOOOOO!!!! (Sob) At…at least you’ll get to see Zack and Aerith again…
Wiz: Haha, chalk another one up for History’s greatest genius. I’d like to see one of Doctor Light’s robots do that-
A loud smack can be heard!
Boomstick: STOP WORSHIPING THE MADMAN WIZ!
Wiz: You didn’t have to hit me…(ahem) Right, well, this was far from a one-sided match, and Cloud put up the best fight he could. Zero wasn’t going to put him down without a hard fought battle, but ultimately, Zero still had everything he needed to win out in this battle.
Boomstick: Credit where it’s due, Cloud was a lot faster then Zero. Zero could move 18 Billion times faster than light in Black Mode, but Cloud could fight Sephiroth, who can react and fight at 20 Trillion times the speed of light! He was also totally more versatile, with all his Limit Breaks, Materia, and Summons. With his sheer versatility and speed, Cloud could’ve totally overwhelmed Zero!
[Note: Ultimate Form and Speed Up Cyber-Elves have no set multiplier. Even if we assume they bolt double Zero’s speed and stack it over Black Mode, it would only make Zero 72 Billion Times FTL, still far slower than Cloud]
Wiz: It’s true, and there are a few scenarios where that outcome could play out, but they were fairly unreliable. Zero, surprisingly, countered many of Cloud’s disruptive and support based materia like Toad and Graviga as he’s resisted similar attacks before, while spells like Siphon and Silence were plain ineffective against Zero’s tech based arsenal. On the other hand, Cloud could also resist Zero’s own transmutation Cyber Elf thanks to his ribbon, so Zero couldn’t inflict him with many status ailments of his own.
[Note: Cloud’s Enemy Skill Materia would be unlikely to copy any of Zero's abilities, as they are technological in nature, not magical, but Zero’s Copy Ability System could likely replicate Cloud’s Limit Breaks.]
Boomstick: But what he could do is freeze Cloud in time with the Dark Hold whenever he wanted, since Cloud had no resistance to that, while Zero gained a passive resistance to time stops by acquiring that ability. Plus, Zero’s dozens of support Cyber-Elves and Head Chips gave Zero way better recovery options then Cloud, who really only had Curaga to rely on, but with limited MP, that was never gonna last.
Wiz: Right, and with most of their offensive abilities evenly matched in some way, this ultimately came down to who was stronger then tougher. Cloud’s scaling to Sephiroth’s Supernova was impressive, but Zero’s top scaling was a bit harder to pin down. Eventually though, we found the perfect solution in scaling Zero to his rival and former body; Omega.
Boomstick: Remember him? He’s Zero’s original body made into the Messiah of destruction. Well, Omega’s presence on Earth was so devastating it caused a whole-ass dimensional collapse, and opened up rifts to another world called Cyberspace, a whole dimension with stars, suns, and space!
Wiz: Dialogue in the game even supports this reading, as it’s referred to as a Shadow world before, and the Mega Man ZX series shows Omega resurfacing causing another Cyber Space distortion that corrupted a whole pocket of reality with dozens of stars. For Omega’s power to do any of this, he’d have to be exuding energy levels of over 19 ExaFoe!
Boomstick: What the hell is an ExaFoe worth you may ask? Well, it’s hundreds of millions of times more destructive than a MegaFoe! So much more that Omega’s sheer existence eclipses the power of Sephiroth’s Supernova by such an unbelievable amount that Cloud just straight up lacked a way to kill Zero, or survive a serious hit when Zero eventually landed one.
Wiz: And Zero was able to beat Omega in battle, despite Omega being his original body powered up by the Mother Elf. We don’t know how much stronger the Mother Elf made Omega, but it wouldn’t really matter. Even if we assumed Zero was weaker then Omega, it would make Zero billions of times stronger than Cloud could ever hope to be.
[Note: Cloud has never beaten a serious full power Sephiroth on his own, while Zero defeated Omega solo, further adding to the power gap between them.]
Boomstick: With that much power and durability, Zero could totally afford to just stall Cloud out until he exhausted himself, ran out of mp, made a mistake that Zero could capitalize on, or just got tired of everything and stopped time to end it instantly!
[Note: Far fewer of Zero’s abilities are limited in some way compared to Cloud, who is much more reliant of limited use abilities like Materia and Limits.]
Wiz: Cloud’s own power was nothing to scoff at for sure, but when push came to shove, Zero was just the stronger, tougher, and more skilled fighter with the right abilities needed to win the day.
Boomstick: This fight totally rocked, but it's Finally time to say that Cloud's chance of winning was just a Fantasy.
Wiz: The winner is Zero.
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