Chapter 3
The Knight before Death
"Squall! What the hell is going on? Give me an answer now dammit!" Zell shouted to the back of Squall's head. Seconds ago Zell and Irvine had been dragged onto the airship Ragnarok (that slammed into the ground right next to Balamb as Zell and Irvine were having another one of their daily contests) by Squall who didn't say much at all while he tossed them into the cargo hull. Squall began making his way for another door that led to the hallway but stopped and turned to Zell with a flustered look on his face.
"You want an answer? I don't have one. Laguna called me on the phone and told me to get you two. Everyone else is in Esthar. You don't think I'd like to know what the hell is going on too?!" Squall shouted as he turned around and stared into Zell's eyes. Squall was a scary guy when he was angry. Zell was no push over though as he stood his ground. Zell and Squall were face to face staring through each other like the hawk would it's prey.
"Calm down you two. So we're going to Esthar eh?" Irvine said laughing at the situation. Both Squall and Zell broke their stares on one another and looked at Irvine.
"........." Was Squalls reply as he covered his face with his hand. Irvine saw it coming from the Gunblade specialist who he'd known for quite a while now. They all left the cargo hull and walked down the hallway. Their destination being the cock pit which was on the other floor of this mammoth preportioned airship.
A steel interior and exterior. The Ragnarok was a strong ship indeed. Red coating on the outside and a very bland gray on the inside. More of a war ship then a transportation ship. Though now it seems to be Squalls personal vehicle. He says there's nothing faster he can use to get somewhere. It's never been clocked at full speed but Selphie tried to max it out one day. She broke the sound barrier 7 times and almost flew off the planet before she stopped herself from going any faster. Irvine began pointing and laughing at the vein in Squall's forehead. Squall didn't give it a second thought. He didn't really care. Irvine was a weirdo and a pervert to Squall. When they reached the door to the cockpit Squall stopped.
"Before we enter I'd like to tell you who's in the cock pit to avoid the sudden surprise." Squall paused as Zell looked at him funny. Irvine had his eyes closed and was humming some random tune. "......The three of us, Kiros, Ward, and Seifer." Squall answered recieving surprised faces from Irvine and Zell as he expected.
"SEIFER!? What the hell is he doing out of prison?" Zell screamed. The cock pit door opened and out came the "anti-SEED" as he was dubbed by Selphie. She's always good for corny names.
"How's it going" Seifer paused staring at Zell. "Chicken Wuss?"
"Pay up Ward. I told you Zell would do it." Kiros said elbowing Ward in the side. Ward lost his voice long ago yet he was still capable of communicating. You could just see his words in his eyes. He was like a "Big teddy bear that throws anchors at people". Selphie's dubbing strikes again.
"Did you have to hit him that hard Zell?" Irvine laughed. He looked over at Seifer whom Zell had knocked back into the cock pit and into the wall on the other side of the room. Zell then tried to charge as fast as he could and land another blow onto Seifer. He would have too if Kiros didn't beat him there guarding Seifer with his knife-like blades. Kiros was arguably the fastest man alive. Zell stopped in his tracks before he cut his own arm in half.
"That bastard had it coming!" Zell let out. "Why the hell did Laguna call upon him anyway?!" He said pointing at Seifer who was laying on the ground holding his jaw.
"He's a good leader and tactician whether you like him or not. He's a powerful weapon at Laguna's disposal. Laguna asked for him to be released under the condition that he serve Laguna and the people of Esthar." Kiros smerked. Seifer got to his feet finally and began laughing.
"Ha Ha. Nice hit chicken wuss. I'm glad you're stronger then before. I already tested Squall earlier today. He nearly cut my damn head off!" Seifer said never stopping his hysterical laughing. He was one crazy son of a bitch. That's about all you need to know for now.
"Anyway we'll be in Esthar in two minutes. Until then control yourself." Kiros said looking directly at Zell. Zell looked over at him and and then spit on the ground.
"Laguna better have one hell of a reason for starting all this bull shit!" Zell screamed and walked out of the cock pit. An earth shattering boom could then be heard from outside the cock pit as the ship began to shake violently and then stopped as if nothing happened.
"We're we hit?!" Kiros screamed as he ran over to the control panels. The ship was flying on auto pilot at the time. "No, there's no outside damage." He said he began frantically checking the pressure gauges and fuel meters. Squall put his hand over his head and sighed in disgust. Irvine ran out of the cock pit screaming.
"Zell don't punch the ship's walls!" Irvine yelled.
"It wasn't me dammit!" Zell screamed back. Squall's look of disgust turned into a look of horror in a split second as he looked out the cock pit's window. He walked up to the window placing his hand on it in complete shock as he saw thousands of flying monsters and dragons attacking Esthar.
"God dammit! Die you son of a bitch!" could be heard from Zell outside the cock pit along with gun shots. Seconds later both Zell and Irvine ran back into the cock pit and pressed the lock button on the wall.
"Why are there dragons inside the ship?" Zell asked huffing and puffing.
"Their wings got tired?" Irvine snickered. Kiros began locking off all the hallways and doors inside the Ragnarok. As they landed in Esthar it seemed as endless swarms of dragons and monsters were coming.
"Is this another Lunar Cry?" Squall asked Kiros. Ward shook his head no as Kiros answered. They're not dropping from the moon like they do during the Lunar Cry. Plus we're not due for another one for a long time. We wont see another in our time. No No. Someone is definantly controlling these monsters." Kiros explained. Laguna sure had one hell of an intelligence man with Ward being the brute strength of the team. Squall always wondered how Laguna didn't choke on air and die. Kiros was the answer.
"Alright! We're gonna make a break for it and get to the Presidential Palace. The lifts are down and the monsters are blocking our way so it's gonna be a two hundred yard sprint of life and death. Let's do this!" Seifer screamed laughing yet again.
"Are you insane? Those monsters are strong enough by themselves to crush small towns in an instant!" Kiros countered.
"It's only two hundred yards guys. We can do this!" Squall shouted sounding like a leader....even though he hated it. Eventually they all ran out the emergency exit of the cock pit and instantly were fighting for their lives. Civilians running around in complete terror. People running around helplessly as they were being killed by these horrid beasts. As the six of them looked at the situation they all stopped in their tracks. A woman with her child running for shelter was suddenly picked up by a giant red dragon called a Ruby Dragon. The dragon tore her to shreds biting the top half of her body completely off and incinerating her legs and the child in mid flight.
"NO! I'LL RIP THAT BASTARD APART!" Zell screamed at the top of his lungs before Ward stopped him. When Zell looked into his eyes he saw a dark look that sent chills down his spine and made him feel like a child. As it flew at them Ward took the initiative as he drove his anchor into the chest of a giant red dragon who was spitting flames in his direction. The anchor went directly through the dragon as it screamed into the air in agony. He picked the dragon up with his anchor and held it in the air above him. He then slammed the dragon back down into the walkway. The dragon ceased to move.
When he pulled his anchor out of the dragons chest molten liquid spilled out of the dragon melting through the metal walkway they were running on. It was what the dragon used to spit flames. As it ate through the metal it began dripping down to one of the main supports. Gallons were pouring out of the dragon's chest by the second. The giant walkway to the palace suddenly dropped as the support snapped.
"Ho-Ly Shit!" Zell shouted out as the section of the walkway between the Ragnarok and the palace collapsed down five hundred feet to the ground below it. The walkway didn't break the six of them's fall softly as they smashed into the metal. Kiros got to his feet after a few seconds as he stood up and stared at Squall.
"Well who didn't see that one coming Mr. it's only two hundred yards?" in a rather unhappy tone.
"........" was Squalls reply as he covered his face with his hand again shaking his head. "Where are we?" He said looking up at Kiros.
"Don't you even care if everyone is alright? We're below the city. Don't worry though. There's a secret entrance to the palace right over there." he said pointing to giant support right under where the Palace is five hundred feet above them. "It's actually an emergency exit but we can use it to get in." Kiros said again proving his usefulness even though he did sort of treat others like idiots. I guess living around Laguna can make you very much of a prick Squall thought to himself.
"Where's Zell?" Irvine asked as him and Ward walked over to Squall and Kiros. "And Seifer for that matter. You don't think they're fighting do you?" With that the sounds of battle could be heard very clearly. They found Zell and Sefier arguing a few yards away.
"Hey I said I was going to beat his ass!" Zell screamed at Seifer who pushed him.
"Back off Chicken Wuss! This one's mine!" He said cackling. A man in all red stood just staring at the both of them.
"You both....are idiots. I will eliminate you and your friends as well. Now you see me...." The man then disappeared. Everyone began looking around as he seemed to really just poof out of existence. "Now you don't!" the man said though none of them could figure where he said it from. Ward then bent over holding his stomach. He then fell over with an incredible force as if he had been knocked down. Ward got up but was bleeding from his nose and mouth now.
"What the hell is going on here?" Zell screamed. In a split second he ducked and fired a punch that connected with something. The man in red reappeared. "He can turn invisible!" Zell screamed.
"How did YOU figure that out?" Kiros questioned Zell very confused as the man in red looked at him even more confused.
"I saw that foot print over there form by itself. I notice little things like that in fighting situations." Zell bragged smiling.
"Interesting. Time to get serious then isn't it?" The man in red said. He disappeared again. Kiros was then struck down to the ground. He was holding the back of his head as he was picked up by his legs and thrown into Ward. Both were out cold now.
"Two down." The man said.
"Over there!" Zell screamed as he swung his fist at air and fell on his face. "Ow dammit!"
"So close. You almost got me didn't you?" He said mocking Zell. Squall out of nowhere slashed his Gunblade side ways going for a wide spread attack. He hit nothing.
"He's moving faster then before!" Zell said. Irvine began firing his gun at random places seeing if he could hit him. Seifer just watched as everyone tried to kill the man. Seifer then began gathering energy into his fist and fired a fire ball the size of a car straight ahead of him.
"ARGH!"
"Got him." Seifer laughed. Seifer then realised that the fireball was being pushed back toward him. A look of terror took over his face as it burned his body in a heat so intense it could melt his gun blade. He fell to the ground with smoke pouring off his body. Squall ran over to him and to check if he was still alive. He was. Not for long if the man did anything else to him though.
"Zell! Can you still follow his movements?" Irvine asked him as he stopped firing at nothing.
"Yeah a little." He said scratching his head. Irvine walked up behind him and set the barrel of his gun on Zell's shoulder while handing him ear plugs.
"Put those in and point out where he is." Irvine said in a serious tone. "You're my scope Zell. Don't fail the sniper." Squall put his hand over his head again.
"You guys are kidding right?" Squall asked.
"THERE!" Zell screamed. Bang! Blood began landing on the ground. "When he bleeds the blood is invisible. After it hits the ground and isn't apart of his body anymore though...."
"A trail." Squall smiled. "You guys sure are something." The blood stopped forming on the ground.
"You people think I wouldn't know how to tend to a bullet wound in my leg?" The man said. "I feel so underated. I guess you'll understand when you die." This time the voice of the man was circling the area so that he didn't leave himself open for attack. "Time to show you guys why I've been chosed for this mission." The wind in the area suddenly picked up.
"Is he moving so fast that he's creating wind around us?" Irvine asked.
"By moving this fast whatever tracks he leaves are being erased. Foot prints, wind from his body, even small glimpses of his clothing when it gets too far away from his body." Zell said shocked as he took out the ear plugs. "He's making himself impossible to track." Zell suddenly was sent flying into the air and slammed back down into the ground face first. Irvine began firing all around Zell trying to hit the man. Irvine saw one of his bullets stop in mid air. The it dropped to the ground.
"These bullets of yours are slow." The man said. Irvine then doubled over as he was holding his stomach. "In case you're wondering why I'm not killing any of you it's because I still need to find the others. I will torture you all if you don't tell me where they are. How about you?" He said as Irvine floated up into the air. "What if I ripped out all your pretty brown hair? I'm sure all the girls love it so much don't they?" He said as Irvine fell back to the ground.
"Why do you do this?" Squall asked holding his Gunblade facing where Irvine was. "What is your purpose?"
"My purpose? My purpose is to kill all of you. I was created to do it."
"Crea-" was all Squall got out as he was struck in the stomach by the man. I didn't see him coming at all. Nothing. It's like he doesn't exist. Squall thought as he rose to his feet.
"You -cough- you wont beat me." Squall said raising his Gunblade. He then stood straight up and summoned the Guardian Force Shiva. A powerful one would take too he thought as Shiva appeared in front of him. The Ice Queen Shiva shen lunged away from him and began covering the area with cold air and ice while having no effect on Squall. Squall saw a shard of ice move forward. It was him. He ran at it and swung his sword and saw the mans arm land on the ground. Blood was now in massive puddles on the ground everywhere.
"Very good. But this is where you meet your end!" He said as Squall was picked up and being pushed forward. He saw in front of him that was going to be pushed into a large spike of ice. "I can impale you yet heal you and keep you alive. Then you'll tell me where they are." There was no time left to call off Shiva. He couldn't escape the man's strength even though he only had one arm. A fireball shot from behind Squall and hit Shiva causing all the ice in the area including the one in front of Squall to disappear.
"You owe me Squall...." Seifer said as he fell to his knees and then onto his face, charred body and all. Squall still being pushed hit the ground and rolled onto his back shoving his Gunblade up and connecting with the man. He reappeared in on top of him blood pouring onto Squall. Since the man was going to push him through the ice he couldn't stop his momentum and fell onto Squall's Gunblade.
"You...." He said looking down at the blade that had gone through the center of his chest and out his back. "..didn't...lose"
"...Yeah" Squall smiled as he pulled out his Gunblade.
"You will still die though." The man in all red spit out as his body finally went limp. Kiros, Ward, Zell, Irvine...and Seifer. They had all never been in a battle like this before. Zell pushed himself back off the ground trying to get to his feet.
"Dammit! He beat me!" Zell screamed pounding the ground. "You always do better then me Squall!" He smiled as he rose to his feet.
"Do something about it then next time." Squall said in his normal don't bother me tone. Then he smiled. Squall had changed a little over time. He was becoming more social and less....well less Squall-ish. A loud rumbling could be heard from above.
"What's that noise?" He said looking up. "The supports!" Zell screamed. The palace's supports were collapsing and were coming down upon them. Zell and Squall grabbed everyone and ran as fast as they could just barely dodging the million tons of metal coming down upon them.
"Everyone was in the palace right? That's what you said right?" Zell screamed as he was running with Ward and Kiros on his shoulders. Squall had Irvine and Seifer on his.
"They'll be fine! We have to get out of here and get these guys to a healer quick!"
"The Ragnarok fell down with it. We can't go anywhere." Kiros said.
"Hey!" Zell stopped and put him and Ward down. Both of them were awake. What was I carrying you guys for if you were awake?!" They both looked at each other.
"We were tired." Kiros laughed.
"So how is Seifer doing?" Zell asked.
"Two hours ago you wanted him dead. Now you care about his condition?" Squall asked.
"He helped you. I forgive his crimes now. I still don't like him though." Zell said crossing his arms and looking away.
"Whatever." Squall said turning around. "He just needs rest. Even a healer can't cure burns that bad right away. His muscle tissue might grow back weird and he may never be able to walk again if we did that."
"Oh ok. Good to hear." Zell said and walked out of the hospital waiting room to outside. He saw Irvine and the others bandaged up. Zell was the only one without a cut or bruise. He seemed to not get hurt very often. Mostly because of the constant training he puts his body through. His body has actually learned how to heal itself three times faster then a normal humans. He doesn't have a clue about it though. "So all the monsters are gone right?" he asked.
"Yeah. they disappeard after that guy died. Still no trace of the others or the Ragnarok though. The soldiers checked and nobody was in the palace except a few janitors." Kiros told him.
"That's strange. Wonder where they are then?" Zell yawned. "I think I need a nap." He said as he turned around. He looked up as he saw the Ragnarok fly passed him and go straight into air until it couldn't be seen. Straight to outerspace. Irvine pointed to the air.
"There it is..."
Everyone glared at him.
"What?"
Author's Note: I don't think I've ever re-written something so many times as I have this chapter. Anyway not my best but I think there's some really good and original parts in there. Read and Review please.
