Chapter Nine
Rinoa crossed her arms. Gusts of wind spiraled up from her feet and flew around her body. As the soldiers advanced towards them, Squall and Zell assumed fighting positions.
"Brace yourselves." Rinoa said quietly. "It's gonna get a little windy." The wind increased, and a powerful tornado appeared in the midst of the balcony. It prowled around, picking up Galbadian soldiers, leaving the students and SeeDs behind.
"Tornado Zone!" Rinoa screamed. At this, the wind got stronger, lifting every Galbadian soldier into the air.
"Where do you want them?" Rinoa asked.
"Uh…" Squall said
"How about by the Centra Ruins?" Zell suggested.
"Better. I'll send them back to Galbadia." Rinoa said. Raising her hands, she made shooing motions, sending the tornado with its captives out into the desert.
"Remind me never to tick you off." Squall said, hooking his Gunblade back on his belt.
"Don't mention it." Rinoa said, smiling. The three ran over and started to move the injured back into the Garden.
"What's going on?" Squall asked one student as he helped him in. The boy blinked.
"They just came out of nowhere. Like right out of thin air!"
"How could they do that?" Zell asked, casting Curaga on a badly injured girl.
"The sorceress!" Rinoa thought. The radio crackled to life.
"Squall!" Squall grabbed the radio.
"Nida?"
"You need to go to the front gate now! We're getting creamed down there!" Squall hissed out a breath.
"Did you get in touch with Selphie and Irvine?"
"They're not responding!" Nida answered.
" Keep trying!" Squall said. Shutting off the radio, he turned.
"If we can't get Garden running soon, we don't have a prayer!" He said. Rinoa pursed her lips, got up unnoticed, and ran out of the Quad.
"C'mon. Give me a hand here." Squall said. Zell looked around.
"Where'd Rinoa go?" He asked.
It was extremely drafty down in the MD level. Rinoa shivered as she headed for the control room.
"The machinery Garden uses to move is powered by electricity. Maybe if I could jump-start the generator, we could move again! I'm supposed to be good with thunder magic…" she thought. A loud noise had her whirling around, Shooting Star at the ready. Angelo came out from under a pile of rubble, went up to Rinoa, and whined.
"Angelo!" Rinoa crouched down, stroking the dog behind the ears. "You scared the living daylights out of me!" Angelo whined again, and then stood up. Rinoa smiled.
"You want to go with me, don't you?" She sighed. "Well, alright then. Just don't expect it to be a whole lot of fun."
Irvine walked into the bridge of the Ragarnok.
"That was so much fun!" Selphie sang. Then she frowned. "But something doesn't make sense. The last time I talked to By, the Garden was just about ready to go! No problems anyplace!"
"You're right. That doesn't make sense."
"Nida to Ragarnok, Nida to Ragarnok, Ragarnok come in please!" Selphie and Irvine both started, and then Irvine hit the radio button.
"Nida?"
"Irvine! Oh, thank goodness. I've been trying to get you for ages!"
"What happened?"
"Garden's under attack! We need you back here now!"
"She's not here." Xu told Squall. A medical team rushed by them, heading towards a group of students clustered by the gate.
"We managed to hold them off again, but it won't last long." A distant explosion had all of them whipping around.
"Commander! They're bombing the front gate!"
"Everybody get back!"
"Inside!" Squall bellowed. "Xu, get everybody back inside now!"
"But, they'll…"
"GET INSIDE! LET THEM COME IN!" Squall roared. He turned. "Zell, go get your group! Have them stage an ambush the second those soldiers get inside!"
" Yes sir!" Zell said, saluting and then running off.
The ceiling shook ominously. Rinoa looked up worriedly as another explosion rent the air.
"I don't have a lot of time!" Licking her lips, she looked at the generator in front of her. "If I can't get this thing working, we're doomed!" Closing her eyes, she crossed her arms, the backs of her hands facing each other. The wind picked up as she focused her power.
Julia's eyes narrowed. An image of Rinoa flashed before her eyes, eyes scrunched tight in concentration.
"Hmm…so that's what you're up to." She smiled evilly. "Get the Garden up and running so you can escape."
"What's so funny?" Setzer asked her.
"Nothing. Nothing at all." Julia said. "Go on, little sister. Why don't you show me you have more than enough power to start the Garden and to protect yourself? Hahaha…"
Lighting sparked around Rinoa as she concentrated. It circled around her body, in front of her hands, and stretched out several feet in front of her. As the lighting surrounded her, the lights started to flicker.
Squall looked up as the lights started to dim and fade.
"What's going on?" Xu asked.
"Something must be wrong with the generator!" Zell said. Squall narrowed his eyes.
"No…it's Rinoa! She's down in the MD level!"
"What would she be doing down there?" Zell asked. Squall's eyes widened, and then he ran off.
"Squall!"
"Rinoa's going to use her powers to get Garden moving again!"
"What?"
"Keep the soldiers away from the MD level and the lift!"
"Where are you going?"
"To get Rinoa!"
"Thundaga!!" Rinoa screamed. A bolt of lighting, enhanced by her powers, struck the generator in front of her. Silence reigned, and then the generator started to splutter.
Squall pulled out the case containing the Lion Heart. Moving quickly, he grabbed the weapon and sprinted out of the room.
"Hurry, hurry!" A little voice seemed to scream in his head. As he headed towards the lift, Squall could not shake the feeling that something was about to go horribly wrong.
"What the…" The ground shook beneath his feet, forcing him to grab onto the railing for balance.
"No!" Rinoa moaned. The generator had started to run shortly after the spell had struck it, but then had died. Rinoa had hit it again and again with her most powerful Thunder spells, but it all had the same effect.
"I'm not giving up! Our lives depend on this!" she thought. Light flashed as she struck the generator again with another lighting bolt.
The machine sputtered, and then died again.
Squall dashed into the elevator. Hitting the button for the MD level, he waited impatiently for the doors to close.
"Squall? Squall, where are you?" Squall grabbed the radio.
"Nida! I'm on my way down to the MD level to get Rinoa. How are things up there?"
"Bad. Your plan to ambush them as they got in the front gate worked pretty well, but then after that, it got harder. The majority of our forces are down, and I don't think we can survive another attack."
"Rinoa's trying to use her powers to jump-start the generator."
"Can she even do that?"
"I don't know. But if she pulls it off, get us out of here!"
"Will do." Squall shut off the radio. Reaching into his pocket, he pulled out the remote to detonate the bombs at Lunatic Pandora.
"I'm not going to press this button until absolutely necessary. If we can get the Garden activated, I'll detonate the bombs when we're clear." He thought.
Rinoa bent over, panting.
"This isn't working." She straightened. "I need to do something different!" Narrowing her eyes, she took a deep breath, and reached deep into herself, seeking the raw power that she needed. What she had been doing so far was hitting the generator with controlled bursts of energy. But now, it seemed like she needed a raw blast of power to get the generator running. The danger was, that if she released that kind of energy, she could lose complete control of herself.
"No time to worry about that sort of thing now!" She thought. Her hair flew up as the lightning around her intensified. Then, all of a sudden…
"WHOA! What the heck…" Zell did a double take. A flash of light had just burst out of the side of Balamb Garden. Just as quickly it had appeared, it faded away.
Inside the classroom, Quistis pressed against the window. Behind her, the junior classmen huddled together in groups, fearful.
"What was that?" One girl squeaked.
"Rinoa!" Quistis thought.
Rinoa closed her eyes, one hand on her chest, and the other high into the air. Energy shot up past her, giving the illusion of her standing in a column of light.
"I can feel the electricity running through my body! This is what I need!" The light intensified, turning so bright that it would blind anyone who dared look at it.
"C'mon girl, you can do it! Just a little more…"
Squall ran out of the elevator.
"Ack!" The sudden blast of light had him reeling back, shielding his eyes with his arm. "What the…Rinoa!"
Rinoa opened her eyes. Lifting both hands into the air, she clasped them above her head, drawing in all the light that surrounded her. Then, she brought them down, bending over from the waist as she did so. A powerful strip of lighting appeared out of nowhere, and struck the generator. Almost immediately, the machine started up.
On the bridge, Nida started in shock as the engines kicked in.
"She did it!" Moving over to the control panel, he started pressing buttons.
"Give me five minutes and we're out of this mess!" He said, his hands moving like lighting. He flicked on the radio.
"Nida to Zell and Xu, come in!"
Xu was supervising the construction of a blockade in front of the Cafeteria. As Nida's voice came through on the radio, she grabbed it.
"Nida?"
"Brace yourselves! Garden's mobile again, and we're getting out of here!"
"Oh shoot!" Xu said.
Zell heard the warning as he helped a student into the Infirmary.
"Ohoh. This isn't good!"
"We're moving again?" One SeeD asked.
"Get everybody up against something solid, cuz it's gonna be rough!" Zell said, grabbing onto a rail.
Squall ran into the control room. Rinoa lay on the ground in front of the generator.
"Rinoa! Oh no!" He dropped to his knees beside her, and cradled her head in his arms. "Rinoa?" Rinoa's eyes blinked.
"Ooohh…ow…"
"Are you alright?"
"No…I ache all over."
"Just lie still." Squall said.
"Is the…is the generator running?"
"Yeah. You did it. We can get out of here." Rinoa winced as she tried to sit up. "Hey! Don't move!"
"We have to leave…it's not safe here…" Leaning heavily on Squall, Rinoa slowly got to her feet. Dragging in a shuddering breath, she straightened. Worried, Squall tightened his grip.
"Hang on. We're getting out of here and up to the infirmary."
Outside, Balamb Garden's ring slowly started to move as the engines started up. Heartened by this, the SeeDs and students attacked their enemy with renewed vigor, forcing the Galbadians out and off the Garden.
Julia smiled.
"It's time." She said, turning to Setzer. "Remember our deal."
"Keep the SeeDs distracted while you go after their sorceress." Setzer smiled. "Don't worry, we're got the perfect distraction." Julia smiled again, and then turned away. Inhaling, she lifted her right arm into the air.
A sharp pain exploded in Rinoa's chest. Gasping in shock, she slipped from Squall's hold and fell to her knees on the ground. Squall turned.
"Rinoa?"
"I'm fine…what the!" A column of light shot up, trapping Rinoa in its grip. On her back, her wings appeared, sending feathers flying everywhere. "Squall!"
"Hang on!" Squall tried to grab her, but was sent flying back by an electrical shock. Rinoa's eyes widened as she started to float up into the air.
"Squall, help me!" The light flashed, so brightly that Squall had to cover his eyes. When it faded, Rinoa was gone. "Rinoa!"
In Another World…
"Kiiyaa!" Raine said as she sliced at a Thrustaevis. Behind her, Sabin punched a Geezard, knocking it aside.
"This isn't good!" Celes said. Raine risked a glance down the path.
"I wanna go back and help…but the exam!" she thought.
Squall and Zell ran into the center of the city.
"We need to get the students out of here! It's not safe!" Zell said.
"They're not going to move. To them, this is probably part of the exam!" Squall said.
"The exam ended the second the command center got attacked!" Xu said, running up to them.
"Rinoa?" Squall said.
"She's fine. We got her out of there the second it started. It seems like they're after her!"
"Raine." Zell said. Squall blanched and went pale.
"She's on the mountain path! And they just reported that the enemy's moving up there!" Xu cried. Squall turned and started to run.
"Where are you going?"
"See if you can get her squad on the radio and tell her to take off her bangle!" Squall yelled.
"Blizzaga!" Celes screamed. Several soldiers stopped, frozen solid.
"This is definitely not good!" Sabin said. Tifa backed up against the wall, two soldiers in front of her.
"Eat this!" Her nunchaku flashed. One soldier was knocked into the bushes, the other thrown to the ground.
"Raine, we need to get out of here! They probably need us down in the city!" Sabin grunted, hurling one soldier over his back.
"We can't just leave our posts! What about the exam?" Celes said. Raine bit her lips worriedly. Behind her, a soldier raised his sword.
"Raine, look out!"
"Huh? Ahh!"
BANG. The soldier dropped his sword, grabbing his shoulder. Raine recovered, grabbed her Revolver, and knocked the man unconscious.
"Dad!"
"You alright?" Squall yelled, running forward.
"Yeah!"
"What was that explosion?" Tifa asked.
"The enemy attacked the command center."
"Mom!" Raine said. She grabbed her father. "Is Mom…"
"Your mother's fine. She's at the transport. Which is where all of you need to go!"
"But the exam…"
"The exam's over! It ended the minute we got attacked!"
"What?"
"Get out of here! And Raine, get rid of the bangle!"
"You don't have to tell me twice!" Raine said, yanking the bangle off her arm. Immediately, she felt her power return within her. "C'mon, guys!" Squall watched as they ran down the path to Dollet.
In the present…
Rinoa blinked. One minute she was with Squall, the next minute she was on the Quad.
"What the…" She looked around. "What the heck happened?" Screams had her whirling around.
"HELP!" Not hesitating, Rinoa jumped into the air, wings outstretched. Quickly, she flew over to the source of the screams.
Julia looked on as the CRX719, one of Galbadia's newest machines, let loose a round of bullet fire. The giant robot looked like a crab, but was very deadly. Students scattered as it stomped towards the front gate.
"Come out, come out, wherever you are!" She thought. On her back, a pair of black wings appeared. Floating into the air, she aimed an energy ball and fired it at the front gate. Just as she was about to release another one, a figure caught her eye.
"And here comes little sister to the rescue now." She quickly vanished into thin air as Rinoa came into view.
Rinoa flew over the front gate and landed in front of the monster.
"What the heck…it looks like some giant metal crab!" Her arrival had the CRX719 turning around, focusing its red eye on her. "Ohoh!" She jumped out of the way just in time as a claw stuck the spot where she had been. Turning around, she threw out an arm.
"Thundaga!" A bolt of lighting struck the CRX719, causing it to stumble sideways. As it tried to regroup, Rinoa hit it again with another Thundaga spell.
Squall burst out of the elevator.
"Nida! Where's…"
"She's at the front gate! Some monster appeared out of nowhere and she's fighting it!"
"How long until we can get out of here?"
"15 minutes, tops!" Squall dashed down the stairs.
Rinoa bit her lips. The CRX719 was still storming around, and none of the Thunder spells she had cast had even put a dent in it.
"This isn't working!" Julia reappeared high in the air, looking down on the scene.
"Perfect. I have you right where I want." Tilting her head to the side, her eyes began to glow red as she slowly started to drift downwards.
In Another World…
"Ahhh!!" A searing pain exploded in Rinoa's chest, causing her to lose balance and fall to the floor.
"Commander?" Rinoa couldn't reply. Every breath she took resulted in stabbing pains in her chest. It felt as if claws had been dug into her heart and twisted.
Raine doubled over, and then fell to her hands and knees.
"Raine?" Tifa said.
"I…Mom…I gotta get to Mom!" Sabin and Celes took her both by the arms and helped her up.
"Raine?"
"Something's wrong…we gotta go back now!"
"The beach's not too far now! Just hold on until we get there!" Tifa moved to support Raine, putting an arm around her waist. Fear hit her as she noticed how pale her friend had become.
"Just hold on, Raine!"
In the present…
"Uhh…" Rinoa blinked as she tried to recover. The CRX719 had deflected her last Thunder spell and blown it back at her. The blast had thrown her across the area and into the wall.
"That's going to bruise in the morning…" As she tried to get up, the monster loomed over her. Then, it suddenly flew to the side, and landed on its back.
"Rinoa!" You alright?!" Squall yelled, swinging down Lionheart. As he ran forward, the CRX719 got itself back up.
"Watch out!" Rinoa screamed. As Squall turned, and raised Lionheart to defend himself…
A massive blast of energy came out of nowhere and struck the CRX719, completely vaporizing it. Squall threw himself over Rinoa, shielding her with his body.
"Well, well. Long time no see." Squall and Rinoa pulled apart and looked up. Julia stood in the center, a smug smile on her face and her wings on her back.
"What the…" Squall looked at Rinoa, then at Julia. Both women could pass as identical doubles of the other.
"Hey! You two…what the…" Zell, Quistis and Xu all ran out at the same time, and stopped cold in their tracks. Julia smiled.
"Hello, little sister."
Rinoa crossed her arms. Gusts of wind spiraled up from her feet and flew around her body. As the soldiers advanced towards them, Squall and Zell assumed fighting positions.
"Brace yourselves." Rinoa said quietly. "It's gonna get a little windy." The wind increased, and a powerful tornado appeared in the midst of the balcony. It prowled around, picking up Galbadian soldiers, leaving the students and SeeDs behind.
"Tornado Zone!" Rinoa screamed. At this, the wind got stronger, lifting every Galbadian soldier into the air.
"Where do you want them?" Rinoa asked.
"Uh…" Squall said
"How about by the Centra Ruins?" Zell suggested.
"Better. I'll send them back to Galbadia." Rinoa said. Raising her hands, she made shooing motions, sending the tornado with its captives out into the desert.
"Remind me never to tick you off." Squall said, hooking his Gunblade back on his belt.
"Don't mention it." Rinoa said, smiling. The three ran over and started to move the injured back into the Garden.
"What's going on?" Squall asked one student as he helped him in. The boy blinked.
"They just came out of nowhere. Like right out of thin air!"
"How could they do that?" Zell asked, casting Curaga on a badly injured girl.
"The sorceress!" Rinoa thought. The radio crackled to life.
"Squall!" Squall grabbed the radio.
"Nida?"
"You need to go to the front gate now! We're getting creamed down there!" Squall hissed out a breath.
"Did you get in touch with Selphie and Irvine?"
"They're not responding!" Nida answered.
" Keep trying!" Squall said. Shutting off the radio, he turned.
"If we can't get Garden running soon, we don't have a prayer!" He said. Rinoa pursed her lips, got up unnoticed, and ran out of the Quad.
"C'mon. Give me a hand here." Squall said. Zell looked around.
"Where'd Rinoa go?" He asked.
It was extremely drafty down in the MD level. Rinoa shivered as she headed for the control room.
"The machinery Garden uses to move is powered by electricity. Maybe if I could jump-start the generator, we could move again! I'm supposed to be good with thunder magic…" she thought. A loud noise had her whirling around, Shooting Star at the ready. Angelo came out from under a pile of rubble, went up to Rinoa, and whined.
"Angelo!" Rinoa crouched down, stroking the dog behind the ears. "You scared the living daylights out of me!" Angelo whined again, and then stood up. Rinoa smiled.
"You want to go with me, don't you?" She sighed. "Well, alright then. Just don't expect it to be a whole lot of fun."
Irvine walked into the bridge of the Ragarnok.
"That was so much fun!" Selphie sang. Then she frowned. "But something doesn't make sense. The last time I talked to By, the Garden was just about ready to go! No problems anyplace!"
"You're right. That doesn't make sense."
"Nida to Ragarnok, Nida to Ragarnok, Ragarnok come in please!" Selphie and Irvine both started, and then Irvine hit the radio button.
"Nida?"
"Irvine! Oh, thank goodness. I've been trying to get you for ages!"
"What happened?"
"Garden's under attack! We need you back here now!"
"She's not here." Xu told Squall. A medical team rushed by them, heading towards a group of students clustered by the gate.
"We managed to hold them off again, but it won't last long." A distant explosion had all of them whipping around.
"Commander! They're bombing the front gate!"
"Everybody get back!"
"Inside!" Squall bellowed. "Xu, get everybody back inside now!"
"But, they'll…"
"GET INSIDE! LET THEM COME IN!" Squall roared. He turned. "Zell, go get your group! Have them stage an ambush the second those soldiers get inside!"
" Yes sir!" Zell said, saluting and then running off.
The ceiling shook ominously. Rinoa looked up worriedly as another explosion rent the air.
"I don't have a lot of time!" Licking her lips, she looked at the generator in front of her. "If I can't get this thing working, we're doomed!" Closing her eyes, she crossed her arms, the backs of her hands facing each other. The wind picked up as she focused her power.
Julia's eyes narrowed. An image of Rinoa flashed before her eyes, eyes scrunched tight in concentration.
"Hmm…so that's what you're up to." She smiled evilly. "Get the Garden up and running so you can escape."
"What's so funny?" Setzer asked her.
"Nothing. Nothing at all." Julia said. "Go on, little sister. Why don't you show me you have more than enough power to start the Garden and to protect yourself? Hahaha…"
Lighting sparked around Rinoa as she concentrated. It circled around her body, in front of her hands, and stretched out several feet in front of her. As the lighting surrounded her, the lights started to flicker.
Squall looked up as the lights started to dim and fade.
"What's going on?" Xu asked.
"Something must be wrong with the generator!" Zell said. Squall narrowed his eyes.
"No…it's Rinoa! She's down in the MD level!"
"What would she be doing down there?" Zell asked. Squall's eyes widened, and then he ran off.
"Squall!"
"Rinoa's going to use her powers to get Garden moving again!"
"What?"
"Keep the soldiers away from the MD level and the lift!"
"Where are you going?"
"To get Rinoa!"
"Thundaga!!" Rinoa screamed. A bolt of lighting, enhanced by her powers, struck the generator in front of her. Silence reigned, and then the generator started to splutter.
Squall pulled out the case containing the Lion Heart. Moving quickly, he grabbed the weapon and sprinted out of the room.
"Hurry, hurry!" A little voice seemed to scream in his head. As he headed towards the lift, Squall could not shake the feeling that something was about to go horribly wrong.
"What the…" The ground shook beneath his feet, forcing him to grab onto the railing for balance.
"No!" Rinoa moaned. The generator had started to run shortly after the spell had struck it, but then had died. Rinoa had hit it again and again with her most powerful Thunder spells, but it all had the same effect.
"I'm not giving up! Our lives depend on this!" she thought. Light flashed as she struck the generator again with another lighting bolt.
The machine sputtered, and then died again.
Squall dashed into the elevator. Hitting the button for the MD level, he waited impatiently for the doors to close.
"Squall? Squall, where are you?" Squall grabbed the radio.
"Nida! I'm on my way down to the MD level to get Rinoa. How are things up there?"
"Bad. Your plan to ambush them as they got in the front gate worked pretty well, but then after that, it got harder. The majority of our forces are down, and I don't think we can survive another attack."
"Rinoa's trying to use her powers to jump-start the generator."
"Can she even do that?"
"I don't know. But if she pulls it off, get us out of here!"
"Will do." Squall shut off the radio. Reaching into his pocket, he pulled out the remote to detonate the bombs at Lunatic Pandora.
"I'm not going to press this button until absolutely necessary. If we can get the Garden activated, I'll detonate the bombs when we're clear." He thought.
Rinoa bent over, panting.
"This isn't working." She straightened. "I need to do something different!" Narrowing her eyes, she took a deep breath, and reached deep into herself, seeking the raw power that she needed. What she had been doing so far was hitting the generator with controlled bursts of energy. But now, it seemed like she needed a raw blast of power to get the generator running. The danger was, that if she released that kind of energy, she could lose complete control of herself.
"No time to worry about that sort of thing now!" She thought. Her hair flew up as the lightning around her intensified. Then, all of a sudden…
"WHOA! What the heck…" Zell did a double take. A flash of light had just burst out of the side of Balamb Garden. Just as quickly it had appeared, it faded away.
Inside the classroom, Quistis pressed against the window. Behind her, the junior classmen huddled together in groups, fearful.
"What was that?" One girl squeaked.
"Rinoa!" Quistis thought.
Rinoa closed her eyes, one hand on her chest, and the other high into the air. Energy shot up past her, giving the illusion of her standing in a column of light.
"I can feel the electricity running through my body! This is what I need!" The light intensified, turning so bright that it would blind anyone who dared look at it.
"C'mon girl, you can do it! Just a little more…"
Squall ran out of the elevator.
"Ack!" The sudden blast of light had him reeling back, shielding his eyes with his arm. "What the…Rinoa!"
Rinoa opened her eyes. Lifting both hands into the air, she clasped them above her head, drawing in all the light that surrounded her. Then, she brought them down, bending over from the waist as she did so. A powerful strip of lighting appeared out of nowhere, and struck the generator. Almost immediately, the machine started up.
On the bridge, Nida started in shock as the engines kicked in.
"She did it!" Moving over to the control panel, he started pressing buttons.
"Give me five minutes and we're out of this mess!" He said, his hands moving like lighting. He flicked on the radio.
"Nida to Zell and Xu, come in!"
Xu was supervising the construction of a blockade in front of the Cafeteria. As Nida's voice came through on the radio, she grabbed it.
"Nida?"
"Brace yourselves! Garden's mobile again, and we're getting out of here!"
"Oh shoot!" Xu said.
Zell heard the warning as he helped a student into the Infirmary.
"Ohoh. This isn't good!"
"We're moving again?" One SeeD asked.
"Get everybody up against something solid, cuz it's gonna be rough!" Zell said, grabbing onto a rail.
Squall ran into the control room. Rinoa lay on the ground in front of the generator.
"Rinoa! Oh no!" He dropped to his knees beside her, and cradled her head in his arms. "Rinoa?" Rinoa's eyes blinked.
"Ooohh…ow…"
"Are you alright?"
"No…I ache all over."
"Just lie still." Squall said.
"Is the…is the generator running?"
"Yeah. You did it. We can get out of here." Rinoa winced as she tried to sit up. "Hey! Don't move!"
"We have to leave…it's not safe here…" Leaning heavily on Squall, Rinoa slowly got to her feet. Dragging in a shuddering breath, she straightened. Worried, Squall tightened his grip.
"Hang on. We're getting out of here and up to the infirmary."
Outside, Balamb Garden's ring slowly started to move as the engines started up. Heartened by this, the SeeDs and students attacked their enemy with renewed vigor, forcing the Galbadians out and off the Garden.
Julia smiled.
"It's time." She said, turning to Setzer. "Remember our deal."
"Keep the SeeDs distracted while you go after their sorceress." Setzer smiled. "Don't worry, we're got the perfect distraction." Julia smiled again, and then turned away. Inhaling, she lifted her right arm into the air.
A sharp pain exploded in Rinoa's chest. Gasping in shock, she slipped from Squall's hold and fell to her knees on the ground. Squall turned.
"Rinoa?"
"I'm fine…what the!" A column of light shot up, trapping Rinoa in its grip. On her back, her wings appeared, sending feathers flying everywhere. "Squall!"
"Hang on!" Squall tried to grab her, but was sent flying back by an electrical shock. Rinoa's eyes widened as she started to float up into the air.
"Squall, help me!" The light flashed, so brightly that Squall had to cover his eyes. When it faded, Rinoa was gone. "Rinoa!"
In Another World…
"Kiiyaa!" Raine said as she sliced at a Thrustaevis. Behind her, Sabin punched a Geezard, knocking it aside.
"This isn't good!" Celes said. Raine risked a glance down the path.
"I wanna go back and help…but the exam!" she thought.
Squall and Zell ran into the center of the city.
"We need to get the students out of here! It's not safe!" Zell said.
"They're not going to move. To them, this is probably part of the exam!" Squall said.
"The exam ended the second the command center got attacked!" Xu said, running up to them.
"Rinoa?" Squall said.
"She's fine. We got her out of there the second it started. It seems like they're after her!"
"Raine." Zell said. Squall blanched and went pale.
"She's on the mountain path! And they just reported that the enemy's moving up there!" Xu cried. Squall turned and started to run.
"Where are you going?"
"See if you can get her squad on the radio and tell her to take off her bangle!" Squall yelled.
"Blizzaga!" Celes screamed. Several soldiers stopped, frozen solid.
"This is definitely not good!" Sabin said. Tifa backed up against the wall, two soldiers in front of her.
"Eat this!" Her nunchaku flashed. One soldier was knocked into the bushes, the other thrown to the ground.
"Raine, we need to get out of here! They probably need us down in the city!" Sabin grunted, hurling one soldier over his back.
"We can't just leave our posts! What about the exam?" Celes said. Raine bit her lips worriedly. Behind her, a soldier raised his sword.
"Raine, look out!"
"Huh? Ahh!"
BANG. The soldier dropped his sword, grabbing his shoulder. Raine recovered, grabbed her Revolver, and knocked the man unconscious.
"Dad!"
"You alright?" Squall yelled, running forward.
"Yeah!"
"What was that explosion?" Tifa asked.
"The enemy attacked the command center."
"Mom!" Raine said. She grabbed her father. "Is Mom…"
"Your mother's fine. She's at the transport. Which is where all of you need to go!"
"But the exam…"
"The exam's over! It ended the minute we got attacked!"
"What?"
"Get out of here! And Raine, get rid of the bangle!"
"You don't have to tell me twice!" Raine said, yanking the bangle off her arm. Immediately, she felt her power return within her. "C'mon, guys!" Squall watched as they ran down the path to Dollet.
In the present…
Rinoa blinked. One minute she was with Squall, the next minute she was on the Quad.
"What the…" She looked around. "What the heck happened?" Screams had her whirling around.
"HELP!" Not hesitating, Rinoa jumped into the air, wings outstretched. Quickly, she flew over to the source of the screams.
Julia looked on as the CRX719, one of Galbadia's newest machines, let loose a round of bullet fire. The giant robot looked like a crab, but was very deadly. Students scattered as it stomped towards the front gate.
"Come out, come out, wherever you are!" She thought. On her back, a pair of black wings appeared. Floating into the air, she aimed an energy ball and fired it at the front gate. Just as she was about to release another one, a figure caught her eye.
"And here comes little sister to the rescue now." She quickly vanished into thin air as Rinoa came into view.
Rinoa flew over the front gate and landed in front of the monster.
"What the heck…it looks like some giant metal crab!" Her arrival had the CRX719 turning around, focusing its red eye on her. "Ohoh!" She jumped out of the way just in time as a claw stuck the spot where she had been. Turning around, she threw out an arm.
"Thundaga!" A bolt of lighting struck the CRX719, causing it to stumble sideways. As it tried to regroup, Rinoa hit it again with another Thundaga spell.
Squall burst out of the elevator.
"Nida! Where's…"
"She's at the front gate! Some monster appeared out of nowhere and she's fighting it!"
"How long until we can get out of here?"
"15 minutes, tops!" Squall dashed down the stairs.
Rinoa bit her lips. The CRX719 was still storming around, and none of the Thunder spells she had cast had even put a dent in it.
"This isn't working!" Julia reappeared high in the air, looking down on the scene.
"Perfect. I have you right where I want." Tilting her head to the side, her eyes began to glow red as she slowly started to drift downwards.
In Another World…
"Ahhh!!" A searing pain exploded in Rinoa's chest, causing her to lose balance and fall to the floor.
"Commander?" Rinoa couldn't reply. Every breath she took resulted in stabbing pains in her chest. It felt as if claws had been dug into her heart and twisted.
Raine doubled over, and then fell to her hands and knees.
"Raine?" Tifa said.
"I…Mom…I gotta get to Mom!" Sabin and Celes took her both by the arms and helped her up.
"Raine?"
"Something's wrong…we gotta go back now!"
"The beach's not too far now! Just hold on until we get there!" Tifa moved to support Raine, putting an arm around her waist. Fear hit her as she noticed how pale her friend had become.
"Just hold on, Raine!"
In the present…
"Uhh…" Rinoa blinked as she tried to recover. The CRX719 had deflected her last Thunder spell and blown it back at her. The blast had thrown her across the area and into the wall.
"That's going to bruise in the morning…" As she tried to get up, the monster loomed over her. Then, it suddenly flew to the side, and landed on its back.
"Rinoa!" You alright?!" Squall yelled, swinging down Lionheart. As he ran forward, the CRX719 got itself back up.
"Watch out!" Rinoa screamed. As Squall turned, and raised Lionheart to defend himself…
A massive blast of energy came out of nowhere and struck the CRX719, completely vaporizing it. Squall threw himself over Rinoa, shielding her with his body.
"Well, well. Long time no see." Squall and Rinoa pulled apart and looked up. Julia stood in the center, a smug smile on her face and her wings on her back.
"What the…" Squall looked at Rinoa, then at Julia. Both women could pass as identical doubles of the other.
"Hey! You two…what the…" Zell, Quistis and Xu all ran out at the same time, and stopped cold in their tracks. Julia smiled.
"Hello, little sister."