CHAPTER 46 – BATTLE OF THE STRONGEST
A/N: As fellow writers, I'm sure many of you know how hard it is to write the final battle. No matter how talented (or untalented… come to think of it…) the writer is, he or she will still try to find a way to improve it, make it one of the very best chapters in the entire story, simply because it is supposed to be the climax, and the highest point in the story. It ranks way up there with the opening paragraph and final sentence in terms of importance. As such, I present to you, my final battle, and hope that it is good enough… for I have rewritten it many parts of it multiple times in hope of making it a better read. Enjoy.
* * * * * * * * * * *
The mist formed by the Underground Creature dust hovered over the fallen Monster's head, and dived into its ear, prolonging the dust's existence by acting as a parasite in the Monster's shell.
A low, guttural growl emitted from the back of the Monster's throat, gradually morphing into a sinister cackle.
It was a sound that sent sick fear through the humans, stopping them right in their tracks as a chill ran down their spines, along with the trickling of cold perspiration. The same fear grabbed their hearts, and pushed it to the bottom of the feet with a loud "plopping" sound.
They could not take their eyes off it, watching in wild-eyed terror as it slowly got up on its feet.
The holes in its body remained, but it behaved as if they were merely mosquito bites, neither healing nor paying any attention to its injuries.
No one made a single move, or said another word. The only sound that could be heard was the heavy breathing of the Monster as it surveyed them with its beady, malevolent eyes.
It exposed its jagged, stained teeth with another one of its cruel grins, saliva oozing out of its opened mouth, dripping into the ocean. The ocean's surface was by then crowded with dead fish that floated on their backs, an indication of the toxic quotient in its saliva.
It lifted its left hand above its head, pushing the palm out in a position that looked as if it was supporting something in the air. A dark-maroon aura-like energy formed around the palm, increasing in size by the second until the radius it spanned was enough to accommodate the entire town of Timber, its citizens, as well as Balamb Garden… and its Monster Battling Squad.
The entire battle field fell into utter darkness, as the meager light of the moon was obscured by a passing of magenta clouds, adding on to the ominous feeling trapped in the very air of the field.
They all knew that if they were to take on this attack, it would spell the very end of their lives, and quite possibly the end of the human race as well. If this Squad, consisting of the elite among one of the finest forces in all of SEI were to be defeated, then it would spell the end of the remaining cities as well, SeeD protection or not.
The Monster stopped gathering energy, satisfied that it was large enough for its intended purpose.
It lowered its arm slightly, pulling its shoulder and arm as far back as physically possible, and beyond a doubt they knew that the Monster would be aiming the attack at them any time now.
Selphie closed her eyes, praying hard that it would miss… a foolish wish that would not come through.
Rinoa stared up at the Monster, racking through her brains for something that would salvage their dire situation… anything that could stop it, but she found her mind to be emptier than Galbadian Garden after the mass massacre of the occupants there.
Squall lifted a trembling hand to his forehead, attempting to cast a Holy Spell, but his legs were akin to putty, hardly holding his weight up. His mouth felt as if it had been stuffed with cotton wool, all gagged up and unable to speak at all.
Irvine raised his Exeter with badly shivering hands, futilely trying to keep it steady. He wanted to squeeze the trigger, but his finger simply refused to yield to his command, even if it was only just pushing it a few centimeters inwards. It was just like the period he had gone through minutes before the assassination attempt on the possessed Sorceress Edea during the Second Sorceress War. Only this time, the stakes were far higher, and at the same time, the pressure had increased proportionately with the stakes.
"Scared now? I'll show you what you get for messing with us AKU creatures!" The Monster gave a huge roar, preparing to hurl the maroon sphere at its victims.
The sphere hurtled towards the powerless SeeDs with meteoric speed, gaining heat and quantum along its path, obliterating every stray grain of dust along its way.
The distance between them and the sphere decreasing with alarming velocity, its ETA was nothing more than a few ticks away…
They could almost feel the hairs on their skin singeing from the scorching flames that had burst up around the sphere.
Just when they thought that their doom was a certain fate they had to face, the skies spilt open, revealing two rays of light that blitzed out towards the sphere like a pair of lasers and diverted it away from its path.
At the same time, another beam shot out towards the monster, bathing it from head to toe in its golden glory.
In their stupefied state, Squall and his Squad had not noticed the one bright spot amidst the night sky approach the Monster with supersonic speed.
They had not even noticed the translucent globes that had broken away from the twin rays, bobbing gently to the ground, and vaporizing in the air, revealing four figures that started walking towards them.
All they had noticed were the two lasers and the golden beam, for if not for them, they would have been sprawled lifelessly upon the ground.
"You guys awright?" One of the four figures said.
Squall thought that the voice sounded familiar, but it still took some time for him to register the identity of its owner in his mind.
He turned towards the source with a mixture of unconcealed gladness and surprise, taking all his resolve not to burst into tears due to the sudden influx of relief that they were unharmed after all.
"Zell!" His friend's name was all he could manage to say, for he was too choked up by the emotions that ran amok in his chest, unwilling to be tamed by his restraint on them.
He had not shown it outwardly, but Rinoa's bad hunch that something had happened to their friends battling up at Angel Land had been preying on him constantly, adding yet another burden to his over-strained mind.
"Looks to me like you're having trouble over here, Squall." Quistis said, going up to them with a certain smirking blond tagging closely behind her.
"In need of my superior assistance, Commander?" His tone was condescending, only to be betrayed by the laughter in his eyes and the corners of his upturned mouth.
"Yeah, like now? Don't bother about us! The Monster! The Monster!" Selphie darted uneasy glances at the subject in question, afraid that it would throw another attack towards them. However, to her astonishment, she found the entire area bathed in blinding light from the three different directions, all of them aimed towards the Monster. It appeared to them that the three beams had merged, covering every inch of space surrounding the Monster.
"Wha…?" Selphie spoke in confusion, unable to determine the source of the light.
"We can't, you see. If we were to so much as step one foot in that area, we'll be barbequed alive as well. It's better that we let them do their stuff." Waterlily said.
"Them? Who're them?" Rinoa asked, itching for the answer. She could have guessed it anyway, but she wanted to confirm her suspicions.
Except for the golden one… now that's a regular mystery alright…
Before any of them could get a word in, they were interrupted by a shrill sound that pierced their ears with its high-pitched decibels.
The Monster screamed in an agonized manner at the top of its lungs as the beams stepped up their potency a few notches, until there was nothing but light, light… and more light. Whenever the SeeDs tried to look away from it, they could still see the dark patches imprinted in their vision as a result of overexposure of the eyeballs to the beams. It was not hard to imagine, then, the pain that the Monster was bearing with under their attack. Its muscles started to swell, bulging out against its cracked skin, which had numerous gashes that exposed the reddish flesh underneath, congealed blood caking the wounds.
"Argh!!!" It screamed again when the blue beam brutally increased its pressure on him, drilling yet more holes in its pitifully scarred body.
However, the golden one had started to falter, coming out in ebbs and tides, until it completely vanished with a faint sputter.
They were finally able to see what it was that had saved them in the nick of time… and hear it as well.
"Hey, Squall, my boy! Are you alright? Papa's come to help!" The President of Esthar's voice boomed out from the flying contraption above them… an airship that resembled a metallic-gold version of the Ragnarok, only it was much larger and had a couple of tube-like metal structures jutting out of its underbelly, evidently outlets for its golden rays.
"I've asked Dr. Odine to modify this airship, enabling his specially-designed Creature Killing Machines to channel their energy through these outlets over here, and shoot towards the enemy. The only drawback, though, is that it cannot sustain the beams too long without pausing for a while to regenerate the energy required. Blah blah blah blah…"
"Hyne… somebody shut him up…" Squall groaned, placing a hand on his forehead in exasperation.
"Mr. Loire, if you aren't helping us, please stop distracting us with your talk!" As if answering to Squall's "plea", a lilting voice projected across the field, covering both the Monster's yells and Laguna's speech. She did not show him any mercy with her cutting tongue, even though he was the President of the most technologically advanced country in the whole of SEI.
"Eeps… sorry…" Laguna said through the microphone.
The golden airship started descending from its position in the air, landing near Balamb Garden. Its hull opened, to reveal the President flanked by his loyal advisors-cum-sidekicks, Kiros and Ward.
"Squall!" He started out for his son immediately, holding his arms out for a father-and-son hug, only to be rewarded with a cold stare and turned back.
"That… that's Celestine!" Selphie's eyes were wide with surprise at the sound of the Angel's voice.
"Well.. duh? Haven't you figured that out by now?" Seifer rolled his eyes at her.
"Hey, don't speak to her like that!" Irvine glared at him angrily, his temper like a bunch of dynamites ready to burst.
"In case you didn't notice… we are in the middle of a battle here. I suggest that we stop behaving like children and shut up. It's the least we can do if we can't help them beat the Monster." Squall's even tone warned them of the consequences they would have to suffer if they had acted otherwise.
And they realized he was right… but they had been acting weird only because of the palpable tension in the air… they simply did not know how to handle it, especially since they could not do anything to help the two Angels in the battle.
As if reading their minds, Celestine spoke up at once.
"Stay back. Damien and I will fight the Monster. We must be the ones who kill it, for it was an Angel who created it, even if he is one who had turned aside our common path. We reap what we sow, kill the evil we created. As such, only we have the ability to destroy it as well. We would not be able to focus if we had to protect you as well. Don't worry, we can handle it."
The SeeDs exchanged hesitant glances, unwilling to stand by and watch Celestine and Damien fight by themselves, an inherent quality they had acquired through their training.
And yet, they knew that Celestine was probably right.
Especially Zell, whose conflict was stronger than any of them, for it was the girl he loved up there, battling for their lives, and risking her own. Only the thought that he would hinder her stopped him from rushing up and bashing the Monster into pulp… which would have been futile anyway.
"Damn it… I hate it when we can't do anything to help!" He crashed a fist into the grass in frustration, running the other through his hair.
"Oh… but we can…" Quistis said with a mysterious twinkle in her pair of sky-blues.
But before she could elaborate of her idea, something distracted their attentions… something that did not spell good news to them….
The Monster had started to fight back.
* * *
The physical pain inflicted upon it was mind-numbing, but it did not deter the Monster from its plan on destroying the SEI for one second.
For this Monster was not named as the Ultimate One for nothing.
Once revived, it would take more than a couple of beams to kill it off.
And the will of the Underground Creatures in its body surpassed the pain, driving the shell to withstand the heat and light… an almost admirable resilience if not for its evil nature.
In a supercreature* effort, it began resisting the beams, repelling them with its arms pushing out like a shield.
Slightly shifting its position with its left hand arched all the way back and the right still blocking the light, it garnered a fistful of negative energy again, intent on using it to force back the two rays while attacking the Angels at the same time.
It shoved its energy covered fist against the twin lights, pushing them back towards the direction of his attackers with a forceful thrust.
A see-saw battle of will against wills, dark energy versus light energy, and of course, Evil versus Good ensued. There was no clear winner for a considerable period, the maroon holding up like a recurring nightmare against the silver and the blue.
Meanwhile… the SeeD Leaders had some ideas of their own.
* * *
Quistis creased her eyebrow when she saw that the Angels were not exactly close to beating the Monster.
"We have to help them, no matter what they say."
"But we'll get embroiled in the cross-'fire' if we interfere… especially since many of our attacks require a certain amount of proximity with the Monster…."
"He has a point, Quisty. Besides, we've pummeled it with all our limit breaks, and it doesn't seem to take any damage from them." Squall, for that one time in Balamb SeeD history, openly agreed with Seifer with such homogeneity that their breaths were practically in synchronized pattern. It earned him a grudgingly grateful glance from Seifer, which was another rarity, to say the least.
"Ahh… but that can be arranged, especially since my Blue Magic need not maintain the closeness as required by physical attacks. However, I need some cooperation from all of you."
"But how, Quisty? And for all you know, it might distract Celestine and Damien, and give the Monster the upper hand." Irvine had a strange sense of misgiving about Quistis' idea.
"We would need to use the airship for this… but we must find a way to camouflage it so that the Monster would not notice it hovering close. So… this is where you guys will come in… you need to create a distraction huge enough for its attention to be fully absorbed… then I can sneak up to it and do my stuff."
"But wouldn't that distract the Angels too?" Rinoa was still unconvinced, as the rest of them were.
"Not necessarily…" Zell said slowly, contemplating the idea in his mind, and finding that it might be workable after all. "I can try to convey our plan to Celestine."
"She will definitely dissuade Quisty from doing it, I can bet my Strange Vision on this."
"She can try to dissuade me for all she wants, but that's not going to stop me. I just need her and Damien to have some kind of mental preparation before we go about distracting the Monster, so that she won't lose her footing too. And she could very well make use of such opportunity to increase the pressure on her attacks, for the Monster will surely pull down its defenses a notch when we spring the surprise at it. So what do you say?"
"Alright… if you're sure about this." Squall said, while a row of heads nodded reluctantly along with his answer.
"Umm… excuse me for the interruption… but regarding the airship… it has camouflage abilities. It is a ship built for military purposes, after all." Laguna went up to them, putting a hand behind his head, a quirky mannerism that he had picked up since he was a young Galbadian soldier.
Their eyes were upon him in an instant, glittering with fierce interest.
"You see… the metal we had used for its outer body was made from a special alloy, which allows its appearance to be changed so as to mask its appearance when needed… a little like the panels that camouflage Esthar itself. So in this case, it can 'become' part of the sky, so to speak, where it is less easily spotted by the monster."
"Great! That's settled then." Quisty's neck was all flushed with excitement, her body all revved up with the adrenaline coursing through her veins.
"I'll be the pilot, as usual." Selphie volunteered her services. No one said a peep at her comment.
"And you'll definitely need someone to cast the Aura Magic on you. I'll go too." On the surface, Seifer's reason was barely acceptable, but his real motive to protect Quistis was plain for all to see.
"I guess the rest of us will stay on the ground to distract the Monster then." Squall grinned wryly at Seifer, not bothering to conceal his amusement.
"Wait… there's another thing.
I need all of you to cast Holy Magic on me." Quistis waited expectantly for the outburst that would inevitably follow.
"WHAT?" True to her anticipation, all seven of them stared at her incredulously, their eyeballs almost popping out.
"Just do as I say. Leave the rest to me." She said with an air of confidence.
A confidence that was distinctive from the internal shivering that was running through her core, but which she did not show.
Sure, this method that she suggested might work. She couldn't see why it wouldn't.
But it did nothing to curb her fear of facing the Monster… not after what she had heard from Squall.
Not even Lion Heart could harm it? What makes you so sure you can, Trepe? Aren't you getting a little complacent here?
She chose to ignore the questions thrown at her, tucking the voice to the back of her mind instead.
Her friends had finished beaming her up with the Holy Magic by then.
Her body glowed visibly, absorbing the magic into her system.
"Well, I'm off, people." She turned to walk towards the airship.
"Wait… Quisty!" Someone shouted.
Quistis turned to face the speaker with a little surprise.
"What's wrong, Waterlily?" She tilted her head in askance.
"This will help you, even if it's only a little." She grasped both of Quistis' palms, and transmitted something warm and bright from her own to the other girl's hands.
Quistis could feel a surge of energy adding to her own from the transmission.
"Thanks, Waterlily." She smiled at her, then gazed towards her friends.
"I'll be back. I promise. And I'm not returning before that Monster exhales its last breath!"
With that, she hurried towards the airship with long, rapid strides, Seifer and Selphie following closely behind.
Good Luck, Quisty…
* * *
The Monster drove its other hand into the maroon beam, adding on to its intensity.
Gradually, the dark energy was overpowering the attack from the Angels.
As it inched its way closer to the other side, it started to feel smug about its ability to beat down its enemies, no matter how many times they stood up against it.
A sneer started working its way up to its face.
"Come on… is that the best you can do? I would have thought that you 'holier-than-thou' Angels would put up a better fight than the humans, but you're no better!"
Celestine and Damien made no reply, increasing their pressure on the blue and silver rays instead.
Damien… this is getting nowhere.
I know, Celestine.
Why don't we try that move?
It's risky… if we fail… then the consequences are nothing short of disaster.
But if we don't try, we will be defeated sooner or later… just a matter of time before his maroon energy eats up ours. I don't know how long we can keep this up…
Are you absolutely certain?
Yes… but wait… I hear Zell trying to convey something to my mind.
What is it?
He says… that Quis is trying to approach the Monster in the airship!
My Lady? What if she gets hurt?
She won't be stopped… and let's face it, Damien. We need all the help we can get. But your first priority is to protect her.
I don't need you to tell me that.
They'll try to distract the monster… meanwhile… we should use that move to bombard it while they're at it.
Fine. Just so you know… I don't approve of it.
From that point onwards, their telepathic conversation halted, conserving energy for their next step.
They deliberately let the Monster gain more leeway into their territory, so that it would be unable to detect anything out of the ordinary when the airship made its way stealthily near the Monster's head, and when the other SeeDs try to divert its attention.
This was their last try… and they knew that there would be no room for error.
As if on cue, a shout from one of the SeeDs rang out from directly beneath them… Celestine could faintly make out the word "Meteor".
The Angels leapt back immediately to prevent themselves from being embroiled in the Magic Attack.
A barrage of flaming rock flew at the Monster, igniting off its hide when each rock touched upon it. Hisses of steam went off upon each contact, fogging the air with the smoke and ash generated in the wake of the spell.
"Tornado!"
"Water!"
"Meltdown!"
As soon as the words left their lips, a strong gust of wind blew over the entire field, surrounding the Monster with its wispy arm, lifting it into the air and withdrew as swiftly as it came. The Monster fell with a huge splash into the oceans, creating enormous waves that stopped merely a meter away from washing out the residents of Timber from their town.
Before it was able to recover from its fall, a tsunami rose to a hundred-meter height before encompassing the Monster in its watery blanket, lifting it up a little above its current position, before letting it go to release the Monster into a splattering plunge.
Even as it was trying to get onto its feet, the third Magic Spell was already close on its heels, delaying its recovery for yet another time. The semi-transparent shell that the spiky-haired boy had been generating with his palm burst out through the middle, tunneling towards the Monster, while stripping off its defenses with its explosive force. The purplish color covered its skin once again, indicating its weakened condition lucidly.
Indeed, the last was the only spell that managed to deal enough damage to the Monster. The rest were merely ploys to draw its attention away.
What the hell was Waterlily doing then?
The SeeD leaders had taken on the skill of timing their spells at the same time, to increase the effectiveness by ensuring a seamless shift between the end of one spell to the beginning of the other, thereby reducing the possibility of the Monster counterattacking in between.
The Monster stood up to its full height, seawater dripping from various parts of its body… and the salt was aggravating the pain felt from its numerous wounds.
Ever heard of rubbing salt into one's wounds?
It looked unhurt from the offensive Magic Spells, except for that peculiar shade of its hide from the Meltdown.
But it was furious, so full of fury that there was steam visibly coming out from its ears, its face turning colors like a regular Christmas tree from purple to red, then back to purple again.
"YOU HAVE PISSED ME OFF!" It turned to face the SeeDs, and stomped a foot upon its ground, resulting in a tremor that traveled throughout the entire continent.
The SeeDs could hardly maintain their balance as the earth shifted in response to the tremor.
That was a mistake on its part, however. It was exactly the thing that the SeeDs were looking for… letting it turn the focus away from the Angels…
And from the Airship which was hovering near its head now… perfectly concealed due to its impeccable smokescreen.
From their position on the ground, all the SeeDs could see was a slight crack in the sky, revealing a tiny figure dangling in midair… for the internal structure of the Airship had the same kind of material as the outer, to achieve total camouflaging purposes.
She glowed with a yellowish light, the adrenaline and latent power pushing her energy to its saturation point, thereby enabling her to perform her Limit Breaks.
"SUPER HOLY SHOCKWAVE PULSAR!" She yelled.
Two rings of white merged into a single, three-dimensional one, encompassing the monster and carrying it above the water surface into an entirely different plane surrounded by cloudy walls of grey. A single line of yellow channeled through the grey clouds, forming a solid core in the middle. The core incinerated in a mass of light that overwhelmed the Monster's senses, sending it into a spasmodic frenzy as the combination of the two potent elements in the attack ate through its cells like a virus.
Quistis had combined her Blue Magic and the Holy together, with the aim of achieving more damage than her devastating Limit Break usually yielded…
When the smoke cleared like the parting of curtains, it revealed the severely battered form of the Monster. Its legs were drooping at an extremely dangerous angle, look as if they would give it the slip any time soon as it leaned precariously to its left. Large Portions of its Adamantine-shell like skin had broken off, revealing the soft, reddish flesh underneath quivering like jelly. Thick rivers of its duck blood flowed down the flesh.
It had stopped groaning, for its throat was too damaged to give anything more than a croak, its eyes glazed out from the agony. One might even say that it had grown accustomed to the pain, its nerves going numb due to the sheer extent of its injuries.
Quisty… couldn't do without her after all…
Now… we have to attack now…
"Damien…" Celestine spoke without turning her head, and she knew without looking that her counterpart had nodded his head at her call.
They linked hands, wings spreading out fully behind their backs and lifting them high above the Monster.
Their voices mingled into one, they started chanting in Anglish, calling upon the Light of the Hyne to grace upon them.
"O Greatest Mother of All
Please hear our Prayer
Grace upon us two
The Very Light of Your Path
Teach us the Way
To defeat the One before us
So that we can protect
The very lands that you preside over
The very humans that worship you
And the perseverance of the three dimensions."
A translucent ray of light appeared above them, gently nudging the clouds away to allow it clearance, touching upon the heads of the two Angels.
They turned to face the Monster, hands still linked, voices still merged.
"HYNE'S HALO DUET" They chorused, thrusting their unlinked left palms downwards, aiming it at the Monster.
The ray that had graced their heads previously changed its direction, wrapping the Monster in its entirety like a quilt, refusing to be pushed away no matter how much it struggled… and it would be a hapless struggle even if it was in its primal health… for this was the same light that had created the very world many centuries ago, including the AKU that the creatures had come from.
However… it was as damaging to the receiver, as was to the attacker.
The Angels' arms started to quiver from the sheer force of the light… for it took a lot of energy and willpower to hold its path straight, such that it was aimed at the Monster, and the Monster only. If they had so much as allowed it to stray a little from its intended direction, it would harm the humans as well.
Which was the reason why Damien had disapproved of it… such an attack was unheard of, unless they were in desperately dire states.
One side of the Hyne's Halo Duet started to sag… it was Damien.
He was unable to withstand it, not due to his lack of willpower, but simply because it was too intense to maintain for too long a period.
Celestine let go of his hand… changing it into Hyne's Halo Solo instead.
Damien had only enough energy to let himself float gently to the ground, preventing an instant death due to a smashing of his skull upon the ground. He was aided to safer territory by Rinoa, who set about curing him immediately.
… Damn… how much longer can I hold? The Monster's still standing… not in an erect manner, but its injuries aren't fatal enough to enable a total destruction… I cannot afford for it to be resurrected again. What can I do that's not already tried and failed?
A gleam lit up her eye as a possible solution came in mind.
* * * *
Inside the Airship, Quistis was utterly exhausted from her Holy-cum-Shockwave Pulsar attack… a given fact as this was the first time she had attempted a combination between Blue and White Magic.
"You did great, Quisty! Now we can sit back and wait for Celestine and Damien to do their stuff!"
"Not yet… Seifer… not yet…" She said, her breath coming out with ragged spurts, but not diminishing the raging fire in her gaze…
* * * *
Appendix:
Supercreature: Creature version of Superhuman.
AKU: Hell
ZOK: Heaven
SEI: Earth
Any other foreign words you've come across, tell me. Next chappie I will have a glossary of the little supporting characters.
Pheeeeeeewwww… that's like… a very difficult chapter to write!
I said it was the final battle, but I never said it was the final scene of the final battle, did I? But anyway, the final scene isn't too far, but I didn't want to cram it all in here, cos… I can't take it anymore. Call me lazy, but my arms and mind refuse to move no matter how I push them. Plus there was this huge obstacle that stared at me in the face when I came to the distraction part… entirely blank mind and all… I guess I need a break, a teeny one, don't worry.
Oookay then, let me set about the mandatory but not unpleasant (very very pleasant, in fact) thanking platform.
Celeste Spring: Heh… it's a great feeling when your muse is working overtime, and when you have plenty of time in your hands. I have little of these two though, so it's getting pretty difficult for me as I go along. It seems my muse is going on strike! (Come back you meanie!). Anyway, wish you luck and infinite inspiration in your writing! Maybe you don't need it cos you're talented, but all the same, I wish it to you.
Soul of Flame: Awww… you're too kind! You actually mentioned my name in your story, and if that's not honor in the highest degree, I don't know what is! Too bad I'm too tired to thank you properly… will thank you to the power of infinity do? Maybe next time…
Vikki: Hehehe thanks for your support and compliments! I always try not to write OOC for most of them, but sometimes it's inevitable when your characters grow up, so I try my best not to turn them into totally unrecognizable persons. OOC is one minefield I fear to tread, if you get what I mean… sometimes when people tell me I retain their characters quite well, I simply scratch my head and think "Really? Hah…" Ahh… a bit of rambling over here, hope you don't mind.
Jengab057: Thanks… I need all the good luck I can get Hahahaha. Same to you as well!
Quistis88: Umm… you need to select "Angelo Combo" (if I got the name right, that is) instead of Angel Wing when you want to get Rinoa's Wishing Star and Invincible Moon. And if Rinoa's current HP is very low, the chances of her getting the finishing blows are quite high. (I had her at 160/9999, and she started launching both Wishing Star and Invincible Moon immediately, even though it was only a fight against the none-too-threatening Grendel). As to why all she does is Scan when you select Angel Wing… I have no idea… usually the spells are quite powerful… like Tornado or even Ultima.
Anime-diva: Glad you liked the battle scenes! I'm ruining my brain trying to think of new ways to describe the attacks! I hope this one isn't too disappointing!
Ok, that's it people. I need to turn in or risk panda eyes in the morning. The boss is gonna kick me ass if I'm caught dozing off at work again, hah. So… um… I won't be proof-reading it in my first posting, but I will correct any mistakes and re-upload tomorrow. Any silly mistakes, please highlight, please forgive, and please… continue reading. Thanks a lot!
Waterlily43