Disclaimer: I don't own anything…so sue me…
Chapter 9: Seymour
Auron looked around the thick canopies and undergrowth of Macalania Forest, his small, beady eyes like miniature cameras, capturing everything he saw. When they said this forest was timeless, they meant it. The woods hadn't changed one bit since he passed here ten years ago with Braska and Jecht.
The woods were silent, except from the noise from the party, but if one listened hard enough, he could here the wild cacophony of fiends and other forest dwellers. The party was having a short break and Auron decided to take some time to himself and took an overgrown forest path to a small clearing way off the beaten track.
Using his oversized No-Dachi (Japanese great sword), he cleared most of the vegetation in the way any reached the clearing in several minutes. In the middle of the clearing was a small shrine. A shrine dedicated to a fellow colleague and a best friend. A shrine dedicated to Jecht. He had built this shrine himself and within rested a sphere, a Jecht Sphere. One of many that were scattered throughout Spira for Tidus to find. But he kept this one here for Tidus to get a head-start.
Opening the small doors of the shrine, he bent down and reached in to obtain the sphere. Then, a strange rustle in the bushes caught Auron's attention. Straightening up, he shoved his hefty blade onto his shoulder and got into a fighting stance, ready to confront whatever was hiding in the thick undergrowth.
"Come on out, old painless is waiting," he muttered to himself.
Then, the light pounding of footsteps echoed throughout the clearing. The footsteps were firm, yet at a fast pace. Whatever is was, it was strong, agile and charging. Auron braced himself, the creature was coming closer. Then, it sprang out of the bushes in a frenzied blur, squeaking and squealing wildly. Auron gave a war cry and was about to bring down his blade to deliver the first deadly slash when he realized what the creature was……a wild chocobo.
He stood there sighing and reflecting on how he'd made an absolute fool out of himself as the chocobo disappeared. Then, he sensed the presence of another, more powerful creature nearby. Spinning around, he made eye contact with Dachande who was perched on a sturdy branch of one of the ancient Macalanian hardwoods.
Dachande leaped off the branch and confronted the human. He was powerfully built and wore a bright crimson cloak, possibly to hide his blood in order not to show signs of weakness. He was missing his left eye and a livid white scar ran down his cheek, starting from his eye and fading off around the center of his cheek, a lesson from a previous encounter that no doubt made him stronger.
Then, without warning, the human, lunged forth. Dachande was stunned at his speed and had to summon all his agility to dodge the blow. Yet, heavy and bulky as the great sword was, the human was quick to recover from his strike and lunged for another attack. However, Dachande was prepared this time and brought up his spear to parry the blow.
To Dachande's utter horror, his spear had an immense dent on it. How could a blade made of a simple primitive element (as in iron, Fe. on the periodic table) dent his own reinforced-alloy spear and not suffer any damage itself?
Unrelenting, the human delivered several more punishing blows which would have taken out a Predator of lesser skill. He was fully aware that this human was his equal in close-combat, perhaps his superior. He had to live to take down the prey and could not die fighting a side event.
Desperate, he parried one more blow and back-flipped to the other side of the clearing. The human uttered several curses in human tongue before charging at him again. Normally, he would not do such a dishonorable act, but now, he was desperate. With the flick of a switch, he charged his Plasmacaster, and fired.
The party was about to set off when Wakka noticed that Auron was missing. Rikku, hyper-active after getting out of the Thunder Plains, volunteered to look for him, but Yuna, untrusting of he newest Guardian, asked Tidus to follow. He obeyed, but grudgingly.
They retraced Auron's footsteps, not hard, as they only had to follow the trail of destroyed vegetation, until they came to the clearing. They reached just in time to see the white-blue plasma bolt hit Auron's chest and see it explode in a wild shower of blood.
Tidus felt rage building up in him. His blood was boiling and his face displayed an expression that was contorted with anger. He was downright pissed. Auron was the only family that he had until Spira and the party, and that thing there was going to pay dearly (No! They are not gay!).
Drawing the Brotherhood on his right hand and the Rebellion on his left, he charged forth, eager to chop the Predator into confetti. However, a sound made him stop in his tracks. It was the sound of an Al-Bhed Machina weapon charging up. A "mini-gun" to be exact. He had seen Rikku use it before to decimate fiends, and he knew better than to stand in its way.
He gave a surprised yelp and dove for cover as Rikku gave a loud yell that could be heard echoing throughout the woods.
"MOTHER FUCKER!" she yelled as she let loose dozens of rounds of lead in random directions in blind rage, annihilating everything in her path.
After several minutes, or what seemed like eternity to Tidus, the firing died down. She had either: a) regained her senses, or, b) run out of lead. He looked up and saw her eyes blank, and finger still squeezing the trigger. Yup, definitely option b.
As he surveyed the devastated landscape littered with broken branches and trunks with bullet holes in them, he noticed pyreflies dancing around Auron.
"Rikku! Snap out of it and give me a hand!" he yelled as he positioned himself to lift Auron up.
Rikku finally snapped out of it and dropped the gun. She ran over and they were about to lift him up when the gaping hole in Auron's chest started to close up in a swarm of pyreflies. To their amazement, and perhaps horror, Auron opened his eyes and wobbled to his feet.
"Auron, you mean you're…" Tidus managed to stammer, visuably stunned.
"Yup, I'm dead. Trust me, being dead has its advantages," replied Auron.
Rikku stood, gazing at Auron, transfixed, until Tidus shook her. Immediately she let out a high-pitched scream and cowered away from Auron. She was afraid of unsents. They said they could transform into fiends at will.
However, as if he read her mind, Auron assured her, "Relax, I won't transform into a fiend until I need to. Now don't tell this to Yuna or the others or else." He gave them a menacing glare that bored into the back of Rikku's head.
"Yes Sir!"
A/N: We're skipping forth to the Crawler scene and the events after that. If you have built in Seymour-detecting-radars, they should be pinging like nuts. Yup, you guessed it, Spira's greatest asshole is about to make another appearance.
Up against the Crawler's immense firepower and thick armor, the party seemed doomed and Yuna would be kidnapped and dragged to some dark castle on a hill and locked in a damp dungeon to await being treated as a lab-rat by some bespectacled Al-Bhed scientist in a dirty lab-coat and cold rubber gloves(remember, they don't know why the Al-Bhed are kidnapping Summoners, so this is the most logical speculation).
However, their luck changed when Tidus stumbled on a cache of armor-piecing, highly explosive rockets and a launcher half-buried in the snow, perhaps discarded or forgotten by the Al-Bhed soldiers.
"Christmas sure comes early in these parts," he muttered as he twisted a shell onto the barrel and pulled the trigger.
The projectile streaked towards the Crawler and pierced the armor like a red-hot knife through butter with a weird 'splut'.
The Crawler stopped moving and screams of twisted agony were heard coming from its hold (or bridge?) before an explosion. Unrelenting, Tidus twisted another shell on and fired again, this time aiming for the fuel tanks.
Jackpot. The Machina blew up in a brilliant display of fireworks. Pieces of debris, and pieces of the unfortunate crew, flew sky-high and crashed back down onto the snow-covered ground, spraying snow all over and making deep craters.
All that was left of the mighty, lumbering titan was just several hunks of unrecognizable parts and a fury of crimson flames devilishly licking the sky and emitting black smoke.
"Ah, the wonders of technology," muttered Tidus as he discarded the rocket launcher and joined up with the rest of the party.
Yuna had already left for the safety of the temple with Tromel while the rest of the party remained to act as the rear-guard.
"Al-Bhed! What the fuck do they want Yuna for!" asked Wakka angrily as he kicked the snow and started to mutilate the already unrecognizable body of the Al-Bhed soldier.
"Well, maybe they-" Rikku was about to start when she was cut off.
(A/N: Al-Bhed primers provided free of charge by Master and Chief Productions Inc.)
"Rikku!" a voice called from beyond the snow dune, "Fryd yna tuehk rvnv! (What are you doing here!)"
Stunned, Rikku spun about and saw a muscular Al-Bhed with tattoos of blue flames tattooed onto his arms and torso. His blonde hair was done into a Mohawk and he wore a pair of dirty, grease-stained blue leather overalls. His hands gripped firmly on an automatic rifle (This, my friends, is Brother).
Behind him stood, quite obviously, his subordinate, who was shorter and less heavy-built. He wore a blue shirt which matched his pants. He had a pair of shades covering his eyes and had a sniper-rifle aimed menacingly at the party (This, my friends, is Buddy).
"Oui tuh'd ryje du funno ypuid Yuna, E's ran Guardian, (You don't have to worry about Yuna, I'm her Guardian,)" replied Rikku.
"Frah Vydran raync ypuid drec, oui'mm pa eh vun ed, (When Father hears about this, you'll be in for it,)" said the Al-Bhed.
"Zicd vilg uvv yht kad uiddy raha, (Just fuck off and get outta here,)" replied Rikku.
The two Al-Bhed retreated off the dune and the revving of speeder engines was heard. Soon, others joined in and the Al-Bhed strike force beat a hasty retreat, kicking up clouds of snow behind them.
"Heh heh, I told him I was Yuna's Guardian and he retreated with his men," Rikku addressed the party, grinning sheepishly.
"Who was he? And how'd you learn to speak Al-Bhed!" roared Wakka.
"Well, I'm Al-Bhed too, and he, he is my brother," replied Rikku in a silenced tone.
"What the heck!" Wakka yelled again, "I can't believe I've been hanging out with a heathen all this while. And you guys didn't even tell me!"
"Wakka…" Lulu started, but was cut off by Rikku.
"Why are we the heathens? What did we do wrong?" asked Rikku in an agitated tone.
"You guys messed up with Machina, that's why Sin's here!" replied Wakka.
"And what proof do you have?" said Rikku.
"Its all in Yevon's Scriptures," said Wakka.
"It's always Yevon this, Yevon that, can't you think for yourself?" asked Rikku.
"Why am I wasting time with a heathen anyway?" said Wakka, "Sir Auron?" he asked, hoping to find support.
"Can we used these speeders to get to the temple?' he asked.
"Sure, gimme a second," replied Rikku.
"What! Don't tell me Sir Auron's an Al-Bhed too," Wakka gave a cry of outrage, "I'm not touching any of those, I'll walk!"
The Party watched Wakka walk off into the distance, then they set to work readying the Speeders for the journey to Macalania Temple.
A/N: The Seymour fight in Macalania temple…one of the easiest fights in the ENTIRE FF-X series. If you people have guns or stuff like that, you can start aiming now. Ladies and Gentlemen, I give you, Seymour. (Ducks for cover just in time to dodge oncoming bullets and Plasma Grenades)
Wakka always hated Mondays. Since he was a kid, waking up early after the weekend to go to school and face a black-faced teacher; Waking up even earlier for Blitzball training; Waking up to prepare Yuna's breakfast, get her changed and send her to school… He'd gotten used to it by now, but this Monday was different.
On the stroke of midnight, he awoke, only to find his blanket missing and started to sneeze and wheeze. Groping around in the darkness for some flu tablets, he stumbled upon some jawbreakers. Feeling hungry, he ate them as his midnight snack. However, in the morning, he realized his marble collection was missing (Yes, he ate them…).
Also, he'd overslept and was forced to use the bathroom after Kimahri. Not only did Kimahri spend nearly an eternity in there, he also used all the foot powder and left cat-hairs all over the place.
Thinking he got the Monday blues again, he wasn't surprised when Yuna ate his peanut butter and jelly sandwich. Neither was he when he discovered that Auron drank all the coffee.
He was expecting his Monday blues to continue. They did.
First, the party was attacked by Al-Bhed, then he discovered that his fellow Guardian, Rikku, was also an Al-Bhed. Auron had intended to use the abandoned Al-Bhed speeders to get to the temple but he refused, choosing to walk instead. However, he got lost and was forced to hitch a ride from Tidus.
But now, this Monday really took a turn for the worst. Here he was, outside the Chamber of the Fayth, clutching his Blitzball and watching his fellow Guardians take battle with a Maester of Yevon.
Well, not exactly the Maester himself, more his Aeon and his, umm…, teddy bear. Seymour was hiding behind a chair while Anima was doing all the work.
Then, he noticed a Fira spell flying his way and he dodge-rolled away just in time. Then, Seymour threw his teddy bear, Pooky, at Wakka, scoring a bull's-eye. Seymour then pulled the jump-rope tied around Pooky's waist and pulled him back to safety.
"Take that you rotten thing!" Seymour yelled childishly as he shook Pooky around.
The party was having trouble dealing with Anima and its incredible magical attacks.She also had thick hide which protected her from damage. Desperate, Yuna summoned her hew Aeon Shiva, the ice goddess, to assist them.
Shiva dodged several of Anima's Fira attacks before raining several blade-sharp icicles into Anima. Anima roared in pain, but quickly recovered and blasted a 'pain' attack at Shiva. Unable to dodge, Shiva braced herself for the attack. It took off quite a huge chunk of vitality, but thankfully, Shiva was unaffected but it 'death' side effect.
Casting Blizzara on herself, restoring lost vitality, Shiva sprang back into the fray, readying another icicle attack to bombard Anima. Anima too didn't slacken and charged for a Fira attack.
Then, both stopped.
Seymour was confused. One moment, Shiva was about to hit Anima with another attack. Then, she stopped dead in her tracks. He wanted Anima to take full use of the chance to hit Shiva, but, strangely, Anima was also, like Shiva, looking at him, or rather, something behind him.
He glanced at the party. They were also staring at the same thing. Then, Yuna finally broke the silence, "Lord Seymour! Look behind you!"
"No way! They've pulled this trick on me too many times! If I turn around, some big kid will come and wedgie me!" yelled Seymour as he folded his arms and pouted.
"Seriously Lord Seymour! Look behind you!" yelled Lulu.
"I said it once and I'll say it again! No way!" replied Seymour as he continued to pout.
"Ok Seymour, turn around and," Auron produced a lollipop from one of his pockets "you'll get this."
"Yay! Lollipop! I love lollipops," said Seymour as his eyes brightened and he turned around.
What greeted him were two metallic blades, which rushed into his stomach, and a big bad wolf. Or rather, it looked like the wolf from the "Three Little Pigs".
Seymour was stunned. He started to cry and yelled, "Mommy! Help me!" before collapsing on the ground and closing his eyes. Forever.
Tidus instantly recognized that monster, as did Rikku and Auron. Tidus and Auron were both about to lunge forth when a scream stopped them. It was Rikku's scream. She drew out her mini gun and a sub machinegun-pistol and, still screaming, sprayed lead everywhere.
The plaster on the richly decorated walls of the chamber was chipped off by the bullets and a thick dust cloud rose.
She finally stopped firing and the cloud subsided, but the monster was long gone.
Yuna opened her eyes and her vision slowly became focused. She looked around, relived to see all her Guardians were well. Kimahri, as protective as ever, stood next to her while she could see Rikku, Wakka and Lulu in the distance. The two Guardians she didn't see were Tidus and Auron. But she could hear their voices and knew they were ok.
With the help of Kimahri, she got up and rubbed her head, trying to remember what happened and where they were exactly. She'd remembered being chased by Guado guardians all the way out here, but a small metallic device rolled under their feet and detonated, decimating them in seconds. However, the blast's impact caused the ice to crack and they fell into the dark abyss below.
Curious, she questioned Rikku about the device, quite obviously a Machina weapon, but Rikku denied any knowledge of it, saying that it would take ten of her 'grenades' to achieve the damage of that single weapon.
Tidus and Auron approached and reported that there seemed to be a way out, but they would have to climb, or summon Valefore if they wanted to slack. Yuna sighed and thanked them for their effort. She then told her Guardians to get some rest and get a campfire going.
She was about the get off the block of stone she was lying on when she heard a weird sound. The party looked around in shock; quite obviously they heard it too. Then, as the sound continued, the ground began to shake. Violently.
She yelled, "What the fuck is going on!"
Tidus yelled something inaudible and pointed into the distance. She followed his finger and saw an immense shadow approaching in the distance. The black blur slowly began to take the shape of something, huge. No, not huge, massive. Then, Yuna recognized its call. She heard it on the S.S. Liki, off the coast of Kilika. It was Sin.
She let out a scream as the giant opened its colossal jaws and called again. Then, she felt herself being pulled towards Sin. She started crying and gripped the piece of debris more tightly, but she lost her grip and was pulled towards the fiend. The last thing she remembered was screaming and catching sight of Tidus reaching for her. Then, she knew no more.
A/N: So, how'd you like it? All your old favourites, or hates, back with a brand new ninth chapter. So to all you out there, know this: The Master and Chief are back baby! And there's nothing you can do about it! Nothing much actually... Thought you like to know, the deal of free Plasma Grenades for every review is still on, so hurry! Press that button! Your teacher might think twice about giving you homework!
This is the Master, signing out.