Ch 8 – Through The Arch…Into War

Zell looked over the people in his team, trying to memorise the looks on their faces. "No turning back now, guys. This is the point of no return. You wont be considered a coward if you decide to turn back now. But I'm pretty sure that the fate of the world rests on our shoulders now. We aren't going to sit back and be attacked. This time, we're the attackers, we're on the offence. And we're going to win this thing. Who's with me?!"

He stared at his reflection for a second, the bathroom echoing the 'e' in 'me' as he tried the different approach to the speech. He lowered the hand he had pumped up into the air in a passion and looked at it, before allowing his head to drop limply. "Hyne, I'm such a dork…"

"What's wrong, Zell?" Angel called.

He looked up suddenly, fearing what she would see if she walked in on him now. "Uh – nothing. I'm all done dressing now." He shouted, pulling on his shirt.

He opened the door to Angel's bathroom and walked out, shouldering his Orihalcon backpack as he walked out. He twirled on the spot to show off the new accessory, before adopting a girly voice. "Is it me?" He squealed.

Angel laughed out loud, holding her sides as she saw the look he pulled. "Even if you were a girl you'd never be able to pull that off, Zell!"

Zell straightened up, brushing down his clean white shirt and shoving his hands in the pockets of his black and blue shorts. "Gee, thanks Ang. I love you too." He muttered sarcastically.

Angel wiped a tear from her eye and sighed, walking forward and slipping her arms around his hips. "I think it looks very good on you, Zell. You look very professional."

He was only dressed in his usual tee-shirt and shorts combo, his Dragon Skin Mavericks fit snugly onto his fists, but he still smiled sheepishly. "Do you think?" Sure, the gun-metal grey Orihalcon backpack fit so well it looked like he had been born with it…but it still freaked Zell out a little bit that the metal could actually be considered a living entity.

"I do." She whispered, stretching up to plant a kiss on his lips.

She held the kiss for a full ten seconds, before pulling back, looking into his eyes. "What? What's wrong?" She whispered, seeing the sadness within his deep blue orbs.

"It…it might be a while until we see each other…I wanna remember our last time together. You know…in case something happens."

Angel frowned, her tone playful. "Zell Dincht. You've never acted like this when you went on all your other missions."

Zell's response was deadly serious. "That's 'cos I knew I'd return. But this one…there's no guarantees, babe. Who knows what I might encounter on the other side of that thing…and…and I just wanna make sure that…" His voice trailed off, his eyes cast down, the shy side of Zell Dincht emerging for a rare showing of pure affection.

Angel sighed, brushing a part of his hair down and tufting up his spiked front. "Zell…you'll return…and then we'll have plenty of time to catch up, okay?"

He nodded silently…before lifting his head, planting a soft kiss on her forehead…and walking out of the dorm room without another word.

He didn't want to say goodbye.

Not yet.

*          *            *

"Hey Julius, are you ready yet?" Trish called, waiting next to the blond hacker's door, her back leaned against the wall, her arms crossed. She checked her watch. "We're going to be late if you're any longer."

She was dressed in her usual ensemble – black tracksuit pants with black sneakers, with a blouse with the words 'kiss this' stencilled across a picture of a fist. Her blond hair was wrapped up into a bun, the way that Angel had shown her. 'This way your hair wont get in the way when you fight!', Angel had bubbled pleasantly as she had shown her how to do it. Trish had just smiled politely and looked at herself in the mirror. It just wasn't her…as soon as she was through the Arch, or whatever it was called, she pull the bun out and put it back into its usual ponytail – the way it was supposed to be when she worked.

The door suddenly opened, and Julius walked out, his pack snapped securely to his back, the five-three long ice-shard containing Veronica tightly bound in material and strapped to the packs back horizontally, part of the swag peeking out from behind his left shoulder whilst the other half stuck out a bit past his right hip. He was dressed much like her – black SeeD training pants and SeeD boots, with a navy-blue sweat-shirt covering his massive chest. The metal straps of the Orihalcon pack bit into his shoulders, and he shoved the pack up a bit, allowing the weight to spread out a bit.

"Isn't she heavy?" Trish asked cautiously, watching as Julius walked out of the room, getting a feel for the new way to carry Veronica around.

Julius looked down at her, his eyes sad behind his spectacles…before he shook his head. "Never." He muttered, before setting off down the corridor, not bothering to wait for Trish.

*          *            *

"Come on, Rinoa."

"Wait, Squall, wait! One last thing!!"

"We're only supposed to bring a few clothes and our equipment. Too much will slow us down."

"But can't I take this?"

"What will you need a ballroom dress for?!"

"You never know!! There might be a ballroom dance we'll have to infiltrate…"

"…Leave it."

"Oh, come on Squall!! Pleeeease?"

"…Whatever."

"Thank you!!"

Squall rolled his eyes as Rinoa planted a kiss on his cheek, before helping her stuff her bag closed and held the door open for her. It wasn't if she ever wore anything different anyways…she had the same colour scheme for everything…blue with black…you wouldn't catch me dead in that.

"What are you thinking?" Rinoa asked, her voice all bubbly as she smiled up at her knight.

He heaved a sigh and shook his head. "Nothing…"

*          *            *

Zell neared Emily's dorm room – before he saw the door open, Emily walking out and closing the door behind her. She was dressed in her usual attire – same as everybody, except for the fact that it looked like someone had unleashed a series of serrated knifes at it. Zell didn't notice her at first – before realising that she had taken out her face jewellery. He figured that it actually suited her – not that he would say it to her face.

"How was the damage?" he asked, walking up behind her.

His question seemed to startle her, and she spun to face him. "Oh…it's only you…what do you mean?"

"The damage. To your room. We all had our rooms turned upside down, remember?"

She narrowed her eyes. "Think, Hunter. I was just admitted a room here. Nobody touched my room because nobody knew which room I was going to occupy."

Zell thought for a second…before nodding. "Point."

Emily rolled her eyes and brushed past him, her tone saying it all – "What a dumbass."

"Sticks and stones?" Zell shook his head and smiled. "You've done worse, Em…" He said to himself, before turning and following her.

*          *            *

They all met at the front entrance of Trabia Garden, dressed for summer in a winter environment. Trish and Rinoa shivered uncontrollably, whilst the rest of them didn't even acknowledge the cold – they were too hard-core.

Squall watched as his breath curled out into the wind, and spared another glance at his chronometer, heaving another sigh. "They're late…" He muttered, wrapping his arm around Rinoa's shoulder as she cuddled against him for warmth.  "The file said they'd be here by fifteen-thirty precisely."

"W-w-what t-t-time is it?" Trish chattered, trying to keep her teeth from clattering as she stood between Julius and Zell, who seemed to be radiating warmth just by their easy stances in the harsh cold.

Emily stood apart form the group. She revelled in the cold. "It's fifteen-thirty five. Be patient." She muttered over the blowing wind, not even bothering to check her watch.

They waited a few more minutes, the only sounds being the wind blowing the snow around their feet like tumbleweeds in a desert and Rinoa and Trish's chattering teeth. Trish shuffled a bit closer to Zell, basically rubbing against him, and blew on her hands to keep them warm. The action proved useless, however, and she shoved them unceremoniously back under her armpits. "I d-don't know about y-y-you guys…" she chattered. "B-b-but I'm friggin f-f-freezing!"

"What do you want? A medal?" Emily muttered harshly. "Do you think the wind's going to die down just because you think it's bad?"

Zell smirked. "Why not? You stopped it at the Tournament, remember?"

Emily smiled at the comment, and shot a look to Zell that would melt permafrost. "That was different, Hunter." She growled, before returning to her brooding.

Trish looked up at Zell, her trembling face – which was beginning to turn blue – full of confusion. "Why d-d-does she c-c-call you that?"

Zell smiled down at her, before uncrossing his arms. Opening one of his fists, a tiny flame burst into life, and Trish jumped onto it greedily, holding her hand out to the small but steady flame in his palm. "It's a nick-name from when we fought against the Sorceress that SeeDs use. The final stage of the battle had us moving through the Sorceress' Castle of Chain, and Squall, who was leader, set me on point. Our magical powers were locked by the Sorceress at the time, and he gave me the job of finding out where we were supposed to unlock them and to find the Sorceress."

"So I suppose you found the magic and the Sorceress, right?" Trish asked, her voice returning to normal as Zell upped the paramagical output to the Fire, allowing Trish to bask in it's warmth.

"Yeah. It only took me three hours! And that included the fights against all the bad-ass monsters that were in the castle." Zell noted the pride in his voice, and allowed it. Hey, everybody is allowed to be a bit egotistical now and then, right? He figured.

"So…if you're Hunter…who are the rest?"

Zell placed a finger on his lip as he tried to remember. "Well, I know for a fact that Irvine is called Slayer, cause he took on Edea all by himself and won by barely taking a scratch…uh, Squall's called Leader, coz that's what he was…our leader…um, Selphie…what did I call Selphie?"

"Annoying." Squall muttered, letting go of Rinoa, who happily pounced on the flame in Zell's hand.

"Very funny, Squall. No, I think she was The Pilot…coz she was the only one who could fly the Ragnarok, without having any previous experience…Quis was called Saviour, coz she was always saving us all in the nick of time in our battles…and Rin was our Sorceress."

"Cool…" Trish muttered, looking into the flame in Zell's hand.

"Good old days, Hunter?" Emily muttered, her tone sarcastic.

"Hey, it wasn't fun! The names were given afterwards…during the celebration party. I think I overloaded on hotdogs that night…"

Rinoa smirked, her cheeks beginning to turn rosy again thanks to the flame. "Yeah…as if that was possible…"

"Here it comes." Julius muttered suddenly, pointing up to the sky and causing every person to stop speaking as they looked up to watch the giant metal dragon float out of the clouds like a demon from the heavens.

*          *            *

Imagine a dragon. Now give it plates and plates of body armour. Then give it twin .60 calibre chain fed mini-guns strapped to its forearms.

You'd have a fair idea of what the Ragnarok would look like.

Infinitely smaller then the Gardens – but a hell of a lot more versatile – the Ragnarok spaceships were an Estharian design, originally used in space exploration when Esthar was still regarded as an 'unknown' country. Esthar's space travels hadn't proved very conclusive – mostly because the first Ragnarok, Ragnarok Neo, had disappeared off Estharian screens after only three months of being in space.

The Estharians had then refused to go any further then their own planet, keeping to the orbital space-station which had flourished since it's launching way back when Laguna first came onto the Presidential scene.

It had only been a miracle – a big miracle – that Squall and Rinoa had come across Ragnarok Neo when they had been cast out into space after an…unfortunate chain of events.

That had been a good five years ago. Since then a whole plethora of Ragnaroks had been made, mostly for President Laguna's leisure – but they also came in handy for some SeeD missions, and SeeD had managed to acquire some of their own after helping Laguna…settle some debts, so to speak.

Suffice to say, they could house ten people more then comfortably for a good year, had space travel capabilities – although if you were to use the hyper-drive on Gaia the resulting shockwave would shatter every reflective surface from here to FH – and was a quick and relatively covert way to deal with some missions.

Covert, you say? Well, better to see a big friggin dragon bearing down on you then Balamb Garden. The targets were more likely to soil themselves then be prepared to fight when seeing a large red dragon coming at you at high-velocities.

Speaking of which, Trish looked up at the giant red dragon and simply uttered one syllable. "Guh…"

She had seen them neatly stored away in a gigantic hanger when she had infiltrated Esthar in order to steal some of Laguna's money – not all of it, just a little, and some other trinkets too – and seeing the great red dragon folded quietly in a hanger was nothing compared to seeing it in action. She had gasped when she had stumbled across them in the hanger – but her surprise then was pale in comparison to her surprise now.

Zell watched as it landed like he had seen it done a million times before, and thumped her on the shoulder, snuffing out the Fire in his palm as he walked towards where the loading-bay doors were opening. "Coming?" he shouted over the whine of the after-burners, the humour on his face evidently jabbing fun at her.

The shock of watching the giant dragon as well as the suddenly burst of coldness hitting her like a punch in the guts killed off her sharp retort, and she quickly ran after him.

*          *            *

Somebody was waiting for them on the edge of the loading bay's ramp as it came down, and as they got nearer, the face of the waving figure became clearer.

Squall immediately face-palmed out of habit. His father, the President of Esthar, had decided to accompany them. This hadn't been in the missions proceedings.

"Hey guys! I just decided to join you on your way to the Arch thingy, just to make sure nothing happens like the last time you borrowed the Ragnarok!" Laguna cried over the sound of the turbines, his smile as wide and ignorant as it always was. With silver on his temples and wearing a thick Estharian official winter robe, he looked every part of an Estharian President – until you looked him in the eye. Then he looked like an adventurer, an explorer, and  - mostly – and over-excited child. "Come on! We'll get you all snug and cosy in the leisure centre, and you guys can tell me what this is all about! Matt hasn't told me squat!!"

"Father, you do know what 'confidential' means, right?" Squall yelled as he lighted the landing bay.

"Hell, Squall, I can't even spell whatever that is!!" Laguna crowed, slapping a hand around Squall's shoulder – before seeing Rinoa gripping Squall's coat around her tightly, Squall still wearing it, the girl shivering within the warm confines. "By gods, Squall, when did you become joined to a woman?!" Laguna cried in surprise.

"This is Rinoa, father. Remember? Sorceress? Wings and smoking eyes?"

Laguna face-palmed. "Oh, right, silly me! How are you, my dear!?"

"…C-c-cold…"

"…Right, well, we'll get you all warmed up right quick, how's that sound?"

Zell chuckled and shook his head. "Clueless as ever, I see…" he muttered to himself as he joined the rest of the group as the followed Laguna in…before jumping in fright as he felt a pair of hands grip his back, turning his head to see a very frightened Trish cowering behind him. "What? What's wrong?" He asked as the landing bay doors shut behind them, shutting out the biting cold.

"Uh…Zell…you know how I broke into the Esthar Presidential Suite, right?"

Zell nodded. "Yeah. Your rap sheet showed that you stole a few personal items of Laguna's and left. You returned them a few days later, coz they were used to show the Thief's Guild you were good enough to get in and out without being seen."

"Yeah…right…well, about the whole 'unseen' bit…"

"Yeah?"

"…It's not exactly true."

Zell blinked, not knowing what to say. He spoke slowly, gesturing for her to continue. "So…this means what?"

She stamped her foot suddenly, her words slipping out of her mouth faster then she could stop them. "He was supposed to stay asleep, his REM patterns suggested that, but when I cracked the safe at the foot of his bed he woke up, and I had planned to take a short break to regain my strength before teleporting out of the room, but he asked me what I was doing, so I…" She stopped suddenly, looking down at her feet.

Zell frowned, dumbfounded. "You…what? What did you…" It slowly dawned on him, the answer peeking over the top of his bran before his mind grabbed it by the neck and pulled it harshly into the light. "Oh my Hyne. You didn't…do the nasty with Laguna, did you!?"

Trish was still looking at her feet as she nodded meekly.

Zell had to support himself, his hand hammering into the wall as he leant against it. "Oh my gods I'm going to be sick…"

"It all happened so fast!! I just gave him a kiss first, and I was supposed use my Sleepy Power on him while he was distracted, but he's a good kisser, and one thing lead to another, and…"

"Oh, now I'm really going to be sick…"

"He fell asleep afterwards, and nothing happened when I scouted the area the morning after, so I think he thought it was a dream…but for the love of the gods, don't tell him anything!"

Zell looked up from dry retching. "I wouldn't been able to if you hadn't told me!!"

"I know, but if he puts two and two together I want somebody to help me if he gets angry, that's all…"

"Okay, first off, Laguna would never be able to put two and two together, he's not the brightest when it comes to maths…" Zell muttered, regaining his composure. "And secondly, if he had any idea, he'd probably revel in the idea rather then bust you! I mean, have you looked in the mirror lately!? You're a walking piece of A-Grade, and believe me, Laguna would love the idea of getting with you."

Trish looked at him for a second, her expression unreadable. "I don't know wether or not to take that as a compliment."

"Take it as both, just don't slap me again!" Zell said, patting her on the shoulder. "And for the duration of the mission, could you keep the sexual gymnastic stories to yourself?"

"I'll try, but I'm not making any promises, Hunter!"

Zell sighed and rolled his eyes. "Thanks…I think…now come on, they'll be waiting for us."

*          *            *

Apart from a few vague stares, Laguna didn't seem to recognise Trish from his dream, and they happily avoided revealing anything top-secret to him as the Ragnarok made the quick trip to where the Arch was – the giant crater within the Almaj Mountains. Setting down a few meters from the edge of the invisible barrier that rebelled anything that tried to pass through it, the Ragnarok offloaded it passengers, the group of SeeDs waving goodbye to Laguna as he said his goodbyes from the edge of the loading ramp, almost falling off as the Ragnarok took flight.

Julius sighed happily, looking around himself in the valley. "He seemed nice enough…"

Trish blew out a long breath, one that she felt she had held the entire hour-long trip. "Yeah, a real saint…"

Zell shook his head. "Come on. We'll be late if we stick around with our thumbs up our butts."

They began to trudge forward, moving through the dry grounds with speed. Coming up to the edge of the crater, Zell reached out, his gloved hand moving forward unerringly – before suddenly stopping, as if he had placed it on a pane of crystal-clear glass. "Still freaks me out…" He muttered as he ran his hand over the invisible Barrier.

Supposedly it was the site of the first Lunar Cry, the first time that monsters from the Moon had fallen to Gaia in an enormous teardrop of blood. Nobody knew why the Barrier was there – it just was, and had been around for quite some time, long enough for people to forget when they realised that it had sprung up, basically overnight.

The centre of the crater was hard to make out from this distance, but the Arch, standing in elderly glory, marked it. Zell could see a lot of commotion going on around it, and he could also see the tracks leading from the tunnel dug underneath the Barrier, allowing entrance to the centre. Zell followed where the tunnel's exit was, and saw the mouth just a few yards away, making tracks towards it.

As they neared the mouth Zell realised that somebody was waiting for them. "Zell!" Commander Carpenter cried, looking splendid in his usual suit and tie combo as he waited at the mouth of the cave. "How are you? I heard of the fire in Garden – is everybody alright?"

"We'll survive, Commander – we always bounce back." Zell said, not really feeling like talking to the commander-in-chief of all the Gardens. "Are we all set?"

"Yes, Zell. Follow me." He gestured for the group to follow, and they did wordlessly, moving past several armed SeeDs into the dark cave. A large Estharian transport disc sat a few yards beyond the guards, and they all walked onto it, before Carpenter stepped on the activation device, the disc rising and floating down the tunnel at a relatively fast speed. Carpenter gestured to the roof of the cave as it whizzed past.

"We don't know why, but the Barrier doesn't penetrate the ground. Therefore, we figured that we could tunnel under it – and we were amazed when we found the Arch, right in the middle of the crater. Of course there are the Arches strewn all over Gaia from the Time Compression – but they were inactive, and had been inactive since Sorceress Ultimecia's death."

Carpenter continued to spout on about how they had set up a self-sufficient SeeD base in the centre of the crater, explaining how the hundred-strong crew of SeeDs examined and tested the Arch on an almost daily basis. "Of course, the research team only numbers in the twenties – the rest are guards and the such."

"Why so many?" Trish asked, standing alongside a silent Squall. "I mean, if you were just studying it, why would you need so many guards?"

"Precautions, my dear. After the Time Compression a whole swarm of new monsters managed to squeeze out of the Arches before they mysteriously shut off, and as these monsters were a lot more different from the regular monsters, this Arch does pose a serious threat to the safety of Gaia. The attack made by the three foreign elements proves that."

Sunlight began to peek out from the edge of the tunnel, and as they broke into the light, Carpenter smiled, waving his hand out dramatically. "We're here."

The tunnel ended closer to the Arch then Zell expected, and he couldn't help but gasp at the enormity of it. The towering marble pillars were larger and thicker then any Zell had seen before, and seemed to reach up into the heavens. The arch of the top, made of the same marble, as adorned with the same markings as the Time Compression Arches – except the arch was about fifteen times larger. Not only that, the entrance to the Arch – the area that twisted and twirled in paramagical anomalies and universal paradoxes – was different from the Time Compression ones.

Time Compression entrances had been a deep purple, Ultimecia's favourite colour, and had had a spiralling vortex that seemed to suck everything into it. This Arch, though bigger then the Time Compression Arches, was coloured a deep blue, and had no vortex – it simply sat there, still as water, the reflections of the universes paradoxes reflected perfectly.

Squall, uncharacteristically, gasped. "My gods…it's big enough to send entire platoons of troops through…"

"Exactly." Carpenter said. "If more of those foreign elements decide to come through, it would mean the end of Gaia. It took the entire security division to bring one to his knees – how would the world cope with a hundred of these soldiers? A thousand? Or the number in the picture that we acquired?" He sighed. "It just goes to show – we aren't as powerful as we like to think we are, even with the GFs."

"Speak for yourself…" Emily muttered arrogantly, looking up at the Arch as if she had a bad taste in her mouth.

They finally arrived at the edge of the Arch, the tiers of scaffolding wrapped around the edge of the marble pillars busy with scientists and soldiers, everybody scurrying to record the event or to simply reach their battle-stations – just in case something decided to stumble through.

Carpenter walked with Zell as the two of them lead the team to the edge of the Arch. "We're counting on you, Zell. We don't know what you'll find on the other side, all we have to go on is that you might come across resistance as soon as you get to the other side – so stay sharp."

"Of course, sir."

"And one more thing…" Zell turned to Carpenter, looking him straight in the eye as he placed a hand on the SeeD's shoulder, the Commander's words full of sincerity. "Good luck."

Zell nodded. "I don't think we'll be needing it…but thanks anyways, sir."

Carpenter nodded, before turning and walking down the ramp, passing the rest of the group without another word.

Now finally alone, Zell looked up at the Arch, fully accepting the sheer size and girth of the paranormal thing. He felt fear growing in his belly, an anticipating feel. You know what happens when you go through. The fear growled, scuttling around in his stomach like a rat trapped in a box. You'll be pulled apart and put back together again…your mind will become one with theirs…everybody will know you, and forget you…

Zell snorted, gripping the fear by the scruff of the neck and throttling it, feeling it's power flow into his confidence, feeling his stomach finally settle – before turning to the team.

Trish and Julius were looking up at the Arch in awe, a mixture of curiosity and fear on their faces. Rinoa's face mimicked their fear – but it lessened as Squall placed his arm around her, allowing her to feed of his unwavering confidence. His blank face stared straight at Zell, waiting for the next move. Emily stood a little apart from the group as usual, but her sight was also fixed on Zell, waiting for the order.

Zell gulped, turning to look at the mixture of movements within the screen of paranormal energy, before turning back to the team. "Okay guys, this is where I say something uplifting and courageous and get you all fired up to go…but I cant think of anything."

"We know, Zell…" Rinoa said, her voice calm. "We believe in you."

They all nodded except for Emily, who rolled her eyes and snorted.

Zell sighed again, before turning and reaching up hesitantly with a hand, reaching out with his fingers to probed the screen. His fingers slipped in smoothly, the wall of colour rippling with the action, and he pulled his fingers back out quickly, blinking in surprise. "Its…electrifying…" He muttered…before taking a deep breath and stepping in.

*          *            *

Imagine your soul twisting and turning, doing loop-de-loops with your mind and tying knots around your conscience.

Imagine your body twisting and turning, every bone smashing into paste before solidifying instantly, every vessel bursting before the droplets of blood smashed back into the lines, your eyes popping and enveloping back into reality.

Imagine a deep, burning pain from within as everything that you hold dear, everything you hold sacred – memories, wishes, lusts, desires – are torn from you and raped again and again before you, the images burning into the back of your eyes, your mind screaming that it cant take it anymore, that it will do anything to escape the horror, that it would kill in order to make the terror disappear…

*          *            *

He had walked into the Arch, but it spat him out like a person spitting out chewing gum, his body flying out of the other end of the Arch into the air, his limbs flailing like a tossed rag-doll…before he slammed into rocky ground, Zell's body twisting and tumbling along the ground before finally lying still.

Nothing moved. The ripples in the Arch subsided, like ripples on the face of a pond, time allowing the movements to slow to nothingness. Wind blew around the desolate area, the only plant life being small shrubs that barely even quivered with the wind, they were so pitiful.

It began to rain, the desolate wastes around the Arch suddenly turning red as blood as the rock-dust became wet, the clouds above thundering their hatred for the world as they cried tears of clear retribution.

There was no sound except the wind and the rain …and a cough.

Zell rolled onto his back, his body feeling like somebody had just played rugby all over it with nails in the boots and using a medicine ball to thump goals on his head, which throbbed like a pimple about to burst.

"Ohhh…" He groaned, running his hands painfully up and down his body to check if anything was broken. "I'm never doing that again."

He managed to flip himself up onto his feet, the initial pain now subsiding into the worst headache he had every felt, but he had a feeling that that would go away soon too. The rain helped, and he turned his head up to gulp at it greedily, before looking down at the massive pillars. He moved towards the Arch, expecting the others to come through any time now.

It didn't take long. As he neared the screen there was a cosmic boom, a cataclysmic clap of sound as another body flew out of it at high velocities, cleaning him up and causing the both of them to crash into the ground and skid back a yard or two. Zell managed to keep his balance, his boots digging into the hard rock as the body he caught slowly returned to inertia, and he looked down to see Trish convulsing in his arms, her eyes upturned into her head as she went into shock.

"Hang on, hang on…" Zell cried, running for the nearest puddle and scooping water into her face, tapping her lightly on the side of the cheek as her eyes finally rolled into the right positions. She stared blankly at him, before slowly bursting into painful tears, flinging her arms around his neck.

"I don't wanna do that again, please say we don't have to do that again!!" She wailed. "Everything hurt so much, I don't wanna do it again!!"

Zell rubbed her back soothingly. "There there…we wont have to for a while, and you're alright now, seriously, it's okay…"

Another sonic boom sounded, and Zell set Trish down and whirled on the spot, ready to catch the next person who came through…but he didn't need to.

Squall, Rinoa, Julius and Emily all walked out of the Arch, blinking in amazement in the rain – before falling to their knees, obviously fatigued from the fantastic journey. Rinoa huddled close to Squall, her cries ringing out into the night sky as Squall held her close, his own tears rolling down his cheeks. Julius had simply fallen to his knees, Veronica propping him up as his body fell backwards, and he sat like that, allowing the rain to fall on his face. He blinked, surprised, as the glass for his spectacles suddenly fell to his face, the metal frame disappearing before his eyes in a red flash.

Emily fell to her hand and knees, crawling form the Arch for a few seconds – before vomiting violently.

The travel had taken much more out of them then Zell had anticipated. He was feeling all right now – but the memory was burned into his mind now, no amount of GF use would erase it, and he did not want to go through the giant marble columns in a hurry.

He sat down wearily, the rain soaking his clothes as he pressed a stud on the side of his Orihalcon pack, the flap springing open. He pulled out his Uber Ehrgiez Gauntlets, the red and silver weapons of destruction slipping onto his hands as easily as a pair of latex gloves. "We'll take five…regain our strength…" He called, amazed to find his throat rather dry. "Then we'll start to head out."

*          *            *

Zell pulled the pack off his back, ignoring the rain as he opened the main compartment and rummaged around inside it – before finding a tiny vial of green glowing liquid.

Pulling the cork of the Potion out with his teeth and spitting it out, he greedily gulped the contents down, knocking it back like a shot of bourbon. Wiping his lips, he placed the small glass vial back into his pack – he found out when he was a kid that if he kept the vials, he was allowed to get them refilled at Item shops worldwide for half the price. It was a small money-saving technique that had saved him a lot of Gil during the Sorceress Quest.

He sensed somebody walk up to him, and swivelled in his seat to see Trish stumbled over, sitting down beside him with a wet plop. She looked at him dumbly for a second, before doing what he did – pulling her pack off, she reached into it and pulled out a Potion, doing the green glowing liquid in one go before tossing the vial away. She sighed as she turned to him. "So – was that what Time Compression was like?"

"No. That was hell. Time Compression was a walk in the park compared to that." Zell grumbled, heaving another sigh.

"No shit." Rinoa mumbled, staggering over to where they were sitting and plopping down next to Trish. "Time Compression was a breeze compared to that. That was…so…" She shuddered. "Ergh…"

"Don't remind me…" Zell mumbled, scratching the back of his neck, before looking up into the sky. "Well, at least the rain helps."

"Yeah…it doesn't feel that bad, actually…" Trish said, lifting her head to allow the water to fall into her mouth.

"Stop that!!" Somebody screamed, and everybody turned to see Squall run forward and tilt her head back down.

"What?! What's wrong with it?!" She yelled back, obviously pissed off that she couldn't take a drink.

"We're in a different universe." Squall muttered, his voice ice cold. "We don't even know if the air is alright to breath."

Everybody stopped then, the realisation hitting them like sledgehammers. "Oh…" Trish gasped, closing her mouth to the slew of swear words she was going to blast Squall to oblivion with.

"Don't be so hasty, Squall…" Julius called, and everybody turned to see him sitting on the ground cross-legged, a small laptop open and casting a bright blue glow on his face as he typed furiously. There was a tinny chime from the waterproof computer, before he closed it. "Analysis confirmed. Water's fine, air's fine. The only thing wrong with the planet is that it's got a different continent size on it. Where Galbadia is supposed to be is a small island – we're currently on where Esthar is."

Zell walked forward, poking a finger at the computer. "How'd you do that?"

"This is your general, all purpose SeeD field computer…with a few modifications done by myself, of course." Julius looked proud as he pulled a spare pair of spectacles from his pack, patting Veronica as he put them on. "I simply hacked into one of the weather satellites orbiting this Gaia."

Zell's smile was big and broad as he gave the computer whiz a thumbs up. "Cool, man! Good thinking!" He turned to Squall, who was looking at the computer in amazement. "See Squall! I knew it was a good idea to bring these guys!"

Squall paused for a second, contemplating what to reply with – before his brain suggested the usual reply. "Whatever."

Zell's bellowed laughs were cut short as a blast of hot Fire sizzled through the air, the resulting explosion ripping through the middle of the group and causing them to split. Zell's game face was on as he looked around, his mind a blur as he tried to figure out where the blast had come from. "Everybody on your guard! Hostiles in the area!" He yelled, putting his arms up in a defensive stance.

"Where?" Squall yelled back, ripping his pack off his back and pulling out his LionHeart, which he had hurriedly stuff into the pack at the last second of packing, activating the beam-sword and slashing it through the air, loosening the muscles in his wrist.

"Rinoa?" Zell yelled.

Rinoa reacted instantly, standing and concentrating – before her eyes glowed a bright green, the Scan magic flooding out into the waste-lands.

The areas around them were rocky, to say the least – for about a quarter mile the area around the Arch was flat as a piece of paper, but after that great chunks of rock stuck out of the ground, as if some magnificent battle had gone on, disrupting the very earth on which they stood.

The green bathed the areas in which Rinoa looked, and she turned her head to the right slowly, scanning the area with the magic – before the green suddenly died down and she pointed a finger at a small clump of upturned rucks. "There!!" She screamed.

Almost immediately every person with magic unloaded at the clump of rocks, the minerals being turned to atoms the moment the Fires, Thunders and Blizzards hit them. The rocks exploded into big rocky chunks, and dust was blown into the rain-filled air, covering the area they had just obliterated.

Julius took a step forward, his body shielding Veronica as she lay on the ground. "Did we get them?" He called.

Everybody waited with baited breath, waiting for the dust to clear, waiting for the sign of the all clear…

But the all clear wasn't given as five men, all clad in Orihalcon, walked up the slope on which they had destroyed. Two carried great, serrated swords – the rest were unarmed. One of the three who were unarmed waked forward, small markings on the chest and arms of his suit of armour. Lines of rank, Zell thought. Military…obviously.

This man lifted a hand, and the two swordsmen walked to the left quickly, the other two men moving to the right…before the first guy, obviously in charge, spoke, his chillingly robotic voice ringing clear even though they couldn't see past his helmet. "Anybody who passes through the Tidus dies. Make sure they don't escape."

*          *            *

It was like an order for war. One second they were advancing – the next, Zell was barking orders, taking control of the situation. "Julius, Emily, you take the two on the right! Squall, you and me will take the two on the left! Rinoa, go Angel and provide magic support! Trish stays back and keeps an eye open for an opportunity! Remember your training, stay sharp, and stay frosty! Do it!!"

Everybody paired off and got started. Zell and Squall exploded from their positions, Zell screaming a battle cry with malice and death as he bore down on the one on the far left, his sword held out to the ready. Squall ran forward, his LionHeart burning a deep slash through the ground as he skidded to a stop before the second one, his gunblade swinging up to meet his opponent.

Zell's punch cut a channel through the rain-filled atmosphere as the Adamantine slammed into the other man's chest, a great boom emitting from the two collisions as they slammed together. The man took the attack in stride, the punch forcing him back a step – before he advanced, the sword in his hands glinting in the lighting that scorched the skies as he slashed it across Zell's chest, the attack missing by mere millimetres as Zell flipped backward. Landing on his feet, Zell slapped aside another attack and pummelled the man's helmet, grabbing it forcefully and stuffing it under his arm before hammering it again, and again, and again…before the man grabbed Zell's leg and swung him around like a rag doll, over his head and away from him, Zell's body flying straight through the air to pass straight through a column of natural rock and slam into the ground behind it, skittling away from the fight at extraordinary speed.

Squall's attack had been halted by the other man's sword at the very last second, Squall's energy blade glowing a bright blue as the other man's helmet visor retracted like a sliding screen, showing Squall his eyes. They were a bright green, and full of anger. The two swordsman were locked in a stalemate, their blades pushing against each other's in a deadly battle of will – whoever lucked out would be on the attack, forcing the other to defend. Their swords sparked bright light as the edges screamed against each other, Squall's teeth gritted with effort as he pushed the LionHeart up, the bright blue glow of the energy blade casting an eerie effect on the Orihalcon as it reflected the light perfectly – before the man pushed down with a supreme effort, knocking Squall back momentarily – and that was all the time the man needed. He was immediately on the offence, his sword slashing and cutting sheathes of water out of the air as the attacks rang off Squall's blade, the Orihalcon edge singing as it slashed the very atmosphere in twain, forcing the SeeD back another step…then another…then another.

*          *            *

Emily and Julius had their hands full with the other fighters – literally. Emily didn't even run forward – she simply held her hand out, her eyes glowing a bright Blue, allowing her Controlled Float attack she cast to pick the man up and fling him high up into the air – before bringing him down in bone-crushing fashion, the man landing on his neck with a sickening 'prang', the Orihalcon metal ringing against the rocks as Emily threw her hand to the right, the man's body cutting chunks out of the ground as he was dragged across by the invisible force.

Julius ran straight up to the other man – and hammered his fist into his head, the fleshy sound of knuckle hitting metal ringing out over the clearing. Grimacing as the man took it in stride, Julius pulled his sore hand back and launched a devastating round-house kick to the mid-section, the SeeD boot hammering into the spot it was intended – without any response from the man. There was a robotic chuckle form the man as he watched Julius shake his hand painfully, and shrugged as if to say please continue.

Shit… Julius thought to himself, lowering his leg and taking a step back. I really need some protection on my hands before I break my knuckles on his armour. Focusing his power, Julius suddenly stepped forward; the bases of his palms placed together, the double palm attack blasting into the man's stomach. The man wasn't ready for the concentrated attack, and he stumbled back, holding his stomach, doubling over as if winded.

"Yeah. Like that?" Julius taunted, shaking his hands as if it they on fire, thankful for the cold rain soothing the red skin. "Want some more?"

"I don't want more…I want the whole thing!" The man growled, his voice coming out of the headset built into the helmet sounding more like a robot's then anything else. Before Julius could do anything, the man was on top of him, two solid punches to the solar plexus followed by a kick to the head, launching the hacker off into the distance to rebound off one of the Arch's pillars and smash into the ground, making a ditch

*          *            *

Rinoa watched the entire scene unfold before her, trying to keep her cool as she watched the first man standing a few yards away turn his head towards her, his features hidden by the impassive mask. It was obvious he was looking at her, and his body language suggested that he didn't know what he was seeing, the hand on his hip that had been casually place there at the start of the battle coming off slowly, the featureless face cocking slightly to the left in bewilderment.

She had just decided to give him a little taste of her power when she saw something happen behind the man. Trish?! How did she get there so fast?! The man seemed to sense something too as his body language changed once more from bewilderment to confusion, the reflective head turning to look behind him…

It didn't matter anymore, as Trish suddenly leapt onto the man's back, wrapping her arms around his neck and her legs around his chest, not letting go for anything. She searched desperately for what she was looking for as the man began to struggle, ripping at her legs and arms, trying to find purchase.

She finally found it, the release catch for the helmet, and pressed down hard, holding the pressure point down with all her strength. The man finally realised what she had been trying to do, and redoubled his efforts, finally grabbing her hand and ripping it up and off his neck, pulling her off him like a wet shirt and flinging her away – but not before the helmet went limp like a wet rag tossed over his head, and Trish grasped it desperately as she went flying through the air away from him. "Now, Rinoa, now!!" She screamed as she pelted towards the Sorceress with all the speed of a bullet – before disappearing in a puff of smoke.

Rinoa was surprised, sure – but if she was, she got over it real quick as she saw an opening. Flinging her hand out, the Thundara shot straight out of her fingertip, lacing through the rain-soaked atmosphere and frying the man's head, the electricity literally shearing the skull from the neck as if it was a blade of pure energy.

Pulling her smoking finger back, Rinoa blew it at the tip with practised bravado. "One down…" She whispered, looking down at Trish who lay at her feet panting, the Blue glow in her eyes fading away.

*          *            *

The rest of the Orihalcon crew seemed unhindered by their leader's death, and Squall's attacked didn't even register the event as he pushed Squall back more and more, Squall having to swing the energy blade with one hand to keep the Orihalcon sword from cutting him into Squall-cubes.

The event made an impact on Squall, however, and he managed to bring the advancement to another stalemate, the two swords booming once more as they clashed together, their edges beginning to spark once more as the stalemate upped the ante, the two men's muscles bulging in their suits as they pushed against each other more and more.

Squall's teeth were gritted in effort, and he began to growl with effort as he pushed back with all his might, forcing the man to step backwards – before Squall suddenly let off, the Orihalcon man stumbling forward erratically. Twisting with practice, Squall placed the tip of the LionHeart to the neck of the man – before pulling the trigger, the Pulse ammo slamming straight into the man's neck and sending him tumbling through the air, skidding across the floor – to roll to his feet, his sword still in his hands, his body heaving with deep breaths as the results of the attack left his body.

Squall stood calmly, his LionHeart held out before him – before he slowly drew it back, his feet spreading wide, his gloved hand travelling along the edge of the blade to hold the tip, his other hand holding it steady ion the rain. He was a sight to behold, cool, calm, collected.

The other man seemed to snort, shaking his head to the left – before running forward, his sword held low, slashing into the ground as his path headed straight towards Squall…

Everything slowed down. The man's sword was just coming up out of the ground as Squall skidded to the left, passing over his path and slashing the LionHeart across, the blue light from the blade travelling from where it had been shimmering calmly to where it was shimmering now – before everything sped back up, the Orihalcon over the man's head flying up with his head as the effects of the LionHeart caught up with physic, the man's neck suddenly blasting blood up into the air like a pump blasting water up into the sky.

The body tottered for a second, taking a few hesitant steps before falling to the ground. Squall stood where the attack had finished, the LionHeart's tip burning a small line into the ground where it had almost become stuck., his demeanour as calm as it had been had he been eating a hotdog. Two down…he thought to himself, allowing the water to sooth his soul.

*          *            *

Emily finally allowed the man she had been playing with to drop, his limp body falling to the ground like a piece of string, long and floppy. She walked over easily, her smile huge as she watched him flail on the ground slowly, trying to take his bearings as the memory of flat land finally came back to him.

"Not so tough…" She muttered as she held a hand out over his body, whispering a word of power as the small rocks around her suddenly levitated into the air…

…Before her palm erupted into fire, the Flare attack devastating anything within it's path, the Orihalcon clad man included. "Pathetic…" She spat – before the man Julius had been fighting smashed her across the head in a king-hit, sending her flying into the debris of disturbed earth her quarry had made when he had been digging ditches with his body. She was out cold almost instantly, only able to lift a hand in protest – before the hand fell flat.

The rain pounded the ground harder as the man stepped forward to deliver the finishing blow – before a boot smashed into his side, causing him to stumble away from Emily's limp body. Julius stamped his foot into the ground before her, blocking the Orihalcon man's path. "Oi!" Julius yelled over the sounds of the storm. "You're fight's with me!"

He was bleeding from the cut on his temple from when he had deflected the column with his face, but he set his arms by his sides and bared his teeth the ground beneath him suddenly blasting into a small circle as he upped his paramagical wattage – and smashed his fist into the Orihalcon's stomach, the man doubling over from the super-charged punch. Not stopping there, Julius grabbed the shiny head and pulled it down into a brutal knee to the face, before picking him up bodily and tossing him away, the man's metallic form disappearing behind a cleft of rocks.

Julius was breathing heavily, the amount of energy needed to deliver these kids of attacks taking too much to use. Gritting his teeth, he placed a step back, slamming his palms together and concentrating all his paramagical energy into the magic he was about to cast, the bright white light forming in his palms brilliant in the night's darkness.

He watched as the cleft of rocks from where he tossed the man was suddenly destroyed, the man's footsteps echoing over the clearing as he sped back towards Julius, Julius certain he could see anger in the man's reflective visor.

Julius bided his time until the man was basically on top of him – before flinging his hands out, the activation word screaming out of his mouth setting of the massive beam of magical energy.

"Holy!!"

Immediately the man's body was bathed in a bright white light that ate away at practically everything in it's path. Julius could swear he saw the Orihalcon bubbling – before the man's scream rang across the clearing, cut short as the Holy wave obliterated everything in it's path.

*          *            *

Now alone, the final man seemed to hesitate, not seeming to know what to do.

Squall and Rinoa walked over to each other, looking into each other's eyes before looking over at him. Julius joined them, Emily slung over his shoulder, his eyes filled with the same resolve as the rest of them. Trish walked over too, crossing her arms and smiling smugly. "What you gonna do now, bitch?" She called over the rain.

The man didn't hesitate again, taking his stance with his sword. Ready for anything, he wasn't ready for what happened next.

Zell rammed into him from behind, his eyes full of fury from behind taken out of the fight so early. Grasping him by his back plate, Zell lifted him up and over his body, before tossing him out into the horizon. The team took a collective step forward, before Zell waved his hand out. "No way! This dork is mine!!" He bellowed, before flaming in red fire – and disappearing after the man.

*          *            *

He had lost his blade, but that didn't mean he wasn't defenceless, and Zell watched as he took in his Hasted appearance and clenched his own fists, his own metal-clad body bursting into red fire as his speed was suddenly doubled.

The two fighters looked at each other for a second, gauging where the weak/strong points in each other would be – before simply disappearing from view, their bodies moving do fast the rain didn't even seem to fall on them. Loud metallic clangs rang out into the night as Orihalcon met Adamantine, and loud battle cries followed the echoes as pieces of Orihalcon suddenly appeared out of thin air, the pieces falling to the muddy ground like wet towels, the armour slipping off more and more as the attacks Zell launched made a lasting effect on the man's body.

They suddenly appeared, their hands locked together in a stalemate, a deadly battle of mercy being waged as the men stared down at each other, their growls and bellows reaching the others without any resistance from the rain. Zell looked t the man, his face bruise and red, his lip spit and bleeding. The armour on his head, chest and left arm had fallen away, and underneath he didn't look like anything different – he looked like a normal human being.

Suddenly stepping backward, Zell kicked his boots into the man's chest, launching him up into the air – where Zell let go a volley of Fires, the attacks making his body twitch and convulse as they hammered into his torso, the fallen armour not doing him any good now. Finally ready for the finishing blow, Zell lifted both hands into the air, palms out; fingers splayed – to blast great gouts of magic, the Firaga turning the man's body to ash.

Zell watched as the armoured pieces of his corpse fell from the sky, landing in the wet mud with nothing more then a loud 'splut' – the legs and right arm falling a few yards away from one another.

He let out a big sigh, and pulled off his Uber Ehrgiez gauntlets, feeling his knuckles underneath the powerful Adamantine give way with each tug with his teeth. Allowing the gauntlets to fall to the mud, he curled his damaged hand into fists, feeling the Cura work it's magic, feeling the knuckles return to their rightful places, feeling the numerous cuts and bruises melt into nothingness.

Standing upright, he looked over to see the rest of the group staring at him. He blinked, looking down at the gloves on the muddy ground, before picking them up and allowing the mud to pour out of the metal gauntlets. Orders…give them orders…

"Take any Orihalcon we can use for boots and gloves, and toss the rest into the Arch. We'll find someplace to hole up until the rain goes after that."

*          *            *

Well? What did you think? Have I still got it, or have I still got it?

I'm not sure about Squall's sword battle – there will be more sword fights within this, and even thought Irvine won't make another appearance until the near end, there will be some major gun battles too.

Did you spot the FFX tip-of-the-hat? If not, you're certain to see it later, as that's what these people call the Arch, as well as some other things!!

Well, I'm going to have a rest. I just got major sunburn today, and am feeling all hot and bothered from writing that fight.  I think I'll have a cool drink and a lie down…then I'll get right back onto Tournament 2! Remember, tell your friends to read!!