Finally we'll get to some action in this chapter! But just a warning, it is kinda violent. I tried to make it a little longer too, but with out over doing it. Thanks to those who are actually reading this and reviewing. It means a lot to me. So here you go...

Chapter 5

The reporter blinked at Yuna with small curious eyes. The summoner slowly began to form the scattered words in her head into an answer for Shelinda's question. The last few weeks seemed to have gone by as a blur. She didn't know how to explain.

"It's kind of a long story..." Yuna began. She carefully stared into the sphere cam.

Tidus stood beside her, very conscious of the camera as well. But he was use to being a celebrity. With Biltzball always came fame; interviews, autographs and publicity. So all the new attention didn't really bother him.

He studied Yuna, her eyes and expression. Her words flowed with rehearsed poise and grace. But still, she was a little new at all this. It was obvious that she was still a little shy. Tidus gave her hand a little encouraging squeeze.

All of Spira rejoiced at the sight of Yuna; the defeater of Sin and Vegnagun, the bringer of the Eternal Calm, the High Summoner. And now, maybe, the Empress of all Spira, Tidus thought. But what did this mean?

If Yuna did decide to become the Empress, where would that leave him? Or the Gullwings? He amazed himself that this was the first time he had pondered over this. Where did he belong in her life at all? He cared about Yuna, a lot. He was almost positive that she felt the same way about him. So much had happened since he had returned; they hadn't ever really had a chance to talk.

When would they? When would they ever really have a chance to be alone?

Tidus's worried thoughts were soon interrupted by a dark figure flying down the path of the highroad.

Another airship? A fiend?

Yuna seemed to have spotted it too. She stopped silent in mid-sentence and just stared at the horizon. She dropped Tidus's hand and placed hers on her guns. It could now definitely be made out as a fiend of some kind. This gigantic bird had an enormous wing span and hard curved beak.

A Zu, Yuna concluded. But that's strange. Fiends don't usually enter this part of the road.

The winged creature let out a fierce call and carried itself on the wind up the road, closer to the agency. People screamed and scattered, seeking shelter from the ever so feared bird. Shelinda looked scared and confused, not sure what to say or do.

"Yuna!" Paine's voice called. She emerged from the travel agency. Her sword was gripped tightly in her hand. "We've got company."

Shelinda's camera man spun around to get footage of the gigantic bird. Other people quickly ran away to let the Gullwings do what they do best.

The bird was within shooting distance now, so Yuna fired a shot, glazing it's scraggily wing. It faltered, but kept up its pace.

"Rikku," She called into the device on her sleeve, "we need you out here."

"She better come quick," Paine shouted as she ran over beside Yuna. More gigantic birds came soaring down the highroad like an army on a surprise attack.

Fifteen by Tidus's count.

A fearless Yuna continued to shoot the Zu, aiming right for the heart. Her eyes never left her soaring target. A mighty cry filled the air just as a bullet flew into its chest. Finally, after enough concentration, the beast flinched, fell to the ground, and evaporated in to a colony of pyre flies. Yuna blew the smoke off her weapon and started to reload for the next round.

"Whoa..."

Tidus stared at her in shock. Standing before him was some one he barely knew. He was speechless. Who was this girl? She definitely wasn't the summoner he guarded two years ago on a pilgrimage. She had just saved his life. She had turned that bird into dust.

But others were coming up fast. They'd have to come up with a battle plan quick, or without help, Yuna would be whipped out. When the door to the airship opened, Rikku came bounding over.

"Where's the party?" She asked, confused- until she noticed the swarm of angry Zus headed their way. The Al-Bed let out a faint whimper.

"It's been crashed," Paine muttered sarcastically. She gazed up into the Zu filled horizon. "But we can take them."

Tidus agreed. He set a tight grip on the brotherhood, which had bee given back to him at his "welcome home" party. Remembered the feel of it when Yuna gently placed it back into his hands, he smiled. A bluish glow had radiated off the smooth and shiny blade in the dark. It looked as though it hadn't been touched in years, but the wink in Yuna's green eye told him otherwise. "We put it to good use," she had said.

"Paine," he called. "If you can jump high enough, we could probably slice into their wings and bring them down to the ground." He searched her face for an answer. "What do you say?"

Paine hesitated. It was a good idea.

"It just might work," she said, tossing a piece of silver hair out of her eye.

"They're getting closer" Rikku panicked, her hands nervously flitting out in front of her.

Tidus mentally went over the plan in his head. "Yuna, just keep doing what you are doing," he encouraged. She gave him a silent nod as she finished reloading her guns.

"Be careful," she whispered, almost afraid for him.

"Of what?" he grinned as screeches cried out from the sky behind them.

"Let's go," Paine called, running toward the mob of angry fouls.

Tidus broke his gaze from Yuna and sprinted to catch up with the fearless warrior. Together they leaped up into the air lifting their swords high letting them slash into the scraggly wings of a Zu. It slammed onto the ground unable to move away, giving Tidus and Paine a chance to finish the job.

What a sight to see for the people hiding in the agency and Shelinda and her sphere-cam. It was a true blessing in Spira if you got to witness a Gullwing take on a fiend.

"Rikku," Yuna said, inspired by an idea from watching the scene.

Rikku turned away and fiddled with some thing on her belt. Apparently she had the same light bulb on over her head.

"Already ahead of you," she replied excitedly as pulled out her garment grid and tapped a button. Almost instantly, she brought her knives together and they faded away. Light evoked her body leaving it invisible, until it too, faded away to reveal a costume made of animal skins and bone. Rikku dug her newfound claws into the earth and let out a ferocious howl.

Yuna knew that with this dress-sphere her Al Bed friend would become unstoppable.

The Berserker let out another wild howl and flipped head over heels. She let the fiery rage consume her and drive her mad. Yuna also knew that this was a little dangerous, but she trusted her cousin knew what she was doing.

"Leave it to me," Rikku said before going off to pick a fight.

The Gunner fired a few effortless shots as another Zu came into her range. But she kept a watchful eye on Tidus as his sword ripped into another wing up ahead. He stumbled a bit when he landed hard back on the ground. But the tough blitzer bounced right back, ready for another.

"Watch yourself," Paine advised teasingly as she gazed at their foe evaporate into the air.

Although he hadn't fought for a while, he seemed to be doing just fine. He worked well with Paine, the black leather warrior, by his side.

Meanwhile the berserker was in full force clawing and kicking at the feathered fiends. In this dress-sphere, Rikku's skinny legs were strong and she was usually powerful enough to knock out a foe with just one sharp blow.

But these Zus put up a pretty good fight. Although, it was fairly easy for her to dodge them when they tried to weaken her with head pecks from their gigantic beaks. With the greatest of ease Rikku flipped her legs into a cart-wheel and stepped out of the way just in the nick of time.

But Rikku wasn't the one Yuna was worried about. After re-loading her desert eagles, she still kept a watchful eye on Tidus. Aiming her guns at a Zu that was flying in the warrior teams direction; she fired several shots, and was relived to see it drop to the ground. She almost didn't see the one taking a nose dive right for her! At the last second she spun herself out of the way. As the screeching, angry, bird flew past her, she pulled her finger back on the trigger and nicked its wing with a fresh bullet.

"Close one..." Yuna whispered, chastising herself for being distracted. Quickly, the gunner turned her attention to another approaching foe.

Only a few more to go... Tidus thought proudly to himself as he hastily glanced toward the horizon on the highroad. He and Paine had just finished demolishing a Zu and were getting ready for another. The blitzer flipped his sword up into the air and gracefully caught it as it sailed back down. When Paine acknowledged his victory dance, he gave her an encouraging nod. She curiously wondered what it must have been like to fight along side him on Yuna's pilgrimage.

But that was long ago... and things are much different now. She sighed.

Almost out of no where, a harsh wind raged past the team, suffocating their faces and knocking them hard on the ground. Paine bounced back quickly, ready for the Zu that flew toward them, riding on the powerful wind. She didn't seem to notice her sore tail bone or the wind that had been knocked out of her. But Tidus stumbled to his feet as he tried to catch his breath.

"Brace yourself," Paine called, and her sword rose high and slashed into the fiend.

"Not fair," Tidus said as he copied Paine's move. "I wasn't ready."

As the warrior team continued with their tactics and as Yuna used the far away birds for target practice, Rikku was occupied with a group of her own. She hadn't counted on handling more than one at a time, but dealing with unexpected surprises is what being a Gullwing is all about. The berserker was only out numbered by one.

Her strong kick sent one Zu into a fit of screams. As it faltered she sent another kick to her other opponent, which sent pyre flies high into the mid afternoon sky.

Rikku paused and looked around. It seemed that Paine and Tidus were finishing up with their last round and Yuna was standing off in the distance watching. No more Zus, or any other fiends for that matter were in sight. The fierce berserker was a little disappointed to find out that she had the last one. But she knew that they couldn't keep this up all day.

"Look out!" Yuna panicked. She raised her gun and fired a shot at the last monstrous bird taking a nose dive to Rikku's head, but it was too late.

The heavy beak crushed down on top of the Al-Bed's skull like a gauntlet. A yelp of pain escaped her before she dropped, unconscious. Yuna watched in horror as trickles of blood seeped out from underneath her cousin's headband.

Angered and scared she raised both her guns once more and let the bullets explode like canons out of the barrel, one by one. She didn't stop firing until the evil Zu turned its belly up and crashed to the ground, evaporating into the last group of pyre flies.

When Yuna knew for sure it was safe, she dropped her weapons and rushed to sit beside the wounded Rikku. She felt helpless as she reached into her pouch and found that she had no potions on her. When she left the air ship the thought of a surprise attack was the last thing on her mind. Not knowing what else to do, Yuna let out a shaken sob as she did her best to wipe away the fresh blood that was pouring out of the wound.

"Oh, no..." Tidus gasped at the sight of Yuna hunched over the still body of Rikku, her hands covered in fresh crimson blood. "What happened?" Yuna looked at him with tearful eyes, clear droplets streaming down her face.

"Isn't it obvious?" Paine asked as she pushed her way through the two of them to inspect the damage. Her fingers slowly peeled away the purple head band and found the main injury. It was a good size gash at the base of Rikku's hairline. And judging by the fact that she was unconscious, she probably had a concussion. "We'd better get her to the airship," she replied calmly as she could. "Fast."

Yuna stepped away and nodded. In the cabin there were supplies and medicines for occasions just like this. With her head down she brought her hands to her heart and prayed. That's what she was use to doing in situations like these. Even though there were no Aeons and no Yevon anymore, it was a hard habit to break. So praying is what brought her out of tough times. Even with out Yevon, maybe some one, a faith, or anything would hear her plea and listen. But she couldn't help but feel hopeless as Tidus carefully scooped up Rikku's lifeless body and headed for the bridge of the Celsius.

Don't worry, I didn't kill off Rikku. But she is hurt pretty badly. Check out the next chapter to see how she is doing and what started the whole Zu invasion in the first place. I promise a little more fluff next time too. Thanks!