Truth be told, I couldn't resist posting this. I finally had a chance to play Final Fantasy XIII, and with a story in mind, I just have to do it.

Anyway, enjoy the story


Prologue - DERAILED

Cade leaned against his seat. He could feel the atmosphere of depression within the compartment of the train. None of them want to get on this ride, but they had no choice.

A few days ago, he came to Bodhum looking from someone, but his search came to a halt due to the Purge. PSICOM found a presence of Pulse in the Bodhum Vestige. They then began rounding up people and put them on the Purge train in the preparation to ship them off to Pulse. He could remember a few who tried to make a break for it, but was then gunned down before they could leave the station.

Since PSICOM rounded up the entire city, it would be likely that the ones he was looking for were on this train too. Thus, he got in, hoping to find them once the train stopped at their destination.

Still, he found it hard to believe that they will be sent to Pulse. Not after how they just shot some civilians to death just for running away.

Cade looked to the right. A guard was walking down the train, the gun in hand armed with safety off and laser sight on. Said guard's finger was on the trigger, preparing to shoot at the first sign of escape or struggle.

"You serious?" Cade heard a man just two seat away from him whispered.

"Be quiet" The woman to the left of the man shushed him.

The man smirked with a chuckle. "Best of luck"

Suddenly, the train shook violently. Everyone on the train cried out in surprised. The guard lost his balance in the shaking. The woman then took the opportunity to rush out and wrapped her cuffed arms around the guard. She flipped over, knocking the guard out. A remote was dropped on to the floor, which was soon crushed under the woman's heel. All the cuffs detached, separating the robe's sleeves, freeing all of the passenger's arms.

"She did it!" Said the man.

The door of the next compartment opened. Two more PSICOM guards rushed in and opened fire on the standing woman. She flipped herself over, getting her robe off in the process before kicking the guards. Cade couldn't catch what she looked like. The only glimpsed he got was the pink hair

Said woman then proceeded to fight the rest of the guards. Meanwhile, the man from earlier removed the robe, revealing a tall black man with afro hair in his 40s. He wore an olive pilot coat over a white button-up shirt, a pair of fingerless gloves, and a pair of khaki pants with black boots. On his thighs were two handgun holsters. It was normal since all airship pilots are equipped with firearms in the unlikely event of being stranded in the wild. His name was Sazh Katzroy

This man then knelt down in front of a kid, who was curling in a corner, and asked him if he was all right. "I'm not a l'Cie" as the man reassured the kid, his hair ruffled. A small Chocobo chick then popped out and chirped. It gave the kid a smile.

Cade didn't hesitate to join the escape attempt. He discarded the robe. His hair was grey and messy. His beard was lightly shaved. His outfit consisted of a green camo vest over dark green shirt, brown slack pants, and a pair of black sandals. Hanging around his neck was a necklace decorated with fangs. Bandages wrapped around two of his palms.

Sazh began leading the rest of the passengers to the weapon lockers. He took two handguns, the Vega 42's. and two rocket launchers before moving up to join the woman who had charged ahead of them. Cade followed the man, and checked for his confiscated items. He then found what he was looking for. It was a two-handed scythe, with the blade serrated with saw-like teeth. Dirty bandages wrapped on each end of the scythe indicated where the hands usually touched when it was in use.

"My Blood Harvester scythe. Glad they didn't just throw this away" Cade sighed in relief before going after the black man.

The two, with a few passengers, ran up to the front carriage. The woman was there, armed with a gunblade, signature weapon that was exclusive to the higher up of Sanctum forces.

"So far so good" Sazh said. "They all want to fight" he told the woman.

The pink hair woman didn't turned around. Her cold eyes kept looking forward, as if she wasn't listening. "Good for them" she dismissed.

Cade looked at the pink hair women head to toe. She was young, twenty years old at estimate, he guessed. Red cape covered her left back side. She was wearing her Guardian Corps uniform, easily identified by the emblem on her shoulder guard. Unlike other Guardian Corps however, she was wearing a white leather vest over a sleeveless brown turtleneck. On her left arm was a black sleeve. She also wore blue fingerless gloves. Her lower body apparel included a short brown skirt and a leg pouch strapped to her left leg. Her boots were tall, almost reaching her knees. An empty sheath hung behind her at waist level. This was Lightning Farron.

To Cade, for some reason, this woman looked a bit familiar.

Cade decided to look outside, and found out his guess was correct. They arrived at the Hanging Edge, one of the areas damaged by Pulse during the War of Transgression. And right now, this place was a warzone. PSICOM was not shipping anyone to Pulse. They were killing escapees left and right. No mercy was given, judging from the shooting and the presences of massive mechanical beasts on the field.

Lightning was looking outside as well. Flying bioweapons were closing in. Their mouths were filled with sparking electricity. Her hand then went for the rocket launcher Sazh had. "Give me that!" she said before taking aim, and shot a rocket out as it locked on the target. The rocket hit the first one, but when she used the second rocket launcher, this one missed its mark. The creature then unleashed a barrage of electricity upon the back half of the train, sending it off the rail on to the platform below.

Nevertheless, the front half kept going, but the moment of respite was yet to come as a massive scorpion-shaped mech flew down and landed on the train. The impact caused the train to halt. Its tail then smacked into the compartment, creating a hole.

"Run!" said Sazh who was recovering from the impact.

Unfortunately for him, Lightning had a different idea. She jumped out of the hole. Cade soon followed her, seeing no other place to go.

"I meant away!" the pilot called out to them.

Cade and Lightning turned toward the massive Manasvin Warmech. Once Sazh climbed out of the hole, the machine began to roar. They both drew out their weapons, with the pilot falling down on his back. "Hey, hey! Let's be rational now!" he tried to negotiate.

"I don't think they're going to agree, mate" Cade replied, assuming combat stance.

The Warmech then swung the electrified buzzsaws arm at them. Lightning and Cade leaped back, while Sazh scuttled away on his butt before standing up just behind them with his pistols out in his two hands.

"They're sending in the big guns now! What do we do!?" he asked.

"Watch and learn" was the only answer he got from the pink hair soldier, who then charged at the mech with her gunblade, the Blazefire Saber. Cade followed up behind her, preparing to swing his scythe. Sazh opened fire on the mech as the former two began slicing and dicing against the mech while dodging its saws. However, their attacks seemed to only scratched its paint and irritating it.

After a while, the Manasvin Warmech moved back on its thrusters. It grabbed the side of the carriage, causing it to shake.

"Fall back!" Lightning ordered, and the three moved away from the mech.

Sazh turned around and taunted at the machine. "Not so tough now, huh?!"

The warmech seemed to be listening. Its thrusters boosted up brightly blue, and the carriage was being lifted off the rail.

"Why did you have to say that?" Cade commented.

"Hey, that wasn't like a challenge now!" the pilot said to the mech, holding his hands out like trying to calm the predator. "All right? Hey!"

It didn't work. The incline was growing. The mech was attempting to throw them off the train with the carriage. Knowing better than to stand there, the three turned tail and ran to the head of the train.

"Time to go!" Sazh said, running for his life down the incline.

Cade and Lightning jumped off and landed on the next carriage. She slid down the rail and landed on the other one which wasn't disturbed with a flip. Cade made a leap from the top of the incline, and then rolled upon landing to absorb the impact. Sazh, however, was still running down the lifting carriage. Out of the three, he was the least athletic due to his age.

"I'm coming!" he spoke, going as fast as he could.

"Jump!" The soldier shouted.

The man complied to her order, jumping off the carriage as it was set down into the water below. He landed on his hands and knees, while his Chocobo managed to make a graceful landing.

"Heads up!" Lightning said, watching as the mech turned attention towards them again.

"This thing… won't give up!" the pilot groaned once he recovered from the fall.

The Warmech flew up and landed on the other end of the carriage. There was nowhere else to run. Their only choice was to take it down.

Thus, they fought once again. Metal met metal. Sparks shot out from each impact dealt onto the mech. After what felt like an hour, the Manasvin Warmech short-circuited from the damages it took, and finally collapsed, falling off the carriage and into the water below.

The pilot fell onto his back, sitting down as Cade and Lightning looked down to where the mech fell. "Yeah" he said, catching his breath. "We did it"

"That we did" Cade agreed, folding his scythe before strapping it onto his back.

The sound of aircrafts soon roared over them. While the two males looked at them, the woman then folded the gunblade and put in into her sheath. She then walked away from the rest, as if they were never there.

"Aren't you suppose to take care of civilians, soldier?" Sazh questioned, causing the woman to stop. He got up to his feet. "I mean, what are you doing, trying to do to stop the Purge? Why don't you tell me that?"

"I was a soldier" Lightning implied before she hopped off the train.

"Hey! Where do you think you're going?!" The pilot called after her, but she had already hopped down.

Cade shook his head. "That woman got one hell of an agenda" he said before turning to Sazh. "Hey old man, what's your name?"

"Sazh Katzroy, and I'm not old, I'm only forty." Sazh told him "And you?"

"Call me Cade." Cade answered. "Come on, old man. Let's get going before more of the show up" He then jumped off the train to catch up with Lightning.

Sazh sighed. His Chocobo then flew out of its 'bird nest' and landed on his palm. "Man" he said "Chocobo, we can't just catch a break can we?" The bird chirped back at him, and he smiled. "That's a good question" He then let the chick fly before climbing down. As he descended, the chick got back into his hair like it always did ever since he bought it. "Guess we'd better follow them. I'm getting too old for this"

Cade, meanwhile, was closing in on Lightning. In his head, he kept thinking of two people he knew well. He got separated with them, and had no idea of their whereabouts until two days ago. Hopefully, they were all here, caught along with the Purge.

However, he can't just run around, looking for them. This place was crawling with PSICOM troops, and they were shooting to kill. Combined with the fact that this place consisted of many roads and walkways suspended in the air as bridges, it would be difficult just to go around this place unless you have a way to fly around.

For now, it would be best if he just go with Sazh and Lightning. He knew the two he was looking for can handle themselves. They will be fine, he hoped.

"Fang… Vanille…" he murmured. "I hope you guys are okay…"