-Earlier-

Another usual routine for Rikku. As an Al Bhed, Rikku spends a majority of her time scrutinizing the desert for some kind of relic or a piece of history that could benefit Spira. The physical task may not be new to her but the meaning behind it is; not too long ago it was all for her people with whatever she uncovered, now it was for the whole world. Ever since the Eternal Calm, things have changed drastically; in her honest opinion, all for the better since now most of the Al Bhed are contributing and acknowledged by the rest of Spira in a more positive way. The common folk felt good about seeing Al Bhed around instead of seeing a blight of society. The Eternal Calm was indeed a blessing. Well, for the most part it was a blessing but some people lost something for the Eternal Calm; Yuna is a good example of that. Tidus is gone and that was the only outcome she was given. At least of course until that sphere was found and now Yuna has her hopes up; training ever so fervently with the Gullwings to make sure that even without her summoner powers she would be an asset. The High Summoner Yuna is now leaning towards firearms and the Al Bhed means to make something of her rather than following the foot steps of her Father and realigning herself with New Yevon. The irony of the situation is indeed stark. Rikku mused at this for a bit until finally getting her mind back to her duties. It is after all just a norm routine in the desert. Shifting gears on her vehicle Rikku picks up speed and feels the hot wind going through her bare skin as she accelerated. Her unique disheveled hair style dancing with the wind and often gets in the way of her vision. She pays it very little mind since they get out of her face on their own accord thanks to the rhythm of the said wind. That and with her ear piece blaring of Brother's voice, Rikku has very little attention to spare anywhere else since her sibling is rather exasperating.

"Rikku! Report!"

She rolls her eyes and in that process almost finds herself hitting a random object in the sand. Evading it took a bit of effort so responding to Brother took a few more moments than he would prefer so of course he gets more demanding.

"Rikku-!"

"Will you quit yelling at my ear! I heard you the first time!"

"What is the status of your mission?!"

Brother had always been enamored by Yuna's presence. Him learning to speak outside of his Al Bhed tongue just to talk to Yuna more is indeed a testament of his little school boy crush on her. That being said, Rikku finds it annoying that Brother ALWAYS has to put up this command presence that he is in charge which doesn't suit him well. The backlash response from Rikku is of course nothing short of sibling rivalry.

"How about you stop checking up on me every chance you get! I'm surprised you're not too distracted with Yunie!"

"W-what?!" The obvious fluctuation in his voice is more than obvious. "Y-Yuna… Yuna is BUSY training and d-doing her job as a Gullwing! I don't have to check up on her because I know she is more than capable! Unlike you!"

Insults are petty and from the sound of it, it was more or less a desperate rebuttal from Rikku's prior barb. As much as it was petty, it did get to Rikku; she may have a strong front but deep down inside she can't help BUT have that childish side of her. With a growl, Rikku responds accordingly.

"Listen! I'm busy! I'm about to reach the location of the sphere! Why don't you get your lazy butt to the location in a few and we'll see just who is capable!"

Without bothering what would be the response, Rikku pushes the button on her earpiece and continue to her 'vital mission'. Once again for a few more moments Rikku is accompanied by the sound of her vehicle tearing through the sand and the howls of the warm wind of the desert. But that wouldn't last for too long since the image of a distant ruin is finally in sight. Parking her vehicle to the closest structure that Rikku deems as a landmark, she slowly eases herself off the said vehicle, putting it on neutral mode. The engine still hums but a bit more discreet since endeavors such as this leads to some random battle here or there. While Rikku's prowess in battle had been tested more than once, she is well aware that her best suit of combat is stealth. With that in mind, she takes a deep breath and pushes her scarf aside as she strides deeper into the ruins in hopes of finding the sphere that Shinra located.

"I hope that they get here soon!" While haste is her main objective, Rikku stays as elusive as she can with her steps; her hands close to her daggers just in case. "But with Brother being the one to relay messages, I'm sure they're going to be late and I'm going to end up finding things on my own again."

The solo mission norm routine: reflecting on herself. Rikku often ponders on why she always does the majority of the foot work solo. It's not like she isn't a glutton for company and she is of course far from anti social. In fact, in regards to the avenue of being jovial, she and Paine are a contrast of night and day. The last time she and Paine accepted a mission together, their personalities played as a negative factor so the chances of them going through another mission together would be slim. That and Paine seems to be a off on her own on whatever clandestine operation she seems to involve herself with. Rikku or the other Al Bhed crew of Celsius don't bother themselves digging into Paine's personal life; ignorance is a bliss or perhaps an act of respect on their part? These are the moments that Rikku's less than happy side comes out is when she is alone; she has the time to think about things that are her own thoughts and not someone else's story. Maybe that's why she tends to find herself on solo missions more often? Perhaps to find her own story? Part of her feels that her story is somewhere off on her own and not with her team. With her overshadowed by Yuna's accomplishment, she always has this nagging feeling that she is nothing more than a side character. In mid thought however, something is amiss and Rikku heard some movements not too far away.

"Crap!"

Stopping on her tracks, Rikku immediately flips backwards as a barrage of firepower hits the area where she would've been. A few flips later, Rikku manages to regain her footing and takes cover behind a pillar that is able to withstand a few momentary bombarding of what seems to be bullets coming her way. With one hand digging into her pouches, Rikku manages to find the one item she needs for a situation like this.

"Hey what's the big idea?!" Bullets keep spraying her way and Rikku finds herself having to adjust just to make sure none hit her through the temporary protection she has. "Who the hell are you and what the hell do you want?!"

The response is of course more barrages of bullets that again forces Rikku to roll to another pillar as the first one she had used was becoming less and less dependable by the bullet. It hailed firepower for a few but the moment where the bullets stopped raining was the moment that she needed. Hurling the item on her hand, it lets out a sound before letting out a flash explosion with a purpose of rendering her unknown assailants confused for a moment. Long range fighting is indeed what is needed for this and for that Rikku has to adjust accordingly. Jumping out of her cover fire, Rikku focuses her energy and…

"Fire burn and cauldron bubble!" Though her commentary wasn't quite necessary, Rikku does find it to her liking to add some when switching dresspheres and to her, it adds a bit more 'Rikku' into the process. Immediately after her words however, her attire starts to glow magically before her whole stature is engulfed by fire and with the last howl of the celestial flames, Rikku emerges wearing a vibrant attire of a black mage; or at least an aberration of a black mage according to Rikku's imagination. Flicking her hat and gripping her staff tight, Rikku points the said staff towards the general direction of her assailants and attacks. "Play with fire and you're going to get burned!"

Scorching spheres starts to emerge from the end of Rikku's whimsical aqua designed staff and through a simple thought the said spheres flails themselves pass the flash of light that Rikku created mere moments ago and into the general vicinity of her attackers. Not waiting a single moment after her attack, Rikku runs to the next cover and starts to accumulate more energy for another spell. Though the result of her first attack elicited a few grunts and curses and from what she can surmise, a couple was hit and possibly taking them out of the fight.

"That little brat!"

"Get her! Get her!"

Though she had already concocted in her mind that she would be dealing with humanoid like assailants and not just some random monster, Rikku wasn't fully expecting to run across Al Bhed. Them talking through her native language gave it away and with this Rikku grips her staff tightly.

"You're attacking the wrong person geniuses! Quit firing at me and we can say that the first part was just a dumb mistake on your part!" She yells in Al Bhed hoping that it would at least negate further attacks however what answered her are rebuttal of angry words overshadowed by another wave of firing. Clicking her tongue Rikku prepares for her next attack; her staff glowing exuberantly with mana and more than ready to release. "I hate this! I hate this! I hate this! I HATE THIS! ZZZAAAPPPPPP!"

The flash of light from her gadget had already dispersed but the said flash is replaced when Rikku casts a lightning spell to crash down on her enemies. The affect was immediate and the firing became less erratic on her enemies' part as they are bombarded with a few streaks of thunder from the sky. Though it did have a double edge affect as Rikku is still terrified of the sound and the momentary advantage she could've had was decreased by her astraphobia.

"Get over it! Get over it!" She keeps repeating to herself as she once again she moves to a new location. Her main objective is to try and get as close as she can so the battle would be to her liking. "Ah! Damn it!"

To her dismay, her enemies also had their own tactics as she finds herself being blocked by three heavily armed Al Bhed who are wasting no time firing at her. Stepping to the side and using some minor fire spells to deter some of the bullets, Rikku is more than aware that getting closer would be a strenuous task with her magic attire so dodging and jumping downwards so that she would be on all fours, Rikku pushes forward letting the celestial light shift her attire once again. She lets out a not so intimidating roar as she charges forward like an anima; the Black mage was no more and she is now in her Berserker form. The aim of her opponents would be sound but her speed in this form is preventing them from hitting her. Running in a zig zag pattern and using the ruins of what was once walls, Rikku closes the distance and using her claws, she slashes through the nearest one, penetrating through armor and caused a damaging wound that would take the Al Bhed out of the fight.

"They wanted her alive?!"

Rikku manages to hear those words as she rolls like a ball to her next target. Again her speed is undeniable and hitting her was impossible since she got the range she needed, striking from the ground with an uppercut that launches her into the air with the momentum. The contact was her giant fist to the jaw that also sends this next gunner out of the fight. Her landing wasn't as easy since she had to dodge more bullets but as soon as her feet touched the ground her last attacker received a quick kick to the groin and again Rikku takes advantage of her claws, hacking at armor and disarming the opponent before taking him out of the fight as well.

"She's over there!"

"Get yourselves together and don't let her take any more of us!"

"She's just one freaking girl!"

Their words more than insinuate that there was more to this than just some random encounter. In fact, the words of one of the Al Bhed of her 'wanted alive' accentuates the idea that it is NOT a random encounter that there was more to this. If the sphere was their goal it could've been theirs with all their number and the distraction they are giving her however there seems to be no inkling of interest for the sphere. With very little time to really contemplate about it, Rikku starts to make her way towards what seems to be the main group. The fire and the thunder spell distorted their organization and they are still gathering themselves so only a few really have their guns ready. Running as fast as she can, Rikku's body is once again engulfed in the scintillating dressphere shift and with her red scarf blowing behind her, Rikku's original attire appears once again.

"Here! Eat this!"

Rikku launches grenades from her pouches that created miniature explosions that did the job on those that did get hit and for those that didn't, it served as a distraction that deterred them from firing at the sight of her. Bridging the gap and finally getting herself in range, Rikku's signature daggers come out of their sheathes. The first Al Bhed that falls victim to her daggers tried his hand at close range shooting, which Rikku evades and allows her to be in close for a quick slash on his gun arm forcing him to let go, and with him too busy with the pain of the cut, Rikku plunges her other dagger into the side of his neck where his armor does not protect him, rendering a quick death to the situation. Rikku looks on to see that she had taken out a few of them as it is and the remaining four are taking out close range weapons to meet the needs and rushes towards her in full number. Without so much of a hesitation, Rikku charges forward as if to meet her attackers head on, but of course she leans on the tactic of her smaller and more agile frame to her advantage. Blades cutting low, dodging a few attacks and plunging her blades on vital areas takes out one of them. The bigger Al Bhed tries his hand at grabbing her but she moves too fast and uses his own stature as a means to get herself on a better position to attack. As if crouching on his broad shoulders, Rikku places both her daggers on his throat, pushes off with her legs and the result of the blade cutting through his trachea were immediate and he falls bloody and lifeless.

"Don't le-!"

The moment she lands, Rikku hurls her dagger, stabbing the one who seems to be giving orders right on the chest before proceeding to retaliate to the another attacker, evading his baton from hitting her and quickly kicking him on the side of the knee. The sound of a crack and his scream of pain echoes, but Rikku ends his suffering by stabbing him on the back of the neck. The red blade would have remained in if it wasn't for her using her leg to kick him off. Regaining full grasp of her dagger, she focuses her attention on the one who is trying to undo her other dagger out of his chest but failing miserably. With blood profusely pouring out of his wound, he stumbles to his knee as Rikku approaches him with haste. Grabbing the handle of the dagger penetrating her last opponent, Rikku spins, pulling it out in a harsh manner before bringing her other weapon through the wounded Al Bhed and with the same arc her other dagger came through as well successfully cutting him twice and most likely to his death. Soon the sound of his body dropping as well as the painful groans of those who didn't die from her earlier spells are the only sound that accompanied her. At least so she thought.

"Okay," She says calmly as she pushes her scarf out of the way. "I'm going to be nice and let a couple of you live, only if you tell me what the heck is going on here."

She was preparing to sardonically twirl her daggers on her hands before sheathing them but one of the burnt Al Bhed on the ground started chuckling despite his pain. Of course she would easily just surmise that this was just a wounded animal's last line of offense. A defeated laughter to try and get to her nerves tactic, more or less. But the sound of guns being loaded and foot steps tells her that this man is laughing for a reason so with that she prepares for another skirmish. Turning her attention to where the sound seemed more prominent, Rikku's eyes widen with the sight. More Al Bhed and armed like the ones she has just taken down. In front of her… to her right… to her left… behind her …. Their distance serves far too well to their advantage and there seems to be very little to no cover for her to use as solace. That and with them being on every angle, Rikku's earlier tactic wouldn't work.

"Don't move!" One of them called out. "Taking you alive doesn't mean that you don't have to be in pain!"

The sound of gun being locked for firing doesn't bode well with Rikku, especially when she is the target of the dozen guns being aimed. Again a vocal insinuation that there is something more to this than just some random attack… it's not turning out to be a normal routine after all.

(The rest of the story can be found on my ronin-gh0st deviant art account)