Welcoming Notes: Yello minna-san, Soul (and Rixxell) back with another update of Final Fantasy Uzumaki XIII.
August 31, 2013. That's the date when this story was born from the challenge Soul from the famed Challenger. It was also after the release of Naruto Chapter 644: I Know, where the battle with Naruto and the alliance versus Obito and Madara was in full swing. My how things have changed during this story's progression. Luckily, Soul (and Rixxell) knows how to adapt! See what I did there, heh heh heh. And now, Naruto has ended, but not my desire to do as many Naruto crossovers as possible!
Who's Boruto again? XD
The story so far: Naruto defeated Madara in a final battle, becoming the Last Shinobi of his world. He became a hanyou demigod, with his body assimilating Madara's own merged body of himself, Sasuke, and Obito, as well as the Jinchuuriki of Juubi and Kaguya Ootsutsuki. He was then pulled from his world by the three goddesses, Kami, Yami, and Shinigami; into the employ of Aurora of the Twilight, the daughter of Cosmo and Chaos.
Teaming him with Aya Brea, Kairi Hikaru (name change), Tifa Lockhart, and Yuna Braska; Aurora dumped her Familia into the XIII Fantasy, where they joined forces with members of Cocoon's Team NORA: the archer Serah Farron, the wild-card Averia Farron, the gunslinger Lebreau Farfalla, and the mysterious Oerba Dia Vanille from Gran Pulse. Together, they rescued the former Purgees from the Sanctum, and retrieved Bartholomew and his son Hope on the request of Nora Estheim. The good news: Hope is reunited with his parents, rendering his quest for revenge obsolete. Bad news: Kairi and Vanille were taken by one Lieutenant Colonel Jihl Nabaat.
So now we enter the 'Palamecia arc'. The Aurora Familia/Cataclysmic Celestial Maelstrom Guardians, goes to rescue two of their own from the Palamecia. Of course, it won't be easy in more ways than one. Not only do they have PSICOM and Super Pope to contend with, but more of Chaos' goons. Only this time, one particular Warrior of Chaos might prove to be more trouble than the team bargained for.
Disclaimer: We do not own Naruto, Final Fantasy XIII, and any other crossover that appears. Also, if you're a fan of Snow, there's SNOW BASHING in this! We like Troy Baker, but Snow? Not so much…
On with the show, and enjoy!
Chapter 05: Changing of the Guard
(Lindblum)
"There she is! The Palamecia, pride of the Sanctum skyfleet. This mighty flagship currently serves as a prison for the l'Cie apprehended in Palumpolum. The l'Cie will face official sentencing upon the convoy's arrival in the capital."
"So what's up the freak show? I mean, these bastards can't honestly think they're any stronger than us after the beatdown we put them through in Palumpolum!" Snow almost shouted arrogantly, his arms folded and pointedly ignoring the glares of Lightning and Fang.
His statement drew the attention of the Cavalry leader, Cid Raines. The man stood proudly, staring at the news report. He regarded Snow's demeanor momentarily, noticing the smug grin across his face, whilst simultaneously avoiding the looks he had garnered from his l'Cie comrades. There was obviously some unknown conflict between them, but the man knew that they were tools for a larger purpose. A purpose that would unite the world.
"This 'freak show' as you so put it is but a play. So the Primarch can stand in judgment of the villainous l'Cie with their execution as the climax. The people will cheer their demise, the uprising would finally be quelled, and fal'Cie domination will be undisputed." Cid explained as if it was obvious.
Snow wasn't paying the least bit attention, as he had decided to instead focus all his attention to the news broadcast, eyeing the airship Palamecia as it was in fleet formation.
"It's all part of the plan to capture us. To use us as the stepping stones in their designs for so-called everlasting peace on Cocoon, safe from Gran Pulse's forces." Lightning growled under his breath, her hand on one hip with her other hand near the holster of her Blazefire Edge.
She still hasn't forgiven Snow for his blatant uncontrolled rampage back in Palumpolum during his mounting of a rescue. The bastard almost shot her, and even nearly took her head off with the motorcycle he jacked, but that wasn't enough. He had the nerve to wink at her, thinking that he must be doing some kind of favor? The sheer gall to do something like that was undeniable. But beyond that, she also learned that he twice tried to grope Fang for no other reason then it should be her honor that he was doing it, and Lightning has since kept him at sword's length because of it.
As for Fang, she made sure that Snow knew that she punches harder than Lightning, evidenced by nearly breaking his jaw during their escape. As if on some queue, Snow reached up to rub his jaw, sending a sneer toward both Fang and Lightning as he did so.
"Indeed, but it also presents an opportunity. For such an important event, Dysley is sure to…" Cid added with a knowing look, before the anchor lady on TV continued her news report.
"In a display of unwavering dedication to duty, the Primarch himself has boarded the Palamecia, and focused his personal attention on resolving the Pulse crisis."
"Right on the money, Cid. They're baiting us to draw us out. You would think they could've been a lot more subtle..." Fang said in a bit of annoyance at PSICOM's clear-as-day scheme.
"Subtle?" Snow looked at Fang before continuing heedless of her cold expression, "Those pricks are scared of us and don't have the nerve to go any farther in their statement. I say we go and end this once and for all! They took my girl and I need to make them pay..."
Fang growled at his statement, coming to a conclusion that he must have thought Vanille was his possession or something. Honestly, she couldn't be sure in any way. He had made comments about Serah, Lightning, and herself all as his girls at random moments before they arrived in Palumpolum, so it wouldn't have been out of place for him to make that assumption about Vanille as well. The prick had an undeniable ego behind him, even if he didn't have the will or power to back it up. She would work with him only as long as necessary, for Vanille's sake. But having Lightning by her side definitely made working with Snow easier.
Lightning glanced to Snow at his comment. It bothered her, but as long as he wasn't making a comment about Serah, she would leave it alone. "You're a fool Snow. 'Here are your friends. Come and get them.' Anybody watching this report can easily read between the lines and get it. They may not want to be subtle, but by outright stating that, they tell the public that more l'Cie are roaming free and can hurt them. And any leader worth their salt knows that is going to incite panic among the populace, which they are trying to avoid. Still, it's not like we can leave who they've captured to die." Lightning stated in resignation.
"Bait, huh? Well, if they're daring us to mount a rescue, I'll take that action. I'm all in, bay-bay!" Snow cheered, smacking his fist into his other hand, "Time for the hero to shine once again!"
As he hyped himself up, he failed to hear Fang's audible groan. The female l'Cie just knew that it wasn't going to be a quiet rescue mission, as he would make enough noise to trigger the Palamecia's intruder alert system.
Lightning meanwhile heard Snow go on his hero tangent again and couldn't help herself. She threw the hardest right cross directly at the blond man who was partly responsible for her sister's pain and was immensely satisfied as she noticed two teeth flying out of his jaw. "You are not a hero! Stop playing this game you idiot and realize that your attempts to be a 'hero' have only gotten people hurt! Gotten people killed! Now, am I going to have to hurt you worse so you can't join us? Or are you going to follow a plan that involves restraint..."
"Speaking of plans, what exactly is the plan? It's pretty clear that this isn't going to go quietly, no matter how much we want it to be." Fang remarked, jerking her thumb at Snow, the cause of her concern and the newest bane of her existence. But she had to admit Lightning had a hell of punch, "We've got to play it smart this time."
"Listen to you talking strategy." Lightning mused with a mock surprised look, "Although, I understand where you're coming from."
"One of those prisoners is Vanille, and I'll be damned if I'm just gonna stand around while she's in trouble!" Fang declared passionately, "If it was your sister, you would do the same, right!"
"Without question." Lightning instantly replied with a glare.
"Says the woman who abandoned her in her time of need. And what's happened? Oh yeah, she crystallized, and disappeared without a trace." Snow slurred out due to his newly missing teeth. But his statement got the desired result, satisfaction in reminding Lightning of her own failure, "Such a caring sister you are."
Like a bull seeing red, Lightning turned on her heel to charge at Snow, intent on inflicting as much pain as humanly possible. Before she could get within a foot of his space, Fang jumped in and held her back.
"You bastard!" Lightning seethed, struggling against the Pulsian that was holding her by her arms in an attempt to prevent the woman from harming the man beyond a point where he might be able to help in the coming battle. She was then dragged away from Snow, before Fang guided her out of the hangar altogether.
"Light, no! You can get him for that later! As much as pains me to admit it, we still need him if we're going to succeed in rescuing Vanille, Sazh, and whoever else PSICOM may have. Once we're done...I won't stop you." Fang chided Lightning before leaning into Lightning, "Hell, I'll join you. Just calm down, and wait... Besides, you already got him damn good, eh?"
Lightning struggled a bit more before conceding, raising her hands up to signal that she's find now. As Fang let her go and they began to walk back to the hangar where Cid was, Lightning saw Snow's victorious, yet now toothless smirk. Lightning wanted nothing more than to cave his face in again, but was still finding it increasingly difficult to keep calm after his comment.
"Enough! You're squabbling like children! Stand down!" Cid barked, his voice cracking like a whip, calling for their undivided attention to him, "You want to save your friends or not?"
Once more since he had picked up the third l'Cie in Palumpolum, Cid questioned the idea if using these l'Cie was worth the endeavor. But before he could ponder these thoughts, a pain struck his mind as was reminded just how close he was. His own plans were of no concern. There were greater plans at work...
"Tch!" Lightning hissed, clearly still angry but consented.
"Sorry about that Cid. You were saying?" Fang asked, glad to get back on track.
Snow meanwhile said nothing, just glaring at Lightning. No longer would this woman disrespect him. He would make her learn her own place. At his knees, the hero he was needed his own desires fulfilled. And he had no use of strong women... He would break her, just as he once did to Serah. How she broke free of him was still a concern, but he did it once. He would do it again.
"According to my spies, the PSICOM fleet has us under surveillance. So while they're busy watching the Lindblum, the rest of you will slip aboard the Palamecia. When the time is right, our brigade will launch an all out assault to back you up from the outside. Confront Dysley at your peril, but rescuing the prisoners is your top priority, especially this one..."
An aide handed a data pad to Cid, who showed it to the others.
"We managed to get a photo of one of the prisoners. She's a person of interest for what happened in Lake Bresha after the Purge." Cid explained as the others moved in for a closer look.
It was young teenaged girl with dark auburn hair, crystal blue eyes, and wearing a pink strapless mini-dress made up of three zippers, as well as a white halter-top underneath her mini-dress with a black hood. She was handcuffed, with her blue looking gazed over as she was escorted into a ship. Next to the picture was a blurred image in low resolution of a group of individuals in Lake Bresha, after the sememic gravitational event that took place near the Hanging Edge. However, a higher resolution enhancement was focused on a male in the picture.
"One of them has dark red hair, just like the one in this one..." Lightning noted, putting two and two together. But then she looked to the hi-res enhancement and was unable to determine the reason why he was important, "Raines, who is this person? I get the importance behind the girl, since she was captured and is at the event. But how does he fit in?"
"Ah yes, I don't believe you would know of him. In fact, we of Cocoon know nothing of this man at all. At first, we thought him and his group, the prisoner as well, to be l'Cie just as you are. Now however, we baffled at him. Fang knows of the events at Lake Bresha where he single-handily took down a fleet of airships with two orbs of magic that used the metal of the airships against them. However, the recent events in Palumpolum are making us reevaluate our…initial assessment." Cid stated, unsure exactly how to phrase the murder of a fal'Cie. He still couldn't believe such a thing was possible to any l'Cie outside of one that transformed into Ragnarok itself.
Lightning noticed Cid's pause, but his body language was somewhat concerning. He had started gripping his wrists, fiddling with his gloves, as if they had become loose suddenly. Then he turned back to look at the news on the television, as if waiting for some new story to show up. "What happened in Palumpolum, Raines? What did this man do that has you so afraid…?" the former member of the Guardian Corps demanded.
"I myself would not say I'm afraid. Maybe, it would be hard to say... No, I'm afraid for what may happen when word releases to the public that the fal'Cie Carbuncle has been killed. You're a soldier, are you not? But more than that, you have strategic training. What are surefire ways to defeat an enemy? Going after their leadership is most certainly one such method, but their food supply? This man will likely come for his comrade and you can't defeat him as you are. Worse still, Dysley is aboard and I fear he will continue his campaign against Cocoon by killing the Primarch. I have no love for the man or his policy, but his refusal to allow Cocoon an alternative food supply puts us all in danger now."
Lightning couldn't help but wonder how she had thought of killing the fal'Cie as she walked by it during her recent time in the city. And this man did? She was brought out of her thoughts as Raines continued.
"I ask you to get the comrade of his specifically so we can figure out his agenda. I don't want you to confront Dysley knowing that this man will likely be attempting his own plot. However, do what you must to ensure that this woman is extracted. If that means you need to assassinate Dysley yourselves, do it. Cocoon needs leadership that can and will put humanity on the right track. But more than that, we need to know who this man is and what he is after!"
"Wait, this guy killed a Cocoon fal'Cie and you want us to leave him alone? This guy is probably the enemy Serah warned us about! The reason why we need to save Cocoon! Heroes don't back down from villains, they save..." Snow started ranting, but stopped short when he heard the telltale click of a gun cocking.
More specifically though, a Gunblade.
"Please Snow, continue... I'm sure we are all interested in knowing what heroes do. Especially given the track record some 'heroes'. I for instance have a particular desire to show the world the truth about vigilante justice." Lightning said coolly, before lower her Blazefire Edge and turning her attention to Raines, "Got it, assassinate if needed, but extract the VIP is the mission directive. Do you have something we can 'borrow' to get to the Palamecia?"
"Yes, I have a special ship here I can offer you and my aide Rygdea will get you anything further you might require to fulfill the mission parameters. Rygdea, could you show them the Armory before we send them on their way? Also, let's give them the Surveillance ID code to get them aboard without issue."
"Yes sir! Come on briches, I got some ideal upgrades to your weapons that you might find helpful." Rygdea said leading them to the Armory before setting their allies on the way.
-10 minutes later-
Lightning swung her brand new Enkindler gunblade, taking note of its' extremely light weight thanks in part to the Cobaltite frame and Iridium metalwork to help boost her speed to its utmost limits. Swapping to Gun form, the elder Farron noticed the speed at the weapon transition, as well as the redesigned sights, which now seemed to have some form of assist to it, probably meant to aide her with the boost in her speed. Honestly, this was the best birthday present ever...
Thinking on that suddenly soured her mood, she really did owe both Averia and yes, even Serah, an apology. It may be too late to do anything and she probably would get a door slammed in her face, if not worse. But now she could truly see just how wrong she was. Snow's comment earlier truly did sting, but what made it worse was that while he was right, he also tried to use it against Serah. And if it wasn't for Averia, who knows what her youngest sister might have done that morning?
Looking over, she noticed the object of her ire testing his own new Emblem installed on his coat. Honestly, she didn't know how it aided him in battle, but whatever it did seemed to satisfy him. But if she was completely honest, her punch might have done more to make him look like some hoodlum than a hero. With his attitude, a moniker of 'Ruthless and Toothless' might be fitting?
Fang looked over to Lightning after testing out her Calamity Spear, before speaking to everyone in the Armory. "Shall we get this show on the road? I've waited long enough to see Vanille again and I'm ready to give Dysley a nice boot."
Rygdea heard this and spoke up, "You sum briches ready to take the fight to that prick and end our rotten gover'ment? Because I got just the ship for you. She's not a fighter mind you, despite being a PSICOM vessel that we 'acquired' during the Lake Bresha event. It's actually a surveillance airship we're sending you with a specialized code for you to land on the airship. It'll get you there, disguised as cargo, so don't question it-"
"I am not cargo! I am a hero and I deserve better than this trashy shit…!" Snow started yelling with an unintentional whistle coming through his teeth, oblivious to the action Fang was taking behind him...
Lightning watched with gusto as Fang knocked out Snow easily before grabbing his leg and dragging him out of the Armory. She took immense pleasure in how Fang let Snow's head hit the bottom of the bulkhead and kept dragging him deck after deck, bulkhead after bulkhead. It made the walk back to the hangar far more enjoyable, especially as the two females wouldn't be pestered for a good majority of their flight since the annoyance wouldn't be speaking or better yet, leering at them.
Rygdea finally brought them to the PSICOM vessel. It's a small airship that's white with a motif of a scorpion designed to transport cargo. Conveniently, it's one of the same kind of ship that's flying around the Palamecia at the moment, who sneaking in will be a cake walk.
"Well, here we are. Next stop, the Palamecia. You all have everything you need, because once you're up in the air and on your way, there's no turning back." Rygdea warned them seriously, seeing the determined look in Lightning and Fang's eyes.
Snow was holding his head from the bumps he's taken thanks to Fang.
"No bonding moment? Fine by me." Rygdea joked as the cargo door to the confiscated airship opened, "Let's get this show on the road!"
Without a moment to spare, Lightning immediately led the way into the ship. Snow was about to complain again when Fang booted him in his rear end, making him stumble into the ship. Fang smirked as she entered last and pressed the button on the side, making the cargo door close behind her.
Then the door fully shut, the ship lifted up and sped out of the hanger, straight towards the Palamecia.
"May the Maker be with you." Cid mused before walking away.
(The Palamecia)
At the Operations Control Center of the Palamecia, located in the heart of the Bahamut-class Palamecia, Lt. Jihl Nabaat entered the large chamber, walking with a purpose. Her benefactor being present is an interesting addition to the overall plan, so much so that it left Jihl surprised. She also couldn't help but be worried, as her old flame Claire Farron was no doubt on her way. Gritting her teeth behind her lips, she forced a serene smile as she made her way to the side of the ruler of Cocoon.
Primarch Dysley was sitting in a throne specifically made for the Palamecia. This airship being designated as the Official State Airship of Cocoon's Primarch, it was standard practice for him to be onboard. However unlike prior leaders, when Galenth Dysley was voted to the leadership of Cocoon, he took a more hands on approach with his leadership in all aspects of the government. It was honestly something that bothered Jihl, but at the same time she couldn't help but be awed in the presence of a superior that knew aspects of military and civilian leadership to such a degree.
Given this apparent skill, she naturally was grateful when he had taken such a heavy interest in her own skill. Yes, her own comrades in PSICOM had looked down on her for how she was shooting up in the ranks and had Dysley's personal favor even with her own personal issues... Such as her training of Claire Farron, but yet he had put her on a fast track to General. His own abilities in tactical planning had almost eliminated all subversive elements that were waiting to overthrow Cocoon leadership and he freely passed these 'victories' he'd caused to her own person.
She was both humbled, yet apprehensive around the man. The very nature of politics makes one learn when to bluff and when to tell. So, everything about Primarch Dysley made Jihl very submissive in his presence. The only thing to do when facing a superior ally or opponent in her situation was play a part, because sometimes acting a role was all one could do...
"Your Eminence, we didn't expect to see you here in person." Jihl greeted with a salute, and adjusted her glasses, "I would think you'd be back in Eden, assuring the people that the l'Cie threat will soon be neutralized. After all, it's the pawns, knights, bishops, and rooks' job to be the shield of the king, right?"
"I can see clearly that you worry for my safety, my child. I'm touched, especially at the king part. Still, this crisis threatens the entirely of Cocoon, and as a leader, I must see to it that this threat is put down" Dysley said with a smile, and resolution in his voice, "Surely, you agree that standing at the fore is a leader's charge?"
"...Wholeheartedly, your Eminence. It shows the unmatched strength of Cocoon's leadership. It will ease the population's worries, especially in the face of Carbuncle's destruction." Jihl agreed and bowed in respected, before adjusting her glasses again.
"Yes, that is a concerning issue. It almost appears as if Ragnorok itself has already appeared, does it not? However, this position also affords a splendid view of the impending execution." Dysley added with a smirk that looked sinister in Jihl's eyes.
'Dammit...' She turned her head to the side, taking off her glasses and bit her thumbnail. Looks like trying to save her former student/lover from execution just got a whole lot difficult, 'Claire...'
"What's the holdup?"
Jihl frowned and looked over to see one of the operators clearing a nearby ship for landing.
"Stand by verifying identification code."
"Do they have a code clearance?" Jihl inquired, drawing the attention of the operator.
"It's an older code ma'am, but it checks out. I was about to clear them." the operator reported, confusion at Jihl's thinking face.
"You let me land this bird, or I'll crash her into your ass!"
"Let them through. Have some troops head to where they're docked. If they're who I think they are, then deal with them…" Jihl ordered, and cast a sideway glance at Dysley, who looked pleased.
(Holding Cells)
It was a long day for one Sazh Katzroy. After being captured back in Palumpolum, he was placed in the back of the ship, and taken to the Palamecia. From there, he was thrown into a cell, where he sat stewing for the next few hours. The next thing he knew, one girl he's never seen before was placed into the same cell as him along with another one of the l'Cie that was present during the Anima thing at Lake Bresha, by Lt. Nabaat herself. Once the two were well enough to talk, Sazh asked who they were, and got more than he bargained for in the process.
Along with a ray of hope.
"So lemme get this straight. You," Sazh pointed to Vanille, "disappeared after the explosion at Lake Bresha to join up with some guy, that girl next to you, and Lightning's formerly Crystal-encased sister? And you have been hiding out in the Maker knows where for days now as you have steadily been subverting Cocoon's leadership?" Sazh stated exhaustedly, somehow knowing the answer would not be ideal. He just wanted to save Dajh and given that Serah was now walking and talking like any other person, there was a good chance his son could be freed. But at what cost?!
"Well, I guess besides freeing Hope from the bonds of servitude, Naruto must have done something impressive if the size of the explosion in Palumpolum as we were taken into custody was any idea?" Vanille said, her left arm crossed underneath her bust as she held her right hand to her chin...
If Sazh was a lesser man, a younger man, or even a man without any morals whatsoever, he would have taken the girl then and there. Did she even understand what that kinda thing did to most males? This girl epitomized the term cocktease! But that was just a subtle concern... The more frustrating thing was how she basically confirmed that she was working with a terrorist that wanted Pulsian dominance.
'Oh how the propaganda wheel has spun.' Kairi could see the thought process as easy as day. Still, she knew things were bad and Vanille didn't quite have the words to sum it up clearly...
"Umm Vanille, to be frank, Naruto and the others could be in a lot of trouble at the moment. Didn't you feel as the Life left the fal'Cie Carbuncle?" Kairi picked that moment to intrude on their conversation. She didn't know the man before her, but he was aware of who Vanille is and she did already give Naruto's name to the man. But still, it seemed odd to her that she was the only one who felt the death of one of the 'gods' of this world. Something like that was not normal, but she could feel as the life left it's physical form. Did it have to do with the fact that she came from another world?
Or was she already feeling the side-effects after the dive into Naruto's mind?
Sazh looked at the brunette girl like she grew another head. Because to him, she basically did. He practically hollered at her, "Wait, what?! What do you mean, 'the life left the fal'Cie Carbuncle'?! You can't kill fal'Cie... That's like the basics of basics! But beyond that, how do you know if something died, least of all fal'Cie? You're not l'Cie and even though I'm a l'Cie, I can't tell when life leaves a being without my eyes. And we were like 20 miles away from that explosion!"
This girl was nuts! This entire situation was nuts. Yet again, Sazh cursed himself for getting on that train straight to Purgeville. But his entire life had been a series of unfortunate and yet, good mistakes. His mother told him before her death to make the best of what he was given. And he's tried that. Time and time and time again. But this was getting to be too much, even for a simple, hard working, law abiding, and single father such as himself.
Vanille looked at Kairi and in an unnaturally serious voice asked, "You felt Carbuncle die? Like, you knew the moment as it passed, never mind the location Naruto was at? Kairi, this is a very serious statement and you must absolutely not say that again until your Familia comes. I don't know why you can feel such things, but that isn't something to tell people here."
"Umm, ok..." Kairi was taken aback by the context of Vanille's sudden shift in attitude, as that was entirely out of character for the girl since she had known her. Before she could say anything else however, the ship was overrun by a series of alarms going off.
'Code Red! Repeat: Code Red! Attention all crew: This is not a drill! Code Red!'
(Southern Weather Deck)
'...Code Red!'
"What the hell is goin' on now? Who set off the blasted alarm?" Naruto wondered, looking around while feeling the violent winds on one of the many decks of the Palamecia, "This sheath mission's a bust now. I wasn't planning on raising large ramen bowls of hell this early, dattebayo…"
As he groaned, wondering what the hell he and his ladies are going to do now, said ladies couldn't share this sentiments. They were currently hanging over the ledge, hurling their guts out.
"You girls alright? Seriously, get it together. Kairi, Vanille, and the others are waiting for us!" Naruto lightly scolded the ladies, only to get a middle finger from Averia.
"Umm, Naruto-kun, I don't mean to be a Negative Nancy, but the 'others' as you put it are probably the ones who triggered the alarms..." Serah said, looking up to her savior with a rather uneasy look on her face.
Probably from being sick.
"Claire. She's here." Averia murmured. She wiped her mouth before letting out a small hiccup. She then looked over to her little sister, seeing a small frown on her face.
"Still, a little warning before jerking us across time and space with that technique of yours. It's nothing like Aurora's. Maybe you should get her to teach you how." Ava suggested before coughing a bit.
"When we're done in this Fantasy. Right now, we have a job to do..." Naruto countered before leading the way, "And a Super Pope to kick in the nuts. So, let's hop to it. And whatever you do, don't look down."
"Naruto, we fell several stories down to a crystal lake. The view's not that bad, to be honest." Tifa replied with a smile, She frowned when Yuna tugged on her sleeve and pointed at a shivering Lebreau, "Oh by the Lifestream- Dammit, Lebreau! Get your ass over there, now!"
"I'M SCARED!" Lebreau wailed, rooted to the spot and crying anime tears, "I'm only human, and I'm not brave like you guys when it comes to heights! Furthermore, Gran Pulse is down there-!"
"Banshō Ten'in!"
She was suddenly jerked forward, before landing in the arms of Naruto, who booped her on her nose. Her face turned cherry red and turned her head to the side in embarrassment.
"There they are!"
Aurora's Familia looked to see several PSICOM Dragoons coming after them. The vanguard troops shot forward propelled by their jetpacks, while the rearguard hovered behind and supported them with rifles aimed at them.
"Whatever you do, don't let them call in our-!" Naruto yelled out, but to his own dismay he immediately heard an alarm, "...location…"
"Code Red! Primary Target sighted! Location: Starboard Weather Deck! Secondary Targets Location on External Berths! Divert all available resources to Starboard Weather Deck!"
"Great. It's the Shinra Corporation all over again. Aya, cover me!" Tifa commanded and adjusted her gloves.
"Roger that!" Aya nodded as Tifa charged forward.
The former cop opened fire as Tifa crouched down and executed a low sweep kick to disorient the front vanguard. The bullets sailed over her head and hit the vanguard's support, dropping them like flies. Before the vanguard could recovered, Tifa was upon them in a second. First, a Beat Rush, tagging them with punches to their vital area, Next, a Burning Arrow to the leader that knocked him into his subordinates, knocking them down like bowling pins. The unluckiest ones fell off the ledge. The next thing the soldiers knew, Tifa was casting Blizzaga, firing a bullet of ice that turned into a chuck of ice that protruded spikes. Those that were close were instantly skewered and killed, while the force of the spell knocked more off the ledge. The survivors were genuinely frightened as Tifa strode over to them, cracking her fingers with an eerie look at her face.
While Tifa was busy with the vanguard troops, Lebreau and Serah started picking off the rearguard Dragoons with Aya. Between Aya's dual pistols, Lebreau's trusty rifle, and Serah's bow, the two were doing a pretty solid job in preventing any attacks from hitting Tifa...
Although, Serah turned her head to see what Naruto was doing as the action had seemed fairly quiet. What she saw was a blonde man standing there, eyes closed, doing nothing more then smiling. This left Serah confused, but she assumed that he had some purpose in making others do the work...
Naruto noticed Serah's gaze on him, despite her current battle. The Six-Paths Sage Mode was truly a marvelous thing. The Hanyou Demigod was currently in an inner dialog with Kaguya as he was gathering Senjutsu chakra, When he felt the presence of the fal'Cie aboard, he decided to up the game to Six Paths Senjutsu without calling upon his Bijuu Cloak just yet. Given Serah's premonition and the issue with Carbuncle, the idea that a fal'Cie was aboard shouldn't have surprised him, but yet this whole thing felt like they were being played. Milla and Muzet both agreed with him, and Kagura said that given this development Naruto should perhaps unleash everything for the first time.
Naruto was still standing motionless, when a Viking robot suddenly came up from behind him, intent to use it's Thermal Discharge attack. Naruto easily discerned the Fire-based attack and swiftly dodged it before turning and shoving the flat of his palm into the center mass of the droid, destroying it in one fell swoop. He then called upon his Bijuu Cloak, formed several Chakra Arms, and launched Mini-Rasengans at all the remaining Dragoons. Today was not for playing. They had business to take care of.
'Kagura, maintain a constant collection of Senjutsu. Milla, monitor my allies. Muzet, if anything happens to them Emergency Warp me to them. Kaguya, how would you like to play later?' Naruto both asked, yet ordered his inner companions. Nobody would die in his presence ever again. Promise of a lifetime!
'Naruto, how many times must we go through this?' Kagura chided her container in annoyance, "Your power is my power. Use it as you see fit."
'Doesn't hurt to ask, but thanks anyways. Don't worry, your allies' are still holding their own.' Milla confirmed, as elemental orbs floated around her.
'And if a death flag is triggered, I shall deny the Death God of this world! Rest assured, Naruto. Your girlfriends' lives are in my hands.' Muzet stated, forming an orb made of space-time energy in her hand.
'You say fun. Color me interested.' Kaguya mused, with her third eye opening up.
As for Yuna, she stayed back. She wasn't willing to take lives yet. But she knew that someday, she would have to.
For now, she'll still dance, when people die.
(External Berths, some time ago)
Lightning and her allies had just finished their battle as they entered onto the Palamecia. They were surprised at how soon the alarm was triggered upon their entry, but they had made quick work of Raiders and Infiltrators as they moved onto the External Berths of the Palamecia. The silence was soon cast off as yet another alarm blared out, which was both expected and not at the same time.
"Code Red! Primary Target sighted! Location: Starboard Weather Deck! Secondary Targets Location on External Berths! Divert all available resources to Starboard Weather Deck!"
Snow, in all his ability as a blonde male whose sole redeeming skill is using his fists stated the obvious, "Primary Target? Who could be more dangerous than the Hero?"
Lightning shook her head as she then turned to Fang, "Well, whatever is going on just happened to divert defenders from our entry. How do you suppose this helps our chances? But more to the point, Snow actually had a decent question... Do you suppose it's that man Cid warned us about?"
"Almost certainly. But let's not worry about that. Since they are shifting defenses, it should make way for us to get to the Command Center faster. Dysley needs to pay!"
Snow looked as the two women rushed ahead, taking out Deckdrones as they were intent on their mission. "Yeah, Dysley needs to pay... But, we're the Saviors of Cocoon, aren't we?" he muttered, for once all excess energy seemed to have left his being as he seemed at a loss. "How can we save Cocoon by killing its elected leaders?"
Following behind, Snow was lost in a whirlwind of thought and a thousand yard on his face...
(Operations Center)
"Attention all crew: Code Green! Repeat: Code Green! Security forces stand by! Hostile forces on board, Code Green!"
"Lt. Nabaat! Intruders spotted in multiple sectors of the Palamecia! Two squads are currently engaging them."
"Give me a status update, right now!" Jihl demanded, wanting to know for sure if Lightning took the bait.
"Trying to verify, but our cameras are being disabled!" one of the operators replied frantically.
"Wait! Updates coming in with identifications! Former Bodhum Security Regiment's Master Sergeant Claire Farron, sighted in the External Berths. And the blonde man responsible for Carbuncle's death, sight In the Southern Weather Deck! Our squads are being decimated by both groups, and are requesting reinforcements!"
"Decimated? Impossible!" Jihl demanded, "Those are highly trained soldiers, and the machines deployed are more hi-tech than the technology we give the citizens!"
"I don't know, but their signals are disappearing, fast! At this rate, we'll lose more soldiers than we have on the ship!" one of the another operator said, and jumped when the camera he was viewing was shot out.
"I wouldn't worry about that, my child." Dysley said gently, "I know something like this would happen. Thus, I had reinforcements summoned from Eden a short while ago."
'But most of those reinforcements are still dealing with the situations back in Bodhum and Palumpolum.' Jihl thought with a frown, 'Plus, if anyone's ordering reinforcements here, it's me. So what kind of backup do you have in your back pocket, Dysley?'
(Holding Cells, at the same time)
"Attention all crew: Code Green! Repeat: Code Green! Security forces stand by! Hostile forces on board, Code Green!"
The blaring of the alarms and sudden color oriented monitors dropping from the ceiling were unusual enough to Kairi. But before she could dwell on it, the door opened to reveal two PSICOM Raiders and a Vespid Soldier. It was certainly not what she'd come to expect from standard smart prison keeping... How did this world properly function if the slightest reaction to possible terrorist action was to move your hostages?
Aya's lessons during her time in Aurora's Familia was coming in handy.
"Get up scum." The Raider said, point his gun at Sazh.
The second Raider walked over to Vanille and grabbed her as he shouted, "Get up! You're being moved!"
"Get him."
Kairi just watched as the fool was then smacked off guard by a chocobo chick? Why was it in the man's hair!?
The Raider lost his gun as Sazh proceeded to charge him straight into a storage container next to Vanille. Kairi took this moment to call on her Keyblade Destiny's Embrace, as she swung a low hip to shoulder backhanded swipe at the Vespid Soldier that Vanille was about to shoot blindly at.
Vanille was about to open fire with the gun she grabbed before Kairi suddenly destroyed the bio-mechanical drone in a flash of light. She was astonished as the girl's right hand suddenly formed a giant key-shaped sword. The pommel was a star of orange, followed by an extensive grip, something that made it obvious that this was a two handed weapon. The crossguard then formed the shape of a heart, which was in two pieces, one looking very much as if it was a plant, and the opposing guard a bluish flipper?
Vanille watched on as the plant half grew as the light got brighter, forming itself into a flower bundle that looked like the tip of a key... This key then had a loud crack of noise as the Vespid Soldier shattered into the attack aimed at it's glass encasing.
"Critical? Sweet~!" Kairi suddenly squeed into what Sazh would call a gushing fangirl moment...
"Ahem?" Sazh coughed a moment to get Kairi's attention. "Time to split. If what you said earlier is true, we got all kinds of company looking to get us off."
"Right. Naruto-kun is nearby, I can tell. Let's go Vanille." Kairi said, looking to her red haired friend, who just shook her head in the positive.
-moments later-
The group of former prisoners stood outside a room that held Vanille and Sazh's weapons, when Vanille motioned to Sazh to get his attention.
"I'm sorry, truly. Everything that has happened to your son, to you... It's all been my fault. I know words can't change much, but I know Naruto-kun will help get you out of this. I just ask that you give us time. I never wanted others to become l'Cie. But it was just one thing after another." Vanille offered up an apology to Sazh, knowing all she did to change his life. If she had never met Naruto, she doubted the idea that she could even be so sincere towards a man whose life she basically ruined.
Kairi watched on, unaware of how their past connected, but knowing the seriousness of the topic made it hard to just jump in and say 'Hey, we're kinda in hostile territory, can we do this later?'
"Yeah, you're right Kairi. We can't sit around apologizing for past mistakes. We need to find Naruto-kun and the others." Vanille said, causing the Keyblade wielder to do a double take.
"I just said that out loud, didn't I?" Kairi said meekly, with her tongue slightly out.
"Mmmhmm. Why, can't hear yourself speak?" Vanille's head tipping off to her side as she looked at Kairi like grew a second head.
Sazh just shook his head as he set off, intent on finding his son and getting help from this Naruto character the girl kept talking about.
(Lightning's Crew)
"Code Purple! I repeat: Code Purple! Security breach! All units on alert! Code Purple!"
"All these colors. What do they even mean?" Snow wondered, withdrawing his fist from a PSICOM mechs he just took out.
Seriously? Red, Green, now Purple? What could be next? Sky blue?
"It simply means we're doin' our jobs." Fang replied with a bloodthirsty grin that made Snow nervous out of a sudden, "All of this hell being raised is making PSICOM really nervous."
Suddenly, there was a huge rumble, shaking the ship and making the trip tumble about.
"Who could they be fighting? That felt pretty big." Lightning noted with a scowl, managing to keep her balance with her gravity device.
"I wish I could say Vanille, but if I were a bettin' lady, I'd say it's that redhead's friend that Cid's worried about." Fang guessed, while getting more worried for her lover by the second.
"All the more reason to rescue Sazh, Vanille, and the lil' lady. Something tells me that the latter's friend will be no friend of ours." Snow said and ran on ahead.
"You big dumb oaf!" Fang yelled after him, more mad at him for trying to go off on his own, "Don't go straight at him!"
"Guh. Why do we keep him around, aside from him being the extra muscle we need?" Lightning complained, rubbing the back of her head.
"Well, if we lose him completely, we ditch him." Fang suggested, putting her hand on Lightning's shoulder, "Deal?"
"Deal." Lightning agreed, before she and Fang ran after him.
(Starboard side tunnel)
Naruto walked through the tunnel as his golden cloak of Bijuu Chakra and mass of Chakra Arms destroyed mech after mech, soldier after soldier. He was still slightly ignoring his allies, honestly planning how to handle the prophecy Serah saw. Naruto knew prophecies, so it was going to happen whether he tried to plan around it or not. So why not let things play? He could feel every single person, every bio-mech, and every robot on this airship. He could feel the two groups of l'Cie wandering the ship, one with Kairi in tow. Because of this, he knew where Lightning was at.
The fact that she was near the Engines of the ship brought a good idea to Milla. She suggested to split the group into two so that he could rescue his Familia, bring the ship down so as to lessen Military might, and let things work out so that the prophecy happen as it does, which wouldn't be the case if he went straight to Dysley.
Naruto's luck was the amazing kind of special. The kind that would make for some special encounters of the fucked up kind... No sense in triggering some FUBUR moment before he needed to. It was a case of when to him.
Turning to his Familia walking behind him, the girls noticed how random Chakra Arms kept their barrage on the inbound soldiers launching waves at him. Serah asked the question that was on all their minds since Naruto started walking in what seemed to be a random direction.
"Naruto-kun, what is the plan this time? Usually you get a plan of teamwork with different groups of us beforehand, but now you're literally a One Man Team and-"
"Stop taking all the fucking kills!" Averia suddenly shouted over Serah's calm dissection of Naruto's actions.
Serah continued without heeding her sibling, "We can't figure out what the goal is just following you. We can't feel out where people are like you. Share things! Where's Kairi, who's getting her, and why do you just shut off?!" she suddenly started shouting, and whacked the blonde on the back of his head.
Naruto looked at the shouting pinkette, obviously frustrated with his seeming inability to focus on everything outside. "Well excuse me Serah-chan, but four plus people are talking to me in my head, and following your sister, Kairi, and Dysley's locations at all times as I figure out how this event is playing out in the public eye when we bring this ship crashing to the ground? I'm not a full god yet, dattebayo!"
Tifa looked aghast at the statement, "You really will be the death of me, won't you Naruto? Dilly dally shilly shally! Just make a fucking decision and do something. Geez…"
"Ok, so, girls want a plan? Because I was about to hand something for us anyway. But if you want, I can continue doing everything by myself? I mean, you all make wonderful eye candy walking alongside me..."
"Sexist pig~! Gimme someone to attack," Averia was practically begging Naruto for something to do. "I know, I'll take some of us to get Kairi-"
"Nope, you and Serah are coming with me, who is NOT sexist at all! We're going to find your sister and blow this ship's engines. Aya, Yuna, Lebreau, you're going to the holding cells to break out Kairi and the other prisoners. Tifa, you're in command of them. Trust me, we'll all meet at the Operations Center just in time for shit to go down." Naruto said, a shiny Might Gai patented, Nice Guy smile on his face. The thumb held out in front of his body almost changing three times its normal size.
"But the kills~!?" Averia lost all hope as she collapsed to the ground, seemingly depressed at the fact that working with Naruto means that she won't fight unless he wants her to...
"Don't worry sis, think of it this way? Naruto said we're blowing the ship's engines..." Serah said, hoping to coax her sister out of her funk.
"It's not the same!" Averia complained with anime tears, as Yuna quickly patted her head to calm her down.
As this happened, Tifa got her team together and were waved off to the direction Kairi was heading. Naruto was purposely avoiding use of his Shadow Clones here in the enemy's stronghold. Maybe his luck was making him play things safer at 20,000 feet? Serah managed to get Averia on her feet and they walked towards to Engine Room, chatting amongst themselves as Naruto monitored everything his mind's tenants told him.
(Operations Center)
"Colonel! We've lost the intruders!" one of the female operators called over to Jihl, "The cameras in their area are down! We are no eyes on them!"
"You lost them? How? With all the chaos they're making?" Jihl demanded, striding over to the operator and shaking her, "And how are the hidden cameras disabled? Explain!"
"I'm sorry, ma'am! They keep shooting out the cameras, and all available assistance are immediately taken out!" the operator wailed, and was thrown back into her seat, "We're doing everything we can. I swear!"
"Still, the fact that both groups whereabouts are unknown, that means we're Code Yellow." Jihl murmured, before shaking her head, "No, wait, Code Blue? If we were Orange, that would mean- Gah!" she rubbed her head in frustration, "Why do we have all these damn colors to begin with-?!"
"Ma'am we're getting reports that the high-priority prisoners broke out during their transfer! They're currently entering the engine room!" an operator called out.
"The prisoners! They got out?" Jihl asked in shock, before throwing her glasses down in frustration. There was still too much she needed to known about the blonde in from Lake Bresha; to see if he'll be useful in helping her protect her old flame, "Send all available units to the Engine Room! I want them back alive! Especially the Kairi girl! We need that information about the primary target, and I want it yesterday!"
"Colonel, the secondary intruders are located! They're on the weather deck, starboard side!"
'Claire?' Jihl thought, and grit her teeth, 'No, not yet! You can't come to me just yet! At least let yourself be captured!' she thought and ordered a strike to hold her off, "Reroute them to the upper deck. Make it rain if you have to!"
As Jihl was trying to keep everything in order, Dysley watched in amusement. While it was funny watching Jihl run around like a headless chocobo, rational action was needed in times like these.
"Desperate times demand flexibility. Code White." Dysley declared with a tap of his staff.
'Code White?!' Jihl thought in horror, rounding on Dysley, 'But, there will be no execution! Code White is the elimination of all intruders, no matter what! What is he thinking?!'
'Now then. Show me your power. Show me the power that Chaos is slowly starting to fear…' Dysley mused, looking at the entryway into the operations center.
(Engine Room)
"This must be the Engine Room." Naruto said as he and the Farron siblings entered the area, "It definitely looks more advanced than in the Land of Spring. Still, I sense it's power output is nothing close to the summer generator there…'Koyuki-chan'..."
How he missed one of his many fiance's back in his world. Sadly, she fell victim to Madara's massive soul adoption jutsu like everyone else, targeted specifically because of their acceptable levels of chakra required for jutsu. If she hadn't started training to become a samurai to protect her lands…
Shaking his head, he refocused on the task at hand, and frowned at the seemingly running generator. It was humming, but not as loud as he heard it before when he was hearing the sounds of the ship.
"Hey, is something about this engine seen off to you?" Naruto asked the girls, with Serah spotting a control panel and investigating it.
"The engine. It's been remotely shut down!" Serah said as she surfed through the information, "And...what the-?"
"What's wrong?" Averia asked, noting the absolute confusion on her little sister's face.
"The order came from somewhere in Eden. Furthermore, the shutdown of the engine is only the beginning. In one hour, the entire ship will self destruct. Worse, no evacuation orders have been given out." Serah read from the terminal, "I can't find out who did this. The person who gave the order is anonymous."
"So that means no destroying the Engine Room. Still, what the hell is going on? Who in Eden is undermining the super pope? Could they be working for that Chaos guy that's trying to gain that foothold in our world?" Averia wondered as she read the information from behind Serah.
"Too many variables here. We'll find out who pull that stunt later. Let's regroup with the others for now-" Naruto started before an explosion rocked the room, "What…was…that?" he deadpanned.
The shaking made the siblings stumble, with Serah falling and Averia managing to catch her. Naruto rushed over to see if they're ok, but noticed the tickmark on Serah's head, along with Averia's hand on Serah's chest.
"Onee-chan, I appreciate you catching me, but did you have to grope my breast as well?" Serah asked sweetly, with Averia laughing nervously.
"It was an accident. Scout's honor." Averia replied cheekily as she pulled her sister up.
"As much as I enjoy the sisterly bonding you two are sharing, get ready. I'm sensing an awful lot of Darkness...and not the good kind." Naruto said and summoned his Tensa Zangetsu, which reacted to his Bijuu cloak and took on a golden appearance.
"He's right. I can sense it too." Serah murmured before pointing at the ground, "Here it comes."
Black fog started rising out of the floor grates, and formed into little odd creatures with yellow eyes. They had two antennas on their heads, narrow limbs, and sharp claws on their hands and feet.
"What the hell are these things?!" Averia asked loudly, preparing her Chrono Trigger gunswordwhip, "They not Cie'th, so what-"
"Heartless!" All three of them jumped when Kaguya's voice resounded in their heads, "Pureblooded Heartless to be precise. I know about them due to them appearing in our world during the Keyblade War."
"The Keyblade War?" Naruto repeated, frowning, "Why am I hearing about this now, Kaguya-chan?"
"Because it wasn't important until now! But the fact that these Heartless are here in this world means the situation is more dire than we realized!" Kaguya ranted, and connected to Naruto's sense to see if she can detect anymore, "We need to get that Kairi girl now! She'll know more about this than me!"
"Just as soon as we finish things here!" Averia snapped as the Heartless moved in a swarm to attack them.
Naruto and Averia rushed forward to engage them, with Serah staying behind to cover them with her arrows. It's about to be a long battle against the darkness spawned from the same darkness from people's hearts.
(Starboard Weather Deck)
Lightning, Fang, and Snow were busy running through the rather empty berths of the airship before they arrived on what seemed to be a battlefield. However, from everything Lightning knew about Cocoon Fleet Class Airships as a former member of the Guardian Corps and a trainee in the PSICOM division, this should be the Starboard Weather Deck. It was amazing that some could do this and the ship was still capable of sustaining the deck...
Fang walked over to a cleanly devastated piece of metal that was clearly the remains of a Deckdrone. "How could this happen? Light, feel this metal."
Fang picked up a piece of the golden metal that was part of this drone's hip. Walking over to Lightning who was just staring over the decks, she handed it to her as she said, "Metal that is damaged in battle never ends up smooth. There's always some form of jagged edge, some point where you can determine how it was damaged. But this? It's clean, smooth to the touch. Hell if it wasn't for the fact that it was clearly next to remains that I could recognize, I wouldn't even understand how a sphere sized object could practically disintegrate something..."
Lightning took the metal in her hands as she traced her fingers across it, before looking out once more across the deck. "But, clearly this was a half measure. Just looking out at the remains, you can see whatever did this wasn't the entire battle. There are gunshots and other damage strewn about that tell the person that did this wasn't alone. They probably have squad of 5 or so with them."
Fang walked over to the nearest damaged slat that sported a larger spherical hole like she found on the Deckdrone remains. "Even if this was done by a squad, the battle clearly plays out that states whoever did this watched his comrades to a point. He wasn't involved, but something changed and he just decided to that the ship was almost expendable. You can't even use these to get anymore lift..."
Fang ran her hands along the 6 foot diameter holes, whistling as she felt the smooth edge of the metal. She took notice of how almost every single slat on the deck had been damaged, clearly in some manner to slow the ship's progress. But with all this damage, could this ship even be repaired?
Snow meanwhile walked over to the edge of the deck, looking at a specific twinkle caught in the deck panels. Bending over, he picked it up and instantly went still. All energy left him and if Lightning or Fang would have seen his expression, they would easily notice that he seemed devoid of all emotion momentarily before he shook the feeling away. It was a simple earring to most, but Snow recognized the catlike shape that Serah had always worn. It did represent NORA after all, but was something she had gotten. 'She's alive! But how, and why is she here? No, it doesn't matter. Your hero is coming baby and you won't ever leave my side again!'
Looking back over the deck once again, Lightning frowned and turned to Fang, "Clearly though, this 'Primary Target' that was here is not messing around. The deck is barely holding together and the structural integrity has almost certainly passed the point of safety limits. We need to get to the Bridge Accessway quick."
Fang noticed the wind suddenly shift. "Hey, do you feel that? This tub is slowing down and I wouldn't be the least bit surprised if it was because of that 'Primary Target'. We need to move. Light, lead the way to the Bridge Accessway, because I think our time is running out."
Snow turned to his comrades, an excited smile on his face as if he suddenly knew his place in the world. "Yeah Light, lead the way. We got a Primarch to deal with and friends to rescue!"
Lightning looked to her sister's former boyfriend, seemingly unclear of his sudden change in demeanor. The constant, almost degrading stares were still there until recently, but yet he had been almost unnervingly quiet. Like he couldn't figure out what he was doing. What had changed in their stop here...
"Alright, let's get going!"
(Outside the Engine Room)
The door opened with Naruto, Averia, and Serah running out of the Engine Room, with the swarm of newly spawned Heartless going after them. No matter how many Heartless fell, two more hatched in its place. It truly looked as if their luck sucked worse than a gambler who couldn't get his roll at that moment. The engine was shut down, the self destruct was counting down, and unless something changed, everyone was going down with the ship. There was no reason for them to stay in the room to fight a pointless battle.
"Eat this!" Serah yelled, whipping around and firing an explosive trick arrow at the horde.
Instead, the Heartless evaded the attempt on their lives, with the arrow making contact with the engine just as the door to the engine room close. A loud explosion sounded off behind the doors, but it didn't phase the Heartless in the slightest.
Averia's patience was wearing thin with more Heartless cropping up. Channeling her manadrive into Chrono Trigger, she used Fireblitz to launch waves of flames. The fire blades made contact but did little to slow them down.
"Naruto! A little help would be appreciated!" Averia snapped, with the blonde giving her a weird look, "What?!"
"You were the one who wanted all those kills. It's why I'm holding back right now. Considering that you want my help, are you finally sated?" Naruto questioned with a grin.
As he was talking to Averia, Serah used another Trick Arrow to produce a net that slowed down the Heartless.
"No, I'm not! But continuing to beat on these things is getting pointless! So Naruto, if you would be so kind as to provide a little HELP?!" Averia yelled, waving her arms around furiously with steam coming out of her.
"Well, since you ask oh so nicely…" Naruto shrugged and swung his sword at the horde, "Issen Getsuga!"
Quickly adding some holy chakra from his demigod genes at the last second, Naruto fired a huge crescent-shaped dark wave that easily wiped out the Heartless after them. Naruto smirked at their easily destruction, but frowned when something made a dent from behind the door. Not wanting to know what is was, the male and two females ran for it, just as the door to the engine room was blown off its hinges. A hand made of complete darkness with the same scheme of the smaller Heartless from before, reached out and made swiping motions.
"A Darkside?! Here?!" Kaguya yelled, and furiously scratched her head in frustration, "The Darkness in the hearts of this Fantasy's inhabitants gave birth to that thing. Is this world even worth saving?!"
"Still, a Darkside doesn't just simply appear. There has to be something more to this." Kagura suggested in a thinking pose, "Maybe this is what Chaos is aiming for. Since the Heartless is related to Kairi and her keyblade, could that Organization XIII Kairi talked about be involved?"
"We'll get her two cents once we get out of this!" Naruto interrupted them before finding themselves outside on the upper deck of the ship, where the wind was pretty strong.
They also found the Search and Rescue team: Tifa, Aya, Yuna, and Lebreau, who were fending off their own horde of Heartless that was circling down in the sky like a snake.
"Girls!" Naruto yelled out as the Heartless Swarm bore down on them.
"I don't think so!" Tifa yelled out. She jumped towards the swarm and delivered a barrage of punches and kicks, "Watch closely as I break my limit!" This time you will see…" she declared as she cocked her fist back, "My FINAL...HEAVEN!"
Letting out a battle cry, the White Materia shined through her arm as she punched through the horde. With the power of Tifa's Limit Break supported by the White Materia, the Heartless couldn't handle it's holy power, making them explode and unable to replace themselves.
"Feels like you're flying, doesn't it?" Tifa mused as she started to descend back to the ship. The wind tried to knock her off course, but she used her Wind Materia to counter that, and also used it to float back to the ground.
"I have to say, that was really impressive. It reminds me of my godmother's punches, augmented by her Super Strength." Naruto praised, as he saw potential in Tifa's growth and evolution.
"Thanks." Tifa said, and noted that while he was praising her, he didn't even took a quick glance at her chest.
"Holy crap. Now I gotta see a competition between her and Snow as it who has the best finishing punch. Her's was more impressive than his." Averia gushed as she imagined the outcome.
With Snow's broken fingers.
"We were following Kairi's trail, but we were lead here by the Heartless. Yes, all of us of Aurora's Familia knows what Heartless are, as we helped Kairi combat them from time to time." Aya reported as the remains of the Heartless disintegrated, "Considering the populous...and the poll numbers that news station talked about supporting the Purges, I am not surprised they're here."
"What are these Heartless?" Lebreau asked, but Yuna shook her head, and made hand signs.
"Yuna-chan's right. We don't have time to explain, but we will after this mission." Naruto stated sternly and snapped his fingers, "Now let's continue on. Something tells me that-"
"Uh, guys? What are those?" Serah asked, pointing behind them, "I don't think they're Cie'th…"
The other turned around, with the veteran members of Aurora's Familia paling so badly their skin turned ghostly white.
Crystalline constructs trekked their way towards them, each looking different, yet familiar in a sense.
"Great, more interference. When will it end?" Naruto growled, but sensed the girls' heightened negative emotions from the constant tension. He looked to see Tifa, Yuna, and Aya shaking badly at their new opponents, "Judging by your emotions, they're even worse than the Heartless, right?"
"...Manikins…" Tifa breathed out, "Lifeless pawns used primary by Chaos. Cosmos used to use them, but did away with them. They're dangerous…because…"
"If they defeat us, it's game over. If any Warriors of Chaos, Cosmos, and Aurora gets killed by a manikins, their stop will be stopped, and their watch as a warrior of their god will be over…" Aya stated, pointing her firearms at them, "Aurora said this about how they take us out: 'Those who meet with death in the midst of stopped time do not have a means to continue. They are stuck in the moment of death forever.'"
"How horrible…" Serah said, taking a step back as her hand shook.
"If that's the case…" Naruto decided as he flared his Bijuu Cloak, and put his hand out, "I will protect you all from that fate. As long as I'm here, your place as part of Aurora's Familia will never be over. I promise here and now, I will protect all of you!"
'Naruto!' the girls' thought as one, with heat rising within them.
"Now, come at me, you fucking puppets!" Naruto shouted and lashed out with Tensa Zangetsu, "Welcome to die!"
(Bridge Accessway)
Lightning and company had joyous flight on the back of a Garuda Interceptor that Lightning picked off with a shot from her Enkindler Gunblade after they battled a pair of Kalavinka Striker Biomechs... The plan was not something that worked well, as the injured Biomech barely managed to get them to the Bridge Accessway.
"Lightning, I swear on the name of the God Bhunivelze, if you ever make me do something like that again I will rise from the dead, kill you, and all you hold dear..." Snow growled out, as he picked himself up from the 50 foot fall off the biomech as it wasn't holding up well before their crash.
"Don't be a wuss Snow. From what I understand, you've taken falls like that time after time and gotten up with no trouble. Besides, this puts us on a straight walk down to the Operations Center." Lightning said in a condescending tone, clearly not happy with the statement that he would harm any of her remaining family. Averia was all she had left, even if Lightning was soon to be a Cie'th and wouldn't get the chance to see her again, you don't threaten another's loved ones...
Fang looked at Snow and shook her head before turning to Lightning, "This takes us to Dysley? But we still haven't found Vanille. Do you think the prisoners will be there?"
The Gran Pulsian wasn't too worried about her own chances at becoming a C'eith, as she was the former host of the Ragnarok beast and when they were removed from Crystal Stasis her own brand was stuck in a frozen state. However Vanille's brand wasn't frozen and therefore the clock was ticking. This left Fang somewhat distressed, as the there was no telling when any of them could be turned.
"The chances are good, but we may end up in trouble. Still, we aren't the only intruders on this airship, so who knows what the other group is doing. They might be after the prisoners as well for all we know?" Lightning said, clearly at a loss as to what the goals of the other intruders was. However, there was too much on the line for the eldest Farron sibling and she needed to remove the Sanctum from the seat of power. Humanity needed to take control from the fal'Cie, that much she could agree with Raines about. If that meant making her comrades rely on rescue from someone whose motives she had no idea on, well at least someone can take her place should she fall...
Snow rubbed his wrist as he ignored the his fiancee's sister. There was no need to worry about the prisoners and the bitch would either learn her place or pay the piper... She wasn't worth the words, not when Serah was here. Walking to the nearest console, Snow looked at it before Lightning came to his side and showed him how to operate the bridges.
Before they could do anything however, the group of three l'Cie heard a door exploding behind them. Reading their weapons, the group prepared for what they believed was a group of more PSICOM troops preventing them from going to their destination. They were completely shocked when a group of three shadows appeared in the smoke...
"See, I told you we would find them here."
Lightning didn't recognize the voice, but it belonged to a female. As the voice trailed off, one of the shadows came rushing through the smoke leaving the former Guardian Corps member a choice of attacking or doing nothing. As she was about to swing her gunblade, a shout rung through the corridor.
"Fang!" Vanille rushed towards her lifelong companion, tears streaming down her face after the 10 days of separation they had. It had been a trying experience for Vanille since Fang left her behind at the Euride Gorge Power Plant, but they were finally together again.
"Vanille?" Fang looked flabbergasted at the sudden surprise. But she immediately composed herself and ran straight into the girls open arms, picking her and giving her a twirl. As she let her down, she was once again caught off guard by the sudden kiss that Vanille gave her...
As their lips parted, Vanille took a tone and a fierce look that Fang hadn't heard nor seen before, "Never leave again! Don't you ever leave me behind again Fang!" Vanille ranted, a sudden bout of anger welling up inside her, "We're supposed to be partners! You don't send your partner off with the intent to sacrifice yourself. If I lost you..."
Fang didn't know what to say to that. It wasn't something she had thought about at the time, but yet made sense to the temporally displaced pair. As she was pondering this, she took notice of the pair that came with Vanille. One was the man who was at Euride with his son, Sazh if she remembered right from Lightning's comments on the Lindblum. The other however she didn't recognize at all.
She wasn't the only one who had taken notice of the girl though. Lightning had taken a scrutinous eye over the redhead, but Fang was noticing Snow's action more than anything. The man was walking over to her, his hand raised to his chin as he was quite plainly ogling the girl who barely even looked to be out of her teenaged years...
Snow walked around the girl, a perverted gleam in his eye as he checked out her shapely ass, long toned legs, and short build that left him towering over the girl. "Well, well, well. What do we have here? You are a fantastic specimen, you know that? What say after we kill the Primarch, I take you and we get a drink... I know a great little dive bar that caters to anyone."
"Geh! Way to make a first impression, Villers-san. I feel more violated in your presence then I ever did with Marluxia... Claire-san, can you please help me?" The girl said, turning her head directly to the eldest Farron, which both pulled her out of her shock and also had her wondering how this girl knew who she really was.
"Snow! Can't you see she is barely even out of school? Don't you have any standards..." Lightning said, as she too felt reviled by the actions her fellow l'Cie had taken. But more important than that, "And as for you, how do you know that name? Just who are you?"
"Oh yeah, you wouldn't have any idea, huh?" The redheaded girl tilted her head slightly, before she continued, bowing in respect, "My name is Kairi Hikaru of the CCMG, the Cataclysmic Celestial Maelstrom Guardians. I spent some time with your sister Averia before I was captured with Vanille in Palumpolum. She spoke quite highly of your ability to judge another's character, as well as how you sometimes judge others without taking their side of the story into question. That is something you should probably work on you know. Family is sometimes the only ones you can ever count on."
"The Cataclysmic Celestial Maelstrom Guardians?" Snow repeated, looking stuck betwwen being dumbfounded and laughing, "What kind of team name is that?"
"Averia, huh? That explains why you'd know, she always did have loose lips. But if you were captured in Palumpolum, then you must be the reason why the other group of intruders is here?" Lightning asked, fishing for information on the motive of the 'Primary Target'.
Kairi saw right through Lightning's question, but also saw no reason deny it, so she nodded her head in confirmation. "Yes I'd imagine Naruto-kun is here for me, but his aims are beyond just rescuing one of his lovers. He has what you could call a problem with authority like the Sanctum's..."
"Lovers?" Snow's demeanor shifted as Kairi mentioned the word, obviously taking offense to the fact that another man would dare to claim a woman, let alone multiple women when a hero such as himself was present. This girl, like Serah, Lightning, Fang, and all the rest were his by right. Surely the great Bhunivelze granted him this phenomenal power to take what should rightfully belong to him.
Fang nodded her head, gaining Kairi's attention, "Kairi, right? You said this Naruto fella is here for ya, so where is he? We past the place where he entered the ship, and it looked like nothing I've ever seen before. If he's here for you, why isn't he here?"
"Oh Fang, you don't need to worry about Naruto-kun. He probably just got lost on the road of life or something. If we were really in trouble, he said he'd always be there in a flash..." Vanille stated, which caught the ravenette off guard yet again.
"Vanille?" Fang looked at her friend, her lover with an appraising eye. She never spoke with such familiarity about a man, but the fact that she did meant that whoever Naruto was he was certainly someone of strong moral quality. Vanille could find the good in anyone, however that didn't mean she would hold them in high regard.
"Naruto-kun will be with us soon, he's likely just clearly up some loose ends-" Kairi said, suddenly overcome by an anxious feeling in her body. "I sense something... A Presence I have not felt since..."
"Kairi-chan?" Vanille noticed how she stiffened out of the blue. Having spent time with Aurora's Familia, she understood this was not a normal action the girl took. There was an underlying panic in her voice...
"Oh no! We need to hurry to Dysley!" The redhead suddenly rushed over to the console to lower the bridge, quickly pushing buttons.
Lightning took note of the girl's sudden change in character. Deciding there wasn't much point in denying this idea, she agreed. But this girl would definitely need to be watched. Turning her head to Fang, she nodded ever so slightly and was pleased Fang was following her line of thought.
Following the girl as they speed down bridge after bridge Lightning asked, "Kairi! Did Naruto come alone to save you?"
"There's no time! If we don't hurry everyone board may die!"
Fang slashed down a PSICOM Reaver that tried to get in their way as she followed behind Vanille and her redheaded friend. The way she spoke bothered the Pulsian, but there wasn't much to be done in enemy territory.
Sazh suddenly shot out at Thermadon, which was followed up by a crushing blow from Snow. "There's no use in asking her anything she doesn't want to answer. She'll deflect anything you ask, so it's best to keep pushing to Dysley if that's what she wants..."
Lightning frowned at Sazh's comment but given that he was a prisoner with her, he likely knew what he was talking about. She shot down a PSICOM Dragoon that was swooping in at Vanille, which was followed quickly by Fang running through him with her Calamity Spear. The blood that gushed out unknowingly splattered all over Kairi's back, something the girl took no notice of.
Kairi's focus was solely on getting to Dysley, the possible fal'Cie in hiding. She could feel the Darkness, Naruto's own power flowing into her from his special kunai seemed to be enhancing her own powers as a Princess of Light. She slashed through three PSICOM Huntresses in quick succession, all that the others could see was flashes of light as her arm moved. Thirty feet left, twenty, ten... They needed to get to the Operations Center.
"Well, we're here..." Snow proceeded to to punch the solid metal door open yelling, "All successful revolutions are the kicking in of a rotten door! Argh...!", he suddenly grabbed his hand as it was overcome with pain.
"Next time instead of punching the door, you'll press a button, ok?" Kairi said, taking no pity on the perverted idiot.
(Operations Center)
-moments before-
"Ma'am, reports coming in that the engine's been shut down!" Operator #1 reported.
"Shut down? Don't you mean destroyed since the intruders breached the Engine Room?" Jihl corrected the operator, but the latter shook his head.
"Negative, Colonel! The engine's been shut down remotely! We are no idea where or how it happened!" the operated stated, much to Jihl's confusion.
"Our remaining cameras are also showing the Primary Target and the squadron with him engaging multiple unknowns outside the Engine Room." Operator #2, reported, causing Jihl to round on her.
"Engaging unknowns? You mean there are more intruders than the l'Cie and the Primary Target? That can't be! Our scanners would've pick them up!" Jihl retorted, but the second operator shook her head.
"I'm sorry Colonel, but these unknowns came out of nowhere! And not just that, but these unknown are clearly not human!" the operator protested, showing Jihl the images she managed to retrieve before the cameras was disabled.
"What...are those things?! These crystal soldiers, are they Cie'th?" Jihl wondered as she examined the images closely, "I never seen anything like them in the Cie'th Bestiary. And those dark creatures…They can't be of this world!"
"This is truly fascinating. To think that this glorious flagship, the Palamecia, would be so popular..." Dysley mused, with a knowing grin on his face.
"What are you saying?! Now is not the time to joke around, your Eminence! The Palamecia's been compromised!" Jihl said with strained respect in her voice, "We need to evacuate you now before the fighting spills here!"
"True, but I will not. I thought you agreed with me that a leader like myself should stand at the forefront, should I not?" Dysley stated, speaking to Jihl as if she was a child.
"Yes, but there are too many variables that threaten your safety on this ship. We need to get you to an escape pod, immediately!" Jihl shot back as she made her way to the Primarch, "If you fall, all of Cocoon will erupt in chaos!"
"I appreciate your devotion to the citizen's and my own safety, but I have a feeling that you're too late." Dysley said before turning his attention to the the entrance to the Operations Room.
"All successful revolutions are the kicking in of a rotten door! Argh…!"
Jihl noticed the l'Cie who said that suddenly fell in pain, before noticing the prisoner who was associated with the Primary target say, "Next time instead of punching the door, you'll press a button, ok?"
The door leading into the Operations Room exploded off it's hinges, and in stormed Lightning, Fang, Sazh, Vanille, and Kairi, lead by Snow who was now on his knees in pain.
When Kairi entered the room, the comment to Snow was made in pure recognition of basic common sense. However she was then immediately overwhelmed power a foreign power the likes of which she hadn't felt many times. Looking towards the source, she recognized Dysley from this world's Holo-News.
He was not human.
"You! You must be Dysley! The one who is sowing discord into this world." Kairi accused the Primarch as she summoned her Destiny's Embrace Keyblade and pointed it at him, "I would ask you to stop, but that would be an exercise in futility."
"Kairi Hikaru. It would seem that my basic training hadn't broken you. Regardless, you will show him respect, or pay the price." Jihl said chillingly, with Kairi being unfazed.
"I've been threatened by the worst of the worst." Kairi shot back, as all of the Warriors of Chaos came to mind, "You don't scared me, Miss Nabaat!"
"Oh my. You are a feisty child, aren't you?" Dysley praised in amusement.
"She's the least of your worries." Sazh suddenly said, and pointed his pistol at Jihl, "I've been looking for you, Nabaat! Give Dajh back to me!"
Jihl growled at him for his insolence. While she would like nothing more than to return the child back to his father, she had a role to play, or else everyone would be in danger. Plus, the fact that Dysley was calm despite the situation at hand was putting her on edge.
"Hah! With your son encased in a Crystal stasis? It'll only court your despair." Jihl said, jumping down to the ground and facing the l'Cie, "Here's my counter-offer. Surrender now, and I promise your execution will be a private affair instead of the usual messy spectacle."
"I'm surprised you of all people are offering that, Jihl. Especially when you know me." Lightning said, readying her Enkindler, "I'll never surrender. So you can kindly take that offer and shove it."
"And here I was being civil. I thought you knew well, Claire…" Jihl sighed and pulled out her rapier, "Your Eminence, please escape. I'll cover your retreat."
"Miss Nabaat, don't do this!" Kairi said, and pointed at Dysley, "It's Dysley you want! He's orchestrated this whole mess that is affecting your world! He deceiving all of Cocoon with his lies!"
'Your world? My girl, aren't you the interesting one...' Dysley thought, 'Then again, it's something to expect from a Keyblader. You have interesting taste, Aurora…'
"My, such slander, and with nothing to back up your claim!" Jihl countered and rushed at Kairi, but was blocked by Lightning, "My former student…"
"Maybe you should listen to the girl. After all, Dysley's influence has got everyone drunk on the fear of even a few Pulse l'Cie instead of a whole army of them. Does that seem natural to you?" Lightning demanded and pushed her former C.O. back, "I thought you were smarter than this, Jihl!"
Jihl opened her mouth to respond, but her excuse died in her mouth immediately. She couldn't find a reason to defend how a few l'Cie would cause panic to the entirely of Cocoon. In fact, how can they cause so much damage in the first place? Suddenly, playing the role of a good little soldier was becoming less appealing to fool the entirely of the Sanctum. After all, in her mind, none of the whole propaganda of Pulse l'Cie being the enemy of Cocoon was sitting right with her. In fact, it never did at all.
"Having doubts now, my child? When why don't you leave Jihl, or rather take your leave." Dysley commanded, tapping his staff, "After all, humans have no business here."
"What?" Jihl was confused at Dysley's sudden wording, and turned to face him, "Your Eminence-?"
Instead of the warm gaze and amusement he usually looking at her, all she saw was a cold deathly expression on his face. Worse, she saw him casting a beam of lethal magic that was shooting in her direction.
It was then that Kairi remembered something very important: Serah's first vision.
"Claire!" Serah screamed, shooting up from Averia's lap.
"Calm down little sis, remember where you are. We're at the safehouse remember? Claire isn't even with us. What happened though, you've never had a seizure before..." Averia said as she guided Serah's head back on her lap.
"I don't know, Averia. But it was awful. It felt like I was right there, Claire and the others were confronting Primarch Dysley, who then went on to kill a woman named Jihl, after which he said was a Fal'Cie, and Cocoon was nothing more than a tool used to keep humans as slaves..."
"Well, now we have our target." Aya said with certainty as she whipped out her notebook out of nowhere to jot down what was said, a habit she picked up from her days as a police officer and a federal agent.
"JIHL!" Kairi screamed out, and with a burst of unknown energy concentrated in her legs, she rushed towards a now horrified Jihl, who was watching her death approaching.
As Kairi shot herself forward, her clothes modified and altered itself against her will. They turned white and black, her tanktop beneath her clothes turned black and became a corset, detached sleeves with zippers from her arms appeared, her vest becoming a long sleeveless corset as well with two coattails extending to her feet, and boots with black string tied around her ankles.
In a streak of silver, Kairi quickly tackled Jihl and rolled away, completely missing the lethal Ruin spell.
"Jihl!" Lightning cried out and ran to her aid, much to Sazh, Fang, and Snow's confusion.
"Wha-What?" Jihl stuttered in shock from under Kairi, whose face was buried in her bosom, "That...Was that-?"
Snow saw Kairi's burst of speed and was astonished at her ability. Before he could make any comment, all will left him, his body relaxed as he gathered magic, and his eyes gain a glassy tint...
"Magic?" Sazh completed her question for her, just as shocked as the others were.
Except for Kairi, whose mind was still on Serah's vision, and what came after. Without warning, Kairi spang up and threw her keyblade at Snow. Vanille was shocked, until she also remembered Serah's vision. Turning her attention to Snow, who was getting awfully close to Lightning, her eyes widened when she saw an icy dagger in Snow's hand.
Serah continued, shaking her head, "But that wasn't even the worst of it. After that he went on to try and kill Claire, Snow stepped up and stabbed her in the back with the other woman's sword!"
"Woah!" Snow yelled, jumping away from Lightning as he dodged the spinning keyblade, "Hey, what's the big deal? You nearly took my head off-!"
"Just stay back!" Vanille ordered, pointing her Binding Rod at him.
Before Snow could respond, he found Fang's Calamity Spear at his neck. The look on her face told him that whether excuse he had, she wasn't going to buy it.
"And just what the are ya doing in a situation like this, eh? Doesn't look like the actions of a hero to me." Fang snarled, pressing her spear against his neck enough to draw blood. Unnoticed to the ravenette, Snow's eyes regained the luster they normally held.
"No!" Kairi suddenly screamed as her attire returned to normal.
As this was happening, Dysley floated up, and unleashed a magical barrage that killed the shocked operators in the room. He then aimed his spells at the ceiling, destroying it. Amazingly, the air squall didn't enter the Operations Room and blew them outside.
"You monster! How could you do that to them?! " Kairi shouted at the Primarch, who floated down to the group's level, "Humans are not yours to use!"
"What else does one do with tools? Cocoon was built as a factory. A factory for thralls, human thralls for the sole use of serving fal'Cie. You are merely tools that can't even breath without our help. If it suits our needs, every single one of you lowly beings would die." Dysley said, showing his true colors.
"But if that is the case, then what purpose do l'Cie serve? Why do you need my son?" Sazh asked, confused at this statement.
"You will know soon enough. All you need to do now is die." Dysley said as he pointed his staff at Lightning and Kairi, who were the closest.
"Not on my watch, Dysley! Valor Mode!" Kairi shouted, her clothes turning red as he charged at him, "Fatal Mode: Critical Impact!"
Switching to Valor Mode and her Oathkeeper and Oblivion, Kairi leapt at Dysley, charging energy into her Keyblade. Dysley smirked and raised his staff to block Kairi's attack. When Kairi slammed her Keyblade down, Dysley used a powerful Barrier spell, repelling the Keyblader back. Kairi gritted her teeth and backflipped to land on her two feet.
"Why would you help these mere humans who can't do anything by themselves? Without our help, death is all of which they're capable. I'm sure you saw the fools. A mindless mob drunk on fear of a few l'Cie…" Dysley said, waving his towards the group.
"Yet the only reason everyone is afraid of l'Cie is because you've brainwashed them into believing Pulse l'Cie are the enemy."
Everyone turned towards the voice, as the new came from the entrance way. There were two individuals that Lightning's group didn't recognize, but Kairi did.
"Tifa-san! Aya-san!" Kairi cried out in relief as her fellow teammate walked into the room, with Tifa being the one speaking.
"Glad you're safe, Kairi-chan." Tifa said warmly, and let her eyes wander over the ones now opposing Dysley; ignoring Snow's wolf-whistling.
'Wow! Forget the little redheaded shrimp! This one's a real beauty!' he thought, appreciating the bouncing of her assets as she talked.
Tifa, who developed a sense of someone perving on her, gave Snow the stink eye. From the ones she looked out, she figured that the one ogling her was Snow. Her guessed was then proven when Fang returned to neutralizing Snow when the end of her spear at his neck.
"Same here. As for you, Dysley…" Aya continued Tifa's logic, "If the logic of your argument that humans are assholes and can't be trusted relies on the situation that you personally created, then that's sophism, plain and simple."
"Ah, the Warriors of Aurora. How nice of you to join us." Dysley greeted, with Jihl looking surprised.
"You! You knew about them?!" Jihl demanded, pointing at Tifa and Aya, who were both being ogled by Snow who escaped from Fang's weapon.
"Of course I've known about them." Dysley said as if it was obvious, "Just as I've known about your true personality, and the real reason for your actions. There is a difference between cruelty and benevolence."
'Damn…' Jihl thought to herself, wondering how she slipped up, "Tch…"
Lightning looked at Jihl, who was silently fuming at being caught, 'Jihl, were you…trying to help us?'
"And how that I know that you're the Outsiders that Chaos warned me about," Dysley stated, much to the surprise of Kairi, Tifa, and Aya, "I see no reason to hold back my own cavalry any longer…"
With that, Dysley tapped his staff onto the ground. The same Darkness that Kairi felt outside the Operations Room intensified as Giga Shadow Heartless and Commander Heartless popped out from the ground. At the same time, several Manikins appeared out of thin air, oddly taking the same shape as Dysley, much to his curiosity.
"Fascinating." he muttered, stroking his chin and wondered why the Manikins took his form instead of the usurpers in front of them. It should prove to be an interesting experiment when he finally show them his true nature.
"What the hell, Primarch!" Jihl shrieked, "There things were outside the Engine Room! You were control them this whole time?!"
"Judging by those Manikins, you became one of Chaos' lackeys, and saved them especially for us. What I want to know is how you are controlling those Heartless as well?" Tifa demanded, walking in front of Lightning and Kairi, "You're playing a dangerous game here, Dysley."
"Just as you are. Outsiders have no business interfering in this world's affairs." Dysley said before nodding his head at his mini-army, "Take them."
The Heartless and Manikins charged at the group, with Tifa, Aya, and Kairi ready to fight them off. Tifa punched a manikin away before unleashed lightning kicks at the Heartless who kept on her. They were knocked away, and were immediately destroyed by Kairi's dual Keyblades like the rest of the Heartless around her. Kairi was then surrounded by mankins that were quickly dispatched with headshots by Aya. She was flanked by a manikin and a Soldier Heartless, but Vanille jumped in, reeled them in, and throw them away from her.
One of the manikin got close to Aya's blind spot, but was slashed down by Lightning. Aya was honestly surprised that the former Guardian Corps officer defended her, someone she didn't know. Out of the corner of her eye, she saw Fang quickly taking out the ones who were hooked by Vanille. Sazh was staying back with helping take out the enemy from afar. While Tifa took out the Heartless near her with precision, while Snow on the other hand threw wild haymakers that sent the Heartless and manikins flying everyone.
Another wave of manikins and Heartless beared down on them until they were evaporated by an Energy Ray out of nowhere. A loud roared sounded above, making everyone look up to see Valefor descending towards them.
"What the hell is that?!" Sazh yelled, cleared freaked out at the monster about to land.
"An Eidolon?!" Fang questioned before looking closely, "The same, yet not…"
"It's because that Summon in an Aeon, the first summon of our teammate, Yuna." Aya explained as Valefor landed, with two people jumped off the winged summon's back.
Yuna and Lebreau, the latter who fell flat on her ass as Valefor returned to her realm.
"Gah! I don't think I'm going to get used to that…" Lebreau groaned, standing up and rubbing her bum.
Yuna simply shrug with a smile on her face. She then switched her Dressphere from Summoner to Gunner to use her dual pistols like Aya.
"Lebreau?! What are doing here?!" Snow demanded, moving to embrace his, in his mind, NORA-teammate, but Fang kept him back.
"Saving you guys, which unfortunately includes your sorry ass!" Lebreau snapped, and shot an incoming Heartless, "Sounds like you retrieve a bit of brain damage while we were gone too. So let me remind you: You were ousted from NORA!"
"Ousted from NORA?" Lightning repeated, looking from Lebreau to Snow, "You mean you threw Snow out of your little group?"
"That's not true-!" Snow try to say, but dodged a bullet from Lebreau.
"Oh but it is true. He was looking to take over Eden. He thought it would help Serah with her Focus. Sadly, he didn't take the fal'Cie running things into account." Lebreau said, failing to notice a Giga Shadow Heartless leaping to claw her eyes out.
"The fal'Cie would be the least of his problems. The legion of soldiers and mech troopers would ensure you not getting far." Jihl stated before adding, "I doubt I would be in command of them after this…"
"Jihl, watch out!" Lightning suddenly shouted, as Dysley unleashed a barrage of Ruin spells at the group.
The others managed to dodged out of the way, except for Jihl, who didn't see them coming until the last second. Before she could react, a chain of blades wrapped around her waist and pulled her back to avoid the spell. As she flew back, she saw Lightning's sister, Averia, rushed past her while recalling the blades of her Chrono Trigger.
"Averia!" Lightning called out, with Averia flashing her a mean grin.
"Hey Light, mind if I cut in?" Averia asked excitedly.
Letting out a battle cry, Averia stabbed her Chrono Trigger into the ground. The blade dug through the floor before popping out of the ground like a burrow snake, slicing through Dysley's legion of monsters.
Before Jihl could crash to the ground, she was caught by a Chakra Arm and gently lowered to the ground.
"I see you all started the party without me!" Naruto mused before swinging his sword, "You better move! Getsuga Tensho!"
Jihl recognized him in an instant. The Primary Target, who wiped out the Purge Squadron in Lake Bresha, and the suspected killer of Carbuncle. Now that she was close to him, he was pretty easy on the eyes, despite the Golden Cloak enveloping his body. Not only that, but she felt safe due to the energy radiating off his form.
The rest of his Familia moved the others out of the way as Naruto unleashed a surge of energy that wiped out the remaining Heartless and manikins.
"That's him?! The guy who's causing the Sanctum's panties to be twisted in a knot? By the Maker, no wonder!" Fang breathed out, looking at the spot where the Heartless and manikins were, before looking at Naruto.
"Holy crap! Do you have to show off, buddy?" Averia shouted, shaking at fist at the blonde.
"Don't pretend you didn't enjoy that, Averia-chan." Naruto said, drawing tickmarks from her.
"So, you're Aurora's newest Champion? I have to admit, your power is…intimidating…" Dysley said, frowning at the power that appeared to be a threat to his very being.
"And I suppose that you're the fal'Cie in charge, super pope?" Naruto countered before giving a small bow, "Naruto Uzumaki, pleased to beat you."
"What?! A fal'Cie?! That can't be!" Jihl said, mirroring Lightning's, Snow's, Fang's, and Sazh's shock, "Isn't he a l'Cie?"
"Well, his comment earlier did give that fact away clearly." Kairi knowingly pointed out, "Remember that he called humans lowly beings."
Dysley clearly looked insulted at being compared to a mere, faulty l'Cie. Twice the insolent child has been saved from his wrath. It was her fate to die, and he was damn sure he would send her to Etro.
"You may want to get behind me, Jihl." Naruto said, sensing Dysley's killing intent towards her, "You're a loose end he really wants dead."
Meanwhile, Snow's eyes glazed over once again, and while Fang's attention was still cast on the recently outed fal'Cie, he grabbed her spear from her hands. Using the momentum of her now faulty balance, the blonde l'Cie shoved his Enfrost powered fist straight into her gut.
Fang was down, but the action was caught easily by Naruto's Negative Emotion Sensing. He used a Chakra Arm to prevent the l'Cie from attempting to kill her and shoved a Rasengan directly into the man. "Still playing with toys, eh Superpope? I guess you really can't do anything yourself huh..."
Naruto's comment got his Familia pushing into action as another wave of Manikins and Heartless flooded the Operations Center. As the girls went on fodder duty, Aurora's Champion went straight at the fal'Cie, intent on engaging him directly.
However Snow wasn't done from the energy based attack he just took. Shrugging himself off, he noticed once again that Lightning had her back to him. Better still, this time nobody seemed to take notice of her apparent weak cover. Forming a blade of ice on his hand that reached straight out, he sped forward with a burst unlike anything he had ever had before and ran the woman through. His attack was clean, his arm dyed a bright crimson of fresh blood, he watched as the woman fell...
Only to fade away.
There was a flash of light as Lightning reappeared in the Chakra Arms of Naruto, who was glaring bloody daggers at Snow. But before he and Averia could voice their outrage, two arrows shot out from the entryway. One towards Snow, and the other towards Dysley. The first arrow implanted itself on Snow's shoulder, and the other caught in the hand of Dysley, who frowned at the one who shot such a toy at him.
"You! How did you escape your crystal pri-" Dysley started to say before the arrow exploded.
All attention was turned to the entrance as Serah Farron slid in on her knees, and shot another explosive arrow that knocked Snow away into a wall. She then spun around and readied another arrow in Starseeker's notch, pointing it at where Dysley is.
"Miss me?" Serah asked cheekily, with a wink.
"SERAH?!"
Lightning couldn't believe it. The last time she saw her youngest sister, she was encased in Crystal with no way out. Now there she was, looking as if she was never encased in Crystal. The massive relief Lightning felt in her body, plus being in close proximity of Naruto's power, let her guard down completely. It also caused her to be lightheaded, until Jihl caught her.
"If I had to bet, it's Mr. Naruto that had something to do with your sister's miraculous recovery." Jihl guessed as Serah ran up to them.
"Took you long enough." Naruto chided her, "One would guess that you were staying back on purpose."
Serah stuck out her tongue, "Someone had to shoot that Darkside out of the ship before it continued to cause a problem."
"She does have a point." Kairi said as she and the others gathered around after fodder detail, sans Snow for obvious reason.
Before any questions could be ask on how Serah got free by either Lightning, Sazh, or Jihl; with the former looking to hug Serah, a bright light came from where Dysley was shot. Their attention shifted towards the source as a mechanical owl came from out of nowhere and was absorbed into the light.
What appeared out of the light was a huge machine-like lifeform. It was two stories high, standing on four clawed legs, and a giant metallic face with razor-sharp teeth. It also had winged armor that covered its entire upper body.
"I am fal'Cie. My name is Barthandelus. Voice of the Sanctum, and Lord-Sovereign of the Cocoon fal'Cie. Your kind feared the darkness, so we gave you light. You begged us for the Purge, and did it not comes to pass? Now you spurn our counsel? You must learn your place!"
(Palamecia Upper Deck)
"Oh ho ho ho! This is getting really, really entertaining! Aurora vs. Chaos! Who will win this world?! And do you think Cosmos will get involved? But more importantly, who will survive your onslaught when they win?" a girl with pink hair like Lightning, Averia, and Serah; wearing black gothic clothes squealed with a lollypop in her mouth. She viewed the upcoming battle through some fancy binoculars, before looking at the towering young-looking man next to her.
"It does not matter who. For in the end, I will take what they cherish most, and show them…true despair…" the man said, with his long silver hair blowing in the wind, and his nodachi resting on his shoulder.
The war for the XIII Fantasy continues…
END OF CHAPTER FIVE
-Closing notes
Soul: It's on like a pot a neck bone like Donkey Kong, minna-san! Even when their hero and heroines pass Bart, a fearsome, familiar foe awaits! Muhahahahahahahahaha!
Rixxell: I believe good sir, the term is bait... Because that cliff is evil! Like the kind of evil that makes 104 degrees in the desert appealing. Happy Birthday is in order too, even if this is a tad late. But yes, things are shaping up nicely, no?
Soul: Oh yes indeed, my good sir. And thank you. My birthday was a couple days ago, and I'm 26 now. Jihl is saved, and will possibly join Naruto and Lightning's group. Now I just need to watch the Barthandelus boss fight to put out an awesome fight scene. The big lug go have to do more stuff than just standing around.
Rixxell: You're a good kid you know that? But honestly, playing the game might be easier. Anyway, much to come. More evil, more insane, more stupid... Have we made Snow look stupid yet? Because I'm not happy on that front.
Soul: More like cartoonishly evil like Superman in Injustice 2. If you want my reaction to that, check out my Let's Play video on SoulEmbrace2010 GAMING on Youtube. Now for some good news and bad news. Good news, the next update to Shinigami's Devil Huntsmen will be released next weekend (I hope). The bad news, which is BREAKING NEWS, the folks over at Japan thinks that one Boruto movie isn't enough. There's rumored to be another in the works! Pass the bucket please- BLEGH!
Rixxell: What? Spare me the garbage please Japan, you just announced the new Full Metal Panic: Invisible Victory and made my day! Anyway, this guy will see you next time. Thanks for reading and review please!
Soul: So yeah~. See you all later. Peace out, ja ne, vote on my poll in my profile, and see you in the next update!
…
Released: Sunday, July 2, 2017
