Ch 10 – New Power
Zell back flipped wildly, narrowly missing Julius as the doorknob ricocheted off the floor and into a wooden pillar, embedding itself into the brown wood with a shattering 'thunk'. Regaining his footing, Zell strafed out of the line of fire as electricity coursed it's way through the door, destroying anything it connected with.
He ducked behind a pile of boxes, trying to think. "Dammit!!" He cursed, looking around him as everybody else took cover, shards of wood, stone and glass flying all over them. "We need to get back up the stairs and into the main rooms! We're sitting ducks here!!"
Suddenly Emily stood, a wild determined stare in her eyes as they twitched slightly, her junctioning complete.
"Emily! No!" Trish cried as the Goth took off, her feet smashing into the concrete ground as she made a beeline towards the stairs, her body flitting through the electricity as if she could anticipate the jagged energy's paths. One second she was on the basement floor, the concrete kicked up by her footsteps exploding in contact with the Thundaga being pointed down the stairs – the next she was ricocheting off the basement-stair walls, dodging the incoming paramagic wildly – to disappear through the door.
A battle cry sounded, followed by the 'ding' of attacks hitting Orihalcon, the Thundaga dying down almost immediately. There was the sound of smashing wood, and Emily was blown back down the stairs, rolling to a stop just at the foot of the ground, plaster and woodchips settling beside her. She opened her eyes almost immediately, flipping to her feet just in time to avoid several shards of ice slam into the ground where she had just lay.
There was a subtle disturbance in the paramagic in the air, and Zell's eyes widened. "Fuck! Look out!!" Zell screamed, pushing up from his cover and running to aid his comrade. He had watched her junction her magic, and it was obvious the choices she had made – judging by her speed and by the time she had lasted upstairs, she had placed all her dependant magic in her strength and speed – leaving almost nothing to her elemental defences.
Coming up behind her, Zell wrapped his arms around her waist and spun around, his Shell flaring up around them just as the Flare hit them, the two SeeDs disappearing in searing hot flame, which ate away at the wooden boards and pillars.
Rinoa threw her hand out from behind her cover, casting Float into the Flare, and Zell and Emily suddenly flew out of the attack, falling to the floor unceremoniously and skidding to a stop before being psychically pushed behind some marble slabs.
Zell's shirt was burnt away at the back, and his back was red raw with burns, bleeding blisters on the scarred skin. Emily struggled out of his grip – to turn and see he was knocked out, the attack obviously being too much for him to handle. "He mustn't have been able to bring the Shell up in time…" Rinoa said, quickly hurrying over to him and placing her hands on his wounds. "He'll be fine – but we need to figure out a way to get out of here."
Emily watched as the Sorceress healed Zell, her hands glowing a bright green – before looking up at the ceiling, her cold eyes suddenly mirthful.
* * *
"What do you have to say for yourself?" The Heart Warrior said to Ten'Kal, his robotic voice filled with vehenemonous hatred.
Ten'Kal sat on the floor of his living room, his body trembling with fear as he clutched Te'Kal close to him. "We were simply helping them! We did nothing wrong!!"
"Such audacity towards the Queen must not go unpunished. You're as disgraceful as they are." The warrior held his hand out then, the fire in his hands seeming to signify the end of Ten'Kal's life…
…Before a large hump appeared to form from the bottom of the carpeted floor – which then exploded outward, the Meltdown blasted straight through the floor and through the rooms above. A girl with glowing blue eyes suddenly flew out of the smoking hole, looking about her slowly – before sighting the Heart Warrior and smiling.
* * *
Another explosion flashed light from the hole, and Julius pointed up. "A way out." He muttered, before jumping through easily.
Squall watched the hacker move, before turning to Rinoa. "Will you be alright with him?"
"Just go, Squall. I'll be with you in a minute."
Squall nodded, before jumping through the hole as well, up into the fray.
Zell suddenly opened his eyes and rolled over, looking up at the ceiling. "Hyne, what just happened?" He gasped, remembering the searing pain of the Flare as it pushed straight through his hastily cast Shell. "I've never felt power like that in my entire life!!"
"These warriors seem to have a nice collection of magic as well." Rinoa said quietly, pushing herself to her feet. "They are much, much stronger then we anticipated."
Zell watched her as she jumped up through the hole, the obvious exit from the room – before looking at the destroyed stairs, a cold anger in his eyes. "Try to hurt me, will you?" He muttered to himself as he pushed himself to his feet and stalked towards the doorway…
* * *
Three Heart Warriors were waiting for him as he moved silently out of the basement, their helmets turned to the fight in the living room. Zell didn't bother to take in his surroundings much as he quickly stepped up to the first, smashing his fist into the man's stomach, causing him to double over. Acting quickly, Zell wrapped his arm around the bent man's neck, before jerking it upward, the audible snap signifying the breakage through the indestructible yet flexible metal.
This got the attention of the other two – a swords man and a duelist. The swords man quickly stepped forward, his jagged blade slashing through the air where Zell had just been. Zell strafed to the side just at the last second, colliding with the hallway wall – before kicking his leg out to arrest the Heart's blade on the opposite wall. The man looked up at Zell – before Zell twisted his body up and around, the leg supporting him flinging out and snapping across the man's head. The attack did two things – the first was that it sent the man flying through the hallway door outside. The second was that it sent Zell to the floor, landing on his belly.
Blinking, he swivelled to the side, his head barely missed by the foot that stomped down into the wooden floorboards. There was an electronic gasp of surprise, before Zell flicked his leg out to trip his assailant, causing her to fall to the floor with Zell.
Zell quickly rolled out of the way – to swerve suddenly, the Firaga's blasting gigantic holes through the house as he quickly ducked behind a door, into another room.
* * *
Back in the living room, Emily was in a spot of trouble.
She had seen contestant number one – but had failed to see contestants two, three, four and five standing behind her.
She had floated forward, her hand slashing out to smash the first Heart in the face – before adding a bit of Blue to the attack, sending the man careening into the wall with a psychic push. Then she had felt a hand on her shoulder grab her roughly – before it was ripped away.
Turning to expect another enemy, she watched as Julius grabbed her second assailant by the torso and toss him backwards into the other Hearts, their bodies colliding together like metal bowling pins. Squall jumped through the hole in the ground – before roiling forward, kicking Julius' feet out from under him as the Flare blasted the roof out from above them, debris flying all over the place as the Forbidden magic stabbed a bright beam into the sky.
Julius flipped to his feet – "Thanks" – before throwing his own hands out, both palms flat, his voice reaching an octave as he screamed the activating word. "Meltdown!!"
The blast hammered into the Heart warriors, destroying the wall they had been pressed up against and sending them flying out into the street. Julius turned to Squall and Emily. "It wont be enough to take them out, but we got some time to prepare now."
Squall turned to his pack, which was resting against a wall. It had been opened, the contents strewn all over the floor thanks to the paramagic sizzling through the air moments before. His eyes darting through the debris, he suddenly flicked his boot out to kick his LionHeart up into the air, the energy blade activating midair as he caught it – to slash three bullets out of the air!!
The sounds of gunfire suddenly reached them, and Squall ducked behind a wall, the two fighters following suit as the areas in which they stood was suddenly peppered with bullets. "A sniper." He muttered, watching as the bullets dropped from where he had cut them to the floor, falling neatly in half as they hit the floor. "We'll get Trish to deal with him…where'd she go, anyways?"
* * *
In the kitchen, Trish was busy with her own problems.
Ducking out of the way as another slash from the sword wielder cut a chair in twain, she span and kicked him square in the side, her boot cracking painfully onto the Orihalcon armour, sending the man into the kitchen bench lining the wall.
"Aiyaaa…" she grimaced as she rubbed her foot. "Better not do that again."
The sword suddenly cut through the air above her – to slam into the floor, cutting through the smoke of her teleport as she appeared on the other side of the room. She laughed out loud – before yelping in terror as the man turned on her again, overturning the table situated in the middle of the room to get to her.
Trish suddenly wished she had followed the others instead of teleporting out of the basement into the kitchen, where she had hoped it would have been safe – but no, she just had to bump into the idiot who had been making himself a bowl of the weird goo, who had looked as startled as her for a second – before pushing his helmet on and grabbing his sword.
That had been four chairs and a bench ago, and Trish was getting tired of teleporting around. Her knowledge of magic wasn't as adverse as the others, and as a fighter her skills were obviously nowhere near the same as the SeeDs. All she could do was avoid the big dope until somebody helped her or an opportunity presented itself.
It occurred to her that she should just teleport out of the room altogether – but then the big beam of fire had obliterated half the wall, so she figured it would be just as safe in here then it would have been outside.
Yelping in terror as the man stepped forward, she jumped to the side, narrowly avoiding the blade as it slashed back down at her. Something inside her told her to duck too, and she decided to not ignore it, seeing as it had been right so far, and the blade that had slashed down suddenly turned into a carving cross, passing over her head with only a few golden hairs sacrificed.
Rolling up to her feet, she narrowed her eyes as she looked at the man once more, his body language signifying his growing frustration. "Fine. You wanna play rough…I'm just going to have to pull out the big guns." She said, gritting her teeth and holding her hands out.
Her assailant hesitated for a moment – and that was all the time she needed to teleport behind him and kick out for the back of the knee, causing him to kneel down on one pin. The man slashed out viciously behind him – but she simply jumped over the attack, pushing off the man's head and onto the last remaining chair, which sat just at the other end of the room.
Balancing delicately on top of the wooden chair on one leg, she reached out with one hand and beckoned the man forward with a coy smile.
The man threw his free hand to the side in aggressive anger, before pushing up to his feet and running forward, his sword held before him like a ramming stylus.
The desired reaction. Falling nimbly to a sitting position just in time for the blade to pass over her head, Trish slapped the two front legs out from under the chair, causing it to tip forward and slam the backrest into the man's stomach whilst allowing her to slip out through his legs. Grasping the two loose chair-legs as she went, she couldn't resist cracking the backs of his legs once more, before swinging the wooden poles up and down viciously on the sides of the man's head, the 'clang' of wood hitting metal hard on Trish's ears.
For the Heart Warrior, it was unbearable. The reverberating armour vibrated straight through his head, and he fell to his hands, one fist ripping the helmet away to stop the ringing, the empty Orihalcon skittering across the floor to rest against a wall..
An opportunity!! Trish's mind screamed as the man's shock of blond hair suddenly came into view, and Trish raised her chair-legs high…
…To be rocked off her feet as something bashed into the ground, causing the wooden floorboards to tremble, throwing her off balance.
* * *
One doorway away, in the dining room, Zell and the Dueling Warrior faced off, their attacks rocking the floor as the Heart grabbed Zell by his face and smashed his body into the floor, his head crashing straight through the floorboards.
The Heart paused momentarily – before Zell's hands grabbed the arm holding him, ripping the hand free of it's grip on his head and tossing her up into the roof, the Heart smashing into the roof and causing a person-shaped crater to form in the plaster.
Rolling out of the way to allow the Heart to fall, Zell jumped up and onto the dining room table, skidding backwards over the long wood as the Heart jumped up and threw her leg high up into the air, bringing it down on her end of the table. The table suddenly flew up into the air, sending Zell flying – straight into the Heart.
He crash tackled the woman through the nearest wall, the plaster and wood blasting out around them as they fell to the tiled kitchen floor, Zell's punches booming into the woman's face-plate, his Orihalcon-covered Uber-Ehrgiez ringing out with each punch.
"Look out!!" Somebody screamed – and Zell turned his head slightly to see a Heart without a helmet on holding his hand out, pointing it at Zell's back.
"Fool me once…" Zell muttered as he suddenly twisted, switching places with the woman under him and holding her up to take the full force of the Blizaga as it slammed straight through her Orihalcon, the thick shards of ice exploding in a bloody display from her chest-plate.
Zell kicked the woman off him, the body slamming into the attacking Heart, before flipping backwards – into another person!
This person wrapped her arms around his torso – and before he could fight back, they were suddenly surrounded in smoke, sitting in the middle of the living room. Zell looked around – to see a surprised Emily, Julius and Squall. "Get over here!" Squall screamed – but it was too late.
The bullet slammed into Trish's shoulder, taking a meaty chunk with it, causing her to cry out in pain as Zell pulled her out of the line of fire. Her screams were only muffled as Emily returned fire, sticking her head out to blast a volley of Firas at the area in which the sniper was supposed to be.
"This is a friggin war zone!" Julius screamed, flinching as several more bullets slammed into the remnants of the wall he was ducking behind. "We've only scratched the surface of these dudes! They're just too strong!"
"They're not invincible!" Zell yelled at Julius over Trish's screams, grabbing her hand and pressing it down on her bloody bullet wound before addressing her. " Trish! Trish, keep calm! Just keep pressure on it!"
"Grrrrr…" Trish growled as Zell pushed her hand onto the wound before grabbing his shirt and pulling him close. "…Dincht, when I get over this I'm going to beat the shit out of you, you fucking dickhead!!"
Emily's smile grew larger, impressed with the moxy of the cat-burglar. "The thief has spirit."
"Well, that's that plan out the window…" Squall muttered, looking down at Trish as she writhed in pain. "That'll take a while to heal, and we don't have too much time! We need to get out into the street and take out the rest of these guys!"
"Well, if you can take care of the sniper, we'll be able to!" Julius yelled, more bullets slamming into the wall behind him. "But what else are we supposed to do?"
His shouted words were suddenly cut off as a larger feathered being flew out of the hole in the ground and into the multi-sunned sky, flapping it's white wings with a strength unheard of, the speed causing it to fly past like a blur.
* * *
Rinoa had had enough. It had been bad enough having to be forced to wake up – but now her tasty, yet mildly disgusting, breakfast had been interrupted.
And to top it off, her new friend had just been shot.
The white feathered wings flapped behind her forcefully as she rose higher, weaving left and right as Thundagas and Blizagas burned their ways through the air at her, the Heart Warriors in the street taking pot-shots at her as she made her way to the building down the street.
Ten'Kal's house had been at the end of a dead-end, and the only good sniping position was in the house that was situated at the other end of the bottle-neck entering the road. Flying high in the sky, she counted an additional five Heart's exit the house as she flew forward, their hands pointed up at her as she dipped her wings, slashing through the hot air toward the ground at break-neck speed. She ducked and weaved through the barrage of magic flying at her, her smoking white eye darting this way and that as she psychically disposed of the magic's that came too close for comfort – before arriving just before the house.
Before she careened through the window, she threw a small magic into the room where the sniper was situated, the glowing dark ball of energy smashing through the glass window next to the open one in which the sniper was aiming out of. Banking her wings sharply, she took off straight up, the tails of her blue coat scraping against the wall of the house as she climbed higher, her wings flapping powerfully as she disappeared into the clouds.
The Heart looked down at the small ball as it bounced off the wall to rest beside him – before it flashed, then exploded, disintegrating the room and half the floor in an instant, the Ultima eradicating anything and everything in it's path.
* * *
"Well, that's one way to do it…" Zell muttered as he watched half the house simply disappear in a flash of dark light.
"Whatever." Squall muttered, jumping up and over the ruined wall into the street.
Julius followed suit, pushing his glasses up onto the bridge of his nose before jumping up after Squall.
Emily was about to follow suit before Zell grabbed her. "Em – take care of her." He said, pointing at Trish who lay on the floor.
She narrowed her eyes as she looked at Zell, who rolled his. "Not that way, dammit – take care of her, as in heal her? Rinoa's gone fly-about, Squall and Julius have decided to attack, and I've only got Cures on me right now. You've got some of those Regen based Blues like Sheran and Clara, right?"
Emily scowled at him, before turning to the whimpering Trish, her bloody wound spluttering gore everywhere. "Fine. But it'll take some time. I don't exactly have much use for it."
"Just do it." Zell stood and placed a hand on the Goth's shoulder, before vaulting over the side of the ruined wall into the fray.
"You owe me, Hunter…" Emily muttered as she held her hand over the wound, her eyes glowing a bright blue…
* * *
Zell stepped into the cobblestone street – to duck a Fire as it exploded against the wall of a house next to him. He turned to the man who had fired it at him and walked forward purposefully, pointing his finger at the guy. "You. Come here." He muttered as he began to attack.
Squall faced off against a group of Hearts, his LionHeart cutting a bloody swath through them as he ducked into the middle of them, swinging the energy blade left and right, finding the weak points in the plate-armour and slashing straight through them, just like his first battle at the Arch. Two Hearts were down before one Heart jumped forward, Squall slamming his sword into the man's chest, the energy blade digging deep into the Orihalcon with difficulty. Tugging at the blade desperately, Squall realised that it was stuck – and that he was in a world of trouble as the men he was previously whaling on now stood, coming for him with a vengeance.
Thinking quickly, Squall improvised. Lifting the body of the man over his head, Squall swung the blade down at the nearest opponent, using the blade as a club now, the man's flailing limbs only helping him as he smashed one opponent aside. Turning sharply, the LionHeart's tip was suddenly caught by a Heart as Squall swung the blade at him, the Heart Warrior grabbing his comrade's body and pulling Squall forward, trying to rip the weapon from the SeeD's grip.
Instead of fighting against it, Squall followed through, suddenly pushing forward with all his force and ramming the blade deep into both bodies as the Heart grabbing the tip of the blade was slammed into a wall, the shimmering blue blade digging deep into his torso. Pulling up with all his might and screaming at the top of his lungs, Squall ripped the blade from both bodies, a red line trailing from the middle of both bodies – before blood spurted freely from the vital wound, spraying the general area red with life-force.
Panting heavily from the effort used to run the energy blade through the nigh-indestructible armour, Squall rolled just to miss a large club aimed for his head, the attack crushing the cobblestones underneath it. The SeeD looked up to see a large Heart lift the heavy club up once more – before a magic attack slammed into the man's back, causing him to topple to the floor.
"Thanks…" Squall called to Julius, whose' smoking hand was still pointed at the fallen Heart.
"Don't mention it." Julius muttered, walking up and firing off some more Firagas into the man's back, the flames blasting straight into the metal, the hacker wanting to make sure that the larger Warrior wasn't going to get back up.
Spinning suddenly, Julius' hand arrested a Heart's fist, the attack stopping mere inches from the hacker's head with a resounding clang. Julius smiled at the Heart. "This Orihalcon stuff is great, huh? I can barely feel it when I do this…"
He paused in his words to smash his fist into the man's stomach, before unleashing a Meltdown into the chest cavity, the beam of paramagic blasting straight through the torso and into the building behind him, blowing a hole straight through the walls of the house.
Tossing the body away, Julius turned – to be knocked down by two Hearts, the one with a staff knocking his legs out from beneath him whilst the other jumped on top, pressing his knife against the hacker's throat. Julius was barely able to grab the hand, arresting the stabbing motion, as he looked over to Squall. "Hey! Wanna return the favour?!"
Squall didn't answer as he watched two other Hearts come from an alleyway. "Deal with it yourself." The commander said, before lifting his gunblade, taking careful aim.
The two hearts looked at each other, their body language suggesting that they took the pose as humorous – before a Pulse round slammed into the head of the first, sending him flying into the ruins of a house. The second Heart watched his comrade fly away, obvious surprise in his movements – before Squall was upon him.
Moving fast, Squall slashed the legs out from beneath the Heart with the blunt edge, causing the Heart to fall to his back, landing squarely. Squall stepped over him, and lifting the sword up high, stabbed it down. The blue energy blade crushed straight through the Orihalcon, blood spurting from the faceplate as the blade stabbed straight through the helmet. The Heart's arms jittered slightly – before lying still.
Squall pressed him foot against the neck of his dead foe and wrenched the blade from it's position, before turning to the two pinning Julius down. "How about picking on me, boys?" He growled – before spinning, his LionHeart slashing sideways to slash a Firaga blast squarely in two!!
The Heart who had been kicked into the destroyed building had remerged, his hand smoking from the paramagical blast. His helmet hung in his free hand by his side, a large dent where the face-plate was. The man's face was bloody, his nose seemingly turned inwards.
Squall shook his head tiredly – before bringing the LionHeart back up, the motion taking less then a second as his hand was up and firing, the Pulse ammo screaming through the air – to be deflected by the Heart!!
The Heart lowered the damaged helmet, the bullet still smoking in the dent that had appeared – before tossing it aside and dashing forward, his arms raised as he bolted towards Squall. From plates within his forearm armour, two long shivs appeared and fell into his hands, the man almost on top of Squall…
…Who knelt suddenly, the double-attack passing over his head!!
The man paused over Squall's body, looking down at the young SeeD…before coughing, blood spurting from his mouth and splattering to the ground. He looked further down to see the glowing blue sword stuck deep, almost hilt deep, into his chest.
Squall grimaced, then turned his blade, the blue energy sizzling as it burned and cut simultaneously through the man's chest cavity – before Squall stood and kicked out with his foot, the man falling effortlessly from Squall's gunblade to land on the disturbed ground.
Squall flicked the larger amount of blood from the energy blade, before watching the rest simply dissolve from its pure shape, like red stream poured onto a hot rod of steel. He then turned to the two attacking Julius once more.
Zell missed all this as he tussled with the Heart who had popped a shot off at him. He had chased the Heart farther down the road – to meet with the addition five Hearts who had been in the sniper's building, the reinforcements coming out of doors and alleyways. Zell blinked as he slowed his chase, winding down to a slow walk as the five Hearts walked forward. Two were armed with staves, on with a sword, leaving the other three as fist fighters.
Zell blinked as the Hearts advanced slowly, taking a step back as he shot a look behind him. "Uh, fellas, a little help?" He yelled – before seeing an exhausted Squall advance on the two Hearts who had Julius pinned down. Zell turned his sight back on the advancing Hearts and swore. "Shit…well then, lets get this over with."
All six men advanced, and Zell was in the middle of swords, fists and staves as he called on all his strength and speed to dodge and duck wildly, the attacks coming closer and closer as they forced him back into the dead-end.
A staff-carrier swung his weapon down with precision, causing Zell to catch it in his hands at the last moment – before a fighter slammed his fist into Zell's unprotected stomach, the punch blowing the wind out of the SeeD and forcing him to stumble back – into the swinging staff of the man behind him, the staff cracking into Zell's back excruciatingly. Zell went flying forward into a fist-fighter, causing both of them to topple to the ground.
Zell lifted up off the man – before ramming his head down hard, the Booya smashing into the Orihalcon faceplate as hard as the SeeD could muster. The attack could dent the thickest Adamantine – but all it did was cause a great ringing noise as bone connected to metal, and chicobos were suddenly dancing in Zell's vision. "Whoa…not a good idea…" he mumbled as hands grabbed him and threw him off the Warrior into a wall, his body digging into the stone as the rock crumbled around him.
Blinking hard, Zell watched in a daze as the sword-wielder stepped forward, his sword swinging behind his shoulder in the classic baseball bat swing…
The sword slashed forward almost too fast for Zell to see – but his reflexes astounded even him as his hands flew up and caught the blade, slapping against the sides and arresting the attack mid-swing!
The reactions of the Hearts would've been amusing if Zell wasn't done playing. Gritting his teeth, he allowed his energy to flow outward, filling his body with strength as the junctioned magic activated, blasting the stone around him away from his body as he focused on the task at hand. Ripping the sword from the man's grip, Zell rammed the butt into the faceplate, knocking the Heart to the ground, before stepping out of the crater in the wall.
Setting his hand by his sides, he screamed out to the heavens. "Aura!!" He bellowed, the yellow flame suddenly enveloping him as his power-levels suddenly peaked, blasting straight through their usual top-off points into through-the-roof territory.
"Meteor Barret!!" He screamed, before suddenly appearing before a Heart, his fist buried into the man's stomach. The man dropped his staff, the long metal weapon slipping from his grip – before physics caught up with him, launching him from Zell's fist into the nearest house, his body flying straight through the walls of the house into the one behind it.
The glowing SeeD then turned to the other Hearts, the five warriors taking their stances as the Hunter cast his eye over them, his body trembling with the amount of energy coursing through it. "No takers? Fine…" Zell growled.
Appearing behind the fist-fighter he had Booyaed faster then the eye could comprehend, Zell picked him up and threw him into the nearest Warrior, the two Hearts flying down the street to carve a deep groove into the cobbles. Looking down at the ground, Zell spied the staff, and he kicked out with his foot, kicking it up into his hands before spearing it at the two Warriors, staking them both to the ground.
He then turned to the one moving forward, his fist flying out – to slam straight into Zell's face!!
Zell didn't seem to react to the attack – he simply reached up with both hands, grabbing the wrist and the elbow and bending the arm. The forearm jarring unnaturally, a brittle snapping noise notifying the breaking of the elbow, and Zell could swear he heard screams from the noise-proof helmet of the Heart Warrior. It's didn't matter anymore as Zell grabbed the man by the neck and the crotch and lifted him up over his head. "Meteor Strike!!" He screamed, before jumping up and spinning through the air, slamming the Heart's body down into the ground with such force as to make blood spurt out from the cracks that occurred as Zell's hands dug into the Orihalcon.
Zell was breathing heavy now, the Aura taking its toll on his body. The unnatural flow of energy was now doing more damage then good, and Zell needed to finish off quickly before he burned out or had a Limit Arrest. Jumping up and out of the four-foot crater that had appeared after launching the Meteor Strike, Zell moved purposefully towards the last remaining Heart. The man walked backwards slowly, his hands out in a defensive stance…
…before Zell was knocked off his feet, something smashing him in the back. Bringing himself to his knees, he turned his head – to see the swordsman standing, his broken sword discarded, dark energy forming in his hands once more. The Demi was formed in the man's hands once more, Zell able to see slightly through the dark energy – before it smashed into his body once more, blowing him from his sitting position to skip across the ground, slapping out with his hands to land on his feet as his trajectory finally slowed.
He landed on his feet easily – before his legs buckled, unable to withstand his weight. He collapsed to one knee, the yellow flame around him dissipating, his power-levels dropping back down to their normal levels. He looked up at the two Hearts as they began to advance, before shaking his head and looking down. The Demi's had knocked away all his stamina, and his body felt like it was running on empty – he couldn't move anymore.
He was about to try for a Limit Break with the second Heart suddenly exploded in big, meaty chunks. No warning, very surprising – one moment he was advancing, the next his Orihalcon seemed to come apart at the seams, the flesh beneath it exploding without a moment's notice.
The first Heart looked down at the still-standing boots of his comrade – before looking up at the sky.
Rinoa floated up in the sky, her hand held out – before it flashed red once more with the Death symbol, the arcane mark traced in the air so fast you couldn't see the Sorceress move her fingers. Zell could swear he saw a dark figure appear before the Heart, a long scythe in it's bony hands – before he too exploded, the air suddenly filled with meaty chunks of bone and blood.
Rinoa floated down to where Zell sat, her 'voice' full of happiness. I'm sorry I'm late… she pulsed to him, waving a hand over him, healing all his wounds. But I wanted to make sure the other Hearts weren't going to interfere.
* * *
"Just how many did you take out?" Zell asked, standing up with ease now.
Oh…lets just say they won't be bothering us for a while.
Zell shrugged. "Well, if they're all as susceptible to Status magic like that, then maybe we ought to change our battle plans sometime…oh shit! Squall and Julius!!"
Already taken care of, Zell. Rinoa pulsed, ruffling her wings.
Zell rolled his eyes. "Gee, thanks for the rescue. Second best, huh?"
Rinoa reached out and cuffed his cheek. Always.
Zell shook his head and looked over to where Squall and Julius stood, Squall moving through the bodies of the Hearts, tapping one with his sword every now and then. Julius walked forward, smiling at Rinoa. "Hyne, you just show up when you feel like it, huh? If you could do that at the very start, why didn't you?"
Rinoa closed her smoking white eyes, allowing her wings to retract into her back before she opened them once more, her feet touching the cobblestones once more. "Because one, it takes a lot of energy to go Angel, two, I'm not just a killing machine, and three, I thought you guys had everything under control. Obviously I was mistaken."
Zell patted her on the shoulder. "Never mind that, Rin. You're our secret weapon anyways. If there's something we can't go up against, I'm pretty sure I'll want you in the wings to give us a hand. And besides, once you get used to them, they're not all that difficult to take out…" He scratched the back of his head with a smile. "…Just your average grunts in your basic impenetrable armour."
Julius nodded. "Yeah…if this keeps up, we're going to have to restock on our Forbidden magic. It seems to be the only stuff that does any good against them."
"Yeah…" Zell said, looking over at Squall. The gunblader had been pushed to his limits against the Hearts…hell, they all had. If this kept going, they'll be burned out before they reached the evil Rinoa's universe. "Maybe next time we come across these guys we should just ignore them. We obviously draw too much attention when we fight them, and it takes way too much to fight them as well…most of the manoeuvres we pulled off today were luck. Against…twenty or so of these guys, we'd be gone."
"I concur." Squall muttered, finally finished with his inspections of the bodies and walking up to the others, his glowing blue gunblade resting on his shoulder. "We do draw too much attention when we fight them…next time we come across them, we must take evasive action." He shot a small smiled at Zell. "Although I thought I would have to suggest this first, Zell. You seem to like the challenge more then anything."
Zell thrust his hands in his pockets, his voice meek as he looked at the disturbed cobbles. "It's true…I do like a good fight now and then…but when it threatens the mission, I have to put aside my preferences. It would be the…leaderly thing to do."
Squall's smile grew slightly, and he placed a hand on Zell's shoulder with a small nod. "Well said."
Someone cleared their throat, and the SeeDs turned to see a small group of Te'Gets forming just in the entry of the bottle neck, most of them exiting from their homes and coming in from the streets. Zell gulped as he suddenly recognised the destruction that had taken place – at least three houses had been levelled, as well as the road being almost obliterated. Bodies lay everywhere, most with missing limbs thanks to Squall junctioning Quake to his strength before starting his battle, and thanks to Zell's Aura, some had been buried deep in the ground.
Squall stepped forward, deactivating the LionHeart and holding his hand up. "We mean you no harm…" he began, before a native interrupted.
"You…you four destroyed the Warriors?"
Zell nodded slowly. "Yes…we did."
"How?"
"We…we simply fought them."
There was a slight pause as the people muttered amongst each other, some pointing at Rinoa, others gesturing to Zell. Finally, they fell to their knees, bowing low as if to worship the SeeDs. "We owe you our lives!!" One woman said, bowing low. "You've rid us of them forever!!"
Zell scratched the back of his neck, embarrassed. "Well…maybe not forever…" he said.
The people wither ignored him or didn't hear him. "You must be gods to wield such power!! Hail the new gods!!" One man cried, causing Squall to step forward and pull him roughly to his feet.
"Stand up, damn you! We're not gods, nor will we ever be!!" Squall growled, his anger evident.
Rinoa stepped forward, placing a soft hand on Squall's shoulder. "Squall…you're scaring them…" She whispered gently. "Lets get back to Ten'Kal and see what to do from there."
Squall held onto the man for a second longer, something resembling rage within his eyes…before he dropped him unceremoniously and turned, stalking away towards the house.
Zell walked up to Rinoa, who looked slightly lost as she watched her Knight walk away. "What…what's wrong with him?"
Rinoa looked at Zell, before shaking her head. "He's…he's got a thing about compliments. You know that." She said hesitantly, before following the gunblader.
Zell scratched the back of his neck, watching Julius shoo the crowd away as he tried to figure out what made Squall so riled. "Compliments? The old Squall perhaps…" He shook his head and shrugged. "Bugger it. Hey Julius! Come on, man!"
* * *
Squall opened the front door – to let it fall off it's hinges and slam onto the floor loudly, the door landing on the debris-covered floor with a loud bang.
He moved into the house, looking left and right at the destroyed walls, the big craters from where Zell fought the two Hearts, and walked into the living room, where Emily and Trish waited. The two women sat together silently, Emily with a sulking look on her face, Trish looking down at her shoulder and muttering to herself.
Squall walked over to his pack, pulling it from the collapsed wall and dusting it off before walking around and picking up his personal effects. He sensed Rinoa move into the room, but didn't acknowledge her presence – he simply dug into the plaster and wood, trying to find his tent.
Rinoa walked by him wordlessly, moving to crouch next to Trish. "How's your shoulder?" She asked.
"It's not my shoulder I'm pissed off about." Trish muttered angrily. "It's the fact I have a big-assed hole in my shirt now."
Rinoa smiled. "Don't worry about it. At least that's the extent of the damage, right?"
"…But I like this shirt…"
Rinoa was laughing out loud as Zell and Julius walked into the room, looking around at the destruction. "Hyne…Ten'Kal's going to be pissed." Zell muttered, looking at all the destroyed effects. "I'm pretty sure that he didn't expect this to happen."
"I don't think anybody expected this to happen." Julius said, walking forward and running his hand over the edge of the wall that had been taken out by his Meltdown. "We expended way too much energy fighting these guys. We'll have to train a little more if we expect to take them out with any ease."
"No doubt…" Zell said, looking down at the debris on the floor and kicking a piece of plaster across the room – before looking up quickly, urgency in his voice. "Wait! Where's Ten'Kal and Te'Kal?!"
Emily and Trish stood suddenly, their eyes filled with urgency as they saw something over Zell's shoulder.
He spun around quickly – to see the Heart who had been attacking Trish in the kitchen, his blond hair flowing around his shoulders erratically as he held Ten'Kal before him like a human shield, his sword's edge at the Te'Get's throat. The man's brown eyes were filled with anger and determination, and he as he spoke his voce became more and more menacing. "Lift your hand up in the air – all of you, so I can see them. And if I sense even the slightest rise in paramagic, I'll decapitate the old man."
Zell raised his hand slowly, backing away so that he joined the others, who did the same. "What do you expect to gain from this, man?" Zell said slowly, moving so that he was close to Rinoa. "We outnumber you, and without your helmet you may as well be as good as dead. Just drop the sword and we'll have a nice quiet talk over a can of soda."
"I've been briefed on all of you SeeDs. You'll kill me without a second chance if you were given the chance. So don't talk to me about 'quiet talks.'" The man pushed the edge of the blade against the old man's throat a little more. "Mercenaries…pah."
Zell narrowed his eyes, his mind moving in a blur as he shuffled his foot over to Rinoa's. As soon as they touched, a whole conversation took place between the GFs residing within them in less then a millisecond.
Diablo spoke, his voice forced and bored. "The Hunter wishes for the Sorceress to tell the thief to teleport behind the guy and sedate him with some kind of nerve pinch or something."
The deep rumble of a dragon's voice answered the Gravity God's request. "It shall be done, Diablo."
It was like the idea was placed in Rinoa's mind, and she narrowed her eyes for a second. Trish frowned as cotton clouded the scared feeling within her mind – then her eyes widened as she heard Rinoa's voice.
Trish! It's Rinoa! No time to explain, just listen! Zell wants you to teleport behind this guy and sedate him with something!
But…but I can't! My tools are in my bag!
Well, you're the only one out of all of us that can save Ten'Kal!!
Trish nodded slowly, accepting the plan.
Zell covered the exchange with questions. "How do you know we're SeeDs? How much do you know exactly?"
The Heart smiled slowly. "We have been given detailed files, Hunter…you should be scared. Every Heart in the universes know your face and who you are, and sooner or later you'll be taken down with a minimum of fuss, just like all the rest of those who oppose Queen Heartilly…what?!"
Trish suddenly disappeared in a puff of smoke, reappearing behind the man in an instant.
It was all the distraction Emily needed. Her hand moved like quicksilver as the magic shot out, the ice forming and shooting from her fingertips as quickly as bullets fired from a gun. The tiny Blizzard magic was sent in an instant to the Heart's face, slipping through the skin and bone into the brain, killing instantly.
It happened before Zell could react, and he watched as the Heart fell to the floor, deader then the stuff they had eaten for breakfast, a confused Trish appearing from behind the Warrior. "What? What happened?" Trish asked, a questioning look on her face.
Squall turned to Emily, who had formed a small ice ball in her hand and was rolling it about in the middle of her palm. "We needed him alive." Squall growled, looking at her impassive face as she rolled the ball about on her hand.
Her gaze didn't come up from the ball as she spoke. "He was going to kill the old man. I did what I had to save his life."
"Dammit!!" Zell yelled, stepping forward. "We're not murderers!!"
"Whatever." Emily muttered, crushing the ice in her hand in one sudden squeeze, before pushing past Zell and walking past the distraught Ten'Kal, who stood stock still as the realisation that he was still alive washed over him. His hand moved slowly to his neck, which was bleeding slightly from the razor-shape edge of the sword.
"My god…" he gasped, before turning to the SeeDs. "Th-Thanks you! You saved my life and the life of my wife!!" He watched as the SeeDs looked down at the ground, their mood obviously not one of celebration. "What is wrong? You've saved my people and me! If you're worried about our houses, we can rebuild! The Te'Get's have gotten used to it!"
Trish placed a hand on Ten'Kal's shoulder, her voice sad as she looked down at the dead man on the floor. "It's not that, Ten'Kal…it's the fact that we couldn't save him."
"But…but he was evil. Pure evil. You saw what he was going to do to me!"
"We're not assassins…not all the time." Zell muttered, walking forward and placing a hand on the dead-man's chest. "If we get the chance, we injure instead of kill. That's the way a SeeD must work. Protect the weak, hold up justice. That's the way it works in our universe."
Ten'Kal was obviously confused. "Then…then what did the woman with the pale skin just do?"
Zell said nothing as he continued to look down at the man, his expression unreadable.
Go ahead. Say it. Given the opportunity, you would have done the same.
No I wouldn't have, Diablo, and you know it.
Pah. Keep saying that, Hunter, but I know how you think. It crossed your mind, even for an instant. How was it any different from when you took down those six outside? How was it any different from when you killed Sheran?
Just shut up, Diablo…just shut up.
* * *
After the team had rounded up all their stuff, Te'Kal had admitted something. Rinoa had walked outside to allow the feeling of adrenaline to flood out of her system after the battle, sitting on the curb and watching as the Te'Gets surveyed the damage. She sensed somebody approach, and smiled up at Te'Kal as she walked out of the destroyed door. "Hi Te'Kel. Sorry about the house."
"That's okay, dear…" Te'Kal said kindly, her wrinkled face crinkling up into a smile. "Your friend Zell is making up for it by helping Ten'Kal chop wood out the back. He seems to think that he is indebted to us, when we are actually indebted to him."
"Well, Zell runs his life on a strong sense of honour, ma'am. He'll probably be waiting on you hand and foot until we leave…" Rinoa chuckled. "He's like that."
"Well, that's nice of him…" Te'Kal said, before hesitating. "I couldn't help but notice something, my dear…" She said, walking over to the woman as she gave her the hair-brush she had asked for.
"What? What was it?" Rinoa asked, running the brush through her raven dark hair in long draws. She remained confused until Te'Kal reached out and plucked a white feather from Rinoa's cardigan. "Oh…that."
"Yes…that." Te'Kal said, sitting down next to the Sorceress. "Ten'Kal…Ten'Kal has a hobby…studying ancient civilisations…"
"Yes…we saw that in the basement."
"Yes…well, then you must've seen the statues…"
"The ones with the winged woman?"
"Yes…" Te'Kal said.
There was a small silence as the two women pondered their thoughts, each looking out over the street. The sound of the wind mingled with the sound of laughing children as they played amongst the rubble in the street. Rinoa pulled the brush through her long hair, counting the strokes. It helped her relax, amazingly, and her hair always got frizzed up thanks to the energy outputs that she emitted whilst in Angel form.
Te'Kal finally broke the silence. "Ten'Kal said that…that you look almost exactly like them when you're in that form. He said it's breath-taking."
"I've been told I can get pretty scary while I'm in that form, too." Rinoa said sadly, pulling the brush through her hair.
"Could…could I see it?"
Rinoa looked at Te'Kal with a small smile, before taking the brush from her hair and holding it in her hands. "I'm sorry…I can only hold the form for a short amount of time, and I have to rest in-between transformations. I can do some serious damage to myself otherwise."
Te'Kal reached out and grasped Rinoa's hand gently. "I'm sorry, my dear. You didn't need to if you didn't want to."
Rinoa smiled at the old lady. "You remind me of the grandmother I never had."
Te'Kal frowned, confused. "How can I remind you of someone you never met?"
Rinoa chuckled. "Never mind. It's a saying we have in our universe."
Squall walked out of the doorway, followed closely by Julius, whom had Veronica strapped to his back once more, and Ten'Kal, who was holding something in his hands. "Rinoa, we're going to go see the Council of this village. There is something that Ten'Kal wishes to discuss with the remaining scientists that concerns you."
"What do you mean?" Rinoa asked.
Ten'Kal walked up to Rinoa, revealing what was in his hands, his voice tumbling out with excitement. "Your friends told me about your interaction with the Tidus in my basement. Can you read these inscriptions?" He showed her a pad of paper with the hieroglyphs on the Arch written down on perfectly.
Rinoa frowned, tracing her hand over them slowly, as if reading Braille. The feeling of deja vu she had felt when she had seen the Arch before washed over her once more. "They…they seem familiar to me somehow, but I've…never seen them before in my life…"
Ten'Kal looked as giddy as a schoolboy as he reached over and turned the page of the pad. "Then…do you know these patterns?" He asked excitedly.
Rinoa frowned as she looked down at the page. "These…these are the magical symbols for our elemental, status and forbidden magic. Where did you get these? Only high-ranking magic users know all of them."
"I gave them to him, Rinoa." Squall said. "He said he recognised the sign for Death that you traced in the air when you finished off those Hearts attacking Zell before he was taken by the one in the kitchen. He says it's a variation of one on the Arch."
"What?!" Rinoa gasped, quickly flicking the page back and running her finger down the paper…before gasping out loud. "My gods! You're right! But what does it mean?"
Julius shrugged. "We don't know. That's why we're taking the Arch and you to see these scientists. They may not know much compared to our technology…but they do have some experience in the magic fields."
"In other words, we think we have a way to activate this Arch…if you're willing to cooperate." Squall said.
"Hell yes! Lets get going, come on, lets go!!"
* * *
Rinoa sighed, rubbing her head. Hours of tedious magical tests had begun to test her patience, and it was beginning to get cold outside as the two suns began to set. The funny Te'Get scientists regarded her as if she was a princess one-second, then like the Ebola plague another. And she was getting ticked off with all the explanations. "So, let me get this straight. All I have to do is cast the spells that are on the Arch on the Arch, and I'll activate it?"
"That's about right, ma'am." The Te'get scientist said, pushing his over-sized glasses up onto the bridge of his thin nose. "These certain spells, when cast at the same time, release a combination of paramagical shockwaves which, when corresponding with the Arch's original universal proximity, creates a parallel rip in the space-time-continuum which you can then use to traverse to and from differing universes, depending on the relative paranormal vagaries between the two paradoxes."
Rinoa looked at the scientist, her expression completely deadpan. "That has to be the most boring thing anybody has ever said to me."
Julius rolled his eyes as he looked up from his computer, where he was entering information at an alarming rate. "He's saying that if you cast the spells on the Arch, it'll activate it and allow us to go to another universe."
"Wow, the short version." Rinoa muttered, hopping down from the bench from where she was sitting and moving over to Squall, bundling into his arms with a tired yawn. "Can we go now Squall? I'm…*hfwaaaa*…tired."
Squall smiled down at her and kissed her forehead before hugging her close. "Yes, we can. Gentlemen, thankyou for your time. Julius, we'll meet you back at Ten'Kals."
"Hmmph…" Julius grunted, still typing furiously.
Squall and Rinoa looked at each other, before they made their way to the door. "If you want us, just us the comm. device. You remember how to use it?" Squall called.
"Yes, yes…"
"Okay…see you later."
"Hmm, bye."
The two walked out into the dusky atmosphere, Rinoa frowning as they began the long trek back to the house. "He seemed a little…preoccupied, didn't he? I mean, how much thought does there have to be to do this? I cast the spells, I open this portal thingy, right?"
"He was searching their databases for anything regarding re-animation. But I doubt he'll find anything. These people are years behind us technologically for most things. They don't even have trains."
Rinoa nodded slowly, hugging Squall a little tighter as they walked. "Do…do you think he'll ever…"
"If you had asked me a few years ago, the answer would be no. But who knows who we'll meet in these next few universes…or what we'll find."
* * *
When they had finally returned to the house, they had found out another thing about this universe – it rained when it was night. And not just a small patter – it poured down in sheets, the chubby rain splattering onto them without remorse.
Squall and Rinoa ran under what was left of the roof, Squall allowing Rinoa to exit from under his coat before taking it off and flicking it, spraying the area with water. "It must be annoying, living here…" He muttered, running a hand through his wet hair. "Burning heat in the day, freezing rain in the night…"
"Well, she doesn't seem to mind…" Rinoa said, pointing out to Emily who sat on a lounge chair in the living room, the night sky pouring it's contents onto her as she sat silently, allowing the cold rain to drench her thoroughly.
"She can like what she wants." Squall growled. "Right now I couldn't give a damn." Her actions regarding the Heart from the kitchen was still burned into Squall's mind, and he couldn't help but grimace at her. We're not murderers…but we're not exactly saints either. She walked the fine line, the line where you're not supposed to cross…and she's wavering. She's wavering – and that can't be allowed.
"Squall…" Rinoa said, placing a hand on his shoulder.
He looked down at her, his bad mood suddenly disappearing as his face turned into a smile. "Come on. Lets see if somebodies made dinner."
* * *
"We wish you could stay longer. We have much to show to you regarding our world."
The two suns burned down on the green field as the small group of people said goodbye to the SeeDs as they prepared to pass through the smaller Arch. Rinoa stood a little away from the group, rubbing her hands together and blowing on them as she ran through the procedure again. It had been a while since she had had to simultaneously cast several magic spells at the same time. Not only that, most of the spells weren't exactly easy ones to cast. At least half were Forbidden, and several of them were Status magic's, magic's that required a lot of concentration
The rest of the small crowd – Ten'Kal, Te'Kal, Ten'Jar, and several townspeople, including several of the group that had originally met Zell and the others at the research facility. They had all gotten to know each other during a small going-away party in a small inn the night before. The weird food and strange dancing customs had been aplenty, and even though it had felt to the SeeDs like they were…out of place with theses strange people, they had enjoyed themselves.
Zell smiled at Ten'Kal, his grip on the old mans shoulders firm. "You've already helped us heaps, old man. If it weren't for your quick thinking, I think we might have been stuck here with no idea what to do next. Now at least we have a direction to follow."
"Lets hope the direction you're taking is a safe one, Zell."
Ten'Kal then placed his hands on Zell's shoulders and pressed his forehead to the SeeDs. Zell was still slightly confused as to how the whole ceremony came about – but then, he never knew the origin of the handshake either, so it didn't worry him much.
Rinoa walked up to them. "I think I'm ready now. We can prepare to go soon."
Te'Kal gave each of the group a hug – except for Emily, who had wandered off in the distance, as well as handing them their packs. "I've washed and repaired all your clothes, as well as giving you some provisions. We wish you well."
Trish smiled at the old lady. "Thank you, ma'am. I hope the Heart Warriors wont bother you again."
Te'Kal shrugged, an even smile on her wrinkled old face. "We're sure that as soon as you're gone, they'll come back. We're prepared for the consequences."
Squall narrowed his eyes. "We're requesting for additional troops to be sent through the Big Arch to give you some help if the Hearts come through again. Julius will be back soon with our Commander's orders."
* * *
The Big Arch, as Squall called it, looked less menacing in the double light of the suns compared to the pouring rain…but it never-the-less gave Julius the creeps.
Something made him shudder as he looked up from his laptop into the pulsating purple mass that was the doorway to his universe. All alone too, it made him ponder what might happen if he simply walked through and disappeared once more, leaving the mission behind…
…but the thoughts were fleeting ones. Everything he had done now had been for a purpose – Veronica. And since almost every single option, magical and scientifically, in his universe had been exhausted…that left him with only one option left.
He had read the classified files stolen from the Galbadian Presidential networks. The files containing hints of the cryogenic freezing of Deling's body. The scraps of information regarding his unholy resurrection…and even though he had even considered that option, Julius had cast it aside.
He loved Veronica too much to cast her to a life like that.
He picked up the transmitter connected to the laptop, looking down at the small radar dish. With this he would be able to contact the head offices in Galbadia Garden, getting into contact with Carpenter personally. Pausing for a second, he tossed the little dish into the Arch, the plastic object passing through the shining purple film like a pebble being dropped into the water.
Turning to the laptop, he keyed in a few commands before pressing the 'activate' button with a slight tap of the thumb. A window appeared on the screen filled with static, a small buzz emitting from the speakers on the laptop.
There was a tinny chime from Julius' earpiece, and he pressed the activate switch on the transmitter on his leather band around his wrist. "Julius here."
"What's your situation, man?" Zell's voice said from the earpiece.
"I've sent the probe into the Arch…I'm waiting for the security systems to shake hands and confirm that we can have a confidential conversation."
"Well, hurry it up, if you can. Rinoa's all set to go. We need to know wether or not Carpenter will help these people."
"I'll try my best, dude. Julius, out."
Letting go of the switch, Julius looked down to the computer to see a 'call waiting' sign in the window where the static had been. He tapped another command into the keyboard, and the vision of the Garden Commander came onto screen. The background was the one of Commander Carpenter's office, and Carpenter himself looked himself – cool, calm Head of Masters.
"Julius!" Carpenter exclaimed, his cool exterior betrayed by a slight show of surprise. "I didn't expect to you to make the contact."
Julius frowned. "You were expecting someone else, sir?" He asked suspiciously.
Carpenter smiled and shook his head. "No, no…I was just expecting Zell to be the one to make the mission statements. You know, the leader's duty?"
"I'm afraid that Zell is busy right now. You'll have to deal with me, sir."
"Of course. It didn't really matter either way. No, what can you tell me about the mission so far?"
Julius shrugged. "We've made almost no progress, sir. We've been attacked by the people who came through the Arch several times, and each time one thing has become severely certain – we're way out of our league."
"You seriously think you cannot defeat these warriors?" Carpenter asked, leaning forward. "What does Zell think about this?"
"Zell was the one who suggested that we avoid further contact with them in the future."
Carpenter leaned back in his chair, rubbing his chin thoughtfully. "Interesting…I would have figured that Zell would have relished the idea of fighting a more worthy opponent."
"Not when the opponents are stronger, faster and outnumber you almost ten to one. Zell has the team to think about. Emily was injured during the first fight, and Trish isn't exactly the kind to fight her way out of a situation."
Carpenter sighed, leaning forward to look at Julius directly. "Mr. Garner, you must realise that you and your peers were chosen for…specific purposes. Although you are able to hold your own, Miss Jones is considerably weaker then you. But her skills in espionage and infiltration are so great you wouldn't even be able to come close to them. She has been doing that kind of work since she was a child. She's been brought up to avoid confrontations."
Julius waited as Carpenter paused. "And Emily? Do you have anything to say about her?"
Carpenter shrugged. "Well…Miss Strange has a very delicate body structure. Although she is skilled in martial arts and the such, her main advantage is in magic. Considering her magic strength and Blues, she's as powerful as Rinoa."
Julius blinked at the revelation. "That's…that's impossible, sir. Rinoa is the Sorceress. Her magical power is unequalled."
Carpenter smirked. "Come on, Mr. Garner. Remember Squall and Ultimecia? Commander Leonhart destroyed her Protect and defeated her with an extreme amount of energy – but he still destroyed her. Emily has the potential to defeat Rinoa – in normal form. In Angel form she wouldn't last half a chance. But it's the potential in people that you have to be wary of. You, of all people, considering the Limit Break training you've been through, should know that."
Julius decided not to answer.
Carpenter leaned back once more, seemingly satisfied. "So, how was the trip through the Tidus?"
Julius groaned. "Terrible…but the people in this universe were able to study Rinoa's magic's, as well as the Arch in general. They think that, since it's Rinoa who will be activating this Arch, that it'll be a little…different compared to the last trip."
Carpenter frowned. "You found another Arch?"
"Yes, a smaller one…" Julius said, before a tinny chime interrupted him. "…Excuse me, sir, but that'll be Zell."
"You can answer it, Julius. It's fine by me."
Julius activated the comm.-device. "Julius here."
Zell's voice came over the radio loudly. "Julius? What's going on? Rinoa's getting antsy! She says that if you aren't here in fifteen minutes she's going to activate it without you! C'mon man, get a move on!!"
Julius rolled his eyes. "I'll be moving along soon, okay? I'm talking to Carpenter now."
"Did you ask him about the troops?"
"I was just about to until you interrupted me!"
"Oh…well, okay…carry on, I guess…see ya in a few."
Julius cut the transmission, and looked at Carpenter tiredly. "Did you hear that, sir?"
"Yes, Julius. May I ask why we need the troops?"
"The people of this universe have been oppressed by the warriors who came through the Arch. We need the extra SeeDs in order to keep the people from being slaughtered the next time a patrol comes through."
Carpenter thought for a second, and Julius watched as the cogs turned in the man's head. He frowned slightly as he thought, before slapping his hand on top of the desk loudly. "Very well, Mr. Garner. You'll get your troops. I'll be sending fifty SeeDs from the three Gardens to help. This'll compromise the secrecy of the mission – but at least it'll keep these…Hearts? From hurting the people any more."
"Thank you sir!" Julius exclaimed, slightly surprised at his own emotional outburst. He had barely met these people – but for some reason he felt an affinity for them. They seemed like decent, honest people.
"Well, you'd better get back to the others then. Remember to keep me posted on your situations."
"Right, sir. Cut transmission."
* * *
Julius finally arrived to see the team waiting for him, Zell trying to ignore Rinoa as she jumped up and down before him, his arms crossed as he avoided her annoying yet determined.
"C'mon Zell lemme do it! I wanna do it now, before I lose my nerve! Come oooooon!! Julius is taking too long! I wanna do it noooow!!"
Zell turned to Squall. "Dude, how do you shut her up?"
"Ice cream and cola-beer…why, do we have some?"
"Hey…" Julius said, running up to the team and shouldering his laptop-pack, out of breath from running the distance of the Arch to the field. "Are we ready?"
"Yes we are." Rinoa said, looking at Zell with a pouty look on her face. "If Mr. 'we-have-to-wait-for-everybody' Zell thinks it's alright."
Zell rolled his eyes. "Okay. Fine. You can do your thing now, Rinoa. Are you happy now?"
Rinoa placed a finger on the tip of her bottom lip. "Ummmm…yeah, okay." She shot a smile at the boys, before turning and heading over to the Arch, lacing her fingers and cracking them as she stopped before it.
Trish walked up to Julius as he knelt and pulled out his laptop again, quickly turning it on and pulling the screen up. "What are you doing?" She asked, placing a hand on her hip as she looked down at the blond fighter.
He looked up at her with a small smile, pushing his glasses back up the bridge of his nose. "Don't you think it would be a good idea to record these events for future study?"
"How about this…why don't we just let Rinoa do her thing and sit back and enjoy the show? Wouldn't that be fun?"
"Trish, you have no idea of the concept of future reference. What would happen if we didn't keep record of what we've accomplished? Nobody would ever be able to replicate those achievements in future generations. It would be like finding a cure for cancer and then forgetting all about it."
Trish rolled her eyes and snorted. "Okay, there are so many things wrong with that it's not even funny."
"Quiet…" Zell whispered. "…She's about to start."
* * *
All talking was silenced as Rinoa finally stopped stretching her arms, allowing them to loosely fall by her sides.
The seconds passed slowly as the sorceress seemed to compose herself, her body almost completely relaxed. She began to measure her breathing, remembering everything that the Instructors at Garden had taught her. Slowly – infinitely slowly – she raised her hands, her fingers loose as her arms rose up past her hips, past her chest, until they were finally held high above her head.
Her arms were now standing straight up, rigid, her bones like steel rods. Allowing her fingers to fan out, her palms facing the blue skies, Rinoa closed her eyes and began to concentrate.
The lush green grass surrounding her banked sharply as paramagical energy suddenly blew out from her, the invisible breeze causing grass and dirt to shoot into the air. The breeze licked against the team, forcing them back.
The magic within her grew as she systematically began to sort all the magic she needed to cast, going through the list stored in her head one by one, placing and rearranging the orders so that the easiest ones would be cast first.
The breeze began to grow into a strong wind, Rinoa's body emitting an electrical disturbance, the blue jagged spikes travelling up and down her body as the amount of magical energies around her began to peak. A low hum was beginning to sound as Rinoa opened her eyes, the brown slowly milking away to a smoky whiteness…
Her wings flared out majestically, the feathered appendages suddenly springing out from her back.
It was like somebody had allowed a trickle to turn into a tidal wave. The stiff breeze everybody had been feeling suddenly turned into gale-force winds, knocking down the least trained of the group standing on the sidelines. The Te'Gets saw Rinoa's transformation and simply gaped, unable to speak or even move thanks to the fantastic transformation…before being literally blown away by the sheer power.
Trish watched the Te'Gets literally fly away and readjusted her grip on Zell's arm, who seemed to be unaffected by the wind. "How do you do that?" she called over the wind, her ponytail flapping behind her as she watched Rinoa's field of electrical energy grow even higher.
"What? Not get blown over?" Zell called, smiling down at her. "We've been trained in all kinds of stuff, hon. This is nothing."
Trish looked down at the ground, watching the grass wave erratically, and tried not to fly away. She looked at the others, standing as if the wind was simply sluicing off of their bodies. Emily even looked a little unimpressed by the display.
Her energy finally reaching it's peak, Rinoa finally lowered her hands and pointed them at the Arch, her fingers tracing through the air, the lights flowing from them varying in different colours and sizes. A massive shockwave blasted from her as she launched the massive collection of magic, the energy flowing from her body into a multi-coloured ball which hovered before her, slowly growing in size as Rinoa poured one magic after another into it…before slamming her palm against it's side, the ball flying straight into the Arch!
The ball slammed into the Arch with a vicious explosion, the detonation rocking the ground that they stood on. The Arch began to glow as the explosion slowed, the outburst of magical fire, multicoloured flickering flames which shone in the sunlight, seeming to stop.
Wind continued to whip from both Rinoa and the Arch, Rinoa keeping her hands splayed towards the arch, the Arch seeming to assimilate the massive magical assault it had just taken – before a loud sucking noise emitted from the opening on the Arch.
Almost instantly, the magical element that had been paused before the Arch seemed to disappear – revealing a sheen on blue light on the opening, the sheen seeming to ebb and flow like water.
Rinoa lowered her hands, her wings retracting as her power levels dropped to normal. "It's done." She called, feeling slightly drained.
* * *
So, did you enjoy that? This chapter was almost the same length of My Final Finale from Tournament, and only half of it was action! Excellent!!
The next chapter the team will be going through the Tidus – what will they find? You'll have to keep reading to find out, dammit!! I mean, how else are you going to really find out?!
