Chapter 5
Written By Illuminet
Disclaimer: Most (if not all) of the characters appearing in this story do not belong to me, but rather, are creations of the brilliant minds of the people at Square Soft/Square Enix. I make no claim of any of them.
"..."-Indicate Speech
'...'-Indicate Thought
------
Cyril City, Hotel, Marche's Room
"Hmmm...Why do I feel like something big is about to happen?"
Marche said to himself as he laid on his bed. He stared at the ceiling, deep in thought.
'Something big is going to happen tonight...but what?'
A loud banging on his room door brought Marche back from his thoughts.
"Marche, come quickly, kupo!"
Montblanc's voice sounded from the other side of the door. The ergentcy in Montblanc's voice made Marche move quickly to the door and open it.
"What's the matter?"
"Some buildings have caught on fire on the other end of town. If left alone, it could spread through the entire town, kupo!"
Montblanc continued. Marche growled and ran back to his bed, grabbing his large sword before rushing out of the hotel with Montblanc. Marche could already see thick smoke hovering above the buildings.
"Crap...come on, let's hurry Montblanc."
------
Cyril City, Other end of town
"Marche rushed past the crowd who watched the blaze from a distance, Montblanc ahead of him due to flying. Marche saw the Fire Chief and his men trying to douse the flames out with water, but were having little success.
"Chief, how did this happen?"
Marche asked the man, who simply shrugged.
"Beats me, but reports have told me that moving flames were wondering the town. I don't know what to make of it."
Montblanc looked puzzled.
"Moving flames...? That sounds kind of like..."
Marche gripped his sword tighter as he finished the sentence.
"Bombs..."
Almost anyway.
"...kupo!"
Marche turned to Montblanc.
"Let's go. Hey Chief, try and keep this fire from spreading, while we go after the source."
Marche and Montblanc rushed further into the flame ridden area.
"What the...hey the rest of our clan is here, kupo!"
Montblanc said. Rooty, Victory, Hedges, and Celine looked towards the two.
"Hey Boss, your here too?"
Rooty asked as Marche came closer.
"Where are the Bombs?"
The man shrugged.
"Hard to tell, their bodies blend in too well in this environment."
Marche gritted his teeth, spreading out his sense so see if he could pick up on any bombs.
"DAMN!!"
Marche yelled as a beam of fire streaked across the air. Everyone spread out, but Marche brought the Defender forward, blocking the attack.
"Marche, it's a bomb."
Hedges said, as Marche looked over his sword. A Bomb was spewing a beam of fire from it's mouth at him. Marche's eyes opened faintly in surprise.
'Amazing...seems the Bombs have come a long way since my time...I've never seen them use a fire breath attack before...they either bit, or self destruct...'
When the Bomb stopped using it's attack Marche looked at his sword, which glowed red with intense heat. He let the sword clatter to the ground, as he put up his fists. Montblanc screamed.
"WHAT ARE YOU DOING, KUPO?!?!"
Marche narrowed his eyes.
"Calm down Montblanc. My sword is useless against a Bomb if it's been charged with a fire element. What good would it do to fight a Bomb with fire?"
The Moogle sighed.
"But you can't touch a Bomb with your bare hands..."
"You should have more faith in me..."
With that said, Marche reeled his fist back, before striking forward, seeming to hit the very air itself, as a wave of wind struck the Bomb into the flames of a building that was behind it. Marche gritted his teeth.
"Wow, amazing Marche, kupo!"
Marche closed his eyes.
"Don't cheer for me yet. My attack is no good if I send it back into the flames..."
Marche looked towards Celine.
"Celine, your the fastest one here, so I want you to run back to where the Fire Chief is and have him bring water. It's pointless to fight something in it's own element."
Celine nodded as she rushed back to where the Fire Chief was. Hedges came forward.
"I'll help as much as I can, Marche, I know a Water spell, but it's only level one."
Marche nodded.
"Good enough."
Rooty also came up, with bow and quiver in his hand.
"I should be able to distract them with these..."
Marche nodded before turning to Victory and Montblanc.
"You two just support us with Holy Magic. Montblanc, don't Engage, we don't need a Judge to hinder us."
Montblanc nodded. The Bomb came back out from within the burning building, but this time, it had six others with it. Marche gritted his teeth.
"This is not good..."
Hedges uttered his water spell, as a large body of water hovered above the Bombs heads. The sight of it made the Bombs disperse, as the spell hit the ground uselessly.
"Damn it..."
Hedges muttered in frustration. Two Bombs sent their fire breath attacks towards the Nu Mou, but Marche came in front of him and slashed through the air with an uppercut, making a small shield of wind as Hedges escaped. The shield did not last long, and Marche dove out of the way as the breath attack made it through, barely missing him.
'My new Wind Slash technique works very well, but in this environment, Bombs will only be sent back into the flames from the excessive force...What else should I do...the Wave fist does not have the range...the Earth Slash is useless since Bomb's float...or is it?"
Marche though as an idea came to mind. He struck the ground hard with his fist, sending a rift of debris towards the Bomb. As expected, the attack missed, and the Bomb seemed to laugh at him, but Marche smirked just the same.
"Did you really think you were my target?"
Marche asked as the building behind the Bomb fell forward, smashing the Bomb over the head. Marche turned toward Montblanc and Victory, as they ran from a Bomb swirling with a blazing cyclone building around it. Rooty was shooting arrows, trying to ward it off the two, but the cyclone simply burned his arrows to nothing. Marche was about to help him, when the Bomb he was facing rose from the ashened building. Marche backed up, quickly looking towards Hedges, who thankfully taken down two Bombs, as they were simply tiny flames fading to nothingness. Another Bomb came to the aid of the Bomb Marche was facing.
"Damn...so many..."
"Looks like you could use our help."
A mysterious voice said. Marche turned around, seeing a familiar face from an old life.
"Mustadio...?"
The Engineer cocked his pistol before firing a water elemental bullet at the Bombs, making them turn to small flames. He came close to Marche.
"Hey Ramza, been a long time..."
Marche shook his head.
"The name is Marche here. Look, none of my clan know the truth about who I once was."
Mustadio nodded.
"Alright. Well then Marche, allow us to join your clan."
"Us...?"
As Marche said that a massive Steel Giant appeared on the scene.
"Worker No. 8?"
Was all Marche said as the machine opened it's large chest compartment, as a cannon came out from within, spraying water all over the place. The flames died out, as did the Bombs.
"Whoa...what happened here?"
Asked the Chief as he just came on scene. Marche turned towards him.
"I guess your help wasn't needed after all. Sorry about that. Well, good work anyway Celine."
The Viera nodded. Marche turned to the Engineer and Steel Giant.
"Thanks for your help, do you still wish to join our clan?"
Marche knew the answer already, as he held out his hand. The two shook hands and smiled.
"It be an honor to work with the Ruglia Clan."
------
Cyril City, Hotel, Marche's room
"So you go by a totally different name now?"
Mustadio asked as he sat in a small chair facing Marche, who was on the bed. Worker No. 8 stood against the wall silently. Marche nodded.
"Before I was brought to this Ivalice, I was living in St. Ivalice, a place that has been untouched by any works of great magic. There I'm a new kid called Marche Radiuju."
Mustadio nodded in understanding.
"Tell me Mustadio...how did you come here? Were you reincarnated like me?"
Marche asked. Mustadio shook his head.
"No, I was asked if I wanted to help Ramza once more, and of course I said yes."
Marche looked confused.
"Asked to come back...?"
Mustadio nodded.
"That's right. It was your sister who asked me. Once I agreed, my vision went white and I woke up near Cyril City. I saw Worker No. 8 waiting for me. We got to you just in time to stop the burning buildings."
Marche rubbed his chin.
"So that's it, huh? What about the others? Are they coming along?"
Mustadio shrugged at what Marche was referring to.
"Beats me. I wouldn't doubt it if I were you, though. They'll come when the time is right I suppose."
"Alright, I understand....well it was good seeing the two of you again in this world."
Mustadio and Worker No.8 left the room, as Marche pondered about what he had said.
'He thinks it's possible...Guess I'll have to believe it for myself...'
------
Path to Lutia Pass
"Hey Montblanc...?"
Marche asked his Moogle friend as he turned around.
"Kupo?"
"Tell me...why do bandits need a Dissertation?"
The Moogle wiggled it's antenna in thought.
"Not sure, kupo...but we should remember that bandits don't usually limit their skills to taking money, kupo."
Marche nodded at that.
"Guess so..."
This particular mission seemed very important when it was given out, by a Mr. Darelei, who had offered a reward of 4,000 gil, quite a nifty sum. Marche was still fairly new to Ivalice, but he was, with his clan, building a formidable reputation as a clan who would take any job. Marche led his troops further until they reached a tall narrow hill.
"What the...someone's up there..."
The rest of his party stayed silent as they heard a conversation unfold on top of the hill.
"Hey...this isn't the right Dissertation. This one belongs to Darelei, not Coleman. That's the one you were suppose to get!"
A Nu Mou White Mage yelled at a bandit, who just shrugged.
"You asked us to bring you a Dissertation and we brought you one. I mean, how are we suppose to know when they all look the same?"
The thief said. The White Mage sighed.
"...I'm gonna cut your pay in half."
The thief narrowed his eyes before flipping out a knife and drawing close to the mage.
"The hell you are, bud! We risked our lives for that piece of paper..."
While the two were arguing, Marche and Montblanc looked at each other and nodded.
"Looks like we found the masterminds behind the stealing, kupo..."
Montblanc whispered. Marche came from the side of the tall hill and yelled out to the bandits.
"Hey, return that Dissertation quietly and we may let you live!"
The Bandit's stopped their bickering and looked down from their steep hill.
"What the...crap, isn't that the leader of the Ruglia Clan?"
The Nu Mou shrugged.
"Looks like it. We'd better get out of here."
"No way. I've heard all sorts of things about his skills in battle by some Judges on how hard it is to land a blow on him. Let's see if he lives up to that reputation..."
With that said, the Thief whistled and three Archers and another fellow Thief came out of hiding on top of the hill. Marche looked the situation over carefully.
'Hmmm...three archers on a steep hill...we'll be at a slight disadvantage, plus with that White Mage up there, they'll have a healer...'
Marche turned to his team.
"Alright, they have six people...Mustadio, Worker No.8, Montblanc and Hedges are with me. The rest of you can take a break. Rest up well, we might need you..."
'...of course that's a very slight might...'
Marche thought as his fellow members assembled and looked up to the hill.
"Engage, kupo!"
Montblanc said, and a Judge rode forth on chocobo, looking from an area on top of the hill where the bandits stood. He pulled out a random yellow card.
"Today's law is...Stealing prohibition. Members caught using steal tactics shall be fined 3,500 gil for their foolishness. Let this Engage begin!"
Marche smirked, bringing out his large sword.
"Well, looks like we can at least breath easily knowing that they have a tough time stealing."
At the start of the fight, Marche spotted at area on the side of the hill he could use to scale the hill and made his way towards their immediately.
"All of you, with the exception of Montblanc and me, have long range attacks. Just stay down their and cover us while we go up there."
Montblanc got right beside Marche, chanting a spell.
"Haste, kupo!! Now we should be able to scale it even faster, kupo."
Marche nodded as he used his new found speed to reach higher, but found there was no way to get up half way up the path he was going.
"Marche, you can't go any further, kupo...let me fly around and find another way for you, kupo."
Marche shook his head, crouching low.
"No time..."
Marche jumped very high, hopping onto the top of the flat surface of the hill. the thieves charged him, but he used the his Defender, to guard against their knives, but their darted to either side quickly, but to no avail, since Marche proved faster, dashing ahead of them as the two clashed together.
"Over here."
Marche said simply, before swinging his giant sword overhead, smashing their heads against the large flat surface, knocking them unconscious. Marche turned to see Montblanc flying circles around the White Mage, stabbing at the poor Nu Mou with his spear.
"Just knock him out already Montblanc!"
The Moogle complied, as the Mage swung his staff in a large arc, Montblanc flew overhead, flipping through the air, before swinging out his spear and catching the Nu Mou right in the temple, making him fall face first into the ground. The Archers soon turned on the two intruders, one getting blasted away into pieces as large red beams cut through his body, courtesy of Worker. No 8. Mustadio fired his gun repeatedly, shooting through another one a couple of times as the archer's back was to him, Hedges combined with a Fira spell to end the unfortunate Archer. The last one nearest the edge of the hill took aim at Marche as he dashed at him with his Haste driven body. The Archer released an arrow at point blank range. Montblanc screamed.
"MARCHE!!"
AS the arrow was about to hit Marche in the nose, he twirled, the arrow flying past his head, barely clipping off his tail in the process. As he made a full 360 degree spin, he swung outward with his sword, holding it close to his body as he rammed the man off the side of the cliff, making him fall to his death. The Judge clapped.
"You Clan members of the Ruglia Clan are something else. That was very quick!"
He rode off silently. Marche and Montblanc made their way off the hill to normal ground, with a stack of paper in hand.
"They weren't all that great...well, let's get this thing organized."
After about half an hour, all of them finally got the last thing in order.
"Well, this is the Table of Contents, and that should do it..."
Montblanc clapped.
"Good, all the pages should be here and in order, kupo!"
Rooty nodded.
"Yeah looks like everything..."
Celine turned from the paper to the rest of the clan. Then let's get it back and get our reward. This mission should be a complete success."
Montblanc furrowed his eyebrows as he now remained deep in thought. Marche looked at him suspiciously.
"What's wrong, Montblanc?"
"Were going to be crossing into a threshold soon, kupo. Marche, sometime after this, Clan Conflicts may now arise."
Marche looked at the Moogle oddly.
"Clan...Conflicts? Explain."
"Well, simply put...we will now have to battle other Clans to both gain new territory and sometimes reclaim old ones. Our reputation will soon become great enough where other clans will want to get rid of us. New Clans trying to make it usually get crushed by the much bigger ones..."
Mustadio shrugged.
"I'm not to worried. Marche is an amazing individual, he'll pull us through, better than you may think..."
Montblanc turned to the engineer.
"How so, kupo?"
"You'll see..."
Mustadio said before walking off to tinker with Worker No. 8. Marche shrugged.
"Cryptic, I know...anyway, so this conflict means we'll be engaging with other Clans, now?"
"Once in a while, kupo..."
Marche nodded at the answer. He remained in place and thought about what was going on.
'So, other Clans may interfere with us now...'
Marche was broken from his reverie by Montblanc.
"We should get going, Marche, kupo. The other's are already ahead of us. Let's go back to Cyril City, kupo."
Marche nodded.
"Yeah. Thanks Montblanc."
'Better get some sleep...I hope I find Mewt and Ritz soon...where ever they might be...'
***TBC***
Note: Sorry for not updating like I said, but I've been busy. Thanks for the positive reviews. Hopefully I can dish out the six chapter soon...
Written By Illuminet
Disclaimer: Most (if not all) of the characters appearing in this story do not belong to me, but rather, are creations of the brilliant minds of the people at Square Soft/Square Enix. I make no claim of any of them.
"..."-Indicate Speech
'...'-Indicate Thought
------
Cyril City, Hotel, Marche's Room
"Hmmm...Why do I feel like something big is about to happen?"
Marche said to himself as he laid on his bed. He stared at the ceiling, deep in thought.
'Something big is going to happen tonight...but what?'
A loud banging on his room door brought Marche back from his thoughts.
"Marche, come quickly, kupo!"
Montblanc's voice sounded from the other side of the door. The ergentcy in Montblanc's voice made Marche move quickly to the door and open it.
"What's the matter?"
"Some buildings have caught on fire on the other end of town. If left alone, it could spread through the entire town, kupo!"
Montblanc continued. Marche growled and ran back to his bed, grabbing his large sword before rushing out of the hotel with Montblanc. Marche could already see thick smoke hovering above the buildings.
"Crap...come on, let's hurry Montblanc."
------
Cyril City, Other end of town
"Marche rushed past the crowd who watched the blaze from a distance, Montblanc ahead of him due to flying. Marche saw the Fire Chief and his men trying to douse the flames out with water, but were having little success.
"Chief, how did this happen?"
Marche asked the man, who simply shrugged.
"Beats me, but reports have told me that moving flames were wondering the town. I don't know what to make of it."
Montblanc looked puzzled.
"Moving flames...? That sounds kind of like..."
Marche gripped his sword tighter as he finished the sentence.
"Bombs..."
Almost anyway.
"...kupo!"
Marche turned to Montblanc.
"Let's go. Hey Chief, try and keep this fire from spreading, while we go after the source."
Marche and Montblanc rushed further into the flame ridden area.
"What the...hey the rest of our clan is here, kupo!"
Montblanc said. Rooty, Victory, Hedges, and Celine looked towards the two.
"Hey Boss, your here too?"
Rooty asked as Marche came closer.
"Where are the Bombs?"
The man shrugged.
"Hard to tell, their bodies blend in too well in this environment."
Marche gritted his teeth, spreading out his sense so see if he could pick up on any bombs.
"DAMN!!"
Marche yelled as a beam of fire streaked across the air. Everyone spread out, but Marche brought the Defender forward, blocking the attack.
"Marche, it's a bomb."
Hedges said, as Marche looked over his sword. A Bomb was spewing a beam of fire from it's mouth at him. Marche's eyes opened faintly in surprise.
'Amazing...seems the Bombs have come a long way since my time...I've never seen them use a fire breath attack before...they either bit, or self destruct...'
When the Bomb stopped using it's attack Marche looked at his sword, which glowed red with intense heat. He let the sword clatter to the ground, as he put up his fists. Montblanc screamed.
"WHAT ARE YOU DOING, KUPO?!?!"
Marche narrowed his eyes.
"Calm down Montblanc. My sword is useless against a Bomb if it's been charged with a fire element. What good would it do to fight a Bomb with fire?"
The Moogle sighed.
"But you can't touch a Bomb with your bare hands..."
"You should have more faith in me..."
With that said, Marche reeled his fist back, before striking forward, seeming to hit the very air itself, as a wave of wind struck the Bomb into the flames of a building that was behind it. Marche gritted his teeth.
"Wow, amazing Marche, kupo!"
Marche closed his eyes.
"Don't cheer for me yet. My attack is no good if I send it back into the flames..."
Marche looked towards Celine.
"Celine, your the fastest one here, so I want you to run back to where the Fire Chief is and have him bring water. It's pointless to fight something in it's own element."
Celine nodded as she rushed back to where the Fire Chief was. Hedges came forward.
"I'll help as much as I can, Marche, I know a Water spell, but it's only level one."
Marche nodded.
"Good enough."
Rooty also came up, with bow and quiver in his hand.
"I should be able to distract them with these..."
Marche nodded before turning to Victory and Montblanc.
"You two just support us with Holy Magic. Montblanc, don't Engage, we don't need a Judge to hinder us."
Montblanc nodded. The Bomb came back out from within the burning building, but this time, it had six others with it. Marche gritted his teeth.
"This is not good..."
Hedges uttered his water spell, as a large body of water hovered above the Bombs heads. The sight of it made the Bombs disperse, as the spell hit the ground uselessly.
"Damn it..."
Hedges muttered in frustration. Two Bombs sent their fire breath attacks towards the Nu Mou, but Marche came in front of him and slashed through the air with an uppercut, making a small shield of wind as Hedges escaped. The shield did not last long, and Marche dove out of the way as the breath attack made it through, barely missing him.
'My new Wind Slash technique works very well, but in this environment, Bombs will only be sent back into the flames from the excessive force...What else should I do...the Wave fist does not have the range...the Earth Slash is useless since Bomb's float...or is it?"
Marche though as an idea came to mind. He struck the ground hard with his fist, sending a rift of debris towards the Bomb. As expected, the attack missed, and the Bomb seemed to laugh at him, but Marche smirked just the same.
"Did you really think you were my target?"
Marche asked as the building behind the Bomb fell forward, smashing the Bomb over the head. Marche turned toward Montblanc and Victory, as they ran from a Bomb swirling with a blazing cyclone building around it. Rooty was shooting arrows, trying to ward it off the two, but the cyclone simply burned his arrows to nothing. Marche was about to help him, when the Bomb he was facing rose from the ashened building. Marche backed up, quickly looking towards Hedges, who thankfully taken down two Bombs, as they were simply tiny flames fading to nothingness. Another Bomb came to the aid of the Bomb Marche was facing.
"Damn...so many..."
"Looks like you could use our help."
A mysterious voice said. Marche turned around, seeing a familiar face from an old life.
"Mustadio...?"
The Engineer cocked his pistol before firing a water elemental bullet at the Bombs, making them turn to small flames. He came close to Marche.
"Hey Ramza, been a long time..."
Marche shook his head.
"The name is Marche here. Look, none of my clan know the truth about who I once was."
Mustadio nodded.
"Alright. Well then Marche, allow us to join your clan."
"Us...?"
As Marche said that a massive Steel Giant appeared on the scene.
"Worker No. 8?"
Was all Marche said as the machine opened it's large chest compartment, as a cannon came out from within, spraying water all over the place. The flames died out, as did the Bombs.
"Whoa...what happened here?"
Asked the Chief as he just came on scene. Marche turned towards him.
"I guess your help wasn't needed after all. Sorry about that. Well, good work anyway Celine."
The Viera nodded. Marche turned to the Engineer and Steel Giant.
"Thanks for your help, do you still wish to join our clan?"
Marche knew the answer already, as he held out his hand. The two shook hands and smiled.
"It be an honor to work with the Ruglia Clan."
------
Cyril City, Hotel, Marche's room
"So you go by a totally different name now?"
Mustadio asked as he sat in a small chair facing Marche, who was on the bed. Worker No. 8 stood against the wall silently. Marche nodded.
"Before I was brought to this Ivalice, I was living in St. Ivalice, a place that has been untouched by any works of great magic. There I'm a new kid called Marche Radiuju."
Mustadio nodded in understanding.
"Tell me Mustadio...how did you come here? Were you reincarnated like me?"
Marche asked. Mustadio shook his head.
"No, I was asked if I wanted to help Ramza once more, and of course I said yes."
Marche looked confused.
"Asked to come back...?"
Mustadio nodded.
"That's right. It was your sister who asked me. Once I agreed, my vision went white and I woke up near Cyril City. I saw Worker No. 8 waiting for me. We got to you just in time to stop the burning buildings."
Marche rubbed his chin.
"So that's it, huh? What about the others? Are they coming along?"
Mustadio shrugged at what Marche was referring to.
"Beats me. I wouldn't doubt it if I were you, though. They'll come when the time is right I suppose."
"Alright, I understand....well it was good seeing the two of you again in this world."
Mustadio and Worker No.8 left the room, as Marche pondered about what he had said.
'He thinks it's possible...Guess I'll have to believe it for myself...'
------
Path to Lutia Pass
"Hey Montblanc...?"
Marche asked his Moogle friend as he turned around.
"Kupo?"
"Tell me...why do bandits need a Dissertation?"
The Moogle wiggled it's antenna in thought.
"Not sure, kupo...but we should remember that bandits don't usually limit their skills to taking money, kupo."
Marche nodded at that.
"Guess so..."
This particular mission seemed very important when it was given out, by a Mr. Darelei, who had offered a reward of 4,000 gil, quite a nifty sum. Marche was still fairly new to Ivalice, but he was, with his clan, building a formidable reputation as a clan who would take any job. Marche led his troops further until they reached a tall narrow hill.
"What the...someone's up there..."
The rest of his party stayed silent as they heard a conversation unfold on top of the hill.
"Hey...this isn't the right Dissertation. This one belongs to Darelei, not Coleman. That's the one you were suppose to get!"
A Nu Mou White Mage yelled at a bandit, who just shrugged.
"You asked us to bring you a Dissertation and we brought you one. I mean, how are we suppose to know when they all look the same?"
The thief said. The White Mage sighed.
"...I'm gonna cut your pay in half."
The thief narrowed his eyes before flipping out a knife and drawing close to the mage.
"The hell you are, bud! We risked our lives for that piece of paper..."
While the two were arguing, Marche and Montblanc looked at each other and nodded.
"Looks like we found the masterminds behind the stealing, kupo..."
Montblanc whispered. Marche came from the side of the tall hill and yelled out to the bandits.
"Hey, return that Dissertation quietly and we may let you live!"
The Bandit's stopped their bickering and looked down from their steep hill.
"What the...crap, isn't that the leader of the Ruglia Clan?"
The Nu Mou shrugged.
"Looks like it. We'd better get out of here."
"No way. I've heard all sorts of things about his skills in battle by some Judges on how hard it is to land a blow on him. Let's see if he lives up to that reputation..."
With that said, the Thief whistled and three Archers and another fellow Thief came out of hiding on top of the hill. Marche looked the situation over carefully.
'Hmmm...three archers on a steep hill...we'll be at a slight disadvantage, plus with that White Mage up there, they'll have a healer...'
Marche turned to his team.
"Alright, they have six people...Mustadio, Worker No.8, Montblanc and Hedges are with me. The rest of you can take a break. Rest up well, we might need you..."
'...of course that's a very slight might...'
Marche thought as his fellow members assembled and looked up to the hill.
"Engage, kupo!"
Montblanc said, and a Judge rode forth on chocobo, looking from an area on top of the hill where the bandits stood. He pulled out a random yellow card.
"Today's law is...Stealing prohibition. Members caught using steal tactics shall be fined 3,500 gil for their foolishness. Let this Engage begin!"
Marche smirked, bringing out his large sword.
"Well, looks like we can at least breath easily knowing that they have a tough time stealing."
At the start of the fight, Marche spotted at area on the side of the hill he could use to scale the hill and made his way towards their immediately.
"All of you, with the exception of Montblanc and me, have long range attacks. Just stay down their and cover us while we go up there."
Montblanc got right beside Marche, chanting a spell.
"Haste, kupo!! Now we should be able to scale it even faster, kupo."
Marche nodded as he used his new found speed to reach higher, but found there was no way to get up half way up the path he was going.
"Marche, you can't go any further, kupo...let me fly around and find another way for you, kupo."
Marche shook his head, crouching low.
"No time..."
Marche jumped very high, hopping onto the top of the flat surface of the hill. the thieves charged him, but he used the his Defender, to guard against their knives, but their darted to either side quickly, but to no avail, since Marche proved faster, dashing ahead of them as the two clashed together.
"Over here."
Marche said simply, before swinging his giant sword overhead, smashing their heads against the large flat surface, knocking them unconscious. Marche turned to see Montblanc flying circles around the White Mage, stabbing at the poor Nu Mou with his spear.
"Just knock him out already Montblanc!"
The Moogle complied, as the Mage swung his staff in a large arc, Montblanc flew overhead, flipping through the air, before swinging out his spear and catching the Nu Mou right in the temple, making him fall face first into the ground. The Archers soon turned on the two intruders, one getting blasted away into pieces as large red beams cut through his body, courtesy of Worker. No 8. Mustadio fired his gun repeatedly, shooting through another one a couple of times as the archer's back was to him, Hedges combined with a Fira spell to end the unfortunate Archer. The last one nearest the edge of the hill took aim at Marche as he dashed at him with his Haste driven body. The Archer released an arrow at point blank range. Montblanc screamed.
"MARCHE!!"
AS the arrow was about to hit Marche in the nose, he twirled, the arrow flying past his head, barely clipping off his tail in the process. As he made a full 360 degree spin, he swung outward with his sword, holding it close to his body as he rammed the man off the side of the cliff, making him fall to his death. The Judge clapped.
"You Clan members of the Ruglia Clan are something else. That was very quick!"
He rode off silently. Marche and Montblanc made their way off the hill to normal ground, with a stack of paper in hand.
"They weren't all that great...well, let's get this thing organized."
After about half an hour, all of them finally got the last thing in order.
"Well, this is the Table of Contents, and that should do it..."
Montblanc clapped.
"Good, all the pages should be here and in order, kupo!"
Rooty nodded.
"Yeah looks like everything..."
Celine turned from the paper to the rest of the clan. Then let's get it back and get our reward. This mission should be a complete success."
Montblanc furrowed his eyebrows as he now remained deep in thought. Marche looked at him suspiciously.
"What's wrong, Montblanc?"
"Were going to be crossing into a threshold soon, kupo. Marche, sometime after this, Clan Conflicts may now arise."
Marche looked at the Moogle oddly.
"Clan...Conflicts? Explain."
"Well, simply put...we will now have to battle other Clans to both gain new territory and sometimes reclaim old ones. Our reputation will soon become great enough where other clans will want to get rid of us. New Clans trying to make it usually get crushed by the much bigger ones..."
Mustadio shrugged.
"I'm not to worried. Marche is an amazing individual, he'll pull us through, better than you may think..."
Montblanc turned to the engineer.
"How so, kupo?"
"You'll see..."
Mustadio said before walking off to tinker with Worker No. 8. Marche shrugged.
"Cryptic, I know...anyway, so this conflict means we'll be engaging with other Clans, now?"
"Once in a while, kupo..."
Marche nodded at the answer. He remained in place and thought about what was going on.
'So, other Clans may interfere with us now...'
Marche was broken from his reverie by Montblanc.
"We should get going, Marche, kupo. The other's are already ahead of us. Let's go back to Cyril City, kupo."
Marche nodded.
"Yeah. Thanks Montblanc."
'Better get some sleep...I hope I find Mewt and Ritz soon...where ever they might be...'
***TBC***
Note: Sorry for not updating like I said, but I've been busy. Thanks for the positive reviews. Hopefully I can dish out the six chapter soon...