Trials And Triumph
Disclaimer: I do not own Tales of Symphonia, nor the characters created by An Angel's Symphony
This is a challenge fic from An Angel's Symphony...^-^ It ish a one shot! Enjoy~
Panting, exhausted, Michael fell to his knees. Wincing, he raised a hand up to the gaping wound in his shoulder. His hand came away soaked in blood yet Michael felt no pain. Only a frightening numbness. Weakly, he looked back up, towards Lloyd, his vision darkening around the edges. Lloyd was the only one still standing, still struggling to fend off the traitor Kratos. As the last of his strength drained away he switched his gaze to Sheena and she was the last thing he saw before the world faded away...
~???~
Weakly, Michael sat up and held a hand to his head. However, he almost immediatly yelped and quickly put it back down again. Raine looked up.
"Michael! You woke up!" She walked over towards him. "You sustained a bad injury to your shoulder. You've lost a lot of blood and it took a lot of healing to stabilize you." Raine spoke quickly, seeming a bit nervous. Wincing, Michael looked at his shoulder which was bandaged, then looked around him with curiousity.
"Where are we?" The room seemed quite well decorated and elaborate. Oddly enough there was a faint smell of blueberries...Shaking it off, Michael got up, albeit slowly.
"We're at the...Renegades base."
"Huh?"
"They're people who impersonate Desians..." Quickly, Raine gave him a run down of the situation. "They're the ones who saved us from...Kratos, and that Yggdrasill guy." Michael looked down, clenching his fists despite the pain. He looked down at floor. Sensing the anger seething below Michael's surface, Raine quickly changed the subject.
"W-we got away reasonably unharmed though. Its just you and Lloyd who sustained injuries that took some extra healing." At this, Michael looked up, temporarily distracted from his dark thoughts. His brow wrinkled in concern.
"Is Lloyd gonna be okay?" Raine quickly nodded.
"Yes. He just had a rather nasty bump on the head. But everyone is going to be okay." Michael grinned slightly.
"Glad to know they're all okay." He got up and stretched slightly, being careful of his wounded shoulder. Frowning at it, Michael asked "Isn't there anything we can do about this? Its a major pain. Literally." Raine chuckled a bit and nodded.
"Unfortunately, at this point in time there is nothing we can do about it. You need to let the rest heal normally or else your ability to manipulate the arm will be restricted. So you'll just have to grin and bear it." Michael sighed and rolled his eyes slightly.
"Fine, fine..." He muttered. The two of them looked up as a renegade entered the room. He nodded towards the two of them slightly.
"Lord Yuan wishes to see you know. The others are already waiting in the next room." His message completed, the renegade smartly pivotted and then marched out of the room, no doubt heading to fufill some other task. Raine sighed and nodded.
"Yes, lets hurry and get over there." Michael nodded in agreement and the two of them headed towards Yuan's office.
~Inside of Yuan's Office~
The blue haired man turned around and Lloyd and Michael gasped slightly as they recognized his face. "It's-" Lloyd began.
"You!?" Michael finished. Yuan simply "hmphed" and walked a few steps closer, arms crossed. He glared at Michael briefly, then switched his gaze to Lloyd. Lloyd met and held his gaze unwaveringly.
"You're all awake finally." Yuan looked over at Michael, then looked at all of them. "I thought you were going to sleep forever." He smirked slightly. Michael sighed and crossed his arms.
"What do you want?" Yuan sighed and began...
~After Long Ass Speech~
"I can't believe you!" Angrily, Michael glared at Yuan.
"Michael! Now's not the time!" Sheena shouted, grabbed his hand. "We have to escape!" She began running towards the door, tugging Michael along behind her. Michael shot Yuan one last venomous glare and then ran after Sheena and the others. Lloyd and the others had quite a headstart on the two of them, which was probably why what happened next happened. As the two of them turned a corner, they ran into a barricade of Renegades who had ran out of a different hallway. Lloyd and the others had already gotten passed the hallway, so the Renegades were unable to trap them. They then turned upon Michael and Sheena, seeing as they could still trap them and use the two as bait to lure back the target, Lloyd.
"Crap!" Michael shouted, skidding to a halt. He shifted into a battle position. "Heh, think you're skilled enough to take on the both of us huh!?"
"Just give up!" One of the Renegades shouted. "We outnumber you and we'll soon have you surrouded! If you stop resisting now, you won't get hurt!"
"You think we can't beat you before we're outnumbered?" Sheena grinned. "Well then, I guess you guys are in for a big surprise!" Sheena looked over at Michael and grinned. Michael smirked and nodded.
"Let's do this! Sonic Thrust!" He yelled while at the same moment Sheena shouted
"Power Seal!"
"Power Thrust!" The combination of their two attacks turned out to be too much for the unsuspecting Renegades. Stepping over their unconcious and battered bodies, the two hurried after Lloyd and the others, hoping to avoid any more distractions. However, it would seem that this time, luck was not on their side...
Barely minutes after defeating the blockade of Renegades, Michael and Sheena had yet to catch up to Lloyd and the others. They kept getting in small skirmishes with Renegades and were starting to get tired. Neither of them could heal and Genis carried the items. "We have to hurry up and catch up." Sheena panted slightly as they ran up some stairs that seemed unnecessarily exhausting to climb. Michael nodded in agreement. Finally, they made it to the top but an unpleasant surprise awaited them...
"Heh. Sure took you long enough to get here."
"Who are you!?" Sheena stepped back a bit, shocked at the sheer size of the Renegade who stood before them. Michael however took a step forward, glaring at the giant. He refused to allow himself to be intimidated, especially in front of Sheena.
"I am Kujaru!" The enourmous Renegade declared. He pulled an giant broadsword from its sheath and pointed it at Michael. "I shall defeat you both with but a swing of my sword!" Sheena narrowed her eyes at him and pulled out a fresh pair of cards.
"You're gonna find out me and Michael aren't that easy to defeat!" She shouted. Kujaru merely smirked. Determindedly, Michael and Sheena sprang at his sword, Kujaru used it as a shield, knocking the two of them away.
"Is that allll you got?" He taunted, smirking rather cruelly. "Come on, surely you can present more of a challenge to me!?" He slashed at Sheena with surprising speed. Startled by that, Sheena just barely managed to leap back in time to avoid a nasty blow. Kujaru laughed, grinning widely as he leered at Sheena.
"Leave Sheena alone!" Michael shouted getting angry. "I summon the gentle wolf, the fastest of them all I summon, thee come Archie!" He shouted. Archie appeared and leapt at Kujaru. Kujaru was startled.
"A summoner?! No matter, it won't help you in the end!" He yelled and used his sword to slam Archie into the wall. Archie yelped and fell to the ground, then disapeared. Michael gasped in shock and rage.
"H-How dare you!?" He yelled and went to charge at Kujaru, but Sheena grabbed onto his shoulder and stopped him before Kujaru countered Michael's attack.
"Stop Micheal!" Sheena shouted, whirling him around to face her. "Frontal attacks aren't gonna work on this guy! We have to attack him using our summons!" Sheena yelled. Slowly, Michael nodded, still burning with rage at Kujaru.
"You're...You're right Sheena." He said slowly, then turned to face Kujaru again. "We're gonna kick your sorry ass!" He declared. "Ruler of Hell Fir-"
"What makes you think I'm gonna give you a chance to use your spells?!" Kujaru shouted, half laughing as he did so. "Prepare yourselves for defeat at the hands of the great Kujaru!" He stabbed his sword at Michael who sidestepped.
"Ruler of Hell Fire, I summon thee, come Efreet!" He shouted. Efreet appeared and slammed his fist against Kujaru. An explosion of fire sent Kujaru flying and he crashed against the wall with a high pitched yelp. Efreet then disapeared, his work done for the moment. "Hurry Sheena!" Michael shouted. Sheena nodded. Now that Kujaru was down and unable to attack, they could safely attack him. But by the looks of it they didn't have too much time since Kujaru was already recovering and trying to get up.
"Pyre Seal!" Sheena yelled. The attack knocked Kujaru down again.
"This is revenge for before!" Michael yelled. "I summon the gentle wolf, the fastest of them all I summon, thee come Archie!" Archie appeared and attack Kujaru a bit more viciously then he usually did, probably still pissed about before. Kujaru groaned, battered and bruised.
"D-Don't think this is over!" He yelled. Michael and Sheena stood side by side, looking down at him.
"Now it is." Michael stated and then slammed a boot on Kujaru's face, knocking him out. Sheena laughed and grinned.
"Well that may have been unorthadox but nice one Michael." She said, chuckling a little. Michael blushed slightly and looked up at Sheena with a smile.
"Thanks Sheena. You were great too."
"Heh. We better hurry and find the others. Lloyd is probably freaking out."
"If he's noticed..." Michael muttered, commenting about Lloyd's ability to be oblivious, though he wasn't so bad now as he was before.
"I'm worried about the others too, especially Colette..." Sheena looked down.
"Yeah..." Michael slowly nodded. "Cruxis...they used us. They betrayed the faith of the people..."
"No matter how you fluff it up, it's just selfishness in the end..." Sheena muttered. She shook her head and looked back up. "But we can't worry about that right now. The most important thing at the moment is reuniting with the others and getting to somewhere safe!" Michael nodded in agreement and the two of them ran down the hallway, hoping to find the others.
~With Lloyd~
"Where the hell could those two be?!" Lloyd shouted, looking around.
"Lloyd, calm down." Raine said, putting a hand on his shoulder. "Losing your calm isn't going to help us find them any faster. Slow down and think logically. Besides, those two are capable of looking after themselves. They will be FINE." Raine put emphasis on that final word, as if she too feared for their well being. "We can't keep missing them forever. Sooner or later we'll meet up again."
"Yeah but...who will find them first? Us...or the Renegades?" Genis asked, worriedly. "If they manage to catch Michael and Sheena, they might use them as bait for Lloyd..." Lloyd clenched his fists, casting a sorrowful glance at Colette.
"Why...? Why am I so important to them?" He whispered. "What could they possibly need from me?" He looked down at the floor again.
"..." Colette said nothing, simply continued to stare into space with that blank expression in her eyes. Lloyd growled and ran off.
"We're coming Michael, Sheena! Just wait for us!" He yelled. Sighing, Genis and Raine followed after him, Colette close behind.
~Back with Michael and Sheena~
"You know..." Michael began thoughtfully, leaning against a wall. "This place is really big..." The two of them were taking a short rest before continuing onwards with their search. Sheena sighed and nodded.
"So many hallways and stairs and rooms...Then again, considering all the Renegades we've encountered, I guess they need to all this space..."
"How do they remember where to go?" Michael looked around. Sheena laughed and shrugged.
"I don't know but I bet it sure is a task." The two of them chucked. "I wonder if some of the new recruits have to carry maps around...?" The two pictured that for a moment and then burst out laughing. "Okay, okay, enough with the hilarity." Sheena chuckled. "We have to hurry up and get to the others." Michael nodded, grinning.
"I'm glad I got lost with you."
"Huh?" Sheena looked over at him. Realizing what he just said, Michael went dark red.
"I-I mean, you're strong and capable!" He stammered. Sheena gave him a confused look, smiling slightly.
"Yeah...thanks for the compliment. Anyways, lets go." Michael nodded and followed after her as she strode down the hall. "We can't keep missing them forever...I hope." She added under her breath. Michael slowly nodded. Something flickered to the left. His eye caught it and he looked over to where it was coming from.
"Sheena! Look out!" He yelled and tackled her to the ground. Sheena yelped and startlement and slight fright. Overhead, where Sheena had been seconds before, an arrow slammed into the wall and then exploded. Thankfully, since it had been aimed for Sheena's head and they were now on the ground, neither of them were injured. Michael quickly scrambled up and looked over to where the shot had been fired from. A young woman with a rather nasty looking bow smiled and waved at him.
"Hi! I am Calia. I don't miss twice." She giggled slightly, raising a hand to her mouth. "So please. Just be good little children and come along with me. If you do, I promise nobody will get hurt." Her smile widened to rather frightening proportions. Reaching down, Michael helped Sheena get to her feet, then glared at Calia.
"Whoa you crazy bitch!" He yelled. "You trying to kill us?! If so, I think I'm gonna have to introduce you to my blade!" Calia sighed.
"So rash, so brash and oh so bold..." She shook her head. "Its a shame. I would have liked to have brought you back unharmed but it would appear that is not to be so. Now I am going to have to present damanged goods to Lord Yuan!" She pouted, crossing her arms. "You're not very nice little boy." Michael growled in anger.
"I am NOT a little boy!"
"And don't think you're going to be bringing us anywhere." Sheena added, brandishing her cards. "It'll be the medics who take YOU somewhere if anything." Calia narrowed her eyes at Sheena, seeming to be insulted.
"Y-you little hussy! How dare you insult my skill! Oooooh you're gonna pay for that! I'll beat you so bad no one will ever wanna look at you ever again!"
"Don't you dare even touch Sheena!" Michael shouted.
"Enough talking. I can't wait to beat you down." Calia snarled and raised her bow and arrow, deftly fitting an arrow. She let it fly, aiming for Sheena. Sheena skillfully dodged, then ran at Calia.
"Life Seal!" She yelled. Calia fell back with a startled yelp.
"Oh how dare you, you little witch!?"
"Creator's of Thunder and Earth..." Michael began, stepping a few feet back as Sheena kept Calia occupied. "Grant me thy strength, THUNDER GRAVE!" He yelled. Calia yowled in shock as the attack hit her. She hadn't even know it was coming so she had put up no defense against it. Dazed, she swayed and held her head, whimpering slightly. "Now Sheena! Lets take her down!" He ran forward. "Sonic Thrust!"
"Power Seal!"
"Power Thrust!" The two yelled, slamming the attack into Calia. She went down easily, crumpling into a heap.
"Heh, that is seriously all you had after all that talk?" Michael said, looking down at her.
"All talk and no bite." Sheena remarked.
"Sheena! Michael!" They looked around to see Lloyd and the others running towards them!
"Lloyd! We found you!" Sheena shouted, running forwards, Michael close behind. "I thought we'd never-"
"This...isn't over!" Calia grunted and raised her bow and arrow one last time. She let it fly wild, then collapsed and went silent. Sheena turned around, her eyes wild as the arrow flew towards her.
"Sheena!" Michael yelled and leapt in front of the arrow, his only thought to protect Sheena. He grunted in pain as the arrow slammed into his side.
"Michael!" Sheena gasped out, her eyes wide with shock and horror. She ran over to him, catching him before he slid/collapsed to the ground. He opened his eyes and looked up at Sheena, grinning weakly.
"Today is just not my day huh? First the shoulder, now this..." He chuckled.
"Michael you idiot!" Sheena shouted. "Why did you go and do something that stupid?!" Michael sighed.
"Cuz I didn't want to see you get hurt..." He mumbled. "Think you could do something about this wound...? It kinda really hurts..." Sheena looked down at him, lips pursed and then nodded.
"If you hadn't gone and done something so incredibly stupid it wouldn't be hurting." Nevertheless she picked Michael up, being careful of his wound, and walked over to where Raine and the others stood. "Lets get Michael to somewhere we can treat his wound safely." Raine nodded.
"I saw a room a few hallways back that looked like no one had gone into it for a long time. I bet we'd be safe there." Genis piped up, casting a worried glance over at Michael. Lloyd and Genis led the way back to the room.
~Safe Room~
Gently, Sheena laid Michael down on the table, on his side. He grunted and shifted a bit. Sheena stepped back and looked at the arrow, then at Raine. "How are we gonna get that stupid thing out of there?" Raine sighed and tugged on the arrow, making Michael yelp at the unexpected pain.
"Hey, watch it! I'm still attatched to that thing Raine." He growled out. Raine chuckled and shook her head, amused.
"Yes which is why we need to get it out. Or would you rather go around and forever be known as Arrow Lad?" Michael was silent for a moment.
"Yank that stupid thing the hell out!" Raine looked over at the others.
"You heard what he just said correct?" They all nodded. Raine smirked slightly.
"Good. Lloyd come over here and hold onto the arrow."
"Huh? Professor?" Confused, Lloyd walked over and grasped the arrow with both hands. "What are you gonna d-" Before Lloyd could finish saying what he was going to, Raine kicked him in the stomach. With a startled gasp, both Lloyd and the arrow flew across the room and crashed into the wall. Michael screeched in pain as the arrow left.
"WHAT THE HELL RAINE?!?!" Both Lloyd and Michael yelled at the same time. Raine simply smiled.
"We needed to get the arrow out somehow." Raine dusted her hands off.
"That hurt..." Lloyd whimpered, holding a hand to the back of his battered and bruised head. "Whats up with all the head hate today? First at the tower, now here..."
"Well at least anything won't be damaged..." Genis muttered, snickering slightly. Lloyd heard him and glared slightly.
"You think you're in pain!?" Michael hissed. "You're not the one who just got a fucking arrow ripped out of his back!"
"Now now children, play nice." Raine said pleasantly. She quickly healed the wound, then turned to Sheena and patched her up too. Lloyd and Michael shot her dark looks, then muttered ominous things under their breath.
"We should stop arguing about this and get out of here before the Renegades show up." Genis suggested. "Besides, I am really sick and tired of this place. I wanna get out and see the sky again."
"Plus, we have to find a way to save Colette." Lloyd added, casting a worried glance at the soulless chosen. The others looked at her, feeling sorrow and anger at what had happened. To think Kratos would betray them like that...Lloyd sighed wearily.
"Alright. Lets g-" Even as he spoke the words, the door burst in, hitting the wall and cracking. Startled, the group turned around, drawing their weapons as they prepared themselves for the attack. "Renegades!" Lloyd shouted. running to the front. Calia and Kujaru were amoung the group of Renegades and they looked pissed and anxious for revenge as they stared Sheena and Michael down coldly.
"You guys can take care of the kid." Kujaru snarled out, pointing at Lloyd. "But leave the ninja bitch and annoying brat to us." He shifted to point at Sheena and Michael.
"I call taking down the witch!" Calia hissed. Kujaru nodded.
"Heh. So long as you leave the brat to me." He glared at Michael. Sheena and Michael sighed, then face palmed wearily.
"YOU guys again? Didn't you learn your lesson LAST time we kicked your sorry asses?" Calia shrieked in rage at this insult.
"I'm going to KILL you!" She screamed and let loose a flurry of arrows.
"Calia! Be more careful!" Another renegade hissed. "Don't hit the target!" Lloyd smirked and pointed a sword at the Renegades.
"Be prepared to go down!" He shouted and charged at them. "Demon Fang!" The first Renegade went down with a single attack, crumpling into a heap. The others however, quickly proved themselves to be tougher opponents as they charged the group.
"I summon the gentle wolf, the fastest of them all I summon, thee come Archie!" Michael yelled and Archie appeared, taking down two Renegades with ease before again disapearing. Sheena was taking on a Renegade with lots of Pyre Seals as Genis buffeted a few with a Tornado. Raine stood to the back of the group, using support spells. However, as Lloyd went to use Beast, a Renegade snook up on him and whacked him on the back, causing Lloyd to fall to the ground. "Lloyd!" Michael shouted and went to grab him up but Kujaru blocked them. Other Renegades quickly surrounded Lloyd, preventing his escape or anyone helping him.
"Colette!" Lloyd shouted, concerned for her safety as the Renegades because they were attacking and forcing the others away. Angrily, Lloyd went to draw a sword and hack his way through the Renegades back to his friends but one of them grabbed his arm and twisted it behind his back. Lloyd gave a startled and pained cry as his arm bent into an unnatural angle, his back arched. "Let go of me!" He yelled and struggled as he was forcibly pulled to his feet.
"Creators of Thunder and Earth, grant me thy strength, THUNDER GRAVE!" Michael yelled, aiming for the Renegades surrounding Lloyd while at the same time Genis cast Thunder Blade. The attacks both hit their targets, with Calia and Kujaru being electrified by Genis' attack and the other Renegades taking a pounding from Michaels, with Sheena finishing them off.. But they had served their purpose. Lloyd was gone. During the time while the lesser Renegades were being taken out, Calia and Kujaru had split, presumeably following after the others.
"Dammit!" Michael yelled, clenching his fists.
"Calm down Michael." Raine advised. "Getting angry in this situation isn't going to help Lloyd." Michael sighed.
"Come on!" Sheena said, heading towards the door. "We can probably still catch up if we hurry!" The others followed after, in hot pursuit.
About ten minutes later they spotted the Renegades again. They were currently trying to restrain Lloyd who was fighting against them with everything he had. He had managed to get one hand free and was fighting to push away the Renegades.
"Lloyd!" Genis yelled as they ran closer. Lloyd looked up from slugging a Renegade in the face. His eyes brightened up with relief.
"Gods of Water and Fire! Put aside your differences and aid me! AQUA EXPLOSION!" Michael yelled, hitting two Renegades. Sheena darted forward with lightning speed.
"Pyre Seal!" They crumpled to the ground, unconcious after both attacks had hit them. She immediatly went after the last three. Raine stood off to the side, casting support spells while Genis began casting Stalagmite. In under a minute they had managed to free Lloyd. He grinned a little sheepishly as he looked around at them.
"Thanks guys." Lloyd rubbed one of his wrists which was sore from the Renegade abusing it so. Michael laughed and grinned back at Lloyd.
"Not a problem!"
"Uh guys, we've got company." Genis said, pointing behind the two. Looking around, they spotted Calia and Kujaru. The two groaned in unison upon spotting the troublesome duo.
"Don't you guys ever give up?" Michael demanded to know, unsheathing his sword again. Calia glared, a slightly crazed look in her eyes.
"I do not forgive insults so easily!" She growled out, pulling out an arrow. Kujaru nodded, agreeing with something along those lines. The group sighed, wishing that for once something would go smoothly. But it never did and so they would just have to battle their way through this situation.
"It shouldn't be too difficult to defeat them..." Raine stated, studying them. "They're weak from all the other battles they've engaged in."
"Then lets take them down! Demon Fang!" Lloyd yelled, aiming at Calia. Genis casted his spells aimed at Calia, the two of them focusing on her. Meanwhile, Michael and Sheena teamed up against Kujaru.
"I call upon the Madien of the Mist, I summon thee! Come Undine!" Sheena chanted as Michael blocked and countered Kujaru's swordplay.
Moments later Undine appeared. "Ready?" A gush of water erupted, sending Kujaru flying upwards. The startled swordman yelped and plummeted towards the ground again. Sheena ran at him, with the plan to use Demon Seal.
"I summon the Gentle wolf, the Fastest of them all, I summon thee! Come Archie!" Michael yelled. Archie appeared and attacked Kujaru just as Sheena's attack hit. With a groan, Kujaru collapsed to the ground, knocked out. Across the room Genis and Lloyd defeated Calia, about the same time as Michael and Sheena. Tired but feeling victorious, the group regrouped.
"Well that sure took long enough..." Genis muttered a little. "I say we get outta here already."
"Anyone know the way out?" Lloyd asked, keeping a careful eye on Colette again. Michael and Sheena exchanged a look, then wide grins spread over their faces.
"I don't know...We should ask a new recruit!" The two of them laughed as the others looked on in confusion. Regaining herself, Sheena looked over at Michael and smiled. A light blush spread over Michael's face as he smiled back at her. "Come on. Lets get out of here." Michael grinned.
"Together..."
~Fin~