I'm in good spirits ladies and gentlemen!
Duelist of Dawn: It's been awhile since my last update, but now I've got my brain working the ideas again after reading a lot more stories especially a FF12 story from lilpop8: Our Adventure with the Final Fantasy Gang check it out if you already haven't!
Zidane: Yeah, yeah; hurry up and get to the reviews and disclaimer so we can start this chapter already!
Duelist of Dawn: Calm down, monkey man! You're lucky I'm letting you into this new part of the intro before the chapter!
Zidane: (pulls out a dagger menacingly behind DoD's back)
Duelist of Dawn: Anyway thank you lilypop8 for your review; I'm happy the battle parts impressed you and the fact I do long chapters! To tell you the truth, I don't even keep track of how many pages I type!
And thank you avatarnarutobleach; I'm glad you like the story so far, hope you like this chapter too!
Zidane: The Duelist of Dawn does not own Final Fantasy 9, otherwise he wouldn't make up a fanfic based on the original storyline and add his personal character!
Duelist of Dawn: Alright you, let's start this chapter! (Drags Zidane by his tail)
Zidane: (flails around) Hey, hands off the tail!
Duelist of Dawn: Also this is in Ron's POV, enjoy!
***********************************************************************************************************************
Chapter 3:
The Evil Forest: When Plants Attack!
(Somewhere in Evil Forest)
After the bomb monster exploded on the back of the Prima Vista, it crashed into the place where no one wants to end up in the Mist Continent: Evil Forest. Think about it: the name of this freaky forest says it all; so it would tell not too take this place lightly!
"Uhhh, my head…" I woke feeling like I was thrown up against a brick wall. Except, I was hanging on a tree branch by my stomach. "Well this is unpleasant, ow."
I tried to balance myself onto the branch so I could catch my breath and see where the airship landed. I happened to be a few miles from it when I saw the smoke blowing out from it.
'Must've been on fire, hope everyone's okay.' I thought.
Suddenly I heard a small snap coming from somewhere; I looked around to see the source only to not find it.
"Okay." I said. "I see no one coming, yet I still hear something breaking." Then it finally came to me, unfortunately too late…..
*CRACK!*
"AAHHHHH, OOF!!" The first sound was the branch that I was resting on breaking off the tree. The second sound was me falling and landing face first on the ground.
"That..wasn't fun." I groaned while pulling myself off. To my surprise, I still felt like I could keep moving despite not feeling 100%; I was probably 60, maybe 70% tops.
"At least the worst is behind me." I said trying to feel positive and walking towards the smoke.
*GRRRRR!!!!*
I tensed up hearing that growl behind me and I stood still trying not to do any sudden moves. I turn my head slowly and saw a dark brown furry creature that looked like a wolf.
"Oh, great!" I muttered. "The worst IS behind me, and it's a goddamn Fang!"
I tried to think of something quick, so I slowly turned around and faced the Fang who was still growling loudly.
"Hey, wolfie! I wouldn't do what you are thinking right now, so I would advise for you to walk away and look for some other fresh meat." I said trying to intimidate it.
Of course, my intimidation tactics didn't work; the thing only just growled at me more and was getting ready to strike.
(Play Through the Fire-Sonic and the Black Knight)
"Oh, well." I sighed and got into a fighting stance. "You were warned!"
The Fang just rush towards me to bite only to hit the tree I was in when I dodged it. I chuckled a bit before it straightened himself out and ran at me again. This time it came at my legs only for me to jump over at the last second, very high I might add.
'Man, I never felt more prepared to fight in my life!" I thought landing on my feet. On one side, that syringe got me more in tune in battling than defending myself from people that tried to harm me. But still there's the fact I'll end up dead if I don't stay focused.
The Fang howled at the sky before staring me down again.
'Okay, why is it not attacking me?' I thought waiting on the Fang's next move until….
*GRRRRRR!!!*
I heard two more growls from both sides of me as stepped backwards to see two more Fangs knock heads and got into formation with the Fang I was fighting at first.
"You do know 3-on-1 is unfair game, right?" I asked sarcastically. One of the Fangs rushed and jumped over my head to surround me with its friends. "I had to ask."
All of them ran at me at the same time, I acted fast and stretch out my left leg and both of my arms to kick and punch all of them to the ground.
"You boys should never rush in first." I said seeing one of them getting up and trying to bite me only to get a bone crushing uppercut on the jaw, effectively killing it. "It'll kill ya."
The other two ran in only to get a backbreaker and a kick against the tree which killed them both.
I panted a bit before getting away from the area before it attracts more enemies of any kind.
(End Music)
"That actually felt good to that backbreaker," I said while running "At least I listened to the TV commercials when they said 'Don't try this at home.'"
I ran towards the smoke, seeing if I could find any sign of Zidane, Vivi, Garnet, or any of the Tantalus gang to see if they survived as well.
*EEEEEEEK!!!!!!*
I stopped when I heard a scream, a female scream which only meant one thing:
"That was Garnet!" I ran towards where the scream came from. "Maybe one of those monsters found her before anyone else did!"
I kept running to see a strange looking plant that had two long vines and tendrils that was trapping Garnet on top of it.
"Oh great, a Prison Cage!" I muttered before taking a chance to strike.
I jumped into the clearing and gave the plant a good roundhouse kick which stunned it a bit. Garnet struggled when it was teetering side to side before she was able to stay steady. She saw me and instantly lit up.
"I am glad to see you are not hurt!" She said.
"Yeah, sorry that I can't say the same thing." I replied looking over the monster still holding. "But I get you out of there!"
"Stay out of this!" I saw Steiner by my side ranting as usual. "I will not let you disgrace Alexandria by saving the princess!"
I was about to argue with him until I heard someone crying…
"Sh-she's in trouble…." I turned around to find Vivi trembling in fear as he saw Garnet trapped by the monster.
"Hey, Vivi!" I got his attention as he looked to me, still looking scared. "You can use you're fire magic to weaken this thing so we can get the princess out!"
"B-but I can't…" He muttered back, looking down.
"But Vivi…ergh!!!" I was cut short when a felt a sharp pain across my back that sent me down. The Prison Cage gave a giant whip against my back
"Ron!" Vivi said horrified at the impact.
"I'm…good." I manage to get out before raising myself up.
"What the hell is that thing?" Zidane finally shows up staring down the monster that just hit me.
"Glad to see you're alright as well." I said.
Zidane turned to look at me and gave a slight smirk.
"You think an airship crash is enough to keep me down? Ha!" Zidane said proudly while pounding his chest.
"I guess not, but let's save the chit-chat for later, Garnet's in trouble!" I informed him while assuming a boxer's fighting stance.
"Release the princess at once, vile plant!" Steiner shouted at the plant still in front of us.
"Yeah, like it's going to listen to you!" Zidane said sarcastically while pulling out his daggers. "Let's go!"
(Play Battle theme 1 of Final Fantasy 9)
As soon as Steiner, Zidane and I got ready, Zidane started glowing!
"What?" I muttered.
Zidane then started to be engulfed by a bright light reaching towards the skies. When it was done, Zidane's form changed. He still looked the same as far as his hair, face and tail was concerned, but the rest seemed to be covered in bright white and pinkish fur.
"Wh-what was that strange light that appeared?" Steiner was stunned at Zidane's transformation.
"I don't know." Zidane replied looking over himself. "But some how, I feel stronger."
"That must have been a Trance!" I suddenly blurted out.
"Oh, I remember!" Steiner looked at me. "Trance is induced by a surge of emotion!"
"Emotion?" I muttered. "Don't know which one per se, but if it'll help Garnet let's us that power, man."
"Alright, let's take him!" Zidane shouted.
Immediately, the Prison Cage raised both of its vines up defensively on its head, and aimed the points of them at Garnet. Then, purple strings of energy appeared in between Garnet and the vines as the Prison Cage looked even fresher as a daisy, while Garnet looked tired.
"Uh oh!" I said. Zidane and Steiner looked my way.
"What do you mean 'uh oh?'" Zidane asked me.
"I think that plant absorbed some of her energy!" I said.
"PRINCESS!!" Steiner charged in, sword getting ready to strike.
"No, wait!" It was too late, the plant ended up whacking him back near me with his vine.
"Don't rush this; otherwise he'll finish us all quickly!" I yelled at the knight.
"How do you suppose we rescue her, then!? He shouted back.
I looked at Zidane who was still evading the other vine.
"Hey Zidane! You have to use your Trance powers!"
"Like how? I can't get any closer to him!"
"Steiner! We got to block the vines so Zidane can get a clear shot at it!"
"How can I trust you?"
"You want to save the princess don't you?" I told him. He nodded. "Then we have to work together!"
"Fine." He muttered.
Zidane backed off the right vine as I went in to grab it with my arms and hands gripping it. Steiner then followed suit and stuck the sword down on the left vine to the ground. The Prison Cage yelped and tried to back free, both Steiner and I struggled to keep an open target so Zidane could rescue Garnet.
"Now!" I shouted while pushing the vine out of the way.
"Right!" Zidane closed his eyes and focused his energies until he started to glow blue, then he opened his eyes and stared down the Prison Cage.
"Free Energy!" The blue energy was guided by Zidane daggers and was shot out of them. The Prison Cage was met with multiple white shots to the face. It groaned out it struggled to get back on its feet.
"Let's finish this!" Zidane shouted as charged up another Free Energy attack.
Suddenly, the Prison Cage gave a shriek and used its vines to escape into the trees.
(End Music)
"Damn!" I stomped the ground. "It got away with Garnet!"
"Princess? PRINCESS!!!" Steiner shouted at the top of his lungs causing me to cover my ears.
"Aw man!" Zidane kicked up some dirt. "Where did they go?"
"She's gone..." Vivi muttered on the verge of crying again. "I was too scared to cast any spells... That monster's probably gonna eat her..."
Steiner eyes bugged out and dropped onto his knees "How could I let this happen!?"
"Don't worry you guys." I said causing Vivi and Steiner to look at me. "I'll bet she's not dead yet."
"Yeah, he's right!" Zidane agreed with me. "That monster was only a minion. He's probably gonna take her to his master."
"That means the princess might still be—"Steiner was suddenly to his feet with renewed hope. "Come! We must go find her at once!"
Then suddenly another Prison Cage swoops down as catches Vivi in the same place Garnet was.
"WHOA!!!" Vivi shouted as he was captured.
[Play Battle theme 1 of Final Fantasy]
"Vivi!!" I shouted as I ran to Prison Cage, only to be smacked down by the vines.
Zidane ran to me and pulled me away from the next attack form the giant plant.
"Are you okay?" He asked.
"Yeah." I said getting up. "These greenhouse nightmares don't quit."
"I hear ya." Zidane muttered "It won't be as easy as last time."
The Prison Cage the tried to absorb energy from Vivi like other one did Garnet. As soon as Vivi noticed this…..
"Leave me alone!" Vivi shouted as his hands were raised with magic sparking from them. "FIRE!"
Fire was expelled from Vivi and burned the Prison Cage causing it to shriek.
"That's it!"
"That's it!"
Zidane and I shouted that at the same time. We looked at each other, smiling.
"All we got to do is….." I began.
"….Let Vivi hit him with his fire magic…." He continued.
"…..And we'll distract him while he does it….."
"…..And damage him in the process!" We finished.
"Hey, Steiner!" I shouted to the knight behind me. "Just attack, Vivi's got this!"
"Huh, but you said…." Steiner tried to say was blocked out by Zidane.
"What does it matter!?" He shouted at Steiner startling him. "We got to beat that thing in order to rescue Garnet!"
Steiner just nodded and got his sword ready.
Prison Cage started to absorb energy but was stopped by my fist striking him on the side. I was able to back flip out of the way before it sent its vines after me. But that gave Vivi an opening to burn him again earning another shriek from the plant.
Zidane then ran towards it while baseball sliding to dodge an overhead vine swing. Then, he stabbed the Prison Cage with his daggers which gave Steiner the chance to chop off the left vine, causing the plant to shriek again.
"Everyone, get away!!" Vivi shouted as he charged up another fire spell. "FIRE!"
I noticed that the fire spell was bigger than the last one. 'He must've been focusing while Zidane and Steiner were attacking Prison Cage.' I thought.
Then, the Prison Cage finally collapsed to the ground, which freed Vivi from its head cage.
(End Music)
"Phew... Th-Thanks..." He said looking tired.
Zidane and I ran to Vivi and helped him to his feet, but he fell again.
"Are you alright?" Zidane asked him.
"Y-Yeah... I think so." He replied.
"Wow, Vivi!" I said looking impressed. "You totally saved the day!"
Vivi looked down adjusting his hat. "I wasn't that great…"
"Of course you were, you're……" I wanted to say but was startled by the Prison Cage getting up.
"Everybody! Get away!" Zidane says pushing me over to the side, causing me to catch myself by grabbing a nearby tree.
The Prison Cage then sprays a green, noxious-looking gas at Zidane, Vivi and Steiner. Zidane was able to jump over the spray, but Vivi and Steiner ended up choking as the gas reached them. The Prison Cage shrived up to nothing, while Vivi fainted.
"UGH!" Steiner struggled to stay awake. P-Prin...cess..."
But he could hang on as darkness clouded his sight and passed out.
"Oh great!" I ran back checking Steiner for signs of life, as Zidane did the same to Vivi. "What happened just now?!"
"A plant monster's dying ace." Zidane said picking up Vivi.
"Huh?" I said looking at him, after checking that Steiner was alive.
"Whenever a plant monster dies out, they spray seeds out in a gas towards their killer." He informed me. "Then after some time, the seeds sprout and start to eat the host from the inside out."
I looked like was going to throw up at the thought of that information.
"Glad we made it out." I muttered.
"Yeah, but we got to get these guys to back to airship." He started to walk in the direction he came from. "My friend Blank has some medicine that will stop the seeds and kill them before they sprout."
"Right!" I said lifting Steiner up on my shoulders, and surprisingly without any difficulty.
Zidane bugged out when he saw me walking up to him with Steiner in tow.
"How can you lift him up, with all that heavy armor on him!?" Zidane asked me.
I chuckled a bit before answering him. "You think these muscles are all for show?"
"Hmm, guess not." He said but still thought, 'But how can he still lift him up without any fatigue after fighting those two plant monsters.'
"You know, in all this chaos we been in, I didn't catch your name." Zidane said looking at me.
"Because I never threw it anywhere." I replied, smirking.
"Funny guy!" He said sarcastically. "Alright spill; who are you, and on another note, how can you do all of those abilities you did back at the play?"
"My name's Ronald Harris, but call me Ron." I formerly introduced myself. "As for my abilities, I'll tell you as soon as we get out of here, 'cause to tell you the truth, I just got these moves before reaching Alexandria."
"Okay, I'll hold you to that." He told me. "'Cause another thing that bothers me is that I have a feeling that I've seen you before!"
"Hmm, I don't remember you." I said looking upward. "So I really don't have a comment on that."
"Right." He muttered as we continued on our way.
***********************************************************************************************************************
(Prima Vista-Crash Site)
At the sight of the wrecked airship, only one word came to mind"
"DAMN!!" I shouted.
"Yeah, I had the same reaction when I got thrown off by the crash impact!" Zidane chuckled.
Two men came out of the airship and saw us with Steiner and Vivi. They ran out to meet us, and it turned out to be those guys playing guards to Baku's character: King Leo.
"Zidane!" One of them shouted.
"Where the heck where you?" The other one shouted.
"Hey Benero and Zenero." He greeted the twins. "I was looking for survivors and found these three." He gestured towards me, Steiner and Vivi.
"Man, what happened to you guys?" Zenero asked looking over the various bruises we sustained over the fight.
"Yeah, looks like you went five rounds with a Behemoth!" Benero exclaimed.
"Long story short," I began. "We all went two rounds against two giant plants, one escaped with the princess, while the other one died trying to plant four more gardens, only succeeding in planting some inside the boys we're carrying."
"Then we better get them that medicine Blank made!" Benero said pulling out a purple vial.
"What's that?" I asked pointing at the vial while trying to hold Steiner on my back.
"This is the medicine we were talking about!" Benero said. "A drink of this removes the seeds that are planted in the host's body!"
"Okay, I bring the little guy to Blank, since I think he has more of that stuff." Zidane said carrying the black mage inside the Prima Vista.
"In that case, you," Zenero turned to me, "Follow us."
"Okay." I nodded.
I followed the twins inside. Everywhere, the place had a lot of things scattered around and the orchestra band were sitting around either talking amongst themselves or tuning up their instruments.
"Man, and I thought outside of this place looked bad." I thought out loud.
"Yeah, but at least we're all alive." Benero said sounding positive.
"And as soon as the boss is ready, we'll be out of here safely." Zenero said as equally as positive as his twin.
"It might be hard with everyone not exactly being fighters." I said looking at the musicians.
"Don't worry we'll protect them when the time comes!" Zenero said raising an arm up.
"We're here." I looked over Benero to see a door to a storage room.
"We let the knight rest here so he can recover with the seed medicine." He informed. I nodded in response.
"Ughh…." I felt Steiner moving around so I decided to set him down on the floor. He got up, just hunching over some, must still be weak from the seeds inside him.
"Princess... I'm coming right now..." He started to walk the opposite way we were. I stepped in the way blocking his path.
"...Stand aside!" He tried to shout but ending up coughing out.
"Listen man, you can't go anywhere in the state that you're in." I told him. "You have to heal first!"
Benero turned him around and shoved him towards the door. "Room in front of you. Go."
Steiner turned around facing us. "The princess...is in grave danger! Do you intend to ABANDON HER!?" He shouted before catching his breath.
"Like this guy said: You're in no condition to be going anywhere." Benero told him.
"Don't worry about the princess. The boss'll think of something." Zenero assured Steiner.
They turn him around...
"Hey! Stop!" Steiner protested.
...and push him into a room.
"Get some rest." Zenero said.
"Yeah, and take that medicine I gave you." Benero added.
"He's a real piece of work." I heard someone walk towards me as I turned around. I saw Marcus approaching the twins and me.
"He is, but it's mostly concerned for Princess Garnet." I told Marcus. "Just wish he could learn to take care of himself before taking care of others."
"I bet he's to hard-headed for that." He thought out loud. "Oh, I'm Marcus by the way." He extended his hand to me.
"I'm Ron, nice to meet you." I took his hand in a handshake.
"You're the guy who chucked those knights out of the stage." He realized. "Nice work!" He gave a thumbs up.
"Hey, a man's got to defend himself, especially for when some stupid knights attack you for no apparent reason except watching a play!" I waved my hands in defense.
Marcus laughed a little. "I guess, so that's how you and the little guy ended up on the airship?"
"Me and Vivi, yeah." I answered him. Speaking of which, where is he?
"He's resting in the room, down the hall." He pointed to a hallway. " Zidane's probably talking to him right now.
"Okay, see ya around guys." I waved as I walked down the hall in question.
When I reached the door, I found Zidane and Blank talking about something, so I decided to eavesdrop….
"…..I'm gonna take that knight, the black mage and that fighter and find the princess." I heard Zidane say.
'At least he didn't insult me on my skills.' I thought satisfied with the comment.
Blank looked shocked. "You're crazy! Man, you don't even know what's out there. Even with that muscle-head of a fighter, you guys will get killed.
Besides, there's no way the boss'll allow that."
'Yep, there goes the insult!' I thought with a vein about to burst on my forehead
Zidane: "I know..."
Blank just sighed knowing full well there was no stopping Zidane once he decides on something. "Sheez... Why do you always gotta play hero? The boss is gonna kill you. Well, what are you waiting for? Go talk to the boss."
Zidane went to walk past Blank until he saw me…
"Hey, Ron!" He said, then looked at the annoyed look I was giving out. "You heard all of that?" He pointed at Blank and himself.
"Yup!" I said, and then turned to Blank. "And for your information, Blank, if I was nothing but muscle, there would hardly be a chance me and Zidane returning without being plant mulch!"
Blank raised his hands in defense. "Okay, okay, sorry for the muscle-head comment. By the way, I do you know my name?"
'Oops! Way to go, stupid!' I berated myself, but then I thought of something else…..
"Well, if everybody's names are the same as the stage names, it's not the hard to figure out." I said looking sure of myself.
"Actually, you're right." Blank said.
'I was right about that fact!?" I thought, and to tell you the truth I've been pondering that fact when I played game to grab just about every item.
"Except, our boss isn't named Leo." Blank added. "It's Baku."
"Didn't know that." I said, not trying to jump the gun on the personal info, and then I turned back to Zidane. "So you just decided to find Garnet?"
"Yeah." Zidane said, rubbing the back of his head.
"Why couldn't you just find her right now?" I asked wanting know the full detail.
"'Cause it's a rule of among Tantalus: You decided to go out against the boss, you have to fight to see if you're ready to leave."
"A test to see if you're ready to face the world on your own." I deciphered.
"That's the idea." Zidane finished. "Later!"
Zidane walked to find Baku to battle him.
"I guess I better go and catch this." I said following them.
"You want to Zidane get clobbered?" Blank asked.
"No, I like to see a good fight!" I said, pumping up my fist as I left.
'And I thought Zidane was crazy for venturing out for a girl.' Blank thought walking upstairs.
****************************************************************************************************************
(5 minutes later)
I found Zidane in the airships cargo hold, just in time to see him getting ready for his duel with Baku, now out of his King Leo outfit and into his normal wear: a pliot's cap with goggles, a white shirt under a red vest, and a blue pair of pants.
(Play Dragonball Z Budokai theme- Running to Victory)
"I ain't holdin' back!" Baku yelled while drawing his sword.
"Just like you did against me and the boys on our way to Alexandria?" Zidane taunted grinningly.
Baku tried to run towards Zidane, "This will shut you…."
*THUD*
Only to land face first on the floor.
The sight was hilarious and caused everyone in the room to chuckle under their breath.
"Urgh…WHAT ARE YOU BOZOS LAUGHING AT!!?" Baku roared out causing everyone to shut up.
Zidane took his chance and swiped his daggers to Baku's large stomach. But instead holding it pain, Baku just laughed it off.
"Gwahaha! That tickles!" He must have some protective padding under his shirt, either that or he's resilient, no wonder he's the boss. "Now, my turn!"
He ran again only to trip up some, turn around slightly and fell backwards to knock heads with Zidane…..hard!
"OWWWWW, my head!!" They both shouted grabbing their throbbing heads.
'This fight is more humorous than intense' I thought holding back another laugh.
They started to lock eyes and stepped back and ready their weapons again.
Most of the fight was Zidane getting small hits, while Baku was getting lucky every now then, as he kept tripping and unintentionally crashing into Zidane, which surprisingly had its share of results.
Zidane came in again trying to get another shot at the stomach, until Baku ended up slamming his sword down causing Zidane to sidestep and catch a kick to his gut, sending him away Baku.
"That had to hurt!" I heard a guy carrying cymbals talk.
"Yeah, but we know it ain't over; Zidane's just playing around like he usually does." Another guy with a trumpet said.
Zidane got up and ran around Baku, confusing him. "Hold still, will ya? He said raising his sword.
That gave Zidane the opening he needed as he kicked Baku in the ankles, sending him to the floor again.
"Is that all you got?" He muffled out, with his face to the floor.
Zidane answered by jump on his back, making his former boss yell "OUCH!"
"Had enough yet?" Zidane taunted.
Baku got up, catching his breath then sheathed his sword.
"Alright, you win." He said, dusting himself off.
Zidane gave me thumbs up gesture, which I returned.
(End music)
Baku then walks up to Zidane."I'll be damned... Bravo!"
*Oof…*
And gives Zidane a congratulatory punch to the gut, yet Zidane still stands
"Go find your princess! Gwahahahaha..." Baku laughs as he leaves the room.
As soon as that happens, Zidane drops to his knees and yells, "Damn, that hurt! He pulled his punches 'til that last one."
"Yeah, no kidding!" I say, helping him up.
"Well, at least he didn't stomp on me like the last time I left." He says, sheathing his daggers.
"And you still put up with him?" I asked bewildered at his statement.
"He may not look like it, but he raised me as a child when I had nowhere to go." He told me in a sincere tone.
"Oh…" I realized.
"Well, let's get Vivi and that knight so we can find Garnet." He said cheerfully.
I nodded and led him to the room where Steiner was kept. We saw him sleeping against a broken table, holding a doll.
"..Zzzzzzzzzzzzzz." And he snores very loud for a 'proper' knight.
"Come on." Zidane woke him up. "You're too old to be playing with a doll."
"Silence! A scoundrel like you could never understand!" Steiner shouted, causing me to cringe. "I'm just overwhelmed with concern for the princess! If only you two and your rogues hadn't kidnapped her... This is all your fault!" He pointed to me and Zidane. "If anything should happen to the princess, I will have both your heads!"
"Hey, wait a minute!" I jabbed a finger to his chest. "I'm not a part of this; me and Vivi got thrown on to this whole fiasco by your stupid knights! We just came to watch the play!"
Steiner narrowed his eyes and stood up over me. "If you didn't try to abduct the princess, why did you cause harm to my men!?"
"You expect me not to defend myself and Vivi?" I said narrowing my own eyes. "I didn't want Vivi to get killed!"
Steiner then calmed down. "My apologies, young man."
"You see, you gotta take it easy." Zidane stepped in. "Geez... We're gonna go look for the princess now. I'll let you come with us if you promise to be good. What do you say, Rusty?"
Steiner then turned red with anger and fury.
'Oh boy…' I thought seeing where this was going, I covered my ears to prepare myself for the 'fireworks' that was about to take off.
"RR...RUSTY!!!?" Steiner shouted his lungs out. "I am Adelbert Steiner, Captain of the Knights of Pluto, and I will never work with you conniving thieves!"
"Captain?" Zidane questioned. "I figured you were a private, what with that cheap, rusty armor... Look, this has nothing to do with Tantalus. It's something I decided to do on my own. I just wanna save Garnet."
"And you?" Steiner asked me.
"Huh?" I asked.
"Why are you rescuing the princess?" He asked crossing his arms.
"I owe her for healing me back at Alexandria." I answered, truthfully. "Plus, I don't want her become plant food as much as you or Zidane."
Steiner just shrugged a bit. "Hmph...! You two had better not be lying! Because if you are, I won't hesistate to kill either of you!"
"Yeah, yeah. I'm counting on you, Rusty." Zidane just shrugged off the comment.
"Make no mistake. I'm only going with you to rescue the princess! I'll deal with you personally when this is over!" Steiner declared.
"...Whatever." Zidane and I said.
"It may be difficult with just the three of us. We should seek Master Vivi's help as well." Steiner pondered.
"'Master?'" I asked.
"Why are you calling him 'Master'?" Zidane said.
"You fools. That black mage has unimaginable powers... I don't want to get him involved, but alas, it can't be helped. We need Master Vivi's help to rescue the princess." Steiner told us.
"He's right. Vivi's fire magic is very effective against the monsters in here, especially if we run into more plant-type monsters like those Prison Cages." I added.
Zidane was convinced. "Alright, let's go talk to Vivi."
We all walked out of the storage room and walked to the room Vivi was in. And he was very happy to see me.
"Ron!" He shouted as he hugged my leg. "I glad you're okay!"
"Nice to see that you're well, also." I patted his head.
"So, what are you guys doing here?" He asked us.
"Well, Vivi, we're ready to go look for the princess." Zidane answered.
"Really!?" He said excitingly. "That's great! Be careful, okay?"
"Actually, Vivi, we all want you to come with us, too." I told him, kneeling down to him.
"Huh!? B-But I can't do anything." Vivi protested.
Steiner stepped up to him. "Hardly, Master Vivi. Your magic was highly effective against that monster." He then pointed to Zidane. "In all honesty, I hold your power in greater esteem than I do this scoundrel's."
"Yeah, if I was able to do what I did against the knights, we wouldn't be in this deep, so we need your help." I added.
Vivi started looking to the ground. "B-But...I'm scared. I couldn't even move last time."
Steiner then got on one knee. "Please, Master Vivi. For the sake of Princess Garnet and all of Alexandria, I humbly request your assistance!"
"Come on! You're a black mage, for crying out loud!" Zidane placed a hand on his shoulder. "Show us what you've got!"
"...Okay. I'll...try my best." Vivi nodded.
"Alright, let's get going." Zidane walked out of the room.
Steiner rose up to his feet. "Thank you, Master Vivi."
"Yeah, thanks man!" I said leaving out as well. I was almost out the door when I heard Steiner and Vivi talking.
"Master Vivi..."
"Yeah?" Vivi responded.
"It's about your black magic. I wish to try an experiment. Steiner bent down and whispered something into Vivi's ear.
Vivi: "Magic sword...? Okay. I'll give it a try."
Then they both leave to catch up with Zidane, I was walking side-by-side with Steiner, when I spoke to him.
"A magic sword technique, huh?" I asked curiously.
"Yes, how did you know?" He asked staying calm for once.
"I heard Vivi say 'Magic Sword' on my way out." I told him. "It should be more effectively than just casting magic on the enemies, seeing as a physical attribute is added to it."
"Exactly, the reason why thought to try this out." Steiner said proudly.
"Cool! If I can get my techniques working properly, we should be able to rescue Garnet in no time!" I said excitingly.
"Yes, about your fighting skills, how were you able to do that without a need for weaponry?" He asked outright.
"I tell you once we get out of here, I'll be able to tell everyone then, deal?" I said.
"Deal." He concluded.
During our talk we reached Zidane talking to Blank near the exit. Steiner passed by the men while I waited with Zidane.
"Sheez...you really dig her, huh?" Blank asked Zidane.
"I can't sit around knowing a girl's in trouble. Goes against my nature." He answered nonchalantly.
Blank scoffed. "Whatever. You're full of crap."
Zidane smirked and looked Blank dead in the eye. "Ohhh.... I get it. You're jealous that I'm gonna get me a sweetie pie."
"Pshhh... She's not even my type. I came down here to give you this." Blank held out a familiar purple vial.
Zidane crossed his arms with the same smirk."You're always thinking about me...but I won't need a love potion to reel this one in."
Blank groaned. "Why don't you get your mind off girls for a second? This is the medicine I gave to that black mage and the knight. It's sort of like a seed remover."
Zidane took the vial and pocketed it. "Cool. This'll really come in handy."
"Why am I always helping you...?" Blank wondered.
Zidane waved as he left the airship. "Thanks, Blank. I'll see you when I see you."
"How about never?" Blank yelled.
"Thanks a lot, Blank." I gave him my hand in respect.
He shook it then walked back in the airship.
"Yeah, yeah, just don't get killed out there, man." He said.
I sighed as I met up with Zidane and the gang.
"Let's get going!" Zidane said.
We all nodded as walked deeper into the Evil Forest.
***********************************************************************************************************************
Another chapter well done!
Next chapter:
Ron: Man how long is this damn forest?
Zidane: Look its Garnet!
Vivi: Oh no! What's that thing in front of her.
Steiner: Do not fear, princess! Captain will vanquish this foe!
Ron: Next time: Rescue and Escape from the Evil Forest! See ya then!
And don't forget to R&R!
Later!
