Welcome to the next chapter. This one will be loads better than the last. That's a promise.
I've decided to finally bring the crossovers into play. While some of them may blend in with their separate storylines (ex. Cloud from FF VII being transported to this world after defeating Sephiroth) some of the original storylines have been changed to fit into this story.
I would like to know your opinions about a Naruto crossover. The Legend of Zelda seems pretty appealing as well so let me know about that as well. Now that's all out of the way, I don't own Tales of Symphonia, Tales of the Abyss or Final Fantasy VII.
Lloyd and Sheena had arrived at the Rheiard Hangar. The few Renegades there acknowledge their presence before opening the gate and the Transfer System. Sheena jumped on a purple Rheiard while Lloyd stared at his confused. Lloyd jumped on it and looked at it, there was a pedal on his right and a much smaller one on his left. He put his hands on the handle bars and pushed the one on the left. Nothing happened. Lloyd raised an eye before slamming his foot on the right pedal.
Bad move on his part...
The Rheiard shot forward at an incredible speed causing Lloyd to scream. He cursed wondering why it wouldn't slow down. Sheena sighed and chased after him, they were in Sylvarant, here they had limited fuel. Lloyd constantly cursed at it before taking his foot off the pedal. It slowed down. Lloyd grinned.
Another bad move on his part...
The Rheiard slowed to a stop, then it started to fall. Instinctively, he slammed the left pedal. The Rheiard stopped falling and it floated in the air. Lloyd understood the mechanism. He should press the right pedal moderately while using the left to slow down, keeping him in the air. (I have know idea how Rheiards actually work, I just thought I would relate it to a bike that flies...sort of)
Sheena had caught up to Lloyd and gave him other instructions that Lloyd may have needed while leading him into the portal that would take them to Tethe'alla. When the went through the portal, Lloyd opened his mouth in amazement. They were flying above snowy mountains and soon the ocean. They flew past a giant bridge before flying over land. Lloyd grinned. Tethe'alla was so cool. He then saw a huge city.
"Whoa! That place is huge," Lloyd said stating the obvious. Sheena laughed. Lloyd never had seen a city so big before. Sheena knew that not many existed in Sylvarant. Lloyd and Sheena parked the Rheiards before jumping off. Sheena cursed.
"Damn, I don't have a wing pack, oh well, just hope nobody takes them. Besides, everyone knows not to steal from the Renegades," Sheena thought hopefully. She'd just stop by the Elemental Research Facility and pick a wing pack up. Lloyd looked around eagerly. He ran in through the gates with Sheena following closely behind. He saw a giant castle and a coliseum. He grinned obviously curious about both places. He ran straight to the coliseum only to be stopped by Sheena. "Chill, we'll check it out in a minute, I have a few things I need to do first," Sheena said. Lloyd sighed.
"Alright, I'll calm down," Lloyd said feeling frustrated. He was so excited. He couldn't even walk normally without glancing in every direction. Before they made it to the lab, Sheena turned towards him.
"Alright, listen to me, nobody here can know that you're from Sylvarant, nobody, so play along," Sheena said eyeing Lloyd. Lloyd raised an eye but nodded in reply. He guesses it would be weird if someone from another world suddenly showed up in his...like that didn't happen already.
Lloyd seemed to understand so Sheena left it at that. Before walking in, he saw this street that was torn apart and a few people with ragged clothing standing along the sides. They seemed to be very skinny, not to mention dirty too. Lloyd absent mindedly started to walk down the street. He saw nothing but sad faces. He eventually walked up to one of them.
"What happened," Lloyd asked one of them, it was an older looking woman.
"What do you mean? We're poor, we can't afford to live properly. You act as if you didn't know this," the woman replied eyeing Lloyd strangely. Lloyd was not pleased.
"Do the others try to help," Lloyd asked.
"Why would they care, those rich snobs," the woman replied darkly. Lloyd's eyes widened. He muttered a Dwarven Vow before handing her all his gald, which wasn't a lot but the woman treated it as if it was. "Thank you young man," she said bowing respectfully.
"Don't mention it, make sure everyone here can get a good meal," Lloyd said giving a small smile.
"That I will, that I will," the woman replied. Lloyd wondered if Sheena was looking for him so he walked back towards the research institute. He looked around making sure he was going the right way. He saw it and stood by the entrance, he didn't see Sheena around. He then saw a child wearing a black shirt and jeans walk up to him. He was a boy and he had spiky brown hair that was a little more tame than Lloyd's. He walked up to Lloyd and smiled.
"That was really nice of you to do that, not many of the people around here would do that for others. Are you from another world too? What's your name," the boy asked causing Lloyd's eyes to widen. He had to know more about the kid.
"I'm Lloyd. What's your name," Lloyd asked. He looked at the boy and was suddenly reminded of himself. The boy opened his mouth to reply when someone interrupted. A woman wearing black leather ran up to them. She had long black hair.
"Denzel! What have I told you about talking to strangers. I'm sorry, kids say the weirdest things sometimes," the woman said trying to fake a laugh. Lloyd wasn't convinced, though he did get the boy's name. Denzel looked at the woman before muttering an apology. Lloyd looked at them and realized that the woman must be his mother or something.
"Don't worry about it. It's not like I'm exactly grown either so I would know," Lloyd said giving her a grin. He got on his knee face to face with Denzel. "Besides, you're more right then you imagine," he whispered to Denzel. Denzel's eyes widened. So it was true. Lloyd grinned and waved them goodbye before they walked off.
Denzel looked at the woman urgently. The woman payed attention.
"Tifa, that guy said he's also from another world," Denzel said. Tifa looked at his curiously.
"Are you sure," she asked him. She thought it would be another childish answer.
"Yes! He said so himself," Denzel replied. Tifa looked at him curiously. She then turned towards Lloyd. He was dressed quite a bit differently from all the others, he didn't even look like the people from the country side. She'd would have to tell Cloud about him later. He did seem really nice though, plus Lloyd was a child too. Didn't look any older than fifteen or so. Then again, neither did Yuffie...
"Hmm, well I wouldn't worry about it, we just need to find a way home. Now let's find Cloud and Marlene," Tifa said.
"Okay," Denzel replied quietly. Tifa also took notice of Lloyd's swords. Lloyd wasn't a pushover, that was for sure. Maybe he would help them get home. Maybe not. Only time could tell.
Lloyd continued to stand next to the entrance. After a few minutes, Sheena walked out of the lab. She eyed Lloyd.
"Where were you at," she asked curiously.
"Nowhere, just looking around. So how's it going," Lloyd asked. He didn't tell Sheena about Denzel and the woman, he figured he'd run into them again. Maybe they would help him with Cruxis. Sheena sighed while giving off a small grin.
"We could look around now," Sheena said. Lloyd got excited again and ran to the coliseum with Sheena chasing behind him. He saw a tournament board with a few spaces empty and wanted to enter. He looked at Sheena pleadingly. Sheena sighed. "Go ahead." Lloyd grinned and gave her a quick hug before signing up. Sheena twitched. "This isn't going to end well."
Lloyd grinned as he signed the forms and he walked into the waiting room. He saw a few people stretching but none of them looked interesting. In fact, some of them looked like they shouldn't even be here, and that was saying something, Lloyd was a child. He was starting to regret coming. He knew that there was other rooms with participants so he figured that this one didn't have as strong opponents because they were singled out based on what their strength looked like. Instantly Lloyd became pissed. They underestimated him and thought him weak.
"Those bastards, I knew that lady was overly cheerful. I'll show them," Lloyd thought fiercely. He waited for an hour before his name was called. He walked outside into the arena. Their were other participants facing monster of all sorts. Many of them were doing horribly.
"Alright kid, we're going to test you, see if you can live long enough without crying, we don't want weaklings in the tournament," a knight in rusted gray armor said. Lloyd twitched when they opened the gate. "We'll set you against a few monsters and see if you're capable of any fighting. Be prepared." The gate fully opened and a pink bunny rabbit hopped out. Lloyd twitched.
"What the hell? Are you guys kidding me," Lloyd asked incredulously. The bunny gave him a cute look before it's eyes turned a demonic red and it's fur became ragged. It quadrupled in size, equaling the size of Genis before growling menacingly at Lloyd. Lloyd unsheathed his swords. No point in underestimating the Giant Easter Bunny.
Lloyd charged at the bunny and quickly dodged a snap from it's jaws. "Sonic Thrust!" He thrust his left sword into the bunny's stomach before leaping backward. "Demon Fang!" He launched a shockwave at the bleeding bunny before jumping into the air. Lloyd landed behind the bunny. "Sonic Thrust!" He stabbed the bunny in the back of it's head. It fell over dead seconds later. Lloyd made an impression there, he was not to be underestimated.
"So, the kid knows artes. Maybe we should've slipped him into a different category," one of the guards said eyeing Lloyd.
"Nah, lets see if he could defeat a bear, if he wins, I'll give him some credit.," another replied opening another gate. A bear came out and launched itself at Lloyd. Lloyd quickly jumped backwards.
"Other than Sonic Thrust, my attacks would only piss it off. I need to attack with more force." Lloyd charged twice as much mana into his arms and charged at the bear. He swung his swords in a pattern while leaving no openings. He then charged as much mana as he could into the sword on his left before slicing it down the middle. Right in half. Lloyd twitched at the sight of the bear's insides but ignored it. The guards looked at Lloyd awestruck.
"Not even I'm strong enough to do that," one of the guards exclaimed. The others grinned.
"He's using his mana efficiently, he seems to have a lot to be able to do that, for a human anyway," another stated. He had an inch of elven blood or two in him so he could sense mana to an extent.
"That's some raw power, are you sure he's not a half-elf, while he doesn't have the build, he sure had the power of one," one of the guards asked him.
"Nope, he's a human alright, I won't deny that he may have a inch or two of elven blood but he's human."
Lloyd grinned. He got the recognition he was looking for. He looked around and saw some of the other competitors even stopped fighting their monsters to watch him. It seems like the monsters stopped as well. Then Lloyd noticed that they had collars on that would electrocute them whenever the guards wished it. They were probably ordered to leave the distracted competition alone. A guard walked up to Lloyd.
"It seems that you are the only one among this group that qualifies for the tournament, congratulations, Please step into the stands over there where the other successful competitors wait," he instructed. Lloyd grinned and walked up to the stands were there were other people. Unlike the others, these guys looked really strong. He then saw the woman that was with Denzel earlier. The woman noticed him and gave a light smile.
"I didn't think I'd run into you again, especially like this. Denzel told me how nice you were to those people, unfortunately, our money isn't worth much here. I'm Tifa by the way," Tifa introduced herself. Lloyd's grin became wider.
"I'm Lloyd," Lloyd replied. Lloyd felt a tap on his shoulder. He turned around to see a blonde man with dark clothing looking at him with blue eyes. He had no expression on his face besides what seemed to be a light depression. Lloyd noticed he had a lion's crest on his left side. Lloyd twitched when he saw the huge sword on the man's back. It was bigger than him.
"Come with me," he ordered. Lloyd didn't know why, but he didn't feel like this person was going to hurt him, he liked this person. They walked further away from the group until they came to a sudden stop. "Who are you," the man asked. "You're not from here."
"I'm Lloyd, I'm guessing you know Tifa and Denzel, right," Lloyd said eyeing the man.
"That's not your concern, where are you from," the man demanded quietly. Lloyd shook his head.
"That's none of your concern. You're from another world, so is Denzel and Tifa," Lloyd said. The man glared at Lloyd. "Am I right?" The man walked away. Lloyd raised an eye. He never liked quiet people but something about the man changed his mind.
"You are too," the man said in the distance. Lloyd twitched. So he knew. Lloyd wondered what his name was. "Cloud, that's my name," the man said causing Lloyd to jump back in surprise.
"How did he know I was wondering?" Lloyd sighed. He went back into the group and stood a little further away from them. Cloud did the same and they stood next to each other. Lloyd saw Sheena and grinned. He ran up to her. "What are you doing here," Lloyd asked.
"I was bored so I joined too, people here look pretty weak," she replied. Lloyd shook his head.
"They underestimated you too, huh," Lloyd stated as he saw that there were eight of them standing there. This tournament sounded like it was about to get fun. A man in a black suit and slacks walked out into the arena.
"Ladies and gentleman! We have selected our candidates for our tournament, and many of them look promising," he stated with enthusiasm. He appeared to be an announcer. The stands around them suddenly began to fill. "Now will Cloud Strife and Sync the Tempest please step down. The audience watched as a teenage boy with green spiked hair and a golden mask came down. He was wearing a weird battle cloak and seemed to have no weapon. This was Sync. The mask did not cover the lower half of his face so everyone could see him smirking. Cloud was standing on the other side of the arena staring at his opponent. He grabbed his Buster Sword and stood in his fighting stance. The crowd was amazed he could even pick it up let alone use it. Even with his exesphere, Lloyd knew he'd have a hard time swinging that thing around.
"You look pretty strong, too bad you won't get past me," Sync taunted cocky. Cloud just narrowed his eyes. The signal was given and Sync launched himself at Cloud. Cloud merely swung his sword barely missing Sync. He could swing it really fast, almost like a twig. "D-damn, this guy could swing it that fast, I barely dodged it," Sync thought barely avoiding each of Cloud's swings. Sync knew that he was fast but Cloud even with the heavy sword rivaled his speed. Cloud jumped into the air and flipped before bringing his sword down. Sync moved out of the way and saw an opening. He lunged at Cloud and attempted to punch him. Cloud quickly spun while swinging his sword, the flat side of it knocking Sync over the head. Sync quickly lost consciousness. Cloud lowered the swords back into the straps on his back and walked away before he was even announced as the winner. Lloyd clapped along with many others. He was excited and he couldn't wait for his turn.
"Now the first match has come to it's quick conclusion, it is time for the second match! Tifa Lockhart versus Eldric! Contestants please come down." Tifa walked down to he spot in the arena. The other contestant was an a man who looked to be in his thirties, he had short reddish brown hair with a few freckles and dark green eyes. He had a perverted grin on his face. Tifa instantly hated this man. He had a two handed broadsword that was strapped to his back, much like Cloud's except significantly smaller in size.
"Don't worry miss, I'll go easy on ya," Eldric said. Tifa could tell he was undressing her with his eyes. This man was begging to die. The signal barely went of before Tifa was beating the hell out of him. The crowd twitched when snapping bones were heard.
"That's what he gets for being a pervert," Sheena said sourly, she knew all to well from experience. A certain Chosen needed to get a beating like that. Lloyd knew that he should always stay the innocent boy he was when he was around Sheena from that point on. Women were scary to him. Then by a look of sudden mood change, Tifa smiled sweetly at Eldric before delivering a punch to his face. Lloyd changed his thought. Women were terrifying to him. Lloyd ignored this thought and wondered when it would be his turn. Cloud and Tifa were strong, so he wanted to face both of them, he also wanted to see Sheena fight too.
"Another short match, if you could even call that one! Tifa wins," the announcer exclaimed. Cheers from all the women were shouted at her. The pervert should've known his place.
"If a pervert ever joins our group, may the goddess rest his soul," Lloyd thought.
Somewhere, Zelos Wilder sneezed. "Huh, one of my hunnies must be talking about me, hehehe," Zelos laughed.
"Usually, we would conclude the matches for today but since they were so short, lets have at least one more!" The crowd cheered in response to this. Lloyd was sweating in anticipation, if he or Sheena wasn't called, they would have to face each other in the first round.
"Would the following contestants please step down..." Lloyd twitched as the announcer paused. It was almost like he was trying to leave him in suspense. It was pissing him off. He didn't want to face Sheena in the first round. "Would Shadow and Lloyd please step down. Lloyd sighed in relief.
"Shadow huh, sounds really creative," Sheena said sarcastically. "Come on Lloyd, show this guy up!" Sheena cheered him on.
"Haha, yeah! This guy won't know what hit him," Lloyd stated. He eagerly jumped into the arena instead of walking to see a man in a black cloak hiding all his body. He wore a hood that covered his face. Lloyd raised an eye. "You sure look like you're trying to hide something," Lloyd commented.
"I hide nothing, I just prefer the darkness over the light. My name in this tournament has a reason behind it. I suggest you look carefully," Shadow replied. Lloyd grinned. The signal went off and Lloyd charged at his opponent. He swung his fist only to go right through Shadow.
"What the hell," Lloyd exclaimed. The person he punched through disappeared. He reappeared a few yards in front of Lloyd. However, Lloyd saw three of Shadow.
"Come now, find the real me," Shadow said calmly. Lloyd stood still and stared at them. He couldn't tell the difference between them. The Shadows revealed their mouths and grinned evilly. "Fine then if you won't move, then I will," Shadow said as all three charged at Lloyd. Lloyd brought his arms to defend himself. The Shadow trio was about to strike with a sword that seemingly appeared out of nowhere.
"Guardian!" A green force field appeared around Lloyd as he blocked Shadow's attack, he instantly knew the real one and counter attacked. "Impact!" Lloyd smacked Shadow's face before he was sent flying. Lloyd knew which one was real when they attacked him because he could feel the blow from the real one. He grinned. Shadow stood up on his feet and wiped his face. Lloyd saw a few drops of blood on the ground. While killing was legal in the tournament, he did not wish to do so. "You should quit, you'll die if you don't," Lloyd warned him. Shadow merely replied with a laugh. The laugh was dark, somewhat maniacal. Lloyd twitched.
"You're afraid of killing? Don't worry about me child, the fight is only starting. Unlike you...I'm not afraid of killing...In fact...I ENJOY IT," Shadow exclaimed. His hood flew off revealing an elf with demonic red eyes. He had silver hair that fell down his back to his thighs. "I revel in killing, a human like you wouldn't understand," Shadow said. Lloyd unsheathed his swords and charged at Shadow. Lloyd tried to kick him up into the air but Shadow made more copies of himself. "Just because you hit me before, doesn't mean you can tell which one is real. You didn't learn the difference yet! Kneel before me human if you wish to live," Shadow proclaimed maniacally laughing.
"He's really full of himself. Come on Lloyd! This guy is just a freak, this isn't something you can't handle," Sheena cheered him on. Lloyd looked at the ground unconciously and twitched. All the replicas of Shadow had no shadows at all! Lloyd finally understood the difference. The real Shadow had a shadow. He saw a shadow and stared at the real Shadow. He put sheathed his swords and summoned mana into his arms and legs.
"You like killing people, I'll show you that I can win even without killing you, there's no meaning in killing. It only spawns hatred and revenge. I'll...I'll stop you, nobody should have to die for another," Lloyd said emotionlessly. He ran towards his opponent at an incredible speed. Shadow had no time to react as Lloyd tackled him. When they landed on the ground, Lloyd punched him once. Shadow lost consciousness soon afterwards and Lloyd sighed. "You guys should lock him away from others, he isn't safe." The guards nodded to Lloyd and picked the man up. Lloyd shook his head. He didn't like Tethe'alla as much as he thought he would. People here were weird. At least all the people weren't against each other in Sylvarant, the Desians took that away.
"Folks, the next match will be prolonged until tomorrow so thank you and have a wonderful day!" The crowd gave one last cheer.
That's the end, that guy Lloyd fought had no significance to the story. Just a round for the tournament. I will admit the cloning idea came from Naruto though. Well, I'll catch you guys later, I hope you enjoyed!